Sunday Sunset #21

Listening To: My huge Pandora shuffle.  I've added the Shakira channel to the mix.  Just for some extra variety.

Book finished: The Mistress, Pride and Prescience

Reading: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkings

On the Nightstand: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Lost by Gregory Maguire, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Making Lists: Grocery lists and meal plans.  Since I'll be at home more often, we're back to meal plans and long grocery lists.  I like the planning but not so much the cooking.

Around the house: J just did a major clean out of the office. So many bags of trash and yet there's still so much crap in there.  Slowly slowly we're decreasing the clutter.  I also finally bought a shoe rack for the front door.  I'm so tired of tripping over shoes.  Now we have a place to put them if everyone actually remembers.

On the Job: Stage one of the project complete.  Now we need to figure out our next moves.  Monday should be an interesting day.

Crafting: Nothing.  Although I did spend some time organizing my crafts and I got a delivery from Joanns' with my new scrapbooking albums. Next week I want to finish my Stamp Club homework and scrap Fall 2012.  Not a huge amount of crafting, but I like goals.

Watching: Catching up on a few shows: Once Upon a Time (holy cow!) and Grimm.  I've also been keeping up with The Voice, Psych, and Warehouse 13.  Can't wait to see where those shows go.  And we went back to Star Trek: TOS for some fun episodes.

Pregnancy Update: A bit of a stressful week.  The perinatology department called me back in for another ultrasound but didn't tell me why.  Turns out they suspected an abnormality and wanted to confirm.  The baby has a 2 vessel cord instead of a 3 vessel cord.  He is missing an artery in the umbilical cord.  The doctor assured me that in 99% of cases, everything will be fine.  It just means that I will have a couple extra ultrasounds to monitor growth.  Everything else was looking great and I can feeling a lot more baby movement this week.  Starting to feel very pregnant...

Shopping Scores: I finally found some comfortable sandals for vacation and some brown sandals to replace my broken gladiator sandals.  I also snapped up a few new shirts and a dress at Target.  My non-maternity clothes are getting a bit tight now.  I have a very limited wardrobe now, but some cute things.

Sunday Sunset #20

Listening To: Pandora mix at work.  But I haven't really had much time to do that even with all the meetings and interruptions.

Book finished: The Hostage; Emma; The Postman; MWF Seeking BFF

Reading: The Mistress by Susan Wiggs

On the Nightstand: The God Delusion by Dawkins; Lost by Maguire

MakingLists: Grocery list for next weekend's shopping.  I need to actually stock the fridge as the boys and I will be eating at home a lot.  That means, healthy easy meals and boys' snacks ready to go.

Around the house: For some reason, we got on a huge reorganization kick this past week.  J cleaned his half of the office, updated our media library, sorted the mail/papers littering the dining room table, and organized his clothes.  Wow!  I was not expecting that.  I suspect he was procrastinating from doing his actual work, but I'll take it!  Meanwhile, I focused on my random crap laying around and the boys' room.  Over the past few months, the boys' room has been a bit of a catch-all.  They will be arriving in exactly one week, so I thought I should make it their room again.  I tidied up and washed their bed sheets for the arrival.  Can't wait until they get here!

On the Job: These past two weeks have been very stressful and tiring.  it's nice to see our work expressed in the product, but nerve wracking as all the problems surface.  Some days I just to hide under my desk so no one can find me.  Hopefully things will start lightening up soon.

On the Web: Still attempting to get current with my blogroll.  It's never-ending, but I do love reading other bloggers.

Crafting: A few card classes.  A fun meet and greet today.  And the new Stampin' Up catalog is now live!  I love some of the new things.  I just need to narrow down my wish list into something more reasonable.  I'll be sharing a ton of my card creations in a separate post on Tuesday.

Watching: The Hangover III, In Bruges, Fast and the Furious 6, Now You See Me, Bullshit, Continuum, The Inbetweeners S3, Arrested Development S4, Star Trek: TNG and OS

Pregnancy Update: The usual.  I do have another ultrasound on Monday.  We'll see how everything goes after that.

Shopping Scores: Lots of Amazon buying.  I grabbed a few travel games/books for the boys.  And a fun new role playing game that N was begging me to buy over Spring Break.  I also added Andrew Jackson to my collection of President bobble heads.  He will join Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt on my desk at work.  Finally, I snapped up the Penguin clothbound edition of Pride and Prejudice.  So pretty!

Project: Securing the last of our vacation hotels and tickets.  I received our Disney tickets in the mail this weekend.  I also confirmed our hotel and tickets for Legoland.  Now I just need to finalize our Anaheim hotel reservations.  I'm also putting together a list of things to take on our road trip and things I still need to buy.  Mainly I just need to get the boys some new shoes, swim trunks, and possibly some shorts.  So excited for the end of June!

Sunday Sunset #19

Listening To: The new Fall Out Boy album.  I like them a little too much.  I think I have a problem.  Oh well...

Book finished: Sixteen Brides; The Walking Dead Book 5, Book 6, Book  7, Volume 17

Reading: The Hostage by Susan Wiggs

On the Nightstand: The Postman, The God Delusion, Emma

MakingLists: Stampin' Up Club order.  I'm trying to decide which retiring stamp sets to buy.  This is such a tough call; too many to choose from...

On the Job: We accomplished a lot in a short amount of time.  Unfortunately, there is still so many tasks to do.

Watching: At work, I've been watching The Voice in the background.  I am absolutely hooked.  I also watched the season finale of Revenge.  Holy crap!  What a cliffhanger!  J and I also watched the season finale of Doctor Who.  A bit of a let down.  Moffat what are you doing to us?  I just can't wait until November.  On the movie front, we saw Star Trek Into Darkness on Friday.  Very good!  And we totally called Khan with the first trailer.  Still a good watch.

Pregnancy Update: Nothing new to report.  Same old, same old.  Tuesday's the day we find out if it's a boy or a girl.  I can't wait!  I'll share later this week.

Shopping Scores: A ton of new things.  For our summer vacation, I grabbed a pair of sandals, a great messenger bag, ice packs, and some water bags.  I also nabbed a cute Vera Wang dress for cheap, a cute tank top, some brown leggings, and a crop cardigan.  I'd say my shopping trips were a success.

Project: Still vacation planning... It's an ongoing process.

Sunday Sunset #18

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I plan on spending my day in my comfy clothes doing whatever I want.  I'm going to read and craft and laze around.  I even thought ahead and bought dinner supplies to grill out later.  Mom and the boys picked out and sent me some awesome Cheryl's cookies.  They definitely know what I like.  I'll be diving into those after dinner.

Listening To: The usual podcasts and Pandora channels.  I've really gotten into watching The Voice in the background at work.  I don't really need to see it, but I'm loving the contestants rendition of songs.

Book finished: Unbroken

Reading: Sixteen Brides

On the Nightstand: Emma by Jane Austen; The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins; The Walking Dead; The Hostage by Susan Wiggs

Making Lists:  I finally got my list for Bout of Books ready.  I have seven books listed.  I know I won't read all of them, but I'm definitely going to focus on my reading this week.

On the Job: Stressful week, but I'm still excited about where the project is going.  It's definitely interesting and new.

From the kitchen: We cooked!  Okay, okay, really I went to the store and grabbed some brats for grilling last night.  Brats, mac and cheese, carrots with ranch, and strawberries.  The taste of summer!  Today we plan on grilling steak and potatoes for a low key Sunday dinner.  Pretty soon, I'm going to have to buy food and cook again.  The boys are coming...

Crafting: A fun card class on Thursday.  I forgot to take pics of our creations, but I loved the designs.  Either today or next weekend, I plan on making my own versions.

Watching: On the movie front, we randomly watched Dredd last night.  Way better than the Stallone version.  I loved what they did with the slow motion.  Very good action movie.  On tv, we caught up on some of our currently airing shows and some others (S2 of The Walking Dead).  We'll be finishing ST:TNG S4 today and moving into S5.  Lots of good choice viewing.

Pregnancy Update: Momentary freak out this week.  I kept waking up with numb hands.  I thought I was absolutely going crazy.  After some investigation, I figured out that I have pregnancy induced carpal tunnel.  Awesome...  I only have the numbness, not shooting pains.  The boards all said to be careful not to sleep on your hands and wear a wrist brace if it becomes bothersome.  Unlike many women, I have not experienced much trouble outside of waking up.  It should go away when I have the baby.  So five more months of weird symptoms.  Awesome...

Shopping Scores: I went a bit crazy this week with the shopping.  Both Old Navy and Think Geek were having sales.  I snapped up a few tunics from O.N. and a few absolutely adorable onsies.  From T.G. I grabbed two t-shirts (very geeky ones, of course) and a Tardis nightlight to go in the boys'/baby's room.  I also finally ordered some glossy paper so I could try out the negative technique with my new brayer.  On Saturday I ventured to Target for some health and beauty supplies and came back with some cute baby clothes, leggings, new underwear (I get way too excited about new underwear) and some cute clearanced slip on sneakers.  Finally I stopped by Marshall's.  Sometimes they have awesomely cheap crafting supplies.  I found a 4-pack of glue runners for $5 and some pink baker's twine for $2.  But my most exciting purchase was a collapsable cooler/picnic basket.  I've wanted one for awhile, but they are so expensive online.  This one was $17 and in great shape.  Now we have a picnic basket/cooler to take to the beach and on vacation.  Whew!  That's quite a haul!

Project: Still vacation planning.  I locked in tickets to Tournament of Kings and Penn and Teller this past week.  Next week, I plan on locking in our Vegas hotel and the Legoland hotel.  I have to get J's Hyatt points to book our Anaheim hotel.  That will probably be later. I love the idea of prepaying for most of the big ticket items so we don't have worry once we arrive.  Still checking out the guidebooks.  I now have a better idea of what we can do in Vegas with two 10-year-olds.  I'm also making a list of things I need to buy for vacation (new filters for our Brita water bottles, sneakers for the boys, hat for me, etc).  I pick up things here and there when I find them cheap.  Anything left over will be bought the week before vacation.  It's all coming together.  I'm really looking forward to it!

Sunday Sunset #17

Listening To: Random channels on Pandora.  It's to slightly drown out the other customer service department at work.  I end up listening to them instead of doing my own work...

Book finished: A Clash of Kings; The Secret Garden; The Impossible Cube

Reading: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

On the Nightstand: Emma by Jane Austen; Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Grace Whitson, The Walking Dead

Making Lists: Prepping for Bout of Books 7.0.  It's coming May 13th and I am determined to join in.  Now to figure out what books to read...

On the Job: Reevaluation time.  Where does the project need to go?  How are we going to get there?  Ah, the life of a project manager.

Watching: J and I watched the first episode of Defiance.  It looks intriguing, but we both agreed that the pilot is super confusing about the world the audience jumps into.  I hope they quickly answer some of our questions.  We also watched Columbiana.  We have a thing for Luc Besson movies.  Not as good as The Professional or La Femme Nikita, but fairly enjoyable.  On Friday we left work a bit early to see Iron Man 3.  Very enjoyable!  But of course, I love Robert Downey Jr.

Pregnancy Update: Feeling fairly decent.  Still getting nauseous when I haven't eaten in a few hours.  Still getting the gas pains now and again.  But overall, I am loving the second trimester.  I have way more energy then I did a month ago and I can eat lots of different foods.  I'm still very stuffy constantly.  J complains that now I snore.  Sorry!!!  I can't help it.

From Nature: We had a bit of a heat wave this week (upper 80s) that caused everyone at work to want to take off for the beach.  Of course, as soon as the weekend hits, it's back down into the 70s.  Whatever the temperature, I'll take the beautiful warm weather and sunny skies.

Project: Vacation plans.  Our little trips somewhere over Fourth of July weekend (the company is off all week) has turned into another crazy 6 day road trip all over.  We are planning of hitting Legoland (near San Diego), Disneyland, and Las Vegas. Mom -- If you read this, don't tell the boys.  This is going to be a big surprise!  I'm super excited, but like usual, this is a large planning project.  We've already narrowed down our hotel choices and the ticket prices.  Now I'm checking out what to do at each park and in Vegas.  I love to have my itineraries and notebooks full of useful information.  I feel a run to the library for guide books coming on...

Sunday Sunset #16

Listening To: Lots of Pandora shuffle and Nerdist podcast this week.  I also finally picked up the new Jack White and Paramore albums.  Liking them so far, but haven't had a ton of time to absorb them.

Book finished: None, but really close to finishing one.

Reading: I was going to join the Spring into Horror Readathon, but alas my new job has taken much time away from my reading.  Until I get into a better groove, I won't be able to commit to readathons...

I'm still reading A Clash of Kings, but so close to the end.  This book has destroyed me.  Martin kills off so many characters, I am utterly unsure where he goes next.

On the Nightstand: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett; The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins; Unbroken by Lauren Hillerbrand; The Impossible Cube by Steven Harper

Making Lists: Summer expenses and plans.  I've already bought a week of camp for the boys, but there are many more things we want to do this summer.  I'll probably buy another week of camp and set aside some money for mini golf and trips into the city (for Alcatraz and the Exploratorium).  Since I am now working, I think I've convinced J to go to Disneyland for a few days.  I won't be able to ride some of the attractions (because of the pregnancy), but I'm sure I'll still enjoy the trip.  Plus, the boys really really want to go.  I thought it would be nice to have one last trip as a family of four before adding a new baby to the mix.  Now to book a hotel and start the heavy planning.

On the Job: Very very busy...  but that's completely normal.  I've got a huge lists of tasks, but I'm really feeling good about crossing them off.  We moved into the next, and hopefully smoother, phase of the project.  I'm feeling good.

Crafting: A great stamp club meeting on Monday.  I love doing homework every month. It's great to see how everyone else interprets the sketch.  I got some great ideas from the others.  We also made three great cards.  I kept seeing negative cards, but no one had an instruction page.  I learned the secret: versa mark ink, glossy paper, and a brayer!  I can't wait to try it out myself.

I also did a bit more scrapbooking.  Finished summer 2012 for the family album.  Now I need to do summer 2012 for the boys' albums. I already have the pictures printed, I just need to actually scrap them into pages. I've decided to keep with my method until October, when I will switch to Project Life.  I think it will be a time saver.  Plus I really love their simplistic layouts and options for styles.  I put a baby themed one on the Amazon baby registry.  And I plan on buying a general one for the family album.  Can't wait to get started!

Watching: After finishing Stargate Universe last week, J had me start watching Babylon 5.  I think it's going to take me awhile to really get into it.  I also convinced him to keep watching The Walking Dead.  We're still in season 2.  Slowly, slowly we are getting through them.  I love that show!  J also picked up a few movies from Amazon using his birthday gift card.  We watched A Scanner Darkly on saturday.  It's definitely interesting, although I will say that Philip K. Dick is not for everyone.  Now I have to read the story...  We grabbed A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas from the library.  Love all the little references.

Pregnancy Update: I had spaghetti and marinara sauce the other night!  I think my food aversions are finally going away.   Thank goodness!  I was really missing some foods (pasta, pizza, burgers).  My weight also seems to have stabilized after a decent gain during my first trimester.  I have to wear maternity or bigger size pants, but I haven't noticed any big change in size for the past month.  I also don't really get nauseous very often.  If it does happen, it's almost always because I haven't eaten in a few hours.  Overall, I think this pregnancy is starting to become more real to me.  I've been adding to my Amazon baby registry.

Side note: J and I had a weird discussion last night.  I have a tattoo on my back of an A and a N for my twins.  I mentioned that I would have to get an addition in a few months.  To which J replied, "Not if it's a boy."  He wanted to be have the A stand for both A named boys.  That's just crazy!  Then it would seem like I forgot a kid.  If it's a boy, I'll just another A somewhere.  If it's a girl, we don't have the same issue, I would have to add an E.  Just a little insight to our weird baby conversations.  We don't talk about the usual stuff, we discuss random things like tattoo additions...

Sunday Sunset #15

Listening To: More of The Nerdist podcast.  I love to listen during those non-higher function tasks at work.

Book finished: Zom-B; Birth

Reading: A Clash of Kings (so good, but so long. it's taking me forever to finish because of work)

On the Nightstand: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett; The Impossible Cube by Steven Harper

Making Lists: My Stampin' Up order for April.  I think I'm going to snap up some of the retiring colors before they're gone.  Hopefully some will still be in stock tomorrow when I order.  We'll see...

On the Job: Big changes to the project this past week.  I've got a to-do list a million items long.  Hopefully next week goes a bit better...  At least the food is decent.

Crafting: I finally started scrapping last summer's adventures.  Everything's organized and I've started at least 10 spreads.  I just need to finish spreads and add embellishments and journaling. Looking forward to some scrapping time soon.

Watching: Among catching up with our currently airing shows, we went and saw Oblivion on Friday.  Entertaining, but not an awesome scifi movie.  Also, we finally finished watching Stargate Universe.  The ending was just... blah.  Nothing exciting, not really an ending, no big finale.  I was a bit disappointed by the ending.

Pregnancy Update: Feeling just about the same as late week.  I did finally get out shopping for clothes.  I found a pair of maternity crop jeans and three pairs of nonmaternity pants (but ones I can wear throughout most of the pregnancy and after time).  I think I'm basically set for maternity clothes, except for a nursing bra and a new pair of navy leggings.

Sunday Sunset #14

Listening To: The Nerdist podcasts during my downtime at work or when I don't really need my brain focused on the task.  Too hilarious!  Must keep up with this.

Book finished: Stardust, P.S. I Love You

Reading: Zom-B, A Clash of Kings

On the Nightstand: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Around the house: Not much to report.  The house got a bit messy as we worked a ton this past week, so Sunday was a a huge cleaning day.  I also managed to get to Target to stock up on cleaning supplies and necessities (toilet paper, shampoo).  We should be in good shape for the next couple of months.

On the Job: This past week was challenging.  I'll be glad for a fresher start coming Monday.  The project is still super interesting, things just went a bit off the rails last week.

Watching: We caught up on our currently airing shows (Modern Family, Community, New Girl, Castle, Psych, Legit)

Pregnancy Update: I'm loving this transition to the second trimester.  I'm starting to get my energy back, although the headaches are continuing.  The nausea only appears when it's been awhile since I've eaten or a particularly erratic car ride.  Making progress!

From Nature: So glad to be back to California and the gorgeous spring weather.  I really missed the warmth and sunshine while back in Indiana.  Couldn't wait to throw on some sandals and sunglasses.

Project: Mentally prepping for a crafting weekend.  I want to get back to it, but weekdays are out of the question.  Next weekend, I want to take some time and do some scrapbooking.  I'm thinking of layouts, colors, and embellishments.  Looking forward to it.

Sunday Sunset #13

Overall, a not very exciting week.  I did a ton of things with the boys, but nothing crazy or out of the ordinary.  Just spent time with Indiana people.  I do have a big announcement for the week:  I am pregnant!  I wanted to wait until I made it past the danger zone (because of last time) and to tell my family first.  I'm feeling very blech, but it seems to be getting better.  I just can't believe how tired I get...  Oh well, it's the price of growing another human.  Updates will follow.

Listening To: Local radio...  I completely forgot how much I hate regular (non-satellite) radio.  Unfortunately that's all we listen to in the car.  Blah!  I need my Alt Nation back.

Book finished: Kitchen Confidential

Reading: A Clash of Kings; Stardust

On the Nightstand: P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Making Lists: Starting my Amazon baby registry.  Lots of basics and gender neutral stuff.

On the Web: I am completely obsessed with The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.  I know, late to the party...  but they are so amazing.  I have been marathoning through them this past week.  I finally reached the end on Friday and immediately wanted to go back and start it again.  Amazing!

Watching: The boys and I saw Oz while I was in Indiana.  I really enjoyed it, but thankful that I opted for the 2D version instead of 3D.

From Nature: It wasn't as cold in Indiana as I thought it would be.  We had decent weather, even some sunshine.  I lucked out.

Shopping Scores: The local Archiver's is closing so I took advantage of their storewide 25% off sale.  I snapped up a paper pack, some Washi tape, a cute dates stamp set, and some jewels.  I didn't go crazy but made sure to grab some supplies I can always use.

Now I'm off to drop the boys at their dad's and visit the casino with mom.  You'll find me reading my iPad by the horse track...

Sunday Sunset #12

Listening To: At work, I sit in the customer service area.  It can get a bit loud at times.  Therefore, I have been enjoying Pandora during my basic tasks to focus.  I've also been listening to The Nerdist podcast during lunch times and while traveling this week.  Lots of fun.

Book finished: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Reading: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin (loving it!)

On the Nightstand: Kitchen Confidential, The Secret Garden

On the Job: I only worked half the week because of traveling back to Indiana.  We did nail down some great ideas and direction for the project.  I hope this continues...

Watching: My television watching has been limited this week with starting a new job.  I have really enjoyed watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries during my lunch hour.  Really late to the party, but still loving them...

Wondering: How exhausted am I going to be at the end of this week?

From Nature: Thankfully Indiana is helping me ease into the cold Midwest weather.  I went from 60s in California to 50s in Indiana.  At least until Monday, we had beautiful weather.  Not looking forward to the cloudy, windy high 30s this coming week.

Shopping Scores: Took the boys shopping for their birthday.  They scored a ton of Pokemon gear, comic books (Sonic the Hedgehog), and Apple cards.  I think they're happy with the haul.

Sunday Sunset #11

Book finished: The Doomsday Vault, Coraline

Reading: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

On the Nightstand: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern, Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Around the house: Cleaning in prep for book club.  J took over the dining room table last month to get our taxes around.  There are still piles...

On the job: It's a new topic!!!!! Because I got a job.  Sorta out of the blue, J's company hired me as a project manager.  I'm not going to go in depth about the project we're working on (it's a bit of a secret), but I will say that it has to do with digitizing quality curriculum.  I started on Friday and boy was it a jumping in with both feet kind of day.  I arrived for an intro, a tour, and a bit of meeting of with my supervisor.  It turned into a full day's work of trying to wrap my head around the project.  Plus, I met with both the CEO and CTO, my boss's boss, and some of the people in the technical team.  All this without having a desk or a permanent laptop.  It was quite a day, but I'm so excited to get back on Monday and really starting to tackle the problems...

On the Web: With the eminent demise of Google Reader, I finally decided on a new rss feed and switched my blogroll.  I decided to go with Bloglovin'.  Feedly is nice, but too busy for me.  And none of the other choices even caught my fancy.  So far, it's different, but I'm liking format.  Of course, now I am way behind with my reading and don't know when I'll catch up.

Farmer's Market Finds: Just a quick trip to pick up some mixed greens for book club this week.  We decided to do a potluck salad bar.  I'm bringing the mixed greens, obviously, and the market has a vendor who sells a 1/2lb mixed bag for $3.  That's cheaper than the grocery store and this is quality organic greens.  So yummy!  I also grabbed an almond croissant to eat before going shopping with a friend.  I tried the French bakery.  Pretty good, but I really want my other bakery to come back to the market.  Maybe once summer hits...

Crafting: Monday was stamp club.  We made three cards and a 3d project.  The extra card (on brown cardstock) was my version of our homework.  I particularly loved the whale card.  I don't plan on buying the whale clearlit, but I love the play of circles.  I'm debating about whether or not to get the banner framelits next order.  I didn't like the coordinating stamp set, but the framelits are cute.

On Saturday I acquired a ton of new card supplies.  I had to try them out, so I made 10 cards, 5 color/designs with 2 options.  Some of these are sticking around until April stamp club as they are my interpretation of our homework.  I'm really loved the blue vine embossed cards with the polka dot flowers.  The colors look really nice together.

Watching: For television, I've been working through V (newer series, not the old miniseries).  I finished S1 and started S2, but don't when I'll finish with the new job...  For movies, I grabbed a couple of Redbox movies while J was still out of town: Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (better than I thought it would be) and Pitch Perfect (amazingly fun!).  Pretty light on the watching front this week.

Wondering: How I'll have enough hours in the week to complete my big work project?  Insane amount of work.

Shopping Scores: I was hostess this month as stamp club.  I bought my $50 of products to get the Sale-a-bration gift.  With everyone's combined total, I earned $50 of free products. Holy cow!  After searching through the catalog, I finally narrowed it down to a few great finds.  Our order arrived on Friday.  My scores: Four Seasons stamp set (hostess), Sweet Essentials stamp set (hostess), Wacky Wishes stamp set (hostess), Stacks of Wishes stamp set (hostess), 2011-2013 In Color Markers set, Secret Garden Bundle (framelits and stamp set), Glimmer paper (hostess), Vine embossing folder (sale-a-bration), Perfect Plum Ink pad.

A crafting friend clued me into the big clearance sale as a local craft store.  She picked me up early Saturday morning so we could get there before the rush. Tables upon tables of new and used card making and scrapbooking supplies.  People can sell their supplies on consignment.  We dove in, but the crowd was intense and the aisles small.  After about 1/3 of the way through the tables, we decided to call it quits.  But I did find some awesome supplies: 3 stamps sets from Stampin Up, 1 stamp set (manufacturing unknown), 1 double sided circle stamp, 1 square punch, 3 Stampin Up ink pads (basic gray, real red, and tangerine tango), 100 sheets of various paper ($5!), and 1 mini scrap pad ($0.50).  Such a great shopping trip!

Project: Prepping for trip back to Indiana.

Sunday Sunset #10

Listening To: Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra "Theatre is Evil" -- I'm a bit obsessed with this album this week.

Book finished: Girl of Nightmares; Let's Pretend This Never Happened; London Eye; Valley of Silence

Reading: Choosing my next book from the listed below...

On the Nightstand: Next by Michael Crichton, The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, P.S I Love You by Cecelia Ahern, The Doomsday Vault by Steven Harper

Making Lists: Possible book club selections.  I am hosting next Sunday and have started to gather some possible books together.  Of course, those books are coming from my TBR shelves, but I want to pick a variety.  Also thinking about what food to buy for book club...

From the kitchen: I actually cooked this week.  I've been craving grilled chicken and steamed veggies.  I want to try and make more of the same, but I do so hate cooking.

On the Web: Evaluating my options with the announcement of GoogleReader's demise.    I imported my blogroll to Bloglovin'.  I'm going to try it out for about a week and then reevaluate...

Farmer's Market Finds: Slim pickings this time of year unless you are searching for lettuce or root vegetables or overpriced strawberries.  I'm waiting for the spring produce and a bit of lower prices.  I did pick up a nice bunch of mixed greens, a fruit tart, cheese danish, and ham and cheese quiche.  I plan on making those ingredients my meals for today.

Crafting: Nothing.  I did reorganize some of my supplies and reevaluate my plan.  I'm thinking about switching to Project Life style scrapbooking by the end of the year.  Still thinking about it...

Watching: Randomness this week.  We continued our season 2 of The Walking Dead and some of our currently airing shows.  I finished S1 of Hart of Dixie, but have to wait for season 2 to be finished so I can start.  And I started watching V season 1 (newer series, not the original).  I remember watching the first two episodes when it aired, but never finished it.  So far so good.  Now I need to go get S2 from the library.

From Nature: The temperatures are gorgeous and it's almost always sunny.  With the rise into the 70s, I was hoping to restart my daily swim.  But I just got notification that the complex is closing the pool for 30 days for renovations.  Guess I will have to wait until the end of April.

Sunday Sunset #9

Book finished: Morrigan's Cross, Death: At Death's Door, The Ghost and the Goth, Queen of the Dead, Dance of the Gods

Reading: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

On the Nightstand: Valley of Silence by Nora Roberts, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

MakingLists: Packing list for Spring Break.  I'm headed back east to see the boys and family for spring break. Of course, I am the uber-planner and must start packing weeks ahead of time...

Crafting: I had a fun card class on Monday using some products that I actually own.

At class, I received my February Stampin' Up order.  So lots of fun new toys to play with.  I got inspired...  Lots of butterflies.  Using my new stamps and embossing folders.  And a couple of birthday cards for the boys.

Watching: For television, we watched lots of currently airing shows.  Thank goodness the new episodes are back.  I was loving new Castle, Community, and Psych.

Movie selections for the week

• Seven Psychopaths -- Hilariously dark comedy.  Loved it!
• The Raven -- Cheesy fun.  Much like Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.
• Machete -- Very cheesy fun.

For my birthday week, I had a zombie movie marathon.  Lots and lots of fun.

Shopping Scores Birthday Gifts: A few, but such good gifts.  After a few months of poking, J bought me a Big Shot and a few embossing folders!  Mom sent me some great blossoming teas.  Crafting friends gave me some random supplies.  And with the check grandma and grandpa sent me, I bought myself some fun patterned coloring books.

Sunday Sunset #8

Book finished: The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Complete Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales, Crossed, Locke and Key Volume 5, A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, Princess of Glass, Princess of the Midnight Ball

Reading: Morrigan's Cross by Nora Roberts

On the Nightstand: Neverwhere, Death, Beautiful Creatures, Let's Pretend This Never Happened

MakingLists: March blog posts.  I am loving Evernote to organize my future blog posts.  I'm planning on a Zombie movie marathon for my birthday and multiple posts about my boys for their birthday.  If I didn't make lists, I would never have blog posts...

On the Web: Reading lots of interesting parenting websites.  I find the different lifestyles to be good reading.  I think I am obsessed.

Watching: Along with watching ST:TNG S4, I started watching Hart of Dixie S1 on Netflix.  And we started watching S1 and S2 of The Inbetweeners.  Freaking hilarious!  Must keep watching.  And we caught up on currently airing shows: Archer (Hello Anthony Bourdain!), Learning Town, Once Upon a Time, Community, Castle, Modern Family.

The end of New Movie February:

• Magic Mike (NMF #24)
• Hysteria (NMF #25)
• The Bourne Legacy (NMF #26)
• The War Bride (NMF #27)
• Star Trek: First Contact (NMF #28)

Wondering: How did I make it through almost 30 crappy weather birthdays?  I am loving the great California weather to bask in on my birthday.

From Nature: Hello!  Beautiful!

Project: Gearing up for spring break back in Indiana and summer with the boys.

Sunday Sunset #7

Listening To: Lots of Arctic Monkeys.  A few bloggers I follow have mentioned them in the past week and suddenly I had a hankering for some AM.  One of the new songs I instantly fell in love with ("Cornerstone"), I didn't actually have.  So I have some new-to-me AM music to enjoy this week.

Book finished: Garden Spells, Matched, Thin Air

Reading: The Beekeeper's Apprentice

On the Nightstand: Wrapping up Fantasy February with... Matched, Neverwhere, Stories of Hans Christian Anderson

MakingLists: Stampin' Up order for February.  Every month I change my order at least three times before committing.  This month is no exception.

From the kitchen: Nothing.  I've been unable to keep a ton of food down, so I've eating lots of sandwiches and salad.

Crafting: A great crafting class on Tuesday.  All the stamps were from the Sale-a-Bration catalog.  I've got some great new ideas.  I love the new chalkboard technique of the first card.  I changed my order to get the white craft ink so I can replicate!  The last card is actually from Pam as a thank you.  I just love the colors of that card.

Plus I had a free crafting night at Panera where I worked on our scrapbook.  I completed multiple pages and made some great headway.

Watching: Legit (on FX, hilarious!), S3 of Star Trek: TNG; Raising Hope (finished the series).

As for New Movie February:

• The Warrior's Way (NMF #18)
• Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus (NMF #19)
• Love's Kitchen (NMF #20)
• Explorers (NMF #21)
• Special (NMF #22)
• Battlestar Galactica (NMF #23)

Wondering: When will this nausea abate?  Because I'm really getting sick of it! (mild chuckle)

Shopping Scores: A plane ticket for Spring Break, finally.  All set to visit the family and spend time with the boys.

Sunday Sunset #6

Book finished: Windfall, 300, The Forgotten Garden, Terror by Night, Firestorm

Reading: Garden Spells

On the Nightstand: Velveteen, Matched, Crossed, Stories of Hans Christian Anderson

MakingLists: I have stamp club in two weeks and I need to start thinking about my monthly order.  It's so hard trying to narrow down all my choices.  I'm sure I'll change my order at least three times before club.  That's just reality.

From the kitchen: On Monday I made faux egg mcmuffins and they are friggin' delicious!!!!! Other than that, I'm feeling really crappy this week so no more cooking or recipes.

Crafting: I had a bit of fun with my new butterfly punch this week.  I love the simplistic look of colored butterflies on a white background.  For the two polka dot cards, I wanted to play with repeating background images.  I stamped the same simple dot flair stamp in a yellow, light pink, and pink to match the designer paper (DSP stack from Stampin' Up).  In real life, the colors work much better.  Plus, I love the repeating colors.  I want to play around with the idea some more.  Lastly, I used another sheet of the DSP for the background of the "Bloom" card.  I tried to bring out the green of the paper with green ink, but it doesn't quite work right.  Maybe layering of stamps is a bit much.

Watching: As for television, we’ve been watching Star Trek: TNG S2-S3, Wonders of the Universe S1, Learning Town, Archer, and Raising Hope S2.

Movies watched for New Movie February

• Urbanized (NMF #10)
• Centurion (NMF #11)
• Life Happens (NMF #12)
• Angel (NMF #13)
• The Black Hole (NMF #14)
• Seven Samurai (NMF #15)
• Immortals (NMF #16)
• Aziz Ansari (NMF #17)

From Nature: Gorgeous.  If I wasn't feeling bad, I would have dove straight into the pool yesterday...

Picture: My pretty arrangement from J for Valentine's Day.  Every once in awhile, he really surprises me...

Sunday Sunset #5

Listening To: Spotify and 8tracks.  My mom sent me a link to an 8track playlist of Doctor Who music.  Love it!  It's been on repeat all week.

Book finished: Chicks Dig TIme Lords, Fables Vol 17 Inherit the Wind, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Gone Girl, Cowboys and Aliens

Reading: Windfall by Rachel Caine

On the Nightstand: The Forgotten Garden, Garden Spells, 300, Velveteen

From the kitchen: Nothing exciting this week, but I do have plans for the next couple of weeks.  To make meal planning easier, I am going with a two week rotation of types of food.  For example, every other Monday is breakfast for dinner and every Sunday is slow cooker for dinner.  I am not a fan of cooking, but this just might lessen the difficulty.  We'll see...

Crafting: Somehow I only made one card this week.  Just one!  But I did use some of my new products. I love my new butterfly stamps and punch.  This is the small one, I have yet to play with the larger butterfly stamps.  And I got to use my new Sale-a-Bration stamps ("Oh happy day" and flowers)  I love the simplicity of this card.  I even like the pastels (not usually a fan).  Hopefully next week, I will be more inspired for crafting.

Watching: As for television, we've been watching S1 and S2 of Raising Hope, S1 of Star Trek: TOS, S1 and S2 of Star Trek: TNG, and catching up with some of currently airing shows (Castle, Modern Family, Parks and Rec, Portlandia, The Guild).

Movies watched for New Movie February

• Transformers Dark of the Moon (NMF #3)
• Objectified (NMF #4)
• Moonrise Kingdom (NMF #5)
• Wizards (NMF #6)
• Pizza My Heart (NMF #7)
• Helvetica (NMF #8)
• Moon (NMF #9)

Project: Summer plans.  I grabbed a few California travel books to list some great summer activities.  I want to explore more of our area.  I started an Evernote notebook with some ideas.  Love it!

Sunday Sunset #4

Listening To: Spotify.  I've been loving finding new and old songs to add to a few playlists.  I love the randomness of many of the playlists.  Currently I am working on a work out playlist.

Book finished: Thomas Paine, The Reader, One Day, Mansfield Park

Reading: Chicks Dig Time Lords

On the Nightstand: Matched, Crossed, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, 300, Cowboys and Aliens, Fables Vol. 17

On the Web: I found some great articles this week...

• Article about being on the cusp size wise.  I am so in this category...
• Rape article
• Great discussion on book blogging
• YA Book Exchange
• Choosing Your Wardrobe Colors
• Doctor Who funnies

Crafting: I went a bit crazy this week and crafted a ton of cards.  Instead of cluttering up this post, I made a separate post yesterday to show off my creations.  As to general crafting, we had our first Stampin' Up Club meeting this past Monday.  It's Sale-a-Bration, so of course I had to spend $50 to get my free product.  Here are my goodies:

• Versamark (for my new embossing heat tool)
• Pewter embossing powder
• Small butterfly punch (coordinates with both stamp sets
• Papillion Potpourri
• Bloomin Marvelous (Sale-a-Bration pick)
• Print Poetry DSP (lots of fun designs)

And of course I had some cute cards to show from Stamp Club and Card Class.

Watching: On TV, we've been continuing our Star Trek marathons (TOS S1 and TNG S1).  Separately, I've been watching Raising Hope on Netflix.  I started when the show first aired, but somehow stopped watching.  I went back and started at the beginning.  We also caught up with Modern Family, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, and Castle.

As to movies, we started our New Movie February:

• One Day -- Awesome adaptation of a contemporary romance that broke my heart.
• My Future Boyfriend (NMF #1)
• Ip Man (NMF #2)

Wondering: Will I get any responses to my job applications I put in this week?

From Nature: It's light jacket and sweater weather.  I love the cooler temps, but still enjoy the almost daily sunshine.

Shopping Scores: Nothing major, but I did find my book club book for a good price.  All the local used book stores only had the new copy for $15.  I found a used one for $7.98 on Amazon.  Love it!  Of course, club isn't until the end of the month, so I have time to read.

Picture: Originally we were going to wine county today, but I have come down with some nasty stomach bug.  I don't think I could take the car ride, and definitely no wine today.  So no cute picture to add this week.

Sunday Sunset #3

This week has been ridiculously slow.  I went to the library (movies and returns only).  I visited the coffeehouse.  I helped out a friend with an event.  I applied to tons of jobs.  I just didn't have many set activities at all.  Plus, A Winter's Respite readathon did take up a bit of my time.

Listening To: Random playlists on Spotify and 8tracks.  Love the random sometimes.

Book finished: The Wedding Gift, A Foreign Affair, Persuasion, A Long Way Gone, The Reader

Reading: Thomas Paine by Craig Nelson

On the Nightstand: P.S. I Love You, Mansfield Park, One Day, Fantasy February books

MakingLists: Stampin' Up order for Stamp Club.  I'm aiming for $50 to receive a free item for Sale-a-Bration.  The hard part is paring it down to $50... so many fun objects to buy.

Crafting: Nothing that I created, but I did help out a friend teaching others to make cards.  And I did look at a ton of craft blogs to get some great ideas.

Watching: We finished The West Wing and I'm sad to see it end.  Such a great show.  We plan on watching The Newsroom as soon as we recover from The West Wing.  We've also continued our watching of Star Trek (past halfway of S1 of The Original Series and started S1 of The Next Generation).  I'm a bit disappoint that we haven't finished Stargate Universe, but we have almost a week before January ends.

From Nature: Beautiful 60 degree temps and sunshine.  Perfect conditions to watch outside.

Project: Prepping for Fantasy February and New-to-Me Movie February

Sunday Sunset #2

Listening To: Not much music being listening to this week.  Although I did have The Killers Battle Born on repeat...

Book finished: Almost America, The Passage

Reading: Nothing.  Gearing up for A Winter's Respite readathon

On the Nightstand: A Winter's Respite readathon TBR...

MakingLists: Potential movies and books for February. I'm doing Fantasy February, so I need to pull tons of fantasy books to choose from.  And, as a personal challenge, I'm watching one new-to-me movie each day of February.  To help accomplish this, I'm making a list of ~10 must watches.  Mostly these are movies from the server and on our DVD shelves that I've just not gotten around to.

From the kitchen: J's back at work after being so sick last week.  That means I'm back to making meals for one or at least making a meal and having tons of leftovers.  I haven't been too creative with my meals (mostly the standards), but I'm making plans to try something new next week.  Just have to pick it.

On the Web: I'm so far behind in my GoogleReader, but I"m still neglecting it.  Instead of following the blogs I usually follow, I've found myself being sucked into the black abyss of the internet searching for fun card making ideas.  I now have a ton of new bookmarks and at least 7 new blogs to follow.  Check out my "Crafting" section for some of the outcomes...

Crafting: I got a bit inspired and made a few cards.  I'm on a new plan to use my scraps before cutting up new 12x12 sheets.  Thankfully I found a ton of ideas to do just that.

I had a few scraps of this fun pink chandelier paper.  I paired it with scraps of polka dot ribbon, fabric flowers, and a cute little "congrats" stamp.

More fabric flowers and last of the polka dot ribbon, but with a hot pink zebra print background.  This would be a perfect birthday card for a pre-teen girl.

I experimented with double stamping with the background flowers.  I don't love the result, but it's nice.  I decided to add a tag with sentiment instead of adding a new stamp.

It's a bit hard to tell, but I stamped "dream" in silver behind the black to add some dimension.  I like the look and will definitely be playing with the idea more in the future.

I had a few pieces of this beautiful watercolor paper.  It was so pretty that I didn't really want to use it, but i just had to.  One of these "hope" cards is going to a my mom's friend who's dealing with a cancer diagnosis.  I think the soft colors add a soothing presence to these cards.

Watching: We're into the last season of The West Wing and trying to finish the last season of Stargate Universe.  Those are my two must finishs by the end of January.  Beyond that, I finished Lie to Me and S1 of Legend of the Seeker (love me some cheese).  I imagine February's television series watching will be low do to my movie watching plans.  We'll probably just be catching up on our currently airing shows.  But I would really love to finish Legend of the Seeker next month.

Wondering: Where's a good dim sum place not in San Francisco?  I only know of places in the city, but don't really want to travel 45 minutes for a good meal.  There has to be places somewhere in South Bay.

From Nature: Gorgeous temps and sunshine.  Helped me get out and walk instead of staying in and lounging.

Project: Job searching.  No one hires over the holidays, so I didn't get anywhere the past month.  Hopefully January-February has much better results.  The problem is that I don't have a set idea of what job I'm looking for.  Basically anything I qualify for that looks at all interesting, I apply.

Picture: Yummy dinner at The Fish Market.  I actually got a pic of J!  Amazing!