7 Things

My friend Andreea tagged me and since I had already done her tag way back in april 07 I linked her to that post and thought I was good to go, until I read Donna's Blog!

7 Things I Plan To Do Before I Die
1. Be debt free.
2. Move somewhere warm where it NEVER snows.
3. Go to Australia.
4. Learn to be a great photographer.
5. Go to Alaska (when it's warm).
6. Take my kids to Disney again.
7. Be a Gramma (but not for at least 20 years!)

7 Things I Do Now
1. Play on the computer way too much.
2. Work.
3. Eat too much junk.
4. Don't exercise.
5. Take things too seriously.
6. Digi Scrap.
7. Spend money.

7 Things I Can't Do
1. Exercise faithfully.
2. Give up sugar (but according to Deb's blog neither can she so I'm not alone!)
3. Skip a week of cleaning my house.
4. Bite my tongue enough.
5. Drive a stick shift.
6. Rock Climb.
7. Leave the house with the bed unmade.

7 Things That Attract Me To The Opposite Sex
1. Eyes.
2. Twinkly eyes.
3. A great personality.
4. Good physique.
5. Has manners.
6. Works hard.
7. Unhairy (well except for the head).

7 Things That I Say Most Often
1. Cool.
2. Awesome
3. Are you kidding me
4. Go take your shower please.
5. Leave your brother alone.
6. Bedtime!
7. Brush your teeth and wash your face

7 Celebrities That I Admire
1. Oprah (how can I not she's the richest women)
2. Taylor Swift (gorgeous and can that girl sing!)
3. Tom Hanks (I would love to be that funny!)
4. Kenny Chesney (he lives in the Caribbean!)
5. Carrie Underwood (see #2)
6. Faith Hill (she's married to Tim!)
7. ?

7 Favorite Foods
1. Chocolate
2. Lasagna
3. Rare steak
4. Tiramisu
5. Brownies
6. Bananas
7. Garlic Mashed potatoes

7 People Who Need To Do This
1. Debbie
2. Kristi
3. Mary
4. Andrea (payback stinks doesn't it) ;)
5. Sharon
6. Tember
7. Chris (cause she never blogs!)

A Real Blog Post

Yep, you read that right, I'm actually going to blog today instead of just post a quiz! It's been awhile I'll admit. And I've got my reasons. I've been back to work for 6 weeks now. After being laid off for 5 months it was a tough transition for sure. You'd think I never worked it's been so hard! But in my defense, the commute is an hour each way (one day it took me an hour and a half). I am leaving my house at o'dark thirty (actually 5:45am)! And it's sooo boring! I am not liking the job at all, it's not very hands on for me, it's a lot of meetings, reading crap and writing documents. So not fun. Plus I can't get anywhere on the internet but google! So all my blogging buds, I am only reading your blogs via google reader which means I can't see your awesome photos OR comment. Stinks! It makes for a very long day. But enough complaining, it's a paycheck and that's what I need most.

On top of work, Jake is playing fall ball with games on Saturday and Sunday! That pretty much takes up all my free time. Needless to say my house is suffering. I need a cleaning lady, anyone know a good one? I'm trying to keep my head afloat with all my digital assignments too. I fear I may have to leave some of them but I love them all so I'm not sure how to do that! But it's not fair to the awesome designers for me not to give them 100%.

Speaking of digi, here are a few pages I've done recently:

Credits here
Yes I put that wake board there on purpose!

Credits Here


Credits Here

And now I have to go get ready for a 9am baseball game. Have a fantastic weekend!

Could You be a Vampire

If you have read any of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Series you'll understand why I'm posting this...

You Could Be a Vampire... If You Had To

Like most people, the thought of being a vampire has crossed your mind. But you're not sure if you'd do it, even if you could. Living forever doesn't sound half bad, if you could live forever with the people you love the most. But do vampires even love? And would the vampire version of you even be you? It's all too much to contemplate. Luckily, the chances of you ever becoming a vampire are astronomically low. What you would like best about being a vampire: Living forever What you would like least about being a vampire: Blood stained teeth

Could You Be a Vampire?

How Real are YOU?

I'm

You Are 84% Real

There's hardly a person on this earth more real than you are. You have no problem showing people who you are, flaws and all. For you, there couldn't be any other way. Because it's way too stressful to live an inauthentic life. You're very comfortable with yourself. And because of this, you're able to live an exciting, interesting, and challenging life.

How Real Are You?

My 4 Things

I saw this on Tember's blog and had to do it cause it looked fun:

1. Four places I go to over and over: Work, Grocery Store, Gas Station, Fashion Bug.
2. Four people who e-mail me(us) regularly: Mom, Eric (dh's BFF), Louie (an old coworker), Rachael
   
3. Four places I would rather be: on the beach somewhere tropical, Disney with the family, vacation, bed
   
4. Four TV shows I watch: Lost, CSI Vegas, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol

What are your 4 things?

Crayola Colors

Do you know your colors? I still have my box of 64 colors of Crayola's from when I was around 10 years old. Coloring was one of my favorite pastimes as a kid. I took this test to see how well I still knew the colors and I thought I did pretty well considering there were some colors I'd never even heard of!

I got all 64 named eventually but got 22 wrong first! LOL!

Here is the test:

http://www.crayola.com/promos/64boxBirthday/colorQuizzer.cfm

Come back and let me know how you did!

A

How's your spelling?

It says mine is excellent but I would not agree with a 75%!

Your Common Spelling Mistake Score: 75% Correct

Your spelling is excellent. You don't fall for common spelling pitfalls, and you spell almost everything correctly.

Do You Make Common Spelling Mistakes?

The Brainy Kid? I think not!

So there was this fun quiz over at SSD about "Who you were in High School". I took the quiz and it said I was the brainy kid and a nerd. So not true. Ya I was an A student but I don't even know what AP classes and couldn't have found the computer lab if my life counted on it. LOL!

So who were you in HS?

You Were the Brainy Kid

In high school, you were acing AP classes or hanging out in the computer lab. You may have been a bit of a geek back then, but now you're a total success!

Who Were You In High School?

Never would have guessed!

I don't think I have a "Boston" accent even though I've pretty much lived in the Boston area most of my life but to have a "Midland" totally surprised me!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Boston
The West
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The Inland North
North Central
The South
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

!

BFF Award!

I got this fun award from Karen! Thanks Karen, I'm honored!

And what good is friendship if you don't pass it on of course I've got some BFFs to pass it on to!

The rules for the "Blogging Friends Forever" award are:
* Only five people allowed
* Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog
* One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog or lives in another part of the world.
* You must link back to whoever gave you the award.
* The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.

So my pics are:
Donna
Kristi
Jodene
Rachael

and a fairly new reader is Hallie

Grease Quiz

This is and always will be one of my favorite movies. When I found out on the SSD blog there was a quiz I of course had to take it.

Here are my results:

You are an expert!

You have correctly answered 13 of 15 questions.

On average, 440 of users who took the quiz gave 11.38 right answers.

I was actually surprised I got any wrong and I wish they told you which ones!

Are you a Grease Fan? Go take the quiz to find out!

I got a JOB!!!

So while I was in NY I had to log in to submit my unemployment claim so as not to miss my payday. I decided to quickly check my email and there was an inquiry from a company named Oberon about a Configuration Management position at Hanscom AFB, MA. I emailed them and told them I would be out of town but would call them on Wednesday when I got back.

Monday morning the boys were very cranky and overtired and I was coming down with a cold and I decided it was time to head out a day early. I was upset that my visit with Cindy was going to be cut short but I didn't want her and her family to have to deal with my cranky kids.

Tuesday am I emailed the Oberon contact and told them I was home a day early and available to talk to them. They called me and said it was a good thing I got home early as they were about to make someone an offer, asked me if I could come in the next day. Wednesday morning I showed up at 10am to talk to them and by 11:30 I had an offer. It was contingent on me getting a security clearance so they posted my start date for August 11th. Well when the security people ran my social my old clearance from 2005 was still active so they didn't have to do all the background investigations and just picked up that clearance and called me back and said I could start Monday!

What a whirlwind! I can't wait to get back to work!

Today's Thoughts

I got this via email and thought I'd share it's very sound advice:

Jim is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood
> and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him
> how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'
>
> He was a natural motivator.
>
> If an employee was having a bad day, Jim was there telling the
> employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
>
> Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and
> asked him, 'I don't get it!
>
> You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'
>
> He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two
> choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can
> choose to be in a bad mood
>
> I choose to be in a good mood.'
>
> Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I
> can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
>
> Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept
> their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I
> choose the positive side of life.
>
> 'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.
>
> 'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away
> all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations.
> You choose how people affect your mood.
>
> You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's
> your choice how you live your life.'
>
> I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry
> to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him
> when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
>
> Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious
> accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
>
> After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released
> from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
>
> I saw him about six months after the accident.
>
> When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be
> twins...Wanna see my scars?'
>
> I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through
> his mind as the accident took place.
>
> 'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my
> soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground,
> I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I
> could choose to die. I chose to live.'
>
> 'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked
>
> He continued, '..the paramedics were great.
>
> They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me
> into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and
> nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'.
> I knew I needed to take action.'
>
> 'What did you do?' I asked.
>
> 'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said
> Jim. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.! ' The
> doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took
> a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'.'
>
> Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on
> me as if I am alive, not dead.'
>
> He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his
> amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the
> choice to live fully.
>
> Attitude, after all, is everything .
>
> Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
> Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:34.
>
> After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
>
> You have two choices now:
> 1. Delete this
> 2. Forward it to the people you care about.
>

Going on a Road Trip

The boys and I are headed down to NY to visit with my good bud Cindy and her family. We are staying the weekend and maybe more if we all get along! ;) Cindy thinks she is going to teach me how to knit and while I laugh at this I shouldn't laugh too hard as she is the ONE that got me into Digi Scrapping! ;)

I had an interview that went pretty well on Wednesday. They did have more candidates to interview this week and next but I am hoping I'll come back to good news. If y'all could send me some hiring vibes I'd appreciate it!

When I get back the boys are headed to Maine for a week with my Inlaws and I have no idea what I am going to do with myself being all alone for a week. It's been 4 months since I got laid off and they have been home with me every day since the end of June! I am gonna miss them! At least I'll have Michael when he gets home from work!

I hope everyone has some fun plans for the weekend and I'll see you sometime next week!

It's Tuesday which means New Releases

I've got a new kit, some matching quick pages and some new template packs in my store this week at 30% off until next Monday!

New Kit Oopsy Daisy



Oopsy Daisy Quick Pages



Some Card Templates



and a Cosmo Cricket Jack Album Template set

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

It's Tuesday which means New Releases in my store:

Tagged

One of my digi-idols Kate tagged me today and since I haven't done a tag in some time I figured I'd get right to it!

The Rules: Answer the questions using only one word. Then tag four others.

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? work
3. Your hair? growing
4. Your mother? work
5. Your father? unknown
6. Your favorite thing? lappy
7. Your dream last night? weird
8 Your favorite drink? water
9. Your dream/goal? HAPPINESS
10. The room you’re in? den
11. Your hobby? SCRAPPING
12. Your fear? HEIGHTS
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? working
14. What you’re not? TANNED
15. Muffins? Cinnamon
16. One of your wish list items? addition
17. Where you grew up? everywhere
18. The last thing you did? scrapped
19. What are you wearing? PJs
20. Favorite gadget? lappy
21. Your pets? cats
22. Your computer? PINK
23. Your mood? stressed
24. Missing someone? Nana
25. Your car? H3
26. Something you’re not wearing? make-up
27. Favorite store? fashion bug
28. Like someone? yep
29. Your favorite color? pink
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? march

I'm tagging Kristi, Donna, Debbie (cause 101 things wasn't enough!) ;) and Dawn

Have a great day!

Fireworks

What Your These Fireworks Say About You

You are focused, single minded, and intense. You don't let others see your intensity often, and when they do, they are quite surprised. You burn brightly, but you also burn steadily. You have the endurance to get the one thing you desire most.

The Fireworks Test

Happy 4th Everyone!

Birthday Memories

The Sweet Shoppe Blog is asking us to post about our very favorite birthday memory this week. Mine came to me without hesitation and will always be my very favorite Bday memory as I don't think anything can ever top this one!

It was my 40th Birthday. I wasn't too happy about turning 40 but I was going to be going to Cape Cod for a scrapbooking weekend so it was looking up. Well when all of very favorite scrapping buds and some of my best friends in the world decided they were going to join me that just took the cake! Chris was flying in from California, Andrea was coming up from Florida, Carol from Texas, and Cindy from New York. I couldn't have had a better birthday weekend than that weekend. We had so much fun, scrapping, eating, laughing and talking into the wee hours of the night! It was a blast.

Here is one of my very favorite photos from that fantastic weekend:

So that's my favorite memory and it's gonna be so hard to every have another birthday as fun. So lets keep the fun going, tell me about your favorite birthday memory!