Tis the season to be Jolly!

At a time in the year when you need a little extra money; we have a little extra lack of money. So, this little treat came by a great surprise today:


Look how cheep I filled my car up!



Its the small blessings in life we need to start counting... They are more than I ever thought!

Planting Seeds

First i googled my name, then Dans name, then out of sheer boredom I googled "Merideth and Dan" not much came back but i did come across this....

A post on Kelly's blog:

"Isn't it fun to get wedding announcements in the mail? I love receiving good mail and was delighted when I received Merideth and Daniel's formal "love letter" recently. The elegant announcement and invitation was white with a dry embossed "double door" opening, wrapped with a satin bow in a soft blue {slightly aqua} colored ribbon and was so beautiful. Using some of my Loves Me patterned papers which were on my desk from Lindsey's birthday party invitations, I created this card for the soon-to-be newlyweds. Unlike the wedding announcement, these papers aren't very formal, but I felt that this whimsical young design matches Merideth's fun and cheerful personality. Best wishes to the new happy couple!

... and boy was i surprised! Thank you Kelly! You are always so sweet to me! I still have this beautiful card you made me too! Right this very moment the ordainment that was tied to our gift box is on our Christmas tree!

Nothing makes your smile larger than coming across something someone said or did a long time ago that was so sweet! Finding out that someone was planting good seeds on your behalf is a wonderful feeling! -- Now its my turn; im going to pass my smile on to someone else!

RE: Bye, Bye Blonde!

Useless information for those that care...

I finally added that picture that - I KNOW- you have been waiting for. I used this one even though i look amazingly unattractive and i work very hard every day to loose the 60LBS of ugly fat that i have gained from the joys of marriage. On the up side, my eyes look amazingly green!

Here it is again... I Had originally added it to the original post:

Bonsai ~ Trial 1

So... I decided today that I would fulfill every child's dream (at least every child who has seen Karate Kid) of having my own Bonsai Tree. It will be my new hobby/pet. Everyone who has grown a bonsai tree says that it is a very personal experience and I hope to gather the same experience with my own bonsai tree.

Now, I have not yet in my life been known to have a green thumb. I am sure that several little trees are going to fail, hence the trail 1. But, I want to keep trying until I am able to succeed (in other words, if one dies I will probably buy another one!).

I am going to try and keep the blog updated with the progress of my Bonsai.

Dan

Starting Pictures

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree! Thy leaves are so unchanging....

Were starting early this season....

Important news clip from the election aftermath

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Bye, Bye Blonde!

Picture added:



Its just that! I went back to brown! Actually to be truthful its a Auburn. It has alot of RED in it!

Ill post a picture soon! I wanted to say that "I've been a red head!" at least once in my life!!

"You are a good teacher"

I just love the kids that i babysit for! They are so adorable and I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing them as they grow up!

Their mom told me that the children needed to write a letter to their teacher (this was last year) for Teacher appreciation day. Adam let me read his; when he was not looking I took pictures with my cell phone with the intentions of one day actually downloading it to my computer.

Here it is... Its a MUST READ!




why did the anaconda cross the road?

Answer: To eat the chicken

Im a christian who supports Prop 8!

there is so much controversy in the world right now. Obama, Prop 8, Homosexuals, the war, our "horrible" economy. I am so sick and tired of everyone blogging and protesting. Im mostly sick of Prop 8 AND THE post-battle with Obama Vs. McCain on Abortion. Oh and the Liberal Media, im sick of them too.
I only have one thing to say on those issues....


The Family: A Proclamation to the World Please READ IT! Its at the bottom of my blog.

I believe, strongly support, and 100% fully back the Mormon church on this controversial subject.

Driving pooch!

This is what we saw in the parking lot at HEB!

So many things i want and never enough money

I love to bake i dream of baking .. and most of my items i dream about involve baking. I'm writing my wish list so that i can remember all the things i dream of and remember where i last left my list (*a list that is always growing!). There shouldn't be too many things left in the baking world that I can dream about -- I have (almost) everything a great baker could dream of. Some of my wish list items are replacements or i just want two! (*Man; I do live in a dream world!) This is in no particular order.


*25-30 Mulit-colored silicon cup cake liners
*Wilton cup cake stand (4 layers tall, holds about 22)
*White glass lemnon juicer
*the list of things from Pampered Chef that i have made
*Digital Kitchen Scale with glass top -- Bed Bath and Beyond
*Kitchen aid Cheese greater attachment
*9 1/2" Tart pan with removable bottom; non stick - Wilton or better brand
*10" Angel food cake pan with removable bottom; non stick - Wilton or better brand
*8 white glass 5oz (or 6oz) Ramekins
*Stone bakeware

***Square Flower dish set from Costco
*Copper colored wine chiller tub- Costco(that im going to use for something different)
*Huge Clock $50 from costco
*3 piece bakeware with black medal frames - costco
*large White Turkey platter - smooth, no Turkey design on the bottom -Costco

*Clock for my bathroom
*More stamps for card making
*Sex and the City Movie & Soundtrack
*Baby Momma Soundtrack
*Sarah McLachlan -- surfacing CD
*Live --Throwing Copper CD

Sleepy Boy!

Dan came home from work so tired (as he frequently does from me keeping him up late) and he had brought me one of my favorite presents -- Gummy Bears! He came in with them and crashed on the bed. I went in to talk with him and couldn't resist the urge....



My Sweetie-baby (yes, that is what i call him) is not actually asleep here; He just didn't want people thinking that he was awake when I did this and that he let me ;)

I love my Husband!

Dan is so sweet to me all the time! He always is being super patient and is always thinking of me! We've been married a 15months now and he still makes time to cuddle every night and bring me flowers!

Yesterday when i got home i walked in to a seeming normal house and out of no where totally joking [to Dan] i said "hi to my husband who didn't bring me flowers today" and i gave him a kiss! He says "yeah no..." and then reached his hand back onto a book shelve behind the corner and -- what do you know --- He had freekin brought me flowers!!!

I love my husband so much! I just have to brag about him a little! In return for all the super sweet things he does fo me; I bake him lots of goodies!! This week he got 2 kinds of lemon bars (i was comparing), 2 chocolate cakes (I was comparing again) and a Pecan Pie (because he asked for one)

Oh and by the way.... If you want the best ever pecan pie just take your old fashion Pecan pie recipe and where it calls for 1 cup corn syrup SUBSTITUTE IT for 1/2 Cup Pure maple syrup and 1/2Cup Dark Corn syrup!

Makes an absolute delish dessert! Eat it with coffee ice cream if you want to keel over from absolute goodness!

Oh Man! I got Tagged!

8 TV shows I love to watch:
1.Desperate housewives
2.Criminal Minds
3.House
4.Brideszillas
5.Law and Order
6.CSI
7.Pushing Daises
8.Sinfeild


8 favorite places I love to eat:
1.Mesa Rosa
2.Cheddars
3.Jardin Corona
4.Sonic
5.Any smoothie place
6.Short Stop
7.My Moms house
8.My Mother-in-laws house


8 things that happened yesterday
1. Had a bad cold
2.Went to the doctor
3.Had a worse cold
4.Blew my nose a hundred billion times
5.Laid on the couch for hours (all day) and watched pointless shows
6.Took my husband tuna sandwiches for lunch
7.Brushed my teeth
8.Had my husband make me cheese crackers and bring me milk


8 things I look forward to:
1. The sweet kiss Dan gives me as he pulls his blanket over me in the morning on the way out the door for work.
2. Seeing my husband; Dan come home everyday
3. Going to sleep
4. Eating out
5. Having a baby
6. Being debt free
7. Not working a “job” any more (one day, a very long time from now)
8. Buying a home


8 things I love about Fall:
1.Its cold
2.Its not Hot
3.I get to wear all my cute trendy coats
4.Scarves
5.Seeing my breath when I Breathe!!!
6.The possibility of snow
7.Cuddling to stay warm outside with hot chocolate!
8.It’s a very romantic time of year


8 things on my wish list:
1. Sex and the City HBO box set
2. Getting Pregnant
3. A 5 bedroom one story home
4. For my husband and I to stay in “happily ever after land” forever
5. To actually read and finish the Book Of Mormon without giving up and coming back later.
6. Being very rich so that I can have all the things I want
7. A shelve in my pantry
8. For my husband to finish school


8 people I tag
Natalie
Allison
Lindsey
Sheila
Deb
Courtney
Melanie
Summer

More Cards

As you probably have noticed by now; I am making Halloween cards for all the kids in my family!

Here are all my latest additions! (all but one is Halloween)

Color IQ test -- Fun!!

http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77

Thats the link I scored a zero, which apparently is perfct!! Yea for me since Im a hairstylist and colorist!!!


Thank you Cynthia Z for "letting" me steal this from you blog page! ;)

...and I'm addict again!

So i think I'm an addict.

I love ribbon! Usually I find all this great ribbon and then I go home and think, " humm what card can I make with this?" Well, thats just what ive been doing lately! I have been on a roll (no pun intended...)

Michael's has this great section of ribbon for 99 cents! I love it. I love the furry ribbon the most!

here are some of my latest...




(Now dont show Travis this one ... I think im going to be sending it to him!)


I LOVE Gift wrapping too! I just love bundling up something with love and sending it off in the mail - or just handing it to them! Either way, I just have fun doing it!!

Yea!! for open spaces!

Yea! We sold our chairs tonight! Now we just have the couch to go!!! Our plan was to ditch the chairs (for a large amount of money) and just have a couch. Our home was WAY to small for all that furniture.

Next we want to replace the Tan Leather couch with a comfy fabric BRAN-SPANKIN-NEW sofa! I cant wait until Dan and I can make a "we" purchase for "our" furniture together. Yea! Married life is so much fun!!

Here is the major improvement to our space issue that we were having:




You will have to excuse our vacuum and mess on the table. It is very late at night and I have no desire to clean it. Im just glad that the obstruction of 2 huge chairs is gone from the center of our room! Yea!! for open spaces!

Tribute to 9/11

"And I’m proud to be an American where as least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A."

When Craigs List meets Blogging World

Today i have posted my couches on Craigs List. Why?? You are probably wondering... Its because our little home (Actually an apartment) is too small to house them all. We are wanting to use the money and buy just one traditional fabric sofa.

If your interested or know anyone that is; feel free to e-mail me. meridethcalderwood@yahoo.com

Here is the Craigs List Link:
http://austin.craigslist.org/fuo/836013959.html

homemade cards

So Its been a while since my scrap booking stuff has been put to good use. Well I started making cards and making cute gift wrap on presents instead. Scrap booking is just to time consuming and costly!!!

Well I'm trying to find some junk for Lindsey (my sister) to Craig's list for me.... Well Naturally instead of getting rid of all my junk- I have all these new found "treasures" that I just absolutely can not part with!! (LOL)

Card making and Gift wrap is a great hobbie for me too. They all consist of quick to fairly quick projects and each one gets to be completely different. I also need to have something for me to do in the evenings while Dan is "at school" (aka on the computer studying); so these "mini" projects are perfect to squeeze in after work and before dinner! I'm very glad i got carried away with all this - so much so that i booted the futon out the door and set up a whole craft center (or well, at least a Card making/ gift wrapping center).

Here are some of my latest designs. I'm very proud of them!! [so much so, I almost don't want to give them away!! :) But i will, I love to hear people gush over me!]

New Pictures of the "Newly Weds"!

Our First Year ..... its almost over.... :( BUT there is so much more to come!! (If you want to see pictures from a year ago our wedding is post #2) SO here they are; some "one year" pictures that we took this past Sunday just fooling around. Enjoy!

And, Here we are at the Temple! We had such a great day that day! I packed us a lunch since we were a little bit more than tight on money; we stopped and had a picnic on the way home. It was a great way to spend the day!

Also, just for my own curiosity and satisfaction... Post a comment and tell me what you liked best!

Blonde Merideth VS Brunette Merideth