I got my camera back

My stolen camera was found today! The kid who I thought to be the one that had taken was playing with an ipod in his pocket. I called the administrator down and he talked with him and sent him back to class. Then the kid was dumb enough to have it out again trying to hide it in his jacket sitting on his desk. This time I saw it and had my hand on it and he jerked it away from me and said I am not giving this to you. I said fine. I called the administrator and officer this time. They took him out but could not find anything. I found his bag on the floor a couple of rows over and took that down to the office and they were able to search through it. They found the ipod he was playing with that he claimed he didn't have plus my camera was in there. And get this, he only got 3 days of OSS (that would be out of school suspension for those who don't know). Are you kidding me?? You steal from a teacher, lie about it, are defiant about giving up the ipod you aren't supposed to have at school in the first place and only get 3 days! But I really don't care because I now have my camera back. He had deleted all the pictures off the memory card but there were 3 I had saved on the camera he didn't delete. Oh well I can recover those pics from my blogs. My cell phone and other memory card are still missing but I am so happy I have my camera back!

Snow day

We finally got up late this morning and went out to play in the snow. There was only about an inch of it but it was enough for the kids to play (and for pictures).








Mostly the kids just had snowball fights.

Seriously, Schools open

I woke up this morning hoping to hear schools were closed. The weatherman seemed so sure of himself last night. But at 5:20 across the ticker at the bottom there it was Shelby County Schools are Open. I thought Ugh. So I got up and looked outside, it was snowing! John went and opened the front door and the road was covered and it was still snowing pretty good. I kept watching the news, nope schools still open. I went to warm my car up and took some photos while waiting.





My car warming up




Finally as I was walking out the door at 6:15 John yelled at me "they just closed the schools". Thank goodness I was really not looking forward to driving in this. Especially down Austin Peay. And I can't imagine the teenagers driving in this. Then I took some more photos as the sun was coming up.







Then it was back to bed. The kids and I are about to go out and play in it so more pictures to come.

Sorting Pictures

I am an avid scrapbooker, this is quite apparent to anyone who knows me personally. I even have another blog dedicated to posting my creations. My friend Carrie was nice enough to let me borrow a book of hers called Photo Freedom by Stacy Julian. I am a chronological scrapper and I won't be getting away from that but I am trying to find a way to organize the "reject" photos. One of my past scrapbooking problems has been I wanted to use every photo I took on the page. I am getting better at that and so I need something to do with all the unused photos. This is where Stacy Julian's category drawers come in. So I spent Friday night organizing my photos into the 4 categories: 1) People we love, 2) Places we go, 3) Things we do and 4) All about Us. It took me 4 episodes of Without A Trace but I got most of it accomplished.



I even threw away this stack of pictures (gasp).

My friend Amy

This past weekend I took some photos of my friend Amy. I am not the best photographer but she was hoping to have a few more pregnancy photos (I never wanted any pics of me pregnant, ha!) so we played around for about 10 minutes with the camera. I think a few of them turned out nice. Doesn't she make the prettiest pregnant girl?!

So Mad!

So today I had my phone and camera sitting on my desk along with my card reader with my 8g memory card in it. I had my phone out because John had sent me a text and I just set it out on my desk after I looked at it. I had my camera out because I took a couple of pictures of the snow this morning, then I was updating my webpage and was going to take pictures of the projects on my wall so I just left it on my desk. I was uploading pictures to my computer this morning also which is why my other memory card was on my desk. Well some kid in my 3rd period took all three of these. I was just sickened when I realized it. I realize that this was partly my own stupidity but it makes me so very angry. And I was in the room when it happened. I just had my back turned to my desk. I filed a report with the officer and one of the administers is talking to all the kids in that class but so far nobody is talking. I am most angry about the memory cards, my 2g was also in the camera so that means both my memory cards are gone. They don't even need those. Beware of the wrath of Mrs. Luttrell because it is coming to 3rd period...

It's Snowing

It started this morning out of now where. I mean they were really not predicting this at all. Of course the kids are going nuts. I have taken 4 pictures so far. The first is of the snow falling from the sky. It is the big flakes, really pretty snow. The next 3 show a progression over a time period of 45 minutes. And no hope yet of getting out of school though.



Taken at 7:50



Taken at 8:00



Taken at 8:36



I haven't been outside in it but they say it is pretty soft snow.

The Scrapbook Retreat

This weekend I went on a girls getaway. It just so happens that all the girls I am going with scrapbook, so that is what we did all weekend. I got 20 pages complete which I was a little disappointed with but we had a great time. There were 7 girls. I rode with Amy and Dianne and Carrie followed. We arrived about 7:00 on Friday night, we got set everything set up and let the scrapbooking begin. Kellie, Crista and Meredith arrived about 9:00 and also set their stuff up. We continued to work on Saturday and even some of us on Sunday morning. We got back to Memphis about 7:00 p.m. We all had a blast!

Here is the view from above of the tables. To a non-scrapbooker this might look like a big mess but we know there were much creativity going on.



Here is Kellie and Meredith hard at "work". They got left out of the table shot before.




This a couple of photos of the cabin where we stayed. It was a great place. Very nice! and had excellent lighting and nice space for setting up several tables.





Here is a photo of the den/kitchen right before our departure. This is the non-scrapizied version of the cabin.



And here is 5 of the 7 girls. You should have seen us trying to set the timer to get this photo.



I will be posting my 20 pages on my crafting blog over the next several days. Be sure to check them out over there.

Grilling Goodness #13

Another episode of grilling goodness (again something I steal from another blog)


1. What's your 'dream machine' - as in vehicle? Do you think you'll ever own it? I just like all luxury vehicles and no I don't think I will ever own one.

2. Can you water ski? Yes

3. What kind of milk to you prefer? 2%

4. Have any of your pet peeves 'gotten your goat' this week? My husband leaving his dirty dishes in the sink without at least rinsing them and reading over my shoulder as I type (like now)

5. How do you prepare your taxes? HR Block, Turbo Tax, by hand - or does someone else do it for you? Turbo Tax

6. Did you start a workout program this New Year? Nope

7. Do you have a certain meal that you cook each and every week? Nope

8. When do you normally write your blog posts? whenever I think about it

Word for 2009

My word for 2009 is REALIZE!

Ali Edwards challenges her blog readers to pick a word to reflect on throughout the year. You can read about it here.

Here is the dictionary.com definition

re⋅al⋅ize

verb, -ized, -iz⋅ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to grasp or understand clearly.
2. to make real; give reality to (a hope, fear, plan, etc.).
3. to bring vividly to the mind.
4. to convert into cash or money: to realize securities.
5. to obtain as a profit or income for oneself by trade, labor, or investment.
6. to bring as proceeds, as from a sale: The goods realized $1000.
7. Music. to sight-read on a keyboard instrument or write out in notation the full harmony and ornamentation indicated by (a figured bass).
8. Linguistics. to serve as an instance, representation, or embodiment of (an abstract linguistic element or category): In “Jack tripped,” the subject is realized by “Jack,” the predicate by “tripped,” and the past tense by “-ed.”
–verb (used without object)
9. to convert property or goods into cash or money.

And I think I am going to try and make a cool scrapbook page with this word for my 365 project front page. We shall see how that goes.

Only 23?

I saw this on another blog (I am constantly stealing things from other people's blog to post on mine, ha!). It is a list of 100 things and you bold the things you have done. Some of these things I have no desire to do but some I do want to try. I put my want to's in italics. I need to get busy!



1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (does rockband on the xbox count?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain (does b-rock count?)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (I taught myself to cross-stitch, does that count?)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke (does the American Idol game on the playstation count?)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (not me but I rode with Kyle)
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (anyone remember Camp 1992)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

365 project

I have started yet another blog. It is for doing the 365 project challenge (explained on the blog for those unfamiliar with that).

Here is the link: Everyday Life in Photos