As Requested...scrap pages!

*Back to the old blog look today...no more wishing for snow. Now I want Spring!

I had a request for pictures of scrap pages completed over the weekend...now who am I to deny a request? Especially about one of my favorite topics! So, here are some of my favorites from the weekend (some are blurry but that's ok...you can't read my journaling...heehee!): Favorite title goes to "RV there yet?" Thanks Sandy for that one! I liked the bling music notes and the color for this one - plus the pics were fun:
Although, it doesn't show, I worked hardest on this one because I wanted it to be good. We were each given the same 3 pieces of paper & had to design a page with them. It was really neat to see how no two pages looked alike, but all were with the same paper. I was proud of this because I made my own tag and used a big bite for the first time to put an eyelet in my tag. How's that for scrappin' terminology 101! ha! (Oh, the tag says To: The kids of John 3:16 ministry From: Santa aka Kevin)
This one is just fun because Christmas card photos are one of my favorite parts of the season. My friend, Carey's kiddo, just makes the whole thing. Look at that cute Santa face!! This one was obviously just plain ole sentimental... I journaled about our journey to John 3:16.These are AWESOME letters that Peggy discovered at Wally World - they come in a booklet that looks like a paper pack, but each page is big colorful letters. Love them!

This one I just loved the paper and the sparkle stickers for Shena's name...plus, I used staples for the first time on a scrap page for the ribbons.
And last, this one I love the simplicity and the quote...at the top it says, "Often attempted, never mastered..." Then the bottom is stamped Christmas Card Photo.And there you have it... Keep the pages simple is my motto!

Retreat continued...

I am still tired today from the excitement and late nights of scrapbooking over the weekend, so this is going to be short and then I'm crashing! I will catch up on all blog reading tomorrow...or Wednesday when I play hookie from work....shhh! Anyway - above is Peggy at her work station. We all got our own 6 foot table to scrap at - there were about 32 scrappers total I think.
This is our gang late into the night on Friday night...we were actually more tired Friday night than Saturday night...hmmm? Oh, and I have to give a shout-out to Laura & Peggy who made it until 4:30 am Saturday night...woohoo!

There was a scrapbook retreat queen...sadly it wasn't one of us. The queen is pictured below - we all have aspirations to steal her crown next year. The queen is the one who scraps the most pages. (I was pumped with my 34 pages!! yippee)
Our saving grace was Laura who won the PJ parade...whew! We have a winner in the group! Go Laura...aka Funny Girl! The PJ queen! I think it was the boots!

Scrap Retreat Weekend

First of all, we had a BLAST! Second, I am exhausted!! And, today when I got home I crashed for 3 hours and could have easily slept until in the morning!! Here we are in our matching T-shirts we bought just for the weekend, because we LOVE to cheese it up! heehee! Aren't they cute? Next year, we are thinking maybe matching PJ's...because this has to be a yearly thing. It was THAT awesome!! I only have the energy to post one picture tonight...more to come tomorrow! :-) I know you are all going to wait on pins and needles. LOL!
My favorite things about the weekend were just simply getting away with great friends, the awesome CD that Laura made for us to listen to on the way - she titled it scrappers delight - ha, the fun we had with our walkie talkies (we had to take two cars because of all the stuff and each car had a walkie talkie so we could sing together and still talk on the way...we know we are cheesy but we don't care!), and the new tools we learned about on the trip. I may think of more tomorrow when my brain isn't dead...but I do know I have to get a big bite. That is on my next Hobby Lobby trip!!
Stay tuned....more tomorrow! :-)

Counting down...

Only 3 days until the scrapbook retreat...yee-haw!! My scrap stuff is packed and ready!!

Almost Monday already?

Time flies!! It can't almost be Monday already! I haven't had a weekend yet!!! Seriously, last week was yuck - way too much going on and my stress was HIGH. I had a full blown migraine by Friday night. But, it is all over now. That week is behind me, AND I got all my work done - masters work - check, all papers graded - check, entered in edline - check, interims printed and complete - check, parent conference forms typed and ready - check! As a result, I refuse to bring ANY work home this week! :-) It all stays at work ~ especially since I have to stay and hold parent conferences all week.

Remember the best way to handle overload? Reward system! heehee! So.....I have my eye on the prize this week...the countdown is ON! I can make it through this week to get to SCRAPBOOK RETREAT WEEKEND! Yee-haw!!

My scrap girls ROCK!

Friday was scrap night and they surprised me with a YUMMY birthday cake. So begins the start of my birthday WEEK. Ha! (Although, I am not too pumped about being 36...how did that happen? So, if anyone asks, I am 29 ~ again!) I only managed to scrap 2 pages Friday night...a record worst for me. Must be the age thing! Or, maybe I'm saving up for my full weekend of scrapbooking that is coming up! woohoo!

Oh, and my actual birthday isn't until Sunday the 8th. I have a week left of my mid-30's. Doesn't 36 seem too close to 40??? Don't answer that!

Busy Days Ahead...

Well, my Master's classes start back this Saturday, and when I put everything on my calendar....LOOK OUT! Not one free weekend until the first of March! Yikes!! I better sleep in and enjoy my day off Monday for MLK Jr. Day, because I won't get to sleep in again for awhile. Unless, we get a snow day sometime... :-)

This is my last class on Saturday's though...whew! I'll let you know after Saturday, but I heard this class won't be too bad. Fingers crossed!! After having two months off from taking classes, it is going to take a bit to get me back in the groove. I just have to keep saying, 'only three to go, only three to go'.

Besides classes, there are Autumn's basketball games (fun), fundraisers at John 3:16 (fun), and are you ready for this one???? A FULL weekend of SCRAPBOOKING at a scrapbook retreat in Hot Springs with 3 other scrappin' buddies (double fun!). Yep, life is busy, but life is GOOD!

Storybooks

Remember those top secret Christmas presents that I was working on using the computer? The ones I wanted so badly to share with you but couldn't because family reads and the surprise would be ruined...well, here they are! I made scrapbooks on-line for my Mom, Bubby and Autumn. In my opinion, waaaay better than making them a scrapbook the old fashioned way. There is no way I could've had the time needed to make 3 separate scrapbooks the old fashioned way!

These are great gifts - especially for those of you with kids. Grandparents eat up anything revolving around their grandkids!! :-)

Autumn's book was a smaller size and was more personalized to her. The text I typed might say, "We are so proud of you." This is an example page from her book... And this was her cover:
These are pages from Mom and Bubby's book. I made one book for them and had it printed twice. If you decide to do this, it is easy!! There are lots of sites that you can do this on. I really like the one I used with Creative Memories because it really looks like a scrapbook and has lots of scrapbook features. Give yourself a several hours to make one if you want to do it right. First, I picked all the pics I wanted to use and put them all in one file. Then, it was just dragging them to where I wanted and picking the page design I wanted to use. After I designed all the pages, I went back and added text. I waited a day and proof read everything, because if you type a mistake, it prints.
See how the colors are coordinated, but you can pick different layouts?Here is Mom and Bubby's book cover:
(My favorite picture!!!) If you want the link to this website, send me an email. I will hook you up with my BFF, Michelle, so she can get credit for any purchases. You know she sells Creative Memories...gotta give her a plug here! (Or maybe she will leave a comment with easy instructions, because I always have to ask her the name of the site!)

Priorities...

This blog has been temporarily interrupted for a FULL DAY OF SCRAPBOOKING with my scrappin' peeps!!! So...the way I see it, that gives you time to read the post below and vote!!!

til tomorrow....

Weekend Highlights...

Friday:
*You know it was scrap night...I got a major Christmas present done, and I wish I could share the details because I am SO excited about it!! But, it's for my Mom and she is a faithful reader. I'll have to tell you about it AFTER Christmas! :-)
*Other Friday highlight was the yummy deer chili that Peggy brought! YUM!!!

Saturday:
*Did a little Christmas shopping - stressed me out. I have no idea how I'm going to buy gifts this year!! I hate to charge them, but it's just going to have to be that...:-(
*Went to Copeland's for a cousin's birthday lunch (Happy Birthday Jared!). Got over Christmas shopping depression with an awesome dessert! ha!
*Went to see Bolt with my cousin's. Loved it!
*Finished my book. (review below - and I looked and I have averaged about a book a month this year - not bad at all!)

Sunday:
*Got to see Kevin for the first time in two weeks!! It was a good visit. We have had some issues come up in the past few weeks that we have needed to work on and today was our first day to get to talk rather than write. It was good for us, and our relationship just keeps growing! I can't explain the warmth and love I felt today from everyone. John 3:16 is an amazing place!!

Two Words

SCRAP NIGHT!!

T.G.I.F.

Happy it's Friday for several reasons:

**I have my last conference!! Woo-hoo! (even if it is with hip dad)
**It's scrap night! YIPPEE!!! Good food, good company, and scrappin'!!
**After tomorrow, I only have one, yes ONE, class left for this Master's class I am taking. Then, I get my Saturday's back for awhile! Maybe my yard will get mowed...ha!
**Only two days until I get to see Kevin! :-)

Happy Friday!

Let the pictures do most of the talkin'

As requested by Ms. Tan over at Double Duty ~ some scrap pages:

I have decided after looking back over my pages that I am in a scrappin' rut!! My pages all look the same! boo!! But I picked these two to show off above (obviously my fur kids! hee-hee), and the cool sticker letters that I found! You can't tell but dividing the page is some self-adhesive ribbon. If you don't have any, wait until it goes on sale at Hobby Lobby and GET SOME! You will love it!

Then below is really nothing spectacular but I thought Lindsey would like to see my new stamps in action. We both went a little crazy this summer buying stamps when they went on sale!

You know I'm gonna throw some more horse pics in the mix...Autumn practicing barrels with Shena...I love to watch her ride!

Tayhlor practicing barrels with Sergio...

Does Autumn love anything besides horses you ask? Well, yes, she does! ELVIS! Seriously!

And because he's so cute! Max the pilot...

And lastly, Kevin is gonna be mad he missed it, and I had to take a picture to prove it. But we FINALLY have tomatoes! LOL! Remember we've been battling the squirrels all summer?!? I guess they are full! :-)

The Weekend

This weekend was MUCH better for me than last weekend...the difference is that I stayed busy! Today marks two weeks since Kevin went to John 3:16, and in some ways it seems like he's been gone for much longer (especially around meal time ~ ha!) I admit that I am ready to be able to at least talk to him. Although, I have been reassured by many that he is doing fine. I still want to see him for myself! But anyway...let me tell you about my weekend b/c it was a good one!

Friday night was scrappin'. It started out a big group of us and then folks started dropping out like flies...(there is an ugly virus going around). So, it dwindled down to 4 of us, and then Sandy got stuck at Wal-Mart most of the night arguing with them over her pictures. She just got back from Mexico and the developing of her pictures just didn't do Mexico justice! It was still a good night (except maybe for Sandy). I got 6 pages done. None are WOW pages, but I'll still post a pic or two sometime this week anyway. You know scrap night is a success no matter how many of us there are or how many pages get done. The main thing is GIRLS NIGHT!!

Saturday I had class all day. Can you believe the next class is our mid-term already? This one is going by so fast, it is making my head spin! The only thing keeping me sane with my Master's stuff is that I can see the end in sight! I could possibly finish this summer!!!

Today was fun b/c I went to Mom and Dad's and spent it with the animals and the girls. They dressed up the dogs:

Autumn had a birthday cake (her Dad will be out of town for her birthday so we did it last minute today). Isn't she looking grown-up???

I got to love on my favorite boxer at Mom's...Rufus!
Autumn and Tayhlor then made me time and judge them in a horseshow. We apparently don't get enough horse shows, so we have to PLAY horseshow on the off weekends! ha!

Here is Autumn with her ultimate birthday present:

And Tayhlor gets to ride Sergio now, so everyone is happy!

There are more pictures coming later in the week...

TGIF

How 'bout Grey's last night? I love it! Didn't see that coming with Christina! But, why do we have to wait TWO weeks for the next one? I think I yelled at my tv when I saw that!!

Tonight is scrap night...so, all is good today! :-) hee-hee!

Oh, and heads up, I am in talks with a certain famous blog designer - Lindsay over at Splat - so if you log on one day soon and things look different, it is still me!

Have a great weekend!

I love the reward system!

It was the first week of school ~ new kids, alarm clock, getting organized...so much work and stress. Of course, I had to reward myself at the end of it! If there were no rewards waiting for me, how could I get through it? hee-hee!

So, on my way home Friday, I stopped at Pier 1 and splurged on this director's chair. I have been wanting for my classroom. Two of my teaching buddies have one, and I love them! Becca's is denim and has her name embroidered...very cool! But here it is...yep, my first reward! ($75 dollars that I really didn't have but oh well, every now and then, you gotta go off-budget to stay sane!)

(I don't have it pushed down all the way b/c I have to fold it back up to put in the car.) Then, Saturday, me and my peeps (Peggy and Sandy) took one of our 'field trips'. Peggy got on-line and searched for scrapbook stores in Arkansas. We decided to visit the one in White Hall. It was awesome!! She had renovated an old house and had it set up in there with antiques for sale too. We also found a neat sandwich place for lunch with yummy desserts. Girls days are the BEST! (and it's a bonus when scrappin' enters the picture somehow)
Then, today after church, Kevin made us lunch. That boy can COOK! You gotta give him that!

Tune in tomorrow for more on our church search and....drum roll....Kevin's hair cut!! woo-hoo!

Make & Take Day

My co-workers and I took a little field trip today to a make and take co-op. It is quite a drive for us (to Hoxie) but well worth it. I have gone nearly every summer since I started teaching. I like to make my own stuff for my walls rather than buy store-made. I think it looks so much better. So...today I introduced my new co-workers to the place and we had a great day!

I added a few items to my ocean theme that I started last year. The first thing I made was the "Sea" star of the Month poster for my Good Citizen of the Month. The yellow square will hold their picture and the orange will hold their sheet they answer questions and tell information about themselves. Then, I made 7 of these ~ picture them with cute googlie eyes...they will go in the hallway and when they meet certain AR points, they will get their picture on their sea star. There will be a 15 point star, 25 point star, 50 point...and so on.
These are going to be my name tags on their desks:
I LOVE getting ready to start the school year!! This is my favorite time of year! And, to make my day even better when I got home my scrapbook stamps I ordered were in ~ woo-hoo!!
Click here if you wanna see what I made last year with the ocean theme.

I'm BACK!!!

Did ya miss me? Well, I was on some much need "girl only" time!! Friday night scrappin' was a success of giggles, good food, and girl talk. Then, Saturday, I hit the road for the 3 hour trip to see Michelle (my BFF). We both needed some girl time b/c we had some stress to unload on each other. Isn't that what great friends do? hee-hee! And of course, we scrapbooked some more. I finally got out of my scrappin' creative slump, and I think I came up with an awesome Christmas idea for some family (but I can't tell ya b/c they read!)

Anyway - here are some trip highlights...first, a little background: Michelle and I have this list we made together of 10 things we each want to do that we've never done before...I think it started as 10 things to do in 10 years...but it may excede the 10 year mark. Of course, we don't care...we can change the rules. It is our list, afterall. Well, one of Michelle's items was to ride a roller coaster with me. HA! Fat chance! She is a roller coaster freak, and I hate them!! She finally gave up on the BIG dream and decided this baby coaster would do...ummm, it is a KID coaster and look at face when they took off!! Can you imagine what I would do on a big one? I'd be one of those people you read about having a heart attack!! I never let go of the bar and Jacob (Michelle's kiddo) had to sit with me. He is a little dare devil I might add and kept leaning over the side and making me a nervous wreck!!
Here is much nicer picture of us (although neither one of us likes it! ha!). We took one before church b/c we decided we hadn't taken a dress-up one in a long time. (and yep, her hubs gets tired of taking our picture! ha!)
The rest of the trip consisted of more scrapbooking, running errands, hanging out, and eating - unhealthy as possible - cookie dough (raw and cooked), Mexican food after church, bannana splits (yum), and beans and cornbread (one of my all time favs)...there was more food involved but I can't put into print just how much we truly love to eat!! That would make it real!! ha!
Thanks for a great visit as always Michelle!! (even though you think I side with Chris more than you...how do you think I score all that great deer meat? hee-hee) Love you all!

T.G.I.F.

For SEVERAL reasons I am grateful it's Friday (and really everyday should be Friday for me since I am on summer break...heehee!)

Yesterday was a yuck day. I had my car ready to go and loaded up and went to get in it to meet my work girlfriends for lunch and had a FLAT tire...great! One of my girls did come pick me up and I got to have lunch and see the baby again. He let us go to Chili's and slept the whole time!! Yay! Then, later, Kevin and I got into a big, 'ole nasty fight. urgh ~ we really don't fight often. We will pick at each other, but fighting isn't a very common thing. This one was a yeller! And, we did go to bed mad, but are better this morning.

So....TGIF! The only bad part about today is having to sit at the tire store for awhile to get a new tire. After that, I am rewarding myself with a trip to the scrapbook store! Because tonight is scrapbook night with the girls!!! :-) And then, I am off to see my BFF, Michelle in NW Arkansas for a few days! Yay!

Have great weekends, and I don't wish a flat tire on any of you! ha!

Busy, but good weekend

You know the weekend started with a girls night of scrapbookin'. There really is no better way to start a weekend! ha! It was a small group this time - just me, Laura & Laura (I gotta come up with nicknames - actually one of them I call funny girl - she's a hoot). But anyway, my friend Donna came for a bit too - remember the one that had the twins back in January. Her Mom is still here, so her and her Mom tried to bring the girls and get some scrappin' done. The twins were havin' none of it! ha! Seriously, I don't know how she keeps up with two of them. I freak out when ONE baby is crying and there were two of them going at it! yikes! Poor Kevin thinks he is cursed b/c they both started after or as he was holding them! hee-hee! So, poor Donna didn't get to stay long or get much done. BUT, she looks GREAT! (and somehow, I let them get away without taking a picture - I am slacking)

Saturday was spent getting ready for Kevin's catering job on Sunday and also getting some yard work done....the yard was a jungle! We catered for 50 Game and Fish folks (aka directors) at Lake Sylvia today. It was great...I really do love this catering stuff...you know I love to organize & there is alot to organize! ha!

Here is where we were:

It's kind of out in the middle of nowhere but gorgeous! Kevin cooked ribs, pulled pork, baked beans, baked potato salad, slaw, and almost Texas toast! We were going to have Texas toast but right after everyone got there, a huge storm hit and the power went out. We just kept on trucking...and pulled it off - except for the toast. yay!
Well, I am tired and MY ribs are about done...so until tomorrow...bye!