Slippin' away...

I kind of feel like summer is doing that.
Passing by so quickly.
The next thing you'll know we'll
be pulling out our turtlenecks...
I am not ready for cold.

I've enjoyed the summer so far.
It's been so beautiful here and relaxing too.
Even though I've had to work, we had done
some fun things too!

On to some scrappy news...
This is my newest sketch for TTS!
Cards are hard for me as you know. But
when I am challenged like this, I find
myself really getting into them and
creating a really fun card! I liked how
this one turned out!

It was a lot of fun using all the
Teresa Collins things and then mixing
it up with other stash stuff.
If I set out and make a card just to
make it, I normally don't end up liking it
but when I am challenged to do a card,
I love it! Go figure.
Check out TTS newest sketch and
you'll be inspired to create something too!

On other scrappy notes I have been
pretty busy with DT stuff. I finished
my stuff for CMK and am working on
my stuff for IAAS. Both kits this month are totally fun! I love it when I
get a bunch of goodies in the mail and they are just so much fun! It is inspiring!

One of the things I've done this summer is
join a couple of new kit clubs {Studio Calico,
Label Tulip, and Scarlet Lime}. I have been
with SC for a bit now, but I just recently
joined the other two. I LOVED them so
much that I could pass them by!!! And let me just put in a plug
for Scarlet Lime. Christy Tomlinson made my experience signing
up a personal one. I don't really know if they aren't padded
bulk emails that she sends out, but I felt like she was talking
directly to me, which was very nice. I cannot wait to get these
new kits and of course my SC one. They are different and I like that!



It's going to be so much fun using these kits!

Well we are at the start of August! I sure hope
that the rest of your summer is a fun one!

Let's go to the hop!!!

Today is CMK Blog hop-it-t-hop reveal!!!!
Aren't you excited!!!! I know I am.
This month's kit tops all of the other kits and
I know I always say that, but it's true!
It colorful, fun, and the elements make me smile!!!


This is my first vacation layout, and I love it!
The papers and elements in this kit were perfect for what I was
looking for to scrap my girlie vacation with!
Make sure you check out the blog and see what the other girls
did!!!


Colorado day 3 {photo heavy}

We went to a theme park on day 3.
Elich Gardens, who bought out Six Flags.
I thought that price to get in was really decent.
It wasn't overly crowded, we only waited max in line about 45 minutes
for a ride at any time, the rides were really fun, we got really wet on 2 of them,
the food was horrible and expensive, but we laughed a lot!
I don't have many photos to show you right now cause Melissa took most of them on her
computer and they are on my disk to be downloaded at home.
But I did snag a few on my camera.








It was so much fun!
They made it a really fun day!

Then at night we went out to eat.
We ate at Bubba Gump's seafood restaurant.
That was probably one of the most enjoyable meals I've ever had.
Why? Cause Melissa's meal was a site to behold.



She had so much fun eating her delicious meal and we had fun
watching her eat it!
She even ate it all with her fingers saying "MMMM" every
single minute!


Every single meal we had was very good! I love that when you go
on a trip and your food is good!

Home again... Home again....

Jiggity jig!
I am finally home...
What a sad departure from my really wonderful friends,
I miss them already!
It was such a great vacation.
But I am glad to be home too.
I got quite the welcome!!!

While I was gone, D&A were very busy campers.
I thought for sure the money that D had spent was on something
like Rock band, or Guitar Hero, or something for fishing..
Boy was I wrong!!!

We drive up to the house and both of them
wanted me to look.
Of course I am kind of ditzy with stuff and didn't really see
what they had done.
But D had painted around the windows on our garage door.
I had mentioned that I thought they'd look nice painted.
That was surprise #1!
We walked to the door and there was surprise #2,
he had put in all by himself deadbolt locks on both
the back door and the man door leading outside.
I was SO excited!!!
We all walk in and I instantly go into our bedroom
to put down my things and notice surprise #3!!
He and A had painted our bed!! I've been wanting to do it
and we have put it off, and they finally got to it! It looks so classy
and really completes the room, I love it!
Surprise #4 really threw me off guard...
They wanted me to close my eyes, but I was afraid that they'd lead
me into something so I protested!! LOL. Which was fun
cause they both were trying to drag me.
It was in our den {AKA scrapping room}...
I opened my eyes and didn't see anything but realized that
he must of put up shelving for all of my scrapbooks!
And he did!!!
What an amazing guy I've got and how sweet it was of A to help him out
while I was gone! They sure were busy beavers!
I appreciate them so much and it was so cool to come home
to all those surprises!

I've got off tomorrow, which was not only smart of me
but wonderful for me too! :)

I thought I'd show you a layout I did a bit ago, for TTS.

It's the newest sketch so go check it out!
I am really diggin these colors!

Since I didn't do my grateful list I wanted to post that now!

1. Laughing so hard we cried on our girlie trip!
2. Forgiving each other, moving on, and not allowing it to wreck your friendship.
3. God bringing me to Colorado safely and back home.
4. A great family who loves me so very much.
5. Good food.
6. Cameras.
7. Sassy clothes.
8. Hot showers.
9. Memories.
10. Surprises.

I hope that your night is as good as mine is going to be!

Colorado day 2

Okay..








This is us on day 2.
We're eating lunch before heading out for our day.
We went into town again
but this time with a mission.

We went here
the other day. Now mind you I was pretty excited to go to a place like this.
I checked it out beforehand as Sarah sent us the link before we left.
I didn't dig deep into the site because honestly I wanted to experience
it first hand. I wanted to see it. To understand it.
And I got just that.
I won't tell you all about it. Because you can click the link and see it.
But I will share with you that it is a place that makes a difference in people's lives.
It's a place where you can take refuge and feel safe.
Okay... I did go into it a little bit.
But..
We got to hear a story...
Dondrea.
We met her and heard her story.
Everyone has a story.
And everyone's story is unique.
I was honored to hear it.
She touched my life like I haven't been touched in a very long time.
I told her this, but I am sure that she doesn't really have a clue.
But that doesn't really matter. What does is that she was
open enough to share her story with us.


The coolest part about this entire thing about it was that she shared her
story but then also moved into more personal stuff. She shared
what was on her heart, and what was bothering her. What was going on right
then and there in her life.
And her life wasn't a very pretty life, until of course the Lord
became a daddy for Dondrea.
The coolest part? I watched this girl go from her 11 year old self
into a woman. Which makes me smile...

Being there humbled me.
I walked away a different person.
Not life altering, or something so huge that its probably apparent
but more so on the inside.
Meeting Dondrea humbled me.
And I am thankful of the opportunity to of met her
and Doyle

That's Doyle and this is his ministry. God
has created him for this journey and it is his heart.
It is always very cool to see someone loving what they do
and more so for God's kingdom.

After that we just walked around and did a few errands.
We came back to the hotel and just hung out
before going to dinner.

Ah dinner!
{yep I'm not eating too good.. :(}
We ate at the Cheesecake Factory.
I've never eaten there before, but I've always
heard it was a great place to eat.
The atmosphere? Well for me I am always
bothered by the amount of people and how loud it is.
When I go out I like to be able to hear my company talking.
But it got a little quieter later. That is really my only complaint.
Anyway.. The food? Amazing!
It was very, very good.
And of course we all had cheesecake too.
I had the Snickers bar cheesecake, need I say more?
YUM!
It was Melissa's birthday yesterday to so they sang for her
and gave her a decorated plate that looked yummy too!

Yesterday was a great day!


p.s. I know that my tat is shining... What can I say?
Oh well...
p.s.s. And yes that is Melissa almost punching Mr. Bear {LOL}
While going potty they decided to be cute and play around with Mr. Bear.
I laughed so hard at all the photos! They were a hoot!
But poor Mr. Bear....



Colorado day 4

The laughter.
The food.
The city.
The hotel.
The crying because we've laughed so hard.
The serious talks.
The light-hearted talks.

It was an amazing trip for me!
I have enjoyed myself so very much.

Saying goodbye to Melissa was hard.
She got to hang out with three of her other friends as well for a couple of days!
It was such a great trip!
But having to say goodbye felt like England all over again.
Who knows when we'll see each other again...
Melissa...
Let's see where do I begin?
I've honestly never had a friend like her.
Someone who I've been brutally honest with and still loves me.
Someone who's been brutally honest with me and I still love her.
We lay it out there like no other.


There is only one Melissa and I've never had another friend like her, ever.
She's funny.
She's beautiful.
She's giving and has a spirit of servant hood.
She makes me laugh.
She's said some straight forward things to me
gotten in my face and held me accountable.
And she's my really good friend.

This is the three of us downstairs in the hotel saying goodbye.
It was of course before the tears came..


We met her other friends which was interesting, yet cool at the same time.
And I watched her walk away as I was sobbing...

I hope that next time that we meet up, it won't be this long!

Colorado day 1

We are having such a blast!

Yeah... Yeah it's day 3 on our lovely trip but some how
Blogger decided that it didn't want to load ANY of my photos...

Thank you for praying for my flight and safety.
It was a very short flight.
It was pretty uneventful until we started to descent
into Colorado.
Even the stewardess said that we welcomed you to Denver with
a little roller coaster ride.
It was horrible! I seriously was praying that we were okay
the turbulence was that awful.
But we made it here safe and sound!

I saw Sarah before she saw me as I got off the plane.
I was trying to look cute, so when I started to get teary-eyed
I tried to pull myself together. I ran up to her
{and might I add I almost busted my butt, but thankfully she didn't even notice
or see it!}
and we hugged! It was so good to see her!
I think we both cried a little!!!

We got to the hotel, talking non-stop mind you and got settled.
It's a beautiful place here.
With the exception of so many people, the weather reminded me of home
a lot of the time.
Although it was extremely hot a couple of days.

Sarah and I laughed so hard we simply
almost wet our pants. Yes, I said that...
Being with Sarah means that our senses of humor
click together like no other! When you get us together
there is sure to be such laughter that we are rolling,
crying, and definitely peeing our pants!

Thought I'd share some of the photos that we took the first day.
We went downtown walked around, ate dinner, and walked
around some more. It was a lot of fun!






I miss Sarah.
I wished that we lived in the same town.
Cause we'd hang out all the time!
She's funny. Bright. Smart. A really good tour guide.
Makes me laugh until I simply cannot laugh anymore.
She gets my stupid humor and goes with it.
She's beautiful. She's a child of God.
And she's my really really good friend...

Then we came back to the hotel and waited to Melissa to show up.
The poor girl booked her ticket for 11pm at night instead of
11am like she thought.
She literally got in around 1am but we had such a great time
talking, giggling, and sharing about our lives!
After all it's been 3 years since we've all seen one another!

We're having a blast! Wish you were here!



Leaving on a jet plane...

So today is the BIG day!!!
I am getting on a plane and heading to Colorado
to be with my friends Sarah and Melissa for
6 whole days! Yeah 6 whole days of girlie time!!!

Please pray for my flight {I hate to fly}
pray we have a blast, that we are safe, and that we honor God and
his glory!

I'll be checking in periodically and sharing tidbits of our trip!


Have a great day!

The stuff that's rollin'



Yesterday we played croquet.
I remember growing up playing
croquet at my gram's house and
wanted to get a set for our home
too. It was a lot of fun, but I have
to admit they sure don't make things like
they used too.. Cause my gram's set
is total wood and well ours is kind of cheap.
But it was fun none the less!























And that is how we spent family time together!

Spontaneity

Honestly I am not very spontaneous.
But every now and then I get a spark within myself and normally
"think" about being spontaneous and never really do anything about
that spark.

But then there are times where the spark
becomes ignited and I actually go from the thinking stage to movement stage.
And on Sunday that was that day.

We were leaving church {which rocked by the way}
wait.. Let me back up..
Actually in church I had a thought about this whole blog post.
Not really the blog post, but about the spark that was ignited..
But I have to wait to share that...
LOL.
Anyway the whole point to share that, was that the thought was there prior
to the spark being ignited. And actually it's been there for quite some time.

But okay we're driving away from church. While driving, I noticed these two
peeps sitting out in lawn chairs. They were older, but not elderly.
Then I noticed the sign.
Before I give it away, I want you to know that D didn't think I was serious.
But it was spontaneous.
So the name of the place was The Tattoo Room.
So we're driving past and I said, hey look it's a tattoo place.
D says, do you want to go?
I said well...
He said, let's just go look.
I said okay.

So we get out and it's not your average yuppie tat place.
These guys have been doing tats for awhile, a really long time.
So the woman that was outside in the lawn chair asks,
did you have something in mind?
Well of course I did, I have for years!

So I tell her what I really want.
She starts running around looking through
the billions of flash.
That would be flash art for those of you that don't know.
I don't mind flash cause it's a lot like scrapping paper.
Why would I want to make it myself when I can buy it?
So I tell her what I want.
I wanted a tribal band with a Jesus fishy
{I know it's got a proper name but I cannot spell the proper name}
So we all start looking through the flash.
And we come up with something.

But nerves set in.
Cause you see even though there are sparks of spontaneity,
I don't often act on them.
So I looked at D while she was having her hubby
draw a stencil of what I wanted
and told him I was nervous. D said let's get the stencil on
and then we'll see.

Honestly I was a tad nervous just cause it was out of my box.
Even though I have 4 tat's already getting one that would show
all the time was a big step for me.
I was also a little nervous too cause the place was a dive
and I hadn't even checked into the place to ensure it was a good place to
get a tat.
But I felt comfortable there.
They were nice people too.
And he was older and filled with tats so he had to be decent.

Finally the stencil goes on.
All the nerves went away when I saw it.
I said let's do it.
D was surprised.
The woman was surprised.
And I plopped my butt down on the chair.

D & A went to Subway and Starbucks {I always get a Venti Passion tea with 3 Splenda}
while I got my stencil on and the grind of the tat
machine thingy started going.
It was now or never.
And well..?

I finally got my arm band.
And I like it a lot.
{just to let you know they always do the color to what they
think it should be, if you want it darker after it heals you can come in and they'll
do it for free. D & I think I'll do this as I think I'd like the cross a darker pink}
It's really a straight cross, it's just the way my arm is...
And the photo? D is making me laugh so hard I could hardly stand it,
so sorry if its not the best photo. And excuse me cause I look rough
but I just got back from the gym and well after a kick-butt trainer workout
I always look that rough...


And what's really weird. I knew Sunday in church during the service that I would end up with a tattoo very soon.

I didn't end up getting the Jesus fishy.
I got a cross.
It's still fresh so the colors aren't as bright as they will be.
But I LOVE IT!!!
And I got the entire band around my arm.
I always have disliked it when peeps got 1/2 of a band and didn't go all the
way around, I never understood it.

So I acted on a spark of spontaneity and
heck sometimes spontaneity is good.
What a good day it was!
I should be spontaneous more often!

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