Scrapbook Update

I want to share some of my newer layouts that I haven't shared yet. I hadn't been able to scrap since mid July to November as all my stuff was packed away in storage. :( In the meantime, my Studio Calico (SC) kits kept piling up. I think I had five or six untouched kits by the time I got my scraproom set up in the new place. (I will have to share pics at a later date as I am still in the process of settling in. I am still on the search for bins/baskets to fin in my Expedit from Ikea.)

For the life of me, I can't figure out how to get some of the pictures to rotate! If anybody knows, please comment and let me know!

Here are some of my more recent layouts.

We ate at this little pub in downtown Dublin. It was fun to just walk into a local bar and soak up the culture. The food was pretty good there too. I used SC's Joyland and Granny's Cupboard.

Finishing up the Ireland layouts... When in Dublin you must go the the Guinness factory and at least try a Guinness. While it is NOT my favorite beer in the world, I actually finished my whole pint, because now I can say I have! :) I used Granny's Cupboard with some Over the Rainbow from SC.

Of course, there is no way to go to Paris and not see Notre-Dame. It was a really neat big church and we got our exercise climbing those stairs! The green tickets are the actual tickets from the climb. The info brocher they give you is attached to the yellow tab on the right of the layout. It pulls out and there is a bunch of neat facts about the church. I used Granny's Cupboard from SC for this LO.

A layout about the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I love that I was able to incorporate the ticket from the Tower on the layout.

I did this layout about Roxy awhile back. I love all the pictures I had gathered of her when she was little and sleeping in any space she could! I used an oldie but a goodie - SC's Joyland kit.

These pictures where taken at the Groom's Supper for Amy's wedding. And it is very very typical of us when we get together. This layout was done with SC's Napa Valley.

In November, I got to spend a long weekend with Amy up in Maplewood and we went to a concert to see Kina Grannis. She is a mostly internet artist, who is slowly amassig a following. She was so cute in concert and she did a meet and greet after the show, so I actually got to meet her! I was very excited. Anyway, this is a layout about this! I used SC's Back 40, On the Easel and Napa Valley's kit.

Chris and I got to go Scuba diving in Okoboji a couple times this summer. We went with Blue Water Divers in Arnold's Park. On Wednesdays, they have cheap boat dives with 1/2 price rentals as well. It was nice to meet other divers (we go out to eat afterwards as well) and share some stories. I used parts of 3 different kits for this layout.

I love this layout about the fun times Anne and I had while Scuba diving. We goofed off a bit and it was A LOT of fun! I used a combo of a lot of kits from SC. I especially love the big polka dot stamp they made! LOVE!

This layout is of Anne & my experience diving Square Lake this summer. We had a lot of fun being dive buddies! I used Studio Calico's Summer Camp and Napa Valley kits to do this. I also used a sketch for this one.

This is one of those wonky layouts that I can't get to rotate. Me and Dad on our snowmobile trip last year. I used a ton of products from many different Studio Calico kits.

I am STILL working on my 2008 Europe trip. In my defense, I was abroad for a whole month and took a ton of pictures. And I mean a ton. At least I am scrapping the last week of the trip... I used the Napa Valley SC kit here.

I did a 2 pager! It has been so long since I did one. They are so challenging to me because there is just so much space to fill out. I used SC Granny's Cupboard and Partly Sunny.

I have also done some layouts for Amy's Wedding. I have acutally probably already done more layouts of Amy's Wedding than my own! Mine is just so intimidating to me. I've thought about it a few times, but havent' actually done much. Anyway, this is a layout about Anne and my dresses. We had some time to kill while Amy and Kenny where taking pictures, so we had a little photo shoot of our own :) I used SC Partly Sunny and On the Easel.

A lovely layout about the beautiful bride Amy. She looked so great on her wedding day!

I loved this picture of me and Anne at the bar. This layout was done with SC's Napa Valley. I just love the colors of this page!

Studio Calico has asked us to blog a wishlist of the of the products we would like to have. So here goes:

- It's out of stock, but I would love the Large Circle Border Punch. I keep seeing it used on a bunch of fabulous layouts in the gallery.

- I already have Jenni Bowlin's stick candy ink coming with the January kit, but I would like all the other colors eventually. Everybody seems to be raving about them, so I think I need them now too!

- I also wouldn't mind getting more of the Studio Calico Mister Huey's. I only have the white one as of yet, but I think I will slowly starting adding more month by month.

So that's it for now. I have to got and do some physical therapy now on my knee... :( I wish bending it wouldn't hurt so damn much!

Our First Christmas

in our new house! We hosted Christmas this year as we inherited the big table with the big house. I didn't cook the ham, Grandma did, because truthfully, I don't know how to cook anything that big! Everyone seemed to have brought something, and in the end, we had a wonderful feast. There were 12 of us all together and there was plenty to go around. Lots of goodies too of course and we all were stuffed by the end of it. We may just have to have Christmas at our house every year because everything is simplified if everybody from all sides of the family comes together at our 'neutral' spot :)

On Christmas Eve, we played a present stealing game with the Grunewald side. It was fun, and Sunny helped open many of these gifts, she thinks it's a lot of fun tearing off the paper. I got some great slipper socks and a Yankee snowman tealight sized candle holder. I also received a bunch of stuff/accessories for my Slice! I hope to use it a whole bunch more this year than I did last year... maybe that should be a challenge for the year.

What's been happening & Post Knee Surgery

So, as ususal I have been horrible at posting on a regular basis. There have been a lot of changes since my last post. We switched houses with Grandma and Grandpa after living with them for about 3 months. Meanwhile, we rehauled the trailer house. Everything got a fresh coat of paint (except for the paneling). New carpet in the big bedroom and living room. New front entry faux wood flooring. Replaced the sub floor in the big bedroom, in front of the front door, and a couple other random spots around the house. Replaced the wall in the big bedroom closet. Complete gut and remodeling of the main bathroom. New sink in the half bath. New window in the bathroom and well as resetting all the windows in the rest of the house. Painted the trim on the outside fo the house. Stained all new trimwork for a few doors and all the windows inside the house, as well as the trim for the bathroom. And I think that is it... I got to practice my mudding techinique on the closet wall and the bathroom. I suck at corners, but hopefully I will improve. It felt good to do something all by myself.

We also have started on some projects in our new house. More on that at a later time.

I have been sitting on the couch for the last week and a half. It is driving me crazy. I want to actually do something. But I am limited by my knee. I had surgery on Tuesday, November 23rd. Dr. Reeves in Sioux Falls tightened some ligaments, while released (loosened) some others. The hope is that my kneecap will stop dislocating itself. I am in a straight brace for 3 weeks, then they will allow my knee to bend some slowly. I will have to start physical therapy soon. I am already sick of my knee being straight and would like nothing more than to bend my knee. Argh. It's going to be a long couple of months. My goal is to be able to go on the annual snowmobiling trip in February. We will see... I have actually been bearing weight on it since day one. Below are some pictures from the evening after the surgery.


I came home with a hemovac, a pain pump and an ice machine (not pictured). The hemovac is the round thing with the red hose attached to it. The hose is inserted under the skin in my knee into the surgical area. It drains the blood and the fluid they put into the area during the arthroscopy. Kinda gross, but necessary. The pain pump also has a hose that is inserted into the same area. I could push it every 4-6 hours. Wonderful thing to come home with. The ice machine is still in use. You fill this little cooler with ice and some water. It has a hose that hooks up to the blue pad that is under my brace. It circulates the cold water through the pad to basically ice the wound without having to keep putting an ice pack on it. Very convient and a very awesome tool.

Chris has been a pretty good caretaker. Maybe there is hope.... hehe! And that is my knee surgery story.

Answers

I have been hurting since Jan 6. Like painful, achy, constant hurtings. And after many trips to the doctor, some physical therapy, and some meds, I have an answer. Fibromyalgia. Yep. I am slowly coming to terms with it. I am so glad and fortunate that I don't have RA or Lupus (which for a while I thought I did as I was becoming a hypochonriac), or some other extremely rare horrible disease. Yes it sucks. But, I am hopeful that I will find a way to treat it and live with it without it affecting my day to day routine. Right now I am so tired by the end of the day I want to climb into bed at 8. And I'm so stiff that I hobble around like an old woman. But I have faith that it will get better. A positive outlook can only help... right? My goal is to be back to my normal self by Amy's wedding! 3 month to go!

oh Deer

These are taken looking outside my bedroom window. Enjoy!

Snowmobiling!

The annual snowmobile trip to the Black Hills was a blast as usual! There were 15 of us the first 2 days, and 13 for the rest of the trip.

The first day we headed up to Roughlock Falls and stopped at Latchstring Restaurant for some lunch. Yum! And look at the wonderful view! (That's the Restaurant at the base of the hill/mountain) It's actually a log building and while inside we actually noticed there was some water leaking inside. Adds some rustic charm huh?

After lunch we headed over to Cement Ridge. It was so foggy/cloudy, it was unbelievable. You couldn't see anything from the top.

That night, most of the group snowmobilied into Lead to eat at Louie's. A few of us rode into town in the Suburban instead... Visiting Louie's is quickly becoming a tradition on the trip, although next time we will go back on Friday night again for Trivia night... it's fun to play along.

Day 2 of snowmobiling we headed for the hills (west and north of Trailshead). It was a day of boondocking. Just boondocking. And it was super duper fun! I was exhausted by the end of the day, but it was worth it! I made my snowmobile do things I hadn't been able to do before! Yay! I turned corners I never thought I would be able to make and I learned how to use my left handed throttle. :)

One of the first places we stopped had this fun jump in the middle of the field. The boys spent awhile playing around on it.

This is what it looks like while the group is waiting for the all clear to climp up or down a hill... sometimes there is one just one path down or up, so you have to wait your turn.

We made lunch in the middle of a clearing somewhere in Wyoming. Thank goodness for GPS or we would just be wondering around the hills... well we were just wondering anywhere, but it isn't quite as aimless and without the GPS. Anyway, lunch was hotdogs over a fire we made in said clearing. We finally wondered up the backside of cement ridge then booked it back to Trailshead by dark to enjoy supper at the Lodge.

Day 3 of snowmobiling. We spent most of the day playing in meadows south of Trailshead. First we weren't in deep enough meadows and I hit a tree stump. Oops! I broke the choke level off with my knee, bent the trailing arm and cracked part of the windshield. But, it was still drivable. Dad on the other hand, hit a stump and broke his steering rod. We had to go get the spare snowmobile for him to ride the rest of the day. Good thing we weren't far from Trailshead yet. We then went further south. We fould some untouched meadows which were super fun to ride in! They weren't super deep, so there wasn't much chance of getting too terribly stuck, but getting stuck was still a possiblity. Playing in deep meadows is sooo much fun though! I even had my snowmobile doinga partial cookie, but i don't have the strength to made it stay in such a tight turn for a long time.

Here we are in one of the beautiful meadows!

Lunch was simply sandwiches in a clearing. After playing in more meadows, we headed to a warming hut to try to dry out our butts! The girls' were all wet. Then, we headed to Deerfield Lake Resort to refuel. We also enjoyed some yummy hot chocolate. By the time we left Deerfield Lake, the snow was coming down pretty good and it was getting hard to see on the trail as the sun was setting.

We hightailed it back to Trailshead. This was taken on our way back to the Lodge. Me and Dad :)

We spent the night in our cabins laughing and having a good time.

The next morning, on our way out of the hills, I snapped this picture I love. I love how beautiful the hills can be when covered with snow.

I didnt' take many pictures, but perhaps I will add some more posts as other on the trip start posting their pics.

Packing!

Yep, it's that time of year again! Time to go snowmobiling in the Black Hills. The annual trip. Love it! Leaving Wednesday, back Sunday. Outs for now folks!

Scrappy Goodness!

Warning! Very picture heavy!

So what have I been up to on the scrapbooking front? Well a lot it seems! I have actually done a lot since the beginning of the year. It helps that it is very cold and snowy outside, so I've been scrapping as I've been doing laundry... :) Also, Studio Calico (SC) started doing Sunday Sketches at the start of the new year, and that has been very inspiring to me as well!

Yes, I am still working on the 2008 Europe trip, but I am making progress! (Uses SC Yearbook kit)

I finally scrapped Roxy! This was based on a Studio Calico sketch challenge using the Cotillion kit.

Continuing on with the Europe trip... the ferry ride! This one was also a SC sketch, and it is a combo of the Yearbook & Marketplace kits.


I love love this layout and it was so fun to make! I misted and glittered and it features 2 of my favorite dogs in the whole world! I used Studio Calico's Orchestra kit.

This is also a SC sketch layout, using SC's Orchestra kit.

More Europe... using Yearbook and Whodunit from Studio Calico.

I love January's kit Whodunit! The colors are so delish! (I also used some Garment District for this)

I've also been scrapping our Grand Caymen trip! The colors from Playground were perfect for these pictures! I used a sketch from SC for this as well! I told you, these sketches are great for my creativity!

SC's Orchestra kit is so very versitile, I love that I can get totally different feels from page to page with the kit!

This is one of my favorite layout's using Whodunit. It was based on a sketch challenge, but the real challenge was figuring out how to journal.... so I did it as banners using my typewriter :) Oh yes! I have a typewriter now! Love it! So great from using on layouts!

Wait... I might have just lied... THIS might be my favorite Whodunit layout! I love the color combo and this pic of me and Chris!

I'm starting to think I'm kinda a schitzo scrapbooker... I flip back and forth and all over the years and between completely different events! This was for a hearts challenge and I love how it turned out! I also just love this picture!

I did this one for a year in review challege. I chose to focus on all the hobbies I have taken up in the past year.... wow! I like to do a lot of things.... maybe that's why I'm not ready to completely settle down yet and have kiddos.... I used a whole hodge podge of kits for this one!

I love my friends! Have I told you all that lately? Really, I do love you all! And this is a wonderful photo to showcase the friendship that we have had since we were little! I used Whodunit for this layout too.


Another Whodunit layout... Scrapping my graduation yet. It's been one of those big events that I haven't really tackeled!


And finally, using the newest Studio Calico kit, Baker's Dozen. I love how colorful this kit is! This layout uses one of SC's sketches.


And that's what I have been up to as of now. I told you, lots of scrappy goodness... now I wish I could remember to update more often so it wouldn't take so long to post! LOL!

New year, new...

Well first off, I am still a horrible blogger... It's already the 19th day of a new year and I still haven't make a post! So I guess this is happy new year!

So, what is new you ask?

I got a new camera! Yay! It's a DSLR and I am currently taking an online class to try and master it.



So, the animals and Chris have been by subjects for mastering my camera.

I made Chris jump his snowmobile over and over while practicing with my shutter speed...


This one was showing motion. He is going super duper fast here ;)




Sunny while on a walk in the very snowy pasture.


Jake found a really big stick while on our walk



And I caught him mid-air/jump.

And of course I can't leave the kitties out!


Something caught Roxy's curiousity here...

And that's it for now!