twenty-seven

My day started out like this:
which made me cry. Well, that and the sweet note that was tucked in the flowers. I've never been surprised with flowers until now. It was so sweet!

On this, my twenty-seventh birthday, I thought I'd share 27 things about me...

1. I am the oldest of four children.
2. I run a cool-air humidifier every night for the white noise.
3. I can't stand to watch buildings be demolished. It's maybe the weirdest thing about me, but I get crazy-emotional when I see a building being torn down.
4. I am allergic to bandaids and black leather sandals and latex.
5. I've never been kissed.
6. I share my home, car, clothing, and bank account with my sister.
7. My coworkers call me Evily. Sometimes abbreviated to Evil or Eve.
8. I've had scrapbook pages published in Scrapbooks Etc. and Creating Keepsakes.
9. I can't relax in a messy house and I actually enjoy cleaning. Usually. This week certainly doesn't reflect that.
10. I make my bed first thing every morning.
11. I detest having colored polish on my fingernails. Toenails are okay though.
12. I really don't like going out to eat. Or to the movies.
13. I've lived in my apartment for 6 years. It's the longest I've lived anywhere. I moved 21 times in my first 21 years.
14. I rarely cry.
15. I only watch TV when my favorite shows come out on DVD. (The Office and Bones are my current favorites).
16. I fall asleep when I read out loud. Maybe the sound of my own voice is soothing. LOL.
17. I do something creative everyday: beading, scrapbooking, sewing, etc.
18. I am a fast learner and have taught myself most of the things I know.
19. I love getting a good deal. I keep a wish list and wait for the things I want to go on sale.
20. I'm obsessively punctual. I'd rather miss something than show up late.
21. I sometimes joke that my life's mascot is a chicken. It's not really a joke. I let fear hold me back a lot.
22. My favorite hobby is decorating my home, but it's also the most expensive and there are only so many rooms to decorate, so I rarely let myself do it.
23. I like animals from a distance. I once had a panic attack because a playful puppy wanted to lick me.
24. I'm definitely a morning person. I have a hard time staying up past 11:00pm.
25. I don't really get 'into' holidays and I dislike Christmas.
26. I won't do something unless I can do it with sincerity.
27. I've never gotten what I wish for when blowing out my candles, but I know I will one day :)

proof...

that I don't just sit around all afternoon. LOL. I did today, but that was different. I had a movie here that I've wanted to watch for a while that finally came up in our Netflix queue. And I actually wanted to see it - not just ahve it playing in the background while I did something else. Anyway, here's the proof of yesterday's activity...

I love teal/orange and teal/red color combos lately. And I definitely found myself having a paper-crush on this teal dot by October Afternoon.

It was SO fantastic to go to a "real" scrapbook store when we were in SLC two weekends ago. We have one store in Logan that has a decent selection, but doesn't have what I want still. LOL. I'm impossible to please when it comes to scrapbook, fabric, and bead shopping. I want the stores to have exactly what I'm looking for.

supplies used: patterned paper-October Afternoon, paper lace-KI Memories, chipboard letters-Heidi Swapp, random acrylic paint and ribbon. P.S. the letters and the ribbon match in person, but took the light very differently for photos.

unproductive

Thus far, July has been an unproductive month. I hate that. I like to keep myself busy and have a lot to show for my time/effort. I even left work early yesterday and didn't do anything (well, a load of laundry, but that doesn't count). I'm busy making a plan so that I can tackle a bunch of projects tonight. I really don't want the month to continue this way!

monday

I did get some shots of the new baby this weekend. This one is of baby Mason and one of his brothers. So sweet!

Today hasn't been good or bad. Kinda blah, to be honest. I'm having an inconvenience with my computer. It doesn't seem to recognize my camera (it worked fine Saturday night). The stupid "organizer" that comes with Photoshop will still load the photos, but I think that takes too much time and effort. I don't feel like investigating the inner workings of my computer tonight, so I'll have to find something else to do (not that there's any shortage of things I want or need to do. LOL)

whew!

I have a family reunion coming up at the end of the month. Each year, family members create quilt squares and send them to my aunt. She sews them all together and brings it to reunion to be quilted while we sit around and chat. Honestly, it hurts my hands to quilt, so I don't do it. My role comes into play weeks before reunion time....

Many years ago, I was chosen to make the scrapbook for the quilt. The first year, I threw it together on a picnic table while I was at reunion. The next time, I was just learning to scrapbook digitally and gave that a try. It was incredibly frustrating and time consuming. I had to take time off work and I was pretty stressed out. This year, my aunt asked if I'd be willing to make the scrapbook again.

I must like pain, because I agreed to do it. LOL. I went digital with it again, but I designed a 'quick fill' page that I used for every page. It made the whole process so much easier!! I've spent about a day working on it and I just placed my order with Blurb. This year it's going to be professionally printed and hardbound and I'm really excited to see it. Photo books could definitely be addicting.

This is an example of the left-hand side of the quick fill. I designed it for a Q&A type layout, year in review, etc. I was just playing with this one, so there's no right-hand side created yet. The polka dots and stripes carry across to the second page. There's also a large area for journaling. Here's another look at the quickfill:

You can download it here! It's designed as an 8"x8" but can easily be adapted to other sizes.

so far...

July has been crazy, busy, stressful, and HOT. UGH. We're only three days into the month, so I've got my hopes set high that this theme will change in a hurry! I like to approach life in an easy, laid-back fashion, so this just isn't working for me. LOL

I have so many things I want to do (create, play, shop, sleep, clean, etc.) and just as many things that I HAVE to do (work, work, work, work, clean, etc.) and I'm not finding a balance. I usually have that figured out. I know this is temporary. My routine this week has been way off, and that's the biggest factor.

Oh, there was a funny situation at work today. My coworkers were voting to determine whether I was pissy or not... only one person thought I was being pissy. He was trying to convince the others that it was true. LOL (and he was probably teasing me anyway)

happy day!

My brother and sister-in-law are having a baby... right now! I'm busy watching my niece and three nephews while Steve and Jen are at the hospital. I'm also taking today off work, obviously, so that's a 4.5 day weekend!! WAHOO!!

**Update**
Mason was born at 4:03 today. He weighs 9lbs, 11oz and is 21" long. Both mom and baby are doing great. Auntie Em is not so much... It was VERY hot today and my brother's air conditioner broke, so I am cranky and exhausted. I just do not tolerate heat well at all! The kids were good, despite their routine being WAY off. They were up early to see Jen and and Steve before they left for the hospital. Two of the kids were pretty stressed about Jen being in the hospital today too.

I don't have any photos yet. I just couldn't find the energy to get the camera out of the bag. Plus, newborns aren't cute. Mason is adorable, but I know to look past the baby acne and the chinless face. Give him a week or two and we'll be able to catch his cute face in a photo. He really seems to favor his brother, Porter, as far as looks go at this point, and Porter is a cutie pie!