Made in Texas

I've been making my own cards now for close to three years. This year, I attempted to sell some cards at our church's annual fall festival and a local school's bazaar. The fall festival was mostly a success but the bazaar was very disappointing, other than a special order for money holders. The first one was easy - pink/brown with a flower. Chocolate chip and pink is one of my favorite color combinations. It is for a 10-yr old girl. The card is the present...just insert cash under the brown tabs and then slide the white card into the pink envelope.

Here's the final outcome.

The next one is for a 13-yr old boy. The request was to use navy/silver and the Dallas Cowboys logo. He is a Dallas Cowboys fan. I am not. I live in Houston. But, I did it. I made a Dallas Cowboys card. I was pretty happy with the final result. The color is more accurate in the second picture.

My favorite card so far is a Houston Astros jersey card I made for a special birthday. It turned out super cute. I swear I took pictures of it but I can't find them anywhere. As soon as they turn up, I'll post pictures of that card. Maybe I can market them to the Astros. I'm getting pretty good at these team logo cards. Especially if they involve stars.

Special order, anyone?

Family, friends, and food

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your Thanksgiving was as great as ours. Family, friends, and wonderful food. Is there any thing better??? Jim & Janie arrived on Monday and Matt & Cara arrived Wednesday evening. We kept many of our usual Thanksgiving traditions and started some new ones. Thanksgiving day was fun as always. We really have the timing down as far as the cooking schedule goes now. It used to be a struggle to get everything in the oven in time to eat but now, we are golden. I think every year we forget the cranberry sauce and this year was no different. Thankfully, we remembered in time for the meal. :) Poor cranberry sauce. Always late to the party. I was so busy in the kitchen that I forgot the silverware and had to rush around at the last minute to finish setting the tables. I did snap a few pictures but managed to miss one of the tables and the all important turkey. Next year.

Cupcakes by Cara.

I missed out on these delicious cupcakes until after the post Thanksgiving meal movie. It's Thanksgiving tradition that we fit in as many movies as possible while the family is here... This year, our time was more limited so only two movies made the final cut - The Blind Side and Fantastic Mr. Fox. The Blind Side was the winner for our Thanksgiving night movie. Janie and I each voted twice for it. I love Sandra Bullock and I especially love sports movies. Football and Sandra Bullock. What else do you need? The movie was great. Now, I will have to read the book.

Back to the cupcakes. After we returned from the movie it was time for dessert. I opted for a cupcake. Let me tell you....these cupcakes are soooo good. I actually ate one for breakfast today. Shhh. If you were at our house on Thanksgiving and passed up the cupcakes, you missed out. Just sayin'.

Dining room.

I'm still bummed I didn't take more pictures. I didn't even get a picture of all the food or the other table. Guess I was a little distracted.

Friday was reserved for family time...we visited in the morning/early afternoon and then the family (except for me) went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Spirits & Headhunters: Vanishing Worlds of the Amazon exhibit. I think they were disappointed they didn't get to see more tsantsas (ceremonial shrunken heads). For being unemployed it sure felt like I worked a lot this Thanksgiving. I definitely missed out on a lot of family time. Jim & Janie took off Friday evening for the long haul back to KC. Matt, Cara, Jeremy, and I went out for our second movie - Fantastic Mr. Fox. It is Wes Anderson's first stop motion animated film. Very clever and entertaining. We had fun after the movie trying to name all the Wes Anderson movies we've seen. My favorite is Bottle Rocket. Matt & Cara left early this morning for their long haul back to KC and then Columbia.

The house is empty. The KU game doesn't start until 2:30 pm. What to do, what to do??? Leftovers, anyone?

Cousins

When in Texas...

...you must eat steak.

Bobby & Samantha

Tracy & Jeremy

Jeremy, Tracy, Bobby, and Samantha

Bobby and Samantha stopped by for dinner Friday night on their way from KC to Galveston. They decided to take a little road trip to celebrate their anniversary. Eighteen years. Woohoo! Jeremy and I are catching up. This year is lucky number 13. We usually try to sneak away for our anniversary but it looks like we're staying home this year. September has been super busy and I don't think October will be any different. It won't be so bad to just have a weekend at home without any plans. We are going to see U2 in concert so that should be fun.

I "borrowed" the pictures from Samantha's facebook. Thanks, Samantha!

Blog extended leave of absence

Obviously, we have been on an extended leave of absence here at the onetreefam blog. Actually, come to think of it, I don't believe Jeremy has ever posted on the blog. Bad Jeremy. Since I have not been a very good blogger, I'm thinking about turning the blog into more of a craft blog. I have been doing a lot of stamping (with rubber stamps not the post office ones) over the past couple of years, making cards, wrapping paper, and small 3D items (gift bags, party favors, etc.). Basically, everything but scrapbooking although I am tempted to try my hand at that as well. First, I need to take some photography classes to learn how to use my fancy schmancy camera so I have decent photos to put in a scrapbook. I have a good eye but need to learn the technical aspect of taking good pictures, especially inside. If you know of any good photography classes in Pearland or Houston, let me know.

For now, here are a few pictures of what I've been doing in my spare time.

I'm hosting a Stampin' Up! party on Saturday, September 19th at my house. Let me know if you want to come. Carolyn will demonstrate new techniques and you'll make two or three projects to take home...plus, there will be snacks.

Time to Rodeo

Sunday, March 1st: Grand Entry Set-Up/Practice

Tuesday, March 3rd: Rascal Flatts

Wednesday, March 4th: Alan Jackson

Thursday, March 5th: Clay Walker

Friday, March 6th: Gladys Knight/Solange (Black Heritage Day)

Saturday, March 7th: Trace Adkins

Sunday, March 8th: Jonas Brothers

Monday, March 9th: Lady Antebellum

Tuesday, March 10th: Toby Keith

Wednesday, March 11th: Reba McEntire

Thursday, March 12th: Brad Paisley

Friday, March 13th: Clint Black

Saturday, March 14th: Josh Turner

Sunday, March 15th: Ramon Ayala/Alacranes Musical (Go Tejano Day)

Monday, March 16th: Darius Rucker

Tuesday, March 17th: Keith Urban

Wednesday, March 18th: Gary Allan

Thursday, March 19th: Pat Green

Friday, March 20th: Taylor Swift

Saturday, March 21st: Brooks & Dunn (Rodeo Finals)

Sunday, March 22nd: ZZ Top (Xtreme Bulls)

Bold = I'm scheduled to work.

Italics = I'm planning on attending.

Fenced In

We are finally making some headway with Hurricane Ike repairs, after many delays with insurance.  First up, the garage door which was replaced with no problem.  It's actually quieter than our original garage door ever was...so that's a bonus.  Plus, it's just nice to park in the garage again.  We've been parking in the driveway since September.  My car prefers the garage!   

Next, the roof.  What a hassle that has been.  We had a company all lined up but they would only complete the work if insurance would pay for a new roof.  After meeting with the adjuster and contractor a couple of times, we were denied and had to settle for repairing the roof.  So, we had to find another company to do the repairs.  You'd be surprised how many companies don't return calls.  You'd also be surprised how wide a range of estimates different companies will give you for the same amount of work.  Or how quickly a company will drop their price when you politely say "no thanks"...  I got the final quote reduced by over 50%.  I do like to negotiate.  They ended up scheduling the work when I couldn't be home, so Jeremy made arrangements to be home.  They never showed...or so we thought.  They were at the wrong house, repairing the wrong roof!  Seriously.  Jeremy eventually got them to our house and they made the repairs only they didn't complete all the work we agreed on so I had to call the company and schedule them to come back to the house.  They came back later in the week, never knocked on the door to let me know they were there, just did some work and packed up.  Luckily, I was home.  I went out to check on the work and sure enough, they still did not complete all the work.  I politely knocked on their truck window (they hadn't left yet, thankfully) and requested they finish the job.  ;)  

Next, the fence.  We got a recommendation from our neighbors across the street.  Again, insurance would not pay to replace the fence.  They wanted us to replace certain posts but save the pickets and reuse them.  It was not worth it to me so we opted to fork over the extra money and replace the whole fence.  One neighbor quickly agreed to pay 50% of the cost of our shared fence (a small amount in comparison to the total cost) while the other neighbor said no.  We really thought it would be the other way around.  The neighbor that refused to pay has always been easy to get along with and not caused any problem (not with us anyway, she is a busy body and is always in everyone else's business).  Anyway, we asked if they had a problem with us replacing the fence anyway and of course they said no.  Who would turn down a free fence, right?!?  So, the new posts get installed and the crazy neighbor lady (my new name for her) goes psycho.  I could her hear yelling outside even though I was inside our house.  She was obviously not happy about the fence posts...something about calling her lawyer and "they're going to have to pay to fix this" and "they moved the dog house", etc.  All I know is the new fence  is in the exact same place as the old fence although the posts are now 5' apart instead of 6' apart.  We did not steal any inches from her yard if that is what she is insenuating.  I watched her try to move one of the newly installed posts.  I'm telling you, she's losing it.  I waited for her to come over and talk to me but she never did and we haven't heard a word out of them.  My theory is, her husband came home, took a look at the new fence, and told her it was 10x better than the old fence and they're lucky we paid for it.  Idiots.  

So all that's left is some sheetrock work in the garage.  At least we don't have to deal with any neighbors to get that done.  Next house, no neighbors.

Here are some pictures of our awesome new fence (almost completed - it is now finished).  Now would you complain if your neighbor paid to build this?  I think not.

Good neighbor.

No neighbor - backs up to a county road.

Bad neighbor.

Ice, Ice Baby

Frozen branches...

So pretty.

Who needs an electric fence when you have an ice covered wooden one?!?

Casa Myers all in white.

Dad & Jean enjoyed a beautiful ice storm in Kentucky last week.  Well, it's easy for me to say enjoyed and beautiful since I'm in sunny, hot Texas and didn't have to deal with the ice and lack of electricity.  But the pictures are pretty, right?  Not to worry, Dad & Jean, we will save this lovely sunny, hot Texas weather for your visit in March.  Hopefully it doesn't rain as much as it did last year.  Get ready to rodeo!

Ready to Rodeo - updated with my work schedule

Sunday, March 1st: Grand Entry Set-Up/Practice

Tuesday, March 3rd: Rascal Flatts

Wednesday, March 4th: Alan Jackson

Thursday, March 5th: Clay Walker

Friday, March 6th: Gladys Knight/Solange (Black Heritage Day)

Saturday, March 7th: Trace Adkins

Sunday, March 8th: Jonas Brothers

Monday, March 9th: Lady Antebellum

Tuesday, March 10th: Toby Keith

Wednesday, March 11th: Reba McEntire

Thursday, March 12th: Brad Paisley

Friday, March 13th: Clint Black

Saturday, March 14th: Josh Turner

Sunday, March 15th: Ramon Ayala/Alacranes Musical (Go Tejano Day)

Monday, March 16th: Darius Rucker

Tuesday, March 17th: Keith Urban

Wednesday, March 18th: Gary Allan

Thursday, March 19th: Pat Green

Friday, March 20th: Taylor Swift

Saturday, March 21st: Brooks & Dunn (Rodeo Finals)

Sunday, March 22nd: ZZ Top (Xtreme Bulls)

Bold = I'm scheduled to work.

Italics = I have tickets or am planning on attending.

I will probably trade Gary Allen for Darius Rucker which works out since I need the 18th off and I had planned on going to the rodeo the night of Darius Rucker anyway.  I'm a little disappointed in the shifts I'm working but frankly I would work any night of the rodeo so I'm not unhappy, just disappointed.  Last year I had more shifts but I think we have more people on our committee this year so we each have fewer shifts.  Still, I can go any night I want so that's a bonus.  I'm ready for March.  Almost...I still need to find a new pair of boots.  :)

Happy New Year!

Well, poo. I wanted to post videos from our New Year's Eve celebration at RJ and Tiffany's. I think we had 7 couples there and almost everyone participated in Rock Band. I participated by being a groupie. No one wants to hear me sing. I recorded a brief video of the girls' performance and then another of the boys' performance. Too bad blogspot is not letting me upload the videos. You will have to use your imagination or ask me next time you see me...I have them on my new handy dandy phone. Everyone had a great time socializing, playing Rock Band, playing Apples to Apples, and socializing some more.

We slept in late on New Year's Day. I met up with Carolyn and we headed to Katy for an impromptu sushi lunch and then to our actual destination, Archiver's. It's probably a good thing Archiver's is in Katy and not any closer to Pearland. That store is awesome. I restrained myself and just bought cardstock and other items for a project I'm working on. I did buy a cute stamp set that will come in handy for next year's Christmas cards.

I have finally succumbed to the technology frenzy. Jeremy and I both got new phones. He really needed one, me not so much. But I had a large credit on my account and was able to purchase a Blackberry Curve for less than really should be allowed. Thanks Sprint. Jeremy has wanted one for a while and I was holding back...but now that we have them, I'm really liking it. It's like a mini laptop. Fair warning, I am going to cancel our land line. So if you don't have our cell numbers, speak now.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a safe New Year's Eve. Here's to all the good things to come in 2009.

Cheers!
~T