Getting Desperate.

We have NO food in the house. Okay, maybe a little bit, but not really enough to make something substantial (no milk, eggs, butter, cheese, tortillas, meat, etc). I so don't feel well enough to go shopping, and poor Jeremy worked an overnight, so he is sleeping. He said he'll shop when he wakes up. :-)

But that still left me with... what do I eat today besides peanut butter toast?! This is where I get creative. I made a stew! It took me like 5-10 minutes, and it's SOOO yummy. I thought I'd share the recipe, just in case you want to make it too. :-)

I'm calling it...

"Leftovers" Stew

1 can stewed tomatoes (Italian recipe) *This was found in pantry.

1 can tomato paste *Also found in pantry! (I'm so glad I decided to buy these two to save for a rainy day!)

1/2 can leftover black beans in fridge

1/2 can leftover refried beans in fridge

Rotisserie chicken pieces (okay, I literally, scraped the bones for all the meat I could find!)

Almost-empty bag of frozen corn

2 cups water

2 tsp chicken base

I threw all this (at the same time) into a pot and simmered on medium until hot. That was it. LOL. I didn't even have to add seasoning or salt because of the stewed tomatoes and chicken base! It is super delicious. :-D

I'm sure it would be much better with full cans of beans and more corn and chicken, so feel free to do that if you make your own. But if you have this stuff on hand, and you're at a loss... you won't go hungry. ;-)

*Photo by user, "Parsley" at Food.com. It kinda looks like this... without the tasty cilantro. ;-)

p.s. I started an organization blog! :-) I'll give it a facelift soon, but it's the content that counts, right?! ;-)

Celebrating Eight Years.

So Jeremy and I celebrated eight years of marriage on Christmas Day! Yay! Laura went through a little list of things they've done, so I thought I'd try it too. :-)

In eight years of marriage...

One house.

Two pups.

Three cats. (only have one now)

Six cities.

Six cars.

Seven apartments.

Ten years as a couple.

Eleven jobs.

Fun! That's a lot of stuff! LOL. :-p (And by the way, those jobs are between the two of us. I used to like to have two or three at one time, and we lived in six different cities... so... yeah, that's why the number is so big. LOL.)

Us in 2000:

Christmas Day 2002 (our wedding):

Now:

I thought we hadn't changed *that* much, but I guess we do look a bit older now. LOL. :-p

I am so blessed to be with this guy! He's just so awesome! I'm so happy we finally get to welcome a baby during our 9th year of marriage! YAY!

Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you tons! :-D

Jumping Ahead.

Okay, so it's still super early, but I can't help it. I found Polyvore, and it's just way too much fun! These are the two color schemes I'm thinking. The second one is my first inclination, but I just don't know. At least I have a few months to decide! ;-)

I think I could use either of these for a boy or a girl. This first one, though... as long as that flower fabric stays in small quantities. :-) The red and yellow would also stay in small quantities (especially red), since they are known to cause over-stimulation in infants, resulting in restlessness and prolonged crying. Isn't color science fascinating?! :-D

Blue-Yellow-Red Nursery by reyasunshine on Polyvore.com

Blue-Green-Tan Nursery by reyasunshine on Polyvore.com

This second one is pretty much the color palette of our living room and bedroom. I just feel so cozy and serene in these colors!

Which one do you like best?

Comparing.

Last time, it looked like this:

And this time around, it looks like this:

There's a BABY in there!!! With a totally strong heartbeat, and everything looks perfect!

*sigh*

It really is so surreal. I was so happy I was laughing. Not crying. Laughing hysterically. LOL. Jeremy shouted, "WHOA! You can actually SEE its little heart beating!!! That is SOOO cool! It's our BABY!" Tee hee. He was practically jumping up and down, could barely control his excitement in the chair next to me. He's so cute. :-p

One more thing...

My due date? Yeah, it's July 30, 2011. You know what that date is?

Why, it's our 30th birthday! You read that correctly. *Our.* Jeremy and I will both be 30 on July 30, 2011. (Just noticed it's our golden birthday too... tee hee.)

*sigh*

Mmhmm. This baby is meant to be part of our little family. :-)

Merry Christmas to us! And you guys too! ;-)

Loving Austinites. :-)

I was out walking the dogs today and a woman stopped me and said, "You can just leave your dog poop bag on our lawn! I'll pick it up when I get home tonight!" LOL.

People in Texas are WAAAAY too nice... or at least, these people are! ;-) I politely declined... thought I may need it again before I reached home. :-)

Love that these people are my neighbors. :-D

Wishing for Christmas.

I don't have a big wishlist this year. I never really have a big wishlist. But these are things I think would be neat. :-) We don't really have a lot of money this year, due to several misfortunes in a row. *sigh* Ah well. Such is life, yes? We have each other and we're both happy and healthy now! :-D

1. I got this for myself for Christmas. (I needed a new coat, and I had a gift card. :-p ) It came in the mail today, and it's SO cozy (hood is removable!). I'm wearing it right now. LOL. :-p (Oh! And you know what's cool? See those front pockets? Behind them are pockets you can actually slip your hands into! How cool is that??!?!)

2. Mint Eco-Lips is my favorite chap-stick and the only stuff I use (other than this that I keep in my purse at all times). I would LOVE to try this coconut flavor! Yummy!

3. Jeremy and I really would love to take up Scrabble. We just want a "go to" game to have in the house to play together. :-)

4. Okay, I JUST saw this today. LOL. Not only is this the coolest bag ever, but it has my name on it! :-D
5. And I know it sounds crazy, but this boy? He's up for adoption, and I'm in love with his sweet, little face. *sigh* I actually thinks he looks just like our baby would. He SO reminds me of this little boy with Down Syndrome that I used to babysit. I was so in love with that boy too. :-p This is a pretty hefty gift, I know. ;-) But I'd love him in my home. :-)

I found him at this awesome website, where you can put money into each child's grant fund for his/her adoptive parents! I think it's such a great idea! So if you're looking for a great charity this holiday season, this one is awesome! I've also read about two families who adopted from there, and the whole process sounds wonderful! Oh, how I wish I could go get him tomorrow. :-)

What's on your wishlist? Happy Chanukah! Merry Christmas!

Missing Disneyland.

Sorry I haven't updated. I can't really say why I haven't. I guess I just didn't feel like taking photos, and I feel like a post without a photo is incomplete. *sigh* Ah well. I'm hoping to update more frequently.

I made this today, though, and I've watched it like ten times. I'm missing Disney so much lately, and this really is helping me through this tough time. ;-)

It's weird. I think this video only lasts for a few days, so if it disappears... "Thanks, Disney! This is the thanks I get for working all those crazy hours for you? For only getting four days off to get married, two of which were flying there and back... with NO honeymoon?! Pfft. I still love you, though, Disney. This just isn't cool." :-p LOL. So if you see this video and it says, "Dynamic" instead of "Reyanna," it's *not* the one I made! ;-)

p.s. If they had mechanical pet dolls, I would have added Ruby, Amber, and Kissa to the mix. Alas, you'll just have to take my word for it that they want you to have a good holiday season as well! ;-)

Sharing Sneaks and Projects!

One year ago today, we closed on our house and became first-time homeowners! YAY! Also, TEN years ago today, Jeremy and I had our first kiss ( **insert "awwwww" sound here** ). It's a big day in our house! Now, hopefully, Jeremy will come home from work at a reasonable hour, so we can celebrate!

I thought it was only fitting to show some photos of things *in* our home. Okay, just a few. LOL. I'll be back with more!

First, my Goodwill finds! How cute is this little vintage basket? For 1$?!?! Yes, please! Holds current month's kit embellishments (or any other fun things I pick up and want to use soon)...

And this fabric box for $3. What's funny... I got one similar to this (same fabric, different size) two years ago at an antique store! I love that they coordinate now. :-) This is now housing all my brads because, wow, that collection has grown! LOL. :-p

And this adorable vintage case (only $4), which I think used to hold alcohol of some kind. It's now my Mod Podge box. :-D Mmm... I love how everything has a place. I heart organization so much. SO MUCH.

(Oops! Forgot to take a photo of the adorable *outside* of the box. Well, I'll take one soon!)

Gathered some vintage paper ephemera from my collection and made this little clothesline thingie in the hallway. Just a sneak, for now...

And some sneak peeks of our laundry room! Yahoo! It's pretty much finished, save for the wall decor. Ohmigosh, that's the hardest part! I've had SOOO many ideas, so now I just need to *decide*! Hopefully, I'll finish soon. I.Can.Not.Wait. :-D

I've also been creating just a bit. I needed some more bookmarks, so I quickly through these together. Jeremy actually made some too! We had a full-on craft night! HEEE! :-)

And I altered these journals. See the print on the one on the right? That was actually a bag from an antique store.... as in, my friend bought me something, and the store uses these super-cute bags to put their stuff in! I had to use it right away! LOL.

That's it for today. I have GOT to go help a friend move! I'll be back with more pics of around our house!

Altering with FabRips.

So... unfortunately, my Home Depots next to me took two big doses of stupid (or at least two of the guys did...), so my laundry room project is taking much longer than expected. :-p Their mistakes on plywood and paint are just a small hiccup, and I'm hoping to be done this week! :-D

But I have had time to do some other fun projects!

These were made with Studio Calico FabRips! Seriously, you don't even need a tutorial... I just placed them on and wrapped them around, cutting off the corners. So easy and fun! :-)

I'll be back with some altered journals, some homemade bookmarks, and my latest Goodwill finds! Yay! :-)

p.s. As inspiration... how beautiful is this home I saw at House of Turquoise?! If you live in Australia, it's for sale, and it could be yours for the bargain price of $2.1 million dollars. Just sayin... ;-)

Refurbishing the Laundry Room.

Yes, I'm updating. Yay! I've actually really missed blogging this last month, but I just needed some time away, you know?! It's amazing how productive I am when I stay away from the computer. ;-)

Reading this post of April's *really* inspired me to take on my laundry room. I finished my scrap room (photos to come later...), so I needed a new project!

I ventured in there and realized I needed some new containers (shocking, I know). I wanted to use what I had on hand (I have empty containers in every room... you're not surprised, are you?). I realized that in the nursery closet, I had two containers I got at Target. I had NO place to put them and even no IDEA where I would use them (because they are quite girly, and I like all the rooms in my house to be neutral-neutral), but they were SO cute that I had to buy them. :-p

*Insert lightbulb moment here.*

I would use one of the containers (Liberty of London CD box) as inspiration and transform my laundry room into a SUPER girly and fun laundry haven. Here are the photos (found while browsing my Tumblr) I'm also using as inspiration:

Norah's nursery, found here.

Penelope's Room, found here.

See that lamp in Penelope's room? Funny, that is the SAME pattern as my Liberty of London CD box. Serendipitous? I think yes.

So my colors are aqua, bubblegum pink, and a creamy, sunshiney yellow. It's funny, I'm *not* a pink kind of girl. But with aqua and yellow?! It's kinda yummy. :-D

So, yay! I'm hoping to finish within the week. Stay tuned!

Dealing.

I'm about to be real and kinda depressing. Please no judging. :-)

For those of you who don't know, we lost the baby this week (I was nearly 12 weeks when I started bleeding two weeks ago today). My body is still going through the process, and it bothers me that it makes every day a reminder that I won't be having a baby in six months. I can't wait for that part to be over. I'm ready to move on and look back on this like it was a bad dream.

We are trying to stay optimistic for the future though. The pregnancy ended due to a blighted ovum, so, for some reason, that actually makes me feel better about the whole thing... hopeful that a baby will be in our future. :-)

I have waves of being positive and optimistic and then waves of wanting to sit on the sofa and watch Friends and eat gluten-free chocolate chip cookies (which I'm now currently out of) all day long. I've heard that through the grieving process, both are good for healing. :-)

I'm angry and sad, and I just don't feel like *me* these days. I have three Studio Calico kits sitting right next to me, and I can't even touch them. My motivation... it's just gone. I'm praying that will get better soon too. :-)

I think I'm getting a bit better. Today, I took a shower in the *morning* and got halfway dressed... pajama bottoms and slippers with a nice top and sweater. I even put on earrings and a bit of makeup. :-) I think every day will get better. I'm hoping, praying that it does. *sigh*

Hmm... can't think of anything else to say. And just talking about it makes me feel more down, so I'm going to go watch Friends now. :-)

And here are two layouts I did a couple weeks ago, but never posted. Both are mostly SEI and American Crafts. :-)

Thanks for stopping by today. I'm not sure when I'll be back with the remainder of my scrap room photos, but I'm hoping soon.

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. Just keep swimming...

Organizing and Editing (and okay, Decorating too).

Well, today I was in the mood to play in PhotoShop, which is a rarity. LOL. I edit all my photos in iPhoto these days, and by "edit," I mean quickly crop and lighten up... takes me a grand total of 15 seconds.

So I took some more photos of my scrap room and then played with my PW Actions. (Okay, I was inspired by Jennifer Johner. Who the heck is *not* inspired by that woman? She's so talented... it sickens me. In a good way. :-)

So still a few sneak peeks because I'm not completely done yet. And I've been a scrapping fool the past couple days, so my table isn't as clean as I'd like for photos. ;-)

My border punches, stapler and paint brushes are stored here in this vintage Squirt container:

On the top shelf, along one wall, I have just odds and ends. Favorites of mine that inspire me... things I've been collecting for years and years. Most of the things on this shelf do *not* have any storage/organizational purpose. However, this cute little blue train case (which is open because I used my snowflake punches out of there... tee hee) holds all my Christmas embellishments. :-)

I just adore vintage books. And photos of Shirley Temple. ;-) This one came from a magazine, I think...

Ahhhhh.... one of my favorite things is next. Found this chair at the Goodwill for like $2. I gave it a paint touch-up and then added some October Afternoon paper on the seat. The bird was a gift from a friend. It's sitting on the bottom shelf of a cabinet that I *completely* made over.

I keep staples, paper clips, mini punches, and cat's eye inks in these blue boxes. And as for the baker's twine... I started out with 2 or 3, and they looked so cute displayed on a shelf. Then I got more and more and I set them all out, so I could decide *where* I wanted them and in what container I'd *place* them. But then I fell in love with having them displayed all the time... and very convenient to just grab. Hee hee... so I left them, and this is their home now. :-)

Looked through, literally, hundreds of wine holders before I found the perfect one for my pens. I spray painted it to match my room. The little boxes are from IKEA (which were a STEAL for the set)!

And that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll get it all cleaned up and photographed this weekend! :-)

Oh! And here's a layout I did last night. My bestie, Camille, left me an awesome comment on my FB the other day, and it totally inspired this layout. Thank you, Camille! You're the bestest, and I miss you something fierce! ;-)

(Cardstock: Bazzill Basics, Patterned Papers: SEI, Alphas: Sassafras,

Punches: EK Success, Creative Memories, Pearls: Basic Grey, Pen: American Crafts)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Favoring Two Things Right Now.

My favorite video in a long time...



And I want these...

http://www.cerealmarshmallows.com/

Trying to Motivate Myself.

This week, I have been super-motivated to get my scrap room DONE. We moved into this house TEN months ago, and my scrap room has been a work in progress. It must be the perfectionist in me. ;-) I figured if I posted here, then I would feel accountable, get it finished, and then get photos up this week! LOL.

Here is a very sneak peek... tee hee.


And also, Ella turned ONE year old last week! Yay!


If you haven't been there, you have got to check it out! It's SO cool and so much fun. Plus, I always find tons of inspiration and cool tricks and tips! :-D

And here is a super-simple layout I did last year and forgot to post. LOL. Photos from my first eight birthdays. :-) It's for my baby book... I figured one page for eight of them would take up much less room. ;-)

Bella papers and BG alphas.

Hopefully, in the next few posts, I will have photos of my scrap room. Yay!

Note to self: Get it done! Get it done! Get it done!

Announcing. Finally. :-p

First off, I've been wanting to share this video for a LONG time.

I wanted a *really* cool way to share this awesome news with our families, so this is what I came up with: The Story of Us.

(Thanks to my friend Traci for actually bringing it to life! And thanks to my friend Jody for introducing me to this song, The Luckiest by Ben Folds. Funny, it actually was not my first choice for the video, but on the first trial run of the slideshow, I didn't have my choice of song downloaded yet, so I just had to choose one at random. The Luckiest was the slowest song on my playlist, so I chose that. Didn't even plan on it being PERFECT for this.)

I'm ten days away from the end of my first trimester. I was going to wait another ten days to share this, but I wanted to show this layout, and well, had to share the video first. ;-)

Another challenge is up at Journaling Challenges! The theme? Babies. Serendipitous, yes?! ;-)

Used Studio Calico's August kit here.

And here's another recent layout I did (also with the August kit) about my sweet, Ruby. She's just SO cute! Every time I walk by her, I can't help kiss her and cuddle her. LOL. I just had to do a layout about that. :-)

Happy Friday!