Auntie Pea's Blog

{ Complete Randomness }

I've had this post half written since Monday so I've already accomplished a couple of these things on my list for this week. It seems the laundry thing even though I've done a couple loads already this week I can never check off because there's always more to do. I don't know how with just one person I can still practically do a load a day. I may be a bit obsessive about it. I haven't washed the car yet since it's been rainy and yucky the past couple days. May end up having to just do the vacuuming part between rain drops and wait on getting the outside cleaned. And my friend Jill ended up buying the laptop that I was borrowing. Sorry Amy/Nicki. If you're looking for suggestions for finding something to scrap on I'd be happy to help. Just shoot me an e-mail. :) I'll be busy re-loading everything onto my laptop tonight. So excited to have it back. I forgot how much I love scrapping on a 17" wide monitor. So anyway, here's my to-do list for this week. Maybe tonight I'll include it on a new desktop screen to celebrate having my own laptop back. :)

Editing to add a song after emailing songs back and forth with my sister this morning. I stumbled across this one as well as another by the same group that I will surely be scrapping into an art journal style page sometime this weekend. Anyway, this one reminded me of the 'she' statement that I included in my 'to accomplish' list for this week. Pretty big goal for one week I suppose. May have to extend that one into next month. :)

And then I'm hoping this scenic photo catches the attention of my Utah blog visitors. Kim claims to be single-handedly responsible for all the Utah visits on my blog but she'd have to be doing a lot of traveling all over the state to various coffee-shops and I'm pretty sure with her recent projects she doesn't have a lot of time for that. ;) So, I'm a little curious about why Utah seems to be the gathering place for so many artsy crafty people. Would love to hear from you. Not that I don't love hearing from any of my blog readers but at the moment I have a particular interest in this creative mecca otherwise known as Utah. :)

And did everyone see this duet last night on American Idol?! Unbelievable!! The youtube quality video does not do it justice but I had to post it here at least for now since Fox hasn't apparently pulled these yet? I was thinking they were one of the networks rather protective of that stuff. Anyway, check it out while it's still there. It's amazing what they can do now days.

Kay, off to eat dinner, then a trip to blockbuster to return a movie that was supposed to be back last night and then I'll be busy reloading the laptop and hoping and praying all my ACDSee tags made it through the less than stable back-up process that took place before sending it off for repair. Wish me luck. :) I scrapped one page before getting it back and I sure did miss the handiness of having everything so organized. Hard to believe I used to scrap that way all the time. Ugh!

Also editing to add my pilates 'stickers' for this week since I didn't have everything loaded to the laptop for posting yet yesterday. Slackin' off a bit this week. I'll have to make up for it somehow over the weekend.

{ Sad News, My Favorite Scents & a Castle }

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am a HUGE fan of the Blue Angels. Been relaxing this afternoon before heading out for the night and happened to see this very sad story unfolding on the news. :( My heart goes out to the other pilots and the family and friends of the pilot that crashed.

As I mentioned, my sister joked recently that I should advertise my bags as being scented. She said if I could bottle it up she'd wear the 'auntie pea' scent. Or would it be the 'eclectic whimsy' scent? It must be sortof a combination of scents that I use. Some of the bags I pre-wash and I also have plug-in air fresheners in a few rooms of my apartment that I'm sure begin to infuse their scent into the fabrics that the bags are made of. I love yummy smelling things so I thought I'd post a few of the smells that might make up my personal scent. Every once in awhile I like to change things up so tell me some of your favorites so I can check them out. :)

  I rarely wear perfume but when I do this one is my favorite. :)

Weekend has been great so far. We ended up going to Carrabba's for dinner and then a bit of shopping at Best Buy and Circuit City. Went roller skating this morning and then out to lunch with Kimmy and the girls. Just some laundry and relaxing this afternoon and heading out shortly for dinner and hopefully some vintage shop browsing if they're still open. It's a gorgeous night so I'll definitely be taking the camera along.

Oh, last night I did get another photo that I have to share. I posted the one of the horses that I shot earlier in the day as my photo of the day but I love this photo of a castle that we drove by on the way home. Is that not crazy?! How fun would it be to live in a castle?!

{ Two Great Quotes }

Two recent quotes from the Fancy Word for Simple Blog that ring true. The first one is this:

"The bed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to it with reluctance, yet we quit it with regret; we make up our minds every night to leave it early, but we make up our bodies every morning to keep it late."
~Charles Caleb Colton

I can definitely relate to the part about going to bed with reluctance. Living by myself for the first time in my entire life the bedtime ritual seems to be the part that's the most lonely. Brittany posted about this recently on her blog. For me, I put it off as long as possible. I usually fall asleep on the couch (sometimes in the middle of conversations - sorry Shari) but other times just watching one of my favorite tv shows to unwind. I've actually gotten a little better about putting the laptop away and enjoying a show without distractions. It sometimes seems like the hallway to the bedroom is about twice as long at the end of the day. It was much worse at first. The place is starting to feel a little more like home. Plus, as good as I've gotten at putting the laptop down at the end of the night on the couch, I've taken up a habit of taking it to bed with me. I've discovered the joys of watching full episodes of network tv shows online. Actually, I rarely make it through a 'full episode' but it does help me fall back asleep after the sortof nap that takes place on the couch. I don't think it's an ideal long-term night time routine but it does seem to work for me at the moment.

And the next quote is so true about weekends:

"Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them."
~John Shirley

I actually have a pretty great weekend to look forward to. We are having amazingly nice weather here. In fact it may even get a bit warmer than I would hope for this time of year. I'm afraid we may be skipping over my ideal temperature of upper 60's - mid 70's. It's sunny and gorgeous though so I won't complain.

Tonight I think I'll be eating at either my favorite restaurant or wandering down to my favorite area in Grand Rapids to eat at Bob's (another favorite). I'll be sure to take the camera if we do the latter because every time we go I wish I'd had it along. Although I already got a great photo for today's POTD of some horses up the street that happened to be basking in the sun this morning on my way to work (will post those later tonight along with the rest of this weeks' photos). :) Then tomorrow morning is roller skating and out to lunch with my sister. Tomorrow evening is either Taco's or Lasagna and I'm sure some type of outdoor activity. Maybe a walk around the neighborhood with the camera. :) Sunday is another outdoor day, hopefully even get a little sun. And maybe some sewing and scrapping in there somewhere? So yeah, this weekend will likely disappear quickly but hopefully I'll get lots of photos to prove it actually happened. :)

Be back to post those photos on flickr and maybe even with another post here. I ran out of time to post about my signature scent. My sister Kimmy says I need to start advertising my bags as having an auntie pea scent so I figured I'd post the combination of things that apparently make for a perfectly scented handbag. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Almost forgot, slacked off Sunday & Monday but I've done my pilates every day since. :)

{ Some Fun Fo' Shizzle }

Jizzle some fun shiznit fo' a Monday. Couldn't resist tryin' this wit mah bizzy. :)

Follow any of that?! I stumbled across this fun little site today and had to give it a try on my own blog. Check out my blog shizzle my nizzle style.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was filled with sleepovers, baptisms, good food, a movie in bed, a trip to the mall (although I came home with nothing) and a little digi-shopping.

here

here and

here

Hopefully tonight I'll get to do some scrapping with some of these. :)

{ Two Blog Lists }

There are 2 blog lists that I've been seeing pop up alot lately in the blogging world and I thought I'd join in with my own lists. The first is to list 5 blogs that inspire you right now. Hardest part about this list is actually narrowing it down to just 5. Here's mine:

{My MiNuTia} - Even the name is inspiring. :)

mi·nu·ti·a     [mi-noo-shee-uh, -shuh, -nyoo-]

precise details; small or trifling matters: the minutiae of his craft.

A  Beautiful Mess - Has been a source of inspiration for a long time now. I don't think any of that inspiration has actually rubbed off on me and affected my scrapping or photography but I'm gonna keep checking in till it does. ;)

Piece of Work - Lately it's all about her mad photography skills. And whatever she does to achieve the amazing rich colors in her photographs I have to learn. I wish my photo-a-days looked this amazing. I also LOVE this quote and her comments about it in this recent post.

Olive Juice - This girl is inspiring on every level. She's an amazing seamstress, her scrapping style is eclectic and whimsical (what's not to love about that), she takes gorgeous photos of everything from her latest aprons to her adorable kiddos and even their fishy pets, and she even posts amazing recipes from time to time. Is there anything this woman can't do?! And on top of all that she's one of the sweetest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and is crazy cute 'ta boot.

Everyday Epiphanies - Ronalyn has a way of putting into words all the crazy things floating around inside my head and heart. Even though I'm sure our circumstances are very different there's something universal about our feelings on life. The inspiration comes in the way that she so eloquently expresses those feelings. The following is an example from a recent post and you can check it out on her blog and listen to the song that inspired these thoughts here.

"I honestly believe people generally have good intentions. People just want to help, I get that. But sometimes you have to let people go, free to make their own decisions.  Much like children, you can guide them in the early years.  But you have to let them live their life and trust them enough to make the right decisions or learn from past mistakes. A person will never set flight, if you are constantly hovering over them making sure they are following your path. I do believe people come in your life for a reason. But when that season is over, it's just that, over. Life comes with many experiences that we face everyday, good and bad. And the only way, we can experience life, is to live it, to go through it. It's nice to have a shoulder to cry on, rather than someone placing a frown on your every move. No one likes to be placed under such scrutiny.  Because at the end of the day, that person's happiness is all that matters.

I don't know about you, but some of my life's hardest lessons has gotten me a step closer to being this woman I've always dreamed I could be.  If my mistakes have made me stronger, so be it.  If my faults have made me love harder, appreciate life more, and given me the courage to stand up. Then who am I to go through my life with padded cushions surrounding me with the constant fear of the unknown. Why that's a part of life, you go through the motions, you fall and pick yourself back up."

Seriously, I swear she's living in my pocket. I'm pretty sure she's tiny enough to. :) Anyway, she's also an amazing scrapper with a beaming smile and amazing photography skills. Her 10 Loves album is one of my all-time favorites.

So, there's 5 of the many blogs that inspire me creatively right now.

And then I've seen this fun little google search project on a few other blogs recently and thought it would be fun. The idea is that you do a google search for your name and the word 'needs' and post 10 phrases that come up. Unfortunately for me I had to change a lot of his and he's to hers and she's but it still worked. So, according to Google...

• Shawn needs sleep...badly so true
• Shawn needs to decide who she wants to spend her life with done
• Shawn needs our help not sure with what yet but I'm sure Google's right
• Shawn needs a more permanent solution workin' on this one
• Shawn needs to be seen live to really appreciate her that could explain alot actually
• Shawn needs to keep her pants up...or watch more television hmmmmm
• Shawn needs knee surgery this 1 may actually have been meant for someone else
• Shawn needs to be selective can't argue with that
• Shawn needs a serenade who wouldn't love a serenade?!
• Shawn needs the validation of other people's opinions          one of my daily struggles

Kay, gotta do my pilates before the kids wake up and then we're off to skating this morning and to take care of Kylie and Kennedy for a bit. I'm on a roll with the pilates thing so far. Did them yesterday morning so here's my 'sticker' for that and since it's my blog and I make the rules I'm posting one for today too since I've got the mat out and the dvd in the laptop here to get to it just as soon as I hit post. :)

{ Blog Visitor Observations }

Every once in awhile I like to see who's visiting my blog and I'm always fascinated to see how far around the world my boring ramblings can reach. Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania and yesterday I even saw Croatia which is a dream and a goal of mine to travel to someday hopefully in the not too distant future. Do they really dress like this there?!

Anyway, if you stop back in please say hi and let me know if you have any travel suggestions for your beautiful country. My dream would be to see Montenegro and Greece also while visiting. And I have a fascination with castles so if you know of any great ones in the area please let me know. :)

I've also seen visitors from just about every state in the US. New York, NY and Brooklyn, Mobile & Montgomery Alabama, lots from Utah which I find very interesting. Fun places like Rancho Cucaomonga, CA and Goodlettsville, TN. At least they sound like fun places. :) I've been told I'm easily amused. :)

I'm behind on responding to some recent comments which I normally try to do by e-mail but this computer issue stuff has thrown me for a loop. So I thought I'd post a few responses here instead:

The amazing gifted actions I used on the photos a few posts back: they are the Totally Rad Actions (yes that's the name, I wasn't just trying to be cool) and you can find them at the Boutwell Studio website. Still lovin' them! :)

On a possible upgrade to Vista: Thanks for the info Maegan. I think I'll probably go ahead and upgrade now even if I get my laptop back with XP still loaded. I'll definitely be checking out that thread over at DST though. :)

laptop for sale (as soon as I get my baby back, hopefully within a week):

Sony VAIO VGN-FS990 - Like new condition - asking $700

Notebook with 15.4-inch XBRITE LCD screen and 1.73 GHz Intel Pentium M processor, 2 MB L2 cache

100 GB hard drive, 1 GB of installed RAM (2 GB maximum), dual-layer, multi-format DVD/CD burner

Two USB 2.0, one FireWire, one VGA, one S-Video, one PCMCIA, microphone, headphone, Memory Stick slot

Built-in Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG 802.11b/g LAN, 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet and 56K V.92 modem

Windows XP Home edition, SP2

Under 6 lbs. - 10.4" x 14.3" x 1.4" - very slim and light

DiScTalk Radio interview: Deann was so easy to talk to and such a sweetheart. I still can't believe she didn't bump me for some new fresh face with twice the talent. I swear 90% of their listeners had to be like .... AuntiePea who??? I can't bear to listen to it. Every time I hear my voice on a recording I feel like I should stop talking completely. It's crazy to me because I hear myself talking all the time but somehow it sounds completely different when it's on a recording. I don't even have a recorded voice message on my cell phone. It's just my name. I clearly have some hang-ups. Anyway, if you want to hear the interview you can check it out here. Thanks again so much Deann for the honor. Can't wait to have a big glass of milk and coffee with you in person. ;)

Kay, remember this little idea?

The idea was that I would post this image each day that I actually did my pilates and I think I posted it once about 9 months ago. Well, I took a break from this long-winded post and did my 20 minute pilates work-out. Lets see if I can keep it up better this time. I might have that same stick-to-itiveness problem that my sister Manda has.

Believe it or not I still had tons more that I intended to post about tonight but I'm getting tired and this may already be a record-breaking long post so I'm off to bed. :)

{ Being Kinder & More Genuine }

I saw this quote today on Rebecca Sower's blog and it's something I've been thinking about alot lately. We really don't know what people might be going through in their daily lives and it's amazing to me when I think about how well I hide the way I'm feeling inside and then to think there must be others out there doing the same thing. I'm gonna try and be a little kinder to those around me, even the grumpy ones. And a word that's been on my mind alot lately in thinking about what a master I've become at burying my true feelings is the word genuine.

genuine - adjective

1. possessing the claimed or attributed character, quality, or origin; not counterfeit; authentic; real: genuine sympathy

2. free from pretense, affectation, or hypocrisy; sincere: a genuine person

So that's my goal for this week. Be more kind and more genuine. :)

Oh, and I'm trying to ease back into the scrapping thing so I played around with some new goodies that the sweet Miss Jenn sent me just before my computer crashed. I LOVE the colors in this kit. Now if only I had my actions installed on this thing. I forget how much easier it is and how much better it looks when I use actions to apply drop shadows. Tough to go back to the old days of playing around with all those levels myself. Can't wait to get my own laptop back.

{ Happy Easter }

I meant to post my favorite Easter song on Friday since it's really more of a Good Friday song but I've had major computer issues this week. I think this is one of the most beautiful and powerful songs ever written.

You can read the lyrics in Leeandra's Easter post.

Like I said, I had major computer issues this week. This time completely my fault so I would still highly recommend my hp laptop. In fact it took the beating I gave it like a trooper for about 2 months (the details of which I am too embarassed to share publicly) but this past week I had hard drive failure issues and then yesterday when I turned it on to try and at least back up a few more recent downloads to my external it decided that it would not even power on at all anymore. Luckily I have full accidental coverage on it so I brought it in last night and hopefully within a week I will have it back good as new or maybe I'll be even luckier and they'll just replace it with a brand new one. I'm a little nervous because a new one would likely come loaded with Vista and I haven't checked recently whether CS2 will work well with Vista or not. Has anyone had experience with that yet? I'd love to try the new Vista but if I can't use Photoshop then it's really not worth it to me.

In the meantime a friend of mine had an extra laptop that he was looking to sell anyway so he's letting me borrow it until mine comes back. I think I've finally got it up to speed with CS2 loaded and Hello so I could finally chat with some friends again last night. It's a great laptop and seems to handle my multi-tasking quite well but I sure have been spoiled scrapping on a large widescreen laptop. I guess it's all what you get used to. I told him I'd post on here that after I get my baby back that this life-saver of a laptop is available for sale so if anyone is in the market for a barely used Sony Vaio laptop let me know. I don't have the specs on it yet but I can get them and I will say that so far it seems super speedy for everything I've been making it do. I think he's considering replacing it with one of these. I love the convenience of my laptop but this new touchscreen desktop sure would be fun.

I'm still working on adding my own little touches to the apartment and I think I've found the perfect way to decorate one wall in my sewing studio. It's cheap and it's genius and it may even make me feel okay about not painting the walls in that room. I really want it to be a room that I enjoy spending time in. It has a great big window in it so the lighting is perfect but the walls are still bare because I haven't decided for sure that I have everything moved where I want it. I think I may have to decide on a floor plan and stick with it so I can get my shelves and hooks hung and figure out which wall to do one of Posie's fun wall treatments on. :)

I know there were a hundred other things I planned on posting here throughout the week when I didn't have a computer to do so but I've gotta finish getting ready for church and head out the door. Kindof a chilly grey day here. I believe the forecast for today is actually colder than Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's day each were. Crazy weather after having 72 degrees less than a week ago. I'm not complaining but I'll take the 72 degree days back any time now. Hope everyone has a beautiful Easter Sunday.