The Little Connection

I've Moved..

2008-02-29T19:01:00.001-07:00

to a new blog! Come on over to here:

http://www.audralittlephotography.com/blog

See ya!!!!

I survived!

2008-02-26T16:57:00.006-07:00

Ok that was a bit dramatic, but I did survive my gall bladder surgery. I participated in a IV Tylenol study, so I had to stay 2 nights in the hospital, with my own private room and a private nurse. It was well worth it!! I have NO idea how people go home the day of that surgery! First of all, that my surgery was at 3:00 pm and my memory after surgery and that night are pretty faded. I remember my husband kissing me on the forehead and telling me he would let me get some rest and then I remember telling the nurse I needed to watch American Idol..bahhahah... Need?? Ok so in my attempt to watch it I fell in and out of sleep through the whole thing. Then my uncle came in a brought me some funny bunny ears, but I told everyone he came the next morning. Needless to say I was pretty loopy!

I came home from the hospital on Thursday and then on Friday I had to pick up Ellie early from Daycare because she had a fever. She has had it since and basically has the flu! Bummer for my recovery. I'm not supposed to lift anything over 15 lbs... right!

Even though Ellie was sick, we filled her with Ibuprofen and headed out to the Scottsdale Arabian Horse show.. now I'm not a horse person and I really know nothing about them, but it was really cool to go. They are truly magnificent and beautiful. I took my nifty new camera with me (more on that in a minute) and got some cool photos:

I got my new camera the week before my surgery. I LOVE it! I got the new Nikon D3 and it's so amazing!! I really haven't had too much time to play with it yet... but so far it's great! I definitely have a ton to learn and the camera does a ton of things! More to show soon I hope! Ok I've rambled on and on! Have a great week everyone!!

Dallon

2008-01-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends had a baby boy and he is so stinkin cute!! He has the most gorgeous head of hair too!! Anyway, I had the honor of photographing him... He's 4 weeks old here:

I am lagging way behind on my Photo of the Days.. I have some, but I'm lacking in time to load them up! I mean I blink my eyes and the day is gone. Anyone else feel that way? So my stomach has been bothering me big time.. so much that I went to the doctor. An ultrasound late and I have a large gall stone... yuck! So on Friday I am meeting with the surgeon.. looks like surgery will be in my near future. Someone please tell me it's not that bad :)

Holy Cow..

2008-01-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging again. That makes 3 days in a row! I'm doing the happy dance because my new shootsac arrived today:

Oh and that's my photo for the day as well. Now don't faint, but I actually worked out today as well.... can you believe it? I promised my counselor at Jenny Craig that I would go at least once, and I did. To be honest, it wasn't that bad. ( I say that now, wait until tomorrow!) I am going to try and go again either tomorrow night or Wednesday night after Bunko. I keep forgetting to tell about my happiest moment of the day.... I read that you should write it down every day so that you can look back and see them. Crappy days happen to everyone, but in those days you can still find at least one happy moment. Today mine was when Ellie was dancing at the end of the movie. She dances like she is the only one is the world and it is so funny! I love it.

What was your happiest moment of the day?

Wig shopping

2008-01-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

So I went with my mother to pick up her wigs and it was quite the experience. I had NO idea how real those things looked.. or the many colors, cuts, etc... My mother picked out 2 wigs and I swear they look just like her real hair, even the same color. We actually had a fun time trying on the wigs, and managed to laugh quite a bit. Even Ellie tried one on too. I did also learn that I have a huge noggin! Every wig I put on basically made me look like a Q-tip. Seriously.. I looked horrible. I did manage to find this great wig that was actually a hat with some hair attached to it.. I mean could that be any better for waking up and running out on the spur of the moment to go get coffee, or whatever else you may need straight out of bed. Here is a pic of it... it was hard taking a pic of myself in the mirror. (This is straight out of the camera.. no touch ups!) It cost $120, so I decided not to get it. LOL

and here is were I look like a QT but with a red top:

And here's a look at just a few the place had to offer:

So I put the deposit down on my new Nikon D3 camera.... I can't wait for that to get in. I'm so excited!! I also bought an 85 mm 1.2 lens. It should be in next week. Everyone swears by that lens.. I'm sure it will be awesome. I can't wait to see what it does for my wedding shoots!

Today I took pictures of my friend Abby's little newborn girl Maddison. She is a huge sleep and sleeps through anything... but not today. Today she was awake and alert the whole time! Here are a couple of shots: (The second one she wasn't actually sleeping.. just closed her eyes for a sec, but I really like the photo it shows just how little she is)

So I've blogged 2 days in a row... wow. I'm really going to try and blog more. Anyway, back to work tomorrow.. have a great week!

Where to begin??

2008-01-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

Let's start with Happy New Year! Wow it's 2008.. who can believe it? I swear it seems like people were just freaking out about the whole Y2K thing just yesterday.

On a very sad note, Jeff's mother passed away on December 16. She died way too early and I'm sure she will be missed greatly by her family.

Christmas was good, but always very hectic. We spent time with my family before everyone went out of town. Here is a little slide show of our dinner. Note: the blonde wig is my mothers.. we all had fun trying it on!

After Christmas, Jeff, Ellie and I headed out to San Jose/Morgan Hill to spend time with his family and to pick up a few things. Ellie actually did pretty well on the 12+ trip. As long as we had movies, all was good :) We stayed at his parent's house and all of us slept in a full bed. Ellie looked at her pack and play and immediately cried and said "NO".. needless to say I don't think I slept for the 3 nights we were there. We did have a great time, went to some fun place (Children's Museum and the San Juan Bautisto Mission) and we ate some wonderful food.. hello 10 lbs! On our way back we were driving through LA and we decided on a spur of the moment to check on hotel rooms to see if we could stay and go to Disneyland for New Years.. we got a room, got tickets and had a blast! Everything fell right into place. We decided to go that night, walked in and immediately had a great view of the xmas parade. Then we took the train over to New Orlean's Square and ate dinner at the Blue Bayou. It was yummy. Ellie wasn't too keen on the rides, but we had fun just walking around and shopping. The fireworks were awesome and the castle looked amazing. Here are some pics (straight off the camera)

Ellie riding the train again... just one of the many times! She loved it, but was still a little cautious and rode on dad's lap.

A small world, decorated for Christmas.. even the inside was great! For the first time that I can remember I had to wait in line for this ride.
My favorite part was seeing Sleeping Beauty's Castle all lit up.. isn't it beautiful??? Disneyland was insanely crowded for New Year's eve... it was actually sold out. The had to cancel the fireworks due to high winds, so I'm glad we had a chance to see them the night before.

Now we are back home and are slowly getting back into the swing of things. Our lights outside are down and now I need to take down our Christmas Tree. I always hate when the holidays end, but before we know it they will be back again!

Have a great year!!

What????

2007-12-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

You Don't Know Much About Christmas

You only got 4/10 correct

So you don't know all of the history and trivia of the holidays...
As long as you remember to put out some cookies for Santa, you're still ahead of the game.

Random Christmas fact: Only 21% of US households has a real Christmas tree each year.

How Much Do You Know About Christmas?

I can't believe I didn't get more than that!!!

Getting back to the swing of things

2007-12-11T21:54:00.001-07:00

Things in my little world have been so completely crazy. I don't even know where to begin. My mother is doing well. She had her lumpectomy and actually ended up going back this week to get a little more taken out since her margins weren't clear. A couple of her lymph nodes ended up being positive so she will unfortunately have to go through Chemotherapy. I know chemotherapy is actually a good thing, I mean think if we didn't have it, but it's still not going to be any fun for her. She is a strong women and will do fine :) Plus she has a positive outlook on it. It's our little joke, but every time we talk about it, we joke and whisper "cancer", like some old lady would :) I guess you have to be there, but it makes me giggle just thinking about it.

On a very sad note, Jeff's mother is also very ill with cancer. We got a phone call the day after Thanksgiving that she was put in the hospital. Unfortunately the cancer has spread everywhere. Poor Jeff has been back and forth to California to see her. So please say some prayers.

On a brighter note, the photography stuff has been booming. Lot's of families got their pictures taken for the holidays! I will have to post some for everyone to see.

On the scrapping front... I'm a guest girl for Dani Mogstad this month!!! I was so excited to be asked. She has awesome designs and I have been a HUGE fan of her stuff since I first started in this fun hobby! I did actually manage to get 2 pages done... don't faint!! Both of these kits are available at Sweetshoppedesigns.com

We are getting new wood floors installed this week and our house is full of fumes from the sticky stuff they poored on the floor this morning. I'm getting a huge headache and hopefully they won't find me gasping for air in the morning... hee hee!
Ok everyone, if you read all of this you deserve a treat!!

Richard & Renee

2007-11-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

So Richard and Renee planned a wedding in 2 weeks, and even though that seems like a small amount of time, everything went off without a hitch! The wedding was so much fun and who would expect less out of them. They wanted this event to be fun, casual and focus on the things they love the most... family and friends! Here is a little slide show if you want to take a look: CLICK HERE

I've been so busy lately! I have about 4 family shoots that I am editing, so more of those to come soon!

This week we are heading over to my family's restaurant for Thanksgiving. They close the place down for the day and we have full access :) This year we have to bring the stuffing and the green beans.. just thinking about that dinner makes me smile. LOL I LOVE stuffing!! What is your favorite Thanksgiving food item??

Breast Cancer

2007-11-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer this last week. I am still a little in shock, so I haven't blogged too much about it. Please send her some good thoughts and say some prayers if you pray. So far things are looking good. She may only need a lumpectomy and radiation. She luckily had mammograms every year and it was caught that way. So if it's time... go get checked!!

Halloween Recap

2007-11-08T11:17:00.001-07:00

So I almost forgot to mention what a great time we had on Halloween! Ellie was snow white and loved it! At first she was a little hesitant, but once she saw the candy, she quickly caught on. By the end of the night all I heard was "More doors!" Chris and Tiffany came over, along with Grandma & Grandpa to help celebrate. Little Macy made quite the cute sweet pea!

Here is a little slide show of our evening.

Pictures & TV!

2007-11-05T20:15:00.001-07:00

Here is what I have been up to lately :) Sue is a friend of my mothers and her family was so much fun to shoot. We headed out to Vistancia and got some great photos! Could they seriously be any cuter?????

Let's talk TV! Heroes is on tonight! I really like that show.. keeps me on my toes every week and never goes in the direction I think it will. And what about Ghost Hunters! This season is awesome, except for the lame Halloween one.. 6 hours was a bit too much for me. We recorded it and I skipped around alot! I am looking forward to the reveal on Wednesday night. Grey's Anatomy.....ahhhh I still love that show. Not sure about George and Izzy still, but I'm staring to like them together. I just have to get past the whole brother/sister relationship they had before :) Ok so here is my line up for the week... seriously like I have any time to watch these!

Sunday-Desperate Housewives and sometimes Brothers & Sisters
Monday-Chuck, Heroes & Journeyman
Tuesday-
Wednesday-Private Practice, Bionic Woman, Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares (or whatever it's called) and Ghost Hunters (Thank goodness for DVR this night)
Thursday-The Office, My name is Earl, Grey's Anatomy
Friday- nothing really
Saturday- Saturday Night Live

Ok that's all I can think of at the moment... what is your favorite show???

Joshua & Jenny

2007-10-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

Joshua and Jenny's wedding was so much fun to shoot! They just oozed with love and gittiness (is that a word??) The wedding was at Jenny's grandmother's house and it was beautiful. Their flowers were probably the prettiest I have seen and what a huge selection of different flowers! Here is a little sneak peak:

I also shot the most adorable family photos last weekend too.. I'll hopefully have those up for you all to see this weekend!!

Nothing much to report on the home front. Ellie is growing like a weed! She is so funny and makes me laugh every day. I was watching the author of the book, "Eat, sleep, and Pray" she said she keeps a journal were she notes her happiest moment of the day. I need to do that more often. Today my happiest moment was when I looked over and Ellie was singing at the top of her lungs to The Little Mermaid while holding her TWO Ariels and pretending they were singing too... *sigh, it makes my heart sing :)

Have a great week!!!

Bad Bad Blogger

2007-09-23T16:29:00.000-07:00

Where have I been???? Seems like forever since I had an opportunity to blog! Las weekend was so much fun! I went to Savannah, GA for my friend Krista's wedding. Let me just say that I LOVE Savannah. That place is just way too cool. We stayed right on the river and had the best view of river street. I'm in love with Pralines too... yummy. We also went on a fun little ghost tour of Savannah. It was a little "cheesy" but I got to see some amazing old homes. Plus we even went to a house that TAPS investigated!!!! How cool is that! I took some pictures of the wedding:

Krista was a beautiful bride. Her dress was so pretty and just very classy. Here it is hanging up:

and then there was the first kiss:

Then on Sunday I went to Tybee Beach with my friend Lisa and her family. It was really hard to get some good pictures because the wind was blowing so hard. I swear the sand was piercing us in the legs and face. But I did manage to get a few I liked:

Next weekend I am shooting a wedding! I'm so excited about this. Ok off to get some stuff done! Have a great week!

Recovering from a...

2007-08-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

very busy weekend. First of all, on Friday, I had the worst day possible. Anything that could go wrong did.. including me sliding across the tile in the hall at school. I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow I tripped and fell. I was so sore. I swear I pulled every muscle in my body. I jammed my right knee and wrist and then got a huge "burn" from the tile on my left arm. Thank goodness no one saw me. All the kids were at lunch and the halls were clear. I can't even imagine how that would have gone over with a hallway full of elementary school kids. I did have to take a muscle relaxer and that was wonderful. I can honestly say I understand how people get addicted to those things. I slept like a rock.

Friday night my family came over for Taco night and then on Saturday morning Ellie and I headed to a Piggies and Paws Party. They make cool art work out of your child's prints. I can't wait to see the final results. What a great idea.. then later in the day I had 2 photo shoots! Here are 2 pics from baby Karly. She is only 2 1/2 weeks old. She looked older because she weighed 8 lbs at birth. I just LOVE the way these turned out:

I then took pics of a 14 month old.. I'll share a few of those later :)
School has been good.. just busy. Seems like summer goes by so fast and it takes nothing to fall right back into the regular schedule. Even all the kids seem to right back into the swing of things. Next weekend is labor day... woohoo I'll have Monday off!! Ok.. off to get Ellie in the bath! Everyone have a great week!

My weekend

2007-08-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

Life continues to be crazy! I haven't had any time to scrap and/or design... sigh. This week I plan on locking myself in my room each night and get some stuff done! :)

Friday night was date night for Jeff and I. My mom kept Ellie for us. It was fun.. we headed out and ran some errands, hit the mall and then went to this great restaurant called Taneko. It was Japanese food and it was delicious! First of all, they bring you this rock that is 600 degrees.. and you grill your meat on it. Very cool! All of it was very yummy, including the great bottle of wine!

Then yesterday I headed out for my friend Sara's wedding shower. The theme was "Breakfast at Tiffany's" It was so cute! We were supposed to get all "dolled" up and wear dresses, pearls, hats.. etc. Everyone looked great! Here are some photos:

The Yummy little cakes!

The center pieces.. notice what's playing in the back :)

Sara, Stephanie, & Stacey.. aren't they cute!!

After the shower I went and took some photos.. adorable little kids, I'll have to post some later. I'm off to take more photos tonight too :) Off for now!

<---- Insert Title Here

2007-08-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

So things are much slower this week, although I'm working my little behind off!! Summer is officially over and now my cancels at work have slowed waaaaaay down. I actually saw all 8 kids yesterday and then today I saw 7 out of my 8. This is a good thing, but it definitely makes me tired when the day is done!

Tomorrow I'm off to the doctor to get an injection of cortisone into my left knee. Sounds fun huh??!! Actually, I'm glad they are doing it because I'm hoping to get a little relief in that knee. I'm sure my Baker's cyst is back and I really don't want it to pop again!

Check out this picture of Ellie running.. isn't it sweet?? I used Andi's lightroom preset: Rome. I love it!!

Ok off to watch Ghost Hunters :) I LOVE that show!!!

Crazy Week

2007-08-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

This week has just flown by.. every night/day we had something going on. First of all, we started with play group, which was at my house one Monday and then my cousin Patty flew into town on Tuesday with her husband and girls, so we had lots of family time. On Tuesday we went over to my other cousin's house for dinner and swimming.. then we got caught in that huge rain storm!

Wednesday we went over to my Stepmother's house for dinner.. she made yummy lasagne (needless to say, diet is out the window still!) Then Thursday everyone headed over to our house for hamburgers and hotdogs. Then last night Ellie and I actually took it somewhat easy and then today it was over to my cousin's again for my 2nd cousin's 13th birthday! Phew... catch all that??? LOL

Anyway, I did snap lots of pics of my family! Here are the Coles:

The Kelly's:

Aren't they great looking families!!! It's been a fun week, but I'm pooped. Tonight I actually sat down on the couch for about an hour and read a magazine and watched some shark shows on discovery channel. It was nice to actually take a breather. I've had absolutely no mojo in the scrapping or designing area... scrapping gods, please touch me!!! LOL

Ok I'm rambling.... off to edit photos!

Tagged and Rain

2007-07-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged :)

4 Jobs I've Had:
bartender
waitress
dog sitter
speech therapy assistant

4 Places I have lived:
Phoenix, AZ
Enid, OK
Lakewood, CO
Shawnee Mission, KS

4 Favorite T.V. Shows:
Grey's Anatomy
Ace of Cakes
Ghost Hunters
House

4 Favorite Foods:
shredded beef tacos
chips & salsa
chicken pesto pasta
pizza

4 Websites I frequent:
My Digital Muse
Digishoptalk
blogger
myspace

4 Places I'd Rather be Right Now:
shopping
at the movies
on the beach
at a spa

4 Movies I LOVE:
Pride & Prejudice (A&E version)
Sense and Sensibility
Sleepless in Seatlle
Plains, Trains and Automobiles

Tagging:
Mish
Robin
Holly
Tiffany
Anyone else who wants to play!

Tonight it rained soooo hard! I was at my cousin's house and the kids were in the pool, when it just started to pour! We got everyone inside and then watched as my cousin's backyard almost flooded. Ellie and I hung out for an extra hour just so it would calm down. I haven't seen it rain like that in a very long time... crazy!!

A New Look and New Teams!

2007-07-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

So I decided my blog had been ignored long enough! How do you like the new look??? So I'm officially on 2 new teams that I am so stinkin' excited about!!! They are....

Holly McCaig and Andie Smith

How cool is that??? I had such a blast with Holly in Chicago! I was so thrilled when she asked me to be on her team! Andie also sells at MDM and her stuff rocks! Not to mention she is just the coolest photographer too! If you get a chance check out their blogs!

So I edited a few pics from CHA. Here are a few from our little photo shoot! I just love the way these pics turned out! Check out the cool bright bar stools too!

and last but not least I actually got a page done! I used the free template off of the girl talk blog..and then my oldglory kit too:

Ok I think that's about it for now! Hasta!

Quick update

2007-07-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

I made it back safe from CHA and have not been feeling too well ever since! I started feeling really really sick on the airplane. Thank goodness we got in 1/2 hour early, because my lunch was almost in the bag (TMI?) Anway, I just chalked it up to motion sickness.. well all day today I have felt so crummy then this evening I was so sick again.. and no I'm not pregnant. I did have to start my heavy duty medicine today, so maybe that is part of it too. Anyway I slept from 5-7 pm, then got up and ate some dinner. I feel about 80% better, but still not 100%. Yuck huh! I hate being sick.

I had a blast in Chicago. It was awesome hanging out with the girls and I miss them already. I had an awesome time taking pictures with Holly. She rocks! She gave me some amazing pointers that I know I will continue to use now at my shoots. I swear I'll post some pics very soon of our little photo shoot.

ok off to take a bath and too bed..

CHA!!

2007-07-21T22:26:00.001-07:00

Greetings from the Windy City!!! We are having such a great time here in Chicago! I have met so many people from the digiworld.... it's crazy, but so cool to meet them in person. The show is amazing. Overwhelming and gave me so much inspiration! So much that I actually want to paper scrap (What?!) The show is HUGE! What I really like is seeing all of the amazing LOs people have done! I've been spending alot of time with Mish, Holly and Robin:

What happens in Chicago stays in Chicago.. but I will show you a small glimpse:

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that we had a wonderful trip to Disneyland & Sea World.. Ellie was a total trooper. I will definitely post pics of that when I get back to AZ.

Designer Chat at MDM tonight!!

2007-07-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight is my designer chat at mydigitalmuse.com at 9 EST. Come and get this paper pack for free!!! It should be lots of fun!

A Very Bad Blogger!

2007-07-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

I have been MIA.. sorry! Nothing to exciting to report either. I've been busy working on my photography website and that's about it. Both Ellie and Jeff have been super sick this week, so I spent most of my time with them. When Ellie is sick and I stay home I never get anything done, because most of the time she is on my lap :) She is feeling better now.. thank goodness. She had that nasty Coxsackie Virus again! This time she had blisters all in her mouth and down her throat. It was nasty stuff and I'm so relived that it's gone! I guess she got it from daycare again...

Tomorrow is my 36th birthday! Ouch! I'm now 4 years closer to the big 40!! It doesn't seem possible really. Ok that' my bitching.

It's soooo hot here! Yesterday was a scorcher and today was 113! Too hot to go outside. But I do love summer! What I love most about summer is watermelon! I could eat that stuff daily!!

Oh and I'm back on track with LAWL.. down 4.8 lbs this week!!! Woohoo!! Just in time to leave on vacation next Friday to California and then to CHA in Chicago with Robin in Mish!! I can't wait!!! Ok off to bed

Tests

2007-06-18T22:12:00.001-07:00

I'm horrible at tests.. and this just goes to prove it:

You Failed 8th Grade Math

Oh no, you only got 4/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

I got that off of Robin's blog...who got it off of Mish's blog :)

You Know a Few State Capitols

You Got 8 State Capitols Correct

The few you got right were probably luck. It's time to brush up on some rather useless knowledge!

Do You Know Your State Capitols?

Ok now I feel like a big ole dummy!!!!

Nothing too exciting to report.. I'm working on my new photography site. I have someone working on my logo and I have a template I'm working on, so hopefully by next week it will all be done! I'll keep you posted!

Time is flying by as usual!

2007-06-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

I seriously don't know where the time is going?? I blink my eyes and we are half way through the month of June. Insane.

This weekend is Grab bag weekend! Head on over to HERE:

I got a page scrapped last week:

(credits: Wildflowers kit by Beth Hesselberg of Scrapdish, stamped alpha by Michelle Coleman)

I'm officially only working 3 days a week now and I love it! My weeks are going by faster, I get to hang out with Ellie more and I feel like I'm starting to get caught up on a few things. I still have a TON of boxes to unpack. Todays mission: the closet So wish me luck!!! LOL

Are any of you watching Ghost Hunters???? I swear I love that show. I'm not a huge scary movie fan by any means, but this show creeps me out and I LOVE it! Everytime I watch it I get the chills! You can catch it on Wednesday nights on the Sci-Fi channel!

Ok off to drink my coffee! Have a great weekend!

My Anniversary!

2007-05-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

Today Jeff and I have been married 3 years!! It's been a great trip so far :) And guess what he got me... a new lens and flash for my camera!! I was so excited. The flash is actually an early birthday gift :) The lens is a 70-300 mm f/4.5-5.6. It's huge and heavy, but so far takes some really cool pics. Here is a pic of some flowers I picked up yesterday at Costco:

I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day.. we have been so busy around here. (What else is new right??) It's officially summer, which means I only work 3 days a week for the next couple of months!!! YEAH!!! I can't stress enough how happy I am about this! I have so much to catch up on.. especially with the house. We still have a ton of boxes that need to be unpacked. I'm sure once that's done, I'll feel a bit more organized.

Our new house does NOT have a pool :( so we went to Target and got this fun little whale pool for Ellie. It has a little slide on it and it shoots water out the top. Ellie loves it! Here are some pics:

We might be heading over to a friends house for a BBQ later today.. not too sure yet. Other than that, nothing much planned. I do want to hit Old Navy though!! :) Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Dad

2007-05-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

Today is my father's birthday and I miss him.. funny how his birthday makes me so emotional. I guess pms will do that! (overshare!) 3 years ago this week we celebrated his birthday by all going out to eat. He told me how he hadn't been feeling too well.. and I told him to go to the doctor. A few days later and right before my wedding he was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was horrible. Then on his 61st birthday we had a small celebration at his house, where he basically said good-bye to everyone.. he knew it would be the last time he saw his closest friends. 3 months later he died. It's just amazing to me that he is gone.. I mean I know he is and I've come to terms with it, but every now and then I just feel like I hit a brick wall again. Does that make sense??

Ok now that I've depressed everyone!

American Idol was fantastic last night.. I'm a Jordin fan because she's from where I live... plus she just has an amazing voice for a 17 year old!

Grey's anatomy... what the heck is up with that ending?? Is George not coming back?? I had a feeling Cristina and Burke wouldn't get married, but I thought for sure it would be her.. nope! I have no idea what will happen next year.

I scrapped a page! I took some pics of Ellie as she was running through the hose as Jeff was watering the lawn!

See full credits HERE! Ok with that I'm off to watch the finale of American Idol! Have a great week!

Last Day for Grab Bags!!

2007-05-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hurry on over to My Digital Muse!! Today is the last day to grab them!! Everyone has lots of great goodies!!

Get my bag HERE!

Arthritis Update

2007-05-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

So I ended up getting into the rheumatologist early and wow what an exam! I ended up getting x-rays of my feet, ankles, knees, hips, pelvis, hands, and ankles... phew! That's a ton of radiation! LOL I'm still in a ton of pain and I have to say I'm becoming quite crabby!!! I have to wait until June 8th to go back and get the results and then they'll give me my "plan of care".. ugh! What makes me really crabby is that it is affecting my life.. does that make sense?? I can't bend my knees very easily to get down on the floor and I spend half my day with kids on the floor! Ok I'm done bitching!!

This weekend is grab bag weekend! Don't forget to head on over to My Digital Muse on Friday and Saturday!

Tonight is the finale of Grey's!! I can't wait!!! I'm sure I'll post my thoughts afterwards!

Spot Free!!

2007-05-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

So Ellie is finally better and today I went back to work! It was hard getting out of bed but it was nice to be out of this house!! Ellie's fever went away on Saturday and slowly her spots are disappearing. Poor thing! She is also starting to eat more, so that's a great sign!

NSD was crazy! I bought kits just because they were on sale.. Now I'll add them to my collection of great kits that I haven't used yet! LOL I have all of these fun great LOs I want to do and somehow time is escaping me! Soon.....

Is it just me or is anyone else in shock that it's May already?? Where is this year going??? Only 3 more weeks left of school!! Yeah! I'm ready for the break!

Ok, lets discuss Grey's Anatomy. I'm so glad to see things are somewhat back to normal, but I have to express my feelings on a few things. First of all... what's up with them killing off her stepmom?? I didn't see that coming! I was so bummed! And McDreamy is being McJerky! Give me a break, I mean who looks at his girlfriend drinking with friends and walks away, especially after her own father slapped her?? I did like the other spin off show with Addison.. though I think it would have been better as a separate show.. does that make sense. And Ty Diggs... mmmmmmm cute! It really has a great cast and I think I'll like it. Does anyone know when it starts??

Ok off to watch Heroes.. which by the way is another excellent show!

NSD Sale

2007-05-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Scrapbooking Day!!! Head on over to my store, everything is 33% off for the weekend!!

My Store!!

Phew.. what a week! (long post ahead)

2007-05-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

This past week/month has probably been the craziest to date! Talk about busy, stressed out and anything else you can think about. First of all, on the 21st I held a bridal shower for my friend Nicole at my new house (which we hadn't moved into yet!) It actually turned out very nice.. plus I rented some tables and chairs and made it look nice so it actually turned out better that we didn't have any furniture here yet.

Then this past weekend we finally moved into the new house!! YEAH! Of course we didn't have any tv or internet for 3 days which was hard, but now it's all good! The movers came on Saturday and got all the furniture over. Now we just need to get some little stuff (like closet stuff) over here.

On our first night here, poor Ellie had a rough night. She got a fever and then threw up.. yuck! Plus the cats were going crazy!!! Needless to say I didn't get much sleep. Then on Sunday, Ellie seemed to be doing much better and we decided to go ahead with her birthday party! Ellie is now 2!!! The party was so much fun and the kids all had a great time! Then that evening it hit again.. poor Ellie got sick as a dog again and spiked a high fever.... To make a long story short, she is still sick and we headed to the doctor today. We thought she had roseola because some kids in Day care had it last week, but we found out she has Hand foot and mouth disease!! Sounds a lot worst than it actually is, but now it looks like I'll be home all week. She has the type that goes all over her body.. including the inside of her mouth. I swear I've changed more diapers/sheets in the past few days. I'm done. LOL So wish me luck that I can get through the rest of this week. Here is what she looked like yesterday :(

Not the best pic of her, but you get the idea with the spots on her face :( poor thing!

To top it all off I have arthritis.. I was diagnosed with JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis)at the age of 3. Now I haven't had a flare up in probably almost 12 years. I'm not on any medication and overall I've been very lucky. That is until last week. My poor knees are killing me. I have an appointment with the rheumatologist on Friday.. thank goodness! Ok now I'm whining!

I've been tagged by Holly:

Here are the rules:

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves.

People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I love all video games.. I have a xbox 360, gameboy, ps2, my computer and a psp
2. I watch Days of Our Lives
3. I hate loud sounds.. if the music is too high I get a little weird. Crazy huh!
4. I had my tonsils out when I was 32.. that was miserable.
5. My right knee only bends 90 degrees.
6. When I laugh I close one eye! (Arggg I look like a pirate!)
7. I love chips & salsa.. I could eat them everday of the year, all day long even!

Ok so now I tag:
1. Tania
2. Amy K
3. Robin
4. Tracy
5. Mish
6. Cassie
7. Melinda

Ok have a great week!!!

Vote for me!!

2007-04-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

I've been nominated to be on Holly's Creative team!! But now I need your help..please go to this site: Holly's Blog
and vote for me :)

Thanks!

Happy Birthday Amy!!

2007-04-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Amy!! I hope you have a great day! Check out Robin's site for all of the birthday fun!! One of the quizes is to see which Jane Austin character you are.. I am:

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!
created with QuizFarm.com

We moved a ton of stuff over to the new house, and I actually got quite a bit of packing done. Saturday I had my friend Nicole's Bridal shower at my house.. empty house, but at least we had plenty of room. It actually turned out very nice and as soon as I get my camera from the other house I'll post some pics. Other than that I really don't have much to post.. Have a great week everyone!!

I survived my weekend... barely!

2007-04-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went to San Diego with some girlfriends to celebrate Nicole's upcoming wedding in May! There were 9 of us all together and it was a crazy weekend! We all got into town and headed out for sushi & sake bombers :) Then we headed to some more clubs and danced the night away! It was so much fun! Then on Saturday, Stephanie (my friend) and I ordered some room service while we got ready and then met everyone downstairs, where a limo picked us up. We were off to Temecula for some yummy wine tasting & lunch. We went to South Coast and then Wiens and then to Ponte. Great wine and a great lunch. Then it hit me.. I got soooo sick! The limo ride home was miserable!!! Agh. I swear I was sick from 4 pm until after midnight. All the girls went out that evening and I was stuck in a hotel room. I'm pretty sure it was my breakfast.. the eggs or bacon. Not so fun for me. But at least the first night and the wine tasting was fun! Here are some pics from the weekend:

(Nicole the bachelorette)

(all of us at a club in the Gaslamp district.. I'm in blue)

(mmmm.. wine!)
(outside the tasting room.. Jessica, Nicole, Sarah, me and Abby)
(lunch at Ponte Winery.. and of course more wine!)

It was a good, Good Friday

2007-04-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

I didn't have to work today and because of that it was a great day!! LOL Actually it was a good day because I got some good quality Ellie time in. We had a play date with some friends of mine and their kids. Ellie loved it! Then we went to Rubio's for lunch with my friend Stephanie and her kids and then we hung out at home. We went to the new house and I got the kitchen shelves lined... that was a pain, but Ellie had fun playing in her new play room.

Tomorrow we are going to attempt to dye some eggs. Should be interesting. I have visions of dye spilling all over the floor and my nearly 2 year old running around with eggs in her hands! So wish me luck!! LOL

I added some more photos to my photography blog :) I'm loving my camera!!

Oh don't forget.. next weekend is Grab Bag weekend at Mydigitalmuse! I'm almost done with my stuff to put in it.. should be some great stuff!!! :)

Other than that, nothing much to report.. we plan on moving in about a week, so I have a lot of packing to do this week!

Bad Bad Blogger!

2007-03-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad about keeping up with my blog.. *sigh* But the good news is that I'm back to the blogging world!! LOL

First of all check out Megan's Book! I had the wonderful pleasure of participating in making this Picaboo book for a sweet baby girl named Megan. Many of you might have read about her on Holly's blog. Anyway, Megan has had to have two liver transplants and the family is bearing PICU bills of $10,000 a day. She’s been there for almost a month now. Megan’s site is www.megangrote.com they have a special fund set up that will help pay Megan’s medical bills.

I have been so busy and really I have nothing to show for it! I'm way behind at work with evaluations to type up.. I have progress reports due at all of my schools this week, plus I'm still packing all of our stuff for the new house. Hopefully we'll be in it within the next 2 weeks!!

Scrapping: I have done 2 new pages:

(See credits HERE)

(See Credits HERE)

And last but not least.. welcome to the world Macy Jane!!! Our really good friends Chris and Tiffany welcomed their new baby giril!! Isn't she pretty?! Tiffany had a rough labor and ended up with a c-section, but Macy arrived Friday March 24th weighing 8 lbs, 10 oz!! Yeah!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

2007-03-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

In honor of St. Patrick's Day I made you all a little freebie!!!

You can download it HERE!!! If you grab it, just leave me a little note :)
Also, today is the last day to get your grab bags at MyDigitalMuse.com! Trust me, they are so worth the $2.00!!!

What did you all think of Grey's this week??? I was shocked about Izzy and George! I didn't see that coming at all. I guess they needed to add a little more drama. I have no idea where that story line will go. Poor Callie!

Grab Bag Weekend

2007-03-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!! Head on over to MyDigitalMuse.com this weekend and grab a bag for only $2!!! I promise it will be worth it!!!

First Official Photo Shoot

2007-03-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

So I did a photo shoot of my friend Sara and her fiance. I'm really happy with the way the pictures turned out! It totally helps that they are so photogenic! I just love the first pic.. it' looks like a post card! Ok here they are:

Secrets out!!

2007-03-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

I'm officially selling over at MyDigitalmuse.com!!!!!

I was so excited when I got the letter from Holly! First of all let me say that I am a HUGE fan of Holly's stuff. Ever since she owned the Digichick :) I am so honored to be working with her and gettting advice from her to help me with my designs. I'm working as an apprentice, so I have a TON to learn! The first thing she did was help me with my previews and what a difference that made! Check out my Buddies kit preview:

Doesn't that look so much better??? I have a few kits up so far and I need to get the rest up this week! So head on over to my store!!!

In other news, we are now proud home owners :) The painters started today and already it has made a HUGE difference. Funny how just a little fresh paint makes a room look so much better! I will definitely put up some pics when it's all done.

Are you watching American Idol??? I can't believe Sanjaya (sp?) didn't get voted off.. what are people thinking?? He's cute and all, but come on the guy has got to go. And same with Antonella.. she bugs. Ok enough complaining! Have a great weekend!!!

She's Alive!!

2007-02-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

That goes for both Meredith and I! LOL I feel like I have been so busy, but I'm starting to see the lights at the end of the tunnel! What did you all think of Grey's this week?? Again I cried. Talk about emotional!!! I just loved it when Izzy was next to Denny at the end.. *sigh*. As much as I like the show this past week, I'll be happy to get back to the good ole Grey's. Drama & fun mixed with romance and craziness!!!

I did survive my first week at work! It was wonderful and I don't have one ounce of regret about leaving my old job! I work with some great therapists too, so I think overall this was a great move.

Secrets..... got some more :) I'll announce them soon. Just when I didn't have enough going on with moving, I decided to make another one.. but that will have to wait until later!!!

Packing update..... none. We close on the house tomorrow!!! We have a painter coming this week to give us an estimate and then we will have the house painted before we move in. Jeff has to go out of town this month too, so it looks like we will be in the new house at the end of March. I can't wait. We did the walk through yesterday and now I'm even more excited. Here is a pic of the house.. it's not a very good pic, but it will do!

Tonight is the Oscars... I will probably watch even though I haven't seen a movie in forever! I miss going to the movies every week! But that's ok.. that's what Netflix is for! Ok everyone I'm off to play with Ellie!

Izzy is a rockstar and Meredith is blue?!

2007-02-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

So Grey's was crazy last night! First of all did anyone else find it a bit cheesy that McDreamy pulled Meredith out of the water all blue?? And how is it that a lifeless blue body can gently rest on your face?? LOL Obviously that part threw me off a bit. What's crazy, is that everyone know's Meredith will be ok.. I mean the name of the show is GREY'S anatomy.. hello that's her. But overall I did love the show. I think Izzy shined and she is definitely back! I loved the part when she rambled off on everything she believed and how she flat out told George he made a mistake. That is the Grey's I'm used to.. quirky and funny :) Ok enough of my ramblings.

I'm officially finished at my job at PTS!! My last day was bittersweet. Happy to get the heck out of there and then sad to let go. Next week I start at the new job and the fresh start will be great! Now with that over with, I can concentrate on my other move.. to our new house. We close on the 26th and will probably have it painted before we move in, so we are looking at the 2nd week in March! Yeah!!

I'm still in a huge funk with scrapping/designing. I started 2 kits, and am really not in love with them. Melinda suggested I change the colors to see if I like it better.. I may just end up doing that. I did manage to squeeze out one page for the scrapdish team:

(credits: Baby You're a Star Kit by Jen Reed, Template by Angela Sharrow both at Scrapdish.com)

Ok I need to get back to work! Bye for now!!!

Nothing beats...

2007-02-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

a great glass of wine! I'm drinking a glass of wine and just browsing the internet.. nothing exciting, but it's down time and that is golden! I'm in a slump.. not in the mood to scrap or design. I am working on 2 kits, but so far it's been a struggle. Hopefully some mojo will come may way soon! I really need to get going on things. Please pass the mojo!

My week is over and I finally told all of my parents I was leaving. It went much better than I thought it would so I was very happy about that! I have 1 more week to go at the current job and then it's off to the next one. I'm so excited for the change!! Speaking of other changes, Jeff and I haven't packed 1 box for our move. We really need to get moving on that. Maybe tomorrow??? LOL

Grey's Anatomy: What was that about???? I was on the edge of my seat.. wowzers! A bit bloody for my taste though. What's up with the little girl??? I read another forum and someone asked if we thought it was Izzy's adopted kid... NO. Isn't her child older?? You know Derek is going to jump in the water and save Meredith... and why isn't she swimming and just sinking??? I don't get it. Poor Izzy looked like a mess and is it just me or is McAlex getting hotter every week?? Don't know why, but I've got a thing for Alex lately. And to think that this is the first of 3 episodes... *sigh* I guess I'll just have to wait to see how it turns out!

Today I took a good mommy day. Jeff and I, along with my mother ran around town and went crazy. I went to Target, Kohls, PF changs (yummy!), TJ Maxx, the mall and then Costco.. phew, my feet are killing me! We bought Ellie the cutest Crocs today. Now I know people love these things and I do too, but for kids only! I think they are so stinkin cute on kids, but on Adults they look like nursing shoes. I guess I worked in too many hospitals :) Anyway I took a pic of them:

cute huh?! What's up with Anna Nicole Smith dieing?? I didn't see that coming. She was weird. I have to admit I used to watch her reality show.. it was a train wreck that I couldn't turn away from. She always seemed so doped up. Ok I digress..... night ladies!

Callie O'Mally and other ramblings....

2007-02-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

Grey's was wonderful as always this week! I was shocked to learn that Callie and George got married! "Callie O'Mally" I love it!!! We'll see what happens with that! Meredith's mother was so mean!!! And what the heck, why is Addison with Mark?????? Didn't Alex look so cute when he was recovering and laying in the bed talking to her??? Is she blind? McSteamy is cute, but he's not McAlex!! And as always, there was a preview of next week's show and now I can't wait to see it!

Oh, I get to stay on Kimberly Geswein's CT. She invited the Jan. guests to stay on and of course I was thrilled. I Love her stuff and she is just an awesome person to work with!!

I have been crazy busy and haven't had time to scrap, design or even really check email. Unfortunately I have a feeling it will be like this for the next few weeks. This week I am telling my parent's that I am leaving. I'm very sad about it and have been a nervous wreck. My jaw is killing me from grinding my teeth at night. Pathetic!

So I have my new camera and I"m in love with it. I secretly wish I was a professional photographer! LOL How fun of a job would that be. Anyway, I've been volunteering to take pics of everyone and everything. I've gone to 2 birthday parties the past few weeks and look at some of the fun pics I have taken! These are all of Ellie's little buddies and one is of Ellie too! Click on pics to see them larger! (I added my name because it's part of my little photography fantasy! lol Plus I see alot of other people do it so why not???!!)

Ellie has been a riot lately. Her new words are "play" "slide" and "outside". Whenever we pass the little playground I hear from the backseat "play!" She loves the outdoors! Today she ran her little heart out at my mom's house. It helps that it was 74 degrees today :) Robin I need your help..I'm off the wagon... eating like no tomorrow!!! I'm sure it's stressed related!
Anyway, I'm sure I'll be a little MIA lately.. I'll try to keep posting!

Holy Grey's Anatomy!!!

2007-01-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching Grey's and I'm shocked!!! I really hope Christine says Yes! Not sure about Cally (sp?) though.... I wish you could all have seen my face as I watched the ending. I swear my mouth was wide open! I again cried tonight. Is it just me or are the endings the best part?? Now don't get me wrong I love the whole show, but the endings really grab me and suck me in!

I did another page:
I used Robin's newest kit "Can't Stop Crying" available at Scrapdish.com Aren't the colors awesome!! I just love how rich they are.. plus they look great with B&W photos!! Plus if you head over to SBB all of her stuff is on sale :) Ok I'm off to watch Men in Trees now :)

Changes

2007-01-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Many changes are coming my way... first of all, yesterday I resigned from my job at the clinic. I have been there 5 years and though I'm sad to leave, I'm excited for the opportunities coming up. I am giving them a 30 day notice, so hopefully they'll find someone to replace me. I took a job with Aspire therapy and I'm so excited. I get to help start up the new office and be apart of the planning process! They told me I could bring some clients with me, which is nice since I have seen some of my kiddos for over 5 years. I would be sad it I had to just leave them hanging.

We also put an offer on a house this week. It will close on February 28th. I'm so excited about this too! The house is pretty plain and has zero upgrades.. we looked at 3 that were the same floor plan and this one has the most potential. We plan on doing a lot to it over the next year, which will be pretty fun too. It's over double the size of the house we have now and I can't wait to have some extra room to spread out in. I'm sick of my countertops be loaded with stuff because we don't have any more cabinet space.

It all happened so fast.. on Thursday I talked to Aspire therapy, met with them Saturday morning, took the job on Monday and then resigned on Thursday. I went to the open house on Saturday, took Jeff to it, then our realtor took us to it again on Sunday. We put an offer in that night and accepted the counter offer yesterday. phew..... whirlwind is the only way to describe it and I'm exhausted. Just wait until February.. new job and new house all in one week.... gasp!

Needless to say I haven't scrapped much. I did manage to get one page done:

See the credits here.. I'm too lazy to post it all tonight!!

What about Grey's last night???? I balled like a baby in the end. I'm part of the dead Dad's club too and it made me cry because I knew exactly how that felt and what Christina said is true.. you never get over it. I think Addison and Alex make a great couple and Izzy at the end was awesome when she said she was both a surgeon and emotionally involved and that she wouldn't change... Go Izzy!! Anyway, I was happy with the show last night and I have to admit I love it!!! Oh and American Idol is back....I love that show too!!!! Ok I"m off to bed! Goodnight!

Big Sale!!!

2007-01-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

Head on over to the Digiscrapshak on Saturday and Sunday for a HUGE sale!!!
The site has a whole new look too! Very fun indeed!!!!

So what did you all think of Grey's last night???? I have to admit I was excited when I though Addison and Alex were going to kiss.. but they left us hanging on that one! I think George's father is going to die next week.. makes me sad. But then he'll have to lean on Cally (sp?) I just LOVE that show and thank goodness it was a new one! Ok off to bed!

Cozy on the couch...

2007-01-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

... watching my favorite movie of all time "Pride & Pejudice". Ahhhh Mr. Darcy *sigh*

The reason I'm so cozy is that I'm in my robe and I'm sick! UGH! I hate being sick. I'm not like bound to my bed sick, but I have a horrible sinus infection starting! I have a major headache and I can't breathe out of my left nostril! (btw.. is that how you spell nostril?.. doesn't look right)

My mommy day was good and yes I got 2 pages done!! I also finished a mini kit for the avatar prize at rakscraps and then I also printed about 30 pages for Ellie's first year album. I have been putting that off and I'm finally getting it all together. The album looks pretty good.. it's funny to see the first pages I did and then compare them to my pages now. I went through and touched up some of the shadows.

Here are some pages I did over the weekend:

(credits: Adeline by Faith True off of her blog, stamped alpha by Michelle Coleman)

(credits: template by Kimberly Geswein, KGD Kate font, Spice Kit by Jen Reed)

(credits: Leaps and bounds kit by Amy Knepper, KGD saxon font, stamped alpha by Me!)

(credits: Simply Lovely Two paper pack by Correen Silke, stitching by Tracy Blankenship, Adore sticker by Fee Jardine)

I fell off the wagon with my diet over the holidays.. but now I'm back on track. I was down 20 before Thanksgiving and then when I went to weigh in I was up 5lbs.. I did the "take off" on Sunday and Monday and lost 1.5 lbs. My body just feels crummy with the extra weight on it, so it feels nice to be back in the "healthy mode". Now I just need to keep going! My friend Robin is on the same program that I am and she has lost 50lbs!!! Which is completely awesome! I have about 55 lbs more to lose, so she is keeping me inspired!

And with that I think I will finish my movie and my green tea.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

Wow we are in 2007! Can you believe it?? I swear I feel like I was just watching the news as people were gathering supplies to get ready for the big Y2K scare... and now it's 7 years later! That is completely insane!

So I got the best little item the other day... and I'm so excited about it! I got a new Nikon D80 digital camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so set on getting the new Canon Digital Rebel xti, but after reading a ton of reviews and then going to look at them, we walked away with the Nikon. It takes the most amazing pictures!! Now I'm no photographer by any means, but I tell you, the pictures are amazing. Poor Ellie is getting super annoyed at me taking 500+ pics of her! Poor thing, maybe one day she'll see my face out from behind the camera!

Tomorrow is going to be a mommy day. I'm off work and Ellie is going to the sitter. I have plans to do nothing!! Maybe a pedicure and lots of scrapping! That's the plan.. we'll see how that goes! Other than that, nothing too exciting to report. I only had to work 3 days this week, so that was nice.. next week it's back to 5 days!! UGH! I know I'm a big complainer! Have a great weekend Ladies!

ahhh a moment

2006-12-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

(warning.. a long post ahead!!)
I finally have a moment to breathe and to post an entry. Things have been crazy busy as usual. LOL and to think I thought I might actually rest this week!!

Christmas was wonderful and of course we all went way overboard. I realized this year that we went above and beyond in our gift giving. I'm not sure what we were thinking. Not that I would get rid of anything, just that it's way too much. I have a 20 month old child who needs/wants nothing. That's crazy. Even my extended family went nuts for Ellie this year.

DH was very good to me as well. He bought me some clothes, actually a couple of shirts and then the same shirt in a different color! This is such a man thing to do. We were joking about it and he called it the "Noah's Arc of Ann Taylor Loft" 2 of everything.. LOL. Needless to say, the pairs will be going back and traded in for some pants. And this is pretty cool, anyone who knows me, knows that I am a complete salsa nut.. well he bought me salsa of the month club. So every month I will get 2 salsas from all over the country. Coooooool huh! Then I got a tripod. I casually mentioned I wanted one and now I do. I did take some cool pics of the tree with it:

Now what's very cool about this pic is that I took it using my manual mode.. no automic on this one! LOL I'm getting very excited about exploring my camera, which is just a simple sony. But hey it has to have some potential right???? I'm actually in the market for a new one, but I have to wait until the new year.

In fact.. head on over to Mydigitalmuse.com, they are started a book club on this book: Understanding Exposure I'm looking forward to it.
As far as scrapping goes, I am officially on Sara Amarie's creative team. She saw the wonderful post by Amy Knepper about her retirement and team, and asked me to be on her team. The rest is history :) I officially start in January. She was selling at PDW, but since they closed, she will be starting at Oscraps.com in the new year.

I'm also on Kimberly Geswein's guest creative team for January... I am so excited about this! She has some awesome fonts and templates. In fact, my header is made with one of her blog templates :) Her stuff can now be found at mydigitalmuse.com

Here is a page I finished:

This is from Michelle Coleman's Merry Little Christmas Kit at scrapartist. I spent way too much money there during their 12 days of xmas sale.

And one last thing, here are the 2 things I made which will be available tomorrow at the digiscrapshak:

and if you made it this far.. thanks!

Merry Christmas!!

2006-12-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the card we sent out this year!

One More Day!!!

2006-12-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

One more day until I am off of work for a full week!!!! Yipee!!! Can you tell that I am excited? I have most of my shopping done too, just one more little thing to pick up and then after that it's all about relaxing.... LOL right!!!

I got a page done today:

and since I'm feeling lazy go HERE to see the credits :) Other than that, Ellie is still doing good. Her shiner is getting better and the swelling is starting to go down. She is still silly as ever. She has started doing this funny dance when she hears music playing, I swear it looks like "go go" dancing with her arms going up and down. I'll have to get a video of it, because it's hillarious! Ok with that I'm off to bed!

RAKS Add on!!

2006-12-18T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!! So check out this amazing add on kit at Scrapdish!!! I just love the colors this month!! You can find it HERE!

Isn't it great!!!! And look at the fun thank you card I made to give to parents/kids :)

The Update

2006-12-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well it's all over now and thank goodness! I was a long hard day for Ellie.. she wanted NOTHING to do with the nurses or doctors. If they even looked at her she screamed. My husband Jeff kept a running blog of the day and emailed it out. Here it is:

6:00am - Well the morning started off great Ellie was in a great mood and played in the car all the way to the Hosptial unaware that something ominious was approaching..

6:30 - Admiting took forever, we visted three waiting rooms in the journey to the pre-op

7:30 - Preop blues set in with Mommy and Ellie figured it out she was not going to Daycare today. She typically enjoys electro gadgets, but not today and particularly not the ones that had to touch her (pulse/ox/temp). She did get a lovely orange gown which I think of as a precurser to a straight jacket. Positive side our Dr as it turns out 5 years ago seperated conjoined twins in Denver so Mom felt much better.

8:00 - scratch what I said about Mom feeling better because this is where it all fall apart. It is go time both Mom and Ellie are crying and in a humane way the pryed her away from mom and took Ellie screaming down the hall. Weird silence sets in as her muffled cry fades away and you realize you can't be there for her now and it feels empty.Tick tock it is all a matter of waiting now.

9:30 - Mr. Little congratulations it’s a ….eewww tumor, growth weird thing that had hair growing out of it. Initial prognosis is it is not an evil thing, but pathology results will be run non the less and the doc described how big this thing was - lil bigger than a marble and very fleshy hard mass. The surgery went fine and there we no complications so a good sigh of relief, now the wait till we can see her and feel her stare of what did you do to me.

10:00 - Trip the lights fantastic! So Ellie started to wake up from surgery and the post op nurse came out to get us. She is breathing and looks like our child - quick check of the ankle bracelet and yep this one is ours, but she is mysteriously calm and quiet. Why did I think that because as soon as the anesthesia wore off and she was aware and wanted nothing to do with anyone, but mom.10:05 - Will you stop poking me! Well she developed a hematoma and the swelling started, they all came to see if they needed to take her back, but the sutures held, but a little pressure on the spot and some demerol to stop the pain things seemed to calm down.10:15 - In Steve Irwin's wet dreams! … wrestling alligators sums up the fiasco that ensued in getting her ready to go home. First they had to get some stats and she reacted like a shell shocked alien probe survivor very timid and untrusting. Then the best part - removing the drip IV tube, well Ellie helped in removing the bandages, seemed like a fun game round and round and round till the IV was exposed. Think that stopped her? We had a gusher, she yanked out the IV and covered Mom, Nurse, blanket and Rae (her stuffed rabbit) in blood which was like capping an oil rig fire. She was flailing her arm around and we needed to get it contained. Amazing a little gauze some pressure and an elmo bandage all better.

10:30 - all smiles when we walked outside the hospital, it was over and she was too tired and doped up to care about anything else expect to get home and go to bed. Get home and she did the drunk walk into the house and walked right to her high chair - guess she was hungry. Well things are quiet she is sleeping and then we begin the every 4 hour Tylenol for pain ritual. No sleeping tonight, but it will be worth knowing it she is safe.

Here are some pics:

(Ellie right before surgery)

(Here we are right afterwards.. before the incision became huge and before the wrestling!)

And here is Ellie today:

Anxious

2006-12-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow is Ellie's surgery. I know it's supposed to be an easy procedure, but I'm still nervous and anxious! In fact, all day I was in a state of denile. Oh I guess I should mention what she's having done... she is having a cyst removed off of her right eye.. in fact if you look at the picture on my header you can see the bump on her eyebrow. It started out the size of a small pea at 6 months of age and has grown ever since. We along with the doctors decided it was time to come out. Mainly because it's getting so big and I don't want it to scar. Plus the doctors said that these can become infected... so out it goes. Needless to say, as little as it is, the thought of handing her over to a nurse as she cries is not my idea of a good time.. :(

We have to be at the hospital at 6:30 am and she will have it done at 8. She can't have anything to eat past midnight and no liquids after 5 am. Hopefully we'll end up waking her up in the morning, put her in the car and head out. So cross your fingers and wish us luck!!

On a different note, I feel like I have some mojo back in the scrapping realm. Now mind you I have lost all creativity as far as designing goes! LOL Here are a few pages I have done:

(credits: Robin Cabana's new Just a memory Kit available at Scrapbook-bytes)

(credits: Jen Wilson's Kate kit, pin and overlay by shabby princess)

(credits: Peppermint Lane kit by Laura Alpuche of the Digichick)

Well that's all I have to report.. I'll check in tomorrow or Thursday and let everyone know how it went!

A New Look

2006-12-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

So I updated the look of my blog..what do you think???? I was getting tired of my 'lil sweetie and decided to show off Ellie instead! :)

Thing are crazy as usual! I do have a new kit out at Digiscrapshak! Here is a pic of it:

Other than that not too much in the scrapping realm. I'm not sure if I posted this or not but we ended up dropping out of our new house that was being built :( The market is horrible right now and the value was going down, and we would have to sell our current house for alot less money too.. so needless to say it would have been a very bad investment for us. I am bummed but also feel a huge level of relief. We took our current house off the market today and I must have had at least 7 realtors call me.. they must be desperate. That's how bad the market is! I guess in about a year we will make this house into a rental. Now this may be me complaining and don't get me wrong, I love my house. But mentally I was done with it. I know that it's plenty big for the 3 of us, but I was really hoping for something bigger... I'm spoiled I know. Plus, I packed up all of my scrapbooking stuff, cookbooks, pictures, etc... and the thought of unpacking it now just bums me out. See I'm a HUGE complainer.

Diet.. so I was down a total of 18 lbs and the past few weeks I have just been dragging my feet. I think I have gained at least 3 lbs back!!! Seems like I'll find any excuse to cheat! Ugh!!! The holidays don't make it any easier too... someone please help me get my motivation back!

Ellie has a horrible cold and cough. I have a feeling I may be home tomorrow with her. She is also having her surgery next week to remove the cyst on her eyebrow. I'm not looking forward to that at all.

So in a nutshell.. I"m bummed about the house, I'm gaining weight, I'm not getting any pages done and Ellie has a cold. Could I possibly whine anymore???? Ok sorry about this if you actually made it to the end!

Happy Turkey Day!!!!

2006-11-23T08:02:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We are headed to my family's restaurant (it's closed for the day) to all get together and eat. There should be about 30 of us!!! Makes it much easier than having it at some one's house.

I survived the wild weekend and I'm still trying to catch up on some sleep! Maybe this will be the weekend!!

Don't' forget to head over to the Digiscrapshak tomorrow for the "Black Friday" sale!! Lot's of goodies, including my little mini kit!

Have a great day!

Busy as a Bee!!

2006-11-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

So everyone is healthy again.... thank goodness (knock on wood!) and since everyone is better I'm back to work full time :( I really miss hanging out with Ellie. On top of it all now she has MAJOR seperation anxiety stuff going on.. I even walk away and she screams!!! I'm hoping this is just a phase.
I have a new kit out:

It's called "Family Traditions" and it's perfect for you Thanksgiving photos or even heritage photos!! It can be found HERE.

Here is a LO I did with it:

(credits: papers/elements by me, date stamp by Heather Roselli, template by Lie Fhung)

I also did this LO with Jen Reed's A Little Mix 2 paper pack (date stamp by Heather Roselli):

I have a crazy weekend ahead of me. It's my mother's 60th Birthday so tomorrow night we are going to the Barbara Streisand concert and then Friday we are all heading out to Las Vegas for the weekend. Pretty much most of my family here in Phoenix is going, plus my cousin from Idaho. It should be lots of fun! Then Sunday I fly back and head to the Dixie Chicks concert that night.... phew... by Monday morning I should be completely exhausted.

Ellie had her pics taken last Saturday.. they turned out pretty cute. Here is the link to see some of them. With that I'm out of here :) Have a great weekend!!! Can you believe next week is Thanksgiving already????

Happy Halloween!!!

2006-10-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

We've had quite a week around here.. first last Wednesday I spent all day in the ER :( It ended up being a nasty intestinal virus, but they thought it was my appendix at first. Needless to say, it was horrible. Jeff then had it over the weekend, as did my babysitter. So last week I worked 1 day!

Then on Saturday Ellie had a high fever and she has had it since. We went to the doctor today and they think it may be Roseoloa Virus. Which is contagious! *sigh And of course this all is happening on Halloween. I think we will take her to just a couple of houses right here and then bring her back home. She is ok if her fever is down, but when the medicine wears off, it shoots right back up.. last night it was 104!!!

We went to get a pumpkin last night and of course everyone is out of them.. plus my other stuff is packed away and impossible to reach with all the other boxes, so I really dont' have any decoration up! Pathetic! LOL

Anyway, have a good night and eat lots of Candy!!!!

My Secret!

2006-10-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

So many people have asked me if I'm pregnant.. the answer is NO! Even my mother called me after reading that post :) So here's my secret:

Here is my store!!
I'm now officially selling some designs!! I know I won't make millions, but hey I love designing and if I can make just a few dollars (say lunch once a month) then I'm happy!!! I'm starting with just 3 kits:

So that's my secret :)

Jeff and I have had a terrible cold all week. I'm on antibiotics because I have a cold on top of a sinus infection... fun stuff :( I sound horrible. But the good news I'm on the upswing now! Scrapping: I've lost my mojo again. Everything I scrap looks horrible to me. Thank heavens for templates!!

Grey's anatomy: Why doesn't Meredith tell McDreamy about McVet??? Of course will the show lose it's thrill if they end up together so soon??? And how funny is Izzy trying to figure out what to do with her millions.. my thoughts are that she will pay off all of her friend's loans and end up coming back to work. Surely she won't rip up that check.. that would be dumb! Ok enought rambling!

Back from some R&R

2006-10-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well Jeff and I got away for the weekend and drove out to San Diego! We had a great time. The weather was completely yucky, but it didn't matter, we still had fun. We got into San Diego Friday evening, checked into our hotel (The Westgate) which was completely beautiful..then headed to Old Town and had the best Mexican food I've ever had! We ate at this place called Coyote Cafe and it was absoultely delicious!!!! I'm a chips & Salsa nut and I endulged big time!! LOL

Saturday we headed to La Jolla for a bit.. we got to see lots of seals:

Then we drove out to Temecula and hit the wine scene!!! Jeff and I are complete winos, so this was great! We hit about 6 wineries and tasted lots of wine. Needless to say by the time we were done I was feeling very good :) Here is Jeff next to some vines:

We then headed back to our hotel and rested and then head out for dinner. We had some yummy Indian food and then headed back to the hotel. We were so burnt out from drinking and then eating that we just basically passed out from exhaustion!!

Today we headed out to the Hotel Del Coronado and had their Sunday Champange Brunch... one word... AMAZING! I completely gorged myself!!! My diet completely flew out the window this weekend and boy was it worth it! They had a chocolate fountain!! I've never seen that much flowing chocolate!!! LOL We walked around the grounds a bit and then drove back home! Here are some pics of us and the Del.

And with that I'm out of here.....

Addicted, Obsessed, Insane....

2006-10-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

whatever you want to call it, I'm completed hooked on TV lately!!! So in case you were all wondering where the heck I have been, here's my line up:

Sunday: Extreme Makeover Home Edition (makes me cry everytime!), Desperate Housewives (still addicted) and Brothers & Sisters (new show, only seen it once, but am looking forward to the next one)

Monday: Deal or No Deal (if Ellie is asleep), Heroes (very cool) and then Studio 60 (Cracks me up!!!)

Tuesday: NCIS, and House (might even catch Friday Night Lights this week since House is reruns until Halloween!)

Wednesday: Criminal Minds and Jericho (freaky idea, but good)

Thursday: My Name is Earl, The Office, Grey's Anatomy (LOVE... LOVE... LOVE It!!!), and Six Degrees (so far pretty good.. has great potential I think)

Friday: Sometimes Ghost Whisperer

Saturday: hmmmm... not too sure on this, but I do watch Saturday Night Live if around and awake

So that's my schedule Lately! I figured I'm escaping reality, because I have just been insanely busy lately. We put our house on the market yesterday and getting it ready has been a nightmare. I'm kind of a pack rat, so I've had to go through EVERYTHING and get rid of clutter. The house does look pretty good, so now hopefully it'll sell. The market has really slowed down here, so I'm crossing my fingers.

I do have a little secret I'm holding......hmmmmm..... trust me I'll spill the beans when I know I can.

Ok I'm off for now, but I'll be back sooner this time.

Busy!

2006-09-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well I actually feel like I have somewhat of a social life lately :) I've been pretty busy going to lots of fun things! I went to the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill concert 2 weeks ago, went to a Diamondbacks baseball game last Saturday, Had bunco on Wednesday, Went to a friend's going away party on Friday night and then last night I went and saw Martina McBride in concert.. PHEW! And Jeff was so wonderful and watched Ellie most of these nights! BTW, the concerts were wonderful and yes, I am a country music fan :) I like alot of types of music, but country is probably one of my favorites.

Ellie update: She still has diarrhea.. we are going on day 18. Actually, it is getting better, instead of 7 diaper changes a day we are down to only 2.. (of course I change her diaper more than that, but you know what I mean!) I took her to the doctor again on Tuesday and we are getting samples and doing some lab work on them to see what's going on. Hopefully nothing bad.

This week all the new shows start!!! YEAH. Can I just say that I am so ready for them to start. I'm definately excited for Grey's Anatomy. Plus there are a lot of new shows that look awesome! Tonight it's the Amazing Race! I love that show.

Scrapping.... I actually got some pages done, but I'm too lazy to upload them today.

Oh and I joined LA Weight Loss this week. I'm down 5.5 lbs. Fingers crossed I loose some weight. Ok enough rambling....... :)

Time is flying right by!!!

2006-09-09T15:46:00.000-07:00

So things are crazy as usual. I wish I could report something completely exciting and thrilling, but I can't *sigh*.

Ellie has had diarrhea for 11 days now. Trust me that is not exciting. She is feeling fine, eating well, just going to the bathroom a ton. We went to the doctor and they said if it lasted 14 days they would take some samples, but that they thought it would be ending soon... hmmm... that was on day 8.

So this moth for the avatar challenge, I decided to go with a school theme!! It is so fun to see everyone's school pics! Here is mine:

I was in 1st grade and both of my teeth were missing, so I was trying to hide it. Didn't work out too well!!! So if you haven't done so, head over there and post your school avatar!!! Speaking of avatar.. here is the prize I am giving out for the last avatar challenge. I finally finished it today and I really like it!

So I have a myspace account.. nothing really on it.. basically I did it so I could read my brothers. Anyway, my really good friend from Highschool found me and emailed me. I havent talked to her in about 18 years!! It was really cool to get the email from her. Funny how life changes so much and yet part of you remains the same. I wonder if kids today will stay in touch more with their friends now that they have the capability to do so. My parent's moved from Kansas to Colorado when I was a Junior in HS. I pretty much lost touch with everyone. Now, it's so easy to stay in contact with people. You are constantly talking to them on your cell phone (free long distance), text messaging or even emailing them. Crazy to think about really. Ok i'm rambling enough. Tonight Jeff and I are headed out with friends to a baseball game. Ellie is with Grandma! And sometime soon I hope to scrap!!

It's official, I'm a working mother!!

2006-08-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

So today was crazy. First of all, I got hit in the head with a wooden shoe by a kid. Then it just seemed to go downhill from there. Jeff called and said he would be late and to do dinner without him. That is when I thought about making dinner and realized there was absolutely no way. I did what any mother would do... I hit the drive through!!! So Ellie and I enjoyed our delicious Wendy's. I ate french fries on the way home and handed a few to Ellie, who squealed (sp?) in delight. She's no dummy. And might I add that Wendy's now has a vanilla frosty!!! Ok not as good as the chocolate ones, but still mighty tasty! She LOVED the chicken nuggets.

And no, I don't feel guilty at all!

Survived!

2006-08-18T22:53:00.000-07:00

I did it.. I survived my first 5 day work week!!!! And can I tell you I fought it hard. I didn't go into it with an open mind.. I was down right cranky about it LOL!! But now that I look back, it wasn't too bad. I started my new little job today. I'll be working in this small town at their school only on Fridays. When I say small, I mean small. It's a school and a firehouse.. not even a stoplight!!! They have maybe 140 students (K-8) and my caseload is only 12. It should be pretty easy once I get all the paperwork messes cleaned up. My school on Mondays, however, will be a little harder.. and I travel to it. But I am planning on going to the library this weekend to get another book on tape, that really helped last year........ sooooooo if you have a good book to recommend again, this would be the time to do it!!

On a bright note, Amy Knepper is back to designing and her stuff is at the Digichick!!! She asked me to be on the team again and of course I said yes!! Here is the first LO I did with her newest kit "Young & Carefree"

I love the quote. I do see myself in Ellie more and more. It makes me appreciate myself more.. does that make any sense??? Tonight we went in the pool.. I took some great pics. And of course they will be scrapped lol. Ok off to bed! Have a great weekend!

Sad :(

2006-08-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

I am so sad!! Today is my last Friday off.. my last 3 day week. Next week I start working 5 days a week. I know some of you are thinking, "quit your bitching", but when you haven't worked 5 full days in over a year and a half, it's pretty depressing. I worry about Ellie. I worry that I'm going to miss out on some of the fun cute stuff she does. I know I will see her in the evenings and on the weekends, but I still worry. I'm a mother, it's my nature to worry. I will only be doing this for 9 months and I just keep thinking I can do anything for 9 months. After that we will be in our new beautiful home and it will be over. It will be worth it. *fingers crossed*

I scrapped, again. Here are my 2 pages:

(credits: "Summer Wishes" Kit by Heather Roselli of the Digichick)

(credits: "Warm Day" Kit by Robin Cabana of Scrapdish)

Today I'm heading to the outlet mall. I have some gift certificates I still need to use, and I figure I should get some nice clothes to wear when I'm working at the schools. When I work at the clinic, it's much more relaxed, since I'm on the floor most of the day, or up to my elbows in food. With that I"m out of here!! Have a great weekend!

Scrapping!

2006-08-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

So I actually got some scrapping done as well as some designing!!! Here are the LOs I got done:

(credits: sketch by Gina Miller, papers/elements from Jenn Wilson's Soho Sass Kit)

(credits: Laura Alpuche & Fee Jardine's Vintage Diva Kit)

Then I was feeling creative and went way overboard on my prize for the July Avatar challenge, but here it is:

Nothing too exciting to report lately. I start working 5 days a week again starting on the 14th. I'm really bummed about it. I'm so used to working only 3 days. But I know I will probably end up getting alot more done. I seem to do so much better with my time when I'm busy. When I have extra time, I seem to blow it all away. Definately better under pressure :)

So I won Robin's new Chase Kit!! See her blog for all the details :) I was so excited! The kit is very cool. I just love winning stuff. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does it's so cool. I know a lady and her job is just entering contests. She has won 3 cars, tons of TVs.. I don't know how many vacations and countless other little things! Crazy huh! That's probably why people like me never win, I dont' have the time or energy to submit 500 entries :) And with that I'm off! Have a great weekend!

Headaches and Tag!

2006-07-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

So I've been missing again! I have had a headache for the past 10 days... goes in stages, it will be gone and then in the evening it returns! Now at first I thought it was hormonal.. but then work has been so crazy so I thought maybe tension.... and the weather has been insane, tons of humidity.. so maybe that is it. Then it came to me that I've had these headaches since working out! So my OT and PT friends tweaked my neck a bit and it looks like my neck is all weird and that is causing the headaches. It does go away when I work out and then comes back shortly after. Hmmmmmm... a mystery. All I know is that it hurts and really I"m not a huge complainer. Ibuprofin is now my friend LOL and yes I plan on going to the doctor this week!

Work has been insane! Like I said the weather has been crazy and I'm sure the barametric (sp?) pressure may have something to do with this. Wednesday had to be the worst day I've ever had.. I got pooped on, puked on and almost every kid tantrumed that day. (And I wonder where the headaches come from!) But Thursday everything was back to normal.

Last Saturday I headed to Tucson for the night with my mom and aunt. They were raised there, so they like to go down and visit the "old hangout" spots! It was fun and can I just say I REALLY enjoyed sleeping in! We went and saw the movie "The Devil Wears Prada"... so stinkin cute! I really enjoyed it. I still need to go see Pirates.

Last but not least, AmyK tagged me!
1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
Nope.. my Dad was a police officer so I was too afraid to do anything to get in trouble!

2. Do you close your eyes on a roller coaster?
No.. I get really quiet!

3. When's the last time you've been sledding?
Probably in High School.. we lived in Colorado.. lots of snow!

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
With someone else if the bed is big enough. I don't like to be touched when sleeping and I need room to spread out!

5. Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes! I love the show Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi Channel... so spooooooky!

6. Do you consider yourself creative?
Not really

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
Who doesn't??? Of course he did!

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie? (silly, I know ... but very "now")
Jennifer and Vince is so much better than Brad!

9. Can you honestly say you know ANYTHING about politics?
Only a tiny bit.

10. Do you know how to play poker?
Yes.

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
Not that I can recall.. I live to sleep!

12. What's your favorite commercial?
I like the fed-ex one with the caveman (I'm sure I know others but can't think of them ATM)

13. Who was your first love?
My very first love was Jerry Bumgarner in High School in Kansas. We broke up when my family moved away.. very traumatic for a 16 year old!

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around you, do you run a red light?Yes, only if I have been waiting for more than 3 minutes

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
Yes.

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
Probably the Yankees, but I really dont' watch that much baseball.. too slow!

17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
Yep.

18. How often do you remember your dreams?
Not very often.

19. What's the one thing on your mind?
Work

20. Do you always wear your seat belt?
Yes, always.

21. What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could sing.

22. Do you like Sushi?
Only california rolls and avocado rolls

23. What do you wear to bed?
a t-shirt and a pair of shorts or pj pants

24. Do you truly hate anyone?
No.

25. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
Vince Vaughn

26. Do you know anyone in jail?
Not at the moment.

27. What food do you find disgusting?
Mushrooms... I would rather have a root canal!

28. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
Probably... but nothing horrible.

29. Have you ever been punched in the face?
Yes by my brother once and I never picked on him again after that!

30. Do you believe in angels and demons?Yes.

I tag.. Mish (ohiotubagal) Tiffany, Mrs. S., Michelle and anyone else who wants to jump in!

Burning up!

2006-07-15T18:12:00.000-07:00

I'm about to die of heat! I know Arizona is hot, but yesterday it was 114 degrees and I'm not even sure what today was.... all I know is that it's HOT! Now usually I can handle the heat ( I mean I'm a native of Arizona!) but for some reason we are also having some humidity, which is just insane! I walk out of the house and my hair is immediately wet and straight! The best part of all of this is getting in and out of a steaming car, especially when my seats are leather. I'm sure I leave a small sample of my skin on the seat each time I get in. It's supposed to rain tonight too, which will hopefully get rid of the humidity and will cool things off just a tad.. :)

Ok enough of me complaining. I did go shopping today and I really didn't find anything. Don't you hate it when you go shopping with money to spend and you can't find a thing. Of course if I went with out my gift certificates in tow I would have found something for sure!

On a bright note, I did go work out 5 times this week!!!! Now don't faint, but I did. I can hardly believe it myself. I'm waiting for the miracle of more energy to happen and so far it hasn't. I am enjoying the tanning booth there though. Jeff keeps telling me I shouldn't be tanning, but as I tell him, "Tan fat looks better than white fat" and with that, I'm off to get Ellie to bed! Have a great night!

Digi Pick of the Day!!!

2006-07-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

So can I just say that my horrible day (long story) has totally turned around when I just found out that my LO "Walk" (see last post) was chose today as Digi Pick of the Day!!! I almost fell out of my chair! I guess I did get some mojo back after all! LOL!!

1/2 Mojo

2006-07-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

So I may have some mojo back.. not 100% but at least some. I've been cruising the galleries trying to get some ideas, even looked at some of my old pages and here's what I've come up with.. now don't faint, but I actually got 3 pages done!!!!

(Credits: Heather Rosellit's new I pledge kit found at the Digichick, star stickpin by me from the Rakscraps June Mega Kit)

(Credits: Heather Rosellit's new Growth Spurt Kit found at the Digichick)

How fun are those colors! This kit is awesome and I can't wait to use it on more stuff. And here's the 3rd one and the one I'm having the hardest time with.. I really need some CC on this to finish it off..

(Credits: Laura Alpuche's new Poolside Paradise Kit)

Congrats to Robin on her toot of selling her designs at Scrapbook-bytes! How awesome that would be. Nothing too exciting planned today.. just some laundry :( then it's back to work tomorrow. I'm not really looking forward to working 5 days a week in the fall, this 3 days is so much nicer LOL.

Crash

2006-07-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

So tonight I'm having a quiet night at home. Jeff flew to California to go see a concert with some friends, so it's just Ellie and myself. I had grand plans of getting about 3-4 scrapbook pages done since I am behind and everyone has new kits. I was playing around on the computer having MAJOR scrapping block, I swear I worked on one page and redid it about 5 times before I chucked the whole thing. Then I saw that the movie Crash was going to be on, and taking Tania's advice I decided to watch it. Can I just say I don't think I moved. That is one amazing movie!! I cried. Amazing is the only word I can think of. I think I'm still numb from watching it LOL.

But really I'm at a complete scrappers block. I even checked out all the galleries to get ideas, I even thought about scraplifting and I just can't come up with anything. So please send me some mojo.

I joined Shape Express yesterday, which is kind of like Curves. It' s a circuit workout program. I went today for the first time, and I have to admit it was nice to actually do something good for my body. In all honesty, I haven't worked out since before I was pregnant (2 years???) Hence the extra 70 lbs. UGH! I look at a donut or my beloved mexican food and it goes straight to the thighs. The good thing about this place is that it's seriously around the corner and it only takes 30 mins.. I figure Jeff can give Ellie a bath and get her ready for bed and I can get my workout in. I'm hoping it will increase my energy level, because lately I've had none.

Ok off to watch more TV since scrapping isn't happening

35

2006-07-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

Today I'm 35!! UGH! And for some reason I'm really bothered by it... 35 just seems so old. I don't feel 35 though. I'm not sure how old I feel.. I mean I don't feel like I'm in my 20s, but I certainly don't feel 35 LOL!! I really have no reason to complain though, I have an awesome job, a great husband, a beautiful little girl, a great family and awesome friends. What more could a girl possibly need!

OK that was my pep talk to myself. Thanks for being apart of it!!!!

I can't wait to see Pirates.. especially Johnny Depp.. Love him. Such great eye candy!!! I also want to see the Breakup.. again great eye candy with Vince Vaughn. I'll stop drooling now.
Adios!

Happy Belated 4th of July!

2006-07-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was the 4th and it was pretty uneventful for us. We went to the mall and hit a sale at Old Navy and Macy's and then we went to some friend's house for a BBQ. Then we came home (by 5pm) and that's about it! No fireworks for us. Having a small child puts a damper on that. She is in bed by 7 and fireworks around here aren't until 9 or so. Plus I had a feeling she would have screamed anyway. She's kind of at that age where she wants nothing to do with loud sounds. But all in all it was a nice day. I've been pretty creative lately! Here are 2 kits that I made recently to give out as prizes:

Denim & Daisies.. a fun little kit with denim textures :)

And here is my Happy Flowers Kit which I gave out for the June avatar challenge! I thought it turned out pretty well and I love the colors!

So what do you all think of the new shows being advertised for this fall?? Is it just me or does that Friday NIght Lights look good on NBC??? Could it be the cute coach??? Remember he was the cop who got blown up on Greys!!! Right now I"m watching The 4400 and National Treasure. Other than that, it's all about the reruns! And with that I'm off to bed! NIght all....oooh and Tin congrats on your Toot!! I'm so happy for you!

Third Times a Charm

2006-07-02T21:02:00.000-07:00

So I just got back from my 3rd Trip to Vegas (in the past 4 months) which really sounds crazy since before these I hadn't been there in years!!! Anyway, this time I went with Jeff and our friends Chris & Tiffany. We had a great time. Much calmer than my last go around. We played Craps most of the weekend and then ate our hearts out! I did win big on Friday night, but over the corse of the weekend I gave it all back except for the $100 Jeff gave me in the beginning to start with. We stayed at the New York, New York and as much as I like the hotel in general, we were not impressed with the rooms at all. Which really in the scheme of things doesn't matter since you are barely in the room anyway :)

Last night we had dinner at the Foundation Room on top of Mandalay Bay.. again it's all who you know. Through a friend, we got to go to this place. I guess you have to be a paid member there and from what I can tell it's pretty costly. So thanks to the connection for hooking us up! We had awesome appetizers and then a wonderful 3 course meal.. not to mention the awesome dessert we had too! Here is a picture of Jeff and I from the top and here is the view we had. It was really a cool experience!

I'm so excited that I have tomorrow and Tuesday off!!! YEAH! Not sure what we have planned for the 4th, probably something low key since Ellie goes to bed early and the chances of a babysitter that night are pretty slim. Ok off to finish up some things!!

I'm still recovering...

2006-06-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

from VEGAS!! We definatley had a great time and I'm still not 100% in the sleep department. I just dont' think my 34 (soon to be 35) year old body was made to live like a rock star. I went to Las Vegas with my friends Stephanie, Lisa, & Krista and it was awesome. Lisa came from Georgia and Krista came from Ohio. We stayed at the Paris hotel which was pretty cool. We got in Thursday night and went out to a club at the Wynn hotel called Tryst. Very cool place, but man was it pricey. 4 drinks cost $65.... UGH! Needless to say I didn't have just one that night and I paid for it dearly the next day. On Friday we hung out, went shopping, looked at the other hotels and then went to a club called Tao at the Venetian. We ended up sitting in a skybox with some friends of friends and we had the royal VIP treatment. It was amazing. I came home at 3:30 am, Stephanie came back at 5 am and then the other 2 stayed out until 8 am... Pure Craziness I tell you! Anyway, it was so nice to see my friends and relive my youth LOL. I came home, told Jeff all about it and the next thing I know he made reservations for us to go next weekend AGAIN!!! Of course this time will be a little calmer because I am going with my husband and another couple.

As for scrapping, I got 2 pages done this week:

(credits: Laura Alpuche's Ties -n- Trousers Kit found at the Digichick)

(credits: From the Digichick Dezine - Remember Collaboration Kit)

Ok Ellie is waking up and I need to get to Costco.. the trick is can I get out of there for under $100.... doubt it. Adios Amigas!!!

I've been MIA....kind of

2006-06-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

So I'm really struggling with finding the right balance lately. I want to work on my designs, do some scrapbook pages, play my video games, spend time with my family and also fit work in. The problem is that there are only SO many hours a day of free time and deciding which to do is really hard. The past 2 weeks I have been all about designing and my games. I only did 2 pages this week for scrapbooking and that was yesterday and today :( I miss it terribly. I was reading Amy's blog.. she took a week off of everything and in a way I kind of feel like I did too. Of course she found a more deeper meaning to it, where I was just goofing off play a game. I do miss my blog buddies and it's amazing what a week away will do.. you feel so far behind! It's so weird how you feel like you really know these other people just by reading their blogs.. kind of like diaries that are open to the public!!

So I'm back... at least back to scrapping :)

I am heading out to Vegas this Thursday for 2 nights. I meeting one of my best friends from Georgia and her friends.. we are going to have a blast!! I can't wait!!!! Here are the 2 pages I did get done. The first one is for Laura's Team using her new Bobby Socks Kit and the second one is from Heather Roselli's new Father Knows Best Kit.. both are at the Digichick.

Where to begin?????

2006-06-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

My I have so much to share!! First of all last weekend was my 2nd anniversary and Jeff bought me a beautiful diamond pendent necklace. I almost fell out of my chair. I on the other hand got him a shirt. LOL. Go figure. Seems like whenever he goes all out, I go with the basics and vice versa. I'm not complaining though.. I love my necklace!! Here is a pic of it:

Then we went out to a cool little wine bar for dinner and wine (of course). It was so yummy!!! All together a very great night and I can't believe we have been married for 2 years already!

My other exciting news: I applied to rakscraps to be on their element team as a temporary member for the summer. The next thing I know I'm on the permament team!! UGH!! I'm so excited and thrilled and then also scared to death!! What if the stuff I make stinks?!! Really though I'm so excited. In fact I already started making my contributions for the June mega kit!!!

Yesterday was Robin's big 30 Birthday!!! Happy birthday Robin!

As far as scrapbooking, I am sooooooo far behind. My main computer is so loaded with stuff that it keeps shutting off. I'm busy going through things getting rid of some stuff, transferring stuff to CDs and just trying to get organized. My laptop is working great, but of course none of my scrapbooking stuff is on it yet.. only the new stuff. So that's my excuse for not doing any LOs for a week!!! UGH. (oh and yes I've been playing my game too!!!!) I can't even remember the last Chick's LIfe page I did!!

Ok here is a question for all of you 12x12 scrappers out there... where do you print??? I usually print at Costco, but I'm looking for something I can do online and then have them sent to me. I don't want to pay an arm and a leg, so if you have any suggestions let me know.

Check out the new Avatar challenge at Rakscraps, I just posted it today. Time to show off your Dads!!!!

And with all of that, I'm out of here. I'm only working 3 days now for the summer, so hopefully I can actually get caught up. LOL sure!

Hello my name is Audra and I am a

2006-05-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

NERD!!! Yes you heard it straight from my mouth, I am a nerd. I am a video game junkie and I used to play quite a bit.. for instance, DH and I used to play Everquest.. then we got Everquest 2. We used to play for hours on end, up until the wee hours of the night. And yes I gained weight because all I did was sit behind a computer and play games. Then after Ellie my addiction turned to digital scrapping... which I love. So now I barely play games anymore. I did start to play Kingdom Hearts 2 on my playstation 2, but that's only every now and then. So why am I telling you this.... because as of tonight, Jeff and I are now playing World of Warcraft!!! Like I have the time right??? I'm actually waiting for the thing to install as I sit here and type. I have heard that this one is easier to play for just a little bit and log off, so you aren't stuck playing for hours. hmmmm.... we'll see about that. So if you notice I'm not around, then I might have been sucked into gamer's world again!! LOL

On a brighter note look what I made:

Here is the mini kit I did to give away for the photo inspiration prize:

And then I gave this one to Mish to give away for her Trippy Tuesday Chat Challenge. I have the bigger kit, so I gave her parts of it to make it mini :)

And with that I"m off to play my game!!!

Girls weekend!

2006-05-21T20:27:00.000-07:00

So I got back this afternoon from a night in Flagstaff with some good friends of mine. We had so much fun and it was great to just get away for a night. We didn't do too much in Flagstaff, just shop and went out to eat and then drank a bunch of wine and talked. It was like a grown up slumber party!! Lots of talking and laughing. A much needed break for all of us. Jeff stayed home with Ellie and this was his first time solo with her overnight. He did a great job!! :)

Today we went swimming in our pool and it's finally nice enough to really enjoy. Ellie was scared again at first, but then started splashing in the water and all was good.

Tomorrow is my last day in Wickenburg until August. YEAH!!!!!!!!! I will have Mondays and Fridays off for the whole summer and I'm so excited. I have alot planned... and yes it includes scrapbooking and designing.

I got a page done tonight, here it is:

(credits: Laura Alpuche's new Symphony Kit found at the Digichick)

Ok off to upload it! Have a great week!!!!

Oh My Grey's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-05-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

Holy cow!! I just finished watching Grey's Anatomy's series finale and I'm in shock!! I won't ruin it for those of you who haven't seen it yet, but oh my! How long till it's back on again??

As for my Mojo... I found it again. I decided not to really overthink my LOs and here's what I've come up with:

(Credits: Berry Sweet Collaboration Kit by Correen Silke, Robin Cabana, Racheal Disckson & Jeanine Baechtold of Scrapdish)

(credits: Papers/elements from the Amaze Kit by Kimberly Giarrusso of the Digichick)

How sweet is that?? In fact I'm pretty sure this could be one of my favorite LOs now. I printed it and then framed it for my mother for Mother's day. She loved it!!

I've been tagged by Gina!!

Five things in my fridge: watermelon, milk (Ellie started drinking whole milk), left over pizza, salsa, & yogurt

Five things in my car: Ellie's toys, Ellie's carseat, my coffee cup, cds, & an itrip adapter

Five things in your bag: wallet, lipstick, lip liner, papers with notes on them (to do stuff), and my ww book (not sure why I have it still?!)

Five things on my DVR or video player: Grey's anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Little Einsteins, American Idol, & ashamed to say so but... Days of our Lives

Five things in my wardrobe: Old Navy T-shirts, capris in every color practically, too many shoes to count, belts & a ton of clothes that no longer fit.. keep them just in case!

And with that I"m off to bed!! Adios Amigas!!!!

Lull

2006-05-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

So I feel like I'm in a complete Lull right now! I'm completely blocked on ideas for scrapping right now. Also, 2 design teams that I belong to have been disbanded. I'm completely bummed about this, but I also understand 100%. Both Tania and Amy have decided to stop designing for a bit to focus on family, life, etc... I will miss scrapping with their stuff because they are both so talented. So if you two are reading this, just know that I go kicking and screaming LOL.

I am behind one LO for scrapdish for April, not to mention May still. Laura has come out with some new frames for her team to play with :) Heather also just gave us a new kit too. And a Chick's life..... way behind!! So I need to find my Mojo soon. Please send me scrapbooking vibes!

On a bright note, Jeff suprised me with a new laptop for mother's day.. how stinkin sweet is that!! It's beautiful... as much as a laptop can be I suppose. It's an hp pavilion dv 1000. I love it!!

American Idol: Shocked and confused!!! How in the world did Chris get voted off. I admit I didn't vote because I didn't see it on Tuesday night.. Tivoed it until Wednesday. He looked so shocked! I really feel for the guy, but it's probably a blessing.. he'll probably get a better contract in the long run! And when his album comes out, I'll be in line to get it!

New shows!

2006-05-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

So tonight I have been watching that new show called "Big Love". I'm addicted... like I need another show to watch. I barely have enough time to watch my current shows. LOL Seems like I've been watching quite a few new shows lately. "King of Cars" on A&E is like a bad accident, I just keep watching it, I can't stop! And Deal or No Deal... well that's just crazy, but again I can't stop watching it. And then there's "House" which is just an awesome show. I have watched it for a while now and somehow I stopped and then again this week I'm hooked.

I finished that kit I was working on and gave it away as a prize! Here's what it looked like when it was done!

Other than that, nothing too exciting. My house is full of gifts still that I haven't put away, the laundry has made a mountain in our bedroom and tomorrow I'm finally off. I have some serious catching up to do.

On a different note I did get my own website... Jeff helped me do it. I need to design it (in my spare time) and stuff but I'm pretty excited about it. It will be my own little space in the internet world LOL. It'll just be pics, blog, etc...I'll keep you all posted. On that note, I'm out of here!! Night!

A year ago...

2006-04-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

I gave birth to Elyse "Ellie" and what a year it has been. I am completely overwhelmed with the fact that a year has gone by. Some days it seems like just yesterday and then other days it seems so long ago. I guess that's how time works.

The party was a success! We had a lot of fun and Ellie was great! Here are some pics from the party:

That's Ellie in the pink dress hanging out with her little buddies :) and her Aunt Erin.

Ellie in her birthday hat eating cake... she loved it!

Look at that face.... priceless.

We have been very busy with family and tomorrow we are doing even more stuff... so by Monday I should be completely wiped out!

Planning a Party!

2006-04-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow is Ellie's first birthday. I can't believe a year has flown by. I'm in awe and yet I haven't had time to dwell on it too much because I've been planning a party. Tomorrow we are having a party for Ellie at the little park down the street. It's going to be so much fun.. we are expecting about 50 people...yikes!!! Of course this is all for us and not Ellie, but it's still going to be great. Jeff's parents (both sets) flew in from California and so did his sister. Last night we went to dinner with his father and stepmother and tonight we went to dinner with his grandparents, mother and sister.... phew, lots of socializing for us.

I will hopefully get lots of pics tomorrow.. or at least hopefully my brother will (he's on camera duty!) I just stuffed some goodie bags for the kids and I'm ready to take a hot bath. I did manage to get this page done for the chick's life challenge.. we were supposed to scrap a birth story.. how appropriate. I used Heather Roselli's new "It's a Girl Thang" kit found at the Digichick.

Still busy!

2006-04-23T00:14:00.000-07:00

I swear things have not slowed down one bit. First off, Ellie has another STUPID cold! I took her to the doctor this morning and they said her ears were clear and so was her chest and that she probably just got another cold on top of the old one.. UGH!!! The poor girl's nose is full of junk! I mean she can hardly breathe. So hopefully this won't last as long as the other one. At least she doesn't have a fever this time.

So tonight I actually got some scrapping done.. last night too as a matter of fact! Here is a page I did tonight:

Guess what is so great about that LO?? I made ALL of the elements/papers! Woot look at me go.. LOL!! Actually I really like this kit and so far it's getting big. I'm going to add a 3rd color I think. Probably a cream color. Anyway let me know what you think. I think I will give it away as part of my avatar challenge this month :)

Ok off to bed, I'm exhausted as usual!

Catch up

2006-04-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

So after a week of not working I am now playing catch up. Catch up on everything.. work, life, etc.... We had a great time on Easter. My family always goes to church and then we all head to the park for a picnic and some outdoor fun. Ellie did great. She was still not 100% but you couldn't tell. She looked great in her little dress and of course she kept pulling the bow out of her hair. Here are two pics from the day: (straight off the camera & not edited!!)

That is the 3 of us before we changed for the picnic!

Ellie in her adorable purple dress that you can't see very well!! Doesn't she look better :)

Other than that nothing else to really write about. I'm in the process of planning Ellie's 1st b-day party! It's going to be huge I think. I know it's mostly for us, but oh well.. a party is a party right?! It's going to be on Saturday April 29th... Lots to do before then.

Happy Easter!

2006-04-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

Some Easter Humor:

What a week!

2006-04-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

So today is the first day since Sunday that Ellie has not had a fever. I tell you this week has been hell to say the least. She has been so sick and cranky!!! Not sleeping... which means I don't sleep. I didn't work one day this week.. not so bad, but when you aren't planning it, it's not so fun. So basically I didn't get paid either. I contract myself so if I don't work, I am out of money :( So no scrapbooking kits for me this next week LOL.

I did manage to get a few fun things done while I was locked inside. First of all I made this kit for the exchange club chat at Rakscraps:

I've been working a ton on designing some kits. I'm really starting to get the hang of this designing thing. I'm working on a boy kit and a cool blue & brown kit too. I figure I can hand them out for some of my challenges. Ok so here are my LOs for the week.

(Credits: Seriously Kit by Robin Cabana of Scrapdish, stitching by Shabby Princess)

(Credits: paper/elements by Jen Wilson, flower & Brad by Mrs. S, stitching by shabby princess)

I did that 34 page for the chick's life challenge. We were supposed to scrap about our age... yep I'm 34... soon to be 35 (ugh!!!) in July. I also had fun with this page:

(Credits: Paper/elements by Heather Rosellit from her Construction Kit found at the Digichick)

I made those little arrows with my hyperpen. I have this HUGE tablet that I got when my Dad died.. I dont' think he ever even used it. It's pretty old too (in the electronic sense) Anyway, I really don't know how to use it very well. I really want to learn though. So I will just have to keep playing with it. So as you can see my week has been crazy.. I definately am suffering from cabin fever!!!

Poor baby!

2006-04-11T23:45:00.000-07:00

Your Theme Song is Soak Up The Sun by Sheryl Crow

"I've got no one to blameFor every time I feel lameI'm looking up"
You're laid back, optimistic, and very togetherLike the sun, people feel warm and comfortable around you

What's" Your Theme Song?

I saw this test on Robin's blog as I am sitting here listening to a crying baby. A vey sick baby at that. She has had a really high temp the last 2 nights, 102-103. And of course the doctor says to keep an eye on it, that's its Viral. Of course. I'm ready for it to stop. I'm tired and I'm missing a week of work. Ugh.

A Gift and colds :)

2006-04-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

So I made this kit called Citrus Garden and I'm giving it away :) Here is the preview:

And here is the Dowload link!! (it's on megaupload) If you take it please leave me a comment and if you use it send me an email, I'd love to see what you do with it :) Remember I haven't been making kits very long, so the sizing may be a bit off on th elements.

Ellie and I both have terrible head colds.. and of course Jeff is out of town until MOnday. She was up most of last night and so was I. You know you don't feel to well when you have a ton of spare time and you want to do nothing but sleep. Today I did get the strength ;) to go shopping LOL. I bought the cutest pair of shoes from Nine West.. fun little sandals and then 2 pairs of flip flops and a shirt at Anny Taylor. Man I love flip flops!! If I could wear them everyday I would. I bought Ellie some cute little stuff from Carters too. Ok that's about it.. nothing too exciting to report. Adios!

Another preview

2006-04-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

Here is the other kit I finished. Not sure what I'm doing with these :) Just having fun for now. Feeling much better this evening. Just watched bits and pieces of American Idol.

I need to go back and watch the whole thing now (Tivo)

Home sick

2006-04-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

So I stayed home from work today just feeling pretty crummy.. more nauseous really. Not sure what it is, but Jeff was feeling the same way too. Probably a little bug. I did sleep a bit today and then I finished this:

What do you think????? Please let me know and be honest! It was fun to make. I made another little kit too, but haven't put the preview together yet. I'll post it when it's done.

Ellie started at the new babysitter yesterday. So far I think it's good. She came home super exhausted. I think she crawled and played around with the other little girl all day. I think it's really good that she is with another child around her age. My babysitter said they did very well together. Ok I'm off to take a nap.

Time to myself

2006-03-31T22:58:00.000-07:00

So tonight Jeff went to a concert and Ellie went to bed around 7, so I pretty much had some time to myself. You always think you'll get more done than you actually do. I had grand intentions of getting 3 pages done... nope. Total count 1, blogs read--- too many to count, ebay auctions looked at - 2, mini kits made by me -1, loads of laundry done - 2. So I guess I was somewhat productive.. just not in my scrapping sense. Here is the one LO I finished for the evening:

(Credits: Laura Alpuche's New Easter Parade Kit found at Scrapdish)

Isn't that the funniest face. I took the pic this evening and I'm not sure what kind of face that is, but I had to scrap it. She is becoming quite the independent little person. Changing her or putting clothes on has become the ultimate wrestling match. I must give her 20 different things to hold and look at, but nope.. nake girl spins around and tries to fall of the changing table. I swear it's driving me nuts... any suggestions????

A New look again!

2006-03-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

So I redid my header AGAIN! But this time I really like it much better. I stuck with my chick.. I mean it is me :)

I just watched AI.. they voted Lisa off. I'm not suprised, but it was still sad to see her go. She does have an amazing voice for a 16 year old. I was suprised that Katharine was in the bottom 2 though..

Tomorrow is a sad day. It is my babysitter's last day. She has watched Ellie for the past 8 months and has loved her like her own. She is the sweetest lady (she has 4 grandchildren) and I am going to miss her terribly. She is moving way across town to a brand new home and it's too far for me to take her. She currently lives right across the street from me. I am bummed. We start with a new girl on Monday who lives kind of close, but nothing like across the street. I found her on Craigslist.org, so hopefully it will all work out. Please say some prayers and give good thoughts on Monday. I'm going to be a nervous wreck. This is the one thing I can honestly say I don't like about parenthood.. finding good child care! UGH!!!

I did get another page done... it's Gina Miller's sketch challenge #7. I just love these faces of Ellie's. I used Kimberly Giarrusso's Missy Anne kit found at the Digichick. I didn't even use half of the adorable elements either. There is always next time right!

Happy Birthday to...

2006-03-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

(credits: Serenity Kit by Rachel Dickson of Scrapdish)

Jeff!! Yep today he is a big 35!!! Wow it's seems so weird, I mean sometimes I still feel like I'm in my 20s... and then other days, my 80s LOL. No really, it just seems so weird to say 35. When I was young I thought 35 was old.. man I was wrong! We had a great day. We met my brother and parents for lunch and then went to Best Buy for some electronic goodies.. We walked out with 2 movies (Chicken Little & Lady & The Tramp) and 2 xbox 360 games.. (dont' know what they are). Jeff bought himself an xbox 360 the other day so he is hooked. He actually got me a game too but I haven't had time to sit and play it.

Ellie walked up to Jeff today and clear as a bell said, "DADA". It was so cute! I might add that she did say Mama FIRST in the last week too :) Either way it was a great birthday gift for him. Tonight we went to dinner at a new Chinese Food place and it was super YUMMY! I pretty much blew the diet this week.. I'll find out for sure tomorrow! Tomorrow it's back on track!

I need to start making Ellie's invitations. I bought Dani's Clownin Around Kit and it's so stinkin cute! I have the embellishments too. I can't wait to see what I come up with.

So I decided I need a new look for my blog.. and not being html savy I need some serious help. I think I'm sick of my chick.. not that she's not cute, but I think I need something else. So if you have any ideas or suggestions for some easy blogger templates let me know.

We've been busy!

2006-03-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

So today was pretty exciting!! First of all I am now an official member of the Scrapdish Creative Team!! Yeah for me! I"m so excited to be working with all of the designer there. I already made my AAM LO with the 3 wishes theme:

(credits: Robin Cabana's Flair Kit found at Scrapdish)

How fun are those colors!! I just love that kit! I'm sure I'll get plenty of use out of it too!!

Yesterday, Jeff and I headed to the design center and picked out some of the stuff for our house! How exciting and yet overwhelming too! It's crazy!! I mean trying to get things to match using just a small sample. Plus you walk in there and of course you totally want to upgrade to the best stuff and then a small voice in your head says, "do you think you are a millionaire" and then you come back to reality. It was fun though and we finish up tomorrow.

Today, Jeff and I headed over to Honda since they totalled (sp?) out his car. He is now the proud owner of a beautiful Honda Accord V6 with navigation. It is so cool. The thing is voice activated and it talks back to you. Jeff was originally going to buy used but I talked him into the newer car. He deserved a new car and knowing Jeff he will drive it to the ground. It's a very cool grey color almost brown even.. here's the picture of it!

It's not the best pic since I took it in the evening, but trust me it's gorgeous inside too!

AI: They voted Kevin off. Thank goodness.. poor kid, but really he had to know he wasn't going to win right?! Next pick off is Bucky.

I watched that show Deal or no Deal last night... that is some crazy stuff. It was almost addicting to watch. Ok off to bed!