this is me.

Hello everyone.  While reading through the prompt for Shimelle's newest class, Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers, the thought crossed my mind that there may be a lot of people popping over here who are not familiar with this little spot or myself, so I though I would take the opportunity to introduce myself. 

Hello! 

I'm Melissa. 

I like to scrapbook. 

and cook and bake for my friends and family

I am head over heels for this guy...

and renovating our house together is one of my favorite things to do 

I am a teacher and a tutor

and a sucker for a good cup of tea

I'm beginning to garden

I like to take pictures 

and I have amazing friends and family! 

 

I'm a pretty lucky lady :)

...And that there is a tiny snapshot of me.

 I'm so glad you've stopped by my little place to share some projects, soon to be projects, and affinity for things that make me smile.

I do hope you'll stop by again!

Oh, and I would love to learn a little bit about you. Please leave a comment telling me a little something about yourself and a link to your blog, if you have one, so I can check out your little place too!

please help. 

<3

the luck of the irish was upon me

Back in February mmb & I had the good fortune of visiting the ever-beautiful country of Ireland. We spent 7 days wandering Dublin, Galway and Belfast with his parents and and visiting with his sister (who I absolutely adore) who is studying for a semester over there.  I can't think of a better day to share a few of my photos than today! 

HAPPY ST.PATRICK'S DAY!

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

anticipating spring

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I do like to take some time at the start of each season to think of some things that I would like to accomplish and some things that I am anticipating. Because I live in New England, the seasonal lists are often drastically different. ;-)

This winter has been especially brutal, 77.8 inches of snow to be exact(!), and I while I do love winter, I am ready to see it go. 

Bring on the grass, flowering buds, and singing birds. I'm even ready to welcome the rainshowers!

Spring 2011 Joy List

Enjoy my beautiful Goddaughter's baptism

Good-weather walks with my best friend now that we live minutes away

Finishing grad school classes

FINALLY getting to plant an herb garden!! 

*

Getting all of the rooms upstairs painted

Getting the outside of the house painted

Red Sox games
The smell after a fresh rainfall

Designing some new landscaping for the yard

Having a grown up tea party

 *

Reading books that aren't textbooks

 *

Seeing what the kitties think of all of the nature at our new house

After-dinner walks w/mmb
Having time to scrapbook
Jumping in puddles
Easter

All the new seasonal vegetables and fruits that will be out 

Going to the Patriot's Day reenactment 

Practicing yoga in the fresh air

And whatever else comes my way!

What are you looking forward to this season?

spring is on its way

I know this because I can see the buds forming on the branches outside my window, I hear the birds chirping, and the sun is mercifully staying out longer. 

 

Oh, how I would love to go outside for a walk in this great neighborhood of ours, however, I am stuck in bed. With strep throat. Boo. I thought you couldn't get strep if you had your tonsils out?! 

Anywhoo, the bright side of being bedridden is that when I am not sleeping or doing a little work from home, I have been able to catch up on the blogs I have not been able to read lately and I have made my way through a stack of catalogs and magazines that I have had sitting next to my bed for awhile now. That, and kitty snuggle time :) 

Well this morning when I woke up at the ripe old time of 10:15am I couldn't fall back asleep. I am taking that as a sign of recovery. Either way I am more than ready to throw open the windows and get some fresh, clean air in here and scrub everything to a shiny spring status. Since I can't seem to muster up the energy to get out of bed (which is probably a good choice) I decided I'd clean up around here (my blog ;-) ) a bit. Nothing says spring like a new banner and playlist, right?

I've used up about as much energy as I can for the day, but I can't wait to come back and let you know about the things that have been going on around here. 

Our trip to Ireland for starters...

And the progress on my craft room...

and what I'm looking forward to and my hopes for the spring...

Hope you are all doing well! Happy Spring!

score!

I just got my hot little hands on a copy of this...

image from here

The always inspiring Elizabeth Dillow has released a book filled with information meant to help you tell (and scrapbook) the everyday extraordinary stories of our lives. 

In her words it is "brimming with historical events, modern observances, and unconventional connections to life that elevate ordinary days into extraordinary and meaningful material for pages and projects"

I don't know about you, but I think that sounds pretty awesome. I'll be waiting at the mailbox for my copy...poor mailman won't know what him when he sees a crazy lady jumping up and down with excitement. I just hope I don't rudely grab it out of his hands and run toward the house. At least without saying thank you. 

;-)

Want to check it out? Go here.

MMEL month 1

Well ladies (and gentlemen) I have made it though month one on MMEL. Have you? There were ups and downs, the journaling explains it all. 

February update coming soon. I'm off to do some yoga before bed!