Where did the week go?

Ok, I'm back. And, I'm off to the photos of the day, since I don't really have anything else to say right now.



Jan 27

These are 5 books I made for my sister. I just finished them yesterday, and am giving them to her tomorrow. She is going to use them to write fun, cool things that happen this year in them for each of her kids (& husband) and then probably give them to them for CHristmas next year. Very cool idea, I thought. I just hope she likes them.



Jan 26:

Number 34 is my nephew, Nathan. He is a sports-a-holic. He was the star of his football team in the fall, and now he is on two different basketball teams. He is very intense, and an awesome player.

Jan 25:

This one is a little bit random. It is the hall at PDC. I work at the end of the hall (where I am standing), and I am looking down the hall at the rest of the production department. We are in an old warehouse that they have built offices into, so the layout is pretty random. But, there are two very long halls like this. I must admit we have had office chair races down these halls before. (when I worked the night crew several years ago)

Jan 24:

This is a layout I did at the Employee Crop a few weeks ago. It is currently on display in my living room. I like to do that when I LOVE a layout. I can't just stick it in the album right away. I like to keep it out so I can look at it for awhile before it goes in the book.

Jan 23:

It's me again! My friend Tiffany took this picture of me at Wingers. The two of us went to lunch on Wednesday. I had my favorite Sticky Finger Salad. Yummy! We don't go out to lunch very often, but once in a while it is fun to just leave the building and go eat some yummy food.

Jan 22:

Here's my books again. These are the two I am working on at my class right now. This week we just "lined the spine" by gluing them and lining them with this cool stuff called 'crash' that helps stabilize the spine. It was a short class - I got out at 6 pm. Then I got stuck in traffic getting out of the university. So, it's better to stay later and miss the traffic, I think.

Ok, I'm all caught up again.

I've had a lot on my mind lately. Thinking about my word of the year - balance. Very interesting coincidence this week. I got my new Ensign magazine in the mail, and what is on the cover? A story about keeping your life in balance. I thought that was a little crazy. So, I read that, and will be reading it again, to try to learn what I need to learn from it. I know my life is not in balance right now. I'm just trying to work on getting it in balance. It's a tough thing, though.

I had a meeting this morning for girls camp. We are going on "winter camp" in two weeks. It is at Mutual Dell, a church owned property in American Fork canyon. I was under the assumption that we all slept in the lodge up there. But, I found out this morning that there is the option to sleep outside, in the snow. Now, how fun does that sound? Not so fun to me! I think I will be sleeping in the lodge on my cot. :) I think the girls think it's an adventure to sleep outside. I'm too old I guess.

Where did the week go?

So, I'm back, finally. The week just flew by without me taking a minute to post. So, I thought I better do it tonight, or it will be another week before I get to it. I don't really have anything to say right now, so I'll just get to the photos of the day:

Jan

I've Been Tagged by Keera

I've been Tagged!!!
A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago:
10 years ago I was 20, almost 21, going to school at Utah State University, studying family I consumer science.

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Pick up dinners at My Girlfriend's Kitchen
2. Finish reading the book I bought last night
3. Work on books that I'm making for my sister
4. Clean my house (perpetually on the list)
5. Work on lesson for Sunday

5.Snacks I enjoy:
1. Diet Dr Pepper
2. Vanilla Tootsie Rolls
3. Cheesecake
4. Oreo Milkshake
5. Tostitos Flour Tortilla Chips

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
I would go on a trip, probably to Europe. I would buy a new car, and a house. I would spread the wealth to my family for whatever they needed. I would quit working, buy a motor home and tour the country, stopping at my sister's (& brothers') houses as they needed me. Then I would just spend my days making books and selling them.

5 places I have lived:
1. Idaho Falls
2. Logan
3. Jackson Hole, WY
4. Orem
5.Pleasant Grove

5 jobs that I have had:
1. PDC (Phone Directories)
2. Archivers
3. Grand Teton Lodge Company (housekeeper)
4. Daisy Dreamer (my own business)
5. Utah State Housing Office

5 Things people don't know about me:
1. I went skydiving a few years ago and loved it. Would do it again in a heartbeat
2. I finished a 10k (walking & running...probably more walking than running)
3. I love to read, and am known to stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning to finish a book
4. I am a huge Ryan Shupe fan (& Peter Breinholt & Jon Schmidt & Eclipse)
5. I volunteered at the Olympics in Salt Lake in 2002.

Ok, I tag...1. Sharon 2. Holly 3. Melanie

Two Days in a Row...

I know, kind of crazy. I'm back. I was just here 24 hours ago. There's something crazy going on. Really, I just wanted to post my picture for today. It's really exciting! (Ok, not really, but I wanted to write the journaling tonight while I was thinking about it.)





Jan 21

Yes, this is my mailbox. Well, mine and all my neighbors. I am a crazy girl about mail. I check it every day. Even when I am getting home at 12:30 from working late, I still have to check it. I mostly know that nothing exciting will be in there, but just the possibility keeps me coming every day. Usually there is just the usual newspaper junk mail. Bills once in a while. The exciting things are ones I usually order for myself from eBay or other various online stores. So, they are not usually a surprise. But, I still get a thrill from checking my mail every day. I was talking to one of my neighbors who hates checking her mail, and only does it once or twice a week, if that. I just don't understand that mentality. I LOVE MAIL. I wish I got more exciting mail. Anyway, the significance of this for today is this: I check my mail every day, and then, on those random holidays that I don't really celebrate or get work off for (like Human Rights Day), I am let down when I realize that no mail was delivered that day. So, that is what I did tonight when I got home. Headed straight to the mail, only to be slightly disappointed that there was absolutely nothing in the box. Hopefully something good will be in there tomorrow!

One other thing I was going to write yesterday, and forgot. Through all the shopping I did with my mom on Saturday, we were discussing decorating ideas and what we wanted to do. She wants to have a "shoe" collection on a wall, perhaps in her laundry room, or in the hall next to it. Not the kind of shoes you would wear, but shoe decorations. We found a shoe tree ornament, and a set of high heeled shoe knife spreaders. Super cute! I think her collection could be really cool, and a fun thing for us to buy her for gifts, to add to her collection. She was inspiring me to decorate my house better, put more thought into it. I already have a spoon collection, with about 30 or so spoons from the various places I've traveled. I found some SUPER CUTE decorative measuring spoons, that would sort of go with that theme. Not exactly the same thing, but they are all spoons, right? Then, I said I love mugs, and my mom thought that would be fun to decorate a whole wall with mugs, on cute little shelves. Which I thought was a super cute idea. So, my new collection is mugs. I already have about 5 or 6, so the collection is well on its way. Anyway, just putting that out in the universe. I love mugs, so why not collect and decorate with them? (And throw a few cute spoons in there, too!)

Loads of Snow in Idaho

I just got back a few hours ago from a quick trip to Idaho to my parent's house. It was a good trip. My sister, Rachelle, and her boyfriend went snowmobiling with my dad on Saturday. While they were gone, my mom and I had some good bonding time. We tied a quilt, then went shopping and to a bunch of craft boutique type places with my other sister who lives in Idaho. It was so fun. I love that kind of shopping. Finding cute finds. I bought some cute metal flowers at a cool place called "Real Deals".

Saturday night we all went to the Rexburg Temple Open House. Wow. It was amazing. The temple is beautiful. The tour was awesome. I'm so glad I got to go. (It is my picture for yesterday, so if you scroll down, you can see the pic of the temple.)

I've been doing some thinking this weekend. About life. About where my life is going. About what I really want to be doing. Not that I have any answers yet, but i think it is good to think about it once in a while, instead of just plugging along doing the same thing day after day and not really thinking about the big picture. I want to be more aware of the big picture this year, and not just slug along day after day. I want to really set some goals and work towards accomplishing them. I made some resolutions, but it was a half-hearted effort on my part at the time. You know, the usual lose weight, be happier this year resolutions. I was reading Oprah on our way home today. There is an article about making lists of things you want to have happen in your life. It was very interesting. You should read it, in the January issue I think. There was a story of a woman who wrote a list of 100 things she wanted in a spouse, and it came true. Then the rest of the article was the author (Martha Beck, I think) writing about how this can happen sometimes, but it doesn't always happen. But, if you make the list from what she calls "The Core of Peace" instead of "The Shallows" it is more likely to come true. It was an excellent article. It inspired me to make some lists of my own, about what I want in a spouse, what my dream job really is, what I want to do this year, etc. It will be an interesting exercise for me. I'll let you know if I have any miracles come from it.

And now, for the daily pics from the last week or so.

Today, Jan 20

This is the quilt that my mom and I tied while I was there. It is a cute little baby quilt for my sister who is having her 4th girl in May. My mom had carpel tunnel surgery in December, and she thinks she is healed enough to do stuff like tie quilts, but she's really not. So, she waited for me to come home to help her out.

Jan 19

The new Rexburg Idaho Temple. It's so beautiful! This picture was taken from the back seat of my dad's truck. It was too cold to get outside for a real photo shoot. So, this was as good as I could get. The temple just glows. It is on the top of the hill, overlooking the city, really the whole valley.

Jan 18

This is my coworker Merster. She was a little bit chilled on Friday, so she bundled up. It made me laugh, so I took her picture. We constantly have temperature wars in our room. Too hot! Too cold! It's never just right.

Jan 17

Yes, this is my new "Big Bite" Crop-A-Dile. I got sucked in to the sales pitch on HSN last week and ordered the brand new Crop-A-Dile. I love my other one, and i new I wanted this one, so I just did it. :) It looks like a large piece of machinery. Maybe because it is!

Jan 16

Tiffany's Birthday. You can't really tell, but we are enjoying a yummy lunch from Cafe Rio. It's our fav, and has become more accessible since they opened up in Orem, just down the street from our office. Now it's only about 6 minutes to get there instead of 20. This is most of my teammates at PDC. We are a crazy bunch.

Jan 15

This one is a little boring. But, it is the beginnings of my first book for my class. We learned how to sew it together. I am learning a new way of sewing and attaching the end pages, so I'm excited. I'll take a pic of the book when it is finally complete, so you can see the progress.

Jan 14

I worked at Archivers Monday night, so I took a pic there. This is our ribbon. A little messy, I know. Melanie would not be happy with this ribbon wall. :) Actually, it has looked a lot worse, so I shouldn't be too worried about it.

Jan 13

We had an employee crop at Archivers last Sunday night. This is the table that Desi and I were using. Quite the mess. So much stuff! And the treats are an important part of the supplies for a crop! I got a lot done at the crop, and had a good time with my fellow employees. I love them all!

Jan 12

Saturday, I worked at the Bridal Fair at the Salt Palace in downtown SLC with Keera. Quite the fun time, let me tell you. Luckily Keera thought to bring stools so we didn't have to stand up the whole time. We were trying to let people know about our new line of stationary we are selling. I thought we had a pretty good response from the people there. It was fun to be at the fair, and see what they are all about. I've thought about doing a booth at one for Daisy Dreamer, for wedding guest books, so it was good to be at one, and see how they work.

Ok, I guess that's it for today.

Fun Friday Night!

Yea! It's Friday! It has been a good week. I started a class at the U in bookbinding. I think it is going to be awesome! I have to figure out a good final project. I know, the class just started, but that's how my brain works. I want to make something fun and cool. I have a problem with the content of my books. I can design and bind a beautiful book, but I am only really good at blank books. I think this final book has to have content. So, that has been my brainstorms this week, trying to figure that out. It has been a good week. My supervisor has been on vacation this week, so it has been a good week at work. She just brings stress and tension to our department, so life is much calmer when she is gone. But, she'll be back on Monday.

I have kept up with my photo a day so far. So, here's the last 9 days or so.

This is Jan 3. These are some of the new books I've gotten recently. I LOVE quote books and little books in general. Also, the book holder is my fun Life is Good mug.

Jan 4th - This is in my car. It is my name badge at work. Boring picture, I know. It's all I could do for the day.

Jan 5th - My newest book I bought tonight. It is the new Scrapbookers Almanac. I have a book problem. I have to buy them. Lots of them. I'm running out of room to put them in my apartment. But, I keep buying them. This one has fun ideas for different things to scrapbook besides you typical birthday, Christmas, etc. I'm all over that. :)

Jan 6th - This is my cute niece Hailey. I went to their house Sunday night to help her older brother Nathan with a school project. We had to make a "mountain man pouch" for him. So, we did that. The whole time, Hailey was bugging me to help her sew something. So, we made this dress for her. Cute, huh? She wanted to wear it to school the next day. Her mom said no, thankfully.

Jan 7th - This is some cardstock at my store. Ok, so it's not "my" store, but that's what i like to call it. I work at Archivers, and LOVE it! It is such a fun store, and a fun place to work.

Jan 8th - The syllabus for the class I started this week. It is a college class, an upper level class, and I knew that, but I wasn't totally prepared for it. I am not taking it for college credit. They let a few community members take the class, for a fee. So, that's what I'm doing. I haven't taken a college class for about 8 years, so it was a little bit of a shock to be sitting in that class. It's going to be good, though. I'm very excited about it. I'll post some of my books I make later.

Jan 9th - This was the winter wonderland I woke up to Wednesday morning. I was mostly just glad it wasn't Tuesday night when I was driving back from my class. It was actually very pretty snow. About 5 or 6 inches. This is the tree in the 'courtyard' of my apartments. The stairs on the right are my building. I live on the bottom level and I love it!

Jan 10th - This is the book I'm readying right now. It is called "These is my Words". Christina gave it to me for Christmas. I had lots of other books to read, so I'm just getting to it this week. It is actually very good. I'm hooked. I keep staying up too late reading. It is about a pioneer woman in Arizona territory. I like historical and historical fiction books.

Jan 11th - Doesn't she look like she's full of the dickens? Well, she is! We had a fun Friday night tonight, doing a little shopping at Target and enjoying some fries and shakes at Chadders. Lindsey was a bit ornery tonight, but she is still so dang cute! She just got her hair cut today, and it makes her look older. She's growing up!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. I still can't believe it is 2008. What significant things did I do in 2007? I worked 2 jobs the whole year. Am I crazy? A little bit. I flew to Arizona to see my little sis and her hubby for a few days. My 3rd time on a plane. Loved it just as much as the first 2 times. Girls camp. WFFD. being in charge of them this year, and surviving that.

What do I want to do this year? hopefully not work two jobs the whole year. I'm taking a bookbinding class at U of U, and pretty darn excited about it. Hoping I can balance that and working two crazy jobs and everything else I want to do. But, it is important to me, so I'm going to make it work. I want to fly again this year, maybe back to AZ to see Shar again. Maybe go skydiving again... :)

On Ali Edwards blog, she was asking people to come up with one word for the year. I chose BALANCE. I want more balance in my life. More balance between work and home. Social, mental, spiritual, physical. That is my goal.

My ponderment of the day: Why do we have traditions? Why do we do the same things every year? Why do we decorate our houses for Christmas, and go to parties, and give presents and send cards, every year? Is there something on a deeper level of needing traditions in our lives, needing the stability, and sameness of them? Sometimes it seems like a lot of work to carry out the same traditions year after year. I'm not saying I don't like traditions. I LOVE traditions. I was just thinking about this on my way home today.

One more thing: I am going to attempt to do a 365 day challenge - take a photo every day this year. I've taken my first two.

This is my first photo of the year. I finally, after living in my apartment for over a year, put up some pictures on my walls. (Don't tell... I put holes in the walls...) This is in my living room right now, but I'm not sure i'm totally happy with the grouping, so I dont' know if it will last.

And today's photo:

My first self-portrait of the new year. I know, not the cutest of me, but that's what you get today. I am starting a new journey of more exercise (to go along with my balance theme), so hopefully when I get around to another self portrait I won't have a double chin. :)

My new year's was good. Hung out with my sister and her boyfriend and his parents. Sounds like a fun party, huh? Then I went home and put together my new desk from IKEA (which I love!) Watched the ball drop at 10 on the news, and again at midnight. I know, I'm a party animal, but that really is what I wanted to do (be home doing whatever I wanted).