Believe

so, I wrote earlier in the year about my word for the year being "believe" and I have really tried to stick with it...not always easy when you are doing Weight Watchers and are not wanting to get on that treadmill. Anyway, my crafty friend, Pamela, made me the most gorgeous "believe" heart...I adore it!!!! It is hanging on my treasured lamp that used to be my great-great Aunt Katie's that sits on my scrapbook desk....so I see it every day. Thank you SO MUCH Pamela for being so thoughtful!

fun with the kids....

We had an amazing week with my nephew, Najee, while he stayed with us last week. We picked Katie up from school each day & had all sorts of adventures.....Chuck E Cheese, library, hockey game, sleepover, St Pat's dinner, etc. I'll admit that Patrick & I were wiped out come Sunday! I didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are some from our Children's Musuem adventure.

We met cousins Christie & Gracie there to explore the musuem.

Then we met Patrick for lunch at the Dogfish Cafe...the kids got their own table :-)

Sad to see Najee go home to NY...hopefully we'll see him & his brother at Easter time.

crafty mojo flowing.....

I got together with my crafty girls on Sunday & had a great time. . . I always go home full of ideas and excited to roll out all the crafty projects. What's on tap...finish quilt I'm making for back of our new couch, finish St Pat's bookmark tags I started at Karen's house, and get going on my niece, Annie's, 1st year scrapbook. . . oh yeah, and 2 new scrapbook kits for the website :-) I'll post photos when I'm done..promise.

Spent yesterday checking out cars (do NOT want to buy a new car) and having a long lunch with my friend, Jen, who I haven't seen in awhile. I love catching up with friends you haven't seen in months but when you get together, you flow right back in to the comfort of friendship. Ok, mushy -I admit I am :-)

I made www.marthastewart.com my homepage for Internet, so each day I log on and see something inspiring. They have a new feature called Craft of the Day, so I've been printing all of these amazing projects to do someday and putting them in a binder. I love to hoard project ideas!

Snow & rain here today..yuck. I am SO ready for spring. I bought a bunch of seeds for vegetables for my gardens & flowers to put in my cutting gardens this year. I've hinted to Patrick that I'd love another raised veggie bed this year & that would be a PERFECT birthday gift for me in April. Nope, I don't need fancy jewelry or trinkets...just give me more dirt to dig in!

catch up time...again

man, I seem to be slacking on this blog these days...a month since my last entry. Ok, I'll do a catch-up post & then...I am committing to blog at least once a week. :-)

*went to Florida Keys with my in-laws and sis in law, Cami. Enjoyed gorgeous weather, snorkeling, beach/pool time & just being away from it all....of course, we had a huge snow storm & no power when we got home but I cling to the quickly fading tan I have for strength!

*as of today I have been doing Weight Watchers for 2 months....and i have finally found my groove. Being in FL helped, as we did a TON of walking and swimming...which helped me continue exercising when I got home. I'm happy with my progress thus far & am so happy to have Wendy as my WW buddy to go through it all with me.

*another snow storm yesterday....wholy cow!!! I'm dreaming of growing vegetables, playing in my flower gardens, being outside....

*Patrick's new boat is really coming along. I'm so excited to go up & see it soon.

*the time has finally come for me to start thinking about retiring my beloved suburu....she's 9 years old and was just diagnosed with a problem that will cost me more than she's worth when I have to fix it. ugh. Trying to figure out what car comes next....and where the money will come from to pay for it

*I'm excited for March 15th...my nephew Najee is coming to stay with us for a week! He's in private school & they have 2 weeks for Spring vacation. We'll have a ball

that's it for now....feels good to catch up

cool quote for the week

Mahatma Gandhi : "Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning."

I found this quote on Ali's blog www.aliedwards.typepad.com and thought it was inspirational & motivating. Last Monday marked 1 month doing Weight Watchers & I am happy with my progress so far. I'm sure Gandhi wasn't referring to losing weight :-) but the power of self-confidence and guts.

YIPEE!!

So, I have been a lazy blogger lately. In all truth, I have been working like a crazy lady lately to get new online shop site up and running. Finally, the site launched yesterday and the orders have been rolling in already. I already know this site is a temporary one & need to build something a step up soon. . .but I accomplished my 1st goal with this site.

Check it out at www.scrapbooksandbeyond.typepad.com

Snowing here & I'm contemplating what to make for dinner. . . hmm

my Crafty friends

I wanted to show off a couple of recent gifts from my Crafty friends. Pamela made the adorable snowflake tin in the top photo. It was filled with chocolate mints....but those disappeared quickly (hey, it was the week before I started WW!) She gave them to all of us as snacks during our recent road trip. Honestly, how sweet & thoughtful is that?! Molly made some YUMMY choc. covered pretzels too, but I didn't get a picture (what?! a scrapbooker without her camera..yes, I felt quite naked that day).

Catherine made the butterfly pails as favors for us when we had our group gathering at her house (hmm, I think I need to come up with something when the group comes here next month). Guess what she made them from? Peat pots! Yes, they were also filled with chocolate (listen, that was more than a month ago..they would have melted if I'd left them in there :-)