The Elf as George of the Jungle

Just quick share today of the little Elf that has invaded our space. Aida normally is not very awake when she is going to daycare, but this morning she was up to look for her elf.  Her reaction was a little different this time. She kind of half smiled and was like "Eh..crazy elf!"...and walked off...lol!!!

The Days

I cannot believe how quickly December has gotten here. I just realized this is the last day of November ( well, almost...as I am typing it is literally 40 minutes away..lol!). My daughter was sick this past weekend, so we did not get a chance to put up the tree. I was soooo ready to officially introduce Aida to her elf and read the story and all of that...but, this weekend works fine too! I think this will be fun. I have not set a plan for each day...I am just going to go with the flow. I was thinking of him leaving her letter clues to make a word that will give her the opportunity to open one gift early on Christmas Eve, if she can sound out the word. We will see what happens...I am just excited! I am about to head for the bed but first wanted to share a photo that was taken this past weekend of my dd. I love this little cardigan she is wearing. We got it from the clearance rack at JCPenney's a few weeks ago and of course, I had to get a photo of her wearing it.

Our Minnie Mouse

Today I let Aida try on her Minnie Mouse costume and take a few photos outside. I decided not to buy one of the store costumes. Every one she has had, she has ripped or torn or snagged the same day. I scoured the net until I found this adorable Bonnie Jean dress. The Minnie ears are from our Disney trip and the tights and red shoes are from Old Navy. I could barely get her out of the dress and shoes. She loves them both!  I was nervous about what size to order, but she pretty much wears a 5 and it was a perfect fit for her.

The Days Behind Me

This has been quite a weekend. I took the entire Saturday to Henna  (+ Indigo)  my hair. I will have an entire blog post on this tomorrow hopefully.  It was a lonnngggg day...all I will say for now. Sunday we took our daughter Aida to the McWane Science Center to see Dora and Diego. Photos will come soon. I spent so much time on my hair that I was exhausted. I ended up styling it in mini twists and I love it!! Hope I can keep it up at LEAST two weeks because it took me about 11 hours to twist all this hair. Ugh!! I know right...that was half a day..lol! Right now I just wanted to share a few of my latest scrapbook pages.

The Good and the Bad

Today was an okay day.  I dropped Aida off at daycare and she was actually awake, which is rare.  No matter how early I have her in bed, she never goes to sleep until around 10:30 or 11:00 at night. There were a few people that actually warned me about this happening. I am a night owl and so is her dad. Every now and then she will admit that is sleepy...it is not very often. Anyway, I am anxious for the weekend. I placed an order for some Fresh Moroccan Henna and Indigo. I really want my hair to be dark again and I want to do some mini twists. I really want to try to wear a protective style at least for a couple of weeks to give my hair a break. I plan on doing some layouts/blog posts about my natural hair journey. I am glad I got rid of the rest of my permed ends last November. My hair is the same length as it was before and still growing. I am ELATED about that of course.

Love this lens!

As usual- I was scanning through my many of photos looking for a couple to use on a scrapbook page--and I came across a set of January of this year. I keep saying I am going to do a then and now photo post just to see how I have progressed but when I look through all the photos I have taken, I am discouraged by the hits & misses. I do love the photos I am sharing...something I have not said in a while.  I used the Canon 50 mm f/1.4 ..and I have to say...I love the creamy bokeh of this lens (almost as much as the 85 mm).

85 degrees....in my bedroom!

It was a rough night for me Monday and today was not any better. We had a band of bad thunderstorms that started after midnight or so. I had just gotten in bed about half an hour before midnight, so I was not completely asleep. The thunder was rolling and clapping so hard plus the lightning was lighting up the room....I could not sleep! I tried to turn away from the window but that did not help. I end up having a headache after 5 hours of half sleep. Our lights went out in the middle of the night. I have no idea for how long because I was half sleep and could not see anything without my glasses. I just know they came on in time before it started to get hot. Then I get up at 5:30 for work and the storms are still just as bad. I see the crazy lightning going on and watch the news- they are saying to stay indoors. Soo..that's when I said- I would just stay home. There was a lot of flooding in my area. Most of the day it was pretty dark outside and on-and-off rain, but the heaviest was in the morning hours. By the time it was 12:30 in the afternoon, I realized our AC unit was not blowing cool air. Since we rent, I called the building manager...got a voicemail as always. For me- that drives me up a wall!! I will leave a voicemail but can you at least return the call just to let me know you heard the message and are working on getting the problem fixed. Usually the freon runs out once a year and we are without air for a day, and they have it filled and blowing nice and cool the next day. I hope that is the same this time because this has been pure hell. Thought I could scrap and relax with my baby girl today....get that room of hers gutted..but nooo- we had to stay piled in my room with 2 fans and a standing AC unit running all day (thanks to my lovely in-laws!). I have just been frustrated to say the least. I think I am ready for work tomorrow..lol! Ugh!

Marathon & Scrapping

Hope the weekend is starting off well for everyone! I was not sure what mine would be like at first, but I really wanted to make some time to create some pages. I have been cleaning up and going through toys for Aida's room makeover and that is just wearing me down. I still have a lot to do...but I guess I will stick with just doing a little bit at a time.

I started watching Drop Dead Diva on Netflix this week. Lovvinng the show. The concept was a little odd..or silly..at first, but I remember I did watch "Dead Like Me." The idea behind the two shows are not very different. Either way- I am really enjoying it so far; I can't stop watching it. So through my marathon of Drop Dead Diva, here are a few of the pages I have scrapped:

Looking for that one

Hey there! Ooohhh...what a Sunday it has been. I woke up out of a crazy dream. Last night I watched "An Officer and a Murderer" on Lifetime and I kept watching after the movie was over to see the true story. I kept telling myself I should not have watched any of it but I could not help myself. I ended up having a dream about those horrific home invasions and that I had to catch the guy. When I woke up, I was "almost" about to catch him...so my heart was racing and I was in a panic...until I realized I was dreaming. Lol!!! I have quite a few "save the world/people " kind of  dreams." No idea why! I have always wanted to work for the CIA...hmm...lol!

Pretty Late

I have had the pleasure to be off from work the last 5 days and I must say I feel like a new me. In 5 hours 45 minutes, I am sure to be back to the old me. Sleepy and dreading the drive to work....lol! Yes,  in that small amount of time my mood will change. I am not a morning person...ever!  I just wanted to share a few photos from our 4th of July celebration. There are a few more I plan to edit and make pages for, but these are the first I have touched. I know what photos I wanted to use with this gorgeous kit but I did not know the theme of my journaling - until I thought of a conversation that I was sitting in on today. It may seem strange to some - maybe - depending on how you see things. The main idea I wanted to covey to Aida in this page was - be you - be free and never be afraid to be who you want to be. I have always been the one to not follow the crowd and do my own thing - even if on my own. I would not expect any different of her.