It's Official!

It’s official. Creative Escape here we come!! Laurel and I are registered. Let the countdown begin. 311 days. Whoohoo. I promise I won’t countdown on every blog entry from now until then. I just had to get it out of my system!

This past weekend, was super busy, but lots of fun. Friday afternoon, I picked Mom up and we went to an open house at Peridot, one of my favorite little Buckhead stores. They’ve now opened another shop right next door, The Market at Peridot, that sells more furniture and artwork. It was lots of fun to mingle around and check out all of their new wares. We decided that both stores are chock full of things you could comfortably live your entire life without, but life would be so much more interesting with a few of those things!

Then a-home we went to make potato salad to go with Laurel’s yummy pulled pork. Sadly, we didn’t let the potatoes cook long enough, so they were a little chewy, but we were just so tired. I think at some point while peeling the potatoes I had my eyes closed…I may have even dosed off for a moment! It wasn’t so bad though, especially considering I had some of it for lunch today along with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Yummy.

Saturday was a long day of scrappin’ at Laurel’s. I can’t believe she managed to fit 7 people in her scrap room and dining room, but it was great! Lots of laughter and creativity. I managed to get all the way out there only to discover that I left my supply hopper “thing” on the table at home which meant no adhesive or scissors, or ruler or adhesive eraser or distresser – nothing!! I thought I was going to have to go home, but then talked to Laurel and realized she probably had every single thing I (and my Mom – who is sharing in my tools) could possibly need. Whew!

I started working on a mini album of my trip to Australia using Ali Edwards CK KOTM. I thought it would be fairly simple, but I think it’s going to take me a little longer than expected. There are so many picture decisions to make!

Sunday afternoon, I headed up to 12Stone at Crossroads for Elizabeth’s dedication. It really was wonderful to be able to be a part of the big event. I am so blessed to have all of the Clavell girls in my life – and I pray constantly that they live a life full of joy, love and blessings. It’s a commitment to be a part of something so wonderful and I thank God every day to be so honored.

Miss. Elizabeth -

Re-Re (me) and Elizabeth

Me, Lisa and Misti (the three of us together - in one photo - rather rare!)

Olive Oil + Salsa = Nasty Mess

Long time no blog!  I've been pretty busy between work and settling into my new place.  Since I went to Australia pretty quickly after moving, I didn't really have a chance to organize much less hang pictures, etc., so I am trying to get it all done!

 

Last night I pulled out all of my winter clothes from the storage closet, went through everything, set aside a whole bunch of things for goodwill and started the massive laundry that comes with the season switch-a-roo.  Things were going great, except for the piles of clothes everywhere, when I walked into the kitchen and opened the pantry door. 

 

Earlier that evening I had installed a over the door basket thingy from the Container Store to hold spices, etc., and had been so proud of my progress….when SMASH!  An entire wire basket of items fell on the floor.  And wouldn't you know it, it was the basket that had a brand new bottle of olive oil and jar of salsa?  TRIPLE ECCCKKKHHH! Talk about nasty.  And then to make matters worse, I haven't bought a mop yet.  On a side note, I am not a nasty person, I wipe up spills immediately, and vacuum the floor a lot – no mopping needed, but I was getting close.  So, I spent about an hour trying to wipe up the salsa/olive oil without breaking my neck (olive oil on the floor + me = falling disaster) and without cutting myself on the glass.  There is now a greasy, nasty film all over the floor.  Guess what I will be doing at lunchtime?  Buying a mop!!!!

 

Anyone got a great secret method for breaking up oily residue on the floor?

 

So, I'll be doing that tonight, along with trying to figure out what I'll be working on at Laurel's on Saturday.  We are having a Scrap Shindig!  I'll be posting photos – I'm sure!

 

At long last!

At long last...photos from the trip for your perusal!

http://picasaweb.google.com/rebeccaboyer2002/Australia2007

Enjoy!

The Power of a Few Words

Reading Jessica Sprague's blog entry this morning was pretty inspiring. The distraction of every day's little things that causes you to lose sight of the big picture of life is something I find myself dealing with all of the time and it eventually causes me to take life a little too seriously (thanks for pointing that out, Allen).  Hmmm... 

Ugghhhh...

Completely screwed up with the humongous time difference. Didn't sleep a wink all night, until about 10 this morning. Now up again trying to make myself stay awake so I will sleep tonight for work tomorrow. Double ugh. I'll try to post more photos tomorrow when I am feeling a little more motivated.

Thanks for sticking around.

Home safe and sound...

Back in Atlanta - eating at Outback. Giggle...

100th Post

Whooohoo - my 100th post on this blog! I'm happy to reach that goal. When I started all of this, I don't think I thought I would make it so far.

I'll be on my way back home tomorrow. I've loved being here - but I am ready to sleep on my own bed and stop being in vacation limbo. I've never been on vacation for two weeks and I completely recommend it, but when there are about three days left you kinda start pining for home :) I know Allen and Marie will understand!

I have tons of pictures to share from the past couple of days - but I'll leave with this one. I never thought I would say this, but if I lived in Australia, I would live on the beach. They are so beautiful and I am pretty obsessed at this point. Allen took this photo while I was off wave surfing!

I'll post when I get home! Thanks for sharing in this vacation with me!

Two Day Update Continued...

Self Portrait! :)

Australia's Blue Mountains. The "Three Sisters". Absolutely amazing. The views we fantastic - awe inpiring, actually. I wish photos could really, really show how wonderfully beautiful it was. Breathtaking.

About the windiest wind I have ever experienced - especially on a lookout we climbed out to - the wind was blowing so hard it was extremely difficult to stand.






Allen & Marie - on a lookout we found by accident!

More photos when I return!

Two Day Update

Well, it's Monday night here - and I guess I need to update! :)

Sunday was a day of rest. And I mean rest. The most activity of the day was Marie going to the takeaway for a ginormous lunch! We tried all of the Australian classics. Chips (french fries), battered sav (sorta like a corn dog), fish cocktail (fried fish), scallops (not from the sea, but rather potatoes) and hamburgers (with everything, including egg, bacon, cheese, beet root (they left mine off and I think I am kinda glad), and on Marie's - barbecue sauce. I stuck with the tomato sauce (almost ketchup). We ate and watched the beginning of Season 1 of Farscape. Allen rested his back. It was a really nice vacation day.

Oh - we also tried something I picked up in a souvenir shop - kangaroo jerky. After petting the cute little kangaroos at Featherdale, I had a hard time eating it. But once you got over the whole cute thing, it was pretty good jerky. A little gamey, but good.