16 years and counting....

that I have been waiting to see these hunky beef cakes in person!! and now at just 5 days before my 31st birthday I am seeing them in concert. My lil brother surprised me with tickets for an early birthday present!! Is that dude the best or what?? I tried twice to see them back in the day but they cancelled both times! I kind of gave up on the big dream to see the New Kids. And then all of a sudden, out of the blue, the "kids" come out with a new CD and go out on tour! So, in just a few short hours, I will be on my way with lil bro' heading to phoenix to see my heart-throbs from my early teen years(and some brother/sister bonding time!! {{{squealing with delight}}} The dream is coming true ladies!

This will definitely be a scrapbook moment!! catch ya on the flip side!

Fireproof

My husband & I went on a date this Friday night. We had dinner and went to a movie. Sounds easy enough, right? This is something that, unfortunately, doesn't happen very frequently for us. But I knew it was well overdue and I hired a sitter to come and made the plans. We had dinner together at El Charro restaurant, a little piece of Tucson history. Can I just say how nice it was to have a meal together, while being able to hold a conversation & not have to stop to take a child to the bathroom or tell another child to sit down and stop sticking their hands in my glass? heaven I tell you. So after having my relaxing dinner that wasn't rushed because I was going to flip out by being in a restaurant longer than 30 minutes with my three children, we went to a movie. Chris & I couldn't even recall the last movie we saw together in a theater.




We saw the movie Fireproof. We had heard from a few friends that this was a great movie for married couples. I had no idea what I was in for. This movie is AMAZING, WONDERFUL, BIBLICAL, and IMPACTING. Chris & I walked out fully aware of our own selfishness & hurtfullness that we can cause our spouse. I knew FULLY that I wasn't giving to my husband as Christ gave for me. wow. humbling. We had a wonderful discussion that is still continuing...this movie sparked a newness in us that I have been longing for. we both have. This movie helped to ignite the fire within our marriage that tends to smolder over time. We know that our marriage is a covenant between us & God and we have seen how God can restore a marriage when HE is in the center.

So, my friends, do something very special for your marriage and see this movie very soon. I pray that you receive the blessings above and beyond what we have.

an escape

Last weekend, i spent my time with a group of women who all love to scrapbook. We were at a scrapbooking retreat hosted by my LSS. If I could imagine just a little what heaven would be, this would be a little piece of it. Imagine scrapping the day away, no worries-besides not running out of adhesive. Stayed up late, slept in, and just surrounded myself with beautiful paper, buttons, and lots of pretty ribbon. I met some really great ladies, spent quality time with my mom, and surrounded myself with lots of beautiful paper, buttons, and ribbon.....did I already mention this? If you get a chance to escape and become one with your paper & glue, DO IT!!! It's a girly good time!!

anyway, so what did I accomplish? I got lots of pages done & a mini-album that I have been wanting to do for a long while now is now complete! These being a few:

More to follow, too lazy to edit all the pics! Besides what would you have to look forward to?

Yowza!!!

July 29th!!!?????!!! seriously, I haven't been here since then??? What in the world?? Wow, this job thing has really taken a chunk out of my life!!


Since July 29 I have:

-started working part-time at the preschool that my boys attend (2 days a week) as a teacher's assistant in a three year old classroom.

-traveled to San Carlos (Mexico) & Washington D.C.

-sent all three of my children to school

-celebrated the 8th year of marriage to my amazing & wonderful husband, Chris

-taken an awesome scrapbook class at my LSS from the amazing Layle Koncar

-had my name published in the October CK mag as one of the 10 standout readers whose pages caught the eyes of the folks at CK!! HELLO?!!! (So very psyched about this!)

-sewed the cutest darn bag you ever did see

This is the Birdie Sling pattern from Amy Butler. Love it...want to make one in every fabric possible!! This bag holds everything!! It was so much crisper and prettier when it was first completed. Since then I dropped half a cup of coffee all over the outside & had to wash it three times to get it clean!

-finally started my book from our anniversary trip to San Francisco last year! (just before this years trip!)

And now I am getting ready to go on another retreat next weekend sponsored by my LSS. Good times!! So there you have it, readers! Rest assured, I am indeed alive and well, just very busy. I must make a point to be bloggy more. Until next time scrappers!

Confessions & Figure 8's

I have a few confessions to make:

#1- i am ecstatic that school starts in 2 weeks (am I a bad mom?)

#2-even more ecstatic that I get to start working next week at the preschool because there will be ADULTS there to talk with and free childcare for my kids while I prepare for the upcoming school year!

#3-I feel kind of burnt out on scrapbooking right now

#4-I LOVE fabric (see #3)

#5-Really loving reading at this moment (see #3)


Kids are driving me crazy...alone time in the bathroom is unheard of around here, as is the silence to make a phone call. ok, it is quiet until I decide to pick up a phone. uggghhhh!! Needless to say, I am really looking forward to school starting. Even if it means that i am going to start working part-time at the preschool. I am trading in my 3 kids for 15 others. not quite sure about my thinking there. I would really appreciate prayers for all of us in the new school year. :)


So why do I feel burnt out with scrapping? hmmm, a few ideas here. It could be the overwhelming amount of scrap supplies that I have (most unopened) and feel totally perplexed as to how I will use all of it before I die. The amount of paper here in my haven leaves me responsible for a small chunk of forest that is currently missing. Another idea for my sad feelings is that everywhere I look, I see the same designers and their work. Now, don't get me wrong, i think they are talented. I just think it is really hard for a newbie like me to get noticed when all the same people are getting picked for special projects, design teams, magazine calls. Why, yes, I do submit a LOT!! no luck yet, but I will keep trying. Nonetheless, I need to remember WHY I scrapbook....to remember my life with my family and to leave a footprint for our future generations. The affirmation of my talent as a scrapper would be wonderful....but it isn't what my life is about.

Also, in my attempt to really stay clear of many of my favorite internet, scrapbooking haunts, (for the purpose of being kind to my wallet) I have found out that I still really love fabric and the possibilities that lay ahead with the help of my trusty sewing machine. Now, before you start thinking about the high cost of fabric, just know that I have an insane amount of fabric that I have acquired in the past 6 mos or so. So I am still saving money. Even if I have to buy just a little something extra for a special project.

So what do you do when you are trying to save money? I say pick up a good book. I have been reading like crazy. The library has never seen so much of me. This is also good on the checkbook....don't buy it if you can borrow it for free. aahhhh, just makes me happy. I have also been really trying hard to have my quiet time with Jesus every day. I pulled out a devotional that was given to me awhile back but I never read. It is the perfect length & always gets me thinking about how awesome God is, especially to me. I think that the very same god that created the stars in the sky and amazing sunsets & magestic mountains created me & loves ME so much that He sent His Son to die for ME!!! Humbling.



On this note, as I type this, my son is going round and round and round and round my scrapbook room. I ask him, 'what are you doing?". His response: "working on my figure 8's". Of course you are sweet boy....keep working.

Girl Power!

there was a challenge over at Paper Posies last month to create a girly layout about yourself. So I have been thinking this one over for awhile (obviously) & came up with these TWO layouts about Lexie & myself and our girly goodness. I created these layouts from the June PP kit & {LOVE LOVE} the way they turned out. I also pulled a few extras from my stash (cosmo cricket blackboard & some stickles, and of course, BUTTONS!)

it was so fun to just embrace the pink and thank God for the opportunity to be a girly girl (minus the monthly friend, wink). Here is to GIRL POWER....ladies, go and create a fun layout all about being a girl!

Lipstick, layouts, and lellow sunglasses!

Wow!! Been way too long since my last post....bad, Ericka, bad!! But that is what happens when you have to get a family of 5 ready for a week long trip, take the trip, and recover from the trip.

Just a quick reminder...go and VOTE for my gal pal Christiana so she can have her chance at fame in the cosmetic world!! She needs to be in the Top 3 for a shot at the Grand prize!! please vote!!!

I have been scrapping and here are a couple of my new fave layouts!!

A layout about me after I lost some weight....I won't tell you how much has come back. But I will say that I am on a mission to send it on its merry little way again!

Bryson & Chris when Bryson was only 2! He seems so little! oh, how I love my boys!

And finally, I joined the shades of summer traveling game with Lizzy Kartchner and there was a little box with these nifty "lellow" (as Cooper says) shades waiting for me when I got home! So I took my pic with them on and will send the glasses and the pic to the next person on the list. Lizzy will have a mini album of a bunch of totally awesome women from all over the country when we are done!! Lexie had to get in on the action too!! My goofy girl!
So there you have it, people. This is what I have been doing & what you are missing out on! ;) see you sooner than later, I promise!!

Who loves makeup??

I certainly do....especially after becoming one of those snooty "makeup girls" at a department store. I loved that job! There is so much to say about the power of being able to help someone feel beautiful & look stunning!! I didn't love all the un-fun "sales quotas" & such or the sharkiness by the makeup divas from the "other" lines. But how I LOVE makeup. Totally one of the best things about being a girl!!

I have a friend from the makeup days who is competing for her chance to become "the smashbox beauty guru". She has amazing ideas for makeup products and she has her campaign here. But she needs votes to win this thing. So please vote for the talented Miss Christiana!! These pics you see are her creations!! I'm tellin' you, the girl is tops & has ambition.

Here is the Grand Prize: One winner, chosen by the Smashbox and Sephora panel from the top three entries that receive the highest vote score during Round 2 voting will be named the Smashbox Beauty Guru and receive $5,000 of Smashbox Cosmetics, an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Los Angeles on August 3, 2008 for a 1 week apprenticeship at Smashbox Cosmetics to design the official Smashbox Fashion Week Makeup Palette and an all-expenses-paid 3-day trip for two to Los Angeles to attend Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in March 2009 for the debut of their Smashbox palette. In addition, the Smashbox Fashion Week Makeup Palette designed by the winner will be produced by Smashbox, sold exclusively at Sephora and featured in the Sephora catalog.

So help a sistah out and VOTE!!

Me Likey Cosmo Cricket

A little bit of new Cosmo Cricket & a little bit of older Cosmo Cricket, no matter the date, it's timeless!! I really love how the newer lines are totally "boyish"!! Perfect for pictures of little dudes in their Buzz Lightyear PJs. And the BLACKBOARD?? LOOOOOVVVEEE it!! I am currently working on a blackboard book and hope to get it finished ASAP!! will keep you posted...so until then, scrappers, scrap ON!

Friendship Day

Bryson has been coming up with all kinds of great scrap material for me lately. This kid just knows how to make me laugh. Besides his infinite LOVE for all things ORANGE, he was very concerned last week that a bear with muddy feet was going to come into his bed and get his "Lightning McQueen" sheets all "muddy". Where that came from, not sure. There is isn't a big bear threat here in the desert....with or without muddy "feet".

Yesterday, Bryson proclaimed that it was "Friendship Day". When I asked him what "Friendship Day" was he said we had to treat everyone just like a friend and be kind! Sounds like a great motto to have everyday. As the "Friendship Day" progressed, Bryson said "I have a great idea! Let's make popcorn and watch Tom and Jerry and snuggle on the couch!" That did, indeed, sound like a great idea to spend some time with him while Lexie was at sports camp and Cooper napped. Of course, I started dozing off. Bryson exclaimed, "You can't sleep!! It's "No Sleeping Day!! So I mentioned that I thought it was "Friendship Day"...he quickly acknowledged that it was, in fact, " friendship day". However, it was also " sharing day" and definitely a "no Sleeping day". There went my nap!

So here's to "Friendship Day, Sharing Day, No Sleeping Day, Loving Orange Day, Rockstar Hair Day, and Funny kids" Day!

Our Normal

Bryson is not the kid who wants to be taking part in my "paparazzi" schemes everyday. Not even for the sake of his own scrapbook. most of the pictures I can catch of him these days are pretty random and there is often a frown or a goofy smile while his eyes are rolled to the back of his head. I came across some pictures that I took while trying to do a photo shoot for Valentine's Day cards. I couldn't get all three in one frame, Lexie is a willing participant, and Bryson is being his uncooperative self. This is the layout I made in honor of my son and his despise for my Nikon D40. Still cute as can be!

Here is a tribute to Lexie and her love for the camera & an example of her (usually) compliant spirit! I played with the new Prima crystal flourishes....LOVE THEM!!! Must have more, in every color!! Because bling is just like clothes...if it works & fits great, then buy it in EVERY color available!

better late than never

do you all remember that video class that Erin Lincoln had over at CK? Yeah, you know, the one that took place around NSD?? Yes, THAT one!! Well, after a month, some tweaking of my own, and a scrapbook retreat this past weekend....it is now COMPLETE!!! I love this little book & everybody else that has seen has loved it so far. It is the perfect way to do a clever little book about the past, present, & future. I did a "him, her, & us" theme. This last picure are the "loved" pages. Repectively, they are "he loved, she loved, we love". thanks Erin for a great little project.

Admitting is the first step...

ok, I'll say it. I have a problem. Big problem. this is the problem.

I have bags of scrapbook stuff that I have purchased and then totally forget about them. However, it is totally like a treasure hunt once I rediscover all my cool loot. this is exactly what happened while preparing for my scrapbook retreat this past weekend. But then because I had all this really awesome stuff to create with, I couldn't NOT take it all with me! i mean, what if I needed that ONE chipboard flower and left it home!!! so I took WAY TOO MUCH!! Didn't even come close to touching everything I brought. Which is why I had all this to carry in to the hotel and to my scrapping space.

Thankfully, I had preplanned some pages in advance so I could get my creating on! It was an awesome weekend of scrapbooking, laughing, watching movies, talking, scrapping, laughing,eating, and some more scrapping and laughing. One of my completed pages even won a contest!! everybody at the retreat got to vote for their favorite layouts & i won one of the times!!

These are the moments that make my paper addiction all the worthwhile! and heck, it is WAAAYYY cheaper than a drug addiction, right? ;)

I will post all my cool pages and projects tomorrow. just wanted to say hi to the two of you who read my blog! hehehe!

Today

I just read this on the One little Word blog

This is the beginning of a new day.
You have been given this day to use as you will.
You can waste it or use it for good.
What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.
When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...
let it be something good.
<----Amby Nic Montage

It reminds of me of the newness everyday in Christ. What will I do with it? How will I make memorable? Will I be a good steward of the time God has given me?

Today I will.....

-play with my kids

-do laundry

-write a love letter to my husband

-reconnect with a friend

-create something

-get in God's Word

-be bold in some new way

please tell me what you are doing today!

Happy Scrappy Mother's Day!!

Here is one of 6 scrappy flower bouquets that I made for all the moms & grandmas as a little Mother's Day surprise. this was a great project to use up lots of scraps!! and pretty inexpensive too!! I already had the paper and the skewers. I purchased 6 containers for $1 each and two bags of green confetti to use as grass for $2.99 each. For $12, I got made some very unique and pretty little bouquets that will last WAY longer than "real" flowers! :)

So here is to all of us amazing moms!! May you each have a very happy Scrappy day!!

Ramping Up

My LSS is having a contest to pick a new member to be on the design team. I have been wanting to do this for a very long time & i am very excited to try out for this. The REALLY exciting part is that the customers are going to vote for who they want to be on the team between May 1-4!!

To submit for this, we had to turn in 3 LOs & one altered project. i thought I had everything figured out about what I was going to turn in. then I started second guessing myself and decided to do this LO that I have been wanting to do for awhile now. I worked on it till 2 AM and LOVED the way it turned out, that I decided it should be one of the three LO.




The hidden journaling is about raising my daughter to be a strong woman of God & independent, and confident in her abilities. this is a tough thing to do in today's society & it often worries me that I am not doing a good enough job. But I know that with God close by, he will protect us all.

thanks for looking & if you are in Tucson between May1-May4.....please vote for me at MMU!! :)

Birthdays & Weddings

Holy smokes...it has been crazy busy over here the past few weeks. With what you may ask??

I can tell you there wasn't a whole crafting being done. There was a birthday party for Lexie & Bryson, which included their 40 closest friends being invited! But seeing these faces smile made the chaos of preparing for 40 kids & also their families all the worthwhile.


then followed my brother's wedding, with my angel girl being the flower girl.



Even though my brother was dashingly handsome and his bride was beautiful, I have to say that my sweet Lexie and my nephew, Austin, stole the show. She took her responsibility as flower girl very serious and didn't hesitate to "sshhh" her cousin as he started making faces at her during the ceremony. It was quite a hoot! How I love my girl.

Now I am yearning for some crafting to be done....so until next time, Gadget!

creative me...happy daughter

I have steadily creating lots of different fun things during this past week. First, I have been really, REALLY wanting to make a t-shirt dress for Lexie. So my friend Mandy and her good friend, Jen, took some time away from scrapbooking on Saturday night to show me how to make these wonderfully cute dresses. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

I made some cards for a swap hosted by Regina. The theme was "spring" and I was so excited to do something with Butterflies & birds.

i also made myself a new skirt & I have plans for some other fun stuff. I have a hankering to get some scrapping done, too. It's been TOO long!! but hey, we can't be everywhere at once, can we? my kids still need to eat, people!!