| goodbyes |

Always so hard to say goodbye..

Sure it's a common thing and people do it everyday, but does that make it any less heartbreaking?  I say not.  He leaves every 6 weeks... gone for 4 weeks and home for 2.  It's hard for me... hard to not see his face every day... hard to not hug him randomly... hard to not snuggle with him when it's nigh night time.  Wahhhhh!  I'm such a baby.

I'll definitely be scrapping this photo!

He left only 4 short hours ago, but I already miss the heck outta him!  Love you Brandon!  {like he's gonna see this, lol.}

| updated pics of my new scrapbook room/office |

Just wanted to share some pics of my new scrapbook room/office...

The bookcases are from Wal-Mart.  The tall ones were $27 each and the small ones $16 each.  THANKS Les for the idea! 

Mirror from Hobby Lobby.  Used a 40% off coupon.  :)  The wire stand that the sprays are in was also from HL on clearance.

Round table from Pier 1.  It used to be our dining table when we were in the apartment.  I LOVE IT so I was bound and determined to still use it somehow.  :)  The table lamp is from Target.

Cute little bins from the $1 bin at Target.

A not so good pic.  :)

Wall racks from Home Goods!  LOVE THEM!  They hold my alphabet stickers, rub-ons and regular stickers.

We're heading to Palm Springs this weekend so of course we'll be going to Ikea where I'm sure I'll find some new bins, possibly a cute little chair for the corner where the tall floor lamp is and some shelves for the wall.  LOVE me some Ikea!

| oahu page |

Here's another page I created the other day.  Planning on finishing up unboxing all those scrap goodies Les sent me!  :)

| nyc & dc - scrapbook page |

I played with some goodies Leslie mailed me!  Remember that HUUUUUGE box I posted about?

She's such an amazing person!  Thank you again Les!  <3

Well, I created a few pages with it so far and this is one of my favorites.

It's totally me, totally my style.  I don't even know how I would describe it.  :)

I used embroidery floss to show what dates we were in what locations in the images.

| gifting |

I had a honey-do list started for Brandon for when he got home.  He "said" he wanted some things to do.  But after I added painting my new craft/office he said he'd do it and then snoffed at it the next day.  So as a present to him for the Holidays....  I'm doing it for him! LOL

I'm such a nice wife.  :)  Love you Mr. Hammer!!!  Now you can come home, have a beer and watch endless hours of recorded UFC.  ;)

| determination |

Yes.... DETERMINED!  With more things than ONE!  That's going to be my new word for 2012 I think.  It's a good one... I'm determined in regards to many things.  My first, will unfold in a positive way at the end of January.  I CAN NOT WAIT!

What's your 2012 word?

| friends, know when to hold em'... |

know when to fold em'! There's one friend of mine that has really brightened up my life. Who I met through that crazy craft filled with creative people, jealous people, happy people and well... if you scrapbook you know what I mean. :)  Anyway, we started chatting and became super GREAT friends and I love her to death...

Leslie Ashe!

{created waaaaaay back in 2006}

We've been through thick and thin together and still can count on each other. :) And we have had some serious laughter bouts!  {right Les?}  We send packages, texts, messages... She just sent me a HUUUUUGGGGGEEEEE heavy 17 pound box of goodness that I'll share a pic of.
 It should be here tomorrow.
As I venture back into this crazy craft of scrapbooking I know I can count on her! Love ya Les!

She is AMAZINGLY talented!  She makes me wanna scrapbook again.  :)

| the tree is up...|

Our Holiday card this year!  I only ordered 25, so if you don't get one in the mail... consider this your card. LOL

I think that could mean there's some scrappin' photos that will be available.  :)  Brandon isn't home until the 15th and I couldn't wait that long to put the tree up!  It's an oldy, bought it in 2005, so we'll probably be ready for a new one next year.  But I love it... all white and pretty.  I couldn't decide on fewer pics to post because I like them all.  BUT I realized I don't have our first ornament together on the tree yet.  I'll have to put that on there.  We also have two other trees (just didn't put them up yet), one is Shon's with all the ornaments he made in school and an ornament we bought each year.  Then Bonloe and Boaz have their own tree also.  :)

Our ornament from last year when we moved into our new house.

This years ornament, says 2011 in the middle.

| her time saving tips crack me up |

This is all that's needed for this post:

Peas and Thank You - Super Time Saving Tips and a Delish looking recipe!

{image borrowed from Peas & Thank You blog}

| happy healthy tasty lunch |

I love a simple healthy lunch like this!

For fast healthy and easy protein I go to canned, or bagged tuna in water.  This was Bumble Bee's Prime Fillet Albacore with Cracked Black Pepper & Lemon.  Hello.... YUM!!!  Plus it packs a lot of nutrition... no carbs and 28 grams of protein with little fat.

Lemon and Cracked Pepper - Product Size: 4 oz (113g)

Serv Size 4 oz/113g Servings: 1 Calories 170    Fat Cal. 45 * Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Amount/Serving %DV* Amount/Serving %DV* Total Fat 5g 8% Total Carb. g    Sat. Fat 1g 5%    Fiber g    Trans Fat 0g    Sugars g    Polyunsat. Fat 2.5g    Protein 28g 50%    Mono. Fat 1g Cholest. 40mg 13% Potassium 390mg 11% Sodium 370mg 15% Vitamin A 2% • Vitamin C 0% • Calcium 0% • Iron 2%

INGREDIENTS: WHITE TUNA, MARINADE (WATER, SOYBEAN OIL, SALT, LEMON FLAVOR, SUGAR, CITRIC ACID),BLACK PEPPER. Along side that... cute baby patty pan squash (and when I say baby, they were about the size of a quarter.) and baby zucchini.  Then or course Falls favorite apple, the Honey Crisp.  Just took minutes to prepare and nearly no mess!  YES! ♥♥♥ Have I mentioned how much I love this guy?  My Mister! We took this at the airport when he was leaving for work.  :'( He makes my ♥ happy!  Can't wait until he gets home.... TWO MORE WEEKS!  ♥♥♥

|lasagna rolls with tofu ricotta|

These are amazingly delicious and you'd NEVER know it was tofu instead of ricotta cheese!

Massive amounts of protein!!!

|project life|

Y'all know I've been wanting to get back into scrapping.  Mostly to document life.  BUT I've not been making time for it and I find that those big ole 12x12 pages to be a bit daunting now.  Yeah, I know... I "used" to be a big ole scrapping "suppa stah", bwahahahaha... Kidding!  But seriously, I do want to document things.  So I ordered the Project Life kit in hopes of gettin' busy with it.

I see Ali Edwards Project Life creation and seriously love it!  So I will make it a goal to work on it a little each week and see how that goes.  :)

Here's some images of Ali's Project Life album.  I hope it's ok that I snagged them.  Eak!!!  They're on Pinterest so I think it's ok.  All credit is to Ali Edwards!  :)

Ps...  I'm totally envious of her gorgeous handwriting!