Just Make Stuff

I've got nothing...

No scrapbooking for me today...instead I tackled a to do list...

I cleaned out the pile of papers that's been growing--mail and seemingly endless post-its with various notes I needed to get typed into my palm pilot

I got all the photos I have had printed out recently organized and grouped together for layouts--and wrote out a list of them, 29 of them, that I want to make at some point (thank you, by the way, for all the kind comments on my "style"...I have no plans to change it I just worried it was getting a little boring...but when I was organizing my current albums I was reassured that I haven't been doing the same thing over and over...i was also reminded that mixing layout sizes when you try to scrap chronologically can really be a pain)

I went to the mall for underwear (because I had a coupon that expired today)and chocolate (because my mom gave us a gift certificate for Easter)...that's why everyone goes to the mall right?  For underwear and chocolate? :)  While I was there I decided I needed a cute green shirt to wear in San Francisco this weekend

And I sent off mail--a few notes I needed to write and birthday gifts I needed to mail...

I have four little boxes wrapped up for my group of friends from college...every year I get them all the same little thing...last year it was socks...this year I had these custom made...

from this Etsy shop that has the coolest stuff...I ordered one for myself too but the owner wasn't sure if I had or not so she sent me an extra one to make sure I had one...which means I now have an extra one and want to share her kindness with you...if you would like it please leave a comment so I can randomly pick someone to sent it to on Wednesday night.

Scrapbooking tomorrow...I promise. :)

If it ain't broke...

I only got to one layout today...I did accomplish the magazine flipping and basketball watching though.

As I was making this I wondered if I was in a rut...doing the same things over and over...stamping, paper tearing, letter mixing...and then I decided not to worry about it since I think I really like this page...and am unabashedly proud of the visual triangle I created with the three red details...that is a visual triangle right? :)

Cozy at home...

Paddy & Sham are busy taking a nap while we get the usual Sunday stuff done...laundry and my half-assed meal planning so Sean can run to the grocery store to get stocked up for the week ahead.

Mac's out with Bryce for the afternoon so there's basketball watching, magazine flipping, and scrapbooking on the agenda too...assuming I don't spend the rest of the day puttering around the house re-organizing things...this morning I slightly attacked a couple kitchen cabinets and my pie safe...

because I decided that I needed my random colorful collection of plates, bowls and mugs all grouped together...

This pie safe thing really has been my happy little kitchen haven for the past couple of years...our cabinets are dark and deep so I love having something I can open up and see everything.

Off to "watch" the NCAA tournament with Sean...as excited as I am that it's my turn to be off this week it makes me unreasonable sad that he and Mac will be back at school tomorrow...

Mission Accomplished...

We're home and I'm up late ordering photos.  As I joked about on Thursday one of the reasons this little trip was planned was so I could get some photos...and it is official...I will have PLENTY to scrapbook this week...

The three of us had a such great time...we all enjoyed the zoo for just a few hours then we were done and eager to get to the hotel pools.  We had a delicious dinner at the hotel restaurant and hung out in our room waiting for a perfect view of the Sea World firework show. 

In the morning we had breakfast, went for a walk around Mission Bay, Sean and Mac hopped in the pool again and then we were off to the flower fields.  I always think to go there around Mother's Day but the flowers are done blooming by then so I have been really excited to finally get there to see them.  Mac wasn't quite as excited about it until I handed him the little camera I usually keep in my purse and then it was game on...he took turns between taking photos of flowers and his mother in the most unflattering ways possible...but he was happy.

Poor Sean on the other hand...

Sneezed about a hundred times today...it started first thing in the morning well before the flowers, but I'm sure they didn't help.

So he took Benadryl and is passed out, but I made the poor decision to have diet coke with dinner and the caffeine has me wired.  I have to attempt to go to bed though since it's 1am and if I'm not careful I'll totally sink back into my night owl habits on my week off...

Tiny Bubbles...

This week has been busy with me in school with a test and one more scholarship application due date then Sean & Mac on spring break trying to plan fun stuff.  Yesterday's plans were lunch and then  Bubblefest at the local science center with my sister and nephew...the bubble show was actually pretty amazing, although it was a tad dramatic with the music and the bubble guy throwing his arms up to solicit applause every couple of minutes.  We sprang for the group bubble photo which mean five of us barely balanced in a dish of bubbles all the while getting increasingly drenched by the several bubble popping mishaps.

Tomorrow is the spring break grand finale...down to the San Diego Zoo, over night at a hotel with pools and slides, and then a stop at the flower fields on the drive home Saturday...it's just my grand master plan to get more good photos so I can sit in my pajamas and scrapbook all day since it's my turn for spring break next week...and it's a consolation trip for Mac who will be missing out when Sean and I head up to the Bay Area next weekend for a few days away.

Off to pack since we're attempting to leave bright and early...

What's better than going to the beach???

We spent a couple of spring break hours down at the beach this afternoon...

Had to take advantage of Sean's sunglasses for another reflection photo

 

But this was EVEN better than the beach...

Finding out that Mac got the part he tried out for last week...in June he will play the part of Winthrop in The Music Man...like honest to goodness acting and singing solo...I cannot even wrap my head around it...I usually can't help but cry every time I see him up on stage so I can only begin to imagine the blubbery mess I'll be this time around...

Easter...

Here's a little of the day in photos...we picked Mac up from Bryce's for our annual brunch with my family...but first he had an egg/clue hunt to find his basket...

which had all the important stuff like adorable little Easter cans of root-beer...

Then off to brunch...at a new place which turned out to be pretty lousy but we sure laughed about it...and then we took photos out on a private little patio.

Here's all the boys...

The green and brown dress had to be worn again...kind of boring for photos since I wore it to three events last year, but I still just love it.

This is from our attempt to get a family photo...as you can see it didn't quite work... 

Grandma and her grandsons...

Love this one of Mac and Rory...

How good is this one?  I went jumping around the patio interrupting my mom trying to take photos so I could show everyone my photo-taking prowess...

He was sitting on this...that was discovered around the corner from the little patio we were on...

Because now that Caleb can walk it's much more fun to wander around the corner than it is to take photos...

And I can't tell if this last one is my favorite photo of all or if it breaks my heart because this child is growing up way too fast...

I'm in charge of meat and cheese...

It's a GOOD night tonight...Sean and Mac are officially on spring break (mine is the week afterwards, but we have made plenty of plans to whoop it up on the days I'm not at school next week) and I have a glorious pile of new of scrapbook supplies...

I think I even might find an hour or two to play with all this stuff sometime this weekend when I'm not eating Easter Brunch with my family or preparing for tomorrow night...

which is our third annual fondue party with our group of friends from Camp...can't wait to recreate my reflection photo from last year when I'm not being a glutenous pig.  I'm in charge of making the fondue and the meat to dip in it...so tonight Sean and I (mostly Sean) made almost five pounds of beef meatballs and turkey meatballs.  We'll need to grill up some chicken and hot-dogs tomorrow and then we'll be all set...oh and grate cheese...lots and lots of cheese.

This is going to be a great weekend. :)

It's the little things...

Like realizing that sheets of the cute new pad of paper you bought last week at Target to use for grocery lists stick to the grocery cart perfectly...I'm guessing that I probably am the last person to realize that post-it note pads are good for this.
Also gotta love having a phone that you can make random blog posts from while waiting in line at Trader Joe's...

O' wee bit...

On a day like today I have to relive a little bit of our trip to Ireland that was almost a couple of years ago at this point.  Oh do I want to go back! One day...

Instead I'll listen to Irish music all day and make Beef Stew (since I'm way too picky to eat lamb stew) and a green dessert...when we were growing up my mom used to make us this concoction with pistachio pudding.  You take a small box of it and a can a pineapple chunks.  You drain the juice from the pineapple to make a paste with the pudding mix, add a tub of coolwhip and then mix the pineapple in.  Not exactly Irish, but it's green and really good.

Off to the grocery store...

Wrapped...

And totally copied this idea to make this tag/card...

Better...

Our neighbor's trees this partly cloudy, gorgeous morning...every year it amazes me that they go from barely budding to filled with spring green little leaves in just a couple of weeks.

So I am feeling so much better all the way around...the midterm is done...the scholarship application & essay got turned in on Thursday...my mom and I have gifts for my sister's birthday party tomorrow...together we got her this since she doesn't have a cordless phone (and she NEEDS one with a newly walking one-year-old and a another baby due in a couple of months). When I asked her about it she said she'd want the PB one so it would match her other phones...she is all about things matching...as opposed to my randomly filled house.  I also got her this (and got myself one) and my mom got her this which I actually modeled when we were struggling on the decision of what size to get and it is the cutest shirt ever.

Mac and I went to Coach Griffin's basketball game yesterday afternoon...

I'm sure Coach Griffin really appreciated my advice at half-time when the score was 28-2 and I told him he'd better get the second string girls off the bench to play so he wouldn't be one of those jack-ass coaches that continues to run up the score just because he can...he was planning on it because he's a good guy...all about sportsmanship and love of the game (and has been that second-string player plenty of times himself)...the final score was 50-26.

Then we hosted the sorority sleepover last night and I didn't take any picture since I was too busy talking...and stuffing my face with this and these.  They all decorated frames...because you can't be at my house and not do something crafty...I packed up the box of supplies this morning...

Is it sad that all these years later the whole green and purple combination still makes me so happy...all that green and purple ribbon, fabric, and patterned paper is just so cute all together.

Today I need to wrap those couple of gifts and maybe do some reading for class...and just revel in the fact that I'm not coughing and am pretty much stress free...life is all better. :)

This ironing board is a metaphor for my life...

it's a mess...this pile has been hanging out all week on the ironing board we have on the back of one of our bedroom doors...just another thing that's not getting done.

So yeah, I'm sick...now it's like coughing up a lung sick...but I'm dragging myself through life...through two of my three classes yesterday...I just couldn't bring myself to sit through my three hour class trying to suck on cough drops and sip water so I wouldn't drive everyone crazy with my hacking...I came home from school and basically didn't move for the rest of the night. 

Today I've been getting ready for my midterm and have continued to write damn half-essays for scholarships...I cannot come up with a complete one yet...and one is due on Friday which means technically I should turn it in tomorrow when I'm on campus instead of having to drive there Friday just to drop it off.

Then there's Sean's busy-ness with basketball, trying to figure out a great birthday gift to give my sister this weekend and we're hosting a dozen girls for another sorority sleep-over on Friday night...I love, love hosting it but things like ironing boards with clothes (and a Christmas tablecloth another treasure from my mom's clean-out) a dusty, dirty house, and a huge grocery list are making me a little completely overwhelmed with life right now.

Okay so now I've complained to all of you...figured I'd share the joy that is a sick, stressed Nora...hopefully I'll be back to my slightly more cheery self sometime soon.

Back to trying to actually finish an essay...

What you do when you have a cold...

you get on a bike for the first time since your honeymoon 8.5 years ago just to prove a point to your stubborn 11 year old.

Last night I came down a horrid cold...like awake every hour horrid.  Today I've barely gotten up from my desk (writing flashcards still) and have barely eaten.  When Mac got home though I just wanted to move a little and get some fresh air...walk around our block a couple of times and thought it'd be cool if Mac wanted to try riding his bike...since he was just learning late last summer.  Lots of complaining ensued in addition to his immense concern about falling.  I told him I understand the fear, but not the bad attitude.  Yes, riding a bike can be scary at first and to prove my point I had Sean dust off the bike hanging from our rafters I strapped on a helmet and tried.  Not the best idea when you're all stuffed up considering on my best day I have no balance whatsoever...I literally didn't learn how to ride a bike until I was 13 years old...and it wasn't for lack of trying...I hit trees and poles and fell way too many times.  Today though, I managed not to crash into anything...and realized what being 30 pounds heavier means on a bicycle seat...ouch...but Mac was entertained and hopefully encouraged.

Oh and the honeymoon?  Well after I finally learned to ride a bike a year later my Dad, sister and I went to Vermont for a bike tour...I went one more time a few years later and loved both of them.  When we were planning our honeymoon on the East Coast for a couple of weeks I suggested we do another tour since I knew Sean would love it...not necessarily the most honeymoon-ish of honeymoons but it was a lot of fun and we've talked about doing it again...I'd really have to lose weight though in order to survive the Green Mountain State.

Okay time to take some cough medicine and try to make up for last night's lack of sleep before my long day at school tomorrow...

Daylight...

I thought the best way to take advantage of Daylight Savings Time was to spend an hour of it walking on the beach...it was getting late in the day and Sean didn't really want to because we still had lots of Sunday responsibilities to take care...all that grocery shopping, dog bathing, laundry kind of stuff...the beach was much better. :)

Few things on a Friday afternoon...

I like to pop a DVD into the computer if I'm sitting at my desk writing flashcards...this weekend I'm getting ready for my Sociology of Sexualities midterm next week so I thought I'd watch Sex and the City

Before flashcard writing I made a scrapbook page...the green stamping is a little brighter than I wanted but I had to use paint since I didn't have a kelly green stamp pad...

Before making the scrapbook page I found an awesome shirt I decided Mac has to have so it's on hold for Sean to pick up on his way home so I can tuck it away for Mac's Easter basket that already has this waiting to go in it...and after seeing a guy wearing them while I was in the stairwell at school yesterday I tracked down these for Sean...I've discussed his love for the green and gold before...I am SO freaking excited to surprise him with them.

And I'm excited to get some fresh D-batteries to put into this...

My mom has been cleaning out her house so all kinds of random things keep coming my way, but yesterday it was my old Simon game...look at it in all of it's 1980's glory...cannot wait to play it this weekend...I'm going to kick Sean's ass...well probably not...but I can talk big. :)

Back to flashcards...

I've been here before...

Fourteen years ago I needed to apply to college, but I didn't end up doing it until the very last minute.  I was actually admitted to the University of Redlands only a few weeks before school started.  I just didn't know how to own up to my bad grades in high school and I told myself that my only saving grace would be writing an amazing application essay...which I couldn't bring myself to do...I was too intimidated by my own expectations of how captivating and profound this essay had to be and I just wouldn't do it.

Now I'm right back in the same place...I have to make up for poor grades again.  I have to convince people that there is something to me, that I'm worth it...and it has to be as captivating and profound as ever.  This time I'm not putting it off, the looming deadlines are helping with that, but I'm struggling with writing a personal statement that as I said last week will make people want to give me money.

I'll just keep trying...keep spitting out paragraphs until they come together as something coherent to turn in on March 14th.

Okay that's enough about that...on to a happy topic...here's further proof that, just like I discovered the other night, stamps + Martha Stewart punches=my new favorite way to make simple cards...

 

I'm paying for it now...

I have plenty of schoolwork and scholarships stuff that I have waited till the last minute to try and get done tonight, but way back on Saturday afternoon I scrapped three pages with reckless abandon as if the weekend would last forever...

A simple Valentines page to record the day...wish I had stamped that "v" a little lower...

A page with paint because it seems that every time I see Emily Falconbridge's new layouts I am compelled to smear paint on something :)

And a random-thoughts-right-now kind of a page that was a fantastic excuse to try to use up some of the journaling cards and labels I've been feverishly collecting but not really using at the same rate...

And now I have to go read and write about the "Queer Straight Man" so I'm ready for class tomorrow...

It's not a party without a bounce house...

It was such a great party...and I'm pretty sure I bounced off the little piece of cake I ate. :) 

The first...

We're off to my nephew's first birthday party...hard to believe it's already been a year.  I am a little too excited to be the Auntie today that totally spoils him with a obnoxiously huge but fun gift...that will be sitting in the back of the car since there's no way I'm wrapping it...instead I printed out the photo from the website and wrapped it up...

It's rolled like a little scroll and wrapped inside a box in the bag...I was going to fill the box with sand, but I didn't want to make too much of a mess...I can't bring myself to be THAT obnoxious. :)

Me and the trees...

Last month I posted about all the tree stuff I was loving at CHA and yesterday I got my hands on some of it...the new Scrapworks paper and Hero Arts stamps...and a necklace that I happened to find in the the boutique adjoined to the tea place...it was only $10.50 so I absolutely had to have it, right? :)

So now I'm at home while Sean and Mac run some errands...hanging out in my pajamas on a cool, cloudy Saturday afternoon with a pile of new scrapping supplies on my desk...hmmmm what should I do???