Today's litle project

I have recently begun couponing, and thus visit the coupon websites frequently.  After Thursday's find on A Thrifty Mom's website, I will be visiting even more frequently!  She found this link from a follower's post, but I fell in love with these pom poms!  The tutorial is found at:
 http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/2011/01/t-shirt-pom-poms-tutorial.html

I decided that I needed something to add to my Thanksgiving decor, so I found an old gold, brown and red shirt.  I didn't cut my strips as thin as hers, so my pom poms aren't as tight, but I love them nevertheless!

I am most impressed that it didn't take long, didn't cost me a dime and I reused tshirts that otherwise would've met their demise in the garbage can once I got around to cleaning out my closet in the spring! 

Now I'm thinking I need to make some light blue and white ones for Christmas...to match the wreath that I'll be making from paper fans!

Holiday Extravaganza pics

 The 300+ paper flower Christmas tree.  Flowers cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  Tree was designed by Mandy Leahy, fellow CTMH consultant.  Love her stuff.  Love this tree, but what a labor of love it was!!

 My 6x6 2012 desktop calendar.  It is in a dispay album so it stands up, rather than needing to be pinned up on the wall.

 A notecard set and holder that I made, perfect for gift giving.

 The notecards that fit inside the holder.

 The inside of the holder with the notecards.

 Sorry, it won't let me rotate this, or delete it now.  My 12x12 calendar for 2012.  This page is January.

A set of thank you cards cut by the Cricut.  The envelopes and liners are also cut by the Cricut, the Art Philosophy cartridge again!  And then a cute little holder that easily holds 5 cards and 5 envelopes.

I'm head over heels in love with the wonderland paper pack, and these fun easel cards this year!  They stand up to display and fold flat to mail!  The snowflake and the Happy Holiday tag were cut from my Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

Saw a similar design at CTMH convention in July, and did my best to duplicate the top/main part of the card.

Totally stole this one right out of the catalog, and then put the easel card twist on it!  LOVE the little banners, which were of course cut from the Art Philosophy cartridge.

Got the present idea off the bulletin boards last season, so I don't remember the consultant's name to give her credit!  But I love the idea for using up scraps of paper.

Imagine that...more wonderland paper, and more snowflakes!!!

Tags that were cut from AP cartridge on kraft cardstock.

My spooky banner, once again cut from the AP cartridge (banner shapes and letters).

This is just a small sample of the goodies I had at the open house!  I had entirely too much fun creating them.  Not enough time to do them all as workshops, but hopefully they will inspire your creativity as well!

If you have any questions, or need any supplies, let me know!  My website is available 24/7  www.ctmh.com/rhondac

I'm baaaaaack, again!

Oh what a busy several months it has been since I've visited my dear blog! I'm back to being a consultant, and the times they are a changing. They will be getting rid of our CTMH websites soon, so the hubby is working hard to develop my own website, and my blog will be a big part of my lil business! So I've updated my background, and soon I'll post pictures of my Holiday Extravaganza/Open House. Just a lil inspiration for the holidays that are going to be here quicker than I care to admit!

Have a great weekend, and hopefully I'll get the pics posted this weekend! Until next time!

Lucas, the graduate!

My big little man graduated from preschool this morning! I seriously have not a clue as to where the better part of 6 years has gone! I still clearly remember my pregnancy, labor and delivery with him! How is this possible? He's such a smart little guy. I love his sense of humor, and the things he says and does that just warm my heart! He was so stinking excited to go to the graduation ceremony this morning...it was mostly because it wasn't just mom, dad and brother coming to see his performance, but it was also Grandpa and Grandma Coltrin. He did a fabulous job. And Conndra goes above and beyond to help commemorate the event. They take pictures all throughout the year, and then save certain projects and pictures, and make this big 3 ring binder that is presented to the parents on graduation day. And if that wasn't enough, she also put together a slide show, had it set to music, and made a copy for each child's parents. I almost cried watching it...I'm such a sentimental baby sometimes!! I can only imagine the emotional wreck that I'm going to be on the first day of kindergarten this fall. I've watched the dvd twice since I brought it home. Even for those parents that aren't diehard scrapbookers, they are such nice keepsakes to have. We celebrated with a trip to Target, and the purchase of a Cat in the Hat dvd. They also bought new cars with their allowance. Unfortunately for their dad, they are built like their mom in the money department. Why save it when you can spend it and have cool stuff NOW!?! I did do my community service project message, and preached saving their money to save up for something more expensive, bigger and cooler, but alas!! Then it was back to the real world, laundry and housework! Dinner, and bedtime for the kiddos. Caught up on the blog again, for 5 minutes! Just need to add pictures for the last few days worth of posts, but must get some shut eye first!!

Tuesday, May 23rd

A great start to my day with a trip to Starbucks! Another crappy day at work, another day where I just couldn't force myself to head out to zumba afterwards. I came home and sympathy stuffed my face with a ton of chips and salsa. I really needed zumba, but just couldn't force myself to do it. I felt guilty of course after the chips and salsa, and just had a bowl of cereal for dinner! The kids couldn't believe me! The only good thing about it...Biggest Loser finale! I was happy for Olivia that she pulled it off and won the whole thing, but she wasn't my favorite, not by far!!!!!!! She looked great though, as did her hubby! I am seriously done with Biggest Loser now though. I say that every season, and then I tune in just to see what the next season is looking like. But without Jillian, and it's 2 hours every week on sitting on my butt surfing the net while watching...I can do without! I figure I need to turn that in to an automatic 2 hours of scrapbooking every week! At least then I have something to show for it!

Monday, May 23rd

Dropped the boys off at preschool/daycare. Headed over to get the ol' allergy shots. Thankfully I remembered to take my allergy meds this time, because my allergies are so terrible that I was in desperate need of my shots! As I sat waiting for the nurse to come give me the shots I decided that today was the day, I needed an anaphylactic reaction so that I wouldn't have to be at work!! How terrible is that, that I'd rather have anaphylaxis than suffer through 8 hours of hell?!? Sad, but unfortunately true! I told Cassie what I was thinking, but she said she wasn't in the mood for anaphylaxis, so I wasn't allowed! And of course nothing happened!! The good news is that meant I got to have my massage! I told Maire about all of the tension in my shoulders, and the corresponding headaches I've been having lately. She talked me into trying the cupping technique. I was scared...it involves flames! But other than the big ol' hickies on my back, which my kids think are way cool, I wouldn't know she did it! It didn't hurt at all! And I think it really did work! Too bad for her that she sees me next the Monday after I run my half marathon! Maybe I won't be in as dire straits as I was this time! My calves were so stinking tight, and the tendons in my feet! The hubby treated me to Taco del Mar for lunch. I love their 320 calorie burrito, it puts me in the right frame of mind for a shift where I may or may not get to eat! Work was drama, drama, drama with all of the stupid cuts in tech hours, my most dreaded patient calling and telling me to screw myself, the old lady who you would've thought I was killing when she was just getting her blood pressure taken, the lady who was pissed because I couldn't tell her if we carried a product anymore...mind you she didn't even know what the freaking name of it was...and so on! And those were just the highlights! Couldn't sleep again for the life of me!

Sunday, May 22nd

A day that I showed myself that I really need to believe in myself, all the time! And that I can do what I set my mind to. Since I haven't been training near as much as I should be, I'm having to put in the mileage and not worry so much about the time, for this half marathon. The weather hasn't been cooperating, and I haven't been good about motivating myself to run on the treadmill, I get too bored and won't push myself on that darned thing! But today, I was going to run 10 miles come hell or high water! So as Casey left to drop the boys off at church with Grandma, I left to do this! I had my new socks and new tank top on, and new headphones on with music pumping away! I remembered to grab a bottle of water, knowing that I shouldn't be running for over 2 hours without any hydration. I walked down to Cloverdale to warm up, and started to run after I hit Cloverdale. NO GO...the media pocket in the back of the tank top wasn't snug enough, so the iphone flopped around on my back/butt like a dead fish. Had I been running 30 minutes/3 miles...I could've lived with that. But I knew there was no way I could stand it for over 2 hours/10 miles. Bad news though, the house was locked up tight, like Fort Knox. I had to sit in the front yard and wait for the hubby to get home to put my armband on and try again. Now it was after 11am, and I was worried that I wouldn't have the energy to finish since it had been so long since lunch. So while he went on his bike ride I decided to make a little trip over to Dick's to find a water bottle that has a strap to make it easier to hold while running. It wasn't a smart decision on his part to not accompany me to Dick's! $90 later, another new tank top, a new water bottle belt, GU energy pack, and new headbands...I was home and ready to do this!!!!! Now we understand why it is that I still have to work 2 days a week. I had some lunch, got everything ready, and sunscreened up. I thought I was going to die just over a mile into my run. My whole stomach was a giant cramp...I didn't wait long enough after eating! For the love of Pete!!! I focused on my breathing, hydrated, and pushed through the pain. I was going to walk it, if nothing else. I ran some, walked some, made excuses and did terrible for the first 3+ miles. Then I decided that I was going to pull through this, stop with the excuses and go! I ran almost the entire time, only walking to get a drink here and there from 4.5 miles until 9.8 (when I got home)!!! I tried the GU energy stuff, strawberry banana flavor for the first time ever. I had it at mile 5, and it made a HUGE difference! The GU is 100 calories, and is 25 grams of carbs (only 5 is simple sugar, the rest is the complex stuff so that your blood sugar doesn't spike and then crash), and has electrolytes to replace what you're sweating out! I loved how I felt afterwards! The packaging and the stuff I read online says to do it 15 minutes before the long run and every 45 minutes during the run. So for this coming weekend, I'm going to try just that and see how I do. I hope it will feel better than today did. My friend Sarah also sent me this link about hydrating before the long runs/race days and with info about eating for training/racing, so I'm reading it and going to try some of that advice as well. Who knows, maybe it will help the speed too if I'm feeling better! I had a chocolate protein shake as soon as I got home, after I guzzled a big ol' glass of water. My muscles were that 'holy crap I just got my butt kicked' sore, and I figured I'd be lucky if I could walk on Monday! After a nice hot shower I had just enough time for a quick cat nap before dinner! And I carb loaded at dinner again...LASAGNA!! : ) Of course Sunday evening was anything but lazy since laundry and housework were calling my name before work on Monday and Tuesday! Another fast, but great weekend!