Well, this blog is getting pretty boring lately. Nothing new going on here. Just working, continuing the chiropractor visits (which seem to be helping), and that's about it. I've been cooking again this weekend. I made some Pigs in a Blanket and some Pizza Rolls with homemade marinara sauce to take to our friends Chris and Sonja's house. They're moving this weekend and I thought they could use some grab and go easy-to-eat stuff. I also made some Chex mix and some Lemon Poppyseed muffins for the upcoming week. Today is our weekly barbecue day at the Crafty household. We grill our dinner and then it's time to sit out on our deck and watch the sun go down. One of the best parts of the weekend. Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend!

Sorry if I've been ignoring emails and my blog lately. I've been having a lot of headaches due to my neck, so I've been going to bed early most nights. I went to the chiropractor today and am pretty sore already, so I'm gonna go ice my neck now.

Note to J: I owe you an email from way back around your birthday and I'm so sorry I didn't email you before! I'll sit down and write a very long one this weekend, OK?
Thanks for understanding!
Amy

Those of you who know me can understand why this touched me so much.

A mother who is dying of breast cancer has created a book drive for cancer patients and their families called "Light One Little Candle".
Go here to read more about it.

I don't have kids myself, but I do, very much want kids of my own some day. And I cannot imagine being in Joelle's situation. Would I have the strength to do what she's doing? Would I have ever imagined myself capable of creating the legacy she's created?

I want to help! What can I do? Whatever I could afford to give would seem so insignificant. But if I could give comfort to one child in the face of such a tragedy...especially through books, which are my passion...then I would feel like I have done something.

Here's what I packed for our lunch yesterday.







Yesterday, I had the great idea to pack a picnic lunch and go over to Front Royal. We went to a bookstore (where we bought 14 books! 12 of which were mine), then we went for a drive in the Shenandoah National Park. Skyline Drive is 101 miles of scenic drive through the Blueridge Mountains. It is absolutely beautiful! We stopped to eat our humongous sandwiches at a picnic area just inside the park. Then we proceeded to drive through the park and enjoy the wildlife. Wouldn't you know...the camera died right after I took a picture of our sandwiches! Too bad about the camera, because yesterday we got to see some black bears up close and personal. We were about 10-15 feet from two beautiful black bears cub as they were eating lunch on the side of the road. We also saw a huge turkey, a squirrel, several hawks and a bunch of deer. A little further down the road, Jason saw a mama bear and her cubs running across the the road. I didn't get to see the mama, but I did catch a glimpse of the last little cub scurrying across the road and struggling over a rock wall. It was so cute! Then,while we stopped for dinner, we even had a buck come up and sniff our car windows. Guess he was hungry too! He got so close, I still have deer slobber on my car windows! What a day! It was absolutely beautiful! I wish we would have had our camera batteries charged, because we lost out on some great photo ops yesterday! But that's OK. We'll be sure to take it next time...and that's a sure way to make sure we don't even see one animal when we go. Ha!ha!
Hope everyone has a great week!

No real topic for this blog...just a bunch of random stuff that's been going on lately.

Had a great birthday. Thanks to everyone for the phone calls and Happy Birthday wishes. Mom sent me a great movie of my niece singing Happy Birthday to me. That was my favorite gift so far.

Today I spent my lunch break at the dentist's office. I had to get a crown. Ouch! Both my mouth and my checkbook are still feeling the pain of that visit.

Other than that, nothing major is going on. Just work and the day to day mundane stuff at the house. Have a great night and I'll be sure to post when (if) something interesting happens. :)

Today is my birthday, so last night I decided to make myself a cake. I saw this cake in a magazine I bought recently and thought it looked really pretty and sounded like it would taste as good as it looked. WRONG! The recipe for the "Raspberry Lemon Torte" turned out to be the most awful thing I have ever made. It took me 2 hours to assemble all the layers in this thing. Lemon cake, raspberry jam and vanilla icing. GROSS! I love lemon and I love raspberry, but I found out that I do not love them at the same time. Talk about sugar overload! Mr. Crafty and I each ate a piece and afterwards, we felt so gross that we threw the entire cake away. Yep, that recipe ranks right up there with the one for Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread as being the grossest thing I have ever made. You know, I think of myself as a pretty good cook. But it really humbles you to make something so bad. :) Oh well! Glad I tried it at home before making it and taking it to work or something. That would have been awful!

Here's hoping dinner tonight tastes much better than my cake. After work tonight, we are going out to eat with some of my friends from work. YUM! Bruebaker's Turtle-ritas for everyone! (What is a Turtle-rita? Only the best margarita I have ever tasted! Come visit me and I'll make sure you get one.)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Have a great day everyone!

Two things my husband heard me say today...
"I have to go inside. I have a bug in my nose."
"There's a bee in my bra!!!!"
The latter statment was screamed while dancing around trying to fish the bee out of my bra and not flash the entire neighborhood.

I've had about all this fun I can handle for one day. :)

Picture on left is the "before" picture...see ugly mildew stain and beginning signs of weathering.

Middle picture is the "during" picture...after applying the deck wash, we started to wonder just what the heck we had gotten ourselves into.

Picture on right is the "after" picture...whew! We didn't screw it up! :) Looks just like a brand new deck. Not too shabby.



My birthday present. Yay! New patio furniture.

I am worn out. And so is our savings account!

Friday we bought a ladder, a sprayer to put on the deck wash, and Mr. Crafty bought me a patio set as an early b-day present.

Today, we bought a lawnmower, a trimmer (weed-eater), a wheelbarrow, a mandevilla plant, a rain gauge, an outside thermometer, and some gas cans (one for the trimmer and another one for the mower).

No more buying anything major for the house for a long time...I hope.

Yesterday, we stained the deck. From start to finish, it probably took us about 3 1/2 hours. It was windy yesterday, so we had to brush on the stain. We want to enlarge the deck, but as I was painting each individual slat I was glad we haven't gotten around to doing that yet. I'll post a pic whenever blogger quits giving me problems trying to upload my pictures.

It's been a busy but productive weekend. Glad we still have one day to relax before we have to go back to work!

Enjoy!