{allergies}

Well I just got my results back from my blood work last week.... drum roll please...

I don't have a thyroid problem, but I do have SEVERAL allergies, and on top of that, I am allergic to some stuff that I EAT ALL THE TIME!!! Sad :(

Allergies:
Dust Mites
Cats
Kentucky Bluegrass
Johnson Grass
Mountain Cedar
Rough Pigweed
Egg White
Wheat

Clearly, I have to change my diet substantially. I mean--I eat noodles all the time, macaroni and cheese all the time, sandwiches all the time, biscuits, rolls, grilled cheese, brownies, cake, cookie dough, pizza, fried foods, everything. Practically everything that I eat on a daily basis is slowly killing me... that's great to know, lol. Oh well.

Just thought I would share my results with everyone! If you have any pointers about changing my diet, let me know. Looks like I'll be eating lots of meats, hardly any carbs and lots of salads and fruit :)

{just some updates for ya'll}

It's been a while and a lot of things are going on; here is just a list to keep everyone in the know:

--Gavin and I are talking with a realtor this week about putting our house on the market. We know where we want to move to, and we hope that we can sell the house by the summer time.
--I turned 25 last Tuesday. On Saturday the 12th, I had such a fun time celebrating with my family. There was great dinner, and it was truly a surprise to see almost all of my extended family there. My actual birthday (day) was pretty awful though. I was sick with bronchitis (for a 3rd time this year), and I had 2 exams that week, yuck. It was just a hard week. This weekend was awesome though; my husband threw me the biggest and bestest surprise birthday party and bought me some adorable outfits, so I feel truly blessed, and I officially FEEL a quarter of a century old! Yay!
--A lot is going on with school, which is what is keeping me from my crafting and from my blogging, sadly. I still have several more weeks of school left, and then I am only taking 2 classes over the summer. That will be such a BREAK for me!!! In the Fall I will return to my full time schedule, and in the Spring I'll only take a few classes and graduate!! Then ... well I don't know what I'll be doing, but we'll figure it out.
--I need to file my taxes. I keep putting it off because I need to add up all of our medical expenses from last year and see if they are over 3% of our total combined income for 2010. I have an inkling that it is because both Gavin and I had surgeries in 2010, and well those don't come cheap.
--My coworker has moved on to another position within UNT, so I have taken on some more responsibility at work, but I feel that I am handling things well. Everyone is being so much more productive now, and things are running more efficiently even if there are random quarrels between our SWs.
--And today I meet with the doctor again (3rd time in a week). I am getting results for allergy and thyroid testing. The last appointment I had was with this other NP that I don't normally see. I went in to talk about my allergies and she ended up quizzing me on anxiety and depression. I was really flustered by the whole situation and deeply upset that she would even diagnose me with anxiety, when I don't suffer from it very often at all. Sometimes I get anxiety about tests and sometimes I get anxiety about paying bills, but that is totally NORMAL. I only have sleepless nights once per 3 month period, and well that's just if I drink too much caffeine before going to bed or can't shut my brain off! I just really resent her for giving me anxiety by telling me that I have anxiety, gah! What a waste. Anyway my doctor came into the room, and she palpitated my thyroid and suggested that it was enlarged and noticed a nodule. She thinks that I could have hyperthyroidism which causes my rapid, clicking heart beat/anxiety/sleeplessness/fatigue/weight loss, etc. Anyway... I'm happy to be thin, no complaints here, and I sleep well enough at night, and I am tired during the day because I work full time, go to school full time, take care of my husband and daughter in my free time, and I am a control freak. I know that I have my faults, but I am the main cause of my own anxieties and stress, and it is only temporary really (just until we sell this house and until I'm finished with ALL of my schooling).
--I am just so happy and blessed with my life. I know that my life could've taken a different path, and I am just so thankful everyday that I have a chance to live this life that I've been given, even if there is a day more difficult that another. That is why I don't carry my stresses and my anxieties. I just let them roll off me; I refuse to feel badly because everything is really temporary and this time of adjustment will pass, and one day I may be missing these days when things were a bit chaotic and we made a lot of sacrifices. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Here is something pretty to share with you folks today; have a happy Monday, and have a wonderful week. I hope it stays gorgeous and warm here in North Texas!


Do You Remember?
All these times they come and go, and alone don't seem so long; over 5 years have gone by. We can't rewind, we're locked in time, but you're still mine.
Products:
Patterned Paper, Flowers, Ribbon - American Crafts
Stickers - American Crafts, October Afternoon
Tag & Doily - American Crafts, Elle's Studio, Maya Road

{i'm back}

Well after much deliberation.... I'm back :) just kidding. I've been super busy with school and work lately. I had my first exam in Anatomy & Physiology, and let me tell you... it was one hard test. I am just praying that I passed!

It snowed, and they closed the school again! It was amazing. Harper and I stayed home; we watched Anne of Avonlea, colored and I was able to get some much needed reading time in for school.

Today I'm going to share some projects that I made recently at the crop that I attended a couple weekends ago. That weekend I got a ton of projects done, and these are just a couple of cute ones that I love!!


Products:
Cardstock - Coredinations, Kraft
Patterned Paper - Echo Park
Embellishments - American Crafts, Jenni Bowlin, Echo Park

So for all of you who are curious to know.... Gavin and I have decided that we are going to put our house on the market so that we can move back to Denton and be closer to our family and friends. It was a journey buying a our first home and living so far from our jobs, school, friends and family. We thought that it was exciting to be on our own, but we realize that we are even more dependent on our family because we have a little one. Our neighborhood is nice, but it doesn't feel like home. Our house is lovely, if we could, we would just transplant the house in Denton, but seeing as we cannot do that, we are excited about this new journey in our life, selling our house, finding a little home in town to live for a few years, and growing our tiny family by one more one day. Gavin and I see this as taking a step back from home ownership responsibilities until we are finished with school, and we are really excited about it!! With this transition, we will be able to put money into savings, start a 529 savings plan for Harper's college, and we will be able to pay off our consolidated debt and buy Gavin a reliable (new to us) car!!

I hope that all of you support this dream for us, and pray that we sell our house quickly so that we can move by the summer to our new place!!! We would really appreciate any of the support and prayers that we can get right now while we make this life transition!

With Love,
Gabrielle

{festive february}


Well I shared yesterday that I completed several layouts at my retreat this weekend, and yes I did. So I am going to share a few of them with you today. All of these layouts were created with the Basic Grey Jovial line, which is on clearance right now for $8.50 over at Catch the Moments Kits find the that deal here: Festive Kit. These layouts feature my Christmas photos for 2010, and if you're curious about what size photos I used they are 2x3, 4x6, and 1 5x7 (Harper with Santa). I got all of the 2x3 photos from ScrapbookPictures.com; I love getting my photos from them, best quality out there! So I hope that you enjoy them. I will post just a little something about each layout and the products I used. Also, I hope that everyone is staying warm this wintery week!! It's 12 degrees outside in North TEXAS!! Yes, Texas, one of the hottest states in of the South!! We've had ice for two days straight, and UNT (my place of employment and where I go to school) has closed for yet another day!! That is unheard of; they are closed for 3 days straight!!! Plus there are state-mandated rolling 'brownouts' all over the state to conserve energy. Some folks are out of power for 5+ hours. Luckily we only lost power for a total of 40 minutes today, not bad at all.

"Trim up the Tree"
Trim up the tree with bingle balls and whofoo fluff. Every first
week in November we trim up the tree. This year Harper helped too.
Our Grinch tree looked even better this year in the living room.
Supplies:
Patterned Paper - Basic Grey
Cardstock - Kraft
Embellishments - Basic Grey
Stickers - Basic Grey
Die Cut - Cricut
"Joy"
Joy is a little people nativity.
Supplies:
Patterned Paper - Basic Grey
Stickers - Basic Grey, American Crafts
Brads - Scrap Freak Embellishment Kit
Paint - Tim Holtz Crackle
"Santa"
Sometimes Harper just doesn't want to get her picture taken.
This is a prime example. Picture with Santa, 2010.
Supplies:
Patterned Paper - Basic Grey
Chipboard & Stickers - Basic Grey, American Crafts
Flower , Pins, Brad - Maya Road
Ribbon - American Crafts, Pink Paislee, vintage
"So Gifted"
We have a tradition of opening one present on
Christmas Eve. This year Harper opened the Fischer Price
Medical Kit. Merry Christmas Eve Baby Girl
Supplies:
Patterned Paper - Basic Grey
Flower, Pins & Doily - Basic Grey, Maya Road
Stickers - Basic Grey, American Crafts
"On the Eve"
Now she wants to be a doctor when she grows up. Merry Christmas Eve '10.
Supplies:
Cardstock - Coredinations
Patterned Paper & Chipboard - Basic Grey
Doilies - Maya Road
Die Cut - Cricut

"St. Nick"
St. Nick arrived and brought Harper a kitchen. He ate our
homemade cookies and drank all of his milk. Even Mama and Daddy
got a few goodies.
Supplies:
Cardstock - Bazill Basics, Coredinations
Patterned Paper, Chipboard, Stickers - Basic Grey
Buttons & Brands - Basic Grey
Ribbon - American Crafts

Well that's all for this blog for today folks. I hope that you enjoyed my projects and they inspire you to scrap your 2010 Christmas photos!! Please check out my Catch the Moments Kits post from today to see other projects that I created over the weekend. Tata for now!

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{snowy day, new layout}

I honestly didn't expect a snow/ice storm to blow through North Texas and shut down over 400 schools and businesses, but I am glad that it did. I've been able to spend the day with my sweet family, all of them including my husband. This morning at 5:30 AM he got on the road and just turned right back around and came back to bed. Truth is, he works over 50 miles from our house, and it would've taken him at least 2 hours to get to work, and that's if he actually got there. Then there was the possibility that they may be shut down when he got there because they don't have an alert system for employees like a lot of companies do. Big mess, but he was able to take the day and spend it with Harper, Josie and me. What a treat!!!

I was able to read for my class and start on some homework, and I just found out that UNT (my job and school) is shut down for another day! Praise the Lord!!!

Well I just got back from a well-deserved vacation weekend with the girls from Oh Crop (a meet up cropping group for North Texas). We spent the weekend at Elm Street Crafter's Retreat in Denton, TX. It was the cutest house with all the details. I scrapbooked Thursday through Sunday. It was just a grand ol' time. Our host Penni Abbott, who owns the Elm Street Craft Retreat, was so generous. The bedrooms were mega cute, and the cropping area was a great size (the chairs were a big hit, definitely very cushy). It easily fit all 10 of us very comfortably. The dining room is situated with 2 bar height tables. The kitchen is very large, and Penni thought of almost every detail with her new inn. Of course we had just a couple of suggestions for her new place, but overall all of the gals including myself had a fabulous weekend, and I know that I CAN'T wait to go back. It really was the best crop weekend ever, and I am looking forward to my next stay there in the future. Hopefully I'll get to stay there at least once per year with my friends, but that depends on my pocketbook :) Oh I forgot to mention that she has a masseuse Natalie, and well I got a deep tissue massage; I was sore when it was done, but it was worth every moment of pain, believe me! I had such an amazing time!

Tomorrow I will be sharing a few creations on the Catch the Moments Kits blog!! Check it out tomorrow for new layouts and one very cute Valentine's Day project!! And tonight I leave you with a layout I created over the weekend!!

Have a lovely evening, and I hope that you are all staying warm wherever you are!