Longingheart

2011-01-19T20:52:00.001-06:00

Craftily Ever After is a blog I check frequently. Her printables are great and make our living room more homey. Check her out!

2010-09-10T12:57:00.002-06:00

39 weeks today.
told by the midwife to take it easy & relax until baby comes.
everything is pretty much ready.
have a couple of small knitting projects started. lets see if I can get them done before the baby comes.

2010-07-04T21:03:00.001-06:00

Ames fireworks 2007

I got to have yummy pancakes for breakfast but a totally rainy day equals no parade and no fireworks. Total bummer!

2010-06-29T14:50:00.002-06:00

I almost hate to admit this but I am seeing the following movie along with the first 2 tonight. That will be over 6 hours of movie watching for this momma! It's going to be a late night!

2010-06-22T13:11:00.002-06:00

The McCoy household is now accepting name suggestions for baby boy mccoy. Please leave a comment with any suggestions you may have.
(I don't want to call him Chuck forever)

2010-06-04T10:08:00.009-06:00

Well it has been quite some time since I last posted, over a year.
I can't catch you up on all that has happened but there are a couple that are note worthy.

I got to fulfill a life long dream in December and go to Disney World! Thanks to Mike's parents we had a good family vacation with his side. We had a nice place to stay and were able to visit: Disney World, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Universal Studios. It was a packed week but loads of fun. I definitely want to go back sometime!

The other piece of news worth sharing is that we are expecting our first baby in September! I will admit we were both I think a little shocked but super excited too. Today is the start of my 27th week so I am over half way done. Kind of crazy how fast it seems to have gone so far. Also kind of freaks me out that this kid is going to be here before we know it. It's an adventure that's for sure. We do know that it is a boy but haven't done much planning as far as the nursery goes and we haven't settled on any names either. Here are a few pictures to catch you up.

12 weeks 2 days

14 weeks 6 days

20 weeks

22 weeks 4 days

26 weeks 6 days

2009-04-30T19:58:00.004-06:00

Time for my monthly update.

Days have been flying by, I don't know where the go. Days in my 20s are winding down and I am determined to make the most of these last months. Summer/Fall plans thus far include:

Girls weekend at the end of May in Des Moines. Hotel, spa, & Wii. Should be fun

Trip to Chicgo to visit Katie. This trip is long over due but WILL happen this summer!

Camping trip up north with Missy (who will also ring in year 3-0 this year).

a week long visit from Heather (coming all the way from Canada!). I am excited to take her to the Iowa State fair and just hang out with her. We haven't seen each other for about 8 years!

Raiders game in KC

ISU game in KC and then an NFL game the next day

many saturdays spent at the farmer's market

weekend trips to local wineries to take in the free entertainment

That's my list so far, let's see if I can be able to do them all!

The invitation biz has kicked into gear for this year. I have my first invitation suite done and am working on the second and have a third waiting in the wings. I will be doing programs for 2 of the 3 as well and also am working on a set of note cards and birthday invitations. Looks like it won't be a slow summer after all!

I am hoping to finally get a start on my yard work this weekend, we will finally (crossing my fingers) have a couple of rain-free days. I need to dig up the sod and start my compost bin and buy some dirt for my raised bed. I bought a few vegetable plants toay and will get more this weekend and hopefully by the middle of the summer will have a nice garden growing!

Alright, enough for now. here is a picture from last weekend.

2009-03-25T20:33:00.003-06:00

My spring bulbs decided to start making their appearance this week. The rain has been helping them, now all I need is for it to warm up a bit.

2009-02-15T13:39:00.005-06:00

Ah it has been way to long hasn't it? The holiday season has come and gone without an update from me. Let's play catch up shall we?

Christmas was wonderful again this year. I enjoyed the time spent with my family back home as well as my family here in town. We braved the crazy snowy & windy weather to drive up north. It was quite a drive. We were thankful that we had the pick-up & 4 wheel drive to plow through the many many drifts. It will be a Christmas we will never forget.

One of my favorite gifts from the holiday was the blanket chest my father-in-law made. Custom designed to match our other furniture.

I have been keeping busy lately working on my first set of wedding invitations for the year and also a logo for a friend starting up a photography business. It was nice having the holidays off but it equally as nice to get back into the swing of things.

I have been on a cooking/baking kick recently, trying lots of new recipes. This morning I made blueberry muffins (not a new recipe) and tonight I will make chicken noodle soup for the first time. And for a treat I made heart shaped brownies yesterday for Valentine's Day.

2008-12-03T19:17:00.002-06:00

Just a couple pictures. Penny's smile & our trees.

2008-11-30T20:34:00.003-06:00

I spent part of my Saturday trying to sift through all the stuff in my craft room. I have so much stuff! I need to weed down my stuff and my hobbies! I have too many hobbies and not enough space. Here is just a taste of what my room looked like, nicely labeled with my various hobbies.

2008-11-06T09:30:00.003-06:00

The most glorious travel mug EVER! I am on day #2 with this mug and yesterday I was super impressed that it kept my coffee hot/warm from when I poured it at 7:15 all the way until my last sip at 11!!! A-FRICKIN-MAZING! Way to go Starbucks!

2008-10-28T13:52:00.001-06:00

visit Moms By Heart for a chance to win a fun print by John W. Golden

2008-10-19T14:32:00.003-06:00

my posts have been pretty rare lately. Nothing I really feel like blogging about. Did some yard work today since it was nice out. Went to the farmer's market yesterday, got some good deals on green peppers and onions, bought some yummy bread and I can't go without getting a nice bouquet for the house. Took a drive through the countryside and ended up finding some nice gourds & pumpkins for sale. The big one in the picture only cost $3!

Also baked some apple muffins today. You can find the recipe on the food blog I participate in: http://www.myfoodyummies.blogspot.com/

2008-10-03T19:31:00.001-06:00

2008-10-02T19:08:00.003-06:00

I am in a place that my body & soul loves. A place where my body breaths if you know what I mean.

This is the shoreline at the place we are staying at

2008-10-01T20:51:00.002-06:00

Where oh where has my blogging bug gone? For the time being it will be on vacation to the lovely and colorful north eastern minnesota! Hopefully I will be in the blogging mood when I return.

2008-09-08T19:47:00.003-06:00

A few pictures until I feel like a real post.

First, my birthday package from Katie, she knows me well (check out the hippie pen)!

Mike's birthday cake was a new recipe which you can find here:

And I finally get to go on vacation! We are going up to north eastern Minnesota and will be staying at Larsmont Cottages.

2008-08-20T20:22:00.002-06:00

I LOOOOOOOVE my birthday present!!!!!!!

after a short ride down the street.

I love my birthday present soooo much. A couple of you may remember the day I bought my super cute pink suede Vans shoes and how much I loved them, I loved them so much I could have slept with them on. That is how I feel about this bike, I could sleep with it but I am pretty sure Mike wouldn't allow that. This is the awesomest birthday present ever!

In other news I have started couponing and trying to get the best deals at the store. I am not nearly as good as some are but I think I am on my way. I got the following items for a total of $1.30! And really I got it all for free, I noticed the mini wheats box has a rebate on it so after I turn that in everything will be free + overage!!!

2008-08-16T19:50:00.005-06:00

Pack Your Knives and Go....see the Top Chef tour!

Yep, it was in town and we were lucky enough to get seats inside the trailer to see CJ & Dale do some cooking! It totally rocked, the food was so good and the guys were just like you saw on television. They cooked up little pork sausages and a salad that had almonds, peaches, corn, and tons of goodness in it. Some of the ingredients they even got at the farmer's market that morning!

the trailer where the action happened

cooking up a storm...and telling us the truth about Hung

our delicious meal!
CJ
Dale
us & my lovely hair

We then headed over to the Iowa State Fair and decided that going on a Saturday is not for us! Too crowded! We did discover a couple of new areas of the fair that we hadn't explored before. My favorite was the animal learning center where we saw many different baby animals and if you are there at the right time you can even see them being born!

An ostrich that just hatched

baby ostriches

the baby goats were sitting in their food dishes

let's talk about chicks man

the Des Moines skyline from the fair

2008-08-11T12:10:00.001-06:00

It's been 1 year since my fun at the Iowa State Fair, trashin' my dress!

2008-08-07T08:27:00.004-06:00

My dad was very generous this weekend when he sent some produce home with a friend of ours who delivered it to us on Sunday night. I was expecting a few ears of corn and some beans but dad totally loaded us up! Check out all the green love he gave us. Absolutely wonderful!!!!

About half of it has already made its way into the freezer and I have eatten the lettuce. One thing that I really wasn't expecting to get though were these:

Can you see them?! Well they weren't the only ones, there were a few more. This sort of thing would have not bothered me in the past but I have become a delicate flower that's for sure. I guess they like broccoli just like I do. I soaked them to kill the worms. It seemed to work but as I was cutting I would come across ones that were still stuck on the broccoli. My gagging reflexes were working full force and I just couldn't handle it anymore. I ended up with 1 quart freezer bag of the stuff and that was all I could take. I felt bad dumping the rest but even if I did get it cut up and cleaned I don't think I could eat it knowing what was on there, I will forever remember those green worms. Makes me want to gag just typing about it. BUT...I am sooooo thankful to dad for giving me all of the green lovliness!!!!!

I had a request to post a picture of my new do which I like to call my Katie Holmes haircut. I have bangs. Maybe next time I will have to color it a dark color so it really would be a K.H. hair-do. (not a great picture)

2008-08-06T13:03:00.006-06:00

Yesterday we treated our student workers to a fun afternoon which equaled a little fun for us as well. We taught them this book structure (these are the ones I made).

2008-08-04T11:56:00.004-06:00

My new purse/bag (more so bag). It's huge yes, but great for hauling lunch, a book, drinks, etc. to work!

And here is a recent shoe purchase. Got a super deal on them so I didn't feel as guilty.

2008-08-02T18:01:00.008-06:00

I gave my first haircut on Wednesday! My brother needed his hair trimmed and he didn't want to pay to have it done so he asked me to cut it. Not a problem! I have always wanted to cut his hair. Then he tells me I can't mess up b/c he is in a wedding this weekend! No pressure there! It took a while but we finally got a cut we were both happy with.

A little worried about what the outcome would be.

Not bad....

A winner!

Now for a flower update. Mike's zinnias are doing great!!! My lilies are slowly taking over the flower bed and I am letting them. And I am pleased with the plants I put in our front planters.

A bumble bee! yikes!

2008-07-07T14:38:00.003-06:00

CD Contest!

In honor of the very first Hippie Day set to take place this coming Saturday I am holding a "Name that mix CD" contest. I will be making a Hippie mix full of long haired, flower lovin', peace givin' music and am calling on you guys to give your suggestions for the title of this CD. If I like what you have submitted I will send you your very own copy that you can dance around to. Deadline is Thursday night, 8 pm central time.

2008-06-13T13:10:00.002-06:00

Yesterday while I was at work saving & printing a gazillion images I got to thinking "what good things am I doing for the environment? for others? for me?
So I have decided to do at least 1 good thing a day.
Yesterday I exercised. It's good for me. I feel good when it's done so why is it hard for me to get going. So I was good to my body. I worked out for 20 minutes (I gotta start small) at home and then later went on a walk with Mike & Penny.
Today my goodness was aimed at the environment. We started recycling! Actually we started 2 weeks ago but today the guy came on his bicycle to pick up our rubbermaid full of recyclables! Yay!
I am hunting for some good fun blogs about green living, I will post my findings.

Go do something good!

2008-05-30T21:41:00.005-06:00

When it rains it pours! And pours, and pours, and pours!!!! Ames is flooded big time! There is no getting to Target, or Super Walmart. And it took us at least 40 minutes to pick up my car that was being serviced. we had to drive down the interstate to the next town to just to get on a northbound road that would take us to the dealership. Crazy!

The line of cars trying to figure out what to do b/c the onramp was closed

Here you can see the flooded ramp

Here you can see how close the water was to the road in some spots
The intramural volleyball courts
wish I could have gotten all of this sign
this is 6th street which would normally go to Brookside park

enough for now. more to come later.

2008-05-26T09:13:00.003-06:00

Wow! has it really been a month since I last posted?! Well that gives you a little indication of how things are going here.......busy, busy, busy. Summers are like that aren't they? There are gardens to care for, softball games to go to, dogs to walk. You know the routine. It has also been a busy time for me on the design end. I am working on 2 sets of pocketfold wedding invitations, one for a west coast bride and one for an east coast bride! I am also finishing up thank yous and programs for a local bride who is getting married very soon.
Somebody also has recently taken a liking to keeping me company and I sure don't complain!

On the home front we recently had a concrete patio poured. I was a little skeptical at first but I love it! We got some used furniture from Mike's parents which is nice and I am super excited to be able to sit out there in the mornings and have my coffee or relax out there after work and read a book. This place feels like home more each day, I love it!

2008-04-27T19:43:00.004-06:00

Thursday night it poured rain all night long. Friday morning I looked outside at the neighbors yard and this is what I saw:

At one pointe there were 4 geese and 1 duck all swimming together!

Photo update from the bridal shower I co-hosted this past Saturday. This was my first attempt at fruit skewers, yummy. I also made rice krispie treats that were supposed to look like mini wedding cakes. Everything turned out great!

On the way home I had to pull over to take some photos of the wind farms in NW Iowa. Air/wind is free so why aren't there more wind farms?

2008-04-24T12:34:00.010-06:00

Confession:
I like bad tv.

I am blaming my addiction to this guy's show on my husband. Why oh why Bret do you do that thing with your lips? It is not appealing in any way at all. It makes me laugh and it makes me laugh harder when my husband does it out of the blue just for laughs.

I am also happy Gossip Girl is back on for a few more episodes

Okay, and one more guilty pleasure. The Hills. Yes, it's true. Why doesn't Heidi see how terrible Spencer is?

Okay now I need to redeem myself a little.
Duff makes mad cakes and his staff rocks, what a fun place to work!

I am so very very sad that this show has come to an end. Long live the reruns and Black Lavender and Bobby Light.

2008-04-16T10:56:00.002-06:00

Saw this guy last night (for free!) and had a phenomenal time! This was my second time seeing him and he puts on a rockin' show, he is a very talented man.

2008-04-07T17:30:00.005-06:00

so........this guy gave me some trouble yesterday

my thumb got in the way of the blade and this piece came flying off and landed on my desk next to the radio...(dirty fingernail alert)
I didn't even have time to think really, just stuck my thumb into my mouth and grabbed the piece and ran to find mike. The pain didn't really hit until he was bandaging me up. It was too small of a piece to sew back on or need stitches but it was not a small chunk. As you can see it took off my nail and a hunk of skin. gross.

Here is me with my bandaid:

Here is the splint the doctor gave me today to help me not bump it on things. Supposed to wear it a couple of weeks.....we will see about that. He also gave me a tetanus shot which is probably a good thing.

Here is the guard I bought at walmart, definitely easier to work with!

You don't realize how much you use your thumb until you can't use it anymore. Try squeezing a shampoo bottle, tying your shoes, or just holding a water bottle. It will take some time to get used to but at least it wasn't a larger portion of my finger!

2008-03-26T16:09:00.002-06:00

Spring brings new life....even indoors!

2008-03-24T20:12:00.001-06:00

A bit of frustration on this end. Either my printer is printing crooked or my cutter isn't cutting straight and I can't figure out which one it is. ugh.

2008-03-21T20:08:00.004-06:00

Queen of the Hill

This is usually a nightly occurance at our house. It is usually followed by the dog licking my husband's head so much it looks like he just got out of the shower.

2008-03-17T16:14:00.005-06:00

In honor of St. Patrick's day we had burgers on green buns. That's about as festive as we get around here these days.

Got my hair cut last week. It hasn't been this short in a while and I must say that I am liking it. I really never thought I would care for my hair short. I always wanted to stay a long hair type of gal. But I am diggin' the new do.

Yesterday Penny noticed that we have a neighborhood goose. It likes to hang out across the street near the empty lot. Penny will stare and make goofy noises for hours at the darn thing.

And the most exciting news of the day.....

my new website is up and finished for the most part! I need to change the text (whenever I can come up with something clever to say) and the logo is still a work in progress. Check me out:

PennyPie Designs

2008-03-10T18:39:00.001-06:00

2008-03-10T15:41:00.013-06:00

I treated myself to some new shoes last week. got good deals on some cute shoes

Had a dog filled day yesterday with a total of 5 dogs at our house! It was intense and everyone was tired by the end of the day.

After playing with the dogs we spent the evening at a Wilco concert. It was so great (like they always are). Katie, you missed out. I will post pictures soon.

2008-02-27T19:44:00.003-06:00

today I got to watch my two loves playing outside in the snow. bring on the warmer temps b/c penny loves the snow!

2008-02-24T13:24:00.007-06:00

Thought I would share a couple of photos from my "studio"

I have a lot of stuff packed in there. A little bit of everything. Different items for different days.

Here is a collection of small doo-dads that I cherish
Heather, do you remember this?

Besides the invitation work I have started getting some mini books ready to post on etsy

2008-02-20T21:41:00.004-06:00

it makes me so excited to see that the orchid I bought from the farmer's market last fall is going to bloom again! I always knew them to be finicky plants and totally didn't expect it to even stay alive!

question for all of you bloggers. do your husbands know you have a blog and if so do they read it? or do you keep it as a personal space for just you?

2008-02-14T21:19:00.006-06:00

3 posts in one day, that's pretty amazing for me.

Here are the fruits of my labor

Finished product. The color is a little different than Martha's but still looks yummy!

The back up plan (which we ate tonight)

My gorgeous flowers I received along with a certificate to go get a message

2008-02-14T14:16:00.007-06:00

Took 1/2 a day off work today to make my valentine a strawberries-and-cream cheesecake.

I am enjoying being in the kitchen baking for my sweetie and listening to an ipod full of fun and cheesey love songs. Pictures to come.

I have 3 new loves in my life:

my new laptop which allows me to do my design work in the living room at night or out and about wherever I may need to be.

A 30 inch paper trimmer that was a total score at the university's weekly surplus sale. It will come in especially handy when cutting paper for pocketfold invites.

and a 3/8" corner rounder! got it for a pretty good price on ebay and it has supposedly been used a couple of times. This again will come in very handy when doing invites.

Man, I love sweet deals!

2008-02-14T10:01:00.002-06:00

25 Lovey Dovey songs for you

1. The Best Days by The Softies
2. Come Away with Me by Norah Jones
3. By My Side by Ben Harper
4. Somebody To Love by Queen
5. Stick By You by Andrew Lipke
6. Question by Old 97’s
7. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life by Stevie Wonder
8. Sweet Pea by Amos Lee
9. You Are Always On My Mind by Willie Nelson
10. Top Of The World by The Carpenters
11. All You Need Is Love by The Beatles
12. Love You Madly by Cake
13. Everything About You by Steve Poltz
14. Let’s Misbehave by Elvis Costello
15. I’ve Been Waiting by Matthew Sweet
16. You For Me by Blossom Dearie
17. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours by Stevie Wonder
18. Better With You by Jack Johnson
19. Grow Old With Me by Mary Chapin Carpenter
20. Heavenly Day by Patty Griffin
21.The Lucky On by Alison Krauss
22. Make You Mine by Donavon Frankenreiter
23. Nothing Fancy by Dave Barnes
24. You And Me by Rosie Thomas
25. When You Say Nothing At All by Ronan Keating

thanks you marta for the idea

2008-01-29T21:53:00.000-06:00

There are 2 new puppies in our extended family which means tons of fun puppy playtime.

Check out eric & karen's new pup Punk here.

And their Betsy, mike's parent's new dog who came over to play on sunday.

And one of Betsy's older "sister" Bandit and the 3 of them for good measure.

2008-01-22T12:56:00.000-06:00

I think I am having a pre-30 crisis. I am having a hard time being at work today, I just want to be home. Winter isn't helping either. I need the warm sun. What do I want to do with my life? What can I afford to do with my life?

2008-01-21T15:49:00.000-06:00

*this will be a photoless entry, pictures to come soon.

Penny turned 3, mike made her a cake complete with cottage cheese frosting (I was told it is difficult to decorate with cottage cheese). Penny liked it and mike gave it a try too.

We are finally starting to feel settled in our new house. Things have been placed in their new home and pictures are starting to be hung. It's still a little scary putting holes in a brand new wall. I love our new house so much. I have started collecting pictures and articles of plants/flowers that I want to plant in the new yard. Because the yard is big compared to the old one I think I will start out small by just planting is one of the corners and plan more year by year. I have talked mike into building me an adirondack chair for the back yard. During this colod weather I have been dreaming of sitting outside in the morning by my flowers drinking a cup of coffee and reading a book. I think I have him talked into making me a couple of planters as well.

I have also been busy with invitation design. Just completed and delivered a set yesterday and am working on 2 others. I got my own computer a couple of weeks ago that I can do my designs on. Went to look at some purple paper samples today.

Been thinking a lot lately about designing. Wishing I could do it full time. I like my current job though sometimes I just don't think I can see myself there until I retire. But it pays well and the benefits are great. It makes me wonder how many people have a job that they absolutely love. Then I think too, can I really see myself doing invitations until I am 65? I know! I will become a professional traveler. I will visit and rate resorts and restaurants all over the world. I will write travel books. Yes, that's another dream.

Dreams. (big sigh)

I had a good morning today on my day off. I went by myself to a local cafe for breakfast. Just me, my magazine, and a notebook. Had a great cup of coffee and the most amazing apple french toast. It was so delicious. Katie, it reminded me of our breakfasts in Chicago. Yummy raisin cinnamon french toast piled with sliced apples, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. It was so amazingly yummy. It was a great time to just relax and enjoy some alone time. I am going to try and do that once a month.

I will be sure to post pictures later when the internet isn't so slow.

2007-12-28T18:48:00.000-06:00

Here it is!

8.75 inches are going to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths Campaign

And as requested a couple of shots of our new house!

the house's first Christmas

the ginormous yard! I have been collecting photos & ideas of what I want to plant in the spring!

(my very messy and unpacked craft room)

2007-12-26T14:28:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow I am chopping my hair.

2007-12-07T12:48:00.000-06:00

Today is the official "goodbye house"

Many memories.

Many expenses.

Many firsts.

We will miss you.

2007-11-27T18:32:00.000-06:00

Lots of stuff going on. Trip to Mexico. Packing. Moving.

And our new house:

2007-11-01T17:04:00.000-06:00

I have been told that I am due for a post so here it is in pictures:

For those of you wondering what my house looks like from the outside. Isn't our tree great?!

And from the back. We are landscaping (yes, it's late in the year). My large dahlias will be dug up this weekend and stored away for the winter months.

We got pork as a belated birthday present from my mom. We have loads of roasts and chops and 50 lbs. of trimmings which we ground ourselves. Kinda gross but good in the end.

2007-10-11T09:54:00.000-06:00

Things have been crazy lately.
Check out my horoscope for the past 2 days:

Yesterday

Today

2007-10-05T12:13:00.000-06:00

It's always nice to find cute shoes on sale.

Here are my latest purchases:

Gianni Bini ~ Natlie (mine are in black)

Steve Maddes ~ Tipie

2007-09-27T19:37:00.000-06:00

Right now:
Me designing and listening to good music with the dog laying by my feet.

I would love to have it be like this daily. Perfect.

2007-09-21T13:12:00.000-06:00

I spent part of my extended lunch listening to this man:

In the flower world I have been loving monitoring the blooms on my dahlia plant:

2007-09-12T19:05:00.001-06:00

I have been patiently waiting and finally my dahlias are beginning to bloom!

2007-08-26T14:36:00.000-06:00

So my wonderful husband got me a scanner for my birthday so now I can bless you all with some of my scrapbook pages.

2007-08-20T15:05:00.000-06:00

check me out on CNN!!!!

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2007/08/18/wedding.dress.trashed.affl

2007-08-15T15:00:00.001-06:00

Seattle was a dud. We did no sight seeing. Felt like a waste of my vacation days even though I knew we were going there to move my little brother. Anyway, here are some pictures.

2007-07-24T11:52:00.001-06:00

This past weekend my grandparents came to visit which is a rarity. They watched our co-ed softball game on friday night, we were big losers but they enjoyed it. On Saturday morning Mike and I drove them to the Des Moines farmer's market and they looooooved it! I knew they would. They commented on how it was unlike any they had ever been to. We all then had our very first experience at a local Italian market. It is a small hole-in-the-wall place but so full of character! I had the yummiest lemon soda from there.

Friday night after softball I went to the Harry Potter release party at a bookstore here in town. I helped at a table where people could write letters to the author and then the bookstore would mail them off. It was so fun to see what some of the youngin's wrote. I bailed at 11:50pm so I was sure to miss all the traffic in the parking lot and made my way to the public library where I had a copy of book #7 on reserve. I wanted to read it so bad that night but was so tired I only made it through 1 chapter. For those of you who know me well you know I don't care for suprises, you will be glad to know that I have not yet looked online to find out the outcome to the end of Harry Potter. I am trying really hard to read it without searching for spoilers.

Saturday after dropping my grandparents off at their hotel we came home and noticed Penny had been digging in the yard next to our back step and was successful in ending the life of a vole (which is fine with me), we were now hoping she would stop digging in the yard. Somewhere around 8pm Mike looked out the back door and saw Penny standing in the neighbor's yard! She had dug a hole under the fence and scooted her little body through. Luckily their yard is also fenced in. Mike hopped over the fence and handed her over to me. She got to spend the rest of the night on her rope. Sunday afternoon we went outside and noticed that she had continued digging her vole hole next to the door. This is what we saw from the door and then around facing the hole:

Yesterday (monday), mike got some wood to place along the fence line where she had scooted under and all looked great until we went out later and once again she was in the neighbor's yard! That little stinker dug a different hole that has earned her a week on her rope and she is not allowed to come to the softball game tonight to play with her puppy friends. What a stinker. Mike is now thinking of making some short planters to line the edge of the fence.

2007-07-20T15:05:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I got to hang out in Minneapolis with my brothers before the youngest one moves to Seattle. There were no spouses/girlfriends allowed, just us three. We went shopping (gotta keep me happy somehow) and we went to a Minnesota Twins game. It was fun hanging out for the weekend.

Tonight I am volunteering at a local bookstore to help with their Harry Potter release party and I am soooooo excited. I am wearing a t-shirt I made with the following on it:

Personally I think Harry will live though part of me wishes he wouldn't. Can't wait to pick up my copy at the library tonight at 12:01!!!!

2007-07-05T13:41:00.000-06:00

I finally got to use the fireworks setting on my camera and I also had an excuse to use my tripod. Check it out.

2007-07-05T12:03:00.000-06:00

Went kayaking last weekend. We paddled 18.2 miles, that's a long ways when you are powering your own boat! It was fun but I was a hurtin' unit the next day. You definitely would have a rockin' upper body if you did this on a regular basis!

2007-06-21T13:37:00.001-06:00

Vote for my dog Penny!

http://dmjuice.textamerica.com/details/?r=5778148

2007-06-15T14:22:00.001-06:00

It really was the best concert ever!

2007-06-13T13:06:00.001-06:00

I am going to The Best Concert Ever tonight!!!!!!

Low & Wilco

2007-06-12T08:53:00.000-06:00

I am addicted to these:

2007-06-11T13:16:00.000-06:00

My latest online win, personalized stationary that looks like this from Sprinkles (with my name of course):

In dog news, I cam home Friday afternoon and found pieces of a fake bird from one of our plants torn up all over the floor along with a pair of my new underwear and an empty pop bottle.

Invites are nearing completion, hope to have them done by the weekend. I was hoping to also have some neat packaging made up for them but I don't think that there will be time. My client has decided to use me to make her programs which I makes me happy and excited!!!

2007-06-08T07:48:00.000-06:00

So I realized that I never shared my somewhat scary story from last week.

It all started on my drive to the men's softball league. The Dog was with me and as usual I had the windows down in the car b/c my air conditioner takes for ever to get cool. Drivin' along Penny would stick her head out every once in a while and once put her paw up on the window, I told her no and she sat back down. She did that twice while we were driving along. On the way home around 10pm I again had the windows down and she enjoyed the air. Then as soon as I pulled into our driveway she leaps out the window!!!! Luckily I had a hold of the end of her leash but then here I am trying to pull the rest of the way in the driveway and not run over the dog who I cannot see! Well I get pulled in and then I am like Crap, how is this going to work. I am on the driver's side with my right arm out stretched holding on to the leash which goes through the passenger side window down to a dog I can't see! I manage to reach over and open the passenger door enough for her to get back in the car where she then received a swat on the nose for her bad behavior. What a crazy dog!!! I wanted to laugh, cry, and be mad at the same time. I am sure that it would have been quite a sight had it been daylight out, I could have run over my dog, and why the heck did she have to do that?!!!!! It's hard to be mad though, it's turned into a fun story to share.

2007-06-04T14:48:00.000-06:00

UGH!!! I am so frustrated. My brother quit his summer job after only 2 1/2 days. My brother quit his summer job at my husband's company after my husband worked so hard to get him the job. And now my brother's friend wants to quit the same job. My husband worked hard at bugging people to get these two crazies hired on, and what do they do? Quit, it's not what they expected and all of the sudden it isn't about the money anymore either. Come on people, it's only a summer job, 2 months. Suck it up is what I say. Join 90% of people that don't like their job, it's only 2 months. Sure you don't get to sit and do nothing, sure you don't get to surf the internet endlessly. Frustrated is all I can say, though it's hard to stay that way when you hear your pretty manly brother crying on the phone about how he doesn't like it. UGH!

2007-05-28T09:45:00.000-06:00

Here is what I have been spending most of my holiday weekend working on:

Invitations! For my first real "client", how awesome is that?!?!?!

I have been thinking about purchasing a laptop to do my invitation work on so if any of you have a suggetions as to what kind to get, what specifications it should have, let me know!!!

2007-05-19T05:58:00.000-06:00

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

2007-05-18T12:09:00.001-06:00

I discovered a new scrapbooking site that was set up based on a challenge by Ali Edwards a while back. Check out One Little Word. At the end of their latest post you will also find some links to some scrapbooking kits. My favorite is still Jenni Bowlin, she has a good eye for what works together. Also found a new kit, looks nice but a bit on the expensive side. And check this out Scrap Your Man contest, how fun!
I am scrapping with the girls this weekend, hopefully will get a couple of pages done. I am also taking a couple girls to the Des Moines Farmer's Market, I can't believe that they have never been there. It's huge and they have everything. I am hoping to pick up some fresh flowers and some home made rootbeer.
My hubby comes home today, I have enjoyed hogging the bed & covers but have not enjoyed being paranoid that the boogy man is lurking in the dark spaces. And with him home he can decide what to do about the crater that the dog dug.
I am hoping to have some pictures to post next time, maybe sometime this weekend. I have been taking pictures of the progress of my blooming peonies.

2007-05-17T09:42:00.001-06:00

Two things that made me smile today:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo

2007-05-16T08:39:00.000-06:00

So I pretty much had a crappy night last night. Husband's gone, could not fall asleep and when I did I had scary dreams about Death Eaters and Voldemort (Harry Potter stuff). Penny woke me up at 5 this morning b/c she was whining to go out so I gave in and let her out. I crawl back into bed all mad and practically in tears b/c I had to get up earlyto let the dog out. I had just fallen asleep when I am awoken by strange noises outside. When I can't stand the noise anymore (5:40) I get up and look out the window and Penny is trying to dig a hole under the fence!!! I throw on my robe and run outside. I was so frickin' pissed, still am. I am tired and crabby and told Penny she will have to spend the rest of her week on her rope. Damn dog.

2007-05-14T12:14:00.000-06:00

As you will be able to see I like my layouts pretty simple and minimal. Most are works in progress, just a little at a time. And you will notice that I have trouble journaling, I don't like to do it even though down the road I wish I had.

2007-05-09T15:14:00.000-06:00

Workout playlist pt.1*:

Elevation Remix ~ U2
Fergalicious ~ Fergie
High School Never Ends ~ Bowling for Soup
The Impression That I Get ~ Mighty Mighty Bosstones
I'm Blue Remix ~ Eiffel 65
Get Your Freak On Remix ~ Missy Elliot ft. Nelly Furtado
Toxic ~ Britney Spears
Canon in D Remix
Ice Ice Baby Remix ~ Vanilla Ice
Here It Goes Again ~ OK Go

Heather, I will make and send you a copy!

*That's all I can remember without having my nano in front of me.

2007-05-07T12:46:00.001-06:00

My new shoes

the end.

2007-04-20T09:29:00.000-06:00

Memories

2007-04-18T13:49:00.000-06:00

My husband's grandpa passed away today suddenly, please keep us in your thoughts.

2007-04-17T10:31:00.000-06:00

Well, I have started taking small steps to a healthier lifestyle. I have set up an appointment with a dietician. I am pretty sure she will tell me things that I already know but am hoping she will share some things that I don't. When I meet with her in a couple weeks I have to bring along a family health history form and I have to keep a food diary. I have tried keeping a food diary before but didn't think it did much good. I am thinking though that knowing I have to show an actual dietician it might help a bit. We will see. Took Penny on a walk last night so I got a little exercise in. Mike also fixed my bike tire this past weekend so now I can ride.

Got loads of paper samples/swatches in the mail last night which will be nice when I am meeting with people to discuss invitations and the likes. I got 3 boxes full of swatchbooks!!!! I was drooling all over!

Finally, here are some pictures from my uncle's wedding this past weekend. Him and his new wife are both 50 years old and never been married. They make a cute couple, they compliment each other well.

2007-04-10T12:01:00.000-06:00

I have borderline high blood pressure. Me, a 27 year old.

2007-03-30T08:31:00.000-06:00

So I am sitting here at work with the button of my pants undone. You know the feeling, jeans that fit fine while you are standing but really squish your insides when you sit down, or maybe it's just me. Fat day today, thank goodness for long shirts I guess.

2007-03-29T10:06:00.000-06:00

I am unwillingly back in Iowa. If I could have stayed in Florida just a little bit longer I totally would have. I left the sun and 80 degree weather and came back to cold & rainy Iowa. Oh well, it could be a lot worse, at least there isn't snow. It was sunny for all but 1 day while down there which equaled afternoons either on the beach or by the pool. I got a nice tan, a little too red one day so I just rented an umbrella for the following day at the beach.
We road tripped to Miami one afternoon and I got to see the real ocean (not the gulf) for the first time. We also got to see the Miami Ink (for those that watch TLC) tattoo shop and we drove down A1A (beachfron avenue!) from the song Ice Ice Baby. South Beach Miami was really neat, we walked along an area that is a historic art deco distict. The architecture and colors were to die for. I wish I would have taken more pictures in that area.
Being on Sanibel island we were surrounded by many older and retired people, most of whom drive annoying PT Cruisers which now makes me think back to a couple episodes of The Soup (Katie, you are probably the only one that knows what I am talking about).

One man we witnessed actually talking people out of parking next to his Cruiser! Insane.

Here are a few pictures from the week.

The big house we stayed in

Sunset by Naples Pier

A1A

Yep, I bought a pair. Had to after realizing I forgot to pack flip flops

The friends I traveled with. Missy, Aaron, & Joni

2007-03-16T09:51:00.000-06:00

A week from now I will be in Florida! Yay! I am ready for my vacation, ready to soak up the sun.

On a side note, Mike & I have been struggling with 'keeping up with the jones'. It's hard when we are trying to save money and our friends are all buying expensive things. It's hard to be satisfied when you keep hearing about the new toy so and so bought. So if anyone knows of any articles, books, or just has general advice I would love to hear it.

2007-03-02T10:52:00.000-06:00

More snow here in Iowa and man does our dog love it, even if it means getting transformed into a snowdog.

Good news is that it is supposed to be in the upper 40s and into the 50s next week! Yay!

While being stuck inside last weekend I made blueberry muffins from scratch. Super easy and I have already made them again since then. Oh and they taste so much better than a mix.

As previously mentioned I was a winner on Joanna Bolick's site and yesterday I came home to find the heavy package she sent me. Check out all the goods:

Thank you soooooo much Joanna!!! I wish I had a snow day today so I could stay home and scrap!

2007-02-25T17:07:00.000-06:00

2007-02-25T08:12:00.000-06:00

Okay, so check it out, I am an online winner again! Some more scrapbook goodies are on their way from Joanna Bolick I think online contests may be my new calling. I haven't won on the radio for quite some time now but all of the sudden I have been winning online. Crazy.
It's snowing here still today. Been snowing nonstop since yesterday afternoon and that was after rain/freezing rain. Power went out last night but is back on today which is good. I will update you all tomorrow with pictures!

2007-02-15T11:19:00.000-06:00

More home updates. We spent our Valentine's Day moving furniture back into our living room because.....we had carpet installed!

The floors now seem less squeaky and we don't have dog hair dust bunnies following us where ever we go! We are also vowing to keep our living room neat & tidy, no clutter (any guesses how long that will last?!).

Last night we dined on a heart shaped pizza and root beer. It was yummy and fun. Low key and nice. Mikey enjoyed his turtle candies I got him as well as these:

Just a little somethin' I made him. Simple.

Still thinking about apparel for the upcoming Florida trip and I think I am going to buy.....a pair of Crocs. **GASP** It's true. After seeing Elsie's pair of Mary Jane Crocs (Feb. 11 post) I actually think that they might be okay. And I will be on an island and at the beach so that makes them a bit better too right? Don't know what color I would get though. Pink would be fun but I don't know. I like Elsie's teal pair but can't seem to find that color anywhere.

2007-02-13T12:41:00.000-06:00

Thank you Jenni Bowlin for your fantastic monthly paper crafting kits! I love them so much I almost hate to use them!

2007-02-12T09:44:00.000-06:00

Let me introduce to you our wonderful, revamped bathroom!

Now the pictures don't really do it justice but let me just say it is a total transformation! It went from a drab white and dark stained 70s style cupboards to this super chic paradise!!! I absolutely love it! I can't take all the credit though I only painted the walls and the door. The Handy Man Hubby did all the rest. Did I mention that the only original items remaining are the shower/tub (and window), mirror, light fixture, and toilet?! Everything else was all redone! Ideally I would also like to get a white shower curtain but this will have to do for now. I love our bathroom sooooo much!!!
Tonight we will be moving furniture out of the living room because tomorrow we are having carpet installed. Our house is going through some amazing transformations and I love every bit of it. I figure Handy Man will want to take a break from renovations for a while so I am not sure what room will be next, gotta replenish our funds too!

On a different note, does anyone know of any fun websites where I could find neat bookends???

Happy Monday!

2007-02-10T11:52:00.000-06:00

Just a quick weekend update to say thank you to my secret pal! I got a great package from her in the mail last week with a bunch of yarn, yummy smelling bath essentials, a fun monkey tape measure, and a super cute pouch from Piddleloop's store just to name a few things. Though I got not card so please secret pal, reveal yourself!!!

2007-02-05T11:46:00.000-06:00

Updates:
1. The red shoes with white polka dots (2 posts ago) are sold out everywhere! I should have bought them right away, what a disappointment!
2. This weekends mini golf was okay. It was cold in the skywalks and I didn't get any hole-in-ones.
3. Dinner after mini golf was a joke. We waited 20 minutes for our second round of drinks to come and our appetizers didn't come until we were all done eating our meal! And we got lame excuses from the manager.
4. The upside to Saturday was Dairy Queen was having 1/2 their menu items so we all got super cheap blizzards.
5. Super bowl party was fun, spent more time talking with friends and laughing at commercials than watching the game (only got 1 scrapbook page done).

2007-01-30T11:36:00.000-06:00

Another week means another post about favorites. I have been meaning to post about this website for quite sometime but just keep forgetting. I love nearly everything on here check it out. Their notepads are hilarious! And I especially like the card organizer. Knock Knock.

Well folks, it finally happened. I have been sucked in by the kiddie lit phenomena by the name of Harry Potter. I am nearing the end of book 2 and am looking forward to starting book 3 sometime this weekend. It is still strange for me to think about working in the Big Bookstore's children's department for nearly 2 years and never laying a finger on the Harry Potter books except to reshelve them. I hadn't read a young adult book in quite sometime, I had forgotten how much fun they are. I had been on a quest for a book to keep my interest and I have found them. I think my heart and mind will always love reading books for that age group.

In arty news I will be getting a new studio space at home! Yay! I will be moving into our other spare room which is slightly larger and has 3 big windows as opposed to my 1 little window that I currently have. So tons of light in this room. I get to pick out the paint color too. My currnet studio space I chose a plain and simple beige color b/c I didn't want the color of the walls to effect the way the colors I was working on (artwork) looked. Well I think the lots-o-windows will help minimize that in my new room and frankly I don't care about that as much anymore. So......I am open to anything. I need to take some time to go to the hardware store and look at paint chips but I am currently thinking of possible a light blue color maybe to go with my white desk. And I am hoping to take this room change and an oppertunity to purge things that I don't need because right now my room is completely overflowing with crap! This new room might also require a trip to IKEA for some cute storage. And with all the purging maybe I will have to ship out a couple of packages to people I know would love some craft supplies!

Along the line of changing rooms, our house is going is going through some major changes as well. In about a week we will be getting carpet for our living room and hallway to cover up our hardwood floors. They were nice for a while but after getting Penny we have just gotten sick of having to sweep and vaccuum nearly daily. We are getting a berber carpet that will hopefully hide her hair a bit better and will only require a once a week vaccuumig. We also will be purchasing a new vanity for our bathroom which is currently the ugly dark stained wood of the 1970s. Our new vanity will be white and will have better storage areas. A new vanity also means new paint color for the bathroom. We have picked out a wonderful aqua blue color which along with the white of the vanity will brighten up the room and give it the update that it desperately needs.

Found out that we have been starving our poor dog for about a year. We normally buy her a huge bag of dog food which she was almost out of so we went to buy some more. We decided to try a different brand this time. We get home and mix part of the new with part of the old and she managed to pick out all the new and leave the old. So the next day we gave her the new stuff. The food was barely out of the food scoop and she had snarffed it all down!!!! Right in front of us even!!! All this time we thought she was self concious and wouldn't eat in front of us (sometimes it would take her 2 days to finish 1 bowl of food) when really she hated her food! Poor pup!!!!

This weekend will be full of fun and friends. Tomorrow we will be going to DM to do skywalk mini golf. It's such a fun event and there is always a big group of us that signs up for it every year. They set up 3 different mini golf courses in the skywalk. Each hole is sponsored by a different business that designs their hole and you get a prize from that sponsor if you get a hole-in-one! So that will be a lot of fun. Then on Sunday we will be heading over to K & E's for a Scrappin' Superbowl Party. They will have the superbowl playing on tvs both upstairs and downstairs but downstairs there will also be tables set up so us girls can gab and work on our scrapbooking projects! How fun! So I am sure there will be pictures posted of this weekends fun.

Happy Friday!

2007-01-23T15:44:00.000-06:00

Planning a trip to Florida means planning a fun wardrobe too. So far I have spotted these at Payless that I tried on and they are absolutely to die for!!!

I also found these cute cropped pants that I am considering. They seem beach worthy.

Update: My swimsuit top won't be here in time, so I guess that swimsuit will be saved for the honeymoon.

2007-01-18T10:58:00.000-06:00

It seems that my posts lately have been about favorite things. Well to add to that I have fallen in love with Moleskin notebooks! While working at the big bookstore I fell in love with them but couldn't bring myself to actually purchase them. Well Big Bookstore's sister store is going out of business and has them for 50% off so of course I had to go make a purchase. I bought one that is lined, one with graph paper and one that has 6 small pockets for holding things like receipts, tickets, etc. Looking at the website they offer so many different kinds of notebooks, much more than I have seen around here.
Will have to figure out how to get my hands on the Storyboard one, that would be great for doodling at work!

I have decided to give up pop again. I am hoping that by doing this it will be easier for me to shed a few pounds before Florida. Without pop in the afternoon I thought that there was a good possiblity that I might die, or at least be a touch crabby. Well I remembered that I had some Crystal Lite packets left in my desk from the last time I gave up pop. So I mixed some up and holy bovine! I forgot how much I liked the stuff! Though the past couple of days I go through my little tantrum of wanting a pop, then I take a drink of my juice and am fine. My favorite is the Classic Orange.

On a different note Ali Edwards recently talked about creative essentials in her latest issue of AEzine. It made me think about what my necessities to create are.

1. pens

2. photos

3. patterened papers

4. xyron 510

5. my circle punches

6. ruler

7. my purple x-acto knife

I could do a lot with those bare essentials though I love all the extra do-dads too. I am especially loving on anything 7Gypsies right now which is a bit hard to come by in my neck of the woods.

Oh, here are a couple of belated Christmas pictures.

Penny and her huge bandana:

Our family squished into a small part of the full living room pre-tripod:

Out at the farm with my brothers and Liz:

2007-01-12T11:06:00.000-06:00

My future looks bright….and sunny that is. I will be heading down to a little island off the gulf coast of Florida for 7 days at the end of March.

I am really excited. I love love love to plan vacations!!! I love finding things to do in unknown territories, though Missy and I will be traveling back to the same spot we went to last year. But that means we get to try all the stuff we didn’t do last time around. I am not sure quite yet what I will plan but I have already been scoping out reviews of some restaurants that we didn’t try last year. Though we are going to make a point to go back to one small café for breakfast again, they have the best whole wheat pancakes and I can order a whole bowl of yummy blueberries!!!
New trips = a new mix cd (or 2). Needless to say, this is one of the most fun parts about planning a trip. I love making a good mix cd that fits the adventure. And with a new trip should come a new wardrobe right? Or at least a new partial wardrobe. I already have my swimsuit picked out:

I also just got word that the house that we stayed in last year was sold but the guy bought a bigger one which we will be staying in!!!!! Bring on the sun and relaxation!!!!

While I was on vacation I rediscovered the most wonderful cheap cleaning product COMET!

Gets those tough stains off the counter and sink! Yeah, I know, if I cleaned up everyday I wouldn't have that problem. I can't believe I just blogged about a household cleaner. Sad.

2007-01-02T13:45:00.000-06:00

post #2 for 1-2-07

So being the girly girl that I am these days I quite enjoy Bath & Body Works semi anual sale. Just had a few dollars to spare the other day and bought these shimmer lotions:

Christmas was nice. Quick with the families so that we could get home and just relax together. We scored an eliptical machine from Santa so you know what we hope to be doing on a regular basis. We both have put on some pounds the past couple of months and we sure can tell it by the way our pants fit. I am hoping to use it regularly. It is nice and quiet which makes it easy to use and watch tv at the sametime which also makes time go by while on the machine. I also loaded up Paco (my nano) with some speedy tunes to get my blood pumpin'.

Mike spent his time off working on the house. He painted all of the trim in the living room and kitchen white. It was quite a task since it was stained super dark. Between primer and real paint it took about 6 coats. We then were able to hang up a curtain rods I had but haven't yet bought curtains for the living room, kitchen is all set. He also installed a new back door. Our previous door was actually an inside door meant for bedrooms and such. But now we have a real one.

I spent a lot of my time finishing my uncle's wedding invitations and also am taking on another set of wedding invitations for another wedding, my little side job is slowly getting steadier which is kind of fun.