The Preppy Strawberry

Hello 2012....

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 03:41:00 +0000

First, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!!!

I don't know about you but I'm so ready to put 2011 behind me!! What a year this has been for me!! There were way too many ups and downs the past few years I'm really ready for a great year!

A recap of 2011 ....

Positive Happenings of 2011

I finally got a job .. might be part time but in today's economy I'm not complaining
Lilly started Kindergarten!! I can't believe my baby is half way through her school year!! What happened to my baby?
I finally found a doctor to figure out what was wrong with me.... Spent the past year trying to get my thyroid working. It's still a struggle but so thankful we found it and I can finally start to feel like myself again!!!

Things I wish 2011 allowed me to do

wish my job wasn't so crazy that I had more time to spending on my blog
2012 - I'm getting back to doing what makes me happy and living my life again!!
starting a craft and bunco club - these things make me smile!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!!!!

See you in 2012!!!

Blogger iPhone app...

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 01:13:00 +0000

The other day on my last post it was supposed to read - What is your elf up to? But when I used the iPhone app for blogger it some how changed it to

What's your elf up to?

What's up with that? Anyone else use the iphone blogger app? I was trying it out the other day because I was without my laptop and posted during my break at work?

When you type the subject in it looks correct but as soon as you hit post it turns all funky? Anyone else have this issue?

So this is just to say I wasn't crazy for that last post title - it was an issue with the blogger app!!

Happy Saturday Everyone!!

What's your elf up to?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:10:00 +0000

This is our second year of doing elf on the shelf. I start it on Black Friday... I mean why not start it on Black Friday? Since the early 2000 Black Friday has become the start to the holiday craze! So why not kick off elf on the shelf?

Last year, Linus was a boring elf on the shelf... Find him in our tree, the mantle in living room, hanging from kitchen curtains, playroom mantle, ok now repeat all of the above. This year he's a little adventurous and playing games? Hehe... Here's what he's been up to the past few days at our house......

We found him swinging from the lamp? Today we found him hanging on the door knob to her room!!

Wonder where we will find Linus tomorrow?

What is your elf up to this holiday?

What is your elf up to?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:35:00 +0000

You can read about Linus's arrival 2010 .....

Well Linus made his first appearance this weekend and boy what a SURPRISE it was! It was a video moment that was not caught on video! Lilly was so excited that Linus was back she was almost speechless Saturday morning! So far, our Elf was on the stair railing, in the candy jar, and then today was sitting in Lilly's chair. Today, Linus was in Lilly's chair - this was to give her a time out of the chair. All weekend she was rocking in it, pushing the back down - you know doing all of the things you shouldn't do to the chair. So after both of us yelling at her all day about the chair I decided that's where Linus will sit all day. Boy what a bummer, she couldn't move him to sit in and she was mad he was in the chair! It was comical but I told her he must have heard her all day getting in trouble and Santa sent him back to sit in the chair! lol

The Grinch joined Linus - Lilly said it was so the Elf's magic would rub off on the grinch! lol

Wonder what Linus will be up to tomorrow?

What is your elf to this Christmas Season?

What is a Kindergartner Thankful for....

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:25:00 +0000

Last year, we made this Thankful Turkey and every day we wrote what Lilly was thankful for ... It was such a fun family project. This year, Lilly asked me when we were going to do our Turkey again? This year because of the crazy schedules we took some time out on Thanksgiving morning to sit down and work on our Thankful Turkey. We did one together - brown turkey and then while I was getting ready she did the purple turkey. She asked for help writing her "thankful" thoughts. This year Daddy helped out and this is what a kindergartner is thankful for...

1) School
2) food on the table
3) Justin Bieber (yes, you are really reading Justin Bieber!!! And I can't believe Dad actually wrote it!!) LOL
4) Family
5) Friends

Notice on Purple turkey - she wrote school and Justin Bieber! lol

These are the things that you save and pull out when they are teenagers and have a few good laughs!

A time to be Thankful

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:34:00 +0000

This past year, I have a lot to be thankful for and I hope that all of you have had Happy Thanksgiving! This year, I am thankful for my 2 part time jobs, my daughters successful first 9 weeks of Kindergarten and that she loves every minute of school, for a roof over our heads, food on our table, and that all of us continue to remain healthy. We've had a rough few years and continue to push over obstacles but at the end of the day I am thankful for all of the support we have received from family and friends.

With so much to be thankful for this year for my December wish list I wish for more time in the day and an extra day every weekend! As, I juggle every day my two job schedules, Lilly's activity schedule, the family dinner calendar, and trying to keep sane the one thing that I think about daily is how much I loved the blogging community the two years I spend I laid off from work.

As, 2011 comes to an end and we get through the holidays and my husbands shoulder surgery I am working to get back to the things that I enjoy! One, working the blogging and social media back into my world, getting back to my spinning class, continue to work on the website and again working towards the goal of only working for myself one day.

It puts a smile on my face when I log in and still see my google followers even though I haven't been posting on a regular basis. ;)

Thank you
Amy

Pet Peeves

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 17:48:00 +0000

I have to add this quick post about pet peeves. This afternoon after we got home from the pumpkin patch, I logged into blogger to make some updates and what did I see on my post from last night?!! OMG, I used the wrong word for what I was talking about!! I hate when things are misspelled and or the wrong English word is used and what did I do last night? Well exactly that I used the wrong word!!! What I meant to say was write spelled WRITE but instead I used the word right. I'm writing this to apologize for my error because when I saw my mistake I couldn't edit the page fast enough!! LOL So today, I poke fun at myself for my grammatical error. Guess that's what I get for posting after a very long day ;)

I hope everyone is having a great Sunday! Ohio is experience a beautiful fall weekend unlike last weekends non stop rain and cold so we are out enjoying the weekend!! ;)

Hello my friends .....

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 04:23:00 +0000

I can't believe how long its been since I sat down to write a post? Believe me I thought about it more times than I actually found the time to write! There have been some things that have come up personally that have taken me away from doing what I really enjoy doing but it's now I realize I need to find time for me and what I enjoy. I started this blog at time in my life when I lost a job that was apart of my life for over 8 years. This was the place I came to every day to read other blogs and share my every day life and my love for crafts and parties.

So many things have happened since my last post - my daughter is now a kindergartner!! So amazing how fast five years fly right by me! We are now well into a full month of school and just amazing how quickly that gap between preschool and kindergarten closes and much she has changed. For those of you with young ones - cherish every last day!! They grow up way too fast!!

First day of school pictures the bottom one of her pouting because the bus was taking way tooo long!! A month later we are down to that last minute possible for making the bus. The first week she was out there 20 min before she needed to be waiting. How quickly things change? ;)

In late April I took a new PT job and it has become more than a PT job and by the end of the day my gears switch to being dance taxi driver, daisy troop, and being on a scheduled bed time routine. I still only work PT but the job itself is not turning out to be part time responsibilities. A little frustrating but in today's job market I'm not going to complain too much about it .. definitely not a career choice but it's an income The bus comes at 7:30 am and this means for a very early morning for a 5 year old!

I'm working on several new projects and one of them is to return to blogging and reading the blogs I follow.

Thank you for sticking by and hanging out while I took a little leave from blog land. I look forward to catching up on what's been going on in the blogging world!

~ Amy

I need a clone

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:53:00 +0000

Is it wrong to wish I had a clone? I've been back to work PT (33 hours) a week but my world has been turned upside down! I now no longer to preschool drop off and I'm working three 11 hour days and some days a 1/2 day on Thursday's. Which by Thursday afternoon my house looks like a tornado whipped through it, dog hair on the wood floors <--which this right here makes me crazy!! My basement laundry shoot is overflowing and all I want to do is sit down and cry! These are days I wish someone did all of the above for me so I could just come home and relax with the family! Notice, I haven't even talked about the upstairs because that will just put me over the edge!! I'm one who likes a house picked up and cleaned and things put away. I do realize that with a kid my house isn't going to be that picture perfect magazine shoot! But how relaxing that would be to come home to a clean house every night!! ;) Along with this new job I'm still crafting and working on new projects but honestly most days I'm just exhausted and planning for the next day which is why there has been a lack of postings on my blog! I love blogging and I love meeting new friends through the blogging world. I miss blogging and one of my goals for this summer is to find a balance between my work schedule, family life, to get back to blogging on a regular basis. When I lost my FT job in 2009, I started blogging and it helped me cope with a lot of personal things I had going on in my life and well still do. It gave me something positive to do and some days I made into my job! I'm that person that can not sit still and I'm always busy doing something or volunteering at school or church.

Lots of things have happened since I last posted including we had our first visit from the tooth fairy!!! Yes, very unexpectedly one Saturday night as Lilly had an accident and she knocked out on of her front teeth! As you can see from her new smile below. This story might make a good idea for another post of one of those mom moments that you will never be prepared for!!

Isnt' her new smile cute!!! It's bitter sweet because she is no longer my baby but my little girl who is approaching that next stage and entering Kindergarten in the fall!!! {insert tears}

Happy Friday Everyone!!

A little of what I've been up to!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:53:00 +0000

Well - didn't Easter just fly right by me! Where is this year going? So I'm a little late with my next post. I had all good intentions of my earth day / easter cookie post for last Friday and well that didn't happen! I started my new sales job last week and juggle all my other projects and then the holiday everything just flew right by me. I am going to post my earth day /easter post next but thought I would share with you first what I've been organizing along with working. I was told I was receiving some marketing supplies and then this arrived....

My supplies arrived on a palette! Delivered to the back of my house! I got a call the one day while working from the truck driver and he wanted to know if he could get a semi truck into my neighborhood? I'm like really? I said no because this week my neighbors were having work done on their house so there were extra work trucks on the street. This arrived on a smaller truck the next day - It took me over an hour to get it unwrapped and to the basement. I still have yet to open and organize all of it! You can say I've been a little overwhelmed lately! Once we all get used to the new schedule of all my projects life will run so much smoother! This is how crazy I've been - yesterday Lilly had dance. I worked and Daddy worked from home and I totally forget to tell them to got to DANCE!!! I didn't remember it was Thursday until I was trying to figure out what I needed to do today! Oops!! Oh well, she will go next week!

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter!!!

Easter sneak preview.....

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:35:00 +0000

Things are busy around our house this week with getting ready for Easter and I started my new job today!!

Here is a sneak peak of something's we are up to for Easter this year!

Peep Shirts

This past weekend I made Lilly and my niece Easter Peep shirt to wear to school. You can see Lilly's in the picture above - sorry I forgot to take pictures before she wore it and well now it needs washed before I can take pictures of it!!

Easter Thumb print Cookies
Friday we are making our thumb print easter cookies and I will share the recipe and post pictures later this week ;) This past weekend we started decorating our egg cartons that we recycled and Lilly designed all of the cartons all by herself except for the writing of Happy Easter. Since Easter falls so late this year and Earth day is this week this post will be perfect for both Easter and Earth day -so stay tuned!

Stay tuned...... Easter Cookie recipe post, trip down Bunny Lane, and much more!

Have a great week everyone!!

3 Free Greeting Cards from Tiny Prints!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:38:00 +0000

This was my view the past week ... Amazing to finally see the sun and warm weather!

The Ohio Winter this year seemed to be never ending!!

Hi Everyone!! I know I've been MIA for a few weeks but all with good reason! We ended up taking a last minute vacation to Fripp Isalnd and I also took a new job!! Woo hoo! Lots of new things going on so I sadly neglected my blog but I will be back around!! I've missed the blogging world these past few weeks!! ;)

If you are not a follower of my other blog Lillian Aerin & Co - I just posted a great promotion from Tiny Prints and they are offering a 1 year free greeting card membership and just for signing up you will receive (3) free cards to use now or on a later purchase. This offer expires April 19th and only takes a few minutes to sign up and the cost for you today is $0.00!!!

The Little Evil Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:37:00 +0000

Girl Scout cookies are just EVIL little cookies for any diet! I'm not a huge fan of boxed cookies but there is something about those Girl Scout Cookies that get me every time! My favorite are the samoas or AKA Carmel Delights. I was good this year and bought only 4 boxes - 1) Tagalongs (2) Thin Mint (1) Samoas<--which I ate the whole box myself because I'm the only one who likes coconut in my house! Seriously, why are Girl Scout cookies so EVIL? What is it about these cookies that puts us into mindless overeating? I was a brownie and girl scout and even back in the day when I sold and delivered the cookies I can remember people even then saying well there goes my diet this week! These cookies for years have thrown us off our diets! Thankfully Girl Scout Cookies only happen once a year so it's just about two weeks of mindless delicious cookie eating before we get ourselves back on our diets!

If you are looking to get creative with your box of cookies and make some girl scout cheesecakes or cupcakes, or attempt your hand at making your own in the off season here are some links below to check out for girl scout recipes!

Samoa Girl Scout Cookies - Check out this recipe at A Bicycle Built for Two! ♥YUMMY♥

Girl Scout Cookie Cupcakes - Hoosier homemade shares with us a whole list of ideas using girl scout cookies into a cupcake!

Samoas Cheesecake Bars - Baking Bites shares this fabulous recipe on how to make cheesecake bars!!! - I'm so thankful my box is gone or I would be making these delicious bars!!

I love the idea behind the girl scouts of helping make these young girls more assertive, sales competitive, goal setting, money management, and people skills. So for that cause, I can toss my diet aside for a week and support the girl scouts and enjoy my box of Samoas once a year!

So what are your favorite girl scout cookies?

I'm a Samoa girl all the way :)

What are you giving up?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:40:00 +0000

image from open bible

What are you giving up for lent? I heard this new spin on lent this morning by spinning instructor and he said he doesn't like to give up anything he would much rather focus on doing something that is not part of his daily routine. So for example, maybe you go out of your way to help people - pay it forward, maybe you say an extra prayer each day, maybe you make it point to go to church every Sunday, or maybe you challenge yourself to do something that you are now struggling with? I'm not catholic so the lent season of no meat on Friday's and giving up something for lent has only been something part of my life since I've dated & married my husband. I do like to give up something for Lent as a challenge to focus on what the season is truly about.

After hearing my instructor talk about doing something different that challenges you I think I'm going to give it a try! So my goal is to go to spinning at least 4X's a week instead of my 2 a day funk that I've been in this winter. Not only will this help me with my goals the Dr. has set for me but it will put me in a better mental state of motivating me for the day.

Just recently, I was diagnosed with a Thyroid disease which my body slowly is was destroying my thyroid. Along, with that I also learned I am insulin resistance? I know crazy stuff and a lot of new things that I have to adjust to along with medication and diet. I knew something was not right for a few years (since my pregnancy) but every time they checked my thyroid it was fine? It wasn't until this full thyroid panel and new doctor that all of this was discovered. Now all making sense as to why I could put weight on for just eating iceberg lettuce for a week! Just kidding I never did that but for 3 months of spinning 3-5 days a week and I maybe lost 1 pound I knew something was not right. Along with of this I need to maintain a healthy diet and a I need to work out to help my body function better so me pushing myself for lent for the 2 extra days is just what I need right now.

So what are you giving up for lent?

Dinner Time or Supper Time?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:04:00 +0000

Do you call it dinner time or supper time? I remember as a kid my mom and grandma calling it supper time? Just curious if anyone still calls it supper time? In our house today, we refer to it as dinner time. I find it interesting how there are different names for the same things and it just depends on where in the states you grew up. For example: I'm from Oh about 5 min from PA border but I lived in Cincinnati and Cleveland during college and after college and everyone said I had an accent?! Really, I only thought people from NY and the south had accents? It is interesting to see how even in my state how people call things by different names - When I met my husband and we were living in Cleveland our first trip to the grocery store while dating I said to him - hey grab a buggy?! He stopped and looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language? he goes a buggy? Yeah, what do you call them? he goes a cart? Okay, maybe a shopping cart? Fine, grab a cart! lol Same goes for soda and pop in our house. I call it pop and he calls it soda- I grew up in Northeast Ohio and he grew up in West Ohio and they call it soda. Lilly takes after her Mom and calls it pop and is slowly trying to convert her Dad to the "pop" world. Just for the record - my daughter hates pop and will not try it - Yeah for her! I hope she never becomes an avid pop or Diet Coke addicted like her mother!

Well onto tonights dinner recipe - I was just going to share the recipe but when I was searching for a title it got me thinking about all the different terms we can have for something.

Tonight, we had one of our go to dishes Beer Bread topped hamburger hot dish! Have you ever tried the bountiful beer bread from Tastefully Simple? If you haven't you are missing out on some amazing bread! It's so easy to make you add 1 can of beer, beer bread mix and butter! Anyway, this is a casserole dish that you use ground beef , tomato sauce, and some tastefully simple seasonings topped with beer bread! So Yummy!

Print This Recipe | Close Window

Beer Bread Topped Hamburger Hotdish
Submitted by Kristy Horvath (MN)

Ingredients
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp. Seasoned Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Garlic Garlic™
15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 sliced medium zucchini
Bountiful Beer Bread Mix^®
1 large chopped tomato
12 oz. can beer
1 Tbsp. Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix

Directions
Saute ground beef and onion in large skillet until ground beef is no longer pink; add next 3 ingredients. Place zucchini, beef mixture and tomatoes in greased 9 x 13 casserole. Combine Bountiful Beer Bread Mix^® and beer; stir to blend. Dollop batter on top of hotdish; spread evenly. Sprinkle with Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix. Bake at 350° for approximately 35 minutes or until bread is golden brown. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Makes 8-10 servings.

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:40:00 +0000

I love when kids draw pictures of themselves or their families - This is Lilly's drawing of her family. I love how she even wrote our first names ... Guess they were shorter than Mommy and Daddy!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:54:00 +0000

Here in North East Ohio we got hit with snow storm on Monday night that left behind about 8"inches of fluffy white snow! We went from warm weather on Friday - 60 degrees to 8"inches of snow on Monday night! I mean it is February and we live in Ohio so the 60 day was just a tease ... come on we can't expect 60 degree days for at least another 6 weeks! For some fun in the snow, I filled a water bottle up with some water and food coloring .... I had the happiest 4 1/2 year old yesterday! What a blast she had painting the snow!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Wednesday!!

Toy Story Inspired Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:20:00 +0000

I just posted over at Lillian Aerin & Co details about Toy Story 3 party I did this past weekend. Stop by and check it out and don't forget to follow Lillian Aerin & Co blog!

Happy Monday everyone!!!

♥♥ Happy Valentines Day ♥♥

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:23:00 +0000

Love is in the air today! Happy Valentines Day to all of you! No, special plans here today. Actually, for me it's going to be uneventful and non romantic day. I know - sad Huh? It's okay, just happens to be one of those Mondays! My only Valentine's day enjoyment I will have this year is seeing Lilly all excited for her party at school today. Unless, my husband has something up his sleeve that I haven't caught onto yet? ;) Otherwise, my day will be made of waiting for the insurance agent to come look at my SUV, a trip to the Dr.'s, and then playing Mom taxi this afternoon! I'm curious- what are you doing today? Do you celebrate Valentines day - if so what are your big plans?

A quick weekend recap in pictures - Above is the back side to Lilly's Valentine Day box and below with the picture is her front side to her box. I picked up a paper mache purse up at my one of my favorite stores--> Joann's. I had all intentions of whipping up her box myself but when you are dealing with the attention of a 4-1/2 year old on a project I went for simple. I figured this would take less time and she would be more involved with creating her own Valentine's Day box. and it worked out perfect!

front side to the Valentine's Day Box

Last night, I found a hot pink shirt I bought on clearance at Target and whipped up a Valentine's Day T-shirt for her to wear to school today. Since, I started this project after 9pm last night I forgot to take step by step pictures! Stay tuned for a step by step DIY tutorial in the next few weeks.

Lilly loves the "L" in her name so it started out going to say LOVE but I forgot to flip the pattern- so I went back to the drawing board and settled with just an "L"

♥♥ Happy Valentine's Day!! ♥♥

Facebook Fan Page

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:22:00 +0000

Amy Nordgren likes

The Preppy Strawberry

Create your Like Badge

Do you have a facebook account? If you have a blog or business do you have a fan page? I know when I created my FB page for my business over a year ago - it was pretty confusing! I pretty much stumbled my way around facebook to create my fan page. In the past, Facebook didn't make it easy for us to find these links to create the fan pages. Below is a step by step guide on how to create your own facebook page for your blog or business.

1) First off - you need a facebook account. If you do not have a facebook page for yourself you will need to create an account. start here

2) Creating your Fan Page- Click Here to create a new page

3) Next choose a category - brand, organization, or product. From here you will then select Website

4) On Next Page you will enter this name - This is where you will enter your blogs name.

5.) Select CREATE PAGE

6) Now you are ready to customize your page - First you will need to select an image for your FB page profile. I would suggest using your blog button for this or if you have been using a picture of yourself. I would recommend using that familiar icon that your readers associate with your blog.

7) Uploading your picture - mouse over the ? and you will see an "change picture" link - click on this to upload that new picture.

8) Next you will want to add "info" about your blog - be sure to include your blogs address, twitter info, email info in this section.

9.) You will want to add a short bio about your blog so readers that are just finding you on FB will have a brief overview of what your blog is about.

10.) Import your RSS Feed - This will make your life easy! By importing your RSS feed it will automatically post over to your FB account every time you make a new post on your blog!! Go to the left side bar and under your profile picture select EDIT PAGE

11). Look down on the page for NOTES and then click EDIT. To the right you will see "IMPORT A BLOG"

12) Next you will need to copy over your RSS feed URL, click the check box, and click “START IMPORTING"
- make sure you check the box below agreeing to the terms.

13) Start IMPORTING your blog

14.) To the right you will see a box - select CONFIRM IMPORT

15) Now you will be back at your Home page - If you haven't already you will notice under your profile picture a small blurb box - be sure to write something about your blog here.

16) NOW "Like" your page!

If you create a new page for your blog come back and leave me a comment and I will be sure to go and "like" your new fan page. Be sure to "like" The Preppy Strawberry on Facebook - you can find me here!

** This post is part of Day 2 of the @ProBlogger #SITSGirls31DBBB challenge

Today you will also find me participating in the following blog hops!

It's a new Year and a new 31DBBB

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:16:00 +0000

Last year, I started the 31 DBBB challenge by the SITS girls and I'm back doing the challenge again! This is a new year and I have lots of new ventures taking place and I figured what better way to keep focused! Here is my post from before and I'm sticking with this one.. for now.

If you are a new follower - Welcome! If you have been a follower - Thank you for sticking around and following me on this blogging journey!

You are now probably wondering what an Elevator pitch is?

Well as Problogger and Wikepdiea define it as

“An elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100– 150 words).” —Wikipedia

Today's task is to write my blogs elevator pitch.

Here is my short:

inspiring others through creativity

Here is my long:

The Preppy Strawberry is a place that I want to inspire women to be creative through my craft projects, recipes, and just a place to find every day inspiration. I want my readers to leave feeling happy and maybe even made them laugh with my sarcasm and that they want to come back and visit each day.

Tag line - this is work in progress but if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them!

** I'm sure I will tweak these throughout the next 31 days but this is a good place to start!

I welcome all feedback and comments - I would love to hear from you my readers.

So my question to you is - What is your Elevator pitch?

Super Bowl Commercials

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:08:00 +0000

First off let me say Congratulations to all of you Green Bay Fans and to me and all of the Steelers Fans - We will be back next year!

‎"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose"

~Bill Cowher~

Another reason so many of us watch the Super Bowl is for all of the entertaining commercials that make there debut during the Super Bowl. If you missed the Super Bowl last night here are a few of my favorite commercials.

A few things that I'm working on this week ....

Valentines Day Card box & Valentines

Pom Pom bracelets for kids

Toy Story 3 Party Details...

And most importantly I'm looking for the cord to my camera charger--- it's still missing!!! I'm getting tired of taking pictures from my blackberry!! I found the base but the cord is still MIA - Oh where oh where can my camera cord be?

Happy Monday Everyone!!!

Going on a Road Trip ....

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:58:00 +0000

Happy Friday!

Tomorrow, I am off to Columbus to visit my sister!! Yippee - I love columbus - mostly all the fun shopping!! So Friday morning Lilly and I are taking a road trip to Columbus!! It's a little over a 2 1/2 drive but to a 4 1/2 year old - Cousin Gracie lives "so so far away"! Since, I will be offline most of the day tomorrow - I've decided to take a little road trip around blogland. Tomorrow, night I'm babysitting my niece and my sisters friends little boy - so once everyone is bed time I will be blog hopping and finding some new fun blogs to follow!

Please visit me on Facebook Or if you are on twitter you can follow me here!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

{Tutorial} Valetine's Day Banner Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:06:00 +0000

Here's a quick fun Valentines Day project you can do in under an hour. I had some left over RED burlap so I decided to make a Valentines Day banner. Follow the steps below to create your very own Valentines Day Banner! If you have any questions please email me or comment and I will help you out!

Happy Crafting!

Supplies:
Burlap - Red or Natural - I just had red on hand but if you have the natural color that will work to! ;)
- amount will depend on what you have your banner says.
Paint - fabric - Red or White - Really any color will do! It's your choice!
Twine or Ribbon - amount will depend on your mantle size and again what your banner says
Paint Brushes -I used a stencil brush
Stencils - I made my LOVE stencil on the cricut and they were about 2 1/2 inches. You can create your own stencils and cut them out from a word doc. <---I've done this before and it just takes a little longer because you have to hand cut your stencils.
Extra Ribbon - Optional - you can tie additional ribbon if you wish

Download Template here

Are you on twitter? Join the conversation and follow me!

Linking up today twitter Tuesday!

My new addiction

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:47:00 +0000

So it was my birthday at the beginning of the month and my husband SURPRISED me with the Color Nook!!

We typically do not buy each other birthday except for something small for Lilly to give us. This year, I was not expecting anything only because we are really trying to watch our budget. But my husband used a bonus to get it <--- boy did he surprise me! ;) I've had my eye on the IPAD, Nook, and some other e-readers but now I'm am the proud owner of a Color Nook. I love the fact it fits right in my purse, I can access the web from any Wi fi location, and I can read my books on it! At first I wasn't sure how i would like reading books on the e-reader but I've found it to be amazing! I love reading books and now I'm addicting to my color nook! My mom gave me a $25.00 GC to Barnes and Noble as part of my birthday gift and well that was spent in a day on my color nook! Not only can I download books for myself but I can download books for Lilly on it. So far we have about 3 books for Lilly on it and well let's just say this has come in handy on are many Dr. visits this month.

Now, I'm waiting patiently for the app store to come available in a few weeks!!

Do you have an e-reader?