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.

12*30*09

This is a layout I made of Lacy's too (yes too, not two) darn cute kids again. I used sketch #50 at 52sketches52weeks for this one.
Lacy and Dusty take their kids sledding all the time in the winter. There is a big hill at a park in Lindon, and the kids just have a blast.
I hate sledding. I don't like being cold, and I'm too fat to stand up without rolling myself on the ground first lol. I remember I used to love sledding as a kid though.
That reminds me of a story. We were up American Fork Canyon with the Parker family in the winter one time when I was like 10 yrs old. I think we went to go sledding and play in the snow. In any case, the seven of us kids were taking turns having Scott pull us around on this big tire tube. Well, my butt hit the hugest rock. I can still feel the pain. I was crying so hard and he just kept pulling me around. I think he thought I was laughing. No bueno dude.
Anyhow, here is my layout. Hope you like it. Thanks for looking.

12*26*09

We had a great Christmas. We slept in (I love having a preteen who values sleep almost as much as me :), got up and opened presents, then we went out to eat at IHOP with Kim, Jason, and Andy. That was pretty fun, except Andy took his thermal shirt that Kim got him for Christmas off because it was so hot--and someone freaking stole it. Nice Christmas spirit huh?
I'm so mad at myself. I totally forgot to take pictures. And I'm an obsessive scrapbooker! So disappointed in me. So, I made everyone pose for me because I need something to document it. Shane did take video, like he does every year, so it's not like it's lost. But, I'm still mad. So, these pictures are totally fake and posed, but whatever.
Shane looks so much goofier to me in this pic than he usually does lol. He just barely woke up, give the guy a break! Sorry if the shirt I got him, or the mug I got Andy, is offensive to anyone. I thought it was funny :) Maybe I have a warped sense of humor.






It was fun for me and Shane Christmas morning. We had Garrett believing that his Christmas would be really small and that we had no money to get the big things. That is actually true, but credit cards save the day--as long as you pay them off fast enough. He really didn't get that many presents, but two of them were expensive.
Shane told him he'd have to wait until his birthday to get a red-dot scope on his gun, and I told him that he wasn't getting an iPod because it was too much money. Just a little background here--I washed his iPod with the laundry about 2 months ago, so I was feeling really bad about it. I have told them both a zillion times that I don't check pockets, but still.....
Anyway, so I give him some accessories for an iPod as one of his last gifts, and he's all looking at me like I'm stupid and says, "Mom, I don't have an iPod." Then I tossed him the iPod for the last gift. He loves it. I knew he would. The last iPod he had was constantly in his pocket, so I was happy I was able to replace it. Especially since I'm the one who broke it in the first place.
Then, a couple hours later--when he thinks it's done and over with--Shane says, "Hey Garrett, Andy's never seen your muzzleloader. Why don't you go get it and show him." This should have thrown him off because Andy was actually there when he got it for Christmas last year, but he didn't even think about that. So, he goes to get it, and we hear this yell from the bedroom, "You guys are liars!". Shane had put his gun in the case with the scope he wanted already mounted. It was pretty funny.
Shane is off work from now until January 4th. Lucky! He might have to go in one day to unload a train car, but only for a coulple of hours. I of course, have to work. Such is the nature of retail. But, this will give my boys some quality time together. They are planning on doing a lot of duck hunting and going practice shooting up the canyon. Garrett's two friends that live next door got muzzleloaders and 9mm pistols for Christmas. So, they will all have fun with that.

My Tattoo.........12*21*09

So, I've been wanting to get a tattoo pretty much since I was 18. I've always liked them and thought they were cool, but I was afraid of the pain. I was also afraid that it would be something I would regret. Well, after my mom died, I knew that I wanted one as sort of a tribute/memorial to her. That would definately be something that I wouldn't regret. But, I was still afraid of the pain and didn't really know what I wanted. Plus, I never had the money to get one. And, I wanted to make sure I had a good tattoo artist that wouldn't get it wrong.
Last year, my friend, Colin, got a tattoo from our other friend, Fawn's, cousin. (I"m pretty sure I just really butchered the grammar in that entire sentence lol.) I really liked her work. Then Fawn showed me some of the tattoos that Kami (her cousin) had done for her and her husband, Rick. Well, I was pretty much sold after that. I could see that she was good at what she did, and I knew I could trust her. But, I was STILL scared (and broke).
I thought and thought about it, and finally decided I for sure wanted to do it. I just kept waiting to have a little extra cash, which is sometimes hard to come by around here.
Then my sister, Kim, offered to pay for me to have it done for my birthday this year. I was totally excited--and nervous.
So, I called Fawn and she gave me Kami's phone number. Kim and I went over to Kami's house on December 12th and talked to her about pain, about design, price, and all of the aftercare stuff. I still knew I wanted it, so we made an appointment for December 19th to git 'r done.
That's pretty much the story. Yes, it did hurt. Probably more than I let on in some places. But, it wasn't unbearable. I don't regret it (so far). Although, in case you're thinking about it, the recovery is not all together painless either. I think it is beautiful, and I think my mom would love it.
We actually went to my Grandpa Mills's house last night (my mom's dad) to visit for Christmas, and I showed him. I was afraid he would hate tattoos (being 80 years old or so). But, he loved it. He seemed a little shocked that I was the one that did it, and I can't say that I"m surprised. I would't think it would be me either.
Anyway, here are some pics.



*The Sketch Kami made for me * and *Kami starting the outline* She used a special paper to transfer the image onto my leg so she could trace it with the needles.

Remember those parts that may have been more painful than I let on? *Almost done with the outline*

*Finished Product*

12*17*09

Here are some pics of Christmas cards I made this year. Please don't feel bad if you don't get one. I made 50 of the maroon and green one, and by the time I got my list done, I had 80 people to send them out to! So I made some of the red one that is a little more simple, and I still didn't get all of my friends covered. So, I'm sorry if you didn't get one. That either means I didn't have your address, or my fingers were just too sore to make another card!
I think I'm sending store-bought ones next year. Seriously, this is a lot more work than it looks like lol.

Also, this is a page that I finished yesterday using sketch #49 at 52sketches52weeks. This is Garrett and Ryan playing in the wagon at Lacy's house in summer of 2006.

In Memory of Bryson

I didn't know him, had never heard his name, but he has touched my life. His story makes me look at my son and listen to him, laugh when he laughs, cry when he cries, and remember that time is a precious thing. My heart breaks for the family, especially the mother of this little boy. This candle is for him, and for his family. To show our support and our thoughts and prayers are with them.
To read more about this story, click here.

12*6*09

It snowed pretty good last night, so today is the perfect day for me to just cozy up in my little office and do some more scrapping. Shane is watching football, and Garrett is playing games with his best friend, so I'm not missing much there lol.
I spent a few hours at Lacy's house yesterday making my Christmas cards, so I'm pretty glad that's done. They turned out really well, but I won't post them because I'm sending them out. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise (for those who enjoy that sort of thing). Lacy's sister-in-law, Linda, and her girls came too. We all had loads of fun. Katherine and Linda made some really beautiful pages for Kat's wedding album, and Julia made an awesome birthday card for a friend. Becka just came to chill--which was fun too.
Here are the pages I've done so far today. I used sketches from 52sketches52weeks. Ryan's page is sketch #9, and the hunting page is sketch #48. I'm still so sad that Julie won't be doing this sketch site next year. Almost everything I've done this year has been inspired by this site. I'll just have to reuse them~I saved them all to my computer :).
Anyway, here is today's work.