I love you because ...

I won't lie; ever since making our  "_____ is awesome because.." boards - they've seen more than their fair share of ridiculous remarks.

"... because she doesn't pick her nose ... anymore."
"... because she screams when she sees Justin Bieber."
"... because she doesn't want to brush her hair.   Ever."
"... because she farted at dinner."

Haha - I know I probably cherish our sarcastic and smartass moments, a little too much.
Judge me all you want; it won't matter. 
I'll still be a smartass, tomorrow .. :)


"I love you, because ..." dry erase frames were on the agenda tonight and they were just as easy as the last ones.  
I revamped a picture frame, painting it and embellishing it with Washi Tape and a homemade button flower, replaced the glass, printed out a simple "I <3 you because ..."  and done.

for this 2nd frame all I did was cover the edges with 2 different types of washi tape 

it says 'you don't need batteries' because she spent hours playing with a toy we found at the thrift store, before she asked if we had batteries to see if it worked.

my kids rock and I must remind them why - a lot. :)

lost socks and drunken cork boards ...

Today was one of those stupid days.  

Within 20 minutes of waking up I'd decided I was going to do nothing productive. 
NOTHING.

I fell asleep early last night and somehow woke up late, this morning.
I woke up, scared from a strange dream that I couldn't remember.
I forgot to plug in my cell phone & it was an unhappy 94% dead.
My cinnamon rolls didn't turn out anywhere near as delicious as I had planned.
The teenager didn't complete her homework as she had promised.

It was very obvious that today was to be a day for crafts, the whole crafts and nothing but the crafts.   So help me crafts.

- home of the lost socks-

-we painted a thrift store wood plank
-we washi taped clothes pins

-we gorilla glued 'em onto the now avocado plank

-I created a 'LOST SOCKS' print out of alphabet letter art
-we embellished the sign with awesome metal flowers and brads from Pick Your Plum

-  DONE !

one happy little lost sock sign for our Laundry room

nobody wants to be alone

even if you are just a sock ...

 

-a drunken cork board-

this one's easy
.. drink a bunch of wine
keep the corks and glue them into a frame
decorate frame
DONE ! lol

but don't craft after the third glass of wine.
friends don't let friends drink and hot glue.

what's for dinner ..

how did that get in there?
 
didn't we just buy toilet paper?

are we there yet?

how could you forget?

where the Hell did I put that?!

what's for dinner?

some questions are just so much easier to answer than others ... :)

I printed a simple menu template
put it into a $ 0.50 thrift store frame
covered the frame in washi tape

glued on bananagram letters

done - cute, simple dry erase menu :)

if only thinking up dinner was so easy ...

wash dry fold .. repeat.

Just in case you didn't get the memo - there are parts of our day as a Mom that leave us feeling less than glamorous. 
Weird, right? 
You'd think after spewing forth a child from our loins, we'd get some sort of voucher redeemable for an eternity of effortless fabulousness.  The powers that be clearly didn't get that memo - so we still have to do things like laundry and dishes.

After years of fashion consultations and early-morning tangle fights; my girls are finally beyond the 'I don't care what I wear or if I brush my hair all week' phase and have traded it for an equally-annoying  'I'm changing my clothes 142 times a day' phase.  

I've always considered laundry and dishes to be the bane of my existence.  Crusty dishes and dirty underwears gross me out plus both chores chip my nails - double fail.  My distaste for the two chores may or may not have been a major part of the reason I had children, to begin with.    Free labor.    I'm kidding .. right ? :P  

There really is no help for my hate of dishes .. but I figured we could put some pretty junk up in the Laundry room as I find it slightly less annoying. 

Eventually I plan on making a lost sock board - but for now I've made 2 prints.

The Subway art (below) was the most fun, because the girls and the G. man chipped in; sharing their own creative laundry words. Our (almost)17 year old pointed out that if people aren't familiar with a couple of the brand names we put on there 'SNUGGLE' and 'SHOUT' - it's going to look like there's a crazy person washing laundry while hugging and screaming at people.   LOL

 

My favorites were 'endless' and 'repeat...' but one suggestion that didn't make it was "whites" and "colors."  A totally innocent suggestion by the G.man that led to us giving him a hard time for being racist. (haha-we're jerks). :P     If we can't laugh at ourselves .. we laugh at our loved ones ! :P

I put Washi Tape on the frame and it says "Made with Love."       I guess it's a little reminder in case you forget half way through a 20 pound pile of laundry how much you love making memories and dirty clothes with the smelly people in your family.    :) 

And here's the framed word art along with the scariest door-knob in the house.
I don't like to open it for fear of what lurks behind ...

Red Rocks and Classic Cars .. yes, please!!

This year marks the (I believe, but could be wrong) 21st annual April Action car show in Moab.
Since moving here in 2008 - we haven't missed one :)

For the record - I always love living in Moab.
However - the car show is my favorite event ALL. YEAR. LONG.
I don't have a jeep anymore - so I could sleep through Jeep Safari.
I don't rock climb, because I'm a big baby ...
we go hiking/biking/camping a LOT .. so it's fun - but not super special.
But car show .. oooohhh car show :)
sexy cars
hot people
money being spent
classic engines rumbling in the distance as far as your ears can hear.
.... what's not to like ?
horribly long lines at the checkout...
bumper-to-bumper trafficmakes you scream, despite the cool cars..
having to elbow your way through the grocery store for a loaf of stupid bread...
... ok fine !
it's not all happy grins and unicorns puking rainbows.
..  but it's worth it - I PROMISE!!

I even have pictures as proof .. :D

Happy Spring, everyone
season is here ! :)

mad world

As a full-time mom and part-time control freak - I've always liked chaperoning school field trips.  It's a lot of fun (mostly) and there've only been a handful of trips we've missed over the girls' years in school.

By we, of course, I mean myself and the besterest husband ever created.  Fourth grade and teenage boys tend to have a problem listening to a woman shorter than them; so I'm glad the G. man is so awesome.

Over the last week I've been having a hard time wrapping my head around something that rocked our tiny town of 5,500.  Two boys that we've 'watched over' in the past, were responsible for taking someone's life.
There was no accident .. it wasn't something that ''just happened.''
They planned, plotted, and repeatedly shot the boyfriend of one of their ''moms.''
To top it all off - this ''mom'' helped them get rid of the evidence.

The man they killed was a guy we worked with in the past, the brother of an acquaintance, as well as a 'friend of friends.'  I guess in this town it's impossible to not ''know'' someone, which makes something like this even harder to accept.

With life in our tiny town, I don't mean to, but I get complacent.
I start to think stuff like this only happens in the city.

But then along comes a reality bitchslap like this to remind us what a mad world we live in.

I've been locking my doors at night for the first time in years .. :(

LOVE is LOVE

what is LOVE ... ?

Blurting out or even just typing those three words makes me mentally replay the really bad song and even worse bar scene from Saturday Night Live.

Well, isn't that just GREAT!
Now, instead of being outraged as I write about this highly controversial subject; I sit bouncing my head left to right like a jackass - trying to rid my brain from visions of side humping.

Thanks A LOT, Haddaway and early 90's !
/end sidetrack
let's get back to being outraged! *furrows her brow & stills her bouncing head*

We've landed on the moon, perfected microwave technology and split the atom .. but still find ourselves having to ask the world if it's ok to marry the person we love, in the year 2013.

Something is VERY wrong with this picture.

Whether at work, in daily life or on my blog - I don't like to openly discuss highly sensitive subjects. As a rule, I avoid discussing religion or politics because those conversations start wars and people die. I figure it's best for me to avoid the subjects, altogether; I can't be responsible for more people dying!  (I make jokes at tense situations .. my bad!)

However, marriage equality is a subject that touches a sensitive spot.   In my family, alone - we have an amazing Uncle, a brilliant cousin and a phenomenal nephew who are gay.  Not to mention several friends and coworkers that fly their rainbow flags - very high and very proud.

How is telling adults they can't marry someone of the same sex any better than making people sit at the back of the bus, because of their skin color ?  I find it no less offensive than scooping up people by the thousands, branding and enslaving them because of their religion.

Love is Love.   black, white, gay, straight, Jewish, Catholic, rich, poor, fat, skinny .. who cares?

"Even if being gay were a choice - so what? People choose to be assholes and we still let them get married."

get it right, people -LOVE IS LOVE !

love is kissing boo boos better & scaring off 'under-the-bed monsters'
love is surprising your mate with breakfast at 5am, before their early shift
love is trying to make their day better, every day; no matter how bad yours was
love is just love and it's the only thing worth living for

does it really matter - as long as we stick to our own species
... unlike 2 of our favorite pets

love isn't judging another for things beyond their control

love is accepting your fellow man for who they are

in honor of the matter being brought before the supreme court today - I made some very rainbowlovetastic prints ..

here's to hoping today will become a proud day in history and not an embarrassing one for our rights as American citizens.

click here for the full-size print quality version of ^ this Love is Love ^ picture

click here for the full-size print quality version of ^ this print Love is Love - caps  ^

and since I'm a facebookaholic - I made facebook covers to match
Love is Love # 1 - BUTTON LETTERS for FB cover
Love is Love # 2 - CAPS for FB cover


and the rainbowlovetastic print I made for Valentine's day :

don't forget to be awesome ..

I'm most definitely classified as a fan of awesome.
I guess anyone prefers awesome to mediocre, so that ^^ is a redundant statement.
I can also admit that maybe ... just maybe I use the A word a little too much.
It's o.k. if you're judging me as you read this ...
I'm awesome enough to forgive your judgmental ways ;)

some of my favorite awesome things ..

my awesome family & friends
awesome books I refuse to can't put down.
awesome food from my awesome husband
awesome weather with more sunshine than pollen
awesome 27 lb. kitty foot warmers
awesome squirrels worth stalking from my kitchen window
awesome orbee eating ladybugs
                          and
awesome lego girls on awesome cork boats ... ?

Ok. I'll admit the last four sound a little weird when I read them back. 
LoL, but in my opinion - they're made of awesome and I brought pictures as proof!

This is our cross-eyed ''little'' kitty
despite being the youngest - he's the biggest kitty we own
I would hope he's the biggest, considering he is 27 pounds

he's been deemed 'the world's best foot warmer'

---

After her feet were sufficiently toasty she wanted to make mini cork sailboats.
[ corks, hot glue, foam craft sheets (for sail), & skewers ]
I didn't drink all that wine, I promise we ordered the corks from Etsy ;)

 Nobody is ever going to be able to convince me that this little lego lady
and her awesome one-piece swimming suit weren't made for this corkboat :)

---

For Christmas, she got a remote control ladybug that eats orbeez
Nugget is NOT a fan.
LoL he kept very slowly 'chasing' it down the hall

---

this is my new buddy - 'squirrel'
he comes to 'say hi' after I feed the finches

he stands off 'in the distance' .. staring .. waiting for me to go inside
only then will he come down his 'hill' to feast on seeds / nuts

---

So, in honor of the 'word of the day' - I made an awesome print. ;)
(in case I have to hold your hand and draw a picture for you - the word is awesome.)

 click here for the full-size Printable version of "Don't forget to be AWESOME."

I put it into a frame on our fire place and I just LOVE IT :)

So, don't forget to be awesome AND even more importantly, I think - don't forget to recognize the awesome that surrounds you.  It's everywhere !! :)

from a desk to an entire room ..

At the beginning of November - we moved into a new house.
Although it was an unexpected move that completely threw us off and beat us up.. it turned out for the best; so I'll just leave it at that. :)

As we unloaded box after box - I kept looking at the husband saying "I don't know how we ever fit into that tiny trailer."

I remember being super stoked about the 'craft area' we made for me exactly a year ago.  I'd never had my own 'area' before for crafts, whole crafts, and nothing but the crafts .. so it was very exciting for me.

... now imagine the excitement about having an ENTIRE ROOM.

Our new home is so big, we had a 'leftover' den area that was donated to my need for crafts.

It's even got this built in desk with a pencil sharpener (look close on the left)

there's more cabinets than I know what to do with, a sky light and shag carpet. 

It pretty much rules. :)

Just in time for winter .. the best time to craft, because you can't be in the sunshine.

105 days until the first day of spring.

instahooked ...

a few years ago when people started 'twittering' ... I ignored it for 2 main reasons

• I find the word 'tweet' annoying & deem it to be pretty much the dumbest word in the history of ever.
• If I want to know when you're taking out the trash, balancing your checkbook and going to the bathroom, I'll look at your hourly Facebook status updates.

regardless of the judgment first passed upon the tweeterverse - I decided to check out this 'twitter' when I got my new phone.  I can't believe that this has taken over social media.  I'll put it politely ...   I'm enraged about the 6 minutes of my life that I'LL NEVER GET BACK ... :( 

after deleting the crap app (another 30 seconds I can't have back .. ) I stumbled onto instagram.   This was another trendy app at the same time as twooter, but it was only available to hipsters with i-phones and starbucks coffee.

I remember being envious of this app before, as written here.  So, needless to say I was actually kinda stoked to see I could get it on my new android.  I may or may not have pulled over a few times on the way home from taking the kids to school ... snapping pictures in the morning sun with the sole intent of 'instagramming' them. :)

I have to admit though .. I like the program I wrote about here - MUCH better.  It has a TON more choices and cool effects.
But instagram is pretty cool to snap a little 'nugget' on your phone, to go.  ;) 

our 'happy little nugget'

freddy kruger pumpkin found @ IHOP Mesa Mall - Grand Junction, CO

Moab morning sun on the mountains

He loves stuffed animals and freshly cut grass <3

21 is the number ...

quitting smoking can suck it.
lol, I say that because I may or may not have had a few cigarettes since my last post.

I have a stupid high amount of stress going on in my life, right now and don't have time for your judgment, dammit! >_<

21 was the date in September as well as the number of days I made it before I started stopping quitting smoking ....

LOL ? what ? :P

.. I've had a handful of cigarettes in a week - I don't feel all too bad after 21 years of several cigarettes a day.

home faked deliciousness ..

Even though in my teenage years I worked at a Red Lobster & made hundreds of dozens of the actual 'cheddar bay biscuits' ... I had never attempted to make 'em at home.

until now ...

I made 'em ... everyone loved 'em.

what else matters ?

haha oh right .. a recipe might help, eh ?
I used the recipe below @ the girl who ate everything.com.

I hope your family enjoys them as much as ours did :)

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Ingredients:

Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups Bisquick

4 Tbsp cold butter

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

3/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Butter Glaze:

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter (I just used 2 forks). Don't worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

Drop 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto the lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes in preheated oven or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

While the biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the freshly coated biscuits. Makes one dozen.

THIS is the LIFE ..

I know, now, why my mom was so tired and grumpy at the end of our family vacations.
It is an exhausting, stressful, hair-raising adventure that I can't wait to repeat .. lol

we drove 800 miles to San Diego 

this FedEx plane made me laugh - looks like it's scraping the top of the trees

we watched the sun set on the water ...

this is a million times prettier, in person

we visited Shamu and friends

I loved the whales - they were so huge but so graceful

we got to explore TWO different submarines  

AND a pirate ship that was in the Pirates of the Caribbean ..

made some new friends at the zoo ..

we played in the sand at the beach ..

mmmm fresh seaweed !

we watched some more sunsets on the water .. 

saw a cheetah run, full speed, 3 feet away ...

and got to go 'on safari'

I tried to 'keep it down' on the 'taking a photo of everything'
.. but that didn't work out so well.

5,096 is the number of pictures a crazy woman takes on a week-long vacation

clearly not all of the other 5,079 pictures .. but more of our vacation pictures will follow, later.

In honor of our epic vacation ... I made a printable or two or three ...

I made this one, because I am blessed to know that THIS is the life
THIS is where I want to be .. THIS is where I am happy

my print size version of "THIS is the LIFE"

flip flops and seagulls .. very much in theme with my vacation

my print size version of "learn/live/hope - beach style"

I love us .. more than anything; I LOVE US!

my print size version of "I love us." 

and ending it on a green theme ..

my print size version of "learn / live / hope - earth style"