Susan... Here... Carol... Here... Lisa... ABSENT!

I feel like I'm in trouble, like I missed roll call at school or something because I've been absent from this baby! I have a few reasons but too personal to share... sorry, no explanations.. :)
I have one reason to share with you though, we've been busy setting up my daughter's Barnes & Noble Color Nook. 

Photo courtesy of Google Pics

My 8 year old is a reader... and when I say reader, I mean READERRRR! She can easily conquer 6 chapter books (3rd-5th grade level) in a week! A WEEK! Yes, she out-reads me by far! So she has successfully filled up 2 bookshelves, about 650 books in her "library", the next step for us was to get her a Nookcolor, in hopes that she can read all the free books and then get some B&N giftcards for her birthday to hold her over for a while.  I don't even keep track of how much I spend on books for her so hopefully this will work, and what's good is that she can access the internet, her email, radio, download music and movies all on this little baby! :) Now... we just have to figure it all out. haha

Motivation?

I forgot to mention in an earlier post that there is SOME motivation for me to lose weight. When I say some.. it's not for the right reasons. I should want to lose weight because it will better my health, because I will be more active, because it will help with my back pain, etc. But some of the onlyyyyy motivation I have to lose weight is for Fashion. 

Lauren from Busy Bee Lauren is a fashionista!

She does an outfit a day post, she always looks so put together, cutesy, I wanna be like her!
I really have no fashion sense and I wanted to blame it on my Army years because really, my outfit was picked out for me daily, I had no choice, so then I reverted to sweats and t-shirts after work because it was easy. Now that I think about it though, I'm not quite sure I had such a great sense of fashion BEFORE the Army. So either way, I have no fasion sense... the end.. HELP!

Idea from Between 3 Sisters

I want to be able to wear this (above) without looking like a fool, okay, maybe not the shoes because I remember having some of those bad boys when I was little and I don't think I liked them then either! But I love the jacket, and no you can't tell me it would look fine in a XL, because really, it doesn't... I know... 

Fashion from Forever 21

To not have to worry about my upper arms look big would be wonderful! Something flim fitting around my waist would be great, I want to be comfortable instead of wearing things to "hide" this or "hide" that, and without having to suck it in all the time. It's hard being a bigger girl when you know you can be different. I don't want to be "ok" with being my size because I don't want to get stuck feeling like this is the right size for me, because it's not, I know that and I know I just need to make the change.

From Anthropologie...

Being able to wear something cropped at the waist rather than making sure it is long enough to cover my butt would be ideal. Am I the only one that dresses like this? Questioning every reason why I am wearing something. Is this long enough, loose enough, hiding enough, etc? Just writing this is making me crazy! I don't know how I deal with it all going through my head all the time... Well I hope it changes, ASAP!

Don't forget the coupon section!

I know you all probably look at the Hobby Lobby and Michaels websites daily like me but just in case you don't have the time or you need a one stop shop, I've uploaded direct links to their coupons and sale papers in the "Coupon" section above! :)

Happy Crafting!

Totally Un-Craft related...

Ok.. so life happens, we all can't stay home and craft 24-7 like we want to.. or at least like I want to. I work a full time job, and take care of 3 girls and my husband. Well my husband is pretty self-sufficient (wink). So what is a girl to do, especially when she has a blog about crafting but has yet to post anything crafty on her site???
She changes the subject.... drastically!

Weight! It's the one thing that I despise. I just can't get motivation to do what I need to do, lose it! I know how, believe me, I've done it before, I was in the Army and I know what I need to do. It's just getting myself out of bed that I can't seem to do, and it seems like that would be the easiest part!

I can make an excuse for everything, life is too busy, I'm tired, I'm sick, I'm sick and tired, I have to do this, or that, I have no time, I'm not a morning person, my knee hurts, my back hurts, I have a migraine.... I'm sure I'm not the only one that complains but really, I can go on and on and I'm not sure why since the only one I'm hurting is myself. It's pathetic really... I'm smart about it really, I know the pros and cons and I know how to lose the weight.. and unfortunately I also know how to AVOID losing the weight.
So as always my number 1 New Year Resolution for 2011 is to lose weight, 40 pounds to be precise! I've gained these 40 pounds over about 5 years so I'm hoping to really get them off this year and keep them off! 
So step one to losing weight, join a gym...

Check! I joined Snap Fitness, close to home!

Step two to losing weight... GO TO THE GYM! I have yet to check that off since I've only been a member for less than 24 hours... Step three.... cut out sugars, for me this is a HUGE part of my downfall! I LOVE chocolate, I love cake, I love chocolate cake, cookies, ice cream, well you get the idea. Sugar is my BFF.
Step four... create a do-able schedule, which for me means I need to wake up at o'dark thirty to work out otherwise by the evening I have no energy to run or sweat or even think about running.
Step five.. which really should be step ONE, stop making excuses!

So since I skipped the gym this morning, I get to go home and make myself do this...


Last chance workout!!!! I {heart} Jillian... really I do..

So, while you all are enjoying the comforts of your couch, and dinner, and whatever else you do on Tuesday night, I will be working out.. then I will be watching the new episode of The Biggest Loser on tonight.
Just send some motivational thoughts my way, I need them.... BADLY!

Blog Candy?

Looks like Melissa over at Needful Things is giving away some awesome blog candy! Go over, say hello and repost the blog candy, the winner will be chosen on February 1, 2011. Good luck!

Here's what's included:

Complete Collection Kit for The Thrift Shop by October Afternoon
214 Piece Collection Kit of Apple Jack, by Sassafras
Autumn Leaves Scribbles Number stamp set
Autumn Leaves Scribbles Alpha stamp set
Autumn Leaves Talking in circles (boy) stamp set
Autumn Leaves Flower Stamps stamp set
Autumn Leaves Messy Dates stamp set

GREAT STUFF!

Crafting can be anything!

I really don't think that Crafting has a definition... I think of it as anything like handmade items, baking, painting, sewing, anything that you can think of and create. One of my goals for 2011 is to become a better baker, or a baker period... I bake when I have to, which means on Birthdays when I need a cake!  So I am reading up on baking, checking out the baking blogs and figuring out what exactly I want to learn first! I love all the different techniques and colors and there are sooooo many different things you can do, I'm always in awe of what I see in the blog world!
I mentioned her the other day for her art, and today her cake looked so good that I had to show you all. 

The delicious cake picture is from Goldiloks, isn't it amazing!

She also has some beautiful hand painted cookies on her blog today, so go check her out! I just want to dig in!
Next, she does cookies and cakes, and both are lovely. Today she's talking about a Valentine cake, decorated 3 ways, she goes through the process of each one and they might  be something I can do! :)


Go on over to I am Baker and enjoy all of her wonderful baking tips and ideas!

Ok, I don't know how many of you loved or even read Twilight series, but I avoided them as long as I could. I read a lot but I really wasn't interested in reading about vampires and such, but since the books got SOOOOO much hype, I gave in! This cake is the BEST cake that I have since in dedication to the books. If you google you will see.... there are more but this is by far GREAT!

It come from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, I love this cake!

And if you love everything cookies and cupcakes you'll check out her blog for Tuesday's post! She shows her Cookie Cake Cupcakes! To... die.... for....
And if this cake is way too much for you... you can try to tone it down, and go with something not so crazy but still so wonderfully delicious!

Like these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling from 17 And Baking.

So on that note.... I think I'm going to go grab dessert... umm I mean... LUNCH! :)

Tiny Hands deserve Tiny Gloves!

It usually doesn't get too cold in Albuquerque, we can usually go through the winter without using gloves, sometimes without wearing a beanie. This winter..... not the case, we've had one snowstorm, and the wind hurts my skin. Yesterday we woke up to 10 degree weather, highly unusual for us! I had to make sure the girls were warm going to school but really didn't anticipate it before so my Nevaeh, who is tinyyyy, had gloves about 5 sizes too big for her. Without having to run out to the store and buy some, I know they probably have some at the Dollar Tree but I had some in my hand, just the WRONG size.

So what do us crafters do? We make do with what we have, we fix it!

 Gloves.. huge gloves, first off, I love them because they are long enough around the wrist that they can put them under their shirt and no cold gets through, another reason I didn't run out and get some, because if you've ever shopped for tiny gloves, they end at the wrist and I don't like them.

 Even though she's smiling she's wondering what the heck is wrong with her gloves! They were a gift so we made them work.

Even though she makes them work, they don't fit at all!

So I turned them inside out, and had her try them on, marked with a red pen about where her fingertips were. I ended up having to do this twice because the first time I did them they were still too big.

 I ran the fingertips through the sewing machine on the lines... I know it looks crazy but they're inside out here so they look better, I promise.   I sewed them back and forth a few times, so when I cut the tips they wouldn't fray and end up with holes.

 This is still inside out, and this is about what I took off the tips and I even took some in on the side so they fit a little more snug around her wrist.  

This was after the first run through, I ended up going back and rounding off the edges more and fixing all the wonky tips. But look at how well they fit now! She loves them!

Excuse the cross-eyed look, my daughter refuses to look at someone in eye or look at the camera. LOL. They are a great fit though, and you can see how long they are, I love that, because she can fit it under her shirt and her wrist and forearm aren't cold!

Ta-da! Revamped gloves, and today she went to school with snug gloves on her tiny hands!