21 days!!

I've decided, after OOOHING and AHHING over Michelle's entries for the last round, that I'm going to do the The {21} Challenge, Round 3. This time, Rhonna has chosen a word and we're to do our 21 days based on that word. The word couldn't be more fitting either...HABIT! And we've all heard that it takes 21 days to break (or make) a habit.
So...I've done my day one layout. (and am planning my day 2 layout too)
I found the quote on Two Peas and it just hit home so well. We all need the motivation to get us moving...but it IS the HABIT that will keep us going.
I leave in a month to go to Atlanta for Kyle's graduation from High School. How did I get old enough to have 2 HS grads??? Not to mention, a third well on his way now. Sheesh! Anyway, at the graduation, I will be seeing my ex husband, his wife and my ex in-laws. I think I was at my lowest in self esteem when I was married to my ex and really let myself go for a long time. When I went to Brooks' graduation a couple of years ago, I tried my best to look and feel good. I might not have been slim, but even with the extra weight that I had back then, I made sure that I felt GREAT. And I really think that I did. (and I even like the pics that were taken of me then too)
Now, with Kyle's graduation just around the corner, I've put on a few more pounds and am not feeling the best that I could feel. So, I'm setting a goal to get to the gym to work out, to eat better and be sure to take my vitamins. By doing The {21} Challenge right now, I think it's going to help me get to the point where I feel good about this trip...and can face those folks with my head held high and with my confidence beaming. I don't think the timing for this could be any better really.

Thanks, Rhonna!!! (and Michelle too, for trying to motivate me the last round)

Here we go again...

Started this post earlier today but it didn't seem to post..anyhow. I was in a hurry to get out of here this morning to take Sunny to the vet specialist on the other side of town. She's been limping on her hind left leg and I wanted to make sure there weren't any problems with her arthritis or anything like that. They did x-rays and said that there really hasn't been much change since her x-rays last year and that she's probably just a little sore from the hip arthritis. He did put her on a daily arthritis med, Deramaxx...instead of the Rimadyl that she was on occassionally before. I didn't like to give her the Rimadyl unless she was having a really bad day because it has been known to cause liver troubles. The Deramaxx doesn't have these liver issues and is supposed to be a little better. Here's hoping we can see a difference. I hate seeing her waddle the way she's been waddling. Of course, she HAS gained a few lbs since Koda moved in...I'll have to work on getting a few lbs off of her too.

I went to the Scrap retreat this past weekend. And man, what a great time I had! The gals from Club Scrap came to Kissimmee and put on one of their "rolling retreats". It was pretty much all inclusive...meals, workshops and make n takes...everything but the hotel room. But even that wasn't too bad cuz there were 8 of us that we split 3 rooms up with. We made a drop spine box, a ribbon bound 8x8 album, a beaded pendant and then did 10 layouts using one of their monthly kits. On top of all that, they had some really cool make n takes too. IT WAS AWESOME!!

We had open crop time both friday and saturday nights. I was happy to complete two complete two-page spreads and started on an altered composition book too. We stayed up each night till midnight and getting up to be downstairs for a 7am-9:30 am breakfast was TOUGH! (but we did it!)

I mentioned there was an open bar at dinner...well, that in itself was a riot. On Friday night, the bartender had a frosted bowl on the bar to be used for tips. Half the gals had been through the line already and he didn't have a buck in it yet. So...our table rallied together and put a few ones in there to get him started and he sure appreciated that. All I had was a $10 so he let me change it after a few bucks were in there and I left him another $3. Lets just say that he took good care of us BOTH nights! Each time I went to the bar, he gave me TWO Coronas. Not sure if he really thought that I was drinking them all...even I couldn't do that! As much as I love Corona! I was drinking one and sharing the other with someone else at our table. Saturday night there were quite a few Coronas consumed at our table...we even took a picture of the bottles. Nancy tried to make a pyramid with the bottles, but we decided that probably wasn't such a great idea. So we just stacked them like bowling pins instead.

As always, time spent with the Ya-Ya's was filled with laughter...and on more than one occassion, the laughter led to tears from laughing so hard. My friend Nancy Gr...is a HOOT! She's so full of energy and just has the absolute BEST sense of humor! I love that gal!

Oh, and I got to sleep on a SLEEP NUMBER BED! I was so excited...you know, it's the little things that thrill me. Darn it...forgot to take a picture of that though! Also forgot to take a picture of the bartender. Shoot! Oh well...I'll have to be sure to journal all about those things on my pages.

I came home to a happy family and a clean house...showed off my goodies to Alex and the kids and took a 3 hour nap...only to wake up long enough to eat dinner (that Alex made) and watch a quick 30 minutes of TV...then I was off to bed for the rest of the night. I felt so much better this morning, that's for sure!

I almost forgot to add that by the end of the weekend, I'd joined the Club Stamp club. So, now, beginning in May, I'll get a kit with a fun crafty project in it and a bunch of exclusive Club Scrap goodies too. I bought a few of the kits that they had for sale this weekend and can't wait to get unpacked and make some of these things. I want to finish the pages in the 8x8 album and I want to decorate the box too...maybe for a Mother's Day gift. First though, I will certainly have to get the stuff unpacked and then all put away and organized once again before I have room to do anything crafty in this scrap room.

I plan to scan and take some pictures of the goodies that we did this weekend. Once I get those done, I'll come back here and post them. But, for now...I'm headed into the pool with the rest of the crazy people in this house. The pool temp is already at 83*. I said I wouldn't get in till it was 86* but I think I can brave it to spend some good quality time with the family.

Until later...thanks for reading!

A cool challenge!!!

My friend Jessica Bolton, owner of Eclectic Scraps posted an awesome photo+scrap challenge on her blog today. I won't go into the details of the challenge...you'll have to go see for yourself! Just follow that link and you'll see what I'm talking about. And I challenge YOU to do her challenge too!

This is the layout that I created for that challenge. I took random shots around the house and then just took snip-its of each photo. In case you can't tell, there's a shot of my family room, crockpot, my van, a folded pile of laundry and a cluttered mess on my scrapdesk before I cleaned it up earlier. All things that have to do with "ME". I used Jessica's SIGNATURE kit, available at Eclectic Scraps and I used PSE 4.0. I'm pretty happy with the way this layout came together. It's nice to do a bit of digi scrapping again! (I hadn't been doing much of this since we took a hiatus over at Scrapforums)

Thanks for such a great challenge, Jess! I look forward to more of your challenges coming soon!

Chapter Closed...

Well, I gave it a shot...I taught scrapbook classes at the scrapbook store. Surprisingly enough, I LOVED to teach those classes. It was coming up with the ideas to teach that kicked my butt! I was finding it harder and harder to come up with stuff and finding that while I was putting so much thought into those ideas, the rest of my scrapping and projects were sitting untouched. I have been thinking about all of this since before my card class last week...but I finally talked to Liz about it on Friday. I just couldn't continue to beat myself up over it all. Liz was very understanding and said that she knew how hard it was...she said that I did a great job with the teaching end of things and that I was a very creative person...but that she understands that teaching isn't for everyone. I was very happy that she was so good about it all...I didn't want to burn any bridges with her or the store. I like Liz and her store is one of my favorites...and definitely the closest. I didn't want any of that to change, and it hasn't. Thank Goodness!

So that chapter in my life has been closed. I'm feeling a great sense of relief and can now put the time into the "funner" side of things again. Like my DT schtuff! I did TWO projects just last night for the Scrapforums DT. I'd had the sponsor stuff sitting here but didn't allow myself to play until I had my next class project completed. But...now that that's off my plate...I played with the Craft Diner stuff last night. I did this layout with LOTS of doodling...I just love my new Glaze pens and really really really want to get the Souffle set to go with them. (but I'm trying not to spend much till Vegas in June) I smeared my friend's face cuz I didn't know how she'd feel about me plastering her up all over the net. Oh, and the title was cut using my Wishblade. Have I mentioned how much I love that little machine????

This little notebook is the other thing that I did with the Craft Diner sponsor product. This was originally a $1 journal that I picked up at Michael's a while ago. I used the Craft Diner papers and altered it to make a fun little inspiration notebook. I think this one will go in my car for me to use when a thought hits, etc. I really enjoyed making this one! I love to alter stuff.
Brooks called me on Wednesday and asked if it was ok if he and his college roommate, Adam, came down for the weekend. This was a fun surprise and a much welcomed one! They got here Friday afternoon around 3:30 and will be leaving sometime today. We spent the day at Travel Country Outdoors yesterday (a few hours of it anyway). Brooks needs a backpack for his job this summer and wanted to be fitted properly for one. So we took care of that. It's been so nice just hanging out with them. Brooks is so busy with school and working these days that his visits are pretty few and far between. And Adam is a very nice young man...a great inspiration and role model for Brooks. It's been a great weekend!!

Well, I promised Brooks that I'd go to church with them this morning...so I'm off to get in the shower. We were supposed to go to the 8:30 service but we all overslept...oops. So we're off to the 10am service instead.

C R E A T I V E!!

That's what I was tonight. Even though I said I wasn't going to start anything till I had my room done, I had to make something for someone's b-day. Tomorrow is the birthday of the lady that helps in the kindergarten classes at Em's school and I volunteered to make her something. I had a journal that I picked up months ago, on clearance, at Michael's. It had been tossed in the "alterable items" cupboard and it was the first thing I thought to grab when I was thinking of what to make her. I thought about doing a card set or something, but decided that the journal would be more fun. I hope she likes it too!

This isn't the best scan but it was tough to scan it because it was so bulky.

The best part about this journal??? I actually used a bunch of the stuff that I bought at the Expo on Friday. That, in itself, is amazing. Most of the time, the stuff that I buy ends up sitting here and aging (like wine) before I use it. You know...I gotta give it time to mingle with the other stuff that's sitting here. LOL

I had to run a few errands today and while I was out, I picked up the Dyson Vacuum cleaner. Alex and I had been talking about getting one for some time now and he used the old Orek this weekend and told me today that I could go ahead and get the new vacuum whenever...that he thought the old one was a piece of "you know what". I needed to run out for a while anyway...why not get it today while I was out. AND...I had a 20% off coupon for Linens and Things too. They apparently used to list Dyson as one of the brands that the coupons couldn't be used for...but it wasn't listed on my coupon, so they took it. HAPPY DAY!!! I saved just over $100 on my new vacuum...I'm psyched!

I came home and of course, vacuumed the house...I was AMAZED at the amount of stuff that came up with that thing! Alex said that our bedroom carpet looked like it had been cleaned. I know it's sick to say that I think I'll enjoy vacuuming...but I think I will. Just to see that stuff in the barrel of that vacuum is incredible! I might just do it again tomorrow!

I took part of my savings and spent it at Target on a small computer cart that I'm going to use as an "island" type thing in the middle of my scrapbook room. I stand when I scrap and I think having the island there and being able to walk around full circle to grab stuff, will be perfect! This will also allow me to use the scrapdesk that I have now for more storage and stuff. I need to put the cart together...hopefully tomorrow.

I have my annual dr's appt tomorrow...oh boy. Love this time of year...NOT! Hoping to get a few things done before I have to leave...and of course, when I get back too. Will need to do a few cleaning things with the girls over at Scrapforums. If I don't post the cleaning thread and challenges, those girls will hunt me down, I'm sure. Tomorrow's early day for the kids though...I don't like that part of Wednesdays! It always throws me off and I never seem to get much done on Wednesdays. I guess I'll just need to try my best.

YIKES...it's already 12:25am. I'm up wayyyyyyyyyy past my bedtime! Nighty night!

Ooops, I did it again...

Neglected my poor blog once again. And man, have I heard about it! I've had THREE people remind me to update again...and that's just today. I figured I'd get in here and blog a bit before I head off to finish folding the latest load of laundry.

Last week is a complete and total blur! I was so busy, I wasn't sure if I was coming or going! I taught my card class on both Tuesday and Thursday at Memory Lane. This was supposed to be an easy class and was scheduled for 2 hours...it ended up going for 3 1/2 hours almost. This was the first time this had ever happened to me...I'm usually right on with my times...but man, I didn't think that class would ever end. I learned from that one and came home and cut everything for Thursday's class. The Thursday class took 2 1/2 hours but it was so much smoother and one lady even said that it was the "best class she'd ever taken". Brought tears to my eyes, LOL. I was really doubting myself at that point and her comment really made me feel good. I'm currently working on a cute little canvas/accordian book to be used as a teacher's gift. I have it started...need to get it finished and on display at the store.

On Friday, I went to the Scrapbook Expo at the Convention Center. I was supposed to go with Kerri but she had family coming into town and had to back out. She would have had fun though. Even though I spent WAYYYYY too much $$...I spent the ENTIRE day there...looking at almost every booth, buying fun stuff that I can't get locally and I even signed up and took a class. (taught by the very same girl that taught at Memory Lane last month that I loved so much)

So, I get to the Expo, go in, and decide to do the usual trek...down one row, back up, down the next...well, I should have known better than to start with the Embellish It booth...stocked full with the awesome new lines of Basic Grey and Bazzill. There went that chunk of change. Then, just across from THAT booth was the Rusty Pickle Booth...had to get some of their cool paper and of course, their very cool little mini books. Basic Grey and Rusty Pickle...yum!

I had read about Rhonna Farrer's awesome new stamps last week and knew that I'd be getting some of them as soon as I could find them in stores. Wasn't I the happy scrapper when I found them at the Expo!?! I grabbed up two sets of them and have them hanging right over my scrapdesk...waiting to be used. I figure, with them hanging there, I'll use them quicker than if I were to put them away.

On Saturday, I spent the entire day working on cleaning out the scrap room ONCE AGAIN. Kerri came over here a couple of months ago and we spent days working on micro organizing the little stuff. It took FOREVER but it was all pretty organized, I've got a place for everything now, but unfortunately, the places that I have for everything, are now busting at the seems and I'm once again running out of room. So I spent Saturday cleaning up in here a little bit and then yesterday I went through a bunch of stuff and pulled the things that I know will never get used. I'm going to donate it to a local charity that takes in troubled teens...I've heard they want to start a scrapbooking program for their teens and I think they'll be able to use the stickers, patterned paper and cardstock that I'm getting rid of. I'm hoping that this will help me to get some room back in here...and help me keep things organized. Cuz I can't stand the mess this room gets to be!

I have a few DT projects that I need to work on this week. I'm trying desperately to finish the cleaning out before I start on a page or two. I know that once I start on a page, the other stuff will once again fall to the back burner and it'll get piled up once again. I'm so inspired to get creative again...but I really do need to finish what I've started. I'll work on this sorting stuff tonight and see if I can't make a bigger dent. Then maybe I'll start scrapping tomorrow!

OK...there's a bit of an update. I'll try and post more this week. I'm sure if I don't post again, Erin or someone will bust my chops again. :)

I'm off to sort through patterned paper.