Gone until Labor Day!

I'm doing something unprecedented, unheard of, daring and strange. I'm leaving my computer behind for a few days (almost a week - gasp). Allen has returned from Afghanistan and we are moving the family back to Plainwell. Because I will have a lot to do getting our house back in order and getting everything unpacked, I am going to leave my computer at my parents' house for a few days. I just can't chance the distraction. Once I get reading those scrapbook message boards and blogs, I'm on for hours.

Please look for me to return to the internet after Labor Day. Have a great holiday everyone!

Allen's Home!!!!!!

Here's a photo of Allen and Audrey at the airport (Callie is off-camera dancing). More later!

Allen arrives home tonight!

Ok, this may be my last post for a few days. Allen arrives home from his 14 mos. tour this very evening! I'm so excited! I also submitted my first pages to CK last night. What fun this all is!

I was tagged!

Yea! I feel like one of the cool kids now! Erica, aka melegs on the CK message board, tagged me.

Here are the rules:
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. ***IF you have already done your middle name than do the State that you live in with new adjectives!*****
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts. ***Or state if you have already been tagged before!***
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.Here is mine:

Ann:

A: Anxious - For now anyway. My husband is on his way home from a 15-month deployment. He should arrive in Michigan by the end of the week. I'm anxious because we will all be moving back into our house (the girls and I have been staying with my parents while Allen was gone) and jumping right back in to the family thing inluding Callie starting kindergarten and Audrey starting pre-school in a few weeks. The girls will also be going to a new dance studio. A lot of changes, but all for the good!

N: Nice - At least that's what I hope I am!

N: Nurturing - Hey, I'm a Mom, it's what I do!

OK, I'm off to find three people to post!

I tagged:

1. Becky
2. IamDerby aka Derbylia
3. nicolemartel

I stepped outside of my comfort zone ...

...Meaning I did a layout without the typical 1/4-inch photo mats and the like. I tried to go with the new trends I'm seeing on the galleries. You be the judge. Does this LO work for you? What would you have done different? Please let me know. I'm trying to grow as a scrapper, so I want honest assessments.

In case you're wondering ... I'm the redhead that is standing. Next to me is Tracy. Seated from left to right is Jaime, her mother Tammy and my mother Fay. Sometimes Tracy's daughters join us, but rarely. They're both in college and probably find us to "slow them down." They're good young ladies. We are all friends with ties to a certain business to which will not be named just because ... We try to meet up once a month for dinner and a couple of cocktails. None for my Mom though as just one drop of alcohol makes her sick (even when it's been cooked).

My challenge to myself

As I look at the galleries on the CK site, I'm feeling like my style could use a jolt. I need to switch things up. I can't put my finger on how to put it into words (not good for a writer to admit), but I know what I need to do. I want to get away from all the border-type stuff that I do. While I pledge to always keep my scrapbooks about the photos and memories first and foremost, I want to get a little more creative with my pages. More later, Callie is calling me upstairs to watch Noggin with her ...

Must set goals

Seriously, I do. I love to do lists if only for the satisfaction of getting to check something off when I'm finished.

Off the top of my head, the projects needing attention right now (aside from most photos and events from July 2004 - July 2006) include:

• Books
• Allen's deployment book (all the things that happened while he was deployed)
• Callie's Kinder-Camp book
• You're the Chef
  
• Tabby Cat tribute
• Last year's trip to Orlando
  
• Smaller Projects/Pages
• Audrey in the newspaper
• Getting my groove back
• Girls' Night Out
• Callie's dance recital
• Callie's dance camp
• Signs of no more babies
• Girls at concerts in the park
• Summer fun - swimming and chalk
• Yard work
• Audrey's wanderlust
• Splash pad
• Callie and Audrey at the cabin
  

Oh man--I need another cup of coffee! I also need to set a plan for all this. Coffee first ...

Prime Outlet Shopping and Hidden Pocket LOs

I took my Mother and two DDs shopping at the Prime Outlet in Birch Run, Michigan today. Though she has lived about 30 minutes from the nationally known outlets for about 20 years and though she is a true shop-aholic, this was my Mom's first trip there. I have created a monster. Petite Sophisticate now has a new life-time customer. Sorry Dad! She did get a lot of great deals though. Plus, it is difficult to find clothes that fit her tiny size 2 frame.

I finally finished the LOs for Audrey's 2nd birthday. I had to do three: one for her babybook, one for her yearly book and one for the book of everything that we did while Allen was on deployment. This LO is the first one I have ever done with a hidden photo pocket.

Tomorrow, I will set some goals for myself for projects for the coming weeks.

TTFN!

To get back into the Autumn mode

I've been thinking a lot about autumn photos lately. Seems odd since we're going through a heat-wave! Maybe it's the school shopping and the way the pumpkins are already turning orange. I just can't wait to get those kiddies dressed in fall clothes and get them outside in the leaves again. Here's a LO from last year.

I finally posted some LOs on CK!

I added the link to my Creating Keepsakes Gallery below. I can't wait to make more LOs to post!

Ok, I'm starting to get the hang of this blog thing. I hope to use this to keep myself organized with all my scrapping projects and my writing. I am so, so, so hoping to get back in to writing. I wrote for a newspaper right out of college and then just got away from it. I recently sent out a few article queries to my two favorite scrapbook magazines. I have a few more ideas to send to other magazines too (not all scrapbook related).

I don't know if people will actually read this blog or if I'm doing it just for myself, but if you are reading this now: HI! Check out the photo of my DDs getting relief from the hot sun at a local splash pad. What a fun day! Gee, I'll probably scrapbook that photo and 73 others I took along with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's See ...

I'm still learnin'!

Scrapperdays

I am just trying this out!