these are a few of my favorite things

janna did this on her blog a few days ago - so call me a copycat, but i thought it was a fun idea, so here i go!!

of course friends and family are at the top of my list - and crafting - but everyone knows that! the rest of these are in no particular order:

i love my camera - not necessarily this camera (which is the one i have right now), but i love having a camera and using it. i also love looking at pictures, professional and otherwise - i love that you can push a button and capture a moment in time. i keep scrapbook albums of photos i have taken and i love to look back at them and remember the feelings and energy from different times.

i love the sunshine...maybe more today because of the cloudiness and rain and cold we've been having lately, but it's just good stuff! i especially like when you can see the rays like in this photo - it's a very visable sign of God for me.

steel magnolias. love it. always will.

i love having faith. a lot of eople don't and i feel very blessed to. mine is not perfect (no one's is), but i enjoy knowing that God is there, when i am ready or when i am not, He is waiting.

decorating and design. i have had a passion for this for many years. i don't know when or where it started, but i enjoy it a lot! i like decorating at my home, friends' homes, looking at design magazines and websites. i am pretty casual in my style - i want a home that looks like it's lived in and enjoyed.

fresh flowers. they don't have to be expensive or exotic, just fresh. they make me happy!

books. novels, self help books, design books, cook books, art books, books on faith, even books on cd...i love the written word. right now i have three books "going". two at home and one i carry with me. and i have been listening to books on cd at work lately. you'd think i'd be smarter with all that reading!

blogs. i discovered them a couple of years ago, and they are quite addictive!! people blog about EVERYTHING and it is so easy to get lost in blogland. i love to find great crafting or decorating ideas. anything you are interested in - there's a blog.

tv. sad, but true - i love watching tv. i won't embarass myself with how many shows i have on "to do list" on my dvr. i just don't like watching commercials, so i record pretty much everything i watch and fast forward through the commercials....that saves time, right? i know how ridiculous this is - and i have kind of been thinking about cutting back on my recorded shows...seriously, how are these shows making my life better? i will keep thinking on that!

bags. purses, totes, shopping bags, luggage. seriously. any kind of bag - i love it! i like to make bags, buy bags, repurpose bags. cheap bags, expensive bags, second hand bags. i do not discriminate!! just call me the bag lady.

i know this was a long list - thanks for making it all the way to the end. that makes you one of my favorite things =)

happy st.patrick's day

May you always have

Walls for the winds,

A roof for the rain,

Tea beside the fire,

Laughter to cheer you,

Those you love near you,

And all your heart might desire!

self-portrait - alana style

alana had a little self portrait photo shoot - she found this very fun - the rest of us found it very cute!! i have included them all, so no one misses out on the progression!!

i love this child.

the cutest little pouches

last week i was looking for a purse pattern to use to make a quick purse to donate to the youth auction at church and i came across a new blog: made by rae. she's got some great stuff on there! she had "celebrate the boy" month in february and there on tons of cute ideas for little boy things! one of her guest posts for the month was from traci at amazing mae. also some great stuff on her site - so much sewing talent and so many wonderful ideas - just more things on my want to do list! in traci's guest post on rae's blog she did these wonderful trinket bags - too cute!! and easy!! i made three this weekend - check 'em out!

this one is a little camera bag for my co-worker maria, and the first one i made.

this was actually the third one i made. also a camera bag - but for me!

this is what i call the "rock star" - it's for clinton for his nintendo ds.

here's a close up of the star - not perfect, but not too bad for a novice!

my birthday (two weeks later)

where have i been!?!?! well, nowhere really - just not here =)
yes, my birthday was monday, march 1 (almost 2 weeks ago for those who are calendar challenged), and it was GREAT!! the week before my mom and i got to hang out and have lunch together, then the friday night before i went to dinner with friends (pictures to follow) and on my actual birthday i was taken to lunch at work and then my dad came over that night and took me to dinner...wow written out, that sounds like a lot of eating - but we are in the south, right!?

we started friday night at pei wei in brentwood - good stuff! mister max was ready for the party!!

clinton - too cute!!

alana is a master of the chopsticks...she impressed me!!

clinton so wanted me to open my gifts and was a bit disappointed that there was only one to unwrap! i was not disappointed, though - the cards have the good stuff, right?

you can't beat leftovers!

kim, clinton, and i - and max hiding behind kim - he got camera shy!

man, i love that smile!! so glad they got to come to dinner and to panera for coffee and dessert after! we sat back in the corner so the kids could play a little.

alana says "no more pictures!"

not unless she's taking them that is - more on this later!!

mr. and mrs. morel, janna, and alana

if i remember correctly i think melissa was doing a little dance here...you can't ever tell!! i am so glad she came down for the weekend!

after dinner melissa, janna and i went to my house to visit with each other...and as you can tell by what's in janna's hand, we broke out the wii - super mario brothers to be exact! it was great!!

thanks to everyone who is special to me for making my birthday so special!!