It would seem that everyone has a personal blog but me. I guess that means it's about time I get one. This seems to be precedence set early on in my life. Things become popular and then I finally catch on -- i.e. it took me about a year before I got my own cabbage patch kid.
Anyways, here I am. So for those of my fabulous friends and family that I am horrible about keeping in touch with, hopefully this can provide a bit about where I am and what I'm doing (for what it's worth).
Here are just a few of the highlights...
1. I'm still living in Arizona. I'm sharing an apartment with an old roommate from BYU. I couldn’t ask for a better roommate and we love our apt. location.
2. I’ve recently undergone a pretty big life change – I quit my job. It was just time to move on. And the real kicker is…I don’t have another job yet. So I am now enjoying a period of unemployment, meaning time to catch up on craft projects, time to do some hiking and camping with my dad (he quit too!), time to have lunches with my friends, time to read those books I’ve been meaning to get to, and time to start my own little business. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I see my period of unemployment coming to and end soon (I’ve got an interview this afternoon). But, I’m enjoying it while I can.
3. Yes, I am still SINGLE! Agghh, I promise it’s not a terminal illness. I’m out there looking, but just haven’t seemed to find the right man. I am entertaining all possibilities, so if you know of anyone let me know!
4. I’m a member of a LDS single adult ward in Tempe. I’m currently the Enrichment Leader (I think this is my 3rd time in this calling. I might actually be getting the hang of it.) I LOVE the ward and the sisters in the RS are amazing.
5. I’m actively campaigning for the “Best Aunt in the World” award. I now have 11 nieces and nephews and 8 of the 11 live here in AZ with me. That means I get to see them pretty often and I love it. They are by far my favorite subjects to photograph and scrapbook.
6. The other big change in my life has been my health. A little over a year ago I decided enough is enough and got myself into a gym and hired a personal trainer. So here I am today, 45 lbs slimmer and able to bench 100 lbs (I’m also squatting about 120 lbs, yahoo!) and still going strong. I’ve also joined Weight Watchers, and love the change in my health. As I mentioned earlier, I’m now doing some hiking and really enjoying myself. Life is Good!
7. The other passion in my life is still SCRAPBOOKING! Yep, I’m still doing it. This, I might consider, is a terminal illness – I’ll probably be scrapbooking until I die. I’ve started an online club on meet-up.com – East Valley Scrabbook Guild – and we’ve got a little over 100 members. I coordinate monthly crops so all of my fellow junkies can get together to do scrapbooking. I’m trying to parlay it all into a small business where I set up scrapbooking crops, with all the bells and whistles, for money. Keep your fingers crossed because I’ve got my first business crop in May. In the meantime, I find time to do my own work, to travel to scrapbook conferences, and try to get publish.
Well, I think that's probably more than you wanted to know! I'll check back again soon and fill ya in on any changes. Ciao!
My good friend Susan and I went camping this past weekend. We left Thursday afternoon and returned Saturday afternoon. I believe that I have paid my "camping dues" -- years spent in a tent on a foam pad and then later on an air mattress, huddling around a campfire each morning and night trying to fight off the cold, and digging a latrine with my heel. And having paid my "camping dues" I am completely entitled to enjoying the luxury of a camper trailer, guilt free.
There's a great little dining area -- a table and two bench seats. A kitchenette with a 3 burner stove, a kitchen sink, and a small refrigerator. As well as a potty. However, the best part may just be the heater. Yes, the trailer is heated. So camping on the Mogollon Rim in April can be a pleasant experience, even with it drops to the upper 20's at night. And after doing a little camping with the trailer, I don't imagine that I'll be doing too much tent camping in the future. That is unless I want to "rough-it".
Campground on the Mogollon Rim, between Payson & Heber. It is actually only about a 2 hour drive from Mesa. The weather was fabulous!! It dropped down to the upper 20's at night and then reached the low 60's during the day. We enjoyed the scenery as well as the time to play games -- yahtzee, arm & a leg, zilch, etc. And of course, some reading. It's hard to beat a camp chair in the woods with a good book. Gotta love the Great Outdoors.
These cupcakes were a fun challenge and I think they turned out pretty well. My brother sure seemed to appreciate them. My mom, dad, and I dropped them off at his house. Here's the birthday boy with his cute wife Ellie.
So twice a year in Arizona the hearts of all the Valley scrapbookers go pitter-patter a little faster than normal as the Creating Keepsakes Convention (CKC) rolls into the Valley of the Sun. Each April it rolls into Mesa, Arizona (and into Phoenix in September) and I eagerly sign-up with the other hoards of croppers to take over priced classes, to battle the swarms of deal-hunters in the vendor fare, and to have a generally fantastic time. I deviated from the norm this time, in that I ONLY signed up for 3 classes this afternoon -- no evening crops, no all morning string of classes, and no hours wandering the vendor arena. I did however, drag my mother along. She is such a good sport, and generally really enjoys herself. But seeing as 
I got my "crafting gene" from her, it is only fair that she suffer the affliction with me.
we signed up for more "home decor" scrappin' classes. One being a bunch of photos blocks (big heavy wooden blocks) to eventually be stacked on a cute shelf or something. The other class was a small wall hanging. I've included pictures for your edification and enjoyment. I actually think it turned out pretty cute.
This was sure a great way to start what turned out to be a pretty fun day. So after, ohing and awing over the blog stuff I headed out to Ryan Elementary School for my nephew Ethan's 2nd grade musical (still gunnin
g for that "Best Aunt of the Year" award). Man, with the crowd that was there at the school you'd think that Pavarotti was making a come back performance (literally;)). But you have to figure there were almost 100 2nd graders "performing" so there would be almost as many parents. The theme was "BUGZ". It was a pretty cute performance with all the kids dressed up as different bugs, singing catchy little tunes, and quickly spouting out one-line dialogs. Of course, I thought Ethan was the best performer by far. I wonder why we never had "musicals" when I was in 2nd grade. And now that I think about, I don't know anyone else who ever had a "musical" in elementary school. I do remember my parents suffering through an orchestra concert or two. Anyways, a big BRAVO! goes out to Ethan for his performance as a yellow-jacket.
2. I’ve recently undergone a pretty big life change – I quit my job. It was just time to move on. And the real kicker is…I don’t have another job yet. So I am now enjoying a period of unemployment, meaning time to catch up on craft projects, time to do some hiking and camping with my dad (he quit too!), time to have lunches with my friends, time to read those books I’ve been meaning to get to, and time to start my own little business. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I see my period of unemployment coming to and end soon (I’ve got an interview this afternoon). But, I’m enjoying it while I can.
7. The other passion in my life is still SCRAPBOOKING! Yep, I’m still doing it. This, I might consider, is a terminal illness – I’ll probably be scrapbooking until I die. I’ve started an online club on meet-up.com – East Valley Scrabbook Guild – and we’ve got a little over 100 members. I coordinate monthly crops so all of my fellow junkies can get together to do scrapbooking. I’m trying to parlay it all into a small business where I set up scrapbooking crops, with all the bells and whistles, for money. Keep your fingers crossed because I’ve got my first business crop in May. In the meantime, I find time to do my own work, to travel to scrapbook conferences, and try to get publish.
