My December Daily

This is my third year of making a mini album to document the Christmas season at our house. I really enjoy it. Before Jeremy and Holly's wedding I had been thinking about what kind of a book I wanted to use. So after the wedding while my sister, Linda, was here, we went scrappy shopping and found this awesome minibook kit by Teresa Collins. Linda stayed for a few days after the wedding and we had the chance to put it together. All I had to do was wait for December and start taking pictures.
I carried my camera around with me a lot...if all else failed I used my cell phone. Some photos were Christmas related some were just things that were happening in December at our house. So here is a look at my book....I think it's the cutest one yet!

December always starts out slow...love the photos of Jase driving

The month started off with a great weekend off and a dinner out with friends. I got to see Teresa Collins teach a class too. She is just the sweetest!

Sorry for the glare on the glossy photos...I ordered glossy by mistake 

This page is all about the huge lesson I learned....don't scrapbook for hire in December!!

I was lucky enough to be off of work and could attend the ward Christmas Party.

We had a fun weekend at my cousins house.

My Snowman Collection and a Crazy day at work

We celebrated our Anniversary a few days early

Decorating Central at our house





  



Jase took  me out for a Christmas lunch....his treat =)









Breakfast with co-workers was great. Ouchie...not so much.

 

LOVED the Christmas Ornament that Holly and Jeremy gave us!

Fun Christmas morning photos even Riley got in on the act.

We have all become ASU fans since Jeremy married Holly!

















My Scrappy Year in Review



I absolutely adore this photo of Jason from Jeremy's wedding.

This sweet photo of Jase I have hanging on my wall in my studio

This is from our Valentine's lunch.

I did this last year and thought it was kind of fun. So I am going to do it again. Here are my top 10 favorite layouts from 2010 in no particular order. Ok....so it' not Top 10.... it's now it's Top 12....I couldn't keep it to just 10 favorites! =)

It's funny I selected the layouts for different reasons. Some were because I loved the photos, some were because I loved the story, some were cuz I loved the design....what is even more interesting is that I just went back and looked at my old blog and I said almost the same thing a year ago...so no matter why I chose the layouts here are my fav's from 2010.

If you want to see my Top Ten layouts from 2009 you can see them here...just scroll down a bit.

http://kathyskreativeworld.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html

I was very nostalic when I did this one...love the now and then feel

Love doing pink and girlie" Love this fun old photo of Linda and Me

Fun photos from New Years Day 2010

This maybe a lift but I LOVE the way it came out. Thanks Karen Grunberg

Love the colors in this one...and the Scenic Route paper.

This has to be my #1 favorite...I submited this for the Teresa Collins DT call

Love this sweet photo of my son and his bride

Three generations My Mom, Grandma, and Great Grandma

I love this one because my son took the photo and captured a sweet moment

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.