The PEA-LER Pod

Back to reality

2011-07-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend. I had 4 days off. Friday I drove to LA to see the NKOTBSB concert. Yes, I went and yes I loved every minute of it! I went with my favorite people on the planet.

Then we drove back home Saturday to watch Jeffrey's All-Star game! They won but I felt bad for the little team they played. The amount of support our little league has is tremendous. The other team didn't even have helmets or balls. Jeff lent them some for the game. By the end of the game our side was rooting for the other team. Final score was 22-1. The true test will be tomorrow when they play their next team who will be a lot more competitive. Don't my boys look handsome?

Sunday was spent by the pool relaxing. We (well more like the boys) have had baseball games or practice 6 days a week for the last 2-3 weeks. They were in need of a day to just chill out.

I can't really explain to you how awesome the 4th of July is in my community. The whole day is filled with events. The morning starts with a 5k, pancake breakfast, parade, carnival and we have our own fireworks show. The boys were in the parade this year for the All-Star team. So JJ, Katie and I dropped them off, and took the golf cart to get a good spot to watch the parade.

Our parade has everything, Fire trucks, police cars, car clubs, Boy scouts and girl scouts and about 100 golf carts all decked out.

I think if you live in Rancho Murieta, the 4th of July tends to be one of your favorite holidays no matter how hot it is. I know it is quickly becoming one of Jamie's favorite holidays. Now it's back to the grind for a couple of days. The boys have their next all-star game tomorrow. Next weekend I am headed to San Diego to party with my Sister In Law for her bachelorette weekend! Yay!!!

A little bit of this and a litte bit of that.

2011-04-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Well I guess my email reminders turned off being that it has been a month since I last posted. So I guess you will get the abbreviated version of this last month. Let's go backwards from yesterday on. Yesterday (Easter) started off way too early for my liking. No it was not because my kids woke me up excited to see what the Easter Bunny had been up to. It was because my dear husband forgot to turn his alarm off for WORK. So at promptly 4:45 AM yesterday I was woken up by the horrible sound of the Alarm clock. Granted I knew it would be an early day but not THAT early. The kids searched for eggs, or should I say raced around the house looking for eggs. I think their hunt was over in 1 minute. Kids are more fun to watch looking for Easter Eggs at 2,3,4 years old than what my kids are at 7 and 10. That being said they are still cute!

Jamie however likes to let her hair go wild. We weren't going anywhere so I let it be. No curls and Easter hat for this girl. The boys went fishing in the morning and the girls hit the spa. Nice relaxing morning.

Last weekend we were at my parents celebrating my sister Katie's 27th Birthday. We had lots to drink. Had a bonfire and played Easter Egg Pinata Baseball. I am sure you are thinking "what?" Well the pinata holder broke off the top so we taped it up and started a baseball game or more like batting practice.

Katie, April and I after a round of batting practice. It was a ton of fun. I think Katie wants to do that every year.

The Pealer's have been consumed with Baseball and Softball. Our schedule has one or the other at least 5 times a week and more ofter 6 days a week.

This is Jamie's first year of softball. I love coaching this level.

Jeffrey is once again on the Giants. The team had beards for opening day. Loved this.

This is the kids before their first games of the season.

And lastly but not least today marks two months that I have been Gluten-free. I love that my kids read the labels on things now too to see if Mom can have whatever it is. I think I have eaten some miniscule amounts of gluten on accident a few times because I have had a couple days where my wrist and hips hurt like they did before I was diagnosed. Thankfully it is not bad enough to keep me from work. I am ready for Spring and my birthday. Birthdays don't scare me anymore. At least they don't right now in my mid 30's.

Just another Rainy Day

2011-03-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

The rain here in Norcal has been ridiculous. Week after week of rain and wind. It has postponed all of baseball for a good couple weeks for the kids teams. I hear sun is around the corner. This morning we were supposed to have two games but the weather cancelled those right quick. Today was a Saturday that Jeff had to work, so it was just the kiddos and I. We all stayed in our PJ's and chilled around the house. I haven't had a completely free Saturday is so long. After I caught up on Grey's Anatomy I decided it was time to dust of the old scrap supplies. As you can see above I scrap however since going back to work the amount of time I can dedicate to scrapbooking has become next to nothing. I know there are plenty who think scrapbooking is a joke but I love it. I love being creative and capturing those special moments that my family has experienced. What I created today is by no means anything extra special but it felt good just to get my hands dirty. I haven't even bought any of the new stuff that is out. I couldn't even tell you what new lines are out. I remember when I counted down the days to new releases and promptly hit up the scrap store or logged on to my favorite online retailer to snatch it all up before it was all gone. I have more than enough scrap supplies to last me YEARS. Yes as in multiple years, but any scrapper worth their weight in cardstock knows getting your hands on new stuff is very inspiring. Heck I haven't even printed off any news pics either. Thankfully some of my family members have printed doubles from recent events. Here are just a few things I created today. Like I said, nothing spectacular but still something is better than nothing.

Permanent

2011-03-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

My life has recently had some major changes to it if you have been reading any of my previous post. It is a life long lifestyle change. My recent diagnosis has significant meaning to me more than just my change in diet. I strongly suspect that my grandmother more than likely had the same thing as me but Celiac's was not something that was really tested for 11 years ago. She died from colon cancer at the age of 67. Way before she should have. Intestinal Cancers are only one side effect that I would be prone to if I did not eliminate gluten from my diet permanently . I am someone who has always wanted a tattoo since before I graduated high school but have not gotten one in the 15 years since. I'm glad I never got anything I have considered in the past. However I think I am at a point in my life where I am ready and have a significant reason to. To me it would symbolize change, rebirth, and a reminder of what was and what will be . To be strong no matter what I might face in the future. I know that tattoos are not for everyone and I am more than aware that it is a permanent decision. I know there are some people who may not agree with me but then again they are not in my shoes. The hubs supports this decision and that is who matters most to me. He has been a huge support to me this last month which has reminded me daily how much I love him :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

No I'm not Irish, No I won't be drinking any beer today green or otherwise even if I would like to. Yes I am wearing green today. Why? Well it is better than people wanting to pinch me and not wanting to hit them back for it LOL. I have to say though that I love how excited my children tend to get over this "holiday". The school really knows how to get them all pumped up over leprechauns and four leaf clover's. Jamie even made a "trap" last night and left a sweet letter that said...

"Mr. Leprechaun my name is Elizabeth Pealer (I guess she was going for a semi-alias?) I am just asking if I can have a peace (her spelling not mine) of gold. Please. I love you leprechaun. Elizabeth JJ Pealer. I love you don't leaf (which I take to mean leave LOL).

She left a blank paper for a response too. She hoped the lure of her pack of gum would be enough to keep him trapped. She woke up to a response but no leprechaun. A couple extra quarters made it into the trap. She was kinda dissapointed in this because it was not GOLD! I asked her what she thought she would do with gold and she said buy another dog LOL. I had to remind her that gold is not really a form of currency that she could just go to the store and buy something LOL. Here are a couple pics from this morning

I hope you all have a great St. Patty's Day whether you are Irish or Not. Or maybe just like to drink LOL.

Dear Dolls.....

2011-03-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

I want to apologize to you, yes you Barbie and all your friends, The Cabbage Patch kids, My Little Pony and even Hannah Montana. Like every mother when they have their first daughter, I could not wait to play dress up with my real life baby doll and dreamed about the day when she would starting playing with dolls herself. I would browse the aisles at Target looking at all the new cool Barbie stuff I never had, or surprised to see what dolls had made a comeback just in time for my own daughter to have. Oh and let's not forget the Disney Princesses. I mean I LOVE all things Disney, and my daughter was going to LOVE dressing up in her Princess Dress direct from Disneyland itself. I mean how could any little girl NOT love that? So as soon as I could, I started buying all the standards, You, Cinderella, a Cabbage Patch and so on and so on....Like all toys you held their new appeal for all of 30 seconds (ok maybe 2 weeks). I mean you are an ICON! How any girl could lose interest so quickly baffles me. Jamie has an entire toy box full of dolls that have not seen the light of day in probably 5 years. Yeah, that is about when they went in her new fancy toy box originally when she was 2!!!

You see by the ripe old age of 5 my daughter was quickly moving on from you and the Disney Princesses, and any other doll in her collection. We even took the kids to Disneyland that year and Jamie had NO interest in taking her picture with ANY Princess, if anything she wanted to turn and run away. So Barbie you and your 30 other Barbie Friends are currently residing in your rubbermaid hotel, along with your clothes, shoes, pools, furniture, car etc. It makes me sad because I remember Steph and I played with you LONG after we shouldn't have. I looked forward to Jamie doing the same thing, having mommy/daughter play dates in her room, spread out on the floor dressing up you and all your friends. I'm sorry, maybe it was my fault. I wonder did I push the whole "doll" idea on her way to early. I mean how early is too early to have a baby doll?

I'm sorry that she has chosen her stuffed cats and dogs over you and your doll companions. Or that your movies have been replaced with favorites like Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Santa Paws. Jamie has skipped dolls and went straight to Diva. I wish I could rewind and make her fall in love with you all over and not Justin Bieber and lip gloss.

Pasta! Pasta!

2011-03-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

Our family loves pasta. Especially my daughter. She is a noodle freak! Before I began my Gluten-Free life we would have pasta at least once a week. It's convenient and easy. Especially when you have two kids playing sports and you need to make something quick for dinner. I knew there were a lot of options for pasta that were GF but to be honest they looked GROSS! I did break down and bought some brown rice spaghetti noodles. Last night was just one of our busy family nights, work, practice, meeting. You get the idea. So I cooked up some meat sauce while my family was at practice. I made them their own separate pot of regular noodles and a small pot of my "special" noodles. As I was cooking them, I still had my doubts about how good this meal was going to be. The water had turned completely white, you couldn't see a noodle floating anywhere in the pot. They were sticking together. I knew that I was going to get myself a Charlie version of spaghetti (that is a Twilight reference for you non-twilight fans LOL). However after MUCH stirring the noodles were done. I smothered them in sauce and I actually enjoyed it. The noodles were not so great that I would eat them plain but at least I know now I can enjoy pasta with my family again.

Earthquakes, Tsunami's and Gluten Free Pizza

2011-03-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

So unless you live under a rock you know that today Japan had a Ginormous Earthquake which then caused a Ginormous Tsunami that reached all the way to the West Coast. Scary stuff, I really feel for the people of Japan. The dumb ass who was washed out to sea in Cresent City? Not so much, maybe for his family but how stupid do you have to be? With that being said which I know is kinda harsh, I had a good day all things considered. I went to Target at lunch to grab a birthday present for the neighbor boy and browsed through the food aisles for a minute. I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few gluten free products on the Target shelves. I bought a gluten free pizza dough mix. I came home this evening and tried it. I made a pizza with Roma Tomato's, Mozzarella, red onion and ham. It was pretty good. Worth eating again. The crust was very thin, kind of like Papa Murphy's De-lite pizza's but it was good enough that I can get my pizza fix in and not feel like I am eating something other than pizza. Best part is my kids LOVED it. So WINNING. LOL. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend

Drawing a blank

2011-03-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

I have set a reminder for me every day at work to come here and share. It pops up on my screen every hour or so. I hit snooze on my reminder all day because I just could not think of anything that I thought was worth sharing. However late the in day I was feeling extremely positive even though I physically was not having a great day. I know I will have my up and down days as I adjust to my new life/diet style. The last two weeks have reminded me over and over again how blessed I am no matter what my situation may be. I have not felt that for a long time and it is a nice change. I think we all need those wake up calls every now and then however they may come to pass. I hope you all are feeling just as blessed. SO that is all for now. Maybe tomorrow something else will pop in my head that I think is worth sharing. Today is just short and sweet.

Oh and this old pic just because she is silly and makes me smile :)

Where do I start.....

2011-03-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

There is something that I wanted to talk about today and now that I am typing I am having a hard time putting my thoughts into words here. It basically starts off with last week I was told to contact a support group for Celiac's. Now I know support groups can be very helpful to many people for various reasons I just don't know that it is for me. Before I met with my nutritionist I had done some searching on the internet for information regarding Celiac's disease and even found a message board. I had found answers to most of my questions before I had even stepped into the nutritionist office. I felt like I got better answers from people online who are experiencing the same things as me versus someone who has just read about it. People say that the internet has an adverse effect to society and that may be true but there are still plenty positives to be had. I have found more support and even friendships via the internet than I could have ever imagined. I guess I have to thank Sarah for that. She was the first to turn me on to message boards. I was a stay at home mom with not many friends in same boat as me. She turned me on to a mommy message board where I met some amazing women. Eight years later I still am friends with MANY of those same women. We have had coffee dates, play dates, game nights, scrapping nights, you name it and we have done it. I have belonged to message boards for all kinds of interest such as books, movies,music, parenting, scrapbooking, and have been truly inspired. I may not have met them all in person but many have had a lasting impact on me that I will not easily forget. So I guess the internet can be a bad thing when it comes to going out and socializing like a normal human being but it can also can be a truly wonderful gift as well. I have some pretty amazing people in my life because of it.

I survived...

2011-03-08T15:52:00.000-08:00

Well today is my first day back to reality. Made it home from Las Vegas last night around 8:30. It was a quick trip but so much fun. We started off the weekend staying the night in San Francisco which also happened to be 11.5 years of marriage for Jeff and I. We toasted it up with a few glasses of wine.

Then we were off to Vegas really early in the morning. We met Art and Melissa at the airport. We checked into our hotel and then it was off to the strip for some more drinking and gambling.

Sunday we headed to the track to watch the Kobalt Tools 400. The weather was perfect and my Driver, Dale Jr. came in 8th. That is the best that we have seen him finish in person.

Then we headed back to the strip, it took 2 hours to go 10 miles. Interesting conversations happen when you are stuck in traffic for two hours and you have 4 people who have to pee. Just sayin'.

We finished off the night grabbing some In-N-Out and taking it to the Wynn. Doesn't everyone eat a hamburger in front of a poker machine??

Special K, Nachos and Protein Burgers from In and Out seemed to be my staple foods for the weekend. I would have had to take a loan out to pay for anything else on the menu's that was safe for me to eat.

After the race we headed back to the strip but it took 2 hours.

I am in mourning...

2011-03-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

Did you know you can grieve over food? Yea I would have never thought so until last week. And it is not the same kind of grief that one might experience losing a friend or family member. Heck even a family pet. But there is a sense of loss when you realize that the plate of spaghetti you had last week was the last. Or the last Sub Sandwich from your favorite sub shop will never be again. Everyday there is something that I have remembered that I will never have again and for the most part it's ok because I know that in the long run it is making me a healthy person. As time goes on, many more food companies and restaurant are expanding their awareness and are striving to make their food more Gluten-Free Friendly but there is still room for LOTS of improvement. This last week of being Gluten Free has had a great effect on me. I went from feeling like a 70 year old back to a 30 something. That is a great motivator to continue my diet without being tempted by food. Even when for example, last night my house was filled with the aroma of pizza and chocolate chip cookies both of which are now on the No-No list, I stayed strong and didn't have the slightest temptation to give in. Probably the thing I will miss the most is beer. I hate to say that, but it is true. From what I hear GF beer does not compare to the real thing. So when my husband is enjoying himself the occasional Blue Moon with an orange I think "must be nice". This GF lifesytle is pushing me to be more organized and to plan ahead. I always have had great intentions of planning ahead for many things but working that into reality has been something else. I have no intention of making my blog all about the GF lifestyle I have now adopted and my current complaints but it is what I am going thru for now. I am looking forward to my weekend in Las Vegas with the hubby, sister-in-law and future brother-in-law. Wish me luck!!!

In a Brain Fog

2011-03-03T10:03:00.000-08:00

Yes it is a real thing, that has been me that last 2 months. Here I thought I was just tired from stress. January and February are the busiest time of the year for the Pealer's. So as the days went by I didn't really think anything of it. Then about a month ago I was having some pain in my wrist that eventually spread to my whole left arm. Pain meds had NO effect at all. Then I started having neuropathy in my hands. Doctor thought maybe I had a pinched nerve in my neck causing me these problems. I sat at work every day just willing myself to make it thru the day. I had no motivation, could not concentrate and was in pain. You know when something is wrong, then you get a little obsessive trying to self diagnose. Web MD is not your friend LOL. My Doctor was great, she ran an extensive blood panel on me, had xray's ordered and even and MRI when Steroids and Vicodin didn't seem to work. Well come to find out I have a an Auto-immune diease called Celiac's Disease. What is Celiac's you ask well this link explains it better than I can.
http://www.celiac.com/articles/572/1/A-Summary-of-Celiac-Disease-and-Gluten-Intolerance-by-Scott-Adams/Page1.html

Celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance, is a genetic disorder that affects at least 1 in 133 Americans. Most people experience gastrointestinal symptoms. However my body decided to attack me in my joints, muscles and nerves. Lucky me. There is not a cure and the only way to relieve your symptoms is to eliminate gluten from your diet 100%. Sounds easy right? Well it is and it isn't. I have to read labels on everything I eat unless of course it is fresh meat or produce. Did you know that Soy sauce has gluten? Yea I didn't either. Gluten is hidden in so many things that we use every day. So far I have survived and plan to do everything possible to feel better. I have a great support systems in my family and friends. This is for the rest of my life. I hope that my kids will be spared from having Celiac's as well but there is no guarantee that it won't pop up with them at some point in the future. For now it is one day at a time. If I can get thru a weekend in Las Vegas without gluten that will make me a happy girl.

Slacker or just a Mental Fog..

2011-03-02T09:55:00.000-08:00

Really it has been a little bit of both but I will explain that in another post. Since I really want to keep up on blogging, and have been inspired by some great people I have made a decision. Since I am so bad at remembering to post at any regular interval I have set my email to shoot me a reminder everyday. Pathetic I know but right now I really need that. I'm not really in the mood for deep reflection or anything too inspiring at the moment. I am very excited though to be headed back to Vegas in 3 days with the hubby, my sister-in-law and future brother-in-law. I see lots of good memories about to be made.

2010-09-05T14:30:00.001-07:00

Well it's Wednesday

2010-08-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

Half way thru the week but still have so much more to go. I feel like our lives have been sucked up into the funnel of a tornado and I am just waiting to be spit out at some other place and time. That's just the way life is I guess sometimes. Things are crazy but good. So I will just keep on trucking. I'm sure if you have children you can totally relate. I am really looking forward to next weekend not just because it is a long weekend but Jeff and I will be celebrating 11 years of marriage. Time sure does fly. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

2010-08-24T21:52:00.001-07:00

Its amazing how some days your kids make u feel like u are going insane and then other days they keep you from going insane

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Hello Monday

2010-08-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

Oh how I wish you could go bother someone else. I stayed up WAY to late last night. I get that way when I am reading a good book. I have been reading World Without End by Ken Follett. GREAT BOOK! I read Pillars of the Earth a year or so ago and have been wanting to read WWE for a long time. I need to finish it so that I can get some sleep at night because 5:45 AM comes WAY TO EARLY. That is all for now. Catch ya later!

2010-08-22T12:55:00.001-07:00

#2 finally came out and she didn't swallow it this time

2010-08-22T11:05:00.001-07:00

Somedays I really love technology :)

2010-08-22T11:01:00.001-07:00

Take 3

2010-08-22T10:48:00.001-07:00

Ok trying to figure out how to mobile blog and have managed to figure out the writing part only. seems as if the photo part does not want to co-operate.

2010-08-22T10:25:00.001-07:00

Testing

Playing catch up

2009-10-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

We are back from Nascar and Disney. Still feel like I need more time to get everything back on track. I think it is harder to recover from a mini vacation when you have multiple commitments to come home to in addition to school and work. An extra one of me would be nice so I can cover all my bases to make everyone happy. Oh well what are you gonna do? For now I am just gonna keep on trucking. Here are a few pics from our vacation.

I hope all my crickets have been doing well. I will post a couple of the Nascar pics in the next post. Until the next time....

It's Fall

2009-10-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

And you know what that means! Cooler weather, pumpkins, baking goodies, trick or treating. Last weekend Jeff and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch. Figured it was our only free weekend of the month. We weren't there long, but we got our tractor ride out to the field so they could pick out the perfect pumpkin...

It was a treat having Jeff join us to pick pumpkins because he doesn't normally go. If you know Jeff, crowds are not his thing. He got himself a treat at the pumpkin patch as well. Our local patch is a big farm that sells all kinds of stuff. We bought some jalepenos and tomotoes among other things. I came home and made an awesome batch of homemade salsa. I think he could live off chips and salsa if he had to. Then I made two batches of Zucchini bread. That didn't last long. They ate it up. Still have a bunch of zucchini left so I might make a few more loafs. I hope you all are enjoying fall.

Growing way too fast

2009-10-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

Well Happy Friday my Crickets. Hope you had a great week. I get to end my week with a hair appointment. Nothing better than spending a few moments on yourself. Go treat yourself to a Mani or pedi! Those are always worth every penny.

Speaking of hair, Jamie's hair has gotten so long and she will not cut it for anything. She actually learned how to put her hair into a pony tail in the last couple of weeks. Not sure how she figured that out. I didn't teach her. I came home from work and she said "look Mommy, I can do my own ponytail". How pathetic is it that this moment made me so proud. Must be because she is a girl and she is my baby and she is growing up so so fast. Her 6th birthday is creeping up on me. I don't like that.

It's funny the little thing's that make you proud of your kids. And the differences between what things make you proud with a boy vs a girl are crazy. Obviously I wouldn't get excited if my son proudly announced he could put his hair in a ponytail. His ponytail moment was probably more like learning to tie his shoes when he was little. However he now feels like he doesn't need to tie/untie them when he wears them. I blame his Dad for that one. Jamie hasn't accomplished this little milestone yet, but she doesn't really own shoes that have laces. She is all girl and wants super girly shoes. Girls are all about slip ons and buckles.

I leave you with a pic of Jamie from her first day of Kindergarten. Yes my baby is in big girl school and she loves every minute of it. I will post more on that on another day.

You see how long it is? Jamie and Ashley before they got on the bus

Celebrate Good Times Come On!

2009-09-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

So Jeff and I recently celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We went from this 09/04/99

To This, with a couple cute kids in between. 09/04/09

As it turns out Marriage is nothing like what I thought it would be, it's even better. I've learned alot about life and love these last ten years and glad that it was Jeff that I have learned with. I would like to think he has learned a few things about life and love as well. All I know is that after 10 years he finally learned how to cook. So I guess I will keep him around for another 10 years or so.

So for our Anniversary which lands on Labor Day Weekend every year, we headed to Tahoe for a couple days. Jeff's grandma got us a free room at Harrah's overlooking the lake. We spent the next four days hanging out at the pool, hiking and getting a little gambling done. We even managed to win a little bit. What we won covered any expenses we did have. Stephanie and Jason came up and met us on our annivesary and we went out for a nice 3 course meal. It was worth every penny. Trying to figure out when I can get him to go back. Maybe since we won a little and he enjoyed himself that maybe I can convince him to head to Vegas. That would be nice now that he got the gamblinng bug back. If you don't know Jeff he is more than happy to watch me gamble and not play himself. THAT is not fun, at least not for me. So now that he wants to play his own machine, Vegas sounds like a lot more fun.

So that's it for now. More updates to come.

Ok starting off small

2009-09-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking for awhile now about my blog. I knew that it was in need of some serious attention. I had even considered just taking it down. I originally started this blog when I was busy scrapping all the time. Work however has kinda made scrapping hard. Not to mention that I now have two kids who are involved with school and sports. Blogging and scrapping have been pushed to the bottom of the priority barrell. I have this horrible habit of starting stuff, being super hooked on whatever it may be and then I fizzle out. I find something new and sparkly to get my attention. I always thought I had a great attention span, always finished what I started, however after 30+ years I am starting to think otherwise. I guess knowing that is a good step in the right direction. Yea whatever...

SO here I am, updating you about myself. I have decided to change the blog from a scrapping blog to a all thing's Pealer blog. Or maybe I should say I am updating myself. It's been so long since I updated all I hear are crickets around here. Here 'em?

Ok, now that I got all that crap out of the way... An actual update about what is up with the Pealer Family. Yesterday was my Sister-in-Law's Birthday. She is busy celebrating in San Diego with her man. Tomorrow is MY man's Birthday. Jeff gets to celebrate his birthday with the kids soccer games and Pizza. He already got himself a shiny new toy to play with. We bought a new PS3 last weekend for his birthday. Then we continue the party on Sunday with a softball double-header aka party time.

I think I will leave off here. Don't want to bore all you, who ever may be reading with too long a post. Have a great weekend crickets. Chirp Chirp..

Uh Oh....

2009-05-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

I think our computer at home has bit the dust finally. Jeff still has his laptop but our desktop I think finally burnt out last night. So we will have to figure something out soon. Most of my pics and music are on my external HD so that is good. Sure glad we bought one.

Anyways on to other news. Jeffrey's team won their game last night. Only the 3rd one this year in the W column for us. At this level it doesn't really matter much, But it is nice to see the boys excited because they won. Usually they go home bummed. I could get carried away about youth sports and how they are managed but I won't.

Thought I would share with you one of Jamie's new favorite songs. Well the song is NOT new but it is to her. Every time we are in the office she wants me to play it. One of these days I hope to catch her singing it. Enjoy

Burning Up!

2009-05-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was super hot here. Jeff said we reached 107 yesterday. Not sure if that is correct but it sure felt like it. Our pool jumped 4 degrees from Saturday to Sunday. Saturday started off with Jamie's T-ball game. The helmets are so big for her little head that she has to run holding on to the helmet so it doesn't fall. Here is a little video of her first hit at a T-ball game a couple of weeks ago.

She loves playing ball. How cute is she??

Jeffrey got to compete in a program called the Pitch, Hit, Run Contest. This is a MLB related event. Basically he competed against other kids his age in pitching, hitting and running. He advanced from out local little league to the sectionals which were held this last weekend. He did a great job but I don't think enough to advance to the next round. Some lucky kid will get to go compete at the SF Giants ballpark. Sure seems like my life revolves around baseball at the moment. I hope you all had a great weekend.

Yay for Friday!

2009-05-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

Glad the weekend is here! I'm getting my hair done tonight and can't wait. Nothing better than a fresh cut and color! So yesterday I said I would share my Hawaii trip. Back in March Jeff and I went to Oahu for a week without the kids. We were kinda celebrating our 10 year anniversary a little early. We stayed at the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club. It is the best place we have ever stayed! I highly recommend it. Especially if you want out of the hustle and bustle of Waikiki.

Here are some pics from the trip
Jeff and I taking a walk at sunsent near our resort. Yes I burned like a lobster when we first got there. And YES I had sunscreen on.

The view from the beach. I sat and read my books all week.

A stop somewhere around the island.

Kailua Beach. This beach is gorgeous. We went here twice because we loved it so much.

And for all you Lost Fans. This is the Waterfall that they showed in the beginning of the season. You know where Hurley was floating with his Guitar, Jack jumped off the top and Kate was washed up on some rock.

I got a funny story for you from the trip. One of our last days there called for Thunder Storms. You know the kind with flash flooding. Well we went into "town" to grab some food. On the off ramp there was some flooding. Well when we were leaving we had to take the same ramp to go back to the hotel. Water was still running across the road. As we hit the water a car coming the other direction was approaching at the same time. I noticed they had their window down so they could smoke. Well it was too late for us to slow down and when Jeff hit the water it sprayed EVERYWHERE! I know the driver coming the other way got soaked. Teaches them to smoke during flash flooding. LOL Felt bad for them but laughed my ass off at the same time. Something I will never forget from that trip. Have a great weekend everyone!

It's all Katie's Fault!

2009-05-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well not really. For those who don't know Katie, this is Katie..

See is my little sister, literally and figuratively. This was from her Best Friend's Wedding a couple weeks ago. I spent a week in Hawaii tanning my Ass off and here she is making me look I never set foot on the beach. Between her and Jamie this white girl cannot look tan enough to fit in. Speaking of the kids here they are with Katie at the wedding.

Once again my son was a DANCING FOOL. He thought it was so cool that he could request songs from the DJ. He requested Right Round by Flo Rida TWICE!. He wanted to request NKOTB but I told him NO. Didn't think the wedding guest would appreciate that very much even though mom would have. That's my boy! He also wanted to request the Beatles. Yes he is very versatile in his music preferences. I'd like to take some credit for that :)

Have a great day! Tomorrow I will tell you about my trip to Hawaii with the Hubby sans kids :)

For all my Twi-hard Buddies

2009-05-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

So if you are a true Twi-Hard you should have heard of the band Blue October. They recently released a new album called "Approaching Normal" I have it and love it. During the Breaking Dawn book tour Stephanie invited Justin the lead singer to join her on tour. She had him sing a song called "My Never" off the new album. Just wanted to share this song with you because I love it so much. Here is a video from the tour of Justin singing "My Never" Enjoy!

Two days in a row Tuesday

2009-05-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

Yes so creative I know. Don't hate! LOL. Well since I have not posted anything scrappy in a while, here are a couple of my favorite things I have created recently. Some of you may have already seen these. I really have not done much in the last four months.

Made this for my Mom for Mother's day, also from CMK challenge/Crop

This was for a challenge at CMK a while back.

Jamie's school pic for the year

So I will be back with more blogging tomorrow. Have a great day.

Your Eyes are NOT deceiving you!

2009-05-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

Yes I am here posting. It's been way too long. Pathetic really. I have decided that I am going to mix it up a little, (the blog) from now on. I guess since all of my DT duties have passed and the fact that I have scrapped very little in the last few months has helped in my absence. I always say the beginning of the year is by busiest but here we are in May and things have not slowed down. I guess you get to some point in your life when you have kids where there is no such thing as "time". Guess it just took me a little longer to figure that out.

Well since my last pathetic post here we have had 3 Birthdays. Jamies 5th, Jeffrey's 8th and Mine.

The Birthday Girl

Sorry no Bday Boy pics available at the moment. That is another thing I have been bad about. Taking Pictures. I really need to remember to take my camera with me more places.

The kids are both playing Baseball this year. This is Jamie's first year. She is on an all girls team and she LOVES it. We missed a game recently and she cried because she wasn't going to get to play. Jeffrey is still eating, sleeping and breathing baseball. He stands in the back yard facing the sliding glass door practicing his baseball swing. It is so cute. Another thing I need to get on camera! This last weekend he was in a competition called the "Pitch, Hit and Run" contest sponsored by MLB. He tied with 3 other little boys in the pitching segment so he gets to move on to the next round this coming weekend. He is so excited. I will remember to get pics of this for sure.

Hopefully later this week I can have something Scrappy for you to see. Thanks for visiting after such a long absence by me.

Happy New Year to everyone

2009-01-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

Ok so I obviously took a break from blogging for the holidays. We had a nice couple of weeks. Looking forward to the New Year. Lots of big things for us this year. First off my little girl will be 5 years old in a few weeks. So that means my baby will be headed to Kindergarten this year. Plus she will be old enough to start playing sports. She has wanted to play soccer with her brother for the last 2 years. Also later this year Jeff and I will be married for 10 years. Time sure does fly.

On another note this is my last month at Crop Addict. I have really enjoyed designing for Debbie but I decided that I am going to step back and just scrap for myself for awhile. This time of the year is really busy for us and I just can't commit to anything extra.

Here is a little sign I made for Jamie for Valentine's Day. I used my Glimmer Mist which has been collecting dust on my shelf

Then over the holiday I scrapped a page for myself. I bought a couple new Heidi Swapp papers that I really wanted to use. This is from my 30th Bday Party.

I hope you all are having a great week!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T13:17:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish all my blog friends a Merry Christmas. I will be off the next two days. I still have a ton of things to get done before Christmas morning. I hope this holiday finds you and your family happy and healthy! XOXO

Snow Pics

2008-12-16T21:39:00.000-08:00

Well I remembered tonight to upload my pics from the weekend on to my computer. I just got some new Fancy Pants Paper, Arctic Chill that will go perfect with my pics. Now if anyone knows where I can get some snowflake chipboard LMK.

Jeffrey

Jamie

Jeffrey and Jamie

The kids had so much fun playing in the snow. They didn't want to go in. I had to bribe them with hot chocolate LOL.

Brrr it's cold outside

2008-12-16T14:29:00.000-08:00

Well we just got back yesterday from spending the weekend in South Lake Tahoe. It was so cold. It snowed the entire time we were there. It was really beautiful watching everything turn white. I am sure some of you who have snow all winter long probably think no biggie. LOL Well since where I live it does not snow (thankfully) I can appreciate it in short spurts. I am typically someone who does not enjoy winter what-so-ever! Well except for Christmas. :) I still need to upload my pics of the kids playing in the snow when I get home. I will try to post some of them later this week.

Also, some of you might remember me telling you about my son participating in his school's Oral Language Faire. Well the first round of competition was today. The verdicts in and they made it to District Finals! YAY!!! So next month they will be competing against other kids in their grade level from other schools. I am so proud of him. Can't wait to get home and hear all about it. Well that is about it in a nutshell for now. I am working on my x-mas cards. Slowly but surely. LOL This is the latest I have mailed them in a very long time! Have a great week everyone!

Are you done yet?

2008-12-11T08:13:00.000-08:00

With your Xmas shopping? I'm not. I still have to figure out a few gifts. Plus one I bought online came damaged and of course now they are all sold out online and in the store. Figures! Well last Sunday I was shopping a Kohl's and Jamie picked out a pair of holiday earrings. She will have had her ears pierced for about 6 weeks next week. Figured the girl needed some holiday jewelry LOL

Anyways here are a couple cards that I made this week. Played around with a new stamp that I have and some Cosmo papers that needed to be used

Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

So I was tagged TWICE

2008-12-10T12:29:00.000-08:00

But they were for the same set of questions/rules. So thank you Laura and Debbie LOL. So here we go!!

Here are the 7 things you may not know about me:

1) I hate bridges, all kinds, it can be a big huge one like the Golden Gate or a little foot bridge going over a little stream. HATE THEM! Weird I know

2) Cilantro is gross. I won't touch it. Makes me want to hurl LOL

3) A million years ago, ( well not quite a million) I wanted to be a Physical Therapist. Yea not gonna happen.

4) I am a Disney fanatic. I would go to the parks every month if I could afford it and lived a little bit closer. Matter of fact I think I like Disney more than my kids LOL

5) I wish I had the natural born talent to sing, cuz I don't, not even close!

6) I still keep in contact with my Kindergarten teacher. Do you??

7) And last but not least, I have read all four Twilight saga books 3 TIMES! And when I get them back from my Best friend I will be starting them again. Can we say obsessed? Still trying to figure out when I can go see the movie AGAIN LOL.

Have a great day everyone. I should have some cards to share with you tomorrow!

Yes Really....

2008-12-09T13:18:00.000-08:00

Two days in a row. I figure I have lots of catching up to do.

So yesterday I got to get out of work early because Jeff was stranded in the Grocery store parking lot. His battery finally pooped out in his car and jumping it was not cutting the mustard. So I flew up the highway to go rescue him and then flew over to the school to pick little Jeffrey up. I mean it when I say I flew. Well almost, I was driving fast enough that it sure felt like it. LOL.

When I got to the school I got a chance to talk to Jeffrey's teacher which I don't get to do very often. He had stayed after school to practice his part in a skit some students in his class are doing. Our school district has this thing every winter called the Oral Language Faire. Kids from each grade compete in front of a panel of judges. They act out a story or poem, something along those lines. Each school has one group from each grade that moves on to the district competition. SO anyways, I am really proud of Jeffrey for doing this. Last year his teacher wanted him to do it but he would have been by himself. He was not ready for that. This year his teacher has set up half a dozens kids to work together. She said he was doing great, knew his part and helped keep the other kids on track. Proud Mom can you tell? Remember he is only 7 and last night he performed it for me while I was working on dinner. Very cute! I hope they move on.

Well enough of that. Here are a couple projects that I created over at Crop Addict last month with our Sponsor Tada Creative Studios. Love thier papers

Well thats it for now. I am sure you will be seeing more of me this week!

I'm so embarassed

2008-12-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

TWO MONTHS since I have blogged. I cannot believe I have let it go that long. Shameful really. I am sure there is a ton to catch up on. Let me just start by what this last weekend entailed LOL. We had our sorority x-mas party on Saturday. We went out to dinner and then saw Forever Plaid. It's a little musical. I enjoyed it! We got to meet the actors after the show. Cute guys! Here are a couple pics from the night

Me and my Girl Ali

Me and KP

Friday night we dropped the kids off with my mom and Jeff and I went out to dinner and then saw Four Christmases. Freaking Funny! Got to go see it!

And for good measure here is an ornament I made out of a paper mache box that I picked up at Mike's this weekend.

I know I have a bunch of other scrappy projects as well as a couple tags that I have to get caught up on. I promise I will work on those this week.

Have a great week everyone!

Lots to Share

2008-10-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Well now that my busy September is over I can get back to the important task of updating here LOL. I have lots of projects to share. Just got done with my CT assignments for Crop Addict. This month our Sponsor is Scenic Route. I had the entire Sonoma line to play with! Loved this line. Here is a mini album I made.

And this is from Kristin (Jeff's Cousin) 21st birthday. That is my little sis on the left.

We have a huge crop coming up next weekend at Crop Addict too! You don't want to miss that!

So lets see what else is new with me?? Well since the last time I posted Jeff and I celebrated his 35th birthday. Sorry no pics of that. My FIL took the kids for the weekend and Jeff and I got a date weekend :) We went shopping. Out to eat and to the movie. We went and saw Hancock with Will Smith. We have this old theatre that plays the older movies that are already out of the big theaters. We only have to pay $3.75 Each! Talk about a cheap date! Next week will be another busy week. I have a meeting, A Broadway series show and New Kids Concert all lined up. So don't expect much from me next week. It will take everything I got to not fall asleep at work next week LOL. Well I guess that is it for now. If you got through all that Thank you! You Rock!

A couple more projects to share and another Fashion No No

2008-09-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

Ok first off I know I am no Heidi Klum but I like to think I have some idea of what looks nice on myself. Lately I have noticed another fashion NO NO (remember my Skinny jeans gripe). I HATE seeing women walk around in shoes that are TOO BIG! I do not want to see you walking in a pair of high heels that you have to clomp around in so that they stay on your feet! It just makes you look stupid. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE buy a pair of shoes that FIT for crying out loud! You are not 3 years old anymore playing in mommy shoes. Geez! WHew! Ok Now that I got that off my chest here are a couple more projects that I have completed in the last week or so. First off let me say I do not really like scrapping Halloween. But My kit at Mon Ame was filled with Halloween goodness this month.

LO using Making Memories and Cosmo Cricket

And a Halloween card using Cosmo scraps

Tonight we are headed to BJ's Brewery to celebrate Jeff's Bday and his Aunt's Bday. Have a great day everyone

I've been tagged!!

2008-09-22T07:54:00.001-07:00

I am usually not very good at playing along with these but since this one is a little different here it goes. My scrap buddy Deb is the one who tagged me :)

THE FIVE TAG

10 years ago I:
1. I was engaged
2. I worked full time at my first real job
3. Was planning my wedding
4. Helping Jeff pick out options for our first house
5. Bought my first new car, 98 Jeep Wrangler

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. Work
2. Soccer Practice
3. Scrap
4. Snuggle with JJ
5. get orders for Jeffrey's fundraiser

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Chips and salsa
2. Honey BBQ Fritos
3. Brownies, no nuts
4. Dark Chocolate
5. Choc/PB Chex mix

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Buy a house in Hawaii
2. Build a bigger house
3. Quit work
4. Set up a trust fund for my kids
5. Buy me a nicer car

5 places I have lived:
1. Sacramento, CA
2. Marysville, CA
3. Back to Sacramento
4. Gold River, CA
5. Rancho Murieta, CA

5 jobs I have had:
1. TCBY Yogurt
2. Store Cashier/produce clerk
3. Back to TCBY
4. Biller for a University Hospital
5. Back to the Hospital to do medical billing

I am tagging:
Julie O.
KP
Leslie A.
Staci
Charissa

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

I also have some scrappy projects to share. Can you believe it? I made this LO for a crop challenge over the weekend at
Mon Ame. Most everything on here is Making Memories, Addie collection

And this one is my first ever 6x12 page. I used the scrappy formula at CMK. Used a lot of Creative Cafe products.

That is it for now. I hope you all had a great weekend!

Don't forget to come crop with me!

2008-09-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Mon Ame's Crop starts tonight and goes until Sunday. Come stop by and play. There will be lots of fun challenges, games and prizes to be won. Grand Prize is TWO lines from Cosmo Cricket.

Skinny Jeans Tip of the Day!

2008-09-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

How about you just don't wear them unless you are built like Kate Moss! I guess not feeling well has me feeling a little testy eh? Seriously though... I really do not like this trend. Only about 1% of women can really pull this look off. And Women like me who have some hips are just $hit out of luck. Don't even get me started on GUYS wearing skinny jeans. Ick! Maybe I should just start pegging my jeans again and wearing double socks! LOL

I'm Here!!

2008-09-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

Ok sorry about being MIA. The conference for my sorority is now over. Everything went well. But now I have a cold. Been out of work the last 2 days. I dragged my butt back in to work today. I wanted to share with you guys a fun crop this weekend.

Papier Amour Online Crop @ Mon Ame Memories

Come join us starting at 6:00pm CST Friday September 19th-21st for our first crop here at Mon Ame Memories. The Design Team will be having inspirational and motivational challenges, games, chatting and lots of fun. We will crown a Queen of the Crop who will win a nice prize pack and we will have some other prizes you can have a chance at winning as well.

Register for the message board/gallery and introduce yourself to get ready to have some fun with us. We hope to see you for our first ever Online Crop at Mon Ame Memories.

The winner of the crop will receive an awesome prize pack from COSMO CRICKET!

Here is everything you will get
Grand Prize

I hope you get the chance to come and play with me this weekend over at Mon Ame

Jamie's first day of Preschool

2008-09-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

This girl has been dying all summer to go back to school. She was very disappointed this morning when she found out she does not have school tomorrow LOL. She couldn't wait to wear her new outfit. She proudly stated that she thought her teachers would think she looked cute in her new outfit LOL. She is such a poser. I swear I did not tell her to stand like that LOL.

Well off to a busy weekend. Jeffrey has his first soccer game tomorrow afternoon. Then I have a sorority meeting Sunday evening. Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Anniversary!! To Me!!

2008-09-04T08:22:00.001-07:00

Jeff and I are celebrating 9 years of marriage today. I cannot believe how fast time flies.

So if any of you are interested (or not) I am gonna tell you our little love story LOL. I met Jeff 12 years ago when I was 18. Yes I know I was young. He started working for the phone company out here the same time as my mom did. All I knew is that he was fresh out of college and drove a porsche. Come on what teenage girl ins't going to be wishing for a date? LOL. Now you are probably thinking that my mom set us up? Nope not my mom. Another lady that worked with him knew that my mom had a daughter and that Jeff was single. SO she orchestrated the whole thing. He called me that same week (with mom's permission of course) We talked for hours. Our parents hated it because we lived far enough away from each other that the 3 hour phone calls were long distance! By our third date he brought me to his grandmothers 70th birthday party. LOL Not your typically date. I loved that his family was such an important part of his life. We have been together ever since. Now I am not saying we have a perfect marriage by any means. I mean does anyone really have a "perfect" marriage? We have found what works for us. That's all I can ask for. Love you Jeff.

Here is a pic from our wedding. Geez we were so young!

And this is us about a month ago

Happy Thursday everyone!

Happy Wednesday and New Contest @Crop Addict

2008-09-03T12:46:00.001-07:00

Halfway thru the week already. Helps it was a short week for me at work anyways. Did you NKOTB fans get your CD yesterday? I did. Woke up extra early before work so that I would have enough time to download and burn it before I had to leave. Have you seen their new video ?? --> SINGLE Hot Damn! No laughing at me!! I like feeling like I am 13 again LOL.

Ok on to Contest Info. We are having a Dreamstreet LO Contest at Crop Addict Come on over and enter. The winner will receive some Dreamstreet goodies. Here are a couple projects that I made with yummy Dreamstreet papers

On another note. I just got done reading the rough draft of Midnight Sun. I am so sad that right now SM does not plan to finish this story. I hope that one day maybe she will change her mind. I loved reading from Edwards perspective. To whomever made the horrible choice to publish online the rough draft thank you for damaging the magic that is Twilight. Millions of fans are now going to be heartbroken because of your error in judgement.

Ok enough of that I am gonna go watch my boys again ^^^^ :)

Mon Ame Memories Kit Reveal

2008-09-02T09:30:00.001-07:00

I am in love! I got my hot little hands on the card kit and the Halloween kit from Mon Ame this week. First the card kit comes with the best quality cards you have ever seen!

here are a couple little creations with the card kit

And the Halloween Kit is wonderfull All kinds of goodies just realeased at CHA. Here are a couple projects I did with the kit

Be sure to check back all week. I have all kinds of projects to share.

Also today was Jamie's first day back at Preschool. So I will be sure to post pics of my little sweetie this week too. She was so excited, she got up extra early so mom could do her hair before I had to go to work. She had a new little outfit that she couldn't wait to show her teachers. Such a girly girl. I hope you all had a great labor day weekend. I went to Lake Tahoe with my friend Charissa. We took our little girls and scrapped all weekend! Thanks Charissa I had a blast this weekend!

My Little 2nd Grader

2008-08-26T11:35:00.001-07:00

Ok well he isn't so little anymore. Jeffrey started 2nd Grade yesterday. I think he was more excited than he was letting on. The poor kid got a little sun burned the day before. He was swimming all afternoon and Jeff didn't reapply sunscreen to Jeffrey after he had been in the pool for awhile (Jeff aka Dad, Jeffrey aka Son) Just in case there was any confusion going on LOL. So anyways his eyes were a little puffy. Oh well I guess I should be happy that I got a pic of him at all. I was already on my way to work by the time the bus came.

I also was able to get some scrappy time in over the weekend. Tina over at CMK had challenged us to scrap a transparency. I had never done that and knew I had some around my scrap room waiting to be used. So here is what I came up with. Everything is Pink Paislee Spring Fling Line.

And I finally dug into my Pink Paislee Pop Fashion. I have been afraid to use it because I didn't want to ruin it. I love this line so much I might just hoard it LOL. But I did manage to make a LO. This is of me and Steph at my 30th Bday that she threw me. A surprise Martini Party

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you are all having a great week.

A little entertainment for you

2008-08-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

Jamie was in a performing mood the other night. Pretty sad when a 4yo is singing about heartbreak LOL

The Never-ending Game!

2008-08-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

Seriously! Ok so I posted on Tuesday about how I was taking my son to go see a ballgame. Yea well the game lasted 14 innings! YIKES! I told him when it hit the top of the 12th that we had to go home. It was after 10pm already and we live about 45 minutes from the ballpark. Mommy had to work the next day. Let me tell you my butt was D-R-A-G-G-I-N-G all day yesterday. It was so worth it though. My son had a great time hanging out with mom. He thanked me as he went to bed for a fun night. We had awesome seats too. I had received free tickets for a fundraiser that I had organized for my sorority. They were good for ANY seat in the house. We could have sat right behind home plate but Jeffrey wanted to be on the side. Always trying to find ways to catch a fly ball LOL. So we ended up 5 rows up from first base. Not bad for FREE seats LOL. Here is a pic of the two of us. Sorry it's blurry. It came off my phone.

I see I have been tagged too. SO I will do that post later. Thanks Marti!!

I can't concentrate right now

2008-08-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

I am tired, but that is my fault for staying up too late. I now have a headache. I feel like it is from a combo of things, tired eyes, allergies and maybe lack of caffeine. Employers really should let you take naps during work. You would think since I work for a Learning hospital that they would be forward thinkers in that respect. But alas no nappies for me. LOL. Sorry no exciting pics to share today. I am taking Jeffrey to see the Rivercats tonight when I get off work. For those who don't live near me they are the Minor League team affiliated with the Oakland A's. You all know how obsessed my son is with baseball. He is literally walking baseball encyclopedia right now. So tonight should be good times LOL. It's one last Mommy and Jeffrey day before he starts school next week. Well feels like the 3 advil I took are kicking in. Maybe it's time to get back to work! TTYL!

The New and Improved Cave!

2008-08-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

This is what I did all weekend. And I managed to get in a few LO's.

BEFORE:

Ok Well the top was not usually covered with that much crap! LOL. I had already started moving stuff when I took this pic. I had one more cabinet under the counter like the one on the right. Plus a Scrap Armoire and a book shelf with MORE Crap. I mean Scrap goodies. LOL.

This was to the left of my scrap desk

And now for the AFTER:

SO far this is working out soo much better. Can you tell? LOL. It really made me want to scrap. Which I did, but I can't share with you quite yet. Anyways Thanks for Looking! Have a great week everyone!

Just a Quick post

2008-08-14T09:38:00.001-07:00

I wouldn't want to scare you off by me over posting LOL. Not much going on here. It's pretty hot here in Cali right now. Supposed to be 104 today. Yuck! Hoping to confirm some type of vacation plans tonight with Jeff. We have kinda gone back and forth on a trip for our Anniversary that is coming up. Right now I just want to go somewhere not sure that I care where it is exactly LOL. We used to vacation where and whenever we wanted. Not so much anymore. Thanks California Real Estate Market!! You are the reason I am back at work! But whatever I will save that rant for another day. I know I am spoiled. I hear all the time from my MIL that she never got to vacation like Jeff and I do when she was my age. Well then I guess I am lucky that you raised him right so that he can take me on nice vacations. Ok enough of the spoiled Brat talk. LOL. Here is a little card I made last week. TFL. Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Party Pics!

2008-08-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well I finally downlaoded the pics from the Anniversary party from last weekend. I realized I didn't get very many of Jamie. Oh well. I think Kristin had to have gotten some. I am also getting really annoyed with my little pocket Camera. I have only had the thing for 6 months and the pictures seem to be getting grainier. Grr!!! I guess I am gonna have to go back to using my bigger camera. At least I know my pics will be clear. Hmm that or maybe it's time to ask Santa for a Rebel! Ya Right! I don't think Santa (aka Jeff) is going to buy me one since he just bought my little one for me LAST Christmas. A girl can dream!

Anyways here are a couple pics from the party

The Cake my friend Christine made. It was a beach themed party :)

Me and My Two Jeffs. Sounds like a sitcom to me LOL.

Well that's all folks. Hope you are having a great day!

Whew! What a Weekend

2008-08-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

Ok so as some of you know we gave my In Laws a 40th Anniversary party last Saturday. I think we had almost 80 people there. The weather was PERFECT! I could not have asked for better weather in August. The food was great and the cake was to die for! Hopefully later this week I can show you some pics from the party. Even though it was a great party I am glad its over! I am so tired. Not to mention I kinda over did everything physically and my back was screaming at me all weekend. I guess that's the price you pay for family. I had bought one of those cheap guest books for the party and knew I wanted to cover the front. I was afraid I was gonna run out of time to do anything to it. But I was able to squeeze some scrappy time in Saturday morning. Here is the Guest book all done

Well that is about it for now. I hope you are all having a great week!

Awesome Thursday!!

2008-08-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

I am so excited... I am happy to announce that I made the DT at Mon Ame Memories. Mon Ame carries Kits of the Month as well as a ton of different Die Cut products! You have to see this months kits here: http://www.monamememories.com/kitofthemonth.html.

Thanks for letting me share my excitement. If you get the chance please stop by http://http://www.monamememories.com/index.html.

Here is a layout I completed last week of my kids camping. I entered into The Mosy Scrapper contest . Have a great weekend everyone!

It's Wednesday already?

2008-08-06T08:55:00.001-07:00

So I have been hard at work reading Breaking Dawn! I am in love. I cannot read it fast enough! That or I just don't have enough time in the day to read as much as I would like. That's life I guess.

So Today my parents are celebrating their 31st wedding anniversary. In case any of you remember I just turned 30 a few months back? Yea I was a honeymoon conception LOL. I am very proud of my parents for being married this long. There have been plenty of times where that could have changed. But they stuck it out and now I think they are happier than they have been in a long time. You always hear about the bad marriages but it's nice having those good ones surround you! My IL's will be celebrating 40 years on Sunday as well as Jeff's Grandparents would have been celebrating 60 years this Sunday too. I hope it is not to hard on his Grandma this year. It will be her first anniversary without Alex. I am sure we will all be thinking about him this weekend. I know it's not forever or really any long length of time but Jeff and I will be celebrating our 9th Anniversary this year. I think that is pretty damn good considering I was married at 21. Ok so enough of the anniversary talk.

I will leave you with a LO that I got done over the weekend. My fingers took a beating on this one but that's ok because it was worth it to me. It's mostly Fancy Pants stuff. I cut the flower out and glittered it. As well as the button in the center of the flower. It's kinda hard to tell in this pic. A little back story to the title too. This pic is from our camping trip over the 4th of July. Jamie loved going to the beach but not to swim. She sat on shore and made mud pies all weekend. She kept telling me "MOM I am making Mushy Gushy!" Don't ask me where she came up with that! LOL Her bathing suit has mud sealed into it now. The thing was brand new! Oh well, that's what I get for taking a nice new suit camping LOL

i hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!

Monday Monday!

2008-08-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here it is the start of another new week. This week is a little busy for us. Today is my MIL's Bday! Happy Birthday Carol. We are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate. Yay! We (Jeff, His Sis Melissa and I) Are throwing them an anniversary Party on Saturday. They will be celebrating 40 years! How awesome is that? SO this week I will be busy getting last minute details done before the party. Would you believe that I actually got in a ton of scrappy time this weekend? Well maybe not a ton but much more than usually. Here are a couple things I managed to create this weekend. Have a great week everyone

Thursday is my Friday

2008-07-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

At least this week. I took tomorrow off from work. My first official vacation day at work since I started. We were gonna go to Lake Tahoe but that didn't work out so much. So now we are gonna take the kids to the Six Flags that is near us, stay the night and then go see an Oakland A's game on Saturday. The kids get a free bat and ball on Saturday. I have a feeling that we are gonna have to take Jeffrey's bat away at the game. No he isn't gonna go around beating people up. LOL He has this habit of copying every ball players swing while they are up to bat. The kid sits in front of the TV constantly trying to catch every possible baseball game that is on. He always has SOMETHING in his hands as a pretend bat. A remote control, his Star Wars Light Saber, his sisters baton. You get the idea. I am waiting for one day to come home and see a hole in the front of the TV. He has had a few times when he lost his "bat" and it has gone flying into the screen. LOL It's funny to watch your kids become so obsessed about something. Well at least something as American as Apple Pie. Have a great weekend everyone! Hopefully by Monday I will have something scrappy to show you. But for the meantime here is a pic from our camping trip over the 4th of July

I can't concentrate on work!

2008-07-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

Really I am sitting here thinking of only one thing. When can I get back to my book. So most of you have had to have heard of the Twilight Series. If not, what rock are you living under?? Ok I already read all 3 books. I have preordered #4 and patiently waiting the 10 days before it shows up in my mailbox. And NOW I am re-reading all 3 before Breaking Dawn gets here. I was obsessed the first time I read them and now second time around I think it is worse. How is that? I have never re-read a book in my life. Ok maybe once or twice but I could not tell you what they were. And to top it off they released a new trailer to the movie that is coming out in December. Check it out here http://www.twilightthemovie.com/. For those of you whom maybe just maybe have no clue what I am talking about check this site out http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/. Ok sorry for the rant. I'm obsessed, I cannot help it. And I know you are too! :)

A little scrappy time

2008-07-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

So I have gotten a little scrappy time in the last few weeks. I want to show you a clipboard I made for my friend Kelly. It was for her Birthday. She got it about two weeks late but I don't think she minded so much LOL.

And this is a mini Bag that I did over at http://www.cropaddict.com/ Totally Technique forum. All the directions with pics are posted there. These are so fun to make and give out.

Hope you are all having a great Monday. I am working until Thursday and then hopefully headed to Lake Tahoe for the weekend.

I found someplace new

2008-07-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

And fun to hang out. It's called Mon Ame Memories. See the link over there ----> Come say hi!

Not in the mood

2008-07-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well I am sorry for procrastinating on keep things updated around here. I have completed a couple projects recently but have been so busy I have not had a chance to post them. I have been busy trying to keep track of my favorite blogs. I have been reading them all just too tired to post a comment. I am so very sorry for that. Please forgive me. Been very excited with all the sneak peaks that I have seen. I so wish I could be at CHA so I could drool over all the new products. Been busy finding sponsors forhttp://www.cropaddict.com I am very excited about who I have lined up so far. So stay posted.

Well I am gonna end things here for now. I have not forgot about my blog just been dealing with other things. I sprained my lower back on Sunday so sitting in one place for very long is not happening. I hope you all are having a wonderful week.

Making up for lost time

2008-06-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

Well since I was such a bad blogger this month I figure I will post twice today LOL. Here is the other project that I completed this month. I created a mini book for my Best Friend Stephanie's 30th birthday. It had pages for people to send her birthday wishes. The front says Sweet 3oth because she said she wanted a sweet 30th since she did not have a sweet 16. I think maybe she has been watching too much MTV LOL.

Me and Steph

How embarassing!

2008-06-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

Three Weeks!!! That's how long I have neglected my poor blog. Bad blogger, bad bad blogger! So Sorry. June just exploded on me I guess. Well here we are at July (almost) and hopefully things will slow down. I only have 2 more weeks on probation at work. Yay! Can you believe I have been back to work for 6 months already? I guess I can't complain about my job because the time has really flown by.

So I guess I have lots to share since I have been so lax with the updates. Lets see first off, Jeff and I are gonna be taking a mini- vacation in September to celebrate our 9th anniversary. We are headed to Los Angeles to see a Nascar race ( yes I like Nascar), then to Disney for the day with NO KIDS! Jeff just thinks thats weird but I have always wanted to go with just him and I. Not like my kids have never been. We will probably take them again around Christmas time. Ok ok back to the trip. Then Jeff and I will be headed to Vegas for 3 days. We will actually be in Vegas on our anniversary. This will be our 3 rd anniversary trip to Vegas. The first time we went was for our 1 year anniversary and I was pregnant with Jeffrey. NOT the way to go to Vegas. LOL. So anyways I am really excited to go on vacation. It's not what I thought we would be doing this year but I am still super excited.

On to some scrappy news. I am happy to announce that I have made the Crop Addict Creative Team! I am so excited to be joining such a wonderful site. Not to mention that I am on the creative team with another scrapper that was on the first DT I was ever on. So a quick shout out to Marti! Glad to be working with you again! So come visit me at http://www.cropaddict.com/.

I have one new LO that I have not posted here yet. Did this for a contest over at CMK. You had to scrap your weakness. LOL. I have a couple other projects and photos that I want to share but I don't have them uploaded yet. So maybe later this week. If you managed to get thru all this, YOU ROCK! Thanks for visiting, and happy Monday!

Summer's Here

2008-06-09T10:07:00.001-07:00

Well the kids are all done with school. It is weird not being home with them this summer. I guess it is just something we will have have to get used to. We have our first playoff game tonight. So looking forward to that. Friday night I got to hang out with my Buddy KP. We had a nice dinner with a fruity drink and then we went shopping. We hit up our local scrapbook store. I only got a couple things because I didn't see what I was looking for. But KP on the other hand found lots of pretty stuff. As we were parting ways Friday night I told her that I wanted to see some LO's done with her new scrap goodies. Well she delivered and then some. Check her out here
http://www.paisleyscraps.blogspot.com/
Now I am wishing I got some of the papers that she did this weekend.

We stayed close to home this weekend. Saturday we went to Scott and Lydia's for Scott's birthday. We had a great time but I think Jamie had the best time. Here are the girls, they had fun playing with each other.

And last but not least I got a LO done this weekend. I did this for a challenge over at

http://www.cropaddict.com/

This is Jeff and Jamie on the last day of preschool

Gymboree Rocks

2008-06-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I got the email for the peel a prize or whatever they call it at Gymboree. They gave me 20% off. Well I know that they give out the peels at the store too. So yesterday I HAD to go to the mall for something else. I stopped by Gymboree when I was done at Macy's. The clerk handed me a peel a prize card and I got a 50% off coupon. I was so excited I think I actually jumped up and down a couple of times. I am a Dork I know. So I frantically shopped for more items. I only had about 10 minutes to be in and out of the store. If you shop there you know 10 minutes just is not enough time. I still managed to spend $60+ after my discount. It really made my day. Sad really, but I do love me some shopping :)

Here are just a few of the things I got yesterday

I almost had a LO started last night but Steph called to go walking. I figured I needed to get some walking in. Haven't been very good about the exercise recently. So by the time we got home from our walk So You Think You Can Dance was on. Scrapping will have to wait LOL.

Puzzled Out

2008-06-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

So last weekend we went to the b-day for Jeff's uncle. The kids ended up staying the night at their house. Of course they went to bed WAY past their bedtime. The next evening Jamie was home working on a puzzle after dinner. Jeff and I were in the office checking out possible vacation destinations when I heard this whistling sound. I asked him if it was the dog maybe whining and he said no. SO I get up and leave the office and this is what I find

I think the girl was a little tired don't you? LOL

Floor Seats Baby!

2008-06-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yep that is where Steph, Katie and I will be on October 10th. On the floor for the New Kids Concert. Yes I am going shut your mouth! LOL. Well tonight Stepha and I are going to go see Phantom of the Opera. I LOVE this broadway show. It is one of my favorites. My butt is going to be super tired at work tomorrow but it is SSooooooooo worth it. Jeffrey only has 2 more days left of school. Should be interesting to see how Jeff handles his first summer break by himself while I am working LOL. Over the weekend we went to a surprise party for Jeff's Uncle who turned 52. I have a horrible time making masculine cards but this is what I came up with

And this is my address book that I recently altered. It is a sarabinder covered with mostly prima.

Thats all I have on the scrappy front for the time being. Two more hours and I am outta here!

Frogs to Monkeys

2008-05-30T11:02:00.001-07:00

I am sure you are thinking "What is she talking about?" LOL. Well yesterday was Jamie's promotion at preschool from the Funny Frogs to the Monkeys. LOL Here are a couple pics from her promotion. Next year she will get the little graduation hat. Her and her BFF have the same outfit for the last day of school. They had the same outfit for the first day too. Steph and I can't help it, we love dressing them the same. Funny thing is people mistake them all the time as twins when they are complete opposites when it comes to looks. Ashley is very fair and long legged. Jamie is dark and a little more petite. LOL

ASHLEY (left)- JAMIE (right)

Have a great weekend everyone. I need to go figure out teacher gift's this weekend. Got any easy ideas for me??

Ma-Do-NN-A

2008-05-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

20 years! That is how long I have been a fan of Madonna. My memory is so bad it could be longer. But I do remember Stephanie and I doing dances in the backyard to Madonna songs in the 4th Grade LOL. Ahh the Good Ol' Days. Well Since Steph and I are such huge fans we are going to go see the one and only on November 1st! YAY! This is not the first time. We paid a broker for tickets about 5 years or so ago. When ever she had her LAST tour. You know the one where she said it was her LAST! Yea Right. I don't know why musicians say that. They ALWAYS come back to do another. Don't get me wrong I LOVE that she is coming back to do another. I love the new CD.

Well on to scrappy business. I am slowly getting my Mojo back. I have been so busy that my desire to scrap had been missing. Having the long weekend last week helped. I came home last night and made another LO with my new Crate Paper goodness. I did this line from the Crate Paper Static line

Happy Wednesday!

The start of a new week

2008-05-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

So its back to work Tuesday. Had a nice slow 3-day weekend. The weather was kinda cool this weekend so no swimming by the pool. We went out to dinner on Friday night when I got home from work. The rest of the weekend we just hung around home. I got to get some scrapping in which was great. I haven't made nearly enough time for that recently between baseball, work and the birthdays. I got a couple new Martha Stewart punches on Friday. I got the butterfly and the scalloped lacey looking one. I love them. Used them both this weekend. I entered CMK'S Last Scrapper Standing contest. We had to lift from one of the DT members. That was a hard one because the talent over there is phenomenal! Anyways here is the LO I did

and here is the card I made using Pink Paislee and my new MS Scalloped punch

Well thats all I have for now. Hope you all have a great week!

Strike 3 YOU'RE OUT!!

2008-05-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

I love hearing that! Especially when it is MY boy doing the pitching. This is the first year that Jeffrey's team has had live pitching. We have won every game where Jeffrey has been the starting Pitcher. I am a proud Mom, can you tell? Here are a couple pics of my little baseball stud pitching

I have gotten a couple LO's done recently too! Only have 1 pics so far. I just got some of the new Crate Paper and I just had to play with it. This is from the Katlin line.

Hope you are all having a great week. We have another ball game tonight so here's to winning :)

Where to Start?

2008-05-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

Geez a lot has happened since my last post. I guess first off I would say that the March for Babies that I did was so fun. Had a great time doing something like that with my mom, sister and Best Friend. It was such a great cause and we are gonna do it again next year.

Second: Well I finally turned 30!! I had expected to go out to Morton's for dinner with Jeff, me and Steph and Jason. Well that was all a farce! Steph had planned a surprise party for me. All my favorite girlfriends were there and there were plenty of Martini's to go around. I severely paid for it the next day but it was so worth it. I will never forget that night for as long as I live. Here are some pics from my party.

Me and My Best Friend Steph

Me and some of my Favorite girls ever!

My Ginormous Martini

Ali and KP

Mar, Carol and my Mom

My Sis and Me

And my awesome B-day cake!

And nothing better than reliving my youth at 30! Could Madonna and the New Kids on the Block not come back at a more perfect time? Yes I am a fan of both and have been forever. I can tell the concert tickets are gonna get costly this year. I have not been so giddy over something so stupid in so long! LOL Do you think I am too old to plaster their posters all over my room again? Hmm, not sure Jeff would appreciate that so much. Maybe I need to turn JJ on to them so we can plaster the posters in her room instead of the Disney Princesses LOL. Ya Right!

SO here is to Hangin' Tough! Hahaha!

March For Babies

2008-04-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

That is what I am doing this weekend. How about you? I will be doing the March Of Dimes, March for Babies this Saturday. I will be walking with my Mom, Sister and Best Friend Steph. I am thankful everyday that I was blessed with happy and healthy babies. I know that is not always the case. I have had enough friends and family who have lost children or had children born with severe problems that I am doing this for them. If you would like to learn more about the March of Dimes, March for Babies or to help sponsor please check out the following link.
http://www.marchforbabies.org/npealer

Happy Wednesday!

14...

2008-04-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

That happens to be the number of days left until I turn 30! Wow, seems like not that long ago I was fresh out of high school. Ok maybe it does a little bit. I have a couple friends who DON'T let me forget how old I will be. Stephanie loves to remind me that I am older than her by 6 weeks. WHATEVA! And then of course there is Ali. She has a birthday 2 DAYS after me but she has decided that she is not gonna celebrate until I catch up with her. So I took a page out of something that Sarah told me.... I told Ali she can be 35.2! HAHA! Yes I just told the whole word Neener Neener! LOL Love Ya! But Alas turning 30 does not bother. I will be bothered I think the day I have to start wearing Depends undergarments LOL.

Any way.... On to Scrappy news. www.scrappinwithgrace.com is having A Spring Fling Crop this weekend with a chance to earn 25% off products in the store as well as a Crate Paper Prize package. We will be getting in new lines of Crate Paper and one of my new Favorites Pink Paislee!

You still have until Sunday to enter into our Crate Paper contest for a chance to win a Crate Paper Prize Package. Also our May Guest Designer Challenge is running now through April 28th.

Come visit me at www.scrappinwithgrace.com

Happy Scrapping!

Happy Birthday!

2008-04-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to start out by saying Happy Birthday to my lil sis Katie. She turns a whopping 24 today LOL. I hope you have a great day.

So I meant to blog about this the other day and forgot.. obviously LOL. Well Jeffrey's team won their first game of the season the other night. My little man made the last out of the game. You have to remember my son is on 7 years old , but he is a ball player through and through. SO anyways... he was playing at the pitcher position when a line drive tagged him in the ankle. He dropped to the ground for a minute in pain and then realized that the runner was headed to first base. So what does he do? He grabs the ball and throws it to first base FROM HIS KNEES and gets the kid out! YES I am a proud momma! It is amazing to me how much more competitive it is this year compared to last. I am sure I look crazy in the stands shouting with excitement but I can't help it.

Well I have a Layout to share with you. Yes I know shocking really! LOL. Maybe tonight I can get some more scrapping done. Anyways I started this layout about a month ago when I went over to KP's house to scrap. It just makes me smile to look at it :) I have never been very good at multiple or layered flowers and that was my goal with this LO.

I hope you are all having a great Friday and will have a great weekend!

Our Kitchen is done!!

2008-04-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

Ok well it has been done for about a week or 2 but I am just now getting the chance to show you guys. Here are the before and after pics

I am in love with my kitchen all over again! I just have not had the chance to use it much. Our bathroom is almost done. I am waiting for Jeff to paint it. Other than the kitchen update we have started baseball here. Jeffrey had his first game of the season on Saturday. It was a great game. Our team is about a year younger than the other teams. We lost by one run. As Jamie would say, Darn it Sauce! Oh yea I almost forgot to mention that I am going to do the March of Dimes, March for Babies walk on April 26th. I am doing it with my Mom, Sister and Best Friend. Haven't done much scrapping. I miss it. Hopefully I can get some scrapping done this weekend! Hope you are all well! HUGS!

Wow I am a slacker!

2008-04-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Ok I have lots to catch up on so fisrt....

We have a new contest at www.scrappinwithgrace.com
Tthis month we would like to see you spotlight our sponsor by creating layouts, cards or altered items using Crate Paper Products. All you have to do is upload them into the Crate Paper Gallery

The Rules:

Layouts must be entered by the deadline April 27th 2008 midnight CST.
Your projects MUST show off Crate Paper's products
You can enter as many projects as you would like
1 winner will be selected based on the overall design and creativity

Winner will be announce on April 30th 2008

We are also looking for our May Guest Designer

April Shower's bring May Flowers right? So for our Guest Designer Challenge for May I would like you to create a floral Layout.Layouts must include5 or more flowersat least 1 Floral Patterned Paper5 or more Buttons RibbonHere are your requirements:-1 layout entry per person-deadline is 4/28, so we can announce on or before 4/30.-upload your entries to the May GDT gallery here: http://scrappinwithgrace.com/Gallery/MayGDT
*Please submit an original design for this challenge*
The Guest Designer will be working with products from our May sponsor, PINK PAISLEE

So I hope to see some of you over at www.scrappinwithgrace.com

Once a Week

2008-03-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

That seems about right. Well I had a great time hanging out with KP and Charissa at the crop last friday night. I got to play with the new Honey Pie Line from Cosmo. Haven't finished my project just yet. Maybe this weekend. But the line is Super cute!

Well I gotta say nothing better than listening to outdated music while on hold with insurance companies. Especially for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. NOT! Or how about those heavy breathers on the other end? Yes I sat here yesterday listening to a rep breathing into the phone while I was waiting for her to look up some info on a patient. Could she NOT hear herself? I mean really this is the worst of my job so for that I am thankful. LOL.

Well the Last Scrapper Standing contest is in full effect at www.scrappinwithgrace.com

The entries have been fabulous. I challenged them to do a Monochromatic LO in green or to recycle something in their lo. Some people have managed to do both. This week is gonna be so hard voting.

On another note, we are gonna remodel our kitchen next week. Well we are gonna at least redo the counter tops. I cannot wait. I will have to remember to take before and after pics. Also we are completely redoing our guest bath. So the house will be an chaos next week while the kids are out of school. But there is never a good time to do that sort of thing.

Well I hope you all have had a great week!

So another week has passed

2008-03-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

Man time sure does fly. Well let's see... since I posted last I have gotten the chance to scrap. I spent most of the weekend doing just that. I participated in the crop at Crop Addict this last weekend. SO FUN! Thanks girls. Morgan had a wonderful idea of having a challenge for the kids to do. The challenge was to do a LO about your favorite pet. Jeffrey wanted to participate in this one. He did an awesome job and guess what??? He won! Thanks Morgan he was super excited. Here is the LO he did for the challenge.

I got some new Pink Paislee to play with in the mail on Saturday so I have been playing with their products. Can I just say AWESOME! These papers were super fun to play with and I cannot wait to get my hands on some more!

Here are the LO's I did with the Pink Paislee Papers this last weekend

I have one more in the works on my scrap table now. I used the sketch from SWG's Round One Challenge. I cannot wait to see what all the girls create with it. Gotta love Pagemaps!

Hope you are all having a great week!

XOXOXO

Scrap Happy

2008-02-28T12:19:00.000-08:00

Well you all know that I have had limited scrap time lately with adjusting to working full time. However, when I got home last night I was determined to get a LO done. That is exactly what I did. I made this LO for the GDT spot at CMK for March. The Patterned papers are from Making Memories Noteworthy line. Felt is Prima and Fancy Pants, Heart journal stickers are Creative Imaginations, Chipboard is Making Memories and the alpha stickers are SEI

Plus I ordered me some Pink Paislee products yesterday. I cannot wait to get my hands on this stuff. I am going to a store crop night next Friday with my Buddy Charissa. Believe it or not this is the first time EVER I have gone to a store to crop. Maybe this is what I need to get me back on track. That and being surrounded by all kinds of scrap goodies. Hopefully I accomplish something and not just shop! LOL.

Remember Saturday March 1st is the last day to sign up for the LAST SCRAPPER STANDING contest at Scrappin' with Grace. Check us out here. Winner will receive a $50 prize package from Cosmo Cricket

www.scrappinwithgrace.com

It's almost Friday!!! YAY!

New Contest at SWG.. Last Scrapper Standing

2008-02-25T12:05:00.000-08:00

Scrappin With Grace is holding a Last Scrapper Standing Contest with the winner receiving a prize package from Cosmo Cricket valued at $50The Last Scrapper Standing winner will be determined by the panel of judges comprised of the SWG Design Team, Special Events Coordinator and owner of SWG.
CONTEST RULES: Submissions will ONLY be accepted by uploading entries to the appropriate section of the Gallery http://scrappinwithgrace.com/Gallery/album124 for each round. You must provide with each entry products used and any technique or other information regarding your layout. You may also wish to add the journaling from your layout if it cannot be clearly read. If your layout includes hidden journaling or other significant details, please submit additional pictures showing them. Odds of winning depend upon the number of participants, not the number of submissions.

Double page layouts are considered one (1) entry, and will be judged as such. Please do not submit more than the requested number of layouts in ANY round. The contest will begin with a layout submission of your choice and will be accepted from February 23rd through March 1st. Contestants need to submit 1 layout showcasing what they consider to be their best work. They will be judged by their work as a whole. Previously completed work can be submitted ONLY for initial entry. The remaining rounds must include never-before-seen submissions, created specifically for this contest. All submitted layouts for the contest will be judged on the criteria listed below. Contest entries must be submitted no later than 6:00 pm CST on Saturday March 1st 2008. Submit an entry by uploading to the Last Scrapper Standing Forum on the message board at www.scrappinwithgrace.com .

Layout submissions will be judged on creativity and originality, design concept and composition.The panel of judges will be comprised of the SWG Design Team, Special events coordinator and owner. The top 75% of contestants will be selected from the initial contest submissions. Contestants moving on to the next round will be announced on March 3rd on the message board at www.scrappinwithgrace.com

ROUND ONE:Will run from Monday March 3rd 2008 to Saturday March 8th 2008. Layouts must be entered into the proper folders in the Gallery by 6 pm CST on March 8th. The judges will vote and the top 75% will move on to Round Two, announced on March 10th 2008.

ROUND TWO:Will run from Monday March 10th 2008 to Saturday March 15th 2008. Layouts must be uploaded into the proper folder in the gallery by 6 PM CST on March 15th. The judges will vote and the top 75% will move on to Round Three, announced Monday March 17th 2008.

ROUND THREE:Will run from Monday March 17th 2008 to Saturday March 22nd 2008. Layouts must be uploaded into the proper folder in the gallery by 6PM CST on March 22nd. The judges will vote and the top 75% will move on to Round Four, announce Monday March 24th 2008.

ROUND FOUR:Will run from Monday March 24th 2008 to Saturday March 29th 2008. Layouts must be uploaded into the proper folder in the gallery by 6PM CST on March 29th. The judges will vote and the winner will be announced on Monday MARCH 31ST 2008.

PRIZES:One Grand Prize winner will receive a Cosmo Cricket Prize Package valued at $50.There will also be a second prize awarded to the Best Supporting Scapper. This will be voted on by the members during the final week of the contest. The winner of the Best Supporting Scrapper will receive a Cosmo Cricket Prize Package worth $25. The winner will be announced on March 31st 2008 as well.
Posting of Entries Submitted Please do not post your submitted entries anywhere on-line, or submit them for contests or magazine publications, until the official end of the round for which they are being submitted to our contest. Following the end date of the round for which they were submitted, you are free to post whenever, wherever and however you desire! Breaching this rule may result in your disqualification from this contest. See you at www.scrappinwithgrace.com

I was Tagged

2008-02-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks Jen! LOL Ok Here are the rules

You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

Ok I am gonna have one heck of a time. But here ya go. I am leaving myself the option of picking who I want because I know I don't know 2 people with I names or A

A- Adventurous well sometimes. Nothing too crazy.

L- Loyal, I am a loyal friend till the end

I- Incredibly funny HA! Well I make my husband laugh.

C- Charming, well when I want something LOL

I- Intelligent. Well at least I think so

A- Artistic I mean how could I not add that one!

Ok here are my girls I am tagging.

Annette http://www.daqueen.typepad.com/

Lesli http://dragonflytime.typepad.com/

Keely http://www.keelyy.blogspot.com

Kristine http://www.paisleyscraps.blogspot.com/

Morgan http://thewiebkeworld.blogspot.com/

Deanna http://deannamisner.blogspot.com/

Have Fun Girls!

On a Roll

2008-02-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

Twice in one week. You all are probably thinking its about time! LOL. Anyways we took Jeffrey to the bowling ally yesterday to celebrate his 7th birthday. It was a ton of fun and I didn't even bowl. Next time. When we got home I asked the birthday boy what he wanted mom to make for his birthday dinner. All he wanted was egg noodles with alfredo sauce. Easy enough! Gotta love a simple guy. He is like his dad when it comes to dinner. They don't want or need a big 3 course meal. Whew!! LOL. So I am totally pooped today at work and not able to slow down yet. Our Crab Feed is this weekend for my sorority. So I will have one more super busy weekend before I get another break. HOWEVER I did get some more projects done this weekend. Simple stuff but it felt good to have something new down on a page.

The first one is from our cruise to Ensenada for our conference with sorority, the second one is of Jeffrey and my SIL Melissa at Christmas with Jeffrey's new nerf guns.

Both lines are from Reminisce(Flirt and Genuine Boy).. Have a great day!

Finally!!

2008-02-16T12:06:00.000-08:00

I have a chance to get on here and update AND have projects to share. January and February are so super busy for us. Add in my job and I have given myself NO free time. I finally got a few moments to create something with my acrylic flowers from Page Frames. I have taken them to work so brighten up my cubie.

Here they are by themselves.

This one I used papers from Basic Grey's 2 scoops line and Prima flowers

This one is all Making Memories Noteworthy line w/flowers from Petaloo.

It felt great to get some new projects under my belt. Here is a birthday card I made for my Father In Law for his 60th. The Frame,ribbon and patterned paper are all from prizes I have won at Crop Addict. Thanks Debbie!

We actually have another busy weekend. Monday my little guy turns 7. I guess he is not so little anymore. We are taking him bowling w/his friends on Monday. Tomorrow night we are going out to dinner with our family. Today he has little league try-outs. Seems like yesterday that he was toddling around the house. Good Times. I hope you all have a great weekend. I know I will. HUGS!

New Contest at SWG

2008-02-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

Hello and Welcome to the Heart{felt} February here at Scrappin with Grace. Want to know what we have for this LOVEly month? This month we will be celebrating our love of scrapbooking and those who support us. Here are the contest details...

Starts February 4th 2008.

You will receive 1 challenge per week the entire month (4 total challenges). For each challenge you complete you will get your name entered into the drawing for this months Grand Prize. Throughout the month you will have bonus opportunities to get extra entries into the contest. You never know when they will pop up. :)
You will have 1 week to complete each challenge to be qualified for the drawing. Challenges MUST be uploaded into the proper folders in the galleryby the deadline.

Grand Prize: A Prize Package from our February sponsor, [b]Reminisce[/b]

We hope you all play along this month for a fun contest and great prize package!

www.scrappinwithgrace.com

Total Craziness

2008-01-24T09:42:00.000-08:00

Ok I know it has been forever since I have updated but I have had a good reason. First my job has my butt so tired when I get home. All I want to do is go to bed. Its really cramped my computer time.

Second, sadly last week my DH's grandpa passed away. So we have been dealing with his loss. We had services yesterday. They were beautiful. Alex would have been proud.

Also last week while Jeff was at the hospital spending time with his grandpa before he passed, our car was vandelized. Yep right out in front of the hospital. Poor guy just lost his grandpa and he comes out to a car that is thrashed. They broke the back window and slashed all 4 tires. So we had to deal with that last weekend too.

January is always crazy busy for us, it only takes a couple extra things to really throw things into a downward spiral. Alas, the fun does not end there. This week I have my dad's birthday, my father in law's birthday, Jeff's uncle, Jamie's 4th bday is Sunday and his cousins bday on Tues. So now we are moving into birthday warp speed LOL. So you might have to wait another couple weeks before I can really stay up to date. I miss reading everyones blogs. Please know that I try to sneak a peek even if I don't comment.

Miss you all! HUGS!

Back to Work!

2008-01-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

Well I started my new job this week. SO far I am happy with it. However ask me again when I have a real work load. This week is pretty much review for me. It is all coming back pretty easy. BUT I do need some Cubie decoration ideas. It looks so plain! I brought pics in, but it just doesn't do enough. Anybody got good cubie decorating ideas? I think I am gonna hit up Mikes and buy some big Geberas to put around. I got a clear inbox that hangs near my entry. I am thinking I might scrap a 6x12 and hang it in front. I will post a pic and show you guys when I get a chance to actually MAKE it LOL. Have a great week everyone!

Time to update

2008-01-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

Well I don't have any cute projects to show you yet. Maybe this weekend. This week seems to have flown by. I had to go down to the University twice this week to get stuff completed for my job. I am starting on Monday morning! Wish me luck. Glad I have some friends there already so I am not a complete stranger when I show up first thing in the morning. I have to go to one of those stupid new employee orientations in a couple weeks. From what I remember they are boring as hell. You think anyone would notice if I took my MP3 Player? LOL. Well the contest at scrappinwithgrace is in full effect. I am pretty pleased with how well it is going. Nothing better than starting off a new position with full steam. Our DT search comes to an end this weekend. We have gotten some great entries! I can't wait to see who else applies. It is gonne be hard helping Kristina choose our new team! Oh yea probably the only exciting news I have this week is that we went and bought me a new car on Wednesday! It is my work car. My commute is gonna be too far to drive my SUV. SO I have been bebopping around the last couple days in my '06 Audi A4. I LOVE IT! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Scrappin Sunday

2008-01-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

Well we have a little break in the weather here today. I will take what I can get in the way of sunshine. What else is a girl to do when the weather is yucky other than scrap. I got these layouts done yesterday.

This one is for the Piggy Tales Challenge at Crop Addict

And this one is for the sketch challenge at CMK

Gonna get started on another LO for the CMK sketch challenge here in a bit. I think I might break out the MM Noteworthy finally! LOL. Hope you are having a great weekend!

Some new Projects for you!

2008-01-04T16:28:00.001-08:00

I know it has been awhile since I have posted any scrappy things so here you go. These are my most recent items. I can't believe that I have managed to get this much done with the holidays and all! Here is my first acrylic album. Not all the pages are here but you get the idea

Here is a Bday card I made

And an Abby Page. Love my little A-B-Y, 2 b's.

Let's see not much else to report for now. We sold our Jeep the other day, so now I am patiently waiting to get my car. Gotta get a good gas mileage car for my new commute. Speaking of my Job I went today for my employee physical. Supposed to start the 14th. Ten more days as my buddy Ali reminded me. Just a reminder you still have time to apply to be on the DT or for the DT coordinator at www.scrappinwithgrace.com The power was out most of today so I am trying to hurry up and catch up online while we have power. Have a great weekend!

SWG is searching for 3 DT members

2008-01-01T20:56:00.001-08:00

We currently have 3 design team member opportunities available beginning February 1st. We are looking for individuals who are creative, enjoy being on a message board and contributing to a team environment.

And here's the fine print...

DEADLINE
Sunday, Jan 13th midnight PST

REQUIREMENTS
Our Design Team members will be asked to:
Commit to a 6-month term beginning February 1, 2008 with participation through July 30, 2008.

Design either layouts, cards, altered items based on your monthly assignment as instructed by the DT Coordinator.

The projects you create each month will be used to showcase manufacturer products, in our galleries, in our monthly newsletter, and in other promotions as desired. The monthly kit you receive will be sponsored by a specific company and we appreciate any positive advertising that company receives.

You will also be required to participate by completing a class, creating challenges, be active in crops (thus meaning being there during the crop every other month), actively comment/chat/encourage, etc on message board.

Post question/poll threads (LOTD, QOTD, etc) in the daily forum and create a monthly contest challenge on a rotation with other design team members.

You will also be required to contribute to a monthly newsletter (rotation basis not every month) an article, tips/technique, pick and highlight a member from our message board, etc.

Post additional projects in their own personal design team gallery.

Participate in forum discussions on a daily basis to help facilitate the growth of our online community. The community involvement is very important to us here at SWG, so we ask that each member try their best to devote time to our forum and gallery every day.

It is your message board as a design team. We ask you to watch for negative comments, spammers, etc and alert either the DT Coordinator, SE Coordinator or admin immediately.

Promote SWG to friends, family, and colleagues to help facilitate the growth of our online store, our newsletter registration, our gallery and our forum.

If you are interested please post an original layout, card and altered item to the gallery marked DT member considerations.

**Also please email Nicole@scrappinwithgrace.com or PM Kristina your answers to the following questions: **

1. Why do you think you would make a good fit for SWG DT member?

a. Why do you want the position? What about the position entices you the most?

b. What can you offer to SWG as the DT Member? Be creative.

c. How often are you online?

d. Show me your creativity. List one new idea for the site and tell me a little about it.

2. Past Experience?

a. Do you have any prior experience as a design team member, or coordinator? Give examples of a frustrating situation and a rewarding situation?

b. Do you have computer knowledge? How well do you know a computer? Give examples.

3. Are you committed currently to other sites/blogs/stores?

a. What level of commitment is at those sites?

b. Do you feel it will affect your commitment to SWG?

4. Why do you scrapbook?

a. Give me three reasons on why you scrapbook?

b. Do you want to be known in the scrapbooking industry?

c. Where do you mostly scrapbook? At home, with friends, weekend retreats, etc?

d. Do you attend CKUs, or other similar events?

Please link me to your blog, your work, scrapbook resume, whatever you have….

Thank you, we cannot wait to see you at www.scrappinwithgrace.com

Can 2007 Really be almost over??

2007-12-31T13:50:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. Seems like it was only yesterday that everyone was freaking out about it being 2000. I hope 2008 will be even better than 2007. We have a lot coming up this year. First is my new job that I start on the 14th of Jan. Then our birthday grand slam. 5 birthdays in 1 week. YIKES! My FIL and MIL turn 60 this year. I turn 30 this year. My IL's celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Lots of big celebrations this year. I hope to take the family back to Disneyworld sometime this year too. I am sure before I know it we will be saying goodbye to 2008 too! Time sure does fly faster the older you get. Here are a couple pics that I took from our trip to the snow the other day.

I hope you all have a safe and fun New Year's! Love the Pealer's!