i've got a plan

so i actually scrapped. the first time in a couple of weeks! this was a 'get real' challenge, where we had to just scrap something real. and well, this topic has been on my mind for a while . it was super inspired by post secret.it was fun to join in on the challenges over at sis--i've really missed the connection with my friends. and i love having a reason or topic or something. i can always rise to the occassion when there is a time limit imposed lol.

xoxo

saved by the bell

so, i didnt have to do jury duty! phew! i was so worried when i heard my number on that little recording. but luckily, right after my number was mentioned, the nice lady recording said i didnt have to come in! saaaaweeeet. totally made me feel so much better.

friday i went out and played poker for the very first time. and can i just tell you..when i told these boys that i'd never played before irl--they SO did not look too happy lol. but i think i did pretty well and held my own! i was proud of me. i wasnt the first one knocked out, so that was rad. GO ME!

saturday was what i was looking forward to most. the crop with the mommy group at this local burger joint. its so fun going and just laughing and eating a burger and just creating. but i have to admit, there was this one lady, that totally got my panties all up in a bunch. i dont know what i ever did to her, but she really seems to go out of her way to make me feel unwelcome. i hate feeling like an outsider. and i'm always sure to be on my best behavior so as not to come off wrong to people who don't know me. but this lady, she just wants me to feel like the outsider i think. i hate feeling like that. but..i didnt let her keep me from scrappin! here is one of the pages i did that night:





so now i'm sitting here all warm and snug in my house while its almost like a blizzard outside. it was so warm this weekend (like in the 40's)..and then it started to get windy so you totally knew a storm was coming. anyways..thats whats going on in my neck of the woods!!
xoxo

my civic duty

i always wondered how people got chosen for jury duty--is it off voter registrations, i'd wonder? or maybe its off driver's licenses. who knows. but whatever it is, they got my number. i've been calling every night after 5pm (as instructed by the postcard), and so far so good. but i think my number is up. they are really darn close to calling me in, and i'm nervous as heck. i've only been to the courthouse once before. i HATE undergound parking. i always seem to forget where i parked..yeah. i'm that girl that loses her car in the parking garage. anyways, i'm crossing my fingers that i dont have to go, not just because i dont know what to expect. (even though thats a big reason) but also because that means that art would have to take the day off to take care of the girls. such a PITA. seriously.

in other news, i've been sick the last 2 weeks or so. at first it was like a cold and now its not so much..but i get these waves of dizzyness that just plain suck.i'm so over this cough too. blech.

so because i've not been feeling well, i've not been feeling like scrapping. but guess what i signed up for? something that i've just been wishing and wishing someone would do so that i could learn how to use PSE. i mean, i've only had it for 2 years lol! Adrienne Looman is offering this artistic edge class..i was so excited! i ran right over to etsy..and guess what? it sold out. yeah. just my luck. but luckily she saw how popular this is, and offered more classes! yippeee! I so can't wait. Sure i can maneuver around PSE, and i can do digi stuff. but i really have no clue how to use it to edit/enhance my photos. so now, my job is take lots of photos before the class so i have some stuff to work with. so psyched!

so thats it from me.

xoxo

oh and p.s.

please cross your fingers that if i do have to go in tomorrow for jury duty that i dont lose my car. thanks :)

she KICKED cancer's ass

my mom. she is amazing. i know i dont tell her that enough. but its true. she is.

just 9 months ago she found out she had cancer. at first glance because of where it was located, they told her it was ovarian. but after surgery and biopsies..we found out it was 4th stage lung cancer. i was so terrified. but she was brave. she said she was going to kick its ass. she's been having non stop chemo since may (when i was there to visit her)..and now she is done.

last week she had a PET scan (and some other tests i think) to see how the mass in her lung was looking. her doctor called her and told her everything looked NORMAL. she told me that-- and its unbelievable. i mean, i've been trying to get myself to believe that she even HAD cancer. now to hear that she has actually survived..has beaten it. crazy. good crazy.

she goes in this week to get re-staged and to talk about whats next. she is so excited. and i'm nothing short of proud. to say that i've been pessimistic during all of this is an understatement. i'm a realist. i know that people can't just be cured. but i believed in her. i knew that she wouldn't give in. or give up.

so, that was the big news over my weekend. nothing could top that.
happy monday :D
xoxo

the best LAUGH ever.

if you need a laugh..you must watch this. me and art just sat here laughing uncontrollably <---see i can't even spell i was laughing so hard there were tears.



xoxo

got bored..

so the other day i was a little bored, and realized it had been awhile since i'd taken any self portraits. so kelly prompted me to take some; especially since i got my haircut about a month ago. yep. i'm sportin bangs. i think in the course of my 29 years on this planet, i've tried them quite a few times. but you see, me and bangs just dont get along. i dont know if its because they have attitude and just wont sit the way they are supposed to, or if its that i can't quite get used to them being semi in my eyes..and all over my forehead. so anyways, the bangs in these pics are brushed to the side, which is about as 'bangy' as i get. i like it because i look a little different, but not too different, kwim? change is fun sometimes. and now i really see the resemblance between olivia and i. funny it took bangs to see it!

and today, i recieved my very first studio calico kit. man. its pretty. and i really am in love with those collage press papers. seriously. i've played around a bit with some other lines, but i really love this grayson hall stuff. so..i have some pics printed, a new kit, and hopefully i'll actually make something out of the two!

xoxo

looking back..

i feel like over the last year, so much has changed. my girls have grown from toddlers into young ladies. i've stopped taking this hobby so seriously, and have tried to let myself start enjoying the creative process again. in doing that, i have found myself stepping back from mb's, not submitting for calls or DT's. and i feel okay with that. sure some days i feel disconnected with the friends i'd made online--but overall i feel good. heres to another year of growth!!
xoxo

i actually got it up in time!

i know, hard to believe for those that know me, because i procrastinate so much. but yes, the tree was up in time for christmas. i actually got it up with 2 days to spare lol. i have to admit that putting up the tree is one of my least favorite things to do (ranks right up there with taking it down)..but once we do get it up and decorated, its just beautiful. and i could sit there for hours and just look at it. which i usually do, becauase i'm a dork like that. :P

christmas was a blur, as always it came too fast, spent too much, ate too much and didnt sleep nearly enough. i swear, i went to work this morning as a zombie! and i even had the luxury (not!) of taking the girls with me, who were surprisingly well behaved. i am really blessed to have an employer that understands the life of a working mom! every friday maya gets to go with me into the office for a few hours while i get stuff done. but since both girls are out of school for xmas break they had to come in with me today, which is fine as long as they stay quiet or i can't concentrate. plus i dont like them to bother other people, otherwise they may not be as welcome next time, kwim?

so now i'm home for the afternoon and i can't decide if i should nap or eat some of the goodies leftover from xmas. i'm thinking nap..but the girls keep asking me to open up more of their presents so they can play with them. i have boxes everywhere..and those damn little grey twisty things. you know the dumb things they put on the EVERY toy ever made to keep it from shifting in the box. i hate those. they suck. but today i was feeling generous (ha!), so i opened 2 toys for the girls. here are some pics of the girls opening some gifts xmas morning::


maya got a new gameboy for xmas as they had been
sharing my old one...so they both also got gameboy games

the 'big' gift was this little 'city' for their LPS toys

olivia writing in her new journal that grammy lisa
sent. the girls and i cried as i read the letters that
she wrote to each of them. we missed her a lot this year.

and here is art with his new electric razor thingy.
gotta love that million dollar smile!



and i guess that about sums up the last couple of days! now i'm hoping for some relaxing time..and then maybe i'll feel like cleaning up my desk and getting to work on some projects
for crop addict!

hello december..

seriously, can we just rewind back to october? this year has just gone by terribly fast. especially the last 13 days. today i'm no longer the mama to a little girl and young lady. today, i'm the mama to 2 young ladies. yes. maya is 5 today! i can't believe it. something about her just always made me think that she would always be my baby. and i know she will be..but i dont know if i'm ready for her to grow up just yet. i could definitely settle for a slow down. so today she is having a cupcake party in her her pre-k class, while i tend to olivia having head lice. grr. but now thats all taken care of :)

after i pickup maya, we are coming home so that olivia can make her a special birthday card, then its off to toys R us. maya has been anxiously awaiting this day so that she can pick out a toy. then i think we might have a fun birthday lunch. we dont typically celebrate big on the actual birthday, since it usually lands during the week. so sunday will be the party day. lots of stuff to do today, fun stuff thankfully.

last night i made a few christmas cards..and i might actually get them sent out before xmas! here are a few::

7 years ago, yesterday

i said i do. and i meant it.

my boyfriend became my husband, my lover, my confidant, my best friend, the man i would have children with.

i wont say we havent had ups and downs. lots of downs actually. but i hope that most of the turbulent times are behind us. we deserve some good happy times. 7 years is a long time...and i hope we have 5x more ahead of us. he is a great daddy. and a fantastic husband (most of the time lol).

i have been blessed.

holiday trees

can you believe the boutique is here?! geez, this week just flew by!

here are two of the four 'holiday trees' i have made for the boutique..the blue one measures about 12inches high and the red one measures about 18inches. the other two that i have are also of the red/green color combo..and they are also 12inches. they were super fun to make, but seriously time consuming at first! but now i think i've got the hang of it! whats funny is i've been calling them topiaries, and no one knows what i'm talking about, and appearantly these arent really topiaries anyways :P so i have christened them 'holiday trees'. to get the supplies for the trees you can just head on over to out on a limb :D

anyways, there will also be lots of cards and picture frames as well, but i havent had time to take any pictures, so you definitely need to come check them out tonight!!

xoxo

been gettin crafty..

for this! its been in the planning stages with some other local moms for the last month or so..and me, being the procrastinator i am, just barely got most of my stuff done today :D but so far so good. even had carolyn come over to help with a few things. so, if you're local, i'm hoping you'll be there!! there will be tons of stuff, plus you can grab a burger at hires! whats better than that? i will have almost all the cards that are on my etsy, plus quite a few christmas cards, and home decor items like picture frames, a mirror or two, and some topiaries.



in other news, we are in the process of buying a house, so thats super fun. NOT! it is super stressful though. but i'm really excited to have our own home again. and we just got a new car last month, and i love it. its so nice to not have to rely on carolyn to drag my butt everywhere lol. plus i think the last time i enjoyed this much was when i first got my license lol. the girls love the new car too..they are constantly asking if we can go somewhere fun..so last weekend we took a trip up Big Cottonwood. Too bad we missed the fall colors :( but it was fun to just spend an afternoon outdoors. the girls even got to play in some snow. i havent had a chance to edit them yet..but here are a few pics::

so hope eveyone is having a wonderful veterans day weekend..and i'm hoping to post some pics of the projects i've been working on for the boutique in the next couple of days :)
ciao!

i'm a cherry girl!!!

i met kate and lindsay about a month or so ago at the local scrapbook expo. i can't even explain how excited i was to find a lss that actually carried hambly, bam pop and love elsie. seriously. and then to see that they actually had *new* product at the expo was just icing on the cake. for reals. i so can't wait to get started!!

come check them out!

out on a limb scrapbooking

today

the girls got to dress up in their costumes for school. :) olivia is a witch, and maya is a bride. then after maya was done with school she came with me to work for a halloween potluck..and can i just say..sometimes other people's food just doesnt live up to your own expectations. :P

but the desserts were good :)

after olivia finished school we headed to the park and looked at ginormous leaves..climbed the monkey bars and rode a horse. not a real horse though..just a little bouncy one. it was nice. and cool. and just..nice.

mama said..

okay..so that would've totally been a cool photo..if the mirror was clean :P
been missing her alot lately..maybe its the hormones..maybe its just the time of year (being that its close to the holidays). or maybe its just that i'm so freakin busy lately that my emotions are finally catching up with me. anyways.. when we were talking the other day on the phone, my mom said she'd noticed the last few times we'd talked, that i sounded happy. and i said 'me?, happy?, really?' lol. made me feel a little....well, happy, to hear that. i felt happy. and it felt good.

once upon a time

it was licky's birthday

so we decided a surprise party was in order...

complete with cake and presents...

yes..i actually bought a cake and presents for the stuffed cat. and might i add, that it wasnt just maya's licky but also olivia's licky. isnt that kind of a strange name for a stuffed cat? and its weird that both the girls named their kittens that. but i'm a sucker. and it was so fun to have a little party for really no reason at all. the girls were so stinkin surprised and so happy..and it cost me less than 10 bucks!

i've been sick the last week or so..i have this cold that just won't let go. blah. so i've just been working and laying low, not really doing much of anything else. i do have a few lo's to share from LSS2 and top designer but i think i'll upload them in a day or so.

happy thursday!

need a laugh?

ok so i totally stole this from gigi's blog bc it made me giggle. it was way funny with her answers, and not so much with mine. hmm....

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
bubba lexus

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
new york superfudge chunk chips ahoy (hee hee)

3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
m gon

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
black cat

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
suzanne orange (thats SO not soap opera-ish)

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
gon mo

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The")
green the dr pepper

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
gordon martin

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy)
pink sugar snickers (thats actually a good one! ha!)

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names )
gail lopez

sometimes i cry for no reason

and if i were alone right now, thats what i'd be doing. i just got off the phone with my mom--and thats not the reason i want to cry, which is a good thing :) (and more on that later) but sometimes i just get this overwhelmingly sad feeling, and its hard to shake. i can never quite put my finger on what it is that can make me go from 'normal' to bawl baby. well, besides the BPD. :P

anyways.. maybe its just stress. lots of grown up crap going on and maybe its just my way of dealing. anyways it does seem to help a bit to write about it. i used to keep a journal..and when i say that i used to, i mean that i still do, just havent written in it since like june. for as long as i can remember i've always had something to write in--a spare notebook, a blank piece of paper. it really didnt matter as long as there was space to write. most of them i've kept, but last summer i threw one of them away. it held too many bad memories, so much sadness. i dont regret throwing it away at all..bc it was a bit of a release, just letting go of the past you know? but the thing i do regret, are the memories that were good that went along with the bad. but i guess if i still remember them, thats all that matters.

so anyways..speaking of the past, i've had a couple of my friends pop back into my life lately. its kinda weird, but in a good way i think. the one friend i've known since high school and she is exactly the same--a total blast, and always happy. i need more happy in my life, and she is perfect for that. its also fun remembering HS with someone..shes like a living breathing yearbook lol.

and for news about my mom..she is doing GREAT! she just had a scan of her brain the day before yesterday and its perfectly clear and looking good! i'm so proud of her..she has been having non stop chemo treatments, nupajin (i know spelled that wrong!) shots and countless poking by needles. but she has stayed strong and positive..and has hardly had any bad days at all--she is amazing and so strong. i know that if it were me in her shoes, i would be crumbling by now. but she is just taking it one day at a time and just plain being so damn happy about life. i admire that in her--i wonder if its heriditary bc i dont think i got that trait ;)

i think thats it for today.

ciao!

phew!

i was on a scrapping frenzy the other day. i think i did like 5 lo's in one day! which, for me is a lot, but then i add in the fact that i havent really been scrapping that much to begin with, and then add in that i was doing them all the day before they were due. craziness i tell ya. but i did get all my darejacks done, so i was happy :) that one up there is the amberjack and i really love it. i've never scrapped about that before and it felt pretty good--plus i put those pics to good use i think!

so yesterday we took the girls to the fair, it was opening day so it was only 2 bucks a person, and kids under 5 are free ::yay::
but i have to admit that i was feeling kinda bummed bc art couldnt get off work early and we didnt get there until like 7:30; so i figured we wouldnt be able to look at much stuff or have the kids go on many rides. turns out, we were able to do all that we wanted and we were home before 10! lol. i think thats a record, and i even got a carmel apple and some cotton candy, 2 must haves from the fair. the only bad thing that happened, is that, in typical monica fasion, i forgot my freakin camera. yeah. not so cool. but whatev. i took some pics on my cell, and they sucked lol.

today its lookin pretty nice outside--its been crazy windy, rainy the last few days, totally bringing on the fall weather, which i love. feels like heaven outside. and lucky for me, its arts 5 days off this weekend, so maybe we'll even head out to the greek festival..cross your fingers i can convince him ;)

so happy friday and weekend...and dont forget to check out the dares, (no link for them bc their site is down.) bc LSS starts today! and check out bad girls kits bc they have the top designer competition going too! busy weekend!

xoxo

yeah..we game.

this is how maya spends her morning while i work. she looks quite comfy, doesnt she? sometimes i feel guilty that she spends part of the morning playing with the gameboy so that i can work..but i figure an hour of games wont do her much harm. besides, we all game, right? i know my family does. art has his ps2--which i know he'd love a ps3--but at 599, that aint gonna happen for a while! and for my birthday last month, art bought me a pink DS. i love it. its fun to cozy up in bed, him playing god of war, and me playing cake mania lol.

today is orientation for maya's preschool..and then scenes like the one above won't be happening. she'll be spending 2.5 hours learning, singing and playing! she can't wait...and neither can i :)