Category Archives: Community

Out with My Bestie!

Blurry pic, but you get the idea!!! 😉

Good evening!

I know it is quite later than usual, but I just got home from a fun evening having out with my bestie, Dawn and her daughter, Sammy!!

We started the evening out over at one of our favorite hangouts, Starbuck’s. Dawn has asked me to teach her how to crochet, so this evening that was the plan! She is very determined to learn how to crochet a hat, like the one Jason had made for me. After doing a little crocheting and catching up, we had decided that maybe going to the movies would be a good idea! Well, Jason had gone out with his friend, Don, to go watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie this evening, and when I mentioned that to Dawn, and Sam, they had said they had wanted to see that. After thinking about it, I realized I did too, so I quickly texted Jason to make sure that he wouldn’t mind that us girls come and crash his movie. Jason is so laid back and easy going, of course he didn’t mind! So, off us girls went to go watch us a movie. It was a very good movie too! One that I am sure that Jason and I will be watching again!! Now, we didn’t sit with the guys, I mean come on, it was just me and the girls afterall, but we really had a good time!!! So, I left the theatre with Jason and Don, while Dawn and Sammy drove back to their place!!

After dropping Don off at his place, Jason and I finally made it home. Jay made me a little dinner – I was too busy visiting to realize that I had forgotten to eat dinner, and as I sit here I am just soooo thankful that it is Friday, and that we get to sleep in tomorrow! It has been such a loooooong week, and I am just bushed!!!

I don’t have any real plans for this weekend, except to get the house clean and finish getting ready for Christmas, but first I am going to head upstairs and get a good night’s sleep!

Have a FABULOUS evening! :-)

A Quiet Evening!

Good evening!

I am having a nice quiet evening at home, well that is except for the sneezing and the coughing – that is a little noisy, but seeing that I am the one doing it, I will excuse it!! 😉 My official plan for this evening is to continue spending this evening cuddled up on the couch with my girls while watching French movies!! I just LOVE doing that!!! 😉

This evening, for my blog posting I thought I would share some more Christmas Craft Fair pics from the Douglas County Christmas Craft Fair from last weekend! Most of the items I have purchased while there were used to decorate my drab cubicle at work, and I am just LOVING the change of scenery there!! The market has also really got me thinking about officially starting my own business where I can sell refinished home furnishings and one-of-a-kind home accessories, but that is another blog posting!! 😉

As I enjoy the rest of my quiet evening…

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

Oh Hugo, I Think I’m In Love!

Good evening!

My sweetie and I just got home after watching the movie Hugo, with our friend Errin! Let me just start out by saying what a FABULOUS movie!!!!

This movie is adapted from the children’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, which I can honestly say is one of my all-time favorite books. When I first discovered it, I couldn’t afford a copy, so I literally stayed in the bookstore all day so that I could read this enchanting story. It is filled with half words, and half pictures that are done so beautifully you almost feel as if you are already watching a movie. So, needless to say, I had high hopes for this movie going into this evening.

So, for my thoughts on this movie…

This movie, Hugo, although marketed towards children, in my opinion is a movie for grown ups! I can see children getting bored with it because the story is rather complex, which as an adult just adds to the mystery of this magical story. With that said, let me also tell you that the movie is also inspiring, hopeful, visually rich, and is very true to the book, which I JUST LOVE!!!


Hugo is set in Paris, in the 30’s, so the scenery, the hair, makeup, and fashions are a feast for the eyes! And the 3-D, which is oftentimes seemingly an afterthought in most 3-D movies only enhanced the story as it was artfully done and helped whisk you right into the story alongside Hugo!  It also has a very strong positive message about family, not running away from your past even if you have had difficulties in life, and a reminder to us all the we all have a purpose here on earth, and that it is up to each one of us to discover what that is, and to decide whether or not we will strive to live up to that purpose.


So, I said it when I started tonight’s post, and I will say it again, what a FABULOUS movie!! This will be one that I will be adding to our collection, and already look forward to seeing it again! If any of you have already, or are planning on seeing this film, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Feeling More Like Me!

Good evening!

I have just gotten home with my sweetie, and I am sitting here with my girls keeping me warm! I have to tell you that I am feeling so much better than I have in the past few days! Thank you for all of the get-well-wishes, your encouragement means a lot to me!

We finished decorating for Christmas in the office today. I just love that!! We have Christmas garland, a tree, lights, ornaments, ribbon, etc. etc. It just makes the whole place feel warmer, cozier somehow! Plus add Christmas music to the mix and it just makes it feels so much easier to be there.

Jason is busy making me another hat. I know he had made me one already, but he liked it so much that he confiscated it for himself and I don’t ever get a chance to where it myself, so he is now in the process of making me another one! YEAH!! I can’t wait to wear it!

Update on my tattoo…well, it is still healing, looking like a peeling sunburn at this point, and the feet are really blurry, but I am told that is because it still healing. I hope they are right, because I will be sad if it doesn’t look like the feet print I first remember seeing! They were super cute, and I haven’t seen them since! I was hoping that, now that it has been almost a month they would be healed, but apparently not yet. I will keep you posted!!

OH, talking about updates, I thought I would give you an update on my 36 things list for my 36th year of life. Just a reminder, here is the list again:

My 36 things!!

  1. get a passport
  2. jog a mile
  3. blog every day for a year – Almost done, should be finished on December 20th!!
  4. go to Women of Faith with my sisters
  5. take 100 pictures of historical buildings all over Oregon
  6. take a decorating class
  7. make homemade marshmallows
  8. plant a garden
  9. take the train
  10. go camping
  11. blow bubbles out the car window
  12. go for a walk in the rain
  13. clean out the garage
  14. get out of debt – again
  15. hike the longest trail at Silver Creek Falls
  16. go on a walking tour of downtown Portland
  17. take a cooking class
  18. get a tattoo – DONE!!!
  19. pick strawberries
  20. get my nose pierced – again – I’ve decided that I do not want to do this again – I enjoy scrubbing my freshly washed face vigorously with a towel!! Anyone who has ever had a nose ring get pull out doing this, knows that you don’t want to do this!! OUCH!!! 😉
  21. bake homemade cinnamon rolls
  22. take an art class
  23. set up a website
  24. teach myself how to take a picture using manual camera settings
  25. make at least 12 pieces of art
  26. lose 32.6 pounds – I have lost 15 pounds so far!!! 😉
  27. put at least $1,200 in savings – I have been able to squirrel away $200 so far!
  28. visit a ghost town
  29. teach an online class
  30. make homemade yogurt
  31. read the entire Bible
  32. crochet a queen-sized blanket using a difficult stitch – DONE!!!
  33. volunteer at a homeless shelter
  34. take a French class
  35. make a wild dance mix playlist. dance to it.
  36. carve pumpkins with my niece and nephew – DONE!!!

So apparently today is a day of randomness, so I have one more for you! My sweetie and I headed to Jamba Juice after work today. I got my usual Strawberry Nirvana – YUM!! But my sweetie tried something off of their “underground” menu called a “White Gummy”! Well, he has been ranting and raving about how delicious it is all evening! “I just can’t believe I am actually drinking something that tastes like a gummy bear!!” Isn’t that just so funny!?!?!?

So, there you have it!! now that I am feeling better, I guess I just needed to get some random topics out there into the universe!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

 

All Done!

Good evening!

I am very happy to report that we are all done with the Douglas County Christmas Craft Fair! We ended up doing much better than we did last year, but it was still a really hard weekend, with a lot of work, and it is up in the air whether or not we are going to do this again next year! In all honesty, we can’t decide right now because we are absolutely pooped!! 😉

We got back to Jennifer’s place, ate a healthy dinner, and then had some fun playing Wii! Trina totally kicked our booties, but we still had fun! 🙂

Then we spent some time, while trying not to gall asleep, watching some new Christmas cartoons, The Gift of the Night Fury, which is the new How to Train Your Dragon Christmas cartoon, and then we watched Ice Age, a Mammoth Christmas Special. FUN! FUN! FUN!! 😉

Now, it is time to call it a night, and get some sleep. Tomorrow, we will be up around 5 am, to help unload the van, and start heading back to Salem. I know that is early, but Jennifer has to get to work rather early tomorrow, so we need to get a very early start!

Until tomorrow…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

End of Day 2 Christmas Fair!

Good evening!

Well, it has been another exciting day at this year’s Douglas County Christmas Fair! We have seen all sorts of sights today, a little girl passing by in the sweetest baby pink cowboy boots, a little spider-man asleep on his daddy’s shoulder, alittle girl in colorful striped tights and a tu-tu, a little batman in a stroller yelling out for his daddy because he was missing, and more recently a little girl who couldn’t have been more than e who was wearing an orange boa!!! Seriously, I never realized Roseburg, Oregon was such a happening town!

I know that it is the kiddos that I am focusing on today, but a lot of our sales have been to the kiddos today, our Christmas ornaments, grab bags, elves with candy overflowing from their heads are really a big hit in our booth!! We have also sold out of our glycerin soaps, and I am thinking I will be out of earrings by the end of the day tomorrow!! Not that I am complaining by any means! Yeah!!! 😉

We have one more day to go, but tomorrow only goes until 4 and then we are all heading back to my sisters’ place, getting into our PJ’s putting our sore feet up and hanging out visiting together! Whew!! That will be fun!

You know every year we do this fair, we get to December and tell each other that we will never do this again, until we actually got through the show. Well, this year I am already pre-planning next year!! It is easy to see which booths have done well, and which ones not so much! I want to be one of the ones who do well, so I am thinking some more pre-planning and organizing is going to be necessary to make that happen!! 😉 We will see if I can convince the sisters that it will be worth it – we will see!!!

Anyways, something else that we did that was a lot of fun – we all got airbrush tattoos!!! We giggled the entire time and even got the airbrush artist laughing too! What a HOOT! 😉

Jennifer got a pretty design that she chose because she really liked it!

Trina got 2: a blue penguin, because she LOVES blue penguins, and a rose, because she was feeling in a Phantom of the Opera mood!!!! 😉

I got a Hawaiian floral design, which I thought was kind of cool!! 😉


Anyway, it has been another long day so I am going to call it a night!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

Our First Day at the Market!

Good evening!
We just got home from the Douglas County Christmas Craft Fair, and we are all exhausted!! Matter of fact, I may have just dozed off twice in the past 1/2 an hour. Anyway, we had a pretty good day! Our sales are doing better than we did last year, and having a double booth seems to really have made a difference in how customer are able to move around our booth and interact with all of us girls!!

Instead of spending a lot of time writing, I am going to share with you pictures of our booth!

We have all sorts of gift baskets!

Assorted crocheted hats!

and scarves!

Nativity sets!

Neck warmers and hand warmers!

Glycerin soaps!

various ornaments, and gift bags, which is a favorite with the kiddos!!

I have SOOOO MANY more pictures that I am excited to share with you, but I can barely keep my eyes open!!

As I slink off to bed…

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

Setting Up Shop!

Good evening!

So, my sweetie and I made it to Roseburg! WHEW!!! We headed straight to my sister’s house, picked her up, and long story short, Jennifer, Trina, Sweetie, and myself all ended up at the Douglas County fairgrounds so we could set up our booth! Of course I forgot my camera, so I will be taking pics of our booth first thing in the morning, but I have to admit that we were all pleasantly surprised that we were able to make it look so nice, PLUS fill up a double booth!!! My sisters have been hard at work creating handicrafts all year to make this weekend possible!

I had the opportunity to pull all of my old jewelry out to sell in the booth too, which really made me nostalgic for creating jewelry again! I will make sure to take pics of those too!

I wanted to especially share one thing that happened this evening that has really made this trip worthwhile already and that is, after we had finished setting up the booth, Austin met us at Denny’s and we all sat down for dinner. As we all held hand so my sweetie could pray over our dinner, in that moment, as I was holding Jennifer and Trina’s hand, I had great feeling of being blessed that I was able to be in that moment with my family. It was a priceless feeling that I have really been missing lately! God is good!! 😉

With that, it has been a long day, and we have got to get up very early tomorrow to go finish any last minute preparations, so I am going to call it a night and get some much needed sleep!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

A Flurry of Activity!

Good evening!

This evening has been a FLURRY of activity!! My sweetie and I are frantically getting everything ready to go down to Roseburg for the weekend. My sisters and I have rented two booths down at the Douglas County Christmas Fair, and we are going to be selling all sorts of hand made goodies! I will make sure to take plenty of pictures all weekend of everything and anything! Our good friend, Don is going to be coming over and babysitting our two little girls – thanks, Don!!! So, I know they will be in good hands!

We still have some more housekeeping to do before we go, and I need to make sure we get EVERYTHING packed into the minivan, because I am leaving work at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon to head out, and we are leaving straight from there.

I am not exactly sure what to expect from this Christmas bazaar, but I am excited to be getting to spend some time with my sissies, and to be able to sell some of my hand made bead and wire jewelry. It has been sitting in the house, some of it for up to five years, I have got to sell it, and make room for new creativity!

Back in 2007, I had opened my own jewelry business, and I did pretty well at making a nice selection of treasures, but because of some health problems that my sweetie was having, I decided that I needed to focus my attention on getting him better, so I put all of my jewelry-making supplies away. I get a little sad whenever I see them now, because I really do enjoy making jewelry, but really haven’t given myself permission to get back into making my little baubles! I think that after this weekend, that is going to really change! I would love to see myself start making jewelry again, with a focus on soldering, mini collages, ephemera, personalized memorabilia, and inspirational and sassy thoughts! 🙂 That sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!! 😉

Anyway, as much as I am enjoying my view of our lovely Christmas tree, and part of my book collection (see picture above), I have got to get going and get the rest of my to-do done for the evening, so I can go to bed before midnight!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

Hey Mr. Mailman!!

Good evening!

I have had a pretty good day. Got a lot of work done, made a super healthy, yet yummy dinner, but that is not what I want to talk about this evening!!

I have a grievance!!

Dear Mr. Postman,

Just because you are able to cram one of my well-waited for packages into my small mailbox DOES NOT mean that is where it should go! I will give you the benefit of the doubt and I will assume that from your side of our locked mailboxes, the parcel looked like, even though it would be a tight fit, that I would be able to get it out from my side of the mailboxes. Unfortunately, that was NOT the case! After removing my  jewelry so as not to rip one of my digits off while trying to pry the package out of the  tiny mailbox, and when that did not work, I tried-as-I-might to open the package while it was imprisoned in it’s miniature cell, unsuccessfully  I might add, and finally resorting to opening the end of the package with my husband’s pocket knife, I was left with a mangled cardboard box in one hand, my parcel having been carefully surgically removed from it’s confines in the other, and me standing there panting,  sweating, and in a very very grumpy mood, for which my husband would also like to thank you.

I would recommend that in the future, if I should receive another package, which it being Christmas, I am sure there are bound to be many, that you put the packages in one of the open larger mailboxes, and leave me that little miniscule key in my mailbox – THAT really can slip right through!

Now,  please don’t get me wrong, Mr. Mailman, I am quite impressed with my acrobatic skills in wrestling with both my mailbox, and my long awaited for package, and without your wisdom in placing a box that CLEARLY had no business being mushed into my mailbox, I would never have  had the ability to learn of my own feats of strength, so for that I thank you!

Sincerely,

A Grumpy Customer

PS. Just from one friend to another,Mr. Mailman,  I wouldn’t eat the Christmas cookies that I have left as a holiday gift for you, they may or may not have been laced with a lovely laxative surprise! Other than that, enjoy!

Ok, so now that I have gotten that off of my chest, I am going to take my not-normally-snarky-self  up to bed. Apparently someone needs a nap!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉