Purse Tag

So apparently, the rules are: Show your purse as-is, no cleaning out beforehand, then tag five others.

I know four people on BlogSpot. One of them (thanks, Ash) tagged me and Jill, so I'll be tagging Jen and Patty. Sorry I can't meet the quintupletag responsibility...

My Purse:
Tinkerbell seemed like a good choice when it came time for a new purse a few months ago. The one I traded in had been in use for about three years.

I guess I'll start at the top left:

• My camera case (usually the camera is in it, but I was using it to take the picture.
• A baggie of vitamin C tablets. I'm around hundreds of people every day and I can't afford to get sick.
• Lip stuff: two carmex, two chapstick, a MAC lipglass, and a Mary Kay lipstick.
• A powder compact and a mirror compact.
• A "matchbook" of nail files. I hate it when I get a snag. I obsess over it until I pull the whole tip of the nail off.

Back to the left hand side:

• My Nintendo DS, currently with Final Fantasy III inside. I also am carrying Super Princess Peach, Cooking Mama, Nintendogs, and Animal Crossing.
• Ipod Nano that needs to be charged. I play it on my speakers at school or through my stereo in my car, thus the absence of headphones.
• Wallet
• Hairbrush, two hairclips, hairband
• Receipt for the bedroom set Al and I bought from John Parras Furniture on Friday night. It will be delivered on Tuesday!
• My writer's notebook and two pens with purple ink.

Drop down below the notebook and work your way back towards the left:

• Trident gum, for when I just want to eat but I'm not actually hungry.
• My work keys, ID badge and FlashDrive on the Chili's lanyard, which is also carrying a bunch of Chili's pins (or "flare")
• My concealer compact is hiding beneath the ID badge
• Small bottle of Exedrin Migraine that I keep refilling from a larger bottle in the bathroom
• Neutrogena Norwegian Formula hand cream.
• You Don't Know Me by David Klass, the book I'm currently reading.

And heading back to the right:

• My coin purse for Diet Coke emergencies at school
• My Dumbledore's Army necklace and Fossil watch
• Splenda packets for when I'm in need of sweetener and Splenda is not an option
• My car and house keys
• My cell phone

Proof that I'm a Little Old Lady at Heart

I finished both of these cross stitch pieces a while back: the one on the right I finished in 2003 and the one on the left in 2006. I finally dished out the money to get them framed at the most amazing framing place ever. It's called Artist Touch and they feature hand-carved decoration in the mats. On top of that, as far as framing prices go, they are extremely reasonable. To illustrate, I once went to Joann's with a 70% off coupon. It was a smaller piece with two cardboard mats. Their primary price was over $400. At Artist Touch, I get suede and leather mats with UV glass and hand carving for much bigger pieces for an average of $250-$310.

So even though they're reasonable, it's still quite an investment. I saved my birthday money this year and Al agreed to use our Christmas money for this, since I've been wanting to get these framed for a couple of years.

Here are the results! It's hard to see some of them because I couldn't use a flash, but if you double click the images to get the full-size picture, you can see much better.

Needless to say, I'm in love. I just have to figure out where to hang them!

Dig Dog

As spring begins to show itself, the dogs are spending a lot more time outside. They love it!
Thursday is turning out to be quite the digger. Yesterday, she came in with mud on her paws and nose!

It doesn't show up that great, but she was pretty darn messy. She got a nice spraying in the bathtub before being allowed to walk in the house again!

Next Stop: Starbucks!

At Christmas, Al and I took our cappuccino machine to Mom and Dad's to make steamers. Apparently, they were a hit because Dad bought one for them.
After Ashley's birthday dinner at Tepanyaki, we went over to give Mom some barrista training.

Before long, she was on her own! Yummy!

Say It Ain't So

Jer and Jill managed to get a day and half layover in Salt Lake City while on their way to Hawaii. The mini-reunion deserved some time on Rock Band! We filmed this at Jeff's house. He really gets into it...But then again, he is the only professional in the room.

We're Making Progress!

My Name is Earl...I Mean Al

For Al's vacation, he decided to grow a beard. He ended up liking it so much, it stayed about a week longer than the originally-agreed-upon ten days.

Kenzie and Madi started calling him "Scary Beard." That's either his Indian name or his pirate name, I'm not sure.

When it came time to shave...finally...Al decided to do the "power chops." He thinks they're AWESOME. I had other things to day.He had the power chops from about midnight on Saturday night until 9am Sunday morning. I refused to go out in public with him like that.

In the end, I got normal, clean-shaven Al back.