I'm Lovin' EBay...

I have a CRICUT machine and lots of font cartridges. Recently, I've decided I'd like to give the Disney cartridges a try - but it's tough to build an inventory when the retail price is $99 each. Walmart carries the CRICUT and their prices are greatly reduced, but they still run $69.99 for the Disney cartridges. Over the past week I've been bidding like a "mad woman" on EBay and I was successful on four cartridges - ranging in price from $19 - $40 - all brand new - all sealed in original packaging. Even with shipping, I paid $120 for four of them. I couldn't have bought two at Walmart for that price. I'm just lovin' it when I can get a bargain!!! I think that Carrie still has a couple of Disney trips to complete. Hopefully I can create some cute embellishments for her.

She Can't Pronounce It....

So, the bride-to-be informs me this morning that they have decided on a honeymoon location.

"Where is it?"

"I can't remember, but it's in the Caribbean."

"Aruba, St. Martaan, St. Thomas?"

"No - but it's near Aruba. I can't pronounce it."

So, I did a quick GOOGLE search of islands near Aruba that are difficult to pronounce. And I came up with.....

"Curacao?"

"That's it!!"

"OK, so do you remember the name of the resort?"

"It starts with a "K"?

And I'm back to GOOGLE, searching resorts on the island of Curacao.

"Kura Hulanda Beach Club?"

"YES!!"

So, after 15 minutes of Twenty Questions, we have an island, we have a resort and we have a description with photos. According to Chrissie, it's exactly what they both want - tropical and secluded.

I Have This Friend.....

...and she ALWAYS has my back.

We met 21 years ago, when she moved in down the street and I took her a plate of brownies. Our daughters are the same age and the two of them have grown up as best friends. Next summer, her daughter will be my daughter's Maid of Honor.

Our husbands - believe it or not - share the same birthday - October 19th. And now, my grandson shares that same birthday.

Over the past 21 years, we've been pregnant together, we've taken our kids to Disneyworld twice and we've cruised the Caribbean twice.

Sunday night, as I drove in a panic down Portage Road on my way to Memorial Hospital, I called her so she'd know what was happening.

"Do you want me to come?" "No, that's ok - I'll call you when I know anything."

Twenty minutes later as they were rushing my daughter into surgery, I called her again. I think she heard my voice cracking and I remember hearing her say, "I'm on my way!"

Not only did she come, she beat my husband and my other children. As I met her in the hallway, she asked, "Did you bring your camera?" Of course, I rushed out of the house with no camera AND a dead cell phone on top of it. She just smiled and pulled her camera out of her purse. We wouldn't have those first photos if it wasn't for her and I would have NEVER captured this moment....

Don't know what I'd do without her.

Engagement Shoot - Round 2

...and here's some more. Just wish I had the talent (and the equipment) this photographer has!!! This is exactly the "newer style" that Chrissie was looking for when it comes to her engagement/wedding photography.

Engagement Shoot

Chrissie and Brock had their engagement shoot a couple of weeks ago. Even though they were engaged in June, she wanted to have these photos taken in the fall. She received an email today from the photographer telling her that the photos were on his website.

http://agconrad.smugmug.com/doty%20&%20knight (password is Chrissie)

Can't wait to receive the disk so I can scrapbook some of these. In the meantime, here's a sampling....

A. J. Meets His Big Brother

The long awaited first meeting between two life-long best friends. Benjamin's first comment - "I'm big, he's little".

A. J. Details.....

Andrew Joseph (A. J.) Van Fleit

7 pounds 2 ounces

19 inches long

Lots of black hair

PERFECT!!!!!

The Birthday Boys......

October 19th - Bob's birthday - a peaceful day - nice dinner out with his wife and a couple of daughters - and then, things got exciting.

I had just climbed into bed at 8:30, ready to curl up with my latest Sandra Brown novel when Colleen called - crying. She'd been sick all day with the stomach flu. Never pleasant, but even worse when you're 8 1/2 months pregnant. And now, she's wondering if she might be in labor. For those of you who don't know, she has a c-section scheduled for Monday, November 3rd. I told her to call her doctor's office and that whoever was on call, would get right back to her. At 8:49, Jimmy called and said they were meeting Dr. Shaw at the hospital and that he'd call me as soon as they knew anything. I laid there for about two minutes, contemplating my next move - then I got up, got dressed, threw on some makeup and headed to Memorial Hospital.

Just as I stepped off the elevator at the Labor and Delivery area, I could hear her and I knew something was happening. I won't get into the gory details here, but suffice it to say - little Andrew was coming three weeks early and he was in one BIG rush. By the time we arrived in the "prep" room, Dr. Shaw was walking through the door. He took one look at her and said, "get her to OR". She was 9 centimeters dilated and for a few minutes he contemplated letting her deliver normally. They threw Jimmy and I a set of scrubs and whisked her off down the hall. By the time we walked through the doorway, they told us they were "knocking her out" and we were sent packing. We could hear her - and then, nothing. In just a couple of minutes, the nurse came out and told us that he was here and that both of them were doing fine.

Remember when I told you that Jimmy called at 8:49? Andrew Joseph was born at 9:39 - 50 minutes later. Jimmy told me that the entire scenario was like something you watch on an episode of ER, but this was happening to us.

I'm typing this now, on about 3 hours of sleep. She's already called me, wondering when I'm coming to the hospital. I think I hear a GIANT white chocolate mocha calling my name from Starbucks.

Anyway - here's a photo of the "Birthday Boys" - grandfather meeting grandson about 10:30 last night. Do I hear a collective "awwwwwwwwwwwww?"

Oh, and before you ask - "no, I wasn't thinking far enough ahead to take my camera to the hospital". Enter the picture, my BFF Mary Lou - who showed up just as Andrew made his appearance, camera and fully charged battery in hand. It's good to have friends!!

Bridesmaid Dress - CHECK

Bridesmaid dresses have been selected, color chosen and order deadline of February 15th is in place. I'm thinking that at least 40 dresses were tried on. This one was the first and nothing else even came close over the next hour. It will be flattering on all shapes and sizes and with 10 bridesmaids, that could be an issue.

The color - moss green with a black sash - not the color combination shown below. Black, strappy heels will complete the look. The flowers will be in cream, pale pink and dark burgundy. The guys will be in black tuxedos with moss green vests.

With ten months to go, we now have:

The hall, the church, the cake, the DJ, the wedding dress, the bridesmaid's dresses, the flowers, the photographer, and the decorator for the hall. Next up: invitations.

Thankfully, things continue to fall into place.

Under Consideration....

Chrissie continues to try and come up with the perfect song - not only for her and Brock's first dance, but for her dance with her dad. A song was recommended to me by a friend a few weeks ago, so I went to YouTube and watched the video. Of course I thought it was beautiful, but I'm never quite sure what Chrissie has in mind and I have to be very careful about not "pushing" something on her. So, I simply sent her the video attached to an email. She called me a few days later to tell me that she cries every time she watches it. So......will this be the song? I have no idea. Guess we'll find out in 309 days.

http://

Decisions - Decisions

Tomorrow, the hunt begins for bridesmaid dresses. Chrissie has an appointment at 2:00, along with her Maid of Honor and Matron of Honor at Greta's. A list of 12 "possibilities" have been emailed and the dresses will be pulled and ready to try on when we get there. Here are just a few of the selections. The color that Chrissie wants is Moss Green and each of the dresses shown here come in the color. I've promised to sit and watch and keep my mouth shut and let them select what they want. (And for those of you who know me, you know just how hard it will be to keep my opionion to myself). With ten attendants - it's going to be tough to find something that they all like - but we'll do our best.

Homecoming Fun

A couple of weeks ago, Kelli was involved in a week's worth of fun activities surrounding high school homecoming. Of course, each day they had to dress up in some wild and crazy outfit. I have no idea WHAT this day was, but I knew I had to grab my camera. When I asked her "where in the world did you find that stuff?" - her answer was "Goodwill". I mean, where else are you going to find leopard skin tights and pink fairy wings??

Colors of October

This is one of my favorite times of the year. The days are still relatively warm and the trees are ablaze with color. Sunday evening, Bob and I drove up into southwest Michigan and the colors were beautiful. Unfortunately, I was trying to snap photos from a moving car.

Scent-sational!!

So, Friday night I hosted a Scentsy Party - actually I hosted it and introduced the product and wrote up the orders (with help from my daughter, Carrie). My consultant had a last minute emergency and wanted me to reschedule. I told her "not to worry" - I'd been to several of these parties and the product sold itself - I could handle it. Little did I realize what a great turnout I would have and just HOW MUCH I'd sell. My consultant had told me ahead of time that her parties were averaging around $600 and her largest ever was $800. Well, hold onto your hats boys and girls. Between Carrie and I, we sold $1135 worth of Scentsy - thanks in part to a few bottles of wine and lots of great conversation.

Here's the thing. I'm a candle freak. I always have candles burning and "smelling" up my house. But like most people, I always had to make sure they were extinguished before leaving the house or going to bed. Then a couple of years ago, my daughter's friend went home to Utah to visit her family and went to a Scentsy party. (These are wonderful warming pots, heated by a 25 watt lightbulb - no flames). She immediately came home and signed up to sell the product. She is now the "director" here in our area and has lots of sales persons under her. So, over the past year I've slowly decreased my candle inventory and built my Scentsy stash. Prior to my party, I owned three of the warming pots and numerous scents. Lets just say that after this party, there won't be a room in my house without a pot, my office will be adorned and a couple of Christmas gifts have been taken care of. I earned $175 worth free and 5 half/priced items - to the tune of 7 warmers and more fragrance bars than I dare count.

AND, new for fall - these fun little warmers that plug into your outlets. I ordered one for each of my bathrooms. Just drop one little square in the top and flip the switch - nice smells and a cute bathroom night light.

It was a fun night, and my house will be smelling SWEET for a very long time!!