new look...

I've updated my look for the Christmas Holiday... and it could go after that. I love the teal/turquoise with red for Christmas. And even the addition of the green! It's like smooshing Winter and Christmas together.

What you can barely see on my blog is the snow falling. I love the look of it, and I may end up changing the background so that it shows up more. So far it's hardly visible.

So... I hope to start putting up our Christmas decorations soon. Are you doing yours? It seems like everyone already has theirs up around here... like I am behind the game and it's not even December 1st yet. :)

I hope you enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday. I'll try to post pictures soon. And post the results of my surgery.

Until then....

Recovery

I had surgery last Friday.

It was originally scheduled for 7:00 am, but was moved to 10:30am. Not a bad deal actually. I was able to take Weston to preschool myself, and I stopped at the post office to mail invitations I had made for a baby shower. Scott even ran to the grocery store before we left at 930 to pick up Mom in Ankeny. We got to the surgery center and checked in right on time. I think I only waited 5 or so minutes before being called back into the Pre-Op area. Mom came with me, since Scott didn't seem as interested as she did. I had a great nurse named Michelle. We did an EKG, and got me hooked up to the IV. We had about a 25 minute delay due to the surgery prior to mine. The anesthesiologist actually walked me back to my OR holding my IV in his hands. It was nice, and gentle. They loaded me up on the narrow operating table, and buckled me in. Each are was buckled onto a board - I looked like I was shackled to a metal cross. No sooner than they strapped the blood pressure cuff on me, I was out. No idea what they used, but it worked. I was apparently out for an extra hour after surgery too. But it went well. There wasn't much endometriosis to clean up, but they got it as well as some scar tissue and adhesions from the previous surgery. They used only 2 surgical points, instead of 3. But man... I am sore! And nauseous. I'm on Percocet. And back at work today. Though I shouldn't be... and I will probably go home early. I'm just out of it today. Way off. Going to try lunch now... see if the food helps out at all. If not, I'm going home. Mom and Aunt Linda are there with Weston... maybe I can get a little TLC too. :)

Fun new iPhone apps, using Halloween 2012 as inspiration!

Halloween 2012 seemed to go on forever!

This year, we visited the Blank Park Zoo for their Night Eyes event. For a small amount of money, we got to Trick or Treat at the Zoo! Each of us, including adults, got a bag full of candy, and we saw the few animals that could handle our cold weather. Weston wanted Scott to be a frog, and me to be a "One-Eyed Girl Monster." As promised, here's a picture. I built these 2 costumes in about 3 days. Not bad. I think I was channeling Celia from Monsters, Inc. minus the snakes.  We had planned on wearing the costumes again on Beggar's Night here in Des Moines, but it was too cold. (Beggar's Night is what the locals call Trick or Treating, and it's rarely on October 31st. This year it was on the 30th.)

the Frog, One-Eyed Girlie Monster, and Captain America at Night Eyes in the Blank Park Zoo. 10/19/12

So, between Beggar's Night and the actual day of Halloween, we had a lot of fun. But, I also received my new iPhone 4 upgrade from AT&T. I thought it would be cooler than it was, but it wasn't. Apparently the phone I wanted was the iPhone 4S. I didn't get Siri or any of the cool upgrades. In fact, the only improvement over my iPhone 3G was the 5 mega pixel camera with flash and front lens, a huge improvement over the lens-less 1.2 mega pixel camera on the 3G. So, to get over my disappointment, I downloaded some new Apps. These 3 apps were recommended by a website reference on Pinterest. I combined all of our activities over 2 days, including the pictures my brother shared of my nieces!

•  PicFrame - you guessed it... It creates frames! Which I've been trying to figure out for months! you can changes the qty and ratio of sizes, colors, etc.
• Phonto - This allows for type or symbols to be added to any photo/project. It's got a great choice of fonts, colors, sizes, etc.
• Picfx - this one lets you edit square pictures by using a variety of filters... and you can layer the filters too! I really like the Vintage set, and the Light set which gives me the fun flashes of light, including the small hearts I used with the girls.
• Postagram - This may be the coolest one! This allows you to send a Postcard with a removable "Instagram" type photo (or any below) to anyone who can receive snail mail. You create a stamp, add a small comment, and off it goes. I sent the one of the 3 great-grandkids from Halloween to my grandparents in San Antonio. Cost - $0.99 each, but you get 5 for free when you sign up!

My first "frame"! Clockwise from top right: My Halloween headband, Paisley dressed as Strawberry Shortcake, Weston as Captain America, Zoey as Miss Frankie Stein (Monster High), Trick or Treating with Weston's friend Lily, and my fuchsia lace tights and (according to Weston) witch shoes.

I framed and used the "small hearts" filter from PicFx to create this collage of my nieces for my brother. I texted it to him so he could load it on his Facebook page.

This is the Postagram picture that I framed and used Phonto to add the text and the stars to send as a postcard via snail mail to my grandparents in San Antonio.

   I am loving these new apps!!! And I will be upgrading my music to Spotify probably tonight or tomorrow so that I can have more room on the this phone. Right now, I can't even take pictures, I am out of so much room.