[ o ] a peek into my life

a photo history...

just some pics of things that have been going on here in our world...

 

build her a cake or something...

Miss Claire had her birthday this month and we had both my mom and Jarrod's mom in town to celebrate. Jarrod's mom and Claire had decided that we needed to make a princess barbie cake...my preferred method would have been to purchase one already made, but instead, we built the cake. And guess what?
It turned out great. And a heck of a lot cheaper :) And I was super proud of myself for actually doing it!

A few more photos of what's been going on in our lives...

Hubby and I went to Vegas without the kiddos...just a couple days away (Jarrod had a work function to go to) and this was the view from our room the first night we were there.

stepping back

My mom was here for a visit for my birthday (just turned 34...rapidly approaching MID thirties instead of EARLY thirties) and for Claire's first dance competition. We had a great time - the kids just love having their grandmas here :) She's home now with her little Sweet Pea and I know she's a happy puppy momma :)

Today, something that I did a while back became official...and I need to talk about it a bit...work through it in my head :) I've been a Garden Girl at Two Peas for several years...it was a dream come true for me to be a part of the design team for the most amazing scrapbook community online. The friendships that I made while a garden girl I am very grateful for...the people I met both online and in person I will always treasure. It was great to have the assignments we were given and for me to stretch myself creatively. But recently the love that I had for scrapbooking and creating went away. It's happened before, and with some browsing of the galleries and magazines, that spark always came back and I was able to crawl out of my funk...this time it hasn't been so easy. The guilt that I felt when another deadline went by and I was unable to put onto paper the thoughts that were in my mind was too much for me. I hated taking up a spot that someone else might just want as much as I used to. I still wanted that spot...but I knew it wasn't fair to the other girls on the team or the people that look to the Garden Girls every 15 days for inspiration. I was starting to resent the people that seemed to be able to create effortlessly...the girl that used to be able to crank out 5 double pagers in an afternoon was gone and it was all I could do to even step into my office...which is the dining room, by the way...

Anyway...long story short...last month I turned in my resignation and today it became official. I am no longer a Garden Girl :( and that makes me sad. My hopes are that the love for a hobby that I once adored will come back again without the stress of deadlines. This plain and simple hobby of scissors and glue changed a while back (as some of you know) and it just became too much for me. The stress of creating a page that others might like (or that they wouldn't publicly tear apart) was too much and I let it get to me. I started to second guess myself and stopped being able to create just for the love of it...I held on for a long time, hoping that love would come back, but it hasn't and it's time for me to step away...for now.

Now what do I do with a dining room overrun with paper, chipboard, ribbons and glue?

well...back to life I guess :) Back to soccer practices and dance lessons, spring is getting closer...I guess it's here, it just doesn't come out everyday. Time for me to step it up out in our yard, I've never been one for yardwork, but if I want us to have the yard Jarrod and I both want, then I'd better get over that fear of dirt I have :)

been a while...

so i'm going to give you a visual of what's been going on...

max grew grass in school...he was very proud of himself

spring has shown it's face a few times...great fun :)

Easter was here...good times with friends coloring eggs

starting to convince that eldest son to get in front of my lens...finally

miss claire is doing so well in dance...really loves it these days and has her first real competition this weekend...

another of Jac

and then this one...

maxie started soccer...wow. of course we've had some snow outs...rain outs? no. SNOW outs.

lake powell...checking out the new boat...can't wait for august...

  and there is this...

yeptacons

"yeptacons came to my cyassyoom and messed it up today"

yeptacons.

Gotta love four year olds. St. Patty's day has never been high on my holiday list...it's cool and all...the green. But I don't really know what it's all for. Except Shamrock shakes, I totally understand those :) I remember working green into my school uniform when I was little...knowing my mom, we probably made cookies, I'm sure we did. She probably even decorated. Me...not so much. Erin would be so disappointed in my holiday decorating skills. I didn't even decorate for Easter, and that's in just a few days, too late now. Jarrod mentioned to me yesterday that he likes St. Patty's day, that it's always seemed cool to him...and from someone who doesn't seem to do the whole holiday thing, that's huge. So next year...maybe I'll be more festive :)

Maxie got into the car this morning after school and was so excited to tell me about the Yeptacons. They came into his classroom while the kids were at recess and messed up the whole room and left footpyints everywhere. He thought it was just the coolest thing ever.

just a pic of the boys...love that max was cracking up...funny little dudes.

and for those that might have been confused as to what a Yeptacon is...leprechaun.

easy peasy

Lately it seems as if finding the time...and the space...and the photos... to scrapbook has gotten a little tougher, but using the Kit Of The Month is making me smile :)

Everything comes in the kit that you would need to create TWENTY double page layouts...and i do love me some double pagers :) And everything is coordinated and there's chipboard and brads and tons of cool stuff - I loved the typography that was used on the elements as well! I was so excited to be asked to play with this kit and am looking forward to making the rest of my pages! It's a great kit, and from what I've heard, it's selling fast..

On to other news in the Owens home...we decided one day that "carrie" should get a wii for her birthday (even though we all know it would be for the kids...and their dad) well...they are still in high demand so we bagged that idea and purchased Guitar Hero to go with the xbox we already have. The first night my lovely husband stayed up until 3:30am playing :) He's rather good now. Me, not so good...although I am getting better :) The kids love it, but they do seem to prefer watching the grown ups play so far.

It's sunny. Right now. I'm so happy. I do love the snow and winters here in Utah, but once Spring starts showing it's face...it just makes me happy. The snow is almost all melted from our front and backyards...and now we can see the grass growing in the backyard. I'm so excited to have grass back there, looking forward to lots of fun times back there this year.

sweetness

just some random photos from the past little while...

 
he watches so closely...

and is taken such good care of...

 

when in doubt...

go prime.

I've been struggling lately with my focus...still not spot on where I want it, but switching back to my prime lenses...ahhh...makes me such a happy girl. These were shot with my 85mm 1.8. There's nothing more annoying that thinking that you got some good pics and then they are all blurry...grr.

Today was pj day at miss Claire's school...very odd to send your child to school in pjs. Kind of made me feel like I forgot to do something :) She had a great time.

No pics of my eldest today, he's not feeling all that well. Good thing there's no basketball game for him tonight. A couple more silly ones...

 

different

I found this photo today while going through some pics on my computer...she looks so different here. Isn't that weird how she looks one way in just about every photo I've seen of her and then there is one or two that she looks so very different?

It's still been snowing off and on, but nothing too exciting :) As much as I love the snow, I'm getting anxious to get out and start taking pics at cool outdoor locations. I know that there are probably a lot of cool places that are really awesome in the snow...I just don't want to be cold :)

I did get some scrapbooking done, felt sooo good to dig out some old photos and get to work...my office is of course still a mess, but that will come. Hopefully :) Off to cook some dinner...there are no dance classes tonight, no basketball games. Just quiet :)

it's snowing again

or should I say it's snowing STILL...seems like there has been a lot of snow lately, and for the most part I really love that. I love looking outside and seeing all the snow and seeing more falling. This is a photo from a week or so ago when we had a huge storm, I hadn't seen that much snow in a while.

This was after one of our very kind neighbors used their snow blower on our front walk, sidewalk and driveway. See how the snow is so high up on our fence...crazy stuff man. And it's still snowing. Some melted away, and as soon as it was gone...more! :)

The two younger kids are at the table with their grandma (Jarrod's mom) eating lunch, i'm in the living room, typing this up...when I should be finishing up my scrapbooking. But this afternoon I will be scrapbooking my little heart out :) The last thing I made was getting the rubons on this project for Jarrod's birthday:

Ok...i'm off now...my mind is ready to create...I'm ready to move a pile from my desk to...my floor? :) and make something!