TGIF!!!!!

I'm having such a heck of a time getting anything done since my husband went out of town. Playing single mommy right now is just overwhelming. Dh had an early flight on Wed, so I got up and took Alyssa to school at 7:30, came home and fed Kyleigh and got her all packed up and ready for mother's day out. Dropped her off at 9:00 and then came back home hoping to get some work done since it would be my my last kid-free time until Dh retunrned Sat night. Well, I was so darn tired I was falling asleep at the computer. I figured, well if I go lay down for about an hour and a half, I can feel rested and get up about 11 (I expected Dh to return from his flight about 11 and then pack his stuff up to leave about noon). I could grab some lunch then and work until I had to pick up the girls at 2 and 2:30. Wellllll Dh got home, but didn't wake me, I don't remember if I heard my alarm or not. Dh got himself all packed up and then woke me about 5 min before he was leaving (at 12:30!). So I lost more time and I didn't even get to see him before he left. I had 1 1/2 hours to get some lunch, and do a few things before I left to get the girls. After I picked them up, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up and getting ready for the babysitter, feeding everyone dinner, and bathing Alyssa early. I left for class about 6:30 and when I got home about 9, Alyssa was still not in bed and was having a tantrum saying she wasn't tired and she missed Daddy. AHH! So finally got her off to bed and the babysitter out the door to sit down and work at 10:00 PM! I worked on a few things on the computer, and just as I was about to leave the computer room and go work on my paper in the living room, I decided to check and see what Kim had up for the 2pgr scrap (UGHHH I should have NEVER looked!). I ended up searching for a few pictures, but I did move to the laptop so I could sit in the living room and work on my paper at the same time. I worked on the layout (but my laptop is soooo slow) and my paper while waiting for things to move or whatever on the lo. I think about 1 AM I put away the paper and came back to my desktop to try and finish the los quickly so I could go to bed. I still fooled around for like another 2 hours on those layouts! DANG the sketch was just not working for me. I finally altered the left page a bit and finished it and then modified the right just a tad (switched the top and bottom) and the decided I'd have to get back to it later. I've yet to finish it now. I'll post here so you all can tell me what I still need on the right side - it just doesn't look "finished" to me.


credits: paper, elements, and alpha from Jen Wilson Worn Comfort "Grass Stains" , b/g stamp from Shabby Princess "Urban Kiwi"

Anyway... I barely stumbled to room to bed Wednesday night, forgot to set my alarm, and THANK GOODESS Alyssa woke early and came into my room about 7 and woke me up. Got her off to school again, and then yesterday was just a nightmare with Ky! I saw one of her top teeth FINALLY cut through (there are several just sitting right under the surface and her poor little gums are sooo swollen). I couldn't sit down at my computer for more than 2 minutes at a time all day yesterday, so I didn't even attempt to try and work on my paper - no way to concentrate on it with Ky constantly needing something and hanging on me. I just worked on some paper designs for a kit (part of which will be the freebie for this Sat moonlight crop) and the patterned papers for Denim Darling and Dude (I'm soooo sorry those are coming out so late. I hope I can get them up this weekend and then finish up the elements for both of those asap). I got a bit done on with my couple minutes here and there at the computer, but I still have to finish them up. After I picked up Alyssa from school yesterday I took both girls in the backyard to play for a while. I ended up pulling weeds too for about an hour (man my legs and back are sore today now too! haha). Afterwards, time to get dinner ready, eat, bathe Ky, bed time snacks, stories....blah blah blah...got both kids in bed by 8:15 PM! I couldn't WAIT for bedtime last night. I was hoping to be able to work on my paper a few hours and then finish up the DD papers. I jumped in the shower about 8:20 and was sitting at my computer ready to work by 8:45. By 9ish, I was already falling asleep sitting here. ugh! So, I gathered my paper stuff and went to lay in bed, thinking I could work a bit, take a little nap and then get up and work at the computer again. nooooope! Dh called at 10 and woke me - I've got no idea how long we talked, I was soo not awake. I woke again about 2 am, but didn't really want to get up yet. I figured I could get up at 4 and have had a decent night of sleep...have a few hours to work before the girls got up. I never heard the 4 am alarm and thankfully woke by 7 am to get Alyssa to school on time again!

So...here I am...just got Ky breakfast and down for a little morning nap (although she doesn't sound like she's doing much sleeping in there). I am going to go work on my paper. Maybe I've finally had enough sleep I can stop falling asleep! ha

So... I will get those Denim papers out hopefully this weekend and then the elements should hopefully follow soon. I can't promise much as Dh still doesn't come back till tomorrow night so I'm stillll solo for yet another full day, night and tomorrow. :-( I need to leave for several days next week so I can catch up now! ha

Happy Friday everyone! Thankfully I have no one to get ready for school tomorrow morning! I should be able (if I can stay awake) to stay up late tonight and get some work done.

The BIG Grin

Managed to capture a great smily picture of Ky this afternoon! I've been waiting to find an opportunity to use this Sketch by Sonya for a while... today I had the perfect picture and a fabulous kit to go with it! :-)


Credits: Kit by Kim Christensen "Cassie" LOVE this kit...

Spring Flowers Doodle Pack

My frist attempt at doodles. I was actually making one to try and use on a page I was working on tonight, but it didn't look right on the page and so I left it off, BUT...I had so much fun making it I decided to play for a few more minutes and make a small pack of flowers. Spring Flowers Doodle pack comes with 8 doodles (2 corners, 1 border, 3 flower tops, and 2 stems). The flower tops and stems are seperate so you can mix and match or use the flowers without stems. Sooooo if you like, they're free at Sarah's Scraps in the Freebie Section...scroll down to the elements. :-) Enjoy!

Quickie Update on the weekend

Well it was a busy weekend and I can't spend much time blogging right now, so here's comes the short quickie version of the past several days.....

Friday: busy all night working on everything from capstone, to getting ready for Alyssa's party, to finishing up the freebies for Saturday nights chat. Ended up staying up all night as right about the time I was done and just about to head to bed about 4 or 5 am, I started chatting with my mom online. About 7ish she told me to go to bed, but by then I just knew it wouldn't be worth it since I'd have to get up in an hour to start getting ready for Alyssa's party.

Saturday: Alyssa's beach birthday party went well, the girls had a blast - I'll have to post some pictures later. The seagulls were terrible - the stole two whole pieces of pizza off the girls' plates and chips right out of the bag!!! After the party we all crashed and everyone fell asleep for a few hours. I actually slept about 4 hours till Eric and Alyssa woke me for dinner! After dinner, finished up the freebies for Saturday, zipped things up and sent them off to Sonya. About 10:30 I went to take just a 30 min nap to rest a bit (I was barely staying awake already) before the chat. I wanted to sit in on the chat and work some on my capstone. Welll..didn't set the alarm correctly and so I didn't wake till 7 am on Sunday!

Sunday: woke at 7 am, read some emails and such and then went back to bed at 7:45! lol I woke up about 10ish and took care of Kyleigh while Dh took Alyssa to Sunday school. After church we were going to head up to a picnic, but we got out of here late because it started when church ended, but when I called to tell them we were on our way, they told me not to bother not many of the people had shown up. Eric and I were already packed up and on the way with the girls into town, so we just went to lunch and then to the new HEB plus to check it out and grab a few needed things (like a can of formula!). (FYI:HEB plus is like a super walmart.) Anway...they had the cutest little girl dresses, and I'm always a sucka for cute little girl dresses, the both girls got yet another dress. We passed by some stuffed animals and I handed a little grey kitty to Kyleigh, just to see if she liked it (she loves Alyssa's special white kitty) and she got the biggest grin and actually hugged it!!! I've never seen her hug a stuffed animal..so of course Eric and I both awwweed and then we just had to buy it! lol Grabbed a couple of magazines too: the April CK issue (Lisa - AKA Mommy4him, mentioned this was a fabulous issue, so I was inspired to check it out.) Also heard a few comments about the new design secrets by scrapbooks etc., so I had to grab that one too. Came home and posted some pics of Alyssa's party for my family, then curled up with the mags for a bit to rest while everyone else napped. After dinner I tooled around chatting on hello for a while and then did my inventory. Then as Eric went to bed I chatted some more on hello while I worked on the schedule C (business portion) of my taxes. Almost done with it, but today will be all about capstone.

So...I've got 3 hours now till I have to pick up the girls and head to gymnastics. Gonna grab some lunch and then write and write and write for the capstone. My COMPLETE rough draft is due in just over 2 weeks!!! YIKES! I better get crackin'! Presentations are May 1, 2, and 3 and graduation the 13th. :-)

**OK, so it wasn't a REAL Quickie quickie, but hey it could have been much longer! lol**

Later gators!

Preview of the freebie for tonight's Moonlight Crop at SBB 11:59 PM Est time! :-) 

Shopping Spree and some Girl Time

WOW! So..first I'll say while yesterday morning starting off pretty rough and nothing was getting accomplished on my list, by the end of the day I did complete everything but the first two things, which HAVE to be worked on today now. As a matter of fact, Eric is not flying today, so he's home all day. I'm probably going to take advantage of this opportunity to get out of the house and go up to the library to work on my paper today. If I try to stay here and lock myself in the computer room, I just have the hardest time NOT opening up one of my programs to do a littel design, or searching a few blogs, etc...and then I realize hours have passed. OR, I hear Ky make the slightest sound and have to run it to see what's going on (even though Daddy has it all under control). I also just cannot resist stopping to kiss and hug on that little girl all throughout the day! haha So..while Alyssa is at school, I may try to get out and work on that paper.

OK..so now onto what all happened yesterday afternoon. I didn't end up getting to take a nap, as I realized I only had about an hour before I needed to get ready to leave and pick up Alyssa and I still hadn't eaten all day! So grabbed some lunch and got a few things crossed of the list. Kyleigh woke up from her nap just before 2ish, and played at my feet while I got ready to go. We picked up Alyssa at 2:30 and headed to the Dr. appt. Eric called me when I was on my way to get Alyssa and said he was done for the day so would meet me at the hospital to take Kyleigh. So...Dr. appt took FOREVER, but then Alyssa and I had some one-on-one girl time and boy did we have a good time, and spend quite a bit of $! lol

We hit the university first and ordered my announcements and picked up my cap and gown. Boy those Master's gowns with the hoods are weird, but hey I've worked my tail off to get this darn degree, and I've EARNED the right to where that weirdo gown! lol I AM walking that stage gosh darn it, even if it did cost me $54 for the getup! (UGH!). So..we picked up a couple other things at the bookstore: a puzzle for Alyssa and she picked out something to make a gift for Daddy. We were starving already by this point so we stopped in the university center and grabbed some Chick-Fil-A (called Eric to tell him to go ahead and eat without us as this would be dinner for us). We quick ran over to visit with one of my professors I don't have this semester and then were off for the real shopping spree!

We hit Walmart first to pick up goodies for the party. We ended up getting a whole cart full of goodies to make the goodie bags for the kids coming. I think I've mentioned that Alyssa's having a beach party, so we got each kid a frisbee, sand/digging tools, a watergun, and bubbles. We picked up a few extra little things for Alyssa too, like a jump rope and some extra beach toys. Snagged the new Stuart Little 3 DVD (we collect lots of kid's DVDs, and Alyssa always loved the Stuart Little movies), some thank you cards for Alyssa after the party, the birthday cards we needed to pick up, and ohh this like 4 ft blowup birthday cake! lol We thought that would be funny sitting on the beach Saturday! hehe Also walked through the clothing real quick before heading out hopping I could find some shorts or comfy capri pants to replace the ones I love that are about to literaly fall apart (I wish I could remember where I got these to try and get another pair like them! They are the most comfy pants). Anway...I didn't find anything, but I did pick up a cute pair of jammies for me. So I think we spent a good $100, which wasn't bad for the cart full of crap we had, and then we headed out for Party City to try and find some leis for the kids to where.

Party city...we picked up 2 leis for each kiddo and some big goodie bags to put all this stuff in. Only spent like $15 total there! We even got a special lei for Alyssa as the birthday girl.

Then we were off to another Walmart because we bought out all the frisbees in the first one, but we still needed 1 more. Well...that ONE frisbee turned into matching jammies for Alyssa and Kyleigh, matching shirt and shorts for them, and this adorable jean jacket and skirt for Alyssa. Again I looked for shorts or capris - nothing. I did find this cute swimming suit and was excited I could actually find the size I would need, so I went and tried it on. OMG!!! NO WAY...left that in the dressing room...too depressing to even carry it back to the rack. :-( I so can't wait till school is done and I can concentrate on better eating again and start getting more excercise. I feel terrible that I live on the coast, 2 miles from the darn beach and I'm so huge and terrible looking in a swimsuit these days that I can't take my beach loving kiddo to the beach and actually get in the water with her. :-( oh. well..... so after we finished with another bill at Walmart (and this is the saddest part...I don't even know how much that receipt was!), we ran to the grocery store to order a cake (I just don't have time to make it this year) and grab some milk and we were finally on our way home 7 hours after I have left to pick her up today! (I was searching for some pics on walmart.com to show you some of our purchases...but I can't find any of them..maybe I'll take some pics and come back to add later).

So...spent a bit a money (not too bad considering all that we got) and we got home pretty late for a school night, but I spent some one-on-one time with my big girl, and we had fun while checking off things on the todo list.

So today... capstone is top of the list, but I have a few other things to work on later this afternoon.

1. Work on Lit Review
2. Draft Interview questions
3. Make freebies for Saturday Crop
4. Get snacks for Alyssa’s party
5. Pick up Alyssa’s TAMUCC t-shirt
6. Make goodie bags for Alyssa’s party
7. Rent tables from MWR

And with that...I'm off to be productive.

OMG!! The doorbell just rang, and guess what it was!!! MY PHOTOSHOP CS2 FINALLY!!!!! Yay! I only ordered it excatly 1 month ago today! Took several followup calls to figure out what was going on, but yay, it's here now...and just about an hour ago another order of mine (more stuff for designing) came. Now I can get busy today on finishing up some of the things I've been holding off on!! ohhhhhhh how will I ever make myself do my capstone paper this weekend now...ugh...

Nautical Kit Available

Nautical is now available at Sarah's Scraps in the Freebies Section.

Kit includes 8 papers: 4 solid and 4 pattern all with a cardstock texture. Also includes 4 ribbons, stitching, 2 stickers, 2 tags, 2 stamps, and one color stamp.

What an off day....

I have all this stuff to accomplish today and it's already almost 1 PM and NOTHING is checked off on the list. I had to take Alyssa to school today (usually Eric takes her when he goes to work, but he had to be at work at like 5 am today), so that meant Kyleigh had to be woken up early (I get her up right at 7:30 as we go out the door when I have to take Alyssa, but usually she sleeps until 9:30!). When I have to wake her up to take Alyssa....man it just throws her whole day off and of course mine too then. So....we've been having a rough day and I'm so tired from staying up all night that I am just brain dead today.

What I NEED to do today:
1. Work on my Lit Review
2. Draft my Interview questions
3. Finish reading Tish’s paper - COMPLETE
4. Alyssa's Dr. appt. - COMPLETE
5. Order Cap & Gown - COMPLETE
6. Mail GS cards - COMPLETE
7. Order cake for Alyssa's party - COMPLETE
8. Get supplies for Alyssa’s party - COMPLETE
9. Birthday cards for a friend and one of our nieces - COMPLETE

What I've BEEN doing today! lol
5:00- 6:00 AM read some more of Tish's paper (so almost done with that now)
6:00 - 7:00 AM slept an hour
7:00 - woke up and got Alyssa ready for school
8:00 -8:30 fed Ky breakfast
8:30 put Ky down for a morning nap since she was just too unhappy and tired to even function any more, and then messed with my website again for a bit trying to get the new address on the digital top 50..I was having so much trouble trying to get the darn graphic to show.
9:30 - 10:30 took a nap while Ky was still down
10:30-11:30 played with Kyleigh, read email, tried to make some PDFs for OPA
11:30 Lunch for Kyleigh
12:00 put Ky down for regular nap a little early because she was just completely unhappy again
12:00-12:30 read blogs, email, news online..
and now here I am blogging! lol Wow..what a great day of nothing so far!

so...I think... I'm going to go try to finish reading that paper, get those GS cards addressed, and maybe brainstorm some on my interview questions. I may take a bit of a nap again too since I'm still so tired and will be running around all afternoon with Alyssa after she gets out of school. Here's to maybe a more productive 2nd half of my day! lol

Sarah's Scraps has a new home!

Well, I transfered things quicker than I expected I could. All the files and links should now be running off the new location for Sarah's Scraps. Please update your bookmarks. The new location is http://sarahs-scraps.com.

If you run into any problems with links from this blog, PLEASE let me know. I THINK I got all of them relinked, but you never know if I might have missed one.

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement of my design efforts! :-)

A real post finally

So, it has been a while since I've actually made a real post.... A lot has been going on in the past week. (I'm having to use hello at the moment to post because the blogger server is down, so please excuse the ONE paragraph until I can get in to edit and break it up later).

My little one has started walking, and is getting faster and faster each day, and she's on her feet more and more each day. I just love when they learn to walk..it's the cutest thing to watch such a short little person teatering around hehe. I've been working daily on my capstone...just over a month left now till the presentation! I've been working a bit here and there on my designs, and even finally scrapped a few new pages the other day.

Wow...for many days now I've thought of so many things I wanted to write about here on the blog, but I didn't have time to...and now that I've got a few minutes and I'm sitting here.....hahaha I can't remember it all! Oh well...

I do have some big news though! Sarah's Scraps has been running off our family server and webpage so far, but it is now generating enough hits and data transfer that it is starting to slow down too much and is affecting some other aspects of our server. This gave me the needed fuel to finally convnince my husband we were ready to go ahead and get a domain and hosting service for the site, so last night I signed up for an account and the domain name. I'm in the process of moving all of the current files over to the new host and am awaiting the final registration confirmation of the domain. I expect the new address should be ready this weekend and I can swith the links over to the new site. The look won't be any different yet, but that is in the works as well. I'm working on the new design (or rather A Design! lol), and am working on the store front finally! yippee!!! Once I can get a better idea of how long things will take to get the new site with storefront and all ready, I'll announce a grand opening date. I expect it will be a couple of months so I can start accumulating several kits to open the store with, set things all up, and finsh up school.

Well...I think that's all the news for now. I will be posting "Nautical" on Friday, and I'm working on the next portion of the Denim kits..we still have the pattern papers and the elements to go! Have a great evening!

Denim Darling & Dude Alphas Available

Denim Dude and Darling alphas available at Sarah's Scraps (under elements). Free through 3/27.
***EDITED March 29. The alphas are no longer available free. They will be made available at a later date with the full kit in Sarah's Scraps Shop***

Another page

credits: Papers: Shabby Princess Granny's Parlor
Ribbon: Ronna Penner Ribbon Shop Vol. 2
corner: Shabby Princess ColorFull Corners
Charm: Sarah VanDyke Spring Free
Fonts: Pristina, CK Cursive, and Tiranti Solid

I scrapped another page finally!

My Girls - pictures from the other day.
Credits: Spring Free kit by me, and the little white bow is from Ronna Penner.

You know... I was pretty happy with how this page turned out, but after having posted it to two scrapbook forums early this morning and getting a total of ONE comment... :-( Oh well, it just fits with the rest of my day I guess. Today was a sad day for me, and I've had a rough day in more ways than one...I'm way too tired to even go into in now, and I'm really stressed. I can barely keep my eyes open, so I will be heading to bed here in just a few minutes. Alyssa's birthday was today, and although I am pretty sure she had a fantastic day, I don't feel I did all that I wanted to with her to make it a truly special day. I really can't wait to be done with school! :-( Off to bed...

Freebie for tonight's moonlight chat at SBB.  

My baby is walking!

if the picture above is not moving...click here to watch Ky walk.

Bluebonnets paper pack now available

Here it is...The Bluebonnets paper pack includes 9 papers (4 solid and 5 pattern), and a sample of 3 elements: one postage stamp, one charm, and one slide frame.


Bluebonnets paper pack and sample elements available for free at Sarah's Scraps through 3/23/06. Comments are always appreciated. :-)

Freebie update

Another quickie post just to remind about freebie links:
Denim Darling Part 1 has now expired. Part 2 should be out sometime next week.
Denim Dude Part 1 expires today. Part 2 should be out sometime next week as well.

I do plan to make the entire Denim kits available at a later date, but they will probably be for sale, not as freebies.

Ok..so I've been realllllly busy the last few days with the girls back home. I haven't had much time to sit at the computer and write any real blog entries. I hope to get a chance to post a real one again soon.

The "bluebonnet" papers scheduled for freebie release today, are not ready to be posted yet. I'm hoping to have them up late tonight or early tomorrow morning. This will be another freebie that will be a yousendit file and be available only one week or until the download limit is met. Freebies that are posted with time limits will not be extended - they will usually be available later for sale, so they are posted for a limited time as a freebie. :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!

Last Day "Spring Free" will be FREE

If you want the "Spring Free" page kit and haven't downloaded it yet, remember today is the LAST day it will be available for FREE. You may see it again later for sale, maybe even as a full kit, but today is the last day to get it as a freebie. The link will be removed at midnight eastern time tonight.

Pictures of the Girls

Well I attempted to get pics of Ky today for her 11 month shoot...she was not abosultely thrilled about my plans though (she doesn't seem to ever be in much of a mood for photo shoots lately). It began to get a little too dark towards the end so I really want to redo this shoot anyway for better lighting later this week. I also have Alyssa's 6 year pictures to do this week or weekend as well. But for now..thought I'd share a couple of the better ones from today so you can see the dresses I bought for the girls yesertday. The material is fairly shinny, so the light really reflected off of them. haha :-)

More Progress

Not too much excitement yesterday. Another full day of working on the capstone paper. I think I'm getting pretty close to being done with reading and taking notes now..I have to set a limit or I could just keep following more and more references and reading forever. I've got to get past this part and get so that I'm ready to make calls next week to collect data once my professor gives me the OK on my interview questions.

Eric and the girls got into town about 6:30 PM so I drove in (yep..I braved the spring break traffic again..and let me tell you..I almost got hit LEAVING the island this time by some drunk driver. AHH). Anyway, I drove in and me them for dinner and then we ran to the store on the way home to pick up a couple things like bottle liners for Ky and birthday invitations for Alyssa. BUT..did we leave with just liners and invitations? NOOOOO...I got two cute matching dresses for Ky and Alyssa. I think Ky may wear hers for her 11 month pictures this month. Also picked up a little hawaiian print dress for Alyssa that she wants to wear for her party. She's having a beach party. Eric grabbed a few pairs of shorts for himself while I was looking at dresses for Alyssa, and then Alyssa and I searched through the hair "stuff" and grabbed a couple of cute things for her there. Not too bad, but certainly not just bottle liners and invitations. haha I'll have to post a picture of the cute invitations we got for Alyssa (I really wish I could make them again this year, but I'm just really running out of time).

After we got home, got the girls all bathed and in bed I sat down to reward myself with some more design time. I finished all the patterns for the bluebonnet papers, and the paper patterns for Saturday's crop freebie. Now I just need to finish them with brushing and texture and such. I also finished out the paper pack for the freebies from last weekend, but I need a name for the kit now and I need to make some more elements before it's a complete kit. Oh and I put all my design previews on a blog link of it's own. It's listed up under "My stuff" in the right column or you can click here. This gives me a place to quickly put up previews and give some description to each kit. It kind of creates a portfolio for me too (maybe some store owners will review what I've done so far and consider me for a spot this summer?????) haha :-) Anyway...I will be redesigning the Sarah's Scraps website in the next couple of months to allow a store, and make it easier to use, so I don't want to put too much time into it right now if I'm going to completely redesign it soon. So...the blog will help in the meantime.

Well...I am going to lay down for a bit before Ky wakes this morning. Eric is taking Alyssa to her eye appt this morning and I'm staying home so Ky can sleep in and get a good night of rest as she's had some tough nights while they were gone.

I have several things STILL on my to do list, but it may take all week to get through these. I actually have more to do as well, but this is the priority list for the next few days.

1. Lit Review
2. Finish editing Chevron
3. Alyssa’s b-day invites
4. OPA Monthly Report
5. Interview questions
6. Budgeting hw
7. Read Tish’s paper
8. Order Cap & Gown
   

Happy Hump Day everyone.

My Reward is Your Reward

Well... as a reward for spending all day yesterday working on my capstone paper, I decided to reward myself with a little design time. I was so excited yesterday when the Sarah's Scraps website hit 104 on the top 50 digiscrap sites, so I decided I'd reward you all too! :-)

I present to you, "Spring Free" page kit. Available FREE for ONLY 3 DAYS! The download link is below. Enjoy, and please leave me a new comment if you take. I need encouragement to spend another whole day on my capstone paper! haha :-) Happy Tuesday!


*download link has now been removed* :-)

It's a ZOO out there

Oh man..So now I remember WHY when spring break comes, we stock up on things and "hide" in our house all week or leave town. Living on the coast is a zoo at spring break! lol I decided I needed to get out of my house and leave the computer for a bit today (yes..I can LEAVE the computer....haha). So, I figured I run into town and grab a few things to feed me for the next few days (it's hard to cook for just me). It's a bit of a production to go anywhere since I live on a island - it takes some planning when you go into town. The grocery store isn't too bad, but if I want to go shopping...well, I plan that out to hit several places in the same day and we make our "plan of attack" for the most efficient way to hit everything in a few hours. haha Anyway... I walked out the door...no kids, no extra bags, just me and my little purse. I felt so naked and like I was totally forgetting something! ha The traffic off the island wasn't too bad, but when I got to the grocery store..MAN what a zoo! Everyone was wondering around in shorts with wet butts from their wet suits underneith (am I the only person that absolutely cannot stand to wear a wet suit and then put clothes on top of it to only get wet pants???) . They're all buying hamburgers, beer and toiletrees...and wondering around in confusion blocking up everything. ugh. :-) I was standing there looking at the deoderant (oh come on..you were it too!) trying to find mine as I'm getting low..this ladie and guy walk up in FRONT OF ME and just stand there talking to each other about which one they should get. HELLO!!!! I was standing RIGHT here too! ugh.. AND even weirder..they're looking at women's deoderant, but she's asking HIM which one HE wants????? huhh??? haha Anyway...I finally get outta there and and fight the lovely traffic back across the causeway and decide I'll stop at Sonic and grab a drink and something to eat for dinner since it's alrealdy kinda late. Man that place was packed too! DUH SONIC at SPRING BREAK, Sarah!!!! haha I'm driving home and this DORK pulls right out onto the main road in front of me (never stops at the stop sign). The speed limit is 55. I was probably going about 45 since I had only gotten on the road about 2 entrances before him and a light was coming up. BUT still, I had to BREAK for him. Then he never gets up over 35! GEESH.... I hate when people drive less than 45 on that road and especially after they've haulled booty to cut me off and get in front of me! UGH...so I was so happy to finally turn into my neighborhood again and be back in my peace and quiet. I'm not leaving the house again probably till Spring Break is over! ha

I can't believe I've totally done no work for two full days now. I mean..I've done design work, but no school work or any of the other projects and my to do list that I was supposed to be doing while dh and the girls are gone. I've got two days left now, so I'm going to bed early tonight and getting serious tomorrow. NO more playing for a few days. I realized today.. I have ONE MONTH to have my completed draft of my capstone - would you believe I haven't even finished that literature review still? I know! I'm sooo behind. I don't even have half of this paper written. I will never graduate if I don't kick myself in the butt.

Anyone else out there an Xfiles fan? I love Xfiles (and David Dacovney is pretty nice too! hehe) Before Ky was born, her bedroom was my craft room (oh was that nice - now I have a CABINET! But dh made the cabinet and it is very nice.)

my cabinet before I filled it up and then.... after filling it up...these are pictures from the last time I actually sat and worked on paper pages...(June 2005) I totally need to do some more paper pages when I finish school. I do still sit there though and work on paper card and stamping. I still prefer to do my cards on paper - I love my stamps! :-)



Anyway...I used to work in my craft room at night on my paper layouts and stamping projects and watch a few episodes of the xfiles on TNT. Well they stopped showing them every night and they got later and later...and well I moved to the computer room because I lost my craft room and started scrapping on the computer now. I don't work very fast while I watch tv (it's hard to follow all the details in the xfiles shows if you're not LOOKING at it), and it's a little hard to scrap and watch tv on my computer monitor at the same time. My little TV is still in Ky's room since when I was nursing I would sit in there and watch some xfiles when I was up late with her. Anway..I kept digressing...My brother and dh both bought me a season of the xfiles on DVD this past Christmas. I FINALLY started watching them, starting with the pilot last night while I ate dinner. I haven't seen any episodes in so long, and I've barely even turned on a TV in weeks - it was such a treat to sit back, eat dinner and just relax. I curled up in bed late last night and watched another two episodes and finally another with dinner tonight. And guess what I'm going to do tonight??? lol fun fun fun Only one episode tonight though.

hmmmmmm This is getting long huh? Well, I did a bit of blog browsing today (as usual) and came across this silly muppet personality test on Gina's blog and then several others.......so finally I got on the bandwagon and tried it out. I'm a Kermit! :-) Pretty interesting.

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

So, I don't know if I get along well with EVERYONE I know..but I've gotten much better at this since I've gotten older (maturity I guess haha). My mom though..DAMN EVERYONE always liked my mom....drove me crazy when I was in middle school! lol It's actually very cool though to have such a great mom who is also a great friend. :-) They big thinker thing though...OMG...If I had a dime for everytime someone told me to stop over thinking things! lol

Well...I think it's time for Xfiles and bed so I can get up early tomorrow and be serious! :-) hehe Later...

Bluebonnets???

Fellow Texans (or anyone who knows what Bluebonnets look like)...I need some feed back on this....How does this look???

Denim Dude Part 1 Ready :-)

*Edited 3/18: Sorry download link has now expired. Part 2 should be available soon, and the entire kit will be available at a later date for sale in Sarah's Scraps*

Ok..here it is for you mommy's with boys. :-) Remember to fill up my comments when you take - I love hearing what you all think of these. And, I forgot to mention in my comments earlier regarding comments from yesterday...YES!!! I would love to see los you all do with my freebies. I try to search the SBB gallery often to catch you all, but if you post somewhere else, or I miss you..just send me a link! I'd love to take a peak and leave you a comment. :-)

Enjoy.. again, if anyone needs smaller d/l links I have those too and will email you if you let me if you email me. :-)

You all are awesome!!

Thank you all for the sweet sweet comments you have left, and for visiting the blog! It's nice to know I have a few "friends" out there that don't think I'm too boring. hahaha I have so many fun fun plans for this month..ok, I suppose by fun, I really mean free free free things. hehe I hope I can actually finish all the things I want to post and give you all. I think I said the other day something about posting a tentative release schedule and I never did it..I'll just put it here in a post later that I can update and link to from the sarah's scraps page. So anyway...got sidetracked there..... OK..so I was responding to the comments and such. I sadly can't email you all in response to your comments, but I thank you from the bottom of my big ole heart for your kind words and words of encouragement. I was chatting with Kim Christensen the other day (I love her! she lets me bug her at all hours of the day and never yells at me...I'm really going to write up a special little think about her here one of these days...and Ashley Olson too..they are both so nice and helpful to me...they just don't know how much I love them! hehe). So, I was talking to Kim and said, man..I will be absolutely thrilled if just 50 people even visit my blog when I post this first denim freebie! GUESS WHAT! I think it was about 70+ of you that visited! OMG...talk about making my day! You all are so fabulous! :-) Ode to all of you too!

Ok..so another thing that really perked me up/boosted the ole confidence level yesterday....
I was really hemming and hawing about applying for a job opening... Dh is getting out of the Navy in a couple of months, and I'm really nervous about him being able to start off with a new job making enough pay to maintain our current life style. I'm not asking to be overly wealthy, but I'd like to remain comfortable, live a similar life style to now, and be able to continue staying home with my girls and persue a few personal business ventures. BUT... the reality is that he may need to take a bit of a cut for a while, or it may take longer to find the "right" job. So..I found a job opening that is AWESOME for me, and fits my masters degree (I'm getting my MPA in May) practically to a Tee! I really don't want to work, but man is this a GREAT job. I was unsure whether to apply because I knew it would be time consuming and I didn't want to spend all that time doing it if I wouldn't be qualified or accept the job if it were offered! ha But.. I did do the application and my resume (haven't done one of those in like 7 years!) and it took me a total of about 7 hours for all of it, but when I was done with it, I was a huge confidence boost! I couldn't believe all the experience I actually had to qualify for it and all the things I've actually done in the past 10 years! So...dh said, "if you get offered that job, you better take it. " hahaha I kinda feel the same way now... I'll see... I may not even get asked to interview, and dh is gone this weekend to do some interviews Monday and Tuesday, so we'll see how things go for him too.

Speaking of dh... He and the girls left this morning about 6:30 am. I got the BEST sleep too. I went to bed about 3 after posting the crop freebie sneak peek, and I didn't set any alarms. They got up this morning and got ready to go, came in and woke me to say good bye. I really do miss them already (but the quiet is sooo nice too). I didn't wake again until 1:45!!!! OMG... my body probably needed to sleep so badly. I need to find some food now though! lol

Well..I've got some elements to make for tonight, maybe some work on the denim dude, some work on my bluebonnet kit, and several other nondesign/nonscrapping to do...so I better get going..the day is already half through! lol

Thanks again everyone..have a fabulous Saturday!

Sneak Peek at the freebie for the Moonlight Crop tonight. I still have to make the elements and then it will be ready. I really like this worn look (this is a new style for me) and how these came out. I MAY have to finish these later into a kit..hmmmmmm **edited to give the final completed preview :-) I REALLY think I will finish out this paper pack...soon..others to do first.***

Freebie Friday - Denim Darling Part 1

*Edited 3/17 - Sorry...freebie time limit is up on this one. Watch for the full "Denim Darling" kit available in coming months in my store for sale*

Gooood Morning!!!! Guess what today is! FREEEEEBIE Friday. :-)

Yep...for those of you who have been visiting all week waiting for the first release to the Denim Darling kit...well, part 1 is available today! You'll have to go to the Sarah's Scraps (Please...if you TAKE leave a COMMENT! :-)) website on the freebie page to get the link.

I put the link on yousendit.com this time so it won't slow down my server or your d/l time. HOWEVER, that means the link is only good for 7 days or until it runs out. This first part is 17.8 MB, and includes 5 solid denim papers and 5 coordinating flowers. Stay tuned throughout this month for additional releases to this kit and maybe others!

Have a fabulous Friday.


Denim Darling Freebie Part 1

Learning to walk

My baby's learning to walk! She is sooo proud and excited.. Can't you SEE it in her face? hehe not the BEST picture as far as color goes, but I was lucky to even finally catch a couple shots of her practicing today. :-) I will have to "fix" it up later, just wanted to share for now.

New Header and Title

Well after much playing I finally got my new header on here! Yipppeee...what fun. Everything used in the header is made by me for a future kit.. :-) So next will be the b/gs to tackle, but that's another problem for another day. I need to get ontop of the design for the website too. small steps..it will all happen in time. :-)

So what do you all think of the new title? More fitting for what goes on here? haha

OH..I also registered the blog with the new top blog counter - so be sure to visit often now to move me to the top haha (and to watch for those freebies coming veerrrrry soon).

Anway..I'm off to bed..still nothing crossed off on the to do list :-( but I had fun playing tonight to cheer me up again.

Frustration

Oh man..I'm so frustrated...I had an appointment with my professor at 8 PM to review my questions for my data collection. I drove all the way to campus and he wasn't there! UGH...25 min there 25 min back, plus time wasted there...total of almost 1 1/2 hrs waisted..not to mention the time to get stuff packed up and ready to go. errrr Now I don't have any feedback or an approved survey/interview instrument to start collecting data over spring break. I don't know what I'm supposed to do...if I wait, I will only have like 3 weeks left to collect the data and write up the findings and analaysis. hmmm

I've got this to do list that I've been working out throughout this week...and darn it I still can't cross anything off! Not ONE thing is entirely complete. It's really starting to depress me and frustrate me. :-( I hate when I feel like I'm making no progress.

Today has been tough..I've been so distracted and unable to write - a totally unproductive day in terms of school...and then I've been down (probably that time of the month coming - tends to do this to me) and doubting myself and this right-sided brain activity of mine...like I'm not sure if I'm really making much progress with my hope to be a real designer and make money at this... :-( Then I begin to doubt my ability with anything creative... even my ability to really be good enough at the photography stuff to every make money at that. I'm beginning to think I'm being unrealistic and should just go apply for some jobs that field that my masters degree will qualify me for. I really want to be able to stay home though - don't want Ky to go to daycare, and I really do want to try to have a 3rd kid, but I just don't know if I really have what it takes to make any money in design and/or the photography.

So, I'm trying to remind myself that this is just a down day and it will pass like all other times...but I do need to be realistic too. Now is the time for me to be job searching if I'm going to do it. hmmmm

Well...on an upbeat note....I put together a tentative release date for this month and next of some designs (not quiting on the design yet - I can always just use them for myself) I'm working on. Remember this is TENTATIVE - so I could release at different times from the calendar..but for now it gives me a plan and some direction. If you're interested (who am I really talking to? I think just myself...is that right or left brained activity?), I'll be posting the release calendar shortly to the sarah's scraps website.

OK...off to edit a newsletter, so maybe I can cross of something on my list today!

Denim Darling & Dude

Here it is finally...the final swatch for the Denim Darling Kit. It will have a very feminine/diva/girly feel.

BUT...not to worry mommy's of the boys.. there's a swatch for Denim Dudes too!


Denim Dude Swatch.

I'll try to work on both at the same time..don't know when the boy kit will release - maybe throughout this month too.

Freebie Coming soooooon

Howdy! Good Afternoon.....

I am lucky enough that I've been give the opportunity to make the freebies for the SBB Saturday Moonlight Crop (11:59 PM Eastern) for the next couple of weeks. I would love some feedback on the types of designs (not colors as those are set for each week's freebies) or kinds of elements you croppers are looking for...I may or may not be able to make everything you request at this time, but it will give me some things to work on and some idea of what all you prefer. SOOOO...if you actually read this blog (more on this below), PLEASE leave me a comment if you have any requests. I'll see what I can do in the coming weeks.

So about the reading this blog part...I'm wondering...does anyone (or many people) read this blog? I don't get many comments, so I'm not sure. I may just really be writing this thing for myself and a few friends and family that I know read it...but who knows. Maybe there are a few others out there that keep up with my ooooh so NOT exciting life. hahaha I'm just kinda curious.

Well...if you are a regular here, or you regularly check my-slowly-added-to Sarah's Scraps website... I have a treat for you in the coming days. In honor of Texas Independence this month and my adorable little cowgirl (hehe - I know I am biased. I AM her MOM! lol), I'm going to put together a little denim paper pack, which may develop into a whole kit...I'm going to release a few paper and/or elements at a time throughout the month. The pieces will be available on the Sarah's Scraps website, and I'll put notices here in the blog...either way...you're going to have to check regularly..I MIGHT even password protect these freebies with codes that will be given out here in the blog...hehehe making you work and read for these... :-) We'll see...... So...be on the lookout this month for Denim Darling.

While you're visiting and searching....drop me a comment or two to let me know what other "fun" things I can add to the blog to make it more interesting for you to visit. :-) I don't want this blog to just be a boring story about my homework and my to do list! haha :-)

And with all that...I'm off to figure out what will be the first freebie, when it will be posted, and how to do the passwords (and yeah.. I'll do some homework too lol). hmmmmmm Have a great day!

Procastination

So, I have had all week to get caught up on my capstone paper as this was an off week for the budgeting - my group hasn't talked or met all week - our next presentation is after spring break. That should be interesting too since at least one of the members is going out of the state for an entire week! Anyway....I did work on my paper and got quite a bit of work done back on Wed. I was so pumped and wanting to keep working on it Wed night, but I was just so tired I could barely stay awake any more. I had to find a motivation theory to be my theoretical framework before I could continue writing. So...I hoped I would have time on Thursday, but NOPE...all day I was running around and doing GS stuff. Friday..ah Friday..what did I do? I don't know but I think I was pretty busy or sleeping! OH yeah..Alyssa's school thing, and several other things that kept me busy, plus the nap I took when I fell asleep working while Ky was down. Then came Saturday...busy again all day with the GS and then just pooped last night...stayed up too late then making freebies for a chat....and then today...well....I've slept, scrapped a page, chatted in the late night crop, and downloaded BOTH of Kim and Meredith's new CDs (they are AWESOME). Now I'm supposed to work on my paper, but I feel like going to bed again. I feel like I've slept a lot in the last few days - I fall asleep all the time doing just about anything. hmmmm

Ky goes to mother's day out again tomorrow...so I think I may go to bed early (in just a few) and have a productive day tomorrow.

Before I go..gotta show off my new page from today..love how this one finally turned out (took me forever!). I'm down to only about one page a week lately...I need more scrap time! haha

OK... on with show and tell:

the cutest little Cowgirl! :-)

Credits: papers: Jen Wilson "Innocent Cream" for the b/g,
Jen Wilson "Feeling Blue" for the bottom strip and photo mat,
Shabby Princess "Moody Blues" recolored for the middle "yellowish" strip, and finally
Danielle of SomethingBlueStudios "ShakespeareInLove" found at ShabbyShoppe recolored for the top strip.

Well peeps...have a great night! I'm going to work a bit on the motivation theoretical framework and then go to bed early.

FREEBIE Preview of my Blue Bonnet Kit

I stepped in to host an impromptu chat tonight (well, actually it was last night now) and so I put together a small freebie that will evnetually be part of a kit I started a long time ago (I updated the papers now though). Anyway...you can still get the freebie if you post by Tuesday midnight and then PM NancyS (She's one of the dtms).

Our little cowgirl

So today was the day...Alyssa's "Lone Star Stampede" at school. She was so cute all dressed up this morning. I had to take a couple of quick shots of her before she left (sorry they're not the best, but I wanted to at least get a few pics before she went).

Short Entry and then LONG Sleep time!

I know, I know..been a little slow on here this week, and guess what?? Tonight is going to be a little short too. :-) I'm tired and I NEED a full night of sleep.

So I ran around all morning getting things taken care of for my daisy troop today, then met with them today and we planted flowers for the church where we meet. They did a fantastic job and had such a good time. They are so cute. This weekend we go to our "day" at camp. We're all looking forward to it - the girls, moms, and me. :-)

My group presentation in budgeting went pretty good Tuesday night (will know for sure when I see the grade) and my capstone presentation went pretty well Wednesday night. I got quite a bit of work done on Wed - it realllly helped to have Ky in mother's day out this week - I am definetly looking forward to next week. She loves it too, so it's good for both of us.

I've been out and about all day today and finally got home to stay at 9 PM. I'm just pooped now. haha Alyssa has a special Texas celebration tomorrow at school and they get to dress up in western attire - she has a cute little "cowgirl" dress, so tonight while we were out we bought her some boots AND A HAT! I can't wait to see her all dressed up in the morning, and guess what she will be wearing for some of her 6 yo pics! lol She's so much fun.

Well..I'm sure there's plenty more I could write about from this week...but I just want A GOOD NIGHT OF SLEEP TONIGHT so I'm off...will have to catch up later.

Work, work, work

I know I haven't really posted anything new in a few days. I'm hard at work this week trying to get caught up with school and several other deadlines. Tonight I present the first 3 parts of my capstone (intro, lit review, and methodology) and my lit review is still in a very rough and incomplete draft - that's today assignment, PLUS the power point slides.

Don't forget tonight you can get the other half of my Nuatical Kit in the late show - 2 pager scrap with Kim at SBB 11:59 PM (Eastern).

I'm making plans for my March and April freebies, so stay tuned for some sneak peaks in the coming days. I'm off for now - lots to write and little time left!!! Happy 1st day of March.