How Is He 13???

They say that patience is a virtue....and although I wholeheartedly believe that, it just doesn't happen to be one that I have.  I have mentioned on more than one occasion that Zachary gets birthday pictures taken every year.  Once they are taken, the waiting is brutal.  Last night....OH HAPPY NIGHT!!!!  There was goodness in my inbox.  Jesse of Jesse Leos Photography never disappoints!  He captured some incredible images of Zach....I keep wondering where in the world my little boy went, and how in the world he is 13?!?!?  These were all taken in the arts district in downtown Dallas and Klyde Warren Park.

I am not ready to share the bulk of them yet....still deciding on Christmas cards...but here are a few that made me smile.  Jesse always takes a few just for fun, and years from now I am going to love looking back at them and everything else he captured!

I imagine that I am not going to be too popular when Zach sees this post!  If you would like to see more of Jesse's work, you can see his galleries here: Jesse Leos Photography.  Have a great weekend and stay warm....it is actually in the 30's and raining here in Texas today....say what?????

Third Thursday Scrapbook Stories: November 2013

It is my favorite Thursday of the month....when Katie takes over and shares some of her scrapbook genius. I am sure that I have said it before, but besides the fact that Katie keeps pretty much on top of everything that she has going on, I most love her scrapbooking style!  Like me, she likes to make the most of her layouts and use a  lot of pictures as opposed to focusing on just one.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with either style and I admire both...my preference is just a lot of pictures.  Here's Katie....

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Happy Weekend Eve everyone!

Can you believe Thanksgiving is in just one week? I can't!

I'm a little sad though, because it means that my absolute favorite season, fall, is coming to an end.

This year, in honor of my favorite season, I decided to do a fall list. Its exactly like the summer lists that are always popular, but for autumn instead!

And if I'm going to go to all the trouble to make a list, I'm going to scrap it!

For this layout, I wanted to include lots of pictures of things we did this fall, including:

drinking Blue Moon Pumpkin Harvest Ale
making apple cheddar muffins
decorating our door with a new wreath
sitting by the fire on our honeymoon
walking by the lakes
watching our favorite Halloween movie
lighting way too many candles
getting married

I printed out my pictures two per page and trimmed them down to 2.75"x3.75" so I could fit all of them onto this layout :)

I love all of Bella Blvd's papers, but I really love their Thankful line. I couldn't get enough of these adorable stickers when putting together this page. Fortunately, there are still a lot left over for a few Thanksgiving layouts as well!

This was our whole list...we didn't get to everything. Making s'mores, enjoying caramel apples, picking pumpkins and baking oatmeal bread will have to wait for next year! But I'm very happy with everything we did get to do this year.

Now I just need to come up with a Christmas list! What would be on yours?

A Little Sneak Peek and Tuesday Tunes

Happy Tuesday!  I think the four days at my scrap retreat caused  crafty overload and I have yet to get back to it, but I am determined to have the Disney album done before the end of the year, along with my Cabo scrapbook from 2009 - that one is about 90% complete.  Usually once I set a concrete deadline for myself, things get done...so I am feeling confident.   I did want to share a few sneak peeks though.  If you follow me on Instagram, I apologize for the repetition.  Even though there have been a lot of changes in my life...not to mention my weight, since this trip - I am so happy to be getting it documented for Zachary.  He deserves it and down the road it will be a great keepsake for him.

I am going to get better pictures of the entire album once it is done, these were just pictures that I snapped at the retreat, amidst a very messy work station.

For those of you wondering, I did do a fair amount of Project Life style layouts,.  Honestly, not near as many as I had thought I would do.  I had a lot of fun doing the traditional layouts and just kind of ran with it.  I hope to have the complete album posted before we see 2014....bare with me!  

Way after the fact, I am linking up....

Finally, in honor of Tuesday I am linking up for Tuesday Tunes:

My country kick doesn't seem to be fading....and I am loving this new song by Keith and Miranda.  In my opinion, you can rarely go wrong with Keith Urban and the two of them together, well just pretty close to perfect!  Enjoy and have a great day!

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WOYWW

For the first time in quite awhile I am linking up with Julia at Stamping Ground for:

What's On Your Wordesk? Wednesday

With my departure now just under 24 hours for my first scrap retreat, the last couple of nights I decided that I better get my rear in gear and start getting organized.  If not, I was afraid that I would spend the better part of my first day simply getting my ducks in a row so that I could get started....NO BUENO!!!!

This little love enjoys it when I am down on her level so I decided to move my workdesk to the floor.

The trip that I am working on at the retreat is a Disney Cruise from 8 (yes, 8) years ago.  I was definitely struggling to remember the order of things and luckily I saved every one of the "Navigators" from the trip. For those of you that haven't cruised before the night before each cabin receives a newsletter of everything that will be going on the next day....these have been a lifesaver for me for getting my pictures at least somewhat in order.

Over the years, I have also been collecting Disney themed paper and embellishments.  Luckily, I haven't gone near as crazy as I could have.  I am not so much into decorating with the characters, so many of my Disney touches are more subtle.  Between my collecting and little mementos I collected on the trip....I have plenty to work with.  I am hoping for a very productive 4 days....wish me luck!

I think this is it from me for the week, but hopefully I will have some fun layouts to share next week.  Have a great weekend and I will see ya on the flip side!

Tuesday Tunes

Just a quick post today.....I have a million things on my "to-do list" at work since today is my Thursday, not to mention a growing list at home as well, trying to get ready for my scrap retreat this weekend.  It seems like I signed up forever ago and I can't believe that it is FINALLY almost here!

It's Tuesday, and I am linking up with these lovelies: Holli, Leslyn, and Lauren for.....

I have a confession to make.  My Spotify has been on a continuous loop of Luke Bryan for well over a week and I am not thinking that there is any end in sight.  And although I love so many of his songs, I figured that this one would be the most appropriate, since all I seem to be doing is "playing it again".  Oh yea, he isn't too rough on the eyes, either.  Have a great day, everyone!

Weekend Shenanigans...Including a New Addition to the Family

Week 2 for Weekend Shenanigans and this time I am actually on time! What I thought was going to be a fairly quiet weekend with very little planned besides housework and getting organized for my scrapbook retreat this coming weekend, turned out to be anything but...

Back in September, I fell in love with a dog....(you can read about it here).  I came home from Orlando dying for a Yorkie, but once I did the research and saw how much they were, I kind of put that out of my mind.  I though the chances of me finding one at the shelter were virtually non-existent.  I have always been a cat person and based on the fact that I currently have 2, I figured that it was probably for the best.  Fast forward to Thursday of last week...my friend Jan sent me a text telling me that she had found my dog.  Long story short...she and I made the 2+ hour drive to Paris, TX Saturday morning to pick her up. The previous owners had just had a new baby (2 months old) and the dog was not adjusting well, apparently. Their loss, my gain!

Gracie....formerly known as Buffy - I think not

She is such a sweetheart!  She is doing much better with the cats than they are with her....so far they are not fans!!  So much so that Jessi, went kind of bananas yesterday morning.  I let her out in the side yard (which is fenced in) and turned my back for about 2 minutes and this is where she ended up....

followed by here....

There is still a lot of hissing going on - Jack is the worst,  but I am trying to think positive and hope that with time everyone will adjust!  Last night, all three of them slept with me, so there is hope!

Saturday, was also Zach's 13th birthday...yikes!  Although his father and I have been divorced almost 7 years, we still celebrate his birthday together every year.  We take him out to dinner - just the three of us. We switched it up this year and went to Fireside Pies in Ft. Worth....

We had an hour wait for a table and of course had to snap a couple of pics.

Zach and his dad

With mom...I love this one!

Zach got his favorite Fireside appetizer.....calamari!

We finished the evening off with dessert from Sweet Sammies.  Homemade cookies sandwiching Blue Bell ice cream...so yummy.

Not the weekend that I had expected, but a great one none the less!  Now I am panicking because I am nowhere near ready for my retreat....uugghhh.  Have a great week!