Ten on Tuesday

1. Have you ever used Craigslist?
A few times.  I like it and it's a great way to sell things and find cheap stuff.

2. Can you sew?
A little.  I can do basics only.  I actually have a sewing machine my mom gave me and I know she hopes I will take it up more seriously one day.  She is a quilter and a really, really good one at that. She made the quilt on my bed and the quilts for my kids beds.  Maybe one day I will try it again but for now my scrap booking, origami, and frames are all I can handle.

3. Do you pour syrup on your pancakes or dip your pancakes in the syrup?
I am strange and I put a little over the top then put the rest all around the outside of the stack of pancakes.  I like to then dredge the pancakes through the syrup.

4. Rain storms: Love them or hate them?
I love them as long as I don't have to go anywhere.  I love being at home and watching the rain fall. 

5. Do you like swimming?
Yes! If I had a pool in my backyard I would swim laps every day. 

6. What kind of drink do you order at Sonic?
Diet Cherry Limeade. I love the full sugar cherry limeade but I just can't justify all the sugar.


7. Are you funny?
I think so....  My husband gets the lion share of attention for being funny (and loud).  But I think I'm pretty hilarious sometimes!

8. At what age will your kids get cell phones?
Oooo good question.  James and I were just talking about this a few days ago.  I say not until 13 or 14.  But the convenience of letting them have it younger is appealing.  But I have to say it will NOT be smart phone. 

9. What’s your favorite vegetable?
I really love most veggies.  But if I had to choose my most favorite it would be fresh corn on the cob or asparagus.

10. Were you a Girl Scout?
Nope.  I was Blue Bird (the Camp Fire Girls version of a Brownie) for a year or so when I lived in Colorado as a kid.  We had one big camping trip that I remember going to and I had so much fun.  I also earned a few beads and patches that were sewn onto the Blue Bird vest (which I still have!).

Ten on Tuesday

This was one of the worst weeks to do a picture Ten on Tuesday!  My house is not in tip top shape.  Between starting my new job this week and having my knee injury flare up things are messy.  But to be honest and true I took pictures as is and didn't clean up anything.


1. Your favorite piece of furniture in your home.
This chair was my brother's and they offered it to us.  I loved it when it was at his house so I jumped at the chance to get it.  It's so comfy!

2. Your favorite thing on your wall.
I made these shadow boxes with the hospital shirt and hat each of my kids got along with their coming home outfits and their birth announcements.  I happened to have a set of shadow boxes that I never did anything with and it struck me to use them like this.

3. Your bed as it looks right now.
We don't make beds.  Now I usually pull up the sheet and quilt so that the cat doesn't sleep on my sheets (yuck I hate that).  But I wasn't the last one out of the room this morning, James was and he almost always forgets to do it.  You can also tell he was the last one out of bed because he threw the sheet and quilt onto my side when he got up.

4. Your pantry.
Closed with a very old chore chart for Noa.

 Open ....  We are fully stocked because we just hit Walmart and the grocery store Sunday to prepare for the next two weeks. This whole working outside the house is all about planning.

5. Your favorite piece of jewelry.
I love my wedding ring and engagement ring but this necklace is just one of my favorites too.

6. Your favorite book.
OK I am cheating again or as I prefer to say I am thinking outside the box.  I am in love with my Kindle so it's my favorite book(s). Besides I can NEVER pick just one favorite book.

7. Your most comfortable shirt.
This is a shot of 4 of the same style shirt in different colors (I have two more colors that aren't shown because I am wearing the green one and the blue one is dirty).  They are just basic cotton v-neck t-shirts from Target.  But they are so comfy and I can throw on a tank top underneath to add a little color.

8. Your messiest room.
My craft room used to be my messiest room until this weekend when it got a major overhaul and redo, so now the messiest is my FROG (finished room over garage) which doubles as James' office and our guest room.  It's messy because it's James' domain and well he's just not organized and we use it as storage for all the items we are trying to get rid of (broken TV, comic books, old kids clothes, etc).

 James' Office Section

Guest Room Section/Storage

9. Your house shoes.
I don't wear house shoes so I wear which ever pair of flip flops happen to be nearest to me.

10. Yourself.
I am not a big fan of having my picture taken.  So here is a fake smile one and then .... 

 A Goofy One

Procrastinator Edition of Ten on Tuesday Vol. 2

Yes I know it's Wednesday but since this week's Ten on Tuesday is all about movies I had to play along.  


1. If you could watch only one movie for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Star Wars.  I don't care how many times I've seen it, I still love it.  And I am cheating because when I say Star Wars I mean all of them.  So even though I'm not as crazy about the 3 newest installments I would still have 6 movies to watch.

2. Let’s say someone wrote a screenplay about you; what actor/actress would you choose to play you and why?
I really don't know.  People really don't compare me to anyone famous.  And there aren't all that many plus size actresses out there, well at least ones that are famous.

3. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in theaters?
It was either Annie or The Goonies.  I loved both and remember being so excited about them.

4. Did you ever make out at the back of a movie theater in middle school/high school?
NO! Not that I am against it, if that's what you want to do but when I go to the movies I want to see the movie.

5. Are you a Netflix-er, Blockbuster-er or a Redbox-er? (Or none of the above?)
Netflix with the occasional Redbox.

6. Name one actor/actress who you would give anything to have a dinner date with.

Christan Slater.  I am still in love with him from Pump Up the Volume  and True Romance and now that he is on Breaking In and see him every week, I am reminded how hot he is.

7. What’s the worst movie you’ve ever seen?
There are so many .... The worst one I've seen in the theater lately was How do you know.  TERRIBLE! And I love Reece Witherspoon too.  So you know it was bad.

8. Do you sneak snacks into the theater when you go?
Sometimes.  If I want candy I will sneak that in because the candy prices are insane.

9. Movie theater popcorn: love or hate it?
LOVE it!

10. What is the all-time best Disney movie in your opinion?
I can't pick one.  But I just saw Tangled for the first time last week and it was sooooo good!

Joining the Ranks of the Employed (again)

Don't pass out or anything but I am actually doing a post and it's not a Ten on Tuesday either!!  I know I totally missed last weeks but I've had a lot going on and frankly blogging is taking a back seat.  But here I am getting ready to fill you in.

I am now employed!! To catch any of you up who don't know I have been a stay at home mom for over seven years now.  Back in August I headed back to work (part time) at a major portrait studio.  I liked it and wanted to eventually go on full time.  But that was just not in the cards for me.  I was laid off/let go in February.  So I hit the pavement trying to find something else.  Now I went to school for special education and taught in the public schools before my son was born.  I liked teaching but special education requires so much extra meeting time after school and paper work that I just didn't want to go back to that (I love staying home raising my kids but financially I have to work now) and my state teaching licence expired and in this economy I would have to get it renewed to even think about getting hired in the public school system again (money and time I don't have).  I have an Etsy business that I LOVE but working up a client base and marketing takes time.   One day my dream is become a full time Etsy seller but for now I just don't make enough.  About a month ago my husband called me up from work to tell me about a position opening at his college (he works for a local community college).  The position was for a part time compensatory education instructor.  Really just a fancy term for a basic skills teacher for adults with mental retardation and traumatic brain injury.  I thought it sounded perfect since it was in my field  but not in the public schools and part time.  So long story short I interviewed two weeks ago and was offered the position last Monday.  I have since been in to train and fill out paperwork and observe another class (to get my bearings).  The class is during school hours and only 3 days a week!  I am so excited about it.  I am nervous too since it's been a long time since I taught but I am excited to get back to it. 

So the last two weeks have been mostly focused on my new job but I have also been working full stem on my Etsy shop and trying to come up with new products but also just trying to get my work out to more people.  So here is a picture of my latest Flower Mobile.  It's a new color scheme (Black and White) but I also played around with different flower sizes and  paper material.  This one was made with some beautiful handmade paper, scrapbook paper and even some really fun clear plastic scrapbook paper.

 My Newest Flower Mobile

I also participated in a big yard sale (which also had other home based businesses attending) the weekend before last.  I didn't sell much but I got a lot of feedback on my work.  It also got my name out there which is huge.  I had my husband take a picture of the booth just because I thought it would be fun.

My Craft Booth Set up

Last week was also teacher appreciation week at my son's school (they sure didn't have that when I was teaching).  Anyway each day had a different theme.  We (the parents) provided lunch every day for the teachers and then I sent in something each day for the theme.  For example Wednesday was restocking day so I sent in glue sticks (which was on the list of things his teacher needed).  Thursday was send your teacher a flower day.  I love getting fresh flowers but I figured she and the assistant would be getting quite a few already so I decided to make some origami flowers for them and make them into bouquets.  It came out better than I expected!  So I just had to share.

The Teacher's Origami Flower Bouquet

The Assistant's Origami Flower Bouquet

The Origami Flower Bouquet with handmade tag from the side