Christmas Picture 2008

Here it is...my two little babies in their annual Christmas picture. This was taken in the first snow of the season! Don't they look so cute?

Christmas Ornaments...Over the years

So earlier this week I said that I would post about some of the Christmas ornaments that you will find on our tree. Here goes:

This is the ornament that I got in 1993 (I think that's the correct date). I got this ornament because it was the year that I had my first ice skating experience! If you can't really tell, this giraffe is wearing ice skates.

This is an ornament that my Aunt Val made out of clay. Isn't it amazing! I keep telling her to open an Esty shop. Maybe if you all leave comments about how cute it is she will listen to me! :)

This is the ornament that I got in 1999 when I started attending Northwest Missouri State University. Go Bearcats!

This is my 2003 ornament. In July of that year I had started working at a church as the Youth Director. It was a fun job but ultimately just didn't work our for our family in the church that we were in.

This is an ornament from last year. I can't remember if my parents gave it to us or if we bought it at target on our own. But every year...well for the last 2 years we have done a Christmas picture with our little pups. We send it out with our Christmas cards just like they are our little kiddos! I love last year's picture...I got them Naughty and Nice shirts from Old Navy! Don't they look cute?

This ornament was from 1995. This is the year that I started high school and started taking French. I couldn't get a really clear picture of it. But this is Santa climbing and decorating the Eiffel Tower.

I think this is an ornament that I made last year for a class that I did! I love that paper!

I love the simple silver of this ornament. I think we got this after Christmas last year on sale! Of course it is from Target!

I think this ornament is from 2001. This is the year that I got to meet NSYNC! What a special year!

Sam and I got married on March 20, 2004 and we headed to Disney World for our honeymoon. So of course we had to get a Mickey and Minnie ornament for our first Christmas as husband and wife!

And this year...we added this ornament to our collection. it was actually Sam's idea when he saw it in Babies R Us. I just love it!

What are some of your favorite ornaments???

I Think...

...Co-workers should have to wait until December 22nd to start listening to Christmas music (or wear headphones)! HA HA! The only Christmas music I have listened to is my NSYNC Christmas CD and that doesn't really count cause I pull that out at various times throughout the year! :)

Decorating for Christmas - 2008!

We finally got around to decorating for Christmas! Yeah! Here is our finished tree!

There are so many ornaments on there that make me so happy! I will be posting a few in the days to come!

And here we all are mugging for the camera with Santa's hat!

Getting to Know You - Christmas Style!

I received this in a email yesterday and I thought it would get us in the Christmas mood!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper...but I don't really have to buy it. I most times using the packing paper that I receive in my Stampin Up boxes! So, thank you for ordering and adding to my stash. If I need more brown paper, I just use the brown wrapping paper in the shipping isle from Target! You get so much for so little! Add a cute bow and you are good to go!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial

3. When do you put up the tree? We usually do this the weekend after Thanksgiving. But we were so busy home-improving this year. So maybe we will get to it this weekend!

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime the beginning of January.

5. Do you like eggnog? Nope

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My scooter

7. Hardest person to buy for? my father-in-law and grandmas

8. Easiest person to buy for? Mom and Mother-in-Law...they like to get free SU merchandise!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No...but we have a class plate that we display that has a nativity scene on it.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? MAIL...and hand stamped! (Still need to work on these!)

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can't think of any.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? ELF is pretty funny!

13.. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I've already started. Hope to finish by this weekend...I love to shop online so that I don't have to leave the house!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Don't think so

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cheesey Potatoes and of course those chocolate graham cracker caramel things my gma makes! They are YUM-O!

16. Lights on the tree? Small White...we have lots of lights!

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night (sung my NSYNC of course)

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? We travel to Louisburg and Kansas City...from Gardner that's not too far!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixon, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph! (I think I got them right!)

20. Angel on the tree too or a star? Shiny Silver Star...that's probably one of my favorite things that we bought with a giftcard from our wedding! Love it!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Sam and I usually exchange on Christmas Eve. Then at Sam's parents and mine on Christmas or whenever we can fit it in.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Christmas music starts way too early!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I love how my parents have given me an ornament every year since I can't even remember. We write the years on the box and they usually have something to do with what we did that past year. Like when I was in 9th grade and started taking French, I got a little Santa on an Eiffel Tower. And in 2003 when I became a Youth Director at a church I got a Silver Cross. It's fun to put those on the tree and remember what they are for!

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Cheesey Potatoes...I make a triple batch so we can fry them up for breakfast in the morning. So yummy!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? The rest of the Twilight series, a giraffe print purse, a planner, and baby girl scrapbook stuff! I'm sure there's more...I just can't think of them now. I really hate to make lists!

If you post this on your blog too...send me a link so I can check it out!

Craftiness

Here are a few of the things that I have been working on lately. The first is a Thank You card for some of the baby gifts that we are already receiving! YEAH! I love the I'm Here stamp set from Stampin Up, I don't think I will be getting rid of it for a LONG time!

The next scrapbook page is one that we created at club this past month. This was the boy version. I just love this color combination: Bordering Blue, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White! So fun!

Here is a close up of the pocket. I will do a tutorial on how to create this pocket soon!

And here is the Baby Girl version! I love the Nursery Necessities stamp set! So cute!

And here is a close up. The color combination for this page is: Pixie Pink, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White.

Hope you all are having a great Thanksgiving weekend! Come back later today for a post about Stampin Up's great specials this weekend...or just check them out on my website: www.kimryden.stampinup.net.

It's Clean!

Good news club members! My craft room is clean! And this is also good news for all you blog readers. This means that I will now be able to create more and post more craft projects! YEAH!

Tonight I worked on the classes that I have coming up. I will post pictures of the projects soon!

Wednesday Update

Sorry that it's been so long since I've posted anything craft related! (But you can see something at my family website http://www.therydenfamily.blogspot.com/.) In the picture below you can see the state of my craft room... so I have to work on cleaning this up before I can create anything! HA HA! And for you club members, this why we were creating in my kitchen last month! HA HA!

Here is another project that has been taking up some time in our house. We are in the process of painting our bathroom...don't you love the color?

And we we are ready to lay tile once we have access to a tile cutter!

And here is our baby room. It has (for now) become painting central! The ceiling is painted and we might get some color on the walls this weekend if we can't tile!

And in other news...1 of 3 pieces of the baby furniture arrived this week! The changing table is here and ready to be assembled after painting central is cleared out! YEAH! It's a busy time in our household!

Happy Halloween a Week Late

So Halloween this year didn't really happen on Halloween in the Ryden household. On the real Halloween we were at my brother-in-law's house and the puppies were at home in the kennel. So we played Halloween on Monday! Here are the puppies during their Halloween photoshoot.

This year Chloe was a Bumble Bee! Look at that cute head tilt! (And yes, her hat is hanging around her neck...they need to design those things better!)

Gus was a lobster! Doesn't he look so scary?!!

There's me with my 2 babies. It was kinda hot that day and very windy!

Look at that cute Bumble Bee!

And again with the lobster!

Calendar Class or KIT

Calendar Class
Stampin Up
DATE: Monday, November 17th
TIME: 7-9 pm
LOCATION: Kim's House
COST: ONLY $22

Come on out and create a cute calendar for 2009 using the calendar kit that can be found in your new Mini Catalog! This class will include the calendar kit as well as an embellished Chipboard Clipboard to hold the calendar all year long! This calendar would also make a GREAT Christmas present! You are welcome to purchase more than one kit!

If you are unable to attend on the 17th you can plan on making your calendar at the crop on November 22nd (between noon and midnight) OR I can mail the kit to your home for an additional $5 OR if you are in town, we can arrange to get together and get you your kit. (Kit will include all of the items needed to embellish your calendar and clipboard, except glue.)

YOU MUST RSVP by midnight on Wednesday, Nov 5th for this class or purchase of the kit. I will then order the supplies so that they will be here in time for our class. If you RSVP for the class and are unable to attend on the 17th or 22nd you will still be responsible for the purchase of the kit.

To RSVP just email me at demokimsu@yahoo.com. Hope to see you all soon!

File Folders

I have a file folder at work that is labeled: "My Issues"! That just made me laugh a little today! I probably need one of those at home as well!

Hope you are having a great Thursday. :)

New Items Added to my Blog

Hey Everyone!

I just added a few new items to my blog. You now have a direct link to the Stampin Up catalogs as well as the current specials and a link where it will take you directly to order online! Please check it out and let me know if you have any questions.

**Please note that in order to view anything of the catalogs you will have to have Adobe Acrobat.**

***Please also note that if you are currently in a club or attending a workshop for a freind, those club and workshop orders still need to come through me so that I can add them to the total for the hostess! Online ordering is just for items that you want shipped directly to your home and do not count towards a hostesses order. THANKS!!***

I'm a total 10 Year Old!

So on Friday after work I was talking to my best friend asking her what her plans were for the weekend. Well she mentioned that her husband was really wanting to go see High School Musical 3: Senior Year. She asked if I wanted to come since she knew Sam wasn't here this weekend. I said, "Ummm...yeah! I didn't know any of my friends would want to go see it so I was just going to go alone sometime!" So tonight...we went to see this....

I just have to say that Zac Efron is totally worth seeing this movie! He's my new celebrity crush. There were many times in this movie where he was very sweaty! :)

Don't worry...I just looked up on imdb and he did just turn 21. So it's only a 6.5 year diference!

And did you know that the average age of everyone in our theater was probably about 10? I don't think there was one high schooler there. What is up with that?! I would give the movie 3 out of 5 stars...it was a little cheesy...just like the first 2 but of course the dancing and singing was great!

Friday's 10 - This Weekend!

Hey everyone...I'm bringing back the Friday's 10! So here goes...

#1 - My hubby left me today. He's headed to AZ to help clean out and pack up his grandparent's house. They used to winter in AZ where it's WARM! But Grandpa passed away just a few weeks ago and they weren't planning on heading back there this year anyway. So part of the family is down there this week to help out and my hubby and his brother are the lucky ones that get to drive the moving truck back to Kansas! So I'm alone all weekend. Drive safely boys!

#2 - Tonight I'm scrapbooking at church. I'm very excited to get to see my girls there and meet a few new people too! I think we will have a good group tonight! I'm still trying to decide what I want to work on tonight...probably finish up my clear album. I will let you know how it goes!

#3 - Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Archiver's with a few freinds to scrapbook all day! Well atleast from 9:30am until 4pm!!! I'm very excited about this. Yeah! I haven't seen Becky in ages and I miss hanging out with her! If anyone wants to join us...just let me know. It's free to crop during the day there! (Except the stuff that you are enticed to buy is not free but I will live!)

#4 - After scrapping on Saturday I'm heading accross the street to DSW to see if I can find some new shoes! I feel like I need something new! And my flip flops just won't work in the snow! Ha Ha!

#5 - Saturday night I'm looking forward to catching up on my shows that I didn't get to watch last night. I know, I know...I missed the best night of TV! The Office AND Grey's Anatomy. So don't tell me what happens!

#6 - Then Sunday I will be heading to church at 9am and hopefully my best freind and her hubby will want to have lunch with me that day! I'm calling her after work to see if they want to.

#7 - THEN (I have an action packed weekend planned)...I will be heading to a Holiday Mart that is being held in KC. I'm excited to look around and try some good food!

#8 - Then hopefully my hubby will be home on Sunday evening. But if not, I plan to curl up and take a nap then wake up to watch Desperate Housewives and maybe The Notebook. (I saw Nights in Rondathe last night. It was good but not nearly as good as The Notebook was. So I'm thinking I need to watch it again!)

#9 - I might also find some time to organize my scrapbook room OR clean our bedroom OR list stuff on Ebay OR clean the bathrooms OR make sure that all scrapbooking stuff is downstairs...it seems to invade the house all the time! So you see...I have tons of options that will take me well into next week!

#10 - I'm headed to Panera right now to have a salad and some potato soup for lunch. YUM!

Regional Projects

Hey everyone. I just realized that I never really posted the projects that we made at regionals. So here they are!

This is a little pocket thingy...don't really know what to call it.

It holds a few cards and some envelopes.
Look how cute these cards are! I love that little birdie!

Then we got to use the Big Shot to make this cute little basket! Isn't it just adorable?

This is a little pouch. Very cute!

Cute little card. We used ribbon to make the flower. So cute!

I didn't really like this set when I first saw it. But this card is kinda cute. Did you know that you could watercolor with craft ink? That what we did with the Old Olive on this card!

And the final make n take was this 8x8 scrapbook page. There are a lot of elements that go into the bottom portion of the page. Very cute!

So there you have it finally. If you have any questions...ask away!

Challenge

This card was on Kristina's blog yesterday and I just think it's so cute! So your challenge is to create a card using a clear transparency sheet as a base. I have always wanted to make of of these and just have never gotten around to it.

So send me your cards that you create by Friday and I will post them on my blog! Hope you have a great weekend.

It's Monday...ugh!

We had a crop this past weekend but I really haven't unpacked enough to take pictures of my creations. So those will come at a later date. Today I will leave you with a post to learn more about me.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7am. I took a shower last night so I could sleep in this morning!

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds...they sparkle!

3. Last movie you saw at a cinema? Fireproof...very good.

4. What is your favorite TV show? Tie between Grey's and Biggest Loser.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Something that I can take to work with me...today I'm having cinnamon bread and some cereal with milk that I can get from the vending machine!

6. What is your middle name? Brooke

7. What food do you dislike? Meatloaf.

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I'm really liking Natalie Grant's newest one.

9. What kind of car do you drive? Honda CR-V

10. Favorite sandwich? Turkey with mayo, lettuce, and black olives from Mr. Goodcents = YUM-O!

11. What characteristic do you despise? Laziness or those that give up too easily.

12. Favorite item of clothing? I would have to say...all of my tank tops...I wear one almost every day even in the winter!

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? European cruise

14. Are you an organized person? I try...but there is just so much stuff in our lives that it gets hard at times!

15. Where would you retire to? Where ever my family is.

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My 27th was spent with family and also my hubby took me to the Melting Pot. It was yummy!

17. What are you going to do when you finish this? get to work...I guess I should be doing that huh?!

18. Farthest place you are sending this? No idea! You let me know.

19. Person you expect to send it back first? i'm not sending this out the normal way but inviting you all to participate. Just send me a link!

20. When is your birthday? January 20th

21 . Morning person or a night person? I think I'm a little of both. I like to get up and get the day started but I always like to stay up late. I guess it just depends on what day it is!

22. What is your shoe size? 8.

23. Pets? I havetwo dogs...Chloe and Gus...gotta love em.

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Well my little baby girl is half way done! Only 20 more weeks until we get to see her. YEAH!

25. What did you want to be when you were little? a teacher

26. How are you today? Blah. Kinda wish I was at home because I can think of a few things that I should be doing.

27. What is your favorite flower? I love roses of all colors.

28. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? March 4th, 2009...when my baby girl will join us in the world.

29. What are you listening to right now? People in the office talking, clicking of the keyboard, and KLove!

30. What was the last thing you ate? Cinnamon bread and a glass of milk

32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Pink

33. How is the weather right now? Looks like it might rain and in the 60s

34. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Erica...my little sis...last night

35. Favorite soft drink? Diet Coke with Cherry from Sonic...Only a few more months and I will have one of you...but by then...it might not be my favorite!

36. Favorite restaurant? Jose Peppers...Love their Queso Dip!

37. Hair color? Dark Brown

38. What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbies

39. Summer or Winter? Summer

41. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla

42. Coffee or tea? Diet Coke!

43. Do you want your friends to email you back? Sure...leave a comment!

44. When was the last time you cried? Last night.

45. What is under your bed? NO telling...Gus likes to hang out under there and he loves paper...so I'm sure there are shreads of paper under there as well as a few other things...but I'm just guessing!

46. What did you do last night? Made Holiday party invites for our corporate party and watch Desperate Housewives.

47. What are you afraid of? Being without my husband

48. Salty or sweet? salty and sweet, I like to switch back and forth.

49. How many keys on your key ring? 5...I think.

50. How many years at your current job? Just 1 as a CSR with Kerry...but 3 as an SU demo!

51. Favorite day of the week? Saturday...I love that it's a day that I can decide what to do!

52. Do you make friends easily? Usually

53. How many people will you send this to? Everyone that reads my blog!

54. How many people will reply? Your guess is as good as mine. I hope at least one of you does this. If you do, leave me a comment so I can run right over to your blog to read your answers.

55. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? YES. To know them is to love them.

Hope you have a good Monday!

Goals for the Year

So...as some of your may remember I posted in the beginning of the year that I was going to make sure the crawl space was cleaned out by the end of the year! I am proud to say that I have achieved my goal! I have been working on it for over a month now...sorting, throwing stuff away, deciding what to keep,...it seemed like a never ending task but this weekend, I worked for a total of about 10 hours over Saturday and Sunday and FINISHED the project. I should take a picture so you all know how great it looks.

Hubby still has a few boxes to go through to remember what is meaningful to him and hopefully that will be done by the end of the year and we can call the project totally complete!

And another thing that I mentioned was that I was not going to buy a purse all year. While this task as been hard, I have achieved it so far! But I'm thinking in January I should go buy one! What do you all think?

It's a Girl!

Here she is...still trying to decide on a name for our little one! There are so many things to do now! Just wanted to let you know the good news!

Trip to the Dentist

Yesterday I went to the dentist. I left work at 2:30, YEAH! But...I left work early to go to the dentist. Not so sure that that's a good trade off. Hmmm...

Anyway, it's not really the actual dentist that makes me hate going it's...

The tools that they use. I know that I make the most painful faces. Yesterday the hygenist was like, are you ok? I would have gone into a explanation of my faces then but there were tools in my mouth so I just said, "Yes".

But the real reason that I make faces is that I hate the sound of the scratching on my teeth. You know, when they take that little pokie thing that scrap all of the plaque off of your teeth. That just makes me crazy!

Another thing that I hate is that they try to have a converstaion with you while they have like 20 tools in your mouth. I wonder if they have to take a class in how to have a one-sided conversation. Or maybe classes like, how to ask yes and no questions.

The next thing that happens is that they use that nasty toothpaste that is mixed with sand to polish your teeth. I hate that stuff. There are 2 reasons: 1) They always use peppermint. 2) The texture is just wrong! I'm just glad that everyday toothpaste is smooth and creamy!

Then she says that she's going to go get the dentist. When he arrives she gives him a post-it note with things to check out. This is the worst because this is the point when they tell me that I might have cavities! YIKES! But yesterday I was all clear...just to keep watching the teeth that were on the post-it.

Then you get the bill and you realize that the dentist gets paid $41 for the exam that took him like 2 minutes to perform! I need to become a dentist!