Thankful for... My Sis!

Created using "So Thankful" DSD Blog Train Products by: Craft-astrophic, Eva Kipler, Laura Banasiak, Sweet Digi Scraps by Leilani, Litabells Designs, Memory Scraps (Che Yang Designs, Berrysweet Designs, BusyBee Designs, Pixie Perfect Designs, Yoshiko Designs, Designs by Tracy Little), Michelle Batton, Pixel Queens (Laura Burger Designs), Suzy-Q Scraps (alpha), Traci Reed, and Trixie Scraps. Template by BusyBee Designs.

Journaling reads:

We were never friends growing up... we were barely sisters. But after more than twenty years, we agreed to start over and learn to be friends. As a natural progression from that, however, I looked up one day and saw my sister - so much more than a friend. And, for the first time in my life, I know what it is like to have that person - my blood - with whom I can talk about anything. What a wonderful feeling...

This (above) is a layout I created last month on "Digital Scrapbooking Day". Digiscrapaddicts.com sponsored a "blog train" and this was created with several of the free goodies I picked up along the route. One of the hardest things to do (yet I find myself doing it often, these days) is to create a layout before knowing what pictures are going to be used. lol Then again, it's not always easy the other way, either.

When I was first starting this digi-scrapping thing (waaaay back in August, lol), it was rather easy to match photos with a kit or vice-versa. Such as this layout here:

As I was browsing thousands of photos on my computer, I only had ten or so digital kits to work with. One was hot pink and blue - I ran across the photos from H's 5th birthday and.... Ah-HA! Perfect match!

Now, however, I have nearly 200 kits and it's hard to keep up with what I have, much less think of exactly the right one when I see a photo. So, these days, I end up finding a kit I want to play with and then start digging for photos that will match.

So, back to the first layout, above... I traveled through the blog train picking up all the coordinating freebies (or most of them, at least), then used them to put together the "thankful for you" layout. When I switched over to my photos to find what to use, it was a little easier having a "theme" to work with... What/who was I thankful for? Then I saw the pics of my sis & me from my visit, last year. From there, I just needed a little honest journaling and it was done!

My Lil' Girl & Santa...

Kit: Make the Time by Connie Prince; Additional elements: "believe" wordart - My Inspiration/TDC collab,

journal tag - Life Snippets by Meg Mullens, paint splatter - Raining on Sunday by Jennifer Fox Designs

My little girl... I'm not going to be able to call her that for long! But she'll always be my baby.

The Memory Keeper

my layout using Memory Keeper kit by Jennifer Fox Designs

I am the memory keeper. And I LOVE this new kit by Jennifer Fox.

It released today at TheDigiChick.com*.

While on vacation for Thanksgiving, I was playing with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone trying to get some different pics of myself... because who else is going to do it, ya' know? So before we went to the family gathering, I sat out on the front porch and snapped photos. lol And, of course, I tried to hide what I was doing when someone walked out - I mean, who sits around and does that, right? (Of course, I know that, in reality, we all do it - but I don't know yet if that means we're all normal or if we're all just the same kind of weird.)

So, anyway, I had these pics and posted one as my FB profile pic. Then I got back home and checked in on my CT forums. And, lo & behold, THIS kit was waiting on me at Jennifer Fox Designs:

How perfect was this?? Every now and then, the stars line up just right and - *POW* - you end up with a great thing. All that was left once I got my design in place was the journaling. And, with the photos and those thoughts about who takes the pictures around here... the journaling practically wrote itself. For those of you without super-human vision, here is my wording enlarged: 

I am the memory-keeper. I am the picture-taker. I am the person charged with preserving those moments that mean so much. Those moments that are not to be forgotten. Those moments that take our breath away. Those that make us laugh. Those moments that break our hearts with sweetness and bring tears to our eyes. There is a downside to this charge, however. In between these moments - I am still the one holding the camera, so it is up to me to get pictures of myself if there are any to be had. Just as not every photo of the kids or other family comes together in one shot, photos of myself are rarely worth using. But, then again, there is no one watching the viewfinder when the camera is pointed at me. So, while no one is around, I try to get a good one. Otherwise, who will take those shots to remember me? Because, I am the... Memory Keeper.

*Update: This designer has retired from designing, so her products are, unfortunately, no longer available.

Home Sweet Home

We are finally home from our vacation... and it was certainly one of those "need a vacation from my vacation" kind of vacations. We only had three of the four kiddos with us, but they were a handful the entire trip!

There were several "favorite" parts... one was waking up on "Black Friday" to see it was actually WHITE Friday. It had snowed sometime after midnight. And I don't think it got over 33 degrees all day. The kids attempted to play in the light dusting of snow, but they only made it about 10 minutes before they were frozen! Above is the layout I made to "commemorate" it.

My favorite, however, was later that same day. We got to go over to JP's grandparents' house and I finally got to know them. Granny Jan and I spent hours talking and looking at pictures. Over the last year and a half, each time we've seen them has been at family gatherings, at most of which, Granny Jan and Pa Fred were the hosts. So we have never really had time to talk before now. And it was a very special day, as far as I'm concerned.

That evening, we spent hours over at JP's dad & stepmom's house. We had an interesting conversation about employment possibilities that I look forward to hearing more about. There is a slight chance we might end up heading back to Kentucky at the end of the year. For JP, it might mean rejoining the family business. And for me, his aunt worked for the city for years and has plenty of contacts by which I may be able to join the police force. *fingers crossed* At this point, we have applications in for the sheriff's department here, but neither of us really want to stay here. The paycut JP will be taking is enormous, even when adding the salary I would be making if we both got picked up. Moving up there, though, both salaries would put us a lot closer to what he's making in our current situation. We still would have to find the money for the actual move, but we're looking into the possibilities and will hopefully know something soon.

So, now we're home... We spent ALL day on the couch, last night. It was a very long drive home with very cranky kids who refused to rest most of the time. lol So, we vegged on the couch watching TV all day. I think the dog, in fact, was the only one of us that went outside the house all day. Aside from being sore from lack of movement, it was a very good day! I even got to scrap. I managed a layout for one of my designers that should release in a couple days. Then I started the layout that I posted above. I also designed our Christmas cards, but have to find somewhere to get it printed now. Cheaply, I hope!

On the road again...

We spend so much time on the road! With family in Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, and Maryland, it's a pretty big deal any time we try to work in a visit. And that's BEFORE you add any kids in the mix. lol

Today, we're headed to Kentucky. We routed through Birmingham to return H to her dad, first. Luckily, making the trip through B'ham only adds about 30 minutes to the trip overall. We found this out, originally, when I was living in Mississippi still and JP was in Georgia. We would often head up to Kentucky for a weekend and B'ham was a great mid-point to meet up and caravan together. Of course, there were also times that we would find a secure location to park my truck and I'd just hop in with him. Good times. Needless to say, we put a lot of miles on our vehicles. (I think I may have put close to 35,000 on the Jeep alone, since January.)

But back to today... We are driving though Tennessee right now. In just over an hour we will reach our destination - Bowling Green, KY - to visit with both sides of JPs family for Thanksgiving.

The three kids we have left with us are at their ever-lovin' wits end. They're bored. They're tired. And they're apparently allergic to silence. JP and I were talking earlier about actually looking forward to the teenage years. Ya' know... that age where we have to DRAG them with us anywhere, so in their emo-sulky-ness, they'll just sit back with their music in their headphones and close their eyes. And, of course, I'm sure we will regret these days passing... We'll look back and remember when... At least, that's what *they* say. ROFLMAO Frankly, I think *they* are nuts. ;0)

So, here we sit in Nashville traffic... Contemplating silence... And trying to remember what the hell it sounds like...

Off the wagon...

I knew it was bound to happen. Hi, My name is Sue, and it's been five days since my last blog post. I have a good excuse, though! We've been wrangling kids. 'Nuf said. Right? Any time we can make arrangements to get all four kids, we make it happen. So, this weekend, we did.



We drove to Mississippi to pick up H on Friday. Stayed in the state with my parents that night and headed back to Georgia on Saturday - picking up Ab along the way in Atlanta. We got home late that night, took H over to Am & J's house on Sunday morning so she could go to church with them. Ab, JP, and I went back home to begin cleaning the house! H had asked earlier in the week if we were going to have a Thanksgiving feast while she was here and, at first, I said, "No." Hadn't even considered it!! But then I'd realized, "Why not?!" So we called Am & J's mom to see what she thought and it all just came together!



So, Sunday night, we had our big family feast! Turkey, gravy, cornbdread dressing, mashed potatoes, rolls, cranbery sauce (two kinds), cran-apple cobbler, chocolate chip pie, and red velvet cupcakes... We STUFFED ourselves! Am, J, and their mom went back home afterwards and we rolled the oldest and youngest of the four up to bed.



Today, we will pick up the middle two again and will have them through the weekend. Unfortunately, it's H's dad's year to have her for Thanksgiving, so on our way up to spend the holiday with JP's family, we'll be meeting in Alabama to drop H off with him.



Busy week! Ab is napping, right now. JP has H out playing in the woods. Sometime between tonight and tomorrow, I need to run to the store... We have two Thanksgiving meals to attend on Thursday with JP's family and I think I'm going to use my new two-pie carrier to take two chocolate chip pies! So, THAT is what I'll be doing tomorrow as we prep to head out frist thing Wednesday morning.



Luckily, with the holiday, there is no class, this week. We just have to get back in time, this weekend, for me to get some good studying in before an exam next week. Fun, fun!!

iScrapped...

For some reason, things seem to have slowed down (temporarily, I hope) on my Creative Teams, so I've had a little more time to scrap for myself. All that means is that I'm finally getting to use some of the hundred or so kits that I've bought and downloaded over the last several months from designers whose ad teams I'm not on. Here is my newest layout featuring our two middle children, Am & J:


I made this using Meg Mullens' In Full Bloom kit and Darcy Baldwin's November 2010 Cookie template... both from Sweet Shoppe Designs .

Allow me to introduce myself...

My name is Sue (or Suzy, as you will undoubtedly see some call me from time to time) and I am 34 years old. I'm a Mississippi girl, at heart, though I wasn't made for the heat. I've lived my entire life in the south, though - Mississippi, then Kentucky, then back to Mississippi, and now Georgia.

I am married to my high school sweetheart and have always been in love with him even though April of 2009 was the first time I'd seen him in 13 years. We have a long, beautiful, romantic story that I'll tell you sometime. It's a good one, trust me... :) Between us, we have four kids: H - 7 yrs; Am - also 7 yrs (3 mo younger than H); our lone boy, J - 5yrs; and Ab - 2.5 yrs. We do not have them full time, so we try to have as much fun as possible when we they visit. Am & J live here in town, but Ab is 3 hours away in north GA, and H is 8 hours away in MS.

My professional background is varied. I have a degree in criminal justice that I have never applied to that field (yet). But most of my experience is in Training & Development. I have worked in state government, with a consulting firm, and, most recently, with a private non-profit doing training & development. It's not exactly what I'd refer to as my calling, but I've been good at it. I was laid off from my job last December due to budget cuts and moved to GA to be with my fiancé in January of ’10. I am currently in school to be an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). And I’ve just applied to the Sheriff’s department to be a deputy. One more thing to add to my bag of tricks is that I’m about to join my DH in the world of Bail Recovery. I guess I have a thing for badges (and my gun).

My newest and favorite hobby is Digital Scrapbooking… I've been scrapping (under the alias, MSDragonfly) since August 8th of 2010. Yes - I'm really *that* new. But if you like what I do, you can thank KYRainbow. Sally is my best friend from... cough, mumble, cough... years ago. Actually, we're not too old to say it just yet, I guess. We met 22 years ago when I was in the 7th grade and she was in the 8th grade. I got to see her in August of this year for the first time since a brief visit in 1997 and she sucked me into scrapping. Since August, I have accumulated several GSOs and a LOTD on GottaPixel. Before August, I’d never scrapped before by any means, paper or digi. I have collected some supplies and books on paper scrapping over the years, but never had the time or space to really even begin. So, digital appealed to me because I've used PS for other stuff in the past and love it. Of course, I'm currently using PSE (due to a lean budget, lol).

I’ve got my galleries listed over there on the right. And, though, I haven’t added them on my sidebar, yet, I CT for Litabells Designs, Geek Chic Scraps, and I’m on the promo team for Jennifer Fox Designs. I'd like to pick up another team or two... We'll see...

Well... it's a big nutshell, but I guess that's me...

Upon proofing this post, I realized any "non-scrappers" may need some definition on common terms we use in the "digiworld".... So here ya' go:

• GSO - Gallery Stand Out: several galleries have this as a "kudos to you" or "look what I found" kind of acknowledgment.


• LOTD - Layout of the Day: again, several sites will choose one of that day's uploads as a featured layout for the next day.


• PS - Photoshop: editing software


• PSE - Photoshop Elements: less expensive (but slightly limited) editing software