Acknowledge and Move On

Happy December!

What is normally a busy time for most, I am pretty happy to say that December is my down time.  I am home for the entire month, resting and preparing for next year.  I worked really hard over the Thanksgiving weekend to get our Christmas cards finished, shopping done and gifts ready to ship.  I can honestly say, I am OFFICIALLY Finished my Christmas Shopping.  Woohoo!  I am pretty excited about it too, however the hard part now is to not just pick things up when I am out and about (this is when I normally get myself into trouble!)  I am actually attending a crop this weekend at my local scrapbook store.  I am going to spend Thursday getting ready for it so that I can maximize my time and get as much done as I possibly can.  We are also going to spend Sunday at Walt Disney World (I love going this time of year and seeing all the holiday decorations with little crowds!).   We went last year and had a great time...

I am looking forward to some more photo ops (not like I need any more photos to scrap!) and I am even going to try and get into the pictures as well.

  

Here is a card I made recently...I used paper from the My Michelle line by Quick Quotes (and our new Tahiti PowderPuff), Making Memories work sticker, Baby is cut using the Making Memories Slice which I got here.  Have a great Tuesday Night!
 

Weigh In Monday and some random blathering

Okay, I have been doing the weight loss thing for about a year and a half...the last six weeks I have been a complete SLACKER and have put on a few pounds (7 to be exact) and need to get back on track...I have decided that the motto for December is "Down in December" and I am hoping to lose 10 lbs before the new year.  Chuck and I have booked a cruise for March (sans the children!!) and I am hoping to be down a total of 25 lbs by then...I am just putting it out there to keep me on track...I am also going to try and scrapbook a layout everyday during the month of December (that's a total of 31 layouts...pretty ambitious!).  We don't have very many Holiday plans so hopefully I will be able to get most of them done. 

I have been spending some time in the craft room over the last few days and have managed to get some cards done....

I also took Rhyan to the park earlier in the week and took some photos of her and a friend playing..

 Rhyan's glasses are new and they have made a world of difference!  She looks cute too...
 

A weekend at home...

is an amazing thing.  I had forgotten how much I love waking up and drinking coffee at my own pace, reading the paper, watching the news....The ability to head to the gym at any time of the day, family breakfast on the porch (when the weather cooperates), spending time in the scrapbook room, going to the movies (Old Dogs, predictable but funny.), shopping and finally cooking my own meals.  It has been a great weekend and like all great things it has come to an end, back to school and work tomorrow for all of us.  I did have a very productive weekend though.  I was able to upload photos from the past few weeks...I want to share my oldest daughter at her first NFL football game...

 

My father is a huge Dolphins fan, Chase is a Carolina fan...this game has been in the works for the last two years.  My father wanted to make everything perfect for Chase's first game and he did too, with the exception of the outcome of the game (which he had no control over, but was very happy about!).  Chase came home with two souvenirs and many memories.  Here is our Holiday card that is going to be mailed shortly to our friends and family...

I used a little piece of Cosmo Cricket's holiday line, some My Michelle Papers by Quick Quotes and some other random supplies I had at home.  We also put our Christmas Tree up...I haven't taken the official photo just yet, but here is a quick one I took last night..(I will be taking a proper photo soon, this was just for fun!)

By the way, did you know to see if you have enough lights on the tree, if you look at it while crossing your eyes (just a little bit) it helps to see the distribution of the lights (by blurring it I believe)...it's a pretty neat trick as long as you don't cross your eyes too much. 
 

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is the day to give Thanks.  I am thankful for many things: My family, My health, my Friends, My job, our home, and many more things...I hope that you are able to spend the day with loved ones.  I will be back later this weekend with all kinds of updates and some great things that are coming up...Happy Thanksgiving.

Phoenix Private Reserve

I am here in Carefree Arizona for our final Private Reserve of the year.  We have done this in six other cities and  have already begun the planning for next year.  We will be in a total of 6 cities next year and are very excited to be going to a few new places.  We are also gearing up for next years Convention season...This year just ended last weekend in Seattle which was a great show and I am looking forward to the Month of December so I can work from home, spend time with my family and hopefully get some scrapping done....I am thinking of a little challenge for myself this December, I am not too sure what just yet so any suggestions are welcome.  One thing I know for sure, I have to use some of the products that I have been collecting over the past year (one of the downfalls of the job heheee). 

Happy Veterans Day

Thank you to all the current and retired members of the United States Military Forces for the sacrifices that you have made allowing my family to be free and safe.

Travel between Time Zones

I spent the weekend in Seattle at the last Creating Keepsakes Convention of 2009....WOO HOO bring on the new classes for 2010!  (speaking of which, we are doing some pilot classes in Washington this month and in Orlando in January)..I stayed an extra day to play and spend some time with friends..Yesterday was a rough day since I took the red eye home.  I travel all the time for work, as long as I stay in the Eastern Time Zone, and even the Central time zone I am usually okay.  I am usually fine for Mountain as well.  Pacific Time Zone however, when I come home I am WHOOPED for at least two days.  I can only imagine what I will be like the week of Thanksgiving..because between now and then I am heading to Phoenix for our last Private Reserve of the year and then back to Seattle for our Pilot classes...I think during the month of November alone I will earn enough milage for a free flight, again I say WOOHOO!  I am thinking of using my miles to book a flight for a trip to be taken in March.....I had a great time in Seattle seeing friends I had met at the Private Reserve and the pilot classes from last year.  I also had a great time meeting a few first time attendees.  Since it was the last show of the year, I made a big purchase for myself.  I bought a Making Memories Slice.  I have finally taken the plunge and have entered the world of electrical/digital cutters.  I bought the pink slice and a few additional cartridges and I am looking forward to spending some time getting to know my new toy (probably won't happen until December but it will happen).  If you own one or are thinking about getting one you can get the machine and cartridges here.  I will leave you with a layout I did last week for a sketch challenge here.

Seattle Here I Come....

I am currently at the airport waiting to board my flight to Denver and then on to my final destination, Seattle...It is the last trade show of the year.  The last time I am teaching these classes woohoo!!! I loved all the classes this year, but after teaching them A LOT I am ready for some new ones!  We already have new classes in the works for next year and I will be heading back to Seattle in a few weeks to learn them and get ready for next year.  There is no rest I tell you, no rest.  Since I have been home though, I have been able to play a little bit with some new papers...

I have been playing with a new paper line we have coming out called "Andrew Avenue" and I LOVE IT!!! The color combos are great and very versatile.  Here is another one....

Have a great weekend and if you are at the CK Convention in Bellevue, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
 
 

Happy Election Day

for those of you that are voting!  There are no elections going on here where I live so no voting today for me.  If you do live where elections are taking place, make sure to get out there and vote, because each vote really does make a difference....okay, I am stepping off the horse now.  I have been feeling pretty creative these past few days and have been able to get some crafting done...

This layout was created using my October kit from Scrapbook Obsessions which featured October Afternoon products.  

A layout using the new paper line from Quick Quotes "My Michelle"...I went a little crazy with all the G's but I love how it turned out.  The large G by the photo was plain chipboard that I inked with the Tahiti PowderPuff chalk and then covered with the Rock Candy Crackle paint from Ranger...

A gift card holder using Andrew Avenue paper and a vellum Quote from Quick Quotes.  The butterfly was a plain chipboard embellishment that I sprayed with a few colors of glimmer mist.  

IT is Tuesday and that means BIGGEST LOSER NIGHT!  It is an event at our house and it is getting pretty exciting now that the number of contestents is low...the bad thing is that it gets to the point where I like everyone who is left.  Don't worry though, that hasn't happened quite yet, there is still one person that I really want them to send home!
 

 

November Already?

I absolutely cannot believe that it is already November!  This year is going so fast, and I just want it to slow down!  I had a great weekend AT HOME!  Yes, I woke up in my own bed this weekend (which was really weird!) and my husband kept saying "thanks for visiting us this weekend".  We were very busy with it being Halloween and all.  Forgive me for saying this out loud, but I do not like Halloween, it is one of my least favorite "Holidays" to celebrate...but I do (barely) for the kids...

as usual, tears were shed over the costume because we didn't get it from the right store (which means the store she had in mind).  I have a really hard time going all out for an outfit that will be worn once (especially now that she is older!).  In the end though, it all worked out and Rhyan was very excited about how she looked.

Chase stayed in and gave out Candy, and last minute decided to dress up as a football girl.  We carved a pumpkin

(Sorry for the blurry pic, it was the clearest we got!)This is a pumkin that was given to us by our dear friends the Calverts...we went on the great pumpkin search and came up empty handed...when I say search what I really mean is Five Grocery stores, one hardware store and a pumkin patch that was closing up as we were driving by...we carved both sides which made a shadow on the wall, it was pretty cool.  I even made a Halloween card...

I used the new Andrew Avenue paper from Quick Quotes, A basic Grey sticker and some old Daisy D's stickers I had in my stash...I finished it up with stickles!