Not so perfect scrapping

Ever do a page and then when it is done, you see it as being sloppy or not perfect? Well this is one of them and I think it is because of my icky handwriting. I love the rub-on words that I used and the picture is adorable but my handwriting makes it look sloppy. BUT...I realized after doing this page and staring at it for a while that it isn't about the embellishments or the perfect aligning of the layout.........it is about preserving the memory! I love this picture of my daughter and think it captures the little girl as well as the growing teenager and I think I got that thought across and preserved it in my layout in my own handwriting..........that is what matters most...don't you agree?

PS...the top and bottom words aren't appearing very clear in this scan so let me say that the top says.... Live, celebrate, discover, enjoy, delight, achieve and the bottom says... Be bold, cherish, be happy, bloom, be alive, discover. This large rub-on is from Deju Views.

Kathy Griffin Show

We saw the Kathy Griffin show last night and she was spectacular!! Our seats were really good...right off to the side up one section.

Kathy is known for dishing about A-List celebrities and claims to be on the "D-List" which is the name of her show on the Bravo station...Life on the D List.

After regularly watching her TV show, we were hoping we hadn't seen all of her schtick already but her show last night was fresh, current and belly-laugh funny. She is not afraid to speak her mind and make fun of A-List people. Hubby and I laughed from start to finish at her 1 hour and 40 mins show.

14th Anniversary

For our 14th Wedding Anniversary, we didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We did go out for dinner with my Mom and exchanged cards but I wanted to mark the day with a scrapbook page. I love the picture my daughter took of us kissing and in my journaling I wrote...14 years of kissing! Nowadays with so much divorce in this world, we appreciate our wonderful marriage. I believe the world would be a better place if more people felt loved....what is that Beatles song....All you need is love....

PS -- I guess I really like using these numbers by Junkitz in my LO's because I just glanced down my blog a few entries and saw the LO I did of my daughter turning 13 and I used the numbers there in a similar fashion.

Great Site

Thanks to Ali Edwards suggestion, I joined the site www.Goodreads.com and am enjoying being part of it. It is a place to list the books you have read and review them as well as see others reviews and make friends. Check it out.

Home Sweet Home

For years now, we have visited family up in NE PA and upstate NY and love it there. Originally, I am from Brooklyn, NY and my husband is from upstate NY and we have really been missing the change of seasons and all that goes with the season changes like apple picking, leaves falling, snow angels, hunting (for hubby - not me) and more. I also miss being near the culture I grew up with in Manhattan as well as many northern places to vacation like Vermont, the Jersey Shore, New Hampshire, Boston, Maine, etc. Living in Florida for the past 17 years has been nice but I am tired of the heat and lifestyle here and long for the northern ways of living. In addition to all that above....we miss family and old friends that are up in the northern states.

WELL>>>>>>>>these pictures above are pictures of a 400 ft stream that is on the back of a 3 1/2 acre property that we bought!! It is total country living in this NE PA area (considered the lake region of the Poconos) and beautiful, and only 2 hours to Manhattan if I need a city fix. We are about a half hour to Honesdale, Forest City and Scranton PA where there is plenty of shopping, restaurants and places to work. We will also be very near most of my husband's family members.

This move won't be taking place until we sell our current home in FL which considering the way the market has been might take a while.....but who knows....it could sell quickly too. Then we will be building a home on our new property and starting over in PA. We are very excited about the prospect of moving but the only down side to moving is leaving my elderly Mom in Florida, but she has hinted that maybe she will follow us up there since there is some retirement villages there. We have a long road ahead of us to get to where we want to be but we are headed in the right direction. It is hard to pick up and start over but it is what we really want and will have lots of family around to help us if needed and know that happiness is on the other side of all the hardwork.

My daughter is only half-heartedly excited about moving. She loves the area and all but at 13 doesn't want to leave her friends, although one of her best friends is also moving away within a year. She was also born in Florida and really doesn't understand the missing of the four seasons concept. I know she will flourish in PA and make new friends. I also cannot wait to introduce her to things in Manhattan like the museums and Broadway shows as well as other places up north and SNOW DAYS. I miss SNOW DAYS!!!!!

Alaska

Sorry I haven't posted lately but been busy with this and that. We just got back from our Alaskan Cruise.....it was Amazing!! The landscape in Alaska is breathtaking. We went on a guided float trip by the Mendenhall Glacier and we went off roading in a guided tour in our own Jeeps in the Yukon in Canada. The jeep trip was extremely off road and scary!! Alaska is so different and beautiful compared to what we are use to in Florida.....LOL. Below are a few pics from the trip. I can't wait to scrapbook this trip. I bought a SB in Alaska that has a picture of the state of Alaska on it......believe it or not, the souvenir shop sold scrapbooking albums and items.

The landscape pictures above are from when we went through a very narrow passage to see a glacier. Lots of ice in the water and the captain went very slow through here - Thank God. The ice is a light blue up close and we saw a seal on the ice also.....he jumped in the water too quick for me to get a picture. The other picture is hubby and me in front of the Yukon sign in Canada.

Happy Scrapbooking Day!

Haven't written lately...sorry. Been busy with the day to day stuff.
Just wanted to take a second to say Happy Scrapbooking Day!!!

My Favorite Layout

I just absolutely LOVE the way this layout came out. It started out as a goofy closeup picture that was taken by chance. I started playing with the picture coloring on the computer and before I knew it I was scrapping. I used a piece of light peach colored Bazzill paper and added some Fancy Pants rub ons (love them), the acrylic circle stamp, a MAMBI rub on initial on a pop dot(in the middle) and it was done. Note that the top word says Unique. I had been feeling a bit in a scrapping rut lately but this picture has taken me out of it. Every once in a while you get a WOW layout and realize why we scrap and how we get that scrapper's high.

Antique Fair Layout

I am in love with Junkitz paper and seem to constantly reach for it. This design allowed me to do this page with such ease...I just went with the circle flow. I also did my journaling in my own handwriting - I try to do that here and there for the future prosperity of my albums. Of course, I hate my own handwriting as many of us do but it is a lot easier to just journal in hand. Unfortunately a row of stamped buttons isn't showing up on my scan but it is the blurry yellow you see under the quote.

This quote is so perfectly fitting for an antique fair and for a father/daughter relationship. In case you can't read the quote.....

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Walt Emerson

Happy Sunday

Started off sleeping in late which is always nice for a change...10am is late for me. LoL. Had a bagel and watched one of my taped Oprah shows from the past week.....the one about the movie Wild Hogs. Since we haven't been to a movie in a long time, I asked everyone if they wanted to go and off we went. This movie was SO FUNNY!!!! OMG...there are such hysterical parts in it. It has been a long time since I have more than chuckled at a movie and this one had me rolling in my seat to the point where we were laughing so hard, we couldn't hear the next few movie lines said. Originally, I was afraid of the movie being slap silly stupid but instead it was roaringly funny. The actors each played their parts perfectly and of course, John Travolta looked great!

Came home and made a lasagna with turkey meat and sauted onions and now while it is cooking, I am going to get back to my current book....James Patterson's new one Step On a Crack....it is sooooooooooooo good!!

Happy Sunday all!!!

Thirteen

When did my daughter become 13? Gosh...time really flies when you are having fun. I looked at her the other day and said...when did you become 13? She then cracked a joke or two and we laughed and turned the radio up higher and was singing and clapping each others hands and I realized that no matter how old she gets....she will always be my silly little girl. I hope we can always be close and have fun together. It is hard for me to see her as a teenager but I am trying because I don't want to have a strained relationship as can happen at this age. I want to keep all communication open and want my daughter to know that I am her biggest fan and will always be there for her no matter what. Honesty and communication is the biggest part of any good relationship.

By the way...the 13 is Chipboard and the paper and YOU are Bazzil and the You Are Here and Arrow is from an acrylic stamp. This layout may see a bit messy but I felt really free doing something not neat and rigid for a change and just went with what I felt like doing instead of a neat and organized layout.

My Scrapbook Room

I had my closet done by 3 Day Closets and am sooooo happy!! Not only will I have no wasted space in the closet but I will really be able to see what I have in a glance. Some of the pictures above are the rest of my room besides the new organized closet...the corner shelving is my wood stamps and on the other side of the room I have my Sizzix machine and dies on a tv stand table. I split my paper between the closet and the desk for now. I have most of my tools that I always use on my desk and my markers and xyron 250. I can't wait to scrap now and know exactly where things are....I found so much when I had to clean out the closet. I also like the fact that I can close the closet doors and hide the stuff so it doesn't look too cluttered in the room. Also, one section of the closet is inter-changeable for hanging clothes for guests when necessary since my scrapbook room is also the guest room --- you can see that part in one of the closeup pictures. I also have a black couch which opens up into a twin bed in this room and my computer on the other side of the desk that you can't see. Also note...the 2nd to last picture shows a close-up of my 3 briefcases that house my brads, eyelets, buttons and magic mesh....these were very inexpensive and bought at Home Depot in the toolbox aisle.

Laptop

OK I am soo excited typing on my new laptop. It is going to take some getting use to the keyboard but I am getting the hang of it. I also got a wireless mouse because I just don't like the laptop pad mouse. I have a lot of new features that I don't know how to use like the webcam and some of the new Windows Vista features. I am so happy that I won't ever have to go on vacation without my internet again!

I am also hoping that this laptop with Vista and all the new features will be more fun to organize and use for my pictures and scrapbooking.

Biggest Loser

The Biggest Loser show has been a favorite of mine for its three seasons. Each time a new show starts, I say that I will start with it.....and each time I don't. I watch the show and am so happy for the contestants that work so hard to get the healthy body they want and need. Last time, some contestants did the work at home to compete and there was one contestant named Poppi who inspired me. She lost 117 lbs to become 115 lbs. She did this at home. I kept thinking to myself....at home, at home.....the show isn't what made these people lose weight....it was themselves! She did it at home! I can do it at home and don't need to be on a show.

I joined the Biggest Loser Club online ( www.biggestloserclub.com)
to have a constant inspiration and a place to ask questions and mark my progress. This is what Poppi did....at home. I have a treadmill, ab lounger and bowflex at home so I have absolutely no excuse not to exercise. I have been dusting these objects for years now! I started exercising on Monday and have done 20-25 minutes a day on my treadmill.

Two years ago, when husband discovered his diabetes, we started eating semi-vegetarian and low sugar but now I am portion controlling like I should always have been. My husbands diabetes was immediately controlled through diet. I always said...we eat healthy but never realized too much healthy stuff can be fattening. I have always been 20-30 lbs overweight....even went to Weight Watchers when I was nine to lose 25 lbs....it's not only today's kids that had a weight problem. My weight is no longer just an extra 30 lbs..it is now sadly double that...I don't know how I got here but I am doing something about it now?

Not only do I want to lose weight for my health and vanity but...I am going on a cruise to Alaska in June and I am NOT going to go with all this weight on my body. I am hoping to lose 50lbs (or more) before June and since the Biggest Loser contestants lost something like 15-25 lbs a month - I am hoping I can do it too. I know exercise is a huge part of how they lost it. Poppi said she exercises 2 1/2 hours a day broken into two sessions. If she can do it....why can't I? I also need to add that since I am a non-smoker for over nine months now, I can breathe to do all this exercise. It feels great. If I can stop smoking...I can lose weight. I read in a diet magazine once where a successful dieter wrote....

I didn't lose weight until I stopped smoking and was able to exercise

. That is a thought that has stayed with me.

I will post my progress. Wish me luck. I need to buy a nice dress for the cruise!!!

PS -- The new puppy is doing great with her training. She has had a few accidents in the house but 90% goes outside to do her business. What a smart little puppy!!

Strawberry Picking

Today we went strawberry picking at a new Hydro-Fresh U-Pick Farm. Took my daughter and her friend and although they were mostly running from the fruit flies or bees or complaining about the heat, I think they actually had some fun. It is hard to tell with pre-teens.

The U-Pick place was much different from previous places we have gone where you have to wade through dirt and are constantly bent over. This place had all the plants in these 5ft high turnstyle plant stands - see the picture above. When we arrived, they handed out baskets and scissors and required that we wash our hands before going into the picking area.

Although it was a hot one out today (85 degrees!) hubby and I enjoyed the strawberry picking - it was relaxing. Tomorrow we are going to make strawberry preserves with Splenda. We made preserves a couple of years ago with regular sugar and it was excellent but now that we watch our sugar for diabetes sake, we are going to try to make it with Splenda and are hoping it comes out just as good.