FINALLY . . .

I know, I know . . . it's been almost a year since my last post. I have no excuses to offer for my disgraceful behaviour.

It's the end of the year and time to think about goals for the new year. There are so many things I would like to accomplish in 2009. I would like to lose weight -- of course-- exercise more -- of course -- and . . . Before I list all the things that I want to do in 2009, I have to take time to mention all of the wonderful ways I was blessed in 2008.

I have seen many good things happen within my immediate family. We actually got through 2008 without anyone being hospitalized, namely my mom. That's a blessing after the past couple of years. My sister and her husband moved to Harper (near Kerrville) and they seem to be very happy. Wes lost his job in November, but got another job in December so all is well there. We got to spend Thanksgiving at Lori's house with all the kids and we got to spend Christmas at our house with her family too. We spent some time with William's family including his niece and her two daughters visiting from Atlanta. We had a lot of fun.

I scrapped more in 2008 than ever before thanks to a husband who allows me lots of time with my friends. I went on my first scrapbook retreat in September and had a blast. I have great scrapping friends and feel very blessed to have each of them in my life. I have learned something very special from each of them.

Lynda is the mother superior of the clan. I met Lynda while she was teaching an IAAM class at a LSS. This was my very first intro to scrapping and Lynda was extremely patient with me. She even wrote directions for each layout just for me. I was so slow I never got finished with a layout during class and she wanted me to be able to finish at home. I still have about two layouts to complete my book, but I promise to get it done in 2009. Lynda is a very thrifty person who has taught me to improvise and make due with what I have. That's not to say I don't still purchase stuff, but when I'm in a pinch and things don't go as planned, I always try to improvise. Lynda's layouts are a real inspiration to me, and I hope I grow up one day and scrap like Lynda.

Sherry is the wild one of the group and keeps us all laughing. I also met Sherry at the IAAM class and I love Sherry's free spirit. She's not afraid to try anything and she is extremely creative. Sherry knows what she wants and just does it. She doesn't have all kinds of hang-ups like most people, and she loves her dogs. She can put 20 kits together in about 15 minute and finish off 10 layouts in an hour!! Sherry inspires me to try to "let go" in my scrapping, but I haven't mastered that yet. Sherry is rebellous, loves to have fun, and is very accepting of everyone. She doesn't take herself or life too seriously, and she'll probably live to be 100 because of that. I love Sherry's fun-loving spirit and she's always ready to go have ritas!!

Holly is the youngster of the bunch and we're still trying to figure out why she hangs out with us old women! I met Holly at the IAAM class and she quickly became my scrap husband. She is an engineer and so she fills in for William while we're scrapping. If I can't figure out how to put in a tape refill or how to make something work, Holly can always figure it out. Holly loves her kitties and scraps her cats like the rest of us scrap about our kids. Holly is very particular, and I like that because I'm particular about certain things too and she makes me feel like that's okay. Holly is very sweet, kind, and she always looks out for me. She also says I'm "cute" just like William does.

I love my friends and I feel so lucky to have women in my life who are supportive, caring, and are always there for me. It's rare to find friends like this, and when you do you should cherish those relationships. I know I do. :- )

WAY TO GO HOLLY !!!

Holly guessed it !! I was in the car at the car wash when these photos were taken. That was fun. :- ) Thanks for participating.

Photo Challenge

Day 13 - This gives it away!

Photo Challenge

Day 12 - It's a place . . .

Photo Challenge

Day 11 - It's not a rug, but a rug gets this too!
Can you guess what it is?

Photo Challenge

Day 10 - It costs $8

Can you guess what it is?

NOTE TO SELF: GET OVER IT

This idea came from Memory Makers Magazine, Beth's Top 10 Corner, and it really made me stop and think. What are the things about me that I wish I could change, but have finally accepted as just being who I am? Here's my "Get Over It" list:

1. Size ?? jeans (not ready to confess the size yet).
2. Not being a morning person.
3. Fake fingernails.
4. Being a slow scrapbooker (this might improve, but I'm okay with it right now).
5. Diet Dr. Pepper as my morning "coffee".
6. Not making my bed every day. (I could change this, but it's not important to me right now)
7. Power braking (but no rear-end collisions yet).
8. Love to spend money.
9. Buying groceries like I'm going to cook dinner every night, but don't.
10. Never having enough time to do everything I want to do.

Photo Challenge

Day 9 - Can you guess what this is?

Photo Challenge

Day 9 - Old Glory

Photo Challenge

Day 8 - Laser Light Pen

This is a prime example of how geeky my husband is. This is the image that was made using a laser light pen shined into the lid of a cut crystal lid which caused this refraction of the light onto the pantry door. If you look closely you can see the panels of the pantry door. Geeeeeeeky! But it made a pretty neat photo.

The Photo Challenge

The photo challenge has proven to be a very good thing. My photos aren't great by any means, but now I notice things that I've never noticed before. I see things in a different light than I used to see them. If I stick with this I think it will make me a better photographer -- probably never a great photographer, but I'd be satisfied with just a better photographer. I guess the phrase "practice makes perfect" really is true. I can't wait to look back in a year and see how my skills have improved. Now if I can just keep this up for a year!

Photo Challenge

Day Seven - A Winter Day

(view from my office parking garage)

IAAM

I finished another page . . . as much as I could anyway. I need the tag tool to finish it, but then I'm done. 1 down 3 more to go.

Photo Challenge

Day Six - Fern

This photo was actually taken by my husband, but it was so good I thought I'd share it.

Photo Challenge

Day Five - Poodling Around

The Paper Mafia

There's a new show on T.V., Cashmere Mafia, and it's four women who live very busy lives but are true friends and never too busy for each other. This morning I was thinking about my three scrapbooking friends -- we each have different lives, but we enjoying spending time together and we would do anything for each other. We're meeting tomorrow to go on an adventure to Jerry's Artorama -- that sounds like an adventure, doesn't it? We're going to do some shopping, have lunch, and take a class together at Archivers - my favorite store!

The drama in our life is nothing compared to the drama on T.V.'s Cashmere Mafia . . . thank goodness! The drama in our lives centers around an epidemic of ring worms among kitty cats, children trying to find their way as adolescents, car problems, and running around the house naked!! Thank goodness! We have relatively simple lives, but we are friends and we enjoy spending time together. It's the little things, like The Paper Mafia, that make life worth living.

Photo Challenge

Day Four - A Warm Fire

Photo Challenge

Day Three - Urns

Photo Challenge

Day Two - My Bobblehead Collection

The Photo Challenge

Day One: Lemons

And yes Holly . . . you need to join the fun!

Oh Nooooooo!! I Have to Work 5 Days This Week!

My New Year's Resolution is to become independently wealthy so I don't have to work, and then I can do anything I want and spend as much money as I want! Well, I guess that's being a little unrealistic. The closest I'll ever get to this is to be retired and there will ALWAYS be a budget.

Okay . . . It's just hard to get the "Mo" (motivation) back up after having such a long holiday break -- of which I am very thankful for. I didn't realize how much I needed the time off to unwind, cleanse myself of the frustration that was built up inside of me, and just have time to hang out and do whatever I wanted to do. Now back to the real world.

A friend (Sherry) has made a commitment to take a photo a day, which sounds like a really great idea. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to scrap about. Maybe that's my problem -- I don't have any photos. Either that or we are really boring people and we don't do anything! I think I'll try the photo-a-day exercise and see it that sparks anything in my creative mind!

IAAM and Beyond

I'm so excited!! I feel like I'm really making progress on my IAAM book. I've got four topics to complete, but I've got three of them already started. What do I do once I finish this? I guess it's time to move on to another mini-album. Ummm. Where do I begin? Yikes!!!!

WHAT DO I DO NOW??

Okay ladies . . . I told my husband he couldn't spend any money from now until the 11th, but now everyone wants to go to Archiver's for scrappin tomorrow. The scrappin's free (assuming I could do it without buying anything while I'm there -- which is unlikely), but they also want to stay for Scrap Mania which costs $15!! What is a girl to do?? I found a reimbursement check from my mom for $27 I can cash, but I will also run out of make-up by tomorrow and it costs $28. As much as I love spending money on scrapbook supplies, the thought of people seeing me without make-up is way too frightening. I guess I'm going to have to spend my money on the make-up. Bummer. :- (

Oh I forgot . . .

Thanks Holly for being the 2nd comment on my blog! You're the best (even if you were #2)!

OKAY . . . THIS IS HARDER THAN I THOUGHT!

Wow . . . it's hard to write about your struggles, fears, and quirks when you know your friends will read it. I've started to write about different things a couple of times, but then I thought - do I really want everyone I know to read it? What I try to remember is that we all have problems and by sharing our struggles with each other it makes us closer. We have to be careful not to judge each other or try to "fix" each others problems. All we need is someone to listen. That's what makes a good friend . . . someone who will listen to our problems, say something encouraging, and then forget that we ever said anything! True friends are a blessing to have and should be highly treasured. So . . . I'm going to try to be real and share from the heart going forward. TTFN (ta ta for now)

WHOO HOO !!!!

Thanks Sherry for posting the very first comment on my blog!! Whoo Hoo!!

It's a New Year . . . Again!!

Having a blog is a first for me! I didn't even know how to create a blog until I accepted the challenge proposed by Scrapbook Trends magazine. Since I'm a very new scrapbooker and journaling has proved to be the toughest part of the job, Scrapbook Trends suggested that having a blog will help with journaling and deciding what to scrapbook. If it's worthy of my blog, then it should be scrapped! It will be interesting to see how my blog evolves over the course of 2008. It's pretty primitive right now, but hopefully by the end of the year I'll be a techno geek!Okay scrappin' friends, I'm going to challenge each of you to take on this new challenge too. I'm going to review my blog each month and try to scrap at least one page about me (I know -- you can do a whole lot more than that). Y'all are great at scrappin about your family, but we need to leave our children something about us too. The everyday things - Real Life - our life as only we know it (per Scrapbook Trends magazine). Our quirks, our favorite things, our top ten goals for the year. Are you up for the challenge??