Where'd November go?

It went by so fast, I can't believe it. Tyler is now in basketball (and already sprained his knee!) and Haley's almost done with Girl Scout cookies, so life may calm down (yeah right!!!).

We had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday with my family at my Mom's house in Westfield. It is great to see all of the little ones running around, playing together. Oops, except they aren't supposed to run in the house, right?! They are all awesome kids, if I do say so myself.

I'm posting a couple of Christmas/Holiday cards for your ideas. If you need instructions or products to recreate these, please let me know. OH!!! Check out my website for the Holiday Extravaganza Sale! There are some bundles that are 50% off!!! What a great Christmas present for you or your loved ones. It is only active until Monday, so let me know before noon on Monday (Dec 1) if you want to take advantage of any of the bundles.

I'll try to post some more Christmas/Holiday card ideas soon. I also bought the Create A Calendar 2009, so when I get it done, I'll post that for you, too.

Keep craftin' when you have time!!

Audra :)

October

October starts off with my wedding anniversary. My wonderful hubby & I have been married for 14 years as of Oct 1. He gave me a beautiful picture frame that says two hearts one forever. It was so thoughtful of him. I love it.

Haley and I were supposed to go to MI to see my brother Ryan's Homecoming football game last weekend. Well, the team they were going to play had to forfeit, so we decided to postpone the trip. It is about 8 1/2 hours to their town. My brother Rob & his family were going to go with us, and Don and Tyler were staying home for the Sportsmans' Banquet. Needless to say, Tyler was happy that he can see Uncle Ryan play. At the end of the month, the teachers have a 2 day state-wide teacher conference, so they have off on the 30th and 31st. So we may make a longer trip to the UP!! Yeah! Thanks Wakefield.

So Jen and I are having a stampin' party Friday night in Wauzeka. I've got 2 cards totally prepped and ready to go. One more is partially done. This is amazing for me to be 1/2 way prepped with four days left to go!! I'll try to post some pictures, after we're done of course, wouldn't want to ruin the surprise!

TTFN,
Audra :)

Family

I must say that you have to love and enjoy your family while you can.

My good friend, Vicky, lost her brother this week. This is a family of 1 brother and 4 sisters. They are all really close. I can't imagine the pain of losing Joe. The questions that will never be answered. It is very sad to me. I met him a few times, but I didn't know him. I hope he can rest in peace and be with his family in heaven. Vic - we love you.

It is Homecoming here in Wauzeka this week. The football game is on Saturday and my family is all excited. Tyler plays junior high football and loves it. He's ready for the community pep rally Friday night when his name gets announced as a jr hi player! Don is anxious to get his float done for the parade. Haley has been dressing up every day this week, following the homecoming themes. It is so cool that even the little kids are involved in these events and feel like they are a part of something bigger. I love that about this small town.

If you noticed a new link to Lisa & Katt's blog, take a look at it. I haven't decided yet if I want to pay them to list my name on there, so if you do want to order any Stampin' Up! stuff, give me a call or shoot me an email.

To all of you, have a great weekend and I'll talk with you soon.

Audra :)

Back in the swing...

The kids are back in school, the leaves are changing colors, the weather is getting cooler...

I love fall. I try to appreciate every season and the fact that here in Wisconsin, we feel the full effect of every season. But I hate being too hot and humid in the summer and I hate being too cold and all the ice in the winter. Right now, I love the weather. It is about 75, a little breeze, sunny. Perfect! Perfect for football.

I thought I would be better at updating this blog, but I haven't done it for over 2 weeks. Sorry. I've been thinking lately that I'd really like to take my Stampin' Up! business to the next level. I've seen blogs of demonstrators and they show pictures of their stamping room. WOW!! Some of them look like classrooms and they're so organized. My goal is going to be to become more organized. With all of the things I'm involved with, organization would make my life a lot easier. I know where things are, but it is totally unorganized. Actually, I've started on my bedroom, including the closet, right now. Then I sat down at the computer to check my email. Argh.... I must have ADD. I'm one of those who wishes I was OCD about cleaning or being organized. I think my problem is I want everything in its perfect spot and I need to look thru everything while doing that. Also, the fact that I always do 10 things at a time.

But now it is in black & white... I will become more organized! I will become more organized!

Ta-Ta for now,
Audra

Celebrating Andy!

Well, of course I'm a day too late, but I wanted to share anyway.

Shelli Gardner (of Stampin' Up! fame, she's our co-founder and CEO) posted a challenge on her blog to create a "celebrate" item and post it for her August challenge. Here's mine. It is celebrating my maternal grandfather who passed away a few years ago. He and my grandma shared the same birthday, so every year since his passing we've had a family reunion on their birthday weekend. The first year we had 81 people!! Lots of people loved him and still love grandma. Hope you enjoy!

Audra :)

Welcome!

Hello to all my friends & family!
I'm going to try my hand at blogging here. If you know me, you know my favorite things. OK, I'll remind you. I love my family... My dear hubby, Don, and I have been married for almost 14 years, enduring the ups and downs, still going strong. My favorite boy in the whole world, Tyler, just turned 11 and is starting 6th grade. My favorite girl in the whole world, Haley, is 7 and starting 2nd grade. Extended family is also very important to me. My parents are divorced and remarried. My mom is Dawn, married to Ron, they live about 2.5 hours from me. My dad is Bob, married to Patti, they live in Upper Michigan. I'm the oldest, then there is Rob, engaged to Sarah, who's children are Isabella (8) and Mari (6), they live in Wauzeka about 5 blocks from me. My sister is Tricia, married to Brad, parents to Brianna (9), Keegan (7) & Xander (1), they live in Sextonville about 45 minutes from me. Next sister Deanna (21 on Sept 7) is in college at NMU in Marquette MI. Little brother Ryan is a senior at Lake Linden High in LL, MI. Baby sister Rachel is entering 8th grade at Lake Linden. I also have a step-sister Kimi, and her hubby Bill, who live in Arizona with some furry puppy kids. My husband's family is very close, too. His parents, Don & Joan, live across the street from us. His sister Tonia, married to Levi, parents to Jory (1), live in Boscobel. His brother LaVern, married to Sara, parents to LaVern aka Little Bernie (5) and Jacob (2), live in Steuben. Whew! I'll be posting photos, so you can return to this to see who's who.

I currently work for DA Diggers, which is Don & his dad's business. I manage the office and all sorts of fun stuff. I also substitute teach once in a while. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree from Upper Iowa University in 2005. What did I learn most? Advice to all young people: go to college BEFORE you have kids and a job, it will be much easier! Since graduating, I've become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I love to create home-made cards and scrapbook pages. As you can tell, I love glitter. My all-time fave is dazzling diamonds. Oohh, it is so pretty!

I think that's about it for now. I'll be posting more later. Not sure if it will be daily or not, but check back soon!

Keep craftin',
Audra