A Joyful Weekend

We had Jeremy and Holly here this weekend...it was so fun to have all my family under one roof. I was fortunate enough to find someone to take my shift on Saturday...the weather was perfect and Jeremy and Holly wanted to go down to Crystal Cove to the tide pools....so off we went. Of course with camera in tow. (pictures to follow) as we got down to the water, Jason became my "Rock" so to speak...he was great at helping me get from rock to rock without killing myself or tripping and falling. We all wandered around checking out the sea life, mostly hermit crabs. As I hung back and watched the boys interact with each other I couldn't help but smile. Jason has really missed having Jeremy around. Sure we text and we skype and we talk on the phone but theres nothing like hanging out with your family. I love that Holly just seems to fit right in with us....I guess that comes from growing up with lots of brothers. It made me grateful for a lot. Just watching them brought me joy. Of course I took lots of pictures. I think Jason has been practicing cuz I actually got some really good, NON-CHEESY smiles from him....I was very excited about that. Thanks to Jeremy's long arms we even got a photo of all five of us! I told them it might just be our Christmas Card photo. ha ha.

After we left Crystal Cove we headed to downtown Huntington Beach. We parked and walked out to Ruby's on the Pier.  There were lots of people on the beach enjoying the gorgeous weather....and a lot of construction down on the sand as the US Open of Surfing starts next Saturday. Ruby's wasn't crowded so we had an early lunch. I think we were all so hungry from all the hiking we did. While eating lunch the kids even saw some dolphins out in the ocean. It was a perfect way to end our little outting at the beach.

All too soon of course Jeremy and Holly had to go back to the heat and their home in Arizona...but I am so glad they came and hung out with us for a few days!

Cliff did a pretty good job on this one

Love this Man!

Jason' is getting the whole-smile-for-the-camera thing down!
 No cheese in this photo!

Love this one of My guys!

He's my ROCK! He has such an awesome grip when I am walking on slippery rocks!

He's King of the World.

Love how the wave crashed just as I was taking the photo

Another adorable smile!

My boy AND My girl

The Captain's Morgan! ha ha

Not the Last Scrapper Standing

After 7 awesome weeks of challenges I was eliminated from the contest over at Memorable Seasons. I had a wonderful ride and created some awesome layouts...I wish the best of luck to the finalists! Here's is my layout for week #7 A great big thanks to everyone over at MS...you guys are the best!

More Last Scrapper Standing Layouts

I love how this turned out...good thing I fixed the title
before I finished it...I almost titled it If I could SPEND time in
a bottle. hahahahaha

Today I saw online, a calendar for bloggers a free download even....I think perhaps I need one....I can't seem to remember to update my blog as often as I would like. Sometimes I try...but sometimes the words just don't come...know what I mean? Hopefully tonight I will be able to find the words I am looking for. =)

Costco continues to keep me busy....even though the warehouse isn't really that busy yet. The place is so new and bright and shiny...I even find myself going in on my day off to shop. I have gotten use to working during the day and being able to spend more time with Cliff is so nice.

I'm still playing in the Last Scrapper Standing contest over at Memorable Seasons. I've had the best time! I've tried new things....and stepped out of my scrappy comfort zone and I feel as tho I have grown as a scrapbook artist.
We also had an unexpected surprise arrive at our house this week...Jeremy and Holly came for a quick visit........so excited to have all my kids home. I am sure there will be more pictures soon. So until the next time...Happy Scrappin'

This one was so fun to do. Lots of distressing and a mixture
of Teresa Collins paper. I created the embellishment in the corner
with some vintage goodies from my dear friend Jane.

This isn't a contest layout but still love the way it turned out.
I have such fun girlfriends!

This is the only lift in the bunch...I was just playing on this one.
no contest here... just for fun. I decided to try playing with
gesso, and paint....am totally happy with the way it came out...
even tho I am not really a messy scrapper.

Welcome to July and the Last Scrapper Standing.

Week #1 Use Red, Blue, and Yellow I had to hunt to find some
paper that worked but the October Afternoon worked perfectly...so did my
cute first grade picture. =)

 Wow....wasn't just May? How did it get to be July so fast? I thought I would take a minute and post a few layouts I have done in the last month or so. I have been participating in the Last Scrapper Standing over at Memorable Seasons. It's a fun contest...kind of along the lines of Survivor. Honestly I don't watch much tv so I haven't really ever watched it but I get the whole idea anyway. We are up to week 5 and we are being seriously challenged...normally I am not a very competitive person...but everyone in the contest seems to really be bringing their A game to the table so it has caused me to stretch as an artist...which is a good thing I think. So here are my first four weeks entries. Stay tuned for week #5.

Week #2 Use Banner's and Borders This one was still very much
my style...I can do pretty.

Week #3 We had to use doodling...starting to get out of my comfort zone
with this challenge. But I loved these old photos of Jason.

Week #4 We had to use paint on this one...messy isn't really my style but
the paint splats worked with my cute old photo of the boys.

January 2013 or the BEST Father's Day Ever

I should have posted this last week when we received the news but I just have been a bad blogger lately. Guess I've been busy. Anyway....last weekend was Father's Day. Jeremy and Holly sent a gift to Cliff and told him not to open it til Sunday when we Skyped...ok...not a big deal. So after church we all got together via Skype and Cliff opened his gift from them. We were on Jason's laptop in the kitchen...I was busy making dinner so I didn't see the gift immediately...It was a picture frame with a piece of paper where a photo should go that said..."Photo Coming January 2013" Cliff was a little perplexed..he hadn't read the bottom of the frame that said "I love Grandpa" I read that part and knew immediately we were going to be GRANDPARENTS!!! OMGosh...my baby is going to be a DADDY!!! I screamed, I cried.....then of course we had to get all the details! They made me promise I wouldn't say anything on facebook until after they told Holly's parents. I behaved myself but I did post later on that evening.



We don't look excited now do we??? lol

We are totally thrilled for them. I had no idea I would be this excited about being a Gramma. It's funny cuz one of my co-workers asked me if I was going to be a Gramma anytime soon and I said I had no idea and I could wait til they decided it was right for them. As I have been thinking about it over the past week I decided it was like when the kids were little I never really felt like I was the "Minivan" driving girl and yet I drove one....I don't really feel like I am old enough to be a Gramma either....though heaven knows I am. Everyone tells me how wonderful it is to be a Gramma so I am going to take their word for it and look forward to January 2013.

On the Flip Side

After my last post about how everyone is wonderful and nice to me at work,  I had a woman last week come in the door looking for an arguement...she gave me that if-looks-could-kill-I-would-have- been-dead-where-I-stood look and then proceeded to try to get me to argue with her! Finally I said "Have a nice day" (very sarcastically) and that pushed her over the top and she went looking for a supervisor to complain....good thing she found one of my favorite supervisors to complain to so he didn't take it too seriously and the more she went on the funnier it got... It just goes to show ya...you can't please everyone...you just never know with people....that's what makes my job so entertaining. =)

The Ripple Effect

Today I had a bit of a reason to reflect. While standing at the door at work, I was greeted by several different members that recalled seeing me in the Fountain Valley warehouse. I get this on a regular basis as I am in a position to see lots of people in a day. Honestly I don't remember all of them but they all seem to remember me. I guess it's cuz there is only one of me and so many more of them. Today though I had a member tell me that he had missed seeing me at the door in Fountain Valley I guess I hadn't really thought about it. I felt that moving to the new location was a good move for me personally...I never really thought that the members might miss my friendly face at the door over there. It's like the pebble that when tossed in a pond sends out ripples in the water....I didn't realize that for the last 5.5 years I have been sending out my own little ripples into our Costco community. People expect to see me in Fountain Valley and now I am not there....and I am missed. Many have found me again in Huntington Beach and I am glad. I guess what all this rambling is about is the fact that I was just doing my job....but in the process I have effected the lives of others...way more than I ever realized....and in turn they have effected me.