Photos, Photos & More Photos

As promised, here are some of the photos from the photography class along with some more photos of Chicago. The photo above is of an old cart that I saw in a yard & just thought it was neat.
This is the Gazebo in our village.
This mural was painted on the side of a garage. I guess they wanted to bring a little bit of the country to the city :)

This is an old historic Church, built in 1879.

Lights inside Starbucks. I actually got in trouble for trying to take this picture, which is why it's blurry. Some young guy that worked there told me that I wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside. Maybe he thinks we were going to copy them & open up a coffee shop across the street ;) I think he takes his job way too seriously!
This is a gas meter. I bet the meter readers get a chuckle out of this when they see it!

Now onto more Chicago pictures. These were all taken with my cellphone, so they aren't the best quality:

Downtown Chicago.

Cassie liked this building.

Sculpture of some sort. Hopefully if someone from Chicago is reading this, they can tell me what it is.

Fountain.

A building that I thought was cool......wish I could have gotten a better picture of it.

The "L", or at least that's what Jim told me it was.

Just another picture of my odometer that I had to snap as the mileage is my birthdate ;) The trip to Chicago didn't help with keeping my mileage down! LOL

That's it for today. Gotta finish getting Cassie ready to go to Traverse City today & then she leaves from there on Thursday for her trip to Europe.

Have a wonderful Sunday,

Benita

Wednesday In The Windy City

We left Michigan at 8:00 am for our trip to the Windy City to get Cassie's passport. After driving 5 hours, we finally found a parking garage that had space available. We forgot that Chicago was an hour behind us until our time on our cell phones changed. We were about 5 blocks away from the Passport Office building, so we grabbed a bite to eat & then headed to the building. While waiting & waiting (& waiting) in line to go through security, we were informed by the security guards that if you weren't traveling before the 26th of this month, that you would NOT be seen, even if you already had an appointment. Needless to say, this put me in panic mode since Cassie wasn't leaving until the 29th, but I refused to leave the line! Come to find out, they were taking people that didn't even have appointments, too, which really ticked me off! They wouldn't be so busy if they made everyone get an appointment! ARGH!

After a while, Jim saw a guy walking around pulling certain people out of the line & we went up to let him know that we had an appointment with a confirmation number. He told us to follow him, along with several other people that also had confirmation numbers. He took us up to the 18th floor were we had to wait in another line. Then we finally got to hand in all our paperwork & luckily, they never even asked us when Cassie was traveling. So we were then sent to yet another line where we had to wait for our number to be called. Once we got up to that line, I asked the guy if there was any way to get the passport today & he said that they were only giving them out today if you had an emergency; otherwise, we would have to come back the next day to pick it up. Then a few minutes later, he said he would go ahead & let us wait for it now since he obviously saw that we traveled a long way. WHEW! I didn't even care if we had to wait another hour & a half in yet another line! It took us a total of 6 hours, but it was worth it because Cassie now has her passport & she's SO happy! And so am I! Now I can stop stressing & start relaxing :)

The weather sucked while we were there & we forgot to bring umbrellas, but we still managed to get some pictures before we left. I have some more on my cellphone that I need to upload to my computer since we weren't allowed to take our cameras into the federal building, but here's the pictures we took from our car. Enjoy & don't forget to click on each image for a better view :)

Upon entering the city, we saw the Chicago Stock Exchange building.
Chicago buildings & some scary storm clouds. Look at the license plate on the car in front of us.....SPORTS. Jim, of course, thought it was cool :)
More scary clouds! It was like these clouds just covered the city & nothing else.
I wish this picture would have turned out better. I don't know exactly what this is on this building, but I thought it was neat.

Hard Rock Cafe.

A really cool McDonalds. It's 2 stories & has big screen tvs.

Sports Authority Building.....just thought it was cool :)

Chicago Tribune.

Home of the Chicago White Sox.

Flag on the back of the White Sox field.

Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge.

Welcome to Indiana.....Jim's hometown state :)

That's it for now. Next time I update, I'll add some more pictures of Chicago plus some pictures from our photography class on Tuesday.

Taking Cassie to get a haircut today & to buy her a lighter suitcase as her luggage can't weigh more than 45 lbs. on the airplane. She has to pack for 10 days, so this should be interesting!

Have a super day,

Benita

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L DAY!

The forecast yesterday: B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! And I took FULL advantage of the day! After dropping Cassie off at school, I did a little cleaning, then jumped in the shower & hit the road. I had no clue where I even wanted to go.....I just knew I had to get out & enjoy the weather & that's exactly what I did. I left the house around 11:30 a.m. & at that time, it was 64 degrees out! WOOO-HOOO, Baby! Spring IS here, even if just for a day right now :) The reason I say that is because it's supposed to get cold again this weekend with another chance of snow. Welcome to Michigan!

I went to 2 different LSS's & picked up a few things.....some new WeRMemoryKeepers & Around The Block papers, some travel papers & embellishments of France & Germany for Cassie's upcoming trip (for some reason, I can't find anything to do with Switzerland), some more Basic Grey Blush papers & some Basic Grey rub-ons. I have to leave some money for this Friday's Freaky Friday at The Scrapbook Zone :)
Then it was off to Target. I was debating whether or not I wanted to go there, but now I'm glad I did as I hit the Clearance jackpot! I got 2 of the Prima vases at half price, 3 sets of the Making Memories photo cubes, regularly $3.99 on clearance for $1.98, 4 sets of the Making Memories ribbons & one BoHo frame set, all pictured below: After the stop at Target, I had to go to Greene's, an art supply store, to pick up some paper mache paste for Cassie. She wanted the powder kind that you have to mix yourself. As I was driving on the highway, I almost fainted when I saw the temperature now......77!!! Yeah, I know it's dangerous to take a picture while you're driving, but I never took my hand off the wheel. I just propped the camera up on the steering wheel & snapped this picture so I would have proof that it really was that warm in Michigan in March :) And yes, that's how many miles I have on my baby already :( But in my defense, it's made a couple of trips to Traverse City already along with a trip to PA & back & well, I just love driving my car ;)

Last night, Cassie & I had our second photography class & what a great time we had! Since the weather was awesome, we went outside to take some pictures before it got dark. We were taking pictures of shadows & learning how different lighting works with our cameras. Here are some pictures that Cassie took (she's using my DRebel for the class while I'm using my 35mm film Nikon):
Not the best looking thing to take a photo of, but I love how she captured the shadow on the fence!

Here's a photo she took of the shadow of the trees in a puddle of water.

And here is her shadow along with the shadow of a sign & fence on the back of a garage. I took a picture similar to this, but with both of our shadows in it.....once I get the film developed, I'll post it.

After the class, Cassie wanted some ice cream & since it was so nice out, how could I refuse? :) So we headed to Frosty Boy & we both got hot fudge sundaes. Dummy me forgot to take a picture of them before we ate them, but trust me when I say that they were very yummy :)

This morning, I was in the mood to take some more photos, so after I took Cassie to school, I drove by the lake in our neighborhood to capture the steam/fog/mist on the lake.
This one blurred a little, but I still like it :)

And then when I got home, I let the dogs out & decided to snap some pictures of them, too. Onyz wouldn't stand still long enough, so the pictures of her blurred, but I just love this one of Reeses.....the look on his face just screams "LET ME IN!" LOL

Ah well.....guess I better get off the computer & put away all my stuff that I bought yesterday. It's supposed to rain today (figures!), so I'll probably just stay home & clean.

Have a Happy Hump Day,

Benita

Time Change

I was very happy when we observed Daylight Savings a few weeks early this year! I didn't even mind losing an hour of sleep or having to change the time on my 14 clocks, which doesn't count the stove, microwave or alarm clocks. Those of you that know me know that I have this thing for clocks. And out of the 14 clocks that I own, 7 of them chime on the hour & some on the 1/4 & 1/2 hour. I think they drive Jim nuts sometimes, but he knows how much I love them, so he tolerates them ;)

I just purchased the clock above a few weeks ago when Jim & I went to the bowling tournament in West Branch. It was on the wall in the hotel gift shop & at first, I didn't think it was for sale. But I decided to ask the clerk anyway & I was surprised when she said that it was. She even knocked $10.00 off the price for me because she said it's been hanging there for so long. This clock is huge! And it matches perfectly in my grape kitchen :) I have it hanging above the entry that leads out to the garage.

Another one of my favorite clocks, although they're really all my favorites, lol, is this one pictured here. I purchased it from QVC a few months ago because I love the roses on it & it matches really good in my family room. Can you tell I love purple? :)

I captured this sunrise picture this morning as I was driving Cassie to school. It didn't turn out the best as I had to take it quick since there was a car behind me. I was hoping to take some more pictures of the sunrise on the way home, but one thing I've learned about Michigan sunrises......capture them the instant you see them because before you know it, they're gone! It's now cloudy out & the sun is no where to be found. But I have proof that it was out for a minute :)

Another good thing about the time changing is that the weather was really nice this past weekend & we had temps in the 50's, which helped to melt some of this snow. You can now see grass, although it's brown, in my front yard :) I just hope that this is the last snow we see for a while now! But you never know.....this is Michigan afterall!

Next week, I have to make a trip to Chicago to get Cassie's passport. Why, you ask? Well, once again, I procrastinated & waited too long to get her a passport & at the end of this month, she's going on a trip of a lifetime to France, Switzerland & Germany for 10 days! I don't know who's more excited.....me or her! LOL Her best friend's high school class is going & they said that Cassie could go along, so we jumped at the chance. As scared as I am having her fly that far away by herself, I know that this will be a wonderful experience for her! I'm letting her take my DRebel with her & told her that she better bring me home a LOT of pictures to scrap :)

And speaking of pictures, Cassie & I just started taking a photography class last Tuesday to learn all about lighting & different effects. I had to give up my bowling for 5 weeks for the class, but it's worth it. And besides, I don't think I could bowl right now if I wanted to......for the past couple of days, I've had some sharp pains & tightness in my right hand. I don't know if it's carpal tunnel or arthritis. Ahhhh......the signs of aging :)

That's it for now.....off to upload my scrapbook layouts that I did over the weekend for the Zone design team, then I need to get this room cleaned & that may take all day to do!

Have a great Monday,
Benita

Teaching TooT!

Starting in April, I will be teaching some classes at The Scrapbook Zone :) I am SO excited & nervous at the same time. This will be my first time teaching anything, which is why I'm nervous, but I know I'll truly enjoy it. I'm still working out all the details (dates, class descriptions, etc.), but that will all be posted in their upcoming April/May/June Newsletter. If you don't receive their newsletter yet, be sure to sign up for it on their website: The Scrapbook Zone. And even if you don't live in Michigan, you can still shop at The Scrapbook Zone online. One of the classes I'll be teaching will be all about Primas ;) Then I'll be doing some of my altered home items as well. Be watching my blog for all the details.
Whoever came up with the saying about March coming in like a Lion wasn't kidding! Early this morning, it started snowing & sleeting, then it turned into all sleet. Luckily, the temperature stayed above freezing so the roads didn't get too bad, but here is a picture of what my driveway looked like today.....a icy, slushy mess! Glad I didn't have to go anywhere except to take Cassie to school. I just hope that it clears up by tomorrow as Cindy & I are heading out to The Scrapbook Zone for their Freaky Friday sale. LOVE Freaky Fridays :)

This past weekend, Jim & I went to West Branch to bowl in the Best Frame Bowling Tournament & we had SO much fun, even though neither of us bowled very good. After we bowled our 3 games together, we switched partners & bowled 3 more games. I usually love synthetic lanes, but these ones were brand new & everyone had a hard time sliding on the approaches. About a year ago, this house was only 8 lanes & it caught on fire & completely burnt down. Now it's 16 lanes (which is still small compared to what I'm used to), but it's a really nice house. Now I can't wait until next year to go again!

Off to bed as I have a long day tomorrow. Cindy & I will also be going to a Body Shop party tomorrow night to get our feet pampered :)

Have a great weekend,
Benita

Back Home & a MAJOR TooT!

The trip to Pennsylvania was wonderful! Cindy & I had a great time while we were there. And I really think she enjoyed the scenery of the beautiful PA mountains as much as I always do. We left Friday morning around 9:30 a.m. & made really good timing going home. My sister Barb called us along the way & said that part of I-80 was closed down due to 4 inches of ice on the roads, but luckily, it was all west of where we were going. Apparently, there were several overturned trucks along I-80 & I-81. We saw 6 trucks in the median along I-80 that had flipped.....very scary!

When we arrived in Williamsport, we checked into the hotel & then went to the nursing home to visit my Mom. She would disown me if she knew I was posting this picture of her! She wasn't in any mood to have her picture taken, but I took one anyway. Now she's having some swelling in her other foot, which is NOT what I wanted to hear :( But for the most part, she was very happy to see me & I'm so glad that I went home to see her!

After the visit with Mom, we met Barb, Kyle (her son) & Doyle at Red Lobster for dinner since Kyle's 15th birthday was on Saturday. And no, I don't eat seafood, but they made me a killer pizza from their appetizer menu.....instead of all the seafood on it, I just got cheese & it was so good :) After dinner, Cindy & I went back to the hotel & relaxed in the whirlpool......I ended up sleeping like a baby after that. On Saturday, Cindy & I went to ACMoore......twice. I think she really liked that store :) Then we went out for dinner & went to visit my Mom again. Sunday, we went to the mall with Barb & Doyle & then Cindy wanted to go back to the hotel room. Barb, Doyle & I visited with Mom before going out to dinner with Dad at Crippled Bear (a bar/restaurant). They had the Nascar race on while we were there & boy, what a wild race it was! As soon as the checkered flag was waved, I got my cell phone out & started to call Jim, but he beat me to it & called me first, lol. He was so happy that his driver won, but Barb was routing for Mark to win.

On Monday, it was time to head back home, but I was actually sad to leave :( Before we got on the road, I went to visit my Mom again to say goodbye. She thought I was staying until Tuesday, but I told her I had to get home since Cassandra had to go back to school. I just stood there, holding her hand & started crying because I just hate seeing her like that, laying in a bed or sitting in a wheel chair all day. God, I wish there was something I could do! If I could bring her back home with me, I would! I love you, Mom!

Here are some scenic photos that Cindy & I took on the way home (you can click on each photo for a better view):

The mountains along I-80 are just gorgeous!

When we got to Ohio, we decided to make a pit stop at a Cord Camera store in Warren. Talk about a cool store! They definitely need to put a store in Michigan (but then again, maybe not because I'd really be broke!). They had a bunch of stuff on clearance.....some of the Making Memories home decor items, which I bought a bunch of, along with lots of other Making Memories items. Cindy & I ended up spending over 2 hours in that store & if we wouldn't have still had 4 hours of driving to do, we probably would have stayed even longer :) But it was time to get back on the road, which we almost didn't do. After we left Cord Camera, I stopped to get gas & as I was waiting to pull out of the gas station, a car wanted to pull in, so they motioned for me to go first. I had to make somewhat of a sharp turn due to the snow banks & when I did, I almost got hit by a car that was in the next lane over. TOO close for comfort! I didn't see the other car because the SUV that was letting me pull out was blocking my view. Luckily, Cindy calmed me down & we got back on the road again.

And just in time to capture this beautiful sunset!

Now for my TooT! Before I left for PA, I dropped off my application at The Scrapbook Zone for their Design Team & I just found out yesterday that I made the team! YAY!!! I am SO super excited & honored to be a part of their team! My first LSS Design Team gig! Thank-you Kelley & Kevin for giving me this awesome opportunity! I can't wait to get started & work with the other DT members!

Today, I'm going to go apply for a job at a car dealership & then Cindy is going to come over this afternoon to scrap. But right now it's snowing, so I don't know if those plans will change or not.

Until next time, have a great day,

Benita

Pennsylvania Bound

But first, I just received my Kodak Book of Fast & Easy Scrapbook Pages from Cantata yesterday with my published layout in it :)
Here's the layout that I've been waiting patiently to share. It's titled "Crawling Circles Around Grandma." The colors of the layout in the book aren't as true as they are in real life, though.....it's done in a much brighter green. Don't know why it's so dark in the book.

Well, off to jump in the shower, get the car loaded up & go pick up my friend Cindy for our trip to Pennsylvania. I'm hoping to be on the road between 8-8:30 a.m.. Send thoughts for good weather while we're gone. Right now, we're planning on coming back on Monday, but that could all change depending on how much fun we're having :) Cindy & I are both looking forward to swimming in the indoor heated pool at the hotel! The only part that stinks is Jim & I won't be watching the Daytona 500 together on Sunday. This will be the first time we haven't watched it together in YEARS!

Have a great weekend,

Benita

'COLD' Day & Colts WIN!!!

Current Conditions Reported from Pontiac 02/05/2007 8:53 AM EST
Temperature: -4°F -20°C
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Winds: WSW 10 MPH WSW 16 KPH
Relative Humidity: 71%
Barometer: 30.29 Rising
Visibility: 10.00 Miles 16.09 Kilometers
Feels Like: -20°F n/a

School was cancelled today, but not because of a snow day, but a 'COLD' day! Jim was watching the news last night & told me that Cassie may not have school today. I was like, okay.....why? Well, it seems that most of the schools in the surrounding areas were closed because of the cold. And last night, at 11:29 p.m., our district announced that they would be closed as well. Needless to say, Cassie was quite happy. And I didn't mind either because I got to sleep in :)

Jim is estatic right now that the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl yesterday. YAY COLTS!!! Wooo-hooo! And what a game it was! I'll admit, I was a bit scared when the Bears scored a touchdown within the first few seconds of the game. But the Colts pulled it off & WON! Wish we could go to Indianapolis to celebrate.....that would be so cool! But we'll be going there in July to visit Jims' sister & go to the Brickyard.....can't wait!

Just a quick update today. Going to finish working on my scraproom this morning & then Cassie wants to go to the mall today since she doesn't have school. At least it's not snowing.....yet!

Have a fantastic Monday & stay warm!
Benita

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is the birthday of a very special person in my life....my Dad. Over the years, my Dad & I didn't have the best relationship, but in the past 2 1/2 years, it has really grown. And although it took an awful tragedy to bring my Dad & I back together, we are closer today than we've ever been before. I just wish I got to see him more often than I do, but with him living over 500 miles away, it's not easy. I took this picture of him back on August 29th right after we all visited the gravesite of Karen & Jimmy. As you can see, he's a big Kasey Kahne fan just like me :)

Today is also a sad day for Jim. It was 21 years ago that his Mom passed away. Sadly, I never got to meet her, but Jim tells me all the time that we would have gotten along perfectly. He claims that his Mom would have out-shopped me, too.....hmmm.....that would be tough to do!

Right now, it's freezing in Michigan.....the temp is only 3 degrees! So we'll be staying home all day, cleaning the house, doing some laundry & watching the Super Bowl tonight. I have some baby back ribs in the crock pot simmering away & although I don't eat them, they smell soooo good! Who knows, I may just have to try them :)

Back to cleaning....have a great Sunday,

Benita

P.S. GOOOOOOO COLTS!!!!! :)

February So Fast?

I can't believe that it's February already! Wow, where did January go? I actually like February for a lot of reasons:

One, it's a short month & once it's over, I know that Spring isn't far away.

Two, Jim & I met in February.....February 18th, to be exact. This year, we'll be celebrating 18 years of knowing each other.....hard to believe it's been that long already!

Three, my Dads birthday is on the 4th of February. But sadly, the 4th is also the day that Jims Mom passed away :(

Four, Valentine's Day is in February. I'm not a major fan of Valentine's Day, though. I just love all the red & pink everywhere.

Here's a picture of a Ty Beanie Baby Frog that I bought the other day. Isn't he cute? It's not for me, though. I'll be giving it to my Dad because it shares his birthday. Hopefully he'll get a kick out of it :) I also got him a pair of Kasey Kahne floor mats for his car (just like the ones I have in my Charger). I was going to mail his package to him, but it looks like I'll be going home next week (pending the weather) to see my Mom as she hasn't been getting any better. I just talked to my sister Donna in an IM this morning & she talked to Moms doctor yesterday. He said that she has an infection in her bones & the reason why he took her off the blood thinner was because she was bleeding internally. Not good! So now she risks getting blood clots, which also isn't good! The only good thing is that her house finally sold, so now she has the money to pay the nursing home, but it's going to be so hard going home & not really going 'home', if that makes sense.

That's all for now. Hoping to head out to The Scrapbook Zone today for their Freaky Friday sale, although I really don't need anything right now. I just need to get out of the house for a while.

Have a great weekend & GOOOOOO COLTS!!!!!
Benita