Korra

Our baby girl is here!  

Miss Korra was born on November 4th (her due date!)

Meeting her big brother for the first time

This is why I'll be absent for a bit longer.  She's a wonderful baby and we are so happy she is a part of our family!

My handsome husband holding his baby girl.

Hope everyone is doing well-I'll be posting when I can!

Checking In

So sorry I was MIA this week.  I went on a little, much-needed vacay.  Just me and the little man.  We just got home late last night.  It was so nice to have a break.

Can you guess where we went?

I'll have the answer to that and some more pics first thing next week.  I'm working on getting caught up {again}.  We had a icky cold sweep through our house last week and between me being sick, then getting better only to get sick again and taking care of my sick little guy, not much crafting or blogging for that matter, got done.  Not a lot of anything got done, to tell you the truth : )  But we're all healthy, so now it's back to business as usual!  I've got some fun things to share with you as well as a great guest and some major changes going on!

Memorial Day Weekend {a little late}

I hope that you all had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.  It was sure busy here!  We had a friend and his little girl come visit and man, did we go EVERYWHERE!  We took a trip to the beach (since there are none in Albuquerque), did a day at Sea World and another day at Busch Gardens.  Let me tell you, my feet are stilling punishing me for all of that walking around.  But we did have a great time and I loved having some quality time with our family and getting to show off my home state a bit.

Couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

Easter, Easter

Hope you all had a lovely Easter!  Ours was one jam-packed weekend!  Saturday morning our ward had an Easter activity for all of the primary kids.  They did a little mini service project where they put together hygiene kits for a local shelter, then played fun Easter games and had an egg hunt at the end.

Then it was back home to clean like a madwoman-see, I had the nutty idea the week before to have our ENTIRE family (both sides) over for Easter dinner at our house-and get some homework done.  

Sunday morning came after a long night with our poor little man having bad dreams-he ended up sleeping on a little bed my hubby made up for him on our bedroom floor.  We hid his Easter basket and he had fun looking for it.  He was very happy with the goodies he found.

Then off to church we went-I had my first sharing time this past Sunday and I think it went pretty well, if I do say so myself : )

We snapped a quick family pic of us all in our Easter best before finishing up the last minute tasks around the house before our guests arrived.  I was too busy with everything to remember to get pictures of everyone while they were here, but we had 18 people in our house!  It was our first family gathering in our new place-it was a blast!

Before most everyone left, I hid the little man's eggs (we weren't able to do it earlier because it began to rain) and he had a little mini egg hunt.  

And that's our Easter in a nutshell : )

Before I packed it all up, I thought I'd give you a glimpse at my Easter decor.  We don't have much, but I add to it a little each year.

 My little bicycle bunny-she hides treats in her basket.  And see that little {bare} tree in the background?  I've got a cute Easter/Spring project planned for it, so be watching!

Her basket holds yummy Cadbury eggs.  Most of them are gone now, though : )

This little guy is from WAAAAAY back in the day-I made him at a Relief Society meeting back when I was still a Young Woman.  Talk about old.

These little chicks were a steal-I found the pair of them in the dollar section at Target.  They, of course, came home with me.  I filled each one with a different color of Easter grass and ta-da!  fast, cheap decor.  They're hanging out next to my free canvas (from Canvas People-love it!)

And here's my spring wreath.  If you've been a follower for a while, you may remember my interchangeable wreath.  I whipped up a pretty spring embellishment for it-stay tuned for the tutorial!

Some Things You Probably Didn't Know

My guest for this week's Who's That is under the weather, so we've rescheduled our blog swap.  But I didn't want to leave you all with nothing today, so I thought I'd share some totally random things about me.

For those of you Facebookers, you might remember when this went around a few years back.  I added some to it and had to update others.  Hope this isn't TMI for you all!

1. I'm totally a Floridian. No matter where I live, that will always be home. Until moving out to New Mexico, I'd never lived anywhere but Florida (that I can remember. We lived in Tennessee when I was a baby for a while.) And the first time I ever saw snow was actually in Florida. I'm so happy to be back in the Sunshine State.

2. I have an irrational fear of being eaten by sharks and bridges (like something happening to the car while driving over one and careening over the side-it especially freaks me out now that I have a baby because I would want to save him.) And I'm still a little afraid of the dark-mostly it unnerves me, I don't like not being able to see what's around me.

3. I worked for Compass Bank as a teller for almost 2 1/2 years before our son was born. It was my first "real" job.  I got robbed once (you can read about it here.)

My first day as a teller

4. I come from what some might call a large family-I guess that depends on what size family you come from.  I am the oldest of four kids-I have one younger sister and two younger brothers.  There is a 9-year gap between me and the youngest.  We all get along (for the most part) and I love being able to spend time with my siblings.

My sibs: Ethan, Josh, Emily and Me

5. I'm extremely insecure with myself and my appearance. I always have been. I think part of it is all the teasing I endured in elementary school. Part of me is still that little, awkward, shy fourth grader with the crooked teeth and the knobby knees.  That's probably why doing What I'm Wearing makes me uncomfortable.

6. I'm a huge beach bum. I love the beach. I could spend the entire summer there and not get bored of it. And I love to surf. I'm not the greatest at it, but I'm getting better. I'd love to get back into it soon.  It's one of the things I missed most about living in New Mexico other than not being able to see my families whenever I want.

7. I'm actually grateful to the boyfriend that cheated on me. It made me get over him and never, ever want to put someone through that kind of pain (not that I have ever considered cheating on someone.) And it taught me what I really wanted in a guy.

8. Robbie, my husband, is one the silliest people that I know, but you'd never know it, because he's usually really quiet around people. But his sense of humor is one of the things I love about him. And he's totally a hottie :) I still remember the very first time I saw him-I didn't actually meet him for almost another month after that, but I remember thinking, "Who is THAT?!"

9. I worry WAY too much. About everything. Mostly right now, I worry that I won't be a good mom. And I've been having awful dreams about Bobby-like things happening to him that I can't stop and it really freaks me out. And sometimes, I let myself get too overwhelmed by things. I have a big problem with anxiety. And, yet, I really don't get stressed.

10. I'm a very opinionated person, but I usually keep them to myself unless it's something I feel needs to be said. I just wait to the appropriate time to voice them. I don't feel that I should force them on other people. And just because my opinion is different from yours, doesn't mean I think any less of you. You're just as much entitled to your opinion as I am.  Like people don't really care that I don't like rompers-they're still going to wear them anyways.

11. Before meeting my husband, I thought I'd never get married. I was going to move to NY and live in the city and have a dozen cats (yeah, I was going to be a cat lady.) But I'm so glad he found me (he seriously looked for me at church and asked everyone he knew if they knew me and what my name was.) Being married to Robbie has been the greatest adventure and I look forward to our 50th wedding anniversary (and beyond.)

12. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints (most people know us as mormons) and I'm proud of that. My faith has truly shaped the person I am today. It has given me sort of a compass with which I guide my life. It's given me hope through the rough patches in my life and all of the amazing blessings in my life have come from my loving Father in Heaven. And same as the opinion thing above, just because you and I might not believe the same things, I don't think any less of you. I'm not the kind to hold someone to my beliefs because they're just that-mine.

The Orlando Florida Temple

13. I absolutely love being a mom. I never thought I could love someone this much. Our son is the greatest blessing in my life, second to my wonderful husband. Yeah, he overwhelms me at times, but I wouldn't trade motherhood for anything in the world. I love watching him grow and change and learn. I love his smiles and his laughs and just the loving way he looks at me.

14. I am an inducted member of 2 college honor societies, as well as being on the Dean's List, Who's Who Among America's High School Students 2 years, National Honor Roll 2 years and Who's Who Among America's Junior Colleges. That was a huge accomplishment for me, mostly because school has always been a struggle for me.


15.  After 5 years of being out of college (that's a whole long story for another day), I started going back this past November to finish up my bachelor's degree.  Truth be told, I'm hating it, but I long ago set the goal of finishing college and it's something I'm holding myself to, no matter how much I dislike it.  I'm only about a year from graduating.  I'll be so happy when it's all done and behind me.

16. I try really hard to stay in shape. I love doing yoga and pilates and want to try kickboxing one day. I even completed all 90 days of P90X-it sucked but the results were well worth it.  I've learned, however, that to really stay motivated, I need someone to work out with.  Sadly, when we moved to Florida, I had to leave my awesome workout buddy in Albuquerque (yet another reason why you guys need to move here, My!)  But I hate HATE running.

17. I love to sing. I was in chorus in elementary school, high school and college. But I'm really shy singing by myself in front of people. When I was little, I really wanted to be a rockstar. Sometimes I still do. My sister and I had a little "band" and we wrote songs.  They were really cheesy.

18. I gained 46 pounds while I was pregnant with my son.  It took me 2 years to lose the last 15 of that.

At 32 weeks with our son

19. I've never done drugs of any kind-luckily never been offered drugs, either. Never even smoked a cigarette. In fact, I'm highly allergic to cigarettes.

20. I had braces twice. And my teeth are still a little crooked (darn wisdom teeth.)

21. I'm actually a really loud person once I'm comfortable around people. It drives Robbie nuts : ) He's constantly telling me to be quieter, especially when I'm around my family. What can I say, we're boisterous.

22. I love to travel. I definitely don't get to do it as much as I'd like. I have been to over half of the 50 states and been all over Ontario, Canada and parts of Quebec, but I've never "really" been out of the country (back then, you didn't need a passport to go to Canada.) I have a long list of places I want to see before I die and I'm going to see them all.

23. I love photography. It started as a hobby and progressed into a passion. I always have a camera of some sort with me. My dream house includes a dark room. And before I met Robbie, I was going to school for photography and wanted to work for National Geographic as a photographer. Now I do weddings and other various photo-related things. It's a way for me to keep doing what I love and still be a mommy and wife.  I would love to have my own studio someday.

24. One of my goals in life is to be on Jeopardy. Seriously, I'm so not joking.  Yeah, I'm a nerd. But it's going to happen.

25. My other goals are to learn to play the violin and the bass guitar, to learn to snowboard, see the world, master Photoshop, publish a book of my photos, to learn to scuba dive, go para-sailing, surf in Hawaii and grow old with Robbie and see our great-grandchildren.

26. Since being married, I've gotten so used to there being someone else in the bed with me, I have a hard time sleeping by myself. When my husband first starting traveling for his job, I couldn't sleep.  I'd seriously be up til like 4 in the morning.  That goes by to my whole anxiety thing, too, I think.  It's gotten better since I've had to get used to it, but I still have a hard time sometimes.


27. I love flowers.  Any kind.  I think they're beautiful.  I do have favorites, however.  I love gerber daisies, hibiscus, hydrangeas, big orange poppies, and orchids.


28.  The thing that most excited me about owning a house, besides being able to decorate it however I wanted was being able to plant a garden.  I think there's just something so satisfying about eating something you've grown yourself.  Kind of like when you make something and someone compliments you on it.  You're all like "Thanks!  I made it!"


29. I love finding a good deal.  I think that's why I love thrift shopping so much.  Finding those little treasures at awesome prices just totally makes my day.


30.  I am a self-admitted cheapskate and I'm proud of it.  I just can't bring myself to shell out ridiculous amounts of money on things.  Now, obviously some things do cost a little more and there's no way around that-I'm talking big things like a house or a car or a computer.  Everything else, I can totally find a cheaper way to get it : )


I hope you all enjoyed this little "get to know Courtney."  Hopefully I didn't scare you off!  

Just In Case

I've been doing {relatively} well with keeping up with things and then bam!  

We had a crazy storm come through our part of Florida Thursday.  It was raining so hard I couldn't see our fence from our back door.  There were 5 tornadoes that touched down throughout town!  And we got our power knocked out for 27 hours.  Nice part was, I didn't have to cook that night : )  Needless to say, it kind of disrupted things here.  I spent most of today catching up on things.  But next week, things should be back to normal.  

And here's what I had planned for yesterday's Fashion Friday.

I saw this earlier this week over at Yahoo.  It's Trends Men Hate That Women Love.  Some of them I could totally agree with because I don't even like them, like jumpsuits and harem pants and Uggs.  But some of them left me saying "Wha?!"  Check them out for yourself-Trends Men Hate

Hope you all have a fab weekend!

Hippity-Hoppity, Easter's On It's Way!

Easter is just around the corner and it's got me thinking about this very special holiday.

Growing up, I always loved Easter.  It was a special day that I got to be surrounded by my family.  As little girls, my sister and I got a new dress with a hat and gloves from our Nana every year.  It always made me feel so fancy.  We'd have a special Easter brunch of eggs and sausage and hot cross buns when we'd get home from church where we'd have hard-boiled egg battles (it's called egg tonking and everyone takes a turn "challenging" someone by "tonking their egg on top of the other person's, end to end.  Whoever's egg cracks loses.)  My parents would hide our baskets and leave clues to help us find them.  It got more interesting as there got to be more kids.  I loved watching my little brothers get all excited when they found their baskets.  We didn't have a lot of money growing up, so it was kept simple.  A few Easter candies and a special treat for each of us.  I think that because my parents didn't go overboard with the commercial side of Easter, we were able to also remember what that day is really about.

I think it's easy to get caught up in the egg hunts and Easter baskets and bunnies and pastels and forget why we're celebrating in the first place.  Now, if you aren't religious, then Easter really is just about those things, but for those of us who are, Easter is the day that we set aside to remember the remarkable gift our Savior gave to us through His ultimate sacrifice.  Christ suffered pains we can't even begin to imagine in the Garden of Gethsemane and later, suffered more as He hung in agony upon the cross, where He drew his last breath.  Then, three days later, He triumphed over death and rose again.  When I think of the amazing gift of the Atonement and the power it has in my life, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and love for my Savior.  One of my most favorite hymns, "I Stand All Amazed" talks about that awe and love.  For those of you unfamiliar with the song, here it is (you can also listen to it here):

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me

Confused at the grace which so fully He profers me

I tremble to know that for me, He was crucified

That for me, a sinner, He suffered, He bled and died

Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me

Enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

I marvel that He would descend from His throne divine

To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine

That He should extend His great love unto such as I

Sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify.

Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me

Enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

I think of His hands, pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!

Such mercy, such love and devotion, can I forget?

No, no I will praise and adore at the mercy seat

Until at the glorified throne I kneel at His feet.

Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me

Enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

Now, I still love the pageantry of Easter.  We hide the little guy's basket Easter morning and help him find it.  I love seeing his little face light up when he finds his goodies.  But, I try not to let all of the candy and the hype over-take the true meaning of the day.  Of all the goodies and gifts we receive on Easter, the gift from our Savior of the Atonement is truly the greatest.

You can learn more about that awesome gift and what I believe about Christ here.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hop blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Just a Little Something

So.

Apparently I've changed my name and didn't even know it.

I guess it's just easier to have it all in one name.  Who needs a last name anyways, right?

The best part is, I've gotten this more than once.  It's one of those "You're pre-approved!" credit card offer junk mail.  Really?  I'm pre-approved?  How can that be since there is no Courtneydrive E. Driver?  How can you pre-approve someone that doesn't exist?!

Hilarious.

Anyways, it made me smile when I got it and I hope it made you smile too.

{Proud}

I often don't share much of my personal life on this blog.  I think it's mainly because I created to be separate from my personal family blog in the first place.  That, and I'm kind of a private person.  I do share tidbits here and there, but while reading through my blogroll, I came across this post on one of the blogs I read and it struck something in me.  I wanted to share it with all of you.

I took this picture of the Orlando Florida temple on one of my visits there last fall.  It's one of my favorite places to visit.

You may or may not know that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints.  Most people know us as the Mormons.  I have been a member my entire life-both of my parents were converts who joined the Church as young adults, and raised us kids as Later-day Saints.  They always encouraged us to learn for ourselves and to really study and seek out the truth-they didn't want us to just take their word that the Church was true.  As a teenager, I struggled, not only with my faith, but with just finding out who I was and through all of that, I did learn for myself that my Savior is real and that He loves me.  I couldn't imagine who I would be without the things the Church has taught me.  I have challenges in life, as all people do, and my life is nowhere close to perfect.  I think this blog is a testament to that, as sometimes my chaotic life takes over and blogging gets put on hold.

On top of being a "Mormon," I'm a mommy. That puts me in the Mormon Mommy Blogger category, one that includes a lot more bloggers than you realize.  I am proud of my faith and I am proud that I am able to stay home and raise my son and whatever future children come to our family.  I love my "job"-I get to see the rewards of it every day when my son gives me a big hug and a sloppy kiss and tells me he loves me or when I see the joy in his eyes when he discovers something new.  I wouldn't trade that for all of the high-paying, prestigious jobs in the world.  

I'm sure some of you saw that article from Salon magazine about Mormon Mommy Bloggers.  Apparently it's a big deal.  Then I read this post on, of all places, Mormon Mommy Blogger's blog and it really hit home.  I am not ashamed of who I am or what I do or what I believe in.  I don't want any of you to think that because I don't share much of my personal life that I'm embarrassed by it.  I am proud of all of those things.  I really encourage you to read both of those posts-they are full of great things and things I needed to hear.

Would you like me to share more personal things mixed in with all of the crafts and recipes and fashion?

{Trying to} Get Ahead

It seems like every time I try to get this blog back on track, something else happens that sets me back.  This week was no exception.  

In the wee hours Thursday morning, while lying in bed, trying desperately to fall asleep, I was hit hard and fast with a nasty stomach flu.  Leaving all of the nasty bits out, let's just say, my commode and I are now very well acquainted.  And to top it off, hubby was out of town last week for work.  So, here I am, all alone, puking my guts up and still have to try to take care of my little guy.  That just wasn't going to happen.  It's times like these when I am so incredibly grateful for the wonderful ladies I know through church.  I called one of them up, told her what was going on and asked if she knew of anyone who could help me with the little guy for the day.  10 minutes later, she calls me back and has someone who could take him for almost the entire day.  What a blessing.  My brother-in-law came and picked up the puppy so that I didn't have to worry about him, either.  My sister-in-law and her husband came over that night to get the little guy some dinner and put him to bed (on her birthday, no less.)  And then, later that night, my brother drove an hour to come stay and help with the little guy the next day.  

I am so blessed and so grateful to have such wonderful, caring people in my life.  I really don't know what I would have done those couple days without you all.  You'll never know what a difference it made to me.

Well, three days in bed with the flu kinda set me back on my homework, so part of Saturday and a good chunk of Sunday was spent trying to finish up my final for one of my classes.  Now, normally I try to not do homework on Sundays, but given the circumstances, I really didn't have a choice.  I worked on it til about 10 last night, and was only half-way through.  Our assignments are due by midnight each Sunday.  There was no way I was going to finish it in two hours.  So, I shot my professor an email, explained to him what had gone down that week and told him I would accept whatever penalty there was for turning it in late, but if he was willing, given the circumstances, would he grant me an extra day?  He wrote me back at 1:30 in the morning (mind you, I was asleep at 1:30 in the morning and not really checking my email) saying "No assignment by end of semester.  I did get your email, but must give you the grade earned by the end of the semester."  

So, I got a BIG. FAT. ZERO.

Lovely.

All that work, busting my sick butt for nothing.  And that lovely zero brought my down to a C.  Wouldn't it have been nice to know that the night before?  I would have at least turned in what I had done to get some grade instead of nothing.

Sorry for the major venting, guys, but I'm just so super-frustrated right now.  I've worked so hard in that class all semester for it to end like that.  And there's really nothing I can do about it.

Ugh.

How were your weekends?  I hope they were better than mine!

Random Ramblings on My Weekend

Just taking a much-needed break from writing my massive research paper for my Ancient Greece class.  Anybody want to know about Socrates?  I'm practically an expert now (jk, not even close, but I do know enough to write a 8-10 page paper!)  My brain can't handle anymore right now.

School has really got me stressed out, especially these last few weeks.  I've had major tests, this paper and a huge final next week.  And I'm so lost in my web design class it's not even funny.  I thought it might be fun to learn a little html, especially since I've entered the blogging world-I want to be able to do more tweeking myself. Well, it turns out, computer language is WAAAAAAY over my head.  Luckily my teacher is super-nice and is trying to help me "get it."  So far, though, nothing's sinking in.

Enough of that.  What do you all have planned for your weekends?  Anything fun?

I've been taking the puppy to the dog park near our house the last couple days.  He loves it!  He plays til his little heart's content with the other dogs, then comes up and takes a 2 hour power nap.  Here he is, passed out in the car.  So cute.

The hubby and I got to go on a date last night. We went bowling.  He beat me (by a lot.  I'm an awful bowler, but I still like playing) but we still had a great time.  

I hope you all have a great weekend and aren't stuck at home like me, writing research papers!

{Woohoo!}

I am happy to say we are {almost} all moved in!  It's been a week filled with LOTS of cleaning {I had to give the old apartment a head-to-toe scrub down}, unpacking and finding homes for everything.  There are still a few small things that need to make their way over from the apartment, but nothing major.

Annnnnddddddddddddd..........as of yesterday, I once again have internet!  Yay!!!

It's been kinda hard to get what I need to get done without the computer.  You know, silly things like my homework, and paying bills and getting our water turned on {here in Mulberry, the water and sewage company has you complete an application, which they email you.  Hard to get to the email without internet.}  So, today has been MAJOR catch up day.  But I wanted to drop by and let you all know that progress is being made!

And, as a thank you for your continued patience and support, I'm doing a little giveaway.

Here's the deets:

The winner will get her choice of a clothspin set from my Etsy shop.  And you can upgrade them to magnets FOR FREE!

Here's how to enter:

Mandatory entry: Simply be a follower (old or new) of Scraps and Scribbles by showing me your lovely face in my sidebar.  Then, head on over to D Squared Creations and tell me which clothspin set you'd like for your very own.  Please include this all in ONE comment.  K'thanks!

If you want some more chances to win, here's what you can do:

"Heart" D Squared Creations on Etsy (just leave me your username in the comment)

"Like" D Squared Creations on Facebook (leave your name in the comment)

"Like" Scraps and Scribbles on Facebook (leave your name in the comment)

Follow Scraps and Scribbles on Twitter

Join Scraps and Scribbles BlogFrog community and join/start a new discussion

Blog, tweet, or mention the giveaway on Facebook with a link back to this post-whichever strikes your fancy!

Please provide appropriate links in your comments to what you've done-I do check!  The giveaway will run now until midnight, Jan. 27th.  I'll pick one winner at random and announce it Friday, Jan. 28th.

Good luck, everyone!