Babies babies all around!

                                                                                             Suri as a baby

Many of my friends are either pregnant and due any day now or have newborns.  You would think all these babies would make me want one too.  Yes, at first when everyone was announcing their pregnancies baby fever hit me.  It's a pretty frustrating thing actually.  Thankfully it passed though.  It was just a momentary zing of jealousy.   

Fast forward a few months and now babies are being born.  Baby fever is completely gone and has been gone for quite some time.  No, not because I have babies to play with now but because I see how much work they are.  I see how tiring it is.  I see how much time a baby takes to care for.  I see it all and I am not ready for that.

My child is 9.  She's practically a grown up compared to the babies around me.  She is pretty self-sufficient and she doesn't have to be by my side 24/7.  She can have sleep overs, she can play outside, she can read in her room, she can feed herself, she can make her cereal, she can microwave food, she can dress and bathe herself, she can go snowboarding with us, etc.  She can do and go practically anywhere we want to go without much hassle.  I don't have to be by her side 24/7 and we don't have to change our lifestyle.

I like it this way.  I'm not ready to change.  I don't want the extra cost of having a baby in the house.  I don't want my freedom taken from me.  I don't want to gain weight again.  I don't want to be tired all the time.  I don't want my wallet to be even more empty.  I don't want a strain on my marriage.  I just don't.

I know it may sound selfish but I know exactly what having a baby is like.  I did it before, mostly alone, and it was enjoyable.  I did love it but it's just not something I am ready to do again just yet.  Andrew wants a child and it will happen eventually (assuming it can).  For right now we both are on the same track with waiting though.     

Ahh, so this is why I applied for this job!

I just found out my work schedule for the new job.  I will be working 7:30 to 5pm with every other Friday off.  The Friday I work I will only work 8 hours so I get to go in later.  NICE!

There are furlough days but it turns out I can take those hours anytime I want.  I don't have ot take a full day off.  I can take a half day or take a few days off, etc.  Kind of nice that I can choose how to take my time off with no pay.  In this case I can have every Friday off!  NICE!

So what will I do with all my new found free time? 
1. SLEEP
2. Workout
3. Shop
4. Scrapbook
5. Watch TV
6. Take the dogs to the dog park

Oh the possibilities!  What was I worried about yesterday?  Psssh, all that is gone!

Letter of Resignation

I just turned in my letter of resignation

I thought I would be overjoyed about this new step in my life but I'm not exactly.
It was a bittersweet moment.
Something I had been wanting for a long time.
It's something I've been waiting for for a long time.
Rather than feel excited with anticipation I am scared.

I'm scared of the unknown.
What will they expect?
Will I meet up to their expectations?
Can I handle the job?
Will I get along with my coworkers?
Can we afford to make this change?

So many things are running through my mind about this new job.
For a moment I contemplated turning it down because of the pay decrease and the unknown.
I didn't.
I accepted.

There will have to be changes.
No longer will we be able to save money by carpooling.
We will be taking a few hundred dollars a month pay cut.
There's furlough days.
My hours will change.
I will have a longer commute with actual traffic.
It's a scary change for me.

There are plenty of good things though.
The benefits rock.
I will have more days off.
I get two weeks vacation rather than the one week I get now.
I can actually retire from there.
I can move up whereas I am stuck in this position here.
I will get raises so I will eventually make more than I can here.
I get holidays off.
I get paid sick days.
I'm sure there's more.

I start October 7th.

My first attempt at making a card

It is 1:20am and I just finished a birthday card for a good friend of mine.  When am I going to see her and present my magnificent creation?  Oh, only in a few hours!

This card was a last minute thing.  I have never made one before so I naturally didn't even think about it until today when I was thinking about what scrapbooking I would do this weekend.  I couldn't wait to get home to start!  Well, we ended up at a friend's house for awhile and didn't get home until around 10pm....and that is when I started...from scratch...with no ideas!

Well many hours later and with burning eyes of tiredom (like my made up word?) I bring you my labor of love.  My very first card!

B'day Card (front)

B'day Card (inside)

                                                                                              

 

OK now it's off to sleepy land where I will dream of pretty paper and die cuts for 5 1/2 hours.  Told ya I would be seeing her soon!  Eek!  Nighty night!

My New Toy!

I'm new to scrapbooking and making cards, etc but fell in love with it.  I really didn't want to because I get obsessive compulsive about things and have to have everything ever made to go along with it.  I went into scrapbooking knowing this and expecting to just start off little. 

Yea, that happened for the first day or two then I went crazy.  I knew I would.  I started buying clearance die cuts, using coupons, etc until I amassed a nice little stock of supplies.  Of course it still wasn't enough...   

I bought the Cricut Expression.

I love it. I was tired of buying expensive die cutters, even on clearance they can be pricey (when you want a whole collection!). Anyway, I was iffy about the Expression because of the price and the price of carts but through some research I was able to find out about programs you can use that allow you to totally bypass using carts. Well, you do need one inserted in the machine for it to work though.


The programs are called Sure Cuts a Lot (1 & 2, SCAL) and Make the Cut (MTC). I purchased Make the Cut because there were more options according to users. It cost $58 to download off their site and $10.99 to have the CD sent as well.  I am very pleased with it. The possibilities are endless. You can download files online and cut away without having to spend money on carts and be limited to what the carts offer. There's tons of sites out there with cuts to download (SVG, true type font, vector) and you can use jpgs as well by using the trace option in MTC.  MTC also takes the fonts you already have on your computer and pulls it into the program so you have those available. 

Check out the links below:

Make the Cut
http://www.make-the-cut.com/

and

Sure Cuts a Lot
http://www.craftedge.com/products/products.html


Comparison - MTC vs SCAL
http://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/cricut-software-comparison/


If you are interested in the programs read reviews on both first.  I found tons of sites that reviewed and compared both programs.  I chose MTC.

In all, had I had to buy carts I don't think I would have bough a Cricut.  Because I don't have to spend money on those pricey carts the machine was well worth the cost.

12 years ago...

12 years ago, last month I set off on a life changing journey.
I went into the Marine Corps.
Crazy to think that it was actually me...
It really was a whole other life.

While in bootcamp I met and bonded with many of the other girls.  I have to say girls because a lot of us were right out of high school.  Bootcamp was a tough 3 months of physical and mental torture but we made it through.  I truly believe having each other and going through it together made the experience bearable.  It was an amazing time and great memories were made.

I bring all this up now because I was in search of one of my bootcamp friends on Facebook.  I found her and she responded.  That one connection lead to many many more.  A few weeks ago we had a Facebook bootcamp reunion.  Each connection lead to another.  It was amazing catching up with these ladies that I went through so much with.  I am absolutely amazed at how we all turned out and what everyone is up to now.  A few are still in the Corps and only 8 years away from retirement.  How awesome!  Others of us have gone on to have kids, have careers outside of the military, and obtain an college education.

It was great catching up.  

I am not one to be all gung ho but Once a Marine Always A Marine and Oorah Devil Dogs!  Hehehe

Some pics from bootcamp.  No we were not allowed to have cameras but I was sneaky!

Scrapbooking Adventures

Cover

I fought it for years just like I fight almost every fad.
I put up a good fight until this weekend. 
I now scrapbook for fun...AGH!

I never ever thought I would enjoy it.
All that work...YUCK!
But...
I love it!

I purchased some items this weekend to start my new adventure.




Here's pics of my first steps into scrapbooking: