love week….

don’t laugh. it’s our anniversary, plus valentine weekend. i never reallly know which one to focus on….so i usually pick one. a couple of years ago, i chose our anniversary, complete with a cozy little fireside dinner (i drug our little bistro set from the basement upstairs and set it in front of the fireplace). i spent the day preparing….cornish hens, twice baked potatoes, salad with homemade croutons, and even dessert (i don’t remember what exactly i made). tom came home from work sicker than a dog and went through the motions of sitting at the table with me, but after about 30 minutes he went up to bed and slept straight through until the next morning. so i have to admit, i am hesitant to invest a lot of effort. i know the likelihood of that happening again is slim, but for some reason, i can’t get it through my head. we both agreed that we aren’t going to make a huge deal (as far as our budget goes) of either occasion because of our upcoming trip to vegas. the trip is our gift to each other and a heck of a business write-off! i still want to do something to celebrate. i may try to do another fireside dinner. it really was a sweet set-up, with quite a bit of ambiance. i can’t believe i was strong enough to carry the table up by myself….and back down again. i do have the entree planned already. it’s a new recipe that i found recently in everyday with rachel ray. i’ll share it if it is worthy : ) so what do you have planned for this weekend? i love to hear about romantic ideas and plans! i do have a little surprise planned for tom if i can pull it off! and it’s free! i can’t tell because he may just read about it before it happens.

our plans to go antiquing friday didn’t work out. stinking weather.

i think it’s beautiful, but tom can’t even see the beauty anymore. it’s caused so many problems with our trees, roof and fence.

i realize that my perspective isn’t the same as tom’s because i’m not the one cleaning the driveway or taking care of the exterior of our home. i’m all cozy in our nest cooking and taking care of the inside, while making time to do the art that i love. i was making stuff last night and feeling creative and i remembered last winter and a challenge that i made up and then challenged you all to do. i made a scrapbook layout of one of our grandchildren using older supplies and then thought it would be a good idea to use the same basic design and make a layout for each of our 8 grandchildren. i know some of you took up my challenge and made 8 layouts using the same basic design. i think i will do the same challenge this year. i loved the feeling of accomplishment when i put a new layout in each child’s book and i also loved how easy it was and how good it felt to actually use product that i bought because i loved it, but had never used it. so, i am going to try to accomplish this in the next month. i challenge you to do the same. we could all say we’re too busy….at least i know i could. but we do make time for what is important to us, right? i want to be creative and i have things i want to convey to our grandchildren via photos and my words. words that are forever (or at least for my lifetime!) on paper in black and white. undeniable words of affirmation. that’s one of the things i appreciate about scrapbooking. i am leaving a legacy of love to my children and grandchildren….and it’s something that i do that stays done. unlike meals and cleaning. i’ll be sharing the layouts here when i get them done!

i met up with kelly last week to photograph roscoe. roscoe is one of the coolest dogs ever. he is not only cute and sweet tempered….he’s almost human. i would snap a photo of him and find myself wanting to show him the back of the camera! like a person! i’ve never had that happen when i photograph a pet. it’s almost eery how humanlike he is!

he’s not only humanlike, he’s sorta regal.

i’m working on a fun and practical *b* list for tomorrow. i hope you’ll like it.

have a great day and God bless!