Celebrating 29 Years.. for both of us!

On July 30, 1981...

This cute, little boy was born in Texas:

And this sweet, little girl was born in California...

And then Jeremy turned one...

And I turned one...

And he grew...

And I grew...

... far away from each other, and never knowing that we were born on the same day and would some day meet. But not before we did a little bit more growing...

This is my favorite young photo of Jeremy (age 5). How CUTE is he?!?!?! GAAAAH! :-D

And me at age 6... in my front yard. LOL.

And then about ten years later, we both turned fifteen. Jeremy finally moved to Pagosa Springs, Colorado (where I had moved when I was 14.) And yeah, as soon as this cute boy moved into town, I was SMITTEN! LOL.

And me at 15...

I remember telling my best friend that I was going to marry him. And whenever he was in the room/cafeteria/across the street, I would tell everyone they HAD to stop and be QUIET, so I could sit and stare. Then once he walked away, I would say, "Okay. He's gone. Continue."

We finally *met* some time later. I had found out we had the same birthday. And one day, I was at youth group (hanging out, doing my homework) before it started. And who walked in? JEREMY! He came in the room with a bag of SIX Mr. Cookie Face ice cream sandwiches (Typical Jeremy... LOL). He was alone. And the conversation went like this...

Reyanna (thinking): OH.MY.GOD. Jeremy Stark JUST walked in! OH.MY.GOD. He's RIGHT next to me. And he's ALONE. And we're ALONE! GAAAAAH!

Jeremy: Hey! Girl! Pssst! Girl!

Reyanna: Me?!

Jeremy: Yeah! Do you want a Mr. Cookie Face?

Reyanna: Yeah! I LOVE Mr. Cookie Face!

Jeremy: Me too! So... what's your name?

Reyanna: Uhh.... Reyanna. And you're Jeremy Stark! And you were born July 30, 1981!

Jeremy: Uhhh... yeah.

Reyanna: Oh! Sorry! I'm not a stalker or anything, it's just.... well, I saw your birthday on Tracey's calendar, and it's just... well, it's my birthday too!

Jeremy: Really?! Oh, neat!

He wasn't freaked out at all... promise. :-D He was just that strange. LOL. We were friends from then on. In math class, he would stick my pencils up his nose and lick my wrist when I asked him to smell my lotion or perfume. Yeah, *swoon*. ;-) I loved how silly and quirky he was!

He moved away at 17. Then I moved away at 17.5. Then he moved back at 18. Then I moved back at 18.5. LOL.

About August-ish (we were 19), we started hanging out again... A LOT. Then HE'S the one who had the crush, and I was over it. LOL. One day (November 2, 2000, to be exact), he left his laundry at my parent's house (I'm so naive... I thought he did that on accident! HA!) When he came over to get it...

Jeremy: I need to talk to you! In your room!

Reyanna: Uhh... okay. In my room? Weird.

We go in, and he closes the door behind us.

Jeremy: DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LIKE YOU?!?!?!

Reyanna: Uhh... no?! How much *do* you like me?

Jeremy: I'm totally STOKED on you! You're beautiful and fun and funny and cool, and I think... well, I just think we should be together!

Kid you not... this is what I said...

Reyanna: Weeeeelllll... I'm not really looking for a relationship right now...

Jeremy: Well, that's because you keep going for the wrong guys! First JD, and then John. I mean, JOHN?! Really?! Are you kidding?! That was a joke!

Reyanna: Well, how was I supposed to know that after ten days, he'd turn out to be a crazy stalker?! (seriously) And okay, this is exactly why I shouldn't be in a relationship! I pick the WRONG guys! LOL.

Jeremy: Well, that's because you haven't picked me!

We talked some more... a bunch of which I don't remember, and we both walked out of there very confused. LOL. Were we together... or not?! LOL. Well, we had our first kiss two days later (Jeremy's first kiss EVER).

Then two years later, on December 25, 2002, we got married...

And almost 8 years later, here we are...

Sure, we've had more ups and downs in 7.5 years than I care to even think about. I think we've had to go through more than most couples (who have been together longer) have to go through, but here we are! We're turning 29... together!

And Jeremy, just looking at you, I know you love me. I often say, "Stop looking at me like THAT!" And you say, "Well, I can't help it! You're so beautiful, and I'm SO in love with you!" And I just know. I can see it. And I love that. You're sweet and considerate and silly and fun and amazing and intelligent, and you work SO SO hard for our family!

I thought 28 would be our best year, but really... 29 will be. You know it too, don't you?! ;-)

Happy Birthday, Babe! I LOVE YOU! And I'm STOKED we get to share our birthday every year!

Revealing New Lines and Playing Games!

Ooooh, one of my favorite weeks! CHA Reveals! WOOO!

I'm LOVING the Sass embellishments most, I think! LOL. I already have lots of their flowers... that are almost gone, by the way... so I can't *wait* to get my hands on this new stuff!

The new American Crafts is, of course, awesome, but I especially love the new Dear Lizzy. (Okay, who doesn't?!?! LOL.)

I'm sure once I see the full reveals of October Afternoon, I will love all those too. Tee hee.

Oh! And last, but certainly not least, is Studio Calico! This new stuff looks so cool! :-)

And here is a puzzle game I made! Have you played with these? They are SO fun! After I finished it, I wrote the order on the back... so I could cheat if I got in a rut. LOL! :-) Wicked fun! I'm gonna try to laminate them, so I can keep them forever and ever. :-)

Have a great rest of your week!

Busying Myself. (Yay!)

Wow, I haven't updated in a while. I've actually been busy! WOOHOO for being busy! :-D

Here are my recent layouts... older American Crafts and Sassafras stuff. :-)

Hmm... what else?! I'm leaving for Colorado in less than two weeks! WOO! I get to see my WHOLE family... including my sister and her daughters, whom I haven't seen in almost two years! ACK! We are VERY excited. :-D

Also, my mom is doing much better (but still working like crazy...). Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and Pixie Dust! ;-)

Creating with Studio Calico Ad Cards.

So... since I started subbing to Studio Calico (almost two years ago), I have been collecting their cards, ads and stickers that come in each box. (Stickers hold each brown paper back shut, and I tear each and every one off the bag and keep them in a file folder. LOL.)

At the beginning of this year, I started KitPooling with a friend, so now they go to her house. This means I get far less SC ephemera, but I figured my stash had grown large enough to FINALLY tackle this altering project I've been wanting to do. YAY!

Here is what the container looked like before. So, now, here is the container that holds my kits (you can click on all photos to make them larger)...

And I decorated each side with the stickers:

I used a sponge brush to add white paint to all the edges. (I can't do any project without *something* white, I'm afraid. ;-) ).

And so now, while I'm sitting at my computer, I get to look over and see this:

I'm stoked with how it turned out. I've seen people use these cards/ads on layouts, and I think that's really cool too! I still have a *few* left over, but I think I'll be using those for more altering projects (my SC kit photo binder)! :-D

So if you sub to SC, have you kept any cards/ads/stickers?! What do you plan to do with them?

Gluing First. Story Second.

I went to Archiver's the other day, and I found the SUPER-cute Paper Doll by Crate Paper. I had to play with it right away! Funny, this was the first time I had the layout glued and had *no* idea what photo or story I was using! LOL. That was a first for me, but I thought it would be a fun challenge. It was!


And I used mist! Woo! I punched out some labels, put them down, and then started misting. When I took off the labels, the spaces were nice and white, so I could journal there (and put photos/title). :-) Title is a bunch of Thickers.

I love this photo of my dad with my nieces! He is such a great grandpa! He always has *so* much fun with them, and on this particular day, he let them do *whatever* they wanted to dress him up. HEEEE! So cute!

Thanks for stopping by today! :-)

Finishing 28 Before 29 Comes Along...

I can't believe it. I'll be 29 in 37 days. *sigh* Well, at least I got this album done *before* I turned 29! ;-)

I did this entire album with the Joyland kit from Studio Calico. I also used the add-on, Skycoaster, and I had some from Whacky Shack too. This was SUCH a fun kit with some awesome colors!

This is a pretty simple mini. I stamped a whole bunch of journal blocks, and I created my own from some of the K & Company packaging that came in the kit as well!

(How fun is it to make your own pinwheels?! EEEE! :-D )

(On this last page, I'm going to hopefully add this stamp. I don't own it though!
Ha! So I guess I'll have to get it with my next SC order! :-)

Thanks for taking a peek! Soon, I'll have photos and a tutorial of an altering project I did with FabRips. Man, I love those things! :-D

Journaling Jeremy's Favorites.

One of my favorite times of the month! A new challenge at the Journal Challenges blog!

This month, we let someone else do our journaling. I had hubby write down some of his faves, and I had a great time with this layout! (Love the colors/textures in these Crate Paper patterned papers [teal & yellow-green]!)

Cardstock: American Crafts. Patterned papers: Crate Paper, Jillibean Soup, Studio Calico.
Frames: K & Company. Alphas: Making Memories, October Afternoon.
Punches: EK Success, Fiskars. Stickers: Sassafras. Kit: Studio Calico's Joyland.

The design of this layout was inspired by a painting I saw at a Chinese restaurant. Yes, I guess I get inspiration from everywhere! ;-)

Where did you get the inspiration for your last layout or project? :-)

Winning a Watch and Visiting Shamu!

So... there's a Fossil watch giveaway over at Creature Comforts. Get this... you get to CHOOSE which watch you want (under $125) if you win! How cool is that?!

I think I'd want this one...

And though I don't really *like* bling, this one is just very unusual, so that makes me like it. LOL.

The first one is definitely more *me*, but I think it would be cool to own a watch that's super unusual like the 2nd one. LOL. So I'd probably go with the 2nd one! I need to branch out more... you know, get out of my clean and simple box. :-)

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And this last Saturday, Jeremy's parents invited us to Sea World! Yay! The Sea World in San Antonio also has a water park inside, so that's pretty cool. It was about 96 degrees and super humid. We stayed for about five hours, and we were VERY hot and tired when we left. LOL.

Just some of the photos we took... (we didn't bring the BIG camera. I guess we should have for the Shamu show... LOL).

The first thing we did was go to the Shamu show. It was VERY different since the trainer died in Orlando. I was glad they were being safe. :-) They had a baby whale... only FIVE months old! She was timid, and didn't come out of the water much. But oh, how cute!


These next two photos were taken at the END of the day. You can see how tired I look! LOL. I asked Jeremy to smile for the camera, but he turned around and kissed me instead. That was just fine with me. :-)

Then , I get one of his Silly Mister looks...

While resting at a cafe, they had this show for the kids... with dancing and singing. It was HILARIOUS! This guy on the left and all those characters dancing to crazy music! HA! We were laughing SO hard!

And of course, I couldn't leave without getting a handstand photo. I haven't done one in SO long! I had to walk in this one, so it's very uneven. I may or may not be getting too old for this. Tee hee. Ah well. :-p

More projects and organization coming soon! :-)

Creating More... YAY!

It's nice to have time to scrap lately. And *that* is awesome, since Studio Calico's May kit (plus this add-on) is one of my faves EVER! I don't ever want to put it away... LOL. Though, I've realized that I'm happier when I do simple, quick pages. For some reason, I have ADD when I scrap. LOL.

I channeled my inner-Caroline for the strips on this one... ;-)

This next page took me WAY longer than it should have, and I was glad when it was over. LOL. Jeremy works A LOT, and he's been so tired. Poor guy. :-(

Mmm... quick and clean and simple. :-)

This last layout makes me so happy! This is me (and my aunt, Joy) in 1982. The photos my dad took that day are some of my favorite photos ever.

That's it for now. I'll have more to share soon. And I think it's about time I took photos of my new scrap room... LOL. :-p

Confessing Reality.

A while ago, Kelly and Steph both did posts about their "real" lives. Oh, it felt SO good to read these! I feel like this too... I really hope my life never looks perfect... because it SO is not. LOL. And it's funny we do read the scrappy lives of one another, thinking that may be perfect when so many of these people's lives are, in fact, *not* so glamorous.

Steph encouraged everyone to do a list of their own. *sigh* Here's mine...

1. On a lot of days that I don't do errands, I stay in my PJs all day... no makeup, wearing my glasses, a few naps, and IMing with Caroline from the time we wake up, till the time we go to sleep. LOL. (Though I should say, that we do *try* to be productive while chatting... ie scrapping, putting a load of laundry in, making food, possibly washing some dishes, and walking the dogs.)

2. My scrap table/workspace is almost always clean. The floor, however, is not...

3. Sometimes Jeremy has to spend the night in Waco, for work. I usually stay up till 2am, sometimes 4am, not being able to sleep and worrying about his safety. Neither of us sleep well and barely get more than four hours of sleep. I know that military wives endure WAY more than this, and I'm so blessed to have Jeremy home most nights, but we still hate these long nights.

4. When my dog, Ruby, gets scared (thunder, lightning, quarry blasts, rain, blender, etc)... it literally scares the pee and poop right out of her. I have had to clean up *a lot* of pee stains. LOL. We own quite a few doggy diapers.

5. I'm sick and weak almost every, single day. I have to sleep... a lot. After working out, doing errands, or hanging with friends, I need a day or two to rest. I hate that I'm unable to work or go to school. Confession: I've been like this pretty much my whole life.

6. We have a lot of credit card debt now. And now that I'm not working, I'm trying to spend as little money as possible, so that we can pay as much as we can toward the debt. It's hard for both of us.

7. I'm not *always* positive and optimistic. I worry. I get anxious. I get scared. I get lonely. I cry.

8. Jeremy works 50-80 hours a week, and I feel bad for him.

I hope that didn't sound like a bunch of complaining. LOL. But it's real. And that's the point, I guess. To be real. :-)

Thanks for reading my real-ness. :-)

Couponning Can Be Fun!

So... my sister is obsessed with the Krazy Coupon Lady. And I wanted to get in on the money-saving action too, so I thought I'd take up some couponning. :-)

My sister has a binder, and I made this to slide in the front cover's pocket:

(Papers/Thickers: American Crafts, Alpha Stickers: Doodlebug, Lady: Studio Calico)

How cute is that Studio Calico lady?! So perfect with her little purse! :-) (When I showed my sister, she said, "Oh! This is SO cute! And I LOVE her dress!" Tee hee.) Now I just need to make a label for the spine and some cute page for the back cover. :-) Yay! She'll have the cutest coupon binder ever. :-)

And I don't need a whole binder, but I did need a few pockets for my planner! I didn't really want to pay $12 for their pockets (though cute and handy!). I knew if I made my own they'd be WAY cuter and... you know... free! ;-)

In each pack of refills (notebook paper, calendar pages, etc) come some chipboard sheets to use to divide your planner (or maybe they just put those in there, so the pages don't get bent in the packaging.... LOL). Either way, they were perfect (with the holes already there)! I just needed to add a strip of paper to make a pocket and some cute details!

Papers/FabRips: Studio Calico, Alphas: October Afternoon, Border Punch: Fiskars
Butterfly punch (punched with Little Yellow Bicycle paper): Martha Stewart

I'll probably make two more for grocery coupons and Target too. Heeee! :-D

Do you have a special place for your coupons (if you use them) and receipts? I love to hear how people organize these types of things. :-)