My So Called Scrappy Life

Bookmarks all packaged up

2011-04-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

As if my life isn't busy enough, I've been busy making packaging for my bookmarks to make them look more professional. This post is going to be short but sweet, because I still need to post about easter and my nieces 1st birthday party! Let me know what you think of my bookmarks! thanks =)

30 days of mini (attainable) health and wellness goals

2011-04-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

Ok ladies (and willing gentlemen!) I'm throwing out a challenge to get us all back on track. The more people that do the challenge them more motivated I will get, so I hope I get some followers! I'm going to start (on facebook) a 30 day mini goals challenge for health and wellness. Each morning for the next 30 days I will post a mini goal tailored to myself. An attainable goal, not something I know I won't be able to accomplish and therefor fail at, cause who wants to feel like a failure every day? Not me! So, when the day is over, I'll ever post whether I met my goal, or I will try harder next time, cause I'm tired of even writing that I failed at something. Failure is an evil word and we shouldn't say it..especially about ourselves, right? So here's the rules....

when you wake up, set your goal-on your own page. You can also post your goal under mine on my page so I can see what you are doing and who is participating!) At the end of the day, post whether you were successful with that goal or not.

sample goals are (and it doesn't JUST have to be about food or exercise!)

* declutter my house/clean my house (cause it makes everyone FEEL better and therefore is a wellness goal! woot!

* drink 8 glasses of water today

* journal my foods

* journal my feelings

* take a walk today that is at least 1/2 hour long

* pray for strength to make it through the day (this one helps!)

* call a friend to cheer them up (score a joy point and make yourself WELL by making someone else feel better!)

* think positively (positive affirmations are so powerful you won't know what hit you!)

(remember these goals are DAILY goals, not weekly so you don't have to write something like " exercise at least 5 times this week and sweat till I bleed"

....daily people...one baby step at a time...we can DO this!

oh, and you can post the same goal more than once in the 30 days. As a matter of fact you can post the same goal over and over if that's what you FEEL you need to do

If you have any questions, let me know!

ps- I posted one of my favorite GIRL POWER poems below by Maya Angelou. Enjoy!

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

got the picture problem worked out. woo hoo!

2011-04-07T11:05:00.001-07:00

ok so in order to catch up I'll just post a few pics I love from the last year...just a few.....really...i swear! (see have a years worth of catching up to do**)

...a few is 10, right? Notice most are from vacation...hmmn...i wonder what i'm trying to tell myself??? lol

Pics aren't showing up right

2011-04-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna give this another try. Just attempted to post some pics and it screwed up the whole blog layout so I'm gonna try again till I get it right! Here are some of the pics of the projects that my friend Christy and I have been working on ALOT lately. They are corner bookmarks and we're gonna be selling them this weekend. Let me know what you think! Also, the banner that we made for our booth. I came up with the name "corner mark-it." You like??

Over a year since blogging? Unacceptable!

2011-04-07T10:19:00.001-07:00

So I've had a lot of friends tell me they miss my blog. I think my only excuse is that Facebook has turned into my blog, journal, photo album...but no more excuses! I need to get back to blogging. I miss it!
What have I been doing lately? Omg how do I write a years worth of updates in one post? Jadyn ( my baby girl) just turned 5. Still scrapping and crafting. Started a book club with my friends. Now addicted to scrabble games on my phone. Still cooking healthy yummy meals.
Havnt been on a vacation in 3 months straight. ( I think that's a record that will be hopefully broken soon!) Btw...this is a test post direct from my android phone so if it works you'll see me posting pics a lot more often!

post op days 11 and 12

2010-02-24T08:12:00.000-08:00

I'm doing ok during the day...still have stinging, but it's tolerable, and still taking x strength tylenol every 4-6 hours. It's the night times that are really hard. When you lay down, all the pressure goes to your ears, and the pain is very intense. Very hard to sleep, and when you wake up in the middle of the night cause the meds have worn off, you can hardly swallow the next round of pills. I'm still having to put ice packs on my neck and heating pads on my ears when i wake up at 2am. I did, however, sleep longer periods last night, so that made me happy. The pain in my legs from being bedridden for so long (atrophy) is still there...I'm not walking all wobbly anymore, but last night while sitting in bed watching American Idol, my legs were really sore, and I could hardly concentrate...drove me insane. Hopefully that'll go away sometime soon. I might need to see a chiropractor or do accupuncture or something like that as well if it doesn't go away soon! Saw the dr yesterday for my post visit, and he said I was healing well, but I'd probably still have pain for about 2 weeks, and I stil risk bleeding in that time too, which shocked me, cause I havnt bled once yet, surprisingly. He said the reason I felt more pain then most people is because my tonsils were larger, so they were deep rooted and they had to cut wayyyy back into my throat...I have the gaping holes to prove it! lol I asked him If I would be fully healed before my next surgery (hysterectomy) next month, cause they'll be putting a tube down my throat, and he said yes, and that I'd have "MORE ROOM" back there for the tube to go down now..eek! lol
I have more energy now, and went to the grocery store yesterday, and to my appt 30 min away, but still verrrry exhausted, and a full day like that really wore me out. Dr said I might be trying to do too much too soon and to take it easy. The thing that hurts most during the day is yawning...I hardly EVER yawn, but for some strange reason the past 2 days i'm yawning over and over again all day long and it hurts my jaw and stretches my wounds and I'm writing in pain....yesteday i had an hour where every 10 seconds i'd yawn..it was horrible!!! Also, i've developed a tickle in my throat..probably from talking so much, and then it makes me start to cough, which freaks me out cause coughing causes the bleeding. It happened several times at the store, and I didn't have any gum in my purse, so i was swallowing like crazy and in the aisle freaking out with tears running down my eyes, cause i started having coughing attacks...no bueno!

Anyways, today is a new day, had a weight watchers smoothie for breakfast, and for some reason it hurt realllly bad , so i dont know if it was from the cold or some ingredient in it. For lunch i'll have some warm soup i made yesterday, and probably soup again for dinner. I dream of the day I can have bread, tortillas, and crackers again!

post op days 7 8 9 and 10

2010-02-21T18:29:00.001-08:00

Good lord, in my drug induced haze I didn't even realize I havn't posted in 4 days..lol
I wish I could say it was because I was out partying, and having a great time, but I'm not gonna lie...I was in the depths of hell. I'm only writing this for people that havn't had the surgery yet and are considering it, i'm not REALLY writing it for my friends to feel sorry for me or be grossed out, but I know if people do a google search on tonsillectomys they like to know what they're getting into. I'm at the end of day 10, and I THOUGHT it was getting better today, so I decided to go off my narcotic meds and just switch to extra strength tylenol. I'm afraid now that maybe it was too soon, and I might have a seriously horrible painful night ahead of me. Advice for people that are about to have this done....
do NOT assume that you're STRONGer, so it'll hurt less, or you're healthier cause it will hurt less...because that's a load of crap. You will be in severe pain for AT least 10 days, to the point of excruciating, shaking, crying, hysterical. Nights are the WORST...I DREADED when the sun went down cause you sleep for an hour at a time and wake up with the worst cotton mouth of your life, so dry that your tongue will stick to the top of your throat. You will have 24/7 nonstop CONSTANT mass foam/saliva in your mouth that WON'T go down, no matter how many times you swallow...for days and days and days, and i'm almost on day 11 and its still there. The worst taste in your mouth, horrible breath, your jaw will feel like it had been wrenched from your head, your teeth will ache, and your neck will hurt for days because you are so TENSE from the pain. Make sure you sleep on a TON of pillows...laying flat or on your side will severely increase the pressure in your ears, and the ear pain is the worst part. You will se massive thick white and black patches on the back of your throat.this is normal...do NOT try to pick it off for any reason! Dont be dumb like me and try to look at your throat in the mirror a million times a day, cause that just stretches the wounds and makes it crack and bleed. Dont talk alot..i talk TOO much and that probably prolonged the bad parts. drink water..even at night..every chance you can get when you wake up...it hurts sooooo bad, especially at night, but it helps sooo much! The first 4 days, water and ice were best for me, and popsicles..after day 4, cold hurt like hell..even room temp waterbottles sting my throat and hurt my ears. Drink warm tea with HONEY. I think honey helped my healing a LOT, when i woke up in the middle of the night with dry throat, I ate a tsp of honey and sucked on it till it coated my throat, and then was able to rest a bit longer. IF you are like me, and the pain meds dont last at ALL till the next time...drink that warm tea..not hot! slightly warm. it will feel soooo good and will help ease the pain till the next meds. also, i slept day and night with freezer gel packs (the squooshy kind) on my neck and a heating pad on my ears....hot on ears, cold on neck....rotate always, it helps like you wouldn't believe!!! Gum.....chew gum like its going out of style. One night i woke up and my mouth was sooo dry and it hurt so bad and i still had 2.5 hours till my next meds..i was DYING, so I chewed a piece of gum, cause it aids in the healing, and helps you salivate...hurts cause you have a sore jaw but just DO IT! Then i would get online at all hours of the night to get my mind off of the pain if i could sleep..play an online game, read a book, take a bath (very helpful, i've taken a ton this week) just keep your hands from overdosing on those pills! Cold foods dont feel good to me either...i can't eat pudding or jello without pain, and ice cream and popsicles? no way....what felt gooooooooddddd....cream of wheat, oatmeal, verrrryyy watered down with no chunks, ramen soup is the thing i like best cause it feels the best. mashed sweet potatoes with butter..very mashed...sooo good. warm canned green beans with butter...chew good, goes down smooth. Like I said, I'm at the end of day 10, and I'm positive i've got at least 5 more days of pain ahead of me, so this is a LONG process, and HOPEFULLY worth it! If i can help ease someones pain, then I've done good posting all this!

post op days 5 and 6

2010-02-19T04:25:00.000-08:00

sorry I've been slacking. I think the main reason I havn't written anything in for days 5 and 6 is because the pain isn't getting any better, in fact, as you can see, its 4:30 am as I'm typing this, and I'm wide awake awaiting my next pain meds so I can attempt to sleep. I havnt slept in 3 days. My pain level has been at a constant 8 to 9, and even drinking water is a nightmare! One thing I DIDN'T notice much on the online posts about this procedure is the "foam" or crap that gets stuck in your throat 24/7 that you can't swallow down, you try to swallow a thousand times a day and its just stuck there making you gag and choke, and makes it impossible to sleep. Also, with just finding out for sure that I have fibromyalgia, which some of you know makes you very COLD sensitive..and I have to have cold packs surrounding my throat for the pain....but the pain from the cold also makes pain go down my neck, my back and gives me a raging headache. I STILL dont think ANY scabs have come off, which means today is day 7 of nightmare city and I STILL have yet to endure the most painful part...this scares me the most! I thank my friends soooooo much for the foods they've sent over for the family every night, Darci for getting that all set up, and helping out with the girls, Jodi for all the advice, ice chipper, humidifier, etc, and my mom for being here to help me and take care of the kids. Also thanks to my wonderful hubby that has to endure all my my crying and gives me meds at 1am, 5am, etc even on work nights when he's exhausted. I'm sooooo sorry! If I had known that it would have been THIS bad, and the meds would have provided no relief, I NEVER EVER would have done this!

tonsillectomy day 4 (day 3 post op)

2010-02-15T16:27:00.001-08:00

still in hell. Not getting a break with these meds, and I didn't expect the severe pain to last this long with no breaks! I slept on and off today cause that's the only time I'm not feeling the pain, but I snore and choke so badly when sleeping that I keep waking myself up. I pretty much didn't do anything but lie in bed with ice packs on my neck and heat pads on my ears and head, but I did manage to take a shower with Jasons help, and the hot water felt good, but was exhausting. At least I'm clean though. Gonna try warm broths, etc tonight cause the cold seems to be stinging pretty bad right now...even ice. The only GOOD news is that my skin is clear as a babys, and the scale is dropping like crazy....seriously...my hip bones are protruding and it's only day 4! I'm hoping for at least a day reprieve before the scabs start coming off, cause I've been told that's the most painful of all, and I just want a slight break from pain before then so I dont need to be checked into the insane assylum...seriously...just a couple of hours and I'd be happy..is that too much to ask? The meds are only lasting about 2 hrs between pain, and I can only take them every 4 hours, so I'm trying to sleep through most of it, but that's not working out so well. So far my fave food has still been the bread dipped in sugary cinnamon milk (has to be orowheat buttermilk bread) sooooooo good...sounds gross looks gross but sooooo good. Ok back to bed, I'm exhausted!

Tonsillectomy day 3 (day 2 post op)

2010-02-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

I slept a lot better last night, although every 4 hrs when I woke up to take my meds my throat stung really badly and my ears have begun hurting now too with every swallow. Cold things like ice and popsicles aren't feeling so good anymore, and so this morning jason pureed a peach cup and heated it up to luke warm in the microwave. That felt pretty good. I'm going to attempt a high protein hot chocolate (with water not milk) and have it luke warm at dinnertime. Very sore throat today. Been putting ice pack on my throat and one of those rice filled sacks you heat in the microwave on my ears...i think that's what helped me sleep last night. I also took a bath today and attempted to wash my hair but could only get it wet. Luckily, I dont feel hungry at ALL...dont know if that's cause of the meds or because of the pain, but I can't even finish a whole applesauce cup at one sitting right now. Feel like I have a throat full of foam right now, but i think its just mucous collecting around my uvula...making me swallow all the time but nothing will go down and it hurts like hell. Gonna go take a nap, and then my friend Jodi is going to come over with some white bread dipped in milk and sugar..supposed to taste good and go down smooth. Hope to get some relief tomorrow! Jason and Jacob are doing a great job tending to me and aren't complaining too much! Thank you everyone for your well wishes!

adult tonsillectomy from hell

2010-02-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

I am sooooo sorry that I havn't posted since August! I think my only excuse is that I got totally addicted to facebook so my whole life is on there, as well as everything I've done since august and all my pictures too! If anyone knows of a way to link my pics on my facebook to my blog, PLEASE drop me a message and let me know! Lets see...before I get down to the title of this post, I'll give you a little bit of a recap of life since August 2009. I did the October Ontario expo, as well as the Sacramento expo last year, and then came a great "spoiled rotten" christmas. My trainer opened up his very own studio in December, and I've been training there 3-5 days a week. Found out in January that I need a hysterectomy. It's scheduled for next month, and yesterday I had my tonsillectomy. I'm going to post all about everything in my recovery to hopefully help anyone else (adult) out there to know what to expect, so here goes!

Adult female 33 years old. Mother of 3.

Tonsillectomy day 1
I was scheduled to be at the Inland Surgery Center at 10:15am on Friday Feb 12th. They immediately got my paperwork done and brought me in to get my blood pressure and change into my gown. Everyone was very nice and made me feel at ease. They were running wayyyy behind, so a nurse put me in a room with a tv so I could sit...for 2.5 hours! Thank God for the tv, cause my mind would have gone crazy just sitting there thinking about the surgery. Jason stayed with me in the room and kept my mind from wandering. I was given an iv with a slow drip to keep me hydrated. 2.5hours later, the anesthesiologist came in and asked me questions, let me go to the bathroom again, and then stuck some meds in the iv...everything went really fast from there...I got wheeled into the surgery room, and within 2 minutes they put a mask on my face and I swear i was out cold in 30 seconds! When I woke up, I was in the recovery room. It was really hard to open my eyes and she put something over my eyes to block out the glare. I had a HORRIBLe headache, jaw and teeth ache, and was shocked at how much pain I was already feeling. I had read so many things about the first day not hurting very much so this pain was a surprise. She asked me on a scale from 1 to 10 how I was feeling, and I said 8.5. The nurse gave me 2 grape otter pops and a cup of ice...both felt really good. She gave me 3 more doses of meds before she sent me home(with 2 more otter pops), and none of it seemed to help at all. I was sent home about 45 min after waking up, and we picked up my meds on the way home so I could take them as soon as I got home. I had to take all my meds with food, and at around 3pm I had my first food of the day. baby food pears. It hurt and stung really badly, but at least I didn't get nautious. In fact, I'm on day 2, and havn't felt nautious once, and no blood either, so I am grateful for that! Hubby made sure that I drank a TON of water on day one and a TON of ice chips too. It hurt really bad to drink water, but if i poured it into a cup of shaved ice (thank you Jodi for the ice shaver!) and sipped it with a spoon it was much better. The hydrocodone stings, so suck on or drink ice immediately afterwards! The amoxicillin didn't sting and tastes soooo good! I'm frustrated to say that so far the pain meds havn't given me any reprieve at all! Severe pain all night and my uvula is so swollen I keep on almost swallowing it and choking on every swallow. Needless to say, I didn't sleep more than a total of a half an hour all night long. Jason made sure to make a medicine schedule for me so that we wouldn't forget a single dose..even at 1am and 5am! Luckily, I dont feel hungry at all, and am only eating 15 min before each medicine dose, and its usually just an applesauce cup, followed by shaved ice to take away the sting. I can't stress enough how important it is to drink a TON of water and ice so you dont get constipated or dehydrated..it also helps you heal faster and keeps you from bleeding! I peed a million times, but that's good!
Day 2
One wierd thing...every time I got up to go to the bathroom, a ton of air (burp) came out of my throat..for like a whole minute..seriously, I could have won a contest! It was kinda funny but kinda freaky at the same time...could be from the breething tube, or the meds?!?!? Also, sleep elevated...VERY elevated. I slept on my bed with a ton of pillows, and even elevated, I woke up choking several times because my uvula was so swollen that i couldn't swallow. it also made me snore...badly...which woke me up too, so that's why i couldn't sleep..that and the fact that my pain level was still at 8.5 with no end in sight.
I made the mistake of looking at my my throat in the mirror with a flashlight this morning. If you have a weak stomach, you might not want to read this paragraph! It was hard to open my mouth wide enough to see anything, but it looked like someone stuffed HUGE chunks of bleu cheese into gaping holes in each side of my throat, and my uvula was so swollen it looked like a big red tootsie pop. so wide that it touches both sides of my throat, and goes down so low you can't see the bottom of it cause its halfway down my throat. Breathing is hard, and dont talk! I think part of my pain last night was from the fact that i wouldn't stop talking. trying to talk much less today! This morning I had to take a different med. In pill form...eek! Its some kind of steroid and I dont know what it's really for, but I cut it in 4 small pieces and mixed it up in my pureed frozen peach cup (yum for the throat) I think it was that pill that gave me a sort of cotton mouth and numbness that acctually helped ease the pain for about 1/2 an hour. Yesterday the ice packs on my throat didn't help at all, but this morning it helped me to take a small nap. I've pretty much spent the last 24 hours in bed propped up with pillows. I have my bouts of tiredness and weakness, but other than that, I have some energy. I think that'll go away when the scabs start coming off and it hurts to eat anything...then i'll feel the weakness everyone is talking about. From what I've read so far, day 3 (tomorrow) is supposed to be the most painful day. I'm not looking forward to it! I also don't think I'll ever want applesauce again after this! I'm too afraid to try anything salty or warm right now, but maybe in a couple of days?!? I attempted sweet potato baby food for lunch..it was horrible and stung badly. My son switched it with applesauce with cinnamon..didn't know till after the first couple bites that it was cinnamon...stung quite a bit but i ate it all anyways, followed by shaved ice with water to take away the sting. Not in as much pain right now...probably at a
6. Want to try to find something different to eat for dinner tonight...I'm all appled out! Will update tomorrow on tonights events and day 3!

For dinner I had jello brand rice pudding. Didn't sting at all, felt soothing, but kinda hard to get down. Prob should have waiting a couple more days. Just now, before my next pill, I had small curd cottage cheese...it tasted sooooo good! My first salt in 2 days...lol It felt good too and didn't sting, but I worry about the mucous it might cause so i'm drinking a TON of water. Mom brought over dinner for Jason and Jacob, and she brought me some gatorade to keep up my electrolytes. I poured some into my shaved ice and I'm eating it with a spoon...really yummy. The pain is probably at a 7 right now. Still very swollen and hard to swallow. I HOPE I can sleep tonight cause I'm exhausted! Mom also bought me some baby prunes and prune juice "just in case"...lol
One of my meds is giving me the itchies....no visible rash, but this has happened to me before, so I'm pretty sure it's the hydrocodone...driving me insane! Hopefully it goes away soon or I'll have to have them call in a different prescription. Goodnight!

A Teresa Collins Album

2009-08-16T17:37:00.001-07:00

So last year, I went to an expo (or maybe it was early this year acctually) and I bought a KIT from a company that sells album kits (very very talented chicks)and I finished the album in less than an hour, but never had a bind it all to complete it, so FINALLY, today I took the kids with me to my LSS and used their bind it all (not gonna say their name on here, cause they were giving me crap about using their machine and not BUYING one from them)..but whatever..it's finally finished!

So here are some pics..and remember, i took these really fast cause my battery was dying..so they're blurry, crooked, bad lighting..etc..but at least you get the picture, right? right...

so much to catch up on!

2009-08-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

I havn't blogged in almost a month..no excuse except I've really been enjoying my summer and have been gone 34 out of about 50 days total! I'm gonna skip my big 26 day vacation (cause that post will take forever, but don't worry, when I get time, I'll post my favorite pics) and skip the CKU pics too, but those will probably come this week or ASAP, and go straight into pics of things i CREATED at CKU, and other fun stuff..cause that's how I roll.

First up...pics of the items we made in Tim Holtz class. Granted we only had 1.5 hours, but we finished 4 projects, and they all totally rocked! My pics are all TOTALLY blurry cause my battery was almost dead, but I'm lazy and posting them anyways, otherwise they'll NEVER get posted...seriously..

This next pic is of a mini class we took on wednesday after the bus tour was over. I barely made it to the class cause our bus was late late late!

This next pic is of the album we made in Teresa Collins class...seriously, we made a whole album in an hour and a half...ok so we didn't completely FINISH the album, so I'm only showing the cover, but it'll be finished soon, so I'll show it all off later. This album totally rocks, and Teresa was sooo super sweet and an amazing teacher..and of course...she's beautiful!

These next 6 pics are from my "album" class with Margie Romney Aslett. I can't even say enough about Margie and how AWESOME she is...I told her I was her long lost sister..even her ipod songs are like mine, and her personality is amazing! This class used scenic route paper designed by the Gorgeous Sarah Milne, and every page is fantastic! I spent 2 hours cutting out flowers, so I was only able to finish 6 pages...will show the rest when I get them done!

During one of the crops Little Yellow Bicycle rocked our worlds with a goodie bag FULL of their travel line...we created this travel album (including the chipboard) in one night! Ok seriously....DONATED all this stuff...to 250 people! LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

thats all for now...more soon,I promise!

Happy Birthday Jordyn!

2009-07-20T18:04:00.003-07:00

Today my little girl turned 7! Happy Birthday Jordyn! Here is a pic. More pics from Chucky Cheese to follow!

MIA

2009-06-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

I know it's been FOREVER since I posted but I've been on vacation for the past 15 days, and havn't had much internet access. We'll be boarding our cruise ship to ALaska in 2 hours!~ woo hoo! I'll be without internet for a while, but when I get home, be prepared for TONS of pictures of our vacation! =)

Go vote go vote go vote~!

2009-06-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

My husbands cousin is in a photography contest right now trying to win some money for college. She took a beautiful picture of a flower, and if you go to the link below and vote for her photo every day, she could be a winner...so if you're reading this, and have a moment, pleaes vote for her. Thanks! =)

http://www.brickfish.com/Pages/PhotosAlbums/PhotoView.aspx?qsi=13695779

ADOBE DAYS

2009-06-10T09:16:00.001-07:00

I took pics with my camera phone when we went to Adobe Days in Yucaipa a couple of weeks ago, but it seems I forgot to post them..oops! Mom wanted to take the kids to an "educational" experience at the Yucaipa Adobe, so I agreed, and the girls had a blast. Jacob's in his "that's boring, where's the video games" stage, but he didn't complain too much!. Here are some pics from the day. I might just throw out my washer and dryer and dabble a bit in child labor for a while.....

They made "whirlygigs"

Homemade candles (I made one but I dipped it in pink and then blue, and it ended up looking like a flesh colored severed member, so mom got embarrassed and made me throw it away...lol)

Corn husk dolls (mine's the cool one on the left with the bandana and tank top) lol

Beating the rugs (the girls wanted to do this forever and I had to PULL them away to go home...good therapy..I think I'll have to buy some rugs they can beat!

washing clothes (obviously these pics are in the wrong order but I'm lazy)

And mom holding ALL the things they made so they can continue beating the rugs. Have I mentioned lately that she's over 60 and looks THIS DARN GOOD? I'd be lucky to look HALF this good when I grow up! (not that I'll be ready to grow up any time soon!)

Camping out

2009-06-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

In the livingroom!
So I just got back from the Great American Scrapbooking Convention in Arlington Texas. We had a total blast! I got some great deals, we swam every night, and we sold sold sold! Anyways...I brought some stuff home to sell to my friends, and I spent the morning going through them and sorting them, and meanwhile, Jordyn and Jadyn said they were gonna "go camping" in the livingroom, and started grabbing blankets and dollies and pillows. SO then they said they were making "fire" so they could roast marshmallows. I started to WORRY a bit, so I peeked around the corner, and this is what I saw....omg how freakin cute is this? I don't even know where they found the marshmallows and the sticks, but I'm sure glad the fire is made out of LEGOS! =)

It's a blessed day

2009-06-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

Every day when I say goodbye to Aster at the busstop, she always leaves me with saying "have a blessed day" That's how I felt today when I gave her the gratitude journal I made for her. She was able to read what I wrote in the front of the book and she started to cry, and so did I ...right there on the street corner for everyone to see...lol

She hugged me tight and told me she loved me...even though she doesn't know me. Making her feel good made my whole day. I love knowing that I have the ability to make people feel good about themselves, it's easier than we all think, and we should all do it more often!

Here is a picture of Aster and her new Journal.

Have a great day!

Another gratitude journal

2009-06-01T13:59:00.001-07:00

So there's this lady at the bus stop. She's the only other mom that ever comes, while everyone elses wild brat children are running wild up and down the sidewalk, hitting signs, tearing limbs off trees, throwing rocks at cars etc...we are the only ones that supervise our children. Aster is her name. She's from a small tribe near Isreal. She doesn't speak much english, and she doesn't have any friends around here. She is genuine, she is caring, giving, understanding, and a great listener.
The other day I was talking to her about my "diet woes" and how the scale doesn't seem to want to budge no matter how much I try to make it budge. No matter how many times a week I exercise and no matter how little calories I eat. She started telling me in her broken english how I am beautiful, and how my body is fine, I am HEALTHY, my kids are healthy, I have a roof over my head, and a great husband, and to just be happy with what I've got. She told me how her brothers were both killed in the war, and how her family is so far away that she never sees them, and we should both praise God for what we have, and not worry about our bodies so much. She made me cry...and then she cried..this lady that I hardly know..and then we stood on the corner crying and hugging eachother. It was awesome. I love my life, I love my friends, and I love the amazing people that I meet that make a difference In my life.

I made Aster a gratitude journal today during naptime, to thank her for putting my mind in the right perspective, and reminding me that I really DO have it good.

Here are some pics. I'm going to give it to her tomorrow at the busstop before I leave for another convention in Texas.

I'm sure we'll both cry again once she reads what I write on the inside cover...

I have an afro

2009-05-31T19:16:00.001-07:00

So I got a perm..don't ask why..everyone tried to talk me out of it, but I wanted my hair to have some BODY. And I wanted to be able to go on this long vacation this summer and just be able to wet it, gel it and forget it!(sounds like an infomercial, huh!)

so anyways...I like it, noone else does...too darn bad, it'll go away eventually!

Jason says that HE now gets to sleep with 3 poodles at night...

I walked into the house and Jadyn looked at me and said "you're ugly!" and walked away...sigh....I like it....I THINK I like it...does anyone else like it??

Klo's gratitude journal is finished!

2009-05-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

Considering I fly to Texas to meet up with Klo on Wednesday, I figured I'd better get a move on and finish her gratitude journal.

Remember the cover? (taken in really bad lighting...)

She likes animals and critters..that's why we're friends..lol So that's why I flooded her journal with little cute creatures! enjoy!

As I sit here...

2009-05-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

putting baby Kenzie down for her nap....I realize I need to blog more often. I get on a roll and then a couple of weeks goes by with nothing..sooooo...I have nothing much to say today, but I wanna keep my blog rolling...hhhmmmnn...a random picture would be nice, right? Ok here's what Jason and I satisfied our boredom with before bed last night...

Bellas's been reading too much lately as well.

what? what did you expect to see a picture of? Sheesh..dirty minded people....heh

Four eyes

2009-05-28T13:28:00.001-07:00

So I read...I read and I read and I read...I read for hours..every day...and now....I need glasses..cause I read TOO much...lol

So here I am...with my new glasses. Jacob calls me Madame Librarian. Jason says they're sexy...I think they make me look 12 years old. But at least I can KEEP ON READIN! woot!

PS- have you ever seen so many roses one one bush? And 10 more show up everyday! crazy....

hang in there...

2009-05-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

i'll figure out this template thing soon enough..i finally found one that i love, and i can't figure out how to download it! =(

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

My brother Kevin and his family came for a visit this weekend and stayed with us for 2 nights. My hubby Jason was the inlaw with the mostest and surprised us all by renting a pontoon boat for all of us to enjoy up in Big Bear! The kids all had a blast and we got soaked, thanks to Jasons obsession with riding other boats wakes..haha

Here are some great pics from yesterday. Weather is amazing in So Cali right now.

We also went to the pool for a bit today.

Wish this whole summer felt this darn good!
Happy Memorial Day!!

Corinna kidnapped my blog...

2009-05-25T13:54:00.001-07:00

and I think it puked up some color...haha

I am in serious need of some good blog bling and template that rocks...I hate my blog...will make it better ASAP!

Date night..woot woot!

2009-05-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

So Jasons brother Daryn was nice enough to give us some tickets to a Padres/Cubs game for yesterday that he got at work. Mom watched the kids for us so we could go, and we drove to San Diego and got to the game just seconds before it started. I have to say that Petco stadium so totally rocks! The layout was great, the weather was amazing, it was clean, a million bathrooms and more food than I've ever seen in my life! (Thank God for self control, cause I wanted to eat everything I smelled, and we ate NOTHING there..yay us!) So we had great seats, and watched the game for a while....

and then left and went to our hotel cause we were exhausted! We got a priceline room and it sent us to the Manchester Hyatt, which is probably the NICEST hotel I've ever been in outside of Vegas!

Had breakfast in the morning (can you tell I skipped past all the hotel details? hehe) and then went to COstco to load up on food cause my brother Kevin and his family will be here any minute to spend the weekend with us. More pics from this weekend will be posted Monday! Have a great weekend and a safe HOliday!

Backyard spring blooms

2009-05-21T14:07:00.001-07:00

Ok just have to share something that made me happy today. Everything is blooming in my backyard! Now granted....some of these are probably wild weeds and NOT flowers, but they're pretty so I don't care! Have a happy day!

a gratitude journal for Kloey

2009-05-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

So I have this amazing friend name Klo. She's famous but she won't admit it..so we have this running Joke that EVERYONE knows Klo..cause it's kinda true..in the scrapbooking industry that is! So I made her a gratitude journal. ANd I'm lazy and I don't have a lot of time, so I took this picture fast in bad lighting and it's blurry and a really bad pic with bad color, but you get the point! Here is the cover of her gratitude journal. Don't tell her, cause she doesn't get to see it till Texas in 2 weeks! hehe (ps...click on the pic to blow it up so you can read what's in the word bubbles!)

Long time no blog

2009-05-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

***DISCLAIMER***
if your name is Candice Stewart, you are to leave my blog RIGHT NOW>..NO PEEKY PEEKY. You will see your baby gift soon enough. Behave...have self control. Buh bye =)

I know I know..it's been 4freakinever! I am a busy girl. Just got back from 2 scrap conventions. One in San Diego (del mar) and one in Novi Michigan. In 2 weeks I'll be leaving again for another one in Texas! Getting back on track with my diet, by this time next week I could *crossing my fingers* be at my lowest weight in 12 years! *gasp*

Ok, so You may not think I've been scrappin much cause I havn't blogged a lot, but that would be false. I've acctually finished 4 mini albums this month, including one that I won't be showing yet, cause I havn't found a bind it all to bind it together yet..boo hoo (and its the coolest one of all,**a teresa collins album** so I need to find one soon!)

Anyways, here are the 3 albums I have finished and have pics of.

This first album is kind of a "Jill's got ants in her pants" album. One of those "just got really cool brand new Scenic Route paper and I have to use it NOW!" albums. One of those..."ooh, this paper will look really cool in a black chipboard mini album with different size pages" albums. he...he....

Remember the cover of this album below? I FINALLY finished it! This album was made with a Melissa Frances chipboard album, and once again...Scenic Route paper! All pics are from a family vacation the year I found out I was pregnant with Jadyn.

And last but not least, this baby mini album is for my sister in law who just had her first little baby girl Piper. It's acctually a kit I bought at the expo last week, so I can't claim its cuteness.

The Teresa Collins album pics will be posted as soon as it's bound. It soooo totally rocks!

Found my scrappin mojo-8 new layouts

2009-04-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

So I started scrappin again thanks to my friend Corinna who verbally kicked my butt into "get off your lazy arse and scrap already" game mode. So I set up shop...right on top of our poker table...and it's all been sitting there in one ginormously growing pile of SCRAP ever since. I'm also currently working on a mini album using a Melissa Frances chipboard album, and Scenic Route paper...which I thought was kinda cool, since Melissa and Sarah are friends and all...

So here are my layouts. I wish my camera could capture the TRUE colors of these papers, but until I someday win the lottery and can buy a better camera, these pics will have to do. I hope you enjoy these layouts, because I havn't scrapped in a long time, and I acctually REALLY LOVE all the layouts I created..yay!

this first one is using Basic Grey's new line Bittersweet. LOVE IT!

This is using Fancy Pants new Delight line. love it too!

This is using Making Memories Chloe's Closet (obviously I love it cause I used it several times)

This is Basic Grey's new LIme RIckey line...I have to say its my fave new line of theirs..the colors are fabulous!

Making memories again

And again

We R Memory Keepers new NOnsense line. I think this is my fave layout of all. SImple yet freakin adorable, doncha think?

Basic Grey's new Wisteria

SO, what do you think of my new layouts? Let me know!

Ps..I just signed up for CKU Provo and I'm sooooo pumped! =)

So Cal is hot hot hot!

2009-04-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've become aware that I currently suck at blogging. Mostly because I lost my scrappin mojo and had to find it,,,and didn't want to just bore you guys with my everyday life stuff, and partly cause I've never been so damn busy in my whole life. I can't BELIEVE it's almost May already! This whole year has gone by in one big blur. This weekend we'll be at the Stagecoach festival (country music concert) in the desert, next weekend I'll be at an expo in San diego, and the following weekend i'll be in Novi MIchigan at another convention. Needless to say, I'm stressed beyond believe about keeping good with my diet and exercise. I don't want to let my trainer down, cause I know he believes that I can do it!

Here are some pics of what SPRING is like in April in Southern California. Lets just say it was in the 90's last week (today, on the other hand, it was 67 degrees..barely...sheesh! no wonder everyone keeps getting sick around here!

Big Bear

2009-04-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

We took a trip up to Big Bear for 4 days. It was relaxing and nice, and as you can see, the dogs made themselves at home right away....

one day we took a nice pretty walk..

Jason and Jordyn goofing off

the fun bench

dad relaxing

kids copying dad relaxing

view of the lake from the top of snow summit

Jacob snowboarding

My fave pic...braving the ski lift while taking a pic...scary!

another one bites the dust!

Nap time...lazy lazy lazy

that about sums up big bear!

btw i've been reading books like there's no tomorrow, so stay tuned for a book review!
woot!

Happy Easter

2009-04-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

I'm not doing so well with the whole "keep your blog going" thing right now. I think its partly cause I'm lazy and my allergies are horrible, mixed with the fact that I lost my scrapping mojo and havn't made anything creative in for-freakin-ever!
I need to get back my scrappin mojo! So these pics of Easter are coming in the wrong order, cause we went to Big Bear first, but I'm posting these first...because why? Because I can..thank you very much.

The easter bunny was super lazy this year...didn't buy anything...didn't do anything, but by the end of yesterday, he was feeling guilty, so he went to walmart, and showed up at our house at 5pm...haha

this is what we got...and if you're wondering what the heck Jason is doing..the easter bunny (Jason himself) received deodorant....nuff said

Happy Birthday Jadyn

2009-03-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

My baby is now 3...omg, how sad! Is it just me, or do all mommies want their youngest and LAST baby to stay small forever? Boo hoo! =(

Daddy is in Vegas right now celebrating his own birthday...by himself. ( I know, who DOES that...he does....but whatever...I'm happy for him, and he deserves a break away from work and hectic life too. I can't always be the one taking trips, right? lol)

We're celebrating Jadyns birthday some time next week when we're not so busy. I know that sounds horrible, but this year is already going by so fast, I don't even know when we'll get a break to breathe! We are leaving for a small but NEEDED vacation to Big Bear this saturday and will be up there for 4 days during our spring break. After that, no more vacations till summer. (unless, of course, you want to count the 2 expos i get to attend in May, and the one i get to attend in June..hehe) but it's NOT all about me, right? j/k it is....just kidding again..it's really not..it just seems that way.

Ok, so i havn't blogged in 11 days. Bad mommy! But since this is baby Kenzies first day back after her mom's spring break, and I just got her down for a nap as well as Jordyn and the birthday girl, I figured I'd put down the book that I'm halfway through (that i started this morning...after i finished the book that i started yesterday morning-yes you read that right 1 1/2 books in 30 hours) that INSTEAD of reading some more, I'd better update my blog a bit. So here are some pics..enjoy!

pics 1 and 2. Jadyn enjoying her new Tinkerbell outfit that Grandma and Grandpa Brush gave her for her birthday.

Pic 3. Jadyn is FINALLY potty trained..woo hoo! Yes, she peed THAT MANY times in one day. Think of all the cardio I'm getting running back and forth to the bathroom!

Jadyn drew her first picture of a flower....awww! Maybe I'll have a future scrapbooker as a daughter! *crossing my fingers*

Last 3 pics...and yes, i know Jason is going to KILL me for posting the bottom two..but you know what? Maybe he'll STOP making FACES when we're getting our pictures taken...and keep his tongue in his mouth. Damnit, I wanted some good pics, cause I was lookin all cute and stuff at this wedding we attended, and out of 8 pics, only ONE he didnt have his tongue out. See honey, I TOLD YOU I'd put you on my blog if you did that! hehe

Happy Mini Album

2009-03-20T12:38:00.001-07:00

Ok here is the cover of my mini album. I'll show the rest when it's done! =)
enjoy!

Reps for life paid off!

2009-03-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

It's been 10 days since I blogged. OMG...so sorry! I have to be honest...I havn't created much lately, my mind and body have been in the gym working my way to a HEALTHIER happier me! I did, however, go to a crop last weekend and started a really cute melissa frances chipboard mini album with scenic route papers (will show pics when it's more finished)

anyways, here are the results of my first month at the gym....drumroll please!!

Lbs lost....9.2

bmi went down 1.4

body fat went down 7%!!! woot woot

chest lost 3 inches (oh no! not the boobs!)

arm lost .25 (why is it so hard to lose inches on my arms?)

waist lost 2.25 (gotta love the 5 lb hula hoop!)

hips lost 1.5

thigh lost 1.5

calf lost 1.75

overall, a very big success!

ps..here's a pic of lunch..YUM!
2 corn tortilla tostadas, 1/2 cup refried beans, 3 oz grilled chicken, veggies, and lite sour cream

I lost Nicole Richie!

2009-03-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

seriously...80+ lbs gone..forever...never to come back and haunt my body. I lost nicole richie. I lost a cheerleader, I lost someone on Maury Povich in need of serious intervention! I still need to lose another Nicole Richie, but I'm halfway there, baby...halfway to my goal, and there's NO stopping me, because my mind is back in it, my heads in the game, and my body is acctually LOVING the exercise at Reps for life! I have a great trainer, the owners ROCK, and everyone is super nice! I love that my friends are working out there now, and we can do this together! My future is bright..gonna go buy some shades.. =)

Great deal on scrapping supplies!

2009-03-06T06:47:00.000-08:00

Remember my friend Corinna and her story about Anita? And how I helped with some other friends and we all made a scrapbook for Anita's little girl? And how Corinna is going to deliver the scrapbook to Canada to Anita? And how she's been holding auctions for the last few weeks to help raise money? Remember? :)

Well......this weekend is the LAST WEEKEND of auctions. She is going next week (sudden change of plans) and has put up all the donations left into big bundles of stuff, love/wedding theme, travel/vacation theme, Disney theme, baby girl theme, misc baby theme, beach/tropical theme, teenager theme, tons of stuff!!

This is the last ditch effort, so go check it out and bid generously please!

Here is the page where you can see all of Corinna's auctions on ebay. Just in case this doesn't work, you can do an advanced search for her user name, which is sumsmom.

And now back to your regularly scheduled program......

More healthy food pics!

2009-02-27T14:42:00.000-08:00

So i told you guys that I belong to a gym now with a personal trainer, dietician, etc. I was kinda worried that I would be HUNGRY eating 1800 cals a day but OMG exactly the OPPOSITE! I'm so dang full i'm almost feeling like I'm gorging myself! No more hunger pains, no more cravings, feeling physically and mentally BETTER and SOOOO over the 11 month plateau! You have no idea what this is doing for my esteem to know that I'm back on track and in CONTROL!

And just in case you think dieting means eating nasty gross meals and nothing but veggies, I posted some pics below of some of my meals this week...enjoy!

Layout about ME!

2009-02-25T16:33:00.000-08:00

Reason # 5? 6? 10? 100? 1000? (I lost track) why i LOVE BISOUS! Suzanne...the OWNER and Designer is soooo super cool and nice! I met her at CHA and she blew me away with how truly fun she is! (her hubby's super cool too=)

Anyways, she just told me she created a layout with a picture of us and posted it on the Bisous facebook page. What an honor for me! WOOT WOOT! I'm totally thrilled and kinda awestruck right now that she would think enough of me to make a page about me

....so I'm gonna go gloat for a while..smile to myself...grin from ear to ear...LIFE IS GOOD....

Fun with Jadyn

2009-02-25T11:05:00.000-08:00

So I'm playing with Playdough with my almost 3 year old this morning (being a good mommy) cause that's how I roll (stolen from Claytons), and I make this silly old lady. Jadyn smiles and says "That looks like Jordyns teacher!" Rutroh....hope she doesn't view my blog! haha

Hope this made you smile..have a HAPPY day!

Phenomenal woman

2009-02-24T09:44:00.000-08:00

Joined the gym last tuesday. Worked out Tuesday night, wed night, thursday night, friday, took saturday off, did cardio at home on sunday (no sitter) worked out monday morning and night, working out tonight, etc etc etc. Scale went down over 6 lbs this week. Not too shabby, eh?

Just a little poem from Maya Angelou to let y'all (tribute to Dona) know how I'm feeling about all this =)

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou

oh...did i mention..i'm 8 oz away from having lost 80 lbs? *smile*

Go bid on these auctions!

2009-02-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hello world!

Once again I want to ask for your help in getting my friend Corinna to Canada to deliver the scrapbook my friends and I worked so hard on. She's got 4 more auctions going on ebay that end tomorrow (Sunday) and then new ones will start tomorrow afternoon also (Sunday). Go see if any of them interest you and bid on them please!!! If you don't remember when I talked about this before, you can read the story at Corinna's blog here. And if you want to see other things she's been receiving as donations and what she'll be auctioning off next, go to her blog here and read the January and February entries.

Here they are:

Autographed Cathy Zeilske book here.

Karen Foster Braditude book and 4 pkgs of brads here.

Karen Foster bbq/picnic bundle of supplies here.

Bundle of Sizzix paddle punches with hammer and mat here.

All of these auctions are at way below what you'd pay retail! So go bid on something for a good cause! Thanks for looking (and for any bidding you do)!

Reps for Life

2009-02-20T10:09:00.000-08:00

Did I mention that I joined the gym? I got a great deal at REPS for LIFE gym in Yucaipa (California) and not only am I working out there, but I have my own personal trainer, and dietician! I am so stoked! This gym so totally rocks! I love how it's not huge and busy all the time, the childcare there is wayyy cheap, the trainers and owners are soooo freakin nice, and all of the gym members that I have met there are sooo nice too! There are free classes such as spinning (I'm gonna lose more weight before I try this one) kickboxing (so totally gonna try this one!) yoga, pilates and more! I'll let you know how it goes on this journey of mine! wish me luck!

Costa Mesa Expo

2009-02-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun at the costa mesa expo, and we sold a TON of Pazzles machines!

Our new booth was so spacious and so totally rocked, and we had the coolest new cardstock to sell, too! Here are couple of pics i took real quick when we weren't busy!

And at night in the hotel, we got crafty! I made a gratitude journal for Steph, and I love it! I'm acctually thinking of opening up an etsy shop and selling my gratitude journals on there...but I'm not sure if they'd sell. What's your opinion?

A lot of catching up to do!

2009-02-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

Ok so it's been a while. OOPS! Lots has happened since I last blogged, so i'll add a few different things on this post, followed by two separate other posts...okie dokie?

While I was gone at convention, at night Jason would be looking all over the house for Bella (our dog). Two nights in a row he found her asleep with Jordyn! SHe must have been missing her mommy!

While I was gone, Jason also took the kids up to the snow..what are they wearing? lol

These were the smallest gloves at the store..so he bought them anyways..haha

Jordyns first grade performance. She was the only blond girl in the room! lol

So Jordyns been off school this week for presidents week. She and Jadyn decided to be selfish and NOT share certain toys with the babies, so they went over the gate...the babies watched jealously..how sad!

Jason sent me valentines flowers. They were roses, and they were old when he opened the package, so he complained. They sent new flowers....tulips..my favorite!!

Scrapbooking Auction!

2009-02-13T11:43:00.000-08:00

Remember my friend Corinna who I helped to create a scrapbook for Anita in Canada? Now she's auctioning off donations to try to raise money to deliver the scrapbook to Canada. That story is here.

She's put up 3 auctions on ebay and they end on Sunday. One is a bundle of Making Memories items and the other 2 are Karen Foster themed kits. She needs more bids for the auctions to fund her trip, so please go check them out! Her blog post shows photos of the items and has the auction links here. She'll also be adding new auctions this Sunday coming up.

Now I'm heading out to work the expo with the Pazzles Queen, Klo. Have a great day!

We are such GEEKS!

2009-02-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

Ok seriously, Jacob had way too much fun with these glasses that Jordyn won at school. What my family DIDN'T know, is that OF COURSE I was gonna post these on my blog! DUH people! hehe

ps...In 6 hours, I'm leaving for the Costa Mesa expo...woo hoo! happy Valentines day family! I'll miss you! xoxox

Yesterday

2009-02-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

This is how my whole day went...seriously. I think this picture of Jadyn getting a comb stuck in her hair sums it all up pretty good. And what made me even madder, is that after taking 10 minutes to get it OUT, she kept trying throughout the day to get it stuck AGAIN! CALGON TAKE ME AWAY!

Lisa Bearnson qvc kit pages

2009-02-09T09:38:00.000-08:00

So last year there were these layouts on qvc, where you order them, and you get two separate sets coming in the mail. They are page kits from the creating keepsakes hall of fame winners. You got 18 DOUBLE PAGE layouts each time, and it only cost about 32 bucks! It took me forever to finally bust open those kits, but I finally did last week, and during the babies naptimes, i whipped a ton of them together. The hardest part for me, was finding pictures to go with them. i went back several years and looked through EVERY box i have, to find some pictures to match...boy, that took hours and now my dining room table is THRASHED! Mass cleanup today, girlies! Anyways, here are several of my layouts. I can't take credit for ANY of the design on these, cause these ARE the kits, and this is what they're supposed to look like..but I still thought I'd share...just in case you wanna go to QVC and pick yourself up some!

wish my camera had better COLOR and did these layouts justice! Don't forget to click on each pic to see it bigger!

Some of these I love,some, I'll be honest...I don't like so much!

but...nevertheless,,,,I B scrappin!

Valentines Cards

2009-02-09T09:18:00.001-08:00

The other day I got onto another one of my "valentines cards" kicks. Last year I made a TON, don't remember what I did with all of them, but I really liked them!

here is a link to last years cards

http://my-so-called-scrappy-life.blogspot.com/search?q=24+hour+valentines+making+fest

I didn't make nearly as many this year, but some of these are cute =)

This one is my personal fave, and will be the one I give to Jason this year (hopefully he doesn't read this before he gets it, but I'm sure he will) Love ya baby! (click on image to see it bigger and read it)

This one is also totally one of my faves...LOVE these fancy pants rubons. I bought them last year in Texas while I was at Dona's wedding. That store rocked!

Catching up to do!

2009-02-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

I'm just gonna post some random pics taken on my phone in the past month or so, cause I need to catch up! My camera battery has been dead since CHA (gasp!) and I swear, i've been scrapping...LOTS! But....I'm not gonna take LAYOUT pics with my camera phone...that would just be so...wrong...=)

so look at these knowing they are out of focus, blurry, bad lighting, but not my fault! =)

I have been reminiscing with my pics lately and found a pic of me as a baby (left) and Jordyn as a baby (right) I think we're almost identical!

Here's another one of the two of us. This time, Jordyn's on the left, and I'm on the right (with my brother kevin)

This is us now, and I think she looks JUST like daddy now

and Jadyn looks just like me!

out of all my siblings, I think I look just like my brother Sean. He may disagree, but that's only cause he's in denial =)

This is Jadyn bringing me the snack she wants during my garage sale...seriously, she picked the only BIG snack in the house! lol

These are my dogs..thinking they can sit in MY chair!

These are my girls...who have been sick all week. Just found out today they both have ear infections. I havn't slept in 3 nights...

A typical work day for me...
Cameron and Jadyn playing with toys

Kenzie and me. Kenzie's birthday is on Sunday!

Bottle time!

Kenzie fell asleep in the jumper!

This is Jacob's first choir performance. I swear he looked so nervous I was ready to see him spew!

Jadyn and Darci. Darci gave Jadyn a fake weave! lol

My little bucket head

Jadyn tells everyone she's going to school. She even makes up stories about her school, like she acctually goes..complete with her friends names, snack time, play time, etc....I hope she doesn't grow up to be a pathological liar! =)

stay tuned for some layouts asap! Need to find some camera batteries! Sorry if this was a boring post, but now ya can't say I havn't posted in a while! =)

Chocolate Peanut butter Haystacks

2009-01-30T10:47:00.000-08:00

Original recipe

1 cup fiber 1 cereal
1 1.5 oz chocolate bar
1 tbsp peanut butter

what i used..cause its all i had...

1 cup fiber 1 cereal
1 litehouse 100 cal cup chocolate (i found this in the fruit section of the store by the apples and caramel dip)
3 tbsp PB2 (powdered peanut butter) with 1 1/2 tbsp water (tastes exactly the same as real peanut butter but wayyy less fat and calories!)

even with my substitutes, it was still totally yummo!

mix chocolate and pb and stir in with fiber 1. make 6 "haystacks" and freeze or refridgerate.

These are a point a PIECE, and FIBERRIFFIC!

caught myself being scammed!

2009-01-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

So i'm putting clothes away, and Jason throws me my bank statement..which i rarely ever open or look at...but i (to avoid more cleaning) opened it up, and didn't notice anything out of the norm...until the second page...then i saw a similarity on the first and second page and i didnt' know what it was. It said MC reservation rewards 10.00

and on the first page, it said the same thing....on the 22nd of December, and the 22nd of January. So I thought to myself..this is NOT a purchase i made..on the same date of two months! Luckily, there was a phone number. I called it, and the lady told me it was a LINK off of brylane catalog that I MUST have signed up for. I said...NO...she said "sometimes its a link, and if you even click on it, it automatically signs you up. " so I said "cancel me immediately, i did NOT sign up for this!"

then i asked her "how long has money been taken out of my account through this program?"

and she replied...(omg) "since JUNE of 2007!"

19 freakin months! That's 190 dollars! Holy freakin crap!

So I told her (in a not very nice way) that I wanted every single dollar of that money refunded back to me immediately, or I'm gonna press charges (or something like that) and she said she would refund me..but OMG..if I hadn't caught that on my bank statement, who knows how many years would have gone by???

Moral of the story...check your bank statement!!!!

Chicken Salad wrap

2009-01-28T18:03:00.001-08:00

Tonight I made chicken a chicken salad wrap for dinner. It was DEEEELISH! 9 points total, but 2 of those points were from 1/4 avocado, so it can be made with less pts!
It was, however, very filling, so it was worth every point!

Ingredients

4 oz chopped boneless skinless chicken breast
1 La Tortilla Factory smart and tasty wrap
1 tbsp whipped cream cheese
1 laughing cow light cheese wedge
1/4 avocado
1 green onion chopped
1 raddish chopped
a little bit of jicama chopped (love the crunchy stuff!)
a bit of cilantro chopped
1/4 cup purple cabbage chopped
dash of pepper

mix all of the above and put it in the tortilla. Roll it up, slice it in half, and enjoy! =)

sorry the pic came out so horrible...my camera phone is just wayyy too convenient lately!

Help my friend save her husbands restaurant!!

2009-01-28T07:49:00.000-08:00

One of my really really good friends (Jason's old coworker in Northern California) recently got married to an AMAZING guy after a really BAD marriage. He is the owner of an awesome, popular restaurant in Northern California, and it's being threatened to be shut down because the owner of the LAND is a jerk! They're trying to get a petition going to help Save their restaurant. If you have any time, please go to their website!

www.savethesandpiper.com

there's a petition you can download and send in, or you can leave a message on their website, etc.

Bernadette is one of the most awesome friends I know, has struggled a LOT, and her babymaking years are limited. They're not going to try to have kids until they know that they are ok financially. This is why this restaurant is so important to them!

And if you live in Northern California, and you are reading this, head on out to Bodega Bay and eat there! You'll realize its awesome, and it needs to be saved! Thanks so much!

CHA 2009 cool person layout!

2009-01-27T16:03:00.000-08:00

This'll be my last post today! (i think...=)

I'm creating layouts of all the cool peeps I met at CHA. I did this one yesterday, and I LOVe some of it...and don't love some of it, but it's done now, and I'm not gonna change it for a third time! lol

This layout is of CD Muckosky (the girl I told you about in a post below) so totally cool, so totally nice, so fun!

More layouts of more cool peeps soon! I have to print them out!

This one is acctually a layout I made using the make and take I made at the fancy pants booth. I acctually put her BUISNESS card (isn't it cute?) on there, and doodled like a fool! YOu likey?

ps-the pic doesn't do the colors justice...it was taken with my cellphone!
btw..I am in love with glaze and souffle pens!

New Doggie "Do's"

2009-01-27T16:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, I just had to post a pic of Annabelle and Bella with their new haircuts today. Aren't they so stinkin cute? They are Cockapoos, and REAL sisters, but don't look alike at all!

Annabelle

Bella Ann

ps-sorry I'm so blogarriffic today, but I'm on a roll!

CHA 2009 Sneak Peeks!

2009-01-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

So....I kinda didn't take a TON of pics of acctual PRODUCT from these companies, I took pics of the LAYOUTS they made WITH the products..cause they were so totally awesome! I wanted to steal them and take them home with me, and put MY kids pics on the pages! SERIOUSLY>>>>>

anyways..this is gonna be a long post (sorry) because I have a lot of pics..and a lot of cooooool chicks to talk about!

Here goes...I don't Even know where to start!

I think to make it easier on myself, I'll just talk about the cool people I met first, and then showcase the layouts on the bottom...cause blogger only lets me download 5 pics at a time, and it gets totally confusing (and the babies will only sleep soooo long! lol)

GCD

The whole team was totally nice. They showcased their products really well, had a great make and take, and made all their papers available to touch and feel and drool over. Their papers included flocking, glitter, bling and foil! All their paper comes in pads, which now INCLUDE the alphabets, journalling, etc in the back for the same cost! All papers are double sided..drool drool drool....

Stampers Anonymous

Ok I'm gonna include Wendy Vecchi AND Tim Holtz in here. Tim was amazing with his demonstrations, and of course, was SURROUNDED by tons of chicks at all time. He is super nice! Wendy Vecchi created some AMAZING things (you will see pics below) from grungeboard, her stamps, and inks. OMG...I told her i wanted to take the whole display and frame it and put it straight on my wall! I think she almost called security on me...I was reaching stalker status..lol

Prima

Donna Salazar was soooo nice and adorable, and the male worker (don't remember his name) was soooo super nice to Edie and I! They did a TON of giveaways, and people were walking away with BAGS full of flowers. LOVE LOVE LOVE! ***the layouts in that booth were amazing! see below...

Paper Loft

The paper loft ladies are always super nice to me at the expos, so when they saw me at CHA and i was drooling over the new lines, and yelling out loud "I LOVEEEE PAPER LOFT!~" they laughed, and said "louder louder" so of course....I got louder..lol (another security issue...haha)

They have 3 new lines...slug bug giggle, slug bug laugh, and slug bug smile. I will...be...owning them...in 2 weeks...hehe

Basic Grey

I just have to tell ya...basic grey paper makes me drool buckets! I was amazed at how many new lines they had (and I WILL HAVE SOON!) My all time faves were... Lime Rickey (omg wait till you see the layouts!) porcelain, bittersweet, and wisteria. I could have stayed in that booth all day long and stared...whoever designed those layouts gets HUGE props, cause they had me mesmerized! Their new bling and stamps are awesome too!

TechniqueTuesday

seriously..have you SEEn the layouts these people create? I love love love to go to their booths! So much color, design and talent! I took pics of TONS of their layouts, cause I couldn't just choose a few!

Best Creations

This is a fairly new company with super cute paper, bling paper, and realllllly cool 3-d stickers!

One of their layout designers is Nancy Burke. (Nancy has been a designer for several scrap companies including inque boutique, sticker studio, ivy cottage magazine, paperkutz, etc! her blog is... http://www.nancyburke.typepad.com/

Nancy is so cool, and took a LONG time to talk to me about how to get into the "designer" buisness. Her layouts were sooo amazing!

Kaiser Craft

Great new paper, amazing new rubons, embellishments, and BOMB stamps! love love love their stamps! Melissa Kennedy was really nice, created an amazing make and take, and I could listen to her talk all day..lol

SEI

SEI has some great new paper lines out, as well as some cool embellishments and cards! Playday, Bridgeport, Lovebirds, and Clarabelle (only available in a 12x12 album) are all amazing! I will be owning CLARABELLE soon! =)

Chatterbox

I can't tell you ENOUGH how awesome it was to see Chatterbox make a HUGE comeback! Their new lines ROCk, they have so much bling and flocking and texture! Their newBrad making kits are AWESOME and I have to have one! I got the opportunity to meet the owner, Beautiful mrs Melody Ross! So super sweet and funny! I think I talked to Carrie (the girl with the coolest shoes at CHA) the longest, and she instantly became my busom friend! I hope to see her again someday (CKU Provo??) and hang out, cause I LOVE LOVE LOVE her!

Pebbles Inc

Pebbles Inc has the greatest new share and tell albums ever. I absolutely HAVE to have some! I got to meet the owner Brenda Birrell. She was sooo nice! If you havn't seen those albums yet, or you are doing that 365 day pictures challenge, this is the album for you!!!

Fancy Pants/Scrapblog

This company needs to be called "how to meet 3 cool chicks at the same time!"

Seriously, so we go there to do a make and take, and this super funky chick is standing there doing one, and her friend said "cd, can you pass me the ink" (or something like that) and Edie's jaw drops. She looks at me and whispers "she's famous!" and I said..."wait...CD, as in that famous scrapper CD with the hard to pronounce last name that starts with an M?" (yea, I'm great at first impressions, huh! lol) and she smiled and said YES, that's me. We talked to them for over 20 minutes, and I think CD is my sister from another mister, cause I wanted to pack her up and take her home with me! She was sooooo awesome! And of course, she wasn't the only famous person there, we were rubbing elbows with Michelle Coleman (designer for Fancy Pants) and the girl from scrapblog (holy cow I can't remember your name!) What a great time we had with them!! CD, I hope you CAN make it to CKU!!

Little Yellow Bicycle

Little Yellow bicycle had by far the coolest free bags they were giving out. Everyone wanted one! (and I got one) I got to meet Sharon Ann! She was super sweet and showed me some of the cool new lines. My fave was the travel line, cause it had awesome colors! Their new chipboard albums, sheers, and journalling cards ROCK!!

Fiskars

Fiscars was showing off the new lines of Heidi Grace, Cloud 9, and several others. I was DROOLING over the Heidi Grace and CLOUD 9! I have to have them both...soon! We got to meet the fiskateer Wendo Jo. She was soooo nice and sooo informative! I need to rub elbows with her again!

Paper Trunk

Paper Trunk had some ROCKIN new paper lines. The owner was there, and she was sooo super sweet! We loved her! (pics below)

Bisous
I got to meet Suzanne, the owner and designer of Bisous! (the company I was the guest designer for) She RECOGNIZED me and gave me a big hug! It was so nice to meet her in person...sooo super sweet! Her pages looked AMAZING in that booth..and even though I own it all...I was still drooling! She even made a copy of my clock, and had it on display...at CHA! OMG what an honor!

We went to several different booths besides the above, but these are the ones that really stood out!

ok...PICTURE TIME!!

7 Gypsies

Basic Grey

Bisous

Chatterbox!!
(Melody Ross!0

(My busom friend Carrie!)

Crate Paper

Cloud 9

Fancy Pants
How bad does it SUCK that this pic came out blurry? =(
This is CD, Michelle and I

Imaginisce

Heidi Grace and Fiskars

Paper Trunk

Stampers Anonymous
Wendy Vecchi

Pebbles Inc

Little Yellow Bicycle

Prima

Technique Tuesday

And last but Certainly NOT LEAST...
Tim Holtz =)

CHA 2009

2009-01-27T10:01:00.000-08:00

I so totally don't even know where to start on this one...

I was fortunate enough to get a ticket into CHA with my friend Edie, and we had the BEST day ever! We met some of the coolest chicks on the planet, did some adorable make and takes, and saw products that made our jaws drop, and drool come out! Seriously, it was awesome! (and no, I didn't see Paris Hilton!)

so I guess I'll start with the make and takes, cause I have so many pics to post and so many cool peeps to write about!

This first make and take is a matchbox mini album from Imaginisce. I got a chance to meet the designer of some of the new lines, and she's SUPER SWEET!

This is a little project that I made at the end of the day from Willow Tree crafts. It was really fun to make and their tools rocked! They were super nice and gave me a prize at the end (a frame making kit!)

This is a mini page I made at the Fancy Pants booth. We spent a lot of time there, cause of the COOL chicks we met there...more on that in my next post!

This is a card I made from the GCD line. I love love love their papers, and most of them are either glittered, flocked or foiled! this project uses their flocked paper, glitter bling stickers and pretty ribbon!

I love love loved making my pretty flower make and take at Chatterbox. I can't even tell you how much I loved this booth, so I'll post it on my next post about "cool chicks I met!" The new Brad making kits (middle of the flower) so totally rock my world, and I HAVE to HAVE one!

This last make and take has to be my fave...sorry everyone else, but I completed a WHOLE mini album! This make and take from Kaiser Craft rocked! It was super simple and fast to make, and their new stamps are fanfreakintastic! Melissa Kennedy was teaching the class, and not only was she super sweet, but her accent ROCKED! =)

Happy birthday Bella!

2009-01-27T09:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I KNOW that my dog is now one this month..I'm just not positive on WHAT exact day...soooooo...Happy Birthday Bella! We love you!!! xoxoxo

ps...i'm kinda behind..so expect to see a LOT of posts today! Babies are sleeping well...so I can get this done...love them!

Breakfast...volumetrics style

2009-01-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm doing weight watchers, and they have a new MOMENTUM plan, that KINDA uses the volumetrics way of eating. If you don't know what volumetrics is, to put it short but sweet, its eating healthier, lower fat and cal foods (fruits, veggies, higher fiber) so you can eat bigger portions (MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK) ***disclaimer*** If i'm wrong on this, please inform me, i'm just going by what I THINK I KNOW>>haha

so anyways, I made this huge scramble this morning, and I'm calling it volumetrics style, because of the fact that it's almost 3 cups worth of food, and only 2 ww pts..yes..2 weight watchers points for the whole thing!!!

Ingredients...

1 ore ida frozen fat free hash brown (comes in a box of about 8, they are rectangular )

1/4 cup bell pepper

1/3 cup onion

1/2 cup mushrooms

1/3 cup southwestern style egg beaters

1/2 cup chopped plum tomatoes

the only things that have a pts value in here are the eggbeaters (1pt) and the hashbrown (1pt)

it was so yummy and so filling, I had to hardly add ANYTHING to it. I added a dash of pepper, and a dash of MRS dash, and a dash of red pepper flakes.

oh, and I had this with a cup of decaf coffee, 2 pks splenda, 1/3 cup chocolate almond breeze (1pt)

24 oz of water, and a womens 1 a day multi vitamin.

an hour later I had an orange...I am still full...yay, life is good =)

Me....50 lbs lighter!

2009-01-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

Ok so I found out about this website that you can send your picture to, and you can choose whether you want to be 20-50 lbs lighter. They take your picture, alter it till you're lighter, and email it back to you. It's 100% free! So I did it...and it takes about 24 hours to get it back, but I loved what I saw! (except they didn't alter the face as far as I could tell...)

anyways....what a motivation..to see myself 50 lbs lighter, and see that smaller butt, way smaller thighs..and look at my arms...I WANT those arms..I WILL HAVE those arms...and I'll have them by September..how about that?

also...I have these AMAZING friends...they motivate me every day, so how can I fail this, right? Here is a text I got from my friend Cherina today. She is such an inspiration to me. She has lost about 100 lbs so far, and is so good with words, she leaves you thirsty for more! I look forward to her motivational texts every day!

"It's about balance, right? You've been in this weight loss game for a while and by now you know the rules of engagement. You know your goals and you want to average at least a lb a week so you can easily rebound next week with 2 or 3 lbs as a net loss. It's not about being disappointed today (if that scale isn't what you'd like) its about being focused and saying to yourself you got this covered the next week. So let's make today Thinking ahead Thursday. Now stay ready, get that menu ready for today, get one or two workouts in. Gain that muscle (it's ok for that to be reflected on the scale) and handle that buisness!"

with friends like this, I KNOW I can sooo totally do this!

ps- the website to make yourself skinnier is....

http://www.weightview.com

Help a Cause!

2009-01-22T05:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I have this WONDERFUL, AWESOME, FABULOUS friend named Corinna. Seriously, this girl rocks! :)

And remember when I told about her a few months ago, how she had enlisted me and a group of other friends who are scrappers to help her make a scrapbook for Anita in Canada who has breast cancer? Remember? Well, I wrote about it here. And Corinna has an update on her blog. She needs some MORE help and I want to help her get it. So go over there and check it out and let's make something happen!

Go here http://www.myscrapbooklife.com/a-plan-is-in-motion/ and then give her some money, or some scrapbooking supplies, or subscribe to her blog so you can find out when the auction is (March), or just give her an "atta girl." She's in over her head a bit and feeling a little stressed about the whole thing. :)

Yummiliscious dinner!

2009-01-21T18:13:00.000-08:00

Ok so can you tell by now that I'm in LOVE with Trader Joes food? Most of it is sooo low in points and sooo yummy!

Tonights dinner was...

Mandarin orange Chicken (1 cup=5pts)

Mushroom Risotto (1 cup=3 pts)

green beans (1 cup with ICBINBUTTER spray=2 pts)

here is a pic!

ps...140 ounces of water down..glug glug glug! (the scale has GOT to start catching up to me! I'm exercising almost every day up to 3 TIMES a day some days!)

Today's lunch

2009-01-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

Trader Joes roast beef panini with pepperjack cheese and grilled veggies (7pts) yum
carrots with hummus (2 pts) yum

Doesn't look like much, but with 24 oz of lite arizona green tea, it was really filling!

I also got over an hour of exercise in today. Woot woot!

52 questions question #1

2009-01-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

What do I wish for this year to bring?

Babies sleeping..so this is still NOT artsy fartsy, it's fast and simple, and I used a Heidi Swapp playing card, a sharpie pen (dont laugh) and some Heidi Swapp chipboard. Thats all...that's it..except for a LITTLE piece of measuring tape to show what size I would DIE to have my waist be by Christmas 2009!

Here is a pic...simple but DONE! (thanks Corinna for being my creative muse and egging me on till I got my lazy butt up to start this project!)

ok so i'm off to exercise while the babies are sleeping...so I can make that GOAL HAPPEN! =)

by the way..another tip for the day...

Drinking a hot beverage in the morning (coffee, tea, etc) BEFORE you eat breakfast will keep you fuller longer!!!

what's for lunch?

2009-01-20T12:19:00.000-08:00

I am shocked at how many LOW point and low calorie foods you can find at Trader Joes! And everything there is super duper cheap, too!

For lunch today I had a chicken skewer (cooked and taken off the skewer) 3 pts
2 oz of whole wheat penne pasta with "i cant believe its not butter spray" 4 pts
and about a cup of this vegetable medley I got at trader joes too 2 pts (cause it has a buttery sauce) 9 pts total for this lunch and very filling and YUMMY!

Here's a pic

ps-I'm now eating most of my food on a salad size plate, cause I'm a visual person. it makes it look like more food, even though it's a smaller portion size. Believe me, this helps!

52 questions mini art journals

2009-01-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

Ok so my scrappy and pushy (hehe) friends told me I had to challenge myself to do the 52 questions art journal that Emily falconbridge has posted on her blog.

http://www.embers.typepad.com

I procrastinated and then forgot about it until my friend Corinna reminded us all today, and told us to check out the cool question of the week. Emily provides a question at the beginning of every week for a whole year, and you make a mini page about it, with the answer to your question any artsy fartsy way you please. I havn't done the first 2 questions yet, but just did #3, cause it jumped out at me.

Question # 1 was...
"what do i wish for this year to bring?"

question #2 was...
"Am I afraid of change?"

This weeks question was...
"do I believe in fairies?"

I read emily's question on her blog, saw her example, and my first thought was "I have fairy paper and fairy stickers!" so I told myself...if I go upstairs and find my fairy paper and stickers within 5 minutes, it's a sign that I have to do this (and believe me, i have 3 cabinets, and 9 SHELVES of patterned paper (scrapbook stores eat your hearts out!) so within 3 minutes (i kid you not) I found it! Must be a sign, right? So since the babies were sleeping, I got all my supplies together asap, and rushed downstairs and made a cutesy but quick mini page. I wont tell you what was my background for it, cause I kinda reused a card by a famous scrapper that i really love love love..but the size was right! eek!

So here is my week 3 answer to "do you believe in fairies?" If you click on the picture you can see it bigger and read my journalling. This one was fast and easy, and not so creative or artsy by any means...i'm thinking of getting messier and more creative with the first two! stay tuned! =)

Today's virtual food diary

2009-01-15T15:30:00.001-08:00

Today was yum yum yummy!

For breakfast, I had 2 eggwhite tacos.

recipe

2 low carb whole wheat tortillas (1 pt apiece)
1/2 cup eggwhites (1 pt)
fresh salsa
1/2 avocado (2 pts)

here is a pic...

For lunch I made a Mango sausage and Carmellized onion sandwich

recipe..

1 Aidelle's smoked Mango sausage (3 pts)
1/4 cup carmellized onions (1 pt)
1 small roll (2 pts)
1 tbsp lite mayo (1 pt)

it was sooo freakin good!

with it, I had an orange,(1 pt) and broccoli with hummus (2 pts)

If you make any of these yummy meals, be sure to drink tons of water, cause they're high in fiber, and you don't wanna get bunched up! =)

Another food diary..with pictures!

2009-01-13T12:15:00.001-08:00

I just thought it would be cool to take pics of my food every day and post the points values and recipes. Maybe it'll keep me on the straight and narrow and I won't screw up, and I'll finally hit my goal! It's worth a try, right?

Btw..these pics are taken with my phone, so they're not the BEST quality!

Breakfast wrap

This breakfast wrap was sooo tasty and huge!
1 smart and tasty "La Tortilla Factory" wrap (i love the olive oil one for 1 pt)
1/2 cup eggwhites
purple onion, mushrooms and bell pepper sauteed and then eggwhites added till cooked
1 laughing cow cheese wedge (i like garlic and herb) spread on wrap
10 small olives chopped
1/4 avocado chopped
1/4 cup grape tomatoes chopped
restaurant style salsa
6 pts for the whole thing!!

Chicken chop salad

3 oz grilled chicken breast
1/4 avocado
1 plum tomato chopped
3 cups chopped lettuce
1/2 cup purple cabbage
3 mushrooms chopped
2 radishes chopped
2 green onions chopped
1/4 cup bell pepper chopped
3 tbsp Newmans Own lowfat sesame ginger
put all in a big ziplock baggie, add dressing, and shake! pour out onto a big plate
whole thing is 6 pts!

These are all recipes that I have come up with on my own with the supplies I have on hand.

Letter to Gracie

2009-01-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

My great friend Princess Dona recently had her first child, Beautiful Gracie. I have yet to meet Gracie, because Darling Dona lives in texas! Dona asked all her friends and family members to write a letter to her so that when she's 18, she can read them all. I decided to do my letter as a 2 page layout with pictures from Dona's wedding that I was able to attend back in 2007. Here are some pics!

From the left...

Behind pic # 1 it says
"Don't give your mom and dad too hard of a time...
they're new to this, and you're their
first child. try to wait until you are OUT
of the house before you decide to get
any tattoos or body piercings!"

behind pic #2 it says
"your mom's friends may LOOK
crazy, but they're not all
that bad. Don't be afraid of
them! (except for maybe Liz!)"

behind pic #3 it says
"This little beauty just might
be your babysitter in a few years,
so be good for her now, and
she might not TIE YOU UP later!"

Behind pic #4 it says
"Yes, your uncle is HOT, but
he's your UNCLE. Don't even
THINK about him in any un-uncle
ways. And if he winks at you, chances
are that wink wasn't meant for you
anyways!"

Behind pic #5 it says
" #1 reason why you should stay
away from your uncle. Your aunt
is CRAZY, and has goodness knows
how many weapons! (seriously though,
you are so lucky to have such a cool
aunt and uncle to spoil you!"

Behind pic #6 it says
"What I do know for a fact is that
your mom and dad love eachother so much,
and they're gonna share that same love with
you! You couldn't be luckier to have them as
parents, and they couldn't have gotten luckier
to have you as their daughter! They knew
as soon as they were married, that they wanted
to have you right away! You were already on their
minds!
May you have your mommy's sense of humor,
your daddys smile,
your grandmothers grace,
your grandfathers heart,
and my phone number just in case
you need more advice!"

(I guess you "had to be there" to understand why I wrote some of the things I wrote...right Dona?)

ps-click on each pic to see it bigger!

Healthy but YUMMY food!

2009-01-09T13:26:00.001-08:00

Ok so don't laugh, but sometimes I take pics of my healthy creations with my cellphone so I can make my friends drool while they are at work. Here are some of the creations I came up with this week! Every one of them is less than 7 weight watchers points. Most average about 4-5!!

Snack---strawberries with litehouse light chocolate. ONLY 2 PTS!! YUMMY!

Dinner---boneless skinless grilled chicken with green beans and brown rice

Lunch today---my own (made it up) recipe for macaroni salad with white beans and laughing cow cheese instead of mayo-this was sooooooo good!

Breakfast---Homemade egg salad on a lite english muffin with an orange (5.5 pts)

lunch---green salad with chicken and corn and lite asian sesame dressing. YUM

Gratitude and other handmade journals

2009-01-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

So I know I havn't blogged that much, but I've been crafty, REALLY I have! I figured out how to get pics OFF of my phone and onto my pc so I can SHOW what I've done.

Over Christmas break I helped my friend create several journals for her friends and family members. I stupidly didn't take pics of all of them, just one of them. I also made a gratitude journal for my son, (not pictured) and one for my sister, as well as a motivational journal for myself.

the picture quality won't be so great, cause it's from my phone, but here's what I did!

(What I love love love about these journals is that they are WAYYYY cheap and easy to make, and really turn out professional and nice enough to give as gifts. These journals seriously cost me about 2-3 dollars apiece.)

Picture #1 is of the gratitude journal I made for my sister. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors of it, and I'm pretty sure it's K and co paper, with Heidi Swapp mask

The next 3 pics are of the motivational journal I made for myself. I love my doodling and I love my quilted look on the cover. can't remember where I copied that, but I'm pretty sure it's from a new doodling BOOK that just came out!

These next pics are from a journal I helped Darci make for a family member.

oh, and another ANITA LAYOUT!! woot woot!

Another Anita Layout

2009-01-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

Here is another Anita layout..I think it's really cutesie wootsie. you like?

Reason # 5469 why I LOVE S.E.I!!!

2009-01-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, If you're a scrapper and you havn't heard of SEI yet, you should be ashamed of yourself! Come out of that scrap closet already and get with the times, girls!

I think I have almost every line that SEI has ever made, with the except of their kitty cat line..for good reason (no cats!)

ANyways....to make a long Blog short...(btw, we just had a 5.0 earthquake..hoping for no aftershocks tonight!)...sorry...off subject...back to SEI...

I was in Michaels Crafts a few months back, and they had one of their NEW SEI 12x12 albums in an hour on sale for the crazy price of 19.99, and i think It was on clearance for even lower than that! These albums in an hour are amazing! You get the pretty box (that can be used for anything!), the ALBUM (worth over 20 bucks by itself) and ALL of the paper and embellishments (worth more than 20 bucks too) as well as detailed instructions on how to make the pages...oh, and the BEST part..is that the paper is ALL cut and put in a pile according to what page you are making. It's all done for you except for the adhering part! (thus the name, "album in an hour") so In about 4 hours (cause I had to ink, find correct pics, etc, ) I had a beautiful 20 page album totally completed! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

Now, I was kinda lazy and the pics didn't turn out so well, because I took them on my bulky overgrown couch, so they're all shaped wierd, but I am posting them on here anyways, cause you can still get the picture (see lazy above)

Of course I can't take the credit for it's greatness, because the layouts are already preplanned, but I can take credit for the cool picture, and the ADDITIONAL embellishments like some Heidi Swapp chipboard and embellishments, and some cool rubons including Daisy D's (one of my fave rub on companies)

let me know what you think!

Cousins

2009-01-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

I am sooo behind on this blog it's not even funny! STill havn't posted pics from Thanksgiving yet cause nobody's sent me any, pics from my birthday turned out horrible, everything in between is a blur, I have tons of gratitude journals that i've made, but the pics are stuck on my camera phone, SIGH, so maybe I'll just make MORE!
Here are some pics from Vegas. The cousins (Kevin's kids, Brians kids and my kids) got to see eachother and had a great time together. Resemblance? YES!

Merry CHRISTMAS 2008!

2008-12-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

I know I've done a crappy job at blogging lately, and this one isn't gonna be much better, cause I'm in a super duper hurry. I'm supposed to be packing right now cause we're leaving at 0 dark thirty tomorrow morning for 5 days in Vegas (visiting my family and also an inlaw family reunion!)
Soooo, this is gonna be short but sweet with not much journalling so I can get back to work without getting "the look"

My top fave pics from this week.....drumroll....

my camera is on the fritz..boo hoo, and some of these pics are very grainy and blurry, but darn it, I still like em!
Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Featured Artist

2008-12-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'm finally letting the cat out of the bag. I've been chosen to be the Featured Artist for one of my FAVORITE scrap companies that I've posted about on here several times!! Bisous.biz has the most AMAZING pdq (pretty darn quick) pages you ever saw! When I was chosen to be their Featured Artist I was soooo excited, because I got to create projects using their 6 newest lines, and all 6 so totally rock!

I was only required to create up to 6 projects, but I was on a roll, so I created 9! You, dear blogging friends, are the first to see them! (can I hear a woot woot?)

Project #1 is a gratitude journal I made for my secret santa buddy. I REALLY hope she doesn't view my blog before next Wed at the reveal..that would kinda suck!

For this project I used the papers from the PDQ Crave kit. I love how versatile these pages are...I can cut out every single piece of a 12x12 paper and make something out of it! I bought a 99 cent composition book at the dollar store, covered the front and back covers in black bazzill paper, and then cut out different pieces of the crave paper and adhered them to the pages. I think it only took 2.5 pages to make this!

The next project is an altered cigar box. For this project I used the PDQ RAD papers, and the vw bug chipboard cars out of all 6 of the kits. I made this into a teen/pre teen treasure box. Kinda hippyish, but I like it!

For the magnets, I used some of their chipboard stickers, and I laminated the backs of them to get the sticky off, and then hotglued magnets on the backs. So easy and fast, yet strong and cute!!

For the "I DO" valentines card, I also used the Crave PDQ papers, and the Chipboard owl.

For this valentines card I used PDQ Yum papers and chipboard with Basic Grey background paper. I can't even tell you how well these two paper lines mesh color wise!

This altered clock is probably my favorite out of all the projects. It uses the RAD PDQ kit, and was super easy, because it was already in a circle, so I just had to add some chipboard to it! Seriously only took me 20 minutes to put together!

This is a 12x12 layout that I made using basic grey paper as the background, and then cutting out the shape from the PDQ Shabby kit, and the foxy lady from the PDQ Hot kit. I used stickles to enhance the flourishes, and a Heidi Swapp clock overlay over some pdq paper to make the clock with some chipboard. Doodles were done with souffle pens (love love love em!)

On this page, I made it 8 1/2 x 11 to show that you can cut down your 12x12 pdq papers to ANY size (6x12, 6x6, etc and it still WORKS! It still looks uniform and RIGHT!) I used the PDQ Grace kit, some white alphabet stickers outlined in black pen, and some primas, as well and some pdq chipboard hearts. This is another one of the layouts that I'm making for a special lady named Anita.

This last project was my very FIRST chipboard album. I was sooo nervous about making it and screwing up that I think I called every friend I know to ask for advice on how to NOT screw it up! I used PDQ Grace for the whole thing, and as you'll notice with all the projects, hardly ANYTHING else is used at all besides the PDQ papers. A little embellishment here and there, and thats it!

so what do you think? Was I a good choice for featured artist??

whoops!

2008-12-09T14:00:00.000-08:00

holy cow, has it really been THAT long since I blogged? bad me! I have sooo much catching up to do! I have Thanksgiving pics I need to receive from my inlaws so I can post them, I have pics from our trip to san diego, I have birthday pics, etc etc etc! I'll prob be doing a lot of blogging these next few days to catch up! More to come in a few!

CKC Seattle

2008-11-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

Only 4 days after Wicked, I was off to CKC Seattle WITHOUT Kloey and Steph. I was soooo scared and nervous that I was gonna screw up without them, but it was a really successful show. Yay!

Pazzles has come out with a new paper lace cd. It so totally rocks! Here are just a small fraction of what you can make from this cd with your Pazzles machine!

This one is my favorite. How cool would it be to make this in black vinyl 12x24 for your wall and have your family's name inside with pictures in the ovals? love love love it!

One of my favorite things to do at this expo was to make a sale by showing how EASY it was to make your own scalloped paper. Scalloped paper at other booths and stores sells for 99 cents up to 1.99 PER SHEET! I went to the booth across from us, bought some way cool paper on clearance for 40 cents a sheet, and made my own! I used the pen tool on some of them to show how you can do your faux stitching around the edges as well! LOVE LOVE LOVE scalloped paper!

These scalloped papers seriously took me about a minute to design each, in the pazzles software. What an easy sell! People saw how easy it is to save, and they can make things they love out of what they've already got! Scalloped paper is sooo in right now, I just can't get enough of it! I should have been doing this all along!

ps-if you click on the brown floral round sheet of paper you can see a close up of what the Pazzles Pen Tool can do....sweet!

Wicked rocks!

2008-11-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

As an early birthday present, Jason got us tickets to go see Wicked at the Pantageus Theater in L.A. I have to say, because it was a musical, I was really afraid that Jason was gonna hate it, but he really liked it, and I LOVED it! That theater is old, but the mouldings and details inside were totally amazing! I wasn't allowed to take any pictures, so here is one Jacob took of us before we left.

afterwards, we went to the Cheesecake factory for dinner. What a great date night!

77 and counting, baby!

2008-11-08T13:24:00.000-08:00

77...what's the significance of that number? It's how many pounds I've lost since last year! Can I hear a woot woot? How did I do it? Weight watchers, exercise, and the Biggest Loser club. Not to mention my HUGE group of motivational friends and family members that keep me going every day! My next goal is to lose another 10 lbs by Christmas, and to hit my 100 pound mark by Valentines Day!

My weight watchers leader always says "Nothing tastes as good as SKINNY feels!" Well I plan to find out just how good that feels! Thanks for all of your support, people, I couldn't have done it without you! xoxox

Halloween fun

2008-11-01T19:52:00.001-07:00

you guys are gonna hate me after this post, cause I'm posting so many favorite pics, I can't just choose a few! We started out our halloween night trying on costumes...omg can I just say NIGHTMARE? My 2 year old tried on 4 different things before I forced her to keep one on! First, Jadyn was the girl from Lazytown (a cartoon she watches) The wig has seen better days

....back in the bin it went! Then she was a witch (jordyns old outfit) too itchy..back in the bin...then her princess costume from last year....didnt' like the crown on her head, so back in the bin it went too! OMG...so I came up with an old granny outfit for her, and she was the freakin cutest old granny ever! Here are some of my fave pics of her...

Then there's Jordyn. She didn't like any of the costumes we had to choose from so I had to coax her into the fact that the DIVA costume was sooo cool! OMG...it took 2 hours to convince her...by this time I had turned into the grinch..bah humbug, let's put the kids to bed already! But we forged on....here are my fave pics of Jordyn. What a little crazy daisy she is!

And that leaves Jacob. Jacob decided that he didn't want to dress up...but since he's too young to stay home, he had to go trick or treating with us..and not without a costume...so first he made himself some claws...omg...then he found a bear mask in Jordyns room..and then a huge blue hoodie...so he was bearclaw man..or something..lol

So Jason said that there was a carnival at a church in Calimesa that had free games and free food (he's all about free food..haha) so we went there for a little bit, the kids played and ate and then we went trick or treating around the block, handed out some candy, and that was the extent of our night! Ok, last pics and then I'm done boring Y'all!

More layouts for Anita

2008-10-31T11:34:00.001-07:00

Well here are some more layouts. I'm very disappointed in the picture quality of them. It's totally my fault though..my battery was dead! Oh well, you get the idea...just pretend the paper quality is much nicer and there's no glare, and then you'll see what I mean. Enjoy!

Remember a while back I told the story about Anita? If not, you can view it here..
http://my-so-called-scrappy-life.blogspot.com/2008/08/layouts-for-cause.html

this has been such an amazing experience for me and I'm grateful to be a part of it! Thank you Corinna, you are the best! xoxo

ps-Happy Halloween!

Sneak Peeks!

2008-10-31T11:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm soooo excited cause I got chosen to be the guest designer for one of my FAVORITE companies. I'm not gonna say the name just yet, cause I dont know if it's supposed to be hush hush or not, but I'll tell you I LOVE LOVE LOVE them and have written about them on my blog more than once..hehe

Here are 3 sneak peeks from 3 diff projects I have made for them so far...close ups..just in case they're not supposed to be published...yet... woo hoo!

Missing in Action

2008-10-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

Why have I not blogged in 11 days? Been a bit busy. First, my father had another stroke so I drove to the middle of nowhere Nevada to see him with the kids. This was his first time meeting Jadyn, and he hasn't seen Jordyn since she was 2, so It was good for them to see their grandpa. Here are some pics from the trip....

Got home on Sunday and then left THURSDAY for another expo...this time in Ontario California..yay! We were very very busy and didn't get much sleep, but it was still fun and we got to see Kloey and Steph again, and I got to work with Edie too! We got the best deals at this expo out of any other expos! Thank you thank you thank you My Minds Eye! You guys are the best!!!! Also got some amazing deals with the Heidi Swapp booth.

I'm leaving again on the 13th of Nov for yet ANOTHER expo in Seattle..maybe I'll remember to take some pics this time!

More in a minute!

Tagged again!

2008-10-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

I just checked out my sister in laws blog and noticed that I was tagged...who knew?

ok so here goes..everything in 8's! (this is hard!)

8 shows I like to watch

1.Extreme Makeover home edition
2. The Biggest Loser
3. Project runway
4. wheel of fortune
5. Days of our Lives
6. Clean sweep (cause i wish they came to my house)
7. sheesh, i dont watch this much tv..
8. seriously...

8 restaurants I like to eat at

1. Cheesecake Factory
2. Samoa Cookhouse (too bad its hours and hours away)
3. PF Changs
4. Subway (dont laugh it's the only healthy one)
5. Jose's mexican food
6. The Olive Garden
7. Chili's
8. Chevys

8 things that happened today

1. I watched 3 babies, 1 toddler and 2 dogs
2. Jadyn cried cause her shoes were too tight..which caused....
3. Jordyn to miss the bus
4. All babies teething so they all were fussy
5. Found out Jacob got a perfect report card
6. Found out that Jordyn did too
7. Made a healthy dinner and then...
8. Darci came over with Frugos for me (frozen yogurt-yummo!)

8 things that I am looking forward to

1. Scrapbooking expo this weekend-get to see Kloey and Steph
2. Wicked on Nov 9th..woot woot!
3. Pre thanksgiving vacation in San Diego for 4 days
4. Thanksgiving
5. My birthday
6. Seattle expo
7. Christmas
8. Vegas after Christmas (there was no time frame so i broke it up over a few months)
8 1/2 oops i forgot about halloween..hope I can find time in my schedule to get to the pumpkin patch! yikes!

8 things on my wish list...

never said if this was a life wishlist or a Christmas wishlist...so...I'll do both..

1. To be thinner
2. to be healthier
3. to make sure my family is HAPPY...alot!
4. To see my kids grow old
ok now for Christmas..cause i'm a brat...
5. a gift card to borders or barnes and noble (cause i'm obsessed with books
6. to be able to go to Klo's convention in March
7. To get the new Jillian Michaels wii fit game coming out soon
8. A gift card for a date night with my hubby..dinner and a movie

8 peeps I'm tagging..and they'd better do it!

1. Awesome Abby
2. Corinna bobbina
3. Dona dear (gonna give birth in 2 days)
4. Edie girl (best friend)
5. Famous Klo
6. Katrina (Katie girl)
7. Thea (little mushroom muncher)
8. Steph (Petunia Bitchy bottoms)

do it yahoos!

Spice it up a Knotch....BAMMMMM (altered spice rack)

2008-10-09T12:13:00.001-07:00

I have a friend that came over the other day. She's a southern gal, and cooks AMAZING foods. We got to talking about spices, etc, and I asked her if spices expire. She gave me a "LOOK" that told me they do. Then I told her I had my spice rack that I bought when we got married over 8 years ago. She gave me a worse look. I think she puked a bit...that was the look..lol

Needless to say, when she left, I emptied out all my spices into the garbage can (smelled wonderful)and then steam washed the jars. Why throw something away when you can re-use it, right? But it was soooo ugly, so I wanted to pretty it up and make it into a button holder. I KNOW its been done before..a million times, by a million scrappers...but not by me...so here's my version!

Here are some before pics...yuck...

Then I put some fabric and ribbon on the top

I altered the bottles by adding ribbons to the sides, flowers with coordinating button colors to the tops, and buttons inside..yum!

I painted the spice rack creamy white cause it was too Dark.....then when i was done it was too light...lol. Soo.......I got some sage colored acrylic paint and mixed some water with it, and did a wash over the top of the white...much better! I wish the colors looked better in the picture!

Here is the finished product. My my greatest creation ever, but way better than what it used to look like, and I love it cause it swivels! wooo hoo!

Jadyn loved watching mommy making the flower covered containers and shaking the buttons.

"are these for me, mommy?"

"no honey, they're for mommy"

"why do u always get everything?"

"oh boy..."

****stares.....

"what?"

"I axed you a question!"

"UM...WAIT TILL CHRISTMAS"

THE END

altered spice rack/button holder

2008-10-07T18:20:00.001-07:00

been sick for 4 days with strep throat..not pretty! Sorry I havn't blogged anything crafty in a while, but an altered spice rack turned button holder is coming soon, I promise!!!
stay tuned!

I've been Tagged!

2008-10-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

Oh yay, I've secretly always wanted to be tagged! lol seriously...makes me feel like people LIKE me! haha

I was tagged by http://www.knittingdragonflies.blogspot.com please check out her cool blog!

So here's the deal, I have to tell 6 random things about me...sheesh, what could I possibly tell that people don't already know?

So here goes.
Here are the rules....Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post

Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know your entry is up.
6 Random Things About Me

1. I met my husband online 11 years ago.

2. I've lived in California all my life. Northern AND Southern

3. I just got back from urgent care and I have strep throat =(

4. I've almost lost 75 lbs and hope to hit or bypass that 75 lb mark on THURSDAY!

5. Most of my best friends in the world I've met online.

6. I swore I'd NEVER EVER have an indoor dog..especially one that sleeps in my bed...never never ever ever..and now...I have TWO dogs that sleep in my bed at night. 3 if you include my hubby! lol

Gee, I feel like these are all so boring! sorry!

I am tagging the following blogs.

http://mrs-summers.blogspot.com/">

http://thedreamygiraffe.typepad.com">

http://bananafrog.typepad.com/bananafrogblog/">

http://nightowlmomakesstuff.blogspot.com/">

http://gracierei.blogspot.com/">

Please check out their amazing blogs!!

I chose these blogs because all of these ladies are SUPER talented and I love looking at their artwork and layouts! I didn't choose my friends blogs cause that would be expected, and I wanted to see if random strangers would participate. (So don't be offended, yahoos!)

Beautiful views

2008-09-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

I saw this in my front yard last night...

and this in my backyard this morning....

And last but not least, this on my floor this afternoon....life is good..lol