What a week!

Man...it's been a long week already and it's only...well now it's Wednesday. :P 

Sunday I was getting ready to print sticker sheet orders on my Romeo...except the black plastic piece of the tensioner (the part that tightens the blade holder in place) broke in half. I found ONE place online that sells it as a replacement part...so I got that ordered. The bad news is that it won't get here until Friday. I really hate when there's no option to purchase expedited shipping. I have a ton of orders that have to be shipped before Friday. I was worried that I was going to have to start cutting them one at a time on my Cricut. My Cricut Maker 3 absolutely sucked for sticker sheets, but I haven't tried making them on my Maker 4. I've just been using my Siser Romeo for sticker sheets (it works perfectly to cut four 5x7 sticker sheets at one time) and then I use my Cricut Maker 4 for my stickers and magnets. 

So anyway...Sunday night, I ended up using a little bit of Gorilla super glue gel to see if it would hold the two broken halves together. I let it sit overnight to fully dry before I tried using it. I had four sticker sheet orders that I needed to send out on Monday, so that morning I held my breath and cut the sticker sheets using the super-glued tensioner...and thank goodness it worked. I stopped after the sheets due Monday and got all my orders packaged so I could go to the post office. I had to buy some shipping boxes for my large notepad orders. When there's just a few notepads, I can ship them in the pretty bubble mailers. I bought with my eBay refund, but larger orders need a box. I bought some 11x8x6 and 10x603 boxes and they worked out perfectly. 

I usually just put my orders in our mailbox (we have a locked cluster box) and any poly bubble mailers I put in our mailbox with a note for our mail carrier (who is pretty wonderful, btw) that it's outgoing mail, but the boxes won't fit. So I took the packages in to be scanned and dropped off the envelopes. I had a lot of sticker and magnet orders from the weekend (mostly custom name stickers and magnets) so I worked on those the rest of the day and put them in the mailbox before I went to bed. 

Today was the real test. I had 12 sticker sheet orders that were due tomorrow (well...now it's today)...and luckily my super-glued Romeo cut all six 11x17 pages without any problem. Thank goodness! So tomorrow I should--hopefully--be able to get the rest of my sticker sheet orders out that are due the 13th and 14th and then I'll have the new part on Friday. 

My new chair arrives today! I'm really excited...hopefully it'll help with the pain and discomfort. My JellieBody should arrive on Friday...so hopefully between the two I'll be able to find some relief.  Especially considering I have some more notebooks to make this week, too. 

Well...I suppose I should get some sleep so I can get orders done tomorrow. :)

Rearranging my office!

I finished rearranging my office a couple days ago! I did a post with everything we use in our kitchen awhile back after I reorganized, so I thought I'd do it with my office, too. :) 

I started rearranging my office Tuesday because the original plan was that I was going to get a desk from my grandma. It had been in her shed, and I thought it was going to be a perfect spot to put my new Romeo, my Cricut Maker 3, and my paper cutter. However, the clearance between the desk and the shelf wasn't tall enough. :( Since the desk was pretty big, I didn't want to limit my already small office space even more. So I decided to just rearrange everything that I already had...with a couple new additions. Here is what my office looks like now:

Compared to what it looked like right after I got the Romeo: 

I still have my main desk/hutch that I received as a birthday gift from my mom back in 2004 and the armoire that we got from Johnny's sister-in-law in 2017. They're both really heavy and I don't know where else I'd even put them...so they stayed where they are. Basically everything else was moved around, though. 

Originally, I had my printer and paper cutter on an old desk of Johnny's and I had my Cricut on the "table" that I made using the top from my old art table that I had in high school on top of the Sterilite modular drawers that I got back in 2011. They've since discontinued the ones I have, but these are kind of similar. I had two sets each facing outward that had a large bottom drawer, two kinda square-ish drawers, and then three smaller drawers. 

When I got my Romeo, I had to put it on the DIY table by itself, so I had to find a new place to put my Cricut. I settled on this little cart and it's worked out pretty good. It's on wheels, so I can store it in a convenient place and then move it more in the open when I'm using it. I haven't decided what else--if anything--to store on it. I know I don't want to put heavy stuff on it, just because it'd be harder to move around on the carpet. I also have a ring light similar to this one for some extra light when taking product photos. One thing I haven't really figured out in my newly rearranged office is taking product photos...but I may just do it on the floor in front of the window. I have laminated background images that I attached to a piece of plywood that I take my product photos on.

When I was rearranging, I decided to put my Romeo on Johnny's desk and turn it 90 degrees from the way I had the DIY table. It's parallel to the closet doors...and I have it out a little more than the length of the closet doors when they're folded open. I use the closest for storage, so I don't have to get into it very often...so I didn't want to leave a lot of space in front of it but I wanted it to still be accessible. Next that desk I have another set of paper storage drawers. I couldn't find the exact one on Amazon, but it's similar to this one. Then I put the paper cutter on top of those drawers. Oh and I have my trash and recycle bins underneath the desk. The short top drawer has some of my cutter supplies. The other three drawers have cardboard sheets, tissue paper, and then the bottom drawer is just miscellaneous stuff that I don't know what else to do with. 

I decided to stack the two sets of modular drawers on top of each other next to my desk where the other paper drawers used to be. Some of the drawers are currently empty, because before I rearranged the office, I didn't really use the drawers that had been facing the closet because they were kind of a pain to get to. Two of the drawers that are fully exposed from the side of my desk, I am actually able to turn those around to face my desk while the rest of the drawers face the armoire. In the small drawer, I have some rulers and tape measures that I use frequently, this digital caliper to measure the thickness of my packages, and some hole/corner punches. The larger drawer has the rigid mailers that I use every once in awhile when I send sticker orders as a package instead of the kraft envelopes. They used to be in the armoire cabinet, but since I package orders at my desk, they'll be more accessible. One other thing I have in that drawer is this little label maker that I love...because I love labeling everything. ;) LOL. Now that I've rearranged everything, I need to print some new labels. ;) 

On top of the modular drawers, I have the board that I use for product photos. I also have this small dehumidifier which helps a lot...especially in the summer. If there's a lot of humidity, papers tend to curl which is a huge hassle.

Then next to the modular drawers, I have my printer. When I first made plans to get the desk from my grandma, I wanted to get something smaller to put my Epson ET-16650 printer on than the desk I'd been using. I had to search through a LOT of different printer stands to find one that was big enough and strong enough to hold my big, heavy printer. I finally settled on this one. I like that it has support in the middle since my printer is so heavy...it made me feel a little more secure about it holding the weight. It's also nice that it has a plug-in on it. I have a small paper shredder kind of like this one on the roll-out shelf and I ordered this small trashcan for the strips I cut off of the overlaminate backing. Then I just have unopened reams of paper and miscellaneous stuff on the other two shelves. 

I also have my sticker storage binders on my printer stand. For my die-cut stickers, I use these 9x9 pages. I have 2", 3", and 4" size options for reach design, so the 3 columns of 4"x4" pockets works great. Then I have these 4"x6" top-loading pages for my 4"x6" sticker sheets. 

The armoire really just has my cold roll manual laminator in the open space and I store a lot of shipping materials on the shelves underneath. Oh and I use this slice tool to cut a thin strip on just the backing of my overlaminate to stick the laminate to the top of my sticker paper to start. On the wall next to the armoire, I have this hanging file organizer where I store different types of overlaminate. 

Some of the things I have on my desk... 
- I have this LED light strip underneath the top of my desk (and in the armoire) to provide extra light. 

- I have this organizer that is actually an elevated shelf for computer monitors. I use it more to take advantage of vertical space. The drawers in it actually fit underneath it...so I have 6 storage spaces instead of just 3. I put my packaging envelopes and full-page cards in the spaces where the drawers went and my half-page cards in the drawers underneath.

- I have a cover like this one for my Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite tablet. I also have this wall mount where I keep it when I'm not using it for drawing. I like watching Netflix or Hulu on it while I'm working.  

- I have these hanging organizers which I really like. It holds my packaging stickers, sheets of stamps, and other little miscellaneous things that I use while packaging orders. 

- I use this postage meter and I've never had any postage adjustments. 

- I have these clear organizers that I store my door sign stickers and magnets, oopsie stickers, books of stamps, and other miscellaneous things. 

- On top of my desk I have these drawers where I store all different kinds of cardstocks, sticker papers, etc.  

I think that's about it. :) I really love the way everything is arranged now. It feels like a lot more room...and laid out in a more functional way. 

**Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission from qualified purchases at no extra cost to you.

May Productivity

The year seems to be going by fast so far...which I'm pretty glad about in this era that we're in. :P 

I spent mother's day weekend just relaxing at home. I've been dealing with some annoying health issues the last couple weeks that have made sleeping a bit difficult. Luckily I was able to sleep in over the weekend. :) While I couldn't sleep...I built an amazing house on my Sims 4 game and got all the laundry done. :P Oh! And I hung up the new curtains for the sliding glass door. The curtains that we'd had were at least 13 years old (Johnny had them up when I moved in) and they were double-layered...but the thin, white layer facing the door had torn from the cats playing in it and the dogs getting caught in it. It was sewn together on three sides of each panel, but the bottom wasn't sewn together so the cats liked to hide in there. They just weren't real heavy-duty for a backdoor. So I got a thicker set of black-out curtains in relatively the same color. They're the same curtains that we have for the living room window, just in a different color...so I knew they would be a lot more durable. We've had the living room panels for almost 5 years now and they're still in great shape. I got them here on Amazon (affiliate link: I may get a small commission at no cost to you for qualified purchases). 

Since it was Mother's Day yesterday, I got a break from making dinner and got to pick where to order food from...so we had Hibachi Boy. :) And we ordered enough that we still have leftovers to eat tonight...so even better! Now that we've finished The Hunting Party, we've been catching up on episodes of SVU in between watching new episodes of NCIS, Tracker, and Organized Crime. We decided to get the Peacock streaming app...so during the day while I've been working, I've had episodes of Snapped playing. I feel like it probably says a lot about me that true crime shows are my emotional support background noise. ;) lol. 

After taking a break from work over the weekend, I'm back at it today. I got most of my current orders done last night, but I have 2 magnets, a sticker, and a sticker sheet that I need to print, cut, and package today to go out in the mail tomorrow. Ooh! And I'm happy to report that I have perfected the cut settings on my Romeo for die-cut laminated stickers, magnets, and matte vinyl sticker sheets. I was most excited to make sticker sheets on the Romeo. They were pretty hit and miss on my Cricut Maker 3 because you can't fine-tune the cut settings like you can with the Romeo. I had to pick the "rice paper" setting and use a 30 degree blade instead of the deep cut blade that rice paper is set for, try to edit the preset down, AND choose "less pressure." But even if I got it to cut perfectly one time...the next time I'd try the same settings and the cut would be too deep into the backing. So when you'd try to take an individual sticker off the sticker sheet, it would go beyond the sticker and pull up a thin layer of the backing. It's honestly why I haven't spent a lot of time creating new products for my CandiMakerPlanners shop that has all my sticker sheets. But cutting them with the Romeo, it only took me two tries to figure out the perfect cut settings for sticker sheets. A lot of people said that the Leonardo Design software for the Romeo is difficult to learn...but I didn't have any problem adjusting to it. I like being able to save my cutting setting presets for each of my products...especially when I can set different levels of force for different cut lines. For sticker sheets...instead of copying the sticker sheet outline 5 times on Cricut Design Space so it'll cut all the way through, with Leonardo I can just set a lighter force for the individual stickers and then a separate increased force for the outline of the sticker sheet. 

So now that I have the perfect sticker sheet settings, I think I'll spend some time designing some more sticker sheets. But it'll have to wait until I finish working on my Faire listings. A friend of mine from the sticker maker Facebook group said she was thinking about joining Faire, and I gave her my referral code. I took it as a sign that I really need to stop just saying I'll get to it sometime and *actually* start working on it. I'm completely revamping everything. Right now I'm working on changing my listing photos. It's a daunting task when I have more than 300 designs, but I think it'll be worth it. It's more cohesive to my brand and I really like the new look. I'm hoping to have it all done by next weekend...but we'll see how that goes. 

And on that note...I should probably get back to work! 

So excited!

Work was pretty slow last Saturday-Monday. I'd originally planned to work on my Faire listings this past week...but work picked up on Tuesday with 8 orders, a couple orders Wednesday, another 7 orders on Thursday, 3 orders on Friday, and 6 orders for today. 

But the main reason why I didn't work on my Faire listings was because...I got a new toy! :) I'm so excited. There was a lot of discussion in the sticker group on FB about Joann's going-out-of-business sales and having Siser cutting machines deeply discounted. Siser has the Juliet (12") and the Romeo (24"). I would've actually preferred a 16" cutter (Starcraft Solo) but they aren't readily available. And since my Cricut Maker 3 is a 12" machine and still working fine...I decided to upgrade to the 24" Romeo. With the discount, it ended up being cheaper than my Cricut was in 2021! They're normally available for $589-$699, but with Joann's discount...I got it for $350! 

I've been having fun learning how to use my new Romeo. Luckily there's another FB group that shares a lot of tips and tricks to navigate through all the quirks. It's been a lot easier to get the hang of than some people in the FB sticker group made it seem. And it's really nice to be able to completely adjust everything so much more than you can with Cricut. The biggest thing is being able to adjust how much of the blade is exposed. That really helps with jagged edges. I can also fine-tune 
 The only "complaint" I really have is that it makes more noise when cutting...but that doesn't actually affect its functionality. I'm just a person who doesn't like noise. :P 

I did have to rearrange some things to set it up in my office because the Romeo is so big. It's a 24" cutting area...the machine itself is 37.25" wide. I removed my camera tripod arm from the "table" my Cricut had been on and was able to fit the Romeo on there (but turned to face the other way than my Cricut was). I had a $25 Amazon gift card and I found a nice Cricut stand that fits at the end of the desk that I have my printer on. 

I may eventually rearrange my office some more, but so far I like how it's all coming together. After I take my old printer and the metal cart/shelf that it's sitting on (you can see the top part of the shelf in the bottom left of the photo below) out to my mom's house, I might see about turning the "table" that the Romeo is on to be perpendicular to the window and move the Cricut stand in front of the window...just to make everything more accessible from my desk. Then the only thing I have to go to the other side of the room to work on is my laminator that is against the wall opposite of the window. But we'll see if that's actually as workable as it seems it could be in my head. ;) 

The angle of the picture kinda makes it look like there's not much room between the "desk" my Romeo is on and the stand that my Cricut is on...but there's plenty of room to walk through there. And the Cricut stand is on wheels so I can easily move it around, too. It's much sturdier than I expected it to be, considering I only paid $22 for it. It's all metal (well the top table part is particle board) and while I can wiggle it, it doesn't noticeably move around when the Cricut is cutting. So I'm glad about that! 

I also ordered some more of my supplies before prices go up...as I'm sure a lot of it will be affected by tariffs. I was able to get a large package of the vinyl sticker paper I use, some more cutting mats, and my glassine packaging envelopes. I also went ahead and got another blade holder for the Romeo. That way I can have one blade dedicated solely to stickers and then the deep-cut blade in a separate blade holder for magnets. Then I don't have to keep adjusting the blade...I can just keep them exactly in the spot where they work the best. 

Oh and in unrelated news, we also inherited a robot vacuum! I haven't really played around with it since I've been busy with my Romeo, but we'll see how it works out with all the dog hair that accumulates. ;) It'll be interesting to see how the dogs and cats feel about it, too. 

Uuuuuughhhhhh

So far I'm really not a fan of 2025. :P And I'm not even actually talking about the political shitshow going on right now. 

About three weeks ago, Johnny got me sick with what I assume was the flu (I know it wasn't Covid because we tested negative multiple times). One of the other things going around lately is walking pneumonia...but I've had that before and it didn't really feel like that. We felt pretty crappy for the first few days. My biggest complaint in the beginning was stuffy/runny nose and Johnny's was more the productive cough. I only had a productive cough for a few days. But we've both been just so tired and blah...and now we have more of a dry cough. Honestly, I prefer a productive cough. This dry cough has been making my throat hurt really bad...and it's keeping me awake at night. Every few minutes it's like my throat feels dry and creates the urge to cough. It used to happen to me a lot as a kid...but I don't remember having a cough like this for basically my entire adult life. :P I hadn't drank coffee in years...but I've been drinking it everyday for the last week or so just because it's been soothing for my throat. 

I've had jaw/ear pain as well...I'm not really sure what's up with that. I don't know if I have an earache from being sick or if the pain is just from my jaw. I sneezed at one point and I literally thought I'd broken my jaw...it was such a horribly sharp pain that shot through my jaw. I've always had TMJ...which isn't uncommon with hEDS. I've never had this kind of pain in my jaw though. So I don't know what's going on with it...and not super excited to go to the doctor to find out. :P A lot of times, it seems like the treatment is more painful than just dealing with the pain from whatever the problem is. 

I've had several issues pop up over the last few years (especially pelvic organ prolapse...common with hEDS) and a lot of them require surgery to actually fix. And since I have adhesive disease, abdominal surgery is pretty much out of the question for me unless it's absolutely necessary. I had abdominal surgery in 2010 for a rectopexy repair and a pretty sizeable colon resection. It was an absolutely NOT fun experience. Then in 2011, I went in to have my tubes tied and the surgeon couldn't even find one of my fallopian tubes because my entire abdomen was full of scar tissue connecting all my organs together. Any future abdominal surgeries--including to remove the scar tissue--would result in more scar tissue. 

So yeah...whenever new issues pop up, I'm not super excited to get into what it's going to take to treat it. Even when it's medication...medications come with side effects and I'm already on several medications everyday. Oh the joys of chronic illness. :P 

And if health issues weren't enough...our freezer isn't working! Yeah...on the refrigerator we just bought in October. I was hoping after all the things we had to fix/replace in 2024 that 2025 would be a bit smoother. But it isn't really off to a good start. :P Luckily it's still within warranty, so we had someone come out on Friday. Apparently they're going to basically replace everything inside...but have to wait for parts to come in. He didn't know how long it would take. The refrigerator section is still working fine so far...which is good. But I'm still not buying a whole lot of groceries at the moment just in case it starts having cooling issues, too. My biggest complaint at the moment is the freaking beeping. :P There's a "HI" error that appears at least every hour or so that comes with beeping...and we have to go hit a button to make it stop every time. There's apparently no way to turn that off or at least silence the beeping. It's bad enough during the day...but it really sucks at night. Whenever the electricity flickers off...it also has an alert that will keep beeping every few seconds until you go hit a button. It's really, really aggravating for a person like me who hates noise. :P 

Other than that things are doing alright, though. Milo is starting to be more interested in the Litter Robot. He's still not actually using it...but he has been getting close to it and investigating it. I'm still leaving it turned off for the most part and then turning it on at least once a day to run a clean cycle. Today I turned it on and he was up here in the living room, heard the Litter Robot start to cycle...and then ran downstairs to go check it out. He didn't get close to it...but he did watch from inside the doorway. Leo will go the the bathroom in the Litter Robot occasionally but still uses the old litterbox too. It's about half and half for him. Angel still loves it and uses it exclusively, as far as I know. The only times I've seen her in the old litterbox is to bury the boys' poop when they don't cover it with litter after they're done. It's like she's cleaning up after the boys. LOL. ;) 

Work is still going well. Since I've felt so crappy...I haven't worked on many new designs lately. I still have some more custom letter name ones that I want to get listed. They're the ones where there are individual graphics for each letter. I've had quite a few orders for the ones I have listed so far. I've also been busy with some party stuff for my Grandpa's 90th birthday party next month. Mom has been coming over and we've been working on invitation stuff. So that's always fun. 

Ooh and I have a new exercise bike being delivered today! I'm excited for that. I like that it folds up so we can keep it out of the way when we're not using it. And it's supposed to be quiet, too, so that's good. 

Johnny and I are watching Season 2 of Night Agent. I forgot that's another show we started watching last year that we liked. We're almost halfway through now. We usually watch one episode a night during dinner...sometimes two. And then I also started watching Killing Eve. I really just have it playing in the background while I'm working so I only catch bits and pieces, but it's interesting. 

Well...I've got some work to do. Hope everyone is having a good 2025 so far!

2024 Year in Review

Here's my annual "Year in Review" post! :) 

1. What age did you turn in 2024? 43

2. What was your relationship status in 2024? Johnny and I celebrated our 7th year of marriage and 12 years together! And we've been in love with each other for 19 years now! 

3. Did you move in 2024? Nope. I've been living here for almost 11 years now and Johnny has lived here for 18 years!

4. Did you purchase a new vehicle in 2024? Nope. It's lasted 5 years so far...hopefully it'll last quite a few more! Johnny is wanting to trade it in for something else, though. 

5. Did you add any new family members in 2024? Nope. Although Aubry and Ashlyn's boyfriends were introduced to the rest of the family this year. I made a rule a long time ago that boyfriends don't come to family functions/holidays unless they've been around for a year...because I don't want a lot of random guys coming and going. 

6. Did you lose any family members in 2024? Unfortunately. :( My Uncle Billy died in August. He was a Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy for over 20 years and served in Desert Storm. He had been in California since I was young, but we remained very close over the years. Then he moved back to Kansas a few years after he retired. I was really glad that my kids were able to meet him. My stepdaughter lost her husband and 11-year-old stepson in September due to a wrong-way driver on the highway. :( And my good friend, Micki, passed away in December. She was one of the sweetest, most generous people I've ever known. Everyone just loved to be around her because she could elevate the mood of the room with her humor. 

7. Did you have any school or work changes in 2024? In February, I added magnets to my CandiMakerStickers Etsy shop and they've done really well. At first, my listing photos still showed the image of a hand holding a sticker...but in September I changed all my listing photos including the main listing photo which was now just the sticker design by itself. I also included the words "Sticker or Magnet" and that 3 sizes are available and I think that's made a huge difference...I started getting a lot more magnet orders as soon as I made that change. Magnets are also a higher price point, so that's increased my income quite a bit since last year. I also offer custom text stickers and magnets which have been doing well. And in November I started adding some more custom name stickers/magnets that have gained some traction. I changed my CandiMakerTransfers Etsy shop into CandiMakerPlanners to sell sticker sheets this year, too. Originally I was selling them in my sticker shop, but it just felt more cluttered. Progress is slow with CMP though because I spend a lot more time working on CMS.

8. Did you travel anywhere in 2024? Nope. Maybe one of these days! 

9. Did you make any big purchases in 2024? Too many, actually! I'd already planned to get my new laptop in January...which is basically an updated version of my old laptop and works SO much better. And my sticker shop has done so well this year that my shop had already "paid off" that expense by the end of March. But then in April we had to replace our entire AC/furnace system (which was luckily paid for mostly by insurance since it was a failure as a result of a power surge). But then in August a storm blew down two sides of our fence. So we had to get that replaced. THEN we had to replace the refrigerator in October because our Samsung side-by-side refrigerator that we'd purchased in 2014 stopped cooling again. But we really like the new Frigidaire French door refrigerator. It feels like there's a lot more room. Apparently this was the year of replacing broken stuff. :P Hopefully that isn't repeated in 2025! Oh! And we got a Litter Robot 4 during Black Friday/Cyber Monday! It was my birthday present from Johnny. :) 

10. What was the best gift you received in 2024? Well aside from the Litter Robot...we got a new Carote White Granite set of pots and pans. I really love them so far...they're very non-stick so they're easy to clean. And it's nice having a complete set instead of a really old set (my previous set of pots and pans were from 2005) and some miscellaneous pieces thrown in. :P Johnny also got me some Sims4 games for Christmas. :) 

11. Did you learn any new skills in 2024? The only thing I can really think of is just making die-cut magnets...which isn't really a whole lot different from making my die-cut stickers. But I did figure out how to make both magnets and stickers on the same sheet of paper with my Cricut. :)

12. Did you redecorate in 2024? Not that I can really think of. I added more organization to my desk, but not really any "decor" stuff. 

13. Did you read any good books in 2024? Nope. Most of my time is spent on CandiMaker things and I just never make time for reading unless I'm waiting somewhere. I always have at least one book in my purse all the time in case I have a long wait for an appointment or when I had jury duty. I keep "collecting" books...so maybe one of these days I'll get around to actually reading them! I do read really fast...so most of the time when I do sit down to purposely read a book, I usually finish it in a day or two. Maybe I'll try to start setting aside some time for reading this year. :) 

14. Did you see any good movies in 2024? We watched Damsel, The Painter, The Beekeeper, Carry On...those were the only ones I can remember that Johnny and I watched together. Oh and he also watched a couple Kiefer Sutherland movies with me: Forsaken and Behind the Red Door. We usually watch more TV shows than movies. 

15. What TV shows were your favorite in 2024? Reacher is probably my top favorite. I can't wait for Season 3 on February 20th! I was also excited for Season 6 of Virgin River that came out on December 19th. I really like a lot of TV shows...and it's kind of "our thing" to watch episodes while we we're eating dinner. Shows that Johnny and I started watching together this year: Tracker, Tulsa King, Rabbit Hole, Once Upon a Time, Secrets & Lies, Black Doves, and The Terminal List (we haven't finished that one yet). Shows I watched on my own: The Killing and High Potential. Shows we still watch together: NCIS, SVU, and Organized Crime. We've watched a lot of stand-up comedian specials, too. Oh and I've watched a lot of documentaries (true crime and cults are my favorite subjects). 

16. What things did you do in 2024 that you'd never done before? Dealt with the dogs getting sprayed by a skunk...twice! That was NOT fun! We've had skunks around here a lot, but in the 11 years that I've lived here with dogs, we've never actually had any get sprayed...until this summer. I also discovered that the strong skunk smell triggers my trigeminal neuralgia which makes it even worse. :( 

17. What do you wish you'd done more of in 2024? Probably slept, honestly. LOL. I tend to work late a lot of nights because the dogs are usually more calm when it's quiet outside. So that's when I tend to be more productive. I try to go to bed no later than 2:30am, but sometimes I get in a groove and get to sleep later than that. :P But since Johnny doesn't have to start work until 10:30am, I'm able to sleep in. So that helps. 

18. What were you proud of in 2024? For me personally, I'm proud of how things are going with CandiMaker. My original goal for the year was to hit 1000 sales in my sticker shop...which I reached in July. Then I hit 1800 sales in December! My revenue for 2024 is up over 300% from my revenue in 2023. So I'm really proud of my progress. Since the second half of 2024, I'm making about the same amount of money I was back when I was working a part-time job outside of the home. And then my kids... Ashlyn finished school at WSU Tech in composite fabrication and Aubry got a crew lead position at work. She's been working for the defense section of a large aircraft company since getting her sheet metal assembly certificate from WSU Tech in 2022. 

19. What was the one defining moment of 2024? I would say probably the end of our bankruptcy! We'd filed Chapter 13 back in 2019 after we'd fallen behind when Johnny was having some medical issues. It was a pretty big chunk of money that was taken out of each of Johnny's paychecks. So it's definitely a relief to have that out of the way. Oh! And his student loans were also forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program back in April...so that was a weight off his shoulders as well. 

20. How would you describe 2024 in three words? Loving, productive, and expensive. :P

And now for some 2025 questions... 

1. What did you NOT have in 2024 that you would like to have in 2025? Hm...probably full-time income from CandiMaker! :) But if not in 2025, hopefully I'll at least get there before Johnny retires. 

2. What skills do you want to learn or improve in 2025? It's not really a "skill" but I want to improve my magnetic bookmarks to start selling them again. I'd sold them early on, but I want to find better cardstock/laminate combination that holds up to heavy use without peeling. So I plan to work on that.

3. What do you want to do more of in 2025? Aside from work stuff, I do want to get the stationary bike from my mom's house and exercise more. Perimenopause has been BLAH and between that and all my back and joint pain from hEDS, I want to start with the lowest impact option. I'd swim, but we don't have a pool and I don't want to go anywhere to swim. :P So I'm going to start with the bike. I think mom and I are going to start walking the dogs together once a week or something, too. 

4. What do you want to buy in 2025? Split king mattresses! We have a king size adjustable bed, but Johnny and I have very different sleep positions. But...we need to bring in a lot of dirt for the low spots in the yard first and get some other things done around the house...so we'll see. 

5. What is your number one goal for 2025? I've written pretty vague goals the last several years...so my specific goal for 2025 is to reach 3500 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop. :) 
And maybe this year I'll make a goal of reading 12 books this year (at least one a month)...but we'll see how that goes. ;) 

Hello January

First real post of 2024! 

I was sick the last few days of 2023 into the new year. It didn't last too long and I'm feeling better now. Whenever I'm sick, my neuropathy flares up really bad...so I wasn't getting much sleep. I tossed and turned a lot which made my back and joints even more sore than usual. So we just had a relaxing New Years at home. 

New Years Eve was Nova's birthday! Unfortunately it gets celebrated with her least favorite thing in the world...fireworks. :P Luckily there weren't a whole lot of fireworks and they were over after about 15-20 minutes. It wasn't too bad until one of the neighbors behind us set off some really, really loud ones. It's illegal to set off fireworks here outside of the dates and times allowed during 4th of July, but that never matters. Since I was sick, we didn't do anything for Nova's birthday last weekend but I think we're planning to take her to Petco this weekend to let her pick out some new toys and treats. She LOVES going to Petco (anywhere, really). We always have to make a stop by the small animals because she likes watching them. I want to get both Boz and Nova into the groomer sometime, too, but we need to take them to the vet to get this year's shots first. So we'll get around to that sometime. The dogs are doing great, though. I mean...Bozley is still the pickiest dog ever and it's a pain trying to get him to eat all his food, but they're such cute, sweet puppies. Nova is far more calm, laid back, and cuddly. She has been such a wonderful addition to our family...I can't imagine not having either one of them. 

On New Years Day, Johnny was in the mood to deep clean the kitchen. He started in the morning/early afternoon cleaning the bar and everything on it and then when I was done with orders, I finished up most of the rest. I didn't get to the microwave or the fridge...and I didn't do the upper cabinets, but it's a pretty good start and looks great. :) 

I got my new laptop! It's nice having a fresh start after 10.5 years of having the same computer. I'm loving it so far! I got a Dell Insprion 15-3520 with an i7 processor, 16gb RAM, and 1tb of storage (though I have two 5gb external drives that I store most of my stuff on)...which is basically an upgraded version of my old laptop which was a Dell Inspiron 15-5520 with an i5 processor that I'd upgraded from 8gb to 16gb RAM. It's SO much faster than my old laptop and has a better keyboard, graphics card, and Bluetooth. One of my requirements for a laptop is that it has a numerical keypad (I do a lot of accounting so I use 10-key all the time) so I had limited options to choose from...but I'm happy with this one. I do wish that it had a DVD drive, but it's much lighter without it. It also doesn't have a USB-C port, but I'd rather have the three USB-A ports instead of two and one USB-C. My phone is really the only thing I have right now that's a USB-C so it's not that big of a deal...I have a C to A cord that works fine. My only real complaint is that the outflow vent is above the keyboard pointed toward the screen...so the top of the keyboard often gets pretty warm. My last laptop had the outflow vent on the outside edge so I didn't notice it as much. But...overall I'm very happy that I have a new laptop and everything actually works. lol. 

I've been busy the last couple days redesigning a new planner for the year. My sister got me a Hoop Mama Creative Boss planner that I used last year, but it was mostly focused on business-only and I want one that incorporates everything and is more tailored to my needs. I'd made one back in 2021 when I was still doing transcription, but it was before I started CandiMaker so I needed something more. Hopefully this new planner will do the trick! 

I'm also excited to start making planner products to sell for CandiMaker. I want to make covers, stickers, and more...and I'm pretty excited about it. Of course, my biggest issue at the moment is trying to decide how to arrange my products...if I want to sell them under CandiMakerStickers or revamp CandiMakerDesigns for planner products (which is the way I'm leaning right now). So we'll see how it goes. First, I need to finish uploading my stickers to eBay. I only uploaded a few designs to start because I wasn't sure if it would even be worth it...but I made a decent-sized sale within just a few weeks. 

I've been watching a lot of Burn Notice and Chance on Hulu in the background while I've been working. The only thing I've really watched Hugh Laurie on was House...and I loved that show. He plays a much different (yet still American) character on Chance but I really like him in it. My favorite character, though, is D. He's a pretty unique character and I just love his demeanor and the way he always says, "awesome," in response to everything. And then Johnny and I have been watching Reacher and Man in the High Castle during dinner. Reacher is probably my favorite currently-airing show right now. I love Alan Ritchson's character...and I love the humor. Season 1 was awesome, but I'm enjoying Season 2 as well. I hope it'll continue airing for many more seasons! We just started Man in the High Castle last month and we're on Season 2 now...it's pretty interesting and I'm curious to see where it leads. And new episodes of Law & Order and NCIS start again in January. We dropped the Live portion of Hulu during the strikes because there weren't new episodes of our shows anyway...but we may get it again now that they'll be back. 

Well...I'm gonna get back to work! Hope everyone has a wonderful 2024! 

Happy Holidays!

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. We had a nice, relaxing weekend. I made cards and custom name label stickers for the grandkids and then Christmas day we went to my grandparents' house here in town. Grandma made brisket for dinner and it was SO yummy, as always. And one of the gifts we got from my grandparents was the cutest. They always find the neatest things. 

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Johnny got each of the dogs two stuffed animals for Christmas and we wrapped them. Bozley was more interested in the wrapping paper and Nova just wanted the toys without actually doing any work to get the paper off. So she wanted us to unwrap them so she could play with the toy and Bozley was unwrapping the presents and then shredding the wrapping paper instead of playing with the toy. LOL. But one of the toys they each got was a chicken that makes recorded bird noises. It's so funny watching them play with them. Any time we press the part that starts the noise, they'll pick it up and carry it around in their mouth and then either put it in the kennel or by the backdoor. LOL. 

I made Creamy Chicken and Noodles on Christmas Eve. And then Johnny has been wanting a ham, so I made a spiral cut ham last night for dinner. I'm not a huge fan of ham, but it actually turned out pretty tasty. I was going to make it in the pressure cooker like I did for Thanksgiving in 2021, but the ham I got was too big to fit. :P But it was basically the same recipe, I just cooked it in the oven instead of the pressure cooker. Oh and Johnny likes cloves (I'm not a fan of cloves, either), so I added whole cloves stuck to the ham over the pineapple. 

I'm finally getting a new laptop! It's my Christmas present from Johnny...after Christmas so we can deduct it as an expense for next year's taxes. ;) It's basically just an upgraded version of the laptop I have now that's been trying to die several times this year. It'll be faster too...and everything should actually work! lol. I bought this laptop in June 2013...so it has lasted over 10 years. I'd definitely say I've gotten my money's worth...even though I spent extra money on it several times buying parts I had to replace. :P But luckily these laptops aren't hard to replace parts on. And I've liked my Dell laptop better than my HP laptops. Both of the HP laptops I had overheated and fried the motherboard despite always using them with an external cooling fan. Neither one of them lasted three years...one of them I had to get a warranty replacement 3 times in 2.5 years! So hopefully my new Dell laptop will last me a long time. :) 

CandiMaker is still going well! December has been my most successful month so far. I also forgot that I'd uploaded a few of my animal stickers on eBay earlier in the month and I sold 9 stickers there on Tuesday! So my next goal is to get the rest of my stickers uploaded there. I'm at 352 orders and 440 sales in my Etsy shop as of right now. Sales only count different stickers in an order and not individual quantities. The total number of items I've sold this year in my Etsy sticker shop is 574! And on my sales map...the only places I have left are New Mexico, Delaware, and Washington DC. Since there's only a few days left of December, I probably won't get them all by the end of the year. :P For my first year selling stickers, I'm pleased with my progress. I really LOVE making stickers, so it's been a lot of fun.

Online Labels Review

I'm so disappointed. Now that I have my new printer, I can print larger. Circut now has print then cut capability for 11x17 pages so I was excited about making larger sticker sheets (there's a full-page hack but it's time-consuming and with tiny stickers there's less margin for error). Ever since, I've been looking for some sticker paper or printable vinyl sticker paper that is 11x17 in size. All I found were between $1 and $2 per page. My current matte waterproof vinyl is less than 25 cents per page...so paying at least 4 times the price for only double the space...it's not a very economical option. So I was thrilled when I found 11x17 sticker paper from Online Labels. I'd seen people talking about OL forever and liking their sticker paper (although usually it's about their weatherproof paper) so I had high hopes. I bought a package of 100 pages of the 11x17 paper and was excited to try it out. And...now I'm returning it. :P 

After printing and cutting 12 pages...they're all going in the trash. My Cricut keeps wanting to kiss-cut the pages too deep (I have it on the lowest pressure setting possible)...so I already have to mess around with the blade and the depth (raising the housing before I clamp it down) for my sticker sheets. But regardless of the cut, the pages curl horribly when I remove them from the light-grip mat. The brand of matte waterproof vinyl that I currently use for my sticker sheets don't do that on the same mat...so I know it's not the mat. I'm just so disappointed. :( 

I also realized that their "no-hassle guarantee" policy for returns is completely different than their actual policy for returns. The no-hassle guarantee says, "If you're not completely satisfied with your order or the product differs from what you need, you can return the item to us within 60 days for a full refund." However, if you go into your order and start a return...it isn't a full refund if you're not returning a full, unused package. How would someone know if they're not satisfied if they haven't used the product? When I went through my account to start a return, it wanted to deduct the number of pages I'd used. And I was well within the "60 days" as I ordered it on the 15th and it was delivered on the 19th. Then when I went to their return policy under their FAQ, it says, "Ask our customer service representatives about our convenient return option. With this type of return, we'll send you a prepaid return shipping label. When we process your refund, you will receive your money back minus the cost of shipping." Again, that's not the FULL REFUND described in the "no-hassle guarantee." 

So...they gave me a return label and I'm returning the paper in the same product packaging AND box that it was sent to me in. The customer service rep in chat said that I'd be getting a full refund...but the email with the return mailing label stated the refund amount did not include the original price of shipping. 

It's totally fine for companies to have a return policy that doesn't include refunding of the shipping price or that the customer has to pay for their own shipping label to return. However, it's NOT okay for a company to say they have a FULL refund if it's not actually a FULL refund. And considering I had to go back and forth with the representative on chat in order to get the "one-time courtesy" of a full refund...it's definitely NOT a "no-hassle" moneyback guarantee. On their website they talk about their no-hassle moneyback guarantee that's supposed to be more convenient and instill buyer confidence...but then their actual return policy is the same as everyone else's. So honestly, I'm not sure that I'll ever order anything from their website again based on that fact alone. I don't appreciate misleading information. 

This is why I shop on Amazon...which truly has no hassle returns. I don't have to find a box for the item at all...I just use the barcode that Amazon gives me and show it at either the UPS store or Kohls (depending on which one I choose) and then that's it. I'm usually refunded to my Amazon account within a few hours of that barcode being scanned...and then I turn around and buy something else from Amazon. I feel comfortable buying things on Amazon because I know that 99.9% of the time I'm going to have an easy solution to any problem I might have. 

And now it's October!

It looks like I'm kind of in the habit of updating my blog once a month. :P I've just been really busy and when I have "free" time that I'm not spending with my family...I usually just use it to work on more sticker designs or product ideas. :P I basically work from about 10am until 2am everyday. Granted...it's not JUST working because I have to do dishes and laundry and make dinner and I do spend time with my family...but I just really enjoy working on CandiMaker stuff. It's easy to focus on your "job" when you love what you do. And I feel lucky...because a lot of people don't have that opportunity. If it weren't for the support of my husband and my family, I wouldn't be able to do it, either. So I'm very thankful for that.  

Etsy sales have picked up again after a slower September. I had 26 sales in the month of September and then during the first week of October, I'd already gotten 14 sales. So that's always exciting. I had three orders yesterday and one from Monday that went out this morning. I've been having Aubry drop off my orders on her way to work in the mornings. She leaves EARLY so I just pack all my orders before I go to bed and then she grabs them when she leaves the house to drop them off for me. It's working out really nicely. 

So...I've finally decided to let go of doing sublimation transfers. I really enjoyed sublimation at first...but once I started doing stickers, that's really where my passion was. I've kept my second Etsy shop up and continued taking orders for transfers, but I only get about one order per month aside from my sister...largely because I just don't devote the time to that Etsy shop compared to my sticker shop. I really only log into that shop when I get an order. My heart just isn't there right now. 

I've been wanting to convert my ET-16650 back to regular pigment ink for awhile...but then I'd get an order and/or my sister would want some prints so I'd put more sub ink in the printer to complete the orders. And I wasn't going to waste the sublimation ink...so I didn't want to convert it until I'd used all the ink. BUT. Yesterday I noticed that the ET-16650 was on sale for $599...when it's regularly $1229. It's 51% off which is such a great deal. SO...I talked to my mom and sister and tomorrow I will have a brand new ET-16650. Eeeee! I'm so excited. My sister is going to get my current ET-16650 because she loves doing sublimation. And then my mom is going to get my ET-5800 that I've been using for stickers so far. She's been wanting to get a printer for awhile and she loves how everything I've printed for the party has turned out (including photos printed on glossy cardstock). The ET-5800 is basically the same printer as the ET-16650 except that it's smaller, slower, and only prints up to 8.5 inches wide. If there's anything that mom needs printed larger than 8.5x11, then I can print it for her. And if there's anything that I want sublimated, then Chrystine can do it for me. And I'll be able to print faster as well as print up to 13" wide which will really expand my product capabilities. So it's working out for everyone. :) 

I'll be removing all the sublimation transfers from my other Etsy shop...but I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with the shop itself. I'm thinking about leaving it as a digital product shop like it was in the first place. It started just as sublimation designs but I'm thinking about adding other digital products like spreadsheets and printables. That was the plan before I started stickers so I think that's probably what I'll go with. But for now I'm focusing on my die-cut stickers and my new sticker sheets. I've decided to do all my sticker sheets sized at 5x7 instead of full page. That way I can still ship them via letter mail with my standard shipping materials. So we'll see how that goes.  

I also applied for a Faire shop and was immediately accepted. I've got the shop set up, but I haven't had time to start putting up my listings. I figure I'll do that next week when we're done with the graduation party. I've been printing and cutting a lot of stuff for the decorations...I just have a few more before I'm done with that. Then I just have to get the groceries for the two dishes I'm making for the party: Crackpot Chicken and Baked Rotini (although now I use bowtie pasta). It'll be nice to have the celebration...but I'll also be glad when it's over. :P 

But on that note...I'm gonna get back to work! 

The weekend is almost over?!

I'm sad that the weekend is almost over. Johnny declined overtime today so I slept in a little bit and then had a fairly relaxing day. I did get a little bit done here and there but I've just kinda been in a funk. I think it's the prednisone. I've been on it several times in the past but it's been awhile and I always forget how it makes me feel until I take it again. The first couple days on the high dose I have a lot of energy which makes it hard to sleep. But it does increase my heartrate quite a bit which I notice a lot in the evenings...which also makes it hard to sleep. I just feel kinda jittery and lightheaded. I noticed it more today so that's probably why I wasn't really in the mood to do much. I cleaned up a little bit in the office and worked on organizing my new graphics into folders but that's about it. And Johnny replaced some of the weather-stripping on our front door. It's been needing it for awhile so I'm glad we got that out of the way.

Tomorrow I want to start going through the bags of old clothes we have and sort them into plastic bins that I got for Christmas so we can put them out in the garage to get them out of the way until we (hopefully) have our garage sale in May-ish when they have the citywide garage sales around here. We had a huge multi-family garage sale with my mom, sister, Johnny's mom, and my stepdaughter in 2014 but we haven't had one since. We keep adding to our piles of "garage sale stuff" and our basement is a complete disaster with everything that we plan to get rid of just kinda strewn about down there. I literally have to climb over stuff to get from one end of the basement to the other. :P And a lot of that is just bags of clothes that the girls have piled down there as they go through their stuff. 

I need to go through my closet too and pack up all the clothes that I've outgrown. It's so weird...because I'd basically been wearing the same clothes that I'd had since high school 20 years ago because I was the same size from the age of 14 on. It was super convenient, of course, because I rarely needed to buy new clothes...I would wear them until they literally wore out. I never fluctuated outside of the 95-105lbs range (except while pregnant) until I was about 33 years old and I had to start taking a new medication for migraines. It caused a whole lot of issues...but it definitely controlled my hemiplegic migraines (basically a migraine that causes one side of your body to be temporarily weak, numb, and/or paralyzed). I used to get them more frequently, but I've only had two since I started taking the medication in 2013. And I'm sure getting older hasn't helped, either. I told Johnny the other day that we should have a funeral for my metabolism. LOL. 

We also got our new air purifiers set up. Johnny has been talking about wanting one for awhile now. We received money from my grandparents in addition to our Christmas presents so we spent quite a bit of time researching them and I was really sold on the Winix HR900. Originally we were going to get one for the bedroom first and then see how it works but the HR900 seemed too big for the bedroom and we thought it would be even more beneficial in the living room...especially since it was rated for a much larger room than our bedroom. We ordered the HR900 on Amazon and got it all set up. We were really impressed with it. So then we decided to go ahead and get one of the smaller Winix models for the bedroom. We went with the Winix A231 and we've been happy with it as well. The HR900 is super quiet so we don't have any problem hearing the TV or anything. The A231 runs just a bit louder...but that works out because I really need white noise to sleep and it's perfect for that. One thing I've noticed is that every time we'd open the front door and the sun would shine through and show all the dust and dog hair and whatever else was floating around...but now you can't see much at all. We usually just keep them on the auto setting. There's a light on each of them that show the air quality as either blue (good), yellow (fair), and red (poor)...and the fan speeds up more for each one until it goes back to blue. The HR900 actually has five stages of filtration. The "Ultimate Pet" pre-filters need to be changed at least once a month...but it's only like $20 for 12 of them. Then it has a fine mesh pre-filter that is washable and doesn't have to be replaced. Then the carbon filter is also washable but need to be replaced about once a year as does the True HEPA filter. They're sold as a set for about $60. The unit alerts you when the filters need to be replaced.I'm sure the more they have to filter out of the air, the more frequently you have to change them. So we'll see how long they last. Oh and both models have "Plasmawave" setting but we don't really use that. The A231 is round and has 4 stages of filtration (it just doesn't' have the Ultimate Pet pre-filter like the HR900). So far I'm pleased with our purchases. :) (Disclaimer: this was not a compensated review...we purchased these items). 

And now I'm gonna get back to organizing my graphics while I'm still awake. :)

Week Two!

Here we are into the second full week of the new year. I think it's been a fairly productive start so far...if you don't count the fact that a lot of things I've been getting done were actually distractions from the other things I planned to get done. LOL. I'd planned to jump right into getting some designs done...but I still have yet to actually get a single new design done so far this year. :P However, I did get all of our bills organized by payday for 2022. Then I wanted to get my new fonts unzipped and organized. But I realized that the free version of the font manager program I've been using only allows for 2500 fonts...and I have a lot more than that. :P So then I decided to buy the paid version of the program. When I went to enter the expense into my CandiMaker spreadsheet, I realized I needed to finalize all my income and expenses for 2021 and set up for 2022. Then I figured I should go through my transcription spreadsheet as well so that I'll be completely ready to do our taxes...which led me to actually logging in to input the tax information I have so far just to get an idea of what we're looking at. Then I finally circled back to organizing my fonts into folders. Plus I've still gotten distracted with everyday things like doing dishes, laundry, vacuuming the never-ending amount of golden retriever hair, making dinner, etc. Plus Thursday night/Friday I was sick and didn't get much of anything done aside from taking anti-nausea medicine and sleeping. :P 

Oh and Sunday the dogs had their groomer appointment. They hadn't been since September. Samantha -- who has been grooming Bozley since he was 4 months old at Doggie Style Salon -- just started her own grooming business -- The Pawsh Pug -- out of her home. So we decided to follow her to her new place even though it's a little bit further to drive. With Bozley's anxiety, I think it's better to stay with the same groomer as long as we can...and she's wonderful with them! I let her know Sunday that Bozley has been a little more anxious lately after the fireworks on New Years, going to Petco, and rearranging our bedroom. When we went to pick the dogs up after they were done, she said that Boz was a little more anxious than normal...but she just held his paw while she was blow-drying him and that seemed to make it better. LOL. Bozley is a bit high-maintenance, that's for sure. :P She sent me pictures as soon as she got done with them and I can't get over how cute they are! 

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We finally finished getting the bedroom all squared away after rearranging everything. I think the dogs have gotten used to the change now and Milo finally started sleeping on "his" pillow on the bed again last night. And now I have a (temporary) bedside table! I'm not sure I'll have one after we get the larger king-size bed...but for now I do. And we were able to put a couple things on my side of the bed (my Allay lamp from my grandparents, the space heater/fan, etc) so now there's room on Johnny's bedside table for his jellyfish lamp (which the girls and I got him for Christmas in 2019) and the new "docking station" that I gave him for Christmas this year. I found it on Etsy and it turned out really nice! I picked out a Cherry wood color and the design with his name. It was well made and even had black leather lining each of the cutouts on the base as well as the piece that the phone sits on. I'm pleased with my purchase and Johnny really likes it. :) 

  

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Today Ashlyn gets her booster Covid vaccine. Her age group wasn't available when Johnny and I got ours last month. So we're gonna get that done today. Then we have to drop off some packages for the kids, grandkids, and Johnny's mom. Since it didn't work to get together with everyone for Christmas, we decided to go ahead and mail all the gifts. So I got everything boxed up and addressed and I'll have Ashlyn with me to help get all four boxes inside at once. Then we have to run by Petco to pick up Bozley's dehydrated wet food. We ran out yesterday but they haven't had the 7lb or 10lb boxes in stock. Well...he didn't eat his dinner last night and didn't eat breakfast this morning so...I went ahead and got a couple of the 2lb boxes for now. I swear...that dog is the pickiest ever! Oh...the bag of treats that we picked out from the "buffet" at Petco for Nova's birthday...Bozley doesn't like any of them! What dog doesn't like treats?! Most of them he'll just turn his nose up at and walk away, then some he'll take it in his mouth and then leave it on the floor and walk away. There are some treats he likes, though. The Three Dog Bakery Assorted Mutt Trio cookies...he loves those. They were out the other day when I placed our grocery order so we got their sandwich cookies instead (kind of like Oreos for dogs). I asked if they wanted a cookie and he came over all excited...then when it wasn't the "cookie" that he usually gets, he just walked away. I've never known a dog as picky as Bozley. :P Nova definitely isn't that picky. She'll eat anything!

All right...I need to finish up the last of my fonts and get to designing! :)  

Turning into cooler weather!

I love fall. I love the colors and the cooler weather. I like it when you can just wear a sweatshirt and still be comfortable. There have been several days when it was a little too cold for just a sweatshirt though. :( I'm really not a fan of winter and fall never seems to last long enough. 

I've been really busy with CandiMaker stuff. I worked on my invoice/order form for my end-product sales and I like how they turned out. I use Excel spreadsheets for everything like that. You can add graphics and change the fonts to make it look nice...but you can also use formulas in the spreadsheet to automatically add up totals, shipping, tax, etc. I have SO many spreadsheets for so many things. Eventually I plan to offer some for sale in my Etsy shop too. :) 

Last weekend Johnny and Ashlyn did a little shopping. I had a pair of jeans that needed to be returned to Kohls for a difference size and Johnny exchanged them for me. :) Then he and Ashlyn looked at some shirts on clearance and found a few that she liked. I always like Kohls clearance. Some of the shirts she got were less than $2! Johnny also found some slippers to replace the ones that had worn out. We love our PJ pants and slippers around here! :) She also tried on a lot of dresses and skirts that she wasn't going to get. :P They have fun shopping around though. Saturday my mom and sister stopped by after they were done running some errands. They tried the cake Johnny made for my birthday and chatted for a little while. So that was a nice visit. :) 

We didn't have any plans for Halloween. Since the kids have gotten older, they make their own plans now. Well...Ashlyn is grounded so she didn't have any plans. :P Aubry was hanging out with a friend of hers that lives near us. She stopped by for a little bit to hang out. Then that evening Johnny, Ashlyn and I met my mom over at my grandparents' house to play the Pegs and Jokers game that my grandpa made. I was dead last the first round but then I came in first during the second round and Johnny came in second! He has only played a couple of times so he's definitely getting the hang of it now! :) We had a lot of fun playing and joking around with everyone. My mom goes over there every Sunday for dinner and to play games. I think we'll have to start making it more of a regular thing for all of us to go over there. :) I think next time that there's an even number of us we're going to play in teams. Since Johnny is getting the hang of it now, we can add another level. ;) 

Tomorrow I plan to clean house and get some laundry done. You know...all the boring stuff. :P We have my grandparents' anniversary party to go to in the afternoon. They've been together for 40 years (it's the second marriage for both of them)! I was two weeks old when they were married. I hope Johnny and I will be able to celebrate 40 years of marriage! We'd have to make it to 2057...so Johnny better live past 89 years old and I'll have to make it to almost 76. Man...that seems so far away! But next year Johnny and I will celebrate 5 years of marriage (and 10 years back together). This is the longest relationship either one of us have had. Johnny was in a relationship with his first wife for 8.5 years, another relationship off and on for 9 years, and then he was with his second wife for about 3.5 years. My relationships before have lasted 3 years, 5 years, and 6 years...so this relationship is by far my longest. And it has definitely been the best relationship I've ever had. :) So...here's to working toward 40 years! :)

FORTY?!

Yep. I'm officially 40 years old now! Honestly I'm not that upset about it. I had kids relatively young. One has graduated high school already and the other will graduate in about a year and a half. I've also been a grandma basically since Johnny and I got back together. The first night we spent together was the night his daughter had her first child...and there have been seven more grandkids since then. And even though Johnny had already turned 40 before we even got back together...I'm the more mature and responsible one. ;) LOL. He's more the playful and spontaneous one and I'm the boring one who makes sure the bills get paid and things get done on time. ;) So we balance each other well. I've also had health issues for many, many years that always made me feel old anyway. :P 

But I had a really good birthday! We went miniature golfing and had dinner here at our house on October 10th. And then on my birthday, my mom and grandma took me shopping in town for the day. We walked around the mall for a little bit. I got four pairs of shoes: a really soft pair of BOBS slippers with adorable black cat faces on them, black Roxy slip-on sneakers, white Skechers slip-on sneakers that were on clearance, and a grey/blue pair of Asics running shoes that I definitely will not be using for running. ;) We also stopped by Michaels for some things I've been wanting...including some hanging vinyl storage so I can see all the colors that I have and a knife blade for my Cricut Maker with some chipboard to try my hand at making Christmas ornaments. :) 

And then my amazing husband made a strawberry chantilly cake from scratch! It tastes AMAZING. It's also the first time someone other than my grandma has baked me a cake so that makes it even more special. :) 

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I'm definitely a lucky girl who has some pretty awesome people in my life. <3