If you have never witnessed a morning ascension at the Albuquerque balloon festival you are missing out! It was absolutely breathtaking, I felt like a little kid in a candy store-so many beautiful sites to see floating so gently in the sky. I think sometime, I might even need to go for a ride. These were my favorite shots while we were there.
And did I forget to say that every now and then I feel just a bit of patriotism!
All materials from the page are from Designer Digitals-except of course the photos! which are mine

It has been a busy summer-I tried my hand at art journaling and built a book-painted it and have at least one page done. In the meantime, I went on vacation to South Carolina and I guess my children know me too well-it really does rain too much there. When I got home Dennis and I went to Salt Lake City to a digi crop-so very much fun-on the way we stopped at Fort Cove days and I was bitten by a new love-I am going to learn how to play a harp-here is a page of my first encounter. Since that page I have rented a harp and set up lessons-I am on MY way!
PS-All the materials I used for this digi page were compliments of Designer Digitals!

Pollyanna

This weeks digi dare
http://www.digidares.com
is hosted by Tangie and as is the norm for her-a thought provoking challenge. The challenge asks that a conversation be recorded somehow and that part of that conversation be used for the title. So as I say good by to one of the few teachers I have felt close to, I thought back over the conversations that we and others have had about her-with her. This is a woman who believes, as I do, in the goodness, worth, and amazing ability of our students. Many teachers really concentrate on the misbehaviour of their students, and forget why they decided to teach-or maybe they just decided to teach for a different reason than I did. Don't misunderstand, I do believe that students must be held accountable, but I see them as a positive in my life-rather than a negative burden. My Pollyanna, as her tears illustrates also believes in the possibilities and she will miss the opportunity to be a part of the wonders of education.
So this little represetation highlights one of those first conversations-the one in which the other teachers came close to mocking this wonderful person by labeling her a Pollyanna-and of course, in those first few days, when I was just getting to know my co-workers, I immediately felt a bond with this wonderful Pollyanna-because I knew I wasnt the only one! But now, I question my ability to keep my focus on the goodness as the Pollyannas of the educational system retire...
Credits-Impressions of Whimsy-available at Scrapbook Graphics (I used mostly Studio Berna)
Mask-KPertiet

Along with being a new CT at Scrappity Doo Dah-I have also decided to explore the quirkier side of things-I think I would like to journal some of my memories in this format-hmmm maybe... anyway this is what I worked on today

Imagine-What I think may be the most powerful word in the dictionary

Supplies
background paper, girl & house-AnnaBV
alpha-Faith True
All other elements
Tangie- some from each of the following, Artopia, May Mystery case, opera house, imagination

Oh my I have been busy-I did all of the challenges at Scrappity Doo Dah! I think I started them yesterday or the day before and finished them today-now I need to go over to Bouquet of Pixels and get some of those done-at least another page for my CT work anyway. It was over 100 in the backyard today and I was able to get in the pool and swim 50 laps-well if you count a lap as once down the pool!

Last night I was in a PARADE!! That was so much fun! Although my eyes are closed-this pic really sums up the fun and excitement of the whole experience





Now for the goings on over at DigiScrapAddicts-it is time for round 3 of the SYTYCD! 8 of my favorites from rounds 1 & 2 have moved on to round 3 and from the looks of it I am going to have new favorites from this round-my download file is just about to burst!!
Now, I think it is time for me to learn how to put some blinkies on this site~~

The templates for all of the month pages are from Jen Caputo from Scrapbook Graphics-In April I used Lorie Davisons Bouncing Bunnies kit, In March I used Damanynti's Purple Rain from Sunflower Scraps, and in February I used materials from a blog train I followed-sorry I cant be any more specific than that
Good Morning All
Life has been busy-well no busier than any other year, this year, I have just had to finally deal with some of my teeth-three of them are now gone and all I have to do is heal! Of course I had to succumb to the endless annoyance and then just downright pain... so in order to keep up here I will post March & April! As far as my roamings about the internet, I seem to be slowly moving away from SplitcoastStampers and spending a lot of my time at ScrapbookGraphics-with so many sites, it is fun to just roam the internet-I am still doing ct work for Bouquet of Pixels and I have a guest spot in August for a template designer at another site...
Places that are quite useful to visit-just to keep up with the ever-growing world of digi scrapbooking...
DigiscrapAddicts-the enabler is a must read and the SYTYCD is great fun to explore
DigiShopTalk-is a busy site, but there is always an interesting conversation going on
ScrapbookGraphics has great conversations and lots of phenonamal artsy challenges
Bouquet of Pixels has 7 great challenges a month
Scrappity-Do-Dah has some great games and challenges
GoDigitalScrapbooking has great challenges and awesome speed scraps
PickleBerryPop-great challenges, a fun name and some great challenges besides I love that name
Sunflower Scraps-awesome Russian designers
Digital-Crea-awesome French designers

Last weekend was VSBN on splitcoast so lots of challenges! One of them asked us to scrap a page that would help us with who we were if we were to wake up with no memory! I was even further inspired by 1busymomof2 and followed her lead and made a list as long as I am old-so 50 things about me, I also used 40 different verbs to put it together and finished it up with 10 She believe statements. I changed from I to she from a challenge by Jessica Sprague-sometimes it amazes me how many different ways I might be inspired to do any one project!

So here is the page. And here is the list-since most of us dont have xray eyes to read such tiny print-which will of course be much larger when this will be printed 12x12~

1. She knows right from wrong because she is the daughter of Loren & June Pfeffer.
2. She gave birth to Loren Andrew and Shawn Steven Pfeffer.
3. She married Dennis Verley May 5, 1995-but she kept her own last name.
4. She kisses her dachshunds each and every day.
5. She scrapbooks so memories stay alive.
6. She decorates with a Shabby Chic flair, mix is much better than match.
7. She captures moments in the pictures she takes, so they can tell the story.
8. She teaches according to the needs of her students.
9. She experiences frustration with the negative side of the world.
10. She pushes her students to the edge and then reels them back.
11.She expects the best effort.
12. She adores Hershey’s chocolate, and Sees candy with chocolate sprinkles.
13.She mists herself with sweet & spicy perfume.
14. She eats when her stomach and her soul feel hunger.
15. She swims when the temperture rises above 100.
16. She wears sweatshirts when the temperature drops below 65.
17. She rides a bike to work and she feels better for having done it.
18. She laughs out loud and acts silly whenever the opportunity presents itself.
19. She makes her students smile and realize the possibilities.
20. She detests people who always see the glass half empty, who refuse to SEE what it is good.
21. She believes our loved ones never leave us as long as we keep their memories alive within us.
22. She realizes that bad things happen for good reasons, but that it can be very difficult to find the good because of the pain.
23. She loves the mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.
31. She ponders the the way things are.
32. She remembers the way it was. the best, the worst, the neutral.
33. She finds peace & contentment in the moment.
34. She delights in the ,magic of kind acts.
35. She tackles problems head on, sometimes to her detriment.
36. She misses her sister.
37. She determines the path she travels-for better or for worse.
38. She discovers new things everyday.
39. She adapts to new situations easily.
40. She believes in the success of her sons.
41. She believes that her sons are who they are because of who she is.
42. She believes that she is who she is because of who her parents are.
43. She believes that we can ALL succeed, but it takes hard work
and some won’t do it.
44. She believes that blue skies out number grey skies.
45. She believes in her laughter.
46. She believes she has a right to enjoy her world.
47. She believes that she still has far to go.
48. She believes that we must all enjoy the journey.
49. She believes in the delicate scent of the daffodil to brighten the day.
50. She believes in the power of the misty ocean breeze.

I thought I could do this on a daily basis-well-not so much as you can see-What I can and will enjoy doing is posting when I have something I feel is worthy of a post. I did document and scrap January-in retrospect it was an awesome month-hopefully Feb will be just as wonderful

here are the pages I put together

Day 10- My dad's 88th birthday-wow-so dh and I spent the day with him. First though, I called him and sang happy birthday. This is a tradition in my family because df was a captain on an oil tanker which meant he was away from home on nearly all holidays. He would always call me on my birthday and sing to me, no matter where he was. So after I shopped for df and dh set up his new weather gizmo that was a gift from his grandkids, I baked him his favorite cake. My mom used to always make it for my dad and I think he loves it the best because he always says how "pretty"it is! I think he likes the way it tastes too!

Day 9-This is me-off to work, it is cold, well, I realize that is a relative statement, but for me, living in Las Vegas, 38 in the am is cold! So I am bundled up with a hoodie, jacket, gloves, scarf and, of course my helmet. For now, it is a blue helmet, but I am on the hunt for a red one because now that I am 50, I am entitled to wear a RED hat, with my purple bike!

Jan 8 Day 7 & 8

Day 8- I am taking my dad to the doc to day so the girls are lounging on the couch with me this morning-while I update this blog and get a little scrappin done before I head out the door. I think they would be much happier if I just stayed on this couch with them 24-7, but alas, I must work so that I can buy them dog food! From left to right-Lorelai, Sianna at the bottom, Guenivere in the crook of my arm, Sister Mary Margaret-aka Mae-Mae on my lap, and Gracie on my other knee. Gueni, Mae-Mae, and Gracie all think they should be the closest to me-and then so does Lorelai and Sianna-sometimes someone goes up and hangs out on my shoulder-see why it is so much easier to do digi scrappin than traditional-they hate that-they have to lay on the floor at my feet!!

Day 7-This is my favorite mug this year! It has a little dove on the bottom and it holds plenty of warm beverage-In the winter and fall it will really get a work out-coffee in the am and hot water or decaf in the evening to warm me up! It has been cold the last few days so it has definitely been seeing more than its fair share of the microwave-sometimes I drink 5 or 6 mugs of hot water in the evening. We keep our heat on 65 in the winter and 85 in the summer-so really, water is my main regulator!

Day 5 & 6

Day 5-And the Winter break is over-but it is pretty darn cold! Well at least it feels cold to me. I truly am happy to be back to work-even if morning seemed to come way to quickly today! As you can see I have my liquids nearby, because I am sure I will need them today-I havent talked much over the break and it will take me a couple days to get used to talking so much again. Don't get me wrong- I LOVE TO TALK!!!


Day 6 Picture-I can see that I am not going to keep up with this on a daily basis! I thought I would start making some progress on the sea of papers that seems to continually surround me. Maybe I did by the end of the day-but I am pretty sure that the paper fairy will visit in the night and the paper pile will have grown! Today we all wrote Mission Statements-I am so impressed with my students-theirs were so powerful, I was almost brought to tears a few times! Wow-I am so lucky to spend my days with such awesome human beings.

Day 1 Pic-what better way to bring in a new year than with a couple of glasses of the bubbly! I just don't like to spend much on champagne and I had some plastic glasses left from the Christmas buffet last year at the South Coast casino so I tasted the cheap champagne out of glass and plastic. I really do think it tasted better out of the plastic! Dh had a good giggle and said the usual--these things that are out of the norm are the reasons why he loves me! It is a good thing it isnt for my cooking!





This is my pic for day 2. The last day of classes, my phone was taken and, although I had it insured, they couldnt replace it for 10 days, so I bought this phone, because the clerks told me I could return it withing 30 days with the receipt-well--not so--apparently it has a scratch so they won't take it back-oh well lessons learned-always lock my classroom door and never do business with a PCS sprint store!! Well at least the ones in Las Vegas whose general manager is the rudest human I have spoken with in a very long time!

This is my pic for day 3. It seems that I spent the whole day working on the computer. It appears as though the Kodak software that I had installed didnt get along well with the Vista operating system so I wiped the hard drive and started over. The tech at Best Buy said that Vista was being recalled and those who purchased a computer in the last year might be offered a copy of the new version due out in 3 months.

This is my pic for day 4, I am taking Jessica Sprague's how to photoshop online classes. I can's believe how much I learned in just the 1st lesson!

Hello

Hi-well this is my first attempt at a blog. Seems like everyone is doing it these days, so I might as well give it a try. I do like to talk-in writing-so this may just be for me. My primary purpose for this blog is to journal and picture my way through 365 days--what a challenge--but I am not alone-I have all of my scbffs who will be joining me on this adventure.