My little place to share and inspire.

Now that You're 5....

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 07:22:00 +0000

no longer suck your fingers, hair, or clothing

jumping higher is a must

running faster then ever before

now ready to go to school

(sorry sweetheart, not till next August)

saying words the right way

Melody told me of all of these things and more that she does or no longer does

now that she is 5 years old.

can she get any cuter???

New Commitment

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:37:00 +0000

This summer has gone by so fast! As such though, my workouts slowed down which isn't good. Luckily Team BeachBody introduced their BeachBody Challenge with an opportunity to win up to $100,000 just for committing and entering your results!

I have decided to restart ChaLEAN Extreme, and have just finished my first week.

I'm pushing myself more in lifting heavier, so I'm proud of myself for that. I'm ready to break through this plateau that has plagued me for so long and get fit and healthy.

Are you ready to Commit, Decide, Succeed??

New Releases & Freebies

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:07:00 +0000

Today's the day! Simple Girl Scraps has 2 new releases.

First up is Twitterpated released at ScrapDelicious for their Creative Junction Build a Kit special. 50% off right now so hurry and grab this beautiful kit!

I created this layout and made it into a QP for your personal use.

Download

Next up from Simple Girl Scraps is Goodnight.

This is a release for the Soda Shoppe Color Pop $1 Sale event at DigiScrap Drive-In. Pick up the kit at that special low price this weekend only.

And here a cluster freebie using Goodnight:

Download

Sneak Peeks

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 06:39:00 +0000

Simple Girl Scraps has a couple of awesome New Releases coming Friday! PLUS some freebies created by her awesome CT members!

Emjoy the sneak peek and check back here on Friday for the release!!

Get Your Craft On

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:37:00 +0000

I've been in a real slump lately in the decorating/crafty department. I'm the queen of good intentions, but never really follow through. Well, today I did it. And all before the 4th!!

I bought some of those decorative glass pebbles a while ago as a fill the jar reward system for Jordan, but never got around to using it. Then I decided that since I had red, white and blue pebbles, I could make an American flag out of them. I used my trusty Silhouette and vinyl to cut out the lettering. Purchased an 8.5x11 frame from WalMart, and I was good to go.

font: Digs My Heart

Needless to say, the kids were thrilled to have something up for the 4th of July. Now to find other fun, easy craft things to do for myself and the kids.

Designer News

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:12:00 +0000

image is linked to shop

Check out all the fabulous designs. You won't be disappointed!!

What Time is Is??

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:08:00 +0000

Summer Time!!!

Jordan's last day of school was last Thursday and he could have been more excited for Summer. He had a school field day and played outside before heading home on the bus. Melody and I created this fun little banner to put up on the garage door for when he came home. Jordan was thrilled to see it!

How fast this year has gone, and I just know the summer will pass even quicker. I'm planning to get some activities/fun stuff for the kids to do to help with summer boredom. I'm hoping to get a fun banner or display of some sort to put the activities to choose from on. If I'm creative and get it done, I'll be sure to post.

***Blast From the Past***

Here's Jordan singing and dancing to the opening song to High School Musical 2. Look how little he and Melody both are!?!

What are your plans for the summer? Any fun crafty activities?

Blast from the Past

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Sat, 21 May 2011 06:06:00 +0000

We were playing Apples to Apples tonight and Loney started singing this song. I was cracking up thinking of all the times we played this tape as our FHE activity growing up.

Good Times!!

Busy Month

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:34:00 +0000

I know I've been terrible about blogging more then once a month. I'm a slacker and I hope I'll get past whatever it is, and post more often.

Simple Girl Scraps has been busy creating kits for the iScrap Celebration over at ScrapDelicious. They are celebrating their 1 year anniversary with a huge freebie hunt, and lots of goings on in the forum.

Link

credits

Be sure to check out Theresa's 31 days of Photography. I'm hoping to be able to post my pictures for the challenge to help make up for the lack of posts so far this year.

I do have a freebie for you though. Simple Girl Scraps aka Theresa created a mini kit for DigiScrap Drive-In called Just Be Happy.

link

It's a free with $5 purchase at DigiScrap Drive-in. Here's the layout I created with the kit:

credits

I decided to make my layout into a Quick Page Freebie.


Download

Feel free to check out all the fantastic designs created by Simple Girl Scraps. Her kits are so fun, bright, and fantastic! You won't be disappointed!!

Spring Awakenings

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 06:34:00 +0000

As the temperature is rising, I look around to the renewal of spring and the birth of new beginnings.

I also reflect on the journey I've been on this past year. Taking that first step towards a healthier me was a very hard decision. I look at the me a year ago, and I'm appalled that I even thought I was happy. I was anything but happy with myself and the situation I had put myself in. I was destroying myself from the inside out, spiraling out of control without breaks.

Although I wish I could have been closer to my goals, I'm happy with the progress I've made. I've got tons of demons I still need to face head on though. Those voices that tell me I'm not progressing so I should just give up. Or if I make a poor choice with what I eat, I beat my self up and say that's it..may as well keep going. I've tried really hard to keep those demons at bay, but it's been a little hard lately.

Though it's still a few week until it's officially been one year since starting on my journey, I'm recommitting to ME! I can do this and no negative thoughts, temptations, guilt, etc will stand in my way. How can I when I've come this far?

Adieu to February

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 06:53:00 +0000

Tomorrow is the last day of February and I can't wait for it to be over. I had quite a few highs during the month:

Jordan's 7th Birthday

Valentine's Day spent with the kids


Jordan lost his 3rd tooth

I finished my second round of P90X!

As I celebrate these highs, I look back and realize I let the month slip past with not much accomplished towards my goals.

No dates with Loney, though he did get me some beautiful flowers for Valentines day.

Organizing was out the window. I hardly did anything that would even come close to organizing. Just upkeep, and I didn't do very well with that either.

My eating was atrocious this month. I know when I do my weigh in and measurements, if I haven't gained I'll be very surprised.

Needless to say, I'll be coming into March with renewed vigor. I start INSANITY with a fit test tomorrow, then 60 days of intense cardio. I'm also going to refocus my eating and have it be as clean as I can. Get rid of the junk in the house that's been my bane this month.

Tackle my house with pride in making it a home and sanctuary it should be. Work up a plan of attack instead of just saying I'm going to get organized.

As far as the dates with Loney, we'll take that one day at a time. Even if it means taking the family out together, at least we are doing something in strengthening our relationship.

Another thing I hope to start in March is journaling my feelings and happenings. Whether it be on my blog or keeping it private, I haven't decided. Finding out why I had such a rough month personally, moving on from it, and starting anew.

Sketch Participation

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 01:47:00 +0000

I'm taking part in My Sketch World's 5th Anniversary Sketch a Thon. I'm coming into it a little late, but luckily I have until March 3rd to post the layouts and/or cards to the gallery. Here's what I've done so far:

Here's the Sketch

There are going to be 20 sketches all together. That last card was day 17, so I'm a little behind. I'm hoping to get all of them done, but if not...at least half. That would be cool. If you scrap and would like to play along, here's the link to the Party and you could win one of several fabulous prizes!!

It's a me.....Mario!

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 06:07:00 +0000

Having all of our birthday's so close together is fun, but kind of hectic all at the same time. They start in October with Melody, then we hit the holidays just before mine in December. Loney's is a month after that, then 6 days is Jordan's. At least we get to relax the rest of the year I suppose.

Anyway, for Jordan and Loney's birthdays I asked them what they wanted their cakes to be decorated like. Jordan kept going back and forth for a while, but ultimately decided on a Mario cake. I thought, 'ok, I can do that.' I figured though that Loney needed a cake all his own, since we kinda celebrate them together. I ask him what he wanted. He thought for a moment then said, "a Bullet Bill cake." I figured I had some skill as a cake decorator that I might be able to pull it off. Well, I did!!

I was so nervous making it at first. I didn't have enough black fondant, so I had to mix it with some extra white. But it did turn out, and Loney was super happy with it.

Next came Jordan's cake. I bought Mario and Luigi keychain toys from Fry's Electronics because I KNEW I would not be able to make those two characters.

I made all of the mushrooms, turtle shells, bullet bill, goombas and Lakita out of fondant. I'm truely amazed how with a little imagination and a whole lot of luck, I can put together a cake.

I wonder if I actually would be good at this for a living....NAH! Too much stress.

Back to the Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:40:00 +0000

I am in no means a person who wants to be Au Natural. But since starting my journey to good health last year, I've been studying and reading a lot of labels. Not only food, but the products I use everyday.

I've already started making my own laundry detergent, and I LOVE it! So quick and easy to make, and it really does work without all of the fillers commercial detergent have.

The next step is making my own lotion. I have combination skin. My face gets really oily, but my hands and the rest of me gets really dry. Probably because I shower in too hot of water...but I digress.

Most lotions contain chemicals which could cause more harm then good to your skin.

I found this book while searching for homemade lotion recipes

I can't wait to get my dry, cracked little hands on this book. Perhaps some birthday gifts in the making???

Do you have any homemade beauty secrets?

2011 and What's in Store

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:41:00 +0000

Been a while since I posted...I know call me a slacker. I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I wish to accomplish this new year. For the past few years, especially in the scrapbooking community, there has been a real frenzy going about summing up your year in one word. I decided to have one for 2011: Changes. Here are some of them I plan to make or continue making this year:

Lose Weight: I've already started with that one in 2010. I plan to continue my journey with BeachBody programs like P90X, and soon to be INSANITY!! With those tools at my disposal..I can't go wrong.

Source

Get Organized: This being my year for changes, I'm going to take the tools necessary and get my house organized. That means, purging things that aren't needed, used, or have been sitting forever in boxes or in other "storage" areas. One closet, space, and room at a time!

Be more Creative: I hope to find the time to hone in on some other creative skills I may or may not have. I would love to get my sewing machine out more and make clothes for Melody. Perhaps even some awesome gifts for others. Ultimately would be a fabulous "Puff Quilt" following the tutorial at HoneyBear Lane. Maybe even have a homemade Christmas next year with all the gifts given being made from me!

Find Time for Romance: Loney and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary in May. Being parents you don't really have the time or energy to spend time with each other, remembering why you fell in love in the first place. That will change this year. We will have more "US" time even when things might be a little crazy. Date night once a month, and maybe a weekend or two away from the kiddos sometime during the year. There's some awesome ideas here at The Dating Divas.

Connect with Friends: I love the fact that in this day and age I'm able to find old friends and make new ones. Places like Facebook are a lifesaver for a mom at home with her kiddos. I hope to be able to meet some of the online friends I've made at Faithsisters.com even those I've connected with from BeachBody.

I think that should be a good start to strive for this year. Making even small changes will make this year the best yet!

What are your goals?

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Awesome Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:18:00 +0000

Check out this awesome deal from Simple Girl Scraps! You can find her designs at Faith Sisters.

Flooded

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 06:16:00 +0000

A pre Christmas disaster has happened. I was hoping to have a nice relaxing week getting things ready to decorate for Christmas this weekend, no I'm not so sure.

We were eating dinner next door, and were over there for over an hour eating then playing some Mario Kart Double Dash. Loney needed to use the restroom and decided to head back home. Well, he comes back saying the toilet had clogged up and then overflowed while we were gone. I was thinking, oh well it can't be that bad. It happened about a month ago before and it didn't get too bad then.

Well, I got the kids ready to head back home and when I walk in, the site was not what I wanted to deal with at all!!

As you can see, it extended all the way to our kitchen sink...about 6 feet out. After further inspection I noticed as I walked around the corner I was leaving prints all the way to our kitchen table.

We got the shop vac out and got as much sucked up as we could before Loney needed to get ready for work. I would have continued on, but working the wet vac is a 2 person job since the hose is falling apart. One person to man the sucking of the water, the other to hold closed the holes in the hose on the other end.

Needless to say I've got a busy few days trying to dry all this up. If worse comes to worse, we'll just cut out the carpet down to the concrete. We were planning to tile in that area anyway, this might just speed up the process. I pray it won't come to that because I'm not sure if I up to the mess and cold concrete when I should be enjoying getting things ready for Christmas.

I could look on the bright side and be greatful it was just water and that the sewage didn't back up. I think I'd be sleeping in a hotel room as we speak if that was to have happened.

First Feature

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:49:00 +0000

I had my first layout featured at the Sweet Shoppe Blog. I created this layout at the beginning of the month, and I'm honored that one of my favorite designers chose it to show the scrapping community.

Krystal Hartley created this kit along with Scrap Kitchen designs. The kit is called The Very Thought of You, and it is completely stunning. I used a template from Fiddle Dee Dee Designs from the Fuss Free Leaving you in Stitches set. I'm blessed to have "met" these two wonderful talented women.

You can see what she said about me and the layout HERE.

P90X Results

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 06:24:00 +0000

Well, it's been just over a week since I started my second round of P90X. So I thought I would post my pictures from the first 90 days so you can see my progress. I lost a total of 16 inches during the whole 90 days. Not quite up to what I lost with Power 90, but combine them both and I've lost a total of 33.5 inches since April. Not too shabby I'd say. I have dropped from a size 22 pants (could fit into a tight 20 with the right cut) to a size 15/16. I haven't been that size in nearly 11 years.

I can see some subtleties which is better then nothing at all I suppose. I'm not giving up though. I've worked too hard to do that. This new round of P90X is the lean version. With more cardio I'm hoping to lose more, since I won't be buffing up my muscles as much. Not that it's a bad thing. Just need to get some more inches off. Wanna see my progress since starting in April? I know you wanna!! Here you go:

I feel amazing, and what's more, as I'm making a difference in my life I'm also inspiring others. I signed up as a BeachBody coach because I want to help others in their journey. You're not alone. I never thought I would make this kind of change in my life, and BeachBody has played a huge part in that...so why not pay it forward. Even though I still have a ways to go, I'm on the right track. Nothing can stop me now.

Quick Page Freebie

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:44:00 +0000

I decided to make my newest layout into a Quick Page and offer it as a freebie.

I used Simple Girl Scrap's kit Sail Away. The alpha for Be Happy is My Twilight by Kreative Karma. Both found at Faith Sisters. I hope you enjoy this freebie.

Click here for Download

Allison aka the Tooth Fairy

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:41:00 +0000

Jordan finally lost his first tooth. He has had two loose teeth for weeks, and we kept telling him to play/wiggle it all of the time. Well Sunday, his Aunt Mamy checked one of the teeth and it finally came out! He's been scared to death about it coming out, but super thrilled to finally have it come out.

That night I had Jordan decorate an envelope to put his tooth in, so the Tooth Fairy could find it. He did an awesome job drawing a picture of himself and the tooth fairy. Well, he informed me that the Tooth Fairy's name was Allison. I said, 'oh really'. I guess with as many kids that lose teeth, there must be more then one Tooth Fairy.

The Tooth Fairy arrived during the night and left this note in Jordan's envelope:

Isn't it amazing that he knew the Tooth Fairy's name?!? Jordan has one more tooth to come out hopefully this week since both the permanent teeth are making their appearance as we speak. It's hard to believe my baby boy is growing up. He is such a sweetheart and I'm so blessed to have him call me mom!!

Faith Sisters News

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:59:00 +0000

It's that time again for the Faith Sisters Blog Train. I love following along and getting all those beautiful mini kits. The designers have really outdone themselves this month. I hope you'll follow along and enjoy. Starting point is Susan Godfrey Designs, then just follow the links as you go. Your Kaboose will be the Faith Sister's blog.

Here's a sampling of some of the kits you'll receive:

Amazing right?!? I also wanted to post a sneek peed at Simple Girl Scrap's upcoming kit. Oh man, it is soo cute! It's called Sugar Rush and it is sweet enough to make you sick. LOL I hope you'll be sure to check it out when it is released on Friday.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 08:20:00 +0000

Oh man, today was quite the day. Loney, Diana, Amy, Bradd and I all headed down to the courthouse so we could early vote. It was great seeing so many there, though the line was not so fun. Oh well.

Headed back home and got the kids ready to head to the Pahrump Disability Outreach Program's 1st Annual Pumpkin Patch. Everyone but Loney ended up going. He needed to get some rest before his final play performance.

We got to the Park and the kids immediately started climbing the Hay Pyramid.

Then we made our way to a picture taking area, and I got a couple of great shots of Jordan and Melody. I should have gotten one of them together, but oh well.

Here's little Jimmy bundled up in the stroller. This was his first trip out of the house since he was born a month ago. He slept the whole time, so Xue could enjoy the time spent with Bradd and the Kids.

The Hay Maze. Amy, Jordan, Nathan and Megan all went together one way, while I explored with Melody. We kept hitting dead ends, but that meant I could get a great picture of Melody.

I then was able to get Amy with Jordan and Megan. They love their Aunt Mamy almost as much as she loves them!!

The pumpkin patch was up after a quick trip to get some Italian Ice. Melody got cherry, but I ended up eating most of it. Oh well. There were tons of pumpkins in the "patch", and the kids enjoyed looking at them and seeing which one they wanted to take home.

Next stop was feeding some horses. I didn't get pictures of that because my hands were covered in horse spit...eeewww. I was quite impressed that Melody went right up and put her hand out to feed the horses. She's braver then the other kids, that's for sure.

After the feed was gone, the hay ride tractor pulled up so we hopped on and enjoyed a nice hay ride through the desert. It was so much fun listening to Jordan yelling "whoa" every time we'd go up or down a hill. Too much fun.

Our jaunt through the desert came to an end which meant things were winding down for our fun. With one stop to let the kids explore the fire trucks:

The kids, namely Jordan, wanted to go through the Hay maze one last time, so before we found the exit I got a picture of everyone (minus Xue, Jimmy, and myself) to document the day.

A fun filled day and now I'm ready for bed. Good night!!

Such Talent

noreply@blogger.com (Natalie) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:00:00 +0000

This last weekend was a busy one for Loney. He had a part in the Shadow Mountain Community Players melodrama "The Villain Wore a Dirty Shirt" playing Sheriff Jack B. Nimble. This was all part of the Wild West Extravaganza that Saddle West Hotel & Casino has every year. Friday was opening night so I went to help set up the sound (that he was also in charge of) and watch the performance. He did amazing! The play went well considering one of the actors had taken over a part only 6 weeks before.

Saturday, Loney was singing in the Nye County Idol competition for a spot in the Finals Sunday. He did an amazing job singing Truly by Lionel Richie.

He made it through and we were super thrilled for him!! Not long after the idol competition he had another night of the play. I didn't end up going to help set up sound that night, mostly because I was exhausted after the day we had the day before.

Sunday was the matinée for the melodrama, so I decided to take the kids to watch. Jordan and Melody loved "booing" the villain and throwing popcorn at him. Jordan said he was going to be in the play as the Sheriff. Too cute.

Idol competition was right after the play was over, so Loney needed to change quickly and head over across the lot. Loney sang New York State of Mind by Billy Joel:

He placed second out of 3! I'm so lucky to have such a talented husband.

Now to get me brave enough to try out. Hmmm......