little gi

sneek cj peeks

for erin

for beth

i did these a bit ago but hadn't gotten around to the sneeky peeking :)
oh circle journals are fun :)
can't wait to get to see mine when it comes home

happy thursday!!

xoxoxoxoxo

gi

EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!!!!!

did you see!!!???!!!!

i am this week's guest design team member over at pencil lines!!!!

i was totally freaked out doing this....you see...i adore that site...i mean really...these women are unbelievably talented and always have me going oooh & ahhhh over their art...i've never left that place not inspired...but it isn't just that...i've gotten to know a few of the DT members a bit & think they are just wonderful....they really happen to be such a great group of women...i would love to have a happy hour with them all....THAT would be a blast...hmmm...hopefully one day!!!

so when they asked me to do the guest spot i was jumping up and down totally freaking out....but then when it came to doing a sketch & a layout i had total stage fright.  i mean...these gals BRING IT...and when i saw what they did with my sketch i just about fell outta my chair...absolutely amazing stuff...you've gotta see!!!

in other news around here...tater is talking up a storm!  tonight she came up to me during dinner & said "wat me jump mommy!"...sooooo cute!!!  she is also calling "wait...me!" all the time after ryan & kelly...you know it is funny...all day i was thinking about how much she is talking & i had her little voice in my head...now as i sit here typing this i can't remember half of her cute conversation...tomorrow i'm going to definitely record more....& break out the video camera...i always want to be able to cue up this fun stuff...i know all too soon she will be hoping on the bus to first grade like someone else here in this house!!!

which brings me to kells bells....i cannot believe she is going to first grade next week....today we got some of her school supplies (i know...last minute!) and she was getting really excited....ryan kept trying to get a bunch of supplies too & she kept telling him "ryan...you see...i'm going to first grade....i need this stuff....when you go to first grade you'll get all of this stuff too!!"....she is so funny!  such a big sister...
ryan is really going to miss her this year i think...those 2 are totally attached at the hip....they play (& squabble) all day together...yeah...i definitely am breaking out the journal tomorrow to record lots of this stuff....this is the good stuff....

happy monday!!!!!!

xoxoxxoxo

gi

i've been on the hunt to find....

some sort of balance....some way to get a handle on everything....

and you know what?  it just isn't possible..and that has gotta start being perfectly O.K.
i've gotta stop driving myself outta my mind trying to find & achieve something that just isn't gonna work for me....i've gotta stop chasing june cleaver's shadow

b/c when it boils right down to it....who the hell cares if i don't get all the housework done?  is it the end of the universe if i still have a shopping bag full of unopened mail sitting in my kitchen from this summer that i just didn't get to yet?  is it that big of a deal if we don't have a perfect dinner on the table every night of the week?  so what if i don't have a binder listing all of the kids' activities including all the pertinent phone numbers & directions (like one super organized mom i met)?

i've gotta a news bulletin for myself....i'm not perfect and no one expects me to be so

my kids don't play like the kids on the toy commercials....my house doesn't look like the catalog....i don't clean the bathroom w/ cute little animated soap bubbles who wink at me....and my "situations" don't get solved in 22 minutes like they do on "Friends"...

so in my search for BALANCE i've gotta scale back my expectations just a wee bit....
b/c my kinda balance is gonna include a bunch of craziness attached to it for now....and frankly the craziness can be quite a blast if i let it

and it breaks my heart to know that there will be one day that i will look back & remember these days so fondly and i'm gonna wish so much that i had all of this craziness back....i'm gonna miss all of this nuttiness...and squabbling...and fights over how many bites they have to take before they get that lollipop...and crayons all over the floor....and teeny tiny clothes that fill up the laundry basket....

so when this week's Word Up came around....it took me a bit of time to figure out what BALANCE meant to me...& this is what i came up with:

& this week the team was so fortunate to be sponsored by Technique Tuesday...LOVE their stuff....& i got to use the santa cruz alphas and the dog & pony show stamp sets on this layout & i'm gonna warn you that you'll be seeing LOTS of those sets in the future from me....i LOVE them...they are so freakin' cool...i also used their fabulous frames which are so awesome!!!!  they were so easy to just rub ink all over to color them up...but i'll admit my fave thing about those frames is that the ink dried like instantly on them...i'm so freakin' impatient it always bugs me to have to wait for paint to dry...LOL!

so....have some fun over at onelittleword....and remember to ENJOY....feel free to remind me to do that too :)

hope you all have a wonderful wednesday!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxxo

gi

i know i'm behind the times....

but we saw this movie the other night....i'm still reeling from it...absolutely phenomenal...no wonder it won best picture

& i have to post the stuff i actually got to create this weekend while hangin' with breanne, morgan & nic at MLPA...we did a round robin & had SO MUCH FUN....if you don't know what a round robin is see the webisode HERE  (episodes # 26, 25 & 24) & then call up all your scrappy friends & do it....SO FUN i'm tellin' ya....one word of advice tho...make sure everyone explains who is actually in the pictures they are doing so, let's just say, no one accidentally mistakes a brother for a husband & proceeds to put a whole bunch of lubby dubby stuff on a brother & sister page b/c they thought they were doing a lover page....just a tip...don't know why i would THINK of such a thing...LOL!!!  (sorry nic!!!!!!! )

& now that the new september collection is posted up...you all know why i've been absent over here....b/c i've been buried under mounds of green & gold felt!!!  but it is all good...gotta love making some little lub for the SISters :)

today is a dreary tuesday & i'm hoping that the kiddos take a nice long nap this afternoon so i can get busy on my OLW layout that needs to be posted today...new word up tomorrow & nothing like waiting till the last minute huh?

hope you all are having a happy week!!!

xoxoxoxo

gi

some of my most favoritest women....

kerry & sarah have started something amazing....it will be sure to add inspiration to my life....i know this will help me to keep my head out of my ass & LOOK and SEE the beauty that is around me....the beauty that i am so lucky to be blessed with every day...and it will definitely make me smile everyday because i love them both so much

so take a look :)

here ---------------------------------->   hers and mine

happy tuesday!!!

xoxoxoxoxo

gi

i seek...

• balance
• smiles
• peace
• solace
• kindness
• happiness
• organization
• patience
• love
• laughter
• openness
• simplicity
• to let it go
• wonder
• creativity
• sleep
• accomplishment
• contentment
• self confidence
• a better way
• answers
• inspiration
• joy

& i could go on....& on.....

i'll admit...i'm a seeker....i've always been....i've got journals of questions about "why is it like this?" to prove it....i'm not the type to just take things at face value...i dig...i question....i seek....sometimes this can be wonderful and sometimes it can be suffocating...but it is who i am

whereas mike is perfectly content with just accepting and living....he doesn't dwell...he doesn't try to figure out the what ifs too much....he's not too much of a worrier....he lives in the now....i love that about him....for instance, if he is in a grumpy mood & then one of the kids wants to go out in the pool & jump like a crazy person on the huge inflatable orca whale...he'll be all like..."ok" and then proceed to go outside and laugh his head off....he lives in the moment so much better than i....

i tend to contemplate...and try to figure everything out....from every angle....and sometimes it consumes me...i get so wrapped up in trying to figure things out....the things i treasure the most slip by....like laughing my head off (i love to do that)...and then i'm left being all pissed at myself for not just lightening up...for not just letting it go...for not being the type of person who can just be

and yesterday i was caught up in one of those places....and just then one of the wisest and most wonderful people i know said "i'm still trying to figure out what kind of crazy ass standards you are tying to live up to!" 

and i just about cried....

and then i created this

this week is my week over at one little word...and it came at the perfect time for me....don't you just love when it all comes together....

hope you can come & play too....what do you seek?

have a happy thursday!!!

xoxoxoxo

gi

can you help?

this girl is on a mission....

you may know her as one of the fabulous fashionistas over at SIStv....or you may have seen her scrapbook pages in numerous scrap magazines....and she happens to be a very good friend of mine who i love dearly....

she is becca sutton....and she is on a mission to raise money to find a cure for diabetes....this coming saturday, becca is walking w/ one-half million others in Omaha, NE as part of the Walk to Cure Diabetes

so i'm asking you all to consider donating to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund and support becca and her mission...and this is why:

As many as 3 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, a disease most often diagnosed in childhood that strikes suddenly, lasts a lifetime and carries the constant threat of deadly complications including heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, and amputation.  JDRF's mission is constant, to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.  Thanks to dramatic research progress, a cure is now within our reach.  (text taken from the JDRF website)

so it is as plain as that....a cure is within our research...your help is needed....

so please consider donating and helping support this wonderful cause...you can do so by clicking HERE

thanks :)

xoxoxoxo

gi

whew!! is it AUGUST already!!!!

wow!  this summer has FLOWN by!!!  tons of stuff going on & all i want to do is hang out at the pool...the other day i bought the kids these insanely huge blow up animal floats...they are completely nuts....& they've been going crazy with them for the past 2 days....kate has a dot-dile which is a crocodile for those of you who don't speak tater...ryan has a sea turt-tull and kelly has a killer whale...i'm partial to the sea turtle b/c it has a really comfy shell that is really nice to lay on & float around on even if you are pushing 35 years old....

i had a freakin' BLAST last weekend at CKC in valley forge...got to hang out w/ some of my best buddies, laurie & tracy...i swear, if you recorded our conversations in the car you could totally solve most of the world's problems....and your head would probably spin b/c we jumped from topic to topic like q-bert on the highest level...but seriously....we really should rule the world...we'd make sure everyone had some M & Ms and a mini book :)

one of the best things about this past weekend was getting to meet one of the most amazing friends i've met on this whole world wide web....patty schaeffer.....i meet patty through the emily falconbridge deck of me challenge (which btw...i did 4 cards on friday night...will post soon :) & she is just one of the sweetest, funniest & most creative people i have ever met....i took her class at the convention on saturday and let me tell you...the whole room of women left inspired including me...patty has a wonderful way of teaching....i love that she just doesn't tell you "put the pink sticker 1" down on page 2"...she shares her own art...WHY she creates are...what inspires her...she gives her own wonderful scrap philosophy and tells her students about what is important to her...

it was a wonderful class
with a fabulous project (that i'm still working on...gathering lots of details to fill up my book :)
an amazing message
a great atmosphere
a supportive vibe
and a unbelievable talented and creative and AMAZING teacher

such a wonderful way to spend my saturday morning....

here we are after class....can tell we had fun, huh?  can't wait to get together again... :)

hope you are having a happy week!!!!  STAY COOL!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

gi