Adventures in Life

This is my first giveaway! Craft it Forward isn't your typical giveaway though. Keep reading to figure out how you can win and/or participate. It was started by Craft Addict.

Here's the rules if you want to win a handmade ♥GIFT♥ from me. Be one of the first 3 bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which entitles you to a handmade item from me. Winners must post this giveaway on your blog, meaning that you will Craft it Forward too, creating a handmade gift for the first three bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway! The gift that you send can be any price range and you have 30 days to make and ship your item(s).

Remember, it's the spirit and the thought that count! When you receive your gift, please blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the Top Three to comment on this post, you can still play along. Please start your own Craft it Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same.

~If you're one of the first 3 commenters, please shoot me an email ([email protected]) with your mailing address so I know where to send your goodies! Watch out though, you might find some new stalkers waiting to see when you do your own Craft it Forward post so they can be one of the first three lucky commenters on your blog.

Posted by at 9:56 PM | Permalink

Happy 5th Anniversary Gabe!

Posted by at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of my favorite things is an automatic soap dispenser. This was a recent purchase for us. I hate having to touch the soap dispenser with dirty hands (especially after handling raw meat). Now I just wave my hand under the dispenser to get my soap and use my elbow to turn on the water after handling chicken. I am not sure that it makes much of a difference, but it makes me feel better.

Our house is primarily unpacked (yippee!) however, the garage is a completely different story. Our three car garage currently fits only one car. I am hoping to tackle the mountain of stuff in there soon. Another thing on my list is to take down the Christmas tree. Yes, I know, I have turned into one of "those" people. You know the type. They leave their decorations up until June and then at that point decide they just might as well leave them up until December. It isn't entirely my fault. I am blaming the move on that one. I would like to have it down before February. I guess I only have a couple of days left. At least January is somewhat associated with the holiday/Christmas season. Maybe Gabe and I will be able to tackle it this weekend.

Below are some random Alex pics.

Tummy time.

Playing with the activity mat.

Tummy time.

Alex 3 months old.

Please, no more pictures.

Yesterday we went to get the oil changed in my car. The plan was to drop off the car, pick up the loaner, and then go back today for my car. Well, when we arrived to drop the car off they informed us that they could change the oil right then. That saved us about an hour and a half in driving time.

Alex hanging out while my oil was getting changed. I think he needs one of these to "drive" around when he is older. Gabe doesn't agree.

After the oil change I went to get a much needed hair cut. Before last night, my last haircut was in July before we moved!

This was taken before my haircut.

I received my Quaker Oats Mini Delights sample. I chose the chocolatey drizzle and they were yummy. Plus, I received a coupon for $0.50 off my next Quaker Oats purchase. I eat a lot of oatmeal, so the coupon will come in handy. You can still request a sample.

Posted by at 10:03 AM | Permalink

This is a craft that I debated if I should share it or not. The reason is I was debating making some as Christmas presents. Now everyone will wonder if they will be receiving one in December.

I made this a while back. I also made two for my grandmas.

Supplies:
Wooden letter(s) of your choice
Paint to match flowers
Brush to paint letter
Glue (I used a hot glue gun)
Flowers off of the stems
Ribbon

Paint the letter with a color that matches the flowers. After the paint dries, use a hot glue gun to attach flower petals to the letter. Next, cut a length of ribbon and glue ends to the back of the letter to make a "hanger". Tie a loop at the top of the ribbon. Glue a flower petal to the back of the letter to hide where the ribbon is attached to the letter. Hang and enjoy.

I made this to be hung on a door, but it could just as easily be hung up inside of a house.

Posted by at 10:00 AM | Permalink

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

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Click here to get a free coupon for either a 2 liter bottle or a 20 oz bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper.

Posted by at 2:07 PM | Permalink

Happy Birthday Laura!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

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Grab the nearest book.

* Open the book to page 56.

* Find the fifth sentence.

* Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your blog along with these instructions.

* Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

I grabbed Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. I am still in the process of reading it (I just don't seem to have a lot of extra time).

"I don't think you were in any danger."
"I told you I didn't want to fight with Charlie."
"Nobody said you had to."

I am really enjoying this series of books. I think it was originally written for teens, but hey, Harry Potter was initially a book intended for children and I love them. I still need to watch the movie Twilight (the first book in the series). It will be released on DVD on March 21, 2009.

Check out Bits of Life, Scrapbooking and Cooking. This entry was inspired by her post and her entry is a recipe for Sour Cream-Pineapple Muffins.

Posted by at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Happy Birthday Bubby!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

Posted by at 8:51 AM | Permalink

I have a new camera! Gabe ordered one for me. I still miss my old camera.

We are still working on our house. Today the furniture repairman came today. He stayed from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. repairing the damage to most of our furniture. Quite a few items were deemed non-repairable and we were given cash for them. I even helped repair a few pieces. The pieces I worked on were items that were not damaged by the movers and so he did not have to repair them. He gave me the supplies and showed me how to do it. So, I worked on a rocking chair and ottoman as well as a table and chairs set. He is out of Phoenix. If anyone is looking for a great furniture repair guy in the state of Arizona I can help you out. He actually covers the entire state and he is very reasonable.

Alex in his swing.

Elsa

This is off of the prickly pear cactus from our front yard. It was broken and apparently you can just plant it and it will grow. We will have to wait and see.

We used a gift container from Christmas to serve as our time capsule. We will open it on January 1, 2010.

Posted by at 10:26 PM | Permalink

Okay, this really isn't a poem about my camera, but it is a blog entry. I still have not found my camera. Gabe and I have come to the conclusion that it is truly lost. I am sad that I lost my camera for several reasons.

1. My memory card was in the camera and it had pictures on it that I had not copied onto my computer. Pictures of Alex were on the camera as well as our trip to Madera Canyon.

2. My camera was metal (not plastic) and it was awesome. I dropped it so many times and it just kept on working. There were quite a few close calls though.

3. It was my 2nd Anniversary gift from Gabe. I thought he was pretty clever in his gift choice. I needed a new camera and he bought one as my "paper" gift (the pictures are printed on paper).

4. I have been unable to take pictures for a few days now. I really like taking pictures and it seems there are awesome pictures to be had when one is without the means to catch that perfect photo opportunity.

5. I guess my 365 project will be without a few days.

I am pretty sure the camera had a good life :) Several of its pictures were featured on my blog and many family members and friends enjoyed them. It traveled to various places in and out of the US. Some of these places included Italy, Ireland, the Bahamas, Spain, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Hawaii.

I don't have a picture of my camera to post.

With my next camera I am taking a picture of a piece of paper with my contact information. I am going to put it directly on the camera and my memory card. Hopefully I will never lose my camera again, but if I do, maybe and honest person will find it and return it.

Posted by at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

Posted by at 8:50 AM | Permalink

I never thought we would be running the air conditioner in our house during the month of January! We also use it in the car (it is hot when you are riding directly in the sun). It has been in the upper 70's/80's here. Heck, it was 86 today!

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Alex.

This week has been super busy! We had our furniture evaluation on Monday. Basically, someone came to evaluate all of the damage to our belongings due to the move. Since a moving service packed everything, they are responsible for all repairs. Unfortunately, we only had a 30 day window to claim all damage and as we continue to unpack boxes we are still finding damaged items. So, we can't claim them and we are just stuck with the damage. The guy is coming back on Saturday to repair the damage. He is with a third party company and he is really nice.

We went to the clubhouse to register. Now I don't have an excuse if I neglect exercising. Up until now, my excuse was I couldn't find the power cord for my elliptical.

Saturday we went to Madera Canyon and hiked around. The weather here is gorgeous and I feel like we should take advantage of it. I guess it still hasn't hit me that it is actually January. It feels more like October (it was in the mid-90's at the end of October here).

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Mountains.

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Madera Canyon.

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Water

We purchased furniture for our family room today. We bought a leather couch, two leather chairs, and a leather ottoman. They are really comfy and they fit well in the room. I like the versatility of the ottoman. We can use it for seating or a table. I also like it because it has soft corners. It we didn't get an ottoman, we were going to get a coffee table. This way if Alex bumps into it, it will be nice and soft. Gabe and I packed the furniture up the stairs. The chairs were 140 lbs a piece and the sofa was 250 lbs. We both got our workouts for the day.

We have made a lot of progress the past few days. I will be posting pictures very soon (hopefully). My camera is currently missing in action again. This time I think it might be for good. I thought I took it with us to pick up our furniture, but neither Gabe nor I can find it anywhere. So, I am still going to add captions for pictures. I am being optimistic that I will find it soon.

We have a prickly pear cactus in our front yard. A piece of it was broken off, so we planted it in a pot in our back yard. Hopefully it will grow.

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Prickly Pear Cactus.

Alex and I watched the Arizona Cardinals play the Philadelphia Eagles today. It was a really exciting game. Arizona was rocking and then the Eagles scored 19 unanswered points to take the lead by one. Then Arizona came back with a touchdown and won! They are going to the Superbowl! Alex has some cute Arizona Cardinal booties that he sported during the game. Don't get me wrong I am still a Chicago Bears fan (and also an Indianapolis Colts fan), but I am living in Arizona and I do have the Hallmark Kurt Warner ornament but it is from when he was a St. Louis Ram (no, I don't like the Rams). I actually like the Cowboys too, or maybe I should say liked. I liked them when Troy Aikman was the quarter back, Jimmy Johnson was the coach, and Emmett Smith was the running back (he was Cardinal after a Cowboy). Wow! That is a lot of football talk and all over a pair of booties.

Posted by at 6:32 PM | Permalink

Happy Birthday Tony!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

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Register for a coupon for a free Suave product here. The coupon will be sent through the mail. This offer is for today only. The coupon can be used on shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, styling aid, body wash, or body lotion up to $3.00. Enjoy!

Try a free sample of Cream of Wheat by filling out the information on the website. I unclick the boxes requesting more information on most of the websites.

Quaker Oats is offering a free sample of their Mini Delights here.

Posted by at 8:10 AM | Permalink

We have decided not to go to San Diego right now. We both thought it would be a lot of fun but figured we really needed any extra time to work on the house. If I get any extra time today I am going to start working on the fourth bedroom (we are going to make it an office). I doubt I will have extra time though, as Alex is in his "I will only sleep if you hold me" mood. I am slowly typing this entry with only one hand. At least dinner will be easy. I assembled it last night an now I just have to pop it in the oven.

Hanging out in a swing.

We went to the zoo on Saturday. The weather was wonderful. We even sat outside and had ice cream, because we could.

Umm...not helping with the resolution to lose the baby weight.

Some desert scenery

On Sunday we went to Sam's and picked up some canned goods. They also have some leather furniture that Gabe has his eye on. We stopped by Trader Joe's and Alex loved looking around the store. Usually we keep him covered up, but he had such a great time looking at everything we pulled the blanket back so he could see.

Hello

I really, really want to accomplish something on the house this week!

Posted by at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Not sure what to do with all of those Christmas cards...send them to St. Jude's. Send the front of the card to St. Jude's and recycle the back. The children and volunteers will use the fronts of the cards and give them an new "back". They are then sold in packs of 10 for only $8.00. You can purchase general Christmas cards, religious Christmas cards, Easter cards, birthday cards, thank you cards, or all occasion general greeting cards. They are currently accepting cards until February 28, 2009.

Posted by at 2:18 PM | Permalink

Happy Birthday 1st Birthday Maddie!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

Posted by at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My resolutions for the new year have been hanging out in my palm pilot. I finally have a chance to post them. My plan is to look at them next year and see what I actually kept. I should be sleeping right now, but here it goes.

1. Organize Stamps
2. Finish 2008 Scrapbook
3. Lose Baby Weight
4. Do A 365 Scrapbook
5. Make at Least One Christmas Present Per Month
6. Update Alex's Baby Book
7. Unpack/Organize House ( I would LOVE to complete this by the end of February)
8. Landscape Back Yard

I am going to bed. Maybe sleep more should have been on my list.

Posted by at 2:24 AM | Permalink

We are still trying to unpack. I am hoping that we will be finished by the end of February or at least 2010. Attempting to put things in order takes some of our free time. Alex takes the majority of it.

I am adding pictures to some of my previous posts (all the way back to December 17)...make sure and check them out!

We are thinking of going to San Diego this month. The other place we were considering was Las Vegas. It was in the running because it would be less than $300 for our flight and hotel room...for all of us!

Alex loves his activity mat. It makes tummy time a little more bearable.

Alex enjoying tummy time.

Alex 10 weeks

One of my favorite Alex pics.

Maddex is out of the hospital. For those of you that said a prayer or kept him in your thoughts, thank you.

Posted by at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We left my parents house around 12:30 p.m. to head for St. Louis. After driving to the airport, returning our rental car, checking in with the airlines, going through security, and finding our gate, we had a couple of hours before our flight. One nice thing about traveling with a baby is priority seating. We arrived at the Tucson airport around 11:30 p.m. The luggage arrived around midnight and we were home around 12:30 a.m. After bringing everything inside I managed to take a bath around 2:00 a.m. I think we finally went to sleep around 3:30 a.m.

Alex on the airplane.

Speedramp into the wall at the airport in St. Louis.

We picked the dogs up from the kennel today. They are happy to be back home.

We are really hoping that Alex does not get sick. Maddex (Brandi - my niece's baby) is in the hospital. He is dehydrated, has pneumonia, strep throat, and if that isn't enough he also has an ear infection. Maddex is only 7 months old. Please say a prayer for his quick recovery.

Well, we have quite a few things to do today (we aren't going to get them all accomplished).

Posted by at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Nothing too exciting today. I have been packing for most of the day. Tomorrow we are leaving for St. Louis to fly back to Arizona.

Gabe and me a few moments after midnight on New Years Eve.

Alex a few moments after midnight.

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Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

Posted by at 12:01 AM | Permalink

Happy Birthday Narine!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

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Happy Birthday Gabe!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

Posted by at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)