2006 rolling to an end

I am glad that Christmas is over. It was one big STRESS this year (balancing family, etc) - it seemed to never FEEL like Christmas even though I did all the shopping for it, etc. Mike and I never got our picture done which means that we didn't get our Christmas letter finished so I will be putting together a NEW YEAR'S thing to send out - a review of our 2006!
That makes me think… I need to finish my 2005 Scrapbook before the 1st so that I can start my 2006 (it’s easier than getting further behind!)
What happened in 2006 (they are not in any order):
Corolla Died
Lyndsey’s Baby Shower
Tore my ACL in my left Knee (February on Crutches)
Baker Love Note "PRICELESS"
Vicki’s 50th and the scavenger hunt I sent her on
Anniversary – Aquarium/Seattle Site Seeing
Vegas/Grand Canyon
4th of July
Easter
Mother’s Day
Convention
Camping
Regionals
Women’s Retreat
Mike/My Birthday
Christmas
New Truck
Mike transferred to Food Department
Baker’s First Birthday
Russell & Tracy’s Wedding (make blurbs for Terra’s Wedding, Shawna’s Wedding, Mike’s Wedding, and Laura’s Wedding)
New Year’s Eve

Something I want to start doing in 2007 is doing a weekly scrapbook challenge (I got the 52 Scrapbooking Challenges book for Christmas). The first one is WORK THOSE WORDS – Whether it’s a quote, a list of your favorite adjectives or a computer-generated phrases, journaling on strips of cardstock is a great way to add visual excitement to your page. Be creative and cut a favorite quote into pieces to add to your design. I am giving myself enough time to figure out what I want to do and not do any last minute pressure (journaling is harder for me – I put it off until the VERY last and need take this moment and decide what I want to put in there). Thinking I will be doing something for New Year’s Eve – maybe find some type of poem or a phrase to put in there… Anyway I really wanted this book because I find that I have tendencies to do the same thing over and over but a little different each time and I want to break out of my box and try something new! I am HOPING to post my challenge each week on here and then later with a sample of my creation – if anyone wants to join me on this challenge I would love to see your results or just knowing your interested is exciting! Scrapbooking is something that I really enjoy but have to really force myself to take time to do it. One person has recommended planning your pages so that you can take the only 10 minutes you have each day to do something to get that page a week done (gathering up the paper, making accents/journaling boxes, borders, etc). My goal is to make a weekly time that I can spend a few hours Scrapbooking. Right now it will probably be Sunday evenings – what a great way to relax and begin a new week (of course Sunday’s won’t ALWAYS work, but they are a good start for now!) I have so many pictures to catch up on and am committed to finishing the book for Kim that I made her for Christmas (I haven’t taken pictures of what I have completed, but I can)
Okay – I have to admit how much of a geek I am. After I was looking through my book of challenges I got to thinking about what we have with SU! and in my own collection that I do not use but want to put into a "jar" to draw from and challenge myself to use regularly. So I went to Creating Keepsakes websites and bookmarked some of my favorite layouts and then have used those to add additional "inspiration/ideas" for me to try during that week. I will not always have a chance to this weekly or for that fact do it regularly but I want to get as much "different" things in that I can on my scrapbooks (they start to look uniform and that drives me bonkers!) I was on one of my other scrapbook sites and got an idea for a mini album – it just totally cracks me up! So I am going to try to figure out a way to take my 2006 memories and make a themed mini album from it and will be VERY excited to share the results with everyone! Okay back to the pictures I bookmarked – I tried to find SOMETHING that drew me to the picture (was it color, layout, the use of an embellishment, photograph – WHAT?) and that is what I wrote down that I want to try! For example one of my pages I chose had a big letter D with journaling on the right side of it. The only place there was a picture was on the inside of the letter. The page looked VERY crisp and clean (I like a busy page but not a cluttered page – big difference!)

I have started to think about what I want to improve on in the next year (not New Year’s Resolutions but small changes that can really make a big difference in my life):
*Read more (that’s why I started the book club at church!)
*Lose some weight (I gained back all the weight I lost but have learned how to live again with my knee limitations)
*Stay organized (whether it’s 15 minutes a day or one evening a week, or one day in a month – I find it crucial to keep order and balance in my life!)
*Send birthday/occasion cards – even just random thinking of you ones! (all you with early Jan birthdays – they are probably going to be late – just WARNING You now….)
*Don’t overbook myself – these turn into battles with the spouse because everyone wants my time - and I love to help people, but I need to carve out time that I say NO for him
*Make an album about ME – sounds kind of selfish doesn’t it?! Something that shares WHO I am- my opinions on shtuff, my likes and dislikes. Haven’t decided how I will format it, if it’s going to be an A to Z type of album or use other prompts.

Right now I am debating on purchasing a Cricut. I have a sizzix that I got as a gift a few years ago but don’t use it (I have an alphabet set but it’s only ONE size – the cricut does multiple sizes!) It’s one of those BIG choices to make – so I am sitting and waiting until I have a firm yes (I hate jumping in head first just because it is something fun or new- have to have my validations for it first!) I should find out if anyone I know has one and then I can get different cartridges than what they have and we can borrow from each other…. Good idea!
Yesterday I caught up with a friend I haven’t spoken with for awhile. She is doing great and will be moving in the next few months. Just talking with her made me miss the times we used to spend in Junior High and High School – she was a good friend (she still is a good friend, we just aren’t as close as we were back then)..

Mike is going with his dad on a trip in March – might do a weekend crop at my house during that time. Have a girls party – NO BOYS allowed! LOL (except my Baker doggie!) I am still not sure on the dates – seems like they keep changing (it looks like the weekend of the 16-18th according to Google).

Okay I have probably said way to much here and need to wrap it up (this blog started yesterday and I am just now getting it finished to post today…. Yes I am Chatty McChatterson today!)