Pieces of My Sister's Life by: Elizabeth Joy Arnold

This was an awesome read!

I couldn't put it down... I ended up reading cover to cover one afternoon by the pool!

Happy Reading!

Night by: Elie Wiesel

I finally finished reading Night by: Elie Wiesel...

Be sure to check out my review...

Happy Reading!!!

Happy Earth Day!!!

Although we have come along way in taking measures to protect our precious earth and make it a much cleaner place to live, we still have much more we can do...

Some ways we can help are to:

1. Drive less, Carpool more, Utilize public transit (especially with rising gas prices!)

2. Reduce the "stuff" you purchase, reuse instead of disposing, and recycle

3. Avoid toxic plastics (primarily Bisphenol A, also known as BPA, and phthalates)

4. Conserve water (fix those leaky faucets!)

5. Buy Organic

6. Compost

7. Tell elected officials the environment really matters to you (don't forget to vote accordingly!)

Together we can and will make a difference!

Today and everyday, be conscious of our Earth!!!

Why is everything shaking & rattling?

I hope everyone is safe and unaffected by this morning's earthquake...

For those of you who shared in this experience... Wasn't it eerie?

I woke up this morning around 4:38am to my bed massively vibrating, paintings rattling on the walls, and the sound of a gang of kids trampling around my second floor! Of course, I jumped out of bed only to find the kids and the dogs still sound asleep and our home still intact! At first I thought it was a tornado until I rushed outside in my pj top and panties (ewww not a pretty sight!) and heard birds chirping and saw no debris thrown about... There were no other neighbors outside (thank goodness!) but at that point, I was seriously wondering if I ate something bad the night before causing me to have an awful nightmare! Sooo... I hurried back inside and turned on the news to see that we just experienced a 5.4 earthquake!!!

Ironically, this exact date in history, 1906 at 5:12am, marks the anniversary of The Great San Francisco Earthquake which still ranks as the most devastating earthquake in CA history as well as US history! Obviously, this earthquake was NOTHING in comparison to the earthquake of 1906... However, isn't it amazing that history really does repeat itself in some way or another?!

Thanks for taking the time to visit... Take care of you!

Happy Easter!!!

Unfortunately, this is what we are experiencing this cold Easter Morning...

I hope you are experiencing much better weather... Happy Easter to you and yours!!!

Happy Spring!!!

March 20th was officially the first day of spring!!!

Thursday & Friday looked and felt like spring...

Kids on spring break, Parks filled to capacity,

Coats washed and packed away until next winter...

NOT!!!

Ugh! We brought the coats back out on Saturday...

Did you know???

So make time for you & CRAFT!!!

I would love to see your creativity!!! Sooo... Through the end of March, on the next 3 Fridays, I will send a rak to everyone who posts a link to a craft project or scrapbook layout they have completed...

Thanks for taking the time to visit... Take care of you!

I Believe there are Angels Among Us...

Sooo... I was perusing the blogs on my very long list and came across this post by Lisa Bearnson...

"...Okay--so here's a gal who needs our support. Nadine is a lovely mother of
three boys who is an AVID scrapbooker and wonderful mom. On January 22nd, 2008, her youngest son, two-year-old Nate, tragically died in a freak accident. Despite this horrible lose and the overwhelming sadness it brought, Nadine has reached out to others to comfort them in their trials and hard times. One of my friends told me about a hard situation she was going through and how Nadine reached out to her. I was deeply touched. I have been in contact with Nadine and have been amazed how she and her husband have chosen to live life with love, forgiveness and kindness, rather than bitterness and hostility. It has been a privilege to get to know her and call her friend.Nadine loves homemade cards and handwritten sentiments. Let's shower her with cards and let her know that scrapbookers around the world are thinking of her and her family. The two-month anniversary of Nate's death will be March 22nd. Try to send your card before or around this date. Nadine doesn't know what we're doing but has given me permission to post her address:Nadine Fenchak, 7422 Brookwood Avenue, Baltimore MD 21236..."

Please take the time to send a card to Nadine... If you are strapped for time, as many of us are, and cannot create a card for her or if you are not a "card maker", please take the time to purchase a card while you're at the grocery store this weekend. Afterall, it is super quick and lots of fun to embellish a store bought card!

Thanks for taking the time to visit... Take care of you!

Itty Bitty Magnets Project

This is my take on Amy's Itty-Bitty Frig Magnets...

These were super fun and easy to make!!! I should have made tons more as I now have a ginormous supply of clear glass pebbles... If you want to try this project or if you just need some of these gems to add to your stash, send me your snail mail addy and I will get them right out to you as happy mail from me to you! My email addy is: creationsbydeanna@sbcglobal.net

Thanks for taking the time to visit... Take care of you!

Don't ya just love Happy Mail???

I got happy mail from Jen McGuire!!!

Aren't these embellishments the cutest?!!

Thanks Jen!!!

The Choice by: Nicholas Sparks

With a box of Kleenex in my lap and a glass of wine close by, I finished reading The Choice by: Nicholas Sparks... Read my review here.

Do you have duplicate stickers and/or stickers that you aren't going to use?

If you are like me, you love to help anyone and everyone within your reach! I read about this on Dianna's blog, which lead me to Lisa Bearnson's Blog. I couldn't help from diving head first into my sticker collection, pack a large envelope and put it in my mailbox to send to Brian in the morning! Please take a few minutes of your time to help make Brian's Valentine's Day a sheer delight!

Silly Girls

This is the right side of my Silly Girls layout...
The journaling is on the large tag (7 1/2 x 7 1/2) tucked behind the photo.

30-Minute Thursday Challenge #5

This is my layout for Lain Ehmann's 30-Minute Thursday Challenge (currently hosted by Jen McGuire). For this week's challenge, we were to use something from our stash that we think is ugly and wonder why we bought it, even though it was on clearance. I seriously thought it was going to be impossible to find something in my stash to complete this challenge! Why on earth would I purchase something that was ugly? Well... I'm always up for a challenge so I started digging and digging and when I was almost to China, tada! I came across these letters! EWWW! The color is NASTY!!! Like something I would find in my niece's dirty panties! Sooo... The hunt was on to find pp that would somewhat match these grotesque things! EWWW! What was I thinking when I purchased this paper? Sooo... Add some pink and a few embellies and viola! 30 minutes later my challenge was complete!

Super Bowl XLII

NE Patriots: 14 ...... NY Giants: 17

Wow!!! Exciting game last night!!! I have to admit that I have no loyalty to the Patriots nor the Giants, however I was hoping that the Patriots would pull off a win to upset the record that the 1972 Dolphins currently hold for being the only NFL team with a perfect season... I was NEVER a Dolphins fan and was shocked by all of the smack they were talking. Petty, huh?! Speaking of Petty, what did you think about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers? We thought they were pretty awesome! I was singing, dancing and reminiscing with each nostalgic tune they performed while my daughters just laughed and rolled their eyes in embarrassment! Anyway, on to the best part of the Super Bowl... The commercials, of course! I actually had two favorites... ETrade and AMP! The ETrade commercial with the talking baby was too cute for words! While the AMP commercial with the guy who gave a lady's dead car battery a charge was an absolute hoot!