Happy New Year's Eve!

Hello, lovely people! I hope you all have some fun plans for ringing in 2011. I have to admit, I really don't have anything particular planned. Generally, if I'm going to do something, I go out with friends. Well, for the last couple of years, I've had a compelling reason to stay home. :P And while there was some talk about getting together tonight with Jo and James, I'm not sure we'll be able to do it because Daniel has to work tomorrow at an ungodly early hour. So, we might be homebound. But that's ok... we'll have fun no matter what.

I have another layout that I finished a couple days ago.



Joe is rarely sick, so having a sick day layout is a different thing. Sure, he had lots of bumps and bruises from learning to walk, but fever and stuff? Not so much. (Thank goodness!) So I had to take the opportunity and run with it.

Ok, no other big news to report... other than that I am *so* excited to start the Journey for Weight Loss tomorrow! I can't wait to see who are our fellow journeymen and women are. It's going to get exciting! :D

Have a safe New Year celebration, everyone!

Accomplishment

I don't know if I had mentioned this before, but I was lucky enough to lay my greedy little mitts on a copy of CS5 this holiday season, and I'm loving it! I finally feel like I'm starting to get the basics firmly under my belt, so here shortly, I'm going to have to start learning to get past the basics. The fun thing about this, is the basics I am learning are really the nadir of what I had learned to accomplish already in GIMP, so that means I'll be able to take my scrapping to a whole new level... in less than a month's time! Since I spent an entire *year* initially learning all this, I find this incredibly exciting. I know that it's because of the similarities between the programs, but that doesn't make me any less happy about it.

So, this is my latest creation du jour:



I am almost halfway through catching up with myself in Joe's 2nd year album, so I'm feeling good about that. I know I didn't finish it for the holidays, but at least I'll have it ready for the family reunion. :)

I am taking part in a great program this year, and I am really excited about it. Linda and Carolyn have done it again and come up with another cool idea. This time, it's an art journaling program called "A Journey in Weight Loss."

I have seen some of the material, and I think everyone is going to be really impressed with how well this is made. If you want a few more details, be sure to check out the store! If you want some awesome support on your weight loss journey, I think you'll be glad you did.

Ok, I've gotta hop back into things. I've accomplished so many things today, I'm pretty impressed with myself, but that's no reason to rest on my laurels! Until next time, my dears.

Happy Holidays!

I hope this post finds you all well and happy. I've been lazing around today after going out to get Daddy (my husband Daniel) his big Christmas present; a new netbook. We really lucked out... the only one left of the one he wanted was a floor model, so we got a great discount on it. We didn't think that we would be able to afford to do that; he had already gotten some really nice work boots and a couple other little things, so he wasn't neglected. But that was partly because we had really thought there was no way to get him this. He's really sick, so he's been having a hard time getting all excited. But I can tell that he's really thrilled. So add him to the list of happy campers! Joe has been having so much fun. He was exhausted after that long day yesterday; he went from about 8 am to about 10 pm with only a 30 minute nap in the car between houses. Even so, he's still really excited and happy, which is a miracle when he's that tired. I'm proud of my munchkin; he was such a good boy all day yesterday and today. And I'm soooo glad he had so much fun for Christmas. Score!

In celebration, I decided to finally finish *last* Christmas' layout. So, here it is!



I hope everyone is still having a fantastic holiday season! Much love to you all. :)

Crossing the T's

I did an edit of all the names of the pages I had done for Joe's 2nd year album yesterday, and while I was doing so, I noticed something odd. Sure enough, a double check through the files confirmed it; I didn't scrap any holidays other than Easter! (hangs head in shame) So, I had to go back and fill in the spaces. No holiday should go unscrapped-ded!



Poor thing, he had such a bad booboo on his nose. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I'm pretty sure it involved a faceplant into a table. (We got rid of that table, btw.) Nevertheless, he had a blast. I mean, what toddler wouldn't love a dog that is almost exactly his size and likes to play chase? Oh, and he thinks dressing is Thanksgiving's gift to him. Take my word for it; that plate may look huge in front of him, but it was ALL GONE by the time he got done with it.

Moving on to Christmas... Can't believe I did that!

Thirty Days Hath September...

... but I took way more pictures than 30, and I'm having trouble catching up!



When we are home, Joe often plays with the little girls from next door, but I often don't have the camera on hand to catch it. So I was glad I caught a couple for this layout. Too bad I only caught Andy's back in one blurry picture (that didn't make it into the layout, sadly). They really have a lot of fun together, even though both Hannah and Joe have trouble sharing. They're trying to learn, but it's so hard! :D I've got deets on my Flickr page for the kit.



This one was a different story. I had too many pics to choose from, and I was afraid I was going to overload this layout, even if it did have so many slots! Still, I wish I'd had a better one of Jo Ann and Joe together, although those two are sweet. I think Joe was a little young to really get the whole feeling for it, but we all had a good time. It was hard to leave New Orleans after that!



And this layout. Oh, I was so mad at myself when I saw how few pictures I had taken while we were hanging out in New Orleans. I didn't even have one picture of Jo Ann or me! Go figure. Cuteness abounded with Joe, though, so I was happy to make him a nice page. Don't you love how he and Grammy bonded? Just wish I had gotten a picture of the goodbyes between Joe, Grammy, and Gramps! Ah, the pictures not taken. ;)

I am belatedly attempting to finish all the pages for Joe's Second Year book so that I can give out dvd's of it to family. Shucks, I don't think I'm going to make it. I am, however, much further along this year than I was last year, so there's a possibility that I might, someday, catch up. Of course, I only started scrapping last week of November last year, so that could be why the first year scrapbook took further into the next year to make. ;) And some day, I may even finish my wedding album. But I'm not holding my breath on that one... each page seems to take longer than the last, but oh! it's worth the wait! :D

I don't know if I will be blogging again before Christmas. I rather doubt it, actually; I've been rather congested and running behind on, well, everything. My family is coming down from Pennsylvania this week, and I may not even get to see them. That is, I can't visit with certain family members if I have a virus or bacterial infection because their immune systems can't cope with the stress. I am going to be so disappointed if I can't see them, but I'm going to be especially disappointed if Joe doesn't get to see them; he still has trouble remembering them between visits because he's so young, and I want him to know them all. I hope we'll be able to work it out.

In any case, since this is the last time before then, I hope all my Christian friends have a wonderful Christmas, and to those who celebrate other holidays, I hope they are holy indeed. Take care, and blessings for all of you and your families.

After a Bit

I know, I let things drop off right after I had been posting almost every day. I'm sorry about that. I've had a lot of drama going on, but I can't really talk about most of it. lol So, chalk it up to too much to blog about.

On a positive note, my husband went back to work full-time. Yay! So now we have health insurance again. This is a definite bright spot in a time when we have had a good bit to worry about. In light of this, I've been more relaxed and able to do some more creative things. I've even scrapped a few pages. I'm feeling good about it. This is good; I have so many Christmas things left to do, and the two year old is not helping. lol (He just made a sound like a wounded moose, according to the movie he's watching. Just had to share.) But he thinks that's a reason to start trying for a little girl. He must have missed out on the jealous fit Joe had when I picked up the 5 month old girl at daycare.

So, I'll be back again soon with some actual layouts and stuff, as soon as I get them uploaded. Until then, holiday love & joy to you all.