I am crossing all crossable limbs in hopes of getting some snow tonight! It’s still a couple degrees too warm but the King5 weather man just got my hopes up.

A perfect time to scrapbook our only snow photos so far here in Redmond :)

I planned this layout last week for Thirty-Minute Thursday (using a pre-printed tag), but I am just so behind on everything right now. Getting our Christmas cards together will be my first priority tonight – this will be the first year I make and, ahem, actually send homemade cards. I’m feeling the pressure :o)

We had absolutely amazing weather this weekend, cold, clear and crisp, so we took Bobs up Tiger Mountain to Poo Poo Point where the paragliders (or are they hanggliders? Bah, what do I know) launch…and once again I was reminded of the horrendous shape I am in. What little bit of stamina I had built up before I left for Norway has been all but negated by two months of a spud-like existence. I guess I have to add regular exercise to the de-cluttering list…my arteries will thank me for clearing away the crap!

Anyway, I ended up getting a migraine like I often do after my pulse has been high (it doesn’t even have to be after exercise – in high school I actually got a migraine because my heart was racing while I was waiting to get my term paper back (I got an A but the migraine lasted for days) – I guess it must have something to do with vasodilation?), so I have spent all day today on the couch. I am very woozy and very grumpy. Hrmf.

Conclusion: a great little hike that would be so much better if I wasn’t gasping for breath the entire time.

…is that it’s socially acceptable to start hanging your Christmas decorations ridiculously early! :D In Norway my family would wait until a couple of days before Christmas Eve to get the tree up, but here people have started doing it already! After nagging JK about it for a couple of days, he finally agreed that we should get our tree and all our other stuff up once we’ve finished de-cluttering (which is taking fricking forever by the way) and cleaning the house. We cleared our little garden up for winter today, so I went ahead and hung the wreath and put our Christmas squirrels (lol) on the porch. I also made a new blog header (heh, I didn’t have any good Christmasy photos so you’ll have to stare at last year’s dinner until I find something better) and forced Bobs to wear a Santa hat (see sidebar ->) to get started with the decorations :o)

I am really looking forward to Christmas this year! Last December was completely insane because we were moving into the house and then went without power for a week after the windstorm and bla bla bla, but now this truly feels like our home…and my family is coming over from Norway to celebrate with us!

Speaking of holidays, we spent Thanksgiving at Andre & Ellie’s place with a bunch of friends…and I experienced my first food coma. It was worth it though: “cream” of broccoli soup, vegan Field Roast, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato soufflé (mmm I am so making that for Christmas), green bean casserole, homemade bread and cornbread muffins, Tofurkey gravy (that stuff is so good) and Toby’s apple pie. That’s a lot of food.

The best part was just hanging out with everyone and knowing we had a long weekend ahead of us :)

I’m just popping in to a) thank you guys so much for all the comments! You’re the best! and b) ask if there’s anyone else like me out there, because this is driving me crazy – I am only creative about ten minutes each day. I’m serious. And those ten minutes happen to be the ones right before I fall asleep. I’ll be dozing off and then suddenly *pop* I’ll get an idea…and if I don’t write it down immediately, it’s gone forever.

So I always have to keep a notebook on my nightstand where I can jot down whatever thoughts pop into my head. 98% of my ideas for sketches, layout themes, color combinations and journaling come from this book:

I think this is why I’m so unproductive at crops when I have to come up with ideas on the spot. I guess I should copy my sketches to a more portable notebook I can bring with me…

Anyway, I should go to bed now (and eagerly await my ten minutes of creativity), so I’ll finish with a layout about JK. Just because he’s been an extra good husband today :o)

(Note how I’ve stapled the flowers for added masculinity. Heh.)

…and now I don’t have to anymore! I’ve been ready to burst for so long now and it feels great to finally get to tell people :D

I, along with Allison Davis, CD Muckosky, Emily Falconbridge, Emily Magleby, Jill Hornby, Tiffany Tillman, Kelly Purkey, Maggie Holmes, and Amanda Probst (I must admit I went through some stage fright-issues when I saw that list of names…eep!) had the honor of being asked to join Creating Keepsakes magazine’s new creative team!

*dancing a happy jig around the house*