That was fun

I have spent the last couple of days not doing anything but scrapping. I still have a lot more to get done before I leave on Wednesday, but man, that was fun. I did get a couple of projects done that had to be done right away, but mostly I spent the time working on pages for myself. How cathartic! How fun! How messy! I would take a photo of the scrap tables to show you, but it is too embarrassing. I have some pretty pages, though!

This has been a good exercise in keeping my mind off of the fact that stores actually have that Chatterbox book, and yet I haven't been able to lay hands or eyes on a copy and see which pages in my album were shown. So I broke down and emailed Nikki, who told me that it features Matt, Chet, and Faith. I am so sad for Kyle. He adored his page, and wanted to hang it in his room. Maybe I will photocopy it and plaster it on the next page... LOL... sorry to whichever of my fellow finalists might be on that page!

Jack is coming home tomorrow. I can't wait. I haven't seen him in two weeks. His job has him out of town for both of the weeks I am off this summer. I am glad that it at least makes it easy to coordinate who will be home with the kids, but I still miss him. Have you seen him? He is roaming around Salt Lake City somewhere. If you do see him, tell him to hurry up and get home... he has a very important lunch date with his wife!!! LOL

My favorite pages are almost always the ones I can make right after I take the photos. This one came together for me today. I have been buying supplies at all of the shows, and it was great to be able to use some of them today!

The papers and "Beth" are from Basic Grey, the tag toppers and paper paperclip are from Deluxe Designs, the alphabet stickers are American Craft the label stickers are Pebbles Inc, and then I used flowers, brads, ribbon, and pink paperclips to tie it all together. Guess which ink pad I used to edge the papers??? LOL

aaaagghhhh

I could scream. I won't, but I could. I have spent two hours now trying to get this banner up. Now I have it in the banner area, but it only goes half way across the page!! Aaaaggggghhhhhh Even worse is knowing that I have to fix all my links and added stuff like my counter and mood thing now. Surely there must be an easier way to go about all this.

banner envy

I was reading Lindsay's blog with the directions on how to make a banner. I will be playing with this one some more while I figure out which filters I want to use to give it more of a "junque" appearance, but I thought I would go ahead and put it up tonight anyway. Alas, I cannot figure it out. I guess I will just have to wait until Lindsay is kind enough to post more directions!

Toddlerhood

Tonight was a quiet night as far as bedtime routines go. The kids all had baths. Their teeth were brushed. They were watching the last of "Shall We Dance" with me, and then they were all heading into bed. Beth was supposed to be picking which shirt she wanted to sleep in. Yeah.

I almost never use my Stampin Up Craft black ink pad for edging photos. It is too wet, and dries too matte on the edges of my photos. But my dye pad is dead.. out of service... not a drop of ink could be squeezed from its pad. I needed to ink some photos tonight, and in desperation I tried the craft pad again. Unhappy with the results, I ended up painting the edges instead, and in the creative process I left the black craft pad on my scrap table.

Enter the curious toddler with a penchant for inkpads and paints. She thought she hit the motherlode with that ooey gooey, thick, HUGE ink pad. I find it amazing she got that pad opened, because even I have trouble with the SU pads sometimes, and she had it folded over perfectly. Don't you love the handprint on her face. Right after I took that picture she started rubbing it into her face as if it was lotion. Eeek. Then she kept clapping her hands together because she liked the way it felt.

Sigh. I cleaned her off as best I could. She is a dull shade of grey now. And she is asleep. Thank goodness.

The boy can groove!

So I was watching "Fire Me Please" last night and enjoying it immensely when Ginger from Gin X began a dance to make her co-worker Barbara laugh. I thought that was great, and I bet that store is a lot of fun to work in when they don't have hidden camera contestants making life miserable! Ginger's dance inspired me to get these photos scrapped this morning, mostly since "Shake Your Groove Thang" kept running through my head. I used Deluxe Designs paper, accents, and diecut and Ginger's Gin X rub-ons. I built the deisgn with my Pages by Design templates. I will make the sketch for it later since I have some other layouts screaming to get out of my head right now... LOL. The papers are all dark green, celery green, and orange... the celery just looks yellow in some parts!

Happy birthday, Dad!!

Today is my dad's 50th birthday! Happy birthday, Dad! I love you!

Friends in California

I almost forgot to add these photos today! I got to meet up with some friends in CA, and that is always a great bonus to any trip!


The first photo is of Gayle and I. We have become very good friends on these trips, and I enjoy traveling with her so much! I got to help her pick out some scrapping supplies for herself this weekend, and we are going to be getting together to get her started on some albums.

The second photo is one of my LDS Moms friends, Missty. We stopped at her house on the way home, and had a great time visiting. Matt and her boys had a good time playing games while we chit chatted, and then she and her husband took us out to lunch. I was soo tired the whole time that I kept stumbling over my words, but I am so glad we stopped and got to spend some time together. It was funny to compare our outfits when I got out of the car... we were both in brown t-shirts, khaki capris, and brown sandals.

The third photo is of a lady named Charlene. Charlene came to all of my classes a few months ago in OC and came back to see me at this show in the Pages by Design class. In fact, I had several ladies as repeat students, and some of them even plan on coming to the Pleasanton show. I warned them that the classes would be the same, but they are going to come say hi to me anyway. That just makes me feel good, ya know?

The last photo is of my friend Mette and I. We have been email scrapping friends for nearly 8 years, and met in person for the first time in AZ last September. I looked up in class, and there she was sitting and waving at me... it was a great surprise!

Ten days!!

I am off for ten days!! Can you believe it?? I have lots of scrapping to get done for projects, but I plan on getting some done just for myself as well.... woohoo!

I am feeling better about the hair today. It isn't a bad cut now that I am figuring out how to style it. I still feel strange trying to brush it out and having the brush stop above my shoulders, but that will pass.

Faith got her haircut yesterday as well. I took this photo of her in the chair, and I sm surprised by how old she looks. She is only 7... why does she have to look so grown up sometimes?? :0)

These are some random photos of our trip. One night I took Matt out to dinner, and he ordered coconut shrimp with a side of ketchup. I don't even eat seafood, but I know that doesn't sound good.... LOL We also made a trip to Old Town, and got to see a few of the shops there before they closed. We did make it to the Mormon Battallion Memorial, where we watched a short movie about the battallion, and then we were dressed up as a battallion soldier and a laundress for a photo. The courthouse that the battallion helped build was already closed, but we did see the outside of it. We also saw the Whaley House and explored that for a little while. I have more photos of both of those places to add seperately.

We stopped at the beach on the way out of town on Sunday. We found several sand dollars and other shells, and played in the surf for about an hour before we got back on the road.

The picture of Matt taken with the lady with the birds was at the beadshop. I cannot express how thrilled I was to discover that not only was there a HUGE beadstore three blocks from the convention center, but they sell everything WHOLESALE! True wholesale! I bought so many beads. In fact, I spent all my money and had to go get more... LOL. It was worth it, though, the beads were gorgeous, and the silver was sold by the gram for a fraction of what it would cost in stores. It was a wonderful time for me, but I can't say that spending his break between classes in a bead store with his mom was Matt's idea of a great time. Seeing the parrots helped alleviate some of the angst for him... LOL

My Teacher Assistant

During the trip to San Diego, Matt was my primary Teacher's Assistant.He did a really good job, and was well received. He really enjoyed talking to the ladies, and he ended up receiving almost as many good reviews as I did... LOL.

Coast to Coast

Well, it is official... my job has taken me from sea to shining sea....:0) I few weeks ago I posted this photo of me on the Atlantic coast in the Hamptons. Today's photo was taken this last weekend while I was at Mission Beach with Matt on the Pacific Coast. I miss my family while I am gone, but I do enjoy the traveling and getting to see new places and meet people!

JoDee Messina

Edited to remove the video... it was driving me crazy... LOL

I was over reading Chris' blog and she had the link to these really fun videos there. I picked this one because I really like JoDee's music, and because I liked her hair in the video... LOL. I was watching and thinking I might be able to get mine to do something similar. Of course she probably looks great because she is tall, skinny, and gorgeous, but I won't worry about that right now.

It does bring home the fact, though, that it is incredibly unfair that we can have 6-7 inches whacked off our hair in the blink of an eye, but not our cellulite. Where is a good liposuction person when you need one??? LOL

Having a bad hair day

I went to get my hair cut today, and I am really unhappy right now. The picture on the left was me yesterday. It was too long, too heavy, and needed a trim. I asked the lady to give me long layers that I could flip up. It is so short now that I can't do much of anything with it. I wanted all the deadends cut off, and I certainly don't have any deadends left now, but really, it is too short and those wings make me look like I am ready to take off. I have never had it this short before. Excuse me while I go and cry in my pillow for a while. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be over this little exercise in vanity. Maybe then I will get it colored and the highlights done, but for now nobody is coming near my hair!

Home from San Diego

Wow... this was a long weekend. I am absolutely exhausted, and so glad I have this week off. I have some photos to share, but I will add those tomorrow. Tonight I need to sleep. A lot.

I ran into Carrie from Chatterbox at the show... I just turned around at a display table and there she was. I re-introduced myself to her. She told me the book had just come off the printer, and she had just given away the only copy she had. Oh... I would have loved to have a sneak peek. I see it is out on the CBX website, so I hope it shows up here soon... woohoo!

Here is a photo of the book. Mine is on the front cover, to the right of the star.

Substance of Life

See ya in a few days!

In a few hours I will be off to the San Diego expo. Hopefully it will be a busy show with lots of fun people to meet. I am taking Matt with me, so I will post some pictures of our adventures when we get home! We will be visiting Old Town while we are there, and spending some time on the beaches. Be good while I am gone! LOL

I will be back later

I have to go get ready for today, but I will be back on later today to add links to today's posts and fix the typos... :0) Please check back tomorrow if you would like to follow the links for more information about the places I have mentioned today.

Father's Day on the wall

I have saved these photos for last,although they will show up first on the blog. My uncle,James Herbert Smith Jr. , is one of the men who was lost in the Vietnam war. He served a full tour with the Marines, came home, and could not find work because of the attitudes that returning soldiers were faced with in America at that time in our history. Finally, he re-enlisted with the navy, and was killed when his helicopter was shot down near the end of his second tour. I knew he was honored on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall , and I wanted to visit it so I could send my grandmother photos and a rubbing. She will never be able to get to see this in person. I was unprepared for how deeply it would affect me. As I rubbed his name on the wall, and saw his name appearing on my paper, all I could think of is that he is not forgotten. I thought of my own sons, and how much they mean to me, and what it would do to me to lose them. I thought of Nana, and how she has told me this was the saddest moment of her life. It is a memorial to honor the fallen and lost soldiers of that war, and I couldn't help but think of my grandmother, and all the other mothers, who kissed their sons good-bye and never got to see them again. The flowers were sent by the children of these men, many of whom never got to see or hold them before they died. My uncle had no children, but I am grateful that I could visit his memorial on Father's Day, and leave him a message that he too will not be forgotten.

Photo opportunities

Sometimes I will see a photo opportunity, and just pray that the photos will reflect what I see with my naked eyes. These are some of those photos. The top two are of the Vietnam Wall. As I walked by it, I saw the reflections of first the Washington Monument, and then the United States flag in the wall. Both reflections just stopped me in my tracks, but particularly the flag. The lighting was just right because the reflections and shadows from the trees framed the monument and the flag. I know the picture shown on the blog won't show as well as the real picture does, but I hope you can glimpse a bit of how I felt when I saw these shots. The middle photo is of a photograph that was put together by a veteran of the Vietnam War. I can't do it justice with words, so I won't try to. The last photo is amazing to me. I wanted a picture of the flag and the MIA/POW Flag flying over the wall, but the wind had stopped blowing and the flags were lying still against their pole. I decided to take it anyway, and as soon as I was ready to take the photo, a small breeze came up and both flags unfurled for me.

Tomb of the Unknowns

We saw the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns . When he dropped us off, Bob told us to watch for the car with the Tomb 521 license plate. It belongs to the wife of the Vietnam soldier who was originally entombed in the tomb. She knew it was her husband, though, and after he was exhumed, DNA tests proved her right.

Eternal Flame

As we walked through the cemetary down the hill, we found President Kennedy's eternal flame memorial. He and Jacqueline Kennedy are buried with their two babies they lost in the 50s. Bobby Kennedy's grave is located next to theirs about fifty feet away.

Space and Iran hostage memorials

These are the memorials for the Challenger, the Columbia, and the Iran hostage rescue mission. I have been to many different memorials and history sights in my life, but Arlington National Cemetery is the best. A lot of thought, a lot of compassion, and a lot of meticulous care has gone into making it a true memorial to honor our country's fallen heroes.

USS Maine

Bob dropped us off at the Ampitheater in front of the mast of the U.S.S. Maine. He told us where to go to see the changing of the guards. He also told us to walk back down the hill to get to the spot we parked. We love you, Bob, but why didn't you mention the parking lot was literally miles away????? LOL

Kris Romeo Bishendat

When we arrived at the September 11Memorial, Bob told us we would get to meet the Bishundats. Kris Romeo Bishundat was one of the soldiers killed in the 9-11 attack on the Pentagon, and his parents were there that morning visiting his grave. They visited with us for a few minutes, and we all cried together for a small while. His mother had covered his grave with rose petals from the head to the foot, and those petals were the most touching thing I have ever witnessed. I didn't take photos of the grave or of his parents, it just didn't seem appropriate, but his parents pointed out his jeep that they have decorated as a memorial to him and drive around. Mr. and Mrs. Bishundat, if you should ever happen to read this, I would like you to know it was truly an honor to meet you. We expressed our condolences to you at the cemetary, but words just cannot express how deeply we feel for your loss.

September 11, Pentagon Memorial

As we drove through the cemetary, Bob heard me mention to Gayle that I had seen the Masonic emblems on some of the tombstones. He was surprised that I knew what they were, and then he was surprised again when he pointed out the Pentagon and I asked if the September 11Memorial was nearby. He said that there aren't a lot of people that know about it. So he took us to it. It is a moment I will not soon forget.

Meet Bob

This is Bob. He is a retired Major General who lost his wife in 1984. She is buried in Arlington, and now he works as a greeter there, and visits her daily. Bob found us on our way out of the park, and after a few minutes of conversation he decided we needed to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. He decided to take us there in his own car, and provided us with a personal tour that couldn't be found on a tour bus.

Marine Corp War Memorial

Gayle and I had all day Sunday to see some more sights before our flights. We were heading to DC again when we saw signs for the Iwo Jima memorial and Arlington Cemetary. We thought we would stop for a few minutes and see the memorial. It was stunning. It is really called the Marine Corps War Memorial , and it lists all of the wars the Marines have fought in since 1775. The the Netherlands Carillon was also there, and as we walked across the grounds, it began to play "The Star Spangled Banner." If you have never heard this played on bells, you must make it a goal in your lifetime to do so. It was haunting, and Gayle and I both teared up. We thought we were done at this area, and we were heading back to the car. That was when we met Bob.

Backwoods version of Walmart

This is a funny set of photos from a little wooden store we found in Chantilly. It cracked us up just to read the sign. You can pay your bills,get a money order, buy some jeans or boots, get some groceries, have some coffee, and even buy live bait all in this little store. We had to see the inside. Don't you love the row of not just cowboy hats, but derby hats as well?? We thought the cowboy hat adorned with shark teeth was particularly cool on Gayle. Sarah and LaDawna discovered (and purchased and smoked) the grape flavored cigars. For variety, though, they are also available in peach and lime flavors..... mmmmmmm.... yeck. I thought the stocking of the shelves was ingenious... if you need boots, corn, or salt,they are all on the same set of shelves... LOL. And if you need any personal items, you can buy a thirty year old bottle of Prell, a cup of castor oil, or a box of very, very, very dusty tampons. The icing of it all was the eggs. At both registers there was a plastic basket of cracked hardboiled eggs sitting out on the counter available to purchase.... makes ya hungry doesn't it?

Misc DC shots

These are just some other misc shots of DC. The top left is the Washington Monument and its reflection in the Reflecting Pool. The top right is the United States Department of the Treasury, which is on the back of the $10 bill. The bottom two photos are of what is now the offices for the federal court of appeals, but was originally James and Dolley Madison's house. As we walked by the Treasury Credit Union, a man came out and saw me taking photos. He went and got all of us applications to open accounts at the Credit Union, and shared some of the history of the building. Then he gave us fantastic directions for getting the rest of the way around the DC area. I wish I had taken his photo. He looked almost exactly like General Custer.

Korean War Memorial

The Korean War Veterans Memorial was also intensely moving. You can read about the soldiers having to cross fields in a spread out manner so that if one of them stepped on a mine field the others around him wouldn't be as likely to get killed or maimed, but to see the statues of these soldiers doing that made my heart lurch. The faces are a close up of the wall that says "FREEDOM IS NOT FREE" They are super-imposed on the granite, and it really makes you feel as though their spirits are staring out at you from the wall.

Lincoln Memorial

The next stop was to park and walk through the mall in front of the Washington Monument. The majority of the memorials are located around the mall, but we only stopped at a few because we thought we would see more of it on Sunday. We found the Vietnam wall first, but I am going to show that in a seperate post.

I loved seeing the Lincoln Memorial. The Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation are engraved in the marble on the walls, and reading those words again just amazes me all over again. President Lincoln was an amazing speaker. He had a way with words that not only conveyed his thoughts in an intellectual manner, but they conveyed the spirit and heartfelt feelings of this man as well.

White House

Our next stop was the White House. This was a fantastic experience for me. There was an anti-war rally taking place on the lawn across from the White House, and as I walked around them I found these men (Free Republic) with their signs as they protested the rally. I can't describe it, but I felt so proud to see them, so proud of what they stand for. After I took this man's photo, he saw me ask the girls to take my photo in front of the White House, and he asked me if I would like to hold his sign. I said "Yes! and may I hold your flag as well??" It was a proud moment for me... I went to Washington and got to be part of a show of support for our troops and our president. God Bless America!

US Capitol

The first building we visited on Thursday was the US Capitol. There were several statues around it that I took photos of, but I haven't added them here. We had to make our visit short since we parked in a permit-only space, and well, we didn't have a permit.

Misc Chantilly shots

These are just a few misc shots from the trip. The six little ducks were crossing the road on our way to set up our booth. They were adorable. The geese, while cute in their own way, were just obnoxious. They wouldn't get out of the way in the parking lots or the drive thru because they expected us to feed them. The photo of me is in the Washington Mall in front of the reflecting pool.