Cold, maybe?

Looking through photos and I realize why I do not post nearly as many as I have taken. I hate converting and editing! Lately, I have not done much editing to my photos but even the little touch ups on white balance or the brightness or adding a little matte finish or even converting to black and white, I just do not have the drive to do it. It has been a very rainy week and I was hoping that we would be able to get out and explore. It would be nice to take photos elsewhere and maybe of some things, so that my daughter is not bombarded and so that I can have some to look back on of where we lived for this time. 

I do have one to share today of my daughter. This was taken at the end of March. She had gotten some new boots in a larger size for next winter, but she really wanted to try them on. I kept telling her it may be cold. Well, she ran outside so quickly and once she felt the wind, it was over. I told her we would make it quick and this is all she would do.

Monday Blahs

Monday still feels like Monday- whether I work in an office or home, it is still my least favorite day of the week. I have no idea why! It is like everything that annoyed me all during the week is compounded on Monday. No idea why...probably all in my mind. Anywhhooo... I have not been scrapping as much as I would like. I thought if I had more time at home, got in some family time and got away from the stress of my job that I would scrap so much and that has not been the case. I even think my child believes she has her own personal server (i.e. me!). Her dad says this my fault for always being right there when she needed something when she was a little younger, but what was I supposed to do? Lol!! I will admit I may have and still do go overboard, but I cannot help it. The before-a-child me was selfish and hated to share, but after meeting my fiance and having a child, I am mostly different...lol! Mostly because I still do not believe in helping others that are not helping their self first. As far as my child, I would do anything for her...as most parents would agree when it comes to their children. 

I remember when I had to save as much money as possible to cover the bills for maternity leave. Or when we were eating sandwiches and spaghetti almost every other day to keep down the grocery bill. I even remember eating Cheerios on the way to work and taking sandwiches for lunch with peanuts, chips and water because I had no lunch money. BUT...it did not matter. My daughter was at a daycare with teachers/caregivers that loved her and took very good care of her; she had a closet full of clothes and plenty of diapers; and, we enjoyed weekends at home or visiting our families who always fed us and even were sweet enough to pay for the gas for our trip to their house and back. We were blessed in so many ways, so then and now I feel like I have to give her all of that and more. 

Sorry about that entire thought ramble...it all just came out...surely my hands were possessed.. lol! 

Now...I do have a few recent pages to share. I dug deep into my older photos to find some that really needed to be scrapped (or re-scrapped) and I loved going back and seeing how much has changed since those times and now.

My daughter was a month away from her 3rd birthday in these photos and it was Easter Sunday.

Her Words...Not Mine

April is here and the anxiety of my child turning 5 years old in May is really getting to me. I have never been one to ask others to babysit. She is my child and I wanted to have her for a reason. I love being around her. Yes, she jumps on every last nerve I have...and at the end of the day, I laugh about. How can a little person come up with all of these things to do? Lately, her vocabulary has been changing and she is using new words. It is FUNNY to hear her come up with these outlandish phrases. 

Just Another Day

Today I am officially 29 years old. I have never put a lot of thought into my age or worrying about how old I am ... it is merely a number. I have always felt like I was born in the wrong year or dimension for my fellow supernatural/other world phenomenon believers. I like to keep this day a secret. This will be the first time in a very long time I have mentioned it. It has always been just another day for me. No excitement. No fun. Just work and keep it moving. My daughter sweetly wished me happy birthday and said she wanted to make me a cake but did not know how. I told her she did not need to make me a cake; her sweet smile is enough for me. Usually the day is a downer for me but I think today will be a "whatever...and I will do whatever when I fee like it" kind of day...lol! That was a lot huh?!? Anywayyy...

I have been playing around in photoshop with my photo processing. I have so many actions that I spent money on but most times it is my own way of editing that I like. I like clean, colorful photos but I also like the matte finish with rich color. Creamy tinted whites are okay some days. It really depends on the photo. I have a photo of my daughter from the other day enjoying a bowl of Froot Loops. I love, love lifestyle images. The ones that are not posed, but clutter-free and all you see is "the moment." I tried to get that in this photo.

Project Life Update & More

Yes. I am still working on Project Life. Yes. I am still on 2012. Now I read somewhere that there should be no such thing as "being behind on Project Life." I cannot remember where but I am slightly offended...mainly because I am behind. Lol! You know working and being mama and doing all of that other stuff around the house does not leave a lot of time to do whatever the heck I wanted. I mean....my daughter's albums are pretty much up to date...just need to print some pages. My project life pages are not so simple. I know they should be but I wanted them to reflect me and what I like...and that's not always simple. So...I will do this my way and maybe I will be able to "catch up" since I have time now. Sooo in honor of that ramble...guess what...I finished a couple more pages...lol!!

A Little Different

Today was the first day with Aida and I at home - no work and no daycare. That was how we had labeled our weekdays the past few years. "This is a work and daycare day"- I would remind her each morning. It got to the point where if I was taking off to give us some time together, she would ask when she was going to daycare. It made me sad but I knew how we got to that so I understood. My sweet child has also been reminding me of her daily activities that normally go on at daycare. I wonder what happens if I keep deviating from the plan that she believes is the right way to do things.

Christmas Dessert!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I was not really feeling the spirit of Christmas but as the morning got closer and closer, I started to feel better about it. Of course, I had to be in good spirits for my little Aida. She has been singing Christmas songs all December. That always had me smiling. As she has gotten older and understands it more, we have been spending more time at home for Christmas. This year I got the three of us some pajamas to sit around in on Christmas Eve while we ate dinner and watched movies together. Little did I know, but there were some changes in our plans that kind of affected the 'mood' of the holiday...I guess I'll say it like that...lol! There will be some changes in the new year that will take some getting used to...but I will discuss that in the coming week or so.

Just a few more days

Christmas is not far away, and I still have presents to wrap and a couple to buy. All of that plus a bit of news and I just cannot seem to find enough time to scrap the way I want. My 4-year old seems to think she can go to sleep as late as I, so I miss out on doing a few things I like before heading to bed. I have no idea what she is going to do when it is time for big school (as she calls it...lol!). I have a few pages to share from this month. Normally, I wouldn't start scrapping my December photos, but this year I decided to use my most current photos first so that I would not be behind on getting my album done for 2012. I have definitely got to catch up with Project Life. Maybe that will be what I tackle more of them in the next few weeks.

That Sketch

Yesterday's sketch at the Bella Blvd. blog caught my eye. I had just downloaded the Holiday Idea Notebook from Digital Design Essentials and I knew I had to use that sketch to create a page. More and more paper scrap booking layouts have been catching my interest, and this sketch was calling me. I only used items from the Idea Notebook and I used one paper from the Beyond Measure paper pack and changed the color up just a bit to match the yellow in the Idea Notebook papers and elements. Did that make sense at all?? In my head, it made sense...lol! Anyway...here is my page using some photos of Aida from last year in a dress that her father picked out for her...

Black Friday Sales!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and time with their family. This year we decided to stay home and spend the day with just the three of us. It was nice to not have chaos and to do things on my own time during the day. I was able to style my hair, cook dinner, wash some clothes, create some layouts and "talk" to Santa about a few things a certain little person requested. My stress level was so low, and that meant, no migraine- which is always my ultimate goal.

That Time of Year

With all the Christmas kits debuting in the scrap booking world, I cannot help but get excited about the holiday season ahead. I am ashamed to say I still have plenty of Christmas photos to scrap from last year. I am not sure if it was because I took so many photos and I did not want to edit them, or I was just waiting for the perfect kit; there are a few photos I did not touch. So far- my two favorite stores have some amazing Christmas goodies. :) I tend to lean more towards the Christmas kit with traditional colors - red, white, green, but I love any good Christmas kit that inspires me to create a layout for my photos.

Bright & Early

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Digital Scrapbooking weekend. I know I did. I did not shop too much. I spent quite bit of time in the TLP forums and scrapping a few pages. I really need to catch up on my 2011 album. I have some print credits but have yet to use them. I need to make this next batch worth it. lol! I think that's why I sit back and re-make my pages from the year before. I am so happy with my 2012 pages that I need to feel the same about any I print now.

One of my buys this weekend was the Scrap Pack at Scrap Stacks, the new Pinterest-like gallery for sharing scrapbook layouts or designs. I still have not organized by stacks exactly how I want them- maybe when I have more time. Back to this weekend- the scrap pack was pretty awesome so I had to have it. This first page is with Scrap Orchard's collaboration kit and some more items from my digi-stash. This photo is of my daughter on her way to daycare trying to tote all her "stuff" to the car...lol!

Happy DSD!!!

Yes- my favorite time of the year has finally arrived! Sales, games, challenges, chats, giveaways, facebook/blog hops...every thing you could imagine is happening in one weekend in celebration of digital scrapbooking. This is my third year and I am just as excited! There are so many things going on right now. Before I bombard you with a few pages, I thought I'd list a few "hot" spots to check out.

The Lilypad

iDSD Forum - This is the main spot where all the TLP fun happening. There is a guest Polly call....yes, you...YOU...can submit an app to be on the creative team. There are threads for each TLP designer where you can show your favorite product and have a chance to win. You never know who it will be; I know I played in ALL of the threads last year before I was a Polly. But...I am impatient so I went on quite a shopping spree....lol!! I just love all things TLP...can't help it!

Love to Scrap

I usually do not stay with things for long-as far as commitments go, but I was thinking today of something that I have yet to give up. The one hobby I have stayed with the longest: scrap-booking. My preference will always be digital, but I have yet to get bored with creating layouts. Today's post will be short and sweet. I have had quite a tiring week at work and right now, I just want to create some pages. My favorite printer (Persnickety Prints) had a sale last week and I bought some print credits. Definitely need to get my 2011 book completed. There are photos I have yet to scrap and some I want to "re"-scrap just because I have a kit that I find more fitting. I try my best not to do that, but if I am not completely happy with a page, I cannot waste my money or time printing it. My 2012 album- ahhh..I never know what to do. I have actually printed some of my 2012 layouts already.....I could not resist seeing them in my hands...and I love them. Both of these albums are 12 x 12 and I have to say....I am pretty sure I will be able to see everything on these pages when I am older. So with that, I just want to share a few pages.

Mix It Up

Every now and then I pose a question to myself- usually when I am complacent and feel I have not "grown" lately in my creative hobby. I ask myself "what is my scrapping style." You could go to any site, forum or search and find many things to read about the different styles. I never felt like I fit in one box. It really depends on my mood. Sometimes I want more sharp & clean lines and other days I want effortless vintage and there are some days I just want to put things on page and go with the flow with an idea in mind. As far as colors go, I have and will use them all. I have had this crazy color idea since I was in Kindergarten at a Catholic school. At home, I always had the big box of Crayola crayons- 96 count and larger. The more colors, the more excited I was to color. Well, my school talked a lot about God - we had religion class and attended Mass at least once a week. I remember there was a section in our book talking about God made the trees, the sky, the animals, etc. That made me think.."hmm, God is everywhere...he sees everything...and he made everything." I took that idea and ran with it. I thought that I HAD to LOVE every color of crayon because God made the rainbows, which meant that he made the colors. This...right here...made me afraid and from that point on, I always made sure to get use of every single crayon I had and NEVER say, there was a color I did not like. It is kind of weird now that I think of it, but I am happy to be color friendly. :)

She loves Dora & Diego

Tuesday - Today was okay. Actually it was slightly better and worse than okay. How is that possible? Well...there are highs and lows to every day...lol! I don't know. I am just rambling. I tried to think of what to post because I have not been in the best of moods, so it is hard to write a post or create a scrapbook page when I do not at least feel 'content.' Nothing too much going on in my world. I went to see my parents this past weekend. Dad is doing good. I don't tell him or anyone (guess I am now) that I say a prayer for him when he crosses my mind. Cancer has been a recurring theme through my life- seeing family members go through it. It scares me. I have my theory on where the entire "cancer" thing came from, but I will not speak on it now. This is breast cancer awareness month. My mother and two of her sisters have been dealt that card to deal with in their own ways and each are doing well and cancer-free today. My grandmother passed from having breast cancer when I was a few months old. I hate that I did not get to meet her just because of all the stories of her I have heard. At the same time, I know that all things happen for a reason- even if we do not know or agree with it, there is a reason.

Last month, I took Aida to the McWane Science Center to meet Dora and Diego. There was a huge billboard we saw every day on the way home, so there was no way of getting past this event. I wanted to take her since we rarely do these types of things. I knew she would love it and she did. All the way there and back, all she talked about were Dora and Diego. She has to be one of their biggest fans. Every time I think she is out of her "Dora" phase, she falls right back into and start asking for Dora toys or anything that she sees Dora related. She also has a Diego doll with the Safari truck and jaguar; so of course, she was just as excited to meet him as she was Dora. I have plenty of photos to scrap of the day. Here are a few on a page I made:

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digital products used:

Revelry & Rivalry by Sugarplum Paperie & Erica Zane

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I also got another Disney page finished. I wanted to only use the traditional Disney colors on the pages, but I can never stick to one idea. I had some kits in my stash that I just HAD to use. Here is my page about Aida's balloon she was so happy about:

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digital products used:

Fuss Free: Sweet Day by Fiddle-Dee-Dee Designs
Happy Now kit by Pink Paislee
Resolutions 2012 by Kimeric Kreations
Dad’s Day by E. Hansen
Penelope by Honey Designs
This & That Charming by Echo Park
Emerald Breeze by Fanette Design

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Well, that is all for now. I just finished watching Parenthood, so now it is time to enjoy the quiet. Aida is finally asleep and the TV is out for the night. I will just let the internet distract me as it usually does...lol! Later!  Thanks for visiting!!--

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The Good Stuff

It is Monday and today was a wonderful day, except the fact that my baby was sick. She has a cold and had a slight fever, which is thankfully gone down now. She was just miserable all day. I cooked her favorite breakfast and lunch and she would not eat it. She had pineapples, goldfish and juice for the most of the day. I think she was playing me though- like she knew just what to do to be able to eat junk food all day (lol!). I really do not think she was playing though. Sunday night she moaned in her sleep so bad that I had to lay down early just to quiet her down. This evening she was up more and talking and playing a little. She even ate a bowl of Cheerios. Hopefully, all will be fine tomorrow.

Time-2-Scrap/Aida's Hair

I have had quite a weekend. Scrapping...browsing the internet....styling hair and all of that goodness. First, I will share the photos of my daughter's hair. I usually take about 2 hours on a Saturday or Sunday to wash her hair and put in mini twists. For me, 2 hours is not a lot of time because the twists are usually small and I let her keep them up for two weeks. She has eczema, so I co-wash her twists 2 or 3 times during that time period. I wash her hair with the same products I use for myself - these shampoos: Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo, Shea Moisture Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Shine Shampoo. KeraCare Cleansing Cream; or these conditioners:Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner, Aubrey Organics GPB Conditioner or Cantu Shea Butter Moisturizing Rinse Out Conditioner. For a leave-in conditioner, I have am in love with the Giovanni Direct Leave-in Conditioner (the regular version or weightless moisture). I usually catch it on sale at Vitacost.com and buy 2 or 3 bottles at a time. When twisting her hair, I rub Amla & Olive Heavy Cream by Qhemet Biologics (QB) and Coconut Oil on the section of hair I am working on and I start parting small pieces with my fingers for twisting. I dab my fingertips in Aethiopika Hydrate & Twist Butter by QB to seal the twist.

The Days Behind Me

This has been quite a weekend. I took the entire Saturday to Henna  (+ Indigo)  my hair. I will have an entire blog post on this tomorrow hopefully.  It was a lonnngggg day...all I will say for now. Sunday we took our daughter Aida to the McWane Science Center to see Dora and Diego. Photos will come soon. I spent so much time on my hair that I was exhausted. I ended up styling it in mini twists and I love it!! Hope I can keep it up at LEAST two weeks because it took me about 11 hours to twist all this hair. Ugh!! I know right...that was half a day..lol! Right now I just wanted to share a few of my latest scrapbook pages.

The Good and the Bad

Today was an okay day.  I dropped Aida off at daycare and she was actually awake, which is rare.  No matter how early I have her in bed, she never goes to sleep until around 10:30 or 11:00 at night. There were a few people that actually warned me about this happening. I am a night owl and so is her dad. Every now and then she will admit that is sleepy...it is not very often. Anyway, I am anxious for the weekend. I placed an order for some Fresh Moroccan Henna and Indigo. I really want my hair to be dark again and I want to do some mini twists. I really want to try to wear a protective style at least for a couple of weeks to give my hair a break. I plan on doing some layouts/blog posts about my natural hair journey. I am glad I got rid of the rest of my permed ends last November. My hair is the same length as it was before and still growing. I am ELATED about that of course.