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11.30.2012

Gone Girl - Hope Studios' Book Club



First of all, I think Gillian Flynn must be all kinds of messed up to think of this amazing story of Nick and Amy's relationship!!  I would seriously sleep with one eye open if I was her husband.

I was OB. SESSED. with this book during the 2 days it took me to read it.  I love books that hook me and keep me off guard and this book did both.  I was on such an emotional roller coaster from section 1-3 that after a while I didn't know what was what!  Insane.

Here are some good questions to get the discussion rolling...

**How did you feel about Nick during the first section of the book?  Did you doubt his innocence?

**Did you have any clue about what would be revealed when you turned the page into the second part of the book?

**Did you feel like Nick was absolved from cheating when more of Amy's personality was revealed or is cheating always wrong?

**Amy is psycho!  But isn't Nick, too???

**How did you feel when the pregnancy was revealed at the end?  Did you figure out this last card she played before it was revealed?

**Did you wish the book ended differently or was it fitting for the type of relationship Nick and Amy had?

I'm looking for suggestions for our next book!  Let's get through Christmas and plan to discuss a new book around the end of January.

Check back here on Sunday for an Elf on the Shelf Party! We can share all our silly, funny, creative Elf ideas so we're all set for all the Elf craziness in December!

11.29.2012

My Snowflake Display!


As you know, pretty much as soon as Thanksgiving dishes are cleared we are cutting snowflakes around here, and this year was no exception!


Last year, I added a bit of sparkle with plastic icicles and strings of glittered balls...


This year, we made a bunch of GIANT snowflakes to play with the texture and add some depth...


Later in December, I'll teach you how to make giant snowflakes of your own!

11.27.2012

Tutorial Tuesday!

 Retro Branch Buck:


Paper Tree Ornaments:


Pumpkin Pie Cake:


CLICK PICKS (last week's most clicked links):

#1   Winter Wispy Wreath

#2   Hoot Chocolate

#3   Paper Tree Ornaments


Please... (this is the part at the end of the commercial when the announcer talks real fast)

* Link up using the link to your actual post (not your general blog 

address) using the subject of your tutorial to generate  interest.

* Add my button or a clickable link back to this post so everyone can join in.

* Visit and comment with all our friends. Show them some love! Meet some new friends! Learn something new!

Ready? Teach Me Stuff!




Hope Studios



11.26.2012

Ode To Glad Press and Seal

This is the story of how Glad Press and Seal  saved my Thankgiving.

So, you know our newish puppy, Jeta...


Overly energetic,  40+ pound ball of enthusiasm.

And my sister in law...


Pie baking relative who drove over an hour with precious pumpkin cargo.

Well, did I ever tell you how much rambunctious pup loves to get into cars?  Any cars? Even cars transporting the piece-de-resistance of our Thanksgiving meal???

So, 40 pound dog and pumpkin pie meet in the trunk of the car with nothing but Glad Press and Seal between paws and pumpkin...

There is a commotion!  There are screams!  The car is rocking back and forth as the dog explores the deep recesses of this new car!


Sister in law emerges with a smile on her face with two Pawprint Pumpkin Pies in her hands...
 

You can even see the toenail prints in each paw print, yet no pie was harmed in the telling of this tale.  Glad Press and Seal saved the day!  The pie was eaten!  Thanksgiving was saved!

Thanks, Glad.

Jennifer Juniper

**I was not compensated for this post...I just really dig Glad Press and Seal.  And pumpkin pie.

**Don't forget that Tutorial Tuesday is coming up tomorrow and that we are FINALLY discussing the amazing book Gone Girl on Friday!

11.20.2012

Tutorial Tuesday!

Thanksgiving Cookies:



Pumpkin Roll:


Doughnut Muffins:


CLICK PICKS (last week's most clicked links):

#1   Do Your Pants Hang Low?

#2   Preparing for Overnight Guests

#3   Chemicals Cause Cancer


Please... (this is the part at the end of the commercial when the announcer talks real fast)

* Link up using the link to your actual post (not your general blog 

address) using the subject of your tutorial to generate  interest.

* Add my button or a clickable link back to this post so everyone can join in.

* Visit and comment with all our friends. Show them some love! Meet some new friends! Learn something new!

Ready? Teach Me Stuff!




Hope Studios



11.18.2012

10 Things That Make Me Happy

I'm freaking out!  It's my first Vlog! Yikes!  Isn't it weird that we all feel like we know each other, yet have never heard each other's voices?

Well, here it is, all one take and I just left in the mistakes because I don't know how to edit, so here it is ... warts and all...



Things I learned from doing this video:

*  I obviously love to talk, and ramble on and on.  Clearly, I can talk to anything - even a little box with a red blinking light on it.

* I talk in weird voices sometimes.

* I pet my dog by pulling on her ears.

*I might be a little too dependent on my kitchen timer

* My $3 fleece pants are so ugly!

Here is the tutorial for the Photo Collage Wall I mentioned.

Did you prepare with your own post of 10 Things That Make Me Happy?

Well, okay then!  Let's add an extra link up this week so you can add your blog or just list 10 (or more) things in the comments.


11.16.2012

Dinner Time!

 

So, you know how you do things and think they are totally normal but then you mention it in conversation to a friend and they look at you like you have two heads?  Yeah, me too.

Anyway, this time it was something I can't even remember how it started but maybe I'm not so weird?  Maybe you do it too??? There's only one way to find out...

It's Feedback Friday...

When you are eating a family meal at home together, do you fix your husband's plate?

***Don't forget that Monday is your chance to share 10 Things That Make Me Happy here with me.  You will get to see my first ever "vlog" (ew, that word) post and we can make a party of it!***

11.15.2012

Stuff I Googled This Week...



It could be said that in this age of instant gratification, I am an obsessive "Google-er".  I'm the kind of girl who reads a book with a dictionary (or dictionary app) by my side in case there is a word I don't know.  I hate NOT knowing stuff!

So, any sort of question I have is easily answered by a quick "Google" (which is universal word for any search engine for me, kind of like Kleenex is used for any kind of tissue).  I started thinking about it and wondered if the stuff I wonder about might cause anyone else sleepless nights?  Then I thought revealing this information might actually make people laugh at the inner workings of my mind.  Self humiliation is a must if you have a blog, so let's do this!

I'll even include the crazy way I phrase most of my searches...surprisingly, Google and I are ALWAYS on the same page no matter how I phrase something!

"Recipes to Use Meatballs" - I made a crapload of meatballs this week and couldn't figure out how to use them.  Within seconds, I had 30 Ways to Use Meatballs and I was off and running with Meatball Casserole for dinner.

"What's the Latest Date of the First Friday in December?" - this was a classic example of using Google to win an argument.  Also an example of being too dependent on Google to attempt to use your own brain BEFORE Google-ing.  The argument was about the date of our neighborhood Christmas party...important stuff.

"Creative Name Spellings" - which I Googled to respond to a tweet I thought was funny (the tweeter hated weird spellings for names).  I came up with this Yahoo page  and decided on "Jessickah" as the winner and responded to someone's tweet about hating creative name spellings for kids as if it was a letter from someone named "Jessickah".  I'm beginning to think I have too much time on my hands...

"Melanie Mitro"(doesn't her name sound like a superhero?) - this is the name of my class instructor for my Tuesday night P90x class I take while my boys are wrestling.  She mentioned a blog several times during class, so I came home an Googled her and ended up on this lovely blog named Committed to Get Fit.  FYI, I Google people a lot; customers, opponents on "Words with Friends", people who comment...

"How to Send an Evite for Another Host" - this is circling back to our neighborhood Christmas Party discussion because I send the invitations for someone else who hosts who can't figure out Evite (??? I know, I know???).  Evite lists the person who sent the email as the host.  So, after a lot of looking, the short answer is...You can't.

"How to Change the Calendar View on My iPhone" - This is an example of how un-techy I am.  About once a week I bump something that changes the view of my calendar to the day instead of the month.  I usually just turn it off an hope it goes back.  I finally decided I needed to figure this out so I came up with Calendar View Options for Your iPhone - for Dummies (which made me feel like a dummy).  Turns out I actually AM a dummy, because there was a button at the bottom of the screen all along that said "Day", "Month", "List".  I'm starting to feel like I should have left this one off this list...

"Was Diane Sawyer Drunk During the Election Coverage" - couldn't get a straight answer on this one after hearing about this on the radio, but did gather some video evidence that helped me deduce she might have been. Also, video evidence that made me laugh:




"Whats in a Baseball" - I included the misspelling of this request to show that Google doesn't judge me.  Yes, there is no apostrophe in "What's"...Google don't care!  And, no, my dog is not going to die after gnawing furiously on a baseball because Inside a Modern Baseball is nothing more than leather, yarn, more yarn, a different kind of yarn, 2 kinds of rubber and a cork center.

Then there is a whole list of "My Dog Ate..." Googles.  So far, I now know that my dog will not die if she eats:

Stink Bugs

Hydrorcortizone Cream

Febreeze Air Effects Car Air Fresheners

As I look back over this list, I wonder if I should own a dog...

So, that's a look of what I Googled this week.  I'm thinking this could be a regular feature!

What did YOU Google this week?

***ANNOUNCEMENT***

Start thinking about 10 things that make you happy for a party on Monday!  I recorded my first VLOG! Yikes! And I will have a link up for blog posts so we can all share our 10 things!  WahHoo!

11.14.2012

War Horse

photo

I lucked into an opening night ticket for War Horse last night in Pittsburgh, and fell in love with "Joey" the horse!  I'm not even a horse girl - I'm SUPER allergic Yet, I was totally sucked into this story and might just be a horse convert.

I thought  it was so interesting that there was basically no staging at all - a fence held up by onlookers, or a door hanging in the center of the wall, that was it!  A slash of white in the upper 1/3 of the black stage was the only permanent staging and it was all they needed. They projected line drawings depicting landscape and dates onto the "slash" and it was a simple but perfect way to orient me to place and time.


The tender moments between the boy and his horse made me cry and the intense war scenes made me cringe It's cliche, but I laughed, I cried, I loved it!

The music was a kind of Irish folk song sung by a man who acted as a kind of narrator and pulled the whole thing together.  I could have listened to him sing all day...I might have a little crush...

The animals in the play were all puppets, not even full puppets, but like a framework of a puppet that suggested the shape but not meant to look lifelike at all, yet I never doubted the "realness" of Joey in his scenes.  Somehow, your mind seems to fill in the gaps in the puppet when you see how realistically the puppeteers move the animals.  The swish of the tail and the lift of the chin were so perfectly "horse" that it was all very real to me as I watched.
This play was so different than anything I've ever seen and quickly made it to my Top 10 Fave Shows list!

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