Card Patterns - Birthday Card

Unity Stamp Co is sponsoring a fairly new sketch blog this week called Card Patterns. This is the first time I've ever participated in a card sketch blog. It was FUN! I may even get some much needed cards done!


Supplies used:
*Stamps - the cupcake and flower stamps are from Michael's. I took them out of the package so I don't know who made them. The word stamps are from Stampin' Up.

*Sassafraslass
*Bazzil
*Stardust pen
*Stickles - silver
*Glimmer Mist - bronze
*Memento ink - tuxedo black
*Fiskars border punch
*Ki Memories - ribbon
*Foam mounting squares

Weekly Sports Report

Chris ran an amazing race yesterday afternoon. He usually runs the 1 mile and 2 mile. He asked the coach if he could skip the 2 mile... the last few races he came in last place in the 2 mile (far enough back in last place to get the pity clap). The coach told him that if he could finish the 1 mile in 5:10 (that's 10 seconds faster than his current PR) that he could skip the 2 mile. Chris had an amazing 1 mile... finished in 5:12.

He still had to run the 2 mile, but was very happy with his 1 mile time. AND he didn't come in last in the 2 mile! One of Chris's friends overheard their long distance coach tell the head coach, "Now I know what motives him (Chris), I should tell him to finish in 4:50 next time." LOL!

Soccer for Chris was Sunday instead of Saturday... that means that Chris didn't have track practice before his game. He had a great game today. He played mid-field and ran up and back the entire time he was in. He even had a couple shots on goal (both wide). His team WON today 3-0!

Bob won on Tuesday. They always seem to win when Cheryl isn't there. This weekend, her team ended up playing down a player. It looked like it was going to be bad, but they played hard and only lost by one... 1-2.

Sports this week:

Chris
WED - Track Meet
SAT - 10:15 AM Wagon Wheel
SUN - 3:50 PM Wagon Wheel

Cheryl
WED- Soccer (Bob) 7pm Arroyo
SAT - 9:00 AM Forster 5

Spring Scrapin-ings Blog Hop!

WELCOME!!!
I'm so excited about being a part of the first SD4U Blog Hop!

Here is my spring-time project... a cute little gift set.

Supplies:
Patterned paper from Basic Grey
Solid cardstock from Bazzill
Round stamps from Stampin' Up
Nugget stamps from Unity
Various punches from Stampin-up, EK success, and Fiskars.

Here are some close-ups:

Bag topper...

Peppermint Patty Box

Nugget Box

Post-it holder with paper clip

Hershey Bar

My favorite quote:
It's not about talent, it's about heart!

Congratulations!
You've reached the end of the blog hop!
Thanks for playing with us!

To be entered into the Blog Hop prize drawing, go HERE,

Weekly Sports Update

It was 113F yesterday... today was cooler, 97F! It's supposed to be lots cooler by this weekend. Thank Goodness! I went running today. It was so HOT, that I had trouble making it back. It's been a long time since I've run on such a hot day. Yep, I run at work! I only have an hour, so I can't get the long runs in that I have been, but it's better than nothing. There are some great trails behind my building! Here's the satellite view:

There are lockers and showers at work too! Following the trail NE, takes me into Whiting Ranch (yes, that's where the mountain lions eat people)... I haven't been that way yet. I usually follow it SW. It's 6 miles round trip, and I only have to go out to the street once!

Cheryl didn't play at all this week. She missed her Bob game because her lab ran late last Tuesday. She won her game on Saturday by forfeit (sorry Papa...). She was so sure that she was going to score at least three goals that game too! She was supposed to play with Bob tonight, but she turned her ankle again... stepping of the curb. It's still swollen today, but not as sore. It's still better to give it a rest so that she can play again this weekend.

I couldn't get off work early enough to see Chris run the mile. Apparently he was amazing! He ran the first half mile with the varsity. He said he felt great and that he thought that he could keep that pace up for the whole race. He lost concentration when he realized he was running in the front pack. He started wondering, "What am I doing up here?"... then he lost it, and he did what we call, "hit a wall" (which is when you can't run anymore and want to stop). I got there in time to see him run the 2 mile. He did pretty bad (he got lapped by the varsity runners). He said he was too tired from running the mile.

After Chris had an almost amazing time in the mile, he's gotten serious about practicing again. He completely wore himself out at track practice on Saturday morning, and didn't have much energy left for his soccer game. He only played about 20 minutes of the game, but he played as hard as he could. His team lost 1-3, but the other team didn't score when Chris was playing!

Sports this week:

Chris
THURS - Track Meet
SUN - Soccer 4:10pm World Cup

Cheryl
TUES - Soccer (Bob) 8:30pm at Bonita
SAT - Soccer 1:25pm Melinda Park

Sports this week

The only sports we had last week was Cheryl's game with Team Bob. Team Bob lost 2-3.

Sports this week:

Chris
THURS - Track Meet
SAT - Soccer 11:40am at World Cup

Cheryl
TUES - Soccer (Bob) 7pm at Bonita
SAT - Soccer 10:15am at RSM Intermediate

Spring in the Desert

Welcome to the Southern California desert in springtime! It was raining as we set out this morning, but look what a beautiful day it is on the other side of the mountains! First we headed out to Joshua Tree National Monument for a picnic and some rock scrabling (that's rock climbing without all the rock climbing gear). Jim and I used to come out here and camp a lot when we first got married. It's beautiful in the spring
when the wild flowers are in bloom! We set the kids loose on the rocks with warnings to be careful and watch for rattlesnakes. Cheryl is such a nut... She found a perfect sized hole in the rock and decided to park it and rest. Chris loved rock scrabling! He has to make it to the top... I wish he'd apply some of that determination to his school work, lol!
Here they are at the top of the hill again!


After a late lunch we got back in the car and headed towards Anza Borrego. We entered Anza Borrego from the east side and found several off-roading rental shops... My family can't resist a chance to play! The off-roading area in Indian Wells was HUGE, but we only had an hour rental... Do you see Chris driving his own bike? He was so excited... Yep, he's 16yrs now!

We only saw one type of cactus in bloom (we call them prickly pears), but there were lots and lots of wildflowers!

On the way home we stopped in Julian and picked up an apple pie. We MUST have Julian apple pie! YUMMY!!!

Believe it or not, it started to rain on our way through Julian... it was so cold that it was falling as slush. They were expecting snow that evening and the town was closing early... we got there just in time to get our pie and get out of there before it started snowing!

It's been a fun week... my last week of being unemployed! Yep, Panasonic called me this morning (while we were on our way to the desert) and made me an official offer. I start on Monday!

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter!

Carlsbad Flower Fields

Welcome to the Carlsbad Flower Fields, just right across the street from Legoland. We haven't been here for YEARS and it's as beautiful as I remember it! Here is the must-take photo of the flower field with the Anderson's windmill and ocean in the background. It's too bad it wasn't a clearer day. The flower fields are mainly a huge field of ranunculus planted in rows of colors. The flower field plants the flowers for seed, not the flowers themselves... though you can buy the cut flowers in their gift shop. Even with the lens flare, you can see how HUGE the field is. That's not even the entire field!

They added a sweetpea maze. It was bigger than we thought! The little kids had maps, and we had to stop one to ask directions, lol! I LOVE the smell of sweetpeas! Chris thought that getting lost in the maze was, "very annoying," LOL!

I tried getting a top view of part of the maze... That's the best I could do...

They also had a beautifully landscaped garden. It was kind of crowded when we were there (lots of kids on spring break field trips). So, I couldn't get a good picture of it. Here's a few more pretty pics! Thanks for stopping by!

SD4U Blog Hop!

Have you heard of blog hopping?
Everyone who is signed up makes a post with a project, and link to the next blog. We travel from blog to blog gathering ideas and inspiration.

I think we should give it a try!
SD4U is hosting it's first ever Spring Scrappin-ings blog hop!

Date: Saturday, April 25th
Time: 11:00 am EASTERN (POST READY) noon EASTERN (Blog Hop Begins!!!)

Since it's our first, let's keep this simple.
Your post must consist of:

1 - a Spring-related project
2 - the materials used
3 - favorite quote
4 - LINK TO THE NEXT BLOG.

Nothing wordy. Just Short and SWEET and SIMPLE. This way people will get through.

Keep your post up till 10:00 am Sunday, April 26th.

Why do it? Cause it will be fun, Fun, FUN! You don't have to have a blog to participate... there will be a prize drawing for all BLOGGERS and COMMENTERS.

Bloggers SIGN-UP HERE
If you are NOT blogging, you don't need to sign-up to play...

Weekly Sports Report

I'll start with Chris this week (since I don't have any photos of the poor guy). Chris has been sick all week with lots of congestion. He didn't run in the track meet on Thursday and didn't play in the soccer game on Saturday. He played a little today, but I wasn't there to take photos. His team lost on Saturday 0-1 and tied Sunday 2-2. There was another red card today when a boy on the other team raised fists to a boy on Chris's team... Soccer is getting dangerous!

Cheryl missed her game Tuesday night because of mid-terms. Team Bob won 3-0, after a player on the other team was red carded for dangerous play. Saturday, Cheryl's team could only field 10 players, against 11 on the other team. They tied 3-3, and Cheryl scored with a long ball from outside the 18yd line.

Today, the girls were bushed from yesterday. Cheryl shot 2 balls off frame and one straight to the keeper. They ended up losing 0-1.

Galaxy played terrible this weekend! Colorado scored in the first 15 seconds of the game! A Galaxy player got red carded for dangerous play, and Galaxy ended up losing 2-3. BUT they have a chance to play Colorado again on Tuesday night... with a better outcome, I hope...

Next week's sports schedule:

Chris:
NO SPORTS

Cheryl:
WED - soccer at 7:00PM (Bonita Park)

Friday Rambling...

Only one more month to the OC Half-Marathon! I pulled a glute muscle running 11 miles today, bummer! I'm hoping it's not serious. We'll see how it is after a couple days rest...

Running quote of the day: "We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by." Will Rogers

I love the quote! Every runner needs their support crew... the ones that get up in the morning while it's still dark to drop us off at the starting line, take photos, cheer, and bring the car around when we're too tired to walk to the parking lot after the race... I love you Jim!

Now on to the job front. I am now unofficially an employee of a little company called "Panasonic." Just kidding about the "little" part... Panasonic is the largest company in Japan. Did you notice I said "unofficially"? The new fiscal year started April 1st (no fooling, lol!) and with it came a change to a different human resources computer system. Next week, they will have to open a new job rec and I'll have to re-apply for it, re-fill out a company application, and re-submit a background check. They want me to do all this next week Monday, so they can process it and have a formal written offer to me by Friday. THEN they want me to start full-time the following Monday... So Monday, April 13th, I will no longer be unemployed! I kind of wanted to wait until after the half-marathon, but I don't want to let this opportunity pass by. Jobs are really hard to come by right now!

Job News and fun stuff...

I interviewed with two groups at Panasonic on Friday and then again on Monday. Panasonic called yesterday... with "an intent of an offer..." LOL! Big companies... they can't just give an offer... they have to give an intent to give an offer before actually giving an offer. My friend Mary said,"It's like calling to say, I am going to call you but not right now." LOL!

Panasonic called again today and told me that they would call me tomorrow... What do you think of that, Mary? LOL!

Okay, enough of that and on to some fun stuff! Look what I made! I had so much fun during the Unity Blog Hop that I volunteered to organize a blog hop at SD4U (along with a new blinkie)! Mary is helping me. She is so good at getting an idea and running with it. The blog hop will be sometime after Easter... Stay tuned! It's going to be fun, Fun, FUN!!!