My Word for 2009

Happy Saturday!!!! The last day of January. My month of new beginnings, changes, and sad remembrances. I'm always happy to greet January, and much happier to say good bye to it. I want this year to be my year to reduce spending, save more, organize my home, reduce the clutter and in general SIMPLIFY. I've made no resolutions this year...just a goal of SIMPLIFY to continually be in my heart and in my mind. I'll periodically let you know how I'm doing.

Teresa and I are going to try and reduce our stashes together this year....I'd love for you to join us.

I made these bird ornaments for the lovely Regina's Bird of Change exchange. Aren't they lovely?? I used scrap fabric from Moki, felt that I already had and vintage seam binding for the hangers. Speaking of Moki -check out her ULTRA fabulous new blog - Cardigan Cake. Oh my goodness....it is so right up my alley:) We ran into each other today at Goodwill - what a fun time that was! Other than the kiddos getting a little bored by our shopping:)

So anyway back to my birds.....I just love them so much! I can't wait to see which birdies get sent back to me:)

Amigurumi Love

I am so obsessed with these little guys!!! I seriously want to drop everything I'm doing and just sit and crochet little animals. I won't stop until I have a whole little zoo worth of them. I've collected a few books and I think I'm going to make the little mommy and baby owl in the top right corner first:)

Changes

Before...


And after....

What do you think??? I was completely ready to go from ho-hum to hip. I also did a little something else last weekend with my best friend, Tammy. We got our noses pierced:) I have the cutest tiniest little stud on the left side of my nose. If you click on either of these pictures you can see it:)

Inspiration

I've totally been in a rut lately....you can probably tell by my lack of posting. So much I want to do + so little time to do it in + too much stress at work = a whole lot of nothing getting done.

So I've resorted to what I normally do when I get stressed out....a little bit of shopping. I had some VERY fruitful stops at thrift stores this week (I'll share pics of those a little later)...and I have these three books on their way to me:




Today I have a trip to the salon for a hair cut, eyebrow wax and highlights scheduled ....then hopefully a stop at the shoe store to get a pair of these:


My current slippers are trashed and I thought these would make a great replacement for them.

I hope by this evening I will be refreshed and renewed and ready to tackle some projects and get my creative juices flowing again!!!

Movie Magic

I saw this on my sweet friend, Jo's, blog and I thought it would be really fun...

How many of these movies have you seen?

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At Worlds End
( ) Boondock Saints
(x)Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(x)Airplane
(x) The Princess Bride
(x) Anchorman
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x)50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
(x)Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x)American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(x) The Grinch
(x)Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(x) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
(x) Robots
(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
(x)KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
(x)Eight Crazy Nights
(x) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
(x ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
(x) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
(x)Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
() Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x)Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x)The Mask
(x)Son Of The Mask
(x) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sevin
(x)Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
(x) Independence Day
(x) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(x)Christine
(x) ET
(x)Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x)The Terminator 2
(x)The Terminator 3
(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
( ) X-3
(x)Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x) Spider-Man 3
(x) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
( ) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
(x) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
(x) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x)The 40-year-old Virgin
(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x)Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x)Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(x)Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
( ) Basketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
(x) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x)Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x)Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x)Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x)Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x)Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
(x) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
(x)The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
( )Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal

119!!! Wow that's a lot.....and many more are on my "movies to watch" list.

Endangered Species

The elusive, rarely seen in nature, Clean Desk made an appearance today. Long considered extinct, Clean Desk is hoping to make a come back due to the diligent efforts of local conservationists.

I know it still looks pretty messy but this is the cleanest by desk has been in years!! I had to document it so I could actually remember what a clean desk looks like:)

Card Love

One of the perks of my law office is that I get to take home all the Christmas cards that we receive every year - I turn most of them into gift tags for next year's packages. This one though I might just keep forever....isn't it cool!!! It's from an architecture firm in town and I just love it. It's hand silk screened and from www.greatarrow.com. OH I just thought of how great this would look in a little frame as a Christmas decoration.


I also got into the card making mood this last week and whipped up these cute little cards to add to my Valentine's day collection of cards - this was inspired by the first theme of the week from Jess and Monique's new blog. Check it out - it's sure to be lots of fun!! We can all use a little inspiration and I'm definitely all for getting the "funk out"!!!

What's In My Bag?

Seriously, too much. I was tired of wading through the 7 lip balms, 2 lip glosses, sunglasses, misc doodads, 4 nail files, 53 tissues, two spools of thread, a spool of ribbon, mini tape measure, 5 pens, two sharpies, planner, wallet, checkbook, trash, old gum, three business card cases, expired coupons, to do lists, notebook, office keys, credit cards, business cards, punch cards, car keys, Miss S's toys from our last visit to Chuck E Cheese, a book, and all the other 300 items that were weighing down my purse. I actually weighed it and it weighed about 11 pounds. That's a lot of crap to be carrying around. It was making my shoulder and my back hurt - for real.

So tonight I took more baby steps - out with my gigantic purse, or "suitcase" as my baby brother called it, and in with my old stand by. My favorite bag ever - my green Eddie Bauer messenger bag. My tried and true standard. The true love I always return to....

And I added that darling daisy charm just for grins.

Sacred Sunday

We had the best lesson in Relief Society today - it was Ward Conference so one of the member's of the Stake Relief Society Presidency spoke....it was awesome! The message that I came away with was managing our priorities and dealing with the demands of life. Essentially there are only TWO priorities in life....understanding and developing your relationship with God and Jesus Christ, and understanding and developing your relationship with your family. All else falls into place once you realize these principles and put these two priorities first in your life. I was so uplifted and inspired by this message. We also sang this song as our closing hymn. We sing it quite a lot in church, but the words are awesome and I wanted to share it with you.

As Sisters in Zion

As sisters in Zion, we’ll all work together;
The blessings of God on our labors we’ll seek.
We’ll build up his kingdom with earnest endeavor;
We’ll comfort the weary and strengthen the weak.

The errand of angels is given to women;
And this is a gift that, as sisters, we claim:
To do whatsoever is gentle and human,
To cheer and to bless in humanity’s name.

How vast is our purpose, how broad is our mission,
If we but fulfill it in spirit and deed.
Oh, naught but the Spirit’s divinest tuition
Can give us the wisdom to truly succeed.

Baby Steps

I'm taking little tiny baby steps to organizing and cleaning my home. The clutter is making me bonkers and SO stressed out....

These are the little baby steps I took today:

BEFORE:


AND AFTER:

Not TOO huge of an improvement but it's a start. It sucks to have my sewing area in our bedroom (yep - that's my side of the bed there on the left).

Good Read

On a whim I bought this book at Costco this weekend. I adore Denis Leary....and this book was hilarious!!!! I loved it....it made me laugh until my sides aches and tears were rolling down my cheeks. Hubby's going to read it next so I'll let you know his review of it too:)

Guess what we made for dessert tonight? Smores on our gas stove:) It was all well and good till I decided to pop a marshmallow in my mouth straight from the fork tines and burnt my lip...GGRRR!!!!! Like I really need bigger lips than I already have. I've been sucking on an ice cube for the last hour.

I Know I'm Not the Only One

I went in to the fabric store for this....




and came out with this....


24 yards of new fabric to add to my already overflowing stash. There's nothing like new fabric to a fabric junkie:) And I don't even have a single project in mind for any of it. I just want to sit and look at it and enjoy it.

Red & Aqua Goodness

Apron Thrift Girl hosted a red and aqua swap, seriously months ago....the beautiful goodies I received have been on my desk patiently waiting to be photographed and blogged about:)

My partner was none other than the most fabulous Monica of The Happy Zombie. I'm convinced Monica and I are soul mates:) How else could she have sent me the most perfect, most "Raesha" package I've received in a long time:):) Seriously, I adore Monica and I'm thrilled to say she is my friend:)

Monica is a quilter extraordinaire...she made me this beautiful bag...


A fabric lined basket and IKEA dustpan and broom. Heaven help me if I ever get to an actual IKEA - I fear I will buy the whole store.

More gorgeousness and a DARLING little aqua tea pot. That's going right on my tea cup shelf in the kitchen:)


Even more gorgeousness, little fabric pumpkins and vintage Pyrex that made me swoon:)

Thank you Monica - I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it all:):) and I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!

A Little Christmas Crafting

I did do a little bit of crafting for Christmas this year...I had planned on doing a lot more but the past few months have absolutely kicked my butt and I got little, if anything, done of what I had planned to do.

I did make this awesome Scrabble board though - inspired a lot by my sweet Moki.....this is for one of my best friends and her family....

A Pink Christmas

This year I participated in A Pink Christmas exchange. You totally have to check out the website - the concept is so amazing and I think this might become a yearly tradition for me.
I received the most amazing package from Lauralee and GUESS WHAT! We actually knew each other when I lived in Silverdale, WA and she lived outside of Poulsbo, WA! Isn't that amazing! I'm so excited to get to know her again - you have to check out her website - she makes the most amazing vinyl lettering stuff - I think "amazing" is my favorite word for this post.

So here are my AMAZING goodies....

This gorgeous wall hanging is already hanging in my office at work. My coworkers are SO jealous.....they all want my crafty friends:)

And a beautiful frame with Amy Butler paper, a photo album clutch (I seriously have been wanting one of these!!), a lollipop that Miss S absconded with, lip balm assortment that I absolutely love and a big old box of Hot Tamales. Those are almost gone but I saved the box so I could take a picture:)

Lauralee - I love this packageso much and I'm so excited for us to get to know each other again!! THANK YOU!!!!

2009

This image totally made me laugh:) I'm so excited for 2009 and all the opportunities that await us this year. Here's to a great year for ALL of us!!!!