Different kind of pink today...

You know I love pink. But not THIS pink. You see, right about now our plan was to be driving past New Orleans on our way to Disneyworld. But alas.... 3 of the 7 of us going are currently suffering from a stomach "thing." My sister is over hers and it lasted about 24 hours. Now her husband has it along with my son, Noah. I'm trying to keep my distance, but it's really hard to not hold Noah and kiss on him when he doesn't feel good. (and no, he didn't take the Pepto)

Feels funny to have EVERYTHING all packed and ready to walk out the door, yet we're sitting here watching TV, passing the time until everyone feels better tomorrow. (hopefully!) Our house sitters will have an extra day off, I guess. :)

I'm off to Joann's to get a head start on some teacher gifts I am making upon our return. :)

Please pray for us to all be well so we can LEAVE!! I know there is a reason for this, so I will trust in Him.
- Jennifer

"I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain." - John Henry Newman

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning...

Just made this card tonight. I love this rich red! Staying up VERY late tonight to get ready for our Disneyworld trip....lots to do, including making this card. :) (click on the card to see it larger)

Oh, I'm so sad.... The dates for the American Idol summer tour were just announced. Not even CLOSE to us! Nowhere in TX. Oh, boo hoo. :( I want to see Taylor, Elliott, and Chris!! Hopefully they'll add some more dates later. I can't imagine them not coming to TX at all.

6-Jul
Manchester, NH
Verizon Wireless Arena

8-Jul
Worcester, MA
DCU Center

9-Jul
Hartford, CT
Hartford Civic Center

11-Jul
Albany, NY
Pepsi Arena

12-Jul
Hershey, PA
GIANT Center

13-Jul
East Rutherford, NJ
Continental Airlines Arena

15-Jul
Long Island, NY
Nassau Coliseum

18-Jul
Wilkes Barre, PA
Wachovia Arena

19-Jul
Cleveland, OH
Wolstein Center

21-Jul
Rochester, NY
BlueCross Arena

22-Jul
Philadelphia, PA
Wachovia Center

23-Jul
Atlantic City, NJ
Boardwalk Hall

25-Jul
Bridgeport, CT
Arena at Harbor Yard

27-Jul
Pittsburgh, PA
Mellon Arena

28-Jul
Washington DC
Verizon Center

29-Jul
Richmond, VA
Richmond Coliseum

30-Jul
Greensboro, NC
Greensboro Coliseum

1-Aug
Charlotte, NC
Charlotte Bobcats Arena

2-Aug
Columbia, SC
Colonial Center

3-Aug
Duluth, GA
Arena at Gwinnett Center

5-Aug
Sunrise, FL
BankAtlantic Center

6-Aug
Tampa, FL
St. Pete Times Forum

8-Aug
Birmingham, AL
BJCC Arena

10-Aug
Nashville, TN
Gaylord Entertainment Center

11-Aug
Columbus, OH
Value City Arena

12-Aug
Milwaukee, WI
Bradley Center

13-Aug
St. Louis, MO
Savvis Center

15-Aug
Grand Rapids, MI
Van Andel Arena

16-Aug
Detroit, MI
Joe Louis Arena

18-Aug
TBD
TBD

19-Aug
Chicago, IL
Allstate Arena

20-Aug
Peoria, IL
Peoria Civic Center

22-Aug
St. Paul, MN
Xcel Energy Center

26-Aug
Los Angeles, CA
Staples Center

27-Aug
Anaheim, CA
Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim

29-Aug
Sacramento, CA
ARCO Arena

30-Aug
San Jose, CA
HP Pavilion at San Jose

1-Sep
Portland, OR
Rose Garden

2-Sep
Tacoma, WA
Tacoma Dome

Off to fold clothes at 1:30 a.m! :)
- Jennifer

"Measure not God's love and favour by your own feeling. The sun shines as clearly in the darkest day as it does in the brightest. The difference is not in the sun, but in some clouds which hinder the manifestation of the light thereof." - Richard Sibbes

Little more color inspiration... :)

(click to see a larger photo)

I got this CUTE letter organizer at Target today. I'm using it to hold all of my Epoxy stickers. I love using them and needed a way to keep them all together AND be able to see them. So here it is. The turquoise inside is so great! :)

Also got these 5 yards of ribbon at Walmart last night. I love browsing Walmart's Offray ribbon by the yard. They have so many fun patterns! The ric rack was only 24 cents/yard and the wide ribbon...84 cents/yard! I think they'll be fun for some Disney pages. :)

(click to see a larger photo)

I took dinner to a friend of mine tonight who just had a baby. I doubled the recipe and froze one for us...keeping it for after our Disney trip. I already have 4 meals frozen so I don't have to cook for at least 4 days when we return. Yay! :) Here is the recipe I made for their family - Ham and Cheese Bowties. It's basically really rich homemade mac and cheese with strips of ham in it. They have 3 kids who will LOVE it!

May the Lord bless you today!

- Jennifer

"True faith does not contradict its words by its conduct." - Anonymous

New Space...

(click on the photo to be taken to 2Peas where

you can see more photos and descriptions)

I finally took some good photos of my newly created scrapbooking space! Yes, I had to give up the armoire in the kitchen (although it's still there) because I needed more storage area for design team stuff and to keep projects out. So I have my own half of the office room and just love it! David got me this white desk and hutch from Target and then I'm using the black Pottery Barn console table on the side because it gives me extra table/work space AND two huge shelves of storage on the bottom. I love how simplified and organized it is....full of stuff I love to use for scrapbooking. I DO actually have a lot of supplies, it's just hard to tell because of the way I have it organized. :) I'm not going to collect anymore....just buy stuff to be BUYING. I want to be picky, buy only those things that I absolutely love and know I'll use. So for that reason, I don't need a huge space. I love my new area and will enjoy it so much. :) (and being the only girl in the house, I had to throw in some touches of pink!)

Noah's birthday party was a huge success. All of the boys had SO much fun...and really, were such a joy. No fights, no injuries, no major incidents....a miracle! :) The only downer was that the moonwalk/jumper company NEVER SHOWED. They said they'd be here between 8-10 a.m. At 10:10 I called them. (Incidentally, we used this same company last year and they didn't get here until 15 minutes before the party. Don't ask me why I gave them another shot this year.... ) Anyway, they had me on hold for 15 minutes to tell me that a bunch of drivers never showed up, so they wouldn't get there until 11:30. Uh...the party started at 11:00. I was NOT a happy Mommy. I reserved this moonwalk 2 months ago, for the love of Pete! (whoever he is, lol) I told them how unhappy I was....they didn't seem to care. At 12:30 they still weren't there, so I called them again. They said the driver wasn't answering his phone. I told them if they showed up I was NOT going to pay a dime. So, surprise surprise.....they never came. Never called me back. Nothing. Noah was SO sweet. He said, "that's ok, Mommy! I don't care...we had fun!" Thank you, Lord, for Noah's awesome playscape and for his sweet attitude. :)

And if you live in Austin, email me and I'll tell you what moonwalk company to NOT use. :) Customer service...look it up.

I'm one tired Mommy! Goodnight for now :)
- Jennifer

"The times we find ourselves having to wait on others may be the perfect opportunities to train ourselves to wait on the Lord." - Joni Eareckson Tada

Have Your Cake....

(click on the photo to see it larger)

Here's a picture of Noah's ice-cream birthday cake! I bought the cake at a bakery and then decorated the top myself. I was a little ticked when I picked it up..... I asked for LIME green, bright yellow, and dark red icing swirlies all over the sides. Uh...this is pink, pale yellow, and pale green. Ok, so I made the best of it. I am NOT a cake artist, but I did it out of love! The volcano is a styrofoam cup turned upside down with a longer piece of styrofoam as the lava base. The candles will go inside the top of the volcano. My little writing icing tubes were way too thin so my writing looks awful, lol....but Noah won't care. :) It should taste good, though. It's a chocolate cake with a layer of vanilla ice cream inside with whipped cream frosting. Yum!

Off to finish party preparations! :)
- Jennifer

"We know the excitement of getting a present- we love to unwrap it to see what is inside. So it is with our children. They are gifts we unwrap for years as we discover the unique characters God has made them." - Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

Dino-mite Birthday Weekend!

In about 36 hours I'm gonna have a bunch of energetic boys in our backyard, celebrating Noah's 6th birthday ...Dinosaur style! So much to do on Friday....but the least of these is to CLEAN the house. I swear, everytime I clean the house BEFORE a gathering it's dirtier after it's over than before I cleaned in the first place! :) So the bathrooms will be cleaned and the carpet vacuumed. That's it. We'll be outside most of the time anyway.... And this Jurassic Jumper (above) will decorate our yard for the day. :) (fun for the adults, too!)

I love my husband. He got me a new camera. :) I had been using a really OLD digital camera and had to hold the battery case closed with duct tape (lol) since my other digital camera just decided to quit around Christmas time. So today my new camera arrived and I am SO excited to use it at the birthday party! I cried the other day (hormonal moment) thinking that I was missing out on some really good photos of Noah because my camera STUNK. God bless my husband for being sensitive to that and knowing how important it is to me as a scrapbooker and memory keeper to have these photos. :) So tomorrow I'll become well acquainted with my new Canon Powershot S2 IS. YAY!

Oh man, the other night I made a really YUMMY new recipe! Well, new for me anyway. If you like fish tacos, you gotta try these. I used our indoor stovetop grill and it worked beautifully. You can do them on your outdoor grill, too. Just watch out..the fish flakes easily! The guacamole sauce is TO DIE FOR!

Rachael Ray's Halibut Fish Tacos with Guacamole Sauce

4 pieces fresh halibut, steak or filets, 6 to 8 ounces each (I used Tilapia)

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Salt and pepper

1 lime, juiced

3 small to medium ripe Haas avocados, pitted and scooped from skins with a large spoon

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, eyeball it

1 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon coarse salt, eyeball it

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle

1 heart Romaine lettuce (I used shredded cabbage, already in a bag)

12 soft (6-inch) flour tortillas (I used corn tortillas that I softened on a non-stick skillet for 10 seconds)

Preheat a grill pan or indoor grill to high heat or, prepare outdoor grill. Drizzle halibut with extra-virgin olive oil to keep fish from sticking to the grill pan or grill. Season fish with salt and pepper, to your taste. Roll lime on the counter top to get juices flowing. Grill fish 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until opaque. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime down over the fish and remove from the grill pan or grill. Flake fish into large chunks with a fork. (this is why it's ok if it falls apart!)
While fish is cooking, in a blender or food processor, combine avocado flesh, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, yogurt and salt. Process guacamole sauce until smooth. Remove guacamole sauce to a bowl and stir in diced tomatoes and chopped scallions. Shred lettuce and reserve. To assemble, break up fish and pile some of the meat into soft shells and slather with guacamole sauce. Top with shredded lettuce, fold tacos over and eat!

-------------------------

Have an AWESOME weekend! :)

- Jennifer

"A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers." - Robert Quillen

Fireflies and Eggs Revisited...

All of the Easter decorations are stacked on the counter, ready to be put away. Easter candy is incorporated into a Ziploc bag. The last traces of Easter grass are picked up off of the carpet. Ahhh....I'm always glad to move on and get things picked up when the holiday is over. We had a house FULL yesterday and it was fun. (I think there were 26 people here?) But it was hot...ugh, 90's already. Thank you, Lord, for our backyard trees and the shade!

This week is preparation for Noah's 6th birthday party on Saturday. Looking forward to that! :) I've got my "to do" list made out for the rest of the week, dividing my daily chores into equal parts so I'm sure to get everything done by Friday.

This week is also my best friend Marley's birthday! We live a few hours apart, but we always mail each other a birthday gift. :) We've been friends since we were 6 years old and our Moms are best friends, too. (they met when Marley and I were in 1st grade together) Marley and I have very similar decorating tastes, so when I saw this Firefly Jar (pictured above) I knew she'd LOVE IT! It's a glass jar (hers has a summery/lime green lid) with a battery-operated small strand of dimly-lit fireflies in it! They attach to the lid to the battery pack so you can't see that part. The jar I bought is a little more vintage-looking and also has a branch of greenery in it for the fireflies. It is just precious! You can use it as a nightlight inside or you can take it outside for a nice little light on the back porch. I asked about battery life, but it only runs on 2 AA batteries..and I have clocks that run on one. So the batteries should last quite a while. I had a hard time not buying one for myself! :) I got mine at a local store, but you can get one online at the link above as well.

Have you seen the We R Memory Keepers' Comstock and Urban Windows collections? They are SO CUTE and I can't wait to work with them! Here is link to see all of the collections in one place: Comstock and Urban Windows. I really love the Kitchen, Summertime, and Boho Chic. :)

Know what Noah got in his Easter basket? A self-inflating whoopie cushion. All of the males in attendance for Easter yesterday were amazed and said, "oh MAN! Why didn't I think of that??" I have a feeling a male DID. It's pretty funny, though! No more blowing it up. Just release the pressure and it blows back up. How convenient. :)

This week I plan on making Migas for dinner. Really yummy, spicy version of scrambled eggs..but so much better! Here's the recipe:

Jennifer's Migas

I don't really have a set amount for all ingredients, sorry...just follow along. :) This is also wonderful for a late Saturday breakfast or brunch!

1. In a large skillet, fry 8 slices of bacon. When crisp, remove from skillet, leaving bacon grease in the pan. (if there is an excess amount, pour some off. I use leaner bacon) Crumble the bacon when cooled and set aside.

2. Cut 8 corn tortillas into short strips. Dice one medium onion. Over medium heat with the bacon grease in the skillet, fry the onions until almost translucent. Add the tortilla strips to the pan and fry until slightly crispy. Remove onion and tortilla strips from skillet and drain on paper towel. Set aside.(*note: You can also add fresh sliced mushrooms to this step)

3. Break 8 eggs into a bowl and fork stir with a small amount of milk or cream until all yolks are well-incorporated. With just a small amount of the bacon grease left in the skillet, over medium heat add the egg mixture. Stir until lumpy, then begin folding over the egg mixture so it becomes fluffy. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Turn off the heat.

4. Add the onion/tortilla mixture to the cooked eggs and mix well. Sprinkle bacon on top. Top with shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, whatever you like) and cover with lid. Let sit for a few minutes until the cheese is melted. Dice 1-2 tomatoes. Uncover the skillet and sprinkle with tomatoes.

5. Serve with salsa and jalapenos (optional of course, but good!)

Have a blessed evening! :)

- Jennifer

"If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God." - Eli E. Stanley Jones

Flowers, Eggs, Cookies, and Gifts :)

(click on the photo to see a larger version)

I am not a gardener. I love flowers, love to look at them, smell them, have them in my yard....but I'm not much for pulling weeds, crawling around in the dirt, all that jazz. :) But you know, the flowers don't just magically appear in your flowerbed.... So this morning I planted two flats of easy to care for flowers (impatiens and dahlias). I also have two potted Hibiscus plants on the porch corners...easy. I love pink and orange flowers, so lots of pink and orange with a little white (and Noah's 3 red and yellow flowers) :) mixed in. I think this is what I love most about our home...the backyard. It's really beautiful and was probably the biggest selling point when we bought this home almost 3 years ago. Noah needed a yard to play in and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was perfect. We spend a lot of time out here with family and friends, although Noah still thinks it's more fun to go to Toys R Us and play on the filthy plastic playscape there. Ok... :)

To Do List:

1. Fill plastic eggs with candy for Easter egg hunt Sunday afternoon.
2. Vacuum the house.
3. Color Easter eggs.
4. Boil those eggs first. :)
5. Finish changes in scrap area. (yes, I did...again...I'll post pics soon)
6. Finish laundry. Worst chore EVER because it's so obvious when you don't do it. Dusting, not so much. Laundry...obvious piles.

We are going to see The Incredibles on Ice this weekend. That should be fun! I just hope I can keep Noah away from the "I want that!!" tables. You know, the $30 t-shirts, the flashing plastic swords and spinning balls that shoot electricity...that stuff. As if the tickets didn't cost enough. :)

Have you tried this yet? It's YUM. So good with coffee for breakfast. :) I bet it would make awesome french toast...

What a blessed, joyous time of year this is. Celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus! Easter is my 2nd favorite holiday (next to Christmas) and I love remembering each year the sacrifice of God's only son for us. The greatest gift of all, given just for us...me and you. I can't imagine my life without my relationship with Jesus. Take a moment to look at this... :)
(click on Open your E-card)

I will sometimes share a recipe at the end of my blog, so today I want to share this special Easter Cookies recipe. You need to start them on Saturday, the day before Easter. :)

Have a wonderful, sugar-filled, brightly-colored Easter! :) Don't forget to take lots of good pictures, especially of the Easter outfits, Easter grass, colored eggs, Peeps, and chocolate!
- Jennifer

"When Jesus died on the cross, He was giving "all He had" to pay the price for all the wrong things you've ever done. In your heart, for just a moment, would you walk up that hill ...and stand quietly at the foot of that cross where the Son of God is pouring out His life for you. Look at Him dying for you! You are not worthless! But you'll never know how valuable you are until you give yourself to the One who died to buy you back. Which you could do right now, right where you are." - Ron Hutchcraft

New Day...Fun News! :)

My big news - I've been invited to join the design team for We R Memory Keepers! I can't tell you what a blessing this is. They are a big company with really incredible products. I've seen them for a while at Hobby Lobby and always loved them, so to get invited to be on their design team is a big honor. I had to wait to share the news until we all got final confirmation, which happened yesterday. :) Can't wait to get started with them!


The layout above is one of the projects I completed for my guest designer spot at A2Z Essentials. You can see my two layouts, a card, and one project here, on the A2Z website. :) I also posted the layouts on 2peas if you want to see more detail. Here are the links:
* Silly Kids * * Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playscape * * Birthday Card *


My friend Hanni and I are both pretty big Napoleon Dynamite fans. We've emailed back and forth a few times about it and had some good laughs playing on the ND theme. :) Well, she made a LAYOUT about one of our email conversations. I laughed so hard when I saw this layout! Speaking of ND, I got Noah this shirt at Target yesterday....so funny. :)




I've been a little stressed lately about all of the things I need to do in the next few weeks. We are hosting Easter, and we also have Noah's birthday party and a trip to Disneyworld coming up soon. I have so much to do it's hard to keep up. So, I sat down the other night with a big spiral notebook and made a "to do" list for the next month or so. Each day of each week, I've written down several "must do" items. It helped me so much to know that everything was assigned to a day and that it's all manageable. Having it all floating around in my head makes it seem like a lot more work than to have it down on paper. That spiral notebook will be following me around everywhere this Summer. :) I'm also using it to make shopping lists, write little notes to myself, etc. so I'll have them all in one place. Sort of a cheapskate daily planner, huh?

American Idol last night....QUEEN songs. I'm just not getting their themes this year. I wish they'd stick to genres instead of individual artists/groups. I thought Taylor was great and was HIMSELF! I'm not "getting" Paris anymore. I think she's so talented, but she changes too much each week. I know she's trying to show versatality, but it's too much. Again, what is Bucky doing in the top 12? He can't carry a tune with a wheelbarrow. I think he's so sweet and love that he's a country boy, but I think Gideon should have been in the top 12 over him. Ah well... Chris was great and I think Queen LOVED him. Ace was good, too...and I know a lot of people didn't like it. I thought it was entertaining. :)

NEW SCRAPBOOK STORE ALERT! :) If you live in or near Arkansas, you need to visit a new scrapbook store! My friend Teresa just opened a new scrapbook store, and knowing Teresa, it is going to be a HUGE success. She is such a talent and inspiration as both a scrapbooker and a friend. They had their grand opening last night and had over 60 people there in 2 hours. Yay! Here is the store info: (website not up yet)

Scrapbook Creations
City Mall
407 North Arkansas Ave.
Russellville, AR 72801
479-967-0009
Store Hours: T-Sat. 10-6

Go shop! :)

I'm feeling very blessed today and know that the Lord is in charge. Only thru Him will I get everything done that I need to with a loving atittude. :)
- Jennifer

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" - Corrie Ten Boom

Orange you glad it's Saturday? :)

My favorite scents for candles and lotions are CITRUS. Yum. I love the clean, crisp smell of oranges, limes, lemons...and absolutely love the colors. How great to buy a big bag of limes or lemons at the grocery store and just have them in the house. :) This is one of the new Spring scents from Yankee candle and I can't wait to get it! I also have the Key Lime Pie and Lemon Chiffon...both are wonderful. The lemon is now discontinued, but they have a Lemon Zest that I'd love to have.

It's a gorgeous day! Sunny, mid-70's, wonderful day to be outside. (so why am I sitting here blogging? lol) We are going to my nephew's 5th birthday party today then out to a burger joint with some friends for dinner. I love days like today.

Everything in the photo below is from the new Pottery Barn catalog. And all of it inspired me in some way. The picture on the left is a Photo Carousel. They have it filled with photos, but I can see doing small little scrapbook layouts, too, and displaying them along with photos. And I bet you could find one of these at a thrift shop or a small bookstore and just PAINT it. Wouldn't be the same style, of course, but it would work. I posted this photo on 2Peas and people had really neat ideas for the carousel. (even using it as storage in your scrapbooking area)

(click on the links in my text to see details)

The bedding at the top is a beautiful lime-ish summery green and white. That summer green color is EVERYWHERE and I just love it! I want to include that color in a lot of my Spring and Summer scrapbook pages this year. :) The bottom photo is a set of Summer votive candles. Aren't those colors wonderful together? Great combination for a scrapbook page. I especially love the green, orange, and navy blue together.

Last night Noah and his cousin made these cupcakes for dessert. They were very yummy so I thought I'd link the recipe here. Great fun for the kids! A chocolate cupcake with a mini oreo and cream cheese inside. Here is the recipe: Mini Oreo Surprise Cupcakes. :)

Have a blessed weekend with your family!

- Jennifer

"Just think you are here not by chance but by GOD's choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to noone else; you are one of a kind. You lack nothing that His grace can't give you. He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfil His special purpose for this generation. You are GOD's servant in GOD's place at GOD's perfect time." - Anonymous

Swirly Flowery Inspiration

I picked up this 5x7 spiral notebook at Target yesterday. I'm going to take it with me to Disneyworld and Universal Studios to do some major journaling each night. I want to remember the DETAILS of the trip. I love reading what we ate for dinner each night, or what someone said that day... much more important to me than 20 photos of the Dumbo ride. (lol) When we went to Disneyworld last year I took and developed WAY too many pictures. This year I'm determined to just develop 1-2 from each ride, attraction, whatever... I just had too many that I couldn't use. I DO love multi-photo layouts but don't need 10 on each page. :) I can just transfer all of this detailed journaling to my scrapbook pages as I work on them.

Anyway, isn't this little notebook cute? I saw it and it immediately caught my eye. LOVED the color combination, love the swirly flowers (doodling and swirlies are very popular in scrapbooking right now), and love the price! (think it was $2) I'll also want to use this color combo on a layout in the future. They had other notebooks too in other colors! :) (shopping nudge)

Oh boy, Taylor......he was yawn city last night. I was so disappointed! That song just did not fit him and Simon was so right when he said, "it sounded like you picked it 10 seconds before you came on stage." haha! Ace was great, Elliot was good, the others were just....eh. It will be interesting to see who gets in the bottom 3 tonight.

Off to be productive. :) Won't be making dinner tonight since we won't be home.
Have a blessed day!
- Jennifer

"Sometimes God doesn't tell us His plan because we wouldn't believe it anyway." - Carlton Pearson

Tuesday Update (original title, huh?)

Went right away to Target this morning after I dropped Noah off at school and picked up this movie. We are going to watch it after school together. :) We saw it in the theater...completely amazing movie. Noah's excited! Yes, I got the special edition 2-disc set. It was only $10 more and has so much cool stuff on it.

American Idol tonight! Yippee! Country music night....makes me kind of chuckle thinking of some of them doing country music. I sure hope Chris will try a different style this week. His rock stuff is good but it's kind of working against him now, sort of portraying that he's not capable of singing other "styles." I know he probably can, he just needs to do it. Pickle girl and Bucky will do well, I guess. Can't wait to see what Ace and Taylor do for this theme....

Ok yes, so I haven't shared my news. I'm sorry!! I'm waiting on some positive confirmation from someone...but it has to do with a big design team. I'll post again when I hear something...hopefully today!

I got this Mini Canvas Messenger Bag today at Target for our Disney/Universal trip....cute, huh? Actually, the one I got is THIS one, but I got it in this pink color. . I'm so NOT doing the fanny pack thing, so this will be cute and let me carry a water bottle, camera, money, etc. and still hold on to it while I ride...and it's not huge. And of course, pink. :)
Oh, and I saw black velvet letter stickers (Making Memories Simply Fabulous font) at Target, too. Also had them in pink and white. Really cute.

I'm so excited....a friend of mine is opening a brand new scrapbook store in Arkansas! She is perfect for this and I just know she'll be such a success. :) (Hi, T!) I think I'm going to be going to her store for a weekend retreat and classes in late October or early November! I'll be teaching along with some other scrapbooking friends and teammates from CKU-Teachers. I cannot WAIT!

Tonight for dinner we are having Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry, a recipe I found in Everyday Food. (I am adding red peppers and mushrooms) Noah and David both love Chinese food...and I especially love that Noah likes to eat healthy food like this. He's always LOVED broccoli, asparagus, green beans, really any fruit or vegetable except onions. What a blessing! I made his baby food when he was little so he's always had what we were eating. I think that helped!

I'll update later! :)
- Jennifer

"God created us to have needs, not counting them as sinful or selfish. Without them, we'd have no way of knowing our need for God or how much He loves us." - Anonymous

Conversation at a Crop.....

(click on the photo to see it larger)

Had lots of fun at the crop last night. 6 hours...2 layouts, ha. :) But I did lots of chattin'. That's what makes it fun! So, I met a few new people last night, really sweet girls, and we got to talking. One of the girls saw my magazine article about the armoire/organization in CK and was asking me questions about it and scrapbooking in general:

Her: Oh my gosh, is this in your house? (the armoire)
Me: Yes. (embarassed, since they had just commented "that is the BIGGEST ribbon collection I've ever seen" when she looked over at my table at the crop)
Her: So you probably know a lot of scrapbook celebrities, right?
Me: Oh, no...not at all. (honestly!)
Her: Who is that girl that is on the cover of CK? She has really short hair, her husband has long hair. I just love her.
Me: Oh, Elsie Flannigan. I love her, too!
Her: Do you know her???
Me: No, no...I just know who she is.
Her: Doesn't she live in Washington state?
Me: No, it's Springfield.

DORK! WHY would I know where she lives? Ha. They must have thought right there...."ok, this chick is whack. She knows too much."

Her: So...do you just do this ALL day??
Me: What, scrapbook?
Her: Yeah, you know, being published....I guess you make your living from this and scrapbook all day, right?"
Me: (thinking....I WISH!!) "No, I just get free supplies, occasional payment, design team supplies, but I'm not even coming close to breaking even on what I spend on personal supplies."

And when she asked me to autograph the article, Ikind of changed the subject. I was embarassed!!

I am a humble nobody in the scrapbook world, so it made me wonder how people like Ali Edwards, Becky Higgins, Heidi Swapp feel. How in the world do they just act normal and do scrapbook pages when they are around other people? I know they probably have no time at all for personal crops, but can they just shop at a store without everyone analyzing everything they buy? It must be very strange. You contribute so much to the scrapbooking world and are so passionate about it, yet just being normal and going back to your personal scrapbooking time is almost impossible. I guess to some I may seem a little overzealous about scrapbooking, especially when I get to talking about it with people. To me it's a passion, something I can't wait to share with others. I love it, love talking about it, I think it's so important, and it's a hobby that allows you to not only record memories but also express yourself creatively. There is something tangible at the end. I'm so thankful everyday that I found this hobby!

Above is one of the layouts I made at the crop. Chatterbox papers are SO much fun to use. And I love the challenge of trying to creatively fit more than one or two photos on a page. It's amazing how you really can do that when you trim them down. :)

OH! Angie Pedersen mentioned me and my blog on her latest (#3) podcast: Wholly Scrap! I wrote her an email to let her know that I loved listening to her podcast while I grocery shop and also to let her know I had mentioned her podcast on my own blog. (she had mentioned that she only saw her podcasts mentioned on one other blog) So she read my email and has my blog link in her show notes. Very cool! :) I think Angie is great, such an inspiration...so thank you, Angie! You can listen to the podcast by searching "Wholly Scrap" on your Itunes software/podcast section. She has 3 shows podcasted so far. The shows are a lot of fun as Angie talks about industry news, reads listener mail, and has great interviews with industry professionals. Check it out!

Gotta go work on getting some recipes typed up for recipe books/files. :)

Oh, and here are some fun April Fools' jokes you can play on your kids! Don't forget to set your clocks ahead tonight!

- Jennifer

"Lord, make my life a window for Your light to shine through and a mirror to reflect Your love to all I meet. Amen." - Robert Schuller