Merry CHristmas, Happy New Year!!!

its already time turn that calendar to January, i can't believe 2008 is tomorrow! where did the year go. seems the older i get the faster time flies. Resolutions? no i don't make any really, not worth looking back in disappointment i figure. i may think of things i'd like to change, things i could do better or more but i don't put them in writing, that makes them too official. I think for 08 i'd just like to try enjoying my job more, this fall has been a big adjustment and i know i will survive and make it till june but i need to be more positive about it. I will scrap, as much as is possible, and look forward to working with the gals at Life Preservers and the great monthly kits!!! Improve on my photography, practice practice. I look forward to Jan 11th weekend when i head to the 4-H Leaders conference with Theresa, should be fun and educational, to march and spring break when i will see my brother Chris and my nephew in kelowna hopefully, and will send Lindsey off to Costa Rica for the adventure of her life!!! it will be a great year I have no doubt, with tonnes to do and memories to record. Hope yours starts off great, Happy 2008!!!

here are a few projects i have done in preparation for the new year, a couple calendars and some pages :)

Happy 17th Birthday Jessica Joy

it's hard to believe it was 17 years ago we stopped in Shaunavon hospital as we didn't think we'd make our intended destination of Swift Current hospital and we probably wouldn't have, you came quickly. It was a rollercoaster ride from the start when the dr's said you had problems and may not survive the night, off you flew to Saskatoon to the NICU where you spent a few days before you were doing well and eating enough to be released and could go home. We spent that Christmas with Barb and Ruben and the family then drove you home to Frontier. Cornelia De Lange syndrome was not something we had ever heard of until your diagnoses a short while later and all that came with it was hard to hear, heart defect, abnormal growth, cleft pallet, etc but you were so sweet and were content to be held and swing in your swing, you seemed pretty healthy and normal to us. I remember calling the hospital nicu to ask for a replacement soother like the one they gave you while there because you wouldn't take any other one.

We were so thankful for the health and progress you made over the 2 short years you were with us, we had some scares with pnemonia and breathing issues, a couple hospital stays for tests etc but we treasured all those things. Making the decision to go ahead with the heart surgery was not easy but we felt it was best for you, and in the end it was just your time to go i guess, God needed you in heaven with Him. We'll always remember your little smile and your dark hair, and the way you stood stiff on your daddy's hands. Happy Birthday Jessica.

Oh Christmas Tree....

Oh Christmas tree, and all the trimmings are up at our house making it feel like the big day is just around the corner, which it is!!! I'm not quite ready, have a few more gifts to buy, and have done no wrapping yet but i like to do that all at once a day or two before :). I did get all my cards MADE and almost all of them have been mailed. This group photo in front of our tree was included in them for fun, thanks my sweet family for posing for me. Aside from work and christmas preparations and hockey games and practices and domestic duties and sleep here and there, not much is new since i last posted, rediculous how long between postings and i apologize but i will share a few projects i have squeezed in in my spare time for your viewing pleasure.

I want to thank those who have joined me in praying for my cousin who was in a terrible vehicle accident a week ago. He is doing so well, is off the ventilator, is talking and coherent and sounds like he will make a full recovery. God is good and does answer prayer!!!

We are getting company for Christmas and cannot wait to see my SIL and her family, its been too long. Tomorrow is our church concert so have been busy practicing for that and it should be lots of fun. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with friends and family and blessings to you. Lets not forget that Jesus is the Reason for the Season and i'm thankful to be in a community where my views are shared and expressed, and to live in a country that still allows us to Say Merry CHristmas, it seems that is not the case in lots of places and His birth is not the focus any longer in schools or communities.

oh and if you happen to see the winter issue of Canadian Scrapbooker, i have a layout in there about my scrapspace/stuff on page 34. :o)

not quite

a month since i last posted but so close i feel terrible. My apologies to my faithful scrap friends and family, but ughhhhh life gets in the way sometimes and my blog gets neglected. I do have GOOD NEWS to share, i made the Design Team at Life Preservers and the kits SHellye puts together are awesome and i can't wait to work with her, the monthly kits and the team there. So for 2008 catch me and my goodies there and please join the boards, its a great group of wonderful ladies and a nice home online.

Wrapping up my dt term at SNS with december being my last month. Its been a fun run and i'll continue to collect the wonderful ribbon kits Rhea puts together, love ribbon. Here are a few things i created for november with the Rocket Man kit.

I'm also on the design team for a new Local Scrap store in GP called Scrapbook Matters and Michelle is great to work for, great kits that i have loved working with so i'll share some of those creations with you here too.

what else is new, well, Mitchell is playing hockey, I'm surviving (although nervous when my "baby"is out on the ice with all those bigger boys who've had years of experience) and no injuries so far so PTL for that one. 4-H is underway with Greg and I are assistant leaders and so far its going well. Look forward to a leadership conference that the General leader and I are going to in January. Well, best start uploading some pics to share before lindsey and i have to leave for a meeting about her Trip to Costa Rica in March, time is ticking away and she'll be flying there before we know it. Have a Great Thanksgiving to my American Friends and God Bless. I've realized this fall how thankful i am that i was able to be a SAHM for 15 years, i think it was the best job i could've had. I enjoy the kids at school but i'm not sure i'm cut out to do it for the long haul LOL.

tag, you're it!!!

Kim Watson tagged me to share 7 facts about myself so here goes, i'll play (and thanks for the comments about my pics of late, perhaps its just my new Canon XTi thats taking better pics but i am studying and trying to improve and learn).

1. i was terribly shy as a child, hated being up in front of people but working at Wendy's as a teen and being in charge of a crew brought me out of my shell and helped with that
2. i love singing at church and concerts/weddings but don't ask me to speak off the cuff first LOL, my dream is to record and album
3. i was a nail biter till last summer and have now been enjoying having fingernails for over a year, its never to late to break a bad habit
4. i'm married to my highschool sweetheart, we started dating when i was 15
5. i'd love to change my thin fine straight hair and crooked nose
6. i was born and raised in the city but have adjusted quite well to farm life and living in the country
7. i should have a job as a professional shopper LOL, i get a thrill from spotting a bargain whether it be new or at thrift shops or garage sales, it would be an awesome career.

Aloha!!!!!!!

Wow, its been a while since i've updated and we've been across the ocean and back since :) Maui was wonderful, amazingly warm and beautiful with such gorgeous trees and flowers, i'll not soon forget. Anne and Phillip's wedding was just perfect, truly a celebration in paradise at the quaintest little church and Inn. We enjoyed touring the island, walking the beach, snorkelling and swimming in the ocean and pool at our condo. Eating out at restaurants with such fun atmosphere where there were no windows and lots of island breeze blowing through and birds on the floors, lively music and great food of course. We shopped, so many great places to browse and see what goods were for sale and pick up souvenir's to bring home, and a few things for ourselves :) I can hardly wait to go back and take the kids, the snorkelling was amazing and i wish we had had a few more days to explore more places and see more tropical fish and perhaps some turtles and whales.

I can't say that i really enjoyed the flying and the airport waiting but we managed and it was worth the 14 hours in the air and the day spent waiting in airports to catch our flights and go through security etc. I got randomly selected for a pat down in edmonton so i felt "special"but it was nothing serious LOL, just my luck though :). Our condo was good, lots of room, perfect location in Kihei, and a lovely ocean view and bunking with Judi, Ken and Ian was a blast!!! you were great company.

There is nothing like an early morning walk on the beach with the warm breeze and sun coming up and a temperature that for me is as close to heaven as possible!! The smell of the plumaria blossoms is soooo sweet, wish there was a perfume that did it justice. I took hundreds of photos so i'll start by sharing some of the highlites and my faves from the trip and will try and put up a photobucket album for more.

Was great to see the kids, we've not left them for that long before but they managed just fine with their grandparents and i needn't have worried about them.

Tomorrow is back to work for me, back to reality, back to my fleece pants and socks and keeping the wood stove going :) and i'll share a couple photos of the little flock of puppies that greets us when we head out to the shop. they are 6 weeks old and we have 6 out of the 11 left, so stinking cute with unique personalities and i'm sure the ones that have gone to new homes already are being loved to death.

Oh, and that little hobby i have, scrapbooking, well i can hardly wait to get some pics printed from our trip and start scrapping them, i have lots of memorobelia to use like sand and shells and maps, restaurant menus and fun postcards. I already made a couple necklaces with some shell and coral beads i bought in Maui.

so enjoy the snapshots of our trip and the puppies.

Creative skills - sharing?

Ali Edwards ezine is great, love her philosophy on being a "life artist" ,just DO IT, capture the everyday, go with the flow type attitude (not that i can do her style myself but i have tried), and enjoy her challenges. this weeks ezine she challenged us to share our creative skills with others online or personally, to share what we do as scrapbookers that we are good at. Hmmm, i'm not sure quite what to share, i'd say color mixing but with the awesome pp collections and monthly kits i get lately that coordinate, that is the easy part, it feels like cheating sort of LOL. perhaps the way i manage to mix and use so many different patterned papers is my skill? i always want to try and use the most variety to take advantage of the sets and as many pieces as i can on one project and it can be hard but sometimes all you need is a little piece to get that nice mix of all the colors and contrast/design. You can never go wrong with a floral, a stripe and a plaid or polkadot. I guess my quilting for 8 years prior to catching the scrapping bug taught me about putting patterns and colours together but truthfully, i'm going to give credit where its due. I come from generations of talented creative women, my grandma has been quilting and painting and growing a beautiful garden full of color and design for years, and my mom just has the natural ability to design and decorate and quilt and sew..... so i say thanks to them for their instruction and their "genes".

Perhaps you can look at my layouts and tell me what my scrap skill is? i feel like my titles are sometime quirky or corny and obvious but i enjoy composing them and setting them out on a page. I am pretty handy with my sewing machine and paper :) but i don't seem to do it as often as i use to. Anyway, i just thought i'd throw that out for you today, and hope you'll comment and maybe share a link to somewhere you've shared your scrap skill with others.

and here are a couple recent pages for you. thanks to my Aunt Dot who's a great photographer and gave me some great advice this summer, as well as the cool picture of me "reflecting" and mitchell enjoying the beach :) (and mom took the ones in the creek - success!)

Sorry peeps!!

I can't imagine where the last 3 weeks went since my last post!! sorry for slacking off but i guess i've been busy with back to school and back to work and getting my feet wet at my new job. The kids are both playing volleyball (yeah, totally love the sport) so that has occupied a few extra days and evenings.

Fall has officially arrived here, well i think its still fall, we woke up to white one morning which didn't impress me much but it didn't last. did a number on lots of plants and veggies growing in peoples gardens though but its par for the course here.

We're counting down the days till we head across the ocean to Maui and i can hardly wait - 17 days - whoooohooooo. My suitcase is open and slowing being filled, i'm cleaning windows and such in preparation for winter and company, the calendar is filling fast with appointments for a pedicure and a hair cut and volleyball games and tournaments so i know the time will go fast.

Of course i do manage to fit in a bit of scrappy time when i can, loved the bright fun ribbon kit i had to work with from Savvy n Sassy this month, here are some projects i made as well as a few others i created for the new lss opening soon in GP - Scrapbook Matters!

My MOJO...

Well it may be the end of August and summer as we know it since its back to school in just a few, and the weather hasn't been exactly nice, but its been a good week, found my mojo again after weeks without scrapping, got a layout picked up for winter issue by Canadian Scrapbooker which is so cool, AND (THANKS to MICHELLE B.) got asked to be on the premier dt for a new lss opening up in GP mid oct. (the city near us where I shop and do business) so it's been a good week scrapwise and i've even managed to create several pages i'm pleased with, some for the new dt (hmm, not sure i even heard the name of the new store) , some just for fun with summer photos and some cause i simply had/wanted to play with all the new kits and papers i accumulated over the summer. (how does that happen when i don't scrap for weeks and i didn't scrap shop on holidays once!). Anyway, Life Preservers, Mosh Posh, Lisa's Scrap Shack, have provided hours of fun for me this week and here are some of the results.