A PINK ALBUM FOR BRIDGET

by now many of you who read my blog will have received an email or seen this post on EMM.
for those of you who haven't and would like to take part, please leave me a comment here or drop me a line at
shazz64@westnet.com.au
and i will email you the details.

remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

HAPPY PHOTO FOR TODAY

wishing my sister, jo, a very happy 40th birthday.
here she is with her son, kye (pic taken this week)

HOW DO THEY DO IT...???

how do so many women out there seem to "have it and do it all"...???
how can they appear to be such great mums and wifes and sisters and friends and scrappers...???
when most days i seem to just struggle through life.

maybe they don't...!!!

maybe they struggle with their lives as much as what i do and just don't share these things with us.
me...???
well i chose to wear my heart on my sleeve and tell people about my struggles/sorrows/lows and frustrations.
i don't know if that makes me a bad person...just "normal" i would have thought.

i look at other people's blogs and in just one day they have managed to scrap these amazing LOs, while cooking their husbands a 5 course meal and spending quality time with their umpteen kids and take pics of them dressed in their designer clothes and spend time with their eqaully gorgeous friends and well....i bet you know what i mean.
i feel that at any moment they will rip the buttons from their blouses, revealing a HUGE "S" and a red flowing cape underneath showing the world that they really are a superwoman.

am i jealous...???
well kinda.
and i don't want any flack here either...i am not single-ing out any one person nor bagging anyone out.
in all honesty i really just wanna know how they do it all in one day/lifetime and still remain sane and appear so together.

so maybe it is time to be thankful and give praise to what is good in my life.
time to add a happy thought (or pic) to each and every post to help me look at the happiness and the blessings in my life.

i'll leave the "superwoman-ing" to others who appear to do it so well.

a happy thursday to each and every one of you.
remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

HAPPY THOUGHT FOR TODAY
** snuggling up under a warm doona with mark and having kait come in and squeeze in between us.

MILLION DOLLAR SMILE

jakey always has had a million dollar smile.
even with a mouth full of metal for the past two years his smile has been just gorgeous.
so it was so exciting this morning, to go...

from this...

to this

he still needs some work to bleach out his discoloured tooth
(the result of a schoolyard accident when he was 9)
but for now i just love looking at that gorgeous smile.

on the scrapping side, i spent the day hand cutting SOOOOOOO many bl**dy felt flowers for a LO and doing a whole stack of hand sewing.
i think the result will be worth it...i guess we will all have to wait and see.

hope you have a happy wednesday.
remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

EASTER ESCAPADES

we had a very enjoyable easter weekend.
the long-eared, fluffy tailed fellow hopped our way and left some goodies;
we had a meal with mark's parents last night (won't even venture down "that" path of woe and disbelief) along with mark's brother and his family (thanks geoff and di for helping us get through the night);
helped a friend celebrate her 40th on saturday night -
"SURPRISE KIM"
- and boy....was she ever;
sewed some of these little fellas up as easter gifts - just SO cute and i actually made up my own pattern for them by just looking at the picture so i was pretty chuffed with myself;
braved the crowds on saturday morning with kait and mark to buy mark some new work pants and grab some supplies for the meal with his parents;
and i even managed to fit in some scrapping.

here are the two LOs i completed today.

gotta love the wacky sense of humour that this gorgeous boy has.

a simple LO of our gorgeous girl.

i am now officially halfway through my non-shopping 20 LO challenge to myself and embarrassingly my stash doesn't even have a dent in it, so i might be starting another non-shopping challenge when i have finished this one.
i have to make a start on my EMMie entries for this month pretty soon too i guess.
i have to decide on which retreat pics to use for my OTP mini album plus get the challenge packs paid for so rondelle can pop them in the mail for me.

and two reasons for celebration...
1. jake gets his braces off tomorrow morning after two whole years. i have been so proud of the way he has coped with having them on and the prodding and poking and pain he has endured along the way.
2. a very happy birthday to my dad for yesterday.
i can't wait to see him (and nanny) next week when they come up.
love you daddsie xxoo

so......whatever you did on the weekend and wherever the universe took you, i hope that you had a good one.

remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

RELAX....!!!!

that is what i planned to do today.
sleep in, have a lazy day just hanging out at home with the mark and the kids, scrap a bit, watch some telly, read a book.
a good dose of insomnia put pay to that as my eyes popped open about 2 a.m. and i didn't close them again until i had a nanny nap this afternoon.
i also washed, folded and ironed several baskets of clothes, swept the floor, did dishes, fed a whole stack of hungry teenagers for lunch (a bit hard when i couldn't serve them red meat seeing it is good friday but they hoed into their vegemite bread rolls with little complaint), had a visit from a friend and am now about to start our traditional seafoiod good friday evening meal.
it's all good though.

i finished scrapping this double LO for the april EMMies guest DT challenge today




















- well it should have been except "someone" read the challenge incorrectly and i had no room for the hidden journalling component.
ah well....i look on it as another photo scrapped, another memory captured.
won't be cutting out so many bl**dy flowers again in a hurry though....not good for the old eyes i can tell you nor the dicky wrist.

hope that you are all having a wonderful easter break so far and that you don't have to brave the shops tomorrow - wednesday and thursday were enough of a nightmare up in this neck of the woods.

remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

p.s. did you notice my new slide show in my side bar.....go and have a look-see if you like

JUST KEEP SCRAPPING, SCRAPPING SCRAPPING...

- sung in my best "dory" voice of course -
LOL

thank you to those of you who left comments about my last post and those of you who emailed me.
i'm still not sure that it was the right thing to do, to show the LO, but i did and i guess it is another step in the journey of "moving on".

been scrapping up a storm these past few weeks - started at the EMM retreat.
no actually...probably started when i moved my scrapping area up into the corner of our bedroom. it is so jmuch nicer scrapping up here, close to mark and the kids and my darling kait even hauls her little table in and scraps with me some weekends which is always a buzz.
and being part of the EMMies has helped too - have had lots of inspiration from the EMM gallery and the guest DTers that rondelle has dug up.
and i think i am finally reaching that place where i have wanted to be with my scrapping, since i first started.

where it doesn't matter about the product or whether it is published or whether people leave comments when it is posted to a gallery or on my blog.
cause it's all about telling the story of our family and leaving a written and photographic history for future generations.
kait loves looking through the albums and it has sparked many a discussion about the memories i have scrapped.

so here are some more LOs that i have done in the last few weeks.

a LO for my BOM - also part of my March EMMie entry
this was me when i was about 6 weeks old.
i still have that blanket i was lying on

another LO for my Emmies entry for march.
we had to doodle on an embellishment.
not sure i am happy with the result but i do love this LO and what it stands for

this is another photo taken in 1911 - not photoshopped at all.
i love looking at it and seeing all the lovely little faces of mark's ancestors.
part of the product i used here was an EMM challenge pack from a few months back

this LO was done for the EMM cybercrop last friday.
we had to use a B&W pic, B&W PP + a floral PP and the theme had to be "love".
i love this pic of mark and kait...i love them both and the relationship that they have together

this LO is the second one i did at for the CC. we were given two poems for inspiration and one of them mentioned "earth's splendour"
to me, flowers are earth's splendor so it made sense to scrap a photo of one of the grevilleas in our garden.
the title is hand-cut (OUCH...!!!) from hand marbled paper that aunty joanie did (she is such a clever chookie)
not sure i am 100% happy with it but hey....it's done now.

this is the final LO for the CC. we had to scrap a LO using black, white & green, a B&W pic and some rub-ons.
love this pic of my baby girl, reaching forward to stop me from taking her pic..."not quite fast enough baby"....LOL

thanks for looking.
and that is my lot for today.....

remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

NO APOLOGIES

this double LO needed a post of it's own.
i sat one day, feeling so sad and lost and angry at a lot of things and started to write about that day 14 years ago. my thoughts and memories just flooded back and this is the end result.
i don't expect anyone to post a comment - to be honest i don't care what you think of it.
it is what it is - it is truthful and written from my heart and i make no apologies for posting it.

Page 1

Page 2

look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

WELL WELL WELL....

...does anyone even bother visiting anymore...???

it has been a while since last i posted. so much has happened - good and bad.
lots i can't and won't go into concerning my family but let me just say that the path has been a VERY rocky one these past few weeks and without the love and support of a few close friends, and one in particular, i don't know that i would have got through it all.
so thank you...you know who you are.

my birthday get together was a hoot.

surrounded by people i really care about, lots of laughs, giggles, good food, great conversation and WAYYYYY too much of the old "Asti Ruby" and a very very late finish but i had the best time.

even the hangover was worth it...LOL

matt is still recovering from his back injury, although the road ahead is still full of physio visits and learning to listen to his body. let me just say, i NEVER want another phonecall like that again from mark that starts "now don't panic darl, BUT..." nor to walk into an A&E and see one of my children hooked up to THAT many monitors.
i am glad to say that his coach is very mindful of his injury too and isn't letting him back on the paddock until he is 100% sure of matt's fitness and capabilities.

the EMM retreat was just SO much fun. despite all the giggling and laughing and chatting and singing AND that infamous sparkler run that NO-ONE got any pics of, i did manage to scrap lots. i was just so inspired by all the amazing talent around me. i learnt so much from the girls there, not only during the classes and demos but just be sitting next to the girls and seeing what they were doing. everyone was just so friendly and inspirational and encouraging.
i even managed to teach a few of the girls how to do french knots - and they all were doing them on LOs after that - i was kinda proud (and a little surprised...!!!) that i could actually impart some knowledge onto someone else.
so rondelle needs to have her baby and get the next retreat organised cause i can't wait for the next one now.

i have been scrapping heaps lately. since the big move from the scrapping "dungeon" up to our bedroom i find it so much easier to sit, even just for a few minutes and get some scrapping done.
i am currently on a 20 LO non-shopping challenge to myself - my stash is just SOOOOO huge and i honestly can't justify spending anymore money on scrapping supplies until my stash is somewhat reduced. i have given away some of my "older" stash to girls i know that are teachers and they are grateful for the supplies - just glad the things will be used and not just thrown out.
so unless i need to buy CS or one of the challenge packs for the EMMies i am planning on getting my stash reduced in a big way.
then i can go out and buy up big again....LOL

EMM is holding it's monthly cybercrop tonight so pop on over and join in the fun.
not too sure about the clues that the DT have given us but i am sure things will become obvious once we kick off.

and now some LOs to share.

a LO of my beautiful boy and his uncanny resemblance to a soapie character - LOL

using up lots of my PP scraps

a LO of my mum...used one of the old EMM challenge packs - kept it simple because i am not sure how to journal about the relationship i have with mum which, at the best of times, is very strained.


my interpretation of the EMM sketch for this month's EMMies. my biggest challenge is to alter the sketches to suit the smaller size i scrap in - sometimes having to do that is an advantage, sometimes it's not.

this is a pic of mark's darling Nanna taken in 1911. i love the serenity of this pic and even though it is almost 100 years old, i have not photoshopped the pic at all. it is amazing condition.
this LO is part of my EMMies entry too and i used the march challenge pack.

~~ thanks for looking ~~

have a great friday - i am having lunch with some of the mums from kait's school
look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

BELATED BIRTHDAY

happy birthday to me for yesterday...43 hey...!!!
i was surprised by who remembered, who made an effort to make my day special and more importantly those who did neither.
surprised and hurt and a little sad i guess.
birthdays have always been bitter sweet for me but that's for another therapy session
ROTFL

but after reading this in the very early hours of this morning i am kind of embarrassed by my attitude to life at times.
always best, when feeling sorry for oneself, to take your eyes off yourself and look around.
i guess we often get so wound up in our own lives and perceived injustices that we don't stop to think of the pain that others might be in.

have been busy trying to get things organised for the EMM retreat next week.
i can't believe it is only a week away.
also busy getting ideas together for the EMMies.
i feel i will have a week of madly scrapping to get it all done by the end of the month.
sometimes i scrap better under pressure, sometimes i don't.

just want to share a LO that i did with a kit that the very talented zina put together for a class she ran from her home.


unfortunately i couldn't make the class but i am very pleased with the way this LO turned out.
my biggest challenge is resizing kits and sketches to suit the size i scrap in.
thanks to zina for putting together such a great kit.

enjoy the rest of your friday
i'm off to do some grocery shopping and then home to clean the house and garage up in preperation of a little get-together i am having tomorrow night with 30 or so of my closest friends....ROTFL

look for the things in your life that make you smile

~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

SHARING

never one to be pressured by deadlines, i got this LO entered into the EMM monthly sketch two days after it should have been uploaded.


oh well....i was never one to conform to a deadline and to be honest i never stood a chance against the other girls.
but it's a gorgeous photo of matt taken on the day we went bike riding back in january.
i just love his gorgeous smile and when things are tense between us, and that is more often than not these days, i like to think of this pic and that beautiful smile that he flashes.
and i am glad that i scrapped it.

i have also entered the EMMies over at EMM.
i am not sure what i was thinking but if nothing else it is a good way to get some scrapping done. i am determined to get lots done this year.

my lovely scrapping angels pack arrived this week....
thanks trish and tara...!!!
i hope i can do all the lovely papers and embellishments some justice.
while you are over there, check out the lovely work that the gorgeous marie has done with one of their kits - really lovely work my friend.

and spare a thought for my dear friend ruthy.
stay strong my friend....it will all work itself out and for the best.

have a great friday night
look for the things in your life that make you smile

~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

MY CLEVER GIRL

here is kait's entry in the Under 16's challenge of the EMM cybercrop for february.


i am so proud of her. she did most of the design herself and i helped her out a bit with some cutting and matting and giving her some ideas of how she should place things. she has set herself up on a little table beside me in our bedroom and we scrapped away yesterday afternoon, chatting and discussing things while we scrapped.
it was so much fun.

i managed to get only one of the challenges for the EMM CC done.
"Create a LO - any theme, any type of photo
BUT
You must cover the cardstock COMPLETELY with embellishments - I want as little of the cardstock underneath to show through as possible,. So get your buttons, your ribbons, your flowers and any other embellishment out of your stash and start glueing!!!!"

despite having trillions of buttons and flowers and other embellishments i ended up using PP to cover my page and some hand stitching.

i am really happy with the way it turned out and don't you just love the pic of my gorgeous boy...???

the other ladies did a great job on their LOs - some real heavy duty glueing and cutting out by some of them i can tell you.

the other two challenges eluded me and being so ill on saturday well, my creativity, or what little i do have, just flew out the window.
i was happy getting one of the challenges done though and helping kait out with hers.
as many of you know i am a bit CC challenged.

i did manage to scrap two other LOs over the weekend
(a record for me i am sure)
and i have another one almost completed.

this one of kait, documents her migraines and how hard it has been for her and i guess how guilty both mark and i feel that we didn't do enough to protect her from falling off that kitchen bench 5 years ago.
it's a bit dark on the scan but i wanted to convey the feeling of darkness by using darker colours.


.......and another i can't share as it has pics of our friends on it and i don't have their permission to put their pics on the net.

well lots to do today so time to get my a*se into gear.

have a wonderful monday
look for the things in your life that make you smile

~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

AND THE WINNER IS...PT 2

...ME!!!

i was stoked and a little overwhelmed to discover that i was one of the 5 winners of the scrapping angels comp, along with the delightful kim g and the gorgeous miss chris.
i was dancing around and laughing and just sooooo excited.
needless to say none of the family got it but hey....i think they were excited for me.

spent most of the day in a painkiller induced haze, either dozing on the lounge or smoring in bed.
i stayed up late completing one of the challenges over at the EMM cybercrop and dragged myself out of bed this morning to do a long overdue grocery shop.
after i got home i took some panadiene for my pounding headache which did nothing.
i'm not sure whether i am just tired or coming down with something.
i did sit at my scrapping table this afternoon with kait while she scrapped her entry in the under 16 challenge for the CC.
my little poppet certainly has an eye for design and what needs to go where on a page.
i'll share her page when she is finished.
i also managed to scrap 2 more LOs last night which i will share tomorrow - or is that today....???

have a great sunday
look for the things in your life that make you smile

~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

AND THE WINNER IS.........

...the lovely miss karen.
karen is one of the lovely ladies i hang out with over at EMM.
i hope you enjoy having my calendar hanging on your wall for the rest of this year karen.
it will be on it's way to you soon.
and thank you to all of you who left comments here on my blog, and over at EMM.

karen has also inspired me, as has the lovely miss em, to start my own art journal where i can write about anything and decorate it anyway i like and just explore my creativity.
i think my scrapping is held up so much by my fear of "doing the wrong thing"
(a very bad hang up from a childhood spent trying to please the twisted adults in my life who i thought loved me and who i tried my best to please even to my own detriment - but i digress)

and the monochromatic swap is all finished over at EMM and all the ladies are quite pleased with their goodies
*BIG SIGH OF RELIEF*
i have yet to open mine as i promised myself that i would hold off until all the girls had theirs - and the last of them was delivered today.
so i plan on having some fun looking at everything tonight when i finish up with taxi runs and dinner and dishes, etc.

i have also discovered a REALLY COOL new ribbon site.
--> HERE <--
well maybe it isn't a new site but it is new to me...LOL
i love the B&W pack they have on offer and let's face it....you can't have too many ribbons in your stash, especially black and white ones.
i could have done with a pack like this for the mono swap.
so go and check it out.
plus thay have a great comp running at the moment too.

i can't believe that in two weeks time i would be 43 !!!!
i can remember when i thought that people in their 40's seemed so old and now, i am one of them...!!!
how did that happen...???
i am throwing myself a little get together
(or "gathering" as the young ones now call it)
no big deal, just a few friends who i know i want around me, a few drinks and a few laughs i hope.
i have been feeling a little lost with my life and myself these past few months, unsettled and unsure of things, like i am on the verge of something great or a major change in my life.
i don't think i have cried as much in my whole life as i have the past few months...and it doesn't take much to get me started these days.
i have a very good friend who encourages me to keep on smiling and i do try.
i really do. it's just some days it just all gets too hard and i am left wondering why i am here on this earth and what my purpose is in life.
it's a scary place to be for me - i was always so sure of my place in this world and where i was heading.
but somewhere along the journey i stepped off the path and it's hard to find it again some days.

anyways....that's my lot for today.
my rantings and ravings.
my babbling on like a woman possessed.
hopefully i will have some scrapping to share soon.
my scrapping area is taking shape - slowly but surely. so much excessive stash to rid myself of (two friends in the teaching profession are going to be the recipients of a lot of my things)

so.......on that note.

have a wonderful and productive friday
look for the things in your life that make you smile

~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

GIVEAWAY

after scrapping SOOOOOO many of these calendars as christmas gifts, i was putting away some things this morning as i prepare for
"the great scrapping room move"
(more news on this soon)
and i discovered i had one calendar left over.

the photo is of a sunset taken from our balcony last june by yours truly.
i thought i was very clever actually
*WINK*


so if you would like me to send it to you, please leave a comment and i will put all the names in a hat (or similar recepticle....LOL) on wednesday night at 7 p.m. (DST) and have kait, my faithful offsider (and beautiful daughter) draw out a name.

off to continue with the great scrapping move and clean up.

have a wonderful and productive day
look for the things in your life that make you smile

~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

CARDS CARDS AND MORE CARDS

had a great day yesterday at my LSS doing a day long workshop on making 10 cards using only 1 piece of PP.
(i have the template if anyone is interested in it)

we used the papers from "designs galore" - just GORGEOUS and a nice strong paper to work with.
now anyone who has ever received a "shazzie card" knows that cards are not my forte so i decided to bite the bullet and attend the workshop.
aside from the fact that i love hanging out at the shop with julie and cheryl and "miss julie", the teacher, it was a good opportunity to overcome my obvious creative block when it comes to making cards.

it was a great day - even managed, although maybe not mastered, the art of stamping which is another "block" i have. i used the gorgeous AL clear stamps (you know the ones you adhere to the perspex blocks)
i would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get me some of them.
love the fact you can see where the stamp is going on the paper.
maybe that is my "block" when it coms to stamping...???
*SHRUG*

lots of laughs and giggling - i sat at the smaller table where there was only 5 of us so we got through our cards really quickly and had lots of time to chat.
such a wide diversity of ladies where at our table and yep....at almost 43 years old, i was the baby !!!
kendal, who sat opposite me, is a high school woodwork and metal work teacher - a rarity in the education system i am sure, but she was lovely and so interesting to chat to.
margie who sat beside her, was almost 70 and she was such a funny lady. she had us in stitches - and the other table wondering what was so funny - most of the day.

so here are my creations in all of their glory.
PLEASE...!!!
no laughing from the peanut gallery





have a wonderful sunday
look for the things in your life that make you smile

~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

p.s. exciting things are happening over at EMM.
go on over and have a look.
you won't be sorry you did...!!!

I HATE.....

...rejection emails.
whether they be computer generated or just a polite "thanks but no thanks", i hate getting them.

and i hate feeling so broken inside because i have once again allowed the thoughtless words and deeds of others to crush my spirit.
so much so i spent half my shopping time this morning sniffing back tears until a dear little old lady asked me if i was alright and patted me on the arm.
bless her.

on a brighter note, all the packages for the monochromatic swap i was hosting over at EMM have arrived......
FINALLY...!!!
so after i do a card making class at my LSS tomorrow, kait and i will spend sunday putting all the packages together + a little surprise for the girls and getting them ready to mail off on monday.
i hope the girls like what they get.

hope you all have a wonderful weekend
look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

HOW COOL IS THIS...???

in the words of a certain famous hat wearing music guru...
"DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR"
and go and check out the scrapping angels' site.
they have kits for pages and BTPs; a store front and a great team of designers to inspire you.
and not forgetting this great giveaway
- who wouldn't want to win this...???

now i don't personally know these two gals but my gorgeous friend marie is a great friend of trish and is often lucky enough to scrap with trish.

and trish has great taste too i might add because she has asked marie to be the guest designer for scrapping angels next month - a great honour and a chance for marie to showcase her beautiful work using the scrapping angels' kits.
i can't wait to see what she comes up with.

so pop on over to this gorgeous site (the link is in my side bar) and have a look.
i'm gonna save my pennies and buy me one of these gorgeous kits.

have a great day
look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

A CONFESSION

i have a confession to make.
i am in love with another man other than my husband.
you can see his picture

HERE

in my humble opinion, this guy is one whole lotta eye candy all wrapped up in a rugged, rough-around-the-edges, delicious package.

if i had to have someone in my life i could call "mr big",
this guy would be it.

now i have confessed i feel much better
LOL

have a great day
look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~
(anyone got mr big's number??...LOL)

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

ONLINE CLASS

i am not one for online classes - nor cybercrops either for that fact.
they do my head in, in a big way and my already low self esteem when it comes to my scrapping just seems to slip further from my grasp.
so with trepidation i signed up for ruthy's online class over at EMM.

i was surprised/shocked/amazed that i managed to not only do the class and with ease too but i just love my LO that i did - alhough i am thinking i might add a few more touches to it yet.

jake at jim's unit on boxing day - relaxing with a coke zero, watching the boxing day test.
i love this boy - my gorgeous, sweet baby boy is leaving me, being replaced by a young, handsome man.
where have the years gone...???


ruthy's instructions were great and she nailed it in keeping everyone motivated.
thanks heaps ruthy - loves ya sweetie.

i just want to get in and scrap now and i can't wait for the retreat in a mere 4.5 weeks.

i hope you all have a great week.....
look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

p.s. a very happy birthday to my friend shari who celebrated her birthday today. i was lucky enough to talk to shari this afternoon and she sounds like she had a great day.
happy birthday pet !!!!

TODAY I AM THANKFUL FOR...

THIS

i am thankful for my beautiful daughter who really did complete our family when she was born.

i am thankful for my gorgeous and "oh-so-fabulous" friend, marie who i never thought i would have the chance to meet.

i am thankful that finally we did have the chance to meet and she really was as lovely and funny and amazing in person as she had seemed through cyberspace.

i am thankful that she took such an amazing photo of my kait and then went on to scrap it, not for herself, but for me.

i am thankful that in 5 weeks time, marie will be here for the EMM retreat and we will get to hang out again for 5 days together and she will get to meet ruthy.

so much to be thankful for today but most of all, today i am just thankful for my friend, marie.

have a great day.....
look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

BAD BLOGGER

bad blogger

bad bad blogger
naughty shazz !!!!

despite every good intention of blogging regularly i have slipped off the wagon again.
oh well...put it behind me and move on.

i am still waiting for mark to help me get my new scrapping area set up. the old desk from the office at work has now migrated from the garage to the family room - lucky we have a B-I-G family room because it is plonked right in the middle of it.
i would move it into our bderoom, where my new scrapping area is going to be, by myself if it wasn't so big and heavy but that isn't gonna happen, i'm afraid.
i am hoping and praying that it will be in the corner of our bedroom ready for me to move my things up by the weekend and in time to do ruthy's EMM online class but alas i don't think it is meant to be.

have done a bit of scrapping this week. mainly finishing off calendars for rellies and a few cards for people.

a card for my cousin

a card for my aunt and uncle

a card for our friend kerrie who celebrated her 40th in dec, 06
(i know....it's late...!!!)

my scrapping room is such a mess and i am sure - in fact 100% sure - that if i clean it up i will be more productive with both my time and supplies.

my friend, nadia graduated from the goulburn police academy last week and started work with the northern rivers command on thursday. i can't wait to see her in her uniform. i am just SO very proud of her and all that she has done to achieve her dream of becoming a police officer.

mark worked from home yesterday and today. even though i barely spoke to him because he needed to concentrate, it was just so nice to have him working here at home. hopefully he can acheive his dreams of becoming financially secure enough to leave the business behind and program full time.

matt is at willowbank, near ipswich today, doing a defensive driving course that his godparents, graham and skip, bought for him last year after we had that tragic accident here that took the lives of 4 of matt's mates. i was so worried as he set off today on his own at 6 a.m. and it's now almost 5 p.m. and i am still worried. he had to drive all that way on his own and after starting his new job yesterday he was very very tired.
i just have to pray that he will arrrive home safely tonight.

we FINALLY had ceiling fans installed last week in the kids rooms and the family room (above the fire - it will help distribute the heat more evenly in winter) and of course...it hasn't been hot enough to have them on as yet.
isn't that always the way though...???

we had our twice-postponed street party on saturday night.
and what a fantastic night it was. about 70 people from the street (and a couple of streets over) turned up and it was just a great night. the older kids watched DVDs in the family room, the younger kids played the PS2 and "singstar" in the loungeroom and the adults all just hung around and chatted and laughed. it was great to see so many of the "new" faces come along and everyone agreed that it was a super night.
i won't tell you that i managed to consume 2 bottles (yes bottles...!!!) of Asti Ruby...!!!
but i will tell you that i won't be doing that again in a hurry.
i think the last of the stragglers left about 2 a.m.

i was shocked to learn last week that my uncle has bowel cancer.
why my mother chose to keep it from me i will never know.
i lived with this uncle and his wife (mum's sister) for 6 months before i married mark and of all my uncles he is probably my favourite. and that is despite the fact that when the family split, after the reading of my grandmother's will in 2000 (long story that will have to wait for a few glasses of wine and another day), i have had no contact with him, or most of my extended family in fact.
now i don't know what to do.
i would dearly love to go and see him again but that would mean re-initiating contact with other members of my extended family that i refuse to have any contact with whatsoever.
and i am scared that if i do take that step, that i am leaving myself open to more heartache and pain all over again at the hands of these vindictive and hateful people.
i just pray that he stays strong and has the strength, support and courage to fight this disease.
no-one deserves to get cancer, least of all this lovely man.

so if you are reading this, this is now the end of this rather long catch up post.
i will endeavour to update more regularly so as to not bore you too much with my ramblings and so i don't have to post such mammoth posts.

have a great wednesday.....
look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

QUICK POST

hope that you all had a great australia day.
we did the very aussie thing of some gardening and mowing the lawn then had lamb chops for dinner.

yesterday we had a garage sale. despite advertising that we didn't want anyone here before 8 a.m. there was a couple literally waiting at the garage door when we put it up at 6 a.m.
and they weren't very polite either about us not being set up.
so we made them wait and they paced up and down at the end of the driveway until about 7.15 when we put the last of the things out.
and what were they so anxious to buy...???
ASOLUTELY BLOODY NOTHING!!!!!!!
but all in all jake, kait and i had a great day (mark and matt were away) and what we didn't sell will be donated to charity or we will make a trip to the local tender centre.
we made about $80.00 after costs

i didn't sleep very well last night as mark was at a conference on the gold coast with matt. i never sleep well when mark is away. didn't help either that a change came through about 10 p.m. and the wind was blowing like there was no tomorrow. i am always worried when it is really windy like it was last night about the gums around the house throwing a branch but all was well when i woke up this morning - except for the millions of leaves and strips of bark all around the house.
i eventually fell asleep about 3 a.m. and was awake again by 6.30.
so a nanny nap was on the cards this afternoon, which i had while kait was away playing at a friend's house.
mark is home now so hopefully i will get some decent sleep tonight.

i managed to get a little bit of scrapping done today. just some calendars i have to finish and the last of the cards for the monochromatic swap i am hosting over at EMM.
EMM also had a cyber crop this weekend
(one day i will get organised enough to do one)
one of the challenges was do scrap a white monochromatic layout.
go to the EMM gallery and have a look at some of the layouts that the girls have done.
they really are just stunning...!!!

off to watch the tennis now.
i am hoping gonzales will win although i do like federer too.

have a great week and remember.....
look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

p.s. don't you just LOVE the kenny rogers song i have playing.
it makes me smile whenever i hear it playing.
mark often says to me that i always underestimate how special i am and how much i mean to him and the kids.
i'm not saying i am beautiful (i am not THAT deluded) but i do underestimate what i mean to my family.

JUST FOR A BIT OF FUN

have seen this tag on a few blogs about the place...feel free to complete it yourself.

1. available or single..... happily married
2. best friend.... mark
3. Cake or pie?...... cake (mud cake preferrably)
4. Drink of choice..... champagne OF COURSE
5. Essential item you use everyday..... my jimmy jams - would wear them ALL the time if i could
6. Favourite colour.... green (natural tones)
7. Gummy bears or worms.... gummy bears
8. Hometown.... goonellabah, NSW
9. Indulgence.... my scrapping supplies
10. January or february?..... january when the kids are on holidays
11. Kids and Names..... matt, jake and kait + the big one i married.
12. Life is incomplete without... my family and friends
13. Marriage date..... january 10, 1987 - 20 years this year...!!!
14. Siblings.. 6 - 1 x brother; 1 x sister; 1 x half-brother; 1 x half-sister; 2 x step-sisters
15. Oranges or apples.... red apples
16. Phobias or fears..... losing a member of my family
17. Fave quote... have a look here
18. Reason to smile.... the love of my family and the friends i have that truly care for me.
19. Season.... winter/winter/winter...!!!
20. Tag people..... whoever wants to take the challenge.
21. Unknown fact about me.... i have a rare degenerative bone disease in my right wrist
22. veggie you dont like.... brussell sprouts (BLECH!!!!)
23. Worst habit.... eating junk food when i am stressed
24. X rays... too many to list but about 30 on my right wrist
25. Favourite food... mexican and of course CHOCOLATE...!!!

have a great thursday
look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

ANOTHER WEEK GONE BY

so much for blogging more often - oh well...!!!
lots to share so make a cuppa and settle in for the long haul.
or leave now....your decision.
you have been warned.

* kait and i visited marie and her family down at lennox a few times last week. they headed back to wodonga yesterday. kait went swimming in the lake with kelvin, blake and andrew, while marie and i sat in the shade of the trees beside the lake and chatted and laughed and of course, took some pics.

our gorgeous kids

the "gorgeous" miss marie
(although she will hate me for posting this pic...LOL)
but don't you just LOVE that infectious smile...???

i can't tell you how wonderful this lady is and how amazed i am that we just "clicked" when we met for the first time in real life.
marie exudes confidence and happiness and inspiration - i feel blessed to call her my friend.
i can't wait for her to come back in about 6 weeks for the EMM retreat. it will be a blast and i know ruthy will love her as much as i do when they finally get to meet.

*saturday we took the bikes out for one last ride at pete's property before we sell them - although after we had such a great time, that is in doubt now.
love getting together with our friends "the campbells" - always lots of laughs and "no-frills fun" and amusement and with hanging out with pete, who so kindly let's us invade his lovely old farmhouse and farm on a regular basis.
the latest addition to pete's farm is an old "paddock basher" which the kidcs took great delight in driving around and around and around the paddock for most of the day. they all just had such a ball.
the kids all had a go at whip cracking and had us all in stiches when they managed to whip themselves and they were jumping around like they had ants in their pants.
it really was THE best day
here are a few pics from the day...
(although none of the campbells cause i haven't asked their permission to post them on here)

Kait and daddy ready to set out on a run around the farm - this is the first time she went on the "big bike" with mark and she controlled the throttle so they went a little faster than mummy would have liked...!!!

Matt just before he whipped himself on the butt...!!!

"did you hear THAT ma....i cracked the whip"
jake's look of amazement after he cracked the whip on the very first try

the aftermath of a fun-filled day..."cow by-product" all over the bikes


* we were lucky enoungh to see mcnaught's comet in the sky at pete's on saturday night. we couldn't see it from home but because there is nothing but 150 acres of farmland around pete's house, we all sat on blankets and chairs and patiently waited for it to make it's appearence.
i was the most excited out of everyone - i love "spacey" things.
using a very "spohisticated tripod" - a fence post in the middle of the paddock, mark managed to capture a few pics to immortalise the memory.
these are the best two

taken at 8.51 p.m.

taken at 8.56 p.m.

and that is the end of this mammoth post.
thanks for getting to the end, if you did.
more pics and hopefully some scrapping to share soon
so until then...

look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

WEDNESDAY

not much has been happening.
have only managed to finish scrapping some calendars that i started as christmas gifts for some friends. i really am itching to get back into some serious scrapping of pics - i have some gorgeous pics to scrap taken with the new camera. maybe today...
*SIGH*

marie and kelvin, blake and andrew turned up on monday afternoon. marie is as sweet and as bubbly and as gorgeous as i knew she would be. the happiness just bubbles up out of her. kait and her friend, lily and i are heading down to lennox this afternoon for a few hours to catch up with marie and her family and i am hoping that i will be able to take mark down to meet her before they head back next week.
hopefully i will have some pics of the two of us together to share soon.

last night i took kait and lily to see "Night at the Museum".
the three of us all thoroughly enjoyed it...it was such an entertaining movie - a little scary in parts maybe for littlies but just sooooo funny in other parts. the girls repeated lines from it the whole way home in the car and just about drove mark and the boys crazy acting out scenes from it after we got home.
always a good sign that a movie was a hit i think.
loved the "owen wilson/ben stiller" combination again. those two certainly have a comedic chemistry on the screen - love it.

good to see this gorgeous girl back blogging. she had a pretty rough year last year so pop into her blog and say "hi, glad to have you back"

also HUGE congrats to this very talented lady on her latest venture.
not only an awesome scrapper but a genuinely lovely chick to boot.

i am off to give plasma today. i am on the permanent plasma schedule now which means every two weeks i toddle off to the blood bank and give 650 mls of plasma.
it is used for burns patients, cancer patients and people with certain blood disorders.
giving blood is something i have done since i was 16, only stopping when i was pregnant and breast feeding.
i see it as my way of giving to the community without fanfare and seeing i don't work fulltime i am blessed to have the time to do it. the staff are always so friendly and welcoming.
maybe some of you could look at giving blood and/or plasma yourselves.
i figure one day it could be a loved one or friend of mine that needs a life saving transfusion of blood or plasma and i hope there is someone else out there who thinks the same as me so that there is blood for them to have.

anyways....off my soapbox for today.
hope you all have a great wednesday.

look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

WELCOME 2007

it has been such a busy time since i last posted...christmas, our first family holiday away (not sport or celebration related) in almost 10 years; our first christmas away from home ever; an outrageous and highly amusing new year's eve; catching up with good friends; a milestone for mark and i in our marriage; waiting to meet new friends.

i hope that each and every one of you had a wonderful, peaceful and joyous christmas and that the beginning of 2007 has been a good one for you and those you love.

some memories that i have so far this year...
* staying at mark's dad's unit at coolongatta. he bought it late last year and when he is not renting it out, the family is able to use it.
he kindly offered it to us from dec 22 - 29 and we took him up on it.
it was great to kick back and relax as a family and have a few friends visit us.
the units are only a few months old so everything was brand new and lovely and the views from the 11th floor balconies are to die for.
we even had the excitement of being evacuated at 3 a.m. on boxing day because some idiot on the floor above us burnt toast and set off the smoke detectors.
as a family we made our way down the fire escape stairs and i was actually quite surprised at how calm we all were becuase we could distinctly smell smoke but couldn't get anyone to tell us what was going on. i was more concerned at keeping kait calm and the boys in my sight. but we all did the right thing (except for putting shoes on which the firies told us was a "must" when evacuating a building) and it was just one of those things that added to the experience of our holiday.

*our neighbours del and alex spending christmas night with us. they were staying on the gold coast also and it was so nice that they could join us for christmas night.

* despite the fact it was our first christmas where none of the kids "believed" in santa they all eagerly opened their santa sacks and seemed well pleased with their gifts.

our very own little elf to help hand out the gifts

my three boys playing a game of soccer on the new PS2

* cricket on the beach at greenmount on christmas day. i think the kids were amazed, and slightly amused, that i got up and joined in.

* relaxing at the unit - reading, watching DVDs, chilling out on the balcony, "singstar" on the new ps2, a chance to read a good book, sleeping, minimal housework, eating out at some really yummy places (earth and sea's pasta is "to die for") spending quality time just hanging out with mark and the kids and enjoying their company

the view off the back balcony of the unit looking down towards coolangatta beach

* terry and roz, kait's godparents, battling christmas traffic to pay us a visit. it was great to see them again and for kait to see them.

* briefly caught up with zina the day we left the gold coast. i picked up a kit from her that i had ordered. unfortunately the visit was all too short (she had visitors) and i haven't had a chnace to scrap the LO using the kit as yet.

* NYE at geoff and di's (mark's brother and his wife) - we swam and ate and laughed til we cried, had a few ales and belted out a few tunes on singstar (not sure the neighbours appreciated geoff and mark's version of "working class man" at 3.30 a.m.) and we didn't crawl into bed until 4.45 a.m.

mark and i celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on Jan 10. we didn't do much. the sweetie bought me flowers and i cooked us a nice dinner and had a few wines. we spent the time at home with the kids and to be honest - it was just lovely. the kids created a powerpoint presentation for us on the computer letting us know how blessed they feel to have a mum and dad that have been married for 20 years - and yes....i bawled my eyes out.

and last but not least, the oh-so-fabulous and amazing miss marie arrives on the north coast tomorrow. to say that i am excited about her visit is an understatement.
marie and i became firm friends back in the old "snappy scrapping" days and have spoken a few times on the phone and emailed each other almost everyday for the past few years.
i will share some pics of us together when i get some...mark is convinced we will have our mouths open in every one of them (thanks dear)

so that's 2007 so far, in a nutshell.
i hope to get back into a routine of posting on a regular basis.

look for the things that make you smile
~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo