My husband tells me I do too much. I know he's proud of me, but he's probably right. And he doesn't even know the half of what I do sometimes. I suppose it's part of the heritage my grandmother instilled in us - the spirit of volunteering. I've been involved in the Society for Technical Communication since 1998, and I wouldn't change a thing - I've learned a lot, and had lots of opportunities to manage and lead other people. That's not something I could have ever envisioned when I was 18 and fresh out of high school. I know I need to learn to say no...

Well, enough of the serious stuff! :)

My friend Becky T encouraged me to enter a contest with her, the Funk It Up! contest at scrapforums. She's doing the paper scrapping contest, I'm doing the digital contest. The first challenge is:

Use the lyrics of the song "Photograph" by Nickelback to inspire a fabulous layout!

With the following rules:

*You must use (at least) one complete line from the song somewhere (visible) on the layout. It can be the title, in your journaling or as an accent.

*At least one photo must be used.

*One or two page layouts are good and all size layouts are accepted.

*the layout must have journaling.

*The rest is up to you! Be creative, have fun and FUNK IT UP!

I think I know which lyrics to use, but I'm still hunting for the perfect picture. I guess it's a good excuse to finally hook up the scanner. :D

Bad bad blogger!

Life has been pretty busy in the last few weeks. On Monday nights, we go to ballroom dancing class, held through the parks and recreation district. It's pretty fun, even if we both feel like we have left feet (him more so than me). It gets us out of the house, and it's not too far away from home - we'll be able to easily bicycle there in the spring and summer.

On weekends, we've been kept busy unloading the storage room. We average at least 2 loads a weekend, but that's a glacial pace for someone who wants that storage room payment off the books. :) We can see the halfway mark - we're not there, but we can see it! We can also see the framed artwork boxes, and hopefully will get them out this weekend. That way we can put them up in time for our housewarming party on the 24th.

I'm also working on layouts for my creative teams. One of the designers I create layouts for is taking a breather, so that load will ease some. I survived all the way through the Amazing Digiscrapping Race, with the able help of my partner Dawn. We did not win the grand prize, but we completed the race - which was fun all the way around! :)

So much fun, that I decided to sign up for the Funk It Up contest on scrapforums.com. No idea if I will make it past round 1 there, but I at least entered. :)

The election I am running in has had some changes as well. First, I was one of two candidates for two positions. Then I was one of three candidates for two positions. And now I'm one of two candidates, which means unless we get a late petition entry, I'll be elected this year. Third time's the charm, right? :) I need to register for the conference in Minneapolis before the end of February, so I can take advantage of early bird rates.

Oh, and another thing...someone finally took on organizing the 20 year high school reunion. I missed out on the 10-year reunion, so I was determined to go to the 20-year this year. Of course, I don't think anyone but my two friends Lisa and Amy (we're still all friends) will remember me, but it will be fun!

I've been very very bad about updating my blog. I've been sick with bronchitis, and life has also been busy! I made it to week 3 of the Amazing Race, and have done two layouts this, for challenges #5 and #6.

Challenge #5 was to do a layout about books, in some form or fashion - no other requirements.



And challenge #6 was to scrap your partner's pictures. My partner is dawnmcd, and these are pictures of her daughter.

We are out of the apartment, at long last. No more Mr Stomper, no more constant road noise, no more Mr Cougher next door. Ah! That's a huge sigh of relief you hear... :)

Tomorrow, we'll be going to see Barry Manilow in concert. I've been a fan of Barry for a long time (probably since I heard "I Write the Songs" when I was a child), and I know I'd never want to pay the prices to see him at his show in Las Vegas, so this is the perfect compromise. He is doing a special concert to benefit cystic fibrosis, and I pretty much bought tickets the moment I got the email from K103 with the link to buy. My husband and I are sitting in the 20th row on the floor, those are pretty good seats at the Rose Garden Arena! :D

In return for my husband suffering through Manilow with me, we are going to see "A Night of Improv" in February, with the cast of Whose Line Is It Anyway (minus Drew Carey). The tickets sold out so fast, a 2nd show was added for later the same evening!

Ah the joys of being sick! NOT! I have stayed home all week long, trying to "rest" out this dang cold, and thought I was well on my way to recovery, until this morning. I was almost out the door, showered, dressed, keys in hand, when my energy level dipped below 0 and a coughing spasm started. I trudged back upstairs, sent an email to my boss, and crawled under the covers again. Sigh. I will go in on Monday, no matter how I feel. Dang cold!

In the meantime, during my periods of energy, I have been doing some digital scrapping for the Amazing Digiscrapping Race. Here's my 2nd challenge layout, which could only be done by one team member. It had to use a series of photos, and tell "the rest of the story" behind the series...you know, the story you wouldn't necessarily know just by looking at the photos. The twist? You could only use one item PER designer. Yeah, that stretched my horizons a bit, I'm one of those "stay within the kit" type folks, but I managed to do it. Good thing I have lots of designers on my external hard drive storage.

Here's the layout:

Here's the first layout for the Amazing Digiscrapping Race, challenge #1:




I completed the layout using Rachael Giallongo's Sketch Challenge #20 and the "Changes" collaboration kit from Oscraps.

Okay, okay, it's been a while since I posted. I admit it! :)

First, we moved into the new house on Dec 22. We were .....um.....loitering in the sales office as the agent called to see if she could give us our keys. And we weren't the only ones...um....loitering... :)

We spent the night on our queen size Aerobed (bought from Costco months ago, for guests), which feels a lot like sleeping on not quite so firm Jello. :D

On the 23rd, I headed to the apartment while my husband stayed at the new house. He got "Verizon" and "appliance" duty, while I got "movers" duty. I packed several more boxes waiting for the movers, then got out of their way while they moved our boxes and furniture onto the moving truck. We got to the house, and Verizon and the appliance folks still had not shown up...turns out the Verizon guy had a problem install before us, and shows up around 2 p.m. The appliance guys show up around 1 p.m., just as the moving guys start moving our stuff inside.

Did I mention it was raining? Did I tell you we bought a stainless steel refrigerator? Um yeah, that was fun to wipe off the prints. :D Especially since the appliance guys had to remove the doors of the refrigerator just to get it inside the house. They tried removing just the door handles (they were sticking out and the reason it was too wide), but it wasn't working, so they removed the doors.

Finally, we had our new fridge, washer, and dryer. Wow! That new washer and dryer have some interesting noises....so much so that Cleo (who was in my arms) spooked when the washer changed cycle and left a couple of nice long (and deep) gouges on my chest when trying to run off. No v-neck shirts for me for a couple of weeks! :)

Christmas Eve we just unpacked a little, rested a little, and had a nice pasta dinner. We usually go for something that isn't turkey or ham related, since we have to eat both on Christmas Day at two different meals.

Oh, before I forget, I started getting a cold on the day we moved our stuff (12/23). You'll see why this is important later. :)

Christmas Day we do our normal two step drive. Drive to my parents, open presents, have an early dinner. Drive to my husband's parents' house, open presents, eat dinner. Drive home.

On 12/26, I'm not feeling too good, but it's time for a niece's birthday party that has already been rescheduled twice. Yes, I still have a cold. *sniff* It probably didn't help that I went shopping for a few hours first thing in the morning.

The rest of the week, I'm miserable with a cold, and waiting for contractors to show up to finish some exterior stuff and some carpet cleaning. Oh yeah, my husband's office furniture, which should have showed up on 12/26 AT THE HOUSE, got sent to our mailing address at the UPS store. How stupid is that? Six boxes of "put it together yourself" furniture goes to the wrong address, so I have to go pick it up, but I can't unload it on the other end because I'm not strong enough (nor are my arms wide enough to wrap around some of these boxes). I go straight to Office Depot afterwards and get my "delivery" fee back - it turns out it was their screwup. They had put in both addresses (our mailing address is also our billing address), but had forgotten to "check the box" to indicate it should go to the house address, so it defaulted to the billing address. Good thing the UPS store employees know me and accepted the delivery, despite the fact it was against their policy.

Another niece has a birthday party on 12/29. Yep, still feeling miserable, but now I look like I'm miserable. Friday night at the cheap pizza joint favored for kids' parties, and oh crap, it's also karaoke night. There's nothing worse than being sick and having to hear peopl sing karaoke who shouldn't be anywhere NEAR a mike. Enough said. *shudder*

Quiet weekend for us, although we went to dinner on 12/30 with several friends. Nice place to find, we may go back there again someday.

A good friend of ours comes over on 12/31 to ring in the New Year. We had a nice dinner, and then sat in front of our widescreen TV to watch several episodes of Firefly. During the 2nd episode, we toasted the new year, but went straight back to Mal and his crew. :)

By 1/1/07, I'm still not feeling hot. Yep, I still have that pesky cold. I so didn't want to go back to work yet. I promise friends and family, yes, I will call the doctor Tuesday morning.

Back to work! 1/2/07 arrives and I'm back at my desk. Coughing, sneezing, and blowing my nose like there's no tomorrow. Get in to the doctor around 10:30. Turns out it is nothing more than a viral infection (aka the common cold), but she gives me a prescription cold drug to kick this cold out. I head back to work, where I take my medication. Taking the pill causes a coughing jag, which ends up with me being sent home to "rest" and keep my germs away from everyone else.

So here I am, 1/3/07, still at home. Sick with a cold. But at least I'm "resting"....and actually, I have been sleeping most of the time.

Woohoo! Final signoff has occurred!

By the time we pick up our keys tomorrow, paint touchups will be done, the fence will be installed, the lawn will be rolled out, and the A/C unit will be installed.

Here's a couple of final shots of the finished kitchen (the fridge is arriving Friday - not through the homebuilder, but we bought it separate).





And the dining room:

:(

That would be because the field manager called us at 5 p.m. to reschedule our final signoff from 8 a.m. tomorrow to 4 p.m. tomorrow. :( That means we definitely won't get keys tomorrow (a faint hope anyway). It means that the loan won't fund until Thursday, and the county has to record the deed by 1:30 p.m. on Thursday or we won't get our keys until Friday. Please, keep your fingers crossed that we get our keys on Thursday - I'd hate to reschedule appliance and furniture delivery.

I'm trying to be happy....at least it isn't delayed until Thursday...but close enough.

Well, the granite slab wasn't quite installed when we got there this morning. Apparently, it arrived yesterday, but wasn't installed. The guy was working on it while we were there looking at the house. He said he was working on two houses at once - while one was drying in place, he was working on the other. I sure hope they get done today.





They did install the microwave/hood, but still no cooktop, oven, or dishwasher until the counter is installed.



They also have set up the concrete forms for the back patio.



And they've installed the blinds!

I have the cashier's check in my hot little hands! :) We got a call at about 9:55 this morning, saying the title company had received our loan documents, and they were ready when we were. We set the appointment for 4 p.m. this afternoon.

I promptly rushed to the bank and had our cashier's check drawn up. Wow....a lot of money in one place, but it's for a good cause: HOUSING! :)

We cannot wait to move. Here are the things we *WON'T* miss from the apartment:

- Not enough space (1000 sq feet doesn't cut it with two humans and three cats)
- Being 20 feet from a major thoroughfare (which is less than a mile from the closest municipal airport, and traffic is constant on day and night)
- Mr Stomper upstairs (who has "heavy" feet and stomps all around his apartment)
- Guaranteed parking for only one car (carport) and potluck parking on the other....
- The cougher next door, whose bedroom is on the other side of our bedroom wall...

Here's what I'll miss:

- Being 2 miles from work (10 minute commute during worst traffic)
- 2 blocks from the nearest Starbucks

The "Heart and Soul" kit is now available here: Heart and Soul kit for a cause

Just 7 days and counting now....as long as the paperwork comes together! :)

Rachel

We had the blue tape inspection/walkthrough this morning. In addition to minor paint and drywall issues, they have the following items to complete before next Wednesday morning, when we have the signoff.

1) Left side cabinet door above refrigerator rubs on wall
2) Back patio pour and fix siding
3) Can light burned out
4) Finish trim on left and right of fireplace
5) Adjust handle on den door (it sticks)
6) Install window blinds
7) Pour fence posts inside concrete on back patio
8) Chirping smoke detector (needs new battery)
9) Set sinks
10) Cabinet touch up end panel hall bath upstairs
11) Light bulb over shower & mirror
12) Finish carpeting stairs (bottom half)
13) Receive and install granite slab, then install appliances

One more thing needs to get completed, but not before signoff: landscaping and irrigation. Unfortunately, the wettest November on record played havoc with pouring concrete or doing any yardwork.

And the technology guys are coming on Monday the 18th to hook up the wiring and install the plates for all the structured wiring.

All in all, it was a good inspection. I just hope it is ALL finished before we come back next time.

Just a quick sneak peek! This kit will be a fundraiser at the Digi Chick this coming Thursday. This charity kit was created by the Digi Chick designers and Valerie Fowler to help raise funds for a member of Valerie's church who lost their child to SIDS. Please consider helping out by purchasing this kit! 100% of proceeds go to funeral expenses.

Okay, okay, my patience ran out! We went to the house today before going shopping with friends. What a shock to pull around the corner and see our house had been painted. COOOL!






Gotta a little closer, and you can see the front door color (it's not very apparent in the previous photo):



And yes! They fixed the fireplace! Although most of you probably didn't notice that the fireplace was not centered (therefore the tile wasn't centered), we did. The field manager agreed - it looked horrible. It's been fixed, now there is an evenly spaced gap on either side of the tile, rather than the pushed up against the right side look.

Cool, heh? :)

Just arranged to have movers come on 12/23 to move our stuff. No packing, just moving the furniture and boxes. I get to be at the apartment to meet the movers, while my husband gets to meet with Verizon at the house to install the fiber optic service. Fun fun fun! :)

Yes! I just got off the phone with the field manager for our house. Preliminary walk through (buyer orientation, blue tape inspection) is scheduled for 12/13 at 8 a.m., and final signoff from the inspection (after they've fixed stuff found in the first walk through) is on 12/20 at 8 a.m.

That means we'll get our keys, at the latest, by the end of day on 12/21.

WOOHOO!

What a Christmas present! :)

Rachel

It's hard to visualize that in exactly three weeks, it will be Christmas Eve, and we'll be in our new home! We took our traditional Sunday trip to the house, and took new pictures.

We now have hardwood flooring in the kitchen and dining room, but they aren't done installing hardwoods - it still needs to go in the half bath, entryway, and hallway from the front door to the kitchen.





They've also installed the vinyl flooring in the master bathroom, guest bathroom, and utility room. We could have chosen different vinyl for each, but I used the same pattern for all three. Looks pretty gorgeous to me. :)

23 days and counting, almost 22! :)

We met with the mortgage guy today, at the subdivision sales office (a whole half block away from our new house), so we took the camera with us and snagged a couple photos. He also realized that our "closing" date was the business day (friday) before Christmas, so he's going to move up the closing date to 12/20 or 12/21, to give the documents time to record. So, it is looking like we'll be signing documents by the 15th, at the latest! And the blue tape inspection should be coming up the same week we sign, so they can fix issues ASAP.

The fireplace tile surround!


The master bathroom tile counter (no grout)

26 days and counting!

We went to the house today, but nothing has been done since the contractors left on Wednesday. We admit it, we went to the house on both Wednesday AND Friday, plus today......the interior walls have been painted, and all but one cabinet has been installed (and the crown molding above the kitchen cabinets is installed).

Today, we went to Fry's, Delta Park, Jantzen Beach, and the World's Largest Christmas Bazaar (at the Expo Center). Phew! I'm almost as tired as I was on Friday after all that shopping. Gym? Who needs a gym? :)

No pictures today. Next week, I promise there will be pictures... :)