Job = Paycheck!! :)

One of the most unexpected blessings from my job has been the addition of a second paycheck to our income. Most of it is getting put away into savings, but it has been fun to splurge on a few purchases recently.

I don't exactly have a work appropriate wardrobe anymore, nor am I looking to acquire one, but I did figure it'd be a good idea to buy a couple more tops that are nice enough for work, but still practical enough for every day life. I found these short sleeve sweaters that look dressy enough paired with pants or capris and a pretty necklace.


I burn candles at home nine months out of the year and we are quickly coming into those months again - hooray for fall! I bought two candles at Yankee Candle last weekend to help usher in the season.




They both smell heavenly! I think the blueberry scent will be a nice transition into fall and then I'll bring out the harvest candle in late September or early October. It's a nice spicy scent - cinnamon, cloves, apple, and pumpkin - my favorite fall smells!

And finally I bought a few stamping and papercrafting supplies from PaperTrey Ink. I won't go into the nitty gritty details of that order, except to say that I am so excited to start stamping with these new stamps...


I have always loved the pineapple as a symbol of hospitality, and I love the other images in this set as well. I'm thinking that these stamps will make some beautiful fall cards and accessories, and I'm also thinking I'll use them for our Thanksgiving cards this year. Stay tuned for more on that in the weeks and months to come...

We are laying low and just hanging around home this weekend. Last week was crazy busy at work and next week is going to be more of the same, so I'm trying to recover/recharge. I love relaxing weekends around home though - movies, a good book, a nap - you can't beat it! I think I'm going to bake a chocolate zucchini cake a little later on today...YUM!

Hope your weekend is a great one, too!

Homemaker Wanted

Between going back to work and spending every evening watching the Olympics, my homekeeping skills have gone completely down the drain. There is clutter piling up, laundry to be put away, a dishwasher to be unloaded, and I haven't cooked since somewhere near the end of July. Help! I need to hire a homemaker to keep up my own home!

Fall Fever

I love fall, and this time of year I start really looking forward to it's arrival. The colors, crunching leaves, crisp evenings, apples, pumpkins, baking, football, Halloween, Thanksgiving - I love every bit of it! Imagine my excitement when this arrived in the mail yesterday:


Granted it is the October issue, but I flipped through that issue as fast as I could last night, getting a taste of all its seasonal splendor.

I'm also gearing up for fall papercrafting! Wednesday I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics and bought THREE packs of fall scrapbook paper. I can't wait to dig in and play with all the fall colors and themes.


The icing on the cake is that today it was only 60 degrees and rained all day. Had I been home, it would have been the perfect weather for baking up some spice cookies or pumpkin bread. Mmmmmm, I can almost taste them!

Bad Blogger!!

Oh my goodness - I am so embarrassed by the terrible blogger I've become! Can I just be honest and say that this going back to work thing has completely thrown me for a loop? I know it is only part time and believe me, I feel like a crazy whiner even writing about this, but sheesh! I am having the hardest time making the adjustment! My respect goes out to any of you who hold any kind of job on a regular basis - you amaze me! And send me your tips for staying on top of things asap! :)

So aside from work, I don't have a ton to report on. One of the things I wrote about in a recent post was the crazy heat wave we were in. I am thrilled to report that it has broken! I think it broke early last week. We are now in "monsoon" season which I absolutely love! I love summer rain and if it comes with a thunderstorm I am one happy girl. Last Wednesday afternoon I was home when it clouded over, the sky got all rumbly with thunder and then the rain let loose. Hallelujah! You'd think I was growing crops or something with how excited I get over this, wouldn't you? I took a couple of photos - hopefully you can kind of tell that it is raining in these...



I sat at our back door and watched the rain for probably 20 minutes or so. It cleared up a bit for about an hour, but then later a softer rain started falling. A wasn't home from work yet so I grabbed a blanket and a book and curled up on the couch and enjoyed the rain. It almost felt like fall. Mmmmm, fall....I can't wait!

Tonight is my monthly book group meeting. We're discussing "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory. I am eager to see what everyone thought of it. I enjoyed the book for the most part, but felt like it was too long for my taste. I guess I'm more of a 300-400 page book fan and this one was 661 (but who's counting?). Even if we all hated the book, it is always fun to get together, share, laugh, and eat!

I'll be back later this week with another post - I hope! I'm really going to try and be a better blogger...thanks for hangin' in there with me!

Summer Squash

Hi All! I'm writing to ask for your help today. Yesterday a coworker gave me some summer squash and zucchini from their garden. I have lots of yummy zucchini recipes, but I'm not sure what to do with the summer squash. Have any yummy, tried and true recipes for me?

Thanks in advance!

Escaping the heat

Colorado (at least the front range) is in a heat wave these days. Today marks the 22nd day over 90 degrees, and the last three days have been over or near 100. I know compared to those with humidity these temps may not seem severe, but to those of us who live here, it's still hot. And let's just say there is a reason I don't live in high humidity. It's called I would be a puddle on the concrete.

Yesterday A and I went to higher (aka cooler) ground. We went to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Oh hallelujah it was not as hot!! We arrived there late morning and sought out a picnic spot to enjoy our lunch. We ended up on the shore of Lily Lake, under a lovely pine tree, with a view of Longs Peak. Unfortunately I didn't take the camera with us - bummer! I did find these pictures on Flickr that are very similar to what we saw yesterday.



After lunch we walked around the lake and then drove to the north gate to Rocky Mountain National Park. They have a really nice Visitors Center, gift shop, and restaurant to hang out in. (Photo compliments of the web)


After spending some time there, we shopped in Estes Park. They have lots of cute shops with unique gifts and souvenirs. They also have ice cream shops on every other corner and their waffle cone scent wafts out onto the street and draws you into the store. The Rocky Road ice cream was to die for! :) Once again I didn't have my camera with me, but I love this photo of downtown Estes that I found online. This is pretty much what things looked like yesterday.


We wrapped up the day at a Poppy's Pizza and Grill right along the Estes Park Riverwalk. We had a table on the patio and there was live music. It was the perfect ending to a warm (although cooler than back at home!) summer day!