4 new layouts

I've been a busy scrapbooking girl. Here are some recent layouts. The top one is the cover of a mini-album of Noelle's and my trip to Arizona and Las Vegas. The Play Nice layout was an "older" layout that I did in the fall of 2008. I used only the kit from Scarlet Lime. I love her monthly kits. The kits are so packed full of stuff - more than any other kit company and she includes so many beautiful embellishments - and even has her own paper designed in some kits. "Cool Dudes" was another fall 2008 creation but I really liked the monkey cut from my Cricut. The last layout caught too much of the flash from my camera. In real life, the beach pictures are really pretty.

I love scrapbooking. I love preserving memories. God is so good to me!

Pictures of Boone 2009

This was our really pretty cabin in the mountains. The only negative was NO view of the mountains. So it wasn't that much fun watching the sunset because you couldn't see anything! But the inside was very cozy and had the hugest T.V. in the famly room I have ever seen. Each kid had a T.V. in their room and that kept them all very entertained. Maybe too entertained?

We were at least a good 4 or 5 miles up the mountain from Boone so we weren't really able to walk to Boone. That's o.k. because we could drive wherever we wanted to go.

We ate a Dan'l Boone Inn which has family style eating. It didn't seem to be as good as I remember it... but I also can't eat that much and they sure do bring a lot of food. We went to the movie "Up" after our huge meal. What a cute movie! I can't believe I cried at an animated movie -but the beginning was VERY sad. I think Eric and I liked the move more than the kids!

Did you see our new kitten, Q-tip?? We adopted her in Boone. Long story which I will share later. She is a doll baby and we all love her. Our other cat, Sophie, on the other hand, is not handling this new "intruder" in her life very well. Poor Sophie... her life really blows now. But I love her just as much and try to show her all the time.

Gotta get to bed.

Friday in the Mountains

Yesterday it was raining some when we woke up and was a tad bit cooler. It felt really good. Later in the a.m., the sun came out fully and Christian, Noelle and I headed out to shop. Eric was excited to stay home, take a little nap and spend time with Cade. We ended up downtown. We walked down the main street of Boone, stopping in a bead store/coffee shop. I enjoyed an Americano while Noelle had a white chocolate caramel coffee, nonfat milk, no whip (doesn't sound like too much fun to me.) But she is trying to lose any weight she gained in the hospital and get in shape for Dallas Regionals (in 5 days!) We went to the mall (again) where Noelle and I headed to the SALE items in Belk. She got the cutest white shorts; I picked out 3 really pretty shirts with out trying them on. MISTAKE! Only 1 looked good; the other two made me look a lot wider than I am naturally.

Christian drove back to the cabin to pick up Eric and Cade so we could go to lunch. After much discussion, we ate at The Daily Bread restaurant for the 2nd day in a row. I had a salad with apples, cheese and walnuts on it. Noelle had a tuna salad; Eric (& Christian- who has become the world's pickiest eater) had grilled cheese while Cade had a jerk chicken sub. We all left happy and full. We came back to the cabin and all rested. If Cade could he would spend 24/7 on the Wii. He earned an Indiana Jones game (with his grades) and plays it constantly. If he's not doing that, he is playing gameboy. He needs to get more exercise. So does Christian.

Last night, Christian and Noelle went to see "Terminator: Salvation". Eric, Cade and I went to Makoto's for dinner and sat with a really nice family from West Virginia who were in Boone for Thomas the Tank Engine at Tweetsie this week. Sadly, Cade feels too old for Tweetsie now. I"m so sad... it was a tradition for our family. I know it saves us lots of $$ not to go.. but he was our baby and LOVED going. He'd deck himself out in his cowboy boots, sling on his gun and holster and go around Tweetsie looking like the cutest darn cowboy YOU HAVE EVER seen. Awwww... it really makes me want to cry. I know kids have to grow up. But WHY SO FAST!????

Well, gotta go.
Ciao!
Heather

Vacation Tidbits

It's already Saturday? No way! Where did all the days go? Some of things we've done so far:
Thursday we ate a HUGE lunch/dinner at Dan'l Boone Inn. We ate family style which means you can have as much as you want of whatever is on the table - they'll bring out more. Ham biscuits, biscuits, steak and gravy, fried chicken, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, cole slaw, and for dessert: either banana pudding or strawberry shortcake. Pretty good.

Then we walked up the hill and I took pictures of where Eric roomed his last 2 years at Boone. A picture or two of my apartment my senior year; a picture of my apt. my sophomore year and summer school. All a serious walk down memory lane. I am going to scrapbook these pictures because I wasn't serious at all about journaling about my college years too much. I wish I had - I could see all that God has done since then!

We walked through the Student Center and I was seriously green with envy. The school has put in a really cool, large coffee house - I don't even think I knew what a latte was until after Eric and I were married! BUT, I would seriously have used that place if it had been there in the 80's. Also, the school store is really cool with all the books and then a grocery/food store on the other side. Also, there was a small cafe where you could sit inside or out. Awesome. Can I say AWESOME - really cool. Word!

That's about as far as we walked around since it was time to go to see the movie "Up", we walked back to our car sitting at the Dan'l Boone Inn. "Up" was really cool. I cried - AND IT"S A DANG CARTOON! Yes, I'm woman enough to admit it. I cried. His wife died and he was left all alone. But that's when the action picked up and he left on an "new" adventure. Really cute. And of course, the bad guy loses and the good guys win. Gotta love that - which I do. I go to movies to leave feeling good. Why don't they make movies so you'll feel good about life when you leave? I don't want everything to be about their so-called "reality".

Anyhoo, we got out of the movie and I could NOT even think about eating after our lunch. So we went to Panera to get coffee (because the streets roll up in Boone around 7pm). We shopped a little in the mall. I got Cade some new basketball shorts that fit. After seeing his shorts looking pretty tight and too short, I knew it was time for some new clothes for him. He could care less what he wears and how it looks on him. So, I need to buy more clothes for him so he doesn't look so "funky" (nice word for it)!

YAY! We're on Vacation in Boone!

Wow. It's so beautiful in the mountains. I had totally forgotten how gorgeous it is up here. And the weather in June is perfect. I think the high today is 84*. It doesn't get much better than that. Our cabin is a log cabin nestled on the side of a mountain and trees everywhere. Only 2 negatives: no view of the mountains (boo hoo); AND the floors and walls are SO thin that when the kids walk into their bathroom on the 2nd floor, our master bedroom is right below it and it sounds like they are RIGHT in our room. Made for a very interesting night of sleep (or should I say, lack of sleep). Eric found a fan lurking in some closet and we are using it tonight for some "white" noise so we can sleep and not hear everything going on from outside to upstairs. Hopefully tonight will be a better sleep.

Other than that, we have 6 more nights of mountain bliss. We took Noelle over to the ASU soccer training fields where she worked out for 2 hours. I ran this black-top course nearby in the park. I think I ran about 30 minutes or so... a girl told me she thinks the course is over a 1/4 mile long. I don't know. It seemed a little longer than that... but I don't know nuthin'! Cooled off with a little lunch at Jersey Mike's, ran errands and headed back to our cabin.

Eric and I do a lot of reminiscing while up here. This is where we fell in love. This is where we were engaged. This is where our lives intertwined forever and it holds such a dear spot in our hearts. I guess it's been 25 years since we committed our lives to each other in Boone. Where has all the time gone? BLINK. There it went. But I guess I'm still happy we CAN remember what started our twitter-pation and that we can still laugh, cry and hug together. We're still together. That's awesome. More than awesome. I know we would NOT have made it without Christ. Never in a million years. And all the pain and heartache - and joys and triumphs - have made it all worthwhile.

So, I guess this post is to say that I'm thankful that Eric puts up with me. And amazingly, he still loves me. AND we're still friends. After all these years... Good memories.

Summer is here for us!

I feel like summer is truly here because I had my last day of work at school this past week. Officially, Thursday was my last day but it didn't "feel" like it because Eric had to have oral surgery. So, up early, to the oral surgeon, 2 hours waiting, roots extracted and an implant later, we were headed home. Eric did very well and is just tired today from the surgery. I hope it's the last time he'll ever have to go through that! Then Eric's sister and brother-in-law from California came to visit for a night. Amy is a social worker in CA, a mother of 2 boys, and a good friend to me. Kurt works for a company who is having a conference at their headquarters in Fayetteville. What a place to have a conference. Why can't it be in a nice place in Cary?? Aw, well, at least we got to spend some time with them. We were very thankful for that. I think it has been almost 7 years since the whole family had seen them. Soooo good to be able to just hang out with them.

Here's a picture of Amy (Eric's sister) and Josh (her son, our nephew).
Love you guys!
Over and Out!
Heather

Last 3 days of school

I can't believe that I'm almost done with this school year... working in kindergarten. Noelle is going into 11th grade! When did my kids grow up? Cade will be in Middle School - 6th grade! Now we have NO one in the lower grades. Ugh. That makes me feel old. Along with having teenagers and all that comes with that.. I AM OLD! My years used to bother me as they increased. But not so much anymore. This is life. I wish I knew then what I know now. I can see some days why Solomon wrote in the Bible that all life is vanity. Recently I have been feelin' that. Really feelin' that. And that's o.k. because I need to focus in what's important and not be so shallow and living in the moment. There's a lot to learn and I want to grow in wisdom. All these problems and issues should be teaching me to not take life for granted and to enjoy every moment.

Here's another layout I made recently: