Three Girls and a Hubby

Unscripted Sketches #100 Blog-iversary Party!

2011-04-02T15:48:00.006-04:00

Today's the day for the big 100th sketch/2-year anniversary blog party at Unscripted Sketches! Head on over there to find out about all the fantastic ways to play along! You could win prizes, too!

Here is the 100th sketch:

My project for it serves two purposes. One, it uses the 100th sketch as its basis, and two, it is my letter clue for the blog hop game. Collect all the letters, unscramble them and you could win a prize! Start the hop at the Unscripted Sketches blog.

When you're ready to move on, head over to Linda's blog to continue to play!

Unscripted Sketches #77 and Breast Cancer Awareness Blog Hop!

2010-10-16T00:40:00.012-04:00

.
.
OK, raise your hand if you're possibly the worst blogger in the history of blogging.

So I'm not the most diligent of bloggers. I admit that. I spend my time in quality pursuits like Facebook and Super Granny 5. But seriously, with working two jobs now and hubby working a lot of overtime, time is tight. I spend my time doing what's necessary, then when that's done, doing what I enjoy. I don't blog here much because I find it a bit redundant in many ways. However, I do a lot of administrative tasks for the Unscripted Sketches blog, which I really enjoy! That is what has taken my blogging time lately. Like today. We're having a special blog hop in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

If you arrived here from Angy's blog, you're in the right place! Welcome to my blog!

If you're not familiar with a blog hop, it is simply a circle. You start at the Unscripted Sketches website, and there you will be directed to the blog of one of our design team members. That DT member will direct you to another, and so forth. Once you have reached the blog of the last DT member, they will direct you back to the Unscripted Sketches website. There you can leave a comment, saying you have visited all the blogs, and a winner will be chosen from that pool of comments. The deadline for your comment to be entered for the RAK is midnight ET Friday, October 22nd.

We have a sponsor for the blog hop! AtnitaBe Sampin'. And not only is she offering a really great prize, she's unveiling a special stamp and 100% of the proceeds go to cancer research! Check out the details at Unscripted Sketches Sketch-It Saturday!

Here is the sketch for this week:

And here is the project that I made that was inspired by it:

As I said, the hop is to recognize the importance of breast cancer awareness. Cancer is absolutely horrendous and I don't know anyone who has not been affected by some form of cancer. Every bit of awareness and prevention is worth mentioning. The Susan G Komen For the Cure website has lots of fantastic information.

So as you hop along from blog to blog, enjoy the pink-themed projects and special photos, and let that remind you and/or a loved one to do a self breast exam since the most effective way to treat it is to catch it early. There are lots of goodies along the way to grab or enter to win, so you don't want to miss any of the great blog posts!

From here you'll go to Gardenia's blog. Ready, set, GO!
.
.
.

Unscripted Spotlight- Christmas in July

2010-07-22T21:27:00.006-04:00

When I was a kid, I loved Christmas. Oh, who am I kidding? I still love it! I love the snow-covered hush over the trees and the ground, particularly on nights when the moon is shining bright and everything sparkles. I love the general air of friendliness and cheer, I love the decorations, the special treats and goodies that only come out at Christmas time. I love hand-making the cards I send as well as many of the gifts I give, I love getting together to sing carols. I love to read Christmas classics like The Night Before Christmas and The Christmas Box with my family. I love talking with my husband by the glow of the Christmas tree lights after the kids are tucked into bed. I love watching the fun Christmas movies, old and new, like A Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Charlie Brown’s Christmas, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story (“You’ll shoot your eye out!”) and many others.

But most of all, I love it because of my kids. I love sharing traditions with them that I enjoyed as a child. Like baking cookies, delivering special gifts to friends and neighbors, going to special church services, driving around neighborhoods looking at the lights and decorations. I love creating new traditions as well as finding something new to do that they are now old enough to appreciate. I love sharing the story of the birth of our Savior and how each year the questions they ask become more and more insightful. They love hearing my husband and me tell stories from when we were their ages and I’d like to share some special Christmas memories with you now.

I remember being at that awkward age (around 10 probably) and being mortified by opening a present (with my whole family watching, of course) only to discover it was filled with new underwear. They were pretty colors and patterns and all, but did my grandpa really need to see it?! :D

I remember playing neck deep in snow in the blizzard of 1978. (It was actually in January but in my mind I always associate it with Christmas.) My dad tossed me into a drift and knocked the wind out of me. He was scared and I was completely dazed. :) To this day he still apologizes for that. LOL I remember being terrified when he tossed my dog up and out the back door (so she could get on top of the snow) so she could relieve herself. I thought she’d never come back, and I think I even started crying, but when you’re 6 years old and your dad opens the back door to a 4’ wall of snow, you don’t realize it really isn’t that big a deal to a dog once she gets on top of it.

I remember my brother and me taking turns each year "playing Santa" on Christmas morning and passing out gifts one by one. We were supposed to do it so no one got two gifts in a row so we'd have to gauge who got the most presents and work it out ahead of time. It was kinda fun. :)

I remember my mom with a flour-dusted apron and dish towel slung over her shoulder making countless special Christmas goodies for our family, to give as gifts or to take to parties. I loved cutting out and decorating the shaped cut-out cookies. And no one ever has or ever will make fudge as good as my mom's Christmas fudge!

I remember being about 3 or 4 or so and my mom's cousin Kevin and his family came over for a visit a couple of weeks before Christmas. We had just bought our tree and had a fun time decorating it with all the family that wasn't normally there. My mom loves big trees and we had tall ceilings at that time so that year we had a very big tree. Well, Kevin is very tall so he hoisted me up so I could put the angel on the top of the tree. No sooner than he sat down with me in his lap, the tree came crashing down on top of us! It kept falling so I think we eventually had to put a nail in the wall and tie it off to keep it from falling down again!

My grandma (my dad's mom) from Florida would come stay with us for about a month around Christmas time. Some of my most fond memories are of sitting at the dining room table playing card games with her. We'd talk and play games for hours. She'd tell the most corny jokes and make a pun whenever she could possibly think of one. She loved to laugh and that helped make my Christmas vacations fun.

I remember big family dinners at my grandparents' house (my mom's parents). I'd play with my cousin who is the same age as me and we'd have such a wonderful time! My grandparents had these big books of fairy tales and we'd make up dances and act them out for everyone.

I remember getting my first 10-speed bike. It was beautiful. When my dad wheeled it around the corner, that was the first time I remember being rendered speechless.

But one of the best Christmas gifts I ever got was in 1991 when I opened a giant microwave box from my boyfriend (now husband). He'd tied the hands of two big teddy bears together so that the boy bear was holding a small box out to the girl bear. Inside the box was a ring with a note that said "Will you marry me?". I was speechless then, too. When I eventually was able to speak so that I could tell him yes, I was so ecstatic I couldn't stop talking!

Now we have three children to treasure and I look forward to making many more years of Christmas memories with them!

Unscripted Sketches #62

2010-07-03T17:06:00.003-04:00

It's Saturday again! Here is my latest creation for Unscripted Sketches. We're on sketch #62! Head on over to www.unscriptedsketches.com to see all the great projects the design team has come up with! Also, Christmas in July is in full swing, so check it out!

Here is my project:

Using this week's sketch:

Unscripted Christmas in July starts today!!!

2010-07-01T00:34:00.003-04:00

Today's the big day!!! Unscripted Sketches starts the huge Christmas in July event! Check out all the good stuff at www.unscriptedsketches.com! There will be something offered every day. Journaling tips and inspiration on Sundays, designer spotlights on MWF, recipes on Thursdays and quotes on Tuesdays.

There will also be guest designers, challenges and bonus sketches through the month as well as a huge GIVEAWAY!!! The sponsor www.Thoughts2Paper.com is giving away a Diztress! To be entered to win, you simply have to post three projects through the month. That's it!

And don't forget about Christmas Song Bingo! You still have time to choose your words and send them in! The first words will be called on Sunday, July 4. Here is the link to the instructions: Unscripted Bingo.

So head on over to Unscripted Sketches and check out all the fun that's in store for Christmas in July!

Unscripted Sketches #61

2010-06-26T20:33:00.004-04:00

Hi, everybody! It's Saturday again! This week, between cleaning out the attic, basement and bedrooms for 12 tables worth of garage sale items, I got some new projects done in my studio! One of them is my project for this week's sketch at Unscripted Sketches. Check out the blog at www.unscriptedsketches.com to see all the fantastic projects made by the awesome design team!

This is my project:

And this is the sketch we used:

Unscripted Christmas in July!!!

2010-06-22T16:38:00.002-04:00

July is coming, but we're going to celebrate Christmas at Unscripted Sketches! There will be something new every day for the month of July- it's our gift to you! There will be guest designers, a month-long bingo game, a follower blog hop, designer spotlights, special tips and challenges and more! Starting Thursday, July 1, check in every day for something new!

Unscripted Sketches #59-60

2010-06-22T16:30:00.006-04:00

Here's this week's project for Unscripted Sketches! This is a very different sketch with lots of possibilities.

Here is my project:

This is the sketch we used this week:

Here's the sketch from last week:

Don't forget to visit www.unscriptedsketches.com to see lots of fantastic projects made by the design team!

Unscripted Saturday! #58

2010-06-07T16:52:00.003-04:00

Here is my latest creation for Unscripted Sketches. We're on sketch #58! Head on over to www.unscriptedsketches.com to see all the changes we've made as well as see all the great projects the design team has come up with!

Here is my project:

This is the sketch we used:

Unscripted Sketches #55-57

2010-06-01T10:12:00.008-04:00

It's time to catch up with Unscripted Sketches! Here's my project for sketch #56, plus sketches #55, 56 and 57. There are lots of great projects from the design team, so head on over to www.unscriptedsketches.com and enjoy!

Unscripted Saturday! #54

2010-05-08T23:11:00.003-04:00

Unscripted Sketches # 50, 51, 52, 53

2010-05-01T14:39:00.009-04:00

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!!

There have been leadership changes recently at Unscripted Sketches and I've been really busy behind the scenes. With taking on more responsibilities and the busyness of my regular life I haven't had time to do the projects on top of that for a few weeks and don't forsee being able to do any in the next couple of weeks, but I don't want anyone to miss out on the sketches, so here are the ones from the past few weeks. Go to unscriptedsketches.com to see lots of great projects using this sketch! Enjoy!

Plus, THIS WEEK ONLY, to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day, if you stop by and leave a comment on this week's post at unscriptedsketches.com you will be entered to win a prize!

Unscripted Saturday! #49 + scavenger hunt!

2010-04-03T12:37:00.007-04:00

Welcome to this week's edition of Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches! Be sure to check out the weekly Unscripted Sketches blog post at www.unscriptedsketches.com (and sign up to receive the weekly emails) to view the projects of the whole fabulous design team! There are lots of great projects again this week!

While you're there, check out our Blog-iversary Scavenger Hunt! There is a prize for the first person to find everything, PLUS a second prize drawn from all the correct entries received before midnight PST on Thursday, April 8!!!

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You could be selected as one of our new Top 3 participant projects! While you're there, please leave us a comment as well!

This week's project:

Using this week's sketch #49:

2010-04-01T20:41:00.000-04:00

It's already the one year anniversary for Unscripted Sketches! Come join us for a treasure hunt- not only will you get to see tons of fantastic projects, there's a PRIZE involved! See you all on April 3rd!

Unscripted Saturday! #48

2010-03-27T09:33:00.002-04:00

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You could be selected as one of our new Top 3 participant projects! While you're there, please leave us a comment as well!

This is my project for this week:

Using this week's sketch:

Unscripted Saturday! #47 and special announcement

2010-03-20T21:05:00.005-04:00

*****ANNOUNCEMENT*****

At Unscripted Sketches we strive to make our blog a place for inspiration and creativity, as well as a place for you to share your creativity and be recognized for your work. The DT felt that the 1st uploader winner and random winner was not highlighting the work of our most valuable assets- you!-in the best way so we’ve decided to do away with the 2 so that we can roll out a new program called, Top 3. The Top 3 program starts TODAY. Here’s how it works:

*Each week the DT will choose their Top 3 favorites from that week’s submissions. From the Top 3 a winner will be chosen.

For example:

Participants who submit their work from March 20th to the deadline (see next bullet) of March 24th will be eligible to be chosen as a Top 3 to be announced on March 27th.

*To be considered for Top 3/winner participants need to have their creation uploaded through Mr. Linky by Wednesday by 5pm EST to be eligible for that Saturday’s Top 3.

*Some weeks a prize might be offered by one of our DTs!

*Prizes will only be offered to US residents at this time.

*Prize winners will be directed to contact the DT member offering the prize by contacting that member by email (will be posted on the blog post) with their home address.

*Top 3 and winners will have their work showcased on the blog and quite possibly our Facebook fan page.

*We’ll be coming out with 2 new badges to announce your award on your blog.

Sounds like fun? Great! So don’t forget- this new program starts today! To be eligible for the Top 3 submit your work by Wednesday, March 24th at 5pm EST. Now get crafting!

Now get over to US at www.unscriptesketches.com and post your creations via Mr. Linky! You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is my project for this week:

Using this sketch:

Unscripted Sketches #42, 43, 44

2010-03-13T19:58:00.007-05:00

I took a little vacation from Unscripted Sketches for a few weeks so here are the sketches you may have missed. Can't let that happen. Ack! :D

Be sure to check out Unscripted Sketches at www.unscriptedsketches.com to view the projects of the design team! You can also click on the links on Mr. Linky to see lots of fabulous projects that our followers have made using the sketches for inspiration!

There is a bonus challenge that went along with sketch #43. Once a month there will be a piggyback challenge to go along with the sketch and here's the first of them. Have fun with it!

Hmmmmmm.... Unscripted Saturday #45 and #46

2010-03-13T19:56:00.007-05:00

I didn't check to make sure my post last week published OK, and apparently I must have closed the window before posting it because it's not there! Whoops! The half-saved draft won't do any of us any good this week, so you all get double the fun this week! :D

So anyway, welcome to this week's edition of Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches! Be sure to check out the weekly Unscripted Sketches blog post at www.unscriptedsketches.com (and sign up to receive the weekly emails) to view the projects of the whole fabulous design team! There are lots of great projects again this week! Enjoy!!!

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is my project from this week:

Using this week's sketch:

This is my project from last week:
Using this sketch:

Unscripted Saturday! #41

2010-02-06T14:06:00.003-05:00

This is my project for this week:

This is the sketch we used this week:

Unscripted Saturday! #40

2010-01-30T11:16:00.003-05:00

This is my project for this week:

This is the sketch we used:

Unscripted Saturday! #39

2010-01-23T10:36:00.003-05:00

This is my project for this week:

This is the sketch we used:

Happy Unscripted Saturday!

2010-01-16T17:14:00.004-05:00

Here's my latest creation for Unscripted Sketches. Apparently with illness, a huge project at work and my own blonde-ness, I lost a week somewhere, but, well, this card has never been seen before! LOL This is for sketch #37 at UnscriptedSketches.com. Check out the US blog to see a bunch of great projects using this week's sketch, #38. Play along with your own projects for a chance to win blog candy!

This is my project for sketch #37

Unscripted Sketches sketch #37
Here is Unscripted Sketches sketch #38- go to UnscriptedSketches.com to see wonderful projects using this sketch!

HAPPY NEW YEAR and Unscripted 2010 blog hop!!!

2010-01-01T23:05:00.018-05:00

Happy New Year!!!

Well, it's been 2010 for a whole day now and so far it's been a fabulous year! We spent the whole day resting. We so needed it. It's been a very long and busy, crazy two weeks and we needed a nice long rest. I've stuck it out for the last two weeks being sick and finally crashed today. Hubby declared it a Jammie Day. We stayed in our jammies, didn't leave the couch except to get leftover soup for lunch, order pizza for dinner and had an all-day MythBusters, Dog Whisperer, whatever we felt like watching day. It was overall a fantastic, relaxing, restful New Year's Day!

Here are a few pictures of some of our friends and two of my girls at the end of our New Year's Eve progressive dinner. That was a lot of fun, too! A progressive dinner starts at one person's house for appetizers, everyone moves to another person's house (ours in this case) for soup and salad, then on to a third house for a main dish, then end up at a fourth house for desserts. We stayed there to ring in the new year. I missed my hubby since he was on duty, and Libby, who went to my brother's house in Cincinnati with my parents, but I had fun with friends and two of my girls!

Unscripted Sketches 2010 BLOG HOP!!!

We are having a blog hop for Unscripted Sketches to ring in 2010! If you got here from Sarah's Paper Tray, you're in the right place! If not, start at www.unscriptedsketches.com and follow the links to hop from one designer's blog to another and see lots of fun New Year posts, (some are even offering blog candy!) .

When you get back here, the next stop is Steph's blog at http://stephaniecastrodesigns.blogspot.com/.

Have fun hopping and Happy New Year!!!

Unscripted Sketches #36

2009-12-19T16:56:00.005-05:00

Unscripted Sketches #36

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is my project for this week:

This is the sketch we used this week:

Unscripted Sketches #35

2009-12-12T10:04:00.002-05:00

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is my project for this week:

This is the sketch we used this week:

Unscripted Sketches #34

2009-12-06T00:22:00.003-05:00

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is my project for this week:

This is the sketch we used this week:

2009-11-28T16:35:00.002-05:00

Unscripted Saturday! #33

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is my project for this week:

This is the sketch we used this week:

Unscripted Saturday! #32

2009-11-21T09:41:00.002-05:00

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is my project for this week:

This is the sketch we used this week:

Unscripted Saturday! #31

2009-11-14T09:58:00.003-05:00

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is my project for this week:

This is the sketch we used this week:

Unscripted Saturday! #30

2009-11-07T22:59:00.003-05:00

I wasn't able to do a project for last week, but here's #29, last week's sketch!

Unscripted Saturday! #28

2009-10-24T12:11:00.004-04:00

Welcome to this week's edition of Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches! Be sure to check out the Unscripted Sketches blog at www.unscriptedsketches.com (and sign up to receive the weekly emails) to view the projects of the whole fabulous design team! There are lots of great projects again this week! Enjoy!!!

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is my project for this week:

This is the sketch we used this week:

Unscripted Saturday! #27

2009-10-17T22:10:00.002-04:00

Welcome to this week's edition of Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches! Be sure to check out the Unscripted Sketches blog at www.unscriptedsketches.com (and sign up to receive the weekly emails) to view everyone's projects. There are lots of great projects again this week! Enjoy!!!

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is my project for this week:

And this is the sketch we used:

Unscripted Saturday! #26

2009-10-10T10:31:00.002-04:00

Today is another Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches! Be sure to check out the Unscripted Sketches blog at unscriptedsketches.com or sign up to receive the weekly emails to view everyone's projects. The design team came up with some incredible projects again this week!

We hope our creations will help inspire YOU to create your own work of art, and then share it with us via Mr. Linky. You may also leave us a comment as well.

This is the sketch we used this week:

This is my project:

2009-10-05T19:12:00.001-04:00

Congrats, Alanna! You're caller number 5! :D Random.org chose #5 and you're it! Email me your address at sarahkozy@hotmail.com and I'll send your prize!

Happy World Card Making Day!!!

2009-10-02T22:27:00.024-04:00

HAPPY WORLD CARD MAKING DAY!!!

Welcome to the Unscripted Sketches WCMD blog hop!

If you've never done a blog hop before, you're in for a treat! The designers at Unscripted Sketches have gotten together for a special WCMD event where you get to not only see a ton of fabulous projects, you could also win prizes (blog candy) along the way! Who doesn't like candy, right?!

Here's how it works: Start at unscriptedsketches.com and follow the link to the next blog. That's it! Just follow the links, hop from blog to blog and enjoy! Some designers are offering blog candy prizes to a random winner, some are doing other fun things, so be sure to make the whole round!

Of course, I am offering BLOG CANDY, too! A random winner, chosen from among those who leave a comment, will receive what else? A card, of course! Last week's Unscripted Sketches card, to be exact! (You might just get other little goodies in your package, too. ;) ) The winner will be announced on Monday so be sure to check back. Here's the card.

When you have finished leaving your comment here, HOP on over to the next stop- Steph's blog "Where'd All My Money Go?" http://stephaniecastrodesigns.blogspot.com/ (I apologize, but for some reason my blog will NOT let me add a clickable link.... *sigh* Sorry!)

Have a happy World Card Making Day!!!

World Card Day Blog Hop!

2009-09-29T07:46:00.005-04:00

For World Card-Making Day this Saturday, Unscripted Sketches is having a blog hop! If you've never heard of that before (like I hadn't), it's where you, well, hop from one blog to another, following the links provided.

There are 17 designers, so you will see at least 17 fantastic new projects, and you could also win blog candy along the way! It's going to be a really fun day and you won't want to miss it, so mark your calendars, it starts at 8AM EST on Saturday, Oct 3! The hop starts at UnscriptedSketches.com on Saturday morning- see you there!

Sketch-It Saturday 9-26

2009-09-26T17:51:00.003-04:00

Unscripted Saturday!

2009-09-19T13:02:00.004-04:00

It's time to share another Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches! The projects that the design team made with this week's sketch are phenomenal! Be sure to check out Unscripted Sketches blog at unscriptedsketches.com or sign up to receive the weekly emails to view everyone's projects. This is the sketch we used this week:

And this is the project I did using that sketch. It's a framed art that I gave to my fellow teacher and friend for her classroom.

So enjoy your Saturday and head over to Unscripted Sketches to be inspired!

Hump Day's over!

2009-09-16T22:36:00.000-04:00

As Wednesday comes to a close I am reminded that every day is God's gift to us and no one is promised another. This blog is a forum for me to post my creations and share with you all, readers, but nothing compares to God's creation. Let us not cease to praise God for His marvelous creation. He is so deserving of praise, if we do cease, the very rocks and trees will cry out their praise to Him.

"Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
Let the field exult, and all that is in it then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD,"
~Psalm 96:11-13

2009-09-12T22:38:00.000-04:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Saturday and are ready for another installment of Sketch-It Saturdays with Unscripted Sketches! Here's this week's creation. You can see many more fantastic projects at unscriptedsketches.com.

My project:

Using this Unscripted sketch:

Unscripted Sketches #22

2009-09-05T09:19:00.001-04:00

Good news!!!

I am happy to say that I am now a part of a fabulous design team at Unscripted Sketches! Each week we use a new sketch to create different projects. I will post my creations here, and you can also see ALL the projects from all the designers at the main blog (www.unscriptedsketches.com)! There are fabulous designers and the projects are fabulous!

So here's my first Unscripted Sketches project. Enjoy your long weekend!

I used this sketch:

You can see lots more sketches and fabulous projects at www.unscriptedsketches.com!

2009-08-27T17:09:00.000-04:00

I'm new to this whole blog thing and frankly I came to it grudgingly, ;) so a small victory for me today is figuring out how to post new posts. Now that I know how, I'll be posting periodically, probably about nothing. :D See you later!

My first blog post

2009-08-24T22:28:00.000-04:00

OK, you win, Jenny, here it is- my blog! After all these years of gentle cajoling, you've resorted to blackmail and it worked. So here it is, ladies and gentlemen, (drum roll, please) my blog!