Thursday, March 26, 2009

Finally, A City!

Hi everyone. It's been a busy 2 weeks. I'll catch you up on our trip to Germany in the upcoming days. The last 48 hours have been rather bizzarre and frankly I feel blind sided with everything. We never received the message that we were waiting on. Tim called GA on Tuesday and finally had someone forward the questioneer. We sent it back immediately. Apparently it had to be filled out within 10 days or they would pick for us. Then last night Tim was checking a message board he looks at that pertains to his job and someone contacted him that had heard we were going to "Jasper, Alabama" Yeah, that's what I said to. . . nice way to find out?! So today Tim did some calling to find out what the heck was going on. Georgia confirmed that we are going to Jasper. Even though we know nothing of the state that is where the opening is. Ugh! I have been rather distressed about this for the past 24 hours. I thought Alabama would be the last place we would wind up since we have no ties to it. I've spent all afternoon searching real estate websites trying to figure out where to live, schools, and what is around our new city. The town is about 1 hour from Birmingham. From what I have found, Birmingham has all the mainstream stores, restaurants and other things I have been missing for the past 3 years. They also have a Children's Hospital there. I really need to live near this city since I plan to go back to work at least part-time once we get settled. The cost of living seems to be relatively low. Trying to find a house about 10-12 years old at a decent price is a little more challenging in this area compared to what I had been looking for in GA. I'm also tying to look at commute times for Tim and me. However, things are starting to look a little brighter with all of it. I do have 2 friends about 1-1.5 hours from our new city so that is a perk and they both have little boys Jacob's age. Tim is looking forward to our move and new city. We will be over 7hours by car from my parents. I'm dissappointed by this but I'll get over it eventually. It's still better than being on another continent and 15hours away via plane.

So, that's the latest in our moving saga. In the end, I'm relieved to finally know where we are going.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Middle of March already?!

Hello blog followers! I thought today I would share what's been going on with our personal life, move progress, etc. First, I cannot believe it is the middle of March already. Wow! I am super excited about this as it means we are that much closer getting back to the States. On the other hand it means the dreaded packing.

Tomorrow my mom comes. I am really excited about her visit. I'm a mama's girl and I haven't seen my mom in 2 years. I can hardly believe it has been that long. She and dad have been busy, and after my last trip for Amanda's wedding in July 07, I said I would try to stick it out in Italy. I'm quite proud that I've done it. Anyway, she gets in tomorrow and then Thursday we all head up to Germany for 5 days of sight seeing. Tim really needs the break from the stress of work, I want to get off the island, and I want mom to see that Europe is not all like Sicily.

Jacob is plugging along. Enjoying pre-school 2 times a week. All 4 teachers he started with in January have left with moves, etc. He seems to be doing fine with the turnover. He is finally potty trained during the day. Still has occassional accidents at night. He knows about the move but of course doesn't want to leave the only house he has ever known. Remember, he was only 7 months old when we came here. So, Sicily is all he really knows. He hasn't been to the states since he was 20months old. He's in for quite the treat.

Tim is going to work and spends his down time reading, on the computer, and diving. I think it's how he destresses and doesn't think about moving. :)

And me, I spend my time picking up after Tim and Jacob. Packing some little odds and ends. Going through rooms sorting what we keep, yard sale, and thrift store. I have boxes in rooms for this very thing. I cannot believe what we've accumulated. Again, having a kid adds a lot of stuff. I know have about 3 plastic containers of outgrown clothes and that many more of toys. I don't dare get rid of them in case we have another boy in the future.

As for our move details. LOL! I laugh because to date we still have no idea what city we are going to. We meet with the moving office March 31st. We then schedule the packout within 2 weeks of that date. I'm thinking before Easter we have our stuff taken care of. We found someone to buy our 2nd car. Yay! Our dog, Rusty, is still up for grabs. Our tickets are being dealt with in Naples. Sounds like around May 1st we will be flying out though. So, its really all on schedule. If we can just get the detail of the city taken care of I can start looking for houses. Thankfully, my parents will be taking us in until we close on a house/July 22nd. Whichever comes first. At least I get along with them.

I'll be MIA for a bit. Hopefully when I return I'll have more info.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Another Custom Card

Blogger turns another photo

Card and Pretty Box

Presentation is everything!


Happy Saturday! A couple of weeks ago I was asked to make a couple of cards. You saw the first. Very pink and frilly. Well, today the 2nd card requested is due. I was a little worried. I knew what I wanted to do, I was just waiting on the new goodies to arrive. Luckily, they came late yesterday afternoon. So, I was up late creating. My original vision didn't quite work but I'm happy with the end result. This is for another friend that is PCS'ing this week. I hope she likes it!






All Stamps Papertrey Ink (PTI)



Stamps: Damask Designs, Tags for Spring, Mixed Messages
Paper: Sweet Blush (PTI), Whisper White (SU), Basic Black (SU)
Accessories: Pretties Kit (SU), Whisper White taffeta ribbon (SU), scallop border punch (SU),







Friday, March 13, 2009

"Spin" on Easter

Side view of layers


Little chickie dancing!

Hello Peeps!


I've been preparing for another workshop tonight. I'm on a roll with those lately, and it has been an amazing month of stamping so far! One of my friends has been wanting me to show her how to do a "spinner" card. I followed the directions on SCS and it was SO easy! I did modify it a little. I think I might make some more of these in the future. I kept it pretty simple since it is my first one and I was just trying to get the concept correct.


All Supplies Stampin' Up!
Stamps: A Good Egg
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Basic Black
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Delicate Dots DSP, Apricot Appeal, Whisper white
Accessories: Word Window Punch, Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain, Stampin' write markers, dimensionals, pennies, soft subtles brads, 1/16" punch
Thanks for stopping by!







Thursday, March 5, 2009

St. Patty's Day

Happy Thursday! Recently, I realized I had no St. Patrick's Day stamp sets. So, I improvised. Did you know you can make a shamrock from heart shapes? I stamped the large heart from SU's "Love You Much" 3 times in Kiwi Kiss ink on whisper white cardstock. I cut the stem from a scrap of kiwi kiss. The card base is, you guessed it, kiwi kiss. Now, I'm not a fan of kiwi kiss, but with the right pairing it grows on me. Green has never been at the top of my favorite colors. Sorry to digress, after that a layer of glorious green. The "Lucky" definintion is from the "Define Your Life" set by SU. That was stamped using glorious green ink. Now, after all that, I stepped back, studied the card. Left the room, came back. It looked blah. I hate blah cards. Needed a little something. So, I remembered I had some fine cosmo glitter. I dotted some of the flower centers on the hears with Tombow multi purpose glue and sprinkled the celery glitter on the glue (it's hard to see in the photo). Still needed something, so I whipped out the Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon. And voila!

Monday, March 2, 2009

First Card Order!







Over the weekend I received my first card order. Can we say "yay!" Fortunately, I know the recipient. It needed to be girly, yet serious since she is moving. I hope I did a good job. I know I personally love this card.

Stamps: Out on a Limb (PTI)
Cardstock: Regal rose, pink pirouette DSP, whisper white, pink pirouette (all SU)
Ink: Regal rose, pink pirouette, close to cocoa (all SU)
Ribbon: Wide organza (retired SU), Pretties Kit for flowers and hat pin (SU)

I almost didn't want to give it up!
Enjoy and leave a message to let me know what you think!