Altering with FabRips.

So... unfortunately, my Home Depots next to me took two big doses of stupid (or at least two of the guys did...), so my laundry room project is taking much longer than expected. :-p Their mistakes on plywood and paint are just a small hiccup, and I'm hoping to be done this week! :-D

But I have had time to do some other fun projects!

These were made with Studio Calico FabRips! Seriously, you don't even need a tutorial... I just placed them on and wrapped them around, cutting off the corners. So easy and fun! :-)

I'll be back with some altered journals, some homemade bookmarks, and my latest Goodwill finds! Yay! :-)

p.s. As inspiration... how beautiful is this home I saw at House of Turquoise?! If you live in Australia, it's for sale, and it could be yours for the bargain price of $2.1 million dollars. Just sayin... ;-)

Refurbishing the Laundry Room.

Yes, I'm updating. Yay! I've actually really missed blogging this last month, but I just needed some time away, you know?! It's amazing how productive I am when I stay away from the computer. ;-)

Reading this post of April's *really* inspired me to take on my laundry room. I finished my scrap room (photos to come later...), so I needed a new project!

I ventured in there and realized I needed some new containers (shocking, I know). I wanted to use what I had on hand (I have empty containers in every room... you're not surprised, are you?). I realized that in the nursery closet, I had two containers I got at Target. I had NO place to put them and even no IDEA where I would use them (because they are quite girly, and I like all the rooms in my house to be neutral-neutral), but they were SO cute that I had to buy them. :-p

*Insert lightbulb moment here.*

I would use one of the containers (Liberty of London CD box) as inspiration and transform my laundry room into a SUPER girly and fun laundry haven. Here are the photos (found while browsing my Tumblr) I'm also using as inspiration:

Norah's nursery, found here.

Penelope's Room, found here.

See that lamp in Penelope's room? Funny, that is the SAME pattern as my Liberty of London CD box. Serendipitous? I think yes.

So my colors are aqua, bubblegum pink, and a creamy, sunshiney yellow. It's funny, I'm *not* a pink kind of girl. But with aqua and yellow?! It's kinda yummy. :-D

So, yay! I'm hoping to finish within the week. Stay tuned!

Dealing.

I'm about to be real and kinda depressing. Please no judging. :-)

For those of you who don't know, we lost the baby this week (I was nearly 12 weeks when I started bleeding two weeks ago today). My body is still going through the process, and it bothers me that it makes every day a reminder that I won't be having a baby in six months. I can't wait for that part to be over. I'm ready to move on and look back on this like it was a bad dream.

We are trying to stay optimistic for the future though. The pregnancy ended due to a blighted ovum, so, for some reason, that actually makes me feel better about the whole thing... hopeful that a baby will be in our future. :-)

I have waves of being positive and optimistic and then waves of wanting to sit on the sofa and watch Friends and eat gluten-free chocolate chip cookies (which I'm now currently out of) all day long. I've heard that through the grieving process, both are good for healing. :-)

I'm angry and sad, and I just don't feel like *me* these days. I have three Studio Calico kits sitting right next to me, and I can't even touch them. My motivation... it's just gone. I'm praying that will get better soon too. :-)

I think I'm getting a bit better. Today, I took a shower in the *morning* and got halfway dressed... pajama bottoms and slippers with a nice top and sweater. I even put on earrings and a bit of makeup. :-) I think every day will get better. I'm hoping, praying that it does. *sigh*

Hmm... can't think of anything else to say. And just talking about it makes me feel more down, so I'm going to go watch Friends now. :-)

And here are two layouts I did a couple weeks ago, but never posted. Both are mostly SEI and American Crafts. :-)

Thanks for stopping by today. I'm not sure when I'll be back with the remainder of my scrap room photos, but I'm hoping soon.

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. Just keep swimming...

Organizing and Editing (and okay, Decorating too).

Well, today I was in the mood to play in PhotoShop, which is a rarity. LOL. I edit all my photos in iPhoto these days, and by "edit," I mean quickly crop and lighten up... takes me a grand total of 15 seconds.

So I took some more photos of my scrap room and then played with my PW Actions. (Okay, I was inspired by Jennifer Johner. Who the heck is *not* inspired by that woman? She's so talented... it sickens me. In a good way. :-)

So still a few sneak peeks because I'm not completely done yet. And I've been a scrapping fool the past couple days, so my table isn't as clean as I'd like for photos. ;-)

My border punches, stapler and paint brushes are stored here in this vintage Squirt container:

On the top shelf, along one wall, I have just odds and ends. Favorites of mine that inspire me... things I've been collecting for years and years. Most of the things on this shelf do *not* have any storage/organizational purpose. However, this cute little blue train case (which is open because I used my snowflake punches out of there... tee hee) holds all my Christmas embellishments. :-)

I just adore vintage books. And photos of Shirley Temple. ;-) This one came from a magazine, I think...

Ahhhhh.... one of my favorite things is next. Found this chair at the Goodwill for like $2. I gave it a paint touch-up and then added some October Afternoon paper on the seat. The bird was a gift from a friend. It's sitting on the bottom shelf of a cabinet that I *completely* made over.

I keep staples, paper clips, mini punches, and cat's eye inks in these blue boxes. And as for the baker's twine... I started out with 2 or 3, and they looked so cute displayed on a shelf. Then I got more and more and I set them all out, so I could decide *where* I wanted them and in what container I'd *place* them. But then I fell in love with having them displayed all the time... and very convenient to just grab. Hee hee... so I left them, and this is their home now. :-)

Looked through, literally, hundreds of wine holders before I found the perfect one for my pens. I spray painted it to match my room. The little boxes are from IKEA (which were a STEAL for the set)!

And that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll get it all cleaned up and photographed this weekend! :-)

Oh! And here's a layout I did last night. My bestie, Camille, left me an awesome comment on my FB the other day, and it totally inspired this layout. Thank you, Camille! You're the bestest, and I miss you something fierce! ;-)

(Cardstock: Bazzill Basics, Patterned Papers: SEI, Alphas: Sassafras,

Punches: EK Success, Creative Memories, Pearls: Basic Grey, Pen: American Crafts)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Favoring Two Things Right Now.

My favorite video in a long time...



And I want these...

http://www.cerealmarshmallows.com/

Trying to Motivate Myself.

This week, I have been super-motivated to get my scrap room DONE. We moved into this house TEN months ago, and my scrap room has been a work in progress. It must be the perfectionist in me. ;-) I figured if I posted here, then I would feel accountable, get it finished, and then get photos up this week! LOL.

Here is a very sneak peek... tee hee.


And also, Ella turned ONE year old last week! Yay!


If you haven't been there, you have got to check it out! It's SO cool and so much fun. Plus, I always find tons of inspiration and cool tricks and tips! :-D

And here is a super-simple layout I did last year and forgot to post. LOL. Photos from my first eight birthdays. :-) It's for my baby book... I figured one page for eight of them would take up much less room. ;-)

Bella papers and BG alphas.

Hopefully, in the next few posts, I will have photos of my scrap room. Yay!

Note to self: Get it done! Get it done! Get it done!

Announcing. Finally. :-p

First off, I've been wanting to share this video for a LONG time.

I wanted a *really* cool way to share this awesome news with our families, so this is what I came up with: The Story of Us.

(Thanks to my friend Traci for actually bringing it to life! And thanks to my friend Jody for introducing me to this song, The Luckiest by Ben Folds. Funny, it actually was not my first choice for the video, but on the first trial run of the slideshow, I didn't have my choice of song downloaded yet, so I just had to choose one at random. The Luckiest was the slowest song on my playlist, so I chose that. Didn't even plan on it being PERFECT for this.)

I'm ten days away from the end of my first trimester. I was going to wait another ten days to share this, but I wanted to show this layout, and well, had to share the video first. ;-)

Another challenge is up at Journaling Challenges! The theme? Babies. Serendipitous, yes?! ;-)

Used Studio Calico's August kit here.

And here's another recent layout I did (also with the August kit) about my sweet, Ruby. She's just SO cute! Every time I walk by her, I can't help kiss her and cuddle her. LOL. I just had to do a layout about that. :-)

Happy Friday!

Getting Around To It.

In December, we'll celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. I guess better late than never to get our wedding album done at Shutterfly. LOL. But I got a free book coupon, and I just couldn't pass it up this time. I went super simple, and I'm really glad I did.

SO excited! Yay! :-)

Click here to view this photo book.

Beaming With Pride.

So the other night, my sister (younger by 15 months) went to an 80's-themed birthday party.

My sister? Mother of three. Gymnastics coach. And just downright fun and cool. Growing up, my dad always encouraged us to go ALL OUT when dressing up. And still to this day, my sister (shown in the green top and pink glasses) does not disappoint!

They decided to go out to a club to dance and act crazy. There happened to be a radio station there. Here they are with the DJ guy:

And my sister with the birthday girl and her best friend.

Another one with the DJ... he thought my sister was too cool. LOL.

Then she joined a booty-shaking contest...

And won. :-)

Man, my sister is cool! I'm so proud. :-)

*Pictures taken by 103.3KISS FM Idaho. And her friend, Maranda. :-)

Visiting with Family.

So last week, I went home to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. It.Was.A.Madhouse.

Back row: Dack (brother), Nikki (his wife), Mairen (sister's daughter, held by her dad),

Tony (Shaina's husband), Dad (Bob), Jeremy (hubby). Middle row: Gauge (bro's son, held by Shaina),

Shaina (sister), Mom (Dawn), Cullen (bro's son), Raina (adopted sister), me.

Front row: Alaura (sister's daughter Twin A), Reysa (bro's daughter), and Brenna (sister's daughter Twin B).

30 hours of driving

20 people heard some awesome news ;-)

11 friends visited

10 adults (living together...)

9 total days

6 children (sleeping in one room? Yikes!)

5 meltdowns (by me... tee hee)

4 cans of black olives (ew)

3 dogs

2 houses

2 puppies

1 kitten

My brother was there... along with his wife and two kids and one baby and one Rottweiler/Pitbull and one chihuahua.

My sister was there... along with her husband and three kids and one puppy and one kitten (who actually came home with us to live with Jeremy's parents... yes, we planned that).

My parents were moving from a house to a condo, seven miles away. (How cool is it that they had ALL of their kids to move for them!? I don't think they had to pack or unpack one box! LOL. Yes, we *are* great kids. ;-) )

Their dog had just died, but Mom thought THIS would be the perfect weekend to bring home a new puppy. Umm... notsomuch.

Here is Nala (age 11 mos.) with our Ruby.

And we arrived (before the rest of the bunch, actually)... Jeremy, his dad, and I, along with our Baby Ruby in tow.

Oh.My.Goodness.

It was probably one of the craziest weeks of my LIFE.

We brought my sister's twins to camp, which was super fun! What was funny... the math teacher Shaina and I had in high school? His youngest *daughter* was in Alaura and Brenna's camp! AND they got to be good friends! LOL. Too funny. I really wanted to get a photo, but they were all running around like wild banshees.

That little boy in the tye-dye was the camp speaker's son,

and he LOVED trying to get into all our photos. LOL.

Shaina's girls. I SO did not get to spend enough

time with them (because of camp). I may have to fly out to Idaho this fall. :-)

Mairen and I, however, did get some quality gluten-free time together. ;-)

I was stressed, queasy, moody, hormonal, and happy. It was WEIRD. And I heard crazy things come out of my mouth like...

"Don't eat that entire can of olives in one sitting!"

"NOOOO! Don't let the baby do belly flops off the foot of the bed!"

"Dack, wait! Don't pull the baby out of the doggy door until I get a picture!"

"Did that neighbor's dog just attack your chihuahua?"

and then a few minutes later....

"Could you PLEASE keep your dog inside, so it doesn't attack another one of our animals?!"

"No, I *won't* stop being so opinionated! .... but I'll try my best to keep my opinions to myself." (tee hee)

"If I ever have a boy, I want him to be just like Gauge!"

"What?! We haven't taken a picture of the three of us since like... 2002?! GAH! Let's take lots!" (Dad has the crazy-silly photo of us three Klein kids. I'll have to get a copy of that one. It's too fun!)

Phew. Next time, Jeremy and I will be getting a hotel. LOL. It was fun to see the family though! And I'm so glad I got some pictures! Finally! :-)

Ah. It's so good to be home.

Six Weeks.

Anywho, just made my Jell-O. Man, that is like the best fifty cents spent, in my opinion!

I'm six weeks today!

1. So... I'm tired. Really tired. I want to sleep all day, every day. This JUST started on Saturday. LOL. Going to the kitchen... is taxing. LOL.
2. I didn't start having nausea until yesterday. But I did a lot of research on ways to curb throwing up, and so far... it's working. Tea (ginger, raspberry leaf, nettles), cheddar cheese, milk and Rice/Corn Chex. Seriously, i was ABOUT to get sick yesterday... I was just sitting on the bathroom floor, taking deep breaths and waiting, hoping not to get sick, eating this stuff, and it worked! For now...
3. I have this INSATIABLE hunger! It is CRAZY! I think I've gained like 6 pounds, which actually, my midwife says, is awesome... LOL. I'm also drinking a gallon (NOT exaggerating) of water/milk per day.
4. I have 2-3 cravings every day, but they usually change. They have been: steak, spinach, chicken, sharp cheddar cheese (but NOT mild... ew, makes me sick to think about it... LOL), cantaloupe, grapefruit, apples, more steak, more chicken, nachos (chips made from scratch), and milk. I crave milk EVERY day. Which is very strange for me. LOL. I like it.
5. Aversions to sweets or any kind of dessert. Thinking about dessert or anything containing sugar makes me feel like being sick. Apparently, that means I'm getting enough protein, so woohoo!
6. Met with the midwife last night, and she's gonna run a bunch of blood work in two weeks. I'm not having my first u/s until I'm 3-4 months (we decided on this number together)... hopefully, if we wait this long, we can find out how many babies, since my sister didn't find out till FIVE months that she was having TWINS! And she'll run blood work, check all my levels, etc. once a month. I'll probably only do two u/s if everything is on track and healthy.
7. We don't want to find out the sex of the baby. We want a surprise.
8. I don't think I'll be sharing names, but I can share names I like, but he *doesn't* want to use! LOL. So we won't be using the names: Schuyler (original pron. of Skyler), Bridget, Lila, Grace, and Evangeline. That's all I can think of now. LOL.

*Sorry this post was so long. I'm just excited, and it's SO hard not being able to talk to my parents and all my IRL friends yet! LOL.

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! ;-)