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Oh my goodness! What a crazy few weeks I have had...actually I guess it has been a couple months now! I was doing so good with getting my apartment holiday ready, and BAM! My neighbour upstairs overflowed her toilet which poureddown through my ceiling into my kitchen and my scrap room...where I had been throwing everything from all the other rooms I had cleaned. It was an absolute disaster! So much stuff went straight out to the garbage, and the rest got piled up throughout my apartment until the room dried! Everything just started going downhill from there, every time I turned around something else was going wrong. BUT, I am finally getting back on track and actually liking hw my life is at this moment...only thing I would change is to get out of this crappy building and get into a place where I can take my dog and has more room for us!

So, what is happening in my world lately? Well, Brian is pretty much history! Woohoo! LOL!! Gosh, I'm awful! But, it's just about time, I put up with his crap for waaayyyyyy too long!! I didn't talk to him at all for a couple weeks, then he called me crying, high as a kite on Halloween night, and I told him I am done, there is nothing he can do to make things right with me. And that if he wants to see Austin the LEAST he has to do is pass a drug test. I am so proud of myself! So for about a week he was calling me practically every hour telling me what he was doing...like I care and would believe him anyways! LOL! Then he tried showing up here thinking I would let him in, but no way, I went out on the porch and talked to him and ignored Austin's cries..."Austin see daddy!" Talk about ripping my heart out!! But I did it! So, a few days after that he was supposed to bring me $20, didn't end up having it and hasn't called since! Good! Life is good that way! LOL!!

I've been hanging out with my very good friend Donae again. I missed hanging out with her...long story! So, that is good. She has been watching Austin for me a bit, and we've just been hanging out there like I used to, it's awesome! Tomorrow night we are probably going to go the downtown light-up with her and her girls.

Austin and I went to see Little Bear, Winter Tales on stage at the theatre the other night. So fun...and I must say, cutest date I have ever had! LOL!! I've been trying to spend more time just doing fun things with him, I was so depressed for a while, I was always just getting angry with him and not wanting to even get out of bed. But, it's all good now! He is so adorable, he has taken to telling me he loves me at any given time, lol, which is just the sweetest thing I have ever heard!! And he is getting so much better with his talking, like just overnight the words just started running together and out came sentences! It's awesome...most of the time! LOL!

Not a whole lot else going on around here, pretty much the same old stuff really, I just seem to have a brighter outlook on it all these days!

Entryway is clean!

Man, this feels so good, I am really loving this challenge!! I may be singing a different tune when I have to tackle my scraproom, lol! So far everything that hasn't had a place has been piled on top of something else without a home in my sraproom. Luckily it has a door that I can close! LOL!!! Not only is my entry way clean...my living room is STILL clean, and so is my porch!! I probably should have figured this out a long time ago, but if I run around and do a quick tidy up as soon as Austin goes to bed every night, it stays pretty tidy in here! Anyways, it's late, and my mom is coming to pick us up in the morning to go to her house for the weekend (and I haven't packed yet!) so I need to get to bed! So, here are the photos of what I got done in my entry, and the closet. My mom and I will be taking the unwanted clothes to Good Neighbours in the morning. Oh, and I'm picking up a Doodlebug Chipboard House from the LSS tomorrow, that's what I've decided to do for my mom's Christmas present! Right...photos....bed......

Witch's Brew Cyber Crop!

I am so excited! I have recently taken over hostessing the BOM Challenges at ScrapAttack! And...I will be hoestessing a couple of challenges at the upcoming Witch's Brew Cyber Crop on October 5-7th!! This is so exciting to me because I have never been on this side of things before, and it is just SO FUN!!! Make sure you come and check out the crop and have some fun with us!! There will be challenges, games, and of course..PRIZES!!! See you there!!

And if that's not enough to keep you busy...Scraplovers is having their second birthday crop on the same weekend. Be sure to check that one out too!

Recent Creations

Just some of my latest work:

I Can't Live Without:

For a BOM challenge at ScrapAttack

I Cry When...
Also for a BOM challenge at ScrapAttack

Cowboy:
For a scraps challenge at ScrapAttack &
A Big Picture challenge at Serendipity.
Austin had to get in on the action while I
was doing a little self portrait session with that hat.

Sites From The Park:
For a microslide challenge at Serendipity.
I was playing around with the camera at the park
taking photos of different things.

Foxy:
For a sketch challenge at Serendipity.
Sketch from www.pagemaps.com

Big Brown Eyes:
For a BOM Challenge at ScrapAttack, a
dotted rings challenge at Serendipity, and a
sketch challenge at Scraplovers.
Sketch from http://sketches-r-us.blogspot.com/

Altered Paint Can and Keepsake Box:
These were done as a gift for my friend Lesley's
new baby girl, Blair.

Canvas Clock:
For a challenge at the LSS (The Paper Crate).
For the challenge we were given a sheet of Daisy D's PP,
a sheet of prism cardstock, and a strip of twill. This is what
I created with those items.

The living room is clean!!

Wow, I am impressed with myself! It looks amazing in here! My mom actually said to me the other day, before I was even finished, that it was the cleanest she had ever seen it. A compliment from my mother...that is a HUGE accomplishment, lol!!! And last night Stevie came in and damn near fell over at the site of my SPOTLESS living room! Of course it is not AS clean today, but it is still very clean, and as soon as Austin went to bed I picked up all his toys...good mommy!! LOL! So, don't my word for it, lol, here it is....

Before:

And After:

This week we are working on the entryway. Another spot that needs some serious work...let's just get it said and out of the way...my entire apartment needs some serious work!!! LOL! I have not been the gratest housekeeper, but I am going to change that now, it feels so good! I got started in the entryway a little bit already tonight. I had two GIANT bags of clothes that someone had given me a while back and I just tossed them in the entryway closet to be dealt with later...when my own mountain of laundry was washed, lol, 'cause I knew most of it would need washing before anyone was going to be wearing it! So, since I spent the last two days catching up on all my laundry, tonight I hauled those two bags out of the closet and sorted through them all...there is already a load of the stuff in the washing machine, washing as we speak! There is another two garbage bags full of stuff that we don't want/need that I have already told my mom will need to be taken to Good Neighbours for donation. AND there is one load of it waiting in the laundry basket to be washed, some to be given to friends of ours that will use it and some to be given to my mom's work (some ladies dress clothes). And, I still had a blanket and belt belonging to the wonderful friend who stayed here a few months back, flung in that same closet, and it is now in the donation bags...GOOD RIDDENCE!!! Dang this feels good, lol!!

Our first non-cleaning assignment this week is to (a) make freezer goodies (b) make a freezer meal (c) buy nonperishable items needed for holiday dinners or (d) buy new batteries for camera, etc. Well, since I have NO freezer, and I just bought new rechargable batteries before we went on our lttle vacation in July, I am going to have to buy some of the things I need for cooking holiday dinner. Well, there is a second part to this, buy 2 of each thing, one for donation to the Food Bank, but since I am usually a recipient of a food hamper during the holiday this seems a little silly for me to do! LOL! But, I will see what I can buy (or put aside from what I already have in the cupboards, ha!) that I will need for dinner.

And our second non-cleaning assignment, make one of our gifts we have planned to make and share instructions. I'm not sure about this one. I did get some super cute Reminisce patterned paper the other day that has the most adorable little penguins on it!! I was sooooo excited to see that, lol! I really want to make something cute with it for my mom, but I want to really think on it and make it something really cool.

Anyways, I am typing like a mad woman here, trying to get everything out, because blogger has a maintenance scheduled for 11 tonight. It is still over an hour away, but I have realized the last couple days, I get a bit overly paranoid and worried about things, lol! So, I'll be back tomorrow with some of my latest creations and scrappy news (nothing too exciting, lol!)

More Living Room Cleaning!

Well, as I have been cleaning the TV stand and computer desk I have been moving things that didn't belong on either of them onto the dining room table. So, that was my next thing to tackle, was the table! What a moutain of mess I had piled on top of it...don't ask where it got moved to, I'm sure you will see in the near future, lol!! Anyways, here is my accomplishment for today...The bit of mess behind the table is actually on the kitchen counter, and I wouldn't want to get ahead of myself by cleaning that up! LOL!!

Now I have room to srap, wooohooo!!! And I got some *cute* photos of myself last night. Now, that is not something you will hear me say very often, I absolutely hate almost all photos of myself, but these ones turned out pretty good! And pretty fun too! A couple weeks ago at Scrapattack the question of the day was "what kind of music do you listen to?" Well, my answer was that I am a country girl. Wendi did not believe me!! She said I did not seem like a country girl from the photos she had seen of me...hence the cowboy hat in these photos, my pink sparkly cowboy hat, lol! Just for Wendi!

The last one is my favorite! So, I am having a pretty good day today, probably has to do with not hearing from Brian and all his whining and self pity crap! And to make the day even better, a UPS man showed up today with a RAK from Tina at 2Jills from a cybercrop a while ago, and holy awesomeness! I'll leave you drooling over all the Primas she sent while I go make some dinner and get to some scrapping!!

Holiday Grand Plan Challenge

Over at Scraplovers.com Linda is helping us get ready for the holiday season early by giving us challenges following the Holiday Grand Plan. Last week we cleaned off our porches and started making lists for cards, gifts, etc. Boy did my front porch need that cleaning (no thanks to Brian and his disgusting cigarettes!!). It looks great now, except that the next day I came home and a cat had sprayed on it already. The joys of apartments with too many uncontrolled cats in close proximity!

This week we are working on the living room. Boy does mine need this! Since my living room doubles, triples, quadruples even as my dining room, bedroom, computer/scrap room...oh and Austin's playroom, it is the messiest room in the house and never gets fully cleaned. A quick tidy here and there but NEVER a deep clean. But, it's getting it now, and I am so proud of myself and so happy with what I have accomplished already, just this afternoon!

Here is what my TV and Computer spaces looked like this morning and what they look like now:

Another part of this weeks challenge is to answer at least 2 of these questions, but I am going to try and answer all of them if I can!

· Do I see Holidays time primarily as a time for entertaining friends and renewing long lost acquaintances or as a time for family? We do a little bit of both during the holidays. The week before Christmas we usually spend visiting friends, dropping off cards and gifts, and presents depending on how close of a friend it is. Then Austin and I usually spend one day at my parents house, sometimes Christmas Eve, sometimes Boxing Day. Christmas Eve we usually end up at my aunt and uncle's for dinner with them, my cousins, and my grandma. Then on Christmas day it is just us. I'm not sure who 'us' will be this year, whether it will be 3 or 2, but either way, just us!

· How much emphasis do our Christmas activities place on the spiritual side of Christmas? (or Hanukkah) Honestly, we do not place a lot of emphasis on the spiritual side of Christmas. Sometimes we go to church on Christmas Eve with my aunt & uncle and family, but otherwise we don't do anything. Once Austin is a little older and understads a little more I would like to put a little more emphasis on it.

· How involved is my family in the Holiday preparation? Totally not involved! LOL! It's allllll ME! My parents often provide the turkey, roasting pan, and sometimes some of the veggies, depending on how I am doing financially. And they often get a phone call Christmas morning with questions on how to cook things! I am only 23 after all, lol, not exactly full of experience when it comes to these things. But, other than that, preparation is all me...cooking, baking, making/signing/sending cards, buying/giving gifts, decorating. Austin does think he is helping with some things though, lol!

· What activities are particularly important to our family at Christmas or Hanukkah? To myself? We don't have a lot of activities that we do. There is a little town light up celebration downtown that we like to go to and watch Santa come down off the roof, and go for a hay/sleigh ride aound downtown. And I like to go for walks and look at the diferent light displays. Oh, and of course we have to take Austin to the mall to have his photo taken with Santa!

· Why do we observe the traditions we do in our house? I don't really know that we have any traditions yet. When I was still at home, one tradition we had was that the tree was never put up before December 18th, because my birthday is on the 17th and my parent's didn't want to take away from that. But, I don't continue that tradition in my own house, and my parents don't know that I am out of the house either, lol!

· How important is an elaborately decorated house, homemade gifts or food, to my feelings about the Holidays? I HAVE to decorate my house. Not necessarily elaborately, but it has to be decorated, I don't know why it just doesn't feel like Christmas without decorations! And I must make homemade gifts for certain people, people I am closest too, because so much more thought and caring/love goes into a homemade gift. And Christmas is about thinking about and caring about and loving those around you!

· What would my ideal Christmas be like? This year it would be ideal to just get through it without and drama or arguments. If that means Austin and I spend Christmas just the two of us, then that would be wonderful!

We have a Winner! And a new kit!!

I have been so busy lately, and out of town a few times, that I totally forgot about the contest....so sorry! But, we do have a winner. First, though, I want to say a big thank you to the ladies that commented with some awesome name ideas for the kit!! I really appreciate your support! And now for the winner....

I just loved KRISTEN'S name for the kit...

RASPBERRY RIPPLE!

So, Kristen, please send me an email and let me know if you would like the free download of the Raspberry Ripple kit, or if you would rather have me send you a little paper RAK!

And now, I have been working on this kit FOREVER and have finally finished it! Here it is...Grungy Earthtones...

My New Web Site and a little Contest!!

I have been trying to figure out a way to sell some of my digital kits, and possibly some of my paper projects for a while now. My dilemna was that being on Income Assistance every single penny of 'extra' income I make on top of my Assistance check every month gets taken off of my next check. So, I though, why bother?? Especially if I had to pay for webspace and all that fancy stuff. Well, I had a talk with the bf and we decided why not go for it? Who says I need to get paid in cash? The funny part about this silly system is that they will take any money I make away, but I can work for as much 'stuff' as I want! I'm still working out the details on how exactly I am going to work this out, but I will post with more details and of course add them to the site when I get it figured out.

So anyways, with this new venture I am going to be needing some digital designers, so if you are a digi scrapper and would like to send me some samples of your work I'd love to have a look-see! Check out the Digital Designers section of the web site for more details!


And now for the best part, a little contest!!! I made this little kit quite a while ago and have never really been able to come up with a name for it. So, I thought I would ask for a little help! Leave me a comment with an idea for a name by July 15th and I will pick my favorite in the next few days after that. Who ever posts the name I decide to use will receive their choice of a free download of the kit, or a small RAK from me!! Let's see what you can come up with!!



Here is a preview of the kit:

Oh, and I almost forgot!! Here is the link to the new website....http://members.shaw.ca/stephster17designs/index.htm

More Vacation Photos

Finally getting some time to post the rest of the photos (and a few stories) from our trip last weekend. We left Friday afternoon and got to Vancouver around 9pm. We checked into our hotel and pretty much tumbled right into bed. Saturday morning we got up and ventured out to the Greater Vancouver Zoo. Easier said than done! We had to take two busses plus a $10 cab ride to get there, and the same back again. Why they would not run a bus all the way out to something like that, I have no idea!! We got off to a rough start at the zoo, but it ended up being a great day. We rented this bike thing that was two bikes side-by-side- with a long basket in the front for kids and a roof over the whole thing. Well, we got on, I was putting all my things (camera, notepaper, pamphlets, etc...) into the backpack when Brian starts rolling backwards CRUSHING my foot under the pedal!!! The swelling has still not completely gone down tonight, 5 days later, lol! Then we got into an argument about driving abilities about five minutes into our drive around the zoo! But, we got through it and made it through the rest of the day without anymore mishaps! Here are a few photos from the zoo...

Saturday night Brian and I went out for dinner while Austin spent some time with Brian's parents at their house. Sunday morning we got up and headed to Stanley Park. We started at the children's petting farm. Austin was more interested in the tractor than the animals at first, but he did got around and give each little goat one pat on the back, lol!!! After petting the animals we went on a little train ride, which Austin just loved, he had this totally serious look on his face during the whole ride, just soaking it all in. Then we headed to the water park and Austin and I got soaking wet, and freezing cold, playing in the water. When we left the park we went to Granville Island where they were having a huge Canada Day celebration. Brian and Austin had a nap on the grass while I did some shopping. I got some stamps, stickers and a band-aid tin at a Stamping Store in the Kid's Market and a couple little wind-up toys for Austin. And I got some nice polished rocks too. That night Austin stayed at Brian's parents' house for the night and we went to watch the fireworks and went to the bar for a couple drinks.
Brian's mom had a free pass for five people to get into Science World so that's where we went before coming home on Monday. We went and picked up Austin from Brian's parents, had some breakfast there and the headed out. We asked a family walking in if they wanted to get in for free with us, since our pass was for five people and there was only two of us. They were so blown away and happy, it was so cool! Science World was very interesting, we didn't see even close to everything, it was so big and so many cool things to check out. After a couple hours there were went back to Brian's parents' place and had some lunch, a nap and got ready to come home.

Animal Photos

Just wanted to share some of the photos from the trip we took this past weekend. These are all of the animals from the Greater Vancouver Zoo and from the kid's petting farm at Stanley Park in Vancouver. I will share some more of other things later, with some stories from our trip. These are just some of my favorites of the animals.

New Scrappy Site

Check it out:
http://www.scrapattackscrapbooking.com/messageboard/

And join us for some fun!! I just know Amy has some awesome challenges up her sleeve for us!!! Oh, and don't forget to tell them who sent you! :)

Why???

Why can't I learn to just say NO!!! I had the most stressful day yesterday! A friend of bf and mine was staying with another woman in my building. A few days ago they had an argument, one of many apparently. Well she called the police and it turned into this whole big, way blwon out of proportion thing. So he comes here the next night to get into the building, which he had always done when she isn't home since he doesn't have a key to the front door. Well, she is not home and has locked the place up tight, so he can't get any of his things. He comes back down and tells me this and I ask him "well, do you just need somewhere to sleep tonight?" (apparently my first mistake, I am too damned nice!!!). So he stays here and leaves in the morning. Then I hear from my other neighbour upstairs that he was back later that day and they were able to help him get some of his things. Ok, good. Well, Saturday night he shows up and asks if he can stay the night again. I said sure, and when he asked if he could leave a couple things like his tools for work here for a couple days I said yes. Well, he talks to this woman yesterday morning and she puts all his stuff out in the hallway for him and he brings it down and fill my kitchen with it! He says he just has to go through and organize it and make sure nothing is missing. OK. I am getting a little nervous for some reason now, just this bad feeling creeping in. He spends all morning on MY computer while I am washing HIS laundry!!!! See what I mean, too damned nice I tell ya!! Well, next thing I know my landlord is knocking on my door to ask about some papers I need to sign for new managers. She sees him sitting at my computer and at first I think she thought it was Brian (bf) then she did a second look and realized it was my friend. Now my nervousness had a reason. She tells him he is not supposed to be on the property! WHAT?!?!?! He had not been told this and I was certainly shocked. She tells him he has until the end of the day to get his stuff and get off the property. And tells me "you know you can't store any of his stuff here" I am just shaking and all I can do is nod my head. So she leaves and he still sits on the computer in no hurry to get his stuff packed and out. After my stress level rose to the point where I was snapping at Austin for no good reason I called bf who was supposed to be on his way here anyways. He had had a couple beers, which usually would tick me off, but it worked to my advantage cause when I told him what was going on he was REALLY mad!! I went in Austins room and started cleaning while the friend was out in the kitchen finally going through his stuff. A few minutes later Brian comes in and starts yelling at him he has 3 minutes to get what he needs into a bag and get out. He can come and get the rest in a few days WITH Brian with him, not alone! I stayed in Austin's room the whole time, lol, I didn't want to get in the middle of them. Plus I felt bad that I hadn't said anything to him myself first. But, that's me, I cannot say no to people, I cannot tell people when they have overstayed their welcome. Why?? It causes me so much stress and I just can't do it! Which is why I never have company and why my favorite thing about this building was that I didn't really know anyone. The night before the nieghbour upstairs had passed down some rye in a pop bottle for him, but he was already sleep so he didn't drink it. And in his rush to get out he forgot to take it with him. So, I went and bought some pop at the store and I drank every last drop of the rye with it! LOL!! I don't ever drink so I got pretty tipsy! After Austin went to bed of course. Well, after a couple drinks there is a knock on my door at 10pm, I knew it was him so I didn't answer. He was told not to come back unless Brian was with him. Plus I didn't trust myself to be able to tell him to bugger off if I did open the door. I went and sat in my hallway against the washing machine and called bf to tell him. Talk about over reacting, lol, that's what drinking does to me! LOL!!! He only knocked twice and got the hint and left. I think he had come back for the rye, lol, and I sure wasn't opening the door to tell him I had already drank it!! Brian is on his way over now in case he tries to come back today, he can deal with him! Teach me to be nice to people! One of these days I WILL learn!!

Summer WAS here!

We had some awesome weather for about two weeks there, then came the rains, and now we are having some very cloudy but still very warm days. I have a love/hate relationship with these kinds of days, lol. Love, because it's not too hot or too cold, perfect temperature. Hate because there is always the uncertainty of whether the clouds will clear away to the scorching sun, or open up with a downpour! Anyways, we have been spending most of our days just hanging out in doors lately. We spent last week at my parents all week, looking after the animals while they were both away.

On the May 31st Brian, Austin, and I went to a little get-together at the exhibition grounds. The early intervention team, which involves speech therapy and child development stuff had a little fun day for the kids. Austin has a lady that comes to see him for his development once a month so we were invited. It was lots of fun, Austin had an absolute blast!! And I got some great photos!

While I was at my parents' last week I went through all of the old photo albums and got some copies of some of my baby photos. Cheryl issued a challenge over at 2jills for this month to scrap a baby photos of ourselves. I had been meaning to do it for a while and Cheryl's challenge was just the push I needed. I took the albums outside and took a photo of each photo I liked with my digital camera. They turned out way better than I expected and I printed a couple off at my mom's to work on there and when I got home, since I didn't want to wait until payday next Wednesday to play with them, lol!! And I got a few of me with my papa, which makes me VERY happy, since I don't have a single one of him other than them. I'm hoping to scrounge up enough change to go get those printed tomorrow for a challenge over at Scraplovers. Here are a couple of pages I have gotten done with them so far...