this or that

I saw this cute post over at Tales from the Fairy Dust and I thought I would play copy cat. I included a blank one at the bottom, in case anyone else is interested...

Tea or Coffee... I'm not really a huge coffee fan... unless it's coffee ice cream or a Starbucks Caramel Frapachino. But I love hot tea, especially if it has lots of sugar in it.

Matte or Glossy... I'm thinking photos here, and I usually prefer glossy.

Sweet or Salty... Sweet, duh.

TV or Radio... While, yes, I have a few favorite TV shows... I love me some Pandora radio. And anyone that has a long commute can appreciate a good morning radio program.

Morning or Evening... Evening, no doubt. I am NOT a morning person. I can still sleep in like a champ.

Pencil or Pen... Like Tales from the Fairy Dust, I too, love a good ballpoint pen. But for whatever reason, I prefer a pencil, especially if I'm jotting something down in my planner. I always use pencil in my planner.

Introvert or Extrovert... This one could go either way depending on the day... but I genuinely love some really good "me" time. I am perfectly okay sitting at home by myself on a Friday night, and sometimes I prefer it that way.

Mountain or Beach... Beach, for sure. And I could really use a beach trip about now... really.

Spontaneous or Structured... Some people may call it OCD, but I prefer the word "structured." There's nothing wrong with a little bit of organization, right?

Neat or Messy... I mean, seriously, what "structured" person isn't going to answer "neat" on this one.

Town or Country... Back in the day, I probably would have answered "town" on this one, but after falling in love with the 'Sham, I think I'm a country girl now.

Eat In or Take Out... I don't cook. Like ever. So we are a take out kind of family. I'm hoping this will change one day when we have children, but not making any promises.

Your turn...

thankful thursday

This Thursday I am thankful for:

1) Family visits. I am super excited today because my mom and dad are flying in from Houston for a weekend visit! And if that weren't exciting enough, my sister and her boyfriend are driving up from Birmingham tomorrow. I am so, so, so thankful for both my parents and my sister and the relationship we have. The older I have gotten, the more I have realized that what my family shares is truly special. Can't wait to see you guys!

2) Modern Family. This show is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. If you have not seen it, you are missing out. I come to realize that most of my "thankful thursday's" include either TV sitcoms or favorite foods... I promise that I do more than just eat and watch TV... swear.

3) My Family Tree. One of the things listed on my 30 by 30 list is to "learn about my 'family tree' and history." And while, I still have lots to learn... one thing I do know is that my family tree has deep roots... on both sides. Both sets of my grandparents deeply value the meaning of family... and it is for this reason that I was able to write the things I did in #1 about my own parents and sister.

(Noticing a trend this week??)

top 5 :: things that annoy me

5) Laughing Imposters: (noun) someone who forces a loud, false chuckle or cackle. This is often done solely to fool the people around them into thinking they are having a good time.

4) The Singing Salute: (verb) to express a greeting or salutation by a change in pitch. The singing salute is often performed by a very chipper, morning person.

3) Word Repeaters: (noun) one that relates or recites the same word or phrase multiple times. The offender will recite the phrase a minimum of three times. (example: "right... right... right...")

2) Line Gappers: (noun) someone that pauses too generously before moving up in the queue. Line gappers are typically found in post office lines and grocery store lines, but some offenders have been reported in drive-through lines as well.

and finally... the number one thing that annoys me...

1) VIP Bluetoothers: (noun) one that uses a hands-free device to inflate their ego. Typically the VIP Bluetoother discusses a very important business deal, at a high volume, in order to announce their prestige. Offenders are most frequently found pacing the lobby of a restaurant or at the gate of an airport.

project organization :: photo mania

Okay, so I used to have somewhat of a teensy-weensy problem. It's what I like to call CT... Camera Triggeritis. Also commonly referred to as a Photoholic. I'm pretty sure it's a medical condition.

What can I say... I took a few pictures in my days. But in my defense, this was back when you actually had to develop a roll of film... and wait until your 24 exposures were ready to pick up... and regardless if those pictures were any good or not, you were still going to take 24 prints home with you. My condition started in high school, but quickly elevated to stage 4 once I entered college. I was a little out of control.

.

This, my dear friends, brings me to Project Organization :: Photo Mania. I am planning on turning this:

Into this:

My inspiration for this project comes from the ever-famous Ali Edwards. She is genius. The goal is to organize my insane amount of photos in chronological order in my new American Craft 12x12 scrapbooks. Who knows, I may even throw in a few creative scrapbook pages. But for the most part I will just be slipping photos in clear sleeves, occassionally jotting down some names, events, and dates (assuming I remember everyones's names).

I have a feeling this project will take some time, so I will keep you posted on my progress. I would love to hear any brilliant ideas you may have on organizing photos...

ode to TOMS...

TOMS, oh, TOMS... where have you been all my life?

With your soft leather insole and cool, breezy canvas.

You're not too tight, and not too loose.

I don't even have to break you in.

You're a good fit right from the start.

Your perfect fit is the next best thing to being barefoot.

And yet, while I would prefer to go barefoot everyday...

Some don't have a choice.

And enjoying that perfect-barefoot-feeling for me...

Means that someone else in the world won't have to.

My TOMS finally arrived in the mail last Tuesday. And I was oh-so-glad to see them. I ordered them about a month ago... found the perfect pair online... the red bridgeport linen classics... ordered my size 8.5... and off we go. They were set to arrive at my office on April Fool's Day...

So when I saw the TOMS box sitting on my desk when I returned from lunch, I was beyond excited. Except when I opened the box there was nothing in it. The warehouse guy thought it would be a funny April Fool's joke if he hid my new shoes. And it probably would have been funny, if I found them, and that was the end of it... But unfortunately the pair of TOMS I found were a size 6.5... not a 8.5. Bummer. So I called my friends at the TOMS office to see what I needed to do... Long story, short, this was over Easter weekend, so it took a while to get my return label from TOMS and get my 6.5's to UPS. But finally my beautiful 8.5's showed up at the office.

And this time the warehouse guy thought it might be funny to exchange my TOMS for some of our company's plastic scrap. And this time, it actually was funny... since the pair of shoes he was hiding was a perfect size 8.5... which fit way better than the plastic scrap.

It was all worth it though. I seriously LOVE these shoes. Now... what color to order next? I'm thinking about these or these... what do you think?

thankful thursday

This Thursday I am thankful for:

1) Glee. That's right, I admit it... I am a full-fledged Gleek. I love this show. I love the petty high school drama. I love Sue Sylvester. And I love that they break out into song and dance about every 15 minutes. So right up my alley.

2) A clean garage. My yard sale endeavor is finally over. The rewards were definitely worth it, but I sincerely hope I never have to have a garage sale again. And now, who knows... I might even park my car in the garage... crazy, I know.

3) My friend Holly. I love this girl. She and I really just became close friends within the past year, but I have really enjoyed getting to know her better. And... guess what? Holly just got engaged! So excited for the bride-to-be!

simple photos & words

So, I've been working on a few very simple photo projects lately. I am always trying to think of gifts that are both personal and simple... just something small to let someone know I'm thinking about them. And besides, I needed a few fun ideas to keep my project snail mail going.

Here are just a few ways to turn a simple photo into a thoughtful gift...

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1) This is a fun picture of me and my sister this past Christmas in Steamboat, CO. I printed this on 8x10 matte photo paper, then trimmed to the size I wanted. I used my corner rounder to clip the corners (the corner rounder might be the absolute best invention ever... really). Then I just used some rub-on words for the phrase on the top. I slipped this photo in the mail to my sister last week. Love it.

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2) This totally groovy picture was for my parents on their 34th wedding anniversary. First of all... how awesome are my peace-loving-hippie-head parents?!? For those of you that know my mom and dad now, you can truly appreciate this. I LOVE my mom's hair (and my dad's while we're at it), and I only wish she had saved me some of her hippie skirts... bummer. So, for this little gift, I simply took some cute square letter stickers I had laying around and slapped them right on the photo. Even the letters look like they are straight from the 70's. I put this in a little black picture frame and dropped it in the mail so mom & dad would receive it on their anniversary. From what I hear, everyone got a kick out of this gift.

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3) This is part of my cousin's high school graduation gift... so I'm kind of banking on the fact that she doesn't read my blog. And if so, don't worry Paige, there's more where this came from :) I just love the bright colors on this photo... I printed this up as a 5x7 on glossy photo paper. Then I used rub-on words again here. Just one simple word, so I didn't take away from the photo itself. Saving this little gift for closer to graduation.

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4) This is one of my favorite photos that I took a while back on a girl's beach trip. Very simple and sweet. Here I just printed a 4x6 in black and white, then added an inexpensive framing matte in sage green. Then I found a clear word sticker that I thought fit the feeling of the photo and added it to the matte.

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I love the simplicity of all of these little projects. And I love how the whole story is told just by the simple photos & words.

blogland, meet alex... alex, meet blogland.

Hello Blogland, this is my friend Alex from Germany. Some of you faithful followers that have been reading from the very beginning might remember my second post, "adventures in traveling." I had just returned from a business trip in Germany and wanted to document some of the differences that I noticed between Germans and Americans... A little compare and contrast, if you will.

Well, my fellow German co-workers read that blog post and all found it quite amusing to see my thoughts on their culture and lifestyle. Then my friend Alex later emailed me and told me she noticed several differences when she last visited Atlanta. I told her I thought it would be funny if she wrote a little post of her own describing her traveling experience from a German-perspective. This is what Alex wrote... (enjoy)

I travelled two times to the US – twice for business trips and both to Duluth/Atlanta (so maybe my observations are influenced by the lifestyle of Georgia?) Don´t know?

Americans drive very huge cars. Automatic ones. There is always a speed limit on the highways. The interstates are really large (Interstate 85 has 7 tracks in every direction – 14 in total –that's crazy!) They are allowed to overtake the cars on the right and on the left side! Every exit on the Interstate has an exit number. Their drivers license has an expiration date. The gas for the cars is very cheap. They have a big choice of fast food restaurants. They have free refill of soft drinks and water. In nearly every restaurant you have to wait on the entrance until the waiter will allocate you to a free table. In the US you have always to give a lot of tip (in restaurants, hotel, taxi). In restaurants at least 15 percent! In supermarkets they have huge packages for food (2 liter packages for milk, juice and so on). They often have nice offers in the supermarkets: take 2 piece pay 1. The staff in the supermarkets pack the shopping goods for the customers and bring them to their cars. The Americans don't do any waste separation. They have an air conditioner in almost every flat, house or building. The Americans do make huge and brilliant fireworks especially on their Independence day. Americans are really patriotic and proud of their country – they have national flags in the garden or on the cars. Americans are outspoken and very enthusiastic. Their lifestyle seems to be more easygoing.

We Germans have smaller cars… we drive mostly cars with stick shifting. We can drive as fast as we like on our highways – there are only a few parts with speed limits. Our Interstates don't have that much tracks in each direction. We are only allowed to overtake only on the left side. The exits on the Interstates don't have numbers… they are generally called “Ausfahrt.” Our drivers licenses don't have an expiration date! The gas for the cars is very expensive here! We only have McDonalds, Burger King and in some big cities KFC – no Wendys! We have to pay for refills – (only McDonalds offers free refills – but this started recently in 2006). In Germany you can choose your table in restaurants by yourself – only in very classy restaurants will they serve you a table. In Germany the waiter and waitresses are always paid by the restaurant owner – so they have always a based salary. We tip not much and only when we want to give them an extra because of the good service. We do not tip in hotels and only a small amount to taxi drivers. We don't have that huge packages for food. Milk and juices in 1 liter bottles or smaller. We have to pack our shopping goods by oneself and no one from the staff will take it for us to the car. We have to separate our waste. We have laws for that. We have to separate paper, glasses, plastics and so on. We have 3 different cans for that. In private flats and houses we hardly ever have an air conditioner. In some offices we have one. On special occasions we have fireworks but not that brilliant ones. Germans are not that patriotic (maybe because of our history). We don't have our national flags on our cars or in our gardens (only when our soccer national team plays in world-championships). Germans are more reserved. Our work and lifestyle seems to be more strict.

These are my observations . In my view, life in the US is a lot different to life in Germany.

Thanks Alex for sharing your thoughts with all of blogland.

massive garage sale... done.

That's right folks... the most massive, insanely huge, ridiculously ginormous GARAGE SALE is done. Finito. No more. Finished. And I am proud to say it was a huge success! We probably had over 20 people show up for "preview night" on Friday, then had a nice steady stream of hard-core yard salers come by all day Saturday.

A few highlights...

The accessory table went from this:

To this:

Which could possibly be because Mr. Duck needed to make a few purchases...

One of my favorite shirts from college was transfered from one faithful owner to another...

(Funny story here: Not sure if you can tell in the picture, but this shirt has a photo of me and my good friend Rachel on it... But my friend Kim thought it would be funny if she bought this shirt at my yard sale. She jokingly said she was going to wear it to church the next day... but it turns out, she wasn't joking! It was hilarious... Kim waltzed into our Sunday School class not only wearing my boots, my necklace, and my sunglasses... but the famous red shirt too. Love it.)

And finally... the best part of having a massive garage sale:

This garage sale business is hard work, I tell ya.

getting closer...

The massive garage sale is quickly approaching. And my garage is beginning to look more and more like a giant thrift store. I have to keep reminding my OCD self, that I am having a garage sale... NOT opening a boutique. Lance keeps making fun of me for trying to arrange the garage like a window display.

But good news... I just uncovered another huge plastic bin of clothes and SHOES. So if you are a size 8-9 shoe... this is your lucky day. I do have to admit though, I have pulled 2 pairs back out and put them back in my closet. It's funny... this whole garage sale thing has almost been like a free shopping spree for myself. I keep finding things that I forgot I packed away, so opening boxes that are marked "yard sale" has been such a fun surprise. But don't worry... I have left plenty for the rest of you...

See everyone tomorrow... bright and early!

thankful thursday

This Thursday (all 30 minutes that are left of it) I am thankful for:

1) My TOMS. They finally came. I ordered them over 3 weeks ago, and I finally got them this week. So worth the wait though. I absolutely love them. And the company's "one for one" movement really is quite compelling. I plan on really breaking them in this weekend.

2) Having Lance home. The king size bed feels pretty big and lonely when I'm all by myself. And while, yes, I enjoyed finding my little love notes scattered around the house... I would much rather have the real thing at home.

3) Lindt Lindor Truffles. Specifically the dark chocolate ones. Yum. I've never really been a huge chocolate fan. I mean, don't get me wrong... I like chocolate, and I pretty much love anything sweet... but I've never really had a chocolate that I crave. That is, until I met Mr. Lindor Truffle.

welcome back honeymooners...

Jenn & Ty- I hope you two lovebirds had a fabulous time in Brazil! I am hoping to have your CD mailed to you sometime next week... but in the meantime, here's another sneak peek :)

massive garage sale... 4 more days

That's right, only 4 more days until the most massive, insanely huge, ridiculously ginormous GARAGE SALE takes place. I have been feverishly organizing and pricing all sorts of interesting treasures. Currently, my garage is a conglomeration of stuff we downsized from our old house and a some things from my mother-in-law's. THERE IS A LOT OF STUFF.

In addition to what I posted last week, here are a few more items you can expect to find:

-headboard/footboard for full size bed

-curtains (shower and window)

-accessories galore... jewelry, headbands, sunglasses

-ridiculous amount of kitchen items

-office supplies

And we are still planning on opening the garage door Friday evening around 6ish for friends & family. Start getting excited.

little love notes...

Lance has been out of town the past few days, enjoying some time out west with the boys. But while he was gone, I kept finding these little love notes scattered around the house. He is always so good at letting me know he's thinking about me... even when he's hundreds and hundreds of miles away.

I found this one when I was getting ready for bed.





Then this little guy when I was feeding the cats in the morning.





And this one in the fridge by the trusty Vanilla Coke Zeros.






Then, just when I thought I had discovered all my little love notes, I found one more in the silverware drawer. I love my husband... and all the thoughtful little things he does for me. So sweet, that guy.

"here's looking at you, kid"

I watched Casablanca last night. And I must say, I was very impressed. It's true... movies can still be great in black & white. It took me a few minutes to figure out the setting and really understand why everyone was in Casablanca to begin with. But once Humphrey Bogart showed up on the big screen, it all came together. After that, it wasn't hard to get lost in the love story unfolding before me. Great movie. I give it 5 stars :)

me... right now.

A friend of mine posted this little "get to know me" segment on her blog yesterday. I thought I would play copy-cat...

RIGHT NOW...
I Am- ready for adventure.
I Have- too many shoes.
I Wish- I were at the beach.
I Want- to grow in my relationship with God.
I Fear- the unknown. I am working on this.
I Hear- the hum of my dryer hard at work on today's laundry.
I Search- for good photo opportunities.
I Wonder- what kind of mother I will be.
I Regret- that I didn't start blogging sooner.
I Love- my husband. He is my best friend.
I Always- drink tomato juice on airplane flights.
I Usually- go to bed too late.
I Am Not- very good at directions.
I Sing- in the car. Like a rock star. I am always good in the car.
I Never- cook. Well, hardly ever.
I Cry- when I'm overwhelmed.
I Am Not Always- perfect. And I am okay with this.
I Need- a nap... or a Dr. Pepper.

I would love to see what some of you are up to "right now."

thankful thursday

This Thursday I am thankful for:

1) Spring weather. Finally. I absolutely love this time of year, minus the pollen of course. I could spend a lifetime enjoying 75 degree weather... sunshine and cool breezes. I love having my windows open at the house... I love enjoying my lunch breaks on the patio at Chipotle... I love reading a book while swinging on the front porch... I love the signs of new life that sprout in every corner. I heart spring.

2) My cousin Melissa. This Sunday is my cousin Melissa's birthday. We are only 3 weeks apart and literally grew up together. We have gotten even closer over the past few years, and I truly cherish our friendship. Happy birthday Melissa! I love you!

3) Movie weekend. This weekend I plan on curling up on the couch and watching some classics. I have both Casablanca and Breakfast at Tiffany's on my 30 by 30 list... and I have both movies sitting by the DVD player ready to go. Looking forward to a classic weekend.

why don't all grown-ups have spring break???

I have a theory. I have decided that all working adults should have one week off for Spring Break. Brilliant, right? I mean, really... wouldn't we all be SO much more productive after a week at the beach?

Oh, the things I would do on my Grown-Up Spring Break...

- I would definitely stick my toes in the sand somewhere, preferably with an umbrella drink in hand.
- I would actually finish one of the many books I am currently reading.

- I would start a new project while watching hours and hours of HGTV.

- I would do some flea market shopping.

- I would sleep in until 10 am every morning.

Spring Break should be a law. Or at least on my company's calendar of standard annual holidays. I should write a letter.

big brother hudson

Didn't want to leave this little guy out. He was a ham for the camera... and it didn't hurt that his mom was bribing him with gummi bears between shots... (gummi bears usually work for me too).