A Day at the Zoo......

Got into Washington DC today after a wild morning. Sometime after 2:00am, the electricity went off in our area and needless to say I overslept because the alarm clock didn't go off. My saving grace was that my flight was delayed by 45 minutes so I still made my flight.

I had the pleasure of sitting next to one of Iowa's Congressmen Leonard Boswell for the flight and when I told him that the only place I hadn't seen in all of my travels to DC was the Capitol, he took my name, pulled out his card, circled a number and wrote the name of one of his staffers on it and told me to call her today or tomorrow and get a private tour set up for Thursday after my meetings end. SCORE!

He told me I could stash my luggage in his office and then after the tour, they would get me a taxi to get me back to the airport for my late afternoon flight home.

He made the mistake of asking me how I thought things were going in Washington, so of course, I couldn't let the opportunity pass on having a captive audience with one of our U.S. House of Representatives and we had 2 hours to kill, so I told him what I agreed with and what I didn't. I think he appreciated my candor.

Situations like this doesn't happen very often and for those that know me well, I'm not one to pass something like that by.

Spent most of the day at the National Zoo which was just a short 3 block walk from my hotel. Here's some photos from today:


The Entrance


Zebra


Tian Tian


Lion


Bald Eagle - can you believe that shot?


Anteater - she was carrying her baby on her back


The O-line


The Orangutans can swing from the eight towers on vine like wires


Capybara


Elephant


Elephants


Prairie Dog - he/she posed for me


Tiger

I also took some photos outside of the hotel I'm staying at. The grounds are gorgeous as you can see from these photos:







And lastly, this is the view from my hotel room. The National Cathedral.


Hope you enjoyed my photo tour!

Heading back to Washington DC......

I leave in the morning for Washington DC. I'm there until Thursday, then I'm flexing on Friday. Please, Please, Please let me have one nice day so I can rake out what I call our "triangle garden" that is one of our perennial beds. I've bought new mulch for it, but it needs raked out and I want to plant a couple more things before putting down the new mulch.

While in DC, I'm staying at the Marriott Wardman Park which looks to be very close to the National Zoo, so when I get in tomorrow morning, I'm going to head over there with my camera and see if I can get a shot of the pandas. Yea Me!

Here's a few of the layouts I completed in April. Thank goodness for the crop that my friend Lori hosted last weekend or I wouldn't have gotten that much done.











Click on the image to see it bigger. I used ALOT of older supplies for these layouts. That always feels good to use up stuff you've had forever or in my case hoard forever.

Have a good week!

Happy Earth Day!

I'm old enough to remember when the very first Earth Day was held. April 22, 1970. I was in junior high and it was a big deal at school from that day forward.

I like to think that my family and I are environmentally conscience. We recycle and repurpose everything that can be recycled and repurposed from newspapers, glass, cans, plastic, cardboard and lately I've even been saving our kleenex boxes to take out to the Animal Rescue League. They use them as feeding dishes for some of the animals. I no longer purchase syrofoam anything and have reduced our comsumption of paper towels and napkins down by at least 50%.

I also like to think that my sudden craze to simplify (my personal word this year) is part of being environmentally conscience. I don't want to live with so much stuff (well, except for my scrapbooking stuff....lol) and both Cragislist and Freecycle have become my friends. It feels good to let go of things and even helps my brain to become "clutter free" KWIM?

Update on the Budget Diet: Going good.....we've saved over $200 dollars and the month isn't over yet. Probably could have saved more, but had a couple of last minute things come up that required some spending, but hey, I wasn't going to be a Nazi over the checkbook anyway, just wanted to see just how much $20 dollars here and there could potentially add up to and to save a bit for our vacation in June. I think we're going to try and continue this until our vacation in June.

Oh and for my friends that I KNOW will love this.....I am so freaking JAZZED that our President decided to visit Iowa on Earth Day!

Three years ago today......

My brother, sister and I lost our mother, my son and my niece and nephew lost their grandmother to Ovarian cancer. Although she had been sick, her death was sudden and one of those situations where you get a middle of the night phone call. Not a memory I like to dwell on, but I am at a point where I can remember the good times before her illness.

I took the day off because I've not been able to the past couple of years and I want to go visit her at the cemetery. I'm meeting my aunt (her younger sister) whom I'm very close with, she's more like an older sister than an aunt and this time, we are also going to visit Grandpa Rick, Grandma Sylvia, Uncle John and Aunt Pat who are all there at the same cemetery. Afterward we're going to go out to lunch, something my mom loved to do!

After the boys left for work and school, I went up to the gym and did an hour of strength training and a bit of cardio.

On the iPod playlist today:
Rock the Nation - Montrose
Bless the Beast and the Children - The Carpenters
To Be A Lover - Billy Idol
A Call to Arms - Mike & The Mechanics
I am A Rock - Shaw/Blades
Click Click Boom - Saliva
Twos Side of Love - Sammy Hagar
Blurry - Puddle of Mudd
No Matter What - Badfinger
Eagles Fly - Sammy Hagar
Gotta Be Somebody - Nickelback
Home In My Hand - Foghat
My Last Breath - Evanescence

Once I got home, I wasn't sure what the weather was going to do, so I bit the bullet and planted the rhubarb that I've had for a couple of weeks. I LOVE rhubarb and in our old home, I had 4 plants behind our garage that were over 40 years old. I had rhubarb coming out my ears and would give a ton away as I'm the only one who likes it. Yesterday when I was at Hy-Vee, I purchased a Butterfly bush to plant next to the potting shed we have. I needed something to help hide the view of the big utility box at the back of the property, so since I was out there, I got it planted also.

I really need to rake out my "triangle garden", but that's NOT gonna happen today. Maybe next weekend.....

I wanted to share a recipe for some awesome appetizers that I made last week for my Silpada show (which BTW went very well....I was able to purchase a butt load of jewelry for FREE and my boys bought me a couple of things for Mother's Day)

Artichoke Crescents
1-14oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 Tbsp. chopped green onions
2 Tbsp. sour cream
2 tsp. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1 garlic clove, minced
2-8oz. cans Crescent Dinner Rolls
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp. water
4 tsp. grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375. Grease two cookie sheets.
In small bowl, combine artichoke hearts, green onions, sour cream, 2 tsp. parmesan cheese, basil and garlic. Set aside.

Separate crescent roll dough into 16 triangles. Cut each triangle in half lengthwise, to make 32 long triangles.

To make each appetizer, place about 1 teaspoon of the artichoke mixture on triangle. Fold shortest end of dough over filing; pinch edges together to seal completely enclosing filling. Roll to opposite point. Place point side down on cookie sheets. In small bowl, combine egg and water; brush on appetizers. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

They are to die for....especially if you are fond of artichokes like I am.



Enjoy!

This ain't a bad idea......

Don't they look like siblings?

I still can't believe that they all behaved long enough for me to get this shot.

Happy Easter!

Got up early and went to the gym. I like starting my Sunday mornings out like that. It gets my day going and gives me a burst of energy.

My niece spent the night last night and when she and Connor got up this morning, there were baskets of goodies awaiting them from the Easter bunny. Because we aren't a religious family we don't celebrate the religious aspect of the easter holiday, but we do take advantage of the holiday to spend it with friends and family and if weather permits, some fun outdoor activities.

For us, Easter is more of a celebration of spring and of new fresh beginnings.

In another week, it will be 3 years since my mom passed away. Time is sure racing by and it hard to think that she's been gone that long. Connor has grown and matured so much since then, that it hurts my heart a bit to think she didn't live to she any of her grandchildren grow up. It's been on my mind quite a bit lately, probably because of my girlfriend Pegs' mom's passing last week and spending time with her.

Yesterday, we were finally able to get out into the garage and get it cleaned up. It really did take us as long as we thought it would and there still is a pile of stuff that will be sold in our garage sale next month, but after the sale is over, it's going to look really good. It does now, but it will be better.

I'm not sure if I posted these photos of what we were dealing with in the garage, but here they are and doesn't it look like fun?.....LOL:





I won't take "after" photos until after the garage sale when it will really look nice. We're suppose to get our new recycle bin this week or next. I can't wait because we use two of the small bins right now and need more room plus you don't have to sort anything....paper, cardboard, plastic, cans, glass can all go in the same receptacle.

On the iPod playlist today:
Stay With Me - Train
Listen To Your Heart - Little Feat
Bad Motor Scooter - Montrose
Because You Loved Me - Celine Dion
Message In A Bottle - The Police
Second Chance - Shinedown
Just Like A Pill - Pink
Losing My Religion - REM
I Am The Highway - Audioslave

Yesterday, we also tilled our vegie garden to get it ready. I had bought some bags of peat at Hy-Vee earlier in the week and I want to get it tilled into the soil so that I could plant sugar snap peas today.



In a just a few months that garden will be filled with tomatoes, beans, zucchini, yellow squash and cucumbers. I grow herb also, but do those on my deck where they are more easily accessible.

Tomorrow is my Monday off and I'm hosting a Silpada jewelry open house from 5:30 to 7:00, so I'm going to spend the day doing some yard work (weather permitting) and getting the house ready for visitors, then back to work on Tuesday.

I think it's going to be a nice day.....

Finally! I'm working from home today and thought I would take a break to update my blog.

It been a tough couple of weeks, work wise, personally, etc. An old friend passed away a couple of weeks ago from alcoholism, he was only 57. The last time I saw him, I knew he wasn't doing very good, but when I opened the paper that day, seeing his obituary was still a shock. Then this week a good friend of mines' mother passed away and I have that service to attend tomorrow.

I'm back in my exercising groove. Rode my bike up to the gym yesterday, worked out for 35 minutes, rode home and then danced around the house for another 15 minutes much to the horror and embarassment of our son....LOL!

On my iPod Playlist:
Day of the Eagle - Tesla
Hopeless - Train
Your Love - The Outfield
Can't Stop This Thing Called Love - Bryan Adams
Twice as Hard - The Black Crowes
The Reflex - Duran Duran
Never Again - Nickelback
Going Under - Evanesence
Wasting My Time - Default
The Flame - Cheap Trick
I Go To Extremes - Billy Joel
Loud - Big & Rich

Haven't been doing much scrapbooking lately. I had great plans to do a bunch last weekend, but a sinus headache derailed those plans. This weekend we are cleaning up the garage and I'm going to get my vegie garden started. I went to Hy-Vee yesterday and bought a few bags of peat to amend the soil with, so I can get my peas planted. Maybe I'll be able to get some scrapping done in between those tasks, if not, I'm raring to go for the get together on April 18th (even got my projects ready to go).

SNOW????

I'm sitting here looking out at this:




Not that it doesn't happen in Iowa, but we don't like it to do this on April 5th!

One good thing....I got up early, make it to the gym for a 35 minute cardio session, then on the grocery store (saved $7.15 in coupons) and I'm snuggled in for the day. My hubby is playing WOW, our son is building some type of movie prop and filming the "how to" video at the same time...lol, so I'm up in my craft room getting ready to do some scrapbooking.

A few weeks ago I shared this photo of our basement with the intent that we would be cleaning and organizing it.




Well, THAT has now turned into THIS:




It's definitely in a LOT better shape so if hubby decides to start framing it, it will be easy to move things around.....now if we could ever get out to clean up the garage, then the house would be in pretty good shape organizationally and once I have our garage sale in May, I will have gotten rid of everything that we no longer want or need. It will feel pretty good because it's only taken me 5 years to purge.

Have a good week!

A Somewhat Lazy Day

Woke up with a sinus headache that just wouldn't go away, so no cleaning up the garage as originally planned. My guys secretly were cheering as they knew he would have time to play WOW or watch movies that I don't appreciate...lol

I did spend a good part of my day getting caught up with the online class that I'm taking from Jessica Sprague on her website. It's called "Photo Editing: Good-To-Great Workflow" and it is SO worth the $40 bucks I paid for it. Lesson One seemed to be skills that I already knew how to do, but I'm now on Lesson Two and all I can say is "WOW"....I've been introduced to Adobe Camera Raw. I'm NEVER going back to editing the old way again!

I finally got around to photographing this layout that I actually completed last weekend. It was a fun picture of fun friends and I wanted it memorialized as soon as I could....and also because I already had out the Cherry Arte Cosmic Energy paper for another page and thought it would work well with what I wanted to do with this page.




Heading to the gym first thing in the morning, then on to the grocery store. Need to get those two things done as early as I can, because I CAN'T BELIEVE that we may get 2-5 inches of SNOW tomorrow. WTH???

Keep your fingers crossed that the weather people are wrong....again...

I'm so proud of my home state!

Yesterday, the Iowa Supreme Court handing down their opinion overruling the 10 year ban on same sex marriage and it was unanimous! The seven justices affirmed Polk County Judge Robert Hanson’s ruling that Iowa’s ban on same-sex marriages treated gay and lesbian couples unequally under the law.

It's a great day in Iowa!

Welcome!

Welcome to all of my new visitors! Hope you like my blog. There really isn't too much to see unless you happen to be interested in my scrapbooking, family, fitness goals and organizational stuff. Pretty boring stuff unless you happen to know me IRL and then it's probably still pretty boring..LOL!

I see that I've already had visitors from cities in New York, Michigan, Canada and Texas!

Make yourself at home and don't hestitate to comment (if you have the balls)...LOL!

Thanks!

Our April Challenge - a 30 day Budget Diet

Just for shits and giggles, I challenged my family that for the 30 days of April, we were going to keep track of every cent we spend. We are going a budget! No Red Box rentals (we already pay for Netflix), no pizzas from Hy-Vee unless it is already in the grocery budget, no dinner or lunches out unless you pay for it with your weekly allowance. No trips to Target, no trips to Walmart, no trips to Best Buy, no trips to ANY craft store, no more multiple trips to Hy-Vee each week.

Now we had to exempt a couple of things because they were planned before we decided to do this.

1. My Silpada show on April 13th from 5:30 to 7:00 (I'm not planning on spending any money, I'm planning on earning what I want, but I do want to have snacks)

2. Any supplies that may help us organize the garage.

I really don't think this is going to be that big of a hardship, we have a stack of movies 3 inches tall (just DVDs, no cases) that we haven't watched yet. There is a freezer full of food and God knows, I don't need a single thing from Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Archivers or Memory Bound, nor do I need any article of clothing.

I'm really curious just how much money will be left in the checking account on May 1st. We haven't decided what to do with that extra money, will we just save it?, or will we put it toward our summer vacation? or will be put it toward a home improvement project? Will see......I'll keep you posted.

Came home today and decided to go for a long walk around the ponds in my development. Once around the pond closest to us is 1/2 mile and I have various routes planned out. Today I was going for intensity rather than a long walk, so I decided to jog as much as I could for 30 minutes. A year ago, I wouldn't have even been able to go 20 feet, now every time I do it, I go a little farther.

On the iPod Playlist today:
Feelin Way Too Damn Good - Nickelback
Snakeskin Cowboys - Ted Nugent
Got No Shame - Brother Cane
King of Pain - The Police
Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) - Big & Rich
You Make Me Wanna - Alice Cooper