Minature Wedding Scrapbook

Today was my parents 32nd anniversary! Congrats Mom & Dad! To celebrate we had a really fun party tonight at the church with dinner & games.

I wanted to make them something meaningful yet inexpensive. Here's what I came up with...

(Please excuse the pictures-they're kind of blury)

I made the pages out of some old chipboard that I had from paper packages. Basically, I just mod podged the paper to the chipboard and sanded the edges to give it an antique look.

I scanned a ton of their wedding/anniversary documents and pictures and shrunk them to fit the pages.

I added a few cutsie embellishments that I got from Scrapbooks Etc. (My new favorite store)

To make it more personal, I added some stories that they had written many years ago (upon my request when I was a teenager) about their dating and courtship.

And last but not least, I placed a little surprise in the pocket on the last page... A minature WEDDING LICENSE.

I'm so proud of myself because I typically just copy everyone elses good ideas for crafts, and this tiny wedding album was 100% thought up by me.

It was a ton of fun making it, makes me want to do one for me & Bryan!

Lost & Found

Saturday April 26th

8:42 AM-Tate is happily playing in his bedroom and singing very loudly "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus."

8:43 AM-The singing stops

8:44 AM-Tate is gone and is no where to be found.

8:45 AM-Maria is calling for Tate and looking in every room only to find that the back door and garage door are unlocked.

8:49 AM-Still no sign of Tate! Maria is frantic! She is screaming his name, running from the house/backyard/garage.

8:50 AM-Maria calls 911. The dispatcher thinks she is insane as all she can do is scream, "HE'S GONE!!!

8:52 AM-Maria has completely lost it. She is still running through the house panicking. She is starting to wonder if Tate is gone for good.

8:53 AM-Maria decides to check the garage once more, screaming for Tate all the while. The garage light is off, the car light is off, the car doors are locked, and wait... who is that curled up in a ball on the floor with a great big grin on his face?

8:54 AM-Maria is bauling uncontrollably not knowing whether she should beat him or love him! She tells the dispatcher that Tate has been found.

8:55 AM-Tate has a GREAT BIG talk and is given a consequence of wearing a leash so that he will learn to stick to his mama!

THE END.

52 Blessings-Week 4

My blessing this week is PRAYER. I can't really put into words how grateful I am that H.F. knows me and loves me individually and that he takes the time to answer my prayers.

Cute Story:

Last night we had a chicken salad for dinner and Tate asked to offer the prayer. Here's what he said, "Heavenly Father, this food makes me sick!!! Please bless it so I can eat it, so I will not be sick. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen."

Big Pictures & Photoshop Tutorials

I've seriously always wondered how other people make their pictures VERY BIG when blogging. Well thanks to "I Believe in Miracles" & "My Everyday Chaos" I now know how. Yeah!!! To learn how click HERE.

Oh and I found this picture of me (when I was 3) tucked away in the closet, scanned it, and played around with the colors in photoshop. Here's the original image.

This one is with a colored me and a mostly black and white background. HERE is the tutorial I used.

And the last one is supposed to be an old fashioned hand tinted photo. I like the way it turned out. Click HERE for the tutorial.

As you all know, I LOVE wasting my time playing with Photoshop. So fun!

You know that you're stressed if...

1. You eat 5 chocolate cupcakes (one after another) and are still craving more.
   
2. You find cleaning your house to be the most enjoyable thing in the entire world, and could literally do it all day and all night.


3. You "almost" call your Mom and ask her if she wants to adopt your 3 1/2 year old.
   
   I figure since this is "MY BLOG", I can vent all I need to and then maybe I'll feel better! It's been a CRAZY week and I can seriously feel my stress level rising by the minute. Don't worry though, I'll be back to normal in a few weeks/maybe months.
   
   Oh, did I mention that Bryan no longer works for PROTEX as of Monday. Is anybody interested in buying our beautiful humble abode?

A Cricket Story

Once upon a time there was a little boy who went on a hunt to find a bug. He searched and searched for a very long time, and he finally found a little cricket lying in the grass at the park. He was more than thrilled with his discovery, but now he faced a new challenge of trying to catch the cricket. The little boy & the little cricket hopped together through the park, and finally the little boy succeeded in his mission. He held the cricket very tightly ALL night long until his Mother said they had to go home.

THE END.

52 Blessings Week 3

I can't begin to possibly describe how thankful I am that Tate is in my life! He is my little shadow, and I LOVE him so much.

Father's & Sons Outing = Peace & Quiet "Just Me" Time

I've officially decided...That FATHER'S & SONS OUTING is my favorite thing in the whole wide world!And I've decided that I need to talk Bryan into taking Tate camping more often.

Last night while Bryan & Tate were sitting around the camp fire eating their delicious tin foil dinners, I was going at it with the vacuum, mop, scrub brush, and of course windex (my favorite!) I stayed up until 11:54 PM working, and then I woke up at 6:08 AM to work some more. Our house is finally getting closer to clean & I'm feeling better than ever!

Sock Matching Game

The only way I ever get the house clean with Tate is when I make it fun. This morning we had a sock matching game. We layed the socks out on the floor, then took turns finding matches and putting them together. Tate seriously loved it! We played two rounds since we had so many socks to sort.

I started FLYLADY again today! Yeah, I'm so excited! I did it last year for several months and my house was spotless all the time and it took little effort on my part. Then, I thought that I could do it on my own without all the email reminders and I totally quit- BAD IDEA! I'm so not doing that again. FLYLADY is awesome, and I'm really excited to get my house in order!!!

Click HERE for FLYLADY info.

Tagged x 4

I always LOVE reading everyone elses tags, but I've never taken the time to do one of my own. And now, I've got a total of 4... Hope you enjoy!

3 FACTS/3 HABITS TAG

1. Fact: I don't like soda or tap water. I'll drink them only when I'm REALLY thirsty and there's nothing else to drink and that's pretty much it.

2. Fact: Bryan and I were each others first kiss.

3. Fact: My second and third toes are longer than my first toe. Weird, I know!

4. HABIT: Blogging of course

5. HABIT: I'm seriously paranoid about leaving Tate with anyone. I guess I'm afraid that he'll get hurt, pass out, and that I won't be there to comfort him. THIS IS A VERY VERY VERY BAD HABIT THAT I TOTALLY NEED TO GET OVER.

6. HABIT: I'm so much of a perfectionist when it comes to gardening. I like to have all of the plants perfectly lined up and the plants have to be labeled.

MARRIAGE TAG

What is his name: Bryan
How long have you been married: 7 years
How long did you date: 2 months before engaged
How old is he? 28
Who eats more? He does
Who said I love you first? He did.
Who is taller? He is by about 4 inches
Who sings better? I would say him. He would disagree though.
Who is smarter? Definitely him.
Whose temper is worse? Maybe the same
Who does the laundry? I do of course
Who does the dishes? That would be me as well.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do now. He used to but we switched sides recently.
Who cooks dinner? I do. However, I'm sure that he would be happy to make us some toast if I made the bread :)
Who drives when you are together? Bryan does most of the time. There have been a few times that I've driven so that he could sleep.
Who is more stubborn? We are both very stubborn.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I am.
Whose parents do you see the most? Probably both equally-they both live fairly close.
Who has more friends? I don't know. I probably have more acquaintances and he has more close friends.
Who has more siblings? Bryan has 7 and I have 5
Who wears the pants in the family? We both do. Doesn't everyone?

BOOK TAG

To complete this tag:

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages)
2. Turn to page 123
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. Tag 5 people

My journal was the closest book to me. And on the 123rd page 5th sentence down I was totally talking about some guy that I liked. The journal entry date is 12/20/1999;

"I really like _____ a lot He is an awesome guy. Two nights ago he was in a nativity so I went and saw that, and then we went to a party and to the country dance. He is so fun. I HOPE that he likes me back."

A-Z TAG

A- ATTACHED OR SINGLE: Attached, for 7 years!

B- BEST FRIEND: Bryan & Tate

C- CAKE OR PIE: ice cream pie

D- DAY OF CHOICE: Friday because the next day is Saturday

E- ESSENTIAL ITEM: Computer

F- FAVORITE COLOR: Purple

G- GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Getting married to Bryan & also having Tate

H- HOMETOWN: Mesa, AZ

I- INDULGENCES: Eating any and all Sweets

J- JANUARY OR JULY: July (It's Bryan's birthday + it's swimming season)

K- KIDS: Tate

L- LIFE IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT: Scrapbooking

M- MARRIAGE DATE: Feb 2001

N- NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: 1 Sister and 4 Brothers

O- ORANGES OR APPLES: I love them both but I'd have to say apples

P- PHOBIAS OR FEARS: Fear of losing Bryan or Tate

Q- QUOTES: "Buying things we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people who don't care, will get us into a lot of trouble."

R- REASON TO SMILE: My life in general

S- SEASON: Fall time-I love it when it's neither hot nor cold.

T- TAG four FRIENDS: Who ever wants to

U- UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME: Growing up I was a little indian child. I was outside ALL the time and was very tan. I go outdoors quite a bit still but don't tan as easily.

V- VERY FAVORITE STORE: Either Joanns or Michaels

W- WORST HABIT: Letting dishes pile up

X- X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND: Neither but if I had to choose I'd say ultrasound

Y- YOUR FAVORITE FOOD: Mexican food

Z- ZODIAC: libra

I tag anyone who wants to fill these out!

Happy Wednesday!

How do you like my cool trick?
Love, Tate

It's gunna be a LONG DAY...

It's not even 8 AM yet and Tate has banged his head three times already! Poor kid. I think that he seriously has the worst luck when it comes to getting hurt.

Rascal Attack!

This little puppy is SO GUILTY! Lately we've taken to calling him Rascal the Jack Russell Terrorist. Here's the proof...
He dug up the main water line in my flower garden and chewed it up. This is a picture after Bryan fixed it. He pulled out 2 of our yard lights and chewed up the wire as well.
He chewed up almost all of my garden sprinklers, so for the time being I get to water them by hand-YEAH!
And, his latest attack has been tearing apart my beautiful grape vines.

It's a miracle that I still LIKE him after all of this!

52 Blessings-Week 2

Bryan is the biggest blessing in my life! He is such an amazing person and he loves me for who I am.

(Side Note: Our computer monitor stopped working for some reason this last week. Fortunately we borrowed one from Bryan's Dad, but unfortunately it's a big box monitor and the colors are all messed up on it. It was pretty crazy trying to guess if the colors looked okay on this page, hopefully they do. If not, I'll just fix it next week when we get our new monitor.)

Major Time Saver...

I love blogging! My only problem with it is the amount of time it takes guessing which blogs to read. I always go through a million blogs, just to find out that no one has written anything new. I finally found a solution-Blogger in Draft's Blog List!!! It lets you know who has updated there blog and if you want, it can also display the title of their new post.

It's simple to put on your blog. All you have to do is:

• Sign in to BLOGGER IN DRAFT http://draft.blogger.com/home instead of the regular blogger
• Click on LAYOUT, then ADD A GADGET, and then BLOG LIST
• Add in the URL'S of the blogs you want to add

It's just that simple! I did notice though that it doesn't update the private blogs so that's a bummer, but for the most part it works great!

Biking ALL Day

This is what Tate wants to be doing every minute of every hour of every day!
He LOVES riding a bike, and he's getting good at it too!

Gardening = Simple Pleasures

We woke up this morning to behold that our tomato plant now has fruit! There are tiny green balls covering the plants.
This Bush bean plant amazes me. Last night, the plant had not yet appeared above the soil. When we awoke this morning, it was nearly 2 inches tall!
I couldn't help but take a picture of my favorite thing to grow-squash. It grows so quickly and is such a lovely plant.
And last but not least, here's a picture of some flowers in my flower garden.

I love having a garden! It not only beautifies the backyard, but it brings happiness and provides me with an escape from demanding daily routines.

(This season we planted zucchini, crookneck squash, watermelon, bush beans, bell peppers, cantaloupe, strawberries, tomatoes, and lots of flowers.)

Reflections of Christ

Have you all been to the Visitor's Center lately? I actually went to mutual last night (I'm so bad about going consistently), and we went there. It was totally awesome! I really enjoyed the "Reflections of Christ Exhibit." Tate & I went a couple months ago, but it was so much better this time without the distraction of watching him and keeping him quiet throughout. I totally recommend going if you can, but for those of you who live out of state and can't, you can check out the slideshow of all the pictures HERE. It's about 5 1/2 minutes and is totally worth watching!

This is my very favorite picture in the exhibit. I LOVE the emotion and joy that it depicts!

52 Blessings-Week 1

I decided to begin a new scrapbook dedicated to my many blessings. Every week I plan on making a new page for it, and in a year I'll have a total of 52. Although I think that I want to make my scrapbook with double page spreads (The first for the picture of the blessing and the second for an explanation of the blessing.)

My first page is of President Monson (16th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.) It was inspired by General Conference that was held this weekend.

New Accomplishment

Tate always wakes up at 6:30 sharp, not dependant on what time he goes to sleep. He could go to sleep at midnight, and he'd still wake up at the same time. Me on the other hand, I need my sleep. I especially LOVE to sleep in and could sleep all morning if I didn't have to wake up. I always wake up to see Bryan off to work in the morning (which is sometimes very early) and then I TRY to go back to sleep. It doesn't always happen, but if I do go back to sleep then it's really hard to wake up again. This morning being a Sunday, I was exhausted from a long week and Tate couldn't wake me up for anything. So, he got his own cereal. He actually did very good. Here's how I found him...

Lucky for him and mostly for me, there was only about 1/2 cup of milk left in the jug so he was able to pour it easily without making too big of a mess!

(Did you notice the HUGE scab on Tate's forehead? He tripped earlier this week while playing in the backyard and banged and cut his head on the patio pillar. Thankfully my neighbor is a nurse and they had some liquid stitch (glue) and they fixed it right up!)

Biggest Loser Contest

My family is doing a biggest loser contest this month. Here are the basics and rules of the game. I thought I would share it with you in case your family would like to try it too!

Purpose- To lose weight and have fun with some competition

Time Period- We are doing a 1 month time period, but depending on how much everyone would like to lose, you can do longer. But keep in mind that it may be more motivating to do it for a shorter period of time

How to Play-

• Give or mail a set amount (in our case $10) joining fee to a designated person in charge of collecting $. They will be in charge of distributing it to the winners at the end.


• Weigh in on the designated morning of the first day prior to showering, before eating/drinking, after using the bathroom, and without clothing. (It is recommended that you use a digital scale) *Please be 100% honest when weighing in as this is essential to the game! When weighing in, please note that we will be rounding up when it comes to pounds (ie. 1.1 pounds=2 pounds)
  
• Each player will need to establish their own personal method of weight loss throughout the month.


• Weigh in on the morning of the last day with the same stipulations as the first weigh in. There will be 2 winners, and an equal prize given to each of them. (It CAN possibly be the same person). The winners will be determined by the following; who loses the most pounds & who loses the most percentage of their initial weight.


• In order to keep this game more fair, someone needs to be in charge of figuring out every one's weight percentages and so that there is at least one witness. Please email your initial weight sometime on the starting day and then your ending weight on the last day to a designated person (If desired a 3rd party so as not to disclose weight to family members).


• Because this is a weight loss game, nobody should actually be gaining weight throughout the game. If however, your initial weight is less than your ending weight, you will need to pay $5 per pound gained. You do have the option of quitting the game instead, which will cost you a total of $10


• NO WEIGHT LOSS PILLS WILL BE ALLOWED! NO SAUNAS ON THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH! IF YOU THINK THAT SOMETHING IS NOT FAIR, IT PROBABLY ISN'T SO DON'T DO IT!!! There will be NO CHEATING tolerated. If anyone is found to be cheating, they will not be allowed to play further, and will still be forced to pay their joining fee.
  
  

We started on April 1st. It's been fun but hard so far. I think that I just like food too much! Yesterday was especially hard since my friend Olga taught me how to make Chimichangas. I just had to eat the entire thing! YUM!!
If YOU do decide to try the Biggest Loser Game with your family, then I'd LOVE TO HEAR how it goes for you.

Sad Sad Sad Day

I NO LONGER have a camera! Crazy, but I've been using Bryan's work camera when I could this whole long time, and now his work unexpectedly and out of the blue asked for it back... And as you all know, my blogging is mostly pictures. So I'm very sad to say it but until I get a new camera, my blogging is just going to be inconsistent and on a when I can basis. I seriously never thought this day would come!