Laura Vegas

today has been crazy busy. actually, the entire last week has been crazy busy. i have not slowed down since getting back from utah … and it's starting to wear on me a bit. but there is a ton of christmas stuff to be done (along with all the everyday non-christmas stuff) … one of which was the christmas card.

 

i had a vision for making the purple work (see pics from previous post) … but my vision wasn't working out quite like i had planned in my head. could have been the fact that i really don't know anything about digital scrapping. lol! i had these certain colors in my mind … but i couldn't get them just right. but i really wanted to get these ordered … mainly because i'm going to be right next to costco tomorrow morning for soccer. so i can pick them up as soon as we're done. so in the end … i went with a green … and the rest of the card is fairly simple. simple is all i can do right now! this is just a small peek of part of the card … don't want to ruin the surprise for those of you on my card list!

what else have we been up too? the girls had their school concert the other night. sarah sang in the choir … she just loves to sing and looked so cute up there. and alyssa is in advanced band … playing the clarinet. i did laugh when we got home at something alyssa said. the beginning band played a few short songs … and i'm sure you can imagine how squeaky they are since they're just learning. later, alyssa asked me in horror … if that was how she sounded last year. lol! i had to break it to her … once again, reaffirming her believe that parents always have to say their kids are good at things. lol! but i was truely impressed with the advanced band .. they sounded so amazing!

we had an omelet breakfast at school this morning … a big fundraiser they do each year. the choir sang again … so sarah was a little nervous and didn't want her omelet. we didn't do so good on the raffles this year. last year, joe scored the half-half pot … and took home $240! but this year, all we got was a $25 gift card. somehow, joe put in $35 in tickets … so we only lost $10 in the end. but all for a good cause … we have such a great school.

also had a double birthday party today. one of my previous daycare boys turned 7 years old! how can that be? i used to wipe his tush and feed him bottles … and now he's 7! and he has a little sister now. she was actually born on the same exact day … at the same exact time as he was … just 6 years later. i think that is so cool! and i was even able to see a few other previous daycare girls while i was there … love that we're all still around and keeping in touch.

also did a little bit of shopping … regular household shopping and a few christmas presents worked in. got the christmas trees up and decorated … only took me 3 days to finish. they weren't that much work … just took a while in between all the other life stuff. i have 4 mini albums in the works for christmas gifts … i'm going to share my plan with you tomorrow. i promise … because i've been taking pics at the different assembly stages so far. we have the girls indoor soccer game tomorrow … and alyssa has her youth meeting. i have an assignment that i have to do tomorrow … i've barely even started it yet. that's normal for me though. lol! 

ok … that turned into a much longer post than i planned. it's almost 1:00am … so i guess i better clean up before going to bed. i'm such a night owl! 

from what i hear … christmas is in 2 weeks. lol! not sure how that can be true … but everyone says it's true. so i figured i better get going on a christmas card. i have some cards that i was going to put together to send out … now i'm not sure if i'll still use them. maybe i'll just do a digital card … if i can figure it out. not sure. but i did know that i needed some new pics of the girls. so we took these super quick this afternoon.

 

 

now i know what you're thinking. first off … why is alyssa wearing purple? doesn't laura keep claiming to NOT like purple? actually, i'm not a fan of purple in scrapping … but i do love to wear the color purple! i was digging around in the girls closets … looking for some cute shirts for them to wear. and they do have plenty of cute shirts … but none that grabbed my eye. and i find it strange that my girls don't own any red shirts … none. huh?!?! i liked these two shirts … because they're the same … nice to have the same style for this kind of thing. and one just happened to be purple. so i figured "why not". the girls didn't have as much faith in my decision … they didn't see my vision. "mom, are you sure … purple for christmas?". lol! but i have a color combo in mind … pray that it works out!

 

 

the other thing you might be thinking … is that they look the same as most of my other photos i've taken of the girls in the past year. lol! alyssa's dad was here tonight for the girls school concert. and i asked him if he wanted any of my photos of the girls. i showed him these that i had up on my laptop. and he said "you already gave me those" … which i couldn't have … since i had just taken them half an hour before he came. lol! i know we need to go other places for some photos. but the backyard is convienent … and it's right outside the kitchen door … and i know the lighting … and we can do it without getting in the car … and we can do this while the daycare kids are taking naps. so i guess the price you pay for convience … is that sometimes you're pictures will look alike. i can accept that!

 

 

wish me luck on making these into some christmas goodness to send to family and friends! we're talking digital … i need all the luck i can get!

this is totally random. and i'm not even sure how i stumbled across this photo. but seriously … how cute are they?!?!

 

this was taken at a valentines party at alyssa's school … back in 2003. so that was 5 and a half years ago. and yes … i totally just counted that on my fingers to be sure. lol! these girls drive me absolutely crazy these days. with their constant fighting and bickering … getting in their little jabs at each other when they think i'm not looking … and instigating trouble with each other at all times. but on occasion … you will see them just as loving as they are in that photo up there. makes it worth it!

that's all i have for you today. i've been home for 3 days now … and i'm still trying to play catch up. i just can't seem to get back in my groove. i did pull out the christmas tree and some other decorations yesterday … but i only got halfway done with the tree before i gave up. must finish that tomorrow. and i did buy 2 christmas presents tonight … it's a start. havn't thought about any of it yet to be honest. and we're in the middle of actually figuring out our christmas arrangements … who sees who … and on what day. it's a lot of arranging each year. and i did start a few layouts today. and been working … little ones are keeping me busy these days. and helped alyssa with her science project … i detest doing project boards. we have about 7 different things planned this weekend … no down time. but i'm working on things … so hopefully, i'll have some things to share soon!

day four of our utah trip … was actually 2 days ago. got a little sidetracked with coming home and settleing back in. anyways … day four was pretty relaxed. we slept in just a little … took our time getting ready … finished packing … and loaded up all our bags in this car.

 

can i say how much i loved this rental car! i'm not even a big car person … i can't even tell you what kind of car this was. lol! but i do know that it was so nice to drive. when i got in my own van last night … i realized how hard i work at turning that steering wheel. lol! but this thing was nice and smooth … loved it. and for the record … i am not very good with directions or finding my way around. we have this decent sized city about 20 minutes away from us here … and i would never try and venture myself around there. but utah??? i was amazed at how easily we found our way around. we had a few directions mapped out before we left … to the main spots that we knew we were going to. but the rest of the time … we just seemed to find our way. deneen drove the first day … and then decided she didn't like driving. lol! so i drove the other 3 days … and did so good.

 

we even managed to go back and find the restaurant that we went to with lisa bearnson. we hadn't gotten a picture the day we went … and wanted something to remember it. it was 2 days after … and we knew what exit it was off the highway. but after that … we just sort of back-tracked and looked for things that were familiar to us. this was tucked way back … on a little side road .. and we found it. isn't it the cutest spot! and check out their front door decor:

 

how cute is that! little pompoms … strung on fishing line. that is the most adorable thing. if i had a good door or window at my house … i would totally do that!

 

we also stopped back by the CK offices … for a few more pictures. this is actually what we did a lot of on sunday … drove around and took photos of the things we forgot … or the things we wanted pics of to remember all our stories. and we had a quarter of a tank of gas to kill anyways … before turning in the rental car. lol!

 

we also want to thank deneen's cousin, jenn … for letting us stay at her house saturday night. we really appreciated all she did … for the dinner, lugging up the air mattresses and blankets, giving deneen an extra suitcase to take home, for the donuts … and just letting us invade her home with all of our "stuff". although we left some "stuff" with her … so hopefully that made up for it a little!

so after driving around town … and stopping for a late lunch … we stopped off and did a little shopping. had to get some gifts to bring back to all our girls (deneen has 4 and i have 2). then we just decided to go to the airport and hang out. you should have seen us dropping off the rental car .. and having all these crazy heavy bags and suitcases to lug back over to the airport. luckily, someone had left a luggage cart there … and the dude let us use it without having to pay for it. so that helped.

when we got in to check our luggage … we started to get a little nervous. we had spent about 2 hours the night before … distributing the weight between the bags and trying to get everything to fit. we knew the limit was 50 pounds each. the dude in front of us put his suitcase up … and it was 51 pounds. and they made him take clothes out … and he was shoving stuff in his jacket. lol! i was so nervous … knowing how much stuff we had packed in. put the first suitcase up … and it was 50 pounds exact!!! i saw that it was the green one … and i was so proud and saying "yeah, that was MINE". lol! deneen had two bags … one of which ended up being only 27 pounds (she had odd shaped stuff and we couldn't really get a weight on it before) and 48 pounds. so we did very good!

then we went through security. this time deneen got to have a pat-down … figured it was only fair that we both got one. lol! we made it though there and found some seats … and just hung out for 2 hours. i got all the new pictures downloaded onto my laptop .. and started to edit them. but my laptop battery was draining super fast … so decided it would have to wait until we got home. so we just read magazines and chatted while we waited. when we were able to board the plane … i had to have some dude help me with my carry-on. i think if they had weighed it … it would have been over the 40 pound limit. lol! that sucker was heavy .. loaded down with paper and books. there was no way i could have gotten it up in the overhead thing by myself.

the flight was good. although right at take off … i got a bloody nose. totally random. i do get them on occasion … out of nowhere. and here we are on a plane … with no kleenex or anything. i was wiping it all over the sleeve of my hoodie. we had to flag down a flight attendant to get us something to clean myself up. and i think the dude next to me was thinking that he really crapped out on his seating … sitting next to someone like me. lol! the rest of the flight was decent. it was 9:00 at night … so we were both super tired. and there was lots of turbulance … so it was sort of a rough ride. and they had to discontinue the food service carts … and had the attendants go sit down and put their seat belts on too. which means we never got our peanuts. lol!

an hour and 45 minutes later … we arrived back home. although we lost an hour. so it was only 9:45pm … even though our bodies felt like it was 10:45pm. the same dude that helped me with my carry-on earlier (and NOT the dude that i sat by) … was nice enough to come and help me again. i owe him. although this time, finding our luggage was more work. when we arrived in utah .. our bags were the only ones left by the time we got to luggage pick-up. but this time … we had people everywhere waiting. it was crazy. took us a while … but we finally found all our bags. as soon as we walked out the door … deneen's hubby was just pulling up to get us. perfect timing. we hopped in and within seconds were headed home. we had an hour drive … and were so glad when we hit manteca!

i want to make sure and thank deneen's husband, ron … for driving us to the airport. both in the middle of the night on the way there … and super late at night on the way back. and my husband, joe … for taking such good care of the girls and the house while i was gone. the house was totally clean when i got home … not just picked up … but clean too. he also took an extra night off of work to be there with the girls … which means he works an extra night this week that he usually has off. and he missed a golf tournament … so i appreciate all that he did. and have to thank my parents … because they also helped with the girls quite a bit. and my mom, who stayed at the house the night i left and the night i came back … and hung out here until i was home. and the girls … who were really good while i was gone and kept their things picked up and clean. and they did miss me like crazy … and were so happy when i came in to kiss them goodnight. and i want to thank deneen … for the entire trip … and making it such a great time that we'll remember always!

 

and if you have made it this far … i want to thank you too. lol! for taking the time to read all of our posts and listen to us go on and on about our trip. and for all your comments and well wishes. this is one time that i havn't responded to each of you … but know that's it's only because i just didn't have the time. but i appreciated and read all of them! i don't love this photo … but it was one deneen took of me blogging one night at the hotel. lol! and yes, i was totally squeezing my eyes shut when she took it … as if me not being able to see her would make it impossible for her NOT to see me. lol! i won't even tell you how much time went into these blog posts … but i'm glad i did it. i didn't want to forget anything … so i really tried to get everything down as it happened. we're totally going to print all of this out … and use it right in our trip album. the pics are all ordered … and i'm picking them up today. so we'll have this trip scrapped in no time at all!

day three of our trip … saturday. we started the day out bright and early. i had been up until 2:00am typing up my blog post from day two … seriously. but we were up by 6:30am … getting ready, finishing packing, making sure we had everything. we were checked out of the hotel by 8:45 … and on the road to meet wendy!

 

we met up with wendy at a starbucks and got some drinks … and just hung out for 2 hours to chat. it was soooo nice! wendy has become one of my closest friends over the past year … and is one of my go-to people to discuss design team stuff, publishing stuff, and scrapping in general. and it was so fun to actually sit face to face and talk … so much easier than typing all the time. lol! the 2 hours went by far to quickly though!

then we headed over to chili's to meet some of the girls for lunch. jen, shaunte, wendy, brenda, and wendy were all able to come … and deneen's cousin, jenn and her friend, judi joined us. i know a few others wanted to come, but just couldn't make it. but it was a fun group. and lots of good conversation. i love having other designers to chat with … to get their points of views … and to know that they're just as crazy overwhelmed with projects and stuff too. i just really enjoyed hanging out with everyone!

 

shaunte … we go back a few years to our paperkuts days. she is seriously one of the funniest people i know … and a mad scrapper! she can whip up a layout on any given theme, at any given time … even if it means posing her kids in swimming suits in the snow. lol! and "oh my heck" … a phrase that deneen has already declared her new favorite! she is also a fantastic enabler … she can convince you that you HAVE to have just about anything that is a great deal!

brenda … i'm not even sure how i came across her blog. but she has the most gorgeous layouts … so much detail and texture. and the cutest kids … her daughter is adorable! and she is tall … something random … but next time i see her i must bring my heeled boots that i normally wear all the time. lol! and you might recognize her a little … she was the one that i did a RAK layout for a few months ago. totally not rigged in the least. lol! but i thought it was fun that i got to do it for her! 

jen … such an amazing person. i didn't know if jen remembered (since there was never really chit chat on the team) … but we were on lil davis DT together for a bit. and i have been a fan of her work for years. she has been dealt things in life that no one should have to go through … but she has such a positive and happy way about her. and she has beautiful layouts … and some awesome projects that are on my to-do list!

 

back row: wendy, wendy sue, deneen, jenn, and judi. front row: brenda, shaunte, jen, and me.

and i didn't get a picture with wendy. but i met wendy back in my short-lived paperkuts days … when i taught at a scrapbook expo. i walked into that hotel room not knowing what to expect or who would be there. i found wendy and her daughter … surrounded by boxes and boxes and boxes of product. and we had to kit all the classes for the next 3 days that night … 15 classes worth. it was the most exhausting 3 days of my life … but also the funnest days. and wendy and her sense of humor made it all so much fun. she is hilarious … and it was so nice to see her again!

after lunch … deneen and i made our way back to the warehouse sales. see up there … we got a sign of the american crafts sign for you! and even a glimpse of the snow on the mountains behind us … the closest we came to snow on our trip. we actually went to quikutz first … since deneen was missing a few parts for her revolution that she bought the day before. and who did we run into there? shaunte and wendy of course. deneen got her missing pieces … and also picked up a deal on a quickutz alphabet for only $5! then we all made our way back over to american crafts … and found even better deals than the day before. thickers and rubons and ribbon … you just can't pass up things like that. not when you use them as much as i do. lol! we also found their travel collection of paper … and decided we'd use that for our album on this trip. we have the paper, the flair, and lots of ribbon to match.

afterwards, we came to deneen's cousins house … where we were staying for the night. we were exhausted in all honesty … and sort of ready to come home. we even did try calling to see if we could get an earlier flight home. we could have … for $200 each. lol! so we passed and decided we'd stay. we spent about 2 hours going through our bags and trying to get everything to fit. actually, it wasn't fitting everything that was the problem … it was the weight of what we had. deneen even got an extra full-sized suitcase from her cousin … figured she'd just pay to check a second bag. but we had lots of paper and books … and that gets heavy very quickly. we would get everything situated … and then weigh the bags and realize that they were over on the weight. no idea what they charge if you're over … but not something we want to mess with. lol! so we kept re-arranging and moving things around … and we think we have it all ready.

this morning … we're taking our time a little getting up and ready. the first morning that hasn't been rushed. we're just about ready to pack up the rental car … and go see what we can find to do the rest of the day. our flight is at 9:00pm tonight. kind of late … since i have to work tomorrow morning. and i really wanted to see my girls when i get home. but i figure we won't get back to our homes until about 11:30pm tonight. more odds and ends to come for day 4 … from the warmth of my own home!

so, day two of our utah trip. we ended up staying up pretty late last night … even though we were so tired from getting up so early. but we were busy checking emails, and checking in on some of our favorite blogs … and just plain chatting. i think we dozed off about midnight. the beds were super comfy … down comforters and pillows. super warm. then this morning we got up about 9:00 … and got ready for our day. and once again … i appologize for my inability to give a decent smile. lol! i have no idea what my problem is … but i've been practicing in front of the mirror tonight so that maybe tomorrows pics will be better!

 

we drove over to the creating keepsakes office … and met up with vivian … who is the one that made all of our arrangements for the trip. such a sweet gal … we appreciate how helpful she was in all of this. while we were waiting for lisa to arrive … she found some things to keep us busy. we met up with mr dana wilson, the senior product manager. and also loni stevens and kerri bradford … who are two of the product designers. they had just gotten in a box … with their very first peek at the january KOTM. and they were more than happy to let us take a look with them. we can't tell you what it was … but it's going to be a really good one. i seriously can't wait to get one … such a great concept that i'm going to love putting together. and we also got a few sneek peeks at some upcoming issues and another future KOTM (that is going to be equally as fun).

 

then lisa bearnson arrived. so very cool to meet her … and she was so welcoming and sweet to us. she told us all about how she started the magazine and how it has grown to what it is today. i've followed CK from the very beginning … and know a lot about the story. but to hear lisa herself tell it … was simply amazing. you can tell how much this company means to her … and how she has put so much of herself into it.

she then gave us a tour of the offices. we met lots of people. including stacy croninger from paper crafts magazine … who signed a copy of her new book paper crafts gourmet for us. we met jennafer martin, editor in chief of simple scrapbooks magazine … who signed a copy of their new book snippets for us. we met brain tippetts, editor in chief of creating keepsakes magazine … and he signed a copy of a new book he has coming out (that i don't think anyone even knows about yet). we met lots of other people too … so many that i can't remember them all. and we got peeks at some really cool offices. a look inside the photography studio … where they shoot all the projects. that itself was quite interesting … to see the huge amount of backdrops and props … and just everything they need to take fun shots of the the projects for the books and magazines. we peeked into the warehouse … were i found wendy … a friend from back in my paperkuts magazine days. we got a look into the kitting area … where they prepare class kits and things for all the classes and events. so many looks into so many different areas … so fun to see a little of how it all works.

 

from left to right … vivian, kerri, loni, me, deneen, and lisa.

then after saying goodbye to everyone … we loaded all our goodies into the car. then it was off to lunch with lisa. she took us to the most charming little restaurant … that we cannot remember the name of for the life of us. and we're bummed that we didn't get a picture of it. it was the coolest little spot … with some amazingly good food. we had salads and sandwiches … and even some yummy desserts. and it was nice just hanging out. talking about our familes and exchanging fun stories. we totally appreciate lisa spending the afternoon with us … she was just so sweet.

after lunch … we made our way to the quickutz warehouse sale. we met up with shaunte … who is seriously one of the funniest people i know. we go back to our paperkuts magazine days too … and it was so fun to finally meet her after all these years. she's a designer for quickutz … so she made sure to lead us to all the good stuff. lol! we found some amazing deals … and deneen even got herself a revolution, which she has been wanting forever. and shaunte made sure we got all our free goodies … or "F R E" as she kept saying. like i said .. she's hilarious!

then we piled in her van and she drove us over to the american crafts warehouse sale. we didn't get a picture of that … they didn't really have any signs outside. but inside … that place was packed with the most amazing deals EVER! not to make you all too jealous. but a 100 sheet pack of pattern paper for $3 … thickers at 10 for $10 … 25 yard ribbon spools for $2 … 12×12 albums for $8 … and on and on. yeah … all three of us were in some AC heaven. lol! after we got done there … shaunte drove us back to our rental car to unload. and then we all said goodbye … until tomorrow when we meet up for our big lunch.

then deneen and i dropped by her cousins house for a little bit. she lives out here … and we'll be staying there on saturday night. we chatted for a bit … killing some time since there was traffic going back to the hotel. then we found a place for dinner … just grabbed some panda express. and when deneen read her fortun cookie … it said "you will find a real bargain". which we thought was hilarious … since we had found lots of real bargains. but then we decided to stop by kohls. i didn't actually bring a carry-on bag … and we decided that i'd better get one to fit all the stuff we have accumulated. lol!

 

and then we found this incredible deal. some of that luggage was so expensive. so i actually had an adias duffle bag in my hand … for $25. but i commented that this green carry-on was so darn cute. so glad i actually looked at the sale tags. it was originally $100 … but was on sale for 70% off … and an additional 15% off for some night sale they were having. a 3 piece set … and i walked out the door only paying $23, with tax. i've never bought a piece of luggage in my life … but that seemed like a great deal to me!

 

here's what i came home with today. that black gift bag is from everyone at CK … and was filled with lots of goodies that were all made in utah. salt water taffy, fudge brownie mix, truffles, caramel popcorn, jelly, honey, and some other stuff. i thought that was special that they found things unique to utah. and then all my other stuff. hard to see some of it … i wasn't very good at displaying it all. lol! and just so that my husband or my parents freak … thinking i spend a ton of money on all this. i only spent $65 today!

 

now … deneen did an excellent job at displaying her goodies from the day! although she does have more than me. lol! so much fun stuff. she almost had me convinced on the revolution too … but i held off until i try out her's. and she got some albums … she wanted more, but knew they wouldn't fit in our bags.

and we're not even sure we can fit all this in our bags. lol! kind of hard to totally figure it out … since we still have 2 days left. we have to check out of the hotel bright and early tomorrow morning … so we did the best we could. but once we get to deneen's cousins house tomorrow night … we'll really be able to work it all out.

and i think that's it for today. i'm going to head to bed … since it's 1:00am now. i kid you not … this blog post took me about 2 hours to type up. lol! i think it was all the linking … that's what took me forever. tomorrow morning we're meeting wendy over at starbucks to hang out … cannot wait to meet my good friend! and then after that, we're meeting up with a bunch of other girls for lunch. i can't wait … it's going to be so much fun! so … back tomorrow night with more updates!

day one of our utah trip. I think we were both up by about 3:00am. with just a few hours of sleep. on the road by 4:00am. and at the airport by 5:00am. got the baggage checked super quick. and went to get in line for the security checks. unloaded laptop, ipods, cell phones, keys, purses, and shoes onto the belt. and went through the detectors. apparently i looked fairly suspicious (could have been the big baggie sweatshirt i was wearing). so they stuck me on the side and sent a lady over to pat me down. lol! we only had about 10 minutes to wait. before we boarded this plane here. and you can see us, right? deneen is taking the picture, and that's me next to her.

packed into a very tiny row of seats. with no room to move. people watched and chatted until it was time for take-off. then i closed my eyes. and prayed that everything would be ok. i couldn’t look out the window. we were right by the big wing. mind you, i haven’t flown in about 15 years. lol! finally took off and got up in the air. above the clouds, right about when daylight hit.

an hour and 45 minutes later, we were in salt lake city, utah. although utah is an hour ahead of our time, so instead of it being 7:45am, it was 8:45am. made our way out to the baggage claim. by the time we got there, our bags were the only ones left. grabbed them and found the rental car spot. got a car, and found our way to the hotel. were a little worried that we wouldn’t be able to check in yet, since it was 9:30am. and check-in time wasn’t until 3:00pm. but they were cool and let us in.

super nice room, but a super small bathroom. also expensive. parking cost us $15 a day for valet parking. it would have cost us $12 a day if we parked it ourselves. so we decided it was worth the extra $3 to have them do it for us. stopped off for some starbucks. I’m thinking they cost more here in the hotel, and it didn’t take off my gold card discount. but it did hit the spot and help get me going a little. we took just enough time to freshen up, actually do our hair, and put our “for-real” clothes on. then we headed out to the “gateway” to find some breakfast/lunch. apparently you have to pay to park there too. i think you have to pay to park anywhere in this town. lol! finally just settled on McDonalds.

then we headed out towards this place.

 

i figured if we came all the way to utah, we couldn’t NOT go to making memories! and luckily, they were happy to have us stop by for a little tour. jenny was super nice to show us all around the offices and introduce us to everyone. she kept saying that it wasn’t that interesting. but i think i could have spend forever there, just taking it all in. i find it quite fascinating how they go through the entire process. of getting ideas and products from the thinking stages, all the way to the final product and packaging. i honestly loved getting a small peek inside their creative world. and kind of neat to see some of my projects hanging around the office or on the wall!

and we ran into margie while we were walking out. perfect timing. it was so fun to meet everyone and see the people behind the emails and phone calls. and both margie and jenny were so sweet. and jenny totally made deneen’s day when she gave her the coveted puffy alphabets that she has been looking for. lol! she is totally grateful! and totally ignore my goofy looks. i'm not usually in front of the camera … and i was going off no sleep. lol!

on the way back, we found a fun scrapbook store to check out. neither of us bought too much. but found some fun things that we’d been looking for. then stopped at michaels, just because it was there. headed back to salt lake city and stopped for some snacks and sodas at 7-eleven. then spent forever trying to find somewhere to eat. like somewhere familiar. and not fast food. we needed something good, since we were super tired and hungry and had been up for hours. and we drove and drove and drove. finally stumbled upon macaroni grill, and had the most delicious pasta ever. so good, and totally hit the spot.

and then back to the hotel. at 6:00pm. which is really 5:00pm in our world. super early and yet we’re super tired. just relaxed some. got pictures uploaded and ready to share, typed up this post. and we’re watching gray’s anatomy. just paid $9.95 for the next 24 hours of internet. lol! i could have gone down to the lobby and used my wireless connection. but i'm too tired and lazy right now. then i think we’re going to head to bed early. tomorrow is our meeting with creating keepsakes. and then a few other plans. so stay tuned for more tomorrow!

and i havn't even read my emails yet from today. or read everyone's comments on my post from last night. i'm sure they were all sweet and supportive … and i will be reading them after i'm done posting. so i thank you all now! but i will say that my girls are doing fine. they miss me lots … and i have some emails from them. but we're all doing ok!

i'm leaving in a little over 5 hours. at 4:00AM … which is just absurdly early for me. heading for the airport. my bag is packed … although probably missing lots of things. i have a few warm clothes and a jacket … but probably not enough for the cold weather ahead. my laptop is about ready to get packed up … along with cell phone, ipod, and chargers. joe is at work … so my mom is coming over to sleep here in a bit. they all have instructions for what to get done … and what everyone has going on these next few days.

and my girls … they're tucked in bed and trying to sleep. one is doing fairly well … and one is having a hard time. and it's breaking my heart. seriously … i cannot even tell you. i have tears streaming down my cheeks as i type this. i miss them already … and they're only a few feet away from me. i know they'll be ok … and well taken care of. but makes me sad to know that they're worried. i have never left them … never. they've left me for fun places … but i've never left them. funny thing is … i never want to leave them. i'm happy right here … at home … in our little life.

but with that said … i know i'm going to have a fun couple of days. so glad i get to share this experience with such a good friend. and am looking forward to meeting some of my online friends. we have plans … lots of little plans here and there over the next few days. i hope that will help me relax and not worry too much.

because like i told sarah … "if you don't worry so much and just have fun … the time will go by so much faster"! and i'll be back home before they know it!

today is december 1st … not even sure how that happened. lol! but that means that it's the first day of journal your christmas … and i'm totally up for this again this year. 

   

definately check out this class if you havn't already. i had heard of it before. but it wasn't until last year that i actually signed up for it. and i can totally thank nichol for inspiring me to do it. i had watched her album from the previous year … and loved seeing what she did last year too. she has her albums linked on her blog. and here is some of my album from last year. and the nice thing … is that once you take the class … you get it free every year after. so it's something you can do every christmas if you want.

 

this year, i'm all about making this simple. i feel so overwhelmed this year with everything going on in life … and i just know that if i want to keep up with this journal this year … i have to keep it simple. so i came up with this idea … using a regular 2-up photo album. these are the papers i picked out … a ton of making memories papers (from about 6 different collections) and background papers from scenic route. i cut them all down to 4×6 … and already have them all arranged in the album.

   

this is basically what each day will look like. this is NOT the prompt for december 12th necessarily … i was just tossing one in there to get a feel for how i was going to do it. this was my planning page … to see how it turned out. but it gives you the idea of what i'm doing. each day will have the 4 spots … one for the date, one for my journaling prompt, one for a photo, and one for the journaling.

 

i have all the tags in the album, along with the "december". i just have to finish adding the numbers … i'm using the slice with the falala design card. i'll type up the prompts as they come to me … and i'm just printing them on transparencies. then i just added kraft cardstock strips … that i used my SU scalloped punch on … and tied on some string. super simple.

 

then i'll add a photo pretaining to that day's prompt. i didn't use a single photo last year in my album … so this year, i want to include the photos too. for this one … i just printed 2 photos (3×4 each) together on a 4×6 size photo. for the journaling … i'm just going to use my own handwriting. it's quick and easy … so i know it won't take much to get it done. each spot also has a half circle cut from cardstock … that i'll add a stamped image, diecut, rubon … or whatever i happen to have on hand.

so i probably won't be sharing these every day … since they're all going to look very similiar. lol! but i'll share them in groups maybe once a week … and start an album on the sidebar.

did i mention that deneen and i leave for utah in less than 3 days?!?! i havn't even thought about packing or anything. i don't even have a suitcase …. or a heavy jacket … or a carryon bag … or even know what i can bring in my bags. lol! but i cleared up a bunch of projects as of late last night … so as of now, i have nothing going on. i taught an album class here at my house yesterday … had 8 great ladies come and am mailing out a few extra kits. so that is all pretty much done. and finished some assignments last night and got everything mailed out today for that too. so now i should be able to find some time to start thinking about this trip!

time for our next challenge. this time mary and i invited lisamarie to play along with us. lisamarie had emailed us both a while ago asking about getting involved with a regular challenge thing. and this was right about the time that mary and i were thinking about making this a regular thing between us. it was so fun to hear from someone that was excited about the challenge idea too.

so this week … it was a doozy. we decided on the following:
1. the color purple … which is mary and i's least favorite color to scrap with (and turns out, not a favorite of lisamarie's either)
2. vellum … something i havn't used in ages, and thought would help tone down the purple
3. ribbon … we all love ribbon
4. the number 13 … worked into our layout in one way or another

first up is lisamarie's layout … which you can see HERE. next up, we have mary's layout … which you can read more about HERE.

and here is my layout.

 

a little different from my normal scrapping. this layout was not planned at all. i was actually looking for purple pattern paper … when i came across these ki memories tags. they come all on a sheet … arranged just like you see them here … in the same order. and i realized that there were 13 of them on the sheet … perfect for our "13" part of the challenge. i just punched them all out and adhered them in the same pattern on a piece of cardstock.

 

i stapled some vellum on either side of the layout. and for my title letters … i was just looking for some while letters and came across these. how i choose "my day" for my title … i have no idea. then when it came time to journal … the title dictated what i was going to journal about. i found some rubons that sort of fit the theme … and worked those on some of the tags. that "create" sticker is bugging the heck out of me … but it's stuck on there, so it was to stay. lol! and not a great hand writing day for me … but it works i guess.

 

we hope some of you will join in this challenge .. and then share what you created. for the last challenge, we had a couple of you share … carla and carine. i though there were more of you. lol! if you did play along, be sure and leave us a comment and link us over … we'd love to see!