A surprise party…for me!??? 

Tonight my hubby, along with my son, parents, sister and in-laws, threw me a surprise party! 

For ME!  I couldn’t believe it! 

I had a wonderful evening.  Lots of family, and my best friend & her husband…lots of laughs…I had a great time. 

Above is a picture of my tiara & wand.  Don’t all princesses need one?  lol 

All details were thought out.  My favorite coffees were brewed.  I really appreciate all of the planning and time that went into it.  I am thankful for my family/friends that were willing to spend their Saturday evening with an old lady turning 40.  I am truly blessed. 

I feel really loved & blessed. 

I am so thankful for my family and friends… 

(more pictures to come….)

(only 9 more days till I turn 40…maybe it will be ok after-all) 

Every Friday in February, I will be posting random fun facts.   This week’s category is Me.   

Here are the fun facts for this week. 

Random Fun Facts about Me: 

• I despise “Wizard of Oz” & “The Sound of Music”.
• I have never flown…ever…
• My husband & I have NEVER danced nor have we ever gone to a dance.
• I don’t wear glasses…although, I’m almost 40 and I am pretty sure that these ‘old eyes of mine might need some help soon…lol…
• I have never broken a bone. 
• I haven’t had any pop in about 10 years. 
• I am a TV addict.  I can’t stand silence in the house. 
• I love doing laundry and despise cleaning bathrooms & floors.
• I prefer to watch movies/DVDs/TV with the closed captions (subtitles) turned on.  I think that you catch more of what they are saying, when you are reading along with them.  Plus if everyone is asleep you can turn the TV down and still know what’s going on…lol…
• I fear that I will have a heartache and often think that any sudden pain on my left side will be the death of me. 

So, those were 10 facts about me.  Not sure how fun or entertaining they were, but they are facts. 

Only 10 days till my birthday.  I am somewhat of a control freak.  My husband is planning all sorts of things and I have NO idea what they are.  ARGH.  He simply tells me the date & time and that’s all.  Not my usual routine.  I mean, how is a girl supposed to know what to wear if she has no idea where she is going, or who will be there?!?! 

10 more days.  I hope I survive.  LoL 

from under my favorite Steeler blanket,

with my hot cup of coffee, (this week’s, @ home, brewing choice  Seattle’s Best Creme Brulee) within reach,

(along with my home phone, cell phone, tv remote and favorite chapstick)…. 

with my green laptop, camera & accessory bag at the end of my chair,  

and my fuzzy friend, Chewy, practically attached to me. 

(The picture below is awful, I know.  As soon as Chewy hears the camera, he always moves….guess he’s camera-shy…argh)  

I think I have a case of the winter-blahs. 

I haven’t been feeling too inspired… 

I am hoping to accomplish lots of scrappy projects this weekend,

PLUS my Studio Calico kit of the month should be coming tomorrow!!! (yippee!!) 

Oh, and I am looking forward to a new episode of this show & that show–TONIGHT! 

…11 days till I turn 40… 

And I tried 2 new techniques. 

This one is a reverse mask.  

Instead of spraying (misting) over the die cut letters, I simply removed the letters and layed the entire page over my layout.  I moved the top page down slightly, so that there would be a stripe of mist across the top. 

As you can see in the picture below, I clipped the two sheets together so that it wouldn’t shift around. 

Above is the finished picture, once the top sheet was removed.  

No inspiring “lesson” to share with you today…lol…what was I thinking when I started at 40?! 

hahahaha 

The right page is a picture of us at my senior banquet.  I went to a Christian high school, so we didn’t have prom… 

Below, right are 2 pictures from when we were dating…

Below is the actual computer-printed card that I gave to him on our 1st anniversary…I swiped it out of an old album that I had made.  Remember those awful albums where you pulled the clear cover up and stuck the picture to the sticky page?  I have many of those from the “early years” of my scrapbooking. 

Below right is a picture of us from our 1st Easter, as a married couple….matching shirts!  yikes! 

I used my vintage typewriter for the journaling.  Some of the embellishments were cut on my Cricut Expression, (like this “kiss me”). 

Although I do enjoy making/giving cards, I really enjoy making mini albums as gifts.  Minis are so fun & the options are endless! 

The “hubs” took the day off to spend alone with me.  I love that.  I love having him beside me as we carry on the tasks of the day.  We ate lunch out, at our favorite Olive Garden….although, it wasn’t our typical good meal.  It was ab.so.lute.ly. freeeeezing in there.  A blower directly above our table.  Ate most of my lunch with my winter coat on.  (Bonus, my sister gave us at $25 gift card to O.G. for our anniversary!!!)  We were cold, but the food was yummy. 

We also made a trip to Starbucks…had a GC from there too, leftover from Christmas from my son…so we got to enjoy our favorite drinks…thanks Nick! 

Other than that, we did a little of this & a little of that.  

So far it’s been a good day!  

Together. 

The 2 of us. 

This evening we will spend as a family.  Maybe do something fun for dinner.  Just enjoy being together. 

Happy Anniversary, honey!  I love you! 

never stop dating your spouse! 

It’s the little dates that I love. 

I don’t need huge expensive dinners. 

…how about your favorite donut at a local drive-thru donut shop, hot coffee at another place, a quick errand, a little driving around, listening to music, then home to watch a movie… 

I would rather have 50 little tiny dates, than 1 big deluxe date. 

i love dating my hubby. 

and 17 till 40!  YIKES! 

(**bonus info: favorite donut: Glazed Sour Cream Cake Donut, tonight’s movie: 500 days of Summer**) 

I believe that God has placed that person on your heart. 

What do I mean? 

I feel that it is a call to prayer. 

To action. 

God has placed that person on your heart, so that you can remember them in prayer. 

Maybe even send them a card in the mail, (or email or text). 

Or bake some cookies for them. 

Just to let them know YOU were thinking about THEM. 

Maybe they need encouraged. 

Maybe they are going through something and they feel all alone. 

They need to know they are loved. 

They need to feel God’s love…..maybe THROUGH YOU!  

I encourage you, the next time someone comes to your mind, out-of-the-blue, 

stop & whisper a prayer for them. 

You don’t need to know the details.  God already knows. 

Plus God had placed someone on my heart that was having some physical problems, so I thought that maybe some homemade cookies would help sweeten their day. 

Here’s the yummy recipe for Betty Crocker Snickerdoodles. 

This is the recipe, plus my timing for using baking stones instead of cookie sheets: 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose/unbleached flour
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions: 

1. Heat oven to 400′.
2. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in a large bowl. 
3. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. 
4. Shape dough into 1 1/4inch balls. 
5. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. 
6. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Place 2 inches apart on baking stone (or ungreased cookie sheet). 
7. First batch (on cold stone) bake 12 minutes, removing from oven and allow them to rest on stone for another 3-4  minutes.  Then move to wire rack.
8. Remaining batches (on warm stone) bake 10 minutes, removing from oven and allow them to rest on stone for another 2 minutes.  Then move to wire rack. 
9. (Using cookie sheet, bake 8-10 minutes or until set.  Then move to wire rack.)

Yields: approx. 48 cookies 

*These cookies are peanut-free. 

Below is the finished “Warm Winter Wishes” set. 

Only 18 days till 40! 

Give me your eyes so I can see 

Everything that I keep missing 

Give me your love for humanity 

Give me your arms for the broken hearted 

Ones that are far beyond my reach. 

Give me your heart for the ones forgotten 

Give me your eyes so I can see 

This needs to be my prayer. 

This is a lesson that I haven’t completely learned yet. 

I need to see others as the Lord sees them. 

19 till 40!