Proof I have been scrapping

A layout about Hannah and her new bike.





A Christmas layout for Crystal's* son, Aiden.




A Christmas layout for Crystal's* daughter, Rylee.


* Crystal is a cousin of a friend of mine who has been diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. She is only 34 and has two young children. One of her requests, in addition to prayers, is scrapbooking pages so that she can record memories for her kids. For more infor on her, visit here.

CHA - We came, we saw ...

... and we did it all in one day. I had a good time. The talent that is in the Anaheim Convention Center during CHA is amazing. It's always fun to see how they use the product. These are just two pictures of some creative ways in which ladies used the new Basic Grey lines.

A wooden doll covered in paper. Yup, that's all paper that makes her dress.

A tree covered in Basic Grey buttons.

As I go through more of my pictures, I will try to post some of what I liked. There's some good stuff out there. The trend that Susan and I noticed making a comeback is distressing. Rough paper edges, torn paper, etc.

First post of 2009 - Help a friend of mine.

OK so a friend of mine, te talented Miss Jennifer Priest, entered a scrapbooking contest for QuiKutz and is one of 10 finalists. She's currently in 2nd place and needs several votes in her favor to catch the leader. I would not post this on my blog if I didn't truly think her project is the best of the 10. So, if you're in a giving mood and feel like spending a few minutes, click the link below and vote. You will have to sign in (they ask for the standard name and email). It's safe to do so. Then you can just unsubscribe if they send you any emails. QuicKutz is a cool company on the other hand if you're into scrapbooking. Perhaps you may enjoy their emails.

http://www.quickutz.com/qk2/myqk/memberProject.aspx?projectId=3146

Hope you're all feelin fine in 2009. Hah! Dorky, I know. Perhaps in the coming days, I will be able to post some pics of the family as well as projects I have been working on.

A Couple of Christmas Pics!

Picture with Santa. This was harder to get than I needed it to be, but it turned out great!

Christmas morning with their stockings.

Makaela checking out all that Santa brought.

Hannah opening what seems like her millionth gift!

Makaela enjoying her presents the next day.

Snow in the Tehachapi mountains. We lied to get up past the road closure team and had the sledding hills ALL to ourselves. Go 4 wheel drive!

On the road up.

Hannah and Joel hiking up the hill. She kept wanting go higher.

Mommy and her special big girl. We thought it too cold to bring Makaela.

Hannah going off the jump. She figured out her pants made a good sledding surface.

Me going off the jump. A little more air than Hannah.

And Joel going off the same jump. Whoa! is all I can say. He was hurting after this one.

Kids!

This made me laugh so I had to share. I asked Hannah to run up the stairs and put something in my bathroom for me and she turned and looked at me and said, "Mommy, I can't run up the stairs cuz I don't have long legs." I forget how literally kids take things at this age. :)

don't give up on me yet!

Wow! I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post! I hate that about other blogs and hope you can forgive me. I am posting this one from my phone since we are still without Internet in this new house. Yes, we are moved in as of 2 weeks ago though still very much living out of boxes. It has been crazy. We hosted our annual Christmas party for our college friends (over 40 people) on the 20th. So I had to get the house in somewhat of a habitable space so everyone could be comfortable not to mention well fed. Don't worry, we do potluck for this shindig. But then it was Christmas #1 at my dad's on the 24th. Then #2 here at the house with the girls on Christmas morning. #3 at my mom's mom's house in the afternoon, #4 at my dad's mom's that night, and then #5 up at Joel's parent's this whole past weekend. I feel like I have been in a large state of chaos for the past 2 months what with moving out of old house into my dad's and then into our new house from there. Fortunately the hurdles of moving and holidays are behind me and I can attempt to focus on unpacking. I wish I could say I have pictures of various Scrapbooking projects/ gifts to post but none are complete. Not even my Christmas cards. They're still a work in progress. But darn it all, I WILL be sending them out, even if they are a week or two late!!!

Joel, Hannah and I had a great time today in the snow up in Tehachapi (where the inlaws live). Here in So. CA, we don't get much snow so I am in awe when I get to experience it firsthand. Hopefully my phone and Blogger will let me upload a pic from my phone so you can get a small sense of what I saw. It was beautiful!!! I promise to post more pics from the digital camera soon. I just need Internet (ahem ... Joel?).

Hopefully I can post again soon, but if not everyone please have a Happy New Year!!!

So Thankful ...

... for so many things.


For God.


For a beautiful and loving ...

For daughters Hannah, Makaela and the best husband, Joel.

For wonderful friends.

For health.

For food on the table.

For a job.

For the ability to buy a new home.

For a roof over our head when in between homes (thanks Dad).

For the chance to wake up each day and decide to become a better person.

For my dog, Buddy.

For lessons learned.

For lessons to be learned.

For perspective.

For laughter.

For tears.

For emotions.

For choice.

For freedom.

For a military who serves to protect that freedom.

For creative talent that directs me to the theraputic hobby of scrapbooking.

For you who take a small interest in my life by reading this blog.

Happy Thanksgiving. May you be as blessed as I am and may you have the power to recognize your blessings.

That "FAMILY" project was designed by Cindy Farbach. I LOVE it. It was a class she taught a couple of weeks ago at SGT. I can't stop staring at it. The colors are so me and I just know it will bring me great inspiration.

Quick Update!

I know I know. I have been terrible about blogging. And I totally miss it. It's kind of hard here at my dad's to get on the computer and really devote a large amount of time to it. Gotta make sure the kids aren't destroying Papa's house or disrupting them by making too much noise. Gotta make sure I am not hogging the computer. I do have to share with my dad, his wife, and of course hubby Joel. Then there's just every day life not to mention a cold that has worked its way through all of us now. Groan! Oh and I recently discovered Facebook and have been spending some time there reconnecting with long lost friends. Pretty cool but can be addicting.

So anyways, what's up with me? Well I am sure I mentioned we sold our house and were officially out of it in late October. Began the house hunting process and am pleased to announce we are in escrow on a lovely home in Chino Hills. We're essentially doubling the size our home!!! Sadly we're sacrificing the yard, but we'll be in a great neighborhood with a huge park that's a 2 minute walk up from our house. It's also a huge walking neighborhood, so we've promised to get Buddy dog out often for walks. Here's a pic of the front. I'll post more and tell the VERY interesting story behind this house once escrow has closed. Don't want to jinx it too much. It's not mine yet.

Did you vote?

So I am about to step out the door to go vote. I am dragging my poor, unsuspecting girls with me. Please Lord let me make it through this task!

I hope that you all will vote. I feel it's such an important thing to do. Do I like the chore of actually doing it? Heck no! But I will. Because as I heard someone commenting on NFL Football of all things, "It's your duty and your privilege." I think back to how hard people fought and worked so that I, a woman, could vote. And those who fought so that my husband, a Filipino man, could vote.

I wish I could say I felt more confident in my choices of what I am voting for. Or maybe I wish I had better choices. Nonetheless, they are what they are. I feel like I can't bitch and complain about anything if I didn't take a few hours out of my day to vote on the direction I hope my country will go in. We all have a voice. My theory is that if we could get this lazy nation of ours to show up in numbers of 90% or more to vote, the politicians would not be able to lie to us anymore. They would have to be accountable because if not, then the next election, 90% of the population would show up to vote them out of office. I think Americans have NO idea what power we could have if we all got out and voiced our wants throug voting. People argue, that we don't want "all those idiots" voting. Well I will admit that there are people that understand the issues of this election a LOT more than I do, but am I an idiot for going out and performing my civic duty? I think not!

So I encourage you to vote today. I don't care who you vote for, but use the power of your voice that our democracy allows us. And don't use the old "I don't know where my polling location is", or "I didn't receive a sample ballot" as an excuse not to. I didn't receive a sample ballot and am going to have to go through the extra rigmarole to get them to allow me to vote.

Happy Election Day!

I know I am late ... what else is new?

Finally the Halloween pictures!

Makaela, the mermaid ...

Hannah the dragon (she wasn't feeling very well)...

A happy mermaid ...

Sisters in costume ...

Ready to hit the streets for candy ...
The mermaid couldn't hang while trick-or-treating ...

Hannah and a "fat car" (fast car) ...

I hope your Halloween was as wonderful as ours. Now on to Thanksgiving!