Live in this moment for this moment is your life.

Wow, so true isnt it?  My dear friend Maggie gave us this wonderful quote for inspiration in our blogging and scrapping this week.  I find it difficult for most people to live in the moment.  Most people say they will work hard and then they will play just as hard.  Why not both?  We cant wait for our lives to stop before we start.  Ya know?  I am going to have to scrap that quote as well.

My sister-in-law-to-be is trying to lose a few pounds before the wedding in September and has joined the local gym.  The last gym I joined burned down and it made me horribly sad.  An was an all female gym and a wonderful atmosphere.  I didnt change over to this other gym because, well, its for the Pretties.  lol  The Pretties are the 'beautiful' people or the people that thought they were in high school. ;)  This gym is a mixture of hard athletes, bodybuilders and Barbie dolls in matching outfits.  You know those people right?  The people that get dressed up to go to the gym.  Cute little outfits, make-up, and those big hoop earrings.  Its all fun and games until someone loses an ear.  lol  I was always hesitant but I thought I would give it a shot.  When we went in I asked the man behind the counter if I can try it out first before paying because I had never been there before.  He looked at me, shrugged and said, Yeah, give'r.  In Cape Breton-ese thats Yes, please do.  lol 

I grabbed my MP3 player on the way out the door and am so glad I did!  THEY DONT PLAY MUSIC!  I have never been to a gym that didnt play music.  They have LOTS of TVs though.  I guess its a real MAN's gym.  On my player though I have both music AND a Podcast.  They are really great for keeping your motivation up.  I just wish they hadnt chosen music that says FOREVER and THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING lyrics.  We headed into the ladies' circuit room, which isnt completely private, and started on the road to soreness  greatness.  I asked Christa if I needed to bring my own towel, or did they have some.  She said she didnt think they did but that I should be ok.  I wasnt ok.  My theory is that if I am going to pay to work out, I am giving it my all.  Sweat is a GOOD thing.  I am not one of those girls who thinks its unladylike to sweat.  You are at a gym.  Out with the bad, in with the good.  There is no room for glistening. ;)

So when Connor came home from his Dad's place this morning he asked if I had done my exercising while he was gone.  Boy, was he excited when I told him that I went to the gym.  He said, Mom, you are going to be straight soon and people will just fall over.  LOL Oh my kid is so great!  He made me pull my shirt up so he could see my belly and he said, Oh yeah baby, look at that, its getting straight.  I know I should correct him and say thin but its just TOO FUNNY!

So all in all I was at the gym for an hour and a half, yes I can walk today.  Thank you for asking.  Wish me luck.  Have a great day!

Proof the little man does listen!

I woke up this morning with a weight on my chest.  No, seriously, a weight.  A real one, not a metaphor.  I, of course, thought how the heck did this get on me.  I looked over and saw my sweet little angel laying in the bed next to me.  Hi.  Hi.  How are you?  Good.  So Mommy.  (HE CALLED ME MOMMY!  He is on this new kick where he is calling me and his father, Mom and Dad cuz he is a BIG boy now.)  We have to talk.  Uh-oh! Ok Connor, lets talk.  Mommy, (that word again) if you want to be straight instead of round, you have a lot of work to do.  You have to use these.  (the weights)  You have to eat healthy like chicken, fruits, vegetables, milk, fish, and some cow and pig.  LOL OK!  You have to exercise more, with these.  (the weights)  At first use the small ones and then you can use the big ones.  How much do you weigh Mommy?  Huh?  How much do you weight Mommy?  I dont know.  Yes, you do.  Ok, I do but I am not telling you.  Ok Mommy but you have to exercise more and eat good stuff.  Ok Connor.  Starting today.  Ok Connor.  Let's go make a healthy shake drink for dinner.  (The kid doesnt understand the word breakfast for some odd reason.)  You mean a smoothie?  No, the one you shake?  Crystal Light?  Do you shake that?  Yes.  Ok, thats what I want us to drink.

SO we made some Crystal Light and some Iced Tea.  I have promised him that as soon as I am done checking my forums that we will head out for some exercise so Mommy can be straight, like him, instead of round, like a ball.  See, my kid does listen to me when I am rambling. ;) 

Last night's chat was GREAT!  We had so much fun!  Some new people came too!  We chatted about so much and for so long!  I didnt get to bed until 2am!!  I was in the chat until after 1am my time.  WOWZERS! 

Anyway the challenge this week is to create a layout using this sketch.

Here is my layout for inspiration, play along if you like! :)

 

I also started the Photography Challenges back up at the Guild, again.  I am a slacker, I KNOW!  This  week's challenge is to get out there with family/friends and take some portraits.  Not just this though, to take them with varying heights in the photo for some added interested.  For instance have someone sitting on a bench and then someone on the ground next to them. Or may be have some kids sitting in a tree with their parents standing next to them. That sounds like fun! Have a great staircase? Have someone at the top and someone at the bottom. Well, you get the idea!  Here is mine!  My nieces Emma and Gabrielle at the park on the weekend.

I am on a blogging ROLL! Go me!  Ok, back to checking forums and whatnot.  Hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday! AND PLEASE feel free to jump in on these challenges.  You can post over at the Guild with the links provided or just link me up here!  Love to see your art!

We never grow up!

We don't.  It's the hardcore truth of life.  No matter how tall we get, no matter how many birthdays we have, when it comes to siblings we NEVER GROW UP!  I went today to the park with my youngest older brother and his family.  We thought we would be mature but we SO were not.  He made faces, I yelled at him, he walked slowly enough I thought I would die before the day was over, he poked me, I slapped him, I threatened to Photoshop him into a troll.  Ok, the last one I only did in my head but I still did it!  lol  We had lots of fun though and got some good shots.  The girls were so well behaved and I think they had fun!  I let Emma 'take' some photos and it was so cute.  She would look at the camera and say, "Say cheese, now smile Daddy.  I take your picture."  The most adorable two year old in the world!

Gabrielle really surprised me! I was so proud of her.  She is generally very....ummm....energetic?  lol  Today she was so well behaved.  Of course we had some silly moments but that's all part of the fun!  :)  She even got into the spirit of things and started choosing location spots and poses.  Ahhhh my little proteges! ;)

I immediately wanted to scrap these photos. So I did with Christine Haskell's newest kit Sugarcoated.  This is my second layout with the kit today! :)  Alphas on both pages are by Birgit Kerr.  I could make a whole album in one day with these papers and elements!  I COULD!  I might.  lol  Christa did a great job dressing the family, perfectly matches the kit.  It's pretty bad when you see  your family and the first thing you think is "WOW, they will so go with my newest play kit!"

Here is the first one I did this morning with the photo Sean took of me.  :)

Anyway I have LOTS more photos to edit, some are done and I will share them tomorrow.  Thinking about getting some graphic album pages done with them.  I haven't really done that regular photo type layout in forever!  Tomorrow.  Or now.  Its only 1am, I still have time. ;)

I should be sleeping...

...but I am not.  I am sitting here at the computer looking at photos on Facebook, blogs, and Flickr.  Some people just amaze me with their talent.  Such inspiration.  If it wasn't 2:30am I would SO be calling friends/family to go get some pictures taken.  ;)

Flies.  Driving me bonkers they are.  I have no idea what is going on but the last two weeks I have had issues with flies.  I get rid of them and a week later they are back.  They appear to be coming in through the light fixture in the kitchen and the ceiling fan in the bathroom.  This leads me to believe that the source of them would be in the ceiling.  Disgusting.  How am I suppose to fix that??  I have scrubbed everything down with Javex (AGAIN!) and Sean will tighten the fixture tomorrow. 

Speaking of Sean!  I wanted a photo of myself with my new glasses so I had him take one of me the other day.  He said that he wished I had smiled more but I like it.  So he took the picture, I set it up and edited it.  We make a good team.  Most of the time.  lol  The only thing I don't like is that I forgot to move the laundry pin bag.  Oops. 

Tomorrow I am going to take my brother/FSIL's engagement photo and family portrait.  It was raining off and on all day today so I am praying for good weather.  I bought some frames for them today and am hoping they like them.  I am thinking that they will be using them on their guest book table.  I am their photographer!  I also shot my second eldest brother's wedding last summer.  I made one HUGE mistake though.  I forgot to have someone take a picture of ME with the family.  DUH!  I have NO photos of me and my brother on his wedding day.  :(  So this time Sean is going to be taking some photos as well.  He is happy about that since its a passion we share.  Then I only have on brother left to get married.  YAY!  Then its MY TURN!  (Sean that was meant for you!)  lol  Friends for almost 8yrs, dating for almost 5yrs, engaged for over 3yrs.  Quite the couple.  I suppose I should go and join him in bed.  This is his last night of vacation, back to work tomorrow.  :(  I will miss him.  Having him and Connor around so much lately has been so nice.  We had a great two weeks though.  Have a great day/night.

Lotsa Stuff Going On!

So I was on Messenger last night talking to my buddy Melly when she mentioned that I havent been blogging.  I havent?  Are you sure?  ;)  So here I am blogging.  What would I do without her?  Seriously, the woman keeps me on track of things.  I think I should kidnap her and keep her here with me.  I am sure Connor would love to have her boys to play with!  I have been busy taking photos, scrapping away and even making some new products!!  Most of them are collabs for the various sites but some of them are all mine!  :)

Tell Your Story Journaling Kit is in the store now at NDISB.

Check out this layout by my good friend Fran using the overlay!

YUMMY!

AND I was so happy to find out that the ladies chose my kit Flowers for Madeline as the inspiration this month for the Grow Your Kit challenge at DSAG.  :)

The idea is to use the original product as inspiration to create your own elements/papers.  SO because I was all excited I made them a freebie and am sharing it with you too!

Flowers for Madeline Journal Tab FREEBIE!

 

AND I have been a busy little bee when it comes to photography and layouts lately.  Here are some of my latest pieces!

All credits for these layouts can be found with their original uploads at DSAG.com.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Called the 'Rule of Thirds' People!

I take a lot of photos.  I pretty much take photos every day.  Its what I do.  Its what I love.  However, when it comes to taking photos there are some things that not every person understands.  The biggest thing seems to be the Rule of Thirds.  People are constantly saying to me, umm this photo isnt centered.  OR if you could just cut that end off this would be a much cuter photo.  COME ON PEOPLE!  Get with the program.  Not every photo has to be centered.  My mother and my brother Mark are the worst for this I think.  I TRY to explain it to them but its like an airplane shooting over their heads.  I get the blank stare, the nod, the polite smile and the 'ok but its not centered.'  Yup, I digress.  I took, oh lets say, 1000 photos this week.  Here are a few of my favourites from the Murrin wedding.

Best wishes to them all! :)  The most loving family I have seen in a long time.  I am so very glad that I had a chance to share their special day with them.

On Sunday my mother asked me to take some photos of this cutie when I picked her up at church.  Meet Kiera.  :)

Isnt she adorable with those big blue eyes and curly hair?  So precious.  I must take the time to photograph her some day.  I mean an actual planned event, not a 'Hey Amy, do you have your camera on you?" type deal.  Thats all for now.

Keeping It Fresh!!

I have a new kit in the store today and its called Keep It Fresh!

It is just perfect for all your layouts, from celebrating summer to celebrating friendships, this is the kit for you.  This kit contains lots of elements and coordinating papers to liven up all your scrapbook albums in shades of black, red, teal/aqua, green, yellow and orange.

The kit includes:
One funky black alpha including letters A-Z, numbers 0-9 and symbols. Five papers including one striped, two floral patterned, one notebook paper lined with paint splatters, and one red sun patterned paper. Fun spirited elements include one silk ribbon wrapped frame, one funky bracket with string, ropes, knots, a bow, ribbon, sun element, two flowers with jewel centers, and two grass borders, one with butterflies and flowers and one just plain.

Here are some layouts with the kit!

Amy Eileen

Amy Eileen

Whisper Pink

Hope everyone is having a fantastic day and a Happy 4th to my American friends!!

I am still here!!

Every time I start to write a blog entry someone comes to my door.  For instance, when I just opened this Sean pulled in to take us to the city.  SO I am still here and I will be back tomorrow with a new product! YAY!  Here is a photo I took this week of the Miner's Museum.

Hope everyone is having a great summer so far!