spring.......RIGHT!!!!

well......what a day this has been........glad that i'm home and it's warm and dry!!! just a little recap of 14 march, 2011....the day before my birthday!!!!!!

off to work at the break of dawn...took off as usual in the little red miata only to notice a small amount of snow on the ground.....and A LOT falling from the sky!!!! rex thinks i'll be good to go in the little sports car so off i go! i had a little swish of the tail after taking off from a traffic light and just thought i would maintain a slow and steady pace!!! so i enter the highway and i'm traveling about 30 mph when i get tapped on the bumper by an elderly man driving a VINTAGE station wagon (need i say more....it WAS a station wagon!!) so i start a spin in the middle of interstate 64 which landed me in the ditch next to the slow lane!!!!! i didn't notice that he had ended in the center median until the police officer arrived and parked behind him!! i then noticed that he obviously did some damage to his axle or tie rod( the front wheels were not vertical!!!! ) now remember that snow that was falling from the SPRING sky at 530am.....it's now coming down even heavier!!!! so the police officer comes over and asked if i needed help...which of course i deny!!!! my dear sweet REX will save the day.....which he did!!!!! i called him, the tow truck company and while waiting for the truck rex arrived with the dustbuster!!! MY HERO!!! *what will we do if that van dies!!!****???? so i climb out of the passenger side of the very small miata and exit into snow........and MUD!!! my cute little flats get stuck and out comes my foot into the snow and mud!!!!! crap....that sucked!!!!! so into the dustbuster and off to work i go!!!!! slow and steady!!! (i had to keep my shoes off, they were wet and muddy) i had to wash my feet once i arrived at work....no way i wanted to keep highway mud on my feet....plus i have a doctors visit today!! rex popped this photo while awaiting the tow truck.....notice that it's now daylight!!!

after a wonderful day at manchester surgery center....(LOVE MY JOB!!!) i left for a visit with a new doctor.......a little manipulation of my body and it felt wonderful!!! so, feeling all good ..inside and out , i decide to stop and use a coupon at archivers........and the snow is STILL FALLING so i exit the van and carefully try to avoid the slush on the ground.......only to FALL once again!!!! crap that hurt!!!!! i got my cute coat wet.....and soaked one leg of my jeans.....and skinned my knee@@@@@ WTF is wrong with me????? that makes three falls in just 4 short months....my co-workers want to wrap me in bubble wrap!!!!!
well....home with rex and the puppies....i'm safe .....i do LOVE my crazy life!!!

home and garden show...what fun!!

rex and i spent saturday at the home and garden show at the edwards jones dome! wow.....that place is big.....big enough for an indoor ferris wheel! and no, we didn't ride it.....though i would have liked to!
after a few hours of meandering around the place, we had a little beverage and chips! they sold liquor (beer, wine and cocktails) at the door....can you believe that??? totally shocked by that! so anyway, after walking for some time we found only one thing to purchase.....a MOP!!! can you believe that.......$10 to park.....$8 for the tickets (each) ....and $75 for this cool mop/scrubber/cleaning stuff! and we all know how much i love to clean! (yuck!) however i do like clean!!! wish i would have taken a photo of the mop booth......(i did use the mop over the entire house...so easy and worked great!!!)

they also had this really cool balloon area that looked like a garden.....check out these photos of balloon flowers.......can't wait for the real thing.....looks like spring is just around the corner!

working and being diligent with my online class...mouse, paper, scissors...love learning photoshop and hybrid stuff.....hope to learn a lot more.

well......another great week at msc......i'm so glad i moved to a new job....so much happier in life!!!!!

and i love my crazy life!!!

cast is off......decorated before!!

got the cast off and just using a splint now.......waited until the night before to decorate it.....used a silver sharpie and made some swirls.....how fun that was!!! too bad i didn't do it earlier!

rex and i are still working on the bathrooms...hopefully they will both be finished soon........rex installed the toilet in the guest bathroom and a few hours later i noticed that the drywall tape was pulling away from the ceiling in the breakfast room.......damn it to hell......so the toilet had to be removed and redone!! the bolts used originally weren't long enough so more trips to lowe's for additional supplies!!! oh, i do hope this will be one of the last issues we have with the plumbing!

erin and mike came for dinner on saturday....grilled burgers in the dark... some delicious potato skins.....salad and strawberries with angel food cake! yummmmmmm.....

will try to get some photos of the bathrooms soon.....can't wait for them to be done! wish us luck!!!

WINNER.......WINNER...........FOR THE BLOG HOP!~

thank you to everyone that visited my blog and signed up to follow!!!!!!! i do hope everyone had fun with new knowledge about our country and saw some fantastic artwork!!!! i know i did!!!!

okay.....enough chit chat.....on to the winner!!!!!! via randon org......the winner is Jenn of craftygarden.blogspot.com!!! i'll send you an email........please contact me within the next 3 days to recieve your gift!!!!!

yeah to all!!!!

i simply love my life!!!!!!

Blog HOP.......have fun with this!!!!

****** this blog hop begins at 9am 11Feb 2011.......i'll be saving lives at the center so my post is a little early!!! please check out all the blogs beginning at 9am on Friday!!!!! have fun and enjoy yourselves!!******
(i'm going to try to program this to "go live" at 9am.......wish me luck!!)



Okay.....this is my very first blog hop and i'm soooooo hoping i don't mess things up.....i am feeling a little wigged out about this!!!!! first off.... i'm just a crazy RN that loves to play with paper and glue! i do hope that someone will enjoy the markers and ranger distress ink! just leave me a comment.... and follow me.....YEAH!!!! would love to see some new faces....and i'm going to be following all the other blog posters!!!!!

A Big Cricut Hello & Chirp to each of you! Welcome to the Cricky Across the 50 Blog Hop hosted by K Andrew of Getting Cricky! ( http://www.kandrewdesigns.blogspot.com/). If you are here from Jenny Johnson of Paper Crafting Crazy Me http://www.papercraftingcrazyme.blogspot/.com then you are in the right spot. If you just arrived here and would like to start from the beginning please go to KAndrew's Getting Cricky! www.kandrewdesigns.blogspot.com. For this blog hop K Andrew is celebrating her big move across the country with a big road trip, and of course this hop across the 50 states! She has asked us all to post a little bit about the state we are representing, and then to post our Favorite Craft Project. I am representing the state of Missouri!

Missouri is the show me state and most of us like to be SHOWN just what you have to offer! Jefferson City is our state capital and is located in the middle of the state ...along the missouri river! I live approximately 30 minutes west of St. Louis, between the Missouri River and the Mississippi, so needless to say summers here are extremely HUMID!! sometimes upwards of 90% humidity and temps close to 110!!! needless to say, it's a STICKY heat!!!

Some fun places to check out nearby are The Magic House (a fun hands on museum for children), City Museum (an old building turned into a hands on museum/activity area for kids and adults. mainly made with old discards and found materials!..so much fun!) and a spectacular park...Forest Park in St. Louis....with a zoo, outdoor ice skating rink, horse stables. We also have a park named after Henry Shaw (noted philanthropist from England) (Shaw's Gardens) that has different floral exhibitions through out the year! A great place to visit.............oh.....almost forgot .....we have the St. Louis ARch.....gateway to the WEST!!


my project is about an outing to Forest Park on new years day!!! ice skating for the first time in years!!!! like the title states.....it's just like riding a bike!!! until you fall while posing for photos and break an arm.....(just a little setback!) the paper used was basic grey...max and whiskers! also my cricut cuts were from Winter Wonderland....the skates..cut multiple times on kraft cardstock and layered to give the illusion of chipboard. Also the title "just like riding a bike" was from Just Because cards! i had such fun with this layout! just love my family and friends and this was such a fun day.......even if i DID break my arm.....i kept going!!!

my blog candy is a package of american crafts markers and one ranger distress ink.....Broken China! what a beautiful color!! remember to post a comment and become a follower and i will draw the winner and post on monday! enjoy your weekend and i hope everyone gains some inspiration from each and all the blogs!

Please make sure to leave comments on all of the blogs for a chance to win a ton of different Grand Prizes on Getting Cricky's blog, from these great companies:Scrap N Tote, Scrap N Easel, Cri-Kits, Creative Charms, Memory Miser, Scrappy Chic Cafe, Loralie Designs, My Pink Stamper, Peachy Keen Stamps, Cricut Town, The Scrappin' Table, Piktails, and Pink by Design
Please make sure to visit ALL the blogs, as EVERY single blog will have fabulous giveaways (cricut cartridges, paper packs, copic markers, yourstory bundle, clear stamp sets, and tons more). Each blogger was extremely generous with their own personal giveaways

Next up on the blog hop is Kathy from Montana!!! Enjoy your trip across the 50 states!!
MONTANA
Kathy Floen of The Beautiful Life http://kathy-thebeautifullife.blogspot.com
NEBRASKA
Gloria Sleeper of Oma’s Crafts http://www.omascrafts.blogspot.com/
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Kristal of Getting Cricky http://www.kandrewdesigns.blogspot.com/
NEW MEXICO
Brynn Thornburgh of Flair and Frills http://www.flairandfrillscreativity.blogspot.com/
NEW YORK
Erin Span of I am SpantastiKreations http://www.spantastikreations.blogspot.com/
NORTH CAROLINA
Amy Westray of redwolfSCRAPS http://www.redwolfscraps.com/
OHIO
Patricia Logan of MDN Creates http://www.triciatreasure.blogspot.com/
Joe, Carol, Joe, and Betty of CreateNCraft at http://www.createncraft.com/
OREGON
Rebecca Maddux of Crafting with Becka http://www.creationswithbecka.blogspot.com/
PENNSYLVANIA
Midori Vasquez of Scraps for Me http://www.scrapsforme@blogspot.com/
RHODE ISLAND
Karel Jennings of One by One the Flamingos are Stealing my Sanity http//karelj.blogspot.com
SOUTH DAKOTA
Brenda Burffrau of Creativity is a State of Mind http://createbyburffrau.blogspot.com
TENNESSEE
Shannon Lefew of My Scrappy Creations http://shannonleffew.blogspot.com
TEXAS
Kista Orr of Scrapaleupagus at scrapaleupagus.blogspot.com
VIRGINIA
Chris Hanselmaan of Chris' Crafty Creations from the Corner http://scrappinchris.blogspot.com/
WASHINGTON
Mariam Satchell of Purple Lily Studio mariamsatchell.blogpost.com
WISCONSIN
Janice Wilson of Stamping with Janice www.stampingwithjanice.blogspot.com
WYOMING
Jamie Larsen of Baby Jayden’s Mommy http://babyjaydensmommy.blogspot.com/
Lindsay Loo of Lindsay Loo Designs http://www.lindsayloodesignz.blogspot.com/
Getting Cricky with K Andrew www.kandrewdesigns.blogspot.com

BEGIN: Getting Cricky With K Andrew www.kandrewdesigns.blogspot.com
ALABAMA
Tanya of Scrappy Scavenger www.ScrappyScavenger.blogspot.com
ARIZONA
Renee Kowalchik of KoolChik Crafts http://koolchikcrafts.blogspot.com/
ARKANSAS
Teela Young of Coffee24Tea http://coffee24tea.blogspot.com
CALIFORNIA
Jess Marin of My Scrap Diary http://www.myscrapdiary-jess.blogspot.com
Nicolette Simpson of Beyond Scrapin www.beyondscrapin.blogspot.com
COLORADO
Jennifer Anderson of Scrappin Lil Turtle http://creativearmywife.blogspot.com/
Amy Courchaine of Scrapbooking, Card Making, and Living with Fibro http://lv2scrapandfibrofacts.blogspot.com/
DELAWARE
Meagan Jarjabka of Beyond Paper Designs beyondpaperdesigns.blogspot.com
Peggy Brustman of CeltikGirlCreations www.celtikgirlcreations.blogspot.com
FLORIDA
Stephanie Hedderick of Always Crafting http://www.alwayscrafting.com
GEORGIA
Brenda Haskin of Simply Bren is Having too much fun http://simplybrenhavingfun.blogspot.com/
ILLINOIS
Lori Brown of Saving My… http://savingmine.blogspot.com
INDIANA
Angela Urell of Creative Crafting http://creativecraftin.blogspot.com
LOUISIANA
Darlene Saucier of Simple Southern Blessings www.talesoftayandbay.blogspot.com
MAINE
Karen Madden of Lilac and Lupines http://lilacsandlupines.blogspot.com
MARYLAND
Karen Turner of Midlife Mysteries & Masterpieces http://www.midlifemysteries.com/
MASSACHUSSETTS
Andrea Fogleman of Scraplity www.scrapality.com
MINNESOTA
Krystal Gibson of Krystal’s Kreativity http://www.krystalskreativity.blogspot.com
Jenny Johnson of Paper Crafting Crazy Me www.papercraftingcrazyme.blogspot.com

blog hop.....going to give it a try

here it's tuesday and i haven't posted in awhile.....still working to get the master bathroom completed.....we do have a toilet now....shower is complete and rex is working on the plumbing for the vanities......he has only made 5 (yep, five!!) trips to Lowe's for different pipes, etc! he thinks he has the proper ones now.......wish us luck!!

okay, while browsing my bookmarked blogs i noticed that krystal andrews...http://kandrewdesigns.blogspot.com/ is having a blog hop in february and i am going to sign up to participate~ i'm pretty excited about this......haven't ever done this before....keep your eyes open and i will have a fun giveaway for this!

happy tuesday, everyone!

i love my life!

brand new year.......

wow.....2011.......loving the looks of that 2011.....just kinda cool!!!!

what a wonderful christmas holiday we had.....erin and mike spent all day on christmas eve at our home......then we had a delightful turkey dinner....(next year it's christmas tacos for mike!) then off to bed for all of us.........i was awakened at 830am to a full course breakfast......eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes....the whole thing.....table set......wow!!! that is the first time i have ever had it all done for me!!!!! then they (mike and erin) cleaned it all up!!!!! not a crumb was left!!!!! then off they went.....on their 21 hour drive to utah! they made it to cheyenne wyoming that night and finished the drive to utah on sunday! they noticed that we had more snow than kansas or nebraska!!!

mike loved the ipod adapter for his car and installed it that night! erin LOVED her cricut cake.....so much that we opened it up.....set it up and cut out designs for the christmas cupcakes!!!! what fun to watch the kids enjoy all their new toys!!!!!!! rex loved his new iphone 4.......he wanted to get it going but had to wait until sunday!!!! i got some new cricut cartridges and a new phone......also a cool jacket and a few other fun things!!!!

rex and i stayed home on new years eve......quiet night watching tv and just hanging around! then saturday 1 jan 2011 we went to steinberg ice rink in forest park for some wonderful ice skating...with monica, tim, peter, benjamin, beth, jacqueline, katie, kent, clare, bridget and chad!!!! i held on so tight to that railing all the way around.......i just couldn't remember how to do it (skate).........then on the second time around i got it.......not fast but i WAS skating!!!! then i stopped to chat with the friends....and pose for some photos.......and while standing still......holding onto the railing i was asked to move a little to the left...and i slipped and fell.........onto my left hand!!!! wowsers....i thought i was gonna pass out.......felt queasy....then climbed back up and finished the photo session! beth asked rex if i was laughing while down and he said....NO>>>>she looks stressed!!! so monica came with me to the indoor area to sit down......rex got me a soda to help the stomach thing! after some soda i felt much better!!!!! then i noticed the bump on my wrist......and my inability to move it!!! so i had both monica and rex help me get my rings off.......all FOUR of them......the thumb ring that never comes off.....the middle silver ring.....and my wide wedding band and anniversary band!!! wow.....all i can say is that it hurt to pull on those.......and thank goodness i thought of it cause they would have all had to be cut off!!!!!! then off to the first aid place (at the rink...monica aided another lady who hit her head on the ice and was bleeding from her barrette that caused a laceration)......a little gauze wrap and some tape and it felt stable!!! after sitting a little longer i got up and went back to skating!!!! about 1 hours worth!!!!!! i NEVER fell while skating......just standing still!!!!! then off to monica and tim's for some appetizers and hot chocolate!!!!! loved it all.......and every one of those children are remarkable!!!! so sweet!!!!! kent found a urgent care close by and by 715 pm we were off.......xrays and the diagnosis of LEFT DISTAL RADIUS FRACTURE!!!!!!( that's a fancy way of saying i broke my left wrist!!) damn......rex kept saying.....ahhhh, it's just a bad sprain.....too bad it wasn't just a sprain!!!!!! so i emailed david irvine md and he agreed to see me today for a cute cast!!!!!! unfortunately for me they didn't have lime green or hot pink.......so it was purple, baby blue, white or black!!!!! so classic black for me........now i'm going to stop at michaels or archivers for some prima bling and super glue!!! gonna dress this thing up!!!!!! and one more great point.......it's WATERPROOF!!!!!! so i can shower without worrying about it!!!!! yeah for me!!!!!!
i still love my life.......and i love my work!!!!!!!

dust and new tile!

well, rex and i finally started installing the travertine tile in the master bath yesterday! i didn't think it was ever going to happen! we started this project over 6 weeks ago....however demo was quite a bitch, repairing what needed repairs, plumbing took over 24 hours (8 hours at a time) to accomplish......and here we are now, starting to install the tile!!! since erin and mike are spending thanksgiving with his family we will work on glass tile installation and continue with the travertine! our first row on the bottom was square.....next is a row of the glass tile......then thenext section will be diamond shaped travertine....then a row of glass....then square tile to the ceiling! we think...(and hope!) that the design will be wonderful......it looks good on paper!!!! then install the medicine cabinets....the vanities.....finish the plumbing (oh...hope that doesn't take as long as the first time!)....grout and accessorize!!!!! hopefully most of this will be finished by next monday! we have four days to work.....well....really only 3 since the children will be here on saturday for our holiday together! then we are going to see the harry potter movie with them that evening! i'm sooooo looking forward to that!

well....just wanted to add this fun little photo of mr. butt messing around! what a crazy man he is!!!! LOVE him!!

happy thanksgiving to everyone!

wowsers......lookie what i won!

biRthday giveaway....

last week
was rhonna farrers' birthday and she had a little giveaway on her blog...wow, how lucky to
have won one of these beauties!

still working on the ugly masterbath room remodel......the glass tile was delivered on friday night, and the vanity/bathtub fixtures arrived yesterday. now....we just have to wait for
the next delivery of the travertine and the bullnose trim! hopefully we will have a functional
bathroom by the holidays.....say a little prayer!

happy fall days to all!

more bathroom demo

what a mess.........drywall/floor dust everywhere............rex working on plumbing for over 6 hours.......and it's still NOT finished.........
it will all be worth it when it is finished...........just so much work and soooooo messy!!!!!!

check out the photos for evidence of the disaster!

hello again.......

wow,,,,can't believe so much time has elapsed since i last posted... life is just so busy and it seems the last thing i remember is to post on this blog!
spent last evening with linda, monica and beth playing with paper and glue!!!!! what fun that was..........and dinner at CPK.....delish white pizza with pesto ......yummmmmm

demo'ed the master bathroom last weekend and going to work on it this weekend.....the plumbing and electric has to be moved to accommodate the new vanities..... so much work.....for such a wonderful space!!!!!
rex is taking down the Hooks from the old 9 foot mirror.....someone is coming by to pick it up now......yeah,,,,,less crap in the garage!!!!!

i purged the ANNEX again.....and put a few things up on ebay..........going to have a little spending money when it's all done...........also cashed in some old gold jewelry and added that to the savings account........feeling lighter about doing all of this..........want things to be simpler and less cluttered...........minimal.........loving it!!!!!

wonderful......wonderful weekend!

rex has had the entire week off......and the master bedroom floor has been finished......yeah for hardwood!!! the painting is done and i found some different drapes for the window at BB&B...while out doing a little shopping with Erin! she just finished her guest bedroom and purchased a pillow and some art for the walls! so now we have decided to remodel the master bath with new vanities,travertine tile and glass mosaic tile.........so looking forward to getting this done! then some slate for the guest bathroom floor.......lots of work however it's so much fun when it's done!

cropped on friday night with linda and monica......and of course we accomplished absolutely nothing!!!!! however the company was FABULOUS.....................dinner at Cheesecake Factory......leftovers brought home for mr. butt..........and my scrap crap is still sitting in the kitchen!!!!!!

rex remodeled my closet......and now i have 3 shoes shelves.....a shelf for my handbags......and it's so damn organized it's wonderful!!!!! now i just can't wait to finish organizing my annex.....it's starting to come together......and i want to get it done so i can play with paper and glue soon!

well........happy week to all...............i LOVE my life!

friDAY THE thirTeenth!

wowsers.........i used to like friday the 13th.........however today sucked the fun out of it!!!!

happy weekend, all!!!!!!

new design team for me!

wow....i can't believe so much time has gone by since i last posted! the pool party was fantastic! and i just spent the weekend with the most wonderful girls ever........i was totally non-productive and seemed to have no MOJO.........however i did have some great KARMA and won 3 prizes over the three days! how fun is that?????
okay......the new design team thing is that i get to make layouts/cards/altered items using my cricut or silhouette........you can't beat that with a stick!!!!!!
this is my first layout and i just loved playing with my silhouette and using a cute photo of Apollo.....my main squeeze!!!!!! check out Kitty's Cuttings at visualdesignsbychris.com.....she is working on her blog and has some really cool files that are quite affordable and available right now!!!
well.......happy work week to all!!!!! be good, stay cool........or come on over for a little pool time!

Helmar Adhesive Guest Designer***

check out HelmarUSA.typepad.com....the post on their blog should go live tomorrow. i have had so much fun using their products....just wish i had more time to play....

i will post photos of the projects on sunday (having guests for a pool party on saturday!) so hang on.....

i love my life!

Guest Designer for HelmarAdhesives for July 2010

playing with some delightful paper and the WondErfuL HelmarAdhesive!!!!! this GLUE rocks the house......it will hold anything.....and is withstanding the 98 degree heat and 3 thunderstorms!!! how cool is that!!!!! will post some photos soon!

i just LOVE my life!

vacation fun!!!!!!

having a great time on vacation..........last night was a RiverCityRascals game........minor league baseball in our town!!!! it was hot and humid......and the hair DIDN"T curl.....yahoooooooo!!! course today it looks a little flat.....have to wait until tomorrow to shampoo!!!!!

spent the morning poolside.....started a new book......the Glass Castle .......intriguing...... hope to finish before i'm back to work!

after some pool time, i was off to the studio to make a little camera bag........something that donna downey had on her blog a while back.......turned out totally cute! course rex said he wouldn't carry it! too bad for him.......doesn't have any sense of style!!!!!! thinking of getting the laptop bag to carry my mac!

hopefully going to cut some stuff from my silhouette to use with my design team project!!!!! and perhaps cut some funky vinyl and apply it to my laptop.......spice it up a little!

well.......going to have a snack and then rex and i are off to the circus!!!!! Circus Flora is a local circus that performs in a air-conditioned big top at the Powell Symphony Hall......it's supposed to be fabulous..........then tomorrow is WICKED!!!!!!!!! i have never seen it......and i'm totally psyched about going!!!!!!!

well........hope to post some photos of the circus........as well as some of some fun stuff from the studio............

i LOVE my life!!!!!!!!!

ClearScraps Guest Designer

i was the guest designer for ClearScraps this month.....and designed a little wedding album ...complete with photos from my nephew's wedding! i had such a great time working with the graphic 45 papers, prima flowers and the ClearScraps album!!! i do hope to design for them again in the future!

here are a couple of the photos of the album.....i will be giving this to julie and shane soon!

i LOVE my life!!!!!

hello new week!!!!!

cold is starting to ease and feeling better!!!!! and just think, it't the beginning of a new week!!!!! i spent saturday cleaning my studio........found the floor and desk top.......and COMPLETED 3 layouts..............yeah........damn skippy of me!!!!! i also finished my latest little album.....of my nephew's wedding.....it was pretty fun!!!!!! it should be on the ClearScraps blog soon!!!! i will post some photos in the next day or so.....need to wait until it's up there!!!!!

took mike to Pi for his birthday.........what great pizza!!!!!! it was the same pizza that Obama had flown to DC..........so damn tasty!!!!!! got some fun photos....too!!!!!

well.......home alone.......rex is working on erin's kitchen........well.....helping work!!!!! i'm just crashing on the couch.........have to be at work at o'dark thirty...........!!!!! crap.....i don't like gettin up early!!!!!!

i just love my life!!!!!!

lost saturday

still sick........rex spent the day with erin and mike working on a slate floor for their kitchen......while i spent the day on the couch..........still nursing this flipping illness..........thought the meds would work much faster....however i still feel like a dirty washcloth.......lifeless and limp!

any suggestions for feeling better.........send them my way!