Me & My Thoughts: January 2009

at 3:58 PM

Hi there!!

In need of some retail recovery? I know that I certainly was after the Christmas holidays.

Scrap Shotz is hosting an exciting weekend long crop this weekend (Friday, Jan. 30th - Sunday, Feb. 1st). It's going to be filled with some incredible challenges, hosted by the DT members and there will be games, make & takes and prizes. You won't want to miss out on the fun so come and join us and scrap the weekend away!!!

at 10:25 AM

Go check out Inspired Scrapbooker. We've got some new challenges posted. I love what Sonja did on her layouts too. She's so creative and her designs are always so great!

Here's my layout for Challenge #4. We had to use a collage of photos to make "patterned paper". What a fun challenge and great way to use lots of pictures.

I enlarged a photo for my background "bracket paper" and then a strip of photos for added color. I tried to keep the cardstock colors limited as my photos were quite colorful.

Make sure to check the blog and see what some of the other designers came up with! (they'll be more posted later on today.)

We've had a hurt little boy home from school for a few days now. On Tuesday Ryan fell coming in from recess and cut his knee quite badly. He was such a brave boy and didn't cry much at school but as soon as he saw us he let it all out. That's usually how it happens isn't it? Poor little guy. We took him to the walk-in clinic and he ended up getting 5 stitches. He didn't want me to take any pictures so this is the best I could do.

I'm pretty sure that the freezing didn't work on him though because everyone time that needle got poked in he was just howling. I felt so bad for him. It's terrible when there's nothing we can do to take away the pain. But, he's doing much better now and the wound is healing nicely. I think he's been enjoying having us "wait" on him.

Well, that's it for now.

Have a super great weekend!

at 1:06 PM

Yipeee!!!! Yesterday I ran my first 5K race. After days of living in thick fog the sun was shining!!! It was just a perfect day for a run!!!

Ok, here we are before the race. The runners by the start line were running 10K and 15K. We started a little bit after them. We were pretty excited (and nervous!!!)

My sister-in-law ran with me. She did awesome!!! I had a goal of 30 minutes (which to be honest may have been pushing it a bit for me) but I didn't do too badly considering I felt horrible for most of the run!!! I did it in 31 minutes and 11 seconds. Not bad huh? I came in 3rd in my age group ('cause now I'm in the 40-49'ers) and 28 out of 111 5K runners. So I'm pretty content with my run.

(at this point I was seriously asking myself "why I was doing this!")

Here we are with our medals and happy faces for finishing!!!!

Now I've got to keep pluggin' along and do more and work harder at it b

ecause my new goal is the 10K in March!

I've been busy prepping kits for my class at Clipper Street this week and next week. Looking forward to meeting some new students and teaching some new classes.

And now I'm going to take a break and watch 24 with my hubby!!

Have a great night!!

at 6:33 PM

Yes! I have to admit it now. I had my "BIG" birthday yesterday and turned 40!!! Wow!! Typing that just doesn't seem right! If you're asking "how does it feel?" ... no different than 39. Still the same 'ol me. I just can't believe that I've reached that stage in my life. I'm planning on making this a great year - full of eating better, exercising (running lots), spending more time with my children (quality one-on-one time), spending more time in prayer and having daily devotions, and just enjoying who I am.

I did have a wonderful day though. Went out shopping ... all by myself. No kids. Just quietness and doing things on my time. We picked the kids up from school later that day and they came home and gave me some presents. And my sweet, sweet, amazing husband gave me a 50mm lense for my camera!!! Yeah!!!! I love it!! Then we dropped off our kids for dinner at my brother's place and my hubby & I went out for a wonderful yummy dinner at Earls. After dinner we went over to my folk's place for cake. My mom had planned a surprise gathering with friends - some of whom I hadn't seen for over 10 years!! It was wonderful!! Thanks Mom! Oh, and the cake was good too!

I have a challenge posted today at Scrap Shotz about my goals for 2009. Check it out HERE.

Here's my layout. I'm looking forward to seeing what some of the other gals come with.

I created this layout using papers from Black River Designs - a new Canadian company (*YEAH*) from the Saint John, New Brunswick.

Well, that's all I've got to share right now. Have a great night!

at 10:10 PM

So did you watch it?? oh wow!! So glad it's back on. My hubby & I just finished watching the 2 night premiere!! WOW!!!!! Now we have to wait a whole week to see what happens next.

Not much happening here right now. A little bit of drizzle & rain. I'm running and getting ready for my race this coming Sunday. Yeah!!

Got lots of assignments to work on & finish up. I'd love to take a trip to my LSS and check out some of the new stuff that's coming out. Of course, I know most of it isn't out yet because CHA is just around the corner but there's some wonderful stuff soon to hit the stores.

Check out this stuff:

Scenic Route

MME

I know there's so many more that will be popping up shortly. So I'll leave this for now.

Have a great week!!

at 10:30 PM

Well, I just happened across a blog the other day and loved her little side titles. Karen Giron thank you so much for helping me out by making my some titles of my own too! I just LOVE them and you're such a sweetheart for doing this!

Hope everyone is enjoying the start of their weekend. Take care!!

at 8:39 PM

Well, I wouldn't say that it's love quite yet but I'm hoping that it will be someday. I've signed up for my 2 clinic - a 10 K course. So after Jan.18th my 5K goal from November will have been reached and I look forward to my new goal of a 10 K run in March!

And yes!! I do have bigger aspirations. I would love to run a 1/2 marathon sometime this year but will see how I progress. I need to work on speed eventually so I'll have to start training on my own in a little while. That should be interesting. I find that I tend to stop or give up but when I'm with my running group ... well, there's just no way I'd give up! All in all, though, I'm really enjoying it. I just love the feeling when I breath in after a good run - so fresh and clean feeling.

So far the New Year has been a good one. I've cleaned up & put away all the Christmas decorations (in fact, I was quite anxious to get stuff put away this year) - just way too much clutter. I cleaned up my office/scraproom which had somehow gotten forgotten during the business of the season as we added more boxes in there from the decorations, etc. But now it's in order and I feel like sitting in here again.

In fact, I started & finished a layout last night! Love it when that happens. Plus I really, really like it!!

It's a layout about my youngest and his cousin this past summer when we all went away for a week to a cabin.

They had so much fun playing under this little shower - mostly 'cause the water was nice & warm compared to the lake!

I love how the Scenic Route papers go with the photos - fun & warmth at the same time!

Well, the weekend is approaching and I'm looking forward to it. Having dinner at M&D's tomorrow night and it will be nice to visit with my uncle whom I haven't seen for years.

Plus I'm sure I'll try to get some scrapbooking done over the weekend as well. Got to make some headway with assignments so I'm not feeling the pressure later on.

Have a great night & weekend!

at 11:16 AM

I did this last year and have been seeing many people doing it again this year. Choosing one word that will describe your year, 2009.

I've chosen DETERMINATION as my word this year. I chose this because my biggest goal this year is to run a 1/2 marathon in May so I really need to be determined to train and eat better. I always want to be determined to put my family first in everything, above all my deadlines, etc. They come first!

What about you? What word would you use to describe your goals for this year? I'd love to hear what they are.

This month has already filled up for me with assignments, deadlines and classes. I'm looking forward to getting back into that mode after 2 weeks of holidays. Now, don't get me wrong I've completely enjoyed the sleeping in and pj mornings and just sitting around with my kiddos. But it's always good for me to get back into a schedule.

You must go check out THE INSPIRED SCRAPBOOKER. We got a new challenge (our 1st challenge) for 2009 posted and I'd love to see what you can come up. The DT gals have done a fabulous job with their layouts.

And you also need to check out Scrap Shotz as the DT there have posted their layouts using the fabulous Jan '09 Heidi Swapp kit. It was a great kit to work with - so versatile.

Here's a look at what I came up with.