My Weblog

In South Africa, FAB!

ok so Mom and I got in last night but my computer was dead and for some reason i couldn't get it to charge in our room. apparently you have to turn the plug ON for it it work here...duh! so mom and i are sitting here in our room watching desperate housewives and ordering room service...the LIFE! we are staying at this great hotel 'protea wanderer's. 

around 7 we went over to this mansion that was turned into an events center. the guy who built it was a millionaire, the girls said he was equivalent to our Donald Trump.  so the place is just amazing.

The delegates (attendees as we call them) were sooooooooooo much fun!!! They are savvy crafters and just a lot of fun to play with.

the cards we did were so dang cute too!

we taught first today then louise (the lovely woman who brought us to SA to teach!) taught this adorable double page layout:

Janet from Advantus taught an amazing photo album/scrapbook pages project using Heidi's new products that debuted at CHA.  Old world style with clocks, ledger papers, harringbone papers, just to die for items! (try to post pic of project later)

heidi swapp was there as well and she did this cute mirror album called 'to my heart be true'- it was darling and i'm going to make one when we are in cape town. she was really inspiring in the way she taught. she had lots of great quotes, she had a way of making you really look at your life and in your heart to see what you are all about. it was wonderful to listen to her and learn about her life! :)

Download Joburg.wmv (videos from our classes today!)

we are back on a plane tomorrow for cape town, which i am really excited about! i remember it so well and cannot wait to explore it more this time!

quote of the day (courtesy of Heidi) your time will be sufficient to accomplish that which is most important. choose well!

more to come! ttfn!!

THANK YOU WRITERS!!!

a few things i am thankful for...

just had to get that out! :)

ttfn!

MY FLIP VIDEO

well i got a new gadget! i am so thrilled to use it and see what you think about my new ways of blogging...

you can check it all out at the FLIP SITE. basically it lets you record up to 60 min. of video with no tapes or recharging the battery...just shoot and then upload to your pc/mac with the built-in usb port! pretty cool eh?

here is my first try with my flip...actually lor (my sis) took this since i was busy capturing stuff on camera!

Download down_in_my_heart.wmv ...this is aidan's first grade program he is second row from the top on the end...

he also got the play the drums with his buddies during the opening...he was soooo cute! :) can you tell how proud i am of this little guy? :) LOL

i just realized that i am reading 4 books AT ONCE! it didn't really dawn on me until yesterday when i went in search for one of them...lol guess i like to read! here are the books i am reading...all of which are fantastic!

well, i am getting ready to go to cali for the Millsrepco show so i will post some video's of my class and the Las Vegas night when i am there!

quote of the day (from a card my girl nancy gave me for my bday) may you always have enough happiness to keep you sweet; enough trials to keep you strong; enough success to keep you eager; enough faith to give you courage; and enough determination to make each day a good day.

thought of the day: how many hours a day do you spend doing something truly productive? ~what do you consider productive? -from the book Instant Interviews by Melody Ross

ttfn! ;)

Ok SHARI...this one's for YOU! :)

well i kinda got in trouble for not blogging...he he he...who me?? so here is what has been going on in my life...aidan turned 7...gasp! i bought a town home that i SO LOVE! i will post pics as soon as i get that together! :) i know i know...we moved our warehouse the WEEK BEFORE CHA...i know-nuts. we are going to south africa again-YIPEE! we are doing 4 classes in cape town and 4 in johannesburg! :) we even get to stay on a wine estate *sigh*

oh and i had such a wonderful easter! ya know easter is one of those holidays you just can't help loving. here are some pic's from our easter party we had...

  emo egg...

me and my sisters, belle and lor.

ok this day's quote comes from the TV show October Road (which is soooooo awesome): life isn't then...life isn't when...life is THIS, HERE, NOW.

so true...ttfn!

catch up!

well it has been a long break! you know with the holidays come busy schedules!! i have SO MUCH going on that it is hard to take a few to post...but i have like 2 hours of free time now so here it goes! after we went to maryland, the next SUPER fun place i got to go was MEXICO!! there is just something about mexico that lures me there. i feel so comfortable and at home. i guess it might be because i've been there like 6 times over the last 10 years. the first time i went was for a missions trip to an orphanage. i need to find some pics from that to scan into my computer...they are hilarious! what an awesome time that was though!

however, this time it was for vacation. we went to puerto vallarta. mom, me, kim, and nancy. i didn't know kim and nancy when we went, but of course they are great friends now! one of my girlfriends was supposed to go with me (you know who you are!) but dissed me at the last second...geez!! :) JK still luv ya! here are some cool pics i got.

every time we go to mexico we go to the local dump. its just a huge landfill, and people work in it and live around it. it is really sad and very dangerous. i haven't been for about 2 years so it was even more shocking then the last time i was there. there are 3 and 4 generations of families that live there. they never get out. the town charges them $50 for water every week. thats more then we pay!! and $50 a month to rent the dirt they live on.

they make their money by sorting through the trash that gets dumped there every half hour or so. they go through it all with sticks to find anything that can be recycled.  so on top of having NOTHING they are making our world a better place and getting very very little for it.

they gather all their goods and put them in trash bags by categories...

my favorite part was playing with all the kids from the village...

these kids are just so loving! they didn't even know us. it costs about $200 for them to go to school. so you can imagine how that is. the parents would rather they work then go to school. so these kids have virtually no education AT ALL.

isn't he just adorable? i couldn't stop taking pics of him. he had this smile that just lit up his whole face!!

the sad thing is he will not live past 14 or 15. there is a disease there that kills young boys. you only see really young boys or really old men.

i got this off their site...she is pregnant!!!

 

want to help these adorable kids out? give them an education!!! go to Families at the Dump and donate...anything helps! they really need it!!

quote of the day: the value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving. Albert Einstein

my maryland trip!

ok all you ScrapMania! girls, i haven't forgotten you, just been overwhelmed with work and the new school year! i took a trip to maryland recently and took a TON of pictures to show off what i did. so here is some of the girls at ScrapMania! who took my 12 days of christmas book class.

it was soooo fun! the little girl in the picture has taken 2 of my classes...she is the youngest one ever! she is really good too! :)

i love going there to teach because i also get to see my family! :) aidan got to go with me as well and he got to meet his second cousins, great aunts and uncles!! we had a blast! the three things i miss the most about maryland is my family, blue crabs, and snowball stands! i really think someone should start a snowball stand here in colorado springs! at least in the summertime, because i really miss them! i remember sitting under a tree in my church dress eating my sky blue with marshmallow topping snowball and just luvin life! :)

near my aunt and uncle's house is a corn stand (is that what you would really call it?) and aidan had to get on this tractor...he really liked the country! here he is with his cousins...

they are soooo cute! he really loved hanging out with them and always BEGS me to go back and see them.

don't you love this pic? apparently it is in an upcoming movie with robin williams, but i can't remember what it's called...go figure! :) well, that about does it for my trip!

quote of the day: The things that one most wants to do are the things that are probably most worth doing. Winifred Holtby 

WE SO MET JOSH TURNER!!!

OK so for belle's (IN RED) 14th b-day, mom got us all tickets to see Josh Turner at the Colorado State Fair...this was belle's and laurion's first concert! so, the tickets said 6:45pm....so we get there at around 4:45, PLENTY of time to spare. we walked the fair and finally ended up getting some food and just sittin' at a table near the arena. well, I had to use the ATM and so I asked a guy at the door to the arena "what time does Josh Turner start?" i just KNEW he couldn't have started at 6:45...well i guess they had a rodeo starting at 6:45 and Josh wouldn't go on till 9:00!!! ya...so we were REALLY bummed that now we had to find something to do for, like, another 3 HOURS! laurion and i walked the fair again and mom n belle went in to watch the rodeo.

finally the time comes for Josh to be going on stage and everyone in the stands start getting in a line at the fence next to us...so we are all like "what are they doing?". well, come to find out, at rodeo concerts like this one they let you go onto the arena to watch the concert. so we are in luck! we are RIGHT next to the gate, so we get right up front, with only 1 person in front of us! :) SUPER! needless to say the concert was great! and we had a blast...it was fun being there with my sisters and my mom (who probably hasn't been to a concert since woodstock) hehe...

at the end of the concert he threw his guitar pick to a little girl off to our right...well, she, of course, didn't catch it since it was so dark...none of us could see it! so we stayed after for about 10 min. to see if we could find it in the dirt. well, we never found it! so we left...made a pit stop at the restrooms and went to leave. i really wanted a t-shirt, so i told them i was going back in to get one. laurion and belle came with. laurion wanted these really cool bracelets to help out Vanishing Arts Programs. so we are in line and i tell belle to go back and look for the pick...maybe now that everyone is gone you can find it...so she does (after a bit of protest :)). mom comes up and asked where she was and went to join her in the search!

laurion and i FINALLY got our stuff and went to find mom and belle. i see mom and she screams (from the middle of the arena) " HURRY UP GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!!! FAST!!!" so we BOOK IT down to where she is...and some guy hands us VIP passes to meet JOSH!!! OMG!!! we were so excited!!! here i thought she found the guitar pick, but alas...WE ARE IN LINE TO SEE HIM!!! well, he was SUCH a nice guy and of course TOTALLY HOT...but married!! LOL...he signed my t-shirt that i had just got! YAY!!

well, THAT is our ' how we met the famous JOSH TURNER' saga!!!

P.S. Visit Josh Turner's site!

Don't Blink

hey all! wow i just am so busy with work, volleyball, school starting, and traveling that it is just so hard to find the time i need to just post now and then! i need to adjust to this busy life of mine...LOL. aidan's first day of first grade was tuesday...:( *tear* i dropped him off and just couldn't leave to save my life...he was so cute just sitting at his first real desk (he shared a table in K) drawing a picture of himself and being all quiet. i stood there for about 10 minutes before i could DRAG myself away and go to work. have you heard that new kenny chesney song Don't Blink? well it is sooooo awesome, it made me really think about how fast our lives are going. do you ever just want to sit completely still and listen to the clock tick? or go grab your kids, husband, friend, parents, and just take off of life for a while? i know i do...

just looking at these pictures now really makes me wanna cry...ok-change of subject...i did this new altered book (only my second) yesterday for my class at ScrapMania! in MD. Thought I would show it off...

well---gotta run!

ttfn!

quote of the day: inaction breeds doubt and fear. action breeds confidence and courage. if you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. go out and get BUSY! Dale Carnegie

food for thought: if you knew tomorrow would be your last day on earth, who would you spend it with and what would you do?

take time NOW to let them know you love them...

Sierra Scrap Escape ROCKS!!!

this has been a long time coming but better late then never right?? :) one of the reasons i went to california was to visit this really cool scrapbook escape place in portola sierra scrap escape...up in the sierra nevada mountains!! it was so beyond beautiful up there! donna puts on a really good time too!! we got to get pampered with peticures, facials, manicures, massages, and just a ton of relaxation!! oh and TONS OF SCRAPPIN!! i was once again asked to be the guest teacher at this retreat. We also got to go to lake tahoe which was totally fun!!

one of the special nights at the lodge was DIVA night!! boy that was fun! we all got dressed up in our best *DIVA* outfits and PARTIED!! it was fabulous! here are some fun shots i got...

charity: don't hate me i had to!!!! :) :)

haha well you can tell we all had a great time being DIVAS!!!

jenny won my card contest i had them all do! it turned out really cute too!

and making cards of course!! we also went fishing...

basically we just had a really good time...but then again we ALWAYS have a good time!! :)

quote of the day: the secret of joy in work is contained in one word...excellence. to know how to do something well is to enjoy it. Pearl Buck

ttfn! enjoy summer!

Goin' Back to Cali

i got to go back to california once again!! i am always nervous about going since i am DEATHLY afraid of earthquakes...i always have bad nightmares about being in one...anyhooo! so my time started out at millsrepco in sacramento! we were actually in old sac, an absolutely adorable quaint little town full of little shops and stuff...i was able to bring aidan this time so that was a treat in itself! he really enjoyed the plane too. he loves flying so he HAD to have the window seat!! :( we also got to take a riverboat tour while we were in sac. i loved it and aidan just had the time of his life!

we also got to visit an IKEA for the FIRST TIME EVER and boy i had no idea how much i would LOVE this place...shoot they even had a kids place to drop your children off at so you can shop in QUIET!! how SMART IS THAT??? boy, i sooooo wish that we had one in denver!!!!!!!!!!! HINT HINT!!! if anyone from IKEA is reading this PLEASE PLEASE I BEG YOU!! but until then i will just have to shop online at IKEA. seriously check it out! here is one of the many many things i wanted for my kitchen...

i bought aidan three of these things for his toys...i love it cuz he puts all his toys in there instead of on the FLOOR!!

 

one of the highlights of the whole time in old sac was when me and aidan went down to the river (OF COURSE WITHOUT MY CAMERA) and saw a seal swimming on down the river!!! i mean IN THE WILD...haha aidan thought it was too cool! well all in all we had a blast!!

quote of the day: life isn't about finding yourself. life is about creating yourself... George Bernard Shaw

TTFN!!