Tiffany and Caleb

I took this picture of my sister and nephew over the weekend. I love this Layout. One, because I think the photo is great. It is black and white, but the color is vibrant and not faded out. Thanks Adobe Photoshop. Two, I love the look of love in her eyes. She is watching over him and he doesn't even notice, which is what I think mothers do everyday. A mother's love is pure, sacrificial and eternal. There is nothing else like it in the world. I really respect her for making choices I know I would not have been brave enough to make. She and her husband have created beautiful children. Their family is truly a blessing.

Marriage Encouragement

Check out this blog if you're married or in a serious relationship. Sometimes we think it all should be perfect b/c the grass always looks greener. The comments are a must read, these are real and honest.

Marriage

Powerful Thoughts

Steve Jobs : Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

***I always wanted to be a writer, but decided against it when I went to college b/c I wanted a stable job b/c I feared living paycheck to paycheck more than anything in my life. I became a teacher b/c I live and love literature and thought nothing could be better than sharing this passion with others. I wonder where I would be if I had been brave enough to create my own literature. I find myself in a similar position now b/c I want to do something creative in nature, and yet I am too afraid to leave my stable job to step into a realm I know nothing of. I know my husband would try to support whatever my dream may be, but I am not sure I have the courage to stop and pursue it. A friend asked if she should drop her career and go back to school for 4 years to do something else. I told her she needed to really think about it b/c that would be a huge change to her present lifestyle. Maybe I should tell her to have courage and follow her inner voice even if that does mean a change.

Dr. Leo Buscaglia: Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife. The first question was, 'Did you bring joy?' The second was, 'Did you find joy?

***I have to think a little more on this. I hope I have brought joy, and there are some days in my life where I feel like I have so much joy that I can't handle it anymore. My wedding day, looking at my sister' first child, the look of pride in my mom's eyes when I accomplish a goal, and the look in my husband's eyes when it's just the two of us in a quiet moment. Find your joy in the smallest things. Sometimes watching the sun set brings tears to my eyes b/c it is a sign that God is always creating.

If you are a scrapper, I challenge you to do a LO based on one of these topics. If you are not a scrapper, I challenge you to journal about it, or to have a conversation with someone about the quotes. They truly left a strong impression on me. Love you all :-)

The Train

So I decided to visit my mom this weekend, since Rob went on a boys only retreat to visit his best friend. I took the train b/c I didn't want to drive. The train was 30 min. late. A little annoying, but the ride was pleasant, so I let it go. Coming back, was an entirely different story. The train left almost an hour late and there was no organization in the line up and boarding process. While on the train, we hit a man on a bike. Thank God there wasn't a fatality. This set us back for another 30 min. We continue on and then the train stops for 15 min. to let a freight train with a hundred cars pass us on the track. I was uspposed to arrive at 9:50 and didn't actually get there until 11:50 p.m. Then we had to do the 2o min. drive home. I was totally aggravated, plus I felt bad for Rob who had to get up for work the next morning.

On a different note. I was able to pick up my marriage license while at home, so now I can officially change my name over on important documents. Yes, I have been married for 2 1/2 years, that will be the subject for my next post and LO I think b/c not everybody understands why and they look at me weird when they find out I waited so long.

I enjoyed the visit. Saw my family and my sister was there with my neice and newphew from TX. Family is definately important and forging bonds is most important of all.

Sometimes you can feel like an outsider in scrapbooking if you don't have kids. I've gotten over it because I have the good fortune of scrapbooking early, so I can document the love between us that may bring on the desire to have kids one day. Plus, I will be a seasoned scrapper when that happens, so my kids will end of with great books right from the start. Really I am being a little cheeky, but I love to scrap our relationship and what it means. I think future generations will want to know our story. I used to enjoy listening to my grandmother talk about her life. Now my grandkids will have miny pieces of art to support my stories. This photo was taken at a wine tasting at the Melting Pot. If you know me, you know it is my fave restaurant. I Love Fondue :-) Anyhoo, we had a great time eating, drinking, and socializing.


This is another LO I recently completed. I like it because it reminds me of the beauty of being human. The trust factor we all must ascribe to if we want to live a full life. This simple act by this woman left a mark on me and reminded me of my own belief that we aren't inherently evil. People make bad choices, but I think deep down inside we all want the basics of life to love and be loved. Amazing how osmething so simple can be so hard to achieve sometimes.

I am going to Chicago to see my mom and my sister who came up to visit with my neice and nephew. They are the cutest kids EVER. Their mom and dad are alright to I guess :-) I am excited to practice my photography skills with them. Maybe their parents will consent to me scrapping a page or two about them and posting them. Should be a nice time. Any exciting weekend plans for you???

Have you checked out the Happiness Blog on the right side of my page??? Ali has some great personal statements and the responses people leave about what makes them happy that day, feel me up with something special. Please check it out.

Teachers love going to the zoo as well even in H.S :-) To teach or work with kids you have to love something about them. You may not always like them or their choices, but deep down inside you have to love their spirit, their creativity, and the future they have before them. Some days I question my choice, other days I question what else I would do. Working with a great group of people sometimes makes the hard days seem a little better. I am thankful that my husband has a teacher for a mother and a sister because he understands when I become obsessive about my job or helping a particular student achieve. Here it is my summer and I am thinking about how to better do my job when we go back in August. Teaching is truly a calling and not simply a job.

Happy Father's Day to all of the men out there.

Happy Father's Day to my dad b/c without him there would be no me. Sure my mom could have had a child by someone else, but my genetic makeup would have been different, thus I wouldn't be the person I am today. I thank my dad for part of my strong and determined personality.

Happy Father's Day to my stepdad. He has been there for every important moment of my life since I was 10 years old. He taught me alot of lessons about life and how to treat people. He comforted me when I had my heart broken, watched trash t.v with me when he came home for lunch, and supported all my dreams. What more could a girl ask for?

Just For Fun

You Are An Iris

You are a unique woman who needs a lot of novelty in her life.An inspiration seeker, you often have to change scenery to recharge.You don't deal well with structure or rules. You need to do it your own way.Your ideal relationships are free and flowing. No one can tie you down.

What Flower Are You?

Here are some photos from our Botanical Gardens trip yesterday. We had a great time, The weather was perfect, and I got a chance to practice some photography techniques (these are untouched meaning I haven't lightened, darkened, or cropped them yet). Also, here is the card I made for my friend's b-day. Hope she liked it :-)

Failure and I Aren't Friends

I am one of those people who believe the motto: Failure is NOT an option. I have lived my life in a relatively successful manner. Most things I have desired I have achieved, aside from the ability to lose weight. Anyhoo, I have been submitting Layouts (LO's) to scrapbooking magazines for a few months now, with no success. I know 3-4 months isn't really alot in the grand scheme of things considering some people have been doing it for years, but I am so used to success, that failure in this arena is an odd thing for me. So yesterday, I took a good hard look at my LO's in search of design flaws and repeated patterns. I learned quite a bit. So I challenged myself to step outside my box and experiment with different design principles. It was a bit scary and a bit relieving to know that I wasn't boxed in and I can still refine my skill. Back to the drawing board people. My goal is to be published in a mag by the end of the year. Here's to hoping success decides to continue walking with me.

My Idea of Love

If you are not into mushy posts, run far far away :-) If you are into romance, than this is the spot for you (I am sure you will like this Keke). So I love my husband. Why you may ask. Because he loves me and understands my needs and understands what I need to be happy. For example, he is playing hooky tomorrow, so we can eat breakfast at this nice cafe, and then we plan to go to the Botanical Gardens and maybe eat lunch outside in the park. The actions themselves are sweet enough, but he realizes that I love being outside, I love parks and museums, and sometimes I get lonely in the middle of the day since I am home on summer break. We haven't been married long, but he is what I prayed for and I can't imagine not wanting to be with him.

In my opinion, love is quiet, steady, understanding, supportive, interesting and full of compassion. Marriage isn't problem free, but it is about loving each other and respecting each other enough to work on the problems so you don't repeat them. So I love my husband because we talk about real stuff and manage to respect each other everyday.

On a similar note: I added a new link to the sidebar (your happiness) I found this while reading another person's blog. Each day Ali posts a positive statement and asks people to write their positive thought or experience for that day. It is truly a pick me up to read about the joys of others lives. It brings peace to your life and encourages you to focus on the good stuff as well. More happy thoughts can't be a bad thing in this world. So what's your piece of happiness today??? Obviously mine is my husband :-)

Here are a few things I worked on today. I did another card, but it's for a friend's b-day and she may be reading this :-) I really like it though :-)

On a side note, I won't spend this blog post dialoguing about exercising b/c I don't want to use profanity today :-) However, I am keeping a weight loss scrap journal for a site I hang out on, but I am not sure if I am reaching my goals. Well I guess I am not b/c the scale isn't moving in a direction I like.

I am cooking today and joining my husband in the use our grocery stash challenge. I will be making hot wings from scratch and scrapping up some side dish.

Happy News

So the two classes seem like they will be good. I love to learn and to grow professionally, so this is a major plus. The icing on the cake would be the fact that I found out I don't need four of the books for the classes, so I just saved money on my car insurance, no really I saved around a hundred dollars on the books which is good.

Hubby cooked yesterday and it was tasty. We had tacos and yellow rice. I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD and could eat it two-three times a week.

Had a great mail day yesterday. Got my CK magazine, and I got a package full of scrap goodies from one of the scrapbooking clubs I belong to. I will post the pics of the cards I made from it last night.

Off to visit the doctor and do my homework. Have a fabulous day and remember if you never attempt it, you are sure to never achieve it...smooches

Happy Monday

Today I start my final two classes for my master's program. I am very excited to accomplish this goal. Unfortunately, I just don't feel like going today, and I surely don't feel like shelling out the $300 for books. Intellectual property is important, but does it have to cost so darn much. I just hope the classes are good. I love learning and discussing, which is probably why I love teaching.

Also, I will come clean and admit that I am a Matlock fan. Go ahead and laugh. One of my guilty pleasures is watching old episodes when I am on summer vacation or off from work. The last two weeks they have been showing episodes that I remember vividly, so imagine how upset I was to find that the day I start summer classes, they decide to show three episodes I don't remember and now I won't be home to watch them. Bummer...

Hope my hubby is cooking something good for dinner tonight since I won't be home to do it. We have decided to do a challenge at home called cook your stash (a spin off of a scrap challenge to scrap using what you have). We think we need to eat out and we think we need to buy more groceries, but the truth is that we have stuff in there we just need to use.

What are your fave quick and easy dishes???

New Hairdo

If you look at the picture on the right you can see my new hairdo. I had about 2-3 inches cut off. Long story short, I had a great stylist who was growing my hair out, but the salon closed down. I tried two new people at two different places and they were both terrible. I think they did more damage to my hair than I did to my own. Finally I tried a thrid place and woman with great results. My hair is alot shorter, but I think it looks fresher and now I can grow it out healthy again. I don't really mind the bob (sp). What do you think???

The downside: when I went to make my next appointment she tells me that she is quitting the salon and working from her home. Geez, I have really bad luck in the stylist department. Now I have to figure out if I pay $70-80 for the stylist or for the salon experience.

Just Starting Out

This is a very weird experience for me. I always kept a journal in my youth and even now I scrapbook to document my life and my story. I should be used to writing my thoughts, but there is something about posting for the whole world to see. I hope this is a positive experience for me and you (I will try not to bore you too much on my blog :-) I plan to post my scrapbook layouts (lo's), to document my daily life to share with family/friends, and also to use it as a way to gather my thoughts and ideas. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Feel free to leave comments when you want :-)