What A Difference.....

....a week makes! Last Monday, I posted a photo of my Weeping Cherry tree which was just starting to get it's buds (see last post). A week later, it's in full bloom & oh so pretty! I'm so glad that we replaced our pine tree with this Weeping Cherry a few years ago. It was hard to get out of our driveway when we had the pine tree there as it blocked our view of the street too much, so having it cut down was the best thing we did.
While I was snapping pictures of the Weeping Cherry tree, a bumble bee decided it wanted in on the action :) I'm scared to death of bees & usually I run when I see one, lol! But I figured I'd try to capture some photos of this one as he was more interested in the blossoms than me anyway :)

It was a beautiful weekend, although I didn't get to enjoy it as I was sick most of the weekend :( Friday night while I was at work, I had a really bad upset stomach & it continued throughout the weekend. I don't know if it was something I ate or a stomach bug or what, but luckily, I'm feeling a little better this morning. I got my first paycheck from The Scrapbook Zone on Friday, but I haven't even been able to go to the bank to deposit it yet. Now I'm thinking I should have Jim take some pictures of me with it before I do deposit it so I can scrapbook about it ;)

That's all for today.....gotta go take Cassie to school & then I'm going to try to get out & enjoy some of this GORGEOUS weather we're having!

Happy Monday,

Benita

Spring Surprises

Spring has FINALLY sprung! It was absolutely gorgeous this weekend in Michigan, reaching 81 degrees & nothing but sunshine! But as the saying goes, all good things come to an end.....today, the forecast is for showers & then cooler temps this week, only in the 50's-60's. Ah well, I did get out yesterday & made the best of the weather while it was here. The above picture is of my hyacinths.....I was surprised that they even bloomed this year after having some snow just the other week & also since none of my tulips have bloomed yet :(

Since I had Sunday off, Cassie & I went to the mall so she could ITG (In The Groove) & I shopped, shopped, SHOPPED :) Bought some new jeans for work (love the fact that we can wear jeans!), some new bras (like you needed to know that, lol), 3 leather belts for $10.00 at a stand in the middle of the mall, new bed pillows for Cassie & Jim since JCPenneys was having an awesome sale on them (buy 1, get the second for 88 cents plus I had a coupon for an additional 20% off) plus I found these cute little glass cups at Hallmark on clearance for $1.00 each.....they'll be perfect for putting embellishments in for my upcoming classes. While I was at Hallmark, I also got 2 new beanie babies, something I haven't bought in quite a while. But these 2 beanies had a very significant meaning to them.....one of them shared Karen's birthday (a blue dolphin) & the other had the date of their death, August 29th (a green turtle). I think I'm going to display them in the memorial cabinet I have for Karen & Jimmy.

Shawn stopped by for a surprise visit yesterday & with perfect timing, too.....Jim had just finished cooking ribs & taters on the grill. I told Shawn the scent must have guided him here, lol. It was so good to see him, though since it's been about a month or more. Gosh, I can't believe that he's going to be 21 on June 2nd! Dang, I'm getting old! LOL Sometimes I wish you could freeze time, just for a little while.
The buds on my Weeping Cherry Tree are starting to open up, too. I can't wait until it's in full bloom......it's SO pretty! I just wish the flowers on it could last all summer long.
In other news, Jim & I recently purchased a 3rd vehicle.....a 2007 Dodge Caliber SXT in Sunburst Orange Pearl. We decided to get it for me to drive back & forth to work to save miles & gas in my Charger. And boy, has it saved already! In 4 days, I put over 300 miles on the Caliber & still haven't had to fill the gas tank :) On the days that I don't work, Jim is going to drive it to save gas in the truck.....last time he filled up the truck, it cost $70.00!!! OUCH! Yep, we're loving this Caliber already.....although I'll admit I miss the 'power' of my Charger, lol. I even drove the Charger yesterday to the mall just because I missed her so much ;)

Off to do laundry, which I never finished yesterday & clean this scraproom. I may even attempt to get some scrapping done today.....that would be nice :)

Have a marvelous Monday,

Benita

I Met Ali!

While working last night at The Scrapbook Zone, Ali Edwards came in to do a book signing & photos since she's in town for CKU this week. What a sweet person she is, too! So friendly & outgoing & truly inspirational! She brought in an album that she was doing at CKU & it was so amazing!

The store was pretty busy last night as we were having an awesome sale.....20% off almost everything in the store for EVERYONE.....not just CKU students. The sale continues until Saturday, so if you're in the area, be sure to stop by & take advantage of the sale.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job? ;) I've only worked 3 days so far & I'm having so much fun! Kelley & Kevin are the BEST employers to work for! Kevin joked around last night & said that the only reason I'm working there is for the discount, lol. And yeah, the discount is nice, but I'd work there even if I didn't get a discount. And I'd shop there without it, too because I just love the Zone! I ended up spending another $62 last night there ;)

I forgot to take my Ali Edwards Designer's Eye for Scrapbooking with Patterned Paper book with me last night, but luckily, the Zone had her first book for sale, too so I decided to buy one of those so I could get Ali's autograph. When she started signing it, I said to her "hey, you spelled my name right" :) She mentioned it was because she saw my name tag. LOL Dummy me forgot all about having my name tag on. Jim definitely would have given me a DeDeDe moment for that one ;)

Off to get a shower & get ready for Day 4 at the Zone :)

I'm A Working Girl!

My life is on the road to a new path......a path that I didn't even know it was going to take. When I found out that The Scrapbook Zone was hiring, I just knew that I had to apply for a job there! Yes, the Zone is almost an hour drive one way, but I wasn't about to let that stop me from working at the BEST LSS in Michigan :) My first day was Friday on not only a Freaky Friday, but a DOORBUSTER Freaky Friday & also a Crop Till You Drop Weekend. Yes, it was quite busy & my feet were hurting by the end of my 8 hour shift, but I had SO much fun & I already love my job! The first couple of hours, I just helped bag orders & assisted customers that needed some help. Then I got to run the register for a while & caught on pretty fast. And of course, after my shift was over, I had to do a little shopping. I think I spent my whole first paycheck already ;)

The photo above is one I took during my photography class. Last Tuesday, we took a walk through Powell Lake Park to take some pictures, working with the shadows from the sun. We only have 1 week left of our class & this next Tuesday, we're all going to bring our photos in & share them with each other.

Speaking of Tuesday, Carrie dedicated this week's Ten For Tuesday to me ;) since she knows how much I love doing her TFT lists. Thanks, Carrie :) I'm a little behind, but here is this week's Top Ten:

Top Ten Things You Would Like To Learn To Do:

1. Scrapbook faster! I'm a very slow scrapper!

2. Become an even better photographer. The classes have helped, but I know I still have a lot to learn.

3. Skydiving, although my husband thinks I'm nuts for wanting to do that ;)

4. Scuba Diving.

5. Sew on something besides scrapbook layouts ;)

6. Learn more about Interior Design.

7. How to golf better. I just started golfing last summer & really enjoyed it.

8. How to organize better. Everytime I think I finally found a solution, sonner or later, I end up changing it again.

9. Drive a Semi-Truck. I love driving & think it would be fun to drive a big rig!

10. Snow/Water Ski. I've water skied once a very LONG time ago, but would love to do it again someday.

Tonight was our last night of bowling on our every other Saturday league & then in 2 weeks, we have our banquet & fun night. I guess you could say that I went out with a 'bang' as I bowled games of 215, 184 & 190 for a 589 series. I really wanted a 600, but I guess it wasn't meant to be tonight. And after I won $273 for the House Progressive Mystery for my 184 game, I couldn't complain anymore :)

That's all for tonight. Have to get some sleep as I'm working again tomorrow :) Next week, the Zone is going to be really busy as CKU will be in Detroit & the Zone is doing some classes, make-n-takes & specials plus Ali Edwards will be there on Wednesday for a book signing :) It's going to be a very fun & busy week!

Off to bed,

Benita

She's Home :)

We picked up Cassie today from her trip to Europe & I'm SO glad that she's home! Although she probably wishes she wasn't yet! I just got done looking at her 432 pictures that she took while she was there.....yep, you read that right.....432! And I must say, she did an EXCELLENT job! So with that being said, I'm just posting a very small sampling of a few of them for now.....enjoy :)

Paris:

Switzerland, which she said she loved & I can see why:

Germany:

Happy Easter,

Benita

Spring SNOW Showers

Yep, you read that right.....we're having Spring SNOW showers today! Just look at my poor Crocus :( They hardly even got a chance to open up & now they're all squished by the snow!
Luckily, my Tulips haven't bloomed yet, but they were getting ready to.....poor things! We've had snow in April before & even an ice storm a few years ago, so I should be used to it......afterall, this is Michigan.

I finally got to talk to Cassie yesterday :) Jim decided to try to call her at the hotel when he got home from work & it was so good to hear her voice! She's having a wonderful time, but she said that she's not ready to come home yet. KIDS! She told us that she tried both red wine & beer (since the drinking age is only 16 there) & luckily, she didn't like either of them :) She also said that she still has a lot of money left, but since they just got into Germany yesterday, I'm sure she'll spend most of it there. Jim & I are thinking about driving up to Traverse City on Saturday to surprise her at the airport.....all depends on this weather though.
I decided to take some updated pictures of parts of my scraproom since I've been doing a little organizing/rearranging lately. Above is my Expedit bookcase from Ikea, which I absolutely love! I changed my Cropper Hopper paper holders around & bought a few more since I was running out of room. Somehow, paper just keeps following me home everytime I go to The Scrapbook Zone ;)
Here's a closer view of my paper.
On top of my Expedit, I decided to change some of my decorations & added an old Family Album & box that belonged to my Mom.
Here's a close-up of the Family Album.....inside are lots & lots of old pictures of my Mom, Dad & sisters that I need to make copies of & scrap.

This old box was in my Mom's bedroom & held some old love letters between my Mom & Dad.

Here is my newly organized Clip It Up. I'm still on the fence about whether or not I like this. It's a LOT bigger than I expected it to be, so I'm not even sure if I'm going to keep it or not. We'll see.

Not sure when I'll get a chance to update again. Jim is off from work for the next 4 days, so I'll be spending time with him & Cassie when she returns.

Wishing you a Happy & Wonderful Easter!

Benita