Anniversary

Today's my 6th anniversary. 6 years, man, time flies, huh?? We've been through a lot in our marriage. Near death car accidents, deaths in family, Iraq deployment, cross country moves, hospital stays, 2 high risk pregnancies, NICU visits, too many nights alone due to military life, so much craziness, yet I'm still here lovin' this stupid stupid man.

PAIN

I love my art journal. It feels so good to just use art supplies and write. Write about me. My thoughts, hopes, desires, whatever. As you can probably tell, I'm going through some stuff right now. Really just reevaluating my life. Thinking about myself for a change. Doing what's best for me, and of course my boys, who are my strength to get up every morning and put on a smile. Here's a quote by Agatha Christie that's so dead on on what a mother's love is. Not all mothers, mind you. But this mother for sure. "A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes remorselessly all that stands in its path." So true, so true.

Drama

So,yeah, another pic of me. I've been taking pics of myself for the projects I'm working on. I always seem to put my hand like that when I'm thinking or frustrated. Today, my frustration is caused by drama. Family drama. I know that I'm blessed for having such a big family,but seriously, they drive me nuts. I sometimes just wanna stay away from them. Maybe move somewhere and not give them my number or address. Really. I'm serious. I think they drain me more than they support me. Ugghhhh!!!! I just wanna go away...far far away...with my boys...and a man that loves me. Away from it all. Just me, them, and happiness.

Awakening

Today was a really good day. We went to the zoo. Loved seeing Jace get excited about all of the animals, especially the giraffes. Went swimming for a little bit afterwards, ate pizza, and watched The Sentinel. James spent the day with us which is always good. He's great to be around. My brother came over for a bit, and loved that. Great conversation all day long. Especially love that. You know, I realized something today. Something crazy. But oh so good. So right. Just the thought makes me smile, and fills me with something I haven't felt in awhile...total and complete happiness.

Pic

Just trying to update my profile pic. Let's see if this works.

Just keep swimming...

September, already. Goodness, where has the time gone? I've been writing in my journal a lot lately, and I can already feel a few mini albums coming out of that. I've noticed that I hardly ever scrap myself, and I reaally need to start doing that so my kids can know who I am. I've been doing some, well A LOT of soul searching lately, and I need to document some of my thoughts and feelings. In the next couple weeks, that's what I'll be working on. Me. So, until then, here's a few layouts I made awhile back.

Changes

I was talking to a special person a couple nights ago about change. Changing things about yourself. Changing your lifestyle. Making different choices. Getting out of your comfort zone and doing things you normally wouldn't do. New experiences. New outlook on life. A new you. So, it got me thinking about me. What changes do I need to make? What's better for me? For my boys? What makes me happy? After much thought, I've come to the conclusion that I've let myself go. I've lost who I really am in so many ways. I've been living my life the way other people want me to. My feelings, wants, and needs are put on the back burner while I work hard to make everyone in my life happy. And in doing so, I've disappeared. I stopped existing. I'm no longer me. And that well....sucks. So....as of today, things are gonna change. I'm no longer afraid of change. I'm embracing it. I'm an intelligent, young, caring, beautiful, and damn good woman with so much to offer. I know that these changes are for the better. It's not only what I want, it's what I need.

To Do

There's a mess everywhere. I really need to get some cleaning done today. I've got lots of yummies just sitting on my desk ready to play with, but just haven't had any time to do so. So, gotta make a to do list before I lose my mind. Ummm...let's see...in no particular order......
1. clean house
2. clear desk of yummies
3. go grocery shopping
4. download wedding pics
5. transfer most of my pics to disks
6. submit some layouts and cards
7. update profile pic
8. workout
Those things should keep me busy for awhile. Off to start the day, and get some cleaning done before my babies wake up.

The Nerve

So, I'm cooking for the 4th time last night (breakfast, lunch, baked cookies, and dinner), and my dear sweet husband says,"Can't you cook any faster?" God, please remove all items that may be used as an instrument to commit murder. Seriously, Mars you better start frickin' runnin. Run for your life, 'cause you done messed up now. Can you believe him??? Oh yeah, there will be punishment. Ummmhmmmm. Serious punishment.

Kemah Boardwalk

Mars and I are homebodies. Jace on the other hand loves to go out. We're trying to get out a bit more for Jace's sake. It's really hard to drag Mars out of the house, though, so sometimes I go by myself. Anyway, I made him promise me that he'd take us out on his day off. So last week, we went to the Kemah Boardwalk. Seriously, we took longer getting ready than the time we spent there. It was soo hot!! I was able to get some good pics though. Here's some layouts I made this morning from those pics.

Rules

I can never seem to come up with a good title for my scrapbook pages. Sometimes I don't even journal a lot on my pages, just a little quote or a sentence. I've struggled with this because it's supposed to be a rule, right? Pic, journaling, title. A scrapbook page must have these three things. Ummmm, says who? I've decided that they're MY pages that are going in MY albums, so I can create however I'd like to. So, here's some pages I did today. No title, no journaling, and it's okay.

Finally done!!

WooHoo!! I'm finally done with both wedding invitations! Now I can get start scrapping for me. It feels like it's been forever since I did a layout, so today I played with my new yummy AC and Chatterbox stuff. Felt good! Oh yeah, I tried the Coke Blak and EWWWWW!!! It was gross!! I don't like coffee, though, so maybe that's it. I'll stick to the delicious and oh so refreshing Coca-Cola. Anyway, back to scrapping, guess what starts shipping tomorrow?? My favorite stamp company of all time.....FONTWERKS!! Yiippeee!! I can't wait to start seeing this in stores. Well, I gotta go, 'cause Jace is STILL up and will not leave me alone so that I can blog in peace. So, I'm off to read a story, sing "Bad Day" for the millionth time and put this little boy to bed. 'Night.

Man, I haven't blogged in about a week. Been pretty busy doing invitations for my sister's wedding that is at the end of August and my cousin's that's at the beginning of September. Jace is in both weddings, and I need to go get him a tux. Mars needs to take his Marine Corps dress blues to the cleaners, and I need to find some dresses. Agghhhhh! So much to do, so little time. Just to add a little more to that, Cy is teething and has been fussy and crying and has just been wanting to be held and cuddled all day long. But what can I say, life is good. My guys keep me busy all day, every day. Hmmmm....I think I deserve to get all the new CHA releases that are calling my name, right? Well, let me try to get some sleep before these kiddoes wake up. Here's a pic of Mars and the boys wrestling and being loud. 'Night. 

Feeling Blah

Today has been a blah day. I just wasn't feeling too well. I didn't do any housework or watch TV or play with my kids. I asked Mars to take over today. I needed to get in bed and sleep or lay down in complete silence. Mars is the best husband in the world. He encourages me take time outs and have "me" time. After all, he wants his wife to stay sane, right? I think maybe everyone's problems sort of take a toll on me. See, I'm the listener of the family. Everyone confides in me and tells me about their problems. Not necessarily needing advice, just wanting someone to listen. I love the fact that they trust me and feel comfortable confiding in me, but in listening to their problems I kinda take on some of the weight. I worry about them and am constantly thinking about what I can do to make things better for them. Well, I've just now realized (better late than never, right?) that the best thing that I can do is PRAY. Take deep breaths, IN....OUT.....IN.....OUT.... and hand over all those troubles to the Lord. Hand them ALL over. Ahhhh, I feel so much better now. He's the best, isn't he? Thank you, Father. I love you.

Team Hoyt

To love and to be loved like this is......i don't know...inspirational....amazing....a blessing. One can only hope for this kind of love. Unconditional love. Here's a little info on this amazing father son team. Team Hoyt. I'm speechless after watching that, so I'll leave you with some questions. Why not? Why not love like that? What's keeping you from it? Loving with all your strength, your soul, everything you have. Are you afraid? Selfish? What is it? Why not love like that? Why not love HARD? Hmmm.....I think I can love harder.....I will. To LOVE.

7 gypsies and Coke Blak

OMGoodness!! More and more sneak peeks have been coming out with upcoming releases from CHA-Summer, and I'm dying. I want it all, no wait, I need it all. Well, actually, I've decided that I'm not just going to hoard everything I love, because in the past I've hoarded lots of embellies and pink papers and well, actually I don't use them that much. I'm really only going to buy what I know I'm going to use. Like all the new 7 gypsies stuff! Hello? Send it to my house right now. My cc # is __________. LOL.Seriously though, I'm in love. Truly, madly, deeply in love. Not just with 7 gypsies, but with American Crafts and Heidi Swapp, too. I think I'm gonna have to buy that new Making Memories timmer also. Jace broke my cutterpede ruler. Anyway, I was browsing through my Real Simple mag and look what I saw. Hmm....wonder what that tastes like. I'm not a coffee drinker, but this looks interesting. Might just have to look out for it. Well, that's all for today. My allergies are acting up and I just wanna go lay down and close my eyes. 'Night.

Heidi Swapp.......

She is taking all my money, seriously. I saw a sneak peek of her new CHA summer releases, and it looks YUMMY!!! There's so many awesome products coming out. Can't wait! Anyway, yesterday, was a really busy day. I got my sofas delivered, my mom made my cushion covers, and my Abuelita came to visit from Mexico and got to see my baby Cy for the first time. It was pretty cool day. Here's some pics from yesterday. I'm off to scrap a bit for some upcoming calls. 'Night.

Art Journal

My layouts are simple and linear, and I love that, but I also like to play. I love paint and stamps, but its hard for me to use them on my layouts. Don't know why. So, I decided to start an art journal. Somewhere where I can write and play with paint and stamps, without worrying about it being clean or linear. Anyway, here's the cover of my art journal and the first two pages. I really need to get some sleep now. Good night.

Home Decor (cont.)

Ok, for some reason, I couldn't get the other pic to upload on that post. Maybe it was too big or something. I'll get the hang of this, don't worry. Anyway, I was trying to post a pic of the fabric that I also got so my mom can make me some cushion covers. I loved the chocolate brown. I didn't really want stripes, but it had both colors in it, and well, I decided to get it. If I find some other fabric later that I like I can always ask my mom for more cushion covers, right? Isn't that what moms are for?

American Crafts dream and Home Decor

So, I had an oh so wonderful dream last night that I received this awesome package from American Crafts. It was full of all their CHA Summer releases. YUMMY!!! I guess I was so excited about their new stuff that I was still thinking about it when I went to bed. They're one of my favorite scrapbook companies, and I just can't wait to spend all my money on all their new things. I'm lovin' the paper, the flowers, the rub-ons, the thickers, the stickers. Well, basically ALL OF IT!!! In case, you haven't seen it, there are sneak peeks in Sarah's gallery. Anyway, we sold our black leather furniture because we, well I, wanted something diferent. We'd bought that when we got married and had no kids, but now, we have two boys, and I wanted a little change. A more family look rather than a bachelor pad kinda feel. So, I ordered some new sofas, and they're going to be delivered on Tues. YAY! I can't wait. My living room was all black with some gold, but now I'm really diggin' this green, blue, chocolate, caramel color combo, so I bought a couple of stuff to redecorate the living room. Well, actually my mom bought them for me as a belated birthday present. I got this votive candle holder, 'cause you know I have to have candles. I also got this cool little vase. I just need to get some flowers to put in it. I'm lovin' it all.