Costco in the Rain

I often seem to ramble on about my job here on my blog. I fear that this is going to be another one of those posts.....My job can be interesting. It may not be technical, or require an advanced degree but standing at the door at Costco either greeting people or checking off their receipts as they walk out the door can not only provide a paycheck but also an opportunity to watch people. Yesterday was no exception....I love to watch people....it really is very entertaining. Especially while standing at the door at Costco in the rain. As I have said before we SoCal people are truly weather wimps...we don't like it too hot....we don't like it too cold and we certainly don't know what to do when it rains...we simply aren't use to it. So when it does come and believe me it has hit with a vengence this past week, watching people do their last minute Christmas shopping in the rain can be quite entertaining. If it weren't the holidays people would probably just stay home but because we are down to the wire...they have no choice....they have to finish their shopping so out they go.

The parking lot is the first disaster area you have to be able to navigate. If you think SoCal drivers are crazy in dry weather you should try them 5 days before Christmas in the pouring rain. There were at least two fender benders in the parking lot yesterday all within view from the front door. The exit door can be really exciting when it rains....everyone comes in to the warehouse hoping they will find that the rain has stopped when they are ready to leave....yesterday we heard countless times...."oh is it still raining?" Almost to the point that if one more person said it we were going to slap someone. Then there was the poor guy who looked like he had come straight from work in his business suit walking out to his car trying to cover his groceries over with empty boxes to keep them dry all the while trying to keep his umbrella right side out...it wasn't working too well for him.....I think I would have just given up on the umbrella once it turned inside out. Along that same line are the people that are worried that their groceries are going to get "wet" because we don't provide bags, only boxes and sometimes not even boxes. I can understand if it was a piece of furniture, or a book, or a magazine or an item of clothing but a roast chicken or a bag of lettuce? Is it really going to hurt if they get wet? I just don't get it.

Tomorrow we are headed into what the weathermen say is going to be the worst of the rain this week...and there will be just 3 shopping days left til Christmas...people watching is about to get really interesting!

yes those baskets are tipped over....it's a fire lane and people aren't suppose to park there but they do anyway.

A Weekend Off

 I have had a wonderful weekend. I don't often get to have Saturday off but since I have been working in Hearing Aids this past week for a co-worker that is on vacation, I had Saturday off. I was able to drag Cliff and Jason and go on a little "road trip" to Ever After Scrapbooks in Vista, CA...it was a nice day yesterday and I felt like I had the best of both worlds...I got to hang out with my guys while driving down there and then I got to hang out in a very cool scrapbook store and visit with one of my favorite scrapbook designers, Teresa Collins. She was teaching a class there. I hadn't signed up for the class but I wanted to go and say hello and do a bit of scrappy shopping while I was there. Teresa not only is very talented artistically but she is such a NICE PERSON! She is so easy to talk to. She graciously posed for this photo and after serveral test shots I got one I liked....thank you Teresa for being patient with me.

Last night we went to dinner with some friends and had a great time visiting and eating yummy Macaroni Grill food. After dinner we walked over to center court at Bella Terra and listened to a Orchestra play Christmas music...during their break it "snowed". It was cool....even tho it was fake snow it still made for a great holiday sprit. I had my camera and took some fun photos.

Today has been a wonderful Sunday. My meetings at church were wonderful....I came away feeling renewed by the spirit. I missed out last week cuz I wasn't feeling great so I was really glad I got to go today. I got to teach my AWESOME Sunday School class...OMGosh...can I just tell you how wonderful these kids are? I learn from them every week. I often times feel like they could teach the class better than I do. I truly love each and every one of  them.

Tonight is the Costco Christmas Party....I am going and taking Jason. Hopefully it will be a good thing. I've been the last couple of years and it has been fun but I've never taken anyone with me...so after some encouragement from a co-worker I am taking Jason along....I really hope he has an ok time. It's at a Mexican Restaurant this year so I know that will be a hit with him since he loves Mexican food.

Last but least I am going to close this post with a quote....I don't even know where I found it...so I don't know who to credit for saying it but I liked it. I'm still running with the last months theme as I want to try to
keep the spirit of gratitude in my heart this holiday season. so with that in mind....here's the quote:
"To live with gratitude is to touch heaven." Today I am grateful for a wonderful Sunday.

Old Habits

I love beautiful fall leaves even if we have to wait until December
to get them in Southern California.

They say that if you do something for 21 days it becomes a habit....well after my month of grateful blog posts I decided I needed to post one more "gratitude" post. Even though we are now into December. I am thinking there is something to this 21 days to developing a habit. =)

Music has always inspired me....I love to use lyrics on scrapbook pages, when I was a kid I use to love to write down the words to songs that I heard on the radio. I had a whole peechee folder full of song lyrics so when I put on my Josh Grobin Christmas CD today the first song I wanted to hear was "Thankful". It's not really a Christmas song....it's more of well a "Grateful" song. The lyrics are moving and the music is beautiful. I wish I could have found a you tube video but didn't have much luck so you will have to settle for just the lyrics...as I listened to the song on the way to work my heart was filled with gratitude for ALL that I have. So I hope you will enjoy reading the lyrics. Next time you get a chance to hear Josh Groban's Christmas CD listen to "Thankful" and be......... "grateful".

"Thankful"

Somedays we forget
To look around us
Somedays we can't see
The joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be.
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves
There's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say
I'll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth
It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And every day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences
There is a place we're all connected
Each of us can find each other's light

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though this world needs so much more

There's so much to be thankful for.

One More Grateful Post

This is my dear friend Sue. I have known Sue since my days in business college....(a very loooong time ago) I remember sitting in class, not knowing anyone, and looking over and thinking she would be a nice person to get to know....my instincts were right....Sue was indeed a nice person.....and still is. She and I have recently caught up on facebook. It has been so fun to reconnect with her. She has become a big fan of my blog and has really enjoyed reading my "grateful" posts this month so I figured it was only fitting on this last day of November to let her know that I am grateful for her, and her friendship.

I "borrowed" this photo off of her facebook and cropped and  embellished it a little bit at picnik.com hope she is ok with that. =) Thanks for being that person that "I thought would be so nice to get to know"....I am grateful to know you. {{{hugs}}} Kathy

November 30th

I made it....here it is November 30th....I have made 30 blog posts...all about different things I am grateful for...it has been a great challenge....I had a few ideas for posts that didn't work out but somehow when I sat down to type I always managed to come up with something....sometimes my thoughts took me in a totally different direction than what I had planned on but that was ok...it made me grateful for my ability to "wing-it" as it were and still come up with something. I hope that I have inspired you to try this sometime....we all need to be more grateful....so don't wait until next November to try this out....it has been a wonderful exercise in finding and being grateful for the little things in life.

Tomorrow starts December and what could be the "Christmas Crazie"s....if you let it.......please don't get too caught up in the hustle and bustle and the craziness of the season......stop and take stock in what the season is really all about and enjoy it. That is what I am certainly going to try and do....working in retail it's difficult to do at times but it IS my goal this December.
Here's a little sneak peek of what I will be working on to help me remember the season.

Almost Finished

Wow....can't believe November is almost over...Christmas will be here before we know it...and certainly before I am ready for it. =) I had been feeling under the weather over the weekend....first a cold hit on Thanksgiving and then I threw my back out and was in pain for several days...so today I am grateful for my health....and the fact that I am feeling better....I promise I have NO photos of me looking pathetic and sick over the weekend...you can use your imagination on that image...but here is one of me feeling better. Ok so maybe I didn't take it today but you get the idea....I am feeling much better....and so grateful for it!

Inspiration



This is a lift from Stacey Michaud's blog. It's a photo of Jason and his half sister McKenna


As a scrapbook artist I am inspired by so many things....my photos....beautiful patterned paper....the stories I want to tell......and the designs of others. I learned long ago that if you could learn to look past the pretty paper and the photos you could take almost any basic design and make it your own. Most of the time I use "scrap lifting" as a "jumping off" point....a place to start...I love to see what I can do to make the design my own....often times just changing the papers and the embellishments will give my layout a whole different feel than the one I am "borrowing." I am such a visual person...that gleaning from others really helps start the process for me. Today I am GRATEFUL to all of those women who share their beautiful works of art out there in cyberspace....they are so talented and they certainly INSPIRE me.

  I am posting two layouts here that I just finished today. The layouts were inspired by Stacey Michaud and Karen Grunberg.........thanks ladies....I am totally GRATEFUL for your talent and that you share it with all of us. You can see Stacey's work at  http://staceymichaud.blogspot.com/ and Karen's http://www.karenika.com/

This layout is a lift of Karen Grunberg...what a talented lady she is. Sadly my title doesn't show up very well it says "Begins Now"

Blessings

I have fallen behind a couple of days so I decided I would play catch up today.

Post for Friday

As the month draws to a close I want say how grateful I am for this month of gratitude. It has caused me for just a moment to stop and focus on my blessings rather than on the day to day stuff that really doesn't matter.

I only took a couple of photos on Thanksgiving....but this one, tho it isn't stellar, stands out, because Cliff never plays video games with Jason and so I thought it was a sweet Father/Son moment. I am grateful for my wonderful husband and awesome son and even though they are very different they do have a special bond between them. I am sure it will be the topic of a scrapbook page in the not to distant future.

Post for Saturday
I was going to post this the other day but ran out of time. On Wednesday Jason and I went to Bella Terra and checked out a cool new cupcake shop owned and operated by some friends of ours from church.....talk about YUMMY! You can see their facebook page here http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Simple-Pleasures-Cupcakery/165154670162650?v=wall Here are just a couple of photos that I took with my phone. Today I am grateful for cupcakes and time with Jason.

A Sugar Cookie Cupcake........totally YUMMY!

How about a Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcake.......Scrumptious!

100 Awesome Things

I decided I couldn't say it any better than this! Take a few minutes and watch this video....I am grateful to Melody Ross for putting together this cool video.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNRQClsH_-8  

 I added this layout from last summer...when we picked up Jeremy from his mission....I'm also grateful for the awesome time we had together as a family.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!!

Stories

Today I spent the day running errands and getting ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Fortunately I was off so I could get a lot done. I took a little minute this morning and ran to Starbucks to get one of my favorite seasonal treats........Peppermint Hot Chocolate. I could easily make this post be about how I am grateful for Peppermint Hot Chocolate but it goes a little deeper than that. When I got my hot chocolate I put one of those cup holder thingies on it, you know the one that keeps your fingers from getting too hot...the sentiment on it really caught my eye. It said "Stories are Gifts......Share" I thought about that for a while and realized how cool it was...I am the story teller in my family....I tell stories about our family with each and every scrapbook layout I create....while I love to tell the stories and create the pages I never had thought of them as gifts.....until today....they are gifts for my children.....and for their children.......so today I am grateful for all the amazing stories of my life....the stories that truly are gifts not only to me but also to my posterity.

I am adding some older layouts to this post...I don't have a picture of my hot chocolate this morning. =) But I do have pictures of layouts with stories on them...so for your enjoyment here they are.

Time Well Spent

Yesterday Cliff and I spent some time at the temple in Newport Beach....it was so nice and really beautiful. We went really early so after we were done, we went to breakfast. It was really nice to sit and talk over breakfast....we don't do that much at home...so today I am grateful for the Temple and for spending time with Cliff.

Warmth

Today I am SO GRATEFUL for these bad boys! They seem like something so small but It was freezing at the door at work last night! Yes I know it's colder in other parts of the country but it's all relative and I truly am a weather wimp when it comes to cold weather. I have lived in SoCal long enough to just not be comfortable when it gets cold and windy. Yesterday at work it was both. So I grateful I had these little gloves with me.

Family

Tonight I am grateful for time spent with family....we got to visit with Jason's half sister McKenna and her daughter Nicole. They came down from Fresno to go to Disneyland. We went to dinner at Macaroni Grill and then came back here and hung out for a bit. Jason got to play with his niece and McKenna and I got to gab and visit a bit. We haven't seen them in a long time so it was great to have the time to visit.....for that I am grateful.

Hope

Today's gratitude message is a short one....in fact to most people it probably seems rather insignificant...but to me it's HUGE! We arrived home from church this afternoon and we were all putzing around doing stuff when Jason called to me and said "Mom, look." I turned and what did my eyes behold? This perfectly hung up suit. I hadn't had to beg, plead, nag or hang it myself.....I just about fell over! Those of you with children will understand I am sure, the sheer delight that my son caused me by doing something so minor as hang up his suit....it wasn't thrown on the bed, it wasn't in a heap on the floor....it was hanging up perfectly on the hanger....so thank you Jason for giving me a little something extra to be grateful for today.

The Candy Man

Today I am GRATEFUL for the "Candy Man". Mr. Hinson is this sweet older gentleman that shops at Fountain Valley Costco....he comes in to shop and brings with him a whole canvas bag full of Hersheys Kisses....he wanders all over the warehouse and hands them out to people...employees, or members while he is shopping....at first it kind of through me but now I always smile when I see him coming. He always asks you if you've had a "kiss" today and then he will hand you the candy....He is so sweet...he can always make me smile. Apparently he does this everywhere he goes. He trys to make the world a better place and I think that is pretty terrific...so today I am grateful for "The Candy Man". Thanks Mr. Hinson for making  me smile today.

Today I got a bonus....he gave me a minature rose from his yard...how pretty is that?

Thank You Teresa Collins!

I got home tonight from Jury Duty and ran into my studio to check Teresa Collins Blog to see if maybe just maybe I had made her design team......alas I did not....but boy did I have fun creating my layouts. Seeing my name in print on her blog was just amazing. Teresa said this about the finalists:

"I have been on panels before and judged contests and various things before- but this is the BEST of the BEST. The entry's are amazing. I would be honored to have each and every one of the girls who submitted to design for me." 

That meant so much to me....so today I am GRATEFUL to Teresa Collins for giving me the opportunity to create some beautiful layouts and realize that I really am good at what I do....even tho already knew it....it's really nice to know someone else thinks so too.

 Love how the Teresa Collins "Gratitude" line  worked so well with Jeremy and Holly's photo...the golden cast on the photo looks beautiful with the papers.

Love all the beautiful cupcakes from Jeremy and Holly's open house

This is by far my favorite layout and one of my very favorite photos.

"I like being with you"

I was going to post this last night when I got home but when I found out I had jury duty today (I had been calling in all week) I figured I had better go to bed...so today I will post twice.

Back in 1995 we had a flu bug at our house....it WAS NOT pretty....one night Jason, then three, said to me as we were lying in bed feeling awful "I like being with you."  If there was one thing positive that came out of that nasty flu bug that was it! He was so sweet and I have cherished those words over the years...it's now something that we say to each other fairly often. Here is one of my favorite photos of Jase from about that age.

Yesterday, I had the best time just hanging out with him. We weren't doing anything special just running some errands and it dawned on me how much I really am enjoying him these days. He really is a great young man and I am SO GRATEFUL for him! Thanks Jase for being the sweet wonderful young man you are!

Excited

Here's an extra post for today...I was just too excited about it that I couldn't wait until tomorrow to post. =)

A few weeks ago I saw on Teresa Collins blog that she was looking for a design team for the next year. I have been a fan of hers since winter CHA when I had the opportunity to meet her. She is so down to earth and so sweet...just a really nice person. Her paper lines are beautiful and I have created several projects with her awesome papers in the last year....so I decided why not enter....I have nothing to loose. So I did. The first sent of finalists were to be announced November 15th....long story short....I worked late last night and didn't even turn my computer on when I got home....I think that was probably a good thing...this morning after taking Jason to school I got on the computer and thought I would check out Teresa's blog...I saw that she had announced the finalists....so I started scrolling...they weren't in any order and the list was WAY longer than I had expected....all of a sudden as I am scrolling down I see "Kathy Morgan - California" I stopped and let out this huge SCREAM! Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be chosen as a finalist...there had to have been hundreds of entries and they chose me....along with 66 other talented women.

So there you have it.......I have been so excited and happy all day.....I don't know when we will hear who actually makes the team but for now I am pretty darn happy to have made it to the finals! Here are a couple of layouts I have done recently with Teresa's beautiful papers.

I love this photo of Jeremy and Holly from their engagement session....I used Teresa Collins Mr. & Mrs. line

I had fun doing a "girlie" layout with her Oh Baby Girl line. Who said you had to do "baby girl" layouts with this line?

Mom x 2 second installment

I am so grateful today for another wonderful woman.....I know how extremely difficult it was for her to give birth to a son and then turn around and hand him to me to raise. I know it took courage, strength, bravery, to give her child two parents and a stable home. I know she loves him to this day and it is my prayer that she knows how much I love her and how GRATEFUL I will always be to her for the sacrifice she made so that we could have our first child. You see....21 years ago today....we went to court and finalized Jeremy's adoption. So today I am grateful for Jeremy's sweet birthmother, Terrie.

Here's a photo taken in the judges chambers after the adoption papers were signed. Yes I know my hair was wild and crazy....at least I had lots hair back then...lol and Cliff's glasses were huge but what do you expect...it was 1989!

Mom x 2

Today I thought I would take a minute and post about how grateful I am for a very special woman in my life. I actually have two special women to talk about but I am going to save the other one for tomorrow....so stay tuned. =)  For those of you who might not know....Cliff and I, for whatever reason couldn't have any children. We  made the decision to adopt 22 years ago last month. At that time we were told that there are three ways you can become part of a family...you can be born into a family, you can marry into a family, or you can be adopted into a family. What a blessing adoption is for all parties concerned. It has been an amazing journey and I am so grateful that we chose this route. I will be FOREVER GRATEFUL to both of my children's birth mothers. To sacrifice, the way they have, so that we could be a family amazes me to this day.

Today I would like to introduce you to Laurie....she is Jason's birth Mom....what a wonderful lady she is. She and I have remained close over the years. We talk on the phone occasionally, I try to send cards and photos every once in a while....tho I must say I haven't always been the best at it. With the introduction of facebook we have also been able to keep in touch with Jason's sister and niece. Most people don't quite understand how we can have a relationship like this but it works for us and has truly been a blessing and I am grateful for it.

So today I am grateful for family....of all kinds.

Jason with Laurie, Mckenna and Me back in 2005

You know after nearly 30 years of marriage I know how easy it is to get caught up in the business of living and forget to appreciate just how much you care for your sweetheart. So today I decided I would dedicate my post to my awesome husband Cliff! He has put up with me and all of my foibles for just about 30 years now. That in and of itself is AMAZING! I am so GRATEFUL that he loves me inspite of my weaknesses and short comings and sees the my potential often when I don't. I love you sweetheart.....thank you for loving me the way you do. xoxoxoxoxo

Here are a few layouts

This was taken last Valentines Day.

Love how Jeremy captured our hold hands while walking thru Yellowstone this past summer

I got this photo from my Mother-in-law....it was taken in 1995

Love this one I took in Yellowstone last summer

This one was taken last year on the 4th of July

A fun day at a church picnic in July '09

This is an old photo that I scanned and turned black and white...love the sweetness of this Father Son picture.

Day One - A Month of Gratitude

(I got the bright idea to add numbers to my post titles kind of to keep track so to speak...I didn't realize that my post from November 1st was going to jump up to todays date so it's out of order....guess I me and my OCDness will just have to deal with it. Anyway this is why you are seeing  my November 1st post dated on November 14th)  

I spent a little time last night reviewing my last November's blog posts....my goal last November was to post a photo each day of something I was grateful for. It was fun to go back and read them again. So here we are a year later....headed into the holidays once again. I decided I would see if I can do better than last year. I managed to post 18 days worth of photos so lets see if I can beat that this year. So without further ado....here's today's post about what I am grateful for.

I love candles...and I have for years. Cliff is always worried that I'll start a fire or burn the house down or something so I don't burn them often. I never felt really comfortable burning them around the boys either cuz they were always intrigued by them, perhaps a bit too much and I was afraid they would burn the house down or something. So long story short I don't burn candles often....that was until I got some battery powered ones...can I just say WOW! I love them. I have 4 of them sitting on my scrapbook table "burning" right now. I would never have dreamed of using candles in my studio with all of the paper back here but with these it doesn't matter and I love the ambiance. There is something that is just soothing about the candlelight...battery powered or now...so today tho it might seem trivial I am grateful for my battery powered candles. The photo I am posting is from Jeremy and Holly's wedding....I loved the way the candles made the room look so pretty.

An Extra Post

      To go along with my Girl Time post I wanted to add the layouts that I did while at the crop. It was so fun to scrap "boy" layouts with flowers and such....I can get away with it since they are from the wedding. =) I really am a girlie girl but with boys you just can't drag out the lace and frills very often. lol  It took me two days to find time to photograph them since it gets dark so early now.  So without further ado here are my two layouts.
     On a side note....I actually have a few others from the wedding to show you but can't share them just yet....I submitted them for an awesome design team position that I am hoping to hear about soon....hopefully I will know more in the next week or so. I will certainly keep you posted.  =)
     I simply LOVE these photos of Jeremy. They were taken during their formal portrait photo shoot a couple of weeks before the wedding.
     This photo of Jase was from the reception in AZ. I love his  natural smile....he had such a great time at the reception and it totally shows in his smile. No cheesy grin for him! =D

Doing the Happy Dance

 I got a great text message the other night from Jeremy....all it said was "Go check your email." So off to the computer I went and what did I find in my email you ask? A link to some AWESOME wedding photos! So today I am GRATEFUL recommend them if you need photos and live in AZ. They took truly beautiful photographs of Jeremy and Holly's wedding. Here are just a few of them. We have lots more. =) No doubt I will be posting others later.




Love this one of Holly and her pretty purple shoes and bouquet. She looks like SHE  is doing the Happy dance.

No doubt this has to be one of my all time fav's of Jason.

Jeremy "hanging out" with his groomsmen.

Mr. & Mrs. Jeremy Morgan

Talk about a cool way to send the happy couple off on their honeymoon....Giant Sparklers...we could have never done that in CA! =)

Girl Time

I had such a great time today. A week ago I ran into a friend of mine at Costco...she invited me to come and crop with her and some of her friends at The Scrapbook Garden in Huntington Beach...as luck would have it I happened to have the day off so I packed up a few things.....grabbed some photos from Costco that I had uploaded and printed and off I went...spent the day with some very fun ladies playing with paper and having an all around wonderful time. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos. =( So for today I am posting a picture of me with my sister Linda. Some of you know her and know what a great person she is.We always have fun when we get together. She flew down for Jeremy and Holly's open house last month and was a HUGE help! She truly helped keep me focused and sane. Which believe me was no easy task...lol So today not only am I grateful for girl time.....I'm grateful for my sister and the awesome girl time we get to spend together.