our trip! (Picture Heavy)

hey friends - i feel like i've been so out the picture for the last few weeks. No scrapping - just recovering and enjoying a little vacation with my hubs! So today i'm just going to share some pictures from our vacation - then i'll get back to the reality i guess! I'm going to have a busy week with lots of deadlines - i tried to do it all before i left but didn't happen.

So Dean and i left Sunday afternoon and i wasn't feeling well at ALL! I was so worried i was going to be a downer the whole trip. Our flight was supposed to leave at 5:30 and then we had to catch a connecting flight in LA to get to monteray. The plane to LA was delayed an hour - which meant we were going to miss our flight to Monteray from there. We had 2 options - either wait and travel in the morning or fly out at 9:30 pm and shuttle from LA to Monteray which was an hour. So we went that route and by the time we got to the condo and settled it was 11:30 - it was a nightmare. But when we woke up to waves crashing on the beach - we had forgotten the whole thing. THere was no structure at all to what we did. Every morning we got up (late) and dean worked for a while and i did absolutley nothing of any worth - i watched TV, cross stitched, read trashy magazines - it was the best!! We left the condo about noon everyday. I was feeling 10 times better by monday afternoon which was a relief. The first day we went down and walked along fishermans wharf - so cool. Definatley not the swimsuit sunshine beachy vacation i had invisioned (it never got warmer than 60 degrees) but i still loved it.

I've always wanted to get my picture taken in front of one these telephone booths so there is really no rhyme or reason for this picture!

This is the first restaraunt we ate at - we had some fabulous sushi - check out all that raw stuff deano eats - its sure is beautiful but not my thing.this is the view from the restaraunt windowjust a random picture - i thought it was so cool that she was down on the pier doing this. me on the wharf - we shopped here and and the most amazing clam chowder ever!The monteray bay aquariam - so cool - this part made me miss the kids because they would have loved it!so freaky - after seeing the movie 7 lbs - jelly fish seriously freak me out. I would step foot in the ocean because dean and i saw a little on from the pier right on the beach.this is actually a real see horse - crazy right??wow - this was so beautiful here - we were in Carmel - the cutest ritzy town ever. I want to take a girls trip here. SO MUCH SHOPPING and this was right down at the end of the street - after we shopped we went down to the beach. Deans dad actually called right then and couldn't beleive where we were standing, said he used hang out here every night when he was in the military there - this is where they would go after hours!this is the view from our balcony - not kidding - right on the beach. They even had a car for us to use - they were so generous.Dean attempting to body board on that same beach- more than i could do. They had wet suits, the board, bikes and helmets - anything you wanted to do they had at the condo. this was very cool - i hate it that the skyline is slanting - wish i would have noticed taking the picture - but it was a beautiful sight.we were in the car here so i got part of the beach - kind of distracting but still beautiful.At night - we pretty much stuffed our selves then came back to the condo and watched lots of movies. it was relaxing - something we both needed. If anyone is looking for somewhere to vacation - this is a great place - we will be going back for more.

Off to scrap a little - i'm soooooooo tired. Dean and i and some friends went to No Doubt and Paramore last night - probably the most amazing concert ever - it was so fun. Gwen puts on a great show. Paramore - haley i think is her name - she is so adorable - so small and petite. I loved this band too!

One more thing -the contest over at Lily Bee for the mini album ends on Friday - make sure you get your entries in - there is cash involved!!

Memory Works REtreat

I finally have a few sneaks for the Pink Paislee mini album class that i'm teaching. Here is the fabulous flyer they put together - i was so excited when it showed up in my inbox. So anyone out there looking for a retreat - this is the one to go to. Kolette Hall, Layle Koncar is going to be there representing Basic Grey, Jodi Sanford for Fancy Pants, the guys from MME, Cosmo Cricket, Rusty Pickle and 7 gypsies. Lots more sponsors too - its going to be so much fun. I'm really looking forward to teaching this class. So you and your friends - treat yourselves - come sign up - check out this link for more details about classes and registration.

this is short and sweet - still not feeling to well. I think i would be okay if i didn't have the air pockets you get after surgery - i have one under my ribs and one in my shoulder - its so frustrating - i can barely move without it hurting. ALl in all the surgery was a success - i'm glad i had it done - there was a very large adhesion stretching from my c-section (hysterectomy) scar down to my pelvic bone and then my one and only ovary was tied up in knots with my bowels and weren't even where they belong - so im assuming I will have alot of relief after the next few days. So thanks for your well wishes and prayers. Hugs!

Mothers day.....

just wanted to share some pictures from Mothers day - last post for a while i go in tomorrow - wish me luck.

I had a great day - my sweet hubby let me sleep in til 9:00. He didn't really try to hard to keep them quiet or out of my room but for some reason i was able to block them out! Mason finally came in because he couldn't stand it any longer - they were patiently waiting to give me some gifts. So i got up - was greated with big huge hugs from the kids and then the circled around me trying to give me what they had created. Mason a bookmark and Ethan a frame and they had all made cards for me - so sweet. Dean gave me some beautiful deep purple tulips and a gift card to i-tunes - real personal i know - but i LOVE it! Simple and sweet. THe card dean gave me was the best - him to the T! SO bear with me while i share it with you.

I may forget to thank you

When you cook my favorite dish

And on occasion may come home

Much later than you'd wish

The little things you ask of me

May sometimes slip my mind

And when it comes to fixing things

I'm often hard to find...

I may be kind of grumpy

When I have to "have my say"

And I may sometimes fail

To Send nice compliments your way (he's always good at this)

But honey, though i have my faults

You must admit i shine......

When it comes to loving

that terrific wife of mine!

Too funny- i laughed with every snetence - its just so him.

Anyways here are the pictures

can you tell baylee wasn't in the best mood....don't know what her deal was!Me and my SUPER cute hubby! My cute pregnant sister, mom in the middle and me! Baylee didn't care if she was in a pretty dress - she wanted to play in the dirt! Cord and Ethan trying to get Bridger to laugh!Dean and his sweet mom. He would do anything for her.........they say your husband treats you the way he treats his mom - its true.

Now just a little scrappy treat before i check out. Seriously - Fancy Pants takes the cake - there is SO much product to work with, so many of the lines cordinate with each other. To get full instructions on how to create this project - the stamping on the letters and all - head over the the Fancy Pants blog to get more details. Thanks for being such great friends and support...........i'll see you in a few weeks unless i can steal my husbands laptop for a little bit while laying in bed doing nothing! I really am not checking in once while on vacation though - dean and i can't even stand it - no phones (except to check on kids) no computers - just play and be lazy!

A million little things.......

I absolutley love this online store. I can always get what i'm looking for - and that always have the newest product out fast. It's the only place i shop online right now. I was asked to be a guest designer this month for them - the first assigment was to take a one of thier Basic Grey Kits and make a few projects with it. It comes with a picture and instructions of a 2 page layout done by the fabulous Kelly Goree. It had paper, brads, rub-ons and letter stickers. i was asked to come up with a few other things to show how versatile the kit can be. Go check out the blog to see what Kelly did for her layout and get more information on the kit! Here are the projects i did with it.

I will share the other projects i did for the store next week.

I hope everyone has a wonderful mothers day. Im grateful to have such a wonderful mom and mother-in-law. Couldn't ask for anything more - they are both so generous and giving and the best Grandma's ever.

Surgery is scheduled for this tuesday so not sure how much i will be on the computer - i need a laptop so i can lay in bed and play. Then Dean and i leave Sunday night for California - hopefully i feel better by then - if not it will be great for recovery to not have kids but not so great for Anniversary..................but being lazy can be fun too! Who needs site seeing and shopping right!

Dream Street

I was so excited when i was chosen as a guest Designer for Dream Street Papers. I met the some of the girls down at CHA winter and they were soooooo nice. I was overwhelmed when i got the box - lots of goodies. This paper is seriously amazing and the rubons - go on like butta!! Love them. They posted my stuff over on thier blog today so i'm going to post my projects here! LOVE the colors in Heartsong by Alexis Hardy - i just can't say enough about - my fave!!

Love the soft colors in the Lullaby line by Dana Miron - they went perfect with this easter picture.This card is from the Secret Garden line by Tracy Whitney. Beautiful paper to work with.last but not least - i used Forever Family by Kelly Shultz - loved the big patterns i was able to do some fussy cutting to get the dimensional flower.Thanks for peeking - i have lots of work to do this week while dean is gone - just found out today i will be having surgery next tuesday the 12th - right before our trip to california - not sure what i think about that - it could be a good thing - no kids - so i will be able to relax if i still don't feel well - but i'm ready to get it over with so i can't get back to being me!

I've got my good friend Kellie Hales (Kellie Hales photography) talked into taking our pictures later this month - you'll have to go check out her blog - she does amazing things! Can't wait to get it done!

And one more thing - one of my little sisters best friends is starting her own little business making handmade items for little ones - go check out her blog - it just started so she doesn't have it all up yet - but she is very talented! Bella-Boutique!

pulling Ethan's tooth

hey friends - i'm back from my little trip! I had a ball - it got delayed a bit because i had a sick baby and couldn't take her to the sitter but we still had fun. Watched 6 chick flicks - ate way too much food and had some baby time. Amongst all that i did finish 4 layouts and 2 cards. Steph and Katie had their babies - both only 2 months old and they were so darn cute - probably because i wasn't the one stressing about the cries and the nap times.

So we did this a few weeks ago - but i just have to share this video of Ethan getting his front tooth pulled out by the front door!