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~ LAYOUTS ~
Here are 4 more layouts I have done recently. Top one I used brush frames from Scrapartist.com. The Christmas layout uses brushes by Anna Aspnes and the Puzzle one uses a stamped alpha by Michelle Coleman. Click on them for a better view.

Top ones are pics taken at Seaspray…just love that place.

Quote Reads:
Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments and running toward whitened waves like the homesick refugees of a long war. Loren Eiseley.

~ REAL LIFE… ~
… has returned with a bang. I am back at work and while I still enjoy it I miss my family terribly, especially when I know they are at home without me! It’s been very hard getting my sleeping habits back in order too, I have always been a night owl and have had to try and curb it since I started working 4 days, at the moment I am still going to bed about 2am but it has been soooo hard getting up in the morning…I will make a concerted effort to start getting to bed at a reasonable time!

~ CHESS UPDATE ~
Quinn has beaten me 3 times now :( and Brian once. She is getting really good

now, and I am going to have to start giving my full attention when I play her!

~ RELAX ~
My word is going pretty good actually, a few times I have started to stress about things and then realised that it’s not important so I think I am making headway there…hope it continues!

~ THANK YOU ~
To the lovely person that sent me a voucher for my birthday, it was very sweet and I wish you would tell me who you were so that I could thank you properly! Anyway thanks again :)

~ NEXT PROJECT ~
is calendars, I usually do one for Brian, my MIL and myself (for work) so I really want to try and knock them over on the weekend, which might happen since the girls have a party on Saturday…we’ll see. That reminds me, I actually did one for a Kris Kringle present, it turned out really well, especially since I had no photos of/for the person I made it for, I ended up using stock pics and I think it turned out great (well OK anyway)…might get around to posting it here one day…or maybe not! LOL

Again life is good for me and my family at the moment! Hope you are all having the same luck as me! Have a great day everyone….

These are layouts that were all done for our MAC digi girls using their photo’s. I have revamped and changed them to suit my own pics and here they are…..

Oh and the bottom one is a new one :)

Been busy around the house this week while we are both off work together. While I have missed camping it has been lovely being able to spend some time at home. We have managed to do a bit, and spend some time with the girls playing their new favourite game, Chess. Quinn has already beaten me, so I will have to work on my strategy I think!

Went and saw Happy Feet with the girls on Thursday, which was good (not fantastic IMHO), managed to pick out all the light fittings for the house, now we have a 4-6 week wait for an electrician, which I hate! Can’t stand waiting for stuff when I am all set to go LOL.

Which brings me to my next thing. I read a great article by Ali Edwards about a tradition she started for herself, where she chooses a word for herself at the beginning of the year and tries to incorporate it into her every day life. I thought this was a great idea. Her word for 2006 was Play and this year it is Peace. I have decided on the word RELAX for me for 2007.

I can be quite regimented in regards to time (I hate being late) and definitely like things done a certain way. If we are running late for school or other social events I am a RAVING nut, yelling and carrying on etc etc LOL. If I make a mistake at home or at work I am very very hard on myself and tend to get very angry, even though any one else would and does think my error is minor I can’t help but get very disappointed. I intend to try and RELAX more and try and accept situations for what they are. If there is no real importance in what’s happened, I will TRY not to let it bother me so much!
I also have a tendency to be very very strict with my girls, whilst they are shown an immeasurable amount of love, I can be quite hard on them and expect a lot. I think I need to acknowledge that they are great kids now and I can RELAX a little on the every day stuff. I am constantly told by family, friends, teachers etc how well behaved they are and well mannered etc etc, so I guess O need to start giving them a little more leway. I WILL RELAX. So I guess that is my New Years resolution in part. We’ll see how it goes….

I have resolved to try not to web surf anymore, I keep finding things I really really want and can’t have LOL! This is the latest! Oh well…hope the increase in my hours comes soon! LOL Also lusting after Foto Fusion and several books too! Including all the quote books the lovely Angela has. The list is never ending! I will resolve to be happy with all the wonderful things I actually have, including and most importantly my family and friends.

Have a great day! :)

Oh you should be able to click on the layouts for a larger view.

LAYOUT CREDITS
All papers and backgrounds made by me. Also used brushes from Anna Aspnes and Denise Docherty.

Yep I think (fingers crossed, and everything else ;-) ) that I have broken my layouts drought! At least I hope so! Here are a few more I have done lately….

On “Magical” I used various brushes from Scrapartist, Anna Aspnes and Rhonna Farrer. On “Elvis” I used star brushes from Anna Aspnes. And on “Delight” the flower brush is by Rhonna Farrer. All 3 layouts are of Bronte. (Much to Quinn’s disgust).

It looks like we are not heading away now, the fires are just too bad both there and here. Our camping friends live in the bush on the edge of a National Park and they have had an arsonist lighting fires out near them, so they can’t take the chance. Also the place we go to, have put in place a no fire policy, which is completely understandable, but something we would miss terribly, no marshmellows, no camping! LOL Also we are on the edge of town and while I doubt we are under threat of fire, the embers are a worry.

Just wanted to spare a thought for all of the fire fighters, it has been more than a little uncomfortable for us here, so what they are living and working in everyday must be horrendous. I hope that due to the weather most will get to spend Christmas with their families now, but no doubt their job is not over yet. Stay safe.

We will still maybe do a few smaller trips, but I am going back to work a week earlier than I had planned and will save my holidays for Easter. Brian will now work between Christmas and New Year but will still take two weeks off, so we have a week together and then he will have a week with the girls. I am sorry to miss out on camping, but we have so many little (and big) jobs to get done around here, it will be nice to have some time to do them. I feel, at last I will have some time to breathe, it’s harder than I thought working 4 days, but as hard as it is I don’t think I’d go back. But I am still looking forward to getting a good rest in and catching up with some things that I love doing. ie DIGI SCRAPPING!!! ;)

I had a great end to the year at work, with a lovely gift from my boss and lots of appreciation, it’s nice to be appreciated, and I must sound like a broken record, but, I love my job!

Almost done on the present front, just one more present to make and that’s it, now for the wrapping….groan..

We are having Christmas lunch and dinner here on Monday, thankfully it is supposed to rain, I know most people don’t want rain on Christmas Day but we desperately need it, and while I don’t relish the thought of all of the kids not being able to go out and play, I’d rather the rain! (am I mad?).

On the house front, the deck still isn’t finished *sigh*. Looks like it won’t be done, but because of the weather we probably won’t be using it anyway. But we didn’t get all our living areas fitted with Roman blinds. We were going to wait until winter but decided to go ahead now, just waiting on the outside awnings for the west side of the house and the blinds for our ensuite. Our ensuite is set out like a feature and is very open to our bedroom which means it’s very light in here at 5am! Sorry we over looked them now! It wasn’t so bad in winter LOL. Anyway the blinds were ridiculously expensive but they are beautiul and I am glad we didn’t get the cheaper ones we almost ordered…what another couple of years on the mortgage???? Urrrgghhh!

Merry Christmas to every one, I hope all your wishes come true and that you have a wonderful day with your families and friends. Here is a small gift from me.

Christmas Mini Kit

Happy Christmas :)

When we are camping, for some reason we are all very tired at the end of every day, despite the fact we don’t actually DO a great deal. We all sigh, sitting around the fire and say “Another Big Day O Nothin’ “. LOL

I always come back feeling so refreshed, happy and feeling lucky that we get to spend this special time with our families and close friends. We were pretty lucky with the weather although we did have one particularly windy day, other than that it was great. We had extra friends come over on the Saturday to spend GF day with us and we had our traditional hotdogs for lunch and then “The Big Roast” for dinner. “The Big Roast” is big, usually 3-4 peices of meat and copious amounts of yummy vegies. Suzy even managed to bake a cake for Bronte and Mandy who have birthdays today and tomorrow, it was very yummy, especially since it was baked at the last minute! And finally ended with marshmellows around the fire. Of course, as tradition dictates, we had perfect weather on Sunday we packed up LOL. oh well, better than rain. We unpacked in record time and were completely sorted by 6pm, we are getting good at the end bit! I didn’t take many pics but did get one or two good ones, which I’ll post soon.

After such a relaxing time, work was a big shock today, very very busy and just non stop, I didn’t get half as much done as I wanted too, but enjoyed it anyway. Especially when I got told we are getting a big reward soon! Yippeee, the dates are yet to be announced but I am hoping like mad I can make it! Fingers crossed.

Also it was Bronte’s birthday today, my baby turned 7! Oh even when she is 57 she will always be my baby! She got a little mini stereo for her birthday which she loved and then after school all her cousins came over for cake and a play, while all the adults chatted. Just lovely! I did take some pics of the blowing out the candles, but they are still on the camera and I’m too tired to get them off, so I’ll do it in the next day or two.

Lastly, I came back to the news that another two of our MAC girls met! Judy was in New Zealand visiting family and caught up with our resident Photography Guru, Karen. They had a lovely time and Judy commented that “it was like meeting a family member rather than just a friend!” How lovely. It’s not long until our get together and I can hardly wait to meet these great ladies. Sadly not all of us will be there this time, but we will all be together in spirit, and those not there won’t be forgotten.

Lastly I thought I would do my first “Imagination Prompt”

The question that came up was “What did we do before the internet”

My answer is “I have no idea!” LOL

Have a great night everyone!

Oh I so wish I was this motivated when it comes to spring cleaning my house LOL. I have been busy renovating my blog, as you can see, and while I was doing it, I was getting lots of valuable feedback from the MAC girls, so thanks girls.

In my frenzy I have also helped renovate, Angela, Shez and Sharon’s blogs (Sharon’s is still a work in progress, under review and discussion.) Go check them out, I must say, I think they look better than mine LOL, oh well!

~ IMAGINATION PROMPTS ~
I have also added a section for “Sites I Love to Visit”, the top one is a site I found yesterday, called “Imagination Prompts”, I thought it was a great site to use when I can’t think of anything to write here, but, in saying that, I really am enjoying this blogging journey. I have found that it helps me focus on all the good things in my life, and when I sit down in front of my computer ready to make an entry, I can clear my mind and really think about what I have achieved, enjoyed, laughed at, and for the most part it’s all good! Anyway, I am rambling, check the site, if you need to be inspired, either for writing on your blog, or even in your layouts, I think it’s a great way to get started…. so get writing, I love reading about my cyber friends, it’s like a special glimpse into everyones inner self, don’t worry about your spelling, or editing your feelings, the important thing is to get it down….*stepping down off soapbox now*. ;)

~CAMPING~
Our camping holiday was delayed slightly, due to inclement weather, (otherwise known as bloody strong winds!). We are now heading over tomorrow, it’s been nice to get those few extra days in at home. Also, I am going to try and take a leaf out of (MAC) Judy’s book and not overpack, I loved your theory Judy, but I am not sure I’m strong enough to do it! LOL

~REALITY~
Well I spoke too soon about how great my darling daughters have been lately, it all came crashing down today LOL. They argued over everything and it drove me insane! Hopefully, getting away tomorrow, will interupt their cycle, and they will revert back to loving sisters. Even worse, is when they are arguing one minute, and start giggling insanely the next! Oh soooo frustrating, but I love them more than the world either way.

~SLOW COOKER~
Finally bought a slowcooker today, threw in some Chicken, Carrots, Brocolli, Cauliflower, tinned Tomatoes, and a sachet of Apricot Curry Chicken, (didn’t have any apricots LOL). Anyway it was quite tasty and the meat was lovely, but I forgot to put an onion in and I think that was a missed. But I am looking forward to experimenting more! We might even take it camping!

~LASTLY~
*Judy, I hope you are enjoying your holiday, I’m sorry I mixed up your departure day, and don’t forget to have a drink for me when you meet up with (MAC) Karen :)
*Mick, glad to hear you are healing well, although my morbid side is dying to see your scar! LOL
*Lis, so glad your back

Oh I was gonna upload some camping pics, so you could all see how beautiful it is, but bloggers not playing fair tonight :(

Happy days…. :)

As promised, this is John at our recent Karaoke night, wowing the crowd with his rendition of, well, I really don’t know what he is singing, do you?

Pitch or no pitch? You decide….
and if your ears can take it here is another of John even worse than this :)
John 2

And also one of Quinn singing Love Me Tender

Also Lisa sent me this the other day and I think it has some lovely sentiments…thanks Lis :)
1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don’t like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don’t even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
Always remember….when life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!!

I just love this clip! Let me know what you think…tune gets kinda catchy too!