It's Thursday...

I don't consider Thursday a special day. Until yesterday I'd been working on Thursdays but for the summer I've switched to working Monday and Wednesday. It just seemed like by the time Thursday rolled around I felt like it was Friday and I didn't want to go to work. It's not that I don't like my job. It's a good job. Pretty easy. Gets me out of the house. It's just not mentally challenging really. And I haven't had a lot to do lately. I'm not used to that in terms of jobs. As a former teacher I pretty much always had something that needed doing. Like housework!

Today's 2P's challenge is:

Define YOUR VERY OWN scrapbooking style... do u have one?
Why or why not?

I think this is a tough question. Because when scrappers think of style we frequently associate it with a celeb scrapper. Like Cathy Z. Her style is definitely graphic. And I think I most closely associate with that. Organized, planned, well laid out. I am not one for a lot of distracting things on a page. I like paint and embellishments but not a lot on a layout. I like clean lines and structure where the elements of the layout lead the viewer to the photo and the story being told. That said I think it sometimes depends on the purpose of the layout or album or whatever I'm doing with paper. So my style will change to fit the purpose of the project. Kind of like interior designers. They have their personal style but are able to set that aside to some degree when they are working to great an interior for someone else's style. I try to do that when I'm designing projects for other people too. Be it invitations or scrapbooks or textile items. I may not be crazy about orange but I can use it if it's something someone else prefers.

So I try to be flexible too and try new things and different ideas. I've seen some scrappers who I can easily identify by their layouts. Because they do the same thing. Over, and OVER, and OVER! That's just boring. It's one thing to have a classic style, or a chic eclectic style. But if you are doing the same layout over and over just using different paper and embellishments that's not a style. That's just redoing the same thing.

No picture for today. I haven't had the camera out in a few days. I'm sort stuck in a rut. I need to find some other people/things to photograph besides Owen and stuff in our yard. Well, I guess I haven't done the garden yet. But that's not all that interesting.

Owen did manage to get himself stuck in his toy box twice today. He has a canvas LL Bean box/basket that I keep his toys in. He likes to climb into it and play. The way he was crawling into it today was not working for him and when he'd try to sit up he couldn't because he kept getting his head stuck under the metal frame of it. Finally I got him and the toys out and put him in a clothes basket instead. That was good for a bit. Then he tipped out and moved on to something else! He's also been taking a lot of steps and standing more. He walked about 4 feet on his own today and paused during the distance too! He just stood there looking at me and then took a couple more steps! It was very exciting! He seems to go in spurts with this. He will spend a day taking steps all over the place and then for a few days he will just crawl and do this knee scoot thing. I've got to get more video of him doing this stuff.

It's hotter than hades!

Minnesota is a funny place to live. In the winter it can get bitterly cold. And that cold makes us forget how swelteringly hot and humid it can be in the summer. I'm a fair weather person. Meaning I like it around 70˙, not humid, and partly cloudy. It is currently 78˙ out but feels a lot warmer because of the sun and the humidity. The forecast says a high of 90˙ for today and tomorrow. And around 80˙ for the rest of the week. Yuck. This weather makes my MIL talk about how lovely it is in Montana and NOT humid! Mind you, she grew up in Nebraska. HOT HOT HOT! and HUMID HUMID HUMID! Morgan and I were married August 17th. I would rather have been married in the fall but being a teacher and also in grad school my schedule would not permit this. So we opted for August. Three weeks before a girlfriend of mine got married at the Fort Snelling Chapel without air conditioning in 90+ degree weather. My MIL had been watching the weather forecasts for at least 2 months and telling us repeatedly that it was going to be sooo hot in our church. Also not air conditioned and a huge stone building to boot. It got so bad you thought she was going to perish in the heat and humidity. (Did I mention she grew up in NEBRASKA!?) You would have thought she was the one being zipped into a huge dress with layers of puffy stuff and nylons and a push-up bra! Well, the week of our wedding came and the weather was BEAUTIFUL. 75-80˙. Partly sunny. Not humid. The night of our wedding it stormed and rained all the next day but the day before and day of it was gorgeous! And my MIL didn't perish!

Anyway... on to more random things!

Owen has been having a bit of difficulty falling asleep again. So Friday night we ended up taking him for a drive. I grabbed my camera because I thought I'd take some pictures of I-don't-know-what while we were out. Well, Morgan had had a couple weekend adult beverages so he didn't want to drive so he ended up taking pictures while I drove. And here's one of them! LOVELY, isn't it! This is why I prefer to be behind the camera!
This is what we entertain ourselves with on the weekends. That and episodes of The Office on DVD. Morgan and usually start a game of scrabble and then continue it over the course of several days. He's particularly proud of himself this game because he got to start, used all his letters, and racked up a gazillion points his first turn. I have not hope of catching up!

Here's a picture of Owen and a big smile showing all 4 of his teeth!
And here he is taking a few steps all on his own! He's been doing this fairly often and it's only a matter of time before he masters it. Watch out world, here he comes!

The 2P's challenge for today is: What one piece of clothing do you own, that you have been wearing alot lately? And why? Blog about it... and share why u love it so much!

I recently bought a brown pair of bermuda shorts at Target. I wear them a lot because it's hot, they are the only pair of shorts that aren't athletic ones that fit, and did I mention they fit?? Oh, and they aren't ugly. Although on me, bermuda shorts look like 1/2 pants. But they cover up my chubby thighs so that's a bonus.

Since I've stopped working daily and stay home I am not in love with clothes. Oh, and they don't fit! There is the extra 15 pounds that I can't seem to cram into my regular clothes. And 15 pounds on a body that isn't even 5' tall is A LOT. And because it's pregnancy weight, it's around my middle. I don't have much of a waist anyway, but the weight in the middle doesn't help. At all. If I were normal size again my favorite item of clothing would be my green pants. They are a grass green and I love them. Kahki material sort of pants. Low rise, which on me is my waist, and comfortable. Sadly, they do not fit.

Last week I got exercise most days for almost an hour everyday and ate pretty well. And what did I get for all that work, a 2 pound GAIN! Go dieting! I LOVE it! Perhaps someone needs to confiscate my scale.

A special promotion...

As some of you know I am a Close to My Heart consultant and today I am advertising my special end of the quarter, gotta meet the minimum sales requirement, special! Receive free shipping on any order over $25! If you don't have a CTMH catalog please contact (heatherholle@gmail.com) me and I can give you a link to where you can view the products. This special is only available through me, only to US residents, and only until June 30th.

DOM cards 22, 23, and 24...

I got a bit behind on my DOM cards so I played catch up last night and today. So now I'm all caught up!

Week 22 was what do you want to learn? I have a way of needing to know how things work. And not just a little bit of how they work. I need to know all the aspects of whatever it is. So my card focuses on my new camera. I want to MASTER all the features. Fonts are Gothic and CK melton. I'm loving those two right now. As you will see on the next card!
Week 23 theme was Right now... I try not to over analyze the themes and try to go with whatever comes to me when I read the entry on Emily's blog. This was what popped into my head. Journaling reads...
"I am FAT. Every morning I wake up, look in the mirror and tell myself this. To some extent it is negative self-talk. But it's also reality. I still have 15 pounds of pregnancy weight. And I don't want it. But I'm not motivated to get rid of it either. It makes me sad and angry to still be struggling with my weight. I feel like a failure."

I printed the card on white photo paper and then did some doodling. Kept it simple as the focus was mainly on the journaling. As an aside, I try not to be a downer. It requires too much attention. Owen helps me to not always be concerned about myself too. And after talking to Morgan about this issue I am feeling better and have decided to try and start running again. I would like to do the Twin Cities 10 miler in October. If I have a goal I am more apt to accomplish something.

And lastly this week's theme is Remember When. This one I thought a bit more about and decided to write about a childhood memory. I did the journaling on a plain office supply tag and put some safety pins on as the "ribbon".

I have a lot more memories from when I was very young than I seem to do from when I was an older child. Maybe less turmoil! I enjoyed thinking about this while I was making the card. And when I say very young I mean 3 or 4.

More random photos...

Another post of random photos!

This first one is a rainbow I saw two weeks ago coming out of Barnes and Noble. A couple days later I saw another one and had the SLR but couldn't get in a place to stop and take a picture before it was gone!

These are the sunset pictures I took while I was in the car coming home from Target the other day. The colors were beautiful! Horrible pictures but you can see what kind of color there was.

Recently I expanded Owen's reign in the house to include the entry way and hallway leading to his bedroom. I have this basket in the entry way that I keep catalogs in and he decided it would be a great place to play the other day!


And the other fascination in the entry way is the mailbox. We have a mail slot on the outside of the house which drops into a box and then there is a little door to it on the inside. He loves to play with this!


And finally, here it is, the NEW FRIDGE! Morgan said to me last night, it's the whitest thing in the kitchen! Which means we need to scrub the cabinets again!

For Father's Day I made Morgan a photo cube. I found an acrylic cube at Wal-Mart and then created 6 3.25"x3.25" digital layouts to put in the cube. Below are the six layouts. He likes to have pictures at work and I thought this would be a creative way for him to display them. He probably won't be that wowed by the layouts but he will like the photos!
It's been hotter than hades here in MN. O and I walked with Nikki yesterday at the lake around noon. It wasn't too bad with some shade and a breeze but I prefer cooler and less humid weather!

Today we are having lunch with the girls to celebrate Nik's birthday!

Funny stuff...

I was obsessed with this orange slice the other day! I really wanted to get a closer picture but it wasn't working out. And I wanted the light passing through so you could see more detail but that wasn't working either! So here it is. As it is. A lovely orange slice!
This is Ludwig. He in the one dog kitchen cleaning crew! He's selective sometimes though. He's not into carrots. Cooked or raw. Most anything else will do though. He's recently figured out that Owen is a food source. And tonight he was eating off of Owen's tray! Morgan of course thinks it's funny and doesn't stop him! And Owen thinks it's funny too. Owen has recently discovered he can scare Ludwig when he's standing by his tray by making loud noises! They are quite a bunch, my boys!

This is my sister. In a comment yesterday she mentioned some pictures we took on Sunday while we were at their house for dinner. So here are a few of them.

I love the telephoto lens! I can zoom in and get good close ups! Behind her is her cool car!

And these are said "funny" action shots she was talking about yesterday! Here's the history... You know how athletes jump up and knock their chests together?? Well one day Morgan thought it would be funny to do this to me. I can't remember when, or where or why but he did this. And just about knocked me on my bum! And being the perfectionist that I am, I decided we needed to get this down. So we practiced and we are actually pretty good!

Until Morgan decides we are are no longer knocking chests and changes the body part! He of course doesn't mention the change to me and this is the result! Why I find this funny I cannot tell you. But just the fact that I can do it is entertaining!

And then I decided that Miranda and her boyfriend should do it too! And they happily agreed! At least they looked happy about it!

And this chest knocking stuff takes a bit of coordination. Especially when you are short! Fortunately I am not busty so if we miss I don't get hurt!

So now I've shared some ridiculousness with you! It's good to have a husband and a sister that will do silly stuff with you!

Doing the Happy Dance!

Today our new fridge arrived! This is a wonderful thing! Our old fridge was very cold and so we just turned it down. Well, last week it got to the point where it was turned down as far as we could get it to go (it was stuck!) and it was still 28˙! So Friday night and Saturday morning we shopped for a new fridge. We found a good deal at Sears and they could deliver today. At 9:40am the delivery truck pulled up. At 9:55 am they pulled way! Old one out, new one in! I was not thrilled about having to spend that money after bought a new camera last month. I was thinking I was going to have to take my camera back so we could buy the fridge. Then I'd have to just wander around looking through my minolta 50mm lens imagining what all my pictures would look like through it! But thanks to Sears' free financing for 12 months we can have a new fridge and camera too!

Speaking of cameras. Here's a sunset picture I took last night. As I was leaving Target at 9pm the sun was setting beautifully. Unfortunately I did not have my DSLR with just my P & S and I was in the car. So I took a few pictures while I was driving!!! These are not those. When I got home I ran in the house, put on the 50mm lens, and headed out the door to go down the block to the boat landing. Luckily my neighbor across the street was out and he let me run in their backyard for some pictures.I will post my moving sunset pictures some other time!

The 2P's challenge for today is: If you could write a letter to your younger self, knowing what you've learned in life already, what would that letter say?

I love this question! At 33 I am relatively comfortable with whom I am. Not my body, but myself. I will probably never be comfortable with my body. But the person I AM, I am comfortable with. The first thing this letter would say is, boys are dumb. In some way all boys are dumb. And that is because they don't get girls because they aren't girls. The second thing it would say is, there are a lot of boys. So let the REALLY dumb ones alone and move on to one that isn't so dumb. Like one who has a few sisters. Next, it would say, don't take yourself or life so seriously. Have some adventures, live outside your box a little! And make some more friends that aren't so bitchy. THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO MY FRIENDS NOW! (side note... I was in a sorority in college. Lots of girls all together=bitchy friends!)

I could probably go on and on. Especially about boys. But the fact of the matter is the experiences of your life shape who you become. I am the person I am today because of a lot of the misadventure and mishaps and silly or dumb choices. I have few regrets about my life and the ones I do have, aren't that big. I also don't think you are ever too old to try something new or change something about your life. I left teaching thinking "what the heck am I going to do now!?" And the reality of that is the same as it was when my mom told me I could be anything I wanted to be. I can still be anything I want to be. I probably won't be a rocket scientist or the president of our country or any other country, but if I wanted to, I'd find a way to do it. I am my own worst enemy. We all are. And we make or break ourselves everyday. So I try to use my experiences to LEARN not the keep doing dumb stuff!

On another note. Owen discovered my belly button today. He's not that into his and he discovered his "other part" about a month ago and thankfully he isn't that into "it" either! But my belly button is something to get excited about! And jab his finger into! OUCH! I think it must be all the FLESH surrounding my belly button that makes it so exciting. Another reason to do something about the flesh!

Hooray!

Owen's test went well today and everything is A-okay! He was a very good baby! Morgan was able to go with us and that helped a lot. He had to hold him down a bit but not too much and after the cool Christmas lights and the Elmo video lost their charm I pulled out the graham crackers and they worked their magic until the end.

We were supposed to meet with Owen's doctor tomorrow to discuss the results but we were able to meet with a cardiologist at the heart clinic after the echo. He said everything looked great. There are no anatomical abnormalities with his heart and the cardiologist said that his episode is rather common with children his age. It's like sticking your foot in a lake. If it's cold your foot will turn purple. We did have a fan on his room that day and he must have gotten the chills. Morgan has a condition called mitrovalve prolapse and the doctor said Owen does not have that. Morgan's isn't serious but it's nice to know that Owen doesn't have it.

Tonight I made a great purchase. It was also a real bargain! I've been watching 50mm lenses on ebay. It's a fast lens which means it's good in low light. They weren't staying cheap enough on ebay for my budget so I decided to check out the local camera store and see if they had any. They did so I stopped in to try one out. I liked it instantly so decided I would buy it. It was way cheaper than on ebay too. $49.99. Well, the bargain part is that it was mismarked! Normally they sell them for $99.99 but someone priced it wrong! So it was my lucky day!

Here is a couple of test shots. The first is with my normal 18-70mm lens and the second is with the 50mm. Both are with rather low light from a single upright halogen lamp in our downstairs.
Huge difference, isn't it!? I adjusted the white balance on the second one just a bit but otherwise I shot them both with the same settings. Our camera has super steady shot built in so that helps but it's mostly the fast lens. I'm going to try it out on Owen tomorrow in the living room. We don't get good light in there in the late spring and summer so I'm hoping this lens helps with some of that. I don't like to use a flash so I try to make the most of the available natural light when I can.

Lastly, the 2P's challenge for today is: If you could own the world's largest collection of anything, what would it be?

Interesting question Bonnie Rose! And difficult for me because my first reaction would be "where the heck would I keep all that!?" No matter what it is! I think I'm going to go with gnomes. That way I could keep them outside in a large garden and go out to visit them whenever I want! I'm sure some of my friends are shaking their heads right now!

Have a great Friday!

Sleep...

it's a wonderful thing! Which is the 2P's challenge for today! What one wonderful thing happened to you today?

I got to sleep through the night! Owen is hit or miss with sleeping lately. But this week he's slept all night, twice! We have a well established bedtime routine and he's on a pretty solid schedule as far as eating and napping but he still wakes at night regularly. I've given up trying to figure out exactly what it is because I don't think there is one cause. He's growing and developing and that can affect sleep. We just keep sticking to the routine and schedule as best we can. The hard part is when he wakes in the middle of the night he won't usually be comforted by Morgan. So we both end up getting up. And he can be very difficult to put back down because he wakes when I put him back and then starts the crying and screaming all over again. I'm hoping these nights of good sleep are a sign of some progress!

Below are some of things I've been working on this week. The first is my DOM card from last week. The theme was traits we aspire to or our strengths. I chose patience because everyday it seems I need a little bit more!

These are two pages from my All About Me Album.

Blah...blah...blah...

Is what this post will mostly be about. I don't have a topic today, just a variety of things! Yippee for you, eh!?

First, here is my breakfast from this morning. This is one of the things I love about summer. Fresh berries! I could eat raspberries, black raspberries, and blue berries until I'm sick! They are wonderful on ice cream! But this morning they were on plain yogurt and I added a little granola.

These are my crocs. And this is why I love them. That and they are comfortable. But they are washable so when they get all dusty and dirty I just throw them in the sink and give them a good scrubbing! You can't do that with white tennies now can you!?

This is Owen playing in the backyard yesterday with his make shift sandbox! It's sand.... in a box... so it counts! He enjoyed it and got good and dirty.

On Sunday we took Owen to a park for a hike and to play. He was a crank that day and needed some fresh air. Here he is in the nets. And yes, he's a biter!

And this is Morgan in the nets. He loved them too! I did not go in the nets. I had the camera and the diaper bag and the camera bag. So no climbing for me! The boys had a good time though!

And this last picture is Owen having his first popsicle ever! He loved it. I tried giving him one the other day but he wasn't too interested. Maybe he likes them better with Grammie!

The challenge at 2P's today is: Blog about 5 of the songs you have downloaded/heard/bought recently, that you love, and you feel they are SO WORTH the 99 cents you paid for them... blog about 5 songs that you just love right now...

Well, I'm not a big music listener actually. For as many years as I spent dancing you'd think I would be. I listen in the radio and O and and listen to music and dance together but I like the sound of quiet. Or we listen to public radio. But I did download two songs the other day for Owen. Rockin Robin and ABC by the Jackson 5. So we've been groovin' to those! I also like songs that I can sing real loud to!

A little scare...

On Friday Owen slept rather late. I went in to get him around 10 to 9. He never sleeps this late! I had heard him in his room a couple of times but he wasn't upset so I let him be. I try not to rush in the moment I hear him. When I went him he sat up and looked at me and then stood up with his blanket. He was not excited nor upset. He gave a little whimper and just curled in next to me. I sat with him in his chair for a bit and then we went into the living room and opened up the blinds. Usually this perks him up. He was only interested in cuddling up in my lap. He was very lethargic. He had never been like this before. He felt a bit cool and clammy. I took his temp but it was normal. So we cuddled for a while before breakfast.
While he was eating I noticed that his hands, feet and lips were purplish. I had already called my mom and then Morgan. Morgan told me to call the doctor and just see what they had to say and after the purple color I did!
After back and for with the nurse and her talking to the doctor he seemed to perk up and his color went back to normal. But because he did turn purple, especially his lips, the doctor has scheduled us for an echocardiogram to be sure everything is fine with his heart.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you this scared the daylights out of me. I think he just got a chill while he was sleeping. It had been rather warm in his room and we had a fan running. But the thought of there being something seriously wrong with him just scares me. He doesn't have the test done until Thursday and we don't meet with his doctor for the results until Friday. This just seems like such a long time to wait!

He has also been baby-cranks-a-lot lately. My mom says he's exerting some independence. He knows he can get around on his own so he wants to do his thing and not what we want him to do. Especially get his diaper changed! I've taken to counting while I'm doing this so I don't lose my temper! Everyday is a test for more patience!

Happy June 1st!

The first official month of summer. I know, it's not summer yet, technically speaking. But summer starts this month. And for a teacher June is summer!

Today's 2P's challenge: With the summer beginning. Let's blog about something we are looking forward to happening.

Well, today something very exciting is happening that I am happy about! My friend Nikki and her husband close on their new house! New to them. AND the part that I'm happy about is they will be 4.5 miles from us! And since they are finished with school next Friday that means all kinds of fun summer stuff can be done with my girlfriends!

Nikki has agreed to be my buddy for The Summer 2007 Loser Challenge. This is a little challenge that Lori, Maggie and I came up with a couple years ago to help motivate us. It was very helpful in getting me in shape for pregnancy. Hopefully it will be just as helpful in getting me back in shape from being pregnant! And I decided I needed a buddy because I think it will be helpful to have someone to get some exercise with. Lori and Maggie live a ways away and are planning to walk in the am before summer school. They live fairly close together but 30 or so miles from me and Nik. And I'm not going to walk at 6 am in the morning!

Anyone else want to do the challenge!? We could have a virtual group too!

I'm also looking forward to taking a few small trips with Owen and Morgan. We are planning to take O camping. My mom will most likely be taking some vacation again so we will get to do something fun with her. Owen will be walking soon and that will be very exciting. And in July I'm going to Wisconsin for a girls weekend! With The Girls!! It's very exciting but bittersweet since I will be leaving O for a couple of nights. He will be fine with Morgan but it will be different!

I am not looking forward to hot, humid weather! MN can be crappy like that in the summer and I'm more of a spring/fall kind of girl!

On another note... I've posted this week's challenge on the Funky Photo Friday blog. Go check it out!