Playing Around with Digital Pages

I am a paper scrapper through & through. I don't think that I'd ever quit totally and become a complete digi scrapper. However, the process intrigues me and I love playing with digital images and putting stuff together.

Here is my latest:

It's a freebie layout from Jessica Sprague, who's starting a free digital photo editing course on Monday and I can't wait...

Following in the path of greatness...

scrapbooking greatness that is.
Both Ali Edwards & Cathy Zielske have recently used this format to blog, and since I am way behind again, I thought I may just steal the idea and run with it.

TODAY June 23rd, 2009

Outside my window... It's sunny but windy, I'll have to remember to grab a sweatshirt.
I am thinking... about all the stuff on my to do list, and how none of it is getting done, cause I'm blogging.
I am thankful for... having a beautiful house to call home.
From the kitchen... tonight will be some kind of fish with veggies. I'm trying to empty out the fridge & freezer.
I am wearing... blue shorts and an old volleyball tee with the sleeves cut out.
I am creating... more work for myself...oh well.
I am going... to pack up Grace in a bit and head into town. Have a few chores to do before heading to the park for some volleyball.
I am reading... the new Dean R. Koontz novel "RELENTLESS".
I am hoping... that we can work out our vacation schedule so we can go camping with my family this year.
I am hearing... the background music to Hidden Expedition: Amazon, a game I have paused on my laptop, and my daughter humming and bouncing around all over the house.
Around the house... things are clean, but there is laundry waiting to be folded, a bed in need of clean sheets and a scrapbook studio that is slowly emerging from the "STUFF". (Beware of "STUFF" it tends to grow like a weed and cover every surface, nook and cranny. It is hard to get rid of)
One of my favorite things... fresh fruit in my turquoise bowl on our new dining room table.
A few plans for the rest of the week... maybe a date night with my hubby, a crop and Saturday I have a bridal shower to go to. It will be my first ever, I have no idea what to expect. HELP!

It Feels Like Summer...

...and what always comes with summer?

CAMP that is...

How would you like to register for Creating Keepsakes summer camp? It's gonna happen on July 13-17 and if you click here it's totally FREE. How cool is that?

Here’s some of what's in store:
Chances to win
FREE daily online classes Inspiring creativity challenges
Exciting tips and techniques
And more!

I signed up & hope to see some of you there...

Monthly Round-up (and NO! I do not mean the bug killing kind...)

WARNING!!! Extremely long blog post!





I read many different blogs, some involve scrapbooking, some organizing (though you wouldn't know it if you saw my home!)LOL, some about cooking, and much, much more...
One of the blogs I read is Katie the Scrapbook Lady and she recommends to do a reoccurring round-up at the end of every month to allow you to scrapbook your memories easier. So I thought I would give that a try.
Here are her prompts for a monthly round-up:

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Well, besides my usual scrapbook publications (Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Memory Makers, Scrapbook ETC) I bought Woman's Day, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Good Housekeeping & a special issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors entitled "Studios". I am a self proclaimed magazine junkie and would buy them all f I only had the room to store them. LOL I also have to note that 2 of the above mentioned scrapbook mag's are going out of publication, which is a real bummer cause Simple Scrapbooks was one of my favorites.

I have also read a really good book this month. Seems like it's been quite a while since I've had one that was noteworthy... It's called "Book of Lies" by Brad Meltzer. Check it out if you're looking for a good read...

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
We finished watching a lot of reality TV series that we had gotten hooked on over the fall/winter months. Such as "Survivor", "American Idol", "The Amazing Race", and we just started watching the new season of "The Bachelorette". What makes this season so special for me is the fact that Jillian comes from the town of Kelowna, where I spent the college years of my life and where my family still lives today. I can't wait for the show where she gets to take them home to show them around Kelowna, it's so fun to see how they portray a town I know well.

I've also been trying to catch up on TIVO'd episodes of "LOST", I find that I enjoy this show way more when I can watch several episodes one after another.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends? (I decided to add my own category in addition to this called "Did you take any trips or vacations or did someone come and stay with you at your house?")
I started going back to the gym to work out regularly this month. As part of that I joined a new bootcamp called "It's A HOOT Bootcamp". The girls that run it are great and the best part of it is that we exercise outdoors. I love it, even when the weather wasn't all that stellar to start with. But I also signed up Miss Grace for the kid's part of the bootcamp and this means that she got to join me outdoors at one of Bellingham's fabulous parks and she exercised with the kiddos. What a great idea! If this sounds like something you would like to check out please feel free to look up their website and let them know I sent you. There is even a coupon I can send you for a free session if you just want to try it out once... Let me know if you want it, it's good till the 19th of June...Hope to see you there...

Grace also started her T-ball league through the local YMCA. I wasn't sure what to expect, since soccer seemed to be a "take it or leave it" thing. But it seems that Miss Grace is quite enamoured with T-ball and can't wait for her next practice/game.

Did you take any trips or vacations or did someone come and stay with you at your house?
As a family we made two trips this month.

The first weekend of the month we headed out to the San Juan's in the Roeboat. The first night we anchored off of Sucia Island and had quite a bit of rain. Actually an island local said it was the worst rain storm he had seen in 20 years. WOW! The next day we headed to Friday Harbor and had an awesome dinner at an Iranian restaurant. It pays to try something new every once in a while!

The last weekend of the month we headed east to Winthrop to visit Martin's parents. We took Becky her long awaited chicken coop, losing some pieces along the way, but finally managing to get it all finished and ready for some chicken to move in. Grace & I had a good time visiting the Farmer's Market with Grandma Becky.

In between the two we had our friends Stan & Ginger from Alaska stay with us over Mother's Day Weekend. I cooked up a yummy Sunday brunch and afterwards we took a nice walk down to the river with everyone.During the week of the 14th Grace & I decided to drive up to Kelowna to surprise my parents with a visit. They were soon to be celebrating their 25th Wedding Anniversary and we wanted to do something special. Besides, Martin & Adam were off to visit Ben, the aspiring NAVY Seal of the family in San Diego, where he is stationed during his training. While in Kelowna my younger sister Lyne & I hatched a crazy idea to set up my parents for a surprise family photo shoot. It turned out to be a great idea. The photos the photographer we got totally last minute turned out amazing. He was a guy who had taken pictures of Lyne's friends' wedding. His name is Stefan Matis, go check out his website.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
I finally did the "Pay It Forward" drive thru thingy. You know, the one where you pay for the person behind you in line.
It was kind of a cool feeling to gift someone I didn't even know and make their day. You're welcome lady in the green Volvo, it was my pleasure.

I also finally finished the "Grandparents" frame I had been working on for a bit now. And during our Memorial Day visit to Winthrop to see my in-laws it was delivered. I think it was a hit. Thanks Julie for making me look good. LOL

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
I've been waiting to get some window coverings for my scrapbook studio. Coveting anything Pottery Barn I knew that waiting for a sale was an absolute must...well, I got lucky and the curtains I had been drooling over were part of their last sale. I ordered them straight away and also snagged some cute lamps for my office too. Can't wait to put them all up...hopefully hubby will squeeze me into his busy schedule sometime soon.

Another, very unusual purchase, was made while visiting Winthrop during the long weekend. My friends Troy & Aubrey are getting hitched in July and Martin had wanted me to get a nice new dress for the wedding. There is this awesome store in Winthrop called the "Courtyard Quail" and I spend money there every time we go to Winthrop. It is a cute boutique that sells all kinds of cool clothes, accessories and such. They also have a home decor store in Winthrop and branches in Leavenworth and somewhere else I can't remember right now...

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
I have had some popping in my lower back when exercising, but think that's just from being a bit rusty and starting to exercise more again... Martin has been having trouble with his arm, he seems to think that he pinched a nerve or something and has been getting massage therapy for it.

During Grace's T-ball game on the 30th I was stupid and did not put my sunscreen on before the game.
When I remembered it was already too late and my shoulders and back where burnt pretty bad.

What were my accomplishments this month?

This doesn't really ring any bells with me...? I guess getting back to exercising regularly. That's a biggie. Dragging my sorry butt off to bootcamp and the gym...

What were my disappointments this month?
Disappointed that I still have a mile long to do list, and am not getting as much accomplished as I feel I should...

Anything else noteworthy to include?
Also getting rear-ended twice in one day should qualify under this category, shouldn't it???

All right, I apologize, this post has taken on gigantic proportions. But I must say, we did a lot more stuff this month than I had originally thought. What a great way to look back and summarize everything you think is noteworthy. I love it and will try to do this every month from now on. Beware! I think that I will change some of the topics though, and add on some I feel need to be in there...so stay posted.

I also had my last day at Treasury, at least for the summer. It was soooo hard to say that. I miss that place.

Ooooh and volleyball at the park has started up again. It was so nice to play outside on the grass. I hope to make it out there more often this year...

So I apologize for the long post, but I think that I may actually try to do this every month. It made me realize how much more we had done in a month than I actually thought... I plan on changing some of the questions to things I feel are more relevant to me and my scrapbook style, but all in all I think it's a great idea.

Winthrop Visit

On decidedly short notice we decided to head east for the long weekend and visit Grace's grandparents in Winthrop. We were planning on leaving late afternoon, but as usual with the lack of planning on Martin's part we ended up departing our house after 7 PM. This resulted in a hasty dinner on the road, part of grandma's chicken coop flying off the back of the truck and a lot of heartburn (from the bad Asian food we ate on the run!).

We did lot's of walking into town while in Winthrop. Had to visit the fabulous Rocking Horse Bakery, I highly recommend their scones, but my absolute favorite is the chocolate croissants. Second only to the one I had at a small bakery in Paris. My favorite scones are the apricot/ginger ones, yummy! We also sampled some of the ice-cream at the local sweet shop, where co-incidentally Grace's cousin

Alannah worked over the

weekend. Here I highly recommend the Mocha Almond Fudge, it's divine. LOL

Of course after all that food one gets tired and needs a ride on Daddy's shoulders...

The weather for this long weekend was fantastic and I had impulse

bought a slip-n-slide for Grace. Who can say no to that when it's for sale right there in the grocery store with the bread and stuff I was buying anyway??? I tell you those merchandisers are evil!

Grace ended up not quiet knowing what to do with the slide

and ended up walking up and down modeling her swimsuit like on the runway. It was quite entertaining...

We also visited the Farmer's Market with grandma. They had some really cool booths and we bought some huge radishes, a shelf for grandma's stereo, some divine pound cake and we missed out on getting some awesome looking cherry pie by just a smidgen. Too bad, I bet it was delicious.

Just A Quick One...

since I am so far behind with my blog....again.

This is where I found Grace the other day...

She was so quiet I had to check on her, cause you know what that normally means....

They are either asleep or up to no good. Well neither was the case this time. She had found her Dollar store book and was intently practicing her letters.
What a good girl.

BIG Scrapbook News...

My friend Margie, whom I have taken several amazing classes from, is breaking free and starting her own business with her girls. It's a scrapbook kit club appropriately called "The Girl's Loft".

Please go check her out...she's doing a give-away on her blog right now....

Mother's Day Walk

We had company over the weekend so a traditional Mother's Day was not in the cards for us this time. Normally we visit one of the our moms and surprise her.This year we did nothing like that, but instead stayed home.  I cooked up a nice brunch, including Asparagus/Brie Eggs, Bacon, Fresh Fruit, some wonderful Blueberry Pancakes and much more...

Our friends from Alaska Stan & Ginger had fun and it was great to see them again.

After brunch we cleaned up, got our rubber boots out and headed down to the river.  

Grace had a blast throwing rocks and taking off her boots to play

 in the sand with her toes. 

 She was a bit reluctant to have her photo taken, but with some

 pleading and blackmail I managed to get a few good photos...

T-Ball, a first for our family...

Since we had tried Soccer in the fall and it didn't really seemed to be "it" for Grace I thought we'd try something else in the Spring.  So enter the YMCA T-ball league...

We signed up, showed up and are now a shirt-wearing, mitt-toting, ball-throwing member of the Lime Green Team.  

Our first practice was interesting as we did not have a glove yet. Thankfully on

e of the kids' moms had brought extra and Owen was gracious enough to let her lend it to Gracie.  

So in the rain, on the muddy field we had our first T-ball exper

ience. 

After it was all said and done the coach said he already spotted a star on the team, Gracie

 would make a great infielder since she let no ball go past her and even beat some of the much bigger boys to the ball. She also can throw quite a bit better than most of the kids on the team.  She's been walking around glowing ever since and when you ask how T-ball went she says: "I'm the star!"  Too cute!

There's been no looking back since...we immediately planned a trip into town and acquired a new, shiny pink baseball glove including a pink 

matching ball. With only two practices (we missed one due to our family weekend getaway to the islands!) we had our very first game this weekend.  

I couldn't believe how many people showed up and even 

grandparents, dogs and extended family were there with lawn chairs, blankets and picnic baskets. 

We ended up playing against one of our friend's daughter's team, Taite. She is also four, but stands 

almost two heads taller than Grace.  It was a lot of fun to see the girls, their baby brother, and of course their parents, Simon & Beka. 

Since it's a YMCA league they don't actually keep score, have outs or such.  Everyone gets a turn at bat and it was quite interesting to see the different reactions and interpretations of the kids.  Some ran to the wrong base, others didn't run at all, one kid turned right around after touching first base and went back to home plate...you never knew what would happen. Martin said it seemed like every kid needed a one-on-one coach...