I Joined Pinterest

I did it, I joined Pinterest (an online "bulletin board" for photos found online). Then I sat at the computer gathering pins for my categories. For over two hours - like over five hours! It was such an incredible rush of colours and ideas floating around in my head! Somehow this weekend, I managed to get three layouts completed; I figured for sure I could get one done, maybe two - but three! I surprised myself!

On your next layout: gather inspiration from www.pinterest.com.

As I was gathering all the pictures into my boards, pinning away I was so inspired. It actually took me a really long time to get to bed because of all the thoughts whizzing around in my brain! There was a pin of mine that stood out that I looked at right before creating this layout. Now, it's the colours that stood out to me, which kind of seems strange looking at that pin, then my layout that it inspired. It was the colour choice of navy blue and green with pink that really caught my eye. And after lookin at lots of Kelly Purkey and knowing how many food layouts she creates, that went hand in hand with the photos I had to scrap.

This layout came together really fast - probably about an hour! That' a record for me. It's not super fancy, but I really how simple it is and I love the white space on the bottom third of the page. Makes me happy!

Sometimes I find it a bit challenging to arrange the small photos on a layout. I often get these smaller ones printed, and want to try to lay them out differently from page to page. When I laid these ones down, I had a little gap between the 5x7 main photo and the two vertical smaller photos. I thought this was a good place for my title to be! All the letters in the title were originally white, but I inked the smaller font black and let "best" really pop. And the arrow brad points to the best of the best pasta.

Did you see the stitching? It's my favorite part of the page! Before I stuck everything down, I could picture stitching right there, and new I had to attempt this technique again. I love it, and love that it's not straight, but just a bunch of squiggly lines. (I stitched, then backstitched again and again.) Love it!

Journaling says: Without a doubt this was my favorite pasta meal. Next time we are in Whitefish we're absolutely going back.

Last night while I was laying in bed, not being able to shut my brain off, I thought about all the different layouts I've done and the style in which I create them. It seems that I create differently, using a different style, for each kind of page. The three pages I did this weekend were all completely different: a page about Justin and my's six month of marriage (created very whimsically with some cut-out paper shapes), a layout of Lowie's cat hut (created very linearly, and very manly), and this one about the best pasta I've ever eaten (created in a minimalistic way - where less is more). Looking at lots of blogs, looking at lots of layouts gathering my pins, I think that's how everyone scrapbooks; creating differently, changing styles a bit depending on the subject matter. Have any thoughts on this?

I didn't think I'd find as much joy and inspiration in Pinterest as I did, so give it a try and see how it can inspire you. Leave a link to your creation and the pin.

Nicole's Sort-Of Bachlorette Party

This post could also be titled: "Dancing With Burnt Legs," "The Night We Met Bachelor Todd," "The Art Of Getting Drinks Bought For You," or "Note To Self - Take More Pictures!" Let's get at it, shall we?

Justin and I started tanning on the 15th (the day after Valentine's Day), to have a good base for Mexico so we don't burn up. We've been going almost every day, with a few days off to let our bodies rest a bit. Friday night Justin decided it would be a good idea to go in the stand up/full body machine first and then take a run through just the leg machine. Good idea in theory, but in actuality - I ended up with burnt legs! While out for supper, I didn't notice it too much, but afterwards at Blockbuster I wondered why my butt felt like it was on fire! Soon I realized what had happened; when we got home and I changed into pajama pants - my legs were beet red! I had Justin put anti-itch/anti-hurt lotion on my legs a couple times that night.

This made getting dressed for Nicole's bachlorette party a bit of a challenge! I couldn't wear really tight jeans because they rubbed on my legs too much. I ended up wearing one of my new shirts I bought at Ross while in Kalispell. I bought the shirt intending not to wear it until Mexico, but I've been wanting to wear it so badly, it was determined that since tonights festivities were related to Mexico, it would be alright. Oh - and while I was doing my hair (I curled it all), I burnt the inside of my wrist on the iron (maybe this is why I don't get "dolled up" too often - so many things can go wrong with my clumsy self!).

Amanda and I (along with Lincoln and Justin) had a discussion one night as to what we should do for Nicole's bachlorette. We ended up deciding on a late supper, drinks and dancing afterwards; no games and a gift certificate for a langerie store so she could pick something out that she really liked/wanted. All great ideas. When we got the phone numbers from Nicole (for some of her friends), and then Amanda called, then I talked to Megan and asked if anyone was coming - it seemed like it wasn't enough notice for some of Nicole's friends. Wanting to make the best of things, Amanda, Chelsey and I all went out (and the bride-to-be/bride-already Nicole was also there).

We went to Moxie's at eight for supper and some drinks. When Nicole ordered a Mexican Bulldog - I wanted one too. I've been wanting one of these from the moment I heard about them - my two favorites in one cup! (It's a margarita with a small sized Corona dumped into it upside down. This is my new favorite drink!) We ordered yummy food (my left-overs were a good snack once Justin and I were winding down in bed shortly after midnight) and enjoyed ourselves.

When Nicole saw the size of the Corona bottle in her Mexican Bulldog, she wanted to keep it, so she wiped it off as best she could, and put it into her purse. Then, in the bathroom stall she found a driver's license and added that to her "goody bag." While at the casino earlier in the day Nicole had one $50, and when she found these goodies, she declared it was her lucky day!

When it's Chelsey and I - there is always a bathroom photo! And Moxie's was a much better pee-spot/photo-opp than the bar was going to be!

When we arrived at Essie's, it was ladies night! There was a draw that we filled out ballots for (they did a draw every half an hour). While we were filling out the ballots, this guy comes up to us with a Sharpie in his hand. It's his bachlor party, and his friends are making him wear a shirt and having girls sign it. This was too much fun, and a really good idea!

After getting drinks and sitting down at a table, Bachelor Todd and his friends asked if we'd dance with them. Nobody seemed too excited about this idea - but I said yes, and rangled the troops. Nicole looks less than thrilled - but I promise she did have a good time!

While we were dancing, Nicole's name was announced over the intercome. We wondered what was up (completely forgetting about the contest), but when she came back with a hat and a $50 gift certificate for the mall - we understood that she had one!

Apparently this is where I stopped taking photos! There was a lot of me kicking Bachlor Todd's butt - his shirt said to! Then once, after getting off the dance floor, he snuck up to me and kicked me in the butt; I told him I deserved that, and I half expected it after I started kicking him. There was this Matt guy that randomly sat down with us. After some chit-chat (it was obvious he thought he was going home with one of us - HA!), he wanted to get some celebratory shots for us to do. I went to the shooter bar with him, declaring that I only had five dollars, and that wasn't going to buy a round of shots. He pulled out his twenty, and we got five peach schnapps/raspberry sour puss shots. (This was after a discussion I had with my mum yesterday about getting guys to buy drinks while out at the bar. See - it does happen!) We went back to the table, had the shots and Nicole and I went back up dancing. When we came back, our friend Matt had thankfully gone back to his friends table. I wrote a fake phone number on Bachelor Todd's shirt (a combination of my parent's number and my cell phone), walked around the bar a bit and decided to call it a night.

We did drive past Bos Hogs to see if there was a line, but it looked too busy to get back out into the cold and wind again. Justin called while Chelsey, Amanda and I were heading back to the house, and we met up with them for a quick horn honk at Wendy's. We made it back to the house, the Kurtz's and Sipko's headed home, and Justin and I headed for bed. A fantastic night - can't wait to do it again when more of Nicole's friends can make it out to celebrate!

Family Day Weekend - Sunday and Monday

Sunday was a little bit of a lazy day for Justin and I: he went out shopping for a gift, and I watched TV. I finally had a shower at about 1:30! Sandy came over for a little visit at 2:30. She brought us a papaya; when I saw the label said "Product of Mexico," I got all excited for our trip all over again.

We went out to the Keg for supper to celebrate Dalton's 18th birthday. The food was really good, but the service we had wasn't the greatest. We were there for close to three hours, and probably an hour of that was waiting for our meal to arrive. The waiter was slow on refilling our drinks also. I guess, in the end it didn't matter since we got to spend more time together - and with a glass of wine, it's all fantastic!

Afterwards we went to my parents. We eneded up staying there really really late too, it was after midnight when we finally left. I fought my mum's printer, and with help from my brother, got a collage printed. This is why I print my photos at Walmart!

Monday Justin went out to go hunting for coyotes, and I scrapbooked. Now - it took me from about eight until about three to complete one page! I honestly think it was the longest page I've ever created! It was a struggle, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

When Justin got back home, we got ready to say goodbye to Hewie. I admit, I was on the verge of tears when he left. We've had him the longest of any of our vehicles. We took him to Thunder In The Valley the first time Justin and I ever went camping (and when I first met the future Kurtz's); I remember that's when Justin bought the tent and I was so upset with him for buying such a small one - especially when we could have just borrowed one. Hewie came camping with us when Justin met Thom, Gloria, Brittany and Kas the first time. We took Hewie to BC the first time that Justin ever went, when he met my Grandpa and Yvonne for the first time. In his later years, when I was driving the '86 Blazer or the Jeep, when Justin and I went to get groceries, or just driving around town - we drove Hewie most of the time; nothing beats his heater - I will miss the hot air blowing on my face in the winter time. He will be missed.

After Hewie was taken to his new home, we were going to head over to my parents. But beforehand, I wanted to go to the field by our house to take some photos - it was, after all, six months of marriage! I still can't believe it's been that long, and it's only been that long! Being with someone for six years, and having lived together for five and a half of those years makes "being married" not such a big deal. SO many people have asked, "so, how's married life treating you." Well, it's not really any different! I can see how stressful it would be though, if we hadn't lived together previously. Even from basically living together (being at Justin's every day), to him living under the same roof as me was a huge difference. That was really the only time I noticed a change in our relationship. Living together means sharing bills and responsibilities, which means you have to work together to manage tasks of life. I love Justin, and can't wait to see what the next six months, ten years, fifty years and everything else in between, will have in store for us!

Be Mine Colourful Valentine

This layout has probably taken me the longest of any I've every made before. Innitially I was going with this Dear Lizzy background paper, but then I started to second guess myself. A few hours later, and I decided to go back to my original plan. Then I wanted to use teal on the layout; I just so happened to look over at my muffin tin on the rolling cart next to my work table and spotted a broken necklace that I love. Perfect, I'll use that on this Valentine's layout!

On your next layout: use a jewelry item as an embellishment.

You can see that one of the flowers was broken from my necklace, but I think that adds to some of the charm of it. I'm glad I saved this, and could give it another life - re-using!

I went to use my Fiskars patterned scissors, and spotted a heart and a butterfly punch in the kit Justin bought me for our first Christmas together. (I've been using this way more in the last year than I ever did when I first got it five years ago.) It seems I've used a lot of butterflies on my layouts lately - ever since I bought those punches.

When I pulled out a chipboard heart to use on this page, I knew I had to cover it with glitter for it to match my layout; this matches the sparkly alphas perfectly (the glitter on the flourish is a little more of a finer texture, but I think it all worked well together). Unlike last time, this time I laid the glitter onto wet glue. I stuck SO much better, and once I shook and tapped the back of the chipboard, almost no glitter was falling off.

When it came time to think about my journaling (this almost always the last element I think about when creating a page), I thought it would be a neat idea to inset it into the curvature of the background paper. With some tracing the lines onto a peice of old vellum and some trial and error, I love how it seems to become part of the page. The shape makes me think of Christmas ornaments!

Journaling says: Since we'd been eating out all weekend (in Whitefish), I decided we needed to stay in for Valentine's Day. I put Justin in charge of a $20 supper (Japanese chicken with rice) and I made a $20 dessert (chocolate and butterscotch fruit fondues). $10 was spent on gifts for each other. I think this $80 night could become a new tradition!

Dig through your jewelry, and see what you can re-purpose as an embellishment for your next layout. Leave a comment with a link.

Family Day Weekend - Friday and Saturday

Thursday night Corey talked to Justin about getting a turkey to deep-fry. They had a discussion about size, amount of oil and the meal. When Justin asked where they were going to do it, he said if they needed more space they could do it at our house. That worked out well, more space for people and more space outside to do the deep-frying. So the Sipko's were called and the date was set for Friday night.

There was a quick phone call to the deep-fried turkey hotline (aka my dad), to find out if oil and lard could mix (they can) and we were ready to rock. Despite how could it was outside (about minus twenty), it cooked pretty fast. After it was cooked they moved onto the french fries, and dinner was done! (If you've never had deep-fried turkey before, you've GOT to give it a try - I can give you the phone number to the hot-line if you need!)

We retreated to the basement after stuffing ourselves and watched Fubar 2. Well, some of us watched it, some of us curled up by the fireplace and had a nap! But the parts I saw were pretty funny.

Saturday morning I threw in a load of laundry. I always leave the laundry basket downstairs for Lowie, since I know how much he likes sitting in it. Justin then put the blanket over top - creating a jail. After a few minutes when I couldn't take it anymore, I went and flipped the blanket over, allowing Lowie to escape. He hopped out shortly afterwards, then found his way in between the basket and blanket. It was like he was in a little cat-tent!

Brittany and Gloria came down for the long-weekend to stay in Taber, and I was excited to get to see them. Once I determined that my stomach was going to be okay enough to go out for the day, I got ready then made the drive. (My stomach has been acting up since Thursday - and no, I'm not pregnant!)

This weekend was planned as an early surprise birthday party for my aunt. Amber and Brittany had decorated Amber's house, and after lunch at Gerald and Terry's, we headed over for the celebration. Once Gloria got up the stairs from the landing, she noticed the birthday banners and balloons and was surprised that we had surprised her. It was determined that the rest of the afternoon was all about her: a massage in Amber and Mike's fancy chair, presents, a manicure by Amber and drinks.

While Gloria was relaxing in the chair getting massaged, Brittany got on making the weekends Drink Club Drink. It was really yummy, with Crystal Light and ruby red grapefruit juice with a choice of vodka or spiced rum (or virgin). It's funny, now that I have a blog: Brittany grabbed my camera to take a picture of the drink, "this is for your blog." And at lunch, my mum said "I know what you're going to blog about next." I love it!

Amber and Mike have a family of chihuahua's. They have the mother, father, and from separate litters a son and daughter. That's four dogs! Farley is my favorite (except I can never remember his name: Harley, Hurley). He's got a lot of pomeranian in him from his dad Kush (you can see him in the background in this photo). I really wanted to take Farley home, and when he curled up on my coat I think it meant he wanted to come home with me.

After Gloria's massage, it was present opening time. I love that she gets really excited about presents; the grin never left her face!

Once the manicure was done, we headed back over to Gerald and Terry's for supper. Then dessert came out - a triffle that Amber and Brittany had created Friday night. Then talk turned to where to get triffle bowls for cheap (Walmart has sales on sometimes for $9.99). Soon it was determined that along with Drink Club, we need to start a family Trifle Club! So now, after everyone has their own bowl, each time we get together we'll take turns making a triffle! We determined there was endless possibilities: banana with banana pudding, raspberry and chocolate pudding, lemon pudding with a citrus fruit - just to name a few!

My stomach started hurting really badly, and I was going to drive myself home but my mum thought it would be better if I ride with them. I finally decided it was a better idea, so my mum came with me, and my dad left a little bit later in their van. Justin wasn't home when my mum and I arrived at the house. He spent his morning cleaning up Hewie for Lincoln's purchase, then he was out with Dave, Jamie and Tomo (work buddies) to watch Rumble In The Cage (you were right Amber!). After my parents left, I curled up in bed with Lowie, was texting Justin and tried to stay up to wait for him, but I ended up falling asleep. When Justin got home shortly after midnight, something must have woken me up first, because I was awake when he walked into the bedroom which he was surprised about. I told him I had just woke up, then quickly went back to sleep. I really hope my stomach stops hurting like this soon - I can't take much more interuptions with my life!