Happy Friday

I thought I'd share some photos that I have taken while here in Michigan. I am so in heaven here with all of these pumpkins. They are huge. We don't get them this big in Maryland, well not that I have found anyways. So you can bet that I am hauling some back with me when I leave. Our little one is going to love them.

Look at the photo of Bayleigh. I love that one. With her toothers sticking out and that little grin on her face is just priceless. I can't wait to scrap this one. I picked up the perfect papers yesterday to go with this photo.

The other photos were taken at Hidden Lake Gardens. The trees were so pretty that day. Here's one of the photos of the flowers I took, called, dancing ladies I do believe. The other one is just one of me goofing around with one of the dummies that was throughout the gardens. She was a cutie so I had to get one with her.

WEll, I hope everyone has a great Friday. I'm off to take some more photos of the town that I grew up in.

Hugs from a very cold City in MI

Happy Hump Day/Night How's everyone been doing these past few days? I have been missing in action for awhile now. I was so busy at home before I left for my trip to Michigan that I didn't have any time to update here. Sorry about that..and thanks to Bonnie for sending me an e-mail reminding me. So I thought with my down time here, that I would try to update a tad bit. I had a great successful no ticket trip. With the exception of almost getting one. I was so shocked. He was sitting right behind an overpass with that gun staring down at me. Then I seen him pull out and thought he was coming for me. OHHH NOO I thought. NOT again...lol...the last time I got a ticket in PA it cost me almost 200 bucks...that was a doozy...they got me good to...but I was so careful not to speed, but then I wanted to pass a semi, and boom, there he was...but lucky me, he got someone else that I had been traveling with all day..woohoo!!! Wish me luck that I don't get one on my way back home... So one of the first days here I went off to this place called Hidden Lake Gardens...it's one of my favorite places here to visit. I have been going there ever since I was a little girl. Michigan State College owns it, and they use it for a classroom for the students. But the grounds are just breath taking. I'll post a few photos so you can see the colors of the trees...and I have so many photos of the flowers that were in bloom to... I have been having a blast visiting with our DD and Grandbaby...Bayleigh has grown so much since our last visit...she is such a little person now...and she chats in her language, and is just the cutest thing...I took her to the patch to get some pumpkins and she had a ball...running from one pumpkin to the next...loved it...I am so going to dread to go back home and leave her here... Well, that's just a little of what I have been up to these past few days. I hope Allis well with everyone... Hugs from cold Michigan (but I like it)

It's Tuesday Night Have you ever wondered what your friends are doing that live half way around the world? I often find myself wondering this. I know most of my days are kind of a blur right now, with not working and all, so I have alot of "thinking time" on my hands. I have to say though, that this is a very welcomed time off. I have been so relaxed with life for the last few months. I have even found myself as being a stereotyped, car pool mom. And you know what, I really do love it. I love taking our little one off to school, or taking her to gymnastics and even having the girl scout troop meetings in our home. It's great. This is something that I was unable to do while I was working. But on my free time, while I'm sitting here in my studio, I often think about my friends that get up to a hustle and bustle day. What are they doing right now.. Are they thinking about what they are going to make for dinner? How are they feeling? Are they thinking about me? Thank goodness for the internet. I don't know what I would do if it all came crashing down on me tomorrow. This is my life span to my cyber friends. For most of them, if I didn't have the net, I wouldn't know how to reach them. All I have is their e-mail and screen names for IM. So what about you? Do you often think about your friends when you aren't chatting with them on line? Would you be able to contact them if the net crashed and couldn't get back on? You never know, someday it might. On a lighter note--- Thoughts for the day Aren't the 'good things that come to those who wait' just the leftovers from the people that got there first? Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot. --Clarence Thomas _________________________________

Lunch Box Bandwagon Ok, I did it...I jumped on the lunch box craze. I joined in a swap just to get me rolling. So here are 2 that I have made just to practice. The recipes one, I scraplifted from a very talented lady that did one in Basic Grey. I loved it so much I wanted one for myself...thank you, you knw who you are!!! I changed it a little, but for the most part, it's her design. Well, I'm off for the night. I want to work on another project that I need to get done. Hugs from Charm City

GO STEELERS Steelers defeat Chargers, 24-22, in a fantastic finish By Teresa Varley Steelers.com Monday Night Football is all about excitement and there was plenty of that as the Steelers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 24-22, on a Jeff Reed 40-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the game. The Steelers jumped out to a 14-0 lead, and then the Chargers rattled off 16 unanswered points. The teams then exchanged touchdowns in the fourth quarter, before Reed came on to win the game and improve the Steelers record to 3-1. “It was a classic football game,” said head coach Bill Cowher. “Those are two good football teams that played out there tonight. We are fortunate we had the football last.” Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went out of the game on the final drive with a left knee injury. Roethlisberger was 17 for 26 for 225 yards and one touchdown before suffering the injury, of which the extent is not known. Running back Jerome Bettis returned for his first game of the season and had 17 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown, and also converted on several key third downs late in the game. “I feel great. I feel fresh,” said Bettis. “And officially I am back.” Wide receiver Hines Ward, who played despite a hamstring injury, had six receptions for 83 yards and knew what a dog fight it was. “We did what we had to do,” said Ward. “We fought hard. Everyone went out there and made plays. We found a way to win.” One of the keys for the Steelers defense was shutting down LaDainian Tomlinson and they were able to hold him to 62 yards on 18 carries. Quarterback Drew Brees completed 20 of 35 passes for 219 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The game started out as a defensive struggle as neither team was able to do anything on their first two possessions. The Steelers were driving on their third possession with Jerome Bettis getting in the action for the first time this season. Bettis caught a 16-yard pass from Roethlisberger and then had a four-yard run. On first-and-10 from the Chargers 31-yard line Bettis had an 11-yard run, but it was called back after Jeff Hartings was flagged for holding. Shawne Merriman sacked Roethlisberger on the next play, he fumbled and Randall Godfrey recovered it, ending the drive. The defense held on the Chargers next drive and gave Roethlisberger a chance to shake off the turnover. The Steelers started on their own 16, but were backed up to the 11-yard line after an illegal formation penalty. The Steelers then benefited from the official’s flags as a 20-yard pass interference call gave them the ball at their own 36-yard line. Roethlisberger hit Ward for a 12-yard pass, and then two short runs by Bettis gave them third down on the Chargers 47-yard line. Roethlisberger hit Ward again, and he went down at the 33-yard line, but appeared untouched and took it into the end zone for an apparent touchdown. The Chargers challenged the call, and the touchdown was overturned, ruling Ward down. The Steelers were unfazed by the call and on the next play Antwaan Randle El pulled in a 21-yard reception. Roethlisberger then capped the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run, giving the Steelers a 7-0 lead. Drew Brees got the Chargers offense moving, but James Harrison put a stop to it with an interception and a 25-yard return. A personal foul penalty tacked on 15 more yards, giving the Steelers the ball at the Chargers 41-yard line. The offense went to work and had to pound it in from the goal line, with Bettis scoring his first touchdown of the season on a one-yard run to give the Steelers a 14-0 lead. But the Chargers came back quick when Darren Sproles returned the kickoff 48 yards to the Steelers 47-yard line. Four plays later Brees hit Antonio Gates for an 11-yard touchdown, closing the gap to 14-7 at the half. The Chargers kept their momentum going in the second half. After not scoring on their first drive of the second half, then Nate Keading hit field goals of 32, 34 and 41 yards on the next three possessions, giving the Chargers a 16-14 lead and rattling off 16 unanswered points. It wouldn’t take long for the Steelers to swing things back their way, though. Quincy Morgan returned the kickoff 37 yards to the Steelers 38-yard line, giving them good field possession. Roethlisberger hit Ward for a 33-yard gain, and then went right back to him for a 13-yard completion. He then hit Heath Miller with a 16-yard touchdown pass, taking back the lead at 21-16. As quick as the Steelers answered, the Chargers came fighting right back. Sproles had a 31-yard kickoff return and then Brees and Tomlinson went to work. They capped the 62-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run by Tomlinson. The Chargers went for two, but the attempt failed, giving San Diego a 22-21 lead. But the Steelers wouldn’t quit. They got the ball back at their own 38-yard line with 4:36 remaining in the game. Bettis converted two huge third-and-one conversions, but late in the drive Roethlisberger went off with a left leg injury. Charlie Batch came in and handed off to Bettis, setting Reed up for his 40-yard field goal, giving the Steelers the 24-22 win. Official Site for the Steelers--click here

This one's for YOU...you know who you are... ;O) CONGRATS to the two of you for your soon to be new baby!!!! Oh, don't forget to take off those bug eyes net time I want your photo...lol...

It's a Wonderful day in the Neighborhood It's Monday and the carpet is installed...woohoo...it looks great to. Now all we need is for them to bring Missy's new big girl bedroom set so that I can put everythng back together and decorate her bedroom. That will be a chore in itself. But one well worth it. Here's a layout of one of the photos that I had posted below of Mom and her sisters. I used some of the Making Memories new papers that I picked up ther other day. It's another busy one, but I still like it... Well I'm off for abit. I hope everyone has a great Monday... Hugs from Charm City

The Jim Long Band has Arrived in the house LOL...seriously though...this is a band that Scott just so loves to go and see while we are at the beach. Sometimes, ok, well most times, he plans his trips to the beach depending on when they are going to be playing. They have alot of talent and I hope they go far. This is their first CD that just came out and it's great. I have to say though my favorite song is "SHOVELING SNOW"...lol..we all know how much I just love "SNOW".. but over all,the CD is great. You know how it is when you get a cd and you only get a couple of songs that you like, well on this one, it's all great. Not to mention that this is their first released one at that. So I know their career is going to go far for the group...way to go guys!!! You all "ROCK" ...and Jim, by some chance you read this, take off your glasses sometimes...please...I want to see your eyes...every photo I have of you is with those darn glasses on... If you might be interested in purchasing this CD you can find it here. You need to click on BOUTIQUE, then scroll down to SPECIALTY ITEMS for it to show up. Here's a layout I made using a photo I took while we were on vacation at the beach of them... Scott got them to sign a photo for me yesterday so I could add this to our album. This is my ever so famous "hat" that I picked up at South of the Border over the summer while on vacation down at Myrtle Beach... The layout is abit more busier than I wanted it to be, but hey, I still like the outcome...;O) Well I need to run for abit. Today is Kaitlynn's empty room day for carpet to get layed tomorrow...woohoo...finally it's here... Hugs from Charm City

A Boaters World

Let's try this again...lol...this is a layout that I just made this morning. I posted the pic below and felt so compelled to make the layout... the poem reads:

down by the pond sailing my little boat

what did I do, my creation won't float

oh well, I'll lie and dream of when I grow big

someday I'll sail the sea on my own rig.

author unknown

I can't wait till Kristi sees the photos she took that day on the adventure.

Well Scott and Kaitlynn just took off. He went to the beach and she went to Grandmoms house for the night. Oh what stories they are both going to have when they get home. I can't wait. I always love listening to his stories from his adventure off to Seacrets. And this is Kaitlynn's first night at Grandmom Boots house. They are going to have a blast together.

Well I'm off. I don't know what I want to get into yet. I might head off to the LSS and see if I can find some new papers. I decided last night that I needed some new ones to play with as I couldn't find a thing to match my boat pics. Or I might just hang out here all day, order some chinese and play. After all, it is a dreary day out here in Charm City.Hope everyone has a "great" Saturday.

Hugs from Charm City

It's a starfish..or so we thought

Remember when we use to call these starfishes? That's what I have been calling them ever since I was a little girl. Well unbenounced to me, they changed their name because they really aren't a "fish". But for the life of me, I can't remember their new name. I found out this little piece of tidbit while on an adventure while at the beach last week. We really enjoyed the cruize out on the bay and over to Asseteague Island. (By the way, that's where Scott and I got married. On the beach...)

But back to the cruize. It was really enlightening. Was like a history lesson. Another piece of tidbit was that the boat that they used in the Perfect storm, the Andrea Gail, came right out of the harbor we toured through. I wish I was like a sponge, they shared so many history lessons with us that day.

The harbor photo I didn't take myself. I gave my camera to our niece and let her go at it throughout the cruize. She came up with some great shots and that was one of them. Thanks Kristi for the great photos from that day.

Well I'm off for now. I hope everyone's Friday was great. We are suppose to go back to the beach tommorrow, but I'm not to sure if I'm going on this trip.

Hugs from Charm City

3 Hip Chicks This is one of the photos that I took at Mom's house...aren't they just the cutest chickies...

TGIF.....

TGIF

It's early and it's Friday...I need to get rolling here in abit to get the little one off to school...I am sitting here drinking my coffee and trying to wakee wakee...I stayed up late last night playing and trying to figure things out...well this morning, I couldn't figure out how to log back in...lol..so I had to go to the "HELP" section to find it.. It's a rainy and dreary day here in Charm City. Although we need it, Scott doesn't like it when it rains on a Friday.. it's his busy day for work and rain is not in his forcast...heehee. :O) I was thinking about going off to Mikes this morning after we went to the school to use a coupon to get another lunch bucket. I'm in this swap and I have already made 2 of them. I still don't know if I like the out come of either so I guess I'll make another one... Here's a layout that I made the other day for a contest at the local LSS...I really love the expression of our little one. She had quite the tude when I wanted to take her picture. And look at our little niece...isn't she just the cutest? Propped up on that pumpkin like that with a big ol cheesy on her face just for her Auntie...lol...she loves to smile for my camera... Well I'm off for now...I'm sure I'll be back later to type again... Hugs from a wet Charm City..

Signs of the beach

Signs of the Beach HI again...lol...I thought I'd share some signs of the beach while we were there this past week on a vacation. We always go to this club while in town and this one particular day it was family day. They had a pig roast and live entertainment. It was really fun. Alot of the family came down and some friends from Scotts work came too. To most, it was their first time in paradise and just fell in love with it. So needless to say, they are going to make this a place to visit when in town. I'm adding one of my sunrise photos that I took from our balcony one morning. This is really one of my favorite places on the beach. I love to sit and watch the sunrise.

Happy Thursday from Charm City

I can't believe that I finally opened a blog. I told myself that I didn't have time to do this, but you know what, I'm going to make time. I think this will be great for my family and frineds back home as well as my other friends that I have made since I joined the cyber world. I have made some great friends from the cyber world that I cherish dearly. I hope to share our life mussings here and photos for all to read and see. Today was a busy day. We sent the little one off to school and we popped over to Mom's house to visit and meet one of her older sisters that she hasn't seen in years. I got some info on her side of the family that I hadn't known before. It was a great time visiting and taking some photos. It came about that she likes to scrapbook but wants to take some classes. How cool is that. She scrapbooks...woohoo...I have got to get to know this last (Edith) better...maybe we can scrap together sometime. She lives up by where I was teaching at one of the stores. I still go there to crop sometimes with a freind. So maybe we can get together. She was so fun and full of life... We stopped at Wal-Mart to get some photos that I uploaded to the one hour photo on line account. This was the first time that I have done this and was abit worried. Well the photos came out awesom!!! I was so worried that they would crop out some things, but they didn't. And the color was so vibrant...I know I'll be using them again for more photos from my digital...lol... Well it's about 10pm here on the east coast and one of my fav. shows is about to come on. So I'm going to say good-bye for now. I'm going to try and figure this blog thing out so I can add some photos to it soon... Hugs from Charm City where the blue crabs are still blue...lol