2009 Reflection

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new year. This time always brings out thoughts of how to improve ourselves and our lives although I am pretty pleased with how things have gone this last year.

Brett and I are even more in love than when we were married. Our relationship has grown so much. I so appreciate him and his friendship. It is so nice to be married to someone who knows me so well. We are definitely still learning things about each other and have our disagreements, but we are growing closer. We have finally gotten in the habit of reading our scriptures and saying a prayer every night. We have been doing that for most of the year and we have only missed a handful of times. We are working on prayers in the morning now.

I am soooooooo happy with our new house! We have been in it about 6 weeks now and the inside is almost completely organized. The spare room actually has the bed set up and could quickly become a room if someone comes to visit....(hint hint Tammy and Kathy!!) My room is the cleanest it has ever been in my entire marriage (I am trying to hard to train Brett to put his dirty clothes in the dirty clothes basket!!!) and my closet is awesome! Our kitchen cart is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, so hopefully Brett will have that put together asap. That will make me love my kitchen so much more. More counter space will be so amazing! The dining room no longer has a bunch of clutter around the table and the garage is starting to come together. We are doing it a little bit at a time.

School is going well this year. I guess I started 2009 with my crappy 7th graders, but I am ending with a fantastic group of 6th graders. I am working so well with Patty and I think we are an excellent team!! It makes my life so much easier when we plan together. I am doing half the work while bouncing ideas off someone instead of doing it all on my own. So nice. I am praying that at this time next year I can say that I am teaching 6th grade science again. I DO NOT want to move up to 7th grade. It would be so nice to teach the same curriculum again and not have to learn a new set.

Church is great like always! I loved the ward in Renton and even though I complained, I mostly enjoyed my calling. I like having a job and knowing that I am fantastic at it. I don't have a calling in the new ward, but I am sure that wont last too long. They all know us pretty well, so....the one thing that worries me is that they just released the activities person last Sunday and did not call a new one......yuck! Although, I think we would have a better experience doing it in this ward than in the other ward. We would be able to find a much better committee.

In general life has been good! We have had lots of great times with family and friends. Babies were born and we had a few marriages. Melita moved back to WA which is a great thing. It is nice to have my best friend nearby again.

I hope that next year will be a better year for my body. I had lots of back problems this year and problems with my cycle. I am praying that both of those will be better. So far, it looks like it will. Clomid is working in the sense that I have been regular for two months now, we will see 2 weeks into January if that trend is going to continue. I am going to physical therapy for my back, so one of my goals this next year is to do the exercises more regularly.

This post was going to be about next year's goals, but it was good to reflect on the last year. It helps to see where you've been before you can determine where you want to go.

I am looking forward to a fantastic new year!!

New Blog

So as we go into 2010 I have decided to make a few changes. I have been told over and over again by one of my best friends (you know who you are!!) just how important it is to keep a journal. Well, I started my blog with the intention of using it as a kind of journal. It started off that way, but as I got more and more into scrapbooking, it has really become a scrapping blog. I don't like that and I want to change it. So I created a NEW blog - just for scrapping!

You can find it here!

I hope that you will visit it if you want to know about some great kits, but if you just want to know what the heck Juli and Brett are up to, here is the place to be! =) I hope you like the new blog design, it certainly took long enough. Man. Although part of that was the new blog and wanting it to be a little different...Anyway, I hope to still post LOs, but only to keep with the journal portion. I really believe that scrapping is a great way to preserve all the memories we make in this life and I will continue to do that, I just wont be doing the advertising I was doing before.

Well, that is all for tonight I think. Soon, I will post my goals for 2010. Hopefully someone will keep me accountable! =)

Touchdown

We have a football party every week....so this kit is an obvious choice for me. I think the elements would be great for some group shots of us lounging on the couch watching our Seahawks do well or...Well, they can play well. Anyway, this kit is great. Here is the preview. You know the drill! =)

U-Da-Bomb

Umm, a collab by Nicole and Amber. Need I say more? Their kits and especially COLLABS are seriously MUST HAVES!!!! Love the colors, love the elements. Here is the incredible preview. Click to go to the store!!

Rafting Fun

I have so many pictures I could use to scrap our rafting trips with this great kit from Nicole! Doesn't that look awesome? I love the elements in this kit. Click to go to the store!

Outdoor Adventure

Here is another great kit from Nicole. It is called Outdoor Adventure. I would love this kit as we LOVE to camp, so we have lots of pictures to use with this. Click the preview to go to the store!

Indy

Here is another great kit by Nicole. I love Indiana Jones. I think this kit would be really fun to work with. The colors are great and the elements are sure to be excellent!! Click the preview to go to the store!

Waverly templates Part 2

Here is my second LO using these amazing templates by Steph. We had Kyle and Candy over last night, and we had a blast! Their little boy is so darn adorable! I loved taking pictures of him. Anyway, here is the LO. I used a kit called A Rainbow Promise by Ellie Lash and Trixie Scraps Designs. I just love all the little animals. Hope you like the LO. And go to the store and get Steph's templates!!

Waverly Templates

Steph has a new set of templates out called Waverly Templates. I really like this set. I finished one LO, and am working on another one right now. I hope to get it done tonight or tomorrow. Anyway, here is my LO and the preview. Click the preview to go to the store!

I used a collab by Nicole and Amber for this LO called Love and Joy. Don't think you can buy it anymore....sorry. Love the kit though!

Cherish

I think I have blogged about this kit before, but I didn't win. So therefore....you get to see it again! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors in this kit called Cherish by Digi Designs by Nicole. Isn't it a great kit? Click the preview to go to the store to buy it!

Designer Contest

Just a little post about the designer contest that will be at Stuff to Scrap!

January 11th, Stuff to Scrap is holding a Designer Darling competition for new designers looking for a home, and for designers just looking to expand their stores.

Come join the fun, get great feedback, ask questions, and participate for your chance to join Stuff To Scrap as a Designer Darling.

Sign ups going on now. Click HERE or the flyer to sign up. For questions go HERE.

Celebration

Shel has a new kit out today. 2 great things about it are that it is FREE and it is a COLLAB! Yay! Meaning you get two great kits for the extremely very low price of NOTHING. LOL. Anyway, it is called Celebration and it is a black, white, silver, and gold kit. I really struggle with kits that are mostly black and white, so I was very glad she gave this kit to us very early. I had a much better chance to make a LO I was proud of! I LOVE my LO! Here it is along with the previews, click them to go to the blogs to download.

I am pretty sure Jewel only leaves her portions up for 24 hours, so make sure you go back every day to get the next piece and don't wait to go or you will miss the papers!!! Shel leaves hers up all week, so you have time there. Have fun!!!

Homespun Christmas, Cheer, and Forest Fairy Frolic...Plus FREEBIE!

Several things to show you today. First up is Char's new kit called Forest Fairy Frolic. I totally forgot to blog about it when she released it, but I remembered to upload it to my galleries. Weird. Anyway, here is the preview and my LO. I decided this was the perfect kit to scrap a cast pic from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Click the preview to go to her store.

Next up are two kits from Shel. The first one was released at the beginning of this month as part of the STS blog train. I decided to make some gift tags from the kit. Here is my preview and hers, click on mine to download and hers to go to her store!

Shel also has a great kit out called Cheer. I LOVED this kit!! Here is my LO and her preview. Click it to go to her store. I titled this LO second dance because we are newlyweds here dancing at Brett's brother's wedding that was only 20 days after our wedding.

I used a template by Amy M Designs I believe. I can't remember right now....hmm, will have to look into that.

Hope you like! Have a great night!

Blog to Win Kits

So at STS there are some Blog to Win contests going on. All you have to do is blog about them and post your link in the appropriate thread. Anyway, I decided to do a few of them, so here are the kits!

First up is Snow Fever by Digi Designs by Nicole. I love the colors in this kit and her really cute snowman!! I have the perfect pictures to use with this kit. I really hope I get it! =) CLick the preview to go to her store!

Next is a kit called Winter Wonderland. One can never have too many winter kits! I just love baby blue and the glitter snowflakes in this kit. Click to go to the store!

Last, but not least is a HUGE pregnancy kit by Nibbles Skribbles. As I am hoping and PRAYING that this will happen to me soon, I would love this kit. I cannot wait to scrap pics of me getting bigger. CLick the preview to go to the store!

Well, that is all for now!

GS DAD

The team at Gingerscraps has a fabulous kit available on their blog. It is called Day in the Snow and it is huge and fabulous!!!!

The best part is while it is a download a day....you can download until January! How nice is that? That means you can go when you remember and get all the previous parts and you haven't missed anything. I love download a days like that. Sometimes life gets in the way and you forget. Usually for me it is the day with the really cute alpha or something. Sucky! Anyway, here is a LO I made with it and the preview for Day 1. Click the preview to go to the blog and download.

Snowy Night and SS

Two announcements for you tonight! First off, Steph is hosting a SS tomorrow. The PP is a gift certificate to her store! How can you go wrong? Here is the flyer with all the info you need.



Next up is that Janice has a new kit out today and guess what? Not only is it a FREEBIE kit, but it is a collab with two other fabulous designers...The Scrappy Kat and Flowerscraps.

It is such a huge and fantastic kit! You must go and grab it! Here are their previews and my LO. Janice's preview is linked to her blog. Have a great evening!

I used a template I got from Scrap Matter's mega template pack. 41 fabulous templates!!

BB Blog Train

Charmaine and Misty's CTs have teamed up to bring you a BB blog train with their fabulous kit Just Married! Here is my contribution and the list of all the stops! Enjoy! Just click to download.

Misty - http://scrappaperie.blogspot.com
Charmaine - http://wyldwebdesigns.com/wordpress/
Jane - http://littleredscraps.blogspot.com
Becca http://cherishandcreate.blogspot.com
Sharon - http://quietangelsb.blogspot.com
Lisa - www.fairydustscraps.blogspot.com
Christie Dawn - http://mrsbowien.blogspot.com/
Monica - http://scrapwithmonica.blogspot.com
Juli - http://juliandbrett.blogspot.com
Dana - http://iamscrappingirl.blogspot.com
Irma - http://iscrapandco.blogspot.com
Adriana - http://adrianascafe.blogspot.com/

Old Fashioned Christmas BB

So remember that Christmas kit by Janice I told you about? Well, here are the BB pages I promised. I hope you like them! Click the preview to download.

Scrap Catch up

Alright over the last few weeks, I have not posted any new products so I have a doozy of a post for you. So grab a cup of hot cocoa and settle in for a long haul.

Lets go in alphabetical order by designer....that way I wont forget anyone!

First up, Graham Like the Cracker.

She released a gorgeous kit called Little Princess Sighs. Here is my LO and her preview. The alpha is also by Jen and it is called the Basic Metal Alpha. Click the previews to go to the product in her GS store.

Next up is a fabulous Christmas collab with one of favorite designers...Stolen Moments! Amber is really talented and they both did the best job with this kit!! Here is the preview and the LO I created.

Alright onto the next designer. JW Digiscraps. She has several new products out that are just fantastic!! I didn't make LOs with any of these, but if you come back tomorrow I will have some freebie brag book pages made with Old Fashioned Christmas. Click the previews to go to the store to buy!

Next up is Scrappy Cocoa. She has a fabulous Winter kit called Oh Santa. Here are my two LOs and the previews. She has a set of QPs in the store as well. Click on the previews to go to her store to buy. She is having a retirement sale at GS and STS, so make sure to check out the amazing prices!!

Next up is Shel! She is giving away a full kit on her blog right now. It is called Homespun Christmas and it is part of the December STS blog train. Here is the preview....click it to go to her blog!

And last, but not least is Wyld Web Designs. She has a beautiful collab kit with Misty O'Brian. It is called Just Married. Here is my LO and her preview. Click it to go to her store! And if you come back on Friday, there might be a little surprise!

WOW, I think I am done! I am sure I have missed something....oh well! If I remember I will post it later! Have a great night!

CATCH UP!!!

WOW, it has been awhile and I am SOOOOO far behind on everything scrapping. Oh well. I think my designers understand the hassle and stress that is moving. We are officially in our house. We signed the papers on Tuesday, November 17 at 9AM and we got the keys on Thursday afternoon. We started moving in that night. We brought over pictures and stuff that would be awkward to move on the big day. We did another load on Friday night. They were both pretty late nights.

Saturday was the big move. We picked up the trucks at 8 and started loading. The missionaries and a couple other people came to help us around 9ish. We were loading at the house until about 12:30. Then we headed over to the new place. I ordered some pizza on the way because we were starving!!! When the pizza got there we all took a food break. Then we continued to unload. My cousin Josh, his 11 year old son, my aunt, uncle, and good friend Ryan were all there to help. We were just about 1/2 way done with the second truck when 5 guys from our new ward showed up. They helped us the rest of the way and then wanted to unload our pod. We needed to go back to the old house and get another load so we were pretty adamant about not doing the pod. The day was long enough without entering that into the equation. Well, they would NOT take no for an answer. So we decided to leave me behind to direct the unloading and my mom and Brett went back to the other house. They unloaded the pod in about 45 minutes!! I was so impressed! It was very nice to not have to worry about unloading the pod last week. I am glad that we let them help us.

Anyway, we were working until about 9:30 when we finally sat down for dinner at Sharis. We were exhausted, but we were pretty much all in. We had to go back to the other house a few times to get all of our clothes and to clean, but it is all over now. Hallelujah!

The week of Thanksgiving was crazy busy because obviously we were trying to unpack and I was working. Brett only had to work on Wednesday....lucky duck! We were expecting to get a ton of work done on the house over the long weekend, but life threw a little twist at us! My mom started to have some abdominal pain on Wednesday. Thursday she was still in a lot of pain, so we insisted that she go to the urgent care facility. Unfortunately, the only one that was open was the one in Bellevue. So Brett and I drove her up there and waited for about 3 hours to find out what was wrong. They were pretty sure that it was her appendix, but she was not showing any of the other signs of appendicitis. They decided to send her home because they couldn't do the other tests. She needed to come back on Saturday and sooner if her pain increased. She was in the same amount of pain all day Friday as we had our Thanksgiving dinner with my sister, brother, Amanda (David's girlfriend), Alex (David's best friend), and Stephanie (Alex's girlfriend). More on that later. My mom went back at noon on Saturday and they confirmed that it was her appendix twice. So she had surgery at 5 that evening. Brett and I tried to get to the hospital before she went in, but just missed her. So we sat in her room until about 9 when she was brought back to the room. She was able to go home Sunday night. She is home now and doing fine.

Thanksgiving (on Friday) turned out really good. We had a great dinner and then we all played the Wii for a little while. Brett and I bought the new Super Mario Bros that morning for Black Friday and LOVED playing it. It was so fun! We also played Boom Blox. That is a pretty fun game as well.

Black Friday was pretty fun. Brett and I went to Target (got his GPS, a microwave, and some DVDs). We also went to Walmart and vowed to never go again!!! Then we went to Fred Meyer to get some video games and accessories since they were 20% off. Not awesome, but decent.

Anyway, that is a little bit of what we have been up to. I will do the scrapping catch up tomorrow. This has taken me forever to write! Much longer than I thought! Have a good night!

100 Days and French Gypsy

We are going to sign the papers for our house tomorrow!! I can't wait! I am also a little nervous, as I hear it is intimidating the number of papers you have to sign. Anyway, glad to have a day off of work to spend with my husband...packing! Woohoo! What a great day! Oh well...

I have two kits to show you. One, I have kept forgetting to blog about. It is Shel's newest kit, 100 Days of School 2009. It is a GREAT school kit. It is a remake of an earlier kit. I did something a little different with this kit. We are working on getting a reward system in place at school, so I created a poster with all the requirements for PAW using this kit. Click on the preview to go to her store to buy!

Alright, the next kit is a BEAUTY from Janice of JW Digiscraps. It is called French Gypsy and I love the colors. It was so fun to work with. I think I downloaded it and had a LO less than two hours later! I just loved it. Here is the preview and my LO. You can buy it at Divine Digital or STS.

Have a great night!