Friday, September 24, 2010

Fall Preview

This is a picture of Ashley and the Hug Lady of Killeen before she left for Iraq!

Today I finished up a lot of odds and ends of projects and made a couple of new things while I was at it.  All while I was watching some of the new shows that debuted this week.  When I got the Sept. 17 issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine, they had a run-down of all the new fall shows.  There were a lot that sounded pretty good to me (for a change!)  So our DVR has been doing double-time.  We have a DVR downstairs that records shows Sonny & I watch together ... and some he watches without me and I have a DVR in my craft room that I record all my shows.  So far, here are my takes on the ones I have watched:
  • Dancing With the Stars - not new show but surprised that it was Hasselhoff who went home - I thought surely it would be Margaret Cho!  But wasn't Jennifer Grey something?
  •  Chase - I think I am going to like it, verdict is still out.
  • Lone Star - recorded but haven't watched it yet - waiting for Sonny to watch it with me because I think he will like it.
  • Glee -  I didn't watch it last year but spent this summer catching up since they rebroadcast all the episodes.
  • Raising Hope - Thumbs Down - only watched about 10 minutes before erasing.
  • Running Wilde - Thumbs Down - I so wanted to like this one because Keri Russell went to high school with Ashley in Coppell.  But, only made it through about 20 minutes before deleting.
  • The Whole Truth - I really liked this one.  I think Sonny would like it if he would give it a chance but it's one I recorded upstairs.  It's by Jerry Bruckheimer and has Maura Tierney (from ER) and Rob Morrow in it.
  • The Defenders - Nope - not for me - too much James Bond, spy stuff for me.
So that's all I've watched so far.  I know I spend entirely too much time watching tv!  I've been pretty lost this week though during the day.  I've watched As The World Turns (soap opera) for more years than I care to admit and it has been canceled.  The last show was last Friday but I didn't watch it until Tuesday.  I just couldn't bear it.  Now I don't watch any soaps.  First they canceled Guiding Light and then As the World Turns .... what's a girl to do?

Here's a cute little Grandma's Brag Book I made today.  It is accordian folded and goes into a little plastic box.  I got the kit this summer at CKC.




Thursday, September 23, 2010

Quarterly Recipe Swap

I got to talk to Ashley this morning via Skype which allowed me to see her as well as hear her.  She was able to see Sonny & I but couldn't hear us since I didn't have a microphone.  So I was typing all the conversations on this end.  I'm still just learning about all this!  I sent Sonny to Best Buy today to get us a mic so tomorrow we'll see how it works.  While we were talking to her, she took us on a video tour of her quarters.  She wanted to show her Dad around so he could give her some advice on how to fix a few things!  We were quite impressed.  She has her own place with a bathroom and a walk-in closet!  The person who had her room before she did left her a couch/futon, desk, chair, shelving that they had built plus shelving in her closet.  They also left a small refrigerator, microwave and tv.  So she doesn't have it too bad.  She plans on buying a larger tv so she can watch some Steeler football (hopefully)!  I don't know what kind of tv shows she gets there but I think she can pay for cable as well as internet coverage.

I want to share the 6x6 Recipe Swaps from Quarterly.  I wasn't too thrilled with my card but the others were great!  I'm going to put them into a book.

My Quick Chicken Tortilla Soup
Kathy Hunt's Easy Taco Salad
Marianne's Pineapple Cheese Ball
Mary Bergere's Stuffed Jalepeno Peppers 
Mary's Recipe - peppers
Gwen Phillips Yummy Chicken Pie
Cathy Snipes Candy Bar Pie
my favorite!  Janie's Ham Rollups
Dina Wilson's Fudgy Brownie Cookies
Pat (I think - no name) Super-Chunky Christmas Cookies
Danielle Blech's Apple Cheesecake
Tina Lesson's Easy Cream Cheese Pie
Nancy Carr's S'more Meltaway Pie
Janet Marks' Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Aren't they great?  If you can't read a recipe and you want one of them, let me know and I'll send it to you.  These make me want to cook now!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Quarterly Holiday Card Swaps

I got an e-mail yesterday from Ashley letting me know they arrived safely in Mosul on Tuesday.  They ended up flying straight from Kuwait to Mosul.  She already has her computer hooked up in her quarters.  So, hopefully tomorrow we'll try out Skype!

As promised, more swaps from Quarterly.  These are holiday cards that we swapped.  A few more ideas for my Christmas cards - and prehaps yours too!!

no name - but I love this little bunny - image from the Holiday Mini

by Lynn Creech - just love the monochromatic Soft Suede!

by Janie Murphy - using the new Waffle paper
by Marianne - don't you love how she did the circle?  It's the scallop circle.  Then she took the 1/4" circle punch and punched into the scallops.
by Chaille O-Neal - that cute bunny again!
by Danielle Blech - using the Build A Bear image
by Nancy Lewis - a nice Thanksgiving card
by Marcia Enns - she used her acrylic block for the shadow stamping background.
by Becky Campbell - love that smooch spray - it's on my list!
by me - I used the Decor Elements stencil to sponge inside before stamping the Bells & Boughs on the ornament.
no name
no name

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Quarterly Shoebox Swaps

Sorry I've been slow about putting my swaps and projects from Quarterly on my blog.  I've been working all day on the Newcomers Newsletter that I usually do on the 15th.  Just a tad late this month!

Without further ado, here are the Shoebox Swaps we did at Quarterly.  I know there are several who were unable to go who are waiting for pictures.  I tried to put the originator by the ones that I remember!



by Becky Campbell


by Jane Hunt
by Marianne Webb

by Janie Murphy

Monday, September 20, 2010

Quarterly Fun

I'm back from a great weekend with stampin' friends at our NC Demos Quarterly get-together in Shallotte.  Marianne and I met for breakfast Friday morning and after being pampered by getting mani's and pedi's, we hit the road.  We stopped at Lake Waccamaw first which is only about 30 miles from Shallotte and did a little reminiscing and exploring.  We drove almost all around the lake and found a state park that I didn't know was even there.  They only have a few primitive camp sites but hope to add more sites in the future.  We walked out on the pier and took a few pictures.  The lake is amazing - the water is tea colored but you can see the bottom and all the way out to the end of this pier, it was still only water that was about knee high! 


You can see all the vegetation that is growing on the sandy bottom of the lake.  I took this picture from the pier looking straight down so you can see how clear the water is.

Marianne out on the pier


We had dinner at the best restaurant ... and the only restaurant there!  Dale's Seafood Restaurant had the best hushpuppies (served with honey butter) I've had around here.  I got fried trout while Marianne got a seafood platter.  We both agreed it was the best seafood ever!  We went to Calabash on Saturday night and the food I had there couldn't hold a candle to Dale's. 

When we got to Shallotte, after checking in to our motel, we headed over to the high school to get started on the shoebox swap.  What great ideas everyone had.  But, let me tell you everyone had owls on their minds!  So many of the cards used the owl punch!  And do-do me, forgot to put my stamp set (Wicked Cool) in my box so not many people got to do mine.  I had used that stamp set the day before with my Club ladies and forgot to pack it.  One of our "virgin quarterly gals" brought her stamp set the next day so a few people did my card. 

On Saturday, we had several presentations and made a few great things.  I did a presentation on an Accordian Box that everyone made and loved.  Cathy Snipes did a demonstration on My Digital Studio that was quite helpful.  Becky Campbell did two presentations and we made two great projects with her.  And, Janie showed us how to make a fish using the new rick-rack die in the Holiday Mini.

We had three different swaps - 6x6 recipe cards, holiday cards and a tag swap.  I will be sharing all these with you this week.  Everyone is just so creative and I always come away with so many new ideas and a bigger wish list!!

Here are the great tags I received in the Tag Swap:

Christmas Tree by Danielle Blech, Thanksgiving by Lynn Creech, Snowflake by Nancy Carr
Ornament by Cathy Snipes, Snowman by Pat Wilkinson, Fence by Jeria


Snowflake by me, Stockings by Marianne & long red tag by Janie Murphy


Raindeer by Marcia Enns (others have no name)
I got a great wake up call this morning from Ashley!  She called me around 6:30 am but I'm not complaining!  I was just scared it was the Red Cross calling and Sonny & I were going to have to go out on a call.  While I was gone this weekend, there was an apartment fire in Mooresville and Sonny had to go without me (but at least it wasn't the middle of the night).  Anyway, Ashley said they were supposed to leave Kuwait City tonight.  They will be taking a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to another army post where they will board the army transport plane that will take them to Baghdad.  From Baghdad they will fly to Mosul.  I was surprised that it would take that much travel time since a flight from Kuwait to Mosul is only a couple of hours.  Ashley said they don't want the plane in the air that long is her guess.  She is ready to be in Mosul.  She said they have spent a lot of time doing nothing in Kuwait!  They went out in the desert on Friday so everyone could shoot ten rounds in the dirt just to make sure their weapon was working properly.

Ashley has been reading a lot while in Kuwait (which is no surprise since she is a voracious reader anyway.)  She told me about Operation Paperback.  They have supplied a lot of the books she has been reading this week.   Operation Paperback is a non-profit organization that collects gently used books nationwide and sends them to American troops deployed overseas.  To read more about them, click HERE.  Clean out your library and send your used books to them or even a monetary contribution!

Well, I am headed to the Y to work off some of that fried fish I had this weekend!

Oh - I forgot to mention those Steelers yesterday!  What a game .... Tennessee had 7 turnovers.  That's got to be a record.  Unfortunately, our quarterbook went out with a sprained knee.  Not sure of his status for next week.  We are just treading water until Big Ben returns - 2 more games - but at least we are keeping our head above the water and winning the games even if they are giving us a heart attack doing it.  Thought we had it in the bag until the last minute (actually 58 seconds left) when we let them score and go for 2 extra points.  Then they did a fake and an on-side kick and took the ball down the field.  They were right at the goal line but our defense held them off.  Also, Tennessee opted to wear their white jerseys making Pittsburgh have to wear their black ones.  The temperature at kick off was almost 90 degrees but that didn't stop us!  Ashley was able to watch the second half of the game over in Kuwait.  Isn't that something?  It just felt strange to us not to be calling and texting back and forth to her during the game.

Have a great day!