Goodbye 2010 and Welcome to 2011!

As we say goodbye to another year and prepare to usher in a new one...I always wonder why we choose January 1st to make resolutions to change our lives. If our lives are crap at the beginning of the year do we really have to wait until December 31 to decide to make changes? How depressing and pathetic! We have 365 days to make our lives whatever we want them to be. Granted, there are many things beyond our control...but there are soooo many things that we have absolute and complete control over that we can decide to change anytime we want.

Wikipedia states that a New Year's Resolution is "a commitment that an individual makes to a personal goal, project, or the reforming of a habit. This lifestyle change is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year's Day. Some examples include resolutions to donate to the poor more often, to become more assertive, or to become more environmentally responsible." It goes on to list the most common resolutions people make as well as the average success rates. I personally feel that you are setting up the brand spanking New Year to start out with a BANG and quickly deteriorate into a disheartening FIZZLE. And as a result of this? The rest of your year is crap because you failed at least one or more of your resolutions and you again wait for December 31st to "start over" with a clean slate. Thus the sad, depressing cycle begins again....sigh.

I don't remember exactly when I stopped making "New Year's Resolutions" but I honestly don't have any horrible, disgusting habits that I need to save myself (or the world) from like smoking, drinking, drug use, etc. My life is pathetically boring and anti-climatic to some but it is fine for me. I am content to live out my days mindlessly going to work and then coming home to my family....THAT is what makes me happy...MY FAMILY! Do I love my job? Not particularily. Do I need to make some grand New Year's gesture to change my employer? NO. I just need to decide when enough is enough and move on to something else. I've done it before and I will do it again I'm sure....no resolutions needed...just the proverbial "straw and camel" will do. In the mean time that job provides me with what I need to help my husband provide for our family and make them happy...and that makes me happy :)

I recently told someone that they should think of making "life changes" instead of "resolutions" and they were totally against that. Apparently the term "life changes" insinuates that we are unhappy with our lives and want to change EVERYTHING. Not what I meant at all.

So I guess the politically correct term will remain "New Year's Resolutions" and of course, in my usual style, I will refuse to follow the masses and just enjoy my time with my family tonight....saying GOODBYE to 2010 and HELLO to 2011 and all that it has in store for me :)

Stay safe and enjoy all of your celebrations!

Happy Holidays!

Well, Christmas is over and the New Year is fast approaching! It has been a very hectic and stressful few months at work and I finally have a few days off to just catch my breath and relax...FOUR wonderful, blissful days at home...did I mention the boys are still on holidays from school? LOL

Catch ya later!

A New Layout!

I have to say that I think this layout is hands down...my absolute favorite this year! (and let me tell you...I've made some really good ones! LOL)

A friend of mine, Tara Liddicoat, recently took her photography hobby to amateur status and was looking for people to take pictures of. It's been a while since we had family pics done so I jumped at the chance! I also booked engagement photos for Courtney and John for the same day. We had quite the time between the cold weather and some technical issues which forced some retakes but in the end the photos are FABULOUS!!!

The photo on the layout is actually a 4x6 collage photo. I was playing around on the computer to see what I could come up with for photo Christmas cards and also as a way to send family some standard sized photos but with a mixture of the poses. I need them to be economical for shipping purposes as well as the sheer number of family that I am sending pics too!

The layout actually came about as part of a one hour sketch challenge on the Sisterhood of Scrap message board. Helen posts a one hour sketch challenge every month and I rarely get mine finished in an hour but that doesn't really matter to me...every layout finished is another memory recorded ;) I absolutely loved the sketch and the sample layout Helen provided and totally CASEd her LO! It was the perfect opportunity to use a PaperTrunk Kraft paper kit that I have been hoarding for a year and it was also just the PERFECT sketch for the new family pics! I will be heading to Michael's this week to pick up a shadow box frame to hang it on my wall. It also gave me a great idea for a Christmas gift for someone special :)

First Snowfall of the Season!

First snowfall of the season Nov 18/10

I was raised in Saskatchewan and I LOVE snow! (Disclaimer: I love LOOKING at snow, snow falling, etc...NOT actually being OUTSIDE in it for long periods of time...lol)Living in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia presents a challenge when it comes to a Winter Wonderland...lol. And, just to prove how absolutely insane I am....I would move back to SK in a hearbeat! Give me tons of snow, -40 cold and all that comes with it. I miss the crunch of the snow under my boots, the whore frost on the trees, the beauty of sundogs, the crisp and CLEAN smell of snow in the air, huge glistening flakes, SNOW DAYS, and SUNSHINE!!

The first year we lived here (moved in mid Dec 2002) there was absolutely NO SNOW until Boxing Day.....I was ready to move back to SK after a month here...lol. Everything is dull, grey, damp and just plain blah :( Sure, I could hop in the car and drive an hour to a ski hill to see sunshine but that would take us back to the above noted disclaimer....and a small fortune for the mandatory winter tires to get up there. NEVER had winter tires in SK....all seasons were just fine! I put winter tires on my van the second year we were here....didn't notice a big difference around town as I'm not a retarded winter driver hence neither one of my cars since then have had winter tires....just all seasons. We'll see how the Goodyear M&S tires do on the Charger this year.

So, hate me if you will but I want snow, lots of it! I do live in Canada after all ;)

Happy Halloween!

One more sleep until Halloween! The boys and I carved our pumpkins last night and they turned out pretty good. Kip helped Eric with his pumpkin face and Patrick and I each had our own. I thought I would try my hand at carving the Rider logo on mine and it turned out pretty awesome if I do say so myself ;) We were going to put Mr. Bones and his graveyard friends out tomorrow morning but now I have to work so the leaf bags decorating the yard will just have to do this year....and the carved pumpkins on the step of course! Here are some pics of the pumpkins before and after :)

BOO me!

Check out the Glue Arts blog and you can get BOOed too!


Halloween is is 3 more days! So much going on this year that I haven't even decorated the yard or anything :( DH was nice enough to do up the Halloween leaf bags but that's it. Mr. Bones and his graveyard friends are still in the shed :( The boys and I are carving pumkins and making Halloween cookies tonight so maybe that will get us in the Spirit (Spirit...get it?) LOL

OMG....I'm OLD!!

Or at least that's what everyone is telling me...lol. I don't think I look old...a few grey hairs but I've had those for years...nothing a box of dye can't take care of. And there a couple of lines that don't seem to be going away...guess they aren't just pillow creases :( Oh well, my Grandma Flaman always said that lines and wrinkles are beautiful...they mean that you have LIVED and hopefully more of them are from laughing than from frowning! I totally blame those on the fact that I am married and have 3 kids....NOTHING to do with getting OLD! Age is just a number right? I'm past the milestone ages...13, 19, 21...so what's the big deal? I'm no where near the next milestone age...senior's discount at 55 ;) Most people are shocked to find out how old I am...my response? I'm older than I look and younger than I feel...hahaha. My body has been crapping out on me since 35 so bring it on!

BTW....I'm 40. Just a number, right? LOL

Thank you to my wonderful, awesome, spectacular hubby who took me out for supper last night, sans children I might add, and spent a small fortune on our delicious meal at Moxie's Classic Grill. MMMMmmmmm....I think we'll go there for his birthday too! And thanks for the DQ ice cream cake...the boys loved it. Next year I get the cake that I like ;)

Chow!

My poor neglected blog :(

Has it really been THREE months since I last posted? Well, I did try to post a couple of times but the Blogger-Gods weren't being very cooperative :(

So much has happened....not sure where to start or where to end so I will just make this short and sweet for now.

I have an insanely busy and (hopefully) fun filled weekend ahead of me. I booked Saturday and Sunday off work b/c it is my BIRTHDAY weekend ;) Saturday is family pics along with Courtney and John's engagement pics.....oh yeah, Courtney is ENGAGED! My awesomely talented friend TARA LIDDICOAT is taking the pics...sooooo excited! Sunday is a night out with a friend (we are going to Bingo...yes, I know, some people think it's lame but we like it). I have told DH to reserve any birthday celebrations until Monday.

I also have TWO online crops going on this weekend as well. See....busy, busy, busy!

Join me Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Lifepreservers (link to the left) for our Harvest Your Memories Crop. I was Guest Design Team Member there in August (see, you have missed so much!) and they have been nice enough to let me help out with the crop....so sweet ;)

There is a Pajama Party going on at Sisterhood of Scrap (link at left) on Friday and Saturday so join me there too!

Hopefully the family isn't expecting me to feed them this weekend...lol.

Chow till later Gater!

My Hubby ROCKS!!

So, I have been wanting to get a new car for about a year now and just haven't been able to find one that I like in the price range that I want. Earlier in the week I was test driving a few cars and a couple of them were just okay...not "THE" car. Well, DH decided to check out a car that he likes and he knew that I really liked as well but we never thought it was in our price range and would work for me (I'm short so it's really, really hard to find a vehicle that I like the fit/feel of). Of course, DH had to like it too ;)

Guess what? We found the PERFECT car! AND.....we bought it! OMG!! Can you tell how freakin' excited I am? LOL DH really came through on this one....LOVE HIM SO MUCH <3

Here she is.....2009 Dodge Charger in Inferno Red and barely any KMS to boot :)

I really suck..

at updating my blog :( Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my life really isn't that exciting...mostly work with not enough family stuff mixed in.

So, what has been happening in Wanita's World?

I guess the most important thing is that School's Out for Summer! Now, this brings on a new dilema. I really love my kids....just don't particularily love the fighting, whining, etc that comes soon after school lets out. We have had a slight reprieve in hearing all of that since the boys are spending a second night at Courtney and JB's house...yes! Ahhh....the silence :) Miss the little beggars but I can manage to control myself for one more day...lol.

Well, I don't want to update the entire month in one post...you will get bored and I'm quite tired...time for bed so I can get up and work in the morning. Yup, working on Canada Day...nuts!

Later Gater!

National Scrapbooking Day

I had a chance to get scrappy this past weekend on National Scrapbooking Day. Isn't is great that we have a holiday for our favorite hobby? I think so ;) I participated in challenges on my two favorite groups (Lifepreservers Scrapbook Club and Sisterhood of Scrap) and here are some of my projects. I am in a rush this morning so I will have to update my post with the rest later.

Lifepreservers hosted a blog hop where 8 DT members joined forces to create 4 challenges that consisted of two parts to each.

1. Melissa & Andrea:
Part one: Complete a page with the theme "why I scrap"
Part two: Have a homemade embellishment on the page.**flower is the homemade embellie**


2. Laura-Lee & Gabrielle:
Part one: Create a LO using NO patterned paper, you will use ribbon instead (at least 5 kinds)
Part two: Use 5 or more flowers (you may use PP for handmade flowers)


3. Sharon & Rhonda:
Part one: Create a Mother's Day card from one of the two sketches provided.
Part two: Create a Mother's Day card for a scrappy friend who you think is a great Mom. Use a sketch or your own idea.


4. Jodi & Lisa:
Part one: Use at least one recycled item on your LO.**orange arrow is from a plastic index label sheet**
Part two: Use the sketch as inspiration.

My Mind's Eye Challenge

I love using sketches for inspiration with my layouts and I also love My Mind's Eye products...so much so that I had to dig deep in my stash to find some I hadn't used up yet. I still had some sheets of the Bloom&Grow line so I used it for the Blog Challenge 10. I fell in love with the papers all over again and just couldn't stop creating with it so I made 2 more 8x8 layouts and 10 cards with it! I still have a sheet and a half or so of the big florals left so I will have to incorporate that into some future creations. Here are the layouts and cards I made:

MME Blog Challenge 10 layout (12x12)


Sisterhood of Scrap blog hop layouts (8x8)




Cards (4x3.5 to 4.25x5.5)

Spring Clean Up Time!

The weather is getting to be so nice, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, it smells so fresh and new outside...well, at least in Kelowna it is ;) I figured I better get some spring cleaning done...who wants to join me?

Ready? Let's go! (click link --> )Sisterhood of Scrap "Scrappy Spring Clean-up" Blog Hop!

What? You expected it to be like REAL cleaning? Don't you know me by now? LOL Come along and play with us...the other cleaning can wait. Trust me...it will still be there when you are finished playing ;)

Copic Marker Blog Candy

Check out the awesome Copic Marker blog candy being given away here at ABC Toys and Crafts Blog.

Another blog hop!

Goodness gracious! I came across yet another blog hop yesterday (finally had time to complete it today) and it was so much fun! I really needed the excercise to burn off some of the chocolate from my easter basket this morning ;) Head on over to the My Mind's Eye blog and join their Hippity Hoppity Blog Hop...don't wait too long though or you will miss out on all of the fun and prizes.

Bouncing and Hopping

my way through the weekend! Creative Scrappers is having a Blog Bounce this weekend! I had such a great time bouncing my way through the designer blogs and getting tons of inspiration for future layouts and projects. Now, I am just getting ready to Hop my way through the Bo Bunny Blog Hop. Bo Bunny is one of my favorite scrapbooking company's so I am totally excited to see what they have to show us! Maybe I should grab a pogo stick ;)

Check them out! You will be glad you did....I promise!! :)

ScrapFit Workout #15

I decided to play along with the ScrapFit Workout #15 using my LPS February Alternate Kit. Love the Dream Street papers! The sketch I used for inspiration is by Julie Bonner (#36).

Catching Up

I have been so busy at work since Christmas that I have seriously neglected my blog. Time to catch up a bit. Over the next few days I will be adding photos of my projects that I have created this year. I am not very good at recording how many layouts, cards, etc that I make so uploading them to my blog will be my way of tracking them this year. I don't have a specific total or goal that I want to accomplish in one year....I just want to get my family and personal memories saved for my kids and their kids. Nothing makes me happier than watching my kids look through albums and comment on how they remember an event that I have captured for them.

Enjoy!