Back from holiday...and ready to ring in a new year!

Happy Holidays to everyone! We have spent the last few days celebrating, and recooperating from our 9 day driving holiday! We drove from the UK, through France into Germany (stayed there for 2 days), moved on to Salzburg, Austria for 2 more days, and then off to Zell em See, Austria for some skiing. We finished off our trip with a night in the Alsace Region of France! Wow! What a trip! I could probably type for an hour straight, but you would get bored...it's never the same when it's not your holiday!! I was definitely the trip of a lifetime for us!

Here I am skiing in beautiful Zell am See, Austria.

Austria here we come!

I am so excited...uber excited! We have decided to drive to Austria, and since it's a 11 hour drive we are stopping along the way! First stop...Black Forest, then Salzburg, then Zell em See for skiing! I have alot to do before we leave, but it will be worth it. Now if we could all get rid of this "cold", maybe that fresh mountain air will help!
Happy Holidays!

On our way to Christmas...

Wow, I know I say this all of the time...but I cannot believe that it's almost December...almost Christmas...almost another year gone. I just had my 36th birthday, it coincided with a school-parent Christmas party and was great fun! Nothing like getting all dressed up, getting a sitter and going out purely for fun!!

We are all recovering (I hope) from a nasty cold/cough...and I think my little one even managed to turn hers into croup. I feel like I should set off an antibacterial bomb in the house! Last week we had 2 Thanksgivings, a Christmas party, my birthday, the school Christmas Fayre and we went to a football game (a.k.a. soccer). Fun, but exhausting!

This week has been a bit slower. Catching up on laundry and cleaning, lunch with friends, coffee with friends, Crafting some xmas gift bags, researching ski holidays... Need to do our Christmas cards tomorrow, and I still haven't taken a picture of the girls with their reindeer antlers on! I did NOT make my own Christmas cards this year...first time in a long time! The kids drew cards and the school had them made into Christmas cards!! Less work for me, more fun for them!

Looking forward to a quiet weekend. Tomorrow is Friday and hubby has the day off! The only other commitment we have is dinner at our friends and a little Christmas "do" of drinks and nibbles at our neighbors house. Nothing too stressful!

Banner Week!!

Check out the mojoholders blog! I was chosen to be scraplifted this week!! That and my DT coordinator position....what a week.

Here is the link: http://mojoholder.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/11/challenge-38.html?cid=90279520#comment-90279520

Movin on up!

I have been promoted from DT member at The Shaker Box, to DT Coordinator! Woo Hoo! I am looking forward to getting more involved in the behind the scenes of the site! Come by and see what we are up to! I just posted the Inspire Me Challenge today!

Autumn...time for the germs...

It's already started...the germs are invading! LOL All of the girls in my house have a nasty cough, and the littlest is bordering on fever. She's prone to ear infections...

The scrappy part of my life is good. I haven't been able to get too much done, and what I have is being donated to the school Christmas Fayre! It's a good cause, new music equipment for the school! I am loving my part as a DT member on The Shaker Box and hope to get even more involved!

I am waiting for a repairman, I hate that! Hmmmm...what else is going on? Need to book our vacation for December. Need to do some Christmas shopping. Need to find a dress to wear to the Christmas parties.

Check out my Slide Show!

From a Dublin newspaper...

I'm not much of a political person, it's never been something that interests me. It probably has something to do with my parents lack of political interests...I don't know. Occasionally, something will catch my eye and I know deep down in my gut that it's just wrong. During a recent visit to Dublin, I came across a free newspaper called "Metro". There was a very small article by Con Doherty titled "IRA attacks worse than 9/11 says Nobel author". The title intriqued me, but the article itself left me in disbelief. Here is the article, in it's entirety.

"Nobel prize-winning British author Doris Lessing has called the September 11 attacks 'not that terrible' compared to the campaign of terror waged by the IRA.

Lessing, 88, who won the Nobel Prize for literature earlier this month, said the attacks, which led to George Bush's 'war on terror', were not as 'extraordinary' as some Americans think.

She told Spanish newspaper El Pais: 'September 11 was terrible, but if one goes back over history of the IRA, what happened to the Americans wasn't that terrible.'

'Some Americans will think I'm crazy. Many people died, two prominent buildings fell, but it was neither as terrible nor as extraordinary as they think.'

'They're a very naive people, or they pretend to be,' she said of the Americans.

'Do you know what people forget? That the IRA attacked our government. It killed several people while a Conservative congress was being held and in which the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was (attending). People forget,' she said.

Nearly 3,000 people died and tens of thousands of people were injured in more than 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.

Lessing, the author of The Golden Notebook, was praised very highly by the judges of the Nobel Prize for her 'scepticism, fire and visionary power'.

Okay, I don't think that any terrorist act is meant to be forgotten, but when it happens in your OWN country you tend to remember it more and relate to it more than one that happens far away in another country. What good does it do to make 9/11 seem less of a tradgedy than it is? There have been terrorist attacks before 9/11, such as Lockerbie, Scotland. I'm sure the pain is somewhat dulled in Lockerbie, as it has for the US attacks...but none of them will ever be forgotten.

Furthermore, there is a huge difference between an army of rebellious Irishmen running rampant over 30 years and a suicide attack by Islamic terrorists. Quite extraordinary in my opinion, but maybe that is because I am a proud American.

Beautiful English Autumn

We've been having lots of fun with my brother here. I sometimes forget how important he is to me...at least with the busy schedule of trying to balance kids, family, school fun, cleaning, scrapping and keeping in touch with everyone. This has been a great visit for us, I love showing him around London and the English countryside. This past weekend we went into London and saw Spamalot!! It was great! And, we've had some beautiful weather while he has been here! We've done some hiking and got some great pictures of the English countryside!

OH....the exitement!!

My little brother will be here in "jolly old England" in just 39 hours (barring any flight delays ! LOL) I cannot tell you how completely and utterly excited I am. I haven't seen him for 17 months, which I believe is the longest I've ever gone without seeing him. We're close, we're buds!! I can't wait to show him around London and just enjoy being with him. My dd's are almost as excited as I am, they just LOVE Uncle Wade!!

In scrappy news, I've been doing a whole lot of scrapping! Dh is on a business trip in The Netherlands, which always gives me extra time to scrap because I become a slob and wait until the day he comes home to clean!! Hey, we all have our priorities and cleaning toilets is NOT one of mine! Yeck!

I got my first kit from The Shaker Box's new kit club and it is fantastic! I couldn't believe how fast I got it over here "across the pond"! And, of course, had to dig in and start working with the stuff right away! Here is my first page from the kit:
http://www.theshakerbox.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/20357

and here is where you can get your own kit from The Shaker Box! http://www.theshakerbox.com/store/

Catfight!!

Ugh...I have been dealing with some crabby women lately at school. I just hate how some women can be. I am the "room Mom" for my 6yo's class and after 2 weeks I am already fed up with the whole thing.

In other news...just 10 days until my brother arrives for his first visit to the UK. The girls and I are counting down the days!!

I should be cleaning right now...but it's just not as fun! LOL Maybe I'll go plant the Mums I bought this morning!

Aaaaah....the first day of school is over. Everybody was exhausted by dinner time, since we also had our first swim lesson of the season tonight!! My baby is in school ALL day now, and my oldest couldn't get away from me fast enough to get to her class! So, now both girls are in school all day and as my hubby puts it..."to do whatever you do". He's lucky he phrased it that way, and not "to do whatever I want to do". I have a lot of cleaning after all of the visitors have gone, especially since I am expecting another in a few weeks. Little brother is coming to visit, can't wait for him to get here and I know it will go by much too quickly.

Weird thing happened today...I was looking out the window of our 3rd floor townhome and notice a police car. Then, I noticed that she was checking out hubby's car!! Then she started heading to my front door!! Turns out...someone saw my kids in the back and thought that my oldest was Madeline McCann (the missing British girl)...so they came to check out the lead. I was a bit worried until she told me the purpose of her visit!

I am starting on a couple of assignments for The Shaker Box (www.theshakerbox.com) and am completely "stoked" about my appointment to the DT!!

Almost time for school to start...

we are getting excited here...school starts in just 3 days!! I have been getting absolutely NO scrapping time in lately, we have just had too many visitors and other things keeping us busy!

Our old friends from Virginia paid us a visit this weekend, they were also visiting their relatives that live over here. We had a couple of really fun nights with them! Sadly, it makes me miss them even more. I'd move back to Virginia in a heart beat, loved it there!

Tomorrow is my last day to be "summer break" lazy...the girls and I have vowed to stay in our pj's all day. I am going to do laundry, scrap, clean, scrap some more, talk to Mom and Beth on the phone, scrap. You get the picture! LOL

Exciting news!

I have been chosen to be on The Shaker Box Design Team! www.theshakerbox.com
I am soooo excited. I've been hanging out with these ladies for a couple of years now, and have dreamed about it...I can't believe it's really happened!! I can't wait to get started on my assignments!

In other news: the in-laws have gone home, after a whirlwind 3 week visit. We've spent the weekend recovering, cleaning, and doing laundry. We have friends visiting this weekend from the States, and I have confirmation that my little brother will be here at the end of September. I am really looking forward to seeing him....it's been toooo long.

My first real blog

Okay, I've been thinking about doing this for awhile. It's a form of peer pressure, all the other scrappers are doing it, right?

I'll start with a little background about me, LOL, what else? I grew up in a small town about 2 hours south of Chicago. My Dad was a construction worker, and my Mom stayed home until they divorced. Then she worked her butt off to raise us. I have 2 older half-sisters, one cool little brother, and another younger half-brother. My Dad died a few years ago, lets just say he was on a bad road and had been for awhile. My Mom is remarried to a great guy whom I refer to as 'Papa'. I love him for his patience and acceptance of my family.

I am married to a great guy. He's charismatic, has a great smile that still makes me feel "melty", he is a wonderful provider, hard worker, Mr. Fix-It, musician, techno geek...you name it...he's got it covered! And, we have 2 beautiful daughters. They are the center of our universe.

About a year ago, we moved from NW Indiana to England. It was a great opportunity to further my hubby's job and for us to travel and just experience a different culture. Fortunately, they speak English since neither of us are fluent in any other language! But there are things that are different here, some good, some just different. I'm glad it's different! It was a little daunting at first, but I have made friends and gotten used to the differences. My daughters love their school and have lots of friends. We all miss our friends back home, but we'll be back soon enough.

Scrapping: I started scrapping in 2000. My SIL had shown me her newest interest, scrapbooking, and it seemed like something I could do. I've always loved taking pictures and had done a crude form of scrapbooking in high school. So, I went to a home party with a woman I worked with and that was all it took. I was recently married and newly pregnant with my first child, so it was perfect timing. My first album was my wedding album, I look back and think "how novice", but I also see things that were just "me" in my creativity. There are WAY too many stickers and deco scissors in my first albums, but I would never change them. It shows the graduation I made, the learning, the growing. Now, I can proudly say that I have been published by a UK Scrapbook Magazine (Scrapbook Inspirations) three times. Hopefully, that won't be the end of it! I don't always have the free time to scrap, but it is an important outlet for me. Thankfully, my husband understands this...to a degree. My 6yo has started her first scrapbook, I'm soooo excited!