It's been a week...

Since we got back and we are finally finishing up around the house. Most of my shows have been borrowed and watched, laundry is slowly thinning out, projects are getting finished, some groceries have been bought and rooms are getting cleaned. Fortunately we cleaned before we left so it was pretty much just getting things back in place and in our routine again. I wanted to post a few pictures from the trip. We had so many amazing days... from the Redwoods to the Waterfalls to duck ponds and Hangman's Tree. Here are a few of the scenic photos from Yosemite.

Above is 1. Yosemite Falls 2. Yosemite Valley (El Capitan on the left, Half Dome in the middle and Bridalveil Falls on the right 3. Us hiding behind trees in the valley.

Below is 1. Alea standing in front of the Lower of Yosemite Falls 2. Alea all wet from the river 3. Jarrett in front of Bridalveil Falls 4. Jarrett all wet from the river

So it's been awhile... but

I do have a good reason. I was preparing for our VERY FIRST big family RV trip! We drove the 101 all the way up to Arcata to pick up my brother who graduated from Humboldt State University. Then we drove the 299 (beautiful right along the Trinity river) to Auburn to visit my Aunt & Cousins. Then to Placerville to stay with my cousin Kelly and her family for a couple days. Then back west to Sunnyvale to visit with my Uncle and then.... then we spent 5 days in Yosemite! WOW. Can I get a HELL YA?? It was AMAZING. The kids were great (for the most part) during all of that driving and visiting with people they didn't know. The RV was kicking... a fabulous home away from home. We saw so many beautiful sights and animals that I think I will dream of trees and waterfalls for the next 10 years!! I will post a few pictures as soon as I edit and transfer them onto my home computer.

Also, if anyone is interested or knows someone who might be, we a having a special guest teacher coming to our store next month for our anniversary. Margie Romney-Aslett from Making Memories will be hosting a fun filled crop and teaching 3 amazing classes on June 9th & 10th. Full details can be found on the Sassy Skool page of our website! I need to know by next week because we are in danger of not meeting our class minimums... so tell your friends!

I am off to work for now... catch ya later!

Wow I am sick...

Really sick I tell you. Yesterday I took a sick day and stayed in bed for most of the day. Last night I started feeling a bit better and today my head doesn't feel ready to explode. This is a good thing. Plans are underway for our trip.. the RV is mostly ready and we have some loose ends to tie up here before we will be ready to go. I just found out that Alea will miss most of the Star testing and makeup (oh woopy do) and we have to talk with her teacher about homework. Jarrett's 5th birthday party was a success and was very NON-stressful. We like it that way. Park party requires little clean-up.. LOVE that. I am still feeling blessed with my life.. but not so much with this cold.. hehe

HUGZ

Change IS good...

I was reading Margie's blog this morning and she got me thinking... I have been talking an awful lot about change in my daily life lately... and the really cool thing I realized is this... CHANGE IS GOOD. Plain and simple. Most people fear it, fear the outcome it may bring. But doing something different with your life, from the smallest to the largest things is doing SOMETHING... and that feels good to me. I look back at how DIFFERENT my life was 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 1 year ago.. man the changes I have made!

10 years ago I was reeling from my wedding, my mom's death 4 days later and her funeral 1 week after that. Upset at the fact that my step-dad had been arrested AT her funeral and at that time was currently in jail. I was freaking out at the fact that while I had always taken care of my brother, I was now COMPLETELY taking care of him. I was scared, confused and worried. Worried at how my brother was dealing with our mom's death and step-dad's jailing. Worried at how Jason and I were going to make things ok as a family with all of the loss and stress going on. I was angry that my mom wasn't there to see me get married, that she died before I could really get to know her, that my family members were such hypocrits and attention getters. ugh

5 years ago I was just 10 days away from giving birth to my 2nd child.. my son. I was relaxed in my pregnancy, confident in my ability to mother, excited to meet this new person. My brother was in college, spending his free time finding out who he was spiritually and mentally. My husband loved me and we were happy. Alea was in pre-school and was such a joy.. most days! We were living with my father in law and anticipating our new arrival, and eventual purchase of our first home. While there was a bit of tension in that house (we only lasted 4 months there), there was an air of excitement at the changes to come. Life was good.

1 year ago I was happily working at Scrapbook Junction... blissfully unaware that in 1 month.. just 1 month I would make one of the biggest decisions of my life and purchase the store from Lynda. We would take a chance and hope for the best. I was a little nervous about my impending lack of employment, but I was also excited to look for somewhere new, somewhere to meet new people and expand my horizons. The kids were great, both in school and doing well. My brother was now at the university, with only 1 year left before he graduated. Jason still loved me and was doing awesome at work. We didn't want for anything but maybe a bit more time together as a family. Again, life was good.

4 months ago my life changed again. I found my spirtuality. I started finding out who I REALLY was. Who I had been and who I wanted to become. Jason was right there with me. He was tapping into places he had never been within himself. Cory was our guidence counselor and classmate all at the same time. The 3 of us have never bonded more closely than when we did at Christmas time. The months since have been a struggle and awakening.. it is amazing. I am constantly reminded at how blessed I truly am. To have family and friends who love me. To be able to come to work (ha ha) everyday and love what I am doing. TO BE ME.

This makes me want to scrapbook... good thing I am here at the store today... LOL

Ok.. I swear I will keep up!

There has been soo much going on lately, but really, when ISN'T there a ton going on in my life!

First things first, we had our busiest month EVER last month! So many new products coming into the store from CHA! I love getting all of the new products and trying to figure out where to put it all (ok, maybe this isn't my favorite thing)! I love it when new customers come in and say WOW after walking the store! That always makes me smile! I love it when frequent customers curse my name because I have so many new goodies! LOL

In short... I LOVE THIS STORE!! I have so many ideas and fun events coming up it just keeps getting more and more exciting!!

QuicKutz is coming for an hour to do Make N Takes on National Scrapbook Day! Kirk Pead will be here conducting make n takes and giving away prizes! Their new Spring Gift Set is SOOO cute! You MUST see their promo!!

Margie from Making Memories is coming in June and I CAN'T WAIT!! I love her spunk and style and of course, who doesn't love MM products?? I can't wait for her to meet my customers and friends, who are equally full of spunk and sass! I hope we can show her a great time while she is here, she always makes our trade show experience SO MUCH FUN!!

As for life.. well, things are going ok. Talk to me next week when Spring Break is over and my kids are back in school! LOL

Really though, these next few months will mark so much change. We are taking a family trip next month up North to see my baby bro graduate from college!! We are driving the family up in our WAY under-used RV and towing him back. On the way back we plan to stop and visit the family in Sacramento area. 2 WHOLE WEEKS! I cannot wait! Most of all, I miss my brother and can't wait to have him just a few minutes away instead of days. Things are falling into place and I just can't wait to get going!!

Ok, enough of that, I am off to put a class together! HUGZ

OMG... I think I forgot my password!

No really though.. don't you hate bloggers that don't update? Well, don't hate the blogger.. hate the blog... or something like that! Sorry, I have been super super super busy. I have to keep up with the weekly updates on the store-front and always seem to forget to come here to update! Also, it is tax time and well... that is scary. Also... I am addicted to Toon Town.. so that eats up a lot of time.

Things are going well, though I think I have a major arm injury. That probably isn't a good thing but hey, laugh or cry baby, what are you going to do? Will be calling the dr. next week. Oh yeah, got a speeding ticket. First one ever. Love love love the Sheriffs. Ugh. Jason has his surgery on his gallbladder in a little over a week. I think he might be a bit freaked out. Understandably so.

So many new products in the store and I am in serious purge mode at home. I will take pictures of my NEW AND IMPROVED scrap room as soon as I finish. All inspired by DD. Love her. Ok.. it's late, I am outta here!

WOW.. long time no post!

Sorry about that! Things got really crazy hectic leading up to the CHA trade show! But anywho, here I am in all of my glory.

I did something AWESOME last night. Let me just share. Have you seen the QVC Lisa Bearnson album set? The 4 albums that autodeliver every few months? The first one is "All About Me" and features Heidi Swapp products, the 2nd is "All About You" featuring SEI, the 3rd is "All About Family" featurning Memories Complete and the 4th is "A Year in Review" featuring American Crafts. So of course I ordered it because it was the Today's Special Value and I love all of those companies... and honestly, how can you go wrong with an album that is already planned out and you just have to put it together per their instructions? I put my All About Me book together last night. Granted, I need to add just a few pictures and my journaling.. but people... I completed a 20 page album LAST NIGHT!! That is AMAZING! So I had to share.

In other news... pictures of the CHA show are up on the site HERE, and the re-cap with all of the goodies I ordered is HERE.
Yes.. that is Heidi Swapp signing my TSV.. cuz I love her and she is just so darn CUTE!

Enjoy... I am off to teach a card class tonight!

SEEYA!

ALI EDWARDS ROCKS!!

I spent almost all day yesterday with 2 of my FAVORITE scrap gurus! Ali Edwards and my fabulous table-mate Tara Whitney!! I had a BLAST!
Laurel & I drove up to Irvine for 2 classes with Ali yesterday. Perspectives & Photos I Love 2005. We were both so anxious to get up there and get going! Little did I know that my fave photographer would be the one with an empty spot at her table! At the FRONT of the class!

The classes were both amazing and after seeing the morning project I wish I would have taken that one also!! I wanted to take these classes mostly because I completely admire Ali's amazing style and because it is so "free" from what I normally box myself into doing. The projects were simple yet elegant and everything came together fabulously!!

SO.. yesterday was ALSO my 10 year wedding anniversary. Before I left I casually said to Jason, "Happy Anniversary hon". And he went white. Now we didn't get presents or anything because next weekend we will be celebrating it up in Vegas for CHA. So I wasn't trying to make him feel badly, but I guess it had slipped his mind on the date! No worries!

After my fabulous day with all of the great scrappers at the classes, I came home last night to find this... and boy did I cry! Not only did I have a GREAT day with Ali, but I came home to find that MY HUSBAND HAD MADE ME A CARD and BOUGHT ME MY FAVORITE FLOWERS!
but mostly... he MADE me a card...sniff sniff...

SO... Happy Anniversary to ME and we are off to head downtown for some US time!!

Sniff Sniff...

Welp, my brother is officially on his way back to Arcata for his final semester at Humbolt State U. I miss him when he is gone. This time it has been exceptionally hard to see him go. BUT... we will be going up there to see him graduate in May.. so I will look forward to that.

What's done is done. Step-dad is officially moved out of FIL's house. Locks have been changed. Words have been exchanged. As soon as I get my darn voice back, final words will be exchanged between him and me. I am feeling like a huge load has been lifted. I also feel sadness, but he has brought this upon himself and I can't change that.

These past few weeks have been spent dealing with all of the crap that we as a family have been avoiding for years. It feels good to be catching up to the present and moving on. I feel like we are in "cleansing" mode and that is a VERY good thing.

I am not sure what will happen in the next few months... but I have a HUGE feeling that 2006 is going to be an AWESOME & POWERFUL year...

BRING IT ON...

My life just keeps getting weirder and weirder...

I have had the most undescribable 3 weeks.

Starting with Christmas, continuing with family bull crud, what I thought was peaking with the meeting with my dad, only to find out that no... it isn't over. Not by FAR.

My step dad is stealing from my family. He will dodge it, point the finger elsewhere, and try his best to manuever out of the blame... but he is STEALING from my family.

UN-FLIPPING-ACCEPTABLE

So now... the next week will consist of taking care of family business so that this man, this THIEF, this LIAR, will have NO access to us anymore.

Amazing...

Yet another day in the saga of my white trash family...

I've been TAGGED!!

Ok... so let's just say that today has been surreal... had the showdown with my dad... amazing... I don't even know where to begin with that!

AND THEN... I come to check the stats on my website and WHAT? 312 views in one night? What in the WORLD happened? I look and see where they are coming from and GUESS WHAT! CATHY ZIELSKE TAGGED ME? Ok ok... she said it was random... BUT STILL! So here we go.. and might I add that Cathy is an AMAZING talent, totally funny in person and someone who keeps it real.. and that means a lot! SEE YOU AT CHA GIRL!

Four jobs you have had in your life:
•Pizza slinger for Little Sleazers (pizza pizza)
•Clothes slinger for Lame Giant (that's Lane Bryant for you lucky gals who don't have to shop there)
•Clothes slinger for Clothestime (ages ago)
•Sales clerk in the men's dept. of Sears... the BEST way to meet guys... hehe

Four movies you would watch over and over:
•Shawshank Redemption (I have to agree, and I actually just watched this 2x last week!)
•Garden State (SO REAL... SO TRUE... I love this movie & soundtrack)
•Galaxy Quest (well that was a helluva thing)
•Wedding Singer (you spin me right round baby right round...)

Four places you have lived:
•El Cajon, CA
•Lakeside, CA
•Santee, CA
•that's it... I have lived within a 10 mile radius my entire life... bland eh?

Four TV shows you love to watch:
LOST...
ANY CSI...
Bones....
House...

Four places you have been on vacation:
•Newport Beach
•Hawaii
•Utah
•Washington

Four websites I visit daily: (only 4???)
Donna's Blog
Ali's Blog
Cathy's Blog
Tara's Blog
Not to mention Renee's, Stacy's, Margie's, and so so many more!

Four of my favorite foods:
•On the Border's Chicken Epanadas
•Gaetano's Pizza
•Ichiban sushi & teriyaki chicken.. man I am hungry
•Tortollini's from Bucca

Four places I would rather be right now:
in my bed.. snuggled with the hub... sleeping soundly
otherwise... I am good.. right here right now is the most important place to be!

Four bloggers I am tagging:
Hillary
Valerie
ShabbyChic
Tina

BILLS BILLS BULLS...hehe

Welp, payroll tax is DONE... phew! Not too bad for that payment, now to get started on the actual tax preparation... ewww... with a re-fi last year, New Car, New BUSINESS, and all that THAT entails, this should be fun! NOT.. but usually we get money back.. so no complaints there.

Showdown with dad in T - 26 hours and counting... tick tock tick tock....

In other news... announcements are at a stand still... stupid sewing machine broke and I can't finish! Did I already mention this? OH WELL.

In DINNER news... I will be trying another recipe out of my ADORABLE Campbell's soup can lookin' recipe book tonight... Broccoli & Chicken Alfredo... YUM! THANKS to Cindy for the cute book!

I am off to play with my neglected SIMS... they probably miss me so much!

SEE YA!

The scrapbook companies are trying to KILL ME!

I mean.. can they just take a month or two off so I can SELL some of the product as opposed to BUYING a ton of product?? PLEASE? But nooooooo... something new every month, and always from 6-10 companies and OF COURSE I WANT IT ALL!

Phew... glad to have that off my chest! I am ALMOST done with the announcements for my friend. Thanks in part to my fabulous assistant Cindy who cut diaper pins, tied knots and xyron-ed last night! I just need to sew.. yes sew... and attach and all will be done! I really want to give these to her tomorrow so she can send them out!

In other news... apparently the showdown between me and my dad is coming... stay tuned for that.

SEE YA!

Christmas 05' Highlights...

Your going to love this...

Bed by 3am....

Awoken by #2 at 5:55am... made #2 stay in my bed and go back to sleep

Awoken by #1 at 7:10am... made #1 stay in my bed and go back to sleep

Up at 8am.... Santa visited in the night! Much play and pictures with new toys

Present frenzy after Daddy got home from work...

Brunch...

Visit with my relatives...

Cousin involved in lawsuit....

Grandpa going bankrupt...

5 people living in a 1 bedroom, single-wide trailor....

Gun Running....

Visit with Jason's relatives...

Dinner...

Visit with friend up the street from J's relatives...

Home...

Learn how to look into my brother's eyes...

Learn what it truly means to be spiritual and understand "God"...

Bed at 1:30am....

And there you have it... without the juicy details... too much to say to write it all out...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

OH! I may have a photographer on my hands...

Jarrett LOVES to take pictures, and he is pretty darn good at it! So here are some pictures "The world according to Jarrett" that he took on Christmas day!

Classes Classes Classes...

Oh I am SO SO excited!! I love to teach, and especially when it is something fun and cute and totally altered! LOL... yes, that coming from ME... who used to say... "I am SO not into altering.." blah blah blah....

I have my first official class on the books and on the website! Well not REALLY the first, but the Basics class we set up before never happened. So the FIRST class that I have a feeling might actually fill up. YAH!

Also... fun ideas and projects on the horizon... it is kinda cool actually utilizing all of these ideas in my crazy head. Before they just kind of sat there and never came to fruition. Now I feel like I have an outlet and when one idea comes out, another 10 form in it's place! SCARY!

Store news... inventory is coming along nicely. I am not thrilled with our lost/stolen list, but that is to be expected I suppose.

Jason and I will be spending New Year's day at the store inventory-ing the rest of the stuff. So far we have about 1/2 of the 12x12 printed paper done and we still have stickers and cardstock left. Not bad. It has been so great to do it over the last 2 weeks. Just one or two catagories a day depending on how big they are. That way we aren't stuck there ALL day long! I may go in tomorrow and start printing up the rest...stickers is going to be a HUGE catagory!

So I am off, but will leave you with a couple of pictures from Christmas morning...

Ahhhhhhhh....

It's over... well mostly anyways! I feel so much better now. No more hustle and bustle and stress and presents and all of that stuff! Our day was.... interesting to say the least. The kids were awesome and came into my bed at around... oh... 5:55 am... and stayed there (mostly sleeping) until almost 8am! Then we went out to see what Santa brought. Santa had a VERY tough time unwinding twisty things and setting up Spiderman and Barbie... and really didn't get done until about 3am.. but anyway... they were most excited at their surprises! They played with that until Daddy got home from work at 9:10am... then Papa came over, Uncle Cory got up and away we went! Stockings were investigated and present ripping began. The kids were so excited at what they got! Which made us very happy.

We had brunch and then off to my Gparents house. That was... um... nice. Then around 3:30 we headed over to Jason's Gparents house to have Christmas dinner. That was VERY nice. The kids played and we chatted and it was very cozy.

Home we came and relaxed. Then Cory, Jason and I stayed up until the wee hours discussing religion, God, Jesus, Christmas and the whole grand scheme of things. It is pretty interesting to hear all of this from Cory, since he is a Religious Studies major in college he gets to take a ton of very cool courses.

Anywho... this week will be spent inventory-ing the store... most of which is already done! YEAH!

Have a fabulous week all!

Welp...

The stockings are hung from the fireplace screen with care... there are 9 tiny carrots, 5 cookies and a glass of eggnog with nutmeg by the fireplace... and soon there will be trucks, Barbies, cars and Bratz dancing in the children's heads... and tomorrow, tomorrow will be a day of fun, fantasy, friends and family. I just hope we can survive it all..

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOODNIGHT!

Looky what I did today.....

My very first photo shoot. Not for money, I am most definately not there yet... but for a dear friend who just recently had a baby. I am making her birth announcements and wanted to play with all of this darn camera equipment... I think they turned out pretty nicely... here are a few of my favorites...




So fun to play with these... and I hope that my girlfriend likes the way they turned out!

Fudge Fudge Fudge....

Smells so so good! Ok, so for Christmas this year our house has turned into the fudge factory! Thanks to Rachael Rae and her 5 minute fudge wreaths! Add a cute plate, some fancy ribbon and a bow and WHALA... Christmas yummy goodness.

In other news... our tree is decorated and I THINK I got "THE" photo of the kids for our Xmas cards! Yes, I haven't finished those yet, BUT, I did already send 50 handmade cards out to my customers... so don't give me lip about not getting the rest of them done yet!

I really want to play with this photo of the kids, guess I will have to google some Photoshop tutorials.. or not... maybe I will just clean it up, send it off to Costco to print and go make some cards! Ok.. probably not tonight as it is already 11:21pm. But tomorrow... and Sunday, yeah, definately Sunday since I will have downtime at the store.

Night all... and I am FINALLY feeling Christmas-y... the tree is up and decorated, my yummy holiday 3 wick is on the table, there is Christmas music playing in the background and my cats are fighting under the tree... ahhhh



Ok, so I lied... apparently it didn't matter what time it was... and here are the 2 variations of "the" photo....hmmm.. now to choose which one!