Our flowers bring me JOY !

Friday is almost here ! Yippy, even though it was a shorter week for me.. it sure did not seem like it.

Still trying to get things done and catch up around the house since we have been gone the last 2 weeks and have other things going on this weekend as well.

Soooo I wanted to share some beauty my yard is giving to me;
As I stated in my other post my best bud I am spent the day hanging out and shopping.. what woman do best! Right !! Anyhow... I got some flowers , as well as some that where finally popping up in my yard. I love this time of year.. with anticipation for all the items in my yard in bloom.
Each year I add things in hope that one day...... all of my flower beds will be full and bloom with ease for years to come. They are a joy to smell and look at. Much less the good old fashion...'curb appeal' if you will. Now my next plan will be my brand new planter out front. I will need to stock that will all new items as well, some from friends, some from family... that share with me.... other's that will be store bought. My Birthday is next month and my mother usually buys me some items as well.

Well here is what my yard shares with me and I share with you.............

Have a good one..........

Hump day Update

Well.. it is hump day already.. Yippy. Just a few days left of this chilly week here in Mn.

As you can see from above.. My Hubby came home with these flowers for me yesterday. It was a nice surprise. He had stopped at his parents after work and my Father In Law sent these home with my hubby to give to me. The smell was wonderful and filled the house up. Plus they are nice to look at. I love fresh flowers.

Well we had a busy busy weekend and start of this week. Even though I had a few days off I am not feeling very rested at all. We spent the weekend at the lake finishing those many items we did not get done last weekend and even did some things we weren't planning on.
Then I came home and did some more work and chores.

But yesterday for the most part was a me day. My Girlfriend and I hit the shops on the look out for some annuals for me. It has been so cold here it is nearly June and I have not planned my normal annuals yet. We had a good time and stopped for lunch. It was sooo good to see one another and chit chat and spend some one on one time. Our lives sometimes get sooo busy we often don't take time for us. So it was a great day.Then later that night I got some planting done. My hope is to get some more planting done tonight. Before the rain moves in for the rest of the week.

I hope all of you are doing well and had a safe weekend.

My prayers go out to the people of Hugo, Mn that where affected terribly by the tornado.


Here is some iris's as well. Aren't they soooo pretty !

Again..Public Service Annocement!

Well here is another great FYI info for you all....

5 GREAT USES FOR TOOTHPASTE

1.Remove Crayon Marks- Squirt a small dab of non-gel toothpaste on the wall where the mark is. Rub gently with a soft cloth,then rinse with warm water. The mark will be gone.

2. Deodorize Hands - Can't get garlic or onion order off of your hands ???? Wash them with a tab of toothpaste and it will be gone...

3. Whiten sneakers.. clean rubber soles by rubbing scuff marks with an old toothbrush and non-gel toothpaste.

4. Buff a DVD - Get rid of light scractes by squeezing a little non-gel toothpaste onto a cotton ball. Wipe over the DVD from the center out to the edge. Rinse with water and dry with nonabrasive, lint free cloth - hooooof all gone.

Last but not least.. and perfect for summer....

5. Defog Goggles - Coat the inside of the swimming goggles with toothpaste, then wipe off - they'll be crystal clear and smell great to.

I hope you all have enjoyed this....

Aren't these cute !

I found these on the websitre below... wouldn't these be fun and easy to make.. get some cheap vintage cups at a thrift store and go to town. This is off Woman's Day Mag... here is the link
http://www.womansday.com/home/12820/4-simple-teacup-gardens.html it would be fun that is for sure... just imagine the cute things and colors you could do... Yipppy !

Summer is blowing in......

Summer is blowing in..but not with warm temps or nice weather. But rather with yet more damaging storms.

We where driving home from the lake with worry it would happen to us again. Calling friends and family to see what was happening and how we got hit.
We where among the lucky who did not get hit by the tornado..but we did get damage. Hail damage. This will be the 3rd time inside of 2 years our home has been damaged. Our insurance agent will just love it. I had a fresh coat of stain in the deck this spring to cover up the spots from last year and we get hit yet again. We are both sadened. I tried to take pics of the one side of our house..but I could not capture on a picture what I was seeing with my eyes. So I got a few close up shots....

Here is just over our garage... a few spots like this


Here is a close up of one of the holes.... we have about 38-40 at quick count tonight one side out our home.... just a half dozen or so on each of the other sides.
A different hole.............
Here is all the water sitting in our back yard.................left from the storm...
AAAAAAAhhh now the fun will begin to fight with insurance and get the house back to normal YET ONCE AGAIN,

Bless us alll.. and my prays for the people with missing homes, that wish this was all they had to worry about was...... some distroyed siding.

Gooood night alll I am beat !

Party of Fun !!! - Stampin' Style.

So tonight....after work I went to a Stampin' Up Party.

We always have a fun group of gals from work....

With it being a holiday weekend we had to rush a bit. Which was a shame. Usually it is nice to stay and chit chat and giggle a bit. But as is.. I didnt get home till nearly 7:30 and the chores where calling my name. Many things to get done before we leave for another weekend at the lake.

But I had wanted to share these two cute cards we made.

This is a baby card... a onesy (sp?) you could do this in any color and any design. Cute idea or what ???

Here is a boy card we did... with googllllllley eyes and alll... perfect for a little boy !
Look at the cute little green guy........( close up )
Well I must run for now....lots to do yet and my little eyes are getting more and more tired as the seconds roll on byeeeee....

Have a good and safe Holiday Weekend alll.......

My Mom Loves me.......

Well today was a good and bad day all mixed in together.....

Starting Sunday night.. or rather Monday at 4am.. I got up and started in..in doing what ? vomiting. My acid reflux has taken a BIG turn for the worse.
So this morning.. I got up to the same thing..but it was worst then before. This was really starting to take its toll on me. So I got up extra early knowing I was going to have to take it slow going when getting ready for work. It was not easy and by the time I got to hwy 94 I nearly turned the car around to go back home..But I told myself I would go to work and see what I could do.. I have emails piling up and meetings to attend.

Anyhow.. my mom knew I was not feeling well... so I made it thru the day of work... later I went to Moms and she gave me a full body message in order to help me feel better. WOW did I need that...

But when I got there she had some nice surprises for me....
Alllllllll of these flowers she had bought me....

Look at this cute little guy close up..........
Here are some of the others
Here is a bush I was looking for and with bright flowers that will bloom.
She also found this cute tree for me as a steal at a local garage sale.

Allllllthough my tummy is still a little upset.... MOM sures knows how make someone feel better.

Thank Mom..Love ya

We worked this weekend

Well it was a labor of love I guess you could say. Love for my Grandparents. Most of the family was able to come together. Despite the weird weather on Sat and the bit of slow down. We NEARLY got done re-roofing my Grandparents cabin. I took some shots of allllll the hard..back braking work we did.

Next weekend will be the finishings up, the rest of the yard work, and putting the dock in.

This weekend we had MANY things going on..... since we had a dumpster...

Below is Dad and sis tackling taking down this old metal shed....
Here is a half way thru shot of the dumpster..... mom, me and my aunt picked allll that up by hand...... yikes.... pass the advil....

Here is just one of MANY messed the boys made for us.. we cleaned up many of these type of piles

Our wheeeeel barrow's filled to the brim.....
My hubby tearing off the old shingles
Mom in the dumpster saying...look at me this sucks.....

The boys planning their next moves....
My aunt fell in love with our magnet on a stick and she was getting all those nasty nails the boys pulled and thru on the ground....
Ahhhhhhhhh finallly it is clean and ready for new shingles
From old and white shingles tooo new and brown... here is just part of the cabin...

That's alll for now... I have a very busy week......... so I will try my best to post again...

till next week

Hello All ...

Sorry its been a busy week and I haven't had much time to post.

Truth be told I am feeling here dead. Next week I am expecting will be much worse.

I was recopping and cleaning from my wonderful Mothers day at our home. While trying to get that cleaned up and put away. I was also packing, arranging food and family members among other things to do this weekends roofing project at the lake. It shall be alot of work.

I am expecting to have a few aches and pains come Monday.

However if you know me... you know I am a woman ALWAYS prepared. So I have brought along and packed the icy hot, massager, Advil, heating pad, energy drinks.. anything that will help us and aid us in our weekend venture.

Wish us all luck. It will be alot of hard physical labor and work. But if we all work together... we can get it done I hope all this weekend.

Enjoy the WONDERFUL sun and weather we are suppose to have here in MN.

Take care all...........................

Till next week.

Fun Facts

If we are ever to enjoy life, now is the time, not tomorrow or next year... Today should always be our most wonderful day - Thomas Dreier

22 minutes to love
I want to share a simple, but very powerful success principle with you today. And it revolves around a number... 3,153,600,000

Do you know what that is? That is the exact number of seconds in 100 years - what is often considered the maximum life span of the average human being.
At 20 years old, that number drops to 2,522,880,000. By age 40, that number is only 1,892,160,000.And by age 60? 1,261,440,000.
Let me ask you an important question - how many seconds do you have left? Imagine you are 20 years old (if some of us can go that far back : )

- You will spend a minimum of 576,000,000 seconds at work for the rest of your life.-
You will spend at least another 576,000,000 sleeping.

- Another 105,120,000 eating.- Another 210,240,000 commuting to and from work.

- 216,000 at doctors appointments.

- 105,120,000 checking email.

- You will spend 1,728,000 clipping your toe nails before you die,
IF you live to be 100. Clipping your toe nails. Ouch...that's rough.


How much time does that leave you for living?
I mean real living - enjoying family and friends, falling in love, going for walks in the summer breeze...real, honest-to-goodness living.

I'll tell you...948,456,000 seconds.

That is the equivalent of 22 minutes a day for the rest of your life.22 minutes - that's IT.

Is that how you want to live??
Spending 22 minutes a day living, and the other 1,418 or 23.6 hours - doing the things you HAVE to do? That isn't a life, that's 22 minutes.

You now have the knowledge to change your life. Now you know exactly how much time you have left on this earth to enjoy LIVING - something most people can hardly understand.

This is an important moment for you in the "grand scheme" of things. Right now, you are going to make a decision that will determine exactly how much time - out of whatever time you have left - will be spent living, instead of doing.

Not everyone will understand the significance of this moment. To some people, they are just spending some of their 105,120,000 seconds checking email right now. But to the lucky few, this is the turning point in your life where you decide to take that time back - and use it to really, fully live your life.

Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. - Les Brown

Mothers Day was a BIG HIT at my house!

Mothers Day was a hit at our home this year. All of the Mothers and GrandMothers had a wonderful day. I was soo glad to hear it. Because it was a special day just for them. I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers day as well. I worked very hard to get the house clean and all of the Food prepped and gifts ready and it was a good day.

Here is a some flowers. I don't know the name of these. But I just love these.

Mom and one of her gifts from me and my Hubby. My Mother and Grandma in Law
More flowers we had !!!!!!!!!!!My Grandma!!!!
Here is a group pic. 2 Mom's and some of their kids. My sis's Mother in law was invited as well. We where glad to have her.

Tonight I did all the clean up. It took me a while and my back is in pain. But it was worth it all in the end. Everyone can't quit talking about it. I got home to calls tonight again in Thanks. It was also fun to show the family all we had done in our home.

Alterned Notebooks

So.......... I had made these a while ago..but I gave them all away in my gifts... So I did not want to post them and give away the surprise.

So here they are... the before


A close up of one of them in the 'after'
Here are all of them in the after stage. Sooooo cute and fun all dressed up and a great gift idea. My mother and mother in law got one of these yesterday for their purse;s. They loved them. Among other items I got them.

Happy Mothers Day !!!!!!!!

MORE THAN A MOTHER

When God set the world in place,

when He hung the stars up in space,

when He made the land and the sea,

then He made you and me.

He sat back and saw all that was good,

He saw things to be as they should.

Just one more blessing He had in store;

He created a mother, but whatever for?

He knew a mother would have a special place

to shine His reflection on her child's face.

A mother will walk the extra mile

just to see her children smile.

She'll work her fingers to the bone

to make a house into a home.

A mother is there to teach and guide,

a mother will stay right by your side.

She'll be there through your pain and strife,

she'll stay constant in your life.

A mother will lend a helping hand

until you have the strength to stand.

She'll pick you up when you are down,

when you need a friend she'll stick around.

A mother is one who listens well,

will keep her word; will never tell.

A mother never pokes or pries

but stands quietly by your side,

giving you the strength you need,

encouraging you to succeed.

A mother is one who can be strong

when you need someone to lean on.

You're more than a mother to me;

a reflection of Him in your face I see,

a love that knows no boundaries.

I'm glad that you chose to be

all this and more to me.

You share a love that knows no end,

you're more than my mother,you are my friend.

Happy Mothers Day to all of you loving Mothers Out there. Today is your day soooo celebrate !!!

Happy Birthday !!!!!!!!

I wanted to take time out to wish my Sister Lisa a Happy Birthday.

I hope you have a wonderful day dear and enjoy this day.

Can't wait to see you to give you, your gift. Have a super time.

Love ya Lots, A & J

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA !!!!!

'Mothers Day'

Mothers Day will be here this weekend......

So allll you Mother's out there I hope it is a good one... I have much to do the rest of the week.. in order to celebrate Mothers Day at my house. In honor of the Mothers in my family I am hosting Mothers Day dinner. We will have a house full that is for sure... my to do list is growing by the mintue.... I want things to be perfect for those mothers. So I will have the food ready and gift's and cards written... decorating done. The deck ready in hopes it is nice and we can enjoy the outdoors. The house clean.. the tables set... etc etc... I hope to get a few pic's for it as well. We also have my sister's B-day this friday so we will be celebrating her as well. Ahhhh sooo much to do but it is worth it for those mothers and grandmothers. WIth that said.. I better finish up and do a bit more before bed!!!

Whatever you do or whom your with.. I hope you have a WONDERFUL day.

What things are you 'THANKFUL" for ?

In this day and age.. it is sooooo easy to WANT things and to think about the things we don't have. Things we wish we had.... etc. As easy as it is to focus on the things we we want and don't have and we desire for... we also forget the things we do have...the good things in our lives that are good and that we should be thankful for....

What are you thankful for??? Can you list them ? How do you express that ? How do you share that ? How do you live that ??? Just a few things to be think about.

So in regards to that. I thought I would list 10 things I am thankful for. Then below that is a nice poem that was sent to me that I really liked. So I shared that as well.

These are in no exact order......
1. A home both to live in and share.
2. My husband.
3. My family, and their love and support.
4. A job that helps pay the bills
5. In internet to keep in touch with friends and family and the chance to have this blog.
6. Good friends to share life with.
7. The sunshine of a warm day.
8. Me time to have fun and stamp and create things.
9.A car that runs well and get me to and from.
10. My grandparents cabin to enjoy and take our boat out. I love to be on the lake.

Those are just a few... I could g on forever....

Be Thankful

* Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

* Be thankful when you don't know something,For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

* Be thankful for the difficult times.During those times you grow.

* Be thankful for your limitations,Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

* Be thankful for each new challenge,Because it will build your strength and character.

* Be thankful for your mistakes,They will teach you valuable lessons.

* Be thankful when you're tired and weary,Because it means you've made a difference.

* It is easy to be thankful for the good things.A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who arealso thankful for the setbacks.

* GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.Find a way to be thankful for your troubles and they can become your blessing
.- Author Unknown

Project #2 !!!!!!!!!

Sooo it appears to be that my hubby is a gluntant for punishment.. or a hard worker... which ever way you look at it. Ahhh heck.. maybe some of each. Sooo in 2 days time... see what else he accomplished. I have wanted this for a few years now and it is done... yippy. While I was stuck in the basement painting everything twice. He was outside getting fresh air and making things happen. Gotta love a guy that can do it all.


So here is our new planter....
Above is a closer look at the block. It is a mix of tan and gray to match the pavers and the house !!
Here is a view from a little further away. Closer to the door is our pond we did a few years back. It has been wayyyy to cold here in Mn..so I haven't been able to clean it and get our 13 gold fish out there yet ! They are going to LOVE to get out and swim in their bigger home.......!

Now allllllllll that is left... is the black dirt and of course to fill it with tonzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz OF FLOWERS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Night night all.

What 56 hours will get you !

Well .... my Hubby was not working last week. At least not at his job. But he put in many more hours at home !

We now have a WONDERFUL.. new side walk that we just LOVE.

This was his first attemp at doing pavers. But much like anything else. He seems to get it right the first time around. I am glad I have a hubby that is skilled in sooo many area's. This would have cost us over double the price ..infact almost 3 times the price had, we had to pay labor for someone else to do it and deliever it all.

Here is the before look... as you can see it was going down hill and broken aways from the step....

Here is a closer look at what the pavers look like.
We have to do some clean up yet... but here is the end result!
Here is the look from the house.....Here is a little closer look for you all.......
Yipppppppyyyyy.........

He is done... it looks great and we love it. Now we just have to get it cleaned up for Mother's Day !!!!!!!!!