Digital Community

If you are a digital scrapbooker and aren't a part of the online community, you are missing out! The women that make up this community have such big hearts. Today I was surprised with a RAK (random act of kindness) from Tracy Rivera. She sent me a coupon for her adorable Valentine kit. I'm so excited! Another thing I love about this community is that when someone is in need they rally to help. Like the this grab bag for Mellisa. She was in an accident and the proceeds from the kit go to help her out. Another thing I like about this community...meeting friends in real life! Tomorrow I am meeting up with Nicole! After I meet up with Nicole I am then heading to meet up with some college friends. We're going to be together until sometime Monday. I am so over the top excited about the next few days. I love being surrounded by loved ones!

Now I'm off to prepare for a newborn photo session. Baby Addy is on her way here right now!! I'll post some pictures soon!

Be Mine...

On this day of love I thought I would post this reminder of the ultimate love... "He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life" (John 3:16, The Message). Long after the gifts we might give or receive today God's love for us endures. Jesus showed His love for us and taught us how to live and love each other. He received criticism, testing and rejection -- and yet gathered strength from God to turn the other cheek. Jesus prayed for us, and His enemies. He even suffered crucifixion in order to save us from our sin. Jesus is God's perfect expression of love. His life and death are God saying to me and you, "Be Mine." (extracted from Proverbs 31 devotional)

Skiing!!

The boy did it! We headed out to the slops this morning and Jameson actually did it! I honestly wasn't sure what he was going to do with the boots and coat, etc. Once he had it all on and was at the bottom of the hill with Papa Jim and Uncle Brandt he was all about it! He went up the special moving carpet about 6-7 times. Then he was all set to try out the chair lift. He was so cool to see him so excited and doing it! Here are some photos so daddy can see!

Tonight I'm heading to a dinner at AU. I am so excited to get to see some college friends and enjoy a yummy meal. I will be watching what I'm eating but tonight I might have a bit more then usual. I know I haven't updated the ticker on the blog to show my weight lose. To be honest I can't remember my password but I have lost about 15 pounds with 6-7 more to go to reach my official goal. We'll see that works out with so much travel going on the rest of this month?!

I also wanted to share with everyone that Cafe J has a freebie on her blog today. Also wanted to share with everyone that The DigiChick is having a party this weekend in celebration of Valentine's Day...check it out!

We're off...

Has it really been over a week since I posted anything? I have had really good intentions but instead I took the weekend off from the computer! I'm actually think I'm going to be doing that more often. This past Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the District 1 conference for ADPi. It was filled with excitement, including a visit from the local fire station! Nothing was wrong but it did provide for a reason to get outside and enjoy the awesome heatwave we've been having since Friday. Then Sunday we went to church and then hung out as a family. Jameson had a blast playing with the sand down at the beach near our house (lake beach not the ocean beach). Yesterday and today have been filled with Chick-fil-a. My mom send Jameson a gift card to Chick-fil-a and he has been having a blast paying for his own food. The first clerk couldn't really understand him though so he didn't get exactly what he wanted but he was okay with it and politely told her thank you. Our local Chick-fil-a is the absolute best. Today they had a mommy & me time which include free coffee for the moms, story time, and many activity stations throughout (play dough, a Valentine Craft & coloring). We will definitely be back for this!

Remember the butterflies? Well this past Sunday we decided to let them go out in the wild. The instructions say they can be let go as long as the temperature is above 50, it was about 70 at the point that we decided to let them go. Personally it was a way for me to not have to explain death to Jameson. It was neat to see them flutter about and hopefully they were able to spend their last hours happy and free! As a side not, we do know that one of the butterflies didn't survive too long. One of our resident lizards ate it. I almost started crying right there but realized that Jameson didn't see it so I held back. It was so sad to witness but I know it is the circle of life, I'd just personally prefer not to have to witness it first hand.

Earlier today I found out that I won on the Trendy Straps blog. I can't tell you yet what exactly I won but let me just say that I am totally blown away and really excited. I got one of their straps a few months ago and it is so comfy and looks great. I've had different embellished straps but none as comfy as this one (it is made with neoprene). As good as the strap is I'm sure that this prize that I've won is going to be over the top exceptional. Stay tuned and I'll be sure to share the details! Their new catalog goes lives this coming Sunday.

Now onto a few of my latest creations... (for credits, click on the images)
If you're a local crafty friend...mark your calendar for March 12th. I'm teaching an acrylic home decor class at the Southern Scrapbook store. I'll be sure to post a picture later this month to give you an idea of what we'll be doing. What I can say is that it is something a beginner or advance crafter can do. Please join us!!

Beware the blog won't be being updated too much because the boy & I are off on a wild adventure north! I'll be back more frequently in March!

Exciting news!

Yeah February is finally here! I've had some exciting news that I wasn't able to share until 2/1. The DigiChick is now under new management...Nicole Seitler aka Sugarplum Paperie. She is the first creative team that I was ever added to. Now that she is at TDC she asked me to help out with the Hybrid Creative Team there. We've added a few new artists and I'm excited to see what everyone creates. There will be some challenges in the coming weeks, so watch out for some links from the blog. Better yet, if you aren't already registered at TDC...go do it!

In other news, you all know I've been a subscriber at Scarlet Lime since Christy Tomlinson started this kit of the month. I just go the latest newsletter and was pleasantly surprised when one of my cards was featured! Such an honor! (And the best part is that I didn't even notice it, Sarah had to tell me!)

This weekend I've been doing lots of reading, which we all know isn't my favorite thing to do. I'm reading the entire 300+ page recruitment & marketing manual for ADPi. It is interesting but I can't just sit and read for too long at one time. Good thing I didn't save this task any longer since I have to have it done by the middle of February.

Around the house, we have 5 new pets! Jameson got one of those butterfly nets for Christmas. The baby caterpillars arrived a few weeks after Christmas and just this past week they emerged from their cocoons. Tomorrow they get to travel to school for show and tell!

Now I'm off to pretend that I'm watching the Superbowl, when really I'm just excited to see the new commercials! How about you, what have you been up to these days?!

Treasures...

"Your word I have treasured in my heart…" Psalm 119:11a (NAS)

This verse reminds me of February for some reason. I love the month of February (I know it is still January but we're very close to Feb)! Not sure if it is because of Valentine's Day, more time to spend inside or that I know I always get to see adpi friends. Whatever the reason, I'm excited! And this year not only do I get to see adpi friends, I also get to visit with lots of other friends and family in Ohio.

Our week has been so much fun so far! On Monday Sarah called and asked what we had going on. We actually didn't have much going on so we agreed to come hang out with them for a bit. Then her husband called and said that his business trip would definteily require him to stay overnight. So Jameson & I had stayed with them. It was fun for the boys to have a little sleep over. Then Tuesday we got up and headed down to Buford to meet up with my friend Carol and her daughter. Carol & I advised together at Mount Union many years ago. She also attended Ashland but was ahead of me in school so we didn't actually know each other at AU. It was so much fun hanging out with two sisters earlier this week!

Lots going on!

Wow has it really been almost a week since I posted? The time seems to be speeding by lately. I've gotten a few things cleared off my to-do list. Hopefully I can get back to regular posting, except that in a few weeks we'll be heading to Ohio so it will becoming scarce again soon! Never ending cycle of playing catch up and then a lull. So last weekend I headed to a scrapbook retreat and I got 15 cards done (including my swap cards!), 8 12x12 layout, finished a gift mini-album and put the finishing touches on the mini albums from July & December. It was a good fun creative time. Here are a few of the things that I finished up. The 4wheelin' fun layout includes some digital paper from Cafe J that I had printed off. It matched the other paper & the 4wheeler perfectly. In the July album I cut apart Jameson swim trunks and stuck them right in the book. He wore these things all summer and totally remind me of the summer of 2008. He wasn't too happy when he saw them in there though (because he thinks he can still fit in them now). Among the crafty things I've posted you'll notice the one of my iPhone. I have a sweet friend from digiland, Mel sent me these cute wallpapers. She is selling them on etsy, check it out!

In other news, it seems like Jameson has gotten even more independent lately. He is putting on his own shoes, getting dressed on his own (insists on changing into shorts the moment we get home and changes them frequently once we're home - I thought only girls did this?!), he is going potty facing forward (early potty training required us to start him out backwards, it was a hard thing to break but we're there now), he wants to get his own drinks (that doesn't work too well sometimes), he has learned how to unbuckle his car seat and the best one, he has started to wipe himself after booping. Some great things to celebrate at our house!

Last night we had life group at our house. Most of our group wasn't able to attend but we still had a great time and enjoyed a yummy hot cocoa bar! Also last night we were excited to get the call that aunt Caree & uncle Chris had welcomed their daughter, Adelaine. I don't have a picture yet that I can post but trust me, as soon as I have one it will be here (probably on a SB page if I can help it!). We're so excited to meet this sweet girl in a few weeks when we make it to Ohio.