meme challenge #17

One of my favorite online boards, twopeasinabucket.com, has a weekly meme challenge: a meme is an idea that is shared and passed from blog to blog, like a question posted in one blog and answered in many other blogs.

This week [Nov 28th] we are taking a cue from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way exercise for recovering a sense of identity. Our exercise this week is to list 20 things you enjoy doing [rock climbing, roller skating, baking pies, making soup, bike riding, horse riding, shooting baskets, running, reading poetry, etc.]

So let's see, what would be on my list???

Off the top of my head and in no particular order:
reading
traveling
surfing the internet
hanging with friends
playing volleyball
scrapbooking
new activities/experiences
watching tv (multiple channels at once!)
getting manicure/pedicure
getting massage
motorcycling
being with my honey
dancing
visiting with relatives
sleeping late
photography
cruising
driving my vette (silly boys try to race me!)
downhill skiing
seeing/hearing live entertainment (theater, concerts, etc)
watching xtreme motocross
holding/playing with kittens
being creative
singing along with fave songs
drinking a good latte
cooking a nice meal for guests
smelling lilacs
seeing ancient ruins
learning about other cultures
goofing off

Hmmmm.... well.... my list is well over 20, and I could probably keep on going, but I'll just stop it right there.

So what would you have on your list???

the beginning of a new season

Well, today was the day. The "real" end of autumn, the beginning of winter. Yes, we had snow today. Not just the kind that melts right away. When I woke up and opened the curtains, there was measurable snow on the ground. They were plowing and salting the roads.

I always have mixed feelings about winter. This is the fun part, the exciting part. The beginning of winter. A little snow here and there. High temps still mostly in the 30s. The holiday season on its way. Oooohhh - I LOVE Christmas time!!!

But after that hard core winter sets in. Yuck. Weather so cold it hurts to breathe. Blizzards making it darn near impossible to get anywhere, yet we still have to get to work. And no holiday time off seemingly forever.

But even then, there's fun to be had: a cruise or other warm-weather vacation, the annual U.P. ski trip, the bike club's winter get-a-way, a Madscrappin' Diva weekend crop, the annual scrapbook convention....

I guess it's a love/hate relationship! ;-)

bad, bad, bad

I, along with many other crazy scrappin' gals, have been eagerly awaiting the class schedule for CKU-Albums Chicago. And today the list was finally made official. That doesn't mean it's complete and correct ;-) but it is close.

And of course, I already had most of my classes picked out. By following the naming convention CKU uses for its webpages, many of us have been checking daily (or several times each day!) for updates - meaning, we cheated the system. We've watched as the webmaster updated the webpage, so we could see new classes being added, descriptions being changed, photos being deleted and added. And as the webmaster worked, so did I. When I saw new classes added, I researched the sponsoring company and the instructor to check out the typical product of the company, the scrapping style of the instructor and reviews on any classes they have taught before.

Oh, yes. That's me. Overresearch, overanalyze, overprepare. Anticipation is the name of my game.

holiday folk fair

Mom Miller called up recently and asked if I would be interested in going to the Holiday Folk Fair with her. I'm usually game for something fun like that - my schedule was free, so we went yesterday. We watched a few groups do their ethnic dances, some played music. We walked through all the neat shopping booths - lotsa kewl stuff. Then we thought we'd see if we could find the "main stage." Come to find out there were actually 3 different stages for dancing and music. Yowza! We saw some really awesome acts!! The best was the drum group from Japan - they kicked butt - three rows of different drums, perfectly choreographed with exaggerated, stylistic movements - WOW! They got a standing ovation, not once, but TWICE!! But wouldn't ya know, we were trying to enjoy some of the wonderful ethnic cuisine during that act, so altho we tried to get a couple pics of them, they just didn't turn out. It's really hard to juggle a purse, two plates of food, purchases and camera all at once. ;-) Bummer!

In any case, pictures wouldn't do them justice anyway - pictures didn't do justice to ANY of the really great dances or outfits we saw. But here are a few pics anyway... maybe they give just a little glimpse into how neat the event was. I would DEFINITELY go back!!!

whodunit

Our bike club had its annual fundraiser this past weekend. This year, however, we tried something new - a murder mystery. And WOW!!! I had an absolute blast! Greg and I both had roles - we had told the organizer that we would be in it "if they needed somebody." Guess they did... :-) Greg was a bit typecast - the bad biker dude. I was a cocktail waitress, aka the town tramp.

The participants each had a little booklet that described their role and gave the info necessary for that person. We had our booklets a couple weeks in advance, so we could try to learn our parts and get a feel for the role. We didn't practice or anything ahead of time, so it was really interesting during the event to hear all the other info that we weren't given in our own booklet.

OMG, it was just SO much fun. I guess I got pretty much into it. As you can see, I had a bit of cleavage and leg showing - nothing embarrassing - I had a swimsuit top under my shirt. We were supposed to be in Cactus, Texas, so I had a pretty good southern drawl going. And because southern folk are supposedly so much more polite than us northerners, I said ma'am and sir alot. But the best part was my stroll/strut/whatever you wanna call it... LOLOL. I sure wish someone had been videoing the event - I would LOVE to see myself! Anyway, I only broke character twice - both times were for very specific purposes, and only for a couple people. The majority of the people saw me slowly strolling along, swinging my hips, throwing my hair back off my face, etc., at all times. Apparently I played my role TOO well - someone said something like "the girl who's playing the slut is really good - or is she actually like that?!" LOL - the best part - Greg was standing right behind the person at the time!!!! ROFLMAO Someone else came up to me and said VERY tentatively "Our table was talking, and, well, please don't be offended, we think you play a slut really well." bwaaahaaahaaahaaa

I've been thinking about this quite a bit. I think I enjoyed it so much because I was able to act outside of socially accepted behaviors, and it was ok, because I was just "playing a role." Most of us mold ourselves into "correct" humans who behave "correctly." "Correctly" for a married female in her mid-30's, particularly in the good ol' Midwest, is pretty conservative. And I was far from conservative as Crystalline Daniels!! Having a southern drawl seemed to provide me the split I needed to "be" Crystalline vs myself. Both times I broke character to talk to someone as ME, I felt almost naked, overexposed, because I was showing a little cleavage. But as soon as I "became" Crystalline again, I didn't feel that way. Sounds kinda weird, I know. But really, I don't have a split personality. LOL

Anyway, I feel that portraying someone else was really liberating for me, as it allowed me to "safely" and appropriately exhibit some characteristics and traits that would be frowned upon in the real world. I can see why actors seem to get lost in their own little worlds when filming - the more you get into character, the more realistic the role seems, and the less realistic the outside world seems.

my latest scrappin' obsession

Ahhhh..... yes..... ribbon. Ever since the Scrapbook Convention this past spring, I've been into ribbon. Just a bit at first, I kind of dipped my toes into the water gradually, buying one or two, only those that matched a specific layout. Then I got into a ribbon swap at CKU where I ended up with 80, yes EIGHTY, different ribbons. And now I can't seem to get enough. More colors, more combinations, more textures, more designs. When I hear those two words uttered in the same sentence: sale and ribbon - OMG!! it's like I can't control myself. LOLOL



I just expanded my ribbon space to full capacity. Well... ok, I have no more space to hang ribbon rings. So now I am limited to the space I have on the current rings. And this is a good thing..... right??!!

cousin Tom & Madtown fun

Cousin Tom Wopat was in Madison performing in "Chicago" so some of the family decided to go see the show. We enjoy seeing Tom perform, and always hope to see him either pre- or post-performance. Well "Chicago" was definitely not a letdown; the show was great, and we did get to see Tom afterwards, if only for a few moments. Tom signed autographs and chatted, not just with us family, but with anybody who stopped by. How many actors/singers do that nowadays??!! Altho I've never talked with him about this, I'm guessing that Tom is one of the few stars who realizes that it's the public, the fans, that have enabled him to earn money doing what he enjoys.



It was an interesting night in Madison for another reason: the big Halloween bash on State Street. Because the show was at Overture Hall, which is right on State, we were able to see a bit of the madhouse. Greg and I stuck around after the show to people watch, until I got too cold. There was pretty much a constant parade of costumed people up and down State; it was fun to watch. There were a lot of "typical" costumes, and a lot that obviously didn't take much time, but there were a few pretty kewl ones too. Even tho I knew ahead of time that 400 police officers would be patrolling State St and surrounding area, it still blew me away seeing them EVERYwhere, always in groups. Altho I'm sure the police presence prevented a lot of the harmless hijinks, it was comforting to me to see so many officers, considering the problems with rioting in the past.

the fun never ends

This past weekend was Madscrappin' Diva crop weekend. A couple of the girls put together a fantastic crop 2 - 3 times a year. They put a lot of effort into it, making sure that everyone has a really great time. And a great time we have!! We always have a costume contest, usually there's a theme of sorts (ie 70s, western, etc). This time there was no theme, so there was quite the variety of costumes.

I rewore my Provo Scrappin' Biker Babe outfit, with the story being that at a "big event in Provo" I was crowned Scrappin' Biker Babe. I sang a small clip from our cheer/song, but without the music and the other Babes, I pretty much sucked. LOL But apparently it was identifiable, as the rest of the Divas started singing along.

Anyway, I finished 13 pages at the crop. For anyone who knows how SLLLOOOOWWWW I am at scrapping, how much of a perfectionist I am - you know that that's purty darn good for me! I was quite happy. And even more important, I had lots of fun!!!

Arguably the funniest moments - after the three nuns led a heart-wrenching version of the Lord's Prayer (ok, fun scrap version), while the judges were deciding who would win the costume contest, the three nuns were out front smoking, and then were drinking alcohol as the winners were announced!!! ROFLMAO

my kewl studio

I emailed Emily today, a fellow scrappin' biker babe from our great dorm at CKU Provo and someone I consider to be a good friend, because I was all excited about my studio being almost done. yes, that's what I call my scrap/hobby room. After all, I am an artist of sorts! ;-) Anyway, Emily said she wanted to see pictures. So here they are. Now... I am going to hang some of the photos I've taken over the years on that big blank wall... and I'm not completely done organizing yet... so it will look better. But I really LOVE my new setup!!!


The main area is only 10 x 10.5 feet but with the little extra nook and my open closet, the room is big enough. I have a 5 foot table in front of the window where I currently do most of my scrapping. Greg and I built the shelves along the long wall. The long shelves are 8 foot; the top one is at the perfect height for me to stand and work at, and the bottom matches up to my table height, which in effect extends my table and provides a great place for some scrappin' supplies. We put two 3 foot shelves above for more space - got my pretty things up there! And underneath the shelves are sterilite containers for more "stuff." This layout is SO GREAT because pretty much everything I want/need while I scrap is right there, within arms reach!


This shot is to the right of my table. My pretty ribbon hangs below my tv and my CKU Provo clock. :-) My photo albums, cardstock and patterned paper, CDs and projects-in-progress are in the closet, which I took the doors off of. (The door you're seeing a little bit is the door to the room itself.) I figured the closet looks pretty and organized enough I don't need to hide it. Plus everything's within view; I don't have to slide the doors one way, then the other...

And this space is to the left of my shelves. I have a little nook area that has a bookshelf in it. You can also see my "big boy" (the black thing in front of the bookshelf), which is my kewl Menards rolling toolbox that I use for crops - it is AWESOME!! And then I have another matching bookshelf that you can see part of - it is directly on the left when entering the room. That needs to be organized and prettied up yet.

So this is my studio. This is where I spend hours upon hours. Whether I'm working or watching tv, it just doesn't matter. I'm in my own little haven.

cute projects

Had time to scrap this weekend!!! Actually, I MADE time to scrap this weekend. I'm going to a crop this coming weekend, and I needed to do a recipe page (11 of them!). My recipe needed to have chocolate in it. I had a few ideas, then inspiration struck - I have this cute Bo-Bunny paper/sticker set that has a cherry theme. What would be better than using that with a Black Forest recipe?? mmmm.... I used a dark brown paper as the background and a reddish chalk ink to complete the chocolate/cherry combo.



I also worked on finishing some of my cute CKU projects. One that is adorable, but I have absolutely NO idea what to do with it, is the matchbox mini album. Yes, what you are seeing below is a regular-sized matchbox, covered with paper and inked. And yes, that is a tiny little accordion album inside. The accordion mini album has 5 "pages" on each side, all decorated with coordinating papers and inked.

fun fun

Greg's uncle Ned and aunt Chris and cousin Blair were in the area for a brief visit this weekend, so we joined them and Greg's folks at the Milwaukee Art Museum, along with other fun activites. WOW - I had never been to the Art Museum yet - believe that!! A lot of folks call it the Calatrava, because that's the name of the architect - it is a most amazing building. It's right on the lakefront, and it's a fragile-looking building with "wings" that open and shut. We were fortunate to still be there when the museum closed, so we were able to see the wings shut. VERY kewl! And the inside has lots of angles and curves. We saw a short movie clip about the creation of the building, quite interesting. And the artwork was very intriguing too, of course. We all had our favorite parts. And there were some that we just looked at and didn't "get."

this fall weather

has been so absolutely fab! Altho there are many reminders that yes, this IS Wisconsin! Yesterday we reached a record high - 85 degrees! Tomorrow is supposed to be 81, and then Thursday's high is expected to be 54 - yowza, that's a big, quick drop. But that's Wisconsin for ya. Since I just love warm/hot weather, the past couple days have been SO great.

woohoo

I finally finished my A-Z Personal Treasury album from my album track at CKU. OMG - it rawks!! It is such a great "snapshot" of the things that are important to me at this point in my life - both serious and fun. I put a lot of thought into this album, mostly prior to going to CKU, and spent some good quality creative time on it both at CKU and here at home.

I'm also midstream on rearranging and reorganizing my studio. Greg and I are building a counter for me to stand and work at, as well as some shelves. I've been mulling this over for weeks, and I sure hope it works as well as I'm visualizing! Now I can't wait to put those shelves/counter up, so I can finish reorg'ing and CLEAN my studio! It's still a zoo from working on my precious album - altho it's way better than it was a week ago!!! LOL

Yes, right now, scrapping is taking over my life again... I seem to go in phases: motorcycle, scrap, trip, motorcycle, scrap, trip, motorcycle, scrap ... hahahahaha Oh yeah, once in a while I fit other activities in! ;-)

greg

I just gotta say - I have such a great husband! And no, he didn't do anything particularly spectacular today. He was just being himself, taking care of the house, the finances and us. Even though in some ways he grounds me and keeps me in the "real world," he also allows me the time I need to dream and be creative, which keeps me balanced. What a guy! For the many times I neglect to tell you - Thanks, Greg!

one of my biggest pet peeves

On our way to dinner tonight, we passed a big billboard, entirely in Spanish. Everytime I see something like that I get po'ed. The last I knew, English is still the official language in the good ol' United States. When immigrants moved to the States in years gone by, they learned English. That's just the way it was. There weren't ads or signs in Polish or German or whatever other language. But so many things now are written in both English and Spanish. Why? Because people who move to our great country think they shouldn't have to learn the official language? They want to keep their own customs? Ok, that's fine and dandy - keep your customs at home. Or if you don't want to be an American in ALL ways, stay in your own durn country. Americans speak ENGLISH!!

need more consistency

Tonight was volleyball night. Love it! But tonight just wasn't a good night for me, and I don't know why. Drives me crazy!!! You would think that after playing for so many years, I would be at least somewhat consistent, but NO. I'm thinking that maybe I'll try to pull together a co-ed quad team to start in January... now THAT's fun!

sometimes I forget

how much time can be spent planning a cruise. You'd think - sure, easy enough, just pick your itinerary. Well, that is the easy part. The hard part is trying to get a good price on air, hotels pre and post, figuring out what to do for insurance and for transfers and stuff. If we had unlimited funds, well, then it would be easy - but since we don't, we try to get the most bang for our buck. And that's still just the beginning. Since we prefer using local tour guides rather than being herded around with 100 other people on a ship excursion, I do lots of research on various cruise message boards to find out which companies are best, and which places to tour at each stop. It's fun, don't get me wrong, but yikes,it really does take a lot of time!

please excuse my negligence

Krista & Dave - please forgive me! I had separate little posts thanking both of our other hosts, and only a little byline thanking you two. How incredibly rude of me!!! It was so wonderful seeing both of you again - it seems like we've known you guys for such a long time... :-) And you made us feel so much at home. THANK YOU!!

B&Bs

We've stayed at B&Bs a bit throughout the years. Some definitely seem like you're staying in some stranger's home. Others are more like you're staying in a period show home - like a museum. And some are more like small inns. Some places have only one guest room, and some may have many. I always try to choose carefully by researching online, comparing them, looking at pictures, etc., to kinda read between the lines. KWIM?? (know what I mean??) And sometimes we're still surprised!!

We only stayed at two B&Bs this trip, and both were very enjoyable - neither one had the "staying in a stranger's home" feeling. Both had great hosts, wonderful breakfasts, etc.

The place in Sundance, Wyoming, Sundance Mt. HideAway, (http://www.sundancemountainhideaway.com/) has three cabins of varying sizes, and they are probably going to convert the Antiques store cabin into another guest cabin. We were in the smallest one, which was very spacious. We got to Sundance too late to really enjoy the property, but we had a nice chat with our host - that B&B seemed geared more towards people who aren't into socializing with strangers, because each group has their own individual cabin. However, breakfast is usually in the family home, but you could probably request to take it to the cabin if you wish!

The place in Interior, South Dakota (at the edge of the Badlands) is on a ranch, and was designed specifically as a B&B: http://www.bbonline.com/sd/circleview/ http://www.circleviewranch.com/guestrooms.htm. It's more like a small inn, with guest rooms on two levels. The ranch has a guest living room, kitchen and game room! We reached Interior pretty early, and had lots of time to socialize, play games (ping pong and foozball), hit the internet (they have a PC setup with high speed internet for guests), look at picture books, and walk down to the creek. We also enjoyed a pretty sunset from the deck.

Because Greg and I are both pretty social and sociable creatures, we really have no problem with most of the B&Bs we've stayed at. I usually pick them for unique qualities. A couple examples: In Newport, Rhode Island, we stayed at a big ol' historic home http://www.agincourtinn.com/. It was built in 1853 as a summer home, and is furnished with period pieces - it was kewl, like staying in a museum home. Near the Quad Cities, we stayed in a caboose: http://www.bbonline.com/ia/caboose/. That was pretty neat too.

how many photos???

Such a great question! I have no idea at this point how many pics I'm actually going to print. I can tell you I took over 650 on our trip!!! OMG LOLOL I just kept snapping away! (I probably would have had over 700 if Idaho hadn't been so blasted cold!) And with digital, that's ok. Now I just have to figure out which ones are worth the cost to print! Of course, I already have some of the best picked out, because they're the ones I put on this blog!

It was really great having the laptop on this trip, because I took my pics at 4 meg, and downloaded to the laptop pretty much every day or every other. When I started getting low on memory chip space, I burned the pictures to CD, JUST IN CASE something happened to the laptop hard drive, and then, and ONLY then, did I delete them from the memory chip!! I'm pretty obsessive about that - I've heard too many horror stories of people losing years of pictures when a hard drive crashed.