High/Low - November 14th + Freebie

Can you believe we are almost half-way through November already?! Where does the time go?

I know I missed blogging last Friday - I am going through a major dry spell with everything. I can't seem to concentrate on getting things accomplished. Design, cleaning and other projects have just gone by the wayside and I have been really struggling with a little bit of depression and stress and anxiety. I'm having a really hard time focusing on even one thing and so nothing is getting done and that just makes me more panicky. And so you guessed it - this is my LOW FOR THE WEEK. It's getting better and I'm hoping to be myself next week and I can start getting back into everything! I miss being around the digital scrapbook community - I miss having a clean house - I miss really being with my kids - so I need to get back into everything. Hopefully after my little vacation this weekend, I can refocus and get back on a schedule!

My HIGH for the week is that last Saturday I got to go to lunch with some Scrap Girls friends. I am really starting to get to know these wonderful bunch of women and I am so excited to have the opportunity to do things with them! In the area where I am living right now, I just don't feel like I belong and I don't really have friends here (although there is a woman 2 houses up from me that I think we are starting to be friends). I really think it is important to have friends who understand you and things that you have in common and through digital scrapbooking I have met just so many people online that I feel like are friends now. And I'm lucky to have the opportunity to have a digital scrapbook community right here in Utah - SCRAP GIRLS and I am so grateful for these wonderful FRIENDS that I have now. Sometimes it does you really good to just get away from your house and from your responsibilities and just be with some friends, laugh and enjoy yourself. That's what I got last Saturday. We went to lunch and did a little shopping (window shopping for me) - it was fabulous!


Wendee, JoAnn, Me, Andrea, Kaye, Anna, Ro, & Valery


PERSONAL UPDATE:
Everything is going well with my family. We've had some colds hit us, but I think we are feeling good right now and that is a blessing. Joey is crazy busy at work right now with the end of the year fastly approaching. He has had a major project that he just finished and I'm really proud of all he does at work! Hopefully he can make it through the next couple of months and then he can slow down a little bit. I'm doing ok - just struggling to get a good balance and schedule going but hopefully I will find it soon. JJ is doing really well at school. I'm so proud of him and the long way he has come in his development. I'm so grateful for his wonderful school! Beth is doing well too - she loves school and wishes she went more than 2 days a week. She is now completely potty trained (even at night) and I'm so happy! :)

We recently had our first snowfall of the season and the kids enjoyed that. It didn't last very long (not even a day) and then we had to rake up all our leaves - but it's such a fun time for the kids!













Here's a funny story that happened about a week ago. I shared my wedding album with Beth one day - and was just telling her about the day and showing her pictures and stuff. A couple of days later, Joey was wonderful and took Beth to her school one morning so I could sleep in (I wasn't feeling well). On the way to school, Beth started telling her dad all about how Mom got married in the temple "with George" and how Mom looked so pretty and went on and on about the beautiful roses and all the beautiful dresses, etc. Joey said he couldn't stop laughing about how she was telling this big story. We figured she had had a dream about it and we just couldn't figure out who the heck was "George." Yesterday, the mystery was finally solved when Beth started telling me the story again - and I looked up at the picture of the temple that Joey and I were married in - and it hit me. We were married in the St. George (Utah) LDS Temple - the "George" she was talking about was the temple. She is quite the little storyteller!

We have an exciting little adventure this weekend starting tomorrow. We are going to go stay up to Midway, Utah in a little condo until Monday and I'm so excited to just get away and be with my family. Saturday we are taking the kids on the Heber Valley Railroad and I can't wait to see the kids enjoy that. The rest of the weekend we are going to take it easy - watch some movies - be together, maybe go swimming, etc. We don't take many vacations and when we do it is usually going to spend time with extended family - so I think this will be a really good thing for us. I'm sure it will be my HIGH for next week and I'll share lots of pictures! :)


DESIGN UPDATE:

Obviously, I have not really been designing lately, but hopefully next week I can get going on it.

Martha & Sharon - I know I owe you a Custom TearZ - hang in there with me - I'm doing them next week!

My Children's book, PRINCESS SECRETS, should be here very soon and then I can start selling them here on my blog. I'm so excited to see the book and hear what you all think! Stay tuned - I will put it up here on my blog as soon as they get here!

My Mom's side of the family are all going to take a Disneyland Trip in March. I'm so excited to do this and to have my kids experience it! It will be my Mom's family (including all my siblings and their families) and my Mom's brother's whole family. We did this same trip when I was about 10 with the same family. Of course now our family has grown a lot, but I think it is exciting that we are doing it again. I was able to design a little logo for some matching T-shirts and I drew the castle so I'm pretty proud of it so I wanted to share it here:




I previously announced that I am going to be a designer for the new iScrapbook site that will be open next week! I'm excited for this opportunity to grow and learn and be a part of something different. My kits at iScrapbook will be exclusive, so stay tuned, as there are 6 new products coming out from me when the store opens!

3Scrapateers was closing - but not anymore. It was purchased so now we have new owners and we are all trying to transition into what will be the new 3S! I'm excited about the different opportunities I will have here now and hopefully you will all come back and share with us at 3S as we get it all whipped back into shape! :) My ScatterZ Challenge is continuing there - so make sure you check that out!


Okay, I think that's all for now. Thanks for reading through this LOOOONG POST! I will REALLY try and get back to blogging more and doing all the things that I do!

I DO have a freebie for you today and I really hope you enjoy it. I have decided to start 2 different paper lines and I wanted to share them with you here and see what you think! PLEASE give me your feedback about the idea.

PeekZ is going to different papers that will have a textured top background and "peeking" out from different holes will be colorful patterned paper.

StackZ is going to be layered paper stacks with added embellishments that can be used as a great start to a layout - just add photos, journaling and a few other embellies and you are done!

Both of these collections will have coordinating papers with old kits and new kits!

I really want to know what you think - whether good or bad about these 2 ideas. Let me know if you like it or what you don't like!

Have a great weekend everyone!



DOWNLOAD LINK