vegas sign "boneyard"

When Jason was in town, we went to the Neon Museum/boneyard for old Vegas signs. Filled with bright colors, worn and bleached by the desert sun, and rows and rows of lightbulbs, it made for a fun tour. Led by a tour guide, we were able to also hear stories and learn the background of many of the signs.

(Pictures to come)

new stuff

We recently received an Amazon.com gift card for our wedding renewals from relatives and were excited to pick out some new things for our home. It was harder than what I thought to narrow it down to what we wanted. We ended up being able to order smokey blue Egyptian cotton sheets, extra pillowcases, and a headboard! The sheets arrived today. Can't wait to wash and use them!

(photos from Amazon's website)

haven't been on here in a while...

Have been writing more on my baby-to-be blog. (It's a boy!)

I'm on vacation! Yey! That's one great thing about working year-round this year...I have several breaks spread throughout the year instead of just in the summer.

I had time to finally make a treasury of my own and had perfect timing yesterday when I logged into etsy.com.

etsy treasury

My oatmeal dishcloths (bottom center) were featured in a neutral and green treasury this week.

election day

Election day is fast approaching! It's been nice, since we had Friday off and then we have Tuesday as an inservice due to voting. We already voted in the early election...so we won't have to face the long, long lines. Recently, we were able to work at the concession stand at an Obama rally. It was neat to be there with over 18,000 people. We may be able to say we heard our next President speak on the campaign trail.

fall

Even though it doesn't feel like a Michigan fall, (I miss the fall colors!) it's starting to cool down a bit. This is such a nice time of year out in the west...not toooooo hot!

happy halloween

Last night we were prepared for trick-or-treaters, but had NONE! :(

More candy for us! :)

new items at etsy shop

I added a few new listings to my etsy shop today. I've had quite a stack of potholders just sitting and I hadn't listed them. Hopefully, they will find their way into someone's home soon! :)

Also, I am starting to get a few items ready for the holidays, too.

all things baby...

I had mentioned the exciting news to one of my co-workers soon after we had found out we were expecting (back in August). Within a couple of days, I found a cute little surprise in my mailbox at work! Inside was the What to Expect When You're Expecting Journal and a classic Pooh outfit. She did a great job of picking out things that were exactly my taste! Aren't the cute little protective Pooh mitts so cute?!

Our first proof of pregnancy - a positive test on the digital readout. (mid-August)

remember the alamo?

A couple of weeks ago, we went to San Antonio, TX.

It was a beautiful and clean city! We toured the Alamo and walked along the River Walk, where enjoyed fabulous Tex-Mex food. We dined outdoors under a colorful umbrella with fantastic views of the river (and kids chasing and feeding birds).

8.8.8 wedding RENEWAL

Not only was 8.8.8. the kick-off day to the Summer Olympics, but it was the special day for our wedding renewal ceremony. We had a small, beautiful wedding ceremony and dinner on 7.7.7. last year but wanted to celebrate with all of our family and friends back in Michigan this year.

The first year of marriage went by fast!

Our ceremony was held one year, one month, and one day after 7.7.7. :)

One snapshot taken by my brother, Jason, captured our get-a-way in my Grandpa's restored Model A. Grandpa would have loved seeing the two of us in the rumble seat as we cruised around town!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a

SpecTacUlaR

view of fireworks from

our very own backyard last night!

The local park has a 3rd of July event every year.

Click on photo below to enlarge!

I brought back the popular Christmas set of dishcloths at www.scrapsnthings.etsy.com .

They were quite popular last Christmas season.

Here's a chance to buy them early. They'll be available all month.

Also, currently available...

All American Trio (Red, White, and Blue).

I added a few new Christmas in July items at my paper goods shop,

www.applesandchalkdust.etsy.com

Pictured here, a goodie bag (with free shipping) of Christmas ephemera

for crafting and paper projects.

summer treat

Went to Target today to return a basketball that we had gotten a while ago. Right after we got it (like a day after), the basketball hoops were taken out of our subdivision...not sure why. Anyway, our new basketball was useless. I exchanged it today for store credit and decided to splurge on a few treats from the Archer Farms line of foods found in Target...key lime and white chocolate cookies and diet orange cream soda. For some reason, pop always tastes better out of cold, glass bottles.

Yum!

more from NaCl (Salt) Lake City :)

The Great Salt Lake...

I took a trip to Antelope Island on Sunday...and saw some antelope up close! :)

It was a beautiful place!

(More photos to come.)

MeMorY wOrKs Retreat

Well, Memory Works sure put the "treat" in reTREAT!

We received L O A D S of creative goodies!

I just got back from the land of scrapbooking...UTAH. What a beautiful state! The retreat was held at the Davis Conference Center.

Here are a few of my photos from the weekend.

We got to hear keynote speaker, Stacy Julian and got our very own signed copies of her newest book - fun!

baseball and apple pie

What says more about an American summer than baseball and apple pie?

Yesterday, I did a photo shoot of a baseball we took to the Las Vegas 51's minor league game last summer. I then printed it and cut it out for realistic looking baseball tags to sell at my shop. Here's the final product:

photo album

I have just received an order to make a customized album...5x7 this time. I had to search high and low to find the perfect album. There aren't many 5x7 albums out there. Frames? Yes. Albums? No. I finally found one at JoAnn Fabrics and it was on a great sale, too. That was a bonus for me and for the customer. Off to play around with some green fabric, blue embroidery floss, and buttons, buttons, buttons. Will post a picture of it when finished.

tuesday morning

Another school year is done. Now I have time for more crafting and creative projects. I am so hooked on etsy and am spending much time on my two etsy shops.

Check them out here:

www.applesandchalkdust.etsy.com

(paperie)

www.scrapsnthings.etsy.com

(home goods)

Some of my latest projects: