Just me My Soldier and our 4 little chicks

cha rambling #1- jenni bowlin studio

okay, so jbs gets its own post.

don't worry, i won't be posting a new booth every day, that would take an eternity.

but this one deserves it's own.

if you know me you know i kind of ....well LOVE jenni bowlin.

i first met her a few years ago at a scrap etc. event in birmingham

and she was exactly as i expected she would be.

genuine, gracious, kind, sweet...you name it. she's it.

see, here's the deal. unfortunately sometimes you meet people in this "industry",

"hobby", whatever you want to call it, that aren't so genuine.

people with an agenda, a "what can you do for ME?" attitude.

yeah, i'm not a fan of that.

i've run into that here and there.

i ran into it at the show.

but luckily, my good experiences far outweighed the bad.

and she's a big part of that.

not to mention *sigh* that she loves vintage decor just as much as i do.

i walked by her booth maybe 1000 times because i pretty much wanted to put it all in my bag and take it home with me.

fabulous.

fabulous new products too. i was fortunate enough to bring them home with me and you will be seeing LOTS and LOTS of it on my blog.

i love every bit of it, and it's pretty much the only new release i can say that about.

so it gets its own post.

heee!!

have a beautiful day.

xo

s

p.s. and before you think i've completely gone off my rocker (based on the out of control number of photos i took), she didn't have her camera and asked me to snap some to send her. i'm not THAT big of a jbs stalker.  teehee. 

scrappies

for those of you who asked, yes the girls were VERY glad to see me!!

they were fast asleep by the time i got home, but of course i had to pick them up and just hold them.

harper opened her eyes so wide and whispered "MOMMMMMMMY!!!!".

it melted my heart.

they had the best time ever with BB and Gdaddy. i've been hearing stories and nonstop talking since i got home.

my favorite exchange with harper on the phone while i was gone?

H: mama! i teetee in potty!!

me: um, good? (she's been doing this for a long time) how about poop?

H: NO WAY JOSE!!

hands phone to BB

in background: POOP? YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!

lovely. see what i am up against??

moving on.

here are my studio calico february layouts.

i had so much fun with this kit and could have done a lot more if i didn't have to pack for CHA.

you will see lots more layouts in the coming weeks with this kit.

btw, i purchased all 3 layouts.

have a beautiful day!

back tomorrow with more Cha talk.

xo

s

p.s. UM (trying NOT TO YELL HERE)....jimmy is leaving afghanistan to come see us in exactly THREE WEEKS FROM YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and i'm home

it was so much fun. i'm still recovering from the kind of laughing that makes you

fall on the ground and cry.

seriously. i'm hoarse.

i had the best time. we laughed and laughed

and talked and talked...

and i met so many lovely people.

people with sincere, good hearts. 

people that i wish i could have spent so much more time with.

and to those of you that met me,

i know i'm taller and spazzier, and more elongated than you thought.

but candice, you win the prize for best line.

"hope this doesn't sound bad, but you are way skinnier than i thought you were."

HEEE! i think i love you.

so yes, that is me. long, fast talking, not so graceful.

and i loved meeting all of you.

thanks so much for those of you that took the time to say hi...it was the highlight of my trip meeting you.

i have lots of pictures to share with you, but for now i'll leave you with a group picture  and 2 of my favorite things from the show. jenni bowlin and anna griffin.

i'll be back tomorrow with my studio calico february layouts!

xoxo

s

and i'm off!

i leave tomorrow bright and early,

but i just wanted to do a quick post and tell you all that i hope you have a beautiful weekend and that next week is wonderful as well.

i'll be back to the blogging world on thursday and i'm sure i'll have lots of stories to tell and pictures to share!

love to you all!

xo

at night

after the chickies are in bed, after i've had my dinner and watched whatever show i'm watching that night,

after i've scrapbooked and done the dishes and gotten everything ready for the morning,

after i've turned off all the lights and set the alarm,

that's when i miss him the most.

i just miss his presence next to me in bed,

the way he always stretches his leg out so that his foot touches my leg,

the way he yelps if i touch him with my cold feet,

the sound of his breathing, and yes, even his occasional snores.

i haven't slept on his side of the bed yet, and i'm sure i won't.

the tee shirt he left doesn't smell like him any more and i hate that.

gosh i miss him.

people always say "how do you do it?".

and the answer is simple. i love him and i believe in him. i believe he was born to do what he is doing. 

what's the point of moaning and complaining the entire time he is gone? what good will that do me or my children?

i believe in him.

people always say "aren't you scared?".

of course i am. every day i'm scared. but i believe that the Lord has a plan. and i can either sit around wondering what might happen, or i can move on. be the best mom i can be for my girls. pray,pray, pray. and count the moments until he is home again. everything that is going to happen was written far before we were around. i can't sit in the rocking chair and look out that window every day wondering if a car is going to pull up. i just can't.

i believe in Him.

and his protection and grace.

i believe in what Jimmy is doing. like he tells me, it is his job to lead these men,to protect them and lead them and teach them sometimes.  and it's my job at this moment to take care of our girls, to get them through this, to shape them in to strong, beautiful, good-hearted women.

i believe in us.

don't worry, i will share more answers to your questions later, but this is what i felt like blogging about today.

happy thursday sweet friends.

xo

p.s.  Stephanie Herbert is hosting a Cards for Heroes Fundraiser.  20 percent of all Stampin' Up! purchases made through her will be donated to Cards for Heroes. Please check it out by clicking on the link above.

cherry hill

october afternoon is sharing one of their new collections on

our brand new blog! make sure to go over and check it out, they are also

having a giveaway you might be very interested in ;)

Here are my favorite papers from this release:

but if you head to the blog (linked above), you can see them all!

I'm just organizing and getting ready to head out Saturday morning.

I'll leave you with a photo or two of the monkey.

happy wednesday!

xo

blue skies

nothing gives me more hope than waking up to a sunny day.

well, that and a big cup of coffee. ;)

i hope you are all having a great week so far.

i've been busy. making lists and more lists to prepare for CHA,

getting everything together for the girlies is a major undertaking!!

good think they will be at my parents' house, which is close. 

so if i forget anything it's not the end of the world!

here are the answers to a few more questions.

1.How are you doing with Weight Watchers? I had to end my membership a few months back. But I am still following the program, though not as religiously. I lost about 15 lbs. and now I'm trying to maintain that. I feel so much better and so much healthier. I can't wait to show J! Let's hope he notices, heee! I've had several dreams that he couldn't tell. Uh, is that a sign??? teehee.

2.Are you and J gonna have any more babies?  Absolutely. At least one more. Just not any time soon. ESPECIALLY not in the next year. I'm a tad bit frightened that God will once again remind me I'm not in charge (some of you may remember the sadie surprise), but we would like to have our next kiddo in a couple of years. J needs to get to know Sadie first. No joke. He missed her being born, worked 4 a.m.-8 p.m for most of her first 5 months, and then deployed.

3.Have y'all made a decision about if you are going to WA or the East Coast? (is praying you say east coast)- Looks like at this point we will be in Columbus, GA for a year, and then we may have to move to either Savannah or WA.

4.If you could pick any job to be able to do everyday what would it be? I'm very content where I am right now. But as far as dream jobs go, I've always wanted to own a little clothing boutique. I'd actually like to own a clothing/craft boutique but that seems kind of weird. But you said any job right? ;)

5.When you move will you rent or sell your house? Rent for a couple of years and then sell. Luckily we have my dad and brother here. They build/sell houses for a living!!

6.If you were to win £/$5 million on the lottery what would you do with it?- set up a big old savings account for the girls and college. Go on a family trip. Give lots and lots of it away to people that need it way more than I do.

7.If it's not too personal, how is your dad doing? I remember his car accident & the reconstruction/rehab he faced.- Thank you so much for asking. He is well. He has come so far, but is honestly still recovering. I believe a  lot of work will need to be done on his teeth. But he is so so strong and amazing, I really feel he has recovered b/c of his amazing will and drive.

Enough questions for today. Hope you guys aren't bored.

I have a few photos to share. Check out the monkey in the high chair. She is a MESS. Note that there is no high chair cover b/c she did this EXACT same thing at lunch and it was in the wash. She's a maniac. Half of whatever she is eating always ends up in her hair.

She's doing this shrieking hyena thing lately (as noted in the last photo).

 

and both girls playing in the kitchen (such a sweet sight):

and last but not least some more february studio calico glimpses.

i did another 2 page layout this month. it was one of my crafty resolutions this year and i'm determined to make it a habit.

Have a beautiful, blessed day.

xo

let's see.

so i thought i would answer a few questions today and a few tomorrow.

i also wanted to share some layouts.

i hope you are all having a beautiful weekend!

weekends are pretty much exactly the same as the week around here,

but we are having a great one.

sadie is now completely walking. no lurching or falling for the most part.

she's nuts.

i'll turn around and she will have booked it completely across the house.

both girls are snotty and coughing (AGAIN...sigh.)

i'm praying they get well this week, i won't feel good about leaving them with BB and G-daddy if they are sick.

but oh my goodness, I can't even tell you how much I am looking forward to CHA.

i can't even wait to meet everyone, and also see all of the new lines that will be coming our way. 

if you will be there, please say hi to me! 

i'll be with studio calico, and i will also be working at the october afternoon booth from 12-5 on sunday.

i'll be the tall spazzy girl in the studio calico shirt with wide, overwhelmed eyes!!

heeee!!

okay. on to a few questions.

1. How did you become such a good photographer? Take a class? Self taught? Where did you begin??  Thank you so much, Janie. But I'm not a good photographer. I think I see the good, special moments between people instead of missing them in the big picture, but i have so much to learn with photography. I mostly shoot in the AV mode, but this year it is my goal to learn how to do much more. I took a free photography course by Joanna Bolick at 2peas and it's fantastic. I need to go back and make it through the entire thing. I was pregnant with Sadie when i took it, and needless to say, I didn't give it the best attention.

Where do you start? Learn how to use whatever camera you have. Get the manual out. I wore my little point and shoot out before I moved on to a DSLR. Learn how to adjust your settings and take photos without flash. Observe, and take interesting pictures. Not just big group photos. Get down on the ground and interact with your kids. Take pictures while you are down there. Just play. 

Not every photo has to be perfect. I'm a mom and a scrapbooker, not a photographer. I don't think all of my photos have to be flawless. I don't photoshop at this point b/c I don't know how. I love real, genuine photographs, where you can feel the emotion. I love them when they aren't over-photoshopped.

Many of you have asked what camera I use. I have a Canon Digital Rebel xti with a 50 mm 1.8 lens. Like I said, I don't photoshop (clearly, hehe), but I edit my photos a bit in iphoto.

2.Can you show us more pictures of your home and how you decorate. Show some more pics of your mom's home while you are at it! I'll work on taking some new photos ASAP. The house is kind of a mess right now, I'm packing!

3. What type of albums do you use? American Crafts D-Ring fabric covered albums.

in all different colors. I even have some of the corduroy ones.

4.What are your 3 favorite colors of cardstock? white, kraft, and aqua blue. though i really just mainly use white and kraft.

5. How many days until J comes home?- about 5 weeks until R&R. He will be back for 15 days and then he goes back to complete his deployment, which is over this summer.

okay. that's enough of that for now. more tomorrow =)

and here are the layouts i wanted to share.

the first is just for fun, i did it for a 2peas challenge to "scrap the sentimental".

journaling reads: it's true. horribly cliched but 100 percent true. my knees still get weak when you kiss me, when i first see your face after we have been apart.  it's like being a teenager and falling head over heels in love for the very first time.  you always will be my one true love and my teenage crush all rolled into one.

patterned paper- crate paper (brown), collage press (green) ,october afternoon (houndstooth), cosmo cricket (orange)

labels- twogirlzstuff (etsy)

buttons- vintage

rhinestones- k and co

alphas- sassafras

and the second is another prima layout with all new product.

how cool is that garland???

everything here is prima.

see these and other new releases HERE.

That's it for today, have a blessed Sunday!

xo

s

Happy Thursday!

This is going to be a super random post. 

First, for those of you who are dieting/eating healthy, have you heard of 

Hungry Girl? 

It is an awesome site...I signed up for the daily emails a few months ago and I have learned so much. I highly recommend it.

My favorite thing in recent history is Hungry Girl's Shopping List.

I have found so many yummy, healthy products through that list.

My favorite thing right now is this muffin mix:

Second, I've ordered a few things off of Etsy that I want to share.

This is what I got Sadie to wear on her birthday...

um, could the monkey be any cuter??

It's a long sleeve tee.

shirt by lilcubby

I also ordered this necklace for myself (as a belated Christmas gift).

penelope necklace by my lavaliere

Her shop is absolutely beautiful. I have about half of it bookmarked.

Last, but not least, many of you have asked me about how i tie my bows.

I would do a tutorial, but

a. it's been done elsewhere better than i could ever do it

b. i'm not a tutorial-ish person. too spazzy.

So I shall link you to a tutorial by the fabulous Lisa Pace...

this is exactly how I tie my bows as well. Enjoy. And leave a comment and tell her hi. =)

That's all I've got. Random randomness.

I thought this would be a good time for y'all to ask me any questions you might have.

I think I've answered most that have been asked, but sometimes a few slip through the cracks.

Happy Happy Thursday, sweet friends!

xo

s

A few February glimpses

I know many of you are Studio Calico subscribers,

and I want to tell you that you will LOVE the February kit.

I purchased all three of the add-ons.

Last night was sneak peek night and just in case you haven't had a chance to see them yet, I'll share mine.

I had a lot of fun playing with the papers and goodies (especially the new Studio Calico papers!).

I hope you are all having a fantastic day! It's beautiful here today,

we might play outside later. Harper has missed that!

Oh, before I forget, lots of you asked about the letters on yesterday's layout.

Everything on the page is by Prima, including the letters!!

I'll leave you with my new favorite photo of H.

Happy Wednesday!

xo

s