just miss kim

a happy layout (and a freebie)

So Kaye Wieniecki is having a guest creative team call, and I stinking love her stuff, so of course I had to try. For the call, I needed to create a happy layout, and this is what I did:

The alpha I used for the title and the flowers are Kaye's. Fun, no?

Mostly I wanted to share that layout after my depressing blog post yesterday. I had a lot of fun creating that layout. I love to use bright, happy colors and patterns. The photos from our session are also just too much fun to scrap. I will be using them over and over again... can't stop myself.

A nice bonus to this layout is that I used one of my own templates to create it. I have a whole stash on one of my hard drives, and I just pulled one up and let the layout fall together. If you'd like to download it, you can grab it here. Have fun with it. Tell your stories.

OK, summer can be over now

I don't do bored well.

I'm bored. I like working. I can feel myself itching to go back to work. Play. Talk to adults. Teach. Even do paperwork.

I struggle with depression every summer. I enjoy the first two or three works, and then I start getting bored. (I know someone out there is thinking... are you crazy? Yes, I may be. Sorry.) My kids, while I love them, just don't need me as much as they used to need me. They make their own meals half the time (because really, do they need me to prepare their Easy Mac?), and are off in their rooms doing whatever preteen girls do (hair, nails, and moon over the posters on their walls) and teen boys do (apparently not breathe -- can he not smell the funk in his room?, play PlayStation, watch baseball).

So while my husband is counting down the days to Branson (4 weeks, he says everyday... although Saturday it was "4 weeks from now we'll be watching the Haygoods"... see, it's not just me that's obsessed), I'm counting down the days to Branson, knowing that when we get back, it will be a quick turn around and I'll be back to work.

In the meantime, I'll probably read a half dozen more books. Spend too much time on the internet. Cook too much food. Force myself to go on a walk every day to counteract the cooking thing. Scrapbook some more layouts. It'd all be fun, if it wasn't so boring. So sorry prepare yourself for complete boredom... this blog is the next thing to go...

what do you think?

We got our prints from our photo shoot this weekend, and our CD with a copyright release allowing me to use the photos for personal use and reprinting. So I decided to redecorate the blog. What do you think?

what my fridge says about me...

So I did this little thingy for Sweet Shoppe Rewards:

What Your Fridge Says About You

You tend to be a very hedonistic, greedy person. You have trouble saying no to what you want. You tend to be a fairly thrifty person. You splurge occasionally, but you're mostly a saver. You don't tend to be a very adventurous person, but you do surprise everyone now and then. You have a bit of a wild side. You are not very responsible, and you don't pretend to be. Life's too short to do what you're supposed to do. You are likely single - and a workaholic.

What Do the Contents of Your Refrigerator Say About You?

Doesn't really make much sense does it? For one thing, I didn't think all the questions were fair. It was supposed to be about my fridge, but it included questions about frozen pizza. Don't know about y'all, but I keep my frozen pizzas in the freezer. And my fridge isn't exactly well stocked at the moment. We had planned for the kids to be at my parents house for the week, so Dan and I spent a total of $22 on groceries this week. About 1/4 of that was pop. I already ate all the fresh fruits and veggies. So my fridge is pretty full, but it's mostly eggs and condiments. Not the healthiest. But it was fun anyway. I don't think about the contents of my fridge very often. Maybe I should. I'm enjoying that I'm hedonistic and yet thrifty. Yup, that's me to a T. Happy Friday all! See ya next week!

what I've been doing

The last two days have basically gone like this... wake up. Eat breakfast. Check email. Shower.

Set up laptop. Pour a glass of iced tea. Slip a movie in the DVD player.

Scrapbook. Scrapbook. Scrapbook.

I've watched 6 or 7 movies. Well, not really watched, but listened to them. Scrapped a ton of layouts. I think I'm at 10, almost all of them for Sweet Shoppe challenges. I'm having a blast doing these challenges, taking what inspires me and making it work for me.

Thought I'd share a few of my favorites from the last 2 days:

Personal favorite? The Haygoods layout. I just love the way it all fell together... colors, the template, the fun doodles. My second favorite is the first one of the girls jumping. I used a very small portion of a very large charity kit for that layout. If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely check out the Celebration of Life kit to benefit Laurie Garza. I remember Laurie from when I started digi-scrapping almost 4 years ago, and we've been on a few creative teams. She tragically lost her husband not long ago, and is raising their 3 young children on her own. I would have bought this kit regardless of all that, just to help a friend. However, the kit is amazing. Huge-r than huge, and so fun. I'll be doing many more layouts with it, and am looking foward to it.

got a little secret...

This week my kids are at my parents' house, going to Vacation Bible School.

Dan's partner is on vacation (to Branson... the nerve!) so my husband is working 14 hour days.

I am alone. And loving it. There were huge stretches of silence in this house. Silence. I ate Reese's Pieces for dinner. Carrots for lunch. Didn't shower until 10 am. Became the ruler of the remote control.

I could. Because it was just me.

I love my family. I really do. I have 3 great kids and a husband who makes me laugh. Even when I don't want to laugh.

I still need alone time.

My family thinks I take a bath to relax and get clean. I take a bath at least once a week because it's the one room in the house with a working lock on the door. I am guaranteed at least an hour of noninterrupted me time.

This week? Days of uninterrupted me time.

I suppose I should follow that up with a list of everything I accomplished. But I didn't. I sat on my rather large bottom and did a whole lot of nothing. Explored Facebook. Chatted. Ordered pizza online (is that not the coolest thing?!?). Got a hair cut. Enjoyed the gift of a few days completely to myself, so that when my family returns, I'll appreciate them all the more.

By the way, women over 40 shouldn't wear pigtails. Just looks like you're trying too hard.

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Have a wonderful Wednesday. I plan to do the same.

favorite summer activities

faOK, I'm working on my Sweet Shoppe Rewards, so I thought I'd share some of our family's favorite summer activities. In list form. :)

• See a movie. We love to watch movies, and there's no better time to see them than summer. Not only are the new releases out, but it's air conditioned. We almost always see a movie on July 4, and catch a few while we're on vacation, too.
• Go to the library. The nearest library is a good 15-20 minute drive each way, and during the school year, we all have access to school libraries. We really enjoy making a family trip out of visiting the library once a week during the summer, though.
• Happy Hour at Sonic. Every day when it hits 2 pm, the kids remind me it's Happy Hour (1/2 price drinks at Sonic). We don't do it but once a week, and it's random, but it makes me smile that we're home at those hours and can take advantage of the great deal.
• Swim. We go to the neighborhood pool almost every day. OK, I don't always go, but Dan and the kids do.
• Try new recipes. During the school year, I don't have a lot of time to find new recipes, let alone cook them. I've already tried 3 new recipes this summer. Loved 'em all, too.
• Go on vacation. I know my regular readers were expecting this. My family treasures our vacations and we always take at least one week long trip. This year it will be two trips. One to kick off summer and one the last full week of summer before I go back to work. Vacation bookends.

I doubt I've given anyone any new ideas for new summer activities, but maybe you'll find one you enjoy too. If you do, I'd love to hear about it. Happy Tuesday!

an evening at the lake

the birthday boy

Modeling his "adorkable" shirt Grammy gave him:

friday

It's been quite the 24 hours here at the Lund house. I've got photos from Brady's birthday to share, but just too lazy to download them to the computer. I'll have more after this weekend, so you can see them Monday.

Yesterday, the girls all had eye exams. Chesney's was a bit abnormal, so this morning I had to run her to our family doctor for a full exam. She was such a trooper. She was totally freaked about having blood drawn, but she did really well. We got to eat McD's on the way home and she's off playing and packing now.

We're off to my parents for the weekend. Time to heat up the grill, swim in the nasty lake, and enjoy summer! Have a great weekend!