Another snowy day here in Moscow.. I seem to be the only one who is really enjoying it.. We started our day going to church. Then went to a cute little bistro for brunch, called Silos. We had a delicious fritata and bagel and hot herb tea. Sitting by the windows watching it snow outside. Then Judy and I were off to Paper Pals Scrapbook store for Judy's class. We created adoreable valentine mini books. Fun class. Then stopped by Starbucks on the way home for a hot chocolate. This evening Judy's son Jeff and family came over for dinner.. still snowing outside.

SNOW

Today it started snowing early this morning and continued all day. Judy and I ventured out this morning to the grocery store and then stayed in the rest of the day and enjoyed the snowfall from inside. I helped her put her kits together for her class tomorrow. This evening we went to the men's U of I basketball game..What a great game.. the stands were packed and we WON.. It was a very fast paced, high intensity game..Great fun.. stopped by Starbucks for hot chocolate.. Very good day..

Fun Day

Today was a busy fun day; we started out the day at Paper Pals Scrapbook store.. This is the store where Judy teaches.. It is a great store and I can always find so many things that I must have :-). .Lots of fun things for my up-coming classes . .. Judy is teaching a darling Valentine book there this weekend and I am excited to take the class. After our visit with Karen & Shawna a the store we headed up the hill to the book store at Washington State University.. We got to have a stroll across campus while we located the re-located bookstore.. It was REALLY COLD..and my cheeks and nose were very cold... after that we had lunch at a very cute place in Pullman called Swilley's. Their specialty on Friday is shrimp bisque and it was wonderful.. This evening we attended the University of Idaho girls basketball game and it was a very exciting game.. they lost by 4 in overtime..great game. Tomorrow night we are going to the men's basketball game. I am having a great time, can't get over how beautiful the trees are covered with frost.. they look almost mystical .

20 Degrees

I arrived in the beautiful northwest to 20 degrees in Spokane this afternoon. The view out the windows was white everywhere.. It was beautiful, every tree & bush was white like it had been sprayed with white flocking. It has been foggy for several days and freezing causing the crystals to freeze on everything, it is really amazing..
These two pictures were taken by my sister and I borrowed them to show you how beautiful it is. I will add some new pictures of my own in the next couple of days. It is good to be sitting here in Judy's living room in front of the fireplace.. I love being up here in the cold... and being with Judy..we really do have fun together..

Today is my grandson Zack's 10th birthday. What a great boy he is. He is in the 4th grade and in strings playing the cello. Takes after his older sister Maddy. He love playing the cello and practices every day. He loves sports and collects baseball, basketball & soccer cards. He is really good at the Wii games & loves to challenge his cousins in a match. He has the greatest disposition and always happy. Last night we had a fun family night and celebrated Zack's birthday. Today my oldest son Steve spoke in church, he is such a gifted speaker and I love to listen to him. He spoke on listening to the spirit and following those promptings. Tonight I am just relaxing, thinking what I need to put together to take to Judy's..

What a fun week I have had.. Worked Monday and today at W.S. setting up visuals (my favorite thing). On Weds. I taught my All About Me Class.We had so much fun, as you can see in this picture.. Charlie was playing the piano and I had the girls gather round so I could snap a pic.
I am getting ready for my trip up north... Can't wait to spend some sister time with Judy, movies, lunch and just have fun.

No you are not seeing an old picture of my puppy Scraps, this is Kristan's new puppy Sasha. she is about 2 months old and so tiny. Kristan had a lot of errands to run yesterday, so I said that I would love to watch Sasha for the day. She is just so cute and such a good puppy. Had a great time with her and even took her to visit a couple of friends and she just sat on my lap. I took her home last night around 8pm.. a fun day with my gran-puppy..

Dinner & A Movie

Last night my family had a dinner and a movie night. Steve & Karen, Kristan & Don, Jason & Jamie, Morgan & Trent & I all went out to dinner at Olive Garden. Then we went to see Bride Wars.. fun evening spent with some of my favorite people in the world. Dinner was fun as we chatted and laughed and shared what has been going on in each of our lives. Love these monthly get-to-gethers with my kids.. I think I will still refer to them as my kids when they are 60. After dinner we went to see the movie Bride Wars.. Great fun. A wonderful way to end my day.
I had been working on a new project for classes and then spent time sorting out my colored cardstock scraps into separate bins by color.. I had them that way before I move and consolidated them due to space when I moved into my condo, didn't work.. Now I am much more organized again and it will go much faster, looking for certain colors. Very productive day.

Wednesday I taught my embossed card class. I just have so much fun with these gals and our class went from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Way too much fun... created 6 fun cards and had a great cake to celebrate Charlies birthday. This is one of those classes that fills up fast and so I am thinking I just may have to have 2 embossed card classes.. I am teaching at church this Sunday so I have been getting my lesson ready.. really quite nervous to teach in my new ward, even though I taught for many years in my old one. I love the ladies that will be in my class and so I'm sure all will go well.. I just have to get over this nervous feeling in my stomach.

I started back on my treadmill this week and made a commitment to myself to walk each day & to keep it up and become a healthier me in 2009. Not a resolution but a goal.. I am eating more fruit & veggies & fish and not carbs and sweets.. It's just tough when I am alone to cook and not just grab whatever..so I have to make a real effort to stay on track.. and if I fall off the wagon..that's OK I just have to get right back on it and strive to meet my goal.

Yesterday I was busy dis-mantling the holidays around my home. The large snowmen are all back on the high shelf in my closet and all the small ones boxed along with the boughs and berries and balls. I really do love decorating my home and I think it looks so empty when it is all taken down. But as I step back and look around I love the cleanliness of everything and getting things back in order. I cut and completed all of my kits for my up coming classes and watched 2 of my favorite things while I as working. I received my very own David Foster "Hit Man", CD & DVD in the mail yesterday.. I really think I could watch it every day. I am so moved by the beautiful music and remembering times when some of those songs touched my heart years ago. One such song is "Bridge Over Troubled Waters".. This song was popular in 1968, my daughter Kristan was very ill and was in the Children's Hospital in Seattle. In those days parents were not allowed to stay at the hospital over night, so I had to drive back and forth from Belleview to the Hospital. I remember that song playing on the radio and crying as I drove back and forth each day. So whenever I hear it, I am touched by those memories and it still makes me cry. The performers in "Hit Man" are all so amazing and their voices are so pure and touching as they perform the music of David Foster. In the evening I watched one of my all time favorite movies "You've Got Mail, I love this movie and can't wait until the last scene where they meet in the park.. and she says "I was hoping it would be you"... sigh
Today after church I am working on my schedule for classes for the next few months, so I can get it out to all those who want to sign up. I will also be working on samples for Feb. classes.
It is a cloudy day and threatens rain, so it is a great day to work at my table and get things accomplished.

Happy New Year

Happy New year to each of you. May the coming year be all that you hope for, all you plan for and all you wish for. I love this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.

My Word for 2009

January 1st, 2009 sounds wonderful, doesn't it? When I think back on how fast this year went it is amazing. It seems that each year goes by faster than the one before.

As I start out this new year and think what my "word" for this year will be, following Ali Edwards challenge for us each to have a word to focus on through the coming year. Last year my word was "Believe", I love that word, it has so much potential to it and I truly do believe in so many things. When I thought about my special word for this year I chose "Inspire".

It was the other word besides "Believe" that I couldn't decide between last year,

so I'm going with it for this year.

Inspire

1. to fill with emotion

2. to stimulate to creativity or action

3. to breathe life into

4. to instill courage

I am inspired by so many things:

Books

Magazines

Art

Music

Nature

My family & friends

Pictures

Other peoples works

Life in general
I have been inspired to expand my in home classes and give up teaching at the store I have been teaching at for 5 years. I am excited to go forward with this, the classes I have had in my home so far have been great. I have all my supplies right here and can get anything I need in a moment. I have ordered great things to support my classes.

I have a plaque on the wall above my desk that has the word "Inspire" on it

and I can see it every day.

I hope to be able to inspire those I teach this year and those I interact with each day. I know that I am inspired each day by those around me and the things I see and hear.