I've been blog-neglectful. Actually, that's not totally true. I re-did my design blog and have been posting over there, I just haven't done much here and am very behind on commenting on your blogs. Sorry :(. I still love you!
Anyway, just wanted to post some layouts I did this afternoon during naptime. Our first snow (that stuck)! It's mostly melted now, which I'm happy about since I have errands to run, but the kids thought it was kind of fun. I'm sure it's just a taste of what we have coming.
Credits go to me :) A new kit I'm working on.
First Snow (that stuck)
Party Pics and my Twi Review
Party Pictures! I didn't take a lot because I was too busy having fun, but here are a few:
The food! I did the punch (notice the "blood" dripping down the sides? It turned out so cool in real life.), "blood" filled cupcakes (with fang marks), and taffy apple tarts. The other girls brought Bloody Mary (non-alchoholic) mix, Meiers (Meyers) Sparkling Grape Juice, Chocolate Vampire Suckers (they had vampire faces on them), red velvet cake, and goldfish crackers (in honor of Charlie). It's hard to see cause the table was a little crowded, but I had a cute black and white damask runner sprinkled with red punched out apples. And notice the apple votives :). Very good food.
We played a couple of games (sorry, no pictures). We wrote down our most neglectful moment while reading the book (stole from someone else's blog idea) and then voted. The prize was to someone who read the book in about 12 hours, and her kids ate animal crackers and played Nintendo all day. (Hmmm...that sort of sounds like a lot of us...exept mine was movies...). Her prize was Fudge Marble cake mix (in honor of Edward), Polar Ice Eclispe gum, a book mark, and a black and white damask note pad. Then we played a trivia game and the winners got beaded apple book marks that I made--and didn't take a picture of :(. I thought they turned out kind of cute though.
Here's most of us right before we left for the movie:
A couple of the girls decided to go straight to the theater to save us seats instead of coming to the party. It's soooo good they did because the line to get in was sooo long. I wasn't sure everyone would fit in that theater! We were able to get decent seats altogether though.Here's part of the line, and us waiting in line:
And now for my "review," trying to keep it vague enough I don't spoil it for anyone.
I know there is a lot of controversy going on about this movie right now, but I have to say I loved it. I mean, really loved it. Was it perfect? No. Was is great for me? YES.
I went into it with a very open mind though, having seen many trailers, and released (and unreleased) footage. I knew it was going to be different from the book. It had to be. I went into it wit the idea of separating the book I love from the movie to give the movie a fresh chance. So I was okay with a lot of the changes that were made. I felt the essence of the story was there and the characters were for the most part captured. I would have liked to see a lot more of the beginning of the romance scenes, and a lot more of the Cullens as I felt the movie did move very fast. I think the movie experience is definitely a lot better if you've read the book(s) because you have an inside perspective and will understand subtle things you would not have picked up if you don't know the story. But I think this movie was a good introduction to what we will (hopefully) see in the upcoming movies. And I loved that they threw in parts of Edward's perspective that you read in Midnight Sun, and that it was a really great lead-in to New Moon. I loved Robert as Edward, and I have to say I was a little skeptical. I had high expectations for Edward in my mind. Of course, I think the book-reading experience is ALWAYS better, so yes, I like the book much better, but I'm glad I saw the movie and I thouroughly enjoyed it.
Can't wait until Wednesday when Chelsea gets here and I can go see it again with her and Jared!
I went into it with a very open mind though, having seen many trailers, and released (and unreleased) footage. I knew it was going to be different from the book. It had to be. I went into it wit the idea of separating the book I love from the movie to give the movie a fresh chance. So I was okay with a lot of the changes that were made. I felt the essence of the story was there and the characters were for the most part captured. I would have liked to see a lot more of the beginning of the romance scenes, and a lot more of the Cullens as I felt the movie did move very fast. I think the movie experience is definitely a lot better if you've read the book(s) because you have an inside perspective and will understand subtle things you would not have picked up if you don't know the story. But I think this movie was a good introduction to what we will (hopefully) see in the upcoming movies. And I loved that they threw in parts of Edward's perspective that you read in Midnight Sun, and that it was a really great lead-in to New Moon. I loved Robert as Edward, and I have to say I was a little skeptical. I had high expectations for Edward in my mind. Of course, I think the book-reading experience is ALWAYS better, so yes, I like the book much better, but I'm glad I saw the movie and I thouroughly enjoyed it.
Can't wait until Wednesday when Chelsea gets here and I can go see it again with her and Jared!
Mine
Emery learned a new word today: MINE.
She's been saying it quite a bit as she waddles around the apartment, particularly about her cup. Mine, mine, mine. Hmmm....Wonder WHO she learned that from?
Twilight Fans!!
Only two more days!! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself! So I'm trying to channel it!
Read here how you can win it.
Twilight Invite!!
I've started to get some interest so maybe someone will come afterall! And of course I'll post pictures!
Visiting Artist
I'm the visiting artist at The DigiChick! I have lots of free stuff on my design blog, plus you can check out the new kits! I won't bore you too much here because I know lots of you aren't into digital scrapbooking :).
**Edited: Here's the link to my stuff at that store.
But life keeps going.
On Saturday I taught a digital scrapbooking class for Super Saturday in my ward. It went really well and I was honored to be asked.
Today was my day to teach Ryan's preschool class. We talked about the letter "F" and did lots of fun activities: fished for F words (Using a fishing pole made from a stick, fishing line, and a magnet at the end they "fished" for picture cards and decided if the word started with the /f/ sound.), colored activity sheets, ate fish crackers, read some books, played a counting matching game. Ryan really loves preschool and it's a hightlight of his week.
I have a guest designing spot this month and will be debuting at The DigiChick!!!! Look for some new stuff in a couple of days. I'm very excited.
I'm planning a pre-movie Twilight party!! I'm very excited about it. I haven't yet found anyone here that is as into these books as me, so I hope people come! I raided the 90% off Halloween section at Walmart and found some cool decorations that will work with color theme. And I've found some fun recipes and games. SHAELA I wish you were here to plan with me! Then I would at least know one person would show up. LOL.
And now I have dinner to make and daily clutter to tidy... so life keeps on going.
This is a pity party.
But it's truth. And it's part of me. There are good days, and bad days.
AND I'M NOT DEALING VERY WELL WITH THIS.
Sometimes it's hard to have faith. Hard to believe that there is a reason for all of this. To not shout THIS IS NOT FAIR. It's hard not to ask WHY. Or be angry. And today it's hard for me to breathe. Because today the pain is suffocating.
I've flushed a third angel. I would have been 10 weeks. I would have shared my birth month with a little one.
And then I wonder, is this a punishment? I'm not grateful enough for the two I have? I complain too much? I have too many other interests, aspirations.
Today is not so good.
AND I'M NOT DEALING VERY WELL WITH THIS.
Sometimes it's hard to have faith. Hard to believe that there is a reason for all of this. To not shout THIS IS NOT FAIR. It's hard not to ask WHY. Or be angry. And today it's hard for me to breathe. Because today the pain is suffocating.
I've flushed a third angel. I would have been 10 weeks. I would have shared my birth month with a little one.
And then I wonder, is this a punishment? I'm not grateful enough for the two I have? I complain too much? I have too many other interests, aspirations.
Today is not so good.
Kit is Angels Among Us by Krystal Hartley
FALL!!
More fall pictures, just cause I LOVE this time of year!! (Emery was more interested in chasing the dogs than getting her picture taken, so I'll have to catch more of her next time.)
Snow
Look what we woke up to yesterday morning! It's melted now, but we were surprised to see snow in mid-October. Suddenly moving to Arizona for Jared's Ph.D sounds like a great idea!
Edited: We don't really have a clue where we are going or what we are doing next. Jared graduates with his Masters in the spring. We are currently looking into jobs and PhD programs, and there are a couple options in Arizona. But there are also opportunities in New Hampshire, Indiana, etc. At the moment we are thinking of taking a one year teaching position at a jr. college to save enough money for the PhD program. If you didn't know this already we are paying cash for the Masters and plan to for the doctorate too. Made the stupid mistake of loans during undergrad, and won't do that again.
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First Day of Preschool
We were invited to join a preschool co-op. There are six kids. Each mom takes a week to teach. Last week they talked about the letter "A" and the number 4. Ryan loved his first day and is excited to go back.
Fall Photo Shoot
Just a few pics I took of my cutiebugs. We took a little drive up the canyon because the leaves are starting to turn colors here, and it is sooo beautiful! Love this time of year.
Oh, and um, the frame and embellishments *might* be found in a kit I have coming soon!
Ryan is Three!!
On Septemeber 11th Ryan turned three. We did a cars theme. Here are some highlights of his day:
He invited a friend over and they of course played cars and trains. For lunch they had car shaped grilled cheese, Cars Spaghettios, and "organic fuel" (AKA juice). Then they decorated car shaped cookies and ate Cars fruit snacks.
We had hot dogs, chips, applesauce, and chocolate milk for dinner. Ryan's choice. And I made him a Lightening McQueen cake. It was a lot of work, but he loved it. He got some new Thomas stuff. He was very happy and told my grandma on the phone that night " I had a very good, long day."
Details
You want details, huh?
Well, as you know I made it to the finals of the FPD contest. After the initial disappointment of not making it into the store, I talked to a couple of other designers and they both thought my designs were good enough to sell and that I should choose a few stores and just e-mail the owners letting them know I was interested in selling at their store and see what happened. I chose six stores. I got very good responses from most of them. A few of them told me they loved my stuff but that they were not hiring at the moment. One of them asked me to be an upcoming guest designer (more details later, but I'm very excited about that).
My dream store said this: "Your stuff is adorable and is just perfect for what the XX customer loves. Unfortunately tho, we arent looking to expand our team at this time. I would be happy to hold onto your inquiry in the event things change in the future but I don't want to keep you from pursuing other design opportunities so I wanted to let you know right away that we dont have any openings. You're quite talented and I am sure you will find a great home for your designs." Best rejection letter I've ever gotten! And you know I'm going to keep an eye out for design calls, because I'd really love to be part of that store. (Purposely withholding the name, don't want to give it away just yet.)
Elemental Scraps offered me a spot and said I could start right away. After mulling over my options I decided ES was the best fit for me at this time and I said yes. I've been working hard to get some stuff added to the store and have already sold a few things! So I'm happy. This business is very much a name game, so it may take a while for things to pick up, but I'm hopeful. Thanks for all your congrats!
Grand Opening
Just been busy opening my store!!!
Enter this coupon code: PODDGrandOpening during the month of September and receive 50% off.
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