Brotherly Love

My mom called about a week ago and said she was sending me a package. Well it arrived Friday morning at work and was personally delivered by my brother, Chad!!! I was so surprised to see him that I started bawling at work. Everyone kept asking me if I was okay....I just kept saying "happy tears, happy tears, happy tears". Chad came for the balloon fiesta this weekend which was rained out last night and this morning. BUMMER!! He's going to stay an extra day so we can try to go in the morning and I don't have to be in to work until after lunch.

We did go the to balloon fiesta field yesterday afternoon to just walk around and see all the exhibits and other stuff.....it was fun and totally not crowded which was nice.

One of the coolest exhibits was a huge display put on by NASA. I love me some astronauts.

Got Junk?

I've got tons of junk...and not all of it is the good kind of junk:)
I am so tired of junk mail.....I just found this great article.
Reduce Your Junk Mail
I'm especially excited about the e-mail opt out option:)

War Sucks

It appears my brother will be deployed to Iraq again very soon. What more can I say other than this SUCKS BIG time?

Where I've Been

My postings and commenting have been few and far between because I've been busy playing with my new TOY!!! Yes, Hubby and I are now both proud owners of the Iphone 3G and HOLY CRAP!! These phones are amazing.


I already have this case on order:) Isn't it darling and so totally me?



And cause I'm so happy with my new toy I thought I'd spread some love and have a giveaway! Look at this giant bunch of vintage ribbon I got at a garage sale several weeks ago. I bought a BIG cardboard box of old sewing notions and this was just one of many cool items in that box. I think I paid $5.00 for the whole box.

SO I'm giving away ten one-yard cuts of this ribbon:) Leave a comment if you'd like a chance to win and I'll draw ten winners in about a week or so:) Good luck!!

More Swappy Love

I'm participating in a year long 4 Seasons swap with the lovely Mrs. G, Vallen and Mary Ann. The mail last week brought me a beautiful package from Mrs. G for the Fall installment of our swap....just look at all these lovely goodies.


This apron is G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S.!!! In fact, I think I'll wear it tonight while I make dinner. Thanks Mrs. G!!


I also had the pleasure of winning one of Mary Ann's giveaways - just look at all this loveliness that arrived!! Beautiful cards, magnets and two awesome aprons. I love getting packages from Mary Ann and she even included goodies for Miss S. Thank you my sweet Mary Ann!

A Little Swappy Love

I recently joined a mini quilt swap group on Flickr - well actually I joined several months ago but September was the first month I actually participated. The theme for September was Owls or Mushrooms. My partner was the UBER talented Kristy. Just look at this gorgeous owl quilt she made for me.



And here's the quilt I made for Kristy. The mushrooms turned out a little more subtle that I had hoped, but I still really like it. I hope Kristy likes it too:)

Dork is My Middle Name

Yes, the neighbor's ladder is still up in their backyard. And who knows why Bree thinks it's best to show her booty to the camera. Goofy dog. But she matches me posing in my new yellow dress:) And look at me totally oblivious of anything that is going on around me and focusing on smiling pretty for the camera. Good grief I'm a dork!

Family Night

Our good friend Paul called and invited us to do the Maize Maze with him and his daughter last night. We had so much fun!!! Paul bought glow sticks for all the kiddos. Good thing cause there was no other way we could have keep track of them in the dark maze.



There were random sunflowers growing in the corn field - some were ginormous but too far away to take a good pic of in the dark.



Miss S and Paul's, daughter, another Miss S. Aren't they darling and holy cow, doesn't my Miss S look SO grown up?? When did that happen?

Work

I'm posting from work so no pics today:) Work has been crazy busy and I can barely manage to get everything done at the office, much less at home.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful virtual and the real hugs that came my way after my "Grumpy" post...I'm still in a little bit of a funk and I think it's just cause I'm so overwhelmed right now. I have had hardly no time to craft or sew or do the other things that really help to ground me in stressful times. This weekend will hopefully allow me to do some of those things.

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet THIS sweet lady for dinner this week. She is absolutely adorable, charming and uber cool....I just wanted to give her hugs all night. Thanks Lauren for taking time out during your drive to have dinner with me and Miss S:):) She brought me some goodies too that I can't wait to show you:)

Anyway....my lunch house is over so back to the grindstone for me:)

Cure for the Grumps

My sure fire cure for the grumps? A little bit of retail therapy at the rubber stamp store and a new haircut:)
and spending most of the weekend with my handsome brother Shay.,..he's moving in the morning:(

Grumpy

First of all, I ended up working late tonight and just got home at about 7:10 pm.
Second, I came home to a note from Miss S's teacher that she did not do her math homework that was sent home this week. Only thing is the math info sent home this week was just a parent info letter - there were NO homework sheets. So I've sent her teacher a little email basically stating "what the hell"???
Third, tomorrow is so busy that I'll barely be able to see straight.
Fourth, Sunday morning my brother, Shay, moves back to California.
Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy, grumpy.
Fifth - I really, really, really need a hug.

In Rememberance

Remember me when I am gone away,

Gone far away into the silent land;

When you can no more hold me by the hand,

Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay.

Remember me when no more day by day

You tell me of our future that you plann'd:

Only remember me; you understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve:

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad.

Christina Rosetti. London: Macmillan 1879.

Fragile

I found the tiniest baby lizard today just outside the garage. His little head was about the size of a split pea and he was only about an inch and a half long. Sadly, he was not alive - I couldn't see any visible signs of trauma on him so I'm not sure what happened to him - his body was still soft so I'm sure he had not been dead for long. Miss S wanted to bury him in the backyard with our bird so that he could be resurrected:) Aaahhh...the faith of a child.



Isn't he darling? I wanted to carry him around all night....but that made me feel a little bit like Lennie from Of Mice and Men:)

Gifties

I love nothing more than a surprise gift arriving in my mail box:) Sweet Stephanie sent me these awesome tea towels and coasters last week.....I'm touched that she thought of me in the midst of moving and getting ready for an exotic vacation in Bali:) Thank you so much Stephanie!!!
PS I borrowed the picture from your blog - I hope you don't mind:)

Birthday Time

Please join me in wishing THIS beautiful friend, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

In other news - I listed some goodies for sale in my shop - check em out:)

Sassy

No - the skirt's not crooked, it's just the way I'm standing. This is my 4th skirt for the Mini Wardrobe Challenge. I used the pattern from the Built by U book again - only this time I moved the zipper to the side instead of the back. And I can't believe I got up the nerve to use my Amy Butler fabric that I bought in Vegas last year - but it was screaming to be made into a skirt.

PS I love how the neighbor's trash can is featured in the background:) Isn't that a nice touch!!! It took me about 8 tries to get a decent pic so I wasn't about to try again:).

NEW!!!

I'm posting from my brand new computer!! Can you believe my last computer was almost 8 years old? It was a valiant little workhouse, but it was time for it to be retired. I'm excited to learn all the bells and whistles on my new toy:)

But for tonight I thought I'd talk about these three little animals that inhabit our home who rarely get any air time on my little blog:

Bree - the jokester and troublemaker of the three puppies. She's 9 years old. Last night she ate two brand new packages of tortillas and Hubby's apple fritter off the kitchen counter. She hid in the backyard most of yesterday cause she knew she was in big trouble. She is a little stinker! She is very much a momma's girl and loves to follow me through the house.

Gammy - the old lady. This little pug is almost 14 years old and still kind of going strong. Her poor little body is starting to fail her and she is almost completely blind and going deaf. Guess what brings her back to life? French fries. She can smell them from a mile away. I couldn't get her to look at me while I was trying to take a picture. She knew it was dinner time so she was not budging from the spot where she eats.

Yuki - our special needs baby. You look at her wrong and she gets sick. She's 11 years old and was the runt of her little. She likes to poop in the kitchen, which is why she doesn't get to roam the rest of the house and is resigned to spend her days in the kitchen on her comfy dog bed. She's a crazy little puppy. She's thinks she's the alpha dog so you should see her stand up to Bree. She loves to squish down right between Gammy and Bree when they are all on the bed. We call that a "Yuki sandwich".

I love....

25 Things I Love

I love the sound of Miss S’s laughter
I love jigsaw puzzles
I love my family
I love making things with my hands
I love organizing
I love the smell of fresh cut grass
I love flickr
I love puppies of all shapes and sizes
I love mice and lizards
I love The Beatles
I love talking on the phone with my friends
I love reading magazines
I love flying in airplanes
I love going to the movies
I love the colors green and purple
I love Dr. Pepper
I love sleeping in late
I love snuggling with my hubby
I love Jimmy Buffett
I love vintage linens
I love snow
I love my car
I love my i-pod
I love making lists
I love scrapbooking

Puttering Around

My weekend went a little like this...sewed and puttered around, crafted and puttered around, cleaned house and puttered around, watched seriously 7 episodes of CSI and puttered around, sliced the top of my thumb with an exacto knife and puttered around, took a break from crafting after the exacto knife incident and puttered around, did laundry and puttered around, went to Goodwill and McDonald's and puttered around.....ho hum. Not a very exciting weekend. I've been in a really mellow mood all weekend and it's been nice to just lounge around the house and do what I wanted to do. I finished a quilt for a friend's baby who is now 9 months old! I'd say that's a little overdue. I have a lovely picture to show you but my computer is not cooperating in loading photos right now.

Miss S has been sick so I stayed home with her on Friday too. Oh I forgot - we went on Saturday to see Kung Fu Panda and it was a darling movie! I want to go see Ironman today but it depends on what time Hubby gets home from work.

Paralegal's Day

So August 26th was the first ever Paralegal’s Day in the State of New Mexico. Governor Richardson signed a proclamation making August 26, 2008 Paralegal’s Day. I don’t know it is a one time thing or every year on August 26 will be Paralegal’s Day. Guess what the awesome attorneys I work for did for me and the other three paralegals? JACK SQUAT! According to them we were already recognized for our efforts on Administrative Professionals Day in April and they did not feel the need to recognize us again. Isn’t that just lovely. It’s so typical of my working environment. I told one of the other attorneys that it’s not about “doing stuff” for us, it’s a matter of letting us know we are appreciated and valued as employees.

So I did a little something for each paralegal - little certificates for each of them, proclaiming them each "Paralegal of the Year" and a packet of seeds for the gardener paralegal, chipboard shapes for the card making paralegal, and sunflower seeds for the sunflower loving paralegal. It cost me about 15 minutes of time and less than $2.00 but it made their day SO much brighter! Which, really, that was the whole point:) And it made my day brighter knowing that I made their day brighter.

I challenge you to do a little something for someone this week to make their day a little brighter:)

My Day

My day went a little bit like this:
6:15 AM get up for work
7:15 AM leave for work
8:05 AM arrive at work (the commute SUCKED today!)
12:00 PM lunch and a run to my favorite thrift store where all shoes, clothes and purses were half price!! I'm going back tomorrow with two co-workers:)
1:10 PM back to work
5:00 PM leave work, rush to pick up Miss S for her FIRST soccer practice
5:45 PM get to Miss S's school to pick her up and rush to the soccer field - she changes in the car
6:00 PM soccer practice starts
7:00 PM soccer practice ends
7:15 PM Visiting teaching
8:00 PM mad dash to McDonald's for dinner (semi-healthy - I had the Asian grilled chicken salad) Miss S had a Happy Meal - we now have 8 of the Star Wars Clones figurines
8:15 PM eat McDonald's at home
8:30 PM Help Miss S with her reading homework
8:45 PM get Miss S in the tub
9:05 PM collapse in bed
9:35 PM Hubby gets home from his first day of fall semester and gets me up to chit chat
10:14 PM Posting on my blog cause this day was too ridiculous not to share with you all:)

Mini Wardrobe Challenge

Perfect print, perfect length, perfect a-line, perfectly me:) Introducing my third skirt for the Mini Wardrobe Challenge I am participating in. I told you I was going to make all skirts, didn't I! I finished the fourth skirt this weekend too - cut from my beloved Amy Butler fabric. I'll debut that one this week sometime.

But for now - enjoy this one:)

Shoes and a Scripture

I wore a pair of my favorite shoes to church today - I found them at a garage sale a couple months ago for just $2.00 - I love them:)

I want to share a scripture that has been coming to my mind over and over again the last several weeks. Currently my home is not really any of these things and I have been really troubled by that. A goal of mine is to work on every single one of these things. This scripture comes from the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but I think it really applies to any faith.

Doctrine and Covenants § 88:119:

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

I'm in need of a little uplifting this week - if you have a favorite scripture, please share it:)

Fifteen Years Ago....

Hubby and I said "I do" in a simple wedding in Sacramento, California on this day in 1993. It was a beautiful day!! Happy Anniversary, Hubby!!!! Someone asked me what the secret was...for us it's a lot of patience, a lot of give and take, and a lot of ups and downs. We're in the midst of one of those years where not only do you love each other, but you really, really like each other too. It's helped so much with the other stresses of life. Sure, there are days that get the best of us, but those have been few and far between.

Look at us!! Two babes - both barely 21...excited to begin the journey of our life together.
I LOVE YOU HUBBY!!!!

Vegas in 141 words or less....

Elegant touches at the resort....a tissue paper flower...




Sisterly bonding. We skipped out together on Saturday at got massages at a massage school by the resort.


Hubby and Miss S....I haven't seen hubby that relaxed in ages...


The Beatles store at the Mirage...I could have easily dropped 5 grand in this store.

Attack of the shark at Joe's Crab Shack...


Delicious desserts at The Cheesecake Factory...


Dinner at Margaritaville featuring Raesha's worst hair day of her life. We will never mention this hairstyle again.


Petting the Manta (is that how you spell that?) Rays at Shark Reef Aquarium...


Balls and her awesome hubby....who was sick again. It is physically impossible for this man to go on vacation without getting deathly ill. Luckily this trip he didn't end up in the ER, like normal. But we still love him.

Progress

Slowly but surely I am digging my way through piles on my desk. Almost two piles have been completely dealt with...which left me just enough space on my desk to work on a couple altered books that are WAY overdue birthday presents. This little bit of progress is making me very happy.

Do you remember my bag-o-patches that I found at the thrift store?? 14 of you awesomely commented. And guess what? You're each getting a patch:)
Here's the fabulous comments.

Chad said...

I actually have two fav's. The first one is the Crater Lake. I've never been there myself but I love astronmy and its affect on our world as we know it. I even have a few pieces of metorite from Metor Crator in Arazona and a piece from Austraila. I also like the New Mexico one tha says "think trees" I love New Mexico and am happy to call it home again :)

Nancy (nanflan) said...

How about the Yellowstone Park one? It's a classic!!

By the way, where is Bargain Box? Not to poach on your thrift store, but you get some neat stuff there.

NANCY - Bargain Box is run by the Assistance League and it's at Lomas and San Mateo:)

African Kelli said...

Okay, I'm going to be greedy. I have a request for two and I promise to send you something fabulous in return.
I love the "Think Trees" patch and I'd love the Colorado patch for a bag for my brother.

And -- 20 pounds! WOWIE woman! That is so amazing. I am doing cartwheels with you and for you. bravo!

Tami said...

Oh, it looks like my favorite is also everyone elses too. Think trees - it's such a gorgeous color combo and beautiful design. Not to mention that my favorite places to go are where there are lots of trees. Other than that one, I like the Tombstone one because of the cowboy and Yosemite because it brings back memories of my high school trip there. :-)

Congrats on losing 20 lbs! That's great!!!

affectioknit said...

My favorite would have to be the Blue Ridge Mountains one from the top photo. That's where I grew up and since I've been transplanted here - way up north - it would be a nice reminder. The Man-Cub wants to enter too and his favorite is the Theodore Roosevelt Park Medora ND - where we vacationed last year. Thanks a bunch - I love all the old patches - The Man-Cub has a Cub Scout Patch vest with lots of patches on it.

Affectioknit-ly,

Teresa

rohanknitter said...

What a great find! I've been to Glacier Nat Park, Rockport, and Carmel - all were great, especially the trip to Carmel. I even like the London and Tintagel Castle ones a lot - never been to either but would love to go!!
Congrats on 20 pounds, that is so AWESOME!! (I'm down 13, with about 27 to go.)

susan said...

such a lucky find, i love it when it happens to me, but its nice when it happens to someone i like too!!! congratulations on losing 20 lbs, that is really fab!
hmm well i love the blue ridge mtns. it reminds me of my favorite singer, john denver. i love his songs and they always make me feel so safe. i would love to make a bag and put that patch smack on the outside front!!
but i also love the carmel by the sea. i have always wanted to go there, but it has never happened, YET. that would be my dream vacation, and i guess i could take the hubby, hehe. i think that one might go on my inspiration board for a bit, then onto a bag....thanks for doing this, its so much fun!

maggiegracecreates said...

I've got three - the Mount Vernon, VA - because my BFF and I had that included in a trip to DC out senior year and Jim and I got thrown out of the CIA building for sitting in the statue's lap in the lobby. A great trip.

Then the cypress gardens and wisconsin dells - i was a competitive water skiier and those two are the birthplaces of water ski shows as recognized by my age group.

Ryalin said:

Big Sis,
I love the Lake Havasu one. Mostly because that archway is totally cool and transplated from London. Can you believe that, they moved it piece by piece. Also, that's where our time share is, so we like Havasu!
Balls
PS, I can't ever get it to recognize me when I try to log in. That's why I always post as anonymous.

monique(moki) said...

looks like think trees is so spoken for ;) I like the Carmel by the sea...why? do you really need to ask? lol CA, storybook homes, the beach ;)

cool find! hey nikki and i might go to the rec center (taylor ranch) nevery tuesday eve... you should come with!

Christy said...

First, congrats on the 20 pounds!

Second, wow! What a find. I've been to a lot of those places so, it's hard to choose a favorite. Hubby and I had an interesting trip to Bryce Canyon many years ago. Being from Southern California, we had no idea it would be -10* at Brian Head and snowing in Bryce on the 1st of April! Luckily we were staying at Ruby's Inn and the General Store stocks winter jackets. And since we couldn't do much hiking, we filled the sink with ice, a jug of milk and a bottle of Kahlua! :)

I also like the Mt. Hood patch because it reminds me of visiting my Dad in Oregon. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Mt. Hood from his kitchen window.

lesley said...

Again, 20 pounds. That's awesome! You lost it, and I found it. :)

Okay- I love the Galveston patch. First it reminds me of my first big storm (Hurricane Alicia). Which tore apart our nearest beach of Galveston and our favorite fishing pier at the Flagship Hotel. We were leveling our house in Houston at the time, with jacks and what not, so the house was completely... okay, almost empty with gorgeous hardwoods that were always hidden behind stinky carpet. I remember roller skating everywhere. It was awesome. Then the storm hit and I was intrigued, fascinated, but scared. To this day, I love a good storm.

Second reason I love that patch is because when I grew a little older, I was somewhat of a little "trouble maker", and it reminds me of the many times I skipped school to drive 65 miles to our nearest and beloved beach. Great memories of tarred toes from our tar-beach.

PS. What an awesome (wow, how many times have I said awesome? Totally!) find on the patches! Hopefully one day I can share such a great find with people too.

Dawn said...

My choice is the London patch. I love English things and can trace my family back to England in the early 12th century. I love England words for things, little children with English accents, and even have the British flag on my credit card. I still love the good ol' USA but am fascinated by England. What could be more perfect for my English collection than a London patch? With my fear of flying it is closest I will ever get!

marian edwards said...

Hi Raesha, I have 2 favs...the shakespeare one and London one because it brings back fond memories of visiting my daughter in the UK last year :))Cheers, Marian xx

Now I know that I have most of your addresses somewhere (probably buried in the other 8 piles on my desk) BUT it would help me tremendously if you would email me your address to raeshadrz at yahoo dot com - then your new patches can be on their way to you:)

Love you all!!!

Face Your Manga

The marvelous Miss Moki sent us this link....


Aren't they cool!! And they totally look like me and Miss S...check it out - it was a lot of fun:)

Another post?

Wow - three posts in one day!! I'm really trying to take advantage of my day off today for Miss S's first day of school and start getting caught up on showing you the awesome mail I have received the last month or so. Wow - that was a long sentence. Wow - I could post 10 times today and not even make a dent in all the stuff I need to get caught up on. Wow - I'm a dork.

SO anyhoo.....
I really limited my swapping this summer and I've been happy with that. I think I'm going to continue to do that for a while. Low pressure swapping is the best. I'd also like to do some more one on one swaps - so if any of you are interested in swapping craftiness with me, just leave me a comment:) I promise to reply to you probably sometime in the next 6 weeks:):) Seriously, I am so behind on my emails.

ANYHOO....
Two of the swaps I participated in this summer were a child's bag swap for my flickr Bag Ladies group and the Summer edition of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap.

Miss S received this bag and all these lovely goodies all the way from Chile....isn't the bag gorgeous!!! We both love it:) It was made by the lovely Mercedes from Chile.


And just look at this gorgeous doll quilt I received for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap!!! Oh my goodness!! Isn't it beautiful!!! This beauty was made by the talented Soo from NSW - is that New South Wales??? I think so.



And extra goodies too....yum!!

Second Grade

Miss S headed off to school today to start the second grade....isn't she darling?

Fun Meme

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing ten years ago?
1. I'd just graduated from college and was working as a paralegal.
2. I was also still working part-time at Wild Oats.
3. Hubby and I were celebrating five years of marriage.
4. We were living in a little two bedroom apartment with a crazy next door neighbor.
5. ??? Holy cow...I can't think what else I was up to that long ago!

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?
1. Get a gift card for a friend.
2. Start cleaning my desk.
3. Post on my blog.
4. Load pictures to Facebook - which keeps failing!!!!!
5. Take my car to Subaru cause BOTH my headlights burnt out at the same time.

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Chips and salsa
2. Swedish fish
3. Grapes
4. Starburst
5. Cookies - freshly made.

5 Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Pay off all my debt and all the debt of my family.
2. Get a big plot of land and build an awesome house for my family with the hugest studio filled to the brim with crafy goodness.
3. Pay for college for all my nieces and nephews.
4. Donate a ton of money to charity.
5. Travel the world.

Places I’ve lived:
1. Silverdale, Washington
2. Oakton, Virginia
3. Albuquerque, New Mexico
4. Provo, Utah (Only for the first six weeks of my life)
5. Bellevue, Washington (we think we lived there for a couple years when I was a baby)

Jobs I’ve had:
1. Paralegal for Wolf & Fox, P.C.
2. Dance teacher at Sunshine Generation
3. Busser at Red Robin
4. Direct sales junkie - Close to My Heart, Beauticontrol, Tastefully Simple, Longaberger
5. Wild Oats - store artist, Customer service manager, cashier, marketing, front end assistant manager (not all at the same time:))

Thanks for tagging me, sweet Ann-Margret!!!

Home Sweet Home

We're home....safe and sound. Our week in Vegas was amazing!! But for now I'm heading to my bedroom to unpack, start some laundry and go to bed:)

Viva Las Vegas...

We're heading out in about an hour....YEAH! We're driving to Flagstaff tonight and spending the night there then heading to Vegas in the morning. I'll try to post while we're gone:)
Have a great week!!!