Wow! What a whirlwind weekend!

Last weekend was my 20 year High School Reunion... Why does everyone dread the reunions? I had SUCH a good time. I felt like I got a second chance to make friends with the people that I grew up with, but was too shy to get to know the first time.

My weekend actually started on Thursday, the 20th. We had a Girls Night Out at McMenamin's Grand Lodge, here in town. We only had 12-13 girls show up, but we had a really good time! Well, except for the really creepy guy who offered to take a group photo of us (and ended up breaking Chantal's camera!) who was so drunk he couldn't stand still and kept telling US to quit moving! LOL All the different photos he took with everyone's cameras are totally off centered! Cutting someone off on one end but having a huge empty spot on the other end... Whatever! But I did have a good time. I got to know some of the girls that I remember from school, but never really knew.

The reunion continued Friday Night at the Cornelius Pass Road House. It was a night for spouses, but Charles had to work on the Durango and then pick up Stephanie, so I went solo. I met up with Theresa, Mark, and Sheila (friends I have kept in contact with), but flitted around talking with a lot of different people. I was completely amazed how many people recognized me! I understand I still look pretty much the same (minus the huge 1980's glasses, lol) but I thought I did a very good job of blending into the walls in school. I was very shy in school and tried not to be noticed. I still remember the anxiousness I would feel walking through the halls, keeping my head down, not wanting to look anyone in the eye. But that is SO not me anymore and I wanted them to know that. I'm not loud and obnoxious, but I'm not afraid to look you in the eye and carry on, or even strike up, a conversation with you. I feel like that night was a real healing experience for me. I'm super glad I went and really enjoyed getting to know some of the people better.

Saturday afternoon was suppose to be a family day at Lincoln Park, but I slept in too late and missed a little bit of it! Oops! (Hey, I didn't get home until well after midnight the night before!) But I did get up and go. Again, I met up with Theresa and Sheila. We sat and ate lunch, which was catered by Maggie's Buns and was super delicious. As we were finishing up they were already coming around and taking down the tables to return to the rental place! Everyone kind'a took that as a hint I guess, because they all packed up their stuff and left! It was only 2:30 and it was suppose to go until 5! It was a gorgeous day, perfect for relaxing in the park and getting to know people more personally. But it was not to be :( I'm just happy for FaceBook where we can all still keep in touch no matter where we live these days. So awesome :)

I'm back to working on a couple different layouts. I've felt so scattered lately, I find it hard to concentrate on any one thing very long. But I will be back to share when I get something accomplished! ;) Until then... C'ya!

Do you want one more?

I just finished another challenge. This one was at DesignerDigitals.com. We had to do a layout on our own favorite feature of ourselves. That was pretty easy for me, since I've always been told I have pretty eyes. Well, that's what I've been told! :P But I do like my eyes. I love their shade of blue. Plus, my Dad always said that was the first thing he saw when he met me and thought they were beautiful. :blush: Anyway, here's my layout. I hope you like it!

Ok, I'm am done for the night. I am tired and I have exhausted all my creativity. LOL! So, I'll be back again, since I still haven't done my desktop, but NOT tonight. Good night, and sweet dreams! C'ya!

Surprise!

Yep, twice in one day! Last week I did a challenge over at DigiDesignResort.com. It was actually a tutorial and challenge in one. I thought it would be pretty cool, because I don't think I'm very good at "clustering" and figured the tutorial would be a lot of help. After reading and following the tutorial I made this cluster:

The next step was to use that cluster in a layout. So here is my layout:

I used a kit called "Tout Simplement" by Elodie @ Digital Crea. The fonts are 2Peas Squish and Stern. Template is from Sya's Blueprints "Stripped Set 4" (template4) @ SunshineStudioScraps(temporarily down for server upgrades). I found the phrase in the internet and loved it!

I hope you like my newest page! I think I'm going to work on my desktop calendar next, I'm a little behind with that! lol I'll be back when it's done. Until then...C'ya!

Finally...

I have a new layout to share with you! I've been working on this one off and on for a while. I just couldn't get it to feel the way I wanted it to. But I persevered and now I'm happy with it. It's called "Viking House 2009", and here it is...

It's got lots of white space because I didn't want anything to distract from the photos.

As the journaling says, being chosen to be on the Viking House Crew is an honor in itself, but Tyler had been asked by the teachers early on if he was interested in being on the project (which is only for hand selected Juniors and Seniors), not realizing he was only a freshman at the time. So the teachers watched him through the next couple years and formally invited him his Junior year. He's looking forward to getting to work on the next one this coming school year as well. As you can see, the house is gorgeous and they put a lot of personalized touches into the homes they build each year. We are extremely proud of Tyler for his participation in this awesome experience! ps. When I was a freshman in high school, my older sister, Debbie, and I where in an Interior Design class that got to choose all the colors, fabrics, paint, that sort of thing for the Viking House of that year. :) We have Viking Pride!

I'm sorry my blog's been a little neglected lately. I have been battling migraines and headaches that go on for days! Sometimes I can't even see straight, so it makes typing quite difficult. Like today, thank goodness for spell check and the backspace button! I am totally hunting and pecking today, which is not normal for me, but my head feels just like someone took a baseball bat up against the backside of my head and it's very hard to focus my eyes. So, that's it for today.I hope you liked the new layout! Hopefully I will be back up and at it again soon! Until then...C'ya!

ok, I'm finally back!

Sorry I was MIA for so long! It started out being the weather preventing me from blogging. It was in the high 90-100's for about a week there and it was SO much hotter than that upstairs. We actually turned off the computers trying to prevent them from overheating. THEN, our Internet got shut off for a while. It had to wait several days before we could make a payment and get it turned back on. Then we went camping with our best friends. I have the pictures up at Picasa, click here to see them. (There would've been so many more, but I made the mistake of grabbing a different kind of batteries than I usually get and this is all the photos I got out of a 4 pack of brand new battereis! GRRR!) Then I had a horrible headache for an entire week. It just wouldn't go away for nothing! Yesterday most of my family (Myself, Charles, and all 5 of our kids, my older sister and 2 of her girls and my Mom) went to the Zoo. The weather couldn't have been better for a day at the zoo. It was SO nice. We rode the train up to the Portland Rose Garden and walked around for about an hour, then rode the train back to the zoo. We got home about 8pm and I went straight to bed because I was just so exhausted. I did not wake up until 10:00 this morning! It was just what I needed. I feel so much better today than I have in a while. I am so blessed to have such an awesome hubby who knows what I need and takes up the slack to allow me to do what I need to. Thank you, Honey! I love you so much!!! Anyway, I'm back finally. lol

So, yesterday when we were getting ready for the zoo I made the choice to not take my camera this time. I mean, how many pictures do I need of the same animals that never seem to do anything but sleep?? Right? Yeah... that was so NOT the case yesterday. So many of the animals were awake and moving around, even the tiger, who it seems is ALWAYS asleep! And the elephants! While we were watching, the keeper was getting ready to feed Baby Sumadra and her Mommy. We couldn't see the keeper from the position he took, but all of a sudden Mommy started posing and doing tricks! She bowed, laid down, and shook like a wet dog, lol. But the best part was when she lifted her left front foot with her trunk and then skipped to the end of the coral where she finally got her food. It was SO cute! We were all so impressed and entertained. I'm glad we didn't miss it. Of course, I have no photos to show for it... :( Then we got to go up to the Rose Garden. It was SO incredible. Beautiful flowers all around and the view of Portland was overwhelming. Gorgeous! No pics :( But a great reason to go back sometime when we have more time to hang around. I also want to go up to the Japanese Gardens. The camera will definitely be taken next time!

We've also celebrated my niece Akailas 6th birthday. It was a beautiful day that we spent in the park. Debbie had brought a whole case of bottled water for everyone so we wouldn't get too hot, but my mischievious hubby got a great idea to poke a tiny hole in his cap and started spraying the little ones. Before we knew it ALL the kids had bottles and started spraying each other. Then they just threw the caps and started chasing each other down and dumping the whole bottle on their victim, LOL. The whole case was used to keep everyone cooled down alright, just not in the way Debbie had in mind. LMBO! I've got those photos here.

I haven't done a Photo of the Day in months, I know, but I just HAVE to share this one. It'll surely make you smile :) I have to giggle everytime I see it!

I haven't done any scrappin' lately :( but it's a new month, so I must get back in the swing of things and get something done. You know how I love to share, so until then... C'ya!