Can I have a spring break too....please??

All the kids and teachers are thrilled to have this next week be spring break! Considering what I've managed to do the last few days, I really think I need one as well.

...sprayed sink & tub cleaner on the bathroom window to wash it. Windex works and smells much better.

...put away the milk in the cabinet instead of the fridge. Thankfully discovered that I did that only 2 minutes later.

...uncovered a pan of cinnamon twists in the freezer that I made the week before and totally forgot about.

...pulled a pan out of the oven momentarily forgetting to use a hot pad. Believe me, less than a moment later, full realization of what I did hit me.

...discovered my Google toolbar has disappeared from my Firefox browser and so far I've been unsuccessful in recovering it. Do you know how hard it is to live without that Google search box and bookmarks?!?!

...crossed something off my list only to rewrite it because I crossed it off, planned to do it that very minute and got distracted. Note to self: Don't EVER cross off my list until AFTER the fact.

...almost forgot one of my SS kid's birthday in spite of the fact that she has been reminding me for the past month. (You know what kind of tragedy that would cause?!?!)

Too bad I don't teach school and can't have that much-looked-forward-to-break. Of course, my job being the wonderful job that it is...I can take a break just about any time. And next week sounds like a perfectly good week to me. :)

Shhhhhhh......

.........the really great thing about having sisters who have moved out and yet are still storing their stuff at home is that I can raid their stashes they've left behind! :)

To Colorado and back

My Easter weekend trip to Colorado turned out to be fun and exciting as usual! I had several reasons for making this trip to CO and was able to get all those accomplished. Hooray!

Snickers - Joanna wanted one of my Siamese kittens and since she didn't want another Skittles (have I mentioned that Scamper is the exact replica of Skittles??), Snickers is the one! He did really well traveling the 6 hours and the trip went by really quickly. The fact that my attention was on this little four-legged furball probably helped that fact greatly. He was a little fussy getting started, but soon settled down on my lap, above my head or around my neck and was content.

Here are some pics and yes, I did take these while I was driving, but I was careful! :) My only fear is that I would get stopped and a police officer would see this cat near my head. I'm sure I would have been in trouble...more pics are here....

he started out in my lap...

then moved to the headrest...

and onto my head for the remainder of the trip!

He's adjusted very well at Joanna's house. It took Zippy (Joanna's cat) a few days to adjust to this little white rat running around all over her room, but they seem to have become friends. As long as Snickers doesn't steal all of Zippy's places to sleep, he'll be fine. And Zippy latched onto Snicker's toy mouse that I brought. :)

sleeping with Joanna

sleeping on top of us while we were watching a movie

Denver Fabrics - How can I not go to Colorado and not visit Denver Fabrics? I suppose it is possible, but that would be disappointing. But I did really have a valid reason for going. Really. Honestly. And it wasn't just more fabric for me, although I did find some. Don't laugh, cause Joanna found some too. :)

I managed to get a couple pieces for a bedspread I am stitching for a customer. And I found the perfect combination of fabrics for bathroom curtains. I've looked all over here and online and haven't found a thing. But what I did find was perfect and I love it and the stripe fabric was even on sale (reg. 22.00, sale 7.00)! How fantastic is that?!?! I was hoping for something striped, but didn't think I would find it.

Fabric for bathroom curtains - see that stripe?! I love it and it blends well with the green solid and towels (it looks better in person than this photo!)

Ok, I will admit, I did find some pieces for me. I'll even show you what I bought and it's not that much. Plus I can't get quality, inexpensive garment fabric around here, so I stock up when I can.

Black with pink stripe - What can I say - it's black! And you know I never have enough black stuff to wear! But this has a pink stripe which makes it unique.

Black sparkle sheer - I'm not sure what I'm doing with this, but I loved it. And if I didn't get it, Joanna was going to, so of course, I did. ;)

Gray plaid - Joanna actually picked this one up and then decided that she didn't need it since she had like 8 yards of it at home, so I took it.

Brown embroidered suede - This just feels so nice and I love the embroidery!

Now this is not typical me. The eyelash knit caught my eye because of the color - a beautiful aqua/blue! It just looked so spring looking. Then Joanna found the wild print on the left to go with it. It's quite bold with it's large yellow, orange and green floral print, but it does match the blue really well. I'm still not sure about the print and looking at it in this photo versus in person is not improving my opinion on it. But I'll make a skirt out of it and see how it turns out.

The Thorn - Ok, perhaps my main reason for going to Colorado was to see the Thorn, which is a theatrical production depicting Jesus' death and resurrection. It was excellent! If you ever get a chance to go, you should!

I planned to go to church Sunday morning with Joanna and then start for home, but the weather did not cooperate with my plans. Joanna kept saying on Friday that I would get snowed in and wouldn't be able to return home Sunday and guess what happened? Yep, you couldn't have planned it any better, Joanna! ;) (btw, I know she's reading this! lol!) We ended up getting a full 8" of wet, heavy snow and we did not go anywhere on Sunday. Monday morning was bright and sunny and was the perfect weather for driving home.

My car was covered with snow; of course it was the one with the most!

And while we were getting snow in CO, it was pouring rain here in Kansas. Yes, pouring! Dad said we got 2 1/2"! Praise the Lord for that because we needed it so badly!

Skittles and Scamper back home were a little lost without Snickers and of course, me. The moment I walked in the door, Skittles was in the kitchen to greet me. As usual, she looked thinner than when I left. She's most certainly a one person cat and if I'm not home, she's not happy. Especially if Jena is home.

My sister: there's just something I cannot understand!

Krissa has been such a help to me since she has been home and without a job. (Although I don't think she's too pleased about the "without a job" situation! :)) Even though she's been traveling what seems all over the country for interviews, the time she has been home, she's been helping with meals while I've been busy. The one thing I cannot understand is how she can cook with the kitchen in such an uproar! Keep reading to understand......

This is nothing new; she's always been this way when cooking, but I guess I had forgotten since she's been gone for the last 3 years.

Last week Krissa decided to bake a chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake (which I might add, was very, very good!). In the middle of the afternoon I took a break from my computer and went upstairs to get something to drink. I walk into the kitchen and see...

...the sink brimming over with mixing bowls, dishes and silverware,

...the kitchen counter covered with mixing tools and ingredients,

...and the kitchen table with evidence of crushed graham crackers from the open box and rolling pin and *just a few crumbs*.

How can anyone cook or bake anything with such a mess as that????

As I'm standing at the edge of the kitchen, mouth open, trying to believe I'm actually seeing what I am seeing and then Krissa, with a saran wrapped log of cookie dough in her hand, asks me if I can use the chocolate chip cookie dough she has leftover. As I'm nodding my head yes, saying to put it in the freezer and I will bake cookies with it in another week or so, she opens the freezer door and pulls out another huge limp of cookie dough.

I could take it no longer; I just burst out laughing! I mean, here is Krissa, standing in a less-than-clean kitchen holding up several pounds of cookie dough. It was just too funny! And it doesn't stop there....

I venture into the kitchen, stroll over to the fridge, get out my can of pop and then Krissa asks me, "Will it hurt Skittles to eat sweets, because she's been licking something off the floor?"

Ok, not only is the sink full, the counters overflowing and the table covered in graham cracker crumbs, but there are bits and pieces of chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake on the floor that Skittles has discovered?

That was just the icing on the cake! I can't complain because Krissa always cleans up everything - yes, even the 200 mixing bowls, measuring cups, spoons and pans she gets out. But I still don't understand why it takes so many utensils to bake cheesecake or how she can stand working in a kitchen like that! Although I shouldn't be surprised because one of the first things I did when we were in Krissa's apartment in AL and she was cooking was start washing the pile of dishes in the sink. :)

I know you have to have some of those utensils when cooking, but if you wash them as you go, the kitchen stays much more organized and you don't have a huge mess to deal with after whatever you are fixing is finished.

As Dad always says, "There's a right way, a wrong way and then there's Mom's way."

News flash: There's now Krissa's way! ;)

BTW, Krissa has now joined the online blogging community! Take a peek at her brand new blog.

Oh, and those CLEAN dishes on the right half of the sink?

Those are the ones I washed during and after lunch. The left side
of the sink is totally Krissa's responsibility. :)

Just how many things can I do at one time????

Click photo to enlarge:

Revealing that "exciting news"

Ok, I know some of you have been wondering what exactly is my exciting news that I mentioned quite a while back. I actually meant to write about this "news" before now, but as too often happens, there have been some glitches that came up. So instead of a one, possibly two month process, it actually turned out to be a three month ordeal and not everything is complete, but almost!

First of all, I must warn you.....this is exciting to me, but probably will not be as exciting to you. Several of you have emailed me wondering if it has to do with getting a different job, moving away from home or being engaged to be married. And let me tell, you....it's none of those things. :)

But like I mentioned in that initial post, it has been over two years since I have been waiting for this and finally decided to do it. And I'm glad I did!

So the news is.....my website, as exciting and informative as it has been in the past, has a brand new look! Yep, that's it. No, probably not what most of you were expecting to hear, but excited I was/am!!!

I designed the first design and shopping cart, which worked fine, but lacked the professsional look that I wanted it to have. So I had a couple of web designers redo the graphics, main site and shopping cart! And I even added a forum, online chatting and new photo album (still to come)!

Hopefully this will draw more visitors to my business and will be much easier to navigate and use! Although I'm still working on a few areas, the majority of the work is done, with the exception of my embroidery blog which should be complete in the next couple of weeks.

As I have time, I will continue to update and work on the other areas, hoping to improve my site and make it as user friendly and informative as much as I can. I actually would love to learn more of web designing and coding as it's something I really enjoy doing, but does take time. And as much as I would love to devote more and more time to learning html code and such, there is only 24 hours in a day and only so much I can do. in those 24 hours....!

So all those who have totally forgotton about that post and those of you who are still wondering....that's my exciting news!!! :)

Exciting news!!

Ive got some exciting news to share with all of you, but I can't tell you what it is just yet! It is something I have waited for the past two years!! And while it may not be too exciting to everyone reading this, it's exciting to me! ;)

You know you are living in 2007 when...

I found this in my morning blog reading from Laura and thought is was so true and funny also! :)

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

You did didn't you?

:-) turns 25!

Did you know one of the most popular symbols written in our land of Internet, email and blogs had turned 25?! Read this to see how it all was started...

Here's a little excerpt:

Fahlman said, "I sometimes wonder how many millions of people have typed
these characters, and how many have turned their heads to one side to view a
smiley, in the 25 years since this all started."

Me too!!! :) Read the full article here....

It really is funny!

Morgan posted this funny eBay auction listing, which I had read the week before, but totally forgot about mentioning it here. It really is hilarious! You never know what you can buy and sell on eBay!! Would you believe her hilarious story sold that pack of cards for over $100?!?!

An Internet Emergency!

I found something else that brought a smile to my face - an Internet emergency! You'll get a chuckle out of what to do when your Internet connection is broken. Be sure to scroll clear to the end! I love the last graphic on the page - downloading the Internet so you can view if offline! Watch the animation for just a minute and be prepared to smile!

Ok, now back to work...

Just a chuckle...

I stumbled on this page this morning and couldn't help but think of my sister with her car in South Carolina! The catchy tune and hilarious lyrics are just too funny to resist! :)

Krissa's BJU college survival kit

Krissa called Jena today just totally thrilled with the package that she received in the mail! Last week Jena did the usual grocery shopping and seemed to be gone forever!! I kept wondering what was taking her so long to get home, but it turns out that she was shopping in Wal-Mart for over 3 hours!

She had a fantastic idea! Make and send Krissa a survival kit with the theme being her senior year of college at BJU! By the time she was done, she has a huge list of items, the reason behind her choosing to include each one, all tucked nice and neat in a basket!

You can read her Survival Kit Guide on her blog here...

Krissa was so thrilled and told Jena it was just so BJU - everything just fit right in to college life, which was what Jena was trying to achieve!

Just a few "taters"

I received this forward and thought it was rather cute! The peppy music just adds to it!!

The different kinds of taters...

Enjoy!! :)

A day full of packages!

Isn't it fun to have packages delivered and see what's inside?! I think so and today was filled with packages and boxes delivered to our house. Just about every freight company was here to deliver something! Usually it is fabric or notions that I need to post online which is always a treat to sort through, but today was a little different! :)

This has been the day to receive packages, I guess. First this morning, FedEx delivered two manila envelopes. Each one had a printer cartridge inside; why they were shipped in two different packages, I have no idea. I ordered them both from CostCentral at the same time. Much cheaper than buying them locally, even if I have to pay shipping - which I didn't this time since I had a coupon code for free shipping!

I drove to the post office to mail out some packages and pick up my mail. Billie at the post office handed me a heavy square box; I looked at the return address and knew what it was. But then she pulled out a long triangular box with a return address of WPR; I had no clue what was inside!

Inside the square box were four Left Behind series books that I found on eBay for a good price. These are the 3 prequels to the 12 book series and the newest book to the series, Kingdom Come which follows book 12, The Glorious Appearing. Kingdom Come is brand new and I didn't even know the writers were planning another book until I stumbled across it a few weeks ago online. I'm anxious to read it and the prequels which have been out for a while, but haven't had a chance to read. You can read an excerpt from Kingdom Come; makes me want to pick up the book and start reading! I better not even think about starting it or I will be up until who knows when, unable to put it down. I think I read Glorious Appearing in just one night! :)

As for the long box, I was totally mystified. I tried to recall what I had ordered that would be sent in a box like that?! I opened it up and a roll of wallpaper slid out. Oh, yeah, of course! It was the brick replica wallpaper I ordered from eBay to use for camp! I was waiting and hoping that would get here so I could get my "brick wall" made to use in my lessons at camp. The bricks are a little bigger than I was expecting, but I can make it work.

Let's see...we have FedEx and USPS covered, so what's left? Oh yes, UPS! Can't forget about the brown shipping truck! Well, when Krissa answered the door, the UPS guy handed her two boxes. One was filled with glow-in-the-dark sticks which I'm planning to use for the two weeks of camp. The other had my Canon video camera equipment in it. I'm planning to do some taping and uploading of embroidery techniques online in the next few months. So after months of searching, reading consumer reports and comparing online prices, I was able to find what I wanted at a decent price. Even though I plan to use it for business purposes, I am POSITIVE some certain people (not to mention any names, but their names start with J & K) will be using it as well!

Only two more packages to go! One came in the mailbox for Jena, so at least not everything we got today was for me! There also was a Wal-Mart sample box of cat food in mailbox. Every week I get on Wal-Mart's free sample page and see if there's anything in which I am interested. I've received free samples of cat food, dog food, greeting cards, granola snacks, Crest toothpaste and lots of other things! Every few days to weeks they change the samples that are available; never know what you can find!

I think that covers my packages for today! I guess the only one who wasn't here delivering something was DHL, but they were here last week... The FedEx and UPS guys probably hate to see "Embroidery Treasures" or "Serena Smith" on their shipping labels; they know exactly where they are going! Now if there was only a way to have the bill delivered to another address... ;)

Oh, and I didn't spend the whole day opening up boxes! I had much more on my to-do list that I was able to get accomplished!

Wheat Harvest: The "Hired" Truck Drivers

Dad started cutting wheat last week and "hired" two new truck drivers - Jena & Krissa. They have never driven a truck before, but did a good job after the first trip.

Dad drove with them the first time to the elevator at Ensign and then the next trip they were on their own. They had quite an adventure and were laughing so hard, it's a wonder they made it back in one piece in an undamaged truck.

They made it to the elevator while video taping their driving. Jena had to back up and the truck died. The guys at the elevator come outside and ask if they need any help; they were laughing so hard that they could hardly answer. Among all their giggles, she managed to get the truck started and headed home.

When Jen & Kris came back into the house, they were laughing so hard and said I just HAD to see what they had taped! They were so right; the video clips are just hilarious. I laugh everytime I see them again!

They had fun and the great part of it is that Dad can continue to cut wheat and not have to stop and take the truck into Ensign. That saves hours of time! He was a little skeptical when he heard about their adventures for their first trip, but he hasn't fired them yet!

Dad's hoping to finish cutting today or tomorrow. Jena has been driving the truck yesterday and today and had done very well so far!

Here is the clip that I think is the most hilarious - Krissa trying to get into gear!



Just acting like silly sisters! They didn't know I was taping as they were throwing wheat! :)



You can see more video clips and photos on my online photo album here.