I'm REALLY trying to remember this today as I am going crazy in this apartment! I think I'm just ready for warmer weather, and more space. And, not to sound trunky or anything, but only 2 1/2 months til Jared graduates and we can move from this place! Unless we decide to stay for the summer... just depends on what the job situation is. But all the jobs he's applied for so far won't start until fall semester. We won't buy another house for a while, but we've made a deal about what kind of place we'll rent, and I'm not compromising on having no dishwasher or washer and dryer this time! Am I being too bratty?

I didn't have my babysitting kids today so I got my kids ready and we set out to do some errands. I even promised Ryan a treat of chicken nuggets at Wendy's for lunch. But when we got out to the parking lot, the car wouldn't start. I was freaking out a little and called Jared and he calmed me down and said it sounded like it just needed a jump. We're pretty sure one of the doors wasn't closed tight so the battery died overnight. So we treked back inside and Jared will jump the car when he gets home. We ate lunch here, put Emery down for a nap and then Ryan and I made chocolate chip cookies. Guess we'll have to get our errands done on Saturday (I babysit tomorrow).

(Graphics by CD Muckosky--Home is Where the Heart is)

ETA: Jared jumped the car and it's working fine!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lately I've been getting e-mails wondering where my Christmas posts were and why I've disappeared. LOL. And once again, I've been blog neglectful. Mostly just very, very busy. If you've kept up with my design blog at all, you'll know that I've recently left Elemental Scraps, and am now designing and selling at The DigiChick and Funky Playground Designs. Both are really awesome stores, and I'm excited to be a part of them.

Aside from being busy designing, I'm still babysitting at least 3 days a week. The kids are still almost constantly sick, and right now my family is battling what they brought us last week. It's so frustrating, and believe me, I would quit if I could. I was furious last week when I found out they had had pink eye over the weekend. I don't understand how kids can get SO sick SO often. We've been blessed to avoid MOST of what they have brought with them.

Jared is in his last semester of his masters, and we are so excited and anxious to be done!! Right now we are looking for and applying for jobs, anywhere from Texas to California, to Washington. We'd love to be close to home, but we also know we need to go where we can find work.

Ryan and Emery getting so big, so fast. Ryan LOVES preschool and Sunbeams. And Emery is not such a baby anymore, which makes me a little sad. But she still loves to cuddle, so I'm happy!

I have tons of things I want to say, but my brain is so cloudy from being sick, so I'll just leave you with a few layouts. And a hope to be better about blogging!

First Snow (that stuck)

I've been blog-neglectful. Actually, that's not totally true. I re-did my design blog and have been posting over there, I just haven't done much here and am very behind on commenting on your blogs. Sorry :(. I still love you!

Anyway, just wanted to post some layouts I did this afternoon during naptime. Our first snow (that stuck)! It's mostly melted now, which I'm happy about since I have errands to run, but the kids thought it was kind of fun. I'm sure it's just a taste of what we have coming.



Credits go to me :) A new kit I'm working on.

Party Pics and my Twi Review

Party Pictures! I didn't take a lot because I was too busy having fun, but here are a few:The food! I did the punch (notice the "blood" dripping down the sides? It turned out so cool in real life.), "blood" filled cupcakes (with fang marks), and taffy apple tarts. The other girls brought Bloody Mary (non-alchoholic) mix, Meiers (Meyers) Sparkling Grape Juice, Chocolate Vampire Suckers (they had vampire faces on them), red velvet cake, and goldfish crackers (in honor of Charlie). It's hard to see cause the table was a little crowded, but I had a cute black and white damask runner sprinkled with red punched out apples. And notice the apple votives :). Very good food.

We played a couple of games (sorry, no pictures). We wrote down our most neglectful moment while reading the book (stole from someone else's blog idea) and then voted. The prize was to someone who read the book in about 12 hours, and her kids ate animal crackers and played Nintendo all day. (Hmmm...that sort of sounds like a lot of us...exept mine was movies...). Her prize was Fudge Marble cake mix (in honor of Edward), Polar Ice Eclispe gum, a book mark, and a black and white damask note pad. Then we played a trivia game and the winners got beaded apple book marks that I made--and didn't take a picture of :(. I thought they turned out kind of cute though.

Here's most of us right before we left for the movie:

A couple of the girls decided to go straight to the theater to save us seats instead of coming to the party. It's soooo good they did because the line to get in was sooo long. I wasn't sure everyone would fit in that theater! We were able to get decent seats altogether though.

Here's part of the line, and us waiting in line:

And now for my "review," trying to keep it vague enough I don't spoil it for anyone.

I know there is a lot of controversy going on about this movie right now, but I have to say I loved it. I mean, really loved it. Was it perfect? No. Was is great for me? YES.

I went into it with a very open mind though, having seen many trailers, and released (and unreleased) footage. I knew it was going to be different from the book. It had to be. I went into it wit the idea of separating the book I love from the movie to give the movie a fresh chance. So I was okay with a lot of the changes that were made. I felt the essence of the story was there and the characters were for the most part captured. I would have liked to see a lot more of the beginning of the romance scenes, and a lot more of the Cullens as I felt the movie did move very fast. I think the movie experience is definitely a lot better if you've read the book(s) because you have an inside perspective and will understand subtle things you would not have picked up if you don't know the story. But I think this movie was a good introduction to what we will (hopefully) see in the upcoming movies. And I loved that they threw in parts of Edward's perspective that you read in Midnight Sun, and that it was a really great lead-in to New Moon. I loved Robert as Edward, and I have to say I was a little skeptical. I had high expectations for Edward in my mind. Of course, I think the book-reading experience is ALWAYS better, so yes, I like the book much better, but I'm glad I saw the movie and I thouroughly enjoyed it.

Can't wait until Wednesday when Chelsea gets here and I can go see it again with her and Jared!

Mine

Emery learned a new word today: MINE.

She's been saying it quite a bit as she waddles around the apartment, particularly about her cup. Mine, mine, mine. Hmmm....Wonder WHO she learned that from?

Twilight Fans!!

Only two more days!! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself! So I'm trying to channel it!

Read here how you can win it.