Spring Break...

Yay!!!  We finally have sunshine!  Man the winters are gray here.  I'm thrilled to see some tulips popping up, the grass is beginning to turn and I can see some growth on the trees. 

The girls, hubby and I enjoyed the St. Patty's day parade last weekend.  Here's a couple of pics...

Sorry if you saw this on Facebook on on the Bean Talk blog - it makes me giggle everytime I look at Brooke's face.

Big balloon for our little town. ;)   It was windy that day so I'm sure the string holders got an arm workout. 

Cutie patutie in her shamrock shades..

Mom and Kams - staying warm.

These funny blow-up Leprauchans.  See them every year!

That's the "good" smile. 

Hope you have been enjoying the sunshine!

Have a good one!

Jill

CHA - Los Angeles Style!

Come on Down!!!!  We arrived in California around noon on Wednesday, 26th.  We headed straight to the Price Is Right studios to try and get into the 4:00 taping.  Kimber had registered us online and we were one of the last ones to be admitted into the taping.  Sorry to say that none of us got called up on stage but it sure was fun watching!  Drew Carrey took Bob Barker's place a couple of years ago and he's pretty cool.  It's fun being in the studio and seeing things from the other side!

Some interesting food we ate at a modern Mexican place.  It was good but expensive - as in everything else in LA!

Ahhh, Hollywood! Kimber and I were "stuck" in LA an extra day because of the weather so we made the most of it.  Actually, Kimber knew for awhile that she was going to be stuck, I didn't learn until I went to the airport that my flights were cancelled.  She was very happy at my misfortune. ;) 

The infamous Hollywood sign.  This seems like dejavue for me...Jen and I did the same tour when we were in LA for the "Ellen" show.

Someone famous lives in this house...can't remember who though.

Ah yes, someone famous lives here too...I guess I should have taken notes. ;)

Cupcakes from Crumbs Bakery - see I can remember the name of the bakery!!!  They were delish!

Steven Speilberg's home...I did remember this one!  You can't tell from the pic but he has the most amazing views from this house! 

Chateau Marmont Hotel!  All I know is I read about celebrities partying here in my People mag.

The "Pot House" man's car...he owns a store here on Rodeo Drive.  His house is called the "Pot House" because he loves terracotta pots and has hundreds of them around his house.

The Sunset Strip - Kimber and I should have hung around here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jilsy

Everytime it gets a little longer...

In between posts, that is.  I keep thinking, I need to post, I need to post.  In fact, before December came along I had this bright idea that I was going to do an entire month's worth of pics - remembering 2010.  Well, December 1st came and went and now I think I'm going to do it for 2011.  Really?  Yeah, probably not, but atleast I can try to do better.  I just don't know what to blog about anymore.  I get so far behind I never know where to "pick-up" and start again.  I loved it when I could do "Fun Bits" every week.  I don't have much time to scrapbook anymore so that is my way of keeping track of everything.  Obviously, that's gone by the wayside for about a year now. 

2011, let's try to do better, let's try to do better, let's try to do better.  Maybe if I say it 21 times, it will happen, right?  21 times forms a habit, ha, I think that's what they say. ;)

Let's step into today, December 19th.  I went shopping today to try and finish my Christmas stuff.  I really didn't enjoy myself - I went over to Easton (pedestrian mall) and I could barely find a parking place.  It was busy, busy and I don't like shopping when it's busy, busy.  It probably doesn't help that I'm behind in my shopping and feel rushed. Aaahhhh!

I am excited for the girls for Christmas.  They're at a great age and we're having fun with the elves this year.  Here's a pic of the elves getting into trouble in the bathroom...

Ruh-roh.  One of these years I'll do a December Daily.  That would be fun to look back and see everything we attempt to do in December!

Another tradition started - the Jillibean Soup Christmas party.  This was the first year that we got everyone together for an oh-so-yummy dinner and an Elephant gift exhange.

It's kind of funny because Tim (my printer sales guy) and Ryan (Missey's hubby) were doing business (separate from Jillibean) during the middle of the picture.  Shame on them!  You can't see everyone, but they're there!  We had a great time, spouses and all! 

Ok, gotta get back to the presents and wrapping, cardmaking and printing off my Christmas card labels.

Until next time...hopefully sooner, than later. ;)

Jill

Card Bar at B&B this Saturday, November 13th!

Hope you can join us!  100% of the proceeds go to Toys for Tots!

Jill

Greetings from New York City!!!

Greetings from Laguardia airport anyhow...we're on our way out now.  What a great weekend!  This is my 2nd trip to NYC, however the first time I was in 7th grade!  I traveled with my church youth group - we did some work in Yonkers/Bronx and went downtown for a day.  Needless to say, I don't remember too much.

This time hubby and I decided to do a long weekend away to celebrate our 10 yr anniversary (which was back in August).  We've tried to see as much as we could while here.  3 days is not long enough for this busy city!  And the people....holy crap...so many people!  We stayed close to Times Square so we saw it at several different times during the day.  No matter what time, there's always a ton of people down there!  I can't even imagine what it's like at the New Year's Eve celebration. 

I've taken lots of pics, of course, here's a couple to share right now....

Rockefeller Center flags.  We were going to attempt to go down to the Today show on Saturday but didn't realize that it only runs from 7:00-8:30.  We were watching it on TV and realized we were too late.

Crazy Times Square at night.  BTW...didn't need my flash for this pic.

The view from Top of the Rock (same as 1st photo)...top of the 30 Rockefeller Center  looking at Central Park. 

That's all I have time for now...catching our flight to PA to get the girls.

Have a great week!

Jill

Ahhh, back to reality...

Really, I want to be back in Holland! 

No this isn't from the Netherlands.  It's taking me a long time to get acclimated to the time again.  I've fallen asleep at 8:00pm every night since returning.  I've been so tired - I think the last 2 weeks is catching up with me.  Anyhow, I started cooking again and made these yummy pulled pork sandwiches for dinner last night.  I'll have to share the recipe later.

I've been going through my pics and will have to do a week's full of sharing.  Some are too dark so I'll have to put some work into them before sharing.  Here's one that makes me giggle...

I had my fair share of Coke light (or Pepsi light) in the Netherlands.  Truike made fun of how much pop the Americans drink.  They, on the other hand, have coffee/espresso machines all over the place over there so you can always get your fix. ;)  Ice is a funny thing though - every time I asked for it, they looked at me funny.  Then, I usually ended up with only 3 small ice cubes.  Europeans like their drinks warm.  According to Kimber, they like their coffee HOT! 

More to come later. ;)

Jill

Doorn, Netherlands...

Greetings!!!!  I'm too exhausted to download my photos, but wanted to let you know that Kimber made it.  She ended up being re-routed through Chicago and flying to Amsterdam from there.  I was VERY happy to see her.  I boarded my plane still not knowing if she was coming or not. 

It's been great here!  Like I said, I'm exhausted.  Jet lag combined with 4 classes, a make n' take session and helping Kimber with her 2 classes has kept me oh so busy, but the people are soooo nice and this part of the Netherlands actually reminds me of the states.  It's very green with lots of trees, little shops downtown, funny-friendly people, good food and a scrapbooking store ;) 

I'm finished with my classes so we are headed to an older part of Holland tomorrow.  A place where they still wear wooden shoes.  Lots of pics, I'm sure. 

Thanks for your travel prayers.

Jill