Living Life in Colorful Colorado

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T17:09:00.004-07:00

I hope that everyone who stops by to check my blog has had a wonderful Christmas! It was been a good celebration in our house! We all got a little something of what we wanted and we got to spend it together! Tomorrow we will celebrate on the slopes! Here is a few of the handmade cards that I sent out to a few of my crafting friends! Enjoy!

It was a "Pow-Pow" Day!

2010-12-20T07:37:00.004-07:00

We had an awesome weekend playing in the “pow-pow” at both Beaver Creek on Saturday and Breckenridge on Sunday! We spent all morning yesterday on Peak 7 floating through the soft stuff! So far, we’ve been fortunate enough this year to have 3 out of 8 days in powder! Sunday was by far the best and as you can see, Dan really enjoyed “bathing” in the pretty white stuff!

I missed the fall, but Melanie said it was fantastic and he was laughing when I got there! The snow was just about up to his hips, so you know they’ve been blessed with a lot! He had a fun time trying to get his skis back on after he had to take them off just to get up!

The snow is suppose to keep falling through Wednesday and they’re expecting up to 3 additional feet! It was really hard not to rent another room for the night and play one more day in the powder! I’m sure we’ll get back up there soon!

Dan has some video of me skiing at Beaver Creek on Saturday that he plans to post on Facebook, so check that out too!

Marlene's Gift

2010-12-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

Every year I rack my brain to come up with a gift for my childhood buddy, Marlene that is better than the last! I think I did a great job this year when I came up with the "countdown" boxes!

I used the Karen Foster advent calendar box, and decorated in some colorful paper from Cosmo Cricket. Then I filled each little drawer with a small scrapping gift (and yes, they're small) that would give her some inspiration to create! I even bought some of the trinkets whenI was in Chicago in August, shopping with her standing next to me! Ha, she didn't even know!

And since I know Marlene, she LOVED IT! On her actual birthday, which was Tuesday, she receive ed a coordinating card, with a gift card to buy more stuff! Hey, we all "need" more stuff - don't we?? Big (((HUGS))) and lots of great scrapping days ahead Marles!

As promised

2010-12-02T20:40:00.005-07:00

From my 101 Things list...

#88 - Send 101 handmade cards to the troops each year

And so the first year of the wish is done; I've sent 101 (actually 102) cards to Operation Write Home so that they can distribute them to our hero's around the world. They included 20+ valentine cards I whipped out in the past week. A simple design I've used before and it worked really well, especially because it used lots of scraps and items I've had laying around!

Next project...

Ski Season has begun!

2010-11-29T20:40:00.005-07:00

Just got back from skiing over the Thanksgiving holiday and boy was it great! This was the best early season snow we've ever seen in the 9 years we've been going up there! It was a wee bit cold, but not enough to stop us from skiing hard! This picture is from the restaurant at Vail where we stopped for an afternoon breather! In the morning it was -5 (yes negative) up at Horseshoe Bowl! Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all warmer! Unfortunately no new snow fell while we were there though. A few inches last night after we left... go figure! I'm hoping we can sneak away next weekend for a few more turns up in God's Country!

Our Thanksgiving dinner with the family was celebrated the weekend before whenI cooked the big feast! It was really good and there are still a few meals of turkey now frozen to enjoy later! On the actual turkey day, we feasted on a frozen pizza! OK, not what we had hoped for, but the fresh ones were all gone and no one in Chicago sent us a pizza. Hint, hint!!

The great news we got from Chicago was that my niece Sarah got a new job! We're so proud of her! Dan helped her with the resume and she thinks it really helped! We wish her luck - and don't spend all that extra money at once!

I'm finishing up the final cards for Operation Write Home. I challenged myself to make 100 cards to send and I'm almost there! I have 12 more to make and I'm working on some Valentine's cards for them! Yes,that is the next holiday they're collecting for! I think it's a really great way to give away the cards I'm not using, plus a way to use up supplies and give someone who is really appreciative a homemade card to send back home! If you haven't checked out their blog, go for it! Maybe you'll be inspired!

And did I mention I haven't started on any projects for Christmas yet? It's not December yet! I don't have too many in mind... well I do only have 3 weeks left! A few really simple cards and gifts and I'll be happy!

Off to keep shopping... it is cyber Monday!

Aruba

2010-11-18T13:38:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Aruba Recap

2010-11-11T17:15:00.013-07:00

We had our first snow on Tuesday... a far cry from the beautiful weather we had in Aruba! Boy, I do wish I was back there! (I love the snow for skiing, but they can keep it up in the mountains!)

Our overall impression of Aruba was fantastic and we would recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone looking for a Caribbean getaway! The natives were very friendly and they were not at all pushy like we experienced in Mexico. Only one person approached us to visit their timeshare and they simply took no for an answer and moved on! The hotel and the food were nothing to remember, but when you got the awesome deal we did, you can't really complain! The room was clean, the showers were hot and the food was edible! We weren't there for that stuff anyway!

On our first afternoon in Aruba, we jumped into our swimsuits, strapped on our snorkel gear and walked into the the water for our first swim with the fish! The water was warm and there were lots of little fish right there! Because of the boat traffic close by, it wasn't the best place to snorkel but we made the best of it that day and several more!

On Monday we took a full day tour to De Palm Island, a private island that is set up for water adventure! We arrived to a decent buffet breakfast and then took a dive into the waters where we found a great reef and lots of bigger and prettier fish! I had a blast following a puffer fish around for what seemed like hours! It was so pretty! I wish I could have taken it home! They also had a water park equipped with slides and water spurting everywhere! It was fun to act like a kid! We also road a "banana" boat, which was a big tube pulled by a speed boat! You straddle it while kneeling and they cruise around trying hard to dump you off the side! I fell off twice! It was really fun, although hard on the knees! The kids played volleyball and I relaxed with fancy drinks from the bar! It was a really great day and we were thrilled the island wasn't very crowded.

On Tuesday we decided to take a ride into town and see what treasures we could find! We each came home with something we wanted that represented Aruba. I got a sweatshirt, which seemed very inappropriate since it was 90+ degrees and humid! And of course, we found a great little ornament to remember our trip! It was really the only day we ate out and the food was good.

On Wednesday we decided to take an afternoon jeep tour of the island. What we weren't informed was that we'd have to do the driving. Well, make that Dan, along with some of the other passengers. Since he has such great experience at it, it wasn't difficult, but I'm sure he would have rather let someone else do it for what we paid for the trip! It was my favorite adventure of the week because we got to see a lot of the island many people don't go to. It was a shame they hurried us through there though. The last reward of the trip was a dip in the pools where we got to snorkel around and Dan spotted an eel! They beat the vehicles to death as we 4-wheeled up some pretty tough terrain! Thankfully everyone made it out without too many bumps!

On our final day there we decided to snorkel off the beach to a shipwreck. There are a few different wrecks, but we opted for the one that was closest to shore. The wreck has been there for about 18 years and it was great to see all the schools of fish living around it! And some very cool starfish! The waters were choppy that day as a storm approached, so our fun ended sooner than we wanted. It was good we choose the closer in one though!

The rest of our time throughout the week was spent poolside or beach side - whatever floated our boat! We drank lots of fancy drinks and tried our hardest just to relax! The weather was very cooperative despite the unwelcome humidity!

When it was time to go home, we were relaxed and ready. Thankfully we still had 2 additional days at home before we had to go back to work! Was it the trip of a lifetime - no, however it was exactly what we wanted, expected and enjoyed at this point! There are plenty of more days to come when we can take the trip of a lifetime!! Like China in May??????

So relaxed

2010-10-24T21:33:00.002-06:00

What a wonderful week we had relaxing on the beach in Aruba! We got back very late on Friday night (actually Saturday) and spent the rest of our weekend doing those necessary errands and trying not to think about Monday! I woke up on Saturday with a sore throat and don't feel much better tonight... thankfully if I had to get sick it's after the vacation and not during! Maybe I need a few more days off?
I don't feel much like uploading pictures tonight, so just thought I'd share a few. Wasn't this a beautiful sunset? We watched this as we dined on our final night on the island! It went so fast - both the sunset and the week - but we sure did have an awesome time! We'd recommend Aruba over Mexico any day of the week! It was wonderful! I'll share more of the adventure later this week. (I promise!)

Aruba Baby!

2010-09-29T12:49:00.000-06:00

Doesn't this look wonderful? In just a few weeks, we will be laying on that beach soaking in the sun and snorkeling in those beautiful blue waters! Oh Baby, ARUBA!!!!!! I am most excited about swimming with the fishes and just relaxing! After the big projects I've had to work on lately at work, I can't wait to relax!! Jealous??!!

Bridal Veil Falls

2010-09-28T21:14:00.004-06:00

On Sunday we took a drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park to explore a new hike on a beautiful fall day! Yes, there are actually still plenty of hikes we have not experienced up there yet! It is amazing! This part of the park is not very popular so it really feels like you are lost in nature! We went a total of 6.5 miles roundtrip and relaxed next to a beautiful waterfall! The only downside to the hike - it was HOT! I know, HOT is September? Yep, it was 85 in Estes Park and we weren't very high up, so it was rather unusual for this time of year! But it was an awesome hike!Because it has been so warm and dry here this fall, the colors are just beginning to change up in the high country! The trees are only barely changing down here, but up there we were able to see some beautiful yellow and red! It's not like the Midwest though... colors are quite scarce here!

Before we left the park we did go searching for the elk. There were several herds, however with the unusual heat, they were all bedded down waiting for the temps to drop. There was a little bit of bugling, but nothing like we've witnessed in the past! This little baby was really cute and we were only a stone's throw from them!

Homecoming

2010-09-19T21:37:00.003-06:00

Melanie had her first date to Homecoming this year - his name was Briar. He was very nice and they had a good time. She's not telling if anything further will come out of this relationship, but we're not pushing either! She looked very pretty in her dress that we found in Chicago! My little girl is not so little anymore, but we can always wish! (See her baby picture above her head!!)

Slow down time...

2010-08-31T21:48:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it's been a week already since we returned from our weekend trip to Chicago! Time just keeps flying... can someone just slow it down a bit??

Melanie and I had a BLAST in Chicago! We arrived very late Thursday night (or Friday morning) and were greeted by my Dad! It was great to see him - he looks fantastic! We got to sleep in a bit on Friday, but then gathered up cousin Cindy and went homecoming dress shopping at the mall! I think Melanie enjoyed having Cindy with... they could be sisters - they liked the same things! Melanie found the "perfect" dress, even with a few sparkles on it! It's purple!! We had a wonderful lunch and even a few minutes at the nail salon treating ourselves before we headed back to Grandpa's! Then the three of us and Grandpa had a quick bite before heading off to see a local play! It was in a cool playhouse and was awesome! I can't remember the name, but it was fun!

On Saturday my "great" friend and fellow card maker, Marlene picked us up for yet another long day of shopping - but this time it was all about the scrapbook stores! I got some great supplies, despite not spending too much money! We had a nice lunch on the patio in Glenview and a wonderful dinner at her house eating one of my favorites - gyros! You just can't get a good one here! It was fun as always to spend time with Marlene (and Paul)!

On Sunday we took Cindy and Phil with us to the Shedd Aquarium! I hadn't been there in over 15 years! It was just as cool as I remember it - maybe even better! I wasn't impressed with their dolphin show, but then again after you've had an opportunity to swim with them yourself, it's never as good just to watch! We did have fun watching the fish, penguins, dolphins and turtles and can't wait to see them in person in Aruba really son! It was also great to spend more time with Cindy and Phil! That evening we had dinner with the family and I got to see everyone but Katie and Matt (but I did get to see him on Monday)!

On Monday, Dad, Melanie and I ventured down to the Museum of Science and Industry. The exhibit on weather was really, really cool! They had a great hurricane to watch and we were mesmerized by it! Melanie got to see her Fairy Castle and couldn't stop staring at it! I love to watch the train move around the country - it's always been one of my favorite things! We wandered around for hours and had a great time at a Chicago favorite! Later that evening we were able to share dinner with Ed and Dad and enjoy the last few hours together before heading home on Tuesday morning!

I will always miss my family, but I seriously do not miss the weather there. it was humid 1/2 the time (I guess that's better than all the time)! I don't miss the traffic and pace, but I do miss the really good food, friends and family!

The day after we got back Dad had a pain in his chest and spent a night in the hospital, thankfully just as a precaution. The test came out just fine and he was diagnosed with a spasm! I'm glad he was OK. After talking to him tonight, he's back in therapy and doing wonderfully!

So, I'm still waiting for someone to slow time down... you can start about 3 p.m. on Friday and make my holiday weekend coming up longer!!! Enjoy everyone!

Hidden Treasure

2010-08-19T16:37:00.000-06:00

After we returned from North Dakota, we hitched up the camper and set off for a new camping spot in Colorado - Spruce Grove campground in the Terryall Wilderness. It's an area we have driven through but have never explored and it's only about 2 hours from home! What a hidden gem this turned out to be! We LOVED this campground!

On Saturday morning we set off for a leisurely hike up to lizard rock. It was about 2 miles of constant incline, but nothing major! We really enjoyed the views from the top and the conversation we had with another hiker from Parker! There are several trails in the area and we are anxious to come back another day and check them out as well. You don't always find trails within a campground, so that was very nice!

The campground was surrounded by some great rock formations and there was one that loomed right above our campsite! It looked like it would be hard to climb, but was actually easy - anyone could do it! The views from here were also amazing!

The Terryall River runs right through the campground and people would jump in at one end of the campground and float to the other on inner tubes! It looked like so much fun on a really HOT day! We know now to come back with tubes in the middle of summer!

On the 4th of July we took a roadtrip to nearby Florescent Fossil Beds, a National Monument that we had never seen. Millions of years ago, there was a redwood forest there and after a volcano erupted and then the area flooded, it caused all of that to fossilize! The specimens were cool! Something to see if you like geology! It was a nice way to spend the 4th since we would not get fireworks this year!

So later tonight Melanie and I are headed to Chicago to visit with family and friends! Looking forward to a few good meals as well! Catch you soon!

15 years ago...

2010-08-17T08:32:00.000-06:00

my Melanie finally joined the world! This past weekend we celebrated her birthday with family and will continue that celebration when we join the rest of the family in Chicago later this week!

She is very excited to be 15 - she is going today to get her driver's permit! Watch out Castle Rock, stay off the street! I'm sure sh'ee be a good driver, it just takes lots of practice - right?? She has to have her permit for 365 days and then when she's 16 she can get her license! Then she can be my charuffer!! Can't wait!!

60 Years!!!

2010-08-16T18:40:00.001-06:00

Back at the end of June, we took a roadtrip to North Dakota to attend Dan's Aunt Kazia and Uncle Bob's 60th wedding anniversary! It was the first real roadtrip that Melanie could remember and I'm not sure it convinced her by any means to do this often!! It was fairly uneventful, hot, humid, but lots and lots of fun to visit with the family! Many of them we hadn't seen since our wedding, so it was fun to see how everyone has aged!

We arrived in Grand Forks on Thursday night around dinner, got situated, and had a good night sleep. On Friday we checked out town, got a pedicure and did a little shopping to keep us entertained! Then on Friday night we went to a gathering at Randy's house. Bob and Kazia were surprised when we walked through the garage into the backyard as they had no idea we were coming! Randy had an awesome yard for a party and the kids and dogs had fun running all around! Eventually Mom and Dad showed up, along with Susan, Bill and Betsy! Bob and Kazia were thrilled to see all of us!

I finally got to meet his cousin Ken, who lives in Oregon. Dan hasn't seen him since he was a kid, and of course I've never met him! Ken and his wife Nancy actually rode their bicycles from Oregon - it took 22 days and a whole lot of determination in my mind! What an achievement for them!

On Saturday we headed to Mayville for the actual party! Kazia treated all of her guests to her famous pancakes and Polish sausage! It was delicious!! I could have eaten them all day if she would have just kept cooking!! Kazia has always been known for putting on "big" meals - well she did have 6 kids, 17 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren! (And still counting!)

During the afternoon we wandered down to the picnic area by the lake and enjoyed watching the kids play and talking with all the cousins while trying to stay cool in the shade! We loved talking with Ray and Shirley, their daughter Sarah, cousin Randy and her son Jared, among all the others! There were a lot of "old" childhood stories as well as stores about what we're doing today! Then we headed back to the senior center where they catered in a great dinner for everyone!

All of Dan's Zurowski cousins also made the journey from Wisconsin and Minnesota! What fun it was to hang out and talk with them as well! This was the first time in well over 20 years since they had all been together! We made sure that we got a picture of that!

After a really long day, we headed back to Grand Forks, hung out in the pool with the girls and relaxed! On Sunday we hit the road and headed home! After 15 hours in the car, we finally pulled into our garage and sighed with relief that we were finally back home in our "heaven"! It was a fun weekend, but next time - let's FLY!

CJ Challenge - August

2010-08-15T17:09:00.004-06:00

It's been a few weeks (or more than a few) since I last posted. It's been a busy summer, so I'll try to recap it over the next few days so not to bore you all at once!!! :) /div>

This great LO was completed for Debbie as her challenge! She recently went to NYC and Chicago and asked us to take some of those photos and make a great LO. I kinda wish I got Chicago, since I can relate to that much easier, but I got NYC instead! I've never been there, so it was interesting to scrap something I was unfamiliar with! In the end, it came together well and I actually LOVE it! The colors that she picked are great and I think I used them well! I love all the little pieces that make it seem warm and friendly! I hope she will enjoy it as much as I do! And that it will fit well with the other pages she gets back as well!

CJ Challenge - July

2010-06-21T21:22:00.003-06:00

Yep, I said July... you see my challenge is June and well, I didn't play yet. :) Why? Because I was too busy playing with the July challenge! Patty sent us 10 random envelopes and a pile of scrap paper and then asked us to make 3 birthday, 3 thank you, and 4 blank cards for her personal stash. It was fun using other peoples paper and coming up with different size cards from the typical 4 1/4 x 5 1/2! Unfortunately when I started to take pictures tonight, my camera died, then Melanie's camera died, so all I got was 2 pictures of cards I used my own paper on! Oh well, I suppose you get the idea!

We're taking off on Wednesday for ND to visit with Dan's family. It's Aunt Kazia and Uncle Bob's 60th wedding anniversary and all the family is getting together to help celebrate! They had 6 children, who knows how many grandchildren, even more great-grandchildren and countless nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, ....well you get the picture right? There's going to be lots of us! Kazia is making her famous pancakes and polish sausage for breakfast and we will do nothing but eat, eat, eat all weekend! Unfortunately we'll spend more time in the car (1,000 miles each way) then we will in ND, but it's all for a good cause!

CJ Challenge - May

2010-06-11T08:21:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago I completed the "Day in my Life" pages for Patti's scrapbook challenge! I do like the way it turned out, however I thought my content was so blah that it was a huge struggle for me to complete it. She really threw some challenges my way... first off the fact that I had to scrap a day in my life... BORING! Then we had to scrap on a circle page - yikes! And we had to sew - does she not know I can't sew? And lastly we had to add a clock... whew, got that one in a picture! I used the sewing theme of a whip stitch on all my pages to keep them coherent. And I used the same papers throughout so that they matched. Then I just used flowers... a favorite of mine. I really hope that it works in her book and that she liked it. Enjoy!

Did I mention....

2010-06-10T08:16:00.000-06:00

I have an honors student? Melanie received an achievement award during the final days of school for a GPA between 3.75 and 4.0. They didn't have their final grades yet, so we didn't know her final GPA. She received a school letter for her achievement. We are so very proud of her for doing so well her freshman year! She makes no big deal out of it and really doesn't seem to care - YET! Someday she will and I hope she can realize that sooner rather than when it's too late! My baby is growing up fast and I don't like it!

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-09T08:02:00.003-06:00

We spent Memorial Day weekend at a favorite spot - O'Haver Lake. It was a gorgeous weekend with sunshine, warm temps and lots and lots of wind! OK, the wind wasn't my favorite, but we survived anyway! We did what most campers do - relax! We just hung out and relaxed! It was quite enjoyable and we can't wait to try that again!

Dan took Moira's kids fishing - Melanie and I just hung back out of the way! The lake had been stocked earlier that week, so you can imagine the success they had! It didn't even take 5 minutes and they were reeling in trout! In all they caught over 12 fish and kept a total of 7 over 2 days. Now, they were happy to catch the fish, but touching them was quite another story! Moira did all the "dirty" work for her kids while they had all the fun! Dan then taught them how to clean and cook them as well. Of course, the girls just watched!

It was so great to enjoy a campfire once again! That has to be one of my favorite parts of the trip! I'm not big on s'mores - I love all the parts, just not mushed together! But just watching and listening to the fire crackle, feeling the warmth as the air cools and sharing stories are what makes being outdoors fun!

This weekend we're headed off to another favorite - RMNP! No relaxing this weekend; we're planning a good hike on Saturday! Just the 3 of us!

Writing to myself...

2010-05-17T18:59:00.007-06:00

I think I've lost the few blog followers that I had because with all those posts last month, I had few comments. And I suppose that's fine since I've not been a very good blog reader/commentator myself lately. I wish I could figure out why my demeanor has changed, but I just can't put a finger on it. And as much as I'd like to see it different, I just can't get there. But I'm going to keep trying.

So what's new? Well, maybe I'll work backwards. This past weekend we painted Melanie's bedroom finally. She's been begging for a long time. She selected aqua and her Dad thinks it's awful! I like it for her and hope she's happy. She calls it one of her summer colors, along with yellow and salmon. The whole project was more than she expected. Taking down (and putting back up) a water bed is much more time consuming than we all remembered! Now we remember why we only do it every 8 years or so!! So she's now ready for summer! (Pictures coming soon!)

About 10 days ago I got a new cell phone - a droid! I wasn't exactly looking for one, but somehow I got hooked into the novelty and I am now enjoying it. It is still way more powerful than I probably need, but as long as I can read the screen, I'll be father into the next century than I was before when my phone only rang! Haven't mastered that touch screen texting quite yet, but I'll get there someday!

Been working on scrapping some old hiking pictures lately. I am really enjoying seeing the progress I'm making at finally finishing a complete book! Well, the book will never be finished as long as I keep climbing mountains, but caught up would be nice too! I hope I can keep on the roll this summer. Maybe if I will be able to feel better about myself. It's worth a shot!

Planned out about 5 camping trips for this summer and a family reunion visit to North Dakota in June. (I know, why oh why ND??) We'd like to take another trip to a beach destination this summer but haven't found the best deal yet. Oh that leads to my scuba diving aspiration. A few weeks ago we stopped at a scuba shop to find out if I could actually do it. I was worried about my vision and being able to see the gauges. Well, I think that was solved, the only hold back now is my heart condition. If I can get the cardiologist to clear me, I should be good to go! And if that happens (appointment in about 3 weeks) then we'll be taking lessons here shortly! I really hope there will be no problems. If I can't, I'll still be happy snorkeling, but you can't see ship wrecks from the surface!!

OK, so before I forget, Patti please forgive me for not shipping my pages to you yet. This weekend got away from me and I didn't finish. I hope you'll understand. I'm so sorry I haven't been as reliable lately. I'm working on it.

On a roll....

2010-05-05T17:28:00.003-06:00

Not very fast, but at least it's moving forward! Here is another LO that I completed earlier this week on one of my 14er hikes! This was our summit of Mt. Democrat with my brother back in August, 2008. It was a rather cloudy and cold August day and we had zero views from the summit, but at least we could prove we made it! I thought using monochrome grays would be the best way to depict the mood of the day! And I printed my text in vellum and cut it out in the shape of a cloud... I liked that look! It was a fun hike, but very disappointing for my brother who came 1000 miles and got zippo views! I am pleased with how this came out.

This inspired me to keep working on my LO's. I have 2 more hikes to scrap to complete my book to date! I think it will be awesome to finally have one project completed! So to get started, I cleaned up my desk last night and tonight I'll dig up the remaining pictures that I'll need. For all I know I already have them here in a pile somewhere!

And I have about 10 days to scrap my “Day in My Life” pages for Patti’s album! I kept a log and snapped a few pictures on Monday as I progressed throughout the day. Now to figure out how to scrap it all. This will be somewhat of a new project for me! I hope she isn’t bored to death from my story!

Oh and another thing I managed last night as I was cleaning up – gather cards for the troops. I have a stack of 40 ready to go! Operation Write Home is a great organization and I can’t wait to reach my personal goal of sending them 100 cards this year! I’ll be back later this week with some pictures of my stash!

Challenge

2010-04-28T20:43:00.004-06:00

Here is my take on a challenge from Taylor Expressions from last Friday. Inside it says "Sweet Birthday Wishes". I liked this sketch and found it fun to work with and a great way to use up scraps.

Scraps... I am terrified to throw anything away and still have 2 drawers full of them. Many of the papers don't even appeal to me anymore, but I just can't throw them away. I should just let them go but every time I try, I think about the dozens of cards I could make with them! Ugh, is there a 10 step program for this???

Mt. Yale Remembered

2010-04-25T12:09:00.003-06:00

I would still say that this was the toughest mountain we have climbed so far and it had nothing to do with the fact it was right after my knee surgery! As much as I dread switchbacks, they definitely make it easier to climb steep stuff! This mountain had NONE! It just went straight up!

Anyway, I really love the LO that I created with these pictures! It stepped away from the traditional green/blue/brown color scheme and used the colors of the day - Red, White and Blue! And I was able to get about 1/2 my pictures onto it without cutting away too much of the scenery! That's what always bothers me about scrapping the mountain pictures - I hate cutting anything away! I just have to try to look at it as if I'm just seeing what in the lens instead! TFL!

As promised

2010-04-24T21:58:00.004-06:00

Here is the LO that I completed on my knee surgery. Let me know if you think it needs anything else on it. The text reads...

#18 Eliminate the pain in my left knee
Despite the recommendation not to fall when I’m skiing, unfortunately I do it a lot! In November 2005, on the first day of our ski season, I took a fall at Beaver Creek and pulled something in my left knee. I managed to ski down the mountain, took a day off and then kept skiing the rest of the season in moderate pain. In fact, I skied 2 more seasons before in early 2008 I finally decided to have what I thought was a meniscus repair and ended up being an ACL repair as well. 6 weeks of recovery turned into 8 or 9 months, but I didn’t let it stop me. 1 week after surgery I was in full brace climbing up Castle Rock; 2 weeks after surgery I climbed the Fire Tower; about 5 weeks after surgery, still in full leg brace I was climbing the rocks in Moab; and just 2 months after surgery I climbed up Mt. Yale, our toughest mountain climb to date!

So, we were blessed with about a foot of snow in Castle Rock yesterday! It was that really wet, heavy stuff! As I said, the day was wild - it rained, sleeted, snowed and even the sun came out at one point! Up by the office there was no accumulation, however as you crossed over Surrey Ridge, it changed to winter again! Even the kids got sent home from school early! It continued to rain/snow throughout the night, however there was no more accumulation to speak of. Much of it melted today and hopefully the rest will go tomorrow. They're calling for more tomorrow night - we'll see if they're right! Did I mention, I done with snow already???!!!

It's Ranining, It's Snowing...

2010-04-23T07:01:00.003-06:00

and this poor lady has to go to work... wah!

Weather in Colorado in April is fun! Yesterday we had a tornado warning at the office. The company choose to evacuate from the (top) 14th floor and we all headed to the basement garage for about 30 minutes. Eventually we got the all clear and our "recess" was over! On he way home last night, it didn't start pouring until I got off the bus to meet Dan and then it came down in buckets! I woke up really early this morning to hear more rain, but before we left for work at 6:25 it was SNOWING!!! We had about 1/4" and it was that wet, heavy, slushy stuff! But as we drove North up to Denver, the snow turned back to rain and it's just wet, damp and miserable here. I wish I would have called in sick on a day like this!

This has been a busy week at our house. Melanie has been busy at school every night preparing for opening night of the "Steel Magnolia's" play. She is in charge of costumes and must remain backstage to assist the actresses with their costumes. Last night was opening night and she said all went well on her end and the girls only forgot a few lines. There will be 2 more performances next week. I think she's really enjoying herself.

Last night Dan and I discussed our next trip to Asia. We think it will be China, but are still considering some other countries. We really wanted to go to Thailand originally however with all the problems there right now, it's out of the picture. Vietnam might be a consideration and we are still researching. We have 195,000 frequent flyer miles, so we can now fly anywhere in the world for free, so let's make it a good place!

I completed my first layout page for my 101 Things scrapbook - "No Pain". I will have to post a picture later, but I am pleased (mostly) with the way it turned out. It is not embellished at all and I think it needs something, I just don't know what. Next I've turned to some photos from our climb up Mt. Yale on the 4th of July, 2008. For my mountain climb pictures, I usually scrap in green, blue or brown based on the scenery, but this time I choose red, white and blue for the date! Well, the white is tan, but you get the picture! I plan to finish that one up tomorrow when Dan is at work, so I should have pictures of that one soon as well. Finally I'm back into scrapbooking and I'm loving it! I have such a mountain of pictures and albums to work on that it gets overwhelming to think about. But if I take it one day at a time....

Well, I really must get to work! Later!

Quick Cards

2010-04-17T20:25:00.004-06:00

I had a few pieces of leftover cardstock from Rhonda's project so I decided to whip up a few simple cards and send them to her along with her pages. I think they turned out cute! I embossed the stamped sentiment, incorporated the ribbon through the flower and lined the inside with white cardstock. I made 2 of each color so the second set will go to Operation Write Home as part of my 101 promised cards this year!

I picked up some (old) pictures last night from Walgreen's so that I could start scrapping again! I've decided it's time to start working on my book - "101 Things" since I've accomplished around a dozen of them already! The first page will be about the elimination of the pain in my knee - my surgery from 2 years ago! I already have the layout spread out on my desk and I'm trying to get the colors and details picked out! It feels good to get a page worked on! I sometimes get so overwhelmed with all the "unfinished" projects I have started! One step at a time, huh?

Off to create...

CJ Challenge - April

2010-04-14T17:14:00.003-06:00

This month we were asked to help Rhonda put together a recipe book. She requested 2 recipes scrapped onto 2 81/2x11 pages. I used 2 of my favorite recipes from my MIL and added a few cooking touches to complete the challenge. I will actually get them into the mail tomorrow - right on time!

The Haul

2010-04-13T17:06:00.002-06:00

Here is what I got in my $50 shopping spree at Archiver's for my birthday. After I spread it out, it doesn't look like much, does it? Amazing how much things really cost. And there isn't really one thing that gets me excited about scraping - that's a real bummer. Hopefully I'll find something else when I get a chance to go Internet shopping that will spark some creativity again. I really want to work on some pages during the rest of this month. I haven't done that in quite a long time. Off to see what I can create!

Get Well Card

2010-04-12T18:06:00.003-06:00

Showing you a card I made this weekend for a friend at work who's out with a broken leg. I used the TCP sketch challenge from last week to create this one. I still have time to enter the contest, so maybe I'll do that! I know it's not a TCP stamp, but for this challenge it's not required. TFL!!

Wonderful Weekend!

2010-04-11T18:34:00.004-06:00

Spring was definitely in the air this weekend and I had a wonderful time enjoying it with my family! On Saturday, Dan let me have a shopping spree at Archiver's for my birthday! Since I hadn't been there since November, I was expecting to really see something NEW and I was kind of disappointed. Although I did manage to spend a few dollars, I didn't get anything that I was really wanting! I think I might do some additional Internet shopping and hopefully I'll find something to really inspire me!

After my shopping time, we went to my favorite place for lunch - Sweet Tomato's and we gorged ourselves on the healthy stuff! Then we browsed around Borders reading books on Thailand and China (beginning the preparation for our next adventure to Asia!) Afterwards some additional shopping, a fast dinner out and a Red Box movie with the family! It was a relaxing and peaceful birthday!

Today we spent the day at the ballpark watching the Rockies vs. San Diego. It was 72+ and sunny... prefect weather for a day game! And the Rockies made it worth all the sweat (yes, we were sweating) - they won 4-2! As always we had fun and can't wait to go back again this summer! Definitely for the Cubs series in late July and maybe a few more!

Thanks everyone who sent me wishes for my birthday! They all came true!

Go Rockies!

2010-04-09T09:13:00.001-06:00

Today is the home opener for the Rockies and I'm hoping they win! I know, I'm suppose to be the die-hard Cub fan (I am at heart), but I live here now and cheer on the local guys! Besides, I can get (affordable) tickets to these games and they have made it to the play-offs (and World Series) more times in the 9 years I've lived here than the Cubs did in the 35 years I lived in Chicago!!! Unfortunately, no I'm not going to the home opener, but my family will celebrate my birthday with me on Sunday cheering on the Rockies in even nicer Spring weather! Happy Friday!

Spending Freeze or Spending Spree?

2010-04-08T21:23:00.004-06:00

How long have you gone without purchasing any scrapbook supplies?

I have been on a spending freeze for scrapbook supplies since the beginning of November and except for buying some glue dots, I have purchased NO new supplies! Everything I've created has been from my stash! I'm really proud that I've used up so much of my stash, but I'm also beginning to have withdrawals! I'd like a few new sheets of pattern paper to choose from, maybe a few new stamps and one more page border punch! But since I haven't spent any money, and I'm still broke, I think when I finally get my day at Archiver's on Saturday for my birthday, I'll be very frugal at what I do buy! I'm guessing that's a good thing!! Oh, I have my 30% off coupon for one expensive item! I'll let you know what I end up picking up!

The card above is something I made a while back and is very simple, but I'm liking the white and black right now. Maybe I'll pick up some more of that color (or lack of) paper this weekend!!!

No more snow

2010-04-07T17:19:00.002-06:00

I am "officially" done with snow for the season! Of course, just because I'm done doesn't mean we won't see it anymore, but here's hoping! We woke up this morning to maybe an inch of wet sloppy snow. It wouldn't have been too bad because I did work from home, but early this morning we had to go to the DMV to get plates for our new car! So yes, I had to go out in it! Bummer! At least the sun came out later and most of it is gone again!

We were happily surprised that the plates were only $570 and the trip was virtually painless! (There was no one else there at 7:15 a.m.) We were expecting at least $600, so we were sort of happy to save a few more bucks! In addition, I took advantage of my handicap status and got hang tags for the car. If it were up to me, we'd never use them, however Dan wanted them in a pinch for when the only parking that's empty is handicap. I hope that doesn't happen too often.

Off to cook dinner... tortellini - yum!

On a roll

2010-04-06T20:35:00.011-06:00

Last week I was on a roll - I made a whole bunch of cards! I set a goal for myself to donate at least 100 cards to Operation Write Home by the end of the year. I know the only way to meet that deadline would be to duplicate my cards. I can never duplicate them exactly, but using the same sketch works well for me. So I came up with this design and took off! I made a total of 14 cards using scraps and bling for all different occasions! Of course I had to keep some to use myself, so the top one I sent to Marles for sending me a very special "early" birthday gift! I pop-dotted the label shape to give it added dimension! Love it! Below are a few more examples of what I did with this design. Hope you enjoy!

Dan's Finished Office

2010-04-05T18:29:00.002-06:00

Well it's been a long time coming, but here are the photo's of the (almost) finished basement renovation! We still have carpet to install and decorating of the rest of the basement, but this is how Dan's office was completed.
He selected a periwinkle for his walls, a real bold color for a man, but he loves it! I'm not quite sold, but I only have to visit, I don't have to stay in that room!

He hung his guitars as if they were art, which I think looks nice and hides some of that color! He is very comfortable in his new room and it definitely stays much warmer than before. Once we can get carpet and replace the windows, he'll be even cozier! Just happy he's not whining anymore about having "walls"!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T09:07:00.003-06:00

My fondest memories of Easter are from some of my early years where we celebrated with all the cousins. We had an egg hunt in our backyard and I remember having so much fun! I'm sure the solid chocolate bunny was and has always been the best part!

What are your favorite memories?

The Adventure continued...

2010-04-03T21:30:00.000-06:00

Finally on Friday it was time to ski, so we decided to give Vail a try, since Ed had never skied there. As we drove over Vail pass from Dillon the skies clouded up and the snow began to fall. No one knew how much we were expecting, but we all knew it was going to be a "pow-pow" day! The first few runs were powder on corduroy which was a great base to get your "legs on"! Then we thought we'd try out one of the back bowls - only to find ourselves in a total white-out! If you didn't know the run, you'd find yourself in the creek, which is not a good thing! Thankfully we knew our way but opted to return to the front mountain as green tree-lined runs are easier to see when it's snowing buckets! This was some of the deepest snow Ed had ever skied in and in the end, we were playing in 10" of fresh powder! It was a lot of fun!

I opted out of the last run for the day and waited in the lodge. (No, hot toddies though!) As I waited, I heard that Vail pass was closed - a really bad thing since we had reservations for a play later that night. When the roads close, they never tell you how long - you just have to be patient! When the rest joined me, we definitely were not patient and decided we'd try the "alternative" route back - down south through Leadville - about 50 miles out of the way! As we headed west to the Mintern exit, the traffic just stopped. As we crawled along the exit ramp, the guys got out and pushed yet another car out of the ditch. Thankfully for them, this was not only lighter, there was also a few more people around to help! The road was slow and there were several accidents, however we at least had some really pretty views! Unfortunately for the people headed the other direction, there was at least a 10 mile back-up due to an accident on the pass. We finally made it back to the condo about 2 1/2 hours later, in plenty of time for a bowl of ready-made chili and off to the play! (The normal time of that trip is 30 minutes!)

We went to the Lake Dillon Theater, a very small and cozy theater seating about 60 people, and saw "Same Time, Next Year" which is a romantic comedy. It was very good and we all enjoyed the culture!!

By Saturday I think Ed was hoping for a little "less" bit of adventure (no more snow shoveling), so we stayed close and skied at Keystone, another place he had never been to. The snow continued to fall and we were blessed with another 4 inches of powder that day! Although he was feeling the burn, he kept jumping back on the lift and heading back up the mountain for yet another run! Once again, he didn't see anything of the area since it was socked in clouds, but that's the breaks. After a good day of skiing, we took a nap and enjoyed a relaxing evening together. It was really great to reconnect with my bother and actually hear stories about his youth that I just was too young to remember!

Sunday was our final day and we had to get Ed back to the airport abound 4, so we knew we didn't want to do too much. We decided that we would try tubing at Keystone and we had an awesome day for it! The sun was out and the mountain air was warm and we got to play some more! Ed got the best tube and surpassed all of us in speed and distance down the track! The best was the movie he took of us when we went tandem - it's really quite funny! It was a wonderful end to a great weekend!

My bother is a perfect guest and well, a wonderful brother! I really enjoyed his visit and I cannot wait for him to come back again!

Snowshoveling and Snowshoeing

2010-04-03T20:38:00.005-06:00

Ah great, the truck is stuck! Now what??!!

What a way to get some exercise, at 9,000"!

Finally what we came for - snowshoeing!My favorite guys!Me and my big brother! Something we never did as kids!

Blah, Blah, Blog

2010-04-02T07:05:00.008-06:00

I wish I could explain why I just haven't had the energy or desire to blog lately. Sometimes I think it's because I don't think blogs are exciting unless they have pictures and well, loading pictures takes time and effort and I just don't feel like it. And I just don't know that I really have anything to say either. But I'm going to try this month to blog every day (excluding yesterday of course) and see if I can meet the challenge. Maybe a few new challenges in my life with get me out of this slump!

So, what's new??!! I spent a few days last week with my brother up in the mountains. I can't post pictures now, but I will in the next few days! We had a great time despite a few unnecessary adventures in our weekend! Just being together, sharing old stories and enjoying the great outdoors was well worth it!!

The day after Ed arrived we took off for the mountains. After a quick stop at the condo, we headed up to show him how much fun snowshoeing was! Well, at the intersection in the town of Montezuma, we should have parked for the journey BUT NO, we thought we'd see if we could go farther up the road. We went a few hundred yards (maybe) and we SANK! A big truck doesn't move that easily and despite trying to push it back downhill, we just pushed it deep into the driver's side rut. The shovel that is always in the back of the car, was well, back at the house! It was taken out because of so much luggage (ah, there will NEVER be no room for that again)! Well as we contemplated what to do, a young women came walking by with her dogs. Although she did not bring 4 burly men with her, she did offer her shovels and her assistance. 4 diggings and 1 1/2 hours later, we were finally out! Thank heavens for good Samaritans (from Indiana)! And at least we were all still laughing!

We did manage a short snowshoe trip to the beaver ponds before the sun began to hide behind the mountains. I think Ed enjoyed it and I'm guessing he'll agree to do it again someday - just don't drive up a road not plowed!

Want to read more of our adventures? Come back tomorrow!!! :)

Beautiful day!

2010-03-06T19:25:00.006-07:00

Oh what a beautiful day it was for snowshoeing! We took a drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park and went playing in 8" of new snow! The temps were warm and the sun was shining! Too bad I over-dressed because I was sweating so bad I had a melt down just shy of the lake! When we finally reached The Loch (remember that place Marlene?), I was so happy to finally eat and relax! The fresh air really did us good - I'm exhausted tonight! We figure we went around 6 miles or so - sometimes even blazing our own trail! The hike (or slide) down was the best part!
Tomorrow we're headed up to Summit County (not sure where yet) for another day of skiing! Only a few more good weeks left, so we've got to enjoy the snow while we can! My brother is coming in just under 3 weeks and I'm really looking forward to his visit! We're taking him to the mountains and plan to do a little skiing, maybe some snowshoeing or tubing or just enjoying the views! We never did this stuff as kids, so we have lots to make up for as adults! It will be fun!

New Car

2010-02-15T11:06:00.002-07:00

We finally did it - broke down and bought a more economical car! As much as we love our Expedition and are keeping it for towing people and campers, we really needed to give it a vacation! It has 152,000 miles on it and it's 6 1/2 years old! It is in great shape, so it should last us several more years! But to save on gas and mileage, we decided to splurge and get a new car. We choose the Mazda Three - in red! I really wanted the red-rust color, but we couldn't get it with the "moon" roof - they were no where to be found in the Mountain region! And I didn't want to wait 3-4 months to order one. So we settled on the red with black leather interior. It has EVERYTHING but a dishwasher!! Keyless entry and ignition, blue tooth, moon roof, heated seats, and cup holders!!!!!!! Remember when we didn't have those in our cars?! Anyway, it drives really nice and is fairly comfortable. I'm not quite sure I want to take it for really long trips, but that's still to be determined! Anyway, this was our Valentine's present to US this weekend!!! Maybe someday it will be Melanie's and we'll get that little 2 seater sports car!!

Valentine's Day Card

2010-02-08T16:31:00.002-07:00

I'm pleased with my simple but popping Valentine's Day card! I like this design so much, I'm using it to create some black/pink cards for a swap I joined. I thought that joining some swaps would pump up my creativity and get me working again. It's done an adequate job I suppose. I still struggle with scrapping to my satisfaction.

CJ Challenge - February

2010-02-07T15:18:00.005-07:00

Here is a peek for my CJ friends at my completed challenge for Rocio! It was kind of hard but fun to scrap only journaling! I was definitely struggling after the first 5 or so, but FINALLY they're done!! The thing that was out of my comfort zone was journaling with my own handwriting. It wasn't required, but I thought it would be what she'd want. In the end, I'm pretty happy with the results and hope that she is too! The 10 things about me include... projects, clean, mother. travel, mountains, 20/20, colors, chocolate, college and career! Hope you can read them!

Simple card

2010-01-13T21:33:00.003-07:00

Here is a simple card I made last week with a tree stamp. I really liked the paper and have had it in my stash for a long time, so it's time to use it up! I made a few others that were similar, but sent those out to friends! I can never seem to build much of a stash up!

I'm working on the first round of the Circle Journal I'm participating in with my great friends from Seasoned CJ Survivors. Originally it was suppose to be my round, however I gladly gave it up to Rocio who was much more on top of sending out the supplies than I was! I'm really glad for her! I have to journal 10 different things about ME - one on each 4x6 cards. I didn't have much of a problem coming up with the 10 things; I am however having trouble trying to figure out HOW to journal them and make it look like something! I'm sure it will click at some point! I hope soon... I'm getting frustrated!

It's been a long tiring week but I'm really looking forward to skiing or possibly snow shoeing this coming weekend! We got jipped out of it last weekend when our water pipe burst in the basement for the 3rd time in just a few months! Hopefully we've fixed it so that it doesn't happen again but we still have to complete the repair come Spring.

Have a great weekend!

Another Birthday

2010-01-06T18:54:00.004-07:00

We're celebrating yet another birthday today... Dan celebrated his day by skiing by himself! He didn't have to wait for anyone; didn't have to listen to anyone complain; and he had a fantastic day! He was home in plenty of time for a nice lobster ravioli dinner and soon we will be off for ice cream at our NEW Baskin Robbins!! (Now if only we could get a Dunkin' Donuts!)

Colorado is now in another deep freeze and we're not looking forward to some cold days ahead. Fortunately I will be getting a ride to the office the next few days and won't have to freeze on a bus corner. This is the first week of my new schedule and so far, it's OK. No more bus from Castle Rock, instead I have to rely on my chauffeur's! I'm not thrilled, but what can you do?!

I made this card by embossing the guitar and thought I might copy it for a card swap. I haven't done one of those in a long time. I'm looking for a new challenge again!!! Any suggestions?

Telling a story

2009-12-26T17:10:00.011-07:00

That's what the Christmas ornaments on my tree do. This is the very first one I ever received on my very first Christmas back in 1966. I haven't always found her to be a favorite, but the more I realize that she is almost "antique", the more I realize her value in my life!!!

My mother was a wonderful artist and had enormous amounts of creativity insider her. She designed and then hand-painted hundreds and hundreds of these "Door" ornaments among her many handmade projects. Then she would personalize them for for each person who bought them from her. I am fortunate to have 2 of them, one from before I was married and one from after! It is one of my favorites among all the ornaments she made year after year.

My sister inherited some of out mother's talent and she made and gave away her creations for years as well. Among my favorites from her are the crocheted snowflakes. She made me dozens in different shapes and I just love to add them all over the tree.
During the 90's, I too used my creativity to create and sell ornaments. This angel was one of my best sellers and I made hundreds of them. I have several hanging on my tree. There was also a larger version that was made as a tree topper. My daughter does not like that much, so we don't use it very often.

My tree is full of handmade ornaments made by family and friends and lots of very talented people. In recent years we only add a few ornaments each year. They either are snowmen (my favorite symbol of the season) or from trips we have taken. This Santa is from Australia and reminds me of my favorite vacation so far!

Melanie believes that there is no more room on our tree, but I beg to differ... there is always room for one more memory and one more story to tell!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

The ENTIRE Family

2009-11-19T17:39:00.014-07:00

Yikes, I disappeared once again!!! Since those last photos of snow, we've had yet another storm! This one only producing 6"! It's going to be a long winter!

Just got back from a quick trip to Chicago to celebrate Dad's 75th birthday! He threw an awesome party for himself! Got to see a lot of friends and relatives that I haven't seen in a really long time! That was really great to catch up with everyone! And it was awesome because the ENTIRE family was in one place at the same time! Here is our photo above!!! It's sad to say, but I'm officially the shortest member of the family - how depressing is that? Katie (behind me) is the tallest at 6'1"! She WAS on her tippy toes, really!!

This weekend we plan to put up our Christmas tree... really! If we don't, it won't get done until December and in my book that's a crime! I LOVE Christmas and I would consider having my tree up 6 months out of the year if I wasn't voted down by the other family members! I think I get the love of the holiday from my Mom!

We are headed to the mountains for the holiday... our normal tradition! This year we ate our turkey earlier this month, so we're having pizza! Is that so wrong? It's what Melanie wants!! I'm fine with it - pizza and pumpkin pie! Yum!! Looking forward to 5 days of skiing... or at least that's the plan! You never know how good the snow will be this early in the season!

What are your plans for the holidays?

Isn't it Pretty?

2009-10-29T12:36:00.002-06:00

It's still coming down!! This was taken at about 11 a.m. The winds have picked up and it's blowing like crazy! It's moving to the east, so the foothills are getting a reprieve, which is good, but we're still getting pounded to the south. It could continue for the next 12 hours... I hope it's done soon!

Snow

2009-10-28T12:43:00.003-06:00

Mother Nature is dealing us some VERY EARLY winter weather today! This will be the 4th measurable snowstorm in October this year! I'm beginning to think I live in Alaska instead of Colorado!

This picture was taken at 11 a.m. and it's still coming down at a good clip. It's nice, heavy, wet snow! They tell us to brace for up to 2 feet in Castle Rock! I'm just hoping that Dan can get back from Canada tomorrow... airport is cancelling flights left and right now! I did the smart thing - I'm working from home today!!

Here I am

2009-10-26T20:29:00.013-06:00

I've definitely been hiding lately, I know, I know! The weather here has been such that hiding under a blanket is the way to be!!! We've had 3 snowstorms already this month! Not typical for the Denver I know! And the next is due to hit tomorrow night - our biggest yet they say! It's going to be a long season... tuning up my skis!!!

Dad's 75th birthday is in mid-November and we're heading to Chi-town to help him celebrate! He requested "no gifts", but since when do his children actually listen? So as a surprise, I asked each child, spouse and grandchild to send me their fondest memory, reason why they love Grandpa or whatever they wanted to say to him along with a picture so that I could create him a birthday gift he can't refuse! And knowing Dad, he will love it forever! Here are a few pages that I've put together so far! The first one is from my brother! (Ed, it may have not been the best picture, but I thought it was the most fitting for the page!) The second one is from my niece Sarah! I choose a pad of paper called Latte from DCWV - the color palette is blue, green, purple and cream. And the patterns are more graphic than flowery - perfect for a male! The first half will be all of our pages and the last half of the book will be blank pages for him to add photos from his party! Speaking of which - all my relatives will be there and it will be great to see them all! Better at this celebration than at a funeral, that's for darn sure!!

TGIF

2009-10-02T17:33:00.007-06:00

I'm so glad it's finally the weekend... it was a rough week. And next week's looking to be worse. I'll need a good rest since my co-worker is gone next week and I have 100 million things to do, with deadlines by next Friday! I think it's beer-30 somewhere now, isn't it? Time to relax!!!

Here is a card I made this week using a stamp and papers I got in a swap a long, long time ago. I was digging around and found all of these kits that I've gotten over the past year and realized it's time to use them! I think it might need some words on it, but otherwise I liked the overall look!

I'm hoping to spend tomorrow (World Cardmaking Day) using the last kit I received from Taylor Expressions to make a bunch of cards. Or maybe I should work on my birthday present for my father... either way, I'm hoping to have some papercrafting fun!!

Cupcake Cards

2009-09-29T19:28:00.003-06:00

This weekend I was surfing around for some new card ideas and came across this design on SCS. I already had the cupcakes stamped and even colored to match this DCWV paper called "SWEET", so it naturally and quickly came together to make a really cute card!

We have Indian Summer for a few more days but by Thursday it will turn into Fall once again... I suppose that's not a bad thing! Melanie is chopping at the bit for real SNOW since she got a new snowboard this past weekend! (Our teaser last week was just that - a big tease!) About 40 days until the ski resorts open... let's just hope it's a really good year! I'm looking forward to some great days myself! And with Dan's one repaired knee, hopefully we'll all have a good season!

First day of Fall???

2009-09-22T21:01:00.003-06:00

Well, on our last day of summer (yesterday), the foothills (where my good friend Toni lives) received their first snowstorm of the season!!! She said it was about a foot - yikes!!! And another round is headed here tomorrow! In fact, they say above 6000 feet (we live at 6300 feet) and in my county, we are expecting up to another foot! Oh, and of course - right at run hour tomorrow morning!!! Hurray! I'm looking for any excuse to work from home tomorrow!!! So in honor of our Fall Snowstorm, here is a winter card to get you all in the mood!

Manly Cards

2009-09-20T20:14:00.003-06:00

A few days ago I attempted to clean up my workspace in an effort to get inspired to create again. As I was putting away all the supplies from my London album, I ran across these sticker that I bought for that album, but never used. They gave me a great idea that could work well for "manly" cards. Well, away I went. By the time I finished tonight, I made a total of 10 cards for various occasions. I will most likely give some of the duplicates away to C ards for Hero's (now, Operation Write Home). Now that I'm done, I have a great big mess again to clean up! I wonder how much I can get put away this time before I wind up creating again??!!

Fire Tower Hike

2009-09-13T15:25:00.004-06:00

We started today with a nice hike up to the Devil's Head Fire Tower located just west of Castle Rock in the Rampart Range. We've done this hike a dozen or so times before, but it's always a great place to take new people (like our friend Melanie) and get a little bit of exercise in the nice crisp September air! This is the last manned fire tower in Colorado and from where they spotted the "infamous" Haymen fire back in 2002. It was the closest we've ever been to a fire (about 10 miles) and I tell you, the closest I ever want to be. As we looked to the south, Colorado Springs was in the clouds with Pikes Peak looming over it. The mountains to the northwest had a white layer called "snow" on it! The cold rain we endured all day yesterday apparently left snow up at that elevation! I'm not ready for that down here quite yet!!! It won't be long until the trees start turning and fall is officially here though!!

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday!

Finding the urge to blog...

2009-09-09T21:52:00.003-06:00

I'm still struggling to find the urge to blog right now. I'm really hoping that will change here in September. Here is a birthday card I made for my Dad's lady friend Marcy's birthday last month. The inspiration came from a recent issue of Card Creations using a journaling block. The journaling block came from a set that Toni gave me a while back. It was a neat way to use these!!

So speaking of Dad, I got an update tonight that really made me smile! Not quite 2 weeks after his surgery and he is already walking down the stairs to get his own newspaper in the morning, trekking down the block for exercise, and following all of the doctors orders! He amazes me so very much at his strength and endurance! He truly believes that this recovery is a picnic in the park compared to his double-knee replacement! I was very glad I went to Chicago and spent time with him and I can't wait to see him in November for his 75th birthday!

My rock star is 14 today!!!

2009-08-17T18:56:00.003-06:00

10 years later and Melanie got a bass guitar for her birthday... maybe I really do have a rock star in the making!!! Melanie turns 14 today - I'm in shock and disbelief that I am that old! Not to mention her!! I made her the favorite shake 'n bake chicken dinner and we're going for Cold Stone in a little bit! School was good, so I'm guessing she had a great day!

The concert on Saturday was awesome! I still have a hoarse voice from all the screaming! You would have thought I was a teenager!! They put on an amazing show and we had great seats! I'm surprised I didn't have nightmares from all the loud fireworks!! They made me jump every time! I will go back to see them next time they're in Denver! Love it!

Green Day!

2009-08-15T10:54:00.003-06:00

You can say that I don't get out much! I'm so excited to be going to the Green Day concert tonight! I've always loved them and said if they were ever in town, I was going.... well my chance has come! Pepsi Center - 7 p.m. TONIGHT!!! I can't wait to act like an American Idiot and rock out!!!

Card, Chicago and HS???

2009-08-13T20:33:00.003-06:00

Doesn't this Diva rock??!! This was a card and gift tin I made for my sister's 50th birthday (back in June)! The saying goes... "Just think with every birthday your even closer to being more like your parents"! The little horse is special... he was found in my mother's collection of stuff after she died. My sis, sil and I have been passing it back and forth for almost 18 years now. We hide it in each others homes, or in my case since they live far away, I just mail it back sometimes! It's like mom is always still with us! So for my sis' 50th, I made the special travel tin and sent it back! I think she got a kick out of it... who knows, we never talk about it - it's all secret!!

I'm headed to Chicago in 2 weeks to be with my father as he undergoes open heart surgery to repair his valve. (Maybe this will end back up in my suitcase?) The prognosis is very good - he has an excellent doctor. But I wasn't going to sit 1000 miles away and wait by the phone this time, I'm gong to be right there!

Tonight was back to school night. Melanie has been back since Monday and so far so good! It is definitely a bigger responsibility for her in HS! Oh, if only I had these opportunities when I was her age! What I missed!!!

June Challange a bit late

2009-08-11T20:42:00.006-06:00

After I returned from Mexico in mid-July I finally had time to "play" in the June CJ Survivors Challenge of the Month. The challenge was to use 3 pieces of pattern paper to make as many projects as you can. I created a total of 10 cards and most of these cards were included in a recent package of 26 cards I sent to Cards for Hero's. It took me awhile to get the pictures posted, but hey, at least they got sent out to the troops first!!

Cabo we were....

2009-07-27T20:31:00.019-06:00

Well, I must admit, we've been back from San Jose del Cabo for 2 weeks already, but it was such a "lack of" adventure I couldn't bring myself to share the story until now!!

We arrived in Mexico on the 4th of July and surprisingly after an American cookout they did have a firework display for us! It wasn't one I'll remember other than it was in Mexico!
On our 2nd full day there, we decided on a snorkeling trip on the Sea of Cortez. This is the Gateway to the Sea of Cortez - the famous arch at the tip of the Baja Peninsula. And these are a few of the fishes we got to swim with! Compared to the Great Barrier Reef, they were like gold fish! I guess I'm just spoiled!

Most of our vacation was spent alongside the pool and well, at the bar! (Dan fell in love with a new drink called the Sea of Cortez!) When it's 102, not much helps, but at least it was all inclusive! We drank a lot and sweated most of it off... only gaining a pound in a week! I'd say that was a feat in itself! Besides drinking, the "kids" spent a lot of time playing pool volleyball! That was a favorite!

Later during the week we went horseback riding! We expected to ride along the beach, but were rudely surprised when we were told that it was not allowed in Cabo San Lucas and that we would have to ride in the desert... better known as their drainage ditch! I am not kidding, there was garbage, a sewage plant and lots of desert! It was a definite cultural experience and unfortunately an experience that will always remind me of what I picture Mexico to be! I'm sure that's not fair, but it's what I saw.

As you can see, Melanie was not amused! In fact her account on Facebook when she got home, was that she had just returned from "HE--"! I wouldn't call it that, however it was HOT! I will NEVER live anyplace like that!!

Well, it definitely wasn't my favorite trip and probably not my worst trip either! It was great to get away and relax and confirm that poolside vacations are not for me! I'd recommend the resort if you're not anxious to swim in the ocean (not allowed in San Jose del Cabo due to the undertow) and want to be in an all inclusive family resort. I wouldn't recommend it in summer, unless you're a gluten for HEAT!

It was good to be back in Colorado where the air was cool and crisp at night! More updates soon... I promise!

Did anyone miss me?

2009-06-30T18:49:00.002-06:00

I've been hiding under a rock for the past 3 weeks - did you notice I was gone? We'll I'm back!!! And with good news! I PASSED!! Today was D-Day - the dreaded Human Resources certification! Now I say that with a smile :), because I choose to take it and paid for it myself! I worked hard over the last 3 months studying and studying and never feeling like I was remembering anything! But the paper I received at the end today says that I passed (not quite official yet, but close enough for government work!) So after 4 long hours, 225 questions and a bit of confusion with my requested accommodations, I can finally sit back and decide - what do I do tonight??

I haven't done any scrapbooking or card making for almost a month. I think I've forgotten what to do! I don't think I have any creative juices in me today, I'm a bit drained, but tomorrow??!!

This 4th of July we will be spending in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico! They celebrate the 4th of July there, don't they?! (Hey, we celebrate Cinco de Mayo!) I don't care, to be able to relax is all I'm looking forward to! Well, that and a few dips in the ocean and a snorkel trip or two (or three)! We are staying at an all inclusive Intercontinental which looks wonderful - I hope it lives up to it's pictures! What I'm not exactly looking forward to is their 98 degree temperatures! Bring on the sunscreen! Now if we can only find the fireworks!!

When I get back, it's back to more posts and definately more crafting! I definitely can't wait to be able to do what I WANT at night and not work or studying!!!

Happy 4th everyone!

My Teens

2009-06-09T18:14:00.004-06:00

Last Wednesday was Betsy's 15th birthday! Oh where or where does the time go? Melanie will be 14 in just 2 months! These cousins are special friends and they are so thrilled to be living so close together! This picture was taken on Sunday when we went to celebrate Betsy's birthday! I hope they will always be good friends!

Ready for Drywall

2009-06-08T21:48:00.004-06:00

An update on the basement... we're ready for drywall! We passed our first inspection (after a few minor fixes) - the framing, electrical and plumbing stages! The inspector was very impressed with how well he did so far and gave us the green light to insulate! After 2 truckloads of insulation and about 12 hours, Dan got every wall cavity filled! Since the outer walls were already filled on the first inspection, we did not have to wait for that to be inspected! So, now it's drywall time! Unfortunately with my father visiting this week, construction is delayed until after our "mini-vacation" up into the mountains! But I can tell, once he gets started, it will go fast!

Hubby finally relented and went to the doctor today about his painful knee. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Thursday. They said he has arthritis and they think a torn meniscus and if that's the case, he plans to have it repaired in July. Thankfully that's a quicker recovery than it could have been, so he may not miss a day of ski season if he's lucky!! I know how he feels!!

Meet Fishy

2009-06-07T20:54:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we added 4 more fish to our tank... 2 angel fish and 2 blood fin tetras. Melanie picked out her angel fish - the black one (pictured) is named "FISH" by her cousin Betsy! (sorry for the blurry picture - I need to work on these shots) The white one is named Grace - a bit more normal! We're just waiting to see what sex they really are! The other new fish, Dan picked out and appropriately named them "Twitchy" and "Shaky" after their erratic behavior! Unfortunately I have a hard time remembering their names and have nicknamed them many other things!!! (Like Itchy and Scratchy!) All seem to get along great with Bruno (not pregnant), Harold and Ginger. We're not sure if Bruno gave birth, but we can't seem to find any babies and the black dot is gone... so who knows. We all still enjoy the fish!

CJ May Challenge

2009-05-26T20:20:00.003-06:00

This month's challenge was to use 10 items from your stash on your project. I'm glad it wasn't 10 "unique" items! I started with a couple of pictures of Melanie from October, 2000 - wow,that's a long time ago! I used Bazzil cardstock and patterned papers from KI Memories - Bloom. I added lots of flowers and brads from my stash! The letters are white Thickers - I love the dimensional look. I'm adding this page to a "Melanie" album, where I just do odd lay-outs of my beautiful baby!! Both of us really love it!

We had a relaxing, but rather rainy Memorial Day Weekend camping by Jefferson Lake! It sprinkled on and off the entire time we were there. It was just nice to be away, breathing in the wonderful mountain air! I can't wait to get out there again!

Father's Day Card

2009-05-17T12:07:00.003-06:00

Here is one of the Father's Day cards that I made for Cards for Hero's. I love this Riley (well, I love them all) and thought it was quite appropriate for a male card! Inside it does say "Happy Father's Day"!

Speaking of camping... we have decided last minute to go away for Memorial Weekend after all. Originally we didn't plan anything because of the basement remodel, but we are now at a stand still and have no reason to stay home! The framing is done. We have to get an electrician in, but probably won't get one hired and working until after the holiday, so there is nothing stopping us!!! Yippee, back to the mountains I go!! We selected a campground we've never been too, in South Park (yeah, like the cartoon) and we hope that it will be nice! The guys (including Tom, our basement savior) will have an opportunity to go fishing! And I can study in the fresh mountain air!!

The fish are doing great... maybe too great! Bruno is PREGNANT!!! No, Melanie doesn't plan to change the name! What this means is no more fish until the birth. So the three little fish will have reign of that great big tank for several more weeks! This should be interesting!

Off to enjoy our summer weather!!!

Surprise!!

2009-05-11T20:56:00.007-06:00

In just over 2 weeks, Melanie will be finishing up 2 (very short) years of middle school! The time has just flown by and our little girl is about to start HS! (OMG - I am scared to death of this next chapter!) Back in Chicago, an 8th grade graduation was a big deal... in Castle Rock - they have a carnival - that's it! No caps, no gowns, no Kleenex flowers (anyone remember making those)? What is wrong with this place? Well, since there will be no party, we weren't about to let this big event (to us) go unmarked - so we planned on getting her a gift! The only thing she's been asking for is FISH! And she wasn't even thinking of getting them for graduation! She had planned for them on her birthday!

Well we were out and about on Saturday and we thought what better time than to surprise her with a trip to PetSmart! Since Dan won't be around on her last day of school (business trip to - Chicago), we could just get her that present early! You've never seen a 13 year old so thrilled when she looked up and she instantly knew what we were doing there! She was jumping up and down - very anxious to get her new fishes!

We decided on a 26 gallon tank that would hold quiet a few fish! Unfortunately it did not fit into Melanie's bedroom as she hoped, so we made it's home in our TV Loft. This way we all can enjoy the fishes! The "kids" set up the tank on Saturday afternoon and impatiently waited for it to get to the right temperature so they could add fish.

On Sunday after Melanie treated me to a movie for Mother's Day, we went back to PetSmart and picked out 3 inexpensive little fish! The yellow one is Harold - he's her favorite! The white one is Bruno - he's kind of a loner. And the red one we named Ginger! 24 hours later, they're still alive! Yippee!! We went back to the store tonight but were told we should have patience and wait another week before we add any more fish to the water. You've never seen such long faces on my children before! Dan was so anxious to buy his "Jaws" and "Cuddles"! Eventually in a few weeks Melanie wants to add an Angel Fish - that is her favorite! I can't wait until her "school" is full and we can all sit and enjoy them, wishing we were small enough to snorkel inside the tank! (Can you spot Ginger?)

Catching Up

2009-05-04T19:28:00.003-06:00

Here is the card I made for my dear friend Snot (aka Marlene) for May. I used a sketch I found on 2Peas and adapted it to a clear card. I've always wanted to try a clear card, had the materials, but never the drive. Well this was it! And I love it! In fact I ended up making several cards using this design (not all clear) and gave most of them away to Cards For Hero's. I'll show you some more cards that I sent to them over the next few days.

Last week was busy again. On Thursday, Melanie had another track meet. This time instead of being cold, she got sunburned! She did great in the 4x2 and tried really hard in the 400. She missed the 200 because she couldn't get to the start in time because she had just finished the 400. They need to plan that better! I got to see her run the 400 and was very proud of her!

Over the weekend I spent numerous hours studying away! I'm really moving now - probably because the module is all about benefits! It's what I do all day long! Hopefully I'll be finished with this module by Sunday... that's my goal! It's the biggest one though and I've got a long way to go! Just 8 weeks until the test - yippee!

Today Melanie had another track meet, this time at a school in Parker. She said she did fair, like the last few weeks. Again, I'm just proud that she's doing this - no matter where she places! She'd beet me in a heartbeat!

Just as predicted....

2009-04-27T19:56:00.001-06:00

GONE! All that snow melted away by 1 p.m.! And the track meet went on... for three very long, very cold hours! Those poor kids were so cold! And of course 2 out of the 4 events Melanie participated in were at the end of the meet! She did great - not first, but then who cares? It was her first ever track event and I'm very, very proud of her! I'm just happy to be warm right now!!! :)

Again?

2009-04-27T09:20:00.004-06:00

This is what I woke up to this morning! See, I told you, snow can come at any time here in God's Country! It was cloudy and rained on and off all weekend! That was awesome because we so scarcely see any significant amount of rainfall! It got cold enough overnight to turn it into snow. And the wet stuff is still coming down! It shouldn't last much longer - they say the sun will be out by lunch and I'll bet this will melt off by dinner!

The unfortunate part, is today is Melanie's first track meet. I arranged to work from home (lucky me!) so that I could go, but at this point, I'm not sure they'll be able to compete. It's too bad because it's against the other middle school in Castle Rock (which just opened this year) and it's bound to be great! She has lots of friends from the other school competing as well. Hopefully it will be rescheduled and I can go!

And wouldn't you know, the weather is suppose to be in the 60's the remainder of the week!!!

GONE!

2009-04-21T17:16:00.003-06:00

I told you, by Tuesday the snow would be gone! And except for the places we had to pile the snow from the driveway - it's gone already!!! And the grass is looking greener already! Bring on the leaves and flowers!!!

Today we were in the mid-70's and plan to stay there for a few more days! Hopefully it's not just a tease before another snow storm!!! Last year, the last measurable snowstorm came in mid-May, so we are not out of the woods yet!!!

Circles, Circles and more Circles!

2009-04-18T21:02:00.003-06:00

The CJ challenge of the month for April is to use at least one circle in your project! I created this card using lots of circles! The base card is from DCWV Box of Cards. I love to use these when making cards! The smaller piece of circle pattern paper and cardstock were all scraps (I can't part with scraps). I stamped the sentiment and used my circle spellbinders nestabilities to cut it out. The flowers are Prima Got Flowers. I used a pattern from the current issue of "Paper Crafts" to create this card. I plan to include this card in a package of cards I'm donating to "Cards for Hero's".

The snow finally stopped around 5 p.m. Much of it has already melted and the roads are full of "slush"! I'll bet most of this will be gone by Tuesday! I'm not going to be jealous of all of you who had warm weather today because we need the moisture so bad, it's worth a day or two of snow!!! Colorado is BEAUTIFUL!!!

It just keeps coming down!

2009-04-18T11:09:00.006-06:00

Here is a shot taken at 10 a.m. this morning! I'm reading that Castle Rock has gotten anywhere from 12-18 inches of snow so far - depending on where you measure! It's wet and heavy and appears to now be melting as soon as it falls. They say this will continue for most of the day... lovely! I'm glad we have no urgent plans for the day! Maybe just a snowshoe walk in the park later!!! (Debbie - no the ski resorts won't stay open any later. After tomorrow only 2 will remain open. They just don't have the staff or the people who want to ski! It's going to be 70 by Tuesday - would you go ski or golf???)

Spring Storm

2009-04-17T15:26:00.007-06:00

What a difference a week makes! Last Friday it was 60 and beautiful out! The Rockies won their home opener and I cruised up to the mountains to enjoy our final weekend of skiing this season! And now look at it.....

It's been snowing on an off since last night. We awoke to very little snow and unfortunately for Melanie school didn't call a snow day. I decided to work from home though, which turned into a very smart move on my part. Around noon I heard that they were having early dismissal at school and before 1, Melanie was home with me!

This picture was taken at 2:40. I'll take another one in a few hours to show how hard it's coming down.

It has been a busy week for us. We had fun skiing on Saturday at Keystone, although by mid-afternoon it got too slushy and we called it a season. Unfortunately on that last run down, both Melanie and Dan fell... neither was majorly hurt, but they both were sore. I thankfully finished unskeathed for the day! That night we went to see a play at the Backstage Theater in Breckenridge called, "Office Space - the Musical"! It was awesome! I highly recommend these local playhouses for good, cheap entertainment!

On Wednesday night we took Melanie to a concert in Denver. We saw, Fall Out Boy, Hey Monday, Cobra Starship, Metro Station and All Time Low. I enjoyed 3 out of the 5 bands! She of course loved them all! It was a standing concert, so needless to say after 5 hours on my feet, I truly showed my age! My legs still hurt!!!

This weekend I'll be studying hard! It's a good thing to do with all the snow! But then again, they're pushing us back into the 70's by late next week! I LOVE the weather here!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2009-04-09T21:20:00.004-06:00

Friday is my birthday - the big 43! I'm proud and happy to say I'm 43 because 9 years ago I wasn't even sure I would make it to 34 after my heart attack! But here I am!

Tommorrow is the Rockies home opener, but I chose to skip the game because we are heading up to the mountains after work for the weekend! We have 2 last days of Spring skiing left in us and I'm really looking forward to it. On Saturday night we're going to the theater to see "Office Space - the Musical"! That should be a lot of fun! I'm just excited about being away for a few days! Our weekend will end on Easter Sunday with a stop at the in-laws for dinner.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Weekend!!!

Where did the big snow go??

2009-04-04T12:17:00.006-06:00

We went to bed last night with the assumption that we were going to wake up to a blizzard this morning! They were calling for up to a foot of snow. This was the 3rd storm this week and we were happy it didn't happen during rush hour on a work day! Well I'd call all we've received so far a light dusting! (Weather-people have the best jobs --- they can be wrong all the time and still be employed!) It's still snowing and I suppose it could change at any time, but I was looking forward to hot water this summer!!! (A big joke here at our house because we get so little moisture in the high-desert!)

I was hoping the big storm would either get me in the mood to scrap or study. So far, it's done neither! So here is another card I made for Mother's Day last week. I'm thinking about some Father's Day cards. They're not quite as fun, but I do have a few good Riley stamps that work for men, so I'll try and get inspired!

What is your inspiration today?

Cards for the Troops

2009-03-31T21:16:00.008-06:00

Last Thursday I took the day off to spend with Melanie because she was on Spring break. As it turned out, our plans got all twisted and I ended up making a bunch of Mother's Day cards to send to the troops instead! Here are a few of the very cute cards that I made!!!

So what happened?? Well the week before Melanie was on break we had 70 degree weather and we were welcoming Springtime in the Rockies! We thought it would be great to spend our day together at the zoo! Unfortunately the week began in the 40's and it never got much warmer than that. We decided on a trip to Park Meadows Mall instead. That is still a major outing for us because we have to take the bus. In addition, after we were done spending all our money, Melanie was going to spend a few nights at her best friends house in Aurora - being picked up at the mall. But the weatherman ordered a BLIZZARD on of all days - THURSDAY! We woke up to sunny skies, however by 9:30 it began to snow. We went for plan C - a shopping trip to the Outlet Mall in Castle Rock and a mid-afternoon bus ride up North for Melanie to meet her friend! Not much, but better than nothing!!

We took the shuttle bus to the mall and as soon as we got there we were told it was going to close within the hour. They wanted everyone to be home safe. Thankfully for Melanie there was a bus arriving to take her to Denver within minutes and away she went. That was my day off spent with my daughter. :( A big disappointment. So I took the next shuttle bus home, watched the snow fall and made cards for the troops! I had a lot of success... sending 10 Mother's Day cards and 16 various other cards from my stash!

The snow fell on and off all night. We only ended up with about 9 inches - which wasn't bad because they were calling for about double that! And by Saturday, the grass was completely showing once again! Gotta love the Spring storms in the Rockies!!

I opted to work from home on Friday, instead of trekking to the office and as it turns out, that would have been my only choice anyway! Melanie decided to come home and her friends took her back to the bus stop and tried to send her back home via bus. Unfortunately it never showed up... they didn't run service at all that day. So as I said, I couldn't have gotten to the office unless I walked!! Eventually Dan met her and brought my baby home! What a fiasco those 2 days were!!

And as I sit here typing this, we are once again cursed for enjoying that 70's weather for that week! After a brief storm yesterday dumping about an inch during the morning rush, another storm is heading our way for Wednesday's commute home! This one is calling for 3-6" in my neck of the woods! That either means a trace or a foot! The weatherman is never right here! One more storm is headed here on Friday/Saturday as well!

With all that fresh powder, I think it's time to hit the slopes again! Hopefully we can find the time and energy to get up there this weekend! There are only a few more weeks left at most resorts! We definitely have one more weekend in us - Easter Weekend we will be up there to have some fun... in one way or another!!! Snow or not!

OK, I have to get back to studying... it's not much fun, but I'm trying very hard!!!

Baby Book Pages

2009-03-22T21:01:00.011-06:00

I finally finished the baby books for my friend this past week and photographed some of the pages before I got it wrapped up and will ship off tomorrow. Here are a few of my favorite ones!

I got a few hours of studying in this weekend and I'm feeling pretty good about my progress so far. I remembered why I hate to read so much! It's not easy doing it comfortably when you're blind! I hope I don't need back surgery when I'm done with the test!!! :) Off to bed and back to work in less than 12 hours - ugh!

Early Birthday Gift!!

2009-03-20T20:07:00.004-06:00

I got a very early birthday gift yesterday from my dear (old) friend Marlene! She has fallen in love with Copic markers (as so many of you have) and she has sent me my very first set!! Now that is a very thoughtul gift - and very much appreciated! I can't wait to play with them this weekend! In addition to the markers, she also sent me this rolly thing (I know it's a brayer!) and a Changito Birthday stamp! Wow - I can't wait to play with those too!!! And of course a beautiful card she made in Michelle Zindorf's class last weekend!

To top it all off, my birthday is still 3 weeks away!!! I think she was more excited than me and just couldn't wait to send it!! Thank you so much dear friend!

I plan to spend a good portion of my weekend studying, however we're going to start tomorrow off with a nice hike in Castle Rock to enjoy the weather! IT's been in the 60-70's all week - not bad for Colorado, eh? It's about to change though - back to the normal 40's by Monday. Go figure - Melanie is FINALLY on break!!

Have a great weekend!

Miss You Card

2009-03-18T18:46:00.003-06:00

This little card I made for Marlene for our March card swap! Every month Marlene and I send each other a card to celebrate our friendship! It's a way to keep our creativity flowing and send some of our masterpieces! Melanie helped by coloring the little girl!

On Monday I finished the 2 books I was making for my friends babies! They came out really cute! I hope she will enjoy them as much as I do! I haven't tried to photograph them yet, but if I do, I'll post some pages!

I spent last night cleaning up the pit I call my office! It feels good to have it mostly clean! I have several pending scrapbook projects, including my CJ Survivors challenge yet to do for March! We have to use a favorite quote or verse in a project. I'm not much for quotes, so hopefully I can find one I really like that fits!!

Off to study... I forgot how extremely boring that can be!!!

MIA

2009-03-13T20:50:00.006-06:00

I've been missing for a few days... what have I been up to?

I've spent much of my week working on two books for a dear old friend who had a baby of her own AND adopted one at the same time! She just brought the adopted baby back from Vietnam and he is adorable but tiny for being a year old already! I'm creating 2 separate books for them! It's hard for me to do without pictures so I really have to be creative! I'm trying to keep each of them unique! I'd really love to finish them up this weekend and get them shipped off before the boys start school!!!

I just bought study guides for taking the Professional Human Resources (PHR) certification test, so I'm starting to work on that. I will be taking the test sometime in June (I hope). The testing window is from May 1st to June 30th and I still need to schedule the test, but hopefully the later the better! With 20 years of experience, I hope it will work for me when it comes time to test. I'm not very good at these kinds of tests, so hopefully I'll do OK. I tried it 10 years ago and failed and as you can tell, it's taken me that long to try again!

Last week I had laser surgery on my eyes to remove the film that built up on my lenses after my cataract surgery several years ago. I went back to the doctor this week and he confirmed a nice improvement in my right eye (well all relative to being blind) and little improvement in my left eye. Since I'm still struggling with small numbers (I work with them all day long), I asked for stronger reading glasses. I ordered them and hope to see them in the next week or so. I'm still blind (really, I am legally!), but at least don't need a cane - YET!

Last weekend we went skiing yet again - to Beaver Creek! That was day #18 for me this season! It was fun, but we were dealing with "dust on crust"! Unfortunately on Tuesday they got a dumping, which once again we missed. I don't think we're going to go up this weekend - we need a rest. I'm sure we'll get a few more days in this year!

Well, that's my boring life! Back soon with some pictures of my baby albums?!

Basment Remodel

2009-03-03T18:09:00.008-07:00

A few weeks ago Dan started the basement remodel. For almost 7 years now he has been asking for "walls" and "heat" in his basement! (He never complained in the summer when it's cooler down there though!) We had a contractor quote us last year, but they wanted an insane amount of money just to do his office. So finally he decided to refinish it himself! He has the know-how, it was just the "will" to do it! He finally saved enough cash and we were off getting that permit! Here are some photos from the first few days of the project.

This will be his office... walk through French doors into his spacious room, complete with a nice big closet! (off to the right behind the staircase.) Those French doors were a killer to carry down the side of our house, in the dark! I had bruises on my legs from trying to support it!!

Here are all the studs I helped carry! More bruises on the shoulders!

This is the big room that someday might just have the TV and work out equipment in it! There will also be a furnace room over to the left.

So there it is... I'll post more when there is more progress to report!!!

Birthday card

2009-03-02T18:49:00.003-07:00

Here is a card I made a few days ago using an image that Melanie colored! It was challenging to match paper to her color choices, but once I found one I liked, it all fit together pretty quickly! I used a sketch I found on Frances' blog awhile back. I can't seam to design my own cards anymore - I have to use a sketch. I guess there is nothing wrong with that?

Tomorrow is my laser surgery. It should go quickly! Hopefully the drops will wear off quickly so I can spend some of my day of stamping and scrappin'!! Have a great week!

What's new?

2009-02-25T18:02:00.006-07:00

Whew, I'm glad this week is over finally!

This is a card I made this week using some of my "stash"! The image is one I got from Toni and I colored the heart using my glitter markers! The gray paper was embossed with my cuttlebug - it says Happy Birthday all over it. The rest of the stuff is scraps and red rick-rack! I got the layout from Paper Crafts magazine!

Tomorrow Dan plans on working on the basement again, so I guess that leaves me with housework, errands and scrapping - not bad!!! Sunday I think we're going to go skiing again - not sure where. Hopefully someplace that still has some powder! They got another storm these past few days, so the conditions should have gotten better! Last week wasn't horrible, but it was a bit crusty!

On Tuesday I'm going in for a little laser surgery on my eyes. I had cataract surgery a few years ago and they implanted lenses. Since then have developed film over the lenses. It's very typical and can be zapped with the laser. They say it takes 5 minutes and I could go back to work but I'll be dilated. I decided just to enjoy the day off! I'm not worried in the least! I'm just hoping it will help me see small print better again!

Have a great weekend!

February Challenge

2009-02-21T12:22:00.008-07:00

Here is my final entry for the February challenge with the Seasoned Survivors CJ Group! The challenge was to use the colors Blue, Green and Brown and a red heart. My recipe:

Stamp - Guitar Changito colored by Melanie with Prisma markers
Pattern Paper - unknown, found inside a scrapbook magazine from Australia
Cardstock - Bazzill
Red Hearts - confetti from my Mother's stash (it's really, really old)
Message - typed on computer - Kristen ITC font
Circles and scallops - Nessabilities cut with my Cuttlebug

Now ladies, I played fair!!!

No Early Retirement

2009-02-12T20:11:00.003-07:00

Well the good (or bad) news is that I won't have to quit my job and take early retirement due to the bus being discontinued! Of course that's great news in this economy but then again all day scrapping..... Oh what a dream!

The county has agreed to continue it's funding which made the city of Colorado Springs decide now that they would continue service. The original vote was to be on the 24th, so it's nice to have the verdict now! And i think the other 800 riders will agree with me!!

Here is a card I made for Valentines Day! It's not a big holiday in our house - we consider it a "Hallmark holiday", but none-the-less I made a few cards because I loved this image! This little guy is so cute - Chantigo is his name and I really adore him!! Sorry, don't know the paper I used, however I did use my embossing folder for the cardstock texture!!! Enjoy!

TCP Tuesday Challenge

2009-02-10T20:18:00.003-07:00

I finally made a card that I can use for the TCP Tuesday Challenge!! I made this card last week using an image I stamped at Toni's house and Melanie colored for me! The sketch was from another challenge that I found last week, but I'm not sure where I found it. All of the pieces just fell together - the scrap patterned paper, the colors, the ribbon and the flowers! I just love how this card came together!!!

A new week

2009-02-09T20:06:00.004-07:00

We had a great weekend up in the mountains skiing once again! I am pleased to announce that my endurance is improving with each trip!

We skied fairly hard on Sunday and I only stopped at lunchtime for a 1/2 hour! That's awesome compared to our first day out this season where I only did 5-6 runs and rested for hours!!! I now have 15 days under my belt - a tie with last year and we still have 2 months to go until most resorts are closed for the season!

We always hate coming home on Sunday and ending up back at work the next morning though! Oh well, we are thankful we have jobs to return to I suppose! Thankfully I get to work from home tomorrow so that I can attend Melanie's teacher conference. And on Friday I'm taking the day off to go have my annual stress test and then go scrapbook shopping! Would be a good week, right??!!

Here is another card that Melanie and I collaborated on! The inside says - Feel Better Soon! These are some of Mel's favorite colors and I had fun using another sketch I found on Frances' blog. She has gone to town coloring images I took from Toni's stash, so I should have lots more cards made soon!!!

Have a great week!!!

Marie Antoinette - Real Person, A Real Award!

2009-02-09T19:37:00.006-07:00

Thanks to dearly beloved Kate, I've been nominated for...

The Marie Antoinette,

Real Person, A Real Award

Here are the rules for the award:

1. Put the picture of Marie Antoinette on your blog.

2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.

3. Nominate other blogs that you feel deserve the award.

4. Link to those blogs from your blog.

5. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know you've shared the award with them.

So now it is my turn to have Toni, Patti and Rocio eat cake!!!

Is it Spring?

2009-02-06T21:23:00.004-07:00

Well, not exactly, but if you were in Colorado this week you would have been very confused! We hit 68 on Thursday and about 60 today. That is unseasonably beautiful and we're not complaining! Of course, if you stick around her long enough, things are always bound to change! They're calling for snow-showers and snow this weekend - welcome back to winter!!!

Here's a card that Melanie and I made in honor of our Spring-like weather! Melanie did the coloring, choose the paper and I created the card! I think we work very well together! Meet "Bikini Sophie"! The paper is from an old Paper Slab I got at Michael's... those slabs never seem to disappear! Prima flowers and ribbon from M's!

We are headed up to ski tomorrow and Sunday! Have a great weekend!

Relaxing Riley

2009-02-03T21:58:00.004-07:00

I've been playing with my new Riley stamps this week and Melanie has fallen in love with coloring them for me! What a perfect combo we make!!! I just love Riley and made several different versions of cards with this image! I love them all!

Tomorrow is the hearing for the bus... I'm hoping to get some answers but I'm not going to hold my breath too long!!! I'm trying very hard just to be patient and I will get answers.

Construction begins...

2009-01-31T09:19:00.004-07:00

We filed last week for our permit to refinish our basement and this week we were approved. It cost $800 - yikes! (And that doesn't include the 4 inspections that we'll need at about $150 each!) It's a really good thing we're going to do most of the work ourselves! Today we are headed to the "Depot" to pick up STUDS! How exciting! I can't remember how many we need, but it's over 100 I think! I'll either be good and strong at the end of the day or sore and exhausted! I'm guessing the latter! I sure hope Tom is around when he's ready for the dry wall!!!

I don't think we'll go skiing this weekend, although Stupid-bowl Sunday is usually a great day to go because no one is there! Back to the slopes next weekend though - the snow is probably wonderful - they got dumped on this past week!

I learned this week that my bus to Denver (FREX) may either have their service reduced or eliminated all together. If this happens it could mean early retirement for me until I can find an "at-home" job or something in Castle Rock. I'm going to the hearing on Wednesday. There are a LOT of us who ride daily and even the drivers are really pushing attendance at the meeting, so hopefully we'll manage to keep the service or some version of it. I'm trying not to stress too much yet. But I'll be happy to take any prayers you can give to keep my link to the city running!

Off to move furniture and carry those "STUDS"!!! Happy Saturday!

What's in a Name?

2009-01-30T19:29:00.006-07:00

Here are some fun questions that you can answer and share about your name :) Let me know if you play along!

1. What's your full name? Susan Lynn Jarger Schwarz - although I do not use Jarger (well except in my email address only because of my HS reunion.)

2. What do your parents call you? Sue but when I was little and they were mad, they'd start with "Eddie... Kathy..."

3. What do your grandparents call you? They probably called me Susan mostly

4. What do your friends call you? Sue, Boogs, but NEVER Susie - I would have to hurt someone if they called me that!!!

5. Do you like your name? I didn't like it when I was a kid, I even tried to spell it different ways to make it better - like Sioux! Now it's fine I suppose. It doesn't really matter anymore!

6. If you could change your name, would you? Maybe

7. What would you change it to? I've always loved Sydney!

8. Do you like pet names (sweetie, honey, babe, etc.)? Not really

9. Does it bother you when people use your middle name? I've never had anyone call me using my middle name!

10. Who named you? Mom and Dad

11. Are you named after someone? I was born on Easter Sunday, 4 weeks premature and I was suppose to be a male... they had no name for me for 3 days! After many suggestions they ended up with Susan, which means "Lily" in Hebrew - as in Easter Lily flowers! It sure beats Bunny!

I'm Banana's for You!

2009-01-22T20:12:00.005-07:00

Isn't he adorable? I got these cute monkey stamps to use for Valentine's Day! They are easy to color and so fun! Then I found this striped paper tucked into a magazine I got from Australia almost 2 years ago. As I colored the image, I realized they would go nicely together. And the best part - the colors satisfied the Seasoned Survivors February Challenge! -- use the colors green, blue, and brown and a red heart! -- OK, so I'm a week or so early in posting for this challenge - when has that ever happened before? Try NEVER! But how could I not? It really made my night! OK Patti, I'll try to make something else in February as well!!

We're off work tomorrow - I'm finally taking my Christmas holiday that I ended up working. First we're headed to City Hall to get a permit to begin the construction on our basement. Now that Tom is in town, we're hoping he'll help Dan get that finished this Spring/Summer! Then we're off to the mountains for another skiing weekend! It sounds like we have lots of friends up there in Breckenridge this weekend! Hope we gets some fresh powder as well!

Have a fun weekend everyone!

What is a Blue Bird Day?

2009-01-20T20:07:00.002-07:00

Blue Bird Day = Blue Sky Sunny Day

If you didn't know that, you must spend WAY TOO MUCH time inside!!

Blue Bird Day(s)

2009-01-18T20:35:00.002-07:00

We headed up to Arapahoe Basin yesterday to ski with Tom and Melanie's friend Michelle and we were dealt an absolutely wonderful "Blue Bird" day! This was the first one this year and I was thrilled to ski in such lovely weather! It reached about 36, which is pretty warm for the highest ski resort in Colorado! We skied the back-bowls and front mountain and had an overall great time!

We were fortunate enough to stay up in Breckenridge overnight at Tom's place and early this morning we headed further West to Beaver Creek. Moira and her girls joined us for yet another amazing "Blue Bird" day! Today I jumped into the bumps, skied a few blacks and felt great at the end of the day! This was day 10 for me this season - yippee! Everyone agreed it was a wonderful day!

After a long car ride home, I'm headed to the couch to unwind and fall asleep!!

Where have I been?

2009-01-14T19:59:00.001-07:00

Great question!!

Unfortunately my priorities were shuffled around these past few weeks and I've had blogging at the bottom of the list. Not only writing but reading other's blogs as well. I hope that as this month continues on I will find more time and energy to keep up the blog! Hopefully you missed me??!!

During the week I've spent most of my day working both at the office and after hours at home. And on the weekends, we've been going skiing! January 6th was Dan's birthday, so last weekend we spent up in the mountains of course! We skied at Vail on Saturday and Breckenridge on Sunday! It was great - lots of powder at Vail and I "jumped" into the back bowls! The doctor said, no bowls right away, but after 7 days of skiing previously I was ready! I'm still struggling with the "endurance" issue, but my knee is doing great otherwise!

We finally got our Christmas tree down this week, but I'm still trying to find the energy to put everything away in the basement! And once the snow is melted I can pull down the outside lights! Of course, by the time I find time it will snow again!

This weekend we're, you guessed it, skiing again!! We're going to hit A-Basin on Saturday and who knows where on Sunday! They're all getting lots of snow, so it really doesn't matter! The only issue we just realized is that it's a holiday weekend - MLK day. That means crowds. Yuck! I'd like to try up the (Beaver) Creek on Sunday - we'll see!

I'm anxious to get some scrapping done and some things posted next week. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Just hours left...

2008-12-31T19:18:00.004-07:00

Can you believe that 2008 is just about over? There are just a few precious hours left! Where did the year go? It's all such a blur to me...

This week between the holidays has been long hours working at my job with little time for my family, scrapping or anything else. I'm hoping that will all get better after this weekend. A normal 40 hour work week would be great!!!

My hopes for January are to spend more time skiing, work on my London scrapbook and spend more time with my family! I hope my wishes come true! As for a New Year's Resolution... I don't believe! Do you?