Things I want to do....

Last night I was watching Diet Tribe on tv and I was reminded that I want to climb a rock wall. Yesterday at lunch I figured out that I can probably sucker Jane into doing a triathlon. And so I started to make a list of things I want to do... Most, if not all of them, will require me to keep losing weight and get more fit. And friends be warned... I'm sure I'll be planning to sucker you into going with me, and I don't mean so you can take pictures!

• Rock Wall
• Kayak on the bay at night
• Disneyland (on my birthday?)
• Century Ride
• Alpine Ride (April 25th)
• Tour de Prescott (Ok, I made that name up, but I believe me and my buddies are planning a trip to Prescott, AZ and cycling is involved. We haven't planned a date yet....)

Maybe not this year...but in the future...

• Triathlon
• Disneyland Half-Marathon
• Hike the Pacific Crest Trail (when I retire? a small portion at a time?)
• Bloomsday in Spokane!!!!! I've done it once and I want to do it again (and visit my aunt)

And since I'm making lists, I'm not sure if we'll be able to repeat all of the organized rides we did last year or if we'll exchange them for different ones but if we do, I would like to:

• Bike the Bay - This time I will ride all the way across the bridge!
• Tour de Poway - One of the longer routes?
• Midnight Madness - No fitness goal here. This is just a crazy people watching fun ride!

Key To My Heart Papers

There are only a few more days left for the Key To My Heart special (ends January 31st) so I thought I should post a few more ideas. I love this paper!! I had a hard time using it at first because just like you... I got one pack!

I used a pattern from Orignals (pink book in picture).


I used the same pattern for all three cards, but each one is a little bit different.


Stamps featured on this set are from a consultant Thank You set.

The background stamps on this are from the Key To My Heart set and the butterflies are from B1307 Whimsical Wings and the saying is from c1257 Happy Birthday.

Colors: Tulip and Sorbet.

MLK Ride

(Picture was taken at Lake Jennings - It was an absolutely beautiful day!!)

Ok, so this ride was more my style. Haha! All four of our cycling buddies were able to get together for a ride. It was a postal holiday and a school holiday!!



We started at my house, went out to Lake Jennings then down to El Monte Park and then looped back to Candace's where we enjoyed a yummy lunch!! I think it was about 15 miles total.

The original ride negotiations had the ride continuing on to Santee and lunch at Daphne's restaurant, but Candace and I wanted to help everyone's budget by eating at Candace's (wink, wink). It's been a while since we've done a long ride and well, Candace's was a few miles closer.

It was an absolutely perfect ride. The weather was gorgeous and just warm enough that I really enjoyed the cool shadows and shade as we rode through. There was hardly any traffic and it felt good to get out and do a nice long ride.

Now I've got the "bug" back and I'm plotting more rides. Thank goodness! School starts next week and I'll be commuting home again.

My Friend, the Centurian

Well it's lunchtime and I came here to post a quick update about our MLK ride, but first I had to download the pictures...and then I finally looked at Jane's pictures from Saturday and I realized I have to tell that story first. So hold on, if I can type fast enough, there might be two cycling posts today!

My friend Jane rode 100 miles on her bike on Saturday! You may recall that she is the instigator and she finds these crazy rides and then somehow she talks us into doing them with her. She tried, valiantly, to get us to ride a portion of this ride with her, but I think she finally found the point where our sanity takes hold. Even the first 25 miles had way more climbing than I could do....

And so.... she did it ALONE!

Jane's working on creating her own blog, so I don't want to tell her story for her, but I just want to share with all of you how incredibly proud I am of her and share a few pictures.



This is a picture, looking down on a hill she just came up!!! I can't even imagine it.

Thankfully she found someone to take a picture of her since her buddies bailed on her.

Jane and Braxton showing off the jersey that says "5000 feet of climbing"

And while we didn't join her on the ride, we did don our pink ride like a girl shirts, buy balloons and a giant Hello Kitty cupcake and surprise her with a little celebration. (She was wearing the pink Hello Kitty shirt when we got there!)

Jane's son was overheard to say "My mom's posse was here..." Yep, that's us...her cycling "posse," and we are so incredibly proud of her!! Go Jane!! Maybe next year I'll join you. Oh wait, let me go look at that first picture again....

Thank You and Popcorn Update

Yesterday was a fun day in my house. Not only did I celebrate National Popcorn Day, but Stacy Julian shared the little goodie I sent her and linked to MyCTMH website...which means I've been getting some fun emails with questions.

So... I thought I'd do a little post and share more info on my popcorn tag/project.

Tag:
First I printed out "Ready, Set, Pop! National Popcorn Day is" on my computer using the CTMH Font CD Volume 1 (Font= Lemonade Stand) I love it because it totally matches the font on the stamp set.

I used the January SOTM - Moments in Time to stamp the Month and to highlight January 19th.

Paper:
I gave Stacy two samples. The one she put on top was using the X7100B Perfect Day.
On the sample I featured on my blog, I used X5806 Creative Basics Emporium Collection (this set included the ribbon I used to tie the bow.)

Stamps: In addition to the Moments in Time set, I used D1338 Bird Basics.

Thank you so much for your interest and your questions and welcome to my blog!

Edited to add:
Duh...forgot to write the paper measurements.
Main piece is 5x9 and I attached a 1x9 strip to each side. I was careful to completely cover the popcorn package so that none of the color from the package peeked out.

Woo Hoo, It's National Popcorn Day!

I feel like a little kid, waiting to go to Disneyland! Ever since I read about National Popcorn Day on Stacy Julian's blog, I've been counting down the days!! How cool that I have the day off! (Thank you MLK!)

I even created a fun make and take for my workshop this month so everyone can share the joy. You didn't know today was National Popcorn Day? Well no worries! It's not too late. The website I looked at actually had it listed twice. So you can still celebrate on January 31st. Me? I plan to celebrate twice.

Read on for the details on my project and my own favorite popcorn recipe!



We used the Emporium Creative Basics paper pack. The creative basics packs are even better now that you're basically getting 4 prints with the two-sided paper. (Each pack contains 24 sheets - great for big projects where you want the same print! And you get matching ribbon too!) Also featured: Moments in Time - January Stamp of the Month! Must have!!! Just think about the cool holidays you can celebrate all year long and D1338 Bird Basics

And now for my popcorn recipe! Take one lunch bag, add 1/4 cup regular old popcorn kernals, place in microwave and pop! At home it takes about 3 minutes and 20 seconds. (I have an old microwave.) It's a little faster at work, but tends to burn more easily. Experiment with your microwave but stay close by until you figure out how long your microwave takes.



You'll get a bowl full that looks like this!



I spray I can't believe it's not butter and sprinkle popcorn seasoning on. Yummy!!!!! Much cheaper than packages AND less waste!!! Less calories!!

Well sorry if this sounds rushed because it is.... I have a day off and Jane has a day off so you know that that means?!! The girls and I are headed off for a bike ride!! Pictures soon.

Be Thou an Example

I started to write this post with two distinctly different topics in mind. Should I post the cute things I made for church or should I post about the "secret" things that I set in motion? When suddenly I realized that they really are related after all, so I'm going to share them both.

The theme scripture for the youth this year is "Be Thou an Example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)

I absolutely love working with the youth, but it's not without it's challenges. There are some things that we, as leaders, have found troubling and different. We are constantly looking for ways to reach them, to inspire them, to help them see beyond themselves. For me, this theme is inspiring in that I can see how focusing on each aspect of it can help address some of the things that weigh heavily on my heart.

Last night I was helping the Beehives (12-13 year olds) and we were focusing on just the first two; word and conversation. We probably could've talked about it for a couple of hours and still had more to discuss.

What is the difference between word and conversation? For word we talked about being a person of your word, the written word (texts, email, facebook), gossip... Conversation gave us an opportunity to talk about slang, reverance, "ugly" words (shut-up, stupid, idiot....in addition to curse words), being optimistic in your conversations, what it feels like to be around someone who is always complaining..etc. It was a great conversation. I know that it was inspiring for me. The more we talked about it, the more we found ways that we could be an example.

So how does that tie in with my "secret" things?

I submitted an essay and an application for a writing assignment. I love to write and I've always had some lofty writing goals, but I usually find a way to get in my own way and not pursue them. Yesterday I got an email with a VERY interesting opportunity and I went for it. I filled out the application, wrote the essay and submitted my pictures. I don't know if I have what they are looking for, but it felt good to follow through on it. I didn't waste time writing and re-writing. I didn't worry over the photos. I just went for it. Realistically I doubt I have a very good chance of being chosen, but I can't help but feel excited because it really is the perfect opportunity for me. One that I never would've dreamed of thinking about, but fits oh so perfectly with where I am in my life.

Sooo... I have a long time to wait to find out the results, but in the meantime I'm going to work on being an example in word....just in case!

The second thing? Hmmm...not a huge deal. Just something fun. Hopefully I'll be sharing a cool little link with you sometime in the next week or so. You'll just have to come back and see....hahaha...

Cupcake Time

(Candace made the popcorn cover and the card on the right)

When I get a new catalog, I look through it and I generaly WANT just about everything, but since my funds and my storage space are limited, I try to purchase stamps that I can get a lot of use out of and as soon as I saw D1336 Cupcake Sprinkles, I knew it was an absolute must have!!! Everyone has a birthday and stamped cupcakes are ww point friendly!! I can make girl cupcakes and boy cupcakes and...

Making all these cupcake cards inspired me to make cupcakes for my workshop. Of course it helped that it was Amy's and my Mom's birthday (or course Mom was 6 hours away and didn't quite make it for the cupcake, but I sent her a picture!)

I borrowed the cupcake tree from my step-mom and it looked so cute!!! (Even if my cake decorating abilities leave something to be desired.)

I Love my Nano....

I was slow to join the ipod ranks. At first I had a simple mp3 player and I loved it. It even had an fm receiver which I still miss. But soon thereafter the child got an ipod and used Itunes and it became a nuisance to have to convert the music for each of the different players.

So I upgraded to a shuffle, which I adore. (Actually it was a gift from hubby and he even got my name engraved on it....ahhh....) It was perfect for me. I would clip it to my shirt during my early morning walks. Although I envied the capacity of Joshua's ipod and I thought the idea of playlists was cool, I probably would've carried on with my shuffle for quite a long time.

But alas, hubby spoiled me again. He found out about Nike plus and since I was the walking fiend at the time, he bought me Nike plus and let Joshua loose on ebay for a used nano.

I didn't even know I needed it, but oh how happy I was!!! Sadly I got to use Nike plus like twice before all the foot problems started and I was banned from walking. (Dare I say my foot is healed? I think my last PT appt. is today!!!!!!! Hallelujah!!!!)

My nano opened up a whole new world for me. I listened to podcasts and had playlists and I loved, loved, loved my nano....until it bit the nano dust! For some reason I couldn't charge it with any of the chargers that connect to the computer. The only charger that would charge it was the car adapter. And then it died. We tried buying another car charger, but it didn't have the same magic touch....and my nano would not charge.....I was lost. I was sad. I missed my podcasts...

I tried not to want a new nano, but I did. I really did want one. It was more than the Christmas budget so I never put it on my list. I won't bore you with the long dramatic tale of woe, but the condensed version is.. I had a gift card and Joshua decided he was going to chip in the rest of what I needed ($80!!). I still don't know why it was so important to him. Maybe because he was using gift cards to get an itouch? I didn't want my son's money. I wasn't going to take it, but he kept on and on and even drove me to the store to look at them.... FINALLY he found a way to rationalize why I should allow him to chip in. He dug deep....

"Remember the $50 that you gave me from Nana and Papa (Hubby told me $50 was for Josh, only it wasn't. They sent him something else...but I refused to take the money back. I mean come on... Here's $50...oh wait... no... give it back.....) And then there was the money Josh owed me, but I forgave the debt because he worked on the roof...in the rain....."

Long story shorter... I got a PINK nano. Woo Hoo!!!! Podcasts are back. Playlists are back and hey ...bonus... new nanos support video too. I love it, love it, love it.... but still not feeling so good over the negotiations...even though it was VERY sweet.

Well I have now found a way to justify it!! I'm using it for my calling at church!! Haha! It was meant to be. The church launched a new website for the youth with songs, ringtones, widgets, videos, scripture games. It's pretty cool. I downloaded the songs, put them on my ipod, created a church playlist and life is in balance.

My nano is not simply a cute little gadget, it is necessary for my spiritual growth. (wink, wink)

Did you think I fell off the wagon?

With all of the stamping posts have you found yourself wondering if I gave up the cycling and the exercising? The truth is that I stamped Sunday afternoon, made a bunch of projects, took all the pictures and uploaded them...now I'm just spreading them out to make it look like I am superwoman....able to stamp every day..

I have had a hard time fitting in the exercise this week because I'm enjoying the opportunity to drive my car to work until January 26th and I've had meetings scheduled after work this week...but I have been trying to sneak little workouts in...namely wii workouts!

I bought Jillian's Boot Camp Wii game with a gift card after Christmas so I've been playing with it and Wii Fit.

And here's my little mini review of the Jillian game....

First time I tried it I thought she was trying to kill me! In other words, it was kind of true to life. HaHa.

Create your character: Not as cool as I thought it would be. I couldn't really find one that was "me." I guess I'm more of a girly girl than Jillian. I don't mind wearing green or blue, but the shades were really dark... No biggie, just not as fun as I would've liked.

I chose a short 10 minute workout to test it out. Basically you "jog" in place and run along a track to different stations where you complete tasks. At first I had a hard time getting my character to "move it." That was definately my problem and not the game's. I just had to figure out how to move the remotes and how to shift my weight properly, but once I got it figured out she was jogging along...

Then there were the stations. At first it's a little confusing. You have to play around and figure out what you are supposed to do to complete the moves properly. The game gives adequate directions, it's just putting them into practice that is a little difficult for me. I have to experiment.

But let me tell you.... holding your arms up, pretending to swing across monkey bars....hurts!!!! Maybe not for the first 30-60 seconds....but as time goes on....my arms started to hurt!

The only station I haven't quite figured out and don't particularly enjoy, is the log rolling. I'll have to try it again, but it didn't really seem to matter what I did on that one.

As with all workouts, you're going to get as much out as you put into it...In other words, you can totally cheat and move the remotes around to accomplish the tasks without really doing the exercises, but really....who is that helping??

Which brings me to the real Jillian fun.... I took the game over to Candace's house and we played the multi-player version and it was absolutely hilarious!!! Oh all of us cheated big time. Nobody did the moves how they were supposed to. It was all about winning and doing more than the other player which made for some interesting moves!!

So overall - it's fun to play in a group setting. It gets you moving around and laughing, but probably not a great workout. Solo? It's as good as you make it. Really do the squats on the train station and you're going to get a workout. Just move the remote up and down to simulate squats..and well...not as many calories burned...

I'm glad I got it and I think it will keep me entertained for a while.

Cupcakes!!

As soon as I saw this set in the catalog, I had to have it! What a great set for birthday cards and layouts!! I love all the little "sprinkles" that you can add to your cupcakes. I'm sure they would make great backgrounds too!

Here are a few things I've made so far....
Stamp Set: D1335 Cupcake Sprinkles
Paper Pack: Sweet Pea

Calendar Time

I was soooo excited when I saw the January Stamp of the Month in the new catalog! Over the years I have had tons of ideas for these cute little calendars, but it's always a pain to order them or print them. How many should I order? If I order too few, I'll run out. If I order too many, I'll have useless 2009 calendars...

My only lament was "why oh why do we have to wait until January? I have projects to do now! Gifts to make. New year organization to unfurl."

And then the holidays came and I enjoyed spending time with hubby and cleaning and organizing and pulling weeds and when I finally came back to stamping my inspiration was gone. poof. What was I going to do with this set???

I avoided it for a while and then finally I pulled it out and I fell in love again... my only problem now is that I'm back at work and there are not enough hours in the day to play.
If you're coming to my crop on Saturday, I plan to have more ideas to share by then...

(Love the new cupcake set!!! This isn't the only card I used it on....have I mentioned that I made like 15 cards??? There's more to come.)

(Another favorite set....D1338 Bird Basics...hmmm... I think I may have another card or two made with it too....)

Hello Kitty!

Ok, so you may not know that I kind of LOVE Hello Kitty! It makes me happy to see her cute little face. I'm so happy that Target has been carrying so much HK stuff!! I've been contemplating decorating the master bath with HK and finally mentioned it to hubby. He didn't say "no," but he never actually answered my question either. I'm thinking that's probably a "no," but he knows I'll do whatever I want anyway....hmmm.... I would do it for sure.... if it wouldn't annoy him too much.

But I digress.... When my mom and aunt were visiting in November we found HK sissix dies!! Woo Hoo!! I had to have it... and then it took me almost two months to actually use it. Ooops!

My only complaint is that it took so stinkin long to make these cards! I rarely use my sissix so I didn't really realize I'd have to make like 4-5 cuts for each kitty!!! And then piece them all together. Of course I got all happy every time I finished one and it made me want to make another one! I'm open to some sissix tips if you have any! Do people really put all that effort into stuff all the time? I think I need a HK cricut cartridge!!

The paper and stamps are all Close to My Heart (of course...HK and CTMH...a match made in heaven!)