December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

from my house to yours... Merry Christmas!

December 22, 2008

Santa's Workshop

now that we don't have company anymore... i'm back in full christmas-making mode. since i've decided to make most of my presents this year it's definitely cut back on the "oh my gosh--what do i get him/her this year?" dilemma but it hasn't cut back on the "when am i going to find time to finish this/that" predicament. somehow i think that's always going to be a problem :)

on the other hand... i'm crafting far more than i have in a while... and loving it! people are enjoying my hand-made gifts... and i love the feeling of giving something that i have made! on the downside... since all of these crafty projects are also Christmas presents... and i know of at least one or two family members who read this blog (hi mom!) i can't exactly post pictures :) but rest assured that i'm still taking plenty... preparing to blast you all with documentation as soon as the holidays are over :)

on a quick sidenote... there are pictures i can show you... completely unrelated to crafts... but still amazingly cute! :) we adopted a one and a half year old puppy yesterday... named Ember. we got him from an amazing organization called The Milo Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that rescues dogs from local shelters as well as from the streets. he's a border terrier mix... maybe with some pug or jack russel terrier mixed in there. he's got an adorable tail that curls into a perfect circle when it's not wagging his whole little back-side... and the calmest, most mellow personality that i've ever seen in a dog. he's incredibly curious and eager to please, full of energy at the site of a new person or place, but also perfectly content to lay on his bed or cuddle in your lap. he doesn't bark unless he's startled at something, and then it's only a single bark (i told you he's amazing :)) and neither does he slobber all over your face -- it's a quick lick on the chin and that's all the kisses from him :)



he's pretty awesome if we do say so ourselves :)

if i don't have a chance to jump back on before Christmas Day... Merry Christmas to you & yours! :)

December 19, 2008

and the winner is... me!

no, not because i'm sick. and no, not because i have 2 weeks of paid vacation from work coming up (although that IS a prize, isn't it? :))

because i won an ornament from the amazing tollipop!



the funniest thing is... since it's been so busy at work & home lately, i haven't had a chance to keep up on my blog-watching, so i only found out because Kristin popped over to my blog to see who the lucky winner (me!) was and left me a comment :) so thanks to her... i know that i won... and i have a great new blog to follow :)

thanks to Amanda for pointing me in the right direction :)

December 18, 2008

it's officially winter...

because i'm officially sick :( i woke up with a cold yesterday morning and it's come on full blast in the past few days. sorry for the lack of a "wednesday wish list" post yesterday -- i worked an 8-hour day, then went to meet up with Ryan & fam for dinner, then went to the last rehearsal for our Christmas program on this coming Sunday. Got home at 9:30ish and was in bed by 10, having taken medicine and propped myself up so I could hopefully sleep.

here's hoping i get better soon!

December 16, 2008

Glimpses of Christmas




peace




giving




family


just a few glimpes of our celebrating a little early this year so that Ryan's family could join us...

December 14, 2008

sunday stash: spare change swap

i got the most amazing spare change package about a week ago. there was squealing. truly. ask ryan :) below are some of my favorites... and i apologize in advance for the quality of these pictures. i was too excited to wait until morning :)


the whole set...

if anyone knows what the following fabrics are... you're officially my new favorite crafting person. :)




how fun would this be for a small clutch?


this mushroom pattern make me think of childhood... not sure what i'm going to make with it, but it's fun!

so in short... thanks to Chickpea Studio for the wonderful swap... and let me know if you can figure out what fabrics these are! who knows... there may be a prize in store :)

December 6, 2008

happy winter

i finally got around to posting my "winter 2008" banner -- another photo compliments of Ryan's artistic eye while on our day-after-Thanksgiving hike through the forest. :) more later this weekend...

i'm off to Indie Sacramento tomorrow morning as long as my car gets me there! it should be a fun time :) i'll be back with a full report... and hopefully some Christmas presents!

December 5, 2008

happy late thanksgiving and early merry christmas...

i figured i'd wish you a merry christmas at the same time that i wished you a happy thanksgiving... just in case i go MIA again between now and then! yikes... it's been a while since i've posted on here. i'll chalk it up to three main things:

1) going out of town for thanksgiving & having our heater set off our smoke alarms the morning we were supposed to leave... when i was going to post a wednesday wish list blog
2) the panic of realizing that there are only 20 days left until Christmas day... and really only 10 days until Ryan's family Christmas since they'll all be out here the week before
3) working 9-10 hours a day for the past week

needless to say it's been a bit busy... can i get a pass? :) maybe i can buy some mercy with this gorgeous picture from my husband's creative eye :)



on the heater topic... we woke up to a very cold house last wednesday and decided to light the pilot light for the first time and heat it up a bit. we got the pilot light lit... turned up the thermostat... and went about getting ready for work. less than a minute later, our smoke alarms were going off for the first time since we've lived in this apartment. needless to say, we didn't know how to turn them off and they kept going for a little too long at 7:15 in the morning (i'm sure our downstairs neighbors felt the same way). to make a long story short... we got the heater checked out and a piece of (apparently unrelated) plastic from the top of the heating panel as well as all the accumulated dust vacuumed out. now we know for next year :)

but... we have been faithful to keep up with our "freeze yer buns" challenge. the heater's set at 55 at night, and 62 during the day if necessary. we've actually been able to leave the heater off more often than not, turning it on every once in a while to get some heat flowing through the house and then turning it off when it's comfortable. not bad! :)

we're trying to cut back on our costs elsewhere as well... so if you have any suggestions for low-cost (but still good) recipes (especially quick recipes) it would be appreciated! how are you guys trying to save money this winter?

moving on to Thanksgiving... we had a wonderful time with 18 members of my Dad's side of the family. pictures tell the story best... so i'll leave you with those :)