Keep Moving Forward

Trent picked up Meet the Robinsons from the RedBox yesterday. I wanted to see it after reading Gabrielle's review on her blog. A definite thumbs up from us as well. Very cute movie. And, I loved how they tied in this quote from Walt Disney:

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

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7th Birthday

Little Chester turned 7 today. :) Here are a few photos of him over the years:

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Leap Day Specials

Several retailers are offering Leap Day specials. Here are a few you might want to take them up on:

• McDonald's free McSkillet Burrito - buy any medium or large drink today or tomorrow during breakfast hours and receive a free sausage McSkillet burrito
• Einstein Bros. Bagels and Noah's Bagels - 29cent regular drip coffee
• Scrapbook Express - use coupon code, SELEAPS10, to save an extra 10% on orders over $30! (The Silhouete is excluded from this coupon)
• The Memory Zone Scrapbook Store - It's a HUGE Leap Year Sale
• Gotta Pixel - Leap Year Sale
• Circuit City - 2008 Leap Year Sale
• A&E / History Channel - Leap Year Sale
• Cuties N Cotton - Leap Year Sale + Free Shipping
• Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta - Free box of Ronzoni Healthy Harvest® pasta
• Frontier Airlines - Leap Year Sale
• Walgreens Photo Center - Save 29% on your photo order (code: LEAPDAY) and 29c coupon specials

For Leap Day babies only:

• Papa John's - free large, one topping "Perfect Pan" pizza (online code LEAPDAY)
• Boston Market - free lunch up to $10 value
• Morton's The Steakhouse - free steak and seafood dinner to people with this special birthday on Leap Day 2008
• Einstein Bros. Bagels and Noah's Bagels - free menu item, side, pickle & drink
• Also check my Birthday Freebies post for deals available on your birthday whether it's 2/29 or any other day in the year.
  

Other fun stuff:

• Celebrate the Year of the Frog at a zoo or aquarium near you

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Scrapbook Shopping

2ps blog challenge:
Are you the type of scrapper/card maker that buys things to use on items your creating now. Or do you buy with the future project you could be creating?
I buy a little for both. Typically, I'll be looking for an item or two for a current project and stumble across something that looks fun for later. Going to a scrapbook store is out of the way for me (minimum 30 minutes drive each way) so I tend to buy more than I would at a chain craft store - stock up on the "goodies" I don't have easy access to. However, I haven't been scrapbook shopping in several weeks now because my collection of "goodies for later" has left me with plenty to work with. And to maintain a bit of order in my small scrap space, I need to use up a bit of my stash before buying anything else.

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The West Wing

Trent & I went to Virginia this past weekend to spend time with my family. One of the reasons for our trip was a visit to the White House. My cousin is on the White House staff and had arranged to give us a tour of the West Wing. We poked our heads into the Cabinet Room, Roosevelt Room, and even the Oval Office. Unfortunately, photos inside (except for the Press Briefing Room) are off limits.

Here are Trent & I in the Press Briefing Room:

Family photo in the Rose Garden:

View of the Washington Monument over the West Wing:

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First Birthday Card

A fun card I made for my cousin's son's birthday. I wanted something cute to tie in with the wrapping paper.


Supplies: Die Cuts with a View card; Basic Grey patterned paper; Pebbles Inc sticker; Bazzill cardstock; Two Peas birthday block font.

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HI

The inspiration just has not been flowing over here the last few days. Blame it on the paint fumes perhaps? Speaking of which, thank you all for the sweet comments about the bedroom! It was quite a change, but we're happy with it. Definitely a nice warmer feel. Now if I could just decide on the colors for the rest of the rooms. Hmm.....

In the meantime, here's a quick card I whipped up tonight. Inspired by the card designs on Oct 4 of dw2007.


Supplies: Die Cuts with a View card & adhesive backed cardstock; SEI patterned paper; Scenic Route sticker; QuicKutz Metro SkinniMini font.

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Saturday Painting Project

Yesterday we had plans to stop by Ace Hardware for a rain barrel. The drought here continues to get worse and this may be the only way we'll be able to water any of our outdoor plants this summer. The last time we attempted to buy one, they were in stock one day and out of stock by the time we went to buy one a couple days later. On Friday, Trent called to be sure they had some - yes and 3 different types. The one we wanted would be $10 off on Saturday. Sounded good. Until we got there and, yes, gone again! The sales associate told us one man bought them, but he didn't know why. I know why - to resell. The lots in this area are far to small for any one homeowner to need more than 2 or 3 and they are a hot commodity around here with the current restrictions. I was very displeased, but wasn't willing to shell out $99 for a really ugly terra cota one they did have in stock. So, our rain barrel shopping will wait until another day. We have a plan. ;) But I'm keeping that a secret for now so I might actually get one this time! LOL

While we were at Ace, and everything was 20% off for Ace Rewards card holders, we decided to look at paint. I have been wanting to paint our bedroom and kitchen. After almost 5 years of homeownership, over half of our home is still "builder's white." And, honestly, those walls are starting to look more yellow than white. Time to spruce things up.

We found a gallon of Benjamin Moore "Stratton Blue" (which looks more grey green on the paint chip - but teal in our house! LOL) in the "Oops!" section. It was marked $8, but after the 20% off - we got it for $6.40 (originally $35!). Another bad habit of mine - buying something like this and then letting it sit. I'll get to it later.... Since our rain barrel project was on hold, I decided to go full speed ahead and paint our bedroom yesterday.

Here's our room before:

And after with freshly painted walls:

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About Me

I've been tagged by Linda. :)

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.

C: At the end of the post, the player then tag 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: I was a sophomore in college.

Things on my to-do list today: It started off with nothing in particular, but then we went to Ace Hardware... Here's a clue. ;)


What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: donate to charity; travel

3 of my bad habits: talking too much, cursing when I get mad, leaving folded laundry in the basket

3 places I have lived: Virginia; Raleigh & Cary, North Carolina

5 jobs that I have had: babysitter; cashier at Taco Bell; sales at Toy Works; web designer; architectural designer

5 Things people don't know about me: I can wiggle my ears. Can't sing (I'll often mouth the words during church! LOL). I've only lived in 2 counties. I wasn't a fan of the color pink when I was younger, but now love it. I have no feeling in part of my right pinky due to an accident as a child with a cat food can.

Now I tag: Katy, Monica, and Colleen. :)

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Valentine's Day

Trent & I had a wonderful Valentine's Day! We've continued a tradition we started last year - going to the gym. Ok, I know, it doesn't sound overly romantic. ;) But, for us, it was a wonderful date. The first couple months of the year are very crowded with the "New Year's Resolution" folks so we tend to avoid the gym on weeknights. Well, I assure you, it's pretty empty on Valentine's. And, most importantly, it's good for our hearts which is a very good thing. :)

I received a nice mid-day surprise from my love. A beautiful miniature rose bush. He knows me well. I am not a fan of cut flowers. They die off too quickly. I prefer the money be spent on something that will last longer. This beautiful gift is sitting on a shelf at my desk right beside the African Violets he sent me in 2006. (The picture is from Hallmark.com - mine looks nearly identical, but I didn't have a camera to snap a shot.)

Here's the card I made for Trent:


Supplies: Die Cuts with a View card; Making Memories Defined sticker & brad; K&Co tag; Prima flower.

And the mini album I gave him:

I set my sights on you
And no one else will do

You spin me right round, baby
Right round like a record, baby

You look like you're having fun
Open up your lovin' arms
Watch out here I come

Supplies: My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey, Scenic Route, & s.e.i. patterned papers; Archiver's brown cardstock; Die Cuts with a View adhesive backed cardstock; Making Memories sweet, brad, & {note}worthy papers; QuicKutz metro font & heart die; Two Peas Silly font; American Crafts ribbon; Studio G stamp. Inspired by Feb 14th of dw2008.

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True Love

My mother forwarded this in an email to me earlier this week. I thought I would share with all of my readers. Enjoy! Happy Valentine's Day! :)

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Mysteries of the Lost Colony

Finally! I've not only found time to scrap this week, but I managed to complete a traditional 12x12 layout. Inspired by Feb 12th of dw2008 to use memorabilia on your page, I scrapped the brochure, tickets & postcard from the Mysteries of the Lost Colony exhibit in January:


Supplies: Archiver's cardstock; We R Memory Keepers patterned paper; Heidi Swapp photo corners; Making Memories {note}worthy clip & date stamp; Trebuchet font; brochure, tickets & postcard from museum exhibit.

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Chocolate

I am definitely a chocolate addict so being in the season of big heart shaped boxes of the yummy goodies, I took the What Kind of Chocolate Are You? quiz at BlogThings.com:

You are Milk Chocolate

A total dreamer, you spend most of your time with your head in the clouds. You often think of the future, and you are always working toward your ideal life. Also nostalgic, you rarely forget a meaningful moment... even those from long ago.

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

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Oranges and Bananas

It's always interesting to see where blog hits come from. Lately, with Valentine's approaching, my Valentine's Candy Jar post is getting a bit of attention as well as my altered jar post. The latter was mentioned last week in a post on the Orange Exchange blog. If anyone has altered a jar that was inspired by my posts, please let me know. I'd love to see. :)

And, to the other fruit half of my post.... ;)
I think I caught a couple readers off guard with the cauliflower in the banana bread. It was pureed after being steamed which eliminated the typical cauliflower texture. Honestly, I couldn't taste it. If you have any picky eaters, I'd recommend this cookbook. So far we haven't had anything that tastes bad and I am picky so that saying a lot.

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Banana Bread & the Two Peas Challenge

Last night I baked two small loaves of banana bread - one for us and one for our neighbors who are expecting. I used the recipe from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook which includes pureed cauliflower. Well, the house smelled so good from it last night, both Trent & I tried a bit of ours. Absolutely delicious! We'll definitely be making this again. :)

2ps blog challenge:
What was your favorite childhood book?
Stuart Little is the first book that came to mind when I read today's challenge. It was my first "big book" that I read on my own and I remember being so proud of that accomplishment.

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Giraffe Baby Card

Our neighbors are expecting their first baby on Tuesday. She has an appointment scheduled for a c-section that morning because the baby is breech. I made this card to go with the gift I'm taking over tomorrow. Kept in simple in greens and yellows since they are waiting to find out the sex of the baby when he or she is born. :)


Supplies: Die Cuts with a View card; scrap papers from my stash; Autumn Leaves giraffe stamp; black stamp ink; and chalks.

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Monkeys in a Tree

Saturday morning at the zoo our home:

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Eighty-six

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my grandfather's 86th birthday celebration. This week I made a digital 8.5x11 layout to share with the rest of the family. I used the sketch provided on Feb 9/10 of dw2008 for my inspiration.


Supplies: File Folder, Photo Frame, Label & Masking Tape from Rhonna Farrer's Office Supply Tool Kit at Two Peas; Birthday Cake Tag from hapPEA Birthday Kit at Two Peas; Paperclip from Craft Jar Kit at Peppermint Creative; background paper from After Midnight Kit at Peppermint Creative; Two Peas fonts: Blocks - Birthday, Blocks - Happy, Flower Pot, and Old Type; Lucida Sans font.

2ps Blog Challenge:
With the nicer weather coming what is one thing your family looks forward to doing?
Trent & I are looking forward to various trips. The beach is one of those. Thankfully, his parents' own a place a couple hours from here in South Carolina so we can get away for a weekend to relax. Another trip that will hopefully be in the next month or two is a visit to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. For Christmas, Trent gave me a year's membership to the NC Zoo. We have free admission for the year as well as any zoo or aquarium that is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. If we can squeeze it in, I'd also like to make a trip to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.

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Facts about Me

I've been tagged by Katy! :)

• You must post the rules before you give your answers.
• You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name.
• Each fact must begin with that letter.
• If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name.
• After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers.
• At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

Legally, my middle name is now my maiden name, but for the fun of this game, I'm going with my given middle name instead: Elizabeth.

E - easily Excited by little things.
L - Laugh a LOT. Ties in with my "H" fact.
I - Intelligent.
Z - Zoo. [seriously, try to come up with a good 'z' word! LOL] Love going to zoos to see the animals and, somedays, kinda feel like I live in one with the chaos of my 2 cats. ;)
A - Artistic.
B - Believer of God.
E - Energetic.
T - Talkative.
H - Happy. I'm a glass half-full gal. Which keeps me pretty upbeat and laughing through my days. :)

Here are the 9 people I tag: Sherry, Jenn, Tina, Melina, Ter, Gabrielle, Gina, Lorie, and Heather. Looking forward to seeing their lists. :)

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Be Mine

Supplies: Die Cuts with a View card; Chatterbox patterned papers; Making Memories & NRN Designs letter stickers; Autumn Leaves A Rhonna Christmas felt ribbon.

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My Head is going to Explode...

...and not from my ego. ;) This cold has thoroughly whipped me. I spent the weekend mostly curled up under a blanket on the couch. Was feeling a bit better yesterday. Even took a short walk outside with Trent (it was mid-60s and gorgeous!). I had to go really slow as I just don't have much energy, but it was so nice to get out and move as well as enjoy the warm sunshine.

Overnight it slammed me again though and I called in sick to work which is something I hate to do. Just puts me more behind. But, being congested, achy and having chills (I've been wearing 2 layers in this mid-60s temps!), I felt it best to give my body another day of rest. And, I'm still feeling blah. *fingers crossed* I'll be well enough to go into work tomorrow.

I had hoped to get my creative juices flowing over the weekend and work on my various scrapping projects. Between the cold and meds zapping my energy, I just didn't feel up to it. Today I confess I did spend a few hours watching various design shows on HGTV and TLC. I don't recall the last time I did that. Trading Spaces was an obsession of mine years ago. I was hooked on the first season. Somewhere around the time Paige Davis left as host, I quit watching. Well, when I saw a preview on Saturday for the season premiere with Paige back, I set the DVR. Watched it today and was thrilled to see the show is back. Sooo much better that the last few seasons [well, what I've seen of them ;) ].

Here's a layout I created in 2002. I was such a huge fan of the show, I made sure to be at the Southern Ideal Home Show that September for an opportunity to meet one of the designers, Vern Yip.

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Dinner & Target

I wasn't feeling too well last night - congested and achy. Gave myself a morning off from the treadmill and slept in that extra 30 minutes instead which I think was a wise decision. Pretty certain now that I have a cold. Ugh.

Went out for a short bit tonight. Trent & I had dinner at Pei Wei - yummy! For those that are unfamiliar, it's owned by the same company that owns P.F. Chang's. Think same excellent food, but a casual atmosphere and smaller prices. Dinner there at least temporarily cleared my head and I felt much better.

Afterwards we stopped by Target for a few odds and ends. Friday nights are our favorite time to visit Target because it less crowded. Of course, I searched the dollar spot and clearance sections for any good scrapbooking deals. I picked up one 3-pack of ribbon for $1.00 and a Christmas Making Memories kit for $2.48 (originally $9.99). I don't plan to make the advent countdown chain, but I'm sure I'll find a use for the kit components in a project or two down the road.

We walked around Target for over an hour. It was nice to move around a bit and kept my head clear. Not so much now that I'm seated again. Ugh. Definitely not what I had in mind for the weekend, but at least we're commitment free this weekend so I can get some rest.

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