Oy vay! I should be sleeping. I have to be up early. I have to get to work early so that I can leave early to pick up my new puppy. Yup, tomorrow’s the day. But it’s 2 am and I am wide awake with excitement.

I had Koda all week until this morning and already tonight the apartment felt so empty to come home to. I could use a little bit of happiness to come home to every day. Right now I’m feeling a little bit like life is 1 step forward 2 steps back. Hopefully this puppy will keep pulling me forward. Alot to expect from a little 4 1/2 pound critter huh?!

It seems as though at least some of you are enjoying the cute puppy pics so I thought I would link you to Melissa’s blog in case you haven’t seen enough here. I have no idea how she found my blog but she just got a puggle a few months ago and I’ve had so much fun reading about her adventures with their new sweetie. She has such a way of describing little Belle’s personality. Like I love this part from her post here:

"She loves her people. L.O.V.E.S. Seriously, if you walk on two feet and have the ability to pet and play, you are instantly added to her "inner circle". She’s such a love."

Awwww. But you gotta click on the link ‘cuz the photos in the post are completely adorable. 

Or this post. I love the Napolean Dynamite reference. This girl cracks me up. And the "Princess-pick-me-up-I’m-tired-pants" part. HAH! Too funny.

Can’t wait to start teaching Pixel some tricks like these. Very impressive Belle. :)

Kay, I better try and get some sleep. I have a feeling I’m going to need alot of energy this weekend and staying up till 3 am is not gonna help. Back tomorrow with more puppy pics I’m sure. I promise not to turn this into a blog only about Pixel. I’ve actually been doing a bit of scrapping so hopefully during puppy naps I can finish those up and I’m waiting on a fabric order that should be here any day so more sewing ahead too. :)

Hope everyone has a great Friday. I’m pretty sure I will be. :)

To make up for the lack of photos a little background music to listen to instead…

Lovin’ Lifehouse lately.

~Nighty-night~

Are you tired of seeing puppy pics yet? I’m afraid you’ll be seeing a lot more so hopefully not. I’ve picked out a puppy and I think I’ll be able to pick her up this weekend. I can’t wait! I know it’s a big commitment but it’s well worth it to have a little buddy to hang out with and keep me company. So…

Isn’t she the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? And how fun is that name?! It is just too perfect with my digi-scrapping love and doesn’t it just fit her? I can’t even imagine a more perfect name. :)

Have all of you checked out this site?

I watched a few of the episodes yesterday and they’re fun and I’m LOVING their gallery. I started setting mine up and there are so many features that I love about it. Now the only thing that’s missing is LOs by more of my uber-talented friends. I’ve looked for many of your usernames but noone seems to be there yet but me. :( Check it out and leave me some love and let me know if you start a gallery there so I can add you to my favorite SISters list. :) If Sarah’s on the team you know it’s gonna be an awesome site. Can’t wait for her first challenge that comes out tomorrow in the message boards area.

Have you checked out the new bags? There are some new styles and a variety of price ranges available. Just shoot me an email if you have any questions or are interested in purchasing one of the bags shown. The swing bag style is an Amy Butler pattern that I’ve fallen in love with. I’ve been using one for carrying all my crochet stuff and a few magazines in (as seen here) and it would make a GREAT bag to take to the beach. It’s also perfect size for a mom who wants to stash a couple diapers and some baby essentials along with a wallet and mommy essentials all in a stylish purse. :)

On the completely random list of things on my mind lately is the amount of milk that I’ve discovered I go through all by myself. It is insane! I honestly go through a half gallon a day. Easily. I could actually buy 3 gallons of milk in one trip to the grocery store and be confident that none of it would expire in my fridge. CRAZY!

I’m way behind on my photo-a-day posting. I’m not quite as behind at taking the photos as I am at posting them but I haven’t taken as many as I’d like. I’m thinking about taking the camera with me for a day and trying something like this. Seems like a fun idea and something that would make for a great scrapbook page at the end of the day. I’d also like to take a week and do a theme of some sort like Lauren’s self portrait theme lately or maybe my favorite things about my new apartment/area. Just need something to kick-start me back into hauling out the camera more often again. Although I guess a new puppy will probably help with that too. :) 

Kay, better get back to work. Hope everyone’s having a great Wednesday. Looking forward to a night out with Jill tonight maybe with some great food here. That salad and their amazing blue cheese chips are calling my name. :)

Oh, where to begin…

I’ve been crazy busy with getting ready for that boutique show and then trying to wind down a bit after it was all over but I did do the drawing finally Friday night after the show and the winner is…

I’ll have to get your mailing address from you so I’ll be in touch. :)

I had so much fun sewing new bags for the show that I’m excited to get back into that more in the weeks ahead. So many fun new fabrics out there and I’ve been playing with some new designs. It’s so fun to see people walk in and hear their reactions to all the bags that I’d worked so hard on. Great sense of accomplishment after a couple of crazy busy weeks. Seemed like with most everyone who came to the show it was a matter of deciding WHICH bag out of the many that they liked. Gotta love that. :) I’ll be posting some of the new designs available in the on-line boutique later tonight so keep an eye out there but here’s a few pics from the show to give you a sneak peak. :)

Is Amy the most photogenic girl you’ve ever seen or what?! I wish I’d had her hold all the bags for the pictures.

After the show ended on Saturday I picked up my niece Celena and my dog and met my sister Kimmy and her girls downtown for the Tulip Time parade. Celena and I split a piece of junk food pizza and some fries with vinegar (my favorite) and I got a bag of caramel corn to take home. The weather was gorgeous, even got a little burnt but now it’s just looking like I finally have a little color so it’s all good. :) I’ve got tons more pics so I’ll definitely be scrapping these but here’s a few of my favorites…

Oh, and to clear things up on the puppy stuff, Koda in the photo above is the dog that I currently have a sort-of joint custody arrangement where I hang out with him on my lunches when I’m working in town and occasionally I get to have him for a night or two (like tonight). The flickr photos in my previous post were just various pictures of the type of puppy that I’m wanting to get since I’ve discovered that I really like having Koda around but that’s not an option full-time. Koda is a Cavelier which is a GREAT breed but I’m thinking he would really love a Puggle for a buddy. Anyway, I didn’t get any good pics of the puggle that was at the race last weekend so that’s why I found some favorites on flickr and posted those to remind me how cute it was. The following photo is actually one of a litter that’s a little too young to leave their mom just yet but if I decide to do the puppy thing then likely one of these will be keeping me company very soon. :)

Aren’t they just too cute?!?! Decisions decisions. I want one so bad but trying not to make an impulse decision about them. I’ll definitely keep ya posted. :)

Yesterday I took a look back on my post last year for mother’s day. Seems like a lifetime ago with everything that’s changed in my life since then. I noticed too that it’s been just one year since I made my first purse. Seems crazy to me. I love having those posts to look back on though. Soooo much has changed but what hasn’t changed is that I still love my mom very much. I still think she’s done an incredible job raising 5 kids. After all, I’m probably the biggest disappointment in the bunch and I think even I turned okay. She’s also the most giving grandma that I know. There is no doubt that she loves her grandbaby’s more than anything else in the world and I love that about her. I can also still say that I think my sisters are the greatest moms the neats could ever ask for. I hope all of them enjoyed their day yesterday as moms.

Kay, gotta run and pick up Koda but I promise to post more purses in the boutique later tonight so be sure to check back if you’re in the market for a fun new bag. :)

Kay, so really … what gives on the utah craftyness headquarters thing? I believe all of the following are just from this past week or so and I think I’m actually missing 1 or 2 others that I’ve run across just in my own little list of blogs that I frequent. Is there something in the air there that makes people creative? Or is there some universal little-known secret that if you’re insanely creative that you’ll instinctively just end up there?

Michelle Coleman in this post: "So this last weekend, I had the PLEASURE of meeting up with some gals in Park City to do some Scrapping!"

Kim Hendricks in this post: "boutique cafe getaway adventure" (which I happen to know was in Utah)

Elsie Flannigan in this post: "Emma and I are going to Utah today for a fun sister’s trip!" And check out her fun pics from the trip in this post and this post.

Beth & Susan in this post (which includes some great pics): "Our trip to Utah was so phenomenal in every way…"

Amelia’s post here titled the perfect color morning: "The picture you see is of my clothes all laid out for my departure trip from SLC to come back to Houston."

Nancy’s post here: "Last week my older sister Becky and I decided last minute to throw our kids in the car and drive to Utah."

This post on Ali Edward’s blog: "Just getting ready to head to Salt Lake for some CK meetings."

Here’s another one and another one.

Come on, seriously, what gives?!

This my dears is what you call a bit of ‘puppy persuasion’. ;)

Let me go back a bit and work through my weekend since it was a good one. First of all last week I got to have my dog for a few days at my apartment. Typically I only get to see him on lunches when I’m in town which has worked out okay but having him hang with me for a couple days made me a little more lonesome the next few nights.

Fastforward through Friday night, which included dinner at one of my favorite restaurants and a bit of car shopping (no not for me) and a movie instead of driving back into Holland for fireworks…on through Saturday which was a lot of sewing, dinner at another favorite along with more car shopping…Sunday morning church and then another bike race at Fort Custer Recreation Area which is where a sweet family had the most adorable puppy I’ve ever seen. So THAT is why my post is so crazy adorable today. How cute are they?!

Anyway, the puppy was a bit of a highlight of a beautiful (although chilly) afternoon. I did come more prepared this time with my bag of goodies for the down time although I still forgot my ipod. :( I had my yarn for crocheting though, a notebook for writing down some thoughts, a magazine and some munchies. One of the other things that I brought and DIDN’T read was The Journaler’s Handbook by Tracy White. I mean who am I really kidding? I am not a journaler and this book, although REALLY pretty and I’m sure very well written, is not gonna be enough to get me to write more on my own scrapbook pages. I’m thinking that it really should have a better home where it might actually be used dontcha think? I thought I’d do a little drawing here on Thursday from comments left on this post. I’ll cut it off Thursday night say by 8:00 and post here by Friday who the lucky winner is. It’s a $30 book and it’s like brand new, barely even looked through it and I certainly haven’t written any thoughts in the journal portion of it. :)

As for the week ahead, crazy busy sewing stuff for a boutique home show this weekend. Busy work schedule, which is good too. Hopefully get out to see a movie since there are a few out that look good and I think we are supposed to have a rainy day or two ahead. Maybe a junk food night downtown and then Saturday afternoon seeing the parade with Leeandra and some of the neats. Add in some good tv, Dancing with the Stars (go Apolo) and Bachelor (likin’ Tessa & Amber), and did I mention sewing? All good stuff. Not much time for scrappin’ I’m afraid but looks to be a great week.

As Brittany says…until :)

Kay, lighter post ahead I promise. :)

TGIF. I am definitely ready for a weekend. It’s been a good work schedule this week. Great combination of hours between both jobs and a little sewing to get ready for a spring home boutique show next weekend. That’ll keep me very busy this next week as well. And it’s Tulip Time in my hometown so there’s all sorts of festivities from now until the big parade finale next weekend. Fireworks tonight, maybe some junk food downtown one night next week and then I think Leeandra (and maybe even her new main squeeze) is/are coming up to see the parade next Saturday. :)

Tomorrow could be a busy day but I am hoping to get in some scrapping since it’s National Scrapbook Day. I’ve even got a shopping wishlist (that extends far beyond my available $$$). How will I narrow it down?!

Jennifer’s swank labels                     Leora’s dressed up blooms

Marcie’s bahama mama kit            Michelle’s chasing rainbow’s kit

Two Sister’s couture photo art        Taran’s tk mouse font            

I’m really excited about getting back into the digital scrapbooking though. I’m even toying with the idea of resurrecting the scrapbooking for hire site (Eclectic Whimsy Designs) that I’d worked so hard on about a year ago and then got burned out on the design of the site before it was finished. I’ll have to get a few more finished LOs under my belt though before tackling that again.

Kay, gotta finish some things up here and get into work. It’s a gorgeous day and going to be a gorgeous weekend. I love spring! :) Hope everyone has a great weekend!