Holding my breath

Do you ever find that there are times in your life when you feel like you are holding your breath?
You are not sure why you feel like you can't breathe.
You just can't.
So I am holding my breath waiting for the moment when I find out why I have felt like I have been in a holding pattern.
I learned so much in Las Vegas, got to hang out with so many amazing people.
So here are my shouts:
To Tia, Jenn, Leslie, Becky, Rhonna and Kelly (the AL girls) thanks for being so much fun!
To Margie and her family, how stinkin' cute are all of you, it was great to meet you and Megan, call Mike he is so cute and he thought you were all that! Loved getting to do the whole photo booth thing over and over, super fun!
To all the MME guys, you are so fun, smell good and are great sports about getting worked over by Rox and I! Mike call Megan!
To Thena and Sharon (two hams!) loved catching up with you both it is always so fun to find you and get my hugs!
To Sarah and Jim thanks for entertaining me for pretty much all of Wed morning, I love to visit with both of you and love the stories you always have! Jim next time let Sarah know where you are ;)don't just take the kids to the volcano at midnight without anyone knowing where you went!
To Tif, thanks for being such a fun and understanding friend!
To Jessie the specklebird, my sistah from anotha mistah, I LOvE you! Just wish we had more time, I will plan better next time! I need pics hint hint!
To all the Prima gals, Sharon, Carla, Kim, Tina, and Michelle thanks for sharing your roof! It was so great getting to know all of you and I so enjoyed your company!
I learned so much from each of you and appreciate each of your individual talents!
To Joanna and Annie, thanks for the company at dinner, you were so fun and the delicious sauce followed by the dessert bar was just too hilarious!
To those who I am brain cramping on at the moment, thanks! I had a great time and it was because of all of you!

So on a back to reality note:
Tyler turned 17 yesterday!
It was great Mom & Dad, Rick's family and Rox and her family were all able to come up and help celebrate and a couple of Tyler's good friends from school!
So we had Chinese from Asian Star for twenty!

We had a spanking machine! Hilarious...

I'm BAAAACK!

So many interesting, educational, hilarious stories from the last week in Vegas, some of them have to stay in the vault, but others I might have to share!
But, not right now, long day driving home after a long night (not from fun)!
Anyway, I loved seeing all the peeps that I soooo love! And I loved seeing all the beautiful goodies that the amazing talents come out with!
And, only 3 weeks until Vancouver!
B-

Hump day

It was a hump day for me.
Just getting through right now.
I get to leave for Las Vegas on Sunday, I need a break. Reality has been a little too real for me lately. I have had to exercise a lot of patience and good will lately, and I am just worn down and it will be great to have a change of pace for a few days.
So I will spend the next few days packing and prepping.
And then viva Las Vegas baby!
B-

I have a been a digi'n fool!

Had one of those weekends where I couldn't be with my beloved paper and paste, so I packed up my laptop, my external drive and my mouse and took it with me!
I felt like I got so many thoughts out there onto a LO, and I was also able to try some different things that I had wanted to play with!
This scraplift is from the Ali Edwards designing with patterned paper book and the layout I lifted was one by Jamie Waters. It is good for me to use some of the designs by these artists, it really shows how to put a beautifully designed LO together. When they are balanced visually it makes a such a beautiful image and is so easy to look at. Thanks Jamie for the inspiration!
There are some really fantastic kits out there also that really help me "see" what I want to try, very mojo providing!

Anyway, so I went very geek this weekend and it was great!
Today I am finishing up a Halloween album out of Teresa Collins papers and a 7 gypsies 3 ring album with MM velvet stickers, it is so cute and just waiting for my pics from this year!
Woohoo, ahead of the curve for once!
B-

Projects

I have a hard time getting projects finished without a deadline.
I get too picky! I want everything to be perfect, and if left to my own time, it is never good enough to be "finished".
So I had a project that I had started that I wanted to be just right.
I wasn't finishing it so I decided literally 12 hours before the deadline of MM Idol that I should enter. So I finshed the project, and so glad that I made myself have a deadline, because now it is finished and I love it!
Anyway, so not really holding out hope that I will be the next MM Idol, but I am glad I used a deadline to get a very important project done!
On other fronts, I have managed to drop a few pounds (about a pant size). It is fall here and it is gorgeous. The Snowbird Canyon Raquet Club will officially be closed Saturday forever. My kids are great and Dave and I are communicating better lately.
B-

Girl Friends

Every girl needs them!
They are sanity when we have none. They are safe harbor for secrets we wish we didn't have. They are silver linings when we just see clouds.
I got to spend Saturday with girlfriends, and it was great!
We did a crop at Pebbles, and we just giggled and pretended to do useful things. It was great! Of course there are those who actually do get lots done, but that usually isn't me!
Thanks ladies, and you know who you are, for being the girlfriends!
B-

Been to long

It has been exactly a month since I last posted.
I have lost weight, (woohooo!)
I have had a dear friend lose her husband to a heart attack. Beyond sad.
I have played and lost in two tennis tournaments (with tough matches, boohoo!)
I have four kids in four different schools.
I have been creating digital layouts, so relazing.
I have been organizing a very cool album class with a very cool teacher.
I have been growing in some ways and failing in others, and I am ok with it.
I have amazing friends and a wonderful family.
I am blessed.
B-

Went off the deep end today!

Been slowly gaining weight that is making me miserable!
Bracket creep I call it.
So I finally cracked yesterday and signed up for a gym membership. Did the nutrionist and got the trainer sceduled.
My goal is to lose 25 lbs and 13% body fat.
Very ambitious, but I can do it.
This is a great week to do it, I was already disapointed in not making a DT that I wanted, and there is one more that I really want, but their is very stiff competition, so I am not holding my breath for that one either. So I figured that while I was really grumpy from all of that, I might as well jump all the way into the deep end and just get all my grumpy over with at one big ugly moment!
I have to find a way to cut 500! calories from every day, and or burn those same calories. So I can either give up scrapbooking and get off my a$$ (which is tempting given my lack of success at this time!) or I can suck it up and remove some unnessary calories! WEll, I really love scrapping and don't just do it for the "success", so giving it up won't happen. So that means getting jiggy with my food choices and commitment to exercise!
So if I seem grumpy for the next little while, offer me a baby carrot, pat me on the back and tell me it will be okay!
B-

A week without...

A week without the internet is like...
a week with no choclate
a week with no tennis
a week with no hugs or kisses from kids
a week with no newspaper
a week without tv
a week without a clue.
It was a long week.
B-

Good Gracious

Okay, I think I have finally gone over the top!
Oh, wait.
I do that everyday, with pretty much everything.
Kind of my personality.
So I am trying really hard to be very appreciative and gracious. Part of this goal for me is letting the people who I appreciate know explicitly why and how I am grateful. So I can also be intense. Very intense to be exact, like scary sometimes.
So if I have frightened you or someone you love with my intensely scary graciousness, I am so sorry!
So an explanation of why this is a goal might be in order. I had found myself with my kind of hectic schedule, postponing letting people know how I felt about what they had done for me. Then it came around to me that I had never thanked someone for something. YIKES!
So SORRY!
So embarassed!
So if I have freaked you out, I am sorry and if I blew you off I am so sorry!
So, I am going to have to try to find a happy medium!

So on another note, I did a digi layout last night, and I love it!

I found some flaws, but it is not bad for a beginning effort!
B-

Turning Forty

After our Friday morning tennis the tennis girls took me out to lunch! We had a great time and lunch was delish! I love these girls, we have so much fun together, and they are all each so unique!Friday was a great day!
So Saturday was the official birthday. We had goals. The truck had to get in to be worked on so I could get across the Nevada desert without mishap, I wanted to go find a cool birthday gift and we had dinner plans with my very fun sibs. Should have been a no-brainer! Well Dave got the truck dropped off. We continue with the rest of the day and it just kind of unravels slowly. He hadn't done anything, (don't ask) and so I was a little miffed, but it was still ok in my book because he had planned dinner and was keeping it a secret. So the shop called and told us we could come and get the truck, it is ready. So I throw on this pair of shoes to just ride the 1.5 miles down to the shop. Big mistake!So they are pretty cute shoes, and I love them to just "ride around" in.
We hop into Dave's car. It is a work in progress. A 1989 Porsche 928. I really don't like this car, it smells funny, it is unreliable and uncomfortable! It knows I feel this way, and every time i get into it something happens. My birthday was apparently not to be the exception!
So we get to the shop and my truck (that was supposed to be done) is now overheating and they can't explain why, but it will now not be ready to be picked up until later Monday morning. I am pissed because I was going to leave for Oregon very early Monday so the kids could enjoy the afternoon there. Well, now that is out of the question. I am now also out the car that transports the entire family and we have a family dinner at my aunt's houe scheduled for late Sunday afternoon-POOP! She lives in Ogden which is an hour away, so we have to cancel that as well. My mom was more than a little peeved about that!
But no, that couldn't possibly be the end of the birthday surprises!
The porsche now won't start.
Of course, I mean why would it? It knows I hate it, it is my "old lady" birthday and the day has been in decline from early on. Why not just hammer the nails into the coffin if it has the chance! (ok, I know I am projecting onto an inanimate object, but trust me, it knows!)
So back to the cute shoes.
It is about 105 degrees outside, I am wearing really cute jeans and these fabulous shoes. Now I get to walk the one and a half miles home.
Poor Dave, not a chance he can save this one! He was toast with me.
We walked about a quarter of a mile and I knew that I would never make it.
Thank God (literally) that there was a grocery store on the way. I walked over to it and bought these cool little bad boys!Now at a buck a pair, I should have bought them in every color, but then I would have had to carry them. These saved my feet and Dave's life.
It was a long and miserable walk home and Dave lost about ten pounds from me chewing his a$$ off, but we survived.
My feet were filthy but not blistered or broken!
So these were my birthday gift to myself!
The truck ended up having to stay until Monday late afternoon. They figured out that they had put in a defective part and finally replaced it. The truck was so happy and ran like a champ the whole way to OR and back!
So that was my big 4-0, pretty cool, huh!
Needless to say that everyday after that one is a great one!
B-

Turned forty, traveled and got tagged!

I haven't had a chance to update for about two weeks, well since getting home from CHA.
In that time, I had my fortieth birthday, drove to and from Southern Oregon (about 1600 miles) just the kids and I and got tagged by Christina!
My trip to Oregon was great, we were busy every second! The kids love it there, they swim, play with the dog (a huge mastiff named Duchess) ride the horses, Squizzy, Missy and Tony, and go rafting on the Rogue river. It was good to go out of town for a week and recharge, the kids needed it!

So I have been home a couple of days, getting the kids back and forth from tennis and playing in my scrap room. Laurel made the Skyline tennis team and might even be playing varsity, that would be a great experience for her.

So now that I am moderately caught up with what happened lets do this tagged thing!
1. FIRST NAME? Rebecca my nicknames are Becky, Becca, Bek and beck-n-call.
2. WHO WERE YOU NAMED AFTER? No one that I am aware of.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? 10 days ago on my fortieth b-day, the husband of my friend who passed away called me because he knew that she would want me to know that I was being thought of. How cool is that?
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yup, it gets me there.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Rare roast beef.
6. KIDS? Four, Oldest son Tyler he is almost 17, oldest daughter Laurel just turned 15, Youngest daughter Chloe who is 13 and youngest son Carter who just turned 11.
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOURSELF? Yea, even though I can be high maintenance I am loyal, great at keeping secrets, patient, kind, and a ton-o-fun!
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Nope, just can't get the hang of it. Blog is the closest I get. I have so many other things that this just isn't high enough on the must do's.
9. Do YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Coulda been. I try to save it for important occasions though.
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yea and they are gross.
11. WOULD YOU EVER BUNGEE JUMP? NO. I am not into public humiliation, I get enough from home. I do enjoy thrills, but that is not on my list.
12. wAHT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Golden Grahams or the old standby Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch.
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yea it is a thing.
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes, I have pushed myself in many ways physically, mentally and spirtually.
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Macadamia Nut Crunch by Haagen Das.
16. SHOE SIZE? 7
17. RED OR PINK? Red.
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Right now it is a toss between Wendy and Avalanche. For purely selfish reasons I would love to have my dog back snuggling with me all the time. For more realistic reasons, Wendy she is an amazing friend and her kids are to young to not have mom.
20. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Sure... I'm interested or else I wouldn't have sent it to you in the first place.
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW? Blue jean capris and white wedge slides that have tiny leather flowers with chrome snap centers very cute if I do say so myself (the shoes I mean!)
22. LAST THING YOU ATE? Chicken breast and half a club sandwich.
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? A tennis match on the tv.
24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Lime green
25. FAVORITE SMELL? Gardenia, tuberose, lavender and my fresh baked apple pie.
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My sis, Roxanne
27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Smile and eyes.
28. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? LOVE the person who sent this to me! She is amazing, the whole enchilada (Christina Lazar-Schuler) talent, kindness, generousity and patience.
29. FAVORITE DRINK? Frozen Mochas unhealthy but oh so tasty and refreshing!
30. FAVORITE SPORTS? Tennis
31. HAIR COLOR? Dark Blonde
32. EYE COLOR? Hazel
33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, I have great eyesight (for now!)
34. FAVORITE FOOD? Big juicy filet mignon and king crab!
35. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Pirates of the Caribbean II
36. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Blue t-shirt under white collar T.
37. SUMMER OR WINTER? Both! I love the winter the snow, the cold, skiing and all the great things that come with it. I love the summer with the long days, swimming, hikes and tennis. Can't ever wait for one to end so the other gets here again.
38. HUGS OR KISSES? Very huggy! Kisses from kids are so special, a rarity to be treasure though!
39. FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate porcupine (a local pub specialty) Chocolate layer cake with decadent ganache or a good Creme Brulee'
40 WHO IS MOST LIKELY To Respond? I don't know! We shall see!
41. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Not sure about that either to tell the truth!
42. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Black Wind by Clive Cussler and Ali Edwards latest book the Designers Eye for scrapbooking with patterned paper.
43. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? All the adult tennis tournaments for the year of '06.
44. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Tennis, Boston Legal Conan and Carson Daly.
45 ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Stones.
46. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Buffalo NY. Actually went all that way and didn't see Niagara Falls, crazy huh!
47. IF YOU WON A ROUND TRIP TICKET TO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? This is a hard one, Europe, Mediteranean, Egypt, Australia New Zealand....
48. wHAT IS YOUR BEST FEATURE? My husband says my eyes (while thinking of something else I am sure!) I think my smile.
49. WHAT OR WHO DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? I wanted to be a model and a clothing designer (how hilarious is that!)
50. DID YOU LOVE KOOL-AID AS A CHILD, WHICH FLAVOR? Loved Kool-Aid, any flavor that already had the sugar in it was just begging for my finger to be stuck in it!
51. DO YOU HAVE ANY SIBLINGS? Two sisters and a brother.
52. DO YOU THINK YOU LET THE "ONE" GET AWAY? No, he caught me, poor sucker!

Okay so I am tagging Sara Winnick, Mary Kay Seckinger, Suzanne Quillen and Mindy Johnson.
So girls, I would love to see what you got!

And so there it is.
B-

Some of the people that I adore!

Mary Rogers and Suzanne Quillen outside of the CK and Chatterbox booths!

Maria Grace Abuzman, Kah-mei and Suzanne Quillen at the Fontwerks booth! These are such fun girls and wow, talented!



Michelle Hill
This Girl has got "it"! A product designer for Lil' Davis she seriously sparkles!


Elsie Flannigan
A CK SuperStar, but more importantly, a really soft and sweet woman!




Sharly Balcaen
Designs for Scenic Route and a few other cool shops! So Cute!





Debby Shuh
A talented woman who is beyond classy! She designs for Anna Griffin and exudes confidence and style!

How lucky am I that I have friends like these!
B-

The low down on my CHA summer trip

Let's start with the roommates:
Sara Winnick
Sara*W
Seriously...
hilarious, talented and easy-going. She is amazing. She can express things with her face that she will never say, but if you were to spend enought time with her, she would always be an open book! She is so patient and professional as well.

Mary Kay Seckinger
EmKayEss
Wonderfully talented, a great converstionalist, and delightfully opinionated!
She is so independent, she would get up first thing go to her classes, and do her "things"! She is a girl with plans! She managed to hit all of the desirable make-n-takes, do the manufacturer tour and get her card filled so she could get the goodies!

Suzanne Quillen
Squillen
This girl doesn't need sleep, we had a lot to talk about! She could actually outlast me, that scares me! She brought with her besides the requisite clothes and scrapping gear, 14 dozen cookies that were all hand decorated, a gorgeous (and quite tasty) apple pie and a loaf of sweet potatoe bread! Hello, does she really ever sleep? After that weekend I have decided deninitely NOT! Oh yeah, and everyone and I mean everyone knows her! Which is great if the said cookies are with her and I get to become associated as "cool" by proximity! And she is that whole talented and fun thing too!

So we called it Roomie-palooza!
We brought kits for each other and we did pages for each others albums with the kits. It was a three scrappers five products kind of thing. Each album used the products that had been brought by that person! It was great to see each artist's style and process. It was a palette cleansing for me. After seeing so much "stuff" through the day, getting to comeback and be challenged by this was a great way to put away all the days sights and sounds and re-focus!
B-

Taking the Scenic Route

Lazy Summer Days So what have you been doing for the summer? I haven't been that busy until just this last week. Had a wonderful opportunity to play (thanks Sarah and Layle!)with the new Scenic Route CHA release, and it is gorgeous!
TemptationSo with the last week being full of paper and glue, the rest of my stuff has been in a holding pattern! I leave in 36 hours for Chicago, and still have just a few more things to do besides love on the kids a little more!
Two PeasI really like the work I was able to do with this new line, and the colors really were fun and spoke to me!
TrueI could visualize just what I wanted, and totally get there! There were some paper size issues, since we were working with printer proof sheets, we only had one of each design! Rox and I had to do some serious negotiating to make it all work, scraps and all! It got very funny at some points!
Room for Squares
SpoiledThe summer has just flown by, and I can't believe that the kids go back to school in just four weeks.
Me and My ShadowI need to get them out of town, but I am not sure how and when or where! Any suggestions? Karla wants us to go to Oregon in a week, but *ack* not sure if I am up for that drive!
Good Clean FunThe kids would love to go to CA, but there is a bit of weirdness with Dave's parents, they haven't been very communicative, so we think there is something going on with his mom's health. Any way, don't want to drive all the way there to find out they decided to jump to Hawaii for a couple of weeks.
Take a HikeDave is still relatively new in some duties at the office so he isn't feeling like a long week is in the cards for him. So thus, my best vacations this summer (but not the kids, hehehe!) have been in my scrap room playing!
And getting to take the Scenic Route Paper Co. vacation was heavenly!
B-

I am such a Dufus!

Is that a word? Even if not, it still would describe me!
I made travel arrangements to go to Chicago alone.
I love adventure, and so when the opportunity came to go, I just bought my plane tickets. Well, I spent the day trying to find out exactly where I am going!
The flight is into O'Hare airport. The Hotel is a Westin, there are only three in Chicago. The convention is at the Donald E Stevens center in Rosemont. I think I have it covered! I'll just bring my running shoes and be good to go! I think the downside of this convention center is that it isn't in downtown Chicago. I was really looking forward to seeing this area, and will probably have to take a train to get there. Easier to rent a car, maybe. I will seriously be missing Rox on this deal, she and I rarely are apart when it comes to stuff like this, but she used her fun money to go on a "family" vacation. I will still take the kids to Oregon later this summer, but this was just too much cool to pass up!
All the girls who are going to be sharing the hotel room have decided to do some fun swaps with each other, and some little giftie things. I love this!
So my count down has started! Only Ten days!
The girls will be gons all week for girls camp, so that will make the house a little quieter than usual also, and with Wimbledon done, I will have plenty of time to make happy messes in my {S}crap room too!
I do have to try to catch up with the Tour tho, in the past I had followed it closely, but this year has been a thin watch for me, I only know a handful of the riders that are left. I really wanted to see George Hincapie have a breakthrough for his many years of hard work, but he is 17th right now, not good! Dave Zabriskie is a local guy, but the news in Utah suffers from a state of smallmindedness, so we never hear how is doing. I think he is in 9th.
Anyway, Lots of tennis to play this week, and lots of scrapping to do!
B-

Saturday is a special day

Today Dave and I got up and went to the aerobic tennis workout, lots of balls, lots of running and lots of fun. After that hour and a half of sweating profusely, I went to my team workout and hit for another hour and a half with girls who absolutely RACK on the ball! So much FUN! I got home, exhausted, sweatier and ready to put ice on every joint I own! So instead of sitting down Dave and I went over to the church and fulfilled our scheduled commitment to help clean the church building. The good thing is that when everyone shows up it goes quickly! Dave and I vacuumed (my shoulders were so tired, the vacuum felt like it weighed 1000 pounds!) a bunch of the classrooms, emptied the trash cans and shook the front foyer entry mats and then vacuumed them. The building always looks so nice, and it is so great that all the families in the stake take turns to care for the building!
I am now finally sitting down and icing knees and watching Wimbledon Women's finals. Mauresmo is finally staying tough and beating Henin-Hardenne. Any tennis fan worth their balls is supporting Mauresmo because of the Australian Open where Henin-Hardenne retired from the finals in the second set she was playing against Mauresmo because her stomach hurt. Such incredibly bad form to steal such an important moment from another athlete that they have earned! Congrats Amelie, well deserved win! Beautifully played tennis!
On the scrapping side of life, I have taken this week off. I had so much tennis to watch and so many other things going on, that this took a break. It is good for me, I think that this keeps me fresh and humgry, I always have so many ideas in my head that it is really hard to stay focused, so a little time off helps me. Whenever I get back to my room after a small break, the ideas that have the most staying power find a way to a page usually!
Sometimes is I wish that I had way more time, but I don't think that I am alone in that wish!
Well, I will be watching the Men's Wimbledon final tomorrow with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, hoping that it will be on in my craft room, and not my bedroom with my ice packs!
B-

2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th

And today is the 6th.
What was I doing instead of blogging?
Well, Kimand her good friend Lindsay had this really cool contest going and Rox and I couldn't pass up the chance to enter!
It was for 2 (yes, two!) registrations for the SBA girls weekend! That is almost $1000 worth of wow!
So getting our entry done took the better part of two days. We had to do some layouts and answer some really funny random questions about some of the participating instructors. But most of the questions were from Kim and Lindsay's fun lives!
Along with this silliness I played a little tennis, LOL! Monday was about 4 hours total, two in the morning and then two in the afternoon! Poor me! Tuesday brought one of my favorite holidays and oh, yes I started the morning with a hit with Winnie!
Winnie is the amazing mother of the other pro I hit with a lot, Lindsey. She is in her late 50's, and she is incredible! Beautiful, athletic and the nicest most sincere person, LOVE her! So it costs me a lot of money to hang out with her, but worth every cent!
After a refreshing and necessary shower, I watched tennis, Wimbledon is in the second week, and I am obsessed! No American players left in the draw, bummer. But the quality of tennis is so high that it is so inspiring!
After a slow start, we got ready to go to my parents house to enjoy the late afternoon with a BBQ, card games and then fireworks. It was fun and we stayed way to late!
My brother and his wife have been staying with my parents since they sold everything and moved from Dallas. So I spent the day with them driving around and looking for the neighborhoods that appeal to them. They want to be really smart with their next house purchase and try to find a "livable" fixer. But staying with your parents for an extended amount of time could become trying, and they don't really want to get there, so it is something they want to stay on task with! I was very glad to help!
Of course there was the requisite 1.5 of tennis for me in the late afternoon, so I was able to deal with the car ride knowing there was light at the end of the tunnel!
Sadly, I haven't used a camera in days now. I just haven't had it in hand when I wanted it, and haven't taken the time to go find pictures, bad me!
The girls have loved having their "girl cousins" move so close and have enjoyed every minute spent with them! So many wonderful things about your family living close together!
We are blessed!
B
p.s. still miss the boy.

TV Tennis butt!

So I love tennis.
And I love to watch tennis.
And today was one of those days that was an amazing tv day for tennis, but the result after a day spent on my butt, I am SAD!
Andre Agassi, what a wonderful athlete and great philanthropist, played Rafael Nadal.
He lost and it broke my heart, because Andre just announced that he is retiring after the U.S. Open in Sept. It was a beautiful match but Rafa had all the answers today.
The next match that took my heart was Andy Roddick playing Andy Murray. After almost three hours Andy Murray played brilliant tennis and upset Roddick. I so wanted Roddick to get through here and have a comeback worthy of his ability, he just couldn't come up with what he needed to make it happen today.

On a more spiritual note, Chad and Tori (nephew and niece) were baptized today, and I spoke. It was a great experience to share my love of the Holy Ghost with them. We spent the afternoon at my parents enjoying lunch and the company of my quirky family, it was fun!

My project for the next couple of days is to WIN a trip to AZ for a scrapbooking event that I have been wanting so badly to go to!
Kim Kwan pointed this out to me, and I am really competitive and want to win because I deserved it, not because no one else is playing! So find a partner and play! Don't you really want to go? Yeah, you know you do!

So this post is going to be short because I have a lot of blog reading to do to find the answers!
See you in at the girls weekend!
B-

Miscommunication

An interesting by-product of life.
I try really hard to NOT gossip or say mean things to or about others.
When I have things said about me that I find offensive, I try really hard to LET IT GO! That being said, I just found out that something that someone said that may or may not have been heard in context was completely misconstrued to leave that person with hurt feelings. Well it was a while ago, and instead of going to the source and addressing the issue then when it could be solved without guessing, the person waited until there was no way to make it right and then brought it up. How adult is that?
This is very frustrating to me, because it seems like the person who is accused of this can't possibly make it right after all that time. If you are a person of solid character, you might have a chance of someone sticking up for you and saying something along the lines of it must have just been a misunderstanding. But if no one knows you in these circumstances, you are toast. There is no way to make it right and it will leave others thinking that you are unkind or even mean-spirited.
Doesn't this make you a victim of the circumstances as much or more than the person who felt hurt? It is one thing to have your feelings hurt for an afternoon and then get over it, but to have your character permanantly damaged because of this same misunderstanding is just aweful in my opinion.
Come on, we are adults, state the issue ask for clarification. If there is a valid point, it can then be addressed. If it truly was a case of miscommunication, no harm and no foul. Everyone goes on their way and feels better for wearing their big kid underwear!
Why must we assume the worst and then make others prove that they are trust worthy? I think that it is just a few people who do icky things that make others assume the worst and not be trusting.
This just makes me sad.
OK, philosophical thoughts aside. I have had a GREAT tennis week!
I have made some great personal decisions that have left me feeling peaceful and sure of myself. Haven't had that in a while, so it is nice!
Hearing abut changes in the scrapping industry that have me thinking "wow".
That is good and bad. As a person who thinks more globally, I don't like seeing the little shops (manufacturers and retail alike) getting bought, but I know that is the cycle the industry is in right now.
It is also hard for me to see immensely talented people not be able to get a shot. And there are the media darlings that it seems have so much handed to them without the hoops that others have had to jump through.
Sometimes I wish that I could go back a year and not want what it was that I was told that I should want, I think that ignorant, poorly designed, unpublished bliss would be very welcome, LOL!
I have not been scrapping for anything other than design team work and personal for the last few months and it has been great! Wouldn't it be cool if the scrapbooking publishing fairy just came to my house and said "WOW" you are amazing! Would you mind sharing some of your heartfelt and wonderfully designed layouts with others who want to be able to do the same thing for their family?
The great thing is that I am so over worrying about getting published or recognized as a decent artist! I would, for the companies I design for, like to get some work published so they get recognized more. I do submit work on their behalf, and I am trying, but if it ios meant for me to get there, I guess I will, and if not...
So yeah, just about all that I have going on in my head, besides the usual.
Need to go write a talk for my niece's (Tori) and nephew's (Chad) baptism tomorrow.
Need to do some housework and get the kids going on some clean-up.
Need to go to my room and do some fun stuff for Tyler's New York book.
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My little angel!

I poppetized Avalanche, and he is so cute!

I loved doing this project, it is whimsical and just so light-hearted, it let me appreciate the simple beautiful things about the boy that I really miss!

Of course it is minorly annoying to the children because they think that they are way cooler than all that, but that is what makes this so PERFECT!

Find something in your life to poppetize, it will help you appreciate it even more!
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Playing catch-up (usually!)

I have so many pictures! I feel like I can't keep up!
I have taken to making more of these smaller books and projects for the pictures that I just can't seem to find a way to get onto larger pages!


These pictures were from our trip to Disney last year and I am just getting them done. Unfortuantely there are soooo many more cute moments that I really want to do projects with! I am trying! This chipboard book was fun to use, and I covered everything with Lazar paper! Tons of different kinds of chipboard and lots of paint and glitter!



Of course it is much cuter in real life, and the kids think it is hilarious!

Split-step

I really was missing the boy today. I wasn't the only one either. To deal with my sadness I went to the craft room and made a layout from some of his bath pictures. Then Carter came in and we went through the pile of pics to have me make him a special memory book.
On the tennis front, I am really looking forward to this league season. I was recruited early in Jan for the summer season for a 4.0 group of gals that I really enjoy playing with. This is an unusual thing to have happen. I am still technically a 3.5 so for these women to accept me and actually want me as opposed to me wishing that I could be playing up is great! What is even better is that this team is really strong and there is a good chance that we could go into some after season play! I went and played doubles with Ally tonight against Karen V. and Karen T. They absolutely cleaned our clocks! It was nice though, I was able to work on my serve and get it grooved and also to recognize that I need to split step to get a better return of serve. As soon as I get flat-footed my return goes downhill fast! One of my goals this season is to get better at my seve and volley. I am very strong of the baseline, but as the players improve I will be playing against, so will the need to be at the net.
Anyway, just a good analogy for my life right now, hehehehe! When I am flat-footed and not preparing for what is next I tend to get caught unawares. When I split-step and then go and get what I want and make a plan on how to have that happen, even if I am not successful all the time, I at least feel like I am moving forward.
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Monday!

I know I am weird.
This is not a fact that would be disputed by anyone who knows me, some are nice in describing me as unusual, but I enjoy the march to my own drummer!
This being said, I LOVE Mondays.
I feel like it is a chance to get everything started out with fresh energy and to look at things with fresh eyes.
I am watching tennis this morning, the French Open, it is very exciting and educational. But what taught me someting this morning was an ad for a fund management group. The concept behind the ad was that adversity and challenges do not shape your character, they reveal it. This thought just really struck me right this morning. I had a very adverse and challenging weekend, and in spite of my trials, I really enjoyed it.
This ad let me appreciate myself in a whole new way. There are not many people who would do what I did, and do it well.
I received packs of critiques from CK that I went through last night. I was exposed to approximately 200+ people over the weekend in the classes I had taught for Mel. I had received many kind words of appreciation and about 95% of the critiques had given me excellent in the rating. The part that frustrated me was that there was a handful of people who were really disappointed in me and in the project. I feel disappointed for them that I didn't meet their expectations. But in the grand scheme of things, I realy pity that a more advanced person felt the need to attend a beginner level class just to be in the company of a certain instructor. These people were very harsh in their critiques, and then went on to bash me on a message board. The sad part about this is that they have not considered the position Mel must have been in to even ask me in the first place, or the people who would not have had a wonderful experience if no one had been there at all to present the project.
This adversity I believe has helped me to see that in my character, I have some fine points. I am unusual, but I am caring, fun, creative, and willing to endure uncomfortable situations to help my friends. Thanks go to the people who appreciated and enjoyed that I was there, doing the best I could! Patience goes to those who were disappointed.
Through the years, I have learned the very hard way that no one can be all things to all people. But thanks to the ad on the tv I had the realization, I am not sad that these people didn't like me, I am glad that I have the character to take on challenging situations.
Thanks go to the woman who told me I was a ray of sunshine. Thanks go to the woman who stayed in the class even when she figured out she was in the wrong one because she was enoying the class so much. And Thanks go to Mel for believing in me.
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Big Fun in Buffalo!

Things for my travel to Buffalo started of a bit stormy! Literally! I was at the airport in SLC checking in to get on the plane to Chicago where I found out that all the flights in and out of Chicago were cancelled due to huge thunder storms. I went home with new flight arrangements for the following day. The bummer about this was that this was the day we had scheduled for our Little Black Dress team tourist day! So no Niagara falls for me.
I would then get a phone call from a friend who needed a huge favor. There were some personal issues that prevented her from being able to keep her plans to be in Buffalo and would I please fulfill her assignments? Keep in mind that this gal is dynamite and silly good fun, my taking her place was going to be a a small foot trying to walk in a big pair of shoes, especially with no time for prep or coaching on the ups and downs of the projects and what might happen.
I would want someone to do this for me if I ever had the need, so it was easy for me to set my concerns for my own embarassment aside and quickly say OK! Love ya Mel!
Anyway, Thursday we spent the day preparing and setting up the booth for the vendor fair. We had dinner at a cool place called Adam's Rib, and I then worked on making samples for this new assignment until the wee hours! Thank goodness I did not have to come up with a new project, I just needed to put the pre-cut kits together. I didn't have any of the teaching instuctions, just b&w printouts from an email, the instructions and transparencies were being overnighted to me and would hopefully be there in time!
Friday morning came a little too quickly, hehehe! We got ourselves up and out the door and ready to do the days business! The information that I needed for my duties arrived and I taught make n takes all morning to the people who came and visited the booth. I then went and did the assignment that needed done for my friend, and enjoyed meeting and playing with the wonderful and fun scrappers from Buffalo!
When we were done for the day, we went to Le Nova's and had a wonderful pizza and a huge bucket of wings delivered to the hotel room because we were all so tired!
I got a little more rest this time, but you know how women are when they get together, we do tend to visit longer than is maybe practical, LOL!
The next morning I got going with the rest of the assignment, and again loved meeting and having fun with so many wonderful people! I learned that skewompy is NOT a word in New York, the word would be askew! Finished the rest of the day doing make n takes and then got the booth taken down and the products packed up and put away at about 8:00 p.m. We then went out to dinner in the town we had stayed in at a place called the Creekside. It was delish! The bummer about Sat night was that I had wanted to go to a 2peas dinner and hang out with some of the gals! I had big hopes that if I packed fast enough it would happen, but alas, no such luck, we had some parts that went a little slower than usual. Went to bed at about 12:30.
Sunday morning we were up at 4:00 so we could catch our shuttle at 4:30 to make the 6:00 flight. My flight was on time and easy into Dulles. I went from D.C. to Denver in a beautiful and very comfortable 777. Most of my flights are on much smaller planes, so this was delightful! When I got to Denver I had an unexpected gate change and some mechanical difficulites so the flight was about 30 minutes late. The pilot was wonderful and made up 15 of those!
The family picked me up and after about 9 hours of travel, I was really glad to be home!
I really miss my family when I travel, and I love to travel and meet new people, so this always is hard for me to balance between the two! But my family is always going to be my biggest and most fun priority! What else would I have to scrap about if I didn't have such a fun and wild life?
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