Everyone Has A Story....This Is Mine

I Want You Back.....

2011-09-13T14:43:00.004-04:00

I am in the mood to write today......

I want to write about one of my all time favorite songs ever, "Airplanes", by a band called Local Natives. There are so many songs out there about make up and break ups. And way too many songs about casual hook ups and other junk. I love when I find a song about something different, especially when it is about something special like family. Here are a part of the lyrics from my favorite song...

The desk where you sit inside of a
frame made of wood
I keep those chopsticks you had from when
you taught abroad in Japan

I love it all so much
I call
I want you back

I did not know you as well
as my father knew you
every question you took the
time to sit and look it up in the
encyclopedia

I love it all so much
I call I want you back

It sounds like we
would of had a great deal to say
to each other
I bet when I leave
my body for the sky the wait will
be worth it

I will admit that when I first heard this song a few years ago that I did not pay much attention to the lyrics. I loved the chorus and would kind of shoot the line "I want you back" along with the song. I honestly thought it was a break up song. I was not paying attention to all the words. Then one day it really hit me what the song was about.....It was about them wanting an ancestor back. They longed for a relative that passed away, I imagine a grandfather or grandmother. The song is about one of my favorite subjects ever...Family History! This making it the best song ever!

This immediately made me think of my grandfather, Charles Alfred Gideon, a man I never met. My grandfather died when my father was only 18. I have always loved hearing stories from my father about my grandfather. He went by the name Charlie. He was a painter. My father called him a constant source of embarrassment. I heard he had a wild sense of humor, which helps me understand where my fathers awesome sense of humor comes from. If my father ever brought home a bucket of chicken for dinner he would call out "got some chicken. wanna neck?" He said it was what his father would say every time he brought chicken home. I have always wanted to meet him. I heard he was a little crazy, which I can relate to, I am really crazy! I know he had an ancestor that he longed for that he never met. He was named after an Uncle Alfred. Uncle Alfred was a track runner and died in college from appendicitis. I have seen letters and documents that my Grandpa Charlie wrote where he talked about how much he wished he met his Uncle Alfred and how he wondered what he was like. He wanted him back as I long for my Grandpa Charlie back. And There is one line in the song that I could change to fit my story. My grandfather never taught abroad in Japan, and I don't have any chopsticks from him. But I do have his copy of the Book of Mormon from when he took the missionary discussions and was baptized. He wrote a lot of questions and comments in the margins of the book. I love reading his thoughts and seeing his handwriting. I know we would have had a great deal to say to each other. I can't wait until I leave this body for the sky and get to meet him. It is strange a person can feel so close to someone that they have never met.

I was lucky enough to go see Local Natives play live in October 2010. I cried a little as they played "Airplanes." So grateful for a song like this that makes me think about something so important! and is so thought provoking. Is there any ancestor in your life that you want back?

Here is the song. I love both versions of this...one live original version of the song and the other is an awesome acoustic version. Could not decide which to post so I am posting both. I love the song that much!

Acoustic Version

Our Labor Of Love

2010-08-23T14:02:00.005-04:00

***I know I have not blogged in a while, I have been searching and wanting to create a new blog so that is why no blogging these days. But I really wanted to blog about this.

Our Labor Of Love

Jess and Whitney

(sorry for the very grainy/noisy picture. We were all testing out the light at a wedding and this is the only picture I have of them together, but it was totally blacked out)

**before reading: the word Photog=photographer. Most know this but this is mostly for my mom because I know she will ask me later. And I don't want her to be confused as she reads through it.

I am a very very shy girl and always have been! I really force myself not to be. I am very insecure and doubt myself around every turn I take in life, especially in my industry, the photography industry. There are some really amazing photographers out there...true artists that lead and inspire me all the time. They also intimidate me. I am constantly in awe of the pictures they take. And in March I had a chance to see some of them in person at a photographers conference in Las Vegas called WPPI. And seeing them in person made me even more intimidated, they are so COOL and just all around rad as people too and not just as photographers. I even went to this party there called Airhorns and Lasers. I kept reading all these tweets the week before wppi about the "have to go to party" so I decided I had to go and bought the tickets to Airhorns and Lasers. It was the best thing I have ever attended! Great Music!...by The Human Jukebox. Scott and I danced and had a great time. Wppi was very informative, I took lots of classes and I was so glad that I got to go. My favorite class was by Jesh De Rox's "Beloved"......LIFE CHANGING!!! If you ever have a chance to listen to it you should: HERE

Here is a video clip of airhorns and lasers at the Tryst:

airhorns & lasers from stillmotion on Vimeo.

I really have tried to push myself in my photog skills since coming home from WPPI. One thing I have tried to do is to branch out and not be so shy. It is hard for me and I get a knot in my gut every time I think about meeting someone new or having to introduce myself to a stranger. I am going to talk about a little secret in the photography industry......Photographers are snobs! sorry, but I just said it. I would say I said it out loud, but I didn't, I just said it to myself and maybe the three people that read my blog. Photographers are SNOBS! (not all, but there are out there). I know I just said earlier that at WPPI that I learned that the photographers I admire are cool and rad as people, well the ones I follow are cool, but so were the popular people in high school! That was the feeling at WPPI.....a feeling like being in High School. There were the popular kids in the hallways that everyone owww and ahhh'd over. Just like the halls of high school. I attended a workshop in April up in Maryland.....room full of snobs. I tried really hard to strike up conversations with several people and I still ended up eating lunch by myself. This is what photographers get snobby about:

1. What brand of camera you use: NIKON or CANON

2. What kind of camera: Full Frame, Crop sensor, how big is your camera????

3. What kind of lighting do you use: strobist or natural light?

4. Who do you do your website through? Template or not? Flash player or not?

5. What site do you blog through? host your own or not? (seriously, one of the reasons I have not blogged forever, blogspot is not the 'popular' choice among photogs)

6. Where do you shop for clothes???? urban outfitters, anthropology and j crew?

**that last one is a joke, but really partially true.

Ok, so all of the above intimidates me from having a conversation with other photogs. I dread the question......What kind of camera do you use? I am a proud Nikon girl! If you rock a Canon, more power to you! no judgements from my part, but man people want to debate about it. I just want to shoot!

then what kind of Nikon do I have, "only a d300" is usually my response as I hang my head in shame. Because it is not "full frame". You are not a real photog unless you shoot full frame is the feeling you get while answering the question to other photogs.

And yes my website is a template and yes it is run off of flash player.

Blog.....I don't even have a photog blog, this is my family blog I started years ago through blogspot like all the other mommy's out there.

and My fat butt never shops at urban outfitter , anthropology and j crew. Not until they make a plus size section.

Anyways.....where is this blog going....it is going to tell the tale of my infatuation with a photog company called Our Labor Of Love by Jesse and Whitney Chamberlin (Jess is the wife, Whitney is the husband, just to be clear, I was a little confused in the beginning myself.)

So take into consideration my fear of people, my fear of photogs, and my doubt in myself when reading this story:

I love twitter. It is a good way for me to follow some of my fav photogs blogs and discover other photogs that I can be jealous of and envious of, but mostly inspired by. When one photog tweets about another photog I go check out the blog and decide if I want to follow them on twitter. When looking at another photogs blog I hardly ever read it. I know, LAME! (so thank you to those for reading this big long post I am making right now). I just like to look at the pics. If I like the photogs pics I follow them on twitter. I started following a photog company called Our Labor Love a few months ago. I read nothing about them when I first found their blog! I just liked their pics and chose to follow them on twitte. then In June they tweeted that they needed a 3rd photographer to help with a wedding in Pennsylvania. I googled the town and saw I was less than 2 hours away and thought "what the heck? I have nothing to do this weekend!" I messaged them and they messaged me back a phone number to call them. With a big knot in my gut I called them. I spoke with Whitney, he got my site info and said he would call me back with a yes or a no. I waited for hours saying "they are probably laughing at my flash player template site right now. and thinking 'big fat no to you!'" As I waited for their call I started actually reading their blog so I could learn a little bit more about them, in case by some chance they actually hired me. The more I read the more I wanted to be hired by them, but at the same time did not. The more scared I got to meet them the more I found out about their high level of awesomeness. I found out some pretty awesome stuff about them the more I read. Then finally I got the call from Whitney saying I was hired. He said he did not have a chance to look at my work but that he went to the site and saw the cover page and thought I looked cool. I have a partner named Maranda. At this point Whitney did not know which one I was, so I am guessing he thinks we are both cool, which we are! I am gonna be truthful now and say that I am 99.9% sure that the reason I was hired was because no one else applied.

Once I was hired I really really started to read about them. Remember the party I mentioned before that I attended called Airhorns and Lasers?....well, that is Whitney and Jesses party, yep theirs. They produce that party every year. They are in charge of it. They are airhorns and lasers and also all this other cool stuff....like the Smilebooth. They are also bestfriends with all the best in the industry. Like Jesh De Rox and Sarah Rhoads...Some of my heroes. My stomach was in knots the whole night before the wedding, and the entire drive up. I got to Pennsylvania and was greeted by Whitney and went to work right away. First he asked me what kind of camera I shot with. I for whatever reason really proudly stated "a Nikon D300". I remember saying it as if it was the best camera ever made. He was probably thinking "ok, you are really excited by your little crop sensor camera." (another side note, they are big canon people so they were probably a little sad I was rocking a Nikon). I also remember he first asked me to start shooting the beautiful center pieces and all the wedding details. I was shaking as I started. Then really started shaking when he walked up and said "let me see what you are shooting and how you are shooting it." He was pleased with what he saw. We both took a deep breath at that point. Especially since it was the first of my work he had seen.

I had a wonderful day at the wedding. I admired their shooting methods. Jesse shoots with such thought and purpose. She is so calm and cool. She is a COOL chick! One of the reasons they hired a 3rd shooter is because Jesse is expecting her 2nd child and has morning sickness. She worked so hard all day long. It was a hot and rainy outdoor wedding. So beautiful! So you know how I said earlier that photogs are snobs: Whitney and Jesse so are not. One thing photogs are snobby about is their knowledge. Photogs are very protective of their knowledge and not always open for sharing it. Because the wedding was outdoors and the reception was at night time, off camera lighting was very important for the reception. I know hardly anything about off camera lighting. Whitney asked me if I knew much about lighting, with a lump in my throat and hanging my head I said "not much." His reply was awesome!...."wanna learn?" He taught me a lot.

This story has gone on and on. End of it is: that at the end of the night they hired me to help them out again for a wedding in July in DC. Shot that with them and it was another amazing weekend with the fabulous duo. What did I learn? Not to doubt myself and take more leaps outside my comfort zone like I did by applying for that job. Seriously, if I had known all of the stuff about them before applying, I would not had let myself apply. I would have totally sat at my house that weekend and wishing I was cool enough to hang with photogs like them. Instead I applied. and I learned not all photogs are snobs and I learned that I don't want to be a snobby photographer. I hope I can be creative and helpful and be an artist like Our Labor Of Love. I don't know if Jesse and Whitney will ever read this, but I want to tell you THANK YOU!!!!

If you check out this link you can see the wedding pics from the wedding in PA. These are mostly Jesse and Whitneys, but I recognize some of my babies in there. There is even a shot of me in one, I was Jesse's light girl during the reception. That would be my big butt holding the light up during the bride and groom first shot.

Hello

2010-02-09T13:42:00.004-05:00

Hello Friends. I have neglected my blog for way too long. Sorry! I figured since everyone is on facebook that everyone knows what I have been up to. But I just wanted to put up some new links to some fun pics that I have been taking.

Many of you followed my blog last January as I would post the events and progress of my friend Natalie. She was in a terrible accident and spent some time in the hospital and in recovery at a rehabilitation center. She was not in either place very long. It seemed long to her, but her quick recovery in less than 3 months time was a miracle to the rest of us. Shows she is a fighter. Several of you don't even know her, but you were concerned and would post well wishes for her and her family. I wanted to update you one year later. Click on the link below and you can see how great she is doing. I have done a total of four senior shoots with her in the last 8 months. We have had a great time. She always makes me laugh! Natty if you read this, I love you and I am so grateful for our friendship. Thank you for being a great senior model.

Click HERE to see more pics. These are just a few of her images! She has a full private gallery of over 100 images....and still growing. The biggest gallery ever! I need to make her a book.

Passing Of Previous Post

2009-10-19T15:53:00.004-04:00

A month ago I posted about a photographer that used to take my family's photos. He just passed last week. Here is an article about him and there is a link to view more about his life. He was so talented. A great inspiration.

Why Do Friends Leave?

2009-10-08T10:31:00.003-04:00

I recently had some great neighbors move. It has only been a week, but I miss them already.

Our daughters were such good friends. So Sad!!! But we are both military families and that is what we have to get used to. Moving and leaving good friends and making new ones. We went out for a photo shoot before they left and this is one of my favorite pics I have ever taken.

Anyone Who Hates The Rain, Has Never Danced In It

2009-10-08T09:29:00.003-04:00

Or Has Never Had A Photo Session In It!!!

My friend Charisse wanted a photo session for her birthday. So her and her husband and very cute little man drove up from Richmond for their session. Rain had been predicted to start at 8pm that Saturday. I was excited because that meant GREAT overcast at our 4 o'clock session. But at about noon I saw the dark clouds rolling in. I got scared, so I called her and said lets go NOW! She hurried her family up and we tried to beat the rain, but no luck! It started raining on our drive to our location. They looked so great, and she had worked hard to make that great orange skirt she is wearing. I wanted to take something. So we found a porch that they could hide under. It was very hard to focus in the rain, but we got a few gems and plan to shoot again. Next time I am going down to them. They are such a great family.

We got more than just a photo shoot out of the weekend though. We got in two late nights playing our favorite game, Agricola. Don't know if I am more excited for our next session or our next game of Agricola. I love both!!!! Good friends make the world so much better!

Living Out Loud

2009-10-06T19:14:00.006-04:00

I am trying to live my life out loud these days. I am tired of feeling like there are certain things I can't do in life, or shouldn't do because of what other people think. (Don't worry.....I am talking about simple things in life, I will still be a moral upstanding citizen!). I am trying to live a life full of art and creativity. This is how I am living out loud these days:

1. Quit my daycare

2. Opened Photography Business

3. Committed to Designing and Consulting for Heritage Makers (www.storybookingbyyou.com)

4. Living a Healthy Life

5. Buying clothes and shoes that I thought I was too old or too fat to buy....nothing revealing or trashy, just fun colors and styles.

6. Over accessorizing....big necklaces, bracelets, rings, big bows, big headbands, big flowers!

7. I CUT my hair off!!!

Pink was my inspiration for my hair cut....actually, Delana was my inspiration. She cut her hair yesterday and I started thinking of the funky things we would have to do to her hair to fix it. I came up with some clever haircuts that would look good on her, and thought "hey I want a haircut like that"

I wanted my hair much much much blonder but the hairdresser would not do it. So I asked her if next time I come in if we can go lighter, she said yes. Can't wait to go blonder!!! I love my hair! I can play with it in so many ways. Look for more pics of it. I can even make a rad mohawk with it. And how Pink has it styled above, I can do that exact thing!!! So many ways to play around with it! So happy and so free.

Delana got her haircut too. Her inspiration was Kate Gosselin.

Living My Dream

2009-10-05T11:40:00.003-04:00

Two years ago this month I stood in front of a group of 11 other wonderful dreamers and a fearless leader named Doug. I stated my dreams out loud. My dream was to be able to get out of the daycare business. Today is the first day of living my dream. I am officially out of the daycare business as of today. I am living the life I want, a creative and colorful life. (grandma Cathy, if you are reading this, don't worry, I still have your girls. They are family, not daycare.) I have loved all the children I have watched over the years. I really mean ALL of them! Delana and I are missing Benjaroo, she keeps asking where is Roo. And she did not want to go to the bus stop this morning without ROO. I am grateful that I was able to run a daycare in the home and be able to stay home with my children. But it was never a career choice for me. Heritage Makers and Photography is my choice. I have a passion for pictures and most importantly the stories behind them. Thank you to everyone who supports me in my passion. Most importantly my husband, my mother, my clients, and my dream team #10.

This is my baby ben I used to watch. I sure like taking and editing pictures of him much more than changing his diapers. I love him and am looking forward to hugging on him at church and hanging out with his family and loving him. We are missing him, but like I said, I don't miss the diapers. I was starting to regret my decision of quitting last week until I went to change his messy diaper and it was every where!! It was a blow out and while changing that diaper he peed on me. So like I said, much funer to edit in pictures then to change! love and miss you ben, but sure am loving my life today!!!!

I Love Seniors!

2009-10-04T01:05:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite things to do is to take pictures of Seniors. I LOVE them and would shoot them all day everyday if I could. I got a call from a friend of mine this last week. She said that she had just gotten the school pictures back for her senior. She said they were terrible!!! She wanted to know if I had time to take her daughters pictures. This Saturday happened to be one of my only open mornings. So I jumped at the chance. We went out into DC in hopes to find a mural one of my friends had put up at the National's Stadium. On our way to the stadium we came across this awesome mural, it was not my friends or any where near the stadium, but it caught both of our eyes and we knew we had to shoot it! It was perfect. We never found the mural at the stadium. It might be down by now, but we got so lucky to see this stadium.

Here is the pics from today:

SWATCH BOOKS........You can get one for free!

2009-10-02T20:46:00.003-04:00

Look what I have been up to...

I have been creating these cute little books called swatch books. Imagine being able to scrapbook in a paint swatch book. They are so cute!! Been creating them for my friends and clients. Let me know if you want a free swatch book to create of your own!

Heritage Makers in Las Vegas

2009-09-22T07:37:00.006-04:00

I just got back from a very fun weekend in Las Vegas. I went for a Heritage Makers Reunion (our annual conference). We call it reunion because we are all one family. Every time I reunite with my HM family it is like going home! I love these ladies.

A lot of new products were announced that I am SO EXCITED about!

This is Doug Cloward. I have blogged about him before. He is the president and Co Founder of Heritage Makers. He battled a fight against Lymphoma last year. I did not attend last years Reunion. I was so sad about missing it and feared that I missed my last opportunity to hug this wonderful man. It was so good to see him this year and to see him so healthy. I gave him the biggest hug. He has been a big part of my "why" with Heritage Makers. He has been a big supporter of mine.

I love this company! I love the product! I love the joy I feel being able to share this product with people. I love teaching people how to create the product. Yes it is a direct sale company, did I ever think I would belong to a direct sale company? NO! But when I saw these books and 100 ideas for storybooks went through my head I knew the only way to be able to make everything I wanted would be to join the business. I have been a consultant for four years now. I knew by joining that I would be able to make lots of books, but I never anticipating making so many friends. I have created relationships with other consultants and so many wonderful clients.

Open a free account if you have not yet at www.storybookingbyyou.com

If you want some of what I got...buy a book.
If you want a lot of what I got...host a party.
If you want all of what I got....become a consultant

Tag, Tagger, Taggiest

2009-09-05T18:45:00.006-04:00

Bobbi tagged me probably because she knew I would do it and because she knows I Love photos.

Here are the rules...

Go to the place where you upload all your photos. If you don’t upload them online, just go to wherever you store your pics on your computer. Open the oldest album, and post the first photo. Then tell the story behind it. Then tag 3 people!

Here is the oldest pic on my portable external hard drive I carry everywhere with me. For example, I am sitting at Panera Bread Company right now enjoying peace and silence and getting work done while the kids are with a sitter. I think Panera is going to be my new office!

So here is the pic:

The story behind this is Emil's Studio. There used to be a photographer in Yuma, Arizona named Emil. (I don't mean to talk about him as if he is dead, he is alive, but he is in his 90's now and almost blind so obviously not still in business). He has taken pictures of my family for several generations. He took pictures of my mom as a young girl. My grandmother started a tradition with her grandchildren that my mother carried on until Emil retired. What they both do is take their grandchildren to Emil's studio when they are two and have some really great pics taken of the kids. Then they select their favorite to have done in a large oil painting. My grandmother has my generations of oils and my mother has her grandchildren's oils all over her house. They are so beautiful. The oils are colored, he did not paint the oils, he sent them out to be done. He specialized in Sepia Tone. He was a master at it! He did do color, but my mother always had him do ours strictly in sepia. The nice thing about doing that is that you can wear whatever colors you want and never have to worry about colors matching. For example...you would never know that my sister Charlie and I are wearing flourescent orange stripped dresses here....really we were! Flourescent orange!

Let me tell you a little bit about what going to him to have your picture taken was like: His studio was beautiful! It was a room that felt so big to me as a little girl, but I am sure if I visited it today it would feel very small. he had props hanging all over the walls. He had the neatest toys to keep kids happy and put a smile on our face. His camera was the best. He was a very small man, very short! He would climb up on this stool and put his head into this big camera with a drape over his head....one of those cameras. Can you picture it. He would get it all adjusted and push the button. He would stop, pull that negative. Readjust us, making sure every detail was perfect. then he would go back into his camera and take another picture. He was so amazing! He also was a pro at editing. All without digital and photoshop! He could edit out a mustache. One year my brother had this terrible mustache. My mom had Emil edit out my brother's mustache. He also use to be able to edit out parts of clothing that were in the wrong place and wrinkles on shirts. Could any of you imagine doing any of that manually in a darkroom without the ease of photoshop? Now it is all done with the click of a button or two. So that is the background behind this picture. He was an artist! Him and his wife lived, litterally lived at the studio. The studio was located in the older historical part of town. They still live there. My friend said they still have all their studio stuff up, even though they are no longer in business. She said you can walk by and look in and see all the portraits hanging in the gallery and then you can peek into the back and see his camera sitting in his studio. What a shame that such a fine art such as this style of photography is dieing. A lost art!!!

I Tag Tina, Linsey, and Nicole

Urban East Portraits

2009-08-28T02:45:00.003-04:00

I have been trying my hand at photography more and more. I have some new toys, like a new camera and a new version of photoshop. I have my best friend to thank for most of this! My friend Maranda has been mentoring me and encouraging me for the past year or so in photography. She has welcomed me into her business. The name of her photography company is Urban Chic Portraits. The name of my company, which is a branch of hers, is called Urban East Portraits. To view some of my photography....much more to come in the future....you can visit www.urbanchicportraits.com and in the bottom right hand corner is a link called Urban East Portraits. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Been Speed Scrapping

2009-07-16T22:14:00.000-04:00

If you digital scrapbook or have ever wanted to learn how you should check out my group on face book called Speed Scrap With Channon. I have been having so much fun leading and participating in some fun challenges. Here are some recent pages. These were all done with in the last week or two.

A Gem

2009-07-09T07:55:00.001-04:00

I found this little gem today. This is a clip from The Ellen show from May 2009. This is some of the top dancers from the 2008 season of so you think you can dance. It is fun to see them a year later.

Only Two Days Left......

2009-05-19T15:23:00.002-04:00

My favorite show starts in just two days. I am so excited! Here is a clip from my favorite dance from last year:

There are many reasons why I loved this dance. 1. It is just great!! The boy in this dance went on to win the entire competition. 2. I never liked this song before I saw this dance. I am not a fan of Chris Brown or Jordin Sparks..just not my kind of music. But after watching this dance, the song had an entire new meaning. The dance portrays a military man finding out that he is leaving for war. His wife/girlfriend became very sad. My husband left for war 6 years ago. to this day I still cry when I think about it. I cry whenever I hear a song that has to do with war and missing each other. I watched this dance over and over and cried every time. I know...I am a fruit loop! I love this dance.

I love dancing and I can't wait for the new season to start!!! It is the highlight of my summer.

I Heart Jimmy

2009-05-08T00:45:00.002-04:00

I have not posted in a while. I went on a trip in April to Arizona and I was waiting to post some pics from the trip but I left my card reader in AZ so I can't post any of my pics. They are all stuck on my card reader. So I don't really have anything to post without my pics. But I do have a new guilty pleasure that I wanted to share.....

I have a crush on Jimmy Fallon. I TiVo it every night and look forward to watching it everyday. He CRACKS me up. I am in love with his boyish charm. My favorite thing is how he cracks himself up more than he cracks anyone else up. I felt compelled to share this with you, I don't know why?? I stayed up late to watch him tonight because I have tomorrow off work and I don't have to get up early so I thought I would just watch him tonight instead of waiting. He is so funny. I had never really been a big fan of his before. I have not really watched SNL for years so I missed his time on SNL. I just for some reason decided to check out his new late night show and have developed a crush on him. His laugh makes me laugh.

Plus he has a great band..The Roots. They are funny.

This is a pretty funny clip from this week:

I heart Jimmy Fallon.....I have shared my secret with Scott. He did not seem threatened. so I should not feel too guilty.

My Little Coupon Book

2009-03-28T23:06:00.003-04:00

Saving money is on everyone's mind. I want to start using coupons more but I am guilty of clipping but not using coupons. I made a coupon book to help me get organized. You can see more pics HERE. None of these pictures do it justice. It is so cute.

I used the Heritage Makers cookbook to print this project. You can get a free HM account HERE

March Madness

2009-03-19T12:23:00.004-04:00

I am going to hit all of these Bdays at once. My mom liked having babies in March, 3 of her 5 kids are born in March.

Charlie....Charlie and I are the closest in age, meaning that she probably knows the most about me out of all my siblings. She was around me the most. My other two sisters were older and already living out of the house and in other towns most of my life. It was mostly just me and Charlie. I am no means trying to say that I am not close to my other sisters, it has been wonderful how close we have become in our adult hood. I felt so special when I got married and had babies. My sisters welcomed me into a special club that knows no age boundaries. I have never felt closer to any of them then I have has an adult, but Charlie naturally had been there the most for me during those awkward Jr. High ages, or there for me to tell her about my first crush on a boy. Charlie was the one that helped me with my homework and did all of my science projects. And Charlie and I lived in the same town even after she moved out. Her house was an escape for me when I needed one. Thank you Charlie. Living on the East Coast and being separated from Charlie has been the hardest part at times of living out here. I had written earlier a happy bday wish on here, but it was brief and short. I just wanted to let you know I love you and miss you.

My brother Chuk's (not a typo! He dropped the C because it is silent.) Bday is March 7th. I am a terrible sister and did not call him. I don't talk to my brother much, but he ALWAYS calls me on my bday. I love talking to him so much. He is fun. I don't have a ton of memories of my brother, but these are some I have: he worked at a grocery store and I loved to go with my dad grocery shopping so I could see my big brother. And I remember my 6th bday. My favorite gift was some crayons he gave me. He loves to have fun. He loves to play a sport called OTL (over the line). It is like baseball/softball without the running. And it is best played on the beach. He travels from AZ to CA and to Mexico to play it. He helped to get it going and get its start in our home town of Yuma, Arizona. I remember one time at the gym I worked at in Yuma someone found out I was Chuk's little sister and they acted as if I was related to celebrity. They were about my age and said they had never met him, but said he was a legend in Yuma OTL. They kept going on and on about how Yuma would not have OTL if it was not for my brother. He asked if I could introduce them. It was so odd. But he is good at OTL and I am glad someone is grateful for the work he has done. He is loved by not only me but by many.

My sister Cheryl's bday is on the 23rd. She is the middle child and has had to bear the burden that comes with that role sometimes, sometimes forgotten and left out. She is the most level headed person in my entire family. She is so smart. She graduated 2nd in her class (was it 2nd or 3rd, I think it was 2nd). She graduated with honors from college. She is a busy mother. She is also the most active one in our family. She is very athletic. She loves to be out doors and is very adventurous. She loves to travel. Her and her family go on some fun adventures. She just recently returned from a hunt in Africa. What I love most about my sister is that I know she loves me! She is always so good at calling me. We can sit on the phone for an hour talking about everything and nothing! I love it. Those conversations have saved me on some days. And she has made a lot of effort to come and see me out here on the East Coast. She has started a tradition of coming out every October. She has always brought different children with her, except for one year she brought my sister Charlie because they came out to help me with the delivery of Delana. I missed her this last October. It did not quite feel like October without a visit from Cheryl. I love you Cheryl!

I was pregnant with Delana here. We went to a Toby Keith concert. I thought I had started labor after the concert. But no luck!!!! She did not come for two more days.

Create

2009-03-19T12:20:00.000-04:00

This is so powerful and meaningful.

The Girl I Love To Hear Giggle

2009-03-18T13:47:00.003-04:00

I wanted to give an update on Natalie. I know there are some readers of my blog that have never met her before, but were praying for her fast recovery. Your prayers were heard. She went home February 21st. A few weeks shy of two months after the accident. It is a miracle. I am writing about this now because I was so happy last night looking at her at YW's new beginnings. She walked in, perfectly healthy and looking cute. She walks without a walker. She is amazing! I have to tell you a little bit about Natalie......she has a hard time keeping serious. When there is a quiet moment or serious moment in the room the silence is usually broken by Natalie's laugh. Serious moments give her the giggles. I remembered four years ago planning a New Beginnings night and we asked Natalie to lead the music. Another YW that was helping us plan the event asked why we were going to ask Natalie to lead the music. She did not want Natalie to lead the music because Natalie can't make it through anything without giggling.....that YW was right. We did have Nat lead the music and she giggled the entire way through it. It is just who Nat is and what she does. Four years later and not much has changed. Last night as the music started we all got off to a rough start. We were singing accopella because we did not have piano player. Everyone started out on the wrong key and Nat starting to giggle. I was overcome by so much emotion as I heard her giggle. It was a giggle that just a few short months ago I was not sure we would hear again. It was the best sound I had heard in a very long time!!!!! I love that giggle. I love you Nat!!!!

Delana's Talking

2009-03-08T20:53:00.002-04:00

I have to blog these before I forget about them:

Delana has started to talk and she has a few words that she says over and over and they have their own meanings to Delana.

1. "Wash": wash means that she is thirsty and would like something to drink. She started saying this in December. I think she started because she only had one sippy cup. And anytime she wanted a drink I had to wash it out for her. So as she would be throwing a fit for a drink on the kitchen floor I would try to calm her down by saying, "calm down! I have to wash your cup out. Just a minute....I am washing as fast as a can." So now she asks for wash when she is thirsty. Even the little 2 year old I care for during the day asks for a wash now when she is thirsty. I had to explain to her mom what wash meant.

2. "Bye Bye's": Bye Byes means that she wants her pants and shoes on. Whenever she wants to go outside to play she brings me some clothes and says "want Bye Byes". We only get dressed some days if we are leaving the house. And if she sees me getting dress she says "bye byes?"

3. "hello": hello means telephone. She will carry my phone around and bring it to me and say "you hello?" and if the phone rings she runs and grabs it and brings it to me the entire time saying "mom, hello! mom, hello!" and if I try to take the phone away from her she will say, "my hello"

I love two year olds and their learning process and how they view the world.

Happy Bday to My Baby!

2009-03-02T20:07:00.004-05:00

Maelee and Claire

Today is Maelee's Bday. We had a party for her a week ago. She had a Rockin' Hannah Montana Party with her friend Claire. There was 17 little girls in attendance. It was loud crazy little girl rockin' fun.

we played Rock Rock Roll (our own little version of duck duck goose) and the bday girl was mad that she ended up in the middle.

Delana was so funny at the party. She kept cracking me up all day. I think I ended up with more pics of her than I did of Maelee

Maelee has a Bday Bud, Her Aunt Char (Maelee has always called Charlie "Char"). Charlie's Bday is March 1st. I was at Charlie's Birthday party just hours before I went into labor with Maelee in 2002. We love our Aunt Char. She is such a fun Aunt. We miss her very much.

Look What's Cookin'

2009-02-24T17:15:00.002-05:00

A new product, that’s what’s cooking! Introducing, the all-new, incredible Heritage Makers cookbook. For four days only (Feb. 23–26), you can get in on a “sneak peek” of the new cookbook. The cookbook won’t be available to the general public until March 3, 2009*—but you can get yours now—and save BIG!
But there’s so much more than just a cookbook here. The new product can be used for a journal, day planner, child’s diary, address book, school journal, school yearbook, guest register, and so much more! Plus, it’s a great price, our lowest price yet!
- 6″ x8.75″, wire-bound, soft wrap around cover
- 21 pages, expandable to 50
Creating a cookbook is perfect for families, clubs, or any other group with favorite recipes.

Click HERE to view the official details and then call me at 703-730-6155 or email me at storybookingbyyou@gmail.com when you are ready to order!
*Purchasing during this sale is for credits only. You can begin creating the cookbook product in Studio on March 3, 2009.

I am excited to make some mini digital scrapbooks for my kids out of these cookbooks. The possibilities are endless. I am picking up a few of them because they are only $15 right now. I am thinking I will start with a quiet book for church. And then maybe a portfolio for my 1st grader of her favorite artwork she has created. I am ordering a bunch of these at the price of only $15. So cool!

Natalie Is Home

2009-02-22T15:09:00.004-05:00

I have not posted about Natalie in quite a while. I continued to visit her the last few weeks on Fridays. And even got in some weekend time with her because Maelee kept begging to go see her. Every week I saw tremendous improvements. She is so determined. She is so determined that she broke free of the hospital and is now home. It is crazy to think that the accident was just less than two months ago. Wo Ye Of Little Faith....I am speaking to myself when I say this. I thought she was going to be in the hospital and rehabilitation center much longer than this. But she proved foolish people like myself wrong. Her school planned to hold a benefit concert long on this last Saturday. In planning it they never imagined that she would be home in time for it. Natalie a few weeks ago got word from her dr's that she could get a special pass to come home for the day of the concert. Natalie worked hard to convince her dr's that she would be ready to be home permanently by the time of the concert....she did it. She is home!!!!

If you want to read about the concert and view a picture you can check out this link HERE I was sad that I was not able to make it. I have taken on a weekend job tending to my friends newborn. Scott was at work.

I went and visited her one last time on Friday because I wanted one last moment alone with her. She is little miss social butterfly and I knew that she would be bombarded by visitors and friends when she got home. We had a great last day. My friend Lisa, the YW president, went up with me. oh, and Delana. We went to lunch with Natalie and her mom down in the cafeteria. Natalie graduated from pureed food to "SOFT" food. Natalie's interpretation of "SOFT" food is a rack of ribs!!! She is so funny.

Welcome home Natty! I love you!

Christen's Crazy Family

2009-02-20T14:39:00.002-05:00

I am missing my sister very much. I had to post this picture for her because she is stuck on "the stupid island" with only dial up internet. She can't get pictures via email and the only way she can view pictures is on my blog. My friend took this picture of her family and I am posting it so she can see it.

I love this funny picture. This is an exact depiction of what my sister's family is like in real life. I love real life photography.

Happy Birthday Mom

2009-02-17T15:33:00.002-05:00

The weekend got by me and I did not get to blog about my mom....it was her bday. I love the fact that my mom and dad's birthdays are only one week apart. It makes it so easy to remember. They are literally only one week apart, born the same year and everything. I know they were in heaven together and could not stand to be away from each other for too long so my mom followed my dad down one week later. Then they had to only wait 13 years until they met again, yep they met at Gila Vista Jr. High in Yuma Arizona.

Here is my mom's gift: take the time to look at it here, it is a true gem! I think the best book I have ever put together because I put the most thought into it. Check it out by clicking Here

Happy Birthday Mom! She got the book on Friday and finally got a hold of me on Saturday and the two of us could barely make it through the conversation through the tears. She loved it so much, as she has all of her books. I think Heritage Makers books should come with a warning.....Book Will Make Mothers Cry!

The Years Gone By

2009-02-09T23:11:00.003-05:00

from 2000 and fast forward to 2008:

What is different? So much!

I was working on some projects and came across these pictures and I wanted to share them. In December we were out having our family photos taken when we walked by the place that we had our engagement pics taken. I asked my friend to take our family pics in that same spot. So here is our little spot, or little corner.

www.urbanchicportraits.com

Share The Love

2009-02-09T21:51:00.002-05:00

When I lived in Yuma, Arizona I used to frequent a scrapbook store in town, the only one there was. I would go there often because it was next door to my OB/GYN while I was pregnant with Maelee and next to my favorite Mexican food joint, Chile Pepper. There was a sweet young girl that worked in the scrapbook store named Linsey Chadwick. She is now known as Linsey Farrar. I don't know her very well, outside of the scrapbook store, but we have become Blog Buddies. I love her blog. Especially a craft blog she has. She is very talented.

She participated in a "pay it forward" craft challenge. So now I am too. She has made me a little surprise, a handmade craft and it is coming in the mail. I can't wait to get it. So here are the rules on how you can participate in it too:

Rules: Be one of the first three bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which entitles you to a handmade gift! (Make sure I have access to your blog)

Winners: You must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first three bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

The Gift: The gift you send can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. Remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

I will post my present from Linsey as soon as I get it. She just emailed me that it is on its way. I can't wait. Most of all, I can't wait to create a fun gift for three lucky people. So leave me some love! And I will send you some LOVE!!!! Share the Love!

Happy BDAY To My Two Favorite Men

2009-02-04T22:19:00.006-05:00

He played a joke on the girls by telling them to look at something under the tree. then when they looked her shook all of the snow onto them. They laughed so hard. He is the funnest dad!!!!

I tried to post Scott's Bday on his actual Bday, the 31st, but it would not load the pics. I was on top of things for once and tried posting on his bday, but no luck. I am still a slacker.

Scott got an early present for his Bday....SNOW DAY! I love him because he is the biggest kid.

The other favorite man in my life is my dad. His bday is today on the 5th. His big saying right now is "Will you still need me when I'm 64?" I just gave his age away, but he has been singing that song to everyone so he gave it away first. He is an awesome dad. He is funny. He likes to walk up to strangers in groceries stores and talk to them. He loves sports. He has always been very athletic. He meets weekly at the gym with his raquetball buddies and has done that for years. I just love him!!!!

he is always so proud of the fact that he was on the first football team for the Yuma Kofa Kings. This picture makes him laugh because team mates of his had three digit numbers on their jerseys. He is number 66. He was the smallest center in the state of AZ.

A Heritage Home

2009-02-04T21:08:00.002-05:00

I just created the 18x24 Proclamation To The Family Poster in 5 minutes, thanks to this fantastic template. Make your home a Heritage Home!

Celebrating heritage in your home with Heritage Home.
This is the year to make your home a heritage home. Canvas prints on the living room wall, posters in your children’s bedrooms, storybooks as coffee-table books, scrapbook pages you’ve framed. With Heritage Makers, the possibilities are simply endless. And with heritage in your home, there’s no doubt where your family belongs—simply together.

Heritage Home Package
This month, make creating a heritage home easy. We’ve given you the tools to make the house…now you make it a home. Choose this first-rate package to begin making your home an HM home. Hurry, prices like this will end February 28, 2009.
• (2) 12x12 Scrap page credits
• (1) 18x24 Poster credit
• (1) 12x12 Storybook credit
• (1) Deck of Cards credit
$99.95

Proof That I Love The Girl

2009-01-31T13:03:00.002-05:00

If there was not enough proof already, Friday was proof that I love Natalie because I roughed it and drove through DC traffic to get to her. I hate driving through the city. I avoid it as much as I can. If I have to go into the city I try my hardest to take the metro around and never have to drive in the city. I did it yesterday and did it for Natalie. I got there without getting lost, but when I got there, I accidentally parked at the Children's hospital and had to hike a ways to the rehab facility. I needed the walk so no complaints!

The rehab facility she is in now is amazing. The physical therapy room is in an atrium. full of sunshine and cheeriness. She was sitting up in her wheelchair watching TV when I came in. She was watching a rerun of Home Improvement on a fuzzy station. I asked how the TV was and she said "it's crap." I had a feeling on my way out to grab two of her fav movies to watch at my house, "Walk To Remember" and "How To Deal" (both Mandy Moore greats). She climbed back into bed and we made me get my big booty into bed with her and we watched "Walk To Remember" from her mom's laptop. We did that until they came in to wheel her away to more physical therapy. Her mom and I snuck away for lunch during that time. Natalie still can't eat food. But she asked if she could go because she was hungry. I felt so bad. Her mom assured her that it was just hospital cafeteria food and that it was going to be gross. Natalie said, "I bet they have really good fries." I was so sad for her.

When we got back from lunch she was sitting in bed watching the movie. They took her to the game room during physical therapy. I asked how it was. Her reply was "lame." She said they played phase 10. I asked if she would want to play with me next time I came back. She said, "sunday." She begged for me to come back on Sunday, so I am going to go up there tomorrow. I am glad because I did not get enough time with her on Friday. I would spend each day with her if I could.

I think she is doing amazing. She is very cuddly. She is strong. I love her.

Check out her most current status and some more pictures at her site.
http://www.nataliesrecovery.com/Natlies_Recovery/Blog/Entries/2009/1/30_Pictures____.html

Another Forgotten Birthday

2009-01-26T10:42:00.002-05:00

I really want to try to stay on top of things but I am channon and that is hard for me. But I know my sister and I know that she will forgive me. She is one of the most forgiving and patient people I know. She easily forgives people of their short comings. I am grateful to have her in my life as an example.

Happy Birthday Christen...(one week late)

Thank Heavens For Good Friends

2009-01-26T10:35:00.003-05:00

Thank You Maranda For These. Maranda did a photo shoot for our family and I asked Scott to shoot a few of us together. Maranda sent them to me last night. They made me smile. Thank you! I needed a good smile. We have been friends since the summer before jr. high when we met at our first year of girls camp. We had an instant bond because of our love for cool music and cool shoes. We were a little different and recognized that in each other. We still have these two things in common....cool shoes and cool music.

www.urbanchicportraits.com

Strike A Match

2009-01-26T10:12:00.003-05:00

Another fun Valentine's Day gift idea. The template is already created in Heritage Makers and the template can be found in the template gallery. Here is a view of it. All you have to do is go in, drop in your photos and then change the text. You have time to order them and then they will be on their way. Just cut them out, staple in the candy and you have a Valentine's Day card to impress all of your friends or make sure that your kid is the coolest kid in the class.

I have one more Vday gift that I am working on too. Now I have three wonderful gift ideas and just have to figure out which one or ones to use. I will post the third tomorrow.

Funny Fridays With Natalie

2009-01-24T10:34:00.004-05:00

I saw Natalie yesterday, My Fridays With Natalie. My biggest fear in all of this would be that Natty would never be the same. She is a very uplifting and silly little girl. I was so scared that she would lose some of that. Yesterday confirmed that she is still Natalie. She is still so funny and silly!!!!! She was very alert. She smiles and communicates through sign language because her jaw is still sewn shut. She spells things out. Thank goodness she took sign language last year. She nods her head a lot.

When I first got there the physical therapists came in to work with her. They got her to sit up in a wheelchair. This was her first time up out of the bed. They wheeled her out to a window so she could look outside. This was painful for her back and her bum so they took her back to the bed. She tried getting out of the wheel chair by herself. We had to hold her back. The therapists asked her some questions like where are you? She signed h o s p i t a l.

After that her sister Kara came to visit. That sure seemed to make Natalie's day. Kara read her some letters and cards. While reading her a letter from someone the speech therapist came in. She had Kara ask Nat some questions about the letter. They asked her who the letter was from. They asked yes no questions and had her give thumbs up and thumbs down. They asked her if the letter was from a girl on her cheer squad and she gave a thumbs up. Then the therapist asked if the girl was good at cheer? First Nat shook her hand like "sort of" Then they asked her if Natalie was better than that girl and she gave a big thumbs up. No offense to the girl. I think it was Nat just being silly Nat. She is so funny. We all laughed really hard!!!

Kara and I worked on Nat's nails. We gave her a mini pedicure and manicure. Her mother massaged her feet with lotion. She loved that. In fact every time I would get close to her she would kick out her leg and wrap it around me to trap me in so I could sit with her and massage her leg and stretch it for her. Kara was sitting on her bed with her and when Kara left Nat tapped the empty space on the bed and I said, "you want your mom to sit by you?" She pointed at me sharply and tapped sharply. It was funny. So I took my place. What I did was read to her all of her facebook messages. She loved it so much.

Another sign that she is still Nat: Her mom and Kara made her a list of friends and she was supposed to look at the list and tell her mom who she wanted to come visit her the most. She pointed to everyone on the list. It was so funny. She is little miss social butterfly and that has not changed.

My other favorite thing: her listening to the IPOD. She listens to Kara's ipod and she is very funny about the songs she likes. She would make a funny face and that was sign to change the song. If she liked the song she would move her head back and forth and dance to it. You could tell she was trying to sing it. She would even start moving her arms and hands to the music. So cute. All of these signs made me so happy to know that she is still my natalie.

I gave her some cards Maelee made for her. One of them made me laugh so hard!!!! I wished I would have made a copy of it. It said Natalie on the front and on the inside it read, "We are friends but you say we are sisters." And that is it. So funny. Natalie is always trying to convince Maelee that they are sisters. Maelee has been very sad about not being able to see Natalie. I am going to take her up to see Natalie today. She is excited. Natalie is very cuddly and I know she will love Maelee crawling up into her bed to cuddle with her.

A Big Night Of Miracles

2009-01-22T12:17:00.005-05:00

I found this picture yesterday in one of my photo files. I took this pic at a YW activity

Anyone who has been reading about Natalie on my blog and praying for her needs to read this. I am so happy. I can't wait to go see her tomorrow. It will not come fast enough. I am so anxious!!

http://www.nataliesrecovery.com/Natlies_Recovery/Blog/Entries/2009/1/22_A_BIG_night_of_Miracles!.html#

Had A Ball

2009-01-21T20:29:00.005-05:00

(this is the only picture I have for now. I took my friends point and shoot so I did not have to lug my big camera around. I have not gotten my pics off of her camera yet. I don't have many, but I will post what I have when I get them. For now this is all there is.)

Scott and I attended the American Legion Inauguration Ball, In Salute to the Medal of Honor recipients. We scored tickets on Friday the 16th at 7am. I got on line and ordered dresses right away. I ordered two because I figured one of the two would work, but guess what....the dresses showed up Monday at 2pm and neither one of them worked....arghhhhh!!!!! So I called up my friend Sylvia, asked if she could watch Delana for me, I knew I could not go dress hunting with a 2 year old. Sylvia watched Delana while Maelee and I hit the mall. I tried on over 50 dresses. We were there for almost 8 hours. It was torture. I am a plus size gal which makes it very hard to find a dress. Plus I am most comfortable being very very covered up. And that is a hard thing to find these days. It took me 7 hours to realize that the dress for me was the 3rd dress of the 50 I tried on. I had to find a jacket for it though. I found a nice jacket at a dress shop. Funny story about the shop I found it in....

I saw a little dress shop. A nice cute girl greeted me. She was a skinny little nothing girl. I asked her if they sold any women sized dresses. She did not know what I was talking aobut so I said plus sizes. She said, "oh yes, we carry up to size 16." I kind of laughed and cried all at the same time. That little girl has no idea what plus size is. To her surprise, they did have a few dresses that were my size. I did not get my dress there, but I did like my jacket I got.

So now onto the ball ...... we had a great time. Scott was SO HANDSOME!!! We were standing in line for coat check and a gentleman behind us said, "You know the Marines really do have the best looking uniforms." Then a man in front of us turns around, I think he was Navy, and he said "Hey I take offense to that." One look at his uniform and Scott and I had to laugh. The Navy guy had these huge neon orange lapels. Scott really did have the best uniform.

During the reception in the beginning we walked around and everyone was so friendly. A lot of people walked up to Scott, they were very interested in talking to him and asking about his different medals. One of the honories of the Medal of Honor wanted to trade his Medal of Honor with Scott for Scott's Joint Chief Medal. Scott gets to wear a great medal and badge because he worked for the Joint Chief of Staff when he worked for General Pace. Mostly everyone else there were officers, and the people at our table were mostly interested in Scott and his job. They were all so impressed. One officer said to me, "you do realize that your husband is a rock star right?" I was so proud of Scott.

My favorite story of the night: Scott's boss, General Conway, the Commandant of the Marined Corps was one of the guests of honor. One of his office aides was there with him and came up to Scott and told him to make sure we go say hello to the boss. Scott did not want to because he sees him everyday and he wanted to leave the Commandant's time open for others to greet him that never get to see him. But I wanted to go see him. I have only met him once, at Scott's promortion a year ago. I drug Scott up to the Commandant and there was a little line and we stood back waiting. There was a three star General from the Air Force there and he called out to Scott, "Hey Staff Sergeant, come here. I will get you an introduction to the Commandant. I will take care of you." We kind of laughed and Scott said, "actually I see him everyday. The General looked confused. Scott explained that he worked at his house. The general asked what his specialty was and when Scott said cakes he asked him to come work at his house. Then we got up to see the Commandant and the Commandant turned to the other general and said "hey, he works at my house. " The airforce General said, "I know, I am trying to talk him into coming over to my house to work for me." The Commandant got mad and said "hey, he works at my house." It was funny, especially when the Air Force general offered to get us an introduction to the Commandant.

So we did not see the president. He did not make it to our ball. We were hoping for it. President Bush made an appearance at this ball at the last two Inaugurations. No Obama, but we did get to see Marg Helgenberger of CSI. I don't watch the show, but I did recognize her. She was the MC. Then at the end they announced a guest speaker. It was Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut. He gave a wonderful speech about the space program creating dreams and incouraging young children to study science. He talked about how we need to no longer compete with other countries over space programs, instead we need to combine our resources and research with other countries. I thought it was a neat idea.

There was a band there that played, no one famous unless you read Bride Magazine. They were voted number one three years in a row by Bride Magazine. The crowd chuckled when the band was introduced that way.

The night was wonderful. We made it up into the city with no glitches. Smooth traffic and the city was full of so much energy. Everyone was so happy. It was fantastic to be up there. I have to say thank you to my husband. I know he was exhausted and that he took me because I love this kind of thing. I love to get dressed up. I love to be with him and see him in his uniform and dance with him. Scott worked Inaugural events Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night from 4pm until 4am. And then he had to be to work this morning at 4am then go to help a friend out tonight at a dinner party until probably 11pm tonight. So he has been running on very very very little sleep. If he had his way he would have been home Tuesday night catching up on sleep. So thank you Scott for taking your girl out on the town. I loved all of it.

Check These Out

2009-01-18T01:26:00.006-05:00

I am working on a project right now as a gift to give to the Young Women at church. I wanted them to have something special to keep with them about Natalie to help comfort them. Read all about them and see more pictures of my project here.

Natalie's Website

2009-01-16T22:22:00.004-05:00

Many of you share concern about my friend Natalie, even though some of you have never even met her. Her sister has started a wonderful website about and for Natalie.

Click Here To Go To Nat's Website.

I spent the day with her today. On Sunday her mom asked me when I would be coming back up to the hospital. I was glad she asked me, because I was not sure who and how many visitors they wanted. I told her that I would go and be there as much as I could. She asked me to pick a day to be my day with her. I feel so blessed to get a day. I picked Fridays. The truth is that I really want to and long to be up there everyday but I have a full time job with my daycare and can't be there. So oddly enough I was anxious all week and at time excited and at times very nervous about Friday. Friday was on my mind all week long!!! I thought all week about what I could take to help Natalie. What I could say to comfort her mother. I planned out what I would do . First I made a poster for Natalie which I was very excited came on Thursday so I could take it Friday. And also planned a trip to the bookstore to buy Natalie a copy of her favorite book "A Walk To Remember" We share a love for anything written by Nicholas Sparks. Though I have not read "A walk to remember" I have seen the movies 100 times and always watch the ending with Natalie when I get home from being out and she is here babysitting my kids and is watching that movie. I always catch the end and sit and watch it with her before taking her home. She has been telling me for a long time that I needed to read the book because it is way better than the movie. I never have. So I wanted to pick up the book and read it to her today. I did not make it last night to do that. I did pull out another Nicholas Sparks book to read with her though. On my rush out this morning I forgot the book and I forgot the poster. My plans were spoiled and I was not sure what I was going to say or do while I was there. I told her mom about what I left behind, and like her mom said, "we have plenty of time. and there is always next week." There will be next week. I will be anxious again this week to get back to my Natalie on Friday again. This time maybe she will be awake to see the poster and alert to hear me read the book to her. I also want to say thank you to those that are helping me make my Fridays with Natalie possible, My friend Megan is watching my daycare girl, Ruby. And some of my other friends, Shara took the shift today, are watching my Delana. Thank you so much for allowing me time with my Natalie.

Natalie did great today. She opens her eyes a lot. Though still in a coma, she is getting close to waking up. She moves her arms around a lot and squeezes her hands a lot......that girl has got one tight grip on her. She is so strong. I loved looking into her eyes today. At times they said "Hello" to me. At others they said "help me"

How has this changed me so far???? I drive a little slower and always with two hands on the wheel now. Not to say that she was not doing these things, I am sure she was. I just want to be safe.

The biggest change is my love for my children. Last month I was visiting my friend Sabra, we were talking about our kids and I admitted to her that I often feel guilty because I am not the type of mother that misses her children. I have been away from them for days and even weeks and I don't miss them when I am away from them> I am always excited to see them again after a time of separation, but I don't miss them while I am away, I think of them, but never long for them. I blame part of this on daycare. because I am rarely just around my children. So being around my children, or coming back home again means I am around the daycare, and that is a daunting thought at times. Don't get me wrong....I truly fall in love with my daycare kids, but it is a job. Who likes to go back to work? No one!!! I admitted all of this to Sabra. But this has changed this last week. I hate sending Maelee to school. I want to keep her with me!!! I can't wait to see her when she gets home. When I think of her during the day I cry because I miss her. The schoool nurse called yesterday because Maelee was itchy all over. it was just dry skin and was cured with lotion, but I really wanted to run up and get her. And I hug Delana extra tight when she wakes up from her nap because I miss her while she is napping. I now know what it is like to miss my children. I hug them tighter and love them longer. Gifts that come from tradgedy.

Family Photos

2009-01-15T09:53:00.007-05:00

***Just a Side Note, This is not a fake photo studio backdrop. this is my mother's beautiful tree. This was taken in my mother's living room. Her tree is photo perfect!!! ****

I got two of our family photos yesterday. I love my husband and our girls. I love how much these pictures show how much us girls adore him. And I love these pics of Delana. She appears to be such an Angel. My friend Maranda came to my parents house after my Grandmother's funeral to take family pics because it is rare that we all get together. **We were in Yellow because that was my Grandmother's favorite color**

We did a full family shoot one day when we were in Yuma, separate from the day these pics were taken. I am in the middle of looking at all 281 pics from our shoot. I can't wait to post those some of those.

All Photos By Maranda Peterson at www.UrbanChicPortraits.com

Deck Of Cards Sale

2009-01-10T23:54:00.003-05:00

If you want a deck of cards like Maelee's or the template I made. Then give me a call on Monday. Leave me a comment here with your email address and I will email you my phone number so you can place an order on Monday.

Monday's sale is TWO DECKS for $30.

Click HERE to see the template I made.

Or if you are an ellie fan and have her kits laying around HERE is a deck you can make.

Do you like Go Fish? Check These Out by clicking Here

First step is to open up a free account if you have not already at www.storybookingbyyou.com

A sale a day

2009-01-09T17:25:00.002-05:00

I feel strange posting anything about business. But on the same note of how precious life is, it is the reason I am in the business I am in. My books are not just about pictures, my book is about capturing life. I had a feeling before Christmas to publish two books, and of coarse I did not complete either of them. I was going to make a book for my friend Michelle and a book for my friend Natalie. I have seen them grow up over the past four years and I really wanted to let them know how much I loved them and how much Heavenly Father loves them. I was going to do this by making them a book. I have given each of the access to my HM account and they had both started projects on their own. And I am lucky enough to have pictures they have uploaded to my account. I was going to gather those plus the pics I have taken of them and make them each a book. I have three books that are priority right now and those are two of them. When prompted to tell someone you love them do it. I wish I would have given Natalie the book before the accident.

So if you have someone in your life you want to say I love you to there is a sale a day for the next week. Here is the list of items on sale and the day it is on sale. You must place the order on the day of that item before midnight. So mark down what you want and let me know to contact you on that day.

Friday, Jan. 9 - 2 5x5 storybook credits (#7164) $49.95

2-day special Saturday, Jan. 10-11 - 2 8x8 storybook credits (#7165) $79.95

Monday, Jan. 12 - 2 playing card deck credits (#7166) $29.95

Tuesday, Jan. 13 - 2 11.5x8.5 storybook credits (#7167) $111.95

Wednesday, Jan. 14 - 2 7.5x10 storybook credits (#7168) $95.95

Thursday, Jan. 15 - 2 7x5 storybook credits (#7169) $63.95

Friday, Jan. 16 - 2 16x20 canvas poster credits (#7174) $159.95

2-day special Saturday, Jan. 17-18 - 2 12x12 storybook credits (#7175) $119.95

Life is Precious

2009-01-09T02:02:00.005-05:00

I wanted to write a little more tonight about those I love. Life is so precious. I know that death is part of Heavenly Father's plan. Life on earth is so precious. And I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us all and the part of his plan is that families are eternal and we can all live together again forever. I am so grateful for my family. There has been a lot of news of death and illness in our family and with friends in the past two months. I wrote last month about the loss of my Grandmother. She lived a wonderful long life. While we were in Yuma for the funeral my Aunt Wendy had traveled from San Diego California to be with the family. She got ill while visiting and ended up in the hospital. I do not have all of the details, but she battled cancer two years ago. We have been fearful ever since of it coming back. She had surgery last month and during the surgery they discovered that the cancer did come back. They removed what they could find and we are all hopeful that they did. I want to let her know how much I love her. I know she reads my blog. She is still in the hospital, but I want her to know when she is released and reads this that I love her very much. She is so much fun. Her name is Wendy Lou. Maelee has always called her MyLou. So MyLou we love you.

Yesterday I wrote about my friend Natalie. I spent the day with her today. She is in a coma. but She is a fighter. When the doctors would poke and prod her she would tighten up and make a fist like she wanted to hit them. It is a really good sign. It was good to see the fight in her. She is in there. We just need her to wake up.

Among all of this tragedy that has taken place in my family and my community I did get some good news today. Periodically I have blogged about my friend Doug Cloward. He is the president and co-founder of Heritage Makers, but most importantly my friend. He has been battling Lymphoma for almost a year now. He just found out that he is cancer free. His white blood cell counts are completely normal. I am so happy for him and his family. This is truly a miracle!!!

Miracles happen. I know there are miracles that are going to happen for others. Aunt Wendy hang in there. And Natalie is going to continue to fight!!!!!! God is with us and hears and answers prayers.

I love this girl

2009-01-08T01:15:00.003-05:00

I have a dear friend of mine that was in a car accident today. She is strong and is going to pull through this. I love her very much. I am up late right now worried about her and I write this mostly for myself to remind myself of what a wonderful person Natalie is. She is a younger version of myself......but much much better. She is the youngest of five children, one boy and four sisters just like me. Her and I are so much a like it is scary. But like I said, she is better. ...she is so many things I wanted to be at her age, like a skinny beautiful cheerleader!!! She is here at my house as a friend and sometimes as a babysitter quite a bit. She was just here yesterday. Before she left she put her arms around my neck and her forehead to my forehead and looked me straight in the eyes and we had a little conversation locked in that position for a little while. She is so dear to me. She has saved me so much. It is weird to think that a 31 year old woman could be saved by a teenager. It was almost two years ago that she sent me a copy of an essay she wrote in school about her hero. I was the hero in her essay. Can you believe that? I have never thought of myself as a hero. Anyone that really knows me knows that I am very insecure and I doubt my worth at times. This essay she wrote was life changing for me. She saved me from my own insecurities.

As I was driving up to the hospital tonight with another friend of mine we were talking about Natalie. My friend said that she did not know that Natalie was Cheerleader. I told her that Nat was a very talented cheerleader and that she had been on Varsity cheer since she was freshman. I told her that Nat once told me that Cheer was the only thing she was good at....this is not true at all. She is so talented at so many things.

I want to list Nats talents:

1. She loves to make homemade cards. Her aunt was talking tonight about how on Monday Nat had just been to visit her very ill grandma in the hospital and had taken her a wonderful homemade card. Nat is very good at homemade cards. I don't even know how many of them I have received from her over the years. Usually one every time she comes over. She even makes them for Maelee when she hears that Maelee is ill

2. She is the queen of decoupage. She loves it. I went by their house to pick up some stuff for her parents and I saw a bottle of it out on her kitchen table. there was a an empty handpainted picture frame covered in decoupage. She was probably in the middle of making a gift for someone.

3. That leads me to list more of her talents....gift giving. and frame making and picture taking. All of these roll up into one. She loves the camera and the camera loves her. She loves to do things with these pictures. She likes to make frames obviously, in fact one of her friends showed up at the hospital with a picture frame she had hand painted for him with a picture of the two of them together in it.

4. She sings like an angel. I love going to her choir concerts. She is so talented.

5. She makes everyone smile around her. She is so happy.

6. She is a great essay writer. Not only did she write that life saving essay for me about me, but usually when she comes to babysit she will leave me an essay, a formal essay, about her evening with the girls. She usually titles it "my adventures with Maelee tonight." , or "my girls night" or "my date night with maelee and Delana" So funny.

I could sit here all night and list her talents. but I need to get to bed so I can rest and be strong enough to face tomorrow. I love her. I have three nephews around her age and I have told her and them that I don't care which one, but she is marrying one of them.

Here is a blog entry I made this summer about one of our outings. She always brightens my day.

I Spy Vanlentine's Day

2009-01-07T02:17:00.003-05:00

Order Your Kids Valentine Day Cards From Me Today

2009-01-07T01:53:00.003-05:00

Click Here to See The Cutest Valentine Day Cards Ever

I just made this template for Valentine's Day Cards for kids. This is a deck of 54 cards. The template can be easily divided into cards for more than one child and I have created it for younger and older kids and boy and girls. You can pick how many of each you will need. Leave a comment if you are interested in ordering some cards. www.storybookingbyyou.com

ADSR Challenge

2009-01-05T19:13:00.005-05:00

I am taking the challenge of the Amazing Digi Scrapping Race. This is the fourth season, but my first time doing it. I am on a team with a new friend of mine from Jersey named Melissa. We will receive a challenge on Saturday and Tuesday. Then we have to turn in our submissions by Sunday.

I just finished my page for the first challenge that was issued on Saturday. The rules were to rip your picture into at least three pieces. And to add journaling. I had a hard time with the tearing because I don't use a sophisticated program like Photoshop, I use Heritage Makers. I think it turned out pretty creative for a simple free program like Heritage Makers. The title of my page was Three Sure Signs That Delana Is Tired

To view my pages at the gallery you can click here

I was checking out everyone else's pages and they are so fantastic!!! There are so many talented women out there. You can check out all of the other pages at this link by clicking here

Happy Birthday Craig

2009-01-05T15:46:00.003-05:00

(This is his Bday present. a 18x24 poster for his room. last year I made two of his bros a poster so he reminded me at Christmas that it was his bday soon and that he wanted his poster)

It is my Nephew Craig's 11th Bday today. I want to tell him how much I love him. He is so funny. He makes the funniest faces and he is such a sweet heart. He gives the best hugs. Happy bday Craigie Pot Pie.

One of my favorite memories of him was when he was little, about two years old, every morning he would wake up and ask for a "happy birthday." what that meant to him was a peanut butter sandwich. How the two correlated I don't know. But everyone in the house knew what he meant. So as soon as he would wake up someone would take him to the kitchen, put him on the counter (the entire time him crying that he wanted a happy birthday), then give him his peanut butter sandwich. He would sit on the counter so happy to be eating his peanut butter sandwich.

Back From Our Trip

2009-01-01T14:22:00.004-05:00

I just got back from my trip to Arizona. It was a very last minute trip due to the passing of my Grandma Craig. It was bitter sweet. Sad about her passing, but very happy to be surrounded by family. I have too many pics to post of our entire trip but I will post a few later.

I did want to post this one picture and trust there will be many more of these pics to come....my friend Maranda (www.urbanchicportraits) was kind enough to do a photo shoot of our family.

It was a cold (cold for Yuma and colder than I planned for when picking our wardrobe) and VERY windy day. You can tell how windy by Maelee's hair but I had to share these pics.

Christmas Tags

2008-12-22T05:46:00.003-05:00

Have you ever run out of Christmas tags on Christmas Eve while wrapping gifts at the last minute? read this blog:

Creative Christmas Tags

There have been a lot of questions from people that have read the Tag blog about what those tiles are and how I made them. Go to this blog to read more about my tiles.

Christmas Tiles

You can open an account to purchase paper for your tiles at www.storybookingbyyou.com

I did it!

2008-12-19T12:12:00.003-05:00

I did it. I have 26 ornaments. I love setting a goal and reaching it. It is one of the best feelings ever. I want to say thank you to everyone that sponsors and supports me and my passion. I can wait to hear back from everyone after Christmas about how much their family members love their books. That is my favorite part of January, the flood of emails that come in with stories of gratitude about their books and family members responses to their gift of Heritage. My dad and I were talking last Christmas about it and my business and how many people I was helping to try to get books under the tree in time for Christmas. My dad is a big fan of these books and he said, "I would love to be in each of those living rooms on Christmas day and see each of those people open up their books." He has felt the feeling of receiving a book and he knows how special it is. So if you are putting a book under the tree this year, leave a comment hear about what your family members said as they opened it.

Merry Christmas to all of the Heritage Makers out there

Happy Birthday to So Many People That I Miss and Love

2008-12-19T08:40:00.006-05:00

I had wanted to start the tradition of blogging about people on their Bdays but so much passed right by me this month. Please forgive me.

First I want to wish a very very belated Bday to my Father in Law, Paul Zabel. His bday was almost a month ago, November 24th. He is a funny guy and loves Scott and our little family very much. We wished we got to see him more.

Mike (Scott's Bro), Scott and Paul their dad

Then next is my Mother In Law, Pattie. Her Birthday was December 8th. Even though I did not blog about her Bday on her Bday, I did not forget it at all. I can never forget her bday because it is the day after our anniversary. She showed up at our hotel with Scott's four siblings the morning after we got married. It was so funny and it was my first time meeting three of Scott's siblings. We got married on a Thursday and his mom and siblings were not going to come to our wedding in San Diego or reception in Arizona because it was close to Christmas time and we had planned to have a reception in Idaho later that month any ways, but at the very last minute, just a day or two before the wedding, they found amazing deals on tickets from Idaho to SD. They missed the day of the wedding but they arrived EARLY the next morning. We got a call early from them at the airport, "WE'RE HEAR!!!" We had a fun day together and took Pattie to Lunch for her bday and we all went shopping for the day before heading to Arizona to get ready for our reception on Saturday. She is such a wonderful lady. I love my Mother in law and I am very close to her. She is a woman who truely understands unconditional love. We don't get to see her hardly at all either. My dream is to fly her out here some time. She works hard and is unable to take time off of work and it has kept her from coming out to VA to visit, but we try to get back to Idaho as much as we can. Unfortunately our trip did not happen this year so it has been 18 months since we last saw her and the rest of Scott's family. We miss them all so much.

Two Girls on the 18th......Happy Bday Tiffany and Katie....Sisters born same day 13 years apart.

Tiffany is such a great niece. She is so cute. and I am amazed by her talents!!! She is a wonderful artist. She can paint and draw the most wonderful pieces of art. She is like her mother in that way. Then also I am so envious of her dedicatoin and skill on the drum and precussion instruments. I always wanted to grow up to be a drummer. I played on the snare drum for two years, then quit. I wanted to be a drummer like my Grandma Minerva. He would put on the best jazz music and play his drum set along with the music while my Grandma would dance with me. I loved it. It was so cool. My sister told me yesterday that Tiffany just started on set. So cool! She loves two things in life, hoodies and converse tennis shoes. She is living on an island rght now with her family and often refers to the island as "This Stupid Island." So now as a family that is what we refer to it as. I don't know why she calls it stupid though, I get jealous when I see a picture of the beach and palm trees. But I can imagine that for a teenager a small island with no mall and no movie theater would get old and "stupid"

Her little sister is Kaitlyn Noel...Katie is so funny. She is just a few months younger then my Delana. The two of them are so funny together. We are both a little nervous about this coming weekend in getting the two of them together. They are both two and very much in the two year old mode of not sharing and throwing tantrums. Delana loves to rub on Katies hair, Katie is not a big fan of it. Katie is my sister Christen's little doll. Katie lets her mom dress her up and enjoy having a girl. Tiffany never liked the dress up thing very much and is kind of a tom boy. My sister is very very girly and waited 13 years for another chance to have a girl to play dress up with. Katie does not seem to mind yet. She seems to enjoy it and is very danty. Happy Bday to the two Scofield girls. 15 and 2

Katie and Delana only a few months old, March 2007

Help Me Decorate My Tree

2008-12-18T06:02:00.000-05:00

I am putting a plea out for some help to decorate my tree. This is not your standard tree that I need help with. I need help decorating my virtual business tree. Heritage Makers has been running a Christmas promotion. I have been working hard to earn ornaments and stars for my tree. I set a personal goal of 25 ornaments and stars. The promotion is over on the 21st, time is running out. I have 24 ornaments. I am only one away. I am so close!!!! If I get to 25 I get to pick a present from Santa's stocking. I want to be on Santa's nice list. I have been working so hard and I am too close. Please don't let me end up with coal in my stocking. Every little purchase will help me reach my goal.

Here are some little things on sale. These are all great stocking stuffers. If you have anyone in your life that you think would like to try out Heritage Makers this is a perfect gift for them. Or if you have ever wanted to try it out yourself. Pick up one of these deals: (Everything comes with one free month of premiere, nonrenewing so you can give the gift without worrying about your credit card being linked to a premiere account charge)

*You can get one month of premiere account for just $15

*8x8 book credit for just $39.95

*5 12x12 pages for just $14.95

*Deck of playing cards $19.95

*Calendar $29.95

*18x24 poster $14.95

*This is the best deal ever: Storybook Starter Package...you get all of the following for just $89.95: 8x8 book, 5x5 book, 18x24 poster, Deck of Cards, and a family fold

Check out more sales Here

If you want to purchase something please contact me. If you have been reading my blog and have ever been curious about Heritage Makers, now is your time to try something out. Please help a friend out.
storybookingbyyou@gmail.com

My Grandmother

2008-12-17T12:03:00.000-05:00

My Grandmother Ruby Craig, my father's mother, passed away this Sunday. She had two heart attacks this last week. She had 90 wonderful years. She had three sons, no daughters. I am amazed by mothers of boys. My dad always says that she is his hero because she raised three sons in small trailer. She was always a hard worker. She used to run her own restaurant out of her house in Illinois when the boys were younger. Then they moved to Yuma and she began to work as a waitress. She would work long hours on her feet all day. She was a widow twice. My Grandpa Charlie Gideon passed away when my father was only 18. I never met him. Then she remarried the man I knew as grandpa Wally. They were married for several years before he passed. I wonder what that reunion is like in Heaven for the all of them right now.

My grandma was the most faithful, prayerful and forgiving woman I have ever met. She lived to be 90 because of her routines. She would get up every morning and read her Bible while riding her stationary bike. She would spend her days serving others. She attending a joy club for widows and widowers and was always driving and picking up others to go with her. She spend Tuesdays doing service by taking people's blood pressure. I am not sure where this was that she did this at, but I know she did it every week. She taught Sunday School for several years at her church. She would spend time preparing for the holidays by sewing tons of stuffed animals for the children at the church. I get my love of photos and preserving them from her. She would make a photo album for every year. She would do a title page with a funny caption for the year and end the album with a funny picture and saying as well. She would type out captions for the photos with her old fashioned type writer. One of my favorite memories was one weekend when stayed with her and I helped her type out her captions for her albums. We had always wondered what we were going to do with her photo albums when she passed. Who would get them? How would we divide them? She took care of all of that for us. She has spent the last three years breaking them apart for us and remaking albums for all of us with our special pics in them. How amazing is that? She is so amazing. She will be missed.

Her full name is Ruby Irene Craig. I named Delana with her middle name, Irene, because that was always my Grandma's wish to have someone share her middle name because she got it from her mother. I am so honored that for the rest of Delana's life she will have her legacy and Grandma's story behind her name.

Her funeral is on the 27th. Our family is blessed enough to be traveling to Yuma for the funeral. I look forward to being with family and remembering all of the wonderful things she taught us. Her favorite color was yellow so my sister told me today that we should all plan on wearing yellow. I think that is a wonderful idea. I thought I was covered because all of my clothes are black (its slimming). Now I will be happy to find the most beautiful yellow something to honor my grandma. And also she makes Raggedy Anne Dolls for all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. We are all going to take our dolls with us.

My sister took this pic and I love it. Farewell until we meet again.

In The News Again

2008-12-12T23:12:00.000-05:00

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

This is a dear friend of mine, Sharon Murdoch. She is the co-founder of Heritage Makers. I just love her and I am grateful to her everyday for creating such a wonderful company with such heart warming products.

New Pages And A Saturday BLITZ!

2008-12-12T12:02:00.000-05:00

I taught a masters class at Heritage Makers last night and made these fun pages with Maranda's Photos, She has a new website at www.UrbanChicPortraits.com

I am holding a 5 hour sale on Saturday. I will be having a holiday blitz. If you want to be on the list of people contacted about the sale then leave a comment here. I have not revealed what is on sale yet, but it will be great. You won't be able to find out until tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary To My Husband

2008-12-10T06:15:00.002-05:00

I know I just posted about Scott a few weeks ago during the Marine Corps birthday.....but here I go again. We just celebrated our 8th anniversary this past Sunday the 7th. I woke up that morning and before I got to see Scott and wish him a happy anniversary, Delana walked in the room and right away I could not help but squeeze her and tell her "happy anniversary." I had the strong impression to wish everyone in our little family happy anniversary. It dawned on me that we were celebrating our family's anniversary. More than just an anniversary of husband and wife. It was actually the day our family was established, December 7th, 2000 in San Diego California at the LDS Temple.

What did we do for our Anniversary, it was on Sunday, and we both worked all day Saturday, so not much. We did go out for dinner as a family Monday night, which was very very nice. What did we get each other? Some of the best gifts ever this year. Scott bore his testimony of his faith at church on Sunday. The best gift ever!!! I was so grateful to hear his testimony and it reminded me of why I fell in love with him in the first place. This post is my gift. I did actually get him a gift, but it has not come in the mail yet. I ordered him a 20x24 canvas poster of a recent picture of our family. He has been begging for over a year for a new family photo. He said it looked as if Delana did not exist around our house according to the walls. The poster has not come yet, but I was asked on Sunday to write up a bio about Scott for a cooking class that he will be teaching at a local Single Adult Conference.

Here is the bio I submitted. Happy Anniversary honey:

Scott Zabel, born and raised in Boise, Idaho, got his start in cooking at Wendy's of all places, when he was 15 years old. He loved working in the food industry and got his second job as a short order cook at a restaurant called Shari's. One day he was driving by a military recruiting office and he decided to pull over and he walked in. He joined the Marine Corps in April 1999. When the Marine Corps asked what field he was interested in, he said cooking. I am sure they laughed, not many people ask to go into the cooking field in the military. It is usually something people get "stuck" with. Scott went to cooks school in Fort Lee rigth out of basic training (boot camp). He gradutaed first in his class with the highest marks of all of the new Marines. His first duty station and chow or mess hall was in Yuma, Arizona. He was self motivated and earned the title of "Oorah Motivater!" He was motivated enough to go out to the local community classes and take some culinary art classes in the evening. He discovered there that he loved baking. His love for baking lead him to take the Wilton cake decorating classes at Michael's. His baking skills and cake decorating skills stood out and he was put in charge of the bake shop. He loves cooking and being in the kitchen but he had dreams outside of a base chow hall. He had dreams of someday in his millitary career working as a private enlisted aide to the Generals. He wanted to cook for the Commandant of the Marine Corps. This sounded like a dream that he would eventually work his way up to late in his military career. In January 2003 he was called to fight in a war that had not even begun yet and did not have even have a name yet. He spent 8 months in Kuwait and Iraq supporting the troops in Operation Iraqi Freedom. When he returned he needed to be transferred out of Yuma and onto his second duty station. He had a Gunnery Sergeant, Gunny Myers, that had left Yuma to go to Washington DC to be an enlisted aide. There was an opening in the Enlisted Aide Field and this Gunny remembered how hard working and motivated Scott was. He ignored Scott's young age and the fact of his short military career and experience, and gave him a chance. He called him up and said there was an opening and that he should try for it. The other leaders at the chow hall all agreed that though Scott was young, he was ready. Scott was accepted in 2004 and got a position working at the Pentagon where his main duty was to poor coffee for the Commandant of the Marine Corps. After a few months of pouring coffee Scott was asked to work on a team of four chefs and aides to the Commandant, General Mike Hagee. Scott then earned another title and nick name, "Junior." He was one of the youngest Marines in the enlisted aide field. The list of Generals the scott has cooked for include the following, Commandant General Mike Hagee (2004-2005), Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, General Peter Pace (2005-2007), the current Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James T. Conway(2007 to present). Scott enjoys the education opportunities that he has received while serving in the Marine Corps. He returned to cook school in Fort Lee a few years ago to attend a NCO Cook School and he graduated top of his class again. He has had the privildge of taking a few courses at the Culinary Art Institute of America in New York. He looks forward to more years of experience. He is proud to be a Marine but his favorite role in life is that of husband and father to two very beautiful little girls, ages 6 and 2. He is a wonderful missionary and example to all those he serves with and serves for. He seems to stand out and shine and excel at all things he sets out to do and accomplish. He is living his dream job because of his self motivation and dedication to service.

Happy Anniversary Scott. I Love You.

--

Oh Christmas Tiles! Oh Christmas Tiles!

2008-12-06T23:07:00.002-05:00

I just had the most fun today making some fantastic gifts!!! I have a variety of pages I made with just some fun sayings on them. I am giving away a secret, but this is what everyone in my life is getting for Christmas. If you are in need for a wonderful gift check out these and others I made Here, at Ellie's CT Blog.

All of the pages to create these were printed using Heritage Makers. Our paper made this project so easy. I could not imagine doing this project with any other kind of paper. It is thick, sturdy, and the wet layers on them did not affect them at all, no crinkling or cracking or curling. And the colors did not run or fade. There is plenty of time to get the pages ordered and back in time for some crafting. I have a Heritage Makers template that I can transfer to your account. It has a variety of about five different styles of pages perfect for everyone in your life. All you have to do is place the order for pages. Leave a comment here if you want to place a Heritage Makers page order and I will put the templates I created into your account. Order today! Our 12x12 pages are on sale too. They are 10 for only $30 because of our Oprah Sale.....we were in the O magazine as Oprah's favorite things. And we were on Good Morning America. Just think, you could give your friends one of Oprah's favorite things for Christmas, Heritage Makers. Let me know if you want pages to make this project at home.

Click Here To See What You Will Be Getting When I Mail You The Template

(disclaimer on this preview...Page 15 will not be in your template set. I have changed page 15 to different artwork. I can not pass on this one because it is not an HM premiere collection. If you like that kit then you can go to GingerScraps Shop to buy Whoville. I love this one and wish I could pass it onto everyone but that is illegal. The preview just keeps showing the old version of the page, you will actually be receiving the HM premiere art one which is almost as cute. Same quote, just different artwork)
Get a Free account today at www.storybookingbyyou.com and get a Premiere account by placing your order today.

My Favorite Thing Was On Good Morning America

2008-12-04T11:03:00.001-05:00

Click Here or On Image to watch a clip of Good Morning America. You have to see this. It has me so excited. www.storybookingbyyou.com

Cards To Our Heroes

2008-12-03T20:13:00.001-05:00

Would you like to send a card to our Heroes fighting in the war?

Click Here To See Flier

Open up an account at www.storybookingbyyou.com

Create A Card

Send it to this address
Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Thumbs UP!!! WAY UP!!!!!!!

2008-12-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

Rick (her husband), Maranda (my bestest friend), and Robbie (her bro)

I am making Christmas Cards for a friend of mine for her photography company. She just sent me all of the pics to start on the cards. All I have to say is that I give this girl big thumbs up!!!!!!!! I know I might sound biased because she is my BESTEST friend, but she is really is great. If you live in Arizona you have to have your picture taken by her. I am going to visit her in April and I can't wait to soak up all I can from her bank of photography knowledge. I am hoping she will take some pics of me and my girls. She is a great friend and photography mentor. I give her thumbs up! Two big thumbs up...way up!!!

Check Out Maranda Peterson Flickr

Her Website Link Is Under My List of Fav Photographers

Deck Of Cards Sale

2008-11-27T10:52:00.000-05:00

Heritage Makers is having a Thanksgiving sale on our deck of cards. If you and your family is like mine and likes to sit around the table for family games ranging from go fish, phase 10, clue, and many more then HM decks are for you. You can personalize the front and the back of cards. Design whatever you want or use one of our many templates to create a one of a kind game for your family. I am in love with these decks and have several plans for these little cards. You can even make gift tags!!!! Check out our template gallery to see what you can create.

Send me an email with your phone number to place your order before Sunday the 30th.

Then and Now

2008-11-25T21:43:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share a special story about my maelee. Most of you know I am a Heritage Maker. I make books about my family and help others make books and products about their family's. Two years ago I made a wonderful book about my mom's relatives from Italy (my Grandpa Minerva's family). View it here. Sadly, it does not have any story. The stories are missing. I would like to redo it and write more story if Icould get some. And last year for Christmas my sister Christen made a wonderful book for her family members. It was so great that I ordered a copy for myself. View it Here. I have made several books about the happenings in our family, but not a little special one yet like my sister has. That book is on my long list. After this experience I had with Maelee it is being moved up to the top of my list. So, Now back to Maelee and her story:

Last week Maelee came up from the basement with these two books in her hand. She walked over to her backpack and put them in her bag. I asked her what she was doing. She said she was taking them to school to show her teacher because they were learning about then and now. She held up the ancestors book and said it was our cousins then and then she held up the other one and said it was our cousins now. She got it!!! My six year old gets what her heritage is. She understands that our family existed then and it exist now. I was so touched.

My friend Lena, a fellow storybooker, shared with me story about the co-founder and president of Heritage Makers and a dear friend of mine, Doug Cloward. Doug is fighting a battle with cancer right now. Heritage Makers is just getting off of the ground and this business is a dream of his. This summer Lena was doing a booth at a local fair. Doug came by the fair. He stopped at Lena's booth and chatted with her and I am sure he looked at her books. Then she said he started looking ill, so she asked if she could walk him to his car. I really hope I get this next part right...As they were walking he started to ask her, "do you think they get it?" Lena asked "get what?" Doug said something about wondering if people really get that Heritage Makers is more than just books. It is about families. It is about Heritage. She said he got a little teary. He is a tender hearted man, but especially these days. But of coarse you would have already guessed that he is tender hearted by such a wonderful company that he has created. I recently wrote Doug to tell him that people are "getting it." People are starting to understand that these books are about family heritage. I know my 6 year old gets it. I get it. Have you gotten it yet? Everyone has a story......who is telling yours? and do your kids know your story?

Speed Scrap Today, Tuesday 11/25 at Noon EST

2008-11-25T05:37:00.007-05:00

Today's Speed Scrap Just ended. We had a blast!!! Thank you for all of those that participated. Here were the rules for those that missed it and want to try it.

1.Pick out three pictures with a “thankful” theme to the page.

2.Chose one piece of paper as your background paper. Make it a solid/monochrome piece of paper.

3.Chose a pattern paper to put behind all three of your pictures

4.Frame one of your pictures by using four pieces of ribbon.

5.Put at least one thing on your page from nature: tree, flower, stick, leaf, etc.

6.Chose one final embellishment to add to your page. Use that embellishment three times on your page. THREE times, no more, no less

7.Put a title on your page and list three things you are thankful for on your page for your journaling

1. My page:

2. Carrie Rodriguez ( I am not even going to try to guess or write about who is in this page...I always get it wrong...I call her son her husband, her grandson her son and vice versa!!! )

3. Bonnie and her lightening page:

4. Melissa made a card for her sister

5. Leslie like most of us is thankful for her family

6. Lori had a great day. she got two pages done and got a package from the UPS man...8 HM books delivered!!!

7. Joyce made a great card for her grandchildren

8. Carrie Svozi has a new grandson

9. Sidney was one of our first timers...welcome to all of our new comers...great job!

10. Jan Judd is grateful for the happiest place on Earth

check out her CUTE page Here

11. Amber was very busy and made three pages. She has a lot to be thankful for

12. Debbie Adams, I did not get this via email, I stole it from her from her blog.

WE Have a winner. This winner was picked randomly at random.org

Carrie Svozi

Help Wanted! Now Hiring!

2008-11-23T21:02:00.002-05:00

I am looking for women who are interested in learning more about Heritage Makers. I love sharing this gift of Heritage. I want to give it away to one lucky winner. Heritage Makers has blessed my life in so many ways and I want to pass the blessings on to someone else. How to apply to be hired for my team:

1. Learn More About The Business Opportunity Here.

2. Go to www.Storybookingbyyou.com to begin your business by opening a new consultant account

Now it is time for my gift to you. I am going to do a drawing by the end of the day on Saturday out of all of the new consultants. I will send a $200 check to one lucky person to reimburse you the cost of your consultant kit. What will come in your kit when you sign up?

Check out Kit Here

Hear More About The Business Opportunity

Heritage Makers has put Christmas presents under my families tree for two years in a row now. I love what I do. I never had intentions of getting into the sales arena, but this is something I have never had to sell. I simply share it. I simply do my favorite hobby and pass time and show off my products to my friends and anyone that is willing to look at pictures of my kids and everyone always says, "how did you do that?" and I get to tell them how I did it. I cash paychecks of the heart twice a month. You can too. This is your opportunity. I invite you to join my team. One of you will get to join it for free. It could be you. Just think, only one person may end up signing up and they will automatically become the owners of their own business for free. To Boost I will give an 8x8 book credit to everyone that signs up by Saturday night. So everyone wins. Post a comment here if you want me to personally contact you to answer any questions you may have. Remember to go to www.storybookingbyyou.com when ready to sign up.

Be Thankful!

2008-11-23T20:26:00.000-05:00

Click Here To Read My Be Thankful Post

Instructions for Speed Scrap 11/18

2008-11-18T22:06:00.005-05:00

We had another speed scrap tonight. We had a great time. We almost doubled in our

numbers.

The prize is the same as last week. 5 12x12 prints. Below are the entries.

1.Pick out one picture. Make the picture as big or small on your

page as you would like (remember to always leave

room for plenty of journaling)

2.Pick Two pieces of paper. Send one to the back and use as your

background paper. Make the other one slightly smaller than

your background paper and layer.

3.Pick a third piece of paper to pu

t behind your picture, using it as a mat.

4.Chose a Photo Frame to put around your picture.

5.Now time to Embellish. Find a place to put stitching on your

page.

6.Use at least three of the

following shapes: Hearts, Flowers, Diamonds, Stars. You can use

four of one, or mix it up.

7.Most importantly we must journal. Give your page a jazzy

title. And you must have at least three sentences of journaling

for your page.

8.Email me your page or pages by

the end of 2nd hour at storybookingbyyou@gmail.com

1. Amber: Fun pages by Amber. she is starting to dabble in photography and just took these fabulous pictures.
2. Dixie's great colorful pages.

3. Karen was inspired by the speed scrap to complete her Christmas Cards.

4. Another great layout by Bonnie. That looks like a fun party!

5. Joyce looks like she had a wonderful Christmas Cruise with the author of The Christmas Box. I love these ornaments.

6. Jennifer is a wonderful friend and Neighbor to the woman featured in this 12x12. Jennifer made this page for her neighbor. She is going to love it.

7. Melissa looked like she had a great trip to Disney. She shared that she had originally lost the digital copy of all of her Disney pictures when her computer crashed. Lucky for her she had printed out all of her pictures before her computer crashed (printing them cost her $300. Shortly after this experience she discovered Heritage Makers and was amazed that there was a cheaper way of printing pictures into books). She scanned all of her pictures back into digital form and is working on a Disney book.

8. Brenda made this fun page. She said she was forced to do some new things but says she is happy with her final product. I like it too

9. This page is by Hilary. I love the bright colors and cute subject.

10. Carrie made a great page about her a very cute little boy, that I am assuming is her grandson. I could be wrong. Last time I thought her son was her husband, sorry Carrie!

Check out her page by clicking here

11. Debbie was lucky enough to have taken a trip to Hawaii recently. We are lucky enough to see this page

Click here to go to Hawaii

12. Barbara made this project. I believe this is a poster. It is so beautiful. I love the bling!

Click here to see project

13. Kelly made this page while she was doing a workshop. Way to multitask! What a treat for her workshop attendees to be able to see this page being made.

Click here to see her page

I hope I did not miss anyone's page. If I missed it please let me know and I will post it. I will be announcing a winner in a little bit. Thank you everyone for participating. I had so much fun! Thank you so much for my friend and director, Lena, for being on the call to help and support me. Everyone check back to this post for registration to next weeks speed scrap.

WE HAVE A WINNER: CARRIE! CONGRATS!

Parent Teacher Conference

2008-11-18T05:57:00.000-05:00

I just went to Maelee's parent teacher conference last week. It was the best conference ever!!! She really struggled through kindergarten so it was nice to have a good parent teacher conference. Her teacher said she sees little light bulbs coming on everyday for her. It is so exciting. I got a long list of sight words for her to work on. So I created a very special project for her. Check it out!

Heritage Makers has the coolest product, decks of playing cards. These are not the standard deck of cards, these are cards that can be customizable on both sides, front and back. You can create one back that will be printed on all 54 cards, then you can design 54 seperate fronts of the cards. We are the only company with these capabilities. It is so cool! The possibilities are endless. If you go directly to my website ignore the price. Never pay retail. Contact me directly for special pricing. You can get these decks for as little as $15 a deck.

I Witnessed A Miracle

2008-11-14T13:00:00.000-05:00

I was lucky enough to witness a miracle yesterday morning. I got a call at around 11:30pm Wednesday night. There is a friend of mine that was 7 days past due. We were all waiting for her to go into labor. I was on her list of people to call for when she goes into labor. I was 2nd on the list, my neighbor was first. I got the call because they could not get a hold of the first person. I jumped out of bed when I got the call and ran over to their house. First I did try to knock on my neighbors door because I saw all of her lights on and I figured, she must have gotten the message. Still no answer after ringing her door bell. I wanted to get a hold of her, not because I did not want to help, just because I knew how much she was looking forward to helping. No luck reaching her, a little worried about her because of no answer at the door, I went to help the expectant mother, Louisa.

Louisa had planned to deliver the baby at a birthing center that was about a half hour away. Her deliveries in the past have come quickly, this is her fourth baby. So they hired a birthing assistant to travel to the hospital with them. The birthing assistant arrived at the same time I did. They got Louisa into the car and off they went. 5 minutes later they were back. The birthing assistant, Heidi, said to me "I need you to go park the car for us, it is sitting right outside. (We all live in townhouse complexes and our parking spots are not always right in front of our house) We are back. The baby is coming" I went and parked the car. I came back in to witness the miracle. It all happened in minutes!!! The baby was here. They had laid out an air mattress for me, or whom ever would arrive to help take care of the kids. And on that air mattress is where the baby was born. Just as he, Harold, was born I heard one of the three children crying upstairs so I went to check on them. The ages of the other three kids are 5, 3, and almost 2. The 2 year old was crying so I comforted her but the oldest, Ruth Anne, heard us and woke up. She heard the baby crying and said "who is here with a baby?" I said, that is your baby. Your baby is here. She said, "oh mama, you look so tired. Is that because you just had a baby." Her mom and I do look a little alike. Both have short blond hair and I look like I am 9 months pregnant. I told Ruth Anne I was Sister Zabel and I came to help while mommy had her baby. We waited up in the room until it was safe to come down. None of knew yet what the sex was. I had rushed upstairs right as he came out and did not get a look or hear from them what sex the baby was. So we were waiting in suspense to know. Ruth Anne and I were talking about how this is more exciting than Christmas morning. We were waiting to go downstairs to see the best gift EVER!!! Finally we got to go down and see the baby. He was so pretty! The mommy asked for juice because she had some bottles of Snapple in her bag that she had been saving for the birthing center that she was anxiously waiting to drink. When Louisa asked for her juice she said "get everybody juice. Lets celebrate." So I handed out juice boxes and we all had a celebratory drink. The 3 year old was asleep through most of this. He is a little boy, just like men, they can sleep through anything. Eventually we went and woke him up and he joined the party. I stayed around until after 3am and got to love on the baby. The midwife had arrived shortly after Harold was born and was doing a great job taking care of Louisa and the baby.

The best part of being there was the birthing assistant and the midwife. They were so special. The kindest most gentle most calm women. They were old souls that brought such a great feeling into a room. At one point we were all in Louisa's room. Louisa and I in the bed. I was laying down holding the baby. The women were waiting on Louisa and started talking about music. And the three of them started to sing. The spirit was so strong. This is the way babies used to come into the world, at home, with the family. There was one point before Louisa left the house to go to the birthing center that she kept saying, "I am dying. I can't do this. It has to stop. I am not going to do this." The birthing assistant said, "you are already doing it." It was amazing how within minutes of the baby being here how calm and happy Louisa was. She was so happy. That is childbirth. In the middle of it you think you can't do it. Then it happens and you quickly forget what it feels like. Her delivery has me thinking about my next baby and how I am a "give me an epidural" type of girl. Maybe I will change my mind. Who knows. I am just grateful that I got to be there to witness a miracle.

Speed Scrap

2008-11-11T14:49:00.013-05:00

What is a Speed Scrap? When a group of online digital scrapbookers gather online at the same time for one hour and are given 7 instructions (one every 10 minutes) by one instructor.

What were the rules today? (these were mostly taken from a speed scrap by Barb on my cafe mom group)

1.Chose 3 Pictures. Make all three of them the same size. Put them in a row, either Horizontally or Vertically.

2.Chose a solid colored piece of paper and use it as your background for your page. Send it all of the way to the back.

3.Chose an embellishment like a photo frame, a bracket, or even use another piece of paper to place behind all three pictures.

4.Find a glittery or shiny embellishment. Use as many of them as you want to embellish your page .

5.Find flowers , leaves, bows or buttons to put on your page. You must use at least three of them

6.Use Alphas to create a title for your page

7.Journal your page with at least three sentences. Don't forget to add your date. Feel free to create a journal box using a tag or a journal box.

What happens after a Speed Scrap? The participants email the hostess/instructor their pages and everyone gets to see them. Here are everyone's layouts. Some are still coming in. So check back periodically for for more pages and Don't forget to check back at the end of the day for the winner. The winner will get 5 12x12 individual pages printed through HM. The winner will be randomly drawn from a hat and you will get one entry for every page you submit. Good luck!

Here are the entries:

1. My own design #1. I created this last night and it is what inspired today's rules. All of the artwork used in this page is from andiLyn Designs-Sunkissed Porch and a few other collections by her.

2. My 2nd Page I made in just a few minutes today to demonstrate how to use HM studio. Most of the artwork on this page is from Ellie Lash Studios and a few wonderful things from Heritage Makers Premiere Collection of Artwork by Scrapgirls.

3. Jennifer Gray. All of this is from HM premiere artwork. She plans to frame this 12x12 and put it on her wall so she chose not to put a journaling block. This will look great on her wall.

4. These two pages are from Bonnie Covel. All HM premiere artwork. I love this fun colored kit backed up with the brown background. It really makes the colors pop off of the page the way they should. (her name will get entered twice because of her two entries. She really speed scrapped)

5. This is by Amber. These are very cute pictures of a real life Power Ranger Zach. Zach is really a real life hero in the fact that he is fighting the battle against cancer. He got this costume while staying in New York where he spends most of his time going between the hospital and the Ronald MacDonald House. Thank heaven for heroes like Zach.

6. This next one is from Karen Adams. I love the warn papers and the bling she found for her page. It makes you want to be a part of their traditions. Click Here to be taken to a view of her family's holiday tradition

7. This is from Carrie Rodriguez. She three wonderful pages. I love the one of her son in his dress blues. So appropriate on Veterans Day and also with it being the Marine Corps Birthday yesterday. Oh-rah! She will be entered three times for the three pages she made
First Page Here

Second Page Here

Third Page Here
8. This next one is by Kim Hubert. She featured a wonderful page with a photo of nature....You don't have to wait for the fog to pass to know that this page is beautiful. Click here to check out the scenery.

9. Kelly Robinson made a wonderful tribute to her man. I love it. I think so many times we focus on our children and we leave out our spouse. What a great tribute page. Check it out here

10. More pages to come. I am waiting for two more submissions. Check back later.

Thank you so much ladies for participating today and for being so patient with me as I stumbled through the audio technical difficulties. I am hosting another one next Tuesday night the 18th at 9pm EST. So if you would like to join us just click here to register.

Happy Birthday Marines

2008-11-10T00:01:00.008-05:00

Birthday Cake Scott made in November 2005

(Boot Camp 1999)

November 10, 1775 is the birth date of the United States Marine Corps. So I want to wish every Marine out there Happy Birthday. I remember 8 years ago when I attended my first Marine Corps Ball. I had known that the ball existed prior to that, after all I was raised in a Yuma, Az close to a base. I knew several people that attended the ball every year, but I never understood the history behind the ball until I attended one in the year 2000. Scott and I were engaged. He wanted to take me to the ball. He was a young Lance Corporal (E-3). I was just excited to go and get to dress up and get to see him in his uniform. When we got to the ball everyone started wishing each other happy birthday. When I first heard someone tell Scott happy birthday I was very puzzled. For a split second I felt bad that I did not know his birthday. "I thought, how could I be marrying a man when I don't even know when his birthday is." But then Scott told the other Marine happy birthday. And I soon caught on. The ball is a birthday party to celebrate the Marine Corps. I even started a tradition of getting him a birthday present every year to give to him when we went to a ball. But I have fallen out of the tradition and really need to get back into it. If you ever have a chance to attend a ball you should go. Marines are allowed to bring guest, so if you know a Marine that attends a ball you should ask them if you can go as their guest. The last ball Scott and I attended was three years ago. I have missed it so much. I want to make it a goal to go next year. It is always hard for us to go because Scott is usually busy making a cake for the Commandant's Ball. I am going to make him take me next year.

I had to run to the store really really late Saturday and I saw a young Marine and his date at the store. They must have just come from a ball. I wished him happy birthday and gave him a sturdy Oo-rah as I walked by. I even got a little teary eyed as I did it and when he wished me happy birthday back. So if you run into a Marine, in or out of uniform today. Wish them happy birthday. The Marine Corps has so much pride. I love it!!!!! I love my husband for the service he gives our country. So I may not have bought my husband a birthday present this year, but hopefully he will read this post and know I love him

Happy Birthday....OO-RAH!! Semper-fi!

Semper Fidelis is Latin for "Always faithful." Best known to Americans as the motto of the United States Marine Corps (often "Semper Fi" (IPA: sɛm pər ˈfаɪ) for short)

cook school 1999-can you find Scott? Front row 2nd one from the right.

Marine Corps Ball November 2000

I am so proud to be married to a Marine-December 2000

Cake Scott made in November 2002

The day Scott left for Kuwait/Iraq in Feb 2003. The war had not even started and did not even have a name yet. The picture below is his him saying good bye to Maelee at age 11 months...not walking and not talking.

Scott and a donkey and his gun in Iraq

Scott's Homecoming September 2003. Came home to a 19 month old walking and talking daughter and a very happy wife that was so glad to have her husband home safe.

This was the last picture we had taken at a ball. We have only been to one other since this picture was taken but we do not have any pictures from that evening.

Scott working his dream job...Enlisted Aide to The Generals. Above he is pictured with General Haggee in 2005 with a cake he helped to make for the Commandant's Ball. Below is Scott at his re-enlistment for his third and current enlistment. He was re-enlisted by General Peter Pace in April 2006. Scott will hit his 10 year mark in the Marine Corps this April. Time goes by so fast.

Winner

2008-11-09T22:31:00.002-05:00

I have a winner for both my giveaways from October. Bobbie is the winner of both. First I did a drawing for a free poster credit to anyone that posted a comment. I got three comments. I put all three names in a hat and Scott drew a name. So if you have any complaints, take it up with him. Thank you for commenting on the post. I love all of you family historians that take the time to journal and cherish your family heritage. So keep coming back for more give aways. And don't be too shy to comment!!!

Bobbie was the only one that replied to the Favorite Halloween costume post so she automatically wins a free postcard credit. It pays to play!!! just ask Bobbie!

My Lens

2008-11-07T11:34:00.003-05:00

I have a lens that I love. It is a Canon 50mm 1.4. I love it. It was a gift from a dear friend of mine, Maranda. I cherish the lens, but about 6 weeks ago it stopped working in auto focus mode. At first I thought my entire camera was broken. Then I figured out it was just the lens, but without the lens the camera might as well be broken. Then I figured out that it would work in manual focus but not auto focus. I have tried getting comfortable working in Manual Focus mode but this is really hard when you are trying to take pictures of kids on the go. Forget focus!!! I was getting comfortable shooting in manual focus, if I was taking pictures of leaves and stuff. Forget the kids. My friend Maranda did some research and come to find out that it is a common flaw in those lens. They will stop working for no reason out of the blue, but then it also starts working out of the blue. I have periodically checked it to see if it started working again, and it never would. So I drove down to Ritz and was about to just buy a different lens. I did not have the $$ at the time to replace the 1.4 so I was just going to get the 1.8. I had my camera with me and was sitting in my car in front of Ritz and checked it one more time and Wow....it started working. What a blessing. We all know where these blessings come from. So my camera lens works again and I celebrated by taking some pics of Delana...in tu tu's of coarse.

Happy Birthday Andrew

2008-11-06T21:40:00.004-05:00

I had been planning to blog this for the last month but the day went and passed and I did not do what I planned......better late than never. I want to wish my nephew Andrew Happy 18th Bday. He turned 18 on November 4th. He even got to vote. What a memorable way to celebrate your 18th birthday. Here he is with his voting sticker and some of his baby pics.

Some of my favorite memories about Andrew........
He had the fattest little cheeks and I would wonder how it was possible for him to smile. It seemed like smiling was an impossible task with those fat cheeks, but he had the biggest smile. He still has the best smile.

Another favorite memory.....
He was always hungry. There were two things he would say that I still say when I am hungry now because of him. He said one time "I am having a starving." and "I am hunky (hungry)"

He also has the ability to fall asleep anywhere.

I love you Andrew!!!! My first of many nephews.

Halloween 08

2008-11-04T09:19:00.004-05:00

Maelee changed her mind every other day for the last two months about what she was going to be. First she wanted to be a vampire. Have any of you heard the best soundtrack ever...JUNO? There is a vampire song in there that both of my girls love!!! So that is what Maelee was going to be. Then she changed her mind to a Devil Witch. She said she was still going to wear vangs, so technically she was going to be a Devil Witch Vampire. Then she did not like the tu tu part of her costume that Grandma had made for her. So I took her shopping for other witch costumes then Delana could wear the other one and I could be a witch too. Every time we went shopping her idea for costumes changed. We left several stores with her kicking and screaming that she wanted to be Hannah Montana. I am sorry, I am a terrible mother, but I just could not stomach paying $40 for a plastic outfit. I told her that if she wanted to be Hannah then we could find her something from home. She already had the wig. That was not good enough. So we would leave fighting. Then she had her mind made up two days before Halloween to be little mermaid. We have a costume already that I bought at a clearance sale after Halloween several years ago. I was happy she had made up her mind. Then the day before Halloween and the day of she had changed again to be a hula girl. We had the stuff for the too. I did not care, as long as we were not paying $40 for a Hannah costume. Then she went shopping one hour before we were supposed to leave the house Halloween night with her father because like her, he had not made up his mind about what he wanted to be. She came home from being with him with a set of pom poms from the $ store. I asked if she had decided to be a cheerleader now. She said no but that she had changed her mind back to the little mermaid, this was just 20 minutes before walking out the door!!!! She had just bought the pom poms for play. She went to the basement to get her little mermaid costume. Remember that this whole time her big argument about being the witch is that she did not want to wear a tu tu of any kind. She has had it with the tu tus and is done with them. So she comes up from the basement (now just 10 minutes before we have to be out the door) and says "I am going to be a cheerleader. I am going to wear the red and white tu tu." So in the end she was something that she never planned on being and she wore a dreaded tu tu. The funniest thing was that all night long she kept telling all of her friends "I was supposed to be what Delana is but there is no way that I was going to put a tu tu on." It was like she was telling her friends that she was way too cool and mature for a tu tu, all the while forgetting that she actually had a tu tu on. That girl is so funny.

Scott decided to be a cowboy. He wanted batman but they sold out the week before Halloween. Delana and I went as ourselves, two little witches. Delana was a way cuter witch. We had a great evening at Trunk or Treat. and then we headed down to our friends home who throw the most awesome Halloween party every year. They are the best party host and hostess. They always go all out. They even had a really scary haunted house set up in the basement. We had a ton of fun.

We Have Arrived!

2008-11-04T08:19:00.004-05:00

I am always posting about my wonderful job as a personal publishing consultant with Heritage Makers. Some may not have heard of the company before and some may have and might think of us as a little direct sales in home business for moms. We might be viewed as just another digital scrapbooking company that may pass like a phase. Well, Heritage Makers is not going any where. We have just hit our stride. We were featured in "O" Magazine. The issue arrived in homes yesterday and we are on page 94. She put us on her list of favorite things of all time. Not just her list of hot items for the month, but her list of things of all time. How cool is that? So cool! She chose to feature our lovely 12x12 book. The listing price in her article is $4 per page. I can get it for you cheaper. Never pay full price! And I love being a consultant because I just got one of those big books for free this month. $0 per page for me!!!!! We have officially arrived. I just wanted to share my news.

See Page 94 Here

I am having way too much fun

2008-10-31T16:21:00.005-04:00

Here are some blasts from the past.....most of these even before I was born.

Me at age 6, Ironically Maelee is going to be a hula girl tonight too at age 6. Just realized that

Pippy Long Stocking, 80's Icon for little girls

If you scroll down to the bottom of the third post in of my nieces and nephews on Halloween you can see a pic of my neice wearing this same costume that my sisters Cheryl and Christen wore here in 1972. My niece wore it in 1992. So cool!

Cheryl as a clown at age one. Her son Hunter is featured later as a clown.

Christen and Chuk 1969

I am having way too much fun today going through the old photos. It sure it nice to have all of these photos out of the box and have them digital now so I can share them with all of my siblings.

Halloween Give away

2008-10-31T12:48:00.004-04:00

My Favorite Halloween Costume

Cyndi Lauper 1984
I loved Cyndi Lauper so much and I loved dressing like her almost everyday. I would wear this dress all of the time because it seemed like something that Cyndi would wear. I would always beg my mom to let me dye my hair red. I was so happy when on Halloween my mom let me spray my hair red like my favorite singer.

Here are some more pictures of the same year. It looks like an event we went to at church. I was not Cyndi for this event, I was saving that for actual Halloween day. But I was a punk rocker. My sister and I and her friends would dress up in plastic bags and pretend to be punk rockers.

That is Kirstin Brooks on the left and Crystal Morgan in the Middle as Devil
Me, Cara Smith, Kirstin, and Charlie

Cara as a Cabbage Patch Doll. Her Cabbage Patch doll was the first one I had ever seen. I was so jealous. I wanted one so bad. I think I finally got one for Christmas of 1984
Give Away time

leave a comment about what your favorite Halloween costume was or favorite memory. Post it by Saturday night. Everyone that leaves a comment will get a free 5x7 postcard to put this years Halloween pics on and send it off to someone who would like to see your Halloween memories. (you can actually do anything with the free credit you would like to. Halloween pics is just a suggestion)

2008-10-31T11:35:00.011-04:00

Some Very Scary Halloween Pictures

(my nephew Craig Halloween 07)

And Some Very Sweet Halloween Pictures

(Andrew and Hunter 06? I think?)

Me and Nacho '07

Ty '06--Jail house Rock Elvis-All 5 boys were Elvis

The Twins 06

Craig 06

Gideon 06

Craig and Gideon

Katie 07

Gideon 07

Tiff, Jared, Katie 07

Brian on the left007

Hunter 07

Scott with Friends and Co-Workers 07 The one in the middle host the funnest Halloween Parties every year. We can't wait for it tonight. Remember that Scott is a Personal Chef and Aide, part of his job is party planner and so they all know how to throw a party. Everything is decked out and foods all have a complete halloween theme. so much fun!

Michelle and Maelee-cat and mouse 07

Addy 07-this year she is going as a kid that just had ear surgery. Poor thing is in SLC recovering from ear surgery.

DJ on the left

I don't know the years on the rest of these, but these kids are all so old now so it is fun to see them so young. Addy, Hunter, Brad

Addy, Brad, Andrew, Hunter. It looks like Gideon in the front, but for some reason I don't think it is. It might be a friend of the Lindsays. I don't know? And I don't know what Brad is either?

Addy

Brad and Addy

Addy

Kyla. This was in 1992

Addy, Gideon, Brad, Ty

Addy, Hunter, Brad, Hunter

Ty-Probably around 95 or 96

Gideon and Ty

Gideon

Brad, Gideon, Tiffany

Brad and Gideon

Gideon and Tiff

Brad

Tiff

This is one of my FAVORITES. My real fav has all 6 kids in it (Ty dressed like Spiderman and Andrew dressed as Casper) I wished I had that picture

Andrew, Kyla, Charlie and TY

Tiffany, I don't think this was Halloween. I think it was her Clogging recital. But what a cute Halloween costume that would make.

As you can tell, my sisters know how to do Halloween right. I love these pictures so much. I wish I lived closer to my sisters so we could do it all together. I don't know if anyone is doing Halloween this year. Two sisters moved this week and one is with her daughter recovering from Ear surgery. I think this link to this blog would make a great website for Halloween Costume ideas. My sisters are so creative!

Strangers in a Box give away.

2008-10-30T11:21:00.006-04:00

My family at Moonlight Beach in maybe 1989??? See, this photo has been in a box and I can't remember all of the details. Hopefully my family does.

Strangers In A Box

Come, look with me inside this drawer,
In this box, I’ve often seen,
At the pictures, black and white,
Faces proud, still serene;
I wish I knew these people
These strangers in the box.

Their names and all their memories
Are lost among my socks;
I wonder what their lives were like,
How did they spend their days?
What about their special times?
I’ll never know their ways.

If only someone had taken time
To tell who, what, where and when,
These faces of my heritage
Would come to life again.

Could this become the fate
Of the picture we take today?
The faces and the memories
Someday will pass away.

Make time to save your stories;
Seize opportunity when it knocks,
Or someday you and yours could be
The strangers in this box!

~Author Unknown~

I wanted to share one of my favorite poems with you because I am spending my day today scanning. I had posted about my sister moving to "the island" (that is how we are referring to the place she moved to). She has been sending me boxes of all of her photos for the past four months. She did not want to travel with the BOXES of photos. So she sent them to me and my scanner. The other night I got the last two boxes from her. I have to tell the truth and say that I have not even opened all of her boxes....There are a lot of boxes and I was fearful that if I opened any of them before I was ready to scan then some would get out of order or the little ones would get into them. But I did open these two boxes the other night. I spend an hour just going through them and remembering some really really fun times. I am scanning today and even more I can't wait to storybook them all.

It is free giveaway time again. This is my 2nd giveaway. No one believed me but Shara last time I posted that I was giving a book away. This time I am giving away a poster credit and a family tree template. So what are the rules? Every family has a historian. You know that person that inherits all of the family photos and family journals. The person that does the family history. The person that scrapbooks or storybooks. Leave a comment telling me two things
1. who the historian in your family is.
2. in theme of the poem, Where are your photos?

Every family has one, most call them historians and I like to call them Heritage Makers. The deadline for this is Next Friday.Don't let yourself and your cute ones become strangers in a box or in our day, Strangers in a computer.

"photos without stories are memories lost" ~Sharon Murdoch

Keep coming back for more give aways!
I am thinking of doing two this week in honor of Halloween. I love Halloween!

Last Day for Calendar Sales

2008-10-29T13:31:00.003-04:00

Today is the last day of a wonderful card and calendar sale. Email me your phone number by midnight tonight to place your order or learn more. In three years of Calendars I have never seen the prices this low. Most of you that ordered calendars last year paid $40 to $35 for calendars with me. So this is a huge sale of only $20 to $18 each. EMAIL ME!

Click here for flier

Homecoming

2008-10-27T23:35:00.004-04:00

Homecoming was this weekend. My friend Michelle asked me come out and take some pics of her and her friends and her date. She was so beautiful. We had planned to take pics outside. My camera works best outside (I don't have the necessary flash for indoor). As you can see it was raining buckets outside that day. So I attempted to do my best on some indoor photos. A flash is next on my list once I get my lens fixed. She had the most beautiful dark silver dress on. She was most excited about her Michael Kors high high heels. Michelle is so beautiful. I teared up a little while I was looking at her through the lens. She will graduate this year. I have known her since she was a giggly little 13 year old in my youth group at church. She is a beautiful mature young lady now. She is beautiful in and out. Michi, I love you Mucho!!!

Click on Image to view in a larger window.

Joy is Falling All Around

2008-10-27T11:53:00.004-04:00

I love the fall. It gets me thinking of the joys I am thankful for in my life. Here are two of my greatest joys.

(Page Credits go to Heritage Makers studio and Scrapgirls Crisp Autumn Air Collection)

(Page Credits go to Heritage Makes Studio and Scrapgirls French Market, scroll behind flower is Ellie Lash Scatter Sunshine)
This is the photo from Delana's page. I love this photo because it captures Delana's sweet little face. But the quality is distorted in the page (print previews lose quality due to the web, the page will print beautifully, but looks terrible via internet.)

Halloween Goodies

2008-10-25T21:29:00.001-04:00

Check out what I made this weekend. Popcorn balls with some very very fun tags added to the bags. Let me know what you think about this weekend's project

Click Here For Popcorn Balls and More

The Scofields

2008-10-25T13:34:00.004-04:00

My sister Christen and her family are moving to a tiny little island in the Marshall Islands. They fly out tomorrow. She currently lives in AZ and though we may only see her once a year or twice a year when we are lucky, I am going to miss her very much. She will be living there for two years. She will be very close to Hawaii and welcomes anyone to meet her in Hawaii. I am going to miss talking to her everyday. We are also connected very much through the internet. We both love to digital scrapbook/storybook. She will not have high speed internet access on the island so sharing our projects will not be likely. She did say that every now and then she is going to take her teenage daughter to Hawaii and get a hotel room for the weekend and go to movies and digitally scrapbook. Wouldn't that be a scrapbook crop you would want to attend, in Hawaii. If she is reading this by chance before she leaves tomorrow: Christen, I love you very much. I am going to miss you. Change is hard and I can't stand not knowing your number and when I will talk to you next. I know we will keep in touch. I can't stand the thought of not seeing you next time I go to AZ to visit. That is probably when it will all hit me. Be safe and enjoy the island! What a great adventure for your family. I am glad we got to have some really fun times this summer.

Our girls are just two months apart in age. It is strange to think that they
will be four years old when they get back from the island.

Three Day Sale

2008-10-24T19:01:00.002-04:00

Many of my friends and family have started the tradition of making Holiday Cards and Calendars for Christmas. And if you have not started this tradition yet, you must start this year. Contact me on the days of October 27, 28, 29 to take advantage of these sales

Click Here For Sales on Cards and Calendars

You Must Start This Tradition!!!!! Here is a calendar I made last year for my mother in law. I made her a calendar for Christmas of 2006. But for Christmas in 2007 I made her book. She got her book early. She loved it of coarse, but she asked "where is my calendar?" Her birthday is also in December so she asked, "since I did not get a calendar for Christmas, could I have one for my birthday?" So she got this calendar for her birthday. A similar thing happened with my brother. I sent him a book as a joint gift from my mom and me. The year before he got a calendar. So he asked the same thing that my mother in law asked, "Where is my calendar?" So if you are wondering what to give this year for Christmas, give a calendar. They are easy and fun to make and you can get really creative with very little work using one of HM's templates. Click Here to View My MIL's 2007 Calendar

Star of The Week

2008-10-18T18:00:00.004-04:00

Go check out my weekend project. Maelee has to take a picture of herself to school on Monday because she is a star of the week. She could not decide which picture to take. She loves herself so much and there were too many pictures she liked so I fixed the problem and now she can take all of her favorites. Go check it out: Star Of The Week.

Just a side note about my pages over on my CT blog>>>I had those pages printed out at Sam's Club. I was a bad girl and procrastinated completing my project in time to get my pages I printed with Heritage Makers. So I had to quickly learn a new software and send my pages out to Sam's Club to be printed. I was not comfortable on the new software. I struggled with it and there were so many things that I am used to having access to because of using Heritage Makers that I really missed in the other software. So then I was really disappointed when I picked up my prints at Sam's Club. First of all, they are a little more expensive and they are very thick. They are printed on heavy photo paper, I wasn't shocked, I knew they would be. But I really like the paper we print on with Heritage Makers. It is not as thick as Photo paper and is much much easier to work with. It lays flat and does not curl up like photo paper. I was glad that I had to work with the other software and order from a new place because it made me really really appreciate what I have. Isn't that the way life is, we need to do something new to appreciate the old way of things. So digiscrappers....order your 12x12's from me. You will love HM pages! Plus now we have 8x8 and 8.5x11.5 available.

Purchase This Kit from Ellie Lash at Scrapmatters.com

Christmas Presents For The Girls

2008-10-16T16:23:00.002-04:00

Quiet bag for church, perfect for her colors and coloring books. We hunt around the house every Sunday morning for the girls colors to take to church. I frantically shove them into my purse as we run out. Then the girls fight over the colors during church and then after church I shove the crayons back into the bottom of my purse. Then when they want them during the week they help themselves to my purse and dump it out to find the crayons. I found a solution to this problem. I am going to buy them each a bag like this and then they will each have their own perfect bag for church. Their own book and their own crayons. These are great! They come in such cute colors too.

How To Use Templates Free Online Class By Me This Friday

2008-10-16T10:35:00.003-04:00

I am helping a friend start a book about her darling daughter. I am going to be showing how to use a template from the template gallery. If you would like to join us then just jump in on our call and go to meeting at 1pm Eastern Standard Time on Friday October 17th. Follow these instructions. You will have to download Go To Meeting if you don't already have it on your computer. It is free and it will just take a second to download.

1. Please join my meeting, Friday, October 17 at 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/802194763

2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.

Dial 914-339-0014
Access Code: 802-194-763
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting

Meeting ID: 802-194-763

GoToMeeting®

Look Who Loves Her Book

2008-10-15T22:22:00.003-04:00

Go Here To Find Out More About A Book That Oprah Got From Heritage Makers.

Oprah is not the only influential person that has received a Heritage Makers Book. I had the honors of making three books for the former Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, General Peter Pace, last year for Christmas.
You can look at General Pace's Books at the following three links:

The Aides To The Generals

General Peter Pace, 40 Years Of Service

The General's Cookbook

These books have the power to touch everyone's lives. Have you made someone for the influential people in your lives.

Scott goes to the White House

2008-10-14T21:40:00.002-04:00

Scott was at the White House today. The President was presenting the Stanley Cup to the Red Wings. The Commandants Aides were invited. I love these pictures because I don't get to see him in uniform very often. He goes to work on a daily basis in just black slacks and a polo shirt. I married a Marine because I liked the uniforms they wear. I also married a Marine so he would take me to the Marine Corps Ball and that has not happened in years!

Happy Birthday Delana

2008-10-12T23:30:00.020-04:00

Delana turned 2 Saturday. We had her birthday party on Friday. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I go to an exercise class at church. So we just had a birthday party right after exercise. Scott had the day off and he went and picked up Maelee from school for an hour and brought her to the party (her teacher was not too happy when Maelee told her that she left school to go to a birthday party). We took all of the Tu Tus down and put them on all of the girls plus some wings we had bought for all of them. We also got knights helmets and shields for the boys. One of the little boys, Parker, did not want to wear the knight costume, he wanted a tu tu and wings instead. We had so much fun. I can't believe how much Delana has grown over the past two years. She is so funny. I think I will post some baby pics and stuff when I have more time. I am working on her baby book right now.

(I am so sad about my pictures. My lens broke and it only works in Manual Focus mode and I am really really struggling to get anything into focus. I need to just go get a new lens and stop trying to take pictures. I stink at manual focus!)

Tagged....I'm It!!!

2008-10-12T21:56:00.005-04:00

My friend Melanie tagged me. I think last time I was tagged with this was by her as well. Fun stuff! I keep learning more and more fun stuff about her. So here is my 8 things you might not know about me.....I will try not to repeat from my last tag post.

1. I used to teach aerobics when I lived in Yuma, Arizona at 4th Avenue Gym. One of the funnest jobs I have ever had. I have taught a volunteer aerobics class before at my church here in Virginia, but some day I would like to get back into teaching at a gym.

2. I have a namesake, Julie Janice Channon Ferraro. She is 9 years old and lives in Georgia. I met her family while living in the Atlanta, Georgia area while serving a mission for my church. She is named after the three sister missionaries that met her parents. She goes by Channon (pronounced "Ch" instead of "Sh" like my name, her parents had only seen my first name in writing and never heard me say my first name because they only knew me as Sister Gideon.)I am amazed every time I see Channon's name in writing. I was the only Channon for so long so it feels so great to share my name with someone so special.

3. I get jealous sometimes of my girls when they are with their dad....I know it sounds weird, but it is so hard to get his attention when he is with his girls. When he is with them, nothing else in the world matters but those two girls.

4. I used to take hip hop dance classes on Tuesday and Friday nights at a gym. I stopped last December when my back was out and I let my gym membership go. I have missed it very much. I have set the goal for myself to take a real dance class at a dance studio starting next September. This will be a more official dance class then what I took at the gym and I will even have to perform at a dance recital. It has always been a dream of mine to dance but I have always let me insecurities about my body hold me back. I am done letting that hold me back. Maelee is taking a year off of dance too but the both of us will start at the same studio September 2009 and we will perform in a recital June 2010.

5. I have always loved and always will love the Beastie Boys. Can't always play it when the girls are in the car, some of it I can (Maelee's favorite song is Brass Monkey). When I am all alone in the car I put them in and turn the volume up as loud as I can.

6. I loved high school. I miss all of my friends from high school. I get sad when I hear people say that they hated high school.

7. My first kiss was when I was 4 years old with a family friend, David Morgan. I told my mom I was going to marry him. Never kissed him since I was four, but he did take me to my senior prom and I am still friends with him.

8. I feel guilty that I was upset two weeks ago when "The Office" did not air because the debates were on. I guess I care more about a fictional sitcom then I do about politics. (no mean posts or comments. I am very patriotic and I do vote!)

So Tag, Now You Are It......
Sonia
Kathy
London
Cyndi
Nicole
Konae
Debbie
Bobbi

Scanning

2008-10-09T00:15:00.004-04:00

I purchased a high speed professional Kodak scanner this year. I can scan 30 photos a minute. I just scanned about 500 of my moms pics in less than an hour. I love it. This is to ensure the safety of my family photos.....keep them safe from fire, flood, and the tool that time takes on old photos. My mom has promised to bring a bunch of pictures with her every time she comes to visit and eventually we will get everything scanned. And last time I went to Arizona I took the scanner with me and was able to scan some photos. If you ever need photos scanned just ask me and I will help you get them scanned.

Here are some of my favorite pictures I scanned tonight.

I am the youngest of five children. I scanned all of the pictures from the year 1982 so the next few pics are from the year I would have been the age of 4 or 5.
This is me and my siblings at Sea Port Village in San Diego
Cheryl, Chuckie (now goes by Chuk..and that is not a typo, he dropped the "C"), Christen, Charlie, and myself (channon....does the listing of my siblings names fill you in on why I am "channon" and not "shannon"

Charlie and me enjoying a Mr. San Francisco at Swensons Ice Cream Shop

I always love pictures of me and my big brother. I don't have a lot of memories of him growing up because of the age gap. So pictures of us together when I was young remind me..."oh yeah, I did have a big brother growing up." And yes, that is a Mun chi chi (sp?) I am holding and a rubik's cube. Who remembers those from the 80's?

This is Easter pics. We probably just came from church. I can tell we are outside of my Grandma and Grandpa Minerva's house. This is my mom with her parents...the Minervas

This is my dad. He loves remembering his old high school football days of when he played center for the Kofa Kings football team. He was the smallest center. He loves watching my nephews play high school football.

My mom, she is so funny. She still puts that same hand up just like this when she is talking and walking. She is probably bossing someone around in this picture too.....many things have not changed....mom if you are reading this, you know I love you!

This picture is a treasure! This is my mom's Aunt Larae and Uncle Jack Spencer. That is my mom they are holding. I love this picture because I have a lot of fond memories of Aunt Larae and Uncle Jack but I only knew them when they were older. I love this picture of them when they were young. They are so special!

I Am An Angel

2008-10-08T12:03:00.003-04:00

I know this sounds boastful to call myself an Angel....but really I am now. I am going to be an Ellie's Angel. What does this mean? Ellie Lash is a popular digital art designer. Digital art designers chose people to use their kits and build pages and projects to help people be inspired on how the art kits can be used. Ellie calls her creative team her Angels. Thanks to my good friend, Melanie and co-angel, Ellie chose me. I am going to be their "Hybrid Girl." What is a "Hybrid" in digital scrapbooking? Hybrid is a combination of traditional scrapbooking with digital scrapbooking. I can print my pages with pics on then add all the 3-D embellishments just like I would in my old traditional days. Plus I can do so many other things like making projects for my home. I have some great things in mind and I can't wait. Last fall I sold my entire scrapbook room so I could buy a laptop so now I think I will have to make a few trips down the scrapbook aisles again. It has been a while for me, it should be fun though. Starting next Saturday, October 18th, you will be able to view projects. I will post every Saturday on Ellie's Angels Blog.