A new challenge?

Yeah, yeah, I know. I can't even keep up with the challenges I already have, but I figured if I don't do it now, when will I? It's the perfect time to create/change some habits and I'm taking on...

Rhonna's {21} challenge

...to do it in 21 days! I've been reading some other blogs lately and getting a lot of inspiration from other takes on this challenge, and I originally wanted to lift Teresa's idea of keeping in contact with my friends more. After I told Dan my idea, he said I should try to make a habit of working out and there it was! Like I said, it's the perfect time - we've been wanting to work out for months and haven't had the motivation! We're wasting money on gym memberships (and tanning for me) and we're going on our vacation in May. If I want to stop wasting my money and look half decent in cute clothes for spring and summer...not to mention if I want to FIT into half of my clothes from LAST summer...then it's time to get on the ball! I'm so pumped about this, and we already worked out last night for a half hour! Granted, I guess that was a little too long for me because I almost fell down when I went to get off the machine, lol, but I'm pumped! I would've tanned last night too, but it was already closed by the time we got to the gym.

So, I'm a few days late obviously, since my {day 2} is today while it's {day 4} for everyone else, but that's okay. I decided to alter one of those AOL CD boxes they used to give out in the mail... per inspiration from DAN, can you believe it? He's becoming my altering idea guru! I used a bunch of Holly's digital stuff to make the cover in PS, printed it out, used the original AOL box sticker as a template, glued the cover on, sanded the edges a little, and viola! I'm going to make a book out of it with my different layouts for each day, gluing them to an accordion-ed piece of vellum so they'll stay put, if that makes any sense.

[THE OUTSIDE]


Paper and tag from Holly's "Memory" kit; numbers, brackets, and circle stitches from her "Spring in St. Louis" kit; staples from Kim Christensen's "Mellow" freebie; and font is Dirty Ego.

[THE INSIDE]



I'll probably do something on the left side, maybe some kind of "enjoy the process" thing. The right side will have my little book of motivation and daily challenge thoughts. Each layout will be 4-3/4 inches square, how small! And it'll be right on my desk everyday! :)

In other topics, I can't believe it's Thursday already! Our roommate, Geoff, has one of his friends in town so we've been eating out every night and we went to see V for Vendetta on Tuesday, which was really good. Not much else is happening...not sure what's going on tonight, teaching tomorrow, and right now my lazy butt needs to get in the shower.

Happy Thursday!

It's a new week now...

...and a new quarter!

HOUSEKEEPING
I still have some loose ends to tie up from last week's blogging about mom and gramma. Mom was fine and back at work by last Monday. Turns out that she has been on high blood-pressure medicine for a long time, but now that she's lost a lot of weight on her diet, she doesn't need it anymore. It caused her heart to slow down too much, and that's why she collapsed. Gramma also got to go home last Thursday. She has a nurse visiting something like three times a week to continue physical therapy. So, all is well!

NEW STUFF
I can officially say that I've gotten up around 7:30 A-M! every weekday since last Thursday. If you know me, you should be darn shocked right now! Even on my days off, like today, Dan's been getting me up before he leaves for work with a fresh pot of coffee and sometimes a waffle or two. It's nice seeing him off to work, then having the whole morning to watch a little tv, read blogs and online stuff, and do whatever I need to do. Of course now that it's 10:45 it doesn't really feel like I've been up all morning...like where did the time go? It was tempting to sleep in this morning in a warm, comfy bed, but I'm glad I'm sticking to this routine.

Last Friday I went to get my hair trimmed, and I got a bit of style change. It was sooooo relaxing at the salon, and I'm really liking my new 'do. I guess I need a picture of it sometime soon before it grows out again. I didn't go for the highlights like I was thinking, but I might do them before Dan and I go on our trip in May. It's a surprise trip for me, otherwise I'd give you details, hehe.

Yesterday was the first day of spring quarter, which meant three new sections to teach with 60 all-new students. I walked into my first section, the 11:00, to four familiar faces. Holy cow! I was expecting one familiar face all day, maybe two, but not four! Hopefully they don't slack off since they know the material already. Let's see if they can pass this time! That class was actually really upbeat, some funny people there, so that'll be good first thing in the morning. My 11:00 last quarter was dullsville. My 12:00 was okay, not too thrilled or upbeat, but I hope to change that. The 1:00 was kinda in-between...not as fun as the 11, but not as dull as the 12.

Yesterday was also 10 months for my cutie and me. It's more like 10 months going on 5 years...but that's a different story for a different day! We went out to dinner last night for the occasion, at a really good place called Porkopolis with awesome ribs. It was a cool restaurant ...used to be a pottery place/restaurant, so we checked out some pottery too. We tried to take a picture of ourselves with the city behind, but it was too dark and starting to rain, so that's also for another day.

After dinner we ended up doing a little shopping, first at Old Navy, then at NY&Co. since I remembered reading about their big sale on Gina's blog yesterday. Dan found a few cute shirts, and helped pick out some things for me to try on. There were two shirts that I really liked...he really liked too *wink, wink*...and because he's such a sweetie he bought them for me! I don't have pictures, but one is a green, button-down, fitted dress shirt that Dan picked out, and the other is a patterned, brown flowy shirt...otherwise known by me as a pregnant shirt because it's loose and doesn't form to my chub stomach. Gym anyone?

Oh, and I almost forgot...I had lunch with my mom last Saturday and she wanted to go to the Gap for new jeans now that she's lost weight. She bought me a few shirts also...so I think I'm shirted up for a while. And I know I just said that I don't have pictures, but the overachiever in me just had to take some really quick!





Cute huh?

I also scrapped some since last week. Two of the layouts are up in TDC's gallery using Holly and Kimberly's new Family Moments collab kit and Holly's new Spring in St. Louis kit. The third layout isn't up in galleries yet, which I should do, but I had started it a little while back and just finished it this weekend. Check them out!

My crazy brothers and I at Christmas last year, and Rob with some really shaggy hair...
[SIBLINGS]


Credits:
Kit - Fabulous "Family Moments" by Holly McCaig and Kimberly Giarrusso
Staples - Kim Christensen
Stamp alpha - Kim Lund
Straight Stitch - Kathy Moore
Fonts - Susie's Hand

Me at 9 years old, a little cheerleader!
[LITTLE COBRAS]


Credits:
Kit - Holly McCaig's ultra-fresh "Spring in St. Louis"
Torn paper action - Atomic Cupcake
Staple - Kim Christensen
Fonts - Fontastic and House Sitter's Club

The pajamas Dan got me for... you guessed it ...
[VALENTINE PAJAMAS]


Credits:
Kit - Holly's "Snow Day" pulled from the archives
Torn receipt paper - Gina Miller
Stamp alpha - Rebecca DiGrazio
Staples - Kim Christensen
Font - PT Script Lightning

I think that's it for today. I can't believe it's noon already! Time to hop in the shower and try to work on my paper some, and wait for my screwy college to decide whether I can have funding and health insurance or not...argh!

Mish mash o'stuff!

Wow, what a week I've had! I don't even know where to start!

I guess last week at this time I went to visit my gramma in the hospital for a broken bone(s). If I understand the story, she lost her balance at home and fell back onto a wall and to the floor. I think it's lucky she had the wall to catch her, even though she ended up breaking a bone, because if she would've fallen straight back who knows if she would be here today. She was doing pretty well when Dan and I went to visit her, and she was scheduled to start therapy within a couple days. She's such a cute little woman...she kept offering us chocolates and drinks while we were there in her hospital room. She can't stop being a hostess even for a day! :)

Come Saturday, Dan and I were being pretty lazy and just had a couple of errands to run when I got a voicemail from my dad saying there's an emergency, and to call him back. WHAT?! If he was trying to get me to drop everything and call ASAP he sure did it right! I was so sure that he was going to say something happened to gramma, or that she was doing worse...but no...this time it was mom! Leave it to gramma and mom to be in the hospital at the same time. So, the story was that mom wasn't feeling well and had pain in her chest. She and dad were at some motorcycle thing, and she stepped outside to get some air. The pain only got worse and she wanted to sit in the car, but she collapsed in the parking lot. She was also doing a lot better when we got to the hospital, but they were running a bunch of tests over the weekend. I didn't get any calls from mom and dad yesterday, so I'm not sure if she's home yet.

Also Saturday, Rob had a battle of the bands to go to, and I guess dad was going to be his ride with half of their equipment. Guess who got to be the fill-in for that one? You guessed it, but Dan came along too and drove the van/trailer for me. So...what we thought was only going to be an hour or so watching Rob and his band play...five hours later we were able to pack up their equipment. They were really good, though, considering the small stage and the basement-full of stuff they wanted to hook up! They tied for second-place, so I'd say they were darn good! And I took pictures while Dan video-taped the show. Did I mention that Dan bought a digital video cam? It's so cute! :)




Christian (2nd guitar), Doug (1st guitar/singer), Rob (drums), Jared (bass), [some new lead singer guy], and Brandon (keyboard)

Anyone want an autograph? It might be worth something someday, hehe. Oh, and here's me by the end of the night...sexy huh? I'll do autographs, too.



What else...Sunday was Kris' birthday, one of Dan's little brothers. He turned the big 1-0! We got him a bunch of baseball stuff because he'll be starting to play this year. We were at D*ck's looking for something to buy, looking like dorks who know nothing about sports, ha! I called one of my older brothers who has his twin boys in sports and he helped us out with some good suggestions.

Man, I'm boring myself this afternoon...I need better material.

Oh, it is SNOWING today! I thought it was funny on the news last night that people acted like it was the end of the world - first day of spring and the forecast says snow. Umm...I hate to break it to ya, but this isn't a new thing is it? I remember having snow in April before! I love the snow personally, so whenever the white stuff wants to fall from the sky I'm happy. Don't get me wrong, though, I would love for the warm weather to be here already! The news was interviewing a doctor about mood changes and stuff, saying how people can be happy with the warmer weather coming, and the unexpected snow can sadden or depress some. Eh, whatever, I took pictures! Here's our view from the porch...lovely view of the city street and my ghetto-booty car. They say cars resemble their owners, or vice versa? Yes, I'm looking more and more like my car every month, lol!



Oh, oh, OH! Did you all notice the new little category I added to my bloggie? Look to the right...up a little...yep, there it is! This little guy was inspired by Stephanie last week when I was explaining the Wizz RSS extension for Firefox to her, and she (jokingly, I believe) said that I should make a tips sheet! HA, well joking or not, after she made that statement it just had to be done! I was on a mission! This weekend didn't help much with that mission, but I got a lot of it done on Sunday. So, in true Gina Miller style, I made the tips sheet and posted it to my side column. Let me know how the link works (or doesn't) because it wasn't working when I uploaded it to the first server, but it's worked for me so far where it is now.



Okay, now that it's taken me a stinkin' hour just to upload all of these photos today (*ahem* because of a certain blogger photo uploader), it's time to roll out a to-do list. My darling will be off of work tomorrow, so we can probably do some of this stuff then, but I want to see the list and be held accountable anyway! :)

1. take a shower
2. get more creamer and cream eggs
3. put dishes in the dishwasher...run it
4. put laundry away
5. input exam scores and submit grades
6. finish web page i'm working on
7. start putting survey together
8. do Chick's Life challenge from last week (use green)
9. do Chick's Life challenge for this week (about green)
10. finish Life Shared challenge from two weeks ago (childhood relationships)
11. do Life Shared challenge from last week (romantic relationship)...how did I get so behind on my challenges, holy cow!
12. do Life Shared challenge for this week (famous people)
    
13. use Holly and Kimberly's new collab. kit coming Thursday!

Hey what's that?!

Notice anything different about my bloggie here? Hehehe...



I really wanted to turn this thing into three columns so I could add more, but I haven't really been able to find a good template. Sure, put me into a pool of HTML codes and I can swim through that stuff pretty well. Heck, when I was in high school I moonlighted as an emotional teenage poet with my own website and linked to all of my poetic, emo friends...but asking me to look at CSS codes without something GOOD to compare them to is like sending me up Shit's Creek without a paddle! So...in comes my adorable Dan to save the day! I LOVE how he was able to keep my existing template with the bars, colors, and such. If anyone needs blog or website help I'm sure he'd be happy to help you...but I can't help you on the hourly costs, hehe.

SPT and a word to the wise...

...to stay away from coffee-flavored yogart! Uhck! I bought it thinking that it was vanilla yogart, since that's actually pretty good, but when I opened the lid it was brown! I thought it had gone bad until I looked at the flavor...COFFEE. I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt, but no such luck. It was nasty!

So...Self Portrait Tuesday was all about the clutter in my life this past week. Man, there's a lot of clutter! You'll probably recognize the first picture from last week, since I decided to trash my first two photos and start fresh. These are all pretty self-explanatory, but include different things that I worked on or had laying around. Note to self: CLEAN!


1: my desk full of articles, candy, to-do notes, coffee, scrapping stuff, etc.
2: watching tv with laptop, chipolte dinner, and church series workbook
3: craft stuff I've been working on lately; stuff I brought from parents' house
4: chocolate!
5: after-dinner dishes that didn't want to be washed yet
6: student journals to be graded
7: sorting through photos, organizing them by time

In other news...I haven't been to Kroger or Bigg's lately, but while I was at Meijer last week I picked up an Irish Creme coffee creamer. They had a ton of others like Vanilla Caramel which is next on the list, Hazelnut, Cinnamon Vanilla I think, and a chocolate one which is also on the list. Irish Creme is nothing to scream about, I actually like the French Vanilla better...live and learn! I only want to buy one at a time though, that way I actually use them, lol.

Have you guys heard of Daniel Powter? I know I'm behind the times, but I hadn't heard of him before a few weeks ago, but after hearing his "Bad Day" song on American Idol, I had to download some of his songs! I really like his one called "Lost on the Stoop," and he's good to scrap to for some reason. Even his emotional/sappy songs are pretty upbeat.

So it's finals week now and I have one final down and two to go for my students! I want to make a hair appointment for this week or next, but I'm not sure what I want to do. It needs a trim to get rid of some of the weight while it's growing out, but my "hair girl" (what do they call them now, stylists?...whatever) and I talked about doing highlights this time. I haven't had highlights in like two years...since my hair has been so short there was no point to pay the money and have them chopped out the next month. But will my budget allow highlights? ...that is the question. I think I need something new for spring! That would definitely boost my mood, and maybe the weather too!

Tanning...that's something else on the ole to-do list! I have a tanning package with my gym membership, now I just need to USE IT, dang it! Maybe Dan and I can go work out tonight and I'll tan while I'm at it. That sounds like a good idea right now, and I'm usually never pumped about going to work out. I think it's the place I go to that scares me, just because we're in a town where everyone cares what they look like and they ALL go to the gym. I've never seen more people out running than I have living here. I don't like being around people when I'm working out...so I like that my place has a women's area, but still...eeek!

Anyway...I promised layouts and I do have a few of them from last week! I still need to do the challenge in my altered book because I haven't been able to scan the pictures. Dan's scanner doesn't want to connect to my computer through the network, and my printer/scanner is at my parents' house. I should have that done soon, but it may not have pictures. Okay...rambling.

I am in LOVE with this first layout! I did it last week with Holly and Kristy's new "Create" kit, which is amazing! Oh, and did I mention that Holly got her new site and shoppe up and running? It's so cool, click on that link there and check it out! I have a page with the rest of the Fairy Chicks, I'm famous!

[BELIEVE IN YOURSELF]



The second layout was for TDC's Chick's Life challenge last week. Michelle gave us a prompt about money, just what I needed, huh?

[SHOW ME THE MONEY]


Papers and alpha - Jen Wilson's "Forest Glen" layers collection
Receipt - Gina Miller's Bulletin Board kit
Fonts - Distress and Fontastic

And lastly...cutie baby me!

[DROOLING AWAY]


Kit - Holly McCaig's "Shabby Meadows" pulled from the archives
Flowers and date pin - also Holly's
Straight stitch - Kathy Moore's
Torn paper action - Atomic Cupcake
Fonts - Milk & Cereal and Vicki's Scribble (1982)

I think it's about time I got my butt in the shower today! Oh, and I've been trying to change my night-owl hours lately so Dan doesn't have to go to bed alone...so I've gone to bed around 11 or 12 with him, and I'm trying to get up at 8. Unsuccessful! I've woken up at 11 yesterday and today. At least I'm waking up earlier than 1 or 2 in the afternoon, right? It's a start? I'll keep ya posted!

Shower time!

It must be Monday...

...because I'm actually posting!

So let's see...Gina and Stephanie had this quiz on the blogs and I thought it would be fun to do while I'm sitting here watching a movie with the boy. Feel free to do it also if you're reading this!

1. Legal First name? Victoria

2. Were you named after anyone? Somewhat...my dad's first initial is my middle initial

3. Do you wish on stars? No

4. When did you last cry? Within the last two weeks

5. What is your favorite lunch meat? Ham

6. What is your birth date? October 22nd

7. What is your most embarrassing CD/tape? Hmmm...I don't think I have any embarrassing ones, though there might be an old school Mariah Carey sitting around somewhere. That could be embarrassing!

8. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? Of course, and I'd have crafty get-togethers

9. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Oh yes...

10. What are your nicknames? Vic, Vizzle, Vicki, V

11. Would you bungee jump? Definitely not! I'm afraid to look over the edge of my own front porch, there's no way I'd willingly fall to the earth hanging by a rope! :)

12. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off ? Yes

14. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Chocolate!

15. Shoe Size? 10/11

16. Red or pink? Pink!

17. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? I'll have to steal Gina's answer on this one, my snappy (read: bitchy) side

18. Who do you miss most? A lot of people, can't really choose just one

19. Favorite past-time? Do you even have to ask? Scrapbooking!

20. What color pants/skirt & shoes are you wearing? Dark blue AE comfy track pants, light blue fleece top, no shoes just white socks

21. What are you listening to right now? The ending credits of Jarhead

22. What did you eat for breakfast? Coffee...then went to campus to give a final exam and ate my lunch

23. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Purple!

24. What is the weather like right now? Nasty cloudy, I think it finally stopped raining

25. Last person you talked to on the phone? Um, my mom yesterday when I was on my way to visit gramma at the hospital

26. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Sense of humor, smile/looks

27. coffee or tea? Can I say both? Coffee and iced tea, actually

28. Favorite Drink? Iced tea or Sex on the Beach

29. Hair Color? Dirty blonde

30. Do you wear contacts? Yep, or glasses when the mood suits me

31. Favorite Food? Too many to mention...though Thai Beef Teriyaki holds a special place in my stomach

32. Last Movie You Watched? "Jarhead"

33. Favorite Day of the Year? Thanksgiving

34. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Have to love the happy endings!

35. Summer or winter? Summer

36. Hugs OR Kisses? I'm cheating again and going with both

37. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? Cinnabon Cheesecake from Friday's

38. Have you ever won any awards? Yup...I got a ton of honor roll and outstanding spelling awards when I was younger, I actually got one of the Presidential Fitness award things in HS even though I could hardly run a mile to save my life...I was in National Honor Society in HS and in a sorority in college (if you can call those awards), Dean's List, yada yada...

39. Do you have any tattoos or piercings? Just piercings in the ears, two holes in each and one in my left cartilage

40. Living Arrangements? In an apartment with my cutie and one of his friends from college

41. What Books Are You Reading? No books, just magazines...scrapping magazines. I used to get every issue of Cosmo, but never read them

42. What's On Your Mouse Pad? I don't have one

43. What did you watch last night on TV: Whatever was DVR'd from the past few days. I think we watched House and Survivor?

44. Favorite Smell? Dan's cologne (100 cc that he bought in London)

45. Favorite Junk Food? Anything chocolate, or spicy Doritos

46. Rolling Stones or Beatles? The Beatles

47. What's the farthest you've been from home? California to visit my sister...Laguna Beach and Hollywood to hit up Universal Studios

Okay, I'm zonked, but I'll be back tomorrow with layouts and a Self Portrait Tuesday!
Goodnight!

Self Portrait Tuesday and other lovin'...

I've known about this whole SPT thing for a little while now, but I saw this month's challenge over on Ali Edward's blog and it really inspired me to start doing it. This month's prompt is all about time...taking a picture everyday to document how you spend your time. You could take a photo everyday at the same time no matter what you're doing, a photo of some ritual you do everyday, what you wear, what you see, the possibilities are endless!

Since I just started yesterday I only have two photos, but I plan to do it for the rest of the month. The first photo isn't the best, but it was me doing my hair yesterday. The second photo is one of my cluttered desk today. I'm not sure if I'll take a totally different picture like these everyday, but I chose to do these because they are two things that I encounter everyday in my life.

[DAY ONE]


[DAY TWO]


I think my desk says the most about me at this point, just look at that clutter!

• the stack of papers on the left are articles for my Master's paper
• the coffee mug...self-explanatory, I'm not a morning person
• the scrapbooking magazines
• the book of layout sketches
• the pens and a couple paint brushes...not sure why those are in with the pens, but they've been there forever
• the planner with my to-do list for the day...major list-making gal here
• my computer...what would I do without that?
• the cup of water...all I drink is water and iced tea when it comes to cold beverages, along with some morning frappaccinos
• the valentine candy...candy-a-holic here as well

Moving on...this last week was filled with a few different creative things. First, I started a new challenge at TDC about relationships called "Life is Better Shared." The first challenge was to create an album for the layouts each week, whether that be a CD case if you're going all digital, or an actual scrapbook or altered album. I was really excited to do an altered album since I've been seeing them all over the place and I've never done one. I went right out and bought my supplies, then came home and printed out the digital papers that I wanted to use on it!


Digital papers from Sweet Mindy's "Amy Jo" kit.
Fonts to use throughout are Piracy and SA Kiss.
Other elements are from my stash of tangible supplies.

After doing the first altered album, I really wanted to alter the layout sketches album I have, so I printed out digital papers for that one and completed it too!


Digital papers are from Sweet Mindy's "Sugardoodle" kit.
Alpha stamps are from Rebecca DiGrazio.
Mini sketch is from Becky Higgin's Sketches 2 magazine.
All else from my stash of supplies.

THEN, I spent pretty much the entire weekend trying to do TDC's Chick's Life challenge for last week. I just couldn't get this layout the way I liked it. I'd move pieces and do different things and nothing was working. Finally, on Monday night, I got it to a place that I liked. The challenge prompt was to review the month of February, so here goes...

[FEBRUARY '06]


Kit - Holly McCaig's "Sweet on You"
Straight stitches - Kathy Moore's freebie
Single cross stitches, stitched hearts and ribbons - Shabby P's "Splendid" kit
Fonts - SA Kiss and Donny's Hand

Speaking of the whole weekend, The DigiChick had their grand re-opening this weekend! They got a whole new look with the help of Robin Carlton, and had a TON of contests and fun! I participated in a treasure hunt for this amazing scrapping kit called "Refresh," put together by the chicks, Shabby Princess, and Jen Wilson. It's so cool, so many pieces to it!

Speaking of kits, Holly just sent us Fairy Chicks a new one today that she and Kristy Ann put together! It's FABulous! It should be up for sale on Friday, and Holly's looking to have a grand opening of her site, so that'll be exciting. Can't wait! In other kit news, the lovely Gina gave her blog readers a run for their money yesterday with a coupon treasure hunt. I ended up finding it and indulged myself in her "Build Your Own Bulletin Board" kit, along with her "Note This!" note papers. Now I just have to come up with some layout ideas to use all of these cool things.



Hmmm, what else? Sunday afternoon my mom called to see if Dan and I wanted to come over for dinner. She made a roast that was delicious! Well, her roasts are always good, so that's nothing new, but it was good to have dinner with mom and dad. Of course, Robby was at a friend's house so we didn't get to see him. Maybe next time. Mom talked about making Sunday dinners an every-week thing...apparently they miss me over there, hehe.

This is the last week of class for my students, and next week they have their final exam. I have to grade all of their journals this week and next week, and we're having parties on Friday for the last day of class! Each class decided on their own food, so two of the classes wanted pizza, chips and such, and the third class didn't really care. One of the guys was nice enough to volunteer bagels and cream cheese from his work. Man, that's going to be a ton of food that day!

So I've crossed over to the other side...of what, you ask? Coffee! I've always been a powder and water *stir, stir* kinda gal, but yesterday I bought a coffee maker and some French Vanilla creamer! Not that the FV creamer is anything exciting, but I have to start somewhere right? I'm excited, and apparently a huge nerd!

Well...tonight is IDOL and tomorrow is hump day! I've finished a major chunk of my to-do list today and I'm pretty happy about that, too. I'm off for now! Happy day!