H*E*L*L*L*O

dear friends. It has been so long. I apologize for such a long absence. Life has been so busy & so full. Our household has had so many changes...some good & some not so good. I promise to jump back in & get you all up to speed. I have so many pictures to share too.

I hope this is finding you all well & living life to the fullest.

I am off to make two different chili recipes for a chili cook off at my son's school. I am also going to make some baked items for the cake walk. Should be a lot of fun. I found a recipe for caramel/banana cupcakes. YUM! Will give it a whirl & let you know how they come out.

Have a wonderful day filled with smiles & happiness!

*Toodles*

We're Getting There

It has been a busy week here. Rush, rush, rush! I have been just a running & a running.

Monday Tarynn & I got up early & left for Spokane to watch my son Taylor be sworn into the Army. It was such a proud & yet sad moment in my life. My kids are growing up & flying the coop. :( It was so neat to be able to witness it though. Taylor was on cloud nine. This has been such a battle to get to this point. We are so proud of him...yet scared for him too. I know he will flourish. He has high goals & is highly motivated. He will be leaving for Ft. Benning, Georgia on June 17th. So little time for us to prepare. I am just glad he gets to go home with us to San Diego for a brief visit with family before boot camp. :)

The sale was good. Not as profitable as I had hoped but good, none the less. Atleast I got rid of tons of stuff. I am still working on getting rid of the big furniture items. It is all falling into place though.

I went running around this morning collecting boxes from U-Haul & some of the local stores. I will get to filling those later today. LOL

I promised to share Mothers Day photos. We had such a wonderful day. It was picture perfect other than my honey not being here. :( He sent me the most beautiful roses ever. My daughter Tarynn & her boyfriend Adam took me & his mom to a local restaurant called the Snakepit (pictured in slideshow). It was a lot of fun & yummy too. Later that day all of the kids & I went to the movies. We really enjoyed our day. I think we had more fun playing with the timer on the camera than anything else. Did I say we are easily amused? LOL I know I am late...but I hope you all had as wonderful a Mother's Day as I had.

Well I better get to gettin...lots to do. I will be back soon. Thank you all for all the sweet comments & emails of encouragement that you send to me. It means the world to me. I hope I can give to you as you have given to me. *Ü*

Have a wonderful day! Toodles *Ü*

She Is Alive....Really

Hahaha. Once again I am apologizing for going so long in between posts. Life has kind of taken over the last few weeks. It has been crazy around here.

We got through prom without a hitch. It was so fun! I am adding a few pictures of Taylor & Sam. They had a blast & looked so cute.

Tomorrow is the big rummage sale. I have been weeding through junk for the last two weeks. It is rather refreshing to see some of it go. I will be so glad when this weekend is over & this is behind me.

Two weeks yesterday until my honey is home. I cannot wait! I am just thankful that we have cell phones, computers & other ways of communications these days. I was talking to my mom about how it must have been awful during Vietnam & wars prior for the spouses to communicate. We really are lucky for modern technology is some aspects...not all....but some of the conveniences are most welcome. :)

BIG NEWS!!!! I am not sure if I have gotten into the story about my Taylor trying to enlist in the Marine Corp (being that it has been a life long dream of his)? Well, they turned him down due to his heart condition & he was pretty devastated by the news. He never thought to prepare a back up plan for life. We tried to boost his spirits & offer other suggestions that he may want to try. With that, we went & spoke with the National Guard with no luck. We then decided to talk to the Army. We met the most awesome recruiter (Sgt. Sumner). He has gone out of his way to push & pull strings for Tay. Taylor had to go to Washington & see cardiologists that put him through a battery of tests. Those findings had to be sent to Washington D.C. for review. We have been waiting & waiting for this to go through the chain of command & to get some kind of word. Well, we are excited to say that Taylor has been ACCEPTED into the Army. YIPPEE!! He is so excited & on cloud nine. We are scared but so proud of him. We really feel the military is his calling in life. He is going to excel & go far....I just know it! So Monday we will be heading to Washington for him to be sworn in. Of course I will have photos when we get back.

I also have to tell you that I have met some of the most awesome people online. About a week ago I was the luckiest person to be a recipient of a RAK (random act of kindness). I just have to tell you that it couldn't of came at a better time. Laura of Wish You Were Here sent me a goodie package that was just incredible. She makes the most amazing cards. You have to go sign up for her blog. She will just blow you away with her creativity. Anyways, awhile back she had made this latte card that holds a gift card. I loved it. Just thought it would be the cutest thing to give some of my friends. I mentioned it in blog conversation. Well let me tell you....she sent me two of them....yes two of them. She even snuck a little coffee card in there for me. I was so excited! She also sent me the most gorgeous card along with it. She had a little cheerful pick me up note that did the trick. Laura if you are reading this....I just want to tell you that you made my week & it really was heartfelt & welcomed. We are planning on getting together for lunch on one of my trips to or through Vegas. I cant wait to meet her in person. She is just the sweetest person ever.

The second wonderful treat I received was from Tracy at Eat, Sleep, Stamp. She had hosted an Amuse ribbon swap. Wonderful ribbon by the way! I am in love with their stamps too. Anyways, she had showed a picture of all the empty ribbon spools. Well I am sure you know where this is leading....LOL. Since I had just finished a spoolie album I was drooling over so many empty spools. After emailing her about them...we both kind of got sidetracked with life. She was able to salvage quit a few from the recycling bin (hubby was helping clean up). She was so sweet & mailed me the box of spools. She wouldn't let me pay her for shipping or anything. I just want to say THANK YOU so much Tracy. I cant wait to get settled in San Diego & get back to my scrappin. Go check out Tracy's blog. She is an amazing artist with a lot of talent too. I wish I had her energy. She is always upbeat & perky!

I have so much to share since I haven't been here. I will try & get back in here Sunday to share my Mothers Day pics & some really neat pics I took around town. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. The weather is supposed to actually be hot here. We haven't seen temps over the 60's this year so that will be nice. Cant wait to open the windows & let some fresh air in. You know...get out there & blow the stink off. LOL

Have a great weekend. Toodles Ü

Nostalgic Recollections

Good Morning *Ü*

Since my time here in the Silver Valley of Idaho is nearing the end I am becoming more nostalgic everyday. I drove Taylor to school this morning & just took in the awesome views around me. There is so much to see here...not so much to do...but none the less, tons to see. I am going to add a link that provides some tidbits about where I live. Did you know that the movie Dante's Peak was filmed here. Next time you see it running on TV take a look at all the beautiful scenery. Going to add some pictures that I have taken over the years we have lived here. I am really going to miss it.

As I promised here are some more pics of treasures I have acquired over the last few months. Might not be anything special to someone else but I love them. :)

Jim starts his new job today. Hopefully everything will work out well. He starts at 6:00 a.m. which is funny because he is not a morning person at all. He would prefer the 2nd shift hands down. Cant wait to hear how his day went. He has run into a lot people that we used to work with. So many nice people have welcomed him back. Sure does make it easier for getting started. *Hi Honey~ Hope your day was good.* He reads this. LOL

We should be going to pick up Taylor's tux sometime today. Graduation just keeps getting closer & closer. It is scary to think that I will have two kids out of school. It just seems like yesterday that I graduated.

Speaking of high school, I just had the opoortunity to reconnect with two of my friends from high school. My friend Maureen & I did everything together from my junior year (her senior year) until I got married. We lost contact & over the years have been able to reconnect for short bits of time. I hadn't seen or talked to her since about 1992. I recently got some email from Classmates & was able to find her again. So funny to see how our lives took different paths for so long but eventually became the same with marriage & motherhood. It was so nice chatting with her the other day. Brought back a lot of wonderful memories & warm feelings. Sometimes it would be nice to go back in time with the knowledge you gain through aging. *Hi Maureen* Since this is a nostalgic post I will show some blasts from the past. Hahaha Man, some of the stories we could tell.

I will wrap it up here my daughter said I was a wind bag in my last post. LOL I am a stay at home mom with no adult interaction....of course I am a wind bag. ;)

I did get one of my projects done. Will share the photo later today or tomorrow. Want to get one more done that I promised long ago.

Have a great day....be productive.

Toodles *Ü*

Running Like Crazy

It has been crazy here. Trying to get the remaining things sorted for the big sale. I finally set the date May 17th. I will be pricing it all this week. I will be so glad to have all this stuff out of here & the sale over. ;) I definitely fall into that "hoarder" category. I wouldn't say to an obsessive stage but I do love me some junk. LOL It really is a good feeling to finally be rid of some of it though. Baby steps to a less clutter free life. Hahaha

Well I have been so bad with my blog this week. I have just been mentally & physically drained. Woke up yesterday to that favorite time for us girls....so that explains it all. I am hoping to get that out of the way so I can get back to everything that needs to be tended to.

I did get my Amish Bread made...you know the one from Carm's new site Chubba Girl. I changed mine up just a bit. I used the apple but instead of pecans & raisins I used walnuts & dried cranberries (what I had on hand). Can I just say HEAVEN. LOL It came out so moist & yummy. This is definitely a keeper for the holidays, craft shows & gift giving. You have to try this one. Cruise back through the posts for the Amish starter. I know Carm had a problem with hers spoiling. I would imagine with some the heat we have had around the states (not mine of course) it might be hard to keep from spoiling. I may try & experiment this week & see what happens if we put it in the fridge. It may not rise when it comes to the baking part...who knows! I will let you know how it does. I also took pics of those sugar cookies I made. They were so fun. I now am on the hunt for all kinds of cookie cutters. Oh and can you see that cheeseburger? All I can say is MAKE THIS! These are so fantastic & EASY! My family is hooked on them. The recipe is on Carms site. My pics are horrid but I swear you will not be disappointed in the taste. The sauce is the best. I use that new Pace Triple Pepper Salsa & oh my gosh they are so good. We like things spicy so it has a bit of heat but regular salsa will work too. Let me know if you try them & what you think. It is a super easy & filling. I made my patties about 5 1/2" around & they fit those gigantic buns just perfect. Thank you Carm for sharing that recipe.

You all are probably sick & tired of my weather updates. I find it so funny that the weather can change so drastically in such a short amount of time. I took these two pics withing a week of each other. You never know what your day has in store here. I think we are in for some sun soon. I am looking forward to opening the windows for some fresh air. Jim called yesterday & said it was 99 in San Diego. Did I say I hate heat though. Argh! I am so not looking forward to the heat. Ok, enough complaining/whining.

I compiled some pics of fun things I've collected over the past few months from the antique/flea market here. I will share a handful today & some more tomorrow. It has been so fun to get them out & photograph my treasures. I am sure nobody else thinks they are treasures but me. Funny how little things can make you happy & smile. Even better is that most were less than a $1. How awesome is that? First pic is rick rack...some very vintage. I know have around thirty packages of rick rack in different widths. My fav is the micro mini stuff. Second pic is spoons I found for painting. I have a great pattern from Steph at Sunshine & Ravioli. Third is some vintage post cards. Love the little girl in the corner. Too precious! Fourth pic is straight pins. There was this little dirty bag of them. Once I got them home & out of that nasty bag I found some treasures in there. There were a couple of pins that had black beads that were glass and my most prized one is the one that has a flat purple glass head that you can see through. Just gorgeous! Fifth is some doves. Some are plastic & some are glass. I believe they used these on wedding cakes. I remember my mom using them for that years ago. It just brought back happy memories for me. So thats my collection for today. Will share more tomorrow.

I am trying to get some things made for Mother's Day. I found these tins & fell in love with them. I am hoping this momma gets the whole set. I think there are 6-8 of them. I want to put my mom's stuff in one of them. Hoping to get that done & maybe one filled with fabric & vintage notions for Etsy. My follow through on craft projects has been less than standard. I go to sit down & feel guilty about working on them when there is still packing to do. Am really going to have to find a happy medium so I can still create.

Well prom is this weekend. It sure has been much easier planning prom for a son than a daughter. There is much less prep & work involved. It should be a lot of fun for them. Will share pics beginning of next week. I am hoping he lets me drag them to the resort & lake to get some good pics. He doesn't like me fussing much....so we will see.

Last week Taylor went & had all his cardiology tests done with the Army. We are hoping to hear this week or next if they will accept him. We are so hoping they do. I am not sure if I told you that story or not. A brief run down ....Taylor has planned on joining the Marines since he was in junior high. It has been his dream & mission in life. In fact he wouldn't entertain any other thoughts for back up careers. Well needless to say, the Marine Corp turned him down due to his heart issues from childhood. He was devastated to say the least. He tried the National Guard & they refused him too. We figured one last shot for his choices would be the Army. We got together with the recruiter & he has been awesome. He has really gone to bat for Taylor. The first initial run through they said ok but they wanted him to see a cardiologist. Well that was last week & we received a letter saturday. The letter stated that he felt Taylor did great on all the tests & that it shouldn't interfere whatsoever. So keeping fingers crossed & my sons feet on the ground....we are waiting for the news. Although it scares me to have him go I know this is his calling in life & he will be good at it. He will have such a great future ahead of him. :)

I have a ton of things to do today. I promise to check back in. Have a wonderful day!

Toodles *Ü*

A Girl Just Has To Have Fun

Yep, I decided to give myself a day off. YIPPEE!! I am taking the day to do some fun things at home. I have had sugar cookie dough (recipe courtesy of Heidi) waiting to be rolled out for a day & a half. So yeah, I am thinking lets get this taken care of. My son Taylor has been chomping at the bit for those to be done. I also am going to scrap today. I am feeling inspired by my friend Laura's constant creativity. Look at all her awesome cards that she is constantly just throwing together daily. When I grow up....I want to be just like her. Hahaha I need to finish my 12 on the 12th page as well as, a handful of pictures that I have been playing with on the computer. I discovered the Mosaic Maker on Flickr it is sooooooo much fun. You have to go play with it.

The other pleasure blog that I discovered last night is My Romantic Home. Oh, I am in love with the way she has everything decorated in white with splashes of beachy blue, pale yellow & baby pink. She also refinishes furniture & it is all so incredible. Can you tell I am in awe of her talents. Look through her flickr photos labeled "Around My Home". I wish I could just go thrifting with her. I want her eye for things to just rub off on me. LOL

I am excited to say I finally scheduled the date for the BIG rummage/moving sale. It will be held in town on May 17th. I have a ton to do still. I need to get everything priced. I will be so happy to have a dent in the mountain done after this sale. It will be a breath of fresh air.

I know I am subject bouncing all over the place today. The latte has kicked in. McDonalds in our town advertised that they are giving away free small lattes on friday mornings until 10:30. Can you say Woo Hoo. Yes, free fits my tight budget these days. LOL They have all those new mochas, lattes, iced coffees....YUM It is some sort of war against that other place that has star in the name. LOL It is called the Unsnobby Coffee Promo. I personally have no problem with the other place....just love a good free gift. ;)

One last thing for the day. Two more weeks until Taylor's prom. He has chosen the Zoot Suit Tux. It is too funny but fits his personality to a T. We live in a small town that doesn't allow the kids to have prom in the "big city".....shhhhh dont tell others but they may drink, drive & have sex according to the school district honchos. Well all I have to say about that is "Get Real". If the kids are going to do those things it doesn't take a trip to the "Big City" to get r done. Just my opinion. Anyways, he has been a good kid & has really not asked for too much over the years so I want to give him the tux he wants. He has been fitted for it, the flowers have been ordered & he is deciding where to go for dinner. It should be a fun night for them. Will share photos after the big event. They grow up so fast. *shedding a tear* I still cant believe two fo my three babies are gong to be flying the coop. It was just yesterday that they were toddlers. Grab those kids & hug em & love em....they are gone before you know it & onto a new season in their lives. :(

Ok so I am off to have some fun. I will see you all back here tomorrow to show off my fun day. Enjoy your day with whatever you may be doing. Make it a fun one.

Toodles *Ü*

Didn't Take Long

to have my meltdown. Two whole days in fact. LOL Was having a pretty good day I thought & bam out of nowhere....the tears came rolling. Not sure if I had just been holding it all in. I thought I was at peace with hubby leaving & knowing I have to get everything all ready. I think it finally hit me that he is gone & it is on me. LOL Everything is just better when he is here. He makes me laugh & smile & nothing seems to big to handle. It is going to be a long 43 days. What a baby huh? I dont know how those wives do it that have hubbies gone for long periods of time. I dont think I would make it. So I am scrapping a page for the day he left. I finally got the pictures to upload in the format I wanted. I will show you the completed project once I get the embellishments added. But here is a sneak peek of the photos.

It is almost done in "A Day In The Life" style. More details to come......

I found this ongoing project over at Twelve of Twelve. It is a monthly project that Susan Keuter is doing. It's a whole lot of fun. Go check it out & join in with us.

Yesterday before the meltdown....I went down in the basement to start organizing my side. The side with the mountains of fabric, patterns, scrapbook paper & just everything & anything related to crafting you can imagine. Well I walked down looked at it....turned around & walked right back up the stairs. LOL It just seems so overwhelming & mountainess...Is that a word? LOL So today I vow to go back down & get that small room in the corner done. Kids are having half day so I hope Taylor will help me drag garbage & unwanted items up the stairs.

As you probably guessed...I didn't quite get my dollie done. Got her dressed. I just need to put her face & hair on. You know a girl isn't complete without her hair & makeup. LOL Hoping to get that done this week. I have a ton to do....just need to get going on it.

Oh and it snowed yesterday. I know you all are probably sick of my weather updates. I just cant believe we are still getting snow from time to time. Just really weird weather. We had one day of sunshine & that was the day hubby left. If you look on the 12x12 photo above you can see it. I took pictures of the bridge here in town & the drive up our road. Have I said I LOVE it here & dont want to move. LOL Ok I wont keep complaining about it. Whats done is done. Moving on....literally!

Well have a happy productive day.

Toodles *Ü*

Banished To The Basement

Hahaha....Yep it's down in the basement again for me. Jim & I are going to go down & get through the last of the boxes. Once we get to that point they will atleast be seperated according to keep & discard. YIPPEE! I will then have the distinct honor of re-packing the keep boxes so they will survive transport mode. Can you tell I am overjoyed & jumping up & down with excitement....NOT! LOL

Going to work on my pink & brown dollie tonight....if time & energy allows. *Ü* I am excited to see her finished. My daughter wants me to add a banner that says "Prim". I think that will be cute. So stay tuned to see the progress.

Well we keep getting snow showers here. They are predicting that we will see temps in the 60's in the days ahead. I am not holding my breath. Here in Idaho it changes in a matter of minutes, I tell ya. I have literally seen raining on one side of the street & sunshine on the other. Never thought those old sayings were true until moving up here. It is a rather cool thing to experience. I am going to miss it here. There are so many good things about having four seasons. Well enough about that I will get depressed thinking about what we will be missing. :) Going to try & stay focused on all the good that we will experience in our new place. :)

Oh, one more thing, I had to share. I took some pictures in our front yard of the pine trees. We have huge, huge, huge trees. Did I say they were huge? LOL Anyways, since we moved in my son Travis has been fascinated with the eagles nest he spotted. This thing is so big & way up in this tree. I decided to snap a few pics of it to share. We haven't seen any eagles yet but I think it is still too cold. If you drive out near the lake on highway you can see eagles nests on the tops of the light poles. That is something that was an Idaho experience for us.

Well hubby is up wandering around & heading for the coffee pot. Guess it's basement time. Argh! I guess I wouldn't have this problem if I wasn't such a pack rat. Hahaha

Have a great day! Toodles *Ü*

**Thank you Mo. Trying to think positive. :) New adventures await. LOL**

***WINNER***

drumroll please..................................................


and the winner is:


True Random Number Service
Random Integer Generator
Here is your random number: 14
Timestamp: 2008-04-08 18:51:23 UTC

and number 14 belongs to:


**Jackie Young**

Congratulations Jackie!! WOO HOO Please email me your address. I will mail her out tomorrow for ya.

I just want to thank all of you for participating. Keep in touch as I will continue to have random giveaways. :)

Keep watching my Etsy shop....you never know who might pop up there. *Ü*

Have a wondeful day!

Toodles *Ü*

*One More Day*

until the big giveaway! **YIPPEE** Are you totally excited? I am! I will be using Random.Org for the official winning number. I figure that is as fair as you can get. I will draw the winning number first thing in the morning & announce it here. I will then need the winner to email me their home addy. Wishing you all the best of luck tomorrow. Thank you so much for playing with me & visiting my life. LOL

I had so much fun making my Spring Dollie that I decided to get another one going. Here is a peek of my naked dollie. Dont you just love those fabrics? I am in love with brown & pink these days. Not the turquois & brown so much. *Bleck* I adore the little stars on the fabric too. This one will be put into my Etsy shop once I get her done.

Now on to my MITM (Monkey In The Middle) project. I finished up my baby girl spoolie mini album. I just love how this came out. It is so girlish & cute. It is a little mini album. I will be listing this today or tomorrow on Etsy as well. I am also making ready made spoolie kits that can be purchased there as well. The kits will contain all the elements & instruction for creating your own spoolie mini album. I will do all the work for you. You get to do the fun part of creating your memory masterpiece! *Ü* I am really excited about this endeavor. Let me know what you think of them once I list them.

Well I think that about covers my day. Hope you all are having a terrific Monday.

Toodles *Ü*

Did I Say I Hate Moving

Ugh is all I have to say. You know it really sucks to be a pack rat. LOL I save everything & collect everything. Jim & I have been sorting, organizing & tossing for the last two days. We have gotten quite a bit done in the basement. I am holding his plane ticket to San Diego hostage until the basement is completely done. I told him I will do the rest of the house but he has to help get that basement done before the 13th. :) We're making progress so thats a positive.

Kids have been home on Spring Break....well I guess you can call it that. There is no Spring in sight but whatever! LOL The boys are off to see 10,000 B.C. tonight. I might just have an hour to myself. Hmmmm maybe a bubble bath is in order. It sounds good in theory anyways. *Ü*

I am going to try & get some more dollies done for my Etsy shop. Feeling the need for some new stuff. I will let ya know how far I get. I did get a little spool book almost done. It is done in some cute baby paper that I just love. Will get the last finsihing touches done & post the pics.

Well I guess I better run these boys over to the theater. Will check in later. Have a terrific weekend everyone.

**Remember the dollie giveaway contest runs until the 8th. So any comment left until then will add your name again.

Toodles *Ü*