January is over?

I probably won’t be around much.

It is our “busy season” at work and when I get home all I want to do is sleep. I never even see the computer at home. I wonder if my computer misses Me?

Last night (it was not even night – more like 4pm) I got home and did nothing – then I fell asleep on the couch.

Sitting up.
When I should have been going to Target.
When I should have been doing anything other than just sitting.

I finally woke myself up to make a quick run to the store. I pretty much cannot remember much else except I do know that there was some eating and some TV watching involved. I could NOT tell you what I watched. When I finally did get to bed, it took FOREVER to get to sleep.

Today.

Well…..Let’s not even want to go there. LOL!

Let’s just say that I have no idea what I am doing. I am pretty much in a fog. (that and my eyes are killing me!)

My only goal for today is to not fall asleep when at work.

Where the heck did January go?

It's all about the WHITE stuff!

I had mentioned that this blog would soon be all about the white stuff.

So here it is.

This is the wonderful view I had while driving in to work on Monday morning. It seems that the East side of town got a lot more of the white stuff. These are the only pictures I was able to get of the mountains before the clouds rolled back in.

As you can see the road was pretty empty. A lot of people stayed home. There were a few bridges still closed when I was driving in but after a few detours I was finally able to get on the other side of town.

I really wish that I was able to enjoy the snow more than just having a casual glimpse as I drove myself to work. Maybe five years from now when it snows again, I will actually get to stay home and enjoy it. :)

The white stuff was cool!

The snow was amazing.

Too bad it only lasted for such a short while.

I made it into work yesterday but it took awhile due to bridges being closed. I got here and only 4 people showed up! The majority of people did not want to cross the bridges so I guess I was the only brave one that tried. Go me! LOL!

I am a bit bummed that I did not get to play in the snow before it melted but I managed to get some photos on the way into work. So once I take those out of the camera this blog will be ALL about the snow!!! LOL!

SNOW!!!!

Can you believe it????

Snow in the desert!!!!!

It is SO cool! Literally! LOL!

I guess I just cannot believe it it actually sticking!

It has been almost 5 years since we had any measurable snow in this town.

I really wanted to get some actual pictures of it snowing but no such luck.

Here are some pictures after only a couple of hours of the stuff falling.

I cannot wait until tomorrow morning when the clouds clear away from the mountains. I am SO looking forward to seeing how beautiful it all looks. I wonder if I can get a paid snow day? ;)

So nice and toasty!

Thanks to this toasty little heater and the fact that we now have our regular heat back, our home has been pretty comfortable. It also helps that the weather has warmed up a bit. It is rainy today though so the heat is back on just in time for the weather to cool down again.

In other (non-heat related) news. My Uncle just got out of surgery. So far so good on transplant #2! YAY!

brrrrrrrrrrrrr

Today was COLD!

It is not supposed to be cold in the desert!

Last night we hit a record freeze and today we are paying the price.

So many people's pipes burst last night that B was at work from 8:30 am -6:30 pm today. He did not even get home until after 7:30 pm due to having to go out and buy us a heater. Yep! The heat is out for our entire complex! First the water heater and now the actual heater! It is freezing in here!

What got me a bit upset was that I was the one that had to call the landlord and ask about the heat. They knew about it but did not say anything to us. All they asked me when I called was if I had a newborn or an old person living with me. I guess they had a few heaters and the only people that would get them would be those with kids or the elderly. I can understand that but since our door does not even have a seal around it - our apartment is freezing! There is no ETA as to when we will get our heat back. I sure do hope it warms up soon.

So for now, we get to use a space heater and blankets.

See....cold! It may not seem cold to most of you, but here in the desert this sure is not normal!

For those of you that are in super-duper cold climates - what do you suggest for keeping warm?

2007 Photography Challenge

It sure has been pretty quiet around here since Christmas.

One of the good things that came out of all the Christmas frenzy (and I am surprised that I have not blogged about it) is that I finally was able to purchase a camera that I have wanted to buy for a very long time. I am now a proud owner of a digital SLR. I am SO happy to be back to using a SLR camera again.

Now that I have my new camera. I have joined a photo-a-day challenge off of a photography board.

Last week's theme was a free-for-all. This one is one of the photos I posted. So what do you think?

Come on over and check them out if you like.

Dreams of Nyssa Photography

Someone is feeling MUCH better!

Well our kitty came thru her surgery just fine! Whew!

In fact, not only did they fix her teeth (one even fell out on its own) but the vet also found out what is causing one of the main reasons we took her into the vet in the first place.

All I can say is… I will be SO happy when I am finished giving this cat her medicine. It is such an ordeal!

She is getting smart though. I have a feeling that by the end of the medicine taking she will be hiding from us. In fact, today when B just looked at her (we were both in the kitchen) her tail just fuzzed up like a raccoon! She knew EXACTLY what was coming. LOL! I have never laughed so hard! Yep! She is one smart cookie.

The only problem is that her one stitch has come undone. I hope that it won’t cause any problems.

It sure has been a long week around here. We celebrated B’s birthday and I seem to have spent my entire week at work (I was even there all day Saturday). All I can say is that my one day off (today) sure has flown by super fast!

Poor thing :(

My kitty is sick.

A few weeks ago, we noticed she was losing weight and took her in for a check-up. The vet did blood-work and could not find anything wrong, although the vet did say she had a bad tooth. The vet did not think it was the tooth that was causing the problems so she did not feel it best to be removed just yet.

Fast forward to this weekend. I noticed that my cat's face was a bit swollen. Each day it just got worse and worse. The vet was closed for the holiday and so we called this morning. I ended up being a bit snotty to the girl that answered the phone, since the only appointment we could get was on Friday and I did not feel she was too concerned with what we were telling her about our cat. So, I had B call the vet back and they made an appointment for us to bring her in today to get ‘checked out.’ I was very happy with that and so after work, B and I took the cat to the vet. Imagine my surprise when the girl at the front desk (the one I was snotty with) just happened to be my best friend from 7th/8th grade!! Oh Vey! Small World!

The vet gave the cat some antibiotics and we have an appointment on Friday to get her tooth (and maybe more) removed.

Poor thing.

I just cannot wait until she is back to her old self.

~*~ Happy New Year! ~*~

My New Year’s Eve was quite uneventful. The only thing I really remember was organizing my Bazzil cardstock. I did not even get my annual picture of the last sunset of the year. I totally forgot about it and I think I was actually taking a nap when the sun was setting.

B made dinner for us and afterwards he promptly fell asleep. I had all these plans of scrapbooking my evening away but I kept getting distracted and never actually scrapped anything.

I have never been one for setting goals for the New Year but I think this year I may just have to set down a few. There are a few things I would like to accomplish for myself in the New Year and I am really excited to try. Some may involve money so I don’t know how well I will be able to do those but I am sure I can work around it.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

Darn that eBay!

I should have been scrapping.

Instead, I have found myself drawn to eBay and bidding on QuicKutz dies. Which is kind of silly since I still have not broken in my new toy. Okay, I did open the box and look inside but I have not yet taken it OUT of the box or even tried to use it. I plan to though….sometime soon.

Even if I don’t think I need the die, I am all for getting a good deal and it does get exciting - but it sure is hard to bid when all you have is a dial-up connection. Thank goodness, for that huge bolt of lightning that struck nearby that forced me to turn off my computer or else I probably would be totally out of control!

I used to bug B about his bidding on eBay and now I see why he could never get away from the computer. I think I am done for now though (read: today). At least the items I am bidding on are a lot less expensive than what B bids on. Let’s just say that my tiny purchases do not compare with the hundreds he has bid away.

And now…. I present to you…..the items I won tonight.

Christmas is over

It is hard to believe that Christmas has finally come and gone and that the end of this year is so very near. Time seems to fly by faster and faster the older that I get.

So did you all have a good Christmas? My Christmas was good. I got to spend it with family and that made it even better.

I did receive a little bit of money that I could spend just on me and I found myself heading off to the scrapbook store. I had only planned to spend a little but ended up spending it all.

I bought myself the Vixen holiday set (I was so excited it was on sale and they still had some) and the new QuicKutz Revolution to go with it. Having never owned a QuicKutz this is a new experience for me. I hope to get a lot of use out of this tool. I just hope I don’t go broke buying dies for it. I really do love the new larger alphabets and now that I have the Revolution, I will have something to actually put on a Christmas list for next year.

I cannot believe that I actually own something that is still considered pretty new in the scrapping world. I am always years behind everyone else.

I really love the box the Revolution comes (is stored) in. I think that is what really sold me.

Isn’t it awesome?

It either looks like I have really cool camera equipment or I am ready to go on the road with the band. *Ü*

My first altered project

On Friday night when I cropped with the Divas I worked on some altered composition books to give out as gifts this Christmas.

This was my first time altering and it took me awhile to get the groove on but I think I managed to do an okay job. I ended up making two of them that night. I will definately be making more of these. Actually there is one more I want to make for a Christmas gift so I better get crackin'!


For these journals I used My Mind's Eye (MME) products. I found that if I used the paper and embellishments that actually go together that the process went much smoother for me.

I still need to figure out which adhesive would be the best to use. I used a Tomob Mono but I practically used the entire thing on these two journals and if I make more of these then it will start to get pretty expensive. For those of you that alter alot....what adesive do you find works the best?

Here are the two that I finished that will be going to my nieces. I just have to put their names on the plaque at the bottom right. When I made them I had a certain girl in mind but let B choose who got what. How weird is it that we chose them to go to the same girl?

Cropping with the Scrappay Divas!

Last night I got together with some of the Scrappay Divas for our holiday crop. It was great to meet up with Happay and Awendybird and I finally got to meet Falwyn. :) It has been WAY too long since we last scrapped together.

I am not one to complete a lot (even when I go to a crop) but even with arriving late, I managed to complete my first altered project (a composition book) and almost finish a second. I need to finish those by tomorrow since they will be given out as Christmas gifts and mailed off on Monday.

So does anyone know how long it takes to mail a package to Japan?

They’re making it!!!!

I have written before about my old school-mate Miranda.

Well her new website is up and running. Go and check it out!

Ohhhh...and check out Campus Ladies if you get the Oxygen channel. It is in it's 2nd season! Yay Miranda!!!

I also ran across Anna, another old friend, online this week. Well the start of her website anyway and then I lost the link. :(


You can see her at her agency's website and this site also has a preview of her new movie. I cannot wait to see what she will be doing next! I need to go and check out her new movie, Checkout. (lol) as soon as I find out if it will be playing near me.

I am so excited to see what all these old friends are doing in their lives. They are doing what they always said they would do.

Kind of makes me wonder what could have been if I was that brave.

Don’t get me wrong.

I don’t have any regrets.

I love my life. :)

But I always wonder.

I really do love the Fruitcake…

…paper that is.

This new Basic Grey has me all excited to scrap my Christmas pictures.

This is good since we are posting Christmas layouts at the Scrappay Divas site all month long. It is also good because I sure do have a ton of Christmas photos to scrap.

I am just worried that I will feel the need to buy more and more. I guess it is a good thing that the local scrapbook store is basically out of the stuff.

Come on over and see what is posted so far.

If you would like to know the products used on this page please click here.

Did you know there are only 21 days left until Christmas? Are you ready?

I’m Back!

Who knew that a short overnight trip would wear me out! I went to bed before 8pm last night!!

Even though I was tired I had a great time and I would love to do it again. If you ever want to see a ton of women…and I mean a TON!! Just go to a Women’s Conference. The first night it even took us ONE hour to get out of the parking garage! It was crazy!

Beth Moore is such a great speaker. I learned and laughed so much.

Traffic in Phoenix was terrible and I was selected to be the driver just cause I lived there 17 years ago….Oh and I knew where the Convention Center was – darn those Scrapping Conventions! LOL!

Well tonight B is making his Thanksgiving dinner today. The apartment smells so good! I already had some mashed potatoes. I cannot wait until tonight!

Mini Road Trip

Today I am off to attend a Women’s Conference.

The conference is about 2 hours away and it will just be tonight and tomorrow (Saturday). It will be nice to get away. There is a group of us going. I really don’t know much about it as my Mom invited me to go along with her but her friend made all the arrangements.

I know we are staying at a hotel overnight and that we leave at noon today and will get home around noon on tomorrow (Saturday).

That’s it.

That’s all I know.

Oh….and the speaker is Beth Moore.

I wonder what B will do when I am gone?

Is that a Christmas page I see?

I have never really purchased Christmas themed paper before. I always told myself that when I was ready to scrap Christmas pictures, I would take them to the store with me to pick out what I wanted to use. I think this is one reason I never seem to scrap my Christmas pictures. That and the fact that I have tons of photos and I just want the pages to look perfect. I think I am overwhelmed.

Well that is all about to change.

Over at Scrappay Divas it is Christmas every day ~ all month long!!!! (Well until the 25th or until we run out of Christmas photos ~ which I doubt will happen).

This is a layout that I started back in 2003 (using pictures from 2002). I had a different plan for the page and in fact already had the pictures matted. Well….I kept the original dark green color scheme but that is all. I am so happy to have this page done. Three years is a long time to have a page just lying around in pieces. Sadly, though….I have many more just like it waiting to be completed.

If you would like to know the items used on this page please click here.

Argh! Why can't I scrap???

So...since, I could not work on the Christmas layout that I think is from 2002. I decided to work on another 2002 Christmas layout that I had started at the same time. The pictures I am scrapping are from a holiday tea and I had already matted a few pictures and had an embellishment I wanted to use. I am rethinking how I wanted to scrap this page. Well actually, I cannot remember how I wanted to originally scrap it. LOL!

I do know that I will be using same color background paper and I will no longer be using the embellishments I had planned to use. I also want to use some of the new paper I bought.

The paper the pictures are matted on will work great with this Basic Grey paper I bought the other day. Isn't it pretty? I almost did not buy it because it is just not my 'thing,' but I really think it will go well with the photos and the dark green paper I want to use.

Here is my problem. I want to use this paper in part of the title (since I cannot figure out how else to use it - I am patterned paper challenged). I have tons of BG monograms but have never used them so I thought I could just trace them and use the paper I want to.

I think the regular BG monograms will be WAY too big. Especially on a 8.5 x 11 page. I wonder if I should go ahead and buy these new Basic Grey mini- monograms. I have looked thru my fonts and even my lettering templates and I cannot find any style that I like.

Why can't I just use the stuff I already have?

Why does it take me hours to scrap a page?

It is 1am! I need to get to bed!