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Thursday, January 22, 2009

New Year's Resolution #1 & #2

Do you make New Year's Resolutions? I start each year with the best of intentions. What does that mean? Well, I always have a list of things I want to do better in the new year. The problem, I don't write these things down or even tell anyone what my resolutions are. That way if I fail miserably, I don't have to admit it to anyone but myself.
So this year I decided to tell you about my resolutions, well at least one of them. "I, Chris Greenley, resolve to be more organized and less cluttered in 2009!" Phew! That was harder to say than I thought. But now that it is out there I guess I better get to work.
Last weekend was a three day weekend and I have started to re-clean the craft room. I also snuck out to Ikea for some organizing things. I hope to be finished with the craft room this weekend and will post some pictures then.
Resolution #2: Ok so I have been scrapbooking for almost 12 years and I have TONS of pictures. The problem? I am the only one who takes the pictures. I have been looking for a picture of me, by myself and guess what? They don't exist! So, "I, Chris Greenley, resolve to give my camera to someone else for a change & smile!"
Ok, so there you have it, two of my resolutions. Now, hopefully I can stick to them! Wish me luck.

Monday, December 22, 2008

The Snow Continues To Fall!
















Our three flower pots. The first picture was taken last Monday, the second one taken today.
Spencer told me today that he was not going outside at all today, the snow is just too deep. But I made both of them bundle up so I could get some pictures of them in this crazy storm. Spencer is pulling up the legs of his PJs so they won't get wet (goof ball). And since this is the 8th day we woke up to snow falling he is still in his PJ & I think he has been all week.
Duke & Izzy are NOT happy! The snow is so deep they don't think it is fun any more. It's a struggle to get them off the deck.
Hope you are all surviving this weather. And for the record I am very jealous of my Brother & Sister-In-Law!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Happy Winter!

The tree is finally fully lit! G & Lexi successfully went out yesterday & got two more strings of lights (After going to 3 different stores)!
Our kids are finally not the only kids in America without DS's (thanks to Grandma Julie)! And they both got a ton of use today with the weather being what it is. G even got a turn while Lexi snuck out to play in the white stuff!
It continues to snow & heck it is beautiful! But it got a little hairy this afternoon when the freezing rain & sleet started coming down. G & I stepped outside and could just hear the ice hitting the trees & the huge trees around our house creak in the wind. It may be beautiful but the sounds of trees so close to our house is a bit unnerving. Right now it is just snowing, so that's good. We already have over 7 inches of snow with a thick layer of ice on top of that. But at least we still have power. So I'm sitting here drinking hot coffee & G & the kids are enjoying the Ginger Snaps I baked earlier today (ummmmmm, yummy)! So Happy First Day of Winter to you all!






















Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Baby, It's Still Cold Outside!

The snow is coming down again & honestly I am lovin' it! Summer is still my favorite season but I LOVE snow. The kids and I are home again from school & depending on if the weather man is right, we may be out all week. I braved the roads today (so proud of myself) and creeped down to Safeway for milk. My truck is safely back it in garage & I'm happy to be back home.
I wanted to share with you my top 10 snow memories. Some are recent & some are not but they all are vivid in my memory!

10. Lexi's snow glasses. She was only 6 & we were living in Sherwood when a huge snow storm hit. She wanted to be outside but she had to have her "Snow Glasses" on to keep the snow out of her eyes. They were adorable heart shaped sunglasses with pink lenses.

9. Snow drifts so high they almost covered the swing set. This was the same year as the "Snow Glasses" & we had drifts over 5 feet high! The kids and I were snowed in for three weeks but man was it beautiful!

8. Walking around Washington DC with my brother over Thanksgiving in the snow! The city was so peaceful and quiet.

7. Walking to class at University of Oregon, in the snow, wearing shorts. Heck, I couldn't do that now, I must have been crazy!

6. Joann Lang shoveling our driveway (the bus stop), clearing all our beautiful snow away. She was trying to be a nice neighbor but I thought it ruined the look. But what did I know, I was probably only 8 years old.

5. Snowmobiling with G in Bend on our honeymoon. I had never snowmobiled before and unfortunately haven't since but it was so much fun.

4. The truck that just wouldn't stop. OK, it wasn't our truck but we saw this guy in a big truck on a driveway that slopped down to his house. He was going slow but just couldn't stop. We could just imagine what "wonderful" things were coming out of his mouth as he was sliding down his steep driveway not able to stop until he smacked into his new garage door! We felt kinda bad for him because it was a brand new house, they hadn't even lived there for a month. But honestly it was funny (sorry, not nice I know)!

3. Skiing Keystone with my best friend Kathy, her husband Greg & G. We flew out to Colorado when Spencer was just 2, meeting Kathy, Greg & "Grandma" Joann at the condo Kathy owned. One morning we left Spencer & Lexi with "Grandma" Joann and had the best day of skiing EVER! The weather was beautiful, the views were amazing & I even skied pretty good!

2. Lexi sliding across the ice. The same year we had the snow drifts & the "Snow Glasses" we had an ice storm. That storm brought about 2 inches of ice on top of our massive amounts of snow already on the ground. G took Lexi by one arm and one leg & flung her across the yard. She looked like a pink hockey puck just gliding across the ice on her tummy. The funniest part was watching her try to get back to G to have him do it again. It was so slippery she had to crawl. That still makes me giggle.

And my #1 snow memory happened when we were living in Alabama (Yep, you heard me right)! We had snow in Alabama! It started snowing one afternoon & by 3:00 that day the schools were closed for the next day & the Governor had declared it a State of Emergency! Stores were packed & people were literally freaking out!

So there you go, my top ten snow memories! I have many more from my past & hopefully more to come. Enjoy the snow!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Baby, It's Cold Outside!


Christmas is just around the corner & it has snowed (with possibly more to come)! The kids & I were out of school yesterday & today. We will see what tomorrow brings. The weather man says more snow tomorrow but we all know they are not always right. I spent time yesterday working on some Christmas gifts & I can actually say that I believe I will get them all done in time.




The tree is up & decorated 3/4 of the way (I ran out of lights & you just can't scrimp on lights). But other than the gifts I am making, I haven't even begun to shop. So, the holiday stress is starting to hit hard! My Grammie told me once that every Mother gets one good Christmas cry every year. I might have to borrow some this year. I am the planner who likes to be prepared & this year is anything but planned. But we are making it and we will have a wonderful Christmas!




Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Organized Clutter?















So, in my last post I mentioned something about blog entries being more exciting when they include pictures, so here they are (bet you weren't expecting this)! This is what I am dealing with right now & it's making it difficult to do anything! I have never been the organized, everything has a spot kinda girl (although I really wish I was). I have always been the organized clutter girl but this is a bit much, even for me. So, because I plan on making many of our Christmas gifts this year I am devoting the next few days of my life to this mess. I will post pictures of my wonderful craft room when I can show you how wonderful it really is, and when I can dig myself out of this mess. So if you don't hear from me for a while, don't fret, I'm still here I just need to spend some time getting this under control!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Tis The Season (just around the corner)!

OK, I am officially a blog slacker! Things have been so busy around here that I barely seem to have time to get anything done. But my calender is telling me that the busy holiday season is creeping up on me & if I'm not careful I won't be prepared.
I just have a couple things I want to share with you. The first thing is a really cool project on Ali Edwards blog. I know that some of you who read my blog are not scrapbookers but the concept could be changed to be a journal for the month of December (just an idea). I plan on putting this together in the next few weeks and I will post pix when it's done!
The other neat opportunity that I am participating in is a class taught on line by Jessica Sprague. She is an incredible scrapbooker, teacher, story teller, and all around digital guru. The class is called Stories in Hand. Check out her web site for details. You don't have to be a scrapper to join in on the fun, just have a desire to collect your most precious memories. The best part, IT'S FREE! So even if you sign up and don't get anything out of it, you are not out any cash.
I would love to hear what you guys think about Ali's project and the online class because I find out about these things a lot and can easily pass on the info here. Also, I would love it if you would pass this info on to anyone you think might be interested.
Lexi is now done with her first season of volleyball but she is already looking forward to next year. I am so proud of her & it was so fun to watch her improve throughout the season. Now her newest project is learning to play the oboe. She started playing the clarinet last year and is still playing it this year. But she has decided to take on the oboe also (What a proud Mom I am since I played the oboe for 6 years).
We also had conferences for both kiddos last week and wow, we really have great kids!
(Yes, I am aware that blog entries are more enjoyable with bright, colorful pix. I will try to do better next time!)