How Proper!

I have been reading this book by Dr. Laura (saw that Shalae was reading it and I had wanted to for a while), and it is really good. It has opened my eyes about a lot of my behavior in my marriage and how I can become a better wife. I have really liked it.

Mint Tin Mania!

For those of you who are not regular viewers of our ScrapGirls blog (which you should be, but that's another story...), then I'm going to share some pictures of a mini-album that I created for Nathan using Amanda Sok's SS Craft Templates: Mint Tin and Erica Hite's Skin Deep collection biggie. Both of these products are separately amazing, but when put together, they're absolutely gorgeous! I just love how easy it was to create this album using the templates and photos of Eli and me. Then putting it together was a snap with Amanda's instructions. What a fun, cute way of turning an old Altoid tin into a cool gift for parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, etc. The possibilities are endless. :)

He's Home!

I am so glad to have Nathan back home with us, safe and sound. He got in yesterday morning at 10am, which was about 3am Sydney time, and he's still feeling a little jet-lagged. Hopefully a lot of rest today will get him feeling more like himself again.

There's just nothing like having the Priesthood back in our home. It's such a tangible thing for me, there's just a different spirit and I feel so much safer! :) It's really nice.

I have no pictures to share yet, but will soon. For now, I'm just a happy camper.

The Price is Wrong, Bob!

When Ali was here last week, we went down to a taping of the new Price Is Right with Drew Carey. It was so much fun! We made our own T-shirts and rode the train to get to LA and felt like real accomplished women because we made it to the CBS studios without getting mugged in downtown LA ( even if we had to get on a bus in the middle of Mexico. I had no idea that LA has portions of it that have actually crossed the border!).

So anyhoo, we didn't get picked to be contestants, but we did get Drew Carey to sign our home-made T-shirts! It was during the commercial break time and I screamed, "Drew, we want you to see our shirts!" And the announcer (Rich I think) says, "You want him to see through your shirt? Uh-oh!" It was hilarious.

After we showed him our shirts, he signed them for us and it was cool. It was only his third taping ever and so we had to re-do the ending of the show because he missed something and the loser's friends all thought she won and jumped up on stage with her. It was too funny. Ali's shirt on the front said, "Out with the old" and on the back it said "In with the Drew!" Mine had a picture of Drew on the front and said "Bob 2.0" with a little "Cleveland Rocks!" on the back. We thought were pretty clever. :)

We weren't allowed to bring in our cameras to the studio, or else I totally would have gotten a picture of how small the studio is! It's tiny, and they do the whole show on about 3 little platforms, just changing things out left and right. It was cool to see.

Here are some pictures of our shirts, though, and our nametags and other such paraphernalia. :)

Group shot with our T-shirts and name tags


Ali's Drew Carey signature


My Drew Carey signature

Balboa Island

Ali, Angela and I went down to Balboa Island last week and had a great time. We got caricatures done, we shopped, we saw the ferris wheel, and Angela even ate a frozen banana. A good time was had by all. :)

Me or My Man?

Found this fun questionnaire on a friends' blog and thought I'd take a crack at it. Some of these were hard! :)


You or your man?


1. Who eats more? I'd have to say that Nathan does. I could not even compete if I wanted to! :)
2. Who said "I love you" first? I did. And I did it pretty fast. It took him a while, but he came around. I think he thought I was going at lightning speed in our relationship and he just wanted to chill. But he couldn't resist!

3. Who weighs more? Umm, let me think, he does. Yeah, I think that's right.
4. Who sings better? I'd have to say me, although he does try very hard.
5. Who's Older? He is by about 2 1/2 years.
6. Who's smarter? Nathan is definitely smarter, because he has a mind like a steel trap and he remembers absolutely everything! I'm surprised I remember what I did last week. Yeah, not much of a memory person. But us both a question about Photoshop and I've got the upper hand. Yeah, baby! :)

7. Who's temper is worse? I think I would have to say that I do. Neither of us are big yellers at all, but I tend to sulk and quietly rage. It does take a lot to get Nathan really mad.

8. Who does the laundry? Me, me and me.
9. Who does the dishes? He's good at helping with the dishes, but lately it's been all me.

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If by 'right' side you mean the side that is the coolest, then of course it's going to be me. But if you mean 'right' side when you're looking at the bed, then it's him.
11. Who's feet are bigger? His definitely are.
12. Who's hair is longer? Mine.
13. Who's better with the computer? Depends on what you're doing with the computer. He's the pro with everything hardware and functioning and all that, but I'm the pro with certain programs. I'd say overall that it's him, though. I mean, that is his job!
14. Who mows the lawn? If we had a lawn, it would definitely be Nathan's domain. He used to mow it (almost) every week at the studio.
15. Who pays the bills? I do. He hasn't paid a bill since we've been married. :)

16. Who cooks dinner? That's tough, because we both do. I should cook way more and I'm trying to start, but it's tough when there's only 2 of you eating and there are a million ziploc bags full of leftovers! But overall, I'd say I cook more, even though he does cook some.
17. Who drives when you are together? He does, usually. If he's too tired I'll drive.
18. Who pays when you go out to dinner? He does, of course. Although it doesn't really matter because the funds come from the same place anyway. :)
19. Who's the most stubborn? Stubborn, hmmm. I would have to go with Nathan. He really does like to have things a certain way, although we're both pretty set in what we expect. I don't know, that's a hard question.
20. Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong? Me. I'm wrong a lot, apparently! :)

21. Who's parents do you see more? Definitely his parents. They're close by so we see them a lot. I miss seeing my parents because they're now living in Cleveland and that's way too far away. I really am sad that Eli doesn't get equal time with the respective grandparents, but that's just the way it goes, I suppose.

22. Who named your dog? We don't have one. Who knows if we'll ever have one. Once we have a house, maybe, but we'll have to see about another kid first, then decide if I can deal with animals! :)

23. Who kissed who first? Yeah, that would have to be me, I think. He knew I was waiting for the kiss and he just kept dragging it out, trying to torture me. (And I think he was a little nervous because he'd never kissed a girl before!) Our first kiss was at Stewart Falls and it was great. :)

24. Who asked who out? He asked me out, for sure. Although, we did just hang out a lot and play games and stuff, but then one night it was just different. Very cool indeed.

25. What did you do? We went to dinner and a movie. Nothing too exciting, but it was because it was our first date and I was so nervous and giggly and we had a great time. :)

26. Who's more sensitive? Me, me, me. And me! I know he's sensitive to my feelings and such, but he'd much rather make a joke than talk about sensitive stuff. It's just his personality, he likes to be happy and jovial and not dwell on the feelings stuff. :) Too bad he married me! Hahaha.
27. Who's taller? Nathan, by a good margin.
28. Who has more friends? I would say that we both have only a few friends. We're really stuck together a lot and we do stuff together all the time. And I'm REALLY not good at keeping up with old friends and such (sorry, Summer!!). But this is on my to-do list to get better at, being friends with people. I'm such a dork, I have a to-do list about being friends with people. Lame-O!! :)

29. Who has more siblings? I do, I have 5 and Nathan has 2.

30. Who wears the pants in the relationship? That depends, what kind of pants are they? Because Nathan sure knows how to rock the sequined stretch pants!! :) No, I think we both have a lot of pull in our relationship. He is always thinking about me and putting my needs first, though, but he also makes a lot of the main decisions. So I don't know, maybe Nathan, with a heavy dose of me. :)

Thanks for reading! :)

Personality Test

Okay, so I stole this idea from Jessica's blog and took this personality test myself. It's pretty accurate, I would say. Especially towards the love relationships, work stuff, and how people see me. Crazy.

This is me:

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards. You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings. At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak

What's Your Personality Type?

Any thoughts? Agree, disagree? :)

Laguna Beach

Ali and Angela are visiting for a while as Nathan is in Australia. We went out to Laguna Beach yesterday (Angela: "So where do we go to see all the famous people?") and we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, no famous people spotting, but it was still fun to hang out together and soak up some sun. Here are some fun pictures from the day.

CK Reader's Choice! I need your help!

Hey gang! (Or anyone who is reading this, lol!) I just wanted to pass along an opportunity to showcase digital scrapbooking and ask for your help with it. Here is an excerpt from a post Mandy did on the message board today: "Scrap Girls is participating as a company in CK's 2008 Readers' Choice Awards. We would love to have you fill out a ballot and vote for Scrap Girls. Here is the link to vote for your favorites. I believe the contest runs through the middle of October. If you've ever wanted to spread the word about how much you love Scrap Girls, here is a great way to do it. You vote. Have your friends vote. Get your kids to vote and your dog and your cat. Post it on your blog for people to go vote for Scrap Girls." So please, if you have a spare moment, go vote for ScrapGirls! I love this company and it has taught me everything I know about digital scrapbooking. I could not be more grateful to Ro, Mandy, Angie, Heidi, and everyone else who I work with, for being so great and believing in me. I owe all of them more than just a vote, but if I can start there, then that will be good. So I encourage you to help me show my appreciation! Please go vote! Thanks so much! :)


Okay, and PS: on a totally different note....Nathan and I actually got out of the house tonight to go see The Bourne Ultimatum. Oh man, it was so good. Rarely do movie series like these get better as they go along, but this last one was just so GOOD! I loved the action and the back story and the character development and music. Oh, the great, heart-pounding music! Just loved it. Plus, it was great to get out with Nathan and be able to spend some time together before he leaves. Okay, I'll leave you all with some pictures, since I know that's what you want to see anyway. ::smile::

Oh, man, he sure did need a haircut! Good thing I got him one the very next day.

He just loves to go down the slide!

I just bought a copy of Photoshop Creative magazine last night and I've only had a few minutes to look through it, but I'm pretty excited. It looks like a lot of fun, and it even came with a CD full of tips and tricks and fun things to try. I really love finding out new things about my software and the capabilities that it has. I love getting better at my Photoshop skills (because there is ALWAYS room for improvement with me!).

Also, I just want to say a quick sorry to my dear hubby. I was a pain in the rear yesterday, and not because he deserved it, even! :) I think I'm unnecessarily stressing myself out about his upcoming trip to Australia. I just think that I'm really going to miss him and I'm trying to deal with my insecurities of having to be on my own for 3 weeks. I know, I should just suck it up and be brave. Why is that so hard to do sometimes?

One good thing is that Ali and Angela will be coming down to visit for a while. They'll be here on Thursday and I'm super excited to have a distraction. To show how excited I am, here is a layout I did for a magazine submission about the girls. We had such a fun time doing a photo shoot last Christmas, and I used pictures from then. We'll have to do a new one when they're here!


Supplies used: GraphX Brush set by Thao Cosgrove, green stitching brush by Valerie Randall, Paper style by Shalae Tippetts, mini stars by Syndee Nuckles, yellow swirl brush by Brandie Valenzuela (ScrapGirls); blue BG paper by Aja Abney (www.scrapartist.com); glitter paint, old photo proofs and red stitching by Christina Renee (www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com); ribbon (recolored) by Micheline Martin (www.thedigishoppe.com); green swirl, sun by Carrie Stephens (www.fishscraps.com).