Aluminitis, Part 3

Betcha' can't guess where this post is headed...:smirk: So we traveled to the big town of Corydon, IA last Sunday to check out this little piece of trailer history. I was really anxious on the way there because I was worrying about it not being what we thought, and hoped, that it was going to be.

We pulled into their driveway and the minute I laid my eyes on it, I knew it was just as I had pictured. I can't really say that I was even disappointed in anything other than the screen door was aluminum vs wooden as I had hoped. I have to say it was a little disheartening to open the door and be greeted with black paint glaring back at us. Black walls, black ceiling, you name it--it was black. "Love Shack" was written in neon glow-in-the-dark paint above the door, and everything original but the sink had been removed and replaced with a large dorm-sized refrigerator and a full-sized bed and mattress. First stop will be to find somewhere to dispose of the unwanted bed...the Love Shack will be no more.

We have no idea what brand, make, model or even year of the trailer might be. I checked all over for the faintest sign of a sticker or other identifying mark and found nothing. There were some numbers on the tongue, but I believe they were the serial numbers for the tongue, not the trailer. I'm hoping someone with more knowledge than I stumbles upon my blog and can shed some insight on year, make, etc based on the few original parts that are left.

We haven't towed the trailer home yet, but I did snap some pictures for you to see in the meantime.

Aluminitis, Part 2

Yesterday I posted that picture because it is ideally the dream trailer that I'm looking for. It is a picture that I took from a Craigslist ad, and I'd emailed the person who had the trailer and finally called them. Right now it appears that if all goes well, this little beauty will be showning up at my driveway in a few weeks. OMG..it's true. OMG. No, I don't know the manufacturer..the PO says he can't locate a name or number anywhere, but I'll ask for some assistance from "my people." (You know who you are, fellow Aluminitis sufferers!)

Be watching for updates about the new Croppin' Cabin!

Aluminitis

I have an illness..No, not the fibromyalgia, but another illness just as prevailing and just as widespread--I have Aluminitis. Aluminitis is an affliction of needing to have vintage/classic aluminum on wheels sitting around in your driveway, garage, or yard. From the very moment I brought the Shasta home, I was immediately plagued with this strange illness. I began looking for a sister to the Shasta...and while I found a few prospects, I never really found "the one."

So..this year is a new year, and a new beginning for me..a fresh start in a way. I think it's time to give into the cravings of Aluminitis and add to our family. This time I'm looking for even more vintage...early-to-mid 60's, canned-ham shape with a window in the door. I don't care if it has a title, I don't care if the furnace works, and I don't care if the tires are rotted. All I ask is that it has working electric inside. I'm not camping in this one--it's going to be solely a scrapbooking cabin. I have this mental image of this cute canned ham vintage trailer sitting out back with stepping stone walk leading up to the door, a white picket fence around it with flower beds galore..and a porch light and lamp post welcoming all who care to scrap for a while or come in for a sip of hot tea. I might even let the kids use it as a changing room for the pool. I have curtains made already from the ditsy red Debbie Mumm Scrapbooking Bee fabric, and black metallic denim for the seats.

Aluminitis..is there a cure? Probably not, but I don't think I'm too worried about it.

Christmas is over..YAY!

If I sound elated to you about Christmas being over, you're right. Normally I'm a huge Christmas pusher...I love the smells, cards, gifts, trees and lights and decorations, pictures, music, cookies and turkeys and hams...I make homemade dog treats and give out, and the dogs and cats wear Christmas bandanas. I buy cute Christmas pajamas and outfits for the kiddies, and the house is full of the wonderful smells of Christmas baking and candles.

Not this year. This year it's been a giant pain in the hiney...the dogs knocked the tree over, the cats knocked the tree over, the legs broke on the artificial tree, the tree started shedding more than a real tree, the dogs broke ornaments, the cats chased ornaments all over the house and wadded up & snagged the tree skirt...and the lights refused to work 50% of the time. By the time Christmas rolled around, we had a lightless, decoration-less tree that leaned to one side.

So I think this is my first ever real venting post for this blog? I won't make a habit of it.

PS..maybe I'll post pictures of the Christmas cards that I made and didn't send out? LOL

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer & Go Team Edward!!

I cannot tell you how LONG I have been patiently waiting to get to my blog and write, obsess, and otherwise share with you my love for the Twilight movie. I picked the first book in the series up this past summer..on the advice of several other women my age who said although it was a young adult book, they found it to be captivating, beautiful, and romantic. I thought it sounded like the perfect pool-side read.

I hate to admit it, but I kind of have a vampire fetish. It started with the Lost Boys movie in the 80's..Keifer Sutherland was a gorgeous vampire. I was always very self conscious about my dark hair and pale skin, because "tan" was definitely in back in the 80's. I spent a lot of time trying fake tans, sun tanning (or burning, such as it was)and hair lightening. It was easy for me to obsess over some hunky guy that not only accepted the dark-haired, pale-skinned girls, but thought they were beautiful. Oh, vampire!! How dangerously romantic are they?! Well move over, Keifer...cause Edward has definitely become my new favorite vampire. (Followed closely by the oh-so-spooky Jasper, and the adorable Alice.) Unfortunately I am never ready to commit to buying a book unless 1.)I've read it previously and want to own it, or 2.)It's a series and I know I'm going to like it and want all the books from the series. This meant I had to borrow it from the local library...normally books have a 2-week checkout, but Twilight was on a "popular book" list and had a short 1-week checkout time. Unfortunately I had to read it fast. It's basically 500 pages long, which for a speed reader such as myself not a HUGE task, but it was baseball season, and this was during the "do I keep the Shasta and buy a new camper, or not?" phase. I didn't get the book finished..and I had to return it because there was a waiting list. Meanwhile everyone kept telling me how I HAD to read it, etc...I managed to borrow it again and do a quick read and fell in love immediately.

Jordan and I anxiously awaited the arrival of the movie..it seemed everyone I talked to either knew someone addicted to the books or was a fan themselves. I noticed it was showing up on every GoodReads list belonging to my peers from World Crossing. It sold out at our small theater before the first showing, so we put it out of our minds and decided we would wait until the new wore off.

I'm not usually a big fan of book-inspired movies--they're usually a let down, so it's normally a "given" that I'll be disappointed. Curiosity wins out though and I almost always go see the movie, especially if I loved the book. For those of you who have read Twilight BEFORE you saw the movie (as opposed to reading it after falling in love with the movie) you'll understand what I mean when I say that in MY mind, Bella, Edward, Jasper, Carlisle, Charlie, and Alice (Okay..just about everyone)had a distinct look in my MIND. The descriptive words used to tell us how they move, look, act, etc are so clear..so very abundantly clear that I couldn't FATHOM how on EARTH they chose Robert Pattinson (from Harry Potter fame)to cast as our beloved Edward. Seriously. In my MIND, Edward and his siblings are by far the most beautiful people in the world--as he says, everything about them invites you in..their face, their musical voice, their scent. How could a Harry Potter cast member do justice to our gorgeous vampire hero?

That all changed about 10 minutes into the movie after Edward makes his grand entrance into the school. If Bella wasn't already saying it outloud, everyone in the theater (who hadn't read the book and didn't already know that Edward was beautiful) was thinking it: "Who is THAT?!" When the other girl says "THAT is Edward Cullen..totally gorgeous, obviously." Sigh. Edward. EDWARD. Robert Pattinson NAILED the part of Edward. I totally forgot whatever mental image I had conceived of beautiful Edward from that moment on. His mannerisms, his voice, his facial expressions..they were all 100% Edward from the book. Perfect! My reading image of Edward was replaced by this tall, thin, muscular wild-haired beauty with the sing-song voice. What was I saying? Oh, yeah..the movie. *cough*

For those of you unfamiliar with the story or the movie, here is the basic plot. (This summary contains MINOR spoilers but shouldn't take away from your reading pleasure..I've kept all the action and secrets to myself.)Bella's mom remarries a much younger man who plays minor league baseball, so Bella moves from hot, dry Phoenix to the cold, wet town of Forks,Washington where she'll be living with her dad. Her dad, Charlie, is the local chief of police. They eat at the diner regularly..for his favorite steak & cobbler dinner. He works a lot, but buys Bella a neat old truck for her own transportation. During her first day at the new school, she immediately notices a group of kids who keep to themselves and look unlike any other people she's ever seen. They are pale, beautiful kids who dress and walk like supermodels. They seem to have uncanny coordination, and are absolutely stunningly beautiful. She finds out they are the foster kids/adopted kids of Mr & Mrs Cullen, who moved there a few years ago from Alaska. Four of the 5 kids are couples, oddly enough, except for young Edward.

Bella & Edward are forced to sit together in Biology, and she immediately notices his extreme discomfort while being around her. At this point she has no way of knowing that he is a vampire and her scent is driving him mad. He wants her...not in a romantic way, but in a "I'm kinda thirsty for your blood" way. The Cullens are all vampires, but have learned to control their thirst and consider themselves "vegetarians." They only kill animals, not humans. This allows them to set up a permanent residence in rainy, overcast towns such as Forks. Dr Cullens works at the hospital, and the 5 foster/adopted kids attend the local school. Edward's interest in Bella causes him to rescue her from a skidding out-of-control van in the parking lot, thus exposing his extreme strength & speed. This threatens his family's secret, and makes Bella determined to figure out "what" he is.

Eventually Edward & Bella develop a dangerous romance..but he is worried that he won't be able to control his thirst, and she is equally worried about losing him and is convinced that she cannot live without him. She is keenly aware that with every passing minute she becomes older, while he remains 17 forever. Hanging out with a family of vampires is a little scary, even if they are "vegetarians." There are 3 books after Twilight, so I'll comment on them as I finish them.

I've read a lot of reviews about the movie, and after seeing it 4 times the ONLY thing that REALLY disturbs me is 1.)There is a lot of info missing from the movie. I realize 2 hours is a relatively short time to cram in 500 pages of information, but really...viewers who haven't read the book want to know why Carlisle would make ANYONE a vampire in the first place, 2.)why no one questions why Dr & Mrs Cullen's adopted and foster kids all share the same beautiful outward appearances..pale skin, bruised eyes, black, piercing eyes that turn golden some days, etc.

Some things were conveyed as quickly as possible and quite thoroughly..you understand quickly that Edward can read minds..although at first you won't understand why he's smiling when he's "listening" to minds (cause you don't know he IS reading minds to begin with), why he's almost gagging when Bella walks into Biology class, or that Rosalie & Jasper are supposedly actually real brother & sister. (Rosalie & Jasper are "foster children," whereas Alice, Emmett and Edward are already adopted by the Cullens. Of course this is just the "understanding" of the townsfolk..Rosalie and Jasper are certainly NOT brother & sister..)Certain things become more clear as the movie goes on.

Fans of the book will be relieved to know that some of the BEST lines of the movie are not left out....My personal favorite, of course, is "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb." "What a stupid lamb.." "What a sick, masochistic lion."

Oh, Edward..you sick, masochistic lion. Of course Bella is going to tell you that one of the best things about Charlie is that he doesn't hover, that she is irrevocably in love with Edward, and you'll get to hear her tell Edward, "I know what you are." You'll also get to hear her ask Edward "How old are you?" Edward then replies "17." Bella shoots back "How long have you BEEN 17?" Edward doesn't disappoint us with a slight pause and then he comes back with "A while."

Bella is beautiful, although I was thinking while she was simplistically pretty, she also was plain enough to convey the "beautiful Cullens" difference. I realize that there are millions of other women & girls lusting after Edward as well..they created the PERFECT character for women to fall in love with. He is the epitome of the perfect man--he IS what every girl dreams of, and as it turns out, every 35-year-old woman. He is beautiful, intelligent, charasmatic, and a hero. He is protective of Bella, always making sure she is safe and free from harm...he is witty, intelligent, and chivalry is not lost with our vampire hero. Edward always makes sure Bella has eaten, he opens the car door for her, helps her into the car, into the house, helps remove her coat. During the final fight scene when he is there to avenge his beloved Bella, you can plainly see how distraught he is..he is ready to kill the evil james for harming her. He is the man we all wish we grew up and married. He's every woman's dream man, except for that blood-sucking thing.

I can't really pinpoint a favorite part of the movie, or the book, but I do have to say the baseball scene is a lot of fun to watch. I love how the Cullens immediately welcome Bella into their "family," so to speak..knowing she knows their secret. (Except for Rosalie, who if you'll recall from the book was brought home by Carlisle to be "for" Edward...but Edward wasn't interested.)The Cullens are all so tremendously relieved that Edward has finally found his soul mate that they're willing to open their home, lives, and dangerous secret with a human.

Some friends of Jordan's haven't seen the movie due to the PG-13 rating, but I felt confident that she'd read the book and we'd talked about things, so she would be able to handle it. I was VERY pleased that there was absolutely NO language at ALL in this movie...it had less language than your typical PG Disney movie, so that was a nice surprise. There is no sex, either..although there is a scene on the bed with kissing. The ONLY thing that I can see that deems this movie worthy of the pg-13 rating is the tiny bit of violence at the end when Edward comes to save Bella from the big-bad James. The violence is minimal, and there are no close-ups of anything too dramatic. Most of it is implied.

Please stay tuned for my comments about New Moon, the 2nd in the series. I've already read the 12 chapters of Midnight Sun from Stephenie Meyer's website..which is essentially the Twilight story but told from Edward's point of view. It closes a lot of unanswered questions that you're left with after reading Twilight. I cannot wait to read the ending of it, and I hope it is as long or longer than the other 4 books.

If you didn't see the movie before it left your local theater, or you haven't read the book and I've piqued your interest, here is a clip of the official movie trailer:

Julie's Birthday

Today is my best girlfriend's birthday...I won't tell you how old she is, but she is older than I am. (hehe) Anyway, I decided to make her a little birthday card & treat box to let her know that I love her & that I'm glad she's older than me.

For this project I used Chatterbox double-sided papers from their wallpaper line. I picked these up quite a few months ago from Happy 'N Scrappin'. I LOVE that online store...these were on sale and I fell in love with Chatterbox after receiving my first papers. I used the Cricut cartridge George, Plantin' Schoolbook for the envelope & card, and Tags, Bags, Boxes & More for the flower box. I filled the box with chocolate Skittles. I've since heard that chocolate Skittles are rather gross...Whoops!

Croppin' at the Crop

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be free to travel to a local Friday night/Saturday morning crop. I've been trying to get to this crop for a few months now, so I was pretty excited to finally have the opportunity, especially since an old friend from our old town was going as well. Her name is Steph, and she is a BLAST. I just love her to pieces! She's silly, and I'm silly, and after you've been sitting and staring at paper, photos, and adhesive for hours on end, you start to get even MORE silly.

The crop was very well organized and a lot of thought was put into it. Everyone brought snacks and drinks to share, and there were 3 Cricut machines on a table for everyone to use. I didn't get mine out since the table was full, but I did take 3 cartridges that I set out for everyone to use. (Stretch Your Imagination seemed to be the big hit this time!)Since it's one of my favorites, I let Steph take it home after the crop so she could play with it at home.

I ended up running out of ATG adhesive and couldn't remember how to load the refill...I'm going to draw myself a little diagram in case that happens again. I ended up buying adhesive from Joyce, the crop host. I'll be more prepared next time though with my loading diagram.

Here are the pages that I completed...some still need the finishing touches, but for the most part, they are completed:








Steph being goofy...




Joyce looking for my lost letters...LOL!! I cut the word "Oliver" in tiny polka dot paper, and it blended in with the carpet and "disappeared" before I got back to my croppin' spot. Joyce painstakingly located all the missing letters on Saturday. haha!!



If any of you local girls want to come along next month, please let me know!

Review of my New Blackberry Pearl 8130

A few weeks ago I left my phone laying on the bed in the camper, and at some point during the night it was found on the floor at the OTHER end of the camper in a rather unrecognizable condition. Shattered glass, missing antenna, doggy chew marks all over the plastic. Two things could be concluded: 1.)I'm a horrible doggy mommy, and 2.)I was without a phone.

I started researching and reading reviews online, and thought I wanted the HTC Touch or the Motorola Q. I bid on a few on Ebay but never won, and I'm really glad now. After visiting with the guys at the Alltel store here in town, I concluded that what I *really* wanted was a Blackberry, and this is what I came out with:




It's a Blackberry Pearl 8130 in white..(it matches my new van..I'm so easily amused!)I ended up buying it online from the Alltel store because it was $79.99 after rebate, and it came with a free Bluetooth headset and free car charger,and free shipping of course. (I am the free shipping QUEEN!)

The first thing I noticed with this phone was the unique keyboard...then when I realized what was so unique about it, I started to panic. The Blackberry pearl hosts 2 letters per key. Yes, you read that right...it has a Qwerty-style layout, but rather than each letter to a key, you get 2 letters per key. This new-fangled idea is called SureType, and I'm sure the sadistic bastard that created it is laughing his rear off at those of us more technologically-challenged folks.

The other aspect of the phone that took some getting used to was the scrolling/clicking ball..gone are the up/down/left/right buttons and scroll wheels of the past. This roller ball is placed in the top center of the keypad to allow you to navigate horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Pretty nifty, huh?

My favorite features of the phone are the Smartphone features--I was able to sync my email immediately, and set up a Blackberry email as well. The ability to live chat on Yahoo messenger or Blackberry messenger is very nice, and web browsing is convenient and easy. If I get a text, it chimes. If I get a Yahoo messenger message, it chimes. An email?? Chime! With a 2.0 mp camera, video camera capabilities, and Bluetooth technology, there just isn't much that I can't do with my Blackberry.

Just don't ask me to type very fast with the SureType keyboard, okay?

The New Croppin' Cabin Car....

I've been tracking my expenses, income, and budget faithfully for a couple of months with a very specific goal in mind--to see just how much money I was running through the gas tank in the Gas Guzzler, otherwise known as the Ford Econoline 1/2 ton conversion hi-top van. Yes, it towed my 16' Shasta, and yes, it towed my 28' Prowler, but was it really practical for everyday driving? You know the kind of driving that I'm talking about--to & from school, to the store, to the library..

Needless to say my worst fears were confirmed..I was spending, on average, about $400 a month just driving to and from school & the store. Wow. We don't go anywhere significant since acquiring this conversion van--it's sole purpose was to tow with, and it succeeded. It just didn't seem logical, however, in these hard times (if I may quote a little matchbox twenty just for the fun of it)to use it as my every day means of transportation. That isn't very green at all, and it certainly isn't helping my checkbook any, either.

I sold the Guzzler, and after reading reviews, asking others, and weighing the pros & cons, I settled on this Kia Sedona EX:





Oh, beautiful moonroof! I love you!




Yes, I bought a foreign car..I bought a Kia. Kia is from S. Korea, and it means something in Korean but I've forgotten already although my user manual tells me in the first few pages. And you know what--I LOVE my little foreign-made van...it's way cooler than any of my American-made vehicles. What can I say?

It cost me a whopping $40 to fill this one up, as opposed to the $125 Guzzler. Common sense would say that means you'll be finding me at the pumps a lot more often, but unfortunately, the Guzzler held more but used more, so I don't think I'll notice much difference in time spent at the pump. As for how we're going to tow, we're only going camping once more this season as it's already freezing cold here, and Robert has a tow vehicle. Then we'll have until next spring/summer to find an alternative for towing the Prowler.

So far we LOVE the van. No, we really do LOVE the van. I love the soft leather, the power everything, the fast engine (I'll behave, I promise!) and the quick take-off. It has that new-car smell and feel, and it's so clean that I wouldn't let you eat a Cheerio in it. And Marley & Sadie..well, they're on a car-riding restriction now. Marley got his first ride in the van yesterday on his way to pet therapy, and he didn't seem too impressed.

What do dogs know though?

Bags, Bags, and more Bags

Sorry for the empty post for a few days..I became distracted. :gasp:

This post was going to be about bags..betcha couldn't tell, huh? Anyway, I've been hankering for a new bag lately. You know how some girls have a thing for shoes?? I have that same thing, but it's for bags, not shoes. I LOVE bags, and I HATE to carry the same one for very long.

So..for the past few months, I've had my eye on one of the khaki signature totes from Coach...especially with the big hoop hardware and pink accent stripe. CUTE!! The other day, though, I was perusing Ebags and came across the Kathy Van Zeeland bags. I've never given much thought to Kathy Van Zeeland, but now I think I NEED a Kathy Van Zeeland bag, and this one in particular:



It's black, shiny, fairly big but not tote-sized big, has lots of the silver hardware that I like the looks of, and the lining is pink. PINK. I LOVE pink!! Oh, yeah..that needs to be my next bag?

Any comments or suggestions? Do you have this bag and hate it? It's on sale at Ebags for $74.99 right now.