Back to the Valley of the Sun!!!

Well, I am back to 110 degree weather. It is good to be home though. 10 days is a little long to be gone with kids I decided. We had a lot of fun and packed a lot of activities into the trip. I saw some friends and co-workers from my Albertson's days. Lagoon was fun but I was exhausted by the end of the day. I remember going there when it first opened and staying until it was closed. I was done after 5 hours. I did go one my favorite ride, the old wooden roller coaster. I always sit there and wonder if this is the time that it will crack and fall apart! LOL!

I took probably at least 1,000 pictures. I had to empty my card twice. Of course more than half of those can be discarded but I haven't gone through all of them yet. My cousin and I were taking pictures the day after we got there and we kind of went crazy! I got some priceless ones though. We started taking pictures of things you can't find or do in Arizona. By the end of the trip it was what we couldn't find or do in Arizona and things you can only find in Utah! So here is my top 10!!! Just for fun!!!

OK, this one is just for this time of year but you would never see my kids playing outside right now in Arizona!!!



As I mentioned in my last blog! There is nothing like walking barefoot in the grass in Utah. It's so soft and cool!!! I tried to plant lilac's in my town home when I first moved to Arizona, they died within a month. Lilac's are my absolute favorite. They smell heavenly!!!


My neighbor had this tree in their front yard. The little green 'things' doubled as a helicopter and a Pinocchio nose!!!

OK, I guess you could see this sign in Northern Arizona but you would never see this is Mesa!!!

This is just too cute not to post. You would never see my kids rolling down a hill in Arizona. Why? Because it's too stinkin' hot and the grass feels like glass!!!


You can see the Mesa Temple in Arizona but there is absolutely nothing like the Salt Lake Temple. I don't care if you are L.D.S. or not, it is breathtaking!!!

OK, the next 3 are things you will only find in Utah! You won't appreciate it until you move away.

These last 2 would have come in very handy when I sent away my 3 missionaries! HeHe! Didn't marry one of them! I ended up marrying someone else's missionary! (The first time)I have a soft spot for Gordon B. Hinkley. I was very happy to see his face on a Billboard!!!

OK, there is my list! Now keep in mind! I love Arizona!!! It is just way too hot, but the summer only last about 4 months and then it is paradise while everyone is cold and shoveling their driveways!!!

That's about all for tonight! I just wanted to add that my husband got a brand new Plasma Screen T.V. He kept complaining about the picture on our other T.V. and I just couldn't see what he was talking about. But now that it is sitting in my family room, I didn't realize a T.V. could look so good! I got a vacation and my husband gets a new T.V. I love it when I can benefit from both! LOL! SpongeBob has never looked sooo good!

Now for your freebie! I made you a new freebie template! This is the template from Landon's first swim! This was my first speed scrap. I probably wouldn't have added stars to my layout but that is the fun of a speed scrap, you never know what you are going to end up with!!!

Download Here

Speaking of Speed Scrap! I was actually able to catch the Tuesday night one on my vacation! Here is my end result!

I took these pictures of Landon is Park City. It was one of those Speed Scraps that all the instructions turned out perfect! I loved this layout!

I will have to get back to you on the details of this weeks Speed Scrap.

Check back on Tuesday though because I am hosting the Tuesday Template Challenge at ScrapMatter! You won't want to miss out!

Also, my Digital Scrapbooking Group on Cafe Mom is a year old! We started the 2nd year with 727 members. Way more than I ever expected when I started the group a year ago. There is a link on my left sidebar. We are starting a scavenger hunt tomorrow! I recently added 2 administrators to help me out since my time is more limited now with kids out of school and a 10 month old running the house! He learned how to pull himself up to furniture while I was out of town! Nothing is safe!!!

Have a good night and check back soon for the Tuesday Challenge and an update on the Speed Scrap this week!!!

Checking in!!!

Just a quick one tonight! Although I do have a ton to blog about! I am having a fabulous time here in Utah! I forget how beautiful it is here. It's sooo green and the mountains are amazing! My kids are having a lot of fun and absolutely love being outside and laying in the grass. You can't do that in Arizona, any time of year. I don't know what it is but the grass always feels sharp and like weeds, even when it is green. So we have spent a lot of time outside laying in the grass. I sat the baby in the grass and he didn't even know what to do. So he started eating it. I promise to post and scrapbook lots of pictures but I am very tired tonight.

I just wanted to quick mention that I went to lunch today with the fabulous Brittney from ScrapMatters and fellow CT member Dacia. We had a great time and it was so nice to sit and actually talk to these girls that I correspond with on almost a daily basis. We realized last minute that we needed to take a picture and asked a guy in the parking lot to take it. I'm almost positive that I went to high school with him but I am having the hardest time remembering names anymore. Everyone has changed so much!!! Anywho, just wanted to post our kind of blurry photo and tell Dacia and Brittney thank you so much for meeting me in A.F. and having lunch today! It was a ton of fun to sit and visit with friends that share the same interest(addiction) with me.

My little Hayden is turning 7 tomorrow, actually today. I can't believe how big he is getting. We are going to Lagoon for his birthday. I love Lagoon! Have a good night and check back soon for some fun pictures and a fun little post that I have been working on putting together. Maybe I will even be able to throw in a freebie!

Before I Leave...

I've been meaning to post this for the last 4 days. Definately before Father's Day. I'm anticipating a very long drive with 3 children under the age of 6. Therefore, I cannot be excited yet, just nervous. I am bringing my 17 year old cousin with me to help out, so that should make it a lot better. We are going to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Utah. It should be a lot of fun once I can get there. It is getting so hot here, I'm excited to get into the mountains.

So, I just wanted to share a few things. 1st of all, last weeks Speed Scrap was a huge success! There were a ton of people participating. Our next one is tommorow night 8pm MST. I will hopefully be in Park City by then. Here was my result from last week.

I used SHARIng Creations 'My Independence' kit. I went perfect with these pics that I have been waiting to scrapbook!!!

Then the Saturday Challenge was a '10 things' challenge, so with it being Father's Day I decided to do a page on my husband! I hardly ever scrapbook anything about him! I ended up framing a copy and giving it to him for Father's Day...

I used ScrappyBlueStones 'Love Letters ' kit. I love this kit! And then I decided to do some Word Art for Father's Day and came up with this layout! This is absolutely one of my favorite pictures!

Hard to believe the same little girl is just in the other room, refusing to sleep and causing trouble! Who said girls were easier? This is Brittney's newest kit called 'Just Married' You will have to check out the actual kit. Obviously it can be used as more than a wedding kit. It is packed full of fun and elegant!

And then is today's template challenge. The template is by Brittney and it is a Text Path challenge. The kit is from Digi-Keepsakes and is called 'Hopeful Wishes'

I didn't have time to put together a preview but we have 2 new designers and a bunch of new kits in the store! 'Ever After' is amazing. Also HappyScrapGirl has a Text Path kit that I cannot wait to use. So check out the store.

OK, so now for your freebies, yes I made 2!!!

First is a template that I made from my 'All American' layout...

Download here

and then the Title and Word Art from my layout 'Daddy's Hands'

It comes in both black and white

Download here

All right! Wish me luck! I don't know how much Internet access I will have, or time. I will come back with a ton of new pictures.

I am excited to have lunch with Brittney and the Utah ScrapMatters girls.

Enjoy your freebies!!!

My Obsession!!!

I made it back with the Tuesday Template Challenge. This weeks challenge was to scrapbook your obsession. So I was trying to think which of my obsessions I should scrapbook about. My kids, no, everyone knows that my kids are my obsession. My computer, digital scrapbooking, no surprise there. So I decided to scrapbook one of my fun obsessions. My Roxy flip flops...

I know, it's a problem. It drives my husband crazy! At least their flip flops! I could have Coach purse addiction...oh wait I do!!! LOL!

Don't forget Speed Scrap tomorrow night! 7pm PST! It's going to be fun!!! I'm also feeling another template coming on!!! Maybe a little Father's Day Word Art!!!

So, I came to the realization that I have too many dogs! I am overwhelmed with 6 dogs and 4 kids. So today I finally broke down and put 2 of my doxies on Craig's list. Brandon has been asking me to for a couple of months now. I had to keep one of the puppies so I had the mommy, daddy and baby, plus my husbands Black Lab Ranger, my Llasa Apso Romeo and another Daschund who is the old man Waldo and the same age as Hunter. Way too many dogs! 10 minutes after I had posted to Craig's list I had a phone call, 4 calls in total, all wanting both dogs to keep them together. A lady showed up tonight with her 2 boys and took home my Dax and Rowdy. I kept Paige who is the momma. I feel bad but I know it is the best thing for all the dogs. I was so overwhelmed by all of them that I just kept them all outside and now it is too hot for them to be outside all the time. Also Dax and Rowdy will have a great home with 2 boys that will play with them.

So Sad!!! The lady said she would keep in touch! At least I still have Paige, she was the runt of her litter and is just little. She loves to play catch and when my baby is crying she comes and gets me and follows me until I pick him up and he stops crying. She's my favorite. So now we have 4 dogs.

OK, I've been tagged again! This is going to be hard!!!

I married someone who's mother insisted that all his kids needed to be named with the same letter. He already had Hunter, so then we had Hayden and Hensley and thought we were done. Then our little surprise miracle baby came and I loved the name Landon from 'A Walk to Remember' My mother in law is still mad at me and wouldn't call him by his first name for the 1st month of his life! She would introduce him to people as Heath because that was the middle name we gave him, just in case he felt left out! I would do it all over again! I love his name!!!

I still cry at the end of 'Sense and Sensibility'

I have 6 brothers and 4 sisters and haven't seen 3 of them since I was 16 years old.

I love going to the ocean. I don't make it there very often but when I do I love the sound of the crashing waves.

I love the smell of rain. The Monsoon season in Arizona is awesome! Hot Rain and a relief from the heat! I love Arizona!!!

I hate snow and the cold, that's why I am here in Arizona and not still in Utah!

I love to put my Ipod on and sing and dance around the house. But only when I'm alone or with my kids.

Now I am tagging...

My girl Channon Z.- http://channonstorybooking.blogspot.com/

Our Aussie Stacy- http://www.stacysbackdoor.blogspot.com/

My friend from Jr. High and High School Rachel- http://www.everylittlememory.blogspot.com/

My favorite blog Flergs- http://flergsblog.blogspot.com/

I love Pineapple Plantation(have you heard her lizard story?)- http://pineappleplantation.blogspot.com/

Sarah from ScrapMatters- http://mythreehens.blogspot.com/

The other AZMelanie- http://digiscrapforfree.blogspot.com/

Ok there you go, I'm going to read my book! I'm likin' this Edward guy a lot!!! My friend Misti sent me a little saying from MySpace...

Someone should sue Disney for making little girls think that there is a Prince Charming!!!

I loved it!!! My poor friend Krista is depressed that she is done with the 3 books that are out and has to wait until August for the last one!!! And that someone like Edward does not exist! I think I will pace myself!!!

Have a great night and I hope to see you tomorrow night at ScrapMatters!!! Don't forget you have to be registered to the forum to participate and to post in the gallery!!!

Quick Post!

I'm very tired tonight! I had a very emotional day today and it has completely drained me! I just wanted to pop in and let you know that I am hosting the Speed Scrap this week. We are doing it on Wednesday this week and it will start at 7pm PST. I am really excited to be hosting this week and I hope you will all join us. The more people there are the more fun we all have! For those of you that don't know what a Speed Scrap is, I will start at 7pm and I will give instructions of what I want you to put on your pages. Every 10 minutes I will give you a different instruction for 1 hour. You will then have 1 additional hour to put the finishing touches on your page. You will need to be registered in the ScrapMatters forum to participate. All questions including a breakdown of the different time zones can be found in the forum. You can also check out the previous Speed Scraps to get an idea of how they work! The Participation Prize this week is from the ever so talented Ellie Lash. You won't want to miss it!!!




I've been tagged again by miss Jillian Rose! She has the most beautiful baby girl named Madison!!! That is my favorite name is the world!!! I will try to get to this tomorrow. It was hard enough thinking of the 1st 7 random things about me! LOL! Have a good night! I'm not going to say I'll be back tomorrow with the new template challenge because everytime I say I'll be back, it takes me a week to get back! Keep your fingers crossed! One thing is for sure! I will be at ScrapMatters at 7 pm PST for an awesome Speed Scrap!!!

(Oh yeah, I am loving my new book! Somehow reading a book in a whole day is long gone! But what I have read I absolutely love and I am hooked. My friend Krista is almost done with the 3rd one!)

Are you ready for this?

All of a sudden I have a very old late 80's early 90's song in my head. You know the one! This is going to be a huge post, so I thought it only fair to make you a freebie to go along with it. First of all, I'm sure you noticed my redesign of my blog again, unless you're my friend Misti and when I told her to go check out my blog because I worked so hard on it and stayed up until a ridiculous hour finishing it and my blinkie she Instant Messaged me 'What am I looking for'? Hello Misti!!! LOL!!! Gotta love her!

So, the kit that I designed my blog with is called 'Sprite' and it is a collaboration between none other than Britt-ish Designs and Erica Zane. They also of course have freebies on their blogs to coordinate.

http://zane-escraps.blogspot.com/

http://brittishdesigns.blogspot.com/

Funny story! My husband is always wondering why I need to check my email and blog and ScrapMatters and my CafeMom group throughout the day. I always tell him that the Digital Scrapbooking world may go on without me. So, last Friday I was soooo busy doing hair and completing this graduation scrapbook for a friend and didn't have time to check anything! I checked my email Saturday morning and had an email from HappyScrapGirl telling me that she had 'Tagged Me' and to check her blog!(Still to come, remember, mondo post!!!) So I go to HSG's blog and start looking at her freebies list and all of the sudden I see 2 freebies, one from Britt and one from Erica Zane that looked like a Tinkerbell theme! See, the digital scrapbook world went on without me and released the kit I have always been waiting for. My SassyPixie is actually my daughter because she's got so much spunk and we also went through a big Tinkerbell phase when she was about 2. She's moved on to Disney Princesses but I'm still stuck on Tink. Just a background story!!!

So I promised the Hunter hair story, but now it is been so long and hyped up it probably won't even be that interesting but here goes.

Anyone that knows me at all know that I can't stand Hunter's long 'skater' hair. It was a battle that I gave up on long ago. So about a month ago Hunter started talking about cutting his hair because it's hot and doesn't even look good and so on and so on. I keep my mouth shut because if I say something like, 'Hunter, I really like that shirt' he will never wear it again. Is it a teenage thing? I really don't know!

On Memorial Day we had Brandon's family over for a BBQ and I of course was doing everyone's hair. Hunter decides he wants me to cut his hair but he has always wanted to cut his own hair and just play with it and then when he is done messing it up then I get give him a summer haircut! Yay!!!

So we are all watching him cut his hair and it's kind of funny because he's taking a little off this side and a little off that side and chop chop and I don't even what how he messed up his bangs as bad as he did. A little layering, which even though he thinks he is a master with the scissors, he is not. So let's just go with the phrase, 'All jacked up'!

Which is fine because I get to shave it off when he is done right? Wrong! He decides he doesn't want his hair short and even though it is 'Jacked Up' he doesn't want me touching it because if he just lets it grow through the summer it will be fine for school.

So I'm thinking, I know his mother is not going to let him go around in public like that and she will make him fix it. Wrong again. She tells him to wear a hat this summer and it will be fine for school!!! So frustrated!!! The kid gets away with whatever he wants. Anytime we do anything that he doesn't like he gets his mother or my in-laws involved and it ends up all out war. So now I get to look at this terrible haircut and know that people are wondering if I did it!!! I'm frustrated all over again!

You think he would have learned last summer that you can't cut your own hair with the whole Hensley incident. For all you new readers and for those who just never heard the story this is what happened last July, one month before Landon was born...

Really sad!!! For a while she had a mullet until it was long enough for me to cut it into an A-Line Bob. It's now to her chin, almost a year later!

So I mentioned that I had been tagged by my chickadee HappyScrapGirl!

So here goes...

I have been a Cosmetologist for 15 years.

I have 6 dogs, I get puppy hungry like most people get baby hungry. My favorite are Daschunds(weiner dogs)

I hate to cook and if I could get away with it I would have take-out every night of my life.

I was born in Oregon, grew up in Utah and live in Arizona.

I am a recovering shop-a-holic. At one point my step-son thought the U.P.S truck was the QVC truck and my husband realized there might be a problem when the U.P.S driver brought a dog treat for my dog. I know, I'm not proud.

I sold Mary Kay Cosmetics for 6 years and at one point drove a red Mary Kay car.

I have a crazy obsession that I NEED every pair of ROXY flip flops out there. There are some styles that I have in every color!!! Love Roxy Flip Flops!

There you go, a few random facts about me!

I am tagging...

Ginger - GingerScraps

Stacy(Tater) - TaterScraps

Jeni - Jeni's Crafty Blog

Dacia - Strange Brewings

Sya - Scrap Stuff

Ellie - Ellie Lash Designs

Heather - Joy Revisited

I was kind of MIA this past week because last Sunday my external hard drive took a dive. So then of course I had a melt down because that was 60GB of 8 years worth of pictures, 4 years worth of Digital Scrapbooking Goodies and all my pages. Finally on Wednesday, Julie, who did my murals, her husband came over and saved what was on the hard drive so that I was able to put it back on my computer. 'Sigh' of relief. So I missed Ellie's template challenge and the Speed Scrap on Tuesday. Ellie's challenge is still on until next Tuesday so I still may be able to get to it.

The ScrapMatters store has exploded with new products this last week. I am amazed by how much new fun stuff they have. I seriously will never get this posted if I post every single one so I am going to highlight a few of my favorites but you seriously need to check out their store to see everything!!!

We also have a new Collaboration kit by Andilynn Designs, SHARIng Creations and HappyScrapGirl. It is called Refresh and it is such a fun summer kit!!!

It also has the color scheme of the Saturday Special Challenge. Here is my take on it...

And the kit we are using this month for our Quick Page Exchange is Flower Girl from GG Designs...

Whew!!! That was a lot of business!!!

OK, so a few more things before I go. 1st, I don't know if any of you are a 'DigiTreat' stalker, but I am. I stumbled on her blog about a month ago and was instantly a daily visitor. She has 3 different Alphabet kits. Skip, Run and Jump. She gives away a piece everyday but once it falls off her 1st page then it goes into her store. I came into it about the beginning of I and the end of her personalized name kits, luckily for me I discovered her just in time to order one for each of my kids...

So my wonderful intentions this summer is to make each of my kids an Alphabet book and then have it published by Heritage Makers into an actual book! This is my wonderful intention, but you know me and my projects...oh wait, you don't because my hard drive crashed before I could post last Saturday's 'So Me' challenge by Tater. She gave the challenge because while she was on the computer, trying to think up a challenge her husband was picking up around her and said, 'Do you think you have enough flip flops? And what are all these half empty bottles of water?' The 'So Me' challenge was born and I laughed out loud when I read the email and read it out loud to my husband. He said, "That sounds familiar, you on the computer scrapbooking, me picking up all of your flip flops and half empty cans of Dr. Pepper." I instantly had to email Tater and tell her that it was 'So Me' also but that I would have to come up with a different one. This was my end result...

So, as I was saying, really good intentions. And I will certaintly post it as I go along. I am going to start with Hayden 1st. I also thought I might post the template for each letter. Another project to put on my list. So far this week I've only completed Tawny's graduation book because her graduation party was last weekend. LOL. So Me!

I had to cut Landon's hair again. That is 3 haircuts and he isn't quite 10 months yet. The kid has a full head of hair. He was born with a full head of black hair. So black I was afraid my husband was going to wonder who the father was if it wasn't for the fact that all 4 of his children are clones of when he was a baby.

I just sit him in his Bumbo on my salon chair and he let's me cut his hair. He's such a good baby! He is crawling all over the house, actually jungle crawling around the whole house. He can get up on all fours but when it comes to getting around he drops down a pulls himself all over the house! Nothing is safe anymore.

I also got his pictures back this week...

I have to admit I am a little disapointed. These 9 month pictures are such a big deal and they did not capture how stinking cute he is. I guess I was just expecting something more like Hayden's.

They are very cute though!

Well, I will leave with one more thought tonight.(Does it take anyone else 2 days to do a blog post?) Just curious. I think I just need to keep up on it more often.

I have heard about the book 'Twilight' for months now. In fact it was on my book shelf for probably at least 4 months and then my friend took it to give to another friend to read. I keep thinking, I am just not into the whole Vampire thing, especially since I decided that my sister-in-law is an actual Vampire! Ha Ha! LOL! Only some of you will really appreciate this because you have actually met her. So back to the book. My friend Krista is telling me earlier this week that her friend had given her this book to read and she seriously has never, ever read a book. The next day she tells me that she was up the whole night reading this book and for the 1st time ever she can actually see in her mind what she is reading. I love reading, but haven't read a book since I was working in a very slow salon during the summer of 2005. It was a Mary Higgins Clark book, she is my absolute favorite author. I love mystery novels!

So I decided that I must read 'Twilight' I went from store to store the last couple of days and could only find the brand new book. Finally today I went into Borders in our mall and found a copy. I am going to read a book tomorrow. I am not going to turn on my computer and I am going to read this book! So I will tell you if I liked it when I am back on Monday. I am a little burnt out on the computer after being obsessed with fixing the stinkin' hard drive.

So you made it through my novel post. Either that or you scrolled down until you found the download link. It's actually at the 1st of my post. JK!

Here is my freebie template. It is from my Special Saturday Challenge. Enjoy!

Download Link HERE

Have a great rest of your weekend!!! I'm outta here, I am exhausted and my Muse has gone to bed without me!