the blizzard continues

view out our side windows this a.m. covered by a huge drift!

Just a few shots of the blizzard so far...haven't been able to get outside yet for better pictures! My husband did have to brave the storm at 7:30am today to get to his security detail. He's the manager and one of his guys couldn't make it in. It's only about 3 miles from home...but still wish he didn't have to. We are fortunate so far though - we still have power.

the cars across the street. can't even see the pond beyond them.

look momma!

cary shoveling early this am.

 Will have more photos later when the wind dies down and I get outside!

Happy Saturday!

where is the sun?



Barn at an old New England apple orchard



Here in New England we have an endless week of rain to look forward to. I decided to post a picture from a beautiful Spring saturday several weeks ago when Cary and I went to see the animals at a local apple orchard. Not sure we will see the sun again for awhile. It is hard to remember that school is out, I have short work weeks and beach days are on there way. Here are a few more shots from that day at the orchard....

It was a such a beautiful day.

I am looking forward to seeing the sun again!

Happy Tuesday!



I recently finished Hey Teach and wore it. I may need to replace the buttons though. They are a little too small for the holes and the sweater keeps coming unbuttoned. But all-in-all I'm very pleased with it and it was a quick knit.

Here today I'm getting ready for Earl...now a weakened Hurricane. But still might be a Cat1 when it brushes by our coasts here in Mass. Even tropical storm winds can wreak some havoc here near the water. We live up on a big hill and during a recent Nor'easter the wind was rattling our sliding glass door pretty good. So...per order of the apartmetnt's leasing office I moved all my plants from the balcony into the living room. Good Lord. It's a jungle in here.

This picture isn't even all the plants. I hadn't finished yet. So its a bit crowded here.

I'm feeling like I need a bit of comfort food today so I'm baking some Pumpkin Bread and will make some Lasagna later on tonight. Lots on my mind. Thinking about one of the most important people in my life and a huge challenge they are facing. Also lots of other thoughts floating around in my mind. Need to do some art therapy for myself too :)

Well that's it for now!

Batten down the hatches...

birthdays, spring cleaning and Easter

Celebrated my guy's birthday on Friday. We opened gifts, saw Clash of the Titans (which he was looking forward to so much), and a late lunch. When we got home I frosted his strawberry cake with strawberry frosting. Yes. My man's man had a pink on pink birthday cake and loved it!

These past few days have a been a nice break from a hectic schedule. This is the busiest time of the year for me with school stuff. I cannot wait until May and summer break when I have short work weeks.

Anyhow I made some very cute cupcakes last night for Easter today. I'll post them later. I got the idea awhile ago somewhere online and happened to come across the right ingredients while shopping for Easter candy on Friday. They are super cute. I'm bringing some over to my Mom's today where we are having dinner in awhile.

Yesterday I was able to put away my winter sweaters. SpaceBags are magic! I was able to fit them under my bed. That way I wont' have to store them in my parent's shed which isn't the best spot to store clothes. But it works in a pinch. Today when we go over there for dinner I'm planning on taking the rest of my Spring/Summer clothes out of the shed. It is almost like shopping when I take them out of storage. I forget some of the things I have so it's a treat. On Thursday I picked up a few new cute Spring things at NY & Co. which was had everything in the store 50% off! What a deal. Not the best quality stuff but at that price I found some nice things. Now with sweaters away and Spring clothes out...Murphy's Law....it will snow :) But in all seriousness I think we are probably out of the woods in terms of winter. We'll still have cool weather but probably not snow. Though it has happened. In college I remember an April Fool's Day snowstorm.

Hopefully the weather will continue looking up. I cleaned out my flower pots on the balcony and prepped them for new flowers. I cannot wait! But I will hold off for a bit until I can plant petunias and other flowers I love having. I might try tomatos again and possibly peppers. I would like to find one other veggie to plant in a container as well. We'll see! I love Spring...

Happy Easter!

rain rain go away

March 2008

Feel like things have been so busy lately.

I haven't blogged. I haven't scrapped, made cards or knitted. This is my busiest time of the year at my work and I'm coasting until May when I finish the semester and have shorter work weeks to look forward to. There are some perks to working two jobs.

So I need some direction to my blogging today. Lists always help me! So here goes...

Things I am looking forward to:

• the rain stopping here in New England. Looking forward to 60's and 70's later this week.
• my guy's birthday this weekend.
• shopping on Thursday for his birthday.
• getting my Pampered Chef order soon. Just went to a party tonight.
• planting my container garden on the balcony.
• getting a new bedspread for our bedroom. I want something neat, clean and bright. Less busy then the one we have now.
• going to the gym tomorrow. Love having that routine back.
• taking more photos. Realized I only took a handful this past month.
• reading on the balcony. When. the. rain. stops.

Good Lord! The RAIN HAS TO GO! I am not usually one to complain about the weather but this is getting old. I'm a New Englander. I love a good snowstorm. But this winter has been a dud. Very little snow but SO much rain. And now that it is officially Spring I am having Spring fever and want to take walks outside, start planting my containers etc. But we have been having torrential rains, flooding and wind off and on for weeks.

But it will end. I know it will. And it does make me appreciate the warm, sunny days that much more. There are positives to it.

Anyhow...

...looking forward to a dryer day tomorrow?!

content

Content. That is how I'm feeling. Last night I got home from work and a good workout. Sat and watched a a netflix movie (Season 5: Weeds), burned a candle and relaxed. It has been a long week and next week I have extra days off for Spring Break. I have the apartment to myself for a few days. Today the sun is out finally here in New England, I feel good and I'm going to take a friend to the nearest scrapbook store. She has never been and I'm really looking forward to it. But not before driving with the window open (I know almost 50' isn't warm by most standards but without winter so far...) and getting myself an iced mocha from my favorite small coffee shop. Content.

calm after the storm

calm after the storm - waves at the Boulevard

So we rode out the wild storm that came through Eastern Massachusetts last night. Didn't see that coming quite so strong! We lost power last night at 10ish and didn't get it back until 4pm today. My parent's still don't have it...but they have a generator. Pictures I've been seeing of the ocean views here during the storm were crazy! I took one photo this morning of the harbor but it definately looked more like the calm-after-the-storm. One thing that struck me when I drove to work this morning was the amazing smell in the air. Fresh. Like wood and pine trees. There were so many trees and branches down. But we are safe and sound...as are family and friends. Just some cleanup.

I'm feeling grateful about that this week. On Monday we watched a big fire in another apartment building in our complex. Scary. Everyone is ok but two apartments are uninhabitable. I need to buy myself some renter's insurance asap.

I'm very much looking forward to a few days to relax. Cary is going to a gamer thing tomorrow so I signed up for a class at my LSS. It is using Tim Holt's new inks and some interesting techniques on cards. I'm excited. One of my New Year's Intentions was to take one art class a month to challenge myself, learn new things and take time out for myelf.

I hope to post some pictures tomorrow!

TGIF

nesting and celebrating

June 1st on the Boulevard

Today's been busy with errands and sending Cary off for his last guard weekend before he goes down south for OCS next week. He'll be gone for 2 months and that is starting to hit me. I guess it is good practice for any future deployments we might face. Today I got a few treats/neccesseties for the apartment. Nothing really exciting...a shower curtain, some new throw pillows for the couch, some fun patriotic summer dishtowels. Stuff like that. I love nesting!

Last night he and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary of when we first met this week. Just a quiet dinner at the place we had our first date. Delicious baked local seafood and a quiet night at home.

As for other stuff...

I finished this layout on Monday (scraplifted the layout from one Wendy Smedley did in an old magazine)....hoping to do a few more layouts this weekend. Trying to get some girlfriends together at my place tomorrow to scrap. We haven't done that since this winter and it was so fun!

"First Moose Sighting"

Materials: Creative Cafe tags, really old patterned paper, Creative Images clear tag, Making Memories tiny alphas, brown pen, distressor, ink, American Crafts alphas.

Well I'm off to catch up on blogs and heat up some dinner. Hoping to do some reading tonight. I know...real exciting Friday night! My favorite kind! Started reading One for the Money - Janet Evanovich. Have heard this series is funny...so far so good. A light read.

Happy Friday!

the weekend

So I was in the mood to get a few treats on the way home from work friday after a verrrry long week. I found myself some Converse in my color. Aqua. Love them! My sister will be proud - she's always been into Chucks. I also got a pair of jeans and a bright white t-shirt at Target. I wear white t's all the time. And a cute blue-green fun scarf. And some cute earrings. All for not too much money. I love Target.

Yesterday made some of Cary's mom's special recipe Chocolate Chip Cookies. Some for him and some to take over my friend's house. Mmmm. Guess who else will be eating these while she is snowed in today?!

Last night was my monthly Girl's Night. We had dinner cooked by one of the girls and lots of talking and catching up. I was tired and not feeling so well but managed to stay awake through Sex & The City: The Movie...which I saw in the theatre and loved.

I got a pile of blank Strathmore ATC's in the mail that I ordered from Dick Blick. I was running out of the one little assorted pack I had and my LSS didn't have any left. Now I will be set for the rest of the year and the 52Q group. Here are a few others I have worked on in the past few weeks. Some are complete and some I haven't done the journaling on yet. I am not quite up-to-date but getting there...I really do like this project. It's a nice chance to do a little artwork eac week and really think about an important topic. It is very similar to things I incorporate into my work as an Art Therapist only this time it's for me.

Week #4: When I look into my eyes I see....

Front: StampIt square stamp. Denami Design circle of dots stamp. SEI swirl stamp. Various letter stamps. Black pen. Watercolor pencils. Water brush.

Back: Denami Design circle of dots stamp. Autumn Leaves journaling circle stamp. Black pen.

Week # 5: Today I Feel....

front: Date stamp. Close to my Heart date journaling stamp. River City letter stamp. Black pen. Watercolor pencils. Water brush.

back: Watercolor pencils. Water brush. Black pen.

Week #6: If I could do it all again...

front: various letter stamps. Denami Design circle of dots stamp. Hand-drawn flower with black pen, Watercolor pencils and water brush.

I haven't journaled on the back of this one yet.

Later today I might work on #7 and #8 and be right on track...as I sit here and wait for a SNOWSTORM! Cross your fingers that tomorrow will be a snowday for the college...day and evening classes since I teach tomorrow evening...

Also hoping to finish my2nd glove to finish out the pair...

Happy Sunday!

creative plans

Hmmm. My creative plans for the day are probably not all going to fit into the day! Cary unexpectedly has to work today 12-8 so that means (a) I have time to do stuff, and (b) I get my desk to work on. Our place is SO tiny right now we are sharing my desk. When he's home and on he computer I have to set myself up on the couch. I try to accommodate because right now most of his stuff is still in storage in Maine until we get a bigger place. I try to make him feel at home as much as possible. But I do miss my desk sometimes!

Today I want to (should) go to the gym for a bit. This crappy weather is getting to me because I can't just walk outside which I prefer. Then I'm going to just sit in my favorite coffee place downtown and read my new Somerset Studios and a book on selling crafts I got yesterday. This will inspire me to go home and MAKE STUFF! I also got my pict back from Scrapbook Picts yesterday and started my "Week in the Life" album which is going to take awhile. Also some small pictures for a tiny book to keep on my desk at work when I need a stress reliever. Hopefully I'll post a picture of something I make today. I also need my mom to help me undo some rows in a scarf I'm making. I messed up and need her help! Hope everyone has a fun day!