Weekend recap

What a fun Thanksgiving weekend! It's always nice to be at the lake, and this weekend was no exception. Here's a quick recap of what we did, followed by a few of my favorite pictures! :D

Thursday: ate turkey, hung out with the fam and extended fam, my little daredevil decided she'd enjoy sliding down the hill which led to Granna getting a box for a "sled" and then little sister wanting in on the action...here's my fave shot:



Friday: Josh and I drove to Oxford for our yearly pilgrammage to Oxford to watch the football game---ah the game! 45-0 was NOT what we were expecting, but so exciting to witness. And dare I say we got a little bored toward the end?!! Of course we stayed to the end--it's my rule--you don't leave early. And since the Rebs had lost the last few times we'd been to watch, it was so fun to celebrate the win!

Saturday: We took the girls to the whooping metropolis known as the Jasper Mall, and sat with Santa. We also celebrated the Bama win, and got a little scrapping done somewhere in between.

Sunday--we celebrated Granddaddy's birthday, which is actually today, then headed home. Happy Birthday 82nd Grandad!



Coming soon: Christmas projects like my December Daily, advent calendar, and more! Yay!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

With the crazy preparations, packing, cooking, traveling, etc. I thought I'd post a day early just to say Happy Thanksgiving. If you read my blog, then I'm sure I "know" you somehow either online or in real life. And I just wanted to tell everyone how thankful I am for all of you. I've only been online for a year, and I had no clue how it would change me! Not only am I inspired to scrap, but I've grown more as an "artist" (I still feel funny using that term for some reason) and as a person. I've gotten to know a lot of you fairly if not really well, and even meet some of you. I love that I've had a chance to experience the day-to-day happenings with you, and even pray for you! So all that to say, I'm thankful for you my online friends and readers!

I don't have a Thanksgiving LO to share, but I do have some fun pictures I took yesterday just trying to practice with my camera. Have I mentioned yet that Josh gave me a Nikon D60 for our anniversary and my 30th birthday?! Yeah, he did. It was a TOTAL shock and surprise, very well planned and very well hidden. I left it in the box for a week afraid to touch it! LOL! I have such a wonderful husband, who loves me enough to sell his stuff on Ebay/Craigslist just to get me a prized possession he knew I'd love! What an amazing man!

Anyway, here's what I got yesterday (still shooting in auto.) you KNOW that if I'm afraid to take it out of the box, then I'm DEFINITELY afraid to shoot on anything more than auto or the preset actions!!

okay, enough talk...Sarah Kate playing in the leaves.







I am determined to learn how to use my new camera! I was totally inspired by Elizabeth, who said that one year ago she knew nothing about photography and now she's got her own photography business! So if any of you want to tell me what I'm doing all wrong, a good class to take, where to start...I'm all ears! And I'd LOVE to know how people (coughcoughKarenRussell)take gorgeous photos of VERY active toddlers who don't pose or even stay still for a second!! So any advice in that arena is much appreciated. Oh but I don't get the whole f/2.5 ISO blah blah stuff. I know there's LOTS I don't know, and I may take my little advanced point-and-shoot with me this weekend just because I know how to use it! LOL!

Anyway, hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! Have fun, eat well, and GO REBELS!!!

Fun little quiz

You know I love quizzes, did every one of them in every single Seventeen magazine when I was a teen, and now here's this one. Nailed me dead-on!

What Your Thanksgiving Meal Says About You


When it comes to the holidays, you follow and love the big traditions. You look forward to them every year.

You see the holidays as a time to be close to loved ones. It's a good time to reconnect and make memories.

You like the aspects of the holiday that remind you of your childhood - opening presents, treats, and old favorite foods.

During the holidays, you are likely to feel comforted. At your worst, you feel a bit over-indulgent.

You consider yourself to be a bit of a purist, and you're proud of it.

You tend to spend your holidays doing everything and anything. You really get into the holiday spirit.

What does your Thanksgiving meal say about you?

Weekend update and caught on camera!

This weekend we went to my grandparents farm in rural Alabama to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with everyone. The major highlight of going to the farm for the girls is the fact that they get to see "amals", meaning horses and cows. This trip they helped pick up pecans too.

Here are some favorite shots I got with my NEW camera!!

My sister and SK


comparing acorns and pecans


proud moment


My sister said that Caroline kept walking around with her nut bucket saying, "Twick o Tweat!" LOL! That one made me smile! :D


And I just caught this about an hour ago:


Ever since we moved her to a big girl bed, she's had rest time instead of nap time (thus the messiness of the room!). She almost always winds up falling asleep eventually. But then I almost always find her in her bed too. Apparently today she wanted to watch the rain! This one also made me smile!

Some Winter Weather and more!

But not winter weather in the traditional sense. I just got my 1st ever kit from Noel Mignon, and let me just tell ya, it's FABULOUS! Or in our house it's more commonly said, "Fabuloso". Thanks Dora! note the sarcasm ;) But Noel's "Winter Weather" kit is seriously dee-vine; it's so packed with goodies! So what'd I do? I pulled it all out and got started right away! And after an hour or two, here's what I'd created. Notice all the vintage goodies---loooove that!

1st Christmas


I did this one for Noel's challenge blog, which right now is to "lift" the layout by Anne-Marie Teo. Now that is NOT my style of scrapping, but I love her work, and I loved the challenge so I had to atleast try!

Here are some close-ups of the LO:




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In other news and fun, yesterday I was playing online when the next thing I knew both of the girls had crawled up in my lap. I guess I'd just uploaded some photos, because my camera was right in front of me and so I decided to try and get a self-portrait of the 3 of us. Both of them cooperated for the most part, and I'm so happy that I now have pictures of ME with the girls!





Aren't we silly?! I Love it! :D

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Last thing and then I'll call it a night---about the post about Swagbucks. I just realized that if you use certain online stores (the bestest being Walmart), then you earn $1 in swagbucks for every $5 you spend at the given online store. How cool is that! I think I may just have to buy my camera (which Josh bought me for our anniversary to my total and utter surprise! But I'll save that story for a different post) now at Walmart! But I think you have to go to Walmart through the Swagbucks site in order to get credit. Okay, enough about that! Sorry for pimpin' it on my blog...but I did double my swagbucks points today thanks to you guys! ;)

Hope you have a great start to your weekend!

Swagbucks search engine

Okay, so here's the deal I was referring to in yesterday's post. I stumbled across this the other day from Money Saving Mom, and thought, "It can't hurt, right?" It's a new(er) search engine called Swagbucks. It rewards you for your searches online when you use their search engine (powered by Google and Ask.com). Basically after a set number of searches, the site rewards you with what it calls a swagbuck, and after your Swagbucks have added up you can redeem them for giftcards which are sent to you in the mail.

I did some investigation and learned that Swagbucks is very simple to sign up for. In fact, it takes all of about one minute. There are no fees, no credit card required, and no phone number or address requested. After that, you are credited 3 points to your account and then download the toolbar and every day as you're searching online, you earn a few more points.

Now, you might be thinking, "What's the big deal if I only earn a $5 gift card every month?" Well, $5 isn't that exciting, you're right. But your earnings will exponentially multiply when you refer others. They multiply quickly after you've referred several people, and honestly, if you're reading this, then you probably have a blog. Just think. If you post it on your blog, send them your referral link, and you'll not only instantly earn more points when they sign up, you'll also earn points for the searching TEHY do online as well as your own! You could be receiving a WHOLE LOT more Swagbucks than just the few you make doing searches.

Before I gave you this schpeel, I thought I'd try it out for a few days. I'm not one to promote something that I'm not willing to do myself. So I signed up, Swagbucks is now my search toolbar (they use Google and Ask.com for their searches btw.) I haven't had a problem at all, in fact yesterday I earned another swagbuck just because I was researching DSLR deals. So I can't complain there. All I can think of is if you're going to be searching anyway, then why not try to get "paid" for it, ya know?

So there you have it. My Swagbucks endorsement. To me it's not any different than Google, which I use a lot. I hope that by posting this, you'll all sign up too and pass it on or post it on your blog too, and all of us who are addicted to the internet, MBs and such, will all gain some gift cards along the way!

Oh, and the gift cards? Big brand names like Starbucks, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. Places you really do shop and eat and drink. Just thought that might be worth mentioning. So go check it out. Make it your toolbar/search engine of choice, and let's all earn some goodies in return. ;)

You can sign up for Swagbucks here.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programing....

Some vintage/heritage for ya!

Hey there everybody! Hope everyone's doing great today, I know I am. (The kids are finally napping! hehe!) The weather's great outside, so the girls and I were finally able to play a bit in the backyard. Now if only Caroline would learn how to STEER her Barbie Jeep, then we'd be in business! LOL!

I was also able to pick up lots of goodies at Ms for $1 each today and that just made my day! I got stocking stuffers for the girls and their youngest cousin Gracie. I bought a wooden frame so that I can make a little something for a friend. (She and her girls faithfully read my blog, so I can say what it's going to be. ;) ) And I also saw where Ms is having a 40% off sale on all things storage related. SOOO I may go back this weekend and grab the Making Memories embellishment shelving they've got on sale! My scraproom *needs* it badly! It needs ANY kind of organization badly!

I also wanted to share another LO using Camille's Nov. Cream 'n Sugar kit from Crop Suey. For some reason, I got all nostalgic on for one. I had some photos of my grandparents sitting around and I was inspired to do something with the vintage postcards that came in the kit. (Noel sparked some inspiration with her LO challenge for their Harvest the Crop entitled "Remember".) So I put 2 and 2 and 2 together (heritage photos, vintage postcards, and "remember" prompt), and this is what I got. A LO that shows my grandparents through the years.

"Remember the Good Times"


I really like the way it turned out, though the style is a bit out of the norm for me. But I may also love it because I love my grandparents so much! They've both had a special influence on my life. Not to mention that in the center photo Grandad is holding a wooden Cypress Garden ski, that MANY years later, I learned how to waterski on. (And he still has it in the boat now!) Just something that gives me warm fuzzies as I look back on them in the early years. Her anniversary card to us this past week said she hoped we had 60 good years together the way the 2 of them have. I hope and pray that we can sustain a marriage like theirs for half that long if not more.

Okay, enough sap. I could go on and on about my grandparents. They're special people. Of course I think that, but all my friends who've met them think that too! (They still exchange Christmas cards with my BF from high school! hehe!)

Hope you're having a great day! I'll post tomorrow about a a new deal I stumbled upon! ;)

7 years!

7 years ago today, my darling husband and I said "I do."
And without getting too sappy, or mushy on my blog, I thought I'd do a quick look back at the last 7 years in photos. (Totally stealing the idea from Jenni.)

2001--our wedding day




2002 Thanksgiving at the lake
(nice overalls!)


2003 Our Christmas card picture


2004 with our new puppy Bentley


2005 pregnant with Caroline and Meg's matron-of-honor


2006--at the beach with baby C (and SK on the way)


2007--on the farm


2008--at the beach (one of my favorites ever)


A couple of things I've noticed:
1. We don't take pictures by ourselves anymore
2. I REALLY need a new 'do'.
3. Even though our family has changed and grown, I love this man so much more now than in that first picture when I thought I loved him as much as I possibly could. We've been through a lot. That's no secret. But those trials have brought us closer together, and more reliant on our Lord that we ever were or would've been. I LOVE you Josh!

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by both Jana and Morgan. Both tags are to share 7 random, some odd or weird, facts about you, so I'm going to attempt. Here goes.

1. I've only been online (as far as scrapping is concerned) for one year.
2. This month is also my blog anniversary (1 yr.), our wedding anniversary (7 yrs.), and my official scrapping anniversary (7 yrs.). I taped photos in magnetic albums in high school, and I'm not counting those. (But they're still in Sarah Kate's room. oops!)
3. Scrap tendencies (or weird pet peeves): I rarely scrap a LO that doesn't include a visual triangle. When I place buttons on the page, their holes can't be vertical OR horizontal, but always at an angle.
4. Until I had my girls, I'd never been put in the hospital, gone to the ER, had stitches, a broken bone or surgery. I still haven't had a broken bone that's been officially diagnosed. (I could've sworn I broke my finger playing softball, but Dad told me to keep playing! LOL!) I've still haven't gone to the ER for me...let's hope it stays that way. I did take SK when she was 6 days old and newly released from the NICU. That was THE SCARIEST night of my life thus far.

okay with all that useless info, that should count as #4 AND #5. hehe!

So 6. I call my grandparents every Saturday. Well, this week it was Friday, but still. Their marriage is the one I look up to and admire the most. They've been married for 60 years, and despite all their faults and old person crankiness, they adore each other. It's so neat to watch! You can see their story (and the LO I did to document it) HERE. I also just scrapped more of their heritage photos that I'll post soon. ;)

7. I'm eagerly anticipating our annual trip to Oxford, MS to watch the Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State football game. We'll meet up with friends, eat some amazing Southern comfort food, watch what will hopefully be a Rebel victory, and wander around the quaint little town and campus reliving fun college memories! I can't wait!

Okay, so now to tag some people....hmm, let's see...how 'bout these girlies:

1.Brandy
2.Brandi
3.Abbie
4.Ronda
5.Elizabeth Bailey
6.Brittney
7.Jaime

And because I don't like to post without a pic, here's one that makes me laugh everytime I see it! Thanks Holly for taking another priceless pic of Caroline!

Kids Can Scrap too!

Look what my "students" did! Right now I'm teaching giving "scrap lessons" to Tab's daughters Holly and Anna. Last night we had our second lesson and so far we've covered these different topics:
1. the diffence in cardstocks (textured and non)
2. scale and pattern
3. the different types of patterns
4. how to combine patterns
5. the visual triangle
6. odd numbers of embellishments
7. how to interpret a sketch (we call it a "map too)

I've been sooo excited to "teach" them! Not only are they wonderful students, they soak it all up like little sponges, but I LOVE sharing my passion (ahem--addiction) with them! It doesn't hurt that they have a whiteboard either. I totally flashback to being a real teacher, and I love it!

The 2nd part of last night's lesson was to complete the challenge for the new blog KidsCanScrap. The other pages they've completed in "class" have been with sketches, but for this one I just told them the challenge--All About Me--and said go. I hoped that they would incorporate some of the things we'd talked about, but really other than helping with a torn rub-on, they did these all by themselves! They pulled their papers, they decided on the photo arrangement, title, embellishments, and handwrote their journaling. Their prompt for journaling was to write as though they were going to introduce themselves to a new friend. So without further ado, here are their pages!

Holly--age 11


Anna--age 12

Home

There's nothing quite like home. And while I LOVE to travel, visit family and friends, and just run errands out and about, I always love to come home. There's just something about it that's warm and comforting, peaceful. Camille's Cream 'n Sugar kit seemed just right to help me document all my feelings about our home. Call me sappy, but I'm sure years from now when we've moved, or outgrown our little house, I'll still remember that this is the place that we first called home. It's our haven and our safe place. And the colors in the picture just happen to go perfectly with the Dream Street papers and fun ribbons in the kit.

This layout also fit the "recipe" for Michelle's Wednesday challenge in the week long crop over at Noel Mignon. Thanks for the inspiration Michelle! It was fun! :D

While I'm scrapping

Halloween layouts, I thought I'd share this one with you. I wish I had a better picture of it, but with that transparency, it was SO hard to get a good shot. These are LAST year's pictures that I never got around to, but I just adore the looks on both Josh and Caroline's faces. So these 2 finally got scrapped! Two down and several hundred to go. hehe! I think I'll probably end up doing a Halloween mini and be done with it, but then I've got some ideas for some individual shots, so I don't know. Hope you're not getting bored with them, because they're probably more coming. But then again....

Here are the upclose pictures. You can get a better feel for it this way.



Actually I'm starting to feel a little bit Christmas-y already. Between Wrapper's Delight and doing Ali E.'s December Daily challenge, I'm kinda getting in the mood for some Christmas music. Now, I haven't turned any on yet, but I'm starting to feel it a little. Stay posted in Decemeber because I'm having a blast with this whole December Dailything. The girls at Simply Obsessed have created our own forum and gallery for it to keep each other motivated, and I must say, it's really helped! I'm so excited to document our lives as we lead up to Christmas! And I'm almost equally excited that it'll be easy to do since I'm doing the album now and all I'll have to do is add pictures and journaling when the time comes. I'll post my pages each day in Dec. for you all to see. I love the concept and I'm really getting excited about my album! Now if only I'd spent more time at that dang AccuCut machine...

Fun new kit club!

By now you guys probably know that even though I'm not a "local" I still call Scrap Etc. my LSS. Well, Lucy and the girls over there decided a few months back to not only have a brick-and-mortar store, but to also start a kit club. It's called Scripts and it's a little great kit! I got to see a little bit of the November kit this weekend at Wrapper's Delight, and oh my does Lucy pack those kits full of yummies! So in case you're searching for a great kit to subscribe to, check this one out! It doesn't hurt that they have some amazing designers too! Right Virginia? Katie? Gretchen? Brittney? Seriously, you should go check them out here!

And as a peek, here's some gorgeousness that Virginia has already made with the November kit! How amazing is this!!! She's just so talented!



So go check them out and don't forget to tell'em I sent ya! :D

Still scrapping Halloween!

I have this year's AND last year's to scrap, and I'm trying to make a dent in my photo stack. But also, I couldn't resist this paper. It's "Spooked" by My Mind's Eye, and I LOVE it! I think what I like best is the fact that most of it could be used on LOs other than Halloween themed ones. I did this one last night using Jana's sketch for Noel's crop.

Whew! What a weekend!

This weekend I went to Wrapper's Delight in Birmingham, and I must say that it was so much fun! I got to visit with some good friends, help with classes, help throw a Christmas soiree and do a wee bit of cropping too! It was REALLY fun and really tiring too. It didn't help that I caught a cold while I was there. I'm recovering though, and life's getting back to normal. Here's the only pic I took, well beside the ones of the gorgeous ornaments that were auctioned off.



That's me, Virginia, Katie, and Gretchen after the whole thing was over.

Before I left for B'ham, I tried to tackle my Halloween photos. In the end I only finished one LO but I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It's so fun to design "just for fun".

Family Halloween








And one last announcement. It's Noel Mignon's first ever online crop and it's going on all week long. Hop over there and check out the challenges. Noel's outdone herself with prizes too! I hope to get more accomplished this week thanks to their challenges.

November Color Me Daisy!!

Woohoo! It's time for me to share my November Color Me Daisy LOs and project, and lemme just tell you, this kit was a LOT of fun to play with! I loved both the Fancy Pants "Daily Grind" and Oct. Afternoon "Weathervane" papers, and there's a little Hambly thrown in there too! Oh, and the Maya Road chipboard mini album? LOVED it! So much fun! So pop on over to Color Me Daisy and grab one of these bad boys for yourself! ;)

Lil Pumpkin

I know you've already seen it, but I had to throw it in with the group.

Cousins in the Fall

Caroline and Adin at last year's Apple Festival.

And that mini-album I LOVED making! Soooo fun!