10 Things on the 10th

Here we are again...how did that month go by so quickly? Well, it's July and I'm a major road cycling fan. Put those things together and what do you get? Road cycling's biggest race of the year: Le Tour de France. Every year I marvel at the courage and strength of the 198 riders participating; I drool over the gorgeous scenery and write down places I want to visit; and I hold my breath and bite my fingernails through the crashes.
 So, fittingly, my ten things this month are:

10 men I'm watching sweat through the month of July:

1. Thor Hushovd   This man is having a completely amazing tour this year. Incredible! I'm still in awe of what he's accomplished this first week.
2. Mark Cavendish  The fastest man on two wheels. Incredibly exciting to watch.
3. Tyler Farrar   Arguably the best sprinter in American history now. Rival of Cavendish. Can't help but want him to win...
4. Cadel Evans     A favorite of mine for years. He's finally got a good team behind him. I really hope this is is year!
5. Andy Schleck   He was denied last year. Let the fireworks begin!
6. George Hincapie  16th Tour this year. 16!!! Unfathomable the strength and determination that takes...
7. Tejay Van Garderen  Young, talented American. Can't wait to see how he comes along!
8. Alberto Contador. Don't like him. Don't want to watch him...but I don't have much choice as he's a major contendor and they won't stop talking about him!!!
9. Levi Leipheimer He had an amazing Tour of California and Tour de Suisse...but he's been unlucky the past week and lost time due to crashes. I hope he can pull back into the mix.
10. Andreas Kloden The enigma of the peloton and RadioShack's last, best hope. When he's on form, he's amazing.

Any other cycling fans out there?? Who are you watching?

 This is part of Shimelle's 10 Things project...see more 10 Things here.

Alphanumeric Blog Hop

Hop day is here! Hi friends and hoppers!!  I'm very excited to be a part of this fun celebration of letters and numbers and, through them, life...

If you haven't ever hopped before here's a quick orientation: in a blog hop, a number of bloggers get together to blog about something similar. Each blogger's post in linked to the next one in the list forming a circle of blogs that you then 'hop' through. Our fearless leaader, Mel, is the official beginning of the hop but you can start from here too...just hop along until you hop right back here.

Feel like taking a little trip? This adventure will take you on an international tour all over the blogworld! Mel has a giveaway on her blog so pull up a comfy chair and visit everyone on the hop.

 I had fun thinking about this hop and what to make...and it has actually inspired me to a new project:
  Alpha-Family Favorites! I'm really quite excited about this... I thought it would be really fun to have a visual representation of things we love that start with each letter of the alphabet. A learning tool for the kiddos, a decorative element, and a way to preserve a piece of who we are right now - all in one!
 I'm going to work my way through the alphabet which may take awhile since I think one a week is a bit too ambitious. It will probably be more like one a month (laughing...) - which gives me two years worth of projects in front of me! (go ahead, you can laugh too!)
Here's my first entry - and, oh yeah, I'm not going to go in order! It will just have to be as whimsy leads me:

It's a big monogram letter that I picked up from the craft store. Isn't it cool?! It also hangs on the wall:

And here's a little chart so that you can interpret our favorites...

Mama's favorite: Quiet time!
Daddy's favorite: a Quirky mama...I'm the one on the left and, yes, it was my idea to put on the wigs from our sons' Halloween costumes!
Big Brother's favorite: "Look, Mama, I can go Quickly!!"
Little Brother's favorite: the sound "Quack"   He looooves Mama's green duck-tape sweatshirt...he laughs like anything when I pat the duck and say "quack, quack!!"
...and a family favorite food: Quesadilla. Yum!

Ready to continue your adventure? Next stop on the hop is Jeant-Jinnag! Have fun and thanks for visiting.

  If you get lost or don't feel like going in 'order', here's a list of everyone on the hop: (happy hopping to all!)

I Speak Melsh
BE Glorious
Captured On Film
Chatty Crafty Arty Pig
Creating Room
Curiouser and Curiouser
Daily Life - Bits and Pieces
Deb's World
Den's Crafty Diary
From High In The Sky
Gallo Organico
Ginger's Life Of Spice
Handmade By Kirsty
Havoc and Mayhem
Heather's Scraps
Helena's Creative Maven
Holaday's Happy Hearts
Jeant-Jinnag
Just Jimjams
K's Crafty Corner
Life...As I See It
{Life Behind The Purple Door}
Lisa E Design Blog
Living Life One Blessing At A Time
Mary's Musings
Michelle Loves...
Obstinate Pursuit
Over At Our Place
Paper Turtle
Peonies and Pennies
Random Reflections
Rosalind Revival
Scrap Dreams
Scrappyjacky
Scrapworthy Lives
Staring At The Sea
Surefiredaisy Says
This Kalil Life
This Little Life Of Mine
Xnomads' Blog

Note: If any of the posts aren't up yet, please bear with us - the different time zones and the peculiarity of blogging platforms when it comes to autoposts may mean that one or two posts don't appear on time! If that's the case, come back to this list to pick up from the next blog, but do please pop back and try the other link later, when the post should be there for your enjoyment.

Coming to a Blog near you....

Get ready! It's on its way!!

Soon, soon, soon...stay tuned!

Still Resolved?

Here's a little update on the progress I'm making with my 52-layout resolution...
  Apparently I am feeling the need for a little spring (even though it's still in the 20s here at night - ugh!). Both of the layouts I have to share with you have spring green with a bit of yellow or orange!
 Here's the one-month-old layout for my sugar-punkin's baby album. Seriously - I love this layout...am I really going to put it in his book (instead of mine)?? Only time will tell...

 

This one is for my family album - finally getting around to scrapping the professional pics we had taken of my now big 4-year old when he was just 18 months. I particularly like the accents on this page. They're fun and so 'boy'. The journaling spot in the upper right says "pocket contents". Ha! Love it!

So, that puts me at layouts #15 & 16!! I'm actually ahead of schedule! I even have more to share from my recent weekend getaway; they just aren't photographed yet. Wow - it's fun to count my layouts!

 Do you have a scrapbook (dare I say it??) goal? Or maybe just an average rate of completion at the moment? I never put production over artistry or enjoyment, but I'm having quite a good time track of how much I'm doing...so fun to watch the albums grow!

Spring Things!

Look at me! I'm posting again already!

Don't get too used to it...truth be told, I just couldn't resist today's prompt in my Blogging for Scrapbookers class. Who doesn't want to share some of their favorite things??

Since I'm completely, utterly tired of winter and I feel that spring is finally in the air, I have chosen to share 5 things I love about spring:

The first green, growing things in my garden...

 I love receive my White Flower Farm catalog every spring. I thumb through the pages drooling over pictures of gorgeous flowers and dreaming of what plants to buy for my garden this year.

Long walks:

I just bought brand new spiffy shoes for my walks! I had foot surgery in December and the recovery was much harder than I anticipated. My favorite store to go to for athletic shoes is Fleet Feet Sports. They have the best customer service...and in-shop doggie friends!!
 

 Cherry Blossoms!

I love, love, love that the cherry blossoms around the tidal basin in D.C. always are at peak bloom right around my birthday!!
Read about the Cherry Blossom Festival here.


Next fav: Time to ditch the jackets! Gearing up in spring attire: sunglasses, hats, and smiles!!

 

And finally...azaleas!

 Ah, nostalgia...the azaleas bloomed early last year and I posted all about it. Read more here.

I also want to add that one of my very first blogs posts was about some favorite things and it was complete with a layout...if you'd like to see it, go here.

What do you love about spring?

So Classy!

Awhile ago, just before I started this blog, a I took a class called 'Blogging for Scrapbookers' through Shimelle Laine at shimelle.com. I read the prompts and skimmed the boards but I was really at the beginning of my blog journey so I was mainly focused on setting up my blog and getting started.

Shimelle is no running the class again and I'm hopping on. I'm pretty excited about it! I want to shout out here to any classmates that may come by... welcome to my blog! Also, any of my current scrappy blogging friends & followers who may be interested, go check the class out. It's not too late to get in on the fun!


Here's a little bit about me for those I haven't met yet...

I do the mom thing all day long (2 boys: 4 year-old & 10 month-old), I'm a free-lance symphony musician by night (I play viola), and I also attempt to fit in a few workshops and crops as a part of my independent consultant business with a U.S. based scrapbooking company. Needless to say, the few quiet moments I have are often multitasking...









So, while I'm planning to do a bit more than I did last time I took the class, I still will most likely be completing only the 'Little to No Time' options for the class. I don't blog every day - I try to post at least once a week, twice in a good week. I am making my goal for this class: to post three times a week.

Shimelle has 10 reasons to join the class posted on her blog and I will say that several of them are precisely why I want to take the class again...

Here is what I'd like to get out of my participation this time.
* I want my blog to be "reading material that captures your emotions"
* I want to keep in touch with friends and family far away. I would love to get them "involved so they communicate with [me] too, even if blogging isn’t for them."
* I want to make new friends! "Our class is filled with people who love the exact same thing you do: scrapbooking! And they all blog too..." I'd love input and inspiration from new scrappy/bloggy friends! I plan to go blog reading as much as I can in the next few weeks.

Additionally, one thing I really want to work out is how to balance my desire to be relevant and creatively helpful to current and prospective customers with my love of writing, scrapping, and sharing my personal stories.

Alrighty then, here we go!!!

Now I'm off to read some other blogs...