Time for some Randomness

This is going to be a random post since I want to post something here, but I don't really have much to say!

• School starts back up in about 4 weeks...I am ready!
• I am ready even though I have to start work then too.
• I am all caught up with PPB orders up to yesterdays orders.
• I have taken 3 orders since then!
• I am only taking orders for a couple more days then PPB will be closing up shop for good.
• My Book blog has taken off in the past few weeks.
• I am getting emails from authors to review their books.
• I have read A LOT of really good books in the past few weeks!
• I have found a couple of really really good authors because of the blog.
• It's SUPER fun to get free books in the mail in exchange for a review.
• It's even better when the book is signed to me!
• Right now I am reading an ARC Galley copy of a book in a series that I LOVE that doesn't even come out until 9/4...how cool it that?!!
• The down side is, you have to learn to decline books that have the potential to be bad or you waste time reading books that aren't very good.
• People are starting to annoy me...that's pretty vague
• I have been hiding statuses on FB that annoy me, and hiding/deleting people who always post things that annoy me
• I don't like statuses that are posted to garner attention...or ones that invite people to ask questions, just say what you want to say.  
• Don't post something and say, I don't want to give any details...if you don't want to give details then why post it in the first place?
• I am SICK of people judging others by saying things like "those who consider themselves to be Christians"...
• I am in a crappy mood today...just in case it wasn't obvious!
• I probably shouldn't be posting anything, but this is my blog and I can say what I want...
• it's not like anyone really reads this anyway!
• ok, I am going to stop now, but I am going to do a pet peeves post sometime so I can get it all out!

I don't want to have a post without a picture so here you go...is it time for Haven to come back yet?!!

This is my new computer wallpaper!

Photo a day JUNE completed!

This is my 4th completed month, by far the longest I have made it with a photo a day challenge.  I tell you these prompts are what's keeping me going!

Just click on the picture to see a bigger size.  Also, the app I use to make this calender is called Project 365 Pro, you should be able to find it pretty easily!

Here is the list for July courtesy of Fat Mum Slim.  You really should follow along, it's a blast!

So, give it a whirl for a month and you will be surprised how easy it is!

Hair Goals...

I am in the weird stages of growing out my short hair cut.  It's at that stage where I can barely get it behind my ears and the back is weird.  It's SO thick that it looks fluffy and and the only way to make it look halfway decent is to wear a headband to tame it a little!  So if I had to describe where I am now with a picture that I am not in, I would say this is about where I am now...Brienne of Tarth.  Only in actuality, I would love to have the little wave that she has!

Now here is where I would like to be by fall and my hair grows fast enough I should be there...Ashley Benson. LOVED her hair on the new Pretty Little Liars last night!!

We'll have to see how it goes...I have a goal!!

Monday Randomness

I think I should do all my blogs like this, especially on days when I want to blog, but don't have anything particularly interesting to say!!  Today, I think I will just tell you some random things about me.  Some you may know, some you may not...

• I can read a book a day, sometimes up to 5 books or more a week.
• It doesn't bother me to stay at home, sometimes days at a time.
• I had braces when I was pregnant with Colton, I was 28 when I had them put on.
• I would rather see any movie with a paranormal or action theme over a chick flick.
• I have never read a Graphic Novel, but I have bought the 1st Walking Dead Book, I just need to read it!
• I don't like to leave the house without makeup, but sometimes I just don't want to bother...
• I haven't been swimming in more than 5 years.
• I am annoyed right now that it's taking my iPhone AGES to upload my pictures to Google+.
• I only use Google+ to save my iPhone pictures and to occasionally plug my blogs.
• I have wanted to write a book since I was in High School, maybe one day I will...
• I absolutely can't leave the house in flip flops if my toe nails aren't painted.
• I would pack up and move away from here in a minute if Jake would.
• Of all the places I have visited, and there haven't been many, Seattle is the place I would most like to live.
• I was engaged my Senior year of HS, man am I glad that didn't work out!
• I don't have an IRL best friend, most of my friends are online.
• My IRL best friend from HS is married to the guy I was engaged to in HS...I guess I don't have to tell you that we haven't been friends since 1992!
• It was actually my fault that we broke up though...
• I don't feel like I am in my mid-upper 30's.  
• The closer I get to it, the less old 40 is!
• If American Idol had been around in the early to mid 90's I am pretty sure I would have auditioned.
• I don't have any tattoo's but I desperately want one.  I want one by Dan Smith, though, so I doubt I will ever get one!
• I never attended a public school in all my K-12 years.
• I now work for a public school and I realize how much I missed out on.

Hmmmm....maybe that's all I will do.  I may make this a weekly thing, there are so many annoying things about me that I could tell you.  Maybe I will do one of Pet Peeves or something.  I like list posts, that would be something cool to do as well.

I don't want to not post any pictures, but like I said Google+ is being a pain and it hasn't uploaded anything from the past 4 days... Ok, I know what I will do.  Last night was the last episode of this seasons Game of Thrones, here are a couple pictures of my absolute favorite 'minor' characters this season.

 I like him like this...NOT the face he showed at the end...I hope he comes back in the future.

Remember her from Downton Abbey?  I am hoping we see more of her (and Jon!) in the next season.  I still need to read the books though.  I am SO curious about the Wilding (zombies) at the end and I know that I am going to have to read the books to find out more about them.

Ok, that's all for now!  Have a great afternoon!

One of those weeks...

here is how this week has gone

• 1st week of summer
• adjusting to kids being home all day
• staying up WAY to late reading
• somewhat relieved that we are now a cat free household
• sad that the kids are sad that he is gone
• not sad that I am more comfortable at home now
• haven't left the house since Sunday
• I don't mind that at all
• woke up with a sore throat, headache and stuffiness today
• the coughing has started
• I hate being sick and I hope it doesn't last long
• I do like that I can just sit around and read though
• I applied for a job in the boys' school today
• if I get it I won't be subbing next year
• I am excited to do something new and to feel "at home" in a school though
• ...hopefully I will get the job!
• I have had a ton of hits on this blog
• Many thanks to Ryan Winfield for that!
• I have had even more hits on my other blog {Dive} Under the Cover
• Thanks again to Ryan Winfield and SWEET Heather!!
• That makes me SO happy on a week that's been kinda cruddy...

This makes me happy too...only 2 more weeks...!!!

Obsessed...who me??!

After this week I think that I need to do a post about obsession.  If you have been reading my blog for very long or you know me, either personally or online you know that I tend to get obsessed about things, people, etc...!!  So, I am going to give you a little picture of the things that I am obsessed with lately!

Let me preface this section by saying that I have tended toward Paranormal/Romance books for about 5 years now, maybe longer.  Ever since I discovered Twilight, which was the spring that they first started working on the first movie.  Before that I read primarily Historical Romance.  I will also tell you that I am a bit of a follower, so if a bunch of my friends are reading something, I want to read it too.  They may not be personal friends either, in fact it wasn't until I had read the Twilight series several times that I was able to convince some of my friends to read it.  Most of my recommendations come from Facebook Friends.  So that's how I got into this whole genre.  I have strayed from it here and there to read some contemporary romance, murder mystery, things like that, then came the Fifty Shades series...  I devoured those books in less than 4 days, and for about a week I had a really hard time finding something that I could get into at all.  It was literally a fluke that I found South of Bixby Bridge by Ryan Winfield.  You can read my review of the book on my other website.  It was one of those facebook ads that says "if you like Fifty Shades of Grey, you will like this book", so of course I had to check it out!  I read some reviews, checked it out on Goodreads and saw this picture on Ryan's Author Profile page and I thought to myself, "if that is the author in the picture, I will read anything he writes".  You all know how shallow I am about things like that!!  So I bought the book on Amazon, read it in a matter of days, it would have been way less time if it hadn't been over the weekend, because I didn't want to put it down.  Long story short...you can read my review if you want to know what I thought of the book beyond that I enjoyed it very much!

The obsession comes in here...I posted my review on Goodreads and within a few hours I got a message, through Goodreads, from Ryan Winfield!  To say that made my day was an understatement...it made my whole week.  He was so sweet, he even tweeted the review from my blog and I have gotten more hits on that post than all the others combined.  I feel like I am cyber-stalking him, but it's not at all creepy, I promise!!  I just think that it's super awesome that he takes the time out to interact with his fans.  Not a lot of authors will do that and I know that he is just kind of starting out, but it's a really good way to build a fan base.  I know that I am anxiously waiting for his next book!

I have been obsessed with these two albums this week...listening to them over and over on my phone!

I am obsessed with these shows and I am sad that the seasons are over...

There are so many more things I am obsessed with but I am going to have to save those for another time!!

A new start...

If you look to the right you will see a new addition to my blog.  It's a weight loss counter from My Fitness Pal.  I joined a couple of weeks ago after I talked to one of the boy's teachers about it.  This is the first day I have actually used it though!  I am on a mission to lose weight once and for all and this is the first step.  I have a handful of friends on there and I think that will help me stay on track.  I am going to get Jake to join too so we can work together.  If you are on there and you want to add me as a friend my user name is shelly329.  

My short term goal is to get the eating down for a couple of weeks.  I want to cut out my caffeine and cut way back on my sugar.  In the meantime I am going to get Jake to help me get the treadmill un-buried from the garage and into the house so I can start using it again.  I also have a couple of DVD's and a Wii Fitness Game that I need to break out (or find if I am telling the truth) and I can use those to break up the monotony.

Here is how I started today.  I cut up a lemon into thin slices and put it in a pitcher full of ice water.  I have only gotten through 1/2 of my 64 oz so far today, but I will get there!  This is always a hard thing for me, I just don't think about drinking water most of the time.  I do drink way too much diet pop though so I need to work on cutting that out and replacing it with water.  Or I need to make myself drink the same amount of water as the pop and that may make it easier for me to get rid of it completely!

I have recently discovered a quick and easy meal that is really quite filling.  I toast a piece of whole wheat bread and top it with a fried egg, Laughing Cow cheese wedge and roma tomato. I have been using the Garlic and Herb flavor of LC cheese, but it would be good with all of them probably.  I just happen to really like the garlic flavor.  I have been eating this for dinner or lunch, but it would be just as tasty for breakfast.  I need to work on varying what I have for breakfast, I tend to have a really high sugar breakfast and I need to find something quick that's actually healthy for me.  I also need some eating out options too.  I think that we will be cutting way back on the eating out once the kids are home for the summer though.  I do know that I won't be getting my favorite Chinese food anymore though.  I want to eventually start cutting back on my carbs and start eating more fresh.   I need to do some research on that .  I really wanted to have a garden this year, but I don't think that's in the cards for me at this point.  It's something that takes more planning in advance than I thought to do this spring.  Eventually I will get it all worked out in time to actually have a garden some summer!

Well, I better get off here for now so I can get the kids wound down in time for bedtime!  I am getting my roots redone tomorrow and I am thinking that I may put some pink streaks in it so I am super excited for that!

Movie Marathon starts tonight!

Jake and I haven't watched a movie in what seems like forever, but he has a 4 day weekend so we are going to be watching a lot of movies this weekend.  Here is a list of what we are going to try to knock out this weekend

• Mission Impossible 1-4
• The Immortals
• The Sitter

Ok, that seemed like more before I started listing them!  Technically it's still 6 movies though so that's plenty for one weekend I think.  I also have to work tomorrow so I can't stay up too late tonight.

Here a couple Instagram pics from the last couple days...

My pretty French Pedicure...my toes are way too chubby though!

I snagged these new polishes from Walgreens today for $1 each, gotta love a good deal like that.

  

I like to take pictures of books that I want to look up for my Kindle and this George RR Martin is going on my "to read soon" list!  I have been reading Amanda Hocking books for about almost 3 years now and I love them...it's SUPER cool to see them in print through a big time publisher!

I LOVE finding avocados for so cheap...I got 4 to make guacamole with this weekend.

Well, I am off to paint my nails while Jake and the kids finish watching something, then I get to decide what movie to watch tonight!

Have a great evening...

Randomness...

Not much going on today so here is some randomness for you!

• I didn't have a job today.
• I have been doing laundry and reading the new Sookie Stackhouse book that came out today.
• So far it's just "okay", I will review it on my other blog when I finish.
• Lets just say, it's probably a good thing she is ending this series...the spark is pretty much gone.
• We met Jake's family at Pacific Rim to eat Chinese for lunch.
• It was yummy and I have leftovers for dinner tonight!
• We hit Target for an Rx and I found something I MUST have.
• I told Jake he could get it for me for Mother's Day!
• Bailey is going to The Bridge tonight and won't be home till 7 or so.
• The boy's are at Victoria's playing...
• I am home alone now!
• SO...I am going to make myself an iced cappuccino...
• Watch last night's episode of Castle
• and give myself a pedicure complete with French Tips
• IF I can get all the Navy Blue polish off my toenails!
• Maybe I will have a job tomorrow...
• Here are some photos from my day  

 Have a great evenning!!

Sick...

Lack of posting is due to the fact that I am sick...

I don't know what it is, but I have been feeling pretty awful since Tuesday evening...headache, nausea, aches and off and on fever.  So pretty much I have been sleeping, reading, lounging in pajamas, etc...  I thought I would feel better if I got up and went out yesterday, so I got ready and we went to try the new Chinese place...not the best idea.  Needless to say, I didn't get my moneys worth at the buffet!  We had to run to get Bailey some new tennis shoes and clothes for gym this quarter and I ended picking stuff out and heading to the car because I felt so bad.

Now Bailey is sick, fever and sore throat.  I just hope no one else gets it...

New Year, New Goals...

I really wish that I had the same blog I has last year so I could look back and see what I posted at the beginning of 2011.  I switched from Word Press to Blogger about 1/2 through the year though.  I did export my old WP blogs, but I don't know how to access them without starting another WP blog and uploading them.  That's a lot of trouble to go through to tell you that I didn't reach many of my goals!!  I did hand write some of them, mostly sewing stuff, in my moleskine journal.  I think I hit maybe 2 out of the 10 or so that I had written.  One was to make a new ironing board cover and I actually made 2 during the year.  One was to sew more for fun and I know I didn't do that one!

SO without further ado here are my goals for 2012

• Healthy goal - weigh less at the end of the year than I do now, find an exercise that I like.
• Sewing goal - sew for fun this year, make Civil War blocks for a quilt, make something for each of the kids and Jake.
• Reading goal - 120 books this year.
• Work goal - keep loving my job as much as I do now, try to work as much as I can handle and not burn out.
• Home goal - start getting rid of the clutter, get rid of things I don't want, need or use.  Organize more.
• Money goal - eat out less, use that money to pay bills.
• Marriage goal - plan date nights and actually keep them, even if we have to stay home because we have no one to watch the kids (we will probably be doing this most often, unfortunately).
• Kids goal - do more things together, less TV, more fun family nights.

Pretty simple, really and not too overwhelming that I know I won't accomplish any of them!

I actually sewed something for fun today and it was all for me!  It's a new sleeve for my kindle.  I had fun with the star.  It was supposed to be smaller, but I am still learning how to make them so I didn't want to mess it up so it ended up bigger that I had intended.

I am doing my picture of the day but I won't be posting them on here.  They are all on my Tumblr and you can access that by clicking on the icon up on the top left side.  I am going to do a mosaic at the end of each month and I will post that but I don't want to get too crazy and overpost the same pictures all over the place!

Ok, I have to get my kids in the showers since they have to go back to school tomorrow!  Have a great evening.

What to do...

Now that I don't have to come home and sew all evening I am having a hard time trying to decide what to do.  It's not that I don't have enough to do, it's that there is so much that I need to do that I can't decide what to do first and then I just end up doing nothing!  I have laundry to do, my house is a disaster, but I don't feel like cleaning it once I come home.  I just want to have a cup of coffee and sit and do nothing!  So I have been...I work all day tomorrow then so far I am off until school break is over.  There are still 3.5 days of school left, but so far I haven't seen any subs needed for those days.  Since I am off Thursday and Friday, I plan to stay home and clean, maybe I will take a lunch break to get soup at Panera if it's still cold out.  I really need to start getting all my sewing stuff put away.  I still have a couple things I need to get made though.  I made these for the boys over the weekend. The stripes is for Colton and the Robots for Dillon.

Randomness

I meant to do this post yesterday but got sidetracked by the awesomness that is Heather!!  So today it's all just randomness about me!

Has it really been a week?

I see that it has!  Last week I had my interview, got hired and woke up sick the next day!  I plowed through it and tried to work some while I waited for fabric last week.  Then BAM I get 2 big fabric orders in one day and I pre-washed fabric all day Thursday.  I was still not feeling well on Friday, but I got up ran to the fabric store to get ribbon for 2 of the next bags I needed to get done.  Fast forward a little, I iron my fabric, get a bag almost cut out and I literally cut the tip/corner of my index finger on my right hand off.  Apparently those Olfa rotary blades are quite sharp!!  So, it's now been 4 days on not getting anything done while I have this huge bandaged finger.  I am down to a regular bandaid today, and it seems to be healing up.  I just hope that my fingernail will look normal once it grows all the way back...yes, I cut completely through the nail too!

News!!

I had my interview today and they hired me, I did my paperwork and once I am in the system I can start working!  In case you are new to my blog, I am going to be a substitute teacher.  This is a whole new world for me.  Other than my Macy's job that lasted a month, of which I only actually worked about 20 hours (the reason I quit!) I have been a stay at home mom for just at 12 years now.  Another thing that makes it something new is that, while I have kids in public schools, I never actually attended public school.  I home-schooled my Sophomore year, but all my other schooling was in Christian Schools.  This doesn't include my years of college.  Anyway, the public school system will be a new experience for me.  I am nervous, but really excited at the same time.

One Step Closer...

I got my Substitute Certification yesterday!  I turned in my application today and I should hear back within a week.  She said that I may not even need to interview...that would be awesome.  I always get so nervous.  I have been checking into pointing my domain name to my Etsy store.  That will be happening on or around the 30th of this month so that I don't have to pay my Big Cartel fees again.  Since I will be going to 100% pre-made items, it's just not worth it to pay a monthly fee when I can pay only for the items I sell on Etsy.  I will also get a little more exposure for the items that I do list.  You will still be able to find me by typing in pinkpunkboutique.com too, so that's a good thing!

Pink Punk Catch Up!

I haven't posted any Pink Punk stuff in awhile so I am going to do a little catch up post and show some picture of my recently completed items.

Before that, however, I want to let you all know what I have been contemplating the past few weeks.  I am about 50% through the process of becoming a substitute teacher.  My Certification is pending the receipt of my transcript, which I mailed almost 2 weeks ago.  They should have that information entered any day, I am sure they have gotten it by now.  After that, I have to turn in my certification and my application and hopefully I will be called in to interview.

I LOVE Fall

I think that Fall is my favorite season!  To be fair, I when it's winter and I am ready for warmer weather I think Spring is my favorite so they are probably equal.  Here are some of my favorite things about fall.

• Cool misty mornings, even when I don't have to go outside.
• Baking, it's always more appropriate in the fall!
• Seeing the leaves changing colors.  We don't have any pretty trees at this house, but they are still out there!
• Maple Leaf Festival...we just went to the parade last year, but I want to go see the crafts this year.
• I just like the feel of fall, it reminds me of when I was a kid going back to school...I was one of those kids that really loved back to school time.  I still do...I am looking forward to maybe going back to school myself...next fall.
• Cream cheese potato soup!
• Getting out my quilt to wrap up in on the couch while I read or watch TV.
• So many more things...

Stress....

After a pretty stressful couple of days I have decided to quit my job at Macy's.  They called last Thursday and cancelled my Friday shift and I am not even on the schedule this week at all.  All week long I stress about not getting enough sleep and getting up early all to go in and work 4 hours in the early AM to make $25 in one week!  It's just not worth it to me and it's not worth Jake only getting 3-4 hours of sleep on those days.  He gets home 1 hour before I get up and then he has to get up at 7 to get the kids to school and then try to go back to sleep which hasn't been happening.  He is only getting a couple hours of sleep on those days and then going to work his regular 10 hour shift.  So, I am not working as of now.  I am still going to be looking for something that works a little better with our schedule.  Right now I am thinking about substitute teaching.  I have just enough college hours to qualify.  I just have to be certified and pay for a Background Check and all that stuff.  It's a process that takes a couple of weeks so we'll see.  I went to the college yesterday to get my transcript and I really want to finish my degree, I am thinking about going back to the education degree so this may be something to help me decide if that's the route I want to go or not.

I have a big week of sewing ahead of me, but here are a few things I have finished up since the last time I posted pictures.

This is a custom Messenger Purse, they aren't in the shop, but if you are interested in something like this just let me know!

An Izzy Purse

A Coupon Clutch

I better get to work...have a great day!

Not so Wordless Wednesday!

Not particularly wordy, but definitely not wordless.  This is what I was doing 15 years ago today...

Please excuse the really badly scrapped page!  I think this was one of my very first digital pages and I was a little wild with the Atomic Cupcake actions!  Anyway, yes, it's our 15th wedding anniversary today.  I had to get up at 4:45 to go to work, but we were able to go eat lunch.  It would have been nicer if Jake had taken the day off, but things don't always work out.

I worked furiously on accessories yesterday and here are the ones I have managed to take pictures of so far.

Sleeves for a Kindle and a Nook

iPad Sleeves

And since I was working on sleeves and I couldn't resist this pink skull fabric I had to make myself a new Kindle Sleeve.  As you can see it's flipped around, but I am loving it and the pink matches my silicone too.  If you like this look just let me know and I will give you a quote for the flipped/ruffle sleeve.

I also got one Coupon Clutch done and I have 2 more to get done today.  Then I have to get cutting on some bigger bags, but I have to get some more fleece before I can make any big bags.  They are getting it in tomorrow, so I am going to pick some more up when I get off work on Friday morning.  Until then I am going to cut out as many orders as I can so I can be ahead of the game when I do get it.

I just posted a code on my Facebook Page, but you have to grab it quick since it only has 3 uses.  If you aren't a fan, you should be and then you get to hear about all the sales and codes first thing!

Ok, I am going to get back to work.  Have a wonderful day!!