New Family Member

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post! Anyway, I just wanted to post a couple quick pictures to show you the newest member of our family. This is Shaylee, Jeremy's new cat. Blackjack isn't too happy about the new addition, but after a night in jail (his kennel), he is being nice now. Shaylee still lashes out at him, but only when she is backed in a corner and he won't take the hint when she hisses at him for smelling her. I've got to run. There is so much to do before my trip!

P.S. I actually wrote this yesterday, but it took me a while to get the pictures from Jeremy's camera. Blackjack and Shaylee are getting along a little better. At least Blackjack has learned to leave her alone when she hisses at him. Now, we just need to get Shaylee to play nice. :)

P.P.S. My goal is to post some pictures from my vacation on here. I'm not making any promises, but check back soon.  

Christmas 2012

I know this is late, but that is me! Here are some pictures from the fun things we did this Christmas.

We went to ZooLights on the 30th of November. I didn't get many pictures this year so this is the best one I have. However, I was finally able to get a semi-decent video of the Twelve Days of Christmas display.

Mom and I made an awesome gold and purple wreath. We were going to use a real wreath, but when we went to buy one, they were all half brown! Anyway, I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

We took some "Silent Night" pictures of Jeremy. (Don't worry, we used paper so the duct tape isn't really on his mouth, and we used Goo Gone to get the tiny corners that were holding it to his face off so it didn't hurt him a bit.)

See the aluminun pom-pom tree in the background? It is my favorite Christmas tree, and my dad was awesome enough to pull it out of the attic so we could set it up. Unfortunately, it wasn't practical for the space we had so we ended up taking it down a couple weeks later to put up a smaller tree.

Jeremy and I decorated giant gingerbread people. I bought a ton of candy for it, and it was a lot of fun. In the first picture, Jeremy is making his gingerbread man give peace signs. Jeremy's gingerbread man ate a butterfly and Santa candy. Jeremy made up a rhyme to go with it similar to The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. I'm not sure why the second picture is on its side, but that one is mine. She has a belt on her skirt because she had broken in half on the way home from the store.

We had a lot of fun on Christmas Day too. Santa brought Skylanders Giants for Jeremy. I think that was his favorite gift this year. He also got a balance bird which his loves to spin on his finger and balance on his nose.  

Check out the awesome T-shirt Kurtis gave me. It says, "NERD? I Prefer The Tern Intellectual Badass!"

The coolest gift I got this Christmas? I GOT A HIPPOPOTAMUS FOR CHRISTMAS!!! Mom found this toy hippopotamus and made it a little bed in a big matchbox. It was so cool because I love the song, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" by Gayla Peevey. I absolutely love it!

 I hope you all had a great Christmas. Have a very happy 2013!

I Hate to See the Sky

I don't like to look up and see sky when I'm standing on my deck. Seeing sky means there is less tree, and it just reminds me that there is going to be less and less tree as the days go by. Our tree has been going downhill for the last few years so Mom and Dad have decided to take it out. This is the globe willow that was planted before Kurtis was born It is the tree that provides excellent shade in the summer and snow protection in the winter. It is the tree that we've watched baby robins grow up in. It is the tree that I loved to climb and still wanted to climb even after I fell from thirty feet up in it, breaking the bone fusions in my back and injuring both ankles. Of course, it is also the tree I've been terrified of in the snow and wind. Branches tend to fall off of it, and the branches that fall have been bigger and bigger lately because of how sick it has gotten. Earlier this year, a huge branch came inches from crashing through Kurtis' bedroom window! So, it really isn't safe to keep, but that doesn't mean I won't miss it. I am going to miss it A LOT, probably even more when summer comes again.

The view from our deck last year...

Did you see the young robin in the middle?

The view from our deck this morning...

 It is a beautiful Autumn day, but I still hate to see the sky. :( 

Annie's Memorial

We had to have Annie put to sleep on October 5th. She has been a very good friend to me, and I will miss her dearly. Here is the memorial I made in her honor.

 

By the way, the music is Lullaby by Gary Stadler.

Never...It's What I Do

Hi all! I was going to title this blog, "Late...It's What I Do" then wish you a Happy 4th of July. However, the more I think about it, "Never" is actually what I do. I keep having these great ideas of things to blog about. I've even taken pictures specifically for my blog, but I never actually get the pictures and ideas to my blog. If I remember right, I told you when I started this that I suck at blogging. Now you can see what I mean!

Anyway, since I'm such a flake, I'll end this blog with some of the pictures I took specifically for blog entries that never got written.

Welcome to Carrot Land (Dad worked really hard to help me get a section of the garden ready to grow better carrots.)

Happy 4th of July! (Jeremy and I went to the parade with G&G H then we went to Aunt Karen's for a BBQ. It was great!)

Damn ants! (They ate most of my radishes before they could grow, and chomped up the last three as well. Please pray for my purple carrots. I got rid of most of the ants, but I'm still worried about my precious carrots!)

 

That is all for now. Hopefully, it won't take me this long to blog again. Have a fabulous day!

Happy Easter!

Okay. Maybe it is a little late for "Happy Easter!" or extremely early depending on how you look at it, but I've finally finished the Easter 2012 video I've been working on since Easter. Granted, I've been busy with other things like helping Mom recover from her wrist surgery, but still...It took FOR-EV-ER! Enjoy!

Review of February's Z Box

What is a Z Box? A Z Box is a box of samples from various shops on Zibbet.com. The items you may find in a Z Box vary month to month. I've opened a grand total of four Z Boxes and one Z Bundle (smaller version of the Z box). Each time there has been something new. If you like surprises and discovering new handmade shops, a Z Box is a great buy! If you own a Zibbet shop, it can also be a great way to advertise your products. I was in Z Box a few times when I had a shop. (I decided to close both of my shops last week for personal reasons.)

This month's Z Box was a special themed box called, Z Love Box. While the best thing I ever got in a Z Box (A bracelet from LittleWishesJewelry) wasn't in it, it was the best all-around Z Box I've had the pleasure of receiving! It was loaded with so much great stuff that I'm only able to list a few here. All shop names link to the mentioned shop.

First-A "sample" of Illipe Body Souffle from Marie Dean. I put sample in quotes because compared to typical samples, this thing is HUGE! It is a thick cream that smells great!

Second-A pair of earrings from Xquisitely Lady M. These earrings are very cool! I like the beads that are worked into the chain, and the colors are perfect for Valentine's Day.

Third-A heart-shaped sucker from Custom Candy Creations. I've bought from Custom Candy Creations before so I know this is going to be good!

Fourth-A heart cookie cell phone charm from Clay Art by Daresa. I love how cute this is!

Fifth-A pair of earrings from It's My Thing! Designs. My favorite thing about this sample was the way it was packaged. It was wrapped up like a very pretty present. It wasn't the only one that was wrapped, but this was wrapped in a way that they had a little pocket for their business card. It was really cool, and I regret not getting a picture before I opened it.

Here is a picture of almost everything that came in my Z Love Box. (I was wearing the bracelet that came so it isn't in the picture. Sorry.)

Links of where you can find Z Box...

Shop- http://www.zibbet.com/SampleZBox
Blog- http://www.zibbeters.blogspot.com/
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/samplezbox
YouTube- http://www.youtube.com/zboxtv
Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/RWestDesigns