Where has the time gone???

Unbelievable that today is the last day of March! The first quarter of 2015 done and almost gone! Great news from last week, my God-daughter is coming to visit us again this summer. She was here for 2 months in 2013 and skipped last summer but she will be back for a month starting June 3rd. Looking forward to planning fun activities with a 9 year old that I don't get to do since my kids are grown ups!!!

Happy 2015

The new year is here and I am looking forward to all of the things a "new" year brings. I closed out 2014 with visits to my Doctor and an eye exam and I am no worse off than I was a year ago but no better either. So, I've thought of all the "resolutions" I could make for the new year. So here goes... 1. Physical Health: Work on getting my A1C number down. Work on healthier eating and more exercise. I set a goal with my Doctor to use a lunch sized plate to eat off of instead of a dinner plate. Just overall healthier habits in general to help me feel better. 2. Reading: Read more. 2014 was a horrible year for me and reading. I think this year, I read the fewest books ever. So I want to make sure that I make time to read more and really relax for at least 30 minutes per day! 3. Money: I will be starting the cash envelope system this weekend (just waiting for the system to arrive tomorrow!) We will also be working with the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace system that we purchased a few years ago. Finally, I will be paying bills with Mike each week so that he understands what we are doing with our finances. 4. Volunteering: Since Inside Out has increased the days they are open, I will be increasing my volunteering at Inside Out to 1 day each week. 5. Home: I will be working on one project each month to turn the house we live in into a HOME that I love. 6. 2015 Challenge: Last year, I did the 2014 challenge for about half the year. This year, I want to really focus on getting rid of 2014 things. Also, I want to apply the one in, one out policy. Everything you bring into the house, an equal item must go out! I think that's all for now. Not hard resolutions but guidelines for the coming year.

Grateful for what I have.....

Last Thursday, DH and I left to go to work (we carpool) and our truck wouldn't start. So, with much irritation and attitude, we started up the Bronco and drove that to work. I was in the passenger's seat, grouching to myself when I realized that I was being ridiculous and so very ungrateful. Not everyone has a "spare" vehicle they can just hop into if their main vehicle breaks down. Most people would be calling a friend or family for a ride to work and here I was complaining because I don't particularly like driving the Bronco. What would be a MAJOR issue for most was only an irritation for me because we do have this spare vehicle. So I changed my attitude and headed off to work. Later in the day, I realized that I had saved myself from having a grouchy day by just changing my attitude and looking at the situation in the most positive light possible. Yes, the truck was still broken and it would probably cost a pretty penny to get it fixed but we had an alternate means of transportation and my life just wasn't that bad. So here's to positive thinking and not letting the negativity drown you.

SUBJECT: Sally Hogshead has a gift for YOU

Dear Readers, This post isn’t about me. It’s about YOU. Branding expert and leading authority on the science of fascination, Sally Hogshead, is publishing her new book How the World Sees You on July 1. To celebrate the insights gained from a decade of research, she is launching Project Fascination with the goal of showing 100,000 people how their personalities add value. As a part of this project, she’s given me a special code (BL-Kimber1966 ) to share with to you. The first 100 people who use it to take her Fascination Advantage® assessment will receive the assessment for free! This has never been done before, and will only last until July 25. The best part is, you will trigger a chain reaction—a pay it forward situation. When you take the assessment using BL-Kimber1966, you will receive 100 assessments to share with your circle for free, too! That’s $3700 of free market research at your fingertips! So how do you take the assessment? Simple. 1. Go to How The World Sees You .co m/you and use code BL-Kimber1966 . 2. Once you’ve taken the assessment, Sally’s team will load 100 assessments into your new account. Rinse and repeat. That’s it. Now you’re ready to discover how your personality is custom built for certain situations, and which situations you should learn to avoid. And it only takes 5 minutes (you can even do it on your phone!) 28 questions. 5 minutes. A whole new way to communicate your value. Your Fascination Advantage® Report is the first big step towards knowing how your personality can be heard and remembered in an overcrowded market. Sharing the assessment will help others do the same. Find everything you need to put this knowledge into practice with your co-­‐workers, close friends and significant other in Sally’s new book, How the World Sees You. Remember that your code will expire July 25. Don’t let this $3700 value go to waste! Take the Assessment today and encourage your friends and followers to do the same.

PUPPY BREATH!

Anyone who knows our family knows that we LOVE animals. So, no one was really surprised when we added ECHO to the household. The humans all love her and the other animals are withholding judgement but leaning towards hate!

Copic Coloring

So I set up some crafting lunch hours at work because we don't always have time to get together on the weekend and today I spent my time coloring two new Saturated Canary images. I absolutely LOVE these images....I swear I would own them all if I could afford it!!!

Sorry for the side view....no matter what I do, they come out like this. Arrrgggghhhhhh!!!!

Smiles for Everyone....and First Day of School

I was browsing Pinterest for something and ran across a link that eventually led me to this. If you place the cursor over the faces, they talk....I laughed all morning! At the very least, this should make you smile! Last night was also the first night of the Spring semester. Angel, Mike and I are all taking the same math class, which is hilarious! And then Mike and I are both taking English but different classes. It was a good first night and I am looking forward to the rest of the semester. I did think it was odd that school started on Martin Luther King Jr's official holiday. Community College can be so weird!

2014 Things Challenge

The new year has begun and my husband and I have decided to join the 2014 Things Challenge. You can find the specifics here. The gist of the challenge is to get rid of 2014 things during the year. The second part is that for every thing you bring into the house, you get rid of one thing. AND all of this should be done in the most responsible way possible....meaning not just tossing everything into the trash can. I am a borderline hoarder so I am really looking forward to getting rid of some clutter and making my home more comfortable. Last night I boxed up 201 magazines to donate to the library! 201! It was amazing how many magazines fit into this one shelf and they were so dusty (which obviously means I wasn't doing anything with them!) So I am ready for the challenge. Here's to a lighter 2014!

Copic Coloring Class

Tonight I went to a Basic Copic Coloring class at Simple Pleasures. The teacher of the class was Shelby and it was a "Bring A Friend" class. I went with Michelle and although I have a bunch of copics and love to color with them, I actually learned some new things. Shelby also teaches some more specific classes like People and Landscapes so if you have an opportunity, you should try out one of her classes. She's a really good teacher!

What are we doing to our children?

My beautiful God-Daughter came to spend the summer with us and I discovered that there are a LOT of things made for 8 year olds that shouldn't be. I do not believe that we should sexualize our children at this young age and then wonder why they want to dress so inappropriately at the age of 12 or 13. The reason why is that we have paved the way with inappropriate clothes while they are still children. I'll give you an example... I will call my God-daughter Dani for this post. Dani arrived in my home with clothes to wear for the summer. She had two bathing suits. One was a two-piece (which got thrown back in the box) and the other was a one piece with holes cut out of the sides. She's EIGHT....what exactly are you accenting with the cut-outs?? She is tall and lanky and awkward but both of those bathing suits make a statement. So I set off to buy her a plain bathing suit. Store after store after store revealed nothing but bathing suits with cut-outs, sheer panels, one strap, strapless, and itty bitty bikini tops and bottoms. It took FOREVER and about 15 stores before I found a plain suit in a cute print that was acceptable...and by acceptable I mean that it covered her whole body and she could play in it without worrying about it falling off. First day of summer camp....she comes upstairs in leggings and a tank top. Skin tight leggings and a skin tight tank top. Nope.....go change. Then we asked her our favorite question....Do you know what leggings would be called if they were pants? They'd be called PANTS. They are meant to add coverage under a long sweater or tunic or skirt....not to show off your tiny butt. While I took her shopping several times, I was appalled to find shirts with sheer backs, ruching to creative cleavage in the front, and tiny, tiny shorts that barely covered her underwear. Who is she trying to be sexy for? And let me go ahead and tell you that if you are someone who says, Oh that isn't sexy, it's cute. If you put that same style on an adult and it is meant to be sexy, it shouldn't be on a little girl. We are teaching our girls to objectify their bodies and then when they become teenagers, they have to go to even further extremes because this seems tame to them. After all, they wore it when they were children! Teach them respect for their bodies and let them dress like children. There is nothing wrong with knee length shorts or T-shirts or whole bathing suits.

First Day of School!!!!

Today I started classes at Pikes Peak Community College!  OMG!  I cannot believe that I am going back to college.  Excited and Terrified!!!

Card Making Day

Cute but looks like one of te gems fell off!


On Sunday I went to Michelle's house to make cards.  I just got this bear stamp and I absolutely LOVE it!!  So much fun to color.

Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin came to visit our facility and we were able to take a picture with him.

Birthday Cards

We all made cards for Tara's birthday and it was weird how similar they were in either design, color or both.

Cris' Card

My Card

Michelle's Card

Road Trip!

My daughter, Angel, and I are leaving Wednesday morning on a road trip.  We are going to Alabama to visit my Grandmother and then we will shoot over to New Orleans and sight-see for a day or so and then back to Colorado.  I am really looking forward to this adventure...so stay tuned for lots of silly pictures and updates on driving to Alabama! 

Challenge Cards....

So Cris, Michelle and I do weekly challenges that are due on Fridays.  Last week the challenge was a black and white or white on white card with a splash of 1 color.  This is the first card I made...

Then I thought about it and I remembered Cris saying the color should be like 10% of the card so I thought this one had too much color.  So I made this version...

This was also the first time I inked both of these stamps so I get extra credit for using my stuff! 

Happy Birthday Honey!

So my husband's birthday was yesterday and I made him this MINION card.....

The minions were made using the SU owl punch.  And I love the fact that the one with one eye, there is a spring so the eye moves!  Paper and alphabet stickers from my incredible stash!

And this is the inside.....

Please note that I finally used my washi tape and I inked this stamp for the first time!! 

Spank!

So last Friday, I won tickets to see "Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody."

 I took my daughter, Angel and we had a blast!  This is a picture of us with the cast...

Book Review

I just finished reading Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson and I cannot recommend this book enough.  If you are easily offended, you shouldn't be reading my blog in the first place and this is not a book for you.  If, on the other hand, you want to read a book that will make you laugh OUT LOUD....even if you are reading at lunch in a restaurant and people are looking at you like you are insane!...then this book is for you. 

I actually checked this out from the library but I am ordering my own copy from Amazon because it was so very funny!  It also made me want to buy taxidermied animals in clothes....something I NEVER dreamed might be on my radar.  Jenny writes in a very conversational style and you feel like she is talking to you and sharing these stories with you personally.  The stories from her childhood are hysterical...maybe because I didn't live them! 

Mini Album...the beginning

Archiver's had some paper packs for $4.99 and I bought two of them.  (Even knowing that I do not need another piece of paper!!)  I took half of one of them and cut the pages into 6x12 pieces.  I then glued the pieces into pockets.  I put them together and punched holes for rings.  Then VOILA!  I had a mini album.  I have done a minimal amount to decorate but plan on fleshing it out.  In the meantime, here are some pics of the base.

Front Cover

A Saturated Canary digi and a Creat with TLC sentiment.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the hexagon paper!!!

I've had this tag in my stash forever....so finally found a use for it!

This little card was sent to me ages and ages ago but I just used it here....you can lift the top and write inside...easy journaling spot. 

 Saturated Canary digi used to make a tag/bookmark!

Rub-on from Michael's Hot Spot!