Leave you with this

I am a day late on this, but we jsut had such a busy weekend. I made these for teh teachers in Wyatt's teachers. They are Bath Salts. I used orange and lemon oil, mmm it smells so nice and refreshing, kind of a pick me up salt.

So I won't be here for the next week, I lots of packing to do for my Scrapbook Retreat to Pacific Beach. So this is on my To Dos this week, lots of packing.

I will be gone from Thursday afternoon till Sunday afternoon. When I get back I will hopefully have lots and lots of layouts to share.

Checking in...

So it is time to check in with my weight loss. In Sept. 2009 when I started this challenge I weighed and measured myself. Here were those measurements

Sept. 2009
weight- 148 lbs
Thighs- 23 in
Hips- 42.5 in
Belly- 36 in
(this was a the muffin top/belly pouch area)
Waist- 30 in

Jan. 2010
Weight- 136 lbs 12 lbs lost
Thighs- 23 in Stayed the same :(
Hips- 41.5 in 1 in lost
Belly-34 2 in. lost- this of course changes after I eat big ;)
Waist-27 in 3 in lost

So I really need to step this up, I just really hate exercising even now after doing it for 4 months. I find myself skipping days because I hate it so much. I just really don't like it and if I could not do it I wouldn't, but I have to get this weight off. I don't want to be as skinny as I was 15 years ago at 120 lbs, but would like to fit into the 5 pair of jeans I have in my cupboard I just can't get myself to throw away. I LOVE THOSE JEANS!
I would love to get down at least 6 more lbs. by summer. Man to be able to wear shorts again and feel good about it.

Party Planning

So I am thinking we might be going the Skull/ Pirate theme for Wyatt 's Birthday Party. I figure Derek and him are way into skulls so I could incorporate it with pirates.

I am going to try and use the Community Center again, have a treasure hunt, and if possible see if the kids can roast hot dogs in a fire pit (not sure what the rules are for the center)

All decorations I have found so far are from Oriental Trading Co. they have some really great prices. I love the banner below to string on the ceiling and the telescopes to give to the kids.

So yes I am doing this early, but like I said I like to organize and plan.

Projects

So I have been thinking about alot of projects lately, things I need/ want to do over the next few months.

Valentine's Day- In 2008 (yup that was along time ago) I made lots of stuff with my friend Terry. See post here, it is all the way end of the post. So I actually had 3 of those Starbucks bottles left over from that day, I found them while gutting my space. I decided I would take them this year and make teacher gifts out of them. I am not sure if I want to fill with candy or make up some bath salts????
I am not sure what Wyatt will bring for his class. I love giving holiday pencils, I just think it is something every kid uses, plus I end up getting them free with my couponing at Walgreen's. So maybe just let him pick out valentine cards form the store and then we will attach the pencils to it. Again ?????

My Birthday- Ok I know it is bad to plan your own party, but I love trying to get everyone together and I love planning things, so it works. I just thought a scrap party, yes again (man I have no pics from our Scrapbook Zone Bday get together in 08) would be fun, plus it's my fav thing to do. I would love to have a whole day of scrappin with the girls to celebrate. I will probably go out to dinner with friends or just family too, we did that last year.

Derek's Birthday- Probably the usual get together for wings or a fight night. We did the fight night last year and it was a little out of control, so not sure what he will want to do. Maybe he will just get together with his buddie's and do a poker night. The guys from church do that alot.

Wyatt's Birthday Party- So we have had some great parties over the years and I think my 4 month in advance planning is the reason ;) I just love planning it and organizing it. Now most years I have had full rain of it, but this year with Wyatt turning 5 I think he will want some say in it, darn it. In July he saw a pinata' and liked the idea so we might try that. But this year of course he has friends from school, soccer, and church that he is going to want to invite and I need to decide what I want to plan for it. My ideas for it our-

1-Have a Chuck e cheese party for 5-7 of Wyatt's friends from school and soccer and then maybe just a small BBQ at our house for all the other people we know and love.
2-Just have one big BBQ/ Party and try to get in games for the kids and talk time with everyone else. Maybe have it at the Community center like in 2008, that was alot of fun. The kids can run outside to blow off energy, Ammy Roach has lots of kid games, their is a fully stocked kitchen to make food in. So I would have a great space for it and could do lots of planning and setting up. eww clean up too!

3-Heck just invite everyone to Chuck e Cheese like last year and then I don't have to do any work except the invites. decisions?? decisions??

This was actually kind of fun to see all of his past birthday, see how much fun he had and how big he has gotten. Here is a few more 2007 and 2006.



So please leave me comments telling me any of your ideas on what I shoudl do, any pros or cons for my ideas. Or please just share any of your plans you have going, I love to hear them.

Great Giveway

Stop on by Mommy Snacks and enter her great giveaway for this $5 Dinner cookbook. I would love to have this cookbook and if you would to stop by here and enter to win.

What a great idea and I guess all recipes have been family approved. Who wouldn't want to make your grocery budget a little smaller and this cookbook will help that alot.

She is offering several chances to win this book all you have to do is head on over to here blog and enter, but don't wiat to long you only have till Thursaday at 8pm.

Menu Plan Monday

MEALS EDITED:

So i have been trying to be good a do a menu, I sat here last Sunday and asked my hubby what he wanted for dinner's and we made a menu out. So when I would tell him what was for dinner that night he would say he didn't like it or want it. AAHH! I don't pick specific days for meals, but I do need to be able to pull something out to thaw that morning. splurge on dinner.

So as much as I don't really wnat to make another menu out I am going to. This time I will add a few meals so there are more choices to choose from. And even though he says he doesn't wnat a certain type of meal I will have a few for backups for those nights he wants to.


-Rosemary Chicken and white beans

-KFC spicey wings, salad

-Curly's ribs, yam twice baked

-Fish, roasted veggies (squash, zuchinni, red bell pepper)

-Chicken, salad

-Corn Dog Casserole

-Cheesy beef and rice casserole, veggie

-Pork Chops, Salad, Quinoa side dish

-CBLT sandwich, baked lays chips

Sunday Scrappin

My TaDas- So for this Sunday I am sharing my Scrapbook room gut.
There are two posts here and here.

For next week I am going to follow along with their challenge and get some Valentine crafts done.

Thanks for stopping by and head on over to Sunday Scrappin (just click pic above) to share what craftiness you did this week.

Change is a good thing

I am hoping that changing my blog header to scrapbooking will help keep me motivated. I have done really good at gutting my stash and organizing it all. Heck I even went through a huge stack of layouts I had done and organized them by date. Seriously this is how long it has been since I have organized these layouts, I had ones in the stack from 2006 and 2007. Gees that was a long time ago. In doing so I noticed how many missing events there were. I really would love to get caught up over this next year or pretty close to.

I am getting super excited about my 3 1/2 day retreat that will happen at the end of the month and am hoping to get alot done at it.

____________________
*on a side note-

I have been doing really good with getting things done around the house and errands that need to be run run. To help me get this done I have found a great blog in my favorites (I think my sister Dani showed it to me at one time). Home Sanctuary and I will be spending alot of time together over these next few days, I am going to read several months back and see what it is all about, so far I like alot of her ideas and plans on creating your home into a sanctuary for your family.

Well it is late and time to go to bed, hope to talk to you all soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Next Project

So a little while back I posted that Derek took the doors off these cupboards above the sink. I am loving it, but it still needs to be decorated. So this is my next project, trying to find just the right things to put up here.
I love having a few cookbooks up there and the old scale of my mom's. Under the scale is hard to see, but I found and old Campbell's soup lunchbox at St.Vinny's, love this.
I would love to find an old white or red beat up metal spaghetti strainer maybe. Just not sure what I want to do, but I think it needs to be a little bigger and put on the right side. Right now there is a Christmas tin there, but I just need to take it down.
So this is the project on my list.

The Makeover

So I finished my scrap area. It is really empty now, which is nice though because I really had alot of stuff I didn't use. I got rid of a kitchen table full of stuff. Here are the after shots. Below is a pic of the before and after because I really changed the bookshelf around alot and wanted to show you the difference.

NOW

BEFORE

Menu Plan Monday

Alright in keeping with my MOVE/ PLAN movement I decided needed to start my menu planning again. It is a little harder right now cause we are trying to eat healthier and staying away from side dishs. We are trying to eat more veggies and protein (more for Derek's diet, but the no carbs in the side dishes works good for me too)

-Light Beef Stroganoff w/brown rice

-BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches on sandwich thins, w/yam fries

-T Bone steak, w/salad

-Fish, steamed broccoli

-Friday Night Wings at Putters

-Brushetta Bake


For more ideas visit Organized Junkie for menu plan monday.

Also tomorrow I will post pics of my scraproom clean up.

Thanks for stopping by.

A true mess!

So in keeping with my organizing resolution for the year my first plan of attack is my Scrap Area. Yes it is already pretty organized, but I would like to go through and do some purging, get rid of old out dated things I will probably never use. Now this is pretty easy for me to help others do, but getting myself to do this is a challenge.

With my upcoming Scrapbook retreat at the end of the month I thought now would be a good time to do this so I can see what I still need or want to get before the trip.

Here are some before pics, yup I took these this morning and it really is this messy. But messy is good right means it's getting used.

-Each basket will get a go through to see what I still want to keep. Stamps, ink pads, punches, ribbons, etc. There is stuff on here that doesn't get used very often, but I will keep because it will one day get used, like my chipboard items.
And trust me NO Thickers will be hurt in this cleaning. I actually need to make room for another box of them.

-I will go through this bookshelf and see what can get tossed.
-I will go through my paper box and get rid of unwanted paper that I will proably never use.
-Each drawer in the plastic boxes will get a go through.
-Most paints I will keep because they do get used eventually, same with ribbons.


So I hope this will inspire you to go through your stuff and start the year fresh and new. Umm and hello it just leaves room to buy new stuff. If you do organize a space in your home I hope you will share it I love seeing this it totally inspires me, or if you have a website/ blog to share please do.

Thanks for stopping by.

On a roll.

I started making this layout a while ago just took for ever. It was one of those you have sitting there and work on here and there when it felt right. I used bazzil cardstock, orange embroidery thread, thickers, charcoal maya mist and Simply Luxe labels..
I made the skull myself cause I couldn't find anything I liked. I find a drawing online, strunk it, cut it out and put clear stickles all over it. Loved how it turned out.


Thanks for stopping by.

A new layout

So as you saw in my last post Megan had a little challenge going on over at her blog.

{part 1: Once you've got your top 10 of 2009 posted on your blog, pick one of them and use your own layout as inspiration to create a new one!

{part 2: It's so much fun to use packaging pieces from all the great manufacturers out there! Cause hey, if they can create some great products, their packaging has to ROCK too right? Show me what you do with your left over packaging!

So this is the layout I created and I used Studio Calico packaging stickers. Since I haven't been scrapping alot I didn't have much packaging.


These are the stickers I had and used.

Thanks for stopping by.

Top 10

So Megan posted on her blog her Top 10 layouts that she created in 2009, so I thought I would play along. Didn't have to much to choose from as I didn't scrap to much this year. I only had 16 to choose from, but anyway here are mine-

Edited: Another year another resolution

So every year I try and make resolutions and pick a Word that I want to follow. Not to sure what this years word will be, but I want it to sum up what all my resolutions are about.

2009 word was MOVE

As most of you know this year I quit taking Paxil, with that came up some issues. I have lacked in the organizing skills I usually have had. Menu planning, scrapbooking, list making, chores have all been lacking also because of this. I just feel like there is so much of it and my brain overloads and instead of it getting done I just shut down. Unless you have gone through this it can be hard to explain. I am basically having to learn how to do all this all over again. So this year that is one of my resolutions is to get back on track with our life being organized.

Another thing I have noticed I haven't scrapped since I stopped taking the Paxil, just really didn't have an interest in it, but my goal is to get back on it. I am so far behind and I really do miss it. I miss the feeling of finishing that layout and seeing what I have created, it really is a great feeling. saying to yourself 'ooh that is so cute'. I need to get scrapping!

My goal last January was to start exercising, um ya that didn't really happen until September. But since I started I feel so much better, my eating has gotten better, I haven't gotten sick and I have lost 11 pounds. Not as much as I would have liked to lose, I have about 10 more to go because I still have to wear my fat jeans. My butt seems to always be the last to go, LOL. also as most of you know I have taken a challenge to run the Viking Fest 10k with a friend, that is 6 miles if you don't know. Now for someone unphysical like me this is a big challenge. So I have two resolutions here; stay fit and run the Viking Fest 10k in May.

Next is kind of a money thing and I really don't talk about money on here, but this will be short and sweet. I would love to pay of the boat this summer.

So by writing all this I think that my word this year might have to be MOVE again. Just seems to fit what I would like to accomplish this year. Unless you have another idea I would love to hear them. If you aren't able to post on here just email me you word.

Edited: I decided to use two words this year because I really liked another word and it also just fit in with my idea of what I wanted to accomplish this year. So without further ado the new word is PLAN.

Dec.25, Christmas Day

Our House
Wyatt was very excited when he woke up.

Dixie killed her duck within 20 minutes of getting it.
My pink loot this year. Ryan and Zach opening their Xbox we got them. (thanks goodness for sales)

Papa and Nana's house

Wyatt looks pretty funny in this pic, but it is the only one where everyone is looking.Derek got his Duck's Unlimited whiskey. He has collected these the last 3 years.

Aunt Judy opening the fleece frog blanket we got her.The girls opening their gift form us. I was
afraid they wouldn't like it but I guess they did. It was a box full of stuff I have gotten over the last 3 months with coupons, anything and everything you could think of for the bathroom. Nail plish, hair products, shamppos, deo, makeup, etc.This was the year of quilts from my parents for the kids.

Zach-
Shirley-
Ryan-

Lizzy-
Wyatt opening gift from Hardwick's.Maggie enjoying some quiet time.

Thanks Uncle B and Aunt Pat, Grampa Ben and Grandma Marylee and Papa and teetah we loved everything. Thanks Dad and Mom too it was a great Christmas.