Cancer Effects Us All

I saw this amazing video over at Cathy Zielske's blog and couldn't not share it. Cancer has touched the lives so so many. I missed the Stand Up to Cancer broadcast but was glad to see this on You Tube

Posted in memory of my Aunty Myrtle.

Sneak Attack, Rushing and Weight Loss

This past weekend I was shopping for some winter clothes and I bought four things in size.....MEDIUM! Can you believe it? I was so excited. I weighed this morning and am down another two pounds from the past nine days. That makes my loss a total of thirty-four pounds and I have twenty-two and a half pounds to go. I need to get moving if I want to have it all lost by February. The sad thing is that I have to eat less and less to lose weight steadily as I get smaller. That's how Weight Watchers lost me the one time I tried it. I met my ten pound goal and they took away some points - how rude! *grin* but if eating even less is what is required so be it. It's been awhile since I've been well enough to work out which should give me a boost once I'm back at it.

Spending the yesterday without power was a very eye-opening experience. I had a lot more time available as the minutes sucked up by Twitter, blogs, news, email etc. were returned to me all at once. I got everything I needed to do finished and then I laid down on the couch and caught up on my backlog of Domino magazine. I love Domino but seldom sit down and read it cover to cover - it was like a mini-vacation.

The kids took longer at their schoolwork, not doing it slower but doing more. They weren't anxious to be done so they could use their computers or wii-fit. Instead they used the quiet to complete more of their tests.

Our house was a very pleasant temperature and the light was just perfect. Overall, the day was a huge success.

It struck me as notable how relaxed we were. In contrast, today has been a flurry of email, blog reading and online shopping - all good things but yesterday felt so much more real and so very peaceful.

When the power came on I lasted about four and a half minutes before I had to check my email. To my astonishment there was an Etsy order! And then another. Ping. Ping. Ping. Four more! Something was definitely up! I also had some conversations so I logged in and found out that I had been the recipient of a "sneak attack". The concept is that a group of strangers decide on a shop that is deserving and they all order from that shop at once. I later learned that they had hoped to clear out all my stock. Eleven orders later I couldn't contain my smile. What a wonderful surprise. I think the best part was being privy to the thread after the fact and hearing all the lovely things said about my cards. It was really wonderful and such a boost. Complete strangers choosing to do something like that really restores your faith in humanity.

So last night was a flurry or packaging, finding my moo cards and making little gifts to include with each purchase. I hope they love the cards.

Etsy

Who turned the lights out?

Rocky Mountain Power is turning off our electricity for nine hours today. Since I haven't been feeling my best I batted around ideas for field trips with the kids but decided the very best learning experience will be to spend a day at home without any power. I think a day of Makis Unplugged will be interesting to say the least. And it makes a lot more sense than not walking well out in public.

See you all tomorrow :-)

Twittermoms

I joined a new networking site this week called TwitterMoms. I'm usually not much of a social networker but the ladies there are pretty cool and the special interest groups lean towards art, cooking, crafts and education. All my faves. There is also a thriving bunch of writers, lots of knitters etc.

This afternoon I started a group over there called Vegetarian and Vegan Moms with the purpose being to share recipes and ideas.

If any of you are interested in finding me (and other scrapbookers, knitters and writers) over there here's my profile and I recommend checking out the groups as a good way to get involved.

Here are a few things I've made lately, simple, down home cards:




twittermoms + vegan + vegetarian

Odd Bird Planet, Friends and QVC

Checked out the Odd Bird Planet Blog this AM and saw my name. *Squeal*

I've been a fan of Odd Bird Planet (and before that Just Johanna) stamps since I discovered them so this is a major thrill.

Wish me luck!

And while I'm requesting stuff, can you remember me in your prayers? My back really tanked last night and I'm just a hair better than immobile. I'm counting my blessings as I can get to the bathroom so I don't need to dehydrate myself but I can't do much more. GRRRRRRRR!

Have I mentioned lately that I know some of the nicest people on the planet? On Friday night I posted to the girls at TSR that I used my scraps of paper to make the front of this:



and had no paper left for the back. I looked all over the place to buy some more but met with no success at all. Heidi and Cathy came to my rescue and each of them sent me their pieces. Thanks so much ladies. You both rock! Now my pretty little book won't be backless.

Anyone watching the QVC Paper Craft Fair? I Tivoed it because I usually can get through an hour in less than five minutes. I was watching the ones that taped in the night and was surprised by how much I liked. Either I'm really ill (possible) or they are debuting some seriously adorable papers. My favorite was the Anna Griffin animal print collection - seemed like it would be fun for punky, pin-up type, derby girl style cards; which makes me laugh as Anna Griffin, who is off-the-chart awesome, is anything but punk or edgy.

Few Things to Share

My dear sweet friend Angela got these in the mail this weekend so I can finally share them on my blog.

Here is a pink and black shell I made:



The boyish blue and green one:



And this Coral and Turquoise LO:





I really enjoyed working with pink and using some of the girly embellishments I've collected.

I'll post more in the morning. Thanks so much for popping by :-)

As Seen on TV

I was watching Studio Five yesterday afternoon and saw this:



It's always fun to get a nice surprise like that.

I'm scrapping as my tummy is too sore to do much else. I've got lots of projects to post but they are all top secret until they make it to their destinations. Sorry everyone.

Also, there is a cyber crop this weekend at the scraproom and as always, there are many fun challenges and cool people to hang with.

In other news, we're fast approaching NaNo-Time. All you NaNoWriMos pipe up and let me know if you'll be participating this year.

Headbands

I have tons of wavy hair that borders on curly and it in near to impossible for me to find hair doo-dads that actually do the job they were purchased for. This weekend at the Salt Lake City Farmers Market I set aside my fear of head lice and let let the adorable sales gal show me how their headbands work - AND IT WAS AWESOME!

Pink Bench Headbands aren't cheap but they really stay put in your hair and don't hurt at all. I wore one all day while doing errands, playing with the kids and messing about with the dog and it didn't slide a millimeter. That's pretty cool. My head felt great - no headaches or little teeth to drill into your skull.

There is a velcro bit that sticks to your hair and the bottom part you tie. Very worth the money.

And a tip that I never knew and so I'm passing on in case you didn't know either: if you are tying something in your hair, put your hair up in a clip, tie the knot and then let your hair down and style. Stupid me, I always either hung my head upside down or tied the knot under my hair almost always resulting in knotted hair. Ouch.

P.S. The hairband in the picture is the one I bought - I thought it was so pretty and goes with everything.

Beckoning of Lovely

I saw this on Cathy Zielske's Blog and thought I'd share as everyone who reads this blog is so incredibly talented.



I hope many of you choose to participate. Amy Krouse Rosenthal is super cool and I loved her book.

Missed Me?

My mom flew back to Canada this morning it was a great visit and she will definitely be missed. While she was here we went to the Utah State Fair and bummed around SLC showing her the sights. MOst of all we just hung out, took long walks and caught up on each others lives.

After she and Chris left this morning we started school up for the '08-'09 school year. There wasn't a lot of fanfare considering it was the first day back - I went upstairs to change my clothes and came down to three boys with their noses in their workbooks. Easy peasie.

Speaking of boys, here are some very cute pics of my littles and a goofy pic of me:

The Best Laid Plans of Mice...

I've been home from Canada for a whole week and haven't posted about our trip. It was, in a word, wonderful. Seeing Mom and Dad was such a treat and we were very comfortable there. We met with almost all of the extended family and I was just overwhelmed by how loved Chris is. I don't think I would have been okay with him living so far from home all these years if I'd known how many people miss him as much as they do - they all openly adore him. Not that I blame them, he is pretty darn adorable.

Thunder Bay is a beautiful city. Very picturesque and Lake Superior is stunning. There is a pretty little marina just off of down town and it's full of handsome boats. We went to several parks and it felt so good to be around tall old trees and ambling rivers again.





We also got our passports while we were there and they arrived at our house almost as soon as we got home. Getting a Canadian passport is much easier in Canada. We saved ourselves a ton of hassle.

My Mom is coming into town tomorrow and staying through next Monday. I haven't seen her in two and a half years. Shameful! So today I need to cook and clean and get everything ready for her. I'm not feeling well at all so I hope I can muster the energy to get things ship-shape.

I know some of my amazing friends are great with close together travel and company *coughSarahcough* but I feel like we are still trying to catch up from being gone for ten days and now my mom is here. Usually I don't pack my schedule quite so tight.

Attention Card Makers

The very talented Susan Costanza started a card sketch a day blog on the first of the month and it is amazing. There are many opportunities for card makers to participate. I highly recommend you check it out.

Card Sketch A Day Blog


I got my copy of Scrapbooks Etc. in the mail on Tuesday and was excited to see my layout of Trenton's first six months on page ten. Here's the LO:

Brilliant and Overweight

Catchy title, no?

I'm on day 103 of my diet and it is going really well. I have had a handful of illnesses and the immune response hasn't completely killed my spine like it has done since the onset of this crummy disease. I'm just thrilled to be healing more than degenerating. I'm down 31.5 pounds and have crossed the BMI threshold from obese to overweight. Which makes me happy even though I don't buy into the whole BMI thing. I have lots of muscle, large bones and and even larger chest, I look good around 135 - not 105 like the charts suggest. So 136 is my goal which happens to be the exact weight I was on my wedding day. Hopefully I'll get there before my birthday in February.

Thank you Susan and Angela for nominating me for a Brillante Blog Award.



Here's how this award works:
1. Post the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who gave you the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers who you think deserve it.
4. Add links to their blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on your nominees blogs.

I nominate the following artists:
1. Perpetual Beginner by Cindy
2. Sarah's Blog by Sarah
3. Paper, Scissors and Superheroes by Betsy
4. Some Assembly Required by Hope
5. Something About MaryC by Mary
6. Tranquil Moments by Sonda
7. Claudette by Claudette

Life on a Mountain: Fire and Snow

We're back from Canada. The trip was a lot of fun and Thunder Bay is gorgeous. I'll write a post about the trip once I get my photos organized a bit better.

But, the one huge dark cloud over our time away was that the canyon we live next too suffered a wildfire. The fire got within 200 yards of homes. It was on the front (west) side of the mountain and we are the south east which was a small conciliation but as the hours progressed and the fire swelled to over 800 acres our fears grew. One of the last new stories I heard was a story celebrating how the fire had quit b urning down the mountain towards homes ( a very good thing) but had gone around the side and up the back - which is directly where we are. I checked our neighborhood association and they assured homeowners that at the present moments our homes were safe but five fire trucks were patrolling our neighborhood to wet homes down if the fire got closer. Here are some pictures most are from our street:






We were very happy to see the fire was completely out when we got home but sad to see so much of the mountain a black charred mess. While the worst damage occurred at the front of the mountain, here are a few pictures from our porch to show how close it came:





And in other news, we came home to the mercury hovering between 100 and 102 on Saturday. Sunday night a big storm brought snow. SNOW!!!! On August 31st! and then Monday was a chilly 52 degrees. That's a pretty big swing in the weather! The snow line is around 8000 feet and we're just over 6000 so we've got a few weeks left before winter. Here's a pic:



I'll post more later. Hugs all around.