New pics

Here are two recent pics (taken yesterday). At 9.5 weeks pregnant, I'm already starting to show! And I've gained six pounds! Crazy!

NYC "Babymoon"

Realizing we might not get another vacation in a LONG time, my husband took us to NYC on a "babymoon" Fri-Tues. I had a BLAST! Here are a few pics from my cell phone/instagram:

The new Freedom Tower (still under construction)

The living room in our suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel

Looking south from atop Rockefeller Center

The Statue of Liberty

From my point & shoot camera: Doug and I on a romantic carriage ride in the rain. Central Park is very neat. I can't believe how big I look here. But I'm wearing a coat 3x too big. It was cold that day! Time to get a new Winter coat...

The eleven scarves I bought in Chinatown/Little Italy (two of them are for friends). All but two of them were $5 each. I might have a (slight) scarf obsession now :)

The Brooklyn Bridge from the harbor cruise we took.

Times Square!

Central Park

This place in Little Italy had the best pesto/chicken pizza!
I had the MOST fun in Chinatown/Little Italy. I love cheap wares (scarves/souvenirs) and they have the BEST pizza there!

It was an AWESOME trip and I'm so thankful that my husband recommended we go!

Here's what I've been up to lately...

Just as I decided I didn't want another one, God had other plans...

-263 lbs and Indiana State Fair

Just posting a new picture from this past Friday. I'm down a whopping 263lbs now.

And here are some pics from last Saturdays visit to the Indiana State Fair. All are cell phone pics.
TFL!

This little boy started full-day Kindergarten today (sniff sniff).

Today is bittersweet.
I had six, wonderful years staying at home with him. Now, there is a new chapter for both he and I. Who knows what will happen...







What to do with myself now??? SCRAP!!! But first - unpack boxes and organize my scraproom :)

(First pic taken with my iPhone and Instagram. The other two pics were taken by Jen Sherrick. My neighbor and AWESOME photographer)

THIS is what I've been up to lately...

I jumped out of a plane last Tuesday and it was AWESOME! And I've now lost 256 lbs. WHOO HOO!

Still no scrappin'. It's just not going to happen until Fall. My scraproom is still a mess of unpacked boxes. It's okay.. I'll be back :)

Have a great rest of the Summer!

We are moved!!

We ended up moving five days early and although I am still not sure where my shoes and purses are, I couldn't be happier! I loooove this new house!!

It's probably going to be weeks before my scraproom is unpacked. Heck, maybe MONTHS. I will take a picture soon and you'll see WHY..LOL :) But it's okay. I'll get there. We plan to be in this house at least twelve years.. I have tons of time :) In the meantime I'm probably just going to take the Summer off. Our new neighborhood has two pools and I plan on spending a ton of time with Caleb this Summer.. just Mommy and Caleb time. Because in the Fall he starts FULL DAY Kindergarten. And I know I'll miss him TONS. So right now it's important I spend time with him. I'm sure you Mommies understand :)
So keep up with us on Facebook. See ya around!  

Three More Weeks....

Hey all.. Just a quick update. I know most of you keep up to date with us on Facebook but for those of you that don't "DO" Facebook, I thought I'd post something on here :)

In just three more weeks... we'll be proud homeowners again! Can't wait!
I have been busy getting healthy (-242 lbs.) Yes, you read that # right. I still have a little more to go. I'll get there.

Here is a recent pic of us.. taken Easter Sunday by Jen Sherrick (who ironically is going to be our new neighbor, LOL) at our church. If you live in the area and are looking for an awesome, spirit-filled church, please check Imagine out (the male worship leader is really great.. and just happens to be my little brother, tee hee).

On the scrappy front, I went to Archiver's for National Scrapbook Day with two friends and had a blast. Then on Thursday night I took a Doodlebug Mini Album class with my friend Heather.. very fun. Love this little album (just need to find some time to finish it...) How cute!

Well, that's it for now. I've got tons of packing to do. Have a great week!

 

Exciting news!!

Well praise God! I'm VERY excited to announce that our offer has been excepted on a gorgeous home in Westfield, IN (about 10 or so miles from where we live now). Close to our church, church friends and my little brother and his family. We are SO excited!
I will have a new, smaller scraproom but, unlike where we live now, the setup of the home is very open. My scraproom will be right across from Caleb's bedroom and my husband will have his own office (with windows!) finally. And most importantly (to ease my fear), there is a finished basement that will serve as a tornado shelter in bad weather as well as a playroom & area for guests. WHOO HOO!! We also are gaining a 3 car garage for storage.. something we've wanted forever. YAY!!!!!!!!!

We are going to wait until the middle of June to move so that Caleb can finish out preschool here in Fishers. His new school system is just as awesome as the one here in Fishers only, it's much smaller. Which I think will be a plus for him because of the ASD.
Can't wait!

These next two months will be CRAZY busy for me so I doubt you'll see any scrappy work from me. But wait until Summer! Once my scraproom is unpacked and organized, I plan on joining my friend Beth's scrappy board and participating in a ton of challenges to get back in gear. I also plan on having my friend Teresa over to crop in my new room. Can't wait! I miss scrapbooking SO much!

Until next time,

Tuesday Morning Stash :)

Hi All! Happy Spring!
Even though I'm not scrapping much right now, I still buy scrappy things on occasion. Today I went to Tuesday Morning on a whim after a doctors appointment and was shocked to find some really great stuff there. The last time I was there it was the same old stuff but not today!
Here are some pics of my findings:

*Tote-Ally Cool Carryall. The colors are off in this picture but they are very pretty. I couldn't pass this up for $9.99. I love that it zips in the middle which seems to be hard to find with other totes. Can't wait to take this to a crop at Archivers or a friends house!
Here is a link to the same tote but in different colors: http://store.scrapbook.com/ch-ch92668.html?utm_source=google-shopping-feed&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google-free-shopping-feed&utm_content=ch-ch92668&kw=ch-ch92668&cmp=GSHOP&gclid=CMmJsri8iq8CFYcUKgodhQQT8w


*Basic Grey In Pieces .99 cents each. The first one is from the "Basics" line. Not sure about the second, it doesn't say. I'm going back soon for another one of the "Basics".. I love them!! They also had these in several other BG lines.
*American Crafts "Spooky Night" stamp set $1.99. Love!


*KI Memories baby kit. For $1.99 I couldn't pass this up. I'll use it next time I make a baby album for a friend (or maybe myself! HA!).


*Basic Grey "Wander" Chip Stickers $2.99. They had lots of Chip Stickers from lines from last year like Oxford & Pyrus. I might go back and get a few more sets.
I bought this set because I know I'll use the little cars for Caleb pages. The boy loves his cars and Geotrax!


*Prima Say it in Crystals Bling frames. LOVE! $1.99. These things are normally at least $5.99. I thought it was a great deal!


*Glitter cardstock $3.99 for 30 sheets. I could not pass this up. I love glitter paper.. I use it alot to cut out fonts on my Cricut. Great deal! And it's very thick, too.


That's it for today.

We just put an offer in on a house.. fingers crossed. I am (not so) patiently waiting. Can't wait to get back to scrappin' again. See you soon!

Update

Anyone out there? I'm still here but really haven't felt like blogging. Or scrapbooking, for that matter.
My weekends the last two months have been spent looking for a house to buy here in Fishers (or possibly Westfield - we are praying about that) but so far, we haven't found much that we LOVE. It's critical we find a place by Summer so that we are moved in time for Caleb to get adjusted. He starts Kindergarten in the Fall. We attended "Kindergarten Round Up" last week. My baby is growing up!

Hubby is only home on the weekends for the most part so there is no scrapbooking for me... Except for the rare occasion that I meet up with friends at our local Archiver's but even then, I just go to socialize :)

One of these days I will get back to scrapping. A first floor scraproom is on the "list" of MUST HAVE things in the new house.

If you want to keep up with my family, feel free to add me on Facebook. I PROMISE once we get moved, I know I'll get the scrapbook bug again and scrap my little heart out.
Until then,

Merry Christmas from The Brannies Family

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. May God bless you and your families. Thank you for your continued readership and support. I promise next year to scrap and share more. I'm just going through alot right now but things are looking up.
Have a great CHRISTmas! And remember the TRUE reason for the season.. Christ himself.
Love you!

Stamp A Stack

Today I attended a Stampin' Up! "Stamp A Stack" event at my friend Heather's house. I made twenty Christmas cards.. five each of four designs. LOVE them!!
Here they are! (cell phone pics, sorry)





Some detail:



Have a great rest of the weekend! Thanks for looking!

Cookies 'n Santa

Well I still have no scrappy goodies to show you. We went to Wichita, KS the week of Thanksgiving and I came back sick. I've spent the last five days trying to get better. I was so sick I didn't even feel like putting up the Christmas tree but thank the Lord, it's almost done now.. just needs ornaments!
While in Wichita I visited a LOCAL scrapbook store. WOW, what fun that was! They had a few things I've been unable to get at Archivers.. WHOO HOO!
It's a fun little store. So if you are ever in the Wichita area, check out Scrap Funattic in Andover. Loved it!

Today, we took Caleb to "Cookies 'n Santa" at Fishers Town Hall. We were first in line, thank God. Because Caleb has a hard time waiting in lines. He sat on Santies lap and said "I WANT AN ORANGE AND BLACK LEAF BLOWER". It was SO cute. Last year he wanted a hand mixer.. this year, a leaf blower. What is with my son and appliances/tools? HA!
Too cute :)
Well, I happen to know that good old Santa (aka his Aunt Erin) has already gotten him that leaf blower. He's going to love it! :)


Well next week I have a Christmas "stamp a stack" class I'm taking at my friend Heather's. I'll be back to share pics of those cards then.
Have a great week!

Blog Your Heart & A Few Christmas Things :)

Hello everyone :)
This is going to be a lengthy post.. just warning ya.

I didn't end up scrappin' at the twelve-hour crop yesterday. I stayed home with my boys and cleaned out the garage, had a friend over and tried on clothes that I hadn't been able to wear in YEARS. I haven't seen my husband much in the past month and felt like I really needed to stay home with he and my son.
There's always next month, anyway...

So I want to share some things with you.. some personal things.
Ali Edwards or some other scrap celebrity started this challenge called "Blog Your Heart". Which is perfect for me because I'm one of the most honest people you will ever meet. I am TOO honest at times.
TMI? - yeah, that's me sometimes. But oh well. I am who I am.
But even though I'm honest, I don't generally tell strangers that read my blog a ton of my business. Yeah, I share pics and stories related to Caleb's Autism and a few things here and there about my weight loss surgery. But I don't share super personal things on here. Well, today I am.
Anyway, here is what's going on with me -
On the weight loss front, I've now lost over 184lbs. Yes, I'm very very proud of myself. People say I should be so happy now. And I am. I LOOK happier and I am able to do SO much more now. But has the weight loss "fixed" everything? No. The surgery helped but, it didn't fix my brain. It's just a tool. Not a magic pill.
I still have to work very hard to lose weight (and keep losing). I mourn the loss of food. It was my best friend for a LONG time. I can pretty much eat anything now without getting sick so I really have to stay diligent about eating the right foods and exercising. I still battle depression. I've thought about selling all my scrap stuff and giving scrapping up. Scrapping doesn't really cheer me up anymore like it used to. And with my scraproom upstairs and a kid that won't stay upstairs with me for longer than a few minutes and a husband that's never home, it's really hard to scrap here at home.
But I know this is just a temporary thing and as soon as I do that I'll regret it. So I'm getting therapy and praying ALOT and hopefully I'll get through all this ---WITHOUT MEDICATION--forget that, anti-depressants don't work on me. Not to mention, we are thinking about having another baby next year and I don't want to be on any meds that could affect the baby. Sometimes I worry being on an SSRI while pregnant with Caleb CONTRIBUTED to him being Autistic.
So there you have it. Say a prayer for me if you will.

On the scrapbooking front.. I went to a Stampin' Up! workshop at my friend Heather's today and here are a few things I made. (cell phone pics, sorry)


mini card


8x8 page - obviously I need to put a pic on this


If you're interested in Stampin' Up! and don't have a local demonstrator, check out Heather's website. She is awesome :) (and please tell her Jenny Brannies sent you, tee hee)

Anyway, that's it. Thanks for "listening" to me "blog my heart". I hope you all have a GREAT week!
I plan on scrapping at Archivers with a few friends this next Saturday night. Hopefully I'll be back with pics of my work next weekend.
Byeee!