Can't wait for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving happens to be one of my most favorite holidays. I always love going home and spending time with my most tresured family and friends. This year will be no different since I will be going home to Louisiana and staying with my parents. My mom and I have even decided to go shopping on "Black Friday" for the first time ever. I have never been one to push and shove in the crowds of mad shoppers but I at least would like to enjoy the experience of one of the craziest shopping days in America.

It has been kind of busy for me here lately with Halloween and then my birthday. The kids were just as cute as always in their costumes. I dread that they are eventually not going to want their Momma walking the neighborhood with them going Trick or Treat. Landon went with his high school friends, Caleb went with his little friends and all I had left was Abigail and one of her little friends.

My Birthday was fantastic this year. I turned 36. Duane took me out to one of my favorite resturants, Carraba's. Then we went to see the movie "Nights of Rodanthe". Fantastic movie and a great book by Nicholas Sparks. Then he surprised me with the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, the 10th anniversary extended editon and the Twilight hardback series. The kids woke me up to my traditional birthday spanking that I give to them every year and a birthday cookie that said, Happy Birthday Momma. I was truly spoiled!!!!!

I finally have produced a few layouts. I treasure each moment that I have time to sit and enjoy my most theraputic hobby.

Twilight

Ok, I must confess...I am a TWILIGHT fanatic!!!! I read all the books right before school started and I fell in love with a vampire named Edward. See, I told you I was a hopeless romantic.





Isn't he the most gorgeous new hottie to hit the big screen????? This is Robert Pattinson who plays Edward. When I read the books and envisioned what Edward would look like, I must say the director of the movie "nailed" this character. He certainly did not disappoint me and now I have this beautiful face for my beautiful Edward!

This is the first series of books that I could absolutely read over and over again. Then there is the movie....It comes out in November!!!!!!!

My parents came in town this past week. I had such a good time. I always hate to see them go but I am going to see them at Thanksgiving so that is just around the corner.

What else has happened....let's see, Oh how could I forget about Ike!!!!! Friday, Sept. 11th Ike hit us at about 1am. We lost power for 9 days!!!!! So we lived by candlight.

We had no tv, no computer, no air condition, no refridgerator, and no hair products (flat iron) for N I N E L O N G D AYS!!!!!!!!!

Fortunately I had a good friend who took in my groceries since she had a generator. We cooked together on the grill, fed the kids, drank lots of wine, and helped each other keep our sanity!!!! I thankfully had no damage to my home and I walked away from my first hurricane and got the t-shirt to prove it!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I guess I have been a busy girl. I have been on a scrappin frenzy here lately. I wanted to share some of my newest layouts and also to gab a little about other things as well.

Summer is almost over and now it is time to get back into our regular routines. Landon has started up football again for the fall season and Caleb and Abigail are just getting ready for school.

As for scrappy business, my local scrap store is having its quarterly Round Up class where all of us (the instructors) advertise or solicite our business. I have to schedule new classes for the fall season and I may possibly change the name of my class. Right now I call it "Kim's Kreative Korner" and all of my layouts are based on sketches.

Let's see, Ohhhh and this month is my 12 year anniversary...for some reason I thought it was 13 years. Where does the time go?????
























This is me at my mom and dad's house...if I haven't mentioned before, I looooooove going to visit their house on the lake.

























My gorgeous eldest son....am I really a mother of a 16 year old???????


























Ahhhhh Garrison....rotten little stinker. This is my best friend's son. He is a MESS!!!!! But we all love him to pieces!
























Dear Abigail....spoiled rotten to the core and yes it is all my fault and her daddy's of course!!!!! She is our baby and knows exactly how to wrap us around her little finger. I never thought I would be one of those parents!

Ok, I threw this in because this is the latest movie I have watched where I just absolutely loved the message behind it. I am all about "Girl Power" and this has all the elements of a great girl movie. It tells us all that we can not love, give love, or be loved until we love ourselves! Sometimes and just sometimes, Hollywood can get it right. Probably because Reese Witherspoon is the producer. She is all about sending the right message to the future young women of the world.

In love with a Story

Ok, so don't ask me why, but I love this man! Not so much him as a real person but the character he plays. I am such a hopeless romantic!!!!! I could watch Pride and Prejudice on a daily basis. It's a sickness I know!








My favorite parts of the movie are 1. when he arrives at the ball and takes a double glance at Lizzie, 2. the arguement between he and Lizzie, you can just feel the sexual tension and 3. when he declares his love for Lizzie. It is the most beautiful speech I have ever heard from a man's lips. Ahhhhhh, yes I have it bad!



I stumbled across on of my favorite movies the other day and was reminded all over again what I loved about the eighties...here's a blast from the past...





1. big hair
2. Rick Springfield




















3. the brat pack

4. "Totally Awesome Dude" Valley Girl

5. parachute pants

6. Big hair bands

7. perms

8. jordache jeans









9. Duran Duran



10. Pretty in Pink.....Ahhhhhh Andrew!!!!!

Wow!!!! It has been a long time since I have updated this thing. I've had a lot going on here lately. The kids have been involved in all of their activities and my part time job felt like it never ended. Things are kind of back to normal...summer is here and lots of scrapping time on my hands. I love summer! It is kind of laid back and care-free like me. No schedules or pressing events!!!!
Thought I might post a few of my favorite layouts that I have done between April and now. This one is one of all three of my kids making silly faces. I really like the way this one turned out. It was a fun page with some really fun colors!

























I love this next one of me and my hubby. Sometimes you can actually walk away and feel like you "nailed it" and this was one of those times. This was based on a sketch by Pencil lines...gotta love those gals!

























This one is an absolute treasure! When I went home for spring break, I visited my grandfather and managed to get this fantastic shot. If you knew my grandfather you would know that he is not one to smile for the camera. But here we are, living proof that he actually can smile!

Last but not least, I have my daddy! He is a complicated man but has a heart as good as gold. You can't help but love him and his charismatic personality. I got my ability to talk to others easily from him. We never meet a stranger. He is complicated in the way that he keeps his truest feelings all bottled up inside. Quite the mystery that man! But I wouldn't change a hair on his head because reguardless of his good or bad traits, he is a wonderful father!

Well, I can't think of anything else...I would love to take my scrapping to the next level but don't quite know how yet. I think I am ready to start submitting again but I need a scanner or a better camera. But to be honest, the most fun I have with this hobby is sharing it with others like me. When I teach my classes, I get such joy out of showing the ladies new techniques or products. This has to be the best thing I think I have happened to stumble across and I am loving every minute of it!!!!

Spring Break

Got a chance to go home for Spring Break. Home for me is in Louisiana where all my family still resides. I miss them like crazy when we are apart so I treasure every moment we are together. My parents live on the lake where it is sooooo peaceful. You can't help but feel refreshed once you have spent some time overlooking the beauty of God's creations.
I took these pictures of my beautiful children at my parent's house. It was about 6:30 or 7pm and I can't help but stare in awe at how gorgeous they turned out.









































Since coming home, I have worked on a few layouts. Some of my favorites are...














































Gotta love American Crafts for their thickers!!!! I would say they are one of my very favorite products, then there's Basic Grey...there is not one package of paper that I do not drool over.
Working in a scrapbook store has it's advantages and disadvantages. I love being surrounded by all those papers, embellies, and bling but I never seem to make much money. Oh well, what I won't do for my habit!

Picture the Moments

Ok, so I of course loooooove to scrapbook but I also love to dabble a little in photography. That's a no brainer considering you have to take the pictures to make the layouts. Anyway, I have been playing around for a while with certain shots. My most challenging is the action shots. My next camera purchase will be a SLR camera. Right now I have got my eye on the Cannon Rebel XTI. Here are some of my favorite pictures...

I have been trying to self educate on the whole techno lingo involved with cameras such as Dbi ,kb, or pixels. It all has to do with the size and quality. Maybe I need to take a 101 class for camera dummies. I just know that in order to submit my work, I have to figure all this stuff out! My goal is to be published someday. Not for money or for fame...just a little bit of self satisfaction for a job well done. We shall see.

My Latest Layouts

Weekend Stuff

Ok, so today I was chatting with some of my gals from FSSCG (For Scraps Sake Critique Group) and all of us were comparing notes about our scrap goodies we snatched up over the weekend. So we decided to load pictures and drool over each others goodies. I got all of my stuff from the LSS I work for. Friday night I worked the midnight crop and several of the ladies had those totes from All My Memories. I thought the were so cute so I decided to get me one. Then I went through the store and just picked through a few punches, flowers, brads, Bazzil cardstock, ribbon, and adhesive. The t-shirt is from my employers who had just returned from CHA. Very excited about that! Anyway, all next week the new stuff will start to ship into the store and I am sure my check will continue to dwindle down like a sinking ship!!!! One cool thing I recently learned is that one of my co-workers is the sister of the man who owns Bazzill. She is the coordinator of all the instructors and of course an instructor for Bazzill. Ok, enough of all things scrappy...I have been tagged for this questionare so here goes...

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: I was caring for the 3 month old son, living in Bossier, Louisiana, stay at home mom, and pretty content.

Things on my to-do list today:
1. clean up the gameroom
2. stay in my jammies
3. scrap (complete the challenge for my critique group)
4. wash clothes
5. RELAX

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
1. Never work again
2. give to my family
3. give to the Needy
4. Build my dream house with a huge scraproom and hire an interior designer
5. Travel

3 of my bad habits:
1. Spending too much money...Shhhhhh don't tell my husband.
2. Hate folding clothes ( they sit in a basket entirely too long)
3. Oh and did I mention spending too much money???

3 places I have lived:
1. The Woodlands, TX (present day)
2. Monroe, LA
3. Morgantown, W.V.

5 jobs that I have had:
1. Grocery Store clerk
2. Phlebotomist (draw blood)
3. Social Director for a retirement community
4. ER Tech
5. Substitute Teacher

5 Things people don't know about me:
1. Coffee is my drug of choice...can't start the day without it.
2. I am a momma and daddy's girl...they are my heros
3. I am extremely easy going...but if you P**S me off, watch out!
4. I have never done drugs...my daddy was and is a cop so I was too scrared of getting caught.
5. I am extremely loyal to my friends...I will be there through the ups and downs.

Ok, one more thing...I have to brag on my kids! I took Abigail to a Kre8tive Kids class (she loves to scrapbook) and she made two layouts from the kits provided. Now the instructor walked them through the process but Abigail put it together all by herself. Like Mother Like Daughter!!!! Also, Landon came home the other night from his track meet and had placed in all three of his events!!!!! Yeah Landon, I am so proud!

My Love

Duane and I met 13 years ago this month. He and I were both in college, but he was my teacher!Duane was finishing his Master's degree and had to teach a class as a part of his program. How funny is that. I will never forget the first time we went out...he is so brillant (he would disagree), I was captivated by his thought process and his amazing blue eyes. After some of the losers I had dated in the past, it was so refreshing to carry on an actual intelligent conversation with someone who used his brain. Duane is a rare character...he is an old soul. He sees things in such an idealistic way and believes a man's word is his honor. When he and I met, my son Landon was only 3 years old. When you have been burned the way I have, you tend to have all kinds of walls built up for self preservation. I had to protect my son!!!! But for the first time in a long time I felt safe and sure that I had met someone really special.
Duane and I married quickly, and we have had a lot of ups and downs but it just gets better every year. He is my best friend, my lover, my soulmate, my everything!!!!!! I can't imagine life without him in it. I am so thankful that God saved him just for me. I believe that God has someone chosen just for you and if you wait and not settle for less, than they will suddenly appear. My mom used to tell me that love would come when I wasn't looking for it and viola, she was RIGHT!!!!!
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and as much as I LOVE my children, I truly LOVE my husband too. I read once that if you keep the relationship between you and your spouse a priority than everything else will fall into place. Remember, when the kids are gone, this is the person you will spend the rest of your days with. Keep the fires burning and never forget what made you love that person in the first place.

This is a redo of my 1st layout. Duane and I were posing for our engagement pictures. I love this picture and was so pleased with how this turned out. Gosh, we looked so much better back then. I sure am glad he still loves me with all the lumps, bumps, gray hairs, and a few early signs of aging!!!!!

Date Night...LOOOOOOOVE date nights!!!!!

Here's a layout I did of me and dear hubby. We actually celebrated 12 years of marriage in August but since it's almost Valentines Day I decided to break out and scrap a "LOVE" page for my honey.