Remembering 2008.

Dear 2008,

There are some things I want to remember about you. :) There are also things I want to forget (like... the first ten months ;) ). Here are some highlights... okay, and lowlights...

Favorite Photo:

Alaura, Brenna and Mairen at gymnastics. I tried all EIGHT days I was there to get a photo of the three of them... together... where they're all smiling, and nobody is making a goofy face or giving someone bunny ears. This is it. This is the one. :) Makes me happy for so many reasons. One of which being that they've all three found a passion for gymnastics that just makes me giddy. :)

Best day: 

It's a tie. Between June 23rd (the day I found out I'd be published in Simple Scrapbooks), November 20th (my first day on the sales floor at Sharkiver's *wink*), and December 30th (my first day in Sales [as opposed to Visual Sales] at The Container Store).

Best movies:

*I realized when looking through the 250+ movies that came out in 2008 that there were A LOT I didn't get to see. And I'm thinking, had I seen them, they'd have made this list. I suppose a resolution for 2009 should be to get back Netflix! ;)*

Iron Man - Welcome back, Robert Downey Jr! I guess rehab was what you needed! You were hilarious in this. :)

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - I SO wanted to see this twice! But I saw it the last week it was out, and the following week when I wanted to see it again, it was too late. *sigh* I will be buying this. :)

Best Scrapbooking Decision:

Becoming a subscriber to Studio Calico. What in the HECK took me so long! Sheesh! :p

Favorite Gifts:

Well, it was the year of the fruit. ;) I received my iPod Touch in March, my iMac for St. Nicholas' Day (December 6th), and my Apple tote bag (like a purse...) yesterday from my friend Amy. How do you like them Apples?! ;)

Favorite foods:

I think I ate more peanut butter sandwiches and burritos in 2008 than all years put together. Yum. :) (I'm not sick of them either!)

Favorite drinks:

Friends of mine know I HATE hot chocolate. HATE IT! Makes me want to hurl. Oh, I'm sorry... makes me want to... be sick. :) But I MISSED liking it. I drank it every single day while in junior high (12/13 yrs old). But then when you see it in reverse, notsomuch. :p Then I found Schokinag. *sigh* Extreme Dark drinking chocolate... not your Mama's Swiss Miss, Kids. Doesn't make me want to pray to the porcelain god, has the words "dark chocolate" in it, and is absolutely perfect. So yeah, that stuff... my favorite. :) 

That and the new Crystal Light Hydration in lemon flavor. Electrolytes with no sugar... yeah, baby!

Toughest Decision (EVER):

Deciding to take my husband back (and forgiving him...) after he left me. *sigh* He didn't cheat on me, so I guess that made it a *bit* easier. But seriously... I spent months debating if I had the strength to take him back... let alone forgive him for putting me through that for the first ten months of the year. But... I'm SO glad I did. And I'm also so blessed and so thankful that God gave me the strength and patience to do so. I'm SO happy now. Happier than I've been since before we were married, and boy, does that feel GREAT! :D

Epiphany:

I want kids... bad. :) One boy and one girl. We want to adopt, and I'm pretty sure we already have their names picked out. Tee hee.

Coolest Discovery:

Figuring out that I LOVE being in Sales. Love it. LOVE it. LOVE IT! I'm so in my element. So at home. So passionate. So happy.

Best week:

Visiting my sister and her family in Boise, Idaho (Oct 30-Nov 6). Impromptu trips are the best ones. :) When I found out my parents would be at my sister's house for Halloween and her birthday, I booked my flight just ten days out. It.Was.Fabulous. Best week of the year, bar none. Hadn't seen Shaina and her girls (and Tony...) in almost 14 months. Way too long. 

Mairen tripled her cute factor. Three really is the best age. :) And the fact that she can spell and read over TEN words, a few months shy of age 4... floored me. 

Alaura impressed me to no end with her leadership skills and maturity. She is growing into such a beautiful young lady... leaving some of that sassiness behind and heading into Age 7 with gusto! 

And Brenna's (Alaura's twin sister) passion for gymnastics and school... along with her problem solving, kind heart and gentle spirit made me believe she was much older than 6.75 years. :)

Best Shopping Finds:

Okay, two. I'm not a big shopper. Actually, unless I'm shopping at The Container Store or Archiver's, I HATE shopping. Just had to share that. :p

Anywho, long story short... Last year, I was looking for the perfect bag. Smoky blue, fits my wallet and a water bottle, leather, shoulder strap, clean and simple, no decorations. Easy enough? Notsomuch. Finally found it. Dooney. It was $165... on clearance! Debated. Finished my shopping. Went home. Asked the husband. He said yes. Called the store to put it on hold. They had sold it in those two hours. *sigh*

Kept looking for like... a year. Found it on ebay. The larger version (YES!) for less than a THIRD of the retail price. And about half the price of the smaller version from the previous year. I don't make large purchases like this... especially for purses, but I knew it would last forever, and I'd get my money's worth. I was right. :)

The second one. My red Mary-Janes. I did a layout about them. Seriously, that's how happy I was to find them. LOL. 

Something I Did a Lot of:

Crying. And getting sick. I hate to say it, but it's true. Next year WILL be better. Even if my health isn't better, the crying thing will be. Because this year, my husband says he won't be leaving me. And I believe him. :)

Oh! Something else I did a lot of! Watching Friends! Seriously... I'm not sure I could have made it through you, 2008, without Chandler, Monica, Joey, Phoebe, Ross and Rachel. I think I've seen every episode *at least* four times each now. LOL.

Something I Thought I Didn't Need, but Do:

A sofa. LOL. We didn't have a sofa for like... three years. We bought one the other day because we couldn't stand it another second. And getting it for nearly half off... bonus!

Something I Thought I Didn't Need, and It's Still True:

A television. :) We've been television-less for... four years now, and I'm still happy about this. :) Every year, it's more apparent.

Person I Became Close With (and didn't expect to...):

Grandpa Pendzimas. Who knew he'd become one of my very favorite people in the world?! Talking to him is truly one of my favorite things. I always smile, laugh, scoff, smirk and reminisce when we talk. And I love that our 5-10 minute conversations have turned into an hour. :)

Best Move:

Literally... moving. LOL. Growing up in California and Colorado, moving to Texas is just something you don't do. ;) But after spending winters in Colorado, Minnesota and Rhode Island, I knew I needed a warmer climate (well, rather... my *hips* needed a warmer climate). Jeremy suggested Texas. And I heard from quite a few friends that Austin was unlike the rest of Texas. I moved here... sight unseen. No job. No place to live. Husband still in Rhode Island (and deciding...). Not having ever seen *photos* of Austin. And I never want to move away from here.

My walking cane is currently retired, now that I live here, and that feels great! I haven't *not* walked with a cane during a winter since I was 17. Ten years. And though I may have to walk with one in the future, I'm reveling in the fact that I don't have to now. :)

Downfall:

Trying to please everyone. *sigh* I SO need to work on that. (Reyanna, repeat these words: "It's okay to focus on you. It's okay to focus on you. It's okay to focus on you.") 

Something I Never Thought I'd Do:

Take up golfing. And I actually enjoy it. LOL.

So, farewell, 2008. I'm glad to see you go. :)

*reyanna*

Dear 2009,

Please be better than 2008. :) I promise I won't take on too much. And I promise not to try to please everybody.

Love, 

*reyanna*

Sharing (part 5).

This cabinet used to be a natural wood color, so I just painted it White Linen. :) It holds my rubber stamps and things. :)

The top drawer holds acrylic blocks, my stamping press, and stamp cleaners. :)

The next few drawers hold rubber stamps, laid out in one layer (not stacked), so I can see them easily. Each drawer has a theme, so it's easy to find things. :)

The 2nd to last drawer holds my foam stamp shapes. They are housed in project cases I found at Target's Dollar Spot. What a steal!

The bottom drawer holds my foam alpha stamps. Each column is stuck to the bottom with a strip of double-sided tape. Then I used my white Uniball Signo to write the letter of each stamp, so I don't have to pull it out to look. :) I used to keep these stamps in plastic bags, but I use them SO much more now because it takes less time to find the letter I need! :)

This cabinet sits right under my Stamping and Trimming Station. :)

Sharing (part 4).

Did you know that all you need to make cool ribbon storage is a 5/16" dowel, closet/shower rod hardware (found at any home improvement store), and some thumbtacks?! I wanted something easy; something cheap. This is what I came up with...

Then I got a really cool cabinet (found at a moving sale for $5... though any wooden shelves or cabinet will do)! The doors on this used to be blue as well, but these people left it outside and it got yuckier than any soap and water could fix. Well, painter's tape and some Antique White spray paint fixed it right up!

Once that was finished and dry, I "installed" my hardware, added some spice jars and little jars up top (Christmas Tree Shops), and Voila! Pretty neat ribbon storage!

Loose fibers and ribbons are in the spice jars. The jars above hold whole spools of ribbon that are now wrapped around close-pins and secured with pins. I was going to do that for EVERY spool I had, but gosh, that took lots of time. I gave up and bought the closet/shower rod hardware instead. :p

The cute little shelf in there holds little shards of ribbon that come with scrapbook purchases from select online retailers. I suppose they send you those to entice you to buy ribbon?! Or is it just a free gift? Hmm...

Next is my alpha storage. Really, nothing to get all excited over. I used to have it separated by color and type, but I didn't like that, so now it's all just stuck in here organized by color (black, brown and white up front because I use those the most). This container is actually a Desktop File that I spray painted Antique White. :)

Inside this alpha box, I have a small pencil box (dollar store) that I hold loose alphas, ghost alphas, alpha brads and other alpha things that are not on a sheet. They're all contained by (very high-tech) Ziploc bags: :)

I love the look of sterling silver. You can find it at thrift stores and antique stores and even eBay for pretty cheap. It adds some class, I think. :) This plate was like $2 at an antique store near me. This woman has TONS of it, so she tells you to take a bunch off her hands for pretty cheap, so she can get rid of it. I was happy to oblige! :D It holds adhesives I use on an everyday basis:

I also use sterling silver sugarers and creamers for my everyday pens and scissors. These were found at a thrift store. The small saucer (found with the plate above) holds little embellishments I need to set aside while I'm working (brads, small die cuts, etc). Photo is of my mom and dad's wedding:

I had seen a few times that people kept their pens in wine racks, as to keep them sleeping horizontally. I LOVED this idea, and I searched for over a year for the perfect wine rack. I seriously waded through hundreds (probably millions...) of them before I found this one on eBay. It was a brown wicker before I spray painted it. It's one of my very favorite things in my room. Always makes me smile. :)

These totally awesome paper shelves are kept on my desk as well. I've had quite a few scrap rooms now, and one thing I knew I needed when I had been scrapping a while is a place to put papers while I'm working. The paper storage next to the pens are where I put papers I'm working on at any given moment. (Out of the way until I need them on the page.)

You know... you're working on a page, and you have like a whole handful of coordinating papers to choose from. You choose three... or seven, but you can't use them/trim them/glue them at the same time, so you need *somewhere* to put them that's away from your workspace, but still in arm's reach when you *do* need them. That's why I needed this. Plus, it's a place to put aside a project if your eyes need a break from it and you want (or need) to work on something else.

It's from The Container Store. And though it's more expensive (if you work there, you get 40% off!) than one of the ones from Michaels or Jo-Ann, it has SIX shelves instead of four or five and still takes up the same amount of space. That was worth the extra money to me. :) This is where I keep pages I'm working on right now as well:

This next photo is in the cabinet from the previous post, but it goes better with the theme of this post. :) Here on this top shelf, I have my glue gun (in another one of those dollar store pencil boxes), paint brushes (in an altered Lay's Stax container), Mod-Podge (and brushes), Bazzill Chips, Creative Imaginations mini-albums, and business cards (mine and my husband's).

I altered the four matching boxes. They were EIGHTEEN CENTS each at The Christmas Tree Shop. If they would have had more, I probably would have gotten more. :p They used to have a weird floral pattern, but I like them much better this way. :D Just goes to show you, you can take anything and alter it... be it a shoe box, a gift packaging box, garbage... whatever!

On the lower shelf, I have my 6x6 paper pads and hole punches/deco scissors. The containers came from The Christmas Tree Shop.

Are you tired of looking at my scrap space yet?! You're probably more tired of my long-winded explanations...

Sharing (part 3).

Paper. I love paper. Paper's my favorite. Do you love paper? I'm sure you do.

One day while I was out shopping for a mattress (more comfortable than the kitchen table), I found this adorable cabinet. I measured it in the store, and what do you know... it was the right size to hold Cropper Hopper Vertical Storage Holders (well, with the back removed...)! Hoorah!

I know, I know, I have a lot of cardstock. LOL. In my defense, a scrapbook store was going out of business, Bazzill was on major clearance, and I decided what better time to stock up? I bought about 500 sheets.

I already had a couple hundred at home, so I probably have over 800 now. *sigh* The good thing is though... I haven't had to buy one sheet of cardstock (except for white, of course) for over a year. :D So really... it was an investment... On the bottom left (just slide open the doors a bit), I have my cardstock.

Separated by color, of course, and in ROYGBIV order. :) Orange and yellow share one. As do brown and black. (They're buddies. ;) ) This is to save space because I don't have as many of those colors:

The Cropper Hopper Paper Pouches hold scraps... that stay in the Cropper Hopper Vertical Storage Holder with its respective color. This way, it all stays together. I use scraps SO much more now! I've organized my scraps four different ways now, and this is, by far, my favorite. :)

All my patterned paper is organized alphabetically, by manufacturer. On this top shelf, I also have white/cream cardstock (which I use the most), clear stamps (in the white container and the blue binder), a binder with photos, and some ideas.

On the bottom shelf, the first four holders are Basic Grey, organized alphabetically by collection (A-H, I-M, O-R, S-V).

And each collection (with its papers, alphas, tags, die cuts and scraps) is kept in a Craft Keeper Envelope, so it all stays together nicely.

Then holders #5 and #6 hold "Other Companies," separated alphabetically by manufacturer.

The 7th holder has random "by the sheet" paper, sorted by color (bought in the "olden" days before I knew kits and collections were the way to go)... that I'll probably never use. LOL. Well, I use them for gift albums and mini albums. :)

Then on the top shelf, I have a holder just for Christmas papers (I have about six different collections from different brands... mostly Basic Grey, of course, including THREE Fruitcakes and two Wassails. LOL).

I also have a holder for Studio Calico kits (by date). And then two more with random stuff (whole sheets of chipboard, extra dividers/storage bags, doodling, cutting templates, paper memorabilia), and still labeled appropriately... LOL...

Here is what the inside of one looks like. As you can see, the collections are separated by tabbed dividers that have the collection's name. This is the Basic Grey A-H holder:

And here is a close-up of the Craft Keeper Envelope in action! Modeling it beautifully is the Studio Calico Iconic kit. Inside the envelope, I have a 4x6 acid free bag to hold all the "little guys" that are floating around:

Phew! If you got through all that, you deserve a break. How about some turtle brownies? Those are yummy. I'll post the recipe soon. :)

Thanks again for looking at my space! More to come...

Sharing (part 2).

I think this may be one of my favorite things in my room... perhaps because it took the most work?! LOL. Shopping at Pier 1 one day (for a lamp I didn't find...), I found these hot pink boxes (and some electric blue ones too):

The first time I went in, they were on clearance for $7.48. I bought two of them (8 drawers). Then I figured... hey, I could use these for almost ALL my embellishments! So I had hubby go back and get me two more. They were on BETTER clearance (by that time) for $5 each.

I headed to Home Depot and got some paint in White Linen and three coats of paint later... tee hee... they looked like this:

I used my 1 1/4" scallop punch to punch the labels. Added a hole-punched hole, soft white string (all-purpose... we also use it to tie up the fake-Christmas tree), and white paper clips (a la Stacy Julian LOM albums). I wrote the contents on with my brown ZIG. Presto! Beautimous embellishment storage! So all this (minus the frames and gelato jar that holds my favorite "pretty" ribbons) for under $30:

My sister, she's my hero. She taught me that if you don't like something the way it is, change it! If you have to paint it, cover it, sand it, add balcony spindles... whatever! And seriously, if it weren't for her, I'm not sure I'd have the confidence to just go and PAINT things. LOL.

Seriously... you should see her house. Not only does it look like a magazine or home decorating book, but if you walk through it with her, you hear her say, "This China Cabinet?! It was $2." or " This chair? It's old. We found it in a shed. I painted it black." or "This cute, little, sewing dress-form? Found it at Ross for $5, but the flowers were pink, and I needed them blue, so you know, I made them blue." She never buys ANYTHING full price. Ever. EVER!

Fun. Very fun. She's all kinds of inspiration.

Hoping.

Today, I need prayer and Pixie Dust (thanks, Kitty!), so I'm asking for it... please. :)

I called into The Container Store today, telling them I wasn't feeling well enough to make it to work today (I fainted there on Wednesday), and she actually "commended" me and gave me "kudos" for calling in (I usually just go, feeling sick, and then they send me home). LOL. Yeah, that made me smile. How awesome are the people at my work?! Seriously!

So if you pray, or if you just send out good thoughts, could you please? I have not been feeling well, got some not-so-good news from the doctor, and I could really use some prayers and good thoughts. Thank you. :)

And on a happy note, I got some peanut butter on my way home from the doctor yesterday. I love peanut butter.

Sharing (part 1).

Instead of my regularly scheduled post, I'm posting photos of my new scrap space. YAY! Can I officially call it a "Studio" now?!

I took over our dining room, and we moved the kitchen table to the living room (about four feet in front of my scrap area. :-)

The shelves and work-tables are elfa shelving from The Container Store, which are totally awesome. And I get a 50% discount, so that rocks even more! :-D

Here is the main wall. My workspace is about 39" high because I'm a standing scrapper. My two cabinets fit *perfectly* underneath, and I was SO excited about that (plus, a little room on top to "hide" things)!

(The cabinet on the left is an old twin bedframe that my sister and dad converted into a storage system. The cabinet on the right is from Oak Express.)

Then you move to the left... (you can see my adhesives in a sterling silver tray on the corner there), my embellishment drawers up on the shelf, and a totally awesome blue vase I got at an antique store here in Austin. :-)

This wall is my computer wall (plenty of room to add more shelves if need be...). The altered photo-collage cupboard door *should* be hanging above my printer, but I've been procrastinating putting the hanging hardware on. I need to get on that!

And then there's my trimming/cutting/stamping station. The table is from IKEA (*before* I worked for The Container Store...):

There are like 40 photos total, but I won't post them all here... at once. HA! I would if I had Typepad! Man! Some day... tee hee. I'll post them here in spurts... with commentary. ;-)

Discovering.

I've always loved babies. (See... even in this photo when I was six. :) ) I've always loved children. I started babysitting when I was ten. Well, I was mature for my age, and my cousin was sleeping, and my aunt had to run to the store for all of 30 minutes, but still! I babysat! 

But that day began years of babysitting and nannying. I always wanted eight children. Yes, eight. 

I had seven Cabbage Patch Babies lined up (with name tags on their beds) in my closet (big closet). They were my seven babies, and then I had an older daughter (who, you know, could help me take care of my seven babies).

The number eight slowly turned to four, and before I was married, that was the number that was set in my head. My husband didn't want any children when we got married. But I wanted to marry him, so... I said okay. I don't need to have children.

And as the years went on, I actually felt that I didn't even *want* to have children of my own anymore. I could just babysit and coach gymnastics, and I'd be fine. People thought it was very uncharacteristic of me. And it was. I had *always* wanted children.

Then a few years later, I wanted children again (my husband had also changed his mind). But the feeling came and went... as often as I bought new scrap supplies. Did I want children? *sigh* I LOVE children. I just couldn't make up my mind... mainly because of health reasons.

Then this last Saturday, a woman came into the scrapbook store. Her hands were full... shopping bags, jackets, and a diaper bag in one hand, and a baby in the other. "Can I give you a hand?" I asked. "Sure! That would be great!" She looked relieved.

"I can hold the baby for you!" She smiled as I reached my hands forward. And then the most amazing thing happened. It was like coming home. 

Landon is only six months old. He didn't know me. I didn't know him. But for the first minute, we just stared at each other. He smiled and then laid his head on my chest. He picked his head up and then stared at me and smiled. He didn't blink once. Then he laid his head on my chest again. "I've never seen him do that," his mom told me.

And I actually started to cry. So here I am... at work, in my apron, holding a baby, and crying. *sigh* I'm sure I looked utterly ridiculous. And I felt myself whisper, "I want one." And I heaved a big sigh.

Now? There is no doubt in my mind that I'm supposed to be a mother. I've known it. I've known it since I was a child and dolls were all I wanted... ever. I've known it since I was in 4th grade, and the kindergartners would follow me around, and I loved it. I've known it since the first time I laid eyes on my nieces and the tears just started to flow. I've known. Why I doubted myself, I'm not sure.

I know God has his timing. And I'm so glad He also has the ability to give me patience...

Oh, and by the way, thank you, Landon. That moment will forever be in my heart.

Updating.

May not stop playing with iPhoto... ever.

iPhoto-ing.

Can't post.

Received iMac.

Obsessed with iPhoto.

May not be back for a while...

Lord, help me.

Stamping.

I got a new toy! And since I'm so excited about it, I thought I'd give a little tutorial. :) Fun, right?! Yes, I know you're stoked about this!

I'm not much of a stamper, but I really want to try it more. So... I got these super awesome new Studio Calico stamps, but I wanted a block large enough to fit whole words. And I saw this little baby at my work (the scrapbook store, not The Container Store ;) ), and I just HAD to get it!

The Fiskars Easy Stamp Press comes in two sizes, but I got the bigger one because for just under $5 more, wouldn't you want to stamp longer words using larger alphas? I think yes!

So... first you add your acrylic stamps using the cool lines and ruler grid thing...


Then you add your ink...


Then you place it where you need it. And the cool thing about this is that it has these orange foamy feet, so when you place it on your paper, the stamps don't touch your paper... yet. You set it exactly where you want it, then you push down on it to flatten the foamy feet...


And when you lift off, the foamy feet bounce back up, and you remove the block press!



AND it has a removal plate, so if you need to stamp TWO things, and you can't get them on the same plate (or you need to layer stamped images), you just take the plate off and use the under-side of the press. They probably sell additional plates as well, so you can save designs you've created. You could make your own patterned paper in a snap!

Seriously... how cool is that?! I know, I know. The coolest. :)

You're welcome.

Re-capping.

Okay, so I haven't posted in a while, but I've been super busy. And my news! I have news!

Okay, wait. My posts are always way too long, so this post will get to the point when I tell you what's been going on.

My awesome news: I got a job at a scrapbook store! A *certain* scrapbook store (that requests to stay nameless, so we'll just call it Sharchiver's to keep it inconspicuous ;) ), and they offered me a job teaching! Yay! LOVE.IT. Also love the discount. :)

Christmas shopping is nearly done. Yay.

Thanksgiving was... weird. We *tried* to go out of town, but there was a big accident that forced us to turn around. So we went out to dinner and a movie instead.

Saw Twilight. I liked it. Jeremy even liked it.

Making a super awesome Christmas Organizer mini album (I use the term "mini" very lightly). Can't wait to show that here.

Had a party to celebrate my published page, and this card was my Make N Take (to look like my layout... cool, yes?!), and is this owl punch not the cutest punch EVER?! It's by Martha Stewart. I don't care if she did wear an orange jumpsuit, that woman has cute punches!

What else?! OH! I made the MOST delicious chocolate chip cookies! They are the softest ever (think Soft Batch cookies), and I can't stop eating them. I may have a stomach ache later.

I'm working quite a bit, but I love it, so it's okay.

My body hurts since I quit gymnastics. Go figure. :p

My brother is welcoming a new addition in June. Exciting. :)

And I want a baby. *sigh*

Besting the Day.

Yesterday? Best.Day.Ever. Okay, well, not ever, EVER, but best in a VERY long time. Probably like... best in a few years.

Saving.

Time to save some money, Y'all! (That's right... I say "y'all" now because I live in Texas. Oh, that reminds me of a cute story! If I think about it at the end of this blog post, I'll share it!)

Anywho, after the irrelevant button was hit several times after my first sentence, I will be sharing with you how YOU can save money this week.

Not sure if you watch Oprah (I'm not an Oprah fan, but this week... I am... just a bit ;) ), but she's having a "Clean up your Messy House Tour" right now. And guess what?! She featured The Container Store on the show! And guess what is even better than *seeing* The Container Store on Oprah? Why, getting a discount at The Container Store *because* of Oprah, of course!

So... if you go on Oprah's website here, you can get in on the 20% discount too (until November 19th)! It's okay if you don't have The Container Store in your area because the coupon works for online and phone orders TOO! I know, I know... you are super blessed that I work for The Container Store and can be an enabler today. I know. I know. Thank me later. ;)

I know what you're thinking, "Oh Reyanna! This is super wonderful and fabulous! This MUST be the good news I've been anxiously awaiting to hear from you!" And I will reply to that, "No, my friends, it is not! I still have wonderful news to share. Not today, but soon." :)

Now on to regularly scheduled posting...

One of the coolest things about The Container Store is that they sell scrapbook organization! WOOHOO! I have this awesome paper storage thingy (featured above), and it's SO much better than the one you find at Michaels or other craft stores because this one has SIX shelves! No other one that I've found has six! Ha! I love that you can put stuff on top too. Yay! :D

And also, our Stockholm collection is FABULOUS! I have LOTS of those boxes. And I love that they come in all sorts of fun colors. (I'm pretty simple, so I love the white with colored pattered paper in the book plates, but the deep purple [which, unfortunately isn't offered online], is beautiful!)

One other thing I love is our photo storage stuff! The Stockholm Media Binder is PERFECT with the 4x6 and 5x7 photo sleeves as photo albums (Stacy Julian and Library of Memories lovers, take note and get rid of those Pioneer binders)!

And you know, we carry other products like WD-40 in the form of a pen (in store only... or just e-mail me if you desperately need one), an acrylic organizer that holds 24 lipsticks or chapsticks, and of course, no closet is complete without Closet Rod Organizers. Some of us just can't tell by *looking* in our closet which shirts are short-sleeved and which ones are long-sleeved. Oh no! We need labels to tell us. :)

And what holiday shopping would be complete without a trip to Gift Wrap Wonderland with our fabulous paper choices (more in the stores!) and unique stocking stuffers?! None, I tell you! None!

So go... get a coupon. Shop. Have fun, Kids!

p.s. This post is too long now to tell you my cute story, so I'll just save that for another day.

Missing.

Coming home from my sister's house is always bittersweet. I'm glad to be home... in my own bed with my own food (two separate things... I don't keep my food in my bed...). And I love the fact that my clothes are chosen from a closet as opposed to a suitcase.

But then there's the bitter part. Leaving them. Them. The three most beautiful and perfect little human beings to ever grace the planet. Okay, of course they're not perfect. Mairen smashed my leg into a chair. Brenna yelled in my ear. Alaura said some sassy things. And candy was asked for at the beginning and end of EVERY meal... and some times in between. But... yeah, they're perfect to me.

I hadn't seen them in nearly 14 months. Eight days with them was Heaven.

I cried all the way to the airport. It didn't help that my sister turned on Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry. *NOT* a good song to listen to when you're fighting back tears.

We had planned on the time before the airport being "Ani" time (their nickname for me), but plans got changed as things do. All we could do was go to the Sonic drive-through. (Still cool! ;) ) They all had their first root beer floats ever! (Brenna had a Dr. Pepper float though. Tee hee.) And that was fun. And as we approached the airport, we took this one last crazy picture.

I landed in Austin, safe and sound. But I cried all the way home. And I cried myself to sleep. I miss them. I miss my sister. How is it possible to love and ache for people THIS much?!

And I did get some great news today. But I can't even enjoy it. I'm just missing them way too much. And crying way too hard. *sigh*

I'll share my great news tomorrow. It's pretty fabulous... if I do say so myself. :)