The Nail Files - team spirit

Hola friends!  I've got such a treat for you today!  Especially if you love toes!

Do feet gross you out?  They totally gross my son out, so I love to put my feet on him.  Also - my bestie told me once she doesn't love me enough to paint my toe nails for me when I'm pregnant and can't reach.  Isn't that just rude?  Feet totally don't gross me out.  I mean, GROSS feet gross me out.  But in general I'm not grossed out if someone happens to have bare feet, and they are near me, or like touching my leg.  My son freaks out if a bare foot touches any part of him.

So, MiMi told me about a fun new meme (haha that's funny) called The Nail Files.  I thought I'd link up today, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed (or maybe my toes?), that it's okay to link up toenails too.  <------- That sounded sorta gross.  Like I pictured toe-nail clippings when I said that.  Ew.

ANYWAY....I rarely paint my fingernails.  It seems to chip so quickly, and then it just looks like trash.  But toenails on the other hand....you can dab some touch up over a chipped spot, and top it with a clear top coat, and it looks fine, because nobody sees them up close.  You know?  So I am rarely without toes painted.

Today I thought I'd show my team spirit faux glitter toes.  I love glitter even more than I love nail polish.  I have a friend who does professional glitter toes, and does a fabulous job.  But that's a luxury that isn't often in my budget.

However, I do have a trick for doing faux glitter toes, that I learned from my friend Jen from Tatertots and Jello.  It was so many years ago, when we both were relatively new bloggers, and I don't have a clue how to find the original link.  But basically what you do is choose nail polish, and a coordinating glitter color.  Make sure it's the really fine craft glitter, not the regular Walmart kind.  You can only do a few toes at a time, so the polish doesn't dry before you can add the glitter.  Polish your nails, dump the glitter over them, then shake them off.  You'll have glitter all over your toes, but it can be brushed off when you're finished.  Once the polish and glitter have set for a bit, top it off with a clear top coat.  And voila!  Super sparkly glittery toes!

This is my favorite thing to do during the summer to show my team spirit when hubby and I head out to a ReAL Salt Lake game.  What do ya think?

Also, that is a fake tattoo - I would never get a real one.  No offense to my wonderful friends who have a tattoo - but it's not my thing!  Except the fake kind.  On game day.

And keeping with my tradition (and promise I made to Myya) of posting a new Chris Winger photo every time I mention ReAL Salt Lake, here he is modeling their 2012 away uniform (le sigh...).

You. Are. Welcome.

I'm linking up here!

Honesty - always the best policy?

So last night we went to Pixie's Celebration of Learning.  It's something we do at our school at the end of an expedition, where the students are able to present in a public forum the things which they have been learning about.  The format varies from one celebration to the next.

Last night the students sang a couple of songs, and presented as an entire grade.  Then we broke off into groups of 3 students, and the visitors that had come to see them, in what is called writer's cafe, which is a method we use a lot in our school.  How writer's cafe works is each writer stands and reads their piece of writing aloud to their small group of peers.  At the end the peers use little sticky notes to give feedback.  Both positive feedback and suggestions for improving the piece.  For the final writer's cafe, where the students were presenting to parents and other visitors, we were asked to use the feedback sticky notes to give a piece of positive feedback to the writers.

We listened to each of the students.  Pixie's story was about a young miner in the town of Alta (former mining town turned ski town in the Wasatch mountains), it was written in the format of a journal that he kept from August, 1873 to February 1874.  It was really very clever.  It was several pages longer than the other 2 students who were presenting, and because at times she let her voice trail off to where we couldn't hear her well, it seemed to get kind of long.  The other students' names were Avy and Weston.

At the end we were all filling out our sticky notes with our feedback for each of the students.  Monkey said she wanted to write one (she is in pre-school).  So I told her she could write one for Pixie.  She ended up (since I wasn't paying attention) writing one for each of the students.  Here's how they went:

Avy - I rely likd it.    
Gus (Weston goes by Gus, not sure why) - Ekselnt (excellent)

I took a picture of the feedback she left for Pixie:

(Well that was boring)

When I chastised her (between fits of laughter) for not being nice she said, "What?  I had to tell her what I really thought."

Where the heck did this kid come from?

Wordless Wednesday

Tagged, TTUT and a Winner!

Hello friends!  It's Tuesday again!  I have a winner to announce, 2 tags to fulfill and I'm linking it all up to my girls Shawn and IA at Talk to Us Tuesday!  They may have second thoughts about this "no rules" thing when I'm through!!

First things first.  I need to announce the winner of the MyMemories Suite software giveaway:  Random.org selected SReed!  Congratulations!  Now SReed, there is no contact info on your profile, so I need you to comment here, or email me with an email address for you that I can send all the info to, so you can get your prize.  Sound good?  Please let me know before Friday, or I will have to select another winner.

For those who didn't win - you can still get this awesome software at a great discount!  Just go here, and then use this code at checkout for $10 off: STMMMS392. You'll seriously be glad you did.  Did you see the awesome subway art I made with it?  So go!

Next on to the tag.  I was tagged twice with this tag.  By both Ann, and Lourie.  The rules say I need to tell you 11 random things about me, answer 11 questions posed to me, and then come up with 11 questions of my own, and tag 11 more people.  Now here's where Ann and Lourie will have to decide if they are going to be mad at me, or embrace me for the rule-breaking self I'm going to be.

Truthfully, I'm pretty sure that the very few people I have left that even read my blog regularly have all already been tagged, so I'm going to skip the tagging part.  But I would really love anyone who hasn't been tagged (if there is anyone out there reading this....) to answer my questions and post about it!  I'm going to select some questions off each list to answer and then I'll post some questions of my own.  Okay?  And if you don't want to do a post answering my questions - just answer some in the comments!

11 random things about me - is there even anything random that I haven't already shared?? 

1- I haven't had a Dr. Pepper since January 1.  

2- I'm really craving one right now.

3- I'm having heartburn about the Republican Primaries going on right now.

4- I played the saxophone in Middle School and was really good.

5- I was tied for 2nd chair with Jared Francis.

6- I had a huge crush on Jared Francis.

7- He ended up being one of my closest friends for years - but we never kissed.

8- I loved Middle School way more than I liked High School.

9- I haven't been back to any of my HS reunions.  It's doubtful I ever will.

10- I need to get my hair colored really badly.  I've got too many grays.

11- It's almost dinner time (scheduled post), and as for ideas of what to fix - I got nothin'.

Here are my answers to questions asked by Ann and Lourie:

1. Where were you born?  Twin Falls, Idaho

2. What states have you lived in? Idaho, California, and Utah

3. What was your most embarrassing moment?  There are so many of them - it's hard to pick just one.  But I told about a great on here.  Another time, when we were living with my parents (I was about 21), my little brother came in bawling because the dog just died.  He ate gopher poison from the neighbor's garden.  Traumatic and sad I know.  I went outside where everyone was gathered around his new dog run looking down on him, and I walked up to my husband who was leaning his arms on the top of the fence, slipped my arm through his and laid my head down on his shoulder, while looking down at the poor dead dog.  I sat there for a couple minutes, then looked over to say something to hubby.  Only it wasn't him.  It was my parents 50 year old neighbor.  He had the same color shirt on as hubby, and I was just looking at the dog the whole time while I walked over there, and yeah - he just sat there, I'm sure not knowing quite what to do while I laid my head on his shoulder.  I still turn red in the face and get the giggles when I think about that.  Idiot.

4- Do you have a pet?  Yes.  We have a 5 year old boxer mix.

5- Is your tax money already spent - do you owe?  We always owe.  We own our own business so of course we ALWAYS owe.  But it is what it is.

6- What is your biggest pet peeve?  I have so many of these as well.  But what comes to mind today is how much I HATE when I see people driving down the street, and their little kids aren't buckled in.  Makes me SO STEAMING MAD!!!

7- What do you love?  Good food, music, my awesome friends, my amazing family, my Savior, and shoes.  Not necessarily in that order, of course.

8- What is your can't do without TV show?  NCIS

9- Have you ever laughed so hard you snorted?  All the time.

10- Do you have any regrets in life, and what?  I regret being mean to my younger brother.  I wasn't a very nice big sister when we were little, and I truly regret it.

11- What would YOU do for a Klondike bar?  Nothing.  I don't like 'em.

Okay!  Do you all feel smarter now that you learned these things about me?

Here are my questions for YOU:

1- How old were you when you had your first kiss?  Details?

2- Do you enjoy sports?  If so, what is your favorite?

3- Do you like shopping?

4- Salty or sweet?

5- How long have you been blogging?

6- Have you ever removed a blog post because you regretted something you said in it?

7- Does it annoy you when people get political or religious on their blogs?

8- If you have kids in school, do they eat school lunch, or bring lunch from home?

9-What is your favorite memory from Elementary school?

10- What is your least favorite?

11- Do you think it is rude that I didn't fulfill the tagging part of this assignment?

And there you have it!  Raise your hand if you actually made it to the end of this post!

Don't forget to click the button and link up to TTUT!!

I Made My Own Subway Art!

I'm so proud of myself!  Up until now, my version of creating subway art was finding a free download online, printing it up and slapping it in a frame.  Please tell me that is how most of you do it too.  No?  Dang.

I don't usually decorate for Valentine's Day.  I always see cute things online, and think that I will.  But then I never seem to get around to it.  This year I have seen a few things that I decided I will for sure do.  And I'm not going to let myself off the hook for it, because I think when I have some fun new elements to my decor, it really lifts my spirits.  And if you read my post from Saturday - you know I kind of have the blahs right now.

Yesterday I was looking at my "printables" pin board, and as I looked at the different, cute Valentine's Day subway art printables, I thought, "Hey - I bet I could make this in MyMemories Suite."  So I decided to give it a try.  Guess what?  I totally did it!!  I know that for most a few of you, this is a lame thing for me to be excited about - because you whip up stuff like this in your sleep.  But for me it was a big accomplishment, okay?

Here's how it turned out:

Guess what else?  If you want to print this up and slap it in a frame - you can totally have it!  Just enlarge it,  right click, and choose the "save as" option and you're good to go!

I'm telling you guys - this program is so much fun. The giveaway for this software is now closed (winner to be announced tomorrow), but you can still purchase yours at a very reasonable price PLUS a $10 discount for being one of my awesome readers!  Just click here and use the code STMMMS392  at checkout.

In other news, this is what went on in my neck of the woods over the weekend:

It seems dull for the first little bit, but just keep watching.  I couldn't tear my eyes away, but it literally made me sick to my stomach to watch.  Because I know that feeling of literally having no control of your vehicle, and just sliding wherever the road takes you, not knowing how you'll end up.  I actually got a little shaky watching this.  Watch the whole thing.  I promise you that by the end it will take your breath away.  Seriously.

Winter...just go away already!!  Remember how I said that once Christmas is over, snow in the valley is only a road hazard?  I rest my case.

I hope you all had an enjoyable and SAFE weekend!

Snowy Saturday Blahs

It's freaking snowing.  I hoped and wished and prayed for a white Christmas.  I mean our state slogan is "The Greatest Snow on Earth".  With the greatest snow on earth, and some of the country's best skiing - you'd think that Mother Nature should feel obligated to provide us a white Christmas, right?

Nope.  Not her.  She ripped us off for the 2nd year in a row.  Now she decides to dump on us.  Here's my philosophy on snow:  It is fabulous the weeks leading up to Christmas (there's nothing quite so magical), but once the New Year has been rung in - well it's great to have in the mountains, for the skiers, and in order to have an adequate water supply through the summer - but after the holidays, snow in the valley is just a road hazard.  And I'm not a fan of hazards.

So it's snowy.  And it's Saturday - but my husband is working all day and night.  So I'm blah.  Besides the dreary weather, I also had to get up at 7:00 a.m. on a SATURDAY!!  Bookworm had a merit badge powow at 8 a.m.  Gah!  But by the end of the classes he'll have earned 3 Eagle Scout required merit-badges.  He wants to earn his Eagle by the time he is 14.  For me, it's more important that the experiences he has in meeting the requirements are meaningful, and not just rushed through in a race to get his Eagle by age 14.

My son has been more productive today than I have for sure.  But at least I FINALLY got my Christmas decor taken down yesterday.  I adore decorating for Christmas.  And I equally loathe un-decorating for Christmas.  So I usually put it off until I just can't stand it any longer.  Yesterday was that day.


The only slightly productive thing I have done today was create more in my MyMemories Suite digital scrapbooking software.  I am seriously loving playing with it.  And I wanted to try out the new FREE Valentine-themed "quick pages" I received from their weekly "Friday Freebie" feature they do on FB.  So you don't even have to spend any money to add to your collection of elements to use in the program!  These quick pages are already beautiful and ready to go, all you do is add your photos and it looks like you've spent tons of time creating!  I know I sound like a commercial, but I'm seriously excited about all the possibilities I see unfolding for putting together collections of my family's memories!

Tell me what you think: These 2 pages are in the album side by side to create a 2 page spread.  These are some of our engagement pictures.

These are pictures I took of pictures, so I think they are a little skewed, I may have to break down and scan the photos to have them look a little better.  But baby-steps, right?  And the only thing that I added besides the photos was the little word art that says "Love Each Other".  I decided to put that in the little journaling spot because I wanted something simple.  Easy-peasy.

It's not too late to enter to win your own free download of the program.  Just click here.  Even if you don't win I think it's totally worth it to purchase this program.  Because it comes with so many elements (papers, and textures, and embellishments, etc.), it would take forever to get through them all.  When you add in all the freebies you can get, it seems to me like you would never have to invest another penny, if you didn't want to.  Of course there is tons of cute stuff for sale that is very tempting!!

Okay, now I've done 2 productive things today.  Made the pages, and promoted my giveaway.

How's your Saturday going?  Are you blah too?

My people are funny.

I'm not talking about Mexicans.  I'm talking about Utahns.  Although a lot of us are Mexicans.  And a lot of us are funny.  Not me, but still, there are a lot of funny people in my state!  Today I thought I'd share with you some funny crap that has come from my people (Utahns, not Mexicans - necessarily).

It's time for the Crash the Super Bowl Doritos ad competition.  Last year 2 finalists came from Utah.  One of them won $1 million.  Now I think the other guys ad was funnier, but the voters spoke.  Tell me what you think:

Winner's Ad:

Pretty funny.  But not as funny as this one, in my opinion:

Bahaha - it STILL makes me laugh!  Guy number 2 has another ad in the top five this year.  I don't think it's nearly as funny - but you can check it out here if you want to decide for yourself.

Also, remember Kid History?  You know, where the kids tell the story and the adults act it out?  They are totally my people too (Utahns, not necessarily Mexicans).  I told you about it here, and promised to share more episodes.  But then I fell of the face of the planet, well Blogland anyway, so here is my favorite episode.  Or at least the one that is tied for first place in my heart:

Pretty funny, eh?  Okay, I've decided I need to share my other favorite - I can't decide between the one above, or this one.  You pick for me.  Which one is better?

See - some funny people here in my state!  Just not me.

Which ad do you think is funnier?

Which Kid History?

If you didn't watch them all, or even any of them - that's okay.  Still leave me a comment and say HI!  Because you know like all bloggers - I love comments!

Are your people funny?

P.S. don't forget to enter my awesome giveaway!