DOH!

I am tired. I am busy. I am blonde.
I have the wrong years on my final BPS layout,lol.
I'll fix it on the actual layout, but I'm too lazy to fix it, take a picture, edit and resize the picture, logout of my regular email and log on to the one I stupidly associated with this blog, and repost the picture.
Even typing all of that made me too tired.

BPS day 31

And we're done.
I hate this layout and didn't feel inspired at all, but, it's finished. I think it's my least favorite one I have done all month. I need to clean my craft room and just exhale from the pressure I put on myself.
I'm glad it's done.
I have decided to sign up for Lain's next workshop though, it won't be as big as a layout a day, but it will help keep me motivated and challenging myself.
This silly craft matters to me and I need to put the things that matter to me at a higher priority in my life.
I watched Dylan today which was really fun, we played "rocket boy" and he laughed and laughed. He smiles like Baby Sunnie did and it made me happy. Sunnie was a good baby, such a good sweet baby.

BPS day 30

I was inspired to do this layout based on reading an article in Memory Makers Magazine. The article was about scrapbooking your mistakes and one layout was about a woman's thoughts on ending a relationship with someone who really burned her, and how it changed her and made her stronger. I was very moved by that, seeing that I had a split with a friend shortly after marrying Matt, partly because of my relationship with Matt. It was a really painful decision, and very hard to do, but it was completely the right choice. Being able to write a letter "to" that old friend and be open and real and not be challenged or attacked for my feelings was freeing. It has helped me put that friendship in it's proper place and time and re-confirm my belief that when in doubt--let go. Nobody can force a relationship on another person, you cannot force a person to like you and to forgive you in the ways you want them to when you have done terrible things to them, or even things that are not so terrible, but that person feels they were. All the things that are wrong in one's life, can pretty much be resolved by letting them go. Someone who knows more than we do will take care of them and the world will not stop turning without your spinning it.
When my friend and I split, the earth did not shatter for either of us.
So anyway, I have already said more than I wanted to say, but this is my layout about my break-up with my best friend from High School.The letter and the story is hidden behind the photo. I know I should be shot for using Wilson Phillips lyrics here, but everything else made me sound like a lesbo.

I am so over winter. Another storm is headed this way, Mr. groundhog, don't let me down this year, I'm ready for the sunshine.

BPS day 29

Two more to go.....

Husband Tag

What's his name? Matt

How long did you date? 7 months until we got married.

How old is he? 36, a year and a half older than me

Who eats more? He does. Even when I was fat, he is a giant man, I couldn't put away that much food if I tried.

Who is taller? Matt is taller than everyone.

Who sings better? Matt, hands down. He has an amazing voice, sang in various choirs in his younger days. Makes me swoon.

Who is smarter? We are smart in different things. He has more formal education though. I would say he is smarter.

Who does the dishes? Usually one of the kids, if not, I do them most of the time. He has been doing them a lot more lately.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. I tend to always sleep on whatever side is closest to the bathroom.

Who pays the bills? He does.

Who mows the lawn? He does, sometimes Parker or Zane

Who fixes broken things? We both do if it is a lot cheaper to fix something than replace it.

Who cooks dinner? Me

Who drives when you are together? Matt, I hate driving and I'm blind at night anyway.

Who kissed who first? He planted a whopper on me in the middle of our first date.

Who proposed? Matt did, in the middle of a play we attended.

Who is more sensitive? I am the family wuss, but there are certain things that get Matt weepy as well. I hold those close to my heart

Who has more friends? I do, but I have more time and ability to make social relationships, he has a ton of friends at work, they all like him.

Who has more siblings? Same number unless you count the various people who could pass as my siblings, the children of stepfathers long gone- then I have more.

Who wears the pants in the family? I think it is pretty equal, but at the end of the day- when it comes to the kids, Matt is where the end of the crap road ends.

BPS day 28

Here is my layout for today, I am really happy with it. I don't use many pastels in my designs, but as I am venturing out of that comfort zone of mine, I am even doing pastel layouts. And it helps bring out Roe's dress in an otherwise dark photograph.

As I type the worst blizzard I have ever seen in my life is hitting Salt Lake, it is so bad that I have asked Matt to leave work and help me pick up the kids from school. I have never driven in anything close to this and I am terrified. Can't help but feel like even the skies are reacting to the passing of the prophet.

A matter of faith and sometimes not.

Rest in Peace President Hinkley.

I remember the first time I saw him in person, I was 12 and we had planned as a family to attend the Boise Temple dedication, but my parents got ina huge fight and decided at the last minute not to go. My Aunt Diane and her family had come up from Salt Lake to go to the dedication and my folks let me go along with them. I sat on the end of a row in a room adjacent to the Celestail room, right by the door and sitting on the end of the row in the Celestial room near me, not 15 feet away was the then Apostle, Gordon B. Hinkley. I remember seeing him and recognizing him from pictures and feeling such a certainty of "This man will be the prophet one day, he will be a prophet I know, he is a man who speaks with God."
I remember knowing that.
Just before Christmas we went to see Music and the Spoken Word for the Christmas program where the Mormon Tabernacle performs and the Prophet attended. Everyone was up talking, waiting for it to begin, thousands of people and suddenly, without announcement, a hush fell over the crowd. The prohet was entering the room. A reverence and a stillness filled the air and my soul and as he made his way to his seat, all eyes were looking at him, and a room of thousands stood in honor of this man of God who was in our midst. Those feelings I had when I was 12, that knowing he was called of God, they were there again. I knew. In spite of where life has taken me, I have always known.
Matt and I talked about faith last night and those moments when it isn't a matter of faith at all. I said it's like knowing there will be a sunrise. We KNOW the sun will rise, we anticipate it, we plan around it, it rises every single day. But yet, it is still a matter of faith, even if we are as certain of it as anything. It is one thing to know the sun will rise and to have it confirmed every day, it is another thing, when you step outside and you watch the sun rise with your own eyes. When you watch the sun rise, it is a different experience and not a matter of faith at all, it is something you are witnessing, you cannot doubt or deny, nor would you ever dream of doing so. I not only know the sun will rise because it does every day but because I have stood outside and witnessed it with my own eyes.
I have stood in the presence of, Gordon B. Hinkley, and I saw with my own eyes that he was The Prophet. I was there and I knew.
God be with you till we meet again, dear, beloved Prophet.

BBBS

Been working on getting a basket together for the Big Brother Big Sisters upcoming silent auction since Matt is on the Board of Directors and he agreed to do a basket. We're doing a scrapbooking basket because it's something I can put in some of the tons of surplus product in from back when I worked at Deluxe. I am also including a finished album and a set of cards. I finished 3 of the cards, here they are.

BPS 27 maybe

I posted it at BPS, just in case I never leave my room today,lol. Just screwing around with photoshop seeing what I can come up with, the problem is that I am too cheap to but good digital design elements because I know I can create them, but it takes forever and I never know when to quit adding to things.

Just in case I don't get motivated to leave my room today- this will do.

Today we are having a Narnia Marathon, we have all 3 dvds of the BBC Chronicles of Narnia, about 6-8 hours of bad special effects, but the girls love it, and after watching the first dvd last week, they were wanting to finish the others, so here was all are caomped out in Mom and Dad's bedroom, pillows, blankets, snacks and all the CS Lewis one family can handle.

BPS day 26 and so forth

I'm almost at the end of this challenge! So far I have created every single day, some pages I started the day before when I knew I would be too busy to start from scratch and finished that day, but every single day I have done something in my craft room. I am finding that I am using new color schemes and not sticking to my old faves in terms of color, I am less intimidated by color because of this challenge. That makes me feel good and I am surprised by how well I like the results. There are some things that are just staples in my scrapping, inking the edges, chipboard, few photos, a solid "base" and the color black. By trying new colors, I can keep my old stand by techniques and yet get very different looks. I am happy with the things I have accomplished and learned from this challenge, BUT I am ready for it to be over.

Today The Smith/Eckert kids spent the day with Bryon, so Matt and the girls and I had a day to spend just us 5, which is rare. We spent the afternoon at the nickle arcade, went to the mall and blew the budget buying shoes on clearance from Mervyn's ( But Roe and Jane got the cutest polka dot sneakers, and Kate got some awesome cherry print Sunday shoes) and we went to Coldstone to name a few of the things we did today. I'm beat,lol. Included with today's layout is a picture from our adventures today.

And for what it's worth, we think the city of Layton has the worst drivers in all of the state. Good Grief.

BPS day 25

Busy day today, Emma had no school so we went shopping and she spent her grade money, hit the craft store, had lunch with Matt, got manicures, hit the mall, found some killer heels and went Starbuck's (non coffee drinks.) Great day, I'm wiped out.

I managed to get this one done, I used the flowers a few days ago, but I have a zillion of them from a swap so it's nice to use the things I have.

25 days down, I can see the finish line, and then I am putting a padlock on my craft room for a few days at least.

BPS day 24

Tonight I feel a little burned out on the BPS challenge, Thursdays are hard because we do so much in the evening. I managed to burn dinner tonight so on top of the already limited time this evening, I had to make a McDonald's run,lol.

This layout made Matt get all teary eyed, but then, so is this nature show on PBS about the reuinited elephant friends that we are watching, so perhaps that's not a good way to judge the quality of this layout. :)

Even though it was hard to get a layout done tonight, I am happy with how this turned out and I finally used some of that Basic Grey paper I have been saving for no reason whatsoever.

Date-a-versary

Yesterday we took this picture to mark the 2 year anniversary of our first date. I am even more inlove with him than I was when we met. He never believed in love at first sight until he saw me and was instantly in love with me before we even left on our date. I never thought I could trust anyone- ever- until Matt showed me just how trustworthy he was and how he would stop at nothing to protect me from the beginning. I figured those magical movie-style love stories were for a select few and while soulmates existed, I was not one of those people who would ever have one.

We talked about those first impressions, he thought my picture on the net was awful, he would not have messaged me with that picture, I think his was awful, I only messaged him because I messaged every guy who was a single dad and online at the time. My picture was a big cheesy smile pose taken at an odd angle. I looked like I was in special ed. His was a picture taken on a cruise where he looked like the most depressed person on earth. It is a face I have never even seen him have in our 2 years of being together, it was the face of a broken person I don't know at all. Thats not to say I am not a complete spaz and he has not had some sad days since we met, but the point was we both did not feel overwhelmed by those internet profiles. But within 24 hours of actually meeting, we were joined at the hip. He knew I was his forever, I knew he was my defining, life changing relationship- he was the person I was going to take risks with, and I while in my life I was reckless, I was not a risk taker if that makes sense. I had more cajones than confidence. I made Matt believe in fairy tale endings, Matt made me believe in forever.

Eh--I'm babbling and smiling like a dork.

Point being- yesterday was a fun reminder of the beginning of what is still a fun and romantic journey with one another and I adore Matt. He brought me flowers, I bought him a MontyPython book and we had fun talking about the things we were right about, and the things we were wrong about.

BPS day 23

I scraplifted the basic page design from the american crafts website.

I am getting burned out on this challenge.

BPS day 22

Parker is already angry at me for even considering doing a layout of him playing World of dorkcraft. ***1/24 I added the epoxy embellishments on the left side, it needed more and now I am happy with it, even if Parker will never forgive me for me for creating this layout.

BPS day 21

Busy day- the colors in this are way more vibrant than in the picture. I love how they look together and I am very happy with this layout. The problem with waiting until night to do my layout is that I cannot take a picture of the layout with natural sunlight and the flash and overhead lights make a crappy glare, and to avoid that- you don't get the colors in the photos and paper to pop as well.

Wow, that was a really long and boring explanation of why the pictures I take pretty much suck. I'll try and take a better picture tomorrow, this one is really crappy. Ergh.

Regardles, it's done. 21 days down.

When the weather outside is frightful....

We woke up this morning to a blizzard. A good 6- 8 inches of snow fell and it was a whiteout everywhere. The freeways were backed up and all of our good neighbors were out with the snowblowers, helping one another dig out. No school today, no work for Matt so, what did we decide to do in this chilly blizzard?

Strip down and go swimming, of course. We took the kids to the Murray pool and it was a blast, just what we needed to beat these winter blues and forget all about boots and coats and lost mittens. We swam for about 2 hours untl we were all wiped out, Romy got brave enough to float down the lazy river without digging her fingers into the throat of the nearest parent, Jane got brave enough to hold her nose and dunk herslef unher the water a bunch of times, and Grey learned how to do an underwater flip and with some coaxing and trickery from Mom, went down the big slide all by himself. After he did it once, he was fine and he and Katie went down at least 20 more times.

Ihop for lunch afterwards and everyone is just hanging out upstairs watching the BBC version of The Chronicles of Narnia series.

What a weekend. Some weekends are slow and quiet and calm, some weekends you go, go, go all weekend long and can't believe you squeezed som many fun things into one weekend.

Life is good.

So so good.

BPS day 20

Layout 20 done. I have also accomplished making sure I scrapped at least one layout per kid for this challenge. Now I can just do layouts of cutie bug Matt who is sitting next to me making a chore chart looking so cute I am going to attack smooch him as soon as I am done posting this.

11 more days to go.

Another Happy Happy Day

If you click on the picture you can see more detail.

Brian and Paige are officially married. :)

Everything was beautiful, we had fun hanging out with the family. The little girls were in heaven at the reception, dancing and loving all of the flowers and decoreations everywhere. They could have stayed all night if we could have handled it. They had dances with daddy and with Grandpa and enjoyed having Aunt Sunnie there as well. I can't wait to see the pics from the reception, the ones from the Temple turned out so stunning. Winter weddings provide some beautiful pictures, but it's so stinkin' cold.

Here is a collage with some of the fun stuff we did yesterday, including finally being well enough to see baby Abigail. Greyson really loved her and wanted to hold her more than other kids.

Weekends like this are exhausting, but remind you just how beautiful life is. Babies, brides and little girls twirling around the dance floor with Daddy and Grandpa.

I could not ask for more.

BPS day 19

This is tomorrow's layout, the rules are that you need to create a layout a day and if you create more than one layout- as long as you post to the main website one a day, it will work for that day. Seeing that I also completed an entire 20 page gift album, I guess I have the month covered but I want a new page for each day if I can do it. Today I created a page in the afternoon and just finished up another one specifically made for tomorrow since I will be busy at the wedding.

This is a totally different color scheme than I have used before and I am still not quite use to those colors, I really like the layout- it's bright and fun.

The kids were too chicken to skate in the kitchen because they were afraid they would fall and get hurt and we found them upstairs skating in the bathtub. It was so funny.

Anyway- I am really happy with this one and will post it at BPS tomorrow before we head out.

Silly kids.

BPS day 18

My tooti is finally feeling somewhat better, I am over the worst of it, but still feeling crappy. At least I will be able to smile for pictures tomorrow. This medicine makes me so crabby, I am ready to stop taking it.

Here is my layout for the day- I don't love the lettering and will probably end up changing it, but it is done and turned in.

The journalling reads:

When Parker lost his second top tooth, he awoke the next day very excited and said "I must have been brushing REALLY well!" and showed Mom what the Tooth Fairy had left him. It was 12 bucks! Normally the tooth fairy only leaves 2 dollars. Perhaps the tooth fairy didn't realize there was a 10 dollar bill stuck to the back of a single, but how to explain that to a 6 year old?
So... Mom told Parker that it was because it was his "Magic Wishing Tooth" and that single tooth was worth extra money but the rest were only worth 2 dollars.
A few years later Zane lost his top teeth. The tooth fairy left him the standard 2 dollars each and Zane came to Mom, hand out stretched and said "Hey mom, the tooth fairy forgot that this was my Magic Wishing Tooth." He had a smirk on his face as mom went to her purse and just handed him 10 more dollars and rolled her eyes.
The Magic Wishing tooth lived on to over pay both Grey and Romy for the loss of the second big front tooth and the kids never tire of telling people about the Magic Wishing tooth when they are shocked by the amount of money the Tooth Fairy left them.
This is the last of the Magic Wishing Teeth and although it started as an "oops" from the Tooth Fairy, Mom kind of hopes that her grandkids get the fun and weirdness of a Magic Wishing tooth, too.

BPS day 17

Finished up one of the layouts for my BIL's wedding album.

Very tired today, still not feeling good.

When Lortab and credit cards collide...

At a recent family function Z and Lori and I were remembering those old Janeen Brady songs from Brite, that produced such classics as "See me run," "I want to be a mother" and the ever popular "I'm a Mormon!"
Today as I sit here dazed and still in pain from the tooth from hell, I decided to see if I could find those old songs. Brite is still in business and I was able to easily purchase the kid friendly but non LDS cd's and download those right away- I have a song for you and See me Run have now been uploaded to my ipod and I just ordered from Seagull Book, "Songs for Mormon children" which includes "I'm a Mormon."
I cant wait to see how my little ones react to the music and if they play it as often as Silas and I did as kids.

I'm just envisioning little Lexie twirling around the Rosenloff's house listeing to "dancing all the day" and the idea of that makes me smile. I hope they come home soon. Seeing the pictures from Haiti made them so real. There are more important things in life to pray for and focus on than the stupid issues of last year. I am thankful to my Father in Heaven for reminders and for newborn babies with button noses and dark hair, and for a niece and a nephew just waiting to come home. I am thankful for Dylan who does wacky silly things and who will be my buddy for life. These are the things that matter.

If this post didn't make sense, sorry, I'm medicated.

BPS day 16

I don't love this layout, the photos have too much going on in the background and nothing really stands out as a focal point in it, but considering how I feel today, I'm okay with this one.

BPS day 15

Digital layout because I feel like crap. My anti nausea medicine is making me queasy. Massive root canal today and they said tomorrow I will feel the real pain. You have GOT to be kidding me. I wasnt to hook my tooth up to a tractor and rid myself of this nightmare. Matt missed work today but can't tomorrow and no way can I drive so the kids get an extra day off I guess while I lay in bed and cry. Never in my life have I had tooth pain this bad.

She is here. :)

Baby Abigail Paige Olson arrived last night, healthy and beautiful. Way to go Caleb and Shell.

I can't wait to see her, but it will have to wait until this stupid tooth is fixed, I am having a bad reaction to the pain medicine and cannot get out of bed even to take the kids to school.

I got word today that a friend of mine from my old singles ward before I had Parker died suddenly this week. He was a good guy, just off his mission and we hung out a great deal and went on one date, but nothing ever became of it. He was 37 and left behind a family and from what I hear, a very sweet wife. He was a sweet guy. The news of his sudden death is hard to hear of and is hitting me hard.

BPS14

I have an infected tooth. Bad. Out of my head pain. Wiz called me in an antibiotic and some pain medicine and I did my layout right after taking the medicine, but thankfully was not too out of it to make something decent. Tomorrow I will have work done on my Shrek tooth and I don't know how up to scrapping I will feel, but I will get something turned in.

Here is today's layout. Roe loved that first snowfall and just wanted to keep some snow in the house, so I let her bring in a bowl full of snow.

Oh and FYI as I type Shell is having her baby!!!!!!!!!!

BPS day 13

Done.

Blog blog blog blog blog and more blog....

I'm blogging so much it scares me. I promise, after this challenge it will die down. I'm weirding myself out with the amount of blogging i have done.

I'm at home from church today- not feeling well. Matt's there with all 7 of the beasties. I went for the beginning of Primary because Greyson gave a talk. he showed a pic of the family and said "I am part of the Olson family, we have a father and mother and brothes and sisters and we love each other. I also have another family- here is who is in my other family.." and we held up a big mirror."We have a Heavenly Father and mother and wed are al brothers and sisters. I am glad that I am a child of God and that all of you are in my family." He did a great job and I'm proud of him. Roe gave a talk last week on Resolutions. I asked her wahta resolution is and she said "Like a goal." and I was kind of impressed and surprised that she knew that.

Anyway- point-- For Enrichmet Night in Feb we are displaying our talents the YW are asked to participate, I will do an album of all my BPS layouts, Emma tied this flannel blanket yesterday to display and although she will not be able to attend, it's important that she participate and I'm glad she was so excited to do her quilt that she completed it in one afternoon.

We do other things besides scrapbook here, and one of the things I want for my family is to get back to doing things that encourage everyone to invest time in creative projects, less time on video games.

Tagged!

I was "tagged" by Tamara. http://bcre8uv.typepad.com/

And I forgive her. But I am having my revenge by posting this picture of us. Very attractive.

****************************

7 random things about me:

***I am a nail polish addict. You will never see me without nail polish on, thats not to say I maintain a perfect manicure, but I always have a coat of polish on my fingers and I have since about 10thgrade

***I am currently addicted to Peanut M&M's and eat them every day. I go through spurts where I eat a specific food every day for a month or so and then, I can't look at it again. I'm on week 3 of my addiction. No end in sight. M&M's are the food of the Gods, I tell you....

***I read Great Expectations almost every year. As a teen I embraced my inner Estella and her ability to detacth fromt he feeling world. She ended up alone and miserable, so I am glad it never really "took."

***My favorite flower is the Iris. It reminds me of my grandma. My mother hates the iris. Her favorite flower is the carnation. I hate the carnation. Freud would nod accordingly upon hearing this.

***I am a great leader but a terrible manager. It has taken me a long time (and Matt talks) to realize the difference between the two and to feel good about my talents and not connect them with my weaknesses in that area of life.

***If given the chance, Matt and I will relocate to another country after Zane graduates for a few years. I am wickedly envious of Heidi Swapp right now, living in China with her family. http://heidiswapp.typepad.com/

***I always abandon recipies halfway through and make them my own. Everything I cook is mostly my own invention. I do not follow recipes, they are a guide, but not a rule.

Denise--my dear friend for life---

http://www.denisebrandomcrap.blogspot.com/

YOU ARE IT!!!

The rules of the game:
· Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
· Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
· Tag random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
· Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Still scrapping

In bewteen bouts of cleaning and laundry. If the journalling can't be read here, I'll add it later to the blog. I kind of planned out my space poorly and as I got further down the list I had to say less and less nice things about people,lol.

This is the Olson side of our family minus one Brent, Paige, and three babies who will join us soon.

BPS day 12

Day 12 and I am still going strong. This month I finished a 20 page album for my BIL and future SIL, have done 1 layouts, and did an altered tin.

Thats more than I did all last year, I think....

Bonus layout

There was no school today and so I did another layout.

The journalling reads:

You resisted & argued & even cried about having to learn to tie your shoes. You said "I'm not ready!" But after a talk with dad & some lessons, you came to me and said "Okay Mom. I will tie my own shoes. I am ready to grow up."

Tie away, Greyson, but don't grow up just yet because Mom's not ready for that.

I love you and I'm proud of you.

BPS day 11

Layout of Jane and Santa at the family party in December.

I don't do many holiday layouts, but I have done 2 for the BPS challenge so far.

From Lian's Blog

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
I made ribs on the BBQ, went to Disneyland and joined a gym
2. What are your New Years Resolutions?
To leave my troubles in the hands of God, to train for a top secret event with Matt this summer, to declutter one room a month
3. Did anyone close to you give birth in 2007?
Yeah, Sunnie Bunny had baby Dylan. 2008 should bring THREE babies to the family. :)
4. Did anyone close to you die?
My grandma's husband passed away, but I didn't know him well. Matt lost a friend in his old ward. Two funerals.
5. What countries did you visit?
Does Provo count as a different country?
6 What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Better budgeting, a more organized home, dedicated "me" time
7. What date(s) in 2007 will remain etched in your memory and why?
With 9 people in the family- birthdays and manniversaries fill up all the dates in my head.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Taking 2 vacations with Matt and 1 with the kids. Vacations are important.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Like Lian, I also had a break up with a close friend. I just couldn't do it anymore. I had to let it go. It was hard but the right choice. Sometimes relationships end. You grieve, you cry, and you let go and don't look back.
10. Did you suffer any illness or injury?
A few colds here and there, Matt broke his thumb and Kate had pneumonia
11. What was the best thing someone bought you?
Matt upgraded my wedding ring from a half carat (center stone) to a full carat. Notice I didn't say the cat. I am so over that cat.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Parker started to actually participate in school, all the kids brough their grades up and worked hard. Matt has been blowing people away at work with his hard work and management skills.
13. Whose behavior appalled and depressed you?
Like you have to ask......
14. Where did most of your money go?
Home repairs. 2007 we bought 2 furnaces and 2 a/c units.
15. What did you get really, really excited about?
Baby Dylan and vacations. The English Beat and losing weight.
16. What song(s) reminds you of 2007?
Umbrella ella ella
17. Compared to last year are you...
a.) Happier or Sadder? Happier
b.) Thinner or Fatter? Thinner!!!
c.) Richer or Poorer? Poorer, but we have a plan........
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Run away for more weekends, created more
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Trying to fix a doomed situation. Lesson learned.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
quietly with Grey and Roe and then went to Olsons for lunch and sledding.
21. Did you fall in love in 2007.
I fall in love every day. I simply adore Matt and still get super giddy around him and want to be near him all of the time. We are still newlyweds who stare at each other and are just in awe that we found each other. THIS is what love is. Who knew?
22. How many one night stands did you have?
lol- zero.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Heroes, Burn Notice, Battlestar Galactica and Psych
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't this time last year?
No.No changes to who I hate.
25. What was the best book you read?
In 2007? I didn't read anything incredible, I read some stupid Anne Rice novels and re-read Great Expectations.
26. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I hit 35. EEk. We went out for pie, but I wasn't hungry, just sat and enjoyed the silence - just what I wanted. I need more "do nothing" days.
27. What was your best musical discovery?
Corinne Bailey Rae, Lilly Allen
28. What did you want and get?
I wanted inner peace, didn't find it until the end of the year when the answers came. And they were clear and solid and right. I just needed to exhaust every resource I had first to see that the answer was-- let go. I wanted to fit into a 12 by the end of the year, and I did that.
29. What was your favorite film of the year?
I'm a sci fi action adventure kind of girl, so my fave movie of the year was Bourne.
30. What did you want and not get?
To get back into the scrapping industry, but I didn't even TRY so it didn't happen. I don't want that this year,lol.
31. What one thing would've made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Completeing the Book of Mormon Challenge, but I didn't do it. Creating more.
32. How would you describe your fashion concept for 2007?
"Woohoo! I can fit into THIS now!"
33. What kept you sane?
Blogging and my sweetie.
34. Which celebrity or public figure did you admire most?
Joe Arpiao from Arizona. He made a difference and wasn't afraid to make changes to a broken system.
35. What political issue stirred you most?
Not many, I am annoyed with some issues, but not anough to whine about them since I am unwilling at this time to help make changes.
36. Who do you miss?
Kristine, I always miss her and I wish she would move to Taylorsville.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
lol-- My stepmom pals-- Weeb and the gang,lol.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned.
Don't throw good after bad. Once you realize something is a waste and not bringing you what you need, let it go and stop investing in it.
39. Quote a song line that defines your year.
Hmm....
it's cheesy but I will go with- Landslide by Fleetwood Mac.
I reserve the right to change that when I am in a less nerdy mood.

BPS day 10

Dylan and Matt.

He loves being an uncle because once the baby starts to cry--- you can give the baby back. He is so good to our nieces and nephews and we can't wait to have a new one in just 5 more days and news and information on two more who will come when the paperwork is ready! Abbie, Lexi and Nathan....we are waiting for you!!!!!

BPS day 9

I still can't believe I am keeping up with this challenge.

Today's Layout features me and Sweetie Pie at Temple Square freezing to death, but happy. Always happy. I am so in love with this handsome and charming man.

I also got some prints done at Costco so I can make sure I have a layout of each kid done for this challenge, as they will all go in an album that is going to be displayed at Enrichment night in February. Some people scrap in order, some scrap by theme, I am an emotional scrapper and I scrap the pictures and events that move me as I look through my photos and sometimes if it was a really wonderful event but I am having a hard day, I won't scrap it until I am in the same mood as the pictures, and that's kind of nuts, but tends to be the case more often than not.

BPS day 8

I think it's day 8, I'm losing track.

I re-did this layout, the original was too busy and used dated embellishments that were as out of style as suede boots. I am much happier with it now.

We have made some changes in how we deal with our budget and so far I think Matt is pretty happy with how much better I do with more clearly defined boundaries. We have saved quite a bit this week alone and I'm looking forward to being debt free by summer if we can stick to our goals.

Anyway-- so far I have maintained a layout a day. No big plans this afternoon, so I may get today's layout done early.

BPS day 7

So far I have been keeping up- 7 layouts so far in 7 days. This one used felt accents as well as chipboard, I like the color combo a great deal. Me, Matt and the little ones at Marie Callender's on my birthday. Matt had meatloaf, Grey and Roe had mac & cheese and I had three bites of cornbread,lol.

It was a nice quiet birthday and I enjoyed it tremendously.

Our ward

Is such a good ward, our Bishop is a good man and I'm kinda glad church is earlier in the day now, we can go and then have the rest of the Sunday to do whatever as a family.
Today Zane passed the sacrament for the first time and then went out withParker and Matt to do fast offerings.
In the past few weeks Matt and I have been strongly impressed to take our troubles and leave them at God's feet. To not try and solve anything anymore and to not even attempt to in regards to a certain problem we have dealt with. Whatever God does with it, we are at peace withm but we fasted and prayed last week and left the answers and the solution up to him and we will not trouble ourselves with it again. Today our Bishop got up and mentioned how we should do almost that exact same thing. He reminded us how when we listen to the adversary, he is an accuser and he will always tell us we are not good enough, or righteous enough and how he will accuse us of all sorts of things to keep us feeling bad. God will never do that, and he is right- he never has done that. This year Matt and I both have made the choice to trust God more and leave more things in his hands, he will always take care of us.
My neighbor bore his testimony and it was the second testimony I bawled during. He is suffering from Parkinsons and is getting older and we love him and his wife so very much. The Holmgrens are wonderful neighbors and we don't ever want them to go, but as Brother Holmgren gets older and weaker, the knowledge that he will leave us sooner than later is hard to ignore. When he goes, the world will be a little less bright.
As he spoke I held my own sweet husband close and looked at my family and remembered that nothing else really matters but being with those I love forever and ever.
God will take care of our family- he knows our needs, he knows our sorrows and he will deliver us. It's in his hands now and I feel so much peace with that decision.

BPS day 6

Love this baby.

LOVE him.

BPS day 5 and such

Since I finished this after midnight last night, it counts for today.

It's a layout of my brother in law and his fiancee for the wedding album I am nearly finished with for the both of them. I tried to use colors I had heard Paige liked. Sometimes the creativity gets stuck more often when trying to do a bigger project that needs to look like it wasn't done by Sybil, but I feel good about the album. This BPS challenge really helped me to relaize I don't have to try so hard and to just let things flow.

Her bridal shower was nice, I was super tired so I kind of just sat and chatted with Shell, Z, and Lori.

Romy also did some scrapbooking, her layout has a picture of her and Grandma Olson. She also did a layout for her teacher and Grandma Moe, but this was the only one with an actual photograph on it,lol.

Church starts at 9 am tomorrow, holy crap.

BPS day 4 and such

4 days in a row- who knew I could do it,lol. Only what-- 26 more to go? No sweat-- there only is a baby coming, a wedding, a bridal shower, a trip to Haiti for Lori and Brent to meet the cutie babies, 3 teacher workdays with no school and a birthday at the end of the month. No big deal,lol.

It's kind of fun at the end of the day to go into the back room and work while Matt fiddles around online listening to XM radio. I am glad we combined offices, I love just having him around. I'm glad it's the weekend and I have two whole days to be with my best friend. Life is good, we have made some changes to how we deal with some problems and so far, they have brought us a tremendous amount of peace. No more being adrift at sea, we did the best we can with some things, it's in God's hands now and we will not interfere. Not only does that FEEL better, but it works better on a practical level.

Anyway-- big fun day tomorrow- I hope the snowstorm isn't too bad, I hate driving in bad weather. the wind is bad outside right now, I came home to find 7 shingles in the front yard. Joy Joy. This spring we are going to re-shingle the roof, we'll do gray shingles and eventually repaint the house a different color as well.

BPS day3

Busy day so I just did a digi layout of my niece, Lydia, hugging Matt's leg as he slept on the couch.

BPS challenge day 2

Much better. Much more like my style and I am much happier with this layout.

Oh well

Eh- so I'm not Elsie Flanigan, I need to remind myself that while thumbing through the work of another artist- if I am not going to all out scraplift, I need to not try and replicate a style I am not good at. I tend to have very busy layouts when I am trying to be someone else as well as myself. This layout is proof, in my head, in the sketch it was clean and a little whimsical, once finished iot looked like someone had hacked open an artery and bled out all over my layout. Like a scrapbooking crime scene. BUT it has been awhile and my first layouts always stun me at how bad they are. so hopefully by the end of this challenge they will be more "me." Because gosh darn it, I like "me."

The journalling reads:

you are hot
you call or text me a dozen times a day to say "i love you"
you love to wear Chucks
you pinch my butt all of the time
you have a strong testimony of your own
you'd be a total comic book geek if your parents had raised you right
you remember all of my crazy life stories
you freaking crack me up
when you look at me,I know you see the real me
you bought me that stupid cat

SO today's layout is done. It's horrid, but it is done.

Create? What's that?

Today starts the page a day project at BPS and I woke up excited to start. I had thought it would give daily prompts, but I was mistaken, it is just a daily challenge, but I am up for it, instead turning to Elsie Falnigan's 52 scrapbooking challenges book to help give me a little boost in inspiration. In an hour the photo I want t use will be done at Walgreens and I'll get the layout done and uploaded.

In the meantime- happy new year. We had 2 parties last night- a teenage party and a little kid party, thew family room was filled with the YM from the ward, it's a small ward and so there were only 5 total with 2 of the YM being my own sons,lol. Em and Kate were also invited to this party. They played Rock Star almost all night, at midnight the boys opened the window and yelled out at the empty neighborhood. Good kids in this ward.

The little kids ate junk food and watched Harry Potter and Mimzy on DVD until they fell asleep, Roe and jane were out by 10, Kate by 11, Grey stayed up until midnight and Emme had falled asleep but woke up to ring in the new year, then went back to bed.

Romy also got her other tooth yanked last night- she was whining about how ard it was to eat but she didn't wantit pulled, everyone was bribing her to get her to agree to let me pull it and she ended up with 5 candy canes, a box of mini chocolates and and 50 cents for sitting still while tied the string around the tooth. the whole scene drove Matt nuts who said "just pull it already!"

It was a fun night and so ends Matt's vacation. It's been so nice having him around all day for the past week. I never get tired of having him nearby.

I'll be working on my layout after I take the boys home and will be hopefully keeping up with this challenge, so I'll be blogging more today, I am sure.

In the meantime-- Happy New year.