Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving this year! I had three Thanksgiving dinners (at the crop last weekend, with my family and then at work) and I am sick of turkey by now, even though our fridge is full of leftovers. We ordered Italian from Sal’s for a change of pace tonight.

I had a fun day with the family before heading to work. I really don’t mind working Thanksgiving. We’ve always had our meal early, and working means someone else gets the day off, and lots of my co-workers don’t have family nearby.

It was a little sad this year since it’s probably our last turkey day together. We’re not to sure about when they’re going to relocate our jobs, but it’s probably going to be in the fall. But we had a great feast for our last hurrah. Turkey from City Limits. Everyone brought it lots of yummy sides and desserts. I made my cheesecake. So maybe next year I’ll be able to stay home and spend the day with my family. Maybe I’ll even cook!

Here are some pictures…

We had three long tables of family over for dinner. Earlier the dogs spent the morning running around the tables. Glad they calmed down by the time everyone arrived.

Rocky wants some turkey.

Penny finally got to meet her new little "cousin." Derek and the dogs were very curious about each other.
Taylor and Kylie finally got to play with the dolls I made them and Taylor really loved her owl.
She got out her diary and wrote down something like: "I am thankful for my aunt Nonnie because she made toys for me and Kylie." That made me tear up!

After dinner the girls wanted to play Littlest Pet Shop and I got to show them the newest member of our edition - a Little Pet Shop version of Penny!


While I'm blogging, I'll catch up on pages from the crop and this week.

Here's Kylie the coffee addict. She seriously loves the stuff - hot or cold! Credit

And I scrapped Taylor's dance portrait with a mix of stuff from PixelWorks and some other kits. I really love to search my stash! Credits

And here's a page I think my brother would actually like. He made this photo his Facebook profile photo. It's become a family joke so I had to scrap it! I used PixelWorks' collab with Jacque Larsen, Jack of All Toys. Credits


And I'm so excitied about Kim Jensen's new collab with Kate Hadfield. It was perfect for scrapping my favorite little "dude." Credits.

Check out this kit at Scrapdish or Lily Pad!


And finally, here's a page I did for Tania's journaling challenge at Lily Pad. She challenged us to scrap an amazing moment and that made me think of a vacation I took with my aunt and grandmother. Credits

The little things

I've been sitting around feeling sorry for myself a lot this month. I've been tired and achy. (Part of that could be from a nasty fall the other day.) I'm not feeling creative. Blah, blah, blah.

So I'm hanging out in my pjs today after a really fun day cropping with my friends yesterday. And I'm in a much better mood. Rocky and Penny are here with me. I've got a hot cup of coffee and some chocolate chip cookies. Thanksgiving is a few days away. There's a new Harry Potter movie out. I've got to remember the good things in life and those little things that make me happy. So here are a few things I'm happy about this week.


I first tried this beer this summer and found it at Sam's Club this week! Magic Hat Not So Pale Ale. Good stuff!

I had a few days off this week and I went to dinner on Monday with Mom and Randi at the Melting Pot. I've never had fondue before and it was amazing! Lots of stuff to dip in pots of cheese, a yummy broth or melted chocolate. It was a bit expensive - especially since we had to cook our own food, but it was fun.

I took Penny to get groomed this week so not only does she look super cute and fluffy, she smells like cookies! They used a spray or shampoo on her that smells delicious!

And these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes are amazing! I might sweeten up the cake next time I make them - because they are definitely on the keeper list!

Pogo Penny

Here's what Penny does when she wants to come back inside

Lately...

It's been a rough week here at TJN. We had some more layoffs. We knew they were coming - but it's always shocking to see who goes. I was really sick last week and I'm still recovering somewhat, so I've been in a bit of a funk.

I am really upset because I accidentally resized all my photos from Halloween for Facebook. I usually make copies and then resize, but I guess I wasn't thinking and ruined the originals. So I haven't been in the mood to open Photoshop or do anything creative.

I did do this page last week, which just makes me laugh. My dog is so nuts. She loves this corner and we have a hard time getting her out. I used the new Lily Pad BOYC collab for November.


I need to get in the mood to scrap because I've got a crop on Saturday. I can't wait to see the girls. I need to have some fun! I've also got a four-day weekend coming up so I need to remind myself of that.

I have been reading a lot though. In the last two weeks, I finally finished The Help and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and I'm a few pages from the end of Not Without Hope, a book about some football players who got stranded in the Gulf of Mexico with just one surviving. And I listened to the Hunger Games trilogy. I haven't had my head phones in this much since I was a kid listening to my walkman! After all these book, I really need something light and fluffy to read! Anyone have recommendations?

Thanks for reading my latest rantings! Feels better to whine a little!

October Roundup

I haven't posted any of the pages I did in October! I'm sitting here not feeling so well and catching up on Late Late Show episodes. I figure I should catch up before I start my November pages! Gotta thank Janet Phillips for her templates and the Lily Pad for challenge inspiration or team assignments this month!

Here's a two-pager from my friend's baby shower using Amy Wolf & Jacque Larsen's Baby Bugs at Lily Pad. Credits





Here are my jack o'lanterns, which I did for the TLP formula challenge. Credits

Here are my pups looking so cute and snuggly. I used a collab by Amy Wolff and Lauren Reid called Thankful Heart. Credits

Here's one with some Thanksgiving goodies by PixelWorks. Credits

We've had a really mild October and the flowers outside look so pretty! Credits

This is one of my Project 365 photos. I just love fall! Credits

Penny at Halloween last year. She might be cute, but she can be a witch! Credits

My sister and me on her bday. I used Amy's collab with Aja Abney, Remember When. Credits

Here are some pics of Penny at the Halloween party. Credits


I did a little photo shoot with the pups and did these matching pages using One Fine Day by Amy and Valorie Wibbens. Credits

I finally scrapped last Halloween! This started out as a 4-page layout but I made it one because my computer wasn't happy with me! Credits

And here's my happy little buddy featuring yet another collab from Amy! She was on a roll this month! :) This one is Mr. Roboto with Emily Ann. Credits

Happy Halloween!

This year Halloween - well actually the day before - was so much fun! I was a zombie all day after Halloween, and as you'll read on you'll probably figure out why!

I took Penny to a dog party at a little park in Weehawken and I was surprised that she was pretty good! She was a little whiney, but that was because I didn't want to let her off the leash. She can get nasty so I kept her close.

She mostly sniffed while the other pups played!

Some of the doggies were so cute!

This is Beatrice, the dog of my friend Barb, who I know from my RAKScraps days. She lives in WNY too and she recognized me at the party! It was nice to finally meet her.

Then later on I went to the party at the Rover and I wore my favorite costume ever. I was Velma from Scooby Doo! I love Velma - maybe because she's a nerd and well I kinda look like her!


And I can wear this costume to work! Here are some of my favorite costumes from the party! :)















And I took a lot of funny/inappropriate photos of Scooby hanging out at the party. You can see them here.

We only had a few trick-or-treaters on Sunday. I spent most of the day in my pjs, played in some of the games over at the Lily Pad and started Catching Fire, the sequel to the Hunger Games. Penny, Scooby and I needed a day to recover!

Hope you had a fun Halloween, too!