Another Contest - at SD4U

Fun times ahead.....SD4U has another new contest starting on Monday Aug 11th. With our Summer Scrapfest contest over we decided to come up with a plan to keep you motivated and scrapping throughout the rest of the summer!

Each week, beginning August 11th, alternating members of the design team will be posting challenges along with chances to win some fabulous prizes! We’re calling it "10 Weeks of Fun", and it’s sure to be just that and a whole lot more! Make sure to stick around and join us, and you could be the lucky winner of the grand prize of a guest designer spot for November plus $50 worth of product from the SD4U store! Other prizes will be awarded, too, and your participation as message board members will be crucial in choosing the winners!The SD4U team is looking forward to all the fun, and we hope to have you join in!

Peaceful this week

Cliff and I are finding out a bit of what it will be like to be "empty nesters" this week. Jeremy of course is in Idaho on his mission but this week Jason went to Youth Conference in Salt Lake. So it's just Cliff, me and our new little doggy Riley. It's nice...but wierd all at the same time. I was looking to find a picture I could add to this post that somehow expressed "peace and quiet" and this is what I came up with....Jeremy took this amazing sunset photo in Idaho and I thought it was perfect.

While I am posting photos, here is a layout I did for the Summer of Scraplove Challenge over at Scraplove. It's been a real challenge for me...I love all things scrappy but I know where I am comfortable and I usually don't stray too far from my comfort zone....well every week now I have been stepping out of my comfort zone to meet these wonderful challenges. Last week I had to do a layout with mostly transparencies and a song title.....the song title part wasn't a problem...I use song titles all the time but a mostly transparent layout was WAY out of my comfort zone! Once I figured out what I was going to do it all came together and I was so glad I had stepped out to try something new. This weeks challenge was well even more of a challenge for me....after teaching scrapbook classes for several years I got really burned out on doing "projects" I would much rather do a layout than a mini book or some piece of altered art...well this week we had to do something that wasn't a scrapbook page, something to display in our homes....my first thought was "I don't THINK so! I'll just skip this week's challenge" After I decided this I went and took a nap and just as I am drifting off to sleep I remember that I have a 12x12 canvas that I could use...and oh I could use some of that older "collage" paper that I have from a few years ago....and I bet I can come up with some cool embellishments......VOILA! I got up from my nap and started to create.......I had everything laid out before the evening was over. Long story short......I guess I CAN step out of my comfort zone once and a while and when I do....look what I can come up with!

I've been Tagged

I was just sitting here realizing that i hadn't posted on my blog in a while and trying to decided what might be fun to write about and then I was Tagged by my friend Stayce...haven't been tagged before so I figure why not see how this works. Here are my answers to her questions...if I tagged you....you get to answer them too.

Ten years ago: I was 44 years old SAHM with two boys ages 9 and 5. I was also doing day care and could have anywhere between 2 and 5 extra kids in my care. Ok so maybe I was a bit on the crazy side most of the time...lol

Five things on today's to-do list:
Let's see....I went to Weight Watchers, bought Riley some dog bones, went grocery shopping, went and found some new teflon frying pans at Target and then I came home and scrapped!

A snack I enjoy: Peanut M & M's or if I am trying to be good...Jolly Time 94% fat free Kettle Corn

Things I would do if I were a millionaire:
Buy a bigger house
Pay off all our bills
Buy a Condo on Maui
Take regular vacations to Hawaii
Invest wisely

Places I have lived: California, and Utah

5 people I am tagging:
Linda
Alicia
Annie
Alicia
MichelleS

Here's one of my favorite layouts right now. It's really out of my comfort zone and I made it with the awesome August Kit from Scrapbookdeals4u! Thanks for a great kit Martha!

A Dog and His Boy

Nothing is cuter than watching Riley with his new owner Jason. Riley is the sweetest dog and has caused Jason to become more responsible. Riley follows Jason around the house and Jason loves every minute of it. They seem to make a great pair. I love watching Jason be the "dad" to his puppy. When Riley makes him laugh it is pure joy and so sweet to hear.
Cliff and I are quite impressed not only with our son but with our new puppy. For a 9 week old puppy he is fairly well house broken (ok we've had a few accidents but nothing major), he is learning to go into his crate to sleep on his own, and he doesn't get up too often in the middle of the night. He chews but that's to be expected, he plays with you but can entertain himself as well. Jason is learning to get up in the night and not sleep all morning because he has to take care of Riley. He takes him for walks, feeds him and does a great job of it...all in all I think it's a win-win situation.
Of course we have already taken lots of pictures and I couldn't wait too long to scrap some of them so I will leave you with a couple of them tonight.

Life as we Currently Know it....

Is over. Thanks to this cute little guy! We are off to pick him up.....I haven't been this nervous since we adopted the boys! He has certainly stolen my heart but I am so not sure I am ready to have a puppy in the house. I will have to fill you in later on that one. I will say one thing though....Jason sure has been showing us his helpful and responsible side....so maybe it's all good.

My Day to Play

I had a great day off today. Jason left to go to Big Bear early this morning so I had a day to play all by myself. Woohoo! First I went and picked up some makeup from my Mary Kay lady....always a good way to start a play day.....I love playing with makeup. After that I went and had lunch with my dear friend Jane. We have been trying to celebrate our birthdays for ever....I told her I was either very early or reeeeally late for hers! We had a yummy lunch at Macaroni Grill. Then I headed home to spend the afternoon scrapping.

Here's a layout I did of the boys today. It is a lift of a very talent scrapper named Ashleigh I found it on her blog...I loved all her attention to details. So I borrowed her design and came up with this layout of the boys. I love this Little Yellow Bicycle paper. It worked so well for a great boy layout.

Now I am trying to decide if I want to scrap another page or not....guess you will have to wait and see. ;-)

Happy Mail!

We were so excited to get a letter from Jeremy yesterday. He is doing great and he truly knows that he is where he is suppose to be. He gets to email us tomorrow so I will be stalking my inbox at least until I go to work. I can hardly wait!