IPOP Follow up

wow its been a month since I last blogged. This is a followup to my july blogs . We are back in CA doing follow up on our results from the acting competition that we went to.

ok for clarification since my last fb post sounded complicated. We went to an acting competition in July which resulted in 7 callbacks for Drakeston & 2 for Alex. a callback means a manager or agency is interested in you & wants to see more of you. It is not a guarantee that you will be accepeted.. The 2 callbacks that Alex got offered Drakeston a callback as well. So the Crawford agency liked both alex & Drakeston. we received a email stating we were being offered a contract but it did not specify if it was for both boys or just Alex. We came to CA this week to followup on some of our callbacks. The one we came to meet gave us a no, so then we spoke with a different agency that was not a part of the IPOP competition, they also gave us a no. In the meantime we had contact with a different agency one of the 7 callbacks & it also had a contract attached. So Drakeston may be able to choose from 2 different agencies to sign with.

Drakeston's callbacks:                                                                          
1.The Crawford Agency( possible contract offer)                                                                          
2.The Chateau(waiting to hear from)                                                        
3.323 management(waiting to hear from)
4.Carol Stevens ( a scout who booked us a meeting with a manager who gave us a no)
5.MMG (may have a contract offer but must visit in New York 1st then work in CA, not sure if its an offer to be considered for a contract or is a contract)
6.agencys models & talent (we have posted pics on their website this is how bookings & auditions are given)
7.April Mills( no)

Alex's callbacks:
1.The Crawford Agency (possible contract offer not sure if it is for Alex, Drakeston or Both)
2. The Chateau(waiting to hear from)

In 2010 Drakeston participated in a different competition that didnt give much results. He received 1 callback. We visited with the Avalon artist agency last July. It served as a good experience. They told us we were to late in the summer to work us, & they did not want to offer a contract at that time. After we found out that the manager that we spoke with on this trip was a no, I took initiative to contact The Avalon Artist agency & let them know that we were in Los Angeles. They squeezed us in & gave us another meeting. They still did not offer a contract but told us we could get more experience & come back & try again at a later date.

It was not the results we were looking for but they still went in a positive direction. We are proud of them & will continue to support them. We will work on what was told us & continue to pray & pursue as long as we get that the boys still want to do this. This weekend we received 3 no's & 1 yes. on average you hear NO 10 times before you hear a yes.

on the road again...

Today we started our drive back home. We started in sylmar,ca about 10am & ended in Gallup,nm around 10ish pm.  I took a lot of landscape pics along the way. There wasnt a lot to report about, pretty un eventful. there was a lil bit of rain, not too much though.

We took a detour to meteor crater,az. We saw the sign at 6:37 pm & within the mile saw the exit, but it said it closed at 7pm. we decided to drive the 6 miles & see what it was about. We were hoping they werent gonna charge admin fees to get in with it being so close to closing time, but no luck we didnt even get a discounted fee. they charged full price & told us we had til 7:30pm to look around. they showed us a video about the crater. it ws the 1st & most perfectly perserved crater from an meteor. it helped give info & reserach for over 200 other craters world wide/ it was caused by a meteor that came in at 26,000 miles per hr, which if on a plane leaving from los angeles,ca to new york city would be a 5 min flight. it left a hole in the ground that could house 20 football games at once with 2 million watchers. we were taking pics of the setting sun in the parking lot at 7:32pm & the gate keeper was hollering at us to hurry up so he could lock the gate. Outside of the gate we took some more pics of the sunset. We didnt have a lot of time to actually look at the museum but it was still pretty cool. we said it was worth the detour.

other than lunch, which was in Needles,ca at the wagon wheel cafe & 115 degrees, a pitstop & a gas stop, &dinner at taco bell in Holbrook,az we were in the car the whole day, looking at the beautiful america along rte 66.

If we can cancel hotel res for tommorrow we may arrive TX late tues after a detour to Roswell,nm to see the alien museum, if not we will stay in roswell tues night & be in TX wed afternoon. I hope we have as nice a view as today.

the days after IPOP

The days after IPOP

Well all good things must come to an end. Friday we had to check out of our 5 star hotel. We decided to take a morning swim in the pool & hottub. Drakeston slept in & we decided to do a late check out so we had until 2pm. I was tempted to get back in the pool again, but packed instead.

 We had pizza hut when we left the hotel. We spent some time driving around Beverly Hills looking at the fancy cars & drove down Rodeo Dr. We stopped at The Beverly Hills Garden which has a cool BH sign, & a really big tree that is fun to climb on & carve initials in hearts in. I wanted to show Nana where we had stayed & been on our last visit to CA, that took us to Wilshire blvd in Beverly Hills. We visited the Harry Potter store that is across the st from the original agent we spoke with. So since we were in the neighborhood we went down to The La Brea Tarpits, since there was 4 of us this yr & we didn’t have as much spending money we didn’t pay to go in. We just walked along on the outside. The tarpits are next to the LACMA los angeles county museum. I was trying to be artistic & was taking all kinds of angled building & architect pics. I had told Alex if we ever were back in LA I would show him LA INK. So since we were on LA Brea & that’s where LA INK is we journeyed down to High Voltage Tattoo. I told her to park at the MCDonalds a few blocks from La Ink, & fear of being towed we purchased food, so we would be mcd’s customers, & since we were staying for more than a few mins we decided to connect to the free wifi for a bit. When we were finished walking around & looking at LA INK we drove to our Sylmar, CA hotel. It is only a 1 star hotel. Not bad except its small, only 1 full size bed. We bought a full size airbed for the boys. The bed is a bit uncomfortable, even though we bought the airbed for the boys to share Drakeston has still been sleeping with me & Nana. This place does have a hottub that has eased the back pain I get from sleeping on this bed. We stayed at this hotel for 2 nights before we went to Beverly Hills & have been here since we left BH.

The next day was Saturday we wanted to go to Venice Beach & see where we loved last yr. I didn’t have a specific address, so I kept picking Venice spots on the gps, & I would say it didn’t look familiar so we would drive somewhere else. We kept ending up in Santa Monica & Marina Del Ray, Venice is in the middle of the 2. We stopped for lunch Nana & I had Chinese & Drakeston Had subway, Alex didn’t eat cuz he ate left over pizza in the car. We ended up parking in Santa Monica & walked to Venice which was 3 miles. All of this caused us to get to the beach several hrs later then when I originally wanted to arrive. I wanted to see the midday tide hit the rocks on Venice Beach so we could see the big breaks. We missed that , so the water around the rocks was barely there on the front side. This meant Boo could climb on the rocks & He was crab searching. He collected 16-20 crabs from small to large, he had them in a bucket that we found at Santa Monica. He released them when we left. It was fun to see them scurry off, they left neat little tracks in the sand. I don’t know why there wasn’t as much water where it was the last yr, but there was a lot of seaweed & moss & various other stuff  washed up on the shore, but there were 4 dead stingrays on the beach, there were some big bones from marine animals washed up.  It was kinda gross cuz there were small flys all around. Even with all that Venice is still my favorite beach that Ive  been to.  It has street vendors & artists all along the beach. It’s a bright & colorful place. There are all kinds of music there from mixed cds to bongos & steel drums. The condos & lofts on the beach are all neat to look at. There was one for rent & last yr I said it would be cool to live in that unit. I was tempted to call the # & find out how it was going for but I didn’t want to be sticker shocked so I just let it be. We had to walk back to our car in Santa Monica which was 3 miles down shore, by this time it was dark, & all the st vendors, artists, & musicians were gone. Nana & The boys had walked ahead of me to get to a store before it closed. I was exchanging food we had bought I didn’t like it, & it took forever to get new food. I was taking pics of the sunset while they were eating, so I didn’t know I didn’t like the food when everyone else was eating. I walked almost 3 miles by myself in the dark. Being on the beach at night is a lot different then in the daytime. It was almost scary. We made it back to the hotel just in time to have 10 mins in the hottub before they closed it for the night.             

Today was Sunday we stopped at an In-N – Out Burger which is a famous burger chain in the CA area. It was ok, but not as good as the hype. We then drove to Downtown Disney to shop & look around. Nana & I got some Mickey ears, & the boys built a remote control car at Ride Makerz. I also had a charactercature made up of them. We went back to our hotel decided to find an eating place & ended up at TGIFridays. I hadn’t been there in a very long time. It was pretty good. Then we went swimming in the hottub again. I had checked the temperature before we got in the pool to see if it was gonna be cold, as I have done each time before we swam at a hotel or on the beach. Everytime it had always been around 64-66 & once you get in the water it hasn’t been all that bad, but tonight when I checked it was 84, so I was expecting the pool to be warm. It was 9:15 at night. I jumped right into the pool & quickly got out. It was the coldest water I had been in yet. A guy at BH told us he thought the hotel mustve been heating the water . I guess they were cuz the Sylmar pool was freezing & the pool in BH was warmer, even though the outside air was cooler.  We considered going back to Hollywood after leaving downtown Disney but decided we didn’t want to pay for more parking & just went back to the hotel.

Tommorrow we start the drive back home, we will make it to Gallup,NM.

day 3,4,& 5

Day 3 ,4,& 5

I think I left off with our adventures in the Grand Canyon. Well after visiting the Grand Canyon, we had a 6 hr drive to Barstow,Ca. the last stop on rte 66 before hitting Los Angeles. While in Barstow, we visited the Barstow,Ca train/bus station. The out side is an Mcdonald’s its actually 3 old train cars. The Starbucks was across the st. We ordered 3 frappicinos & they gave us 5. We stopped at a grocery store to get sunscreen & we gave one of the extra drinks to our cashier. We then drove to 6 flags Magic Mountain.  I have been there once before but there were new rides. So it was very exciting. Our 1^st ride out was the X2 for the movie xmen2 . it was incredibly fun & exciting way for the ride. Nana was very nervous. The chair you sit in is like sitting in a rocking chair & then they pull you up the incline backwards. The next ride we rode was probably one of the most fun ive ever been on. Nana even said it was fun & not scary. Its called the tatsu flying at the speed of fear. Its literally almost flying over & through the mountains. The chair you sit in they flip you so you are looking at the ground on take off. Everyone comes off laughing. We rode it once during the sunlight hrs & once during the night hrs. We didn’t get to hit all the rides I wanted to go on but it was still fun. We missed riding the superman, which is different than the superman in Tx, we didn’t get to ride the riddler, & a few others.

The next day we stopped at Ed davis park. We saw it coming home from 6 flags & wondered what it was. My Dad’s name is Ed Davis. It turns out it was a trailwalk in the mountains. We just took a pic of the sign & then headed off to Farrell’s ice cream since our last name is Farrell. At 2 of my jobs Ive worked out we watched a customer service video called give them the pickle, it was based out of the Farrell’s ice cream parlour.  I googled it once & didn’t think I would ever be in a location close enough to visit one, but we were. It was pretty fun. They sound a bell every time its someones bday, all the waiters come out one is beating on a farrells bass drum & they sing a different song for each guest. We had a gold digger sundae. Butter pecan ice cream bananas, pecans, caramel & whipped cream shared 4 ways. After we left Farrell’s we took a scenic drive to Malibu, walked along the pier, then drove down the Pacific Coast Hwy to Santa Monica. We played in the beach for a while then we went on the pier. We were getting Alex & Nana’s faces sculpted. We let someone go in front of us who had a baby, so they gave us their amusement park wristbands. The lines were long & it was dark & 65 degrees so nana was cold. The boys rode the west roller coaster once, then Alex & I rode it once. I wanted to ride the ferris wheel but we didn’t. This was my 3^rd time to Santa Monica, but I have never ridden the roller coaster before. It was something Ive been wanting to do for a long time.

Sunday was the start of our IPOP competiton we had to check in at 3pm, so we didn’t have a lot of time. We took a short trip to Hollywood. We wanted to see a movie at Grauman’s Chinese theatre but all they were showing was a Madea movie & not at the time we were there. We ate at Hard Rock Café instead. Walked around a bit at Grauman’s looking at the handprints, saw a few stars on the walk of fame, then we had to head to Bevrely Hills to check in. It’s a 5 star hotel the hyatt regency century plaza hotel.

Monday we had an IPOP pep rally to get the event started. The boys auditioned for the showcase which is the entertainment for the closing & awards banquets.  They wanted Drakeston to be silly & crazy & sing & dance & he said he wasn’t able to do that, so he wasn’t selected. Later today they will perform there commercials.       That’s it for now, more updates later.

ife is a hwy & I wanna ride it all night long day 2 of rd trip to ca

Life is a hwy I wanna drive it all night

That song was playing when we stopped at The Cadillac Ranch, & then it was playing as we started the leg of the trip close to the az/ca border. We were about 97 miles to the Ca border & 400 miles to Los angeles.

Wow what a quote….. the boys were in the backseat talking about an inapporiate cartoon show. Alex was trying to add lines to a famous from the show. I told him he couldn’t say that. They asked how I knew it wasn’t a part of the quote. I told them I used to watch the show when it 1^st came out when I was young, Drakeston said when was that way back in 1930. I was drinking some green gatoraide & I snorted, it was looking I was able to restrain my self from spraying it all over the computer from laughter…..

Now back to the main events  of the day. Since we got in so late last night we wanted to sleep in & we didn’t worry about setting an alarm, I did want to leave at like 7am  or 8am. I woke up when the sun started peeking through the curtains, my phone said 9am but it was still in tx time, we were in pacific so it actually was 7am. I woke everyone up & we got ready, had our hotel froot loops, packed up the car, & headed out. We detoured to the painted dessert. If I had known I would’ve made a plan to visit the petrfired forest. It was 20 mins before our hotel in Holbrook.

We then headed to the grand canyon. We stopped at bedrock city just outside the canyon. It had a really good lunch menu. & it had recreated the town of bedrock from the cartoon the Flintstones.  Pretty cute but  not  exciting.

We picked the perfect day to go the Grand Canyon. it was between 78-85 degrees at the canyon just depending where you were at. I had been talking to my bf who lives in the OKC area & it was 105 where he was at. I saw a facebook friend's status that it was 109 in Needles. im not sure which state that is in I guess AZ but we were driving through it when I saw her status post about Needles.

Our grand Canyon experience wasnt as grand as expecting & due to impatient family not wanting to listsen to the communication we had to give them, we spent a lot of time bus hopping throughout the canyon instead of actually getting to see different areas of it. It was still fun even though we spent about 2 hrs on a bus for a 4-5 hr visit. We decided we would make a whole trip just to the Canyon as our next trip. They have a lot of neat cabins there, its a nice community. IF we go back we want to take the helicopter tour & go rafting through the Canyon.

We are currently in Barstow,Ca its the final stop on route 66 before you reach Los Angeles. Our hotel is next door to a Starbucks so i will be getting some of that. The Mcdonalds is across the st & its in a train car, so we may go visit that. Today we head to 6 Flags magic mountain near Los Angeles. My pics are uploading as we speak so look for them to come. We have been through every city or town that is known for being on route 66.

i get my kicks on route 66 day 1 rd trip to ca

Well the day before any trip is always long for preparations & such, well this trip was no different. I ended up going to bed between 3:15am & 3:30am and waking about 1.5-2 hrs later. I went to work an hr early so we could leave earlier. We were scheduled to leave at 12:30pm, at 12:45 I called to see where my family was & they hadn’t left home yet. HOME IS 1 HR FROM WHERE I WORK. I could’ve worked my regular shift. We started our trip at 2pm. I was expecting it to be a pretty boring leg of the trip, but it wasn’t. they say the longest part of a rd trip is getting out of TX. That was the case here. I really thought driving through west tx would be so boring & mind-numbing as Alex’s commercial would say. It was pretty had cute painted houses & buildings. Each small town had some cool looking shops. We had planned on stopping at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo,TX,(an art project for a university in the 60’s or 70’s that stuck 10 cadillac cars up right in the ground, & then were painted. It since has become a graffiti park & you leave your mark  so the art is always changing.) but we also decided that the Big Texan steak house was a great photo op, so we turned around & stopped there as well. Those 2 photo stops took 2 hrs. we had only been driving 2.5 hrs at this point. We thought it was an 8 hr drive but we were forgetting the time changes, & it was really a 10 hr drive. I was slated for 4 hrs of driving. I pulled over just after entering into New Mexico. It was just a Love’s struck stop or so we thought. It had a free car museum, so we had to stop & look & take more pics. That 5 min stop to change drivers and get gas .  turned into an hr stop. It was well worth the time.

Our first hotel was in Holbrook, AZ. We had to drive through alberque, NM & Gallup, NM. I started driving again after driving again in Gallup & had a very scary driving rd. I had set cruise control at 75 not knowing that it was immediately gonna turn into a curvy steep area & had to drop from 75 to like 40 instantly. We were driving through canyons. I wasn’t even aware we were in canyons I thought what I was seeing was clouds, & then next thing I knew we were next door to the largest canyon ever. Then it settled back into a normal hwy. we finally arrived in Holbrook,AZ, & entered into pacific Time. Our clocks which was in mt  time said 1:15am, we went inside the motel & it said 12:15am but in TX time it was 2:15 am, so we were on the rdx just over 12 hrs. There was a slight problem with the reservation & took about 30 mins to resolve, then we had sleep finally.

stampaganza time with close to my heart

well im still learning how to cruise the internet on my new phone so ill add a pic lateer just wanted to give a quick fyi public service announcement while waiting for a friend. its my favorite close to my heart special they run. its stampanganza time which means wheny you visit my website scrappedwithakiss.ctmh.com and buy 2 stamps you get one free.you can buy 2 a sized sets get and a you can buy  2 d size setsand get  a d free. u can get any combination with buy 2 get 1 free but the best way to take advantage is to stay in the same size size set you will get the lowest price in your basket for free. go visit scrappedwithakiss.ctmh.com andload your basket up. tell your friendsfamily tell everyone. there is no limit on how many free sets you can get as long as u have buy 2 get 1.

nutella peanut butter crescent rolls

tonight i was watching cake boss, it made me want dessert so i got on my dessert board on pinterest. i made mine opposite of what the original one was made. i used nutella instead of peanut butter and peanut butter baking chips. the peanut butter chips was the best part of the dessert. my mom made preflavored bbq chicken and waffle fries,

 I was typing this from my phone. I had to get a new one over the weekend. i went into the current century & got a new 4g smart phone. ive never had a phone with data before. I was trying to attach the pic from my phone & I accidently deleted the pic. luckily drakeston hadnt eaten his yet. The 1st pic was pretty & looked yummier.

I chickened out, I was gonna make a balsamic vinegar pork tenderloin

I chickened out, I was gonna make a balsamic vinegar pork tenderloin from pinterest instead I made a pre-flavored teryaki pork tenderloin. I have never made a tenderloin, & have never had balsamic vinegar so I asked my mom if I would like it, she said she & my dad would, the boys would not & she didnt know if I would like it or not. I decided I wasnt adventurous tonight. I did use a pretty new pyrex bowl tonight. It is a divided casserole dish, so I threw in some hash browns, butter & parmesan cheese.( my mom added velveeta cheese slices.) Its actually still cooking as I type so I dont know how it tastes yet. I started cooking late about 8:15pm or so & my mom's oven isnt working 100% so it takes forever. We originally had the oven set for 425 and 30 mins, but we have since switched it over to broil & now its almost done. Success food is out of the oven finally. 9:25pm it tastes good.

cornbread casserole not a pinterest recipe

the boys grandma was a pampered chef consultant & one of the meals she liked to prepare for her party was a cornbread casserole. the ingredients are Jiffy corn bread (milk & eggs for the cornbread) i used carrots & corn, hamburger meat & a bundt pan.

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Before pinterest I didnt cook. I had bought a pretty turquise bundt pan at Easter 2011 time, I took it out of its new package when I made this meal last week. They had purple bundt pans this yr at easter, I retsrained my self from buying it.

Make one box of cornbread according to box put in bundt pan. ground & brown hamburger meat put in bundt pan, put carrots & corn in bundt pan, make 2nd box of cornbread put in bundtpan. Oh yeah when I cooked this I forgot to put shredded cheese on top of the meat. So when it had about 10 mins left of cooking i put cheese on top of the cornbread. Place in oven for about 45 mins or until golden brown at 400 degrees. I didnt do a good job of spreading the cornbread so some of my ground beef got mixed in.

 I dont have a final pic because I didnt have any pam to spray my pan with, so I dipped a paper towl in cooking oil & wiped my pan down. We were in a major hurry to get to practice or a game & we didnt let it cool off properly. So it didnt come out of the pan very pretty. It tasted fine just not pic worthy. the boys ate it. they are picky & wont eat some things.

pyrex, my latest shopping habit

it started with just 1 bowl,1 bowl thats been in the family for the last 30 yrs. Its my mom's yellow bowl thats been at every thanksgiving dinner. the big yellow mixing bowl. We thought it was from the 70;s era but its from the 1950's era.(my mom has joined the pyrex buying spree & has added some of the other bowls in this set. Until now she has only had just this one bowl.)

Well I started cooking pinterest recipes, & I wanted some pyrex bowls, went on ebay starting looking at all the fun & cool patterns. Placed a bid, stayed up late watching it so I could win a set that wasnt very much on shipping. The bowls themselves arent bad its the shipping thats crazy.

my 1st ebay win:
i thought I liked this pattern & color but after getting a few more bowls & patterns I actually dont like this color blue.

My next set I got came from my favorite vintage store.originally she just had the large loaf bowl no lid, but while shopping around a customer brought into the store a suitcase filled with various items including 2 small loaf bowls with lids & a lid for a large loaf bowl no bowl. I have actually used this set. Even though they all have the same pattern the color paint is slightly different on each bowl. (You can see the food inside these bowls)

This set came from an antique store in Bowie,Tx. I like this blue the best. I have used these already as well.

Another ebay find. I really really like this pattern, but the pattern is on the lid. I think this is my favorite one so far,

Here is a pic of my whole collection, these pics were taken 05/02/12 I have added 3 or 4 more bowls since then that are not photographed yet.

bluebonnets revisited 04/24/12

I did update this to my original post, but thought I would combine the 2 & give it its own post.

I had a laptop that died a long while ago, I gave it to my techie friend to try & retrieve my pics & such, well he had my computer from like 2005- 2011. He forgot he had it & then he wasnt in my life for a few yrs. He gave  me a disc with all the files he retrieved. It also  had a disc of pics that I had created in the computer bag. Tonight I thought I would see what was on one of  the discs. I found my 1st set of bluebonnet pics which was from 2004. I know I'm bad Alex was 4 yrs old & 1st time in the bluebonnets. Drakeston was only about 2.5-3 months old. This was actually in town, across the st from where Alex had just gotten a haircut. We were headed to the mall to get easter bunny pics. 

I had really ugly hair & glasses, but was skinnier back then.

& here are some blubonnet pics from 2012

pinterest & pampered chef dinner 04/24/12

I worked locally today, & we didnt have any baseball games, just practice, that means I got to try out a pinterest recipe tonight.

http://pinterest.com/pin/100557004150030330/ bacon wrapped chicken rollups originally posted by blogchef:

http://blogchef.net/bacon-wrapped-chicken-recipe/

It was super yummy. My Dad usually doesnt like the meals that are prepared & usually just complains, but tonight he told me twice it was excellent! The boys on the other hand who are 12 & 8 didnt like the cream cheese. I expected the cream cheese to melt a lil more & be really creamy, but it kinda maintains it original texture & doesnt really melt, but it was still really yummy.

I think our oven is going out & it doesnt cook as fast as it should. I cooked mine for 40-45 mins where the recipe said 30-35 & then i only did 7 mins on the broiler, but by this time we were getting hungry & impatient & the yummy smell was infiltrating our noses. I probably could have left it on the broiler a few extra mins, not all of the bacon got crisp

A long while ago my mom & I attended a pamper chef party. We each bought a large microwave cooker & tonight was the 1st time either cooker was used. I washed the potatos,cut them up, I didnt even peel them, covered them in water, placed them in the microwave cooker, put the lid on & then microwaved for 5 mins at a time til it was done. It was my 1st time cooking potatos so I didnt know how long they should cook. Mine cooked about 15-20 mins. I then used another pampered chef tool I dont know what its called, but I think you use it to ground hamburger meat.  Its black has a nice handle & a rounded x on the bottom. I mashed it up, put the leftover cream cheese in the center & lots of butter,some paprika & some of the liquid that came off the chicken, so butter cream cheese, chicken stuff & bacon grease.

go give it a try.

thought I would blog on my new computer

In Nov, my house was broke into, they stole my laptop,camera,gps, & keys. I had to wait til tax time to replace everything. I had to shop around & see what I wanted. I have been using my family's internet & computer, so im excited to have internet again at my house even though im not at my house yet. I picked up the new computer last night, spoke with a techie friend & she said she would help me get it going & install & remove stuff today (wed). She comes over spends about an hr fixing it up for me, she leaves. I start surfing the web, then I realized it was too quiet so I opened up pandora, & there was no sound! I txt my friend who had already left & went home, she remote accesses my computer & we learned that the speakers were showing as working but not actually working. I had to go back to office depot they played with it for a few mins & said they had another in stock so they just exchanged it for me. So new computer take 2.

baseball season is keeping us busy, & I dont feel very good, so thats all for now in the blog world.

I am having a dove chocolate tasting party on 04/27/2012 @ 7:15pm-9:15pm let me know if you want more details, through comments or email or visit my site http://mydcdsite.com/jenniferfarrell

taking pics in bluebonnets, a tx tradition

Well Ive been wanting to go get some bluebonnet pics, since they 1st started blooming in mid-march. This was not the easiest of tasks this yr. I had to replace my camera that was stolen in Nov. I was trying to be thrifty & thought I was getting a good buy & saving $20 by getting it at Sam's( a wholesale club). It turns out that it was $20 less cuz it didnt have all the features. It was missing the feature I wanted. I return that camera & begin searching again for cameras. I went to best buy 3 different times, & looked online. The original time I guess I overlooked this particular model I thought I had 2 choices $150 that didnt have the zoom & the features or $300 which had everything but I wasnt sold on the price. So I went to walmart, Target, & then Sam's. After Returning the camera I go back to Best Buy. This is when I found the 3rd model which was $200, it had all the features, & zoom & was a good price. Turns out everyone wanted that camera since it was 2 days before easter. They had to order me in one instead of just taking one off the shelf. A week later the camera finally came in. I ended up with a canon  powershot sx150 is . 


On Friday I was wanting to go out since the boys have a half day of school. I ended up misplacing the batteries & the shirts I wanted the boys to wear. I finally find the missing items, but by then daylight was gone. Sat turned into a sleep day since half the family went to relay for life from6p-6a friday night. Sunday we went after morning worship service, got some shots but the the boys werent being cooperative, went back after afternoon service & got some more. 


I guess I got more shots than what I originally thought I did.


here is my slideshow of picshttp://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f354/farrellcat/?action=view&current=1f316ed5.pbw&ps=1&t=1334535876




& no I didnt just add a cute lil girl to my family, i took my friend with me the 2nd time we went out so we could get shots of the 3 of us together. Its her little girl. My friend Jennifer said she mustve been posing for you, cuz she never sits that way. I wanted to get a pic of jennifer & mariah together but Jennifer was camera shy.


Sorry the fonts changed up, I copied something from facebook & blogger wont let me change the font. I keep highlighting & selecting a font but nothing changes.

I told the boys if they would cooperate I would take them to Orange Leaf afterwards. We enjoyed some cotton candy frozen yogurt with some sour worms on top.

edited 04/24/12

I had a laptop that died a long while ago, I gave it to my techie friend to try & retrieve my pics & such, well he had my computer from like 2005- 2011. He forgot he had it & then he wasnt in my life for a few yrs. He gave  me a disc with all the files he retrieved. It also  had a disc of pics that I had created in the computer bag. Tonight I thought I would see what was on one of  the discs. I found my 1st set of bluebonnet pics which was from 2004. I know I'm bad Alex was 4 yrs old & 1st time in the bluebonnets.

I picked up my new camera yesterday, so at Alex's baseball game I was trying to learn how to use it. Just playing around & clicking I took 151 pics in a 2 hr time. I was trying to learn the feature of color popping.

this pic is regular colors

 this is just with the blue

 and now the red

 a close up of the items I was grabbing color from

 red pop

 blue pop

regular color again

a pinterest inspired creation

Ok this project started a whole lot of other projects for me. Its started me cooking. this is the pin I found on pinterest:

here is the blog link or you can find her pin in my receipe board on my pinterest page jennifer farrell.
http://clairsfairytale.blogspot.com/2012/01/ultimate-menu-board.html

Here is my version, with the colors I like. This paper is not Close To My Heart. It was just some pattern paper my mom had avalible. If I had been at my house when I created this it would have been in CTMH paper. The battery on the phone/camera was low, so I couldn't get a better light.

 ingredients: 11x14 frame. 2 12x12 papers of 1 pattern & part of another pattern piece of paper. 2 boxes the same size. (mine were a curad bandaid box, & a zyrtec allergy medicine box.) The original that I patterened mine from used 2 8ct boxes of crayons. a piece of ribbon,some glitter,paint, & a hot temp gluegun. 7 clothes pins.

receipe cards: 4 sheets of 12x12 paper for each color used. I used 7 colors, a different color for each day.

I painted my clothespins with some left over purple paint I used on a bookshelf a few yrs back. I took a scrap of each color & adhered it to the clothespin. I cut the recipe cards 2x4.5. I cut 52 of each color. That way I can have enough for the whole yr.

Cut 1 inch off the side of the 2 patterened papers that are the same, cut about 3 inches to fill in the gap of the 11x14 frame. Use the ribbon to cover the seam where you pieced the paper together. I used the cricut to cut menu.Run the letters through the xyron sticker maker, be sure you do the side that will have glitter on it 1st & glitter it then run it back through so it will have sticky on the back to stick to the paper.Use the 2nd pattern to cover the boxes.

I have 7 catergories of receipes pinned on my pinterest board: beef its what's for dinner,why did the chicken cross the road, pork the other white meat, one fish 2 fish red fish blue fish, potatoes/soups, breakfast & crockpot.

Im gonna cross label my crockpot cards with the same color of the main ingredient, so we will know what we will need for that receipe.

I also made a box to match with the leftover pattern paper that made the background of the board. it holds the receipe cards perfectly. It was a plastic container that once held hills bros cappuccino sugar free french vanilla powder mix in it.(p.s. we didnt really like the contents, but I held onto that box for a long time thinking it would be perfect for some future project. We actually threw out much of the powder cuz it never got used.)

wow, i finally could access my blog screen

There was a toolbar in my way & I finally figured out how to make it go away. I wanted to post yesterday. So here I am now.

I GOT MY DOVE CHOCLOATE DISCOVERIES BUSINESS KIT IN!!!!!! I had an extra day off yesterday , Legend & I were outside & the fedex man pulled up. I was surprised I wasnt expecting a package. He delivered my chocolate kit, opened up to a lot of goodies.

I forgot to take pics but I can when I get my new camera today.

My friend who works at American Classifieds ran me an ad for both Close To My Heart & Dove Chocolates. The ad started this week & I got a call yesterday with someone interested in what I do for Dove Chocolates. It could be something good from it. We are playing phone tag so its in limbo.

Laura Miller a close to my heart consultant who also is a Dove Chocolatier posted in our CTMH community board about 2 yrs ago, telling us about the exciting company she had joined which was Dove Chocolates. I had been thinking about it & considering it ever since. Well in March she made some more comments about the exciting stuff going on in Dove Chocolates & the big things that were coming. We had a conversation & I asked her everything I could possibly think of. I told her I would become a consultant, & that I shouldve joined her when she 1st started 2 yrs ago. Well now she is going on the 1st incentive trip with Dove Chocolates to Punta Cana all paid & includes her husband who is all paid for as well. I am setting a goal to go with her on the next incentive trip. She now has a team that has 126 chocolatiers on her team.

She told me TX was an undeveloped Dove Area & I told her I was going to do Dove Chocolates as big as TX. So heres to the start of my latest journey that I jumped into with blind faith & trust.

www.dove-chocolate-discoveries.com/sites/jenniferfarrell

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some studio J layouts that ive been working on off & on for a while, just now printed them out

Studio J is an awesome addition to Close To My Heart. It is called online scrapbooking. It is soo easy: upload pics,pick out paper pattern & design from the website, then drag & drop. It has all the colors of the CTMH color line, it has most of the paper packs that are either currently offered or offered in the past, some exclusive to members only. You can pick a design for your layout by the number of pics you want on the layout anywhere from 2-16 pictures. Then you add them to your shopping cart at scrappedwithakiss.ctmh.com approve the layouts then hit buy. Close To My Heart then prints up a 12x12 layout for you,sends it to you, gives you free page protectors for every layout purchased,then sends you 3 jpegs of each layout. a close up of each side & a webfriendly one. you can use those to share through email or facebook. I purchased these the other day.

This is an example of the left & The right large jpegs. I was able to order a copy for my self & my sisters. This way we all have the same layout & I didnt have to recreate 3 separate layouts. I found some old old pics of my grandmom when she was young. these pics were small, & the layouts look good. My Dad was born in 1941 & he is the oldest. I dont know if he was born yet when these pics were taken.

The left side:

the right side:

the complete layout:

I was sooooo thankful that I had uploaded these pics to studio J before I was able to print any pics for traditional scrapbooking my computer was stolen that had the pics on them. these are of venice beach,ca. my favorite spot on my los angeles vacation.

its an OWL-a-Bration (Celebration)

While surfing pinterest one night I saw lots of cute owl creations. I said it made me wanna throw a party so I could make all the cute owls. Well I talked my friend into letting me throw him an owl themed welcome home party from his deployment from afghanistan.

His idea of an owl party was you want everyone come dressed as owls. I said no I mean owl decorations,& food & such.

You can see all my owl pins at pinterest.com jennifer farrell. Some of my creations didnt come out as cute as my inspiration, but im still pretty proud of most of the stuff. Some of it I would make up on my free time in my days off, & then all the food items I made the day before & the day of the party. I had to buy the groceries there & that took some time. I started cooking on sat at 6:30pm with my mom helping. We cooked til about 10:30pm Then on Sunday morning I had to go back to the store at 6:15am,starting cooking about 7am,cooked til 8:30am took a break to get ready for worship & attend worship. Then I cooked from 11am-3pm. Ive never cooked so much in my life. The following day my bro "asked me what was for dinner?" & I said "what im supposed to cook for us after 2 days of cooking for others." I ended up cooking us pizza rollups from pinterest that night.

Well here are some of the pics: There are more pics on my facebook & I havent figured out yet how to pin my own stuff to pinterest