{365 challenge}

i edited a few more of these...almost through march now (sad, i know). more here at flickr.

{365 challenge}

i added a couple of photos to my 365 challenge collection at flickr - they are from march. i'm very behind in my editing.

layout & cards {birthday}

i did a layout! i did a layout! i did a layout! it felt so good to actually scrap a page last night.

the pictures are from 2005 - a joint birthday celebration for spencer and my nephew. the "happy birthday" was pre-printed on the patterned paper, but it wasn't very exciting. so i outlined it with a dark red pen and filled it in with a glitter pen. printed strip journaling on the computer. added a quote on pop dots and a little ribbon.

afterwards, i made three cards with the leftovers - super simple. the top two came with cut out windows on the front. i put paper there and added a cupcake charm. inside there are birthday sayings. the bottom card came with the scalloped edge and i added the scrap paper, quote (on pop-dots) and the flowers

{randomness}

i found this on another blog and it is different from others I have done, so here goes...

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I would've been 19 (almost 20), just finished my sophomore year of college. This would've been the first summer I didn't go home. I lived in our sorority house. I wouldn't have met Matt yet and Spencer wasn't even born. I don't remember where I worked that summer...I think that might have been my summer at JCPenney and some T-shirt shop - or was it the T-shirt shop and Watch World??? Whatever.

5 Things on my to-do List:
I'm a list freak so which list??? I'm sure no one cares about my work list so I'll skip that. Here's a sample of other stuff:
- Work on foundation crop
- Get copies of birth certificate and photos for passport (no i'm not going anywhere - it's more of a "just in case")
- Hook up print server on home computers
- Pay bills & update budget (today was payday)
- Research ideas for baby shower

5 Snacks I enjoy:
- tortilla chips with melted mexican cheese dip (with jalapenos)
- chocolate (in small amounts - doesn't require much to fill my sweet tooth)
- cheese and crackers (typically extra sharp cheddar on triscuits)
- watermelon on a hot summer day
- chocolate ice cream

5 Places I've Lived:
- Shelby, NC
- Georgetown, SC (two houses)
- Pauline, SC (two houses)
- Rock Hill, SC (dorm, sorority house, four apartments, and finally two houses)

5 Bad Habits:
- biting my nails (i have acrylics to prevent this)
- poor eating habits
- watching too much tv
- being a control freak
- going to the tanning bed

5 Places I've worked:
- Henkel Corp (currently - Business Analyst)
- F. Schumacher & Co - Waverly Division (Forecast Analyst, then Manager)
- Mergent, Inc (Financial Research company - Research Analyst)
Those are my three "real" jobs - then I worked a million places in high school and college - movie theater, couple restaurants, a bank, several retail stores

5 Things I'd do if I was a billionaire:
- smart money stuff like have no debt, put away lots for retirement, spencer's college, etc.
- buy a lake house where we are now, and several vacation homes (hey - if we're talking billions, why be practical)
- pay off debt of family members
- quit work...probably goes without saying, but i wanted to say it :)
- do more volunteer work - and more scrapbooking!

photos {st patricks day}

as always, i'm incredibly late posting photos - but here are some favorites from our st patrick's day celebration at home. i just adore this holiday. more can be seen here.

photos {baseball season}

here are a few shots from spencer's baseball season. all of them can be found here.

photo {teddy}

this is my nephew teddy - i love this shot that i took at one of spencer's baseball games. isn't he a handsome little redneck?

{library of memories}

Several months ago, as I was working on the remodel of my scrap studio, I read Stacy Julian's book Photo Freedom. I've actually read it through about three times now. I was really intrigued by her method and the potential of removing some guilt from this hobby (especially given how anal I am by nature). I had to wait for the remodel to be complete in order to begin. I really wanted to re-evaluate my scrapbooking philosophy, so this was great timing. I haven't yet read it, but plan to get The Big Picture, as I've heard it's a great complement and digs more into the mentality behind the system.

So, a couple of weeks ago I began taking baby steps in implementing the Library of Memories system. I've really been trying to utilize 15 minute increments as so many people recommend.

This first photo is of my temporary Category Drawers, which are just photo boxes. To begin, I've just labeled each one with Stacy's four categories. As you can see, I'm just separating at this point and haven't gotten into the more detailed organization and subcategories. These are all pre-digital photos (before 2005) or extras from events/topics I've already scrapped. I have a TON of old, old pictures but haven't tackled those yet. The ones in here are anything that happened in my lifetime. I'm also creating digital Category Drawers on my computer for digital prints.

One of the things that felt really good to accomplish was organizing my memorabilia. I didn't even realize how spread out it all was until I started trying to collect it. I threw away what wasn't important. For things that were already scrapped, I attached to the back of the layout. Older stuff is in this box which is basically "cold storage" for my memoralibilia. I found these boxes inexpensively at TJ Maxx or Ross. I like that this is large enough to hold what I have now, but has room to add plenty more.

I purchased one of these plastic containers that has three 12x12 drawers. The top drawer holds full sheets of chipboard. The middle drawer holds oversized photos (5x7 and larger). The bottom drawer is active memorabilia (things that will most likely be included in my scrapbooks).

I'm not 100% sold on the Storage Binder concept yet. I totally "get" it, but I'm not sure if having a physical one is good for me or not. I've been taking digital photos since 2005 and they are pretty orgnanized. I can't decide if I want to do the printing, like Stacy does. But, I did invest in ONE for now. I'm adding any hard copies I have of things I want to scrap. There isn't much at this point because I normally print as I go. I may try printing a few batches and see how it goes. In addition to my normal digital orgnanization, I'm implementing digital tags, which I hadn't done before.

photo {baseball portrait}

this is spencer's baseball portrait from this season (obviously). redheads don't look fantastic in fire engine red (or should i say, "phillies red"), but oh well!

{summer songs}

every summer should be marked by a signature song. here are some that i'm really into right now and might be my summer anthem. all of them can be heard on my playlist to the left.



kid rock's all summer long

sugarland's all i want to do

santana's into the night with nickelback's chad kroeger

photo {school portrait}

spencer's spring school picture from this year - one of his better ones, i think. taken by lifetouch.

{random questions}

Got this sent to me on e-mail...I haven't been posting much on here, so I thought I'd do this:

Place an X by all the things you've done...This is for your entire life!
( ) Gone on a blind date
( ) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
(x) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
(x) Been to Florida
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country.
(x) Gone to Washington , DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robber
(x) Recently colored with crayons.
(x) Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only?
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
(x) Made prank phone calls
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) Caught a snowflake on you tongue.
( ) danced in the rain
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
( ) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about...
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
( ) Been skinny dipping outdoors
(x ) Gone to the movies
1. Any nickname? Boo (when I was little, by my sisters); Thumper (Matt and a handful of other people)
2. Mother's name? Sharon
3. Favorite drink? Soft Drink: Dr. Pepper Beer: Miller Lite or Corona Light Cocktail: varies with my mood - Mojito, Martini, Cosmo. Other: Seltzer water with lime
what happened to 4, 5, and 6???
7. Birthplace? Shelby, NC
8. Favorite vacation spot? Jamaica
9. Ever been to Africa ??? nope
10 Ever eaten cookies for dinner? I'm sure...
11. Ever been on TV? yes (a few local things, but Spencer & I were also on CMT for a few seconds)
12. Ever steal any traffic sign?? no, but I had one that was stolen in my room as a teenager
13. Ever been in a car accident?? oh yes...
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle??? 4 door
15. Favorite salad dressing?? homemade ranch (i'm a serious ranch snob)
16. Favorite pie?? not a big fan of pie, but I like apple
17. Favorite color? brown is my consistent favorite, but I go through phases of other colors. Right now I'm really into red and teal.
18. Favorite movie? Annie (from the 80s, not the Disney one), several Disney flicks like Aladdin, Lion King; Grease is a classic. A little more recent (but still kind of old) are Coyote Ugly and Ten Things I Hate About You. Can anyone find the connection between all of these?
19. Favorite holiday? St. Patrick's Day
20. Favorite dessert? tiramisu
21. Favorite food? mexican
22. Favorite day of the week? Saturday (the only day I don't have to work or think about going to work the next day)
23. Favorite brand of body wash? now that I'm using Arbonne products, I love their stuff.
24. Favorite toothpaste?? not a big deal, but usually use Colgate
25 Favorite smell? eucalyptus, spice-type smells (like apple spice, cinnamon spice, etc).
26. What do you do to relax?? Scrapbook, read, watch TV (or a girly movie), take a hot bath
What happened to number 27?
28. How do you see yourself in 10 years?? interestinsg...not sure.