Driving to Germany

Posted on | August 13, 2010 | 6 Comments

I am getting ready to get the hubby in Germany. Ok, it’s still a few weeks but I am a planner. If I can get everything my way I’d plan every single details of my life. BUT, it’s probably a good thing life isn’t like that because I’d be totally boring person and I’d be busy just researching what my next meal will be. I still like to plan but I can wing it if I must or just feel sporadic.

The girls and I are planning on driving through the M25 (the Interstate in the US) — or the big London car park (it’s a joke but at times it might as well be because traffic is so bad) — to Dover, hop on the Ferry to Dunkerque, France, then through Belgium and then Germany. Here’s the Michelin’s route if you’re interested (if you’re traveling to Europe and driving, do use ViaMicheline/Mappy to route your travels. It’s better than Google Maps for traveling — they’re itinerary sites and you can get the approximate toll fees and gas for the whole route).

I haven’t decided whether we’ll be leaving the evening and then spend a night in Dover or leave early in the morning and catch the 8 a.m. ferry (if M25 behaves it’s a 2hr drive but with M25 who knows although driving through at 5 a.m. should be ok). I think for sanity reasons leaving in the evening seems the best. That way I won’t have to wake up so early. The ferry ride is two hours so it’ll give Jovie plenty of exercise time. I thought of the Eurotunnel (35 min vs 2hrs) but the boat seems more relaxing with just me being the adult. Jovie will probably nap for a good hour at least after we get in the car again and then we’ll stop between Brussel and Liege, or about 1.5-2hrs drive. BUT, if the weather looks bad we’re taking the tunnel. Ain’t gonna mess with the waves! Then off again to Spangdahlem Air Base (about 2hrs) where a good friend of mine is and we’ll stay the night there. I haven’t seen her since M was two I think? Very excited about this part!! The next day I want to stop at Trier which is suppose to be the oldest city in Germany and then to hubby which from Spangdahlem is about an hour or so away.

I know that this sounds crazy but I’m really looking forward to driving our UK car… right hand steering wheel… on the right side of the road. The driving would come in naturally after a few turns I think (I didn’t have a hard time remembering I needed to be on the left side here) but not having a good view of the road will be interesting. A lot of Americans here have a US spec car driving on UK roads so it’s doable (hubby swaps between our UK car and his ‘62 Impala). It should be highway driving 95% of the time and when we stop for food/gas I have no intention of passing anybody in front of me so I think we’ll be ok.

On our way back I want to take my husband to see Verdum in France. I read that it was a huge WW1 area and hubby’s a huge WW1 and WW2 buff so I think he’ll really like this stop. After that, no plans really, just see whatever on our way back to the port. We might stay the night in Dover. Would love to see the castle/fort and the secret tunnel there.

Today I have this digital page to share. It’s just hubby in London. The kit’s from Paislee Press at O’Scrap. It’s another simple one.

Ok, that’s it. Does anybody have any suggestion for the trip? I know I need change for the toll somewhere around the M25 and a tiny bit maybe in France (French main highways, the majority, are paid tolls) although somebody said he doesn’t think there’s one from Dunkerque. I’ve called my insurance and all’s great and I do need to get a car kit. The driving rules are pretty strict around here and Europe in general.

Goofy Monday

Posted on | August 2, 2010 | 9 Comments

My real life friend posted something on her Facebook account a few weeks ago. Something about how she hates those self portrait photos that people do and then post to their profile. I made a comment and told her that one day I’ll do one JUST for her. Well, last week I got a bit bored and started taking pictures of myself. I was trying to get Jovie’s picture but that kid couldn’t stay still and so I gave up. I then aimed at M but she’s at the point right now where she’s not too fond of me pointing the camera at her. I really wasn’t ready for a photo session. I had no make-up and my hair was in a 10 sec. bun. That blue thing, that’s a towel. Classy, huh? But I clicked and clicked and got these. M looked at me from between her thing and said (in her sassy voice): “What are you doing, mommy?” Me: “Oh be quiet Emma, I’m having a good time.” Ha ha ha… I actually was he he he…

Since it’s Monday I thought I’d post something that you can giggle or laugh about. Hubby said I’m a stick in the mud. I’m just responsible. But now and then I’d do something out of ordinary to for a chuckle or two. I posted this already in my FB account. It was created for my friend so it was only right if she saw it first. Another friend of mine also noted the duck face. Well, everybody does them right when they do self portraits? Now, I’m thinking of doing a research study to see how many guys would write me if I post that first photo on a single’s site ha ha ha…

Page details:

I used two kits: Paislee Press Oscraps and Karla Dudley the DigiChick for this layout the work “hated” was written in Photoshop. I have a Wacom tablet which makes drawing and writing so much easier. I kept the page very simple, since I had a lot of photos and I really want to highlight them and just use the elements to make the page less bland. It took me about 15 minutes to create this. Grabbing, resizing, and placing the photos took the longest. I also had to give “hated” a few tries. The brush just wasn’t thick enough initially.

NOTE: After all that, I’m still not a fan of my own photos. So this is special! {::SMILE}

What I Miss…

Posted on | July 25, 2010 | 3 Comments

We love this place. You all know that. But there are a few things from Missouri that I miss…

A jam packed scrapbook store full of new goodies, either a local shop or Archivers
Jo-Ann, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby
Great Sushi, Dimsum, Thai, and Chinese
Kansas City Plaza
Outlet Mall by the lake

It’s not a bad list… not super long, right?

There are two places to get scrappy stuff, both on base, but they’re spendier. You’d think the Arts and Craft store on base would be cheap, right? NOOO!! Thickers for $5.49 when it’s $3.99 in the U.S.! They do have a nice collection but goodness, $1.50 for a piece of paper is a bit much for me. Thank goodness for online shopping!! BUT, for crafty goodness, it’s just more fun to shop in person don’t you think? Suckering my husband to drive to Archivers each time we go near it and buying new release items was always a joy (he rarely goes in with me, he’d either read in the car or go across the street to a tire shop, if he does come it it’s to fetch me). And carrying that 40% off coupon into Jo-Ann and deciding what to buy was always a lot of fun. MISS MISS MISS!!

Food… we’ve had great British food and I personally think they’re really good but we haven’t found great places that serve the food listed above. Despite the fact that I’m not the most awesome cook (I am trying to be though) I do have really good taste buds. It kind of sucks because it makes me very picky about where I want to eat out at. I can eat anybody’s cooking but if I have to pay for it the place has got to be REALLY good… unless we’re traveling and we have to eat.

In terms of shopping, the shops here are really nice. I loved walking through Cambridge’s towncentre. Little beautiful shops everywhere. The only thing that turned me off was how busy this place was. I love the Plaza because not only does it have a great selection of stores it’s also a nice place to just take a stroll. It does get busy, esp. close to Christmas, but on a normal weekend and especially a weekend, it’s pretty quiet. It makes shopping enjoyable. My favorite store’s Ann Taylor/the Loft. They have petite sizes for shorties like me and I can buy pants on sale without trying them on. I have a hard time with pants because of my height. I LOVE a lot of stuff at JCrew, Anthropologie, or Banana Republic but they’re always too long and I really don’t want to pay somebody to shorten them when they’re already spendy. BR shortens for free BUT if you pay full price. I never buy clothes that are not on sale. I’m a tightwad {::SMILES}.

I’ve heard of places that sells cute T-shirts for little girls for cheap here but from what I heard it can’t beat the Children’s Place outlet: $2.99 T-shirts AND 40% coupon for the total purchase!

So yes, just miss a few of my favorite things from back in MO!!

Have a great Sunday!! Next post I’ll share photos of our London excursion!!

Page details:

I did this page the other night but just got to journaling it tonight. I used the Paislee Press kit again that I got the other day. It’s a wonderful wonderful kit and I was just trying to use more stuff from it. I have a bad habit of buying and then just using the kit for one layout. So I challenged myself to use a kit for 2-3 pages, this way it makes the purchase worthwhile!

Seriously the Sweetest Thing

Posted on | July 22, 2010 | 5 Comments

Life is short, life is an adventure, life can be selfish and/or giving, life can be hard and it can really suck to not know what the future will hold or if things don’t go our way, but life is full of sweetness if you take a moment to feel, hear, and look. I had a very sweet moment today, a few actually, but this was the most profound. A moment I want to always remember forever…

Journaling: “I have to share this story with you girls… today you were very sad little M. Tomorrow will be your teacher’s last day, retiring after 27 years, and you wouldn’t be seeing here again next school year. You cried and cried on mommy. Despite only being her student for three months she made a huge impact on you. Your sister, who was once playing, realized how sad you were. So she scooted over and she patted your back. Then she came closer and held you. You turned around and Jovie reached out to give you more hugs. You two held each other. Jovie then pulled back, but not to be done, but to give you some sweet kisses and then more hugs. I’ve seen many sweet moments between you two but tonight was the sweetest thing. I know how much you care about Jovie, Emma, it shows from the photo above… overly protective big sister… but tonight we both saw how much your little sister loves you. You two make me so happy! Always cherish the little moments like this!!”

I’ve been truly blessed in this lifetime but having these two in my life really completes me.

Page Note:

This is a digital page, digital Kit by Paislee Press: Storyteller, but you can easily recreate this using the traditional paper and glue method. Grab those rub-ons that you haven’t used in ages and try using your own handwriting… or grab those sentiment rub-ons that you got forever ago. Do be careful when using white gel pens… a lot are terrible. They just don’t run smoothly. I usually don’t journal much on a traditional scrapbook but I do on a digital just because it’s so easy and tidy. But again, not something you can’t do on a traditional page.

Under title: “there were two sisters who loved each other very much.”

Font used: Mistral

Happy Friday!

Posted on | July 16, 2010 | 11 Comments

Watcha doing today? The family’s going to M’s BBQ this evening. This is her last full week at school. After next Wednesday M’s going to be in year 2 aka first grade! Oooooh, my baby is growing up!!!! The BBQ is at her school. They’re also having a fundraising and one of the booth is a £ drink booth. Ok, what’s the chance of finding this booth in the US? Alcohol on school grounds? Good thing we walk to school — oh, gotta remember to bring cash {::SMILES}!!

I haven’t done a digital page in a few weeks now. The last one I did was a bit rough around the edges so I want to give it another go. I like this one a lot better. Just seems to flow nicer. I love the colors too!! So pretty! I used a kit from the DigiChick. It’s called Tumbleweed by Kelley Mickus. If you like graphic type of scrapbook pages/kits check Kelley out! Unlike paper scrapbooking I like to use 1-3 designers on one page. I prefer just one but sometimes I need a thing or two from another. It’s just easier to credit — ok, I am a lazy creditor. I just rather create than trying to remember where I got a piece of brad from ya know. This is also why I only pick kits that has everything I need for a layout. Unlike a paper page I can see which pieces I’d like to use on a page and how my page will somewhat look like. It’s never clear but I’d have more of an idea than with a paper page. I use to try out all sorts of styles when I was starting out with digital kits but now I know pretty much what suits me. I either go for the realistic type of images, like real looking feathers, birds, etc. or something graphic like the above.

Ok, gotta go… going on base to get my teeth cleaned. It’ll be Jovie’s first time at a daycare since we left MO. We’ll see how it’ll go!