Walking Color Tour

After work, Randy and I took a long walk on a new trail here in Lansing. We had heard from a couple of people how beautiful it was, and they weren't exaggerating. It was the perfect evening for a walking color tour. The last few years it seems like we haven't had great color. Either it snows early, or we get a lot of wind and rain. This year it's been perfect. The color is everywhere, and I've really enjoyed getting out to see it.

I have tons and tons of pictures, and I'm going to share a lot of them. Carol, this is for you, the color you are missing this year!

First, here's a few pictures we took a few nights ago of the color on our street.

And here are the pictures we took on the river walk:

Okemos - A Place To Be

Last weekend I went to the Okemos Holiday Inn Express for a three-day scrapbooking crop. The girls who normally run it were out of town, so they asked me to be in charge. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. I think everyone had a good time and got a lot done. I haven't had a chance to take pictures of my layouts yet, so my scrapbook area on splitcoaststampers.com isn't updated yet, but I'll get to it.

But here are some pictures from the crop.....including one of Deb, who actually made it three days at a crop without completing a layout! She got a Pazzles, which is a machine that cuts, embosses, etc., and can do just about anything (any font, any picture, etc.). She's in the process of learning how all of that works, so she spent most of her time doing that. I can't wait to see what she does with it once she has it all figured out!

And, of course, here's a picture of the pretzels. They were sooooo good! One lady who was there last year came right up to me as soon as she arrived and asked if there were going to be pretzels again this year. I couldn't believe she remembered them from so long ago, but they really are that good.

Alpha Avenue Chocolate Shop

Christmas is fast approaching, and that means only one thing. Well, two things. The NY sweatshirt is out of retirement, and soon my husband will begin making candy.

This year he's decided to take the advice of all of the people who said he should go into business. So, a few weeks ago, the Alpha Avenue Chocolate Shop was born. Coming soon will be a web site, with the availbility to place orders on line.

I'm heading off in the morning to, you guessed it, a scrapbooking retreat, and Randy is making pretzels to hand out while I'm there. He's giving them away as advertising, in hopes of drumming up some business.

All I know is that at some point this weekend, he will appear with carmel chocolate pretzels, and they will be amazing!

Have Paper, WIll Travel

So once again I've been absent from the blog. I've been tied up with lots and lots of scrapbooking. Last Thursday night I went to Houghton Lake with a couple of girlfriends. My friend Kathy has a cabin there, and we went up to scrapbook. It was the best! We stayed there until Monday afternoon, so we had tons and tons of scrapbook time. We did take time out to go to Buccilli's for pizza and also went down every night for the sunset over the water. Of course we also found time to go to Arnie's. I came home with a lot done, but I felt soooo relaxed. It was so nice to just have TIME without being scheduled every minute. We really enjoyed it.

Of course, since I was going to be gone that long, I packed everything I had in my craft room. We all had to drive separately since we brought so much stuff!










We hit it just right to see the beautiful color.









We all went up there for a weekend of scrapbooking last year, so this was our second year. We decided that we need to make this an annual event. Having both Friday and Monday off made it just long enough that we could really relax. We watched lots of chick-flicks movies, sang along with our IPODs, and even found time to read while we were there. We all started the "Twilight" series, and, oh boy is that ever something else. I finished the first one while we were there, and I can't wait to start the next one.

So I'm back home for a few days, back to work for three days, and then Friday I head to Okemos for yet another crop. This one is Friday through Sunday. I'm pretty much just keeping my car loaded up all week so I don't have to haul everything in and out. Well, let's just be honest here, it's so Randy doesn't have to haul it all in and out. Who are we kidding, anyway.

And speaking of Mr. Love, what did he do while I was gone? Well, he has too much time off built up at work, so his boss made him take some time off. He took off the old metal overhang over our back steps and built a new wooden one, and it's soooo nice. I'll get a picture to post of it. He also cleaned the house top to bottom. It looks great! He decorated the basement for Halloween. He ate the shepherd's pie I made for him before I left. I've learned that if I don't leave food for him, he won't eat while I'm gone. So, last Thursday, he came home to an empty house but sitting on the stove was still-warm shepherd's pie.

Last night we just hung out and watched "Cellular." What a movie. It was very, very good. Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Kim Basinger was outstanding in it. She sure does know how to act scared. She had me convinced!

Mama Mia

We were lucky enough to see Mama Mia again this week at the Wharton Center. We saw it last year when it was here, and we loved it. By the end of the show, everyone is singing and dancing - it's so much fun! A lot of the cast was the same as last year, and we especially loved Rosie. She made the show.

And while we're talking about great performances, did you happen to watch "America's Got Talent" this year? I never watched the show before, but Randy and I both got hooked on it this year, probably because there was absolutely nothing else on TV the past few months. Anyway, our favorite won! We were so happy. His name is Neil E. Boyd. He's an insurance salesman from Missouri. Every time he sings, I break out in goosebumps and start to cry. His voice is so beautiful. He's a very sweet, humble man, and I'm just so glad he won.

Here's his first performance.

Did You Think I Was Never Coming Back????

I cannot believe how long it's been since I updated this blog. We've been so busy, and time is just getting away from me, once again. So, I'll bring you up to speed on all things Willett.

Last weekend we went camping again with our friends the DeLongs. We went back to the campground here in Lansing. We really like it there. Deb and I read the whole time we were there. I read one book Saturday and actually another whole book before we left on Sunday. They were both very good. If you haven't read, "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult, you MUST go right now and get that book. It's in my top five best books ever. Truly. I picked it up Saturday morning and basically did nothing else until I finished it.

I'm not alone in my love of this book....I gave it to Deb on Sunday morning. She called me later that evening and had just finished it. It's one you cannot put down

Here are some of the pictures from our camping adventure:

Poor Randy. His old camp stove finally died. He doesn't part with things well (remember the NY sweatshirt?).

Last night Randy's sister and brother-in-law went to see Mama Mia, so we watched our niece, Rebecca. We spent the entire night in the basement playing with the Wii. It was so much fun. We danced, played tennis, bowled, did aerobics, ran.....you name it. I had her logged in as me, and a couple of times it popped up to tell me that I weighed significantly less than last time. HA. That's right, Nintendo....I dropped 100 pounds last week.