So excited..... oh my goodness....

I made my first Etsy sale!

(takes deep breath to steady self)

Oh yeah, I am bouncing off the walls here in the office...I want to go out and celebrate. Who knew how a little bitty $12.60 sale (she used the coupon code) could make me feel so good?

I'll post more about it later but HOORAY!!!!! I FINALLY FEEL LIKE A REAL FREAKING ARTISTAN!

...and a paid artisan at that.... ;D

I was dreaming of a .... brown... Christmas?

Well, not really, but that's what we got. Not such a travesty for me, but I know Richard was really looking forward to a bit of snow and so far this year has been fairly snow free. I do admit though that Christmas just doesn't seem as, well, Christmasy without a bit of snow on the ground.

Christmas eve was nice.... we didn't do anything special, but Richard ended up working just half his shift before he was sent home because there just wasn't enough tech support calls coming in to support a full crew. We watched "Holiday Inn" and "Muppet Christmas Carol" and went to bed at a decent time. Woke up at 6:30 on Christmas and since neither of us can really get back to sleep once we're up we decided to stay up and just start the day.... so much for sleeping in!

Presents were passed out, and I think we were both pleasantly surprised... we especially loved the family gift exchange presents we received from Miya and Roy. We ended up taking a brief nap that afternoon and then started cleaning up because we had friends coming over for dinner. I did kick myself a bit though since I had plans to make a batch of root beer float fudge (well, try it anyway) along with a normal batch of fudge and homemade caramels to give away.... and didn't make any of them! Bad me... especially since I bought cream and stuff to make them with!!!!

It was nice being able to visit with my old roommate and her son and daughter-in-law, and dinner was pretty good as well, though my candied yams failed miserably.... I apparently ran out of brown sugar without realizing it and decided to try using maple syrup (not pure maple syrup but the cheap crap and you could tell). Luckily the ham and everything else turned out lovely, because Richard and I will be eating leftovers for the next few days! So in about half an hour I need to zip into the kitchen and start making a homemade au gratin potatoes and ham casserole for when Richard comes home.

Today I had plans to do a bit of stitching... I made and gave away a wedding sampler for Christmas that I am just in love with and want to make for our home as well. It was lovely being able to wind down my evenings with needlework every evening. Silly me failed to take a picture of it before I wrapped and sent it off though! I have a couple of designs I have drawn up and, now that I am not under a time constraint, I want to try stitching them. I have about half of the office/craft room unpacked and have found a bunch of my embroidery floss (plus, Richard bought me a 150 skein pack of floss for my stocking!) and I have a bunch of Aida cloth that came from my stepmother's old stash so I certainly have some great supplies to play with. I will have to run to the fabric store in the next couple of days and buy more linen... the wedding sampler was my first piece stitched on linen and I don't think I want to ever go back to Aida cloth again (its okay if you didn't understand that) Aida has its place, but I really did fall in love with the look of a piece stitched on linen.

Whoa.... this suddenly turned into a crafting post!

So today has just been a nice day to unwind for me... cleaned the kitchen up from yesterday but that's about it (since we gave the apartment a great clean yesterday). I played a few things on Netflix ("The Girl Who Played With Fire"/"The Girl Who Kicked A Hornets Nest" and a few episodes of "Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares") while I read a book I got for Christmas about selling crafts online with a cat passed out on my lap. The book has some great ideas for your own site as well as on Etsy, and, first step, my shop name has changed from fiftytwo to FiftyTwoPhotography.... since its a photography shop then the author suggests that, hey, I mention what it is that I sell there! We'll see how it goes. It would be nice to finally make a sale on that site.... goodness knows my prices are beyond reasonable and I wouldn't even make anything really from it (given I've been paying listing fees for over a year now). Still considering giving up the photography site because I don't think people are buying much in the way of photographs right now. I will be starting a new Etsy site for crafts in the year to come.... fingers crossed!

Tonight will probably be an early bedtime for me, since I was up at 4:30 this morning... I go back to work in the morning, so I will definitely need to get some sleep! I think Richard is planning to watch some episodes of "Smallville" when he gets home (I got him hooked on the show.... we're now midway through season two). Otherwise it will be a nice and quiet evening (which I love).

The forecast for the next 10 days is in the low 40s and no snow.... poor Richard! It looks as if his New Year is also going to start off brown. We're planning to stay home anyway and have a bit of a Doctor Who marathon for the weekend, but it would be nice to see a bit of snow anyway. I may have to drive Richard up to Sundance so he can play in it a bit... our one evening of snow just got him excited to see more of the white stuff.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that the New Year to come will be full of joy and wonder....

All my love....

Shawna

Merry Christmas Everyone...

Today I found this sweet re-telling of the Nativity story... its so darling I couldn't help but share it with you all.



Wishing you all a happy holidays wherever the season may find you....

Much love,

Shawna

Damn.... one more year of waiting....

For Doctor Who fans...

Amazing take on the Doctor Who theme as a Belgian Jazz song... love it! Now to see if its available for download onto my iPod...



and for those of us who don't speak French... this should be the interpretation of what Bill Bailey is saying...

It's him, Doctor Who. He travels in the TARDIS, The fantastic phone box from space. The inside is much larger than the outside. And that is the mystery of Doctor Who. - The leader of the Daleks is called Davros He wants to control the universe, He wants to control everybody He has never controlled the universe With the Daleks the Doctor is superior. He laughs, "Ha ha! I am "Doctor Who" Daleks can't go up stairs, it's a tragedy for them. Zut alors! Exterminate! No you cannot for I'm Dr Who

What a Wonderful World

You just have to love David Attenborough...

Too Cute...

Fun Foto Freebee

Okay, so I cheated a little on the title...

Teachinfourth is offering a fun giveaway to help you to celebrate Christmas... the first 100 people to blog about his site (pick a post, any post...you can even talk about the photo giveaway) or his photography site is free to then leave a comment on his blog (read the details and post your comments here) and choose a free 5 x 7 of any image that he has taken...

Yes you read correctly... you have the whole wide world of his blog and his photography site to choose from (except for images from photo sessions) but then who wants pictures of a stranger's kids anyway when there is so many gorgeous images to choose from (unless you are one of those parents that have less-than-attractive kids maybe?)

Regardless, other people's family shots are not available to choose from, and neither is the Alphabetography (which you should check out anyway because its fun to play with the alphabet generator) And while you're looking around the blog, check out some of the posts about Joey... they will seriously crack you up!

From the i-Pod

I've recently uploaded a bunch of Kenny Loggins onto my iPod and, as he is such a fantastic artist, I've been playing him a lot lately. So today's songlist is all Kenny.... and they are all live, because he's freaking amazing in concert...

"Leap of Faith" (live) from his Live at the Grand Canyon 1991 concert

"Celebrate Me Home" (live) from his Live at the Grand Canyon 1991 concert

"Watching the River Run" (Live) from Outside: From the Redwoods 1992 concert

"Medley - Footloose/I'm Alright" (Live) from Outside: From the Redwoods 1992 concert

"Conviction of the Heart" (live) from Outside: From the Redwoods 1992 concert

Graphic Geek Humor...

Happy Thanksgiving

Movie Review - Breaking Dawn Pt 1

The short version..... if you are a fan of the books you will like the movie. If you aren't.... don't bother, unless you are in the mood for a bit of a laugh.

There are plenty of reviews for this film out there, but I thought I would throw my impressions out there anyway.

First off.... what the crap.... WE NEEDED MORE JASPER!

Okay, whew..... got THAT off my chest.....

Those of us who slogged through the "romance of the century" already know how completely corny and unlikely the majority of this book is.... from the stilted dialogue to the are-you-kidding twists and turns the plotline expects you to swallow. That said, there are plenty of so-called Twihards out there that just eat this stuff up with a spoon and will suspend reality for the course of two hours and come out swooning.

I did not swoon.....

The movie kicks right off with Jacob running out his front door, ripping his shirt off (to the squeals of audience goers) and turning to his normal "I'm-avoiding-complication-and-running-away" wolf state. He then takes off for a bit of the film.

We then zip over to last-minute wedding arrangements and then TA-DA the wedding to beat all weddings.... except that somehow Bella's wedding seems a little.... lacking. There are stupid jokes, a cameo of author Stephanie Meyer, and then this wedding dress that has been under wraps since forever is finally revealed to look like a shapeless potato sack with a see-through (and very tacky) back. Editing is very poorly done as we wind up watching a close-up of Bella's hairclip walk down the aisle and then we slowly slide down the too-much-skin-showing-for-a-wedding dress.... I was sitting in the audience with a serious "what the crap" look on my face for this one.... oh, and some wisecracks about how Edward and Bella are finally going to "get some" that were not necessary (the book has a lot more of these comments in the "second half", so I am sure those will manage to find their way into the final film... oh joy!)

Flash ahead to the honeymoon (more bad edits.... Bella apparently didn't sleep on the airplane judging by the fact that a flight from Seattle to Rio doesn't muss up her hair or wrinkle her dress, and yet she's wide awake and ready to go dancing?) We zip to the honeymoon spot, more bad dialogue before we get to watch our lovers walk into the surf for some cheesy "gaze at the moon" moments (again, bit of skin showing here, but its interesting to note how in some shots they appear to be chest deep in water and then suddenly seem to be waist deep without moving! Hmm, maybe they are working around showing too much skin?)

We are stuck with yet more bad edits (the sad story of this film) as Bella and Edward finally consummate their relationship.... with a fade out to keep everything at a safe PG-13 (originally this had an R rating). You pretty much saw it all already in the movie trailer, so that should give you a clue as to what you are in for. When that scene was over I was relieved to be able to let the teen with me uncover her eyes to enjoy the rest of the movie.... only to come to the next morning where Bella daydreams about the night before and hey, we're back in the sex scene! Oh brother....

After that everyone pretty much keeps their clothes on.

Bella discovers that after one night of sex that Edward, super vampire, has impregnated her.... though the scene had me chuckling as she stares at her belly in horror, checking herself out from the side with lines like "that's impossible" and clutching her FREAKING FLAT TUMMY! If that girl's stomach is supposed to be distended its by a millimeter at most....

...long story shorter.... they fly home, being typical Bella she defies everyone's counsel and decides to be noble and sacrifice her life for that of her unborn child (though she actually comes off as whiny... no big shocker there). Plenty more cheesy dialogue, bad bad bad use of CGI with the wolfpack scenes (not that the wolves look bad, but its glaringly distracting from the rest of the film's lack of CGI that it stands out like a sore thumb).

Bella magically (against all odds) ends up surviving (I won't spoil how for those who haven't read the book) but its so far-fetched in the book that the movie made this scene seem fairly laughable. The movie ends with the birth of the child (its a girl) and the discovery that Bella isn't dead but will now (in the next film) be starting her life as a vampire.... forever whiny.... man, I don't envy Edward being stuck with that! I am amazed though that vampire venom can take an emaciated skeleton and magically plump out boobs and put some meat back on those bones... all without draining someone first! Its like watching some Extreme Makeover show.... vampire edition.

The movie, as I said, is poorly edited.... you have several false endings that catch you off guard. You're thinking "okay, here is where they are cutting the movie off until next year's finale" only to find there is still another five to ten minutes to go. There is also a small scene with the Volturi as you get into the credits, so if you've made it that far you may as well stick around through the first of the credits for the scene.

All-in-all.... good for laughs, but this movie isn't really something that you can take seriously.... at least "Eclipse" had enough of a storyline to keep you watching. I will, however, give it a B for a decent adaptation of what was already a fairly laughable book. Will I buy it when it comes out on video? Not sure.... probably, in order to have the "complete collection" and I will certainly give the finale a shot.... but I don't expect to be getting it out much for all-day Twilight movie marathons or anything.

And if anyone from Summit Entertainment happens to read this.... I meant it... MORE JASPER!

I am being forced into this....

...I have absolutely no choice and was coerced into the situation by the pleadings of one absolutely adorable teenage "niece" that I love .... and my husband is wiping his brow in relief as he is now off the hook to do this with me....

What is it, you ask?

Well, tomorrow morning (11:30 am) I will be facing the hordes of teenage hormones with eleventy-billion girls at the mall as we cram into a sold-out theater to see "Breaking Dawn: Pt 1". I am responsible to cover the eyes and ears of said teenager if the honeymoon smexy bits prove to be too smexy for younger sensibilities. A task I shall endeavor to fulfill to my friend's high moral compass... just one of the many little sacrifices one must be willing to make for the ones they love....

Its probably a good thing Richard will not be coming on this little excursion.... he's already been given fair warning that I will invariably be drooling over one of his fellow Texans.... and I am sure he's not ready to see just how much I wasn't kidding about that!

Am I not allowed one teensy little weakness? In my defense, I loved Jasper's character in the books long before I saw Jackson Rathbone in character!

...and I am adamant that my little step into appreciating some eye candy is going to be nowhere near the screaming/melting/swooning fanaticism that I will be wading through in the mall tomorrow....

sigh...

...oh the things I am forced to endure!

The ever-changing job market....

Okay, my job duties have expanded so now I will be tweeting and doing FB "updates" for the company accounts...

... so I will be paid to hang out on public forums.....

...hmmmmmmmm....

Anyway, I was doing my first work "tweet" and saw this little gem in our stream.... and it had me laughing. No offense to gals who can't (or choose not to because they have oodles of cash to burn) cook:

TheFunnySexist The Funny Sexist™

Women Who Dont Cook aren't really women. If God didn't want women to cook, he wouldn't have filled their body with milk and eggs.

I must be bored...

...because I found this incredibly funny....

...is that sick or what?

Quote of the week....

Small Business Saturday

Okay, I know that American Express is probably banking on the fact that people will use their AMEX cards and therefore earn them more money (why else would they endorse it so much!), but I do believe in the idea behind this....

For those who don't have televisions or have listened to their radios, Saturday, Nov 26th (the day after Black Friday) is the 2nd Annual "Small Business Saturday". The idea is to stimulate the economy by shopping (even if its just one purchase) at a local small business. Instead of going out that weekend (as many people do) for just the Super Box Store blitz items, take a moment to stop in at a much quieter, less frenzied kind of shop and see what they have..... (I personally will stop at my favorite shop here in Utah, Planted Earth, an antique and kitschy stuff kind of place that I absolutely adore)

You can find more information on the website As the site says.... when we all shop small, it will be huge......

Another Amazing Time Lapse View from Space

Love the Aurora in this one....

..hope you all enjoy!

The things we do to make our men happy...

I am learning to cook a little more spicy.... a little more... Tex-Mex.

Not official Tex-Mex, but with a bit of that Tex-Mex flavor...



I discovered this seasoning at my local Super Target (but I've seen it around in several grocery stores) and Richard loves it.... we grind this stuff onto potatoes and onions as we saute them for breakfast... used it to season taco meat, and it has found its way into a few of my soup recipes and even into my meatloaf!

Actually, I am really getting hooked on it myself... which is really saying something since I am not into super spicy stuff... this is a very nice combination of flavors though that adds a kick to a lot of different dishes.

Guaranteed to make your Texan (or Washington/New York/Utah/Idaho) Man incredibly happy and smacking his lips for more.... in the month or so that we've had it we've used half of that big bottle! (disclaimer: this is NOT a paid advertisement)

As great as it is though I do need to pick up this book


Apparently the Barrios family is verrrrrrry well known around San Antonio (where Richard originally hails from) and it is filled with recipes he loves from the area. Lucky for me, it turns out my local library has a copy, so we will be picking it up tomorrow. The poor guy deserves a bit more of what he knows.... but he certainly seems to love everything I've made him up here so far...

...personally, I've had a hankering for Carne Guisada lately... think I may give this recipe a try....

For anyone who enjoys poetry

Like poetry? If so then here is a blog you may want to check out... it is a one woman challenge to raise money for charity (EEC International)... Jen is a UK poet who is spending this weekend writing 100 poems off the cuff, based on themes that her followers have suggested... at this writing (Sunday morning) she is up to #70 of the 100

Its worth checking out... her works are very lovely.

Here is the first poem she wrote.... just as an enticement to get you over to the blog....

#1

In those days we'd sleepwalk.
It was easier for us to see the city that way.
The daytime gave us kitchen steam,
flour tilting like November snow. At night
we'd trudge through gardens
that our house had never seen.
We would run and cup non-existent light.

Mostly, we dressed up as birds. Mary's favourites
were the leather swans. Black feathers in her bedsheets
and a zip up to her neck. We'd walk
together and in lines -
our wings hooping every lamppost.
In the mornings we'd bathe our swollen feet. Inch
our claws along the frozen tiles -
make-believe that we could fly again.


[tag word: SNOW - from Patricia Campbell]

later note: ooh, she used my suggestion!... and I love it!

#81

She sold herself as an apple peeler. Unwrapped
green dresses in front of libraries. Bobbing.
In the winter months she carved giant squashes
in the middle of the streets. Climbed inside
their trusting mouths, and waved at passersby.


[tag word: PUMPKIN GIRL - @shoezimm]

For the true Star Trek geek.....

Its the Enterprise all right.... scaled to the size of a pizza cutter.

Why this size???? Because it is a pizza cutter!

Richard would totally geek out over this one....and he does have a birthday coming up next month....anyone interested in checking this out can find it here
I also found this bottle opener here

...can anyone tell that I married a Trekkie?

What am I going to see this Christmas season?

Oh yeah.... bring. it. on.

I hadn't heard anything about this one, but it looks really interesting...

Better late than never...

Just found this online and boy does someone have a bit of time on their hands.... bet this would have been fun to visit, but you wouldn't want to live across the street from this one!

From the bookshelf...

Currently reading:

"The Shell Seekers" by Rosamunde Pilcher

I absolutely love this book and find myself re-reading it at least once a year. I usually have a couple of copies lying around (3 at the moment) because I inevitably end up loaning it to someone and they love it so much that I let them keep the copy they borrowed! This is a very touching and comforting sort of book... a perfect accompaniment to snuggling in a blanket on a cool evening while sipping hot chocolate!

Don't be fooled if you find a copy with the old floral cover (I love the new one shown above, but haven't bought one with that cover yet) ... "The Shell Seekers" isn't a romance novel... there is romance in there, but its not the bosom-heaving-bra-buster that I once feared it to be.

We open the book to meet Penelope Keeling, a woman in her mid 60s who is coming home, having just checked herself out of the hospital after having a (possible) heart attack. As she settles back into her home and life in the country, we are introduced to her three grown (and incredibly selfish) children, all with their own problems and dramas. As the novel progresses, we watch Penelope's life unfold in both the present and the past, as well as through the eyes of her feckless children.

We walk alongside Penelope as she suddenly must grow up at the start of the second World War. With all of its horrors, she decides she must do her part and joins in the Women's Corps... a decision she comes to regret. We share in her joys and tears as she becomes a wife and then a mother, falls in love and even loses those she loves to the war. We see her at war's end, leaving her childhood home by the sea and forging a new life for herself with a shiftless husband. We watch her raise her children and go on being kind and giving to all she meets, even at times when she has nothing to give but a kind word and a warm meal.

Years of wanting to visit the home of her youth finally come to a head and, despite her heart condition, Penelope travels back to the town where she was young and loved. It is there that she learns that while you can't truly go home again, those we lose along the way are not really lost, but become a part of ourselves.... and in that way continue living on....bringing her life full circle. In the same unselfish way that she has lived her life, Penelope has one more gift to give... a decision that has ramifications not only in her life, but in her children's lives and the lives of those around her.

Of course I am leaving out a lot of the story... but you can discover Penelope the way I did, one page at a time until she became someone I love dearly.... someone I would have loved to know. There is a reason that this book has come to be such a beloved favorite of mine, and I hope you can discover a bit of that sweet magic for yourselves.

Rating: PG-13

Why: Several of the characters are sleeping with one another out of wedlock, and, given that its set in England, alcohol consumption is throughout the book. Still, there is no foul language and nothing graphic is written detailing anyone's sordid love life.

I want...I want...I want....

Someone needs to buy this off of Etsy for me....

Get exercise escaping from zombies....

New app being developed for the iPhone, iPod Touch and Android.... you are given audible instructions as you run/walk/stroll/catch a cab. Along the way you "find" supplies for everyone waiting back at base. This app will work whether you are outdoors running about or if you hop on a treadmill...though I am not sure how the whole "we keep track of the miles you run/calories you burn" bit will work. If its GPS based it makes sense, but I have no idea how they would figure out the treadmill bit... the blog states they were still working on that big of programming.

From the website information, it appears that you will hear the zombies (in the distance or even chasing after you) as you get fit... sweet! You will also receive voice commands from fellow survivors letting you know where zombies have been spotted and what supplies they really need back at the home base. The Kickstarter page mentioned approaching some big-name talent for voices...the names Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day were mentioned (but not promised) but that would certainly kick it up another notch.

The app doesn't come out until next year, but is available to pre-order at $12 (40% off what will be the standard price). All the information is available here. Its probably something that would get old after awhile, but it certainly sounds like a lot of fun in the meantime.

Automatically collect crucial items for your base as you run, plus artefacts, notes, voice recordings, and more

Use the items you've collected to develop your base and help your surviving population thrive. With a bigger base comes more missions and some unexpected surprises.

I

Pinterest

I have a new pet peeve....and its name is Pinterest.

Anyone else sick and tired of seeing so many blog posts of "this is what I have pinned today" or "I just found so-and-so's pin list and look how cute it is"?

I know Pinterest is supposed to be a way to save your inspirations, etc and to have other people comment on them, but I'm tired of checking my blog reader and find that multiple blogs I follow only posted their "pin list" for the day. Honestly people, not everyone is interested in seeing what new things you have "pinned" for the day... and I've stopped following a few blogs altogether when it became obvious that they were only going to post new pins every day. I realize its the new shiny toy out there that everyone just has to play with, but its reached annoying enough levels that I have no intention to even join Pinterest.

Oh, and the "Wordless Wednesday" thing has been done to death people....

I think its time to weed out my Reader blogs again... too many people I am following are following one another... which means there is a lot of repeat blogging out there as people show "so-and-so did this on her blog and I just had to share it with you"...which is fine if only one gal does it, but when you are two weeks out from reading the original blog post and people are still sharing it, you realize how tired you are of seeing the same stuff over and over and over, and wondering why these people don't share more original posts.

disclaimer: despite this posting being a bit of a rant, I am actually in a very happy place right now.... I am just getting tired of deleting so many posts without reading them because its the same stuff over and over again....

second disclaimer: honestly, I really am happy....

And the hair has been cut....

No, this specific style wasn't on the list.... but I was scrolling through the internet to find a larger version of the hairstyle I had planned on going for and scrolled past something similar to this. Richard immediately wanted to know why this style hadn't been on the list for him to choose... (I didn't have the heart to tell him that several of the styles to choose from were variations of this cut!)

The sad thing is, I printed out the chosen hairstyle at the office and then set it on a box in the front seat of my car... a box that Richard hauled into the apartment right before we left for our hair appointments! Ugh! The gal did a pretty good job though considering I quickly found two images in one of their "books 'o' hair" and said "its a combo of this and this but without that and that...basically I want a pageboy cut".

I'll have a new picture of myself in a day or so.... I have to dig my camera out from whatever pile of stuff its currently buried under! I know its in the apartment and I know its in a safe enough spot.... I just can't find where in the apartment it is. Guess I'll just have to keep unpacking and moving boxes until I find its secret hiding place....

Note: Miya, I haven't tried the hair color yet... I'm currently enjoying being a brunette at the moment. I must admit though, after seeing the color she's sporting in this picture, I am seriously tempted to try red again!

Whew! Weekend Update....

Well, Saturday has come and gone and the final big move is finally over...

Thank freaking goodness....

Richard and I got hold of the U-Haul early Saturday morning and went to my old place to meet the Elders (who were scheduled to help with the move) and, while no one was there immediately at 9:30 am we weren't worried. We just started hauling stuff to the truck and figured the guys would show up at 10... after all, we said anytime between 9:30 and 10 would be great.

Ten came.... and went.... and still no help.

Then came ten thirty....

Finally I dug out our EQ President's phone number and gave him a call....

EQ Prez: Hello?

Me: Hi.... this is Sister Zimmerman....

EQ Prez: Hey Sister Zimmerman.... how is the move going?

Me: Well, fine.... considering its just my husband and I hauling things out.

(pause)

EQ Prez: You mean NO ONE showed up?

Me: Not yet....

EQ Prez: Lemme make some phone calls....I know I had a couple guys lined up for you today...

Fifteen minutes later I get a call back....

EQ Prez: I can only get a hold of one of them.... but he'll be right over. I'm still working on getting you a few more guys so I will call you back

Another fifteen minutes or so go by and then I get a final call...

EQ Prez: I am on my way and there should be a couple other guys coming right over to help....

Me: Thanks!

It took about another twenty minutes before anyone at all showed up, but then 5 or 6 guys showed up in dribs and drabs. By this time all that was left were two large items (my tool chest and the china cabinet) that Richard and I couldn't handle by ourselves, and about 15 or 20 boxes (Richard and I had already handled the other 3/4 of the boxes and the rest of the other furniture items)... luckily once they got underway we were loaded in another 15 minutes. It is amazing what a crew can accomplish rather than just the individual....

Believe me... I was grateful for the help.

We got the last of the stuff loaded and I (foolishly?) asked if anyone needed a lift over to the new place to help with the unloading (which our EQ had promised would not be an issue when I set this whole help-us-move-thing a week and a half prior, seeing as we were moving just down the road not even a mile away).

Guys: Uh.... you want help unloading?

Me: Yes please.

Well two guys managed to come over and they helped Richard haul the china cabinet and tool chest in the house before they had to bail to do other things. I was still grateful for what help we'd received (we'd have never been able to get either one of those things up those stairs by ourselves!) but we were already tired and not looking forward to hauling all those boxes up the stairs by ourselves.

Enter Aiden. Cute kid... maybe 11 or 12. He lives further back in our complex and was apparently dying of boredom, because he offered, at no cost, to help us get stuff up the stairs. He could certainly talk though, and kept up a steady patter as he ran several of the small boxes up the stairs and helped Richard with the lighter cupboards. He and Richard then devised a system where Aiden would find all of the light boxes and shove them to the back of the U-Haul. Richard would then carry the boxes over to where I stood on the balcony and he'd toss the boxes at me and I would then stack them immediately into the outdoor storage room on our deck.

It was a good system.... stuff was certainly flying out of the rig.

Once we had all of the lightest stuff out, we kept Aiden pushing boxes to the back and Richard and I hauled stuff up (well, Richard mostly hauled it up and I met him at the top of the stairs to take it from him and then decide if I was putting it in the house or carrying it out to the storage space, while Richard would head back down the stairs to grab another box).

The truck was cleared out, and we were able to return it to the facility just before the 2pm cut-off time (hooray!)

Of course, now we have a pile of boxes in the living room and office. Our bedroom was spared the majority of it, but once I have my bookshelf up tonight I will be dragging a few boxes of books down there to fill it with (which will actually clear out the majority of living room boxes... the rest of the living room overflow is some bedding and stuff to go into the china cabinet).

Have a I mentioned I own a lot more junk than I should? Pretty sure I have several times over by now....

We were both so tired Saturday after dropping off the U-Haul, but we had to stop back by the house to grab a couple of storage bins that were overlooked, and a couple of boxes of items from the cupboards in the kitchen (which are still sitting in our cars...neither one of us had the energy to lug more things up the stairs). We then went to WalMart to get a vacuum cleaner (we still hadn't picked one up, but after that morning's load of stuff, we certainly needed one ASAP!)

We then grabbed dinner at Kneaders, drove home, took showers because we were both completely filthy, and then tumbled into bed at 7.... too tired to care that it was early. We ended up watching a movie (Scream 4... which was surprisingly good) before we both passed out.

Sunday morning found us both incredibly stiff and sore. We crawled out of bed around 8:30, made breakfast, headed back for bed at 10 and slept until around 3pm! We were both too sore to do much besides shuffle a few boxes out of the way and we watched a couple movies (Pirates of the Caribbean 4--total crap and Green Lantern--not half bad). Then Richard decided he had the energy to haul a load of laundry down to the laundry room...which was a great thing, since we were getting low on clean clothes. (I look forward to getting a washer and dryer in a couple of weeks... no more hauling clothes around!)

After work tonight I will stop by the store long enough to grab some shrimp and steak (its our one-month anniversary today!) and then head home. After dinner Richard will move a few things around in the bedroom so my bookshelf will fit while I tackle the stuff to go into the china cabinet. Once he has the bookshelf set up (it will be the third one in our room and I think we could easily fill one or two more.... we both love to read and it shows in our collections!) we'll pull out as many books as possible to fill the shelves. I think once those things are done then we'll be able to navigate our way around the living room again.

For the remainder of this week I plan to get off of work on time (I am trying for no late nights at all) because I want to have the rest of the boxes in the house unpacked by the weekend. That would just leave me with every night going through a box or two in storage and weeding out a lot of the stuff. I would love to be much lighter on junk before the holidays.... and then I can be ruthless again in the spring. I would love to have our next move (in a year or two) to be much more manageable.

As it is, what a relief to know we don't have any more of those dire "must-get-stuff-out-now" deadlines... we can both come directly home after work and not have to worry about finding time to go pick up more of my stuff. From here on out, what you see is what we've got... no more "uh, really I have no idea how many more boxes we still have to haul over..."

And what a relief to finally be feeling better.... the cyst has either gone or is too small to be causing any more issues. Major relief with the move this weekend to not have that pain to deal with!

All-in-all we are doing good. We can both breathe again, and I can finally finish up all the stuff I've been meaning to do these last few weeks (I have package's for Y, L and M to box up and mail, as well as finish addressing my thank you cards and editing my wedding photos!)

I'll be busy for awhile, but we really are doing good.... we send our love to everyone who has been so patient with our not being available, and not really keeping in contact. Honestly, we did not fall off the face of the planet!

Until later,

Shawna

Quote of the week....

One day closer....

.... to an nearly unpacked home!

Got home late last night (worked late, fought my way through the store with the after-work dinner rush crowd and then was outside the apartment chatting with a neighbor for nearly 40 mins!) I started working on some rice and hamburger stuffed bell peppers for dinner (big hit... and they were really good, thanks to using Zatarains Dirty Rice mix.... good stuff!) Yes, dinner was mostly rice and veggies (I am trying to feed us healthier choices than either of us were eating prior to marriage... so far its working pretty good).

Anyway....

While dinner cooked I cleaned up the dishes, and then dragged my desk into the office, and started unpacking boxes.

Richard was home at 9 and I took a break for dinner, and then went back to the boxes again. With Richard's help we have over half of the junk that was stacked in the living room cleared out (HOORAY!) and all of our clothes are properly hung and folded (whew!) I wasn't paying attention to the time, so it was nearly 1:30 am by the time we were finished, but I went to bed this morning feeling pretty darn good about how things were progressing. I think I can get the rest cleared out before Richard comes home tonight. That leaves us with tomorrow morning to set up the office space (so we can both use it effectively) before Richard goes to work, and to decide out where we want to hang pictures and then like (I can handle the actual hanging of items after he's gone).

This way everything will be cleared out and ready for next weekend's final haul of boxes. A lot of those boxes (for now anyway) will go straight into the storage room on our deck for future perusal. I figure if I can haul out a box of two a night I can have the last of the stuff worked out within a couple of weeks, and haul the discarded stuff over to donation on my way to work each day, rather than let it pile up.

Did I mention I feel really good about how things are progressing here?

Its nice to have the space to spread out again with my things.... and to re-discover things I hadn't remembered even owning. Its actually making me look forward to getting the rest of my stuff over to the apartment.... well, not the actual heavy lifting, huffing and puffing (but thankfully we will have the Elders Quorum helping out this time so it should go much faster), but I am definitely looking forward to weeding things out and separating the gold from the dross.

Thank goodness for little miracles...

Yesterday I was supposed to move the last of my bedroom stuff out because my old roommate found someone to rent the room, and she's moving in today.

Okay, bit of a scramble, but its my own fault... between wedding prep, the cyst issue (and resultant emergency room visits and evenings tanked up on meds) not to mention the regular routine of always too much to do at work but not enough time (hell-o overtime!), I haven't moved my stuff over to the apartment in a very timely manner.

I tried working the day out so I'd only work a half day at most, and then would leave as soon as my co-worker came in, but she's called in sick for yesterday, today and tomorrow... and for a bit of last week as well. I am not sure what all is going on with her, but I think its safe to say its serious.

Anyway, I ended up working a full day.

The U-Haul place I was getting the truck from (a little 10 footer from a few blocks down the street ) was only open until 3 pm and the boss was running all over the place, so it became clear pretty quick I wasn't going to have even 5 minutes off to go get the truck before they closed... so I called Richard, tossed my debit card at him (his new one hasn't arrived yet) and sent him down to secure our wheels.

At 4:20 I was finally leaving the office, we grabbed the truck from where it was waiting for us on the lot, and headed over to load up my piles of junk. My old roommate showed up around 6:30 and helped, but (thankfully) the majority of it was already loaded. We stopped on the way to the apartment for a quick bite at KFC (which I normally hate eating at because something in that chicken always makes me throw up...but it was on the way and quick).

We got to the apartment and started unloading, hauling boxes and my small armoire and the like.... we hadn't even gotten to the two old-fashioned (ie: super deep) televisions, or my desk and I felt wasted. I'd already run around all day, was not feeling good and was unable to take my pills as I was driving. Keep moving I told myself....we're nearly there.

That was about the time I had to run for the bathroom and toss up the KFC....

I stepped out of the bathroom and heard a stranger's voice coming from my living room.... I walked down the hall and here pops this little gal in a yellow t-shirt carrying one of my boxes in, accompanied by my old roommate.

God bless my neighbor (literally.... she lives in the apartment right under us!)

We moved some more boxes and then were joined by a young man from across the complex, who helped Richard wrestle in both tvs, and the dresser.

Bless him too....

With their help we had the last of the items out of the truck in no time at all. I am not sure which apartment Dillon is in (but I will find out!) and both he and Kimberly are getting a plate of cookies and a hearty thank you this weekend.

We drove the U-Haul back to the lot and dropped the keys in the slot.... and I have never been so happy to have a day behind me.

Of course, when I get home tonight, I will be dealing with the pile of stuff stacked all over my living room.... but, between today, tomorrow and Saturday, that stuff should find their homes fairly quickly. I am glad though that my pictures and the like are at the apartment now, so I can finally start hanging some things on the wall and making our place look more like a home....

...and there is no place like home....

I am a winner....

... of a giveaway!

Whee! I've entered a few of these in my time (just the stuff that actually interests me, so, on the whole, there are a lot of giveaways on blogs that I don't bother with) but I won one!

Yippee! I am seriously stoked because a lot of the projects look fun. You can check out the book on its original blog here or on Amazon here. I am really looking forward to getting this in the mail and to start playing around with the different projects.

Yeah! I love cool freebies!

Good news.... I think....

Well I am back from the emergency room.... again

My cyst pain is still around. It fades, and then comes back pretty strong, so I take my pills, hunker down with a heating pad and just suck it up.

Friday night was incredibly bad and I should have had Richard take me to the emergency room then....but I didn't.

Today though it hit me halfway through Sacrament meeting.... I had Richard bring me home as soon as the meeting broke, I took some of my pills, and after three hours they still weren't doing anything about the pain. So I had him take me to the ER after all.

Wow, the Provo ER was amazingly backed up.... when I went to American Fork the day before my wedding I was immediately processed and given a room, and almost immediately went to have the ultrasound and MRI done. At Provo we had a couple hour wait just to get to a room....and more to get the ultrasound done...

We were at the hospital for about 5 and a half hours total, and the results were that while I still have my cyst, it actually has decreased in size from 10cm down to about 3. It hasn't ruptured, at least, not that the ultrasound showed, but it IS being reabsorbed by my body.

I was sent back home with the information that since it is resolving itself, that surgery is out (which I most certainly did not want anyway) but I do have to suck it up with the pain and the nausea for probably another week or two before my body finishes the job.

Ow-itch!

At least I know that it will be coming to an end soon.... but the nausea is pretty bad tonight. Think I will take a pill and crawl off to bed....

Time for a haircut?

Hey everyone.... I've been thinking of cutting my hair shorter again, and I would like your opinion. Rather than going with the short style I normally get.....


(My typical short cut, which I do love)


.....I would rather go shoulder length to start and then maybe go shorter at a later date. Feel free to links of any different styles you'd like me to consider in your comments....


if I could manage this look, I'd go for it in a heartbeat!





Do any of these strike you guys as looking good on me?

p.s. Richard just took a look in here and he prefers the bottom left picture... which was actually the first one I picked out....

From the iPod....

Simply because I loved this song before Richard and I got together.... but it means so much more now that I have him in my life....besides, its an amazing video

I am obviously into sappy love songs these last couple of weeks.... another one that I adore, though it seems to be massively overplayed lately

This is "our song".... though Richard prefers the Keith Whitley version, which is a little too much country twang for my taste....

Longer update...

Hey everyone...

Married life is going well. At some point all of my junk will be at the apartment, where I can start unpacking it, tossing some of it, and making our place look more like a home. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to work, go over to the old house and pack some more stuff, haul it home and then do it all over again. I am tired.... but its a good tired. I am seeing some stuff that I haven't had unpacked since I left Washington... and I am happy to say that I still love the majority of it. Its a good feeling to have a lot more of myself out and about, rather than crammed into one room. I get up in the morning and look around our still fairly empty bedroom and find that, while I know that dressers and the like will fill it up more, I am also happy to have space to walk around.

Last Saturday I went out to Cynthia's and we cleaned up the small mountain of wedding stuff in her garage... some of which is currently sitting in the trunk of my car (and will have to be unloaded tonight). I am glad to have that last task done... and I am sure she and her husband appreciate getting a chunk of their garage back. I really owe them loads for all they've done in regards of the wedding.

I should call our Elders Quorum President about having the guys help move over the furniture items on Saturday, but I would rather do it the following weekend, since I will be able to rent a U-Haul then, instead of having everyone help me do multiple trips with a pick-up. It would be nicer (and much faster) for the guys to be able to get everything into one big load. So I am thinking Richard and I may grab the truck Friday night after he's off work, do a load that night of my dresser and our pantry cabinets, and then we will do one more load of my bookshelf, steamer trunk and desk on Saturday before he goes to work. That way I can clear off my kitchen table of pantry items that are nothing more than an eyesore (and a feline temptation to knock over) and Richard's clothes can finally have a home, since he's getting my dresser and I will be using an antique one I found right before his move up here (gotta love beautiful antiques on sale for a really really good price!)

As it is we hauled all of my clothes and hangers, etc etc over to the apartment, so tonight I will be pulling everything out of their boxes and hanging them up, putting them away, etc etc so I can stop pawing through a variety of boxes trying to find an outfit for the day! I figure if I also spend tonight unpacking a few of the other boxes that have been tucked into the office/craft room, then I can reuse those to pack up what little remains in my bedroom at the roommate's place... and its just less stuff sitting around making me feel guilty that its still boxed up and not put into a more permanent placement. I don't like having boxes sitting around....

The more time that I spend in our home the more I love it... but then that's also because I love everyone I share the home with (Richard.... cats.....) Richard loves the cats as much as I do.... and is very tolerant, considering there is usually a cat draped on the bed, chairs, laps at any given hour of the day. Oliver has gotten into the habit of coming in as soon as we're tucked in, just to snuggle between us and purr away contentedly. We're settling into a routine that feels very comfortable and every day finds me loving this man I married just a bit more than I had the day before. Of course its not all wine and roses.... but I know I have a very good thing with Richard. We are enough alike that we agree on what shows to watch, what music to listen to, what activities to pursue.... but we have enough differences that keeps life interesting, but not conflicting.

I'll have to post more later... I have my wedding photos, but haven't had time to do much with them yet. I will try going through a few tonight and posting them.

Two-Second Update.....

I am alive....

I am happy....

I will post more by tomorrow.......

p.s. Miya.... Pinkie Pie will be finished tonight and will be in your hot little hands within a week! Sorry for the lateness of the b-day present!

Flyover from space.....

The long and the short of it....

Image courtesy of lifebalancediva.com

How do women do it? Somehow juggle career, family, finances, education, personal time and all of the little things that go along with them? You know....life. Thank goodness I don't have children tossed into the mix.... as it is, future hubby is given a hefty chunk of my time (and I love sharing it with him) but there are moments where I wonder if my little piece of the world will calm down anytime soon.

I do have a lot on my plate now; work has not slowed down with the end of summer now that we've kicked our ebay stores into high gear.... in fact, ebay is becoming a major portion of my day. I have had days where I am easily in the office 11 hours... by the time I shuffle for home I am literally crawling out the door.

Then there are the wedding plans (thank you CS for all of the help you are being even when I burned out a few weeks back!) I had finally hit a great big wall of "I really don't care" and didn't want to deal with it anymore. If people hadn't already purchased their plane tickets, I think I would have lobbied the fiance harder for an elopement! (Thanks also to my fab SIL for taking on the wedding brunch!)

How women manage to be wedding planners full-time is seriously beyond me.

I am still slowly moving my stuff over to my fiance's place, so I am in a bit of a limbo right now, with my lifetime accumulations split between the two homes.... I never seem to know if I am coming or going lately. I also look at the looming pile of junk still to be moved and am vowing, once again, that I will go through those boxes and seriously start downsizing my stockpile! Being the Great Procrastinator that I am, sadly, I didn't do this sooner, so the boxes will be moved, shoved immediately into the handy storage room our apartment comes with, and every weekend I will tackle a couple of boxes. Until then, it still leaves me a lot of trips between my place and his, hauling all that junk over.... ugh! Lets hope this teaches me a lesson in getting things done in a timely manner!

So if I seem a bit.... short..... when you call, I am sorry. I have moments where I literally want to hurl my phone through the window and watch it smash to smithereens rather than take yet another phone call. Honestly, things will be better once I have the wedding off of my plate... and all of my stuff moved. I think I am making things worse than they really are, because I see everything that still needs to be done, but am too tired to take on and I end up fretting over it.

Its not as bad as I think... after all, I have some guys from the church coming over on Saturday to help move the furniture items (with using the work truck that is going to be probably 3 loads, so I would feel bad asking them to stay around to help with the boxes as well). My roommate has offered to help me start moving over boxes from the basement, even if it is just a few a night, and she is okay if I don't get the last of them until after conference weekend... so that's really not as stressful as my mind makes it out to be...

As for the wedding.... its just 10 more days and then I can stop worrying about it, because anything that isn't done will just have to go on being undone. We have enough in place that it will be okay.....

Seriously though, this has been quite the eye-opener into the fact that I am nowhere near a patient woman, let alone supergal....

To all the gals who make life seem so easy..... my hat is off to you!

Well hello there Saturn....

5.6k Saturn Cassini Photographic Animation from stephen v2 on Vimeo.

Amazing preview for an IMAX full-length feature currently in production, created entirely from still photos from the Cassini probe.... this is not computer generated or CGI, other than to string the images together.

I would definitely pay the higher ticket cost to go to the IMAX for this one.... more information on the project can be found here

Fun Video Montage

Found this on You-Tube and thought it was cute.... its amazing how much fashions change over the years....

And for anyone wondering what birthday trouble I will be getting myself into this evening, I will be going to the theater solo to see "Fright Night". We were going to see it together this weekend, but it turns out this is the last night its playing here, and Richard is working until midnight. So we'll see "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" instead on Saturday for our birthday "date"...

Week-In-Review

Monday - Work. Run to Store. Run dinner to Richard. Tidy up for guests (Richard's sister and BIL). Pick up guests at airport (9:30 pm). Take home. Make up a late dinner (thank you crock pot!) Entertain until Richard gets home (midnight). Go home.

Tuesday - Wake up tired. Work late. Richard runs family up to SLC for conference.

Wednesday - Work. Take Richard dinner. Feel sick.... both he and I spend night up with the flu.

Thursday - Home sick with the flu.

Friday - Still a little queasy, but feeling better. Work 11 hours (ugh!). Go home.

Saturday - Finally see Captain American (loved it!) Go grocery shopping. Relax at apartment while waiting to pick up family in SLC after conference. Drive to SLC.... wait an hour (conference ran over). Drive back to apartment and cook dinner for family and family friend. Watch some Doctor Who.... start feeling sick again.... go home.... up most of the night.

Sunday - Drive to apartment at 6am, make breakfast. Richard and I take his family to airport. Go to my work to clean the office, since our gal who normally cleans is on vacation. Feeling sick again... miss church. Rest at apartment and cross stitch while Richard tries to sleep it off. Make dinner. Rot brains out with cross stitch and multiple episodes of Supernatural in-between restroom visits. Go home.

Monday - start work week over again......but I am starting to feel good again.... lets hope it lasts.

Wow... it seems like all I did last week was either have the flu (we seem to be passing it back and forth, so I think we need to lay off the kissing for a few days) and cook. Oh, and we did a bit of playing chauffeur. Not much accomplished at the end of the day except some well-fed family, a clean apartment and I seem to have dropped a couple of pounds of water weight (which will quickly bounce back I am sure)...that and I got pretty far on my sister's birthday cross stitch....

I mentioned on FB that I may have cracked a bone in my arm... think its confirmed now. I still have a large and tender lump just below my elbow and its been a week now... stupid thing is still pretty sore, so I am still being careful not to bump my arm into anything, which isn't as easy as you think since its my left arm and I keep bumping it on the door while I drive.

The jury is still out on if it was a good week or not.... I admit though that I am looking forward to not having to "go home" at the end of the day.... I like the idea that if I am tired or not feeling good I can just go to bed and not have to get in the car and drive to get to that bed......