I'm home!

It was a long, but fun, trip to Louisiana. I got to see a lot of friends and family and we did a lot of fun things, not to mention all the good food we ate (the 6 lbs. I gained was worth it!). My mom made so much food on Thanksgiving that I won't take the time to type them all. It was so nice to sleep in my own bed last night. However, it is FREEZING here! It is at least 60 degrees colder here in Utah. I got back late last night and found that Jared had refinished all the bars on my marimba while I was gone; I'll post pics later. It is so pretty! I can't wait to get back into the swing of my normal life again--I had major scrapbooking and internet withdrawals! I also still need to catch up on my sleep and clean this messy house (after I unpack my suitcases). Anyway, here are just a few favorite pics from my trip (mostly of my nieces and nephew ):


Belle making her "sad face"


Carma after eating Spaghettios and Oreos


Carma in her LSU outfit


Belle as a LSU cheerleader--she and Carma both would say "Geaux Tigers!"


They gave lots of kisses to each other over the two weeks


Me and Maw-maw


DH and I in Jackson Square in New Orleans


My nephew feeding on of the giraffes at Global Wildlife in Robert, LA


Me and one of the camels at Global Wildlife


Me and my brothers and friend after LSU beat Arkansas. GEAUX TIGERS!!!


Carma wearing the headpiece before going to the Renaissance Festival


The Royal Court at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival


Carma and Belle literally making a splash in the bathtub


Judson in his new favorite shirt and hat


Carma and her adorable laugh


My SIL and Belle (mother and daughter)


Me and Belle

Outta here!

Well, I'm headed to the airport in a couple of hours to go to Louisiana for two weeks. Yay! The plane ride should be interesting, since I'm flying with my sis and her two kids (6-yr.-old boy and 20-mth.-old girl). It's the girl I'm worried about. She's a little crazy one and I'm sure will not want to stay put AT ALL! But I'm excited for the trip to see family, especially my 20-mth.-old niece who lives there. And I need to slap my brother upside the head for scaring all of us and getting into a car wreck yesterday, his fault. I'm so thankful he's OK--just a few bumps and bruises--very lucky since his car rolled! Not sure when my next post will be, so I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!

Here's some LOs I've done in the past couple of days (and a few I've done previously but couldn't upload until today because of design team requirements):

Sometimes...

I hate being a woman. But only on days like today, when I'm cramping horribly and feeling quite %itchy--and want to kill my husband. Even though I was PMSing all weekend, I still managed to have a little bit of fun. We went to a church potluck Friday night and invited another couple over afterwards to watch "Church Ball". We talked for a while before watching the movie, then afterwards. What a cool couple. I hope we hang out with them more. BTW, I thought the movie was pretty funny; Jared just thought it was OK.

Last night, Jared's sister and her family (she has two sons) came over; we fed them dinner and watched "Cars". What a cute movie. We had fun with our nephews, even though one of them slept most of the time and the other likes to throw things in the house--it was so cute though, because he actually has good aim!

I only got two LOs done this weekend, of my niece and nephew:
Aaah, I just realized I also never took pictures of my haircut--will try to remember to do that soon. Oh, and LSU beat Bama yesterday 28-14! GEAUX TIGERS!!! OK, off to scrap...

Another LO today...

of my niece and nephew.

A little crazy...

is how I'm feeling right now. I have been eating like crazy for two weeks and haven't really felt like doing much. I have really been trying to figure out what's going on that is bothering me enough to make me feel this way but I just can't seem to think of anything. I hate this! Hopefully, I will pull out of this funk before my trip to Louisiana (so that I will at least be eating because the food is awesome, not because I am emotionally eating, ha ha!). Maybe I will be able to figure something out at therapy tomorrow. Sorry for the downer.

I haven't even done much scrapping this week. I did one LO yesterday but it is for the DT and can't be uploaded until 12/1. Here's my LO of the day, of my nephew:

On a positive note, I spent a lot of time with my niece this week. I took the pics below when I was babysitting her the other day. She held and chewed on that pickle for ~45 min.! She loved it. So cute!

Oh! I also got my hair cut on Tues. but haven't taken pics yet. I will try to do that tomorrow.

Christmas Trees

My sister and I worked on these for three days (OK, I spent much of that time playing with my niece and nephew). It took way longer than we expected but we are very pleased with the outcome. Here's a pic of mine (not the best pic but you get the idea):
















Cute, huh? It was nice to spend all that time with my sis and her kids, too. If anyone is interested, here is the supply list:

• styrofoam cones
• wooden dowels
• flower pots
• lots of christmas-themed patterned paper
• tacky glue
• Mod Podge
• reg. and decorative scissors (scalloped edges used on the one in the right)
• Ink pad (used on the scallped edges)
• mini jingle bells
• acrylic paint
• glitter
• ribbons and fibers
• tags
• Spanish moss

If anyone wants more specific directions, let me know and I will try to help out.

I completed a LO last night but it is for a design team challenge than can't be uploaded until Dec. 1. Hopefully, I will do some scrapping today after I go to the gym, attend the temple, and vote. Busy day, better get goin'!

I am such a glutton!!!

That's me. Tonight, Jared and I ate at Winger's, where I gorged myself until it literally hurt to breathe and I felt really sick. Why do I do that to myself?!? I just couldn't stop. I knew I wasn't hungry anymore but I just couldn't stop putting the burger, fries, and wings into my mouth. I'm trying not to hate myself right now but I feel like such a slob. I must make this into a lesson for next time--if only I knew how to do that!

OK, on to something happy. My sister and I made the cutest Christmas decorations today--well, they're not totally done yet. We got the idea from Creating Keepsakes (a scrapbook mag for those of you non-scrapbookers). Here's a pic of the page from CK:

Cute, huh? I will post pics of ours as soon as we get them done--we are supposed to work on them again tomorrow. It was fun to be crafty with my sis today! It was so much fun, in fact, that I decided not to watch the LSU game--VERY rare for me!!! My brother called right after the game and told me what an awesome, close game it was; my mom called right after that to tell me the same thing. We ended up beating Tennesee 28-24 in the last nine seconds. My brother said he was still shaking when I called me, hee hee! Hopefully, we will be back in the top 10 this coming week. GEAUX TIGERS!!!







Here's my LO of the day of my niece:

Pie!

So I did really well at eating healthy all day yesterday UNTIL I went to Enrichment (an LDS women's thing--we get together and socialize, learn things, and do service). One of the demonstrations last night was on pie making. Aaaaah! There were several different kinds of pies and I just HAD to try the French apple and pumpkin. Oh well. It was worth it because they were scrumptious! BTW, I was able to take a piece home for Jared and he gave me a few bites of it tonight. MMMMM!

I went out to lunch with 3 friends today--all former co-workers. I had so much fun that I didn't realize we had been at the restaurant (Pizza Factory) for 2 hours! It was fun to catch up. Since it was a fun lunch with friends, I allowed myself to eat what I wanted. OK, OK, I'm lying--I emotionally ate because it was right after my therapy session. But I don't care, it was a fun lunch with girlfriends.

Here's my LO of the day (I didn't get any LOs done yesterday--I know, what a slacker):
















---my adorable niece and nephew

LOs 11/1

Here are the LOs I did today:

Halloween Night

Last night was the first Halloween in a while that I didn't dress and/or go somewhere. I just stayed home and gave out candy. My niece and nephew came over in the early evening so I could take some pictures. It was after 5pm, so the lighting was definitely not prime, but here are some pics (I had to work on them quite a bit in PhotoShop):
























































Aren't they the cutest? It was a chilly night here last night but that didn't stop us from getting several other adorable trick-or-treaters last night--most from our church. I love to see all the kiddies in their costumes--can't help but smile! :)

I can't believe it's already November. I leave for Louisiana in exactly two weeks! Aaaah! So much to do before then! Can't wait for Thanksgiving!!!