none of that, but some of this...

Sorry, no video. I don't know what to do about it. When I filmed it, I turned the camera hot-dog wise (you know what I mean) and the video came out sideways... does anyone now how to rotate a video??? I don't think it's possible. Oh computer gurus, where are you? Oh well. If I figure it out, I will post it ASAP (and if not, then I WILL get a vid of Will's groove thang). In the mean time, I created yet another page, hopefully to make up for the lack of the promised video ("...so sorry..." -whispered like).

credits: pretty sure everything is from Shabby Princess,
with fonts by Misprinted Type and Margarete Antonio

I admit that it took us a while to get used to the idea of Will eating on his own. Mostly because we live in a furnished apartment with expensive artwork and new carpet. But about a month ago, I gave the thumbs up and Will took to it like a gopher takes to dirt! So I snapped some photos and voila! There you have it! I probably should hold off on the scrapping until I get some credits up (see the past few posts)...

oh heck, here's one more:

day left until the aforementioned contest is fini (that's French for finished, I think... it's been a while). This here contest will conclude March 1st, 2007. But you have all day tomorrow to turn your plans in (and you don't have to include recipes with your plans, although I may ask you for some later ;) In all honesty, I will probably close the polls the following morning- that would be Friday 10:00 PST-ish. Consider it a grace period my friends, because I love you all so gosh dang much! Smooches to all!

last digi credits: Shabby Princess and Angie Briggs (Scrap Girls)

sweetness abounds!

Ho hum, what a day... just kidding, it was a splendid day, especially when compared to last! My sweet baby was an absolute angel! We did go to the park, where it was a wee bit wet from rain, and hecka cold and hecka windy... yeah, remember how much I hate the wind?! Well I sucked it up anyway, and had a good time. Lovely and fabulous Bonny (perhaps THE coolest lady who ever graced California) picked me up and we (me and my Will, Bonny and her Annika) met up with Jolene (who I'm dying to get to know better) and her girls, Heidi and Hayden. Yes, Will was the only boy, but he didn't seem to mind. Alas, I didn't get any pictures taken, but don't worry, there are sure to be future and frequent trips all bursting with the possibility of photos, and videos! But to let you all in on what Will's favorite activity of the day was, it was the wobbly bridge and the swings. He could not get enough of that bridge and he had fun being pushed in the swing and pushing the swing (although he was quite confused and upset when it would come back and hit him... law of physics my son, a more detailed lesson for another day).

And speaking of videos, I got one today, just not at the park. Brad and I took a break and went to the mall, where I was able to capture Will getting his groove on, only for a little bit though. And since the video is coming up sideways, I'll have to fiddle with it and post it tomorrow (hopefully). We also swung by Michael's for some goodies. And we found some treasures at Target (love that store! Their purchasing agents do a pretty dang good job!). Check these out!!!

Aren't they the cutest?! Do I eat many hard-boiled eggs? Why no, no I don't. But I do like hard-boiled eggs and with these beauties, I will be making a butt load of them! It was my little $2.50 splurge for the month and I am quite tickled with them!

Well, I'm off to bed to get some shut-eye. We are so exhausted, so we're going to forgo our workout (shame, shame, I know) and get to bed at a decent time. So... so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye and adieu.

PS- we now have a total of six contestants for the March Meal Madness give-away and there are only more days left! Just a little FYI. That and I like finding ways to get some digi-scrapping in. I'm terrible! It's terrible! Terribleness, all around!

credits: Shabby Princess and Angie Briggs (Scrap Girls)

some tough days call for some cute pictures

Today has been one rough & tough day, if you ask me (and my husband... pretty sure he'd concur). About half the day, Will's been his normal sweet/finky self. But the other half of the day (at least it felt like that, at least!) was spent crying/whining! Oh where, oh where has my baby gone? Oh where, oh where can he be? Who knows? Anyway, to remind myself of how much I really do love him and to let bygones be bygones (as there was a retaliation of sorts on my behalf, such as screaming and throwing jeans at the door...), I'm posting these adorable pics from not too long ago! Hopefully this is just a phase, which I'm sure it is, and it too shall pass!

So we took Will to a park here in the canyon and he had a blast! I was snapping away like a mad woman! No really, I was mad at our camera, because it's eating our batteries! I had a video of him in the swing, saying "Wee!" and then when I deleted it to make room for a longer swing session, the camera pooped. Grrrrrr. "Warning: battery exhausted" MY EYE!!! Anyway, focusing on the happy memories! *grin*

{click on image}

Isn't he cute? Yes, I know he is! And I realize this now, now that he's asleep, after five attempts !!! *grin* That middle picture is my FAVE! And hopefully we'll be returning to this park tomorrow morning. And hopefully my camera will work and I can snatch a video. Here's hoping! Oh, and I love my baby, I love my baby, I love my baby! Seriously!



days left until the el lame-o contest is over (give or take a day or two... but probably mostly give :) But thanks to everyone who has sent me their plans! As of now, we only have a total of three contestants and Clarissa has submitted an entire month's worth of plans, and she's due with her 2nd baby girl (sure to be a cute one, too)! Keep it up ladies!



credits: Shabby Princess

oh la la, a contest

ETA (thanks L!): I guess the main purpose for this is because I'm lazy and wanted help coming up with some new and exciting meal plans for next month. I don't really know what will be the prize... just something, that's sure to have my "stamp" on it :) whether or not it's really worth anything is up for debate!

Check it out, I'm running a contest ! I thought it might be fun to have everyone, who is interested, submit meal plans for next month. So here's how it works: an entry counts as one planned week and you can enter up to 4.5 weeks (a month's worth) of meal plans. You can submit your plans here or there, either as a comment or an email (found in my profile). At the beginning of March I will have a drawing and the winner will receive a little prize or a gift of sorts, Beth style.

Now don't fret my dears, this isn't supposed to be stressful to anyone. So if your week's meal plan happens to contain three off days (whether it's take out, restaurant, frozen dinner, etc.), that's ok because it's your plan! And you don't have to use any of my recipes or any of my tastes (aka. healthy meals :) This is just for your family, however and whatever you want to cook. Savvy?

I'm also thinking of expanding my Mess to include more meals outside of my style of cooking. So you are more than welcome to email me one of your favorite recipes (even if it calls for a cup of mayonnaise) if you'd like it to be added to the site, just for fun. I'll also be adding another label to the site named "just plain tasty" for recipes that aren't necessarily concerned with calories and taste dang good! Basically, I want people out there to feel like they have a variety of recipes and meal plans (not just mine) to choose from and to have the courage (because it does take time, initially) to plan their meals. I guess I decided this because there are so many cute girls out there posting their digi-recipes for truly tasty, albeit sinful, dishes and treats... and what do I post? Protein Bars! Hahaha! I've accepted the fact that I'm a food nerd, particularly a health nut nerd. But not everyone is and that is just fine with me :)

So happy planning! You have the next few days to plan away, so get busy! And have fun, I don't want this to be a chore or a bore!

credits: Shabby Princess & Misprinted Type.

A Holistic Hopeful

This is my application essay for my Masters program. Just thought I'd share it, with those who are interested...

I have suffered and lived with headaches all my life, or for as long as I can remember. And then came the summer of my sophomore year in college. The headaches had become less than tolerable, to the point that I was nearly passing out with each occurrence. It was then that I decided I had to do something; that this problem had to be fixed. I went on a nutrition overhaul and cut out everything sugar-related in my diet, whether it was ketchup, bread or fruit. Sure, many of my friends and roommates teased me with such sayings as, “Life’s too short to not enjoy sweets!” to which I would reply, “Yes, but it’s too long to suffer with blackouts!” My headaches were just the beginning.

That same summer I had the opportunity to work on a research paper about diet intervention for the autistic. Through my personal experiences with food and pain, through my studies of others’ relationship with nutrition and illnesses, and through my education as a health science student, I cultivated my passion for nutrition. I thirsted for a better understanding and turned to books outside of my required texts. Paul Pitchford’s Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition became a favorite amongst my ever increasing library. I would pore over its pages, finding answers to many of my questions, as well as discovering questions I needed to ask for myself: What did I want to do with my knowledge - of biology and of how the body works, of the effects of nutrition and exercise on the body? And the main question: How can I learn more?

When I refer to my knowledge, I am not professing to be anything but a student who has learned from her teachers and texts and has retained them and applied them to her life. In addition, my life’s mission and goal is to be a student, always. I love learning. When I first went to college I thought I wanted to be a doctor, to go off to medical school. Then my interest morphed into nursing, which quickly transformed into Health Science with an emphasis in Health Promotion & Lifetime Wellness, which finally developed into my underlying love for nutrition. I know that our connection with food, whether it is a good or bad relationship, affects our physical health, our mental health, and even our spiritual health. To be truly healthy, everything must be equally balanced and unfortunately, nutrition is most often at the forefront of a downward spiral.

I must admit that I thought of becoming a dietitian. However, I do not necessarily agree with how they approach the food and wellness relationship. Nutrition goes beyond calories and food groups. Our bodies have the ability to heal themselves and our food can facilitate that power. No, what I wanted to pursue was something offering a more holistic approach, which I am happy to say I have found in Clayton College of Natural Health.

I look forward to not only refreshing my basic comprehension of human anatomy and physiology as I studied in college, but also toward the expanding of my simple understanding in holistic human development. There is so much to be learned and the courses listed for a Masters in Holistic Nutrition along with the concentration in Nutrition & Lifestyles absolutely thrill me! What’s more, I feel like I have finally found the answers to my questions. I can expand and apply my knowledge of biology, how the body works, the effects of nutrition and exercise. As for my headaches, they never vanished completely but they are more manageable. A dear, understanding friend once commented that to be cursed with such pain only blesses me with the desire to search for more answers. Ergo, this program will provide me with the tools to learn how to use a holistic approach in helping myself and others.

credits: Misprinted Type & Nancie Rowe Janitz (www.scrapartist.com)

Hip-hip hooray (for wasting so much time on blogging and/or scrapping?)!!! I didn't even notice my 100th post until it was too late! So sad, because I had been watching it, and then I guess all my watching and waiting got sloppy! Anyway, here's to weblogs, or as I prefer to call mine, online journals! Woot woot!

So I've been busy the past 24 hours and my brain and eyes are paying for it! I finally made my first digital scrap purchase, thanks to the inspiration known as Kim (also known as OliveJuice & Co.). I just HAD to have these frames, I was freaking out! So I made a deal with myself that I would only feed this crazy addictive habit of mine with $3.00 a month. That basically allows me a kit once a month. I've also decided that I think eventually, I will convert wholly to digi-scrapping vs. its hard-copy sister. Why? Because it's cleaner (no mess, because I have no room/storage... oh yeah, and I have a toddler...) and it's cheaper! Seriously, I can reuse this stuff, how sweet is that?! Perhaps when/if I'm rich, I will have both versions, in a fabulous and organized studio, along with my gorgeous fabric collections and wonderful wood-stuff. But until that day, I'm afraid I am a digi-girl. Besides, I enjoy the image manipulation aspect and I LOVE the undo option (aka. ctrl + z).

So, here are my favorite downloads from yesterday's surfing:

Completely IN LOVE with this here element!

And isn't this kit TO DIE FOR?!
.... so, I admit I have issues....

In addition to my extensive digi perusing and schmoozing, I've been working on this RS newsletter for my mom. I'm still working on getting a higher res version so it actually looks good when printed... but this pic will suffice for computer viewing. And now I'm off to rest my eyes. Toodles!

unless you have a high-power magnifying glass, click on image

PS- I've decided to hold off on making a crafty site, because frankly, I like having my projects on here, our family site. I came to the realization that my crafting is very much a part of my family's life. How so? Well, you see, Brad is gone studying for 12+ hrs/day. So while Will plays, I craft. It's just what I do... and I'm ok with that :)


newsletter credits: doodles by Angie Briggs (Scrap Girls) with fonts by Misprinted Type and Margarete Antonio. {clovers} someone I can't find !!!

what to do...

When you have a leaky baby and no changing station? Paper towels! Ok, so we recently had a little scare, thinking that we might be pregnant. But we're not. I repeat, we are NOT pregnant. It would have been a humongous surprise, to say the least! Anyway, in celebration (not saying I wouldn't have been happy, after I got over the shock) of not being preggers, we went and got some Chinese Food. You see, we also decided that we would break our diet and renew ourselves tomorrow.

Since we weren't, and aren't, planning on trying for kids for a few more months, I'm hoping to whip my butt into shape before that day comes, so that I have some good habits formed to continue during pregnancy. If I had been pregnant, one of the reasons it would have been hard at first is because I don't feel healthy or ready, and I couldn't really start up a health regimen. But now I have a few months to prepare, which will allow me to be more healthy for myself, my current baby, my husband and my future (and unconceived) baby... that was why we were celebrating. For that reason and that we yet have no idea as to how we will be able to afford another one... that also requires some more planning, financially speaking.

Anyway, so on with the story regarding the picture! We drove around forever, trying to find some sort of buffet, but to no avail. There are countless sushi bars here, but not very many fatty joints. Also lacking in this town/state - changing stations. Oh sure, there are a slew of them in Rexburg, all of Utah and Mesa, but not here. So I ended up putting Will on the floor of Taco Bell's bathroom (it was quite a bit cleaner than the other alternative). I laid out paper towels and rested his head on my diaper bag. He had already soaked through his clothes... but just you wait, it gets worse and/or more entertaining. The bathroom was equipped with light sensors, so in the middle of changing him, the lights go out. Will starts freaking, so I stand up to wave at the sensor and by doing so turn on the hand dryer. This happens a couple of times, with the finale of throwing the diaper away, only to make the metal receptacle clash simultaneously with the lights going off and the dryer turning on. You can imagine Will's reaction(s). I didn't put his pants back on, and since his onesie was more than damp, and we had yet to eat dinner, I stuffed his onesie with some paper towels to help soak up the wetness. Oh the joys of motherhood, and paper towels (love them)!

PS- I hate this picture of me... I hate my chin (long) and my jaw (crooked). But it's a good shot of Will's trashiness and you get a glimpse of my beloved head-band tie thingy. I'll be sure to get a better pic of it later, although I do not promise to get a better photo of me *sigh*

breaking protocol

Two at a time! I know I said I was done with DS for awhile, but that didn't last very long! And I usually try not to post recipes on this site, because that's why I have my Mess! But I couldn't help myself because I made these today and just felt that I had to share it with the masses! Don't worry, this will be on the other site... eventually.

a click on image = a readable recipe

I've made these a few times now, and I rather like them. I eat one of these bad boys every morning for breakfast, with a protein shake. However, if you're expecting these to taste like brownies, you will sadly be mistaken! They taste like healthy food, which I happen to like (you know me...). And there are some really "good" protein bars out there that taste like candy! But I HATE, read it, HATE, sugar substitutes and their aftertaste. Also, I happen to have these ingredients on hand. So, I guess what I'm getting at is don't try these unless you really think you'll like them, because you'll end up spending a lot of money (if you don't already have said stuff) just to throw them away. The original recipe can be found here (love Alton Brown). And for those of you curious about the nutrition information, click here.

Credits: Shabby Princess, Misprinted Type, and Margarete Antonio.

always my baby

Today Will is officially 18 months old! I had mentioned that I wanted to have a party or something... well that fell through! Besides, I don't really know who would be at the partay besides the three of us... So anyway, I decided to attempt my first digi-scrap page in remembrance of the monumental event! Remember my second page, although it was my first posted page? Well this one is the said first. I've come to the realization that scrapping, in any form, for a boy is much more difficult than for a little girl. I am extremely limited to color choices and such, and you have to be careful to not make it girly. Toughness, seriously.

But I've always loved the colors blue and black together. In fact, when I was pregnant with Will (before we knew what we were having) I had decided that I would use black toile in the baby's room, with baby blue for a boy and light pink for a girl. However, that plan went out the window after I saw the surf bedding at PBK! I just had to have it and I was lucky enough to have a successful baby shower in my home town that made it all possible! Thanks guys! I plan on keeping that quilt for when we get a toddler bed, because I want Will to be able to grow with his chosen (my choosing, of course) theme, until he's old enough to say otherwise. And then we'll see...

Love You Forever
by Robert Munsch

"A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The baby grew. He grew and he grew
and he grew [...] "

But this mother of his will love him forever, like him for always. And as long as I'm living, and because we are blessed to be together forever, he will always be my baby (no matter how much he grows!).

Anyway, just wanted to wish my baby boy a happy half-birthday!!!

*credits: Shabby Princess, Sara Carling, Misprinted Type, and Margarete Antonio.

in & around my home

These past couple of mornings have been rough ones. I'm sure it doesn't help that we've been getting to bed so late and it certainly doesn't help to have a ginormous pile of dishes to do in the morning (as a result of late bedtimes). What's more, I have a tiny kitchenette area with a dinky little sink of a sink, which makes the task more of a chore than it ought to be. Anyway, I've been wanting to do this kind of a post for months! No, not a ranting post, we have enough of those. But a home sweet home post. Ever since I first introduced our little place here in blogosphere, I've been meaning to take some pics of the inside. So I took the liberty of taking pictures in and around my home of what made me happy. You see, we will be coming back here for next year, too (for $200 less, yes!!! - bargaining with our LL...), so I have to focus on what I love about this place and count my blessings and document its beauty in snippets!

My bowl runneth over: this is such a happy addition to our home! And it's not that I eat beautiful fruit & nut mixes with spoons... that's Lena's silverware there and I love them! So that's a plus.

In such a small space, storage is limited (as you'll see more of later), so I've resorted to leaving out my precious pieces to help free up that storage and help beautify and decorate the place. I love this trio together!

Beautiful flowers from the yard, courtesy of Lena (along with the vase and the doily). Plusses abound! Oh, and my lovely butter dish from guess where? :)

More lack of storage = more showing off of my pretty plates, cute canvas totes and my wonderful pots and pans (thanks M&D, and thank you Saladmaster!)! Notice the stacked toilet paper on the right... we have open storage under our stairs; not so pretty...

Come and sneak a peak into my kitchen! A couple of things I'd like to mention here: I love the useless fish-friar (LL's) and my matching red iron accessories. But what's more, I LOVE being able to close off my kitchen and hide what's behind it, if necessary...

And I just had to find a place for my beautiful plate rack. In Rexburg it served as a resting place for my framed tin-foil (later). But here it serves as a backdrop for my cheese graters and one of my favorite frames, and family picture! Disregard the inconsolable grease stains under the hood...

And now, moving on to Will's half of the room down stairs. It looks a little tight, huh? But I actually like it, it feels nice and cozy to me. And I still LOVE his bedding and the whole surfer boy theme. Those painted wooden plaques were my home-made gifts to Will (in place of a quilt) and I'll be mentioning them, hopefully, on that one blog of mine... some day. All the furniture is our LL's, except the crib, along with the wooden fish in the window, the funkalicious lamp and the beautiful runner on top of her dresser. A few plusses here, I've lost count...

The other side of the room, our storage facility. In our next year's contract negotiation conversation, our terms (besides decreased rent) would be to find a better storage solution, in case we have another kid and need this side of the room. But in all reality, it's worked rather well as is. Those curtains used to be Will's at our other place. Now they're hanging from a stretched out shower rod as a room/storage divider. Nifty, huh?

And now we move back out through the kitchen and into the living area. I LOVE the vaulted (???) ceilings here and the height of the room. And I can appreciate the exposed beams, too. Notice my framed tin-foil. Yup, I've still got them! Also notice my star, which I adore, and the extremely modern sofa that I've tried softening up with a butt-load of pillows! Hey, it works. And that glare in the five dollar, sideways turned mirror is me. And you can barely make out the artwork's reflection (and that I'm actually getting used to and hardly notice it's there anymore, oddly enough).

This is Will's little nook. I like this area and consider it a plus because of the rickety old kiddy rocking chair (thanks to Lena) and our wannabe fireplace (the heater gets real hot and y'all know how Will is...).

And here's a picture of our love seat, which may seem weird. But I really like that pillow in the foreground, and it's Lena's too, along with the throw. And yes, that is the same slip cover that we used on our couch back in the 'burg, except it's been removed and refitted and remade for our love seat. A plus and a minus in this place is the furniture. The only things that are ours is the crib, this love seat, and the coffee table (passed down from college buddies and filthy, thanks to Will snacking).

Here's a cute little picture of our bathroom's window sill. I just love this tin (mine), and the cool hair comb is LL's. I hate the bathroom, but this little scene always makes me smile. We're focusing on the positive here!

And last but not least, our bedroom, upstairs. It has a slanted ceiling, which I've always wanted, and lots of windows, each with a beautiful view. I've loved my bedding, since day one (almost three years ago, thanks to reception money!) and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this quilt that my mother made and then selflessly gave me for Christmas. Isn't it beautiful! It doesn't quite go, but I just don't care.

There you have it! A tour of our guest house. Talk about a hecka long post! But was it worth it? Is it worth it to live here? Yes, yes I think it is. And that's all I have to keep telling myself. That, and a home is a home, no matter where you live (even if it's not a house... *sigh*). The area we live in is absolutely gorgeous! And our little place really is like our own little home, just to ourselves. Yes, we really are happy here.

the gifts of love

I wanted to share what we gave and received in the
Summers family for V-day, and I even have some pictures!

First and foremost, look at what my super sweet husband got me! A gorgeous bowl and darling head-band-tie thingy, both from none other than Anthropologie!!! So I was with him when he got the bowl, but he was able to surprise me with the head bauble (yes, it's a jewel!, to me...). We were out shopping in Santa Monica at 3rd St. Promenade and he sneakily purchased said head ornamentation and then spent the next three hours and a day convincing me that he didn't get it (because I'm really bad, or really good, depending on how you look at it, at guessing presents)! That sly and handsome devil! Not only was I blessed with some Anthropologie treasures but also graced with the sweetest gift-bag that Brad had hand-picked himself in order to match everything! So cute huh? Don't you just love that bag? And Anthropologie??? :) Needless to say, I was a happy girl!

Before I go on to share what I did for Brad, let me just explain that he always manages to give me the strictest budget for gifts for him and then he turns around and blows his budget on me! What a guy! And what a stinker... anyway, so I had a $5.00 limit. That's right, five buckaroos! So, I set my mind to work and created this here card. And on the inside we have Will's handy-work (which is hideously hidden behind glare, due to some clear sticker paper overlay... grrr) and some more crafty love from me (nothing says I love you better than XO, right? Ha!).

And what about those five dollars? Well, there's not much out there for 5 bucks, let alone in CA, let alone for Bradley! So, I was once again creative (a poor girl's moolah) and came up with this gift certificate to VS {blush...} Well, I couldn't purchase a gift card for a denomination less than $25 so I was left to my own resources... aka. GIMP and myself. And voila- yes, those are supposed to be crystals-slash-diamonds on there:

For the most part our day remained the same, with Brad heading off to school, me cooking/cleaning/crafting - in that order. But we did have a nice dinner, albeit a late one. And we listened to our love songs; a CD I made while we were dating, of songs that I loved and hoped to feel about someone and longed for someone to feel the same way. Here they are, to share with you (don't worry, they're not too sappy! Pllllllease!!! Just who do you think you're dealing with here?!). Enjoy and happy belated Valentine's Day!

When You Come Back Down by Nickel Creek

my sweet valentine

Context: Nana Borgia sent our tiny family a Valentine's Day package... don't you fret, I ate enough chocolate for everyone (and in the name of saving Brad's diet, no less!)! As for Willie, he got a treat, too. A candy stick from See's. Boy, this kid has the hugest sweet tooth, which, as you can imagine, is super tough on me... I thought and was hoping that he would be a veg-head like his mom, but no such luck. So I'm struggling with his tastes and trying to balance his preferred flavor with some nutrition. Quite the task, let me tell you! Anyway, so Monk goes nuts with this candy and in the process gets it everywhere, as you can see. I only let him have half and he wasn't too happy about that... I have to draw the line somewhere! I'm only afraid that I drew it a fraction too soon! Oh, and his hand was dyed red for the rest of the day!

This is my second official digi-scrap page. Obviously I've made a few DS attempts before*, but never actually completed a page, with paper and all that. And you may be wondering to yourself, "second page???" Don't worry, you haven't gone crazy; I'm saving my first page for a couple of days from now... you'll see.

Anyway, I feel that what I may lack in experience and talent I make up for in embellishments! I finished this yesterday by throwing my hands up in the air and saying, "That's it! I'm done! I don't even care anymore!" Because I could spend hours and use up all of my time, energy and sanity trying to get things just right! I wasn't a 100% happy with it... But here's the new and improved version (displayed above) versus the yucky one (small, right). Can you tell the difference??? Oh, and I'll be taking a break from this new-found, confounded hobby - for a little while, at least (but I'm not crossing my fingers)!

Credits: Shabby Princess, Gina Cabrera, Misprinted Type, Margarete Antonio, and Sara Carling.

*see Will & his gramps, promised photos {All Boy}, and Will thy name is sweet

if love is the answer,

could you rephrase the question? -- Lily Tomlin

Just kidding! I love my husband very much and I'm pretty sure he loves me too... :) Here's a song for y'all to listen to (while I'm working on another V-day project...). It's our song, as of right now - we're huge fans of Red Hot Chili Pepper's new album, Stadium Arcadium. Awesome.

Listen to the words if you can, they really are sweet and they really do mirror how we feel about each other. How sappy does that sound?! Enjoy!

sticks & butts {east/snow vs. west/sun} ::

"A stick up your butt is uncomfortable enough.
But a frozen butt... now that's discomfort!"
-Beth Summers*

Context: Brad was relating an epiphany he had today. In a couple of days, Pepperdine will be hosting the J. Reuben Clark Law Society and Mormon students from all over the country are coming. Some of those students are from Harvard. Brad realized this while he was gazing up and appreciating the beautiful skies here in lovely Malibu and thought to himself (and then recounted to me), "Heck if I didn't go to Harvard! They may get hired on at $135K whereas I may get hired on at $100K. So they make $35K more than me. But while they're in MA studying, I'm here in sunny Cal. studying... besides, East coast snobs are terrible." To which I replied, "Yeah, but we're West coast snobs... {insert above quote here*}."

Good times! Good times in Cali-forn-I-A, nonetheless!

projects, projects, and more projects

Just as I was starting to think that creating another site for all of my projects was a bad idea, I changed my mind, again. I keep flip-flopping, which is why I wouldn't make a good candidate for presidency (besides, I hate politics...). We have a lot of family and friends that visit this site just to see pictures of Will and to hear of our adventures. So I started thinking of making yet another blog, as a record of all of my projects and ideas (so I don't forget), so as to not tangle up this site with them. I mean, this is supposed to be about our family, even though I claim it as my journal. So my à la made would be mainly for me, since I like to organize everything into categories anyway. I've even thought of another blog of all my dream-home ideas, a portfolio of sorts. We'll see about that one. Anyway, the reason I tell you all this is because I have another project to share, and I've got two more in the works and I have dozens of plans for others (that I'm afraid of forgetting) and when they're completed, then this here SummersCamp weblog will be overwhelmed with Beth's "Crap" and not about our family...

Anyway, I haven't made my mind up yet, but I do have a secret/private blog that I am working on (designing, etc.) and it's just a question of whether or not to make it public (especially since it's nothing fancy)... we'll see. But enough of all the blabbering, here's what I wanted to show you. So, cute little miss talented Shelly B. issued a challenge of sorts; or at least that's how I took it, for fun you know :) She had a really cute Valentine Idea to transform a metal stand from Target's dollar section. I wanted to give it a try and I'm always up for a project to occupy myself with... so I found a different metal stand (they didn't have the one she used) and turned it into this:

*A love note (or message) board!*

All of the paper used is from Basic Grey (love them!) and the letter transfers are the same ones I used on Will's ABC blocks. The metal frame was originally red, and came with three plastic heart magnets. Here are some close ups and more details (for those of you who are interested):

The little family picture in the background is a favorite and has been featured on this site and in our family newsletter... if you can't tell, it's a favorite (and the most recent)! Oh, and I used some sticker paper that I got (to use for the aforementioned blocks, but then I found the gorgeous transfers) to help stiffen and preserve the little pic. Digi-scrap credits: Shabby Princess.

And here is our other famous and quite possibly over-used picture of our hands (Brad's holding mine, holding/forcing Will's hand). I love this picture, as though you can't tell, and have it framed in our house. It's a treasure to me. This is another close up of one of the three heart magnets that came with the stand, and which I jazzed up a bit. I'll probably make something out of the other one that I didn't use... Digi-scrap credits: Margarete Antonio & Shabby Princess.

And here's a zoomed in picture of the cute little magnets I made (they did not come with the stand), along with my note to Brad. I had some extra after those farm animal magnets, so I simply cut out the paper and stamped them. I've decided that my favorite things to scrap up are magnets and wood (still in love with and proud of my ornaments). Believe me, the ideas are swirling, twirling and a-whirling, as the possibilities are endless!

my weirdness factor (tagged)

First off, I've been watching the up-line of this tag from Kim, to Ashley, to Tiffany, to Candra, and now it's my turn. Funny thing is, I hardly ever do the sister version of chain-letter emails, but for some reason, it's ok now ...???... voila, a manifestation of my weirdness.

Rules: "Each player of this game starts with 6 Weird Things about You. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog!" Are you ready for this?!

1. I hate the wind... no seriously, I mean, it makes me rage inside. But I do like a nice sea-breeze (yeah, there's a difference, you better believe it!).

2. I don't drive, hardly ever, never at night. A couple of reasons: (1) I'm as blind as a bat without glasses/contacts. Contacts hurt my eyes and give me serious headaches, hence my overuse of glasses. However, glasses have a sucktacular periphery and makes driving the perfect antithesis of joy. As for night time, I can't see worth beans, unless you count speeding, glowing hazes as sight; and (2) I was in a bad car accident, the night before Homecoming, a few weeks after I got my license. It's made me jumpy to get in a car ever since, let alone drive one.

3. I can't read lips, at all. But, I'm really good at finding any article of clothing I'm "looking" for when it's pitch dark. Consequently, I always thought I would go blind before I would go deaf (fitting, eh?).

4. I like to erase things. Not just anything though. I find a twisted amount of pleasure in creating drawing documents (on the computer mind you) and filling them black, only to erase it a line at a time until it's white again. It's probably the same reason that I like to vacuum (that and the sounds of stuff being sucked into its vortex).

5. I have this terrible fear of people breaking into my house whose sole purpose is to harm me. When I was little I would surround myself with all of my stuffed animals, with the idea and hopes that no one could stab me because they'd have to get through all that padding first. But more recently (last summer at Brad's parents, as a matter of fact) I would set traps around the house so that I could hear if someone was coming through the window/door and trip on my snares (that probably explains a lot, huh Mom & Dad?!). In my defense, Brad let me know that we were keeping a gun underneath our mattress because his dad asked him to and my mind just ran with it...

6. I cannot sleep with the closet doors open. This dates back to when I was a kid and had a Teddy Ruxpin sitting in my closet one night with his eyes wide open. This fear coexists with the need to conceal any inanimate object with eyes at night time. I guess you could say I'm a little scared of the dark and up until I was married, hated to be alone when sleeping (in fear of a monster under my bed or something crazy like that... probably more like I was afraid of a man waiting to kill me underneath my bed). Now I sleep like a baby, which is why if anyone asks me what's my favorite part of being married, it's having someone to sleep with, in the strictest sense of the word sleep.

Wasn't that just so much fun?! Now I unmercifully tag Robin, Dayna, Bonny, Janelle, Amanda and Amy. Don't hate me because I'm weird, hate me because I'm passing this on to you! Hope you all enjoyed my quirks and what not, because in all honesty, I did enjoy reading others and then having to share mine. Oh, and you can still talk to me... right?

what you don't know...

about me (unless you're my mother or husband, perhaps). I was tagged, yet again, by my dear cousin (technically an in-law), Katie Bartow. I'm supposed to fill you all in on five things you just might not know about me. And then of course, followed up with more tagging*! Oh, I should mention, no tag backs alowed (this tag and/or the weird one from above)! Here we go!

1. I graduated a semester early from high school and headed right to college. I never looked back and never walked at my graduation. So, even though I'm class of 2002, I graduated in 2001- a fact that I conveniently overlook when someone asks, as it helps me justify my youngness as it relates to my education/degrees...

2. I never went to prom. Not only did I miss my senior year because I wasn't there, but I never did go during my junior year either. I called to ask a friend (because hello, my only chance at prom- yes, I stooped that low) only to find out that he had asked a girl that he had been avoiding and didn't like in the first place! Some friend...

3. I was on the girls golf team for two years in H.S. and was awarded the Most Improved plaque. Basically, I wasn't any good but I worked hard and had a lot of fun. And no, I didn't get tan, seeing as that's impossible. However, I did get a wicked foot "tan" from my golf sandals... we would have competitions to see who had the worst/best foot tan and the sweetest way to display them and show them off was to wear flip-flops. Those were the days!

4. I still believe in fairies, fairytales and/or anything magical; they just happen on a different plane. Every now and then I have the delightful opportunity of peaking into their world, but only in certain places and with certain people (like Robin or Steph). My husband would not be one of those people...

5. And finally, I designed my engagement/wedding ring ensemble as well as my wedding announcements. A little description of both:
(1) ring- the engagement ring, in the center, is white gold with a yellow gold strip in the middle and a solitary oval diamond, positioned unconventionally, of course. And then my two wedding bands are rose gold (my absolute favorite) with three diamonds each; and
(2) announcements- notice the colors; do they remind you of anything (besides me)? I got the idea from a fancier and more expensive version in a magazine that was a huge square invitation with a beautiful embossed leaf in the middle. But I wanted to change it around, simplify it, and I certainly didn't want to spend that kind of money. So I went and hand selected the colors, layout, and fonts of everything. And to this day, I am still in love with it (much like my husband :)

No, that is not my scrapbook handywork. It's none other than Lindsey's, who created a beautiful bedecked calendar for my reception signing book.


*I am now tagging Michelle, Clarissa, Danie, Leslie and Heather. Bwahahaha, you first five listed thought you were done being tagged/tortured! The first time I was tagged (by none other than the gorgeous Candra), sneaky little Clarissa tagged all of our mutual friends before I could! So take that! And this is a different game, so no repeats! But I still love you guys!

not just photos anymore

This is my second attempt at putting a video on here... sadly, but truly, we have no video camera. This was taken when M & D Summers were here. I guess we could try using our camera's little recorder...

Anyway, here is Will, dancing in the car (I believe it's Dave Matthews playing in the background... I wasn't there) with a few of his personal phrases thrown in, c-phone in tow. We watched this this morning, just me and Will, and he was cracking up at himself! Apparently he was saying something pretty funny at the time... Notice all the different faces he makes (the happy, the pensive, etc.). Click & enjoy!!!

PS-*rant* I've been trying for days to get this simple video uploaded and/or embedded here by using Google Video and I am a very dissatisfied customer! They don't even have the decency to let me tell them I'm having problems! So I kicked them to the curb (with steel-toe boots, nonetheless) and decided to try Zippy Videos, thanks to Clarissa. So easy to use and I finally have this on here! *end of rant*

just pictures

And a wee-bit commentary! I decided to forego any digi-scrap attempts, because I most likely will later (with paper, embellishments, etc.) and post them when I get my other site going... some day... but these pics were just too good to wait for my fancy work, that I'm just going to put them up here, LARGE! These were taken by Brad's parents' camera; that's right, they were here, visiting us! Only for just a few hours, but it was SOOO fun! Thanks for coming mom and dad!

This picture below looks like it should be an advertisement for the military... Will is calling you to arms folks! In reality, he's pointing to the camera because he wants it in the worst way!

What a beautiful smile and such a happy boy! Brad and I were just saying last night that we hope all of our kids turn out like Will (but don't tell any of them... when we have them...).

And these are my absolute most favorite pictures, for the time being! I told you, this kid is such a ham! Just wait until I get a video up of him and then you can see his personality in motion!