summer smiles

{photo taken by lisa sippel, july 2007, crescent beach}

found some great pictures at my kodak gallery online...totally forgot about this account and because i'm having a little printer/scanner problem this week, i had to get creative in finding pictures to post on the blog...when i found these pictures from my sil (sister-in-law) lisa, it was like finding a $20 bill in steves jean pocket before washing them...a priceless blessing! oliver, daniel & colin were just hanging out waiting for the official 'sippel grandkids sitting on the rowboat' picture...we are so blessed that we have all been able to gather in canada for at least one or two overlapping days each summer to take this photo with bob & faith...

{photo taken by lisa, crescent beach, canada, july 2007}
peace in finding a hidden treasure today...

november thanks...

{picture from aunt laurens cell phone, october 26th...check out the hats!}
for three boys who love school & enjoy doing their homework (honestly!) a simple, great blessing for today....peace.

monday visitor

{picture from july 2007 at crescent beach, canada - jim with our niece jayne, photo taken by lisa sippel}
guess who stopped in for a quick visit tonight? uncle jim - he has a meeting in houston this week & come down to texas a day early to play golf & have dinner with us...unfortunately he missed his early flight and had to skip a round of golf with steve but he arrived safe & sound at 7pm and we headed off to the daily grill for dinner and drinks...delicious seared rare ahi tuna & orange blood martini (highly recommended by sarah - thanks girl, you know your cocktails) started off our evening while we got caught up on the buffalo talk...thanks for the visit..next time, stay longer.

{matt. lisa. mahaney. oliver. charlotte & jayne - crescent beach, july 2007. photo taken by whoever was holding their camera!}

happy belated birthday matt !!

football saturday continues..

{picture is from crystal beach. canadian shore. july 2007. photo taken by julie}

even though its our first saturday without football, we'll still be watching the ut longhorns game, playing football in the street, maddon football on gamecube and watching friday nights light tonight (love that dvr thing)there will be a lot of football in the air...happy football saturday

november thanks..

one simple thanks today....for this...enjoy!

tgif

• all 3 boys got a haircut today (yes, we let justin keep his hair long...zack looking)
• paper source holiday catalog (love those turkey place cards...)
• bought a christmas present today (1 down, 1 hundred to go)
• dominos pizza on fffn (friday family fun night)
• ok, they got the above order wrong 4 out of 8 were wrong...
• spy kids movie on the disney channel tonight
• making warm cinnamon rolls in the morning for the boys

november thanks...

love. peace. joy. strength. blue skies. health. family. smiles. coffee. contentment. simple things. little things. day to day routines. bus stops. homework. library cards. homemade cookies. friendships. internet access. photos.

cuter than the advent calendar...

hannah is almost 8 weeks old - is she not the cutest baby EVER? happy friday...

november thanks...

• mom had a great report from her doctor yesterday.
• made my first batch of these today...its officially holiday time now around here...nothing like christmas cookies to put one into the holiday mood...too early for stress yet...sending the whole batch to dell tomorrow minus the 4 cookies we (justin/nathan/colin and i ate today)
• the container store holiday catalog in my mailbox
• playing a family game of texas hold'em poker tonight (nate won!)
• great report cards came home today (i peeked online earlier today - just wanted to prepare myself!)
• packing the halloween stuff away today

too cute

how can you not love this idea? ali + martha = this advent calendar...how fun would this be to create & fill with great little treasures...stickers/plastic toys/candy/money...ok, now i'm back to reality...you can buy a cute one here or here or here or here ....peace in your calendar today.

do not attempt this at home

lesson #1 learned today: read all labels on blankets before washing/drying them (especially a mohair, wool blanket!).
lesson #2 learned today: do not pull a mohair blanket out of the dryer and shake just after you have taken a shower & put moisturizer on your legs.
lesson #3 learned today: dyson is an awesome vacuum cleaner and works great on mohair/walls/legs/clothes.
lesson #4 learned today: never wash/dry tan bathroom carpets after washing a dark blue #1.

ha. ha.

top 10 for today...

{picture is from december 2005...yes, steve flew home from texas just to cut down our christmas tree and in honor of a couple snow flakes in buffalo yesterday, i had to post this picture...}

with the holidays just around the corner, just wanted to share a couple ideas:

1. 25 ways to get a jump start from real simple has some really good ideas.


2. stock up on a couple of these bars for some soybean energy that tastes great. seasonal flavor...iced gingerbread!


3. many ideas and links for those holidays cards here...i will NOT be taking the picture on december 15th this year (as in years past). order your stamps and return address labels now.


4. check out this holiday catalog for great ideas for the book lover/music lover/movie lover on your list. take advantage of the shipping & gift wrapping too.


5. heres a cute idea to make if your feeling crafty. tie a gift card on top and the perfect gift for all those teachers on your list.


6. for some really different ideas for the gift-challenging people on your list.


7. for those out-of-town gifts...check out at these free shipping gifts from william sonoma.


8. cute stocking stuffers here and stop by for free gift wrapping lessons on the weekends if you are in the area and stock up on these for the perfect presentation as long as your there.


9. great homemade recipes


10. burn some holiday music for yourself, a hostess or as a holiday card on these...decorate with these...wrap in this for a personal gift.


11. if this list starts to overwhelm you, kick back and try one of these to put you into the holiday spirit....after all, there are 47 more days to get ready!

peace.

november thanks

with my little november thanks daily blog, i wanted to get the boys involved also...i had many different ideas but finally decided on keeping it real and simple and easy enough for the boys so hence....the thankful jar...each day we grab a leaf, jot down a word or two on what we are thankful for and drop it in the jar...i can't wait till thanksgiving to read each leaf...(i bought the leaves at hobby lobby on a garland swag for 3.00 and just cut each leaf off)...the boys are excited about it today, i'll let you know how it goes over tomorrow...heres to your thankful jar...today i am thankful for 3 boys who just love school & love to do their homework...today i am thankful for crayola making a box of 96 crayons...pure joy on colins face when he saw the new box today when he got home from school - watch out picasso...peace

november thanks...

today i am thankful for this and this and this...a cold front is heading our way for a day or two and i'm already for it...planning on driving the boys to the bus stop in the morning...might have to turn the seat warmers on...

picasso monday

do you remember the scene in toy story when mr. potato head rearranges his facial parts and says 'picasso'? well, cooper and i were hanging out together last week one morning watching the dvd & after that scene, cooper stands up, tilts his head to the side and says 'picasso'...now you just had to be there but it was the absolute cutest thing...to view the world thru a childs eyes is a precious gift and a priceless reminder...enjoy each moment..."life is all about enjoying the joy of the journey"...enjoy each picasso today...peace

weekend recap

bats on congress street/fridays for dinner downtown with butch & bonnie/poker game with the gang/flag football playoffs/tanners 5th birthday party at chuckie cheeses/ut football game on tv...longhorns won after a miracle 4th quarter/post season jets team football party at coach jeffs house complete with this movie at night on the garage door/sunday church/golf/the bee movie at the movies/library/grocery shopping/homework...can't believe we fit that all in...

november thanks...

today i am thankful for cheeseburgers on the grill/sippel stories/sunday night dinners together as a family/making life long memories/keeping traditions alive/sunday morning church & sunday school/spending time with the boys going to see this/having spontaneous neighbors who drop everything to join us at the theater/a library card & boys who enjoy searching for the perfect next book to read/picking up a roll of developed pictures at the grocery store/warm sunny november days/not forgetting daylight savings & changing all the clocks throughout the house....

football season ends...

our fall season of flag football is over...lots of running, lots of trophies and lots of dirty socks! all three boys had a fun season and are already talking about the spring season!

happy birthday deb

today is my sister-in-law debbies birthday but its just as easy to say my sister debbie...together we have solved the worlds problems, spent hundreds of dollars on phone bills and books and scrapbook goodies, scrapbooked all hours of the day and night, shared the joys of pregnancy together, finished a cocktail or two together-or bottle of wine or two, downed hundreds of cups of tim hortons together, spent endless hours chatting on the canadian shore while the kids were swimming, shared a draft or two in a pub in ireland, shared countless sippel stories together...i could go on and on and even though the miles separate us, we are as close as always! happy birthday deb - heres to another great year in this crazy, wonderful thing called life!!

november thanks...today i am thankful for this crazy, wonderful thing called life....

friday laughs with george bush

this one is pretty funny...steve wanted to contribute a little laugh for today...

http://www.stupidvideos.us/video.aspx/IDp~1572/George%20W.%20Bush%20imitation/Funny%20videos/

happy weekend....

november thanks...

today i am thankful for a wonderful husband/beautiful city/great neighbors/whole foods grocery store...spent the day exploring and showing off this city to butch & bonnie and then went back downtown at dusk to watch the bats under the congress street bridge(too bad the bats didn't fly out tonight!)

november thanks...

today i am thankful for fall/thanksgiving/holiday season approaching/family vistors...we had a full house for dinner tonite - butch & bonnie from buffalo and scott,nicole & parker from oregon all gathered in austin for a friends wedding...it was so fun to catch up with everyone...looking forward to showing them the austin sites tomorrow...peace

halloween on the path...

can you guess who is behind those scary masks??

it was an absolutely gorgeous halloween night...warm and starry...we gathered the kids and headed around the path, around the brook and back home again with a ton of candy...this year we had 1 elvis, 1 spiderman, 1 power ranger, 1 pirate, 1 super woman, 1 ballerina, 1 scary guy, 1 scooby doo, 1 zombie, 1 cow, 1 devil, 1 angel and 1 football player on the walk...heres to great treats for all....thanks for the picture of the gang nikki...

little pumpkin

what a precious treat ! look at those little cheeks...this year hannah is a little pumpkin and soon enough she'll want to be hannah montana or one of the high school musical girls or something even scarier...peace

boo 2 u...

just making a couple of these in my spare time today...haha...heres a little eye candy to enjoy today...no calories...where does martha come up with these great ideas? i'm off to target to pick up some halloween costumes for the boys...i used to hang out at the disney store in early september just waiting for them to put out their great costumes...we went thru winnie-the-pooh/tigger/eyeore when the boys were younger but unfortunately i could not even get colin to put on the tigger costume this year...'i'm too big for that'...so off to find a costume or two now...procrastinating has two possible outcomes today:

1. great deal on a costume or
2. super stressful because i can't find anything

(before you think i'm really bad, i do have a pirate outfit for colin - just in case!) hope your day is full of treats!

its a mickey holiday

can you tell where my parents are spending halloween?? a little mickey mouse treat vacation at disney world...we had some classic costumes as kids growing up...i was a die (melissa was a die too and together we made a pair of dice!) ryan was ronald regan for his entire childhood...mike and lauren had a couple classic combos - bert and ernie/tweety and sylvester - to name a few...wonder where those great costumes are now?...heres to spooky memories - peace no matter what costume you wear...
edited: the story behind this picture - mom and dad each went into a separate room and had a pumpkin carving contest...mom did the mickey ears and dad did the heart on the front and carved out joanna on the back side...who do you think won?!

survivor...

aunt lauren survived here visit here...not sure she'll ever have kids after exposing herself to this crazy fun filled life...she was whisper awoken every morning by colin..."aunt laur wanna play a little game of fish? i'll set it up..."...she played hide-n-go-seek on the playground, football at the fields and soccer in the backyard...she made it thru teravista fall festival & a slice of pizza on wheels, two flag football games, shopping at ikea on a saturday, sunday morning church at 8:15am and some creative costumes on sixth street saturday night...she had her first martini...she actually slept on the trundle bed one night...she got up to speed on all the characters from high school musical two...she now knows all the features to look for when she purchases her first minivan...she knows now about nan's yellow purse story on her trip across the country...she shared a bathroom with the boys all weekend & lived...she ate every sample at oakville grocery at 10am and every sample at ikea (college food survival class)...she didn't loose her phone or camera...we had such a great time with lauren hanging out with us...already looking forward to her next visit with us...

weekend ventures

having lauren here has been such a blessing...we have enjoyed many laughs, lots of flag football, a little ikea shopping to add some fun color to her apartment and a true saturday night downtown in austin on halloween weekend (sometimes we weren't sure if the patrons were in costume or not...) sunday was filled with church, brunch, playground time, a quick run to heb and some fun backyard soccer...finished the weekend with cheeseburgers on the grill and sippel stories...tonight steve shared a new story (4th of july in a tent with metal stakes in a lightening storm...) and each of the boys shared their very own favorite sippel story with aunt lauren...it was so fun to hear the boys retell their perspective of each story...heres to your sippel story memory making moment each and everyday...peace.

friday fun

spent the day at the domain with lauren - we tried all the samples at oakville (and i mean all the samples from the jam to the cheese to the barbecue sauce all before 11am), searched the bargain book racks at borders, wandered through rehuls mirrors, ate lunch at the steeping room (yes, it is true, lauren used the boys bathroom), tried on too many clothes at j.crew (pictures from the dressing room to follow), walked through lilly, window shopped at tiffanys, hit the palm trees at neimans and made it to the outlet mall by 2pm just to grab a starbucks to keep us going....off to the bus stop, a game of sorry and off to the pizza on wheels fall festival at the clubhouse with the gang...saw a great sunset, felt the cool fall weather fall upon us and headed to the path for our traditional friday fun filled with homemade halloween cookies by taelyn and lots of weekly catchup chatter by the gang...off to bed...early football games for auntie lauren....

guess who's here?

auntie lauren made it to austin safe & sound...think she liked that first class thing...hence the quote of the day "they served warmed nuts."...its 1:30am and that can of coke steve recommended at 10pm is working out real well...bet i could get some serious internet christmas shopping done before this caffeine wears off...looking forward to some serious catching up with laur this weekend, maybe a little shopping too...a whole lot of seriousness going on here tonight...this nite time blogging from bed is a serious thing...off to shopping/reading/sleeping = whichever comes first...peace to the makers of coke...

happy anniversary

exactly 2 years ago today was steves first day at dell...in austin...in texas...his last day at bank of america was friday and saturday morning we took him to the airport to head on down south while the boys and i stayed home to sell the house and finish up the semester at school...some days it seems like just yesterday and other days it seems like a lifetime ago...as steve started his first day at dell, i was putting up the for sale sign on our dream house...change became our new word...this coming from a couple who would ponder what color laundry basket to buy for days now would be making slightly bigger life altering changes left and right...new job/new house/new city/new school/new neighbors/new doctors/new everything...everyday. maybe it was time for us to shake things up a little. maybe it was time to look at life from a different perspective. maybe it was time for us to grow closer to each other. looking back over the last two years i have so many blessings to be thankful for but most of all for my rock, my strength, my best friend - happy anniversary! i'm so proud of you. of us. of change. of growing. of learning. of forgiving. of loving. of living. of moving forward. of playing. of enjoying. of exploring. of peace in the day to day thing called life.

only 62 more days till christmas

kids christmas cookie decorating party at the jones last year....love the hats!! i think we left more frosting on the floor than the cookies....and heres us on christmas eve after dinner...before the dirty santa stuff started....

yikes! i just visited a web site called organizedchristmas.com and suddenly i'm having a panic attack...halloween isn't even over yet and everywhere i turned today it was hohoho...the mailbox was filled with holiday catalogs...lego/llbean/lands end/levenger/plow & hearth/magic cabin/hearth song all arrived today (and debbie said they hit her mailbox in buffalo too!)...i got an email message from kodak.com today telling me its not too early to order those holiday cards...real simple wants me to send holiday gift subscriptions to all my friends...hallmark is giving you a free roll of christmas wrapping paper next weekend when you buy one...the post office already has this years stamps ready for purchase as i saw on one of my morning errands today...heb was installing extra shelves in the main aisle today for all those must have last minute holiday gifts (warning - its hard to get from the champagne aisle to the milk aisle now!)...

breathe...enjoy...reflect on last christmas...we took this picture and sent it to nikki and gregg on christmas eve last year...and yes, its still in my phone, deleting a picture is a lot of work... (thanks rachael for the kids cookie party picture!) peace to the dirty santa gift this year...gotta start thinking about that gift now that i understand the whole game!! haha...ok, holiday panic is over - on to enjoy today...windy and sunny...got some catalogs to pour over tonight....PEACE!

ilvu

colins sentence in his daily journal writing class today that i was able to see at the parent teacher conference this afternoon...needs a little work on sentence structure but everything else looks beautiful to me ...

happppppy

happy birthday julie...may you enjoy your first birthday as a new mom...now you know the true meaning of BIRTHday...i love this picture from dinner at mom and dads last night...i think hannah wants to get her hands on that cake...happy wishes y'all.

sunday sippel stories

cheeseburgers on the grill and sippel stories are just a wonderful way to end our weekends together before we dive head first into the crazy busy routine week...justin has been working on a project at school about all the sippel stories steve has shared and tonight was steves turn to see if he could think of a story he has shared that the boys forgot to write on the list...steve was able to add another one to the list and hence, retold the story...tonight we relived aunt rosie having poppa paged at the sabers game to ask if it was ok to have a pop on a thursday night...this story takes on new meaning when they asked why didn't she just call him on his cell phone...this happened before cell phones - the boys just can't imagine life before cell phones...come to think of it, neither can i...how did we live without them? peace in all your stories...

found

• the missing zang office ups envelope (thanks mike!)


• another wrinkle


• winter turtlenecks


• time to sit in the backyard and watch the boys play soccer in the warm dark night


• ikea swedish meatball sauce packets


• prechild jeans (yikes)


• room in our closet after picking up/folding all the clothes/donating the ones we will never wear again

friday mornings

kinda hard not to smile when you wake up to find colin coloring at the kitchen table...last night i was not allowed to put the crayons away at bedtime because colin is in the coloring mode these days and he wanted me to leave out the correct color blue he was using...he obviously is aware of my tendency to clean up everything in my vision at night...lately i find myself sitting and coloring with him when we are doing homework...just simple fun times...nothing like a box of fresh crayola crayons to get you in the creative mood...

hello thursday

ups lost my package containing all my office work...they actually didn't lose it...they delivered it just not to me...quoting a famous fish from cat in the hat 'this is not good'...lots of important papers/bills/projects/payroll ledgers with checking account information on it...the mess this could create is simply overwhelming...so not that i am usually praying for my shipment of work to arrive-this week i am actually praying it will be found and returned...ups claim department needed to know the replacement value...priceless to me but to them 0.00 is the best number they could assign to paper...gotta go, maybe if i stand at the front door and watch for the truck it will magically appear..."what can brown do for you today" has taken on a new answer...heres to finding lost things today no matter what it is...peace.

wednesday

today we started the day off with a little excitement...the power went out at 6:45am and it was our first foggy cloudy morning on top of it...flashlights just to make it to the bus stop...thank goodness the coffee was already brewed...steve got ready for work by candlelight & flashlight...i managed to survive without my early morning matt lauer today show fix...then it hit me...just as i was moaning about no power, i realized that
a) i can not live without electricity
b) i am not the laura ingalls girl type
c) i suddenly have a new found freedom today...no emails - no office work - no computer - no internet - no vacuuming - no laundry - no phone calls to catch up on...my do-to list was IMPOSSIBLE to-do...it felt like a snow day from school !
i was rejoicing about no power, now i could
a) climb back into bed and read by candle light with lukewarm coffee
b) sit and look thru boxes of old pictures without feeling guilty
c) browse through catalogs & magazines all day...christmas ideas??
d) crank music in my cd headset (yes, i still own one to all of you ipod kids out there)
e) walk around the block and enjoy the quiet darkness of the morning
f) actually write in my journal...like the good olde days before blogger
as i was busy figuring out how to spend my guilt free no electric power snow day...the power came back on at 7:27am and the light shone brightly on my list...so much for climbing back into that bed with a great book...

tuesday combos

my favorite combo used to be a number one at target...a small popcorn and soda for $1...nothing like sharing it with 3 boys as we spill popcorn all over the aisles at target...justin usually says its a trail to find our way out of the store (we can actually spend hours in there-scary) BUT my new favorite combo is the starbucks/itunes combo...everyday from now thru november 7th you can download a free new song when you visit any starbucks location...cool stuff...john mayer with a latte to go please...
happy birthday disney sarah!! talk about the ultimate combo - birthday celebration & disney world with your family...we'll celebrate when ya get back....

weekend recap

as always, another family fun filled weekend here in austin...the weather was textbook perfect - high of 90 & low of 70...we picked up steve at the airport on friday night from charleston...the boys watched this dvd on the round trip to the airport & back (multitasking at a young age)...caught up on friday night lights...hit the fields early for our version of saturday morning lights with the boys and a couple of great games of flag football...off to college station for the big state festival with nikki & gregg...lots of fun/laughs/cowboy boots/country music/college football/race cars mixed with some great people watching...we enjoyed music from michelle branch, lyle lovett, eric church and lynyrd skynyrd just to name a few...made it home around midnight...thanks nikki for the great pics...sunday flew by...church/groceries/library/homework/school projects/football/dads world famous cheeseburgers on the grill/sippel stories/showers/desperate housewives with crazy new stories/brothers & sisters with sally fields/lunches/laundry...love those packed sundays together...the boys now have a journal filled with all the sippel stories that steve shares on sunday nights and love hearing a new one that is not on the list (the list is pretty long and i'm not embellishing that)...tonight they got to add a new one to the list...justins working on the sippel stories as a project at school so i'm sure there will be many more posts about this in the future...can't wait to see what grade these stories get...back to monday...back to office work...back to routines/homework/practices/chores...heres to friday...only 5 days away...peace in each day.

panthers

getting ready for some weekend football...colin is on the panthers team and he is loving every minute of it...he gives 100% even if he's not sure which way to run or what position he is playing...at this level they do not keep score so the kids totally focus on just having fun...coach is great with the boys and they even have their own little chant..."panthers are you ready?" slap..slap..clap...all good stuff...heres to teamwork on the field and off this weekend...peace.

rainbows

quote of the day from riley to sarah:
"mommy have you ever slid down any rainbows??"

heres to the wonderful creative minds of a child...may we always be listening...you never know when the next rainbow will appear....peace.

top ten today

1. listening to this.
2. brushing with this.
3. watching this on tv. (for a laugh...he's from austin)
4. wearing this.
5. moisturizing with this.
6. washing with this.
7. reading this still and this and this.
8. creating with this.
9. drinking this. (true sign that fall is here even though its 90 outside)
10. dusting off this series. (classic stuff)

wednesday smiles

nothing like a hannah smile to make you smile...its so cool to see my brother as a dad...when did this all happen? it was just yesterday i was driving him to soocer practice/piano recitials/harris hill elementary(yes, the very first day i got my drivers license mom let me pile my three siblings plus a neighbor kid into the audi in an ice storm and drive them to school...of course we slid right threw my first red light and almost hit a car...and hence the fear of driving started...) life is such a full circle...don't forget to stop...breathe...smile...enjoy!

happy bday ryan

10 things i admire about my brother...
#1) you are organized. ie, do not put the date stamper thing in the spot reserved for the fax stamper thing...not a pretty scene.
#2) you only use 1 staple per packet. most people just keep on adding papers and adding staples to the packet, not ryan...he removes each staple BEFORE adding a new staple.
#3) you can write the best best-man speech ever.
#4) you do not have the procrastinating gene factor.
#5) you have patience...ie, you bought mom an ipod and a subscription to netflex IN THE SAME YEAR.
#6) you travel everywhere just to see your family and friends...from the capital of texas to the plains of indiana to the canadian shores to the pumpkin hill and everywhere in between.
#7) you never give up - you finally won at blokus and texas hold'em.
#8) you love to paint...seriously, you have painted more houses/rooms in 30 years than divinci.
#9) you are not afraid to walk into a vandalized house with curtains blowing in the breeze.
#10) you are a great brother/son/grandson/nephew/father/husband/friend to all. you touch everyones life with your support, encouragement, paint brush, computer knowledge and love.
happy birthday ryan ! 30 rocks....

funny quote monday

the boys were off from school yesterday and it was a cloudy, rainy morning so we ordered a movie on demand (how cool is that...remember when you used to have to get dressed & drive to blockbusters just to see a new release....) the boys picked out are we done yet? and the mommy in the show declares that she is pregnant and having twins....colin without missing a beat says "if you have twins, are you double pregnant?" good question....i'll be pondering that one for awhile...were does he come up with this stuff? peace in all your questions today - whether they are easy ones or hard ones....

happy bday to you

happy birthday steve...today was just a plain good olde family day...lots of flag football/team photos/warm humid sunshine...super sonic cheeseburgers for lunch...afternoon ut football game on tv...tackled the front door project - a new coat of stain - looking good - amazing how strong that texas sun is & how quickly the door faded....fridays for birthday dinner...home for cake and candles...peace in special family time...

lots of love this friday

• i am a today show fan...this cute couple got married this morning on the show and heres the cool part - the reception is being held at tiffanys....breakfast at tiffanys...never before has this happened and martha stewart helped with the festivities...think i better go watch the movie since i've never seen this classic...also, theres a champagne bar (nikki, martha stole your idea...)
• oprah announced her new book today...
• season premire of this...
• the boys get out early from school today...weekend starts early....
• yes, i admit it...i am on oprahs email list...i don't usually watch her show because its homework central around here from 4-5 but today i'm watching...elizabeth gilbert - the author of this - is on and this by far was one of my favorite books this year...i am usually not a fan of the non-fiction/memoir books but for some reason this one just really got me thinking/reevaluating/balancing/enjoying life...heres a list of 10 ways to live and love in attempts to find balance for her book...heres to adding more love.devotion.balance to life...peace.

lists.lists.lists

i love my lists...mental lists/to-do lists/project list/office work list/school list/things to mail lists...so you can imagine how much fun i am having with this little thing....a mini custom list maker...now hopefully when i go out on errands i will remember everything at the grocery store/target/liquor store...one sheet a week and i'm ready to go...