Busy making cards!

I've been trying to keep myself occupied (without resorting to cleaning!), so I've been digging into my stamps. Here's a few, and forget the originality, I think pretty much all of these were inspired by cards I saw on the Splitcoast Stampers site. :)

I've Been Tagged

I don't usually do this, but I'll give it a shot today.

1.Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog...Chelsea

2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself (on your blog, we all want to know them).

Hmmm, that's a toughie. Are they supposed to be interesting? LOL!
1. I am totally addicted to chocolate. I always loved it, but since having my babies, I NEED it.
2. I am currently enrolled in my third college. I graduated from bible college in '94, library tech college in '96, and am taking my Early CHildhood Ed. through correspondance. I love learning!
3. I currently have 2 different colors of ink on my fingertips, and will probably have 3 totally different ones tomorrow!
4. I cried when reading Charlotte's Web to my daughter.
5. One of my favorite movies is Earth Girls Are Easy. Google it. LOL!
6. I work in the same building I was born in.
7. I am one of the most forgetful people I know. I can remember names and faces from 30 years ago, but forget almost everything from day to day. It's amazing that I don't forget I have kids. ;)

My Young-uns

Thought I'd finally get some updated photos of the kids, so I took them to Chelsea's to play in the yard. :)

New Pics!

I had Shannon take these this morning. I'll have to try and figure out how to edit them so they're side by side with my 'before' shots. lol!

Finally, some layouts!

After working on cards, a wedding gift, and notecards, I finally got to do two layouts last night. "Love Actually" is a movie title challenge I did, using the 6 new colors from Stampin' Up...

"Girls' Night Out" I used the paper pack 'Outlaw', from SU! This was when we went out to belatedly celebrate Chelsea's birthday.

Is that a pig flying by my window?

:) Yes, that's real.

First party!

Yesterday, I had my first home party for Stampin' Up, and only my 2nd event ever for them. The stamp club I took over wanted to take the summer off, so I haven't gotten much practice standing up in front of people, demonstrating. I've gotten a lot of practice ordering though. In fact, I think I've become an expert. LOL!

I'm sure my spending will level off eventually. I've decided that to help in that area, I'm going to give up the store. While I love having access to all the goodies, it's costing me a lot, and half of my customers have moved away. So for the next little while, everything's pretty cheap until it's gone!

These are the two cards we made yesterday, the butterfly curls up in real life, sort of 3-D...inspiration I got from the gallery of Splitcoast Stampers. I'll throw a link in here later if anyone's interested in checking it out.

Back to my old hobby for a while!

After getting a bunch of new stamps and papers, I've started to catch up on making cards again. I need to, I sell them at Sweet Nothings, and I think they've sold most/all that were up there. I'm on a roll! My style is extremely simple, but I like them. :)

Something I've Discovered...

I have learned that I am not the emotional eater I always thought I was. Having become way more aware of what and when I eat over the past year, I've noticed that I don't stuff my face when I'm upset or stressed. And I don't lose my appetite then and eat when I'm happy. I have a serious sweet tooth, plus I munch unknowingly when I'm watching a movie or reading. And those things I do a lot of. So if I make a conscious effort to not have snacks in the living room for my hand to wander over to, I should lose the last 2 lbs I put on this week, right?????

Sorry, no pics yet. For some reason I have trouble accessing my blog at home, so I'm on a foreign computer. :(

Spring is here...sort of.

It's still a little too chilly in the morning (0 degrees this morning), but the sun is shining. I'm back to trying to get in a walk everyday, minus the kids. (Love them, but Abba just walks too slow! LOL!)

I've started back to work at the daycare this week. While I hate getting me and the kids up at 5:30 am, I love the early shift. I'm done around 11 or so, then I get the afternoon to myself. We can hit the beach, or I can leave them there for a little while so I can get some stuff done. It's awesome!

I also painted my living room last week. For those of you who are in the know about Bazzill paper, it's Parakeet green. ROFL! This has been the highlight of June; new, bright paint just makes my day.

It's in the blood...

I already have one scrapbooker in the family; Isabelle loves it. Now, it seems, I have two. And like me, he loves to ink. :)

My Baby's 5 :(

Actually, I'm proud; she's quite a 5 year old (well, tomorrow!) Abba had her party today, and had 6 little friends over, plus Jackson and Tayla. It was a fairly quiet party...which was nice for me. LOL! Addison was sick, so we sent him away for the afternoon, and the girls played very well together. Jackson fit right in, too. ROFL!

Abba loved all her presents, so thank you to everyone!

A Mother's Prayer

Dear Lord,
So far today I've done alright. I haven't gossiped, I haven't lost my temper, I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or very indulgent. I'm very grateful for that. But in a few minutes, Lord, I'm going to get out of bed, and from then on, I'm going to need a lot more help.





:)

My Goal Outfit

Is now off the wall. It's snug. Very snug. But I got it on! And I didn't even have to lie on the bed to do the jeans up, although it was pretty close. LOL!! I am close to my goal, but the end is coming so slowly, due to my determination slacking a bit.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I hope all mothers are enjoying their day; I went out for breakfast with my kids and my dad, then it was a nice walk home. Abba gave me the gift she made me at daycare.

I love my kids; I'm sure most mothers say this freely! I see horrible news stories every day about kids getting treated horribly by a parent, and I cannot even imagine what might be going through their minds. I get frustrated at least once a day, I raise my voice several times a day. But I make the effort to lower my voice when I notice I'm getting mad. I make it a point never to say anything that will hurt their feelings, or make them feel bad about themselves.

One of my children came about by serendipity (a happy accident!), and the other was planned. I thought that I would never get to have kids; and whatever happened between their dad and I, I will always be grateful to him for these two precious children.

New Year...

I'm 33 today; I have found 2 white hairs this year, and have 3 areas of my body that are now wrinkled due to weight loss. However, I'm determined to make this a good year.

Goals:

1. Make my store known to everyone in town.

2. Reach my goal weight and maintain like crazy.

3. Tidy and organize my house (most know how hard this is for me)

4. Save enough money to take a trip to Disney Land next year.

5. Meet someone special (again, very hard thing to do LOL!)

Our Aunty, the hairdresser...

Well, you can't see it in Addison's hair very well, but Aunty Annette put purple streaks in Abba's hair, and gave Addison a little purple mohawk. Oh, so cute!!

I Found One!

Thank you to all who posted a well-wishing comment on my search for another business opportunity! I really appreciate it.

Well, just on Friday, my friend Jodi mentioned to me that she was hoping to find someone to join Stampin' Up, and take over the Snow Lake customers. After 2 days of thought, I've decided to do it! I'm going to do this in conjunction with my store, because I don't believe in limiting people to one brand. I think Stampin' Up is a good brand though, and will be proud to represent it.

I am going to attempt to start a blog just for the business side of things, I'll add the link here as soon as it's up.

Facebook

Last week, the blog topic suggested by someone was Facebook...are you a part of it? And who would you want to find?

I just joined a week ago, but I've already made contact with several people. Some are recent friends, but just yesterday two people wrote me that I went to bible school with...Christine and Shaine. Christine I was friends with, Shaine I was just getting to know a little. Extremely nice and fun people to be around. Bible school was so many years ago, that it's hard to remember everyone I knew. But I always wonder how they are doing, where they are, and if they'd be as happy to see my face on the computer screen as I am to see theirs.

Attempting new ventures...

Many of you know that I started a little 'in home' business almost 2 years ago. It's something I'd been wanting to do for a while, but didn't know where to start. So I started very small. Got myself a business license, registered a name, ordered a very small amount of inventory. And voila, I have a scrapbook store.

Being in a very small town, I had few customers. But they were loyal, and came over to shop at least once a month. Then one moved away, then two. And another. It seems everyone who is leaving town now is not only a friend of mine, but a customer. The store does not quite pay for itself, but it will hold it's own for a while.

In the meantime, I've been looking for a way to supplement my income a little, as I don't want to go back to work fulltime if I can help it. (I remember what it was like two years ago; busy with kids at work, I'd come home supertired and burned out from being "on" with the kids all day. I'd have no energy to give to Abba...and now I have two at home.) I've been looking into a place that lets you design your own shirts, mugs, magnets, hats, etc. You come up with the design, they make it as it sells. And you can use as many designs as you want. So I've put out feelers to several people about designing items for them. We'll see. I'm getting excited about it though. I'm starting with items with a scrapbooking theme, and proceed from there. :)

Wish me luck!

Thirty-Six!!

Happy Birthday Dusty!! I hope this year is a good one for you!

8 Pounds Even!

After reading up on little Isaiah, (man, he's cute!) I got a little nostalgic for my little boy. Yes, he's still adorable now, and I love watching him reach his milestones (pulled himself up to the furniture yesterday!). But I miss my tiny little newborn. So here he is, for me to drool over, and wish for another one. LOL! Addison Garrick Wolfgang Lamontagne-Miller. His name was longer than he was. :)

This is me and Chelsea with Amma, our mom's mom. 'Amma' is icelandic for 'grandma'. And no, we're not Icelandic. LOL!! Amma has always been there for us; to babysit, to have us over for lunch on a school day, for sleepovers. In fact, I went there for sleepovers up until I graduated from high school!

She is one of the reasons I am still in Snow Lake; family keeps moving away and I would hate to take 3 more of us out of town, and away from our Amma.

Tag!

I know, I was tagged days ago, but my computer has FINALLY let me in to post. LOL! About me:

1. I don't like organized sports or clubs because then I would have to leave the house on regularly scheduled nights. It's a miracle I joined TOPS a few months ago!

2. I have a love/hate relationship with the color pink.

3. I have the wrong tattoo...when I went to get one, I had picked out a daisy to go around my wrist (to look like a bracelet) but I thought the tattooist would laugh at me. Then I wanted a tree frog, but there weren't any. So I settle for a gecko.

4. I love to make lists, (grocery, things to do, budgets, books I want to read, etc) but rarely follow them.

5. I dream of living in the Star Trek universe. I know, I'm a dork.

6. I love cheesy teen movies, whether from the 80's (The Breakfast Club) or more recent (Bring it On). I'm not sure why. Makes me feel young again, I suppose.

7. I have the urge on occasion to use the word "yo" like I did when I was in high school, but I don't feel as comfortable with my current friends to act like the dork I am inside. Does that make sense?

The cheese 80s photo on top is due to my reminiscing. :)

Congratulations Rebekah!

I don't have a photo, but Rebekah (Foord) and husband Trevor had a baby boy yesterday, named Isaiah. I assume he's adorable, and that grandparents Val and Greg will come back to Snow Lake armed with many pictures! :)

Here's a few more photos...the first one of Addison is when he discovered walking without his mom. :( I stood him there, and the chair moved an inch. He gave an excited yell, and just took off walking with it! He's so proud!

The middle 3 photos were taken at Grandpa Rene's during Easter breakfast.

The last one is Addison about to fall. I just think he looks hilarious. :)

Easter Morning

Yah, it's a week later, and I'm just posting these pics. My computer is soooo uncooperative. Abba loved looking for chocolates and jellybeans, and when Addison got up, he threw his new bunny away, because he was fascinated with the cellophane on Abba's gift!

To Be Buff...

I've decided to start weight training! Someone has kindly come up with a basic beginner routine for me, and I'm going to start tonight. I'm actually very excited, as it's yet another way I can keep whipping my large but cute butt into shape. ROFL!!

Sigh.

I am currently watching a movie, alone. The Holiday. Love it. There's one scene, where the couple is lying in a tent, with a kid on either side of them, and he just reaches his hand over and takes hers. Very subtle. Very romantic.

That's what I want. I don't know how long I have to wait, but believe me, I'd better find it sometime. I love my kids, and holding their hands is an awesome feeling. But I need someone else in my life too.

I hope I didn't bring anyone down with this post. I just needed to write it down. If you know of any nice, single men, I'm taking applications. Just e-mail me.

I'm partially kidding.

Quotes That Make Me Think...

"When someone tells you who they are, believe them." - Maya Angelou

"Look inside yourself the the answers-you're the only one who knows what's best for you. Everybody else is only guessing." - Charles de Lint

"For each of us comes a time when we must be more than what we are." - Lloyd Alexander

Is it unusual to admit that at 32, almost 33, I don't know who I am? I could tell you things about me, things that I know to be true. But I have this small, quiet voice inside that tells me that there is more to who I am that I haven't discovered yet. Things I am too shy to let out, or too scared to see. And I wonder how long I have to wait before these things become a part of my everyday life.

A Quote A Day For Inspiration...

I've finally found my book of quotes I've collected over the years; famous quotes, lines from movies, whatever. I've decided that I'm going to put one on here every time I post, even if I have nothing else to say.

"God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December" -J.M. Barrie

(photo is of my Grandma and Grandpa, Joan and Orval Miller)

What makes me smile...

Yikes...I can't believe I'm posting this picture already. But this makes me smile, love handles and all. Because comparing it to my before pictures makes me feel good, knowing I can go the rest of the way. And because on Sunday, I wore a bathing suit for the first time without shorts or a t-shirt covering it up.

A good story. Book, movie, song lyrics. Romance, science-fiction, fantasy, chick lit. It really doesn't matter. I love to get involved with a really good story, one that makes me think, laugh, cry, get angry.

John Denver. I know, I know. Chelsea, don't roll your eyes. But I truly love his music, and turning it up in the car if I'm having a bad day really does help.

Addison and Abba. They drive me crazy, and they keep me sane. Even on the worst days ever, they can make me laugh so hard I have to stop to catch my breath.