Two NICE Blogs!

My Designer BOSS, Melissa Jenkins, shared these two awesome blogs yesterday and I thought I would share them, too!  They are share-worthy!!!!!!

The Toy Society is just wonderful!  You can join it today!  Make a handmade toy, then leave it somewhere public for a child to find!  Just so awesome!  I think I might have to learn to crochet better so I can make something in an animal shape!  Check out the dropped and found posts, they are fun!

AND this other blog is awesome too!  Operation NICE is all about spreading kindness!  There's downloadable cards that you can pass out to strangers on their cars or leave in your kids' lunchboxes!  Just wonderful ideas and great 'NICE' challenges for you, too!

Hope this makes your day like it did mine! xo

First day of school 2010-2011

Eli is in 3rd grade, 8 yrs old

KayLee is in 2nd grade, 7 years old

Isaac is in kindergarten now, 5 years old 

AND OFF THE BUS and BACK HOME!!

New CHRYSLER member of the family..........

Can you believe I got a new car???

 I KNOW

GET OUT! (as Elaine on Seinfeld would say!)

This above is NOT my Town & Country, I snagged this pic off the internet highway!  My new baby is actually navy blue with leather gray interior, but looks like this one!  It also has Stow and Go seating which SO came in handy this past Saturday at the art show I did in Frenchlick Indiana.  I put my seats in the floor boards and slid in my display tables, SUH-WEET!  So nice to not have to take OUT the seats and store in the garage to then have to replace later!

I LOVE my 6-DVD changer!  You put in 6 movies and they are safely stored to resist scratching!  NICE!  Of course I don't need to use the bun-warmers yet, but will SO enjoy those this winter!  SO, I bet you locals are wondering where I got it! Go see Jerry at Sternbergs on Highway 231 South!  Caddy-corner from Rural King in Jasper, Jerry will help you find what you need!  You can see their web-site HERE too, that's how I got started with them!  I had previously purchased from Leugers and Ubeholors, but I can honestly tell you that I feel UBER excited about my purchase and plan to return to Sternbergs for a truck for Honey next! 

Turns out my old schoolmate, Derek Sternberg is now the CEO of this awesome company!  His grandpa started it years ago and now has this dealership STILL going strong and another in Louisville, too!  I hope Derek's wife doesn't mind that I took this van from her!  She was driving it the day I wanted to take a look at it, teehee!  Maybe he gave me those new tires to be nice!  Just kidding, I would have needed them soon, so I asked and then received!  Ya just never know till you ask!!!!!

Go give JERRY GEHLHAUSEN a shout over at Sternbergs!  They will treat ya well without pressure, just assurance and confidence that you will love what you buy there!  I KNOW I DO! 

THANKS, JERRY!!!!!!!!!!

PERSONAL/PROFESSIONAL UPDATE

Seriously, I AM SPINNING.  I am SUPAH busy and not just on cards.  Isaac had his kindergarten shots, physical etc., this week, Registration is next week, Easter is coming, Spring Break just ended! UGH!!!!!

And, I had a seriously horrible thing happen to me yesterday.  I was in line at Walmart and noticed the guy in front of me kept putting his 2 liter bottle of sprite on the shelf instead of holding it.  Then I realized he had the shakes.  You know, the kind of shakes you (well, HOPEFULLY not YOU!) get when you are coming off of drugs or alcohol.  (He was a young man in his mid-late 20's, very tall, VERY skinny, VERY scruffy, not clean...) Well, he ended up blacking out, straightened up tall, then fell backward like a straight board and began seizing.  I have never seen anything like it.  Wow.  It has really impacted me.  The sound of his skull hitting the floor is haunting me today even.  I had a hard time sleeping, too.

I don't know what happened to him, but am hoping to find out.  For some reason, I feel like I should do something.  Even just send a card.  This man and I did catch each other's eyes briefly and I saw suffering, but kindness still.  It looked to me that he wanted help and I almost started a conversation with him just to be kind to him, now wish I had.  I hope he is okay.

Besides that the days haven't been long enough lately for my commitments to my kids' school, keeping up with healthier meal planning/shopping/preparing and spending time with anyone other than my kids at the ball field or doing schoolwork, next to design team commitments.  The jewelry orders have fallen by the wayside and for that I am sooooooo sorry.  I have been having migraines more often that have been sending me to bed earlier in the evening or for a nap in the afternoon. 

There's a few other things that have been playing on my heart, too, which keep me from crafting regularly.  I have even 'pimped' out my youngest during the day to play Farmville on my FaceBook page!  And if you know me, I LOVE farmville!  There's something ODD, yet addictive to that stupid game!  My Josh and my Eli also have farms, too! LOL!

OH, and how could I almost forget to mention that I have TWO birthdays to celebrate next week!?  My Isaac has kindergarten registration on Tuesday and then celebrates his 5th birthday the following day!  THEN five days later, Eli turns 8!  Next month, KayLee will be 7 and my oldest, Josh, will be 20! 

DID YOU GET THAT??  I WILL HAVE A KID IN HIS 20'S!!!! OMGOSH!

AM I OLD OR WHAT?  I AM ONLY 39!! HA!

Ok, so that is my update.  I am sure that there are a handful of you expecting jewelry ASAP, and for that I apologize from the depths of my heart.  I wish I had the ability to pull out the creations from my head that are already FINISHED and get them sent to you without having to go to the dreaded post office, too.  I HATE our post office.  Maybe I should look into those scales and postage things where you can pay for postage at home. 

ANYHOO, I am alive although I bet you were wondering!  If you would like to email me, please do so, otherwise I hope you have an enjoyable Easter!

Bound and Determined........

.... to get back on the exercise-bandwagon!  I figure if I put it 'out there', it will make me stick to the goal!  AND what is a goal without a reward?  HMMMM, so let's see!  This time last year (PRIOR to fracturing my ankle, which lead to no exercise for nearly a year) I weighed 130-135 on any given day. 

THEREFORE, my goal is to lose 10 lbs.  I am NOT putting a 'timelimit' on this goal.  However, when I do reach it, I will reward myself with some new exercise clothes!  Until then, I will just have to look as bad as I feel!  HAHA!  I will look dumpy and frumpy, but just temporarily! 

I am not going to limit my foods and snacks, though.  I will just limit the PORTIONS of them.  One oreo is better than three, and a few chips is better than a handful, right!?  AND I will start drinking water.  I HATE THIS PART, but I know that this is what got me down to 130 lbs for like 10 minutes, HAHHAAAWW! 

(Ain't I funnay?!!!)

Ok, so that's the deal!  If anyone wants to join in on this challenge with me and set yourself your own goal and share your experiences of treading through temptations and stuff like that, then please sign on!  I am needing some motiviation and support, myself, so if you would like to share a goal, then I encourage you to do so!

Have a great week!

Words to live by

I used to stalk this blog called NOTES FROM A COTTAGE INDUSTRY, then got a laptop and didn't switch over my favorites to my new computer....

Well, I was stuck down in Josh's room today and went down my old favorites in his computer and came back across this blog.  My sister reminded me of this blog just the other day, so I decided to browse quickly through it....

AND I came across this BLOG POST HERE:

What you do speaks so loud

that I cannot hear

what you say.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Followed by this:

How you treat your spouse.

How you take care of yourself.

How you speak to others.

What's important to you.

How you handle stress.

How you cope with hardship.

Who you spend time with.

What you spend your time on.

Your order of priorities.

How you speak of others.

What you value.

What you don't value.

Maybe it will make you think
about a few things in your life,
it did me. 

QUICKIE UPDATE

on my life!

BUSY WITH BEADS!  Orders keep coming, which is AWESOME!

HAD AN AWESOME BIRTHDAY! (read about it here)

ETA: after that post above, Scott made me Spaghetti with garlic bread for supper, cleaned the kitchen, and while I was at a 12 hour Scrapbook Crop fundraiser for Susan G Komen, he cleaned the entire house, even the kids rooms, which were tornado-like and did ALL of the laundry which he DID put away, because he KNOWS how much I hate doing that part!  OH and a few of my girlfriends gave me some Raspberry Chocolate truffles and chocolate covered coffee beans, too!

TRYING TO GET AHEAD! with the cards for DT responsibilities so I can make more jewelry for This Olde House to start selling in their store!  Karen has asked me to bring out some keyblings, so I need to get crackin'!!

LOVING MY NEW BIRTHDAY PRESENTS! I get to lather up with my body washes every morning, get to play with my Copics and new paper sets almost daily and today used my Eddie Bauer gift card Scott gave me for my birthday to purchase a new pair of shoes HERE!  I used to wear these in Junior High and High School and loved them!  You can wear them with casual denim skirts, shorts, pants, khaki pants, jeans, almost everything!  So I am excited to get those and also ordered a new bag, too!

GETTING READY FOR SPRINGBREAK!  Josh is coming home from college on the 13th and will be home all week, then Eli and KayLee have their break the following week.  Too bad they weren't at the same time so they could all spend time together!  The kids and I really miss Josh!

LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING THE GARDEN STARTED!  I am going to put a LOT more effort into the garden this year.  Last year I didn't and we didn't get much at all.  My lack of watering made a huge difference, unfortunately!

Ok, sorry, that wasn't so quick of an update, was it?  LOL!

Hope you are all doing well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REVAMPING

OKAY, the PNM challenge isn't working right now!  I am NOT procrastinating about it!  HAHAHA! I am not, really!! Ever since I opened up my jewelry blog a few weeks back I have been flooded with orders!   AND of course I am still on four different Design Teams, too!  So, balancing all of this hasn't been too great!

SO, as of right now, until I make my full list like my sister did (below), I think I should put it off.  I am really wanting to tackle this issue of waiting until the last minute, I do it a lot!! unfortunately!  But until I can focus on this and really make a change by dealing with this issue, it probably won't help if I start and stop, you know?

I will be back sooner than 6 days like last time though, here on this blog.  I have some fun pics of the kids to share, so once I find my camera I will upload some jpegs for fun! 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

PNM R day

HI!!  It is almost 8pm and I haven't done my R!  UGH!  I am so tired!  I spent today getting things in order and caught up some.  So, maybe that can be R for REMEDY!  I did some crafting, got my post ready for the SNSS DigiBlog, played with the dog a bunch and helped her deal with being stuck indoors so much.  Poor thing, she's such a big dog and to not be able to run and get wild outside has got to be so awful for her!

I did manage to take pictures of SOME beads, but not all, so does that count for yesterday's {P} day?  I don't know if I a really doing that well at this PNM challenge!  SIGH!  I will face tomorrow with HOPE that I can get the rest of the pics of the beads wrapped up and look at the letter "O" for a goal I can obtain!

Let me know what your results were for today!!!!!!!! xox Nicole xox

My Sister Inspired Me!

Well, my sister, KRIS, inspired me!  She decided to do the 'Procrastination No More' project {I will refer to this as PNM from now on...} with me, but started TODAY after reading my blog! AGK!

IF YOU ARE NEW TO PNM and this BLOG -
STOP and scroll down to read the previous post!!!

I really was wanting to do this with someone, so I am going to go ahead and start today!!  If you read this post and aren't ready with your list, don't fret, Neither am I!  But, I know of a few things that I need to tackle and have put off long enough... so until I make my list tonight or tomorrow or Monday, I am going to fly by the seat of my pants and go with it. 

My sister's list is HERE, and as you can see, some of her letters are very doable!  So this reminds me to not over-extend myself with hugely taxing things right off the bat.  However, for the most part I AM going to try to do things that I have put off for a month or longer.  Some things that I could add to the list are just things that need to be done eventually, but that I haven't really procrastinated about and/or 'put off'.  So those activities I will add to another 'To Do' list and will possibly share those achievements as I do them everyday.  OK?

SO for today's "P", I am going to 'take "P"ictures' of my beads.  I have some beads now that no one has seen and I think if they see them, they may want to order a bracelet or keychain using them!  I am not sure what it looks like outside, I have been hiding in my home all day with the blinds closed.... but if it is nice enough, I will take the pictures outside in natural light to get some really awesome pictures taken!  How does that sound?  Yes, some of these beads I have had for over a year and no one has ever seen them because I was too lazy to get out the camera and press a simple little button to shoot a picture... sad, I know.  But, I am a PROCRASTINATOR, so what did you expect!?! HAHAHAW!

Check out my Gotta Have Bling Blog HERE to see the pictures of the beads when they are posted!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day AND ALSO the letter "R" day.... hmm... gonna have to think on that! 

I hope you join me in this challenge!  I really want to stop procrastinating, although I do believe that some of my best design work is best achieved while under pressure... so maybe Linda can help me with that issue.  See the previous post to see learn about Linda, the creator of the PNM project!!

Here's the Official 21 List!

P - take Pictures of beads, Post some every week (kind of a double P!) 2/13
R
O
C
R
A
S
T
I
N
A
T
I
O
N

N
O

M
O
R
E

I am NOT procrastinating!

HAHA!  I posted on Thursday about a 'procrastination project' and said I would tell you about it on Friday!  NO, I didn't post it.... but it was NOT because I was procrastinating!  I seriously have some issues when it comes to deadlines and getting things accomplished, I am the FIRST to admit!  Yesterday was just a busy day because my hubby was heading out of town with the kids and I had to wash clothes, pack, etc...

OK, so what is this Procrastination Project?  Well, one of my gal-pals, LINDA, who I met through one of my stamp design teams WHIMSIE DOODLES was posting about this on her blog HERE.  What I didn't realize is that this wasn't something that she had found some where else!  This is a project she came up with herself, having a background in counseling!  WELL NOW, that gives it some substance doesn't it!?

Instead of me trying to give you all of the details about it each and every day AND ALSO so that you don't just get my view, I suggest you read and follow LINDA's BLOG too each day about this and her experiences with it.  She has already started doing the project/exercise which takes three weeks to do in its entirety.

When I emailed her about this, this is what she wrote me:

'The procrastination project I started is as much to help me as others. It takes 21 days to establish a new habit... PROCRASTINATION NO MORE has 21 letters....so taking a letter a day you do something you have been procrastinating about....P could be 'put away holiday dishes' or 'paint closet door'.....something you need to do. Each day for 21 days do something you have been procrastinating about.'

I also asked about her background so that I could share with you all her experience a bit:

'I have a BS in elementary ed., a M.Ed. in administration/supervision, and am a Certified Elementary Counselor. I taught elementary ed. for 8 years, was a school counselor for 7, and worked with families of students for 10 years as the Parenting Coordinator. '
 
So, now what I am supposed to do is create 21 things out of those letters that I have been procrastinating! WOW, that's a job!  I haven't had time to do that yet, but will get to it as soon as I can! I don't know if I have the gumption to share the list of 21 things PRIOR to doing them, though.  That really would make me commit to it, HAHA!  I know a few things off the top of my head that NEED to be addressed, like getting the mud off of my long coat from a year ago... or was that two years ago?  OH MY!  I do need HELP!
 
Well, my tummy is growling at me, gonna go drink some water and take a shower and then see how hungry I really am.  Most of the time our body just needs water and we put food in where we don't need to!  So, by the way, you can also follow my trip to losing the ALMOST 10 lbs I just gained over the holidays!  I know that doesn't sound like much, but for me, that is a lot!  Especially when I was just 10 lbs away from my GOAL!  SO, now I am back to almost 20 lbs to my goal!  That sucks, huh?  Halloween candy + three kids + a hubby who loves pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving + traveling + Christmas cookies and pies + traveling again + candy canes and homemade candy from a friend + no will power to say "NO" = 10 returning lbs!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Did I mention that I was in single digit jeans for a day?! HAHAHAAA!  So, I guess I can put it out there, I weigh 142, I was down to 130 for ONE DAY, then hovered around 132 for a month.  Figured out I had a fractured ankle, had screws put in which made it worse and obviously couldn't exercise for months on end seeing as how I was on crutches for 2 months and in a walking boot for another 6 weeks or more.... took off boot around October and then the holiday FOODS commenced! HA!  My ankle is still problematic, I still walk with a limp when I get out of bed each day and at times my ankle is so swollen I can hardly bend it.  So, exercising has its issues too.  BUT I am bound and determined to get back to 135, that is 7lbs, totally doable, if I would just stop buying snacks for the kids, but can't do that!  So, I guess I should just stop snacking off of their left over cheetos! HEE HEE!
 
My goal is 120, which I know sounds small, but I am a tiny framed person at just 5' 3" and was 105 at age 30 when I got remarried in 2001.  And that was without exercising but 2 or 3 days a week by just 'walking'!  Of course I have had three kids (within three years time, and none are twins) since then and my gut needs to be cosmetically removed.  No elasticity has been left, so I have a sharpei puppy on my abdomen that needs to be taken off.  Over 9" to be exact, according to the surgeon I had a consult with.  Of course when I come up with a spare $10K I will get it done, Hubby okay'd it, but till then, I will just keep shoving it down my jeans! HAHA! 
 
SORRY if that was TMI, but like I said, this is not just my family blog, but also my personal blog, too, so if you don't like frankness, then you may not be interested in reading my posts!  I will try to soften the edges at the appropriate times, ok?  Well, if you are still reading this, and want to do the PROCRASTINATION NO MORE with me, then comment and link me to your blog!  IF you don't have a blog then get one started!  You can even have a blog that is closed and private, but just available to me and a few of your close friends, etc, so that we can support each other with comments and stuff!  How does that sound?  Email me if you would like, also!  My email is in my profile!
 
I will be back with my 21 things and then will post a day when I will begin doing this!  It won't be tomorrow, I will need a few days myself to get some other commitments wrapped up so I can really focus on letting this experience work my brain the way it needs to!  So, go get your 21 things written down!  I know that one of my "T" letters is to 'Toothbrush dust all of the grooves of my bedroom set'.  This set was purchased as my parents wedding gift to each other back in 1966 and was over $4K then!  So you know it is a nice, solid wood bed set, but the grooves and crevices have years of caked in gunk.  I need a soft bristle brush and some water and a nice butt-pillow to get this task done, but I have been wanting to do it for YEARS, so that is ONE item that WILL be tackled on a "T" day! 
 
OK, that is that, back soon!  And I hope to hear from you via email or commenting here!
 

Hugs and Blessings to you !!

Are You a Procrastinator like ME?

Well, if you are, then I have a project for you to do WITH ME!  Tune in tomorrow for details!

OH, by the way, this isn't JUST my family blog, but also my personal blog, so to speak!  SO, get ready to STOP procrastinating! OK!?

OK!!

Back Friday!

The beginning of our FAMILY BLOG

With beautiful kids like these, why shouldn't I blog about them?

Seriously, I am doing this because I am going to be separating my paper-crafts from my jewelry/gift line and figured I should find a place to post about my family for the rest of my extended family that doesn't live near us..... which would be EVERYONE, since no one lives in the same town that we do!

Since I don't scrapbook (GASP! I KNOW, SHAME ON ME!) I figure I should at least blog and keep some type of record of their childhood, so that they can look back at this and remember!

I am leaving this open to the public, so my friends, family and fellow-followers can read about me and my family just for fun!  I think you get to really know a person better by seeing their family and how they interact with things of the sort, so please enjoy!

The oldest one, is my JOSH.  He's from my first marriage and is now a freshman at Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis.  He is studying accounting and business.  He's pretty darn sharp even though he won't admit it.  He will be 20 in May... I don't look that old, do I?  Eeeeek!  He works at Conseco Fieldhouse (where the Indianapolis Pacers play) parttime and so he gets to enjoy concerts, monster trucks, and stuff of the like including Pacer games!  NICE job, huh?

The other three are my kiddos from my second marriage, which I am still in! LOL!  I am so funny!  HA!

From the left, is KayLee, my only daughter.  She will be 7 in May (the day before Josh turns 20) and is currently a 1st grader with nothing below a 98% on her report card!  She's a drama queen, but we love her anyway.

Then in the middle is Eli.  He is 12 1/2 months older than KayLee, and will be 8 in April.  His bone age xray that he had taken last year says his bones think he is 2 years younger than he is, so he's the tiniest in his class.  BUT you wouldn't know it with how he can wrestle, play baseball and basketball.  He's quite an athlete, keeping up with the best of 'em.  And boy can he RUN.  Seriously, I wish they had track at this age!  He is also a very good student, but he is JOSH done over, and has issues with reading comprehension, so I already know what I am in for with this because of Josh! HA!

Lastly is Isaac.  He is 23 months younger than KayLee and will be five in April (five days before Eli turns 8).  If you do the math quickly, yes, that is three kids UNDER three years.  NOW do you know why I am so batty? HA!  Isaac is VERY smart and taught himself how to read before he turned four.  He still has issues with his speech clarity, but it is getting better by the week.  He can already do KayLee's homework, so I hope he isn't too bored when he goes to kindergarten next fall!

Well, that is the background on the kids!  I don't plan on updating this on a regular schedule, just when something calls for it.  KayLee has a part in the Valentine's program in February, so I will have some pics of that I am sure.  Besides that, I will be working on getting the jewelry blog up and running so I can open it to the public!  I really am excited to get that up and running again after the horrible year I had last year medically because of a fractured ankle gone sour.  That's a long story, but suffice it to say, I am almost fully recovered and finally have the desire to create new items, custom orders too, using my sterling silver, lampwork beads and Swarovski crystals!  When I open that I will announce it here, there and everywhere! 

Ta Ta for now!