Not such a tame world....

So in 2006, today was an important day in the family....

It was the day that my mother-in-law and father-in-law, welcomed their very first grandchildren into the family. It was also the day that my sister-in-law and her husband finally became parents.

Heavens knows that all of us "kids" kept Mom & Pop waiting for a very long time before they became grandparents. We belonged to the 10+ year club. But then we did things with a bang! First they went from 0 grand kids to 2 grandsons in 1 day (twins) and 2 months later we brought home the granddaughter.

Amazingly, in the past 5 years, all involved parties have survived and thrived. Looking back now, it's mind-blowing how much has changed in 5 years.

We went from this:

 
 

past this (2 years old):

 

and this (3 years old):

 

and even this (4 years old):

 

to now (5 years old). How did time pass so quickly?

 

They've come into their own. They have strong likes & dislikes. They've got crazy little quirks. They've got more energy than anyone should have a right to. Spider-man and superheros, Lego's and scooters, guitars and drums, have all become an important part of their daily lives.

They've gone from babies to toddlers to real little boys. This fall they start kindergarten, and I for one am not ready -- and I'm just the aunt!

Boys -- I love you insanely! And I'm so grateful that you live nearby and I get to watch you grow up.

Happy 5th Birthday!!

[p.s. -- Don't you just love how I condensed 5 years into 5 photos? I think I feel a scrapbook layout coming on....]

I just signed up....

for this class at Big Picture Classes, which will be taught by Stacy Julian. She is one of my favorite teachers and favorite scrapbookers.

I just finished watching the introductory video, and while I'm a bit perplexed -- I am quite excited to be breaking out of my usual methods of scrapbooking.

This may be what I need to get my creative flow back. I'm in a ebb phase at the moment. It's easier to write and take photos and look at other people's projects than it is to actually create something myself. Ah well, this too shall soon pass....

Anyway. I'm excited about this project and now I need to clear some space on my desk to work.

Because we all know I'm addicted to my Cricut & scrapbooking....

Saw this link on Cathy Z's Facebook status update. I haven't had a chance to visit her blog to read all the details, but you know me -- I have to join in.... My answers are in Cricut Green, of course!

This is contest entry for those crazy folks at TodaysMama and Cricut. Be sure to check out Cricut's cool new cartridges and the chance at $30,000 in travel for you and your friends at the Great Gypsy Escape site! http://bit.ly/FWcud

Great Escape Meme
1. If you could escape to anywhere in the world where would it be?

Really? Anywhere? Sign me up for a "Round-the-World Cruise" that way I could see lots of places on the same trip & not worry about packing & airport security. Otherwise, I'd really love to see Bora-Bora & Tahiti.

2. What song do you play when you are by yourself in the car?

Lately I'm on a major Michael Buble kick. My favorite is track #3 on "Call me Irresponsible" -- Me & Mrs. Jones.

3. If you had a night to yourself, and money was no object, what would you do?

Head to New York City, shop until closing time & then spend the evening at the Met, hopefully at some fancy gala party that I could really dress up for.

4. What is your guilty pleasure?

    Dark chocolate anything while watching "True Blood".

5. What is the farthest place you have traveled away from your home?

Russia, twice.

6. Last book that you couldn't put down?

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyers

7. When you want to escape into another time, what movie do you watch?

    It's so corny I know, but "The Sound of Music".

8. What is your favorite local escape? 

Barnes & Nobles. Something about being surrounded by books & the amazing potential they hold that makes me feel so smart & creative & fascinating.

9. How do you escape on a budget?

Sight-see at the tourist attractions close to home.

10. Best food you've ever had while on vacation.

    The rainbow trout at Tavern On the Green in New York City, October 2001. I still remember that meal vividly. Yum!

Not so many of my friends/family have blogs and scrapbook, so I'm tagging these two:

Heather W. & Kirsten!

Have I mentioned how much I love this stuff....

As a matter of fact, I think I did. Right here. Apparently, I only get to play with fun stuff on holiday weekends. [Note to self: Must declare all weekends a holiday....]

So here's some pics of what I made over Memorial Day weekend. It really has taken me this long to get them posted. These diecuts were cut from textured white cardstock via my Cricut using Sure-Cuts-A-Lot software. I used Olive Vine for the green, with a small over blast of Candy Apple Red. The star was done with iridescent Gold. "Noel" was done with just Candy Apple Red. You can probably tell that I'm still slogging though all things Christmas right now. There is no end in sight....

 

 

On "Noel" I first sprayed glimmer from about 1 foot away for the color. Then I got intentionally close to over spray & get the golden splatter. Of course, I also discovered that this is a really good craft project to turn off the ceiling fan....

So earlier this evening I was scoping out the upcoming product releases in the world of scrapbooking & happened across the Tattered Angels blog. They're having a contest to get the word out that the product label is changing put the product is not. The prize is more Glimmer Mist. Since we know that I'm addicted to glitter / shiny objects / free scrapbook supplies; it's obvious that I must join in.

So here goes: Glimmer Mist is the same great product with a Fabulous NEW Look! If you'd like to learn more, then visit the Tattered Angels Website.

As a reminder, here's my pic of the old label:

 

And here is an official photo of the new label:

 

Looks pretty good to me!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend....

We're staying close to home. In case you haven't noticed, we've got a new puppy and he's not vaccinated enough to be travel-worthy. So we're going to be mellow. There's some birthday party plans for Sunday. Otherwise, I hope to get in some more photography, some scrapbooking, and some puttering around the house done.

Scrapbooking-wise, I'm feeling Happy-Happy. I found a place to order my favorite adhesive in bulk at about 50% the usual price I can get locally. These folks shipped ultra-fast & the price was awesome. I also spent my Mother's Day gift certificate on my new favorite technique. I'm addicted to this stuff. There was a class using this at the weekend crop I went to. That was the first time I'd seen Glimmer Mist in action & got some great ideas to try. I don't think that I really need all 80 colors, but I really like the ones that I've got. This is definitely "Glimmer for Dummies". I tried out some color experiments and once they're dry I'll try to post some pics. Fun! Fun! Fun stuff to play with!

So enjoy the three-day weekend and "Think Safety!"

In case you were wondering....

Here's the real reason I fight a losing battle to keep my office picked-up:

 

The "Tonka Terrorists" at work. You should see what they do to my desk....

"Trust me...."

Growing up, my Dad always told me that when I heard those two words, I should run in the opposite direction. Especially since, most of the time, whoever was saying them probably had their own interests in mind, over mine.

30+ years later, I'll admit that Dad knew what he was talking about. Generally speaking, I've found that to be good advice. I may not immediately flee the area, but I definitely perk up the ol' radar and start paying closer attention when I hear those words. It's saved my skin a few times to be naturally suspicious.

That being said, "TRUST" got chosen as my word of the year this year. So I made another banner, like I did for last year's "FAITH". I got the banner done pretty quickly, but remembering to take a picture, sort of escaped me so far this year.

Here's a Before & After of my wall: [Presto-Change-o....]

 

This year I selected a black, white and kiwi color palette. There is some symbolisim there. I think we'd all like for trust to be a black or white issue, but it isn't always. The green I just liked because it goes with my wall color. I did this with my Cricut & George cartridge. To add some pizzaz, I got busy with the glitter kit that Mrs. H. gave me for Christmas. Ohhhhh. I'm so in love with all the colors. The glitter itself proved to be a much more tricky sparkly thing. I ended up with glitter everywhere in my office because it is so fine that the slightest breeze and it floats away. Five weeks later and I've finally gotten the shimmer effect under control....

 

I haven't been so productive in the scrapbooking world. Most of my free-time lately seems to be taken up with my Twilight obsession. I'm now on my third read-thru of the books.... [I know. I know. Get a life, right!?!] But I did find this cool site that lets you turn your own handwriting into a font -- for Free!! Wicked cool, huh?!?! Unfortunately, Typepad limits my font choices, but I'll try to figure a way to show off my own writing. It really works too! And honestly -- for doctor writing, I'm not too bad!

New Year's Eve, Anyone????

Don't know about you -- but I will be supremely happy to see 2008 over and 2009 ushered in.

I'm feeling that my "Word of the Year" is going to be 'Trust'. It feels like a continuation of my journey with the word 'Faith', but hopefully in a less traumatic way. I went looking for instances of 'trust' in the bible and found one of my more favorite verses:

Proverbs 3:5 -- Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding

I believe that will be the theme of the year. At least in regards to personal development.

I am not really a resolutions-kind-of-girl. I try, but typically give up by March, if I last that long. So rather than the typical "lose 15 pounds", "exercise more", etc, as nauseum, here is what I would like to work on:

• Scrapbook more. Seriously. I may not be able to do a page a day, but I'd like to make some serious progress on some key albums: Tab's "School of Life" and her "Life-book", I'd like to finish my wedding album (which seeing as how it's all laid out -- shouldn't be that difficult....), finish some smaller albums, and I'd really like to do Project 365 (see prior post). In terms of new projects, I'd like to start getting serious about working on my genealogy/heritage album. [Hey Mrs H! Are you with me?]
• Live in the moment. I spend a lot of time worrying about stuff that's happened and stuff yet to come. And you know what? Everything tends to work itself out with or without my worry-energy. So instead of being in the past or being in the future -- I'd like to work on being in the now.
• I'm sure that there is more -- but if I can work on the first two, I think they will spill over into the rest of my life. What do you think?

Well, It's about 1am. Zoe needs her late night potty break. I need a snack. And I have some late night reading to do. I have actually finished the first two Bourne books & am part way into the final one. [Love the movies -- Matt Damon -- Hubba! Hubba!] But right now I'm taking a break and have started the Twilight series. I only opened book #1 yesterday and I got to page 153 in about 3 hours. Gripping! Absolutely Gripping!! And I'm not typically a fan of vampire stories....

Tonight's party plans involved hanging out with my "next-door sister" &her family. Possibly some scrapbooking. Definitely some Guitar Hero World Tour & Rock Band. I'm actually on-call & covering for another doc, so this year will be alcohol-lite -- which it would be with rat poison on board anyway. So I figured I might as well earn some money if I wasn't drinking. So my strategy is to wait until everyone else has had a few drinks, and then my hand-eye-coordination will outclass them all. I'll let you know if my nefarious plan to rule the gaming band world works....

So I leave you with:

2008 -- Not so Great!

2009 -- Hope it's Divine!

Scrapbooking Show & Tell....

So last year the Scrapbooking Guru, Ali Edwards, blogged about her hand crafted Christmas countdown journal. It was already mid December when I read about it, so it seemed like one of those "to-do" projects that would have to wait its turn. She has more links here & here

Fast forward to this year, and as I was wandering the internet I found a pre-collected album that only required assembly. I fell in love with the quirky tag factor and ordered the last set from her etsy shop. Last Friday night I managed to get the whole album put together, and this evening I actually managed to put it to use. I took this as an opportunity to dive into my "stash" and use some of what I've collected. Not much really because most everything in the kit I liked. But I made a few substitutions.

So here's a link to the album of what I made, sans journaling. It was nice to actually do something for myself.

So do me a favor....

And go visit this link here to vote for my scrapbook layout that I entered in a contest. You have to e-mail Rena which layout you like the most. I'm entry #4 -- The one with the photos of Zoe. We were supposed to work from this sketch for our design. Personally, I think #3 & I were the closest to the original plan -- but obviously I like my layout better. :-)

Considering that today has turned out to be just emotionally crushing in the classic "If it can go wrong, it will!" sort-of-way, I really could use a little bit of happiness -- like a half-price scrapbook retreat.

Eight weeks ago when I threw my pulmonary emboli, I also threw the plans I had for Labor Day Weekend out the window. My friend, Mrs. H and I had already booked ourselves a stay at this particular retreat for that particular weekend. We had kibitzed for months about where  & when we wanted to go, and then suddenly we had found "the one". Then the week before, the hostess had to cancel & our money was refunded. Mrs. H was determinedthat we were scrapbooking that weekend, and by some serious internet sleuthing, she found a substitute retreat closer to home for the same weekend. Unfortunately, since I was hospitalized at the time, I couldn't go. I also couldn't get a refund. So I sent Mrs. K in my place. They had a blast and I sucked oxygen from nasal cannula while I tried to get myself thrown out, uhmm, discharged from the hospital. They got lots done & kept texting me pictures of the layouts as they got them finished. They were a little slow on the uptake when I sent them back a picture of my hospital balloons on my living room mantle, to let them know I did get home. But by all accounts, the retreat was well-run & they enjoyed themselves. Still.... Mrs. H & I would still like to get a chance to take a road-trip [with hourly breaks for me, "Clot-Girl", to get up and walk around....] and try out something new. As my working time sheet has been lean for the past two months, every penny counts. So winning this would go a long way towards me getting to go.

So vote for me! Choice #4.

And "Thank you for your support...."