the one about my blog name

The second part of my little blog challenge is "What is the name of your blog and why?"

The web address of my blog is "www.craftymandy.blogspot.com" My email address has "craftymandy" in it and for a lot of my different Internet stuff, my user name is "craftymandy." It is just kind of the name I have given myself, and it has really stuck. Sometimes I wish I would have re-thought my blog address and had it be more about my family. But I don't feel like I can change it now. I have been blogging for 3 1/2 years!!! Besides, my blog is written by me and only me. It is about my family, but in my words. So I guess it works.

The title of my blog is "All About the Lanes." I went with that because, well, I am a dork and I love the show Friends. All of the Friends episodes are titled with "the one about..." I have always liked that, so I copied it. Most things in my life are connected, one way or another, to an episode of Friends.

Here is a funny little story about my blog. I just got home on Saturday from a four-day 4H leadership conference. I met the funniest, coolest lady there. We started calling each other "my new bestie." We hung out a lot and she is just awesome. Her name is Judy. Anyway, we spent all of this time together. I emailed her today and my blog address appears on my signature at the bottom of my email messages. Judy noticed the address and decided to go look at my blog. She quickly emailed me back to tell me that she had snooped my blog and she had no idea I was married. She thought I was an old teenager or in my very early twenties!!! Flattering, I guess. I was sure to inform her that I am actually 32, been married for 13 years and have an 8 year old. It was funny. And sweet. And kinda weird.

the one about Cara's blog

I have this crazy friend named Cara. We have known each other forever! Seriously... FOREVER! Well, out of the blue the other day, she called me. She told me she was a fan of my blog and was thinking about starting her own. I told her how to get it up and going and I helped her make it cute. She told me that her family was really into John Deere stuff, so I went with it. Go check it out, it is a good blog!

Cara's Blog

But the main reason I am posting this, is to thank her! I have been feeling a little down lately, and it felt so good to be needed! And to know that I have a fan out there!!! She brought me a sweet thank you gift and it really meant the world to me. Thanks Cara! You rock!!!!!

the one about Stephanie

Yesterday, I finally got to hang out with my new blog friend, Stephanie. She made a quick trip to town and I was excited all day to get to see her. We chat a lot about our blogs, we comment back and forth, and email occasionally, but it was so nice to get to meet her in person. She has a super fun blog, so you should check it out if you have a minute. She is a pro at digital scrapbooking, and she gave me a few tips on Adobe Photoshop, which will be very helpful. She also brought some of her awesome books she had made.... AMAZING! Anyway, this is how our afternoon played out....

I was excited and anxious all day for her to get here. She was stopping at Janice's first, then they were going to call me. Steph and Janice picked me up around 1:00, then we met up with Kristi and Nikki at Wingers. We had a YUMMY lunch, then went to Kristi's to hang out. That is where I learned a few tricks on Photoshop. I also ran across the street to my Mary Kay lady's house to pick up a few things. At 5:00, all five of us girls had appointments for pedicures. It was so nice!!! I love having a pedicure! After that, Nikki and Kristi had to go home, but Steph and Harli, Janice and I weren't done hanging, se we went and had some ice cream at Twillager's. We had our waitress take this picture....
It was so much fun to get to hang out with these fun girls. I sorta fell like I have known Stephanie for a long time. We just seem to hit it right off. It wasn't weird to talk to her or anything. I was a little nervous about that, but she is so cool. She is totally down to earth and just a sweetheart. Thanks for coming out here, Steph. And thanks Janice, Nikki and Kristi for letting me barge in on your fun sister time. I had so much fun!!! Come back soon Stephanie and Harli!