Amber's 365

Its 11-11-11

2011-11-11T01:11:00.001-07:00

Thank you Beverly at Be Glorious for a wonderful blogging opportunity.
A great day for those who get into dates, I for one probably would not have noticed except for the fact that it seems that everybody is talking about it. I worked with a nurses aide a few years ago that really wanted to have her first baby on 6-7-08 but she ended up having him on 6-8-08 and was so happy that his last number rhymed with his name Nate. But in honor of the date, I decided to go with 11 of my favorite photos from 2011. It has been a busy year, Camping in Colorado, and California we live in Utah. Trips to Disneyland x2( if you count next weeks trip), Las Vegas and China, knee surgery again and with that a visit from Mom which was great.
Also today in the United States it is Veterans day and I want to honor four of the very special men in my family that have served our country. I am not the worlds biggest patriotic person but I do think that these men and the service they have given are special. 3 of them served in WWII and are some of the greatest men I knew save for my father and husband, and my cousin who is still serving in the Navy to all of you and my friend Destiny and her husband who were in Yugoslavia thank you!

Sunset at Mesa Verde, Colorado

Rachel and her Gramie.

My parents and brother taking in the sun? Oregon coast.

Old building with sunflowers in the fog, California

Rachel on the Oregon coast

Abby in the river camping, I did not get many photos of her face this year. A challenge I will take on for next year for sure.

Brittany in the river camping

Three wise men, statues in Xi'an China

Kai a self portrait

Disney California Adventure

City wall Xi'an, lantern festival

These may not be my best photos of the year but they do the best job of telling a story to me when I look at them.

Next in this blog event is 11 things I want to accomplish in 2011
1. Finish my Ethics class
2. Start the next class in my Masters program
3. See the Ocean (take an Oregon girl away from the beach for too long and she gets home sick)
4. Spend more time having fun with the kids
5. Cook more meals at home, we have become lazy and eat out way to often
6. Mail Brittany's presents to China
7. Send off Rachel's application for her passport, and take her to pick up her drivers permit
8. Decorate the house for Christmas this is one I am looking forward too
9. Fold the laundry when it is first dry, I have a terrible habit of letting the clean clothes pile up on the dryer.
10. Spend more time crafting
11. Spend less time on the computer.

11 things I have learned in 2011
1. Durango Colorado is not as close as it looks on a map
2. I enjoyed visiting China it was something I was not really looking forward to, now I can not wait to go back
3. Third time might be a charm for my right knee but I am not going to test that theory
4. Rachel le wee is a good driver but she still makes me nervous
5. 3 dogs is more work than 2
6. If you do not see the humor in things you will go crazy, i.e. Kai outside in 32 degree weather without pants, and the following visit from the city police.
7. There is a thing as too much work
8. The kids seem to need me more as they get older even if they do not seem to think they do.
9. I take much better photos of things than people, but that the people mean the most
10. I still love living in Utah
11. Family camping trips are stressful, but when I look back all I remember is the fun parts.

Thank you Beverly for this opportunity for a special post in honor of this once in a lifetime day.

10 on the 10th

2011-11-10T00:05:00.001-07:00

10 little things I am loving this month
1. These planners from Erin Condren, got one for my self and one as a Christmas present they are so cute and appear very sturdy too, love the extra gift tags that came with them also. Planners

2. Project Life I really want to get this for 2012, with only 2 full years with the three youngest at home I really feel the need to do this. http://www.beckyhiggins.com/products/

3. The Bo Bunny Father Christmas Paper, I have all the paper I need for this Christmas but I still find myself drooling over this paper. Bo Bunny Father Christmas

4. These stamps by Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday, can not wait for them to get here so that I can use them in my Journal Your Christmas album. December Daily Stamps

5. My Washi tape order from here Cute Tape It came Tuesday and I just love it and have used it so far to cover some hearts for my JYC album that I have been prepping the last couple of days. This is the set I got but there is so much here to chose from I am afraid that I could go crazy shopping here.

6. Disneyland ok so it is not small but we are going in a week and I can not wait to play in the sun for a few days, no work, no chores just time to enjoy being with the kids and playing.

7. The anticipation of starting this class at Jessica Sprague. The projects look beautiful and I think that both Heidi Swapp and Jessica Sprague are wonderful teachers.

8. My new camera I finally decided that it was time to get a DSRL now I can take good pictures. Not great but better although I still find myself reaching for my phone more than the big camera which goes to prove that the best camera is the one that you have with you. I got mine from QVC but you can find it here too. Canon T3

9. These pinwheels I made for Brittany's 25 days of Christmas box. They use paper from last winter by Echo Park but I am loving the non traditional Christmas colors.

10. These Dala horse ornaments from World Market, we used to have 2 little and 2 big ones when I was a child that came out every Christmas they were always one of my favorite Christmas decorations. I was very excited when I found these.

well until next month, I hope that you enjoy 10 of my favorite things this 10th of November. Here is a link to Shimelle's blog where you can find many more 10 on the 10th lists. Shimelle's Blog

Getting Started JYC 2011

2011-11-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

I always have the best intentions of doing a December Daily/Journal Your Christmas Album. I have made albums before, I have half way finished albums before and I have skipped it all together before also. But this year I really wanted to do something that was prepared in advance and would be easy to use every day. I work 12 hour night shifts so on the days I work just getting a photo and a bit of journaling done is all I can manage so I knew that I had better get going, plus what a better way to avoid writing an Ethics Paper for my Masters Class or cleaning house right. So I went shopping, I shopped Etsy, I shopped 2peasinabucket.com I shopped A Cherry on Top, I shopped Technique Tuesday and I shopped my stash. I looked at Ali Edwards foundation pages and I wished I lived in the UK so that I could have gotten the lovely kit put together by Shimelle in full. In the end I ended up with a stack of patterned paper that was almost an inch thick. So I had to edit thanks to Skype and my bbf I got the stack of pretty papers down to about 30 sheets. Then I needed so inspiration so I read posts on 2peas in a bucket, and the 2010 forum for JYC, I watched Youtube videos and I came up with a plan. I already had the album I started last year, never got further then than the front cover and even it was not finished, so I finished it. It came with 6 8x8 chipboard pages, I also have 6 6x6 chipboard pages, and in my stash I found some 8x8 divided page protectors. So that is what I am going with. As of this morning I have finished the first 2 pages and the cover of the album, except for the numbers since I am still waiting for my 2011 stamps to come from Technique Tuesday.
So here is my beginning to JYC 2011. I will use the tags for photos or journaling when the time comes and the date will go on the circles that look pretty empty right now.

Washi Tape

2011-11-02T04:21:00.000-06:00

I have fallen in love with this stuff and found the cutest set for my Journal Your Christmas Project this year.
Cute Washi Tape
I wish I could just post a picture of it but since I am at work it will not let me. Anyway I can not wait for it to come so I can get to work on my December/Christmas Album. The kids are almost grown and I really want to document this year with all of the littles still home.

Thankful Thoughts-Thanks Ali Edwards

2011-10-21T05:00:00.003-06:00

I came across these on Ali Edwards blog this evening and thought what a great idea, random thankful thoughts. I thought I might be a little more purposeful with mine and try and do one a week till the end of the year and post them on Fridays, as these tend to be a busy day around our house and not much time for crafting is available.
My first thankful thought is of my Mom, she is my rock. The person that taught me to be who I am. She is there when I need her and also knows how to give enough space that I never feel crowded or overwhelmed by her attentions. She believes in me, for which I am truly thankful. She is a great Grandma to my kids, teaching them things that I would never think of but that are truly important in life, like how to garden and sew a hem. She has instilled in my my life long love of reading and learning for which I am grateful for.

On another note I would love to share a link to my daughters blog, she is living and working in China for the second year as an elementary school teacher and I am so proud of her.
Brittany's Blog
Here is a picture of Brittany standing on the Great Wall of China in Dandong, during my Feb. 2011 visit.

2011-10-19T17:18:00.000-06:00

Today we were challenged to make kits out of paper we had based on background colors and then to create layouts that contained no trapped white space with these paper kits. I must say it was hard to find papers with white backgrounds in my stash. I seem to have a lot of them that are based on cream colored backgrounds. I did find that I had more brights than I thought I did which is a good thing as far as I am concerned because brights make me happy. It might be fall outside but that does not mean that I need to scrap with only browns and oranges right?
Here are my three sets of patterned papers, and the layouts I did with them. I decided to not use any card stock at all for these layouts, mostly because I am lazy and I did not want to go out into the garage and find any.

Bountiful Baskets

2011-10-19T00:14:00.000-06:00

I know that this is something that I should have posted in July when we were getting these wonderful weekly packages of produce from bountiful baskets but I never did get around to it.
I really enjoy fresh produce, having grown up on a mini farm in Oregon I am sure that I did not know that peas can frozen from the store until I was in High School My mom was a great gardener and all of our meals always contained fresh or freshly canned fruits and veggies that we had grown ourselves.
Well as an adult I have never had the land to go the veggies that my mom did but I did discover a wonderful way to get fresh fruits and seasonal vegetables into the house on a weekly basis. Bountiful Baskets is a great food co-op that provides the best of the best on a weekly basis. My only problem with them has been that the pick up is on Saturday mornings and it is hard to get there after a 12 hour night shift, but I do try to get a basket on the weeks that I am not working.
Why you ask am I posting about this today, well there was an email from them in my inbox today that said this
"Dear Amber,

We suggested on Facebook tonight that it might be fun to connect a few families with a dietitian to help them use their Bountiful Basket to give their diet an overhaul to meet their health goals. The families and dietitians will all blog about their experiences so the rest of us can learn some new tricks and hopefully get healthier and more motivated as we watch their success. Hundreds of families responded that they would love to do this. We realized we needed a better way to select who would be the lucky families!

If you are interested please follow the link, and fill out the survey. We hope to get this going by November.

Best,
Sally & Tanya"
and it really got me thinking what a great opportunity this would be for all of us. Rachel as an average teenager could use some healthy eating tips, Abby and I could both use to eat better and loose some weight and as a pre-diabetic it is very important for me to do so, and I would love to be able to have a dietician work with Kai and see what part diet plays in his autism.
I know that it is a long shot that I would be one of the chosen families but this is something that has gotten me very excited.
Here are a couple of pictures I took of one of our wonderful baskets this summer.

Pretty Paper Party

2011-10-17T22:40:00.001-06:00

I have more pretty patterned paper than I know what to do with, so I thank one of my favorite online if not my favorite online teachers Shimelle for offering this class. I really look forward to using up some of my stash and getting some nice layouts and cards done. I have been really bad about scrapbooking this year but that does not mean that I have stopped collecting. Here are a few pics of my patterned paper stash that I took for the first challenge of this course.

Explore and perfection

2011-07-22T09:16:00.000-06:00

I of course could not blog yesterday about perfection because that would have been what I should have been doing for this class, but I did make a post in class and it seems to me that it sums up my feelings about perfection perfectly. So here it is and those of you that are in Shimelle's class that have read it I am sorry for the fact that you are reading the same thing twice.

Was thinking on perfect all day, never got to my photo because I could not get the perfect shot, never got to the blog because I did not have the perfect words. Never got to a scrapbook page because there was not the perfect paper. But in reality I know that nothing man made is ever perfect, we are good, we are even great but we are not perfect and I rarely strive to be. Just ask my kids I am far from the perfect mom or the perfect cook or housekeeper. But on the way out the door looking over my not so perfect yard thinking I needed to weed badly there was a beautiful perfect flower, not any flower mind you but a thistle and in its tenacious hold to be where it should not be I did realize and think that nature is pretty perfect after all.

How do I do this from my iPad

2011-04-23T02:56:00.001-06:00

I love this thing and am hoping that it will help me with my studies, for those of you that do not know I went back to school April 1st to get my masters in nursing leadership and management.  I also want to keep my blog current to help me remember my time in school the first time around 20 years ago seems like such a blur, maybe that is because I had 2 small children and all I did was be a mom and a student.  This time around I am still a mom but also have a full time job that I love.  Abby my youngest is now home schooled so I am hoping that we can get some time to study together.

This is Bri in China when I visited her in Feb, we are hoping that I can take the girls there in October for the National Day holiday.
Ok well enough rambling I am going to go back to work/studying and hope that this works and I can start blogging again.

reading lisr for the 3rd week of Jan 2011,

2011-01-15T18:48:00.001-07:00

What are you reading this week?

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More Abby and the Tree!

2010-12-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

Abby showing off the Christmas tree. She helped to pick most of the ornaments and to decorate it. Today she made me wrap presents in color coordinated paper to go under it.

All that glitters

2010-12-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

This year the tree is very themed. Red white and sliver with Swedish straw ornaments because the traditional Christmas ornaments are burried someplace in the garage and it is a hazard to even look for them. I like this tree but not as much as the one with all the stuff that means something to me.

Space

2010-12-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

Topping the Tree

2010-12-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

Abby always wants a star on the tree, this one she picked out at Ikea in early October and has been waiting to place on the tree since then. She did not even have to fight Rachel for the honor this year.

First Snow!

2010-10-25T18:23:00.001-06:00

I just love snow. I know that there are many people that hate it bit I am just not one of them. The first snowfall of the year always makes me feel like a kid again.

What is this you might ask, well it is a journal with a pretty cover. Why you might ask well because the new class at www.Shimelle.com started today and it is all about journaling.

True Stories

2010-10-24T19:57:00.001-06:00

Yes I am taking another online classes by Shimelle . I know that I did not finish the last one but I am addicted to her classes and if you took one you might be too. Here is info on the latest class that starts tomorrow 10/25/2010
True Stories Video.
So please join me for the fun and lets start journaling our stories together.

I also want to say thank you to Simply Obsessed for the wonderful online crop that they held this weekend, lots of fun games and great challenges. I finished 6 new layouts which for me is more than I have done all year. Here are my favorites of the weekend.

And the winner is!

2010-10-21T06:18:00.000-06:00

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 2
Congratulations Lori send me your email address and I will get you your prize.
Thank you to everybody for your lovely comments.

My very first GIVEAWAY!

2010-10-15T17:43:00.000-06:00

Well as some of you may know I have started K12 with Abby instead of the local middle school. I feel that this will hold both of us more accountable for her education and hey she can do it sitting on a bar stool in the family room or the dinning room table. So far her favorite place to learn is a couch in the living room. I like this too as it is a very long couch and we can both curl up on it and read or work on math together.
Fall is deffinately in the air here, and luckly we got the heater fixed just in time since there has been frost on the ground the last 4 nights.
Now to the giveway-I have been given the opportunity to giveaway a $35.00 gift certificate to CSN Stores who could not use a little retail therapy?
So post a comment on the blog by 10/20/2010 at midnight MST and I will draw a winner.
The only catch to this is that you must live in the US or Canada to be eligible for the drawing.

Catching up on Picture Fall

2010-10-10T19:34:00.000-06:00

Just a few photos from this last weeks Picture Fall Class. I am loving being caught up this far into the class.

Cricut Swarm

2010-10-09T17:28:00.002-06:00

Fun but poorly managed I could not hear the teachers all day. We did make this cute little treat bag with Cosmo Cricket.

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Yesterday's Peaches

2010-10-07T17:00:00.000-06:00

Well this is what happened to some of the peaches. But I forgot to sugar them. Added a little ice cream an all was well.

Picture Fall day 6

2010-10-06T22:32:00.000-06:00

We have a ton of peaches so what better to use for a monochromatic picture? Love the reds, yellow and oranges in the peach. Now what to do with them?

Picture Fall Day #4

2010-10-04T08:58:00.000-06:00

Today we were to capture morning light, luckly for me the girls left the man open and the light hit him just right,

a simple card can make someones day.

2010-09-26T17:30:00.001-06:00

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Even if my life seems stationary the seasons still change.

2010-09-22T13:40:00.001-06:00

Having been inside on my back for most of the last month it seems hard to believe we have gone from summer to fall. I wish my leg would hurry up and heal so that I can enjoy my favorite part of the year.

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Cricut Imagine

2010-09-18T02:37:00.000-06:00

I have come to learn that I should not watch scrapping shows on TV late at night. On Tuesday Provo Craft launched the Cricut Imagine. There was no way I was even interested in this thing I thought, what about my old die cutters, the Big Shot, My Expression, my even older Xyron that never did work right and the even older Zag. Why would I need a printer and a die cutter combined? Well of course when you are injured (I am recovering from major knee surgery) and bored shopping is on of the few thrills you have. So I ordered it. It has a 30 return policy I think, in 30 days I will be back at work, so if I do not like it it can go back. I love it. I do not think I will be sending this back. The ability to use your older Cricut carts and fill them in and cut out the layers is amazing, it is easy to use and the Imagine cuts better than my expression ever did. So I guess it might be here to stay.
Here is a card I made tonight using the Imagine and the carts that came with it from HSN.

LSNED September 17

2010-09-17T23:33:00.003-06:00

Today I learned how to use the Cricut Imagine. Normally I would not spend this kinda money on crafting but this machine can do so much. I think I am in love with it.

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follow doctors orders

2010-09-11T17:24:00.001-06:00

when they say no weight bearing they mean it.

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when nobody will cook for you delivery pizza is fabulous.

2010-09-07T19:22:00.001-06:00

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i learned today that the ice machine is my best friend.

2010-09-03T21:56:00.001-06:00

It maybe a little noisy but it sure does cut down in the pain. Wish I had one for both knees instead of just the right.

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September 1st and it is Time for LSNED

2010-09-01T18:37:00.000-06:00

I can not wait to get back into scrapbooking, over the last 2 days I have gotten a desk and some supplies in this little room. I do not have everything that I am used to but that is ok. I am learning to deal with less and that is good. Actually I guess that is my lesson for 9/1/10. Scheduled for surgery on my knee tomorrow which has me a little worried, last time I had surgery things did not turn out so well I am really hoping that they go better this time.

A new class at Shimelle.com starting September 1

2010-08-28T09:40:00.000-06:00

I am so excited for this class to start, I did it last year and just loved it although I still need to bind my book. This year I am going to be having knee surgery on September 2nd so I do not think that I will get alot of paper scrapping done, but am hoping to do digital and my blog because I am sure I am going to be learning alot especially about PT as the month goes on. It is fun to look forward to something in September as the kids head back to school, they started on Thursday and the house felt so empty without them.

fx camera

2010-07-24T06:58:00.001-06:00

a new toy on my Droid. So much fun to play around with but I am sure the people at work think I am crazy.

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Started a New Class at Shimelle.com today

2010-07-06T18:23:00.003-06:00

I am so excited to be taking a class again. I love that it is part photos and part scrapping. Hopefully I will get out my scrap stuff from the move and get to work.
Here are a couple of pics I took today for the class. These were the only flowers in my yard. Last week I had lovely Irises but they have all dried up now.

puppies

2010-07-06T12:21:00.001-06:00

Daisy and her babies. They will be ready for new homes in 4 weeks.

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ON THE WAY HOME

2010-07-06T00:21:00.000-06:00

Grand Tetons

2010-07-02T21:17:00.001-06:00

Using up my stash

2010-03-29T18:28:00.000-06:00

It felt so good to finally scrap again today. Using up stash is one of the great joys in life even if it is only a small amount.

I love Spring

2010-03-28T18:21:00.000-06:00

This is the pic I ment to post

2010-03-27T20:14:00.000-06:00

It is so fun when they want their pics taken.

2010-03-27T20:06:00.000-06:00

A New Online Class!

2010-03-13T01:51:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to be taking this new class from Shimelle. Tomorrow I will be taking some pics of my stash and posting them and you will understand my excitement. I need to use this up and the more I use the less I have to move which as far as I am concerned is a great thing.

Another 5 years ago today post

2009-12-04T17:01:00.001-07:00

Molly and her kids came over to help us decorate the christmas tree if I remeber correctly great time was had by all but Avery who fell asleep very early and did not get to help with much but I am sure he did get to eat at couple of cookies before he crashed.

Christmas Cookie Blog Swap Hop

2009-11-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from my dear friend Elannah and it makes the best Biscotti, this cookie has quickly become a Christmas favorite at our house and I truely hope you like it.
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup whole unblanched almonds
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 tsp grated orange rind
1 egg white, lightely beaten

In large bowl, combine flour and baking powder; stir in almonds. Whisk
together eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract and orange rind;
stir into flour mixture until soft, sticky dough forms.
Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface; with hands, form into
smooth ball. Divide in half; roll each into 12 inch long log. Transfer
to ungreased baking sheet.
Brush tops with egg white; bake in 350 degree F oven for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool on sheet on rack for 5 minutes.
Transfer each log to cutting board' with sharp knife, cut diagonally
into 3/4 inch thick slices. Stand cookies upright on baking sheet'
bake for 20 to 25 minutes longer or until golden. Remove biscotti to
rack and let cool. Biscotti can be stored in airtight container for up
to 2 weeks. Makes about 24 cookies.

While I was making these my dd Abby found some Madeline tins that I got at a garage sale years ago. I have never made cookies in them though. But she wanted me to make some so off to the internet I went for a recipe and this is what I found.
MADELINES

Printed from COOKS.COM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/2 lb. cake flour
1/2 lb. sugar
5 eggs
1/2 lb. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 340 degrees.
2. Melt 1/2 pound butter over hot water (or by microwave).
3. Sift flour and sugar to bowl.
4. Add 5 eggs, stirring well to blend.
5. Add melted butter from step 2 and vanilla extract. Blend well.
6. Let stand about 1 hour.
7. Pour batter into buttered madeline pans.
8. Bake 15-20 minutes.
They turned out really well and Rachel and Sierra really liked them alot and Kai loved the cookie dough, so much that the second half of the batch never got made.

The next stop on the hop is Kat who I am sure has a fab recipe for you to try out. I plan on making all of these cookies on this train some time during the holiday season, you never know what is going to be your new family fav.
Amber

5 years Ago

2009-11-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

Not to the exact day but in November we were dog sitting Molly while Mom was in Paris(lucky Mom) and decided to go to the beach. I sure wish we lived just an hours drive from the beach now. I love these pics of the kids and dogs playing on the Jetty in Florence because of the happy memories that they bring back to me.

What says Christmas to me

2009-11-29T23:35:00.002-07:00

Cookies and nothing says Christmas cookies more than these tins. That my mom used to store cookies in when I was a little girl. Christmas cookie baking would start in late October and the cookies would all go into these tins to wait until Christmas. You can imagine how happy I was to find some of these tins in my garage after our last move, they still have the tape on them that my Mom wrote what type of cookie was in what tin. I hope that these tins stay in the family filled with cookies for many more years to come.
Join me on December 1st when I join the Christmas Cookie Swap Blog Train for lots of yummy cookie recipes to share with your family.

Oh and since this one had the store name still intact I looked up the store Collin Street Bakery and it is still in business. I remember the very best fruitcake coming once a year to my Mom in these tins from her Aunt and Uncle.

Advent Calendars

2009-11-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl we used to have this great Advent Calendar that was shaped like an angel. We used it every year until it just fell apart when I was about 12 or so. As a mom I feel like I have not been as good at teaching my children the meaning of advent as my mom was. We always so looked forward to the little door to open and the story that would go with the picture. I am trying this year with my own advent calendar that will not be filled with just goodies but with nice things to do for other family members and the neighbors. I went with a cute stocking theme to make mine, but also spent lots of time on 2peasinabucket.com and Etsy.com looking at others advent calendar ideas. Here are 5 of my favorites from Etsy.com.

Unfortunately since I have to work out of town the first 3 days of the month mine will not go up untill the 4th, but I can not wait to start a new/old family tradition for my children.

I miss these people!

2009-11-28T02:39:00.000-07:00

Got to love facebook and the pics you find there. Here is the rest of the family clelbrating Thanksgiving at home in Oregon. I sure wish I had been there with them.

A couple more Gratitude LO's

2009-11-24T23:50:00.000-07:00

With out my computer or scrap stuff half the week it is hard to keep this up on a daily basis but here are a couple of gratitude LO's that I have gotten done this week.

Christmas Cookie Blog HOP!

2009-11-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

On December 1st I will be participating in a Christmas Cookie Blog hop with these other great bakers and bloggers. So please come back then and get some great Christmas baking ideas.

Here’s the list of blog hop participants:

http://loishouston.typepad.com/thoughts ... s-highway/
http://www.scatteredpoppies.com/
http://www.littlelifeofscrap.blogspot.com/
http://web.me.com/xnomads
http://www.evalyn.typepad.com/
http://mypixelatedoasis.blogspot.com/
http://livelifeandscrapit.wordpress.com/
http://www.beglorious.blogspot.com/
http://www.deanabirks.com/
http://mylifesingredients.blogspot.com/
http://purplecrazymum.blogspot.com/
http://www.cupcakequeenworld.blogspot.com/

North again!

2009-11-23T06:21:00.000-07:00

Well Monday morning and I am heading north again. I sure miss the kids but I do really like the job so it is worth it. I am hoping for a little snow this time.
I spent the day working on my display clipboard for Jessica Spragues Holidays in Hand class and finally came up with something I like. I also decided to do digi for the layouts and journalling and so was playing around with the lovely digital goodies that we recieved in the class.

Here is my clipboard and my digital LO that is just waiting for a pic from the first day of December. I am not usually a digital scrapper but I wanted something I could work on without making a mess and that would be different than my December Daily Album.

Getting Ready for Advent

2009-11-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

Last year I made the cutest advent calendar filled it with chocolate and Kai ate them all before the month even started plus he ruined the little boxes, so this year it is little stockings that will have flat gifts and or a fun PIF for the kids to do on the days that I am working in Park City and not home here in St. George. I am having so much fun making these little stockings that I just had to share the first 5 with you.

On another note my sister and I are going to go see New Moon this evening and I am so excited.

I had such a great time with the blog around the world and am looking forward to December 1st when a bunch of us from Shimelles class are doing a Christmas Baking Blog Hop.

Blog around the world

2009-11-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

I will probably be driving from Park City Utah to St. George Utah when this goes live but I can not wait to get home and look at the view from everybody's window. I think that this is going to be so much fun. I also can not wait to get home, scrap and spend time with my kids. 4 days is too many to be gone from them. Here is 2 views from my windows in Herber City which is where I am staying till we can find a house in Park City closer to my job.

Today is the day

2009-11-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that I leave my warm cozy St. George home and head up north for a new adventure and a new job in Park City. The kids will not be joining me until after Christmas so it is very bitter sweet, but they got a good send off, fresh juice and warm cinnimon(never can spell that word) rolls this morning. I am grateful that I have a sister in town that is willing to watch after them so that they do not have to be pulled from school in the middle of the year.

Holidays in Hand starts today!

2009-11-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

I had almost forgotten that I had signed up for this class at Jessica Sprague.com Holidays in Hand. It is a week long class and as such I should be able to handle it although my class work will have to be done mostly here on the blog because as of tomorrow I will be working in Park City and living the rest of my life 5 hours away in St. George. Since it is a good career move I am happy but it does leave me without a computer 3 days a week and without paper scrapping supplies at both places as I have packed up most of it.
Todays assingment was to list our goals now I am not sure if these are holiday goals or goals for the class but I am going with holiday goals.
1. I want to remember the holidays as they happen
2.I want to spend more time making the holidays special not buy what I buy but by what we do to celelbrate them.
3. I want traditions that are ours, not ones just that I have brought forward from my parents. Does anybody really need 10 types of scandinavian and german christmas cookies. What about Christmas cupcakes? or something else the kids find more fun to eat and make.
4. I want to buy less, and not feel guilty about it.
5. I want more famly time and less time worrying about making things look perfect for those looking in from the outside.
6. I want a white Christmas-Park City in my rented room with all of us together sounds perfect to me.

THAW LO's

2009-11-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

I love a challenge and this month the challenge is 2 a week at Willow Traders, now I do more than 2 a week with the blogging class and the gratitude album but I love the challenges put forth at willow traders so I do them too, plus they are LO's for my regular albums and as such are full sized which I seem to have a harder time doing lately than mini albums.The challenges for this week were a gift and something that is beautiful to you.

This hat was one of my favorite gifts to buy of all time, a pink sparkley cowboyhat what could be better, plus Rachel loved it so much that year.

Is so beautiful to me, as the journaling says I do not get to see it as much as I would like since she is now a teenager but at least I have pics like this to look back on and that make me smile.

A few LO's that I have completed this week.

2009-11-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

Ok so I have not finished the journaling on this one but I have been pretty distracted this week with changing jobs and the like so I have a few LO's that will need to be journaled on this winter when times are quieter.

Another LO just waiting for journaling. I love the friendship that these 2 have and that they are rarely apart.

My gratitude LO foFriday it was such a pleasure to wake up to the rain

My Gratitude LO from Wednesday. Thursday did not get a layout this week just not enough time.

5 on Friday

2009-11-13T06:52:00.000-07:00

My 5 most visited websites according to google chrome-I love that it saves a screen shot of the pages that I visit the most.
1. Shimelle's forum I am sure this is because of the class I am taking blogging for scrapbookers but I also am in love with her blog and you must try her cupcake recipes.http://www.shimelle.com/
2.http://www.willowtraders.com/ one of my favorite groups of people on the web. They are a great bunch that is truely a family of over 5000. What started out as a way to trade scrapbook kits has turned into a full service website with a great caring group of people and yes they still sell and trade scrapbook kits.
3.http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ Ok what can I say, this is the biggest scrapbooking site on the wed and I spend way to much time here looking through the gallery and reading the NSBR board hoping for a laugh or two, you can ask the peas anything and you will get an answer.
4. http://www.facebook.com/home.php my way of staying connected with my friends and family. I love that my nieces, sister, brother, best friend from grade school and current scrapping friends are all in one easy to love place. I have stopped playing games here as I found they were eating up to much time but once in a while somebody I know will stop by and water my farm for me.
5. http://www.ikeagoddess.blogspot.com/ I am a sucker for a good freebie and she takes all the work out of finding the best digital scrapbooking freebies on the web for me.
So those are my 5 most visited websites of the week next week I hope to list 5 favorite Etsy shops so if you have any you think I should check out please send me a link.

Fun and themes

2009-11-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ok so the last 2 days of Shimelles class kinda have me stumped, I mean I should be able to blog, or scrapbook about FUN right. I mean why else scrap if it is not fun, of course it is but yesterday I could not come to the conculsion that it was ok to scrap about scrapping and so I was stuck, I could not blog I could not scrap. Ok so I finally did a LO about FUN and Disneyland, but of course that seems so cliche of course Disneyland is fun and our last trip there was really not that fun at least for me. 4 sets of teenager hormones had me wanting to go find a place to hide under a rock. So I really could not post that LO because I did not think it worthy of the class. Silly me of course any creative endever is what I am aiming for so I am not going to let that stop me in the future. Then todays prompt came, patterns well anybody that knows me knows that my life is anything but ordered, I mean except for getting up and going to work in the mornings any thing can happen on any day of the week. Such is the joy of living with 3 children and 2 dogs that are anything but predicatble, throw in a sister 3 dogs and 3 horses and life is chaotic at best. So maybe I need some order one thing besides work that I can fall back on a regular basis and maybe my blog is a place for that to happen, so starting tomorrow at least for the next month I will have 5 on Fridays. 5 of my favorite things to do, see, use maybe even a Christmas cookie recipe or two. I will see how much I like introducing a little structure into my chaotic life, and hey if it can work on a blog maybe it will work with chores to( well a Mom can hope right).

Why?..............................

2009-11-10T08:03:00.001-07:00

This is the question I get asked on a daily basis. Why do I have to unload the dishwasher why do I have to take the dogs out, why does Rachel not have to do the above mentioned tasks. Why are we eating that, doing this. I get so tired of answering the whys but then again if we do not question we can not learn. So when the girls asked why it was taking so long to get to Park City on Saturday I told them it was because we were taking the scenic route, now I guess at 11 and 13 that is akin to torture so for the rest of the trip I had to hear about WHY the scenic route was stupid, dumb and had no good stores on it. Well I promised them that day that I would not do it again, but then this morning while pondering todays class leason and looking over pictures of the trip I came across this one that one of them had taken out of the window when we were driving and I had an answer to why we took the scenic route. Also I hate to break promises girls but we will be taking the scenic route again, maybe not this year but it will happen because I like pictures like this and the memories that they will one day hold for you too. So the answer to WHY? is truely because I say so.

It has been harder keeping up 2 projects at the same time than I thought it would be but I am managing. It is also hard to get good photos of LO's when it is dark when I go to work and dark when I get home. Oh well winter does not last forever.

Goals

2009-11-09T05:49:00.000-07:00

What are my current goals right now, I truely am not sure sometimes I feel like not setting goals because I do not like to fail and I am not good at follow through. But then I thought about it some more and told myself why do they have to be big goals, why not take something small for your first public goal setting and things got more managable from that point of view.
One of the things that I love to do is spend time outdoors with the kids but as they have gotten older it is not as frequent that we just go to the park or for a walk. But yesterday afternoon everybody was just doing nothing and I suguested a walk down by the river, to my suprise they all jumped at this, even Kai and off we went for a walk along the breams. They also had to stop and play at the gyro park, even though they are really too big for the equipment there they had a blast.
So my goal for today is to spend more time outdoors with the kids. They might be teenagers but they still like to play they just kinda have to be told it is ok to do so.

I did not post the pages from my daily gratitude album over the weekend so here they are.

A productive scrapping weekend!

2009-11-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

I just counted up the number of layouts and projects that I did for the crop at APIT and it was 12 LO's 2 cards and a 6 pack of altered pumpkin placecard holders and a glittery butterfly. Now I am happy that I got all of these challenges done and I actually really like most of the layouts but I am feeling guilty for not cleaning the house. Does that mean that I am going to do it now though, NO there are still 2 challenges unfinished and if you know me you know I can not pass up a challenge, but first Abby and Sierra and I are going for a walk along the River to just get out and enjoy some fresh air.
Here are a couple of my favorite LO's from the weekend, and the butterfly.

Me

2009-11-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

This one if for you Mom! Happy Birthday!

Why do long drives make it so I can not sleep at night?

2009-11-08T02:30:00.000-07:00

Ok I have been home for 3 hours now, I should be sleeping but sleep will not come, so I have been scrapping and editing photos from the drive. I really should get to sleep but I am wide awake so here are a couple of my favorite photos from the drive, of the kids and of an area of the state that I had not had the pleasure of seeing before. Seiver River and Bridal Veil Falls.

Off for a long drive

2009-11-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

Well no scrapping this morning but I do have a bunch of LO's from last nights crop at APIT just waiting for pictures from our drive today. We are going to drive from St. George to Heber City to check out the room I am going to rent. I can not believe that I only have 1 week in the current job and then the adventure begins. I am really looking forwad to this new job but not from being separtated from the kids 3 days a week. Luckly they have a great Aunt who will be staying here with them while we are making the transition.
Here is the last of the October LO's from this year and actually I think that the pics were taken in 2007 as we did not make it too the pumpkin patch this year.

A quick LO and a call to join me at a great crop this weekend.

2009-11-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

This is a quick LO I made with todays pictures for an ad Challenge over at one of my favorite Scrapbooking kit clubs A Page In Time. The are having a Fall Frenzy Crop starting today and their crops are always great fun, So I hope that you can all join me over there for a weekend of fun scrapping.

Household favorites

2009-11-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

Ok so taking photos of the inside of my house is not something that I usually do. It is rarely clean enough that I want people to see it. When I clean the wrecking crew seems to be right behind me, but this morning was a different story, I woke up and went downstairs and everything was the way I left it the night before. I am wondering if I have Brownies that did the work for me if the kids did mess it up. If if was the brownies, thank you. I remember reading a childhood book about what happens if you do not thank the brownies and I do not want them mad at me. So after looking at the cleanish house and reading Shimelles prompt for today I decided to grab the camera and take some photos of the things in the living room and kitchen that make me smile, and while I was doing that I snagged one for my gratitude layout too because I am truely grateful to wake up to a clean kitchen this morning. I am also grateful that today is my 1/2 day at work and a payday too. What a great friday this is starting out as.

I also make a cover for my blogging class album last night so I can keep all of these LO's in one place.

Stormy Days

2009-11-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been full of them and not the type brought about by the weather. Kai is autistic, most of the time he functions ok, not great but ok and we have smiles and lots of help around the house and at school, but about once a year we get a period of stormy days. The chores do not get done, chairs fly and people have been bitten, usually it starts the first couple of weeks of school but this year it is later than others. I have had to leave work multiple times in the last couple of weeks to pick him up from school. I have met with the teachers and the emails between us fly on a daily basis. I can only hope since I got his haircut on Tuesday that we are nearing the end of the storm. Do not ask me what haircuts have to do with behavior but for some reason I find that there is a coorelation there. I made this LO because I love that he is smiling in it. I can only hope that those smiles that light up the room return soon.

November Gratititude LO-I have to confess that I did not take this picture but I saw it on a blog and printed it out when I was looking for pictures to show the girls what the area around Park City and Heber City looked like. Here is the link to the photographers website I only wish I was as talented as he is.Photo.

5 favorites and something to be grateful for.

2009-11-04T03:51:00.000-07:00

Well the first thing on my mind this morning is that I think I have a room to rent in Heber City which is a few miles from my new job in Park City. I think I am very lucky to get a room with large windows as I love sunshine in my window in the morning and I can not wait to look out and see the snow.

My second LO for the day is a list that we made in out Blogging For Scrapbookers class. My list is broken up between things I love and things I am trying to do, like live more simply and enjoy the small things in life. I used one of my favorite pictures from my trip to Paris as a background as one of my favorite things is taking photos of all of the places I have been.

Blogging along

2009-11-03T07:09:00.004-07:00

While looking for a picture for todays class I came across this one of my daughter and her friend making Christmas cookies. I then started thinking about how much I like baking with my girls, then that lead to how much I like baking when Sierra is here too. There is journaling on the back about why I like having her around and how glad I am that our house can be a safe haven for her.

2009-11-03T03:45:00.002-07:00

Day 2 of my daily gratitude journal. I could not sleep tonight so I decided to get this done for the day. I am so grateful that the barn and the horses are only a couple of blocks away and I can go there for a breathe of frest air when being in the house gets to be too much to me.
I can not wait to see what Shimelles prompt for today is going to be.

First Day of Blogging for Scrapbookers

2009-11-02T20:55:00.003-07:00

Well today is the day that we have been waiting for the start of Shimelles blogging for Scrapbookers. Being both a blogger want to be and a scrapper I thought this was the perfect class for me. Here is my first assignment.

Also here is my 2 LO of my November gratitude album. Cookies were about the only thing that went right today so here they are I am grateful for baking and the zen feeling that it gives me. Seems like all cares go away in the mixing and measuring.

Disapointment

2009-11-02T09:27:00.005-07:00

Well I just typed out a long post about how bad I am in dealing with disapointment and it disapeared into cyber space, which I will take as a clue that I should not post it. Suffice to say that the game I was so happy about playing yesterday turned into a huge waste of time and I truely feel like I got the short end of the stick.

This or That

2009-11-01T15:18:00.003-07:00

This OR That?
fabric OR paper Paper although I love fabric too
ink OR paint ink paint and I do not get along.
grungy OR clean grungy
cut with scissors OR tear with bare hands tear
measure OR just guess guess
careful OR haphazard careful
hoarder OR minimalist hoarder
Christmas OR Summer holidays Christmas
music OR talk radio Talk radio
drive OR walk drive
gym OR beach beach
cook a meal OR buy take-away take-away
fruit OR cake fruit
ironing OR crafting crafting
ironing OR vacuuming vacuuming
my friends OR my own company my friends
talk OR listen listen
you OR them them
always OR never always
half-full OR half-empty half-empty
yes OR no yes, no is too hard to say.

Just a couple of LO's

2009-11-01T13:58:00.002-07:00

This is the first page for my November daily album.

Playing Desperate Traders

2009-11-01T09:15:00.005-07:00

One of my favorite online games of all times. Everybody buys a gift and then we open them and steal from each other. I can not wait to see what I get at my gift this time around. I have also done 3 layouts this morning and now have Abby journaling on one of them. Will post them later today. I love the extra hour of sleep we got today too. Of course I woke up early put the kids are all still sleeping well all but Abby who is up here keeping me company and scrapping with me.
Here is a pic of Abby and Danielle getting ready to go trick or treating last night after we had ddriven around for an hour looking for Abby's friend Albert and a park that I do not think exists.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T07:50:00.003-06:00

I am sitting here at work and feeling kinda sad that the kids have grown up past the point that they really want to celebrate Halloween. Halloween has never been my favorite holiday but I did enjoy watching the kids enjoy the holiday. This year the only one that is going to dress up and go out is Abby and even she does not want to do a pumpkin with me today. What is a mom to do. I know that they will get into the spirt for Christmas though because they are already talking about how the house should look this year. I think we will be doing blue white and silver this year because I want to showcase snow being as for the first time in all of our lives we will be in an area that actually should have lots of snow for Christmas.
Ok well enough of my rambling for this morning, I hope to carve a pumpkin this afternoon and make up some pumpking seads(my favorite part of the pumpkin).

Fall in the desert is so odd!

2009-10-30T21:05:00.003-06:00

Yesterday it was snowing not 10 miles from my house tomorrow it is going to be almost 80. I got used to the hot summers just barely and now we are almost to freezing at night except of course for when it decides to warm up. Poor kids have no idea as to what to wear from day to day. I guess fall here is like spring in Oregon, unpredictable at best.
Todays picture was taken off of the front balcony of the house just looking down the street. I usually get to scrap on Fridays but not today I worked a full day and then had to clean the kitchen and I have to work tomorrow so no staying up late for me.
Hopefully I will be able to at least get a pumpkin carved tomorrow and some pics of Abby dressed up as a Nerd. She comes up with the best costume ideas most years.

Park City here I come!

2009-10-29T15:38:00.003-06:00

I just got a call offering me the job as House supervisor at the Park City Hospital. I am so excited this is the job I have been waiting for. It is 3 days a week and the kids will probably stay in St. George with their aunt while I am at work until at least Spring break.
Now we are making cookies to celebrate and I will have to start packing soon. I am worried about getting my online blogging class done with all the changes that will be taking place.

A mini album and a new LO

2009-10-29T13:22:00.005-06:00

Just a little mini album I made last night while listening to a book on tape which seems to be my favorite activity to do while scrapping these days. Then this morning I made this LO based on the Sketch of the month at 2peasinabucket.com.

I just love Kelly Purkey and her monthly sketch class.
I am waiting for the girls to get home from school and I think that we will make some pumking cookies. I have this really easy recipe and the cookies always turn out so yummy, but they will have to do their chores first so this activity may or maynot happen.

Getting Ready for November

2009-10-28T15:02:00.002-06:00

I want to do a Daily Gratitude journal during November. I am not taking a class for this just made a template on my cricut and cut out 16 pages so that I have on for each day and one for the front cover. I hopefully will be able to take pics for everyday but if I can not I will just write something. Like December daily I have a stash of old supplies that I am using for this but I did go out and get some brown thickers today. Never can have too many thickers is my motto.

Getting Ready for December

2009-10-27T06:33:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I saw Ali Edwards first post about her December Daily album . This really inspired me to get things together to make my own December Daily album. I choose a small format for this using a 4x6 album from SEI with tabs(I think it might be a recipe album) I tore it apart and added 8 transparency sheets to make it 25 pages long one for each day of the month leading up to Christmas. I would also like to do Shimelle's Journal your Christmas and this album I believe will do well for both concepts. Since I am using 3 years worth of Basic Grey Christmas Papers I will not have to purchase anything to have my Christmas season scrapped. Tonight I will be adding numbers to all of the pages but here is the cover and the first pages.

On another note it is back to the diet today, and hopefully I will get some fall pictures like I have been meaning to do for the last couple of weeks. Fall here in the desert I belive only lasts days and I really need to capture it while it is here. I think a walk at lunch might be the way to go, the kids appear to have no interst in being my models this year.

Back to work Monday

2009-10-26T07:17:00.001-06:00

Well as much as I would love to stay home and clean and bake cupcakes it is back to work and school this morning. No daily photo yet but I am taking the camera to work with me to see if I can get a pic of what passes for fall in this neck of the world. Not much color and it is almost November. The leaves just fall here without the riot of fall color that I so love.

Cupcake Sunday

2009-10-25T20:33:00.002-06:00

While looking at Shimelles blog getting inspiration for her new online class Blogging for Scrapbookers. I came across a recipe for Apple Spice Cupcakes and just had to make them. It does help if you have flour in the house when you go to make cupcakes just a little FYI. Also baking soda is a must but after a trip to the store Rachel and I had made Shimelles' yummy "Longwinter Cupcakes" and were pretty pleased with our results.

shimelle.com • View topic - (un)Blinkies for you!

2009-10-25T10:25:00.000-06:00

shimelle.com • View topic - (un)Blinkies for you!: ""

Home today with a sick Abby

2009-10-12T14:11:00.001-06:00

No recent online class, I am missing the daily challenge of doing an online class every day. I need to be more creative than I have been this month.

LSNED 9/26/2009

2009-09-27T21:36:00.002-06:00

I am still loving this class. I am going to be sorry to see it end at the end of the week. Good thing that Shimelle has a Christmas class.

LSNED 9/23/2009

2009-09-24T19:32:00.002-06:00

I am so excited I ordered the gypsy last night. Can not wait for it to come next week. All sorts of scrappy goodness coming my way.

Photoshop Elements Week 3

2009-09-24T08:59:00.004-06:00

I am loving this class at 2peas by Sandee Krieger. Here are the photos I edited today. The Chateau at Chantilly on of my favorites because the stables are as big as the chateau itself.

2009-09-23T20:52:00.001-06:00

Customizing my blog

2009-09-22T22:25:00.002-06:00

I decided that the plain blogger header was just that plain, so with a little trial and error, I taught myself how to make my own blog header today.

2009-09-12T20:19:00.001-06:00

I have so much to say on this leason that I am not sure where to start. I will let the colors and the simplicity of the LO speak for itself.

Another late night digital LO

2009-09-11T06:36:00.003-06:00

I think my computer needs a timer on it to keep me from getting up and scrapping in the middle of the night.

These girls are special.

2009-09-10T20:25:00.004-06:00

I love playing with digital brushes and this set from the BACK TO SCHOOL Event at Renee Pearson are a great freebie to play with.
Work sucked so it is so nice to come home and be able to do something creative without making a mess that I will have to clean up later.

I love online classes.

2009-09-10T05:36:00.002-06:00

This is the one I am currently working on.

The Streets of Paris

2009-09-09T22:56:00.000-06:00

I love playing with photoshop when I can not sleep.

Farewell to Summer.

2009-09-08T21:31:00.001-06:00

2009-09-08T08:25:00.000-06:00

I could not sleep so got this LO done at 2 in the morning.

Learn Something new everyday day 7

2009-09-07T10:21:00.001-06:00