the reason...

Ok, so the reason why I haven't blogged... and the reason why I've been busy... and the reason why I haven't scrapped a single page in what seems like I forever:

Yes, you're reading it right... We're expecting a BABY GIRL on April 1st, 2009. We're so excited - an addition to the family AND Jonah's going to be a big brother! :)

Now seriously... I need to start getting my mojo back. Not only do I feel so behind with Jonah's scrapbook, I have a baby girl to scrap about too! Ack!

4 years ago...

Didn't have time to blog on our actual wedding anniversary but we didn't forget...



4 years ago (plus a couple days...) I married my best friend. We've been together for over 13 years now. That's quite some time. Time flies by so quickly, yet when I look back and think about our lives together we've been through so much. And we have a lifetime to go...

We haven't celebrated yet - we actually both worked on Thursday night... We didn't even get each other presents this year (well, that boudoir photo shoot was enough to last me through Christmas! *lol*) Carl didn't get me anything. We didn't exchange cards. And for once, I'm okay with that. I really am.

We may go out to dinner tomorrow to celebrate depending on if my family can watch Jonah... If not, we may, instead go to brunch. We'll see!

hello. remember me?

Yes. I've been terrible. I haven't been here in over 2 months! So crazy. But forgive me, I've been busy with life and the craziness of it all. Jonah had daily swim lessons. My birthday came and went (sorry no RAK this year). And I've just been tired.

But I'll try to update more. Does anyone even still read this?

*lol*

I made a layout a couple months ago... yes, ME. And it was DIGITAL too.



supplies: patterned papers, ribbon, tag, sentiment: "eieio" digital kit (Mindy Terasawa, http://www.designerdigitals.com); swirl brushes: "Skinny Mini Swirlies" (Mindy Terasawa, http://www.designer digitals.com); font: Century Gothic; Milky BW photo action: Mindy Bush (http://mindysphotoactions.blogspot.com)

I hope all of you out there are doing well. I do keep up with your blogs via Google Reader (love that thing!) but I'm always too much in a hurry to comment. Miss you all...

grrr..

I want to change the header for my blog, but I can't figure out the size I need.

Can anyone help me? I seem to be falling a little short. I'll mess with it later.

what a surprise!

I was down in the dumps last Friday as I was leaving the house for work. Jonah was crying his brains out when he saw me leave and I just didn't feel like working 3 nights in a row. Imagine my surprise when I found THIS waiting for me on my doorstep along with a TON of goodies (I have to take a pic to show you. The amount is ridiculous).

Yes, I've been published again. :)

This time 1 digital layout and a mini album. So freaking awesome.

I know I've been terrible with the blogging (and the scrapbooking... Surprisingly, I've been doing well with cardmaking!). It's hard to keep up with an 18 month old who runs all over the place, has daily swimming lessons... and did I mention, runs all over the place?

So, even though I'm not scrapbooking as much as I should, I'd still like to keep this blog open and keep you all (there are still some of you out there, right?) updated every once in a while.

But YAY, I've been published again. I'm super excited.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

the most awesomest thing ever.

I'm officially addicted to my iPhone.

It sounds so materialistic, I know, but I just can't help it. I really *heart* this thing.

Carl got it for me for Valentine's Day this year and since then I've thought it was 'pretty cool' but now, after downloading the software update, I'm just ADDICTED. So very cool.

And I've recently become addicted to Facebook...and now Twitter - I've had an old account, but I love how it links to Facebook AND I can now update right from my phone.

gotta love it.

So for those friends who miss me or want to see how I'm doing, sign up for a FB account or a Twitter acct and be my friend! :)

Happy 4th of July!

The 7th month of the year... Where has the time gone?

Jonah is taking a well-deserved nap and I had some uninterrupted ME time just like everyone previously suggested. I also was overwhelmed with guilt because I have TONS of unused and unopened Studio Calico kits and tons of scrap supplies that haven't even touched.

It's time to use what I have. :)

AND I've been itching to sit down and scrap for quite a while now...

So in the meanwhile I've been making cards. Forgive me, I sometimes don't get a chance to take a picture or scan each one. I'm guessing my card count for the year is pretty awesome. I'll update it when I get a chance.

Here are a few cards I made a couple weeks ago for Nursing Assistant Appreciation Week:

AND, the fun doesn't stop there, party people. I SCRAPPED. Yes, that's right. I scrapped TWO whole layouts. And I'm posting one that I did a few months ago.

The next 2 layouts were inspired by Ali Edwards' Life Artist book. Love that book. I can read it over and over again...

patterned paper: making memories, paper salon
stickers, pen: american crafts
stamps: ck media, october afternoon
ink: StazOn, ColorBox

I was totally inspired a few months ago to create that layout - Jonah was having a good day and I wanted to document it. It's one of my most favorite recent layouts.

And then yesterday I finished up with this one:



cardstock: bazzill
patterned paper: love elsie, fontwerks, scenic route
foam letters: american crafts
pen: uniball signo

I felt like Ali was speaking to me when she scrapped her Christmas cards. I'm such a packrat and I can't bear to throw letters and cards away. I feel like the senders take so much time to send us their cards, I shouldn't hastily throw them in the garbage. So I took Ali's advice, grabbed the biggest square punch I own (in this case, 1 9/16th, wish I had a 2 inch punch) and went to town. Pretty happy with the result. :)

Ok, and my last layout... I just finished it RIGHT NOW. It's my favorite one. Pretty cheeky, but it was fun and I had fun making it with a Studio Calico kit I had never opened or used. Forgive me, I don't know which month it's from...



cardstock: Bazzill
patterned paper: scenic route, sei
journing block: college press
letter stickers: sassafrass lass
stamp: 7gypsies
bling, chipboard heart: heidi swapp
pen: american crafts

And I have to share the journaling because it cracks me up:

"pics: 9/25/07, journaling: 7/4/08
subject: Just so you know...

Dear Justin Timberlake,
You know, watching you perform in concert for what seems to be like the MILLIONTH time makes me wish for an 'NSYNC reunion...
But then again, watching you perform as a solo artist makes me realize it's not going to happen anytime soon.
Just so you know I know...
Sincerely,
JoAnn Valderama
Your #1 Fan"

I hope that brightened your day, everyone. Happy 4th of July! :)

i'm a scrapper... er, collector.

I know. I know. I should use what I have...

But I can't help myself every once in a while with buying scrapping supplies. Listen to me. I haven't scrapped in over a month and I'm still buying stuff to fill my scraproom with more scrapCRAP.


It's an addiction, I tell you... An indulgence... The thing I splurge on.


And this time it was Stampin' Up stuff. I couldn't resist - my demonstrator was having a bit of a sale, so I had to stock up.


Listen to me - "had to". *lol*


But it's getting me thinking about being demonstrator/hobbyist in the future. We'll see...


---


And I'm going to get better with blogging... Or at least posting a pic when I blog. Here's Jonah enjoying dinner tonight. Wing Stop. :)




It was a treat tonight for the family... Diet begins tomorrow. :)

summer summer summertime...

I can't believe summer is finally here. The weather is hot (most of the time) and the air is filled with smoke from the California fires. I really pray for everyone affected by the fires. I hope they put all of the fires out soon.

Life has been busy. So busy that there's still no time to scrapbook (believe me, I've tried)... But Carl and I have been taking a ton of pictures...

Having fun with the new fisheye lens:



My family's dog... You can't tell, but he's really sick right now. :(



Celebrating my mom's birthday with an ice cream cake from Cold Stone...



And the main reason why I've been so busy and tired:



He's WALKING. And I'm worn OUT.

must have kit.

The fabulous people at Cocoa Daisy collaborated with my girls Mars and Brooke and they put together an AWESOME digital kit.

What are you waiting for? Go there NOW. :)

we're doomed.

He's 16 months today and for the past 3 or 4 days he's getting better on his feet.

We're in trouble, aren't we? *lol*

time flies.

Time just flies, doesn't it?

Between Corinne's wedding, our mini trip to Reno and then our trip to Disneyland in April, we've just been SO busy! Work has been a little chaotic and tiring. Jonah caught a stomach bug in DL (he's better now). And now we're just getting back to the swing of things.

I can't believe May is almost over.

Mother's Day was good for me. Went to breakfast with our families. Carl gave me an awesome present this year: this lens for our camera. We had rented it for our DL trip and I guess I had so much fun with it, he thought it would be nice to add to our fast growing lens collection.



Super fun lens to play with. :)

Anyway, hope everyone out there is doing well! Hope everyone is creating some awesome stuff - I'll be visiting your blogs soon to check!

happy belated NSD.

It's my normally scheduled weekend to work so I knew that I wouldn't be able to participate in any scrapping activities for NSD.

But above all that, I couldn't participate because Jonah has been sick since Friday... Really sick. Like throwing-up-and-having-diarrhea-all-over-the-place sick.

My poor baby.

I don't know where he could have caught this bug from - probably somewhere in Disneyland - but I just hope he gets rid of it soon. I hate seeing him so miserable.

oh happy day

Well, I'm back from Corinne's beautiful wedding. It was just so beautiful to be a part of her big day. *sigh* It makes me want to get married all over again - well, have a wedding day. *lol*

Then it was off to Reno for 3 days with my parents, Carl and Jonah. Carl had a class to take. And now we're home and I'm glad... and relieved... and oh-so tired.

Corinne and her hubby had an awesome photobooth at their wedding - super cool, btw... Aren't the pictures cute? Totally scrapbook worthy. Can't wait to get the creative juices flowing...

But it'll have to wait a while - We're headed to Disneyland next week! :)

a bunch of cards and cupcakes too.

I may not be scrapping lately, but I have been making cards - it seems like the card creating is neverending though - from 2 good luck cards for co-workers who are moving on to bigger and brighter things... to 8 thank you cards for our clerks in honor Secretary's Day next week... to a few birthday cards... I didn't take pictures of them all, but I got A LOT done. Trust me. It was insane.

2 good luck cards
4 birthday cards
8 thank you cards
1 bachelorette party card
2 bridal shower cards
1 wedding card
_________
= 18 cards in 2 months

HOLY COW!

Here are a few I did get to take pictures of...







And in the midst of making all these cards, I somehow found time to bake some cupcakes last week (and since then, I might add, I've been ITCHING to bake more!). I have to restrain myself though - only 2 more days until Corinne's wedding and I have to fit in my bridesmaid's dress.



But don't these look good? Check out the recipe at my other blog...

feelin' a little crafty...

I have a confession. I've been in a scrapping rut lately. I thought this loss of mojo would be temporary, but it wasn't.

I'm on vacation starting today so I'm hoping to get something done in the next week or so. My scrapbook room is in serious need of some TLC.

Got 2 layouts done though! Yippee!!!


supplies: patterned paper: Basic Grey, Tinkering Ink, Sassafrass Lass; letter stickers, pen - American Crafts; felt flower: prima; journaling card: College Press; stamping ink: ColorBox; other: ribbon

And in honor of my BFF Corinne who is getting married next Saturday!


supplies: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper; Love Elsie; ghost heart, bling: Heidi Swapp; label sticker; Fontwerks; rubons, chiboard letters, pen: American Crafts; stamping ink: StazOn

So, yup I did it... 2 layouts done...

Next on the checklist - ORGANIZATION. Ugh.

toot TOOT! it's been a while.

I'm having difficulty keeping up with my scrapbooking blog. I just checked and I haven't posted since February 15! That's almost a month ago! I've probably lost of few buddies and readers - for that, I'm really sorry.

I will try to keep up from now on. And I will try and post at least twice a week. Even if I'm not scrapping, I'll pop in and say hello.

Just got back from my BFF's bachelorette party in VEGAS so I'm a little tired, sick, and just out of it. Had a GREAT time. More fun than I thought I would. Lots of partying and just hanging out with the girls. And I'm glad Corinne had a good time too! :)

While there, I checked my email and found out Scrapbook Trends wants to publish one of my mini books and a digi layout for their upcoming Vacation idea book! So exciting! First 1 layout in their wedding idea book last year and now a layout and a mini album. I'm THRILLED! :) toot TOOT for me!

So hopefully these toots will get me to scrap more and motivate me to get published more too. :) Mojo, come out come out wherever you are! :)

Jonah's 1st Year...

I made this slideshow to show off at Jonah's birthday party...

Since Corinne reminded me, I thought I'd share it with you all... Enjoy!

guess who's 1...

I am now officially the mother of an active, witty, 1 year old.

We celebrated his birthday with our family and friends this past Sunday the 10th. Over 100 people - I'm still recovering.

Just wanted to pop in and share one of our favorite pics of him on his special day... A pic taken by his Ninang Corinne. :)

Yeah, and do you SEE that red icing? The bakery must have used an awful amount (and possibly toxic amount - j/k!) of red food dye. Poor Jonah and I were pink for DAYS afterward.

Anyway, wanted to let you all that I'm alive. Haven't scrapped in a while because I was busy planning the party and I'm still recovering. Once I catch my breath I'll post layouts soon. :)

LMAO

This is just an example of how we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously. :)

brought to you by the number 3...

I had some time to work on some layouts so I finished 3. :)

This one makes me laugh because Jonah was only just shy of 4 weeks old and we were already tormenting him with pictures. *lol* And we were battling the cradle cap crap so his complexion was all weird at the time...
supplies: patterned paper: Kristina Contes Collection by Scrap In Style TV; letter stickers: Chatterbox; felt letters: American Crafts; transparency overlay: Hambly Studios; tag: College Press; pen: American Crafts; stamping ink: StazOn; other: staples

I created this layout after finding an old pic from my 29th birthday... I was 4 months pregnant at the time...
supplies: patterned paper: October Afternoon, Autumn Leaves; letters: American Crafts; felt flowers: Prima; journaling tag: College Press; stamping ink: ColorBox; pen: American Crafts; other: ribbon

And this is me with Jonah on my 30th birthday...one year later...
supplies: patterned paper: October Afternoon; felt letters: Creative Cafe; price tag: Creative Imaginations; stamping ink: ColorBox; other: mini brads, string, ribbon

So I guess I could say I've been pretty productive. My goal for the year is to complete 100 layouts. 3 down, 97 to go... Haven't set a goal for cards and other projects yet... But I guess that will come in time. :)

----

Jonah's birthday is in less than 2 weeks and his party is coming up so I don't know how much I can scrap between now and then. I'm truly amazed at how fast time flies!

At almost 12 months he loves:

• his sign language videos (he can sign "milk"!)
• cruising around
• climbing up the stairs
• climbing off the couch
• puffs
• lots of time with Mommy and Daddy
• his snoedel

-----

Anyway, have a good rest of the weekend, everyone! :)

my moment finally arrived.

The other day a package arrived in the mail with my name on it. At first I was a little confused, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was my goodie box from my very first pub!

My very first published layout is on page 67. :)

Thank you Scrapbook Trends!

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend. :)

i'm too nice i guess.

Darn. I had this awesome plan to put Jonah to bed at his normal bedtime, forgo watching American Idol and being amused, and actually sit down and SCRAP.

Well, my awesome plan fizzled after getting a phone call from a friend and despite my "I gotta go now"s I was on the phone for an hour and a half and got one page done.

And now I'm too tired to scan it and share with you all.

*sigh* I was hoping to get at least 3 done tonight. Oh well...

representin' my peeps...

This makes me really proud. Gotta love Ellen. :)