Happy World Card Making Day!

I'll be making some cards inbetween studying for my English grammar class and doing some other errands today!! Have fun creating and brightening up someone's day with a homemade card. (If you would like a card, drop me an email with your snail mail address!)

I'll try to take some pictures of what I create. I know I need to make some birthday cards so this is a great day to get them completed. For more information about World Card Making Day, hop over to http://www.moxiefabworld.com/, which is presented by Paper Crafts.

Gratitude Friday

Good morning! Freshly roasted coffee being served today in my Starbucks mugs...help yourself!

Gratitude Friday includes:

1. days off! I took yesterday off to recharge. I had a test last night in my English class and I wanted to study a little bit. Well, I studied, took a nap, had tea with a friend, got a flu shot, bought new glasses (I had to get progressive lenses!), cleaned the house and spent some time outside with the Beagle Boys. As much as I love teaching, it was nice to have to only make a decision for me or answer my own questions.

2. medical insurance! I got the flu shot yesterday and although I know they don't cost very much, my medical insurance pays for it all. Because we have our military medical benefits, I haven't had to worry about having other medical insurance while I'm not employed as a full time teacher. I know how blessed we are!

3. the crisp fall days! I love the changing of the colors of the leaves and knowing WHY they change. I'm headed up to Greenbluff this afternoon to get apples to make apple crisp and freeze some apple pie fillings.

4. drop in friends! I had two friends drop in for a visit this week. No call, just dropped in. I LOVE IT!! I miss having people at my house and they don't care that there's disarray all over the house. They came to see me!

5. warm sweaters and sweats! The temperatures have dropped and I'm not wanting to turn on the heat yet. So warm sweats to the rescue for cruising around the house in the early mornings and late evenings. I know, they're not the most beautiful and def don't win points with the fashion police, but they're warm and comfy. The warm sweaters.....cold, windy recess duty on Tuesday forced me to find a warm sweater for Wednesday, along with my coat! I'm thinking it's time to get acclimated or it's going to be a long winter.

What's on your list today? I hope you have a wonderful weekend. My friend Wendy is on her way to FL to see her husband, Lisa is on her way with her husband to Tahiti and I'm going to be wishing I could go somewhere instead of doing the gazillion items I've got to get done here. Have a great time, ladies! I'll just remember that I'm headed to Poulsbo in a few weeks to help with the Lutefisk dinner and San Francisco is going to be on the horizon soon, too!

Random Dozen

1. Tell me the absolute best way to watch a movie. The absolute best way is to be with a great group of girlfriends, laughing and munching on popcorn. Of course, it's got to be a chick flick, too!

2. Do you ever think about your own funeral? If so, do you have specific ideas about how you would like it to be? I do think about my own funeral. No sad music!

3. Are you more of a giver or a taker? I am both, but unfortunately I'm a giver that sometimes expects something to be given back in return. I'm learning about this!

4. Vacations: planned activities and schedules, or play it by ear? It depends on the vacation. Often we play it by ear, but I love activities being planned. Esp. if it's a romantic getaway. Just something about everything being taken care of for me. Although, I love getting out the travel books and looking to see where we can go and what we can do. Money plays a big factor, too.

5. What is one often overlooked item in your home that needs to be cleaned regularly? The microwave. Gross crusty stuff that seems to just appear on the top inside of the microwave or on the door.

6. Name a cause that means a lot to you. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society. I have had MS for 8 years and am very ready for a cure for this disease!

7. Do you eat a regular old peanut butter jelly sandwich, or do you customize it? And by the way, jelly or no jelly? Fresh white bread, yummy fruit jam and it's got to be cut at least in half. I had a third grade teacher who forces us to have our sandwiches cut. I don't eat a sandwich now unless it's been cut! Silly, huh?

8. If we were having a conversation in person, how would I know if you were nervous? I pick at my fingernails when I am nervous. I could also take a long time to come up with a word I want to say. Not sure sometimes if it's nervousness or just a brain malfunction. It drives me nuts!

9. Do you have an elaborate bedtime routine, or just the basics of toothbrushing and jammies? just the basics

10. Have you ever regretted something you wrote on your blog? Wow, were you reading my blog this week? I made the worst blunder ever this week on my blog and I can tell you that humble pie and crow do not taste good at all. I will stick to keeping comments about others to myself, not on my blog!

11. Has anyone ever told you that you look like a famous person or celebrity? Did you agree? I have been told I look like my principal. The kids often get us mixed up, more that I look like her, though, not the other way around. No other famous person or celebrity, though.

12. If you were going to dedicate a song to a loved one or friend, what would the song be and to whom would it be dedicated? I would dedicate the song "Legacy" by Nicole Nordman, but I'm not sure who the dedication would include. It's more of a random song to get people to think about how they live right now! "How will they remember me: did I choose to love, did I point to Jesus? What type of legacy did I leave?"


For Random Dozen, head over to 2nd cup of Coffee's website! Thanks, Linda.

Friend Makin' Monday

Happy Monday! Friend Makin' Monday....what a great way to start a Monday!

Today's topic is to list a few things you can't live without:

1. Jesus!

2. my family

3. coffee/Starbucks

4. MnM's

5. friends

6. laughter

7. warm jammies for those cold Spokane nights

8. Tahiti Sweetie lotion

9. books

10. the Internet

What would be on your list?

Gratitude Friday

Good morning! I'm sitting here with an empty cup of coffee and time to fill it up again. Join me in another cup of coffee, freshly roasted by Mr. York!

Gratitude Friday includes:

1. a wonderful weekend in Walla Walla, WA with Mr. York for our 25th wedding anniversary getaway

2. Five full days of guest teaching this week (YAHOO!)

3. finding a local bakery that makes the best chocolate filled croissants, almost like the ones we got in Bitburg, Germany

4. my friend Robin is home from Alaska for the weekend and we'll have coffee together tomorrow morning

5. being able to help out a neighbor and another friend with furniture and household items that I was blessed to have in my possession but didn't really need. Amazing the amount of stuff I have. It's just STUFF!

What's on your gratitude list today? I have missed hearing from you!

Celebrating 25 years of marriage today!

David and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary today! I woke up this morning, wondering if I could turn the clock back since time has gone by so quickly. 25 years ago neither David and I thought we'd have gone all the places we traveled to or gone through so many interesting experiences! Nothing special for a celebration today because he has class tonight but we're leaving Friday afternoon for a weekend away. Not sure where we're going, it's a surprise from David! I'll have details for you after the weekend.

Whitworth University!

New Whitworth University students and their parents began flooding the campus today, moving in and getting to know the beloved WU! It made me very nostalgic -- after finishing my degree two years ago, I love being on campus and I'd love to become a dorm mom!!

David started at Whitworth a few weeks ago, taking teacher certification classes. I'm starting on Thursday with "The Structure and Development of the English Language." I realized I only have ONE class to take to finish my Reading endorsement and eight classes to finish my English endorsement. Time to get cracking and make myself more marketable in the teaching field. The English endorsement would be for 5-12 grade so I actually could teach middle school and high school.

I still don't have a full time teaching job, but I do have a half day assignment on Tuesday at my favorite school in the entire Spokane area -- Ridgeview!

My parents are arriving on Monday afternoon and we're taking them to Anthony's for dinner. They're on their way to Wisconsin and parts of the US farther East. They'll be leaving the same time I leave for school on Tuesday. The poor beagle boys will have gone from having company for the past two weeks to being back in their crates for a half day!

Hope you have a great rest of your Labor Day weekend~ enjoy lots of coffee!!