A Picture An Hour Swap

Hi Partners,

Here are my pictures for the Picture an Hour swap.  I took them on my Iphone with Instagram.  These were taken Friday, September 2nd.

6:45 - I'm in bed.  My husband had to get up and go to work, but I had the day off - hooray!  I can go back to sleep!

7:05 - Actually I couldn't fall back asleep... So I laid around in bed for a while and played on my phone.

8:05 - By 8:00 I was ready to get up, so I decided to go to my craft room and work on some ATCs for a few swaps.

9:00 - At 9, I had finished quite a bit of work on the cards.  I still had some work to do, but I wanted to go out and run some fun errands before my husband got home around noon, so I decided to stop there.

10:00 - At 10 I was at Hobby Lobby!  Yay!  I had already been to Michaels before that, and I went to Joann after, but I forgot to take a picture at both places...  At least I remembered Hobby Lobby!

11:30 - At 11:30 I was back home again with all my goodies! I got paper, note cards, beads, fabric, punches, and a ton of foam stickers and those silly little shaped rubber bands for my niece.  They were on super duper clearance, so I decided if I can be the best aunt in the world for 30 cents, why not?

12:00 - At noon I was playing with my cat.  Hi Sarah!

12:30 - And at 12:30 I was still goofing around with the cat.  She was very excited in this picture because she could hear Daddy opening the garage door!

12:45 - At 12:45 my husband was home from work, so we decided to go run a few errands and go to lunch.

1:10 - First we dropped off some stuff at goodwill that had been sitting in our kitchen taking up space for WEEKS!  I'm so glad we got that stuff outta there!

1:30 - At 1:30 we had lunch at Newk's.  It's new in town and I'd never been there before, but it was REALLY good!  I had a delicious chicken salad sandwich - yum!

3:00 - Then I forgot to take a picture in the 2 o'clock hour...  We were at Marshall's, and then we went to Ross, seen here.

4:15 - Home again by 4:15 - look at all the exciting stamping/crafting stuff I found at Marshall's!

4:45 - I'd gotten some frames at Marshall's and Ross so I went about framing my photos of my little nieces - cutie pies!!

5:00 - At 5:00 I was lying on the couch playing pocket frogs on my iPhone - thrilling!!

6:45 - and as often happens when I'm lying on the couch, I fell asleep...  I woke up really hungry, so I ate my chips leftover from lunch.

7:10 - Then we watched an episode of Iron Chef that my husband had recorded.  Hello Jeffry Steingarten!

8:10 - Then we went to get sushi for dinner.  I'd worked a lot of extra hours that week (which is why I didn't have to work on Friday), and just finished a HUGE project, so a sushi dinner was my reward!

8:15 - Here we are, waiting for our takeout order...

8:30 - And home with our delicious dinner!!

9:00 - And then we watched some Mad Men - hello Don Draper!

10:30 - Then, a miracle occurred.  Baylor beat TCU!!  My husband and I are both Baylor alums, and we both work there now, so this was VERY exciting!

Sarah was excited too.  In fact she was so excited she decided to eat my shoes.

11:30 - Then I was back in bed!  It was a very full and fun day!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed seeing my pictures and hearing about my day!

Happy swapping and please remember to rate!

JBolech

30 Drinking Questions

1. How old were you when you had your first sip of beer/wine/alcohol?

I really don’t remember… probably around 16 or so?  My mom would let me sip her drinks whenever she had them.

2. Red or white wine?

Red – no question.  Although I like some white wines, red is definitely my preference.  And I HATE sweet wines. Yuck…

3. Tequila or rum?

Hmm… I like both, but I guess right now I prefer tequila for drinking straight

4. Alcohol or beer?

It really depends on the day/mood/setting… I like both!

5. Whats your favorite beer?

I don’t know – I have really strong sensory memories associated with Budweiser (grew up in Tampa going to Busch Gardens, back when they still had a brewery on site and you could smell it all over, and my mom is a diehard St. Louis fan, and we never go there without visiting the brewery – is it weird that brewery is one of my favorite smells??)  I hardly ever drink it though.  I guess my favorite is Shiner.

6. Whats your favorite alcohol?

Gin

7. Whats your favorite mixed drink?

I love martinis!  Gin. No olives (gross).

8. Whiskey sour or bourbon sour?

I don’t know that I’ve ever had either

9. Do you like craft beers?

Yes!

10. Do you like wheat beers?

Yes!

11. Beer in a can or in a bottle?

A bottle mostly, but I think there are some situations where can is a must (like floating the river!)

12. Whats a beer local to your city/state/town (something brewed nearby)?

I guess Shiner – brewed in Shiner, TX which is only about 15 minutes from my husband’s hometown.  I’m sure there are tons of other local beers from Austin that I’m forgetting about, which is actually closer.

13. Do you like doing shots?

Not really…

14. Whats your favorite shot?

Tequila?  I’ve never had a mixed fruity shot.  I actually have no idea what goes in those, and they sound disgusting!

15. How often do you drink?

Maybe once a week.

16. Have you ever gotten really toasted?

Yes…

17. When was the last time you got really toasted?

When we had a wine tasting party at our house earlier this year

18. Who do you like to drink with?

My husband and my friends

19. Worst drink you've ever had?

I hate any bitter cocktails, and absinthe (licorice is one of my least favorite flavors).  My husband accidentally made mojitos with flour instead of powdered sugar recently – Yuck!!

20. Most expensive drink you've ever had?

I really couldn’t tell ya!  Probably something in the 10-12 dollar range…

21. Do you prefer to drink at a bar or at home?

At home.  Bars are too loud and crowded

22. How old do you have to be to LEGALLY drink where you are?

21

23. If you could only drink one alcoholic drink for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Probably red wine

24. Have you ever had champagne?

Yes but it gives me a headache and heartburn usually, so I’m not a big fan

25. Ever blacked out?

Nope

26. Ever had embarrassing photos taken while you were drinking/drunk?

Nope!  At least I don’t think so.

27. Do your friends like to tell stories about you that you don't remember when you were drunk?

There aren’t any that I don’t remember!

28. Favorite bar?

Dancing Bear?  There aren’t many good bars in town, but this one seems pretty cool, even though I’ve only been once.

29. Ever been arrested for being drunk?

No

30. What is your drunk personality like (are you happy, do you get angry, do you cry, do you get touchy feely)?

I get VERY talkative.  So much so that my husband knows not to give me alcohol if he wants to watch a movie or something.



Thanks for reading!  Please remember to rate :)


Happy swapping,


JBolech

Clean House Challenge #2- Office/Craft room

Hi Partners!

This swap was just the opportunity I needed to get my craft room at least partially cleaned up.  I helped host a scrapbooking shower for a friend a few weeks ago, and I ended up pulling out all of my supplies, packing them up, and lugging them to the shower.  Then when I got home I just dumped them in the middle of the craft room floor, and there they stayed.  I have some sewing projects I needed to get done this week, so my main goal was to get the floor cleared off, my sewing table straightened up, and my craft shelves organized.  I'm going to need a little longer to get the whole thing cleaned up though. See what I mean???

This is the view of my craftroom (and guest bedroom) from the door.  It's never been quite this bad before!  And here's the after shot:

So much better! There are still a few little piles of things to put away:

Some boxes that need to get stored in a closet somewhere,

I'll probably use them for mailing Christmas presents.  

My scrapbook paper is stacked up here too.

This is a small pile of various little things that don't have  place yet. 

Plus a drawer for a storage cabinet that I'm working on fixing up 

- it will make a great addition to my craft room when it's done!

My wedding scrapbook project.  

Let's pretend that it hasn't been over 2 years since I got married!

This may as well be the before and the after picture of the bed. I didn't really do anything with this.  It's mostly a bunch of fabric scraps that I got off of freecycle.

Here is the before and after  of my craft desk. I know it doesn't really look that different, but I promise it is!!

Before

After

I realize now I don't have a before picture of my craft shelves, but here's the after:

Here are the before and after photos of my sewing table.  This was a big improvement!  I've already gotten some sewing done!

Before

After

And here's another angle of the horrible floor!

Before

After

My main strategy for cleaning up a mess like this is just putting everything in a big pile in the middle of the room and sorting it out, and then put it back away.  Lucky for me, I was already well on my way to having everything out in the middle of the room - haha!

I had a little bit of a tough time getting this project done because my cat Sarah really likes to "help".  And of course by that I mean, get into everything and sit in every box she can find.

Eventually I found a piece of cardboard she could play with and threw it out into her cat room.  It kept her pretty well entertained!

I really enjoyed doing this swap.  Sometimes I need that extra motivation to get projects like this done!  Keep the clean up swaps coming!!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed and please remember to rate :)

JBolech

Good Morning!

Hi partners!  Here is how I start my mornings :)

This may sound strange, but I really have no idea what time I get up in the mornings.  I mean, I kind of have a vague idea but I never look at the clock so I'm never really sure... 

If it is a weekday, I probably get up around 6 or 6:15, but the alarm clock is next to my husband, and I forget what time he has it set for. We work in at the same place, so we get up at the same time and go in together.  My hours are flexible, but he needs to be there at 7:00, which means I get there at 7:00 too (although I admit it's usually 7:15).  Anyways, I think the first alarm goes off at 5:45.  He usually hits the snooze at least once, and I start to sort of wake up.  Then he gets up and takes his shower, and when he's done he wakes me all the way up.  He's started doing this by picking up the cat and putting her on the bed, where she walks over and puts her face in my face.  I have to admit, it's kind of fun seeing something so cute first thing in the morning.  Then I usually lay around in bed for a few minutes while my husband goes to shave.  Then I get up and go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, brush my hair, take a shower, etc... I have no particular order for these things, which is kind of weird!  Then after that I get dressed, pack our lunch, feed the cat, and we go to work.

On the weekend we don't set the alarm.  Yay!  Of course we have a little kitty cat "alarm" that is used to getting fed at 6:45, so she's meowing at the door by 7:15 or so.  One of us will get up and feed her and then usually get back in bed.  I usually sleep until around 8, but sometimes I sleep later.  Then I usually lounge around in bed for an hour or two.  I don't really have a schedule on weekends, so sometimes I end up in my PJs practically all day!  However, if I get up and start working on things right after I wake up on the weekends, I'm always amazed at how much I end up getting done!

So that's generally how I get my day started.  I guess it's pretty easy to see that I'm not a morning person!

I hope you enjoyed, and please remember to rate ;)

I'm nosy email question swap

Hi Partners!  Here are my answers for the "I'm nosy - email question swap".  I hope you enjoy reading my answers, and please remember to rate!!

Jenny (JBolech)

1) what's your middle name?   Ann - no E!


2) have you ever traveled outside your country?  I've traveled to Mexico, Belgium, Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, although I guess technically St. Thomas is part of the US

3) what's your favorite song this week? I've never really been able to pick a favorite song, even for a week!  My tastes are just too varied I guess...

4) if you could change your name, what would you change it to? When I was younger I always wished I could change my name.  There were just too many Jenny's my age!  Now though, I can't think of anything I'd like to change my name to.  My 3rd grade dream name was Crystal though ;)

5) ever have a broken bone? Nope, never!

6) what celebrity would you like to play poker with? Ahh!  I hate poker!  My answer is no one!

7) have you ever felt an earthquake? Nope.

8) ever see a tornado? My mom claims that once when I was little we saw a few tornadoes off in the distance and I was really scared, but I don't remember that at all.  I do remember seeing a huge water spout at the beach some years later (still a long time ago).  I remember not really knowing what it was, and being horribly inconvenienced because we had to leave the beach early, and waiting in the car while my mom went to buy us popsicles.  Kudos to her for staying calm about it, because I had no idea that anything was wrong!  I don't think it ever made landfall though.

9) did you ever find waldo?
Haha.  Sure! We had all the waldo books. We also had a few weird Christmas versions like "Find Santa" and "Where are the 12 days of Christmas"

10) what time is it now?
 8:52 AM

11) if you could be on a game show, which one?
Wheel of Fortune!  I love Wheel of Fortune!!

12) if we colonized the moon, would you go live there, if you had a choice?
No way.  I find outer space slightly terrifying. It's just so vast and empty...

13) some pet peeves.
People lying about things that are so insignificant that why would you even bother making a lie up about it, waiting around on people, using the wrong there/their/they're or your/you're (although I'm sure I've done that one when I'm in a hurry...)

14) some things you like about summer.
Campus being empty (I work at a university library, so even though I'm still here in the summer, it's nice when the students aren't!), going to the beach

15) some things you dislike about summer.
It's too hot!  Having to water the lawn (I'm pretty sure it hasn't rained all summer). Sunburns.

16) some things you like about autumn.
Leaves changing color.  Crisp air.  Autumn scents at bath and body works!

17) some things you dislike about autumn.
Raking leaves.  Too much tempting Halloween candy at the grocery store

18) some things you like about winter.
It's finally not hot! Christmas.  Every once and a while it snows here!

19) some things you dislike about winter.
It's too cold! I get really hot wearing a sweater. Crazy drivers who don't get enough snow to know how to drive in it (I guess I'm one of those though!)

20) some things you like about spring.
Baby animals. Pretty flowers.  Bearable weather.

21) some things you dislike about spring.
Itchy eyes. Runny nose. Constant sneezing.  I have awful allergies in the spring!!

22) some favorite television shows.
Project Runway, DC Cupcakes, White Collar, How I met your Mother

23) some television shows you dislike.
24, The Event, 2 and a half Men

24) some favorite movies.
Bridges of Madison County, Up, Wall-E, Gone With the Wind

25) some movies you dislike.
Idiocracy, Wanted

26) some favorite songs.
I have such a hard time picking favorite songs. A lot of the reason is probably because I don't know any song titles...

27) some songs you dislike.
Hallelujah - Waaaay too overdone.  Never give any versions of this a thumbs up on Pandora, even if you like it, because then your Pandora station will turn into the Hallelujah station.

28) some favorite books.
Gone with the Wind, Bridges of Madison County, To Kill a Mockingbird

29) some favorite actors/actresses.
Matt Damon, Jude Law, Robert Downy Jr., Meryl Streep

30) some actors/actresses you dislike.
James Franco!  How did he get so popular!  He's the worst!!

31) ever get into an argument with a postal employee?
Nope never!

32) ever lose something belonging to the library?
I don't think so.  I work in a library, but I rarely check things out.  Is that weird?

33) what was the most you have paid for postage on a single package?
I don't remember... Probably 12 or 15 dollars?

34) did your parents ever walk in on you when you were doing something you shouldn't have been doing?
I don't think so... If it did happen I've repressed the memory!

35) what are some things you like to collect?
I like squished souvenir pennies, ATCs, I'm thinking about starting a stamp collection too

36) what are some things you like to swap?
I mostly swap ATCs, but I've also done handmade cards, and I'm just getting into electronic/photo swaps - they are fun!

37) something you got into trouble for, but it was well worth it?
I'm such a goodie-two-shoes.  I can't even think of anything for this...

38) ever feel like you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached?
All The TIME!  Especially at the end of a loooong work day!

39) favorite charity you donate to?
I don't currently donate to any charities.

40) ever drop a water balloon on someone?
Like from a window?  No, but I have been in water balloon fights.

41) most exotic place you would like to travel to.
Bali maybe.  Anywhere with tropical beaches is fine with me!

42) have you ever gone skinny dipping?
Nope!

43) do you have a favorite swear word?
I don't really like swear words.  I'm not necessarily offended by them, but I feel uncomfortable using them (and I don't really like my husband to either...)

44) do you remember life before cell phones?
Yes!  I kind of hate talking on the phone so I sometimes wish cell phones weren't such an important part of life.

45) do you remember life before the internet?
Yes.  I remember looking up information in our encyclopedia set for school reports when I was young.

46) have you ever milked a cow?
nope.

47) have you ever skipped school?
not when I was in grade school, but I skipped classes occasionally in college.

48) how did you discover swap-bot?
I'm really not sure.  I think I was doing a search for some craft project and a swap came up as one of the results.

49) ever lock yourself out of your house?
Yes!  It was actually pretty recently.  I grabbed the wrong set of car keys off of the night stand, and didn't realize it till I was already outside. I realized I'd forgotten my wallet (otherwise I would have been able to unlock it with a credit card - the lock isn't that good...) Lucky for me, my husband was down the street working on a recording job, although he had to come to me since I couldn't drive there with the keys I grabbed - I don't know why we even have that set of car keys because it will NOT start the car, even though it's supposed to be our spare set...

50) when you were younger, did you ever have to sneak into the house?
I don't think so.  I was a goodie-goodie.

51) ever get into a food fight?
Nope.

52) favorite subject in school.
Math!  Or orchestra.

53) subject you hated in school.
P.E.

54) have you ever eaten chili that had sauerkraut as an ingredient?
No.  I don't like chili and I don't like sauerkraut.

55) did you belong to any clubs in school?
I think i was in the math club in middle school.  No wait! I was in math club in high school too.  And NHS

56) what would you do for a klondike bar?
You know, I don't think I've ever actually had one of those!

57) some favorite cartoons.
Ummm... Sailor Moon i guess? I don't really like cartoons anymore.

58) do you still live in the same city you were born in?
Nope.  I think I only lived there till I was about 2.  I don't remember it at all...

59) ever purposely fart on an elevator?
Haha! do people do that?  Gross!

60) how do you feel about thunderstorms?
If they are really bad I don't like them, but we haven't had rain here in months so I would LOVE any kind of rain now.  Crazy thunder or not!

61) ever get stuck on an elevator?
Nope

62) what are you afraid of?
Heights

63) ever have to laundry by hand?
Yeah, I have a bunch of stuff that needs to be hand washed

64) do you have a favorite artist?
nope

65) some favorite scents?
I love all the fall scents at bath and body works.  I'm always excited when they show back up in stores.

66) ever have to hide a hickie from your parents?
Never.

67) favorite "tourist trap" near where you live?
The Dr. Pepper Museum?  There isn't really anything that interesting in Waco.  Well, I guess you could count the Branch Davidian complex, but that's scary interesting, not happy interesting.

68) are you smarter than a 5th grader?
I sure hope so.

69) do you have a dirty mind?
Not that dirty.

70) what would your dream job be?
Never having to work again!

71) ever quit a job in the middle of your shift?
Nope.  I've never quit a job.

72) ever work in a fast food restraunt?
Never

73) ever babysit?
I have, but i hate it.

74) some favorite boy's names?
I don't really have a favorite.

75) some favorite girl's names?
No favorites here either.

76) some good names for a pet?
Buttons, wiggles, Sarah (my kitty)!

77) how do you feel about major winter storms?
I've never lived anywhere that has them

78) ever make a prank phone call?
no

79) how much is that doggie in the window?
woof woof!

80) who let the dogs out?
out of the window?

81) worst color combinations?
purple and orange

82) can you solve a rubic's cube?
no, my dad tried to show me once but I wasn't really paying attention...

83) do you play computer games?
Not much.  Unless you count Iphone games.  I guess that's a computer.

84) favorite wild animal?
Okapi

85) favorite kind of pet?
Cat

86) do you have any reletives that should be living in a zoo?
HA!  Do not get me started.  I'll get myself in trouble...

87) do you like jigsaw puzzles?
yes!

88) while you were still in school, if given a choice between taking home economics and wood working class, which would you have prefered to take?
Home economics!

89) favorite teacher?
Mr. Harvey

90) teacher you hated?
Mrs. Billingham

91) ever work in a motel/hotel as a housekeeper?
no i didn't.  My husband used to work the desk at a hotel.

92) greatest amount of money you found?
I found $10 in the yard once.  I've found big stashes of money I squirreled away and forgot about, but it's been a long time since that happened so I don't remember how much it was.

93) favorite magazine?
Martha Stewart Living

94) if you could go back in time, which year/era/event would you like to visit?
I don't want to go back in time.

95) do you believe there's life on other planets?
I guess it's possible.  There's sooooo much out there. Outer space actually freaks me out a little.

96) how long can you keep plants alive?
Not very long...

97) do you read in the bathroom?
No.  Why would you want to spend more time in there? I get in-get out.

98) ever have braces?
Yes.  Teeth braces, and I had a back brace for a couple years.

99) ever lose your car in a crowded parking lot?
Oh yeah.

100) do you have a favorite type of soda?
Cherry coke!

Photo Swap Series #2- Show Me Your Workspace

Hi Partners!  I snapped a few photos of my always thrilling (ha ha...) workspace this morning.  Let me tell you a little about them:

I work in the Baylor University Library. This is my desk.  It's supposed to be one of those fancy desks that's good for ergonomics (or something like that).  I still slouch though...  You can just see my Christmas pillow sticking out from underneath my sweater on the back of my chair.  It's almost going to be in season again!

Here's my computer and my cutie pie niece!  On my desk (with all the yellow post its) is the very last bit of a major project I've been working on for the last few months.  Yay!  Almost done!!

And here's the big pile of paperwork that has been neglected while I was working on said major project (and there's another even bigger pile that I didn't take a photo of...)

Here's the front of my desk.  I made myself a bunch of cute fabric flowers to look at, and I've got some of my wedding pictures, a candy dish, a shell from the beach, a care bear, and some little sea creatures.  You may notice the cocktail umbrella sticking out of my flowers.  My boss gives us a little umbrella every year at the beginning of spring break, since we don't actually get any days off.  I'm up to 3 umbrellas!

I have a half wall right behind my desk, but the only things on it that are actually mine are the 3 picture frames.  Everything else belongs to the guy who sits behind me (you can sort of see his desk in the middle of the photo). He has tons of toys and do-dads all over the place, including all over "my" half wall!  OK, so I guess it isn't really my wall, and I am never facing it anyways so I don't really mind what's on it.  And every once and a while a new toy shows up, so that's fun.  Plus, he's one of the nicest guys I've ever met though, so I don't mind sharing a wall :)

That's it for my workspace!  I hope you enjoyed my story!

Please remember to rate :)

JBolech