Cutie pie!

Isn't he cute? This is my neighbor's grandson - he's like 4 months old..maybe 3. Such a good baby! They have asked me to take some pictures of him, like some formal ones, which will be fun I think!

I have a couple of good, candid ones like this from our BBQ on the 4th.

I would like a better close up lens, I think...but this one is working well for now.

In scrap-related news, I didn't create anything this weekend but I did tie up some loose ends. I finished a flip book for Ben's mom, and put all my recent pages in albums! I organized them into groups like 1) People 2) Me and Ben 3) Family Christmas (over the years) 4) Me and 5) Pets. I also finished putting our San Francisco trip together - still have some journaling but I'm getting there. It felt great to get that accomplished! 

Job at Banfield

Well, I thought about it over the weekend and decided to decline their offer - I am not ready to change into a more restrictive job yet. I love the freedom I have now with time off and stuff, and I love the people I work with, so I'm going to stick around :) It was kind of hard telling the folks at Banfield that I didn't want their job after all, but I was honest about why. Turns out they can negotiate a little bit with the paid time off, but not telecommuting. Because both are important to me - the telecommuting is probably #1, I said no thanks. But I was impressed with the way the whole thing was handled and their people in general. I would definitely apply there again if something happens to my current job (of course they will not have an opening then but hey that's how it works, LOL).

I am so turned around with what day it is this week...today's Thursday right? That's a nice thing to remember :)

my first 8x8, themed album of a child

This was too fun! My co-worker's stepdaughter, sort of...she's such a cutie and I made this for them. Totally awesome learning experience - I used paint....LOL

Another kit from ScrapMuse of course! The colors just went so well together...

Leo

Isn't he cute? He's the first mostly quiet Cocker Spaniel I have ever met - he and Mina really get along well, and we have been pet sitting him a couple of days this week. They have lots of fun.

It's so cute to see them both running around - a tall black and white dog with a short black and white dog running along side... 

My parents came to visit

I totally didn't think my mom would get on a plane, but she did and my parents came to visit over the weekend! We had so much fun, and it was SO GREAT to see them relaxing a little. We went and did some tourist-y stuff, like Multnomah Falls, Latourell Falls, and Wakheena Falls, and then we drove up to Mt St Helens - all of these things were just so beautiful. I will post some pics later of the falls, and Mt St Helens. I also realised where my friend M's granparents live and it's pretty close to us.

Anyway, they left early Sunday morning, so I decided to get some yard work done, and my neighbor who is a landscaper helped, in exchange for some computer lessons/repair. I think that deal is going to work out well! My yard already looks 100% better and I am teaching him about CDs versus DVDs currently.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

stuff...

Well, today will probably be the 4th day in a row that it has hit 100+ degrees here. Yesterday and Sunday it was 111 in the parking lots...and 105 or so just in the yard. It's dry heat but that's still freakin' hot. I hope it goes back down in the 70s soon..

Mom and Dad arrive tomorrow night. I'm excited but also nervous as I really need to bring up some topics that aren't going to be all that comfortable..like my little brother's future....I am really nervous about that because I really want them to hear what I have to say and I don't want to mess it up by getting frustrated..

The Banfield interview went pretty well I thought. I liked the team alot and felt like they liked me - I was honest when I told them what I did and didn't know - they're working in a newer technology than I do right now...but I am really not sure if I'm ready to leave my current job. The interview was from 9 until almost 1:30 so that was long - and I was really tired yesterday.

Mina got sick while I was gone - thank goodness it was on the pergot flooring downstairs and not the carpet. Her tummy has been sick since 4:30 Monday morning, because on Sunday she ate some things out of her norm... We'll not do that ever again! Ben came home at lunch and cleaned it up since I was gone - bless his heart. Sick doggies, esp 85 pound sick doggies are no fun!

another one of Mina :)

This might be my favorite LO of the week - I thought the beauty one was cool but I think I like this one better... it just feels AWESOME to me when I actually like my finished work - all too often when I finish a page I hate it but don't know how to go back and make it better...

Anyway, the journaling is: "My family laughs at how we treat our dog - she eats veggies, goes to "doggie day care", graduated from kindergarten, has set naps, the whole nine yards. And I do admit that we probably go overboard with it. But in the eleven months she's been withus, we have developed such a bond of companionship, loyalty, and friendship with her, that the lengths we go to with her aren't anything out of the ordinary for us. We love her so much and love the fullness she has brought to our lives. She has her moments, yes, where I want to scream because she's just destroyed something valuable, but the majority of the time, she's wonderful to be around. She is so much more than just a pet to us - she's a companion, friend, confidante, playmate. We are grateful that she is in our lives." 

Love the new workspace!

After I put the craft room back together a little bit, I sat down and actually USED the room and it felt AWESOME! I got so much done, because I was able to spread out like I like to do...
I tried my hand at writing (well doodling) on a photo...it was OK...I was really nervous about it!



And then I did one about piercing my nose - I love scrapbooking any which way - no set dates to go by, don't go in order...just DO IT! That's so freeing!

Possibly my favorite...the June Muse totally inspired me!
















And a lesson from Ali Edwards about circles...love those underneath the title! 

some layouts

These photos are horrible - I need a good wide scanner, but oh well. This is an old layout about my temp apartment in SC. I didn't realise until I was moving out how truly small it was. All my stuff, including me and 2 cats, fit in my MINI Cooper when I left. God I hated that place.

And the other LO is our group of ATL friends and a favorite sushi hangout. I love them AND RuSans!
 

My new tables

Ben was supposed to come home at lunch yesterday and help me carry these upstairs into the craft room. But he had some issues at work and had to stay through lunch...and the impatient person I am, I carried them myself up from the garage, which involves some tight turns and lots of steps. It was hard to do - esp since the long table is 6.5 ft long. But I DID it! LOL

ANyway, here they are in their new home, and I've already been scrapbooking on them - I love how I can spread out now! And have my sewing machine on there too. Now I'll finally try some sewing on my pages!
*Already full of stuff, LOL 

Building furniture!

Well, I didn't get to scrap this weekend, but it was because I had decided to build myself some new furniture for my craft room. This months Creating Keepsakes had an article in it about building craft furniture for cheap, so that's what I did - I started out with 2 tables and I think next weekend I am going to build a bench or some shelves. Or both! LOL

And I got my June Muse kit on Saturday - so lovely! As soon as I can get these tables in my room, I'll be ready to use it!

Ho hum....

It's Friday, and well, I'm really glad. This week, actually the past two weeks, have been super busy and we've had guests, so I haven't had nearly the time to scrap as I wanted to. So I have devoted most of the weekend to holing up in my craft room and getting some stuff done! I am excited about that - also, I am excited b/c the June muse is on it's way to my hot little hands! I always get REALLY excited to get the latest kit from them - it's like a little Christmas each month, LOL...

Happy weekend!

Say what??

Mina loved playing in the sand last week at Cannon Beach. She wasn't a big fan of the water, but then when it's freezing, I'm not either! 

Nose pierced!

Can you tell what's different about me in this picture? That's right - my nose is pierced! Joslyn and I went yesterday to Captain Jack's on Hawthorne - she was going to get a belly button piercing and I wanted this. Well, unfortunately, OR state law would not allow her to be pierced because she isn't yet 18 and I couldn't sign for her since I'm not a legal guardian. But I still got mine - the process was very quick and it only hurt a little, less than my belly button piercing I think.

Flowers and our wedding

Here are some more layouts that I've done this week. The jardin one is photos of my mother in law's flowers - so beautiful!




























This layout is from my wedding, a totally unexpected event earlier this year. When I say that people always assume the worst, but it's the marriage part that was unexpected, we had been dating for years :)

It was a small event with only a few friends in attendance - nonetheless, it was totally special and I'll remember it always.

TFL and have a wondrous week!

Finally posting some LOs!

I have been ordering ScrapMuse kits (the older ones anyway) for awhile, since December at least. And these LOs are all from the July 2005 "Peachy Keen" kit - I LOVE IT.

This is LOKI, my mother-in-law's cat. He's totally adorable, about half the size of my two and totally a ball of fire! He is also the resident squirrel/vole/snake killer, which makes Julie very happy.








The 2nd layout is a 2 pager, about the day that Ben and I spent biking on the Silver Comet Trail - it was so much fun! And I totally loved using these fun, bright colors - kind of different for me!

New glasses and funny faces

These are my new spectacles -I think they rock, although this self-portrait leaves a lot to be desired. This was taken down by the Columbia River a couple weeks ago with Mina...

















My husband thinks he's funny - which is true most of the time, actually - he keeps me laughing, which is such a good combination for us. I am the practical one, he's the one who'll sell our house for a plate of "magic beans" - or at least, I keep teasing him about it. 

Lush stuff

A couple of friends back in ATL turned me onto this store - they learned of it from a friend in England who's in love with their stuff.

They urged me to go to the store and report back, as there's one in Portland, and I must say the first time I went I was totally overwhelmed.

I went back last week to buy something for one of my ATL friends and ship it to them (seems to be faster that way than ordering on the website), and the store manager talked me into some facial toner and moisturizer. She also gave me samples of an exfoliating scrub and a heavier 'nighttime' moisturizer. Now, the stuff is expensive (43$ for 45 g of product!) and it smells weird, the moisturizer smells awful, and the salt scrub smells like margaritas, which is weird on your face, but holy cow do they work! And I think they're going to last awhile, so that's good! 

Along the Columbia

Mina and I decided to take a walk one afternoon along the Columbia River - she loved it, but I was a little afraid she was going to chase after the gulls on the water and go in without thinking. She probably can swim, but I couldn't have pulled her back to the bank!

It was very windy that day, but we had fun. Now that it's warm all the time, we'll go again!