June in Review

So, here's how June went down .... (Hah, sounds ominous, but it's not. Oh, I guess I ruined it for you, huh? ^_-)

Some months back a Trader Joe's opened up near us. We were told it was crazy busy when it first opened. So, we waited to see what all the fuss was about. And, the first week in June, we went. It was pretty neat, and had some cool stuff, but ... it's kind of small.

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Second week in June I finally broke down and upgraded my phone, and with Brian going to school this fall, we thought it would a good idea for him to have one, too. SO, we got His (black) and Hers (white)  iPhones. We had gift cards and gift money to use, plus their trade-in program, we paid less than half what one would have cost, for both of them. (It would have been nothing out of pocket, but one of our gift cards wasn't working. Boo.) They're so pretty!

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Halfway through the month I went to one of my favorite stores for costume jewelry -- Charming Charlie! SO much cute stuff! I love that they have color-coded sections, so if you want a certain color item, you just go to that section and don't have to wade through unwanted colors. Sadly, the black/white bracelet broke, so I returned it (they didn't have any others there). The others are necklaces.

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And last, but certainly not least, it was mine and Brian's 7th Wedding Anniversary on June 23. Seven! Brian was a dear and sent flower to my office the next day. I have never seen flowers like this. I especially like the "male dog's" top hat. So cute!

So, that was June! Of course, we did a few other fun things, like a family get-together, lunch with my parents, lovely dinners out for our anniversary, etc.

And, now that summer is upon us, do you have any fun plans? We're planning a trip to Kansas City, MO in late July, but that'll probably be it for us. Want to go to the beach again, but ... that'll probably have to wait.

I Won! Totes Adorbs!

So, I don't win anything. Ever. I think the last thing I ever won was a cake on a Cake Walk at an elementary school fair (when I was in elementary school).

So, over the years I don't usually enter many things, because, well, I don't win. (I know, perhaps my logic is flawed. Perhaps if I enter more, I will win more. But I digress.)

A few weeks ago I entered a contest on Catster.com and won this cute tote!!

The contest was pretty easy. All they asked one to do is comment on the post on their site with the answer to what our cat's dream vacation would be.

And this is what I said:

My cats would both like vacations . . . from each other! Yanni would like an abundance of cat trees, and cat treats, with someone ever ready to pet him. (He LOVES attention.) Ideally, that person would be me. But he'll take my husband, too. ^_- And, no Yuki (his sister) around. He's bothered by her.

Yuki would also like lots of pets and cuddles, and a place with lots of cubbies to hide in for naps, and as a special treat, a trip to the shaky mice factory, where ideally, someone would play fetch with her constantly, and she could take home some swag. (But, really, who am I kidding--she's terrified of leaving the house. Oh, well, maybe just the swag, then.) =^_^=

 So excited that I won!

And in other Project 52 goings on ...

I teach the 8-year-old class at church with the hubs, and here I am prepping a lesson:

And Brian and I splurged the other day and stopped off near our home after work, and got a bunch of food -- sandwiches, kimchee fries, and gourmet ice cream! Yum!

Linens, and Wicked, and Cake! Oh My!

The last few weeks have been busy with things at home, things out and about, and foodie things.


I've slowly been trying to put our bedroom together since our move some months ago (eep! almost 9!), but it needed to begin with the curtains. I bought the purple Ikat fabric over a year ago, and a friend of mine sewed them together to make some panels a few months back. Right before we moved we purchased an upholstered headboard, which has been the first headboard we've had since we were married. No kidding! We then got some simple natural linens, and then ... I waited for the final piece. And it finally went on sale! It's that lovely coverlet with a paisley design, and matching shams.

Now all the room needs is for some pictures to go over the bed (I have them, they just need to go up), and for a bed skirt -- do you know how hard it is to find an off-white bed skirt? *sighs* Unfortunately, I may have to go with "ivory." Here's hoping it's not too yellow!

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And then, a weekend before Mother's Day, I took my mom to go see the musical Wicked! I've seen it before, but I wanted her to experience it. She loved it. It IS quite the production. You're not supposed to take pictures, but I managed to go near the stage AFTER the production was over and take a picture of the backdrop that greets you when you first enter. It's a map of Oz, with the Emerald City in the middle (with it's twinkly lights).

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And, to celebrate May, we had a May Day party at work, and I decided to be ambitious and attempt a delicious-looking dessert I had found via Pinterest—a Triple-Lemon Blueberry Cake (3 layers, with lemon juice, zest, extract, oh, and curd, so, maybe, technically, 4-Lemon ^_-).

And, not an official P52 shot, but I got a pic of the inside. Yum!

I know, I know, I promised I would not try to post food pics for my Project 52, but ... I've never made a cake like this, so I HAD to take a picture of the success. Not only did it come out pretty, it was DE-LISH! (I added the sugared blueberries, as the frosting was a little plain because I could not get it to go yellow—I think I got the wrong kind of food coloring.)

So, there ya go! My last few weeks in review.

My Stories

I came across this fantastic idea on write.click.scrapbook about "My Stories." Basically, the author has folder on her computer where she types up stories that are hers, memories, so that she will always have them accessible, especially for her children. And, every few months, she prints them out and puts them in a binder.

Sure, we always remember the BIG events (like weddings, births, funerals, etc.), but how about that wacky day when THIS happened ... or remember when so-and-so said THAT thing? I don't. For some reason, my memory seems to get worse and worse as I get older. Which, maybe is common? I don't know. (Maybe I need more brain exercises.) In either case, while I try to scrapbook those memories, it's really only been the last few years that I've been scrapbooking, and usually it's larger moments that I've happened to capture on digiFilm.

I thought that that'd be a great way to journal ... to write down those memories as they come. To always remember them. Recalling them can be spurred on by incidents, smells, etc.

I love what she says about this:

What I mean by "stories" are the little incidents and experiences that add flavor to your life. The chestnuts you pull out at family get-togethers or the tales of mirth you tell at parties. The inside jokes and memories and embarrassing moments that make you unique. You know: your stories.

What's funny is that in her post, she talks about an incident she had with a spider. Which reminded me of a funny story involving a spider myself ....

Many years ago, I was sitting around (my then best friend) Jennifer's dining table, with her, our friend from high school Russell, and her then-boyfriend Michael. It was night time, and we were playing a card game (I want to say it was Phase 10, but maybe it was Skip-Bo—Russell might remember). We were having a fun time until someone glanced down at the floor and saw a spider. Russell and Michael immediately got somewhat antsy. Spiders were not their friends. 

I thought it was an awfully fuzzy spider, thought it wasn't terribly big. So Jenn took off her shoe and went to kill it. And the spider exploded out into (what seemed like) hundreds of tiny spiders which went scurrying everywhere! I had never seen such a sight! But as soon as that happened, Russell and Michael jumped out of their chairs, took a few steps toward the living room and got on top of the coffee table. At the same time, Jenn rushed to under the sink to grab some bug spray—I had never seen her move so fast! She quickly sprayed all the little things dead. And me? I think I scooted my chair back and lifted my legs up. And I may have screamed some. But at least I didn't jump on the coffee table. *LOL*

I think the rest of the night everyone kept feeling like they little spiders were crawling all over them.

And that's "My Exploding Spider Story."


I want to try and do what write.click.scrapbook has done, so I can retain my memories. After all, they're unique to me. I might share them on here once in awhile. We'll see.

How about you? Do you have a good memory? Do you journal in some way to retain those memories?

The Last Few Weeks

Lots of things going on, and I have not posted photos, but will do that now! ^_^

First off: good news! Brian got a job. It's a temporary/seasonal job with full-time hours working at the same company I work at. They expect to possibly offer him a permanent position in the next few months, but nothing is ever certain. Also, he had to take quite a substantial pay cut, since they claimed that was all they had in the budget right now. They also said that if/when they offer him a permanent position, it would come with a pay increase. Although, we don't know what that really mens in terms of dollars. Also, Brian had planned to go back to school this fall, and that's still the plan, so we'll see if this job will fit in with that.

Second: stupid news! Someone hit my car twice over the last two weeks. Brian and I have been carpooling and leaving my car parked near out apartment. We came home one day to see a scrape and a slight dent on my read driver's side. Not happy, but somewhat excusable, as the spaces are quite narrow. But last Wednesday I came home to very noticeable damage over my read driver's side tire. And, I am not happy. BUT, we believe we have a suspect. We even took photos and everything and they seem to match up. Thing is, I don't know how we go about even getting this person to admit what they did (if they even noticed, but how could they not?). Anyway, it's aggravating.

Third: fun news!! This past weekend, I got tickets to go see The Little Mermaid musical in Kansas City, Missouri. The Little Mermaid is my favorite movie, and I had wanted to see the musical while it was on Broadway, but it only lasted about a year, which made me sad. Since then, I have watched our local theaters to see if it was coming, but no such luck. Then, a random bit of events led me to discover that it was showing in 3 cities this summer, one of which is Missouri. I knew it would be a great little trip to go see the show, but also, Brian has lots of family up there (and his grandparents are only about half an hour away from Kansas City), so we thought it'd be nice to visit them too. We are also going to go with his dad and stepmom, so it should be a fun little vacay. We had thought, that with him not having a job and starting school soon we might not be able to have a vacay this year, but this will fit the bill nicely (and will probably be the last one we have for a few years, but that's okay). SO, I'm very excited about that!! ^_^ (And in a few weeks, I get to go see Wicked!)

And last, but not least, pictures!!


Went to a seminar where I learned about storm spotting. Now I'm an official Storm Spotter!

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Twice a year, my church puts on a worldwide conference that we can watch from the comfort of our home. I usually take this time to work on a cross stitch project; it helps me stay awake. ^_^

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While we enjoy the Kindle, there's nothing like a haul of free books from the library!

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The youth at church were having a silent auction to help pay for their summer programs, and I donated some handmade/designed cards.