Friday Five

TGIF! Gotta say, not a fun week. Let's get right to my random 5 thoughts for the week:

1: It's cold. 


2: Too much snow. 

3: I'm sick. 



4: Because I'm sick, I'm way behind on laundry & cleaning. 


5: When will spring be here?



** disclaimer: I like winter, I really do. However, I also know when enough is enough. Who invented the phrase "polar vortex" anyway?


~ linking up with A Rural Journal & Lauren Elizabeth ~

Friday Five

I could NOT be happier that it's Friday! It's definitely been a rough 2 weeks for me & my family, & I'm trying very hard to get back to some kind of normal around here. A new normal. A life without my beloved grandma. 

Ok, this isn't supposed to be a sad post - it's supposed to be a happy Friday post! Here are my 5 randoms for the week:

(Sorry, for the so-so photos, these are my Instagram photos)

1: It's pretty much looked like this every day for the past 42 days. Winter in Wisconsin, I'm used to it. 

2: Oh wait, the sun came out for about 10 minutes the other day! I took this as I was leaving my subdivision on my way to work & I'm glad I stopped to take it - by the time I got to work it was gone. 

3: Target + Starbucks = HAPPY

4: Sunday I was cleaning the basement & found my Rubbermaid bin of school memories. I had fun posting a bunch of photos on Facebook & reminiscing with school friends. Here is one photo I posted:

How fun that I went to a Rush concert! I love Rush!! However, I have no recollection of this concert. I don't remember who I went with or anything about it. Nobody on Facebook owned up to going with me. I hope I had fun :)

5: Tonight is a dance at my son's grade school. Hmph. WE never had dances when I was in grade school. I'm happy to be going - it's always fun & let's face it, it's as close to a night on the town as I'll get these days. 

~ linking up with A Rural Journal & Lauren Elizabeth ~


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A card and a good-bye

I'm sure you were all waiting with bated breath to see this card that I told you I had made a few weeks ago for a very special someone. So here it is ..... don't everyone bombard me with your gratitude all at once :)

I had found this stamp at Michael's just after Thanksgiving & even though I'm supposed to be selling all my stuff - not buying - I knew I had to have it even if I only made this one card with it. 

As you can see my "photographing red" skills have not improved in the least.

I colored the image with pencils & used lots of that furry glitter stuff & the snow stuff - lots of texture on this baby!

I wanted to keep the rest of the card simple & focus more on the way-too-cute image. 

I found the sentiment that I used inside the card in an old winter SU set - something with snowmen. LOL can you tell I'm too lazy tonight to actually go all the way downstairs & look up the proper names of everything? Anyway, this sentiment was 200% perfect for the card's recipient. 


I made this card for my grandma, along with some Christmas cookies, a couple of weeks before Christmas. I'm so glad I did ~ she was so thrilled & was showing everyone my card & insisting they have a cookie. My grandma, who has been there for me my whole life, who taught me so much (including how to bake cookies) & was truly my best friend, passed away Monday morning after being diagnosed with lung cancer just before Thanksgiving. She was 94 (and a half, she would proudly say) years old. My kids & I are completely devastated & are deep in mourning. The anniversary of my dad's death is in just a few days, so that makes this even harder. In her honor, please call someone dear to you & tell them how much they mean to you. Make someone a card, just because. Hug your kids a little tighter tonight. 

~ rest in peace, Grandma ~ I will always love you ~

Friday Five

TGIF peeps! It's been a few weeks since I participated in the Friday Five party. I've missed it. Here are my randoms:

1: To say it's cold here in Wisconsin would be an understatement. On my way to work today, my car thermometer read -12. That's right, minus 12. That would be twelve BELOW ZERO. And today was balmy compared to what we are expecting on Monday. The high temp will be -3. They've already closed schools pretty much everywhere in our area. We even have a fire going in our fireplace. We rarely do, because I'm terrified of house/ chimney fires. As you can see above, Elwood is quite enjoying this thing called fire. 

2: My son bought a new Ipod Touch last weekend. Guess who got his old one? That's right :)  I'm one happy mama. I do need a new battery for it, & Apple charges $80! Yikes. So .... I'm doing some research. A friend recommended DigiExpress. Not thrilled about sending it away somewhere, possibly never to see it again. We'll see. Meanwhile, you can now find me on Instagram HERE. Needless to say I'm having lots of fun with it, & even more time is being sucked out of my life playing mindless games. 

3: I often go to Starbucks, but I usually get either coffee or a frappuccino. The other day I got a hot chocolate. Oh. My. Word. 

4: I can't remember if I'd mentioned this before, but before I started baking my Xmas cookies this past holiday, I came across this divine invention at Home Goods/ Marshalls:

I hadn't heard of it before, but figured it could only add wonderful things to the flavor of any cookie. Um .... I need more because this bottle is GONE!

5: My kids got a Blu Ray player for Christmas, & Tuesday night we curled up with our hot chocolate & watched the one Blu Ray movie we have ~ Despicable Me 2. Even though we'd seen it in the theater, we laughed like we were watching it for the first time. Those minions crack me UP!!!

~ linking up with A Rural Journal & Lauren Elizabeth ~