Hello all it's Tuesday and over on It's a crafty Life Kim is playing Ten on Tuesdays. I turn 30 on Friday and an slightly bummed because two large milestones I thought would have happened have not, I'm not a wife or a mom yet. So instead of dwelling on that I'm going to make a list of ten plans I have for my 30th year.
1. As many snuggles and cuddles with Alexis as I can get.
2. Apparently Alexis is having a party @ her parents house for me on Sat. Poppa (my dad) is helping her plan it.
3. I will officially be a grown up, when I have my first party ever in my first house. It's a baby shower for Alexis.
4. I'm going to create a mini album of my 30th year, month by month, journalling on a calender everyday. This will be challenging since I live alone and when I work I work 12 hour shifts, so I'm going to have to work really hard to think of something relevant to say everyday. I found this idea over @ Ella. I promise to share the project as I work on it. I start it this weekend.
5. I'm really excited about my cousins Roo's wedding. Just over a month away.
6. I'm going to be a good cousin and a good sister all in one day. The bridal shower for Roo's fiancee is the same day as my sister Patti's engagement party, only in the afternoon. So I'm going to go to the shower and then drive 2 hours to be @ Patti and Ry's party.
7. I'm going to cry my heart out @ my cousin Andrea's wedding. Happy tears of course. This girl deserves all the happiness in the world and I think she might be finally getting it and I couldn't be more excited for her.
8. I'm going to dance the night away with some middle school girlfriends @ Ape's wedding. Can't wait.
9. NKOTBSB in TO with my best friend...enough said.
10. Help my sister plan her wedding.
That's my list folks, thanks for stopping by.
Ciao for now.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Got my groove back.
Finally, I've got my scrapbooking groove back. I'm not sure what my problem was but I was not getting inspired enough to start on my Punta Cana album. I've been busy planning a baby shower for my new niece and that might have been using up all my creativity and energy. I've never had a party @ my house before and I want it to be good. On the other hand it is a family shower, I really don't have to impress them. There is only so much you can do weeks ahead of time and I've pretty much done it, so after a nice visit with Dan, Jess and Alexis this weekend I sat down and started my trip album.
I used two sketches to get me going this week.
The first is by Sketchy Thursday,
I used two sketches to get me going this week.
The first is by Sketchy Thursday,
I flipped the sketch, picked the purple of my bathing suit and the blue of the water as my colours. I used the resort arm band to ground things. I'm really happy with this LO. It also tells the story about how happy I am that I reconnected with Jenn and was able to go on this trip and meet Crystal and Matt. Both of whom I hope will be good friends someday.
The next sketch I used was from Pencil lines
Again I flipped it and used the blue from the water in the pool. I think this album will have a lot of blue in it!
I also want to share my favorite picture from the weekends visit with Lexi. Here is my brother Tim, hanging out at Grandma's, so proud to be an Uncle.
That's all for now. Hopefully I'll get a few more pages down today before I head to Alexis' house on Sunday for a week. Can't wait for cuddles!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Prayer Jar
I have always been a worrier -I think I might have been born that way- but I'm also an optimist. I'm good @ looking on the sunny side of things...in truth if I didn't I would panic. There are times however when I'm really good @ dwelling on things that in the long run really really doesn't matter that much or that I have no control over, like that conversation or lack thereof with that guy. I send my thoughts into the world over and over and over and it takes a long time to let them go and let GOD take care of them. As I think I mentioned before, I decided that this year I needed to pray with intent more often, not only sharing my worries but also giving thanks. I'm really good @ sharing my worries but bad @ letting them go. Pretty sure GOD must think I'm on repeat sometimes. :) I read somewhere that if you write stuff down it's easier to let them go. Cool idea but then what do you do with what you have written? I saw this idea in Scrapbooking your faith by Courtney Walsh - a prayer jar. The idea is to put all your prayers - the good, the bad and the ugly - the moment you think of them into the jar. Then the jar is a visual reminder to let GOD take care of them.
So today I made one.
So pretty and so easy. This is particularly important now that I have a brand new niece to pray for. Alexis was born on March 1st, weighing 9lbs and she was 21 inches long. I went to see her yesterday and instantly fell in love. I really wish my brother and sister-in-law lived closer. Unfortunately, she had to be under the lights so this is the only picture I have of her so far. But I assure you there will be many more to come.
So today I made one.
So pretty and so easy. This is particularly important now that I have a brand new niece to pray for. Alexis was born on March 1st, weighing 9lbs and she was 21 inches long. I went to see her yesterday and instantly fell in love. I really wish my brother and sister-in-law lived closer. Unfortunately, she had to be under the lights so this is the only picture I have of her so far. But I assure you there will be many more to come. 
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Top Ten Punta Cana
Hello all! It's Tuesday so I thought I would play Ten on Tuesday with Kim over @ It's a Crafty Life and use my top ten Punta Cana pics. I've collected many pics from this trip but these are just the ones that I toke that I really liked or loved the story behind them.
But first some background. The groom Darryl and I went to elementary school together until grade 9. We didn't exactly run in the same crowd but got along well enough. He was more popular than me, but then again everyone was. And aside from a period in time when his best friend Ferg called me toad b/c I had freckles (actually he called me toad b/c he liked me, Darryl later told me and he later confirmed), he was always nice to me. Anyway I moved after grade 9 and met Jenn in high school. We didn't really become friends until college when we went to nursing school together for awhile. She was lots of fun to be with. When she left school we kinda lost touch and then when school was over I moved back to the town I grew up in to work. About two or three years ago, I ran into Jenn @ the grocery store. She had followed a boy here and was working as a vet tec in the area. It was nice to see her but I'm terrible at follow thru and didn't give her my number or anything. Then about 6 months later I was @ the Boot having lunch after church with my grandma and a few other ladies when I saw her with Darryl. I wasn't 100% sure it was her, partly b/c she was with Darryl, so I didn't go over to say hello. Determined not to let another potental friend slip away, I looked her up on Facebook and sent her a message..."Hey I think I saw you...blah, blah." She wrote back confirming that I did and that her boyfriend had told her we went to school together. She thought that was amazing! A few weeks later she invited me to Ferg's Buck and Doe and we've been friends ever since. In fact until last summer they lived right down the street from me, they moved b/c Darryl is in the military. I think it's pretty cool that I got to go to their wedding. Here are my top ten pictures from my trip.
This is Jenn, I love this picture of her b/c she toke it herself. I didn't even know that she had until a few days later.
I like this picture b/c of the story behind it. Out front of the hotel there was a pond with flamingos in it. One more while hanging out with Dave and Matt, I said I wanted to take a picture of the flamingos. Dave said "Yeah, I'd like a picture of the penguins too." Penguins?? Well that slip of the tongue carried on for the rest of the trip. Soon our whole group knew about it. And Dave never heard the end of it. :)
Yes the water is actually that blue.
This is the view of the ocean from the wedding site.
I don't claim to be a photographer. When I get it right, it's often by accident. I love this picture of Lisa, the groom's sister-in-law
and matron of honour. I think she looks so beautiful.
Like the movie 27 dresses, the moment when the groom sees the bride is the best moment of all.
The wedding party was uneven so Ferg and Biscuit were each others dates.
Jenn's Aunt Nancy and I distracted Darryl's nephew with sand castles while pictures were being taken. Love the green of that hat.
The happy couple, out to dinner a few nights later.
Micheal isn't dead he's alive and living in Punta Cana!! Actually this was the MJ from their Micheal Jackson show. Freaky isn't it? You should have seen him dance!
But first some background. The groom Darryl and I went to elementary school together until grade 9. We didn't exactly run in the same crowd but got along well enough. He was more popular than me, but then again everyone was. And aside from a period in time when his best friend Ferg called me toad b/c I had freckles (actually he called me toad b/c he liked me, Darryl later told me and he later confirmed), he was always nice to me. Anyway I moved after grade 9 and met Jenn in high school. We didn't really become friends until college when we went to nursing school together for awhile. She was lots of fun to be with. When she left school we kinda lost touch and then when school was over I moved back to the town I grew up in to work. About two or three years ago, I ran into Jenn @ the grocery store. She had followed a boy here and was working as a vet tec in the area. It was nice to see her but I'm terrible at follow thru and didn't give her my number or anything. Then about 6 months later I was @ the Boot having lunch after church with my grandma and a few other ladies when I saw her with Darryl. I wasn't 100% sure it was her, partly b/c she was with Darryl, so I didn't go over to say hello. Determined not to let another potental friend slip away, I looked her up on Facebook and sent her a message..."Hey I think I saw you...blah, blah." She wrote back confirming that I did and that her boyfriend had told her we went to school together. She thought that was amazing! A few weeks later she invited me to Ferg's Buck and Doe and we've been friends ever since. In fact until last summer they lived right down the street from me, they moved b/c Darryl is in the military. I think it's pretty cool that I got to go to their wedding. Here are my top ten pictures from my trip.
and matron of honour. I think she looks so beautiful.
That's all for now, thanks for stopping by. Ciao amigos!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Home Sweet Home
Ciao for now.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Nana's influence
Good Afternoon!! Keshet over @ Ella is talking to various scrapbookers about how their scrapbook styles influence their home decorating. Today was week two, in I think a series of five. So it got me to thinking about it myself, I don't think that my scrapbooking style has influenced my decorating but there are items that I have decorated with that inspire how I hope to scrap one day. Currently I scrap in a very clean, straight line way. I wish I could take more risks, I want my pages, when appropriate to be more whimsical.
This is why; my Nana is an amazing crafter...one could say she is an artist. It doesn't matter what it is, she ROCKS it. A few years ago the local symphony (of which she volunteers for) played a concert, my Nana was in charge of the floral arrangement. Needing a theme, my Nana and I looked over the playlist, the last piece had to do with fairy tales or Cinderella ( I wish I could remember what it was). I said it would be really cool if she could use that as a theme and she did. She made two arrangements, for one she used a old beautiful shoe ( it was sparkly) and the flowers over flowed out of it and the other had flowers spilling out of an old garden boot. Amazing.
So back to home decor, my Nana made me these.
They currently hang in my bathroom. There are actually 6, my sister Patti has the other 3. She painted them on leftover bathroom tile. I remember that tile, even though her bathroom has gone thru a few transformations since she made them when I was a little girl. Can't you feel the whimsy? I have no idea where she got the idea from but it wouldn't surprise me if she saw something a tiny bit similar in a magazine and ran with it, making them completely her own (something I'm still trying to learn). She does this all the time, she once saw homemade knitted Christmas stockings in a magazine and thought "What a great idea" and that year we all got stockings for Christmas, with Christmas trees and snowmen on them, all of them different. She had no pattern, it was all out of her head. When it comes to crafts and art she has no problems taking risks. My sister Patti, is like that too.
Keshet's article got me thinking about these tiles and how I wish I would take more risks. So, when I come back from Punta Cana with my vacation photos, I'm going to take more risks when I scrap them. I'll keep you posted on how I do.
This is why; my Nana is an amazing crafter...one could say she is an artist. It doesn't matter what it is, she ROCKS it. A few years ago the local symphony (of which she volunteers for) played a concert, my Nana was in charge of the floral arrangement. Needing a theme, my Nana and I looked over the playlist, the last piece had to do with fairy tales or Cinderella ( I wish I could remember what it was). I said it would be really cool if she could use that as a theme and she did. She made two arrangements, for one she used a old beautiful shoe ( it was sparkly) and the flowers over flowed out of it and the other had flowers spilling out of an old garden boot. Amazing.
So back to home decor, my Nana made me these.
Keshet's article got me thinking about these tiles and how I wish I would take more risks. So, when I come back from Punta Cana with my vacation photos, I'm going to take more risks when I scrap them. I'll keep you posted on how I do.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Laugh out loud and vulnerability - what I learned from Boy Meets World and Shawn Hunter.
This week I re-visited my adolescence( something everyone should do now and then) and watched the 3rd Session of Boy Meets World. I know, I know it's a big jump from The Vampire Diaries to Boy Meets World but I survived the transition. I watched the whole season in one week, and laugh, did I ever laugh! Like right in my belly laugh. I can't even really remember the last time I did that. Maybe when I was reading PS I Love You last year (way way way way better than the movie, sad sure but laugh out loud hilarious, and I did, in a crowded Dr's office). But the truth is I take life way too seriously sometimes, I needed to be reminded to laugh. To remember the care free times of my life. Boy Meets World was defiantly a care free time in my life. Every Friday night my whole family would sit and watch it, Mom, Dad, Patti and Danny, even the twins when they weren't babies anymore. Family night, I miss that. Something I hope I can continue when I meet the right guy and have a family of my own.
As any pre-teen can tell you, some of our very first crushes come from TV. I can remember my very first one, Jerry O' Connell My Secret Identity, I was maybe six years old at the time. Anyway Boy Meets World was not lacking in crushes. Both my sister and her best friend Alie -our next door neighbour - loved Shawn Hunter aka Rider Strong. If pressed I would maybe tell you I was on Team Cory but in truth I had a soft spot for Shawn Hunter. Even at 14 I wanted to bring him home, feed him a nice meal (French onion soup b/c that's all I knew how to make) and save the poor boy. It's still true. I love checking in with actors I haven't seen in awhile, so yesterday I googled Rider Strong.
And I found this blog http://strongbrothersmagicshow.blogspot.com/ written by himself and his brother Shiloh. I read the would thing. Do not let his Shawn Hunter good looks fool you, this guy is smart, talented and funny. Again laugh out loud funny! I was captivated by both Rider and Shiloh's blog posts. They were real, genuine (same as real right?) and vulnerable. And while vulnerability makes me sad sometimes when I see it in old men, particularly sick ones (it makes me feel sad b/c they use to be these strong young men and now their not), it shows great strength in two "cool" young men. It takes guts to show that. It occurs to me that vulnerability was lacking in my past relationships, neither guy was able to be vulnerable with me and b/c I had been so burned by the first guy b/c I was maybe too vulnerable, I couldn't be vulnerable with the second - he wouldn't have been able to handle it anyway but this is not the point of this blog post. I wish I could be more vulnerable sometimes, particularly surrounding my faith. I'm very shy about it and I shouldn't be. It's a huge part of who I am and where I'm headed.
Back to the Strong brothers, I think you should check out their blog. I promise you will laugh and you might even learn something too. I bet you'll go back b/c I know I will.
As any pre-teen can tell you, some of our very first crushes come from TV. I can remember my very first one, Jerry O' Connell My Secret Identity, I was maybe six years old at the time. Anyway Boy Meets World was not lacking in crushes. Both my sister and her best friend Alie -our next door neighbour - loved Shawn Hunter aka Rider Strong. If pressed I would maybe tell you I was on Team Cory but in truth I had a soft spot for Shawn Hunter. Even at 14 I wanted to bring him home, feed him a nice meal (French onion soup b/c that's all I knew how to make) and save the poor boy. It's still true. I love checking in with actors I haven't seen in awhile, so yesterday I googled Rider Strong.
And I found this blog http://strongbrothersmagicshow.blogspot.com/ written by himself and his brother Shiloh. I read the would thing. Do not let his Shawn Hunter good looks fool you, this guy is smart, talented and funny. Again laugh out loud funny! I was captivated by both Rider and Shiloh's blog posts. They were real, genuine (same as real right?) and vulnerable. And while vulnerability makes me sad sometimes when I see it in old men, particularly sick ones (it makes me feel sad b/c they use to be these strong young men and now their not), it shows great strength in two "cool" young men. It takes guts to show that. It occurs to me that vulnerability was lacking in my past relationships, neither guy was able to be vulnerable with me and b/c I had been so burned by the first guy b/c I was maybe too vulnerable, I couldn't be vulnerable with the second - he wouldn't have been able to handle it anyway but this is not the point of this blog post. I wish I could be more vulnerable sometimes, particularly surrounding my faith. I'm very shy about it and I shouldn't be. It's a huge part of who I am and where I'm headed.
Back to the Strong brothers, I think you should check out their blog. I promise you will laugh and you might even learn something too. I bet you'll go back b/c I know I will.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)