Happy New Year!

15 minutes until the new year. We are spending it at home this year. Don't really know anyone here to spend it with and no one likes to drive to come see us.....and also Kent is sick. So anyway, today off and on I have been trying to clean out my office, organize, etc. Still have more to do.

I went to the grocery store today and was flipping through the magazines with the very good intent of not buying one. But then, as I was looking through the Paperkuts January 2006 issue, the name "Stacey George" caught my eye. I have a quote on page 72! They emailed me a while back asking me a few questions and I guess they decided to use something I said. Well, being that I have never seen my name in a nationally publicated magazine, I had to buy it. I'm supposed to get a "goody box" from them for my efforts.....guess we'll see.

In other exciting news, I think this body bugg thing is pretty cool. I have been using all of its features since Wednesday. It is very interesting to see what activities burn calories, etc. It appears a few trips up and down our stairs (somewhat steep) is good for me. I have also figured out this 1400 calorie diet thing. It is not as much of a stretch as I thought. Basically, I just need to eat reasonable amounts, not take seconds and avoid mindless snacking. All pretty common sense things, but good to see in black and white. It also means very few items from my most favorite food group.....sugar. The other thing it means is very little eating out....which of course I know and have wanted not to do as much of, but a 1-2 times a week that convenience is just too much of a pull. I think the key to the success of this will be planning ahead, weekly meal planning, etc. If the food is in the house it will be much easier to make =). Gee...aren't I smart?
Today was my experiment day. Can I not work out and still make my calorie burning goals? I will make it, but.....I did not sit too much today. Cleaned, grocery shopped. Didn't really sit and relax too much. Might just be easier to work out.

So....as I sit here with 2 minutes until midnight, I am contemplating my goals for the new year.
Lets see......
I would like to paint the walls in my house a color other than white.
I would like to get some furniture in my house =).
I would like to get curtains or some sort of window coverings on some of my windows {especially that lovely bathroom.....the baby blanket is still up!}
I would like to continue my exercise program and loose that pesky extra fat.
I would like to find a place for everything in my house....less clutter. Storage is good.
I would like to continue to do my scrapbooking thing....maybe get a few more published.
I'm sure there is more, but I can't think of them right now. So blessing in the new year to all! Good night!

A quick one

Just a quick one tonight. I had my personal training session today. Got my fat pinched, queezed, had to be weighed, photographed.....it was worse than going to the doctor. Got the body bugg uploaded and can now do that from home. The computer calcuates that I should be burning a little over 2000 calories per day and taking in 1460ish (!!!!) Yikes. Although, logging in my food today, I did accomplish the 1400 thing. Sitting here I am hungry....but oh well, I'm going to go to bed soon and then it won't matter....I'll just digest some of my fat while I'm sleeping. It was kind of disheartening after I got my fat pinched, when he announced the same % body fat that I had 4 months ago when I started exercising. So apparently, even though I have definitely gained muscle, I have not been successful in losing any fat. That sucks. I think this body bugg thing will be very good for me...good to see what happens if I eat a piece of cake, a ton of Mexican food, whatever. Make me think about if it is really worth it or not. So anyway, my goal remains the same...to lose my flab, all 15ish pounds of it. So.....stay tuned for next Wednesday when the body bugg saga continues.

The first picture is of Bella {new fuzzy pink shirt courtesy of Grandma Be} trying out her new karoke machine. She was singing jingle bells. Soon after this, Emma {in her new barbie princess dress} came over to help her out and an all out fight started as they were fighting over the microphone....and soon Jingle Bells turned into screaming, tugging, and pushing. The second photo is of Emma playing with her new kitchen (which can also be seen in the background of the first). It is from Target and is a pottery barn replica. Gotta love Target....cool stuff, much cheaper. Emma loves her kitchen.

I will start posting my layouts again soon...but I need to finish the design team stuff first. Did my second layout tonight.....I am REALLY struggling with this paper.....hope it turns out good enough =).




The other two pictures are of my Body Bugg . It is on my right arm, the major part is on my triceps. It is annoying, don't like having it on all the time. But since they are nice enough to let me try it, I will try to give it a fair shot. I have no idea how it works, other than it apparently measures 4 different parameters to come up with an estimate of how many calories I am burning. And according to the trainer, it is the most accurate thing outside of the lab. Tomorrow I have my first appointment with my trainer dude, we'll download the thing for the first time and see the bad news {I'm assuming}. It does make me stop and think about what I'm eating. We'll see. I'm excited though....looking forward to having someone make me work hard.

To my Frytown Friend, sorry about the UTI. I'm sure you might remember Bella had reflux and had several VCUGs....always harder when it is your own kid =(. I hope I get to see you when you come back, let me know if you have any time!

Back from Christmas

So here is a picture of my Emma being read to by my Grandma. When Bella was little she dubbed Grandma Big Grandma to differentiate her from my mom....and it has stuck. So now my grandparents are Big Grandma and Big Grandpa. Such a sweet woman. I kind of desaturated the photo a bit. I used it on my first layout for the design team I am a guest on this month at Rustic Artisans. I am really struggling with this paper. Having a hard time getting inspired....hopefully it will come to me in the next week as I have to get that done by then. I also got my stuff from Scrappy Giraffe. I think she did a great job of putting stuff together. The paper is great and the cardstock matches perfectly {that is my pet peave when the cardstock doesn't match anything---you know I'm a complete nutball when I have pet peaves about cardstock!}. Anyway....again if you haven't checked it out, do it!!!!!!!{aren't I a good salesperson?}

I was quite excited to see that I have new readers and that they commented!!! How happy that makes me. Yes, again I am showing my geakiness by getting excited over something like that, but for some reason it makes me happy to know that someone else besides my mother {and maybe a few others} enjoy this. Anyway....to answer a few questions in my comment section. About blogging.....very easy, fun, keeps friends and family up-to-date and is completely free through blogger. Check it out: Blogger . About scrapbooking. Great hobby. Stress reliever. No need to get overwhelmed by it. For you beginners {and anyone else} I would suggest the book The Big Picture and it's related website Big Picture . And though I failed to impress my sister-in-law this weekend with the book {she's tough....but breakable =) } I think it would be a great resource for someone who is considering taking scrapbooking up and needs some guidance on where to start. Again....am I showing my geekiness? And lastly, what is a scrapbook design team? It is a group of so-called designers {questionable title for myself I believe} that use the product given to them to create layouts/projects that make the product desirable to others who might be shopping for them. So for instance Paper Heart Studio is a manufacterer of scrapbook paper. She sends me product, I make stuff with it. I try to get published with it to show off her stuff, she can use it at tradeshows, etc. etc. The other team I am on, Scrappy Giraffe is a kit club. She collects papers and fun stuff from multiple manufacturers, coordinates it all, sends it out to subscribers. My job is to make stuff that is inspiring for the subscribers, etc. Long answer, huh?

Anyway....that is all for tonight. Have a good one.

The drum has arrived

So tonight we surprised the girls by letting them open their presents. Bella said it was the best surprise ever. The above photo shows Bella opening her new karoke machine. Her doll house is almost finished. She liked that a lot too. The plan is for Kent and her to finish it up next week. Emma finally got the drum she has been begging for. She was pretty excited. I will post more Christmas pictures next week. Going to my mom's house tomorrow for the weekend. Should be fun.

Well, as some know I have been exercising faithfully since August. Still not making the progress that I want to.....so today I broke down and got a personal trainer dude. Hopefully he is going to whip me into shape. For three months I am also going to do the Body Bugg . I get to do this part for free because I am cool. Acutally, it is not because I'm cool (shock), but because of my job, they think I might be some good free advertisement to venerable post-partum moms. Anyway, not sure I'm crazy about wearing this thing around my arm, but since it is free, I'll give it a whirl. Anyway, will post more about that later. That is all for tonight. Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas.

Loser

Alright....I'm such a loser. Instead of working on all the things that need to be done, I sit and play on the computer and make the lovely banner above. It is my first attempt at making such a thing. I think my next one will be even better =). Now...back to work.

Farewell!

....Well not for good. Probably for a lot of this week though. I have A LOT, A TON, THOUSANDS OF THINGS to do this week. I have to finish a few Christmas presents, Bella's dollhouse is far from finished {so VERY, VERY, VERY far}, I live in a pigsty that should be cleaned, I work full-time, etc, etc, etc. So just a warning....so you can prepare yourselves for the shock of not having my blog to read. But I will save up everything exciting and be back strong next week. Maybe, if I have an abundance of energy (ha!) I will post something this week....we'll just have to see. I'll aim for Wednesday....sound good?

Oh by the way, Memory Makers requested another page.....but it had already been taken by BHG. Never thought I'd have that problem =). Another thing to check out.... the kit at Scrappy Giraffe is up. This will ship the third Monday in January. Check it out! You even get some lip gloss with it. =)

Favorite Mama

Made this tonight. Seems like lately I'm going a little crazy with my stuff...but it is kind of fun. This was made out of tissue paper, lots of glue, some fancy post-it notes, etc. In person, I think it is kind of pretty. Can't get the full effect from scanning though. {By the way for you inquiring minds...that is a picture of Emma}

So tonight Emma was standing beside me, watching me glue {she loves glue} and she said out of the blue, "you're my favorite mama". Ahh....how cute. I think that is the first time she has verbalized any love towards me. Of course she hugs and kisses and all that stuff...but has never really said anything.

Okay.....so I remember trying to read Black Beauty when I was a kid, but I think I got bored and never got past the first chapter or so. Anyway, Bella is watching this movie tonight and it finishes and she comes in to talk to me and I can tell something is wrong...so I ask her what it was, was the movie good, etc. She then said it was the saddest movie ever. I asked her what happened and she bursts into tears....I guess Black Beauty's horse friend dies. No one ever told me a horse dies in this thing!?! I probably wouldn't have let her watch it if I had known, she is kind of sensitive to those things. She still gets teary eyed when we talk about the disappearance of Henry the nasty mean cat who was never nice to her. Anyway, she recoverd and drew pictures of horses the rest of the night.

Well, must go to bed. Have a good day.

This didn't scan so well...oh well. Some of the centers of the flowers have glitter in them, some of letters aren't showing up. Again...oh well.

Had to go back to work today. I'm really feeling a need for a vacation. Yesterday was so nice, really enjoyed not working. I sent most of my Christmas cards yesterday. Finished up all of my Christmas shopping. Nice to be done with that. Feeling kind of blah today....can you tell? Nothing exciting to talk about. Maybe tomorrow.

No Work for Me!

Here is a page I did tonight. It is kind of redo of a page I did shortly after Emma was born. There really is no comparison compared to that early page. The stuff I do now has changed so much. Much better now. Again this looks a little crooked....darn scanner.

So tomorrow (oops....guess it is tomorrow already) I am taking the whole day off. I have high hopes and grand aspirations for the day. But more than likely none of my goals with be accomplished. Probably, I'll run all my errands that I have been putting off, might work-out, eat some lunch, shop for a few yet to be bought Christmas presents and by that time my whole day of relaxing and having fun will be gone. Maybe I'll try....we'll see.

So silly me had the idea of buying Bella a doll house for Christmas {she has been asking for one for a long time---don't tell her}. So instead of just buying an ugly plastic one I had the brilliant idea to get one of those "real" doll houses. But....you have to put them together yourself. I bought one at the hobby lobby with my 40% off coupon. And holy crap.....that thing has like 50 lbs of wood to it, about a gazillion shingles, you have to paint it, etc, etc, etc. And of course since Kent and I are both procrastinaters....the box just got opened up yesterday. Hopefully, it will get done.

That is all for now....have a good day.

Another weekend gone

Here are my girlies enjoying the snow. Think this was last weekend when it was SOOOOOO cold out. Bella saw me with the camera and was doing her posing thing.

Didn't do too much this weekend. Can't really think of anything exciting to say. I did get another page request on Friday. This one was from Memory Makers magazine. So that was pretty cool. May issue I think. This one was of Emma so now she can be "famous" too.

That is all for now. I'll try to be more exciting tomorrow.

Nothing fun tonight

This picture was taken a few weeks ago. The girls always want to sleep together, but it never works out...they always goof off too much. So I don't let them even try anymore.

So we really didn't do anything fun tonight. I had to go to the grocery store after work and buy Betty food, she ran out last night. Got some Chinese food while we were there. Then came home and I dug out our newspaper from the driveway. It snowed today, not sure how much, but it seemed like there was at least 6 new inches on the driveway. Also shoveled it off a bit {no easy task...it is about 125 feet long and steep up hill}. Thought I should as the baby sitter is coming tomorrow and wanted her to be able to get up the driveway. We don't have a snowblower yet...who needs one with a 4WD? Then also due to babysitter pressure, I thought I should clean the house up a bit so she wouldn't turn me in to the health department for having a disgusting house. So it looks better. And that is my whole night. It kind of sucks. I hate it when all I do is work. Tomorrow we are going to a Christmas party for the clinic...exciting. I'm going for the free food. Bella is going to a friends house and Emma will hang out with the babysitter. Hope that goes well...she sometimes gets a little anxious without Bella. That is all for now--adios.

Magazines!

Allright....so I got some magazines in the mail today, also picked up one at the store....so I'm afraid to say that they are winning over the blogging tonight. Going to go get under my covers and read! I'm excited!

Random Thoughts

Okay, so I went a little crazy with this one tonight. I think it looks better in person. Oh well, it was fun while I was doing it.

Random thoughts from Emma's little mind, heard over the last week: Skunks don't wear underwear, that's why they stink. Skunks aren't big girls like me, skunks don't pee on the potty. Santa has a big bottom. My bottom is burping. Notice a common theme here? Also in other cute news, she wanted to go on a bike ride when we got home today. I declined due to the temperature of FOUR outside.

Why do I hate my cat so much? Is it because the other day I came downstairs and she was sitting on my open gym bag peeing on it? Is is because the only time she will get near Emma is at 3 am to wake her up? Is it because she is pacing the house like a crazy kitty right now wanting outside into the NEGATIVE FOUR weather? {hmmm....perhaps I should consider that}. Is it because she scrapes the side of her litter box for 5 minutes straight and never end up covering her deposit? I don't know, but she annoys the crap out of me.

In scrapbooking news, I had a page requested by Scrapbooks etc. I told Bella she was going to be famous {she is on the layout}. She couldn't stop giggling. She wondered if Grandma Cindy Lou would be able to see it in the magazine. I told her the whole world could and she giggled some more. Anyway, I'm kind of excited. I love Scrapbooks etc. Never thought they would want my stuff.

Kindergarten memories

Yeah....I know the black dots kind of ruin the whole thing, but I thought I better as some people might not appreciate their children on the internet. Anyway, this was Bella's kindergarten class. I set Bella loose with the camera at the end of the year party and she took almost all of the pictures herself (except of course the one she is in). I guess you can kind of get the idea.

Well, I'm afraid to say this as I might jinx the whole situation, but I believe I will call Emma officially potty trained. She refuses to wear pullups anymore, even at night {which didn't turn out so great last night}. She goes by herself without any prodding. She is always quite proud of her results, often calling multiple family members in to look.

I am going to host a stampin' up party {yes, I know, that is getting a bit social for me}. Hopefully, I will have a guest or two. Going to do it after the first of the year so people can get free stamps if they spend $50. Anyway, if anyone reading this would like to come, please let me know. That is all for tonight. Have a good one.

Emma and her crazy hair

Just a quick layout showcasing Emma's crazy hair. It took almost 2 years for her to have enough hair to do anything with.....including making it look goofy.

Well the new DT I'm on announced it's team. Check it out... Scrappy Giraffe . If anyone is looking for more scrapbooking supplies, looks like these kits are going to be large. First one should be pretty cool. There is a sneak peak on the site. I think she will start taking orders on Dec 15th.


So I finally got rid of my Idaho drivers license, after living here for almost a year. Being the geekoid that I am, I scanned it before going to the drivers license station...never know when you might need it?! =) I had my dorky I have braces smile in the picture....glad I don't have to do that anymore. My Iowa license was apparently still valid so I just had to pay $3 to get a new copy. The new Iowa license is very goofy looking. Has a pink banner, lots of swirlies, holographic stuff. Very odd looking. Anyway, I'm sure that was exciting wasn't it. Better go, have a good night.