Sprinkles , originally uploaded by byjen . Growing up, I always had a dog. I am very much a dog person. So when I left home to go away to college many years ago, I knew that I would want a dog of my own someday. And here it is ??? years later and I am just now getting a dog. It just seems like we were always waiting for the right time. I'm not positive that this is truly the right time, but it seems that the "right" dog may have just found us. A few weeks ago we were looking at dogs on the Petfinder app on my iPhone (I just love my iPhone) because Rebecca has been asking more and more about getting a dog. We found a little puppy named Cameo that caught Daniel's eye. Now Daniel was not raised with dogs, so I was excited to see a dog that peaked his interest. So I ran with it. We called and emailed about the pup. We learned that Cameo was in the process of being adopted, but she did have three sisters, Chakra , Cocoa , and CurlySue , needing a home. It's crazy ...

My mom just visited for a couple days and we got some serious organizing done in her short visit (it's amazing what can be accomplished when she's here). One of the projects I'm most excited about is that we cleaned and organized the work space I have in the corner of my bedroom. I am a collector and it's crazy all the "stuff" that accumulates. My plan is to start organizing photos on my computer and scanning the girls' artwork. I also having boxes of "stuff" to go through but hopefully now that I have the space I can work on it a little at a time. I can't tell you how happy I was to come home from work today and see this nice, neat space--My very own little organizing headquarters.

Home Sweet Home , originally uploaded by byjen . Today I was blessed to be able to spend the day with my mom and my girls. Normally this would have been a work day for me, but I actually managed to get an extra day off and all I can say is Hooray!!! We didn't do anything major with it. We just spent the day doing everyday stuff together! But it was perfect nonetheless!

Football , originally uploaded by byjen . Can you believe it is almost football season? Last night was the first pre-season game (the Hall of Fame Game between the Cowboys and Bengals) and it felt so nice to have it on. Sometimes I forget how much I love football. I haven't always watched football. In fact, I went to many high school football games as a band nerd, yet only stopped to watch one game. But later in college, I had a football-loving boyfriend so I gave it another try. I chose the SF Niners to root for which seemed like a good match, they were close by and they wore my favorite color. But the boyfriend was a Cowboys fan (a huge Niners rival). Well the boyfriend didn't work out, but football did! Then my football-loving husband swooped in and continued to cultivate my love for the game. I learned about the rules and the players and even played on a few fantasy leagues. So watching the game last night reminded me of all of this. It made me want to brush up on my f...

Our "Juicy Houses" Workshop , originally uploaded by byjen . Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting A Work of Heart for an art workshop with friends. I "enjoyed" a long drive to and from with my current artsy partner in crime, Paula, (the drive was too long) and we met Sylvia (aka Baxter's Mom whom I met through Kelly Rae's class and lunch just last week) and her sister, as well as Rebecca (whom I met through our blogs by way of the Artistic Mother group as well as Kelly Rae's class). It was my first time to a Work of Heart and it was really great. So much inspiration whether it was the fun materials and supplies, or all the amazing projects . Andrea , A Work of Heart's creator, owner, and our workshop instructor, has a made a wonderful place to create. I just wish I lived closer. Well anyways, we created these charming collaged houses using painted papers, scrapbook papers, paints, and oil pastels. We had the choice of 4 cute little 4...

I am such a sucker for craft magazines, especially Christmas issues. So yesterday I was thrilled to stumble upon BHG's Holiday Crafts issue in Target. Without any hesitation I snatched it up and have been thumbing through it ever since. I like this year's issue because with each creation we learn a little bit about the designer that created it, including blogs, websites, and etsy shops. Like I needed more creative sites to explore. Well here's to the growing excitement for the upcoming holiday season.

So here it is, August 1st. Wow! Where did July go? And the summer? School starts in just 2-1/2 weeks. At the beginning of July I had these grand plans for celebrating Christmas in July and I even hinted at in several blog posts, but then July disappeared. I have to admit I am constantly coming up with "grand plans" but then have difficulty following through. I'm starting to feel like a creative individual trapped inside my head. Just this past week I had some time to create and I didn't know what to do. I froze. Now whenever I am away from my craft room I cannot quiet down all the ideas in my head. And when I'm good I write them down in numerous notebooks or even in my iPhone. So the ideas are there for me to use, but I froze. It's still a challenge for me to find time to create between work and the girls and household chores and trying to get healthy (another blog post all by itself), so when I have that precious creative time there is just too much pressu...