Come On, Get Happy

Well, I promised my mom that I'd put some pictures on here today, but, um, well, I don't wanna get up and go get my camera - LMBO! Sorry mom. Soon. I'll put them on soon.

Yesterday was a long and busy day. I finished reading New Moon, called all my utilities and cancelled/transfered them (yeah, that took FOREVER), did a little laundry, and started a "do not pack" room. I also chatted my my BFF, Maren. It was WONDERFUL to chat and have some girl talk. I sure miss her :)

I got a few good tips about having the movers come. A few people told me that I should have a cooler stocked with sodas/waters for the movers when they get here. That's a good idea :) People said that if I keep the movers happy, they'll be better with my stuff. Sounds like a sound theory - hehehe.

I'm still wondering how I'm gonna be here to supervise the movers, and be at Ft. Bliss on Fri at 3:30 to sign the lease papers. Hmmmm. I may have to ask someone at church to come "babysit" the movers. Sigh. I really hate to ask for help.

Did you hear that there was a murder/suicide on Ft. Bliss on Saturday? At the PX!!! I was just there. Scary. The husband of a female soldier tracked her down at the PX, and shot her in the head. Then turned the gun on himself. Holy cow! That doesn't make one feel safe!! You know, when the kids and I drove on Post on Sunday, I wondered why there were news crews outside the Post, with reporters and everything. I guess I know now. Dang!

I got to chat with Captain America for quite a while today. I miss that boy! He sounds like he's doing well. He's made a few friends, and caught up with a few people that he knew from the last training. I think the 7-ish weeks will go by fast :) AND, I'm loving texting with my new phone. It has a slide out keyboard, and is SO handy. Texting is fun - hehehe.

This post is becoming quite random, isn't it - ha! My brain has been kinda like that for a bit now. So much to do, so little time, so what do I do? Jump on the computer, surf the net, design, scrap, and read Twilight. Yeah, that's helping the move. hehehe. I guess if it keeps me sane, it's served it's purpose - LOL! OK, I'm really just rambling now, so I'll stop - hehehe

I don't know why I've been making Alphas lately, but they're kinda fun :) I just love the actions from Atomic Cupcake. I bought some a while back, and have been playing around with them. I saw that they're having a sale, 20 credits for $25.00. That's 20 actions for $25.00. I might have to spend a few of my designing $$ on a few new actions :)

Anyway, here's a new alpha that I made last night, and the night before. I MAY be giving it away in the near future.

I made a WordArt out of it for ya! Hope you like it. Click on the link below to go to my accounts to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

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Come, On, Get - CK_Alis_Hand_Official

Worn Alpha

You know what? It was a MUCH better day yesterday. Sometimes, it's all a matter of attitude and perspective :) And a good nights sleep. That'll do wonders - hehehe.

The kids and I listened to General Conference at 10am on the internet. We hooked up the external speakers, and the kids brought their blankets and pillows into my room, and we all sat around and listened to it. Well, I listened to it, and to them play around and bicker. LOL! I don't know which was more distracting. The happy playing or the fighting playing. Sigh. I know, one of these days, when they're old and grown and gone, I'll look back on these days and be sad, but right now, I'm just tired - ROFL!!!

I listened to the 2nd session by myself. It was much more peaceful - ha! I think my favorite part was when President Monson talked, and he said "Your future is a bright as your faith". GREAT quote! I feel a WordArt coming on.... hehehe. But how true is that?!! Great thought for the day :)

The kids and I drove onto post today, to look at our new house again. They hadn't seen it yet, so again doesn't really apply to them - ha! We drove by the park that's 3 houses away from mine (AWESOME, eh???), and saw lots of families with little kids there. That'll be nice, friends for the kids.

Jacob didn't enjoy himself, because he was mad at me. Apparently a kid had gone into his room, and broke one of his toys. I hadn't been adequately upset about it, so he was mad at me. He got an earfull about being upset, from me - ha! I told him that I bought him a lock for his door (for the outside), so that when he left his room, he could lock it, and keep people out. They can't reach it, because it's too high. Anyway, he hardly ever remembers to lock the door. I told him that if he can't remember to lock the door, then he's just asking for someone to come in and break his stuff. I was concerned innitially, when I took the steps to get the lock. If he can't even remember to lock the freakin' (yeah, I was a little mad - lol) door, then he should be mad at himself, and not at me.

He was still pouty about it when we got home, so I had him talk to his dad on the phone when Captain America called for the evening. I don't know what they talked about, but after he got off the phone, he apologized for getting mad at me, and seemed to be in a much better mood. THANK YOU, Captain Americat, for the long distance parenting session - ha!

The kids and I played CARS Uno before bed. It was kinda fun. We only played 3 rounds. I won one, Joe won one, and, um, Jake maybe won one round. Can't remember who the last winner was. Eme was SO disappointed that she didn't win. She was in tears. Needless to say, the kids went to bed early. Way too many emotions flying all around. I mean, what could they be upset about? It's not like their dad left, or they're moving to the 4th house in 1 year, or the 3rd school in 1 year, or anything like that - hehehe. Poor little guys :) Acutally, it's amazing how well they're handling it all. Resiliant little buggers, aren't they?

I spent some time today designing, and reading some in my Twilight book. I don't know why I keep starting these. I know how addiciting they are, yet I can't seem to pull myself away from it. Kinda like chocolate - ha! Anyway, I'm almost done with New Moon.

Today, I'm gonna call all my utilities and tell them when the shut off date is. I hope I remember to do everything :) I need to remember to do the mail forwarding thing sooner this time. I don't wanna have to drive clear across town each day to pick up my mail. Sigh. The joys of moving :) I think I'm gonna start going through our stuff, and separating out the few things that I don't want the movers to pack.

Anyone out there know what the Army movers will/won't pack? Things they won't pack I'll load into the trailer. Do they pack liquids? Like cleaning supply stuff? Or medicines? What about food? Or food storage? Come on, Army wives out there. I know you know the answer - LOL!

So, I promised you on Saturday that I'd give you my Alpha on Monday, and, well, it's MONDAY! - hehehe. I LOVED the way it turned out. I like this looked. The Worn/Distressed look. Anyway, click on the links below to go to my accounts to download the zip file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

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Possible

Oh wow. I don't know if I'm gonna survive this round of trainings. hehehe. Yesterday was the LONGEST 24 hours I can remember :) "Johnny" came to visit, and I was just feeling "blah" all day long. Do you ever get that way??? I felt like a moody teenager all day long - LMBO! I'm sure hoping that today is better.

I did watch the 1st session of General Conference, which was wonderful. I somehow missed the 2nd session. I was designing and listening to the Twilight soundtrack after conference, and must have lost track of time - hehehe. I'll go back and either read it when it comes out, or watch it online.

I think part of my problem was that I was on the computer WAY too much. I just felt "sad", so I kept trying to find things online to do to distract myself. No, it didn't really work - hehehe. I guess I did do a few productive things. I cleaned my room. Now I really sound like a moody teen. LMBO! So now, Jimmy's room, Jake's room, Tom's room, and my room have been gone through, and are presentable for someone to come and pack us up. That's the last thing I need, is to have movers pack up garbage papers, broken toys, and general "messy kid room" crap, and bring it to the new house - ROFL!

I got all of my WordArt packs designed for the week. 3 that are the new style, like yesterdays WordArt. Distressed Family, Distressed Home, and Distressed Kid WordArt packs. And that's in referrence to the style, not the family/home/kid. I know you were thinking it - hehehe. The other 2 are Smile WordArt Packs. One is regular, and one is Linear. They're pretty neat :) Those are released on Friday, but I have to have them done by Wednesday. I'm ahead of the game, there :) Woohoo!

Captain Americacalled last night. He'd made it to Ft. Benning. Sounded like he had a great trip. He stopped at a few Civil War history sites. I'm pretty sure he doesn't read these posts, so I'm safe to say I'm glad he did it on his trip - LMBO! I'm not the history buff that he is. Although I do enjoy seeing how happy seeing places like that makes him. I'm happy that he's happy. But then, I can be happy that he's happy when he's back home telling me about it - ROFL. But shhhhh, don't tell him. I woudln't want to hurt his feelings :)

Another reason I felt crazy yesterday was that on Friday night, the kids and I ate a WHOLE bag of Hersheys Chocolate Eggs. Yeah, most of that was me - hehehe. SO, I had a chocolate withdrawl headache today. LUCKILY, I have migrane medicine, so it was gone within an hour of starting, but still. I was in a drug stuppor on top of "Johnny-fied", and chocolate withdrawl-ed. SO, to make it all better, I ate a tube of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for dinner. Really. And guess what? I didn't make me feel better. Surprising. Remind me not to do that again. I just felt sick afterwords. Sigh. I'm a slow learner, sometimes :)

So, to complete my moody teenager day, I decided to put on the "emo music" soundtrack that is "Twilight", start reading "New Moon" (because Bella is depressed, I feel depressed, misery loves company, that kind of thing - she's missing Edward, I'm missing Captain America (and Edward - ROFL!!)), and stay up until the wee hours of the morning.

Today had BETTER be better :)

So, in keeping with my Sunday faithbooking freebie, here's a WONDERFUL scripture that I found. I know that Heavenly Father can help me have a better day today. And I'm sure he will :) Click on the links below to go to my accounts to download the PNG files, and leave some love if you like my work ;)

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Possible - AL Verdigris (you can buy it at 2Peas)

Unbelievable

First off, do you like my new desktop wallpaper??? hehehehe!!!

Well, yesterday we had Award Assemblies at school for the kids. Jim and I walked up to the school at 8:30 for Joe/Eme's assembly. I got a few pics of Joe, and Eme got an award for High Honor Roll (All A's). She really did a great job. Jim? Well, not so much. He was buckled in his stroller, and kepts saying "Buckle me OUT!" the whole time. Not the most enjoyable hours of my life - hehehe.

Then, when the assembly was over, and all the P-K, K, 1st, and 2nd graders went back to class, at 9:30, all the 3rd and 4th graders came in, and we did the whole thing all over again - Sigh. Luckily, the 3rd graders went first on awards, and I took pics of Tom getting his Honor Roll award (A's and B's), and Jimmy and I jetted. We were home by 10am. Jacob's award ceremony was at 1pm, but I think Jimmy (heck, ME!) had had his fill of sitting quietly in the gym. Sorry, Jake! I LOVE you too and am so proud of you!!!

JImmy and I spent the afternoon being productive. We cleaned Jacob and Thomas' room....completely. We took out all the clothes that didn't fit, threw away a lot of junk papers and such, and organized things. Jimmy vacuumed (yeah, for a 3 year old, he's pretty thorough. I was impressed!), and I went back to touch it up. See, when the movers come to pack, I don't want a bunch of junk being packed up. At least in the house. The garage is a chore I don't want to tackle. hehehe. So, all the upstairs kids room are gone through and organized. Now, I just have to do mine and Eme's. I'll work on that tomorrow.

A guy from the moving company was supposed to come yesterday and "assess" our stuff. See what it all intailed. He set up an appointment for 11, but then called at 9ish and cancelled. He's coming sometime on Tuesday now. Fine with me. Gives me more time to get my "shhhtuff" organized :) Ha!

Captain America wanted me to give the kids an Ice Cream party for their great grades, so we headed off to Wal-Mart to get some ice cream and a few snacks. We also rented a movie for the evening. SO, the diet went out the window for the night. Sigh. Today? Maybe today I can do it. Quick. Someone loan me their will power. I KNOW I used to have some. I know I did- hehehe.

I attened Scraporchard's "Make It Scrappy" last night. I've done a few of these, and they're really a lot of fun. But I do find that designing WordArt comes MUCH more naturally to me than does actual scrapping. So, here's my layout. The directions were:

1. pick 4 papers (1 with polka dots, 1 with stripes, 2 others)
2. pick at least 2 photos (even number)
3. make one photo double the size of the rest
4. use at least 3 elements (buttons, flowers, brads) (odd number)
5. use one paper as a frame for one photo
6. use an alpha for the title

So, I made a really FUN new WordArt for the layout, and didn't have an alpha to go with it, so I just made one up - hehehe. I just LOVE the actions from Atomic Cupcake, and this one was last week, or the week before last's freebee. You know they give out freebees weekly, right? This week is a wood action. Kinda cool. You should check it out :)

Anway, here's my finished layout. I used photos from our Civil War Reenactment, all of Joe. He's SO photogenic :)

WordArt and Alpha - Elegant WordArt by Bethany
Kit - Scraporchard 2009 April Mega

So, without further adu, here's my WordArt for the day. Isn't it fun! I'm excited to make a WordArt pack with WordArt like this. It was kinda fun to make, too. I've got some neat ideas...... Now I just need to find some design time. Maybe after the house is cleaned..... or not - LMBO!

Click on the links below to go to my accounts to download the PNG file.

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OR, just for fun, you can grab the one that's actually spelled right - LMBO! Thanks, Gail, for letting me know. My 8th grade teacher was right. I AM a horrible speller - ROFL!!! Sigh. Oh well. I've got skills in other areas, right??? hehehe. Sorry I couldn't duplicate it completely. It's a VERY lenghty process. :)

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AND, one day next week you can pick up this FABULOUS alpha from me :) I just LOVE the font, and combined with the action from Atomic Cupcake, well, enough said- hehehe. Maybe on Monday. But don't hold me to it - LOL! Next week - that's good enough for now :)

Oh wait. I see that my freebees preview tells me it's the 6th of april. Allrighty then. The 6th of April it is! I guess you can come back here on Monday and pick up the Alpha from me. Who amd I to argue with the Preview - LMBO!

Driving in my Car

Ha! I remembered to post these - LOL! Here's my new stuff for this week. Since Easter is next week, I decided to get some Easter WordArt packs designed and in the store. Thought they'd be great on all your Easter layouts, AND on your Easter cards. AND, there's a fun one about Playtime. Click HERE to go to my store to pick up my new stuff :) And remember, it's 20% off the first week (Only $2.00!!)

I did a little bit of cleaning yesterday. Jimmy and Joe's room is TOTALLY clean. I even vacuumed. That's HUGE for me - hehehe. I went through their clothes and got rid of the stuff that didn't fit or was too old. I'll pick a different bedroom to tackle today. Slow yet steady wins the race, eh?

Our currrent landlord called me today, and chewed me out for 20 minutes, about what horrible people we were for trying to get out of our lease early. He had me in tears. I know it's just his job, but it still wasn't very nice. He accused me of planning long term on getting out of our lease when Military housing opened up. TOTALLY not the case. Yeah, we went BANKRUPT to get out of housing. Come on. We're not stupid. He kept saying that our laywer wouldn't be able to break the lease, and we'd be liable for the whole year. He said we'd messed up the house because my kids colored on the wall. HIS kids never colored on wall, he said. It wasn't a great conversation. Sigh. I miss Captain America.

Captain America called shortly after that, and I cried to him, and told him what happened. He called our lawyer, and left a message for her. She called me back, and said that he was just trying to strong arm us, and get us to stay. He wasn't telling the truth. She said that if he called again, to refer him to her. I felt MUCH better after talking to her. Mean man. You shouldn't make girls cry, don't you know!

Well, part of the problem may be that I'm PMS'y. I also almost cried twice when watching ER last night. I'm not an overly emotional person, unless I'm hormonal. Then, you'd better watch out - hehehe.

We had Parent Teacher conference yesterday too. Joe had his conference at 3:30. He's doing well. He still needs to learn his letter names/sounds a bit better, but I'll help him during the summer. She said he's a good kid (a bit shy, but adjusting).

Eme was next at 3:45. She's doing FABULOUS! He teacher LOVED her drawings, her writing, and said she's a WONDERFUL reader. At the very end of 1st grade, they want the kids reading 60 words per minute, but she's reading at 69 wpm right now. You go, Eme!!!

Tom was next. He's getting A's and B's. His teacher said he's a VERY smart kid. They took a State test, and he only missed on problem. She was SUPER impressed. Good job, Tom! She said that he needed to work on socializing a bit more. He finally confessed that a few of the kids were saying rude things to him, but he didn't tell anyone. He said that he didn't want to be a Tattle-tale. We had the "you've gotta speak up" talk, and I hope it'll get better for the time he's still at the school.

Then, it was back home for dinner. Joe was suppsed to bring snack to school today (and cotton balls), so a trip to Wal-Mart, then back to the school. Jacob's conference was at 6:40. His teacher said he was a GREAT student, very smart. He did say that he needs to work on staying on task, and not daydreaming. He said that when he goes to 6th grade middle school (instead of 6th in elementary school like right now), some of the other kids might make fun of him. Jake was like, "I'm used to that. Everyone always makes fun of me". Poor kid. But, when you act weird, that's gonna happen. He recognizes that - hehehe. Luckily, it doesn't seem to bother him too much. Oblivious, that could be his middle name - hehehe.

Then, after we got back home, and got the little kids to bed, Jacob and I went for a jog. Yep, I'm gonna try exercising again. I sure need to do something - hehehe. We did 0.6 miles (I know, not too much, but it's a start - 10 minutes of continuous jogging)

Today is the day that I'm getting back on my diet. Really. Today. Not last night when I was eating Peanut Butter sandwhiches at 9pm. Not yesterday when I was eating bakery cookies from Wal-Mart. Not yesterday at lunch time when I had tuna and crackers for lunch. Today. And I'm gonna exercise again. In the evening. With Jacob. And LOTS of water. That alwasy helps. And LOTS of gum. I LOVE sugar free gum.

This WordArt request is from Jenny - she wanted it for a picture of her little one pretending to drive a car. You know, I have a TON of pics like this that I could scrap :) CARS is Jimmy's favorite movie, you know - hehehe.

Click on the links below to go to my accounts to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work :)

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FONTS:
Driving - Landspeed Record
In, My, Car - Hyrule

Love Comes Along

Wow! Has it really been that long??? Doesn't seem like it - time flies when you're having fun (and moving across country, and living my crazy life - hehehe) This is a FABULOUS sale! And it includes EVERYTHING in the store (except e-zines and grab bags!) Not just my store, but ALL of Scraporchard. Click HERE to head on over :)

Woohoo!!! I have a TON of pictures for you guys, today!!! Aren't you excited??? We sure did have fun on our Civil War trip. It was long, but good. But I'll tell you this much. It'll be a long time before I get back into that truck for a HUGE road trip - hehehe. These pictures aren't in any kind of order, just randomly thrown up there - but they are there. And that's the important part, right???

Here's Tom and I

Tom and Eme

Eme and Tom playing checkers

The Harty Kids

Joe

Joe

Jimmy

Jacob and Tom (Don't you like our water bottle - hehehe )

Eme and I

Sweet Emeline

Joe, Eme, and Tom playing checkers

Captain America over the fire

Tom and Jim watching the battle

Tom

Tom watching Ryen and Captain America packing their pistols.

Joe with the binoculars

Joe

Jim with flowers and a cracker (hehehe)

Jacob stoking the fire

The whole Harty gang

Eme

After the battle, the kids went to the medical demonstration. The guy gave the kids "fake wounds", and here are the kids pretending to clean them out. It's not coming off so easy. Give it a week, and they'll be "healed". Ha! These are the bowls that we washed dishes in. We boil water in big galvenized buckets, then pour it into 3 separate metal bowls. One with soapy water, one with bleach water, and one with rinse water. The kids were GREAT help with dishes this reenactment.

While waiting for the battle to start, and while I was cooking food, Jimmy kept trying to play with a dog in camp. The dogs job was to guard one of the guys tent. Jacob kept telling Jimmy to leave the dog alone, but Jim was persistant. Well, the dog took his guard dog duties serious, and nipped at Jimmy. He caught him on the eye. It didn't really bleed, but it scared him pretty bad. I'll tell you this much, he's not gonna mess with dogs anymore :) Some lessons are harder to learn than others....

Captain America and Jimmy taking a nap in our tent

Tom with the binoculars

Also, we've been having financial issues for the past....um.... well, for a long time. Our house in Chicago isn't selling, after being on the market since 2007. We lived on credit cards for WAY too long in Chicago. Anyway, the financial outlook looks pretty bleak. We really hate to do this, but we're filing bankruptcy this month. I really hate it, but some times people just need a "mulligan". Know what I mean? We're in so deep, we can't dig our way out.

Anyway, part of the bankruptcy says that we can get out of our lease on our rental house. And an ON POST house opened up!!! I'm SO excited. We wanted to live on post from the beginning, but it was all full. The Army movers are coming on Thursday, April 9th and Friday, April 10th. We're signing papers for the new army house on the 10th, and moving in that day. Our stuff gets moved in on Monday, the 13th. So, we'll be in an empty house for a while, but I can handle that.

The good thing about it, is that the army just takes our BAH, and that's it. Right now, they pay us $928 a month, and we're supposed to pay for rent and all utilities. Well, rent in and of itself is $1050. Then garbage, and water, and electricity, and gas. That's another 300-500 a month. Now that we're moving on post, it'll just be the $928. And that includes ALL utilities. Holy cow! That should really help things out. Savings of about 400-600 a month. Definitely worth the move :)

AND, there's a park RIGHT around the corner. The kids are gonna LOVE it.

You know, both Captain America and I were loathe to declare Bankruptcy, feeling that it was like saying "OK, we fail". But I can see some good coming out of it. I'm finally starting to see an end to our financial troubles. We'll have enough money to pay our bills. We won't have this GIANT debt hanging over our heads.

Unfortunately, Captain America left today for Ft. Benning for 6 weeks of training. Sigh. SO, I'll be orchestrating this move COMPLETELY on my own. Sigh. We're now up to move 16. Crazy, eh? I thought we'd be in this house the whole time we'd be in El Paso. Oh well. Things change. So, I'm gonna be SUPER busy again. ONE of these days, my life will settle down. Like when I'm dead - LMBO!!! But then again, with my luck, it's probably just be more busy on the other side - hehehehe!!

Oh yeah, and we had our Wills signed today. We'd never had one, because we didn't have extra money to draw up such things. WELL, the Army will do it for us for free. Awesome! So, now we have wills. And a living will. Very important :)

You know, I've been feeling very self consience about the bankruptcy lately, and not wanting to tell anyone. But, after telling you all, it's like a burden lifted. You all are so therapetuic - hehehe. Who needs a shrink - LMBO!!! Blogging is much cheaper - ha!

This WordArt request is from Samantha. I thought it was WONDERFUL, so I decided to offer it as a WordArt Wednesday - aren't you all excited!!!

Click HERE to go to Scraporchard's gallery to grab the download. Remember, you need to be logged in to get your download :) Thanks!

Fonts Included in Download :)