blah blah blah

OK, I guess it's time to climb outta my hole. Josh has been gone a whole week now and I miss him terribly. I've been a huge bum around the house. Last week I was sick sick sick (thanks to my wonderful kids), the weather sucked, thus adding to my hobbit state. But despite all that, I am now officially licensed to drive in Germany. Beware the granny driver. I don't like going over 70, which apparently is slow here.



Not alot of scrapping going on. I guess in some sort of off the wall way, Josh is my muse. lol. I've been feeling uninspired lately. Thank goodness for Rhonna Farrer's 21 Day Challenge. Basically, I'm making a mini book out of this Melissa Francis star album I've had for what seems like forever. Each day, my goal is to draw, paint, etc and include a quote that Rhonna has supplied. I'm not going all out...no papers, embellies, etc. The purpose of it is to create a habit...I used to draw like crazy when I was younger. When I was in college, I painted alot. I took a couple of art classes and I loved them. Now, I'll draw a bit here and there...doodle on my layouts, but I don't just sit and draw in my sketchbook like before. I'd like to get into that habit. We're only into day 4. Some of the pages I REALLY like...others are, engh. But it's the process that's important. Actually taking a little bit of time each day to sit and work towards your habit...even if the end result isn't perfect...is the key. At the end of the 3 weeks, I hope to have an inspirational mini album that I can pull down from my shelves and look at during times like this; when I'm feeling a bit uninspired.





Now I don't want you to think that just because I feel like I'm in a bit of a rut, it means I'm not creating at all...because I am!! :) I just don't feel those "creative juices" flowing out of me. The new Mojo challenge is going up tomorrow!! Here's a sneakie. :D





Things have been a bit slow over at ScrapbookMate. February was a slow month for newly released products, buuuuuuut CHA is over and our new boxes are on their way. My german mate got hers today, so I'm going to go by the "depot" in the next town to see if mine is there. And hopefully the young guy that speaks english is there. LOL! Pathetic, eh?



So guess what? I pulled all my etsy goods and they're all sitting on my table, ready to be photographed and put up for sale. It's time to make some spending money! lol. I've been really, REALLY thrifty as of late. I think I've shopped for scrapbooking items twice since the start of 2008. Being on a design team that hooks you up with new product helps, you know?

Also, I am working on a project with some Grungeboard. I can't wait to complete it. If it comes out the way I have it pictured in my mind, it's going to be awesome. :D


I got a new videocamera. The wonderful little "Flip." I decided on it after reading Donna Downey's blog and her rave reviews. This puppy is cuuuuute and super easy. And even cooler? I have a little something in the works for all you scrappers out there. It's still in it's creation mode, but it's going to be totally neat.

That's all! Oh! It snowed a bit today. I couldn't believe it. Just once, I want to see a blanket of snow. This Texas gal hasn't experienced a big snow.

xoxo

Beat It.

So.

What do you get when you mix Fall Out Boy, John Mayer, and Michael Jackson?

http://www.friendsorenemies.com/web/foe/journals/clandestine/entry/1910651/

A badass way to wake up in the morning. Clickity and listen.

Woo!! {o_O}

xoxo

Time for Trouble!

OMG I can't believe it's the end of February!!! Geeeeeze. Well let's see what's happened since my last update.



I had a dentist appointment on Monday. No cavities! yay me! I've never had one, can you believe it? The dentist and the hygeniest said my mouth was boring. lol.



Josh left for a whole month on Tuesday morning. :( It's only been a few days but I miss him like crazy. The kids do too. Sebastian goes from room to room yelling, "daddy? daddy!! daaaaaaaaaaaaaddyyyyyyyyyyyy!"



The rest of the week has been uneventful. I fixed the tear in my couch. You can't even tell there was a rip unless you're face is a couple of inches away from the couch, so needless to say, I"m extremely happy. The kids have been sick and I've been battling a tenatious headache.



Tomorrow I take my international driver's test! I'm not really nervous. I have to do a 2 hour orientation before the actual test. The instructor goes over pretty much what's on the test. I've studied the manual though.



On to the scrap goody. Only one layout to share right now.

It's a combo layout. I made it for my GD spot at Magistical Memories (the circle star chipboard), but I also made it for the OLW challenge. I had a blast at my best friend's wedding. I miss my friends so much. Even if I were back in the states, we're all so spread out. The photo was taken by my wonderful friend Milli. And she helped me come up with the title as well. LOL! Such wit.

That's all for now. Hope to have more to share soon.

xoxo

Magistical Memories guest designer los

Ack!! Things are crazy around here so this isn't going to be a long post. We've been busy lately, which is actually a nice change from the normal ho hum. Josh is leaving tomorrow for a month (boo hoo) and we have lots to do in preperation. On that note.

The first layout features Anberlin when she was 6 months old. A cowoker had let me borrow her Rebel and it was the first time I had used a DSLR. I used the Retro Flowers from Magistical memories, painted with puff paint. I felt these flowers really complimented the KI Pop Culture papers I used.

The second layout is based off a pair of pajamas that Anberlin has. LOL. I used the magistical memories fancy frame around the letter rubons. Patterned paper and stitch rubons are from Daisy D's. Cardstock by Bazzill. Each apple has a glitter glaze ran over (Making Memories) to make them nice and shiny like grocery store apples. :)

Off to make a nice fat steak dinner for Josh. Then have to do laundry and get rid of recycling. Blaaaah.

xoxo

Mojo and Speech Pathologists

The new mojo challenge is up and the sponsor for this round is Cupcake Scrapshop!! Use the famous line, "I have a dream" and implement a tag somewhere. I made mine into a mini album from Magistical Memories.

The weather has been soooo nice lately! Still chilly, but warm in sunny spots. The weather turned ugly this afternoon though, so it's a good thing we played outside this morning.
Soooo. Anberlin went to preschool today for a developmental assesment. The teacher and the speech pathologist had a lot of the same concerns I did. The next step is for them to present their case in front of a board to get approval to do a formal study to figure out the correct course of action. They said the process is long, but that's fine with me. She had a blast though and did not want it to end. She did an AWESOME painting. I'm totally partial to everything she does, but there's soemthing about it. I'll photo it tomorrow with some natural light.

That's it for now!

MIA no more.

It seems I had dropped off the face of the planet, but now I'm back and a bit refreshed. I took a mini break from blogging, internet, scrapping. Not a whole lot has been going on. Right now, the ScrapbookMate head honchos are doing a few spring trade shows here and there. Wish I could be there! At their booth, there is a posterboard displaying a layout, photo, and bio of each designer. The layout I have on display is this one:





I forgot to post this layout here too! It's from last week's Scrapping the Music.



Hmmmmm. I'm racking my brain, trying to remember what's been going on! Well, Valentine's Day has come and gone. It was good. Well, actually, most of the day sucked because I suffered a migraine. But once Josh came home and massaged the crap out of my neck (there's always 3 spots that tense up severely), I felt better. He bought me an iTunes gift card and a gift certificate to a German Spa in the next town! I'm going to have my first facial ever!!! I bought him a new game for his PS3 (Tony Hawk). Josh even bought the kids cards. My heart totally melted. :D




Oh! We finally bought a new living room set! There was a "furniture expo" at one of the bases. We walked in, saw it, and knew we had to have it. It's a modern 3 piece, italian leather sofa set. We got if for a few hundred dollars cheaper. I was happy with that. Well after they delievered it and the delivery men were long gone, I did a close inspection when *GASP*! I saw it. Why had I not seen it before? They ripped my couch!!! We went back to where we bought it and of course, it was the only set. I had two options...let them come and pick it up and I go longer without having some decent furniture or they refund my money and I repurchase the set at 50% off. So I went with option B! I got a $1700 set for $650. It's pretty big, but I have a repair kit on the way, so keep your fingers crossed. And if that doesn't work and it absolutely bothers us, I'll go to Ikea and get a different sofa, but one that compliments the other 2. Pardon the emptiness of the apartment. I've been hesitant to decorate simply because I've been waiting for a living room set. :)
What else what else? OH! The vacuum we were currently using died on me so I sent Josh down to the basement to bring up my other one. I opened the front compartment to put a new bag in when I saw what appeared to be a big hairball. As I reached down to grab it, I noticed a tiny nose and whiskers. I pulled my hand back, screeched loud enough for all 4 floors of my building to hear, and ran across the room. Then I grabbed my camera and took some shots. LOL! I squeeled at Josh to dump it out for me and this was his response:



"You can take pictures of it, but can't dump it into a plastic bag?"



What can I say? I'm a wuss.

My kids love their art eisle. I love that they love it too. :) Anberlin draws the letter "I" alot now. Before it was the letters A, B, C, and D. She started doing E and F, but jumped to I. Sebsastian is turning into the little artist too.


Anberlin and Sebastian went to their first birthday party last weekend! It was a "Princess" party. The kids had a blast. Anberlin talked about it for a week straight. Here she is playing "Patti Cake" with her friend Kylee.
The weather lately has been gorgeous! Cold still ,but the sun warms things up. I've been taking the kids out to this parking lot for the sports field. It's right by our apartment. Sebastian needs to grow another inch and a half...he still can't reach the pedals!
How cute is this? Anberlin's interpretations of "Dora the Explorer."
Lastly, I did another shoot for the guys the other day. I have to admit, I'm kinda disappointed. A few shots came out cool. I really need to take a class or something. I have shots set up in my mind, I just don't know how to execute them. Also, I need to get my eyes checked. The shot looks clear through the viewfinder, but once I get it uploaded on the computer, it's slightly blurry. ARGH! So alot of shots were ruined. Alot of shots with ALOT of potential. sigh. We did the shoot downtown Wurzburg. That place is beautiful. I can't wait to go back once the weather warms up.






That's all for now. :) I'll be a better blogger.

Promise.

xoxo

I MADE THE CATWALK!

For the first time ever, I made the catwalk at SiSTV!! It was for the "Blessed" layout. It's funny b/c that layout is a bit out of my ordinary "style." It goes to show that change is good. :)

On Sunday I actually got a break away from everything...the house, kids, husband, everything! It was nice. I was a bit hesitant to go. It was for a friend's going away/surprise baby shower. I only knew the mom-to-be, so that's why I was a bit nervous. Yes. I am shy. I've never been great at just walking up to someone and introducing myself. I can hop into a conversation if it's something I'm familiar with. Otherwise I just sit back and wait for someone to talk to me. And that comes across snobby. Lol. What can you do? Anyways, I ended up having a blast. We sat in the garden area of this gorgeous Greek Restuarant in Wurzburg (Hubland) and talked for hours. I had a couple of glasses of red wine and wow. I was a chatterbox. I'm not a drinker by any means, but I really do enjoy the wine at that place.

Apparently it's Spring Trade Show in Europe over the next couple of months! And if I want to go to any, I can get a pass courtesy of ScrapbookMate! And what's even cooler? ScrapbookMate is going to have a table at each of these shows and will have a board up featuring a photo, short bio, and a layout from each of their designers!! I finished my layout last night for it and I love it. The shows are:
Stitches-Birmingham (England) Feb 17-19
KreaVak (Holland) Feb 24-25
SMAC (France) March 16-18

Buuuut, no shows for me. :( I found out last night that Joshua is being sent to what is called "WLC" which stands for Warrior Leader Course (I think). Basically it's similar to boot camp and he'll be gone for 30 stinking days. As if him going out of town every other week for a week wasn't ghastly enough!!! 30 days???? I definately have to get my driver's license now. ARGH!

I've been working on LO's like crazy, but hopefully after this weekend, I can have a bit of a break....give my creative processes a rest. Ha! I should be able to show more lo's soon.

xoxo

x+y= <3 Scrapmojo 8

The new challenge is up!! Make an equation of sorts and use red. And the FAB Luciane Folch is our guest designer. Not only is she one of my fellow designers at A Daily Inspiration, she's now a guest Mojo Girl. AWESOME!!!

The photos on the bottom are my wedding portraits. :) My husband and I got married at the justice of the peace. We're not in "wedding apparel" but I think we looked good. Especially me, since I was almost 7 months pregnant at the time!! You can't really tell, but the base of the heart is made from bubble wrap. Lots of ribbon. Lots of time, but so worth it.

For the month of February, I am the guest designer over at a fabulous chipboard company, Magistical Memories. This is also my first layout for that position. The little chipboard people ("Potty People") on the bottom right is made by them.

I'm sort of stuck on this color combo. I don't know what it is, but I love it. I've always loved the way red pops off certain blues. I finished a LO last night using a similar scheme. LOL. Maybe after Valentine's Day, I'll be sick of using red.

Things around here have been pretty busy. I did a quick album for a guy that Josh has known since his training days in Augusta, GA. They were deployed together also. I made an explosion box for his mom last year and he contacted me to make an album for his girlfriend for Valentines Day.

The weather has been crappy lately. Today it's been raining HARD and super windy. I have errands to do, but UGH. Who would want to go out in this weather? Josh is out of town AGAIN this week, but luckily he comes back tonight.

Sooooo. CHA is just around the corner. I'm HOPING to get my hands on some pre releases and get to work with some things before everyone else. Hee hee. We'll see if it falls through though.

That's all for now.

xoxo

"World." Scrapping the Music

The new challenge is up for the week! The song this time around is "World" by Five for Fighting. It's such an underappreciated song, so I hope you take a moment to stop by the blog, listen to the song, and try the challenge! Our sponsor for this round is the stinking cool kit club, My Sweet Spuds. So the kit that is up for grabs is SOLD OUT! If you wanted it, but missed out, try the challenge out. :D You have until Sunday.

I'm Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage

Hello out there! Life around here has been busy, busy, busy! During the week I'm sneaking in scrap time and the weekends are filled with touristy adventures. :) There's a few sneaks above that I'm completely excited about. I'm so happy with my next Mojo layout. I tried something completely different and love the end result. Also, as you can see by these sneaks, I'm a bit stuck on using certain colors. I can't help it! I keep finding myself using black, aquas, pinks, and reds!! HELP!

A couple of weekends ago we ventured to a little town called Grafenwoer where we visited a HUGE post exchange. I always get a kick out of this ridiculously HUGE tv they have on display at the main entrance. Seriously, who in their right mind needs a 72 inch TV? I posed the kids in front to show proportion.

Last weekend we went to Nuremburg. It's such a cute city, with a gorgeous downtown area. It's surrounded by a medieval wall and has this HUGE church in the town square. I haven't done much research on the town, so this isn't going to be one of those history type posts. :) Just a few pretty pictures. We're going back tomorrow. It's less than an hour away, so it's a good place to explore.

The kids got a big kick out of the street performers. They were so cute putting coins in the violin cases.

Starbucks! I was so thrilled to see one. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "Didn't she trade Starbucks for some other brand?" Yes. But that's what we brew at home, when we're out and about, I want my Grande nonfat, sugar free, Vanilla latte. Mmmmmmmm. The barista made the kids some itty bitty cups of their Strawberrries n Cream shake.

There was a really cool comic store that had art pieces in the window. I thought this mickey mouse was awesome.

Directly across from this store was a fairly good size asian market. That was a god send b/c our grocery stores are lacking in the way of asian foods. A couple of nights later, Josh busted out with this delish meal for us. The pot has chapaghetti in it, which is only found in asian markets. It's a korean noodle dish that comes in a packet similar to ramen noodles. But it's not soup. They’re noodles in a Chajang sauce, a black bean sauce usually made from cultured soybean. You cook the noodles like soup, but you drain the water and then add the little packet of Chajang sauce and get what Josh has dubbed "black ramen." The flavor is hard to describe. It's suttle, and tastes awesome mixed with Kimchi (pictured in the large glass jar). He fried up some taki mandu, which is a vegetable dumpling. And I so lovingly fried up some dried anchovies. Don't gag. They're crunchy and SOOOOOOO good dipped in a little mixture of soy sauce and vinegar. Oh, and of course we have our steamed rice. :D

Well the weather here has been cold, but not the "HOLY CRAP" kinda cold I was expecting. I bought the kids snow suits and they haven't been able to use them yet. :( This is a typical scene around nap time. I hop in the bed with kids, and read a few stories. Then we snuggle a bit before they fall asleep.

OMG I've been getting such awesome mail lately!!! I wish it were like this everyday! We got a package from one of Josh's sisters that we thought was lost in the mail. One of the things in it was a cute cute cute piggy bank for Anberlin!! Ah! It makes me happy just looking at it.

Here's a card from the super talented Michelle Clement. I saw it on her blog a while back and was so thrilled to get one myself!

Here are most of the felt flowers I received from CareFree Glimmer (http://www.carefreeglimmer.etsy.com/). She has a touching story about her daughter on the page. If you're ever in the market for some felt flowers, I'd look into shopping with her! Here is the owner's blog: http://www.heyanne.typepad.com/.

OMG. Magistical Memories SPOILED me rotten!!!!!! These are the goodies they sent me for my guest designer spot for next month. I've already started playing. Eeeee!! I got TWO of those mixed up books. I've been wanting one for so long! Oh and the potty people are stinkin awesome!! http://www.magisticalmemories.com/.