Hello there...

I'm BACK! (Yes, I know that it's been awhile and I'm so sorry that I've kept you waiting for so long! ) New banner, no profile pic as of yet, and as always, lots to share!

Let's see, can I summarize 5 months in a post? Without making it pages long? Let me try...

April: we stayed home for Spring Break, but staying home doesn't mean it didn't stay crazy busy! I took pictures of the girls at the park, completed some house projects, the girls had a sleepover, Jeff & Jennifer welcomed their new addition to the family Kai Joesph....

Alissa took a Hunter's Education class; GREAT experience for Brett to share with his daughter.

I was inaugurated into Facebook (FB) and was completely sucked in! Blame FB for my absence! LOL!! Seriously, it's been fun! I've reconnected with so many people! I've been able to keep in better touch with all sorts of friends and family! Quick posts here and there; it's been great!

May: BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!! Jillian had a dance performance at Kid's Festival while Alissa and Brett attended range day for Hunter's Ed., I cut off my hair (from mid back to above my shoulders).

We went camping at Tunk Mtn. above Riverside, WA where we pasture the cows for the spring /summer. It was a working "vacation" for Brett - fixing fence. It was really a lot of fun I have to admit. Josh, Jeff, Chelesy, and Levi joined us!

The girls had a Jog-A-Thon for school, dance performance at the Spring Festival, BBQ & Boating season officially began, we had a great visit with Nana and Aunt Almyra, and Brett had first cutting.

June: I started my summer vacation from the office to be home with the girls, the girls and I made a quick trip to Portland and visited with Nana, the girls had Spirit Week the final week of school, a Father's Day Mariner's Game for Brett, Jeff, Larry, and Ken,

Dance Recital, the start of many playdates to come,

Camping at Liberty,

Vacation Bible School, and the start of swimming lessons.

July: finished up swimming lessons, 2nd cutting for Brett, gymnastics camp, dance camps begin, rollerskating, Nana here for a visit, celebrated Ken's 80th BDay and the 4th of July along with taking some family pics (thank you Nena!),

Montana with the Chapmans, Jonni's Wedding (in MT, Charli's sister),

August: attended the Festival of Homes in ML (great way to get ideas for home projects), start work on new playhouse, more dance camps, and Grant Co. Fair & Rodeo time!

Brett & I took the girls to Seattle for their first Mariners game; before the game we enjoyed dinner at the Crab Pot.

And, on August 27th Brett & I celebrate 15 years of marriage...love you babe!

So, there you have the last 5 months; not a short post but now we're all caught up! My goal is to blog at least once a month but I would like to make it weekly. Let's see how I do. :)

Bye for now!

Our Family Getaway...

Our anxiously awaited trip to Sunriver, Or has finally arrived!

As posted earlier, no snowmobiles came with us for this trip...we'll come back to this little fact in a later post.

We had a pretty nice drive considering that it is still winter and there could have been bad roads, but there weren't - thank goodness! The girls were setup with their movies and I played DJ with my iPhone.

When we finally arrived, I had a rush of memories from my childhood...

The Sunriver Logo that used to greet you as you entered Sunriver, now located at the Police dept.

A drive by picture of the Lodge. There's something about that entry that I love...(architecturally)

The Gathering House. It's next to the pool (summer activity) and it has a lot of textures. LOVE IT!

I used to come here as a kid with my parents. Brett and I have been here twice in our 18 years of togetherness; our Honeymoon and a trip when Alissa was about 2 years old. There's just something about this place; is it the nature all around and the security of the trees or am I just a granola girl through and through? (Rhetorical question people; the granola girl part anyway.)

I'm looking forward to creating memories with my little family...I'll keep you posted! :)

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss...

As I've stated before, I LOVE SEUSS!

Today, Theodor Seuss Geisel would have been 105 years old.

I hope that you each find your own favorite Seuss book and join Read Across America today!

Man, I miss my Mac...

So, I brought my HP laptop along on our trip because a gadget girl like me can not be without the necessities! :)



The pro's of my laptop; well, it's a laptop therefore it is easily portable. It connects me to the internet, it plays DVD's, and it is fun.



The con's; it's not my Mac. My stuff isn't on it, and it operates a little different. Key things I am missing; my iTunes library, how I switch through the different windows, my iPhoto program, and my Quickbooks. It takes longer to accomplish the same tasks; I'm not exactly sure why but this PC can not multitask! Overall, it's just frustrating! But I will go through the frustration in order to have my gadgets. (LOL!!)




A prime example of a frustration; I plugged my iPhone into the laptop in order to charge it and it sync'd my iPhone - erasing ALL my music from my phone! No worries though, my music is on my Mac at home but it's a little frustrating for now....I miss you Mac, I'll see you soon!!

How ironic...

I find it pretty ironic that the day before we plan on leaving for a trip that could involve snowmobiling (upcoming Sunriver trip) or that we've planned on snowmobiling (Roslyn Ridge after Christmas) Brett has a wreck...

Now, I am VERY thankful that Brett has not had any personal injury with these wrecks (other than pride) and to be truthful, I'm not heartbroken that snowmobiling hasn't panned out. It's not that easy or enjoyable to ride when you are hitting helmets with the kids or trying to turn not only your body weight and the sled but factor the kids in too. I'm not that good of a rider and it truly makes it more stress for me than it's worth. In December, we rented a cruiser snomobile in addition to our M7, Alissa sat behind me; that was better, but I just sat there and we stayed on the trail...that get's old...

The latest wreck totalled the 900 on Friday. There was apparently a run in with some trees which Brett "successfully rode out of with one ski for approximatly two miles" until walking it downhill he was side swiped by Julie...that did it in! Julie apparently lost control and jumped off her sled right before hitting the 900 which then slammed it into three large trees...finishing off the 900. Oh, and no damage to Julie's sled...The 900 though is no longer ridable and was towed approximatley 15 miles to the trailer...

The shocks, struts, A arms, steering rod, etc. of the left side are COMPLETLY gone! The right side is damaged, but no parts are missing like the left.

So, no sleds for our trip to Sunriver...poor 900.

There's nothing like a Dove Milk Chocolate Promise...

If you have never had one, get one! I was introduced to them a little over a year ago by my friend Charli, and they bring me such happiness! Truly, it always seems that the little message inside is just what I needed; to pick me up , to make me laugh, or to give me a reality check. Serious!

For example, I have found two wrappers today left behind from Brett. One says, "Think without limits", and the other "Bring your life to life: stop planning, start doing." How appropriate and cool is that !

It's been a busy two weeks...

There has been something EVERY night for the last two weeks! That's just CRAZY! LOL! It's been a whirlwind on top of the everyday stuff but it's been an exciting and fun kinda crazy!

Some of the craziness includes: birthdays, MonaVie tasting parties, going to Chuck E. Cheese (I'm officially on protest! Not to return anytime soon! Because of the patrons not the restaurant), and making time with friends. 

This weeks craziness (sister off to sunny vacation - I'm jealous, brother having surgery - not jealous, MonaVie special event, etc.) will conclude with a nice family vacation! We are ALL looking forward to it! 

More to come later...off to tend to the house for now! :) Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Dear Mom,

Just wanted to send a warm birthday wishes to you! We love you and miss you lots! Hope you and Aunt Almyra are having a great time! Love you both!

Love, the family!

New Blog Alert

I created a new blog today just for my creative stuff. Right now, that's scrapbooking projects but I don't plan on it being limited to that. :)

Currently, it only has the BBCC projects on it that are also posted on this blog, but I intend on posting other creative spurts on there as well. :) Click here to check it out.

It is also on my blog list!

Let me know your thoughts! Enjoy!

Heavy in my thoughts...

I want to keep this simple and not really go into any detail but I want to share with those that are in job jeopardy that they are heavy in my thoughts and prayers.

In these economic times many companies/employers are having to make hard decisions. For most employees, a layoff decision is not a matter of an employee doing a poor job it is that there is not enough funds to afford that employee. That being said, remember that you are of worth, you are of talent, and you are strong.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Needing Some Adjustment...

I think that I will not write on the same post as a slideshow. I am noticing that the words are cut off, yet when I went to preview it all looked fine.

I hope that as the posts shift down you will be able to read without guessing/improvising what the words are!

Sorry. Too tired to figure it out. It's only midnight! :)

Mini Me

It's DONE!

I created an interview for myself (and students) to answer; think of them more as prompts...

Not all papers and embellishments are in the kits; most are but, for example: the purple paper and flowers - it's MY favorite color, it may not be yours, therefore it's not in the kit. :)

I hope you like it as much as I do! I'm pretty happy with it's turnout!

BBCC Classes

Wondering why I haven't posted lately? Beyond the busyness of life, I committed to teaching some scrapbook classes at our community college. 

The first project is an 8.5 x 11 Day Planner geared for scrapbookers; its so big that it's going to take two classes to complete. The rest are mini albums:

a 6x6 acrylic album titled "mini me" - yet to be completed

a 6x6 chipboard album titled "time in a bottle" - yet to be completed

an explosion album that we'll create from scratch titled "bustin' at the seams" - the explosion album pictured

and "all shook up" which is designed to utilize your leftovers and scrap pieces- yet to be completed

Not only am I creating the project, ordering the product but I am also creating kits for 15 people. The minimum class attendance is set for 9 and the max is 15... I'll find out 3-5 days before each class if class minimum has been met and if class is really being held. I'm not too worried; I can teach at my local scrapbook store and sell the rest of the kits to my friends that scrap - there's been much anticipation and interest. :) (Thanks guys for your support)

I just finished getting the product in on Friday and had some color issues from the planner I already made to the one that the students will be creating so I re-did the title pages to match what the students kits contain. ('Cause I'm just loaded with time and nothing else to do! LOL!) I just finished packaging the planner kits last night at 11pm. I am proud of the project, excited to share it, but pressed for time as I teach the planner class NEXT Thursday.

I have a bit much on my plate but I'm handling it well. Enjoy the projects that are completed. Hope to keep you better posted!

Tooth Fairy Drama...

Last night, Jillian lost ANOTHER tooth. (This is #3 since October.) So, of course, she puts her tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy...

This morning, when Brett went to wake the girls for the day, Jillian's first movements were to check under her pillow for to see what the tooth fairy brought. To her dismay, she did not find anything other than her tooth.

Brett came to share the news that our daughter was disappointed that she still had her tooth and no money. (I love how the whole tooth fairy thing becomes solely about the money.) 

I was shocked! LOL! How could she forget! "Are you sure?" I asked, "I'll go look after I get ready". Brett left for the farm to check the "babies" (the calfs), the girls ate breakfast, and I finished getting ready. 

After the girls finished breakfast, I went into their room to help them double check that the tooth fairy didn't come - how could she not! Jillian was full of attitude when she shared, "Mom, the tooth is right here. She didn't come."

I told her I would not be surprised if her thrashing in her sleep scared the poor tooth fairy away! She's only a tiny fairy! She wasn't amused. But I made her keep looking; good thing too! We found a dollar at the head of her bed that fell on the floor when I pulled the bed away from the wall. Jillian LIT UP! "Oh my gosh mom! Maybe I did scare her!" And this is where the story gets even better. Jillian says to me, "Maybe if I put the tooth back under my pillow tonight, I'll get another dollar!" 

I don't think so honey; nice try! LOL!