Back from vacation

We are back from the beach. OMG, let me tell you, prior to the next car trip the five year old is going to the vet, yes the vet, to get whatever sedatives we gave the cats on long trips when I was a kid. Because, because he was an absolute raving maniac for 4 hours. I have not seen such discontent and mayhem in the back seat on a car trip since the sedatives wore off the cat in the third hour of the five hour car trip way back in 1985...long before the notion of kitty crates. That cat actually leapt onto my mother's head claws extended, and of course my mother was driving the car. Its a miracle we survived that trip, we all made it to our destination including the cat.

I love my little boy, but he can be one of the most trying individuals to be around. So next car trip, he's gonna be sedated. I mentioned this notion to some folks at work...I work at a church, remember...and received several stories from people who have used this practice, Dramamine, night time cough syrup, etc. I know you're thinking, just pack more toys....I DID!!!! He did not behave this way on any trip prior to this one. I really thought I was going to lose my mind...is it any wonder my sweetie got a speeding ticket on the way back?

Truth be known and anyone who has traveled through itty-bitty beach towns knows that they set you up for these tickets. Apparently the speed limit changed from 55 to 30 in a space of less than one mile on a 7 mile road. We saw the cop, but not the sign, we were completely oblivious that we were speeding, practically waved at the cop as we passed by his parked car. Imagine our shock when he pulled us over like two minutes later. Completely stunned were we that we thought surely he must need to get around us to get to a an actual emergency. Nope! Needed to hand out a ticket. Dangit!

Well, we had a fun time while at the beach. We took the boys to Alligator Adventure one day. Very cool. Needless to say they have a lot of alligators, over 1,000. I have never been up close to an alligator before, man they are completely prehistoric and monstrous looking. So glad they do not run loose in my home town. The boys completely enjoyed checking all the various alligators and other reptiles they had there. They got to touch a snake....yuck...which they completely enjoyed because I am totally terrified of them. We all touched a little alligator, not too bad. Saw some interesting creatures, one enormous crocodile and a tail-less alligator named Bob, of course.

The boys had a terrific time playing on the beach. They would love to live at the beach all the time. Gabe says he is going to move to the beach, most likely Hawaii when he grows up....I'll remind him to pack sedatives for that trip!

I got no scrapbooking done while we were gone. We had a very volatile wi-fi connection and I could not believe how tired I was at the end of the day. Fell asleep each night with my laptop on my lap. So I was completely disappointed that I did not get just tons of layouts done. Bummer.

Well, we are officially within two months of the wedding and I have got to get final plans made. I am so not a planner, but things must be ordered and such. Today I start back at the Y, going to try that plan 9 weeks from couch potato to runner that at digishop talk posted by travelgirlut a couple of weeks ago...I am now armed with an ipod...so I can really get my exercise groove going.

Gotta run, no really, I am going straight to the Y!

Wedding details and Layouts

Heading out to the beach tomorrow. So thought I would share a little bit before I go to the land of possibly no wi-fi. I mentioned the cake stand a couple of posts back, but just found the pic today. Here it is, I love it, it is so pretty.


This is a sample of a cake similar to what I desire. Stopped by a hotsy-totsy bridal shop the other day to inquire about the "cake jewelry" monograms atop the cake. Totally more than I want to spend for the topper, over $120 just for some letters and they are bedazzled...granted with swavorsky crystals...but still not my personal style. I was hoping they offered a non-bedazzled alternative, but no they do not. So on to plan B for a cake topper.
(note to self: devise plan b)

Well I finished my layout using the fabulous club kits from Digital Freebies. So in love with this kit. I must say I was "totally" into creating this layout....sorry for going valley on ya. I finished it late last night and posted it completely bleary-eyed mind you to the gallery and was completely agape when my layout turned up on DF's weekly newsletter today as the featured layout.

Credits Here

So the next layout I did using retrodiva's Bohemian Love Affair...another kit that was love at first sight! I have got to find something else to scrap with this kit. I tend to gravitate towards kits that are a bit grungy, shabby and masculine...perhaps because I have a couple of grungy, messy little boys.

Credits Here

Well as much as I would like to ramble about more stuff....I gotta go pack, which includes downloading stuff onto my laptop for the trip...like itunes so I can get the ipod up and running.

'til next time......

Monday, Monday....

The day after. Had a great birthday yesterday. Thanks so much to everyone for all their sweet comments on my birthday. Truth be told, it was a birthday weekend. The festivities began Saturday night at my dad's house. Received gifts from my sweetie and his family over there and we had baby back ribs for dinner. Pretty yummy. My dad and stepmom couldn't give me their gift because they said it would blow the surprise of my mom's gift the next night.

Sunday we went to church and then my dad and I went to lunch to celebrate Father's Day. Alan watched the boys and everyone lived to tell about it!! (Just kidding, Alan does a great job with the boys. We have taken our time so he and the boys could build up good relationships, before we got married.) I stayed up way too late, until 3:30 Sunday morning scrapbooking, so I needed a little nap Sunday afternoon.

We headed to my mom's for dinner, Sunday evening, linguine and clam sauce and key lime pie. Another yummy dinner. I got gifts from my mom, aunt and kids over there. The selections my kids make for gifts is usually quite interesting. My eldest son selected a fabulous bag for me from target and he picked red, apparently my mom was directing him to choose an orangy color(eek) and my youngest was sold on yellow, but Josh chose red....good job kiddo, you know your mom well. He thought the bag would be cool for our upcoming beach trip(oh crap I have to pack!) .

My youngest, at 5 years old, selected a hot pink wallet and a set of bangles made of 100% bonafide bamboo, because as he told my mother, "bamboo is really, really good and my mom should have some!" Couldn't find pictures for those on target.com, but I'm sure you can muster an image in your head.

My big surprise gift this year was something I wasn't expecting, but have kinda coveted secretly for a while now...an ipod nano. My soon to be 18 year old stepdaughter had a hand in selecting this one and of course they chose hot pink, or as I like to refer to it, "pink flamingo pink". Totally cool and still trying to figure out how to get my tunes on it. Of course they made sure to pick one that could sport pics, because everyone knows how obsessed I am with digi-scrapping and this way I could have teeny-tiny pics of my layouts on my person at all times. Check it out!

Don't have any layouts to share right now. Although I am working on a layout using retrodiva's Bohemian Love Affair from Digital Freebies.

Love retrodiva's stuff. I think I have just about everyone of her kits. And how cool is this, retrodiva just launched another freebie site called Digital Scrapbooking Freebies. Its a nifty site so go check it out.
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Well, I gotta run but I'll leave you with this pic from our engagement photo session a couple of weeks ago. It was kinda strange for me as I am so shy and have stage fright for things like this. Click on the photo to see a few more shots or to get more info about this photographer if you live in the area (Charlotte, NC).


Later!

Its my birthday and I'll scrap if I want to!!!!

Happy birthday to me!! I am so proud of my boys, my oldest, such a sweetie, remembered it was my birthday without prompting and sang happy birthday to me as soon as he saw me. My youngest, not much of a morning person, did manage to share a pleasant Happy Birthday sentiment, also without prompting. So its starting out to be a great day!

So its father's day and my birthday. It happens every few years. So I'll be taking my dad out to lunch today and then my mom is cooking my favorite dinner for me tonight....homemade linguine and clam sauce. Its the clam sauce with butter and garlic and olives and mushrooms and parsley.... yummmm. For dessert this year we are having key lime pie instead of the customary homemade strawberry cake that I have had almost every year. Why you ask? The strawberry cake is a lot of work for my mom and I am kinda starting a modified Atkins diet tomorrow(gotta be trim for a wedding dress).

Okay on to scap news. Head over to Digital Candy today and pick up the template for my template challenge over there(the link to the challenge is in the sidebar on the right). I have put together a little kit, called Hawaiian Shirt(scroll down to yesterday for a preview...keep scrolling and you'll find a freebie too!) for the prize to be given out in four parts over the next four weeks. Its gonna be fun, so come and play!! (Be patient with Digital Candy....they have had explosive response over the last few days and its wearing the host server out...if you can't pick it up today, try again tomorrow, k?)

My layout made with the template using lauraskathi's "My Star" kit over at Digital Candy

I have to rave for a moment about the new club kits over at digital freebies. This month's kits are made by Maria LaFrance and Michelle Swadling. The colors are devine and the kits are enormous....an absolutely amazing bargain at $5. Go get them...I can't wait to scrap with them. Gotta find just the right pics.



Well its a few minutes past 9am EST and I gotta get my fanny going so we are not late for church today. Everyone have a great Father's Day!!

Layouts, Challenges and a Freebie...oh my!

Great news...school is out, finally....yeah!!! My big boy finished out the year with a bang, next year he will be in the gifted class for both math and reading!! His final report card was all A's and B's. 4th grade was a tough year, hopefully 5th grade will be a little easier. Amazingly in our school district, 5th grade is the last year for elementary school, I don't like the idea of 6th grade being in junior high school, it seems so young. So next year my big boy will be in 5th grade and my baby boy will be starting kindergarten.
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I have some layouts to share with you that I created recently using great kits from Digital Freebies. Be sure to stop by there and pic up this weeks Friday Freebie.
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"At the Fountain"

This is my friend's little girl. She is such a sweetie.

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Credits

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"Petting Zoo"

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Credits

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On to other news. I made it on another CT. I have recently joined the Digital Candy Creative Team. Check out these layouts I made using Flow's "Good Life" kit available at Digital Candy.

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"Monkeys at the Zoo"

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Credits

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"At Grandma's Pool"

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Credits

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Are you up to some challenges? Cause I got a couple for you. To find out the details about the challenges click on the links on the right hand side of the page. Check out the kit available for participating in the scraplift challenge over at Digital Freebies.
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Each week Jen Maceyunas and I take turns hosting the scraplift challenge over at Digital Freebies and every week, part of the prize is given out for participants. Its a great way to collect some kits.
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I am also excited to announce that I will be hosting a template challenge at Digital Candy. I am completely excited about this. I will provide a template each week and provide a prize for the challenge. This challenge is due to start tommorrow, June 17....also my birthday! Here's the prize I have made for you if you participate in the challenge. I am completely excited about this because it is my first kit ever!! My inspiration for this kit came from my youngest who has recently developed an obsession with Hawaiian shirts. He acquired one that is red with a white print and sewn with the right side of the fabric inside, so it looks kinda worn.
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To celebrate my birthday and the new challenge launch I have a little freebie for you!! Hope you love it!
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Available here.
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Have a great Saturday. I am off to scrap some layouts! See you guys tomorrow over at Digital Candy for the new challenge!