Hi guys! I know it has been a long time and you've missed me. I know I've missed you!  Anyway, I have started a new life as a freelance writer, and as such--I have a bit more time for updating my blog!  Woohoo!  I also have more time to scrapbook--which I am getting ready to do right now.  I thought I would drop in and say hi.  So..."hi!"

And other things...hmmm.  My wonderful group of girl friends and I have started a dinner swap.  It is pretty much like any other scrapbooking swap you may have participated in...you make a whole bunch of the same thing and swap it out with the other participants cool stuff.  In this case, though, it is freezer dinners.  We do it once a month and so far it has been awesome.  And a whole lot easier making 8 of one meal.  Then we swap and I have 8 different meals in my refrigerator.  Woohoo!

See ya in a bit!

It's been a while. We have been working really, really hard to get our living room floor prepared for concrete stain. As such, I have been neglecting the computer.

My hubby and son just got back from camping with Boy Scouts, and Steven actually remembered to take 1 picture! Woohoo! So, of course I had to make a layout for my scouts for their scrapbooks. Here it is. :)



I am really liking the simple layout!

Products used: The journaling tag was made with Tattered Papers by Libby Weifenbach at Sweet Shoppe Designs. The background is MCO Scuffed Brown Paper (I'm sorry! I can't find the TOU on this, so I don't know where I got it). The alphabet is called Lookin' Sharp and is by Christy Lyle; I got it from Sweet Shoppe Designs, in one of their Quarterly Assortments. The font is CK Renaissance. And finally, those cute little brackets are by Lorie M. Designs.

Have a good night!

Yep, so I got called for jury duty this week. Normally this is something that I am somewhat excited about, but this weekend I have just been tired. I once served on a Federal Grand Jury for two years (I made a rather good friend out of it); it was actually quite entertaining. However, this week I got the notice on Wednesday to report on Monday. I had to completely rearrange my schedule at work to make sure my shift was covered. Luckily I mentioned it to our finance/accounting guy and he told me that I get paid for it. Which is really good, because when I called after 6pm tonite to find out what time to report tomorrow, I discovered that I don't have to report after all. So, instead of being screwed because I could end up working (but I can't because I had to have my shift covered), I end up having a bit of a paid day off. Which is nice, because it was kind of a busy weekend!

My husband and I have this great group of friends who meet monthly for dinner, fondly called "Dinner Club." This month we met for brunch, though, because many of the sons are playing football. It actually kind of works out like this:

• out of nine couples, 4 couples have boys in the 11-12 year old range, and 2 couples have girls the same 11-12 year old range


• 4 couples have girls in the 9-10 year old range


• 7 couples have children in the 5-8 year old range


• 3 couples have children in the 18-21year old range and


• 1 couple has a child not yet in school

Actually, now that I am writing this, it seems like one of those mind bender word problems you have to solve in school.

So, to recap, Friday night we went to the movies (Journey to the Center of the Earth), brunch on Saturday, and dh took the boys shooting. Football in the afternoon. Today, dh took the boys shooting again, and we worked on the fence out in the front of our house--the one that has been waiting for us to finish for months (and is still not done), homework, and blogging. I am sleeping in tomorrow. ")

Yep, that's where I am. :)

Anyway, still incredibly busy trying to catch up with life after that long, long, long recuperation time (well, long, long, long for me--not really so long). I have been working my own job, but I am being "groomed" at work for a better job, so I am starting to learn some other departments. Exciting, exhilarating, but tiring. And the only scrapbooking I have managed is my desktop (and Eva's--because they are the same--just different pictures.)



This lovely desktop came courtesy of Shabby Princess, to whom I always fall back on when the going gets tough, and the tough get behind the wall of sleep. :)

Until next time!

and I've been working...well, not really. I did go to the doctor today, and he released me to go back to work, though! I got back from a mini-vacation to Reno last week, and couldn't resist using some of my newest pictures for wallpaper for my two computers.



This was a quick page from The Shabby Princess blog--I love them! It was quick and easy, all I had to do was drop in my pictures.



I can't remember where I got the papers from...But the pictures are awesome!

And finally, I created this layout (and a wallpaper version) for my friend Eva. She sent me a link to one of her daughter's kindergarten pictures from Sear's. Unfortunately, I am not sure how the layout will actually print out because of the quality of the pictures. Maybe as an 8x8.



Again, don't know where I got the paper or the accents, however, I do know that I adjusted the grunge pink to match the circle-y pink. Turned out pretty, I think.

Have a great week!

Ahhh... who knew it would be so tiring doing nothing! It seems like I am doing a lot of sleeping, which I suppose is part of the healing process. Anyway...

Dh was watching me scrapbook the first page of this layout the other night, making suggestions on which pictures to use, etc. Hopefully he loves it as much as I do!



I used ScrapKitchen Designs kit "Warm Embrace" by Susan Bartolini from Sweet Shoppe Designs, with a triptych template by Bree Clarkson.

I started scanning in my old pictures so that I could get them scrapbooked, and these layouts are the first fruits of my labor. Woohoo!

So, it has been more than a week since I posted, and that is mostly because I finally had my surgery. I went into the hospital last Wednesday, came home Friday, and have been letting everyone wait on me since. :)

Actually, everyone has been doing a great job taking care of me, and it has helped that I had all those meals made up in the freezer!

I started scanning in my old pictures for digital scrapbooking purposes, and I did a bit of scrapbooking today (which, of course! I am going to share!). This is the start of a 2 page layout about my son's Arrow of Light Ceremony, and graduation into Boy Scouts.



Scout stuff, including papers, from Raspberry Road Designs. Template (slightly altered) from Racketty Scrappety.