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!

will thy name is sweet

Seriously?! How cute can this kid get?! That's him at Nana & Gramp's, playing on my piano (when I get a house...). And this lil' ol' picture over here is from this past summer! It belongs in a calendar, wouldn't you say? I did not pose this kid or dog! He was watching Papa Summers blowing leaves on the back porch and I guess the pup was of similar mind/curiosity... Too, too sweet! And yes, he is as cute from the front as he is from behind!

*credits* - created using digital art by Shabby Princess, Gina Cabrera, and Margarete Antonio.

a new 'do

That is if weblogs had hair! I've not only updated my Mess, but also changed the look. It was kinda feeling blah to me; what with such a mundane subject and no colorful stories or pictures to help spice things up... I was looking for something a little more fun, with some flair and spunk. Something to better reflect me! And for now, I'm liking the way it turned out.

I also posted the meals for the month and a handy dandy protein shake recipe. But I'm still working on the shopping list and some more random recipes (protein bars, granola bars, sleepy muffins... just to name a few!).

But if you're curious, don't be afraid - I'm not a cat killer! Get it?! Oy!

"Oh the cleverness of me!" - Pan the Man

ps- and yes, i'm still working on my à la made... wait for it, wait for it.... soon my pretties, soon.

my mood in music...

...although not necessarily fitting with the lyrics... but aren't they amazing! Their percussion is tap dancing, which I foolishly forgot to mention before... albeit, FABULOUS!

promised photos (just a few...)

Hey, I'm working on it! As I've promised to many people (including myself) that I will post more pictures, especially of Willie! So I purposefully went out and snapped some photos and simultaneously came to the conclusion that it is near impossible to get a clear-cut pic of a toddler! As you can probably guess, Monk does not stay put or remain still for very long; he is ALWAYS on the move! But I guess any pictures are better than no pictures. Just don't judge me because I take blurry photos (judge me because my subject matter is rather cute!)!

And on a side note, I'm not a huge fan of character clothing-wear, and this outfit happens to be his only one. However, he looks so cute and boyish in this sweatshirt, regardless of Elmo (no offense to Sesame Street, because y'all know we love it!), and it was awfully cold and dreary that day. So it gets a thumbs up, as I'm sure you'll concur.

i've finally done it!

You are now reading the words written-slash-typed by the hand of a student enrolled in the Master of Science in Holistic Nutrition program! Woot woot! I will also be concentrating in nutrition and lifestyles. I am SOOO excited to finally be doing this. It's about time some of you might say...

For a while I had been going back and forth between this and medical transcription. But I continued to feel a persistent nudge in the nutrition direction and ended up making up my mind. Besides, nutrition is and always has been my main goal and passion in the health field, so it only made sense to not prolong the inevitable any longer! I plan on graduating with my MS, and I just might continue on to get a PhD... who knows! Another idea I have is to certify as a personal trainer and nutrition specialist, so that I have both the program and certificate that will make me marketable and competitive at gyms, spas, health stores and personal clients.

My dreams would be to (1) go to a gym/personal trainer and offer them assistance in planning meals for their clients, based off of their personalized nutrition and weight management programs- thereby helping the clients to stick to their diets and health plans vs. getting sick of just plain chicken and steamed veggies (aka. blah-ness); AND (2) I would LOVE to write articles for magazines and perhaps a book/cookbook one day. Heck, I could do both and all of the above that I've mentioned. The possibilities are endless.

Once again, WOOT WOOT!!!!! Yippee! Woohoo!! Hooray, hurrah, huzzah!!! and so on and so forth, etc. etc. etc.

play.listen.enjoy.

will & his gramps

PS- click on the image for a close up (so you can read all the *junk*)!

in memory of

Pepper Borgia

March 15, 1999 - January 21, 2007

Also known as: Pep, Peppy, Peppita, Pita

I'll spare you the details of her passing but she was a wonderful dog. And in the words of Elder Adam Borgia, "It seems a little silly that a small dog could have this much effect on people. But loss is hard with any member of the family, which we all can agree Pepper was."

And all I can say, or more appropriately, add to what's been said or linked (below) is that I've missed her since leaving home years ago; but what's more is that the thought of trips home without her wiggly welcome is a sad one (for Will too, as he loved getting Peppy kisses- open mouthed, nonetheless!).

So here's to Pita, my puppy, my "faithful canine companion and bed warmer extraordinaire."*


*My aunt also has some quotes relating to Pita here.

talk about some inspiration!

Okay- I think it's pretty safe to say or admit that I am a surfer of the net. One day that will transfer over to the ocean, but for now it's all about cyberspace! My current metaphorical surfboard: blogs. It all starts with a few friends and family... and then you start checking out their friends and family and so on and so forth until you come upon some really amazing stuff that you just can't casually skim through, you have to link it! I know almost everyone is a little guilty of this kind of perusing so no pointing fingers! Anyway, some may have noticed my ever-changing blog. (But then again, others may not, because most of the changes are over on the left.) So I'm just mentioning this because I wanted to give some credit to some random girls that I've never met but have truly inspired me. They can be found under THE ADMIRED Go and check them out and be prepared to be amazed!

Looks like I have to "raise the bar" in my creative department...

ps- it also looks like i'll be attempting to re-familiarize myself with my gimp program to see what i can do with digital manipulation. be prepared for test runs of any experimentation... bloggers beware!

just a bunch of hooplah...

...OVER THESE!!! Finally, I have proof of those Christmas ornaments I made way back when. It seems so long ago. I'm a lil' torn as to whether I love these or my (er, Will's) ABC blocks more... hmm, the alphabet blocks I think are a personal treasure to me. But in both cases, some darn fabulous paper is where the magic lies!

I've taken two pictures of each block so that you can see all four sides. The tops and bottoms are covered in crinkled tin foil (a personal decorative favorite of mine, as some of you well know) and we used some more-industrial-looking-than-I-wanted wooden hook screws, that are also much too large for my taste, but oh well. And I just used some cross-stitch floss for the ties (hopefully to be replaced with something a little prettier and stronger, like ribbon; when the budget allows). These were created out of the same wooden blocks as Will's were, and with the same method (ModPodge and also have yet to be sprayed with Acrylic, which is a must since Will loves to grab these and chew on them- rips the foil right off! And the throwing and smashing and banging them all around doesn't help either...).

So without further adieu and any more hype, here they are!!! (PS- Only four are featured here, because the other ones are at home in AZ with the rest of my new found Christmas decorations. But these are my four favorites.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This one is my absolute favorite! It is the main reason that I've gone toward a new direction of Christmas colors; a palette of retro colors and just all around funkified. If I haven't made a big enough deal about my future plans, then here I go again: SO E-X-C-I-T-E-D!!! Just you wait until I unload it all on you guys!

My second favorite. I was a little more resourceful with this block and it turned out great! The mainly red side is fabric, which is a painful medium to use when ModPodging, but somewhat worth it. If I had had the paper, let alone the money, I would have tried to find some similarly dried, designed, and colored tree-pulp. Besides the foil and fabric, I also used paper from a thank you card, which is where the green argyle comes from (thanks Ashley, for last year's thank you card! Now I will always remember it and will always have it on display, not in a file...). Oh, and can you tell how much I'm loving the retro flower motif???

Another reoccurring theme you have probably noticed, the beautiful plaid! Absolutely gorgeous! And I was able to hand select and cut the plaid out by its different color sections, so they would match their respective blocks (even though it all comes from the exact same, single sheet of paper!). I must also admit that I was resourceful, once again and used some old wrapping paper and an old gift bag (in second picture). Not my most favorite combination, but it worked. But I love the unexpected shamrock looking flowers! I chose it because it was retro, and had green, brown and blue (colors found in my new Christmas "bouquet" along with red, of course! Mustn't neglect my favorite color...).

Last but not least (and not really last, since there are more out there, just not pictures of them for me to post) is another crazy combination of colors and designs. I really wanted to mix up the different kind of patterns and colors and designs and tastes of all the blocks. So here we have another red robin (so cute, and adds just enough of that crafty charm... but not too much! Had to be careful, because I'm wanting new and fresh, and a mix and match of things going on.). And we have the unexpected retro pink, with my new colors and a bit of pink, to match the large floral print adjacent to it (which was also used from a bag... a favorite look of mine since high school a la Waverly). Gotta love the sweet polka dots, too! One of my favorite scrap purchases, and one that wedged its way into my mind, where it whispered sweet nothings and encouraged future additions, ultimately bringing me to my doom and the sugar-coated despair of "crapping."

"Ah! woe is me, woe, woe is me! Alack and well-a-day!"

For pity, girls, find out that hobby
Which bore my cares (and money) away.
- based on Robert Herrick's The Mad Maid's Song,
with a little of my wit thrown in.

i'll cry the day that i take the "tree" down...

What with a toddler and all, only so much could be done in the decorating department. It's not much and it is indeed a little late to be sharing this... but I barely took pics of it all so I can finally take it down. It'll be a sad day because it's certainly added a hint of charm, warmth and whimsy to our place. Hmm... perhaps I'll keep the garland up as a holiday garland, for me to hang stuff on for Valentines Day, Easter, etc. We'll just see about that!

Here's a nice little close up of some of the decorations. But I took this pic to mostly focus on her, my Krinkles Queen; a tree topper, but mostly used as a huge decoration or centerpiece on my part. I have quite the collection of Krinkles ornaments because they are my fav! Love them! You might also notice how loaded down my garland is... I love a loaded Christmas tree with just a bit o' green peeking through. Don't know why, just know how 'cause I do it every year (thanks in part to a steady increase in my collection of ornaments... just you wait till my future post about future Christmas plans, where I'll talk all about my new fangled decorations. So.E-x-c-i-t-e-d!!!). And let's not forget to give a wee bit of credit to Bradley's collection of ornaments from his childhood; there are four in this here close up (can you guess?).

And here's our little table-top tree, also bedecked in Krinkles. I believe there are four on there. The others are random tiny ornaments that I had that would actually fit on there. And I am on the lookout for the perfect topper... I just might have to make one myself, gosh dang it! Oh, and that bag there is filled with wonderful and oh-so-cute Christmas cards from my equally wonderful and oh-so-cute friends and families! Thanks so much, I enjoyed every minute of reading, rereading, looking and re-looking at all the letters and photos! On a side note, I'm still hoping to get out a digital New Year card/email. It is still considered the new year, although now half way through the new month...

And finally, I took a picture of a leftover garland strand that I strung from our beam. I seriously tried to find any and every place I could Christmas-ify. Don't you just love the loverly backdrop of pots and pans? Oh, and there's an overall picture of our entertainment system sporting the already mentioned garland. One of these days (before OR after the holiday email) I will get some pictures posted of the inside of my place. As for the outside, go to my "real" first post to jog your memory. Beautiful ain't it? Makes you want to come and visit, huh?!

~belated~

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

presents and pictures galore!

Santa was extra good to us this year! You can't really tell what's going on in these pictures, so I will explain it all, with excruciating detail and all, just for you! Awww... I shouldn't have...
PS- remember those traditions I was talking about? You can kinda see the nametags/placeholders I mentioned in these pics; in case you were wondering, or cared.

This is my loot. I got lots of presents and almost everything I wanted... all I really wanted for Christmas was a house. *sigh* But Brad got me everything else I asked for: housing blueprints magazines, a 9 lb. weight bar and Reese's Puffs (sweet nectar of life!). He also got me Rachel Ray's 365 recipes cookbook! Sweet!

Bradley's collection of presents is somewhere in this somewhat funkalicious picture. He got his P90X and things to go with it (like a mat and protein powder). He asked for it and he received. He also got some cool shocking stocking stuffers like a new wallet and a shakable flashlight. Brilliant!

Will made out like a banshee! But here are some of the highlights: His very first Build-A-Bear, scooter, lots of books, puzzle-cards, his blocks and lots of magnets (my two completed craft projects), and of course, clothes!

FYI- These little animal magnets used to be a mitt. But thanks to some planned creativity and to a fabulous bargain, and not to mention my mother's handy sewing skills (I was busy working on the infamous blocks), they turned out pretty good. I'm thinking I might add some ribbon to the bottom with the animal's sounds- MOO!!! He also got ABC & 123 magnets - not by me, although bought by me; also a bargain! Woot woot for bargains!

a boy and his scooter

By far his favorite present to date! Thanks Nana and Gramps!

I should probably mention a few of the crazy things going on here (just more evidence of me putting off more Christmas posts)... it all started last Sunday...

Apparently, our pipes froze. We woke up to get ready for church (which is so early and needs to be changed!!! We're the only ward there for Pete's sake! And our area is what, 30 miles?! C'mon!) and as luck would have it, water was MIA from our faucets. It's getting pretty cold here (for here), like 20 degrees. So, our pipes froze and "silly" - I'm being facetious here - us, we didn't have a drip going. Never had a problem in "Iceburg" and we are in the golden state now...

So, "Did we go to church, and if so, how did we manage?" you might be asking yourselves. Yes, we went to church and just let me describe our methodology of getting ready: lots of babywipes and handfuls of baking soda (and perfume/cologne). Needless to say, my hair was in a ponytail and Brad looked like he had some sort of granular pomade in his hair. Shoot, we hadn't showered since Friday (it was the weekend, give us a break!), so this all made for an interesting Sabbath.

Our meetings went just fine and I think no one's the wiser (unless they come here and read this, and then perhaps experience this here joy of me answering any silent hygenic questions they might have had for us that day). But just you wait; we come home to a faucet running over and a nice soggy carpet in our so-called kitchen. We had fans going nonstop for two days. Let's all hope for the best.

Later that night, after a lovely dinner with the Domans, we find a loverly trail of ants. For some reason, the fact that they're trudging through our carpet disturbs me more so than if they were gliding across tile flooring. We whipped out the vacuum and the killer spray, only to leave us with a reocurring scene (of three times today)! I guess it really bothers me, because I am a clean person and I vacuum every day! Darn those resiliently (not a word, until now...) hungry pests!

Other than all that, we're still happy here... Good thing it's so gosh-darn gorgeous here!

oh the joys & fashions of motherhood

You know you've arrived when you find your face crusty - courtesy of sweet potato kisses - and that your shirt is bejewled in oatmeal. Is it any wonder why pajamas remain my garb of choice?

PS- In case you can't tell, this is an old picture, dated 9:23:2005. Tomorrow he'll be 17 months! And then he's a tip-toe away from 18 months... I'm thinking of doing a b-day party/thing, because it just seems so monumental...

did i hear someone mention food?

In case my "fans" read this before any of my other "stuff," I've just updated my Mess, once again. I'm going to have a pre-post on there every time I update, which will look the same, but it isn't. Basically, if you are following along at my recipe site, then make sure you keep checking back there, because I am updating and posting there, even if it doesn't look like I do (which is why I'm posting info about it here...).

I'll probably mention it every time I update it on here, too, just briefly.

And if you haven't checked it out -not ever- or haven't checked it since its debut, I'll just fill you in on what it really is: it's not only recipes, but also meal plans, diet plans, shopping lists, shoppings tips, etc. If you feel like it might be of some help, then feel free to check it out. Just a little FYI. Thanks!

attitude is everything

Got this from an email and LOVED it! So I'm sharing it (it's much easier to copy and paste something that's already thought out for you, rather than writing about yourself and getting caught up on your journaling and photo-sharing like you ought to...).

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. "Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. "H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today." So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head. "YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

our family traditions

We grew up with lots of traditions, just as any other family! In my family, we counted down Christmas Eve just as excitedly as Christmas Day... the Eve was filled with all sorts of tasks and fun projects. You see, my mom was able to trick us into cleaning the house the day before Christmas in the name of Santa! Then we would run all around town, dumpster diving for our Christmas boxes. Mom would help us pick out the right size because she somehow knew what dimensions were needed for each child's needs... :)

Here we have Will demonstrating how it's done. Then you place unwrapped gifts in your personally wrapped and decorated box, thereby keeping the floors somewhat clear of clutter and everyone's stuff to themselves. I quickly became the boring one and would wrap my box in a single sheet of paper whereas my brothers would piece theirs together, being the creative geniuses they are (there's Kory in the background). Then we would use the leftover flaps from our box to create nametags to mark our territory, decking them out similarly to our gift-containers.

The rest of our traditions heavily revolve around food (Italian Sausages and homemade raviolis), movies and other "normal" family activities fit for the season: temple lights, scripture reading, The Night Before Christmas reading (thanks Hallmark!), to list a few. We would also set out our pajamas before dinner only to have the elves replace them with special ones. Then we'd open one present from our siblings and then have a slumber-party.

Brad remembers his Christmas' with lots of family and friends. There's a Summers Christmas Party every year (huge get-together) and they'd always have the neighbors over the night before to share in food (Taco Soup) and nativity skitting (not a word, I know- just made it up 'cause it seemed appropriate). And the Summers family shared the Borgia's traditions of new pajamas, Christmas readings and siblings-sleeping-fests!

As we both grow older, and grow closer together as our own little family, I think some memories grow dim to make room for our own traditions. We've tried meshing a few of them together and creating some of our own. And to tell you the truth, that's the best part!