Layouts 7 and 8

I had a few minutes this morning so I decided I would post the next two of my Top 10 layouts for 2009. The first one is of Cliff and me from July 4th weekend. It's a good picture of both of us. I love the layout. The pattern paper came from my wonderful friend Michelle over at A Million Memories....she puts together awesome kits and she proved me wrong....I told her I couldn't do "vintage" and low and behold I made vintage work....thanks Michelle for helping me to think outside the box. The second layout is of Jason and Riley....I love the photo....so much so I used it on our Christmas card this year....again it's more of the kit from AMM....I loved the little picket fence on it. So I guess these two layouts were my favorites cuz I loved the product I was working with AND I loved the photos....guess we will see what I come up with for tomorrow...So stay tuned.

My Top 10

I got this idea from Lady Grace over at Scrapbookdeals4u and thought I would give it a try over the next couple of days. I went looking back through all of my 2009 layouts and decided to pick out ten of my favorites. It was interesting how I selected my top ten. Most of them it was the photos that I used.....some it was the story that I told, others it was both...of course there was the fun paper and embellishments that drew my eye in but mostly it was looking at the photos and the emotion I felt while doing so. These aren't in order of preference....I love them all but for today here are layouts #9 and 10. Both of these layout brought back huge emotion for me. "Priceless Moments" is a photo of my oldest son and I walking on the beach. The photo is older, before he left on his mission, but the story was from 2009. You see for Valentine's Day he sent me the sweetest card...it made me cry...so I scanned the Valentine and used it on my layout. I have the layout framed in my studio. "Puppy Kisses" layout is also a very special layout. I took this photo of our little dog Riley after he had gone missing for 3.5 days...we were so glad to have him home again.

Stay tuned for more layout....probably tomorrow. ;-)

#9 and 10

Wow...2010!

It seems like only yesterday we were ringing in the new Millennium and here it is now 10 years later! Ten years ago......I had been married 19 years......My boys were ages 11 and 7.....I was well......10 years younger ;-)....I had been scrapping for only 4 years.....I was a SAHM who did Day Care....I really hadn't given much thought to menopause or retirement......and I certainly had no clue as to how fast time really goes by and how in a blink of an eye my little boys could become young men. In short I was caught up in the business of day to day living often forgetting to enjoy the journey along the way.

Now here I am ten years later....no more little boys at my house. No more Day Care....and no longer a SAHM. Instead now, my life is full of working outside the home at a crazy place called Costco...people ask me if I like working there and I usually tell them yes...in some crazy warped way I do. I have a son serving a full time mission for the LDS church in Idaho and I have another son in junior college. Cliff and I just celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary....I am often amazed he has put up with me this long. I have been scrapping now for 14 years and it is still my passion.....it took me forever to find something that I am really good at but I am so grateful for this amazing wonderful hobby that I have become so passionate about. I have learned so much through this wonderful art form. I have met amazing, gifted, and talented scrapbook artists that have inspired me to think outside the box and to try new things that I would never have ever dreamed up on my own. I am so grateful for the gift of this talent....it has made me look at life differently....I am trying to see the details...the little things and not always just the big picture. In short I am learning it's really not just about living your life it is about ENJOYING THE JOURNEY as you go through your life.

What will 2010 bring for me...I guess I will have to see...I have a few goals I have set for myself.....the first one being to get myself back in some kind of shape....I realize that "round" is indeed a shape but I am tired of my clothes not fitting. Please wish me luck with this one....it's a road I have been down many times before but not recently. My second goal is to try to simplify things around my house a bit. An online friend posted on her blog the other day a quote by Jon Gordon and I loved it...I think I am going to take it into this new decade with me "Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful." If I use this mantra as I am cleaning things out I am guessing I will be able to get rid of a lot of stuff around here.

It's a New Year.....a New Decade. Here's to 2010!

Still Crazy....

about you after all these years!! It's hard to believe that we are celebrating our 29th Anniversary today! Thanks for loving me like you do! I love you honey! Happy Anniversary! xoxoxo

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Christmas! I was so good at posting last month and now this month I seem to have fallen off the "posting wagon"! So I decided to post something quick here so I can get back on the horse so to speak. I've been working on my December Daily album....trying to come up with clever and meaningful ways to document our December. This photo is one of my Christmas mugs....when Jeremy was a little boy it was his favorite because it had a train on it. So since he isn't home this Christmas I wanted to document this memory. I've also been playing with my camera....I actually took this photo in aperature mode...I also played with it over at http://www.picnik.com/ and gave it some neat effects...so I am learning. I am trying to look find the little things that make our holiday special...little things like this mug.

One More Grateful Post....

before the month ends.....I can't honestly finish out this month of being grateful without posting a few photos from today. Pictured below is my brother-in-law and sister-in-law Sandi and Gary. Gary, has been working at Disneyland....today he took us there for a day of holiday fun. I am grateful for family and the fact that Gary shared his "work" with us. The place was beautifully decorated and was a wonderful place to kick off the holiday season. I am really in a festive mood now. Thanks Gary for sharing the Disney holiday spirit with us.

a family photo with Santa

under the "A" in California in front of CA Adventure and beautiful pointsettias inside Disneyland

Sleeping Beauty's Castle looked breath taking drenched in beautiful wintery icicle lights.

Family, Friends and Food

What a fun day this has been. I am so grateful for family, friends and great food.