Loving This Weather!!!

The weather the last few days has been wonderful!! I'm actually sitting out on the back porch with my laptop now, enjoying the breeze. It's finally cooled off! College football starts this weekend. Soup & stew weather is right around the corner, along with sweaters, changing leaves, and crisp mornings. I can't wait!!

I posted yesterday about finishing up my scrapbook space, but I didn't mention much else about our weekend. Brandon got back from school Friday evening, and we had a nice dinner of rotisserie chicken & tomato pie before he had to head off to work again. Saturday morning, I went out with my aunt Mary then came home and spent the afternoon with Brandon before he had to work that night. Sunday we went to the meeting then picked up some gyros for lunch and went home to crash. Nothing exciting, but it was a nice weekend!

$250 Shopping Spree!!!

How would you like to win a $250 shopping spree at the Scrapping Cottage? That's right - the winner will get to choose $250 worth of products at The Scrapping Cottage! Go HERE to sign up!

Reorganized Scrapbook Space

As of tonight, I think I can pretty much call my scrapbook space finished! I still need to clean off the shelves over the table & desk, but those can wait a bit. As far as my supplies are concerned, they are all reorganized. I didn't take any before pictures because frankly the space was a total disaster. You can get an idea of how it was when it was clean in this post. To see any of the pictures in this post bigger, just click 'em. :)

One of the major changes I made was shifting everything down to the wall on the right. Previously, there was about a 3' space at the end of the table that was basically just a catch-all. When I moved the table down into that space, I was able to fit a shelf at the left end of my table and move most of what had been in my wire cubes into that. The wire cubes are now disassembled (except for one) and awaiting a home in the closet.

Here's a closer look at the shelf at the end of my table. I love that I can put my printer on that and get it off the table. I have a lot more room to work now!

I took what I use most - or plan to use soon - out of my PSB and added it to my Ikea clip up bar over my table. All of my letter stickers & rub-ons went into the basket you see in the foreground. I should be able to see what I have much easier now.

Here's a shot of the right-hand end of my table. You can see the single cube I used in order to keep our bill organizer on the table. (I know it's not scrapbook-related, but there's really nowhere else to put it, and I need that organizer!!) The white basket on top of my stamp drawers holds camera cables, chargers, batteries, etc. Oh, and notice the little basket behind my Cricut...that's one of Beldar's beds. I'm hoping it will help keep him off of whatever I'm working on!

This basket is on the floor near my table. It holds items that I intend to alter at some point. They've been piling up for a while now! And of course, there's Sam. She's checking everything out! :)

Now that everything's neat & tidy, maybe I can actually get some scrapbooking done!

Outing for the Pups

Yesterday after work, I loaded Duchess & Bogart up in the car and set off to run some errands. They love going for rides, even if we don't go far! I left the car running (locking them in, of course) while I ran into the post office for stamps and the library to donate two crates of magazines (go me!). I drove through City Hall and paid some bills, and through the bank to grab some cash at the ATM. They were loving all of this!

Finally, we met my friend Glenda & her Great Dane Rico at the park for a few minutes. We wanted Rico & Duchess to meet and see how well they got along before our yard sale in a couple of weeks. I plan to take Duchess with me if the weather isn't too hot. Thankfully, they got along great! Poor Bogie wasn't too happy that I had left him in the car, but I wasn't pushing it. I knew I couldn't handle them both. He can meet Rico next time!

After the park, we ran over to Sonic for some half-priced drinks, and then we headed home. The pups really enjoyed their little outing!

Bogie was upset that he couldn't get over to Rico at Sonic and he let everyone there know it!

Vinyl on Walls & An Old Drawing

Monday after work I had a doctor's appointment, and then I went over to my aunt's house to help her out and put some vinyl up in her kitchen. We attempted this last Wednesday, but my software decided to malfunction and I couldn't get in touch with customer service in time to get it fixed that afternoon. Anyway, we got that straightened out, and so Monday I was able to put this together and hang it in no time. We both loved the result! What do you think?

The font is called Ale & Wenches, for anyone who's interested. I downloaded it for free here. I love that I can cut any true type font with my Sure Cuts a Lot software!!

After we finished with the vinyl, I took my aunt to the grocery store and then went over to my dad's to visit for a few minutes. I ended up eating supper there and then visiting for a while before heading back home with two bags full of "groceries", which included three jars of Betty's homemade tomato juice, a huge bottle of her pepper sauce, and a big bag of okra to put in our freezer. At 8:30, I finally got home to two very happy-to-see-me puppies. I stayed up long enough to feed them and then was sound asleep soon after that!

The old drawing I mentioned...While I was at my aunt's house, she brought out this old pencil sketch I drew for her when I was a kid. I guess I was in high school or maybe junior high? I had totally forgotten about ever doing it, but I remembered it after she brought it out. I think I looked at an artist's coloring book or something of that nature to go by. Anyway, she's planning to frame it and hang it up. I used to draw all the time, but I haven't in ages. I wonder if I still can...

Painting & Grilling

Saturday afternoon, I went through about four cans of spray paint. I put some fresh black paint on the two wicker pieces I bought off Craigslist a while back and then painted some items I've gathered up from yard sales and around the house to hang in a grouping on our back porch. I think everything turned out great! (The picture doesn't really do it justice.)

Sunday evening, Brandon grilled up a bunch of chicken and pork tenderloin for supper and also to carry me over this week for lunch. It was all really good, and I've got plenty of stuff to eat for my lunches this week! :)

As long as the charcoal was fired up and he was out there grilling anyway, we decided we should fix some stuffed peppers to go with our meal. I picked these jalapeños (and one lonely Anaheim) from our strawbale garden, along with some fresh basil, and fixed up a cheese & basil filling, then Brandon grilled them. They were really good!

Something else I did this weekend was start totally reorganizing my scrapbook space. I'll be posting pictures when I'm finished...hopefully in the next day or two. I can't wait!

Out for Sushi

Yep...I said SUSHI. I met Brandon and our CO & his wife at Kyoto Friday evening for dinner. The three of them wanted sushi. Just the thought of what sushi usually entails has always bothered me though, and so I declined a sushi menu and instead ordered something off the hibachi grill. Elizabeth was determined that there must be something on the sushi menu that I would like, however, and so she and I picked something (one of the cooked varieties, mind you) for me to at least try. The men went the more traditional route and ordered some of the raw fish. Sorry, but I won't try it raw.

While we waited on our food, Elizabeth gave us both chopstick lessons. (I really think that makes the food taste better!) That was fun. :) Anyway, when our sushi arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I DO in fact like it! Well, I liked what we ordered anyway. I'd definitely get it again. I guess I've been prejudice all this time for no reason! LOL

Dinner was really nice. We had a great visit with them. I really like them both - especially Elizabeth. She's so sweet!

Flower Pics & A Trip to Petsmart

Saturday Brandon and I were out looking at the butterflies on our huge double Rose of Sharon. We were trying to get a picture, but they were being very camera shy. I got some good pictures of the blooms anyway. I love this bush. The flowers remind me of pink carnations.

Here are some of the pictures I took:

Here's one of the Rose of Sharon in the corner of our yard:



And here's Duchess resting in the shade while we chased the butterflies around:

Yesterday evening, Brandon & I had to go to Tupelo to pick up his book for school this week, so we decided to take the dogs with us and go to Petsmart first. We don't get to take them to Petsmart often because we usually have long stops to make while we're in town and can't leave them in the car. Since yesterday was a short trip, they got to go. They had a blast exploring at Petsmart and then visiting with Betsy & Melinda at the KH while Brandon got his book. :)

Checking out the toy aisle:



Rummaging through the rawhide:

Baby Shower & Fun with Photoshop

I went a baby shower for a friend of ours yesterday and talked her into doing a few maternity shots outside before it was over. Her hubby had shown up to help her load up all her goodies (she got lots - yay!) and so he got to be in the pictures too. :)

I've been playing around with the techniques I learned in Jessica Sprague's online Photoshop class and thought I'd post some of what I've done so far. What do you think? (Can you tell I'm loving the antiqued look??)

Home Improvements & Friends Having Babies

This week's been pretty uneventful. I can't even remember what I did after work on Monday. Must've been pretty exciting. LOL

Tuesday, Brandon & Mike went to a home center in Corinth and picked up the rest of our baseboard and door trim. Brandon's going to start painting it this morning, and then Robin's going to come over and install it. Finally - our living room & dining room will look finished!!

While they were in Corinth Tuesday, the guys also went by Lowe's so Brandon could get a new trimmer. Our Weedeater quit on him and really wasn't worth fixing, so we've been waiting until we could afford a new one. In the meantime, our yard had gotten pretty shabby. Now that Brandon has his new Troy-Bilt, though, he has already started working on the yard and it's looking much better. Yay for home improvements!

While Brandon was gone Tuesday evening, I started a new project of decluttering our house. It occurred to me recently that we have many cabinets, drawers, and closets that are just holding spaces for clutter. First on the list was the guest room closet, which looks much better now. I think I'll work on the infamous "junk drawers" this evening.

Tomorrow, Brandon and I are planning a little shopping excursion. Alabama is having a sales tax holiday this weekend, and we both need a few new clothing items, so we're going to take advantage of that. I'm looking forward to going out for shopping and dinner with my hubby. :)

Saturday afternoon I'm going to a baby shower for some friends of ours. Jeff & Jill are expecting their first child, a little boy. I've got to pick up a gift for them tomorrow while we're out. Speaking of new babies, congratulations to one of my oldest friends, Gina, and her husband, Tim. They're expecting their first baby and found out yesterday that they are having a girl. I can't wait to meet her!

My Weekend in Nashville

This past weekend was my trip to Nashville for the Food Network Southern Food & Wine Festival. I had worked over all week so that I could leave work early on Friday and still have my 40 hours in. Since I had never driven in Nashville before, I really wanted to make it through the city before rush hour!

At 11:00, I left work and ran home to load up the car. I had already packed and left everything by the front door, so that didn't take long at all. I loaded all my stuff up, including my little Duchess, and headed to pick up my aunt and uncle, who had decided to ride along with me and visit a good friend of theirs just outside of Nashville. It was really nice having them along for the ride!

A little after 3:00, we met their friend Karen at the local McDonald's and transferred all their stuff over to her car, then I was on my own. I have to say I was more than a little nervous about the rest of my drive. I do. not. drive. in the city. I'm such a chicken!

Thankfully, Brandon and I bought a Garmin last weekend. I swear, without that little piece of technology, I don't think I would've made it. Just knowing which lane I needed to be in for my next exit helped tremendously, especially since I did not reach my goal of getting through Nashville before rush hour. Traffic was awful! It was literally stop and go for a while. UGH! But, with the help of my new little friend, I made it. Never mind she (yeah, "she"...my Garmin is a girl! hehe) didn't know exactly where Abby's address was...she got me close enough and I read mailbox numbers and backtracked until I found the correct house. And boy was I glad to be there!!

That night when Abby got home from work, she and I headed over to Keith & Shellby's house for dinner. As usual, there were a bunch of other people there. (Their house seems to be the place to be! LOL) I got to meet lots of their friends, as well as Abby's in-laws. Shellby grilled whatever everyone had brought to throw on the grill. Their new karaoke system was going the entire time we were there. (I didn't participate in that activity.) A bunch of us ended our evening relaxing in the hot tub out on the deck. It was perfect weather for that! Around 1:00, Abby, Justin, and I went back to their house.

Saturday morning, Abby & I met Shellby & Julie (Abby's mother-in-law) and went to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel for the festival. I had never been there before and even though I had heard about it, I had no idea how huge it was, not to mention gorgeous. Wow! So anyway, it took us a while, but we finally found the part of the hotel where the festival was being held. After standing in line forever, I finally got the tickets I had bought ahead of time, and we made it into the exhibit hall around 11:00.

We explored and sampled yummy food for about an hour before heading over to the wine tasting area. I had never done anything like this before, but I was really impressed with how it was set up. When you entered, you handed in your ticket and were given a wine glass, a book, and a pen. The book had numbered pages that cooresponded with each of the 27 booths that were set up. Each wine was listed on the appropriate page with a description so you could pick and choose what you wanted to sample. I marked everything I tried and made brief notes. It was really fun! Here are a few pics from our wine tasting experience:

Shellby, Abby, and Me

Shellby, Abby, and Julie

Julie doesn't like wine. She wanted to know, "Where's the Boone's?" LOL

At 1:00, I left the wine tasting area and headed back upstairs to the Governor's Ballroom for my Alton Brown seminar. I have to say that he is just as witty and food-smart in person as he is on TV. (You've gotta wonder about these people and whether they just have great writers!) He focused on fish, rainbow trout in particular, and cooked it 3 or 4 different ways. Then he had a Q&A session that lasted until 4:00. It was very entertaining! Unfortunately, my camera card decided to quit working on me, and so I didn't get as many pictures as I would've liked. :(

After my seminar was over, I met back up with Abby & Shellby (Julie had to leave) and we spent another hour or so visiting more of the exhibitor booths. Around 5:00, we started back toward the parking lot. Abby & I went back to her place and fixed salads for supper and crashed in front of the TV. It was a good day, but we were both exhausted!

Sunday morning, I left and picked up Mary & Jim in Fairview and we headed back home. We were back by 2:00, which was nice. At least I got to see Brandon for a few hours before he went to work!