Scrapbooking

I am the sort of person who loves to shop for scrap booking items. I collect scissors, paper, adhesives, stickers, standouts, ribbon, and everything else that is fun to have when scrap booking. I even found an outlet only 5-7 miles from my home that offers some of these items for a fraction of the retail price.

The problem is that I have acquired so much scrap booking stuff, I haven't actually done anything with my photos in over a year. I have more paper than I can actually safely lift, and more stickers, ribbon and embellishments than I can attractively organize. My excuse in the past has always been, "I don't have the space to work". I would have to use the kitchen table, and would always have to work in the late night hours after Anna went to bed. The conditions didn't suit me, but that never stopped my scrapbooking shopping sprees.

Now that we live in a house with a room designated to computers and crafts, I have had the opportunity over the last few days to spread out my goods and try to organize my collection. I even went on another shopping binge to add more ribbon, stickers, paper, and so forth to the already full inventory.

I now have the supplies, working space, and motivation to get some work done before baby #2 joins the family. I may not be online much over the next few days, as scrap booking will be my project. If I'm lucky, a few of the pages I create might actually look attractive.

Let's not hold our breath on that.

Five Tag From Missy

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1- Went to New Orleans with 3 friends.
2- Planning first backpacking trip to Europe with my cousin Gretchan.
3- Going to college and flirting with guys.
4- Working at Matrix Marketing as an auditor.
5- I was preparing to go on a mission, but decided to travel the world instead.
5 things on my "To Do" list today
1- Go to grocery store.
2- Clean one or two rooms in house.
3- Get Anna to take a nap (It looks like she just fell asleep on my bed!).
4- Email a friend.
5- Try to win ebay auction on shoes for Anna.
5 things I would do if I had a million dollars
First off, a million dollars isn't that much money anymore. But if I did have it, after tithing and taxes I would:
1- Invest!
2- Invest!
3- Invest!
4- Change the floors in the new house.
5- Secretly help friends and family.
5 things I will never wear again
1- My once black socks that now have several holes.
2- My black comfy shoes that I got from Walmart 5 years ago. They have officially been retired.
3- Layered socks.
4- Leg warmers.
5- Short shorts.
5 favorite toys
1- Computer
2- Sims 2 computer game
3- Pocket PC
4- ipod (Levi gave me one)
5- TV DVR
5 people I am tagging
Some of you may not have blogs, so if you choose to accept the tagging, just email it!
1- Levi
2- Carly
3- Carla
4- Dad
5- Jaynie

Artemis Fowl

I just finished the book Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. It's a book about a kid genius and his exploits. Although I have read this book before, it was fun to start again from the beginning. I have read 3 of the novels, but I just discovered that there are now 5 books. If you are looking for a great adventure novel, and enjoyed the Harry Potter books, I highly recommend reading Artemis Fowl.

Star Wars III

For all that want to see some pictures from the new movie (as well as a few flash clips), check this out.

Who are the PIGs?

Here is an interesting article about PIGs in the school system.

I just finished reading "Deception Point" by Dan Brown. He also wrote "DaVinci Code", "Angels & Demons", and "Digital Fortress". The book is full of adventures, near escapes, problem solving, unknown bad guy and the usual thrills Dan Brown always excites us with. I also finished "Digital Fortress" about a month ago, and highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys such adventures.

I have recently become a self proclaimed "expert" on how to cure Jelly Fish stings. Anyone burdened with such a sting that would like some questionable advice, please let me know.

Fun News

I came across a fun web site today Science Daily. After reading several of the articles, I came across this hilarious article about a person who found boxes with dead people on her property.

If that happened to me, I would move!

More Planets?

For the past several days, news of 4 new planets being discovered is being broadcasted. I anxiously watch and wait for some decent information to be announced, but news stations only provide you with a tickler of information that provides very basic infomation. "4 new planets have been discovered, isn't this great. Now onto other news..." What the... where's the rest of the infomation? Well, naturally I turn to our good and trusty NASA web site to get the information that the news won't to give. Maybe they made an agreement with aliens to keep the thing low key. Hmmm... Oh well.

Anyway, it turns out that one of the planets found is about the size of our Neptune. That sucker is HUGE! 10-20 times the size of earth. It's true that they don't know if it's made of rock or gas, but the idea of such a big planet circuling a star called "Gliese 436" is just exciting. (Levi, can we get a high power telescope?) Here are some sketches of what this new planet might look like.

NASA does a good job at tickling our imaginations on this site, as they even discuss the possibility of finding planets like ours that can sustain life. Oooo. possible aliens.

ULCER

This last weekend I participated in my first organized road bike trip called the ULCER It's a century bicycle ride around Utah Lake, although you can ride 24, 56, 74, or 105 miles. We took the 50 mile trail. We started bright and early at 7:30am and finished in the heat of the day at 12:30pm. Now don't be thinking, "Dang, you rode slow. It took you 5 hours to go 50 miles!". That statement is completely untrue and I'll explain why. We took a total of 2 long breaks where we were able to chat with other riders (over 1,000 people participated), and gorge ourselves on delicious foods such as cantaloupe, bananas, candy, watered down poweraid, bagels and cream cheese, oranges, Cliff bars and more candy. So clearly we weren't going only 10mph, we were in fact going almost 14mph. Now, before you say, "That's almost as bad as going 10mph! I bet people were speeding past you at 20mph leaving you in the dust". Unfortunately that thought would be accurate, but Levi is a good man and he stuck with his slow wife the entire way. This has been an incredible accomplishment for this out of shape girl. I started riding my first road bicycle only 5 weeks ago.

Imagine this, the year is 2003 and it's late in December. Levi has been day dreaming of warmer weather and imagining the ultimate bicycle ride with his sweetheart. He's shy at mentioning this, afraid that his sweetheart will laugh and refuse to consider bicycling 100 miles around Utah Lake. He was right in thinking this. So in the most charming voice he can muster, he says, "Mel, do you know what would be so fun?", I reply with, "Yeah, living on the beach somewhere warm and eating hotdogs and snorkeling shipwrecks". This comment catches him off guard and he hesitates for a moment. "Well, yes, but what about a bicycle ride together around Utah Lake, it's only 100 miles. We would have fun together". I look at him with terror written across my face and think to myself, is he kidding? I wonder what he thought of my hotdog idea?
This was my first introduction to the notion of riding such unseemly distances on a bicycle with a hard seat.

It's interesting how someone can talk about something so much that it actually begins to sound fun to you. This is what happened to me. My feelings of terror changed to excitement as we daydreamed of this adventure together. Several weeks after we were married I constantly reminded Levi that we were running low on time to get ready for the ULCER ride. At this he was thrilled and we picked out a beautiful blue road bike for me (they didn't have a pink one). It's a very light frame and I can lift it with one hand. Perfect for a beginner like me. We rode 10 miles that first time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I quickly realized that my new expensive road bike is very different from riding a low quality, hybrid, $40. Walmart bicycle (which I had been riding for the last 10 years). The first shock was that my new tires are very slim, and rather intimidating at first. I was constantly afraid the tires would disappear completely as they're so thin. The new handle bars can be held in 20 different places (unlike the previous bikes where hands settle nicely next to the red tassels). If you get tired of one position, just move your hands anywhere. The handle is so accommodating. Of course, the seat isn't cushy or shaped like a banana. Despite all these new changes, I instantly fell in love with my new bike. Suddenly I could climb hills without stopping, zip down roads and hills at 20+mph, take long trips without being too sore to walk the next day. Ride 3 miles to work in only a few minutes (compared to 25 minutes on my old bike because of all the stops I made to catch my breath). The bicycling experience had changed completely.
Now as I look back at the 50 mile accomplishment, I grow excited to see if this lazy boned girl can actually build her muscle strength up to successfully ride 100 miles at the good ol' average speed of 20mph.
Wish me luck!

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Disney has decided to put this book to screen. It's scheduled to be released Christmas 2005. As of mid April, casting for the new movie "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe began. In one article, they asked for men and women under 5' and men men and women over 6'4". So far they have Tilda Swinton as the White Witch and James McAvoy as Tumnus the faun.

Filming is to begin late June. It will be interesting to see who gets to play the part of the 4 kids.

Stressed

Are you a bubblewrap popper? When you come across some bubblewrap, do you fight the urge to pop all the bubbles between your fingers? Have you ever been so bold as to pop them under your feet? Or twist the wrap so tight that all the bubbles pop at once?

Yeah, I do all those things too. Which is why this is so exciting.

Getting Organized

Last Friday I acquired the coolest toy, It's a Dell Axium X3i. It has integrated wireless, plays MP3s, moves faster than any desk top I've played on, and has me once again addicted to solitaire.

If your thinking of becoming reclusive with a pocket pc, this toy will do it for you.

Silly Laws

I received an email regarding funny laws. Their probably made up, but it's worth a good laugh anyway.

1.LAW: It is illegal to transport a skunk across state lines.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: Tennessee

2.
LAW: It is illegal to taunt someone for refusing to participate in a duel.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: West Virginia

3.
LAW: There is a one-dollar fine for every instance of public drunkenness and/or swearing.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: West Virginia

4.
LAW: It is illegal to require someone to purchase a horror comic book.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: California


5.
LAW: It is required by law that you make a loud noise when passing a car on the left.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: Rhode Island

6.
LAW: It is illegal for a bingo game to last longer than five hours, unless the bingo is being played at a fair.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: North Carolina

7.
LAW: A man may not seduce a woman by lying, and claiming he will marry her.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: Mississippi

8.
LAW: One must not collect seaweed.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: New Hampshire

9.
LAW: It is illegal to wear a bulletproof vest while committing a murder.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: New Jersey

10.
LAW: Unless a customer orders it specifically, it's against the law to serve margarine instead of butter at a restaurant.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: Wisconsin

Meet the Fockers

A Sequel to "Meet the Parents" will be made. The title? "Meet the Fockers". Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman might play the parts of Mr and Mrs Focker.

This could be interesting.

Hot stars

According to MNS Entertainment stars like Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and Hugh Jackman are going to score big time this year.

I like how they describe Hugh Jackman as having, "the easygoing charm of Cary Grant, the song-and-dance moves of Fred Astaire, and the graciousness of Jimmy Stewart". I hope this isn't an exaggerated compliment. And although two of the LOTR stars are making it big, the article says Elijah Wood isn't going to join in this A-list popular party. What a shame.

Those who are to have a decline in popularity are Britney Spears (duh, like we couldn't see this coming) and Tom Cruise (right, like I'm going to believe he could possibly loose some of the starlight).

I personally hope to see a few new faces pop up this year and make it big. Even though I just adore seeing Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson in movies, a fresh face is a breath of fresh air.

UFO Attack. A nice distraction

For those who can barely keep their eyes open at work, try this distraction

Ban dirty words from TV

There are 7 dirty words Rep. Doug Ose of Sacramento would like to get banned from TV. He's upset that such language is freely broadcasted on the airwaves. The FCC hasn't taken much action, so Ose plans to stir things up a bit.

I'm with him on this. When I was a kid, these words were never heard on TV. They were only whispered among small friends on the playground. Naturally, no one even knew what these words meant, just that they were bad words.
These days, kids may not even recognize the vulgarity of such language.

I applaud Ose for taking a stand. I'm ashamed that we allowed this TV language issue to accelerate to such a degree. Why didn't more Americans take a stand earlier?

LOTR Blunders

Here are some funny blunders in the LOTR movies. Peter Jackson even discusses some of them.

Dialect

Have yo' evah wanted t'talk wif a diffrunt dialeck? Say perhaps, Elmer Fud, Redneck, Swedish Chef, Mo'on? Check out this hyar site.

Jackson. Guilty or Innocent?

It appears that Michael Jackson has found himself in yet another pickle.

I'm the sort of person who likes to believe a person is innocent, but I also despise the idea of a person getting away with bad stuff just because their a celebrity.

What do you think, guilty or innocent?

Entertainment at Work

Do you ever have those days at work where you feel as though you're going to fall asleep, or perhaps you feel as though there is a tickle at the back of your neck that is telling you run up and down the hall with your arms waving madly screaming "Their coming to take me away"?

Well, don't answer that. Here are a few mind distracting bits of goodness. Consider it a bit of dancing magic for your eyes. Sit back, turn up the music and enjoy.
Dance Ditty #1
Dance Ditty #2
Dance Ditty #3