Happy New Year!

Happy 2009 to everyone! I am totally looking forward to ending 2008 and moving on with a much happier and healthier 2009.

As the subtitle of this blog says, Stamping with a Slash of Chatting. Um yeah....neither have been going on in my life. Basically, I have not stamped or chatted since I quit JustRite back in October. Life happens and priorities are brought to the forefront and my eyes were opened that my life was totally out of balance. It was time for a much needed break and reality check.

So what have I been doing? Spending time with my neglected family and my best friends in the whole world. I did blog a bit in November that Amy came here from Guam for a two week visit. So I asked Jen, Beth and Mary to come over for a girls night "in" and we had a feast of Chicago foods. It was so awesome to see everyone together and just sit and chit chat about everything and of course lots of giggles and laughs.

Life wouldn't be complete with out some bumps in the road and I have had my fair share with my teenage son. Without getting into too many personal details I will just say therapy, therapy and more therapy. We have along road to go and after many tears and many more prayers I just hope that he will come around and get that we care about him and only want what is best for him. And no this is not drug or alcohol related.....teenage know-it-all-ism is a huge factor here.

Going to work each day is a sanity saver. I have unofficially started working full time. I just have a lot of marketing project on the horizon and don't mind putting in the extra time. It'a great feeling to know that I do the marketing for a community bank....of all places in this economy.....that has a billion dollars in assets and was recently ranked #1 by the FDIC. People ask me all the time if we are in trouble and we are definiately not part of any economic crisis. As a matter of fact, we are growing and hiring. Yes, when people are losing their jobs daily and banks are closing left and right my bank is hiring and secure. I've said a million times here and I'll say it again....I love my job.

So that is a briefing of what I have been doing up til now. And now......I have been addicted to the Wii game system. OMG....I have played so much that my body has been sore since Christmas eve. But it is a great kind of hurting. LOL Jen has come over and we now have her addicted to Rock Band and We Cheer. So much so that we gathered "the band" at her mom's house last night and jammed all night long. Sooooo much fun.

We also have the Wii fit and I have the high record on the Ski Long Jump and Super Hula. After the kids go to bed I play and bust into a sweat. It's great exercise and I am totally addicted. Hopefully it will help me lose some weight and win the Biggest Loser competition at work. We are doing it for 12 weeks and we pay each week if we lose, maintain or gain. Winner will get the pot of money at the end of the 12 weeks. I hope to lose 20-30 pounds and I'll be happy.

And finally, my New Years resolution is to get back to stamping and blogging. I have eliminated all the clutter from my life and now have time to get back to some fun things that I like to do which will also coincide with my other resolution.....acting upon my kind thoughts....performing Random Act of Kindness. What does that mean? Well I am always thinking about doing kind deeds and just never act upon them. Like my co-worker Mary is jumping into Lake Michigan today and I thought about giving her a beach towel and of course didn't do it. Just little gestures of kindness that run through my head and never happen because I am too busy and too forgetful.

Oh....one more resolution.... Bill and I are going on a debt diet. I have been reading all these blogs and newpaper articles about cutting back and living within your means. Needs over wants is the goal for us. Only spending money on needs which should be much easier now because I was able to pretty much fulfill all my wants for the house over the last few months...and paid cash for my kitchen remodeling and new living room furniture. I don't need any craft supplies and I am an avid collector of papers and all things stamping, scrapbooking and die cutting. I just want to use up what I have and scrapbook!!!

So you are all caught up on my oh so exciting life. Thanks to all of those that have been emailing me and checking in on me. I figured Beth was the only person that read this blog and cared about my personal life crap. Apparently, others like to read my soap opera too and don't just look for the cards and pics.

I have been on Facebook too if anyone is looking for me on the internet. Ah....Facebook....the place you can say what you want and not be under the microscope of certain eyes and easier to figure out who is not my "friend".

Happy New Year and see you on the blog!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today is my 19th wedding anniversary and I know and will never dispute that I have the most wonderful husband in the world that unbelievably spoils me rotten. Really.

So we went to the city this weekend with Amy and Darrell and in the parking garage the levels were named after the months. Bill noticed that on the wall it said floor eleven was named November....which is our anniversary.....November 11th. So of course we had Amy take this picture of us.So today Amy came over with this picture in an awesome red glass frame as an anniversary gift. I love it and love that thoughtful girl that I am soooooo going to miss.

My wonderful husband gave me a Coach purse, a beautiful bouquet of flowers and the new G1 phone which is the T-Mobile version of the iPhone which is AWESOME! I am such a techno-geek and now I am totally hooked up 24/7.

Ok so I have mentioned Amy on my blog a million times. Who is the infamous Amy? For those of you that have been reading my blog since my Yahoo 360 days know that she is my Navy friend that I met in Florida. She and I had an instant bond from the day we met (we were neighbors in housing). She is Bailey's God Mother and on paper the God Mother of all four of my children (long story).

Anyway, I have not seen Amy in 6 years because when we left for Chicago she went to Cuba and now she is in Guam.....can she get any farther away?!!? OMG. But she will be back in the states permanently in about a year. I wonder if I can convince this island girl to move to the Windy City? Wishful thinking.

So here is a picture of Amy all bundled up and ready for a trip to the city.

Oh and I forgot the most important thing....Amy was here for her son's graduation from Navy bootcamp. It was my first graduation ceremony and it was awesome! But I'll upload those pics later.

We are off for our anniversary dinner and final dinner with Amy and Darrell (ok...I forgot to mention Darrell is her husband and I am excited to see Darrell too....love ya D). We are off to Ron of Japan for dinner....YUM!

See ya on the blog!

Craft Fancy Demo and Life

Hello....I am still here and if you want visible proof stop by Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights, IL on Saturday October 11th. I'll be doing a JustRite demo from 11-3. (No I am not working for JustRite any longer but committed to this demo months ago and didn't want to leave Simone in a jam.....for those enquiring minds that wanted to know why on Earth I would be doing this demo....there you have it.)

On the homefront.....Maddie (my 8 year old that broke both her wrists back in June) broke her left ring finger which required many many trips to the doctor because she broke it right along the growth plate. You know the growth plate that determines if your bones will continue to grow...yeah that one. Well, they can't tell if her finger will continue to grow so we must wait it out and only time will tell if her nickname will be stubby. Amy said it could be a positive thing in life....no matter what size diamond she has it is going to look huge on her little finger. LOL

Speaking of Amy.....she is going to be here in Chicago in less than a month! OMG....I absolutely can't believe it. I have not seen my dear friend since I lived in Florida almost 6 years ago. Since then she has moved to Cuba and then Guam. All I can say is that girl is going to freeeeeze her toes off the first week of November. But we have already determined that you don't need toes when eating your way through Chicago. We have our food tour mapped out already.....Gino's East Pizza, Chicago dogs, Carson's ribs, Garretts popcorn, Fannie May candy and we'll wash it all down with some martinis.

I got a raise at work and an awesome welcome back to my regular 5 days a week schedule.....I LOVE my job at the bank! How many times have I said that on this blog? I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to follow my heart with the JustRite gig but sooooo incredibly happy that I did not give up the bank completely. Really, I wake up and enjoy going to work, I enjoy what I do and I enjoy the people I work with (all 70 of them) every single day because I feel valued, needed and appreciated....what more could a person ask for on a daily basis? Right.....a sense of accomplishment and that you have contributed to something good too.

Oh one more thing for those that keep emailing me and asking......Lord NO that is not me writing the JustRite blog anymore. I have no idea what is up with the blog, I don't know why the feed has changed, I don't know what is being written or who is writing the crap you are complaining about. Although I did get a good chuckle when one person asked if I was on drugs because my writing style had taken on a new and odd personality that doesn't know how to write complete and coherent sentances....LOL.....is my writing style that obvious that people noticed things have changed on that blog? I suggest writing to customer service if you want to complain but doubt you will get far. Honestly, I haven't looked at it since I resigned so I am totally clueless and could really care less. Sorry.

What was I thinking?

Wow....I am totally overwhelmed and humbled by the tons of emails and comments of support I have received. Thank you is not enough to tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time in your busy day to shower me with your kindness.

Really....I am good. Sometimes things don't work out and there is a reason and I am a firm believer there is a reason for everything....good and bad.

So for today....I am sending myself this card. LOL






I know.....doesn't everyone need to hear this sentiment some time in their life? I should have sent myself this card months ago.

Love the SU papers, love this sentiment and love the fact that I still have some blog readers. Surprised after that long detour that anyone is still reading. Thanks for sticking around.

Life is good...really.

I am currently rearranging my life, my blog and my stamp room! Lots of trash being taken out of all areas. Life is good and it feels wonderful to be back here on my own blog.

Physically I have lost weight due to stress. Had a migraine head ache for two days this last week. Suddenly it all went away and I feel sooooo great!

Mentally I was completely burned out and so frustrated trying to understand the actions of certain people in my life. But suddenly when other people within the circle started talking and opening up it all made sense.

Spiritually I momentarily lost sight of me and felt like I lost myself. "People treat you the way you allow them to treat you" is a quote that gave me the courage to draw the line and not allow myself to be used as a stepping stone for someone else's ego.

I closed the door to walk away and surprisingly three other opportunities are already knocking on my door.....life is good...really. I should have followed my gut instincts months ago when the red flags were waving right in front of my face. Lesson learned.

I know most of you have no clue what I am babbling about but for those of you that do....thanks for the support. It just feels so good to be back here on my own blog and getting back to my own life without all the drama.

See ya on the blog....THIS blog!

Clinton Dissed on the Kiss

I know...two posts in one day...can you stand it? Really I am posting this video of Bill Clinton missing the kiss. Every time I watch Hillary turning her back to him and Bill kissing her hair it cracks me up. I can't stop laughing watching this video. What is even more funny is she kisses Obama instead.

Hello....it's me....are you there?

Isn't this what they call an Oxymoron? The Organized Scrapbooker sitting on a pile of papers in my office. Well that is where I am and what I have been doing....buried under stamping stuff, work stuff and life.

About two weeks before Cody came home from Texas his dog, Lou Lou, died. It was so hard to call him and tell him because Lou Lou has been his dog since he was two years old. For 15 years she was part of our family and it's odd not having her greet us at the door. She was a great dog and the kids all miss her.

After that my Aunt arrived for a two week visit from New Jersey. The girls finished up summer camp. Sarah started high school as a Freshman and Cody is a Junior. Maddie and Bailey finally went back to school and we now have the beginning of daily routine in our lives. Now if only Bailey could remember where she put her lunch box, back pack and shoes in the morning all would be wonderful. {She is my disorganized child.}

Both of my jobs are overwhelmingly busy at the moment. Check out the JustRite Stampin Champion contest and you'll see what I am talking about.
And this post is turning into a big whine fest. So here is a card I made for Amy....cause she just got turned onto Martinis {can you believe that } and I am sooooooo excited because my dear sweet friend is coming to visit me all the way from Guam.

Ok....not really....she is coming here to see her son graduate from bootcamp and I just happen to live 10 minutes from Naval Station Great Lakes. Come November I am going to need several martinis with my friend who I have not seen since I left Florida 6 years ago!!!

See ya on the blog!
Denise