Spoiled...

and I know it! My printer (Canon i950) stopped working right (I'm pretty sure the printhead went out and a new one costs $100!!!), so Jared let me go out and get a new printer yesterday. He's SOOOOO sweet!!!

I got a
Canon PIXMA iP4300. I was going to get the iP6700D but it is the same as the iP4300, only it has an LCD screen to view photos from your camera and enhance them before printing. I would never use this feature, since I like to edit my photos in PhotoShop Elements, so I decided to save $80 and get the iP4300. Also, when I went and got it at Staples, I found out that there was a $40 rebate. Bonus! So, it actually is only going to cost us $60 (plus $15 service plan). Not bad, right?

Here is my first picture printed on my new printer:


I'm a very lucky, happy girl! I love you, Jared!!! {and not just for spoiling me}

Mardi Gras Party

My sister and her family and I went to a Mardi Gras party at the home of a church friend from our hometown in Louisiana who just moved here to Utah. Jared missed out because he was working. She had tons of great food and it was really fun. She gave out little gift bags to the kids, which my niece and nephew enjoyed:


Judson checking out the stuff in his bag


Carma havin' fun with the maracas in her bag


My sister and Carma--this picture cracks me up! She knew she was cute with that mask on! She actually kept it on and walked around the house for a while w/ it on!

Here's Carma shakin' it, along with some maracas:

Monster Jam!

You know I love my DH if I'm willing to go to a Monster Jam show with him. It was my Valentine's present to him. Actually, it was kind of fun. We went to dinner with my MIL and BIL first, then we all went to the show. Here are some pics:


"Shattered"


"Monster Mutt"


"Dragon Slayer"--a track hoe dressed up as a car-eating, fire-breathing dragon

BTW, my Valentine's present is a Wishblade--it's on pre-order (it's the new version due next month). I can't wait to get it! Isn't Jared the SWEETEST?!!!

Valentine's Day

I am behind in posting, so I'll just make a few short posts of my goings-on the past couple of weeks. Valentine's Day was OK. I went to my sister's house. We exchanged cards and I gave her and the kids each a little box of chocolates. The kids enjoyed them:



Here's a pretty funny video of my niece eating a sour candy my sister gave to her:


Jared had to work really late, so we didn't do anything special that night to celebrate Valentine's Day. We had other engagements for the following two nights, so we didn't do anything to celebrate until Sat. night...

Dancin'

That's what I've been doin' with my niece lately. I've taken a couple of videos:





And here's a video for my mom, dad, brothers, and SIL:


Oh, and I've added a few new LOs to the slider at the top!

Got my box from Rebecca Sower!

She sent a great package! Here's a pic:

Now I just need to send her a thank you card. That was SO sweet of her to send that.

I made another hat for my niece last week (in the pic below). She loves clothes and hats (she's not even 2 yet!); it's so cute!

My MIL and BIL spent the night at our house on Sat. We went out to eat at Winger's (mmmm!) Sat. night and they went to church with us on Sunday. I sang a solo in the choir and was VERY nervous! It went OK. Sunday was a very busy day! I had church mtgs. from 8:30 to 10:30am, early choir practice @ 12:30, church from 1-4, reg. choir practice from 4:15-5:15, dinner with the in-laws (my SIL and her boyfriend came over, too), then another church function from 7-8:30. Whew! Sunday is my only busy day like that but I always feel good doing all the things I do and enjoy doing things for the church (OK, maybe not ALWAYS but most of the time ).

My sister moved out of our basement this weekend, too. I think we are going to move my scraproom to one of the rooms down there (along with the TV from our bedroom) and move our living room TV down to the living room down there (so DH doesn't always mess up the living room that people see when they come over ). We'll see. I'm making plans for a new scraproom!

It's snowing here right now. I hope we get lots so there's a beautiful white winter wonderland out there in the morning. Just hope DH is safe in it, as he will be driving in it. OK, well, I'm off to scrap (what else, hee hee!). Oh, and I added new LOs to the slider at the top of the blog. Love you all! ~Dana Marie

Lucky!

Out of 636 names, mine was drawn to receive a box of goodies from Rebecca Sower. For all you non-scrappers, she is a very well-known and loved scrapbooker--one of the top in the industry. She is cleaning out her studio and giving away a bunch of stuff. I'm sure she gets gobs and gobs of cool, free stuff from all the scrapbook companies, so I cannot wait to see what's in the box! I'm still in shock that my name was picked!

Let's see, what else has been going on? American Idol started back up, yay! It has been fun to watch again, but kind of sad to see some of those people's dreams crushed. Can't wait for the real competition to begin! I watched it at my sister's house last night. I got my niece dancing before the show started--hilarious. Here are a couple of clips:
Reading a book:


Singing AND dancing!:



Here are a couple of other pics from yesterday/last night:
My niece with the scarf and hat I just made for her:

She loved the hat but DID NOT want to try on the scarf (she just woke up from her nap):

My nephew, playing XBox:

My niece being a mess (as usual), with yogurt on her face and a cracker in hand:


Oh, and I've decided to do something different with my LOs. Instead of adding them into my posts, I will add them to a slider at the top of my blog. In the bottom left corner of the slider, you can click the plus to make the pics go by faster, the minus to slow it down and the pause button, well, to pause it. You can also click on each LO to see a larger version of it. If anyone has trouble seeing it, please let me know.

Long, fun day!

After not sleeping well last night because of strong winds outside, I left the house at 7:45 this morning and did a breakfast with the children at my church, then went directly from there to a baptism. As soon as I got home, my sister called me and invited DH and I to go sledding/tubing, so we hurried up and got ready, blew up a few innertubes and went tubing. After 8 1/2 years of living in Utah, this was my first time! It was so much fun! It was FREEZING today (in the teens) but I wore so many layers that I was actually pretty warm after walking up the hill so many times! I had three pairs of pants (thermals, cotton strechy pants, and jeans), a long-sleeve t-shirt, a hooded sweatshirt, BIG coat, scarf, hat, THICK socks and insulated boots.

I came home and napped for an hour (well, probably only slept for 30 min.), then DH and I went out to dinner at Red Lobster with one of his co-workers and his wife. When we got home, my sister who lives in our basement came up and chatted for a while, then we migrated downstairs and hung out a little with her and her fiance' and watched the end of the Saints game (yay, they won!!!). I now have to prepare a lesson to give to the kids in Sunday School tomorrow but I am so pooped! Long day but I have to say that I enjoyed every moment of it! Here are some pics of us tubing today:

My niece, all geared up in snow clothes, so cute!!! She could barely walk!


Me, heading down the hill for the first time


A view of the hill from the bottom


My sis and niece coming down the hill--you can't tell in the pic but my niece DID NOT LIKE tubing!!!


DH on one of his turns


BIL and nephew, havin' fun!


My niece was not happy after getting off the tube, hee hee! Oh, and notice my BIL and nephew in the background, ha ha ha!


Couldn't resist another shot of my niece


I sure did have fun!!!


DH came down together, holding hands

And, as always, here are a few of my latest LO's:


Nieces


Nieces


Nieces


SIL and her family


Members of my family and DH's


Nieces

Behind in posting

Haven't been up to too much since Monday. I did take down all the Christmas stuff but the boxes of stuff are still just sitting there in our living room. Slackers we are! The best thing about this week, and possibly month or months:

LSU WON THE SUGAR BOWL!!!!! YAY! We actually stomped Notre Dame 41-14, hee hee! Oh, check out this picture from the Fox sports site from the game:












Too freaking funny, huh?!

Now, I can't wait to see if Florida can beat OSU in the championship game Monday night (not that I am a Gator fat AT ALL but, if they're playing someone in another conference, I do root for them)!

I had a girls' day in Salt Lake City with my sis and a friend today; we ate at California Pizza Kitchen (roasted chicken and garlic pizza, yum!), shopped at Bath & Body Works, and saw "Pursuit of Happiness". The movie was so good, I definitely recommend it. Here's a pic of the three of us:


I've been making LOs this week but haven't been good at posting them here the last few days, so here they are:

The park, just a couple blocks from my house:


Me and my niece:


Me, in New Orleans:


Some of the livestock at the Utah State Fair:


My BIL:


My brother, sister, and nephew:


My niece:

Happy New Year!

Hey, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve. Jared and I left Friday afternoon and drove up to Rigby, ID to his sister's house for the weekend. We celebrated our nephew's 2nd birthday (which was actually on Christmas Eve but my SIL had to work, so she couldn't come down to have Christmas with us all). My MIL, BIL and 2 other SIL's were there that night and we played games until really late--they left the next morning.

The birthday boy opening presents, with the help of his big brother:

The birthday boy with a piece of his cake:


DH and I took his sister and her two boys out to dinner Sat. night. For New Year's Eve, we had snacks, watched the ball drop, and played games (You Don't Know Jack, Clue, Yahtzee, and Boggle) until after 1am. Our 3-yr.-old nephew had been put to bed but kept getting up and ended up staying up with us until we went to bed! It was a laid back, fun New Year's Eve. We got up this morning and drove the four hours home.

Me and SIL, playing Boggle last night:

Nephew and SIL:

DH playing Yahtzee:


As we drove back, we listed to a couple of bowl games (the Tennesse game and the Arkansas game) and got home just in time for me to watch the Rose Bowl. I rooted for Tenn., Ark., and Michigan and none of them won. I just hope my Tigers do well on Wed.!!!

Here's a LO I did last week for DT assignment--I plan to hang it up on my scraproom wall, where I will see it every day:


I would like to give a shout out to my friend, Meredith, for her birthday today--I hope you had a great day, Mer!

And, finally, I want to wish everyone a very prosperous New Year--may this year bring you everything you wish for.