Friday Photo

IMG_0451, originally uploaded by DanielleSuzanne.

Have a great weekend, all!

Candace

DSCN2799, originally uploaded by DanielleSuzanne.

For those of you who have been reading my blog(s) for a while, you know that my sister, Brandi has some major issues. She also has a 1.5 year old daughter who it the CUTEST thing ever.

Cute side note:
Candace "called me" this week and left me a voice mail. She basically said, "Hi Danolle" about 20 times as my sister was telling her other things to say (like, "I love you" and "I miss you"). Finally, my sister said, "Candace, it's a voice mail. She isn't there. You need to leave her a message for when she's done working." :::silence::: "I love you Danolle. I love you. Bye!" She's so stinking cute.

Anyway, my sister recently took Candace to a very dangerous place. In fact, Brandi has a restraining order against the guy she went to see. It's just bad.

I think my parents are finally going to do something. So, if you think of it, please pray about it. This situation is completely ridiculous and shouldn't even be happening. But it is and here we are.

Thanks.

I Can't Wait to Sleep

A huge blessing was bestowed upon us and, long story short, Dave and I are going to buy a grown up bed (finally). I don't know how we've lasted so long without a proper frame. This is what we currently have as far as bedroom furniture goes:




This is the bed we think works:


Any thoughts?

I'm going to try and convince him to go to Pittsburgh tonight. I know...instant gratification, much? Maybe we could even go to Chipotle. I just don't want to wait until the weekend because I feel like my weekends are always filled with traveling. I would love to be at home and finish the "De-clutterization of 2008" campaign.

Speaking of jerks at the car dealership, Dave and I had to go to BIANCHI HONDA in ERIE, PA to pick up our spare key last night. We had the car serviced before our mega road trip and were never given Dave's key back. How could that happen you ask? Well, Dave dropped the car OFF and left his key. I picked the car UP and had my key. Therefore, I never even thought about the fact that I needed a key from them (I know, stupid, but I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off).

So, the people told Dave that it is against their policy to give back a car without the keys. The mechanic gave him the "aww you're wife probably forgot she had it" speech. They dismissed Dave without any help whatsoever.

...

So, needless to say, today I'm giving the manager the "aww you forgot Verizon saves voice mails for 40 days" speech, as I play him the sound of his mechanic asking me to come back for the key that they didn't give me.

I'm not paying for a new key.

My Grandmother Came Back to Life

...and she was inside of my husband's body.

I have been feeling sick on-and-off for a few days and yesterday was pretty bad. My husband showed up at the house with none other than VICK'S VAPORUB.

Vick's Vaporub?

I mean...it definitely worked but...VICK'S VAPORUB?!

Thanks, Grandma.

Fun Weekend

IMG_0451, originally uploaded by DanielleSuzanne.

Dave, Aaron, and I surprised Kelly with a camping trip for her 30th Birthday. We went to Cooks Forest in PA for the weekend without their kids. It was a lot of fun. One day, the snow was falling beautifully and we had a photo shoot. Sometimes it's fun to act like you're 15...especially if you're turning 30.

Sorry for the blah post. I'm feeling really sick today and am going back to bed. Of course I feel horrible when given a half day off at work. Ugh.

Check out the rest of the set.

Happy Friday!

sunlight through a dogwood, originally uploaded by DanielleSuzanne.

Have a great weekend, everyone! It's supposed to be bitterly cold in Erie (thus the springtime photo). See you Monday!

Spam Art

I don't know if anyone has seen these, but I wanted to share the love. These illustrations are hilarious, aren't they? I want to buy a couple for our office...and yes, I mean our office at church. We went through a period where everyone was getting TONS of spam every day. It was ridiculous. I felt personally assaulted every time I opened up my email program.

"Are your boobs too small?"*
"GET REPLICA WATCHES AT GREAT PRICES!"
"Viagra and Cialis at 60% off!"

It made for a slightly awkward work environment as well:

"Umm...Pastor? Can you please do something about the emails asking if I would like to take the little blue pill and see how far the rabbit hole goes?"

Everything is much better now, but it was rocky for a while.

*Sorry I wrote "boobs." I hate that word. In fact, this entire post is completely inappropriate. Don't read it.

Design Police

Wow. This is probably the funniest thing I've seen in a while. I wish I could actually use it. Man, talk about a handy tool (make sure you look at all of the pages):

(via one+infinity)

Valentine's Day Roundup

I actually really like Valentine's Day. I know there are some people who take issue with the holiday, but I think it's really cute. I like baking for Valentine's Day more than Christmas! I don't know...I've always liked it. If I have time, I think I'm going to make and send valentines to my friends and family. I mean, why not? And, if I'm making the cards, I suppose that means I'm not supporting the evil empire that has sucked the joy out of the innocent holiday (which it made up for its own gain anyway)*.

Here are some great items I found online:















(from red stamp, luxe paperie, egg press, and paper source)

p.s. Red Stamp is my new favorite site.

*opinion via my husband

Flickr Test

keepcalm
Originally uploaded by DanielleSuzanne

I'm just testing the flickr blog feature. I'm thinking, if this works, it will make my blogging a bit easier as far as photos are concerned. From what I can tell, you can only do one photo at a time.

I should probably talk about this picture, too. It's one of my favorite spots in the house right now (minus the ironing board, grr). To the right is our bookshelf, organized by color. Straight ahead is the best investment I've made: a keep calm and carry on poster. Directly below that is my r.s.v.p.design organization station!

So, yeah...it's cute.

I'm excited to have my own home one day so I can go crazy with all the design ideas I'm saving. Our house is going to be really cool (I hope!).

christmas photos

Rachel talked about this application yesterday and I wanted to try it out. Let's see what happens:

aahhh. I Love Blogger! I think the only thing I don't like about this application is that it crops the photos however it wants to.

I'm sorry if some of the photos look rough. I didn't edit all of them. Have a great day!

:::edit::: i fixed it. the player was too wide for my post column, but it let me change that. maybe i should read instructions once and a while.

Crazy Weekend

Dave and I had a busy weekend. On Friday, we watched Eli, Owen, and Emma (all under 4). We took them to Chick fil-a to eat and play. I don't have kids, but I do know that when you are faced with THREE at once, you need to tire them out as soon as possible! It was really fun. Our friends Mike and Sheila were there and they invited us for dinner on Saturday night.

On Saturday, we finally moved in to our house. With the impending move to Cincinnati, I stopped unpacking. After that, Christmas was coming, so I continued to ignore the boxes. It ended this weekend, when it was time to remove all of the decorations.

Dave and I have two very different styles of cleaning/organizing. I tend to focus on an area or project and finish it, then I move on to another thing. Dave is of the school that bounces around to every room finding different things to do in each one. At one point, I looked up from my pile and saw the kitchen, living room, office, and bedroom in complete disarray. However, to Dave's credit, they were all fine by the end of the day.

Sunday was neat. Neat? Whatever, I'm leaving it. Sunday was NEAT. Church was awkward. I think we need a new way to have baptisms...and low lighting in the worship center. Lunch lasted for three hours because our server was ridiculous. We got free dessert out of it, though. Mine was nasty, but all of the others were awesome. Do not get caramel pie at O'Charleys (unless you want to eat a jar of caramel poured into a crap pie crust with whipped cream on top). My teeth still hurt. After lunch, we went to Target to buy some shelving, pillows, and lamps (all things we've needed since we got married: pathetic). We also went to Brian and Rachel's house to play Rock Band and watch HP Order of the Phoenix in HD. It was beautiful, and the first time I've noticed a MAJOR difference watching something in HD.

Our weekend ended with taking out garbage and hanging shelves. I'll post pictures soon. The transformation is almost complete. Also, Dave and I have too many photos in frames...and too many frames. Someone please help us.

Today, I need to go grocery shopping and then finish some cleaning. Blah.

Also, what about the last HP movie in two parts? Thoughts?

chun chun chun da da da

That is the sound that goes through my head right before we play Rock Band. I play bass in our band, "The Danielle Monday," with Brian, Rach, and Dave. We are so delightfully Emo. I won't lie though: I suck. In fact, I think I'm the worst player, and I play the easiest instrument. It's pathetic, really. On the upside, as a band we're pretty good. I wish I could post a screenshot of us. We are totally hot.

Anyway, it's a really fun game. If you have an X-Box, you should own Rock Band. If you have a wii, it's coming out for that soon.

I'm writing about this because I have a mondo-headache. I get a headache every time we play (the next morning), yet I continue to play. It sucks me in. chun chun chun da da da

Rock Band has also influenced my iTunes play list. I never thought I would purchase a Kiss song. Recent downloads include:

• In Bloom, Nirvana
• Maps, The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs
• Detroit Rock City, Kiss
• Wanted Dead or Alive, Bon Jovi
• Epic, Faith No More
• Learn to Fly, Foo Fighters
• I Think I'm Paranoid, Garbage
• Celebrity Skin, Hole
• Black Hole Sun, Soundgarden
• Dead on Arrival, Fall Out Boy
• The Hand that Feeds, Nine Inch Nails
• Dani California, Red Hot Chili Peppers (I think this is my favorite song to play)

OK, I think I've successfully embarrassed myself. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Healed (and welcome)

We stutter and we stammer til You say us
A symphony of chaos til You play us
Phrases on the pages of unknown
Til You read us into poetry and prose

We are kept and we are captive til You free us
Vaguely unimagined til You dream us
Aimlessly unguided til You lead us home

By Your voice, we speak
By Your strength, no longer weak
We are no longer weak

By Your wounds we are healed

Passed over and passed by until You claim us
Orphaned and abandoned til You name us
Hidden and disclosed til You expose our hearts

By Your death we live
It is by Your gift that we might give
That we might give

By Your wounds we are healed

What kind of love would take Your shame
And spill His blood for You
And save us by His wounds?

By Your wounds we are healed
-N. Nordeman, "Healed"

I've always had a fondness for that song. The lyrics and melody are very inspiring to me. Check it out if you have a chance.

I've been blogging for a while now, and there are bits and pieces of my thoughts and ideas strewn all over cyberspace. I've decided to put everything in one spot. It's part of my "De-clutterization 2008 Campaign." I know there are a lot of people who subscribe to the private blog plus "professional" blog system, and I was one of them, but I just can't keep it all up as effectively as I want to.

Basically, this blog is going to be about whatever I want it to be. I know I'll talk about:

• Church
• Being married
• Cooking
• Cleaning and organizing (OK...mainly my LACK of)
• Paper, invitations, etc.
• Photography
• Graphic Design
• Crafts
• Marketing & Communications
  

I've also started a list of sites and blogs I really like. If I've missed you, or you simply want to be added, please let me know. I'm not going to be stingy with my link list. However, I am fully aware that it will soon need to be organized into categories. Get off my back. I'll do it. Ugh.