[please excuse the appearance of my new blog template, we are still working on the design and layout]

Today the Unscripted Design Team is hosting an Unscripted Blog Hop.

I hope that 2010 brings each of us, our families, and loved ones,

  Peace, Love, Happiness, Health, and Everything Good!

The last few months of 2009 found me busy with life. Studying for the NCLEX exam, and stressing about the exam took up a lot of my life in my journey to become a Registered Nurse, but now I am ready to find my mojo and begin some scrappy projects!

In yesterdays post I have listed my Resolutions/Goals for 2010, and my word for 2010.

Project Share: As I am working on being better organized and getting rid of extra ’stuff’. I went thru every scrapbook magazine that I had and ripped out ideas and things that caught my eye.

I cut out and glued everything down and added to a Rolodex.

It sits within reach on my worktable and I love it! I am planning on covering the dividers with patterned paper and labeling my sections. I freed up a huge amount of space on my bookcase. Love when an idea comes together!!

Blog Candy! Two sets of acrylic stamps and one acrylic clear mini block.

Sign up to follow my blog. Leave a comment in this post, and come back on Saturday, January 9th at 6pm EST to see if you are a winner! I will use Random.Org to choose the winner.

Be sure to stop by Jeryns Blog. Visit Unscriped Sketches for the list of all of the Designers participating in our 2010 Unscripted Blog Hop!

Have a wonderful day friends, and here’s to a beautiful 2010!

xo-Jenny

Happy Saturday friends! Up and out the door and found a handful of local yardsales.

This scale has a glass front on it. I am not sure if I am going to spray paint it. I am really liking the rustic look. $3.00 for the scale, $2.00 for all of the books. Entertaining Martha Stewart, Love Letters [there is some great poems/quotes and scrapbook inspirations in this book], Borders & Frames, Alphabets & Ornaments, and Florals & Nature [all cd's included!!]. Favorite Recipes of America: Meats and Vegetables.

4 metal plant containers to hang on the sides of the back deck next season. 50 cents for all four.

Four plate holders. $1.00 each.

Thinking that I will spray paint them white. Two for the kitchen and two for the diningroom. I can’t wait to get them hung with our state plates in them.

Here is my 4×6 layout using todays Unscripted Sketch

Today is all about Critters at Camera Critters. Today I am sharing our “Fat Cat”. Shiva is a Maine Coon cat who is also double pawed on all four feet. Shiva is approximately 10 1/2 years old and is the King in this house. I’m going to use this photo of Shiva as my Project 365 photo today also.

Hey Harriet is ready for this round of Shadow Shot Sunday and here is my photo for this week. I took this photo yesterday at an old cemetary a few streets over from where I live.

Saturday Wordless the inscription is absolutely breathtaking…it reads-

Passing stranger, tread lightly here,
This is a loved- a hallowed place:
O’er at which I bend, while many a tear,
In anguish shed, bedews my face.
For here reclines my Loring dear.
In deaths unbroken dreamless sleep:
His manly face beaming with joy.
No more on earth my eyes will greet:
Spring may return with soften’d gain..
Nature to deck with loveliness.
Sunbeams may glow and moonbeams pale.
While still unconscious here he’ll rest;
But in a fairer clime he dwells.
Where mortal footsteps have not been.
There the sweet notes the anthem swells.
And there I trust, we’ll meet again.

Makes me wonder what happened to him, and to his young bride, as there is not a woman buried near him, so I wonder if she remarried…

On our walk yesterday we stopped at a great building for some photo ops and I wanted to share a cute photo of Oliver and I before I run along. He is just the absolute cutest little guy!!

Well friends, much to do…

Until tomorrow-

xO-Jenny

Happy Thursday friends!! Woke up this morning to a chilly beginning [no complaining], and 101 ideas/plans and schemes. Well, I didn’t accomplish all 101 but I did accomplish a few, so life is good.

After the afternoon chores, Keith and I made a trip to Goodwill and it’s Thrift Store Thursday. I found this brand new rolling suitcase and inside was the samsonite carryall…Grand total: $1.99!

On the way home we stopped at an antique store and I found this lovey to add to my collection…

In the first photo, not sure if you can see it clearly, but the case is monogrammed L.A.K.E. There was no price on the suitcase so I asked the gentleman expecting to have to walk out the door ‘without’ it and after a moment of thinking he said, $5.00! WAhooo!!

Inspire Me Thursday topic for today is Pears.

Pear, Apple and Cranberry Crisp recipe by Ina Garten [The Barefoot Contessa].

Oh, and if you’ve been wondering where I’ve been running off to with my boys for a month now in the big city, here’s my Project 365 photo for today.

They are a little late going to drivers ed, but driving is a priviledge and unfortunately they made some wrong choices when it came to school grades so they were not rewarded.

They are going to be the death of me….but, I’m being told there are a lot of women still walking around that survived their sons, so maybe I’ll be one of those lucky ones!!

Well friends, I hope your day has been a beautiful one, and until tomorrow…

xO-Jenny

Here’s to another day that has flown by. Spent a few hours with my girlfriend Becky, today. Trying to help her get her apartment ready for the birth of her son [due date: October 31st.]. As you can imagine at 31 weeks pregnant she has the want and desire to get things accomplished, but tires rather easily. Today I did her bathroom, hallway and kitchen. The good-friend that I am, I told her I would clean/reorganize her apartment this ONE time and NEVER again in those exact terms! Becky of course laughed and promised me she would never let the housework get that out of control again…we’ll see! So tomorrow I’m back to her apartment to tackle her livingroom and her bedroom….tired just thinking of it…

I’ve been attempting to read Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self  and Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy both by Sarah Ban Breathnach as a nightly routine. Like my Project 365 photo that I do daily, I am hoping that the habit will fall into place and become second nature.

I really appreciate Sarah Ban Breathnachs writing. Very inspiring and empowering.

The other night the lesson was Music as Therapy. I love music and as I read the entry it made so much sense to me. I believe strongly that music can heal disease, depression and sorrow. I have a few songs in my memory from difficult parts of my life that if I heard one of them now it would bring me back to that moment in time and I would relive the pain my heart and soul that I was going thru at that time. Seriously, that is powerful!!

As I was reading the lesson it mentioned that “if you need to focus your concentration, listening to Mozart can increase your clarity–which is why it’s the recommended accompaniment for exam cramming as well as creative brainstorming.” Well, I’ll be damned! Someone forgot to mention this fact to me while I was in Nursing School!!

While Becky and I were jabbering this afternoon I mentioned this and she pulled out two Mozart cd’s and gave them to me [she had duplicates]. Can’t hurt to give it a try, right!?

…here’s my Project 365 photo for today

And tonight I am watching Amadeus, [oh, you know me...always behind the rest of the world with my head in the sand]. All is good!!

Until tomorrow friends…

xO-Jenny

Traditions: Celebrating Day-to-Day hosted by Marie at Emma Calls Me Momma. I hope you will choose to not only join in on this great blog party, but visit Marie’s blog and visit those who have linked up and joined in on this subject.

Traditions have always been important to me, and my family has had many over the years.

From Friday night pizza and movies to choosing a gift to open on Christmas Eve, the many, many traditions inbetween are probably so numerous it would take me forever to list them all. And many of them on the list may cross between family traditions and family rituals. But they all center on the important thing, and that is celebrating our family, and our love for one another.

Of all of our family traditions/rituals the most fond would be our many family meals around the table, listening to the kids tell us about their day at school, talking about plans for the week, things we wanted to do together etc. As the kids became older work and school activities made our meals together less and there were many nights where it was just Keith and I at the dining room table, but I am happy we were able to instill the sense of family and togetherness with our children.

Birthdays are celebrated with the birthday person choosing exactly what they would like for their birthday dinner. I always ordered elaborate birthday cakes for the kids: cinderella, barney, barbie, matchbox cars…to name a few birthday themes, over the past few years we’ve been celebrating with a homemade birthday cake. A few pretty funny looking cakes resulted and they were not as beautiful as the store bought, but they were made with love and filled with birthday wishes and dreams.

Roses sent to school on my daughters birthday, special outings with the kids, Christmas pajamas and stockings, picnics, long lazy summer days spent at the beach, bbq’s, fun at the fair, shopping for school clothes, family pictures…

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Celebrating Day-to-Day traditions.

I’ll be back later with a regular post and my Project 365 photo.

xO-Jenny

Today was Paint the Town sponsored by the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland. This was Keith’s fourth year participating in this great event. So, we packed up and headed out this morning. Walked around for a bit until Keith found his inspiration and began painting…

We brang Oliver, and while Keith was painting Oliver and I read, talked to numerous people and even went shopping!! We were about 3 miles from a Goodwill, so after our picnic lunch I ran over to Goodwill looking for something in particular [no luck], but I did find a few books.

I love Ethan Allen furniture. I was practically drooling as I was flipping pages. My next house will definetly be shabby/vintage and Ethan Allen.

Warning!! If you are experiencing the Empty Nest syndrome as bad as I am, do not open feathers from my nest and begin reading while standing in a store [let alone Goodwill], alone or, worse yet, without kleenex!!

While I’m mentioning my visit to Goodwill, I do need to point this out. Ladies, I think Goodwill is onto us!! Since this time last summer I am seeing a serious increase in prices of anything related to shabby/vintage, and alterable items.

On the way home we stopped and walked down to the water to let Oliver get wet [we are working really hard on getting him to feel comfortable with water]. There was a huge crowd of children across the way from us and as you can see, they had Olivers attention.

Oliver was an absolute joy today. We still have [some] barking but it is few and far inbetween so we are on the right track teaching him. I just cannot even begin to express how grateful I am to have this little guy as part of my life. I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.

Here’s my Project 365 photo for today.

Well friends, I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at Keiths painting, and reading my ramblings. I am feeling a bit hot, and tired so I am going to call it a night so I can do some more reading in Breaking Dawn [was hoping I'd finish it today...looks like tomorrow will be the day].

Until tomorrow’s {Simply Sunday} thread…I hope your Saturday has been as beautiful as ours.

xO-Jenny