still me

moving on up

well, today was quincy's first official day in her new room!
for whatever reason, i keep thinking about the little 'bearnstien bears' book that talks abouat a new baby... and how sister bear had to move out of her little room, and her little bed to make room for the baby that was coming. i thought that quincy would be thrilled to move into a big room... downstairs by the boys... boy was i wrong! she had a better idea, she just was planning on having this new baby sleep with her in her bed. she had it all figured out, had allocated some of her little blankets to be the future baby blankets, and a little space at the foot of her bed that was partitioned off with stuffed animals... she had no intention of moving! so there began to be some bribery involved... pink paint! we have a den on the main level that has been the home to an unused bow-flex for quite sometime... and we figured that since eric has moved his office up to the scrapbook room, this would be the future site for quincy's room. she was not happy about it, cause she figures if anyone breaks in during the middle of the night, (through the front door) her room would then be the first stop! sigh... but the pink paint was having an effect on her!
Friday night the painting started, and i had sent eric to home depot to pick the paint out, and i guess there was a pretty long line to wait for the paint to be mixed, and he wound up looking through painting teachnique books... and became convinced he wanted to paint harliquin on the wall in her room!  from personal experience, i have found harliquin very difficult to paint! i even tried to talk him out of it..
Sat i taught all day at scrapbooks etc., here in town, and while i was gone, he mapped the whole thing out and with just a few minor set-backs and the purchase of a new laser level... he finished the wall and took quincy to Michaels to pick out some jewels to place at the tips of each diamond...
sooo cute! it seriously looks so fabulous!  this bed of quincy's my neighbor made for me couple of years ago. it's made out of 2 old doors... anyway... i like the contrast of the old doors and the fancy harliquin! ..
well, as if that wasn't enough, eric decided to paint the inside door, pink with big diamonds on them... because it's the den, it's got french doors... so cute.
the room just resonates pinK!
quincy seriously can't stop smiling and dancing! she LOVES it so much!

so i took a bit of the paint and smeared it on quincy's hand- and made a handprint... so i can remember how little she was...

so... it's quite the milestone.. moving my baby out to make room for the new baby! now the room just next to my bedroom is completely empty.  i have some thoughts about what i will do... but for now, the room will just have to wait!  do we have a little boy or a little girl to bring home to it? at the moment, the time, energy and creativity is better spent on a 5 year old princess who feels very very special! all i can tell you is that i am SO glad that it was ALL ERIC's idea... and that he was determined to do it and it had nothing to do with me! makes it even sweeter! he is quite proud of his handy work... and i gotta hand it to him... it is SOO cute.  now i just need to do some 'fluffing'... drape a pink feather boa over the mirror,  frame some pictures, add some flowers... have some fuN!  -- oh, and to make it all even better... the closet doors are mirrors!! she LOVES to dance in front of mirrors! it's so fun to see her 'gitty' with excitement.. anyway... just had to share!

service.

This morning I got a call from a friend who said she had something she wanted to give me before my baby came… quincy invited her daughter to come over and play so she was going to come by. She showed up with tubes of soaps, lotions, exfoliators and the like and announced to me that she had come to rub my feet and legs. Mind you, this particular girl is pregnant herself, she had a head cold and several errands to run that she had mentioned to me. Of course, I was caught off guard, and tried to talk her out of such nonsense as her rubbing my feet… she would not take no for an answer, and although I felt really bad that she was rubbing my feet, she proceeded to fill a tub of water, gather a towel and make sure I was in a comfortable chair. Of course, it felt wonderful- my feet and legs certainly ache…and i tried desperately to relax through the guilt I was feeling for her performing this task. As she had just begun, my son cory (7) walked into the room and looked very confused and asked what was going on… she explained that she was rubbing my feet, and that this is what he should do for his wife when he grows up! Then cory said, “hey, isn’t that what Jesus did for his disciples?” immediately my eyes filled with tears, and so deeply was I touched and reminded of the importance of the simple, tender service that we can render to those around us. I was so humbled today by her generosity. And thankful. Julia…thank you.

early morning nesting

i am exhausted. it's ridiculous.
i am in all-out-'nesting' mode...and i can't stop!
of course, with the new member of the family very close to arriving, everything must move. we have to move the den, to move quincy, to make the nursery. in order to move the den we had to clean out all the crap in the garage... while we were at it, we had to de-junk the boys' room and the laundry room and the guest room all in order to make room for all the junk in the DEN! holy cow.  all to make room for some little 7lb baby. sunday night eric and i sat down and made a nesting schedule. bless him for being on board and helping me get this done, because you know i am totally at his mercy. well, so we filled the bed of the truck to over-full with stuff going to the dump. then had the kids try on every stich of clothing we own, to filter out all the stuff that doesn't fit, and filled about 3 huge garbage bags of that... seriously, it feels so good to get it done! so get this... we get up at 5am this morning to give the gargage the clean sweep. emily even slept here, so she could be my surrogate garage cleaner... since i am pretty much worthless! even at 5am i think that the garage was like 210 degrees! YIKES.  but we totally gutted the whole thing, and it looks awesome, and there are like 5 totally empty cabinets awaiting the den clean out. so that is exciting. only now, i am so tired. i can't even muster up enough energy to go to the grocery store ! we have lived in this house 4 plus years, and i can't believe all that we have accumulated. because i remember moving in here, and having just oodles of room!
so i am going to go take a nap. i have a dr's appt today, and we are doing a store visit and demo night at DEVINE MEMORIES... it's not too far from me... in chandler... so i need to rest up. i swear, i have doubled in size the last week! my t-shirts and tank tops are not covering the belly. yep, it's time!
eric bought formula and baby wipes at costco last night. how cute is that.

costco

so i still haven't seen it in real life.


these are my aunts.. they actually took these photos the first time the kit was available during the testing period... see... a long time ago, i think it was march, costco agreed to 'test' this kit. so it shipped to 8 costcos that were totally random. they wouldn't tell us where, when or anything, cause we weren't supposed to talk about it or anything, so that we couldn't interfere wtih the test... so i guess we passed the test with flying colors! and so costco decided to 'roll out' the kit to all stores. i am guessing that they just started hitting stores last week!

so it's a pretty cool kit... lots of stuff in it! good stuff, the kind of stuff that you just use and use and use...so it's a great 'supply' to have. for only $29bucks i think it's a great deal too!
i have to admit, that i think that the coolest part of the whole thing is the big pick box that they come in. it's a seriously heavy duty box! it's awesome... great color... so i was laughing when my aunt took this photo of her taking the BOX! totally something i would do... if i were to go to costco... can't you just see our camping equipment and sand toys stored in these boxes stacked in the garage!? i love it...
anyway... eric just called me from costco where he was picking up ribs for dinner, and asked if i needed a heidi swapp embellishment collection... so i guess i will see it in real life in just a bit!
pretty cool, i must say!

family pics!

just have to share...
it's the yearly tradition. family pictures.
we do this trip every year with e's family- he's been coming here, to this beach-this house since he can remember. he loves it! for the pictures, usually we always wear red, because that matches eric's mom's house! we decided to mix it up a bit this summer, and wear green!? turned out so cute.

fun stuff... takes so much effort to get everyone together, and dressed, and stuff- but it's worth it! tonight was perfect- no wind, delightful temp... and we got great light. nanci showed up for their beach week that starts tomorrow and was able to snap the shots for us! i like the green.

just started season 2 of LOST.
it's freaking me out.

wow. 2 blog posts in one day.

cha summer

so...
i am missing out.
i just got off the phone w/ em and i made her give me all the details i could think to ask... who she has spoken with... who has she seen, what people are buzzing about and anything else!
i am feeling so left out!
of course, it's for a good cause... but still!
i have to hop in the shower... tonight are the beach family pictures and so quincy just got a new haircut from my ultra-talented sister-in-law who works at some salon here in LA. (quincy got BANGS!!!)
and eric got a buzz cut... that i gave him! LOL (did anyone see what STEVE NASH DID?? he is my colton's hero and also got a buzz cut... ok that was off the subject)
but anyway... i just got these pics in my email from em. they are a little dark, but you can see how cute my girls looK!
thanks again em, jodi, liz and kara..
you girls ROCK! you look FABULOUS! i am loving the silver shoes...

thurs

I am happy to report, that I made an conscious effort to take photos today. I got some cute ones… I did a lot of sitting, a little sleeping and catch this, I actually went in the water! Great beach day. Eric took some great shots of Cory in surf camp, so cute- and I have to show you this shot of the shark sand sculpture the boys made! Pretty creative action for the photo! I had to laugh.
Tomorrow is the last beach day… we always have the same conversation when we are here.. trying to figure out how we could possibly round up 3.5 million dollars to buy a place down here so we can stay the whole summer! LOL… it’s always so hard to go home. We walk down the beach, along the boardwalk and look at all the beach houses… some are totally ghetto- in bad shape… and others, are just amazing! Beautifully renovated, or in many cases, the old house bulld0zed and a new home built. It’s fun to walk by and take a peek into the windows and imagine who can afford places like that! But I guess that is what makes coming here special. We only get a week. And it’s cherished… looked forward to and reminisced about. I suppose if we could come here anytime, or live here, it just wouldn’t be such a luxury-such a gift. Such a part of our family memories and traditions! Good thing we don’t have 3.5 million!!! Surely we wouldn’t appreciate it!

lazy?

I am being the ultimate lazy. I have GOT to kick it into gear today and get some good photos… or I am going to be sorry. I didn’t take good photos last year cause I was so busy working… this year I am just lazy. So that is today’s goal… really concentrate on photography. At least for a good hour! Lol
Cory has been in surf camp all week… so today I went down and watched. So cute. He is an awesome little surfer dude! And with his WHITE blonde hair, he’s looking like such a beach bum! I guess the lead singer and drummer for “green day” are also taking surf lessons with this place where cory is surfing… kind of funny! All I could do was think of cathy z freaking out! He looks pretty normal out there surfing!

Glad to know I am not alone w/ the “LOST” issue! I think it’s bugging me that they don’t show anyone back in the states looking for the crashed plane… I mean, couldn’t they create a story line so you knew at least someone was looking for them? I am on my last episode of the season 1. and still have all 25 episodes of season 2… so my life will be in this disruption mode for a while still! I am going to have to put myself on some kind of reward system… if I am a good girl, and do all my work, and feed my kids- THEN I can watch LOST. That would be the responsible thing to do.

I am looking pretty tan on my front side… and completely white on the backside. I tried digging a hole in the sand for my belly, so I could lay on my stomach and I couldn’t get comfortable! So I will just have to self-tan the backside and try to get it to match!

guilt

I keep sitting down intending to blog and getting distracted! It’s already wed. of our beach week. Time flies when you’re having fun. And we are! I mean simply getting out of the heat, is a party! It’s so nice to drive w/ the windows rolled down and go outside during daylight hours! It is hot here.. I was walking up from the water and the sand was so hot that it totally burned the under-side of my toes and they were totally blistered! Sheesh! And, of course, as I always do-every year… got a total burn. And that hurts too. I guess that is what I get for not being in the sun all summer.
I will tell you this… I am feeling GUILTY.
I haven’t been able to get myself to work… I have developed a real problem …
“LOST”.
Holy cow. Ok- I have heard that it was an addictive show… and I have even witness the addiction in my husband, and I was SO happy when he finally got trough the whole thing.
He had downloaded it to my video ipod for his most recent trip to china. So both seasons of LOST were on there… eric’s been monopolizing the unit.. which was fine, as I have just been soo busy. But on the drive over here, I started watching.
It’s been an issue ever since. There are like 25 episodes per season, and 2 seasons. At 45 minutes each—it’s like a straight 2.5 days worth of show to watch. It’s so bad. I am being totally anti-social, and not even working on my scrapbook stuff, my work or anything else I am supposed to be doing. (like taking care of my kids, getting them food/drink etc)… I am thoroughly enjoying myself. But I feel guilty! LOL. I keep telling them, the sooner I get through it the better.
I do think that sitting on the beach is a great muse.
This year, I don’t really have to STRESS about my kids. I mean, I am constantly doing the ‘headcount’ thing, and stuff like that, but they all are totally fine playing in the waves and sand… doing their own thing. (next year will be a different story). I find myself just staring out and watching the show as ideas pop through my head. I sit there with my notebook and just jot down the fragmented thoughts and ideas that bounce through. It’s been a LONG time since I felt like I could just sit and imagine stuff. It’s important for me to do that from time to time. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity. While the ocean babysits.
I do feel guilty tho. My team is in Chicago getting ready for the show. I thought that I was going to be fine with it. Missing it… just this time. But I can feel my tension, and anxiety. My mind racing, thinking of all the things that they are having to deal with, without me there. Sigh. I am trying to let that go.
But… to my girls there in chi-town: em, liz, jodi and kara… thanks so so much!
I appreciate your willingness to be there!! How cute are the silver shoes?? Please take pics!!
I know everyone is waiting for the water photo contest! We do have a winner… but I have to set up the blast for the newsletter.. but everyone has been so wrapped up in the show, it’s been an issue! I am SO sorry!
Hang in there..
Ok, hopefully pics later..

passion

you ever take time to marvel at the obscene amounts of passion that run through the veins of this ‘scrapbooking’ industry!?  it’s out of control! It’s inspiring really.
Tonight, we invited the retail scrapbook store owners in our 'region’,  over to emily’s uber-cute abode, for a little educational training evening!  I think about 15 stores were represented- some driving in as far as 3 hours to be with us… we have been visiting the stores around to get to know the owners, and their customers- and get a change to hear people’s comments and thoughts. It’s been really cool for me to have that chance-on such a personal level.  We had dinner, and taught several different demos … it was a great opportunity to just connect without the pressure that exists inside the stores, and fun because we have had a chance to get to know some of them in their own element.
I have always said, that I think that has to be the hardest job on the planet… being a scrapbook store owner… and knowing what to bring in, how to move product… stay on top of the trends.. create cool classes… and balance their families and staff.  It’s remarkable really. it was so interesting tonight to hear them talk to one another- hear them laugh about their struggles and their individual challenges.  And as I listened… I did just that… I marveled at the passion, the drive and the thing that motivates us to WORK so hard!  I feel privileged to know so many amazing people in this industry. many of who I look up to and admire and respect what they do/how they do it. and continually, I am amazed at their drive. That thing that pushes us so far beyond the norm. I share it… the passion. My team has it. the individuals that were there tonight  have it.  and all the folks that are frantically pulling their samples and surprises together on their way to Chicago; as well as those who are going to BUY it up. Those who sell it, rep it, teach it, educate it and dream it. 
I love being a part of it.  It’s amazing really, what a consuming thing it is.

Having said that… I am missing the first show in what seems like a long time. I will miss being there. Seeing those faces that we only see at these trade shows… feeling that buzz that happens there. But I am thankful that I don’t have to stand all day for 3 days with my sore back and swollen feet! Pregnant perk…
Anyway… looking forward to seeing everyone in Vegas at Memory Trends.
Until then… this is my salute to all of you retail store owners… thanks for doing what you do. working as hard as you work.  And good luck SHOPPING next week!

Dang… it’s 3am. What is my problem??? I gotta get some sleep.