Sing with me, sing for the years

sing for the laughter....sing for the tears..... Dream on Dream on Dream until your dreams come true. Try getting that song out of your head today!

 I'm sitting here watching a Carrie Underwood & Steven Tyler concert on CMT. Never would have thought of them together, but I haven't moved. And that's what I've done with my morning so far! Another week done gone by, can you believe May 1st is Tuesday! This year will soon be half over. I'm not sure why it seems to be going so fast, but it is.

Went to TX yesterday for some cake tasting. It was yummy good. Had lunch with Jess & Josh. Then went and bought myself a dress for my date tonight! Love new clothes!! Went to pick up a few flowers to finish out my front bed and discovered that hanging baskets were half off. I picked up this huge Boston Fern, there were no prices around, thought it's prob $20 and I'm not getting it if it is. At the register I said to the young man, "before we get started can you tell me how much this plant is"... he said "well they are half off, lets check". $3.97. I said "SHUT UP!!" I thought, hmmmm, I'm going to get another one... and for some reason I felt the need to tell everyone I encountered that these plants were $3.97! Bet they sold a lot of hanging baskets yesterday!

 Here are a couple of more pages done for the Blow Out of 2010. I need to get busy, 2012 Blow Out is just a few weeks away. This guy, Vince Vance, he had us laughing all night long. You never knew what he was going to come out wearing!

Love the gold stars. Thanks Melissa! She showed me the gold Mr. Huey... and yikes! It is most amazing! The pennants with the Epiphany Craft Punch were just the right touch. Planning to use that little tool much more in the future. Used some washi tape on both pages, never get tired of it.

Have yourself a great day! I'm off to get a few plants in the ground!

Springtime means....

lots and lots of yard work! While I love it, I really think my yard grew over the winter. It really seems soooo much bigger! It takes a lot to get it in shape from the winter months. Crape Myrtle trees to cut back, (we have 10 of them), shrubs to be shaped, (let me tell you, no one would pay me for this skill I'm lacking in!), weeds to be pulled, soil to turn, moneky grass to fight... you get the idea. Buuuuut, since spring came early, I've flowers blooming already, butterflies everywhere, some serious pretty going on in the backyard! Plus, it looks as if Jessica has been bitten by the flowers in the yard bug. She spent the better part of yesterday building a flower bed in her front yard. After 234 text messages and 187 phone calls, she has one finished... and it looks really good! Even with all the yard work, I've still found time to clean house, do laundry, go to work, and scrap! Sheesh, no wonder I'm tired! Here is my May entry for my Project 12. A sketch from Pagemaps was used.

My first real try at stamping with markers. It's so neat, even if I do sound a little strange blowing on the stamp!

A little paint can make naked chipboard pop.

Thanks for taking time to stop by. Have yourself a wonderful day!

this tickles me!

Positive thinking helps....

right?? Someone tell me it does!! Sunday started the week off perfectly. We had a sermon at church that really spoke to me... (if some of you don't know, David has started playing guitar at church on Sunday mornings). Anyway, I came home thinking alright... this is going to be a good week. We made a decision over the weekend about a job opportunity that I felt good about.. the day was restful...watched some Ranger baseball... then Monday came.. and while it could certainly be much worse.... we got some not so great news about our house, which really had us bummed... then Tuesday.. new day right... some more not so great news from our attorney over Matt's case. Matt was involved in an auto accident on the way to the attorney's office... and the negatives are keeping me from focusing on the positives.

Also on Tuesday, Jessica was offered a contract at the school she has been long term subbing at, for the special education position. She is very excited... a weeee bit nervous... but ever so excited. She really loves the school there and has bonded so with the kids already.

So, I'm thinking more positive thinking will help... and it's a new day... and it's going to be a great day. I'm meeting a man at noon to see about getting some trees trimmed back, and I'm feeling positive that his price is going to be the same great price it was last year!! So, that's that... and positive thinking, with some praying goes a long way!!

Below you will see my next layout for Project 12. Yes, I know it is for April 2011, what are you trying to say?? I was at a recent retreat and managed to get several months done. At next months, maybe I'll get it finished. ha... who am I kidding... think there are about 150 wedding invitations waiting to be made. **sigh**

It was a fun layout to create... and looking at it makes me smile. Not because I love it so.... but because it was created about 3 am, with very little sleep the night before... and there are things I put on there backwards! You just have to love it!! I did use some washi tape on it!!

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my rambles! :) :) :) :)

In a little bit.....

that's what has been going on with the no posting on the blog. I'll do it in a little bit... and then a little bit comes and it's I'll do it in a little bit... someone tell me I'm not the only one that does that! I could give you a hundred reasons why I didn't have time... but honestly, it was a effort issue... as in I didn't want to put out the effort! How sad is that? But hey, admission is half the battle right... so I've now admitted to the blogging world that I've been LAZY.

I have however been doing some creating.... the mojo seemed to return about mid Feb, and I'd have a lot more done if I hadn't been LAZY. Maybe I should title this post the admission of LAZY. It's really not my fault, my chair just is so comfortable... and my husband keeps saying we need to watch these shows, the DVR is getting full!

The DVR, ha... I need to do a layout on it! Brain storming here! David likes it to be under 40%, I'm not sure why it needs to be?? We've got a lot of shows recording right now, and we each had a fun friend trip a few weekends ago, our DVR was setting at 91% last night... I'd planned to work on my project life.... bet you can guess what I did instead!

Here are a couple of layouts waiting to go into their albums. The first from my NYC trip a few years ago... I'm going to get that completed yet. Elaine and I'd gone into Hard Rock Cafe there, not hard to believe they were full of Beatle Memorabilia. It was really cool to see all of the stuff.

I don't love this layout... but I called it done. Embrace it, put it in the album, and move on.... my new moto.

Another layout from Jessica's Dallas trip with the girls. I remember being so worried about just the 4 of them going on this trip and wanting to tell her no, just so I'd know she was home and safe. Funny, I still want to tell her she can't go on trips so I'll know she is home and safe!

I honestly can't remember if maybe I didn't use a sketch for this layout. Isn't that awful to not remember! I do know on the label, I lifted that from Melissa. Isn't it cute! She is just full of inspiration for me!

I used a kit from Studio Calico on it. I do like this layout. I really like the colors, and the filter that I misted using Mr. Hueys. Let me tell you, it feels good to be using my SC kits. I've been hoarding them way too long!

Thanks for taking the time to visit!

My Jess-a-belle!

I've been meaning to write a post about my Jessica, the lady she has grown up to be, how proud I am of her, and how she really is a bright star in my life.    let me warn you, it's picture heavy.


This was her 20 years ago, waiting to perform at a dance recital. That smile she has on her face, she kept it there daily for about the next 10 years.  She'd smile while playing soccer and softball, the entire game.  She'd smile while on stage dancing.  She'd just smile at total strangers.  She loved me so during that time, until one day she looked at a picture and saw how I had styled her hair.  That was they day she told me I could no longer fix her hair!  Only her Aunt Devia.

Then 15 years later she met a boy.  Somehow I knew this boy was going to be different from any other one she'd ever met.  It could have been how on Christmas night, just two months after dating they told me they were getting married... and I went nuts.. told her that was the most insane thing I'd ever heard.  She didn't even know him... but she says, he is being deployed to Afghanistan in a few weeks and we want to get married first. I'm thinking if she is going to marry this boy then I'll have to stop calling him this boy!  Josh was very nice... teased me a lot about them getting married.... cause you see, it was a big mean joke... that I didn't find out about for a few hours because I left the house.

But propose, Josh did, and with great style.  If you haven't read the story of his proposal, you shoul d take and minute to go look at her webpage. It's a great story.  What her story doesn't tell is I'd have Josh texting me telling what was going on and her texting asking if I knew what was going on.  Anyway, take a minute and look at it if you have time.       www.mywedding.com/jgreeneandjmckee

Then things got crazy after that.  Jess first needed to finish school, and she did.  She did really well, sat on a couple of boards, and maintained an excellent GPA.  There are no words to describe how proud you feel at that moment.  It tends to make me get a little weepy, and I just get really quiet and find me a corner.  Strange for me I know.

An education degree, with a certification in Special Eduacation. Then she went out and got a job. A 5 day a week, teaching 3 & 4 year old children. She loves it!  And she loves those kiddos.

She's had quite the year, because then she treated herself.  She and Josh went shopping and she came home with a new car.  She loves this !  It's a sweet little ride... and she hasn't let me drive it yet. I don't understand!

And since she has now graduated college, it's time to work on the wedding.  We gathered up her bridesmaids and went dress shopping.  I must say, I was a little worried about having them all there at once... but it was not bad at all.  They are really funny.  I had my BF there as well, she took care of the dresses and Jess, cause she knows that stuff, and I stood back and did what I do... took a 100 pictures!

The girls all going through the dresses trying to help her find one, and they each picked one they liked and made her try it on. Some of them she'd just give her friend a look, not even say a word.

 Here are the girls, (we are missing  one, K'Lea, she arrived a little late) as they wait for her to come stand in front of the mirror and ooohh and ahhhh, or do her quick 5 second glance and say nope!

Here's a little sneak peek at the dress she feel in love with.  She rang the bell, and I started to cry.  I walked towards a corner and she followed me... guess so she could cry to.  It truly was a moment I'll never forget!

The picture is a little blurry.... but it's ok... it's supposed to be a secret!  Her daddy isn't even getting to see the dress until the moment!

A few weeks ago I went with Jess & Josh and took some pics that they could use as engagment and to get their Save The Dates ordered. I think we will be going back in a month to do more... but for now thought I'd share a couple of my favs.

And the final thing I want to say, is that yesterday was my Jess-a-belle's birthday, she turned 23, so Happy Birthday My Beautiful Daughter!   I'm pretty positive she's happy, and isn't that what we really want for our kids... to be happy.  Well that and for them to take care of us when we are old!!  And now, guess we'll be getting busy with wedding plans.  The next few months are going to be busy.  But great!

I love you bug!