Memories of the Heart

A*muse Studios Sketch Challange

2011-09-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

Love this card. I used the sketch challange from Amuse for the inspiration of this card....and I think I used a little bit of several different ideas to put this together. I used Amuse Studios Celebrate in Style stamp set, Amuse Studios Ribbon, Pink Bling Rhinestones and Momento Tuxedo Black Ink. I just really liked how this turned out that I am going to make it in several different colors and make it my go to card. Hope everyone enjoys! Smiles and until next time....Toodles.

Simple, Yet Elegant.

2011-06-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, a friend of mine is having a house warming party this weekend and I know that she will so need a few thank you cards so I have put together a fun little card that she can send out after her party and show her grattitude. The Card was very easy to put together. The card stock again is all scraps I had laying around craft room. White is left over Georgia Pacific and the orange is bazzil. The ink used was Amuse Studios and Momento Tuxedo Black. The Stamps are (flower and zigzag line) Amuse Studios and (thank you) a 2002 Raindrops on Roses Stamp. The Bling is Heidi Swapp. I really like the way it turned out. Simple, yet Elegant.

Hope you enjoy it and until next time....Toodles!

Up, Up and Away!

2011-06-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

This is a new card I made today. The stamp set is Up in the Air, from Stampin Up!. I just thought it was perfect for my friend in Iraq who is a pilot. All the paper is from the Scrap bin in my craft room. The Ink is CTMH and the brads are Paper Studio. I just love how it came together. I got the idea from the Splitcoast Stampers Website. I love going there are and getting inspired. Hope you have a great day and Until Next time...TOODLES.

Smile!

2011-06-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

Love these new stamps. I think I could play with them all night long if given the opportunity! This card was SOOOO Simple. I used two more stamps from Amuse Studios, Amuse Ink and left over cardstock I had in the craft room. The bling is Heidi Swap. Enjoy!

Untill Next Time....Toodles.

Eat Dessert First!

2011-06-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, I was playing around tonight with some new stamps. I will explain more about them in a post later in the week. I thought I would share a card I made while I was playing. I took an idea from a card I saw on the Amuse Studios Website. I made a few modifications to make it mine and I think I like how it turned out. I am going to be sending this to a friend of mine in Iraq, as I have been promising it for a while now.

I used "the scoop" from Amuse Studios Stamps for ice cream image and sentiment, Amuse Latte Ink, Amuse Sugar Paper, Green and yellow scraps and the pattern paper is scraps also. Then to give the ice cream so flavor, I used copic markers and stickles.

It has been a long week so it was nice to just play in my stamp/scrapbook room and enjoy so quiet leisure time.

Yesterday was my nieces 7th birthday. She is growing up so fast and I just

believe that she is seven years old now. She is getting so beautiful..not that I ever doubted she wouldn't be the most beautiful girl in the world.

Well, until next time, Toodles!!!

2011-06-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

I came across this card when I was straightening up my craft room and I have to say I just love it..it is so cute. I love how the bunny is peeking out of the pot, looking like he is ready for some mischief. The carrots in the background are just so random that it makes the care just really pop. I had so much fun making this. My Aunts house is where I took this photo from....dug it out of the back of my files. Sorry for the darkness of the photo, but her house is older and not so good on light. :) Both stamps are from the dollar bin at Michaels. Fun finds when shopping with my Aunt. We always hit Michaels and JoAnns when I go up because I dont get a chance to go down here. I used Copic Markers to color the images. I love my Copics and I just love teaching my friends about them because they are so fun.

Well, Untill next time, Toodles.

PageMaps.Com Sketch Card!!!!

2011-03-01T06:56:00.000-08:00

Page Maps has just put up its March Newsletter and I was honored to be included in this months sketches. I was asked to work on a 6 x 6 card and this is what I came up with. I was so excited to be asked and would do it again in a heart beat! The cardstock is Bazzill, the pattern paper is Sassafrass, the punch I used to make the scallop edge was Stampin up!, the cupcake punch was Martha Stewart, the bling was Close to My Heart (left over laying around), and the Party Hats were from Walmart...can't remember who they were by, but I will double check and post it later.

Tonight I am going to try to load up a few more cards and scrapbook pages that I have made. I have gotten behind, but need to get caught up.

Until Next time, Toodle.

What a Weekend!

2011-02-20T18:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a fun weekend. Friday, I had all my girlfriends over and we had a fun game night. We played Taboo and man I laughed like I had never laughed before. Renee with the Taboo buzzer...somehow just not right...LOL Saturday I went to Birmingham with my friend Sherry and she and had so much fun hitting Scrapbook Mania, Sir Stamps A Lot (got a few Just Rite Stamps Sets for 40% off), JoAnnes and Hobby Lobby. We then came home, relaxed and then went to the Vagina Monologs at JSU. It was fantastic and very well done. Then today, we spent the morning making my card for PageMaps March Newsletter and this page above (more to come in a minute) and then she left at around Noon. I just really enjoyed spending time with the girls and doing things fun.

The layout above is a picture of my puppy Piper when she was only 8 weeks old. The Cardstock is Bazzill, the Pattern Paper is Echo Park, the Letters are Thickers from American Crafts and the butterflies are some rub ons that I just had laying around. If you look closely, there is bling in the middle of the flowers in the paper. I really ended up liking how the layout came together. I wasn't sure where I was going with this when I started, knew what I was thinking, but for some reason what was in my head was not coming out via my hands. LOL.

Well, just 10 more days and I will be able to show you my card layout for Page Maps. I think it tuned out well. I was surprised, but very pleased with it.

Untill next time, Toodles!

A Little Something Special

2011-02-16T18:35:00.000-08:00

This is a card I made and just love it. It is so simple and yet just so perfect. The stamps are from a Stampin' Up! (SU) set that I had laying around my scrapbook room and the sentiment is also from SU. The pattern paper is Jenni Bowlin and the blue card stock is Bazzill. The ink is also from SU. I made this like a year ago, but never got a chance to share it. I hope you enjoy it.

Untill Next Time, Toodles!

Wow, how time flies

2011-02-13T21:08:00.000-08:00

I did not realize that I had not written on here in over six months. Geesch, I am not a very good blogger. LOL. I am back on it though. I got my first assignment from Becky Fleck for her pagemaps newsletter. I am going to be doing a 6x6 card. I am very excited about the challange. I will post it on March 1st, when the newsletter comes out. Until then I thought I would share a pix of my new puppy piper. She is such a love. I have enjoyed her since the day I picked her up at the shelter. She is such an important member of my family now. I can't imagine not having her. She is so smart. She is learning new commands left and right. She can sit, sit pretty, stand, conga, lie down, and stay. She is working on coming to her name. LOL...she also gives kisses when asked. I can't wait for her to finish her training and really be a well behaved puppy. I want to train her to be a therapy dog. I thinks he can so it...i was also considering working on skills training because she loves to play fetch and she loves to weave. She has gotten much bigger, but not to big. I will try to post a picture from when she was first brought home so you can see how much she has grown.

Below is a layout I did at end of last year. It is using some Sassafrass Paper that I got from a friend and I just love how it turned out. I also was able to use some chipboard I had laying around. I did use the banner Quickutz and the nesting Stars Quickutz to add just a little something extra. I did ink the edges of some of the paper. I think it added some depth to it.

Well, it is time to hit the hay. I can't believe that I am up this late. Go Figure. Got to get up for work in the AM and I am sure the girls will have me up at 5 am to go out. Until Next time, Toodles!

Me and Becky Fleck!!!

2010-07-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of myself and Becky Fleck at the Great American Scrapbook Convention. She was there teaching classes sponsored by Basic Grey on Scrapbook layouts and Card Layouts. My Aunt and I took two of her card classes. They were very cute and lots of fun! I got an e-mail from her the other day and she stated that she looked at my blog and the layouts in my gallery and I am going to be included as a friend of Pagemaps and be one of her designers for her Newsletters that she puts out every month on her web site. She draws ten designers from her pool each month and if your name is pulled you will turn in a layout to her using the pagemap that she sends you. I am so excited to be included and can't wait to get my name drawn.

This is a picture of Elizabeth with one of her first scrapbook pages that she did all by herself. She was so proud of herself and I was proud of her as well because she listened very well when I showed her how to use all her tools, the basics of doing a layout and how to add embellishments. She did about nine layouts while I was there and I told her that for Christmas I would bring her some more tools and some more things to use for her scrapbooking. She was SOOO Excited. I love that she loves my favorite hobby. It is something we can talk about and share as she gets older.

This coming weekend I am going to FINALLY get all my stuff put away from my vacation and start working on some craft projects that I have got to get finished and things I want to start. I got to finish the things I started at the convention and also start the book that I got all the things to work with at the conventions also. I got this really cool acrylic book and all this stuff to embellish it with to do of Elizabeth. She did this great photo session with me and I got some really great photos of her and can't wait to use them. Then I got another chipboard book to do of Benjamin. He is getting so big and still loves working on the paperdolls.

Well, gotta run...Until next time...Toodles!!!

Back From Vacation!!

2010-07-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a very nice vacation. I spent two days at the Great American Scrapbook Convention (GASC). I took some wonderful classes and saw some wonderful Vendors. My favorite Vendor was Denami Designs. I knew there was a reason that I loved their stamps. They are SO versitile. All my classes were wonderful, but I really enjoyed getting a chance to meet Becky Fleck of PageMaps. She is just as wonderful in person as she sounds in her book/Newsletter. I hope to upload a photo this evening. I also spent some time with my sister and her family and then I spent a few days with my nephew Keaton and his mothers family. The kids are growing and I just love spending time with them. Elizabeth started scrapbooking and can I tell you that she is very good at it. I will also post some of her layouts very soon also.

Well, Toodles for now.

Who's DA Boss?

2010-03-24T06:09:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share this layout with you. This is a redo layout. I did not take a picture of the before, but just let me tell you that it is 100% different. The original was a 8 1/2 x 11 page, yellow, blue and white card stock. The pictures had all rounded edges and the lettering was hand written. Nothing else, no embellishments no nothing...just cardstock and a pen. I so so shocked when I found the page and how not me it was. I knew immediately that it was the prime candidate for a redo.

This redo started with a piece of bazzill cardstock, moss colored. I used My Minds Eye Paper pattern paper, from a stash that I picked up at Michaels over the holidays for next to nothing and is titled all about boys. The brads are Spare Parts and the ribbon is Making Memories I believe...will double checkt hat one.:) The Lettering is Cricut font Simply Sweet. I love how it turned out and it is so very me now. The pictures were even cropped to get rid of the rounded edges. Once I was done, I again remembered exactly when these photos were taken and added the date to the page. I love when I run across photos from a long time ago and am able to reminisce and then turn them into a page for my book. I don't have many pictures of my siblings from when we were younger, so when I find old photos of us, I tend to make sure they make my book.

These two particular photos were taken when were were celebrating Christmas together in Florida. I was living in Port St. Lucie and my grandmother lived down the street in Jensen Beach and my father, sister and brother came down to spend time with us over the holiday break. This was also the vacation that my sister got her dog Jensen...named for Jensen Beach where she got him. In these photos, my sister and brother were playing around and I managed to capture it on camera. My sister of course has the upperhand and no doubt that my "little" brother was letting her. :)

I hope you all have a great week...until next time....Toodles.

Inspiration Comes from a lot of Different Places

2010-01-31T09:55:00.000-08:00

This is a scrapbook page that I did this past weekend with a friend of mine. My niece and nephew have gotten so good at photo taking with me. They always humor me when I make them do things to get a good photo. These were two of my favorite shots. The Background paper is Basic Grey, Wassill, the CS is Bazzill, the Bling is from Prima and the font for the title is Storybook from Cricut. I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

You know when you are wanting personal inspiration and motivation, the last place I have ever looked for it has been in a movie. I have to admit that I love a good Romantic Comedy as much as the next girl, but I never put much stake in them because they are all fantasy and usually can never come true. For the first time, I have to say that I might have to eat those words and lose that thought. Last night I was watching a movie based on a book called “The Cinderella Pact” and it really started me thinking again and it has remotivated me to get my “tuckus” in gear! I so know how these ladies felt. People get complacent in their lives and forget to really take care of themselves and put themselves first. You have to basically redefine who you are and make yourself a priority. It is hard to stay focused and motivated but these ladies found it in supporting each other and I think I need to find that too. Without Violet, my friend and my “Cinderella Pact” confidant, who is now in Illinois, I have found that I am not as focused as before. I have also found that without my one big Cheerleader, Stacy Nunnally, my trainer and friend at the gym that I went to when I was in Arab, AL, I am not as interested in going as I used to. Don’t get me wrong, I begrudgingly go and go through the motions, but you can’t find your inner “Cinderella” when you don’t really put your heart into it. I find that none of this means anything if you don’t have anyone there that you to want to show your results off too or anyone to acknowledge the effort and hard work. And there is a lot of effort and hard work when one wants to find her inner “Cinderella”. It is not all about the physical transformation, it is also about the inner transformation. I have to say that my outer transformation after losing my first 100 pounds was not all that it was cracked up to be and I think that caused me to not want to work anymore on my inner transformation. I wanted to go home for Christmas a year ago and have my family really be proud of what I had accomplished and tell me that I looked great. That would have been great motivation to continue and work on an inner transformation to go with the outer that I was working on so hard. I have to admit, that it did not happen. Don’t get me wrong, a few people made comments, but the people who I cared about most didn’t even mention it without me asking them at the end of my visit. Here I was, so proud of all my hard work and determination and the people I love didn’t even acknowledge it. I think that is another reason I have had a hard time this past year. I feel like if I worked so hard, even though I was doing this for me and the people I love could not really get behind this and really cheer me on, show their support and encouragement, then what was I doing this for? I am doing this for me…plain and simple. Finally I think I am getting that…yes, it is nice to have a cheerleading team on my side but that is not always something that you are going to have and you have to come to grips with that. I think I am ready to do that. I am not sure what is going to be different this time, except that who cares what anyone thinks any more. I am the only one that matters. If I lose then it is for me…if I gain, I have to deal with that. I do want to run a half marathon in the next year, so I will work on that…and I really want to conquer RUNNING a full 5k this spring. That means no walking. I am hopping this will happen and I am not going to stop trying till I accomplish that. If I manage to lose weight while doing that I will be so pleased, if not then I know I will at least be in great shape otherwise…it takes a lot to run 5k, even walk running it.

Well, I think I am going to get off here and head off to the gym…got to run a bit today. I am going to be running a lot in the next two months…got a few races coming up and I don’t want to be to out of shape for them.

Until next time find your inner Cinderella and let her know that she is important too!

Toodles!

R U ready for Mass Cuteness!!!!!

2010-01-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, are you ready for some cuteness...here are some photos of my nephew Keaton. He is 1 1/2 years old and is just as cute as can be. You just want to eat him up. The picture up above is him with his Yellow star glasses on...he is learning about colors and it is so cute. Also, he talks up a storm. Plus, he uses some basic sign language when he can't say the word...like for bath, he washes his belly..it is so..ok...darn cute. He is so loving and just gives kisses away. He is such a happy baby and laughs all the time. It was very rare that he cried while I was visiting..and I was there for two days.

As you can see here, he is just as handsome as can be. Love the rosey cheeks. We had just been playing and horsing around. He too loves to take pictures and then see himself. He kept handing me the camera to do more. It was just like Elizabeth and Benjamin.

Ok, now this photo is classic. I guess all men have to learn sometime how to control the remote. I guess he is just going to learn young. Grandpa would be proud. :) He was so funny...he didn't want to let the remote go...we were only watching sprout on the Preschool channel, but he wanted to feel in control. LOL.

Well, that is all for tonight, but tomorrow I will post another scrapbook layout that I have done recently, along with photos of my niece Elizabeth and my other nephew Benjamin taking over my Cricut Machine and actually figuring out how to use it with out Aunt Meg. At 5 and 3 they amazed me at how quick they picked it up and how much fun they had making paper dolls.

Well, until next time....TOODLES!

So Glad to be home,even though I miss my angels already!!!

2010-01-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

Well, I just got home from my trip up north to visit family for the holidays. I am so glad to be back home and in my own bed. Just one small problem...so need a vacation from my vacation. LOL. I had a wonderful visit these last two days with my nephew Keaton, his mom and his grandparents. They live in Lynchburg, VA and what a beautiful part of the state! I had a great time getting to play with Keaton and just bonding with him. He is such a hoot and such a cutie. I will try to upload some photos of him tomorrow. He just stole my heart...as he loves to give kisses for no reason...just to cute....could just eat him up! Well, I thought I would post this Easter card that I mocked up while I was at my Aunts house over the holiday. It is using GP White, Martha Stewart Pink paper for the paper pack that I had to buy on sale because I left all mine at home...go figure. Both stamps used, the carrot and the bunny in the pot are Hampton Arts, and the markers are Copic. The punches are from Marvy. Loved how simple this was and how cute it came out. Still working on this one and by the time I send it out, I am sure I will have jazzed it up a bit. Well, I hope you all are have a great start to your new year. Until next time, Toodles!

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T22:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!! Way to start a fresh new year with a Scrapbook page that I whipped together for my nephew. This is using My Minds Eye Boy Paper from a pack that I got on clearance. Best purchase of the holiday season. The letters are Quickutz Vixen and Sunshine. The arrow is also a quickutz revolution die. The picture is mounted on Midnight Blue Bazzill Cardstock. The arrow is on a light blue from Martha Stewart Jumbo pack.

I hope everyone has a wonderful start to the new year and the new decade.

Until next time...TOODLES!

Yes, I am Finally back...really back!

2009-12-29T21:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know that I have totally neglected my blog this past year. I plan on doing a better job this coming year and I am starting by sharing the wonderfully simple yet elegant card I made this past weekend with my Aunt. We spent the entire weekend just creating. For this card, I used Martha Stewart card stock, Hampton Arts dollar bin stamps, (love that part), the ink is Memento, Olive Green, the ribbon is American Crafts and the bling is KaiserKrafts. I just love the simplicity of this card.

My second resolution this coming year is to work on my running and to log my progress on here. I also plan on keeping my weight loss updated on here also to keep
me accountable. I think that with my running and working on my time and my endurance which I know is horrible, I will get to my goal. I am including a photo of Anya, she is the new addition to my family this past year that I have not had the time to update on here. She is so sweet. She is a Shitzu and is only 11 months old. She loves to cuddle which just makes my day. Well, I will close for tonight because it is a bit late, but I will update more art work in the coming days and weeks. Hope to hear from you all and hope to hear your suggestions and advise on future art work. Have a safe and wonderful New Year!

Smiles and until next time...TOODLES!

Just a quick Hello!

2009-08-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a quick hello and let you all know I am still alive and kicking. Things have been so busy. I am trying to get some photos uploaded here to show you what I have been up too, but been to busy to do that...but hopefully by this weekend I will be able to. Things are going pretty good. Mugzy and Cricket have both given me a scare lately. Mugzy was in the hospital with a bladder issue and Cricket decided to have a seizure one night. Mugzys issue is because he is getting old and it is just something I am going to have to accept. Crickets issue came out of no where. She is my healthy dog. Never been to the vet for major issues, except little things here or there..but on July 31, she made up for all that when she went into a major seizure and freaked me out. I called the vet and since it was after hours, they walked me through some care for her so that if she came out of it and was ok, that I could wait till the AM to bring her in. That appeared to have worked because after about 45 minutes or so, she was back to normal except that she was very tired and they said that I should just let her rest...so I did. Let me tell you...it is not very cool to watch your dog have a seizure and feel so helpless. I felt like there was nothing I could do to make her better except to just be there to love on her when it was over. I will say that she is now acting like nothing ever happened, which is a good thing!

Well, I have to jump off here for now, but i will post again really soon.
Have a great day for now.

Toodles!

National Scrapbook Weekend!

2009-05-04T09:09:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was such fun. I spent from Friday at about 7 pm till Saturday at about 9pm scrapbooking at a National Scrapbooking Weekend retreat in Carrolton, Ga. It was hosted by Sweet Memories Scrapbook Store. WOW, what a fantastic weekend they put together. The weekend theme was Scrap in the City, a take off of Sex in the City TV Show/Movie. All the Decorations were the stores colors of Pink/Black and Green. They had door prizes, tee-shirts and WONDERFUL meals for everyone! Everyone was so nice and friendly and were very helpful when needed. I stayed up all night from Friday at 5:30 am till Saturday night at 10:00pm. Let me just say, I was SO tired when I finally made it home Saturday night that I crashed hard and slept till noon on Sunday and then took a three hour nap in the afternoon. I think I am good now, but I wouldn't be surprised if I am in bed early every night this week. But, I would not change a thing. It was a blast and can't wait to do it again with them in the Summer!!!

Things have been so busy lately that I haven't had a whole lot of time to blog...but I am going to try to get better about that. I started a scrapbook about myself....it is where you scrapbook a page every week for one year about something you did that week or something about yourself. At the end of the year, you have a glimps into your life....it seems kinda cool and so I am going to give it a go. We will see how long I follow through on it. I hope that I manage to finish out the year...:)

Well, I guess I am going to have to go...work is calling.

Toodles!

No April Fools Joke!!!

2009-04-01T05:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I am going to a class at a store in Birmingham called Scrap Etc. My friend Beth is teaching an AMuse Class called Spring Bling! There are a few spaces available if you are interested. Well, each year Scrap Etc. sponsors a huge scraping event and this year is no exception! This years event is taking place in Atlanta, GA from April 30th to May 2nd. Designers teaching classes include such names as

Margie Romney-Aslet
Jenni Bowlin
Elizabeth Kartchner
Melodee Langworthy
Gretchen MacElveen
Jessica Sprague

Well.... Lucy and the awesome gals at Scrap Etc. are offering spaces for 5 lucky winners to attend this event for FREE. Just follow the steps below for 5 different ways to enter:

No April Fool's Joke!!!
You can win a FREE space to the Event!
Five of you!
Yes, you read that right!
We are giving away FIVE spaces to the Scrap ETC event!
And we have FIVE ways you can win:
1. Post a comment on the blog.
2. Tell your friends to come and post a comment, and if they do, tell us that they referred you! Both of you will get a chance!
3. Post this contest on your blog---and post a link in the comments!
4. Post a link in the comments to anywhere else online that you have posted about this!
5. Post it on your facebook or twitter status---and let us know that you did!
We will draw the names Thursday morning,April 2nd!
Start posting NOW!

For updates and registration info:
ScrapETCEvent09

If you miss anything, don't worry, you can check it out
at Scrap ETC.com

Time to Share... :)

2009-03-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

SHARE YOUR ART!!
I was over at Nancy's Blog,Inkcicles, and she's invited/challenged us to share our art!

Here's how:
The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! Could be a card with which I am really pleased, a pin I made, a doodle or something else all together LOL! My choice!
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make although I hope you do!
2. What I create will be made with you in mind so you won't get something I already made unless I think it suits you to a T.
3. It'll be done sometime within the next 2 months.
4. You have no clue what it's going to be.
5. The catch is that you must offer this blog candy on your blog! Re-post this on your blog, offer something you make - your choice - to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog (then come here and post). Oh wait make that the first 4 people cause I am #1 {giggle}

Yep be sure to add my name to the #1 line on your blog post - I am the first participant and I am already offering to share. When you create your give-away you will be the #1 spot for players 2-5 on your list. The first 4 people to post this on their blogs and leave a comment here telling me they did (I will go to your blog to check that you have this posted) will get an art share handmade item from me. Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! SO ...................who will be next????

1. Nancy

I am still alive!!!

2009-02-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

Well, another month or two has past since the last time I posted after getting back from Xmas Vacation. Since then, nothing much has happened. At the beginning of the month, I went on a Scrapbooking Retreat to Mentone, AL. I got alot done and had a great time. I roomed with my friend, Jenny Nesselrote and we scrap'd right across from each other. It was fun having someone there that you can bounce ideas off of and who can give you an honest opinion when you need one. It was nice to see all the people that I haven't seen in the last year and to meet some new friends. I have to say that the hightlight of the event was winning a HUGE basket full of disney scrapbooking things. It was one of the "A" list door prizes and I won it. What a coincidence! I can definitely put it to use. I can't wait to open it up and see all the goodies in it. I still have it sitting on my table in my scrap room waiting for the right time to dive into it and see what all is in it. I also won a door prize that was full of soccer things and it was perfect because at the time I was working on a soccer page of my niece. It really was a great weekend and let me tell you..the food was great! I hope to be able to post some photos from the weekend in the future.

I have included in this post a picture of my nehpew Keaton. This is a new photo that I was able to get from his blog. Yes, my nephew has a blog of his own and I love going on there to see what he has been up too. He is getting so big and I can't believe that at the end of May, he will be one year old. WOW! Well, this photo inspired a few scrapbook pages in my mind. I can't wait to get a hard copy of it and be able to "play" with it. I am thinking black and white photo with blues and blacks..that is my starting place..feel free to offer suggestions. :) I also have a going to be working with a few photos of him playing on pots and pans as drums...they were so cute and then there is one photo of him with his new tooth...I am thinking dinosaurs there since he looks like a "Snaggletooth"...LOL. Well, gotta run, but wanted to get this on here since I hadn't posted in a while.

Toodles!

Another Year in the Books!!

2008-11-24T18:12:00.001-08:00

Another year has come and gone. WOW. I can’t believe that it is 2009. Where did 2008 go? This was such a busy and interesting year. Just think, a year ago I was 90 pounds heavier and starting my mission to lose it. I can’t believe that I have lost all that weight and I am still hoping to lose about 50 more. I feel great and am even starting to see a difference in me via photos and clothes. I still hate shopping because I always seem to be in-between sizes so it is still frustrating, but I am working on it. (A work in progress.) I am still working with a personal trainer two days a week and loving that. I am still running, getting ready to run in a 5k at Disney World the first weekend in March. That should be fun! I really can’t wait. I have also been taking Tae Kwon Do. This is not my favorite thing, but it has been interesting. My teacher is not making it very fun, but I signed up so I will finish it up. (It is good exercise)

I have moved to Anniston this year and it has been an interesting event. Part of me so wishes that I had stayed in Arab and part of me is glad that I made the move. I am so very torn about the situation. Hopefully things will settle in and I will enjoy it more as time goes on. I will say that if I hadn’t moved here I would not have gotten back into the dating scene as quick as I did. I was dating someone at the end of the year. Things did not work out, but I am definitely glad he came into my life because he reminded me what I want out of life. So, now I am going to spend this year finishing up working on me and putting myself out there and meeting new people. You have got to start somewhere.

Well, I have added a few new and recent pix and I hope you enjoy them. I look forward to a great new year full of fun scrapbooking and meeting new people.

Till next time....TOODLES!

Fall is Here!

2008-10-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

With the temperature getting down to freezing at night, I am assuming that Fall is here. Actually, I think Fall may have passed us by and winter may be just around the corner. I am pulling out the sweaters and determining which ones are still able to be worn. I am also pulling out the sweat pants and long johns to wear out running in the morning. (Just a wee bit nippy then.) I think that this will be the last few months I can wear some of these clothes because none of them are fitting me correctly so I am going to have to ask Santa to send me some clothes for Christmas this year.

I finally found a new trainer down here in Anniston. I thought when I first got here and signed up at Anniston Family Fitness, I had found the place. With the membership, they have trainers on site and are available for you just schedule in advance. No Problem. I had two sessions with the morning trainer and then his father passed away and he had to go up to be with his family but said he would be back in two weeks. Two weeks came and went and he never came back. The gym said that they didn't know what was going on but wouldn't let any of their other trainers move their hours so that there would be one in the morning also. I waited...four weeks came and went and well...no trainer..so I cancel'd my membership with them when one of their people told me about this guy who runs a small gym in downtown Anniston who has had some great results training people. I went by and saw him and we talked about what I wanted out of these sessions and he showed me some before and after photos of his clients that he has in his office, (not out in the gym) and he told me what I could expect out of him. I was very impressed and decided that we would give it a go. He is an ex military drill sargent...go figure. He told me to expect to be in some pain the first few weeks and i was like oh great...I love pain...NOT! I also told him that I was taking Tae Kwon Do on Tuesdays and Thursdays and running three days a week. He was impressed and also impressed that I have already lost 85 pounds. I told him there was no way I could have done this with out my previous trainer from Arab...Stacey!!!! NO WAY! I am committed to reaching a goal that Stacey and I had set back in June when we saw what my progress can be. This particular goal is a secret and when it is reached and I have shared with those I am wanting to surprise, I will put it on here. :)

I talked to my niece and nephew the other day and my sister told me that they were going to be heading to a pumpkin patch the next day and it reminded me about this page layout that I did two years ago, I believe. My nephew was only six months old in these photos and now he is two and a half...wow how time flies. This page was done with left over pattern paper from the scrapbox and a few die cuts that I had lying around. The cardstock is Bazzill, like I would use anything else. LOL.

I hope everyone has a great week and until next time...Toodles!!!

Under a 15 minutes mile! YEAH!!!

2008-10-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, today was a good day. It started at 6am...when I got up and got ready for my second 5k. The Jacksonville Gamecock 5k Gallop. I got there early, signed in and got warmed up. I started the race at the back of the pack and well, I stayed there pretty much. I was not the last to cross the finish line and for that I was thankful, and I also bested my previous finish by just over two minutes. That put me at just under 15 minutes a mile. That is what I was aiming for because that qualifies me for the 5k Race in March at Disney World. I had my eye on that for a while, but thought I would have to wait a bit to qualify because I didn't think I would get under 15 minutes just yet. But, I pushed through this time and when I heard I had a 28 minute 2 mile time, I knew I could do it...I just never gave up...kept seeing the end in sight! This particular course had a ton of hills. I HATE hills..just thought I would say! But, I am already planning to go to Orlando in March for a long weekend. Let me know if you want to join me...should be alot of fun!!!

Well, it is late and my bed is calling me...have a great weekend...till next time...Toodles!

First 5K Complete! YEAH!!!!

2008-10-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, 5k Walk/Run...check. Another goal I can check off my list. I completed my first 5k race and WOW...how fun is that! I really actually enjoyed myself and am so glad that I did it. Now, I plan on training more, entering some more Races and hoping to better my time. I completed this first race in 47 minutes, which is four minutes faster than my previous best time of 51 minutes. I want to get below 45 on my next one and then I will just keep chipping away at the minutes slowly but surely till I can get down to about 35. We took a few pix today and once I get them put on to a disc, I will get them downloaded. Not sure how good they were, but we will see. My trainer Stacey took most of the photos because I couldn't run and take them..LOL. We were about two minutes into the Race when Stacey's knee started to hurt and only got worse as we went on. She was still faster then me with a bum knee...go figure. I will fix that. We will run this same race next year and I will be able to keep up just as much if not even better. YEAH!

Well, it is VERY late, so until next time...Toodles!

Move Complete/5K Walk/Run Saturday

2008-10-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, my move to Anniston is basically completed. Yes, that is right I am now living in Anniston, Al., once again. I am living in a small two bedroom house. It is very old and has had a total make over. The inside was painted and the outside was just painted. It looks like a totally different place. I can't wait to get everything set up and just the way I want it. Of course, I have been taking photo's the entire time and I will try to post some before and after photos as soon as I can.

One more day till my 5k Walk/Run in Huntsville. I can't wait to get this over with so that I can say I did it. I have been training hard and I just want to cross the finish line. I have meet some new people in Anniston and think I am going to join their Running Club so that I can get some more training and run some of their training runs. They are a nationally recognized running club and hold all sorts of events in this area. I am sure that joining them will only help me in my running endeavors.

I have not scrapbooked in a while. I have everything packed in boxes and need to get it unpacked so that I can start scrapbooking all the things that I want to...like I have many pictures of myself that I want to finish scrapbooking for my Weight loss journey book that I am doing. You should see all the boxes that I have in my scrapbook room that I need to get unpacked...never realized how much stuff I had till I had to pack it all...man I need to purge...really bad. LOL

Well, I will post on here Saturday and let you all know how I do at the 5k.

Till next time...Toodles.

Arab to Anniston...I GOT A PROMOTION...YEAH!

2008-08-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I will start with my exciting news. I have recieved a promotion to supervisor at work. It requires me moving back to Anniston full-time, so off I am going. I moved up to Arab, AL about three years ago for work from Anniston and now it is time to go back. I am so excited about this. I am sure that getting ready to move will be a bit stressful, but I think by now I am a pro at the moving thing. I am starting now by packing the things I don't use everyday, like my DVD's, my CD's, my books and stuff like that. This coming weekend my friend is trying to come up and help me go through all my scrapbooking things and purge what I can before packing it all up. That should be the hardest part. I have never really liked packing up my scrapbooking things because it ends up being a big mess...but I think with the purging, it will make things better. I am also having another friend come over and help me go through alot of my other stuff and see if we can purge anything else that I am not using or haven't used in a while. I have been pretty good at that but I think when you get ready to move you get a new perspective on what you really want to take with you and what you don't. For the next three weeks I will be spending Thursday and Friday down there working and getting accquainted with the new position. I will also be meeting the people that will work for me. While I am down there I will be looking for a place to live. I know that I will want to be living down there full time by the beginning of October if possible. The travel will be what kills me to begin with, but I have some great friends up here that are willing to help me in anyway to assist with this new position, including helping with my four legged babies, Mugzy and Cricket.

Well, I am going to go for now, but I will try to get on later and post a new layout.

Until next time...Toodles.

Cleanliness and Tideness...Thank you DAD!

2008-08-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

Another week is gone and I can't believe it! I spent this past weekend helping a friend of mine get ready for her move this weekend. I have to say that after spending six hours on Saturday and six hours on Sunday in her home, I appreciate my father instilling in me a sense of cleanliness and tideness in my home. Let me just say that my friend is the packrat of all packrats and has a hard time getting rid of ANYTHING. I spent all my time with her making her go through things and put stuff in a yard sale boxes because she is never going to use all the stuff she has. My rule is that if I haven't used it in over a few years than it gets tossed. There are a few exceptions to that rule because I live in a VERY small apartment and there are a few keepsakes that I don't want to part with, but for the most part, I try to get rid of as much as I can. I wish my friend would take that approach because she has more than she can accomodate and can use at one time...like 5 nutcrackers and three woks and three crockpots. She is a single woman who is moving back home to be near her mother who is getting up there in age and she will be living with her sister, so she is not going to have a need for alot of this stuff. I can understand keeping one of something, but not three or five...geesch. But I will admit that I have managed to get her to get rid of a bunch of stuff but she could still get rid of more...truely and she would never miss any of it. I have also managed to get a few things that I was in need of and now don't have to invest in...like lids for my tupperware that seem to disappear and a cart for my kitchen. (that could also be used in the scrapbook room if I needed.) Last night I went over for a short period of time to see if she got her homework done that I left her doing and well, I was surprised that she had made a dent in it. I really hope that she gets this done by Friday like she wanted because she is moving on Sunday and Friday and Saturday are events for her Sons wedding that is Saturday late afternoon. Well, I will be going over every evening to make sure this gets done...so wish me luck!

The layout I have included today is another layout from last summer. The photos were taken one afternoon while we are are the pool while in Florida. I used two different layouts from Page Maps and made them work as a 2 page layout. The cardstock is Bazzil and the PP is My Minds Eye either Wild Asperagus or Magnolia...not so sure. The larger font is Quickutz Grand Spicy Chicken and smaller font is Summertime. I love the page and how I was able to get eight photos on there and yet is doesn't look cluttered or busy.

Well, gotta run for today...but until next time...Toodles!

"No Pain, No Gain"

2008-08-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

"No pain, no gain."
- Athletic proverb

"Top results are reached only through pain. But eventually you like this pain. You'll find the more difficulties you have on the way, the more you will enjoy your success."
- Juha "the Curel Vaatainen

Ok, these two quotes seem to be what my world has been about the last two weeks. I have started running and well...no so sure I am liking it right now. Don't get me wrong, when I am done, I feel like I accomplished something, but getting done is the problem. We have started this adventure by doing a walk/run..I walk for two minutes, run for a minute...until we reach the mile and a half mark. Then this week we up'd the running to a minute and a half with intervals of walking for two minutes. This usually takes about 20 minutes or so. Next week we are going to be going for two miles by walking 2, running 2. Eventually the walking will decrease and the running will take over. But we are trying to take it slowly so that I don't get shin splints, don't hurt my knees and don't get to out of breath...she wants me to be able to maintain a conversation during the walks and able to answer questions while running to work on the breathing aspects. Running outside is not as easy as running on a treadmill...let me tell you that right here and now. I do SO much better on the treadmill, but unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of running these 5k races on a treadmill...so I will just keep trying to work up to running a full mile and then to two and then to three...when I get there, the celebration will begin.

So far, my weight loss is up to just around 70 pounds...YEAH!!!! I am so excited. I feel like a new person is starting to emerge...or maybe an old friend is starting to return. :) I am starting to find going shopping more pleasurable...still don't like it a ton, but at least it is not miserable anymore.

Ok, on to the scrapbook page for today. This is a layout that I did last summer of some photos that I took when I joined my sister and her family at Disney World in May, 2007. We went over to the Market place and my niece and nehpew had to get tatoo's on their arms. I had to do a "Disney Ink" page to remember the fun. When working on this page, I had just finished watching an episode of "Miami Ink" and thought how cute to title my page after them. I started with two solid colored Basic Grey paper from the Oh Baby! Girl. I then found that I had strips of paper from the same pack left from another page I did and used them to accent the page. Now, this layout was the first layout I had done W/O matting my photos...once I saw how cool it was, i started to use it more as I am sure you have seen in a few of my previous posts. I believe the photo layout came from a PageMaps. I don't believe it is exactly as the PageMaps suggested, but isn't that the idea, to take something and make it your own? Well, I loved the final look and my niece loved looking at it when I took it home to show her. It was all worth it then! The three fonts that are on the page are Quickutz Spicey Chicken Grand, Blossom Grand and Sunshine and cut from Bazzil CS. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Well, until next time...Toodles.

Tiny Dancer!

2008-07-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a week....I had the worst headache, celebrated my friend Sarah's birthday, started 5K training and managed to wake up every morning to start a new day. Friday night I spent a my friend Beth's home. She had a group of Scrappers over to her house for a crop party. It was a ton of fun and a great chance for me to see people that I haven't seen in a long time. While I was there I went through some of her stamps and managed to borrow a few. I actually took time last night to make two cards. They turned out quite nice if I do say so myself. I will try to get them up here very soon! But, for today, I have posted a page that I did of my niece. She was at dance class and well, I was peeking in through the windows in the door. I was not able to see her in person, but I was able to see her through the mirrors in the room. I loved this photo and just knew that it needed to be scrapped. I used the Basic Grey, Two Scoops PP, Bazzil Cardstock and some large paper flowers from my stash. The title was from the Cricut. Not sure of the font. I love how the simple page design enhances the black and white photo and makes it the star of the page!

This week will be very busy with my training with my personal trainer and then I am also starting in a running club in Huntsville that specializes in helping train for 5k's. I am so very excited about this...and I am not really sure why. I am sure that I will go through a ton of pain and why that would excite me is beyond my imagination. Well, I am going to close now so that I can get back to work and until next time....Toodles!!!

What A Long Week!

2008-07-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a week this has been, and it is not even over! Last night was a killer at the gym. We are getting me ready to begin 5k Training. I want to run in two 5ks this fall and I need to start training for them. I am sure that I will be hating life for the first few weeks, but I have to do what I have to do to get ready. I think this will also shock my body which will help in the Weight loss department. This is a great way for to work toward something over than weight loss goals. We are constantly working on gym goals, but working toward a 5k race will be the ultimate. This weekend I have to go to Fleet Feet to have my feet fitted for running shoes. This is new for me because they put you on a treadmill and have you run so that they can see how your foot hits the ground, how you roll your feet and stuff like that...totally fascinates me. Then once that is done, they tell you what shoes would be best for me and then you try them on and do the test again and make sure they are comfortable. Then on Monday, my torture will begin. My main objective for all this was to find something I could do outside of the gym for those days that I can't make it there....especially on the days when they are closed.

Ok, on to the scrapbook pages. The first one is of my niece and my cousins daughter...they were born a few days apart and are the bestest of buddies. I loved this photo because it captures the fun in their faces that they have together. The cardstock is Bazzil, and the PP came in a kit that also included the stickers. When I can remember who they are put out by I will edit this. The 4 is a peice of chipboard and the quickutz revolution was used to cut out the "ever".

This second page is a page that I did for a class I taught at my LSS. It was all about using different circle tools and creating a page. I used several different pieces of paper. Two PP and three different bazzil CS. The title is Quickutz Venus and the photo corners are from Quickutz also. I love this layout because I think it captures my nephews excitement. The photo was taken at Disney World and what better place to smile.

I hope everyone has a great day and until next time...Toodles!

Two Different Princesses!

2008-07-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, this has been a long week...and yes, it is only Tuesday. One good thing is that I lost 5.6 pounds yesterday at my weigh in. I was so excited since last week was not a good week for me. I have lost over 65 lbs. and can't wait to get to the 75 lb mark by the end of the summer. That is my goal at least. :)

The scrapbook page that I have put up today is a page that I did a few months ago. This is a pix of my niece giving her best Model Pose. She was playing dress up and is dressed in a Sleeping Beauty Dress. Whenever Aunt Meg takes out her camera, my niece goes into a posing phase. Some shots come out spectacular. The CS is Bazzil, the PP and die cut are My Minds Eye and the title was cut with Quickuts Emily and Diesel.

This is a photo of my dog, Cricket...she is a Lhasa/Yorkie and such a little "Princess". This page was just something I was playing with. The CS is Bazzil and I am not sure who the Princess PP is by, but I think it was EK Success. The Letter Stamps (CTMH) were done in basic Black and the Flourish Stamps (Autumn Leaves) were also done in Basic Black. You can't see them very well, but there are rhinstones all over amongst the flourishes.

I hope that everyone has a great day and until next time...Toodles.

Scrapbook Time!

2008-07-14T11:47:00.001-07:00

Ok, I have finally figured out how to get some of my SB pages on to my blog. I am going to share a few today and I will post more in the weeks to come. This first one if of my favorite photo of my nephew. I took this over Christmas when he was "mesmerized" with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on TV. It was priceless and a moment that I treasure with him. The layout was very simple. I just used two different pieces of printed paper from the same family, (Chatterbox I believe) and put my title along the side of the photo. I embelished with two buttons from My Minds Eye and three brads from CTMH. All Cardstock in this layout is by Bazzil. I love Bazzil and use it on almost all of my layouts. The Journaling on this page is just the basics...who, what, where, when and why....and the mounted on a red cardstock to pop it. I think the reason this layout is one of my favorites if because it is of my nephew as I mentioned before. Boy layouts are more challanging to me but I think I captured the moment in this one.

This next layout is a Valentine layout of my niece and nephew in 2007 holding the bears that I sent them since they are my "Beary" favorite valentines. I liked this layout because it was different for me. I was using printed paper that I had found in the back of my paper stack. I can't remember who it was, so if you know, please let me know....I used a printed stripe as the base page, then scalloped the edges of a piece of maroon bazzil and that we the secondary base. Then used an I Love you printed paper about 6 inches wide and 12 long to add more depth. The circle is cut out of more printed paper, as are the heats. All the edges were distressed using brown ink. the word Be Mine is cut out of Bazzil with the Quickutz Eliza Set and the 2007 is using the Emily Quickutz Set. The Hearts are also Quickutz.

Well, today is my weigh-in to see where I am at. I will be honest and say that I don't think I did very well this week because I felt like I was always hungry this weekend and always eating. I just am hoping that I at least stayed the same and didn't gain anything. That would be the best senario. We will see and I will let you all know. Until next time....Toodles!!!

Quick Update!

2008-06-17T08:31:00.001-07:00

Ok, this is a pix of my new nephew Keaton being held by his daddy, my brother, Dennis. He is such a cute baby! And very quiet. I got to visit with him for a day while I was on my vacation and he did not really cry at all the entire time we were there. I will try to post a few more photos in the coming days.

Just to keep you up to date on me...I am in a new position at work...I am working on a Decomissioning project and it is keeping me VERY busy. I am also over the 60 lb. mark and am so excited about that. I still work out 4-5 days a week and love working with my trainer.

I don't have much time to chat, just wanted to post a quick note. Until next time....Toodles!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

2008-06-03T18:18:00.000-07:00

Well, today is my nieces 4th birthday. What an exciting day she has had. She started the day being crowned a princess. As a princess, you need to be pampered, so we went and had her fingernails and toes nails painted and special designs were put on them. We then went to the toy store where she was able to get a pack n play and a new baby doll. We then traveled over to the mall and went into the Disney Store that is closing and found a few treasures also. After all this excitement, we had one more special stop and that was to her favorite restraunt, Wendy's! Wow, what an exciting day for one special princess. Benajamin made out well today also. Elizabeth helped me pick out several special things for him at the Disney Store. She was so excited to give them to him. After all of this, the entire family went out to dinner at her choice of restraunt, Red Robin, for dinner. The Red Robin mascot even came over to the table to help sing happy birthay. What fun we all had!

I have only been here for about four days and I am already exhausted. I am going to need a vacation from my vacation. I left so early from home that I forgot to pack my glasses and my friend had to over night them to me so that I could see! Thank you to Violet!!! I would be blind had it not been for her!

Well, I am going to close for now...I will try to get on here again and update you all on my wonderful adventures with my niece and nephew. And oh, boy has benjamin gotten so big and talking up a storm. I will be honest, being in his presence when he talks is so much better than being on the phone! I can actually understand him in person. :)

Well until next time. Toodles!

The New Arrival! Frederick Keaton Ridgway

2008-05-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world Little One! This is a picture of my new nephew, Frederick Keaton Ridgway. The newest member of the family! He was born Friday, 8:25am EST, and was 8 lbs and 21 inches long. He is just the cutest little guy. Giannna had to have a C-section, but said that Dennis was right there by her side the entire time. She should be home now per her e-mail. I will be leaving this coming weekend to go home and visit the family. During my stay, I will get to visit with Keaton and celebrate my nieces' birthday. (She is turning the big 4. Where has the time gone? I can remember when my sister brought her home from the hospital and she was so tiny. Now she is a "big girl".) I will also be going up to Baltimore with my Aunt Geraldine and my best friend Padty. That should be fun! We are going to have dinner with my cousin while we are there. Can't wait!

Tomorrow will be my last weigh in before leaving for my trip. I am hoping to reach my second weight goal before leaving. I feel like I have already made alot of my goals just by the clothes that I am wearing now and how much I have improved in the gym. Yesterday I was doing laundry so that I have plenty of clothes to take on my trip and usually when I run up and down the stair to the laundry room in the garage, I used to get winded..now it is a piece of cake. Also, I love trying all the new recipes that are out their for healthy meals. Weight Watchers has a ton of them and alot of them are fantastic...like the Shrimp Scampi and Spaghetti...Apple Braised Chicken and my favorite, Parmessan Crusted Tilapia. LOVE IT.

Well, I hope you all have a great day and until next time....Toodles!

Long time no post!

2008-04-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well, time flies when you are busy! I hadn't realized that it has been at least three weeks since the last time I posted anything on here. Well, things have been very busy. Going to the gym everyday, finishing up on my friends scrapbook that I am making for her (her birthday is tomorrow so I am giving it to her then), getting things ready for my trip home and working extra at the office when I have a bit of time. We are working on this project and I am trying to get us ahead so that when I go on vacation, we won't get behind.

A week ago, I went to the doctors for my bi-annual appointment to check my blood and the doctor said that he was so pleased with my weightloss. I had lost 39 lbs when I got on the scale. I have now lost a total of 43 lbs and have only got eight pounds to go till I reach my next goal. I had wanted to lose over 50 pounds before I went home for my vacation and losing eight will put me just over that mark...I know I can do it and will be working very hard these next few weeks to make sure I get there. My trainer has been fantastic and she works me to the bone. She makes me push through and keeps me motivated to work harder each time. I honestly can say that the scale helps push me through sometimes because when I see a loss each week, it motivates me just that much more. I have had a few weeks where there has been a gain, but the next week, that comes off and a bit more so I try to take those in stride...it is hard, but I know that is part of this journey. I will try to get a few new pictures downloaded soon so that you can see the difference. I love looking at the before and the now....I won't say "After" till I have reached my goal.
Well, until next time..."Toodles" for now.

2008-04-16T09:56:00.001-07:00

This is the most recent photo of myself. I lost another 3.6 lbs this week and am very excited about this! It has motivated me to keep going another week. Tonight I get to tackle the wonderful elyptical machine again. Oh yeah! Since it is not my favorite thing, I will tackle it first and then the rest of the torture next. I need to start tackling my modified push-ups. I have to tell you that they are also torture for me. My knees hurt when I do them. At home I am putting a pillow under them so that they don't hurt that bad. But my arms are the real weak point. Never really knew they were that weak. I went shopping this week for some clothes. I have to tell you that I didn't want to spend a bunch of money because I know that I will only be wearing them for a few months before having to go down to the next size. So, my first purchase, believe it or not, was a pair of jeans from Wal-mart of all places. They were only 19.99 and actually fit me pretty well. Yes, they are already a bit big, but the next size down was WAY to small for me...oh well. At least I am not swimming in these like I was the other ones. Then I also got a pair of khaki pants for work from the Dress barn and these were two sizes smaller than what I was wearing. I did the happy dance in the dressing room. I am sure the sales associate thought I was crazy. Then I got a pair of shorts that were three sizes smaller and looked great on me. I also got my first babydoll shirt and it is so cute with the jean shorts. LOVE IT. I was so excited when I went shopping and was able to actually fit into some of the clothes on the rack. The feelig I had was elated. Now, don't get me wrong. I still don't like clothes shopping, but at least when I had to go, the experience this time was more positive than in the past. That also made me more motivated to keep up the training and working out and chosing better food choices. Can't wait to see what happens next time I have to go clothes shopping!

I am also planning my vacation home. I will be heading home the first week of June. I will be returning, Tuesday, June 10. My niece has her dance recital on Monday, June 9, so I will stay for that and then head home. I missed her very first recital because it was two weeks after I left in January and I am not going to miss this one. I am so looking forward to seeing my niece and nephew and spending time with my family. I am also going to hopefully get a chance to meet my newest nephew, Fredrick Keaton, while I am up there and spoil him just a bit.

Well, until next time....Toodles!

What have you done today to make you feel proud?

2008-04-16T06:32:00.000-07:00

We need a change
Do it today
I can feel my spirit rising
We need a change
So do it today
'Cause I can see a clear horizon

What have you done today to make you feel proud?
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?
'Cause you could be so many people
If you make that break for freedom
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
What have you done today
You could be so many people?
Just make that break for freedom
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?

This is a verse from the theme song on the TV show biggest loser that I have to say I watched every week. Last night for the first time, they crown a female winner. I will be honest and say that I felt like it was much harder for women to lose the weight than men, but after watching Ali last evening, it has given me a bit more encouragement that it can be done. Now, I know I have age going against me because the older you get the longer it can take, but I am not going to give up. I did not put this on in six months, so I am not going to lose it in six months. I have to admit that I am seeing some growth in the gym and that is a fun way to do this now. I am not going to pay attention to the scale as much because I can't control what the scale is going to say. I can just chose to eat the right things and continue to work out. But the gym, now that is under my control. I am able to walk the treadmill longer without getting winded so I can move my speed and incline up and push it, I am able to last 15 minutes on the elyptical with out dying,(just accomplished that last night...I swore I was going to die, but I didn't), and the weights that I am using on the machines and in my other exercises have been going up so I can tell that I am strengthening my muscles. I think going to the gym five days a week is difficult to accomplish all the time, because life does try to get in the way, but it is a choice to put myself first before anything else. If something comes up one night during the week and I am not able to make it then I have to make sure that I go on Saturday to make up for the night during the week that I was not able to make it. I usually try to save Saturday to work out with my friend by taking a long walk at the park. This is to help get her out walking and to get my dogs out walking (I like when they come home and are all tuckered out and just sleep for a few hours), and it pushes me to see how many times we can get around the path with out quitting. Sundays are my day to rest and let my body recouperate. Some Sundays if I wasn't able to work out on Saturday, I work out on Sunday at home because the gym is closed. But that is ok because my trainer has made sure that I have been taught a bunch of exercises that I can do at home and still get a great work out. I also am still doing my exercise videos whenever I feel that I need to do some more. To be honest, I don't like the sweating part or the heavy breathing (because you think you are going to die part), but I do know that it is a part of it and that is how I know I am giving it all I can. Just those 15 minutes on the elyptical machine makes me sweat like a pig and I feel gross afterwards, but well, I know I have to do it. Also, the place on the elyptical where you place your feet has these bumps on them, and after like 5-7 minutes on the machines, those bumps start to hurt my feet. Scary thing is that I just bought a brand new pair of work out shoes and it doesn't help at all. I think I am going to have to get another pair and see if I can find a pair that has a thicker soul so that I can't feel those bumps. I think I could go longer on the machine if I didn't feel those bumps. Any suggestion on the best type of shoe would be great. :)

Well, this past weekend I spent Saturday scrapbooking with a group of friends from Huntsville at a local Bed and Breakfast here in Arab, AL. It was fun. I arrived around 11am and scrapped with them till about 2:30 in the morning. I did get quite a few pages done and was pleased with my work. I even scrapbooked a page with a picture of me from two months ago and then a picture of me from a week ago. Wow, what a difference in just two months. I think I am going to do a whole book on my experience and the changes that I make till I reach my final goal! This is probably the first time in four years or so that I have scrapbooked a page that has a picture of me in it just for myself. I really enjoyed doing this page and think I will do a few more beause it was nice to do something for myself and not for other people. I did several pages for my friend of her baby's first year and I also did a two page layout of my dog cricket. I have to admit that I am glad that I went and was glad that I got as much done as I did.

Well,until next time....Toodles!

Fun in Chattanooga!

2008-04-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

Man, am I glad that yesterday is over! Talk about a bad day. It started with my dog being defiant and obstinant and just got worse from there. My day was so bad that I bypassed the gym and went straight home. From there I did nothing but veg. Then at about 9:30, guilt overcame me and I decided to get a workout in. I kinda felt better afterwards, but not enough for me to foget about my miserable day! Tonight I am sure that I will pay for it with my trainer and will feel it tomorrow. :)
This past weekend was exhausting also. My friend Sarah and I took our friend Sunny to Chattanooga for the day to celebrate her Birthday. We started the day off with Breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then headed to Chat. On our way there, Sunny saw a dog trying to Cross Hwy 72 and was sure the dog would get hit trying, so she had me turn the car around and go back so that we could help the dog and see if he belonged to anyone. We go back and by this time, the dog had already crossed the street. We noticed that it looked like his collar had been removed by a concerned person because the dogs neck had the collar imprint in it. At this time, Sunny wanted to get the dog away from the main road so she and Sarah walked the dog to a back road and started asking people if they knew who the dog belonged too. Finally someone said they knew where the dog lived so we walked the dog down the road to that house. We left the dog at the house and started back on our adventure. But first, let me tell you...that dog, nicknamed Buddy, boy can he run. For a big ol basset hound, that dog could book it. When we were taking off, the dog chased us down the street and was able to keep up with us for quiet a ways before he slowed down and then headed back down the street. We finally got to Chattanooga and we first went to Rock City at the top of Lookout Mountain. Diving up the mountain, we could not see five feet in front of us due to the fog and weren't sure this was going to be a good idea. When we got to Rock City, the fog lifted and it was very nice. We had a ton of laughs along the trail through the beautiful scenery. Trying to get through Fat Mans Pass was the most interesting and we had the most laughs there. Once we left Rock City, we went to the Mall and took her to Build-A-Bear. She had a blast there. It is one of her most favorite places. She built a stuffed dog to remember her adventures earlier in the day. We then headed downtown Chattanooga and went to a Candy store and had fun looking around. We were stalling for time before our dinner reservations at the Vaudville Mystry Dinner Theater. The Show was fun and interactive. Sunny even got called up on stage to wish her a Happy Birthday! After dinner, we walked around town and then found a Scrapbook store the the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel Shops. We looked around there and then had ice cream cones and sat outside talking and laughing. Air Hockey was next. Sunny found an arcade and we had a blast playing. A few more photos with the trains, photo lessons and we thought we were going to be back on the road heading home, until we ran into the horse drawn carriages and we all fell in love with the horse and the Dalmation riding on board. We all decided to take a carriage ride. It was very nice and we had fun. Next time I would love to go in one during the day when the weather is nice. Now, we headed home and we did not get back till well after Midnight. Fun was had by all and tons of photos were made. I am hoping to get a few on here in the near future.

Well, I am going to close now, but until next time...Toodles!!

2008-04-01T11:45:00.001-07:00

Well, I am finally over my cold. Woke up this morning feeling so much better. Yeah! That little ole' cold kicked my tail this weekend. The only thing I did was workout Friday and Saturday, but otherwise, I was in bed sleeping, something I think my body needed. I didn't do anything that I was going to do. I was supposed to head into town this weekend to run some errands, but I had to put that off till this coming weekend. Last week, my trainer kicked my butt and I also worked hard on my own. Walking every single day and working on the machines four days. After the difficult weigh in last week, I went in last night determined to have a loss. And boy, did I! I lost 6.8 pounds this week. My trainer and I talked about it last night and she says with the amount of working out that I am doing and stable intake of food that I am eating, my body is finally processing some of the fat. Yeah! Did you know that to lose a pound of weight, you have to burn 3500 calories or remove 500 calories of food from your diet a day (3500 for a week)? Something I learned this week. :)I love to eat so I don't think eating will ever be problem for me...just learning what to change in my diet is the key. AND I AM LOVING IT, ok except for when I am craving Mocha Java Chip Ice Cream...but, I am learning to change up recipes and make delicious food that is on program and tastes Yummy and makes me not yearn those Mocha Java chip Ice Cream Cones. (Ok, can you tell what I am craving.) This reminds me I need to remember to bring in my chinese food recipe to put on here for everyone. It is yummy and I love it! I have not been scrapping or stamping much for myself lately. I am still working on that baby book for my co-worker. It is consuming alot on my non existant free time. This Saturday, my friend Sarah and I are taking our friend Sunny on her birthday adventure. It should be fun and I can't wait. She likes when things are "squeal worthy" and I believe she will really enjoy this day! I will post our adventures next week. Since it is a surprise for her I don't want to ruin it because she may read this. Then it wouldn't be a surprise. :) Well, I am going to wrap this up for the day...until next time, Toodles!!!

Full Blown Cold....Yuck!!

2008-03-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I got the full blown cold. Not what I wanted...I tried to hold it off as long as I could. I even tried to sweat it out at my work out the other night...no luck! I go to work, to the gym and to bed. Not much fun, but it is what I have been needing. I have to tell you that when I drive to the gym at night, I really hate it because I am so tired and feel icky and just want to go to bed. But, a nice brisk walk on the treadmill and a workout with the nautilis equipment, and you would think I would feel invigorated...NOT! I think my body hates me after that. I usually crawl to my car afterwards, drive home and crawl up the stairs to house. I let the dogs out and tell them just come back when they feel the desire and collapse on the couch. Last night, Cricket came back, but Mugzy didn't. I was not so pleased. I get out the door and he is sitting just outside the gate to my stairs. He is looking so pittiful like he can't open the gate and let himself in. But, I know better...I wave a treat in his site and well, he threw open the gate and flew up the stairs. He was just trying me....and it oh so didn't work. There was no way I was going down those stair again. So, this morning, feeling even worse than I had the last few days, thought "oh, I won't go to the gym tonight", but at that moment, it was like my trainer was sitting on my shoulder and was saying "you need to go to the gym and at the very least walk on the treadmill". So, I grabbed the gym bag and out the door I went. I am not liking this invisible shoulder trainer that follows me everywhere I go. Even when I am hungry in the middle of the afternoon and I want to grab a quick snack, like a bag of M&M's, I am reminded that I have to walk an extra two miles at a fast pace just to work of that bag of M & M's alone. Now, I only have to walk 30 minutes on the treadmill at a fast pace to walk off the 23 Mike and Ikes...hmmmmm....which one am I going to go with. Very sad that this is my thought process now. Well, gonna sign off for now and finish up at work and head to the gym...then I am going to crawl in bed and stay there for forever. Ok, so maybe not forever, but until I feel like getting up! Until next time..Toodles!

Just a quick note!

2008-03-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it through the first week and all the pain associated with it. YAY!!! I figure that this week won't hurt as much. I have been using alot of the muscles that were in pain last week in different ways and working on a few exercises at home that will hopefully help in my body not hurt as much after I workout with my trainer. I bought this very cool Exercise ball. It is a large ball that you sit on and do sit ups...and it works your ab muscles, your side muscles and your back muscles. I have gotten to where I can do three sets of 15, twice a day...gradually I will increase this, but for now, that will do. I figured that since I was making all these changes why not just make one more and cut my hair off. So I did. I got my hair cut pretty short. I got 5-6 inches cut off. I love it. It is so much lighter than my long hair and much quicker to fix in the mornings. I will be honest. I was tired of spending a few hours a night blowdrying my hair after getting out of the shower. Now, it is quick and effecient. Tonight is another night of torture with my personal trainer, so I am sure that I will just collapse in bed after. I think I am coming down with a cold. Achy bones and a bad stuffed up nose. I hope I can sleep it off. :) Hope everyone has a great night and I shall write more later this week. Until next time, Toodles!!!

Pain, Pain and More Pain!!!

2008-03-21T07:28:00.001-07:00

Ok, can I tell you how much pain I am in! My upper body has not hurt so bad in well, forever. Yesterday, it was not so bad...a bit of a twinge here or there, but last night when I went to bed, I started to feel the pain develope. Through out the night it got worse and this morning when I woke up, well the full wrath of my personal trainer came forth. I had the worse time putting on my shirt, and well lifting things, it is just out of the question. You all should have seen me trying to do my hair. Putting my hair up in a ponytail became such a chore. I could feel my dogs looking at me laughing. I have to constantly stretch out my upper body when it feels like it is tightening up because it hurts worse when I get tight. Me and a hot shower have been very good friends...one at night and one in the morning. My night time shower is followed by a heating pad for moist heat. That usually feels SO good! I am sure tonight will be more torture followed by pain because I am meeting up with Stacey, my trainer. She is very, very sweet, very supportive and totally understands what I want from the sessions and understands how my job may interfer sometimes with my sessions, but she said that she will work around those issues and help me acheive all my goals. She mentioned that she likes how I had many small goals and adequate time frames to reach those goals. I was not making goals that were outrageous. I was glad to hear that. She did say that with each goal I hit, I have to understand that the next goal will be harder to reach...because the more weight I lose, it is more likely that I will start hitting plataus and there will be times that I will feel discouraged, but she will be there to change things up and push me through those times. She was glad to hear that I am constantly writing everything that I eat down and holding myself accountable, but also glad to hear that I am not depriving myself of anything and that includes my favorite foods. I was telling her about how I was taking some of my favorite foods and revamping them so that they are healtier and better for me and yet the taste is still there to enjoy! I am so happy with things right now, pain and all and I hope that I will be reaching my first goal in the next few weeks. I will keep you all posted and let you know how it goes. I am trying to figure out how to put a goal keeper on the side of this blog and once I figure it out, I will update my blog to include it. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to let me know.

This weekend is Easter and I hope everyone has a great weekend. Until next time, Toodles!

Another Week in the Books

2008-03-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

Another week in the books. And I have to say that nothing spectacular has occured. Can you believe that? And to think I had this past week marked down as a week that a spectacular feat was going to happen. So much for my predictions. LOL. I will work on my psychic ablities. I will say that I spent this past weekend scrapbooking. Still working on my co-workers book. It is coming along very well and I am excited with what I have done. Still have a bunch to do, but I think she will be happy with what I have so far. She is supposed to be coming over tonight to work on some journaling. She says that she doesn't want to see it till it is done. But I think she is going to have to see some on it so that she can journal on those pages. On Sunday, I feel like I ran up and down my stairs enough for my own new workout. My dog was not working with me. Every time I took him out, he would just go stand in the middle of the yard and wait for me to come down and then run away like it was a game. So, I decided to make it a game and that way he could get some exercise and I could get some exercise and fresh air.

Also, in the last week, I have decided to join a gym and have a personal trainer. I start with the personal Trainer tomorrow night and am very excited. As I said, I have a goal and I am trying to reach it one step at a time. I have managed to lose just over 21 lbs on my own and now I am going to get some help in the exercise catagory. I have been trying to do some exercises that I used to do all the time and boy, let me tell you...they were excruciating. I am hoping that working with a trainer, she will be able to help me get some of my flexibility back. Ever since falling down those stairs over a year ago, I have not been able to point my toes as much as I used to and I want that back. I think that my muscles just need to be reaquainted with stretching and flexing. I have even decided that I am going to pull out the batons out of the basement and start playing around again because that was always what I loved to do. Maybe just getting out and playing around will help my quest for fitness. :) On the days that I am not working out at the gym, I am going to be walking with my friend, Violet, a few miles on the track at the soccer field here in town and also using my videos at home. I figure that this will help with the weight loss, but even so, I will be getting in shape so that when I go home to visit my niece and nephew in the spring/summer, I can keep up with them. Also, this summer I want to get back into hiking and exploring the beautiful nature that Alabama has to offer. :)

I have been trying to decide what new recipe that I have made lately to put on here today. I have decided to put my taco salad on here. My original recipe is my favorite of all time and I usually alway make it for my dad when I go home. I make enough for an army and freeze some for him so that he has it and then we alway have some for dinner one night. My sister usually likes my Tacos, but I think she will enjoy this one just the same and half the guilt. :) You start with a pound of ground lean turkey or ground lean chicken. Cook that through and drain of any fat in the pan. Make sure you wipe out the pan any grease/dripping. I usually pat my meat with a paper towel to absord any more grease. Then, put the meat back in the pan. Add 2/3 cup of water, 1 1/2 packages of Low Sodium Old Elpaso Taco Mix, One can of Rotel Tomatoes and Chilis and about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of ChiChi's Salsa (mild, you can really use any brand, ChiChi's is just my favorite.) Mix the meat around with the added ingredients, and let come to a soft boil, then turn heat down to like medium low and let it simmer till the meat adsorbs all the juice or the liquid evaporates. (Slowly) Then spoon about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the meat into a bowl, add three table spoons of Mexican Mixed Shredded Cheese, Diced tomatoes, chopped up Lettuce, ( I use green leaf lettuce, about 3 or 4 leaves, cut in ribbons, and 15 baked tortillas (the small scoops), crushed up. This makes the best Taco Salad. LOVE IT! I use this a few times a month...because I love my tacos. My co-workers love my tacos and the best part about this is that they never know when I change the ground beef for ground turkey or chicken since the meat marinates in the sause and absorbs it. I add a ton of lettuce to give this meal volume and even a bunch of tomatoes. Just a few changes to my taco's and it becomes figure friendly! Yeah!!! You can even change the ground chicken/turkey for shredded chicken...that is fantastic also! I hope you all enjoy this one. I am thinking next time we are going Chinese...yummy!!!

Until next time, Toodles!!!!

Enjoy as much as I do......

2008-03-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, now when I started watching what I eat, I new that things would start to change. I have even talked about it in a few of my blogs, but well, I forgot that it would require buying new clothes. I HATE to go clothes shopping. Just not something I enjoy...never have and I don't think I ever will. But I guess it has now become a necessity. My jeans that I LOVE are now way to big for me and wearing a belt is not helping when they gap all over my waist. We did measurements this past week and I loved this part. This is where I saw what was really happening. I have lost 4 1/2 inches on my waist, 3 inches on my hips and 2 1/2 inches on my thighs. Did I say that I loved this part? It made everything so far, well worth while. Hearing how many inches I had lost. It kinda remotivated me...then when I weighed in last night...I have lost a total of 18 lbs so far. I am hoping that by the end of the month I can hit the 25 lb mark. That is my goal. A few of my co-workers have started to notice the difference and said it is showing in my face especially. :) I have found that I am enjoying taking a recipe and changing things to make it work in my new eating habits. I have found this fantastic recipe for Thin and Crispy BBQ Chicken Pizza. WOW, is it fantastic. I started with a recipe from the Biggest Loser Cook book and changed it around a bit to work in my lifestyle and with foods I can get at my local grocery store. Remember, small town. I love this recipe and eat it alot. You start with a 7 inch tortilla shell, toast it in the over on 375 degrees. Make sure you flip it and don't let it burn. Then take it out and spread 2T of BBQ Sause, finely slice onion(to your taste) and a 1/2 chicken breast grilled and chopped up(sometimes I use more depending on the size of the chicken breast). Then, I sprinkle 1/4 cup of skim milk mozzerella cheese shredded or provolone cheese shredded. ( I use a mix of both). Cook in Oven on 375 degrees until cheese is melted. Then when done cooking, sprinkle on chopped up Roma tomatoes. WOW. This is SO Yummy!!!! Serve it with 1T of BBQ sause on the side or drizzled of the top of whole pizza. This is my go to meal because I grill the chicken all at one time and then put them in the fridge to use as needed. Everything else can be quickly pulled together. I Hope you all enjoy this as much as I do. Let me know what you think.

Well, I just wanted to share the progress with you all..when one is excited, one shares it. :) Until next time....Toodles!

Just another day...LOL

2008-03-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, last night was our Scrapbook Club and we were talking about embellishments/chipboard. I personally love embellishments, but I find that I don't use a bunch of them on a page. The embellishments that I use must tie the page together. I ususallly use my title as my main embellishment, then add brads and flowers. I have been expanding out of my comfort zone and using chipboard, photo hinges, buckles, ribbon and most of all, pattern paper as my embellishments. I am finding that my scrapbooking is evolving again. I have been using pagemaps and Page scketches from many different sources to work some magic. My favorite source of page layouts is Becky Higgins, from Creating Keepsakes. She takes the layout and has many different people provide their version of the layout to show you what you can do with it. LOVE IT. Since I have started using these ideas, I have seen a dramatic difference in my layouts. From one photo layouts to ten photo layouts. Just a little imagination and one page layout and wow...you can do magic. :) Oh, my new fun toy that i got a few weekends ago! The Marvy Uchida Scallop cutter...oh my...LOVE IT...it makes the smaller scallops and it just adds so much to a page. I have used it on several pages so far and think it was my best investment lately!

This weekend was a lazy one. I just hung out with my dogs and chilled. We were outside on the porch for a while enjoying the weather and then we hung out with my friend Sara who came to visit for a while. I met Sara at one of my classes that I taught at the LSS last summer and she has become one of my good friends. She is so sweet. Well, anyway, she brought her completed scrapbook from 2007. It was very good. You can tell when her scrapbooking started to evolve. Dramatically from one page to the next. She is really getting very good with her layouts and really taking time to add the empbellishments and journaling. It was so fun to go through it with her and we were talking all about it. This is what I like about all my scrapbooking friends. Everyone scrapbooks differently and it is so neat to see how they pull everything together and share the ideas.

Well, it was my nephews birthday yesterday. He turned 2 y/o. He is growing so quickly. My niece told me he had a Mickey Mouse birthday because he "yikes him". In only three short months, my niece will be turning 4 y/o. I can't believe it. I remember when she came home from the hospital. She was so tiny and slept all the time. Now, she is growing like a weed and never wants to sleep. :) I think she got her fill when she was an infant. LOL. I can't wait to go home this summer and see them again. I will also get to meet the newest member if the Ridgway Clan. My brothers baby will be born in May/June. I will have a new nephew when I go home. His name will be Frederick Keaton Ridgway. Frederick is the family name. My father and brother both have that first name. He will go by Keaton though, as my brother goes by Dennis. What a sweet name. I love it. Can't wait to have another subject to scrapbook. I will have to be picking up more boy stuff since I still have way more girl scrapbooking things than boy.

Well, I guess I better get back to work. Until next time, Toodles!

Watching from the Outside.

2008-02-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been in a position when you feel like you are watching your life from an outsiders view. Kinda like having an out of body experience? Well, that would have been me yesterday. I guess I should start this story at the beginning. Friday, 6:30pm. I leave work, ticked of at my job, just not happy. I wasn't feeling real well, I was forced to work late because of a customer who did not call in on time and no one would stay late for me. Go figure. I headed down to Huntsville for this all weekend Crop we were having at the LSS. I had loaded all my supplies in my car the night before and was all set to spend this weekend just relaxing and having fun with my fellow Scrappers. Friday night, I had swung by and picked up so dinner from the local Chinese food place. Yummy. Shrimp and Brocolli. Then headed over to the LSS. I got there around 7:30/8:00. I hung out till about 11pm and then realized I was very tired so I headed home since I had about an hour drive. I got to bed at about 12:30/1:00a. Next morning, I was up and at em at about 7:30 or so. Dealt with the dogs, took shower, ate breakfast and was out the door by 9:00 am. I was at a Technique Club that I belong to by 10am. (Again, hour drive). Back at the Scrapbook store by 1:00 and enjoyed scrapping with some fellow scrappers till about 11:30 pm. Hour drive home. Didn't get to bed till after 1:00 again. I was back up the next day at around 8:00, realized I was late, left my house around 9:00am, and was back at the store by 10:00 am. This is were things get weird. I realized I was tired and probably should have stayed home. But who can stay home when all their stuff is still at the scrapbook store. I was still trying to wake up when I got to the store. I am SO not a morning person. I was working on my scrapbook pages when I realize that I just was not feeling any better and was getting fiestier and fiestier as the day went on. Finally I realized that I had lost it and needed to get home before I said or did something that I would regret. Now, hindsight, I realize that I should have gotten there that morning, packed up my stuff and headed back home, but no, I drove an hour and I was determined to get a few things done. But the more I interacted the more I started losing it. When I get tired, I get aggitated and tend to take things more personally, get upset quicker and well, I am just not a fun person to be around. I felt like I was watching all this going on from the outside. I could see things happening, but couldn't control it. Finally I decided to take myself home. People thought I was mad at them, when I was just tired and couldn't deal with things anymore. I tend to clam up and get quite and just get out of a situation when I realize I can't control how I feel or how I interact, which is what was going on at this time. When I finally got my things all packed up and in the car, I took the long drive home. Finally, when I got home, I took a cat nap on the couch and watched some TV. I was finally about to relax. I think that the stress from my work week didn't help me over the weekend when I wasn't even able to decompress. Decompression is important in my life and I am sure in others. After a long week at work, I like to unwind, clean my house and get ready for the next week, and if I don't have this, things just feel unfinished and like I am playing catch up all the next week. I truely hope that I didn't upset anyone by leaving on Sunday and I hope that if I did that they can understand where I was coming from and why I needed to get out of there.

Well, on to bigger and better things. I am working on this Scrapbook for my co-worker Jessica. She has the cutest little girl and I am doing a book on her daughters first year. I got a bit done and was very excited about a few pages that I did this weekend. I can't wait to be done with this book and I plan on making sure I have color copies of some of the pages because I think a few of them are some of my better work. (I love them!) My intentions are for the next few weeks to do one layout every night. I hope I am able to do this. :)

Well, gotta go from now, but until next time....Toodles!

Time Flies When you are having Good Food. LOL

2008-02-18T12:04:00.000-08:00

Well, another weekend has come and gone. I have to admit, I got several more pages done and started several that just need titles made. Didn't take my revolution so I was not able to use my larger letters. I did have fun and enjoyed hanging out with everyone.
Well, I am four weeks into my new challange for myself. I have been working out at least 5 times a week and I have changed my eating habits. I went to the doctors office yesterday to weigh in and I am down 13.5 lbs since a month ago. Very excited. It has kind of energized me to keep going. I can even fit into a few pair of pants that I couldn't wear a before Xmas. Now that is exciting. I have found that I can still eat what I like, but in moderation and by changing a few things, making it healthier for me. Loving it. I do admit that when I have classes after work or don't get home till late, that does challange me to plan ahead and/or make provisions for dinner. If anyone has any good recipes that I can play with and make my own, feel free to e-mail them to me. I would love to tackle a few new ones. I am constantly looking for new recipes on line. I have even started a notebook that I have been putting in recipes that I find on line and enjoy. My favorite so far is spicy tangerine beef. LOVE IT! Second with be the BBQ Pork Tenderloin. YUMMO! I have also found that I love brussel sprouts. I get the single serving size and pop them in the microwave for a quick side dish. Lip smacking good. :)

Well, I guess I have to get back to work now...until next time, Toodles!

48 hours of Scrapbooking Fun!

2008-02-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a great weekend of scrapbooking. 48 hours of nothing but scrapbooking. Who could ask for anything better. Right? LOL. This past weekend, I went to Mentone, AL, Camp Skyline, with 70+ other avid scrapbookers and had a wonderful time. The only down fall this past weekend was my realizing that I WANT A CRICUT! I loved playing with it. Alot of the women there had one and they were so gracious and allowed me to play with it. I loved how one font could go from being one inch to 5 inches. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Quickutz and would never part with them, but having the Cricut as a second diecut machine, that would be AWESOME! I did get some pages done this weekend. I am going to try and take pictures of them and put a few on here in the next few days. I worked with 5 x 7 photos, and some were in black and white. I am really loving the look of black and white photos with the bright vibrant papers that are out there. I even printed out the photos of Lancaster, PA. (Amish Country) in black and white and they looked better that way than when they were in color. My friends Sunny and Sherry also went with me to the retreat and they were great to have there. Sunny is just like her name bright and sunshiney. She just can make anyone feel better. She did some beautiful pages this weekend also. I admit that I think we had more fun playing, meeting new people and trying new things than anything else. Sherry is new to scrapbooking so I am sure she learned alot of new things. I hope that she didn't get to overwhelmed and we will see her back at the retreats again.

This week is a week of catch up. I have to clean my house, do laundry put all my scrapbooking things away. Then on Saturday, I am going to an all day crop at my LSS. I am meeting a few of my friends, Beth and Rachel, there. We should have a bunch of fun because both Beth and Rachel are wonderful people and I just love hanging out with them.

Well, time for me to get to work...so for now...TOODLES!

23 hours and Counting!!!

2008-02-06T13:07:00.000-08:00

Ok, only 23 hours to go before I leave for a weekend Scrapbooking Retreat. I can not wait. Nothing but scrapbooking for 48 hours...what can be better! I am so excited...I spent a little bit of time last night getting things gathered that I am going to take. I felt like I was bringing my whole room with me. You don't want to be caught in a moment of artistic inspiration and not have exactly what you need. That would be a crisis. I will say that I need a 12 step program for all my paper. I admit it, I am a PAPERAHOLIC. That is the first step. To admit the problem. LOL. I don't want to leave any of my paper behind, but if I brought it all, I would have to have another vehicle. LOL

Well, I just wanted to also say that the few changes I have made lately have definitely started to show payoffs...I have lost 8 lbs so far and I am exstatic. I work out almost every night and I just pay attention to what I put in my mouth...and make sure I take my thyroid medicine. Seems to be working! My doctor was happy about this because that means that my thyroid may be regulating. Yeah!!! Over two years of taking meds, getting blood test and retaking blood, and uping dosage of med, may finally be at a break-through. I am so excited. I have not had a soda(Diet Sprite), in over two weeks. I am so proud of myself. I had given up Dark Soda's over a year and a half ago, but I was hanging on to Diet Sprite. I think I decided to make the Diet Sprite something I can have as a treat. For example, this weekend when I go to the retreat. I will probably have Diet Sprite and water, then when I get back, go back to water.

Well, I guess I have to do some work since that is where I am ...have a great weekend...I will definitely blog on Monday to let you know how it went. Until then...Toodles!!!!

Cleaning Maniac...YEAH!

2008-02-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a great weekend! I have to say that I spent most of Saturday, cleaning my house. And by cleaning I mean, I took the refridgerator apart and cleaned it out, cleaned out my bedroom, stripped the bed, moved furniture around and vacuumed, put laundry away, cleaned out my drawers and then finished off by doing a load of dishes. Man, at the end of the day, I felt like I had accomplished something. My house was in a good clean state again! The only thing I knew I would have to tackle on Sunday was to enjoy my clean house. I do have to admit that Mugzy and Cricket really behaved on Saturday and stayed out of my way. I am not sure if it is because I stepped on them a few times or if it was the wonderful chewy bones that I gave them. But either way, they were angels. Got to love that! Yesterday, I went into my craft room several times, tried to get inspired to stamp or scrap and it just wasn't in the cards. I just could not find any inspiration to work from. I am going to a Scrapbooking retreat this coming weekend and I am so excited about it, and I did spend some time trying to decide what to take with me. I am taking a ton of stuff...don't want to be caught without the one thing that you need. Know what I mean? Good thing I have an SUV this year...more room for more stuff. Yeah!!! Tonight I have the scrapbook club at the LSS and I think we are going to work on Layouts. Should be interesting. Waiting till the last minute is not always a good thing. Well, I gotta run, so until next time, Toodles.

FYI

2008-01-31T07:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, talk about not happy, want to let you know that I lost my cell phone yesterday (honestly believe it was stolen), and since calls were being made on it after I lost the phone, I had it turned off. I am hoping that I will have a new phone soon. Until then, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail, a comment on my blog or at the office. Toodles for now. :)

Habits are hard to change!

2008-01-29T14:40:00.000-08:00

Ok, this changing ones habits is a difficult thing to do...trust me, I know! I have been trying to make it a habit of doing this workout video at least every other night, if not every night. That is easier said than done because life seems to interceed. But, I have been very determined and so far I have done pretty darn well. I figure that what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger. Ok, so when I am dead in my grave, please remind me of this. LOL :) I have not taken any time lately to do any stamping or scrapbooking. I think I need to make a bit of time so that I can play with some of the wonderful stamps that I got at Christmas. Well, I just wanted to jot a little something on here today because I have not written in awhile. Hope all is well and until next time...Toodles.

Tuesday Blahs!

2008-01-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a few days since my last post, but I was waiting to see if anything interesting would happen in my life and I have to say that it hasn't. Darn, Shucks. LOL. This weekend was a long one...I helped a very good friend of mine move to her "Dream" home and let me tell you, it is GORGEOUS! I do have to admit though, but it was VERY COLD. My fingers are still defrosting from Saturday. On Sunday, I thought wow, I can actually sleep in...and did I get to sleep in...nope...first, my dogs wouldn't allow it and then when I wanted to go back to sleep, I just couldn't seem to fall back to sleep. Go figure...never fails. I did spend the day doing doing laundry and house cleaning. I did take time to go to the grocery store because I decided I was going to take a crack at making homemade Vegtable Soup. And boy, was it good!!! I loved it..and I was surprised how easy it turned out to be. I think I will have to make some more and put it in the freezer for those night when I need something quick.

Last night was Stamp Club at the LSS (Local Scrapbook Store). It was fun. I taught a tutorial on how to make your images look like they were watercolored and then also how to get multiple colors on your stamps for a different effect. We had fun playing with all the different techniques and all the different stamps.

Well, I just wanted to put a little note on here for today. So until next time, Toodles. :)

Snow in Alabama! BEAUTIFUL!

2008-01-17T06:55:00.000-08:00

Wow, we had snow last night and man, it was beautiful. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a northern girl and I am not new to snow, but I have been living in the south now for four years and I can tell you that I miss the beauty of the stuff. When I got home last night from work, I let the dogs go out in the snow. Cricket ran out in the stuff and started prancing and playing...Mugzy on the other hand took it slow and easy. You would have thought Mugzy had never seen snow before. I remember one year, we were living in NC and I took Cricket and Mugzy out to play in the snow...there was like six to eight inches on the ground, but due to snow drifts, it was higher just outside my apartment, and somehow when I blinked, Cricket managed to disappear. Couldn't find her anywhere. Well, I put Mugzy back in the house and started searching for her. I looked everywhere because Cricket has a tendency to see someone and get run after them. Well, I couldn't find her anywhere....I headed back home and I heard a faint yelp...I called for her and called for her...but didn't see her. My friend Amanda came home by this point and started helping me look for her. We both hear this yelping coming form a huge snow drift. There was also a lot of snow where the drift was because of the snow truck plowing the roads. Well, we went to the drift were the yelping was coming from. We kept calling her name and we kept hearing the yelp. Finally we figured that she had somehow gotten stuck in the snow drift...we had to dig her out and she was soaked and freezing. Needless to say, she was hesitant to go back out in the snow anymore that year...but judging by the way she played yesterday, she didn't seem to remember her traumatic experience.

I took several photos yesterday of the snow and the dogs playing in the snow with my landlords dog, Tyler. Tyler was a wild man in the snow...rolling in it and jumping so it flipped the snow in the air and just running around in circles at a hundred miles an hour. I will try to post the photos this weekend. I am not sure when since I will be helping my friend move and I am sure that will be a two day experience. :)

(I am sad to report that when I woke up this morning, most of the snow was gone. :( The snow turned to rain last night and it washed all the beautiful snow away.)

Have a great day and until next time....Toodles!

What a busy Week!

2008-01-14T09:42:00.000-08:00

This week has been so busy. I have not gotten out of the office before 7pm. That really does make for a long week because you are not getting to do anything that you need to after work. You get home, deal with the four legged children, make dinner, and then, if you are me, you crash in bed. No time to play! :(

This past weekend was fun-filled. On Saturday, I went to an Stampin' Up! Open House and hung out with a friend (Beth) for a few hours while waiting for my other friend (Sunny) to be available to come out and play. Beth and I visited Michael's and Target...fun places to hang out in...(hehehehe). Then Sunny and I went to the Rubber Stamp Lady, the local Scrapbook Store. We had a bunch of fun looking at all the projects that they had going on and all the new things they had gotten in. We then proceeded to go to dinner at Applebee's. We meet her husband and a friend of his. It was fun. We then went and saw The Bucket List. It was very good. I laughed and I cried. (2 Tissue Movie) I have to admit that I was not sure about seeing the movie because I just haven't exactly enjoyed a bunch of Jacks films, but well he was so funny in this movie. Morgan Freeman was fantastic. Great Movie and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Sunday was a computer day. Sunny and her husband, Joe, helped me put the slide shows on my blog and upload a new photo of me. I also go to go and see their new house. Let me tell you that it is BEAUTIFUL! (and I really mean Gorgeous!!!) This weekend we will be moving them into their "Dream Home". It will be a long day, but that is what friends are for!

I am getting ready to go to a Scrapbooking retreat the second weekend in February. I am so excited. I am taking the time to put together page packs that I will work on while I am there. I am also going to be working on a friends baby's scrapbook. She asked me to do one for her and when you see this little girl you too would understand why I couldn't say no. She is just so precious and has the cutest red hair like her mother. I am glad that Sunny is coming to the retreat, because she has offered to help me on this book...Yeah!!!

Well, I guess I better get to work. I hope everyone has a great day. Toodles!

This is not Kansas any More Toto!

2008-01-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

I have to admit...I am not a morning person. I think NOT being able to sleep in late should be illegal. I hate the mornings..6:30 comes very early...even when I am in bed by 10pm...6:30 still comes early. :) I love my pillow and wish I could spend more time with it. LOL. I will admit that I sometimes procrastinate getting out of bed in the mornings. Today was one of those days. We had big storms last night and rain was coming down making sleep easy for me...and this morning...overcast skys didn't help getting up any. My dogs weren't to excited about going outside after last night. With the storms last night, we got big gusts of wind. At one point when the dogs went out last night, Cricket got blown sideways and did a few rolls. After that experience, she came running back in the house and didn't want to go out again. Mugzy is one that doesn't like to get wet...so when he saw the rain he decided that he wasn't going to go out in it. He stood at the bottom of the stairwell, saw how bad it was raining, turned around and came back in the house. I personally was not going to argue with him because I wasn't going to go out in it either. This morning, the rain had stopped but they were still apprehensive about going out...especially Cricket. I guess I can't blame her.

Last night I also got to play with some of my new stamps. I was having a bunch of fun. I am playing with some of my new Purple Daisy Design Stamps (the cow and daisy's),my prisma pencils and gamasol. They are turning out pretty good. I can't wait to start cutting them out and placing them on a card. I am hoping it turns out well. I will try to get a picture of it up on here soon. I am also working on doing some scrapping. I have a baby book for a friend that I am working on, I have a Disney book that I am working on and I have a ton of photos of my niece and nephew that I am working on. Then, to top it off…I took about 500 photos this past Christmas that I want to get scrapped soon also. I am so glad that I am going to be going to a Retreat in February where all we will be doing for three days is scrapbooking. YES!!!

Well, that is all for today...until next time...Toodles!

Where oh where has my Mugzy Gone....

2008-01-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

Boy, being gone for two weeks can take a toll on your house. I didn't realize how much would need to be done when I got home. I had to clean my craft room. Done. Clean my bedroom..oh so not done, unpack, not completely finished, clean the kitchen, not completely finished and clean the bathroom...oh that is so not done either. I think I need to get on the ball very soon. I also believe that while I was gone, the body snatchers came and stole my dog and replaced him with a clone. My Mugzy is so not acting like the dog that I left. When I left, my dog would never wander to far from me and usually could be found within petting distance of me. Now...he is usually in another room. The other night I couldn't find him in all the usual spots so I had to pretend to get food out of the cabinet for him, so that he would come out of his hiding spot. He was under my bed. NEVER did he used to do that. Also, when he goes outside now, he had to investigate the entire yard, drink out of the bird bath...that I had just gotten him to stop doing..try to get in my landlords house, which I had just gotten him to stop doing...and he just lingers...he doesn't even come when treats are offered. I am not sure if he is just being defiant because he is mad at me or if he is just testing me...either way, I want my old Mugzy back...:(

Well, this Christmas, I was able to add a new giraffe to my collection. My sister and her family gave me a gorgeous one carved out of wood. He looks fabulous on my table. What did you all get for Christmas? Send me a quick comment about what fabulous things Santa brought to you. Hope you have a great day and until next time...Toodles.

Yeah! My first Blog Post!

2008-01-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to start this blog. I have been wanting to do this for so long now. I hope that in the near future that I will be able to add photos and other features, but for right now I am just happy to start jotting down things going on and happening in my world.

I just got back from a great two week vacation up home. Home for me would be in Northern Virginia/DC/Maryland Area. I got to spend time with my niece and nephew, who mean the world to me. My niece, who is three and a half, and I played dress-up quiet a bit. Last year for Christmas I got her this huge rubbermaid bin of dress up clothes and we love to dig into it and get all dressed up. My nephew is getting so big. He is going to be two in March and boy, is he a ham. I could just eat him up. We spent a morning together just the two of us and we had a bunch of fun. He is talking alot more and I actually picking up on words. My favorite that he says is Cookie and Ball.

While I was up there, my Aunt and I went up to Pennsylvania and went to a few Stamp and Scrapbook Stores. Our first stop was located in Greencastle, PA and is called the Stampin' Station or Purple Daisy. She has some of the most beautiful stamps. Of course I had to purchase a few, but I also took several photos of her art work...and let me tell you...are they ever beautiful! I was in awwww. We then traveled on to Lancaster, PA where we went to a Scrapbook store called Farmhouse Memories and a Stamping Store called Rocky Hill Stamp Store. The later of the two was a store run by an Amish family. They were the most pleasant and helpful family. The store is family run, but the mom does the business end while the two girls are the creative juice behind the store. I will admit that the store was bit chilly since the only electricity that is used is for the cash register and the fax machine, but the warmth of the family well made up for it. We spent some time just sight seeing and we took a buggy ride through the Amish Country and I have to admit that it got a bit chilly. The landscape was beautiful...but my camera just didn't capture that because it was overcast and hazy. I am hoping that photoshop will assist in fixing the photos.

Yesterday, my awesome friend Sunny came over and she helped me get my scrapbooking room back in order. We pulled everything out and re-organized, moved things around and made things more user friendly. I have all my table tools like my cuttle bug, my revolution, my circle cutters, my Quickutz, and my large Xyron all out on a table, my paper is in a more viewable and useable place and things are all put in better storage componant. I am so excited about this change that I am going to spend this evening in there creating....Yeah!

Well, my first post is going to come to an end and I will post again soon with a few more details of my awesome vacation very soon. I hope to have a few photos that I can include in the near future. Until next time, toodles.