Lovely Cruise

brrrrrrrrr

It's cold.  Having a little break in the temperatures over the weekend has made this week miserable.  And I think everyone in this area feels the same way.  It's so hard to go back to the frigid air after having a little taste of what's to come.  Oh well, that's life in the Midwest. 

I made two resolutions this year, the main one is to get organized and my mini one is to do a scrapbook layout a week.  I'm doing ok on the organization, although I really need to get back at it.  And so far I've done a layout a week.  Here's my layout from last week (and I'm almost done with this week's):

And here's a notecard that's available in my etsy shop in a set of five (made with my new gocco):

mothball charlie & george

I decided the new year was a great time to change my etsy shop name, so I did and I changed it to the name I had always wanted it to be, mothball charlie.  Mothball charlie was my first dog's name.  My grandfather named him that, I guess because he looked like a mothball.  He was a Maltese and from what my mom tells me a little crazy.  Does that remind you of anyone...  So I have a new shop name, and a new look.  You can check it out at:  www.mothballcharlie.etsy.com

And speaking of my shop I was contacted a couple weeks ago by a business on the East coast that has three gift shops.  They want to sell my stuff!  I sent my first package of goods to them this morning.  I hope they like what I sent.  I've worked my butt off trying to get it ready.  This stuff is time consuming and my etsy shop has been neglected (so has my house).  But it's all good and exciting and a great opportunity.  This is a peek at what I sent them. 

I did my first print with my new gocco machine yesterday.  It didn't turn out exactly how I envisioned, but sometimes mistakes are good.  It's so easy, but I can tell I have a lot to learn and that it will come from hands-on experience.

In other news we got a puppy this weekend.  He is such a sweetie.  Even with all of the puppy things that you have to deal with (housetraining, chewing, nipping, peeing on my carpet) it has been such a different experience for us compared to our last dog adventure.  I really was going to wait until the spring to get a puppy and I wanted a labradoodle, but then I saw this cutie on the Nebraska Humane Society's website and I couldn't resist (he's a yellow lab, cocker spaniel mix).  He was the last dog left from his litter.  I didn't want to train a dog in the winter, but like running, I decided there's no time like the present.  And come spring he'll be good to go and I'll have this all behind me.  Kind of like running.  On Monday the weather was beautiful and I got a taste of what it's going to be like in a couple months.  Getting up in the cold is going to pay off because I won't be struggling anymore, I'll be enjoying it.  Monday was my best run ever.  I made it well over 3/4 of the way without walking and only walked for about 15 seconds (we go about 5 miles).  Making progress sure feels great.  Now if my scale would start moving in the right direction.  My friend reminded me that muscle weighs more than fat, but I think all of the chocolate I've been consuming might have more to do with it.   Meet George (as in Curious George):
And last, but certainly not least, Miss Ella got her first haircut last week.  That girl is something.  And unrelated to her hair the little miss is not happy about the d.o.g.
 

Back in business...

I had a few minor computer problems this week, like no access to my photos, but it's now working again.  Whew.  Not having access to my photos is like not having access to chocolate.  It's not good. 

February IT kit debuted last week.  It's a good one people.  I know, I know, I say it every month, but every month IT's true. 
The painting/collage of the girl on this piece was done by the very talented Allison Strine.  She's funny, she's witty, she's just wonderful.  Check out her work at her etsy shop.  Yes, all good things come from etsy...

Here's a layout of Sammy:

And here are two cards and some Valentine tags made with one of the exclusive stamps that come in this month's kit:                           

running 101 (if you're me)

Please, by all means, consult a doctor before beginning this, or any exercise program...

1.  Start running outdoors in January.  In Nebraska.  Because the weather is so nice and toasty.  Not.

2.  Run at 5:50 in the morning because that's really the only time you can't come up with an excuse, except sleep and that one isn't good enough.

3.  Run with a group of women, there's nothing more motivating than knowing there's someone who's waiting at the end of your block.  If she can do it, I can do it. 

4.  Start out right in the beginning running almost five miles.  No need to ease into it, forget what all of the experts say.  You don't need to be able to walk the next couple days after you run.  Your family will understand why you need to sit on the couch with a bag of ice and why it hurts to go up the stairs or in and out of your SUV.

5.  Run in the winter because when you are out of shape your muscles will be sore and will need to be iced.  But there's no need to ice them because your whole body will be frozen.  It's a real time-saver.

6.  Run with a group of women who are in really good shape and can not only run the 5 miles with ease, but they can CHIT CHAT while they do it, wearing their tight running pants (mine are tight too, but for a different reason).

7.  If you can, run with your child's teacher, major brownie points will be made and your child will for sure get great report card.  Plus if anything thing bad happens to your child at school you have a direct line to their teacher. 

8.  Wear a stocking cap.  There's no need to even brush your hair, just put that bad boy on and you instantly are having a great hair day, plus it's dark outside so no one can see you anyway.   What am I going to do in a couple months...

9.   Wear good shoes and good socks, because blisters hurt.

10.   Keep at it.  Don't quit, because it's just too damn painful to start again. 

happiness

"I keep remembering one of my Guru's teachings about happiness.  She says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough.  But that's not how happiness works.  Happiness is the consequence of personal effort.  You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it.  You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings.  And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.  If you don't, you will leak away your innate contentment.  It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when you crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments."
--Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

a lot of nothing

**Do you like Vitamin water?  I do, but rarely buy them because they are kind of pricey.  But my dear friend Costco is now selling their own Kirkland brand of Vitamin water (called Vitarain), and it is so good.  I was sneaking a diet coke here and there since Thanksgiving and needed to stop.  These are helping me stay on track.  And wouldn't you know it, my knees started aching again, which was enough reason for me to stop drinking it again.  (I still love it though).

**I'm still reading Eat, Pray, Love.  I just finished the part where she goes to India to live in an Ashram.  Now I want to do it.  It just sounds amazing.  This is a quote from that part of the book that I really loved, "More contemporarily, the Dalai Lama has repeated the same idea, assuring his Western students repeatedly that they needn't become Tibetan Buddhists in order to be his pupils.  He welcomes them to take whatever ideas they like out of the Tibetan Buddhism and integrate these ideas into their own religious practices.  Even in the most unlikely and conservative of places, you can find sometimes this glimmering idea that God might be bigger than our limited religious doctrines have taught us.  In 1954, Pope Pius XI, of all people, sent some Vatican delegates on a trip to Libya with these written instructions:  Do NOT think that you are going among Infidels.  Muslims attain salvation, too.  The ways of Providence are infinite."

**I bought a gocco this week.  I am so excited!  I might even have it by the end of next week.  I think I'm going to use it to mainly print cards, but I'd like to also print on fabric. 

**Sam's cast was removed yesterday and his arm is healed.  He's still a little stiff and sore, but otherwise back to normal.  Although he still is trying to claim that he can't dress himself.  Little squirt!

**I ran three days this week.  Next week I'm going to walk on my off days.  Today wasn't a good day, unlike Wednesday when I felt like I was really making progress.  It was a lot colder today, so I don't know if that was the problem, but I just couldn't get going and I really felt it in my right hip.  I'm going to keep at it though.  I keep thinking about the quote that goes something like, "A year from now you'll have wished you had started today." 

**Next weekend I'm going on a trip with some of my bestest girlfriends to Atchison and Kansas City.  We are going to Nell Hill's and Curious Sofa, and I'm sure we'll hit a few more shops.  We're staying at a little cottage in Atchison.  We were suppose to stay at the Glick Mansion (a B&B), but she double-booked the room and so she offered us the cottage, which is right across the street. 

**I think that is it.  Have a great weekend!!!

a few photos

paperwhites:

before (and just wait until you see the after...Thanks Mom!!!):

Run, Forest, Run (yep, twice now, even today in the ice):

one of my creative resolutions (a LO a week):

organization

You only live once--but if you work it right, once is enough.

--Joe E. Lewis

Every year, like so many, I make a list of resolutions.  I've been doing this for a long time.  My list doesn't vary much year to year (you know, exercise, eat right, lose weight, read more books, etc. etc.), so this year I decided to simplify and have only one resolution:  get organized.  Perhaps this drastic reduction in my list will result in success?  I don't know.  What I do know is my lack of organization leads to so much stress and anxiety in my life.  It sounds silly, but it's incredibly true.  I have numerous stories of not being able to find something when I need it.  For example, today I couldn't find Charlie's basketball jersey, so he had to go to his game wearing a Chiefs t-shirt, but hey it was still yellow.  Or when I couldn't find my address list and wanted to get my Christmas cards mailed before Christmas.  I was so late in ordering them this year because I was sick and when they arrived, I wanted to quickly get them mailed.  I had a total freak-out.  It was so ugly that David offered to see if we could hire his secretary to come over and help me get organized. 

So this is my new year's resolution.  And the key for me isn't getting organized, it's staying organized.  That's where I fall apart.  I can get organized, but I can't stay organized.  It's challenging with a family of five and the amount of paperwork that comes home, and the number of toys, books, magazines, clothes, socks, underwear...  You get the picture.  Things can get out of control very quickly.  This year I'm going to find a system and I'm going to keep it going.  Or at least I'm going to try very hard to do so.