Miscellaneous Monday--So Busy Edition

In general blogging isn't hard for me, but lately I've been feeling like time is slipping past me too quickly and like I haven't gotten around to blogging about certain little things that I'll end up missing if I don't figure out a way to catch up. My memory is so bad that I am highly motivated to blog regularly so that I don't forget everything! Aargh, Ginkgo Biloba where are you?

Rewinding to Saturday July 23rd, Michelle and I were able to meet up with our sweet blogging friend Amanda L. (from Connecticut) at Goodwood for a long lunch. Michelle, Kristi and I were in the dorms at BYU with her husband Terry (isn't that funny) but Amanda is several years younger than us. I actually found her blog by clicking a link on Chanel's blog and immediately recognized Terry. It's a small world really.

Landon left for a 6-day Scout Camp/50-Miler (which ended up being more of a 70 miler) with the Young Men and leaders from our ward, this was his to-do list for the morning.

The boys had to carry a third of their body weight in their packs, and his was so heavy I thought he would tip over, but he did it!

Of course there were dinosaurs eating spaghetti at our house during the week. These squishy dinosaurs have been well worth their $3 cost.

Randy's parents wanted to buy us something for our house to thank us for letting them stay here (thus saving them a lot of money) while they were in town. I had been wanting a nice picture of the Savior, but knew that wasn't going to be in our budget any time soon. We found this one at Seagull Book on sale for $100! We love it, it is so peaceful! We put it over the mantle where our big clock has hung for 7 years, and it looks like it has always been there. We moved the clock to the opposite side of the room over to the backside of the kitchen cupboards...it will take some getting used to, but it's a good alternative.

My old friend Alissa (from my ward in Michigan while I was in high school) came to town last week and we got to meet up for a 3.5 hour lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. We only see each other every 5 years or so and through Christmas cards so it was good to catch up in real life.

After I dropped off Alissa, I went to the D.I. on 45th South in Salt Lake (I'd never been there before) to search for books. Obviously I hit the jackpot! I was originally searching only for church books (and scored 6 of them) but then looked for other books and found so many that I just kept loading my arms until I literally couldn't carry anymore (I never let myself get a cart there or I'd be in big trouble). The books at this D.I. were about a dollar cheaper than the D.I. near me, so I got all of these for $21! Also, I totally scored because one of the books I bought had a partially filled sheet of .80 cent postage stamps inside it! It was meant to be!

This photo is scary (I was so very sweaty) but I went to Camp Jeremiah Johnson with the Activity Day girls last week (remember I went last year too?). It was mighty hot there, but the girls had a great time shooting a bow and arrow, paddling a boat, tying knots (Whitney was less than thrilled about that), making a bracelet, visiting the trading post, and shooting BB guns.

 

My wonderful headlight, given to me by Betsy over 8 years ago, finally died last week. Technically the headlight still worked, but the battery cartridge was broken and could no longer be held in place. I suppose I could have duct taped it, but I thought that would just be inviting a bunch of new issues with the light. I replaced this light with a much simpler (and cheaper) version (no more night vision for me) and am still able to read in bed without disturbing Randy too much. I really don't know how I functioned before headlight technology!

**What's your miscellany?

Can you believe I found stamps in that book?

Have you embraced headlight technology yet?**

Comment Window Tidbit: The school doesn't have funding for the teacher assistant job I did last year, so they offered me a job in the front office. But I found out yesterday that I have to go in to work tomorrow to be trained on a copier and then will probably have to go in several more mornings this week, then possibly start next week! I am super sad that I won't be working in the classrooms with the teachers and the kids anymore and I am really bummed out that my last 3 weeks of summer just got cut down to almost nothing! But I'm grateful to still have a job there.

Good Mail For Me and For You--Plus Edit

This note from Natasha should have been in my last good mail report, but I had mistakenly put the photo in a different folder so I missed it.


Jane sent me this note to thank me for making her a set of quote cards for her birthday.


I recently sent Missy Claudia a set of these small, square cards but was still surprised when one of them ended up in my mailbox. The envelope was so tiny! Claudia can never be contained by the size of her stationery though, and ended up writing more on a notepad.


Jeannie, who is one of my Etsy customers, sent me this thank you note for some good mail labels I made for her recently.


Miss Kacey sent me this darling notepad recently. I love everything Kacey does and was lucky enough to win her recent giveaway (along with commenter Jenn). I ended up getting 2 sets of stationery, one for Missy Claudia and one for Betsy (I forgot to take a picture of the cuteness) but the girls both loved their cards.


Natasha sent me this beautiful, letterpressed note and totally made my day.


Michelle surprised me with this thank you note, which arrived Saturday. I didn't see her writing any notes during Creative Friday, so she must have been rather stealthy about this and done it before or after I left. She included a Cafe Rio gift card (woohoo) for helping her clean her garage last month.


This colorful delight is the stack of thank you cards I wrote yesterday. I had made the cards at Michelle's house on Friday, but ran out of time to write them. It was so nice to sit on my bed with a clipboard and write all of these. It felt like a very relaxing, Sunday thing to do.

**I'll be giving away a few items to some random commenters, so tell me what you think.**

Edited to add: I must be going senile, because I totally panicked after reading Tasha's comment (thank you) and searched through all my photo folders until I found the picture of the gift she sent me, then ended up finding 4 more things I needed to post! There is always a danger of forgetting to post something, but wow this has got me worried! If I've ever not posted something you've sent, it's purely by mistake, not a statement of some kind.

Tasha sent me these 2 sets of acrylic stamps and a package of embellishments, so nice!


Michelle brought these to Creative Friday a couple weeks ago (unblogged about thus far) as an addition to my delightfully, color schemed birthday gift from July. I love these!


While searching through my photo folders (shouldn't it be pholders?) I found another good mail item from Claudia. Everything she sends looks like art.


Whitney's friend Madison's mom (now my friend Gaylene) is so good to us. She took Whitney for an entire day to do fun things with them and then brought us a box of Krispy Kreme donuts when she brought her home. Clearly she knows the way to my heart! (Both taking Whitney for the day, ha, and bringing donuts upon their return.)

**Do you like quotes?
Have you ever received a tiny envelope in the mail?
What do you think of my colorful stack of envelopes?
Are you a sucker for donuts?
Are you forgetful?**