Simply Shayla

Vote For Me!!

2010-03-22T22:03:00.000-07:00

I need your vote!! I just entered my first digi-scrapping layout contest. I'm not sure why I haven't done it before, but it was a good motivation to complete a layout from start to finish in a day. I haven't been doing much of that lately and I've missed the creative outlet. A time limit is often a good thing for me, or I might just never complete anything. So, if you like it, go vote for me. You do have to register at their site in order to vote, but they claim you won't receive any emails from them ever if you choose not to. The link to the contest is below:

http://www.persnicketyprints.com/layout-contest

And here is the layout I submitted:

Designer Credits:
Shabby Miss Jenn Designs - Playground Kit:
Twister Dots Paper, Grassy Green Paper, Ice Cream Paper (used for Photo Frame), Playground Wood Paper (used for “Reasons” Mask),
Schoolpaper Paper (used for journaling strips), Number 3 Chipboard Alpha.
Fonts: CK Jot, CK Signature, American Typewriter, CK Tipsy.
Actions: Pioneer Woman Action Set 1, Boost (on Photo); Krystal Hartley & Studio Wendy, Doodle Alpha Action (on Title “Reasons”).

Thanks!!

1:15

2010-03-04T17:07:00.000-08:00

In keeping with the blog challenges happening over here, here and here. This is what I was doing at 1:15 today.And because I can't "just" take a picture of myself reading blogs and ~~playing~~ working on Photoshop, I had to try out some new Actions I just bought on sale. For just over a dollar, I got an Action for Photoshop that takes a normal photo and makes it all bent and stacked and shadowed like the above picture. All I had to do was open my photo, load my action and then press play. Too cool. I LOVE Photoshop Actions.

And then I had to take another one with the cool Effects on PhotoBooth, just cuz I'm fun like that.

Yeah, you know you want to be like me.

I Hate to Admit...

2010-03-02T16:13:00.000-08:00

An idea copied from these three sisters whom I adore: Lisa, Amy and Rachael.

I hate to admit...

::That I have no guilt whatsoever for using the television as a babysitter.

::That I would gladly wear my hair in a ponytail everyday if I didn't feel like such a slacker doing so.

::That if you are a woman who has given birth to even one child and can now fit into clothing in any sizes smaller than a 12 without having to give up all your favorite foods and exercising for months on end, I secretly despise you. Okay, maybe I just secretly envy you, but it sometimes feels a little stronger than that.

::That I know I'm overweight, I know I need to lose the weight, I WANT to lose the weight, but I'm such a HUGE emotional eater and gigantic pessimist that I figure, "why bother, I'll just fail." (And then I eat another ~~bag of~~ candy).

::That sometimes, the ONLY thing that can make me happy is something yummy to eat and fizzy to drink...and I'm afraid I might be teaching this habit to my children.

::That I don't like going to church. I KNOW, it's awful to admit, but it's the truth. It's emotionally and physically exhausting for me, I hate sitting still for that long and being social with everyone just hurts. I know it's where I need to be, I know my children need to be there, I desperately need the extra blessings and yet, I can't help but wish I could just go and not have to talk to anyone, you know? Social anxiety, anyone? Nah, I just don't like people. :)

::That I secretly enjoy listening to music that has "questionable" lyrics. And watching television shows that when I was a teenager my mom would surely walk in and say, "Does this show have any redeeming value?". And sometimes a book that actually has adult themes to it and I don't gasp in shocked horror. I know, I'm going to hell.

::That sometimes I say words like hell and damn. Out loud. (Not in front of the kiddos, though... Give me a little credit, people!)

::That I constantly worry that people won't like me and then I go and admit WAY TOO MUCH on my blog over and over. TMI, anyone?

::That I take a book with me wherever I go and am always reading, even while brushing my teeth. And I liked vampires WAY before there ever was an Edward.

::That two of my all-time favorite television shows were Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Roswell. Live long, teen drama!!

::That my dog figured out how to knock over our laundry hamper and ATE 3 pairs of my underwear this week. Seriously.

::That I sometimes wish I could just go on a date with my sister instead of my husband. Not cause I don't love him, just cause she truly appreciates eating and movies just as much as I do. And she can make me giggle harder than anyone else.

::That I used to have TONS of guilt and stress over making the decision to not have any more children (I'm totally losing my Mormon card over all these confessions, aren't I?), but have slowly come to terms with it and now I not only have no regrets, I'm actually pretty happy about it.

::That I often have a hard time liking my children. Motherhood is NOT what I thought it would be. I do love them to pieces, though. I promise.

::That I'm really, really stubborn and DON'T LIKE being told what to do. Nate has perfected the art of making me think it was my idea. (I'm on to you, babe!) Often when I'm told what to do, I will do the complete opposite even when I know I shouldn't just because... I totally got this trait from my Dad.

::I'm really impatient. I often yell at the computer if it doesn't respond quickly enough or throw remotes when televisions don't work. Yeah, it's a great skill I'm teaching my girls. I just might have gotten this trait from my Dad, as well. :)

::I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to gadget-y stuff. I want a computer that works (a Mac) and I won't quit arguing with you until you agree that they're the best or walk away, that my internet speed MUST be fast enough that I don't ever have to wait (I'll give up grocery money for this!), that software should do what it says it will at a reasonable price, etc. I would rather get a new computer for my anniversary over a new diamond any day.

::I detest letting my kids help in the kitchen (how am I ever going to teach them to cook?!) and I would much rather clean up the house myself than listen to grumbling and whining and complaining to get them to do it. I'm so going to have those girls that go off to college and their roommates hate them because they don't know how to clean up after themselves or cook a meal. Sigh.

::I'm afraid my children don't know what vegetables are, because we don't eat them at our house.

::I came from a home where my mother cooked dinner EVERY night and somehow I barely manage to do it a couple times a week. And I actually LIKE to cook!

::I'm scared to use real onions or garlic in my recipes. They smell and have a funny texture, but I love the taste they give food when someone else uses them.

::I've edited this list about a million times now, afraid people won't like me anymore if I'm too honest.

The End.

Right Now

2010-02-24T10:30:00.000-08:00

The dog just barked and howled through the entire visit from my visiting teachers. Stupid dog.

It's lucky Wednesday (otherwise known as: both kids at school from 8:00 to 1:20!) and I have house cleaning and an activity to prepare for, blah!

I swore to myself that I wouldn't let another month go by without posting on this here blog after my last huge post. I lied.

I blame the aforementioned lie completely on the three blog designs I've been working on for other people. Who wants to write a new blog post when there is pretty designing to be done? Apparently not me.

Today is my first day leading the Activity Day group in our ward. My sister and I are leaders over the 8-9 year old girls. I'm surprisingly nervous after my lovely daughter complained last night that she wishes we were back in 3rd ward with the fun Activity Day group. Who can compete with a pool in the backyard and a real, live sno-cone maker? Really? I'll never measure up. :)

I've had a few good days mixed in with the bad this month. We've been carefully tracking my hormones with an iPod app (LOVE my new iPod touch!!) and have been very aware of the fluctuations going on in my body. It has actually helped me prepare myself for the highs and lows a bit better and to organize my time. I've been able to be really productive when the lows have passed and more able to let things go when they creep back up on me. That said, the looming "date-of-the-month" is coming up in a couple days which means I'm in the throes of PMS right now. I've been super productive the past couple days, getting as much done as I possibly can, dinners prepared, laundry cleaned, house chores completed. All in the hopes that I'll be prepared to face the "bad" days when they hit. It's a surprisingly interesting situation when it creeps up on me. Almost surreal in how amazingly fast it just hits and the moods change. I was at Target yesterday trying to get the last few things bought that I needed for today's activity when all of the sudden it felt like I'd gone down a roller coaster ride. My chest dropped into my stomach and I felt like someone had given me some terrible news. Literally I was fine one moment and the next I was fighting back tears. I knew it was coming. I always do, but I'm never prepared for it. How can you prepare for your body to tell you that the world is coming to an end and you ache so much you wish you were dead? You just can't. You can be amazingly strong, emotionally resilient, smart, righteous, beautiful, whatever you want to describe that person you most admire and yet, when your brain chemistry isn't just so or your hormones aren't balanced just right, you become the child in the fetal position on the floor crying for no reason at all. We all have experienced it in varying degrees at different times or circumstances in our lives. It just happens to me every month, like clockwork, in a stronger degree than usual.

So today when my visiting teachers wanted to come, I had to swallow it and try to be okay. I have more things to do than I know how to finish when my stomach is clenching and my emotions are fried. I called Nate and cried for a little while, that usually helps. I ate some chocolate, that always helps. It's not at its peak yet, so I have a little while before it gets strong enough that it knocks me to my knees. Nate will work extra hard this week so he can cut back a little if I need him at the end of the week, and I will. The house is quiet right now and I'm trying to do something for me in order to calm the chaos. You can tell yourself all you want that it's "just the hormones talking", but when you really FEEL like the world is ending it's hard not to FEEL it whether you know it's real or not.

There, I talked about it. I feel a little better now. If I could just maintain that feeling through the bathroom cleaning and floor vacuuming that needs completing next...

A Great Freebie

2010-02-19T17:01:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite digi-shops is giving away the cutest kit. I just had to share the link. Click on the preview to go to the article and download. You're welcome for the heads-up.

And the Award Goes To...

2010-01-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

My Christmas cards never made it past the first few layers in Photoshop. My master bedroom has been half-painted and we've been living in the spare room since November. I have half torn down, ugly, black curtains hanging in my dining room and all the supplies to put up new ones...since...you guessed it...November. My blog has been sitting empty, sad and neglected for months now. I would call myself an aspiring optimist, except I can't get past everything that looks so bad. ;) I'm always seeing everything half full, half done and half-...well, you know. My husband keeps saying, "It's all good, babe!" My mom is a pro at saying, "...but look what you DID get done!" I'm a work in progress. 2009 flew by with lots of big events for this little family of ours. Many of them...okay...most of them...going undocumented. Well, somebody deserves an award for all that we DID accomplish this year. Drum roll....

Going to the child who knows best how to enjoy a snack and movie (and completely ignores the cries of parents who don't want their couch cushions smushed) is the award for...

Going to the family who gave us a great, big surprise and some seriously needed Sunday dinners is the prize for...

My baby sister and her family came to live near us and we couldn't be happier about it.

To the dog who sleeps with a wiggly child, who allows pulling and tugging and some serious loving goes the award of...

Are those some serious worried eyes, or what? The girls do this far too often, I'm afraid to say. Dressing Jedda up in some getup or another. This day she was super-dog.

Who knew that a 5 year old girl could become so obsessed with dinosaurs of all things? This child amazes me at the knowledge she acquires. She's all Nate when it comes to sitting and watching documentaries for hours on end and quoting weird animal facts. To the child who makes dinosaurs look like some serious fun goes the award for...

Kenzie's baptism day was one I'll never forget. Family came, we celebrated, we played, we were together. I think that Nate would agree that this day wins the prize for the year as...

For all those moments where I make you all stand still, smile big and look pretty...this is all I get for it... The prize for...

To the most beautiful 8 year old that I've ever seen, who so happily posed and posed and posed some more for pictures on her baptism day goes the prize of...

To the man who goes along with life as it comes, hardly complaining, always looking forward and up, who only ever needs a few minutes out by the water to lift his spirits for weeks at a time goes the prize of...

To the sweet girl who totally pulls off this haircut and who will never let me choose another haircut for her again (she's BIG now, y'all!) goes the prize for...

This week wins hands down. A trip to the coast, a 2 bedroom condo, grandparents along for the ride. This week definitely wins...

Because I just wouldn't be "real" if I didn't include these little "tidbits" of our lives. This child will always win a fight of wills, always. For giving us moments that are full of joy and full of lots of "other" stuff goes the prize of...

For those of you wondering... Kenzie LOVES the beach, more than anything else. It's the one place we see her let loose, quit worrying and just shine. On the second day of our trip Nate and Natalie were catching those teeny-tiny krill fish in buckets and they showed Kenzie. Kenzie realized that millions of those little, live things were floating everywhere in the water. All of the sudden this wonderful, safe haven became another HUGE fear for her to worry over. This is Dad trying to "make" her see that she's not going to die if she touches the water. Guess what? It didn't work. Instead it took Kenzie deciding in her own good time that she would be okay if she went in the water. Typical Kenzie.

And while we're on "typical" moments in our family, we should talk a little about our many attempts at normalcy and fun. This trip would be one of them. Nate and I spent many hiking trips getting to know each other our first year of dating. He loves the outdoors and I do too, I just have the whole anxiety issues that prevent me from enjoying it to the fullest. When you're on that dating high, though, even anxiety couldn't keep me from going on those trips with him. We, of course, want to pass this love of the outdoors on to our children and have tried (multiple times) to give them some enjoyable experiences hiking and camping and boating, etc. Unfortunately, I have passed on my anxious traits to our children and Kenzie brings it all to a new level. Every trip we've gone on has stories that would either make you fall on the floor laughing or shake your head and start crying. Then, I cried...now, I try to laugh. This trip to Horsetail Falls and Multnomah Falls in the Columbia Gorge gets the award for most "typical" Trimble family outing. The pictures are pretty, you get that feeling that we're a family that plays together and has fun when you look at it. That's what we're going for, but only we get to look back on the "real" memories and just shake our heads. Sobbing in the car because shoes don't fit right, screaming on the banks of streams about getting wet or having a fish touch your feet, stomping feet and falling on the ground in defeat because the trail is too steep or too hard to go on, having hysterical panic attacks over mosquitoes (and when I say hysterical, I *mean* it), yelling at us about how boring this all is and why couldn't we have just gone to McDonalds and gotten a happy meal instead. Good times...good times... You'll notice in the picture, if you look close (don't look too close at me!) that Kenzie is giving you a half-smile. She was mad at us about something. Natalie won't even look at the picture, she's mad, as well. This was at the end of the trip and we were headed to the car. We had to make some attempt at recording our history...

At the beginning of Summer our plan was not to sell our house this year. We were going to just enjoy our time together and not stress over trying to buy and sell and move. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned. I had been watching the market so closely for over a year, we knew what kind of house we wanted, what area we wanted to live in, and how much we could afford. When the right house came on the market for a good price, we made an offer and suddenly found ourselves in a contingency to sell our own house within 60 days. The stress was on! I painted and organized and cleaned and packed up and stored and staged our house. Within a week I had it ready to put on the market. I built a website and stuck a sign in the yard and we were off and running. I thought I was going to be sick from the stress this gave me. It turns out that I worried more than I needed to (so typical). The house sold within five days. We showed it seven times and received six offers. We got full asking price and made a deal with a great LDS couple who were more than ready to move in. I seriously couldn't have asked for a better ending. People said we asked too little, but a couple thousand below the other comparable houses got people in the door and the house off the market fast. Well worth not even having to dicker over the details. I wouldn't do it any other way. So the prize for most stressful event definitely goes to having to sell the house...even if it turned out less stressful than I originally had anticipated. I should learn a lesson from this, huh?

Of course, it's always bittersweet to leave one home behind and move on to another. This being our first home, was one with all our blood, sweat and tears poured into it. Many, many regrets and mistakes and joys and experiences later, we said goodbye. It turns out it isn't all hard to say goodbye to. The winner of this prized goodbye would have to be the backyard (although the kids were pretty upset about it this winter when the snows came and we didn't have a hill to sled down)...

We poured ourselves (and way too much money) into getting this yard done. Who knew that having a big ol' hill would be so hard? Mowing was fun, just ask Nate. Having a flat yard now is well-appreciated, although we do miss that view.

And of course, with goodbyes there are always new hello's. And this would be our most exciting one of the year. Moving into our new home... With more work and painting to be done I wonder sometimes what I was thinking, but with twice the square footage, room for guests to come visit, and tons of storage space, I can't really complain.

Of course, during all the midst of this stress and exciting events, there are always those days that stand out amongst the others. This day was one of the bad ones...

My pretty car got smashed, but there are many bright sides to be seen. The girls weren't in the car when it happened, it was just Nate and I. Nobody was badly injured, just some sore muscles and aching backs. Our car was able to be fixed and everything was covered and quickly taken care of (thanks to some super-good insurance coverage - that's just for you, Russ!). Overall, a bad day that could have been so much worse.

And on to the winner of the most bittersweet day...

My baby girl starts Kindergarten. Thank goodness it's only half day and I still get her home part of the time, but it was so bittersweet to walk away from her that first day and pick her up with her big sister after school. Where did the time go?

Fall just wouldn't be complete without a trip to the local Pumpkin Patch. Those places are getting more and more expensive every year! We actually made three trips this past year. One with the Kindergarten class, one with the grandparents and one with the Reeds. I had pumpkins spilling off our front porch. This one definitely takes the prize for...

Halloween was so much fun with family here to share our time with. I had to breathe a sigh of relief when they asked to be a puppy (Kenzie) and a cat again (Natalie). The puppy costume took a bit of sewing on my part (which I prefer not to do...I can't seem to keep my fingers from getting sewed over every time I try to use that machine!), but it turned out adorable. These Halloween costumes certainly take the prize for...

We had such a great Thanksgiving. For the first time ever, we had enough room in our place to house my parents when they came and have our own big Thanksgiving feast. The food was amazing, if I do say so myself. The deep-fried Butterball Turkey was totally prize-worthy...

As much as I like to think I make a good effort at trying to get some exercise in each week, I have to say that the dog won the prize this time...

You'd think this prize came to be because my sweet girls and I are making Christmas sugar cookies together in the warmth of my new kitchen, while Christmas carols are singing in the background, but no... This one was chosen solely for the fact that I not only let them make cookies with me, but that I bit back my "control-freak" nature and let them decorate them all by themselves. They were hideous and malformed and covered in way too many sprinkles and candies, but the girls had fun and I get to say I didn't yell at them once to "do it this way!" or "Wait! That's too much!" A worthy picture to win the...

We're finally nearing the end of this award ceremony. 2009 wouldn't be complete, though, if I didn't have proof that we *tried* to be good parents. Really, we did! The girls moaned and whined and cried and yelled about going sledding every time a single flake hit the ground. We bought snow boots and snow pants and made big plans to go up to the mountains and cut down our own Christmas tree. Then we remembered that this was OUR family we were talking about and how that trip would NEVER go as imagined or hoped, so we bought a tree at Fred Meyers (even that trip was more pain and agony than I care to revisit) and we took the kids to the nearest hill (the church baseball field) and let them sled to their hearts content. Mission accomplished, no long car rides, no trekking through loads of cold snow with whiny, anxious children...I say we did good. What do you think?

And now for my final prize picture of the year... This one is big, people. Like, really, really BIG. If you know us at all, this was an accomplishment of no small means. And I get to take most of the credit for it, as well. No thanks to Nate for helping this job get done...

Yup, you see right. It's my garage...with BOTH cars parked in it!!!! Seriously HUGE, people. HUGE. I get giddy, little butterflies every time I drive up to park in it. Still.

And there you go, more than you wanted to read in one sitting. But it wouldn't be *my* blog if it wasn't verging on a small novel. I don't believe in doing it small. At least I can actually press "publish post" this time and not walk away defeated. And now you know just a tiny bit more about our year. I say *this* deserves an award in itself, right? Right.

Today I...

2009-10-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

::Today I feel overwhelmed with the tasks ahead of me.

::Today I feel gratitude for the blessings the Lord has given me.

::Today I am amazed at this beautiful home we’ve been blessed with.

::Today I am exhausted from lack of sleep.

::Today I am tired of having sick kids...Kenzie is on her 7th day with a fever.

::Today I am excited to be working on a new Jessica Sprague journaling course, but am overwhelmed that I'm already falling behind.

::Today I am fighting the urge to sit and read a book all day long.

::Today I am surrounded by clutter and boxes and am completely baffled as to where to put it all in this front room that is supposed to be a living room, but not, because we're using it as an office.

::Today I am wishing I didn’t have to clean a brand new house because the owners before didn’t leave it that clean.

::Today I am considering making Spaghetti or Whole Wheat Waffles for dinner...which will it be?

::Today I've been sneaking bites of my favorite chocolate candy...if the kids only knew!

::Today I can’t stop visiting websites trying to find the perfect curtains to replace the broken blinds and dirty, ripped black curtains in our family/dining room area.

::Today I have a pile of paperwork I need to fill out for Kenzie’s autism evaluation in a week and a half.

::Today I can’t get the Voltron song out of my head from the kids watching endless episodes on the Netflix Roku...some serious old-skool cartoon watching going on at my house!

::Today I am tired of kicking the dog’s food bowl back to her spot, just to have her nudge it all over the kitchen floor endlessly...what is WRONG with that dog?!

::Today I almost entirely emptied the kitchen of boxes...only to KNOW that there are MORE waiting in the garage.

::Today I have piles of laundry waiting to be washed, folded and put away...but at least I get to do it in a REAL laundry room...UPSTAIRS...INSIDE the house! Did I mention how much I LOVE this new house?!

::Today I am obsessing over paint colors.

::Today I need to download the instructions for my dishwasher so I can figure out how to put all the extra separators back inside it. Who does dishes in a dishwasher without the little separator thing-ys, anyway?!

::Today I am happy that we installed a new antenna last weekend...LOVE me some beautiful HD channels for FREE!!

::Today I am thankful for good friends and family who call and email daily.

::Today I keep finding myself looking at Craigslist.com in the hopes of finding all of the different pieces of furniture I find myself now needing (WANTING) for this big ol’ house.

::Today I am excitedly anticipating the new MacMini rumored to be releasing soon...

::Today I am SO glad it's the weekend and I can finally escape this sicky house for a little while...house-bound much?!

What are you doing today?

Wrong Date....Good Intentions

2009-09-19T00:43:00.001-07:00

Yeah, the new post I just added...not really posted in July like it says. I just started it back then. See people!? I really do have good intentions for this blog!! Just scroll down and read about our summer...written by me today...not July. :-)

Summer 2009

2009-07-23T23:27:00.000-07:00

Somehow this Summer just flew by unreasonably fast. I still keep thinking, "Summer's over already?!" and we're already quickly approaching October!

We DID work really hard at having FUN this summer and lots of it. It's the first summer we've had where school is not looming heavily over Nate's shoulders. The first summer where vacation time is on the books and waiting to be used. The first summer we haven't had HUGE yard and/or house projects begging to be accomplished.

In May we had a weekend where we made an offer on a house and then pulled out after realizing the epic amounts of work required to make it happen (it was a REPO). After months of wondering if we should sell while the market is good (and it really IS good in the Tri-cities right now) and find a house that's actually larger than 1000 square feet, we finally had to sit down and make a decision if trying to sell our house all summer long was how we wanted to spend it. It was decided that this family needs some peace and fun for once and the house selling would have to wait until next year. And then we both heaved huge sighs of relief and got busy planning summer.

And of course, no summer is complete without a trip to the zoo. Well, at least WE haven't seen a trip to the zoo in way too long...so in May we stopped for a few hours on our way home from family.

June just wouldn't be June without swim lessons, sun burns, park trips and the annual "Filling Of The Pool"...as witnessed below...

Of course, most of you haven't heard about our newest family addition. Since you know that we aren't having any more of the human variety added to this nest, then it would have to be a new pet! And, yeah, we haven't told A SOUL about him since we're just so embarrassed that we could possibly be silly enough to add one more doggy-door-using type around here. Now's the time to introduce him....

even though he WAS quite a surprise to even US......

Here he is.... In all his red-hair glory....

Oh wait.... That's not a DOG! That's not even a CAT!

That would be the little 11 month old that I couldn't keep out of my dog door all summer long! Isn't Cade the cutest?! :-)

Our summer wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the beach for a week. And so that's what we did. I found a DEAL on Craigslist for a 2 bedroom condo at Long Beach, Washington for the 4th of July week! We were completely stoked and immediately called these two people to drive on up from Utah and enjoy it with us...

My Mom and Dad aren't ones to turn down a trip to the NW coast, as that's where they spent the majority of their years before turning ship and going to Utah (of ALL the places!). It was an amazing week! Just too much fun. One blog post couldn't ever do it justice, but I'll try...

We got to see an incredible Fireworks show right on the beach, with the waves crashing behind us and thousands of people lighting off all their own fireworks all around us. Scared me to death, but was something I'll never forget!

We spent all our quiet, down time in the condo working our hearts out on this...

1000 pieces! And we finished it the night before we left! Kenzie and Natie were even big helps and my mom and I obsessed over it just a little... Nate and my Dad tried a piece or two and then went back to their laptops. :-)

We tried to go see as many scenic places that we could, like the Astoria tower...

Or the Northhead Lighthouse that Natalie was too young to go up in, so I stayed with her and we played with the camera...

We got as much playtime on the beach as we could possibly cram into one week...

And now I have way too many beautiful photos to choose from to scrap! It was a week to be remembered, for sure!

On the way home, Nate got the grand idea of stopping in the Gorge to do some hiking. No, really, it WAS a good idea...we're just not usually the family that can handle that much STUFF in one day. It turned out to be really awesome, though. Nate and I spent quite a few of our first years together hiking trails in the Gorge, Mt. St. Helens, Rainier and more. Doing it with kids is a new adventure...doing it with OUR kids brings new meaning to the saying... "Get it off!! Get it OFF!! Nature is all OVER me!!!!" Our poor, nature-deprived, overly-sensitive 8 year old girl...she's one of a kind. It was a good day, though. A long, good day...

And if that's not enough to keep us busy, we also had tons of family come visit, a few trips out to the Hermiston Aquatic Park, lots of picnics at the park, plenty of afternoons playing in our little pool, a few trips to paddle around in our canoe, a few free movie mornings, lots of quiet afternoons at home watching movies...

...and even a few trips out on Nate's Dad's new boat. Thank goodness he decided to buy one and saved us a few thousand dollars...

All in all a fantastic summer. And so as not to leave you without a little anticipation for the next elusive blog post, I'll give you a little hint to how we finished out our summer...

Next week...

We're Moving!!!

March and April 2009

2009-07-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

This is so, so sad. The state of my blog. I mean, really?! It's been since April that I posted. Time for a serious update...

March
(Yep, I'm really going back that far!)

In February we got some fabulous news. Most of you already know it, but it bears repeating on the blog. This amazing and incredible sister of mine called to say our lives would be changing. Her hubby had gotten a job here in Pasco, Washington of all places and they were moving in just a few weeks...all the way from Albuquerque, NM!! I thought I was going to die of happiness, the news was THAT good. Not a month before we had finally given up on our dream of moving to family. Tri-cities was going to become our permanent home (for the moment, anyway) and we were trying to hand things back over to the Lord. He had other plans for us than we could understand. I felt like I was being given a gift from Heaven. I know...so cheesy, but really, I couldn't have asked for anything better than getting my sister to live down the street from me. And really, she DOES live just down the street from me. In March they came to live in our little neighborhood. We have Sunday dinners together and park trips and movie nights and swap babysitting and daily phone calls and the best ever baby kisses from Cade that fill up that empty (I'm not having anymore babies) spot in my heart. It is the best. Truly. And we all really like Rick, too. :-) (That's just for you, Ricky!)

So, March was full of visits from Grandma and Grandpa, and helping Rick and Jen move and Natalie turned 5!! My baby is going to be a kindergartner! Oh, what has happened to the time!? We have been pleasantly surprised to find Natalie has a new obsession with Dinosaurs. I'm not sure how it started? She loves to watch documentaries with her Daddy...maybe she saw one and loved it? It's been all about Dinos around here for quite a few months now. She wanted a dinosaur party with a dinosaur cake. She wanted dinosaur toys for her presents, too. We had a small family party (we actually have family here to do that now!!!) on her birthday because she got sick and then had a friend dinosaur party the next week. She was so spoiled. We had dino cake and pin-the-horn on the Stegasaurous games and lots of fun dino presents. Here are some pics to see all the action...

April

April was such a big month! We had so much going on and so much more to be grateful for. April saw our first Spring trip to the park with Rick and Jen. I'm afraid April scared them a little. While Albuquerque was seeing 80 degree weather and the opening of this sister's pool...we were having a LOT of rain showers. It just kept raining and raining and raining. Jen kept asking where was that sun and blue skies we promised. Rick was just a little skeptical. I think we're making up for it now, though. We took the kids out to Charbonneau Park to celebrate a beautiful warm Spring day...even though it was a tad chilly still.

Easter was so fun for us this year. The ward had the cutest Easter egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter and the kids had so much fun. They scattered the field with Easter candy and chips and bottles of pop and the kids just went crazy picking up their loot. Then in the afternoon we colored eggs with Jen, Rick and the kids (more stuff with family!!!) and had a small egg hunt in the backyard. We had Easter dinner with all the fixin's at our house the next day. I love making Easter dinner...ham, potatoes, yummy rolls and pie.

April also found some more good news for this Trimble family. Nate's Dad got a job at Hanford and was able to move he and Nate's Mom here from Arizona. Since all the family is in Washington (mostly on the west side of the state), this was great news for all of us. We were beyond thrilled as we get to have them living just a few minutes away. More family!!! So unexpected, such an incredible blessing for us. We were able to help them find a place to live and move their stuff in just a couple of weeks. Everything just fell together in the way that things do when it's meant to be. The girls think this is the best thing ever, having their grandparents so close by. They love to go over and play with all of Meme and Papa's fun toys and all of the sudden we've become a popular summer destination for all of Nate's sisters' families from the west side. Nate and I have begun to joke that you might want to be careful what you pray your hearts out for...we're not used to all this family time. :-) No, really, it truly is the best!

But best of all for April, was the chance we had to celebrate Kenzie's 8th birthday and her baptism. We were so fortunate to have lots of family travel to be here for this special occasion. My parents came from Utah for the week and three of Nate's sister's families came, as well. It was soooo fun having all this family here (I'm sensing a theme in this blog post, are you?) for Kenzie and she was just thrilled. We packed our little house full of people, Jen's house full of people and Nate's parents' house full of people, too. We were so lucky to get the opportunity to use a friend's indoor pool to host a big birthday party for Kenzie and Jen's little boy, Noah, too. He turned four on the day of Kenzie's baptism, so they shared a pool party together. We had a great lunch and lots of cake and the kids swam to their hearts content, even though it was a breezy, cool day outside. Kenzie got more presents than any 8 year old little girl needs, but she, of course, thought it was "the BEST DAY EVER!!!".

I really stressed about Kenzie's baptism. I never should have, though. It couldn't have been a more perfect event. I was worried that the Stake baptism might not be personal enough or rushed or even too long of a meeting, but none of that was true. The speakers and musical numbers were just right and the baptism itself, was just perfect. I don't think I've ever seen such a sweet, sweet smile on Kenzie's face. She just beamed with joy for hours that evening. All her family was there for her, she had a beautiful dress to wear and she even got to be baptized with her good friends from primary and school. And what a wonderful experience it was to have the chance to watch my incredible husband baptize and confirm our eldest daughter a member of the true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There aren't words to describe how incredibly proud of her I was. Afterwards, Kenzie got to go out to eat to her favorite restaurant, Red Robin, with her Grandma and Grandpa and then visit with cousins and go to church with everyone the next day. She even got to sit on the stand with the bishop all through sacrament meeting and she was SOOO good!! Nate and I were able to bear our testimonies and share with her our belief in the good choices she was making. April was a good month.

To be continued...

When... Then...

2009-04-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

Have you ever put something off for days, weeks, months or maybe even years with that infamous excuse...Well, when I (insert random reasoning here), then I'll finally (insert thing you've been putting off here)? Yeah, you know you've done it before. For instance, "when the baby stops getting up in the night, then I'll start getting up early to exercise." or "when we finish school and start making more money, then we'll get out of debt." or "when we get a bigger house, then I'll start working on our food storage." or "when I finish having babies, then I'll try to lose all the extra weight." or "when the kids are older and will sit still, then we'll start having more regular Family Home Evenings." I am notorious for making these all-or-nothing statements. I'm a planner, a "get-all-my-chickens-in-a-row" type of person. I like things to go smoothly and make sense. If there were a lesson plan for life, I would spend all my money on it, stay up all night studying it, spend huge amounts of effort and care and worry making sure it was just right and then I'd fall apart when the execution fell through. Because, let's face it people, life doesn't work that way. Especially life with a young family. Nothing goes the way you planned, moments where everything just flows smoothly and easily are usually far and few between and they usually aren't the ones you spent the most time planning them. But somehow I continue to buy into this approach on life. Call it fear of the unknown or even better, terrified of failure, I just keep doing it. I keep putting off life, waiting for the next perfect opportunity to finally start whatever it is I've been putting off.

I know this is a weakness of mine, and I really try to just jump into life and do those things I've been wanting or needing to do and trust that it'll be okay...no matter the outcome. One of my biggest "excuses" or "reasons" for waiting on something? My health. Or, let's be more candid and say, my emotional health. I can't tell you how many things in life I've put off, hoping I could deal with it better or be able to handle it once I felt better. And actually, this "excuse" of mine is a real one and one that I HAVE had to use in my life to let go of those preconceived notions of the person I thought I should or would have been. But not everything is going to wait for me to start feeling better. Like my kiddos. They're growing up whether I'm the mom on the couch too depressed to get up or the mom who jumps up each morning with a smile on her face, ready to tackle another day with absurd amounts of optimism and joy. And it's not like I'm sitting around not being a parent while I wait for the depression to pass. It's just I keep hoping that "when I feel better, then I'll be a better Mommy". Seriously, folks? Is that ever going to happen? Because I might be a better Mommy if I didn't feel like jumping off the nearest bridge every other week of the month, but waiting around for it to happen sure ain't going to get the job done. And my kids sure aren't waiting around to grow up, they just keep doing it...no matter how hard I protest.

So, the point of all this? I've been putting off so much the past couple months, including this blog. My emotional health seems to ride the roller coaster of my hormonal health and I usually get a pretty regular schedule of ups and downs, but lately it seems to be a whole lotta downs. So much so, that I keep waiting to just FEEL a little better, so I could get on here and not sound like the depressed-mom-of-the-month. And that just ain't happenin'. And guess what? When I started this blog all those years ago and no one was reading it but me, I started it with the intent of being totally real and totally candid about depression and anxiety and suicidal thoughts and being a Mom with all of this happening to myself and somewhere I got scared and stopped writing. Somewhere about the time that people actually started reading it. People that would see me at church or the grocery store and despite my best intentions to convince them otherwise, just might form opinions and judgments of me that I wouldn't like. It makes a girl want to run around from person to person and say, "no really, I'm not crazy, I just have some hormonal issues...I really am okay...I really am normal...please like me!" And that's just exhausting, cause no matter what I do or say, there's always going to be people out there that just don't like me or decide to talk trash about me or form opinions of me that aren't based on anything but their own desire to think what they want.

So, these past few months have been amazing and crazy and heart-wrenching and hard and totally NOT on my blog. Hopefully I can fix some of that and actually update you all on the happenings of our lives, but I'm not promising anything. Cause, really?! If I make a plan of any kind, you can be sure it'll fail within the week. :-) Yeah, that's my infinate amounts of optimism talking. Can't you hear it? My mom had more than enough of it to go around and somehow I didn't get ANY! So not fair.

Oh, and excuse the lack of images on my site...we're in the midst of changing things around at our house and the computer that stores my images isn't on right now...

Peace. Calm. Serenity.

2009-02-05T16:07:00.001-08:00

Does Meditation Yoga work if your kids are in the room screaming at you?

Yeah, I didn't think so either.

Photoshop Tutorial: Picture Wordart

2009-01-29T20:29:00.000-08:00

I've been getting a few requests to teach Photoshop classes. Although I know a few things, I'm not sure I'm that qualified to teach a class and I'm not sure I'd be that good at it. Not to mention the logistics of getting a bunch of people together, all with laptops and differing versions of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements and differing amounts of knowledge. Not that I wouldn't want to do it, because if there's one thing I love about learning new things it's being able to share that knowledge with others. I just wonder HOW it could be done in an effective and "not-too-complicated" way. So, until I figure that out... Here's a little tutorial for those of you who know your way around Photoshop a little...

I'm going to show you how I did the following technique:

I've seen words cut into photo layouts floating around the internet for awhile. They seem to be popular right now. I've seen people selling the templates with already written words and a block to just plop your photo into at the digi-stores, as well. With the right photo, you can really make a stunning layout with little to no supplies and hardly any time at all. When I saw the tutorial in one of the Digital Scrapbooking magazines I bought, I just knew I had to try it out. It is seriously too simple. Why buy a $4 template, when you can do it yourself?

So, you'll need a photo that you like and some version of Photoshop to complete this tutorial. I think it probably works better if you convert the photo to Black and White or Sepia like I did. Lots of color would probably detract from the overall look.

::1::
Open a new document in Photoshop, make it 12x12", 300dpi, white background.

::2::
Drag and drop selected photo into layout, resizing if necessary.

::3::
Select Text tool from Toolbox palette. Click to position cursor at bottom left corner of photo and type desired title. In toolbar at top of screen, adjust text size and alignment as necessary so that title fills entire width of photo. I used the Impact font at about 150 pt.

::3::
Convert text to editable shape by right-clicking text layer's name in Layers palette and choosing Rasterize Type.

::4::
Create a new layer. Check to make sure new layer is positioned just above text layer in Layers palette.

::5::
Select Rectangular Marquee tool from Toolbox palette. Click and drag to draw a rectangle that covers photo just down to top of title letters.

::6::
Use Edit>Fill>Foreground Color command to fill rectangle with solid color.

::7::
In Layers palette, right-click name of rectangle layer and choose Merge Down to combine rectangle with text.

::8::
Click and drag rectangle layer to position just below photo in Layers palette.

::9::
Right-click name of photo layer and select Create Clipping Mask to cut photo into shape of merged rectangle and title letters.

And there you have it! Wasn't that easy?!

Notice in my last screen shot how there is just a tiny bit of black showing from the rectangle layer below at the top and left sides? All you do is target your photo layer and pull the sizing handles out just a tad to cover those black parts up. Add a slight drop shadow to the entire image by right-clicking the rectangle layer, choosing Blending Options from the fly-out menu and then adjusting the drop shadow scale to where you like it. I did about 50%.

Then just add your text underneath and you're done. I used the Lainie Day font (one of my favorites) at about 72 pt.

I did this tutorial using Photoshop CS2, so there might be some differences in the way you would do it in Photoshop Elements. Things are going to at least look a little different in your program than they do in my screen shots. As far as I know, though, the steps are pretty similar. Have fun and don't hesitate to contact me if you have any problems or questions, I love to help!

A Little Update...

2009-01-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I think it's time for an update, don't you?

We had a wonderful Christmas. Did the girls get their wish lists fulfilled? We'll let the pictures tell the story...

My favorite parts?

Seeing my parents, spending not nearly enough time, but every minute we could with my sister Jen and hubby, Rick. Holding my newest nephew, Cade as often as they'd let me. Feeding him, getting him to smile and rocking him to sleep. Watching my nephew Noah go seriously ga-ga over his trucks. That kid is something else, let me tell you. Watching my girls LOVE playing with their cousins, especially Natalie telling Noah to "quit bugging me!!" and blaming him every time something goes wrong. My girls are so deprived by not having any brothers, how will they ever learn to deal with being teased?! Less time in therapy, right 5-older-brothers-of-mine? :-)

What we've been up to since then?

Celebrating mine and Nate's 31st birthdays. Good friends who love me and take me out. Eating lots of chocolate birthday cake. Visiting Nate's family for baptisms and birthday parties. Stressing out over our future job situation far more than we should have. Too many sicknesses and colds. Enjoying every second we have together now that Nate's degree is DONE. Making new goals and actually following through (some of the time). Looking forward to CHANGE and being scared to death, all at the same time.

Some of my projects lately..

Making valentines with the girls...

Doing a little digi-scrapping, while learning some new Photoshop techniques...

(Paper from "Good Day Sunshine" kit by Cori Gammon (scrapartist.com), number word art
from "Clip-It Numerically" kit by TaylorMade Designs (oscraps.com), Jane Austin and Georgia
fonts. Scraplift idea from Digital Scrapbooking Magazine, Aug/Sept 08, page 63)

(Impact and Lainey Day fonts)

Oh, and I nearly forgot... I promised a picture of our Christmas card once I mailed them all out. It took me until January to get them in the mail, but I did it! Here's the finished product...

This was the 4x6" image I created in Photoshop. I had them printed at Costco and they turned out beautiful.

Then I mounted them to a sheet of green or red card stock and then mounted that to a 5x7" white card. So easy.

Dear Santa...

2008-12-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

Kenzie's Christmas List to Santa:

::Webkinz - Grey Kitty
::Melody Doll
::Nintendo DS
::Big, Giant pony that moves
::Pony Wii Game
::My Own Computer (because the five we already own aren't enough)
::Barbie Diamond Castle (because the four story barbie house she already has, isn't big enough)
::Sleeping Beauty Doll with Fairies and Pony (since the Sleeping Beauty doll she already has doesn't come with fairies and "the new, pretty dress")
::My Little Pony House
::Sleeping Beauty Giant Coloring Book
::Special Chalk for black paper
::Set of Princess Coloring Pictures
::New Toothbrush
::A New Friend
::A Happy Christmas
::A Mystery to Solve (we watch Scooby-doo at our house, can you tell?)
::More Painting Stuff
::Lots of Candy
::More Coloring Books
::A New Book and Chapter Books
::A New Calendar

Natalie's Christmas List to Santa:

::Green Robot Dinosaur with Remote Control
::A flying kitty cat with remote control (where this idea came from? I don't know...)
::Big, Giant Littlest Pet Shop Clubhouse
::Littlest Pet Shop Puppy
::Littlest Pet Shop Giant Coloring Book
::Jedda moving, talking and "ruffing" dog (since the REAL moving, talking and ruffing dog we already own named Jedda just doesn't cut it)
::Diamond Castle Liana and Flying Pony
::Webkinz that looks like Jedda (again, a stuffed version would be much more fun...I think Nate agrees)
::Webkinz pink kitty
::Christmas Santa deer (C'mon Santa, you don't need them ALL, do you? We could house him in our garage)
::A flying bird with wings (As opposed to the flying birds withOUT wings)
::A My Little Pony house

Nate's Christmas List:

To just be DONE already with school!!

Shayla's Christmas List:

::For just enough of all this snow to melt so we can drive to Utah and be with family.
::For my oven to be fixed so those 12 dozen (yes, DOZEN) cookies I just finished mixing, rolling and sprinkling with sugar can actually get cooked! Or maybe some kind soul will let me come over and make use of their oven for a few hours?
::To actually get all these Christmas Cards signed, printed, enveloped, addressed and mailed already... Who thought that 50 cards would be enough? If you don't end up getting one and you feel all left out...I promise to put a copy on my blog once they're all mailed out. I had to get family members first and since Nate and I both come from HUGE Mormon families, you may not make the cut. Sorry, I know you were dying to get a card from us this year, right? You want a sneak preview?

I hope all your Christmas wishes and dreams come true!

October in a "Pumpkin" Shell

2008-11-03T23:01:00.000-08:00

Too cheesy? Oh well. It's all I got. This whole blogging thing has been the bane of my existence. I know I should blog. Shoot, my super-non-existent-blogger sister has been blogging like crazy and still no blogs from me. I got good excuses, people. Just none you want to hear. So, maybe not too creative, but here's a few events from our past October...

**I tried desperately for two weeks to do a "A Week in My Life" scrapbooking challenge by this talented gal and failed miserably both times. I got to Tuesday and then quit. Taking that many pictures of my sorry, sad life and then trying to write down what I did was actually a little depressing. I know, I know...it won't be for my descendants years down the road who are digging up great, great, great grandma's family history gems, but it was sad to me. My list often went a little like this:

::checked email
::checked blogs
::tried to do a load of laundry
::got sidetracked by an email
::tried to play with children
::got sidetracked by the couch and a needed nap
::took kids to school
::picked kids up from school
::cleaned the kitchen AGAIN
::did ANOTHER load of laundry
::checked email again
::no email
::no one loves me
::really should blog
::climbed back onto the couch after thinking about everything I SHOULD be doing

You know, all that good stuff I don't ever want ANYone to know about how completely productive and amazing and "super" mommish I am. I didn't want to make you all think I was bragging.

**Signed up for this class and am anxiously awaiting it's start next week. Have you all signed up, too? Have you logged in and read the introduction? Have you gotten your supplies yet? Maybe we should have a get together at the end of the week and compare notes and finish up projects together? If you're all thinking this is a digital scrapbooking class and "I'm not really interested" or "I don't have the right equipment" or whatever...think again. This class isn't about digital scrapbooking, it's about telling our stories. Anyone can take it and you don't need Photoshop to do so. Just an interest in learning some new things, seeing how great Jessica's classes are and maybe telling a story or two of your own. She has a little FAQ on her blog if you still have questions. Can't. wait.

**I also pre-paid for tickets to THIS movie that is coming in only 18 more days. Really, really, really can't wait.

**I got to go on Natalie's preschool pumpkin patch trip a couple weeks ago. Last year I had a cold and opted to stay home. It was so fun and such an amazingly beautiful day. Here's a few pictures of our day:

**We found out that Nate doesn't have to take Calculus II to finish his Bachelor's degree. He was able to swap out a Masters level course with Calculus since it wasn't offered this term so he could finish in December. Yes, you heard that right. Nate is finishing his degree December 21st!! After over 8 years of working and dragging and complaining and pushing, we are going to finish this thing we started. He just finished Linear Algebra, with an A-, I might brag. Now he's working on his last class. The bad news...? Well, depending on who you ask, that is. He's already signed up for the Masters Degree program and is starting in January. Sigh.

**We made our annual family trip out to the Country Mercantile to pick out pumpkins and go bankrupt for a little child happiness. Kenzie wouldn't stop bugging us until we went. It just wasn't FAIR that Natalie got to go with her class, but the 2nd graders don't get to go this year. So, we picked a Saturday morning and spent all our hard-earned cash for the week. No, really, what is the DEAL with these places?! We even got conned into the pony rides. We just couldn't turn down their excited pleas to try it. And really, what little girl shouldn't have one pony ride before she's too big to enjoy it?! Unfortunately, less than five minutes on a pony costed us $5 a ride. Somehow that $2 to jump on the bounce house six times was looking a lot more appealing, even after our emphatic NO's. You've got to see the pure JOY on Kenzie's face during the pony ride, though. So worth $5. :-) Or, at least that's what we keep telling ourselves. Even after she whined the entire way home because we wouldn't let her buy the Webkinz she wanted inside the Country store.

**I've been working lots this past month on a couple websites. One new one and a few maintenance jobs here and there. When I get a chance, I've been tweaking my own. Usually I tweak and tweak and tweak until I finally decide I can't stand it and start over again. All the while, never actually uploading the code to blogger for all to see. After about four failed attempts at actually changing my blog template and looking plain-jane for months now, I finally decided to upload this one even if it wasn't complete. So, it's still a work in progress, but I like it...for now. Thanks for all the comments, it makes me so happy. I think my next project will be for a generic one that anyone can download and use for free. I love all the people out there that provide free templates, but I HATE those silly, obnoxious banners they put on them. I'm not sure anyone would actually want to use something I created, but at least I'd make something without a weird banner on top. Any requests for something specific?

**I've been planning Halloween costumes since early September. I'm like that, a planner. I actually start watching the sales at the online Disney store in early August for costumes. The past two years I've gotten both girls costumes from there for $30..that's $15 each!! That's including shipping. The key is to watch the sales and WAIT for the perfect moment. Nate informed me this year that we needed to be frugal and not spend a TON of money on costumes. Oh, yes he did say that to me. As if my crazy-amazing bargain shopping SKILZ at snagging super-high-quality DISNEY store costumes for BOTH girls for under $30 wasn't frugal enough?!? Seriously. I get no appreciation around here. Lucky for me, Kenzie actually wanted to be a witch and Natalie was conned into being her little black kitty. I got all their costume stuff at the Goodwill, some accessories at Walmart and some accessories at Joann's on sale. And yes, I spent less than $30...significantly less. Sigh. Next year he'll be asking me to sew something. Like anyone could be as amazing as this girl!? Love ya, Brenda!

Halloween couldn't come early enough for my two girls. Natalie thinks candy is literally the best thing EVER and, therefore, worships Halloween. Kenzie just loves dressing up and going to parties. They both came down with colds the week of, but we still managed to hit all the prime candy spots. Kenzie was invited to a friend's Halloween party (or so we thought) and demanded that she get to go. I was feeling sorry for her after she missed another friend's party and her field trip because of her cold, so I relented and we got all dressed up and ready to go. Turns out her friend's mom was just advertising for the City's Parks and Rec public party (where she worked) and we ended up at the Senior Center for two hours playing games, making crafts and loading up on candy and cake. The kids thought I was amazing for taking them, so I guess that's all that matters, right? :-)

Natalie had a super-fun time at her preschool Halloween party and we got to hear about it for days. It was "the best party EVER!" Her words. Between school parties and the community party, the kids had FULL Halloween pails before Halloween actually ever started. It was a lost cause for me and Natalie before it ever began. It's not even worth the fight. She just ate and ate and is still eating. Thanks Jenni. She's totally a mini-you.

On the actual Halloween day, we took turns taking the kids around trick-or-treating with their bestest friends ever and then we hit the ward Trunk-or-Treat. By the time it was over, the loot was ginormous. No human being should ever attempt to eat that much candy in their lifetime. My kids will probably finish it off within the week. Again with the sigh. Here's a few pics for you Grandma's and Grandpa's out there...

**So, now the plan is to make it through November without seriously injuring myself or throwing up. I know, that makes a whole lot of sense. The past six weeks or so have been pretty torturous for me and my hormones. I'm just not recovering from my "little" weeks of hormone surges. After much worry, stress, prayer and sleepless nights, we decided to try another round of birth control pills. It's been a couple years since we braved these hormonal-crazed, estrogen-murky waters, but we're feeling that weight of needing to DO something about my roller coaster weeks of craziness. The last time I was only able to make it three weeks before I gave up. It sends me into full-blown pregnancy-like nausea and that's the easy part. It also sends me into (for lack of a better term) crazy town. The doctors predict that it could take anywhere from 4 to 8 (maybe even 12) weeks until the side effects will decrease and we will see if the hormones have stabilized enough to give me some relief from the PMDD. Nate is extremely hopeful (as any husband dealing with a two-headed wife would be), while I tend to just try to get through the next five minutes without hurling. It's been 8 days so far. Wish me luck. If you see me start crying or looking a little lost or glossy-eyed, just chalk it up to the hormones. They do that to me sometimes.

**So, was that pumpkin shell full enough for ya? Am I off the hook for being a total blog failure lately? Jen...Heath...Mom...Mama...anyone want to come live with me for a few weeks until I come back to "normal"? Anyone?

Stories in Hand

2008-10-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

I know, I'm totally blog-absent. Don't hate me. I just can't seem to sit down and write something already.

Anyway, I just found out about this new class at JessicaSprague.com. You've all heard me ranting and raving about her courses in Digital Scrapbooking and Photoshop, so here's your chance to actually try it out...for FREE. I can't wait. Go see what I'm talking about and then sign up on October 20th and take the class with me. It's totally worth it. It's Free! Just click on the image to go to her site.

Garage Sale

2008-09-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

We're having a garage sale on Saturday. I hate having garage sales, but the money is always nice and so is the getting rid of stuff. So, just in case any of you readers are the type to be out perusing garage sales on Saturday mornings, as I have been known to do, here's the details:

2 Family Yard Sale
Saturday only,
8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
8720 Massey Drive
in the Loviisa Farms subdivision off of Road 100
or easy access from Road 84, follow signs, map link here:

A Map to Us

Little Girls clothes from sizes 18 months up to size 5.
All priced between 50 cents and a $1. Great condition, nice brands.

All adult clothing priced at 50 cents.

Lots of kids books, toys and more!

Have any little girls who LOVE Dora the Explorer? We did, too. She's grown out of her love of all things Dora and now we're selling it all. A talking Princess Dora, talking friends Dora, Dora pop-up tent, Dora pillow, Dora clothes, Dora shoes, Dora slippers, Dora backpacks, Dora suitcase, even Dora underwear and more! All cheaply priced and ready to go!

Wooden bunk bed with extra sides so it can be made into two twin beds.
Mattresses and monkey boards not included. $75

Little Tykes red plastic wagon. $15

Two strollers in good condition. Snugli and other baby stuff, too.

Behind-the-seat bike carrier for small child in hardly used condition.

Lots more, too much to list.

So, if you're out and looking for some stuff at cheap prices, stop by and say hi. I made a bunch of homemade goodies for the girls so they can have a little table to sell stuff, too. They're so excited to sell homemade snickerdoodles, super yummy homemade cinnamon rolls and lemon pound cake slices.

Five Weeks

2008-08-07T15:45:00.000-07:00

So, I just got done reading a new post from my sweet friend, Amber and I happened to notice her sidebar with the blogs that she reads. It's one of those new ones that shows the latest post written by each blogger and how long ago it was updated. You know what mine said? Five weeks it's been since I've written anything! I knew it had been awhile, but five weeks! Wow, I'm really a blogging loser. :-) With around 57 blogs in my Google reader that I frequent, and taking the digital scrapbooking courses, and websites to maintain AND I happen to be a stay at home mom with two kids home for the summer...I don't know how I'm supposed to keep my blog up-to-date, too. It was so much easier when everyone and their dog didn't have a blog and I didn't have so much to read every time I sat down to my computer. It also wasn't as much fun, though, either. :-)

So, what have I been up to for the past five weeks? Hmmm...good question. I got to go visit my beautiful, very pregnant sister a couple weeks ago, hoping to nail the time down just right and be there for the birth of her second little one. It was heaven. I got to leave on a Wednesday night and stay until the following Monday evening. I left my kiddos at home with Nate for the first time ever and hopped on a plane ALL. BY. MYSELF. Again, it was heavenly. I couldn't stop smiling to myself the entire trip. I'm sure people wondered what I was so darn happy about. Nobody asked me to do anything for five whole days. Nobody whined at me. I wasn't responsible for anyone or anything. I got to be just an auntie to my funny, little nephew Noah and was completely entertained by his antics. That kid is a charmer. Jenny and I tortured her hubby, Rick by making him take us out to dinner almost every night for (as she put it) Jen's "last meal" before the baby came. We got to see some movies and hang out with family, but most of all, we got to lay around a lot and do NOTHING. Seriously, for me, the best vacation ever is just sitting around and doing nothing. I know, I know...how lame is that?! Nate would hate every minute of it and poor Rick had a few choice complaints about it when it happened to interfere with his weekend and his type A personality that wants to go, go, go. He was totally overruled with two "Ivey" sisters together who were completely content to just sit and chat and eat and drink some pop and then sit and chat some more. Seriously, it was heaven. So, no, the baby didn't come. We willed that little guy into existance as hard as we could, but even at 4cm. dilated and contracting pretty regularly, he wasn't ready yet. I tried to get Nate to let me stay a few extra days, but he wasn't having it (actually he had terrible asthma, didn't feel good and needed his wife home, but that's another story too long to tell). So, I reluctantly came home and Jen went into labor the NEXT day. I know!? How rude is that?! Luckily, they had their laptop in the hospital with them and my sister-in-law had her cell phone, so I got text messages and chatted with Rick all throughout the labor. I sat and cried while she pushed and stayed up past two waiting to find out if he was okay after being rushed to the NICU. All is well. She is home now and my mom is there making sure all the laundry is done and Noah is happy and meals are on the table, which is more than I would have done while visiting. :-) So, I didn't actually get to see new little Caden, but I did get to have a few choice chats with him and he gave me a few good kicks to let me know he heard me, so I guess that'll have to do until we can make it down there again.

We finally got the girls enrolled in swim lessons just this week. At the beginning of the summer I told Nate that I was vetoing swim lessons this summer. Last summer was pure torture with two extremely whiny girls who I dragged kicking and crying and whining and complaining every single day for two weeks. I wasn't doing it again. I know I should be used to making kids do stuff they don't want to do, but swim lessons isn't one I can choke down too well. I have few bad memories from my childhood, but swim lessons is one of them. I took them year after year after year and each time got passed on from the level 2 class, but each time I refused to move on to the "deep end". I never did get past the level 2 class. Even in 3rd and 4th grade, we took swim lessons during school with our classes and I refused to move beyond level 2, even with the teasing and the taunting I received from all my other classmates. I think that's about the time I started giving myself constant stomach aches from literally stressing so much about having to go to school those days. My poor Mom. I think the swim instructor even had to call her down to talk to her because I was giving them so much trouble. Sigh. So, to this day I hate the water and can't really swim well. We now know it's on account of my sensory disorder, but at the time I just thought I was a really huge failure and weenie. So, when my kiddos start to cry that they don't want to go, I don't want to make them. Even though I desperately don't want them to end up like me, 30 and barely able to swim and barely able to tolerate water. So, imagine my surprise when we put up our little above ground 3 1/2' pool this summer and Nate challenged Kenzie to try to get her used to putting her head under water and it actually worked. Kenzie is extremely motivated by prizes and so we have a token system at home for doing chores and behaving well. Anyway, Nate promised her a token for every time she dunked her head under water without plugging her nose or using goggles to retrieve those diving sticks. I was all complaining to him that it was too hard and she was crying that she couldn't do it and then she decided she could. And when Kenzie decides she can do something, she does. She has earned over 80 tokens diving for those sticks this summer, she also tries to swim under water from one side to the other of the pool and she jumps in from the ladder. Amazing! Seriously, amazing! She also started BEGGING to go to swim lessons, as well. So, even though I knew Natie wouldn't be so happy about it, I jumped right onto signing her up for the next course. She is doing awesome and complains every day about how short the lessons are and why can't we go twice a day. Natie isn't so happy about it, but she isn't sobbing her eyes out either...so I'll take it.

We are loving having Nate off school this summer, even though it is causing him great pains of guilt. We thought we were going to get a job and move away and it would all be worth it, this time off. You'd think I'd learn by now that when I think something is going to happen with any amount of certainty, well then, that's about the time that it doesn't. So we spent a good portion of the beginning of summer working feverishly to get our house ready to sell and then when we realized things weren't progressing the way we thought, we have spent the last few weeks slowly trying to rearrange our priorities and thoughts back to staying another school year here. Now I'm just shocked that summer is almost over and I swear I didn't get enough of it yet. Nate starts school again in September and then we'll be back on track to hopefully finish this January. Kenzie starts 2nd grade the last week of August and I have no idea what I'm going to do with Natalie. So much for not planning on preschool for the fall cause I thought we'd be gone.

For the past three summers we've promised the kids we'd take them camping and haven't. So, that is something we are planning for sure in the next week or so. In fact, I believe we're going to try to go to Camp La Wis Wis up near Mt. Rainier next weekend. Anyone want to join us? I'm a little nervous what our two little prissy "I don't like to get dirty or touch grass or be near bugs" girls are going to be like out in the great outdoors for two nights. You want to make a 12+ hour trip from Utah to go camping with us, Gregg and Amber?! We need your boys to show our girls that it really is supposed to be a fun experience. :-) Wish us luck.

So, that's my five weeks in a nutshell. Right now I'm trying to work my way through Breaking Dawn as quickly as I can. It's not at all what I expected. I mean it is, but it isn't. I can't wait to be done so I can talk to someone about it. Oh, I totally forgot to write about that. I got to go to the Barnes and Noble Breaking Dawn party the night it was released with some friends and it was hilarious. Really, someone should have told us we were supposed to be under 17, not able to drive yet and willing to wear last year's prom dress and lots of makeup in order to attend. You can see some pictures and read about our night here. I can't even imagine what it must have been like in Utah. Crazy.

I'll post some more layouts from my classes soon, too. I CAN NOT get enough of these online photoshop courses. I am going to cry when I finish them all. For those of you interested in taking the beginning course, she now teaches a self-paced version which you can take at any time. The link to it is here. I HIGHLY recommend it. Totally worth the money.

Okay, now it's time to go back to my regularly scheduled life. The End.

New News and More Layouts

2008-07-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been awhile. Seems like this past month has just flown by. I'm laying on my bed next to a sick little girl. Kenzie caught a cold over the weekend and now Natalie is fighting it, too. She doesn't want me to leave her side today, so I've been laying around all day. I don't mind too much since I seem to be fighting a few of the symptoms, as well.

We've been going non-stop lately trying to make improvements to the house and get it ready to sell. We had a pretty good reason to believe we might be moving soon, but have since realized it isn't going to happen as we had hoped. It has been disappointment-city around here the past few days. We are in turmoil over our future and what it holds. We seem to think we want one thing, but no matter what we do it isn't happenin'. Is that an answer that we need to stay here or is it just the ever, infamous answer to be patient and wait? I'll let you know when I know, k?

In our quest to get the house ready for plan A that failed and then plan B that failed, we now at least have a house that is much closer to being ready for plan C or D, if need be. That's good, right? I've finished painting the kitchen, the hallway and half the family room. The yard has been undergoing some serious improvements. After three years of living here, I finally finished my flower garden in the front of the house. We finished staining the fence, which was a much nastier job than thought. We dug up a sandbox for the girls in early spring and then re-filled it and re-planted grass there when we thought we were moving soon. We also dug up the side yard hoping to make a play area with smooth pebble rock and a sand area for under the pool. After much work, more money than we realized, some more hard work, moving and installing new sprinklers, rototilling and four truck loads of sand (which I almost single-handedly shoveled and moved myself), we finally decided that we took on more than we can afford and want to do. We ended up finishing just a square for the pool. We filled it with sand and installed a wood border around it. The pool is up now and the kiddos are happy to have it. After a couple of hot, hot days the water has warmed up to a nice temp. Unfortunately, we now have a big square of dirt next to it that needs to be replanted with grass seed. Really, we need to think out our plans a little better before we start digging things up. So, progress is being made, despite our failed attempts at moving.

We have a few plans for the next month to help keep busy. We're going home to visit Nate's family for the 4th of July. I'm hoping we can kick these colds soon so we can have a sick-free trip. Later in the month, this sister of mine is having her second baby. She has begged and pleaded for me to come be there when new baby boy decides to make an entrance. After much debating about how to make this trip happen without going into thousands of dollars in debt, we've decided to send just me to be with my sister for a couple days. I am BEYOND ecstatic for this trip. I have been away from my children ONE time since they were born. ONCE. And it was for one night. Just one. I know, how scary is that?! Nate is afraid I might not come back if he lets me go...the idea is rather tempting at times, actually. :-) The only catch is, I have to find a couple generous people out there (that's you) to help watch my kids during the day while Nate is at work. We only need two days of help... So, hopefully you won't dodge my calls if I happen to phone you in the next week or so. :-)

The stomach problems I was having a month ago continue to plague me. The pain comes and goes. I don't even know what to make of it. At least it has been manageable pain and I haven't had to make another trip to the ER. Not that I would go even if it were that bad. I am playing the waiting game for the next step in the process. I've got an appointment for mid-July to see a Gastroenterologist. Then we'll see if it's an ulcer that is causing all this. I won't be surprised at all if it is.

In early June, I signed up and started taking Jessica Sprague's second course on digital scrapbooking. I've been taking the Now We're Rockin' course for a couple weeks now and absolutely LOVE it. She has lots more challenges for us this time around, lots more solo projects where we have to be creative on our own, lots more fun freebies and coupons and lots more to learn. Here are a couple of my latest layouts.

This was our first lesson and layout for the class.

All papers/embellishments from Jessica Sprague's Now We're Rockin' course materials, including:
KPertiet PaperRevealNo2, JSprague Rounded Corners brush, JSprague Stapled Hearts,
mfen_septemberafternoon_alpha, trishjones idea paper8, trishjones crushbubbles paper9, Jason Gaylor Valentine brush set

This was our midweek challenge for the first week. She gave us a challenge to finish a layout using a few of the methods we learned from the first lesson. We had no examples to follow, just some challenges to complete. It was tough to come up with a layout all on my own, but I'm pretty proud of my finished layout. The challenges I took were:

:: To do a layout about myself
:: To use two or more patterned paper from the kit we got free
:: To round two or more corners
:: To use columns for journaling
:: To install and use a new brush

All papers from the Sweet Shoppe Design Carnival Kit provided exclusively for Now We're Rockin' course members,
staples from Atomic Cupcake, Corner Rounder brush from Jessica Sprague,
Torn Edges from Simple Torn Edges Elements Set from Anne Aspnes at DesignerDigitals.com

As you can see, I used this blog post as my journaling on this layout. I had to come up with a creative use of space to get all that text on there (ended up making a double page spread) and it just about killed me to use a picture of myself, but I did it! I even got a great comment from the teacher herself (Jessica Sprague) when I uploaded it to the class gallery!

Well, there's June for you in a nutshell. Hopefully I'll be better at blogging in July. Or not...

Going On...

2008-06-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

I keep planning all these blog posts and then never sit down to do them. So here's a few things going on in our lives lately...

:: Almost three weeks ago I started having some terrible pain in my upper right abdomen. It eventually got so bad that we decided to go into the hospital. I ended up spending a few terrible hours in the emergency room only to be sent home with pain meds and orders to come back in if the pain continued within the next 12 hours. The pain did continue, but I wasn't about to have a repeat-performance at the ER if I could help it. Think IV's, blood tests, passing out with convulsions, bad reactions to medications, diahrrea, and a few more tests until 2 in the morning. Not fun. So I waited almost 48 hours until Nate made me go into my doctor. He sent me back to the hospital for another 2 hour scan of my abdomen with another IV and a few funky fluids pumped in for good measure. I had continued terrible pain, but we had to wait a weekend to get results. Everyone was pretty sure it was my gallbladder having an attack and the tests would show I needed a surgery. After a nasty weekend of pain, a few blessings, a diet change and lots of pain meds, we found out that my test was normal. It wasn't the gallbladder. So, the next step was a CT. Again, I had to get another IV (I don't like IV's, have you noticed?) and some more funky fluids while they scanned me. This one only took about ten minutes, though. The CT scan came back normal, as well. Thankfully, my pain has been intermittent lately. Some days it is really bad, some days I don't feel it at all. We are beginning to suspect an ulcer. The way I worry, it wouldn't surprise me. The next step with the doctors is a trip to the gastroenterologist, where I will likely have to endure a tube down the throat or in other places I'd rather not think about. Lovely.

:: Because of above-mentioned two weeks of pain, doctors trips and doped-up days of sleep; Nate ended up having to drop his Calculus II course. The amount of time and energy and worry spent invested in this class just wasn't there in order for him to pass, and we didn't have the $1400+ to pay back Battelle if he didn't pass. He got out while he still had time. Since then, we have been in "no-school" bliss together. We have spent the past 8 years believing we are incompetent losers that can't seem to accomplish any of the to-do's on our lists and somehow are always fighting a wave of overwhelming frustration. I am here to tell you that this is not true. :-) Obviously, but really...we were starting to think it was. We have gotten more done to our house and yard in the past two weeks than we have in three years of living here. It's amazing what you can accomplish when work is over and you don't have homework hanging over your head each night and weekends. All of the sudden we have all this time together to get things done, it's amazing!

:: Because we weren't in school and Nate had a few days vacation saved up, we were able to drop everything and go to the beach with my parents over Memorial Day week. It was wonderful and incredible and so much fun! The kids adored it, we got two beautiful, sunny afternoons to play at the beach and seeing my parents was great. We were able to change our room so that we shared a balcony next door to my parents, so we often woke up with an eerily quiet condo in the mornings. We'd trek next door to find two very happy little girls in their jammies, eating breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa. Poor Grandma and Grandpa probably didn't get the rest they were hoping for on this vacation, but we sure enjoyed a few minutes of peace here and there. The girls couldn't get enough of it, either. We are asked everyday since when we're going back to the beach with Grandma and Grandpa.

:: We've acquired a new addition to our family this past week, much to the dog's dismay. I know, another pet?! What was I thinking?! Really, what am I thinking?! I'm a sucker, as Nate would put it so eloquently. I was at Petco picking up Jedda from her grooming appointment, when the lady behind the counter started chatting to me about some animals she had for adoption. I wasn't paying much attention, because I knew Nate would kill me if I brought home anything else that poops, breathes or eats. But then she pulled out this cute little hamster and showed it to my girls. I know, how mean is that?! They start oooo-ing and awww-ing over this cute little furry creature, so I politely ask how much it costs. She tells me it's free, since it's up for adoption. Some guy couldn't take care of them anymore and so he brought them in to be given away. Well, it may be free, but the cage and bedding and food and all that surely wouldn't be free, too, I thought. She assured me that everything came with it, free. I just had to take it home. So guess what I did? I said yes and carted home a little cage, a bag full of supplies, a hamster and two very happy little girls who have since named her Hammy. They get to hold her a couple times a day and watch her run around in her little hamster ball. We have to crate the dog when she's out, or else we'd have some Animal Planet, call-of-the-wild, big animal eats small animal attack, which wouldn't go over well with the girls. I get to clean up yet another animal's poop and pee and am left to wonder what is wrong with me. Nate just laughs and shakes his head at me and is sometimes heard to mutter "sucker" under his breath. I figure one of you would happily take over the job of sucker for me if I decide I can't handle it anymore and want to "rid" myself of an animal, though, right? She's free and everything is included. :-)

:: As posted about earlier, my newest obsession is digital scrapbooking. If Nate can't find me lately, he'll call out through the house..."are you in there on photoshop again!?" Where I will quietly slink down into my chair and pretend I didn't hear him while I click away at my computer. I am obsessed. It's like combining two of my favorite things, computers/web design and paper crafting/scrapbooking. I don't have to haul out supplies or print out pictures or thumb through magazines for inspiration...I just open up photoshop and start to play. Everything is right here on my computer. Shoot, if I can't find a supply I need, it's only a few clicks away. Amazing. So, you may get sick of it, but I'll be posting my layouts from time to time. It's just too fun not to share. Here's the two I finished this weekend:

This layout was for the weekly challenge on Jessica Sprague's forum. We were supposed to watch the tutorial on her blog site about adding a background paper to text (which I did for this title) and then create a page about our "Every Day". All supplies used were from Jessica Sprague's Kit of the Month Kit.

This was a layout I did after viewing a tutorial on blending a photo into your background paper (which I did on the bottom left corner photo). I'm still not completely 100% about it, though. Something about the title isn't quite right. I may have to change it after staring at it for awhile. That's the nice thing about digital, I can totally do that! Nothing is adhered to the page permanently. You can view the tutorial here. Supplies for this layout include papers and alphabet from Ronna Penner's Express Yourself Kit, Fresh Foliage brush set by Jason Gaylor.

Class Is Out...

2008-06-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

What to blog, what to blog... I have so much to blog about lately and never the time. The past four weeks whenever I sit down to my computer to do something "fun", I immediately log on to JessicaSprague.com to work on another one of my lessons. Yesterday I finally finished my final layout and thought I would share some of the fun things I learned in this excellent class.

Week One:

(All papers and embellishments from Jessica Sprague's Up and Running Course materials.)

This layout was pretty basic. Mostly we learned about Photoshop's basics, such as opening papers and pictures, knowing where and using some of the basic tools, some of the shortcuts we use often, some basics on layers and how to save a document for the web or for printing, etc. The background was already set, we just added the embellishment, the photo, the frame around the photo, the title, date and the journaling. Here is my page with some details on what we learned:

We also were given midweek assignments each week to build on what we already learned and sometimes to teach another small skill. Here is the layout:

(All papers and embellishments from Beautiful You Mini Kit by Jessica Sprague)

This background was also done for us. We opened a photo, converted it to black and white, copied the photo to this document, and then rearranged the layers so that the photo peeks through the window. Then we added journaling to the journaling block and had to remember how to adjust the "leading" so it would sit on the lines correctly.

Week 2:

(Papers, Embellishments, Digital Brushes and Alphabet all from Jessica Sprague's Up and Running Course materials)

This layout was created on another already "put-together" background. Here is my page with some details of what we learned this week:

Our midweek assignment was to use some paper and digital brushes that she gave us to download and create a layout using multiple photos. This was a little tricky, as I was used to going off her already created designs. This is what I came up with on my own:

(White paper from Whitie Tighties Paper Pack by Amy Teets, Party Moments Stamp from Stamped Moments
Brush Set by Katie Pertiet at DesignerDigitals.com, Brown, Aqua and Striped papers and flower embellishment
all from Ronna Penner's free Express Yourself Kit)

Week 3:

(All papers, ribbon, alphabet and embellishments from Jessica Sprague's Up and Running Course materials)

This was our first layout from scratch. Here are all the details of this layout:

Our midweek assignment for week 3 was to learn and use templates. Wow, this was amazing!! Using a template is like using sketches in paper scrapbooking, except you get to just take the sketch and plunk down your elements right onto it. Seriously, AMAZING. This was beyond fun and I could totally see myself doing a majority of my digital scrapping this way. I didn't even know this existed when I started this class. You can find tons of templates out there and then you just customize them to your needs. Here is one of the templates she gave us to use:

(Digital Template designed by Jen Caputo at ScrapbookGraphics.com, donated for class use.)

This is how it looks when you open it in Photoshop. Then you just pinpoint each layer on the template and drag your papers right onto them. Using an easy keystroke, you "clip" your papers/photos/embellishments so they fit right into each section/layer. It takes literally minutes to create an entire layout. Even the journaling is just a double-click on the words and then write your own! Here is my layout from this template:

(All papers from free Shabby Fall Kit from ShabbyPrincess.com, Title uses Cry Kitty font downloaded free)

Here is the second template she gave us:

(Digital Template designed by Jen Caputo at ScrapbookGraphics.com, donated for class use.)

And here is my layout from this template:

(All papers from Ronna Penner's free Express Yourself Kit)

Week 4:

Week four was our last week in this class. I was so sad to see it come so quickly. Here is the weekly assignment layout for this week:

(All supplies used from Jessica Sprague's Up and Running Course materials)

And here are the details of what we did on this layout:

Our midweek assignment for this last week was to create a 3-photo block in a trapezoid shape, which she had a video tutorial on and then make a layout using those photos. She gave us a small paper kit to work with, but the rest was our own doing. I think I spent a few hours on this last night trying to make it look "just right". Here is the final product:

(Papers and Flower overlay from Jessica Sprague's Festa Mini Kit provided free to course participants, Font for "Smiles" word
is Adine-Kirnberg Script downloaded free, Title "Dirty" and date is from Katie Pertiet Acrylic Alphabet provided free for
class participants, journaling font is Pea Jamie B downloaded from Fonts For Peas *Thanks Brenda!*)

I was pretty darn proud of myself when it was all said and done. I even went out to good ol' Google to find out how to make my journaling fit inside a circle and figured it out on my own.

All in all, this class was so worth every penny spent. The next class is the second in her series of teaching digital scrapbooking in Photoshop. It starts in a couple weeks and I can't wait. You can go to her website and sign up to be notified when she'll be teaching another beginner course, also. They just revamped her entire website yesterday and are now offering a lot more classes. Go check it out at JessicaSprague.com. I also subscribe to her blog where she often adds little tips and tricks and Photoshop Phriday Tutorials. I know there's a lot of free tutorials and websites out there that can teach you the basics for free, but I loved the way this was so organized and set up to get you running from the ground up. I can't recommend it enough.

Mother's Day Goods

2008-05-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so it's taking me a lot longer to get around to blogging all this stuff than I thought. Not really my fault, just having some more health issues that I'm sick of talking about. Let's get on to the good stuff...

This is what I got for Mother's Day this year. My hubby is just too good to me.

A new shiny, white MacBook!!! The FedEx guy brought it to my doorstep early the Monday after Mother's Day. I quickly ripped it out of it's boring brown box to reveal this...

and this...

and that's as far as my picture taking went. I was too excited to see the rest and quickly forgot about all my blog readers and how excited they might be to see Mac's lovely packaging. Because that is one of the things I love about Mac, they have the best, clean, pretty packaging. For years I've held onto my iMac box just cause it's pretty. Nate kept teasing me that we didn't need to keep it around for all this time, but I wouldn't let him throw it away. Now who's glad I kept it? It's neatly storing my BigMac for a time when he can sit and fix it for his own use. :-)

So, it was a tough decision for me to go from an iMac (a desktop computer) to a MacBook (a laptop). I love to have my little computer space to sit and type and work on websites or write emails or surf the web or what-have-you. I'm not real fond of the tiny keyboards and awkward trackpads that come with using a laptop. Nate's had his iBook for about five years now...is that right, Nate? I would use it now and then to surf the internet while lounging in bed or at the couch, but mostly I'd come back to my iMac to do any real "work" on the computer. Well, I've been finding myself using his little iBook more and more the past year as he has gotten a new MacBook Pro from work that somehow makes it's way home more often than not. I like having the flexibility to take my computer with me wherever I go, but I'm not at all ready to give up my little desk haven and trusty keyboard. So, when the BigMac died and we had to make a decision what to get next, I was torn when Nate suggested I get the laptop instead of another iMac. You mean, replace my beautiful, shiny white monitor with a little laptop?! I don't know about that... But Nate, being the genius he is (I know, he totally deserves the kudos after this Mother's Day present), suggested I could have the best of both worlds! He would buy me a new monitor and the cords needed to hook up my new laptop to a monitor, keyboard and mouse so I could use it at the desk when I wanted and take it wherever I need to go when I wanted. Best of both worlds, right? Genius, I know. So, I agreed and this is my new setup:

Pretty cool, huh?! Not only do I have a bigger monitor (22"), but I can use both monitors at once! Can I tell you how much I'm loving watching my Photoshop class videos on the laptop while following along full-screen in Photoshop on my big, new monitor? Lovin. It. And here's a few more reasons I love this new computer-o-mine:

:: The shiny, glossy LCD screen on my laptop, so pretty.
:: The cool little iSight camera built right into the top of the screen.
:: The trackpad has so many cool features, including:
:: Using just two fingers on the trackpad, you can scroll up and down and side to side on any page
:: Tap once on the trackpad with two fingers instead of one, it right-clicks for you! Love that!
:: The new Apple Keyboards, seriously the most fun typing I've EVER had.
:: Dual core processors. I know, blah, blah, blah, right? No, people, this means FAST. I am the most impatient person alive, but now I barely blink and my programs are open.
:: Intel-architecture. I know, again, blah, blah. If I wanted, I could dual-boot to Windows. Yup, I could install Windows and Mac OSX and choose which one I wanted to use whenever I started my computer. Pretty neat-o, huh? Too bad it won't be happening on this computer. Like I tell my Mom who uses this feature, blasphemy! Just plain blasphemy to run Windows on a Mac. But I could if I wanted to. :-)

So, if you haven't guessed it yet, I'm one happy girl this Mother's Day. And just for kicks, one more picture to send you all away with...

His and Her Macs. It's Mac-Love! :-)

R.I.P.

2008-05-19T16:08:00.001-07:00

It's a sad day, people. A sad, sad day.

This friend of mine was brought into my life about two years ago. He was my Dad's friend first, but my Dad wanted to share the love. I swore I would never convert to this type of friendship. It would require too many sacrifices and change. Oh, how I hate change. But I was wrong. This friendship has brought me many hours of joy. I've learned new things, laughed and cried and made new friends...all thanks to this guy. He lit up my room each and every day. He taught me what it means to have a friendship that doesn't break, that doesn't die, that doesn't make you want to throw yourself from the nearest high building or staple your head to the floor when things aren't going the way they should. I just never had that happen again with him. Never. He had the energy of a horse and could run and run non-stop for days, weeks, months even... He lived a long, wonderful life...

...well, for a computer, that is...

Rest In Peace, Big Mac. Rest In Peace.

Nate tried to fix him. He really did, but he's going to need some deeper surgery to figure out what's wrong. We put him in his box and there he will wait until Nate has more time to diagnose his real issues. Until then, we'll remember him as he was in his glory days...

Bet you can't guess what I got for Mother's Day this year?! To be continued...

Twice Blessed

2008-05-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about my two sweet mothers. I was extraordinarily blessed to not only be given life from one of the most amazing women I've ever met, but to be able to gain another true mother through marriage. Both of these women are incredible examples to me. Here are a few reasons why I love BOTH of these women so much:

:: My mom raised 8 children! Five boys, then me (#6) and then two more girls.
:: My mom was always there growing up, always.
:: My mom gives the most wonderful hugs that can heal whatever might ail you.
:: I never, ever doubted my mother's love. Ever. She has the ability to love freely and unconditionally.
:: My mom can cook amazing meals. With 8 mouths to feed and a hungry hubby, she should be given a medal for doing it so well.
:: My mom is beautiful, inside and out. She always has a smile on her face, a kind thing to say, a gentle hand to lend, open arms to heal.
:: I'm sure it's a given after having 8 kids, but my mom has the patience of a saint. I honestly don't know where it all comes from, but it's an amazing sight to behold...especially with the Grandkids.
:: My mom is so incredibly talented. She sings, she plays piano, she cooks, she sews, she makes beautiful things...the list is endless. I got to hear her play and sing the most beautiful song a couple years ago that she wrote and composed herself. I was so proud. That's my mom!
:: I can hear my mom's voice in my head all throughout my day: "If you start cleaning in one corner of the room and then work your way out, eventually it all gets done." or "Say a prayer when you feel like you can't handle another minute" or "Bless your heart" or "You can do this, Shayla, I know you can!". What an amazing solace this gives me.
:: My children adore my mother. Adore her. She and Kenzie, especially, have an unusually tight bond. They always have. We hear about Grandma at least a few times a week from her, even though we have only seen Grandma a couple times this past year. I overheard Kenzie tell her cousins that, "Grandma is my favorite, because she loves me even when I can't stop crying and she never yells." Of course, this is bittersweet for me to hear as I'd like her to feel that way about me too, but isn't it the truth? Grandmas get to be that to their grandchildren, the one who is always full of love, acceptance and never has to say no. :-)
:: My mom is smart! She is really, really smart. I love when Nate tells her some random fact (he's got a lot of those floating around in that head of his) and she has to run and look it up right then and there. She's a learner and a doer. All the kids are grown up and she's still out there, more than ever, learning something new all the time.
:: My mom is a reader. She gave me my love of books. When I'm up late at night trying to put a book down, I can hear her in my mind saying, "Just one more chapter!" I can always be assured she's reading something new and now she and my Dad read together. They always have good books to recommend to me.
:: My mom gives me a reason to live. I know this is random, but it really is true. Being someone who has, at times, suffered in the depths of depression, I have been in that low where there seems to be no reason to continue on. I can always, always think of my mom and know that no matter how bad it seems, how unbearable it feels, she loves me and will love me no matter what.

I have been doubly blessed in this life. I was given not just one amazing mom, but two! From the minute I met Nate's mama, I fell in love with her. Her home was like my home. There is always such comfort to be found there. Because they lived so many years in the South, "mom" at the Trimble home is usually just "mama".

:: The first time I "officially" met mama, was after a date with Nate hiking all day long. We were tired, but wired on that new-crush-high. I had to drive Nate's parents car home the last half hour, because he was having problems with his knee. When we drove up to his house, quite a few of his family members were outside. I was dying of embarrassment to be found driving their car and they hadn't even met me yet! No need. Mama took me into their house as one of her own and has never treated me anything less than that since then.
:: Mama raised 7 children! Nate was number six, just like me. If it weren't for the incredible parents that they are, I would not have this amazing man in my life. I credit them for giving me the joy that I have today, the father to my beautiful children, the eternal companion to me. What greater gift is there?
:: Nate's family moved a lot. His parents are still doing it, even though they'd rather not. I have witnessed strength in his Mama like no other. She moves forward through trials with an amazing strength and grace that I truly admire.
:: Mama always has joy in her countenance. Always. Even when life is hard and her body hurts and she has every reason to fall down and cry, she exudes joy. She's this bundle of energy that comes into a room and immediately lights it up. Oh, to be more like that...what would I give?!
:: My children adore their Meme. Adore her. It's amazing really, no matter how long it has been since they've seen her, they never forget how much they love her. How can we be so blessed to have two Grandma's in our children's lives who they just can't get enough of?
:: My mama can throw a party like no one else. I'd never been to so many parties after I started dating Nate. If there's something to celebrate, than the Trimbles will. Lots of food, fun, kids, games and happiness to be had by all. There is nothing like a Trimble get-together. Mama is the reason behind all of that. Even when she isn't there, she's still the life force of every Trimble party.
:: There is a peace and beauty about Nate's mom that overflows to everyone she touches. She quietly serves and humbly helps with no one being the wiser. She literally lives every day of her life in service to her children. I have never seen a mother love her children more than this woman. Nate and I often say, all she ever needs to be happy in this life is her children and grandchildren around her. She has taught me that family is truly everything, all that matters in this life.
:: I'm a lucky gal, cause not only do I have my mom's incredible cooking skills influencing me, but Nate's moms, too. The recipes I have gotten from her are some of our staples around here.
:: I've never seen anyone clean like Nate's mom can. Man, that woman can move! She's a bit smaller than me, but I swear I can't keep up if I tried. She's helped us clean an apartment or two when moving out and I always know if she was there, we're definitely getting our deposit back! :-)
:: I love Mama's laugh. It's infectious and full of joy. You won't go long without hearing it, either.

How can I possibly stop? The lists for these women could go on endlessly. I am so truly blessed to be a daughter to both of them. I hope they know that their legacy will live on and on, just as the Lord has promised us. They have given me the chance to be the mother that I am today. How could I adequately express what this means to me? I wish you both the happiest of days today. I love you so, so much!

Happy Mother's Day!