Saturday, December 31, 2011

My favorite time of the year!

This time of year is always about new things, new beginnings and then focusing on all that's happened.  There are usually shows on about the best movies, songs, artists, etc - I thought I'd make a list of my favorite movies over the years.  Yes, boring for you to read, I'm sure - but maybe you'll see something here that you'd like to watch and it'll give you something to do one cold wintery night when there's nothing on television!!

The 80's were a good time for movies!! I've picked movies that I remember either watching at my Nanny's (she had cable and a VCR!) or going to the movies to see.

1980 - Nine to Five

1982 - ET
1983 - War Games
1984 - a very good year - Footloose, Ghostbusters, Karate Kid, Purple Rain (even though I got grounded for watching it)
1985 - Back to the Future, Rocky 4, The Breakfast Club, White Knights, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Real Genius
1986 - Top Gun, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Stand By Me, Short Circuit, Pretty in Pink
1987 - Fatal Attraction, Dirty Dancing, Manniquin, Secret of my Success
1988 - Rain Man, Cocktail, Beetlejuice, Young Guns, Bull Durham, Tequila Sunrise, Hair Spray
1989 - Look Who's Talking, Steel Magnolias, Field of Dreams, Turner and Hooch, Christmas Vacation

The 90's were almost as good as the 80's.

1990 - Home Alone, Ghost, Flatliners, Pump up the Volume
1991 - Silence of the Lambs, Sleeping with the Enemy, Back Draft
1992 - A Few Good Men, The Bodyguard, A League of their Own, Scent of a Woman
1993 - Groundhog Day
1994 - Forrest Gump, The Santa Clause, Speed, The Mask, Little Women, When a Man Loves a Woman, Blown Away
1995 - American President, A Walk in the Clouds
1996 - Independence Day, Twister, Jerry McGuire, One Fine Day
1997 - Titanic, Best Friend's Wedding, Austin Powers
1998 - You've Got Mail, Step Mom, The Wedding Singer
1999 - Big Daddy, She's All That, Varsity Blues

I've realized I like a lot of cheesy movies!!

2000 - The Grinch, What Women Want, The Perfect Storm, Gone in 60 Seconds, Bring It On, Coyote Ugly
2001 - Harry Potter, Oceans Eleven, Save the Last Dance, The Wedding Planner, Serendipity
2002 - Sweet Home Alabama, Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Harry Potter
2003 - Pirates of the Caribbean, How to Loose a Guy in Ten Days, Harry Potter
2004 - Harry Potter, The Polar Express, National Treasure
2005 - Narnia, Harry Potter, Wedding Crashers, Walk the Line
2006 - Pirates 2, Cars, The Break Up, Step Up
2007 - Pirates 3, Transformers, Harry Potter, National Treasure 2, Knocked Up, Hairspray,
2008 - The Dark Knight, Four Christmases
2009 - Harry Potter, New Moon, The Proposal, The Ugly Truth
2010 - Eclipse, Harry Potter, Toy Story 3

So - that's a lot of Harry Potter up there!!  But, dang - those movies are outstanding!!

2011 - Harry Potter (again), Cars 2 (really loved seeing this), Friends with Benefits

There's a-whole-nother list of movies I haven't seen in 2011 that I'd like to see.  But really, do you need to know all that?  Probably not!  My Netflix queue is awfully full!

~Lisa

Friday, December 30, 2011

A Foyer Makeover

Our foyer is boring.  There's a little desk and a lamp and sometimes a rocking chair (it's been relocated since the Christmas decor came out).  We don't really use the front door all that much.  We go in and out through the garage.  But thanks to Pinterest - I've found a ton of things I want to do.  I've got boards for lots of make overs - kitchen, laundry room, bedroom, bathroom.  Here are a few ideas I have for our Foyer.

My dad has an old pallet that I plan to turn into this:


This project comes from this website!

And I would like to turn Cole's old baby dresser into this:


This project can be seen here.

The plan is to paint the main wall of the foyer a darker brown than the rest of the living room and then I'm going to paint the wall at the end of the hallway the same darker brown.  So, once that wall is taken care of, I'd like to do this:


You can see this project here!

Now, if I could just get the paint out and a few paint brushes - I'll be off to a good start!! Soon, I think, soon!!

~Lisa

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Wait! I have a blog? I completely forgot!!

I can't believe I haven't blogged since the end of September. What the heck? So, I thought I'd recap the last three months, since I'm sure the world out there is just empty with knowing every little thing I've been doing!!

So, in my last post I mentioned that I was tutoring through March. No changes there. That's still the plan. There's a maternity leave that needs to be filled and hopefully I'll get to do that, as well. There have been some changes in the state's school employee benefits - several employees have been forced into retirement. While that's terrible for them - it really is - it will open up positions for those of us still waiting to have our own classroom. I'm just hoping this next school year will be the year for me. I love my job now, but it's not permanent and it's not full time. I love what I'm doing with the kids!! Just have to keep praying it turns into full time and permanent at some point!!

October was uneventful. Cole picked a Halloween costume and then decided he didn't want to Trick or Treat - no surprises there though. He's never been a fan of Halloween and the whole Trick or Treating process.

November was pretty busy. I had a little but of time off from school and worked extra hours at the mall. My Christmas job was really fun - worked with great people and just had fun the entire time!! We did a few fun things though - here's a few photos:



Matt Nathanson concert at WorkPlay.  It was FABULOUS!!  I'd been waiting to see him in concert since April - so excited I get to actually meet him after the show.  He was really nice - very thankful to us all for coming out to the show.  Shook hands with the guys, hugged the girls - still a little giddy!!!


Thanksgiving was spent in Mississippi at Jason's grandma's house.  We got a family shot in front of the pond.


 We got to see this sweet girl, too!!  My niece is really really really adorable!!
 

December has been really busy, too.  Lots of hours at the Christmas store which meant lots of personalized ornaments!  We spent a week in Walt Disney World.  As always, that's a blast.  We had a great time and got back just in time to run around like crazy and enjoy Christmas.

We attended A Highland Christmas, which was fabulous - the candle lighting at the end is always my favorite - brings tears to my eyes.  We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's with the whole family.  Tons of little girls giggling and running around this year - it was great.  Christmas day started with Santa leaving Cole way too many goodies - as usual.  We've spent this week opening all the boxes, putting in batteries and trying to beat video games!!  We are headed to Mobile this weekend for Christmas with the Tanners.  So, it's still Christmas for us!!

School starts back January 4th.  I'm ready to get back to my room.  Since I have three more months, I want to spend a little more time getting my room looking good - it's more like a room with tons of left over stuff from other places and furniture that's falling apart.  I would love to have the money to do really fun things in my room, but just don't have it.  I've done the best I can with what I've got though and that's what counts.  I'll be working on Math for the next little while - I can't wait - teaching Math is really one of the most enjoyable subjects to teach to me. 

I'm also working on cleaning out the guest room - again!! January always seems like the time to clean out and move on.  I have neglected my scrapbooking all year really, so I'm planning on getting back to that this next year.  I'm planning on spending the next few weeks just thinking about what 2012 should be for me, my family and what goals I want to achieve!! 

I hope the beginning of the year brings you joy and happiness and you can accomplish all the thing you want in 2012!!

~LISA

Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Burlap Craze

If you've been on Etsy lately and looked for burlap door hangers - you've seen the burlap craze!  I've seen tons on Pinterest, too.  I did a tutorial for the CSI Project featuring a 'knock off' burlap project a few weeks ago showing how I made mine, BUT someone left some nasty comments about copying the daughter product.      This world of crafting is crazy huh?  I mean, I'm just a girl from a small town and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to single handedly (is that even a word) take down this girls business.  The comments were pretty much telling me how wrong it was that I would, not only, copy the item but then tell other people how to make it.  So, I'm not going to tell you how to make it.

But I am going to show you what I made and I think that's okay!


First, I made a football to celebrate football season. 

I also did this one for fall for my mom's birthday.


And the back can be used for Halloween!


I've already sketched out a dozen ideas to make as gifts for Christmas, Teacher gifts and baby showers.  I'm actually doing one right now to match my cousin's baby's room and another to hang in our window on our next trip to Disney! Any guesses on what that one looks like?

Here's a couple more:



I can't wait to do a few more - if only my paint would dry faster!!
Lisa

Catching up

I've been neglecting my blog again!! Not that anyone noticed though.  You may be wondering what I've been up to - or maybe not.  Well, I'll tell you either way!  Many of you know I've been trying to find a teaching position for the last four years.  Each school year starts and I'm sad again that I don't have my own classroom.  There are about 700 applicants for each job I've applied for.  There are a lot of 'me' out there and how do you stand out in 700 people.

UGH

So, this school year began and I continued to look for a job in the teaching field and branched out to just find a job.  Any job.  Well, not any job - but a decent job.  I have a friend who runs the Christmas shop in the local mall.  So, I talked with her and BAM - got a job.  It didn't start right away but I'll take it.  I loved working retail at Christmas when I was wrapping gifts.  I didn't like it as much working at a craft store - too crazy.  I was really excited about the plans.

Then I found out there was an opening at Cole's school.
Then I got an interview.
Then I found out there was a full time position and a tutoring position, too.
Then I was subbing and the principal found me in the hall.

I didn't get the full time position but I did get a tutoring position.  Now I have more jobs than I need.  Typical, right?

Well, at first it was just for a month, then we've been extended 6 more weeks.  There are two of us tutoring for now.  I found out yesterday that they want me to stay on through the ARMT testing, which I believe is in March.

I'm a wee bit excited.  A million things went through my head instantly.  First, I need more clothes.  Second, I need more goodies in my treat basket.  And third, OH MY GOSH I'M ALMOST A TEACHER!!!  It's a big deal to be in the school every day, helping the kids, earning a paycheck - a consistent schedule.

So, now I won't be working like crazy at the Christmas shop, but I'll still work a little - it'll be too much fun not to!  And hopefully my wardrobe will increase a bit soon and I'll get out some things from storage that I can use in my room.  I don't really have my own classroom, but I'll be sharing with another teacher.  I'm hoping she'll be okay with me putting some stuff up - it's just a little plain to me.  I can't wait!!!!

I'm also going to paint a cute little pencil on burlap and put my name, that I can hang in the room - in my corner!!

Off to plan some math lessons!!
Lisa



Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Stranger things have happened

An idea just popped in my head tonight while I was playing on the computer.  I thought sharing strange things with you would be entertaining.  So here it goes:

Strangest item in my Netflix queue: Pee's Playhouse Season 1 Disc 1
Strangest song on my phone:  You've Got a Friend in Me, Randy Newman
Strangest CD in my collection:  Dangerous Toys
Strangest movie in my VHS collection: Two of a Kind (a lovely film with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John)
or maybe the Jennie Garth exercise video
Strangest movie I've ever seen at the theater: My Own Private Idaho (pretty sure we got up and left)
Strangest thing I've received as a gift: a mexican ash tray (i have never smoked - sorry Rick)
Strangest thing Jason has ever received as a gift:  a hunting vest (he doesn't hunt)
Strangest thing Cole has ever received as a gift: an air horn (it's still in the packaging and he has an extreme problem with loud noises)
Strangest thing I've blogged about:  30 things I need to pack for Nashville (really? yes, really)
Strangest thing I've given as a gift:  that big mouth bass you hang on the wall that sings (again, sorry Rick)

That's all I can think of that is slightly strange. 
Lisa

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Got a little scrapping done last month!

I'm not sure how long it's been since I posted a layout - much less more than one!  I know I haven't posted any layouts this year! That's shameful.  I had two opportunities in June to scrapbook away from home.  I know it sounds strange, but I do better scrapping away from home.  I'm a little more organized and having a dedicated amount of time motivates me to really get going and accomplish something.

So, here are the recent layouts - not all recent pictures, but ......


My sweet niece - this was in February of this year when they came for a visit!


We always do a photo here, right outside Pooh's Corner in Downtown Disney. 


Cole and Micheal dressed as Buzz and Woody for Halloween.  We did a Trunk or Treat at a nearby church and got a few good photos while we were there!


Niece again - Ashlyn has beautiful blue eyes.  Her mom, dad and brother all have really blue eyes, too - so it looks like they are here to stay! 


We love going to the McWane Science Center.  It's always fun!  I know these things are probably full of germs - but it was too fun stinking our face in!  This was from a trip in December!


I love Matt Nathanson and his new release is Faster - the title for this page comes from that song.  I loved this picture of us taken at Cole's birthday party in February!


Terribly crooked picture! I love Mary Poppins and this was the first time I've had a picture with her at Disney!  It was a great character breakfast! 


Cole was Good Citizen in November.  So proud of him!


Cole is a huge McDonald's fan and would love nothing more than to travel the world and check out all the Most Unique McDonald's.  We've been to two - there are 8 more on the list!  This is a picture from the one in Orlando - Cole running through the 'mother of all mazes'!!


Not a huge fan of this paper, but felt like I should use it.  This was from last August.  He's about to move up - again!!


This was from my sister-in-law's wedding reception.  Cole enjoyed himself, to say the least!


I've been planning this layout forever - I just wanted to document all the things we call him!  We've already added another nickname - not sure if there's room on this layout for another one, though!


Pinewood Derby for this past year in Cub Scouts.  We had a pretty cool car - Perry the Platypus.


And the cutest niece ever - again - this was from June when we visited Mobile.  She was a happy little thing!!


I did this for a challenge at NoelMignon.com back in the winter.  This was taken Christmas.  I love the picture because that was my favorite shirt!!! It's too big now though so it's been turned into ruffles on a scarf for the fall! 

Shew - that's all for today.  I've just realized we're more than half the way through the year and I've blogged terribly this year.  Not very consistent, not nearly often enough.  Must start working on that!!!

Thanks for reading, and looking!
Lisa

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Fourth of July fun and more Silhouette projects

Hello out there!!  I've been a busy little crafter lately.  I have a few things I wanted to share today - with a few more coming later in the week!!

First, I've been wanting to make some subway art with all our 'home' addresses listed.  When Cole was going through his surgery/radiation/chemo - he always whined that he just wanted to go home - to the REAL home sweet home.  So we started referring to everything as a different home.  The 'hospital home sweet home' was the hospital in Mobile.  The 'Ronald McDonald House home sweet home' was in Memphis, as well as the 'Target home sweet home'.  It helped Cole a little I think to know that every where we had to stay was really HOME if we were all together.  So, on our subway art I included the street for the Ronald McDonald House (Alabama Avenue) and Target House (Poplar Avenue).  So here's the finished project:


This is propped up on the end of the bar separating the kitchen from the den.  The kitchen has that terrible pink formica - so I'm trying to overpower it with lots of pops of red. You can see more red here:


I love my serving tray - just added our name to it last week.  And that clock - oh I love my clock!! I found this at a thrift store years ago for fifty cents.  It was a Hello Kitty clock.  I had decorated it and had it on display at Scrap Etc. for a while, then it came home to sit in my window sill.  It was right in the sun and had started to fade.  I got out the black spray paint, took it all apart and painted it, added houndstooth paper to the inside and there you have it! I love it!!

Ok - on the the fourth!!  We had all of my mom's family over and cooked out.  I wanted a few things outside to welcome our guests - so this is what I did:


I added ribbon to my wreath to dress it up for the holiday - I love the look of corker bows but have never needed them since Cole isn't much of a hair bow wearer and I'm a bit too old for them! I saw something similar to this and just thought it was a great use of ribbon!


I saw this done on Pinterest and thought it would be cute.  I used poster board, cut out a star and the filled my sifter with flower.  The only bad thing is the poster board isn't quite sturdy enough - I would just use cardboard next time.  It was really too hot to do more than this, but I had planned on lining the entire sidewalk and driveway - but it was hot!!! 


Jason has some scrap wood for a few different projects, so I added some paint and paper and made some firecrackers!! I just thought this urn would be the perfect place to toss them - it's right next to the front door.  Sadly, right before placing these in the pot - Jason removed the giant Easter Egg that had been sitting there since early April - pathetic huh?  I just kept forgetting to take it in!!

Now, the fourth of July decorations are still out and probably will be for a few more days at least.  We have family coming in this weekend, so why not leave it up??

Hope you had a fun filled fourth (say that five times fast) and enjoyed some time with friends and family, as well!

We've been keeping pretty busy this summer - so hopefully I'll be back soon with more tales of craftiness!!
I'm linking up here:




Lisa

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Oh my Pinterest

I know I'm late to the show and tons of people have been pinning for a while - but better late than never.  I love it!  Currently, I have 26 boards and 501 pins.  I can see this getting out of hand.

Here's my favorite pins:


Love this look - the shoes, the shirt - all of it!


Making this soon - very soon!


Need to do this too, have to dig through my playing card stash!


Bought the knit fabric for this today!!!


And I'm so making this on a tshirt for Cole - too stinking funny!!!

ok - no more time to blog - must pin more!!
and if you want to follow me - http://pinterest.com/itsjustlisa/

later!!


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Another Silhouette project

I made this tshirt last week and love it - haven't worn it yet, but I will wear it soon!!


And today I'm going to tackle labeling my canisters.  I've had the same canisters for 11 years now.  They are classic - just white and silver.  I love them.  A few years ago I added a strip of red ribbon around each one with sticky dots and I'm just tired of looking at them that way.  I'm going to add a label to each one and I think that will look much better in my kitchen.  Now, I just have to remember to actually keep sugar in the sugar and flour in the flour!!

I'll post them as soon as I'm done.  Can't wait to see what else I can make.  I have a million other ideas!!  Here's a few:


Can't wait to make all of that fun stuff!

Lisa

Monday, June 6, 2011

Meal Planning Monday

I'm not really one to plan a menu for the week, but after spending some time at Food Gawker I've been wanting to kick it up a notch and make some different dishes.  I have a little more time now that schools out and I'm not subbing (or working part time) so dinner prep isn't as terrible of a task!!

This is what's planned for this week:

Monday - Chicken tenders, creamy chicken rice and lima beans with crescent rolls (this sounds like I'll be slaving away all day, but the chicken is Tyson, the rice is Knorr and the beans come out of a can!

Tuesday - Buffalo Chicken Sliders with potato wedges.  We had a friend in Mobile who made potato wedges that were so good.  You bake a potato in the microwave for about 5 minutes, then slice them, like potato chips, but 1/2 an inch thick.  You lay them on a cookie sheet, top with a pat of butter and some shredded cheese and bacon bits (which I just realized I forgot at the store!).

Wednesday - Chicken Parmesan and garlic bread - don't get excited - it's just a frozen meal you toss in a skillet.

Thursday - Santa Fe chicken wraps with mexican rice.  I take chicken strips (you know the kind for fajitas) and cook them with Philidelphia Cooking Cream Santa Fe mix - it's so good!! 

Friday - Ham and cheese loaf with pasta salad.  The ham and cheese loaf is crazy good.  You take a pizza dough (I usually use thick crust, but I'm trying thin this time) smooth it out on a cookie sheet and layer ham across the whole crust, top with shredded cheese that you mix with a little mayo.  You sort of split the dough into thirds long ways, fold one third over the middle, then fold the other third over.  Flip it over so the seam is on the bottom, and coat with a slightly beaten egg, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and cut a few slits into the top.  Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.  It's so yummy.  I also add feta cheese and pepperoni to the pasta salad - yum!!

So, now I'm hungry!!!  I made these last week and the week before - so yummy!! And these Saturday - wowsers they were so good!! So, go check out that site - amazing recipes - pages of pretty pictures of food - click on a picture to find the recipe and be prepared to spend a few hours!!

And now I wonder if my menu with stick!!

I'll let you know!
Lisa

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Busy little bee

So, I finally got a Silhouette.  And nothing in my home is safe from it's craftiness!!  NOTHING!! :D

My first project was simple:


I took a canvas, painted it a pale pink, cut out Birthday Girl, the butterfly and cake and Mod-Podged it to the canvas.  Added some photo corners and it's done.  The purpose was to give my sister-in-law something she could display at each of Ashlyn's birthday parties, and in her bedroom with her birthday picture. 

Then I did this for the birthday girl:


Terribly blurry picture - she is a little cupcake!! 

Next, I moved on to this:


This the my bathroom wall - the wall behind the door, so you only see it when you go in and shut the door - but it was so blank and lonely.  I added these and just need a word to go in that blank space.  Any suggestions?

Now, I needed a little Roll Tide in my dining room so I came up with this:

We recently moved dining room furniture around, again.  Our main living area is two huge rooms - both long and not too wide.  When you walk in the front door, there's a living room and what appears to be a dining room.  Then straight ahead you walk into the den area, with a kitchen.  So the kitchen is sort of open into the den.  Before Christmas last year we decided we needed to rearrange to have room for Christmas trees.  Yes, I said trees - we had three!  Anyway, I really like the new arrangement, Jason and Cole did not.  First it meant Cole lost his den, or play area.  Second, the dining room table was right in the same room with the kitchen - which made sense to me, but only to me!  We decided to move it all back recently, but by doing that, it threw off all my decor that was on the bakers rack in the new dining room/old den.  Oh the stress!!!  So, in an attempt to make it all work out - I bought new valances for the dining area and kept the decor.  We're big Bama fans here so we had all our cool Bama collectibles/memorabilia on the bakers rack.  Now, with the change of a few accessories, we are good to go.  I felt the need to switch some things up and add to a few other things.  I really wanted something cute to set on my cedar chest in that area and this is what I ended up with:


And then I took down a few things off the wall, painted them black and hung them back up.  This got a makeover, too - thanks to the Silhouette!



My plate rack was green with green plates, after a coat or twelve of spray paint and new plates from Target, we had a fresh new look.  I loved the doily banner and the home sweet home was perfect.  I'm still learning with the Silhouette - learning I need to be more patient and I really need transfer paper, too!!  That middle plate took two tries to get it right!!  Crazy stuff!

Anyway, that's what I've been doing lately - what about you?

linking up here:

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin