Memories of Fall 2008

Here is a digi (I know, faint - right?) from me using Stacey's Cinnamon Spice kit. This kit really is FANTASTIC and you can dl it free on her blog HERE.

I {heart} my Secret Santa!

Well, well, well... today I discovered the identity of my "Secret Santa". I'd been wondering for a while who she was and today I found out! Thank you Rebecca for the wonderful package! Some of my very favorite things were in there. Each gift I opened was most DEFINITELY something I would have picked for myself! You rock! 

Not only did she include some awesome scrappy goodness, but chocolates (a woman after my own heart I tell you!), and a BEAUTIFUL handmade card, along with one of the most beautiful mini albums I've ever seen. Rebecca is a master at distressing everything. You should definitely check out her blog HERE.

Here are some photos of the goodies I received, thanks again honey! LOVE IT!

Lovely pearl stickers which I just ran out of (thank you!), Beautiful Primas that are SO my style and a great asst. of gems. PERFECTION!

LOVE that spice candle, it smells SO yummy! A bottle of MORE yummy primas and uhm HELLO?! CHOCOLATE! I'm eating one right now, they are TOTALLY YUMMY!

Isn't this card gorgeous? I just LOVE handmade cards. Now for a SECOND time, I find myself asking Rebecca ," Where did you find those poinsettias?" LOL!

The Lot, I'm a lucky girl eh? Thanks "Santa"

Is this not just BEAUTIFUL?! Oh my I nearly choked when I opened up this beauty! It's a LOVELY HAND MADE mini album that Rebecca created for my family. Unbelievable how talented this lady is. I really REALLY love this!

Two new AWESOME digi kits!

Yes,  I am a walking? ad campaign for my dear friends! 

Stacey just released TWO  new complete, jam packed digital scrappy kits in her store! They are jam packed with LOTS of embellishments, definitely check them out HERE.  And here's a tiny secret... shhhhhhh,  *looks around suspiciously* if you go to her blog (HERE) she is giving awayparts of a mega kit each day for FREE!

Hmmm I don't know what happened with that little guy there. Apparently my stellar blogging skills are seriously lacking lately!

I feel old...

You know, sometimes you see something, or hear something that just kind of hits you in the gut and makes you feel really damn old.  Maybe you see a photo of yourself, and notice that you are getting wrinkles around your eyes, or you find a few gray hairs and think it's "distinguished". Maybe the National Finals Rodeo comes and goes yet again, reminding you of those never ending wild nights you usedto have not so many years ago... or maybe, just maybe you are listening to the radio and the announcer informs you that Nikki Sixx just turned FIFTY FRICKEN YEARS OLD! Yep. 50.  5-0 folks. *shaking head*.  If you don't know who Nikki Sixx is, get off my blog! Because that means you are either too young to remember and YOU will make me feel old, or you slept through the 80's.

Some Digi Goodness

Lots of you (traitors) dabble in the dark-side of scrapbooking. My dear friend Stacey is now designing her own lines of digital kits that are flat out AWESOME!  She created the cutest Christmas alpha and kit! She is giving the alpha away and you can check out the Christmas kit and all of her other fabulous creations at her store HERE.

A Family Affair...

Here are a few shots from a session I did today with a really LARGE family, 14 people in all.It was a real pleasure working with these folks! They were SO easy to photograph, and a very very nice family!

A moment of of unbelievable humiliation..

Thanks to my sweet, precious, adorable, perfect daughter, I have experienced a level of humiliation I previously thought

unattainable

Ash and I went to Michael's tonight to pick up a few things (thanks Rebecca!) and we were in line to check out. The lady in front of us had a few returns, and a few purchases. Needless to say, we were in line for quite a while. While in line, Ash struck up a conversation with the sweet lady returning things. Ashli had that lady and the cashier laughing and smiling with her cute and sweet ramblings, her screeching laughter pierced the silence of the store. FINALLY... It was our turn to check out and Ash was sweet talking the cashier like she always does. I was half paying attention to her while I was digging in my purse for my wallet to pay. Then it happened. I heard that sweet, angelic voice pipe up and say, "Wow! You've got a BIG butt!"  I looked up just in time to see the cashier return from her bent over position and stare at me with a half shocked / half disgusted look on her face. My heart sank all the way to my shoes and my jaw dropped even lower than that! Of course I chastised Ashli for her rude and extremely improper outburst and had her apologize to the still shocked woman and then we RAN for the door. OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!  Ashli was SO upset. She didn't understand what she had done wrong. When I told her that she had hurt that woman's feelings by saying her butt was big, she replied by saying, "But mom, all giants have big butts." ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Lord...

What is a mom to do?

I {heart} Technology...

If you read my blog on any kind of a regular basis you know that I am CONSTANTLY losing my keys, or locking my keys (and cell phone) in the car. I swear this is an every-other-week thing with me. It's so rediculous at this point that it's even kind of comical.  No, not really.

Today I had a VERY special and VERY delicious lunch date with Ashli at her pre-school. The children worked very hard and prepared  a lovely meal of Pumpkin bread and Pork & Beans with hot dogs. Mason and I arrived for the meal, and when it was time to go I came to the all-to-familiar realization that the keys (and the phone) are locked in the car. AGAIN! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I went back into the pre-school and started calling home. Home is the only number I know by heart (the rest of the numbers are programed into the damn phone... in the damn car).  Gregg of course is asleep because he works nights. Any phones within his earshot have the ringers turned off.  I sat in the class room for about 40 minutes calling and calling and calling. Hoping that he might just wake up and hear the phone...   I began to get pity looks from the other parents in the room, and one lovely mom who obviously felt VERY bad for me even offered to give us a ride home. Then, like a brick to the forehead it hit me.  

*I have OnSTAR*

(Cue the orchestra, and let the angels sing)

DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'VE HAD ONSTAR FOR A YEAR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why just now do I realize this????? Do you know how much aggrivation this could have saved me if I'd have realized this MONTHS ago?

I called Onstar and explained to the sweet guy on the phone that I was locked out of my car and trapped in a pre-school room full of 4 year olds. He understood the urgency of my situation and offered to help.   This man, in God knows where America sent a flippin' LASER beam from OUTER FRIGGIN' SPACE  down to my car, and popped the locks! NO SHIT! It took him a half a second to break into my car from... uhmm..  I have no idea where! I am so in love with OnStar! Ya, I'll be renewing my service contract with them, I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize I had this tool in the box!

I've been a busy girl... doing something for ME!  YAY!  I have been wanting to create an advent calendar for my kids for a really long time. This week I finally got it done! (Thanks Amy for helping me find the right calendar).  This is a Karen Foster 8" x 8" x 1.5" countdown box. It has 25 drawers that measure 1.5" x 1.5". Ya, I know. I went cross-eyed working on this one! LOL!

I very proudly used Cosmo Cricket's "Wonderland" line for the papers here. They are my alltime favorite Christmas line out there... and for good reason!  I also used the following products: 

Rubz- Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket

Stickers - K&Co, Mark Richards (gems)

Stickles (Uhm helloooooooooooooo! Love these!)

Lots and LOTS of thickers 

Prima flowers (of course)

Colorbox fluid chalk

Mod Podge

Front View

From the back. The script reads, "In the air there's a feeling of Christmas".

Some cose-ups of the drawers

Lemme tell ya, i.5" x 1.5" is NOT a lot of workspace!

The wooden sign at the top is also by Karen Foster and reads, "No pouting allowed".  Too bad Ashli can't read yet... LOL!

I put this on the back so that hopefully, future generations will know I made it. =o) Awww Sappy sappy right?

Now, for more (yes, this post is SUPER LONG I have lots to say!)

You will recall that we just moved to our new neighborhood this past August. The one thing I miss noticeably about our old neighborhood are the rabbits. It was very common for us to have 1-6 cotton tail bunnies sleeping or sunning themselves in our front yard every day! They were pleasant to have around. There are NO rabbits at our new place. They are one of those things you really don't miss, until you don't see them anymore. =o(

But guess what!?!?!

Matani went APE nuts the other night when I let him outside. I've never heard this dog bark and go mad like he did, so of course I go running outside like mama Rambo ready to shoot someone and what should I see on the other side of my fence???? 

No silly, not a rabbit.

A DEER!

Who needs stinkin' rabbits when I HAVE DEER!!!!!!  

I desperately wanted to get a photo but it was REALLY dark out and she was just too far outside of flash range. Not to mention I didn't want to blind her and have her go running into the street!

Well folks,  TODAY I found her. Rather; Gregg found her! She was sleeping in between the neighbor's houses. So off I tramp camera in hand to finally catch a photo of her. She is a loner. No herd. I hope she will be okay this winter. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for her. I took this photo at 8:30 this morning. It's now nearly 2:30p.m. and she is still snoozing in the same place! 

Yes, I love having friendly woodland creatures!

Are those ears not the cutest ginormous ears EVAH?? I love them!

These are just some REALLY cool shots of an amazing sunset we had last night. I'm a sucker for a killer sunset... and a full moon...   *sigh*  Yes, I do love a full moon.... oh but that's a totally DIFFERENT Story that I probably shouldn't share with you people. So, here are some completely untouched sunset shots.

A Mommy Moment...

"I am thankful, for you"

said my sweet little Ashli tonight as she climbed into my lap and gave me a GREAT BIG hug.

Oh, out of the mouths of babes! She made my whole day!

Uhm... eww?

I have heard the term "window licker" a few times in recent past. I never knew what it meant, and thought I would be showing my uncoolness if I asked. I do believe I have finally discovered what folks were talking about when they used the term "window licker". What I did NOT realize is that all of those folks own South African Boerboels! Wow! Small world eh?

Yes, it's gross. Yes, I'm going show you more.

Oh quit complaining. You only have to LOOK at it. I had to CLEAN UP AFTER IT!

As I was watching the gallons of slobber drip down my sliding glass door, I was reminded of a fact sheet I read before buying Matani. This fact sheet was an integral part of our decision to purchase this particular breed. The author of that 'fact sheet' was a dumb-ass who OBVIOUSLY  has never had a South African Boerboel living in their home with them.  I shall now clear up some common misconceptions about the S. African Boerboel for you.

1. South African Boerboels very rarely bark. 

    My Ass!  Have you ever tried to talk to me on the phone? Call... and listen to my dog!

2. South African Boerboels don't shed.

    My Ass... again! This dog sheds more than any other dog I've had the pleasure of sharing my bed with. ICK!

3. South African Boerboels don't produce the mass quantities of drool that other Mastiff breeds do.

     MY ASS!!!!!!!!!  You saw the pictures right?

One could easily understand why I felt the sudden urge to strangle the shit out of the author of that fact sheet while I was mopping up all of slippery, slimy puppy drool.

Pleasant Dreams. 

For Mom

This is a special post for my computer illiterate mom who can't seem to be able to receive -furniture emails-  My mom wanted to see the new livingroom set we got, and no matter how many times I try to email the photos to her, she just isn't getting them. So mom, here it is.

Gregg's *man chair*

On a MUCH cuter note, it would appear that my little girl has a bit of a creative bug! Her and daddy built this beautiful birdhouse out of popsicle sticks and wood glue.

Then, Ashli picked out her own color and painted it. After it dried, mommy and Ashli embellished the heck out of it! I think it came out so cute! We're going to hang it in her room for her "pretend birds".

Argghhh little green Matey!

Our sweet Dobby came to stay with us this weekend. What a lovely visit! And what perfect timing too! I unpacked Ashli's pirate costume and dressed her up. With Dobby on her shoulder (or head as the case may be) he was the most perfect and precious accessory to her adorable little get-up!

These two bottom photos are my favorites! I touched them up a bit adding a softening filter to give them an intimate feel. Gregg says they just look "Blurry".  There's always a critic right?

Oh well, I do believe I have enough photos to complete Ashli's Pirate Princess acrylic album now! I've only been collecting odds and ends for it since JUNE! hahaha!

Hugs & Kisses...

**Sigh**

Now doesn't this look like a nice, warm, inviting place to just "be"?

Unsolved Murder

This is my very dear friend.  His name is Michael Brian Iverson. 

He was murdered. 

This case was never solved.

In 1994 my friend was shot and killed while walking to his house with a "friend". There has been controversy over this case from day one, with a single witness who suddenly couldn't remember anything about the people who shot his "friend". My ass. Somebody knows something. I believe the 'witness' knows something but for some reason, isn't talking. 

 It has been 14.5 years since Mike was taken from us and for whatever reason he is just so strong in my mind tonight. I pulled up his photo and tears just fell from my eyes as I looked at that familiar handsome face. Even now, the pain of losing Mike is raw. I miss him. The manner with which we lost him was so brutal and so very unfair.

 Mike was very special to me, as he was to so many others.   

A lot of people from Vegas read my blog. Please take a very close look at Mike's photo. Read the Cold Case file below, and dear God if you know ANYTHING... no matter how trivial it may seem please call the detectives at the phone number listed. Please. 

At approximately 4:30 p.m., on February 27, 1994, Michael Iverson was walking in the area of Arlington St and Wyoming Ave with several friends when they were approached by another group of teenagers. There was an exchange of insults. Two members of the opposing group pulled handguns and fired at Michael. Michael was struck in the chest. He was transported the University Medical Center-Trauma Unit where he was pronounced dead. The friends were not able to identify any of the suspects.

Anyone with information is urged call LV Metro Homicide Cold Case Detail at 702-828-COLD.

In the spirit of Halloween...

I thought I would post these photos I took of Mason when he was nearly 5 months old.

Hind sight being 20/20, I wonder if I didn't permanently screw up my son. I mean, I shoved him into a really big pumpkin in the name of awesome photographs and now? He won't even THINK about reaching into one of these things...    Things to ponder.