Pictures & Words

2011-08-29T12:58:00.008-04:00

This past week has been super busy as I am prepping for returning back to work. Thursday of last week was orientation, which was long and boring. If I were a new teacher, it may have been helpful, but the only helpful stuff I got from it, was meeting the other new English teacher, getting my ID done, got my building pass fob, and am waiting on my laptop to be assigned. My first pay is September 2, which is perfect timing since funds are running out. Then, on Friday, I got together with the other English 11 teacher and the special education teacher to do some curriculum planning. The focus of English 11 is "transformational thinking" and our first unit is focused on Beowulf as the anchor text in addition to sections of the Illiad and Gilgamesh. Needless to say, I have been doing a bit of reading up. However, I spent this past weekend with my boy, who came out to visit me. Since I am going back to work soon, we will be going back to being weekend daters and sharing the driving. Since I didn't work this summer, I did most all of the driving, making it easier for us to see each other for a little longer than a weekend. This weekend, Matt and I made a little IKEA trip where he bought a DVD storage unit and a new coffee table and I got some new tupperware anda bathroom rug to match the new shower curtain i bought myself last week as a celebratory gift for getting a new awesome job. I finally caved and bought the tonal ruffle shower curtain I have been pining for from Urban Outfitters. The ruffles make me happy :)

We then met up with my parents at Kruse and Muer for a celebratory dinner, then back to their house for a little dessert, i.e. cupcakes. Since the Lions game was on, Matt and dad kicked back in the recliners to watch. We had planned to stop at a little bar on the way home to grab a drink, but how could I pull the only male bonding time dad really gets away from him? So we stayed to watch the first half. Needless to say, once I got in the horizontal on the couch, I fell asleep. So when the first half was over, I was a little too tired for going out. Which actually turned out better because Matt and I headed home and had drinks there and played Zombie Lane on facebook together while watching the second half and other TV.

Sunday was spent relaxing in bed all morning before heading out to lunch at Kona Grill then to the movies to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which was really good. Sadly, it was time for my boy to head back home, but it won't be too long before I see him again. This weekend we are getting together to go see WMU vs. UofM at the Big House. I work Tuesday through Thursday this week, so I will head out there after work and stay for the weekend.

So, how about a little scrapbook share after reading all of that? This is the birthday page I guess I would call it. I created the kraft colored number border on my Cricut using the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. I am most excited about how I did the journaling tag on this one. It was going to be a large journal block, but then I punched a circle and cut it in half and attached it to the end of the journal block, put an eyelet in the center before tying some green baker's twine. The reason I like this so much is because I usually do an actual tag and I like the style of this one. For the design I lifted a layout from Kelly Purkey. It seems I am really attracted to modern examples of color blocking.

Here's a little closeup of the die cut number border.Here is a closeup of the journaling for this one.Today I am spending the day doing some lesson planning and reading Beowulf and just relaxing. Let the craziness, pressure, and stress start tomorrow, day one of the 2010-2011 school year!

2011-08-21T15:10:00.008-04:00

Last weekend, Matt and I tried to have a beach camping weekend, however, the weather was less than cooperative. We did manage to get some beach camping in on Saturday night. Friday, we headed out to his parents' house in South Haven before the friends met us and were able to sneak in a boat ride and dinner before the storm hit. It was after the boat ride and dinner when we headed back to the house and I checked my voicemail to find a call from the Human Resources secretary at Lakeview Schools asking me to meet with the Asst. Superintendent on Monday. I had just had an interview at the high school on Tuesday and my references contacted me on Friday letting me know the Principal had called them. So this phone call had me very hopeful.

However, the storm was rolling in and Matt and I decided to stay at his parents' house for the night, instead of braving the storm on the beach. We watched a bit of TV with his parents and then played some cards, which is not usually my thing but it was really fun to finally learn how to play euchre and a new game his parents taught us "hand and foot". the scoring was craziness. Matt and I crashed on the floor in the basement, only to be woken up several times during the night with some of the loudest thunder I have ever heard. It was seriously shaking the house! The storm hadn't cleared by morning and another round was actually headed our way. We contemplated calling it off, however, most everyone was already on their way.

So, in between rounds, the boys headed down to the beach to set up camp.
Below, is what we were battered with for most of the day.

We all huddled in to someone's tent that was large enough to fit us all to start the drinking.
Once the storm cleared we had a pretty decent evening to enjoy on the beach.

My cutie pie!

Smores were made using Reese's Peanutbutter cups, which were delicious. However, This kid, kept stealing my smore ingredients, hence the scowl on my face.

We had a lovely belated Fourth of July fireworks show.

Matt and I were two of the last three to go to bed. In the middle of the night, however, I woke up so scared of all the loud waves crashing so close to our tent and the wind. I woke Matt up to tell him I was scared and asked if he had ever seen The Blair Witch Project. In the movie, these little ghost children were outside the campers' tent and were hitting the tent and that is what the wind sounded like to me. I was afraid the waves were going to crash on our tent and wash us out. Like a good boyfriend, he gave me his shoulder to sleep on. While the shoulder was comfortable, the rest was not. We were so sore in the morning from sleeping on the unforgiving beach and decided that next year we MUST have an airbed. In the morning, we had a little breakfast. I came prepared with milk, cereal and fruit while the others ate some leftover sausages, hot dogs, and mashed potatoes. So weird! Poor Matthew put his back out carrying most all of our stuff up the steps and ended up taking that Monday off from work. We made it home Sunday afternoon in time to have lunch, a the meeting with the Asst. nap, and watch True Blood. I had to head home Monday morning to make it to the meeting with the Asst. Superintendent. I thought it went really well, but as I was leaving, she told me she had other interviews to complete and would get back with me the next morning. I was seriously sick to my stomach by noon the next day having heard nothing back. I thought it was unusual that an administrator that high up would be doing any interviewing and decided I couldn't stand it anymore, so I emailed the Principal to see if he had any information. He quickly emailed me back and said it was a formality that the Asst. Superintendent had to wait for the posting to close before offering me the position. As I was on the phone with Matt, the Asst. Sup. called me to tell me just what the Principal had emailed. She told me to hang tight with her for a couple hours. the problem was that an internal candidate could put in for a transfer to the position and due to union rules, she had to wait till the posting closed to offer it to me. I kept myself busy, cleaning out my filing cabinet, doing laundry, and watching Millionaire Matchmaker! Then at 3:30, the Asst. Sup called and officially offered me the position, pending Board approval. Well, of course I said YES! so, as of Wednesday of last week, I am full time at Lakeview High School in St. Clair Shores. The exciting part is that it is a 50% pay raise over what I was making, which will mean a whole lifestyle change. I can actually save money, put money in my IRA and 403b! I can buy Christmas presents this year! The job is also only 14 miles from my house cutting my weekly miles from 350 to 150 and my drive time from 1.5 hours on average to no more than and hour. In addition, the district has been growing over the past few years and at the Board meeting they talked about outgrowing their facilities before anything else. They have not laid off in 6 years and anyone pink slipped, was called back. All of these factors, make me so excited about the job, the district, and the coming year. So this week, I am staying at Matt's for a few days before I have to attend Orientation on the 25th and head back to the real world of working. That means Matt and i will be back to weekends only pretty much, which stinks. I believe we will be able to make it through it.

2011-08-19T14:36:00.003-04:00

Well, this layout has been sitting on my desk unfinished for quite some time. This picture is from January when some friends threw a birthday party for Matt and two of his other friends whose birthdays are around the same time. The theme was for a toga party complete with Christmas lights and some hot tubbing. We squeezed I think 9 people into a four person hot tub.

I lifted the cover of the July/August Creating Keepsakes.

I have one more layout waiting for some finishing details, beach camping photos, and some exciting job news to share.

2011-08-17T09:50:00.006-04:00

Lots and lots to update on! Today I will tell you about my trip with my dad to the Henry Ford Museum. The trip was originally intended to be for his birthday back in March, but due to schedules and whatnot we didn't end up making it out there till August 2nd.

Our first stop through the museum was the Presidential cars exhibit and below is the car John F. Kennedy was assassinated in.

Here's dad as conductor of the Allegheny. I think the huge steam engines were one of dad's favorite. He talked a lot about the switch from steam power to electrical power.

Next was the American car exhibit. It was pretty cool to see the evolution of the car in styling as well as technology. This car had headlights that were lit by oil lamps.

Below is the first ever Corvette and that VW Bus you see sticking out in the corner of the picture brought back some memories for dad. He said he owned one that his dad convinced him to buy when he worked at a manufacturing plant. his dad told him he could make some money by giving people rides, sort of like a carpool. Dad said it was such a piece of junk, breaking down all the time. He took it on a road trip and the engine blew out. He ended up giving it away to a dealer just to get rid of it.
This part of the exhibit was closed, unfortunately, but I snuck behind the wall to snap a picture of this old McDonald's sign. Behind it you can see a little roadside cafe. The McDonald's sign is from the 2nd ever McDonald's drive-thru in Michigan. This stuff was part of the museum as part of the evolution of the automobile. Then we have Ford's first ever car, not the Model-T. This one featured lightbulbs as tail lights and bicycle wheels. The next part of the museum was focused on aviation. This is a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane flown by Charles Lindbergh. It had to be replicated because when he landed in Paris, the fans were so excited, they tore the plane apart.

Lastly, were these artifacts that were probably the highlight for me. Below is the chair that Abraham Lincoln was shot in while sitting at Ford's Theater in Washington DC.

And lastly, this is the bus that Rosa Parks was sitting in when she was told to move to the back and started the Montgomery bus boycott. The bus, obviously, has been restored a bit. These are the kinds of artifacts I think are so exciting to see.
I have some beach camping photos to update and some job news to share tomorrow.

2011-08-02T18:07:00.012-04:00

This is a picture heavy post of some pics from a recent trip to the John Ball Zoo in Grand rapids with my boy this weekend. After a chill Friday night on the couch watching a couple comedies and enjoying a stir fry dinner and drinks, we woke decided to head out on Saturday to check out the animals at the local zoo. It isn't the greatest zoo on the planet, but it was something to do. It was pretty humid, so most of the animals were trying to keep cool in the shade.

This guy did a cute little dance for us.

This area of the aquarium was supposed to represent the Pacific Coast area. There was a pretty cool simulated tide that washed over all the starfish.

I can't remember what these were, but they reminded me of giant guinea pigs. These little monkeys had the saddest faces and the longest fingers.
We made our way over to the Africa area to see the lions. I have yet to see a lion doing anything active at a zoo. They are always so lazy.
Next were the chimpanzees, who reminded me of Lisa and Tony. They were picking at each other, a sign of affection as they groom one another, and this is something Lisa and Tony do to each other all the time!
This little guy was so cute, eating his fruit.
I love this frog picture!
More primates.
Matt and I stopped for a pic by these pretty black-eyed susans and had a zoo attendant snap a couple pics.
He may be cute but a photographer he is not. I gave him this disposable camera I have had forever that has a few pics left on it to take some pics. The cool part of the camera is that it puts some decorative frames around pics. He took one through the glass of a sloth, but the flash went off and then he took one of this sign (Not this pic. I took this one.) That was the extent of his picture taking. Needless to say, that camera still needs to be finished. These were the only bears, some Michigan Brown Bears. Doesn't he look so sad and lonely.

Matt and I measured ourselves and I rang in at 5 feet and he rang in at 6 foot. His jump was the equivalent of the second yellow marker on the right which is the jump height of a kangaroo at about 8 feet 6 inches.

I really wanted to get some pics of us by the waterfall, however, we had already passed it and it was too humid and hot to walk back. On the way out we stopped and watched the bald eagles get fed while we sipped on a blue raspberry icee. So to get one more couple shot in, we stopped by the map and asked a random couple who were arguing to snap a picture. And, as usual, here is a little picnik collage of some pictures.
Dad and I went to the Henry Ford Museum today and I have lots of pictures to upload and edit from that. It was actually supposed to be his birthday gift, which was back in March, but we have had the hardest time coordinating a weekend. Since my mom has some time off this week, dad took some too, to spend with her and a day for us to go to the museum. I do not recommend eating in the restaurant because the food was horrible. This week consists of some hard core job searching, cleaning mom's house, returning pop cans, and hopefully finishing off some layouts that are all at various stages of completion.

2011-07-25T13:21:00.001-04:00

via pinterest

I am really trying to believe this lately, but with about a month left to find a teaching job, my hope is waning. I have been applying for jobs outside of teaching as well. Anything to prevent me from having to move back home in September.

2011-07-18T23:50:00.005-04:00

Well, I did not get the Birmingham job and I was/am very disappointed. I found out via email last Wednesday, and thank goodness I was at Matt's house and not by myself when I found out because I had a good cry over it. Luckily, my boy came home and gave me a big hug telling me we would figure it out. I went to sleep thinking about what the heck I am going to do. It only helps a fraction to know that the reason I am having such struggles with finding a job or keeping a job is due to the economy and not because I am not a good teacher. But that is only a fraction. I am so discouraged and defeated. I started looking at other jobs outside of education. I am about ready to give up. I had my little pity party wondering why my dream of having a teaching job, falling in love and getting married, then having kids isn't coming true. I am 32 years old and am so ready for the next step in my life.

However, the next day, I put a smile on my face because Matt and I had to drive to Battle Creek to visit a friend of his who was in town visiting for the afternoon. We had a nice afternoon complete with boat ride and dinner before heading back to his place to continue our Harry Potter marathon. We watched the last two movies together and planned for a movie date to see the last Harry Potter movie...ever...on Sunday. Friday I spent the day job searching on the Internet and made a few connections to some possible job leads. Keep your fingers and everything else crossed for me! Here are a couple pictures from Thursday.
Saturday I spent the day with Matt's mom. She picked me up and we stopped at the new Gunn Lake Casino where we had lunch, then it was off to this little scrapbook shop where I picked up some of the new travel line from We R Memory Keepers and some Thickers. Matt's mom was so cute trying to buy the stuff for me. When I wouldn't take her money, she tucked it in my v-neck shirt! We made a few other stops before meeting up with Matt at his store. I went home with him from there and we decided to order a pizza and crash in front of the TV.

Sunday, when Matt got home from work, we had a super cute little Sunday afternoon date planned. We went to downtown Grand Rapids to have sushi at Rockwell's before heading to the movie theater to watch Harry Potter 7.2 in IMAX 3D. It was a really awesome movie and probably my favorite of them all. Since it was National Ice Cream Day, we stopped at CVS and bought three big tubs of ice cream, root beer, and Vernors to celebrate and have while we watched True Blood. I had to head back home this afternoon, but stopped at my parents' house first to pick up a little package. I took a little birthday money and bought a new Cricut cartridge for myself. I have been playing quite a bit about with my Design Studio, so I got the Sans Serif font to play with.

I don't have much at all planned this week other than job searching, maybe a little scrapbooking, and some baking. I've been pinning all kinds of recipes to my pinterest to try out for my boy.

2011-07-10T21:02:00.004-04:00

Today is my birthday and I celebrated all weekend long with my boy and family.
Matt came out Friday night and we started the weekend with our Harry Potter marathon and a couple gifts. He got me some really cool bubbles and three bags of one of my favorite candies, Haribo Peaches. However, he got a little hungry on the way out and ate half of one of the bags. So I really got 2.5 bags of Haribo Peaches : )
We watched the first two Harry Potter movies on Friday night, number three yesterday, and four and five today before he had to head back home. We also had dinner at my parents' house on Saturday with Lisa and Tony. I don't really have a favorite meal so I chose surf n' turf with shrimp and filets, twice-baked potatoes, and corn on the cobb. For dessert I asked for cupcakes from The Cupcake Station so everyone could have what they wanted. After dinner it was time for gifts. My parents got me a $50.00 BP gift card and an all white Ice Watch. Lisa and Tony gave me some much needed cash. Matt totally surprised me with a really cute gift that I did not at all expect which is this elephant based lamp that I had seen at World Market when we were there shopping for his mom's birthday. I love elephant themed type stuff. These aren't the best pictures of it, but you get the idea. The shade is a natural linen fabric.
I am hoping for a phone call this week that I have a new job. I know they got a hold of at least two of my references last week, and the Principal is coming back to work this week.

On a side note, I installed, finally, my Cricut Design Studio software and am having so much fun welding letters together for titles and made some fun circular grid patterns that will be appearing in layouts soon.

One thing that has been on my mind a bit lately, is the ex-boyfriend, who will be celebrating his birthday on Wednesday. We always celebrated our birthdays together, being that they are only three days apart. I don't know why it is on my mind, but it is. I do wonder how he is doing and what he is up to. There is this song my Carrie Underwood that says, "I'm not sorry that it's over, but for the way we let it end," which is exactly how I feel when I think about him.

Birthdays always bring stuff up, don't they!? Anyway, here's to a good week.

2011-07-07T11:02:00.002-04:00

It seems I am on a bit of a roll cranking layouts out. It is really enjoyable using up some older papers and having a simplified scrap room. A couple weeks ago, I cleaned out the whole room and got rid of 6 brown paper grocery bag sizes of stuff! Old kits, unused tools, paper, and embellishments had been piling up for too long. So for these beach photos I broke out some older Cosmo Cricket "Earth Love". I was somewhat inspired by this layout. However, my pictures are 2x2 and instead of the circles, I used a patterned paper block to show off the clouds.

Here are a couple of detail shots for you.

I am supposed to be having a pool day with a friend today and tomorrow my boy will be here to celebrate my birthday with me, which is on Sunday.

2011-07-06T11:50:00.001-04:00

Just sharing a layout I did yesterday with some photos from a couple weekends ago. Matt and I had a nice lazy Sunday afternoon last time I was out there complete with bubbles, cupcakes, taco salads, and True Blood.

I am also working on using up some older stash stuff. So here I used some older Cosmo Cricket "Early Bird" line. The title comes from the song "In the Golden Afternoon".
Here are a couple detail shots.

That's all for today. I have another layout with the beach photos I am working on, but isn't quite done. I'll be back soon to share that one.

2011-07-05T10:29:00.007-04:00

While browsing Pintrest last night, I found this photo assignment for July, so instead of last month's I am going to use this but keep the photos I already took for the 1st through the 5th.

July 1st-Self Portrait. I took one of these last year to use as a birthday layout. I forgot the Thickers at home, so I just added the text over the photo. July 2nd-Favorite shoes. My favorite shoes are my Tom's because they are so comfortable and contribute to a great cause. For every pair purchased a pair will be donated to children around the world without shoes.
July 3rd-Hands. On Sunday, I went over to Lisa and Tony's house for a little cookout, smores, drinks, and games. Lisa had her friends, Martin and Danielle, over so I took pictures of their hands and Lisa and Tony's hands. Lisa and Tony made some delicious kabobs on the grill, corn on the cobb, and roasted potatoes. We had some firefly drinks and then went inside to play some Rock Band. It is pretty safe to say that Lisa and I will not be joining any rock bands any time soon. We have almost no eye-to-hand coordination between the two of us. She had two drums and I had two and the pedal, but with only two drumsticks, we were beating on the drums with our hands and were totally off the beat.
Martin & DanielleLisa & TonyThis picture isn't for the list, but it is a picture of the layered trifle Lisa made. It is angel food cake, whip cream and sugar free vanilla pudding mixed together, mixed with blueberries and strawberries. She also made one for yesterday, which included raspberries.
July 4th-Clouds. I did a little Picnik photo editing on this one. This one isn't for the list either, but who doesn't love a picture of an American flag blowing in the breeze? This one is at my parents' house. July 5th-Breakfast. Breakfast this morning consists of mangoes, strawberries, and watermelon courtesy of yesterday's fruit bowls.I am off to run some errands-bank, Joann's for cardstock, possibly DSW.

2011-07-01T14:48:00.002-04:00

So I have seen his around the blogging world and decided I would give it a try. I realize that July has 31 days, so I will have to add something else for that last day to fill in. Today is self portrait day and luckily I am having a good hair day, so I will get that done a little later this afternoon.

On a side note, I had the second round interview this morning, and I think it went really well. The Asst. Superintendent said he felt I was very student-centered and came off as a middle school teacher, which is exactly what I wanted. He said I should hear from the building Principal by mid next week. So keep those fingers crossed and those prayers coming. I honestly do appreciate it! Have a happy 4th of July!

2011-06-30T12:18:00.000-04:00

How about a layout to share today. For this one I lifted this layout by Davinine Fiero and used the paper folding technique she used to get that quilted look. I then tucked a Maya Road envelope behind it where I am going to put my journaling. I am still working on the letter I want to go in there, but based on the title it will be about all the things I am looking forward to with Matt. Here's a closeup of the quilted paper look.
And a little closeup of the journaling area. I still wanted to be able to tie the envelope closed, so I cut out a circle from kraft cardstock and set it through the whole layout with an eyelet. Today I am studying for my second round interview in Birmingham, which is tomorrow, so wish me lots of luck. I need to nail this interview. The weekend plans include helping dad with yardwork, cooking out at the parents house on the 4th, and pending his schedule, some time with my boy.

2011-06-29T10:41:00.009-04:00

I spent this past weekend out at my boy's house, so this post will be part 1 of our weekend. I went out there on Thursday though he had to work both Thursday and Friday. So while he was at work, I kept busy watching TV, working on wordsearches, which I love, and reading the new Sookie Stackhouse book. On Friday, I got an awesome phone call from Birmingham that I was selected for a second round interview for a middle school position! I am very excited. It is actually this Friday, so wish me luck! I also accomplished putting up Matt's new shower curtain rod, which was more of a daunting task than one might think. It required me to actually use a drill and drill holes into the drywall. I have never done anything like that before, so I was pretty excited that it actually turned out and to show Matt my handiwork.

We went out for dinner that night and returned home to have a few drinks and watched "Repo Men" on On Demand. The plan for Saturday was to grocery shop in the morning so we wouldn't have to eat out all weekend and have lunch with his parents on Sunday for his mom's birthday, but somebody may have forgotten his mother's birthday was on Friday. We got a call on our way to breakfast that this person may have forgotten and may want to do something to make up for it. Technically he didn't forget, he just messed up the day. So after breakfast we headed out to do some shopping. We first went to Pier One but didn't find anything spectacular. We then headed over to World Market where we found this really cool glass conch shell with was sort of like a vase. We filled it with sand and seashells and paired it with a really pretty little wind chime. We took it home to wrap it up with some tissue and raffia before heading out to South Haven to drop of the belated birthday gift. However, when we got there his parents were out, so we took a little walk on the beach.

How about a little picnik collage action.
We headed back up to the house where we met with his parents and then went out for dinner in town. We hung out at their house for a bit before heading home. We had a super cute little Sunday planned, which will be in the next post and hopefully a layout or two to post as well.

2011-06-23T02:13:00.003-04:00

watching : Angel Season 2
reading: Charlaine Harris's Dead Reckoning
eating: kettle cooked popcorn
drinking: Diet Coke
wearing: Tiger's t-shirt and grey pj pants
feeling: insecure and a little defeated
weather: stormy and humid
wanting: a full-time job and a little financial security
needing: to see my boy and some sun tanning by the pool
thinking: Maybe it is time to pursue something else
anticipating: True Blood Season 4 starting this Sunday

Hopefully be back with some pictures from the weekend.

2011-06-20T15:28:00.007-04:00

Also Available for sale: Buzz and Bloom Assorted Embellishments
A mix of alphas and embellishments in acrylic, laser cut chipboard, fabric (denim and cord), and 1 mirrored embellishment. Includes 1 5-page laser cut chipboard album.

Price: $25.00 plus shipping (Priority small flat rate USPS box is $5.20)
Send inquiries or best offer to Cobb809@aol.com
**No internationals.

Just found new stamps to sell as I am tackling cleaning and organizing the scraproom:

(SOLD) 5 piece stamp set from Fortune Cookie (Feb. 09)-$6.00
(SOLD) Ledger Circle Stamp from Marketplace (Nov. 09)-$3.50
Date Stamp from Continental (July 10)-$2.00
(SOLD) Polaroid Stamp from On the Easel (Oct. 10)-$5.00
Globe Stamp from Metropolitan (Dec. 10)-$3.50

I have lots of old Creating Keepsakes and Scrapbooks, etc magazines and idea books if anyone is interested...

2011-06-18T12:55:00.004-04:00

Studio Calico Stamp Sale is in this post.

For this layout I lifted this one by Kelly Purkey. I used some older October Afternoon "Fly A Kite" and "Thrift Shop" along with some Hambly Doily rubons, Cosmo Cricket alphas, textured cardstock background, and the notebook paper.

I used the current Dare as the prompt for my title and journaling. You know, I have this book from way back when. I should pull it out and do a few. Anyway, the pic is one of the wedding pics and I was struggling with a title for it. I stumbled across the post about the challenge and it totally clicked. Because of him I made it through that night for more reason than one, but in a larger sense because of him a lot of parts of my life are better.
Here are a couple close up detail pics.

Today will include some time at the pool with a wordsearch book and sunscreen. Tomorrow is Father's Day and I made my dad the coolest card. I can't take all the credit for it, but I'll post that tomorrow.

SC Stamps for Sale!

2011-06-17T17:38:00.015-04:00

I am selling the following Studio Calico Stamps.

* None of them have been used unless noted.
* No international sales.
* Paypal payment only method of payment accepted.
* Stamps will be mailed via USPS, unless you order more than one, and then shipping will need to be added to mail them via a padded oversize envelope.
* Contact me at Cobb809@aol.com

(SOLD) Photos Mini Stamp Set from Fountain Square (Nov 08)-$3.50
(SOLD) Lace Border Stamp from Center Stage (Dec 08)-$5.00
Pinwheel Stamp from Soda Fountain (June 09)-$3.50
(SOLD) Spirograph Stamp from Over the Rainbow (Aug 09)-$3.50
(SOLD) Frame Mini Stamp from Cotillion (Sept 09)-$3.50
(SOLD) Doily Border Stamp from Baker's Dozen (Feb 10)-$5.00
Cherries Mini Stamp from Quilting Bee (Mar 10)-$3.50
Doily Mini Stamp from Granny's Cupboard (May 10)-$3.50
Sunburst Mini Stamp from Partly Sunny (June 10)-$3.50
Oblong Journal Block Stamp from Summer Camp (Aug 10)-$3.50
Journaling and Stars Stamp Set from Whodunit (Jan 10)-$5.00 (one star has been used once)
Harper's Ruler from Back 40 (Sept 10)-$5.00

JUST ADDED:
(SOLD) 5 piece stamp set from Fortune Cookie (Feb. 09)-$6.00
(SOLD) Ledger Circle Stamp from Marketplace (Nov. 09)-$3.50
Date Stamp from Continental (July 10)-$2.00
(SOLD) Polaroid Stamp from On the Easel (Oct. 10)-$5.00
Globe Stamp from Metropolitan (Dec. 10)-$3.50

Thanks!

2011-06-13T17:30:00.002-04:00

I am on my first week of summer as of today and finished cleaning out my classroom this morning. Unfortunately, my position has been cut down to .4, which is only 2 classes. Sadly, that isn't enough to pay the bills, so I am back on the job hunt to find a full time teaching job for next year. Not to be a downer, but I am feeling so defeated. I am about ready to give up on teaching, but I don't know what else I could or would want to do. Any prayers for a quick job search would certainly be appreciated.

I tried not to think about it too much this weekend as I enjoyed spending time with my boy. We had a nice little weekend out his way. After work on Friday, I headed out to his place. We popped out for a quick bite to eat then stopped at his store to do a little apartment shopping. He got some things for his new apartment that I helped him pick out. We headed home to curl up on the couch and watched a little On Demand.

Saturday afternoon, we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to spend a gift card he had gotten from my parents then stopped in at Pier One. I got these really cute little rocket shaped popsicle molds that we plan to make a little more adult friendly for a house warming party. Then it was time to head home and get ready to meet up with some friends, pictured below, at the Rockford Fest. we met up at The Corner Bar to have some food and drinks in the beer tent.

I would say I for sure had a little loo much to drink and definitely paid the price for it on Sunday morning. I was very slow moving and we had to meet up with his parents and sister that afternoon for lunch too. I finally got my act together and we met them at Clementine's in South Haven where his parents live. It was the first time I met his sister, though it was only for about an hour or so since she had to head out to work. We went back to the parents' house after lunch and spent the afternoon and early evening looking through baby pictures, chatting, playing some lawn golf, and snacking. Matt and I headed home just in time to start watching the NBA Finals and see the Dallas Mavericks win the title.

I headed out this morning to finish up things at school and had myself a little cry to my mom. I don't really know how much longer I can go through this with the job instability. I am blessed to have a really supportive family though, who I know will be there for me to help me through this rough time. Hopefully, my next post will be with some better news.

2011-06-04T09:16:00.008-04:00

Last week my very good friend got married and I had the honor of standing up as one of her bridesmaids. She was married at the Jefferson Marina with a reception on the Infinity boat. Unfortunately, I had to work a half day since we are in exam week, so it was a mad rush home to get done up.

The girls all met at MGM downtown to get ready.

After some pictures around the hotel, we loaded up on a limo bus to head down to the marina.

Nicole was walked down the aisle by her grandfather who raised her.
After the ceremony, we took some more pictures around the marina. I got a couple pics with my honey, who looked so very handsome and was such a good boyfriend for me. While I was at work, he went to my parents' house to pic up my shawl, then stopped at a liquor store to get some alcohol for the bus, then stopped at Target to get me a new black shawl. I was a little afraid of looking like Barney with my purple dress and green pashmina from my sister's wedding! The boat ride was a little long for me. I had a headache all day and it only got worse stuck on a boat with loud music and rocking. Here are a couple pics of me and my honey with the Canadian skyline behind us. That is Windsor on the other side of the Detroit River.

Sigh, he is so handsome!
Anyway, I have two half days left of school and then my new full time job is finding a new full time job. Yay me! Any prayers for a more stable position are appreciated. I can't wait to pull out of that parking lot on Friday and drive straight to y boy's house for a much needed hug and snuggle. Here is to a fun and, hopefully, new-job-for-next-fall type of summer.

2011-05-17T15:39:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was my friend's bachelorette party, and we celebrated with a girl's night out to Royal Oak. My boy was in town visiting, so while I was out with the girls, he had a man-date with my sister's husband. We ended up picking them up since they were in Royal Oak too and in need of a ride home.

We started out at one of the bridesmaids houses for a little Pure Romance party with food and drinks.
Then we all piled in the limo and headed out to a local bar for a quick drink.
We then headed out to Royal Oak first stopping at Luna. It was way too crowded for comfort, so we picked up the boys and headed out to Ferndale to make a stop at Boogie Fever. Soon enough, it was time to head home. It got me thinking about my own bachelorette party. Though I will be 32 this summer, I'm not sure I am quite ready to be married, however, for my own bachelorette party I would like to do something a little more low key. Maybe a day at the spa and then a nice dinner out. If I had any kind of money, I would love to go to Florida for a long weekend and lay by a pool to relax. Actually, I would like to do that anytime!

Not much scrapping going on around here lately and probably won't be till school is over. I am in the last push to the end of the year. This is the last full week of school. The next two weeks are 4 day weeks with Memorial Day weekend and then it is exam week. I can't wait till June 10th!

2011-05-04T18:09:00.005-04:00

Finished this layout this week of Matt and my date to the beach while I was visiting him over spring break. I used a combination of some BG Nook and Pantry, My Mind's Eye, and Scenic Route.

This was our last day together after a week of playing house. It was Friday April 8th. Matt had the day off, so we hopped in the car to go out for lunch, a movie ("Arthur"), the beach, and dinner. It was such a nice day and the beach was one of the most romantic dates I've ever had.

The cutest part was that Matt wouldn't take his shoes off. He didn't want to get sand on his feet because he would have to get every little speck off before putting his shoes back on. And I thought I had OCD! The day was mostly overcast, but by the time we got down to the beach, the clouds had cleared so we could see the sun set.
Here are a few detail pictures. I like these K&Co adhesive backed photo frames. I filled them with bits of patterned papers.
Busted out the deco edge scissors here.

The title on the journaling block is not an Ali Edwards stamp; it is a Bookman Old Style and Becky's handwriting fonts. Becky's handwriting was a free download some time back from CK.

I finally finished my Project 12 from this past December and am working on a post that has all of the layouts together in one post. I think that will be interesting to see them all together. i still need and album to put them in, however. Mother's Day is this weekend, so I need to get a card made and find out what the celebratory plans are. I am really missing my boy today. Long distance relationships stink!

2011-05-01T17:21:00.004-04:00

I am home from a weekend with my boy this past weekend. We were on a two weeker, which always stinks. However, i had a half day of work so I drove out there to help him look at apartments, which we only went to one. It is a really nice place, though a little smaller. All of the apartment buildings are situated around a lake with geese and swans. He will have a garage with remote entry, a full size washer and dryer, and a nice balcony. It is smaller than where he is now but it will be so much nicer. He is a bit of a messy kid, so I will be very happy when he moves because he has to do a very thorough cleaning out of junk. He will be moving memorial Day Weekend, so those are my Memorial plans.

Anywho, here's a 12x12 2 pager to share of Matt and my trip to the Frederick Meijer Gardens while I was on spring break. I used Basic Grey Nook and Pantry line and am pretty happy with how it turned out. You can see the pictures on this post.

Here are a few detail shots for ya.

My favorite part, other than the picture of my cute boy of course, is this little Maya Road window. I painted it and then topped it with Glossy Accents.It would seem that spring has finally decided to stay. Though it has been a very rainy one. it has rained every day for the past almost week. Unfortunately, my boy has to work this weekend, so we are on another two-weeker, which makes me sad. We did have a nice weekend, despite his having to work yesterday and today. Friday night we watched the entire season 2 of True Blood, though I fell asleep for the last three episodes. Which reminds me, the new Sookie Stackhouse book comes out on Tuesday. Got to pick that up.

Saturday he closed and I graded papers till he got home. We popped out to Bar Louie for a drink and some food. This morning we watched a few episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer before we both had to take off. I am on a Buffy kick right now and am trying to make it through all seven seasons.

Um, I guess that is all I have to talk about for now. I have a busy weekend coming up. I have to buy shoes for a bridesmaid dress, buy a housewarming gift for my boo, probably do some grading, spring cleaning, and cleaning out some drawers, and vacuum out my car.

2011-04-25T23:51:00.006-04:00

I know it is late, but I just can't sleep. I have been so stressed, came home with a headache due to lack of caffeine, took a nap, started to grade some papers before realizing that the students did terribly on the assignment but it has been sitting on my desk for so long it isn't even worth recording or having them redo it, and the number on the scale was not friendly this morning. I just have such little motivation to keep up on grading these past few weeks. My ears are all plugged up from allergies I am assuming, and my boy told me he has to work this weekend, so I won't get to see him but for a little bit on Friday night and Saturday morning if I want to drive out there. If I don't, then I go three weeks without seeing him. Bummer. I need a hug big time.

So to cheer things up a bit around here, how about a layout to share. I finished this one this weekend using pictures from our Boyne Mountain trip over St. Patty's Day Weekend. This one uses the Continental kit from Studio Calico.
Here are a couple detail pictures.
I really liked the corrugated alphas, however, they didn't stick very well. Hence, the stitching to secure them a little better. I could have done a whole lot more journaling on here, but decided to just go with a couple strips. I really like to have a whole block of journaling on a layout to fully capture the story, but I think i was just being lazy here. I do have it typed out on a blog post with the pictures, so maybe that will get printed out and attached to the back at some point. Anyway, that's all I have to share today. I am just counting the days till June 10!

2011-04-24T22:26:00.006-04:00

Another holiday has come and gone and all I have to show for it are these egg dying pictures. A good friend of mine and her fiance of four years broke up recently and she was feeling very down. So I brought her over to my parents house for a little white pizza dinner and some egg dying with Lisa and Tony.

We dyed 2 dozen eggs, but being a slow scrapper, I am also a slow egg dyer. I think I did a total of maybe four eggs. Dad drew the "Humpty Dumpty" face on this egg above dyed by mom. Surprisingly, none of mom's eggs turned out brown this time! She happens to think that if pink looks good, it will look better with blue. If those colors look good together, then they'll look just as good with yellow, and green. Pretty soon her egg is brown : (

These are two that I did, blue and green. Mom and dad surprised Lisa and I with an Easter basket surprise. We got these really great lunch bags that are insulated and come with plastic ware. We also got candy, some scented hand lotion, and the cutest little stuffed lamb. It is super soft. I was slow moving this morning, however, so I missed breakfast of crepes and Canadian bacon. My ears were so stuffed I could barely hear much of anything this morning, but I seem OK now.
We played a round of Aggravation before realizing that dad never pulled the chicken from the freezer to fix our dinner, chicken Marsala. We ended up having Pei Wei for Easter dinner. Nothing says resurrection of Christ like Chinese food! We also played a few rounds of Monopoly Deal. Lisa won two games and I won one game. Me winning a game is actually pretty unusual. Tony claims to have won the round of Aggravation, however, the judges are still out on whether his last role was legit! Ha ha! After dinner we had some pie from Achatz Pie Company before heading home for the evening. It was a good weekend of scrapping, as you'll see in upcoming posts. I had a bunch of grading to do, but I procrastinated for need of a grading break. I have some time this week before I head out to Matt's to help him apartment search, which should be fun.

2011-04-23T10:55:00.002-04:00

Another layout to share today. This one uses one of my favorite Jillibean Soup lines, however, the scalloped background paper is Crate Paper.

The picture is from Matt and my Valentine's Day. I told him he needed to do some good wooing, and he did a great job! I went out to visit him, since we had plans to have dinner with another couple friend of his. He wouldn't tell me any of the plans, just that I should dress up a little bit.

When I arrived, the wooing began with a really thoughtful gift. He bought me a pink loofah for the shower at his house. Might not seem like much, but it meant he wants me to be comfortable there. I had bought him a blue one for my house the month before. He also bought me three bags of Sour Patch Watermelons and 2 liter of Diet Coke, two of my favorite treats. He also got me Season 1 The Ricky Gervais Show. We started watching this one weekend he was out to visit me, and despite my terrible taste in TV, it was one show I liked that he liked as well. I got him a pair of UnderArmor sweatpants and this little book titled Ten Little Zombies: A Love Story. We both love zombie movies and this little book is so cute and so us.

After gifts, it was time for part 1 of our V-day. We arrived at the movie theater where Matt had, day's earlier, purchased tickets to see "Gnomeo and Juliet". I was excited because I wanted to see this movie since I was teaching Romeo and Juliet.

After the movie we went out to this really nice restaurant for a light dinner and drinks. I had a lobster bisque soup and Matt had some seafood pasta. We saw the waitress walk by with this martini glass with cotton candy, which looked very intriguing. So Matt ordered me one. The glass of cotton candy then has the grape martini mixture poured over top and the cotton candy melts down into the drink. It was delicious! I would have kept the picture in color to see the cotton candy better, but the restaurant was pretty warm, plus drinks make my cheeks red, and so I was looking really flushed.

Overall, my boy did some good wooing. He kept our date plans a surprise, planned ahead by buying the movie tickets, and bought me thoughtful gifts.

2011-04-22T13:05:00.002-04:00

I had a night out last Saturday for a friend's birthday and it was the first time my friends were meeting my boy. He got the stamp of approval, obviously because he is awesome. We went to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen where Matt and I shared a white pizza with bacon. We went down to downtown Royal Oak to get some drinks. Everyone wanted to leave to go to this other bar I didn't really want to go to, so Matt and I decided to go to some other bars around Royal Oak, but everywhere had a line or was way too crowded for my liking. So he headed home, picking up White Castle on the way. Matt had never had it and the poor boy had such a tummy ache the next morning. We laid in bed till about 4pm, watching TV, grading papers, searching apartments on the laptop, and eating pizza and cookies. My boy got to stay over Sunday night since he didn't have to work till Monday afternoon. I, unfortunately, had to get up early for work leaving my boo snuggled up.

Sadly, I don't get to see him this weekend because he has to work. So tonight I am coloring eggs at mom and dad's house and then celebrating Easter at mom and dad's on Sunday.

Here's a layout to share about our first date. I have posted this picture before I think. On our first date, a week after having met at my sister's wedding, I went out to Grand Rapids to visit him. It was a Friday night. I don't really remember why I had that day off. When I arrived he had plans for us to go see a movie and go to dinner. We went to see "Skyline" and then went for dinner at Rockwell's, which is where we spent our New Year's Eve. We enjoyed some delicious sushi and sticky chicken as well as a few drinks. I remember talking about our families and old drunk stories. I wondered if maybe that was all we would ever have to talk about and if he was still stuck in the party phase. Our first few dates always ended up in conversations about crazy things we had done when we were drunk. I knew he was a fun guy, but I was well past that stage of my life and was sort of worried if that was all that there was to him.

After dinner we went to a few bars around downtown Grand Rapids and met up with a few of his friends at one bar who were hilarious to watch, however, they were a whole lot younger than me and younger than him. This just added to my concerns about where, if anywhere, this could go. After a few drinks, we decided it was time to head home.

Saturday morning, we went out to breakfast at this little restaurant called Marie Catrib's, this little hippie, organic place. I ordered a Diet Coke, however, they didn't have Diet Coke, but this little local brand I guess it was. It definitely wasn't as good as Diet Coke, but I liked the bottle it came in. Without really even thinking about it, I pulled out my camera and took a picture of the bottle. He looked at me and said, "Did you just take a picture of the bottle." "Uh, yeah," I said. At that point I decided that I would make a little confession. "So...I like to scrapbook," I said. He actually responded in the positive and thought my picture taking was pretty cool. He then admitted that he is a gamer, meaning he likes to play online computer video games, like World of Warcraft. "Oh, no," I thought. I had flashbacks of my ex who spent the last three years or so of our relationship playing that game. It got to the point where we would be hanging out but in separate rooms because he was so addicted to it.

I hung out for a little while on Saturday before heading home. I was definitely interested in this guy. He was fun, cute, good kisser, polite, could keep a conversation going, but his apartment was a disaster, he had never had a girlfriend for longer than six months, and he seemed to still be in the party phase. I didn't want to go for another party boy because I had done that for the last six years and it didn't work out too well. Lucky for me, it has been five months and we are still together. His life has changed with a more demanding job that doesn't allow for so much going out. He told me the reason he hasn't had many girlfriends is not because he can't get them, but because he hadn't met anyone who could hold his attention or he thought was worth his time. So for the past five months we have taken turns visiting each other on weekends and have made the most of our time together doing lots of fun things. He accepts my quirks like being a little blond at times, my OCD with picking up, my stress about money and work, my bad taste in TV shows, and my scrapbooking. He has seen a few of the layouts he has appeared on and always praises them. He likes my sentimental heart and makes me feel more special and beautiful than anyone else ever has.

And so here is the first date layout using Granny's Cupboard, an old Studio Calico kit.

I have two other layouts waiting for some journaling, a 2 pager of the butterfly date looking for some embellishments, which is always the most difficult part for me. I have to get going and get some grading done on this gray and rainy Good Friday. Happy Easter.

2011-04-13T19:58:00.008-04:00

I have a quick 8.5x11 layout to share. I used the Napa Valley kit from SC (November 2010) and a photo strip of mom and dad from Lisa's wedding back in November. The title, "All Because Two People Fell in Love", is from this wall hanging that I saw at Matt's parents' house last week. I wanted to add some journaling, but with the page being mostly filled, I didn't want to clutter it. I think these flowers are my new favorite embellishment to make. I watched this tutorial and it was so easy! That's all I have for today. Off to watch America's Next Top Model.

2011-04-10T12:46:00.003-04:00

Got bored last night and made a little digital page using Scrapblog. Does anyone even use this site anymore. All the shops that used to have digital elements to buy were gone, like Cosmo Cricket, Hambly, Crate Paper... Finishing up the last of grading papers today. Grading should be a snap this week with the start of the new quarter and no looming deadlines, although I did give out a few Incompletes to students who didn't turn in essays or projects before the end of the quarter. However, I decided that they should have to do the paper/project to learn to be accountable. if they don't do it, they don't pass the semester, despite passing next quarter. It is going to be 80 plus degrees here today, so I have the doorwall open and the nice breeze coming in. It is a little overcast, but there is still some sun coming through, so that makes me happy. Looking forward to skirts and flip flops again, working on my tan this summer by the pool, and making more memories with my dearest.

2011-04-09T19:21:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was my last day with my boy and we had the most romantic day together. We went out for lunch at Zoup! before heading to the movies to see "Arthur", which was really good. My little sweetheart got a little teary-eyed at a couple parts. We went by his new store, where he will be starting on Monday. I am so excited for him. Then we took a short road trip out towards his parent's lakehouse in South Haven for a walk on the beach, which was super romantic. It had been cloudy all day, but by the time we got to the beach in the late afternoon, the sun was parting through the clouds.

Romantic though he he is, he wouldn't take his shoes off for fear of getting sand on him that he would have to leave on himself till we got home :) I took my shoes off and relished digging my toes into the sand, even if it was a little cold.

I am really happy that he isn't weirded out by my wanting to take tons of pics of stuff. He actually came up with the idea for the second picture here where we are kissing like two little Dutch kids. We walked a little more, hand in hand and talked about camping on the beach this summer. I am not normally a camper, having only been once. So, I am really looking forward to sleeping under the stars with my boy.

Here's a little photo collage of our time at the beach.

We headed back to his parent's house and stopped at a little restaurant called Clementine's where I tried an onion ring for the first time in my life. I have to say it wasn't terrible, but definitely isn't at the top of my list.

On the way home, we stopped at Walgreen's for some Alkaseltzer and water. My honey had a stomach ache from too many sodas and food. We also picked up a Red Box movie, "Life as We Know It". I of course fell asleep on the couch before we headed to bed.

I had such an amazing week with my honey and am now dreading going back to work on Monday. It is a long haul towards the end of the school year. I just finished ordering pics and sketching out some layouts for a first date layout, Valentine's day layout, beach layout, butterfly layout, and a Boyne weekend layout.

2011-04-07T11:25:00.038-04:00

I am on spring break this week and have been spending my days at my boy's house. Though he had to work, I was able to get a lot of grading done. I had a four inch thick pile of essays to grade and so far have made it through three classes worth of papers and have one more to finish before Sunday. grades are due on Monday. On Sunday, April 3rd, Matt planned the cutest and very romantic date for us. We went to the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids. The butterfly exhibit was open, so we headed there for a rainy afternoon. I got some really awesome pictures as you'll see below. Expect to see these on a layout coming soon. Afterwards, we headed to the movie theater to see "Sucker Punch" on IMAX. It was awesome! Great soundtrack too. After dinner, we went to grab something to eat at this little restaurant called Twisted Rooster. It was a really nice day and so good to spend some quality time with my boy doing stuff together. Anyways, on with the pictures.

There were a couple spots throughout the exhibit where you could see the butterflies actually hatching from their cocoons.

The botanicals in the exhibit had really funny names, like those below.

"Old Man Palm"

"Sausage Tree"

Also, throughout the exhibit there were these little dishes with nectar in them, which is where the butterflies drink/eat.

We spent a lot of time around this little part of the exhibit. There was a little waterfall and I got some really good pictures.

The stars of the show were these beautiful blue butterflies called "Common Morpho" from Central/South America. They would fly around a lot then land on a leaf but keep their wings closed. You had to stand there for ten minutes or more before they would open up so you could snap a picture. I got a bunch so obviously I was patient, but this one turned out the best. Here are some other butterfly pictures. I used the 1960's function on picnik on this one because it reminded me of my Mamie, who loved butterflies. She had butterflies on all sorts of things in her house, like dishes, dish towels, clothes, scarves, and jewelry. She had this rhinestone butterfly broach that I inherited when she passed away. My mom had the rhinestones replaced in it because some were missing and I have worn it a few times.

This one is called "Postman" from Central/South America, but Matt and I called him "Jerk" because as soon as he landed somewhere and I would go to take a picture, he would immediately take off.

This one is called a "Moustache Butterfly" because of the red on it's wings. I really liked the way this picture turned out.Also, in the exhibit were these Chinese Painted Quails. Here is a little photo collage from the butterfly exhibit portion.After visiting the butterflies, we went into this other room that had carnivorous plants.

So I used picnik to put together this little collage of the scary plants.

There was also a little art exhibit going on, and though you were not supposed to take pictures, I snapped this little picture of a heart shaped from a bale of hay. So cute. The artist's name is Jim Dine. The boy has tomorrow off so we are planning to go see "Arthur", which hits theaters tomorrow. I am headed back home on Saturday to get ready for heading back to school and am really anxious to get some the ideas in my head about some scrapbooking going. Luckily, Matt understands about my scrapbooking. After the Meijer Gardens he told me, "I know you're going to scrapbook these and try to hide it from me, but I really want to see." I sort of feel weird with him seeing my scrapbook pages because I try to put really honest journaling on them and being sensitive and vulnerable isn't a part of myself I am entirely comfortable with him knowing about me. It might be the thing he likes most about me, but since trust doesn't come easily for me after my past relationship and my heart is pretty tender normally, I am just worried about letting him get too close. Though I have really strong feelings for him, it is hard to entirely let my guard down. So I guess hiding my scrapbooking is one wayI try to protect me heart. I don't want him to think it is weird of me, though he has expressed several times he doesn't think it's weird.

I haven't forgotten about posting the break-in news I have or that long to do list. Update on that coming soon and hopefully a layout or two.

2011-04-02T10:54:00.003-04:00

Almost done with Project 12 2010. Here is November's layout. I sort of blended together a few sketches for the design to work with my pictures. Most of November's pictures focus on Lisa's wedding. The keys are for my new car and the pop bottle is from my first date with the boy. We went to this little hippie restaurant for breakfast and I ordered a soda. I thought the bottle was pretty cool and decided to take a pic. This is when i confessed to him that yes, I am a scrapbooker. He was totally cool with it and confessed his own little idiosyncrasy; he plays World of Warcraft. I am pretty sure that is way nerdier than scrapbooking.

Here are some detail pics.

So I am officially on spring break as of 2:30 yesterday, but there will be no rest, well a little bit of rest, for this English teacher. I have a stack of Romeo and Juliet essays and Huck Finn projects that is 4 inches thick to grade between now and April 10th. In addition, I am headed out to Grand Rapids tomorrow morning to spend some time with my boy. Though he still has to work, I will get my grading done during the hours that he is gone. We have some plans to go to Meijer Garden to see this exotic butterfly exhibit, so look for pictures of that coming soon.

December's Project 12 is underway and I have some layouts done and just awaiting me to order some pictures.

I need to take a pic of the moss wreath I made for the front door and share that here for Michelle.

I did a rough cleaning out of the closet this morning and need to get the clothes to mom and dad's house for donation.

I also have a plan to do some paper shredding as soon as I get some time.

Clean out the scrap room and get rid of stuff I won't use.

I have letters to send to some old students they wrote five years ago, but need address labels and stamps to update postage.

I need to do a thorough cleaning of the house in preparation for warm weather and open windows.

Some plants are in order for the patio.

Books need to be read-Jodi Picoult's Sing Me Home and the new Sookie Stackhouse book due out in May.

Finish the fleece blanket that has been sitting on the couch since end of last year sometime.

Lose a little weight so I don't look like a troll at the pool working on my tan this summer.

How's that for a to do list!? Looks like I better get going on some of this.

I also have some really exciting news that I will share in an upcoming post related to the robbery from last year. I just need to take care of one little thing.

2011-03-21T20:06:00.003-04:00

I had an incredible yet painful weekend this past weekend.

On Thursday, St. Patrick's Day, I headed out to see the boy right after work. We popped by a friend's house to celebrate with a few green beers and making jello shots for our weekend away. These were the coolest jello shot contraptions I have ever seen.

Friday morning, the boy and I ran some errands and had lunch out before meeting up with the rest of the group to head up to Boyne Mountain for Crazy Days weekend. It was nearly a 4 hour drive, but we made a pit stop for some libations and a bite to eat.

We made it to the lodge Friday night and commenced the drinking and jello shots! We also had a little hot tub time. It was an early morning to go rent our boards and pick up our lift tickets. We posed for a quick group shot before hitting the slopes.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT an athlete by any stretch of imagination and don't pretend to be. So, I was nervous that I would make a fool of myself and/or seriously hurt myself. I also didn't want to hold the boy back from enjoying snowboarding himself. As I guessed, I was terrible at snowboarding. I could not control that board what so ever! I spent most of the two to three hours that I tried flat on my bottom as evidenced below.

God bless my boy's little heart because he didn't laugh at me at all and tried so hard to help me, but it was no use. I finally threw in the towel. I went back to the cabin for lunch and drinks while the boy and the rest of the guys hit the slopes on their own.

Sadly, I had to say goodbye to my boy on Sunday to head home for work on Monday, but he will be heading out here after work on Friday for some cuddle time.

I have the pics sitting here to get my November and December 2010 Project 12 layouts done as soon as I get some time, but the end of the quarter is upon us and that means that swamped with grading and will be so through spring break with Romeo and Juliet essays and Huck Finn projects.

2011-03-12T14:52:00.002-05:00

A Million Memories message boards are back! Towards the end of last year the website was hacked and all of the message boards, the gallery, and the store were deleted. After much time and work, the store is back up and open for business! And there is a new social networking site here!

This site is even better than before because you can connect your facebook and twitter sites, upload videos, as well as the traditional gallery and message boards. So come on by and sign up! I look forward to chatting with everyone again!

2011-03-11T16:57:00.002-05:00

I had a really great weekend last weekend. I met Matt out in Grand Rapids for a hockey game on Friday night, after which we popped across the street to a local bar for some drinks. Saturday afternoon, we went to Mongolian BBQ for lunch, stopped by Target for some snacks and Matt picked me up the new Jodi Picoult book, then to the movie theater for a double feature of Rango and Take Me Home Tonight, both of which were really cute movies. We picked up The Other Guys from Red Box and ordered a pizza for dinner before passing out on the couch from all the strenuous activity of the day ;)

Sadly, I had to head home Sunday afternoon and don't get to see my boy this weekend since ha had to work, but we will be together next weekend for a ski trip to Boyne.

In other news, I finished a layout today thanks in part to an unexpected snow day. I used the Studio Calico Anthology line that I had been hanging on to for awhile. The lovely design is a scraplift from Keisha Campbell, whose designs are helping me get back to scrapping again.

Here are a couple close up shots.

This weekend will include dinner and a movie with the little sister tomorrow night and tonight is a single girl date night, just me, a movie, a glass of wine, and one of dad's chicken pot pies for dinner I think. Have a great weekend!

2011-03-04T12:48:00.002-05:00

Ugh, what a morning. I woke up to roads that were a sheet of ice and school hadn't been called! I was driving no more than 30 miles per hour in a 55 area and sometimes as slow as about 5 miles per hour. In about a four mile stretch, I passed by about 5 or 6 accidents, bad ones too.

My usual route, M53 was closed so in following a detour, it took me about an hour to only make it half way to work. I usually have a 45 minute drive. I called my Principal, who told me to just turn around and head home because they were probably going to send the kids home early. I wished he had told me that before. So I had another hour drive to turn around and head home. However, I get to see my boo today, so I can't complain too much. I got home, ate the lunch I had packed for today and scrapbooked a little bit using some Studio Calico Anthology papers. I have such a stockpile of scrap stuff to use, I think I could go a few years without buying anything but adhesive!

Plans for the weekend include heading to Grand Rapids and a local hockey game and then going to see Rango tomorrow. I am headed back out the door in about a half hour. The roads are much better now, since it is above freezing, nearly 40 degrees, but I am still going to take my time. I can't afford an accident! So stay away from my car crazy drivers!!

I will leave you with this canvas messenger bag by Donna Downey that uses the latest rubons from her new release. Love the quotes! It is my new school bag and I just love it!

Have a great weekend!

2011-03-03T12:04:00.002-05:00

Here is another layout I completed this week. Since I haven't scrapped in awhile, I needed some inspiration. So, this layout is lifted from a layout by Keisha Campbell. I liked how she incorporated the photo strip into the design instead of making them the center. I made the design mine with the embellishments and various patterned papers. Most of them are from the December 2010 Studio Calico kit, with the exception of that camera paper, which is from the Studio Calico Documentary line.

The photo strip is from my sister's wedding. She had a photobooth there and used those along with a little plastic slip cover for the photostrips as her wedding favor. Everyone really loved the photobooth. She got a copy of all of the pictures and had them put into a special book where everyone could write her a little note.

I am pretty sure, this is our first kiss, and it was caught on film. I could be wrong because I was a little bit drunk by this time : )

I am feeling the scrapping bug again, and I like that I am taking my time with layouts instead of cranking them out to finish design team assignments. I was thinking of trying out for Jillibean Soups design team call but have to think about it some more. It would be fun to have something to work on over the summer, but for the next few months as school finishes up, I am pretty busy.

I'll be back next week to share a card I made for a special someone and my Donna Downey canvas bag.

2011-03-02T16:50:00.002-05:00

Oh my gosh! She scraps! I am finally getting caught up on Project 12 from last year. The end of the year got way too busy too quickly and I got behind. So here is last October's layout. I didn't take many pictures, but if you recall from previous blog posts, it was the month I got robbed. In an update on that issue...The jackass was sentenced last month. He received 12 days in county jail, 1,300 dollars in fines, 2 years probation and, here's the biggie!, 2,300 dollars in restitution! Not sure how I get the money or how long it will take, but I ma happy to know I will, at some point, be able to replace my ring.

Anyways, here is October's Project 12 and some closeups.

I hope to get November and December done pretty soon too. I took pictures and have some journaling. I just have to put it together. I am not doing Project 12 this year, though it was a fun project. Instead I am going to do a year in review type layout. I have this Studio Calico paper from December of 2009 that is sort of like a calendar type page. I am going to include 1-2 little index size pics from each month as the months go and a couple lines of journaling. I did pick up 12 of the KI Memories calendar pages at my LSS a couple weekends ago, but since I am already behind on this year, I think I'll save them for next year.

I have another layout and a card to share as well as a Donna Downey canvas messenger bag to share but I wouldn't want to overwhelm you after no craftiness for so long.

2011-02-14T18:17:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentione's Day to me! I spent the weekend with a very cute and sweet boy. I got some super sweet and thoughtful gifts, went to see Gnomeo & Juliet, had a nice dinner with a cotton candy martini, and was then surprised with a flower delivery at work.

2011-02-09T20:01:00.004-05:00

It's been a minute since I posted, but I have just been so busy with work and other, that I haven't been on the computer at all unless it is to check emails or post grades. So here is a "currents" post as a quickie update and a couple pics of the "other" so you know what I'm talking about. I am going to make an effort to take more pics. I haven't had time to scrap really since the fall and I am really wanting to, but have no time.

listening: Adele "Rolling in the Deep"
eating: Sour Patch Watermelons

drinking: Diet Coke
wearing: sweatpants and a hoodie
feeling: anxious

weather: too freaking cold, is summer coming soon??

wanting: it to be Friday already!

needing: a back/foot massage and to take more pictures

thinking: I need to do some laundry, but I'm too lazy.
enjoying: life, despite the stress

wondering: what my Valentine's plans are

On to the "other" : )

Top 10 pictures of 2010

2010-12-20T13:12:00.005-05:00

In no particular order:
1. Myself and Elizabeth Kartchner at CHA Anaheim 2010. This picture made its way onto many a layout.

2. The bridesmaids for my sister's wedding-November 2010.

3. My totalled car-November 2010.

4. Soda ;)

5. Me-October 2010.

6. Nicole and me going to see Sex and the City II-May 2010.

7. Father's Day-June 2010

8. Got a job after a year and a half on lay off-August 2010.

9. My birthday pic-July 2010.

10. One of the last pictures of Dolly who passed away in June but this picture is from May 2010, I think.

2010-12-20T09:41:00.000-05:00

2010-12-13T20:11:00.006-05:00

You'll notice some changes over there on the sidebar. I am officially done with my design team commitments and am taking a break from scrapping for awhile. For many years it made me very happy and I enjoyed it very much, but it slowly grew to become a chore instead of a hobby I enjoyed. I have to find other things that make me happy again.

Anyway, that is the babbling that is on my mind right now. I have four days left of work before Christmas break. I am not sure yet what my plans are for the extra time I will have on my hands. I know some paper grading will be going on, sleeping in, getting together with girlfriends I haven't had time to see, and celebrating Christmas with the family, which has grown by one in the last month.

2010-12-05T17:55:00.000-05:00

2010-11-28T20:04:00.000-05:00

2010-11-24T21:20:00.002-05:00

So based on the pictures below it may not seem that I have any luck, however I am very lucky to have not been hurt. Driving to work last week, on the opening day of deer hunting season, I was driving along minding my own business when an oncoming pick up truck hit a deer. The front end of the deer ran straight into my drivers side fender. As our two cars were passing each other the deer was then trapped between the two cars and it proceeded to bounce down the entire driver side of my car.

I immediately hit the brakes and thought to myself, "Why me!?" I looked and could see the fender and hood were messed up but thought, "OK, I can deal with that. I needed to get the hood fixed anyways." I go to open the driver's side door, which won't open. "OK, it is the hood, fender and driver door. I can deal with this." I crawl over the driver seat and get out on the passenger side. The damage is pretty bad, but it was nothing compared to the rest of the car which was covered in blood, guts, and hair. A large tuft of which was stuck in the door jamb.

It is at this point that I start to freak out trying to control my gag reflex. The pick up truck who originally hit the deer continued to drive away. Obviously they had no insurance or didn't care about their car. Who is a girl to call in an emergency? You would think the first call would be 911, but in my neck of the woods, 911=dad! He answers the phone while at the dentist and I begin to somewhat calmly tell him,
Me: "I'm ok, but I might have a bit of a problem here."
Dad: "What happened?!"
Me: Well, I hit a deer and the car is pretty bad."
Dad: "Are you ok? Where are you?"
Me: "It's bad. It's really bad. Really, really bad. Oh my God, it is really bad. I have to go DNR is here."

Being the first day of opening season, DNR was on patrol and stopped to help me. They had me get off to the side of the road, get in the car to stay warm, and called the police.
DNR: "Are you ok?"
Me: "Yeah, it is really bad."
DNR: "Did you call 911?"
Me: "No, I called my dad of course."

Dnr proceeded to remove the dead deer from the road, which had basically been torn in two by the two cars and was pretty much in pieces all over the road.

I waited there with DNR till the Sheriff got there to take a report. In the meantime, dad is blowing up my phone trying to get a hold of me since I hung up on him when DNR arrived. In the meantime he left mom an ominous message. Never a good idea to do to mom. She was calling me too, so I answered her call before she had an out of body experience.

I had to get to work because I had no sub plans and my car was mechanically ok I thought. In the meantime, dad leaves the dentist to meet me at my school to follow me to the body shop where I was informed that it was pretty much totalled.

Body Shop: "That was just one deer? This is bad."
Me: "Don't say that! Say you can fix it."
Body Shop: "We can fix it but insurance might total it."
Me: "Don't say that! Say you can fix it!"

After dropping off the car and contacting insurance, dad took me to get a rental car, which was a terrible little roller skate of a car. In addition to this drama, I nearly wrecked the rental car on Friday when I was driving to work and a crazy minivan driver ran me off the road forcing me to hit the curb, thus bending the wheel beyond repair and breaking the hub cap. I had to continue to drive the rental car, bent wheel and all to work and then over to Kimberly Tire to buy a new hubcap and wheel to the tune of $108.00! The whole time I was pretty sure the wheel was going to fly off and I would die.

Great week I had last week, huh! I now have a brand new car that is in my name and is all mine. The last of the ties with the parents is cut (with the exception of insurance for now). I got a 2010 Ford Escape which is super awesome. And it might be tight making payments right now. I could have gotten something cheaper, but since I plan to hold on to the car for a long time I wanted to make an investment in something that I will love for a long time. The sunroof, 6 months of satellite radio, and 17 inch chrome rims didn't hurt either. I'll post pictures of the new ride soon. Friday I have to go get my auto start installed!

In addition to the new car, my luck is also turning around in the home invasion case. Antoine Brown was arrested today!!! It looks like the universe is finally having some mercy on me. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am so thankful to have a dad who doesn't complain when it comes to bailing his daughters out of a jam. He spent all of last week working on insurance, getting me a new car, getting the rental fixed, car shopping, and comforting me. I don't even want to think about what my life would be like without him.

2010-11-18T11:49:00.001-05:00

2010-11-14T18:44:00.002-05:00

Just sharing some random photos from the past few weeks.

Random picture of a carved apple one of my students gave me on Halloween. Very clever, however, I wish he had been doing his homework instead of this!

This one is from my sister's wedding day-her bridesmaids. We had mimosas all morning while we got our hair and makeup done.

From this weekend. Visited Grand Rapids area. ; )

Lastly is Project 12 for September. I am a little behind. My October page is in the works even though is is mid November. I haven't been taking many pics the past couple months since starting work, but September involved Arts, Beats, and Eats with Laith Al-Saadi, starting the new job, and Lisa's Bachelorete party.

A few detail shots. Broke out the eyelets.

I went to see Due Date with my dad this morning. Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis are hilarious. I highly recommend it. Don't ever name your baby Rosie Highman. It is just asking for trouble.

I will hopefully have some Elle's Studio and special manufacturer sponsor projects to share pretty soon-ish. That's all for today. I am super tired today, so the couch, leftover pizza, and a movie ala Edward Cullen are looking pretty good right now.

2010-11-01T17:01:00.002-04:00

Happy November! Last year at this time I began the little project below. I spent the entire month documenting things I was thankful for. I taught this as a free online class for Treasure Book Creations. Each day I had a prompt for participants and I also responded to the prompt. At the end of the month, I had this little mini book of my thoughts and thankfulness. So I thought I would break it out again and just read through since I don't have the time to do it again this year.

I used Cosmo Cricket papers and a 4x4 Jenni Bowlin mini album. Then I sewed this little canvas bag together to keep the finished album in.

You can see some pics of the inside right here and here. Anyway, I am off to the couch to grade some papers.

2010-10-31T11:02:00.002-04:00

Just sharing a couple pics I took a few weekends ago. I haven't been taking many pics this past month. There just hasn't been too much activity in my life that isn't me sitting behind the desk grading papers or on the couch grading papers.

I found this leaf as I was stepping out of my car one day and I loved that it was a perfect mottled combination of fall colors. We had a week where temps were in the 70-80s and so the sun was shining and the grass was still green, which i thought was an interesting color contrast with the leaf.

I set the timer and posed in mom and dad's backyard with my leaf in hand. Mom and dad's yard don't ever really have too many leaves. According to mom, trees drop leaves so the trees have to go. Back when they bought the house, they had nine trees removed from the yard. There are still 5 trees there though.

I am off to mom and dad's house today to pack gift bags for Lisa's wedding next weekend and get a little grading/planning done tonight. Have a great Halloween!

2010-10-30T20:11:00.002-04:00

I have no energy to be on the computer much these days. I have been getting a little scrapping done in between grading papers, planning, and meetings. The 1st quarter ends this Friday, which means I have made it through 25 percent of the school year. I had my first evaluation this past week and it went really well. I was very excited to get some positive feedback.

On the break in front, the person who did it has been identified and a warrant has been issued. It is just a matter of time before he gets picked up. The perpetrator is looking at a felony count of home invasion and there is a chance I may get some restitution. After the detective found out who it was, he checked pawn slips and happened across one with the guy's name on it the day of my break in. When he called the pawn shop to recover my ring, they informed him that it had already been sent out to be melted down since they could get more money for it that way as opposed to selling it. It is so heartbreaking, but I am a firm believer that what goes around comes around.

On a happier note, how about some Elle's Studio layouts!

This first one uses a picture of my sister and her fiance from their engagement photo shoot. On a side note, the wedding is this weekend and I am so nervous!

Here is my second layout for the month. I used lots of little scraps to piece together the banner style design at the bottom there. this pic is from last fall when I went to the cider mill with the family. Didn't quite make it to the cider mill this year, but that's ok. I could easily do without a doughnut since I have to squeeze into that bridesmaid dress this Saturday.

Here are a couple of detail shots.

This last one used last month's A Million Memories kit and the sketch I designed for that month's challenge.

I hand stitched part of the title here. I have been wanting to try that out and it turned out ok. I used an alphabet template from Oriental Trading.

I also have a finished Project 12 for September I need to edit photos of and a couple other fun Elle's Studio layouts to work on. By the way, Elle's Studio is having Design Team call. the deadline is November 15th. I totally encourage you to try out. Elle is great to work for and so generous. Check out the blog for more details.

Since I have been so busy with work stuff I have stepped down as the Marketing Manager for A Million Memories and the lovely Jennifer Longenecker has taken over those duties as well as the blog. I am sure she will do a great job. It just got to be too much with trying to do my own stuff, work stuff, see my family, see my friends, and keep up on work. I feel a little more free now and less stressed that I might be letting people down.

I have a little Hambly banner I made that I also need to show off in an upcoming post if I can get my butt back to the computer sometime soon. Thanks for continuing to stop by!

2010-10-03T15:01:00.002-04:00

I have loads of scraps to share today that aren't necessarily new ones, just ones I haven't posted here. I admit I have been a bad blogger, but life has been quite hectic since the new job started last month. Pretty much everyday after school is spent planning, grading, or in meetings. By the time I get home I am exhausted and have just enough time to fix some dinner, check my email, watch my tv programs and then it is time for bed.

The biggest pain in the ass this week was that my apartment was broken into. The thief broke the lock on my doorwall and stole some jewelry out of my jewelry box and pulled my checkbook out of the cover, but stole no checks. I have since closed that account and am in the process of opening a new one, which means setting up all my online bill payments and what not all over again and ordering new checks. The worst part is that one of the rings that was stolen was more valuable than all of my jewelry put together. It was a gift from my dad a couple Christmas' ago and is meant to be a family heirloom. My mom has the same ring and so does my sister. the fact that it is gone is what bums me out more than anything. I am getting it replaced, but it will never be the ring my dad got me. I can't replace the sentimentality of it.

The stupid thief also had the nerve to go in my fridge and steal a case of beer!! It makes me think that maybe it was some kids. the first officer who came didn't look around very much. Mostly because when he was there the only thing I noticed that was missing was the ring and the checkbook having been tampered with. I think he figured I misplaced it. After he left, I started to notice more and more things. I also noticed handprints all over the bedroom window and the doorwall. So I called the police back and they dusted all the prints and got some pretty good ones.

I have since had the locks changed and dad came over to put wooden dowels in the windows as well as additional locks. I am so good about locking things up and keeping my blinds closed and am just so heart broken that this happened and that my ring is gone forever.

So on to scrappy news. Here is my layout for last month's Project 12 using the Studio Calico kit-Summer Camp. It is a pretty simple one.

Hambly recently sponsored the A Million Memories Design Team and here are two layouts I created. I am also working on a banner but haven't had time to finish it off just yet.
"There Is Nothing Sweeter" - this layout uses the Studio Calico kit "Baker's Dozen".

And then there is this one using one of my favorite lines ever-Dear Lizzy paired with the cupcake transparency, a camera rub on, and Hambly's woodgrain clear alpha stickers.

"This Girl Is Crazy!"

I also had some layouts for the Elle's Studio gallery last month. this is not the best picture of this one at all, but I used one of the new date tags and another journal spot layered on top. this one uses the Studio Calico-"Back 40" kit.

"Shower."

Last but not least is this one documenting my summer playlist using Studio Calico's "Summer Camp" kit and some Elle's studio date tags and a journal spot for the base of the sun up there.

"Summer Playlist"

I guess that is all I have for now. I have several meetings after school this week and a whole lot more papers to grade so I better get a move on if I want to go to bed at a decent hour tonight. Have a great week!

2010-09-20T15:59:00.003-04:00

Sorry about going private there for a minute. Anyways, I am back and have some fun scrapping to share with you after this rant about the new job.

So when I interviewed for the job it was only a .8 (not quite full time) and then when I was offered the job I was offered the job as full time, which I heartily accepted. then because of a board decision the job dropped back down to .8. I was bummed, but tried to remind myself that I was going to take the job anyways at a .8 before the possibility of full time was even mentioned.

So now we are starting the third week of school and this past Friday my former district called me and offered me a full time position at the high school. It would be a significant pay increase not to mention the full benefits. Right now I have to pay kind of a lot to get the full benefits. It is well worth it but still is a chunk out of my paycheck.

If my former district had called me just two weeks before it would have been a no brainer. Going back would be about a 10,000 dollar increase in pay and little to no paying for benefits. You can imagine my predicament. I have already started the school year in a new district and was torn.

I spent the weekend mulling it over and in the end decided that the stress I went through with being transferred, laid off, called back, laid off and laid off the past year and a half wasn't worth the financial gain. I just don't have the confidence in my former district that they won't lay me off mid year again.

Time will tell if I made the right decision. Mom says that she thinks maybe God was testing me to see if I would go for the money or if I would stay where I am at for love of my job. And honestly, i don't know if God tests us, but if so I certainly hope I passed and made the right decision. I like the students and the school where I will be and I like that I am getting to teach an Honors level class. I have been invited to be a part of the school improvement committee and I feel like this school will provide me with more opportunity to grow professionally.

So there it is...I have put it in God's hands and hope that I made the right call.

Last weekend, I had my sister's bachelorette party in Put-in Bay, Ohio and that was a pretty awesome time. I would love to go back when it is more the season for the craziness of Put-in Bay. Here are a few pictures I think I would be allowed to share.

So I will be back soon to share some scraps with you.

2010-09-06T11:16:00.002-04:00

Thanks for all the comments and the emails I received congratulating me on the new job. I am still sort of in shock and am really nervous about tomorrow, the first day of school. I know my previous post was lacking in details but here is how things went down.

I interviewed on Friday the 27th of August. I felt the interview went pretty well but you just never know. When i interviewed the job was only a .8 which means I wasn't quite full time. So the weekend goes by and on Monday afternoon I got a call from the Principal asking how I would like to come work for them. Of course I agreed and said, "That would be fantastic!" He then said, "I have more good news. How would you like for it to be full-time?" I was over the moon excited and of course agreed. So i jumped in the car after screaming one loud excited scream shedding a few tears and immediately calling my mom to go sign my paperwork.

The family and I went out to a celebratory dinner that night. But it was early to bed for me since I would be participating in some professional development starting the next day. I was told I would be teaching at least 1 section of history which had me pretty excited. I minored in American history but other than student teaching 8th grade social studies, I haven't had the chance to teach it yet.

My first day at the actual building was on Thursday. This is when I found out that the board did not approve a person for the athletic director position which meant that the classes I was going to be teaching in lieu of that person teaching them was no longer a possibility. Needless to say a lot of politics that I am not aware of ensued the night before and as a result my position dropped back down to .8 instead of full time. So basically I teach 1 less class than a full time teacher. That was pretty much a bummer to hear, but I had to look at it that i was willing to take the job when I thought it was only a .8 and it is still more money than unemployment was paying. And it may become full time next year.

So as it stands I am teaching 2 sections of 9th grade English and 1 section of 10th grade English and 1 section of 10th grade Honors English. I am pretty squared away with the curriculum for the 9th grade English class but have no clue what the 10th graders do. I need to write a syllabus and my grading policy out but can't really do that for the 10th grade class. I can't get into Powerschool so I have no clue what my schedule even is! All I know is that I have my classroom set up, cold Diet Coke in my classroom fridge and a regular paycheck. As a matter of fact I already got paid this past Friday and let's just say I am so excited to break up with MARVIN on Wednesday. "MARVIN, it isn't you; it's me. It was fun while it lasted but you didn't think this would be forever did you? I know you feel used, but let's be honest it isn't like you haven't been seeing lots of other people behind my back anyways!"

So on to the celebration! Friday night I went down to Arts Beats ad Eats with a friend. It was ridiculously expensive but it was worth it to see Laith Al-Saadi. My spinning instructor introduced me to his music and he is awesome! He studied jazz at U of M and I am telling you, he was killing that guitar.

After the show I bought myself his newest CD and my friend took a picture of me giving this rock star a kiss on the cheek!

I met a couple cuties down there but my friend and her boyfriend killed my action!

Saturday night I enjoyed a fun game night over at my sister's house. Super Mario Brothers on the Wii is a killer. Sunday we had family dinner over at the parents' house-filet, shrimp dijon, asparagus with hollandaise sauce. Now that is my type of cook out! Later we played some more Wii at Lisa's house. I am enjoying my very last day of summer freedom today and doing some things to get ready for tomorrow.

Those of you who know just how long I have been unemployed and know how much I have struggled, I thank you so much for all your words of encouragement and prayers. It has meant so much. About a year and a half ago my whole life fell apart. I had a job, a boyfriend I thought I would marry, a place of my own. And having not moved out on my own till I was 28 years old really made me feel like my life was finally coming together. In one month I was laid off, the boyfriend broke up with me, and I was looking at moving back home at the age of 30. I was pretty sure I was being punished for something. I tried so hard to keep the glass half full and enjoy my life despite the setbacks, but it was a battle. Often times I felt like I was trapped in this glass box and life was going on all around me, but I wasn't able to participate.

I can't tell you the weight it has been off my shoulders to finally be back in the classroom and to not have to stress about money nearly as much. I think I will always stress about it until I get to the place where my career is pretty stable. I splurged a bit too much this past weekend and bought myself some new clothes, something I haven't done in quite awhile.

So to close, thank you so much! As my Mamie always said, "This too shall pass."

2010-09-04T18:18:00.000-04:00

2010-08-30T19:38:00.004-04:00

The Elle's Studio gallery for this month is live and here are the projects I created.

First is this layout using a picture from Father's Day. I used some papers leftover from The Granny's Cupboard Studio Calico kit. From Elle's I used Vintage Family Flashcards, Date and place Strips-brights, and Chic Note Tags.

Here are some close up shots.

Here is my second and favorite layout of the two. It is sort of my birthday layout. I used the Continental kit from Studio Calico paired with some Basic Grey Basics paper. My favorite part is the over sized tag I made from some kraft paper. From Elle's Studio I used Date and Place Strips-pastel and A Sweet Summer Scallop Circle Tags

Here are a couple close up shots.

And lastly is this quick card I created which found its way through snail mail to my mom's friend who gave me some much needed birthday money! I used A Sweet Summer Mini Papers and Cut Outs: Baby Labels. I am loving these cut apart labels. They are perfect for cards.

That's all I have for now, a big announcement coming soon once I have a good picture to go along with it.

2010-08-23T11:49:00.004-04:00

This weekend we had Lisa's wedding shower and I think it was a pretty good party. Things went really smooth, mostly due to my mom's master party planning skills. It was really beautiful.

We gathered at mom and dad's house for a little photo op before heading over to the restaurant, so here is the happy couple, Lisa and Tony

A whole family shot.

Then just dad's girls!

The bride and mother of the bride. Mom and Lisa had the cutest shoes on!

The theme for the shower was sort of an extension of the wedding. We had green and white flower arrangements on all the table using white roses, seeded eucalyptus, and mini hydrangeas.

The cake shop Lisa is ordering her cake from created this sort of sample cake for the shower using our theme "The Perfect Pair". Lisa's wedding colors are pear green and chocolate brown. The cake was delicious!

We got Lisa this little pear ceramic cookie jar that everyone put a recipe in. With the invitations we sent out these recipe cards for everyone to fill out and then they dropped them in the jar when they came to the shower.

There is always time for another photo op! You can see the green and cream tissue paper balls hanging here. There were a bunch more hanging her once we were done setting up. Dad and I had a "great" time fluffing these all up on Saturday afternoon.

These are Lisa's bridesmaids, Tony's sister, her sorority sister BFF's, and me.

Since my dad's side of the family doesn't get together too much anymore, we took the opportunity to get a girl cousin picture. I wish my hair had been in front of my shoulders for these pictures.

Then we put all the women from the Findlay side of the family together centered around dad. These are his sisters, his nieces, my mom, and his daughters.

The boys went to get their tuxes fitted while the girls gossiped and opened presents. I had my sister's friend taking pictures during the gift opening but they didn't turn out to well. We played some cute games too. Of course there was the gift BINGO, but we also had these fun scratch off lotto type tickets. If you got the prince charming you were a winner. We also played "Who Knows the Bride Best". We had a little survey for people to fill out as they mingled. It was a three way tie among Lisa's sorority girlfriends. Then we gave away some prizes if you traveled the furthest, were the first to arrive, had a birthday closest to the bride, an anniversary closest to the bride and groom's and then stickers under the chairs to give away the table arrangements.

Lisa got some really great gifts and I think she had a good time celebrating with her friends. We have the bachelorette party coming up next month, dress fittings, and then the wedding in November.

On a side note, I did a little too much partying last week. I think I was drinking 5 out of the 7 days and am sort of paying for it today with a slight cough and a sore throat. I do have to get some errands done today and then have step class later. I was missing in action from working out last week completely so I have to get back on track this week and get down to the business of finding a job. Not that I haven't been looking, but I need to work some contacts big time. School starts in like 2 weeks and I will just cry if I have to sub again.

2010-08-19T09:53:00.002-04:00

My poor little blog has been so neglected this summer. It honestly isn't that I have been all that busy either. Well, maybe a little busy. A lot of time has been spent at the pool, at the movies, or going out. In the past couple weeks I have been to see Dinner for Schmucks, The Other Guys, and Salt. The Other Guys is definitely a DVD purchase I will be making. I also got together with some teacher friends to do some scrapping.

I am probably the most tan I have been since I was 24 and I worked as a camp counselor and I hung out on the beach all day with the kids and then went tanning after work.

Not much happening on the job front. I have put in applications everywhere I can find an English teacher posting. But with school starting soon I am losing hope.

Scrapping related, I completed a couple layouts with the August A Million Memories kit and I will have some Elle's Studio layouts to share soon too.

This is the second layout I made with the kit. The picture is of Lisa and I at our first spinning class, hence the title.

I made a little spinner to go along with the title using the little pointer sticker from the October Afternoon sticker sheet. I used the Cricut to cut 5 same sized circles, 4 from paper and 1 from chipboard. I then quartered the patterned paper circles, inked the edges and adhered the pieces around the chipboard circle. I punched a hole in the middle and glued a brad to the sticky side of the pointer sticker. I thought the spinner needed a little more definition so I cut a 3.5 inch scalloped circle using the Cricut, but you could use a punch or deco edge scissors and cardstock. I then inserted the brad through the punched hole and voila, a homemade spinner. It does actually move when you flick it because I adhered the whole thing using pop dots.

Here's the first layout I created based on an idea I saw on Write, Click, Scrapbook some time ago. I typed up the story of how I was named and put it on the tag tucked behind the photo. the design of the layout is also based on the monthly sketch/challenge going on right now through the 21st at AMM.

Here are a couple of detail shots.

Here's the journaling if you want to read. Yes, I know there is a typo in there. I tend to have dyslexia when I am typing either on the typewriter or the computer and I didn't catch this one until it was too late.

I will be back soonish with Elle's Studio layouts, some Hambly layouts, and pictures of the lesbian birthday party I am going to tonight! Yes, you read that right! Plus a new me with a new hair do since I am getting my hair done today for the first time since like January.

2010-08-10T10:40:00.002-04:00

Here is my Project 12 layout for July. The left side looks a little dark but I think that is because the pictures are a little dark. I don't like this one as much as last month's layout, but whatev.

Here are a couple close up shots.

That's all I really have for today. Tonight I am going with mom and sister to shop for wedding and shower jewelry.

2010-08-09T11:35:00.004-04:00

I had a pretty fun filled weekend. Friday night I went to dinner and to see Dinner for Schmucks with a friend. I am pretty sure I embarrassed myself laughing out loud so much but the movie was hilarious.

Saturday morning I woke up and went out to the Willow Run airport in Belleville to watch the airshow, Thunder Over Michigan. I have never been to an airshow and I had no idea what to expect. It was pretty cool to see all these old historic bombers like the ones pictured below.

The one just above here, "Memphis Belle" is the one from the movie of the same name. It was the first heavy bomber to complete 25 missions. I wondered why it would have swastikas all over it but apparently those represent each German plane that a gunner shot down and a swastika was painted by that gunners window.

So we checked out the old historic planes and then the show began. I had heart palpitations each time those planes took a dive or did a flip, especially this one plane that shot straight up and then the engine stalled out, on purpose apparently, and as it floated back down, the engine flipped back on and he swooped over the ground.

Here are a few pics I took. I wish I could have gotten some pics of the fighter jets breaking the sound barrier but they were a bit too fast and not to mention extremely loud!

I had to hold on to my heart as these planes were flying straight at each other!

Afterwards I headed out to catch the UFC fight and for a few drinks before heading home to sleep in my clothes! I spent yesterday recuperating on the couch and working on my Project 12 layout for July.

Today I updating online resumes-fun stuff-and doing laundry. Be back soon.

2010-08-07T08:53:00.001-04:00

2010-08-02T16:05:00.003-04:00

I haven't been taking too many pictures the past month. Not sure why. I had stuff going on, I just haven't been thinking about picture taking.

This was sort of a rough month on lots of fronts. It started off pretty strong. I celebrated my 31st birthday, which I blogged about, but I had to get a fun pic of me at "31".

I went to see Twilight with my friend Steph and Grownups. I had a couple of interviews that didn't pan out, which is disappointing. I will seriously jump if I don't have a job for next year. I am signed up to sub if all else fails. I am struggling to find the faith that God has the perfect job in store for me and will put me where He needs me. If He could just give a little hint about the plan so I could stop worrying that would be fantastic.

I spent a bunch of time at the pool get sun burned and then tan. I am more a peachy color now than stark white. I have been working out and going strong with that. At last weigh in I was down to 124 and I have a little cut of arm muscle happening. I haven't seen that since 1997.

I got together with a friend who I haven't seen in 6 years. It was great to chat about our lives and catch up like no time had really passed. She is still pretty much the same crazy person and good friend. She listened to me lament over boy trouble and job woes.

Summer school is wrapping up its second and last session. I will be in full on job search mode this month. I can't tolerate this game anymore. Here are a couple pics taken by the pool to finish off this admittedly boring post. I have pics to order, Project 12 layout to put together, some Elle's Studio projects to work on, and laundry to fold. Hopefully I'll be back soon with some scraps to share.

In the meantime I appreciate all the encouraging emails I get with regards tot he job search. I know there are people out there in a lot worse positions than me, but I don't live in their worlds. I live in mine and no job is pretty much the biggest stress in my life. So thanks to all who email prayers and encouragement.

2010-07-24T13:16:00.002-04:00

Here are a couple layouts I did with the July AMM kit. I already shared one which was based on this month's design team challenge sketch.

This first one is my birthday layout. I got a Fuji Instax mini camera for my birthday and dad had me take a picture of my cake, so I used that picture on my layout.

I have been lacking in the scrap inspiration deprtment these days, so this one is based off of a reccent Pencil Lines sketch. It was perfect for this little photo.

This one is my favorite. I really like to do these kinds of layouts. I think they will be fun to look back on someday. This one uses mostly the My Mind's Eye papers.

I die cut the butterfly from several pieces of patterned paper and then layered them for some dimension and so the butterfly looks to be flying off the page. I then backstitched a little flight pattern for the butterfly.

The pictures were just copied and pasted straight from the Internet.

Anyways that's all I have for today. I have an Elle's Studio layout I started working on last night that I am really liking so far. It is a rainy afternoon here so I am going to enjoy some couch time.

2010-07-23T12:00:00.000-04:00

As promised here are my layouts for my first Inspiration Gallery at Elle's Studio. This first one is a picture of my friend and I when we went to see Sex and the City back in May. I sued October Afternoon thrift shop papers along with one of the Pieces of Life Journal Tags, a Date & Place strip, and cut in half a Granny's Doily Circle Tag that you see behind the flower there.

Here are a couple close up shots.

Next is this 8.5x11 layout. I really like doing these size layouts, but I need to get the appropriate size page protectors for them. I sued some brown cardstock behind some Cosmo Cricket Coordinations cardstock. The pink punched strip is a Studio Calico exclusive paper. I punched some flowers out of scraps of October Afternoon paper and stitched them down so they sort of cascaded across the page.

The picture is the feet of all of my family+Tony (who is family anyway so I guess he doesn't need the plus sign) taken on the 4th of July in the backyard at my parents house. I love that they get that I take a lot of pictures and weird ones at that. Though I haven't been much for picture taking these past couple months either. I need to get myself out of this slump or whatever it is.

Elle's Studio product used include; Date & Place strips in pastel (love these!), Sweet Stitches Note tags as the title block, and one of the A Sweet Summer Scallop Circle Tags underneath a die cut flower.

Here are some close up pics.

Last but not least is this quick little birthday card I put together using some old Cosmo Cricket "Early Bird" paper and a tag from Cut Outs: Birthday. I know exactly who this one is for too.

So that is my gallery for this month over at Elle's. I just got all the new calendar pieces in the mail this week and if you haven't seen them, you for sure need to because they are so cool and there is so much variety and lots of possibilities. You can check them out here.

2010-07-22T18:42:00.002-04:00

I'm still here, just busy. Summer school started its second session this week and I have been playing a bit of catch up with planning and grading. I've been going strong at spinning class and was down to 125 as of Monday. I had an interview yesterday for a high school English teacher job, and although I didn't get the job I think it was preparation for a job interview that I have on Monday. I am crossing my fingers and all other possible body parts for this one. It is with a really good district.

I have some Elle's Studio layouts to share, but I think I will save them for tomorrow. I have two AMM July kit layouts here waiting for journaling, but I honestly am not feeling all that inspired to scrapbook the past few months. I don't know what it is. I just can't find the motivation. I have been checking out all the sneaks of the upcoming product to be released this coming week at CHA and am so bummed I am not going this year. It is so much fun and I know the AMM girls always love to read my CHA blow by blow accounts. I make them nervous as I write down funny things they say or do.

Well, I just got home from class and am pretty stinky, so I am going to go shower, fix some dinner, and crawl into bed to watch some tv. I only got about 4 and a half hours of sleep last night and am exhausted. I just wanted to pop in and say hi.

2010-07-18T13:24:00.003-04:00

I had a pretty fun day yesterday. A friend came over and we laid out by my pool for about three hours. I got a little but of sun, but was sure to put the sunscreen on so we didn't end up with a lobster situation as before. We had a good time talking about boys and jobs or lack thereof. As we headed back to the chars to get our stuff this guy had plopped down by our stuff and as we start to put our cover ups on he says, "Was it something I said?" He offered us a beer from his cooler but we had to politely decline. We decided to go hit up a local roof top bar for some drinks and something to eat.

Rum Runners were on special so we sucked down a couple of those. I whipped out my Instax camera and asked the server to take a picture.

These guys at a neighboring table were pretty intrigued by the camera and actually offered me $100 for it right there on the spot. I didn't sell it but I took a picture for them, for which we earned ourselves a free drink.

We started talking to them and it was so cute that they thought my friend and I were either their age (25) or younger. I politely thanked them and said, "You're cute, but no I am a bit older than that." I don't know why but I have heard it so many times that people think I have an accent. Even local Michigan people think I have an accent. One of the guys pointed it out and asked where I was from. I told him Sterling Heights and he asked, "No, originally." He thought I must be from Northern Michigan because I round my o's a bit too much I guess. Then I broke out the Jersey accent, which is always a crowd pleaser. I personally don't think I have any accent different from any one else around here, but if they say so. We talked to this guy the most. Can't remember his name though. He got his tooth knocked out playing hockey and has this retainer thing with a fake tooth in it until he goes in for his root canal surgery to have a fake tooth put in.

We left there and headed over to another local bar where we met up with my friend's fiancee and his friend and date. More Instax pictures were taken, but I let my friend keep them. This camera will for sure be going to the bar with me more often since it seems to draw so much attention.

Well, that is it for today. I am vegging on the couch. Going to go watch "When in Rome" and prepare for the start of summer school tomorrow. In the mean time, be sure to stop by the Elle's Studio blog for sneak peeks of the upcoming July Inspiration Gallery.

2010-07-17T12:19:00.002-04:00

I've had a pretty boring week this past week. Thankfully I go back to teaching summer school on Monday so that gives me something to do each day. The week started out on a sort of weird note. Monday afternoon as I was leaving to go to the gym, I turned to lock the door behind me and noticed a wooden beaded rosary hanging on my doorknob. I was a little freaked out when I looked around and noticed no one else had one on their door. I threw it in the doorway and went off to the gym. It looked like these religious bracelets I have seen a lot of Chaldeans wearing so when my neighbor got home, a young Chaldean girl, I asked her if it was hers or her boyfriends. Maybe they dropped it and someone thought it was mine and hung it there. But she said she had never seen it before. So now I am thinking someone is watching me and wanted to let me know that I needed some Jesus in my life or something.

Before going to bed that night, I made sure all the doors were locked, the stick was in the sliding glass door, my cell phone was charged in case of emergency, and closed all the blinds.

The next morning I went next door to ask my other neighbor if she knew anything about it and the mystery of the beaded rosary was solved. She found it lying on the sidewalk by my door and thought it might be mine. She hung it there and meant to say something but by the time she got home I was gone. We decided maybe it was a maintenance person or cleaning person and she was going to turn it into the office.

Wednesday I cleaned my mom's house and then went to see Eclipse with a friend. I used be a team Edward kind of girl, but I think after this film I am on team Jacob. He had his shirt off pretty much the whole film, which makes me happy. There is this one scene where Edward is dropping Bella off with Jacob so he can go off to hunt and Bella will be protected. He pulls up on the side of the road to meet Jacob who is standing by his car in just shorts and some shoes, muscles nice and tan. Edward says to Bella, "Doesn't he own a shirt." So funny!

Thursday I vacuumed out my car over at my parents' house. It was in dire need of it. I love the feeling of a clean car. Then I went to spinning class. The workouts have been going really well. I was down to 127 when I weighed myself the other day. I would really like to get down to 115. Keep in mind that I am only 5 feet tall, so that really isn't that skinny. I weighed 96 pounds when I graduated from high school. So I think 115 is a good weight for me.

Last night, I had a friend come over and we shared some beers and pizza while watching Frank Caliendo stand up. Only two or three beers will totally put me to sleep and I think I was asleep by like 12:30.

I have done a little scrapping this week. I have two Elle's Studio layouts to share once the gallery goes live, and two AMM July kit layouts to share if I can get the finishing touches put on them today. No exciting plans for tonight either. Probably a hot bath, a good movie (When in Rome) and early to bed. I have to do some lesson planning tomorrow for the 2nd session of summer school. Things on the job front aren't shaping up very well either. I have applied for all the English teacher jobs I have found, but no calls for interviews yet. Hopefully August is a better month for postings and what not since most administrators are on break the month of July. One posting I applied to this week, I got an email back saying they had like 350 applicants for this one part time teaching position. This whole not having a full time job thing has been a great ride but I am really ready to get off now.

And because this post would be boring without at least a photo, here is one for you, a favorite quote I have been saying over and over to myself lately.

2010-07-12T13:50:00.003-04:00

So, I have a bunch to share today, some pictures, some layouts, some thoughts. I have been in a scrapping slump lately. I just don't really feel all that motivated to crank layouts out. I want to create ones that are meaningful and lately the only layout I have been looking forward to doing are my Project 12 layouts. And honestly, even those are tough to do because I haven't been taking many pictures. With that said, here is June's Project 12 layout. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. I like the bright colors and the stitched sun.

The 4th of July marked one month without Dolly. It was really weird. Lisa and I said it still feels a bit like a bad dream. Each time I open the door to my parents house, I have a quick thought in my mind that she is going to be there.

I think part of my scrapping slump may be because I have been actually going out and doing things instead of sitting at the computer. Friday I laid out at the pool with my sister and her friend Emily, despite the lack of sun. Notice the awesome tan lines there. Yeah, that is from the weekend before when I chose the hottest day of the year to lay out. Still a bit pink in the chest area. Gotta even that out.

So I have been busy teaching summer school, working out, hanging out with friends, and....dating someone. I haven't said much about it because it is pretty new and I don't want to jinx it. I am pretty scared to put my heart out there to get broken again. But I am smiling and that is something I hadn't been doing much of. It is nice to be with someone where I don't have to be worried about pissing them off or getting into a fight. But I am a bit of a self-conscious person so the new part of the relationship or whatever it is is always so agonizing. The whole "does he like me", "why hasn't he called me" thing really gets my mind in a twist. I would have taken a picture of him when we were at the Tiger's game, but I don't want to freak him out with the whole scrapbooking thing.

This past weekend I celebrated my 30-ish birthday by going out with a friend to Royal Oak. I figured the best way to get through the birthday was to drink my way through it. This is the only picture I remembered to take. I look a little bit sloshed here.

So I started at dinner with my parents, continued at Nicole's house, and then to downtown Royal Oak. We went to Woody's and O'Toole's. Mission accomplished. I am not exactly sure how I ended up out of my party dress and in bed at Nicole's but I did. I'm not going to lie, I woke up with the imprint of the stamp from my hand on my cheek. Pretty hot! Birthday gifts were super cute this year. I bought myself a pair of gray Tom's with some birthday money, mom and dad got me a white Fuji Instax camera and a gift certificate for the salon to get my hair done. Lisa chipped in on the gift certificate so I have a new do in my future. Hopefully this week, since I have one more week of vacay left before going back to summer school.

OK, so here are a few layouts to share. This first one is for the lss DT using some BoBunny papers.

And this one is for the July DT challenge at AMM using a sketch created by Tonya Dirk and the July kit.

I think I will try to scrap a bit today. I have an Elle's Studio layout to get done and some more work to do with the AMM kit plus I have exercise class tonight. Hopefully I will be back soon with some layouts to share and a pic of handsome if I get brave enough.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

2010-07-10T14:00:00.000-04:00

Elle's Studio Monthly Challenge

2010-07-06T11:53:00.002-04:00

My first layout is up on the Elle's Studio Blog for this month's challenge. The challenge is to create a layout based on the best part of summer and the best part of summer for me is the street fairs.

I used a Sweet Summer Scallop tag here behind my die cut flower and some paper punches to punch strips from a couple of the Sweet Summer Mini Papers.

I then typed up my journaling on one of the tags from the Sweet Summer Note Tags.

I am thinking of putting everything together from the Sweet Summer line into one of those Jenni Bowlin mini books to make a summer memories book at the end of the summer.

To enter the challenge, use at least one Elle's Studio products, upload your layout to the web and post a link to the challenge post by the 25th of July to be entered to win a $25.00 gift certificate to the shop. Isn't that an awesome prize! That's a lot of Elle's Studio loot!!

I will be back tomorrow to share my layouts for the lss this past month.

2010-07-05T10:32:00.003-04:00

Hope everyone enjoyed the AMM blog hop. The girls came up with some fun projects. Remember, you have until this Friday to get your project posted to the gallery and the contest thread in order to the Echo Park prize pack.

I know I have been a bad blogger these days. I have been spending less time at the computer and more time actually doing things like Friday night. I went to a Tigers game versus the Mariners. I don't know much about sports but it was cool to go. I haven't been to a Tigers game in ages.

After the game there was a pretty cool fireworks show on the field.

Saturday morning I laid out at my pool for only an hour and got a bit too pink. No one told me that Saturday was the hottest day of the year and that it was the one day of the year we are closest to the sun. Aloe Vera in hand I went with mom and dad over to Lisa's house for a lovely little cookout. Sunday morning, I cleaned mom's house and then Lisa and Tony came over and we celebrated the 4th of July. Dad made this weird little stuffed chicken number that none of us really liked, some corn on the cob and wild rice. Not your typical 4th of July meal, but this is the second year of our our non typical 4th of July. Since 1994 we always spent the 4th of July down at the lake, which I really miss doing.

I am on vacation from summer school for the next two weeks and I think I will probably be bored out of my mind with nothing really to do. I haven't really been feeling scrapbooking lately and I am not sure why. I am just not really in the mood. It is the first time in like 5 years. Maybe I am just a bit burned out. I do have some assignments to get done so hopefully inspiration will strike soon.

Today, I have some banking to do, pick up my prescription, maybe go get a pedicure with my mom and sister later, but that is about it on the agenda for today. Sounds real exciting huh? I do have my 1st Elle's studio layout to post, but I think I will save that for tomorrow.

AMM Blog Hop!!

2010-07-02T06:00:00.001-04:00

Happy holiday weekend! I know I have been absent from here for a bit, I jsut ahve some stuff going on. Anyways...in honor of the 4th of July and our new Design Team Members at AMM, we decided to put together an inspirational blog hop to help you get to know our new designers better and to give you some awesome inspiration this holiday weekend. Read below to learn the rules of the blog hop as well as about the awesome prize you can win for participating.

Welcome to the Blog Hop! The hop starts today, Friday July 2nd through Sunday July 4th. Each blog will be showcasing a different project inspired by summer and all of its glory! Hop through each blog to check out the instructions for creating each project, then choose a project to recreate. Post your project in the AMM gallery and in this thread! More than one project created earns you another chance in the random drawing. Please be sure that projects are created especially for this contest. Good luck!'>this thread. You will have until Friday July 9th at midnight to post your project to be eligible to win an Echo Park Collection pack, Sweet Summertime! More than one project created earns you another chance in the random drawing. Please be sure that projects are created especially for this contest. Good luck!

Here is the fun, quick project I cooked up for you. It is not quite finished and that is because it will be collecting lots of little bits and pieces and photos as the summer goes on.

Summer Travelogue

This project is sort of like a brochure in that it unfolds lengthwise accordion style. I will be adding lots of index and wallet size pictures to the pages and all kinds of memorabilia to the pockets like notes, lists, ticket stubs, receipts, tags, etc.

1. Cut 2 12x12 pieces of kraft or any other colored cardstock you choose to 8x12 inches.

2. Score each piece at every four inches across the width creating three equal sized panels.

3. You now have 2 8x12 inch pieces of cardstock scored every four inches. Using some adhesive of your choice (not too wet), adhere one 4x8 inch end panel to the end panel of the other piece of scored cardstock. You will then have 5 8x4 inch panels as opposed to six panels.

4. Now you are going to cover each panel with various patterned papers. You want to cut these patterned paper pieces just shy of the actual dimensions of each panel if you want to have the cardstock border show through. I trimmed my cardstock pieces to 3.75x7.5 inches so I had approximately a quarter inch margin all the way around. It isn't quite exact.

5. Now you are ready to decorate since you have the base of your project completed. Fold the travelogue up accordion style so you can tell what will be the cover page. For my cover I used a die cut piece of Creative Imaginations wood paper backed with some patterned paper. I used a small luggage ta layered behind a cardstock sticker. the alphas are the Making Memories bamboo letters from last summer and some letter stickers from October Afternoon. For a little added extra touch I used some glue dots to adhere a small strip of Tim Holtz filmstrip ribbon.

6. I also added some pockets that will hold journaling cards and other collected memorabilia over the course of the summer.

I can't wait to fill this baby up. Watch that you don't use a lot of bulky embellishments otherwise, when folded up, it won't look as nice.

Alrighty, your next stop on this inspirational blog hop is over to Jennifer Longenecker's blog. I hope this has inspired you to create something fun to document your summer!

Confessions from the Fitting Room

2010-06-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

I am sure the people in the other fitting rooms wondered what I was up to when they heard the snap of my camera, but as a scrapbooker we can't worry about what others think when we are engaged in some guerrilla tactics to get the perfect shot. Today I wanted to share with you a layout I did using some Buzz and Bloom chipboard and the corduroy sheets to make a custom made flower.

You can see here that I have added a custom made flower from a sheet of COR Patchwork Dotti - Avocado. I am not one to add a lot of product or embellishments to my pages so I like to custom make mine whenever possible, and I love to add fabric to my layouts to give them a warm homespun feel.

To create this type of torn edge flower follow these steps.
1. Cut two equal sized circles from the fabric. The larger the circle, the larger the flower will be. My circles were approximately 2 inches in diameter. I simply traced a roll of gaffer tape with a pen onto the fabric. Sharp scissors cut through the fabric easily. For a fuller flower, cut more circles.
2. Lay one circle on top of the other and fold in half, then fold the half circle in half again.
3. Using your sharp scissors, start cutting strips starting at the rounded edge towards the point but not all the way to the point.
4. While the circles are still folded, staple the pointed end. This will keep the two circles together once you unfold them and will add a little bit of dimension once adhered to the page.
5. Unfold the circles and add a center to your flower. I stitched a button to the center, but other items to add might include adhesive backed pearls, a rhinestone, a bow tied with ribbon, etc.
The flower will be imperfect and frayed but that is the point; it is custom made and the fabric adds a homespun feel.

Last thing to add was my title. You already know how much I love the Buzz and Bloom chipboard alphabets. Here I sprayed the CB Vette - lowercase alphas with grey metallic Maya Mist and then topped them with Glossy Accents.

Thanks for letting me share and I hope to see you cutting up some of those denim and corduroy sheets to make your own embellishments.

These Days I Am...

2010-06-24T14:01:00.003-04:00

I had an exceptional weekend. The best one I have had in a really long time. Friday night I was at Bar Louie in Novi then over to Lucky Strike for some drinks and games with some awesome company. I woke up Saturday morning to a cell phone that would not stop ringing and a dad knocking on the door like he is the police. Note to self, invest in text messaging.

Later in the afternoon, after a bit of cleaning and laundry, I went with my sister to go see her get a test run done on her makeup for the wedding. The girl had the cutest little Shih Tzu named Chloe that looked so much like Dolly, except for the crazy little overbite that Shih Tzus have. The dog kept jumping on my lap and trying to lick me. It really made me miss Dolly. Got home with some time to chill on the couch before heading out. Smiling feels good. I think it looks good on me.

So I have seen a few of these posts floating around the blogosphere so I thought I should jump on the train as well and list out my current faves.

Listening to: Carrie Underwood, Jason Castro, Christina Aguilera, and this song by The Script

Reading: The People of Sparks (for summer school), Eat, Pray, Love
Watching: Hell's Kitchen-Tuesday nights, So You think You Can Dance-Wednesday Nights, Moonlight-Thursday nights, True Blood-Sunday nights.
Eating: left over pizza
Drinking: Diet Coke
Wearing: a smile!
Feeling: satisfied
Weather: thunderstorms, about 80+ degrees.
Wanting: a massage
Needing: a pedicure
Enjoying: a rainy afternoon and hopefully some scrapping time.
Wondering: will something good finally happen for me?

Yeah! Big News!

2010-06-24T12:58:00.004-04:00

The announcement was made yesterday about Elle's Studio new design team and guess who one of those lucky girls is! I was so excited when I got the email!

I will be joining these fantastic designers. Be sure to visit their blogs and leave them some love.
Amy Heller
Anne Jo Lexander
Ann-Marie Morris
Lisa Andrews
Melanie Blackburn
Sheri Twing
Valerie Allen

I got my first package yesterday too and it is filled to the brim with all kinds of fun stuff to play with. I can't wait to get started. I am hosting a challenge come July 1st, so look for that soon!

In other news, I have this funny little picture to share. I started taking a spinning class with my sister who is trying to lose some weight before her wedding in November and she asked me to take it with her. Since I am in need of a little toning up myself I agreed. Well, the class was supposed to be a Monday, Wednesday class, but when we got there we found out the M/W class was cancelled. So we signed up for the T/Th class and decided to go back to her house to ride bikes outside. We rode a total of four miles, then I stayed over for dinner, Cobb salads. Anyways, we went into the class on Monday just to check it out and I snapped this quick pic.

Our first class was Tuesday and my goal was just to stay on the bike and not puke, which I accomplished. I didn't increases the tension as much as when the instructor said to, but I made it through 40 minutes of non stop spinning. We then had 30 minutes of stretching and weight lifting. The stretching felt really good.

Anyways, that is all I have for today.

Picture, Picture

2010-06-23T13:58:00.007-04:00

June has been a sort of slow month for picture taking. I guess I just haven't been feeling all that inspired to take pictures this month. Summer school is nearing the end of the 2nd week, so I thought I would get a pic of my friend Michelle and me together. Michelle and I shared a classroom until I was transferred to the other middle school. She is also a local scrapping friend. We did scrapbook league together this past fall. She is pregnant with her second child and is supposed to be due next month I think. She is just such a positive person to be around.

Here are some Father's Day pics to share as well. Dad and I woke up early on Father's Day and went out to breakfast, my treat. Dad loves to go out to breakfast. I'd rather sleep and wake up for lunch!

After breakfast, we had to clean off the deck. While I showered up, dad prepped dinner. Yes, it was Father's Day, but if we wanted to be able to eat it, dad was going to have to cook it. Mom arrived home from work, and then Tony and Lisa showed up. We played this really fun game called Monopoly Deal. It is a card game that is sort of a combo of Uno and Monopoly. It was only five bucks at Target and so worth it. I won the first game, then mom won, then Lisa won. Then it was time for dinner. We had a surf n' turf dinner of lobster tails and filets.

After dinner, I had Tony take a few father/daughter pics for me. We tried to be serious, but then...

we ended up with these, which will go perfectly with July's sketch and design team challenge at AMM (not yet posted).

Dad is so cute with his tongue sticking out.

I have no idea what Lisa was trying to do here.

Lisa's signature owl face.

Then we pulled mom off the deck to get a group feet photo. Mom's are the orange toes, which Lisa affectionately called mom's "trick-or-treat feet".

I think it was a nice relaxing day. I have a fun scrappy announcement to make tomorrow, but you'll have to tune in then to find out. I can't wait to share. I also have some layouts to share later this week/weekend too. Have a good one!

I've been away

2010-06-20T22:31:00.004-04:00

Sorry for my absence lately and all the prewritten posts. Just trying to deal with stuff. I do have a few things to blog about. Today was Father's Day but I will save the details of that for tomorrow when I have my pictures uploaded. I did however make my dad a card with the Jenni Bowlin Playdate papers and added in one of her old bracket die cuts in the 4x4 size and a bingo card. The inside has a pocket to hold the gifts I had for him.

I also finally finished this layout on Friday night, again using the Playdate line. I thought it went really well with these Sonic pictures. My journaling is on the little card behind the photo. I am not so happy about how the title area turned out though. Oh well.

Here is a sneak of a little project I am working on for the AMM blog hop that is scheduled though not yet announced to happen over the 4th of July holiday weekend.

I am patting myself on the back today because I really fought the temptation to instant message my ex boyfriend. I am feeling a bit guilty about how I just sort of walked away. There wasn't really any kind of conversation that yeah, we're both moving on. But we had broken up or taken a few days space so many times before, had these conversations so many times before over who hurt who first and they just went nowhere. I feel bad for how it ended but I don't feel bad that it is over. I mean, for six years I wished he would be the one, but we both just weren't happy. I am sure he is mad and hurt and has kinds of choice words about me, but I hope that in time he will see that me walking away wasn't to hurt him, but was to, as cliche as it sounds, set him free. One of us had to walk away and really stick to it. This was my decision for me and for him. We just weren't ever going to be happy together. The past six years were pretty strong evidence of that. I never wanted to hurt him and even now I don't hate him; I'm not mad at him. I just had to let go and move forward. As I wrote before, the love you have with someone I don't think ever fully goes away, but it gets quieter in your heart. Nick will always have a special place in my heart. I spent most of my 20s with him. We met when I was 21 and we were on and off for 4 years before spending the last nearly six years (it would have been 6 this fall) together. He was my longest relationship and my most important. But I didn't instant message him because it honestly would have been to satisfy my loneliness and not for him, and it wouldn't change or heal anything. So it has been about a month and I'm doing OK, though I think about him at some point of every day. Throw losing Dolly on top of that and the heart ache is just too much to bear sometimes.

So tomorrow, some fun Father's Day pics to share and a little tribute I made for my dear Dolly. I am sort of at a point where I can talk about her without breaking down. that is until this past Thursday when my mom told me she went to Dolly's groomer to tell them that Dolly had passed away. Her groomer is the only one to have ever groomed her. So she knew Dolly for her whole 16 years too. She cried with my mom and everyone there was so shocked and saddened. When my mom told me she had done that, my eyes just started pouring tears. It is still just so hard to believe that she is gone. Dad and I talked today about how we still step over the threshold from the kitchen to the hallway because her baby gate was there. He listens for her clinking collar in the morning and the clinking never comes. I thought about how whenever I was feeling like I was running on empty and had nothing left in me, if I went to my parents' house and saw Dolly, played with her, loved her up, then I would feel like I had been filled up again. She just had a way of making you feel whole. I miss her everyday.

I better get to bed for work tomorrow plus I start spinning class with my sister tomorrow evening. Our goal is to just keep pedaling the whole time and not puke! Also, hopefully I have some fun scrappy news to share soon.

Strolling The Avenue-Buzz and Bloom

2010-06-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

(prewritten post)
This little cutie is a Buzz and Bloom chipboard piece believe it or not. Measuring a length of 11.5 inches along it was meant to adorn a scrapbook page, but I decided to stand this baby up to make a cute little home decor piece using the "Fly A Kite" line by October Afternoon. The chipboard piece, called The Avenue" is a fun little piece with lots of detail.

I decorated each building of the piece differently using paper punches and some hand cut elements. On this one I paper punched the roof with a scalloped punch and then layered them one on top of the other starting at the bottom. I trimmed out the crossbars of each window to make it a little easier on myself! The door is just a piece of patterned paper and a brad for a knob.

This building reminded me of the City Hall buildings. I cut the little trees by hand and used pop dots to adhere them and give them dimension. I also hand cut the banner pieces and used a bit of baker's twine to attach it to the building.

This building was a little more simple. I used a punched strip to divide the building in half and pop dotted the window canopies above the bottom floor windows. Other little accents such as the street lamp, the topiary tree, the bistro style chairs and umbrella stand were painted an then topped with Glossy Accents.

I added vellum behind each building to frost the windows and to give a warm glow if I wanted to light the Avenue up with a battery operated tea light behind it. To stand the piece up, I used some chipboard stands that had a slit cut in them. I spray painted them with chrome spray paint. Let's see how you get those scrapbook embellishments off your page and into your home!

Simply Me-Buzz and Bloom

2010-06-15T09:00:00.003-04:00

(prewritten post)
The Buzz and Bloom deign team was given a color combo challenge in the month of April. We were asked to use red, green, and blue as our focal colors. I also used this layout as our color combo challenge for AMM's NSD Crop.

I decided to tone down the red and went with pink, blue, green and threw in some yellow for good measure. The papers from Cosmo Cricket's "Material Girl" and American Crafts "Dear Lizzy" went together perfectly.

I decided to go with a black and white picture so that the colors would stand out even more. For my title I used the CB Vette - lowercase alphabets. These were painted with acrylic paint and topped with Glossy Accents. My title is meant to be a statement that I am who I am and proud of it.

For the CB Buttons I used some Maya Mist in brown and avocado. Once dry, which is literally only a few seconds, I topped them with Glossy Accents and stitched them down to the page. I love these buttons because they are so customizable and add a delicate detail to any page. I have painted the buttons, added patterned paper, and now I have misted them. Here are a couple of detailed pictures.

I have since added a journaling card behind the photo for some hidden journaling. Thanks for letting me share.

Let the Summer Learning Begin

2010-06-14T15:51:00.002-04:00

First I'll share this layout I did with the June kit. The picture is mom and me on Mother's Day. She had to work so that is why she has her work shirt on. Lots of different manufacturers in this month's kit, which I love.

OK, so summer school started today. Yeah for an hour drive to work. It actually wasn't too bad. The Rock Star energy drink definitely helped. I did find myself a little restless last night in anticipation. I was sort of nervous to be in charge of a classroom again. The first session we are reading The City of Ember. I wrote an entire curriculum for this book last summer and as luck would have it, four of the kids in my class are repeating from last summer. So I went out to get the second book in the series and I am going to have them read that. I am in the process of writing a curriculum for that. I have never read The People of Sparks, the second book in the series, so I am probably only going to be a day or two ahead of them in the reading.

Last night was the premiere of the third season of True Blood and it for sure did not disappoint. I am totally on team Eric. The scene with Sam and Bill was a bit awkward and I am interested to see how Jessica deals with the body she left at Bill's house. It should be a good season.

Other than that, not too much new to report. I think mom, Lisa, and I are going to go buy Dolly's memorial stone this week. It is still so hard to believe that she is gone, the little fuzzy light in my life. I have been contemplating getting a kitten. Of course no little furry creature could ever replace Dolly, but I am sort of a person who needs a little creature to take care of. I don't know. It is an expense I don't really need to take on right now.

Well, I better go read some more and maybe fit in some scrapping tonight.

Back in the Day

2010-06-13T13:38:00.002-04:00

A few months ago a kid I went to elementary school with, 1st and 2nd grade, contacted me via Facebook. I really don't use Facebook at all. I sort of am old school about technology. I figure if I want to know what you are doing so bad, I will call you and if I need you to know what I am doing so bad, I'll call to tell you. I don't even have text messaging on my phone. It really doesn't bother me at all, but this is besides the point. Anyway, I get this email asking if I am the same Jennifer Findlay who went to Decker Elementary.

I was totally shocked because of all the kids I remember from that school before I moved just after second grade to New Jersey, he was one name I remembered. We exchanged a few emails chatting about who we remembered and then he said he thought of me and pulled out his elementary school yearbooks. I mean who has those things anymore. They were flimsy paperbacks. I still have my middle and high school ones but not the elementary ones. I wish I did. He snapped a picture of the page I was on in 2nd grade and my signature in his yearbook.

That's me, middle row first picture. He took the pic with his camera phone so it isn't so great. He even remembered that I had moved to New Jersey.

Here's my signature. I can remember practicing my handwriting when i was younger because my dad always told me good penmanship was important.

I spent the afternoon going through old pictures for my sister to include in a slide show at her wedding and I found some really funny ones and some super cute ones. She was such a cute kid. I was always a little awkward and geeky. I guess I still sort of am. But going through all those pictures brought back so many memories and made me so grateful that I fell in love with taking pictures. I wish I had more from when i was in school, but better late than never. A Lot of the childhood photos we have were taken by my Mamie or my Aunt. Mamie was really interested in taking pictures. Maybe that is where I get it from.

I had a pretty quiet weekend. I stayed in on Friday night and made myself some of that PF Changs frozen stir fry. It was really good. You just heat it up in the skillet for like 12 minutes. I had the sweet and sour chicken. I also scrapped a little. I finished a layout with the June kit and worked on one with Jenni Bowlin's "Playdate" though that one isn't done yet.

Saturday morning I cleaned mom and dad's house, went home showered, then came back for dinner and to watch a movie with dad. We watched "Edge of Darkness" with Mel Gibson. It was pretty good. Dad woke me up this morning to meet Lisa for breakfast and then we made attempt number three to try to grow some grass out in front of my apartment building. It better take this time!

So now, I think I will go read a bit of "Eat, Pray, Love". I am only a few pages in so far, but it is pretty good. I m looking forward to the movie. I wish I had the kind of bravery to do what Elizabeth Gilbert did. She decided her life needed changing and so she left everything behind-her husband, her career, her life and went on an adventure to discover herself. I often think about moving to California but I think I would miss my family too much. In addition, there aren't any more jobs for teaching there and there are here, especially this fall, hopefully. So we will see what the fall brings me, hopefully a job.

Anthro Love with Buzz and Bloom

2010-06-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

(prewritten post)
This layout is some DT work for Buzz and Bloom and I also used some October Afternoon "Thrift Shop" paper I received at CHA. I printed some pictures of some clothes I am coveting from Anthropologie. I am lucky enough to have one right across the street from me at Somerset Mall. When I used to have all kinds of money to spend on a whim I used to have a ton of clothes from there. Now the money goes towards scrappy supplies, but I still do my fair share of window shopping.

My favorite part of this layout is the chipboard silhouette lady you see here. I covered her in some vintage sewing pattern that I got wrapped around a necklace my ex-boyfriend had bought me. I held onto the the sewing pattern, unsure of what i wanted to do with it. That is until this came in my DT package. I coated her with a bit of Mod Podge, then gently laid the tissue on top. A file from my Basic Grey file set easily sanded the edges for a clean edge.

I assembled the grid of pictures, painted and Glossy Accented the title alphas, also chipboard from Buzz and Bloom before I set about covering the Buzz and Bloom chipboard buttons in some scraps of patterned paper.

It is a pretty simple layout, but I really like how it is sort of modern with the grid pattern but has the vintage flair from the papers and the sewing pattern. Thanks for stopping by!

Getting Back

2010-06-11T11:03:00.003-04:00

Things are getting a little better since losing Dolly. I still miss her terribly and it is so strange to be at my parents' house and not have her there to snuggle. A friend of my sister's won a Shutterfly party a little while ago and we were supposed to go to it last month, but it got rescheduled a couple times so she just gave us the codes to make our own book on our own. I decided to make a book about Dolly. I wanted some pictures of her from when she was a baby and remembered these pictures I had from when we just got her, but needed to be scanned.

Here she is only 3 months old and biting on the sock of my high school boyfriend. She was so little, only 3 pounds that when she would bite on the end of your sock you could pick your foot up and she would just dangle. I can't believe how dark colored she was. So black and brown with a bit of cream. As she grew up, the black and brown turned to tan and then eventually gray.

Can you believe someone would return this little cutie? We bought her at Pass Pets at Oakland Mall. She had been returned just a few days before. A couple of kids had bought her for their parents as an anniversary gift, but the parents were older and didn't want to raise a puppy. They had her for only three days and the pet store said they think that they didn't feed her much for the three days they had her and that she seemed to be very afraid of cords. They think she might have been hit with them or something because she would run away from them.

I am so glad they returned her because they didn't deserve her. She was meant to be with us. Some people might think that dogs are just property, but I think it was Dolly who owned us.

I finally got a little bit of scrapping done. I finished my May Project 12 layout on Monday and I think this might be my favorite one so far. I had a lot of journaling I wanted to include so my journaling block is a lot wider than then sketch.

Here are a few closeup pictures.

I have been trying to work on a layout with the June kit but it doesn't seem to be coming together very well. I also picked up my DT kit from the store yesterday. I am just not feeling very inspired these days. It is hard to feel inspired when you have a broken heart. I don't have much planned for the weekend. I have to clean my parents' house tomorrow and make my mom this wreath she saw at Joanne's, going to watch Dear John, but that is about it. I start teaching summer school on Monday at my old district which is an hour drive, but it is pretty good money.

So I guess that is my sad little update. Sorry for the lack of inspiration here, still working on both of my recent losses.

Welcome New A Million Memories DT Members

2010-06-10T03:00:00.000-04:00

Please extend a warm welcome to the four new A Million Memories Design Team members!

They will be joining your existing design team to bring you fresh designs, new tutorials and challenges, and more inspiration all around. We are all very happy to have them and we hope you are too.

Check out their blogs from the links below:
Carole Janson
Jennifer Longenecker
Kay Rogers
Zoe Nembert

Over the coming weeks we will be introducing you to these lovely ladies one by one. So please give them a warm welcome. Congratulations girls!

Right Now-Buzz and Bloom

2010-06-08T09:00:00.001-04:00

(prewritten post) Well, this one is title right now, but that was back in April. I am now allowed to share this layout here using some of Buzz and Bloom's products released back in March. I love their chipboard buttons, which I used here along with some of the denim die cuts, the Retro Leaves (by the flower) and, of course, some of the awesome chipboard alphabets.
"Right Now"

Here, I die cut a denim flower from one of the denim sheets and added a precut red denim flower and a painted and Glossy Accented button to the center of the flower. I finished it off with a painted and Glossy Accented Retro Leaf. Please excuse that stray denim thread. I somehow didn't notice it when I was taking pictures.

Of course, Buzz and Bloom alphas are awesome and take all kinds of product being put on them so well.

Alrighty, thanks for letting me share! Have a good one!

Last Day with Dolly

2010-06-06T21:01:00.004-04:00

I just spent the hardest weekend of my life over at my parents' house. Thank you to everyone who commented or sent an email. It means a lot. I know there are so many other people who have gone through this and I know it is a natural part of life, but that doesn't make my heart ache any less.

This past Thursday was when we found out that we would have to let Dolly go home, so Lisa and I decided we needed some pictures. They aren't the best, but they are the last pictures I would take of our little pup.

Lisa and I sat on the carpet with her and let her lick our hands. She was such a good little kisser. She would lick your hand all day long if you let her.

Friday after work I packed up some things from my apartment and met Lisa, Tony, and dad over at my parents' house. I got there before they did and it was the saddest thing to walk into the house and not be greeted by her or to see her lying in her bed. That night we all went out to dinner at El Charro. It was sort of a somber dinner. Dad had to take care of Dolly that morning, then had lunch with mom, went to work, and then was scheduled for a haircut. Lisa and I both had to work. I cried the whole hour and a half long break I had and barely could eat my lunch. I didn't sleep at all Thursday night. I was pretty spent on Friday.

Saturday morning mom and dad got up without Dolly. It was very hard for them. By the time I woke up dad had put Dolly's bed, which we kept in the kitchen, her food bowls, and the baby gates all away. He said he thought he could leave them there for a little while but he just couldn't stand to see them. Then he and I had a little cry. Even with the few things missing from the kitchen, it looks and feels so empty in there. It is amazing how something so little can take up so much room, especially in your heart.

We got cleaned up and headed to dad's office because he had an international phone call to make. Walking out the door I had that feeling that I was forgetting something. Usually when you leave the house, you either have to bring Dolly or lock her up in the kitchen. We did neither and it felt like were were missing something. After dad's office we went out to breakfast, stopped at Target so I could pick up the Twilight novella, then to the grocery store for a few supplies for that night's dinner. Just as we pulled into the garage and were about to walk in the door we both gave pause listening to hear Dolly's little bark that never came. These habits will take some time to let go of.

Dad and I spent the afternoon in the yard clipping the hedges. Mom got home from work and after dad and I cleaned up we had dinner. Dad and I watched Wolfman on DVD before heading to bed. This morning, we went to the movies to see Robin Hood with Russell Crowe. It was ok. It seems no matter what I try to busy my mind with I can't not think about Dolly.

After the movie, I started cleaning the house for mom and dad went outside to clip some more shrubs. Lisa and Tony came over for dinner, grilled chicken, corn on the cobb, and potato salad. We sat and chatted for a bit after dinner about Lisa and Tony's upcoming engagement photo session and the outfits they will wear.

Life does have to go on. I know that. It is just hard for me to imagine a life without Dolly in it. She has been a pretty much daily part of my life for the past 16 years. I am so glad for the joy she brought to my life though I feel that my heart is missing a bit of its light right now. So many times I sat and cried to her, told secrets to her, had full on conversations with her when I had no one to talk to. I know the heart ache will get easier over time, but I would give anything to have even just one more day with her.

Saying Goodbye

2010-06-03T22:20:00.005-04:00

Edit: Dolly woke up even worse off today than she was yesterday. Dad took her to the vet this morning and Dolly went peacefully to be with my Grandma. I am so devastated. I will probably not be blogging for awhile as I spend time with my family and try to deal with my grief. I know some may think she was just a dog, but she was my best friend in the whole world. I feel like a piece of me is missing.

Thanks to those that emailed and posted such nice comments. It helps more than you could know.

Today I got the news that my beloved Dolly, the love of my life, had an enlarged heart. The vet believes she may have had a stroke within the past day or two. Yesterday we noticed that she was having trouble getting up and walking and was acting a little confused.

Mom took her to the vet today and after lots of x-rays they found her heart is severely enlarged, that her arthritis in her hips is really bad and that because of a possible stroke her eyes are even painful due to some ruptured blood vessels. My mom called me on my way home from work as well as my sister and had my dad come home.

The vet gave her a shot of an anti-inflammatory to make her a bit more comfortable as well as some pain pills for tomorrow and some eye drops to ease the pain in her eyes. He said we could take her to a neurologist but that at her age she wouldn't do well in surgery.

We just celebrated her sweet 16 this past weekend.As a family we decided that we love her too much to let her feel pain and after hours of crying decided that the best thing to do is to let her go. My dad is going to take her tomorrow.

I wanted to go, but my parents convinced me that it would be too much for me to watch her die. So after some hours cuddling her and kissing her and telling her how much we love her, we said goodbye. I will never see her again, my best friend.

Anyone who knows me knows how much she means to me, so please keep Dolly in your prayers and me too if you don't mind. Tomorrow will probably be the worst day of my life.

I wanted to share a few of my favorite pictures of Dolly here. I have so many stories about this little love muffin and I will probably be writing them here over the next few weeks or however long it takes me. My heart aches but I know that she will not be in pain anymore and that she will be joining my Grandma Lee who also loved her immensely. When Grandma died, we buried a picture of Dolly with her. Grandma will have her "little pal" with her.

2010-06-02T10:01:00.003-04:00

(from here)

I guess break ups have to be hard other wise they would call them something else right? It is hard letting go of someone who has been such an important part of your life for so long. I have never been divorced, but I imagine this is what it feels like. Despite how angry, resentful, or hurt you might feel, they were a part of your life for a reason. There is and/or was love there. The reason seems to muddled together with lots of heart ache and tears, regret and longing, but it will become clear once the pain dulls a bit and my eyes aren't as blurry.

This mess is partly my fault and I know that. I accept responsibility. I just want to be happy again and I know in my heart of hearts I will be. It is just a little hard to see it right now. I do know that the love you have inside for someone doesn't ever really go away, it just gets a little quieter and I am hoping that my heart and my mind will grow a little more and a little more quiet in the coming weeks and months as I seek to move on and be happy.

Some days are easier than others when I have something to do. Yesterday was OK. I returned pop bottles and grocery shopped, worked on a June blog schedule for AMM, chatted with good friends on the phone, finished a little Donna Downey canvas project,and watched the season premiere of Hell's Kitchen. It wasn't a very eventful day but staying busy is the key I think.

Anyway, no scrapbooking to share today. My AMM June kit is on its way so probably some stuff to share next week. Thanks for stopping by.

Freedom, in more ways than one

2010-05-31T20:38:00.005-04:00

Today is Memorial Day, a day to remember our soldiers. It is a day to honor those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Whatever the anti-war protesters might say, freedom isn't free. There have always been people in power who abuse that power and seek to wield that power over others and to rob them of their freedom. Today I am reminded of the price of freedom in more ways than one.

So it has been a minute since I blogged. Last week I found myself taking more time away from the computer to just be with myself and my thoughts. I have had a lot to work out lately and I think things are becoming much clearer to me. I often complain to my family about the things in my life that I wish I had but don't. And so often my dad reminds me that I need to focus on the things I do have, my blessings. First of all I have a loving family who no matter how badly I screw up, and I can honestly say I have royally screwed up quite often, will always love me and be there for me no matter what. They might not like my decisions, actually there are some times they have down right loath my decisions, they might be disappointed in me to the nth degree, but they are still my family. That is one blessing I have that no one can ever take away from me. And I need to remember that when I am feeling alone.

So last week, in an effort to disconnect and recharge I found myself coming home from work and sitting on my quiet porch with a book. Mom got me this geranium plant a couple weeks ago and I am pretty proud I have kept it alive this long.

As I sat and read, I noticed this little mama duck with her three babies strolling down the creek bed at about the same time every night. She must have been taking them back to the nest for the night.

It was a short work week last week, and not wanting to spend the holiday weekend alone, I spent most of my time at my parents' house. Thursday night I popped over there and went to Coney Island with the family for a little family dinner. Mom and dad had just finished staining and sealing the deck and were in no mood to cook. I ended up staying the night because Friday morning I planned to clean mom's house. With her new job, she has to work 6 days a week and didn't want to spend the day off cleaning. She was going to hire someone and asked me if I wanted to do it since I can always use the extra money. After cleaning the house I popped back to my place to clean up for a hot date with my number one guy, dad. He picked me up and we went to Sonic. We had both never been and a new one opened up right by my house. Anyone's first visit to Sonic is a scrapbook-able moment right? So of course the camera came out to document our adventure.

We both ordered double cheeseburgers with fries and I got a watermelon slushee and dad got a green apple slushee. they were so delicious. Mom had to work till 10pm so we went back to the homestead to watch some TV. We ended up watching Year One on On Demand. If you haven't seen it it is pretty funny. Classic Jack Black film.

Saturday morning I woke and hung around the house for a bit with dad before heading home to get cleaned up for a hot date with my friend, Nicole. We had plans to go see Sex and the City 2. We stopped at a local restaurant before hitting the theater. I even got Nicole to get into the photobooth with me for a fun photo strip. The movie was really awesome. I loved every minute of it. I won't say much so I don't spoil it for you.

I stayed at the parents' house again, not wanting to be home alone. Lucky for dad I did because I helped him out Sunday morning clipping the front hedges. It is a bugger of a job to do. Near the end of the job I of course suffered an injury. Luckily, the hedge trimmers weren't on when I walked straight into the blade cutting my toe and giving the nail a good shave off the top. It hurt really badly even though there was pretty much only a spot of blood. Dad, the EMT, got some peroxide and band-aids to bandage my toe right up. I may have milked a bit of a limp the rest of the afternoon. Anyway, mom came home and we had dinner. Then I headed over to Lisa and Tony's for a backyard bonfire. They have been doing so much work on their house and it looks so awesome!

Lisa is almost always cold, so here she is bundled up in a hoodie, jeans, and sweat socks, by a roaring fire even though it is about 75 degrees out.

It wasn't long before we busted out the smores!

I headed back to the parents' house for the night and tried to stay up to watch True Blood on their DVR, but I just couldn't make it. I fell asleep on their couch and woke up at about 8am this morning. I retreated to my bed till about 10 am. Lisa and Tony were set to come over for a family cook out so I watched the rest of True Blood before helping dad bring up the patio furniture from the basement.

It was so humid outside with an impending storm we only spent about a half hour out there before the thunder started to rumble. We moved the party inside. We tried to play Uno Rummy-Up, but the directions made no kind of sense. If you have ever played this before and could simply explain the rules, I would love to hear it. Instead we played Buzz Word, which was such fun. Mom may have a hard time reading out loud but it couldn't be as bad as Lisa thinking that the beginning of the Lord's prayer goes, "Oh Father who art thy?" We all cracked up laughing. We played Findlays versus Halfmans and decided Lisa is pretty much a Halfman, plus Tony needed someone on his team. Needless to say me, mom, and dad beat them.

While celebrating Memorial Day we were also celebrating the 16th birthday of the fuzziest family member, Dolly! Technically, her birthday is on the 30th but mom forgot her birthday treat at work and today was the day we would all be together. So Dolly got to have a plate full of grilled chicken breast instead of her regular dog food. With a full and happy tummy she was down for the count. She went and laid directly in the line of the fan to catch some cool air despite the fact that the AC was on. This dog loves the wind blown look.

So I guess that is all I really have to report. I know some things I write here may seem cryptic but I feel I need to keep some things private. And it isn't that I simply report on the shiny happy moments of my life because if you go back to the beginning of my blog you will certainly see that it wasn't super happy and shiny. I try to be as honest as possible without giving all the details. I find this blog writing sometimes cathartic. I get to tell the world wide web how I am feeling and get it out of me and put it somewhere else even if I don't say here why I am feeling the way I am. It is not my intention to be fake or to only blog about the good stuff so that it makes me seem like I am perfect or anything because I most certainly know I am not. Anyway, I guess that is all I really have to say about that.

On a side note, I saw a preview for the movie Eat, Pray, Love based on the book of the same title and it has me really intrigued to read the book. I have heard a lot of people talking about it and I think I will start it up as soon as I finish the Sookie Stackhouse book. Also, did you see that the Bree Tanner (A Twilight novella) is coming out this Saturday? Target had it advertised for $8.50 so I think I will for sure be going to pick that up.

If I don't get back here to blog this week, hope you have a good one! Can you believe it is pretty much already June?!

Melancholy

2010-05-24T21:17:00.004-04:00

mel·an·chol·y

noun
1. a gloomy state of mind, esp. when habitual or prolonged.

That is sort of where my mind is these days. I just can't seem to shake it. I am tired of sort of being in this state of limbo in pretty much all areas of my life. I am sick to death of this subbing thing, especially after the kids I had today. I felt a little better when I found out that they were just as bad if not worse for their regular teacher. So at least it wasn't just me. I am so ready to get back to work. I am anxious to let go of the stress of paying the bills and making sure there is enough money. I feel like if I could get back to work, a part of myself that I lost will return. I could be joyful again. I have lost my joyfulness over the past two years. Everyday is just hoping to make it to the next. There are spots of fun and happiness in between, but I can get really down on myself. to top it off I hate to be alone, but I need to be alone to deal with what I am feeling. If I can't be alright with myself, how can I be alright with someone else?

My weekend was a mix of distraction and heart ache with some yard work thrown in for good measure for which my hamstrings and burnt shoulders are reminding me.

Friday night I stayed in and worked on finishing up this Donna Downey canvas project that I started in November of 2009 when I attended one of her classes at Scrappy Chic. I finally got it done. We were supposed to write the quote in our own handwriting but I don't like my handwriting at all, so I used my Cricut to cut the letters from black cardstock.

I also worked on another canvas project I had in mind for awhile, but I'll share that a little later. I still think it needs a little something.

My Saturday night was a complete bust but that is a whole nother story. Sunday morning I woke up and popped by my sister's house to see her new landscaping and I actually caught her in the act of mowing, a task she really does not like to do because it requires her to sweat. Here's proof that Lisa did do yard work. So funny, when Lisa and Tony moved into this house they had a lot of yard work to do. The house had been vacant for over a year as a foreclosure home. So while Tony and Lisa were outside doing some spring clean up Tony says to her, "Why don't you know how to do this stuff? Haven't you ever done yard work?" Lisa replies, "Uh, no. I was to little to do it and by the time I was big enough my parents had money to hire someone to do it." What a little princess. I can't say much because I don't really do yard work either.

I did help dad out a bit on Sunday afternoon though. We have a really long row of really tall hedges. Every year they put fresh mulch underneath them.

So when dad was done planting some new bushes in the front of the house, as seen below, I got to be the go-under-the-bushes girl and spread the bags of mulch around under the bushes. My hair was full of the seeds from the bushes and my arms were all scratched up. Afterwards, mom took us out to dinner at Big Beaver Tavern.

I came home and had a nice hot shower then watched Celebrity Apprentice in bed. I was actually kind of shocked that Brett won. I am kind of feeling like it might have been a sympathy thing. I don't know.

I also finished reading the Vampire Diaries book I was reading and have been trudging through. It was not so great at all, but I was happy to be done with it so I could start the 10th Sookie Stackhouse book. I sat on the back porch for about an hour and read for a bit before coming in here to blog about what a mess my head is in right now.

So to end on a happy note, here is my last layout for the lss DT. Again I used Max and Whiskers and as you can see this is a non-pet layout. So the graphic patterns certainly work for other themes. This is an old pic, not sure on the date, hence the title. I totally lifted this layout from this one. Since I am pretty new to the 8.5x11 size I have been using sketches and other layouts to sort of help me figure out the balance of these size layouts. I know that I like smaller pictures on these size layouts. a 4x6 picture seems to take up too much space to my eye.

Well, I guess I will close this post and retire for the evening. Thanks for sticking through this post.