I've been wanting to get healthier and more fit, loose this extra weight, and just start developing better habits, and more healthy habits. My female cousins and aunts have started a blog where we've encouraged each other, had challenges and reported on how we've done with our weightloss goals. It has been great. We recently found an awesome site sparkpeople.com which is devoted to help you get healthier. You can set up teams like my cousins and I have been doing to motivate and encourage each other, you can track your exercise, your eating habits, have an exercise and diet tailored to your goals etc. It's awesome. I can see how this can really help out in motivating each other, sharing success and hardships and encouraging one another to be healthier. The best part it is free. It doesn't cost to use it! If you do join, I'd love to connect with you in a team or as a friend to encourage you and to get encouragement myself. Just leave me your username in the comments section, or feel free to add me as your friend... satippetts.
This fall I've been invited to be one of the presenters for the ScrapGirls Convention held in Salt Lake City. I'm supposed to teach a class, a unique class, something special, and something I'm good at. Talk about pressure! They at first suggested that I teach something about digital scrapbooking brushes since I have my Mastering Brushes Ebook about how to use brushes in digital scrapbooking. That made me cringe as I have gotten burned out of brushes from writing the books and teaching the class. I begged them to let me do anything else... so they left it up to me. I've been stewing over it for months now, wracking my brain as to what unique thing I have that I can teach that anyone would even care to learn. I've come up empty.
Finally after asking other designers for some ideas we came up with one direction that would be fairly easy. A technique that I'm asked about all the time from members on the boards, but I've been trying to figure out how to do it differently since I've written similar tutorials about the topic. I've been struggling this last week writing the class and it hasn't been happening. Talk about FRUSTRATING! Being a teacher I really believe to have to know and love your materials to really be able to teach it. I was not feeling this at all.
This morning I had an idea. I tried it out. It worked and I'm completely excited about it. Ironically it still has to do with brushes, but I've switched my mentality about it to the brushes that really excite me! So now I'm back to first base... rewriting the class materials... but now I'm on a roll. It's part of my passion which my former art teacher used to tell me, "If you love it and your passionate about it, then it's easy to teach it." Now I'm ready. I'll see you all in October. I hope your ready to get messy!
Yesterday I celebrated 6 of the most amazing years of my life with Beau. Years of laughter, joy, hardships, trials, growth, fun, happiness, tears and love. I couldn't have married a more wonderful man.
You're everything I could have ever imagined honey. You take such good care of me and our family. You make life so enjoyable. You love me despite all my weaknesses. You are my love and my life! I can't wait to see what exciting things await us this upcoming year!
Why are we missing?
- My mother had a bike accident, which resulted in 13 screws and a plate inside her arm from her shoulder to her elbow. She's been out of commission and so we went home for a week to see if we could help her out.
- We blessed Caitlyn this weekend at church, along with her cousin who was born less than a week a before her.
- We enjoyed cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.
- I enjoyed the cooler weather and the amazing clouds that can be seen in Wyoming. You never see them here.
- I enjoyed my mom's garden as we picked her raspberries and peas.
- I watched my little boy and his cousin spend an hour having the time of their life throwing all these water bottles onto the grass, and then throwing them back into the cooler. They were soaked by the end of it.
- Beau worked on building sheds for both sets of grandparents and hauled hay.
- Beau and I took a couple of motorbike rides up the canyon and around the valley. I love going for rides with him. There is nothing like holding him tight, speeding down the road with the wind blowing through your hair.
- We spent an evening up to the lake with the kids eating hotdogs and smores over a fire. The kids were all excited to go for a ride in the boat. They put on their life jackets and hopped in all excited. As soon as dad pushed the boat into the water a couple of inches and the boat started to tip the screaming started. Hysterical, panicked screaming. They kept looking at the water with the realization they could fall into the lake, with terror in their eyes and voices they wanted to get out right then. Beau kept trying to calm them down, but everytime he pushed it in a little farther the more escalated and panicked the screams became. He finally was able to sit down and they all huddled around his legs, screaming. After having them sit next to him and stand in front of him, he calmed them down enough to slowly paddle them around the lake a little to watch the fish jump. When they returned Mirian delcared she was DONE! When grandpa asked her later if she wanted to go back out later to fish she declared "I am done! I'm done." She was not getting back into that boat.
- Savannah went back out with grandpa to go fishing. She got back and declared "They didn't catch ANY fish."
- There's nothing like seeing your kids wiped out after an exhausting day of just being kids and having fun.
It was a good time, it gave me a much needed break. I couldn't work on anything so I was forced to relax. I came home rejuvenated, ready for school to start, pumped full of energy to be productive, organized and to just enjoy life.
This weekend we celebrated Savannah's 5th birthday. Five Years old. How did that happen. She starts kindergarten this upcoming tuesday. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. She is such a little girl now and not my baby or my toddler.
We made paper lanterns out of construction paper and strung them across the back yard, with balloons and put up our beach umbrella.
I made a palm tree birthday cake. It was super easy - made from just two round cakes. Anyone could do it. We had yummy fruit slush that was served with pop and little umbrellas in the in the cup.
We had everyone arrive in their swimming suits and we had paper grass skirts made from brown paper bags, and a little baggie for them to make their own leis. (Muffin cups, straws and yarn.)
It was 105 degrees outside and we were cooking! So we didn't play many games. Just made leis, opened presents, had cake and then cooled off in the sprinklers!
We had a great time! It was fun to hang out with friends and have a reason to celebrate. Happy Birthday Savannah! We love you!
