New Car

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?