had to share...

I know I said that I was taking a break- but I had to share this... too good not to!!





Absolutely Beautiful!!

Just letting you know...

Well, I am starting to get a little burned out at blogging... my posts keep getting further and further apart...So you probably won't hear a lot out of me, but I will try to post about "big" stuff from time to time.
Right now- no big stuff.
We had a big winter storm that has kept me home all week- my work actually was closed for 2 days which is very rare.
I had a Dr. App't today that has to be rescheduled b/c of the weather, so I am home yet AGAIN... and trying to figure out what to do with myself.
I've already completely reorganized my entire office, every square inch of it! I have thrown away tons of stuff that I have had just piled up in here. So that was a huge accomplishment.
I finished a painting I had started. Not sure I'm loving it- but it's done.
Doing something like cleaning the house just sounds like a drag... but I may attack the bedroom today.
Poor George spent the last two days shoveling snow and scraping ice. He is super sore today! I sat inside like a little princess and watched. ;-) I did fix him a nice hot meal in return.
Our trip is in 11 days. woohoo! need to start figuring out what to pack...!
I am still awaiting my turn at the next Twilight book... I'm anxious to get it!!
Oh- and I got my Fig WEN... I think I like it, but I can't say I'm loving it. I probably won't reorder.
I went to see my hairstylist, Michael, whom I never should have left in the first place... he gave me a very nice cut- it was so good to see him- and he is going to try out a product line on me at our next app't. By then I should have used up all my WEN and am interested to see how I like what he has in mind.

Last but not least- I am very sad to report that I had to throw away this beautiful piece of art our middle daughter gave to me one year when she was about eleven. It fell off the wall one day and the pieces broke and I tried to fix it and it just got worse... so I took a picture to memoralize it.

Bitten by Twilight

Well, I was in my bed by 9:30 last night- but I didn't stop reading until after midnight!!! Twilight is definitely picking up in speed!! If you haven't read it yet- and want a fun, spooky, romantic read- then this is a good pick. I am interested to see the movie to see how close the movie is to the book... and I want to read the sequels!
I didn't think I'd get this SUCKED in (haha!) but here I am!

Among other news...

• We are leaving for a short Mexico cruise on the 8th of February!! We can hardly wait. I am going to get SPRAY-TANNED!! my first time... I will let you know... I don't want to be glowing in Mexico.
• George has been working all day in the basement trying to get our "exercise and health spa" set up. Now, granted, it is an old-house basement with concrete floors and stone walls and raw ceilings... but he's cleaning it like mad so I don't feel "creepy". We bought a couple rugs and we plan to eventually get some things like shoji screens and fake palm trees to set around. We have an infra-red sauna (George sat in one every day at the treatment center so we decided to invest in one), an elliptical, and an exercise weight machine. We chose to cancel our health club membership and invest in two key pieces instead so we could work out at home at our own convenience. With the terrible economy, there are some really great deals to be had, too!! We got super lucky.
• I am still waiting for my new Fig Wen cleansing conditioner, and I am getting my hair cut- after almost a year!- on Saturday by Michael, not Chuck. I decided to go back to Michael. I will let you know. I mainly just want a trim and a shape-up.
• I think that is all. My life isn't all that exciting. :-)

FINALLY!!!!

I am finally reading Twilight!! I have been wanting to read this book forever (well, since it first came out...) and I am too cheap to buy new books- plus, I really don't want to own every book I ever read- so I have been on the waiting list at the library (we have an AWESOME library system here). Unfortunately, when it was ready for me the first time, I didn't get to the library in time, so I lost it, and had to re-request it and get put BACK on the waiting list... so it feels like I have been waiting forever.
But now I am reading!
It is pretty interesting so far...

On the beauty front- I have made a decision about Wen. I have decided that I want to try the Fig. Apparently, it is supposed to be more effective for hair like mine (you know, wild and crazy). So I cancelled my auto-ship with Guthy-Renker and ordered the Fig from QVC (a little cheaper than ordering it directly from Chaz Dean.). I should get it the end of next week.
My hair is feeling much, much softer, but I was still having trouble with styling it- so I am using Clairol's Nice n' Easy conditioner (comes in a little blue tube- supposed to only be used once a week as a haircolor follow-up but I find it makes a wonderful leave-in style aid) and then Aveda's Confixor. I did this "cocktail" yesterday for work, and my hair had definition and did not frizz up all over my head. So, I think I may be on to something...

Hope everyone has a super great weekend!

HOORAY!!!

Kori's WONDERFUL update!!!
Thank you for praying for her!!!!

WEN thus far

Hmmmmm.
Well, the jury is still out on WEN.

On the one hand, I like it because my hair does feel a lot softer, and it feels very clean. You have to do a lot of scalp massaging and rinsing with this "cleansing conditioner" so you do feel very scrubbed and clean in spite of the absence of detergents (which are very harsh). It protects your natural oils and does make hair softer.

What I'm not liking is that the top layer of my hair almost seems TOO soft- it is sort of floating above the rest of my hair and the curl definition is... well, there is no curl definition. So it looks very frizzy and fuzzy and fluffy.

What I am trying to figure out is- do I leave the Wen in my hair and not rinse it out and it behaves as a leave-in conditioner? Do I rinse it part of the way out? Do I rinse it completely out?
The ads say that Wen is the only shampoo, conditioner, and styling agent you will ever need.
I don't think that's going to be the case for me. It may combine my shampoo and conditioner but I think I need a styling agent to create curl definition and control.
I'm not crazy about the style cream that comes with the kit.

So, there's my review so far!
I do think I'm going to keep up with the product because I do like it and I am finding my hair is getting softer. I just need to work out the styling aspect.

I've swooned for a swan...

Meet Francine. The sassiest swan around. I have been admiring this hand-carved, hand-painted, SIGNED beauty for some time now, and decided I was just going to have to spring for her.

She now graces my mantel top. With elegance and simplicity I might add.

She also gives George the hard stare while he sits in his recliner and keeps him in line.

Thanks, Francine.

I also got this! It's an art deco poster.

(that's George after having precisely hung it 2" too high).

I lowered it today.
shhhhhh!!!

PRAY FOR KORI!!!

PLEASE GO HERE, READ HER POST, AND THEN PRAY HARD!!!

A Patchwork Quilt

Our roof is finished!! it looks amazing!! our old house is lifting it's head up high in pride.
Now we just need to get the trim painted so we don't look like such a mod-podge. You'd think we couldn't make up our minds what color scheme to go with, so we just went with all of it!!

Not to worry- we will be painting in the spring. :-) I plan to do the foundation in a very dark green- almost a blackish gray green. The remaining wood trim (what's now burgundy) will be a much lighter shade of the same green- almost a sage. and I think I am going to do the porch floor in a brick red.
One day we plan to install green shutters, too, which I think will make a world of difference.
One thing at a time... patience, patience. sigh!

Don't you think the roof looks like a Lincoln Logs Roof?? I love it!

See where our fabulous 3rd floor deck is going to be off the back of the house?? I can't WAIT!!!

2009!

Happy New Year, everyone! Isn't it amazing- 2009 already. Wow. Life is starting to go by waaayy too fast. I need to start learning to enjoy it moment-by-moment.
Let's see- let's highlight the year...

• in February we learned that George's cancer had invaded the bone, and life suddenly felt very scary and desperate.
• in March I got the bright idea to launch a crazy little cookbook fundraiser to get George to a treatment center in California.
• in June my little niece, Genesis, was born on the side of the highway!!!!
• by October we had raised over $17,ooo. I am still amazed.
• in October we made the trip to the treatment center for 3 weeks!
• for Christmas we were able to take a trip to the Bahamas for a week.

All in all- not a bad year!!! I'm sure lots more happened, but those were the main highlights I can think of off-hand.

If you'd like to see complete pics of our Christmas trip, go here. Enjoy!!

On the beauty front- I decided to fall for an infomercial and ordered the Wen Haircare System. It's all natural and supposed to do wonders for your hair (no harsh ingredients- no detergents). The reason why I opted to try it is because Melissa Gilbert is their main spokesperson- and I have to say, I just trust her. I mean, she was LAURA. (Also, I ordered Sheer Cover after seeing her talk about it on an infomercial, and I L-O-V-E it. Much better than Bare Minerals or some others out there (in my own opinion).) So, I trust Melissa (Laura!) and I feel like she wouldn't promote it if she didn't believe in it (no matter how much they pay her... yeah, I'm idealistic like that...). I haven't tried it yet, though, because, well, I've had a little accident. I was making dinner the other night, cutting up an onion, when the extremely sharp french chef I was using slipped- and sliced off a huge chunk of my fingernail all the way into my nail bed. Yeah. pretty horrible. So I can't get that finger wet now without it hurting like the dickens. So I will let you know soon how I like it- I think I may have figured out how to tape a finger of a latex glove onto my finger to protect it... I'd show you my boo-boo, but it's a little obscene. It's my middle finger... needless to say, I am having lots of fun holding it up for George to kiss. ahaha! he thinks I am having way TOO much fun with this. Not ME!!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful first day of the New Year- and may 2009 be a great year for us all!!!