Easter Sunday!

Easter was a beautiful day here, church was wonderful and the kids had a great day!

I am always so grateful to see the green back in the yard, to hide the eggs and smell the fragrance of the hycinth in the air!

I am a tough egg hider too, we have been doing a golden egg, and it is one of the hardest to find! This year I bought a few extra golden eggs, so there were three instead of one big one.

The kids really enjoyed this, and managed to find them all!

I think we hid about 150 eggs and then a few little random pre-wrapped candies.

Lots and lots of sugar!!!

I myself have consumed almost an entire bag of those evil little Cadbury Royal Dark eggs, they are so YUMMY!

Tyler didn't hunt for eggs this year, sad day for me!

He bribed Carter to share some eggs for a Squirt soda!

Love my boys, they are so cute!

Laurel got home late from Las Vegas and she had a great time, such a "big" experience for her!

So proud of her and her willingness to try new adventures!

So tomorrow they go back to school and I will miss them, but summer break is not far off!

YAY!

B-

Easter Saturday

The hycinth are up and smell wonderful, the tulips are popping their heads up and Danger Kitty (not!) decided to take a brave gander outside!

She usually only makes it to the deck before some noise freaks her out and she comes scampering, with her tail all bushy, inside!

The birds are chirping and Chloe is willing to hold her paw, so to speak, so she is venturing out to the flower beds to watch the birds and bugs!

As for the rest of us, we are going to have a trip to Target and some Saturday tennis for Carter!

Yesterday I took Chloe out shopping and we had a great time!

We found a darling dress, skirt and pants, with some cute tops and the perfect spring espadrilles! We got a little denim jacket to top it off in case the weather is not cooperating, it is Utah and it changes here in the blink of an eye!

Anyway, I hope that this Easter brings me a renewal of energy and hope, it is what I love most about this time of year is seeing the things that have been gone come back and they seem even more beautiful than before!

B-

Big News!

It was a very exciting day today!
I will be a design team member for the Creating Inspirations online store and kit club!
I met Beth last summer at CHA in Chicago through Suzanne Quillen who was on her design team then!
This team is amazing, and it will be so inspiring and motivating to be trying to keep up with them!
The store is great, the kits are gorgeous and the inspiration is spilling over!
Also there is always something fun, interesting or inspiring going on at the message boards!
Beth is a little prankster and loves sharing her surprises and they never disappoint!
So follow me over, I hope I get to play with you there!
B-

Go For It!

Whatever you do, do it with all your might.

Found this yesterday at Creating Inspirations.

Holly Pittroff does an inspirational quote or thought most everyday, and she does a great job!

They are always thoughtful and insightful and leave me feeling better, so thanks Holly!

I have been struggling in my personal life, just the little things that get on your nerves, but it has been going on for so long that I just feel raw. So I love these thoughts that Holly finds, it just reminds me that I am not alone, I am not the only one and I need to do the best I can everyday.

I have played tennis for 3 hours for the last couple of days too, and I am exhausted, but it helps my anxiety so much that I really appreciate being able to go and play!

I am sending my oldest daughter to LV (Jessieville, LOL!) tomorrow with her tennis coaches and friends to go to a tournament, and I am not ready for her to be gone for a major holiday. I have always had the kids and family together for these important dates and it is going to be hard for me to not have her around!

Have fun and be good Laurel! (love ya tons missy!)

B-

Back to the CK offices

Only this time I didn't feel like throwing up, it was great!


I took in the layout that was requested for the Hall of Fame edition, and it was such a relief to get it gone!


I was going down that way anyway because I helped Rick move today into the home that he and Bri just bought in Highland, so I asked if it would be okay if I just dropped while I was down that way. It was much easier than boxing it up, going to the post office and shipping and then worrying and tracking it for four days!

This is a layout of Laurel that was swapped out of my entry, maybe that was a mistake, maybe it was a good thing, I will never know, but I do love it, it speaks of my relationship with Laurel so precisely yet poignently! The reason I traded it was that I had made it clear back in December (didn't do the journaling until the end of January, was waiting for the "perfect" thing) but in the January Jenni Bowlin Technique on her website, she showed a technique very similar to this one. I cried. This was not necessarily rocket science in the technique department, but it was terrible timing. Anyway needless to say, I didn't want anyone to think that I was desperate for ideas and poached one at the last minute.

The overlay has old Dee's Design by My Mind's Eye rub-ons with paint underneath to give depth and great rich color that you just can't get from a printer. Then the bottom is old German candy box paper that was sewn onto the bottom for that lacy looking detail! A few Making Memory pins strategically placed a Teresa Collins flower with some bling and some of her tiles for the title!

I am grateful that I was selected for this honor, and hope that people will find my work inspiring and fun. But in the long run it is the memory of this conversation that I had with my daughter that will ultimately be my blessing for having such a crazy, fun, obsessive hobby!

B-

Self Googled

Today I was told that I had been googled.
An interesting concept, someone googles you learns more about the name than they wanted to, and maybe even ran across some interesting or possibly helpful information.
So out of curiousity factor, I googled myself.
Found A LOT of Becky Olsens out there, most are far more accomplished than I, and probably more interesting to read about! Not much on me out there, which is fine by me, LOL!
But I took it one step further and googled my message board user name which is a little more unusual, and found out lots more about myself than I anticipated!
Does this seem backward to anyone else?
You use a name on the message boards to maybe soften the impact of being so many places at once, it is kind of your inner child coming out to play. And the name that you go by you expect that people really know who you are and all about you.
Today I learned that this is just not the case necessarily!
I found out that a scrapper I enjoy, Caro, used me for a scraplift challenge, I am completely flattered and absolutely dumbstruck because she is from FRANCE! Scroll down the link a bit and there is a layout that I did for the Scenic Route booth for CHA-Summer. Blew me away!
So how darling is this lift? How fun to find this one too!Anyway, I don't know who did these, but they did a great job!
Anyway, go google yourself! I think it will surprise you with what you find!
B-

Rock Stars!

Give the kids some sunglasses, a camera and they can entertain themselves for a few hours!

While Tyler was in New York last year he bought some really nasty bright yellow Oakley knock-offs for $5! He had a great time pretending he was all that, but know he has grown up and can afford the real thing so the old ones can now be toys!

Carter kept putting them on and then turning his head to give the "Blue Steel" (Zoolander rocks btw!)

Laurel would snap the pics and then it would start all over again!

So then of course it was her turn, and she was too good for the FAUX-kleys so she got out my good ones and it went on from there.

I just am so lucky, I have kids that crack me up! Isn't it hilarious that this could entertain them for so long! And I have to say, I think that they are pretty darn cute!

So yeah, I think my kids are rock stars!

They are sweet, kind and oh so funny and isn't that what being a kid is all about!

B-

The faith to bring the umberella

So there is a Mormon Pioneer story that goes like this:

The first summer that the pioneers came into the Salt Lake Valley it was barren.
They planted all of the grain that they had set aside to farm this coarse land. They tended and worked and prayed that all would go well because that was all they had. Failure would mean death to many.
It was a very hot and dry summer and the crops began to fail because of the lack of moisture.
So the pioneers fasted and prayed for the moisture to come.
One evening they decided to gather and pray together for the blessing of moisture that was so desperately needed.
There was only one person who brought an umberella. And it was a young girl.
It began to rain, and there was one person there who had complete and perfect faith and had come prepared.
I wish to have the hope and faith of a child.
I try to bring my umberella when I need a blessing, sometimes it is hard.
But being prepared to meet the blessings that the Lord gives is not always so easy, we become skeptical and callous. Faith is a tough thing in the world we live in, we are on the Lord's time table and not our own.
We may not understand why or when, but we should bring our umberella.
B-

March 21st at 2:37

I got a call from the fabulous, friendly, fantastic Fred!

I have heard about Fred, but have never had the opportunity to visit with him.

What a great guy, doing what he does, making people happy by calling them and making their dreams come true.

He called and asked if I knew why he was calling, and I told him that I hoped so! He proceeded to inform me that I had been selected as an Honorable Mention in the Hall of Fame contest and then asked if I had entered before. I told him that this was the first time I had entered and that my heart was pumping chunky peanut butter because I was so surprised that I was getting this call because of that! He told me how happy that they were for me for having this success my first time, and then...

My phone died! I went through a bad service area and it dropped the call! Thank goodness that Fred is not easily annoyed and didn't give up on me! He calmly and sweetly called back and we finished the rest of our conversation. At some point in the conversation I asked him how many married women had proposed to him, and that I had a very cute daughter too. What the ????

My husband was even in the car just looking at me like I had completely lost it, which by the way I had!

I soooo didn't expect this and it really means so much to be in this group of talented people!

B-

Costco

So how is it that you can spend $330 at Costco in an hour, come home put it away and not even "see" where it all went?

The obvious answer is that you might be blind or have a room that is just for things you don't ever want to see again.

My answer is that I live with pirahnas.

I buy anything that even resembles food, and about twenty seconds later...

GONE!

Don't get me wrong, I think that pirahnas are a necessary link in the ecosystem. They clean up natures messes, right? Wrong!

After these pirahnas there are even bigger messes than before.

I have to admit that it is a little embarassing to show pics, but I mean really, do they have to be so cavalier about their destructive eating habits?

This species runs rampant in my home and cannot be removed!

Any thoughts on how to deal with them?

B-

Monday!

I am glad it is Monday.

Monday brings a new week, more time to get things done, more energy, more hope.

I did this layout this weekend, it is a very old pic of Laurel (eleven years!)

It seems like yesterday that it was taken, but so much has happened between there and here.

This layout I did a a week ago, and it doesn't show how much she has grown and what an exceptional person she has become.

I love my kids, they are really amazing people!

We have had some adversity in our lives, and our kids really pull for us and work as a team when it comes down to it!

LOVE THEM so MUCH!

So much to be grateful for.

Anyway, I hope this week brings the changes that we need.

B-

Tuesday stuff

I have been having a ton of fun downloading digi products and printing them out!

This layout was done with Rhonna Farrer's Parisian papers with some color adjusting and size changes, printed out on Making Memories ledger paper. And instead of put the type on the photo in photoshop, I hand stamped it for a different approach, very fun!

I have been working on some digital elements of my own and have made a couple of layouts with them. It has been a fun new learning experience to try to get what is in my head down into the computer program.

Definitely a learning curve!

On a different thought, tennis lately has been great. My coach has been really hardcore with me and it is paying off! My game is improving in the goals that I have set and it is very SAWEET! I love hitting the fuzz off the ball and having it come back for more!

B-

A call even closer to my heart!

The uber fun, creative, talented Christina (and saintly, adorable, wonder hubby Terry) has been very busy!

She has a ton of cool stuff going down right now, making me a little disappointed with the loops that life is throwing at me right now!

I wish so bad that in three weeks I were doing the ARTistry event she has been planning.

With the best of intentions, I had been planning on getting there, but it just isn't going to happen, and I am pretty bummed!

BUT...

I will be there in spirit, and for right now that is enough.

AND...

there have been some large changes in the design team there. I will be leading the team still, but

there will be a new group joining me, and we don't know who they are yet...

DO YOU?

Will you join me?

I promise it will be fun!

B-

Rouge de Garance DT call

So wouldn't this be a fun team to be on?!!!!

Rouge de Garance is looking for FOUR talented, versatile and creative US designers to enlarge their international Design Team. We want to see fresh uses for products and innovative, out of the box thinking when it comes to layout design. Strong photography and digital skills are a plus. You will be required to make at least 2-4 layouts a month and post them online (on your blog/Twopeas/messageboards/... up to you) and on our blog. If you work for magazines, editors,teach es, please say so on your resume. Communication is the key to success : we, at Rouge de Garance, are a solid, communicative and strong team and we're looking for people who enjoy working in a team. Compensation for our designers are a large variety of free Rouge de Garance products, free passes for CHA, and exposure through our website and in catalogs. The contest will run from March 1st through March 31st 2007. It's our 1st anniversary and we want to celebrate that by opening our french style to the world! We will announce the FOUR new additions by April 15th 2007, once the designers have been contacted and accepted their posts. The design team position is a commitment of a year. We will review whether or not you continue at the end of that term. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Your application and scans should be emailed to DTcontest@rougedegarance.com . Scans should be less than 300Ko. That application should include answers to the following questions: Name Location - Country Email address Do you have a blog? Any CURRENT design team obligations) A link to your online gallery Send us a resume of your publication/workshops/events you've done in the past Tell us a little bit about you :why would you be a good fit for Rouge de Garance and why are we a good fit for you? CONTEST SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Send us your TWO favorite layouts of your choice - one in a 12" x 12" format and one in an 8.5" x 11" or 12" x 12" format and an altered project. We also require that you submit one layout created especially for this search. The requirements are that: *the layout may be either 8.5" x 11" OR 12" x 12" - your choice of size * the topic/subject of this layout is : YOU !!!! Make a layout and talk about you ! We wanna know why you scrap, what you enjoy in scrapbooking, and what's important to you when you scrap. Think about it like a resume, sort of. Be funky, be fresh, be inventive, be colorful, be YOU ! If you could use some Rouge de Garance products, it would be a plus, but this is not a requirement. We're looking forward to hearing from you !
Rouge de Garance blog
They have beautiful paper, so if you have a little free time on your plate, you should give it a shot!
B-

Slippery Slope

Poor little Tori.
We had a plan, and it was a good one.
Take all the kids sledding at the elementary school, have some hot chocolate and then a dinner together...
sounds nice right?
Well we weren't at the school for even 15 minutes before Tori takes off after Tyler and she slips, falls and starts crying hysterically. She has been known to be a little dramatic so it took a few minutes to calm her down and figure out what was going on.
She hurt her leg when she slipped and there was a huge bump on it, if you tried to touch it, she went sideways with pain. We thought she might have fractured it, so we sent Rick and Bri with her to the hospital and we stayed with their 3 our4 and kept playing.
They called us a couple of hours later to let us know that it did indeed get broken and that they would be a few hours with the splinting and such.
It is a bummer that she got hurt so badly, and it was not doing any of the sledding, it was just from the pre-excitement goofies.
I see a big pack of sharpies is in her future.
B-

update: So we were rude and continued to play. And of course, I did have to sled because I am a big goofball. Thought i would add some of the cute pics from the day!

We fed the kids little cesar's pizza and watched some movies until we got the call that we could bring them home. Tori is going to spend the next few days at home off of her leg, it can't be load bearing, and they need the swelling to go down before they can cast it.

Yeah, I had no gloves, and the gloves on the littlest one look a little big, pieces of the puzzle coming together, hehehehe!

Yup, hers got soaked, so she stole mine!

Just My Style

So one of the things I am constantly struggling with in Scrapbooking land is the need to have a style.

I have one, it is the do what ever I feel like doing when I feel like doing it.

Apparently this is not a recognized style, and one that most editors or owners prefer not to have to deal with, LOL!

I am a dress up when it is time to dress up, jeans and t-shirts for all the other times except when on the tennis court which is then a very cutesy short skirt and top.

And in spite of the fact that I have no style, will you still love me anyway?

B-

Supergirl?!!!

So the story goes like this...

while at CHA I spent the entire week looking at the warty backside of the SandyLion booth.

Pooh, Tigger, Mater etc.

NOT good for the whole creativity feeling the mojo kind of thing, kwim?

So by the end of the week we had plenty of jokes at SandyLion's expense.

then Christina has the nerve to ask during breakdown if she can have the supergirl stickers that had been part of the mocking. The guy was very kind and went to check if they were a mock-up or the real thing. If they were real, then yes.

So of course they were real, after a few giggles and wondering what to do with them, Christina challenged me to use them in some campy way!

So here it is, two weeks later...

A poppety version of supergirl! Not terribly impressive, but very fun to do!

So here is the challenge if you are reading this:

Find something in your stash that isn't something that you would even consider using anymore and use it! Have fun with it and then share a link with me! I would love to see some silly crazy fun stuff!

B-

Been able to get about a layout a day done, feeling like I'm on a bit of a roll!

Super mojo-nated with the arrival of both of my kit club boxes yesterday! Kind of wish that they would arrive like a week apart so it would feel like christmas more times a month! I love both of these clubs, and even though I live where I can find most of the things that come, I love surprises so much that this is a fun way to spend my scrapping money! It pushes me to use things that I wouldn't usually pick for myself and to enjoy special touches that I would never be able to find because they are made only for the subscribers of the clubs. LOVE that part, the extra little goodies are so cool!

The snow in my yard all melted this week because of rain storms, and I have to admit that I am sad! I love the snow, and I would love to have it around for much longer than the average person. I don't get cold, partially because I am really good at choosing layers and partially because I don't hold still for very long, LOL!

Dave is such an oven that if I do get chilled, I just make him be my personal heater for a minute and then voila, warm again!

It has been fun around here for the last day, my brother surprised his wife for her birthday (they both share the same day, but it was for her--no really...) by taking her to a nice hotel and a FAB dinner out last night. I took their four kids and we had the biggest slumber party last night! There are sleeping bags everywhere, and the house smells like pancakes!

I am missing a fundraiser crop that I have gone to for the last couple of years, but Rick and Bri really needed this! I am sure they won't even notice that I wasn't at the the crop, but my bro would have noticed if I hadn't been there for them! Anyway, they have such darling, hilarious girls that it is a hoot! Love those girls!

Anyway, still working on the special gift, another 2 am last night and I am only half way done (boo hoo!) but it wil get there, just not by tomorrow afternoon...

With the girls here and an obligation to play league tennis today, my day is a little full, I probably won't get to work on it until late this evening again.

We do what we can!

B-

Happy Valentines Day!

Busy week so far!

Monday was hectic, but I got to catch up with a very dear friend! We met at Fashion Place, and got some valentines business done for our families while we visited and caught up. I just love her, she is funny and a little snarky and we get along like sisters because we can both take a jab! I got to see those cockroach brooches that are all the rage. They are decorated and then have a leash clip that you can pin to your clothes, so the cockroach is a live roaming broach! Very cool, very NOT me! They were at a shop called the Black Chandelier, and if I were still a kid, this would totally be THE shop for me! It is random, quirky and very obnoxious in a fun and wild way! LOVED IT!

Then I went to Jo-Ann's and found some way yummy yarns to make a special gift! I will post pics when I am done. I have the goal of having a huge project done by Sunday, probably won't be done, but I need deadlines, sad but true! Worked on this said project until 2 am!

Tuesday (yesterday?!!) was just as crazy, met with the personal trainer got my butt kicked! Ran Tyler to school (his car is still in timeout until his grades come up! Can't he hurry and get them back up?) Then straight to the hair dresser for a color and cut! Yippee! A couple of hours to myself, RELAXING! Then more work on the special project, a few layouts worked on a then made a few dozen valentines cards for the kids and the kids important friends.

So today is a little tennis and then back to the special project until my hands fall off, LOL!

And there it is, a happy Valentines day!

B-

What's for dinner

It is Friday night, and it has been a long week (month, year, etc) and Dave I think is a little sick of me and the whole scarpbooking thing right now. But he also knows that I am a donkey on the edge, so he took me out for a little bit this afternoon, let me get some new yarn for an afghan for Tyler and some of the new papers that I have been coveting. I love the new Scenic Route lines but Laurel has a special little place in my heart because of the name!

So I had to get a couple pieces of that, and then a few sheets of the new American Crafts--YUMMY!

So my husband does qualify for sainthood once in a while, but neither of us felt like making a meal or even deciding what to have the kids make for us (as if, LOL!) So Cafe Rio it is!

And to go perfectly with the meal, a little tivo from the week!

I might also have to sneak into the craft room, I am feeling very inspired and really want to play with my new toys!

B-

Porter Rockwell

And his name...
was Porter Rockwell.
That was a song I remember from the '80s. I heard for the first time when I was a teenager visiting Utah for Especially For Youth and today was the first time I was reminded of it in over 20 years (yikes shouldn't admit that!)
The reminder came in the form of me making my husband drive me(so I wouldn't chicken out) down to the Primedia building to dropoff my Hall of Fame entry. Well Porter was there to greet me and of course I saw the name, the statue and the words to the chorus just slipped right out after all that time.
With a huge rock in my stomach I walked across the parking lot staring at my feet and wondering why I was torturing myself like this. I mean really who does this kind of thing to themselves on purpose?
I handed my exceptionally composed clear plastic bag to the darling receptionist and blurted out "please take this before I throw up" and she sweetly obliged and then set it on the desk next to her. She looked a little concerned, could I really have been that green? I said "are you prepared for the hundreds more that are on their way?" and she said "yes" and then continued with "I hope we get lots more, its is better that way".
Well this made me feel a little ickier, of course it is for them, I can't disagree with that. But for me, I don't think so! I wanted to disagree outloud, but my filters kicked in thank goodness, (that doesn't happen often enough, LOL!). I managed to thank her and wish her a good day and then left. Walking and staring across the parking lot, what had I just done?
I left a huge piece of my heart and soul with them, and I just have to forget that it is done or I will go crazy with anxiety.
And to just add a little hilarity to my drama, I can't get the tune of the Porter Rockwell chorus out of my head.
B-

Timing

Life is about timing.
You see it time and again.
Right time, right place.
I love this concept. I am willing to work hard, I try to be humble, I support my friends and family when I can. Every little bit of good energy out there that I can put out I try to get out.
Soooo...
why did my Big Daddy computer have to pick today to have a big freeze?
Timing.
Last few pieces of my Hall of Fame entry were being put together in it today.
My laptop is NOT terrific for photo editing (nuf said about that!).
So this is the test to see how badly I really want to work to make this deadline. (so not feeling the love about getting noticed, but want to have the experience of getting it done and growing from it!)
Layouts done, (two new ones in the last twenty four hours, replacing perfectly fine ones I might add!)supply lists and journaling for the display done, photos taken.
Guess where they all are...
yup, in the Big Daddy.
Timing.
Should have finished last night and not slept so I could just be done.
Why didn't I you ask?
Well, I was pacing myself. Eating the Elephant one burger at a time so to speak.
Somehow, I will get this done tonight.
No more burgers, I am taking the rest of this elephant to the table tonight.
B-

Poppets and such

How great are these two?

Let me tell you, really GREAT!
They are so much fun, talented and beyond kind and patient!

Christina and Terry, thanks!

It is just a little hilarious that my head fit perfectly in the Poppet scene and that the hair looks real!

We had so much fun with this! It was tacky, campy and so darn hilarious!

One of my favorites ended up being Rene Pearson, she is so cute anyway, but man she had fun and totally hammed it up for the pic!

Terry had to do the rock star Poppet, it was so funny to see a 6'5" tall guy slouching down and hamming it up! Thanks T for the HUGE belly laughs!

I am sad that my camera's batteries were dead, there were so many pics that I wanted to get. So many people I met that I would love to have images of, but there is always the next time...

B-

Blissed out!

So on Sunday night in Anaheim, I got to go out to dinner with the FAB Bliss girls!
What a fun group, Andrea Hill who is the owner was so generous and FUN!
Karen Carter is the one to blame for inviting me to the shindig, so if there are any complaints about my annoying presence, direct all complaints to her!
Andrea gave away fun goodies pretty much the entire time, and we had a delicious meal followed by a HUGE slice of yummers chocolate cake!
I sat next to an adorable chica named Carrie and across from the delightful Laura, Karen, and Andrea! Next to Carrie was Rani and all others after that point I couldn't say, it was actually pretty dark and crowded!
After my first meal with this group, Christina, Terry, Carmi and Claudine came in to eat. So coincidental because if they had come in any earlier or later I would never seen them, it was just absolutely perfect timing! They had gone to have sushi but the place was closed so they had to wait for over an hour for a table at Buca de Beppo.
I joined them and we just sat and laughed our selves silly! Claudine has the most amazing dark side and between her Christina and Carmi, I was a little creeped out when the conversation was about serial murderers and crazies! Thank goodness the chat turned to other things like the possible topics for Claudine's next book. There are some great things kicking around these crazy girls minds! I would say, but then maybe they wouldn't happen or someone else would steal the ideas (as if anyone reads my blog who writes books, LOL!) and published them first!
Anyway, I laughed so stinking hard and to make it even funnier, I was so full from the previous dinner group that my sides just ached, so I was literally gasping for air during all of this!
Anyway, to make a short story unreasonably long I was completely blissed out and grateful for the friends that I have and for the opportunities I have had to make more, lucky girl!
B-

Back to reality

Watching Grey's Anatomy after a nice relaxing day!
Got back from Anaheim late last night after a fun five day extravaganza with Christina and Terry in the Lazar StudioWerx booth. We played with Poppets, giggled and teased each other mercilessly until Claudine joined us in the booth, and then it was her turn to be tortured by our humor!
I left with some fun, campy dares that I can't wait to get done!
It was great getting to see some of the faces of those that I adore, Michelle Hill, Sande Krieger, Teresa Collins, Debby Shuh, Tia Bennett, Kim Mattina, Emily Adams (there are more but I am tired...)
All amazing women with hearts of gold!
I got to meet the Bliss Girls, and hang out with them for a little bit, and they are so fun, Thanks Andrea for letting me hang with your FAB team!
I wish I had gotten to spend a little more time with my roomie Miss Mary Kay!
She is so delightfully opinionated! I love her! She was a woman with a plan, you should have seen what she conquered in such a short time, very impressive!
Of course I took my camera, didn't take it out until the last day, and of course the batteries were completely dead, LOL! Oh well...
So if for some reason you have an image of me, would you link it so I can appreciate how great the people are I get to hang with!
There was just miles of beautiful products, some fun new businesses and some of my favorites with new goodies that set me to having the gimmies!
I was fortunate enough to get to meet Addy, Stacy Julian's latest addition, and she is ADORABLE, congrats Stacy!
Renae Pearson stopped in the booth and was a Poppet, I love her, she is incredible!
She left me feeling inspired and with a skinny black chick pin!
Life is good!
I love making new friends and some that I can't wait to be proud of are the Effer Dare Girls! They are very talented, full of energy and ready to conquer the world! They remind me of what it is like to have the world at your feet and youth on your side! Go Gettum Girls! Gen's new paper line is beautiful! Can't wait to see what is down their path! So thanks Gen, Meghan, Nisa, and Kristina for the inspiration and the fun!
Reality today was feeling a little icky (sore throat and stuffy nose), crocheting a whole scarf, catching up on my tivo, finishing a couple of LO's that had been left on my table, printing some pics and having a tennis lesson. Pretty great day if you ask me!
Had a great conversation with a friend who knows where I am at with the scrapping thing, and she is so supportive, honest and real! She gave me some really huge advice today that I really want to work on! It is not very easy to say some of the things that someone needs to hear, you know like you have a little something in your teeth, or the little nose hangy hint or handing you a listerine strip. But a good friend will say the uncomfortable thing with the hope that you know that they are true to the friendship. Most people want others to succeed but not if it prepares you to compete with them at some point, (I have learned this to be true from tennis, but it is a great life lesson) the really good friends are the ones who help you self-improve no matter. So a quick shout to all the friends who have put all that stuff aside to help me grow, I LOVE and APPRECIATE all of YOU!
Which brings me lastly to Ali Edwards. She absolutely eptomizes this everyday! She gives so much of herself and in such a selfless way, amazing. Her e-zine hits home with me every time how much she wants us all to grow to where she is ( she will long be gone with her incredible capacity for growth) but she reaches down to lift all of us and to the end that we can possibly become more like her. Truly selfless and inspirational!
Thanks Ali!
So enough with the blah-blah-blah! I am just grateful to be who I am, where I am and what I am and to be that at home, LOL!
B-