Monday, December 29, 2008

99 Things

I've seen this on several other folks' blogs and thought I'd play along.


THE 99 THINGS


Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font


1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas morning and I wanted to take a few moments to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

It's been a busy week or so and I'm way behind in my blogging :( I've got goodies to show you and news to share so let's get right to it:

Amanda from In A Fog Designs has a new kit out called "Purple Waves". She's also got a great alpha to match! They are available at Scrappy Thoughts and Bouquet of Pixels. She's also offering a coupon for 50% off anything in her Scrappy Thoughts store. The coupon code is FoggyChristmas. Not sure how long this sale will last so hurry over and grab some goodies.
I've also been working with a kit by desinger Blythe Evans. The kit is called Amethyst IHT ( I "Heart" Thee). Yes, more purple! Blythe's desings are availble at Oscraps and she currently has a snowflake ornament freebie in the store!
I'll leave you with some layouts, hope you enjoy purple!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Play Time and a Funeral........

I know, I know, it sounds like a movie title :) Hubby's grandfather passed away last week and the family gathered for the funeral this past Monday. "Grandpa Gene" was 90+ years old and his health had been failing of late. It's still sad to say good bye to the patriarch of the family, but our faith helps us to know that he is now with his beloved Nelda. Grandpa Gene always told us that when he got to heaven he would pat God on the back and tell him what a wonderful job he had done with all of this down below on earth. I'm sure his message has now been delivered. The day of the funeral began with frozen pipes in our kitchen. It was 15 degrees below zero and winds were forecast to blow up to 30 miles per hour! Way Cold!! Our family had some great laughs and rememberances of Grandpa. Yes, tears were shed as well, but only because we will miss his remarkable sense of humor, not because his passing was tragic. In the short years that I was lucky enough to get to know Grandpa Gene he impressed me with his dedication to family, belief in God and his pride in serving our country during WWII.

Amanda at In A Fog Designs has a cool new kit out titled Play Time. It is available at Scrappy Thoughts and Bouquet of Pixels. Amanda has put together bright, vibrant colors with fun embellishments. She's also got a great word art kit to go with all the papers and goodies! Here's an image of the kit and a few sample layouts.






Thursday, December 11, 2008

It's been busy around here!

Life has been super busy in my world the past couple of weeks. My husband's Grandfather is very ill. He's been in and out of the hospital the past couple of months. He's now back in the nursing home and my mother in law has flown home from Arizona to be with him. He's lost the ability to speak and swallow and sleeps most of the time now. Noelle and I stopped to see him and more or less say goodbye on the way to Pierre last Sunday. He finally looks like he is 94. He's always looked much younger than his age, but now, his illness seems to be catching up with him. We pray that his last weeks and days will be peaceful and that somehow, the spirit of the Christmas season will give him peace.

Noelle celebrated her 21st birthday on Sunday, December 7th! She drove down from SDSU and rode along with us to compete in the State FFA Leadership Career Development Events in Pierre. We arrived on time on Sunday afternoon and got checked into the hotel. After the kids got changed we headed over to the competition site. Breanna presented the FFA Creed, Ethan competed in Prepared Public Speaking, Jeremy competed in the Job Interview CDE and our Ag Communications team completed their editing exercise and their communications tests. It was off to China Buffet after competitions. The reading of the fortune cookies was the highlight of the meal!
Monday morning we were up and off to competition again. The ag communications team of Stacia, Spencer, Joe, Shannon and Tucker gave the presentation of their life and led the judges through the question and answer portion instead of the other way around. After their presentation, it was off to the capitol to check out the Christmas Trees. Our capitol is a beautiful building and they fill it with real, fresh cut Christmas trees this time of year. Each tree is decorated by an organization or group from somewhere in the state. If you ever get to Pierre between Thanksgiving and New Year's, be sure to take it in.
We left the capitol in the rain and headed over for the awards luncheon. Some of us wer able to wait more patiently than others for results to be announced. Our major moment of excitement came with the announcement of the Agricultural Communications CDE ~ We heard what we'd been waiting to hear, "First place, the team from West Central". It didn't take long for it to sink in, that this team is now bound for national competition in October in Indianapolis!
Our drive home was a nightmare! Snow, ice, freezing rain, slippery roads - etc. I've added a slideshow below of pictures from our weekend.

State FFA Leadership CDE's