We went. We saw. I photographed.

We went. We saw. I photographed. That's right... I took 267 shots and printed 131 and have already scrapped 2 layouts from our 24 hour getaway to Hampton Beach! We had a GREAT time! We walked the beach, went to the playground and played at the arcade- all the perfect elements of a Spring Break excursion.

I have to admit, there is a part of me that is almost a little sad to see Spring Break come to an end. Maybe the summer won't be as bad as I thought it might be!

OK, I am sure you have heard (& thought) enough about the current crisis of gas prices rising, but I feel like I would be doing my blog a disservice if I didn't mention my own thoughts here. WHAT THE HECK? I mean, seriously. How is your average every day middle class family supposed to survive with the gas prices climbing at the rate that they have been? I would be THRILLED to take public transportation that smells like urine to the grocery store if that was an option to me, but here in Hicktown USA we don't even have a stop light, let alone any public transportation. :( While the $100 check the President mentions would be a nice gesture, it would fill my tank only twice. Somehow that doesn't seem like it will save me from poverty if the gas hits $5+ per gallon. What is the solution? I certainly don't know, but wanted to vent about it here.

I hate to end on a sad note, but I need to go dry my hair and clean up a bit around here! Have a fantastic Saturday!

Greetings from Spring Break NH Style!

It must be Spring Break here in NH... I can tell by the arguing children! LOL

Tell me I am not crazy- tomorrow I am packing up the kids and heading to the seacoast for an "adventure". We have no hotel reservations and no set plans, just me, 3 kids and a full tank of gas! That reminds me, I need to dump my memory card so I am all set for this 2 day getaway! I LOVE winter (or rather, non- summer) beach pics!

I have done a little more paper scrapping this week. I have 3+ hours logged for work already and have done 6 or so pages for myself. Not too shabby! Now if I could just will my computer to move faster so I could get some digi pages done! *sigh*

Oh, I almost forgot! I have a quick toot! Scrapbook Trends requested a digital page for the "Lessons Learned" section of their August issue! They seem to be the only ones giving me any love these days! That's okay, I love them, too! :)

So, who watches Big Love on HBO? I know, I know, I shouldn't be watching it, but a friend recommended it to me and since I could watch it from the beginning on HBO On Demand, I decided to take a look. I watched 2 episodes last night. It's a little like Desperate Housewives, polygamy style, LOL

A bunch of misc. things! :)

A couple favorites from the weekend! There are 9 others in the gallery as well! :) AND, if you can believe it, I scrapped AGAIN last night! I got 2.5 pages done! I need to get my sewing machine working to finish that 3rd layout.

So, I worked yesterday but I am done for the week because of Spring Break. I brought some work home. Hopefully I can learn to stay on task and get some work done here. With gas prices going up like crazy, I may need to work at home on Wednesdays now, too. Its just not worth the gas money to drive an hour each way to work 4 hours.

Here is a new blog you may want to follow! Lesley is one of the funniest people I know and I am not just saying that because she thinks *I* am so darned funny, either, LOL Be sure to check out the mini album project she and I are working on and add your comments with suggestions for future words! :)

Today's plans include more laundry, a tour of the WMUR station and SCRAPPING! :) Have a great Tuesday!

Spring Break!

Day #1 of Spring Break! My plans? Wash all the sheets in the house! Doesn't that sound FAR too exciting!? In some ways, I wish we were like other families and were jetting off to tropical locations (even though I don't fly, LOL), but then I stop and realize that I have all I need right here! Every day I am thankful for a great family and a beautiful home. We don't need to be anywhere but here to enjoy eachother!

Lesley came over yesterday and we scrapped again! I got 7 pages done last night. They weren't my all time favorites or anything but at least they are done. I will scan next week and share in my gallery. In digi scrapping news, I *really* need to get some things done this weekend, but my computer is still giving me MAJOR fits. It takes FOREVER to open files. I realize that this is a lack of RAM, but I am not sure what to do about it. Should I just upgrade the RAM on this beast? Or do I have far bigger issues? Do I just break down and get the laptop I have been wanting for a year? I really wanted to be a little further into the debt reduction plan before I added new debt, but seriously, I can't get anything done with this computer being SO slow! Ugh, so many things to think about!

As for Dane's clothing comments, I took a picture that night of the mime shirt and I am definitely planning to scrap it! LOL :)

OK, gotta scoot to get some things done while I wait for digi files to open, LOL... have an awesome Saturday!

The sorting of the clothes!

"No way, I don't want to look like a mime!"

"I don't like up and down stripes, only side to side stripes!"

"That will make my armpits red!"

"I hate turtlenecks!"

"I don't like black clothes. They attract the sun!"

"This shirt won't let my head out. What do you wanna do? Have it cut off my head?"

"Is this from the 60's?"

"Those colors just don't go together!"

"Those pants make me look like the guy from Dirty Jobs!"


These are just a few of the comments Dane made tonight as we went through every article of clothing he owns! What am I gonna do with that boy? He is just NUTS! lol

2 new paper layouts!

Lesley did end up coming up on Tuesday and we scrapped until after midnight! Above are 2 of my favorite layouts from the evening! :) If you would like to see the other 4, they can be found in my gallery by clicking the Gallery link at the top of this page!

Not much else new so I will leave it at that! Have an awesome evening!

Pneumonia, Easter and Layouts, oh my!

Geesh, it's only been a day yet it feels like I haven't updated in FOREVER! Hmmmmm, where to start? Let's see... Dylan is still hacking up a lung! I decided that it was finally time for a trip back to the doctor. Scott called and got him an appointment today while I was working. He saw a PA and she sent him for a X-ray. Yep, you guessed it! My little boy STILL has pneumonia!!! He has had it since JANUARY! What the heck? That can't possibly be good for him. I am keeping him home tomorrow and making him rest. I think he is overdoing it!

So, Easter was Easter. The kids woke up early, ate chocolate and then hunted eggs. I think my favorite egg hunting moment was when Dane was hunting barefoot and announced that he had just stepped in dog poo, rotfl........... I didn't get any pictures (aren't you glad), but I will surely have to scrap that! We went to the 11am Mass and then headed to Uncle Bob's where the kids hunted more eggs and we had a wonderful lunch! We ended the day hanging out with Kim & Marc (friends here in town). The kids went in the hot tub and went rollerblading. They have such a great time together and we always have a fun time hanging out drinking wine and chillin' as adults. Scott was even able to meet us for about an hour at the end of the night!

It's Monday, so of course I worked today. I found a few extra minutes to scan those pages that I mentioned yesterday! Let me walk you through them....



This was my first layout of the day! I had planned to scraplift some ideas from a new Simple Scrapbooks idea book I had seen the week before but somehow things just started to fall into place! I thought the KI acrylic letters were PERFECT with this photo and when I thought of using the Heidi Swapp mask for more dimension, let's just say I "knew" it was the perfect touch! :)



I was determined that I would "use some things up" and this paper from a past NYOBC kit was the top of my list! The pattern is a little wild, but the colors are just so fab, I knew I wanted to work it in. I have been into "clustering" little elements, as I think is obvious there.



I have been carrying these pictures of my oldest daughter, Victoria, around forever... well since 1993 to be exact! They were taken by her aunt or her Dad at her Dad's house and I always thought they were very expressive but just never scrapped them. These Daisy D papers were perfect for the warm colors in the photos! Also, I want you to note the little circle piece of cork... another "use your stash" challenge met! :)



All things old are new again! Yep, that's right, I used DECORATIVE SCISSORS on this one! Woohoo, go me! Anyway, I loved this picture for it's vivid colors. It's one of the first I took when I got the Digital Rebel last summer. This Scenic Route Paper was the perfect match! This ended up being my favorite layout of the day!



This one kind of went in a different direction from what I originally expected but I was pleased with it because of the fun color combo and clustering of elements. When I last did any major paper scrapping in November, I was really into envelopes and I guess that carried over to this scrap day, too! :)



Last and least, LOL... these photos are from 1994. Scott took them of Nicole and Megan (now ages 16 and 11). They are blurry, but I just couldn't resist using them. I really struggled to get this page to come together and don't think I was all that successful in pulling it off, but if you know me, you know my motto is "Glue it down and move on" so that's what I did!

Overall, it was a super productive day and I really enjoyed working with the paper, although there were several little mishaps (like adhesives blobs, etc) that made me say "This would never happen if I was digital scrapping!" but it was still worthwhile. I am planning to scrap again tomorrow if my friend Lesley is feeling better from her cold and comes up (fingers crossed).

BTW, if you are interested in specific product credits, I have them listed with each layout in the "Paper Layouts" potion of my gallery!

Have an awesome Monday night! :)

Happy Easter Eve!

The eggs are all hidden and the baskets are out! I am ready for Easter! As I always say, BRING IT ON, lol! :)

So, guess what! I SCRAPPED 6 PAGES TODAY...... paper pages! I am super excited about how they came out and can't wait to share them, but unfortunately I am having LOTS of computer issues and am not able to scan them right now. I doubt I will have time tomorrow, but I will do it Monday at work on the big flatbed scanner so I wont even have to stitch. Weird that all 6 are 12 x 12! Anyway... check back next week for the images! :)

I did a few new digital pages as well. Some are up my gallery and some still need to resized (again, computer issues are preventing that) before I can share them! I think this makes me officially a "scrapping fool", LOL :)

OK, time for bed (it's nearly midnight). Have a wonderful Easter! Christ is risen!

Sniff, sniff

I interupt this sunny Good Friday to share that my oldest son, Dane, confessed to knowing the truth about all mystical characters... the Easter Bunny, Santa and Tooth Fairy! I was totally not prepared for this, despite having been caught stealing Santa's cookies 2 years ago (that's a story for another post, lol). *sigh* WHY, oh why must they grow up? I can't believe I have only one little believer left! :(

SPRING!

You can surmise 3 things from these two layouts:
1. I am THRILLED to be a part of Ange's CT and couldn't wait to get started using her kits, especially Nine & A Half!
2. I *wanted* to complete the 12 Pages in a Night challenge issued by CK in the May 2006 issue, but thanks to a lack of RAM, there is just no way I could pull it off. I spend WAY too much time waiting for Photoshop to respond to me. *sigh* I have potential, folks! I have the motivation and inspiration, but that lack of RAM takes away my follow through! :(
3. It was a great day in NH today! We hit the low 70's and actually saw some sun! The kids bribed me into playing with them this afternoon (despite my protests that I forgot how to play) by suggesting I take out the camera. I forgot how much I loved my zoom lens until I used it to capture so many candids this afternoon. In less than an hour, I took over 100 photos!

Hip to be SQUARE!

My favorite layouts to create are the ones that document the "right now"... the ones that share a little bit of who we are this very day! When Victoria said this to me today, I had the hardest time not laughing! :) I knew I had to scrap it right away! By the way, you can read the journaling here!

So, check out the blinkies to the right! Aren't they cool? I am slowly but surely adding the blinkies for the Creative Teams that I am a part of! I am very lucky to have been chosen to work with so many great designers! Speaking of which, check out Ange's blog today! I am thrilled to share that I was chosen to be a part of her Creative Team! How cool is that? A Best & Brightest winner chose ME? I am walking in the clouds today! :)

In family news, Dane has been taking antibiotics since Saturday and looks worse today than when I took him to the ER. He has a cough that is making ME crazy so I can imagine how awful it must be for him! Poor thing! He keeps pushing himself to go to school, though, because he is convinced that his book club book will be coming in and he doesn't want to miss getting it, even by one day!

I know I promised a funny entry today, but the Huey Lewis thing is all I could come up with! Maybe tomorrow will be a funnier day... have a great night!

Fess up!

OK, who did it? Who did a search for "crazy Rachael" to find this blog? Hmmmmmm? Did you think I wouldn't see that in my wonderful webalizer program? ROTFL :)

Post #100!! WOOHOO!

I have been putting off blogging because I wanted to add some photos or a new layout, but I had mouse issues this week and I am using my husband's mouse and the thing STINKS so I havent created anything new! :( Anyway, I decided I better just get this darned blog updated and worry about pictures later! My good buddy Pam actually CALLED me yesterday to see if everything was okay since there had been no new blog post, LOL :)

K, let's see.... Wednesday night was the Rube Goldberg Fair at the school. Megan's partner had bailed on her and took their project idea so I was quite nervous about how her project would turn out. She did end up getting an A even though her dog food feeder wasn't fully functioning. Thursday night was another Parent Player game at Victoria's school. We played 4 12-minute periods... I was in for 3 and 1/2 of them!! Can you just imagine? LOL Friday night was an uneventful Pack Meeting.

Yesterday I ended up taking Dane to the ER because his tonsils were so big I thought his throat might close up. Yes, it was in fact a raging case of strep throat. We spent the rest of the day laying around watching movies. Making that boy slow down is full time work! LOL :)

In digi news, I wanted to share an amazing new kit designed by a friend of mine, Cindy Simon! It's called the Friendship Collection! Each of the mini kits is named for a staff member/friend at 123-Scrap! Isn't that the best idea? I dont know all of the girls personally, but from what I can see, each mini kit totally fits their style! You can see all of the mini kits and the full collection as well as Cindy's other kits at Scrap2Gether!

Well, I need to scoot... the kids are being super loud this morning and I need them to actually be CLEAN for Palm Sunday so I must go chase them around! I promise to update this week with a post of a more amusing nature! :) XO

I've been tagged!

Laura has tagged me! The idea behind this tag is that you choose someone your admire or respect and highlight them. Like Laura, my personal friends know how feel about them... matter of fact, I blogged a similar gushy post not too long ago, so I think I am going to chose someone in the digi field. There are many many people I admire for different reasons, but I am choosing Jacque Larson! I met Jacque at The Digi Chick but got to know her a lot better when I had the chance to be a Guest CT member for Dani Mogstad! Jacque's work is truly amazing! The girl can outscrap me (and you guys know I am a super fast scrapper) and her pages are phenominal... all of them.... every single one! I mean, seriously, I can't say it enough ways.... everytime she creates a layout, I swear it's my new favorite! Jacque is also a super sweet lady to know and a lot of fun to chat with! She is also a Mom of 4 and seems to hold it together a lot better than I do (I hope seem is the right word because if she is REALLY that perfect, she should be sainted, LOL). OK, you're thinking to yourself "Is she really all that and a bad of chips?". Let me tell you this- YES, yes she is. She is also SKINNY and beautiful! *sigh*

Wow, I didn't know I had that much pent up stalkerism in me for Jacque! I hope she'll still be my friend after this! :) LOL

As for the 3 people I am tagging to meet this same challenge:
Pam B, Ange Barton and Marsha Z

Drama Be Gone!

Have you heard of this FAB new product? Its called "Drama Be Gone"... all you have to do is ignore the nasties and take the high road and it works like a charm! LOL Yep, I am almost there but before I officially cross back over to the world of the drama free, I want to thank all of you who took the time to leave a comment or send an email in support of my post and my decision. It is so wonderful to be a part of such a great community of women. Seriously, from my heart, thank you all!

Soooooooooooooooooo, let's see... let me catch you up to speed. I called in yesterday because the "snow was coming"...... ummmmm, hello? Snow? Where were you? I am left feeling pretty silly. Now, the weather says snow for today! What the heck!!!!! LOL

Blog violation alert: I learned that yesterday my husband found his way to my blog and READ IT! {Insert horrified gasping face here!} While I know that this is public, doesn't that seem to be a violation? I mean, does that scrapper blog relation mean nothing anymore? ROTFL........ As I promised, here is your shout out- HI HONEY! {waving} Smooches to you! :)

Thanks to a fellow Chick for pointing out another Rachael-ism to me. Apparently when I type using a familar character voice in my head, I like to specifically point that out. A few of my favorites:
Gosh! (or Lucky!) {Said in my best Napoleon Dymnomite Voice}
Could I BE any funnier? {Said in my best Chandler Bing Voice}
No soup for you! {Said in my best Seinfeld Soup Natzi voice}

Well, try as I might, that seems to be where the funnies stop today! Hope you all have an awesome Wednesday! :)

It's not a mystery!

Just wanted to post to clear a few things up...

Post #1 from last night copied and pasted without changes:
I don't happen to know anyone who takes a "little yellow bus" and yet I still find it totally innappropriate and inexcusable for someone who calls themselves a writer to use that terminology. You should be ashamed of yourself. Do you use the "N" word at your house, too?

And yes, this is "more-digi-who-isn't-around-enough-to-know-anything" checking in.... I happen to paper scrap, too... more than 1000 pages last year... what does that make ME in the us vs. them you have going on here? A wayward soul wondering till she finds herself?

Post #2 from last night:
That's right, Sus, only the people who AGREE with you are allowed to post here in the debate forum! I forgot! ;)

Sweet dreams! :) Off to scrap...

ETA: I am ashamed to see that an ACOT writer would be so blatently rude!

Post #1 (this morning):
Let me make it clear that *I* did not remove my own post or ask for it to be removed. That was an ACOT decision so I guess you're stuck with it. I would post it again, but what would be the point?

I gave my resignation from the Creative Team this morning. To think that ACOT would call this garbage an "article" is beyond reproach!

Just as someone pointed out above, not only should ACOT have gotten to their CT, I should have investigated this board a little closer before agreeing to work with them. Had I seen the nastiness shared here on a daily basis, I would have known this wasn't the place for me.

So, I guess the bottom line is, you "win" this round, LOL... another digi scrapper out the door. I am not the first and I am sure I wont be the last.
(end post)


So, let's recap, shall we?
1. I am NOT a Creative member for ACOT.
2. I did NOT ask for my posts to be removed.
3. I stand by my original comment that the behavior of any author using the term "Little bus" is innappropriate and inexcusable. As for websites that allow and condone such behavior? I'll let you make your own decision there!

Sleepless in NH...

OK, maybe not totally sleepless but VERY close... I slept about an hour last night! That will make today a very nice LONG day, huh? LOL

So, fellow bloggers, were you wondering where I was? Did you think I was stuck in a mosh pit at the Nickelback concert? LOL No, no, I am just fine so don't you worry your pretty little heads! :) Let me try to get caught up...

Friday I took Victoria for an appointment in the afternoon, came home to meet the bus and then took 3 kids grocery shopping. That's *always* a fiasco! I won't even tell you the wonderful gem of a comment Dane made there because it might give the wrong impression to those of you who don't know me well. If you're really dying to know, leave me a comment with your email address and I will tell ya! :)

We were back just after 6pm and needed to scramble to be ready for a Tiger Cub meeting- here! I am running out of ideas for things to do with the little munchkins so we ended up BAKING COOKIES! Ugh, more chaos. Once the boys left, I buckled down with all the cookie money for Megan's troop. It took me 4 hours to get everything in order and get all the T1, T2, Evaulation Forms and Cookie Credit forms filled out.

Sat I was up early so I could make a trip to the bank to deposit the above mentioned money. Then, we were off to the parent player game for Megan's basketball team! It was a lot of fun! I don't remember much about the rest of Saturday so that's probably a good thing.

Yesterday we had church and Dane had a birthday party to attend. I have been needing to REALLY clean around here for quite some time and the little energizer bunny in me was finally awakened! I cleaned for NINE hours yesterday without much of any kind of a break! I cleaned the downstairs bathroom and kitchen. Megan and Dylan cleaned the kitchen floor by filling it with soap and water and sliding around in their bathing suits, LOL. Kids will be kids, right? I pulled EVERYTHING out of the dining room to carpet clean and then only put back the kitchen table and the small decorative table with my purse on it. ALL the other junk HAD TO GO! That was a lengthy process because with 3 adults and 4 kids in this house, we amass A LOT of stuff! I then started on the livingroom. It is nowhere near done but I did pull out the entertainment center and vacuum up those dust bears (definitely not bunnies, they were much too big). I also vacuumed both living rooms. It KILLED me to go to bed last night around 1am without having even started on the upstairs. Maybe I'll do that bathroom tonight after work! I hope to keep this momentum going because my house really needs it.

Scott FINALLY has a day off today! I don't think he has had one in TWO WEEKS! I am sure he will sneak over there while the kids are at school and I am at work, but I did leave him a nice "Honey-Do" list to keep him busy today, hee hee. I actually hated doing it, but these things are things that NEED to get done and if he isn't going to be around but for a few hours to sleep at night, I need him to do them on his one day off each century, LOL :) The kids are ELATED that they will see him today! While we cleaned yesterday, I told them to tell Scott that they spent the whole day cleaning with me so that he wouldnt have anything to do but play with them after school. Let's see how that works out.

In digital related news... GUESS WHAT! My good friend, Lesley, has asked me to teach her to digi scrap (quit groaning, Melissa..... we will still be your friend, LOL)! I am REALLY excited about this... I think Lesley will really enjoy it. She likes to learn new things even more than I do! :)

I am sure that's not all, but it's going to have to do for now... I am going to grab another cup of coffee and check on the status of the laundry! Have an awesome Monday! Think of me this afternoon when my lack of sleep hits me like a brick wall, okay? LOL