Happiness from color

If there any things that make me happy, besides my family, friends and life...it would have to be color, texture and music. I love music for how it lifts my mood. I love how my kitty Sadie is soft and furry, but yet her fur is cool and calming while she is warm and cuddly.

Colors lift my mood a lot. If I am not feeling so hot, I might put on an outfit that is lavendar (my favorite color), or something with a cozy color. I tend to go for the nonprimary colors first, then the pastels, and finally the primary colors. The colors I chose for these layouts are considered warm to me even if they might be in the cool pallate. The richness of them make me settle and relax.

The first layout was inspired by a layout my sister did awhile back. Thanks Jacquie! Thanks for looking

Cheers to my DD on her 2008-2009 wrestling debut!

I bring to you a sweet layout that I did of my Dear Daughter when she was a wee babe. I made this with some Artic Frog that I was given free rein to create with over at Scrap Attack Scrapbooking Online store

Special cheer out to my DD who is having her first wrestling match tonight of the season. She is such a little thing, but she is strong and determined. I have seen her on the mat with the team...she goes for it! I just want her to win...even ONE match this year!

I wonder sometimes about blogging. Sometimes it feels like something I have to do instead of something to do. I do it at work a lot and that is not always the best idea. It is always on my break or lunch hour. Right now I am chomping on popcorn and drinking tea (already had my soup).

Going to participate in the 12 Days OF Christmas Crop Over at Scrap Attack Scrapbooking. It is already going on. It started on 12/1/08, goes through 12/12/08, with a deadline for submissions of 12/15, and consists of a lot of fun challenges and cool prizes from a random drawing after the 15th of December.

Thursday's post

Ok, so may be I cannot post more than a couple times a week. I get that. I should just be happy I put a few things out there. Getting ready for my parents to come from Arkansas for the week...so excited...for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and just spending time with them. They are going to help me Sun and Mon with some small items around my house...they like doing that and I love just being with them in any capacity.

I thought I would post my layout for my ad challenge over at Scrap Attack. I will see if I can get the ad to load in another post. If you get a chance to come over and play, the challenges are fun, and sometimes out of the ordinary. Love and hugs.

Happy Thursday--that means Tomorrow is...

OK so NOT SURE WHY you only see 1/2 the image but the rest is seen if you click on the layout...I have to figure out my blog settings. THanks for looking anyway!

...Friday...YAY. I love the weekends, especially since I gave up my weekend job. Love it. Get scrappy on Friday night and Saturday after housework. I have such a life...DH likes to lay low and the kids do whatever, so in between running them or hosting kids over, I just scrap. SUITS ME JUST FINE!!!!!!!!

Just a couple fun layouts I did this past week. My favorite is the SF Trolley car one...I like the way it turned out. TFL.

Love and hugs.

Lara

Trying to get back to blogging

Well all the traveling is out of the way so I am finally getting back in the swing of things. Got my suitcase unpacked, all the clothes washed and finished my November DT things...I worked with a multitude of great products from the Scrap Attack Scrapbooking Store...products like Pink Paislee, KI Memories, and Fancy Pants Happy Holidays line...Love that stuff.

My favorite project for this month at SAS is "MY Angel" layout, of DD when she was little. She is the sweetest, and has the sweetest look on her face. The rest of the work is my other Design Team projects, but My Angel one was the sweetest one I did. Thanks for visiting and looking!

Love and hugs,

Lara

my take on the ad in the above post

So here is my take on the ad. I had fun with it. And my baby-honey is a star! On his 40th no doubt. He rocks. He was such a good sport...he has told me since we got married that he did NOT want a bday party when he turns 40 but I just invited a few people out to dinner and he told me later that that the most he'd laughed in a long time. He enjoyed it and I am certainly glad he did, or I would not hear the end of it.

Well, I am off to start my next ad challenge. If you want to play along, come on over to Scrap Attack and sign up. Love and hugs. Lara

Ad Challenged!

I would have to say that this is the hardest thing for me. Duplicating or creating layouts, using ads. I am running this challenge over at Scrap Attack and so far so good. I will post my take on the challenge later.
If you are interested in completing any of these challenges, all you have to do is sign up for the Scrap Attack Message Board. They are a great group of fun people over there. Check it out!

Oh Hap-py Hump day!

Here I am again, blogging shortly because I ran out of time on my lunch hour. Eating always gets in the way of it. Busy night tonight, DD has her Science Fair meeting and then the therapy after that. Will have to let DH do the cooking tonight cause otherwise it is NOT fair when I get home at 7pm to have to MAKE supper yet too.

Looking forwarded to going to CKC-St. Paul this weekend. Just to look, I am NOT taking any classes. I thought a morning visit there would spark some scrappy mojo for the afternoon. I will see what they have to offer anyway. I am not in the mood to shop as I am getting my DT stuff this week from Scrap Attack Scrapbooking and my last kit from Label Tulip.

Yeah, I cut out a kit for now, we are going into the holidays and I am overwhelmed with products and just needed a break. The kit is awesome, just wanted to take a break from it, and since I am having a hard time breaking into these kits when they come, I thought, I might as well hold off for a couple months on the product that will surely just sit there. I will surely see you again"Label Tulip".

I guess I will leave you with one layout from my 7 LO scraptacular weekend. THe layout was of the old Fort in downtown Nashville, that originated when the settlers first came to the Nashville area. Enjoy. Have a great day. Love and Hugs,

Lara

Up to my old tricks again

Yeah, ignoring the blog. I could've blogged last week while in Nashville. Didn't. Sometimes, I think it is because I spend so much time on the computer for my work. Oh well, short and sweet will do for today.

Good News though: The Scrap Attack Scrapbooking store has its Mystery Boxes in again and from what I hear, they are quite the bargain. I am vascillating between the American Crafts one and the Mini Embellie one. Not sure yet...Check it out!

I wanted to share a couple layouts with you today. I got 7 done this weekend. 7!!!!!! Love that...I am showing you the 2 that I liked the most.

Hope you have a lovely Monday (no, that was NOT a snicker--cause we all know that Mondays are rarely lovely). =O) Love and hugs Lara.

Off to Nashville

Being a government worker means that I get 3day weekends once in awhile for holidays. Yesterday was Columbus Day. SO that means NO bank, NO post office and NO work for Lara. YAY. I truthfully needed a day off though. My MIL came down for the weekend and SHE HELPED ME with some major tasks in our house.

We cleaned and arranged and sorted and got SO much done. I got closets cleaned, pantry and cupboards organized, bathroom organized, all furniture cleaned and cleaned under. We threw away loads of things, recycled a bunch. I love my house again. NOW I have to try and keep it that way.

I am off to Nashville in the morning for a 3 day Transplant Nursing conference at Vanderbilt University. I am looking forward to a bit of time to relax. I am bringing a little of scrappy stuff, in case the weather is rainy and I can make stuff from my hotel room. I will try and get out and see the sights as much as I can but a lot of the museums are closed by the time I get out of class.

I know the last time I brought scrappy stuff on a business trip, I did not use it and it was wasted space in my suitcase but maybe not this time. We'll see. I am bringing my laptop though so I can at least post and put pictures up.

The layout is from Last month's DT supplies at Scrap Attack Scrapbookingand I posted it because I packed last night and my sweet Sadie decided that she was going to nap on the closed suitcase on the living room floor. She hates it when I leave on a trip. I think she was trying to tell me "Mom, I am going to miss you...and you ARE NOT putting anything more in this suitcase...". Gotta love cats!

Have a great week! Love and Hugs, Lara

Fun Friday--News

Happy Friday everyone. I was greeted with some fun news this morning when I got to work. My October Design Team work was featured on the Scrap Attack Scrapbooking Blog yesterday. That is super special to me. Thanks Lauri for being so sweet to put my stuff up there. The gallery at SAS is pretty awesome and I am honored to be part of such fun, and talented site with SO MANY talented scrappers. They are so friendly over there, and eventhough I have only been a member for a few months, they have all made me feel at home there. Come and stop on by if you have time. It is a fun place to be!

Just one more layout from SAS October DT. I like this one, it seemed fun to me, Thus the title, LOL. Love and hugs. Lara

October DT layouts are completed--super fun stuff!

I just wanted to post a few of the layouts that I did for the Scrap Attack Scrapbooking Online Store this week. I had a lot of awesome items to work with. I will not post them all but you can see my whole gallery here if you want to stop by. The previous gallery is for the store. I have a whole other gallery that is affiliated with the awesome message board. Most of these layouts are in there plus a few others.

The fun thing about the DT product that Lauri sent me, was that it was chock full of Dream Street Papers and let me tell you that they have some good stuff. The line I worked with was "Mairzy Doats". I fumbled with that for a few days, until I looked it up on line. "Mairzy Doats" is an old nursery rhyme/childhood song...SOme of the papers are named after the song...check it out-->ie Mares eat oats and lambs eat ivy (Lamzy Divy). so there you go. The fun thing was that when I was making the layouts and logging the products, I started singing a song. I think it made me connect to the line a little bit more. Funny I know, but it did! Have a great day! Love and Hugs. Lara

October 8, 1966

That is the day that my parents got married. 42 years ago. Wow, they are surely an inspiration to me. I made a layout the other night and I plan on posting it with this post later this evening that showcases them now. I love my parents and even though they live in Arkansas (which is 10.5 hours from MN), I feel really close to them. I think cell phones help. Heck I have even talked to them while they are out garage sale-ing on Saturdays and it almost made me feel like I was with them like so many times on Saturdays when they still live in MN. Dad driving, old-time music on the background, them looking for garage sale signs, turing around in driveways to go back the "other" way, talk about the finds, loaning each other a quarter or a dollar to get this or that. Listening to their affectionate banter that has been perfected over the past 42 year. Congratulations Mom and Dad, you truly are an inspiration to me and my marriage! Love you! Love and Hugs, Lara

Not going to write much, just more often

I think the thing about blogging is that I write too much. It should be brief and to the point. Scrapped 9 layouts this week, made a bunch of cards for National Cardmaking Day and attended a fun cyber crop at Scrap Attack Scrapbooking, making cards all weekend.

I am posting 2 of the cards that I made from the Achromatic challenge. They turned out really nice, and while I knew what achromatic was, I have never made anything with this "color" theme. I am going to work on a layout like this soon, just for a challenge, since I love color variations SO MUCH. Have a good day. Love and hugs. Lara

Trying to not neglect the blog

I need to be better at blogging. I can't seem to update it though, every day and sometimes, every week. I should put a goal in to blog 3 days a week. Going to try. Now that School has started, won't be carting kids around AS much on a daily basis.

Went to Arkansas 2 wks ago, and visited with my parents, and then also my SIS, Jacquie came up and we went on a scrapbook shop hunt. Visited (twice...but don't tell MOM--teehee) the store in her area which is fabulous "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered" in Bentonville, Ar. Love that store. She had some really nice, new things in there.

We did not get much time to scrap but I did make this one layout and I felt like it centered me. Made it the night before we went home and I liked how it turned out. Just a pic of my dear parents who Grandparents to MY kids! I do not want to lose my mojo, so I have been dabbling every night for a bit, while life is busy, and when it slows, watch out world!

1st day of school for the kids. Whooooo...8th and 10th grade. I was on my way to work when they got off to school. A lot different than in the past. They are SO grown up now. I will post pictures later. I hope they are excited and have a great day and a great year! I am shaking my head right now, how DID I GET TO BE A MOM OF these 2 AWESOME, WONDERFUL AND FUN kids? I am blessed and truly thankful! And even on top of that, wow, I am not EVEN 40, and here I have kids in Senior high school. Seems like it was yesterday that I was walking them each into Kindergarten for the first time, and I do not know who was more scared...them or me.

So my advice: spend as much time with them, they grow up WAY TOO FAST!

On my own advice, I gave up my weekend job. I am just too tired and I feel like my time is NEVER my own. I think it was good but as of 10/10/08, it will be no more. I need to spend more time with my kids--yikes, only 3 and 5 years left before I pack them off to college. Life is too short to go through it tired and missing out on the things that really count like your kids lives! So here is to another month of weekends and then, DONE! Love and hugs, Lara

One more day until Birthday Bash!

Only one more day until Scrap Attack turns 3! Happy Birthday SAS! There is a fun crop planned for this weekend. I have to work in the evenings but plan on participating during the day and Friday night I am going to POWER scrap! During my evening shift, Saturday, I plan on working on sketches and ideas for the layouts I will do in the morning! Cannot wait.

If you plan on attending the crop, you need to act fast because you need to register for the emssage board and the gallery. Please give it a try. We have a lot of fun there!

I found this little "use your stash challenge" on the message board last night and put myself up to the task of doing the challenge in 34 minutes (before 10pm--bedtime). Here it is. Kind of simple but fun...it was a challenge where you had to use at least 2 items that were sewing related. I used embroidery floss (and a needle), ribbon, a buckle, and buttons. I think I made the challenge. I was photographing it at 10pm and posting it by 1015! Then it was off to bed for sleep--except that I got hooked on watching men's gymnastics and swimming and didn't actually turn out the lights until 11pm. Oh well, it is almost the weekend!

Love and hugs. Lara

Job happiness

I just realized that I am really happy at my job. Well, not JUST realized, but I just want to convey how I feel like I have arrived in a place in my career that I have been working toward. That is not to say that I will not go further, but at this time and this place (the MPLS VA), I am happy here and love what I do and getting out of bed is NOT a hardship. That being said, of course, means that I must work (am typing on my lunch hour).

Other news, DH signed all of us up for a reflexology/pressure point class at his chiropractor. I think it is a good thing. DH for sure is NOT one to DO ANY THING for himself to make things better, thinks medicine should make him feel better, so having this be something he suggests, is a huge positive step. He even has DD going to Chiro for her neck/back and they are evaluating her condition--maybe she will feel better/sleep better--she does complain alot about aches and pains, so maybe it will help.

I will leave you with 1 small layout. I posted this the other night. IT is in honor of Torrie (our baby kitty), that we adopted 1 year ago this week and she looked SO rough, that we did not think that she would make it. She has fit into our family well (almost annoyingly so, if per my husband's description--she thinks Dave is the master/man/love of her life). TeeHEE! Congrats Honey, on your NEW girlfriend!



Got to go. I must do the job I love! Love and Hugs. Lara

What a great weekend!

Spent the weekend with the kids and hubby. School shopping. Checkbook is pretty much empty right now, but the only left to get is the school supplies. All the clothes and shoes are bought.

Got the groceries, cleaned the house this am and ran to the mall for a couple of items for myself. At Bath and Body and then to Victoria's Secret (for a secret...LOL). Back home and was going to scrap but had to take care of some business first. Uploading photos and resizing and loading on Scrap Attack Gallery .

Now I am going to scrap. I got 4 layouts done last night and may have time for 1 before I must make supper. I leave you with these two which are decidely, my favorites of the last evening's work.

Have a great rest of the weekend! Love and hugs, Lara

Happy August! Or not! Lots of things are happening in August, my Dad's birthday, my upcoming trip to Arkansas, my real debut at {SAS}sy as a Design Team Member, the end of summer, Labor Day, and the Birthday Bash Crop at{SAS}sy (Scrap Attack Scrapbooking is turning 3 years old) on August 15-17. So looking forward to that. Love that type of thing. As a DT member, we had to come up with some challenges. I picked out a few. You will have to stop by and check it out. Remember to sign up in advance, as you have to get approved to post in the gallery and on the message board. Come join us!

Just a little layout about my favorite sister (only sister)...teehee! I get to see her in 2 weeks in Arkansas too when we go to my parents' house! YAY...like a triple bonus, having her there along with my parents and kids! Awesome time ahead! Have a great day. Love and hugs! Lara

The end of July, end of summer?

Wow, it is the end of July already. Time really flies. I always say, once the 4th of July hits, summer is almost over. Not sure why, but after July 4th, time just runs away from us.

One year ago tomorrow, the 35W bridge collapsed. Those poor people. And then the commuter challenge since then. I heard the other day that the bridge will be done about 1 month sooner than planned and a heck of a lot earlier than originally speculated when the bridge first went down. I hope this bridge is much better. I ride the bus and perhaps the commuting will be much better after that. God BLess those workers building that bridge.

In other news, {SAS}sy Scrap Attack Scrapbooking has a great sale going on. You can find them here. There is a sale starting tomorrow and running for 5 days, 25% off total order. Wowser, this is a great deal. They also have mystery boxes for $35 for products from Fancy Pants, Scenic Route and Sassafras Lass. You can find them here and input Mystery boxes in the search.

They are also having a Birthday Bash crop on August 15-17 in honor of their 3rd birthday. Come and join us. The message board is one hopping place and during crops, it is WAY FUN! Check it out!

And finally, just a little layout that I wasn't sure was going to turn out but it did. I used new American Crafts for all of it! Love that stuff!

Have a great day! Love and hugs, Lara

Trying to update this more often

I am going to try and be better at blogging. It really stinks sometimes. I have a hard time putting down things I want to say. I am a woman of few words.

I brought my camera today to take a picture of something for a challenge at Scrap Attack Scrapbooking when they have their Birthday Bash in August. I am doing a Workin' It (about your work) Challenge for it. I have a great idea and hope that I can get the picture that I am imagining for it.

Here is another layout I did this weekend for a sketch challenge at Scrap Attack. I {heart} sketches. They help so much if you do not know where to start. I find that the hardest part of a layout is starting with the blank piece of cardstock. Once I have a partial plan, things start to fall into place. I am not a scrap afficionado, and I certainly do not support that I know anything/everything, but a starting point helps a lot. Here is a layout about my little princess Sadie. {kiss to her}

Have a good one. Love and hugs. Lara

Design team

Well, for those of you that know me, you know that I was selected to be on a design team for Scrap Attack Scrapbooking. YOu can find the store here: http://www.scrapattackscrapbooking.com/
This is a cool online store!

I have just started with them. I have been a member since December. THe store is pretty awesome. Here is a sample of my first layouts.

I am pretty excited. This store seems to have EVERYTHING that I like. Chatterbox, SEI, 3 Bugs, Basic Grey, and many others. It seems like I could place an order every day and still not get enough goodness. Check it out.


Will be looking for you to show up on the Message board. THere are a great group of ladies there who are fun and happy and LOVE to scrap! Love and hugs! Lara

whipping out the layouts

Been working on a couple of layouts. I wanted to share them. The Wii one is for a challenge I did over at ScrapAttack Scrapbooking. It was for Wacky Holiday challenge. I chose the Video Game Day because anyone that knows out house, knows that there are ALWAYS video games being played here with loads and loads of teens. But, as I have always said, a house full of teens, always assures that I KNOW what my kids are up to and who they ar with. (kind of hard on the grocery budget but it is a small price to pay, I guess)

The other layout was for a challenge for "Peek-A-Boo", and my take on it was to use products that show a little bit from diecut products, ie. KI Memories lace paper. I did get the idea from my sweet sister who had a similiar layout published in Scrapbook Trends! Hers is incredible, mine is a lifT! So that is that.

Also did a wee bit of retail therapy...not in the form of Scrap supplies...the other form that I am liking a lot. CLOTHES! Yeah, after losing 60+ lbs, clothes are my friend again. I find though, that I do not have a style, and I keep trying to watch what others are wearing, whereas I never did before. I still find myself trying to go for muted, in-the-corner, kind of clothes that I used to search for when I was heavier. Black, dark understated stuff, no colors, more flowing, and since color is so much part of what makes me happy, I chose lots of it. Now, I can actually go fitted and that is a good thing. I want to take pictures of the purchases--all on mega-sale, mind you, and with giftcards for Macy's and Kohls-- and post them here. Perhaps next post. Got to get scrapping. Have a great day. Love and hugs, Lara

It's the weekend and I cannot wait

Yep, said it before, I love Fridays! Love them. It is here again. Pseudo B-day party for the DD at the Y (Her bday was June 23) and then scrapping into the night! Cannot wait. Got some scrumpdillyicious stuff from Studio Calico and from ScrapAttackScrapbooking and cannot wait to dig in. DD and friends will be done swimming about 8 pm and then all home by 930 and then it is on to my little haven. Will perhaps clean up and take pics to post.

I am anxious to work with the Artsylicous from Chatterbox. Just got in mail and already have a layout in mind for that. Also got SC's kit in the mail yesterday and I cannot wait to work on that. The Tokyo addon is as pretty as I thought it would be.

Hubby knows that I need to scrap now cause of my little news that I cannot share yet. But I kind of think that I should have told him this sooner, at least it would get me out of dinner a few days a week, cause NOW he is offering to cook dinner for me more often...{hand to his forehead}...is he felling ok?! LOL just kidding.

Well must work for a bit longer and then off to the Y with the kids!YAY.....Have agreat weekend. Love and Hugs. Lara

Happy day!

Today is a great day. A little tired from working until 11pm last night. Tomorrow is the same and then I decided after feeling so tired the last few days that I work full time and the 2nd job is going to have to find other nurses to fill in cause I can only do what I can do.

I got a real pleasant surprise yesterday. I will talk more about that later on. I feel like it is big news and a wonderful opportunity.

I want to get rid of that job anyway. The $$ is nice but you know, my kids are growing. I have about 3 and 5 years left with them until they are away at college and that is NOT LONG. I can work more after they are gone...probably going to have to to put them through college (DS wants medical school and DD wants veterinary school).

Tonight I am going to get supper for the family somewhere and then I am scrapbooking tonight. I got some Chatterbox goodness in the mail yesterday from http://www.scrapattackscrapbooking.com Yeah, some Artsylicious. Can't wait to play with that. I got some teal, green apple, red and brown flocked and foiled papers as well as some teal bling and green brads/crocheted flowers as well as some Scenic Route red alphabet from there. So loving it! Will post results after done.

Today the Farmer's Market starts here at our hospital. Every Tuesday from mid July through at least end of September, there is a Farmer's Market in our parking lot. Great produce, great options for green vegies for this dieter and I look forward to the Market every year! I will let you know what I get. Most likely cucumbers and perhaps baby squash! Got to get back to work. Love and hugs!

just a little something

Just a little layout I made the other night. I thought it turned out pretty nicely. I really like the blue and yellow combo. It is acombo I do not tend to use very often but this turned out good. It is my hubby, my brotherinlaw and myself at dinner. THey were goofing off. It was a fun time. Isn't that what scrapping gives you? A chance to show what good times were when you had them...or at least through pictures.

I will try to be a better blogger. I tend not to post pictures too often and then when I really get a chance to write, it is usually on my lunch hour.

I am anxiously awaiting teh ScrapAttack Scrapbooking Design Team decision. I entered again. You would really like this online store. It has everything and it is not usually sold out. You can find them here: http://scrapattackscrapbooking.com/messageboard/index.php You should try them out. Oh, and right now, there is a discount on shipping through the rest of the week. I know it sounds like a shameless plug but it is really a good on-line store and I am pleased with the service. The message board is pretty nice too. Got to scrap. Love and hugs!

Just wanted to share something

I just wanted to share something I made last night. It took about 2 hours to complete. I bought this little birdhouse at Joanns about 2 months ago and I got it home and wondered what to do with it. So I just started playing. It got better and better. I kept adding and adding and there is the finished product. I really like it. Now I need to find someone to give it too. I rarely make anything for myself as I tend to describe our house as early garage sale, and believe me, with tons of teenagers running through our house (not ALL mine), I guess it is better that way.

I used Shabby Princess from Bo Bunny, Heidi Swapp mirror bird (where can I get about 20 of them--cause I can see using them over and over), Creative Imaginations paper lace (works well for lattice in this case). Just wanted to put something up that I wasn't sure would turn out well and turned out better than I expected.

Reveal Night at Studio Calico and other stuff

Having a great day today. Have been really productive this week. Sent in 2 entries for calls that I wanted to attempt, which meant several layouts, emails about how wonderful of a scrapper I am (LOL), pictures, downloading the pictures, cropping them and loading them.

For anyone that knows me, I am a computer dumbhead. I can operate the computer system at work that we use for patient hospital records with my eyes closed, hands behind my back and can help someone over the phone--without having a computer in front of me, but when it comes to the good old windows, I stink. I actually have to go back and calculate mega vs kilo bytes in my head. This is something I would love to fix, but I feel like it is low on my list of priorities and if I give it more leverage, then something more fun will get bumped down. So I will just continue to muddle through and manage as I have been.

Tonight, it is Studio Calico's reveal night. I have a plan to stay up late for the add-ons. I want the second one I think, and so does everyone else it appears but I will give it a shot. Looking forward to that yummy kit when it gets here.

Tomorrow is my uncle's burial (My Godfather). I am going out there for the service with my brother, Tim. I thought that I would not bring the kids. The funeral was in January and I think, at least explaining it to DD, again, why we are doing it is too much. I think understated is better for this, and DD tends to get pretty worked up and I am not sure she really knew him at all. I am going more for my aunts, and dad, who cannot be there. They took the time to arrange this, so I want to be there.

I do plan on scrapping tonight and alot this weekend. Looking forward to it. I made a little altered item last night. It is a little wooden birdhouse that I covered in pretty paper. I will post it later. I cannot upload pics at this computer. Not much else to say. Kids and hubby are good. Love and hugs.

He's Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a long week without number 1 child. Now granted, I had a fabulous time with my daughter, a little girl's week was good for us, but one always does miss the humor and all out guffaws of my son's presence in our lives and home. DS is the child who makes me laugh almost as much as my hubby does. Don't get him started on hairlips. you will have tears streaming down your face in no time.

Well, he has been in Guatemala since 6/6/08 building a house for Habitat for Humanity through school. I know {I "heart" this kid), for choosing to do this. What a wonderful experience for him. I just know that he is going to be changed in a good way from this. How? He left all--ALL--of his clothes in Guatemala for the kids there as he knows that clothes are really scarce there. WOW. Now granted, that is not a huge hardship as we bought a lot of that before he left at discount stores, but he didn't have to leave it there.

We were up until 230am as he did not get in until 1140pm and then the bus brought his back to the airport. He was so full of stories. I could not hear them all but I am sure that I will hear more tonight. I can't wait. He brought some lovely things back from there for all of his loved ones. Very thoughtful.

I cannot wait to get at his pictures. I am going to make a scrapbook for him of his trip....bet you never saw that coming (wink). I am going to try and make him journal though, as I was not there and do not have firsthand knowledge of the whole experience and since it will be his scrapbook, I want HIS memories in it.

Got to work today...bummer. LOL, yeah now, I have to work every day. Love and hugs!

I did it!

Just a little commentary on my morning. As you know, gas prices are through the roof. Yeah just a bit! Well, my hospital will pay for us to commute using buses and/or light rail, so like totally a good deal.

I left at 613 from my house, went to the park and ride about 3 miles away and boarded an express bus that takes me downtown Minneapolis. I walked 1.5 blocks to the light rail and hopped that for the VA. Yeah, ok, I got there at 713am (usually would start work at 730am so that is good).

On the way there, I realized that I had not planned this too well. THe morning express bus does not go back to where I am until afternoon. Ummm, decisions. GO into to work on my last day of vacation or find a way home. Well it is a given what I chose. I called MTC and they helped me plan a way home. It was relatively seamless. I got back to my car at 832 and home by 840am. That was about the amount of time it I had planned for this little exploration trip. So it is all good!

I think that it is pretty slick. Once I learn my way a little better, it might go easier. Looking forward to starting it on Monday. Kudos to MTC lady (Jeanette?) who helped me get back home without too much trouble.

Lessons learned: plan your trip well before you start. Print out all schedules for light rail. Carry the bus schedules with you (I had what I needed to get there though).

That is all for the day. I feel like an accomplished commuter already...well, maybe just a little bit accomplished. Time for breakfast, more coffee...need it, was up until 12am scrapping and then left the house early. And then on to more scrapping!

Every now and then...

....a vacation at home is good. I have been home all week. Well, really, not home all week but you know what I mean. I have been to Valley Fair with my daughter. To A's and M's, had some friends over and went swimming at the Y, was hostess to daughter's friend and worked a little at night.

I have not done much scrapping yet, but I made this layout tonight. It turned out really nice. I am loving it. It makes me happy. I wish I could find the time to do it all, but laundry and housework and other stuff does take priority.


Love and hugs.

Today is the day...

... that I take over my liver transplant job full time. No more procedures. Yay! I have no procedures to do in the morning and now I will not feel pulled in different directions. So far, worked pretty hard putting the mess on the desk straight.

Did some organizing at home this weekend too. Yes, I organized the clipitup and realized that I do not EVER have to buy a single thing again. I have so much crap on the clipitup that it is full, full, FULL! Loving that I revisited that stuff. I think that is important too as a person forgets what they have and then they (gulp) buy it again, forget and use something else when that certain something would have been just PERFECT, and too, as time goes by, those items get old (rubons don't work) or they are outdated and not as trendy as they were once.

So my vow is to avoid "saving" my stuff for that fabulous layout I dream of making someday, and using the stuff that I have on a day to day basis. I know that I hoard or at least save, cause I want it. Yeah, like the HS clear gels...I HAD TO HAVE IN all colors and have I a used a one? NOT A STINKIN' ONE, so here is to using those asap.

I made some cards on Friday. I just used the rest of the line of Cosmo Cricket. I wanted to keep using those scraps cause I liked the line and wanted to make sure I did not recycle that line before I used more of it. I was liberal with it also. Wanted to NOT SAVE as I have been doing. Turns out I made 10 cards and they turned out wonderful. Loving them. I will try and photo them and post them asap. Besides, I have another kit coming soon, so have to have room for that stuff too!

Got to work. Will revisit this site soon. Love and hugs.

Thank Heaven for Fridays

So in the grand scheme of things, Fridays have always been my favorite day of the week. When I was a child, it was no school, as a teenager and young adult, it meant going out and having fun and no school, and as an adult-adult, it means no work for 2 1/2 days. Yes my friend, 2 1/2 days. I count the moment that I get out of work until 10pm on Sunday night as my weekend.

Now, granted in the last 20 years, I have worked on and off on weekends as nurses usually do, and in the past 1 1/2 years, I have worked weekends again. As this is my official weekend off, and have to work Saturday (to fill in for missing home nurse), I am putting a lot on this friday. I put a lot on every friday.

Friday night is my favorite. No work in the morning. Sometimes, I will stay up unusually late (2-3 am) scrapping or reading or watching tv and go to bed and pop up on Saturday am feeling great! I try not to cook on Fridays. I usually call it a "make-your-own" night or if I am feeling incredibly generous, I will spring for FF and make my lean and green for myself. Sometimes hubby and I will take an after work nap and that is usally relaxing too--that usually is for about 1 hour and the kids are playing, reading, being with friends, so it feels good to relax after work.

Hubby will do his own thing into the evening and I get my time. Uninterrupted and mine, all MINE. I usually do not schedule housework, homework, working out at the gym or work late on fridays. Occasionally, I end up running kids around, but am trying to reserve that time for myself on a regular basis. Like those fridays. Love them!

Tonight I have plans to clean up my scrap room,, reorganize my clipitup and perhaps make a layout or two or three. I also need to make some cards for at work. I need to make welcome, best wishes and more birthday cards. They love those at work and I like to have them on hand for my coworkers. I hope to set up a card box for all to use as needed. I do not want to charge anyone for the cards, but will take donations--only cause I do not make the envelopes and they usually cost. I think it is nice and goodwill-promoting hting to do here so I will keep it up!

Got to work the job now. Hope the day is a Fabulous Friday for everyone! Love and hugs.

Back on a even keel

Ok, traveling out of the way, one set of parents (visiting) out of the way, clean house, back at work (feels like I never left), and just here. Time to get down to business. On with it.

I did not get any scrapping done this week. Felt not so good in Virginia. Mustv'e been something I ate. Better now though. Feeling great to be exact!

Going to scrap tonight though. Need to create. I got this cool mag last week at Barnes and Noble, by Scrapbooks, etc. about page sketches/plans and I am inspired to try some things out so up to the desk I go.

MIL was here and she saw my clipitup and she wants one so I told her about how I got it at Archiver's. Love that thing. Talk about organization at it's best. Hope she gets one and likes it. It keeps things out in the open and moderately organized, however, I admit that I tend to be hurried to get to the next project and just put things back in any old place on it. Going to have to take it down and reorganize again, gives me a chance to fondle my products and if I revisit them, I think I use more, cause I have viewed them more recently. I must tell you, I have used more things since I had it than when I did not! It is worth the $$ to buy it.

Have a great day! Love and hugs!

updates and birthday

Ok, so I should just sign in more often and get my things out in the open. A lot has happened since last week. First of all, last week I did not get the Nursing Excellence Award but found out on Wednesday that I tied for first and they had to send the nominations off to the head of the VISN to make the official decision. So needless to say, I got notification that I got a $$ award on my next check. Cool. $$ is always nice.

Well, then, I also turned 39 yesterday. Yeah I know. I was was treated by my hubby and kids to a GC from Joann's and some cool new DVD's of the 80's music videos of songs I love. How cool is that?! I cannot wait to watch them. It will be a hoot. I was actually trying to do the safety dance (by Men at Work) for my family last night, and they actually thought I had lost it. What?! WHAT?!!! What is wrong with that?! Just kidding.

Then my family took me out for Mexican at Ol' Mexico (Bet you saw that coming...). We had a nice meal, played TV trivia, had a great time as a family. And then we went home and played ROCKBAND (just got hta tfor the kids on the weekend). What a blast. I have determined that I can only sing (and not very well but surely better than the guitar or the drums, for heavens sake). A good time was had by all as they say. All in all, turning 39 was just like any other day but for the special times with my family. That made it great!

So now, I am heading out for Virginia tomorrow for a Transplant conference. 2 days away from home. Kind of fun. Will miss the family. I will get to see people that I connect with on a daily basis over the phone and email in VA transplant stuff so that will be nice. The people that I know do not know that I have lost a bunch (60+lbs) of pounds so I will be sharing things about that. I sure wish that I could be gracious. I have been stuck on the plateau for about 3 months, and not been losing anymore weight, so when people come up to me, instead of graciously saying "thank you", I find myself going off on a tirade/tirant about how I am stuck, still need to lose 20 lbs, etc. I just need to practice "Thank you, I have been working at it" or just "thank you". Yeah, got to practice that.

I have to finish work and get home to pack. I wasn't packed last night cause I was playing with my family. Now I need to get it going tonight but it should not be so hard since I only have to take 2 days worth of suits. I plan on taking some Studio Calico kit along for something to do. I was kind of thinking that a little kit work would be good for the soul. I have never taken any scrap supplies on these trips before and packing for it may be a challenge but it might be worth it.

Got to get back to work. Have good ones. Love and hugs, Lara

All is well in the world today!

I just had the best time with my family. We enjoyed a nice evening out at Red Lobster and Target where we almost got asked to leave for having too much fun. No, seriously, we were just having fun at Target.

The award ceromony was today at work. I did not get either award. Yeah, I did get nominated for the Excellence in Nursing Award and the Preceptor of the Year. But someone more deserving got the awards. I saw the list of the people nominated and I felt honored to stand up next to them. There were some greats on that list.

I also did not get the DT spot that I tried out for. I am ok with that. I saw the entries of the people that got those spots and they had some pretty neat stuff. I am happy for them.

So one would think that today was a downer but it wasn't. Greatness isn't always about being recognized, sometimes it is about trying your hardest and feeling like you have accomplished what you thought you could do. I am fine with that. I can go to my hospital tomorrow and hold my head up high. I can continue doing the job that I have been doing and bask in the thought the nominations, and in the knowledge that someone besides myself, recognizes my hard work and dedication to my patients. That is enough.

As for DT, going to try again. GOing to try for whatever I want. I want to use my creative hobby for the best from myself and what better way to shoot for the stars than to submit again. It is good practice to push myself to put my work up to the next level.

And one final note, I am a winner with my family and that in itself is enough. They all love me and are proud of me and believe in me and my ability to be the best at whatever I do. WHO COULD ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE!

Besides, I got Studio Calico goodness in the mail today and it was like an early birthday present! How awesome is that. The kits are the best!Love and Hugs, Lara

Monday

I just got done doing a quiz on my kitty Sadie. Who would have thought she was like Gwen Stefani. I guess I can kind of see it. She is my little princess. Sure glad it was not Paris or something, I just dislike her so much.

Well, waiting patiently for the announcement for the design team spot today. I hope I get it. I am so excited to work with this site. They are the best. Please see the last post in which I posted the works I did for a the scrap challenges this weekend for National Scrapbook day. IT was a lot of fun! Got to work today. Perhaps will pop in later. Love and hugs, Lara

National Scrapbook Day was a success!

Ok, so I admit, I am stuck on scrapping. I love it. I spent the first part of the morning yesterday going to local SS stores and buying some small goodies. Then had to take DD to Festival of Nations. Gone til about 6 pm and then home.

The family knew not to bug me after that. I did two new layouts. I did 2 for a challenges on the ScrapAttack website. It was fun. I also played with my camera and my kitty and some Prima flowers. I will post the results. It was pretty fun. Worked on things until about 1 am and then called it a night. I am back at it today after some pesky little housework. Yuck. Why can't I scrap all day?

This is the week that I love. I have NSD, National Nurse's week, Mother's Day and my birthday. NOt to mention, they are going to announce the ScrapAttack Guest Designer this week. Now I am sure that there are a lot of talented people entered, and I can't wait to see who is picked. I will be very happy for who the winner is. Yes, I would like it to be me, but I want the best entry to get picked. IF that is not mine, it wasn't meant to be and I really want to see who gets it.

I have spent a little time scrapping and the results will be posted. I love doing it. It relaxes me and centers me. It is in my being to use creativity to express myself and steer my life. I will need to put back together my scrap room though. It is getting a little messy from my busy work this weekend. Everything in it's place will allow me to move into the next layout. Going to do that now.

Have a beautiful Sunday! Love and hugs, Lara

quick little update

Just a quick one. Spent the day trying to rest up and dragging child #1 all over to the doctor. He is still sick. Thought it was Mono. All the signs point to that except the test is negative. Red ear though, so at least she put him on abx. I don't know if it will help, but the poor young man probably had the worst night of his life last night with bone chilling rigors (chills)--shaking the couch and teeth chattering.

I felt like crying for him. I laid next to him on the couch and wrapped him in towels and blankets and tried to give him my body heat and it did not work. Only as his fever climbed higher, did he get any relief from the chills. Yeah and then it was 102.9 and I was just about to take him to the ER when it broke and then he was able to eat and drink a bit and then he crashed. I crawled in bed about 5 minutes before my alarm went off. So needless to say, I did not go to work today. I will have to r/s my class too but hey, my kid comes first. Most definitely!

Spent some quality time with my daughter tonight. She went with me to the mall for B and B for body wash and the lotion that we like so much...mmmmmm cherry blossoms...mmmmm! We also went to VS for a few things as I had a coupon for a free item. Good girl's time though!

Ok, so I sent it off today. The DT email. I guess it can't be undone now. I don't want it to be. I would love it if I got it. I think it is a great site. A great site! Wonderful store. I usually check there first, before I order from other places, cause she usually has what I am looking for. I am trying to be positive. The worst case scenario is that I have my Mother and Father's day cards done and 4 awesome layouts to post in my gallery. If I get the spot, I will so pleased. What an awesome opportunity! Can't wait for May 5, 2008!

I got some Label Tulip goodness in the mail this weekend. Yummy, excellent goodness! Have not had a chance to play with it, but I have it all set for this weekend while I relax. Hopefully DS will be better so there are happy good feeling kids around again. So looking forward to some serious scrapping for this weekend. Can't wait. Got to head to bed though. DH is staying home with the kid tomorrow. I just cannot fathom him going through what he went through last night all alone tomorrow without anyone there. So DH has to be the one this time. DS may be almost 15, but he should not go through that alone. I so pray that he gets through this sooner rather then later. Adios! Love and hugs!

flying under the radar and why that is nice

Been feeling a lot of pressure lately. Usually at work, I can just come in, do my job, take care of my patients and go home. Besides feeling like I could work until 8 pm every night, I am feeling the pressure to be as good as people think I am. Let me explain. I do a good job at what I do. I am nurturing and a problem solver and am ingenious at finding ways to get things done in a system that is saran-wrapped in red tape that is the federal government.

Ok, so here is the thing. And it is big, to me. Ever since I found out that I was nominated for that award, I have been feeling pressure. To be as good as people must think I am because they nominated me ( and I must point out, that I do not know which coworker(s) did so). So I am making myself crazy trying to be amenable and flexible to everyone. Now granted, I am usually that way but now I feel I must keep it up at all times, so that those who shall not be named (and unknown to me), do not regret putting their nomination out there. That is messed up in my mind. I should continue doing what I do, as I do it, have been doing it, because that is what they saw in me in the first place.

So here I am, trying, trying to just be like I am, but I find myself walking taller, trying to be kinder, gentler, more flexible, anyway. And then on top of it, my boss is trying to write me up for a Nurse III--which is hard to get with a BAN, you almost have to have a Master's Degree to get this and she seems to think that she sees evidence that I am performing at that level. So here is more pressure. AND, now she writes my proficiency to say that I am outstanding in all degrees in my performance. So what am I griping about? If I get it, it means that I get a sizable raise and a whole lot of other doors open for me. So where is the gripe? They always say that the majority of people who are performing well are not recognized for their accomplishments, so why am I complaining?

I guess that is what I am trying to figure out. I think it stems from the fact that I am my own worst critic and that I still believe that deep down, I am not worth it. But to be truthful, I know that I have been working towards this moment for a long time. I have pushed myself to become a respected part of our facility. I am not a ladder climber. I have not squashed people on my way up the steps either. I pride myself on good patient care and all that that entails, including making the processes better. That is how I got here and I do not have anything to regret or feel guilty about. I just need to adjust to this. I know that I am afraid of getting a big head though. Why should I worry? Well, I kind of keep thinking about my weight loss as part of it. People take me more seriously now. They look at me more. When I was overweight, I could fly under the radar, and now all the sudden, people actually see me and it makes me nervous. I know I look better and more healthy everyday, even in my mind.

I am just scared to get a "she thinks she's all that" complex. I am not. I am perhaps the most humble person I know. And yet, here I am bringing this all out in the open. Well, besides the fact that there is only one or two people who actually read this, I find that that this is a good forum for me to put my thoughts out in a logical way. Perhaps I can type myself into a answer. Or not, but at least I have organized my thoughts for now. When computers were young, my dad had this psychology counseling program. You typed in your problem and the computer prompted you with openended questions until you got out what was bothering you...you know...and how does THAT make you feel...what ELSE can you tell me about this...can you give EXAMPLES...and so on. So this is my therapy. Sure wish I got paid $50/hr to counsel myself, I'd be rich. LOL.

SO I guess I will leave off with these words of inspiration...NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, THERE YOU ARE! =O) Love and hugs!

caregiving

Just a quick little blurb. Got called by #1 child this afternoon...in the nurse's office at school. Now I know he is sick. They do not let these kids out of school unless they are half dead. He was sick on Tuesday with a fever and sore throat. Thought it was a virus. But, it is most likely mono. Yay. Poor kid.

I know he does not get enough sleep, eat right or get enough sleep. Need I say more. Perhaps the NP got somewhere with him this time. He is resting right now and he even took the vitamins that I have been trying to get him to take. He has also won his right to a day away from school, and get this...he does not want to miss out...that is what makes me worried about how sick he is. His fever is pretty high, and he is taking advil every 4-6hrs so that helps.

#2 child is doing ok. We went to Target yesterday and got her a CD player alarm clock and some relaxation CD's so that she can sleep better. She reports that she is pretty down right now and I know that she is not sleeping real well these days so hopefully that will help her out. I hear her right now, flipping through the selections. She really likes the waves and ocean one we got her, and we got her rain and thunder and then 2 Celtic relaxation and sleep CD's. They are pretty good. I really like the Celtic sound. So does DH. We listened to one of the CD's last night on the way home and he said "we better stop listening, I could get to relaxed and fall asleep while driving". It was relaxing.

I guess that is all. I have been playing around on the computer, putting together an email for a contest that I am entering. Yes, I am going to try to enter that design team contest for an online scrapbook store. I am pretty excited about it. It is the first time that I have done this but I have some great layouts that I am proud of and am excited to share. I am sure that the competition is pretty strong for these spots and I wish all that try out the best of wishes. I will be excited to see what happens!

Tomorrow is Friday. Yay! Eventhough I fear I will be working late at the hospital as I had to leave in a hurry to pick #2 child up and take him to the doctor. Tomorrow will bring what tomorrow will bring. Love and hugs.

computer savvy?

I scrapped today. Not as much as I would like but some. I had some fun with the Cuttlebug die I just bought. It the cutest little 2 part butterfly that you have ever seen. I cut up a bunch of scraps and just played with them. I took a picture so hopefully I can add those to this site. How fun would that be. Again, here is the computer savvy. Oh, look, I added them at the top of the post. They are there. Aren't they cute! I think I am addicted to butterflies these days. Love these!

I have been creative today though. I made a bunch of cards for the garage sale at my son's school and for conferences. They want to raise another 231 dollars for the kids to go see Tikal (ancient Mayan ruins in Guatemala). We have to raise that on top of what we already had to pay. But it is a trip of a lifetime so I say, let him raise it. I would love to go there for that, but I heard about the trip itself for Habitat for Humanity and I would be very scared--it is going to be awfully hot and dry there. I am not sure I could handle the heat. Yeah, and this coming from the woman who spent the last 6 months saying she was too cold. Only in MN, I guess.

But I digress. I am making a bunch of grad and mother's day cards to sell for the fundraiser. I am not making them too fancy, more simple, so that I can make more of them. I am using stamps a lot for them. Easy to make a bunch all at once. If I have a lot left over, I can always donate them to places that give those things out.

Speaking of computer savvy, well, I have been trying to add some slideshow of favorite layouts and I cannot get it to work. I will keep trying. I figure, if I can add the butterflies (aren't they cute?!) I can figure out the slideshow from photo bucket. Well, I must get shuteye. Work awaits tomorrow. Love and hugs and happy scrapping!

feeling a bit poor today

Ok, so I was up until 1030pm last night. Finishing printing the taxes to file today. Yes, I had to pay in this year. I actually cried like a baby about it for a mintue or two. I usually do not have too much issues with taxes but a lump sum is supposed to be coming to me, not going out of my account. Don't worry, I will be changing withholding soon, to rectify it. We are average joes and expendable irs payments are not always available. I wiped out a good portion of our savings to pay it. That in itself, feels bad. A doctor I work with says that I should feel good that I made ENOUGH $ last year to have to pay taxes but I disagree, I just think it was poor planning on my part to not have changed my withholding on my second job. I will fix it.

Enough about taxes. I am on to a mini vacation tonight until Monday. I work the second job, tomorrow and then I am just hanging at home and scrapbooking. I have a few chores planned but each and every one of them will be done with the reward of a good long scrapbooking stint. That is my reward and my relaxation.

I am toying with trying out for a design team. I really happen to like this particular site, and the people there, on the message board, are very nice and the store (online) is pretty awesome. The owner seems to have a good inventory and usually does not run out of things really fast and it seems like she gets the latest and greatest in there and usually puts in sale right away, not to mention that she has the right mix for me, of things that I usually like to buy. I have ordered from there before, several times, and really like it. I was once looking for a particular AC item, and she had it, and other places did not and I got it for less than I might have other places. But then again, I really like the smaller stores too, it seems more personable. Check it out: http://www.scrapattackscrapbooking.com/ As far as the design team, well, I am not sure if I would try it, giving it some serious thought, I mean, one never knows until one tries. I can't hardly sit on the sidelines if I am itching to put myself out there.

I have never entered anything before in this way before. I have entered contests. I have entered challenges. I have won a few contests but never actually entered a DT contest. I have wanted to, started the assignments, but then was not finishing because I was not confident enough. But I really feel like I have gotten somewhere with my confidence and have my comfort with my own work at some point in the last year. Actually, I think it was about November, after a long stretch of a creative mojo block, that things started to feel more right in my creative world. Now I think differently about it and I do not feel the block. I only feel the wonderful urge to play with paper and glue and all the fun embellishments that I have!

I must, I must, work until it is over for the week! I will be back later this week, hopefully with pictures of recent fun stuff I have done! Love and hugs!

Finally, Good at something

Ok, so I am kind of good at a lot of things but have never been spectacular at anything. Well, yesterday I got an invitation for Nurse's week saying that I have been nominated for an Ecellence in Nursing Award at my hospital. I guess that means that one or more coworker believes that I am doing a good job in my position. I was surprised, pleased, honored, etc that I was nominated.

The award will be given out on May 6, 2008. I do not know who else has been nominated for this, but even if I DO NOT get the actual award, I am incredibly honored to be recognized. I feel kind of like I am tooting my own horn, and feel like I am bragging, but it is a coveted award at my hospital, and I have always wanted to be THAT GOOD at what I do that someone would think I am worthy enough to take the time to fill out the form/write an essay to explain what they see good about my work. I am happy and heartwarmed at the fact that I have been nominated! That is all I wanted to say!

Every thing is status quo. Having inlaws here later this week. Kind of putting a stop in my chance to post some things on my blog such as some recent layouts, but I guess I will get that done later, after they leave. I also have to finish taxes and work this weekend. I am formulating some ideas in my head regarding layouts and will work on them when I have a bit more time! Looking forward to Studio Calico kit today. I will not be able to work on anything, but fondling the paper/embellishments in the kit will boost my mood! Love and hugs!

Well I am on to the next stage of April, after-Texas visit stage. I have spent the last hour putting away my clothes, and that prompted me to purge my dresser and closet again. After losing so much weight, I am constantly having to buy new/used things (that fit) and then I do not have a place for them. So I purged. 3 big garbage bags full...seems like a lot but I got rid of dress clothes, uniforms, sweats and other things that I did not purge last fall.

Part of me wanted to hold onto some of those things but they are all relatively big on me and I cannot and will not EVER fit in those again. I have vowed. The big clothes are BUBBYE--SEEYA~! If I were to keep them I could easily slip back into them at some point if I gain a few and then I will let myself go..not going to let that happen.

It is kind of like scrapbook supplies. Some things are so pretty/neat/cool that I find myself NOT using them--saving them per say. Yeah, and then 1 year later, I am still holding on to them and the excitement of having them, possessing the latest/greatest has worn off or it is seen everywhere that it is nothing new and then I don't want to use them then. SO here is to using what I have right now. RIGHT NOW. Open those packages and use somethings that I have been hoarding/coveting, etc and don't save for a rainy day. I will have to keep it up.

Coming home was fun. I am definitely on the kitties' shit list though. Sadie especially! She is going to really make me work for her affection. Torrie is doing it too. What is up with that? Puddin is the only one who is loving and welcoming to me. Maybe I will just ignore them until they come to me and just love up Puddin, who is gracious enough to let me know that he REALLY did miss me. The kids and Dave missed me too and I missed them. They are like Puddin though, they let me know how much they missed me. HMMMMPH...Sadie, you should take note of how you should welcome your mmommmy home. LOL---my son says I am a crazy cat lady, maybe he's right...Hahahaha. got to go. Gotta finish putting away all my scrap stuff that I brought from Texas. When I get situated, I will post some stuff I have done in scrapbooking lately. Love and hugs! Lara

A birth of a blog

I am trying to move into the 21st century with a blog. I can do this. I am not a technological geek nor can I proclaim that I can navigate anything other than windows. I mean, I have the clinical applications coordinator and the computer help desks at work on speed dial and THEY all know me by name. We even exchange Christmas cards...LOL.

To get to know me...I am an RN at a busy Minneapolis hospital. I love my job and love being a nurse. I am a mom of 2 children...almost 13 and 15. They are the lights of my life and provide me with enough comic relief that I get my healthy dose of belly laughs in, every day. I am a wife of 15 years, and that in itself is a reason to need the belly laughs. Just kidding dear, I love ya!

I have a passion for scrapbooking. I love anything paper and glue. It soothes me, relaxes me, and keeps me from becoming a medical/nursing geek. It shows the fun, creative side to me. Or at least I think it does. I used to teach some classes at my LSS-the Scrapbook Shop of St. Paul which is a really great store with wonderfully creative people. I got away from teaching about a year ago, and am just pleased to scrap for myself. I enter contests occasionally on line, just to keep my creative mojo going.

I share my hobby with my sister, Jacquie. She is the true creative wonder. Her style is incredible. You can see her work here at her blog. I am here with her right now. She lives in Texas and today is the last day of a 5 day visit with her. We shopped and scrapped and had a great time. I am sad to go home today, but judging the way the kids and the hubby are texting me, they miss me, and it is time to go back to reality. I am good with that. I wish I could come and visit every few months though, we have so much fun. I will post pics when I have a bit more time and a better net connection...wireless connect is low on my laptop down here.

I also am really into fitness. For those that know me, then you know that I just recently lost about 65 lbs. I am trying to lose the last 20 lbs and keep it off. That keeps me busy. Just so you know, I am having an affair with my Y's Cross Ramp Eliptical machine...(love you # 9, 10, and 11...kisses, I will see you tomorrow!) My hubby is aware of the affair, and guess what, he is ok with that...go figure?!

Well, got to go on to hanging with my sister for the last few hours of my visit. Will be back later. Have a good one! Love and hugs, Lara