a busy season

so this is the time of year that my craft room looks totally nasty, because i don't leave myself time to clean it up with all the crafts, etc. i do. (actually when i'm done with a project, and it's 1am, cleaning up is the last thing that i want to do, so everything just piles up. so i'm kind of embarrassed to show you this picture, but i figured...it's a part of my life, and it might make some of you feel way better about yourselves because you

rs can't be this bad! (merry christmas!) p.s. i do try to keep the main part of my house reasonably clean because i can't close the door on the family room!

so, total i've done (just showing you how absolutely CRAZY i am, seriously, i do this to myself every year!)

*4 stockings (actually I made ours last year, but i made 4 for matt's brother and his family this year)

*1 outfit for gracie (for pictures with santa)

*4 pairs of pajama pants for us to wear on the polar express (you can see the red fleece in the picture above is the boys fabric, and the green with red polka dots is for the girls)

*i've edited over 800 pictures between family pictures and pictures with santa

*i've created 13 different christmas cards for different families

*i created a whole new line of scrapbook paper for dream street papers

(coming in feb 2008!)

*3 hand bags for teacher gifts and 1 diaper bag for a baby shower

*6 aprons for my nieces, gracie, and molly (our neighbor)

*12 bags to hold m&m's (and a super cute poem i'll post on the bottom) for our neighbors and friends around here

*1 advent calendar, 3 cards, and 3 scrapbook layouts for samples for the scrapbook company, creating inspirations, that i work for

*a rag quilt from the leftover fleece from the pj pants (couldn't let it go to waste!)

*10 ribbon ornaments

*12 chipboard picture ornaments

*and who the heck knows how many dozens of cookies, appetizers, and dinners for parties whew!

FOR A BAG OF M&M'S (inside a fabric bag i made)

as you hold these candies

in your hand

and turn them,

you will see...

the M becomes a W

and E then a 3.

they tell the christmas story.

it's the one i'm sure you know

it took place in a stable

a long, long time ago.

the E is for the East

where the star shone so bright.

the M is for manger,

where the baby Jesus slept that night.

the 3 is for wisemen

bearing gifts, they say they came.

W is for worship, hallelujah,

praise be His name.

so as you eat these candies

or share them with a friend,

remember the meaning of

CHRISTMAS

it's a love story that never ends.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

this year has been exciting in many ways. this is the first year we have had a real tree, and the first year, I really decorated it. the last five years we have had this tiny fake tree with modge podge ornaments...so i've been collecting the last couple years, and found some "must haves" to bring this tree together. all of my ornaments have a reason or a symbol. i used only red, green, and a touch of silver. i also wanted it to be very whimsical with a touch of dr. seus-ness. i smile every time i look at it. even the pictures don't do it justice. i love it. but i love all the meanings behind it even more...

here they are:
1. snowflake - this will be our first white christmas...and we think the snow flakes are so pretty.

2. tree skirt - again, more snow flakes...and some embellishments that i will talk about later.

3. candycane - the candy cane is a stick of hard, white candy. white to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus. the shape 'J' to represent the precious name of Jesus who came to earth as our Savior. it also represents the crook of the Good Shepherd which he uses to reach down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like sheep, have gone astray. the original candy cane had three small red stripes which are the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed, and a large red stripe that represents the shed blood of Jesus so that we can have eternal life.

4. holly berry - red is the first color of Christmas. red is deep, intense, vivid. it is the color of the life giving blood that flows through our veins. it is the symbol of God's greatest gift. Christ gave His life and shed His blood for us that we might have eternal life.

5. green glitz - i love glitz, and the lights make it sparkle and so lovely! plus, this is gracie's favorite color.

6. nail - (here is a poem that a dear friend showed me)

it's Christmas time at our house
and we're putting up the tree.
i wish I could find one simple way
to remember Christ's gift to me.

some little sign or symbol
to show friends stopping by,
the little babe was born one day
but really came to die.

some symbol of His nail pierced hands,
the blood He shed for you and me...
what if i hung a simple nail
upon my christmas tree?

a crimson bow tied 'round the nail
as His blood flowed down so free
to save each person from their sin
and redeem us for all eternity

i know it was His love for us
that held Him to that tree,
but when i see this simple nail
i'll remember He died for me.

7. jack with santa (who's a symbol of love and giving)

8. star/bow - the star reminds us of the night of Christ's birth. the bow reminds us of the bond of perfection which is love.

9. pickle - a pickle used as an ornament on the tree seems odd at first, but this is an
old german tradition. when decorating the tree, it was a practice to hang the pickle ornament last, hidden among twigs. the first child on christmas eve to find the pickle ornament would get to open the first gift.

10. gracie with santa

11. homemade ornament - i saw ornaments like this in the pottery barn catalog for like $10 each, so i decided to make 8 unique ribbon ornaments of my own for a ton cheaper.

12. diamond - not exactly my best friend, matt is, but i love them any way. they look fabulous twinkling in the lights. also, you can see my garland that is pom poms (thank you martha stewart!) i love how it makes the tree a little dr. seus-ish.

13. metal stars - with the words: faith, hope, love, peace, & joy. these are the several meanings of christmas to me.

14. red star - again, LOVE the sparkles, it's red, and it's a star...i love stars. also, my mom gave me all of these ornaments.

15. poinsettia - the botanical name, Euphorbia pulcherrima means "very beautiful." christmas is very beautiful to me, and i wanted my tree to reflect the beauty of the season.

16. pom poms - i love to make things pretty, and i found the tree skirt at the store, but thought it needed some more pizzaz! i love how the skirt ties in all the red and green, and glitz and glamor of the tree.

thanks for reading...sorry it was so long, but i wanted to document this for myself. happy decorating!

it's the hap-happiest time of the year!

sorry my blogger friends that it has been so long since i last updated. i just got back from az 2 nights ago, and i've been busy ever since. i was so busy in az too! i took about 45 different families pictures including all the pictures with santa. i love what i do, but i was a little too busy...matt says that next year i need to cut back....i think i will just stick with pictures with santa.

any hoo...this is one of my favorite pictures, not only b/c it's my kids and all my nieces and nephew, but because it shows a true variety of personalities, and stages of life.

jack - "mom, why are you making me do this?"
kyson - "why the heck are they all crying?"
grace - "i'm LOVIN' this, CHEESE!"
lily - "mimi, help me!!!"
carlee - "mom, put me down!"
claire - "who is this guy! WAHHH!"
camree - "this big chubby guy is not my daddy! WAHHH!!!"

isn't this the best?! LOVE IT!!! poor santa got his feelings hurt after this one!

i believe, i believe

it's hard to believe that christmas is just around the corner again! i love christmas. last year i started pictures with santa, and it is by far my favorite job i have ever done! it's kind of a fun story too as to how i got started...

last august, we were at the park and jack comes running up to me and says, "there's santa!" as he is pointing at this older gentleman who had long white hair and a beard...but no red suit. then jack asks, "can i go tell him that i want a superman bike for christmas?" how could i say no? it would totally crush him, and ruin his chances of believing in santa...so i let him go up to "santa" with hopes that the older fellow would humor my son.

well, "santa" did more than that..he took jack up on his knee and let jack tell him everything that he wanted for christmas, he did magic tricks with jack, sang jingle bells, and even told jack to listen to his mommy and daddy, say his prayers, and be a good big brother to gracie.

i was floored! i thought to myself, "this probably really is the real santa", or at least the "santa" i surely believed in until the 6th grade (don't make fun of me...i've always been a big dreamer and have a wild imagination). after talking to "santa" for a bit, i found out that being "santa" is his job for november and december and has been for the last 15 years. he said he has the best job in the world. now, being a photographer...the wheels in my head began turning. i asked him if he had ever done photo shoots. he said only at the mall. i then told him the idea i just thought of...to give families 20 whole minutes with the best santa ever, and sneek a few pictures in the process. he said he would love to. soooo, he made room for me in his very busy schedule and we made "pictures with santa" happen.

last year i filled 2 days and had the time of my life - and so did "santa". he said that in the 15 years he has been "santa", this was his favorite "gig". the children absolutely adored him, and he got every child to sit on his lap...he was so sweet and really worked with the children who were a little afraid. he sang songs, did magic tricks, and even snuck in a few kisses with the babies. some of the parents brought gifts for santa to give the kids, but he still had a bag for all the children anyway.

i feel truly blessed to know the real santa, and i can't wait to see what fun there is to have this year. i hope you all can come experience this wonderful man and start off your holiday season with a bang!

above is another adorable picture of santa with my cousin's daughter...

and just because i love you...all of you who come to my blog...if you click on the ad on the right of my blog, and pay there...you get $10 off. i know it's still not the cheapest thing ever, but it's his job and mine. also...if you think about what you would pay for 1 5x7 at the mall ($15), plus a fake-bearded santa, plus only 1 minute to sit on his lap while the rest of the mall watches, plus you don't get to have the digital negatives to have forever and turn into the best christmas card EVER! whew...

hope to see you there!

a fairy princess

i found some cool new brushes, and decide to make this picture a little bit more fun and magical.....

i LOVE photoshop! i let my creative juices flow, and have a ball!

a simple life

well this weekend we went to amish country and saw many beautiful and interesting things. i admire them in many ways. i think we can learn a lot about them and their life style. they really believe in a "simple life" and in not trying to be better than all those around them, but equals. all their houses and land was pristine and beautiful. everything was so neat and clean and it's apparent that they take great pride in the upkeep of their homes, land, and country.

as we were there i couldn't help but think back to the tragedy several months back when that milk man that delivered to an amish community in pennsylvania and was grieved at the loss of his baby girl, and went and held hostage the girls at school and then killed and wounded them. i remember reading about how the amish community forgave that man and mourned for his family. this example was the ultimate story of forgiveness and christ-like love.

as i watched these people in wonder, i had nothing but respect for them and their culture. i thought how many times i make life way more difficult than needs be...to the amish the most important part of life is their family. if everyone is this world even just followed them in this one aspect, the world would be a drastically better place.
this was a general store in amish country that we went to with matt's parents and brother, rob, who came in town for the weekend (see next post). they had lots of cool toys and other nifty odds and ends.

dandelions

today was one of those days where i felt like a horrible mom because my sweet little boy was disobeying my every demand (or so it seemed). i thought, "do i not follow through?", "am i not strict enough?", "do i pose empty threats?"...the sad thing is - i can answer yes to those questions at times...every mom can, i hope!? but today, i did follow through on every punishment, so i felt like he was in time-out all day long. i felt like i was the worst mom, and when i was tucking him tonight i just felt so bad for hounding him all day long. then, as i bent down to kiss him goodnight, jack said "love you mom, i love you this much" (and then he stretched out his little arms as wide as they would go and he smiled so big).

at this point i felt even more horrible, but blessed all at the same time that my 4-year-old could have such unconditional love for me, and a wonderful ability to forgive and forget. it seems i am constantly being taught by the ones i am supposed to be teaching. if only i could show the same treatment to others who have offended me or made me cry.

and now, you are probably wondering why i have a picture of a dandelion on this post (i promise i will bring this all together)...well, when matt came home we had dinner, and i thought we would get the kids in bed by 7pm tonight (which is their regular bed time), not to mention their naps were non-existent today, but jack wanted his daddy to play some baseball with him, so i said "okay" (one nice thing today)...while we were watching jack hit the baseball, gracie ran around our backyard collecting all the dandelions. she loved to blow off all the seeds and watch them blow in the wind. she spent an hour busily picking and blowing and smiling and giggling.

i was reminded of a few things watching my family enjoying the evening, and pondering on the "naughty" day we had:
*it's okay to not always follow the schedule
*kids are kids (and sometimes we should be more "child-like" too)
*all it takes is time for things to blow away in the wind
*life is too short to sweat the small stuff
*at the same time, life is too short not to enjoy the small stuff as well

sorry for all my ramblings, but some how i feel better about myself when i write it down. writing is therapeutic for me.

my name is lara, and i'm a scrapaholic

okay...so i guess i'll have to show you one room at a time. here is my sanctuary...sigh...my office/craft room. i also have my sewing machine set up on the other side, but that part is not set up yet. we have been so blessed to have found this house. it's perfect. the sad thing is - by the time we move back to AZ, we will most likely have to downsize. any hoo...i am certainly enjoying the extra space for the next 4 years. i love having a room that i can shut off from the rest of the house, especially two little ones who love to "scrapbook" too. it is is a room off the basement, and the basement is a huge play room for the kids - so it's perfect because the kids can play while i work! i can edit photos, design paper, and more right next to my kids. i love it!!! the pink chair, metal hanging pots, and brown and white storage boxes are from ikea. my desk is from pottery barn, and the paper shelves are from my boss, tara. dream street papers didn't need them any more, and she said i could have them. the shelf to the right of my desk is a garage sale treasure painted white (got it for 5 bucks!) matt jokes with me that i have my own little store down here. well, call it what you want, but it's perfect!

some good news

i'm so excited! my boss, tara governo, with dream street papers called me today and said that the proofs are in for my 2 new paper lines! i named my lines "jack" and "gracie" (after my own two bundles of joy). she says they look fabulous and that i can come see them tomorrow. i can't wait to post them for y'all to see (but not until july...sorry folks). you'll just have to keep reading...i'll keep you in suspense. the "jack" line is baby blue, orange, green, brown, and a tad bit of yellow...i totally love it! the "gracie" line is mostly pink (of course) with green, white, blue, and yellow too. these 2 lines are by far my favorite that i have ever designed. i can't wait to see them! thanks for letting me ramble on about my exciting news. stay tuned for more to come!!!

what's cookin' good lookin'

well this has been a project a long time in the making. i have wanted my own little cookbook with my favorite recipes for a long time now. i decided that my brother getting married was a good excuse. i decided that his fiance, sarah, needed some good ole' salmon women recipes to feed her man the right food! while i was at it, make one for myself too. i compiled several recipes and had it bound at a local copy store, then i added a little za-za-zing to make it more me. (i made sarah's a different color scheme.) i even left many blank pages so that she, and i (and anyone else who i deem worthy of my personal cookbook) can add recipes to it. it was fun to do. i love creating, you know me. here are some more shots.

miss kate

today i finished a project for miss kate, jack's preschool teacher and soon-to-be-mommy for the third time. she is being induced the day after preschool! (it reminds me of when wendy and i taught preschool up until we were 9 months pregnant and wendy had her baby a few days after preschool). tomorrow is jack's last day at preschool. he will really miss his teacher, and so will i. she has become a good friend to me as well. our boys played football together, and our kids did swimming lessons together too. we are just beginning the many "lasts" of things here in az. kate is now one of the many reasons i am sad to leave. she has become a great friend and we have lots in common. i just love her and her positive outlook on life. hopefully we keep in touch and pick up where we left off when we return to good ole' az. by the way...these are birp cloths, bibs, and a diaper and wipee holder. i had fun making them...especially because they are for a dear friend.

twilight, it will suck you in

i realized that i haven't updated for so long! a week and a half is a long time for me! one of the many reasons it has taken me a while is this new book by stephenie meyer. this is one of my all time favorite reads in my life, seriously. right up there with harry potter. like jk rowling, stephenie meyer makes you fall in love with the characters in a way that makes you feel like the characters are your best friends. both books i mentioned are in the young adult section of the book store, maybe i still secretly wish i was a teenager or something (not really, but sometimes!) this book is all about a girl named, bella who moves from phoenix to a small town in oregon, forks. she moves in with her dad and doesn't expect to find anything remotely interesting in forks. it rains all the time, and it's a small town. well, she meets a boy named edward, falls in love, and realizes he is a vampire. that's all i'm going to say besides...READ IT. it will suck you in! i love this quote by paul sweeney, "You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend." i literally dreaded the last chapter of twilight because that meant it would be over. luckily the second of the series, new moon, is out right now too (i read it in two days...i know, i didn't get anything else done!) the third one comes out in august, and the fourth in fall 2008...i can't wait. i feel like bella and edward are my friends...stephenie meyer is amazing and inspiring to me as a writer.

galoshes

yesterday it rained all day here in mesa! (we needed it so bad...we always need it). our backyard was practically flooded today, and the kids wanted to go play in the puddles. lucky for them they had these fabulous rain galoshes! they both love their "boots". they wear them everywhere. we went to the doctor on wednesday to have the kids' well checks (gracie's 18 month...she's 22 1/2 months & and jack's 3 year...he'll be four in july - at least we got there!) anyway...the doctor said, where are your froggie and lady bug boots? my kids normally always wear them (yes, i let them wear them in public...i learned in one of my early childhood development classes at byu that if you let kids have some freedom in their apparel then they grow up more creative, and creativity leads to smartness...or something like that!) i know my kids are smart because they have huge heads! the doctor told us that jack is in the 95 percentile for height, weight, and off the charts for head! (he basically has a head the size of a 6 year-old) gracie, she said was a bit of a runt weighing in at the 45 percentile for height and weight, but her head was in the 95 percentile. i started thinking that with a big head and a little body, she's a bit of a lolly pop! my doctor said that the head is shaped the way the brain is...so big heads equal big brains. also, big brains are linked with higher intelligence...so there you go. let your kids wear galoshes and don't be sad if they have huge heads. i like to make the same jokes made on "so i married and ax murderer"...head, it's got its own weather system...it's like an orange on a toothpick. i love my 95th percentile headed children! I love how this picture shows their knees. jack has such short legs that gracie's knees and his are almost at the same level.

happy valentines

i love valentine's day. i think that i love it because my birthday is the day after. i feel that february is the month of love. so give love away...it always comes back.

fishies - a staple?

it's funny how little things in life change when you have kids. on my counter are jars of "staples" in my kitchen. wheat, flour, powdered sugar, sugar, oats, wheat thins, and fishie crackers. (the wheat thins are for me to eat on the run, and the fishies are for jack and gracie.) they eat fishies just about every day. it's handy to have them on the counter for the kids to reach. now that i have my kiddos, it is hard to remember/imagine life any different. although frustrating, tiring, and difficult at times, life with children creates an abundance of joy. each child brings different moments of joy to our life too. jack is such a lover (like his daddy). he is always telling me how much he loves me, giving me hugs, and planting wet smooches on my lips. the other day at football practice jack called out from the field, "mom, are you watching? i sure love you." the other parents chuckled while i held back the tears. hearing i love you from my children is the best. also, the other day i was making cookies and jack said, "sweetheart, can you bring me a cookie." i laughed for a long time. sometimes i will just be driving or walking somewhere, and i'll remember and laugh at his comment. (he has a good daddy as a role model.) one time i picked him up from nursery and jack said, "hey, pretty mama." he is a character. i love him. gracie is my little princess. from the time she was born, i can't go anywhere without at least one person stopping me and commenting on her beauty. several people have told me i should get her into modeling. (too bad she has a stubborn streak, or maybe i'd do it to save her money for college.) i'm a bit partial, but i think she is beautiful too. before she was born (actually, when i was pregnant with jack) i had recurring dreams about a little girl with dark curly hair and bright blue eyes. she would reach out her hands and say, "mama". when we found out that jack was a boy - i didn't understand why i had those dreams when i had felt so strongly that the baby in my dreams would someday be mine. when i was expecting for the second time, i hoped this baby would be the baby in my dreams. when we found out i was carrying a girl, we didn't pick a name right away. in my dreams, i had called my baby girl "gracie". if the baby i delivered looked like the baby in my dreams - we would name her grace. well, as soon as my baby girl was delivered and put on my chest for me to hold...i instantly knew this was the baby in my dreams. she was beautiful with dark curly hair and bright blue eyes. sometimes when she was first born i would look at her and cry. i thought that why would a baby this beautiful be sent to me. later matt and i were talking and wondering why i had dreamed about her when i was pregnant with jack. we both joked that jack stepped in front of her to come first so that he could protect her. (and boy does he). now that gracie is growing, she has such a precious little way about her. her name, "grace", fits her perfectly. every night i thank Heavenly Father for sending me these to little ones. they are far more perfect than me. may matt and i have the guidance from above to help these two find their rightful places in this life.

cha - scrapbook convention

i went to aneheim, california for the scrapbook convention to sell my paper (and everyone else's)! this is our booth... tara, the owner built it herself. everyone kept saying how fabulous our booth was. i didn't realize the hard work that goes into these conventions. i'm pooped! we were on our feet all day selling our papers and helping the customers. It was a huge show...30,000 people were there. it was a bit overwhelming walking onto the floor and seeing so much going on. our papers and company is a bit unique because there are 9 designers and we all have our own style. we also get to put our name on our papers. most other companies do not put the designer's name on the paper, and their paper is all very similar. each line of our paper is very different from the others. people would come into our booth and say things like, "there is something for everyone," or "this is a one stop shop". also, our booth was busy all the time. it was exciting to see lots of retailers getting excited about our papers (and buying them!). tara said that we tripled her expectations and that we would probably have to go to reprint! it is so amazing to be a part of this company and team of women. we are all different, but got along so well. we didn't get a picture with everyone (kind of sad), but here is a picture with some of the women. also, i have a picture with my roommate, alicia. she was a great roommate to have, and such a sweetheart. she lives 60 miles from cleveland (where we are moving in 5 months) - so we will have to get together with her and her family. i loved meeting all the girls. each one is unique and fun in her own way. i feel so privileged to be a part of the dream street team. we are already talking about summer cha in chicago! thanks to everyone for accepting the new girl and for a fabulous show. i'm excited for the new chapter this company and opportunity creates in my life.

vintage, chic, and fabulous

these are just a few layouts that i created with my paper! i didn't think that scrapbooking could get any better...but it did. creating layouts with my own paper is the best! dream street papers - the company i design for - teamed up with petal loo - a company that designs flowers and the wonderful little purse shown here. the purse says everything i wanted my paper to say: vintage, chic, and fabulous! the purse was just a white color, but i decided to sew my paper on it. inside has pictures of gracie's family in it (jack, mom and dad, nana and papa, mimi and papa...) she loves carrying it around...and so do i!!

sometimes you have to look past the pee pee

last night i was staying up late because i went to pick up my paper, and of course i was too excited to work with it and sleep wasn't an option...let's face it - i would have laid awake for two hours and thought about what i should do anyway. iv'e learned a couple things about myself - and shutting my brain down to sleep when it's on a creative roll is not an option is one of them. it's almost like the creativeness in me surges adrenaline through my veins and keeps me up to finish my thoughts through a project...it kills me every time when i look up and realize it's 2 am and i have realized that my eyes burn and my arms are heavy (it's bizarre that my eyes never registered to my brain how much they burned)...is that just me or does this happen to anyone else? anyway, back to the reason for the title of my entry...at 1 am i hear jack crying; my gut feeling is that he threw up b/c matt had the stomach flu on monday night and i am just waiting for that friendly bug to visit the rest of us...i go in his room and notice that he had peed the bed.(not just a little pee either, but a 2 foot in diameter pee spot). my first reaction is to be mad at matt b/c jack usually doesn't pee the bed if he goes right before bed. however, my sweetheart reassured me that jack "took 2 huge pees" right before bed. anyway, jack is crying so i let him come lay in our bed for a bit while i am changing his sheets. when i come back into my room there was another huge pee spot on my bed. ( i was starting to get a little ticked b/c my bed doesn't have a plastic liner to protect the mattress like his bed does, and my eyes were really burning from sleep deprivation). so i have to wake matt, change jack, change the sheets, calm him down, etc, etc, etc. well my sweet hubby changed the sheets for me and said, "it's all right sweetheart, we are a team" - i love him - and i went and rocked my 3 and a half year old. i have not rocked him for so long, and last night the realization hit me that i might not get many more chances to do that. although i was tired, i relished in the moment of holding my firstborn while he fell asleep on my chest. i remembered how i used to rock him as a baby and truly felt like it was just yesterday (a saying i thought only old people said), and realized it was 3 years of yesterdays gone by. with 2 small children it is good for me to have occasional moments like this because it puts life into perspective for me, and helps me to enjoy every moment of their little lives...when they are 30 i know i will think - where did the time go? i loved holding him and feeling needed. i need moments like that in the quiet of the night or morning to remember to love each moment as it comes- even the pee pee.

announcing...nancy

it feels like a new baby was born...i am so excited to show my first line of scrapbook paper to be published!!! it worked out well that my first line to be printed is the line i named after my mom, nancy salmon. she instilled a love for pink and green in me (just visit her house and see her living room)...and visit her mother's house and see her living room. perhaps gracie too will love the fabulous color combo. her room is also pink and green (we get 'em while they are young). i decided that every line of paper i do will be named after someone who has influenced my life for good. i'm happy that my first line to be picked up was named after the first person who influenced me for good - my mom. she loves victorian houses too - so each the papers individual names are: wrap around porch, the parlor, the gardens, powder room, the loft, and cloak room. kind of fun, huh?...well this is just about one of the most exciting things to happen for me in my life. i was telling matt that i love photography - and i will always do that - but designing is something totally unique and girly. i get to show my personality on paper and be as creative as my little heart desires. i also get to go to scrapbook conventions and socialize with other women who are just like me. call me conceited, but i love seeing my name printed under the paper (like i'm the author)! i hope this is the first of many exciting designing moments to come. thanks to my sweetheart for letting me sit in front of the computer and for getting excited for all of my creative little whims, thanks to my mother for giving me the creative genes and for encouraging me to be crafty, thanks to my dad who always led me to believe that i could do anything i put my mind to, and to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with talents, the gospel, and people in my life who care.

addicted/cleaning soapbox

so i totally love this blogging stuff. however, it's just one more thing to take me away from my housework....cleaning is overrated anyway. i think there is a difference between dirty and messy. i take care of the "dirty" part once a week - clean with cleaner, vaccum, dust, etc - the messy part however (all the toys, clothes, dog bones, etc) - we are lucky if that happens once a day. i try really hard to do a once over right before matt comes home. i know i should make my house meticulous during nap time... but that's when i have lara time. also, while the kids are awake - i'd rather play with them. my mom-in-law once told me that she loves the saying "the cobwebs can wait, but your children will grow up". well, that's that. my house is generally in pretty good shape. anyway...i love this brown hat on grace! she loves hats too. this pink and brown paper is totally in right now and perfect for these pictures. too bad grace never smiles. last night we had pictures with my parents and siblings - and little miss gracie wanted nothing to do with smiling - or being in the picture for that matter. she just kept screaming NO NO. my mom made the comment that how could something this cute be so naughty! she was my angel baby until she hit 18 months...now she has decided it's her turn to be heard. we love you my little stoic, strong-willed princess.

i love scrappin'

sorry i am posting again, but i am so excited about my paper! they just put my bio up on their website, and you will be able to see my paper the end of this month! i am soooo excited to go to cha in california to launch my paper! go to the dream street papers website to the right to see my bio:

also, i was the guest designer this month for paper made memories (a kit club), so check out the paper made memories link to the right as well.