Happy New Year, Fave Memories of 2009

Happy New Years everyone! What was your favorite memory of 2009? Mine would have to be when I was in Massachusetts with Paul visiting. We ate out at our favorite restuarant Whatley Inn. We also had a special trip to Plymouth, in Eastern Mass and I gave him a tour of the Mayflower, and Plymouth Plantation! We also made a friend, with a tour guide who we still keep in contact with today! So I'd definitely say it was one of the best memories. I'm also happy to say I've lost nearly 15lbs since I started my diet! I really only need to lose about 10 more, so I'm excited :) And I've survived the holidays, LOL. Well here's to an excellent 2010!!!

All for Her FBs

All for Pei Fern FBs (above)

All for Hilda FBs (above)

These are some FBs I got done this week. I still have some more to go! I am happy that I have plenty of time this weekend and will definitely get all my swaps done and sent off on Monday morning. Tomorrow's black Friday here, I've convinced Paul to come with me to the craft store! It only makes sense to get a few deals while I can! I probably won't get much, but I do need a few "essentials" lol. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

More Christmas Cards

Here's the next batch of cards I made today! Phew! I'm all carded out, hehe :) They are on their ways now. I had two other cards, but forgot to scan. I enjoyed making them and it definitely got me in the Christmas spirit!

Christmas Cards

Here's some Christmas Cards I started working on the other day, I have 5 more to make today! Then they will go off to my partners to the USA, Netherlands, Germany and Australia :)

Scripture Cards

Here are some Scripture cards I made for a swap, I hope my partner likes them! The blue one is Paul's favorite verse, and the pink one is my favorite verse. There will be more from me soon, I have a lot of FBs and Christmas cards to do!! Stay tuned ;)

Pumpkin Carving!

Paul's work has a competition every year for the best carved Pumpkin. So here's ours! Got some better taken pics to put up here! My pumpkin is the Mansion with the Ghost, and Paul's is the one with the eye in the window spooking someone! We enjoyed it, but were sick of carving by the time we were done! :)

Got a deal :)

I got a great deal at JoAnns today, each paper was 19 cents each! So it only cost me $5.00 for 26 papers :) I was really happy. I got a bunch of Christmas ones too, preparing for all the swaps I will do then. I can't wait to get started!

Halloween Cards

Above are some Halloween Cards I made today for a swap on Swap-bot! They are simple ones, but that's what the swap called for. I'd hate to put too much work into them because you never really know what you will get in return on there! LOL!

What's new

Hello Everyone!!! Well it's been a long time since my last blog entry, as usual lol. My sister and her fiance Mike are coming down in 2 weeks and are getting married here on the beach :) I'm really excited for her. Paul and I will be the guests :) So that's the exciting news! I need to look for a summer dress to wear (summer is still here, it's actually been hotter here than usual for this time of year!).

We're on a diet here.. so far I've lost 5 lbs, I'm quite excited. We both gained weight once we got married, haha, I guess that happens to a lot of people! But now we're trying to get rid of it :) It's not fun to go and try on outfits when nothing fits or looks good, lol. So my goal is to lose 20 lbs, we'll see. We've also been taking long walks at night, that helps too.

My Mailbox has been quite empty lately.. pretty depressing!! I did get mail from Italy yesterday, a girl sent me some lollipops (to help with that diet.. haha!) from a tag in a group on Swap-bot. But it came in the "We care" post office envelopes... *sighs* the envelope was open, and I guess one fell out. But I got 2, so it's fine :).

I'm bummed that my Strawberry Shortcake FBs (see below) never made it to my partner.. :( I will have to remake them for her soon. Well, maybe I will post later with my latest FBs. Hugs!!

Strawberry Shortcake FBs

Hello! It's been awhile since I've updated my blog.. oops! I made these Strawberry Shortcake FBs yesterday and today. They'll be going to Trinidad tomorrow, I hope she likes them!!

Vintage Movie Stars & All for Her FBs

Hey Ladies! Finally I get to post a new blog. It's been awhile :) Well, it's starting to get pretty hot here in Florida, I think summer is definitely here! Of course it will get worse in July and August :) And I'm not looking forward to that. I like warm weather, but not THAT warm!!! In August I will be going up to Massachusetts to work for my parents. I am really looking forward to it, something to do and getting paid!!! Yay!! And Paul will come up for vacation on the last week I'm there. It will be great. As you might know, my parents own a pick-your-own Blueberry farm. They also are going to start a mini-golf this year! (Hopefully as the town still has to approve it lol). Right now I am taking an online class of Quickbooks to help with my parents business. It's going well! It's pretty easy (so far...) and then I will have experience with it for other jobs. Not much else is new, I think Paul and I will go to the movies today, we have discovered a new movie theater and it's very nice!! Well, I should get going (I have to go pick up registered mail at the P.O. before they close!). Here are my new FBs below!!

Blog Candy

My dear italian friend Samantha has a contest, please check out her blog here and try and win some blog candy!! She also has lots of interesting things on her blog :) There will be a total of 6 winners, and the deadline to enter is May 24th. Check it out!

A glimpse of my city

I thought it would be neat to share a little more about where I live :) Above is where New Port Richey is located in Florida. It's about an hour north of Tampa.

Here's the city entrance, I love all the flowers! Here's a couple stats of NPR:

Population:

16,334

Incorporated: 1924

Founder: Captain Aaron M. Richey

Unemployment: 4.4% (I think this is higher now lol)

Famous Firsts & Trivia: New Port Richey was selected as the future home site for famous silent film stars before the depression changed the economics of the plan. Silent film stars Gloria Swanson and Thomas Meighan were frequent visitors of the town. The coastline west of New Port Richey served as the location for the 1978 Lee Majors film, The Norseman.

Major Economic Engines in the Area: Citrus products, Retailing, Healthcare

Cost of Living:

93.13% of U.S. Average of 100%

Major Employers: School District, Government, Hospital

Here's one of the boating ramps, my parents in-laws have a boat, so I hope sometime we'll go on the river!

Here's a really nice mural in the downtown area.

Here's one of the nicest beaches in the area, Clearwater Beach. It's about 45 minutes south of where we live. I really hope we get to go to the beach soon! Esp. since it's getting hot now!

Mail, Swap-bot, and stuff

Hi Everyone! Finally got some time to update my blog. I had a good mail week, with 3 beautiful swaps coming in : A great group swap from Denmark :)

A lovely private swap from Germany

A really cool Easter chocolate swap from Finland! They were very different from what we have in the U.S., and I especially liked the Scandinavian looking packages :) Very cute, and yummy too! I guess I have to say I'm a CHOCOHOLIC, hahaha.. anyone with me on that one?!

I've been participating more on swap-bot, it seems to be a really cool site with lots of different swaps. I'm still waiting for 2 of my swaps to come in. I think there is a higher risk of getting ripped off on this site, or getting something that didn't meet the requirements (that happened to me this week, I got sloppy FBs instead of the High Quality that were supposed to be sent, and the swap was named that!! LOL). But it's still fun and an interesting way to meet new swappers. Has anyone else tried it out a bit?

Not too much else is new.. I applied at a few stores in the area, but never heard anything back. Guess I'm just meant to be a stay at home wife!! haha! If only I could get paid for that! :)

See you later, have a fab weekend!!! <3 Steph

Apple birds

Paul and I decided to try and make some Apple birds! We found this old Garnishing book he had and it looked like fun! It turned out ok too!! And the best part is to eat it after all your hard work, LOL :)

This weeks mail

Well had a great mail week thus far! I've received these cuties (All for Sharon FBs) from Scotland the other day:
Today I received a nice group swap from Australia:

A lovely selection via group swap from Romania:

And she included a homer for me! Thanks Laura, you are great :) I will make you some thank you FBs. This FB was made by me late 2007 themed "Candles" and it travelled to Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Indonesia, Romania, and Austria. Thanks to all who signed!

The photos are probably very high-res and the big ones might take a few to load. I'm using my scanner but I haven't figured out how to cut down the file-size yet. And my darn camera is having issues again, so I can't take pics!! Grr. Have a lovely weekend everyone! <3 Steph

Good mail day

I had a very good mail day yesterday! I received this homer made by my good friend Eniko via Swappers-world, and it was returned by dear Yuko! Thanks so much Yuko! I will make you a thank you FB :). And then I received a deco homer! I made this "Your fave celeb" deco about 3 years ago! I can tell my style has changed a bit since then, LOL but I was very happy to receive it home! And it's special because it's of the late Heath Ledger <3. Thanks to Yvonne in the U.K. for returning this sweetie home to me!

Here are the entries: