Hi!

Hi-ya friends. Happy Cinco de Mayo! I just wanted to pop in for a moment to let you know I've been taking a little break. I'll be back on Saturday with the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge, though.

My crafty brain needed a bit of a rest after the WMS release. The weather has finally started to get a little nicer around these parts, so that means construction season is upon us and I am extra super busy at work. And, I have started a kitchen revamp.

Image from Pinterest.

This isn't my kitchen, but it will hopefully have at least close to the same color cabinets once I'm done! I'm adding a different pantry solution and extra counter/work space (which I have almost none of now) so I am pretty excited about finishing. That and its a giant disruption and no one in my household does well with disruption.

But I'll see you soon - thanks for understanding, I didn't want you to think I bailed on ya!

Anya

Home!

Hi everyone!

I am back from my trip! I had an amazing time, but now I am:

a) jet-lagged;
b) sick;
c) overwhelmed!

I will be easing back into things, so please bear with me while I sort things out. Thank you all for your comments while I was away, and I look forward to sharing stories and pictures in the coming days!

#Anya

My First RAK!

On Saturday, I received my first RAK (Random Act of Kindness) in the mail from Holly in Mass. Here it is!

Isn't it wonderful! Thank you, Holly, for the great card and also for the very nice note you wrote. You made my day!

Friday night, I went to see 1964 The Tribute, which is a Beatles tribute band. One of my brother's co-workers was sick and couldn't use her tickets so he called me to see if I wanted to come along. He had bought my parents tickets for Christmas, so all four of us were able to go together. It was incredible. I have only ever seen old Beatles footage from concerts, but it was everything I thought it would be! The singers truly resembled the original Beatles and the music was absolutely dead-on. I was raised on the Beatles, and have loved them all my life. Their music is classic and timeless. Bill and I had quite a few Beatles songs in our wedding playlist. I would recommend the show to anyone, it was really a great time.

I spent Saturday cleaning. My in-laws were coming for dinner on Sunday and I had neglected the cleaning for a while. I did do a little stamping, but it was for my upcoming Stamp Camp, so I don't have anything original to share today.

Today starts Papertrey Ink's countdown to new stamps! The 15th will bring wonderful new colors of cardstock, ribbon, and ink and new stamps as well! I am looking forward to the Friday night release party. Nichole is posting sneak peeks every day on her blog and has links to some other design team members that are also sharing new stuff! It is a very exciting time.

That's it for me today. It is snowing here again. Hopefully spring is just around the corner. Have a great day!

Crazy Weather

This was Friday:

We got a ton of snow on Friday.. it just kept snowing! This is a picture looking down the street.. the trees were heavy with the snow on their branches.

Juno loves to eat snow. You can see how deep it was!

And this was today..

It was gorgeous out! I think the temperature hit around 70 degrees. All the snow has melted and the air has that nice springy, dirt smell. My daffodils and tulips are starting to come up.

Too bad it will be back down around freezing again later in the week! I didn't stamp too much this weekend, I was working at the store with Bill. I'm glad its over, I really look forward to my weekends. Next weekend, I will take it easy. I took advantage of the nice weather to give the doggies a bath. That ended with all three of us getting soaked! I have some cards to share, but I will wait until tomorrow.

One last thing before I head off to bed.. my good friend Julie finished her second marathon on Saturday! How awesome is that! Congratulations, Julie, you rock :)

Some thoughts on wedding planning...

Now that the 'planning' stage of the wedding is coming to a close and we're approaching the 'Newlywed' stage, I wanted to share some thoughts on planning.

I am something of a control freak (surprise, Julie!) so I wanted to have my hands in everything. I made the invitations, the place cards, favors, etc (It helps that I could open my own paper-crafting store). I lovingly chose the flowers for everyone, searched to make sure the blacks matched in Bill's ensemble (cause it ALL has to be black), put together a Guest Book that can actually be used again, but by far the most enjoyable, touching part (second to Bill remembering the details of our first kiss, some 11-odd years ago) has been the music. Bill is something of a connoisseur (which is just a nice word for snob) when it comes to music. You'll get that with a dj, I guess. We picked every single song that will be played at the wedding. Well, he did most of the work and loaded a middle-school-mix-tape-worthy selection of songs to my phone. We've got the slow songs, the fun songs, and the Hockey Song! I have been listening to it at work, both to calm my anticipation and also to try and cry-proof the songs (I can't possibly cry if I listen to 'In My Life' eight million times).

In addition to the dj-ing, we have a friend who is a wonderful musician (Jason Deutsch of Original Low) who is going to be singing for us. Live music rocks. He'll be singing our first dance song and a few others. It should be pretty cool. I really did have fun planning. Sure, there was some stress, 90% of which came from family, but people *finally* decided what they were eating (we aren't naming first-born children here). It can be done easily in under 6 months (it can be done in under 3 months, and I am so glad we decided not to wait).

We're T minus 8 days at this point, and its really hard to sit still! I am super excited to see my guests, can't wait to pick up my flowers, wear my dress... the list goes on. I can't describe how I feel about getting married - it still seems a little surreal, but completely comfortable. I have been waiting to marry Bill for years, so its hard to believe that it is really happening.

I missed my walk at lunch today. We've had some snow here the past few days and I forgot my boots at home. I have been enjoying walking in the snow (it added that extra little something to spice up my walk- new leg muscles to work) but can't do it in tennis shoes. Some days, the only reason I come to work is for my walk. I have a nice 3-mile route that combines uphill, downhill, and flat areas. I walk past the Iceoplex hoping one of these days I'll catch Sidney Crosby heading to a practice or something. Or not. It just happens to be on the way.

Don't know why I felt like writing today, but that's all I can get out now. I am going to close up shop for the week and head out on some errands.

It wasn't my imagination! An article on cnn.com this morning confirmed that the majority of Americans can't drive!

From the article: "Illinois, Georgia, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts were the least knowledgeable states overall..." It also said half of the people they tested didn't know how to properly use their turn signals! Pennsylvania was rated 46th overall for driving ability. I just feel so much better knowing that someone else knows. If only all those drivers that "would flunk their driver's test if they had to take it today" actually did have to take it today!

Do people even have to take a driver's exam anymore? I like to think of myself as a proficient driver - I have spent enough time behind the wheel to feel that I know what I am doing. And believe it not, I studied the driver's exam book before I took the test. You know, so I could LEARN the material? Like the LAWS of DRIVING? This is a constant issue for me. People do not know how to drive.

1. Use your turn signal. That knob isn't there for decoration.
2. Learn what 'yield' means.
3. Be courteous. You cause more accidents being a selfish asshole than if you would just let someone over when they signal (!) they would like to change lanes.

I like to think that it will get to the point where I can't stand it anymore. I will then put my plan of revenge into action by getting a job at the DMV to give Driver's Exams.

And thank you, Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center. Now that you have installed slot machines, not only does my morning commute have to put up with the normal asshole BMW, Audi and Hummer drivers going 25 miles over the speed limit, but I also have to put up with the blue hairs in their Cadillacs barely pushing 45. Thanks!

And finally, the pretty side of planning a wedding. I can't believe how hypocritical people are about religion. SO WHAT if I am not getting married in a church? I am still being married by a minister. Yes, my wedding will be blessed and YES I do believe in the 'sacrament' of marriage! I believe it is a PRIVATE agreement/relationship between a HUSBAND and WIFE that should remain private. No, I do not believe it is the money-grubbing scheme that the a) bridal industry and b) the Catholic church make it out to be. Yes, I love Bill beyond words. Yes, I want to spend the rest of my life with him. And frankly, our marriage would be no different if we got married at the JOP, in a chapel in Vegas, at the beach, or in a church. So :P

Don't pick up the sword if you aren't prepared to duel.

Thank GOODNESS it is Friday. I am really looking forward to sleeping in a bit tomorrow morning. I started on my way to wellness this week and dragged my butt out of bed at 6 am to exercise. It has been 7 days and counting and I have only hit the snooze button once. I have an elliptical that Bill got me for Christmas last year that hasn't been much but a decoration for my stamp room. So I figured I was lucky enough to have one that I had better use it. I also found out my mom walks her dog at that time (she just lives down the street from me) so her and I and our doggies have been meeting at the ass crack of dawn (every time I say that I think of you, Julie) for a little walk. Its a nice warm up to my time on the elliptical. Sure would be nice to see some results soon. Other than my quads bulking up. My thighs do not need any more bulk to them. ETA: I think part of my motivation is that I have a TV hooked up downstairs that I can watch while I exercise. For the past week I've been watching Pirates of the Caribbean! Nothing like pirates first thing in the morning.

This week seemed to take forever. Even with a day off it seemed to drag. Work has been really blah, but at least today I have something to do. Music is a big helper too. Bill and I were going to try to go to Kennywood this weekend, but Saturday looks like its going to be a chilly, rainy day. Sunday is the last day before our tickets expire, and I've got a feeling that we're just not going to get there.


Today's picture is from a trip Bill and I took to Toronto last fall. We visited a place called the Guild Sculpture Garden in a suburb of Toronto. It is a collection of pieces of old buildings from downtown Toronto that were saved from demolition and put in a garden that overlooks Lake Ontario. I had visited here when I was a child and we went back to find it. When we were there, a wedding party was having their photographs taken here at the Greek Theatre. Kind of a gray day for pictures, but I bet it would be amazing. Have a great weekend!

Eugh. Starbucks Friday started out so good. Nothing like a Venti Skim (with Whip) White Chocolate Mocha to make my day. And then I had to venture off to look at my friend's wedding pictures. Now I keep giving my delectable drink a sideways glance. How many calories are left in that half glass? I hate the pictures. I hated the dress! (Katie, I hope you aren't reading this). Ok, the dress was beautiful. But not for a woman with a body like myself. Strapless dresses weren't made for short busty girls. 'Nuff said. I do have to say - I only get the White Chocolate Mocha skim so I don't need a spoon to finish it off. I try and convince myself that I am above this calorie-counting weight-watching world that we live in, but I refuse to have my own wedding pictures look like these ones. Good thing Bill is cute (and hates pictures)! Give me 2 or 3 good ones and I'll be happy. I don't need 800 to look through. This rant is going in a direction I don't want to take it. I could go on and on about weddings.




Instead, I will leave you with a picture that makes me smile every time I see it. This is my (future) niece Allison, who is the spitting image of her uncle when he was a baby. She is just the most charming, adorable little baby. Its times like these when I get started thinking about babies that I am glad I've got the body that I do! Happy Starbucks Friday! I'm off to finish my White Chocolate Mocha.

*Yawn* After lunch nap time. Julie was tired of looking at my beach picture, so I guess I need to update my blog. Not too much new on the store front - we did get our reptile display case finally but it isn't going to work quite like we wanted. The top shelf is way out of view for a normal height person, so we are trying to figure something out. Ideally, we'd like to set up two sets of 6 tanks. Just think of all the froggies we could get in there. We also need to get jumping on getting some chameleons. Ours at home is so cool, I really think other people would like them. And they are easy to care for.

My picture for today is of my Juno. He is so funny. He gets all goofy when the camera comes out and at any moment can turn and jump at it. He's our 'shop dog' and when we're at the store, he cannot sit still. He knows that when he hears the doorbell that new people are coming in and so he rushes downstairs to see who it is. I was upstairs feeding and he was following me around everywhere. He finally laid down and I went to take a picture - look at those eyes - he's one second from jumping up. Its an 'I'm pretending not to look' look.

This is my favorite picture of Juno. You'd think he was my child the way I talk about him, but I don't care. He was just a puppy here, just about 3 months old. He's got that little black spot under his nose, I think it looks like a little moustache. He was so freaking cute I sometimes can't stand it.

Not much else is new. Bill and I were going to go to Kennywood tomorrow after work, but they are only open on the weekends now. I knew I shouldn't have bought those tickets with our crazy schedule. So, we'll try for the weekend. That's all for me. I'm tired and don't have much to talk about. Julie, I promise I will try to give you different pictures to look at so you're not stuck looking at the same for 2 weeks :)

It feels like is has been raining here non-stop for weeks. It has only been 4 days or so, but all of a sudden it feels very fall-like. Not the temperature, mind you, we're still in the high 80s, but my world just has that 'feeling'. I think its the back-to-school chatter that is going on. This time of year will always have that anticipatory feeling for me.

Today I'm sharing a photo taken last year during our beach vacation. The family changed things up and went in October - I will never go in the summer again after that. The temperatures were in the perfect 70s and there was barely any humidity. As close to paradise as I've ever felt. I purposely took this photo so that in the future, when I wasn't at the beach, and if I concentrated real hard, I could put myself in the picture. This year, we didn't get to the beach. Bill took all his vacation during the store transition, and we really can't desert the place for a week (*I* could with barely any guilt, but Bill doesn't feel the same way). I thought I'd be ok with no vacation but I lied. I am cranky and feel jipped. We took a weekend trip last month, but it honestly left me feeling more stressed and pressed for time than before I left. I'm concentrating, but I just can't feel the sand between my toes.