(diva)logues

"You will remember me for centuries..."

 

This blog has gone from being a mostly scrapbooking blog... to being a mostly I'm-not-sure-what kind of blog... but probably heavier on the fitness talk than anything. 

Because well... that's been my job for the past 3 years.  Whoopsie. 

So... I thought I'd post a few pages that were made in the past couple months.  Just to prove that I do in fact still scrapbook sometimes, even if I don't ever post the pages regularly anymore.

Just grabbed products that matched... old & new... and made it work.  Some of the photos aren't of great quality either, but as I've mentioned before... I'd rather have "real" photos & stories in the books... than staged, professional one-photo pages without any journaling.  Just not my style...

 

 

 

 

All of Bryn's extra-curricular activities keep me pretty busy too, outside of teaching classes all the time.  Gone are the days when I sat in my craft room while Bryn was next to me playing with her "babies." Now I'm lucky if I can even get her to set foot in the craft room! 

Yep... those days are long gone....

And did I mention she just recently tried out for and MADE the freshman winter cheer squad?

High school here we come! 

"You're as cold as ice, cold as ice, I know... "

 

Cold weather is a sign that it's time to hide in my craftroom & get caught up on some scrapbooking.  Not that I'll ever be "caught up" on it.

And that hiding only takes place after I get my daily work-out in.  I'll leave the house to do that in ANY weather. 

Well maybe not a tornado.  Or ice. 

But rain & snow are just fine with me.  I have an umbrella & boots.  

I can even bust out the neon pink leg warmers if necessary.  I'm pretty versatile like that. 

And working with warm-weather photos & colorful paper makes a cold, gloomy & windy day seem brighter as well.  You can dwell on the negative or look for the positive in every moment. 

 

A mix of products here, but mostly Simple Stories DIY on these 2 pages + SRM Stickers...

 

 

Bryn usually looks at all my pages when they're finished.  When she saw that 2nd one she said, "You ampersand me???"

I said, "Ampersand is what the "and" sign on the keyboard is called."

She said, "Oh.  Ok."

 

See... I don't always give her "pimento answers."  Sometimes I'm honest right away.  LOL

 

Off to get a massage for this beat up body of mine.  Then 2 classes tomorrow & one on Saturday.

Bring it on!!

 

 

"You could've been getting down to this sick beat..."

 

Shopping at Michaels = new stickers & new CAR-eography.  Who knew? 

Hey, hey, hey!

Found these fun letter stickers there... with a 40% coupon, of course.  They are BIG so they can be used to make for a bold title on your page, as I did with these...

 

 

Used several SRM Stickers on the next page.  Oh & if you haven't already seen these 2 movies, I'll forewarn you to bring a box of tissues with you.   No more sad movies for me please.  Sheesh.

 

And you know it's a LONNNNG stop light when you can "car dance" to almost an entire song.  It's called Target's parking lot on a Saturday afternoon, where you're stuck in a line of traffic forever trying to get out.  And it's not even Christmas shopping time yet!!  For some reason Bryn loves to randomly record me/us.  Sometimes I see the phone video going & sometimes I don't.  Lord knows where those clips of me where I don't know I'm being recorded end up... probably texted to her friends, I'm sure. 

And as for "car dancing," we've been doing it since she was teeny tiny sitting in her carseat behind me.  Oh how I WISH I had video of her when she was just a baby & she'd be waving one arm to the beat of the music.  It was AWESOMENESS.  So funny to watch her in my rearview mirror. 

I can only imagine what the people in the car in front & behind us were thinking during this one. 

Oh wait... we don't care!!  LOL

 

 

And on that note... a new week of Zumba & Body Pump coming up! 

I'm always ready to DANCE... even in the car...

Insta♥love...

 

As you may already know, I used to be part of a couple design teams... Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker (for the entire 3 years the company existed) & also 2 stints with SRM Stickers.  Both companies supplied me with enough free products to last a lifetime.  Gotta love that. 

I will love both companies' products forever.  Even ended up getting a few scrapbook pages & cards published in magazines using their products.  Gotta love that too. 

It's a big reason I still blog.  Just in case I ever end up doing that again.  Although "they say" scrapbooking is a dying craft. 

I just say NO, as it's a hobby & passion of mine. 

As I was creating this page though, I happened to receive an email from the owner of SRM Stickers letting all of us who were ever associated with her company, know that they were now on Instagram.  Coincidentally I was making this page using photos from Instagram & also happened to be using SRM Calendar Small Stickers in the corners of each photo...

The one thing I've always loved about SRM Stickers is that they're clear... so putting them on top of paper, photos, etc is seemless.  #totalawesomeness 

Anyway... you can follow SRM Stickers on Instagram now.  And if you can't find their totally cool products in your local stores... you can shop online, which, by the way, is my favorite way to shop.

Speaking of what else "they say"... I also heard that Facebook is out & the "in" way to use social media is Instagram & Twitter.

I just say NO to Twitter.

No tweets for me.  Ca ca! 

"Should've known better than to mess with me honey..."

 

Middle school can be yucky.  I can't say I really remember it being like that, but I'm sure it probably was at times.  Girls can be mean.  Girls don't usually throw punches with their fists like boys do... they throw punches with their words.  Like cut-through-your-heart words that leave marks that last way longer than a bruise.  I really don't remember anyone being mean to me, but we also didn't have the technology then of being in so much contact with each other.  And some of the technology allows for anonymity, which means someone can say anything they want & then later say it was a joke if found out.

Ummm... no one is laughing?

Maybe I should start over.

Being the MOM of a middle school girl can be yucky.  I don't have all the answers, but I do feel like I want to save her from all situations & I know I can't.  I know it's my job to help her get through these situations.  We all need to go through things.  It's how we learn.  It's how we learn who we want to spend our time with & who we don't.  But at the same time, I really want guns blazing & asses being kicked.  Is that so wrong?  LOL  

And on that note, I think I shall go run & pump some iron.  It's a good alternative to being in ass-kicking mode & also a good option for building those "guns" that may need to be blazing at any given point.   

 

But first some scrapbooking.  Sigh...

I was going through old photo files yesterday & came across this photo that somehow escaped being put into the scrapbook. 

These girls.  Just some of the MANY girls I've met over the past 8 years (I think?) of doing Zumba, that have become good friends of mine.  Not only is it an incredibly fun class & awesome work-out that would eventually become my job 3 years ago, but it's the reason I know most of the people I spend the majority of my time with outside the gym. 

So middle school may have it's share of girls that are sometimes mean, but adulthood (and I use the word "adult" loosely) definitely has it's share of awesome, very nice, ass-kicking women, who I'm lucky enough to have in my life.  And as far as "jokes" go... we are hilarious.  Like pee your pants laughing.  Middle school "jokes"... not so much.

I'm confident though, Bryn will always manage to surround herself with the same awesomeness.  She's cool like that...

"The daddy mac will make you jump, jump..."

 

Bryn turned 13.  I can't believe we've already celebrated this many birthdays.  A teenager... Lord help me.  These middle school years have been full of enough drama so far though, that I may just be equipped to handle this. 

The other day she told me it was "the terrible 12's, just like the terrible 2's."  I said, "But you really didn't have the terrible 2's?"  She said, "Oh." 

So how about we have the terrific teens though!  Pretty please...

She requested her birthday dinner at Red Robin. 

In the words of Junie B. Jones... yucky blucky fruitcake. 

Not my favorite place to eat.  But what the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets!  She also asked for dresses, maxi skirts, shoes.... oh & a trampoline. 

What the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl doesn't always get. 

Insurance agent for a dad means no added liability in the back yard.   Daddy mac won't make you jump. 

Can we have a pool instead maybe???

Plus the likelihood of her wanting to jump on a trampoline beyond the age of 13 is pretty slim. 

 

We got her the clothes, shoes & accessories... my sister got her the Coach crossbody bag. 

Can you tell she has a thing for chevron these days? 

 

Oh my.  Where does the time go?? 

 

We have a family BBQ this weekend & hosting a sleepover with her friends the following weekend, so more celebrating coming up! 

And speaking of celebrating... my sister & I recently celebrated our birthdays too. 

Apparently I have a thing for chevron too.

 

Even though my sister doesn't live here anymore, we still manage to celebrate together every year since our birthdays are 4 days apart.  Thanks to her flying in, that is. 

Although I'm always willing to meet her in Vegas to celebrate too.  40th next year for her.  Ahem. 

 

Or the beach... I could do the beach too.  Just give me sun & fun...  

 

 

 

"If this is a dream, then open my eyes... am I asleep, no I'm alive... "

 

OK... so enough about gratitude (or the lack thereof) and boobs (or the lack thereof)... I should probably change gears & post about something crafty.  You know, like the primary purpose of this blog.  Although some may wonder if my life really revolves more around Zumba (and now Body Pump) than scrapbooking.

And the answer is yes... yes it does. 

Speaking of which... I'm going to teach my very first full hour of Body Pump without team-teaching tomorrow.  May need to wear my HOT MESS socks just incase...

 

Video-taping will happen soon.  In fact Les Mills just sent a kind reminder that I have only 30 days left to get my video tape to the company. 

No pressure.  Nope, none at all.

 

And let's see... my little girl is turning 13 on Monday.  And really I wish she was my little girl, since I'm very much missing those days.  She's actually my taller-than-me young lady now.  Yesterday was her last day of 7th grade.  Can't believe she has one more year of middle school & then she's off to high school.  Lord help me.

 

Since she's obsessed with Instagram (and I wish I could say I was exaggerating), I thought it would be cute to have an Instagram-themed birthday party.  So I showed her my idea.  The first thing she said when she saw the invitations was, "No Mom, that's so hoosier." 

Hmmm, not the response I was expecting. 

Hoosier is not usually my way of doing things, thank you. 

Well, unless you're keeping track of some of the pictures of me on Facebook where I've flipped off the camera.  That might be kind of hoosier.     

Sometimes I wonder if she even knows what certain words mean or if she just says them because she's heard them before?  Hoosier invitations??  What is that?? 

The fun thing about living with a teenager though, is that every moment can have new mood.  Much like living with a 46-year old.  It's fun! 

So later that day she said, "I'm sorry I said that earlier about the invitations, Mom.  I didn't even look at them or read them & they really are cute."

Ooookay... so we WILL have an Instagram-themed party?  I shall print them out. 

I made note on there for the girls to bring their smiles for many party pics & said to please just say NO to more duck face photos. 

Fairly confident that part will be ignored.

And please don't bring up all the duck face photos of me on Facebook.  I'm old & there's no hope for changing me at this point.  There is still hope for my 13 year old though.   

 

 

And all of her friends said the invites were "SO CUTE"... which definitely made them less hoosier, I'm sure. 

Insert sigh. 

 

 

Finished a few more pages recently too.  All old photos, but chronological scrapbooking went out the door long ago.  Now I'm just happy to get photos in the books at some point.  Mostly used a new Me & My Big Ideas "Quoted" paper pad I bought the other day.  It's cute & colorful & has some inspiring quotes in there...

 

 

In addition to that paper pad, I also used a few SRM Stickers on the 3rd page.  Love those.

 

 

 

Ok then.  First day of summer.... here we go! 

 

 

When in Rome, do as the Romans. When in America, do as the Americans... take a shower & wear deodorant.

Please and thank you. 

ESPECIALLY if you workout. 

Or... perhaps maybe exercise options, like walking or running outdoors, might be a more suitable option? 

Stick around.  I'm full of helpful hints. 

 

Okie dokie then, moving on...

I finally did something with our Bermuda pics from last summer.   With 2 summer trips approaching, I figured it might be nice to get those out of the way before there's more.  Bermuda's just one of several trips that I haven't yet tackled, but oh well.  One down, more to go.

Just paper-pieced my palm tree, found my airplane clip-art online, and then used some Bella Blvd chipboard stickers (clouds & sun) and some MAMBI stickers (the beach items)...

The I Love You border sticker is from SRM Valentines Stickers By The Dozen...

 

That was also the trip where something was wrong with our camera & every single photo had a black smudge on it.  And looking at those photos just makes me think how much I could use a beach right about now.  

Guess I can wait until next month though...

First day of middle school...

Today's the day we're officially back to the school routine.  I was up early for the 6:30 spin class, bolted out of there 5 minutes early so I could rush back home to pack up Bryn's lunch, do her hair as requested, take some photos of her & then drive her to school because she had a TON of stuff to bring with her today.  Her plan is to ride the bus to school in the morning & have me pick her up from school every afternoon.  We're the last bus stop.  So they go right to school in the morning, but it's almost 45 minutes before she would be home in the afternoon if she rode the bus... and school is literally 2 minutes from our house.  Crazy.

Hard to tell in the photo, but she painted her fingernails like pencils for a school theme today.  She's quite the crafty one.  And also a bit obsessed lately with youtube videos showing different ways to paint your nails.  

So with the rest of the day all to myself, I finished a quick page this morning with some photos from last year that already went straight into the scrapbook.  Didn't even bother with photographing it.  The quality of my photos on the page wasn't that great to begin with, nor was the page anything to write home about, so I consider it a quick page into the book!  Yay me. 

Here's another one I finished over the weekend though.  We had a new Marshalls store open in the past year.  I went there shortly after the grand opening with a friend of mine & only bought a few things... one of which was a Me & My Big Ideas Halloween-themed paper pad for only $6.99.  I know right?  Like I needed more paper... and from Marshalls of all places?!  But, after collecting much dust on my craft table all this time, I finally dragged it out & got this photo from last October on paper. 

I edited my photo using Picmonkey, a free photo editing website, to make my photo black + white, with just her pumpkin in color as a focal point...

Lots of Halloween SRM Stickers, of course, and a couple circle punches (round & scalloped-edge)... 

Already in the middle of another page right now & if I get REALLY crazy, I may just attempt to clean the house a bit.

Or not...