Lean In

A fun little day...

Today has been a super easy going day...Bailey and I went to lunch with my Mom

at Chili's...and I was good and had a side salad and just a few chips...

and then I went to the gym later and ran/worked it off...two people have told me today that my butt looks smaller, so baby, that's all I need to hear to keep me motivated...even if it was my Mom and Brad...lol...

Here's another layout with a Picasa collage..from my birthday in December..I added a digital frame and then that super cool date stamp and journaled digitally onto there...and then slapped it on some paper...super simple...voila..my birthday is done..click to see it larger (heck, I can't figure out how to size things so that when you click on it, you can see the whole thing? Can anyone help me?)...

Alrighty, gotta go fix dinner...Have a great weekend...gotta work half a day tomorrow and then Sunday we're going to a fun Super Bowl party at Michael and Meredith's..can't wait..expect another collage of pictures...Ha...

Silly, silly kids...

I just grabbed my camera the other day and started shooting randomness outside...and this is what I got...silly kids.

I think Chaz thinks he's doing the "rock star" sign here, hee hee, but we won't tell him the difference...

 

See what I have to live with?

Aren't I lucky?  :)

Tuesday Randoms...

First off, we celebrated my Father in law's birthday (which was yesterday) on Sunday...

Yummmm, caramel cake..wow, it was good! We love you Papa!

(and since we've been talking about collages in Picasa, I figured out that you CAN make square collages..just pick the "CD cover" option for shape..and it's not small..when I make one and open it in Photoshop, it's like 53x53? so I just resize to whatever square I want it to be like 8x8..that size works great on layouts...)

Here's a layout where I picked random old pictures...this was an anniversary trip Brad and I took to Toronto in JANUARY '04..needless to say, it was freezing and when we went to Niagra Falls on the Canada side, it was a swirling mass of ice..funny memories..Brad always thinks we're going to save money going places on the off season, but it is the "off season" for a reason, ya think? hilarious...

I based this on a Becky Higgins sketch..couldn't find a pic of the sketch, but only her layout of it...the problem I have with her sketches is the large amount of "white space" she uses..I"m not a big "white space" girl on my layouts..it drives me crazy..so I filled some of it in with that snowflake I cut with my Cricut and SCAL...ehhh, not my most favorite layout ever, but it's done and the pictures weren't that great to start with, so I'm moving  on...see those pics of me drinking beer? well, there was this restaurant within walking distance from our hotel that had the BEST amber beer and chips/salsa..I think we ate there like three times...and the picture of Brad acting like he's climbing  over a railing? there's a sign there saying not to do it into Niagra Falls..and of course he has to be silly and pretend like he is...like I said, silly times...those pictures of the city and of us in that glass looking place was the CN Center (I think is what it was called)..you could ride this elevator way up to the top and they had a glass bottom floor..freaky..you could see the whole city from up there...

and here's her layout from the CK site...

Life group is at our house tonight, so need to get going on cleaning up the house a bit...I'm making a huge batch of jumbalaya tonight for everyone..yum...

I hope to post again later tonight cause there's some other things I want to talk about...

Photo collage in action...

So, I made this collage in Picasa in 10x8, added a digital brush by Ali Edwards, thinking ahead that I would layer my title somehow, printed it out, slapped it on some pretty paper and added a few accents, and voila--my Thanksgiving pictures from this past year are scrapped..YAY! I need to move that flower in a just a bit so it will fit into the page protector...I've been saving this American Craft paper for a Thanksgiving layout one day..and that strip underneath the collage is Scenic Route...matched so well...

 

See how awesome these collages are and how they can simplify your scrapping of events with lots of pictures..really, the collage I posted earlier today, I could just print out and use on a layout and I don't know how many pictures are in that thing? Just do them in varying sizes to mix it up a bit...it's too bad they don't have square sizes though..I'm working on figuring out a way around that...

A fun yesterday and my new obsession...

(Click to see picture full size)

Yesterday, Bailey and I spent the morning at Joann's house for a playdate/birthday party for Benjamin, who just turned 4..Love our girl time we get to have while the kids run off and play and bother us very little..lol..by the way, Susan, Savannah, and Ty were there too, but had to leave a little early before I broke out the camera...anyways, we had a great time!

And my new obsession? Picasa collages! I never knew you could make these so easily until I was reading the digital scrapbooking blog over at Scrapbooks, Etc online and what do ya know? Candi Gershon shared about this feature I didn't know about..and you know how I take a ton of pictures at events and stuff..well, now, you just fill your tray with the pictures you want and click "create collage" and it does..and you can shuffle the pics to how you want them and add the white borders however thick, etc..and then, later add text to the top...and if you want, print them out..there are lots of different sizes you can make them (and all this time, I've been making them manually in Photoshop and it takes some time!)...sooooo, this is what I FINALLY decided to do for my Disney pictures from a year ago..do collages in 8 1/2 by 11 size and slap together a book...can't wait..I've already made two collages...I'm definitely obsessed! It's amazing that this software is free..it's made by Google, so just go to Google.com and download it...I use it all the time to browse through my million pictures and I've been using it to do simple edits too...LOVE IT!

Well, we're spending this rainy Saturday at home..Chaz was supposed to have a BMX race today, but don't think that's going to happen..Brad is working overtime today (funny how God blessed us with that after I have not been working lately..thank you Lord)...missing him this am at home though...Chaz is getting his fix of Playstation..he's been playing all morning...we're all still in our PJ's , so need to get moving!

OH, and thanks so much for all of your encouragement you left on my last post! I'm over it now..I'm supposed to work Monday, so we'll see...

Have a great weekend!

Edited to add: Here's the link to the blog post where I learned about the collages. And another thought, after you make the collages, it looks cute to add some of those awesome digital brushes to the top for decoration from Designer Digitals...I used one of Ali Edward's holiday ones on a Thanksgiving collage I made and scrapped..I've got to add the journaling and then I'll post it soon.

Feeling a little discouraged today...

This whole nursing thing is starting to stress me out..I never know when I'm going to work and when they're going to call and cancel me..and lately, they like to call when I'm already in the shower with my hair wet..grrrrrrr...see, I work an "as needed" status called "prn"  or "per diem" in nursing terms..not sure what that means in latin or whatever, but it's pretty much "as needed"..I don't get benefits because we get that from Brad's job..so I make more an hour and fill in the spots on the schedule where there is a need for a nurse..well, it used to be that they always needed someone to work..seemed like we were always chronically short in the staffing department, so basically, I could just name my days I wanted to work, and I worked..however, being prn, you are kindof at the top of the list when it comes time to cancel someone for that shift because full and part time people have the priority, and rightfully so

...well, now, that old system hasn't been working..it's been kindof rough through the holidays..and I only work once a week, so when I get cancelled, that's it for the week because I've already sent the kids to spend the night at the in laws and they do it once a week, know what I mean? Having small children, I can't just work at the drop of a hat because sometimes they do call me when they need someone badly that day for whatever reason..when I plan to work, it's a planned out thing..both Brad and I have to leave so early in the morning is why they have to spend the night away...so, I changed my strategy and started actually calling the charge nurses on the two units I work on and asking which days they were short and signing up for those days so I would actually be in staffing for that day...instead of just the supervisor putting me where they needed me like I used to do...

...well, apparently that hasn't been working either for the last two weeks..I know I don't work much, but the two days I work, my paycheck comes to a pretty good amount that helps our checkbook...and I know it stresses Brad out too...soooo, I call today and sign up for shifts in February and one of the charge nurses is like 'why don't you just tell the supervisor when they call to cancel you to call someone else"...uh, right..most of them are not very open to doing all that..they just want to get the staffing done..it's 5am in the morning and they've been there all night..and I'm the prn person...

...so, I've got to come up with a new strategy or hope the hospital picks back up in their business..patient numbers have just been low, the upper management is on our supervisor's backs to keep staffing as low as possible (and safe, of course), the hospital is hurting in business, etc etc..same thing that's going on everywhere...and we have this "staffing matrix" that only allows x amount of nurses for x amount of patients..and they are sticking by that for sure...

so, if you made it this far..thanks..just venting...

I did this purely for history's sake...

So, I called Brad at work and asked him to pick up a newspaper on his way home and to make sure Obama was on the front..I knew I wouldn't get a great reaction, but I reminded him that I had to take a picture every day and today was not only our anniversary, but a big day in our country's history (even if we aren't Obama worshippers)...soooooooooo, we had Chaz take this picture for our Project 365 album...maybe I'll actually get my kit one day..I was lucky enough to get one of the "backordered" ones...sigh.....but I'm sticking with it...and one day, this will be neat for our kids to look back on..you have to keep that in mind, ya know...

and then, we threw the paper to the side and got a picture with just us on our 13th anniversary..Chaz took this and it is unedited..pretty good, huh?

and back to the Obama thing, can I just add that Aretha, dear Aretha Franklin, you BUTCHERED that poor song you sang!!! Ugggh, I had to turn the radio station because I was on the road at the time and listening to it on talk radio...I bet the Inauguration Committee was regretting that decision...lol...however, Obama gave a good speech although there were a few things I would argue...he's our President now, and I will pray for him and support him as our leader..I hope he proves me wrong...however we must remember that one man cannot turn around a nation..it's going to take all of us to do our part...but I like how the nation is finally appearing to "come together" ...and I must add also, that if it was McCain becoming our President today, I wouldn't be that thrilled either...

Oh, and I bet those people who were out there since 4am were freezing their booties off..it was cold enough here..and I like cold weather, but dang, the wind made it cruel...and I can't imagine how those politicians keep going and going nonstop all day to different events, etc..when do they sleep or rest? 

I'm a lucky girl...

Today, I get to celebrate 13 years of friendship and love with my best friend...God blessed me with the most perfect person for me,and I'm thankful for him everyday..He always has my back, he loves me no matter what, he's an excellant father to our kids, he's a hard worker, he's seriously funny, he gives great back rubs, he is a Christian, he's dang cute,he makes the best fires, he keeps me balanced and from going over the edge every now and then...we're a team, that's for sure, and that's how we've always been...we've had great fun and we've been through some hard times, but those times only brought us closer and God totally knew what He was doing when He put us through those hard times...we came out stronger and closer and with greater faith...and with two kids that are perfect for us and that complete our family...

I really couldn't ask for anyone better..Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with this man...

 

 

I love you Brad, with all of my heart!

 

Happy Anniversary!

 

Smoooooooch...

More layouts...

Here's the other sketch Cynthia and I are doing..still waiting on Cynthia's versions..ahem..just kidding, girl..you usually beat me in these things...

(CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO SEE THEM MUCH LARGER)

These pics are from Chaz's bday party with the grands on his actual bday..haven't done one for his big party with friends yet...

I have to say that I'm running out of titles for bday pages...

and here are a few layouts that have been taking up room on my scrap table for lack of journaling...

Christmas morning from 2007..a total Ali Edward's lift...

and this layout..nope, you didn't read the title wrong, it is indeed "The Boob Cruise"..doesn't mean there were any boobs shown on the trip or anything..we just called it that because it was 10 girls that went..can you believe we got 10 girls together and coordinated for a cruise? amazing...I''m so glad that Meredith had typed up a list of inside jokes from this trip way long ago and I kept it with these pictures cause that's what all the little strips are..I didn't even take my camera on this trip...what the HECK was I thinking? crazy and I regret it now, but I lived in the moment..so these pics are a collection of other people's pictures..and that picture of Kelley with the afro on? one of my favorite pics EVAH....I did the new favorite thing where I added in a little extra pictures...

ahhhhh, man, that was a FUN trip...can't believe it's been almost 6 years ago...

OK, we're off to get Bailey a major haircut..thinking a bob to her shoulders..it's gotten so long and stringy..

Just a bunch of scrapbooking stuff...

First off, I'm now going to a weekend scrapbook retreat at the end of March wth Joanna, Joy, Laura, and several other ladies ...so excited about that!

Second, Cynthia and I have started back our sketch challenges and I picked the first two..can't share the sketch because it was from the Cathy Zielske class, but I'm pretty sure you could figure it out...lol..this is the first one, the other is a two pager and I have my pics all printed out for that and plan to put it together today...hopefully...

 

Third, remember I started the Ali Edward's December Daily album..wellllllll, I've gotten through day 9..lol..and here's some of them..ended up using an acrylic 8x8 album by Scrapworks, but I'm not really enjoying the square shape, so next year, I will use a rectangular size...

For the cover, I simply could not resist the cute Martha Steward Santa stickers they had at Michael's..and I cut the snowflake with my Cricut and SCAL..LOVE those snowflakes..there's a guy who shares free SVG files on his blog once a week, and one week was a set of snowflakes..the letters are black glitter American Crafts..

 

Day 1..about going to get our Christmas tree..

A transparency with one of Ali's journaling blocks printed on paper

 

I printed the picture full 8x8...

 

Day 2..talking about getting my Christmas cards designed..

 

 

Day 3...about working all day and how comforting it was to come home to my cozy house all lit up..

 

Day 4...Chaz working on his homework project..a cute Christmas tree..love how it turned out (and I promise I had NOTHNG to do with it..ha), and then going out with my girlfriends for dinner that night...

I used one of those baseball card pages cut to size for the pics of Chaz...

 

Day 5: I'm not totally finished with that one, so didn't take a picture..

Day 6..Pancakes with Santa at Chaz's school

 

 

Day 7...Decorating the tree..

I used a transparency with some rub ons over the photo collage..

 

I made the photo collage in Photoshop, flattened the layers and then added one of Ali's Holiday Word Art brushes over the top..

 

and that's as far as I've taken pictures..more to come here and there...

On a different note, it was 13 degrees here this morning! Love it!

And last night I chatted on the phone with one of my far away blog/internet friends, Julie Amber Jones, about some photography stuff..so fun to hear how people sound in real life! :)

I've been working on getting about four sessions added to my photography blog that I did last month, so check it out later...

And I just now got all my Christmas village packed up..seriously..although I wasn't in a huge hurry to put it up..however, it was now time..glad that's over with...whew...

Have a great day!