Don't Forget the Past When Looking to the Future

Anyone who is close with me knows that I've had a really busy, challenging, and rough month at work. It has been full of both rewards and disappointments. And I don't want to get into the details at all. Instead I just want to share a few very important life lessons that I've learned recently:

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the thought of our futures and who we want to become that we forget our past and who we really are. This is my advice to you if you are going through a rough patch in your life right now:

Be proud of who you were, who you are now, and who you want to become! And don't let anyone stop you from reaching your dreams. And if things don't work out the way you want them to -- remember that everything happens for a reason and the rough times help shape us and make us stronger. And it may be very possible that something even better may be just around the corner waiting for you! :)

The above picture is of me and my Barbie Dream House -- my favorite toy from back in the day. I'm not sure how old I am in this picture because nothing was written on the back, but I'd say no older than 7. I spent hours playing with my Barbies in this doll house. My Grandma Frankie who lived in New Mexico sent this to me for Christmas one year.

My super-awesome Barbie house came complete with furniture, little plants, play food, plates & the works. My dad struggled for hours because he was the one that got to put it together. The doors and windows opened, and you could move each section of the house apart -- and he had to build it from scratch with really bad directions. Thanks Dad! :) And even the cat loved Barbie's posh digs -- she loved to climb in the middle of my Barbie Dream House, sometimes making it go "CRASH" in the night.

On Sunday, my mom and I spent all afternoon going through 2 large tubs of pictures. We had a good time laughing and talking about the good old days. And we've decided to start a new project -- organizing all of these photos and putting albums together for her/dad, me, and my brother. Also, the majority of our pictures were taken with a crappy instant Poloroid camera. So many of our pictures are falling apart and fading and getting ruined slowly. So -- we will be scanning them too. A great project for this fall/winter. Also right up my alley for scrapbooking! I have a feeling that I'll need to buy more ink and paper for my photo printer. :)

A Day of Scrapping

Yesterday I attended a Creative Memories Scrapbooking Workshop. A few consultants in the area host this get together every month. For a reasonable fee, you can bring your scrapbooking projects to this all-day workshop and use the tools that the consultants bring. This way you get to play with new tools and decide what you want to spend your money on next! And oh I found lots of really cool tools that I want to purchase eventually.

I arrived at 11AM. One of the last times I remember looking at a clock, it was 6PM. Suddenly after that it was 8PM! The day simply flew by! But it was a very productive one for me.

Here are the items I purchased: A Power Sort Mini Box, a PicFolio Minutes Album, A Storybox set of papers, and a Tape Runner. Also not shown, I bought three packs of stickers to use. The tiny little pictures scattered around in the picture below are very small pictures I printed off.

The blue and green box with polka-dots is a Power Sort Mini Box and holds up to 600 photos for storage. It is so nifty! here are a couple close up shots. Each side has a closure as shown in the second picture. And if you tip your box upside down your pictures will stay in place and will not move around. They also sell bigger Power Sort boxes that hold many many more photos. The larger box will be one of my next purchases, but I plan to use this small one to hold current projects and the smaller Storybox papers that I used for my PicFolio Minutes Album.

For my first project I wanted to start out small and do something fun that I could display. My friend introduced me to the PicFolio Minutes Albums. I immediately thought this would be a good thing to work on and take to work to display on my desk! It is always fun to have pictures to look at while at work. Especially if you are having one of those days and you just need to remember where you came from.

Here's a picture of what the album looks like all closed up. It is magnetic and you can unwrap the beige closures and open up the album like an easel. Then you can display your pictures and flip them around to whichever picture you want. I have ideas to make a few of these for gifts. They are easy and fun.

Here's one of my favorite pictures that I put inside my album. This was taken at my friend's Bachelorette Party. (She's the one in the middle. My Creative Memories consultant friend is the one on the left, and I'm the one on the right.)

Both of these friends were at the Scrapbooking Workshop and we had a blast working on our individual projects, talking, and joking around and being silly. I look forward to attending these get-togethers and maybe even a Scrapbook Convention out of town for a couple days. I'll start saving my pennies for that now.

I'm not quite done with this first project. I made 10 of the 24 pages for this album. The pictures inside are of family and friends. So I'll continue to work on this and decide how I want to begin my travel album for my France pictures. I think I will also make an album for my baby pictures.

What did I learn this weekend? Scrapbooking is a lot of fun! I'm excited to keep working on my projects with my friends because that makes it even more fun -- to create something that is meaningful while surrounded by good company -- that's special.

"Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store nor under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends."
~ Cindy Lew

Being Introduced to Scrapbooking...

I'm excited because today because I'm going to be introduced to a new creative outlet. I have a friend who is very creative and we have a lot in common. We both love to read, write, and she's a consultant for Creative Memories, which is a scrapbooking company. So I'm heading over to her house to see her scrapbooks and what she's got to sell. She's also having a scrap day next Saturday where you can bring your stuff and work on it, and of course you can buy new scrapbooking supplies to use. But from what I understand many tools will be provided to use at this Scrapfest. So I'm gearing up to get my scrap on! Now that I have a new camera, lots of new pictures, lots of old pictures, and a photo printer, I can really dig in and start my own scrapbooks!

A couple of possible projects come to mind. One in particular is to scrapbook my trip to France. I have lots of pictures in an album that I don't really care for. So why not make a new travel scrapbook? This may inspire me to get out of the country again and take another wonderful trip!

More to come on what I discover and what I decide to take on as a project! :)

Here's a picture I took of the Eiffel Tower from ontop of the Arc de Triomphe, a beautiful site!

Happy Scrapping!

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

Happy Independence Day Weekend to all! Hope everyone had a fabulous 4th full of family, friends, and lots of food. There's nothing better than a long holiday weekend in the summer!

Here's how I spent part of my 4th. I took out Kali's pool for the first time this summer and filled it with water. She immediately knew what was going on and when she went outside to her pool, she walked around it getting drinks from it. Yes, Kali it is not only a pool but a really big water dish that you can stand in the middle of and get a drink from! :) Of course I brought my camera and took a few videos and pictures. This video below was filmed by my mom. The three of us had fun laughing and playing.








Here are a few more pictures....





She looks a bit like a drowned rat when she's wet. And her fur is so strange that it dries almost instantly. My mom and I kept laughing because for the entire time her tail was the only part of her that was totally dry. Must be nice to have a waterproof fur coat!



"Too many drinks...buuurp" says Kali.



Ah....the cool water felt good to the feet. My mom and I got in on the fun and kicked up our paws with Kali. She loved the splashing and continued to kick up her own paws.

"The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too."
- Samuel Butler

(I've used the above quote before -- it has become a favorite of mine and entirely appropriate for this post, I think.) Enjoy the rest of your weekend!