Here's Jaycee

Just a quick digital layout I did with one of my favorite pics of Miah holding Jaycee.

She's so sweet and little and wonderful and sweet and cuddly and wonderful and sweet and special. (I think you get the idea.)

Now We're Rockin' Digi Class

Due to a short (6-wk) trip out of the rain and cold of Oregon, my digi class that Miah and Wendy gave me for Christmas kinda got waylay-ed for awhile, but today I finally finished Lesson 1.

Here's the finished project that I started back in January...

See my January 6 blog entry for more details (if you are REALLY all that interested!). Okay, I just looked at that blog entry and I didn't give you any details. The pictures I worked with were ones that Chad and Melissa took on their honeymoon to Florida. Those are Melissa's sweet hands holding the frog in the main pic. I turned the photo sephia, leaving the frog in it's original colors. I'm really pleased with how this turned out.

Now, on to lesson 2.

Happy Birthday Jeremiah

On this day, 32 years ago, a child was born.

February 18, 1979

A very special child. And through the years I watched him grow

1981

At the State Fair in Salem, OR 

Christmas 1981

First Grade, such a handsome boy

In 1998 at his Grandpa's wedding

In 1984 he became a big brother and the two of them grew together, sharing experiences and life as only a brother and sister can

February 18, 2006 Celebrating his birthday at Chevy's with his sister Melissa

And then he became an uncle, showing a new generation how to have fun, how to love and how to be a good man.

Uncle Miah and Aiden Ross

And now he is a man, all grown up and with a family of his own.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful son

Happy Birthday Jeremiah!

Seems there's always Work to be done

I know you think all we do while we're in Arizona is play, but that's not the truth. Since we have our own house there's all the usual chores in order to maintain it. In fact, we probably work harder there that we do here. All day long, all we do is work, work, work....

January 2009 - Dom putting in a new light on the back patio

Doing yardwork, got to keep that gravel raked you know!

Cooking dinner

Oops, how did that get in here? All we do is work in Arizona!

February 18, 2010, tearing the wallpaper off the walls in the bathroom

See, we're really not on vacation...work, work, work....

Transportation

Have you ever wondered how us "old" people get around while living in a retirement community like Sun City West???  Let me show you.....

February 27, 2008---Glen Morrill in the parking lot at one of the golf courses

February 5, 2009 - Dom getting ready to board the old mining train in the Superstition Mountains 

Bet you thought you'd only see pictures of golf carts, huh?  Fooled you! Just so you're not too disappointed, here's a couple more golf carts.

January 20, 2010 - Mark and Dom pulling into the garage at our house (or pulling out of the garage, can't really tell---does it really matter?).

And the owner of this golf cart really knows how to travel in style...

January 26, 2010, Mark just HAD to get a picture taken with this lil' beauty

That's all for now folks!

PS: I want to wish Matt and Bonnie a very Happy Anniversary!!!

Happy Hour

One of the things we enjoy in Arizona is "Happy Hour" with our friends Barb & Glen and their neighbors Dewey & Mary. Can't believe we are sitting outside enjoying beverages and conversation in January, February and March.

February 29, 2008, Happy Hour on Dewey & Mary's back patio

January 25, 2010 at Barb & Glen's house. Mark and Donnie flew down to spend the week with us.

January 30, 2009, Happy Hour at Barb & Glen's.

Cheers!

Views

Another Picture post for today.

January 28, 2010...Double rainbow seen from our backyard in Sun City West

The moon rising behind the palm trees January 29, 2010

February 28, 2010 - This is not the kind of weather we expected in Arizona, a hailstorm  covered our back patio...no golfing for Dom on this day

A beautiful cactus bloom in our backyard

One of the many beautiful golf courses in Sun City West

Flight

January 7, 2009 View from my window

February 26, 2008...Phoenix Airport, waiting for Barb to pick us up. She always manages to get just a little lost on her way to the airport, but we appreciate the ride so much we don't mind waiting in the warm Arizona sunshine.

January 12, 2010...Waiting at PDX to leave all this rain behind us. Arizona, here we come!

I just noticed that it looks like Dom always carries a purse in the airport! Actually, I must confess, it's my purse. It just seems to always get in the picture when I stand up to take a picture of Dom. As you can tell by Dom's face in this pic, he's once again saying, "and the camera!"

Baby's First Year Calendar

Saw this calendar idea and thought it would make a wonderful calendar for Baby's First Year. How fun would it be to have a daily tracking of all those "little moments" that you forget over time. Also with all the work a new baby takes, who has time to get out the "official" baby's album and make sure you make a nice entry for all those "firsts" that seem to happen daily. So much easier to jot down 1 or 2 things each day on this handy little calendar. Decided I would make one of these to give to Wendy at her baby shower today. Here's what I came up with:

Baby's First Year Perpetual Calendar for Wendy and Miah

On the inside of the card I wrote the instructions/suggestions for using the calendar. After they make their notes for the day, that card is moved to the back of the basket and they are all ready for the next day. I made cards for everyday through the baby's first birthday (okay, don't really know when the baby is going to be born for sure, so I made cards through the end of February 2012). I thought they might like to start making notes now about the last few weeks before the baby is born, so I started the calendar with today's date.

Last night Miah told me a cute little story about how the baby seems to like to have her head rubbed through mommy's tummy and when Miah stops rubbing her head she throws a little fit, kicking and hitting until he starts rubbing it again. That would be a sweet thing to write down on one of these date cards now so it can be remembered forever.

Hope they like and use this little gift. Here's what I wrote inside the little card:

A quick and easy way to document all those little things you wish you had made a note of during Baby’s first year. Some examples:

1^st day home from hospital

Cried all nite, slept all day

Daddy’s 1^st poopy diaper

Went to Grandma’s house to visit

Big brother dropped baby, she bounced

Went to Grandma’s house to visit

1^st Smile

Love you so much, so glad you are ours

You get the idea; it’ll just take a moment out of your busy day. Get in the habit of just writing down a quick note every day of what baby did (or have daddy do it sometimes). 

When you have time to fill out baby’s “official” baby book you will have a record of all these little moments to make that task so much easier.

After baby’s first birthday I will make you an album of all these little notes so you will have a record of every day of baby’s first year. I will include pictures into the album, so save any special ones you want included in a special folder on the computer and I will print them when I make the album.

Thanks to Design*Sponge for the great idea.

Today

Just a little hello. Too busy to post much else.

Sun setting behind cactus
Photo taken in 2008

Once again, Blog, then Don't Blog

Again, when I tell myself I'm going to start blogging on a regular basis, I have to go without a computer again for awhile. This time I'm really hoping to get back to my blog in February. Since I will have a new granddaughter by then, I will have lots to blog about. Another thing that will have to go on hold is my class at JessicaSprague.com. I haven't completed the first lesson yet and will most likely start over. Here's what my layout looks like so far, probably won't get it done before we leave

The one thing I really don't like about our winter adventures is having to go without a computer. Seems every year I get really involved in something, like a class (which I have several that I've been participating in besides just this one) and then we leave. When we return it is hard to get caught up on everything. This class is one that I've really been looking forward to. Fortunately it is one that I can pick up again right where I left off.

Well, got to go, lots to do in the next few days as we prepare for our next adventure. Will enjoy the sunshine, that's for sure.

Take care and I will be back in a few....

Now I'm Rockin'

Just started my new class at JessicaSprague.com (thank you Miah and Wendy!). Here's my first task in Lesson 1. Used a photo that Chad took while Melissa and he were in Florida on their honeymoon in 2009. So excited to be taking another class from Jessica. In the first lesson I changed the original photo to sepia tones and then changed the frog back to full color. Looks pretty neat, don't ya think? This was the perfect picture to use this technique on. This is how the picture originally looked.

Tara and Andrew stopped by last night to visit and Tara told me she has also signed up for one of Jessica's classes. It's not the same one I'm taking, but I know she will love it.

I've spent some time over the last couple days preparing my MMEL binder. I will have to post more about that later, but for now...back to my lesson.

Plans for 2011

All the gifts have been purchased, wrapped, then opened. The rush of the holidays are over. It's almost New Years Eve. Time to start taking down the tree, putting away the decorations and packing it all up for another year. A part of me is already missing the holidays. I really enjoy taking the time to create during these months leading up to Christmas. It's the one time of the year when I have an excuse to spend so much time in my craft room, playing with paper and letting my creative imagination go. I miss that so much throughout the rest of the year. I've got to find a way to make sure I make the time to do these things all year long.

Time to get rolling again...it's a new year, need to stay focused. Need to manage my time better so I can get the things I "need" to do, done quickly and efficiently. Then I will have time for the things I "want" to do. Right now I feel that I spend so much time dreading all the things I "need" to do and wishing I had time to do the things I "want" to do, that I do nothing. Can't do the things I "want" to do until I do the things I "need" to do. Don't want to do the things I "need" to do, wish I could do the things I "want" to do instead, so all I do is....nothing. It's a circle that I must break out of.

Time to change. Time to focus. Time to get things accomplished. Time to get motivated.

Deleted all games from Facebook and "unfriended" people I had added just to play games. This really cleaned up my Facebook and now when I check it all I see are status updates from people I really care about. Thought this would result in spending less time on the computer, just wasting time. Will have to see how this pans out.

Been working on catching up on all my subscriptions on Google Reader. Been spending even more time on the computer reading all the blogs I've subscribed to. Need to really unscribe to everything that doesn't inspire me to stay focused on what's really important to me. So far I've found that once I have read everything new I go searching for more to read by following links on blogs. This seems to be resulting in spending more time on the computer than when I was playing Facebook games.

Not quite the result I was hoping for, going to have to work on this. My plan is to spend time on computer creating, organizing my photos and logging memories. Today while surfing around I came across this idea for doing a monthly update . Really like the idea of doing a monthly "roundup" and following her suggestions to keeping everything organized, digitally speaking. I'm really going to try to do this, which is going to mean updating my blog at least once a month.

This is another idea I want to focus on in 2011. Move More Eat Less. While I can't afford to buy all the stuff CZ is offering to stay focused on this, I want to come up with my own journal. Again, something I need to DO not just think about doing. Focus.

I've been reading a lot about Ali Edwards "One little word" again this year and was trying to decide if I wanted to try that again this year. I've done that once in the past, semi-successfully but didn't do it last year. I didn't think I really had a word for 2011, nothing came to mind while reading all the other blog posts about it. Then, as I started writing this it hit me. FOCUS. That is what I want to concentrate on this year.

FOCUS on getting things accomplished instead of just thinking about how I need to get things done.

FOCUS on doing what's really important to me and not thinking about it or telling myself I'll do it when I have time.

FOCUS.

That's a good word for 2011. I don't want to set goals, I just want to Focus on getting things done, establish routines that will get me to where I want to be. I think that's the trick, make things into routines that become habits. Stay focused.

November 18 - Thankful For

...a little sunshine and blue skies this morning, even though the forecast was for rain all day. It's now afternoon and the clouds are rolling in, but this morning it was so nice to see the sun. It's still been really cold today, but the sunshine made it all worth while.

November 17 - Thankful for

Today I am thankful for Dom's good health.

It has been a bit of a rough road lately, especially since last June when we were told he had Atrial Fibrillation. But since the cardioversion was done, he is doing so much better. Every day I see him getting stronger and getting more like his old self. It is so wonderful to see the engery coming back and knowing that he is feeling better each and every day.

November 16 - Thankful for...

Today I'm thankful that I got to talk to my grandson and find out that he had a really good day. It was his first day at his new school since moving to Alaska a week ago. He sounded happy and excited about his teacher, his class and the friends he has already made.

I'm so thankful that Aiden loves school and is such a good student. He really enjoys learning new things and doing school work. He is such a good boy.

I love you Aiden and hope you have a wonderful school year! Keep calling grandma and let me know how your day is going.

PS: I know he looks sad in this picture, but he's really not. He just hates me always taking pictures of him. This is a very rare recent photo where he is actually NOT covering up his face or hiding from my camera. Got to love him!

New Class - Holidays in Hand

Today I started a new class on Jessicasprague.com called Holidays in Hand. Tara and I are both taking this class and I'm really excited about it. We will be making a holiday album for this year as well as getting and staying organized throughout the holiday season. I think it's going to be fun!

Our first assignment is to make a list of our holiday goals for this year, so here goes...

2009 Holiday Goals

1. Get into the holiday spirit earlier and more intensely.

It seems like every year it is harder and harder for me to get into the holiday spirit. With just me and Dom here at the house it is hard to maintain that "festive" spirit. Putting up holiday decorations just seems to be a bother instead of a joy with nobody really here to enjoy them.

I need to do this even if it is just for the two of us.

2. Get Christmas cards made and mailed early.

Last year I had the cards made and ready to mail before Thanksgiving. I have barely started them so far this year. In fact, I think I only have 5 made so far and about 30 more to go. I also need to get my mailing list done. I lost my list from years past when my computer crashed, so I'm starting over from scratch.

My goal is to have all this done no later than December 1.

3. Have all gifts bought and wrapped by one week before Christmas.

This will be a hard one because Dom is always wanting to put this off until the last moment. I must keep pushing to get everything bought and wrapped early so the week before Christmas is completely free from these tasks.

Gifts going to Alaska need to be bought and mailed by December 1.

4. Make a Holiday Album documenting our activities this year.

I have already been thinking about doing this and in fact bought an album to use for this purpose last July when Ali Edwards mentioned it on her website. This class will be just what I need to make sure I reach this goal.

Those are my goals for this year...now I must stay focused and accomplish them all!

More Pictures from my Jessica Sprague Class

I'm finally getting around to sharing the rest of my photos from the class I took at JessicaSprague.com...bet you thought I'd forgotten about this...but in reality I just got a little busy with my granddaughter being born and then doing Dom's party. So better late than never, I'm going to finish getting these photos blogged!

Day 11 - Selective/Spot Recoloring. I did not take this photo, but I have always liked it, even though it was kind of blurry and I hoped that someday I would be able to do something like this with it. Finally I learned how to do this. First I changed the whole photo to black & white then erased the black & white from the glasses, letting the color show through. Now the reflection of the campsite really stands out in the photo...really love how it turned out! Added a black frame and a little text using the Ali Edwards font and now what was just a blurry photo looks really neat. I love how it turned out and the fuzziness of the photo just adds to the effect. I think this was one of my favorite lessons from this class, I've always wanted to know how to do this.

Day 10 we did an entire project from start to finish using the techniques that we had learned in the previous classes. I love this picture I took of Aiden while we were camping at Cove Palisades earlier this summer. On this copy I added a couple textures to the picture then erased the textures from around Aiden making him glow and stand out from the rest of the picture. The Jessica showed us how to make a rounded corner frame for it and add the word art/journaling spot, customizing the text.

Day 9 was all about adding an edge burn to a photo making your main subject stand out from the background. This will be very useful, I love how it turns out.

This first picture is one that was taken by one of the nurses in the operating room when Skyla was born. this is the original picture. (I did this photo after I finished the class, but I think it really shows how this techniqe works.

Now the same picture after applying the edge burn technique.

How great is that? Now Chad and Skyla really stand out from the busy background of the operating room.

This next picture is the actual photo that I did for Day 9 of the class using the same technique that I used on the picture of Chad and Skyla. This is a picture of Aiden at the rehearsal for Chad and Melissa's wedding June 6, 2008.

There are just a couple more photos that we did in class. I will share them with you soon. They involved making storyboards and collages using combinations of different techniques covered in the class.

I've also got to get Skyla's birth blogged...so much to get caught up on here!

Dom's Birthday Party Saturday July 25, 2009

Pictures from Dom's birthday party:

The little kids playing in the pool Carla and Pep brought and set up in the backyard. Pictured: Gracie, Joey and Aiden.

Dom opening his gifts with McKenzie in the background.

Mark and Donnie...and that's little Skyla that Uncle Mark is holding, she doesn't look too sure about him.Looking down the table towards Dom. That is Aiden in the sunglasses on his left and Bob Lavoie barely made it in the picture on the bottom right corner.Andrew and Jeremiah eating dinner, you can also get a partial view of Aiden on the right side of the picture.
Another shot of the dinner table, I was so busy I didn't get very many pictures but did make sure I took some after everyone had gotten their food and were sitting down. I wasn't in my "photographer" mode, so I must apologize for the lack of good pics...sometimes you just got to go with whatever you get. In the picture above you have a close up of Tara and Andrew, above them are Jeremiah, Elaine, Bob Lavoie's daughter, then Dom at the head of the table. On the right side of the photo are Chad and Bonnie.
Now looking down the table in the other direction from upper left and moving clockwise: Dom Jr., Carla, Kylee, Mike, Ken Gemma, Laura, McKenzie, Tara and Andrew (in the blue shirt).
Another shot of the table with Jake, Bonnie's great-nephew in the foreground. Everyone else is shown and named in the other pics.

What we ate:

I fixed turkey sandwiches and bbq beef sandwiches along with 8 salads. It was a hot day and salads just sounded good to me. (Of course, not everyone else agreed with my menu choices, most people in Dom's family think salads are not things to be eaten, especially our grandkids from that side. I can say, my side of the family loved the food I prepared this year.)

The salads I prepared were:

1. Crunchy Napa Cabbage Slaw (this was a really good slaw, one of the best of had, but you need to really watch how much cilantro you put in, it can get a little spicey!)
2. Spinach-Blackberry Salad (this was a little unusual, but surprisingly good I used marionberries from our yard and shaved parm cheese)
3. Romaine and Mandarin Orange Salad (I really liked this, the poppy seed dressing was great! I'm glad I have lots left over and I was even able to send some home with Chad and Melissa since Chad really liked the dressing too!)
4. Greek Tortellini Salad (I added black olives, and chopped hard salami, didn't add the spinach leaves, added chopped basil leaves instead - this seemed to be a crowd favorite - the lemony vinegrette was really good)
5. Cucumber/tomato/green onion salad with balsalmic vinegar dressing (my own recipe that I have been making for years, a real favorite with several people in our family. So glad our own onions were ready to be picked for this, they add such a great flavor to the salad.
6. Bruschetta in a bowl: tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and croutons tossed and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. (got the idea from #42 here).
7. My own homemade potato salad that I have been making for years.
8. Fruit salad with watermelon, honeydew melon, red seedless grapes and green seedless grapes.

For dessert we had our usual marionberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream and brownies.

Guest List:

Dom (the birthday boy, celebrating 75 years!)

Me (the party planner, caterer, all around slave)

Mike, Laura, McKenzie & Kylee

Dom Jr., Carla, Grace & Joey (backyard pool provider)

Miah (general last minute helper, thanks so much!)

Lissa, Chad (my sous chef, such a big help!), Aiden & Skyla (star of the party at just 5 days old)

Bonnie (my other sous chef, ice provider, table provider, general helper & baby holder) & Jake (all around helper) Matt...(MIA, but he will be available on August 25!)

Bob & Joyce Lavoie (Dom's golfing buddy & his wife)

Skyler & Elaine (Bob's daughter and her husband, another golfing buddy of Dom's)

Ken Gemma (so glad he could make it this year)

Mark & Donnie Anderson (thanks to Donnie for helping with the cleanup!)

Andrew & Tara Hagman (thanks so much guys! Andrew washed ALL the dishes and Tara did most of the after party cleanup! not to mention Andrew mowed the entire pasture on Thursday so it would look nice for the party...you guys are wonderful!)

Jeremy and Penny Anderson (so wonderful to see you...thanks for making the long drive for the day)

It was a good day, but I'm glad it is over for another year!