scrapbooker for hire

2009-11-26T15:04:00.000-08:00

April 2009
2009.04.23
A few things about Terrance @ 22 months.
Yesterday she got into my purse, found my gum, took a piece, chewed it, LOVED IT exclaiming "Uuuuumm!" more than once. Then she swallowed it and asked for more, all of which happened in a matter of seconds.
She recently climbed from her toy chest, onto the kitchen counter, pulled the silverware drawer all the way out, (like, it was resting only on the little wheels) and sat in it!
Joe took her to the park the other day and when she saw the geese she ran up to them saying, "cack, cack. cack, cack." Yeah, she knows what a duck says, it's very sweet.
Last Saturday we went down by the river at Wallace Marine Park where Terrance was perfectly content throwing rocks into the water.
When she pushes her little stroller around the house she says, "beep, beep. beep, beep." =)
This picture is from a couple of weeks ago when we went to the Discovery Museum downtown. I love the sweet expression on her face and how she's totally into the phone but, is peeking at the dinosaurs in the next room.

Posted at 06:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2009.04.02
To all you talented lurkers...
Rusty Pickle is looking to expand our elite design team!

Ten finalists will be chosen to run an "amazing race" where their talent (and ability to function on minimal sleep ;)) will be put to the test. Of these ten finalists, five will be chosen to join the Rusty Pickle team.

The deadline for entry is Sunday May 31st at 12 noon Mountain Standard time. Please submit the following 3 projects for consideration: (1) 2-page 12x12 layout, an altered project and a mini album 8x8 or smaller with at least 6 pages. Projects must contain 100% Rusty Pickle product to qualify. Email all entries to: amazingrace@ rustypickle.com.

Please limit one email per contestant with 1 project image of the layout, 1 project image of the altered project and one compilation image (six images) of the album (this compilation can be done using photo-editing software). The images are to be no more than 700 x 700 pixels. In the subject line put only your name.

The ten finalists will be announced Friday, June 5th at 12 noon.

Thank you and good luck!

Posted at 08:08 PM in Rusty Pickle | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2009.04.01
i'm thinking Spring.
As promised, the weekend before we headed to Louisiana I was held up in my studio creating some Rusty Pickle projects and I finally have time to share the fruits of my labor. All of the cards are Spring themed and feature Rusty Pickle patterned papers, rubons, stickers and some of their yummy lace!

That's it for now...I'll be back soon with some super cute pictures of the babe and a new layout or two.

Take care!

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2009-11-26T15:03:00.001-08:00

March 2009
2009.03.20
Winter term 2009 is officiallly over.
I took my last final this morning at 10 o'clock and I feel great! I had two computer science finals, a lab final and a calculus final this last week all of which I totally owned and am so confident that I'll be boasting a perfect to near perfect GPA for the term. Yay!

This weekend I'm going to be in my scrapbooking room creating some rocking Rusty Pickle projects and whatever time is left will be spent packing for our vacation! Next Tuesday we're flying out bright and early to Louisiana to spend six days with Joe's very best friend and his family.

Alright, that's all I've got for now. Stay tuned for the aforementioned RP projects. =) And have a great weekend.

Posted at 12:58 PM in LiFe | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2009.03.07
already an artist.
We've recently discovered finger painting and the babe loves it. Notice the focus in her eyes?

*Note: her mad scientist look is a product of pigtails all morning and then a two hour nap. I think it works for her.*

Hope you're having a great weekend!

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2009.03.02
an update, part 2: new projects. beware, this is a photo heavy post.
I finished this several weeks ago. It's a congratulatory layout to myself for finally finishing my Associate's degree last December. The layout is a Rusty Pickle project and features the School Daze line along with the Starry Night 12 x 12 chipboard. Both of which are a couple of my personal favs and can be picked up at the Rusty Pickle book this weekend at Portland CKC I also used their new alpha stickers for the title but, as a mask rather than actual stickers. Scroll down to see what I mean.

This technique is really simple, really versatile and really cool. First, adhere the stickers to your layout (card, mini album, or whatever other project you're working on) as you normally would. *Don't push down on them too hard though, because you will be picking them back up and you don't want them to tear your paper.* Once they're down simply trace around them with any pen of archival quality and when you've finished that you can fill them in however you desire.

Mine are scribbled in from side-to-side to match the feel of my layout. You could easily do anything and everything else from polka dots, to tiny dots, zig-zags, BOLD, or leave it as just an outline. I've also used these same alphas as masks here. The difference is that I first painted the chipboard shape white, then put down the sticker masks and then painted over them and the entire chipboard shape with the blue. Cool, right?

This next project is the only thing that I've accomplished all month (and I mean February when I say that because I have yet to accept that it's already March of 2009, holy sheep shit). One of my very best friends, Mandy, whom I've known since the 4th grade and is like a sister to me is pregnant. Yay! Oh, and her birthday is on Friday. So, in lieu of both of those things I spent a few hours in my scrapbooking room creating this for her.

When I decided that I was going to create this I went through my stash and pulled out all things that would be journaling friendly. Any thing with any sort of resemblence to lined paper was fair game. The idea was to have some sort of line on every page so that she could write everywhere. It was the best way to utilize the already limited space that I was giving her for keeping track of such a momentous occasion. Now that it's complete I don't think it's big enough for a pregnancy journal but, it's gorgeous and one-of-a-kind and I think that those totally make up for the lacking pages.

Because this Rusty Pickle album is spiral bound I was able to easily remove it and work on each page individually. I also embellished a few random tags, a transparency and a pocket and turned them into pages by cutting out the small binding holes using my exacto knife. *I'll point them out to you through out, they all turned out great and I love what they add to the journal.*

She's already about 12 weeks pregnant, maybe a little bit more and the beginning of the journal includes pages where she can record how it's been so far and then there's a spot for both her and her husband to each journal their thoughts on the experience thus far.
*there's the first tag that was added.*

There's a monthly divider for each month and then a few pages of actual journaling space for the month. Weirdly though, I missed the month 4 pages when I took these pictures so we have to move on.

You'll also notice that there's no rhyme or reason to this journal at all, as far as colors and coordinating goes. The pages that make up the spreads usually match but the journal as a whole is very eclectic and was literally pieced together. *there's another tag.*

I think the month 6 is my favorite spread, I love the color combo.

*There's the transparency that I added. It's actually just one of the 4 x 6 My Minds Eye overlays. I stamped the "blossom" on using Stazon, the permanent marker of ink pads.*

*there's another tag.*

*This pocket was added and is actually a page from one of Rusty Pickle's 3 x 3 albums which will be available in the Rusty Pickle booth at CKC this weekend.*

The journal concludes with a spot for a snapshot of the new babe. I meant to add a bit of embellishing to the photo mat but totally forgot to before I photographed it and then taking the picture made me remember to do it. But then I forgot again and boxed it up already so it's stuck like this.

And that's it. One custom made journal for my very best friend on her birthday.

Thanks for looking/reading and have a great rest of the week!

Oh, wait, one last thing. If you are heading up to Portland this weekend be sure to check out the booth for some awesome products, great deals and lots of inspiration! And if you have time, take a class: the ones being offered are listed on the Rusty Pickle blog.

And no, I won't be there. With only two weeks of classes left I'll be at the library studying this weekend...or if the weather permits, we'll skip town and head to the coast for an awesome day of beach combing.

I am a scrapbooker for hire. If you're interested in me creating a similar journal/project for you please don't hesitate to contact me using the link at the top of the site.

Posted at 09:51 PM in ME., Rusty Pickle, scrapbooker for hire, {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2009-11-26T15:02:00.001-08:00

February 2009
2009.02.27
an update, part 1: the LB (little babe).
My lovely little girl is 20 months and 3 days old.

She clearly (well, to me and joe at least) says, "where'd it go?", "peeease!", "what're you doing?", "i'll get it!", "high five!", and lots of other things in a high pitched squeaky voice that melts my heart each time I hear it.

When she gets up in the morning the first thing she does is put on her magenta high-heeled plastic dress-up shoes.

She's a drama queen: one that begins to flail her limbs fiercely, throw herself on the floor and shriek a blood curdling scream for 3 - 5 seconds. Then gets up, (as if nothing happened), points at the same balloon that she pointed at 6 - 7 seconds ago and expects to get it this time. Uhm, no little girl. It still belongs to the same little boy that it belonged to 8 seconds ago. Nice try though.

Her hair is long enough for pig tails! Hopefully the new do will stop the voices: "you're little boy is so cute!" Of which I've never understand because the girl lives in pink.

She's been in daycare part-time for a month now and is doing wonderful! I'll even admit that my heart breaks a bit each time she'd rather stay than come home with me. But, I'm also so happy and absolutley relieved that the transition was smooth and easy. T's a natural adapter and makes her mama proud. Oh, and Susan (the daycare provider) does crafts with the kids and I have baby art from the LB. =) It's so exciting!!

stay tuned for part 2.

...

Posted at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

2009.02.04
and the winner is...
Angela Vorderstrasse! Congratulations and THANK YOU ALL for playing. It was so awesome to read about everyone. And, I was pleasantly surprised by a few of you gals that I knew when I worked at the scrapbooking store. WE MISS YOU TOO! *hugs* Thank you for all the compliments and kind words and for introducing yourself. =) Hopefully you won't be so shy in the future and will be willing to say hi more often. Or, hey maybe even start a blog of your own that I can stop by.

Alright, that's all I have time for this morning. Thanks again everyone and have a great day. I know I will, it's supposed to be 60 and SUNNY today! =)

Oh, and this is T a few weeks ago when she was sick and obviously not amused but, still super cute.

Posted at 08:17 AM in RAK, terrance_ | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2009-11-26T15:00:00.000-08:00

2009.01.31
happy valentines day, early.
Love is in the air and on all the store shelves. I've been inspired for days and finally found some time yesterday to sit down for awhile and get something done.

I played with brown and pink paper lines from Rusty Pickle: White Chocolate Bunnies and Chocolate Kisses. I also used a few chipboard shapes, rub ons, butt-ons and bling to make these cards complete.

They're cute, right? They can be all yours just for leaving a comment. And, along with the three cards & matching envelopes I've put together a coordi-nating prize pack full of Rusty Pickle papers, buttons, chipboard, rubons, stickers and bling. Here's the catch: you have to introduce yourself to me.

Seriously, I'm calling all of you lurking readers out. =) I know people read my blog (because the little stats thing that I've attached to it tells me so) and I want to know who you are. Are you a regular? Is it your first visit? What's your name, where are you from, do I know you in real life, do you have a blog that I can read? Yada, yada, yada...the point is that I want to know who my readers are and I'm okay with bribing you all to find out. Just please, don't make me beg.

You'll have until Monday night to leave a comment to be eligible for the prize. =)

Thanks so much everyone and I can't wait to get to know you all. (Or, hear from you again if you do leave me comments already).

Here are pictures of the goods that you'll win: a complete 12 x 12 Lil Chubby chipboard alphabet, Lucky flourish rubons, alphabet stickers, a variety of chipboard pieces, buttons, bling and 10 sheets of patterned paper.

Oh, and the winner of the tags and the Rusty Pickle RAK from my last post was Pam. Yay! I'm not sure when the RAK will go out but, I'll get the tags in the mail to you sometime next week.

That's it for now.

Posted at 11:34 AM in RAK, Rusty Pickle, {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

2009.01.18
I am so lame. read on, *there's a giveaway at the end.*
Two weeks since my last real post - lame.

Seriously though, I've been busy. Classes resumed on the 5th and since then calculus and computer science have been consuming my days. I finished my AA last term at the community (easier than regular) college and have transferred out to WOU to finish my BS.

Products:
Rusty Pickle White Chocolate Bunnies paper, Candyland alpha stickers, On the Edge rubons, February rubons, Beautiful rubons, Jotting it Down acrylic journaling stamps, ribbons.

I'm now a day student rather than a night student (which I love) and my class schedule from here on out will be full of math and computer science classes which really makes me excited. I love doing what I love, ya know?

Speaking of, Friday night I stayed up really late and worked on a few projects. These tags being one of them.

Products:
Rusty Pickle Chocolate Kisses paper, February rubons, Love definition rubons, Jotting it Down journaling stamps, button, ribbon, jewels and stickles.

*The giveaway is a RAK that comes from the Rusty Pickle warehouse.* Exciting, right?! If you'd like a chance to win, just leave me a comment and I'll choose a name at random on Tuesday. And just to make it easier on me, if you do leave a comment please also email me (using the link under my picture) your mailing address so that if I choose your name I won't have to email you for it. If I choose your name and I don't have your address I'll move onto the next name...fair warning.

I'm also going to include these tags in the giveaway so, if I choose you you'll get a package from Rusty Pickle and a small envelope from me...and who knows, maybe I'll throw in some Rusty Pickle out of my stash because believe me, I have PLENTY!

Products:
Rusty Pickle Petite Cherub paper, February rubons, Jotting It Down journaling stamps, chipboard hearts, button, jewels and ribbons.

That's all for now. Happy 2nd to the last football Sunday of the season! Yay!

Posted at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

2009.01.10
update coming soon.
classes resumed on monday and i've been a very busy girl.

just for fun how about two new pictures of my sister's little boy? yeah, like i said, cutest baby ever.

Posted at 10:28 PM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2009-11-26T14:57:00.000-08:00

December 2008
2008.12.31
kato the triceratops.
he's a robotically animated "real" baby dinosaur that giggles when his tummy is rubbed and purrs when you scratch under his chin. he has fabric leaves that he "crunches" on when they're placed in his mouth. he roars, he blinks, and he wags his tail. he is absolutely adorable and up until a few days ago cost nearly $300. now though, they're only $99 and that's a deal joe and i couldn't pass up. when i called the target at keizer station this morning and confirmed that they had them in stock (unlike every other store in town) joe was on his way!

i mean really, what kid wouldn't want their very own baby triceratops that roars, groans, eats fabric leaves and wiggles his horns to jungle music? terrance has been a big dino fan since she got her first dino book as an infant. and for christmas we got her a set of little action figure like baby dinosaurs and she loves them. seriously, how could we go wrong with a 3 foot animated dinosaur?

when joe got home terrance was excited just to see his picture on the side of the box and when we took him out she could hardly contain herself. it was love at first sight. she climbed on started bouncing and then gave him lots of kisses.

then (this is where it went horribly wrong), we put the batteries in and turned him on. once he roared and blinked his big robotic eyes it was all over. terrance's screams were filled with terror. she ran to me, wrapped her arms around my neck and inserted her fingernails into my skin where they stayed until the dinosaur was removed from the room. the upside is that she's totally digging the box that he came in.

Posted at 01:20 PM in terrance_ | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.30
finally, i have something crafty to share.
I swear that this girl was blessed with the most fantastic cowlick. A majority of the ones that I've seen are in the most horribly wrong spot and doom a girl to years of bad hair during middle school and high school.

Products used: Rusty Pickle alphabet stickers, chipboard shapes, patterned paper, jewels and journaling stamps. Worldwin cardstock, misc photo corners.

Terrance, not so much. She's got it in just the right spot for her to have "sweeping bangs" for all of her days, as Whitney so fiercly wished for while T was inutero. Seriously.

Whitney thinks that my husband has a big forehead, which she commonly refers to as a five-head. Really though, he doesn't, he's cute and perfect and totally four (not five) headed. =) Because she thought that the big forehead gene would be passed on to baby T, all throughout my pregnancy she insisted that when Terrance was old enough I give her "sweeping bangs." Meaning, her bangs would "sweep" across the forehead from one side to the other all the while giving her a fashionable look and covering up the atrocious five head.

Well, I'm proud to say that Terrance came out a normal four-headed girl. Weirdly though, she got the sweeping bangs. Some biological super power must have agreed that it'd be a good look for her and made it so. =)

On a side note, Christmas was great and I am so ready to ring in the New Year. Not that I really will in any sort of "partying" manner. I'm lame and will probably be sleeping when the clock strikes twelve. Joe will be playing Call of Duty 4 on Xbox live. It's going to be epic.

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2008.12.24
cutest baby ever.
seriously.

Posted at 10:21 PM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.22
Gunnar Eugene Tamez.
Here he is brand new and looking sooo much like his mother.

He weighed a whopping 6lbs 15oz and measured 21 inches long. *sigh* I can't wait to see him and hold him and love him. =)

Congratulations to Whitney and Adam. They're going to make great parents.

Posted at 10:52 AM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.21
a baby is on the way and a new layout.
My sister called a few hours ago to let me know that her water had broke and she was on her way to the hospital. Yay! And I just now got off the phone with her husband, they're at the hospital, she's in pain and did not want to talk. I told adam to keep me posted! How exciting, Terrance is going to have a sweet little baby cousin. =) Oh, and have I mentioned that they (Whitney, Adam and Gunnar) are going to be moving back to my side of the state in the Spring? Well, they are and that throroughly made my entire year when she told me!

And, here's my layout that was inspired by the journaling challenge on 2 peas. It said to use 1 word to sum up 2008. I, instead, used 1 phrase: deadlines & due dates!

products: Hambly pp, Bazzill cs, Tim Holtz grungeboard and distress inks, Heidi Swapp chipboard alpha, Doodlebug sticker alpha, My Minds Eye diecut calendar, misc pens.

Journaling reads: from January through December I was enrolled in 13 classes for a total of 44 credits and maintained a 3.52 GPA. I completed 3 projects a month for Rusty Pickle. I was a contracted scrapbooker for the last 3 months of the year. I was a wife and a stay at home mom. Needless to say, I was busy! This last year, my life more than ever, has revolved around a calendar and the circled squares - deadlines and due dates.

The background of this layout is just a plain white sheet of cardstock. I used a straight edge and pens to draw the journaling and accent lines. I used distress inks and Tim's ink blending tool to create the subtle color on the background and really love the way it turned out.

Thanks for looking and Happy Sunday!

Posted at 10:31 AM in {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.20
a couple more christmas cards.
Just 5 more days until Christmas and I'm really excited. We went shopping for T the other day and let me tell you, the girl is spoiled rotten!

My mom will be here on Monday and will be spending Christmas with us. I'm super excited for her to be here and for us to get a chance to spend some time together.

I'm thinking that I'll drag her to the movies to watch Marley & Me and then maybe a late night or two of scrapping.

Oh, and, my sister wasn't in labor the other day. So, we're still waiting.

Posted at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.18
coasters and a matching box.

i stole some pictures off of my bff's myspace (most were taken with a cell phone), touched them up, printed them out and created these fun coasters for her.

Posted at 02:16 PM in {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
fyi: i'm super pissed.
i have a laptop that's less than 3 weeks old and the sd slot is suddenly not working. LAME. therefore, i can't share the project that i just finished. *sigh* why do i always get the cart with the squeaky wheel?

something that's really exciting though is that my sister is in labor. she's 37 weeks and 16 days away from her due date. a month ago her baby was 6 lbs and by now he's obviously more than ready to appear.

i called her earlier and she told me that she's having lower back pain AND menstrual like cramps AND every so often it feels like she has to take a huge crap. yep, she's in labor. she kept saying, "we'll see." and i'd say, "i'll bet you $5 that you're in labor." and she'd laugh and say, "we'll see." and then i'd ask her some other tell tale answering question and when she answered it correctly (with a symptom that indicates labor) i'd say, "yeah, you're in labor." and then she'd say, "we'll see."

she's so sweet. and cute. and beginning the most wonderful part of her life.

at the baby shower that all of my scrapbooking women threw for me when i was pregnant with terrance, my sister had created an "advice box" that the women filled with theirs. my favorite one came from a wonderful woman named Kelly Meier and it's worth sharing:

"Time passes quickly, keep momentos of all her firsts. They are open books and we are the ones to guide and help them to write on their pages. Love, kiss and squeeze her all the time (even when you are mad at her). Allow her to explore and test her world. She will be more willing to step out and take risks. Also, let her be loved by others, she will learn to be comfortable with people and trust in mankind. Lastly, accept her perfect little self with all her wonderful personality traits, even when they may not be your favorite. She is a precious gift. Enjoy every moment that you have with her."

and just for fun some earlier layouts of terrance:

Posted at 12:20 AM in LiFe, terrance_, {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.15
I'm inspired.
I found this journaling challenge posted in the pub on 2peas:

"A lot can happen in 365 (or in the case of this year 366) days. It's possible you took thousands of photos this year. If you're a faithful scrapper, you may have hundreds of new layouts in your album. With all that's happened, it may not seem possible to capture 2008 in one layout.

But this week we're taking on that challenge. 2008 in one layout. And just to make things really interesting, how about 2008 in just one word? As you look back on another year gone by, what one word sums it all up? Make that word your title, and use your journaling to fill in the rest of the story."

Deadlines and due dates. That's mine. It's not a single word but, it's a single phrase and that's interesting enough for me. And, even if I was really interesting, a single word wouldn't flow as rhythmically as "deadlines and due dates" does. Right? The obvious answer here is, yes. It's true.

All year I've been a full-time student at a community college. I've also been a member of the Rusty Pickle design team. I'm a mom and I'm a wife. And for the last few months of the year I've also been working as a contracted scrapbooker. I've been busy and my life this last year, more than ever, has revolved around a calendar and the circled squares-deadlines and due dates.

There you have it.

Posted at 01:06 AM in LiFe | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.14
better late than never.
because I really suck at printing pictures of Terrance off and sending them to friends and family, I've decided to do it for christmas. meaning, i'm making gifts (coasters, albums and some simple frames) that all have pictures of her included.

today I started the box for a coaster set and took pictures as I went.

I started with a square wooden box that I found at a craft store (4 coasters were included). After painting it I used a mask, distress inks and the ink blending tool to create a background pattern.

I outlined the pattern using a white pen.

I stamped the flourishes and added the quote.

Once the flower outline was filled in with white paint I embellished the center with a button and rhinestones. Next, I traced the stamped flourishes with black stickles.

My final step for tonight was to adhere the trans-parent embellish-ment and large brad with diamond glaze.

Tomorrow, I'll use this to "flood" the top of the box and create a super thick and shiny top coat and it's going to be really, really cool.

Posted at 01:57 AM in {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.13
a new client layout.
I'll be back later with some new projects of my own and they're super cute!

Posted at 11:43 AM in scrapbooker for hire | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.06
Dear Joe,
I want to say that I love you and that you truly are my soulmate but, it all sounds so cliche. In this day and age true love no longer exists within society rather, it exists within oneself. The truest of loves can never be spoken of rightfully because no one has ever said a sentence, phrase or single word that conveys the astounding sense of "being" that love brings. You've brought that to me and I am so grateful.

The way you look at me makes me feel as if I'm the only person in the world. Our love comes from the deepest parts of the heart and soul. You complete me.

I love you now and I'll love you forever.

NOTE: I'm in my scrapbooking room on my laptop and am supposed to be writing a research paper but, my ADD kicked in and I found an old notebook that I used to journal in when I had a sudden urge. I was reading through it and found this bit of journaling about Joe. Sweet, huh?

And just for fun, how about some random projects that feature the love of my life.

Posted at 02:59 PM in LiFe | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.04
remember this?
A few months ago I posted this and said that the pages would house the stack of photos I have of Terrance doing the cute and funny things that she does. And while I had really great intentions of doing it and keeping up with everything, months had come and gone and I still had the stack of photos and an empty album. A few weeks ago I glanced at on in my shelf and got inspired to just do it, and I did although, not in the way that I had originally planned.

Journaling reads:

"Terrance, this book is dedicated to you my sweet heart little girl.

Terrance, I have to be honest. When I was pregnant I had the best intentions of keeping up with your scrapbooking once you were born. But then, you were suddenly here and I hadn't even completed my pregnancy pages (and still haven't almost 2 years later). Then you were month old and I hadn't even scrapbooked the story of your birth. The fact was that I was getting farther and father behind by the day and there was no end in sight.

Almost a year and half after you were born and with my continued failure to properly record your infant memories, I decided that I'd make a small album that I could easily paste 4x6 photos in, jot down a quick note and consider the memory scrapped. It was a good idea and a project that I eagerly started but, once I decorated the cover I set it aside and left it empty and forgotten about. I was again failing at keeping up with recording your everyday moments. The truth is that I so badly wanted to create some sort of chronological album for you but refused to work on anything for you unless I could do it from start to finish. Don't ask me why, I don't even know, it's just how I am when it comes to scrapbooking.

Last night, though, I finally came to the realization that I am not a chronoligical scrapbooker, that there will never be an end to your memories, and that no matter how good my intentions are of eventually being able to sit down and play "catch up" and rightfully, by date, arrange all of the wonderful photo I have of you AND journal about them, it will never happen. There, I said it! You will never have those first year, moth-by-month, milestone layouts--NEVER! And I'm so sorry, because I really wanted them too but, what you will have is a compilation of my absolute favorite photos and my accompanying thoughts from that time interval. I'm pretty sure there will be no exact dates as to when you ate your first solid food, although, I do remember it was apples (which you loved and you were around 4 months old) or when you said your first word (mom). But, like I said, you'll have my memory of it and maybe a few other random thoughts.

So, here's the deal with this book: It'll be an ongoing journal about you, narrated by me. It'll always be out of order, as I plan on adding to it whenever with whatever photo I've found or recently printed. But, I do promise that I'll do my very best to at least include some sort of vague reference to month/year when I can remember to do so."

I included that picture of me in labor at the hospital because when I found it, I was astounded at how round my face is in it. I always remember thinking when I was pregnant that my face wasn't gaining any weight. Uhm...note self, yes it was! Also, it was the only picture that I had of myself pregnant already printed so, I used it. =)

My mom fell in LOVE with T when she was born. This is one of my favorite pictures of them and because I had it on hand, I used it. The pages following these ones will be journaling from my mom. She'll be here for xmas and I thought it'd be nice to have her write something to Terrance.

And, speaking of my lovely mother, it's her birthday on Sunday, December 7th and I got her this gorgeous bracelet. I found it at a great local store called Spencer's Alley. Their website really doesn't do the store justice at all. It's a giant store with teeny aisles lined with hand made delights that range from furniture to jewelry and everything in between. It's full of antiques, nick knacks, patty wacks and gorgeous holiday themed items in every style from country kitchen to classy and elegent. To sum it up, it's like a giant treasure chest in every sense of the word.

And, an added bonus is that it's right next door to Stampin' Cat Studio. A great little shop bursting at the seams with all of the latest and greatest stamping products, including this guy's. So, if you're going to follow along with Tim Holt'z 12 tags of Christmas and need a local retailer, Stampin' Cat is it.

Alrighty, that's all I got and T should be waking up soon.

Have a great day.

Posted at 02:53 PM in LiFe, terrance_, {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

2008.12.02
bigger girl, bigger sticks.
Since she was big enough to go outside and explore, the girl has loved sticks. And as you can see, the size worth collecting has grown right along with her.

May 2008
11 months.

Dec. 2008
17 months.

Posted at 09:58 PM in terrance_ | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

2009-11-26T14:56:00.001-08:00

November 2008
2008.11.30
Cards, cards and more cards.
That seems to be all that I've been working on lately which is so unlike me. I usually have the hardest time EVER making a damn card that I like, let alone 10 of them. So, I guess having all of these done is like a personal victory for me. =)

Products: Rusty Pickle paper, stamps, rubons and ribbon. Bazzill cardstock and Making Memories alpha stickers.

Our Thanksgiving was awesome. It was just the 3 of us. We slept in late, Joe made breakfast, we played with T, when she napped Joe played his new xbox game while I cleaned my scrap- booking room and then scrapped. We stayed in our pajamas until we went to Denny's for dinner, rented Hancock afterward (which was excellent), stayed up late gaming and scrap- booking and then went to bed. It was a great day with not a single meal cooked or a dish cleaned by me. =) I couldn't have asked for me.

Products: Rusty Pickle paper, stamps, ribbon, file folder and buttons. Bazzill cardstock and Making Memories alpha stickers.

For the most part, we stayed indoors the day after Thanksgiving. I did hit up Craft Warehouse to pick up supplies for the Christmas gifts that I'm making this year and got most of them for 40% off which was pretty sweet.

Products: Rusty Pickle paper, stamps, rubons, ribbon and buttons. Bazzill cardstock.

I invited my friend and neighbor, Jenee, over lastnight for some much needed hang out time in my scrapbooking room. We watched girly movies, laughed until we cried and got a whole lot of nothing done. And for some reason the blog has decided to turn the underline option on and not let me change it. Weird. Okay, so on that note I guess I'll be done because it's bugging me!

Posted at 06:02 PM in Rusty Pickle | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

2008.11.23
It's Sunday
which means that my husband will be in front of the TV all day watching football (yuck!) and I will most definitely not be here! I'm heading to the library to catch up on Calculus and Statistics homework.

Before I go I thought that I'd share a bit about CKC Seattle and a couple of new cards that I made.

I was originally supposed to be going to Seattle to work in the Rusty Pickle booth but, Thursday night at about 8 p.m. after a long day of setting up the booth, Alaina got word that the instructor who was flying from Cali. to join us wouldn't be making it after all. She was sick. So, guess who got to teach the classes? Uhm, yep! That would be me (insert big smile here)!

Friday I taught 4 classes and in the first 2 ended up bribing a few of the ladies with a free RP idea book in exchange for the use of their tools during the class (as I had none!). The classes were a breeze and the women who took them were all awesome and a lot of fun.

On Saturday I saw a lot of faces from the previous day. About 20 women (10 in the first class alone) had signed up for more RP classes after taking one on Friday. They told me they loved my teaching methods so much that they had to come back for another class which was a huge compliment and a bit of a confidence booster for me! Thank you to everyone, you made my day!

To make up for my absence in the booth, Rusty Pickle flew out a darling girl named Cora from the warehouse to help Alaina out and she was awesome. Actually, they were both pretty awesome! Both Friday and Saturday night we ate at Red Robin, drank a little bit, laughed a lot and then slept hard.

I flew home early Sunday morning and was happy to find my gorgeous little girl and handsome husband waiting for me. Oh, and T was fine with out me! It's like she didn't even notice that I was gone.

A huge thank you to Rusty Pickle for the opportunity to represent them and teach their classes and I'm certainly hoping to do it again. =)

While I was there in the booth I was able to pick up some of their newest products which included the White Christmas line and matching stamps along with their new journaling stamps! All of which were used to make these cute cards along with some of their bling and buttons!

Thanks for looking and happy Sunday.

Posted at 10:46 AM in Rusty Pickle | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.11.16
Who's up for a challenge?
There's free product involved and it's easy. Well, sort of. Read on...

Here are 4 cards that were created using all Rusty Pickle products, or were they? You tell me.

Here's how it works. In a comment, list all of the Rusty Pickle products that were used to create these 4 cards. Whoever lists them all correctly (or closest to them all) will win a RAK from the Rusty Pickle warehouse. If more than one of you list them all, I'll put your names into a bowl and draw one at random. You'll have until the Wednesday, the 19th to leave your comment. And if you're playing, please, email me (using the link to the left) your name and full mailing address so that if you win I'll already have the info to submit to RP.

Oh, and if you're worrying about your comment being copied, don't. I'm holding them all until this is over.

Good luck!

One more thing, you have to be specific when listing products, you can't just say patterned paper or rubons, I want to know exactly what line they came from!

And I did get back from Seattle this morning but, I'm way too tired to post about it. Maybe later this week.

Happy Sunday.

Posted at 04:39 PM in RAK | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.11.11
Hug a veteran today.
Not only for their sacrifice and courage but, because they're responsible for a day of no classes for me! =)

And, as promised here's the paint storage:

Posted at 01:47 PM in scrapbooking room | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

2008.11.10
alright, i'll admit it.
I'm actually kind of (in the itsy bitsiest way....) looking forward to 3 whole nights away from my family.

Here's the deal: I'm going to CKC Seattle on Thursday morning to work in the Rusty Pickle booth. I live in Salem so I'll be flying thus, not returning until Sunday morning. I have a 16 month old daughter who I have never been away from overnight since she was born. At first, once the reality of the fact that I'd be away from Terrance for 3 whole days set in, I cried. I'm a new mom, it makes me sad. But, after much thought and looking at the schedule that was emailed to me, I came to the realization that those three nights will have me "off" from work in the early evening and the rest will be spent by myself. I mean, I'll of course be rooming with the other girls I'm sure but, I'll get 3 nights all to myself of which I won't have to cook a meal, clean a dish, give a bath, brush teeth, change a diaper, or have sex (i'm just being real). I'll get to be around scrapbooking products all day and at night i'll eat dinner out, lay around in a hotel room and do homework. Honestly, I'm really looking forward to it. And, wow, I am so easy to please...and kind of lame.

Also, I got this layout uploaded and online. It's for my client Jenny. It's presenting them as husband and wife. I LOVE this picture and that it has really captured their bliss--they look so happy!

The perspective of it and the colors made it fun and easy to design around.

Ooh, something else: I am very proud to say that my scrapbooking room is 85% clean. And I'm proud of that because it's been in a constant state of "being cleaned" for about a year. In reality the only cleaning that I did for awhile was to move stuff around to give me just enough tiny bit of space to work on while the piles and piles of things would stay and continue to collect. After awhile though, when it got really bad and I finally realized that I would never have an entire few days to devote to cleaning the room in it's entirety, I began to slip in there for ten or 15 minutes, and sometime less, and pick up and put away (keyword) one bit of a pile. So, with all of my progressive work and gaining a bunch of new storage I was able to really make a dent in it this weekend! Of the new storage, my favorite is for my paints. It's easy, keeps them accessible AND upside down (the best way to store paint)! I used a large wooden board and adhesive velcro. Yep, it was that simple and I now have a place for all 62 bottles of my paint to be visibly stored. One thing I didn't consider before I started was the weight of all of the paint! Those little bottles add up. My board didn't have proper hardware to be hung up with so it's sitting on a shelf against the wall for now.

Seriously, tomorrow, I'll take a picture of it because it's really neat. I can't take credit for it though. A few weeks ago I was reading a ladies blog (I'm not sure who, though) and saw that she had done the exact same thing but on a much smaller scale with her stickles. So, if that woman happens to read this entry, thanks for the idea and sorry I can't give you proper credit!

I'm now exhausted and going to bed. Good night.

-A

Posted at 10:37 PM in LiFe, Rusty Pickle, scrapbooker for hire, Travel | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2008.11.07
CKC Seattle is next week!
And, I'll be there in the Rusty Pickle booth! You can view the classes and daily event schedule here.

Posted at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.11.03
Redskins lose tonight = Obama is the President
I've always thought that I hear the most ridiculous statistics when I watch any sort of preshow/after show/high light show or actual football game with Joe, and I'm usually right. Tonight, though, just before the Steelers kicked off to the Redskins, the commentators were talking about this which says, "For the Redskins' entire history in Washington, D.C., the result of the team's final home game before the presidential election held the key to the result of electoral college. If the Redskins won, the incumbent party would retain the White House. If the Redskins lost, new blood would take over."

FYI: the game just ended and the Redskins lost.

Posted at 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2009-11-26T14:56:00.000-08:00

2009-11-26T14:52:00.000-08:00

2008.10.31
Happy Halloween!

Posted at 03:12 PM Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
2008.10.29
finally!
I've been trying to blog all day, to no avail, until now.
I did, however, make rice krispy treats. I gave Terrance 2 baby sized spoonfuls to taste when they were still warm and she loved them. Who wouldn't, though? They're a classic treat. Everyone likes them.
I made 2 cards that I just now finished.
And, I have a layout to share that I finished late lastnight.
:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
I'm getting excited.

These are Rusty Pickles new Bling (in jars w/ 5 different sizes!), fancy chipboard frames and alphabet stickers (which were used as masks for "snow"). The rubons are also all RP from the "January" sheet.

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."
I got a ton of new product from Rusty Pickle a few weeks ago including the entire line of Candy Land and all of the coordinating alphabet stickers (5 colors: pink, green, yellow, orange and purple!) which are also a brand new font. It's very QK Studio-ish and I love it!
All of which can be seen on this layout along with a fancy frame and a scalloped edge.
Other products that I used include alpha stickers from Jenni Bowling and Making Memories, Cosmo Cricket black board and Doodlebug flowers and, a Glitz designs rub on.
These pictures are from last month and the beanie is one that my sister crocheted for her. Yep, it's pretty much a perfect fit for the girl. =)
This day she was all smiles because I was chasing her with my camera and ocassionally jumping out right in front of her. Of which, she thought was hysterical. =)

Grade Report: Calculus exam 1: 99%, Statistics exam 1: 92%
In my best Napoleon Dynamite impersonation, "yeeeeeeeeeeessssss!"
Posted at 12:16 AM in Rusty Pickle, terrance_ Permalink Comments (4) TrackBack (0)
2008.10.23
some Rusty Pickle goodness.
Seriously, Halloween hasn't even passed yet and the stores are already lining their shelves with Christmas decor-ations. It's kind of sickening and at the same time absolutely absurd and unbeliev- able.
This year is almost over?!
Anywho, seeing all of the Christmas decor- ations got me inspired and I made this sweet little card. All of the products are by Rusty Pickle.
Oh, and, FYI there's a give away going on at the Rusty Pickle blog right now until the 31st. All you have to do is leave a comment and you could be the lucky winner of a great assortment of Rusty Pickle buttons!
Go now!
Me, I've got to finish my homework.
Posted at 01:22 PM in Rusty Pickle Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
2008.10.19
6 days of classes, a statistics test, a calculus test and a crap load of homework being due all makes for a very busy week.
Holy shit! I don't think I quite knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to add a Sociology class to my schedule. Not that it's hard but, as with any class there's, what I like to call, busy work to be done and 8 hours of lecture to sit through each week. Add those hours to my other 4 classes and you can bet your ass that I'm a full-time student who also works full-time as a mother/wife/designer.
So, to avoid entirely a tangent about what I do each day and how my husband STILL fails to sometimes realize what exactly it is that I do, I'll show you the layout that I finished late lastnight.
This one is also for Jenny who, as I've said before, is giving me such gorgeous things to scrapbook that these pages are really putting themselves together.
products: Making Memories - paper, chipboard & alpha stickers, paint and brads. Heidi Swapp - chipboard alpha. CI - circle frame stickers. Tim Holtz - grungeboard. Bazzill - cardstock
Her now husband, then fiance, David, proposed to her as they were having "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in NYC. She kept the bag as a keepsake and I put it directly onto this layout (which the entire page was designed around) and makes it that much more special. =)
There's a letter that David wrote up and read to her that day (that is very, very sweet) and also her recount of the moment tucked behind the patterned paper.
I also tidied up my scrapbooking room a bit today and I'm really hoping that this coming week I'll be able to have it totally and completely clean (which means that I'll vaccuum). =) Here's to hoping...
Have a great week! =)
Posted at 07:43 PM in scrapbooker for hire Permalink Comments (4) TrackBack (0)
2008.10.14
yoga pepper,
that's what my yoga instructor prefers to be called. pepper because it's her last name and, yoga because she obviously loves it! she's been practicing since the 70's when about yogi's were doing it on sheepskins rather than mats. she's a true fountain of knowledge when it comes to the practice and it's really exciting being in her class.
my last yoga instructor was more of a model. she demonstrated poses and the class copied her. she didn't lecture or share any of the knowledge that went with the poses which yogi's call, asanas and I guess, I just really appreciate that pepper does since it's something that i'll be doing for the rest of my life. =)
moving on.
i love calculus. and i do not love statistics.
And some good stuff:

This is Jenny and, her husband, David. She's hired me to scrapbook for her and this is the first page. She's sent me her wedding album to do first and it's practically going to put itself together. Her pictures are pure inspiration: a gorgeous bride and groom, an AMAZING location, awesome photography and her wedding colors (which are slightly reflected on this page) are all going to make this a very fun album to do.
The story behind this page: Beginning 7 days before their wedding day, each day David gave Jenny a card and in them he would right a numbered list that corresponded to the x number of day before the wedding. So, in the "Day 7 card" he wrote, "Dear Jenny, Here are seven reasons why I want to marry you." And so on and so forth for each day. I know, so amazingly sweet, right?!
To incorporate the cards directly into the page (with out actually having them on it), I took a few quotes and journaled with them down the edge of the layout and under the picture. I then scanned the actual cards themselves, resized them, printed them and made a sort of a book (which is attached to the orange and black scallop at the top of the page) and slipped it into a pocket behind the blue background.
I've got a page in progress that's for their engagement story, of which is fairytale like and SOO romantic! I'm waiting on a picture and some journaling to have it done and will be able to post it. And, finally, I've been tagged by 3 girls that say they love my blog!
They're are all fellow scrappers and are full of inspiration and creativity: Pomaika`i, Jane and fellow chef, Brenda!
Thanks girls!
And here are 7 blogs that I can label as ones that I love:
1. Whitney: my lovely sister who just happens to be a pretty awesome scrapbooker, designer, instructor and maker of teeny circle shortbread cookies with powdered sugar on them extraordinaire, 2. Tessa Ann: scrapbooker, designer and maker of gorgeous hand made scrapbooking embellisments extraordinaire, 3. DOOCE 4. Sarah Fordyce: pregnant and more than willing to tell you about it in a very opinionated matter. =) and she scrapbooks. 5. {:Fresh vintage:}: 6. Icing. 7. Kathie D: fellow chef and an amazingly talented and creative scrapbooker!
enjoy.
i'm going to bed.
Posted at 11:12 PM Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)

2009-10-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

September 2008
2008.09.30
i did it! i cut it off
and I LOVE it! I was at the mall on Sunday and after browsing around JC Penney for a bit I walked into the first salon that I saw and said, "I need it cut off."
I got in the chair and she asked me what I wanted. I told her to cut enough for locks of love and that I didn't care what she did with the rest. She asked if I like layers, I said, "sure." And this is what she gave me. =) I'm extremely please with it and the simple joy of blow drying it in just 3 minutes (instead of 40)!
And, my hair has body and volume again and it bounces when I move my head. Who knew that taking 12 inches off would make such a difference?
And, my latest scrappy project is another acrylic wall decor thing (dang, that's technical). This time it's all about LOVE and was skillfully designed with the upcoming season in mind. Fall is one of my favorite seasons because of the rich colors that appear (both in nature and in stores).
Moving on to the sweet little girl whom I call, T. She's discovered that if she kicks her leg up at the right angle and finds the exact spot on the couch cusion to use for leverage, she can pull herself up.
And as of a few days ago, she's been wearing my shoes and walking around in them. Which is probably one of the funniest things that I've seen (aside from her ALWAYS digging my bras and panties out of the laundry basket and my drawer and putting them on her head. Why? I have no idea, she just does).
Oh, and here's something that confirms my thoughts of her being a total girly girl: last Saturday T and I ran into Payless Shoes so that I could quickly grab a pair of flip flops and I also grabbed her a new pair of shoes. We came home and she was not happy until Joe sat her down and put those shoes on her. And then she proceded to walk in circles around the apartment as she admired them while occasionally glancing up at us to make sure that we were noticing her in her new shoes. =) She melts my heart.
Alright, that's it. I've got a house to clean and classes to get ready for. The term started yesterday. Tonight is yoga and calculus, yay!
Posted at 02:44 PM in ME., Rusty Pickle, terrance_ Permalink Comments (5) TrackBack (0)
2008.09.20
her latest accomplishments.
I've been really bad about keeping lists of what T has been up to as far as milestones and new developments so, here we go:
she can now step off of the curb by herself (no more reaching for our helping hands)
she can throw very well and practices often with pinecones and blocks
she plays with us. for instance, last night I was sitting on the couch and she was running around in front of me playing and she suddenly stopped, put her hands over her face and then began peeking out from behind a few fingers that she had spread apart. At first I didn't get what she was doing but, once she started tilting her head to the side and giggling at me, I caught on. Joe and I constantly peek at her from behind things and she thinks it's hilarious...now she's the one doing the peeking. =)
instead of a baby that settles with the fact that something is out of reach and moves on for something else to play with. T, now, wants to find a way to get to it...which means she's stacking, scaling and climbing furniture.
I now find it funny to know that this is what people were talking about when they said, "oh, she'll be into everything!" When I first started hearing that I would think, no, our house is baby proof and there's no more for her to get into when she's walking that she could have when she was crawling. And certainly, I was right, we're baby proofed and there's not anything within reach that she shouldn't have. But, she's finding ways to get to the things out of reach. *ugh* Kids are rotten. =)
she talks baby jargon constantly and uses her hands to help tell the story. She also pushes her lips out like this when she talks.
she gives big, open- mouthed, slobbery kisses very selectively. the cats always gets kisses, along with her toy puppies, her grandma's in eastern oregon got them lots, shelly got some yesterday. joe and i get them, oh maybe once a month.
she answer yes and no questions by nodding. =) love that.
And that's all that I can think of for now.
Tomorrow is going to be a great day! Shelly is shutting down the shop, Karen is celebrating a birthday, and we're scrapbooking all day!
Yay!
Have a happy day. =)
Posted at 03:15 PM Permalink Comments (3) TrackBack (0)
2008.09.17
home sweet, salem.
A few things to report: 1. I won a $250 gift card from Craft Warehouse, all of which was spent the very next day! Yay!
2. T and I spent a week in Weiser/Vale visiting friends and family in the dirt. Joe drove down 4 days later and spent the weekend with us visiting more friends in even more dirt. We got home late Sunday night.
Honestly, I had forgotten how dirty it is there. I had to try to stay clean and by the end of the day you'd never know that I had been making an attempt. Terrance was filthy and her bath water was brown. Needless to say she had a GREAT time.
Aside from causing cleanliness issues, the dirt also served as the culprit in my newly discovered allergies.
*sigh*
I'm so glad to be home. The air is fresh and when I get undressed tonight my clothes will still be clean.
3. I have less than 2 weeks left of my break from school. This term is going to be a doozie: statistics, elementary calculus (purposely taking a step backwards and giving myself a chance to review), and research writing.
Okay, actually, I'm kind of excited for my math classes. =)
4. My class @ Scrapbook Fever is a go!
5. I'm going to CHA Winter in Anaheim! Just before I left for Vale, Rusty Pickle released their 2009 calendar to the chefs for sign ups. Along with CHA I'll also be working at the Porltand, OR and Seattle, WA CKC's. Oh, and the Vancouver, WA CKC is coming up in November and I'll be there as well. Yay!
On a completely different note: my sister has entered her 3rd trimester which means it's baby shower time!
We decided to go the digital route in creating her invites because it's faster and much cheaper! They're going to be printed as 4 x 6 photos and mailed as post cards. Sweet, huh?
I have a ton of pictures from the Vale trip that need to be edited and printed.
*sigh*
It always takes so long.
Okay, enough for today.
Have a happy one!
Posted at 08:20 AM in LiFe Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
2008.09.01
getting back in front of the classroom.
What: Haunted Rusty Pickle step albumWhere: Scrapbook Fever, Salem, OR When: Saturday, Sept. 27th @ 11:00 amCost: $50
Seats are limited so, call early and reserve your spot. (503) 763-3501
I'm really, really in love with this album. A lot of the embellishments were handmade using chipboard and felt and the techniques are great! I'll be posting pictures of a few of the inside pages sometime this week so check back for that.
Hope to see you there!
Posted at 08:02 PM Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)

2009-10-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

August 2008
2008.08.24
a late night laugh.
WOMAN'S PERFECT BREAKFAST
She's sitting at the table with her gourmet coffee.
Her son is on the cover of the Wheaties box.
Her daughter is on the cover of Business Week.
Her boyfriend is on the cover of Playgirl.
And her husband is on the back of the milk carton.

Keep reading-they get better!!!
WOMEN'S REVENGE
'Cash, check or charge?' I asked, after folding items the woman wished to purchase.
As she fumbled for her wallet, I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse.
'So, do you always carry your TV remote?' I asked.
'No,' she replied, 'but my husband refused to come shopping with me,
and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally.'
UNDERSTANDING WOMEN
(A MAN'S PERSPECTIVE)
I know I'm not going to understand women.
I'll never understand how you can take boiling hot wax,
pour it onto your upper thigh, rip the hair out by the root,
and still be afraid of a spider.
MARRIAGE SEMINAR
While attending a Marriage Seminar dealing with communication,
Tom and his wife Grace listened to the instructor,
'It is essential that husbands and wives know each other's likes and dislikes.'
He addressed the man,
'Can you name your wife's favorite flower?'
Tom leaned over, touched his wife's arm gently and whispered, 'It's Pillsbury, isn't it?
CIGARETTES AND TAMPONS
A man walks into a pharmacy and wanders up & down the aisles.
The sales girl notices him and asks him if she can help him.
He answers that he is looking for a box of tampons for his wife.
She directs him down the correct aisle.
A few minutes later, he deposits a huge bag of cotton balls and a ball of string on the counter.
She says, confused, 'Sir, I thought you were looking for some tampons for your wife?
He answers, 'You see, it's like this, yesterday, I sent my wife to the store
to get me a carton of cigarettes, and she came back with a tin of tobacco
and some rolling papers; cause it's sooo-ooo--oo-ooo much cheaper.
So, I figure if I have to roll my own .......... so does she.
(I figure this guy is the one on the milk carton!)
WIFE VS. HUSBAND
A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word.
An earlier discussion had led to an argument and
neither of them wanted to concede their position.
As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs,
the husband asked sarcastically, 'Relatives of yours?'
'Yep,' the wife replied, 'in-laws.'
WORDS
A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day....
30,000 to a man's 15,000.
The wife replied, 'The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men...
The husband then turned to his wife and asked, 'What?'
CREATION
A man said to his wife one day, 'I don't know how you can be
so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time.
'The wife responded, 'Allow me to explain.
God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me;
God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!
WHO DOES WHAT
A man and his wife were having an argument about who
should brew the coffee each morning.
The wife said, 'You should do it because you get up first,
and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee.
The husband said, 'You are in charge of cooking around here and
you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee.'
Wife replies, 'No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee.'
Husband replies, 'I can't believe that, show me.'
So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says 'HEBREWS'
The Silent Treatment
A man and his wife were having some problems at home
and were giving each other the silent treatment.
Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him
at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.
Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper,
'Please wake me at 5:00 AM .'
He left it where he knew she would find it.
The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of pap er by the bed.
The paper said, 'It is 5:00 AM. Wake up.'
Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.
Posted at 11:14 PM in misc. Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
2008.08.23
I made this today.
It's a decor thingy for Katina's niece, Kalli (obvi-ously).
Products: Rusty Pickle - White Chocolate Bunnies patterned paper, andom hipboard alphabet, chipboard star, rubons, circle acrylic album and button. Prima - flower.
She and I spent the day at Scrapbook Fever. She worked on her class kits and I just played with my stuff. It was fun.
Joe and T got to hang out all day which is something they don't get to do very often. It makes me happy because Joe really enjoys it.
And it's neat to hear how a day with her goes through his eyes. I also like that he gets to see her do something new before hearing about it from me first.
Speaking of the little stinker, she's been climbing for the last few weeks and has so far conquered all of her toys and toy boxes, the sweet little baby sized rocking chair that Mandy and Brent made for her (yes, she stands straight up on it and doesn't fall. the girl can balance), my pots and pans that she drags out of the kitchen and as of today, our computer chair (which is actually my sister's kitchen chair that I've had for 3 years). Joe said that he was making dinner and looked over to see her standing completely up on the chair watching the yellow submarine themed screen saver that's on our computer.
In lieu of this, we're taking in her to the NW Kids Club tomorrow so that she can climb on all of their foamy climby things. It should be fun, we haven't been there for awhile and I'm sure T will enjoy it more now that she's older.
Now, I'm going to see if I can convince Joe to get off of the Xbox so that I can watch the Mad Men DVD that I rented. It's the last 4 episodes and I haven't seen them yet...
p.s. Go here to pop virtual bubble wrap.
Posted at 11:14 PM in misc., Rusty Pickle Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
2008.08.22
i'm a little tired this morning.
Mandy (BFF since the 4th grade) and I stayed up late last night playing Yahoo Canasta. It's a variation of our favorite card game (hand and foot) and is what we settle with doing since we live across the state from one another and can't really stay up playing rummy and listening to the same Tim McGraw cd all night while taking swigs of bad whiskey and chain smoking cigarettes.
After losing terribly, or rather "looseing" as the person we were playing against kept saying, I went to bed at 1 a.m. and for some reason unknown to man, Terrance decided that she wanted to get up at 4:30-ish a.m. to have her morning juice and banana. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't put up a good fight that consisted of me begging her to lay back down and go to sleep. It was to no avail. We were up by 5. And at 6 she thought that it was a good time for her to go back to sleep. Me, not so much. I'm already up. I made myself some coffee and reached for the chocolate milk (to make a mocha) and decided that today I was going to shake the jug really hard. I like the foam it makes. And on the second full swing shake (I meant business) the lid popped off and chocolate milk went everywhere. Including all over the inside of my fridge because, let's face it, I was so eager for that chocolately foam that I couldn't wait to close the door before I started shaking.
So, the much needed morning caffeine had to wait. I had chocolate milk up to my eyebrows and everywhere within a 5 foot radius of my toes. *sigh* Fast forward 15 minutes: I've got fresh, clean PJ's on and my floor is not as covered in chocolate milk. What I can say? It was way too early and I was way too sleep deprived to properly clean it up and I decided that the inside of the fridge could wait a few hours for a thourough wipe down.
Moving on.
Along with the few hands of online cards I played lastnight, I also accomplished some scrappy things. The first being a layout with that cute picture of T from my last post.
The circles here create a large pocket that some journaling and extra photos have been tucked into.
Products: Rusty Pickle - White Chocolate Bunnies and Popstar patterned paper, buttons, lace, tag and rubons; Making Memories - chipboard and sticker alphabets; Prima - flower; Maya Road - ric racAnd a lovely detailed shot of the title.
One thing that I often do (and you can see here) is color rubons. This one blended in with the stamped image on the tag too much so I couldn't leave it black. I used my Uniball Signo white pen and just traced over it which made it more noticeable.
*For a large view, click on the image.*
And, the other thing I started is this little album.
I've decided that I have way too many pictures of T doing cute stuff and am hardly able to keep up with full page layouts. So, this little album will house snapshots of her being her super cute and hilarious self and bits of journaling from my POV.
Products: Amerian Crafts patterened paper, Tim Holtz grungeboard alphas, Making Memories alpha stickers, Prima flower, Heidi Swapp jewels, My Minds Eye die cut
The cover is all that I have done, but I have a small stack of pictures waiting to be put in here. I'll post pictures of the inside layotus as I complete them.
p.s. This lace stamp is my favorite. Notice I used it on the tag in the layout above?
Finally, T and I went out the other night with Katina and Brayden. We had dinner at Red Robin and then made a quick stop at the Children's Place where I picked up this cute beanie for T.
And I've decided that I need a new camera. I've had mine for almost 4 years and it's becoming obsolete. It only has 5 megapixels and the grainyness of my photo's is really starting to bother me. That and the fact that it's getting harder and harder to snap the pictures that I want. She's too fast and my camera is too slow.
That's all for now.
Happy Friday!
Posted at 07:49 AM in Rusty Pickle, terrance_, {Scrap}booking Permalink Comments (4) TrackBack (0)
2008.08.20
i love her.

I love this picture. Expect to see it on a layout soon.
Oh, and I got my final grades today: Writing-A, Differential Calculus-B. Yay!
Posted at 11:55 AM Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
2008.08.15
you'd think I would feel kind of useless with nothing to do.
But, on the contrary, I feel revitalized and so motivated now that there's nothing that I HAVE to do. I spent my day doing all of the deep cleaning around the house that I haven't had time to do these last 2 months. It felt so good to have a spotless house (even if it was just until T woke up).
Yes, that means that I finished my last two calculus exams last night and I'm officially done with school for the Summer!
I have quite a "to do" list for myself, but they're all things that I've been dying to do and just haven't had ample time to do them.
1. Clean my scrapbooking room. I should post before and after pictures because it's messy!
2. Scrapbook.
3. Teach some classes. =) I spoke with the owner of my lss last week and I'm scheduled to teach two classes next month. I'm super excited to do this as I haven't been in front of a classroom since February. I'm itching to teach and see some people that I haven't seen in a long, long time.
4. Visit my family and friends. We're orginally from Vale (which is a teeny, tiny town on the Idaho/Oregon border) and all our really close friends and family live in that area. We're planning a trip next month and I'm really excited.
5. Get family portraits done. We originally had these taken several months ago when T was about 8 months old, she's almost 14 months now so it's been awhile. Anywho, I wasn't happy with the results of the portraits and have been needing to get back in for a reshoot. We're doing it next month!
6. Go fishing. Last Summer we weren't able to go once and it about killed Joe. He's been dying to go and now that I won't be spending my weekends studying calculus, we'll be able to find the time.
7. Shampoo my carpets. This is a must and will get done soon, I can hardly stand to look at them.
8. Try lots of new recipes. I love to cook and love to try new things, but with not having any extra time what-so-ever, I've been sticking to what I know. If you got a great recipe and it's not a secret one, please share it.
9. Excercise. I actually cancelled my Curves membership last month because my shedule didn't mesh well with their's and I've been dying to get on my mat and do yoga. My body needs to stretch! And I always feel so much better once I've done it. With no homework to monopolize my time, I'll be doing it.
hmmm...that seems to be it.
Posted at 08:13 PM Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
2008.08.10
i did it.
I studied for about 5 hours yesterday and another 5 today for the test that I had tonight. I got a B. Needless to say I'm overjoyed! This stuff is hard and I'm teaching it to myself, one can't help but to take some pride in it. Moving on.
Here it is as a whole. I've scrapped these pictures before, but I found them on my desk and then this layout just happened. For some reason lately most of my work has been coming together with very little effort. I'm not sure what exactly has been the contributing factor, but I'm not going to complain.
Before it was kind of as if I was always in a some sort of a creative rut and everything felt forced.
Not now--I feel like a new person.
.....happy day.............p.s. RIP Bernie Mac..............................................
Posted at 10:47 PM Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
2008.08.09
almost there.
Today is the last Saturday that I'll be spending at the library studying calculus. Seriously, this is it! Next Thursday my final exams are due and then I'll be completely finished with school for this term. You have no idea how excited I am.
With my Summer break being so near I've been spending a lot of time scrapbooking and it feels so good. I've got a couple of layouts that I want to share, but I haven't had time to scan them yet. So, how about some "peeks?"
Happy Saturday!

Posted at 09:19 AM Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
2008.08.04
a new layout and an old layout.
I stayed up kind of late last night to finish this layout. The pictures are from my birthday during the day when it was just me and T at home. I scooped her up and tried to tickle her, hold her and take the picture all at the same time. =) They turned out okay, I like that they're a bit candid.
The yellow graph is something that my sister bought at Joann's in Easter Oregon and sent to me. Apparently, it's a clay mold, but we've been using them as stamps. It came in a package with another design and if I remember right, I think she said they were on clearance for $0.99, what a deal!
And this layout of Terrance as a brand new, 4 day old, precious little newborn baby was published in the Aug/Sept 2008 issue of Somerset Memories. Which is now my new favorite magazine, by the way. I got a copy of it as compensation and I was (since it was the first time I'd ever laid eyes on an issue) blown away by it. It's an amazing publication! It's completely different from every other mainstream magazine that's on the shelves. It seems to me that they're targeting a whole new market. The advanced scrapbookers/paper crafters/artists! It was really a breathe of fresh air. I'm debating on whether or not I should subscribe to it. It's kind of pricey at $30 for a year's (6 issues) subscription, but I'm thinking that it'll probably be worth it since 1. I LOVE it! and 2. No one in my area carries it (that I've been able to find) so I can't just go out and buy it.
Anywho, that's all I've got for today. I'm now going to work on my 1,000 word argumentative research paper that's due next Monday. My topic is something along the lines of how we (as a society) would benefit if "parenting licenses" and other regulatory acts were to be implemented by the government. And yes, I would be for it. There are way too many people out there who have kids and clearly shouldn't.
Any thoughts?
Posted at 04:13 PM in {Scrap}booking Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
2008.08.01
Let's review.
Since my last post, this is what I've been doing--a crap load of calculus. I've decided that this will be the absolute last term that I take a math class online. It's just too much work. So, if you've gone to the Salem library in hopes of checking out a calculus book only to discover that they're all gone, now you know where they are.
And I used to whine about having to go to class for 2 hours every other day, but the thought of having the information fed to me by an instructor sounds like heaven right now considering I spend pretty much every spare minute of my day (and night) reading these texts. One more week until finals, though, which isn't long at all and then I'm out until the end of September!

2009-10-03T09:14:00.001-07:00

July 2008

2008.07.16

done, done and done!

Let me start this post by telling you that Rusty Pickle is kicking off a week of giveaways on the their blog. Go now and comment for your chance to win the new Candy Land line of paper and a limited edition Rusty Pickle t-shirt. There's a link to the left...or you can just click here.

Moving on...

Since I received my box of product from Rusty Pickle last week to create samples for CHA I've been running in circles trying to complete them and get my homework done and some how manage to take care of my family. Well, I can tell you that I've accomplished everything that needed to be done. This morning I finished my last sample and I packaged them all up and raced them down to the UPS store to be over nighted to Chicago. Yay! I'm so excited for these products to debut, they're going to be such a hit. *sigh* I wish I was there...maybe next year.

Now, before I share with you my favorite project that I finished, let me tell you about it. I was given the new Brass Knuckles line and the arrow shaped album to work with and at first, even though the paper is super cool, I thought, "what am I going to do with this?" And I thought and I thought and I thought...and then I eventually came up with the idea to do a tribute sort of album and include info of all my favorite classic rock bands...Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Who, The Eagles, Johnny Cash, CCR, you know...the good ones. But then, as I was creating my Candy Land sample, I was so inspired by the paper (because it's so reminiscant of the Beatles' psychadelic era...Sgt. Peppers, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine. etc) that I decided to do dedicate all the pages in my album to them. And so I did. Using Brass Knuckles, Candy Land and loads of other Rusty Pickle products I created this super fun, whimsy and some what psychadelic album that I really, really *love*. I heart the Beatles-Paul is my favorite.

The pages are full of mostly bits of song lyrics, some quotes and then some interesting facts about the group. And do you want to know what the funnest part of making this album was? That I was jamming out to their music the whole time I was working on it.

And you know what else? There's even a blue meanie.

Sometime tomorrow I'll post my last project that I did using their new Halloween line, Costume Party.

Have a great day!

Posted at 03:36 PM in Rusty Pickle | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

2008.07.13

my candyland sample.

This was probably one of the easiest things that I've ever done. I pulled the product from the box and I had a complete vision of what I wanted my project to look like and it came together so beatifully! The inside is of the album is really simple and just has a few sweet pictures of T so I haven't posted it.

It felt great to scrapbook this weekend.

Posted at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.07.10

the scoop.

It's already week 3 of my Summer term and I have a test on Sunday. And not just any test, a differential calculus test...yikes! While I truly love studying mathematics, sometimes it's a bit overwhelming. Like, now, when I'm outlining a section a day and some how have to *sort of* master it that same day so that I can move on to the next section. And even though I've been doing good so far, with this test coming up, I'll take any help that I can get which is why Terrance and I drove down the the bookstore this morning to by the solutions manual for my textbook. And you know what, I did it early (before the morning nap) so that I could work on the problems that I've been having trouble with while she was napping. I had it all planned out: we got home just in time for her to lay down and I made myself comfortable at my desk with my calculus, opened my solutions manual to get the help that I needed only to discover that the manual I bought is the WRONG one!

So, here I am wishing that I could be working on my problems, but can't. T is fast asleep and it'll be 2 hours before I can go back to get the RIGHT manual. *ugh*

But guess what?! With CHA next week Rusty Pickle is in need of samples using their new products: 5 paper lines (Candylane, White Christmas, Costume Party, Chocolate Covered Cherries, and Brass Knuckles), new colors of buttons in a jar, new BLING in a jar, new HARDWARE in a jar, new albums, new rubons, new stamps, new die cuts papers for each line being released and new die cut chipboard sheets!

The word on the street is that some of it will be arriving at my door soon. I can't wait to see it and I'll post pictures as soon as I have it!

p.s. a gal from the Scrapbook Nook is having a give away on her blog, check it out here.

Posted at 11:35 AM in LiFe, Rusty Pickle | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.07.07

the challenge!

Hello girlies! How was your holiday weekend? Ours was great, I'll probably write about later, but for now just a quick post to get the challenge up.

Here we go. I enlisted the help of my sister (because she rocks) and had her create a sketch for this. Yep, and it has circles, as promised.

Okay, so here's the deal. I want you to create a layout without any pictures. Use this page as a journal for either a day, an event, a particular happening in your life, your child's life, etc. Find something that you want to and can write about, and do it. The product challenge is to use Rusty Pickle rubons and buttons! All other materials can be your choice, but make sure you at least have those 2 products on your page.

With all of that being said, here are some tips. Keeping the sketch in mind, sit down and just play with your products and see how you can transform the sketch to take on a look that is your own. Don't be afraid to do something different from the sketch. In otherwords, don't let the sketch hold you back from the potential of your creativity.

I think of sketches solely as inspiration, not a binding "contract" that assures me that my layout is positively going to look like that with "photos here, journaling here, and the title here." What draws me to use a sketch mostly is when the design is something that I wouldn't normally think of doing myself. Usually, when I sit down with a sketch in mind my layout takes on a design of it's own. Which doesn't mean that I used the sketch incorrectly, it doesn't mean that I used it correctly, it just means that I was inspired by that sketch and that the layout in hand wouldn't have ever been created had that sketch never been used as inspiration. Got it? Does that make sense? I sure hope so.

Okay, so once you've got your layout completed, please email it to me at alyciasanders@gmail.com by Friday, July 18th. Please include your name and mailing address so that if you win I can promptly turn in your info to receive the prize!

Happy scrapping!

Posted at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.07.04

celebrate!

Here's to America and all the freedoms that you and I are entitled to for living here.

I hope you have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

Posted at 09:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.07.02

pasty white goes streaked, spray on tan, orangeish-brown.

Yeah, I would be talking about myself and the fact that lastnight I bought some Neutrogena micro-mist spray on tan.

Summer has FINALLY arrived and T and I have been spending a lot of time outside during the day. As such my face, arms, shoulders and cleavage (hehe) have been nicely kissed by the sun. My legs, not so much. I'm the type of person that won't bare my legs unless they're tan and so because I never bare them they remain pasty white. It's a vicious cycle...like that one commercial, I can't get a job because I don't have any skills, I don't have any skills because I can't go to school, I can't go to school because I don't have any money, I don't have any money because I can't get a job, blah, blah, blah, have you heard it?

Anywho, the point of my story is this: even after watching the demo video on the Neutorgena website and reading all of the application tips, I still ended up with a horrible looking tan. One leg is literally striped pasty white and oragneish-brown. When I noticed it I laughed hysterically at myself and then tried another application to fill in the blanks. I'll be able to see how I did in a couple of hours, cross your fingers for me.

Oh, and if you have any fake tanning tips, please feel free to share them with me.

p.s. I finished this the other night. It was a layout that I started last year sometime. I literally ripped everything off (except the pictures) and started over with RP products. T was about 2 months old in the pictures (look at those cheeks!)

The journaling reads:

You're just now pushing back when we put your feet against hard surfaces. You crack me up when you hold your arms down to your side like this.

Posted at 05:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2009-10-03T09:11:00.001-07:00

June 2008

2008.06.29

a ruffly butt little girl and, cleo, my killer cat.

Today was another ridiculously hot and humid day. And rather than letting my inner hermit out, and stay in the air conditioned apartment all day (because that would have been just awful), we headed outside to the baby pool. I swear, there's nothing cuter than a little girl in a ruffly butt swimsuit. And while she spent more time crawling in and out of the pool than actually playing in the pool, she had an awesome time.

And so far this summer my cat, Cleo, has brought home two dead snakes and a dead mouse. Gross.

Posted at 08:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.06.24

it's done.

I stayed up way past my bedtime lastnight to finish this layout.

With T turning a year old I have been going through her baby pictures and have been wanting to scrap more of them. I really haven't done too many of them and surprisingly I haven't done a single one of her as a "newborn." And her album really needs a newborn layout in it so, here it is.

The journaling reads: after 35 hours of labor you were born by cesarean and came out beautiful and healthy. 7lbs 8oz and 21 1/4 inches long. Welcome to the world baby girl.

Something that I've been trying to do lately is step out of my box as far as design goes. I usually leave my pictures square/rectangular and I feel like I've reached my limit and have done everything that I can with them that shape--circles are the new square and I'm all over it. I know, I know, circles have been in forever already; I'm just late jumping on the band wagon. But it's kind of my thing, being late that is. So, look forward to seeing lots of circles from me in the coming months.

They might even make an appearance in the challenge next month. *smiles* It'll be posted on Monday, July 7th so be sure to check back for it. And as always a great prize from the Rusty Pickle warehouse is up for grabs.

I'm out.

Posted at 08:24 AM in Rusty Pickle | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

2008.06.23

one year ago today, my baby was born. this post is going to be very, very long

Let me first begin this post by saying, Happy Birthday Terrance! And my, what a wonderful year it's been. These are 2 of my favorite pictures of Joe and Terrance. The first one was taken the day we came home from the hospital and baby T was 4 days old and the other one was taken on Saturday while we were at the park. I love that she's reaching to hold his finger. So sweet. =)

Okay, now what I'm posting next is something that I've been working on since, well, Terrance was born. I started writing it when she was a couple of months old and I got about half way through it. So, the last half has been written spiradically through out the rest of the year with the last page being written just last night. Which is why the beginning is full of details and the ending isn't so much. I really haven't had much time to edit and proofread so forgive any spelling and/or grammatical errors.

This is the story of Terrance's birth. I've written it for her and with her in mind.

Friday, June 22^nd 2007

I woke up a little after 4 a.m.with terrible menstrual like cramps, a back ache and, I really had to pee. I got up, finished my business and crawled back into bed. After just a short time between the sheets, though, I realized that I still had really bad cramps and that I had to go to the bathroom. After 10 minutes of trying “to go” though, I suddenly remembered from my childbirth classes that everything I was feeling was associated with the first stages of labor. It was then that I actually recognized the “strange feeling,” that I up to that point hadn’t been so sure about, as a contraction. I acted fast shaking Joe until he was awake and told him that I was in labor. His reply was what I thought it would be, “oh, you are?” “are you sure?” and while the hesitance in his voice was annoying I knew it wasn’t because he didn’t believe me. It was because he knew and he was just as scared as I was. I barely waited for a reply before I hopped out of bed. He stayed put so that he could get a bit more sleep in before he needed to start his day. I, on the other hand, was too nervous and knew that even if I wanted to, I wasn’t going back to sleep.

I got out of bed, rifled through my birth class binder and found the worksheet I had to time my contractions. After timing a few I was really scared because they were coming so fast; they were between 4 and 6 minutes apart and were lasting 45 seconds to a minute. My first thought was to rush to the hospital, but thank goodness I took those classes and knew that I needed to time them for at least an hour and then, if they were still coming at such a speedy and consistent rate I could go to the hospital. But they didn’t. After 20 minutes or so they slowed down and stretched way out, coming every 7 – 10 minutes and not lasting nearly as long. Phew, I was relieved but I was still really anxious. I was going to have a baby! All of my day dreaming and wondering of how it would all happen was finally playing itself out.

I don’t remember exactly, but I’m sure I woke Joe way before he needed to be up. I was in labor and I needed him! He got up and contemplated going to work. Would I be okay without him? I was kind of scared to be home alone and I really wanted him to stay with me. Knowing, though, that it could still be the whole rest of the day before anything else happened we decided that he’d go to work. I, on the other hand, was staying home that day.

I called my boss to let her know, and then I called my mom and then I called Whitney. Now, Whitney just sucks. She had left the day before to Vale for a wedding and wouldn’t you know that she didn’t answer her phone for the first several hours of my calling. I think it’d been about 4 or 5 hours before I got a hold of her and when I did I confirmed the many messages that I had left, “Yes, I really am in labor and no, I’m not kidding.” She wasn’t too happy because all the week before she had told me (rather Terrance) to wait for her to get home. We laughed at the thought of me suddenly having the baby as soon as she went out of town because I was, in fact, a week from my due date. But as I had read many, many times, it’s more of a due month; the baby will come when she’s ready. And she did.

After laboring all day my contractions weren’t getting any closer together and they weren’t lasting any longer, but they were getting more intense. By 10 o’clockthat night I had had it. I couldn’t take it any longer, the pain was too much and nothing I had learned in my birth class about relieving it was helping. I convinced Joe that we needed to go the birth center.

Let me add that all through out my pregnancy I thought for sure that I would be able to have an all natural birth. “No drugs for me,” I said. “How bad can it really be?” Boy, was I in for a rude awakening. I was hurting!

After arriving at the birth center I was checked and found out that I was 3 cm dilated. I walked the halls for an hour, was checked again and had progressed to 4 cm and an hour later, at midnight, I was finally admitted at 5 cm. All through out my pregnancy I was a huge fan of the show, “A Baby Story” on TLC and watched it religiously at 9 and 9:30 a.m. if I didn’t have to work that day. So many times I had watched women labor in giant bathtubs and I had set my heart on it. I had also read that the water can help alleviate some of the pain and at this point I was looking forward to it more than ever. Once I was admitted and got into my delivery room I was given my IV and strapped to a giant machine so that they could monitor Terrance’s heart beat and my contractions. I remember that the nurse said, as she was strapping me in, “it’ll only be for 20 minutes or so and then you can get in the tub.” Well, as nice as that would have been, to be strapped in for 20 minutes, it turned out to actually be much longer than that. The whole time I was in pain and thinking that I desperately needed to get into that tub. And, the giant straps that kept the heart monitors in place and gouging my belly really weren’t helping my comfort level any. Once an hour had passed the nurse finally came in and released me.

It was now nearing 2 a.m.and Joe was fast asleep on the small couch in the room and I was finally getting some relief in the tub. It wasn’t, however, as wonderfully peaceful and relaxing as I had hoped and expected it to be. The first ten minutes or so were really, really nice but then a contraction came and the water wasn’t making it any better. It seemed that it was actually making the pain worse. Determined though to enjoy the luxurious bath tub complete with massaging jets, I stayed put. I had in fact seen and heard over and over that the bath was supposed to help and maybe I hadn’t been in long enough, I thought. Well, I was wrong. The pain didn’t get any better, just progressively worse, and I had now given up on my hopes of having a natural birth. I got out of the tub and told my nurse that I wanted an epidural.

Just as the anesthesiologist was putting the needle in my back Joe woke up which absolutely delighted me. I needed him to hold my hand. Now, talk about instant relief, that epidural was wonderful! The sensation was a bit weird, I could actually feel the cold medicine running into and through my spine. And just minutes after I had been given the first dose I wasn’t feeling my contractions anymore. This made me so happy. I was exhausted and had nearly been up for 24 hours. I needed to rest.

With the epidural in place I rolled onto my side and fell asleep. Just four hours later though, I was abruptly woken up by a really painful contraction on the left side of my body. I pushed the little button that they had given me to release more medicine into my epidural, but I didn’t feel any relief. When I was able to, I pushed the button again hoping for the contractions to go away but they didn’t. My nurse called the anesthesiologist in to give me a stronger dose which lasted for about 20 minutes. When the anesthesiologist came in one last time I thought, “third times a charm,” but in my case it wasn’t. I was on my own. Well, the left side of my body, anyways. The epidural was working great for the right side which was just weird. So, there I laid on my right side with my knees to my chest, (or as far up as I could get them) in the worst pain of my life and wondering when my mother was going to shut up.

Forgive me, I haven’t told you about my mother yet. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom, but not more than she loves herself.

When I got pregnant I was working at my local scrapbooking store with my sister, Whitney. Sometime in May she had created a calendar and posted it on the wall so that the staff and customers could try to guess the due date of the baby and win a prize. Well, wouldn’t you know that my mother had picked the day correctly, June 23^rd, exactly one week before my due date. And it wasn’t like she picked it randomly or “just because.” She was confident, “you’ll have her a week early just like I had all of my babies.” So, because she had picked T’s birthday it had automatically given her the right to sit in my birth room and talk about herself, her labors, her births, and how she had picked day the ENTIRE TIME I was in labor. And to be very honest, it was annoying and it pissed me off. There, I said it. Mom, you’re annoying, but I love you.

Back to the story.

Now that it had been confirmed that the left side of my body had a very high tolerance of narcotics I was working on perfecting the deep breathing techniques that I had learned in my birth classes. And you know what? It worked. I could breathe deeply with my contractions and it helped, a lot.

Fast forward to noon: I had been in labor for 32 hours and had been progressing wonderfully. I was 9 cm dilated and really felt the urge to push. The trouble, though, was that I had been at 9 cmfor more than 2 hours and my midwife and the doctor on duty were, at this point, advising me that a cesarean birth would be necessary.

I was so against this. I wanted to have my baby naturally. I wanted to hold her the moment she was born. They persisted, though, and even pulled the “if you wait too long it may become a matter of life and death” card.

I was so mad and really sad. The experience of having my first child was straying so far from my anticipated route. I had labored all day and all night and I was being told that I wouldn’t be able to give birth to my baby. I certainly tried though. I had an excellent nurse, Katalina, that encouraged me (once the doctor and midwife had left the room) to keep changing positions and that I was “going to have this baby naturally.” And so I did, which was hard considering half of my body was out of order. And after two hours of changing positions and even pushing for awhile, I finally surrendered. I was exhausted. I was going to have a cesarean.

After being prepped to enter the operating room, I was rolled in with my hated midwife at my side. My nurse was there too, though, which eased my anxiety a bit. After the spinal was quickly administered I was laid down and the doctor asked me, as he pinched my stomach with forceps, “can you feel this?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Now, can you really feel that or are you just saying you can because you know I’m doing it?” He said in a “I really don’t believe that you can” tone of voice.

“Fuck you” I thought, but I said, “Yes, I can really feel it.” And it was those words that he was able to decide for me to be unconscious while my baby was born.

The last thing I remember was hearing the doctor ask everyone, “what should we listen to while we do this?”

Terrance was born at 3:17 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 21 ¼ inches long.

I woke up around 5:30 p.m.in the recovery room freezing cold, shivering uncontrollably and in what was now the worst pain of my entire life. I screamed for my nurse to give me something for the pain and begged her to turn the heat up. After waiting for nearly 30 minutes for the nurse to hear from the doctor as to what pain medicine I could be given, I was finally warming up and feeling some relief. And that’s when she asked me, “do you want to see your baby?”

And I said, “no, I want to see my husband.”

I feel so ashamed for not wanting to see her right away. I labored hard for 35 hours and wasn’t able to be present for her birth and it was devastating. I went to sleep pregnant and woke up not pregnant.

My husband came and told me how beautiful she was and how he had been able to sit in the nursery with her for nearly an hour before he took her to see her visitors. He cried when he told me; he warmed my heart and filled me with joy. I wanted to see my baby now.

The end, for now anyways.

Phew! I told you it was a long post. This really isn't finished; I plan on writing about the rest of that day and the following few days as that is when I really became to realize that I was a mother and that beautiful little baby was all mine. =) Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Have a great day!

p.s. Sorry for the sloppiness of this post. I copy and pasted the story from a word document and just can't seem to get the paragraphs and fonts right.

Posted at 08:59 AM in terrance_ | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.06.22

a lame excuse and "the good napkins"

Good morning!

So, I finished my RP project the other day as I said I would. I photographed it and uploaded it to a few galleries and then realized that my photo's just didn't do it justice...which is why I haven't posted it here (which is my lame excuse). I think I'll make a trip to the dollar store today (oh, how I love the dollar store) and see what props I can find to photograph it with. Or hell, I might just make some.

And how about some morning humor? My bff since the 4th grade, Mandy, shared it with me and I'm sharing it with you. Enjoy.

The good napkins.

ahh--the joys of having girls.

My mother taught me to read when I was four years old (her first mistake)....

One day, I was in the bathroom and noticed one of the cabinet doors was ajar. I read the box in the cabinet. I then asked my mother why she was keeping 'napkins' in the bathroom. Didn't they belong in the kitchen?

Not wanting to burden me with unnecessary facts, she told me that those were for "special occasions" (her second mistake)...

Now, fast forward a few months...It's Thanksgiving Day, and my folks are leaving to pick up my uncle and his wife for dinner. Mom had assignments for all of us while they were gone. Mine was to set the table.

When they returned, my uncle came in first and immediately burst into laughter.

Next, in came his wife who gasped, then began giggling.

Next, in came my father, who roared with laughter.

Then in came Mom, who almost died of embarrassment when she saw each place setting on the table with a "special occasion" napkin at each plate, with the fork carefully arranged on top. I had even tucked the little tail in so they didn't hang off the edge!!

My mother asked me why I used these and, of course, my response sent the other adults into further fits of laughter.

"But, Mom, you SAID they were for special occasions!!!"

hehe. Like I said, hilarious.

Okay, I've gotta get off of this computer--lots to do today. Summer classes start tomorrow, ya know! Yikes, that week off hardly seemed like more than a few days. I'll leave you with a peak of the layout I started lastnight. Hopefully, I'll finish it within the next couple of days.

Posted at 08:17 AM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

2008.06.20

and the winner is...

with over 100 comments (wow!!)...drum rolll please....

Sarah Bacorn!!

Congratulations Sarah, and thanks for playing! I hope you enjoy your package.

Posted at 09:19 AM in RAK, Rusty Pickle | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2008.06.18

i finally got it back. my mojo, that is. edited to add comment challenge

Something that I suffer from is inevitabley losing all of my scrappin mojo when I finally have time to do it. I was so busy last term and spent nearly every minute of any "free" time that I had doing homework. I neglected my scraps and usually didn't finish my Rusy Pickle projects until the last day of each month. Before the term ended I dreamt of being able to spend a few hours each day in my scrapbooking room over my break. And while I've tried to accomplish that, I just haven't had any creative juices flowing. After sitting at my desk for 30 minutes or so I'd walk out because I was accomplishing nothing. Yesterday, though, I finally did something! After browsing around in Joann's (which is weirdly my goto inspirational place) I was inspired and came straight home and got to work. Well, once T was down for her nap, that is. And I even stayed up until midnight working on it. Yay! I'm making a really cute seasonal altered frame with the new Bottle Rockets line. I plan on finishing it tonight or tomorrow and I'll post it as soon as I do. I then plan on starting my challenge for next month. It'll be posted Monday, July 7th so, be sure to look forward to that. And as always, a great package from the Rusty Pickle warehouse will be up for grabs.

Obviously, I haven't even started my MMM layouts as planned. *sigh* It's okay though. I'll just scrap double time next month and probably finish them up right before the deadline. Wishful thinking, I know...cross your fingers for me.

Let's talk about Terrance now. Each day she amazes me with not only her extensive ability to understand me completely, but also how she responds to dh and I. For instance, she loves to go outside and when I ask her if she wants to go she promptly runs to find her coat and shoes and brings them to me. She loves to get her teeth brushed, but she thinks it's a game. I tell her, "lets brush your teeth." She runs into the kitchen (where I keep her toothbrush and baby toothpaste) and stands next to me and watches me put the toothpaste on her brush. But the second I step towards her, she gets a huge smile on her face and runs away giggling. And then she giggles the entire time I'm brushing her teeth. Each time I ask her if her diaper needs changed and it does, she runs to the bedroom door (where the changing table is) and waits for me. And just recently, within the last 2 weeks, I have begun signing to her and I'm stunned at how quickly she's picking up the signs and the concept of them. She knows "eat" and "drink" very well, she was actually using them just a day after showing them to her. I'm using a few others now like, "finished," "more," "hungry," and "thirsty." While she understands the words and responds knowingly to them with her grunts, she hasn't completely mastered the signs. We'll get there though. =)

The other day a gal at My Scrapbook Nook linked this site. The woman that owns it is sarcastic, witty and absolutely histerical. To experience her in all her glory please read the "about this site" and the "faq" pages.

Oh, and Rusty Pickle has launched a monthly newsletter where we spotlight products, chefs, chef challenges, and other great non-chef projects among other things. I don't think there's a direct link to sign up for it yet, but if you send a request to newsletter@rustypickle.com you'll be added to list of recipients.

All right, that's it. I'm out.

*Comment Challenge*

Okay, so each month I get to RAK (random act of kindness) someone to receive a great package of product that comes from the Rusty Pickle warehouse. Friday is the deadline for me to turn in the name and address of this month's RAK and since I don't have anyone yet, I thought I'd let you lurkers play for it.

Here's how:

It's a very simple game that I'm sure you've all either played before or at least have heard of. Take the word from the previous comment and write a new word that begins with the last letter from that word. Make sense? Here's an example: apple ==> new word: eggplant. Simple, right? Oh yeah, and a heck of a way to win some free product. Here's the catch, the winner will be the person that has posted the most comments from now until Friday morning (midnight). Now that doesn't mean that you get to post off of your own words. There must be AT LEAST ONE different commenter between your comments. So, if Sally, Jesse and Rapheal are playing the comments may go: Sally, Jesse, Sally, Rapheal, Sally, Jesse....not Sally, Sally, Sally, Jesse, Rapheal, Sally--got it?

Okay, one other thing: if you're playing please email your mailing address to alyciasanders@gmail.com so that if you're the winner I can promplty turn your info in Friday morning to receive the RAK. If you fail to do this I will NOT email you for it, the prize will go to the person with the next greatest amount of comments that gave me their address.

One more thing to note: the words must be scrapbook related. This means, well known designers, manufacturers, products, paper lines...literally anything scrapbook related! If your comment fails to follow that guideline it will not count. All right, ready? Here's the first word:

BOTTLE ROCKETS

So, the next word should start with an "S"

Posted at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (297) | TrackBack (0)

2008.06.12

what a week. sigh

This entire week I've been trying to post.

Monday morning: I had written a short essay post (literally, like 4-5 pages) and when I was finished I chose to use the "spell check" feature. As it was doing it's thing I was clicking from one open browser page to the next (because I have ADD and usually have at least 5 open at any given time) and 10 mintues later I came back to "save" my post but, it was still spell checking. Hmm...does it really take that long to spell check? I had no idea since it was the first time I had used the feature. So, I carried on with all of my other "important scrapbooking business" as I tell my family and friends. Which really is just me checking on some of my favorite blogs and message boards. And a few minutes later I went back to check on my post--still spell checking. Now I knew that I was screwed. The damn thing was frozen and there was nothing I could do, my post was gone forever. Lesson learned--don't use the f*%#ing spell checker.

Tuesday morning: Terrance was chasing Cleo, the cat (which can usually entertain her for 15-30 minutes) and I snuck on the computer to try to post again. Well, not long after I had sat down Terrance had lost complete interest and was demanding my attention. I left the window open thinking I'd come back to it later in the afternoon. That never happened and when Joe got home that night he closed my window and deleted my post forever. Lesson learned--save all unfinished posts as drafts.

Wednesday: Actually I didn't try to post at all yesterday. First, I woke up and the wretched head cold that I had been plagued with all week had moved to my right ear. It wouldn't pop, the pressure and congestion was killing me but I had so much to do that day. After finishing the last essay I had to write for this term I drove down to the college and turned it in. I then stood line for at least 30 minutes to sell my books which always pisses me off. Not the long lines and crowded book store but, the fact that buying and selling textbooks is such a scam. At the beginning of the term I get to pay nearly $400 for 4 books and then sell them back for $123. Then I had to drive all the way across town to turn in my library books. For some reason the driving had intensified the pressure in my ear and I swear that my head was going to just explode. So, I came home fed Terrance and thankfully for me it was her nap time. Once she was down I took a handful of cold pills and flopped on the couch with a heating pad on my ear. My wonderful husband got home right before T got up from her nap and he took care of us for the rest of the day. He made dinner, cleaned up the house, did bath time, bed time and let me stay on the couch. I love him.

Today: I woke up feeling a thousand times better. My ear doesn't hurt, the cold is subsiding and it's a gorgeous day. =) Yay. T is sleeping and I finally am getting to write and actually post something.

So, to summarize my original post from Monday.

I'm done with this term! Summer term starts on the 23rd so, until then I'll be scrappin!
Memory Maker's Master, here I come. Since I've been scrapbooking, I've never entered a big competition like this and I've decided that this is the year. The deadline is July 31 so I've to get busy.
I love Rusty Pickle. CHA is just around the corner and I've been hearing a bit of talk about their fabulous new products! I can't wait. =)

And then there's this. Recently, Terrance has been giving me this cute little scrunched-up-nose smile and I some how managed to capture it perfectly.

Alright, I'm not going to push my luck with this one. It's long enough.

I'm out.

Posted at 03:11 PM in LiFe, terrance_ | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2008.06.03

very quickly

I want to post this. This is the other project that I finished up the other night. It was also one that really just came together in a matter of minutes. It felt so weird considering I usually spend days on a layout perfecting it and making sure everything is placed just right, but I could really get used to this "quick" scrapping.

To all of you that participated in my monthly challenges I first want to apologize for having to end thems so abrupty. My schedule just got way too busy to keep up and something had to give. But the good news is that because my schedule is going to be far less busy next term, I'm going to start them back up again. So, the first Monday in July you can count on a wonderful new challenge being posted so be sure to check back then. And, as always, up for grabs will be a great prize directly from the Rusty Pickle warehouse.

Okay, now I'm off. There's lots of homework waiting to be done.

Happy Tuesday.

Posted at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2009-10-03T09:09:00.002-07:00

May 2008

2008.05.30

it's been long over due.

It's been a really long time since I've sat down at my desk and created something so effortlessly. Sometimes I have to force myself to finish a project because I'm so lacking in creativity and inspiration. Usually it's because I have a million other school related things to do and have a hard time keeping my mind off of them.

Not today though, with school winding down and an excellent grade on my last test I am ready, as I've said before, for this term to end. I was relaxed and able to sit down and literally throw this together. I think it's also because I really, really wanted to get this picture down on a page and felt sort of challenged to do so.

Okay. Back to work, I have one other project I'm finishing up tonight.

Happy Friday. I know mine was!

Posted at 09:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.05.28

happy anniversary to me!

Here we are, 4 years ago, on our wedding day. Our's was a some what quick ceremony at the Payette courthouse in Idaho.

We first decided to get married when Joe's unit had been guaranteed to be deployed that summer. Not that we hadn't talked about it before, it's just that the deployment really made us realized that we really wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. And since we knew that it was the right thing to do, we didn't feel like we should wait any longer. So, in April he was told that he'd be deployed. We got married on May 28th. And on June 30th he was mobilized from La Grande, Oregon (his unit's head quarters) to Ft. Bliss, Texas.

On the first page the date is on the tab of a file that pulls out from behind the picture. In the file are several newspaper articles and pictures about the ceremony. There is also a copy of the speech that the Governor gave that day.

Under the photo mat on the second page there’s a pocket where I put a copy of the notes that Joe wrote to me in my journal the day before he left. They read:

(July 1st 2004-day)
Honey, I know this is going to be hard for us but its just a test to see if we can make it, and we will. Keep your chin up and make me proud while I’m away. I’ll be right there with you the whole way. I love you so much babe and that’s why instead of supporting “Operation Iraqi Freedom” my mission is to come home to you and nothing else. And I will. I’ll never let you down honey, never. You’re so amazing to me and you amaze me more each day. Like I said babe, make me proud and I’ll do the same for you. I’ love you and I’ll miss you like nothing else

I love you so, so much!! Joe

(July 2nd, 2004-early morning)
My babe, we only have a few more hours left together before we will have to check into hell…and we thought this day would never come. But it did. We’ll be apart but yet we’ll be able to grow closer to each other because of the gifted love we have together. We both know we were thrown into this cruel world to be together and that’s why NOTHING can stop us from doing so . Please, be strong honey, keep your chine up and save those tears for our already anticipated reunion. I know you’ll be strong cause you’re a Sanders now and that’s what we’re know for…being hardcore. Just always remember everything I do, I do for you and that’s why I know that I’ll come home to you. Make the best of the time I’m away. When you’re down just think of us in Vegas.

Goodbye my love, I’ll see you soon.
With all my heart, your hubby

The journaling on the second page reads as follows:
This day was the beginning of it all. On June 30th, 2004 it became official, my husbands unit was mobilized. Thousands of people gathered here, La Grande, Oregon to bid a final farewell to these husbands, brothers, fathers, sons, uncles and friends.

On this day the fear of my husband being taken from me became a reality. Following the mobilization ceremony my husband and I walked through the stadium and watched hundreds of other families trying to cope with the same reality that we were facing. Before I came to La Grande I was scared of having to live a life without my husband. I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t sure that I would be able to do it. I t was on this day when I was witness to hundreds of other women and families wondering how they would continue living, that I found hope.

Many of these men not only had a wife that they had to leave behind, but children as well. I became so thankful that Joe and I didn’t have babies that would have to live for 18 months with out a father.

Though, this was a very sad day, it gave me courage and strength to see that we weren’t the only ones.

Following the ceremony, Joe and I were able to spend a few more days together. We got a small hotel room and tried to pretend that we would still be together next week.

On July 2nd Joe’s unit was sent to Ft. Bliss, Texas to begin their training.

Wow, that brings back some memories...

Posted at 09:01 AM in LiFe | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.05.27

9 down, 2 to go

weeks of school that is. This term has been so absolutely crazy and I can't even tell you how glad I'll be when it's over. And while I will be attending school this summer, I won't be nearly as busy as I'll only be taking 2 classes instead of 4. Finally, I'll have time to scrapbook! Yay! You have no idea how neglected my scrapbooking room has been. The only time I go in there anymore is to do homework...yeah, it sucks. Well, and I am in there at least a few times a month to complete my Rusty Pickle projects, but it's just not enough. I have a week in between terms and I plan on doing nothing (not even my dishes or laundry) but scrapbooking while Terrance is napping. Yay, I can't wait!

Okay, moving on...

It was a really nice day and after T and I were done running errands we went to the park so that she could just run. And run she did. This little girl of mine is such a little adventurer. She takes off and never ever looks back to see where I am. She spends the first few minutes looking around for something to put in each hand, usually a leaf or a rock sometimes a twig or branch, today it was 2 chunks of wood. Once she had them she ran up and down the sidewalk and around and then up and down again and back around...yelling the entire time. She's very vocal these days and makes the funniest "monster," "monkey," and "dinosaur" noises, as we call them. She's also very social...usually running after anyone and their dog that passes us. And if they happen to be going in the opposite direction as her, she stops, pivots on one foot, and then follows them for as long as she can keep up.

This is probably my favorite picture that I took today and I can guarantee you'll be seeing it on a layout soon...I hope. =)

Oh, and did you know that she turned 11 months old on Friday? Crazy!! I'm getting excited though for her to turn 1 because I'll finally be done breastfeeding! I've heard of people breastfeeding for nearly 3 years and I (after doing it for a year) do not know how those women did it. Kudos to me though for doing it as long as I have and, in a month there will be no more leaky boobs or nursing pads for me!

Speaking of breastfeeding and all things baby: my sister is pregnant! She's about 7 weeks and is due somewhere around January 9th. She's crazy and is desperately hoping for twin boys. She had her first ultrasound and exam last week and the doctor told her that her uterus was "unusually big for 7 weeks," so you never know, she may just get her wish.

And with that, I'm out. I'm exhausted and am in desperate need of foot bath and a glass of wine.

Happy day.

Posted at 09:03 PM in terrance_ | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2008.05.22

you've been tagged...

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends! Try not to be lame and spoil the fun! if you get tagged, copy this entire survey and paste into your own blog, change all of the answers so that they apply to you. Then visit the profiles of some of your friends and "Tag" them by simply leaving a comment, asking them to visit your blog, and state that they have been Tagged!

Some of you may get tagged several times, so they can always refer back to your blog for your answers.

1. What is your occupation? stay-at-home-mom, wife and full-time student

2. What color socks right now? white

3. What are you listening to right now? E!

4. What was the last thing that you ate? spaghetti =)

5. Can you drive a stick shift? uhm...no

6. If you could be a color what color would you be? green

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my mom

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? actually, i don't really know her

9. Favorite food? meatloaf

10. Favorite drink? iced vanilla mocha

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? softball

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? yes

13. Pets? two very fat cats, shady and cleo

14. Favorite Author? don't have one

15. Last movie you watched? Enchanted, i love Amy Adams, she's super cute!

16. Favorite Day of the year? the last day of school!

17. What do you do to vent anger? breath

18.What was your favorite toy as a child? a train

19. What is your favorite time of the year? i like the milder season, spring and fall

20. Strawberry or Blueberry? Strawberries

21. Do you want your friends to participate? absolutely

22. Who is most likely to respond? i'm not sure

23. Who is least likely to respond? don't know

24. Living arrangements? with my wonderful husband, super fun little girl and the aforementioned fat cats

25. When was the last time you cried? it's been awhile

26. Who is the friend you had the longest that you are going to tag? not sure

27. Who is the friend you had the shortest that you are going to tag? hmm, don't know

28. Favorite smell? cotton and roses and babies =)

29. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? cheese with guacamole and bacon!

30. Favorite car? ford thunderbird, yeah baby!

31. Favorite Quote or motto? i'm a fond believer of the law of attraction and that everything happens for a reason

32. Number of keys on your key ring? i don't know, 5 or 6

33. How many years at your current job? 11 months =)

34. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

35. How many states have you lived in? just oregon

36. Which political label most closely reflects your views? mostly democrat

37. Worst injury you've ever had? probably when my horse fell on me and broke my wrist

38. What is your favorite book? anything with an excellent plot and exciting characters

39. What were you doing at 12:00 last night? sleeping

40. What famous person, dead or alive, would you most like to meet? the Beatles and ask them a million questions about the era

3 Threes

1. Three interesting/random/cool facts about you that your scrap friends probably don't know:

a) I am constantly acting like a goof ball in hopes of making Terrance bust out that wonderful belly laugh of hers

b) I didn't have my driver's license until I was almost 20 years old

c) Joe and I met in the 4th grade

2. Three favorite bands/artists:

a) the Beatles

b) the Eagles

c) the Who

3. Three places you have never been to and wish to travel:

a) all of Europe

b) Hawaii

c) space

If you read this then I tag you! Link me so I can read your answers.

Posted at 01:27 PM in ME. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.05.15

a photo box.

This will house the many, many, many extra photos that I print and never scrap. I have yet to invest in photo albums and since this is prettier anyways, I think I'll stick with it for awhile.

Now, would it be safe to say that Summer is here? The weather is amazing today, it's 85 degrees. I have all the windows wide open and am loving this warm breeze that's going through my little apartment. Terrance and I even packed up earlier today and spent a few hours at the park. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 90's, yikes! Now that's AC weather.

Anywho, I just wanted to quickly share this project. And now it's dinner time...we're grilling tonight!

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2008.05.13

catching up...

These last couple of weeks have had me slaving away at my trigonometry homework as well as a research paper for my writing class. I took my midterms last weekend and am looking forward to this term ending in about 4 weeks...and then it's on to summer school. Anywho, with homework always being at the top of my todo list I rarely get a chance to go in my scraproom and actually scrap. Well, Mother's Day was a different story. =)

I have the BEST husband! He got up with Terrance at 6 a.m. and let me sleep in until 9. It was amazing! The day before he gave me my present which was a the Kodak photo printer that I've been wanting for awhile! And then I didn't have to do a single thing, all day. He had Terrance and just let me scrap. I got started on my Pickle projects and finished one which I'll photograph and post later. It's a cute photo box that will hold a lot of the pictures that I don't scrap. I also started a layout that's just for me and was finally able to use some of the stuff that's just been sitting in bags. Cuz that's what I do. I shop, and then I'm not able to play with any of it for about a month so it just sits in the bag. It's always fun going through them though and seeing all the new things that I got. =)

And with all the nice weather we've been having we've been BBQing a lot! And this seems to be our go to meal when we do: Kabobs, yum! My husband devours these and it has quickly become his new favorite thing to grill, even surpassing steak which surprised me!

Alright, lots to do today! Have a good one.

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2008.05.03

more to share.

I'm pretty sure that this is my favorite layout ever. It was so much fun putting together and I absolutely love how it turned out.

I started being totally inspired by this picture of T, especially the great colors that are in it. I really wanted something that would echo those colors but really didn't have anything that I liked so, I made my own paper. I began by masking a piece of lace across the bottom I then painted a few different sized lines and then laid a large piece of lacey fabric down and masked over that to finsih my paper off. Like I said, I was super happy with the result and loved the way the picture looked against it. The other papers that I used on this (including the cut out flowers) are from the new Popstar line by Rusty Pickle. I then created the butterfly entirely from different Rusty Pickle chipboard flourishes. And the finishing touches came as Rusty Pickle's new rubons which I, honestly, can't get enough of!

Have a great weekend!

Posted at 10:13 AM in Rusty Pickle, {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2009-10-03T09:09:00.001-07:00

April 2008

2008.04.28

good morning!

Terrance turned 10 months old last week which is absolutely crazy...I can't believe she'll be a year old in less than 2 months.

When I was in high school one thing that my dad would always tell me is that once I got out of school time would pass really quickly. And then once I had children it would seem like it was going by twice as fast. It's funny how at the time I didn't think that there was any sort of truth behind it, because I was in fact a teenager and knew everything! Well, now that I've been out of high school for almost 6 years and have become a parent I can offically say, "Dad, you were right!"

The weather was really nice here this weekend and we took full advantage of it by taking Terrance to the park. I snapped so many really great shots of her but this one is by far my favorite! Her look is priceless and warms my heart. =)

Last week I got a box from the Rusty Pickle warehouse that was full of their newest products...a sheet of rubons for every month of the year, a few different sets of decorative rubons and smaller rubons with expressions that are perfect for cards. It also had in it the new White Chocoloate Bunnies (which I can't get enough of) and the line Under the Stars which is geared towards all you campers, hunters, fishers, etc. And it also included the super popular Popstar line which I used on this layout! If you go to the Rusty Pickle home page you can scroll down to see the Popstar line (black and white) and you can also see their new 4th of July paper, Bottle Rockets, which is set to ship this week. Which I'm also super excited to get...it's amazing...the designs, the colors, every thing!

Also, next month Rusty Pickle will be sending out a newsletter that will be full of fun inspiration, challenge information so that you can join in with the chefs and win some great prizes, and lots of other great stuff. If you'd like to be added the the mailing list you can leave a comment with your email address and I'll be sure to get you on it.

Anyways, I just wanted to check in really quickly. I've got tons of homework to do this week...

Have a happy Monday!

Posted at 08:08 AM in LiFe, terrance_, {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.04.17

a new layout.

My precious little girl was only 5 days old in these pictures. It really seems like yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital.

journaling:

Shortly after you were born you took the infamous newborn poop. Once your dad and I realized it, or more so saw it oozing out of your tiny little diaper we looked at each other like, "whoa." Your dad didn't even hesitate though. He jumped right up and found the diapers and wipes and started to change you. Shortly into it though we realized that this poop wasn't coming off easily. You needed a bath. Your father and I, however, had never given a baby a bath and we really weren't sure how to go about it. We called the nurse in and she whipped you out of your clothes in less than a second and had you in a warm bath and clean in no time. And so this was our lesson on how to give our baby a bath and it really didn't seem that hard after all. A few days after we were home from the hospital I gave you your first bath there and it was a cinch.

photos. 6.28.07

journaled 3.15.08

Have a happy day!

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2008.04.14

an excerpt.

As I've said many times; lately I've been itching to write. Well, I did it, finally...kind of. I was in the middle of cleaning up after dinner and midway through the dishes I just had a random thought to sit down and write and this is what I ended with:

She walked into the room, her eyes were fiercely fixed on him.

“Simon, it’s time.”

Startled, he looked up. He hadn’t seen her come in. He took a deep breathe in and as he exhaled he responded, “I know.” His eyes were open and she saw through them into the depths of his soul. She knew that he was worried.

“She worries me,” he thought as she intently kept his attention focused on her. She had her hands on her hips and he liked it when she did that. She did it because it was a guaranteed opportunity to flirt with her husband. And he would always sweetly tease her about how she looks like a grandma when she does that (which she doesn’t). In fact, she looks nothing like a grandma (which she is). She is a very distant visualization away from the typical grandma you all first pictured when the word was mentioned. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she cooks, cleans and folds the laundry just right. She always knows just what to say and is more than willing to share it with you. She can make you smile on the worst of your days. She will always love you. She scrapbooks and has 5 cats. Nonetheless, the truth is that she is gorgeous and doesn’t look a day over 35.

“Get up,” she said. Her hands were still on her hips.

“I am,” he replied. But he didn’t. This was part of their routine. She would go on to make that same request 5 or 6 times intermittently for the next 20 minutes. He drug this out, he liked to see her as she strived to get mad at him. Admittedly, the circumstances might not have made it the best time for him to carry on with this routine, but it was in fact their routine. He thought that it shouldn’t be dismissed and thought of as inappropriate now. If anything it should be considered a gateway to the normalcy that had once served them the contentment of their marriage.

Just so you know I have no idea where this came from or where it's going, but I'm certainly interested to find out.

Happy Monday!

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2008.04.12

she can walk like a pro.

Posted at 04:26 PM in terrance_ | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

2008.04.09

i'm telling you, it's the best ending ever.

be sure to scroll down and stop the music so you can hear this. it's wonderful!

Posted at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

sharing some inspiration.

I was browsing around on scrapbook.com and found this girl. She is an amazing talent. =)

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2008.04.08

home, sweet home.

There's nothing like coming home and sleeping in your own bed!

Okay, so we got home Sunday afternoon and were absolutely exhausted. It was a very, very long weekend. Here's a quick recap:

It rained the entire time we were there (except the day we left, of course).
Terrance and I got sick the day before we went to the beach so we were stuck inside pretty much the entire trip.
We took a trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and got ice cream, yum! I was, however, with out my camera and missed out on some photo ops.
The boys beared the stinging rain for a few hours Saturday afternoon and returned with crabs for dinner.
There was a small island near those three rocks that sea lions slept on all day and we watched with bionaculars. I tried to get a picture but my camera couldn't zoom far enough to get a decent one. Damn!
Our mornings were early and our nights were late and Joe and I were very sleep deprived. The other boys and Terrance managed to sneak in a few naps through out the days, lucky ducks.
Because the weather was so crappy, we've decided that next year we're taking it South to Florence where there are dune buggies and miniature golf! And we're postponing the trip until a Summer month.
Oh, and while the boys were crabbing Terrance and I went thrift store shopping and picked up some awesome vintage ribbons and lace for a very good price! Cute, huh?

Anyways, I'm so glad to be home and back into my routine. Funny how a few days off can totally throw you for a loop when it comes to getting back into the swing of things.

Oh, have you seen the movie, "Dan in Real Life"? If you haven't, you should! It is so sweet and has the BEST ending ever! It's all about love...and I LOVE love and all things that encourage it. =)

Have a happy one!

Posted at 04:14 PM in LiFe | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2008.04.01

i'm up way too late.

but I wanted to post these other two projects before I went to bed, otherwise they might not get posted for awhile.

Thursday is the day! We're picking our 3 very best friends up at the airport and heading to Oceanside for 4 days! I have to do a ton of crap though before we go. I'm really dreading the laundry pile. Ugh. But we need clothes that are clean and folded to pack, so that's at the top of my priority list.

School started again this week. Tonight I went to my Aerobics class which is really a yoga and pilates class. I enjoyed it. But I can say that yoga is pretty hard core. I applaud and have gained a new respect for the people that do it and do it well.

There was this one move that we did where our backs were to the floor, our knees were bent and we had the soles of our shoes firmly on the floor, "like they are superglued", she said. So, then she said to breath in (through the nose) and as we exhaled (through the mouth) to bring our arms up from our sides and to raise them over our heads and begin sitting up using your abdominal muscles WITHOUT taking our feet off the floor. It sounds easy, doesn't it? Yeah, and she made it look easy too. She totally did it, sat all the way up and then . Her chest was to her knees and it was all with one smooth, CONTROLLED, fluid movement AND she was talking about it as she did it. Then it was our turn: I got about 6 inches off the floor and that was it. You try.

She did go on to say though that that is one of the harder things to do, especially for beginners. So, that's my goal for the term.

Alright, I've got to go to bed. Terrance will be up in 6 hours.

p.s. The line to get into the auditorium where Bill was speaking was 4 blocks long...we didn't go.

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2009-10-03T09:08:00.001-07:00

March 2008

2008.03.14

bedizen

it's the word of the day.

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2008.03.13

i love her.

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2008.03.12

happy (belated) birthday

to my absolutely favorite sister, Whitney.

On March 6th, she turned 25 years old. I think her fiance, Adam, is 26. Yep, they're old dusty's (dusties?). Haha, not really...but actually, they kind of are: they're both going full force with their chosen career paths. They own a home. They're considering children. They have a dog together...which is really serious...

Anyway.

Whitney, I love you. Thank you for being an amazing sister. I'm not sure I'd have been the same person without you.

And here's her card that she has yet to receive (it's almost in the mail) with well wishes and apoligies for the tardiness written inside.

Rusty Pickle products: Petite Cherub paper, chipboard embellishments, stickers, button, stamp and lace (used as mask).

Other products: alpha stickers and photo corners

This last Sunday was another gorgeous day (we even BBQ'd) and spent our afternoon at the park. I'm learning that Terrance is quite the litte adventurer. She's very curious and likes to see new things (as most babies do, I'm sure).

So, we're at the park and I spread our blanket out and as soon as I put her down she was crawling in circles. She was so excited and couldn't decide where to go or what to look at first. She's also known to start breathing through her sweet little nose at a very fast rate when she gets excited, yep, she was doing it: literally crawling in circles and breathing like a galloping horse out of excitement.

Once she settledown though, she had a plan and a very distinct direction ---> that way. She seriously just took off and didn't look back, and she's fast. We eventually caught up to her though...snapped a few pictures, she tried to eat a leaf (pictured at the left), and then a twig, and then we went back to the blanket. It was a really great day.

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2008.03.08

I'm the featured artist

over at the Queen Kat Designs blog today. This is a great source for inspiration and they're always featuring creative new people. They have some cute stamps too!

Posted at 02:32 PM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

I'm a proud mother.

I've maintained that Terrance will talk before she's a year old, and you know what? I think I'm right. She can say, "mom." Don't get me wrong, I know that she is very good at the "mmmm" sound and no, I havne't confused the starting and stopping of the "mmmm" sounds with the word "mom." She actually said it, like 3 times, and I have a witness.

After bath time lastnight we were playing and then I picked her up to feed her before she went to bed and she said it, 3 times in a row, in the sweetest little voic, "mom, mom, mom." I then turned to my husband with a "did you just hear what I heard" sort of a look and he confirmed it, "she said mom."

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2008.03.04

unmotivated.

My word of the day.

I have so much that I need to be doing right now but I really have no motivation to do it. I think it's because I slept in. The lack of sleep from all of last week and the weekend finally caught up with me yesterday. After being up until 12:30 lastnight I got up at 6 this morning (as usual) with Joe and saw him off to work. Once he left though, I couldn't help but to go back to bed, especially since Terrance was still sleeping. She's usually wide awake and ready to start her day, but I totally took advantage and we slept until 8. And that two hours has totally thrown off my daily routine.

So, while I'm being unproductive I thought that I'd share a few photos from Sunday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day so we took Terrance to the carousel and then walked around the park. This is by far my favorite picture . I love the look on her face, and she was making that face the entire time she was on the carousel. Like, "the wind is blowing in my face and I like it" sort of look. Ahhh, she's so cute! And look at her cuddling up to her dad. She is such a little lover. It was a really fun day and I'm so glad the we're finally getting some nice weather. Spring is my all time favorite season and I'm really looking forward to doing all sorts of fun family things this year. And I cannot wait for the Saturday market. I think it starts in May, I'll be counting down the days once it gets closer. There's nothing like fresh berries and strawberry lemonade on a Saturday morning. =)

Anywho, so we each rode on the carousel with Terrance once and when we were done we got her stroller and walked all around the park. At the very end of it there was this enormous globe that had some of the neatest artistic details on it. The story behind it was posted on a plaque so I took a picture of that too.

Today is a gorgeous day also and I'm getting really excited and hopeful that Spring is really here and that we'll soon take Terrance to the zoo and to the Enchanted Forest.

....I seriously have to get some work done now....

Have a great day!

Posted at 03:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.03.03

back from CKC Portland.

All I can say is, "wow!" The convention was AMAZING! It was the first time that I'd ever attended one and I was blown away by everything.

To start the weekend off (Thursday) I met fellow chefs Kathie (who lives in Albany) and Brenda as well as our booth manager, Eric (who is also Tasha's brother...Tasha owns Rusty Pickle). They are all WONDERFUL and Eric is loads of fun. He LOVES to pose for pictures and was doing so the entire weekend. That's him and Kathie, I think that's the Captain Morgan pose, isn't it?

So Thursday we set the booth up and did as much preparation as we could. The next day we were all there bright and early, about 7 ish, I was finishing up some last minute prep work for my classes and the other three were working on the booth (which looked fabulous, by the way!). My first class started at 8:30 and I was nervous for about the first 15 minutes, but once I got going with it the nerves went away and I just had fun. It felt great being up in front and teaching again. There were several customers from Scrapbook Fever! in my first class and it was really nice to see them all again. I also got to meet Victoria, whom I met on scrapbook.com. She drove down from Vancouver and took one of my classes, thank you Victoria! Once I finished up my classes at noon I grabbed a quick bite to eat and was working in the booth the rest of the day. It was pure madness but so much fun!

My schedule was the same on Saturday, classes in the morning and booth work in the afternoon. The vendor faire closed at 5 pm and by that time I think we were all exhausted but still in very good spirits. We spent the next 5 hours or so tearing down the booth and were introduced to a couple of Eric's characters: Rico Suave, Earl...and he had a blast giving Kathie (Nurse Betty), Brenda (Daisy D) and myself (Gina) our character names and hoping that we'd play along. It was hilarious.

All in all, I had a great time! I couldn't have been happier than I was representing and teaching for Rusty Pickle. I can hardly wait for the next one.

And to my challenge gals: I was so busy this last month that I didn't have time to formulate anything. So this is what I'm going to do. Why don't you challenge me? Leave a comment with a challenge, something that you would like to see me do and at the end of the week I'll pick my favorite one and complete it. And if you see a great challenge idea in the comments and want to play along, feel free! It'll be fun. As for the prize, I'll just randomly draw a name from anyone that either leaves a challenge comment or anyone that participates and creates a layout.

The same "rules" apply as every other month. Your project must be mostly Rusty Pickle products and I must have it in my inbox by Monday the 17th.

Have a great week!

Posted at 01:40 PM in LiFe, Rusty Pickle, terrance_, {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2009-10-03T09:07:00.002-07:00

March 2008

2008.03.31

I did it.

I finished my layout that answers all of the questions from this post. You can read them here.

These last few weeks I've had a sudden urge to write, but every time I've sat down to do so I kinda just go in circles. Because I haven't really written in so long it's like I'm bursting with things to say and it's hard to stay focused. I found that this questionaire was a great way to get started and to get some things out.

Since then, I've been browsing the internet looking for some other meaningful interview questions and I found a really great childhood/family memories interview that I'll share later.

Anywho, this is just a quick post. I've got some other projects that I'll be posting later today, but for now I've got to get some other things done.

And guess who's in town today? The fabulous former President, Bill Clinton. He's speaking at my college campus at 1:30 on behalf of Hillary. Terrance and I are going to go down there and see if we can get in.

Have a happy one.

Posted at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.03.30

a bit of humor.

This is an actual letter from an Austin,Texas woman sent to the American company Proctor and Gamble regarding their feminine products. It's PC Magazine's 2007 editors' choice for best webmail-award-winning letter:

Dear Mr. Thatcher,

I have been a loyal user of your 'Always' maxi pads for over 20 years and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core or Dri-Weave absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic. I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.

Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? Ever suffered from the curse'? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my time of the month is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call 'an inbred hillbilly with knife skills.' Isn't the human body amazing?

As Brand Manager in the Feminine-Hygiene Division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customers monthly visits from 'Aunt Flo'. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying jags, and out-of-control behaviour. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women. In fact, only last week, my friend Jennifer fought the violent urge to shove her boyfriend's testicles into a George Foreman Grill just because he told her he thought Grey's Anatomy was written by drunken chimps. Crazy!

The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pants... Which brings me to the reason for my letter. Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi-pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: 'Have a Happy Period.'

Are you ****ing kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak girl, there will never be anything 'happy' about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreen's armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.

For the love of God, pull your head out, man! If you just have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like 'Put down the Hammer' or 'Vehicular Manslaughter is Wrong', or are you just picking on us?

Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending bulls**t. And that's a promise I will keep.

Always.

Best,
Wendi Aarons
Austin , TX

Posted at 07:38 PM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.03.28

I feel so accomplished!

Good morning!

This really has been a productive week for me. I finished up all 3 of my RP projects and was able to play around a bit and finsih this pretty page. =)

I must say that I love me some Hambly rubons! Oh, and the white uniball signo pen...it's works like a dream! And some Tim Holtz grungeboard...that stuff rocks!

This picture was taken a few months ago when Terrance was going through the phase in which she was always, sucking on her 2 fingers. It cracked me up!

journaling reads:

oh baby, you crack me up! it's the small things that you do and the sweet expressions that you make through out the day that I can't get enough of. I love you little girl! 03.08

I've also been playing around with some of the other pictures that I took of Terrance last weekend. I desaturated these and love the way they look, especially the second one. It reminds me of an old timey photograph or something. I can't wait to get these printed out and framed. =)

Have a happy weekend!

Posted at 07:19 AM in {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

2008.03.27

My baby took her first steps.

She amazes me.

Earlier this evening I had an older scrapbook out and was sitting on the floor looking through it with Terrance. She was very interested in the pages and kept pulling on them and bending them so I moved it to the left side of my body (she was on my right) and held it up for her so she could still see the pages. Well, apparently that wasn't good enough. She stood up, matter of factly, and took 3 little baby steps towards the scrapbook. I saw her do it, my jaw dropped to the floor and I screamed some sort of sound that ensured I was excited. My excitement startled her and she fell backwards on her butt and that was that. My baby took her first steps! Yay, Terrance!!

Later, after Joe had come home, we were having her walk from one of us to the other and she would get going while holding onto our hand and then as we were letting go she'd get this huge grin on her face and start to laugh. She totally knew that she was accomplishing something new. =) I'm so proud!

Posted at 08:03 PM in terrance_ | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.03.23

my baby is 9 months old today.

I'm pretty sure that these are my new favorite pictures of Terrance. Every time I get pictures like these I'm absolutely amazed that Joe and I created this beautiful little person.

p.s. the flowers are prima, bazzill and imaginisce and those are just adhesive backed rhinestones on her ears.

Posted at 07:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

2008.03.22

I'm so annoyed.

I can't find the foot pedal to my sewing maching and it's driving me crazy! I even cleaned my scrapbooking room in hopes of finding it; I obviously didn't. It's, seriously, as if it grew legs and walked away. I've look everywhere! And how much do you bet that the minute I stop thinking about it and looking for it I'll find it, only to NOT want to use my sewing maching by then. Like I said, annoying.

So, I went to Paperzone today and found some really cool and witty things by this company. They rock and totally made me laugh out loud and therefore Terrance was laughing out loud. And then I was laughing even more because she was laughing and then she was laughing and kicking her sweet little legs in pure joy and excitement. Seriously, she makes my day. =)

Okay, back to work. Actually I'm scrapping, yay me!

Posted at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.03.21

I'm on a mission

to create a series of albums/layouts of myself and my husband. I said in my post yesterday that I had a list of projects that I'd be working on all of next week and this is one of them. Over the last few days I've been compiling a list of questions and have created a sort of "self" interview my for myself and my husband. I really, really want our kids to know about us: our likes and dislikes, our thoughts and feelings, what we're passionate about, and just absolute random things about us that they may not learn growing up with us.

This project is something that yes, I'm doing for Terrance and the children that we'll have later, but also for myself. More and more I'm realizing that there are "important" things in my life that I won't remember 5 years from now. I need to document them. I'm also wanting to find a part of myself that I lost a few years ago. When I was in high school I was an avid writer and kept a very up to date journal, but when my husband was deployed I stopped writing. I, for some reason, lost that part of myself and I need to get it back. I used to be able to just sit down and write for hours, but anymore it feels very forced and so I don't do it. I'm hoping that this intiial questionaire will spark something inside of me and help to just write. I'm also hoping that this project will turn into a new sort of journal for me.

So, if you would like to join me in this, here are the questions that I've compiled:

p.s. Feel free to add and omit questions wherever. This is YOUR interview so make it reflect the stories and thoughts that you want to tell. And if you have any other really great questions, please post them here for me.

How old are you?

Where do you live? Tell us about it. Why do you live there?

What’s your passion?

How do you feel about your life and the direction it’s going?

Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Five years ago, where did you see yourself now?

What are you looking forward to the most in the next year?

What were you like as a child?

What song will they play at your funeral?

What is the one thing you could not live without?

What's the best memory you have of your spouse?

When do you tell a lie?

Are you irritated by something you shouldn’t care less about? What is it?

If you were reincarnated, what would you like to come back as?

What’s the best present you’ve ever received?

What is your favorite way to relax?

What is your most admirable quality?

What is your greatest achievement?

What’s your favorite food and why?

What’s your best childhood memory?

What do you consider to be the most beautiful thing in the world?

What is your favorite kind of cheese?

What’s your favorite color?

What’s your favorite language?

What’s your favorite song ever?

What’s your super power?

If you could become very famous for something, what would it be?

What did you want to be when you grew up?

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Posted at 07:08 AM in ME. | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.03.20

an update.

I cannot believe how quickly these first few months of the year have gone by. Can you believe it's almost April? Like I said, I'm in utter disbelief.

A few good things are on their way though, like, exactly 2 weeks from today we'll be picking up our best friends from the airport and heading to the beach for 4 days! I'm {stoked}!

Later tonight I'm taking my last final for the term, yay! And then I'm officially on Spring break...I have a list of projects that I'll be working on all next week so hopefully you'll see some pretty things posted soon. =)

Terrance is going to be 9 months old on Sunday. <---this one gets me everytime, my baby is 3/4 of a year old already. Yikes!

She is well on her way to walking. She's been standing (unsupported) more and more these last few days and she walks like a pro when we hold her hand, so anyday now, she'll be crusing all on her own.

She can wave and its' the cutest thing {ever}. She LOVES to play patty cake. I tell ya, there's nothing cuter than a waving, clapping baby. =)

She's getting her two front teeth. {so cute}.

She can feed herself like a pro...when I give her cheerios or peas or whatever on her high chair tray it's reminiscent of hungry, hungry hippos. She's grabbing as fast as she possibly can with both hands and shoveling it in her mouth as equally as fast. 1 of 12 (rough estimate) reach the target, so I guess "pro" is an overstatement. But, she's smart enough to know that once she's finished the ones on her tray she can dig the ones out from around her in her chair. =)

She's continuing to expand her vocabulary and is almost saying dad and bye, bye.

We had our pictures taken at JC Penney over the weekend. These are a few of the low resolution ones that they've uploaded to the internet for us. They turned out okay. I'm not completely satisfied with them as there wasn't a single picture that captured Terrance's great smile. But she really wasn't in the greatest of moods and for some reason her eyes were a bit irritated and she had been rubbing them all morning so they ended up being a bit red and swollen in the pictures. poor thing. I took her the the pediatrician Monday morning (I was thinking she may have seasonal allergies) but I was told that she probably just got something (food, slobber, etc.) in them and not too worry too much.

Oh, and both commenters were right. My all time favorite band is The Beatles! But, Pomaika'i guessed first so she wins the awesome Rusty Pickle RAK! Thanks gals. =)

That's all I got. Happy Spring everyone and have a GREAT weekend!

Posted at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.03.19

anyone game for some free product?

the first person that can answer the question correctly (by tomorrow morning) will receive a Rusty Pickle RAK directly from the warehouse!

What's my favorite band? Hint: they were/are very well known and are still notorius for being FABulous!

p.s. If you're posting a comment please email me (using the link or directly at alyciasanders@gmail.com) your name and mailing address as I need to have it to send you your RAK!

Good luck!

later...

Posted at 07:31 PM in RAK | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2008.03.15

AAADD

I came across this earlier today and thought it was hilarious...and I'm so headed in this direction...read on...

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden, as I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.
I put the Coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor and the flowers didn't get much.
So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
The car isn't washed
The bills aren't paid
There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter
The flowers don't have enough water
There is still only 1 check in my check book
I can't find the remote
I can't find my glasses
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day,
And I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem,
And I'll try to get some help for it.
But first, I'll check my e-mail...
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

2009-10-03T09:07:00.001-07:00

February 2008

2008.02.01

published! edited to add challenge details

*The monthly challenge was posted over at the Rusty Pickle blog today. But in case you're too lazy to go there, I'll post the details here too.

The rules:

All projects must be 80% Picklelicious! Need to replenish your stock of RP? Check out the links to the left (these are on the RP blog) on where you can load up on Pickle goods! Layouts must be 12x12 or 8.5x11, single or double-page spreads.
To enter, you must leave a comment within the ORIGINAL CHALLENGE POST and include a link to your awesome creation! YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO EMAIL YOUR PROJECT TO: rustypickleblog@gmail.com As we acknowledge all submissions please do email us again if you have not received a confirmation email within two days of submitting
All entries will be due Friday, February 15th. This will give you approximately TWO WHOLE WEEKS to finish your project!
The RP Chefs will vote on the winner. The lucky artist will win a fabulous Rusty Pickle Prize Pack!

We hope you'll join in on the Challenge this month! Remember, every project that is entered automatically makes it to the Public Gallery, right here on the Rusty Pickle blog!

And now back to our regularly scheduled program...hehe.

Jen from Ready, Set, Create requested these 2 layouts awhile ago for the Feb/March issue of her online magazine. It's now available for purchase and dowload for an easy $4. I just received my link for the download lastnight and as I was browsing through it I was amazed at how many fellow chefs were also included in the issue. And yes, I even went back and counted...16 chefs and 41 Rusty Pickle projects...that's something to be proud of. So you can definitely count on your $4 going along way.

I love this sequence of photos of Terrance. She's just so sweet. I think she was about 4 months old and she just wouldn't stop licking her dads hand..it was pretty funny and I had to capture it.

And this picture...is just so sweet! Has 2 of my favorite people in it, Terrance and my mom. I think it's a great moment caught on film.

Anywho, the other day I told you all about my music preferences and asked what song was playing as you were reading. I even offered a RAK of Rusty Pickle product and NO ONE has taken me up on the offer. What gives? Regardless, the offer still stands. Leave a comment and tell me what song is playing and in a week or so I'll randomly draw a name to receive the aforementioned RAK. I haven't decided if this is going to come from the RP warehouse or if it will come from my personal stash. Hmm...maybe both. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Happy scrappin' ladies and have a GREAT weekend!

Posted at 01:15 PM in RAK, Rusty Pickle, {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2009-10-03T09:06:00.001-07:00

February 2008

2008.02.27

jason,

it's your day! Here's to you, hope this year is better than the last! Happy 25th...you're so old. hehe.

I made this card the other night for him. I used the large blue scalloped lace from the chocolate bunnies trim as a mask and love the look that it created! All products are Rusty Pickle except small alpha stickers, photo corners, paint and jewel.

Okay, lots to do today! I'm off...

Have a good one!

Posted at 11:02 AM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.02.26

finally.

My sister updated her blog. She totally redesigned her header (way cute!) and I think I'm now going to talk her into making me one. =) She also posted the two layouts that she created for the Craft warehouse DT call and they're absolutely stunning...definitely worth taking a look at.

One of my best friends, Mandy, and her husband, Brent, visited last weekend. They brought Terrance this gorgeous little rocking chair that they built for her. It's pretty cute, huh? Mandy has been telling me about it for months and I never imagined it to look this good. Terrance loves it! I told them that they should sell them, I'd buy one. They said they'd prefer to gift them. They're too nice.

Oh, so I just got off the phone with Alaina from Rusty Pickle and learned that my classes at the convention will have 75 people in them. Yikes, that's a lot of scrapbookers! As I've said before though, I'm really excited....nervous, but excited! =)

And I finally did it. I called JC Penney and scheduled a day for us to have our pictures taken next month.

Also, the time of year that I look forward to most is nearly here! *a quick intro*My husband and I are originally from the itsy bitsy town in Eastern Oregon called Vale. After we were married in 2004, my husband's unit was mobililzed to begin training for their duty in Iraq. I then moved up to Salem to live with my sister. And when Joe finished his deployment in November 2005 he came home to me here and we've never left. So anyways, my point is that all of our best friends are still on that side of the state and we don't get to see them very often. *this is where it gets relevant again* So every Spring they come and visit us. This year we're going to Oceanside and staying here. After looking for a beach house for weeks and not finding a single one that I liked (I had to have an ocean front house) I stumbled across this little gem. The location and the price make this an awesome house and I made our final reservations today! This, of all things, is the one thing that I look forward to the most each year.

Last year we stayed in Lincoln City in a gorgeous 2 story home that sat high on a cliff that overlooked the ocean. And while the view was breathtaking (sea lions, whales and all) any easy beach access from our house was non-existent. We finally resorted to hopping fences to get to some stairs that led down to the beach. So, this year beach access was a huge factor in finding a house.

This is a picture from last year. There's the house (the tiny spec of blue) and over to the right are the stairs we took.

Alright, I think I've rambled enough for one day. And Terrance is awake from her nap.

Have a great day!

Posted at 03:19 PM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.02.22

as promised...

This is the project that I was talking about earlier. It's an altered serving tray to hang in my kitchen. It holds a calendar, a note pad and a little "reminder" cork board.

The calendar is only held in place by the photo corners that way I can replace it when necessary. The paper in the note pad is just printer paper that I cut down to size and it can be refilled. The cork is by Karen Foster, it was really, really thin so I adhered it to a few layers of corrugated cardboard so that I could actually put push pins in it.

Thanks for looking!

Products:

Rusty Pickle patterned papers (Guenivere), black lace (Princess Bride), alphabet stamps (Git R' Dun)

Other-flowers, ribbon, brads, ink and paint

Posted at 04:51 PM in Rusty Pickle | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Good news, and when I say good I really mean EXCELLENT!

I'm teaching at CKC next weekend! Can you believe it? I hardly can, I am so excited! I believe class registration is closed, but you view all of the ones being offered here. I'm teaching on Friday, the "Always Dream" layout from 8:30 to 9:30 and then the "Jumbo Card class" from 9:50 to 11:50. Is anyone signed up? I'll then be working in the booth the rest of the weekend, yay!

It's been awhile since I've taught a class and as I read the email telling me that I'd be doing so I got really nervous and my palms were suddenly really wet. I'm such a dork. Why am I so nervous? I've been DREAMING of this. I wonder how many people are usually in the classes at CKCs. Does anyone know? Regardless of my nerves, I'm absolutely ecstatic!

Oooh, I finished an AWESOME project lastnight. I'm hoping for time to take pictures and post them this afternoon.

Have a great day! I know I certainly will.

Posted at 08:36 AM in Rusty Pickle | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2008.02.21

my friend the punk rock star.

I have known Jason (the japanese one) since 4th grade and will always remind him that he invited Christy May to his birthday party and not me.

He's an amazing musician and has been in a band (in one form or another) his entire life. Currently he's a member of the Useless (along with CJ and Jon). He's lead guitar and lead vocals. He writes lyrical masterpieces. I LOVE HIM and am SO PROUD of him! Jason, I love you! They just finished recording their 2nd album and I just heard one of their new songs tonight. It's awesome!

p.s. the music is punk...and they cuss...a lot...and are vulgar and a bit obscene. fair warning.

Posted at 11:29 PM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.02.19

guess what?!

My sister made the Craft Warehouse design team, she totally rocks! She also finished up that Word Up! class a few days ago. I'm never less than amazed with my sister and everything that she does. The instructions she gives are super simple to follow (it includes screen shots) and walk you through lots of the great features that are available in Microsoft Word. You can see it here.

Speaking of people that rock, the winner of the challenge, Pomaika'i, rocks! I love that your layout including lots of awesome layers and mixed elements! Seriously, the random stiches from button to button are awesome and I'm pretty sure I'll lift it. Thanks! You did an awesome job! Please email me your address asap and claim your awesome pack of Rusty products! And thank you to everyone that played, it was fun seeing all the different techniques that were used and how well the layouts turned out! I can't wait for next month...

Oh, and guess what else? CKC Portland is in 10 days and I can hardly contain myself, I'm so excited! Can you believe that this will be the first convention that I've been to? Yeah, that's why I'm sooo excited! My favorite part (other than fondling Rusty Pickle products all day) is that I'm pretty sure I'll get to see tons of people that I haven't seen in months! Susan, Camille, Mary Lou and Mary for sure...can't wait!

Oh, and even MORE good news. My sister is going to be here that weekend! I'm totally excited to see her!

What else?

Oh, my brother is learning how to drive and drove through my dad's fence the other day.

Terrance clapped today (instead of just flinging her hands around) and made the "clapping noise". When she realized that she was making the noise she did it more and was really excited about it.

Yesteray was such a nice day that I ordered my first iced coffee. Spring has sprung!

Terrance will be 8 months on Saturday.

My BEST friend from high school is coming to visit this weekend. This will be her first time meeting Terrance. I'm excited to get some great pictures and to see them together.

I bought the secret and am loving it. Have you read it? Tell me about.

Posted at 11:10 PM in {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

2008.02.17

i laughed out loud.

i love stand up comedy. my sister told me about this guy, jeff dunham. i'm not quite sure where he came from, but he is hilarious. if you've got time (and you aren't easily offended) watch achmed the dead terrorist.

Posted at 12:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.02.15

It's about time...

"Meet in the Middle" by Diamond Rio is playing right now. Don't be ashamed, Country is great!

Posted by: Krystina | 2008.02.01 at 05:41 PM

Krystina, you're my winner! Yay, congratulations! Guess what you've won?!?!? Your choice of an entire pack of Rusty Pickle papers and all the coordinating stickers, tags, and trims!!

And a friendly reminder that your entries for this month's challenge are due on Monday. So if you haven't started you've still got the weekend to bust out your RP and get creative.

Have a great one!

Posted at 05:00 PM in RAK | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.02.10

who knew socks were so good.

a good chew toy that is. Lately Terrance's "thing" is chewing on her socks. And while it makes for a great photo op, I'm kinda tired of not only putting new socks on her about 12 times a day, but also tracking down that one sock that she took off and dropped somewhere. Maybe down the rabbit hole? Because I'm having a hard time finding them. Anywho, the other day she crawled around with this sock in her mouth for about 20 minutes. Going from here to there, this toy to that toy and having a perfectly good time.

This last week has been absolutely crazy. Midterms are next week and I've been buried in my business and economics books and am finding that the vocabulary for these two classes are overlapping quite a bit. At first I thought, "great" but now I'm finding that some of the terms in my business class have a completely different meaning in economics and that's a whole lot more to remember. Nonetheless, I'm managing (barely) and am trying to stay optimistic that the tests aren't going to be as hard as I think they'll be.

Oh, and, if I may toot my own horn for a minute. Last October I joined Curves on a mission to lose the rest of the pregnancy weight and then some. For several months I worked out (although not consistantly) and was really bummed when I wasn't getting the results that I was hoping for. So, I called on my sister (who recently lost about 40 lbs in a matter of months) and asked for her diet. Once I had that down I (working around my school schedule) have invested 3 nights a week for my Curves workout. And after 3 weeks I've lost 7 lbs and the scale keeps going down. I'm really, REALLY excited about the progress I've made and am really looking forward to the coming months and seeing my body change for the BETTER, finally! Since I got married almost 4 years ago I've gained about 50 lbs. That's A LOT of weight, and while I've always wanted to lose it I never wanted to put forth much effort in doing so. Now though, I'm totally motivated and know that the oldest method in the book, "diet and exercise" really works. =)

Posted at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

2008.02.04

and now for the challenge!

Good morning ladies!

First, I want to thank the gals that played along with my challenge last month...Thank you! Your creations were awesome and it was really cool to know that people are here reading this and willing to participate.

Second, I hope that we can have a few more players! So please encourage your friends to play along and remind them that there's an awesome pack of Rusty Pickle products up for grabs!

Last month it was pretty simple, right? I asked you to be inspired by the layout that I had created and incorporate something in your project. This month though, while it's sort of along the same lines, there's a bit more too it.

Please visit one of my favorite online communities, My Scrapbook Nook and find a gallery that you love. Once you have found one pick 2 or 3 layouts that you really like. It could be the design that draws you to them or maybe it's how she mixes elements, whatever it is I want you to keep those things in mind when you go to create your layout. Now, I want to encourage you to NOT copy a layout as it is in the gallery. Take the elements that drew you to your layouts of choice and make them your own.

For instance, I chose Wendy Mckee's gallery and was inspired by this and this. I hope that you can see how I incorporated some of her design elements and managed to keep my personal style.

Now for the details, rules, whatever...

Your layout/project must be at least 60% Rusty Pickle.
I must receive it as an attachment, in my inbox, by midnight (my time) on Monday, February 18th. That gives you 2 whole weeks to complete it. Please send it to alyciasanders@gmail.com
Also, if you don't mind, leave a comment letting me know that you're playing along so that I can know how many submissions to look forward to.

That's it! Easy, right? Again, thank you for playing...you have no idea how much I'm looking forward to seeing your projects! No go ------> be inspired!

Posted at 03:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

2009-10-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

January 2008

2008.01.07

the challenge!

Good morning girls! Here we go!

I'm challenging you to scraplift some piece of this layout and make it your own. It can be the design, the colors, or just a technique that was used but it must be something from this layout.

The rules:

Your project must be 80% pickelicious. I say project because it doesn't have to be a layout, it can be anything your creative self wants it to be.
To play along, first comment on this post telling me so. That way I can know in advance how many submissions to watch for.
Once you've completed your challenge email pictures or a scan of your project to alyciasanders@gmail.com
I must receive it no later than Friday, January 18th so that gives you almost 2 weeks.

The PRIZE:

A fabulous package of product directly from the Rusty Pickle warehouse!

Now go create! I can't wait to see who plays along!

Posted at 10:54 AM in challenges | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

2008.01.04

3 more days...

until I post my first challenge! Today, though, I finally had time to take some pictures of that altered "love" vase that I was talking about awhile ago. I finished it a few days ago and am very pleased with how it turned out. Now I just need to figure out where to keep it.

All the patterned paper, stickers, ribbon, stamps and chipboard are by Rusty Pickle.

I also used Tim Holtz's crackle distress paint and it is fabulous. It's so much faster and easier than the old way of doing it. I promise that I'll be buying one in every color.

Anyways, thanks for taking a peek! Have a great weekend!

Posted at 03:09 PM in {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2009-10-03T09:03:00.001-07:00

January 2008

2008.01.31

untitled.

I got on the comptuer to get a phone number (because I refuse to use the phone book) and my ADD kicked in. So instead of doing things that I SHOULD be doing...like cleaning my house, and doing the dishes, and maybe a load of laundry or two, and hey, even making that phone call that I needed to make ...it occured to me that I should, instead, post on my blog.

Terrance turned 7 months old last Wednesday (eeek!) so I got her all dressed up and we did her "monthly" photo shoot. It turns out that keeping her sitting in one spot and laughing and looking at the camera all at once is a bit harder now that she can move. And because she kept crawling towards me and I kept having to put her back (obviously against her will) she got a bit upset and didn't last very long. I did, however, manage to get a few good shots. And yes, that is an Imaginisce Bazzill bling flower in her hair. Cute, huh?

And I finished up my other booth sample which features the Mayflower line of papers.

Okay, I really have to go! Have a great day!

Posted at 12:49 PM in terrance_, {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2008.01.29

a bit about me.

Music. I love it with every bit of my heart and soul. And I really, really love to sing..but I'm not so good at it. That doesn't stop me from singing every day, it just limits me on my choice of audience. Right now I choose to share my limited vocal abilities with Terrance (who really doesn't have a choice) , my loving husband (who is always willing to lie to me and tell me how good I really sound), my mom (who is genuinely entertained by it), my best friend Mandy (who is just used to it) and finally my sister (who usually just laughs a bit and then says, "oh my god"). I always, always say that if I could just have one wish, it would be for a good singing voice.

Anywho, music, I love it especially if it's old music. The Beatles, The Carpenters, The Mama's and the Papa's, Bob Seger, Neil Young, The Who, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, David Grey, Led Zeppelin, CCR, The Doors, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, you get the point. And, eventhough I hate to admit to it, I do like SOME Country. (I'm hanging my head in partial shame right now). So don't be surprised to hear some.

What I'm getting at with my random rambling for my love of music is that I'm going to share it here with you! As if anyone wants to listen to music while they're reading, right? Like I care. So, for my listening pleasure I've added a music player to my blog (over there) ------------> ( and here I am telling you as if you hadn't already noticed it).

So, what's playing?

Tell me and I'll randomly draw a name...in say, a week or two to get a RP RAK from me.

ROCK ON!

Posted at 11:29 PM in ME. | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

2008.01.27

today is totally a pajama day.

Lastnight was a very late night and this morning was an early one.

I spent most of the day yesterday finishing up my math homework and reading endless chapters of business and economics and at about 10 o'clock I was finally able to sit down at my desk and do something fun. I was up until 2 am working on my booth samples...I finished my album (pictured here) and am almost done with the layout.

All in all I've had a pretty productive weekend and don't plan on getting out of my pajamas today. How about you?

Posted at 01:12 PM in {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2008.01.25

she's mobile!

Terrance turned 7 months old on Wednesday. This last month was the biggest learning month for her so far. She learned to crawl, she can put her binkie in her mouth and she learned how to pull herself up using anything she can get her grubby little baby hands on. And she gets very excited when she stands and is very vocal about it. Lately she's learned the "da" and "ga" sounds and is even saying "dada" every now and then. She babbles for hours on end and spends her days ~~chasing~~ terrorizing the cats. And (because we have yet to invest in baby gates) she makes a mad dash for the cat food and water whenever she gets a chance. So for now I have various pieces of furniture acting as barricades. She is also getting her first baby teeth in and has come to like cool wet washcloths to help soothe her pain.

In my scrappy world with CHA right around the corner there has been a request for Rusty Pickle booth samples so I'm working on a mini album and a layout. I'll have them done by next week and will post pictures. The album I'm working with is one of their new acrylic ones and it is awesome! I'm also using the Pirate Princess line (love the colors) and have decided that this is my favorite project that I've done to date! I can't wait to share.

Also, if you're attending CKC Portland next month you'll see me there! I'll be in the booth, but there's also a chance that I might be teaching as well. I'm waiting on the official word from the boss so when I find out I'll let you all know! Be sure to check out the Rusty Pickle Blog to see pictures from CKC Houston!

And don't forget that next month a new challenge will be posted and if you play along you could win a great prize directly from the Rusty Pickle warehouse!

Have a great weekend!

Posted at 04:47 PM in terrance_, {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.01.21

some good advice.

i read this on a message board today and felt inclined to share it. thanks Z.

Once, in the deep jungle, there was a snake that all of a sudden started to follow a glowworm and try to eat it.
The glowworm quickly escaped from the horrible beast, but the snake wouldn't stop following it around. It fled for a day, two, three - and finally, exhausted - it stopped and faced the snake.
"May I ask you three questions?!"
The snake was bewildered, but said
"Yes. I usually don't answer questions, but since I'm gonna eat you in a minute anyway, I guess I could make an exception."
"Am I part of your food chain?"
"Nope." said the snake.
"Have I hurt you in any way?"
"Nope!" said the snake, once more.
"So... Why are you trying to kill me?!"
"Because..." said the snake "I cannot stand to see you glow!"

Many of us have been in a situation where we've asked ourselves why bad things happen to us. If we haven't done anything wrong, or hurt anyone.
The answer is very simple: Because there is someone who cannot stand to see you glow!

When that happens, don't put out your light! Just keep being who you are, keep giving the best you've got, don't let anyone put you down and keep being brilliant!
They can't attack you, because your light still shines and you will remain the person you truly are.
Always stay real, even if your light disturbs the predators.

Posted at 11:47 PM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

a sneak peak

For those of you that don't know, I have an amazingly talented and innovative sister named Whitney that is as head-over-heels in love with this hobby and industry as I am. Recently she launched the blog, Sweet Tree Designs (there's a link on the right), where she'll offer amazing layout sketches, tons of inspiration and a lot of awesome ideas. Right now, though, she's working on formulating a couple of class instructions that will be available to purchase on a CD. She's almost finished with her first class and offered a sneak peak on her blog so I thought that I would share it here with you.

We are excited to give a sneak peak at the first of our classes that will be available shortly...a class called Word Up!

This class is specifically designed to help teach you how to use Microsoft Word for journaling on you pages with limited formatting. This is the first class in a series of two. The next will teach you a lot about formatting and using Word for titles like the one you see on this page. For now we will focus on text boxes and simple formatting. This is almost an indispensable tool to have because you can do almost anything in almost any style. It is a way to really make the layout yours and add a personal touch.

This class is a great addition to your scrapbooking "tool belt"! It is becoming more and more important for us to be able to use the multitude of scrapbooking tools available out there to keep driving us to improve ourselves and our abilities. The scrapbooking world is never at a stand still and it is a daily challenge for us all to keep up. This class will help with that struggle.
Stay tuned for the official announcement of the classes availability!

Posted at 05:37 PM in Sweet Tree Designs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.01.19

the winner!

............................... Congrats Kelly! I love the fun mix of patterns and especially how you threaded the chipboard sword through the laced ribbons. You did a great job! Please email me your address so that I can get your prize out to you.

And a HUGE thank you to the other girls that played along! I had a lot of fun seeing your entries come in, I hope you had fun creating them!

There will be another challenge up the first monday of next month so be sure to check back!

Have a happy weekend!

Posted at 09:36 AM in challenges | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.01.18

Just a reminder

to you girls that are participating in my challenge. Your projects are due tonight! I've already received a couple, but there are still a few out there. I will announce the winner tomorrow morning!

Posted at 11:30 AM in challenges | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2008.01.16

just for fun.

I found this website today. Be sure to check out the "Anagram Hall of Fame".

Posted at 11:38 AM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2008.01.13

the newest addition

to my scrapbooking room is this cute little 5 tiered shelf. I picked it up at the goodwill last week for $7 (can't beat that) and after my attempt to spray paint it white failed horribly I got some real paint to finish it off. Once it had dried I added a few dots of black paint and some American Crafts rub ons to complete it. And wouldn't you know that there was exactly enough shelf space for all my paints? It's like it was meant to be.

***********************

As for the challenge, I've got 2 girls playing along so far and 1 already has her layout to me. Yay Victoria! If you would like to play check out my last post for all the details. There's a great prize pack from Rusty Pickle up for grabs!

In non-scrappy news, I started school last week. It's weird being a student again after taking almost 3 years off. I really had forgotten how much work is necessary in college courses. I'm not there for anything fancy, just finishing up my AA in business so that when Terrance is a bit older I can pursue my BA. So with the mounds of homework and reading piling up each day I don't think I'll be doing much scrapping other than my Rusty Pickle DT assignments. And now I'm off to do some of that reading...

Hope your weekend was great and the upcoming week is even better!

Posted at 04:45 PM in {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2009-10-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

December 2007

2007.12.30

I learned a new word today.

"moodle" or "moodling"

To moodle is to engage in an act of divine laziness, that lovely inactivity that leads to moments of creativity and inspiration.

So the next time my husband asks me why I'm browsing galleries online when I could be folding clothes I'll simply turn to him and say, "Honey, I'm moodling." Haha, love it!

Posted at 08:16 PM in misc. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2007.12.28

I'm a bit late for this one

but that's how I roll.

Lastnight I sat down to work on that love project I was talking about earlier and got totally side tracked and inspired to create something festive and Christmassy. This is what I came up with. When I was finished I loved the wreath so much that I created and second one and while doing so took step-by-step photos so that I could share them HERE with you.

And next week I'll be posting my first Rusty Pickle challenge. Be sure to check it out and scrapalong for a chance to win a great prize pack from Rusty Pickle!!

Posted at 06:32 PM in {Scrap}booking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

2007.12.25

Merry Christmas!!

Hooray mom for getting me these!!

Posted at 08:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2007.12.24

6 month pictures

I took these pictures of Terrance yesterday, dang she's cute! And yes, that's an embellishment in her hair. =)

Posted at 10:46 AM in terrance_ | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2007.12.23

$130 richer....

I went and played bingo lastnight with Bud, Shelly and Katina and let me tell you that we were full of luck. Bud bingoed about 5 times in the first 10 games or so and later in the evening I won $130 and then shortly after that Katina bingoed and won $250. It was really exciting! I love bingo. <3

Terrance is 6 months old today. Here's what she's accomplished in the last month.

can sit up w/out falling over (most of the time)
took her first drink of water
used a sippy cup for the first time
had her first drink of juice (which she loves)
flew on an airplane (and did quite well)

Later today I'll dress her up and take some pictures, but in the meantime I'll share these ones from when she was drinking from her sippy cup. The 2nd one totally cracks me up.

I was out and about the other day at all of my local scrapbooking stores and craft stores and Joanns has already started to put out their Valentines day stuff. Which is by far my fav holiday simply because I love LOVE. =) I got totally inspired and for the last few nights have been working on a really cute altered "love" bouquet and vase. It's showcasing some of Rusty Pickles valentines day lines and will be my first official project as a chef!

Can you believe that today is Christmas eve's eve? It's crazy how quickly this year has gone. I am really excited though. This will be our first Christmas that is just us. Today we're going to go and rent some Christmas movies. "A Christmas Story" is my husband's fav...and the dinner scene when they're eating duck and being sung to "...fa, ra, ra, ra, ra, ra, ra, ra, ra." Joe doesn't let me forget that he loves the part and the last week or so he's been walking around randomly singing that, lol, he's histarical. I burned us a christmas carols cd the other day so that tomorrow night we can drive around looking at lights and singing which is one of my favorite things to do! Yay! I can hardly wait. Best wishes to you and Merry Christmas!

Posted at 10:45 AM in LiFe | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

2007.12.17

home sweet home

The trip was good, but I'm so glad to be home.

Last week Terrance and I traveled to Vale, Oregon (my hometown) to visit family and friends. Before Terrance was born Joe and I would usually just drive since it only took us 5 or 6 hours. But we tried it when she was about 3 months old and it took us 10 hours. I'll never do it again. So last week we flew and counting traveling time to and from the airports plus the flight it was only about 3 hours. Not counting the jet lag and the motion sickness from the plane, it was so much better than driving.

I met my mom for coffee, as always, the day after we flew in. It's a great little shop called Jolts n' Juice and has the best espresso, a little pricey, but the best! I snapped this picture of Terrance while we were there. Cute, huh? Yes, she loves the bunny. I'm absolutely amazed at how quickly she's gaining strength. Literally, it was like one day she couldn't sit up without flopping over and the next day she could.

About half of the time that we were there we stayed with my sister and the other half we stayed with my best friends mom (who I also claim as my own). She absolutely adores Terrance, as any grandma would, and loves on her every second that she can. Terrance took her first drink of water out of a cup with her. =) So sweet!!

My most recent scrappy news is that I recently became a Rusty Pickle chef. I'm absolutely ecstatic! It'll be "official" in January and as part of my duties I've chosen www.cropaddict.com as my chef "home" site and will be hosting challenges there every other month. I'll also be hosting challenges and other fun things here on my blog. =) Be sure to check back and join in monthly to win great prizes from Rusty Pickle!

Posted at 07:31 PM in LiFe | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

2007-12-17T21:53:00.001-08:00

I moved...

www.alyciasanders.typepad.com

2007-12-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile and I have a lot to talk about. I don't have enough time right now so I'll post the most exciting thing. I am officially a Rusty Pickle chef!! Yay! Following the Amazing Race that I competed in back in June they extended an offer to the remaining finalists (the ones that didn't make the team) that if we could be published 3 times using their products within the next 6 months that we could join the team and I did it! I'll have a layout in Somerset Memories magazine (formerly known as Legacy) and I'll have 2 layouts in the ezine Ready, Set, Create! So exciting! =)

2007-11-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

Terrance turned 5 months old yesterday. Isn't she a doll? These are just a few pics I snapped of her in our mock photo shoot, hehe. And then one that dh snapped of her and I (and no, I don't have a weird growth on the side of my neck, that's just my cat). Next month we're going to get some professional photos taken and I can hardly wait. I told my husband that he can't wear a t-shirt either, it has to be a nice shirt with a collar...we'll see how it goes.

2007-11-23T18:36:00.000-08:00

I've just realized that one of my worst habits is cleaning up my memory card. Mine will hold roughly 600 pictures and right now I'm nearing that limit and it scares me! I really don't like deleting pictures for fear that I don't have them saved somewhere else (even though I know that I do). It's one of things I'm OCD about...that and checking the locks. Anyways, I was only reminded of that because I was taking these pictures. =) The first is a layout of mine in print in the November issue of Scrapbook Trends. And the second are all of the goodies that showed up at my door this afternoon! It's a combination of what Scrapbook Trends sent me and the kit that I ordered from The Embellishment Studio....love that giant scalloped lace, right? Yes! And that mini notebook from Making Memories, LOVE IT!

Gotta go one of my favorite shows is on Lifetime, Lisa Williams: life among the dead and following that, America's Psychic Challenge, Yay!

2007-11-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

My baby is such a big girl! We introduced Terrance to her very first baby food yesterday (apples) and she loved it. And not only is she eating solid foods, but she's rolling over like it's going out of style and she's so eagerly grabbing onto things and actually holding them! =) It's such a joy to watch her grow and develop! Before I know it she'll be crawling...

2007-11-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

Yay! I'm so super excited and here's why: my fav comic Lisa Lampanelli (pictured here) is performing in Eugene on February 15 and my best friend in the whold world is flying over to go with me! =) We're planning an entire girls weekend and I can hardly wait.

2007-11-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

7 random things about me:

1. My favorite music artists are from the 60's and the 70's. I love {the Beatles}, Zeppelin, CCR, {Neil Young}, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, {the Mama's and the Papa's}, and The Who just to name a few.

2. I'm sort of a WWII guru when it comes to Nazi Germany. I studied it a lot independently in high school and have really been fascinated with it since then. My dream vacation would be to tour the concentration camps all through Europe and soak up all that history.

3. I don't like ketchup unless it's on my hotdog or my hamburger.

4. I cook to relieve stress and to relax. And I'm a huge {Rachael Ray} fan, go figure. =)

5. I watch {America's Next Top Model} religiously...even the reruns on MTV and VH1 that I've already seen at least 100 times.

6. I'm totally intrigued with psychics, mediums, clairvoyents and all things supernatural. Would so love to have a reading done by {Sylvia Brown} or Lisa Williams some day.

7. I have read every book that John Grisham has had published and maintain that The Painted House is my favorite.

Now on to you...

2007-10-25T00:04:00.000-07:00

Karen Russell, Narratives designer extraordinaire, who teaches classes at our store regularly is always, always, always promoting the photo lab www.scrapbookpictures.com. She not only has designed some really cool frames for them but, they themselves can do some pretty neat things with your photos.

This is a photo of my cat, Shady, that I took about 2 years ago. I've always loved it and wanted something special done with it and I now feel that it's perfect. So, I accomplished this neat look by uploading it to scrapbook pictures and requesting the "spot color" treatment. In my photo they removed all of the color except for in the leaves and her eyes. It's printed on metallic paper, which gives it a really awesome finished look, and I added one of Karen's frames...I believe this is called "impressionist" and then chose the print size 8" x 12". These people rock, not only was this done really quickly and at my door in less than 4 business days but the quality is wonderful AND you can't beat the price for the service.

In other news, I got a new desk in my scrapbooking room. Yay!!! For the last several years I've been using my sisters old sewing machine table. Yes, it's tiny...like barely 2 feet wide and 3 feet long. So, last week my husband and I were out perusing the thrift stores and I found a HUGE solid oak desk for $14.99, marked down from $55 and when she rang it up for us she gave us and extra 10% off. So, I got a huge desk with 5 drawers for the unbeatable price of $13.49. Now that's a steal. I will say that it took us FOREVER to bring it in the house because it is so so heavy. But once I scrapped on it the first time...wow, I felt so liberated! I had all this extra space. It is more than the double the size of the old sewing machine table, which is now properly situated with my sewing machine on it. =) That was a good day.

Also, a week ago or so I joined Curves. I went for my first workout the other day and I have to say that I loved it! The atmosphere was so warm and inviting and there were so many women there and everyone was really super nice! So, I'm super excited about shedding these extra pregnancy pounds and then some, AND getting back into shape. =)

Take care! xoxo

2007-10-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

We bought Terrance a walker lastnight, not that she can walk or anything but she LOVES being in the upright position. She thinks that she is such a big girl. So here she is, so absolutely joyous, in her new walker. She was actually laughing at the fish face I was making because I'm really funny like that.

Just wanted to share. =)

2007-10-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Yay! Finally, I got a new do. =) For a very long time (like 2 years) I've been wanting to cut my hair off. I seriously had 3 feet of very thick, heavy hair and it was really getting old. So one day last week I did it, I marched into the salon and said, "chop it off!" And she did. And she did a great job! All in all...at the longest it is now, I'd say she took a good 12 inches off and I still have plenty left to work with. I snapped this quick, not so great, self portrait just the day after I did it and even though it's not styled it looks soo cute! It's fun, it's flirty and I'm finding myself flipping my head from side to side just to feel the bounce that I haven't felt in such a long time! Hehe, silly, I know...but c'mon...gimme a break. =)

And, this is officially my new favorite picture of my baby girl. Look at that gorgeous little smile and those oh so sweet and squishy cheeks! I LOVE her! =)

I also FINALLY had an hour (yes, just one hour) to scrap and got a layout done! I would love to share but I've made the decision to stop posting my work right away due to the fact that more and more magazines are only picking up layouts that have never been seen before. Oh, and speaking of publishing last week I got an email form Somerset Memories (aka Legacy Magazine) requesting the "new dad" layout I did with that oh so sweet picture of Joe and Terrance. I'm so super excited! And I also have a layout in this months (November) Scrapbook Trends. It's of Terrance's ultrasound photo and can't wait to see it in print.

That's all I got. Take care. xoxo

2007-09-27T22:14:00.001-07:00

So, the other day I bought Terrance some Gerber biter biscuits and she LOVES them. Here are a few pics I snapped earlier proving so...isn't she so cute? The second one reminds me of Popeye the sailor, right? Haha!

Tomorrow afternoon we're leaving for Vale. Yay! I get to see Whitney and Terrance gets to meet a lot family and friends. It's going to be exhausting and I know she's going to be overwhelmed, but nonetheless it'll be a good time.

I'm really super excited because I get to spend most of the entire day on Saturday with my dearest friend in the whole world (my ex-sister-in-law) Tonya. I swear, we were separated at birth, we're totally 2 peas in a pod...and people say that we look alike too. I'm sure we were real sister in a former life. =)

And I get to see Jason and Chewy, my closest guy friends ever! Jason, Joe and I lived together for a long time before Joe was mobilized for deployment. And Chewy was always a permanent fixture on our couch. =) Those were the good old days...

Anyways, I'm really looking forward to it and can hardly wait to see them. =)

2007-09-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

I've seen a few previews but didn't know exactly what it was until I watched today's Oprah. As an avid Beatles fan I'm kind of disappointed that the songs were redone, as I feel no one can top the original versions, but I guess they did what they had to do for the film. I am, however, really interested in seeing this. Check it out here ---> http://www.acrosstheuniverse.com/

2007-09-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Today is our generations JFK assassination. I'm sure when Terrance is in junior high or high school she'll come home one day and ask me where I was on September 11, 2001.

It was my senior year; I had just gotten to school and I noticed that the halls were really vacant which was unusual. As I walked through the Junior hall I noticed that everyone was in the classrooms watching TV. I continued to the Senior hall, went to my locker and then I walked back to my homeroom class, which was full and the TV was on and that's when I found out what was going on. To be quite honest I was shocked, but didn't realize what a tragedy it was. I had never in my life heard of the World Trade Center let alone know that more than 50,000 people worked there everyday. The day was full of speculation: who and why? I remember being so excited to go to Eyler's class that day and hear his take on it. He was a very out spoken history teacher and had lots of opinions.

Anyways, just thought I'd share that brief memory. And I want to share this awesome kit site that I just recently found. It's called The Embellishment Studio and they rock! I'm absolutely LOVING the vintage ribbons and laces that are the foundation of their kits. I believe that they're pretty new and have only been up and running for a few months and really hope that they stick around. So I'm hoping to help them out and direct some traffic their way. http://www.theembellishmentstudio.com/Home_Page.php

And as always a sweet picture of Terrance. =)

2007-09-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

I started this yesterday. It's just a plain old composition notebook that I've had forever and decided that it needed to be cute. Funny how that works, huh? Like, I had a clipboard forever and ever, I never used it but I kept packing it around with me (for like 7 years) so I altered it one day. And now it has a purpose. =) Anyways, back to the notebook. So, my plan is to have 3 or 4 dividers in it and some pockets to keep all my good scrappy ideas in. And to keep store stuff in too (i.e. class calendars, class info, class ideas, you know class stuff, =) etc). Also, I'll have something to take to the employee meetings instead of just a piece of paper that I always end up losing or I forget to bring home anyways.

I have more pictures, but honestly, uploading pictures onto this damn thing makes me CRAZY!! Why does it have to be so hard? Not even that it's hard, but it screws up my whole post, ya know? And then I have to rearrange and retype and rearrange some more and like I said, it makes me CRAZY.

Now I'm off to Hollywood to rent some movies. Have a great weekend!!

2007-09-07T10:37:00.001-07:00

A new favorite picture. =)

2007-09-05T16:51:00.001-07:00

It's amazing that almost a month has passed since I last blogged. So, this is going to be an uber post to catch up on some things.

I'm officially working again. My first days back were this last Saturday and Sunday and it was awesome to be in the store surrounded by all the wonderful new product (although I am patiently waiting for the new Basic Grey chipboard and the new Prima...these things are my weakness)! And I got to see so many of our awesome customers that I haven't seen in so long. I almost forgot what a great job I have. =)

Terrance turned 2 months old and I can hardly believe it. Her favorite thing to do right now is to stand up...she absolutely LOVES it. And it's hilarious how she holds her arms out while she's doing it. (If Joe knew I was posting this picture of his farmer's tan he would die, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him.) She's becoming very vocal, she loves to talk (as all girls do) and has such cute little personality starting to develop. I swear, this whole mother gig ROCKS!

Last week (I think) I went up and saw Body Worlds 3 at OMSI...all I can say is, "WOW!" It was amazing. If you haven't gone yet, don't miss your chance. I believe that it will only be in Portland for a few more weeks. And if you haven't heard, read up on it here.

Also last month I taught my first class, YAY!! Since Whitney left I took over her monthly class, the Posey Tree. That was fun and it made me realize how much I missed teaching. So I've got a couple planned for the coming months. And here are some sneak peeks...

Have a great day!