First real snow

I thought I'd share one of my most recent favorite layouts. I thought it turned out so cute if I do say so myself! It's about my youngest son Jack. I took this great photo of him playing at the park. When I looked at the photo later, he looked like such a big kid! So I wanted to create a layout that would portray the feelings I had looking at the photo-a little bit of sadness, a little bit of surprise but most of all love for this little guy. I love to layer things--here are three different pattern papers, a journaling tag, stickers (brackets), and pen. I love putting different patterns together and love the kind of patchwork look they create.

And finally, wanted to share some photos from the first real snow storm we've had here. It was really nice this morning with nothing to do, nowhere to go. R-Jay and I got to lay in our warm bed and talk for a long time since the boys slept in until 8:30! Heavenly!

Hope you have a great saturday!

7 random things

Here are 7 random things about me:

1-I love to microwave M & M's so the chocolate is melted inside.

2-I don't like to get dressed up.

3-I have read Anne of Green Gables about 20 times.

4-I buy more books than I read.

5-I really don't believe in soulmates.

6-I wish I were in Hawaii right now (this statement would be true any moment of any given day! :)

7-I hate having naturally curly hair.


Post a link to your 7 random things!! J

Me, like it or not

I have been thinking a lot lately. And I just want to say something tonight. I am very frustrated with people and the way they treat each other. Why do we hate each other because we are different? Why do our differences tear us apart? Why can't we accept that we do not think the same or believe the same and move on? I want everyone to know that I am ME. And I like it. I am not about to change, no matter how much you want me to. I answer only to myself and to God. This is me, take it or leave it. I love my children, I love my husband, I love God. And I am happy with those things. I love people, I love my friends. I love to help people and serve where I can. I have so much more in my life that some people in the world and I want to share. I am terribly shy, but I love getting to know people and learn from them. There are so many things I can learn from the people in my life. I know am not perfect. I have many many weaknesses. But, believe it or not, I also have many strengths. I am a good person. I try hard. I work hard. There are many people out there who don't think so and to them I say "Go to Hell." I am tired of letting other people's opinions of me color my opinion of myself. I deserve to be treated with respect. Someday I may be brave enough to let go of the people that only bring me down. For now I will work on myself and my own weaknesses. That's all I can do. We'll see what changes come of it.

Thanks for letting me rant

Jamie

Hi Baby!

Hi daddy!
Isn't this a great photo to start with? Are you a little glad you're in Nebraska, not here listening to this? He is cute though and I kind of just want to laugh when I see his face!

Sam said he wanted to show you his sparkly dress. And he wanted me to take pictures of him dancing around in his sparkly dress. So here he is. He's posing-Cheese!

While I was taking a photo of Sam saying "Cheese", I heard Jack behind me saying "Cheese cheese cheese." So he is actually posing and saying "cheese" in this photo. So cute! Of course it's blurry because he wouldn't hold still!

All day he has been climbing in the baby swing, making it swing, standing up, falling out, etc. It's been annoying. I actually had to move it into the library because I was tired of him getting into it!

And right now they are banging metal sticks on the metal chairs in the dining room! I am going to scream! Agh. Time to take those sticks away. Well, we love you R-Jay and I hope you have a great night. I will get a photo of the dishes later. I didn't get a chance before I posted this! Later love! Jamie and Sam and Jack

PS-a couple cute photos I thought you'd just like see tonight. Love you!

Autumn

I know it's getting to be autumn not only because of the change in weather, but also because of what's been going on around my house. I've been pulling out the coats and hats and gloves, doing an inventory. I found a box full of blankets (I was wondering where they all were!) and got them all washed. We went to a local grocery store and loaded up on canned foods from their case lot sale. We (ok, I) look forward to that sale all year. Since they have great prices, we stock up on all the foods that we regularly eat.

And the happiest sign that autumn is on the way--a yummy (and pretty) cup of hot chocolate to tempt me from my warm bed in the morning.

Since Sunday is the first day of autumn, and I probably won't get around to posting before then, Happy Autumn!!!

Puppy!

Is he the cutest thing you have ever seen? I don't know what I was thinking when I took him from the lady in the parking lot of Albertsons! As if I need another dog or another baby! I think it was those adorable old man eyebrows. So cute! I've never had a puppy before and I don't know how to handle the chewing and the barking. Any suggestions?

Preschool

Preschool??? This is my little boy on his first day of preschool (today). He was so excited to go. He was ready 30 minutes early and had a hard time waiting. The school is only a few houses down from ours so it takes 2 minutes to walk there. He had a long wait. He is so cute!

Here he is brushing his teeth. He likes to watch himself in the mirror so that's where I had to take the photo (sorry for the poor quality).

He was actually cooperative with the photos today. Who is that big kid standing there ready for school?!

And here he is at the school. Wow! I can't believe he in school! Crazy! I am so proud. He went in with no problem. He put his backpack in his cubby and came over to give me a hug, then went to do his first activity. Such a big boy!

And finally, some random yumminess. FELT!!! I love it. Look at the beautiful colors. I like to touch it and hold the big pile and sometimes even use it! Ha! I think I especially love it because it's cheap! I can be obsessed and not break the bank! It's the little things that make me the happiest! :)
(Did I use enough exclamation points in that paragraph or what?:P )

Some cute photos from our trip to Red Butte Gardens yesterday. So beautiful there!

Fun Swap!!

My package arrived!! It actually arrived several days ago. I am just really slow at getting things posted! So here was the package. I love mail!! Inside, eveything was wrapped so cute!

And here it is! Some yummy treats, a journal and pen (cool!), and an awesome collage with an ocean theme. So cool!! I loved it all so much. It was so fun getting a package from the UK. Tracey, you are awesome!

And here is what I sent to her. A mini book I made for her, some Bohemia transparency frames (my fav!), a book about my favorite place in Utah-Moab, and of course, a Book of Mormon. I made some cute tags explaining each gift. They turned out so cute! I am definitely going to do that some more. I have been intimidated by tags in the past, but this opened up my imagination. I have Big Picture Scrapbooking by Stacey Julian. In the back of that book, there are some tags that are to be made into a mini book. So cool. I haven't done anything with them yet but now I really want to. Tags are a very fun base to build on and play with. I'll post it when I finish!

Enough rambling for tonight! Later! J

A few days ago, I was putting laundry in the washing machine. Because it is such a brainless activity, my mind started to wander. I realized that as I was working, I was not smiling. I have only recently stopped working and started being home all the time and I am still adjusting. I like it more and more as time goes on, but I am trying to find my "place" as a stay at home mom. Anyway-I thought, "why am I scowling? Do I hate doing laundry? NO. Am I depressed? NO. Am I happy? YES. Do I like being at home? YES." All this in a matter of a few seconds. But I realized that even though I am happy being home (and I actually love doing laundry!) I am not a "whistle while you work" type of person. For a second I felt bad that I wasn't, then I got over it and decided that it's ok to be the type of person I am-whatever that type is! Yay!


I participated in a favorite things swapjack at the Red Velvet Art blog. It was so fun! I am not going to post photos of what I sent Tracey in the UK until she receives the package. I don't want to spoil it! I will post photos soon though, as well as photos of what I receive from her. What a fun thing this was! I am so glad I participated! Those girls at Red Velvet Art are so fun and creative! Love it!

Organizing!!I have been trying to get my house organized this week. I started with my studio, but then to finish I had to move on to kids clothes and books also. It's no wonder I have been putting off organizing kids clothes. It's quite the job! I got rubbermaid containers and labeled each one with the size of clothes. Then it will be easy to know where to look for something. When I was pregnant with Jack and started to get things ready, I had to go through every box of baby clothes. It was annoying. This will be much nicer.

Now my studio. Yikes! What a mess it was. It was becoming quite cluttered and such a haven for spiders! And we have huge hobo spiders out here in Tooele. I mean huge! Yuck. So I finally had had enough of them and decided to clean out. I want there to be as few places for them to live as possible. This is a photo of my table and floor in process. It actually looks much better than it did a couple of days ago.

This is a bookshelf in my room. I love to have things around that make me happy. My table actually faces this bookshelf and I can look at the photo of me and Sam in Yellowstone and all those beautiful mini books.

Again, I like things that make me happy so i like to hang stuff on string with clips: layouts I am stuck on, ideas for paintings, actual paintings, fun photos, etc.

I did get 2 more paper racks into my room. I could only fit one in there before. The rest were out in the family room. But now I have 3 total (one is still in the family room!). I am so excited. People always tease me about how my studio looks like a scrapbook store. Now it really does!

Finally I wanted to jot a quick note about Jack's first birthday. My baby is ONE!! I can't believe it--it has gone by so fast. He's a cutie!! Here he is with Grandma Brown.

Here he is with Aunt Tavia (not really an aunt. She's my best friend and may as well be a sister!).

Here he is with Daddy. So cute--both of them! I am so blessed. Life is good.

Ladies Day Out!

Fun Buys!!!

Friday we decided to go for a girl's day out in Lindon. We left at about 10:30 am and didn't return until nearly 7:30pm! We went to an outlet store that had lots of great deals on scrapbook supplies (paper for .15, 300 eyelets for 2.00, AC letter stickers for .75!). I loaded up. We went to another store nearby and munched on chocolate covered popcorn. Then we went to lunch at this yummy place called Kneaders. They are so good! Good is not even the word! I had a great turkey sandwich, handmade parmesan chips, and a strawberry tart.

Heavenly!!!

After lunch we headed down to Orem to Archivers. I loove that store!!! I bought a fun glue stamp pad and some glitter, some 2.00 acrylic stamps and more!! LOVE IT!!!

After that, we headed to Pebbles in My Pocket. At least we tried to head there. We got lost and drove back and forth for a long time. OnStar gave us bad directions twice and we finally arrived after I called the store and got directions. Crazy! And it was worth it. they had some great stuff-things I'd never seen anywhere else such as Making Memories transparencies and jars of AC felt shapes (for .99 none the less!!). Lots of fun! Thanks Lecia, Michelle, Chelsie, and Becky! You girls rock!!

Books

The book for my book group this month was Fablehaven. It was a good book for older elementary school age kids. Interesting storyline, a little random at times and a little bit of a let down at the end. I guess Mull expected to pick up the story in the next book.

The book for August is For One More Day by Mitch Albom. I loved Tuesdays with Morrie and I hope this one will be just as good. I have just started it so I'll let you know how it is as I get further in.

I am also reading a book called Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult. It is great! It was a little slow at the beginning but it has really picked up and now I can't put it down. I identify a little too much with the main character Paige. I can't wait to see if she comes to a happy resolution or if it will end badly.

I am having a good time reading right now. I seem to be really in the mood for books! If you know of any good ones let me know. I like almost all genres and even the ones I don't like (science fiction and fantasy) I'll read if someone recommends it to me!

I've been tagged so I am going to post 7 random things about me. Hmmm...

1) I could sit on the beach and watch the ocean waves for hours!

2) I can't go one day without doing some sort of scrapbook/art journal type work.

3) I love toast with Nutella on it.

4) I sometimes buy shoes I love even though I have nothing to wear them with.

5) I am addicted to flipflops. I can't have enough!

6) I hate hate hate hate talk radio programs. Even when I agree with what they talk about.

7) I am not a very good blogger! LOL!!

Joy

Real joy today. Walking in the beautiful sunshine, feeling my muscles warm up, hearing my boys talk to each other, good music on the iPod (Phantom Planet-thanks Jen!), remembering what's really important. I forget way too often and way too easily. Gotta work on that!

What am I doing?!

This is an experiment. I have been so inspired by other people's openness and genuiness. I have always had a hard time being open to people. This is a way for me to open up in a non threatenting way: there is no one staring at me while I talk! Thanks to everyone that uplifts me everyday. I hope that sometime I can say something in these silly ramblings that will give some else a big hug. Take what you want and leave the rest. And feel free to leave your comments also. If nothing else this is a way for my family and friends to see what my family and I are up to. Be patient as we get this up and going! It will be cool! Love ya! J

First one!

This is my first attempt at a blog! It's kind of scary and exciting. Fun!