in the year 2000.... and 13.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you! :)

well, it's been one crazy busy end of the year... seriously.  eric and i have had some sort of even almost ALL of the weekends... and the week of my birthday, my boss told me that they were moving me to full-time for the next 3 months.  i'm going to work my magic and MAKE them keep me permanently.  but we'll see. i'm just glad i got to have a tiny bit of extra money right before the holidays. :)

so, the whole month of december, i was SWAMPED with christmas cards. last year i made around 32? well, let's double that and that's how many i made this year... 60+ cards. all different too.  i use a lot of stickers (they're simple and quick to do).  i hope to one day start making my own. but for now, they're convenient.  i won't post all of the cards today... but maybe 10 per post till i have posted all of them. we'll see. :)  so here's the first batch. ENJOY! <3

    

this year's cards are SUCH an improvement from last year's. so excited! :)

while also making cards.  i have been HUGE on making a lot of DIY projects.  i made my own Christmas wreath.  i bought everything separate from Target (i'm sure i could have found even more cheaper items elsewhere... but i was already at Target and decided i didn't like the pre-made ones. )  so when i got home, i put them all together.  i ended up with extra pine cones, mini ornaments, and ribbon. and buying all the items separate was $2-$4 more than the already made ones.  so in my eyes that was well worth the few extra bucks.  and not to mention, i was extremely pleased with my outcome...

           

hope everyone enjoyed their New Years. :)

     

i cannot believe the year is almost over....

this has been one exciting and crazy year. i know i say this a lot, but where has the time gone?!?!?!

i can't believe next week is thanksgiving and well, let's just say the last 2 weeks of this month is very important to me. in 4 days it'll be my cousin natalie's birfday, in 5 days, it'll be 5 years since i started dating eric, in 7 days, it'll be thanksgiving (my FAVORITE holiday), in 9 days will be the Welter Christmas party (for those who don't know it's pretty much a family reunion/thanksgiving/christmas all rolled in one on eric's mom's side of the family), and in 15 days it'll be my/aunt stella's/my friend sarah's birfdays. :) so yes, lots of things happen at the end of the month.

i started my christmas card making last week. i am definitely liking what i've made so far.  it's a major improvement (in my eyes) from last year's cards.  but that's also considering that last year was my first set of cards ever.

i have A LOT more cards to make this year.  last year was around 30, this year doubled. so now i have 60+ to make. and i'm going to begin making my christmas gifts here soon.  because i'm on a tighter budget, everyone's going to be getting the same things from me.  but they are craft-made, so i hope everyone enjoys them.

well, that's all for now. unfortunately i won't be posting any pictures of the christmas cards till after christmas. i don't want anyone knowing what they might be getting. but i'll post some of the other cards i've made for other occassions, next post.

ta ta for now. :)

Fall is upon us...

oh the things i can find on the internet.  so, since i have had my thursdays and fridays all to myself, i've been looking up a lot of craft ideas.  i Stumbleupon'ed a couple great ideas.  - just so everyone knows, Stumbleupon is an internet application where you choose your interests (which there are a wide variety) and with just a click of a button, it randomly takes you to a site, based on those interests. so i've come to some great craft websites and blogs.  it's wonderful. my next goal within the next year, is to learn to hand sew, since i don't have a sewing machine. - anyway, that's the gist of it.  so, i will forewarn everybody (mainly the family and close friends) that the following pictures will be what i'll be working on for your guys' christmas gifts.  you're probably not going to be surprised the day you open them anyway (even if i didn't tell you).

anyhoo, the first project was coasters.  it only requires a few simple materials: mod podge, ceramic tiles, cardstock (or whatever paper products you desire like magazine cutouts, wrapping paper, plain colored paper, etc), and felt or cork for the bottom.  here was the result of my first set:

this set will be a gift for eric's mom.  her birthday is today and i wasn't quite sure what to get her or even make her.  i have another set in the process of being made. i might have to switch them out.  not quite sure if the above prints are her style.  i don't know, i'm sure i'll figure it out.

The next project was scarves.  i Stumbleupon'ed a site where they transform old t-shirts into something.  i came across a Stranded Scarf and thought it was beautiful! so i tried it out.  here was the outcome:

this shirt belonged to eric from his first year of college.  he hardly wore it anymore and i wore it for around the house.  this was my only "old" tshirt that we had since i had donated all of mine to make room when i moved down here.  i was very glad of the outcome but i made note to fix a few things.  i might have used too many strands.  i could have easily, and probably should have, turned this into 2 scarves.  either way i enjoyed wearing it.  however, i had to throw this scarf out, because the day i wore it, i went back home to visit mom and some friends.  and i accidently set the scarf on top of one of the gladeplug in air fresheners, except, we didn't have this one plugged in.  it was sitting on top of the shoe shelf and i didn't see it.  sooooooo it STRONGLY smelled of that.  i put in eric's softball bag, hoping 1) it will freshen his bag up and 2) it would take away the smell from the scarf. but nope, it stayed just as strong as before. so, i put it through the washer and dryer. it took SOME of it away, but nope, still smelled strongly.  then i left it in the sun, outside, for a couple weeks. nope that didn't work either. so i gave up and just threw it out.  i had asked eric to buy me a lot of t-shirts from his work (he can get tshirts for as cheap as $1, since they were considered "defective," but not defective enough that someone couldn't wear it.)  so, this too will be a great gift idea. :)

anyways, that's all for now.  i have other projects lined up so i will have to share with you guys as soon as i get to them. 

ps- it's football season... so i have to say... GO BUCKEYES! :) urban nation has begun and has so far done well! :)

a new life...

sooooooo, good evening! :)

it's been a little over a month since my last post.  eric and i are nicely settled in, mostly.

i haven't wanted to kill him yet. so that must be good right? :)

ginger just moved down on sunday.  she was a NERVOUS wreck monday, when we both had to work.  i came home to some broken blinds and scratch marks on the door.  let's just say, she is going through major separation anxiety.  it's wednesday and she seems a little better. she's still panting quite a bit even when she's just laying, sleeping.  she's still got a lot of anxiety in her.  i bought some rawhide bones and a hard bone with filling inside.  hopefully those can help.  who knows. we'll see.

on another note, work has been really busy.  my boss wasn't kidding when she said, no matter how hard i try, i will never catch up.  you'd think credentialing would be easy peasy lemon squeezy.  well actually, for the most part it is.  at least what i've done so far.  i'm sure there will be more difficult tasks in the future for me. but the filling out of applications is what takes the longest. one single application can take up to 2 days to fill out! and some applications are like 20 pgs. long!  other than the i-never-feel-caught-up feeling, work is great! i love the ladies i work with.  they are all so genuinely nice and willing to help!  they are also fun to talk to!

eric and i finally started getting our weekends back.  no more weddings, as far as we know, until next year.  we haven't done much else.

here are some pics of the place, for those who haven't seen yet.

  

Above Left: is the kitchen. i love the size of our window. natural lighting is THE BEST!

Above Right: the day we moved everything else down. all my boxes taking up the living room.

 

Above Left:  BIPPITY BOPPITY BOO! all the boxes are gone!  evertyhing put away.

Above Right: the "dining room" note the kitty roaming around. 

so in the midst of all this...  i manage to make ONE card for eric's grandfather's 83rd birthday :)

I looooooove the gold vellum... but it's most difficult to use with rubber cement glue. the paper is a little too transparent for it. i'll need to figure out how to glue the paper with out the glue showing... hmmm.....

but anywho... more cards will be made, once we i feel 100% settled. it still feels weird not being in the cleveland area anymore. i miss my friends.

[PRESS PLAY BELOW]

 

no pics today, but just an update.....

HELLO HELLO HELLO WORLD! i am back from the deep abyss of moving.  we haven't had internet until today. so, sorry for not being able to update you guys on things.

First off, i'd like to thank all the aunties for everything they have done. i know you guys haven't had any hand in the moving process exactly, but i'd like to thank you for keeping mom company.

So, this past monday, i had my first day of orientation at The Christ Hospital. it was quite boring.  there was a lot of stuff that i felt like will be more appropriate for the on-boarding employees who will have direct contact with patients.  but what do i know, i suppose it's all beneficial in the end if everyone knew what to do in case of a chemical spill, etc.  now, i'm not exactly working inside the hospital's main campus.  i will be at an off-site location just a mile down the road.  the department i will be working in is the credentialing department. the second day was a little more interesting.  i especially loved the Compliance speaker.  he was hilarious and from Boston, i noticed from his heavy accent.  then today was absolutely annoying. we had to do our STAT testing.  we had to read powerpoint slides for 10-12 different subjects and then answer test questions.  if we passed, then well, we passed and got to move on.  if you did not pass, then you had to keep retaking it until you do pass.  then after that, i went to the office building i'll be at and met all the lovely ladies i'll be working with.  there, i will be updating doctor's credentials and enrolling new on-boarding physicians and whatnot.  so it's all a completely new environment for me.  i'm really excited though.  i just found out today too, that i will be working 2 more hours than originally planned. so that's a great thing :) part-time hours are moving on up.  i worked with my boss's boss first hand today, but i didn't really do anything.  i got myself signed up with citrix and that's about it.  she initially had me help her with this project that is time-constrained, but she had one of the more experienced girls do it all, since i'm just too new.  but i guess that's all.

i guess that's all for work.  i've been just busy unpacking, when i'm not there... i feel like everything just happened so quickly! which it did, technically. but it was for the best reason. :)  so far, eric and i haven't wanted to kill each other yet... so we'll see how long this will last.  ;)  no, we're going to be fine. if we beat the odds of a long distance relationship lasting, then i'm sure we'll beat the odds of moving in with each other.

well, that's all for now... gotta go continue unpacking :)

semester over.... soon

So, another close to another semester...  students have their last week of classes and then finals next week. and then commencement the following week.  i swear, time moves too fast. and i have news!

for those of you who i haven't talked to you, but i'm sure you've heard from mom, i'm moving out of cleveland and to cincinnati, with eric.  we have found an apartment for a decent price.  we both have decided, in our relationship, it was about time we move to the next step.  and no, we're not engaged.  you guys would know before reading this, if i was. :)  anywho... here's a link of the apartment complex.  not many pictures, but eric really liked it and knowing him, he wouldn't go for anything that he doesn't remotely like.  here's the link of the complex:  http://www.remingtonplaceapartments.com/cincinnati/remington-place/photos/

i'm really excited about our new adventure and really nervous about moving down without a job.  however, i know if i don't do it now, i might not ever do it ever.  i know i can find some sort of job and i am determined.  either way, i am really excited.

aside from all that, i haven't really done much artsy stuff.  i bought new stuff.  some india ink and lithography pens for sketching.  i used to use these for art class back in AP art, senior year.   and i thought it'd be a great addition to my card making collection.  so we'll see once we settle into the apartment.  when am i going to find time to pack?!

hope all is well... signing off <3

hello friends!

So, it's been a crazy year so far. busy busy busy! as usual.

So many things goin gon and yada yada yada. but i have found time to make some stamps! :)