Magic Eraser...

I've been done with my "chores" since way earlier this morning. The house is spotless, no laundry to do, nothing needs to be cleaned. I want to scrap, I want to be creative. I have all this free time, so many new yummy scrappy things to play with. I have several blogs and sketches bookmarked, but my mind is just so full of "life gunk" and I can't seem to muster up the energy to move from this chair and get some scrapping done. I feel like...I have no energy...like someone sucked the life out of me and all I can do is sit here in a useless lump. I don't like the way it feels. I wonder if a magic eraser could erase all this "stuff" out of my head?

Getting my feet wet...

OMG...I can't believe how long it's been since I last blogged! Sometimes I just get so lazy about writing here...not sure why! I was chatting with a friend earlier tonight and she gave me the link to her new blog and she pointed out that I hadn't updated mine in ages..lol...so I thought I'd give it a try again :) I'm not going to try to update everything that's been going on since I last wrote here because frankly, my memory is just not that good...lol We are all good...thank God...I've been doing some scrapping here and there, but I'm not going to go back and upload my pages either...see, that lazy thing applies here too :D But I will try to make an effort to upload my new pages from here on out. I have also been doing alot of shopping...shhh...lol I think more shopping than scrapping. You know how that goes! We got our tax refund and I got myself a new laptop...yay! I LOVE it! Especially that I can sit on the comfy couch and surf the web instead of on a hard stool when I was using our desktop. Which we still have, but hardly gets used now. I've even caught hubs with my laptop...in the bathroom of all places...lol..ew, huh? I told him not to make a habit of that! Okay, so I'm going to try to be a better blogger...until next time :)

My Cup Runneth Over...

Elijah and I were having a conversation this afternoon while I was washing dishes...something about age and how time goes by so fast and one day you're 2 then you're 12. And I said that I knew just what he meant and I told him how I knew I was almost 40 (YIKES), but that inside I didn't always feel like a grown up, kwim? Sometimes, it's like I step back...not literally..and think to myself "wow, I'm almost 40, I'm a MOM, I have 2 little people to be responsible for, I have bills to pay" ect, ect. Anyway, he says that he's glad I'm not like other moms because he can talk to me and then he goes on to say that I am his best friend. SIGH! My heart melted! I really wanted to cry, but didn't want to look like the big sap that I am! lol I swear, I just LOVE that kid! He is just SO amazing and kind and loving and talented and beautiful and I can't believe that God chose ME to be his mommy! I am so very blessed! Later at night, I was laying in bed with Mikey waiting for him to fall asleep and now the kids are sharing a room so it has become a "thing" that while we are laying there "trying" to get them to fall asleep, we are going back and forth talking about this and that, saying our good nights and "I love you"s, Lij is doing his "voices" and cracking jokes and making us laugh. And Mikey is saying his crazy, off the wall things that is just typical Mikey. Anyway, tonight while all of this was going on, I'm laying there listening to all the chatter and I am overcome with a huge sense of thankfulness (is that a word, did I spell that right?) Thankful that my two boys are safe and healthy and warm in their beds. That we are all together even if it's a little crowded. That even though they drive me up a wall at times with their bickering, that they are here and they are mine. And I lay there smiling to myself wanting to stay in that moment for as long as I could. I love my boys so much and I just can't imagine what my life would be like were I not a mother. It's truly a calling and I am thankful to God for allowing me this wonderful gift :)

Owls...

I saw an ad for a Fancy Pants line of paper in my new CK mag and there was a layout with the CUTEST handmade owls! I thought "I could make one of those" and I did! :) I changed mine up a bit and used buttons for eyes and made him a little more "dimensional" so he could "stand" as the ones in the mag seemed to just "lay flat". I didn't use a pattern, just cut the pieces out of felt and sewed it as I went along. It took me about an hour, but now that I made my first one, I think I have a better idea which direction to go as far as what parts get sewed on first, ect. I'm going to make one for my sister and for a friend of mine for Valentine's Day. I thought they could sit them in their scrap spaces or by their computers which is why I wanted him to be able to "sit". He's about 5...maybe 6" tall. Anyway, just thought I'd share. I've done a few pages as of lately, but just haven't gotten around to uploading them here, but if anyone wants to see them, they are in my scrapbook.com gallery :)

A Year In Review

My goodness has it been THAT long since I've updated my blog? I will not bore you with excuses because frankly, I'm just lazy! lol And I won't promise that I will be better at keeping it up because I probably won't! Ha! Anywho...since the end of another year is drawing near, I figured I'd do a whole "year in review" post....just touch on some stuff that has happened this past year. It probably won't be too exciting, but it will be nice to look back in another years time and remember everything that took place in 2010. I hope everyone has a great New Year. Be safe and I hope 2011 holds nothing but good things for you :)

**Most importantly, or at least the first thing that comes to mind...WE GOT MARRIED!! HUGE milestone! After almost 7 years of living together, it finally happened. I used to think "What the heck is he waiting for?" "Why haven't we done it yet?" ect,ect, but looking back now, I think it happened right when it should have. I have to remember that things happen in God's time...not mine :)

**Mikey started Kindergarten. He LOVES school and thank you, God..we LOVE the school he goes to. We were very nervous about what the school he was going to attend on this side of town would be like, but it is a newly renovated school, so it looks NEW and it's very nice and so far...no problems.

**Sticking w/the school theme, Lij started a public middle school. He came home (thank you, God) and now I get to see him EVERY day and be part of his school stuff and I know what is going on w/him and his grades and all that good stuff. It is such a blessing to see his smiling face afterschool each day and hear all about his day. I can't tell you how much I was missing that. He did a few years of private Catholic school and stayed with his dad, but now he's home for good :)

**We got a dog! :) We had always talked about getting one and one day, Max just came into our lives. I'm not kidding...I always thought it was a bit weird when people talked about their pets like they were kids and went on and on about them, but I TOTALLY understand now. That little dog (and mind you, he is NOT little anymore..lol) stole my heart from the minute I laid eyes on him and I just LOVE him to pieces! So much so that it makes my heart ache sometimes! He is definitely a member of the family :)

**We got a new car! Well, not "new"...new to us :) And it's funny how they say "ask and you shall receive". Well, we had been thinking we needed a new vehicle...our little Ford truck was on it's last leg so to speak and TOOOO small to fit us all. And one day, Miguel comes home and says that his dad found a little...gosh I forget what the heck it is...lol..it's an SUV typish vehicle..anyway..for CHEAP. And he paid half and we paid half. It was truly an unexpected blessing. Thank you, God for always providing for us :)

See, I only listed a few things and already I can't think of anything else! lol Honestly, alot of the year was spent planning for the wedding. It all seems like such a blur now! But it was a good year. Any time that we are blessed with is good. Any time that we get to spend together as a family, time that Miguel and I get to spend alone..time in general is very precious because you never know how much of it you have. We are not promised "x" amount of time, so we must make the most of every day. Let's see..the new year, I hope that the kids continue to do well in school, that they both continue to like their schools and make new friends and be an example of goodness because God knows this world needs it. I hope that Miguel and I still continue to grow closer despite our ups and downs, that our trials make us stronger and that we become each others best friend :) I hope that we all continue our walk with God, that we never stop wanting to know Him, to get close to Him. I hope that we are examples of his love, that we are a blessing in His name to others, and that He continues to work in us and make us the people He wants us to be. Happy New Year everyone :)

Randomness...

My goodness, have I gotten bad about keeping up my blog! There just never seems to be enough time to do everything I need/want to do! Even with Mikey in school now, the days just seem to FLY by and before I know it, he's coming home and I can't be as productive.
I've been doing some scrapping...finally got out of my rut...YAY! I have about 5 pages to share, but unfortunately, our computer has a virus....AGAIN! And the Kodak software I use to upload my pics isn't working. I sure hope it's only disabled and all my pics have not been wiped out. I would be DEVASTED to say the least! I'm kind of upset because I know it was Lij who downloaded some music off an unsecure site and now we have to pay to get it cleaned when we just did the same thing about a month and a half ago. But what can you do? I NEEDS my computer! lol
I've also been purging alot lately. Cleaning out the closet, looking thru the kids' clothes, ect. It feels too crowded here at my mom's and I feel the need to minimalize. Did I say that right? Or is it minimize? Whatever...I need to get rid of stuff! lol
What else? Geez! I can't even think of anything to write about....how boring is that? My life is so exciting, huh? I promise to go out and do something adventurous and then share...lol..Okay, I probably won't do that! :)
Gosh, Max is getting SO big. I have pics of him to share too! The last time we took him to the vet (about a week ago), he weighed in at 38 lbs! And the woman we got him from said he'd only get to be about 24! YEAH RIGHT! I think he's got a whole lot more Lab in him than Shnauzer! But I just LOVE him to death! I gave him a bath today and he's gotten SO good about it. Just sits there and lets me scrub him. Towards the end, I think he got a little tired of being good and wanted out of the shower, but overall a HUGE improvement from before. We have an appt next week to get him "fixed". I hope he does okay w/that.
Well, I hope we can get our computer fixed soon...I'm hoping next weekend after all our other bills are paid. Then I'll be sure to upload some pics :) More later!

Some Scrappy Time :)

My sis and I got together a couple of Fridays ago on a day where Mikey had early release from school. And I was able to work on three whole pages! :) Just hadn't gotten around to taking pics of them and getting them uploaded until today. I'm really happy with the way they all turned out. Especially the one page w/the wedding pic of us. It's one of my fave pics from that night.

Speaking of wedding pics, the photographer came by on Sunday and we viewed the pics from the wedding! They are just awesome! It was so cool looking at them all and reliving that night! Now we just have to sit down and make a list of the pics we want printed out...we are getting (200) 4x5's and (10)5x7's. That is going to take some time because there are over 420 pics. But the sooner we get it done, the sooner we can have our prints back. We also got the high resolution disc for printing ourselves so I plan to use that for making copies for friends and family and for printing out the pics I want to scrap. But the pics we get from him are going straight into an album. Those we won't touch.

What else? Oh, we have our 20 year high school reunion coming up in a couple of weeks. I sure wish I was in better shape :( but oh well, what am I going to do. I need to go dress shopping because I do not own ONE dress! It's true! Unless I wear my wedding dress? lol jk :)

Oh, we got the disc drive fixed on our computer so I was FINALLY able to download the softward for my Canon Rebel so I've been using that and getting a little practice...trying to get to taking some better pictures. I'm excited about getting to use it more instead of my little Kodak EasyShare.

That's about it...here's some pics.

At Last...

After about four months of not touching my scrap stuff....okay, I touched it, but I didn't produce any pages...lol, I finally got around to working on a page today. I actually had it sitting on my table for the past week. I just couldn't bring myself to do something with this picture of us having our first dance at the wedding. I felt like nothing I did would do this picture justice. So, it just sat there...semi completed, until today when I decided to just jump right on into it. I was inspired by the oh so talented Sasha Farina. I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her style. Simply everything she does inspires me to just drop everything and get creative. I believe it was a canvas she had made that had this awesome title that I just ADORED -- "You Are The Love Song In My Heart". When I saw it, I just knew that had to be the title for that picture of us together. It took me a few tries...four to be exact...before I got the end result, but I absolutely LOVE the finished product and will proudly display it in our wedding album. Which btw, I must buy one next time they go on sale at M's or HL. One that will only hold pages I work on from our wedding. I am SO excited and anxious to get the pics back from our photographer. After seeing the ones he posted on his FB page and gave us a little preview, I can hardly stand it!! I just know that they will all be amazing!! It's funny how a picture really "can" bring back so many memories, evoke so many feelings. Just looking at the pic of Miguel and I dancing....it makes me smile..because I can remember what I was feeling, what I thinking....everything that was going on around us. The photographer really did an awesome job of capturing the moment...all those special moments that I want to hold on to forever...sigh...okay, here's the page....hope you like it as much as I do ;)

It's Official!

It's official! Miguel and I are now husband and wife!! The wedding was just beautiful...just like I had pictured it so many times in my mind. There were a few complications and setbacks, some changes of plan, but we just kept calm and everything went smoothly. It's hard to believe that after all those months of planning and stress and headaches and meetings, ect...it's all over now, but we had such a great time and such great memories of that wonderful day. A good friend of ours hooked us up with two nights at the Marriot Rivercenter downtown and we had a great time just being alone together which doesn't happen very often. We ate and walked down the Riverwalk, went to the wax museum...it was hard to leave when the time came because we were just enjoying it so much! Miguel also had the whole week off from work so even when we came back home, we have gotten to spend alot of time together while Mikey is at school. I am sure going to miss him when he goes back to work on Monday :( Anyway, here are some of my favorite pictures. The photographer we hired did an AWESOME job! These are only some of the pictures he posted on his site. We haven't gotten ours yet thus the watermark on the pics. Enjoy :)

TOOO long...

My, my has it been TOO long! Our computer has gotten a virus and we have sadly been without internet access for over a month! I feel so disconnected from the outside world! lol Something was up with our router too which wasn't letting Lij log on with his laptop. Miguel must have spent about four hours on the phone last night w/AT&T getting all back up and running. We NEED to take our computer in to get fixed ASAP, but just haven't had the extra money with all the wedding stuff coming up. AND, we have added a new member to our family....a four legged one, and that was an extra expense we were not anticipating. His name is Max and I wish my computer was working so I could post a pic of him because he is just THE cutest!! He's part Lab and part who knows what! LOL We got him from some lady at the park about a month ago. She said a stray had the puppies under her house and she was giving them away...7 of them! Max immediately stole my heart with his cute little face and those EYES! He had the saddest little eyes! I could NOT walk away from that puppy! Poor thing was covered in fleas! We brought him home and bathed him about FIVE times with Dawn and literally picked them all off. It was GROSS! But I bet he felt so much better after. We took him in to the vet that weekend, got him checked out and put on a Wellness plan. He already got his 1st vaccine last weekend. He was a trooper and got a new chew toy for being so good :) Yes, he is a tad bit spoiled! I am amazed at how big he has gotten in the few short weeks we have had him and although he is a handful with house breaking him, he is SO worth it :)
Wedding plans are still coming along....got the bridesmaids dresses, changed the reception location to a place we both just LOVE, working on some of the decorations....have to change the inserts in the invites to the new location....need to get my shoes still, my veil, my dress altered....lots done, but still LOTS more to do...I feel very unprepared with only two months away. I am leaving it in God's hands and I know that it will all come together.
I have done NO scrapping since my computer has been out! Wait, that's a lie....I did ONE page a couple of weeks ago at Chon's house and my scrap bag is still sitting unpacked under my scrap tables!
What else?? Can't think of anything else right off the top of my head. Hopefully, we will get our computer up and running really soon! Nighty! :)