Just Make Stuff

The last bits...

Sorry I haven't been around much this week...didn't want to subject you to my complaining about school (nothing major...mostly whining about having to do group projects and needing to buy extra books in each class that weren't originally listed) and I have been trying to savor the last little bits of summer this week since Sean and Mac are still home.

Speaking of Mac...

I learned today he is one heck of a corn shucker...we brought some home from the local farm stand and he asked to do it.  I hadn't realized when we were in Iowa my sister-in-law totally taught him how to do it. (he also commandeered my new polka-dot apron our neighbors brought back from a trip for me)

Besides fresh sweet corn nothing much has been happening around here...we've been getting ready today for Sean's birthday tomorrow...it'll be anti-climatic after all the hoopla last year, but hopefully it'll be good.  He said all he wanted for his birthday was biscuits and gravy for breakfast and spaghetti for dinner...so I'm all prepared to feed him and my family for a little celebration tomorrow night. 

As for gifts he said he didn't want anything after our big trip but I had to get him a little something so I went to where every guy loves to go, Bed Bath & Beyond. :)  He's actually really been wanting one of these and you've got to love 20% off coupons (by the way you know you can use multiple & expired coupons in a purchase right?  I try to make it a personal mission to always spread the word about this...you really can do it...I used four today).  Mac decided he needed this too.

So that's about it...I snapped a few photos of what's been making me happy around here this week...the magnets Mac collected on our trip hanging on the locker style cabinet in his room, my ridiculous collection of spices which I've been actually using, and one of the sunflowers popping up in our backyard since Sean planted a bunch at the beginning of the summer...oh and one layout...I'm excited to scrap more from the trip but schoolwork is going to be getting in the way for awhile.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Discipline...

All is well here...Sean hasn't had any gauze taped to his face for the last couple of days...Mac is back at home which, among many things, means he and I can finally catch up on episodes of Project Runway...and I have been bouncing around the house like a crazy person getting stuff done with that hope that by tonight I will be relaxed and ready for tomorrow...the first day.

Over the weekend with this first day of school looming larger with every ticking minute I took account of various aspects of my life and realized I have a problem.  I think it can be summed up as this, a lack of discipline.  Despite my best intentions I manage to rarely be able to "stick to it"...no matter what it is...

School...although I don't quit I certainly lose my resolve to be on top of the workload and leave myself stressing several times throughout each semester

Eating...don't even get me started...suffice it to say it would be a miracle if I could get through one week without needlessly shoving some kind of crap into my mouth

Exercise...truly one of the things that makes me feel better than anything else...yet I don't do it consistently

Spending...stretching the meaning of what I "need"...not looking at the bigger picture and taking careful consideration of every dollar

Reading...I dream...seriously dream...of being a person who reads books voraciously yet I don't do it...instead I fall asleep to the television, I read blogs, and flip through magazines

Cooking...again I dream of home-cooked meals and eating together at the table and there is not a single reason why it should not happen except for my own laziness and lack of commitment

So if these are the things I want why don't I do them...or if I try to do them why don't I do them consistently?  I am blessed with the time and opportunity to accomplish everything I listed and more.  Sure I have my strengths and weaknesses...we all do...but how can I not manage a way to tap into some steadfast discipline?   Not a week, month or year...a lifetime. 

Sorry to make you endure in my reveling in the pseudo "new year" that the start of school brings...an attempt to reassess and rededicate...and I am in desperate need of some re-dedication.

I'm eager to get the stack of syllabi into my hands from my four classes so I know what my fate is until December...amazing to think of all the reading, studying and writing that starts up again tomorrow...so with that I am off to enjoy my last few hours of freedom...and to make dinner...and exercise...and read. :)

All done...

Our morning started with a 4:45am arrival at the surgery center, semi-anxiously waiting around till he went into surgery just before 7am, sitting in the waiting room ever so thankful to be distracted by my mom and our equally enthusiastic long discussion about organizers (we discovered we've both been obsessively perusing the Filofax website lately), and then helping a groggy, bandaged Sean get home.  We were settled in at home by 10am and he's been doing really well...earlier he was watching the Olympics and wanted to read the newspaper...then the vicodin kicked in and he is asleep sitting up in the bed with the remote in his hands...I'd help him lay down, but I think sitting up is probably better for the whole drainage situation he's got going on which is why I am a crazy lady draping old towels on our pillows and downstairs on the couch just in case. :)

And here is a peek of our weekend...basically more movies in a few days than we have probably seen in the last two years combined...

and all that movie watching just begged for some movie candy to go along with it. :)

I am so glad to be one the other side of this now...I guess it's always the fear of the unknown that gets me the most.

And most importantly, thank you so very much for all the well wishes...

Far more serious than layouts...

If I'm ever asked if I want the good news or the bad news first I want the bad news...get the crappy stuff out of the way and move onto more pleasant thoughts.

So that's what I'm doing today...first I'll discuss the crap and then share layouts. :)

At 6:15am tomorrow Sean is having surgery.  Nothing major...totally an outpatient procedure and ultimately it'll be a good thing since he's having various aspects of his nose repaired so that he can finally start to breathe out of both nostrils normally...but it's surgery. 

Rationally I know surgeries occur thousands upon thousands of times every single day...with my Dad I grew up around surgery...I wore scrubs as pajamas, stood quietly by during seemingly endless post-op checks as dad did his rounds, the doctor's lounge was our playground with it's big screen TV and pool table. 

Tomorrow though I have to sit in a waiting room and wait.  Two plus hours of most likely torturing myself with worry, getting jumpy every time I see any doctor come out to debrief a family member...I grew up around surgery...I know that there is always a chance that something totally routine can go wrong. 

I can be perfectly rational, but honestly I'm pretty much terrified and will be until they lead me back to see a groggy, bandaged up Sean.

So if you wouldn't mind sending a good thought out, or crossing your fingers, or saying a prayer it would mean so much to me.

Okay thanks for putting up with my dramatic nervousness...now the good stuff...well I'm not saying these are particularly good actually their fairly uncreative...but it was loads of fun to dive into new patterns and put stuff together...

This better slow down...

it's already Tuesday night...this last week of freedom is flying by way too fast.  Today I bought all the stuff I'll be staring at for the next semester...new books, a new binder and a new computer keyboard since ours had been damaged when a couple of things fell on it during last month's earthquake. 

I have been making some stuff that I'll share tomorrow, but before that here are the layouts from Saturday night's class...

We were able to pull together some extra kits after the class so if you might be interested please feel free to give the store a call.  I know they are always great about shopping over the phone (and shipping it) since on the road-trip I watched the blog and called in with my orders several times so I had a wonderfully full bag of stuff waiting for me when I got home and have been happily digging into it the last couple of days. :)

The last of it...

Sean's outside trying to power-wash half the country's bug population off our front bumper and I am working on our behemoth Costco photo order.

We arrived home yesterday just in time to unload the car, pick up the dogs, and bake some treats (these and these) before heading out to teach my class...I'm pretty sure I didn't really teach though, instead I was overjoyed to see everyone create their own wonderful pages just as I had hoped for...just get some fun supplies, hopefully be a little inspired, and go for it. :)

 

The piles of paper, stamps and snacks on the tables were one of my favorite parts...it reminded me of how excited I am to be home and get a chance to make my own "mess".

But before that here are the last of the roadtrip photos from our drive and visit in Salt Lake City and then onto Vegas...

 

So now it's all home sweet home...plenty to talk about this week as we get settled back and I get ready to start school next week...

If only...

tomorrow was a weekday...as an avid Today show watcher since age 13 I finally have my dream come true of a TV in the bathroom but no show tomorrow so CNN will have to do while I take a shower in the morning.
I booked a fancy schmancy technologically advanced room with a view of the strip at the Flamingo as a grand finale to the big roadtrip...and it was totally worth it to see Mac excitedly shriek and jump around the room as he discovered the TV in the mirror of the hot pink bathroom and the buttons for the automated curtains.
Ironically the technological room makes you pay extra for the internet so I'm blogging from my phone and sharing photos from the last couple of days will have to wait.
Can't wait to get home now...my bed, my shower (even though it doesn't have a cool mirror TV) our dogs and most importantly the chance to teach tomorrow night...can't wait to jump back into making stuff with everyone. :)

Moving on...

Mount Rushmore during the day was great...Mac did everything required to earn his junior ranger like hugging a tree and asking the park rangers various questions...we had lunch and then headed into Wyoming...

People have warned me that all the driving would be boring and so far it hasn't been at all...I have loved looking out the window and taking it all in whether it was populated or not...until we hit Wyoming today...

It brought a new meaning to the word "nothing" for a couple of hundred miles...that we drove about 2 miles over the speed limit the entire time because about a half an hour into the state this happened...

I maintain that Officer Starkey (I'm not kidding) saw our California license plate and decided to get us. :)  In all seriousness we were panicked when he pulled Sean over for going 78 in a 65...I imagine he was able to see that Sean has an impeccable record (ruined yesterday by being pulled over for the very first time in his life) and thankfully let us go with a warning (and the crappy picture I snuck while we were holding our breath waiting for the verdict).

Today we make our way into Utah and stay the night in Salt Lake...I'm excited to see Temple Square and Mac is excited to stop by the high school where High School Musical was filmed...and maybe we'll go 3 miles over the speed limit. :) 

Waiting around...

I have a little while to hang out in bed this morning since Sean is taking the car for the oil change it told us it needed yesterday...amazing considering he got the oil changed the day before we left...in the last two weeks we will have driven more than my car usually drives in half a year...it's four years old and we'll finally hit 50,000 miles sometime in the next couple of days.

So more from yesterday...if you want me to be my usual cynical self I would tell you honestly that the Mt. Rushmore lighting show was like a 40 minute infomercial for the United States...I am all for being patriotic, but the ranger very dramatically took us through the trials and triumphs of our country complete with breaking into song.  Then we had to watch a 20 minute Discovery Channel show...it was interesting, but it all was just a little too much...until they lit the mountain that was something to see.

We saw billboards endlessly for hundreds of miles for a place called Wall Drug so we had to stop...it was a block long of cheesy, touristy goodness...Mac put on the t-shirt we got for his Dad...it really matched the hat and red terrycloth wristbands he was sporting yesterday

A peek into our hotel room yesterday...me checking e-mail and Mac putting together memorabilia in the binder we brought along for him to make into a scrapbook...you got to hang on to empty cereal boxes right?

And finally Mount Rushmore...we got there just as the sun had gone down behind the mountain...

Today we'll go back and check out the museum and Mac wants to earn the Junior Ranger badge and then we drive out to Cheyenne, Wyoming for the night...

We'll see you boys in the morning...

that's what I jokingly said as we walked out of Mount Rushmore tonight...we'll be back tomorrow for daylight photography attempts...

What's better than that?

We just had lunch in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at our new favorite restaurant...a cobb salad, a few candy sticks for the road, and two adorable children's plate sets for Thanksgiving.
Now I am happily in the passenger's seat after driving my morning shift trying to take advantage of cell phone reception in town before we head back out on the wide open road...Mount Rushmore or bust :)

Catching Up...

We're settled in for the night in a great little hotel after some fun shopping and a delicious dinner (I think I could just about move to Omaha to eat beef like I ate tonight)...oh and we took some desserts back to the room to eat while watching tonight's Olympic coverage...it all has made having to leave our family this morning seem a little less depressing.

So I have too many photos to share from back to the Missouri Botanical Gardens On Friday through our weekend and then from today in Madison County...

In addition to lots of quality time together and stuffing our faces (um, cheese curds? Yum. Oh and these are the very best thing to eat while watching the Olympics) we went out to the Amana Colonies and hit the local fun center...

Then we attempted a little family photo-ing...

And all three of us loved their gigantic Boxer named Tybalt who was the sweetest guy ever (and this is coming from someone who usually doesn't like big dogs at all)...

And finally the bridge...we just went to see one... the one that was in the story...probably a nerdy thing to do but it was so cool...

Oh and one last thing...I'd better cook a lot when I get home because I have more than plenty of spices...

After our longest drive of the trip tomorrow I will will get the chance to see this in person...I am too excited about it...

Westward Bound...

It's weird to drive west for the first time in eight days....excited for the second half of the trip though...especially today where I have planned exciting stops like seeing the Bridges of Madison County and a Penzey's Spice Store...two things I totally wanted to visit on our trip...

What people from California do...

to have fun while staying in Iowa

We run around in the front yard in a rain storm and then try to pay homage to "Singing in the Rain".

And this one is definitely Christmas card material...

We are having such a good, relaxing time here with family...it feels great to be in a home after a week of hotel rooms...we're back to it again tomorrow though...next stop Omaha...

I want to go home...

and plant something (not that I really plant...I'm usually just the plant buyer)...the botanical gardens are way too inspiring..I'm just sitting on a bench in the shade while Mac and Sean climb around in the children's garden...

It's getting late here in the central time zone...

and I'm tired so I won't waste too much time typing instead I'll share some of my favorite photos from the last couple of days...yesterday we went to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art where I was mesmerized by glass...then we had a great dinner with my dad and his family...we left his house this morning and made the long drive (499 miles) to St. Louis so that I could be mesmerized by the arch...it was one of the things I was dying to see on this trip and it was totally worth it...

 

Tomorrow morning we're going to see the botanical gardens and then we drive to Cedar Rapids to stay at my brother-in-law's house through the weekend...

One more reason I love him...

Nine years ago yesterday we were married and poor Sean has been putting up with my high standards ever since...for instance he is willing to not only clean the windows with the gas station stick thingy he will go back to the really dirty spots with the windex and paper towels I insisted we bring along...I'm a lucky girl with a bug-free windshield (well it was this morning...not so much now that we're just over a hundred miles outside of St. Louis)

Greatest State in the Union...

That's what I always tease my dad about when he brags about Oklahoma...we're here and just really enjoyed a trip to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art...don't think I'll get a chance to share photos tonight while we're at my Dad's so I'll be back tomorrow on our way to St. Louis...

Mourn with me...

If you have curly hair I'm sure you can relate to my plight this morning. So most of the time my hair looks like a bad perm, kind of krinkly and frizzy, but every once in awhile the stars align and somehow magically my hair falls into smooth, ringlet type curls and I manage to feel better about myself all day long because it's one of those rare good hair days.
That happened this morning...my hair couldn't be better...but now I have to go out into the world and it just so happens the world has to be hot and humid Texas and Oklahoma...I will surely look like crap by the end of the day and just in time to meet my dad and his family for dinner at the nice restaurant he wants to take us to...oh well at least I looked good at breakfast. :)

Texas...

Today was fairly uneventful we spent the morning digging through antique stores in Albuquerque and then hit the road towards Amarillo...making sure we hit a truck-stop to get a few postcards and a magnet for Mac's collection...for some reason I'm finding charm in the whole truck-stop/travel center stuff...when we got to Amarillo (and our first taste of 100 degree heat plus humidity) we hit Cracker Barrel for dinner and the hotel pool...tomorrow we're headed to my dad's house in Oklahoma City...

Had to get a shot of Sean loading up our purchases before we headed out of town

Still loving all this big open space & bright blue sky stuff

Truck-stop lunch

Wanted a shot of a 40 sign since we've been on it for three days now

Got to get a photo of a lone tree

And a gorgeous sunset as we were pulling back into the hotel after dinner.

Best ten dollars we spent today...

was our admission to the Petrified Forest...but the pasta I ordered at dinner was a close second...it was just gorgeous today...more puffy clouds and bright blue sky...cheesy truck stops and another thunderstorm...we all are really enjoying this roadtrip stuff...

You're looking at a brand new junior park ranger...he was sworn in today...

 

Oh and I saw that the Oasis class is not up quite yet but it will be soon...they have far more important things to post about like all new CHA stuff being delivered...you know that way I can shop from the blog photos and call in my order from the middle of New Mexico. :)

Tomorrow we're onto Amarillo, Texas...

A real, actual class...

I started out making a kit like I did last fall, but it has turned into a class...an real, actual class and I am so very excited to get the chance to share in creating ten layouts full of stamping and patterned paper with everyone. 

It'll be the Saturday night we get back from our trip (August 16th) so I'll be extra happy to be home...and to get a chance to buy some of the new CHA stuff that I'm sure will come into the store and torture me when I'm thousands of miles away.

You can check the Scrapbook Oasis blog for all the class details.  I really hope you can join us..."us" is Sean and I since, of course, he's been recruited to be my stamping assistant! :)

A first...

I'm pretty sure I've never really been to a National Park before and wasn't planning on it today until we just decided to check out the Petrified Forest which was astounding...we were there for over an hour and a half taking it all in...and Mac was sworn in as a junior ranger so he's proudly wearing his badge while he watches High School Musical as we finish off the drive for today.

53 degrees...

Oh my goodness today was great...I drove the first couple hundred miles and Sean drove the last which gave me time to enjoy the big fluffy clouds...they're kind of a rarity in Southern California so it was just so amazing to see them floating through a bright blue sky...

We made a few pit-stops...one in Kingman where Mac picked out an Arizona magnet...

Then we hit thunderstorms which was just the coolest thing to see lighting out over the desert and heavy rain...we went from 110 degrees in Needles, CA to 57 degrees just outside Flagstaff...amazing to drop 53 degrees in less than two hours.

I guess a big entertainment factor on this trip will be weather since we usually see next to none.

Flagstaff is just a simple night...we walked to dinner and swam in the pool.

I will update from the road I'm sure, but if you want check back here tomorrow afternoon because I set up a post before I left to share something I'm really excited about.

Off to Albuquerque in the morning!

Our first state...

We just crossed over into Arizona...earlier Mac has asked if we've reached Atlanta yet...then he woke up from napping and asked if we were in Texas...I guess he's not getting the whole roadtrip thing quite yet...

4443 miles...

Off we go...with plenty of cell phone blogging along the way since what else am I going to do on looong car rides?

A little closer...

Besides packing and cleaning today I made some layouts...I had hoped to be caught up before we left on the trip...not exactly possible considering Sean picked up about 75 photos I had printed at Costco this afternoon...oh well at least I'm a little closer after today...and I finished scrapbooking our last trip before taking a new one...I can just try to have a scrapping marathon when we get back and before I start the new school year...

Getting ready...

My little roadtrip book is ready and waiting to be filled...dividers for each stop, envelopes, and lots of room to write...

 

Can't wait to start filling it up on Sunday...