A weekend full of art

Our local Art Walk was this weekend, and it was the most fantastic weekend I've had in a very long time!  I really enjoyed being able to visit so many local artists, but being part of the Art Walk was just amazing.  Here are a few photos of what I saw around town this weekend (photos of my exhibit and some family time are on their way tomorrow).


Yay for art! 

The Cynthiana (Rug) Hookers.  :)  So talented!  And a great name.


Pottery demonstrations on the sidewalk.


Post-It Note Mario....

...and Post-It Note Luigi. 

Tile painting was available for kids.

My Art Walk Display

The Art Walk started tonight. It was such a blast! I even sold two photos! More pics to come tomorrow, but for now, here's my display.

Just my two cents...

Cute story alert.  :)

Last night at VBS, during the opening worship rally, prizes were thrown to the kids.  One of the kids sitting near me (we'll call him "Kid A") caught a pencil (yes, I totally question the wisdom of throwing pencils to small children), and a couple of minutes later, the boy next to him ("Kid B") took it.  They scrambled around on the floor for a moment.  So I took the pencil from Kid B and gave it back to Kid A.  As we left the sanctuary to go to the classroom, Kid A hands me 2 pennies.  "This is a tip for you because you gave me back my pencil.  I found it under the seat."

Also, my favorite discussion from tonight:

Ashley:  So how can we help people like Jesus did?

Kid 1:   We can help old people get across the street.

Ashley:  That's right.  But can we also help people who are smaller than us?

Kid 2:    Like jockeys?

Okay, so maybe the little kids are starting to grow on me.  Just a little.  :)

Trivia night

After VBS, Ashley and I picked up Forrest, then met up with Mike, Jon, and Alisha at Applebee's for trivia night.  So much fun, and our team (The Garlic Butter Chuggers) nearly had 2nd place, but got greedy in the final round and lost. 

Oh, how did we get that awesome name?  Last night while I was at VBS, Mike had dinner at a local pizza place, where he witnessed a teenager chug down a shot of garlic butter, then describe the experience to his friends as though he was tasting a fine wine.  Turns out a certain member of our team has done something similar, so it kind of stuck. 

So, to recap:  lots of fun, and I know where I'll be next Wednesday night.  I should brush up on my trivia skills this week (although, really, I should get my school stuff together this week).

Real blog post coming soon

I'll be back shortly...I'm on my way home from trivia night.

Today was not terribly interesting...

...but I'm going to bore you with the details anyway.

• In a sleepless moment sometime between 3 and 4 am, I figured out how I'm going to display my photos at the Art Walk this weekend.
• I lit an ocean scented candle to avoid the "funnel cake" effect from yesterday.
• I made my favorite comfort food for lunch -- Shells and Cheese.
• I attempted to start cleaning my room upstairs. 
• I decided it would be better to put off laundry until tomorrow.
• I just realized that this is the last free week before school begins (next week is packed full of professional development).
• I have played way too much Bejeweled Blitz.
• VBS is exhausting, and proof that I should never become an elementary school teacher.

Ugh.  I feel like I've been the most boring blogger ever lately.  Any ideas on how to spice things up?  I'm sure you're all tired of hearing about my day, but lately, it's all I can think to blog.

VBS

Today, I helped Ashley get the 1st grade room ready for Vaction Bible School.  This is my first year working with VBS, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Little kids kind of scare me.  I think it's because I'm not that great at relating to them.  And as I found out tonight, they're a bit chaotic.  But still not as scary as I thought they would be.  Here's a sample of the decorations from our room.  I (mostly) made the grey bricks under the mantle.  (Yes, they are two different colors.  The marker didn't last, so I had to turn to crayons to finish the job.)

After we finished the room, we went out to lunch, then rewarded ourselves by driving out to the orchard for some ice cream.  Black raspberry chocolate chip -- yes please!  :)

Oh, and I attempted to make fried chicken today.  Not bad, but a little bland.  It made the house smell like grease.  So Mike lit a vanilla cake scented candle.  Now it smells like a funnel cake. 

Skinny girls wearing weight-loss advice on a shirt. Tasteless.

I saw this blog post linked up on Sophia Bush's twitter account the other day, and I can't help but feel very, very bothered by the topic.

UO, I've been a supporter of your store for many years, but now I'm through.

The photo of a skinny model wearing a t-shirt that says "eat less" is just wrong.  There are so many lovely women out there who have horrible body image (or worse, eating disorders) because they're convinced they aren't the "right" size, that this is just tasteless and unnecessary.  Especially for a store that doesn't offer clothing above a size 12.  While I'm not going so far as to say that these shirts are going to drive hoards of people toward eating disorders, I can't imagine it's going to do wonders for anyone's self-image either.  And frankly, if I ever saw some skinny girl wearing said t-shirt, I would be very tempted to tell her exactly where she could shove that advice.  (Okay, not really, but the thought would totally go through my head.)  Oooh, the more I think about this shirt, the more catty and b****y I think it is.

This might be the point where I share a disclaimer: If you've met me IRL, you know that I am a skinny girl (not model from the UO pic skinny, but yeah, skinny).  While my body image isn't horrible, it isn't the best -_ often I think my thighs are too chunky and my stomach is too poochy.  And I'm an adult who knows deep down that there is nothing wrong with the way I look.  I think this is the root of my concern -- there are women and girls who don't have this understanding about their bodies.  A message like this doesn't do anything to help matters.

Today I...

• Had a delicious NutraGrain waffle with strawberries.
• Ordered matting for my Art Walk photos for next weekend.
• Managed to breathe in this ridiculous heat and humidity. 
• Chipotle for a late lunch/early dinner.
• Saw a friend of mine coming out of the movie theater, and Mike was kind enough to pull into the parking lot so I could chat with her.
• Witnessed what I presumed to be a 30-ish year old man yelling at his father in Office Depot, because the dad wanted to check somewhere else for a lower price. 
• Put together the two office chairs. 
• Lola approved of my work.

I like it here.

Today I got to have lunch with one of my very favorite friends at one of my very favorite restaurants.  It's Paradise Cafe, and it's my favorite Chinese restaurant.  It doesn't have a buffet (well, except for Sunday afternoons, but it's not a typical buffet), which makes it awesome in my book.  Isn't it pretty?

It was so good to hang out with Carolyn for a little while.  We teach at the same school, so I haven't seen her since early June.  Facebook chats and texting only go so far. 

Also, crab rangoon + sweet and sour chicken was exactly what I needed.  Every now and then it's fun to eat something that isn't totally healthy...and have enough left for the next day.   :)

Things I like Thursday

Maybe this is the beginning of a weekly post.  What do you think?   Anyway, here are a few things that I'm really enjoying this week: 

• My new pillow.  The conference opened my eyes to the need for a new pillow.  I've been sleeping on the same feather pillow for as long as I can remember, and it's gotten a little flat over the years.  K-Mart has a nice fluffy one.  ("It's so fluffy!"  Which reminds me...)
• The Unicorn Song.  This has been stuck in my head all day, and I haven't even seen the movie.  Oh, how I need to see this movie.

• Sleeping in.  Yes, I made it to 8:30 this morning.  Nice, considering I was up at 6:30 to get ready for my conference sessions Monday-Wednesday.
• Cardigans.  I bought several last week on clearance at Maurices and Kohls. 
• Ben and Jerry's Cookies and Milk.  Vanilla ice cream, chocolate cookie swirl, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate chocolate chip cookies.  Oh my.  Goodness.

Home

I'm home from my conference. Catching up on sleep, petting the cat, and spending time with Mike. :)

Today: a brief recap

Today, I did some programming and wiring.  It was a very good day, but I forgot to take pictures of it. 

Also, I saw what might be the most amazing rat-tail ever.  

And I bought a cute knitted snake finger puppet from the alpaca vendor display.

My Day in Pictures -- Conference Edition

For a couple of days this week, I am attending at teaching conference.  Since it's taking up most of my day, and frankly, it's pretty boring to blog about, I thought I'd share my day in pictures.

#1 - King-size bed.  Four pillows.  Sleep was fantastic. 

#2 - The view from my window when I woke up.

#3 - My outfit for the day.  I bought four cardigans on clearance over the weekend.

#4 - My breakfast.

#5 - An early morning presentation.  Not a very interesting one.

 

#6 - Free box lunch.  Surprisingly yummy.

We interrupt this post to tell you that blogger is being a ginormous pain in the rear at the moment by not allowing me to space between photos.  But here are the captions, just in case you're interested.

#7 & #8 - The person who cleaned my room made all sorts of cute fans. Even on the box of tissues I brought from home.  Kind of made my day.  :)

#9 - Mad Men marathon and crochet.  Good times.

A quick list

• Oh dear.  I am not a fan of interstate driving.  Especially when said interstate is under construction.  And the signs could be much clearer.   
• My husband is amazing at cleaning a house.  Seriously, I am so ADD when it comes to this.  
• I just spent the evening catching up on blog reading/commenting.  120 blog posts, to be exact.
• I really would have liked a cherry sno-cone from the church park tonight.
• Our basement looks so much better post-yardsale.
• And it looks as though I'm out of things to say for tonight.   

Look what I found...

...at our yardsale.  No, not from my own yardsale stash, sillies.  We were selling with another couple.  I promise I'm not that crazy.  But I found this:

 

And I paid $.50 for it.  Yay! 

But I'm really, really happy the yardsale is over.  Really, really happy. 

And I think I need to see this.  What do you think? 

Yardsale = very, very tired.

We had a yardsale today with some friends.  I am exhausted and still trying to rehydrate.  Still going on tomorrow.  And it's still going to be super hot!  But, we made about $100 today. 

There was a lot of buzz on Facebook today.  A former student was on Fox and Friends this morning.  Here's the video...he's the fiddle player.  So now I can say I had a former student on TV.  Pretty cool!  :)

New challenge -- fave website

Go check out the new challenge over at TAAFOMFT -- your favorite website.  The design team did an amazing job with this one!  I chose my blog and recreated it using Paint.NET...yes, I'm biased, but I'll let my layout do all the talking today. 

Oooh.  Kind of a nifty picture-in-picture effect going on here.  :)

Linky linky.

Tonight I want to link you up with a few things that caught my eye out in blogland recently.  Enjoy!

• Crochet macaroons!  Just adorable.
• How to make candy sushi.  I don't particularly care for the candy that is used for this, but I have to admit it's genius. 
• Typewriter FAQs.  Because I've been eyeing old typewriters lately.
• A recipe for plum chutney.  Sounds good.  And an excuse to eat naan.  :) 
• Bite-sized banana pound cakes.  Emma always has great recipes on her blog.  I have to try this one.
• Happy to see her scrapping again.
• A cute paper border made of punched circles.
• So many great summer activities here.  I know they're for kids, but I think I need to try them myself. 
• Pom pom tutorial! 
• I need to make one of these bowl covers.
• Really cool stop-motion animation using candles.
• The frames on her wall make me want to try something similar.
• Crochet leg warmers!  So cool!!!
• I need to try her Caribbean lime chicken recipe.

So what's caught your attention recently?

My day, in list form.

• Today I learned lots and lots about baseball, because I'm helping with a recruiting video for one of our seniors. 
• I came home to find my husband cleaning the spare bedroom.  He's a keeper. 
• I just got back from playing dominoes.  Apparantly, I am cut-throat.  Who knew?  :)
• I so enjoyed the rain and cooler temps today.  Tomorrow, it's back to the 90s.  And not the decade, which I find much preferrable at this point in the summer.
• Julie sent me these in the mail for my birthday!  Oh, they are going to be so perfect on my wall with the collection (which is now totals eleven).  I'm gonna guess that the mint camera made her think of me.  :)

• My little sister was hired for her first "big girl" job today!  (Those are her words, not mine...lol!)  I'm so proud of her.  She deserves good happy things!  She starts Monday...I'm sure she would appreciate your prayers!
• I'm going to finish my TAAFOMFT challenge tomorrow morning (just so the boss knows!)
• Lola has developed a strange fixation on my humidifier.

• My classroom is waxed and ready to go.  Time to start moving things. 

The one where I rant about WalMart.

Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.

Have I ever told you how much I dislike WalMart?  The answer is "greatly".  Main dislike tonight?  Three lines open.  Only one without an item limit.  Lots of weekly grocery shoppers out tonight (including us).  Also, lots of hollow, dispairing looks on faces.  Specifically my husband's. 

Twenty-nine minutes into our thrity minute wait in line (yes, I'm pretty sure it took less time to shop than it took to wait in line) Mike decided he needed a 3Musketeers bar.  I told him this is what WalMart wanted, and if he bought the candy bar, they would win. 

They won.

I saw this while I was wasting 30 minutes of my life standing in line.  I am convinced that children are spoiled.  Remember the days of eating through all the "bland" crunch to get to that awesome berry finale? 

Those days are gone.

This sight didn't make my evening any better.  Every year, I experience this sad, sinking feeling when I see that the school supplies have been stocked.  My carefree summer days are officially numbered.

Here is my new plan for efficient WalMart shopping:  (1) We get our cart.  (2) I find a spot in line with the cart.  (3) Mike picks up items throughout the store, occasionally stopping by the front to drop items off in said cart.  (4) He finishes shopping.  (5) We move to front of line.

On the plus side, I bought some makeup.  So...that was fun.  :)

Disclaimer: My WalMart experience is meant to be humorous.  Please don't think I'm bitter about it.  I just wish they would utilize a few more of the 20 or so lines available when the line backs up to the clothing department. 

I went home for a day

Yesterday my aunt and her son from Virginia came home for a visit.  So I decided to as well.  We had a cookout, and it was lots of fun.  I saw lots of family members I hadn't seen in quite a while (a reminder that I don't come home nearly often enough).

I showed my sister the Instax.  I think she's in love.  She asked how the camera was doing when I called home tonight.  :)

Oh, and we watched the Riff Trax version of New Moon.  In my family, MST3K is a huge deal, so this made for a great night! 

Will post more later

I just got back from spending the day with my family, and I am soooooo tired. I'll make up for this poor excuse for a post tomorrow.

Today at a yardsale, I spent $2...

...and brought these two beauties home with me. 

She's so cute...when she's sleeping.

Lola took the cutest naps today.  All of them were in my craft room.  She must have really been into these naps, because she barely even stirred when I took these pictures. 

I love this one, because her back feet are propped up on the red bag.  (It's kind of hard to see that, but they are and it's adorable.)  :)

These two were from a couple hours later. Different spot. Still cute.

instant photos = instant scrapping

Today Ashley and I went to the orchard for some berry-picking fun.  And I discovered that I really like plums. 

Oh, and I scrapped!  Summer truly is all about the berries.  :)

I used the latest challenge over at ScrapMojo for this page.  Yes, I am aware that this is my second berry page of the summer.  My only regret -- that I can't make this page berry-scented.  :) 

I believe this might be my fastest turn-around ever for scrapping photos.  Love my instax!

Toy Story 3...it's about time! :)

I finally saw Toy Story 3 today!  I loved it!  Yes, I teared up a little at the end.  But it was so good!  And I heart the little green aliens.  :)

This little guy is just one of several I have in my own collection.

And I forgot to share this cute birthday card my friend Jenny gave me on Sunday!  Didn't she do an amazing job with this?  I just love the owls! 

I know I don't say this often enough, but thank you so much for stopping by my blog.  Your comments make my day!  :)

A few pics from firepit night

We invited several friends over to hang out around the firepit last night.  Here are a few pics, as promised. 

There was also the traditional burning of things.  :)