Blog challenge

I have joined a few US forums since I got here to immerse myself in the scrap world here. I cam across a site that have blog challenges. (Nothing to do with scrapping). Each week they put up a topic to blog about, then you go back and post a link, for everyone to see your response.

This week's topic is about dream holidays.

I'm very lucky, that since being with Michael we have been able to do lots of travelling. Apparently it's by accident, but almost all of our holidays have ended up being cold holidays. Lots of them have even included snow. It;s become a bit of a running joke. I am really looking forward to a time when we can go on a warm holiday. Not boling hot, just nice, a bit of swimming, that sort of thing.I would really love to go on a cruise ship.

So what about everyone else. What would your dream holiday be. Post about it in your blog.

This is a layout from one of the competitions Sara and I are doing at the moment. I am onto the next round which is great.

This is another one for the same challenge.

We have had our friends Marcel and Belinda visiting this weekend from Washington. We drove down to Pennsylvania yesterday. Lots of the leaves are turning there. It's very pretty. Unfortunatley the weather was very ordinary. Today we went ice skating. Across the city, they set up outdoor skating rinks. We went to the one right near Michael's work, which was free, except for skate hire. Michael had a bit of a stack and has been in pain ever since, but it was lots of fun.

More layouts

Nothing much to say to today, but I do have some layouts to share. The 2 of these came together really quickly.




I got my first lot of groceries delivered from online shopping today. It seems to be a really common thing to do here. There is a supermarket only a few blocks away, but I can't push a pram and do a whole load of groceries at the same time.

It's starting to get quite cold here. We saw another skating rink getting set up today right near Michael's work.

Michael's best friend and his wife who live in washington Dc are heading up on Friday for the weekend. It will be nice to have some people we know to talk to.

That's it for now. Now very exciting.
Bye

Mail delivery!!

Yay, my first parcel arrived this morning. I was gettign worried about it. It's so nice tgo have some new things. Some of them are not brand new, but I have gone without for so long, that they are still new to me.
Here's a pic.


I really like the Maya Rd chipboard letters as they come in their own lunch pail.
The layout is one I did this morning with my new stuff.

OK, enough playing, I better go and do some housework.

Try again.

I know I haven't blogged in a while. I tried a couple of times last week to put up some pics, but blogger wouldn't let me. Hopefully I can share some today.

Nothing much going on at the moment. I am nervously awaitig some scrap parcels in the mail. I did an online order the other day and I can track it ont he UPS website. Thing is it says they have tried to deliver twice and haven't been able to. I'm nervous because I know I was at home at the time they said they tried to deliver it and they said they left two notices which I haven;t got. I'm off to the PO in the morning. I hope it is there. I can't believe how much troubel we have had getting things delievered here.

Went to Central Park yesterday. They were setting up the outdoor ice skating rink for it to open last night. It is definitley one of gthe things that we want to do while we are here. Probably before it gets totally freezing. We've already started having cool days. I bought myself 2 new jackets the other day which should suit me pretty well.

Have been doing a bit of scrapping lately. Can't wait to get my new stuff. target has started to redeem itself. They did a restock the other day and so I picked up a few new things. SOme nice ribbon. I don't know the company. I also got some MM large chipboard monos that I've not seen before. It seems that MM make stuff exclusively for Target here. Will satisfy me until the mail comes.

The new weekly challenge is up at Scrapbook City. Hope you'll join in.

Will try to add some photos. Fingers crossed.

Tag from Sara.

Here's my list from Sara.

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was **** faced
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (45.5 kilograms)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111.Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

I haven't forgotten about the apartment photos, I'm just waiting to get curtains first.

A quick one

To balance out the last really long post, this is a nice quick one.

Thanks to everyone who thought of us when you heard about the plane crash in New York. It was on the upper east side, which was about 30 blocks from Michael's office, so it was nowhere near us thank goodness. Kyan and I were home for the day because it was rainy and miserable, so everything is good.

I think some New Yorkers felt very nervous for a while.

Am doing a bit of scrapping at the moment, so I'll hopefully have something to show soon. I'm really hanging out to do some scrap shopping. I'm getting really low on paper s and stuff at the moment, although it is good to use up some old stuff.

Will try to get some photos up over the weekend.

A very long post

I've been a bit distrated lately so I've got lots of catching up to do.

The apartment.

We have now moved into our apartment. It wasn't exactly smooth sailing but we have made it. It's starting to look good after 3 days of Ikea furniture building. We still have a few bits and pieces to go, but we have all the big stuff now.

We were supposed to move in last Sunday, but they hadn;t yet painted, and it was a filty mess. Theyt finally finishe dpainting on Wednesday, and did a bit of a clean. It was much much better, but not good enough for my satisfaction, so I had to do a fair bit of cleaning as son as I got here. I have cleaned the glass shower door twice already and it is still not completely clean.

We got all our stuff from Australia on Thursday which was great. Kyan's bed got damaged in the move, so we have to get that sorted out.We got our TV today, so we can actually just relax for a bit. It's starting to feel like a proper house now.

Deliveries.
We have had so much trouble with delieveries it's not funny. The TV was due to come on Wednesday. I was a few minutes late and misssed them. They said they would have to charge the delivery fee again to bring it back. I rang and organised it, but they didn't show up. o cut a long story short, Michael went to the shop, picked it up today and bought it back in a cab, for 1/5 of the price.

Ikea. Arranged for them to come last Thursday. Waited all day with Kyan. They rang to say they were here, but they weren't. They were in Manhattan, not Brooklyn. So then they just didn't show up. Waited until 9 o'clock at night. Not happy! I had to chase them the next day. No apology or anything. They finally arrived the following afternoon.

The cable guy was booked in for Wednesday. Has already rang to change it to Friday.

I don't know if this is typical here, or we have just had really bad luck.

Anyway. I'll get everythign a bit better organised, then I'll post some photos of the place. I have a postal address now. If anyone wants it, just enail me.

Scrapping.
First some good news. I entered a layout competition the other day that I won. It was a sketch challenge

I have also been participating in another online chalenge here. here are a few finished layouts.





Sorry, the photos are in the wrong order. I'm sure you can see how the photo shoot layout should look.

Overe at Scrapbook City, the first round of weekly challenges is finished. Congratulations to the winners. The new round has started, which I think I have already mentioned somewhere, so come on over and join in.

That's all my brain will think if at the moment. If I haven't told you about something you are desperate to know, just leave a question in the comment, and I'll fill you in next post.

Here I am

Sorry, I'm still here, it's just that Ikea delivered our furniture so now we have to assemble it all. Also the computer is still at the temp accom, as we are not connected at the new place yet. I'll be back soon though I promise.

We've created a monster.

This is for all those people who think that Kyan is always a perfect angel.

Michael had a great idea to download some episodes of Play School for Kyan to watch while we are over here. He has never really been into TV before but we wanted him to have something from home to watch.

The first time he watched it on the laptop, he sat motionless on Michael's lap the whole entire time. He barely even blinked. He absolutely loved it. He did all the actions as they sang. The problem came when it finished. He screamed!!! He kept saying more play school, more play school. We've never seen him like this before. We have 5 episodes at the moment, and he has watched them over and over, and still screams every time.

This photo was just taken. He suddenly asked for play school. He has already watched 2 eps earlier this morning. Somehow the idea jumped into his head that he wanted to watch it, and when I said he, he lost it. You can see him in the picture trying to open the laptop himself.

What have we started?????

Looking up.

Things might be looking up. We got a call from the broker this morning. She said that the place should be cleaned before we move in, and that even though we have the keys, we don't start paying until we move in, which looks like Wednesday. We are waiting for the removalist to get back to us with a time to bring our stuff around.

I spent a fortune at Ikea today. I was really nervous about going today as Micahel has gone to DC for his orientation, so I had to take Kyan out there all by myself. I found some staff memebers to help me out and it went quite smoothly. Kyan was an angel which really helped. They will deliver the stuff to us on Thursday which works out quite well.

Nothing much else to say today. Better get Kyan in the bath and off to bed, so I can do some scrapping tonight.

The new weekly challenge is up at Scrapbook City, so go check it out.