do you....

snapchat?  cause if you don't, you should!  it is like one of the greatest things out there today!  my kids will send me a picture on snapchat, and you have to look quick, because it's gone, forever, in 10 seconds or less! they will make silly, crazy faces.  or sing to me.  or write me sill notes. and I do it back, and I love it! 

 

there is dance dance Monday! I have a friend (I know, shocking) that on Monday's will video herself dancing and send it to me through snapchat! I've even done it back a time or two.

 

snapchat is all about letting your silly side come out, and sharing it with someone, who will never be able to use it against you cause it's gone in 10 seconds. so you can bump and grind to Pour Some Sugar on Me, send it out to 12 of your closest friends, and go to sleep that night knowing it will not be up on youtube tomorrow!

 

only problem, when your friend ties a plastic bag on their head and dances with a broom, you can't use it against them either. or when your son sends a darling picture of your cupcake, it's gone in ten seconds.

 

we just got with the smart phone world about 7 weeks ago, so it's been a little slow going for us.  but now, I snapchat!  my husband loves getting snapchats of me singing!!!!  I instagram! I don't twitter yet, but there is always tomorrow! need to make changes to your fantasy baseball team and forgot, no problem... use the smart phone!

 

so how about you? do you snapchat??

 

 

I am loving circles on my layouts right now.  we might be seeing a lot of them over then next month or so.  good thing I bounce around from album to album, so when I get into one of these phases all the pages don't look alike in one album.

 

 

 

I really like the layering here.  not sure you can tell, but I did some stitching too.  it was in the middle of the afternoon, harsh lighting, when I took these photos, so some of the detail was lost.

this layout holds a special place in my heart, and my scraproom!

 

it's back to work now.  wishing you a wonderful day!

not an ordinary week...

 

my momma, she is young in this photo below, but I do like it.  I am thinking early 20's here, and could have been a model!  except she is short. 

 

 

it all started on Fri, Feb 28th.  my daddy called about noon, and handed her the phone.  they were admitting her to the local hospital with what they thought was diverticulitis. I went down, and stayed for a bit. after a few hours, in true mother fashion, she was telling me I needed to get on the road and get home before dark.... "so I didn't hit a deer".  talked to her the next morning, she was getting released.  talked with my brother, all was good.  then they were drawing her blood again because the first results looked funny and the dr thought they got mixed up, so she wanted to recheck.  got the second results, they did a CT Scan and then the dr called me.  said they were transferring her out because the radiologist saw what appeared to be a mass in her stomach area. while I was talking with the dr, my daddy called. while I was talking to him, my brother called. while I was talking to my brother, my aunt called.  everyone needed answers, myself included, and there were none yet.  so I grabbed some clothes and headed to Texas.  I did forget important pieces of clothing, including but not limited to a coat and boots.  it was 80 degrees when I left and by morning, it was 30, for the high!

 

after getting to the hospital I go in search of her room, only to be more than a little alarmed to discover they have admitted her to ICU.  I even asked the nurse, is this really ICU?  yes he said.  is it because all the other beds in the hospital are full????  no he said, as he gave me a reassuring look.  I was more than a little freaked by this discovery, thinking to myself something is going on that no one is telling me.  within the next couple of hours, a couple of drs came in, still no answers, including the fact that no one had told me as of yet why she was in ICU.  I did find out before leaving for the night that the reason she was in ICU was due to blood loss, and they had started giving her blood.

 

I don't know, maybe I was a little in shock over it all, it had happened rather fast, and honestly, I hadn't even had time to process what was going on.  my phone kept ringing, everyone was scared, myself included.  when they say there is a mass, it's not good.  mom kept telling the drs it was because she'd been taking so many ibuprofen. the plan was to do a scope in the morning, go take a look at it, and get a biopsy.  permits were signed.  Jessica and I arrived at 8:30 on the dot, that is what time they would let us in.  they were all set up in her room for the scope.  had the people there, the machine there, just waiting on the dr.  suddenly, a surgeon calls up and says STOP. do not do it. now we are really freaked out. within a short period of time the surgeon come up, says she believes it is a tear in a artery an that what they are seeing is not a mass, but a pool of blood instead, which would explain the blood loss.  that sounds better, right, a tear in the artery can be repaired.  so, instead they will do an angiogram to see if they can repair it.  and then we saw more drs.  they all agreed with Dr. Rizzo, which was reassuring.  she believed that possibly there had been a aneurysm in one of her arteries around the stomach area.  and then we waited, for the radiologist to come in.  it wasn't an emergency, it was Sunday, and there was snow and sleet out.  then all hell broke loose.

 

Jessica and I were in the waiting room, the radiologist comes in and says he was not able to repair the artery, and we know this will mean surgery, probably tomorrow.  Jess and I head back to mom's room in ICU, and discover a new dr in there, trying to find out why she is hurting so bad.  she is talking to us, they send her down for a cat scan, and when she comes back, 10 minutes later, she is not conscious.  nurses are scrambling, drs are rushing in.  it was instant! Jess and I stepped into the hall as they wheeled her in from the cat scan, everyone was running and yelling.  while they didn't come say anything to us at first, we heard a lot. too much.  you know the ICU rooms are not very private, and standing in the hall you can see in and hear all.  and they are yelling for blood, and more blood.  and more blood.

 

to be honest, I don't remember much now.  I think I blocked a lot of it out.  I did what I needed to do, talked to drs, signed surgical permits, stood by and waited, and the big one, I called my daddy and my brother to tell them they needed to get there, and get there now.  Thank God for Jessica, because I really had a couple of meltdowns, out in the hall.  I remember crying, the drs rubbing my shoulder and saying we are going to do what we can for her.  not everything is going to be ok, or we've got this, we'll fix it, just quietly, we will do everything we can for her. 

 

I had talked to so many drs my head was spinning!  the general surgeon, (who I swear saved her life!), vascular surgeon, lung specialist, kidney specialist, gastro dr, anesthesiologist.  I know there were 4 surgeons along with the vascular surgeons team in there, and that is a lot of people!  and still, we don't really know what happened, what went wrong, or what is going on.

 

by now mom is in surgery, and Jess and I are literally pacing the floor.  not only are we worried about mom, but daddy and Jeff haven't arrived yet, and there is ice on the roads. I'm not sure which was worse, being worried about my momma, wondering if my daddy and brother were safe on the ice, or watching my daddy worry about mom. they told us the surgery would take at least 2 hours from the time they got started.  I don't remember what time they took her back, but I do know it was 7:43 when Dr. Rizzo was finally able to come talk to us.

 

as it turns out, she did have a aneurysm burst, in her artery that supplies the blood to the spleen. when they did the angiogram, there was a clot, and I think they told us the wire pushed the small clot free, which then opened up the blood to flow/gush from the tear caused by the aneurysm.  she is so very lucky and blessed that is where the aneurysm was at.  because the artery went to her spleen, they were able to remove it, along with her spleen.  did you know the spleen is what helps your immune system??? I didn't.  I know people live without them, but didn't know what their function was.

 

mom told me today that not only will she need a flu shot each year, which Dr. Rizzo had already told us, but that I will too. WHAT?  this girl doesn't get shots, until now. 

 

while my story has a happy ending, I know so many do not.  so, if you still have your parents or parent with you, take a few minutes, spend some time together, and make a memory.  you will be glad you did!

 

 

and to end on a happy note, here are a couple of layouts, (with really bad sucky lighting during photography cause someone was in a huge hurry) from our time in KY last year.  yes, that is me in the top photo, in the top layout, hugging a tree like we are close!

 

and Sondra! she is so much fun!  love-love-love her!

I've got layout supply info somewhere, but didn't care to locate it this morning when I loaded the photos.  if you really want it, send me a email! 

 

blessings everyone!!

Quick Glance at October

October seemed to be either really busy or go by really fast or both! truthfully, I'm going with both. November seems to be moving at the same pace, and so far, I've just not been able to find a way to slow it down.

October found us in Wichita Falls, Evelyn got to meet Devia and loved playing with the chairs in the salon. really, what child doesn't! then we were off to the pumpkin patch and Uncle Josh bought Evelyn her first pumpkin.

love love love her laugh

 

she wasn't too sure about sitting on the straw

 

 

 

I spent 4 days in Louisville, KY with some good friends. we went out messing around downtown. took some silly pictures with some metal birds, under a bridge, in kiddie cars at the mall, yes, we just had a silly fun good time! it was the middle of the day, the sun was playing havoc on my thinking and my pictures, and I spent a good portion of the time more than a little frustrated over my sudden inability to remember how to operate a camera!

yes, everyone was looking at us, and we didn't care!

 

again we didn't care who was watching!

 

Suze showing her love for the peeps.  couldn't keep the sun off her face

 

 

 

back home, and things did not slow down. took the girls, all 3 of them, to Oklahoma City to Affair of the Heart, in the rain, but we had fun. we also spent a little too much money, but really, you know that is going to happen. anytime Jessica and I are out shopping, too much money gets spent! I did get started on Christmas Presents and bought the cupcakes holiday outfits! winning!

then off to Wichita Falls to do a photo shoot for a young family. KL and Jess have been friends since high school, the went to the same college, both with a degree in education, and even though life is busy they stay in touch. KL wanted some new family pictures, her little one is about 8 months now, and it was time. I was thrilled to go do this for her and hoping she lets me again!

aren't they sweet!

KL and her family

 

 

 

Halloween arrived, and the kids dressed up. M and K both have jobs where the dressing up is required, which works out great for a little family trick or treating. they only went to a few houses, the ones down our block, then came back, sat out in the driveway and started handing out candy. somehow, I didn't manage to get them to understand to not give out ALL the candy, save some from D, so he isn't grumpy, and by 9pm three huge bowls of candy was gone. all that remained were 4 little pieces of bubblegum. Jess dressed up for her classroom and I wish I'd been able to get a picture of that, I'm going to have to figure out how to be in two places at once!

everyone goes, even Fruitloop is dressed up

the little princess, ready to go

 

 

if you don't know, that is a Dallas Cowboy tutu she has on.  Her daddy is a huge Cowboy fan, and her momma is becoming/has become one.  E has her little foot lifted up, her eyes squeezed shut, and is giggling here.  I've had this tutu for some time now, been dying to get pictures of her in it, but she can't stand alone yet.  this is a chair that one of my snowmen sit in, and I thought, hey...  it's not very pretty, I might paint it, but then again, she will be standing alone just fine in a few months.  anyway, it's not the photo I have pictured in my head, but it'll work for now.  :)

 

 

the holiday season is almost upon us, retailers seem to think it already is, and the weekends will just be getting busier. that is ok, because I'm really determined to get out, create memories with the kids, and give them traditions to remember, because you just never know what tomorrow brings.

one last note, it is Nov 7th, and I still have a yard full of flowers, pretty blooms, and color. how crazy is that!

New Look!

Hey y'all!
I've got a new look! and I like it! I soooo needed it! Kristine Davidson made it all pretty for me, and she was so great. I can't say enough good things about her! She answered all of my questions, and that is saying a lot! Really, if you are wanting a blog update and need someone to do it for you, she is your woman!

it's still hot here, temps in upper 90's and low 100's, which is great pool/tan weather. had a little get together on Sunday for Kristin's birthday. everyone played in the pool a little, will share pics soon. played some games, ate some dinner, and then it was cake an ice cream!

Matt and Kristin are back in school, and I see Miss Evelyn daily. Pretty rough stuff being a grandma.

Jessica has started her second week with her new students, and she is just as excited this year as she was last year.

the dealership that David had worked at, that sold in December and then told him see ya, yeah, that guy, he seemed to be using company money to buy a house and new furniture and paying for family vacations for 6 to Disney Land. the investors didn't seem to like it much, a judge was brought in to sort things out, and the judge says you either sell it or I'll put it on the auction block. this was last week, bids are due by tomorrow, if needed will hit the auction block next Monday I think, he's not wasting any time. who knows what will happen, David could be back in town soon, time will tell.

and me, work is busy, drilling new wells. home is busy, have the baby lots of evenings, and can't seem to step away from candy crush. I seriously need me some rehab! CCA Candy Crush Anonymous!

and a little layout from our corn maze trip! I'm still surprised no one called the cops on us! sorry for the light glare on the picture, this is what happens when I wait til midnight to take the photos of my layouts.

easy day

it's a beautiful day in Oklahoma today. sun is shining and I need to get outside and do some yard work but can't seem to.   my laptop arrived this week, and while I was excited to get it, getting everything loaded onto it is really time consuming. :)  I've downloaded a trial version of photoshop elements, so I've been playing. and playing. and playing some more.  it's safe to say that I'm hooked!

I haven't even been in my scraproom to play for a few days, but am planning on getting in there during the Ranger game.  do a little scrapping and watch some baseball. 

I've actually set myself up a fantasy baseball team this season, and it's been fun.  David and Matt have one in the same league too, and Matt has been leading in scores since day one.  it's funny, he'll call and we'll talk baseball.  just one more memory we are making.  I think it's cool that he calls me to talk baseball.

it's a bit strange, but I've not much to say.  very unusual for my chatterbox self.

I needed to get my 4 Gossamer Blue layouts posted by today.  so far I've done the 4 each month to get my free album.  one more month to go!  woohoo!!

wishing you all a peaceful week!

I have a twin

so, I have this friend and sometimes I swear she could have been/should have been my twin.  she sends me random texts and says the most off the wall stuff, while some people might think "what is wrong with her???" I sit here and think, she is reading my mind!  I've decided she is my twin, never mind the fact that she is about 20 years younger than I am, or lives a days drive away, or even has different parents than I do, she's my twin and that's all that matters!

I got to bed late last night, again.  we DVR everything we watch, everything, because we don't like the commercials!  OK, maybe not everything, but we should, because sitting through the commercials is a bit painful.  some shows we don't watch the day they come on, but a few... oh yes, we do, for we must.  they are usually the intense ones too.  last night I watched Monday nights Castle, and his daughter was kidnapped, and it was a 2 parter, I didn't get a ending, which left me a little ummm, high strung maybe.  I needed to unwind, because lets face it, I was wound pretty tight already yesterday, off to play a little fb game.  that worked, but then it was time for Justified, and that is a must watch, can not wait until tomorrow show for the mr.  and it's a good show, it really is, but it's intense, and fast, and at times has you on the edge of your seat.  I'm telling you, it is the fastest hour on tv!  I have to talk about it after, tell D what I think Raylan should do next week, because we are tight, Raylan and me. there is no early to bed on Tuesdays!

this morning, it's raining, and I just want to stay in bed, but that's not happening! I've got a dog at the foot of the bed doing a twirly dance because the alarm has done gone off 4 times and she needs to go!  up we go, let the dogs out, pour some coffee, go turn the heater up, and what?  where is my heat? please someone, tell me you are kidding!  suddenly going to work doesn't sound so bad after all! I'll just let D deal with that mess!

Love these pictures.  Our first meet up of the imaginary peeps in Texas!  This was our first night together and doesn't everyone look happy happy happy!

Happy Birthday to ME.....

I so love these photos, because they just make me smile and all full of the warm and mushy happiness!

It was Sondra's birthday, well, not her actual birthday, but close enough.  I'm thinking Melissa came up with this idea, because it is something she would do.  We decided to get a cake for Sondra and celebrate her birthday while we were all together.  Somehow we managed to pull this off while she was with us.  I'm not sure if she thought we were talking about her or just didn't notice us all being, well nutso I guess, but I can tell you that it's a good thing Sondra likes sparkle and lights, cause we had to divert her attention a few times so we could get the cake ordered, paid for, and in the trunk of my car!

The best part, when we brought the cake out for her, and by this time, the whole house knew we were doing this, we bring the cake out and start singing happy birthday, look over, and Sondra is singing it the loudest and the happiest of all of us!  I knew at that moment that I hearted her!! We also knew at that moment that we managed to pull it off!  Although, from the looks I'm getting from her in one of the pictures, I'm not so sure she was as thrilled as we were about fooling her.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your day!

A few weeeks ago

...I took a drive to Kathi's house, to spend the weekend with her and her sister Lynn.  I spent Friday night catching up with them, and just pushing my stuff around on the table.  Then Saturday I got busy and created these 4 layouts. 

I made all 4 layouts using the

Gossamer Blue  December kit.  It was my first kit to get from them, and will not be my last.  They do this thing, if you complete and upload 4 layouts from the kit, 5 months in a row, then the 6th month they will send you a album, for free!!!  I'm trying to be all over that!!  Month one, and I got 'er done!

As you can see, I am still working on my peeps layouts.  And YES Courtney, I'm doing it to purposely make you jealous so you'll come to the next one!!

Have yourself a great day!  It's a bit cloudy here, but temps, in January, we are in the 70's!  What's not great about that!!

Suze Goes...

Happy Friday Everyone!  It's a bit cold here again, but weather says by Sunday we will be back in the 70's!  Sure is making me long for spring!

I am really making progress on my imaginary friends album!  It seems the more I get done, the more excited about it I become! I am hoping to have a big portion of it completed before the lakehouse in May.

This picture is from our first get together in Sept/Oct 2010.  Think this is when Susan and Melissa showed me how wonderful life with thickers could be!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Go shopping!

Can you guys believe that it's almost February?  That means spring is getting closer!!  It also means it is tax form time.  All I can say is thank goodness for computers!

I've really gotten behind/slow/bad/ at blogging the last few months year, which is a bit odd for me. I've been creating, I had layouts stacked up to be photographed, I always have plenty to say, so I'm not sure what the deal is.  I have decided though, that if I had a laptop I would blog more, if I had a laptop I'd spend more time playing with photos, that if I had a laptop I could spend more time in the living room with DA, that if I had a laptop I would stop whining for one!  Can you tell I'm on a quest to get a laptop? 

It's a game we play, DA and I, except I didn't know it was a game until he let it slip, and he doesn't see it as a game, but more of, well I don't know what he calls it.  Anyway, I find something I really really want, and he figures if he gives in right away and I get it, then a week later I'll just be wanting something else. So, basically the longer he can put me off, the more money he can keep, or something like that, I really don't understand his reasoning and that's not the point.  The point is, obviously for his twisted pleasure, I have to whine for a certain length of time about wanting something before it happens.  I'm thinking I'm about there!

Don't think I have to have his permission before I buy anything, because that's not quite true, just big purchases of things that he would without a doubt notice...and a laptop suddenly entering the house would not go unnoticed by the mr.

My mojo seemed to be on Christmas break, and then didn't want to come back, but after a weekend spent at Kathi's Krafty Korner life is good and the mojo is back! And the really big news, a few of us went to a expo, and I spent $20.00!  But then I came home and started making a big huge long list of  everything I am wanting from CHA.  There is some AHHH-MaZing stuff coming!

Here's another layout for my imaginary peeps retreat album.  I just seem really drawn to all the photos from our get togethers right now, it seems to keep me from missing my peeps so much. :)  I really had fun with this layout and it came together quite quickly!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by! 

Hello 2013

2013- I can't believe it's here already, but I'm ready!  I'm just hoping the first few weeks of it will be a little quiet, because the last month of 2012 was some kind of busy/crazy/shocking/what just happened! 

2013 is going to be a good year!  I just know it.  We've got a lot of unknowns going on right now, mainly

with David's job, that was part of the what just happened last month.  His place of employment sold a few weeks ago and no one is sure right now what is going to happen. 

We got our Miss Jessica moved into her very own place last month.  A super cute loft apartment, that until just a few years ago was a elementary school, and has now been converted into apartments!  How perfect is that for her! 

And in a little over 3 months we will be welcoming a sweet baby into the world.  So the next couple of months will be spent shopping for car seats, strollers, adorable little baby clothes.

See, I told you 2013 was going to be a good year!

Here's a fun layout I created a few weeks ago, from our first imaginary friends retreat in Texas.  I loved Melissa's fuzzy socks, and while we were at Wal-Greens the next day, I bought myself some.  Now, I

have several pair and always think of our first retreat when I go to put a pair on!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and here's wishing you a Happy Happy Happy New Year!

Hello Lover

I was really on a roll there for a bit, getting several layouts completed.  I'm glad too, because it seems I've hit a bit of a brick wall lately.  Guess that isn't entirely true, I've been working on my December Daily, a couple other Christmas crafts, plus it is the holidays, so cooking and cleaning and cooking and cleaning. 

This layout was a fun one to do.  Photo compliments of Serene.  I really liked

the photo, so I decided to ignore the fact that I didn't have a stitch of makeup on, hey, if I went out in public like that then I might as well scrap the photo and post it on the blog. 

This was from our little trip to the LSS, and probably the only fun thing that came from the trip to the store.  I saw this guy there and just couldn't pass up the photo op.  The owner was watching, and not very pleased, but we are quick!

Didn't do any journaling, not sure I need to for this one.  Not really much to say.

Thanks for stopping by.