More reunion pages

These layouts and the ones I posted before all started out as templates from Simply Yin.

Our Daddy's an Aggie!

We took a Sunday night walk to campus. Tradition says you are a true Aggie if you kiss on the "A."

Odd Family Reunion Pages (part one)

Continuing on with the catch up, I mentioned we went to Washington a couple of weeks ago. I am in charge of our family reunion scrapbook, and I've completed a few pages so I thought I'd share. It was so much fun. Can't wait for next year!

More Catching Up

Well, shoot. I really did plan to be right back to post again, but after my vent a week has gone by with nothing! I'm cursing Shaela (my sis-in-law) right now for getting me started:

LOL. I knew I would be hooked which is why I avoided them for this long! Will someone PLEASE tell me, is the 4th book the last one? I hate waiting forever for the next book to come out (Harry Potter) which is why it's a good thing I waited this long to read the Twilight books. But, *sigh* doesn't a good book and some chocolate cake just make things seem so much better. It was a tough week. Thanks for your sweet comments and e-mails.

My hunny turned 30 last week! We got a babysitter (rarity for us, but we found a really sweet girl who is awesome with our kids, so maybe we'll go out more often), and went to The Coppermill. We were super impressed. The food was awesome.

And now for some tough news that I've been debating sharing. I've decided to go ahead though since this blog is really my journal which some of you happen to read. So here goes. Last week I had a miscarriage. I was only about 6 weeks along. Those of you who know my fertility history know, for me, getting and staying pregnant is a pretty big deal. So we were quite surprised, although thrilled. Nervous, as Emery is only 10 months, but thrilled. Especially Jared. So the loss was pretty hard, but not quite as tough as the first time. I suppose because this time I was able to look at my two gorgeous children and just be grateful we have them. And I've learned a lot about faith and God's plan for us since our first loss. Not that it makes it easy by any means, my perspective is just different. Thanks to the above mentioned chocolate cake, Stephenie Meyer, some heavy-duty pain medication left over from Emery's birth, and a couple of days moping around, I made it through the week. One day at a time.

Blog help

Help please?
I've had several people ask me lately how to put paper on the background of a blog. I could have sworn I had a tutorial saved in my favorites folder, but I can't find it now. I know how to do it, but it's kind of hard to explain, so if you can point me (so I can point my friends) to a tutorial, I'd really appreciate it!

**Edited: I knew you guys would pull through for me! Thanks! Here are some great sites if you want to spruce up the look of your blog (It's making me want to redo mine too).
http://thecutestblogontheblock.com/secret.php?id=2
http://sjhblogdesign.blogspot.com/

Catching Up

Geez, talk about being absent. I've been so occupied with this design contest that I haven't been a very good blogging friend. And for that I'm very sorry. The contest is now over. What a ride. It turns out there were 120 applicants (I said 104 before, I guess I counted wrong?) and I made it to the final round of 9. I thought it was a pretty big deal for a unknown designer. Unfortunately, the final 9 is where I'll stay :(. Of course I'm bummed to not be invited to join the team, but I'm trying VERY HARD to focus on the fact that I made it to the last round. That's something, right? Here's a picture of the final assignment, a collab I did with Funky Playground designer, Chere Kaye. A little bit of whimsy, a little bit of grunge. It was fun working with her.

So now that this contest is over I'm not sure what to do next. Keep trying to get into a store? (No more contests though for a while anyway. This has been way too emotionally draining.) Take a break and catch up on some scrapping? Focus on Piggies and Paws? Take on another babysitting child? Options...

Other news:

1. My full-time babysitting child quit. Totally unexpected with no notice. I had a hard time not taking it personally at first, but when I realized that it wasn't about me I felt better. It has freed up some time for me which I desperately needed because I've had Piggies and Paws orders piling up and no time to finish the work.

2. Jared started his second year of his Master's program today. He's very excited, and I am too. It's so hard to believe he graduates in 8 months. The past year has gone by so fast. Don't start congratulating us though, we've still got a few years to go as the talk of PhD programs have entered our lives. We really have no idea where we will be at this time next year. Or what we will be doing for that matter. He's going to apply for jobs too, and then we'll see.

3. We had a very fun vacation this month. It started with the Odd Family Reunion in Idaho. Then we went to Oak Harbor, WA to see my family for a few days. Then Jared dropped me off in Seattle where I met his mom, sister, and sister-in-law for an awesome girls' weekend. After that we spent a couple of days in the Tri-Cities, WA with his family, and then headed home. I have pictures to post soon.

4. I'm hooked on the Twilight books. I know. Seriously. I swore I would avoid them. I just don't have time right now. But we started reading on the drive home from Seattle, and I have been intrigued since. I'm trying very hard to limit my reading and force myself to get other things done. But now that I'm done with the design contest I have more time! (That is if I completely let the house go and don't fulfill my church and Piggies and Paws duties which have been staring at me, causing me to feel guilt for my procrastination).

Time to end this post to go edit pictures. I'll post again soon.

Week Three update

Assignment 3--had to rush it because I was out of town and had very limited computer time, but I must have pulled it off, because I'm moving on again!!!! I couldn't be more thrilled (and nervous!) right now. When the contest started there were 104 entries. It was cut to 50 the second week, 24 the third week, and 9 the fourth week. I am so honored to be competing with such talented artists. And in awe that I've made it this far. Thank you, thank you to my fans :).

A few people have asked me, so what does it mean if you win? Funky Playground Designs is a trendy digital scrapbooking site and they are hosting this contest in search for new designers to add to their store. They have said they do not know how many they will hire in the end, maybe one, maybe five. Right now they've narrowed it down to nine. "Winning" or being one of the selected designers means I will be offered an exclusive spot to sell in their store. A dream come true!