Make Mine with Mustard...

... and Catch-Up. ;P

Lots has been brewing this past week but I was siiiiiiiiiiick. So now it's time to catch up! I'm grouping things into categories to make it easier on myself. :)

First: Stuff I've Made

A couple of the surprises I mentioned have arrived at their destinations and so are no longer surprises! :) A pair of earrings for my fabulous friend Trisha for her birthday:

And an earring and necklace set for Jason's mom for Mother's Day:


I've also been working on those tiles I showed you last week. After I took that photo I found a "blonde" colored placemat at Ross (for 49 cents because it was falling apart!) and two placemats at Target with larger tiles. Loooove them. I'm obsessed! I have a bunch more halfway finished so hopefully I can show you those later this month. (Thanks to Deborah for the idea and to Shannon for sharing it.)



And Avon Walk thank-you cards. Nothing fancy, but heartfelt! And ready to be written in!


And I've also been working on a bunch of layouts but none of them are done yet. :)

Second: Happy Happy Joy Joy

What a super day with happy surprises! First my neighbor brought me these as a thank-you for taking care of her kitties. Please, like kitty cuddles and the hilarity of a cat who sits on command wasn't enough?


Then I received a package in the mail from Sooz:


Holy crap cow! Are you kidding me? When I lusted over the tabs she used on her pages she volunteered to punch some for me... but she really went above and beyond that kindness! Not only did she use Stella Ruby paper so they will match my album perfectly, but she also made me a ton with different paper, AND made me a mini-book! And how did she know that I am a huge fan of StoryPeople? I love that card! Everything is beautiful and I feel so spoiled! Thank you thank you thank you, Sooz!

To top it off, I found out last week that I won a free seat in Stacy Julian's 12-week Have More Fun class over at BPS! I rarely win anything so I was super surprised and excited! I'm especially excited because it's a class I normally wouldn't have taken... that seems kind of backwards because I should be excited if I was planning to pay for it but got it for free, right? But I'm more excited because this way it feels like "it was meant to be"... and I'm excited to find out why! It starts in July so I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Third: The Rest

I'm flying out tomorrow morning for Portland. So excited to see my Grandma and Grandpa, who I haven't seen for FOUR YEARS. They're snowbirds so the one time I flew home from Italy (Christmas 2006) they were down south. I can't believe it's been that long and am excited for them to pick me up from the airport! Here is a photo of us four years ago:

Can everyone say "Praise Jesus for the hair cut and color?"

Thursday morning Mom, Dad, and I leave for Spokane for my niece's baptism--and I'm the Godmother! Yippee! I'll be bringing my camera since the baptism will be on the 25th... so expect to see lots of photos when I get back! (Like there wouldn't be otherwise, ha ha!)

This past Friday we hung out with some of Jason's coworkers to welcome new baby Emma into Mike and Kerry's family. Several people mentioned how natural I was holding the babies (there were two at the party)... and I learned that apparently not all women have been holding babies for as long as they can remember! I've always thought it was "a girl thing"... we grew up babysitting, etc. But none of the other women at the party felt that way (except the moms). Now I'm wondering if I'm unusual or if this wasn't a good sample since all the women at the party were engineers, ha ha. :) Anyone? What do you think? Did you grow up holding babies or not so much? I'm really curious. Please answer!

Finally--sent out little things to a few people in the midst of sickness last week. SORRY that I suck and did not even include notes let alone pretty RAKs (random acts of kindness)! I owe you one. :)

Smooches and wish me luck with the cross-country flight! :)