Challenge

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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?

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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!!! :)