Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Long summer...long-awaited layout...


Well, here it is...my Glee(k) layout. All I've needed to do for the last MONTH is sew...not sure why it's so hard to turn on my machine & make 3 straight-stitch lines on this, LOL. This one is going in my challenge/All About Me album, even though I only challenged myself to (a) take a Glee photo of myself and (b) scan high school choir photos & follow a Glee theme. I used my Studio Calico stash, mostly Baker's Dozen and Joyland.

I have been wanting to use this Dear Lizzy ribbon ever since I picked it up at Great Lakes Mega Meet in May...I also love the little K&Co. frames from the SC Joyland kit. It was hard to crop photos this small, but it ended up working out perfect for a Mother's Day layout.

It's Art Fair week in Ann Arbor...the kids are off to various quarters later today so I can enjoy a girl's night out with out-of-town company tonight. Not sure if I'll manage dinner at 8p (maybe just a drink) but it will be good to see the F52 gals. I'm on week 2 of the Couch to 5K podcast (so...hot...ugh) so I'll be skipping dessert. Weight loss is going slow, but that's not a bad thing. I am really enjoying running.

Thursday I'm child-free, so I will most likely spend the day down at the Art Fairs. It will either be sweltering, or pouring rain, so I'd better prepare myself. How is your summer going?

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Belated 4th and holy crap I've been busy.

Did this patriotic LO just before the holiday and meant to share it here, but plans (dinner at mom & dad's), company (sis & co.), and my new high-powered workout schedule have left me little time to update.

This concert was held mid-May at Tess's school. Local military, police, and firefighters were invited. Her class learned about 15 patriotic songs (as did Ben & I, as Tess practiced them all relentlessly at home!) and speeches (she recited the poem and info about it from the Statue of Liberty) BY MEMORY. So impressive!

This tradition was started almost 20 years ago by a teacher at her school (who recently passed away, making this year's concert especially poignant) during the first Gulf War. She was shocked that her students didn't know the words to our national anthem; well, now several generations do!

(everything on this LO is from Designer Digitals: template by the super-inspiring Cathy Zielske, who is 6 months into her fitness program. Kit is Summer Bright by Lynn G.)

So here's the real reason I've been MIA for the last couple of weeks. Since it's officially Bathing Suit Weather, I've finally found the motivation to get. moving. Since drastic measures were needed, I've tried exercising every day (skipping the weekends, but even those will get in on it, very soon) since about June 28th, when I did a warm-up (weak) 6 laps in the outdoor pool at our gym.

This week I'm up to 24 laps (working toward 36, a full mile, 2 or 3 times a week). I've also started the Couch to 5K podcast program (you can pay for it at coolrunning.com but someone has uploaded a listen-along version for free at iTunes). My only goal with that so far is maybe a 5K run...my village has one in December (brr) called the Holiday Hustle. Ann Arbor is a runnin' town, so I'll have no problem finding 5Ks+ in my neighborhood. But for right now I'm taking it slow, since I've never followed a running program before!

Tess's dance recital was mid-June. The first hairdo I did for her was PERFECTION; too bad the one I did for her actual recital fell out! Eep! She was a trouper, though...she just kept dancing! I used a Summer Night kit from Digitalcrea.fr but also a template from 2peas, not the usual look for a Digitalcrea LO but I had fun with the colors! Still not sure I love it...

This gang of gals has been taking up some of my free time as well. This week I've been a bit of a slacker, though (see workout routine, above, and oh my it's so dang HOT out! Too hot for weeding. Bad virgin!) Everything here -- template and all -- is from Shabby Pickle Designs. LOVE all the kits from As You Wish...here I just went with one, Checkered Apron.

This was a challenge over at ScrapArtist. Everything except the snail is from there. We were to put wings on something unusual...someone had suggest to me, at a fairy tea I attended with my mother, that since I didn't have fairies in my garden, "Just snails, LOTS of snails!" that I should put wings on them and see if they flew away! Then this challenge came up a voila! I made my fantasy come true. Sort of.

Hoping you have lots of strawberries this year, since the snails ate all of ours. Peace out.