Who could resist...?

this face! I really want to scrapbook this picture of my dog Krystal. I did a small 6x6 for my gallery wall in the kitchen, but I'm not real happy with it. No real journaling.

But then again, it's pretty hard to express how I feel about this dog.

I was not raised with dogs. My mom didn't want to spend the time taking care of one. And with 4 kids, I can't say that I blame her all that much. So my experience with dogs is limited to 2.

Marcus, our golden retriever, that died almost 2 years ago. And our Aussie, Krystal.

Marcus was extremely loveable and loyal. He was a fireplace type golden, but still loved to chase sticks, squirels, and rabbits. He was super mellow and everyone in our old neighborhood loved him.

But there is something about Krystal. She makes me want to learn more about dogs and training. When this dog does her X-games jumps to catch a ball, it makes me want to learn about agility training. I love her energy and her smarts. I love the way she will come in and cuddle with me in the morning or in the evening when I am watching TV and scrapbooking. I want to give her a job to do to make her a happy Aussie. I love learning about this unusual breed.

Good Times

Hanging out with my girls. I bid on and won a crop at my work United Way auction. We got 12 hours of cropping, dinner, snacks, and some wine. I got a ton done, plus the pleasure of being with some of my best cropping buddies. Good times.

True Love Can't Wait

Ever since I gave Shawn the I Love You tin with the mini scrapbook inside, I've been planning my V'day gift. After Christmas, I got this black 5x7 Kolo album for 30% off at Archiver's. I knew it's black pages would be perfect for color photos.

I wanted to keep it simple, yet special. So I went with a black, red, and white color scheme. I looked in my newly organized red drawer(thank you Stacy Julian for p.53). I found these red and white heart die cuts. I must've had these for years. Could go as far back as 1999 or 2000. Then I found some Making Memories jelly sayings....Love, Amore, etc. Perfect!

I had bought some new Making Memories love tags when I bought the book. Then at a different trip to A's I got these cool Making Memories vintage hip trinket pins. I can't resist anything vintage.

So cool to be able to put the old and new together. I've had the cover done for a week now. Tonight I just couldn't wait any longer. I had to put the rest together....well as much as I could. It's 90% done. I've got pictures of us together through the years. I want to write something about how much I love being with him or being together.

Now I just need to finish. Hopefully, I will be able to wait until V'day to give it to him.

My Colors are In!

A couple weeks ago as I was hurrying along through the mall to bring 3 tweens to Build-A-Bear(apparently that is the in place for 5th graders in our area) I stopped dead in my tracks. There is was! A whole display in my colors - turquoise and lime green. It felt like the angels had come down and started singing. My 2 favorite colors in the whole world are in!

Donna Downey Week 2

So here is my week 2 assignment. I've had all the pieces but only tonight did I get a chance to put them together. It is a little chaotic looking, but then again so it my life. I had the twill tape with the months on it for awhile now and have been itching to use it. I also love the name/date stamp from Stampin' Up!

It was fun to look back at the fun we had with each other last year. I am one blessed chick!

Fun Homework

So, I decided to take the plunge and purchase the first quarter of Donna Downey on-line classes. I'm not sure why I was skeptical. Well, I take that back. I do know. I usually start things and dont' finish them and then end up wasting a bunch of money. But I figured if I only took one quarter's worth then if I don't like it or don't have time, I would've wasted less money.

I'm really digging this. Here is my first assignment. Crappy photo I know, but there has been almost zero sunlight in my part of the mid-west for literally days. Really. They were even commenting about it on the news. But I digress.

Week 1 assignment is to alter a planner to use for scrapbooking. I got pretty busy with the paint, ribbon, and such. This was fun. No pressure for it to be anything. No one will see. Well, I did post it on 2Peas, but not for praise. For commarderie of being in the class with other likeminded individuals.

I have already printed out and cropped photos for week 2 and picked out a piece of patterned paper as my inspiration for week 3. What I am really liking about this is I am using what I have here and having fun with it. No pressure.

In other creative news, I joined 2 pre-CKU circle journal groups. One for the main yahoo group and one for my album track. Now I have had bad luck in the past. I am in 3 circle journals that are currently in limbo. I joined them back in May and June. They should be done by now but they are still drifting along. I've about given up on them. But I figure all these people are going to be at CKU so there will be more incentive to get the books done. So I am going to give it another try.

For my themes, one will be about wishes. First I thought I would call it "I wish..." but then that sounded kind of lame. Then I thought I would call it 3 wishes. But that won't really fit spelled out in Making Memories chipboard letters on the 6x6 bazzill album I want use. I think I am going to use "WISH x3" Maybe that's lame, but I thought it was a pretty good solution.

My second journal is a bit of a dilemia. I have a purple bazzill gate fold album that I titled Random Things. But I've got a lot of pages bound in that book. Since the groups are small, I don't want to use it for that. Instead, I put together a chipboard album with 6.5"x6.5" pieces of chipboard and loose leaf rings from Office Max. It was my friend Wendy's idea, but I am pleased with it so far.

I am still struggling with it's theme. I am going back and forth between Color My World(fav colors) or Smell the Flowers(fav flower). I have the perfect stuff to go with each one. So tough to decide.

Goals 2006

Since 2004, I switched from resolutions to goals for the year. I find that if I make a list of 5 goals then I usually accomplish at least 3 or 4 of them. If I just have resolutions with no plan, than I accomplish nothing.

This year my goals have a theme....HEALTH.

1. Spiritual Health
Getting back into the Word. Daily reading and attending an organized Bible study. Finding a church that falls in line with my beliefs and attending regularly.

2. Physical Health
Learning to eat healthy. Exercising regularly. Drinking more water and less Diet Coke

3. Creative Health
Taking time to play. Letting go and realizing that it doesn't have to be perfect - experimenting. Taking classes.

4. Mental Health
Figure out why I tend to eat when stressed and what I can do about that. Learn to deal with the dark times in life. Try not to over-schedule and over-commit myself.

5. Healthy Family
Cook more. Make sure kids especially Megan are getting enough exercise.

At some point here, I am going to copy the Ali Edwards intention tin and put my goals on it. Keep it on my desk at work to remind me. Don't think I'm going to get to that today.

Who Knew.....

I had so much stuff. I don't even have the shelf space to get all of it in my room. Well, out of the boxes from the move and organized.

We went to get shelves on Friday night, but everyone in suburbia must be putting up shelves this weekend. There wasn't much to choose from and we ran into several people on the same mission as ourselves.

Saturday morning Shawn did have some success by running all over trying to get what we want.

One thing is for sure. It made me realize just how much scrapbook stuff I own. I have no business shopping for a good long time. Maybe once I am better organized I will actually use what I have.

Oh, and those balloons on my desk....for our New Years Eve party with the kids.