Today is October 12, 2016.

So much has happened in the past five years or so. Life got pretty busy there for a bit. I decided to go back to school to finish my BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) degree that I had started ten years prior. My intentions were to finish it, and go on to complete my MSN (Masters of Science in Nursing) degree as well. Of course working full time put a slight dent in these plans, as well as the VERY welcome addition of some family dynamic changes. We gained a lovely daughter-in-law in 2009 and in 2011 got our very first grandchild, Kiera! How's that for life-changing??

My degree was supposed to be specializing in Nursing Education, and that is, in fact, what I obtained. I achieved my goal August 13 of this year and will be walking with my class to be presented my MSN degree this Friday, in Phoenix, Arizona. Why Phoenix, you ask? Me living in Los Angeles, it doesn't really make sense, right? But my school in Grand Canyon University, and they offer not only traditional face-to-face classroom settings but also specialize in online learning as well for those of us who are, as we say, time-challenged. It basically means we are super busy people and don't want to give up our full time jobs, family, grandkids, or hobbies for school, but that we would rather sacrifice some sleep for a period of time to earn our advanced degrees.

I have to say that my online education experience was a fantastic one, full of positive people like my student advisor and my course counselors. Grand Canyon University is known as a leading Christian University and their staff reflects their values. I would highly recommend this program to anyone looking for an advanced degree and for a high level of quality education with people who seem to really care while providing academic excellence along the way.

Now that I've been out of school for a couple of months I find myself with some extra time on my agenda. Either that, or I've gotten extremely organized over the past years. However, I think it happens to a lot of us that as younger adults with new families we might seem to never have time and always be running late. As we get older we learn some methods to be 'on time' or even ahead of time. Just like learning how to manage our money, these things take time and experience. It takes just as much time to learn a good habit as it does to learn a bad one, so it is good to learn how to save money, balance budgets, meal plan, all those things that allow us to have stress-free lives.

This big news right now (besides me graduating this week with my highest GPA ever!) is that last night I did something else life-changing.

I joined the ranks of the Stampin' Up Demonstrator. That's right: from now on I can start to plan my own "Make and Take" workshops, gather my own stuff to form a class, and create lots of cards and other gift items...all under the guise of "working!" How great is that?? When I first learned about Stampin' Up many years ago, I had the feeling I would be involved with them for a long time. I loved the product and I loved the wholesome image of the company and it seemed like everyone I had contact with associated with them were just genuinely nice people. As I got busier, I had less time for fun stuff like creating. I never gave my stamps away and always managed to make some homemade cards at least a few times a year to replenish my stock of thank  you and birthday cards. My friends and family always seemed to be so excited to receive them and since I had so much fun making them, I felt it was better to hang on to all my stuff.

Please join me on my continuing journey of LIFE and enter my newest chapter so we can see how far I can go with it. My blog is still here after five years and so am I. The name of the blog might change and might even change locations, but I'm still ME and  happy to have you.

Welcome!

Working Hard!

The last week or so has been a blur. Besides working non-stop we've had lots of family things going on and the days have all rushed by so quickly!  I hope everyone has had a productive week and that we can all tackle this new week with renewed vigor.

The Orange County Fair is in full swing and we bought season passes this year. Wednesday night is our first concert there; we are seeing Chris Isaak!  Chelsea and Robbie saw Neon Trees on Saturday and on August 14th we are going to see BB King and Walter Trout.  Talk about diversity in music!

Off to the grocery store to buy some stuff for a few tasty dinners. Then back here to get dinner started and make a few more cards to add to my growing collection.

Have a wonderful day!

Yay, we made it through the Fourth!

Except my dog got psychotic and had to be drugged...poor thing!  And now I've finally found my battery charging system for my Hong Kong camera so as soon as it's charged I'll be making some better videos.

How was YOUR holiday weekend?

:)

Ok, first slideshow 'gadget' is up and running....

Hey everyone!!  It's been a super Thursday so far, was supposed to work but I got a day off "Hospital Convenience Day" which means they overstaffed and I got lucky!

Currently, I'm uploading some pics of various cards I've made recently, I was able to get the gadget slide show to work on the front of the blog so whatever is on the Flickr account will show up.

I noticed that for embellishments I'm very much into using stuff I get on sale. Is it that it's on sale, or that I saved money, or what?? Either way, I think the embellishments look pretty good. Most of the cards are somewhat playful and whimsical in nature, which describes my personality pretty well (when i'm not STRESSED out! lol...)

I either use a bought embellishment (on sale, of course!), a stamped image which I've colored in creatively, or a Cricut cut out of some sort. Seeing as I'm still getting used to the Cricut and doing a lot of experimenting you can see why I have fewer Cricut cut outs than anything else. Still, as I become proficient with the Cricut you'll undoubtedly see more of that. There's so much you can do with a Cricut and the options are endless. Now, to get ME trained!

I'm off to finish cooking my homemade chicken enchilada pie for my family. The chicken is simmering and everyone is already gathering in the kitchen even though there's about 45 more minutes left to the cooking process.

Silly family.
:)

Home from Temecula...

Had a great day and a half out there hanging out with my daughter Chelsea. We got to go shopping at Joann's (and got GREAT stuff for 40% off!) and I brought out all the paper stuff and envelopes I bought which we split. Then I got my hair done and we went out to an early dinner at Sweet Lumpy's.

Finally made it home just in time to pick up my sister and her kids from LAX where they were returning from a trip to Hawaii. They were all so TAN!  For them it was only 9 pm, but for me it was midnight, so they decided to head on home and get unpacked and relax there. 

Me? I decided to go to bed.

Goodnight!
:)

First Video Creation....err.....or something! :)

Putting together the first crafty video is a little daunting. There's the technical stuff like who will hold the camera? Obviously not me since I'm, well, crafting!  Then there's the whole embarrassment part. Like I don't spend all day at work talking to strangers. Gosh. 

Having said all that, just know that I'm going ahead with all the editing and splicing together the first video. I'm eager to get it up there because, well, it's FUN!  I hope you enjoy watching it and don't feel like you have to be TOO critical, ok?

;-)

First Official Post!

Welcome!!!!

...To my first post. I'm new to gmail's blogger, but not a newbie by any stretch!  

This blog will be specifically for my crafty stuff, which I've recently become reacquainted with. When my kids were small, I got into the whole rubber stamping sensation and made cards, went to rubber stamp conventions, and had rubber stamp parties. It was a blast. Things have progressed quite a lot, I'm happy to report. 

A friend of mine at work had mentioned all the fun she was having scrapbooking, which for the life of me didn't really sound like fun...but she kept mentioning her Cricut and everything it could do. Not till I actually went to her house and tried out her machine was I fully hooked. 

In this blog I hope to chronicle some of the projects I tackle along with my daughter, Chelsea. Feel free to leave a comment or suggestion, we are all just crafting buddies here! :D