Christmas card photo shoot.

Since Picnik is closing & we get to use all their premium features for free until they close in April, I created a collage with some of the photos from our shoot for our Christmas card this past year.

SC clear skies kit.

superbowl 46.

We had debated on going down to Indy for all the festivities & ultimately decided it was probably a once in a lifetime thing to visit the city where the superbowl was hosted. We only live about an hour from Indy & if we didn't go, we thought we may regret it. So on the Saturday before the superbowl we headed downtown. It was raining but not too cold. There were tons of people. & neither of us were too impressed with the whole shebang. The Superbowl Village was... nothing. I pictured it to be more of like a festival with different booths set up for food/drink/stupid souvenirs to buy. None of that. There was actually nothing. There were several stages set up where groups had been playing all week but there were only three small bands playing the day we were there. There was one beer tent we popped in to get out of the rain & get a Bud Light. We thought alcohol onboard would help us enjoy it more. It didn't. I did think the zipline sounded kind of fun but heard early on the wait was 3-4 hours so that was not gonna happen for us. Parking even sold out early on.

As for the NFL Experience... what a joke. There were all kinds of games for kids to play. Throwing footballs, kicking footballs, etc. The lines were wrapped all the way around each game. I imagine at least an hour wait for each game. They had all the superbowl rings set up & the trophy so it was kind of cool to see that. It cost $25 to get inside & was completely wasted.

We went into the Circle Center Mall to use the restrooms & they had security at the doors so the lines moved smoothly. We ate at BW3's downtown & it was packed (they told us an hour wait) but luckily there was a table open at the bar so we walked right in.

We were only there for a couple of hours but that was plenty of time. I hate people & crowds anyway so I was really over it by the time we left. I don't know how they could have done it differently, except to use ticket sales & limit the number of people allowed per day.

It also may have helped to appreciate it more if I cared about either team playing. Still can't believe the Packers lost to the Giants. But I did see that Aaron was in town on superbowl Sunday!

horseshoe casino.

About 7 months later... a layout about what we did for my 27th birthday in July. We went to see Gary Allan in southern Indiana.

This was done for the City Crafter's challenge to use an envelope. It didn't turnout how I envisioned it. I hate when that happens. I used a vellum envelope & punched out little hearts. & then I punched out a bigger heart & put the initials GA on it. But it's hard to see it. Used my SC Metropolitan kit for this one.

twine wrapped wine bottle vase.

I saw this idea on Pinterest, of course. I thought it looked super simple & I wanted to jump on the bandwagon. I got a huge roll of twine from Hobby Lobby. I tried it a few weekends ago with a beer bottle & it didn't impress me. After finishing off a wine bottle the other night, I decided to try again. Not sure what the difference was but it turned out much better. I love it.

The beer bottle probably took me an hour or so. The large wine bottle took considerably less time. 40 minutes maybe? & turned out a lot better. Not sure if it's the size or just that this wasn't my first go 'round.

The closest I can come to a source for this idea is here which is not real legit.

I am planning more in the near future & hopefully can sell a few at the craft fair my bff is planning to raise money for karunda beds for our local animal shelter.

isn't she pretty?

January running stats.

Total Distance:	8.65 miles
Total Time:	1:34:56 min
Run Distance:	8.65 miles
Run Time:	1:34:56 min

alive & well.

Had to scrap one of the pics I took of Bentley the other night. He is so photogenic!

Bentley came from a shelter in Florence, Alabama. It is a kill shelter. The rate of euthanasia in black animals, especially in southern states, is outstanding. It breaks my heart & I wish I could save them all.

It's hard to think about what may have become of B boy if we hadn't chosen to foster him. & although our plan wasn't to adopt him, we can't imagine our lives without him now. He is so smart. Aware of everything. Loves to look out the windows. Wants to follow you everywhere & see what you're getting into. He doesn't want to miss anything! He loves to play & go on runs with us, but he is so, so sweet too. & he gets compliments everywhere we go. You can't take this dog anywhere without someone commenting on how handsome he is or how well he walks on a leash (hard to believe that but obedience training brought him a long way!).

If you're thinking about getting a dog, first research the breed you're looking for & make sure you're 100% ready for the commitment. & when you're really ready, look for a shelter dog. Your newest best friend may be waiting inside.

For this week's challenge at Scrapping the Music. I used this kit but with these letter stickers.

precious face.

can you even get enough?!

we're back!

We've been here for the past week & it was great. Warm, high 70s, sunny, & with all the rum/Diets we could imagine. Now we're back & catching up laundry & adjusting to the cold again. Brr!

PS Did you guys know Picnik is closing? I use them or Photoshop to edit my photos & Picnik does really good for being free! They're not closing until April, but from now until they close they have all their premium editing tools available for free to everyone! Really cool! I am loving the texture tool (used it above).

living social canvas deal!

Go here to check it out!

11 x 14 gallery wrapped canvas for $28!

gary. round 7.

From when we went to Dallas in November. One of the main reasons we went was to see Gary. Mom gets mad at me for seeing him over & over & wants to know why I don't see someone new. I see new people too - but he's my favorite!

Made this with my SC Boardwalk kit from Breann!

thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:
+ mom & Rick offering to keep B while we go away on vaca next week. (saving $40/night on boarding!)
+ Tj finding a new desk so we can finish our new office.
+ good sleep (finally! after 2 bad nights of sleep.)
+ keeping calm & focused on getting everything done before vaca (anxiety be damned!)
+ one of Rick's mechanic friends who is going to look at my car & fix it (it's sounded like it's going to blow up ever since I hit that pot hole!)

the $39 experiment.

I stumbled across this blog last night & found it really interesting. Of course, it's a few years old now & maybe the companies reactions would be different if the experiment was re-done now. You know, with the economy the way it is & all. I was a little shocked that some of the bigger, popular companies like Hershey, General Mills, Subway, Kraft, etc rejected the letter. Maybe they get tons of requests for freebies daily & of course, this was an experiment, but what if it had been a loyal customer with a valid compliment? Doesn't say much for these big companies. Really interesting to think about & hey, $200+ in freebies isn't a bad deal either! But as he says

this experiment was less about getting free stuff and more about seeing which companies would actually send me free stuff.

my tat. [link party]

feeling ok about it

definitely not feeling ok about it

I got my first tattoo (I say first but it's my only for now, although I have several more planned) on vaca in Miami Beach in January 2010. It wasn't really planned in that I walked in to "just look" but it was kinda planned in that I had been thinking about it the whole drive down [yes, this is before I flew so we drove all the way to  Miami Beach].

Afterwards my brother decided to get one as well but he already has several so it was nothing for him.

Then we hit up a bar. I forgot all about the pain. Bars are open late there.

returning to hotel at like 4 a.m.

Shakespeare from "Alls Well that Ends Well"

dining room turned office.

Previously I mentioned the old dining room was becoming our new "office." Even though TJ's office is downstairs, he wanted a home office area. Because one flight of stairs is too long of a commute, right?

Also we were informed the location of our treadmill (living room) would have to be moved (to the spare bedroom ie my scrapbook room) because the weight wasn't supported on that end of the house & I didn't want to go crashing through the floor 2 miles into my run & land in the middle of TJ's conference room below. So the treadmill got moved to the spare bedroom (FKA my scrapbook room) & my scrapbook room got moved to the dining room, which is now our office space. The dining room got moved to a previously unused area, but that's for another day.

So we painted last weekend & worked on polyurethane on the floors. It had to be done in two sections because it's such a big space which meant moving all the furniture to one side of the room & then moving all the furniture to the other side of the room. It took two weekends. Finally Saturday night we were done with the floors & when we woke up Sunday we began moving furniture into our new office...

office before it became an office

office now!

Please ignore that massive mess - I'm in the middle of many projects for my bff's fundraiser for the local animal shelter!

TJ is still searching for his perfect desk for his home office but I am super happy with my new scrapbooking space. It's more a part of the kitchen/living area & less all the way down the hall secluded which I think will make me more productive all the way around.

TeBoW. aMeN.

Source: Uploaded by user via Tempa on Pinterest