Once a Month [Old Stuff]GIveaway!

Here we go again!! 

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog! 
 I always enjoy hearing from each of you throughout the month
via comments, emails and facebook!
It's so fun to share together!
For those new to this -- 

The Once a Month [old stuff] Giveaway  -

is a [medium flat-rate] box full of goodies - 
some stuff may be missing a few stickers, 
some stuff is brand new that I've realized I'll never use - 

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure and all that, you know...

The winner of the
Once a Month [old stuff] Giveaway 
will be chosen randomly each month from 
those who email me their 
snail [street] address 
after the post goes up -
[Judy-at-faithbasedpages-dot-com]

Deadline to email is May 31, 2013.

There’s a couple of rules – US Residents only -- sorry...
– and you can only receive the box once every six months – Sound good? 
[Also, remember to check the OMGiveaway PAGE TAB above to see the past winners-]  -
And, thanks again for stopping by!

How can it be the middle of May already?!?!

Another week has whizzed by –

And I’ve missed the Monday Musings deadline yet again –

so I’m playing catch-up – 

This will be short and sweet –

  I’ve settled on a dress for the mother of the groom –

I think --

sneak peak here:

[I could still change my mind,

so don’t hold me to it – ha…]

My counties spoil me –

this was the snack waiting for me during a county visit

– yum.

I’ve painted some this week –

this one for our sweet administrative assistant that is retiring

And this one for one of my on-line classes…

starting a painting with white - fun!

 [This was my first try -

I like the second try best -]

I ate cauliflower out of my garden one evening –

... we enjoyed time with our boys…

And finally – I’m happy to report that I’ve ordered my albums for the great scrapbook re-do. [I’ll share more on that soon!]

I've been a little behind on things in [my little] blog world -

Living life, ya know –

I’ve been busy – 

So busy that I missed my mammogram appointment twice 

before finally getting there – that’s cRzAy for me… 

[routine – all is well -]

And, I’ve been sick – finally went to the doc/box and got some antibiotics for this sinus infection I’ve been fighting for [more than] a few weeks now – and let me just say – it’s so WONDERFUL to be able to breathe!
And to not be so [sooo] tired –
sinus infections just drain my energy…

And I’ve let the scheduling of the closing of our mother’s house

just about drive me nuts!

It was cancelled at least four times ----

but yippee yahoo - it is done now! 

She's feeling only relief.

And that's extra good -

  So, first order of business – the OMGiveaway box was finally mailed out this week! [Yay – Congrats Joyce and
thanks to you all for stopping by to read my ramblings!]

Cute National Scrapbook Day T-shirt [that I received on Monday
after The Day,
despite having ordered it three weeks prior] - mailed to my friend who is out of the hospital and on the way to recovery!

And fun vintage tags for a swap – mailed.
Yay. I hope they are ‘worthy’ – 

Really.

I enjoy crafting and seeing how everyone puts their own spin on an idea, but when I’m sending something for others to use I’m always a little insecure about it being liked enough to, well, actually be used…

I’ve also been thinking A LOT about the upcoming wedding –

Have finished my photo-ops…

[I think they’re just too cute!]

And I have been trying on dresses like a crazy woman – 

I want something summery and casual, yet dressy. 

Does this even exist? 

And I really believe the mother of the bride should have 

first choice on design / color / etc. 

[So I need to see her pattern/fabric...]

annnnnnd I don’t want to clash with the bridesmaids dresses… 

I want to be able to wear heels and a light sweater for the ceremony, 

yet put on sandals and be sleeveless for the rest of the day 

[I’m realistic – it’s FLORIDA – in JULY. Ha.]  

And I want to be able to wear it again and again…

Is this too much to ask?!
Can you tell that I'm a little obsessed? hA.

This weekend we enjoyed dinner with the oldest and his gal and her parents for mother’s day -- she made us the cutest exploding box!!
[Isn't that adorable?!? I've always wanted to make one, but have never made one myself so I was impressed! - I love it!]

We also had breakfast with both our boys

before seeing both of our mothers on Sunday afternoon.

Then I got to do my favorite thing – mow our lawn – while Craig did all the weed-eating. Seriously, I LOVE that mindless task – and it sorely needed it due to all the rain we’ve had this spring…

It was almost taller than little EmmaLou…

Later on I played a little with one of my bro/SIL’s photos with picmonkey
[free on-line] – how neat is this?
To see more of their great photos click on MK's blog -

And, lastly – it’s the middle of May and our heat was on this morning. 

‘nuff said.

Hope your week is great!

Happy Mother's Day

to the best mom ever!

Come on over to

12 Months in View

and see how much fun we had during our recent 

Movie Night with friends!

[Thanks Bernice for the opportunity to share!]

I've been so very busy at work,

and it's been one of those weeks when something came up that needed 

A TON of attention 

and just one day later it seemed like it'd been four or five already --- such a long week..

And I finally gave into the sinus yuck and went in to the doctor and got some meds - 

should have done it earlier -

 but I thank the Lord for whoever invented / discovered antibiotics 

[oh, and the yeast pill too - ha.]

I know - TMI.

My weekend was planned full too - 

With plans to be in Georgia all weekend with an on-line friend 

who'd gifted me a scrapbook retreat

- but alas, after driving 4 hours to get there, I find my friend so sick 

that her husband is on his way to pick her up - 

please say a prayer for her - 

haven't heard from her, 

but am thinking it was either gall bladder or appendicitis...
UPDATE - I talked with her today -

Pancreatitis  -

 Please continues to keep her in your prayers - 
she hopes to get out of the hospital on Wednesday.
I stayed overnight and worked on some art journals things and 

a big painting that needed some more layers put on it -

[I'll share that with you soon enough -]

Then I drove back home early Saturday morning - 

So, yes, a very short trip with eight hours on the road...

in the rain - yay -
But I decided to look for the good - the fun, as I drove on those mountain roads...

and wanted to share some of the things I saw along the way -

   First of all - some of the most gorgeous ORANGE azaleas I've very seen! 

And wonderful buildings made of marble in Tate, Georgia -

the marble capitol of the world.

Who knew?

Apple Orchards and Apple Houses 

ALL OVER the North Georgia Mountain area - 

Again, who knew?

And at least ten armadillos 

belly-up along one stretch of highway...

Did the water get them?

 

And lastly, a goat on someone's front porch -

there may have been two...

And no, I'm not crazy enough to stop and take photos of all these things

- these photos came from the internet...

And I guess searching them out shows 
a different kind of crazy altogether - .

Ha.

Have a good week y'all.
Oops! I forgot one -
 
the praying mantis mailbox -
and, I seriously believe that this photo I found on the internet 
is the exact mailbox I saw -

I'm still trying to get things

organized in my ‘new’ office so my work can ‘flow’ easily –
This L-shaped built in desk keeps throwing me off! For the last six months or so I’ve been moving things around [over & over] in an attempt to find what works for me… 

[Add to that the fact that I still had boxes setting out holding the bulletin board at eye-height until I could get it on the wall – ha] 

I first brought in a TV tray to set to the left to help with the work-flow 

and soon realized it was not big enough…

Side note – back in the day when I first started work and they gave me this GREAT-BIG desk I remember thinking – WHAT ON EARTH do I need that much space for? – ha – Well, I soon found out…

Back to the present - 

I finally decided that I needed something a little bigger
to keep some files on – 

Enter this little mid-century piece I found next door at the Salvation Army.

I scooped it up and took it home to quickly cover in a coat of paint –

I added texture with a little newspaper on the drawers

[to match the potted plant and bulletin board already in my office -]

Then I scraped some off to give it an old worn look, and, wa-la –

I love it.

It helps clear off the skinny little work space near my computer keyboard to give me space for the task at hand – and I think it’s the perfect compliment to the white bulletin board.

Aware

[all one-little-word - AWARE - is from Pinterest]

This week

has been full of lots and lots of work - here in town, thankfully - but busy with conference calls

and training prep , etc. etc.etc ... and sinus yuck, still.

We were in bed by 8:30 one night;

how crazy is that?

It's been nice being at home all week...

[Kitchen table - those were the boys' Easter hats back in 1992 - I"m getting old...]

It's still crappie season

and Craig and his friends are making the time for late afternoon fishing excursions -

that's made for some yummy baked fish for dinners.

[So easy - put on a foiled lined pan and cover with fish seasoning / cajun seasoning / whatever you like, dot with butter and stick in the oven, pre-heated to 450*, for about ten minutes - just enough time to get a potato done in the microwave... delicious!

And there's plenty in the freezer for later!

While he's been fishing I've had time to explore a few more of my art lessons -

This is a doodle-collage [taught by Cathy Bluteau] that was fun to do -

a mixture of washi tapes, papers, markers, and cut-outs...

I'm looking forward to doing another one...

And this one is from LifeBook 2013 - the process she taught was so very detailed... I knew I didn't have patience for that so I improvised [as did many in the group -] and, again, used markers, and modpodge, and glossy accents, and stickles... fun.

Note - Lil EmmaLou is doing fine - she's home and moving slowly... but every day is better.

She went in for her spay -  she was having pseudo - pregnancies

so things were a bit more complicated.

But it's done now - she gets her stitches out next week.

Have a good one!

And, remember - let your light shine!!

Here's a little something

I made out of of the wood floor that was pulled up 

when we re-vamped the bathroom [downstairs] last year --

[and by *I* I really mean *WE* 
since I usually come up with the idea 

and my sweetie does the hard work of getting it done -]

It [obviously] took me a little while to decide exactly what I wanted for our window covering...

[And yes, we had a towel tacked over it 
all that time - real life folks...]

But I love this - the idea is from lots of things 
I've seen on Pinterest -

And the quote is from Annette Funicello 

-- my favorite mouseketeer--

Sad - and neat - 
that we hung it up the day before her death...