4*21*10

I try not to be negative on my blog, but I'm frustrated. Why is it that no one else in this house can set-up their own damn electronic gadgets? Why, everytime that we buy a new little gizmo, such as a cell phone or game system, pedometer, or what have you, must I be the one who has to spend 4-5 hours trying to learn how to get the software set-up, hardware updated, synchronizing going, etc...?
Why? There are directions. Specific step-by-step directions.
Grrrr................

3*19*10

This is a card that I made for my boss. She is the best. Seriously. She totally gets it. I wanted to do something fun for her birthday, and everyone calls her "The Queen". So, this is what I came up with. I think it totally suits her personality.

3*14*10

Lacy and I went to a scrap camp this weekend. We had a total blast. You can go on Friday at 4:00 pm and stay over til Saturday at 9:00 pm, but we just did Saturday. I think that was a good decision. Because by 8:00 pm, I was totally out of steam. Not to mention delirious. It was so worth it though. We never get to scrap together because there just isn't enough room. We had a whole table to ourselves, so there was plenty of room to spread out. Lacy got 29 layouts done. Holy cow! I only did 15. But, Lacy's approach is cleaner than mine. I like my layouts all junked up lol. I did do some simpler ones toward the end though. I was too tired to pretty them up any more.

Anyway, we loved it, and we plan on doing it again in April at a different event.

Here are the pages I got done.

My niece, Jordyn's, school pic this year

My nephew, Ryan's, school pic this year
My nephew graduating from preschool 2 years ago

Trinity Church and St Paul's Chapel in NYC (journaling is too long and will be on a separate insert page to the scrapbook)

Central Park in NYC

Heartland Brewery at the bottom of the Empire State Building (we needed a little break after flying and walking all day lol)

Empire State Building

Bowling Green Park. I wasn't going to include the second pic by the bull, but after reading a bit of the history, I knew I needed to. (journaling is too long and will be on a separate insert page to the scrapbook)

My tattoo!--I need to reprint the pic that I wrote on. I messed up a word and scribbled on it. Not pretty.

My fave layout of the night. One of the ladies told me that I should submit it for "best of show" next time we come.

3*6*10

I made this page a couple of weeks ago. Just never got around to posting it on my blog.

This is my niece, Nicki, and I. This photo was taken about 14 years ago. My niece died at 3 months old. Her mother has very few photos of her, so I cherish this one and only of Nicki and I that my sister happened across while cleaning up some storage at her home. She has very few photos of Nicki, and even less with anyone else in them. I think this is the only one with a full view of anyone else, so it is really special to me (even though my hair is a little out of control lol).

2*22*10

I got a new camera! I'm so excited. Shane let me get a little something with our taxes this year. Usually we spend it all on bills or new tires and boring stuff like that. But, this year he's getting a new TV. So, I asked for my share. He said the TV was for all of us (whatever!). If he can use that argument, bring it on buddy, because a camera is just as much for the fam as a big-ass ugly big-screen tv lol. He is getting a sweet deal from a friend of ours, but still. Ugly I tell ya.
My old camera has been acting up a lot lately. The shutter won't open all the way, and sometimes when you turn it off, it won't retract all the way in. It had a big ole' scratch on the screen too (I could have lived with that though). I'm still going to keep it for when I don't want to chance taking the new one, but I'm so happy to be able to get this one. My sister's both have it, and it has way better features than my older one. I though maybe this time I should get one that I could pass on to Shane if I wanted to later lol. My old one was a pink Sony Cybershot. Somehow, I don't think he or Garrett will want to be truckin' that one around.
I thought I had a pic of my old one, but it isn't saved to my computer anymore. I would take a pic, but I'm too lazy right now.

Ain't she purty?!

2*14*10

Happy Valentine's Day all! Shane and I went out to dinner on Friday to celebrate because Garrett was sleeping over at a friend's house. He let me choose, and I went with Mi Ranchito. I love that place. Best Mexican food around.
We had fun, but as soon as we ordered, Shane's bff called. His wife left him. How cruel is that? To leave on the weekend of Love Day? I won't go into details, because it's not for me to spread around, but she's a beast. She used to be one of my funnest friends, but now I can't even stomach her. So, needless to say, that sort of put a damper on things. We ended up going out to Payson to see if we could do anything to help, and we didn't leave til 1:00 am.
Yesterday we went to visit Shane's mom's grave. Her birthday is on Valentine's Day (which also sort of put's a damper on it sometimes). She died when he was only 11 years old. He hasn't been there for a couple of years, so we went and put some carnations on the grave (those were her favorite). His Grandma Lewis is buried very close to her, so we took one red carnation out of the bouquet and put it on her headstone too. Garrett came home for a while to go with us, and I think it is good for him to see how much his dad loved and misses his mother and grandmother. Garrett never really knew either of them. He went with us to visit Grandma at the rest home a few times, but she died when he was very young. I think he was 3 or 4.
Then we went to Shane's choice for dinner last night, Chinese Gourmet, to try to have a better Love Day dinner. Garrett had gone back to sleep over at his friend's house again. This one went pretty well. I even ran into a friend that I haven't seen in ages there. We exchanged digits and all that fun stuff.
Then this morning (since Garrett is STILL gone) we went to lunch at Subway. So, I got 3 dates in one weekend lol. Hope it doesn't show up on the scale on Tuesday at Weight Watchers. I stayed within my points, but you never know.
Not much else is going on. I kind of miss posting my fun scrapbooking stuff, but I haven't been so into it lately. I've just been to busy at work and at home. Plus, I may be a bit burned out. I go through cycles. And it'll come back around. I'll just enjoy the break.
Ta ta for now.

01*27*10

I just got back from not-so-sunny California. I went for the annual trip to the CHA winter show (Craft and Hobby Association) in Anaheim. This is my first CHA in Anaheim, so it was pretty fun. There were tons more exhibitors there than were at CHA summer in Orlando.
It didn't rain on THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY of the trip--Saturday. We got to go to Disneyland and have all sorts of fun together. Priorities first you know.
We went to CHA in Orlando in July last year, and it was monsooning the whole time we were in Disney World. So, I'm really glad it didn't do that while we were at Disneyland.
We had a blast. Kristie and I rode the Tower of Terror twice and lost our voices. We got to ride all the really fun rides except Splash Mountain, but that would have been really cold. It wasn't THAT warm.
The show was fun for me because this is the first one I've been to that really had a good turnout, and we found a few really fun things that we're excited to bring into Roberts over the next few months. So, keep coming in to check it out.

1*19*10

So, I joined Weight Watcher's again today. I joined in 2006, and I lost almost 60 lbs over about a year's time. I felt great. I wasn't thin or at a healthy weight, by any means, but I was at a place where I was proud of myself and I could find clothes that were cute and fit. I was off of my breathing machine (I had severe sleep apnea when I was at my heaviest).
Somehow, for some reason, I decided that I didn't need WW meetings and I could do it on my own. This might be true for some people, once they have the hang of how it works. But, apparently not for me. See, I need support. I need motivation. And, I enjoy sharing in others successes and stories. It's good to know that others are going through the same things that you are.
Slowly, over the last two years, I've let 40 lbs creep back up on me! I used to sit in meetings and listen to people say these types of things, and I would think, "How can you lose that much weight and let it come back?" Well, I'm living proof that no matter how hard you worked to take it off, if you fall back into old habits, it will come back!
I have feeling it will be harder to get rid of this time. But I know I can do it. And, the best part is, my sister (Lacy) joined a couple of weeks ago. She joined the one that is right next to my work, so I can take my lunch break and go with her! That isn't why she joined. In fact, she didn't even tell me she was joining (jerk!). But, I'm so glad she did. It gave me the kick in the pants I needed to do it. I was thinking about it, but I don't like going when I don't know anyone. Eventually you make friends and meet people, but those first couple weeks are a little uncomfortable.
Thanks Lace! We can do this. I'm so glad we're in it together!

1*18*10

Saturday was my mom's birthday. I miss her so much. I think of her at least 10 times a day even now, 14+ years later. I spent two days at funerals last week, and it brought the sorrow so close to the surface again. Especially the second funeral. My friend Jennifer's dad, who worked with Shane, passed away. He was 58 years old. His wife, and her mom, died in 2003. What if my dad dies young like that? He did have a heart attack a couple of years ago. My mom is already gone. I can't imagine not having my dad. He's been such a huge part of my life (more than a lot of dad's might be). He is one of my husband's best friends. He is a rock to our family. We even spend our vacation together every year camping.

I wish my mom was around. Just to talk to her and for her to spend time with her grandchildren. I hope it's true what they say about heaven. That years on earth are like minutes to them. I'd hate to think my mom had to wait to see us as long as we do to see her. Somehow it seems more bearable on earth to me because we have so many of our friends and family still with us.

Well, enough sadness for now. It was just on my mind after going to the funerals and all.

01*03*10

This is a quick birthday page I did last night. I had some pictures laying around and decided to put this page together real fast.

This is the year that my sister, Kim, gave Garrett an iPod. How do I compete with that? Seriously. I don't even remember what I gave him that year. I remember that my dad asked for house plants. I found that a little odd, but I guess he liked my house plants a lot and wanted some just like them. Huh.
It's weird now that I think about it. Our family only really gets together for the birthdays that are in May. None of the other adults ever have birthday parties. We do parties for Ryan and Jordyn, but they aren't really like family parties. They are traditional kid's parties that we're just invited to.
Garrett has never really had a kid's party. We usually go camping on Memorial Day weekend every year, which is right around his birthday. So, we don't have much time to do a party. We have had parties for him while camping, but not really traditonal type kid parties--and not very many. Plus, it would be a little weird to have him a party without including my dad and my sister. Lacy's birthday is the same day as Garrett's, and Dad's is the day after. So, we usually just have a family barbeque for all three birthdays.
That makes me a little sad, but Garrett really doesn't seem to mind. He loves the family bbq--he's pretty close to Lacy's kids. And, his best friend, Dustin, is always welcome to join us.

Anyway. That's the spiel on why all of Garrett's birthday pages are family parties.

01*02*10 (again)

This is the companion page to the layout I did the other day titled "Snow Day", so I didn't do a title or journaling on this one.
I used the last sketch at 52 Sketches 52 Weeks for this one.

01*02*10

I spent a few hours at Kim's house today helping her finish a scrapbook she is making for a work friend of hers. It was fun for us to do something together, but it was sad at the same time. She's been working on the book over the last couple of weeks. She is trying to get it done as quickly as possible because this friend of hers has terminal cancer. She wants him to be able to look at it and reflect on the many good times they've had together with mutual friends as much as possible before he is gone. That makes me sad.
I've had a couple of friends get diagnosed with cancer. One died, and one is now in remission. It seems like anyone you talk to knows more than one person who has had or does have cancer. I can't believe how many lives this once rare disease is affecting and how many different types of cancer there are now.
It makes me think how much I have to be grateful for and how I should hold my loved ones close. Maybe someday I won't be able to.