Poop Face

Yes, you read that correctly. Poop face. (Yes, yes I'll explain, just hold your horses!)

We're doing a monthly team challenge over on Bree's Team Blog called Mix It Up. Once a month, we pick a template, and then scramble it all up and make something TOTALLY different with it, and then show the LO's off. A lot of people think that once they use a template, that's it, game over. NO WAY MAN!! That's what we aim to show you with the Mix It Up posts (the challenge will be up sometime today). Kim picked a LO from Bree's newest Collection, #23:


As soon as I saw the 3 smaller photos, I knew I wanted to do a LO with my scanned pics of my brother and sister and I as babies. So next, I hunted for pics of us as babies in similar positions. I had a few to choose from for my brother and sister, but there was really only one for me. So, I edited the pics, changed them to a sepia tone to match the kit I was using ("Heart Strings" by Laurie Ann) and went to town. I REALLY like how it turned out. I used all the pieces that came in the template and didn't even resize or change them. I just moved them into different positions (and changed the large photo to a block in the center. Here's the LO:



So I'm in the top left, Caitlin is top right, and Patrick is on the bottom (hence the little monogram type letters on the photos). Now, look at that face I am making. If that is not a "I'm pooping" baby face, then I don't know what is. I STILL cannot stop laughing just looking at it!! What a moment to catch on film, thanks Mom and Dad! Hahahahahaha! Oh goodness, I love it.

So last weekend Jordan went through the GIANT PILE of clothes that has been sitting in the corner of our bedroom for over a year now, waiting to be sorted and taken over to Goodwill. I decided that instead of holding onto some 10 pairs of jeans that no longer fit, I was going to donate them. I'm tired of the subconscious pressure I put on myself to lose weight every single time I opened the closet and saw those jeans. So, peace out jeans! Hello clear conscience!
I bought 2 new pairs of American Eagle jeans, and I feel like a new person. Yes, they're a size 12 and it still makes me cringe a little to think that (I thought 10 was bad enough), but they FIT! Comfortably! No doing lunges in the morning in a lame attempt at stretching them out to make them easier to get on! I feel good in the morning. It feels awesome.
Yea, I still wanna lose weight. We're getting an exercise bike for Christmas and I hope to get myself on it M/W/F and really make an effort at it. But you know what? If I don't, I'm not gonna let it get to me. I look HAWT in my wedding gown right now, as a size 10/12. Yea, it would be nice to lose 10lbs (more like 20 but whatever), but I figure if I don't, and my wedding isn't motivation enough, then it's not meant to be. Jordan loves me despite the size of my jeans, and that's all that really matters.

So, if you're hanging onto old clothes because you plan on losing weight to fit back into them, just get rid of them. There are plenty of ppl out there who can put them to good use RIGHT NOW, and when you do lose the weight, do you really want to wear old stuff? Heck no! You want fun new clothes for yourself! So let goooooo of the baggage!!

So in crafty news, I followed along on Tim Holtz' blog for his 12 days of tags (I triiiiied to get on here to post about it, and then never did, oops). Absolutely amazing and inspiration stuff here folks. Makes me want to run out and buy every single he makes or touches. For reals. It also makes me want to run home and get my hands all dirty and play :) I bought a little wooden house back in October to make a Haunted House with, but now I think I'm going to make a "gingerbread" house with it instead. HOPEFULLY I can work on that sometime this week. But I suppose we shall see.

Oh, and remember that whole "I'm going to bed early" thing from yesterday? Totally didn't happen. I got sucked into finishing that LO and was up til 11:30. Awesome. LOL! At least I'm only working Monday and Tuesday next week, so I'll have lots of time to catch up on my sleep :)

Ok, I think that's all I wanted to say today. Or at least it needs to be so I can finish off this plan sheet. :p
Have a great day!
~Col

What? 2 days in a row?

Saaaa-weeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!

I'm just tired of working on this plan set. Drafting gets to me after a while. So, I came here to be a little random for a bit.

1.) I bought this adorable hat off etsy ( crafttealady.etsy.com is the shop I got it at). I wasn't sure it would look good on me, but it was red and cream and screamed my name until my willpower crumbled and I bought it. I fought the urge for a good 2 minutes! :p Turns out though? I look freaking CUTE in this hat! And I don't care what Jordan thinks, I'm wearing it all the time now. Well, not all the time, but you know what I mean. :)



2.) I really like my most recent LO. I didn't even know I had gotten that smaller photo, and I totally love it. I'm gonna print it and frame it and stick it somewhere I can see it everyday :) The kit is Preppy Autumn by Traci Reed and it's one of my most favorite kits of hers!


3.) Jordan bought a huge tv for the bedroom this week. Found a deal he couldn't pass up, and we just got our bonus checks from work, so, he bought it. It's 46 freaking inches! Unnecessary for a bedroom I think, but whatever. I know better than to argue with him on some things. I voiced my opinion on the size and it was disregarded and that's life. And besides, who complains about a pimp 46" tv?!?! I'll just be buying one of the things on my "Camera stuff I HAVE TO HAVE" list next month for my birthday :)

4.) What the fuck kind of time warp do you get thrown into when you graduate college? CHRISTMAS IS IN 8 FREAKING DAYS!! When did that happen??? Thank god for a free month of Amazon Prime and free 2 day shipping, that's all I'm gonna say on that matter.

5.) If I don't get Tiger to the vet this week, I'm gonna hurt myself. She's overdue for shots by about 2 weeks, which isn't a big deal, except one of them is her rabies shot. Which I find mildly important. *pauses* She has an appt at 11:10 on saturday morning. Done. Excellent.

6.) I've been EXHAUSTED lately. Staying up too late is not good for me, especially not for like a week straight. I'll be going to bed early tonight, come hell or high water!

7.) I never shared this LO and it's FREAKING ADORABLE. So I'm sharing it now. The kit is "Jingle Baby" by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Meg Mullens. Isn't my lil bro CUTE?!



8.) I think that's all for today. It was extra random, you'll need time to recover. ;)

Have a great day!
~Col

2 weeks! Sheesh!

Man, I was all excited about posting every day for December Daily. We all see how well that turned out! LOL! It's ok though, because I'm still thinking about the project and taking pictures, and making notes about what I want to write down and such. One of these days when I catch my breath, I'll get some stuff done for it. I'm not too worried about it :) I did get a few photos edited to share though, so here are those!

The double rainbows on the 1st that I posted about. The second is hard to see, but I know it's there and that's all that matters :p


Jordan and I at our company party on the 3rd (hard to edit, our faces are a little blown, but whatevs)


The beautiful sunrise that greeted us as we left for work on the 8th


Work has been crazy, the holiday season has been crazy, life is just crazy right now. All sorts of little things have popped up here and there that end up taking a ton of time. But, that's life, and this holiday season has been wonderful. Lots of time with friends and family, and I'm so thankful for that. But man, it'll be nice when the craziness is gone again! LOL! I still can't believe that Christmas is only 9 days away. That's some kind of crazy holiday time warp that's going on! Thankfully 95% percent of the presents have been bought and have arrived, so all I have to do is get to wrapping and making gift tags. Wrapping is my favorite part, so I think I'll save that for this saturday morning when I can do it in some peace and quiet while the boys are still sleeping. We're doing big fat NOTHING this weekend and I can't wait :) I'm hoping to get to finally sit down and put some of these December Daily and Journal Your Christmas thoughts down in my album. I really love the base that I set up for it, so I'm excited to get stuff put in it :) I am really really loving the prompts we get every day for the JYC class.

I think that's enough rambling for today. Hopefully I'll be back soon with another post and some of my album to share!!
Have a great day!
~Col

December 1st!!

Hooray! It's December! I can finally start decorating for Christmas! WOOT!

After a long weekend of traveling, I'm pretty exhausted. I shouldn't really be, but I am. Who knows. Thanksgiving was great, it was so good to see Jordan's family in Pittsburgh. I got to visit with Julie and my wonderful little "niece" Olivia. Naturally, I had plans of taking a bajillion photos of everything, and then didn't snap a single one! Oy! LOL!

This December, I'm working on a project with a bunch of friends from the Sweet Shoppe. We're following along with Ali Edwards "December Daily" project. Documenting the things that we do through the holiday season. Many people are doing it as more of a "Holiday Daily" and started on friday, to document all the things that are done throughout the holiday season. I am starting today, and will go a little ways into January as well, to document our time spent with Jordan's family over New Year's (we spend New Year's with whichever side of the family we don't see at Christmas).

I also signed up for another class, that is a December Daily in a different way. It's called "Journal Your Christmas" and is run by a woman named Shimelle. You can click away to read more about it :)


I need to download and read today's prompt still. I wasn't planning on using a photo for today, but then as I was driving home through the rain, I saw a double rainbow!! SO COOL! So I had to snap a few shots of that, luckily my point-and-shoot was in purse :) I'll get that one posted tomorrow. I like Ali's approach in that she doesn't do anything for that day until the end of it, or the next. You can't do it before it's happened, you know? :)

Aside from that, life is good. Work is still busy, and now I've got all kinds of holiday projects to work on. Unfortunately I've also been sucked into the world of Twilight, not that I'm surprised. I get this way with books. Especially good books. I just get so wrapped up in the story, that I can NOT put it down to work on something else! Even worse with a series of books. Thank goodness I read Harry Potter last summer (in just a few weeks), I got NOTHING else done while I was reading those! LOL! Thankfully, I'm on the last book now. It'll definitely be done in a few days. I swore I wasn't going to read any tonight, and then I read 145 pages. I figured I would read while ACDSee unzipped my goodies from the digi sales this weekend. And naturally, once that was done (all of like 10 minutes, had to do it 3 times to get them all saved everywhere I needed) I was a goner. Thankfully this last book is broken into small sections. Not that it matters, the first section ended with such a freaking cliff hanger I'm DYING to get through the next section and get back to the first character (that was probably confusing, lol, sorry). See! I'm even rambling when I WRITE about Twilight!! I never should've resisted so long, what a fool I was! LOL!

Ok, ok, enough is enough. I have scrappy stuff to do! Have a great night, I'll hopefully be back tomorrow :)
~Col

Rambling Tuesday

So, I'm getting sick. I can feel it. My throat hurts, my back is achy and my stomach has been acting up for a few days. So NOT how I want to spend Thanksgiving weekend and 10 hours in the car (give or take). I'm drinking tea and sucking on Halls like my life depends on it.

This weekend I finally finished a hybrid project I've had in the works for what seems like forever. It took a long time to paint it (2 coats) and then it took forever to finish it off (waiting for the mod podge to dry). But, I love it. I'm probably going to make a few more and give them to friends with little girls as christmas presents. It's small, but perfect for little bows and hair ties and barrettes :) I couldn't get all the yellow tones out completely in post processing, but it's a cream colored paint. I used the new kit by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Susan Bartolini, called "Live.Laugh.Love."




Since Thanksgiving isn't over yet, I have not done anything in terms of Christmas. No listening to Christmas music, no decorating house, nothing. I HATE that right after Halloween the stores started pimping their Christmas schtuff. I love Christmas as much as the next person, but come on! Give Thanksgiving a CHANCE! My designers however, have had Christmas on the brain for a while. So here are 2 LO's using recent releases.
"Tis the Season" using Arose Such a Clatter by Julie Billingsley:


And "Where are the Presents??" using And to All A Good Night by Traci Reed and Meg Mullens:


I'm looking forward to decorating the house for the season. I love the smell of the tree (which I'm sure will be 3 times bigger than necessary since Jordan goes and gets it while I prep for it's arrival), the look of the house with the lights on, and all the little details. I'm thinking of starting one of those little villages on our buffet in the dining room. My moms parents had a huge elaborate one, and I always remembered that about their tree. Grandpa built a special platform for it to sit on and everything was laid out (to perfection as that is Grandpa's way) so that all the cords were hidden underneath and out of the way. I did go ahead and buy some pretty new stockings from Pottery Barn a few weeks ago (did I mention that? I can't remember). They're going to look so cute hanging up under the cutout in the kitchen wall. I have the BG ornament set (I can't remember if it's from the Dasher or Figgy Pudding lines) so I want to get those made to hang around the house. I have so many projects I want to do! LOL! Not to mention all the gifts I want to make. I need to put on my Uber-Productive hat in the next few weeks! At least I can knit my little hands off in the car all weekend.

We're leaving for Pittsburgh on thursday morning (to try and avoid traffic). Doing random stuff on friday, including taking one of Jordan's sisters to try on the bridesmaid dress so we can order the right size. I'm hopefully meeting up with my girlfriend on friday at some point to hang out. Saturday we're driving to central PA to visit more of Jordan's family. We're either coming back that night, or spending the night there and coming home on sunday. Phew. It's a lot of car time. Thankfully we're taking the comfy new car and this time I'm riding shotgun :)

Oh! And we found a wedding photographer! After much arguing and disagreeing between myself and Jordan, he made the wise statement "Whatever you want." I think he's learning ;) We're going to go with Roy from Black Dog Photography. Friends of ours recommended them, and I'm confident they'll deliver the photojournalist style that I'm looking for, mixed in with traditional posed shots. We're having 1 for 5 hours and 1 for 8 hours. It was really important to me to have a second shooter. I want to have pictures of the guys getting ready, as well as some different angles of shots from the ceremony and then an extra pair of eyes at the cocktail hour. After the cocktail hour, Roy will probably take off, and the second shooter will stay until around cake cutting time. Just thinking about it all gets me so excited! Lol!

Well, I think I've babbled enough for today. Tomorrow I'll stop in with one of my other holiday projects (which is kind of 2 combined into 1). :)

Have a great day, and if I don't see you tomorrow, Happy Thanksgiving!!
~Col

Freaking Hysterical

I missed SNL (as usual) this week, but my sister shared this gem with me last night.
I almost peed my pants. "We're grinding." "I thought that was obvious!"

Justin Timberlake as "Single lady" with Beyoncé
by glide64

That is all for today I think. :) Have a great day!
~Col

New Hair, New wedding photographer, new new new!

It's amazing the effect an hour or two of pampering has on the soul. I went and got my hair done yesterday, and today I'm on top of the world! Jordan is not so happy with the haircut though. He didn't talk to me for like an hour after I got home. He doesn't like short hair on women at all, and we went a little shorter than normal this time. I kinda feel bad that he hates it so much, but I really like my hair short! He'll get over it I suppose, but I'm thinking of growing it out for the wedding now. It won't be nearly as long as I would like, but we'll see. I don't have to make a decision for another 3 months when it's time to get the highlights redone, LOL! Now if only I could stop biting my freaking nails, we'll be set!

We've been having a really good few weeks. We got into an arguement about 2.5-3 weeks ago about our living situation. But then we talked again later that night, and I feel a lot better about the whole situation. We still disagree, but at least I feel like he understands where I'm coming from now. So we'll see what happens in the next few months. The best part though, is that since we had the arguement and discussion, we've been better than ever. We've been extra snuggly and lovey dovey, even at work. I think I get more excited about the wedding every single day. :)

Shutterfly is having another card sale, so I'm hoping to get our Save the Dates done in the next few days and get some of them ordered. The Christmas cards came out awesome, so I'm confident I'll be happy with the Save the Dates too. I want to do cards since so many ppl are coming from out of town, I'm going to make up an information type packet to send with the save the dates. Places to eat, things to do, stuff like that. Since we're having the rehearsal on friday night and the wedding on sunday, everyone will have saturday free to do whatever they want. Which I think is going to work out really well. Or at least I hope :P

We also have to find a new wedding photographer. We were going to use a family friend, but some drama-rama has erupted. I would rather find a new photographer now, than worry and stress about it for the next 11 months. If things work out, the family friend will come as a guest, no big deal. Thankfully, we're still 11 months out, so we shouldn't have too much trouble booking someone. Plus, now I can find a photog who matches MY style, which will make me that much happier with the final product. I started searching yesterday and found some good prospects, so I'm excited to make contact with them and get the process started.

SSD is down for the next 2 days while they revamp the site and switch the store over to x-cart. I'm going through withdrawls, it's pathetic, LOL! The only good thing is that the designers are putting out tooooooooons of great products for the big reveal on saturday :) I've gotta goodies coming out of my ears! Lol! My mojo is still kinda missing, but Bree's templates save the day.

I've got serious craft ADD at home lately. Saturday I woke up and started working on a paper album. After breakfast I decided to finish sewing the 2nd curtain for the spare room upstairs. Then I started a digi LO. Then I finished the curtain, and started painting things to prep for hybrid projects. Then I started knitting 2 different projects for Christmas presents. I might officially be insane.

Today is rainy and gross. I forgot to bring anything for lunch, and we're out of lunchmeat. Fast food here I come! Lol!

Have a great day everyone :)
~Col

Truthful Tuesday #5

Sometimes, I forget that this blog is public domain, and not just a journal for myself. But out there for people to read, and possibly be hurt by.

For that, I truly apologize. I never meant to hurt anyone. I got too wrapped up in my own shit, and didn't take anything else into account before posting.

I apologize, and I hope that I am forgiven.

Lesson learned. Bigtime.

~Col

Proud Mama Moment!!

Ok. So everyone knows that Tiger is a pit bull mix (American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier mix). And a lot of people will read that and automatically think "OMG THOSE DOGS ARE VICIOUS!!!" If you thought that just now, and have no desire to hear any other opinion, please leave this blog now.

I work to fight that stereotype every single day. I always hope I can educate people and change some minds, and I know that I have. I work hard to make sure that Tiger is well behaved in public, and she's always friendly and a good Breed Ambassador.

Now, there are some things that as a pit owner, I'm inherently wary of at all times. One, is children. She loves them and wants to play, but doesn't understand her own size and strength. She ends up chasing them cuz she thinks it's a game, when really they are running in terror (I learned this very quickly when I first had her and there were a lot of kids in the apt complex). So, there's no playing with kids who are running around and being loud. She's perfectly ok with quiet children who aren't running and screaming, but otherwise, not so much. By the time we have kids she'll be like 10 years old and will have hopefully slowed down (considering she's 4.5 and still a maniac, I'm not holding my breath; it's more like praying).

The other thing, is other dogs. Tiger is an extremely dominant personality. She was a complete asshole the first 2 months I had her until I laid down the law and forced her to respect me. She is very much like a child who tests their boundaries at every chance. Except she won't grow out of it, lol. When I found her in the shelter, she was 1.5 and had been there about 6 months. Before that, the shelter said that as far as they knew she had lived on the streets. This means she had ZERO positive training with respect to other dogs and proper manners. As a pit bull, there is also always the issue of dog aggressive behavior. That is part of the breed, like it or not. Each dog is different and some dogs never ever display any aggression towards other dogs. But, you always have to be wary.

Since Tiger is so dominant, she often has issues with other dogs. But, she's also totally unpredictable with respect to what dogs she will like or not like. She likes most small dogs, whether male or female. This is because she can easily dominate them, so she doesn't feel threatened by them and can play without incident (unless the other dog is an asshole with a Napolean complex who starts shit first). She gets along with males, in general, better than females. She loooooooooved to play with the big male boxer across the street at our place. She HATES my friend Krissie's big female shephard, Titan. Like, barking and growling and freaking out if they even made eye contact from 30' away. Kind of scary actually.

Anyway. So my friend Emily bought a female American Bulldog in the spring, Kona. We always said we would get them together while she was young and small so that Tiger would be comfortable with her and they could be friends. And then life got in the way and Emily and I could barely meet up let alone get the dogs together. Such is life.

So this weekend, Emily decided to come over and watch the PSU game (I'm in denial, I don't want to talk about it, friggen IOWA?!?!?! UGH!). She asked if I thought Tiger would get along with Kona. I told her I had no idea, but to bring her so we could give it a try. If Tiger was a huge asshole, I would separate her into another room for the time they were here. No big deal.

Well Tiger and Kona are now totally BFF!! I was sooooooooooooooooooo happy to see them running around like maniacs, playing fetch together, wrestling and boxing, and just generally being cute lovable dogs. Tiger is very vocal when she plays, but Kona didn't seem to mind. Kona was submissive and Tiger only tried to hump her once (which I put a stop to, because that's just poor manners). Tiger didn't even get mad when Kona snuck in and stole away the tennis ball or the stick from her! I think all the time she spent at the lake over the past 2 summers, being forced to share the stick with the big mean labs, has really helped her out a LOT!

So, here are few photos :)
Emily and Kona


Kona


And now Tigah-now and her new BFF Kona :)




This is one proud momma :)
Talk to you later bloggers!
~Col

Civic Duty - Check Mark

I voted today, did you?

I could not in good conscience vote for either Obama or McCain. Neither of their ideals match with mine completely. I'm truly, a middle of the road voter. And there's no one out there for me (although considering most Republicans hate McCain because he IS more middle of the road, we disagree on several important things to me).

So today, when I pushed the nifty little touch screen to cast my vote, I cast it for Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party.

I know some of you are thinking: "But that's a waste! He'll never win! Why did you bother?!"

Because it's not a waste.
Because the state of Maryland will go to Senator Obama whether I vote for or against him. 3 or 4 counties in this state override the rest of the state, and thus MD will go to the Democrats. So in reality, a vote for McCain is a waste. He has NO chance in this state.

But voting for anyone else sends a message.
It sends the message that I'm fed up with the 2 party system.
It sends the message that the Democratic and Republican candidates AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH.
It sends the message that it's time for a 3rd party and a stop this nonsense.

The more people vote for a 3rd party (any 3rd party for all I care), the bigger the message.
The more votes a 3rd party gets, the greater the chances of getting federal funding for a future campaign, which brings us closer to a REAL 3 party system.

Cuz let's be serious. This 2 party nonsense is getting old, and it's NOT WORKING.
I didn't vote for the incumbent in Congress either. They aren't working out too well either, now are they?

Congress is going to have a HUGE impact in the coming years. And too many people didn't even research their congressional candidates. They think "Oh, well it's not MY guy that's the problem, it's everyone else, so I'm voting for him again." Where does that get us? NO WHERE! We end up with the same bunch of boobs in Congress making a mess of things and wasting away our money!

I am so thankful that after tonight (for the most part) this mess of an election is over.
And I truly pray for the state of this country in the future, regardless of who is elected.

I don't care who you vote for. Just get out and vote!

~Col