hi all!

so, i’m two days late posting this.  blame it on The Sims.  i haven’t actually been playing though, or building houses… all i want is for it to work on my computer the way it always worked before. 

i have uninstalled and reinstalled it 3x now… it is now no longer on my MacBook for the time being.  it will be, probably tomorrow, after i get around to getting BootCamp set up on here so i can make a Windows partition and play my games normally.  mostly, the games they come out with for Macs are not the good games, or they are sorry ports of PC versions, so they don’t work as well and don’t get tested as thoroughly before being released.  sadly, after my jaunts through many a forum trying to piece this puzzle together, i found that Mac users in general are complaining about the latest Expansion Pack and how it pretty much breaks everything – especially if you run Custom Content from sites other than EA, which i do excessively.  my problem?  i suppose.  i love my MacBook though, and thanks to people who are smarter than me who have also had the same problem, i now have a solution.  am i entitled to complain about it?  absolutely.  i paid a lot of money to have all the Expansions and stuff, so i could have the game.  i actually paid – not pirated.  so i’m out… $50 for the original game, $30-40/each for 5 expansions and $20/each for 5 stuff packs.  WTF?!  yes, i spent $300 over the course of the last 3 years buying these games, and they say “PC/MAC” on the box, so …. i should be able to use it, right?  RIGHT?!  yeah, apparently if i want to have a Mac, not without a whole bunch of hassle first.  let me just say this:  it took the program 2.5 HOURS to load the other night before i could play anything and then the gameplay was so laggy and terrible that it wasn’t even worth bothering.  and since then, i’ve been on this quest.

but i digress, and apologize horribly for the g33k breakdown i just had.

what were we talking about again?  oh, right!!  The Sampler!  February Card Challenge!

[ image via Etsy ]

MOUSTACHES!!!

that’s the theme this month, and we’re hoping this image will inspire you to make some really cute cards with this month’s kit, “Oh, Penelope“.  it definitely inspired us!  here is what Amber, Amy S., and I came up with for this challenge:

[ by Amber ]

[ by Amy S. ]

[ by ME  ]

i totally have so much fun playing with this kit!  there are so many fun little tidbits in there to use for stuff like this… i love how all of our cards turned out for this challenge, and i can’t wait to see what you put together too!  come join us – the challenge runs through March 9th at 11:59PM so you have a whole month to think about it  and if you haven’t picked up the February kit, “Oh, Penelope” yet, then go on over to Scrapbooking Supplies R Us and grab yourself a little Valentine’s Day treat  you know you want to!

get your challenge submissions linked up to the Sampler’s blog, via the inLinkz widget on the challenge post for your chance to win a prize package from the Sampler!  plus you get to make a really cool card so it’s a two-fer

well that’s about it for me for now, back to fighting the good fight… with my crochet hook!  i’m done with that awful mess of a game for right now, gotta finish up some last minute V-day goodies and whatnot and then maybe play some Halo because all the headache of dealing with THAT situation makes me want to kill some aliens.  excessively.

in the words of the famous LeVar Burton, i’ll see ya next time.

SUPPLIES:

* Cardstock – Core’dinations “Stormy Gray”, Bazzill Dotted Swiss “Butter” (from the Sampler February 2012 kit); Bazzill black (personal stash)

* Patterned Paper – Simple Stories “Year-o-Graphy – Blue/Newsprint”, My Mind’s Eye “Love Me – Doilies” (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Bling – KaiserCraft Pearls “Latte” (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Butterfly – FabScraps (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Banner – My Mind’s Eye “Kraft Funday Everyday Banners” (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Stickers – Echo Park “Times & Seasons” cardstock stickers (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Ribbon – May Arts twill with olive stripe & twill with blue stripe (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Journal Card – Lily Bee “Memorandum” index cards (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* EK Success corner rounder

been playing around in Sims 3 again, making houses.  here are a few i made the other day:

Caroline

Charming 3br/3ba Mediterranean style home on spacious lot, tons of potential!  Basement garage & flex space, elevator, veranda & front porch, ground floor master suite, game room, built ins, endless possibilities!

based on Plan #17044 – Dream Home Source

Download this lot HERE

REQUIRES:

Elsie

Cute 3br/2.5ba New American style home with 2-car basement garage + flex space, sunroom, wraparound porch, patio with fire pit, lots of room to grow.  Large lot perfect for gardening and leisure activities.

based on Plan #75540 – Dream Home Source

Download this lot HERE

REQUIRES:

enjoy!

hi!!!

just stopping by really fast to plug my post over on The Sampler’s blog and show off a page i made using “Oh Penelope”…

in my post for this week, i talk about sketches and how you can personalize a sketch to fit your own style and needs.  it’s really easy to use a sketch and also helps in those times when you really need a creative kick in the butt!!  in honor of my stint with PageMaps this month, i am going to make it official Sketch Month and will be sharing projects with you throughout the rest of the month based on sketches from around the web – so stay tuned for that.

(ps – please excuse my lazy lack of journaling on this page.  i am waiting to bribe my mother-in-law out of her typewriter so i can use it for stuff like this!)

in other news… it’s been a busy week.  but that’s a good thing

be back tomorrow with our February Card challenge from The Sampler – with a really cute card to inspire you & more info on how you can play to win a package of goodies from The Sampler!

until then… may the force be with you.  

peace, love and stickers -

SUPPLIES:

* Cardstock – Bazzill Basics “Dotted Swiss – Butter” (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Patterned Paper – Crate Paper “Random – Victorian”; My Mind’s Eye “Love Me – Doilies & Stamped”; Simple Stories “Year-o-Graphy – Blue/Newsprint” (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Ribbon – May Arts twill with olive stripe (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Stickers – Echo Park “Times and Seasons” cardstock stickers (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Alphas – Fundamentals Petites kraft (from The Sampler February 2012 kit); Pink Paislee “Wood Chip” alpha (from The Sampler January 2012 kit)

* Wood Banner – My Mind’s Eye “Kraft Funday Everyday Fun Wood Banners” (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Butterfly – FabScraps (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Journal Card – Lily Bee “Memorandum” journal cards (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Pearls – KaiserCraft latte (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* red glitter (personal stash)

ROMANTIC LINES.

lines i like from romantic movies:

SILLY LOVE SONGS.

Some of the love songs that bring back memories for me…

1.  ”Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat

2.  ”I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz

3.  ”Her Diamonds” by Rob Thomas

4.  ”Save Tonight” by Eagle-Eye Cherry

5.  ”Lucky” by Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

6.  ”Amazing” by Bruno Mars

7.  ”When I’m Sixty-Four” by The Beatles

8.  ”Truly Madly Deeply” by Savage Garden

9.  ”I’m Gonna Miss Her (Fishin’ Song)” by Brad Paisley

10.  ”Steady as She Goes” by the Raconteurs

so, i’ve decided.  there are just some books i need to read.  most of them are classic literature, books i probably should have read at some point during my school career and didn’t.  some i will probably never read, based on the subject matter… but that’s a difference of opinion thing more or less.  i’m at least going to attempt it.  many of these have established the foundation of literature as we know it and are still beloved all over the world today.  the best part about a lot of these books is that they are Public Domain, so they are free.  i spent some time bulking up my iTunes Library last night with some of the best of these volumes.  i’m getting closer to wrapping up the “Little House” series, so i’m on the quest for my next read.  i really need to break away from my usual fantasy books and broaden out a little bit, and i’m tired of not knowing what people are talking about when they reference these books.

and now, the list. *s represent books that are Public Domain

1. *Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien   [ X ]   …my favorite book EVER
3. *Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling   [ X ]   …really loved these
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6. the Bible   …can i put half an X?  i’ve read a lot of it…
7. *Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell   …again on the half an X, i’ve read it but vaguely remember.
9. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman   …may choose not to read this one.
10. *Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
11. *Little Women by Louisa May Alcott   [ X ]   …may read this one again, actually.
12. *Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
13. *Ulysses by James Joyce
14. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
16. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
17. Animal Farm by George Orwell   …another half X, was supposed to read it in school.
18. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
19. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
20. *Call of the Wild by Jack London
21. *The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne   [ X ]   …:sigh:
22. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams   …another half X.
23. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis   [ X ]   …fantastic.
24. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
25. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
26. *The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
27. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
28. *War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
29. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
30. *Middlemarch by George Eliot
31. *Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll   [ X ]   … <3
32. *David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
33. *Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
34. Dune by Frank Herbert
35. *Emma by Jane Austen
36. *Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
37. *The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
38. *A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
39. *The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
40. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
41. *Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
42. *Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
43. *Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
44. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
45. *A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
46. Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding
47. *The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
48. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
49. *Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
50. *Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
51. *Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
52. *Complete Works of Shakespeare
53. *The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
54. *Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
55. *The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
56. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
57. *Le Morte D’Arthur by Thomas Malory
58. *Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
59. *Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
60. *The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
61. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
62. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
63. Neuromancer by William Gibson
64. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
65. *The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
66. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
67. *The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine
68. *The Prince by Nicholo Machiavelli
69. *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
70. *The Complete Tales of Edgar Allen Poe
71. *Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
72. *Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen
73. *Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
74. *Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
75. *Moby Dick by Herman Melville
76. *The Iliad / The Odyssey by Homer
77. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
78. *One Thousand and One Nights
79. *The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
80. *Grimm’s Fairy Tales
81. *Dracula by Bram Stoker
82. *The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
83. *The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown, in Nottinghamshire by Howard Pyle
84. Tbe Life of Pi by Yann Martel
85. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
86. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
87. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
88. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
89. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
90. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
91. *Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
92. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
93. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine l’Engle
94. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
95. *The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
96. *Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
97. *Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
98. *The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
99. *The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
100. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

i may actually add to this list over time, and i will definitely come back and check them off as i read!  it was really hard to come up with just 100 titles looking over all the lists of “best books”, “best classic novels”, etc.  but definitely these, for sure.

feel free to join me on this adventure, leave comments, repost your list of 100 books to read and commit to it.  i’ve heard that despite my personal opinion, many of these books end up being better than expected despite not really liking the “genre” or subject material.  so, i’m going to give it a shot!!!

hope that your weekend is phenomenal!

peace, love and stickers -

inspired by the upcoming arrival of The Sampler owner Holly’s new daughter, whom she will be naming Penelope (SO CUTE!)…

we are proud to present this month’s The Sampler kit, Oh Penelope!  this kit is just absolutely STUFFED with amazing goodies for you to play with.  it includes facets of Valentine’s, Fun, Family… and some delicious Echo Park / Hambly / etc / etc / etc. goodies for you to play with!!!

so fabulous!  jog on over to Scrapbooking Supplies R Us to see more pictures of this amazing kit.  here’s what you get:

* (1) sheet Core’dinations – Kraft-Core #6
* (1) sheet Core’dinations – Kraft-Core #16
* (1) sheet Core’dinations – Snowflake
* (1) sheet Core’dinations – Stormy Gray
* (1) sheet Bazzill Dotted Swiss (butter)
* (1) sheet Echo Park “Times & Seasons – Spiffy Moustache”
* (1) sheet Simple Stories “Year-O-Graphy – Simple Basics Blue/Newsprint”
* (1) sheet My Mind’s Eye “Love Me – Doilies”
* (1) sheet My Mind’s Eye “Love Me – Stamped”
* (1) sheet Jenni Bowlin “Red Black Extension – School Dress”
* (1) sheet Crate Paper “Random – Victorian”
* (1) sheet Hambly “Mini Graph Overlay” (pink)
* (1) sheet Hambly “Little Hearts on Kraft” (red)
* (1) pkg KaiserCraft Pearls (latte)
* (1) pkg Lily Bee Design “Memorandum – ABC Cardstock Stickers”
* (1) booklet Fundamentals Petites Alphabet sticker (kraft)
* (4) FabScraps Metal Butterflies
* (1) pkg Hambly Remnants Rub-ons (white)
* (1) pkg My Mind’s Eye “Kraft Funday – Everyday Fun Wood Banners”
* custom hexagons in gray velvet & canvas
* (3) FabScraps fabric brads (red)
* (1) pkg Lily Bee Design “Memorandum – Index Journaling Cards”
* (3) lengths May Arts ribbon (twill w/ olive stripe, twill w/ blue stripe, white grosgrain)

SO. STUFFED!  there are about a million different ways to use up this kit, and i’ll be back throughout February to share some ideas and tips with you!  look for my Thursday posts over on The Sampler’s Blog as well as here on my blog for more ways to work with “Oh, Penelope”.  i’ll be back ASAP with a picture of the first layout i created with this kit, as well as our card challenge on the 10th!  so you’ll definitely want to check back in soon!

now for today’s Life.in.Lists:

I “HEART” FLAVOR.

Tami relates a story about Baskin-Robbins to open up today’s post.  unlike Tami (who shockingly chose vanilla!) i have always been a bit adventurous.  i remember going to BR myself as a kiddo, and the first thing i wanted was mint chocolate chip (since it was green, and, at the time my favorite color was green)… that started a love affair that has never ended.  my grandparents will tell you that i would go as far as ordering mint chocolate chip with pineapple or strawberry topping every time we went to Friendly’s for a sundae.  i’ve always been the weirdo that likes fruit in my salad and dessert as a part of my meal.  i will try anything – at least once – but i’m so fond of food that it doesn’t really even matter anymore!  so today’s post will be a fun one for me:  Today, some of my favorite flavors are…

* Mint.  anything and everything mint, preferably peppermint but definitely NOT spearmint.  it’s my favorite flavor AND scent.
* Chocolate.  nuff said.
* Coffee.  any kind, iced or hot.  i’m down.
* Raspberry/Blackberry.  my dad started this one with blackberry picking when i was a kid.
* Beef.  is that allowed? lol.  i love beef in all its many forms – especially stroganoff
* BACON.  baconbaconbaconbaconbacon.  i love bacon.  especially if mayonnaise is touching it.  i actually thought to make a bacon and mayo casserole once.  yeah i know it’s gross.  and prob REALLY bad for you.  but i’d eat it

allrighty, well that’s all for me for today!  thanks for taking the time to stop by – i’ll be back soon with some great inspo for The Sampler’s February kit

peace, love and stickers -

i. am. SUPER. excited !!! !!! !!!  i was so stoked when Becky Fleck of PageMaps.com asked me to design a sample for one of her sketches for this month!  i knew i was gonna have to do it real BIG.  she gave me an 8 1/2 x 11″ vertical sketch to work with and immediately a million different ideas whizzed through my head – this sketch is so cute, i might have to use it for several concepts

[ image from PageMaps ]

i used several facets of this sketch to compose my final layout.  i love clouds, so that had to go somewhere, but since my theme didn’t really seem to need clouds as an element, i chose a cute cloudy patterned paper from My Mind’s Eye “Lime Twist” collection.  i also liked the music note patterned paper on the sketch, so i dug out a little Sassafras Lass for that one.  i mimicked the overall design of the sketch, adding a clothesline in place of the birds/wire and added a few more layers and some fun odds & ends from my hoarde.

the best part about this page, though?

i handmade all the mini clothing, and it is all a replica of something i actually own.

i. am. so. impressed. with. myself. i. could. poop. rainbows.

as i dug through my entire stash looking for elements for this page, i started to find things that would be a perfect fit – a denim sew-on patch from Hobby Lobby became the jeans, a raft from an old Jolee’s and a bit of felt made my FAVORITE Old Navy Tech Vest that i’ve had since my Senior year of high school (:sigh:), and a few more scraps of felt to make my houndstooth peacoat  i also made the hangers the clothes are on with wire bending supplies… um, a lot harder than i thought, but it still worked out fantastically  i’ve been really antsy to post this page!!

 i really do have a closet addiction.  NO, i DON’T need an INTERVENTION either, thank you.  i am just fine having a different outfit for every day of the month (and shoes to match!)  in the photo you can really actually only see about 2/3 of my space in the closet.

i am extremely grateful to Becky Fleck for letting me create a sample for this month’s PageMaps.  i have been a huge fan for years, and going and just browsing through all the sketches and samples sometimes really inspires me — even when i don’t use the actual sketch as the basis for my page or card.  i have another layout coming up, to showcase February’s The Sampler Kit, and i will show you how you can stretch a sketch to make it fit your needs and make it yours as one of my February posts on The Sampler’s blog.  keep your eyes peeled for that!  getting really excited about the February Sampler Kit release – i love every single piece of this kit and that is no lie.  i can’t wait to share it with you

now for today’s “Life.in.Lists”…

ENDEARING WORDS.

Our family words of endearment:

* Honey.  Travis and i have called each other “honey” for i don’t know how long.  we are just these honeys, i guess

* Little Baby or just Baby.  Kellan is kind of stuck with that.  but he knows his name too, so that’s good.

* Buddy.  usually applies to Brodyn.  sometimes Amber, and always Ryan.  lol.

* Rooskie.  that’s me.  it’s an office, not a title.  all of my close friends call me that, and that’s what they said it means.  i’m confused as well, but as long as i’m the Rooskie Incumbent then i don’t give a darn.

* Dude.  can be anyone, depends on the tone of the conversation.

* Stinky.  usually applies to the dog.  because he usually smells like rotten pancakes or sweaty dog.

well that about wraps it up for me today!  i have a ton of stuff to do.  on the upside, i just beat Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga, so that will stop sucking up a large chunk of my existing free time; the downside of that is that when i finished the game it said i only had 37.4% complete.  …..  i should probably just ignore that, right?  lol.  i will be back in the very near future with the release of The Sampler’s February kit, “Oh Penelope”!

peace, love and stickers.

SUPPLIES:

* Cardstock – Hobby Lobby (kraft); Core’dinations (white); The Paper Studio (yellow)

* Patterned Paper – My Mind’s Eye “Lime Twist – Fly a Kite & Out of the Blue”; Sassafras Lass “Indie Girl – Headphones On”; Fancy Pants “It’s the Little Things – Spring Fever”; Graphic 45 “ABC Primer” (skirt)

* Stickers – KI Memories “Love, Elsie”; Crate Paper “Random”; K & Co (buttons); EK Success (ad)

* Ribbon – KI Memories “Love, Elsie”; Offray; We R Memory Keepers (twine)

* Other Materials – Hobby Lobby (felt, inTatterz denim patch, wire, mini clothespins, brads)

* Button – American Crafts “Flair”

* Alphas – EK Success; American Crafts Thickers

* fine tip Black Sharpie

TAKE ME FOR A RIDE!

Things I remember about travel as a kid:

* Town was close enough that we could ride our bikes there from our subdivision.  It took an hour or more, but we always liked to do it – we felt like we were going somewhere important, going to town by ourselves.

* THE BUS.  oh, Lordy, the bus.  this could be a LONG paragraph but i’d rather not relive some of those memories… :shudder:

* my dad’s big orange van.  see, back in the 80′s we didn’t wear seatbelts or care much about being “safe” in cars – that was for sissies.  my dad had this old 1978 Dodge work van that was road cone orange, and it only had two seats – a driver and a passenger.  the rest of the van was carpeted with remnants of forest green and red carpet he got from a job, and there were beanbags strewn about the back for us kids.  it was literally a luxury to us as kids – we could sprawl out, bring our stuff… i have fond memories of those days, as CPS-friendly as that story sounds!

* going on vacation as a family, we always had a big car or van to ride in so we never had to sleep all scrunched up in a backseat.  that was always nice!  we never went anywhere that required flying, though – my mom refuses to get on an airplane to this day.  i didn’t fly for the first time until i was 20!

REMEMBERING WINTER.

10 Winter Memories I’ve Preserved:

(in no particular order!)

1.  Winter 1998-99.  two weeks AFTER Christmas Break, we were still out of school.  it just kept snowing… and snowing.  one day, we actually went to school (40 mins away from home!) only to have them send us all back home an hour later because the weather was going to get worse.  i got my license prior, but that year i learned how to drive in the snow!

2.  General – building snow forts, snowmen, and ramps for our sleds in the backyard.  laying in the snow listening to snowflakes hitting the ground and the stillness of the world.  i miss being a kid, especially in winter!

3.  Winter 2004.  my first year in Texas.  i was ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED to wake up at 6AM on Valentine’s Day to the sounds of kids playing in the snow… I MOVED TO TEXAS TO GET AWAY AND IT FOLLOWED ME!!!  there hasn’t been a winter i’ve been here since that it hasn’t snowed  ….. (keeping my fingers crossed for 2012!  no snow so far!)

4.  Winter 1999-2000.  i met my oldest son’s dad.  lots of memories from that winter… when i think of winter in general, i think of that year – it was the last winter of my childhood.

5.  Winter 2006-2007 in Ohio, Travis and i moved into our little house in town, and it was a very cozy place to be in late January-February when piles and piles of snow dumped on us!

6.  General – laziness.  not wanting to go anywhere because it’s too cold.  being stuck inside and starting to get cabin fever.  wearing long underwear on a daily basis to keep my chicken legs warm.

7.  Winter 2000-2001.  my oldest son Brodyn was born in December in the middle of a huge snowstorm – we slid through red lights all the way to the hospital because the roads were too icy to stop on!  and after, being in our little old house in the middle of nowhere FREEZING HALF TO DEATH with our new baby.  winter is not a fun time to be in an old farmhouse.  i do NOT envy Laura Ingalls at all sometimes…

8.  General – but since we’re on the topic of Laura Ingalls, every winter when i was a kid i always read the three Little House on the Prairie books that i owned.  something about them surviving winters made me want to snuggle under a mountain of blankets and join them on their adventures!  despite the fact that i hate winter, lol.

9.  Winter 2009-2010 – a tree fell on my car.  no literally.  it was crazy!  it snowed… and snowed… which it’s not supposed to do in Texas but it keeps forgetting… and so much snow piled on this old tree in my front yard that it snapped in half and fell on my car!  also, that year i was moonlighting waiting tables and i was so mad that we had to drive home from the restaurant late Christmas Eve in a foot of snow and ice…

10.  General – no matter how long i live (or where!), i will never forget the smell on the air in winter, the taste of freshly fallen snow and icicles, the sound of the crunch of snow underfoot and the still silence of the world, and the dazzling beauty of a perfect white new-snow morning