8/26/09 Thursday Thunks...

1. Have you ever played Bullshit? Yes, I do believe I have. Although not for a very long time and I'm terrible at card games so I would have to be taught again.

2. A dog licks you on your face. Are you disgusted or thinking it was sweet? It depends on the dog. When Ludwig licks me I'm okay with it. He's a pretty dainty licker. Greyhounds are selective about who they lick. Not WHAT just who.

3. Tell us about a fun/special memory you have of a grandparent. For the first 3 1/2 years of my life we lived with my maternal grandparents. And my grandpa and I were very close. I have many, many special memories of him. He taught me to do all kinds of things. Hammer nails, play pool, card games, fish, drive a tractor, and a car. He was a very special man and I miss him everyday.

4. Have you ever pet a rat? Yes.

5. If I walked into your kitchen, where are the cups? In the cabinet to the right of the sink on the first shelf.

6. Since you already let me in your home, I found the cup and had water, now where's the bathroom from the kitchen? Depends on which way you go. But the fastest way is through the study, down the hall and the first door on the right. Watch out, it's pretty pink in there!

7. Have you ever pet a turtle or tortoise? Yes.

Fabulous finds...

Morgan LOVES garage sales. The thought of a deal is exhilarating for him. We will drive around and preview them (slow down and look) and if it looks good we will stop. He often goes to them without me. Just him and Owen. Owen loves them too. This weekend we drove around to a few while we were out. One of my favorite finds was this little red easy chair for $2. It's the perfect addition to my collection of props for childrens portraits. Owen of course thinks it's for him but we told him he could only sit in it when I take his picture. He posed for me but not for long!

This is my favorite. There is just something about the pensive look on his face.

I'm really excited to use it for Baby Q's 6 month portrait session! I also found a Tupperware Jello mold set for $2. I don't know why I love them so much but I've been obsessed with finding one for ages. And $2 is just my price.

Morgan also hauled home a desk he found by the curb. It's not huge, more of a child's study desk. But in decent shape. I want to paint it in a fun/funky way. Morgan wants to refinish it in just the wood. We rarely agree on things! But we did agree that the price was right! Free! Curb-side-thrift is our decorating style! Which I'm not always happy about. But it allows me to have other expensive things like a new 24" Dell monitor to do my photography editing work on. I was dreaming about a new MAC but the reality is that I didn't need one. I just needed a larger display area. We went to the Apple store last weekend to look at them and of course the price of a new monitor to use with my iMAC was $900. But turns out it wouldn't work with my model. Darn. So the guy recommended I look into a Dell or Samsung. The Dell 24" had great reviews online (from MAC users even) so I found a good deal at Dell and Best Buy price matched it. I was thrilled! And Morgan is excited that we can watch movies upstairs on it! So cheap furniture and to afford nice gadgets is just fine by me.

Friday fill-ins...

1. I remember, I remember the crispness and energy of fall.

2. Dear Grandma & Grandpa, I want you to know I miss you and think of you everyday.

3. Is that my BUTT!!???

4. I'm trying to resist the temptation of sugar. I LOVE sugar!

5. I'm saving a pile of junk just for you!

6. If I made a birthday list a really huge laundry bin would definitely be on it!!!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to spending the evening with my boys, tomorrow my plans include cleaning and crafting and Sunday, I want to craft some more!!!

Wordless Wednesday...

8/13/09 Thursday Thunks...

1. Hypothetical question- you are in a building with famous works of art, old manuscripts of famous novels, and original sheet music from famous composers. The building is on fire and looks to be completely destroyed. Do you grab any of the famous works before fleeing, and if so what? Hmmm, I guess it depends on how many people are in the building and if they are all freaking out. And I would think this building would have measures to protect such treasures in the event of this kind of disaster!

2. In August 1969, the Manson family went on a 2 night killing spree. Do you think 40 years later they have paid for their crimes? I'm pretty sure those people, and specifically Charles Manson, will not have fully paid for their crimes until they meet their maker. I just don't think there can be a price to pay for a "killing spree". Maybe it's just me, but there is something not quite right with the Mansons.

3. Power Outage! What's the longest you have been without power? 15 hours maybe. But then again, we do go camping!

4. Just bought a new tazer gun. Will you let it be tested it on you to see if it works, and how it feels to be tazered? Nope. No thanks. Find someone else to taze!

5. A neighbor's mail was delivered to you. In it is a magazine not wrapped in plastic. Is it ok for you to flip through it before giving it to the neighbor? Do you tell them you looked through it? If your fingers are not dirty, and flipping through is not the same as reading. And when we get the neighbors mail it ends up sitting on the table for a few days. Unless it looks really important. They have a big dog that I don't like so the timing has to be right for me to take the mail over there!

6. If I went through your purse/wallet right now, what all would I find in there? Not much out of the ordinary. I carry a small purse. My wallet, my phone, a notepad and pen, calculator, gum, a pill box.

7. Have you been living under a rock? No, why?? Do I look like it?? Did I miss something!? I don't watch the news you know! It either makes me mad or makes me cry!

8. Tell us something crazy you did this week. I had blood taken. I know, it doesn't sound that crazy. But I'm a big pansy.

Wordless Wednesday...

Thankful for...

M- My mother. She is awesome. And I am super proud of her. She passed her counseling licensure exam.

O- Owen. He's a wonderful boy and I have learned so much being his mama.

N- Neighbors and our neighborhood. We have great neighbors and live in a very nice little neighborhood. While we certainly don't live in a coveted city we have a nice little niche here.

D- A new doctor. So far so good. Although I didn't enjoy having blood drawn today.

A- Answered prayers. Nikki was released from the hospital today. She still needs to go to the clinic everyday but she gets to sleep in her own bed every night and be with her little family. That is most certainly something to be thankful for!

Y- Yard, our yard. I'm thankful that we have a yard big enough for Owen to play in but not so big that we can't take care of it (mostly). And it's a safe yard for Owen too. And has a fence to keep Ludwig in.

I've been quite busy lately. Sewing. Cleaning (trying to keep up with it!). Working. Editing pictures. Enjoying playdates. And I've not had a whole lot to reflect upon to write about. And when that happens I like to just think about what I'm thankful for and all the good things I have in my life. It's always so much nicer than dwelling on the things I want to change or can't change or the things I worry about.

Wordless Wednesday...

Stare at this for a bit...

Created by Akiyoshi Kitaoka. I first saw it on How About Orange. Click to make it bigger and you will get a much better effect.

Things to share...

This is a panoramic that my father-in-law took in the Hyalite Canyon just south of Bozeman, MT. I did a little color work on it but just to bring out what was already there. I don't often share the photographs of others but this is one of my most favorite of what my FIL has taken. We both share a passion for photography and enjoy discussing photography topics and our cameras. But for as grand as he takes pictures I like to get in close!

I don't think I posted this but I can't remember and I could go back and look but I'm not going to! This is Owen sitting on the world during an outting with Lisa and her kids. I used it for the selective coloring lesson in the Jessica Sprague class I took.

I took this one at the vehicle fair we took Owen to in May, or maybe it was June. Anyway, I ran the News Print action on it from Coffee Shop actions.

I created this frame and text from the tutorial on Cathy Z's blog this week. I'd been wanting to know how to make a simple line frame for ages!

This digi layout I created for a challenge this week at Designer Digitals. The challege was to use three photos. The photo frames were a freebie!