hope...

Finally the sun is shinning and its going to be nice outside. Yeah! I feel like a new girl. I can handle anything now :)

Yesterday I cleaned my house and re-arranged a couple of rooms (I can not put into words how badly I needed to clean). That is the best feeling. It makes me feel like I have all new stuff. Love it! I worked a little also. Is it bad that my muscles are sore today from cleaning & moving furniture? And tried to upgrade a new operating system on my laptop. Of course it did not work and now I need a bigger hard drive. So what was going to be a fun new toy is now going to cost me even more money. Oh, well...

On Wednesday I am going to Kansas City. The National NAMA awards are held there. NAMA is an award show for ag marketing. I am excited to leave the office! It will also be warmer there and my grandpa lives near by. If I am lucky I may get to say a quick hello. My grandpa is so cool, and I don't get to see him nearly often enough.

Next Sunday is going to be a yaking (kayaking) day, hopefully. I have been waiting. My kayaking shoes came last week (cute & comfy). My kayak was purchased in Denver in September. So I have only used it for about 10 minutes before it had to be put away for winter. I am so anxious to use it. So hopefully dad can come to Sioux Falls, hopefully it will be nice and not windy. It will be so much fun.

Well I better start working so I can leave on Wednesday :)

in love...

Today things are a little slower around here :) I actually had a little time to breathe. Mike returned from his mini vacation. We went to grab some food for lunch and took a little detour to a music store. Music stores use to be a normal thing for me. My parents had me start piano lessons at the age of 5, the clarinet/guitar in high school, and the sax in college. My mom loved music so much (even though she was totally tone deaf). I took piano lessons every year until I was a sophomore in college. That was when art officially took over. Anyway...Mike's son had an electric drum set so now he wants one. I guess I didn't really realize how familiar a music store would feel. So I hovered in the digital piano area while Mike checked out the drums. I was so in love. I have wanted a digital piano for a long, long time. Right now I have a traditional acoustic piano, which is never in tune (maybe its time to sell it). So the sales guy starts talking to me. I am so hooked, if he was a little pushier I probably would have left with one today. But now I am thinking it over. I do think there was a sign from God involved though. They were playing Third Day in the store, could it get more perfect! They totally have my business now! Mike says you need to wait 2 weeks to make sure it's really what you want. Right now I just want it.

Sometimes the obvious things never occur to me, today I realized that I did not take 13 years of piano lessons for nothing. I should really make playing the piano a priority or at least play it more often. And possibly buy a digital piano.

again...

It's a rainy gray Sunday and I am at work. I need to stay focused badly. I have lots to do. But blogging sounded like a great distraction. The shoes pictured above arrived at my house on Friday. Of course I ordered them on line. So Cute! I can't wait to wear them. I actually saw them in an ad while I was getting my hair cut and colored. I ordered them from www.piperlime.com (zappos did not have my size). Anyway, piperlime is super cool (and a cool name). The have really cool packaging and print materials. I am now in love with them.

So I guess I will become focused now. Or maybe I will see what new music I can buy on iTunes to make the day go faster :)

make it go away...

I have so much work to do, I can't even figure out where to start. So blogging is probably a good choice. It is pretty bad when it's Wednesday (I just had to look that up on the calendar) and you are so happy that you still have Saturday and Sunday as days you can count as work days. There is a big meeting on Tuesday in Denver and a really big pile of projects to accomplish. I wonder if next week will be any better...

I wonder when I am actually going to loose it...I am sure it will all be fine once I get a few projects done. Right?

avoiding work...

I am at work and doing a really great job of avoiding what I need to be doing. So far I have finished revisions on 8 jobs and have totally run out of steam. I have one big project to finish and I am completely distracted. So far I have caught up on all the blogs, looked at the new releases on iTunes, checked out etsy.com & ebay.com, and my favorite distraction...shoe buying. I just purchased these super cute shoes from landsend.com. They are going to be my kayaking shoes. Having the right shoes for kayaking is so important. Your feet have to get wet, the banks of rivers/lakes are rocky/slimy and then your feet need to dry out. I think these are going to be perfect! And they are cute. Now if it would just quit snowing, I can maybe go kayaking some day. So I wonder what I can do next to avoid working...

easter & a road trip

I know I am a couple of days late but I do have to post about Easter. I left Sioux Falls on Saturday morning and arrived in Lincoln, NE at about 12:30 pm. Our family was having Easter dinner on Saturday night so everyone could attend. I was in charge of dessert. I made fancy chocolate mousse with whipped cream (not from a can or container) with crushed Oreo's in the bottom of the fancy goblet. My aunt was the hostess. After dinner we played games on the wii. Oh, I am so addicted! I LOVE guitar hero. I kind of want to buy one, but they are kind of expensive. It was a fun pre-Easter evening.

The next morning dad and I decided to go see the Sandhill Cranes. They migrate from Mexico to Canada and make a stop over in Nebraska. They stop at the Platte River from March 1st to April 1st. So we packed up the truck with coats, cameras and munchies and headed to Grand Island, NE. It was a little cold and windy that day, but we survived.

The cranes sit in the fields all day and eat the grain that is left from the harvest and at night they come and roost in the Platte River. Well, technically on the sand bars. We staked out our viewing station and took our place at 7:00 pm. It is kind of a weird to see 300,000 birds fly over. They also make a cool cooing sound. If you would like to watch them land you can do it on the National Geographic website. They have a Crane Cam. Here is the link http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/cranecam/ viewing hours are between 6:30-8:30 am cst and 7:00-9:00 pm cst (yes I am a nerd). It really is an amazing site.

So that was my Easter weekend. It went super fast, but it was fun :)

crafting...

Yesterday I made a quick trip to Michael's (craft store). I usually forget out Michael's because Hobby Lobby is so close. However Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday and I needed supplies.

Well, I think I have a new love for Michael's. They had a lot of really cool stuff. One of my favorite things was a whole line of really cool products from Martha Stewart Crafts. Now, normally I am a little annoyed my Martha. Everything is just too perfect in her world. But her paper, ribbons and boxes are beautiful! I wanted to buy everything! She has this really cool ribbon that has an adhesive back. Brilliant!! Here is her website if you want to check it out... http://www.marthastewartcrafts.com

On a side note they had a whole book of Amy Butler paper. She is my most favorite fabric designer. So of course I bought the whole book. I don't really know what I am going to do with it yet, but there are a lot of possibilities.

Happy creating!

best night ever...

For those of you keeping up last night was the Third Day concert. WOW! They are the best.

Bobbi and I arrived early to get good seats. Of course we had plenty to chat about so the time flew by. We sat about 4 rows from the front. Perfect! We had a great view of the bands.

I was so excited to see Third Day. I probably squealed. Ok, I know I did. They really are the best band ever! It felt like as soon as they started to play it was over. It went way too fast. It was amazing.

Below are photos of Bobbi and Phillip, and Third Day. I am also going to post a few video clip (Nicola this is for you.)

best day ever!

I am planning on Thursday being the best day ever :)

blogging...

O.K. so I guess I have ignored this blog long enough. I have been in the work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep mode. I need to break out of that badly! This weekend I have been cleaning my really dirty house and doing a million loads of laundry.

Friday was the deadline for the Brookings Arts Festival (http://www.bsaf.com/) AND I entered! I am a little scared but if I am accepted it will be fun. I will need to start making jewelry now. But I think I am ready for it. I should know by April 15th if I made it in. I will let you all know.

Today is my mom's birthday. I miss her a lot, but I feel so blessed to have had a mom like her. God really gave me something special. I have learned so much from her :)

Well, thats my rambling post for the day. Happy Sunday!

doilies:

I am generally oblivious to Valentines Day. Every year I receive a card from my dad, on exactly Valentines Day. And I never remember to send anything. It just seems to pass me by, until I get the mail and realize once again that I have sent nothing (guilt!). I am usually all about holidays. So this year I am on top of it. I made cookies last night from my Grandmas recipe. Dad has fond memories of these cookies from his childhood. I hope mine are close. I even shipped the cookies today to arrive at his place of work tomorrow. Wow, I finally made it!

When I was at the grocery store buying supplies I was drawn to a package of doilies. Oh course I had to have them. They are very nostalgic for me and they were perfect to decorate the tupperware I sent the cookies in.

Doilies remind me of grade school. We always had to take an empty cereal box to school as our Valentine Mail Box. Then we would decorate the box. Then everyone would put the cards in the boxes. Oh, how I loved decorating those boxes. I remember lots of doilies ended up on those boxes. It even seems like sometimes there was a prize for the best box. I guess I was practicing for my current job even though I didn't know it. I kind of wish I was still in grade school :)

Happy Valentines Day

happy

I am so busy at work I can't see straight. However I still seem to be able to shop. Do I have a problem? Probably.

Today while shoving Culvers chicken strips in my mouth at my desk. I took a few calming moments and shopped on etsy.com. The best website ever! When things actually settle down I plan on opening my own FlatWear shop. I will keep you posted. Anyway today I found these really cool vintage beads. I bought 6000 beads for $70.00 and they are from the 1940's!!!!!! This is so cool. What a perfect addition to the vintage silverware. And 6000 beads does it get any better than this? Oh, and they are actually in their original packaging. This might be too cool to open.

Relaxation...

Well I have been back to work since Tuesday and it has been totally crazy! It barely seems like we went to Mexico at all. But tonight I finally was to upload my photos tonight so I can re-cap the trip.

Day 1

We started out early on Thursday morning. I took dad as my guest. Its fun to be able to do something for him, since he does so much for me. Flying is not my favorite thing but I did better this time. That is until the return trip from Denver to Sioux Falls. Horrible turbulence. I was never so ready to get off of an airplane.

We arrived in sunny, humid Mexico at around 1:00 pm (I hate what Mexico does to my hair!). Gathered our luggage and headed to the resort. Of course it was beautiful. Everything there is. Since we started going to Mexico a couple of years ago, we have discovered that they have the hardest beds there. We have named them the "Mayan Beds". When we arrived at our room we found our comfy "Mayan Beds" waiting for us. We quickly put on the summer clothing and went to the beach.



Day 2

On day 2 we got up early and headed to a little town down the beach called Bucerias. It is about a 45 minute walk down the beach. It was really fun. We ate at a cool restaurant on the beach, went shopping in all the little Mexican shops and had a great time. I bought a really cool silver ring. While we were eating lunch a little Mexican guy with a creepy puppet and a creepy singing voice came into the restaurant. We paid him to sing to one of our co-workers who is deathly afraid of puppets. It could not have been better!


We then headed back to the resort and sat on the beach for the rest of the day. Oh, the life.

Day 3

We decided this would be our excursion day. They usually have quite a few to pick from and they usually are not cheap. A group of 10 Paulsenites chose to go Whale watching and snorkeling. I was so looking forward to this. We boarded a 60 ft. sailboat and left the marina.


The first thing we saw was a huge group of dolphins. They were swimming around the boat. They were beautiful. Next we spotted whales. They turned the boat toward them so we could get a better look. One of the whales started slapping his tail against the water. I have a not so great video of that. I will try to post it here...



The voyage took about 3 hours to get to the island where we were going to snorkel. We should have all taken a hint when the first thing the guys told us about was Draminine. I was feeling ok until we got closer to the island. The waves were bigger and the boat was bouncing around a lot more. The island was supposed to be a place where you could snorkel or soak up the rays on a white sandy beach. In reality the island was a rocky place covered in bird shit. The smell was so bad that if you were not sick from the boat already you were now. It also turned out that there was not a white sandy beach in sight. I was feeling not so great and it was cold so I decided not to snorkel and stay on the rocking boat.

After snorkeling the guys fed us lunch and we took the 3 hour trip back to the marina. On the way back they decided to put up the sails. Oh this will be cool. Well...the problem was we were not moving anymore all we were doing was bobbing up and down. And that is when I fed the fishes. I was not alone. Since we are all creative people we like to give creative titles to things. This trip quickly because known as "The Vomit Voyage to Bird Shit Island".

We did actually get to see the whales and they are amazing! And we have a really great story to tell. I am not sure I want to be on a boat for 8 hours again. But time will tell.

Day 4

Our relaxation day. We got up early and went to the beach. Dad and I went kayaking to try to get closer to the dolphins. Of course they did not seem to be around when we went out. After our kayaking adventure we relaxed on the beach.

It is Paulsen tradition to play volleyball and group game on the Sunday of the trip. Volleyball started and the guys were so competitive and rabid that the girls just ended up watching. Next was Paulsen Family Feud. It was actually pretty fun. I was #1 to bring an extra suitcase for shopping, #1 for being the most burned on the first day (I wasn't at all. SPF50) and #1 for complaining about the food (the food was much better this time). All in all it was a fun day.


That night a group of us decided to go into Puerto Vallarta for dinner. The resort gave us some suggestions and made us a reservation. We were all feeling brave for going out at night. When the cab arrived we found out it was going to be a lot more expensive then we thought. So we had him take us to the boardwalk. Its where all the tourists go to shop and eat. When we got there someone told the driver to take us to a good restaurant. We then went up the biggest hill ever. The van we were in barely made it up. It was a little scary. When we arrive at the location, the driver gets out and we all follow. Although some of us were a little unsure about where we were. We went in and down a flight of stairs and out onto a deck with the most amazing view. We were over looking the town, the bay and all the lights. This was the restaurant. It was beautiful!


We had a great dinner there and lots of fun. It turned out that the people at the next table were from South Dakota also. And we were soon connected. We knew the same people and one of the guys sells some of the products our client makes. It really is a small world!

Day 5

Time to go home: the day we had to pack our bags and fly back to the cold weather :(

It was a long travel day and we were all so tired afterwards. It was a great trip! And now we are back in reality.


I have posted all my photos on my flickr site. Enjoy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristieweiberg/

tomorrow...

By tomorrow afternoon I will be sitting on a sunny beach in Mexico. I work for possibly some of the most generous people on the planet. The entire office & spouses/family/friends are headed south for 5 days. Its almost hard to imagine not having to wear the goose down poofy coat for 5 days.

Of course what is a tropical vacation with out a little anxiety. Flying is not my most favorite thing in the world. I am much more of a pack up the car and drive there kind of girl. Driving is exciting, you get to see everything along the way. Stop and get out and you can take way more stuff than you need. Also the wearing of swim wear around everyone you work with does not rate very high on my list. Just hoping everyone gets really drunk and does not remember what my casper white, fat body looks like!

We have been on a marathon of work and late hours, so once we actually get there and relax it will be great. We just have to make it through the day.

I do have a fun project to take up my air time. Bobbi has taught me how to make granny squares (with Vanna White yarn :). So cute. They look way harder than they are. Although I did make 2 of them totally wrong. But now I am on the right path and they are actually square!

So stay tuned for tropical photos and stories.

pretty bird

I have been meaning to post this photo. Dad and I went to Palisades State Park the weekend before New Years day. It had snowed and it was beautiful. So we hopped out of the car and took a short hike. Well while we are walking back to the car we noticed this Cardinal. He kept going from one side of the car to the other looking at himself in the mirror. It was the silliest thing I have ever seen. I don't think he had seen himself before that day. And he was very impressed. I took a ton of photos, but this is the best one. At one point he even started pecking at the mirror.

Here he is in the tree patiently waiting for me to move away from the car so he can get back to the mirror :)

am i turning into a grandma?

Yesterday I went "thrifting" with Bobbi. Where else can you get an entire bag of goodies for $1.25? So many cute things! I came home last night and made this cute wall hanging for my spare bedroom/workroom. It consists of a wall hanging with hooks from Hobby Lobby for $6.00. Embroidery hoops & vintage fabric from the thrift store. And a torn up old quilt I bought at a garage sale last summer. So fulfilling!! The quilt on the bed is a grandma quilt I found at the Goodwill in Lincoln. And the lamp shade is from Ikea. I think I might be 33 going on 80.

But the find of the day is this really cool vintage winter coat. It makes me so happy! The color, the fur...what could be better? I saw it hanging in the antique store and I feel in love, and it even fits! It was ment to be. I think I am in love...

snow...

Well since I a kind of have a theme going with the last couple of photos, why ruin it? Today is beautiful in SD. I took a break from working and did a mini-photo shoot in the backyard at work.

merry christmas

winter wonderland

This is what my back yard looked like yesterday. It was beautiful!

christmas spirit

Yesterday was a very productive day. I made 18 custom necklaces, shoveled snow, worked at work and then when to Target. That is where the Christmas spirit really began. I have two other fake Christmas trees but they are really big and don't have lights on them. So when I was in target I fell in love with this tree and it was actually one sale! Who ever came up with pre-strung lights on a tree is brilliant!!!!!!

I arrived home a little before 10 pm with my new tree. Oh course I had to set it up and decorate it the second I got home. I finished at about 12 am. I am crazy!!! But I feel very festive now. I have been playing Christmas music non-stop and finding just the perfect gifts. I love buying gifts for other people, but I can hardly wait to give them to them because I am so excited!

Oh the waiting...