(diva)logues

"No need to worry, no need to cry, I'm your messiah & you're the reason why..."

 

 

Heading to Louisville for Bryn's last volleyball tournament of the season with her Net Force team this weekend... my first time there. 

Too bad the Kentucky Derby isn't going on!

Although we won't exactly be doing much sight-seeing as we'll be watching games all weekend.  But that's ok & I'm excited to watch them play.  They really are good & fun to watch!

And the parents are all fun to be with too, which is great! 

 

Anyway.... I made treat bags for each girl.  Just a bottle of Gatorade & a couple snacks for in between matches. 

I mean, why not waste time getting crafty when I should be packing? 

Once again, I've used my SRM Volleyball Stickers.  Love them.

And coincidentally, this particular sheet happens to have a "net force" sticker on it. 

I mean... how cool is that??! 

This sticker set has been discontinued but a similar set can be purchased here.

 

I did design work for SRM Stickers several years ago & the owner was kind enough to send me quite a few extra volleyball sticker sheets since she knew Bryn played.  So.... I just happened to have enough of those "net force" stickers to use for each player's bag. 

Simply printed a fun team photo of the girls on cardstock, used a volleyball patterned ribbon, basic brown lunch bag.... easy peasy.

 

 

I also did a volleyball gift for Bryn's teammates back in 2011 using that same sticker set + SRM Tubes. And that project STILL to this day causes DAILY hits on my blog because it's been pinned & repinned so many times on Pinterest. 

Craziness I tell ya.  I guess people love shoelaces??  LOL

You can see the original post here.

 

Okie dokie then.  TGIF!  Weekend begins now.

 

But first things first. 

Before I leave town, dancing is a MUST.

 

Added a new arm song for Zumba this morning.  A little Prince.  It's one of my many favorite songs of his.

Still shaking my head about his death.  Very very sad...

 

 

 

"Stop calling, stop calling I don't want to think anymore... I left my head & my heart on the dance floor..."

 

I just decided to jump back on the Daily Planner band-wagon, along with a lot of other people.  Scrapbooking companies are helping to make them cool again (cool as in if you're a dork like me).  A few years ago my phone calendar replaced that organizational tool I'd been using since high school.  

 

I remember one day when I was in high school, my youngest sister, who was in elementary school at the time, picked up my planner off the counter & said, "Here's Deana's organized life!"

She was of course making fun of me, but I do believe if I've taught her nothing else, that she did eventually conform to using a planner too.  Although I'm just sure mine was always cuter.  LOL

And quite frankly I'm not sure if I really loved being organized or if I just loved having cute stickers & stuff on my planner pages.  This crafty thing has been a lifetime of madness, I tell ya!

 

Over the years though, my planner seemed more & more like a pain in the booty to carry around with me when I could just put everything on my phone instead.  

Although if my phone ever crashes & I lose everything, just consider me screwed & late for everything, as I'll be completely unaware of my impending schedule... other than maybe my Zumba & BodyPump classes.  That's about all I have committed to memory!   

 

Anyway, I blame SRM Stickers for this newfound old love of mine, because when the owner added me to their Planner Sticker Fun page on Facebook (I used to do design work for her team), I could no longer resist the temptation to add something else to my to-do list. 

I mean why scrapbook, when I can waste time with a new planner instead? 

I'll get back to that eventually I guess.

 

So initially I ordered a Franklin Planner calendar pages set since that's the brand I typically used in the past.   And it's cute & colorful.  The boxes are kind of small for writing stuff in, but it's still functional...

But then I ran across this Me & My Big Ideas Happy Planner at Michaels & since I had a 50% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket, well...  I guess we'll just consider that last purchase a flop & move on because this thing ROCKS.  (I mean if you're into planners, that is)  And after seeing it at 2 different stores, I figured it was calling my name.  LOL

[You can see the entire contents of this planner on their website if you're interested.  It's SO CUTE!]

 

I started filling up October last night while sitting next to Bryn when she was doing her homework.  That was on purpose, mind you, because I've really been trying to get her to start using the dang planner I bought for her before school started. 

Gee I don't know... maybe then she could write down what's due & oh I don't know... maybe know when there's an online test she needs to complete before I find the email from her teacher at 11:00pm the night before it's due.  

Let's just say I was wearing designer bags under my eyes to class this morning.  So tired!!  

Anyway... it may have worked.  We'll see.  But she was paying a lot of attention to what I was doing.  She even asked me if it was a planner or a scrapbook because she thought I was getting a little too carried away it.  LOL  Me?  Get carried away with something?  Nah...

 

 

And of course I used several SRM Stickers on there too! 

 

For those of you who like to be organized about your workouts & food prepping along with your other daily to-do's... I found these free printables while looking for inspiration for planners via Pinterest. 

 

 

Download free planner pages here.

 

 

In fact, you probably don't really have to purchase an actual planner.  There's so many cute & FREE printables out there you could build your own.  Tons of inspiration too!  Just search for it on Pinterest & boom... you'll be hooked again like I was!  

Have a great weekend! 

 

"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! 

"It's goin' down fo real..."

 

The obnoxious Zumba attire level can be taken up a few notches at Halloween.  Last year I wore a 70's disco costume for a party at Brickhouse Cardio. 

 

Not sure if it was more fun to wear an afro wig or an ozone-destroying amount of hairspray on my own hair for an 80's costume theme that same year.  And someone actually asked me if I was wearing a wig.  Umm noooo.... that would be my real hair.  I knew I kept those hot rollers for some reason. 

Jane Fonda eat your heart out...

 

I finally did something with those pictures from last year.  I'm only a year behind...

 

And since it's been a balmy 20 degrees outside lately, I figured I'd be an over-achiever & get this year's Halloween photos out of the way as well. 

If the afro wig can stay on my head for last year's Zumba... it could surely stay on my head again this year.  Although I did tell my class beforehand that if there were any wardrobe malfunctions, like splitting my jumpsuit pants while umm jumping... or if my wig flew off my head... the rule was that we just keep dancing. 

"Look away!" 

 

Okie dokie.  That's all for today.  Although I did finish 3 more pages recently. 

Over-achieving again!  

Because it's been like 20 degrees. 

Fo real...

 

"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! 

"I never miss a beat... I'm lightening on my feet... "

Heard of Hurricane Odile?  I probably wouldn't have paid much attention to it, except my parents are in Cabo this week, where it hit & caused quite a bit of destruction.  Not exactly how they planned to spend their 47th anniversary, but we're hoping they're being flown to Mazaltan or Mexico City today via military plane so they can take a commercial flight home from that city, as Cabo's airport will be closed for awhile.  That was the hopeful plan as of last night, when we finally heard from them after 2 days of no phone or wi-fi access & their resort running on a generator.  Aside from no AC there & a couple days without access to the outside world, they did have food, water & booze so I guess they were able to make the best of it.  They were never sent to a shelter like many tourists were, and the resort staff took good care of everyone.  My sister & I, in the meantime, have been freaking out all week playing the waiting game & wondering when we'd ever hear from them!  Thank goodness we found the resort's page on Facebook that was updated with awesome info in the past few days.  Continued prayers for them as they somehow make it back home & for the locals who have endured not only destruction, but looting & all the awful things that follow when Mother Nature wreaks havoc.  

Craziness. 

Onto more pleasant things, like paper & cute photos!

If there's one fun little thing I love for adding a little something extra to a page (besides bling... duh), it's Glossy Accents.  I go through phases of using it on everything & recently used some on these pages.  It's goes on as a liquid, but then dries with a hard, clear finish that adds a little realistic dimension to the page...

As you can see on the pencils, I'm clearly NOT into applying it perfectly.  It's more wham bam thank you ma'am I'm done.  I swear I'm usually more of a perfectionist than that.  Whoopsie daisy...

 

 

I redeemed myself a bit on the crayons.  But the good news is that no one will notice or even care about any of these details in 20 years... and frankly I'll rest peacefully in my grave if anyone even reads all these scrapbooks when I'm dead.  So I shall carry on with my wickedly awesome Glossy Accents skills...

 

And there ya go.  Perfection is totally overrated.  

Especially in Zumba. 

Accidental solos are the best...

"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...

"Eat, sleep, rave, repeat..."

 

 

Been memorizing some new Body Pump tracks... (love the music they send us) one of which is reminding me of hanging out in the clubs long ago.  Nothing makes me happier than loud music & dancing.  Oh & maybe some strobe lights too.

This video even looks fun.  Well minus the blood & stuff.

Call me crazy.  I may never grow up. 

I might even be willing to jump into a rave like that right now if I didn't think they'd all be asking, "Who's the old lady trying to bust a move?" 

 

In reality though... this song will be burning the hell out of our shoulders while holding a barbell in our hands.  It's a good one, I tell ya.  Granted it might be more fun to dance to this song with a glass of wine close by, but at least once this class is over... our arms will be looking HOT.

Got guns? 

We do.

BOOM! 

 

Have you tried a Body Pump class?  Shoulders are just 1 of the 8 major muscle groups we work in an hour. 

Approximately 800 reps in an hour.  It's awesome.

This class has been a total game-changer for me.  It's changed my body & I hear the same thing every day from people who take the class.  I had one friend tell me her legs have more definition (I totally concur) and another friend who told me she hit a golf ball the farthest she's ever hit one in her life (you GO, girl!)... and the comments go on & on.

This class works.

Ok so my chest might still be the same size.  Irrelevant.  It's stronger & I can afford a Wonder Bra.

 

Found some time to create yesterday.  Hasn't happened in awhile, but now that school has started, I decided I need to get back to doing what I love.

What I love as much as I love working out, that is...

 

Lots of Echo Park Hello Summer on there.  It's an old collection, but I recently got it for half price.  Also used some SRM Sticker sentiments & date stickers.  The photo collages were made using the free PhotoGrid app.  

 

Ok... so that trip.

I loved that trip as much as I love working out & creating.

It was a great week & I will treasure those days with those 2 girls forever...

 

"Wine it up... wine it up... wine it up... move your body... "

 

Had a question submitted here the other day about the photo collages on my scrapbook pages.  After I responded, I thought I'd go ahead & address it here as well just in case anyone else had the same questions. 

As you know, I love multi-photo pages.  I also love clean lines & creating a "scene" on the page... so the combination of both can be tricky.  My main reason for using lots of photos, is that I can't usually seem to narrow it down to just 1 or 2 to tell the story.  Sometimes I don't have any photos to tell the story... but most of the time I have several, if not MANY. 

Sheesh.  I just HAVE to use ALL of them.

Which brings up the question.... what do you do with all YOUR photos that don't make the scrapbook cut?  Would love to hear your ideas.  Before digital camera days, I just stuck the rejects into photo albums.  Now... they either don't get printed or just pile up in a box.  Ughh...

And boy does this topic bring up the guilt I feel for not having/making enough time anymore to scrapbook all the photos that continue to pile up daily. 

Oh well... moving on.  Zumba anyone? 

 

Here's a few new pages that show examples from the app & website I most frequently use to create my collages.  Using collages takes the guess work out of either printing small photos or cropping photos to fit to the right size for your pages. 

Pic Monkey is a favorite for all my digital/non-iPhone photos.  Personally I find it easier to navigate than Photoshop for editing photos.  There's lots of free editing tools on there (as well as collage options), but I've upgraded to pay for the "Royale" features.  At this age, being able to erase wrinkles is worth every single penny.  Those people know what they're doing by making you pay for that feature. 

You're so vain... you probably think this song is about you...

You can also add text to your photos/collages as I did on this one...

 

I ♥ google eyes.

 

On the next 2 pages, I used the free PhotoGrid app.  It pulls the photos you've selected from your iPhone & then puts them into a collage design based on the number of photos you're using.  If you don't like the collage it puts them into... you can choose from other designs.  Once I've created my collage, I'll save it & then email it to myself so I can print it in the size I want.  Love the app. 

 

Gosh that was a fun week.  Love me some Vegas.

 

Mostly lots of Simple Stories DIY Boutique on those pages.  Lots of random SRM Stickers too, including the calendar on the last page which is made by them as well.  Questions on the rest of the products... just ask & I'll attempt to answer.  LOL  

 

As for the question about my blog post titles... a lot of the time I use song lyrics.

If only I could've memorized all my school work the way I can memorize song lyrics, I would've graduated Suma Cume Laude. 

Usually the song lyrics somehow tie in to the content of my blog post.  Sometimes it's the just the lyrics or title of a song that I'm using in one of my classes.  Sometimes it's just a song that's stuck in my brain that I recently heard.   Sometimes the titles have nothing to do with song lyrics at all & then I have a friend tell me they googled my title & no song came up.  TOO DARN FUNNY. 

You all are an observant bunch! 

So read into the titles however you'd like.  Sometimes our own interpretation of what something means... is much better than the intended meaning...

 

BOOM.

 

"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! 

 

 

"Take me away... a secret place... a sweet escape..."

 

Been trying to get photos off my phone.  Bryn showed me a fun app that I've been using a lot recently to make photo collages... Photo Grid.  You pick the photos you want to use & the app puts them into a grid for you.  Lots of other choices of grid designs, too, based on the number of photos you're using. 

Plus I don't have to email myself all the individual photos this way.  I can just email myself each photo collage once I've created it...

 

 

I used the app for my photos from our trip to the Bahamas that I posted here.  I also used the app for these 3 pages today.  I like that I don't have to mess with measuring the photos & putting them into a design that works for the scrapbook page.  I just print the grid in the size that I want... quick & easy.  

And for the first 2 pages, I used some SRM Stickers along with some more of the free downloadable journaling cards I found on the Pocket Source blog...

 

 

 

I've deleted about 400 photos off my phone & am down to around 700 now.  Still don't have enough storage space to do the latest iPhone update, but hopefully eventually I can get there.  Craziness.

And yes, I know.  Adding more apps like this one, doesn't help free up storage.  Oh well...

 

"Take a picture, sweetie, I ain't got time to wait..."

 

Ok... so LOTS going on lately.  Mostly good stuff keeping me really busy and laughing... and other stuff.  Stuff that karma will take care of for me, I'm sure.  Gotta love that!  And my eye was twitching for 2 days straight. It drove me frickin nuts.  A friend of mine had her eye twitching for a week & thought it was stress.  Hmmm. 

Anyway.  Eye twitching has ended.  Booty twitching & shaking, however, never ends.  

It was awesome to be gone for a week & it's awesome to be home.  I always miss my friends & my daily routine at home.  Even though I'll hit the treadmill while I'm gone, I especially miss my routine at the gym.  Zumba anyone?  And while I know it's good for me to tune out from my phone/internet/etc... that contact is what keeps me laughing most of the time.  Because I have very funny friends.  And somehow there's always funny situations.   Even situations that aren't funny end up making me laugh. 

I mean like laughing until I cry. 

Or laughing & typing on my phone, while eating in public, by myself.  That usually gets a few stares.

Why did my daughter call me a weir-do?  I don't get it.

 

Anyway, I have lots of pics from the Bahamas & have even started a blog post about it, but that's about as far as I got. 

Apparently I ain't got time for dat. 

I got time for Zumba though!  Fun times coming up!

 

And apparently I have time for scrapbooking too.  Yay me...

I used an actual map of Phoenix/Scottsdale for my background...

All I can think about when I look at this next page is the thousands of screaming girls that literally screamed for 2 hours straight.  Never heard anything like it...

 

Love the Today's List of Awesomeness journaling card on the next page.  I say that word all the time...

 

 

And speaking of that Today's List of Awesomeness journaling card, here's more awesomeness...

Bryn got accepted to the National Junior Honor Society at school the other day.  Could NOT be more proud of that girl.  She didn't think she'd get accepted since she had no leadership experience, but I told her she had 100% chance of not getting accepted if she didn't try.   

The only Honor Society I was accepted into in school, was for excelling in my social life.

 

Oh well... Zumba anyone?

"But I'm a creep.... I'm a weirdo... what the hell am I doing here..."

 

The other day I asked Bryn to describe me in 2 words.

She replied, "Weir- do."

I burst out laughing.  Not the answer I was expecting, but it definitely works.

Poor kid.

 

But hey... at least I'm not doing the kissy face on all my Instagram photos.  Now THAT is weird.  And I have asked her over & over to please stop doing that all the time & just uhhhh I don't know... smile maybe?? 

And then she asked me to do this "Transformation Tuesday" photo and it occurred to me that I must've taught her to do that dumb pose when she was a little girl. 

Just add that to the list of all the other dumb things I've taught her & will probably teach her before she moves out. 

Or sprints out as fast as she can. 

The good news is she's not flipping off the camera yet.  That's always an attractive pose.

Ahem.

Lots of dimmensional hearts on here created with a heart punch & a stapler...

 

 

Speaking of weirdo... is it weird that I love googly eyes?  If I could use them on everything, I would.  Well everything with eyes, that is...

The animals look cute with googly eyes on them...

 

 

And here's some more cute animals...

 

 

LMAO. 

Ok then... carry on with yo Hump Day. 

Yo Lenten Hump Day, that is.

 

Maybe I'll give up being a weirdo?

Or not...

Turn it up... baby we don't have to say good-bye...

 

Not sure what the deal is, but there's been a whole lot of creating going on around here.  Like late at night, when I really should be going to bed instead.  I'm a roll.  We're getting ready to leave soon for Spring Break, so that's usually what gets my butt in gear.  I figure more pictures at the end of a trip, means I better do something with all the pictures I already have.  So I've been randomly printing photos from my computer & phone.  Old pictures, new pictures... whatever works with the products I have out right now.  I really NEED to get more photos off my phone.  I have over 1000 on there.  The other day I went to take a picture of someone & got a message that I was out of storage. 

Aggravating.

Hate when I miss a photo opp because I have to spend time deleting photos & videos to create some room.  

If only I would get back to using my Canon more often instead of my phone, I wouldn't have such an issue.  Note to self.

So here we go.  I am really digging the Simple Stories Daily Grind collection.  That's probably why I've cranked out so many pages.  It's just cute stuff... chevron, word bubbles, bold colors & it's all kinda rainbowish... you know what I'm sayin'... love it. 

 

 

 

The Minion was just an image I found & printed... then added some googly eyes...

 

 

A little bling anyone?  :-)

 

 

Speaking of cute stuff... check out the Pocket Source blog for a free dowload of very cute journaling cards.  I used one of them on that last page. 

And as usual.... every single page has SRM Stickers on there somewhere. 

 

I've also been asked to test out an adorable cupcake holder kit that will soon be sold on Etsy in this cute little shop.   She is quite talented!  More on that soon. 

 

TGIF!  Looking forward to a fun morning tomorrow at Brickhouse Cardio... and NOT looking forward to the predicted snow & ice coming on Sunday.

Apparently we haven't had enough of that yet this winter...    

 

 

"People will stare. Make it worth their while."

 

It's Thursday.  Thought I'd share some of what's been keeping me busy lately... aside from Zumba which is always a distraction. 

I mean, this IS primarily a blog about crafty stuff.

Or at least it was supposed to be anyway. 

And people DO actually visit to get ideas. 

Or... at least they used to visit for ideas.

 

Don't give up on me yet. 

 

So anyway... Zumba anyone?  LOL   2 new songs... & working on a 3rd.  Somebody stop me...

 

 

No, but really.  I finished 8 pages recently... 3 of which that went straight into the books because they either weren't that great or were essentially mostly just photos & not much creativitiy... and a 4th one that I may or may not post on another day.

Here's 4 today though. 

And if you've paid any attention to my stuff, you'll notice that I used some of my past page designs for inspiration to quickly finish these.  I do that a lot.  Less thinking involved. 

And let's face it... when I think too much, it's never a good thing.

 

What's that she's playin'.... Annie... get your gun...

 

You'll also notice that I did the banner thing on 2 of these pages.  Ask me if I care that the pages will look similar in the scrapbook.

Let me think about that..... ummmmm no.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you notice another common thing about all the pages? 

All of them had SRM Stickers on there somewhere.  I am a forever fan of those awesome clear stickers & sticker sentiments. 

Lots of Simple Stories Daily Grind & Harvest Lane on those pages, as well as Recollections Winter Woodland on the Christmas page.

A mix of old + new on everything. 

It pays to stay home sometimes.  Zumba AND crafting get accomplished.

 

Fun times with friends on Friday & Saturday!  Bring on the weekend!  Yahoo... can't wait! 

"Forty days and forty nights..."

 

Just sitting here thinking about some of the things that make me happy, so my mind doesn't trail off with worry.  Like let's see... here's something... warm weather.  As in no snow.  None.  Not even a few flurries.  Like the warm weather we had in Arizona last summer... when my crazy daughter & her crazy father decided to do this FlowRider thingy... which to me looked like an ER trip waiting to happen.  Or at least looked like a major time-out from my Zumba career.  After watching all the people ahead of them bust it onto their butts, shoulders, heads.... I said HELL TO THE NO.  I'll just take pictures, thankyouverymuch. 

Lots of Simple Stories I Heart Summer on this one, along with a few SRM Stickers...

 

 

Here's something else making me happy.  This song I've been obsessed with all day, since I heard it in the WAY too early 5:15am spin class I did.  And when I say obsessed, that usually means I've played the song like 50 times. 

Kinda like I've done my whole life when I love a song.... like since playing 45's on my Donny & Marie record player.  

Ok.  So I'm old.    

 

 

Helping to lead a 2-hour Zumbathon, along with my 5 other awesome instructor friends made me happy.  Lots & lots of fun...

Attending crazy 40th birthday parties makes me happy too.  Especially when it means laughing at all the photos on my camera the next morning. 

Even if I did feel like my head might explode. 

 

My mom always said.... when you play, you pay. 

True dat, Mom.  True dat.

Ego. Remove the E & let it go...

 

A few months ago, I noticed I was getting a lot of hits on my blog from 2 Peas in a Bucket.  I noticed it was from a link on their message boards about "simple scrapbookers."  Any of you been around the scrapbooking world long enough to remember the magazine "Simple Scrapbooks?" The thread was started by someone asking if anyone could recommend scrapbookers that had more of a simple style, rather than the artsy style that is so often posted these days.  About half-way down on the thread, I noticed someone had a posted a list of people that inspired her & that she thought had a simple style.  I have to say, it was very flattering to see my name listed among people that happen to inspire ME as well. 

And even cooler than that... when I responded on that thread to thank her, she responded by telling me that reading my blog had not only inspired her scrapbooking, but had also inspired her to start doing Zumba because she said I made it sound so fun. 

I mean seriously?  Now that is WAY cooler than inspiring someone creatively.  LOVE IT. 

And it IS fun.  Not to mention a GREAT work-out.  

 

Back to scrapbooking... the products that I've used have changed over the years... depending on if I'm designing for a company using their stuff, or just using what I've got on hand.  But what's remained constant over the years is that I love multi-photo pages + lots of journaling.  And in my opinion... if I'm going to have a lot of photos on a page... I really HAVE to keep it simple or else it will just look like a jumbled MESS of a page.   Every once in awhile I may have a page with only 1 photo on it, but I'll never have a page without some kind of journaling.  There's no way anyone will ever look through our scrapbooks some day, look at the photos & wonder what happened.  I'm all about telling the story.  I do feel like my pages have become a little too simple lately, but at least I'm getting something accomplished & putting them in the books I suppose. 

So with that, more "simple" pages.  And I'll keep it even simpler, by not giving detailed image shots for each page so this isn't a mile-long post.  There's SRM Stickers on every page too.  Love them.

 

 

And I swear this next one doesn't look crooked in real life, but it sure does on here.  Hmmm.

 

 And speaking of keeping things simple... divided page protectors make it very easy to do that, especially if you have a lot of photos like I always do...

 

Speaking of SRM Stickers... lots of brand new cool stuff in their online store!

 

By the way...  did you see that Archivers is having a going out of business sale?  I need to get over there & buy some stuff before it's all gone.

Because.... you know...  I need more scrapbooking stuff like I need more Zumba clothes.

I'm kinda bummed about this though.  Looks like I'll be shopping online now & paying shipping.  While I do love to shop online, I don't like shopping online for scrapbooking products.  And Michaels stinks for carrying the latest & greatest.  So boooo...

Bueller... Bueller...

 

Anyone... anyone... ?

 

Cricket.... cricket.... 

 

Maybe I should go ahead & re-introduce myself since it's been ridiculously long since I've last blogged.  Like since November 7.

 

Hi... I'm Deana.  Not DeAnna

Blogger for almost 6 years now.  Although in the last couple months you might wonder since it used to be almost daily.

Scrapbooker for almost a lifetime.  Again with wondering.

Zumba instructor who no longer has much drive or inspiration to stay connected to this blogging/crafting world, but is still not willing to give up on said blogging & will probably never quit scrapbooking either. 

I guess a big part of the problem is that I'm no longer designing for any companies, so I don't have anything I HAVE to do. 

 

Torn between 2 lovers... feelin' like a fool... lovin' both of you is breakin' all the rules....

 

Anyhoo.  Here's some of what's gone on in the past month...

• Lots of Zumba.  Duh. 

• Also Spin class & running.
• And an Insanity class that tried to kill me.  I won though.
• A rotator cuff that's having issues. 
• A girls night with fabulously crazy friends

• Annual mammogram & fasting physical.  Still healthy, although one may argue I need meds for craziness.
• 2 movies with a friend:  Thor & Hunger Games... one of which was at a 5-star lounge where they served you from a menu.  Are you kidding me??  Yes please!!

• Lots of volleyball practices & games for Bryn

• Our home alarm motion detector activated in the basement while not home, resulting in the police coming to search our house.  False alarm.  Thankfully no one jumped out of the closet to kill me after they left. 
• Alarm company at house to fix the false alarm problem.
• A weekend in Memphis, along with the Mizzou vs Mississippi football game at Ole Miss.  Coldest 9 hours of my life ever.  But Mizzou won.   Go Tigers!

• Candy Crush.  Level 123.  And yes I know...  I need a life.  Literally & figuratively.
• Mizzou girls volleyball game in Columbia.  They won & are ranked 4th in the country.  Makes me SO want to play volleyball again. 

• My hair did.
• Bryn's hair did.
• A wonderful Thanksgiving with family.

• Black Friday shopping at 2 stores because it was on Bryn's "bucket list" to experience it.  Hopefully the 1/2 wait in line cured her forever, since I already know how much I hate it.
• Cyber Monday, on the other hand, is ok.
• Date night with Bob to watch Mizzou win & go to the SEC championship game.  Tigers vs. Tigers on Saturday.... gotta love it!
• A wake for my friend's dad.
• Some of the Christmas decorations out, along with a tree that's still naked.

• Annual YMCA employee tests and a CPR & First Aid re-certification class.
• Too many iPhone photos & not enough (or rather any) with my Canon.
• And a couple finished pages + a few pages in progress still laying on my floor...

 

 

Suffice it to say that this is the first year in last 5 years that I'm not doing a December Daily mini book.  I'd be lucky to blog daily & we all know that isn't happening...  so I'm pretty sure the mini book is NOT happening either. 

Am I a little sad to not be doing it?  YES.  Because the finished book is always pictures & daily memories that would've never been documented in the main scrapbook had it not been for the work to complete it. 

But also one less thing to stress me out in December.

So yay me.

 

Okie dokie then.  I'll be back in less than a month.  Even if it kills me...

"Them baggy sweat pants & the Reeboks with the straps... she turned around & gave that big booty a slap..."

 

Ok here we go.  I actually have acccomplished something other than playing Candy Crush or cruising Facebook lately.  Why I ever let my friend finally talk me into Candy Crush, after at least 6 months of harassing me to play, I don't know.  We're talking SERIOUS time-waster, folks. 

As if Facebook isn't bad enough.  

If you're not already playing this stupid game... just say NO.  I recommend just doing Zumba instead.  Then you can EAT candy, instead of just getting aggravated by it. 

 

Halloween was a blast this year.  I got to dress up TWICE for Zumba.  Once for a Halloween party at Brickhouse Cardio Club where I teach... I dressed as a 70's Disco Queen, afro wig & all...

 

 

.... and then it was an 80's costume theme for Zumba on Halloween morning at the YMCA, so I dressed like I actually used to dress for aerobics classes in the 80's.  That's me on the right in the pink leotard & pink leg warmers.  And no that's not a wig this time... just dusted off the hot rollers & used a ton of hairspray.  Although it did look like a wig, I must say.  A really BAD wig. 

Why did I ever think my hair looked good like that?

 

And Bryn dressed up as Minnie Mouse this year...

I also went on a 7th grade field trip to the St Louis Zoo, with a horrible sinus infection.  Bryn wanted me to go though, so if a 12-year old still wants you around.... you grin & bear it... since that may not last forever...

And yes... she's officially taller than me now. 

Sigh...

 

And here's a few pages I finished recently... all of which have SRM Stickers on each somewhere...

And just incase you missed my last post... I passed the AFAA Group Exercise Instructor test.  So I'm officially certified.  Or certifiable.  Either works in my case...

 

 

 

Leave a comment if you have questions, because I'm leaving product information off this time.  It's already a long enough post and well... I'm feeling lazy. 

Or... maybe it's because Facebook & Candy Crush are calling my name?

 

Step away from the phone...

Just say NO. 

"The way she pop it low... drop it low... shawty's got dance moves..."

 

Hmmm... only 12 days this time... wow, I think I'm onto something here. 

And it's called neglect. 

Strangely enough... people still visit this blog every day in spite of my not posting.  A LOT of the traffic is via Pinterest for this project I posted 2 years ago when Bryn was playing volleyball.  I made these gifts for her teammates (using SRM tubes + stickers), since I was one of the coaches for her team.  The owner of SRM Stickers has told me before that it's the most-pinned project of everything she's put on Pinterest from her design team. 

People love colorful shoe laces, I guess.  Who knew?!  LOL 

And speaking of volleyball, Bryn is FINALLY back at it again.  I mean, have you seen how tall that girl is?  She NEEDS to play.  Us shawtys that played volleyball back in the day, could only bump & set.  That girl can slam it over the net with those long legs if she'd just stay at it.  Anyhoo.... her first game is next week while we're in Vegas.  Very bummed to miss it, but I think Grandma will be able to take her.  

In addition to volleyball, other things going on around here include teaching/subbing Zumba, watching Mizzou football with friends in the rain, taking Bryn to the dermatologist for some weird virus on her legs that looks like gigantic zits, helping with boatloads of 7th grade homework (minus the math... that's Bob's department), spinning & running, hangin' with my peeps, enjoying the cooler Fall weather & looking forward to seeing my sister this weekend. 

I've also finished a few things lately, while catching The Voice & the Cardinals playoff games.   

Gotta love St Louis!

No detail shots on any of these, so it's not a mile-long post.  Just message me if you want product info.  I figure I may as well post all these at once since it could be another 12-17 days before I'm back on here again.   

Ahem. 

 

On this one I used Bryn's artwork.  She drew her name with markers one day at the Y while I was teaching so I saved it, cut it out & put it on here with some of her "selfies" she took over the summer.  The rest of the page is a list of things she did this summer.  You know... a reminder to her when she tells me she never goes anywhere...

On the next page, I forgot that I had already used these comparison photos of the first & last days of school, like ummm 2 weeks ago, so technically I have 2 pages with these same photos.  And before you ask how that happened, the answer is YES.  I AM LOSING MY MIND.  Don't judge. 

Hey, at least I never posted the first page or you'd really think I was strange.  Perhaps that's why I forgot. 

And yes, I know you think I'm strange anyway.  Don't judge. 

And since I really didn't like that first page I made a couple weeks ago anyway, but did like the journaling card... I just peeled it off that page and stuck it on this next page! 

Not so strange after all, huh?

And the journaling for this last page was taken directly from my blog post seen here.  Just typed it onto Word, printed & added Bryn's 7th grade photos taken at orientation in August.  Easy peasy...

 

SRM Stickers on all 4 pages.  Whether I'm designing for them or not, I'm a fan for life! 

 

Oh.... and I FINALLY received my copy of the March issue of Scrapbook Trends magazine where my card was published.  After this long of waiting, I thought for sure they had forgotten about me.  Never got to see the edition until now, but gotta love that they gave me a 2-page spread...

 

Bob asked me when I made those muffins by my card & why didn't he get any? 

Ummm... it's the magazine's styling for the photo shoot..... helllllooooo.... ?

 

I heard they've recently gone all digital.  As have a lot of magazines.  Kinda sad. 

 

Ok then... I leave you with my new favorite Zumba song...

 

 

Time to hit the dance floor...

"Let me be your ruler... you can call me queen bee... and baby I'll rule... "

TGIF... and the weekend is upon us.  It will be a weekend full of lots of Zumba + a crazy girl's night in between.  It's kinda my favorite kind of weekend.  The only thing better might be a crazy girl's weekend... like out of town... but I'll take what I can get for now.

And speaking of girl's weekends... the one I had in Pittsburgh for a Zumba class a few months ago with Lil Jon on stage was pretty darn FUN.  It wasn't a weekend, just 2 nights in the middle of the week, but a total BLAST nonetheless.  And I'm finally getting around to doing something with all the photos.  Once again... all I have are iPhone photos.  Fairly sure I probably brought my camera with me & then conveniently left it in the hotel room.  Too big to carry around, especially while dancing.  Some of the photos actually turned out pretty good though... especially that photo of the city taken from across the river...

This is the exact same page design I just used for the Vegas page I posted the other day, but since I have a lot of pics again... it works.  And more American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neopolitan on here.  I seem to be getting a lot of use out of that collection lately...

 

 

Ok then.  Bring on the weekend! 

I am ready to DANCE!!!

Brickhouse Cardio Club...

The way I ended up teaching at Brickhouse was totally by accident.  Although "they say" there are no "accidents"...  that everything happens for a reason.  I totally believe that. 

Unless, of course, you try to convince me of that when it comes to my sister passing away.  NO.  No reason for that.  People say the rudest things.  Even better than that stupid saying, was when someone (2 different people in fact) said to me, "Well at least you still have another sister."   REALLY asshole???! 

 

Oh well.  Nothing anger management can't handle. 

Or... in my case lots of "Zumba therapy."

 

Just a couple new pages here documenting a couple events in the past 7 months of my teaching at Brickhouse.  Crazy that it's already been that long!

Lots of Simple Stories SNAP & I ♥ Summer collections on this one + several SRM Stickers.  Can you spot them all?  There are 4 different ones...

I know I said I wasn't digging the whole diagonal layout thing when I posted another similar page a few weeks ago, but I did it again anyway.  If I get something wrong once, I like to do it again just to be sure I can make the same mistake twice.  LOL 

And the background paper for this one came from the Pebbles Love You More collection.  I bought the whole collection pack a couple weeks ago.  Even though it's a boy-themed collection... most of it seemed like it could cross-over to girl things, school events & even travel...

 

 

My balloons were just created using a circle punch, left-over scraps & some Twinery bakers twine...

 

 

Coincidentally... I found this video on Facebook today from a franchise owner of Brickhouse Cardio Club...

 

 

Very proud to be part of this company... with such amazing instructors & members that show up with a smile & ready to dance every single time I teach at the Troy, MO location.  They ROCK. 

It all happened by accident.  But I'm so thankful it did...

Save the drama for yo mama...

Happy Monday after a FUN weekend.  A bunch of friends from Zumba participated in the St Louis GLO Run over the weekend.  It was a night time 5K... lots of glow sticks, costumes, a DJ spinning tunes before & after the race.  It was a race, but I'd swear it was more of a Zumbathon.  Our group of about 20 was right in front of the stage.  And every time they'd play a song we do in Zumba... we'd all break out in dance... and everyone behind us was following along.  It was awesome.  TOTAL blast. There are a TON of party pics from that night, but this one is my favorite...

 

 

Gotta love any event where you can sport a wig, hat & costume... and still look totally normal.

 

In the meantime... I have a 12-year daughter already dealing with friend drama at school... over a BOY of all things.  I guess I knew all this was coming, but I'm not prepared for this.  Things were SO much simpler in elementary school.   

Can I just go back to being a room mom?  You know... the room mom that mentioned that I was always the only mom that would organize & be in charge of every party every year... and sometimes I just didn't have time for dat.  

Yeah... I want that back.

Ughhh.  Hopefully someday she ends up with a HUGE group of awesome friends like I have. Total drama-free friends.  I am blessed.

 

Ok then.

The other day at Target, I found this little gem.  Granted this Amercian Crafts paper pad is from last year (it's SO last year)... but for $4.48 (regularly $14.99) it's in my cart...

 

Just some photos on here from this year's St Patrick's Day parade when my parents took Bryn & my niece with them.  It's become somewhat of a tradition...

Since it's clearly NOT a St Patrick's themed collection... I used SRM Stickers + some paper piecing (a heart punch) to create my shamrock to give it more of an Irish theme...

 

One of the local news stations had a photographer at the race, who took the photo of Bryn & my niece.  Found that on their website. 

I mean why wouldn't they get photographed?  They really ARE kinda cute...  even if I am WAY partial.

 

Also made a birthday card with this collection for a friend who celebrated a birthday over the weekend, but didn't leave myself enough time to photograph it before I gave it to her.

Awesome weekend filled with Zumba, family, friends & FUN.  Couldn't ask for more than that.

 

Have a GREAT week, everyone!  

"Baby it's you & me you see... we can turn the night up...."

 

Gimme some of that...

 

I've got a couple birthday themed pages today... 1 of which I finished before I left for Arizona, but never got around to posting.

Probably because I don't seem to get around to posting ANYTHING lately.  Sheesh.

 

Anyway... random mix of stuff on the pages.  You know the drill... like whatever I have laying around that matches the photos...

And this next page is actually part of a 2-page spread, but the other page is just party pics that I tucked into a 12x12 divided page protector.  I didn't do anything special on that page, no journaling spots, no embellishments at all... yep just crazy party pics that don't belong on the blog... LOL! 

 

Love the bold black + white chevron...

 

Oh how I love celebrating birthdays.

And going out with my friends.

And dancing.

And being crazy.

And then laughing about it all the next morning.

Actually laughing about it is the best part. 

 

One of these days I guess I'll start acting my age. 

Whatever that means...

Life is about KICKING ASS... not kissing it...

 

Don't you agree?

 

Ok then... here's a quick page I made after I read an old blog post from last December.  Literally used the title and the journaling from that day.  Just cut & paste from my blog onto Word, printed it & then ran my journaling spot back through the printer.  Easy peasy.

 

I used all Simple Stories SNAP collection + some SRM Stickers  (the sentiments at the bottom & the date &  year at the top)...

And if you read all the journaling, I'm happy to say that I'm no longer addicted to the Artisan Roasted Garlic & Black Bean chips.  I gave them up for Lent (even though I'm not Catholic) & just didn't go back to eating them after that.  Tried once & they tasted gross.  Which is weird since I was eating like half a bag per day.  Not kidding. 

Red Hot Blues chips are good though.  Ahem.

Pretty sure I'd have an ass the size of Manhattan if I didn't work-out every day.

 

Scottsdale tomorrow!  Time to pack...

"Maniac brainiac winning the game... I'm the lyrical Jesse James..."

I ♥ old school hip hop. 

Thanks for the feedback on here & on Facebook after my recent post about my blog the other day.  I'll probably continue with the irregular blogging for now, as it may eventually lead to something else down the line.  I'd really like to design again for another manufacturer so it really leaves me no choice but to keep this somewhat current.  While I don't get a lot of comments on here, I do still get a lot of daily hits so I know people are reading this and hopefully somewhat inspired if nothing else. 

There was one comment I received that sums up exactly how I, too, feel about blogs...

 

"I like seeing your layouts. I like reading about the parts of your life that you like to share. I get drawn to blogs by the scrapbooking but I stay when I like the whole picture."

That's so how I operate.  I have a pretty long list of blogs on my feed, but the large majority of them I scroll through for inspiration or simply to keep up with what's going on the in the scrapbooking world.  There's a much smaller number of blogs that I actually read because they've hooked me with something about their life.  Usually it involves a sense of humor... or sarcasm.  Because if you can make me laugh... you're in. 

And in the past 5 1/2 years of blogging, I've gradually started writing more like I talk in real life... even if it involves slang or not necessarily being grammatically correct. 

Although if you know me in real life, I'm probably a lot more inappropriate than I am on here.  Gotta keep things somewhat professional!

 

Here's another page I completed last week while Bryn was gone.  I used a design I had recently used a couple weeks ago, but put it on an angle to try something new.  And since these pages aren't going in the same scrapbook it doesn't really matter if they look alike anyway.

Although who am I kidding?  Most of my pages look alike.  In fact, I'll sometimes look back through my pages for inspiration when I'm stuck for something to do. 

 

 Mostly Simple Stories on here, along with some SRM sentiment stickers + a 2013 sticker...

Not sure I'm totally digging the diagonal look for me.  I think it works better for others.  My OCD on keeping things lined up is kinda bugging me the more I look at this page.

But hey... gotta try new things sometimes, right? 

 

And speaking of new things... in addition to the Saturdays I'm already rotating with another instructor, I'm also going to be rotating Sundays now for teaching Zumba beginning in August.  Yay! 

And speaking of Zumba... it's MONDAY so I'm home from teaching this morning!  Best way to start the week!   

"You beat yourself up... to bring yourself down... let it go, let it go, let it go..."

 

"... when the world is coming down on me... I let it go..."

Spent a couple hours in the craft room today while Bryn was at a friend's house.  Love that.  In fact, I haven't done that in awhile.  I mean I have, but lately I just kinda sit here staring & thinking too much & not accomplishing anything.  Except for maybe the 'thinking too much' part.  It stinks.  But not only does creating help clear my mind... but laughing at hilarious instant messages on Facebook helped my mood today too.   

Gotta love having crazy friends.  

So... during a fleeting moment of aloneness & inspiration before we went school supply shopping this afternoon... I put some of Bryn's recent birthday photos on paper.  It's a page design I use OFTEN... yes I know... BORING... but it works when you have lots of photos. 

And you all know I had way more than this, so narrowing it down to 7 photos is pretty good for me.  LOL

Since it was a chevron-themed party (per Bryn's request) I used some yellow chevron paper on here (from the cheap Recollections paper pack) + some Studio Calico paper + Simple Stories Vintage Bliss for my title letters/numbers...

 

There's a few other random things on here, like SRM Stickers... but as always, comment if you need more info. 

Note to self... print more photos + finish more pages.  Thinking too much is overrated anyway.  Laughing is WAY better. 

You GLO, girl!