Laura's piece of Paradise

Memorial Day I have a hard time saying “Happy Memorial Day” as it is not supposed to be a happy occasion. Does anyone else feel that way too? I know in Hawaii they spend lots of time making Lei’s for all the graves on all the islands. The kids in school make lei’s for tombs all over the islands, it is lovely tradition. When you go to the Punchbowl (it is a crater that is also a National Cemetery) there are lei’s on every tomb. It is powerfully sad and makes you proud too. The Hawaiian’s are fiercely patriotic and that is something that the folks here in the mainland do not know. They celebrate the day they were entered into the union (Statehood Day August 20) It is a state Holiday, but they also celebrate their heritage, with King Kamehameha and Prince Kuhio days. Aloha festival is a mixture of Hawaiian pride and now American pride. The one thing that is little known is that they are very respectful of the dead and they take remembrance seriously, that no one is forgotten. It see...

This is a letter I wrote to a lady with a Child with Autism...this has history and some of you know it and some of you don't. I want to make sure that everyone knows about autism, it is coming to a family near you sooner than you like! I got the greatest gift the day after World Austism Awareness Day. (april 5, 2008) I get a telephone call from a lady connected to Branch (my son) through a job program that he participates in school. She also volunteers with the County Fair to help organize it every year and her program that she runs is the Mother of the Year Contest that is held every year. A family member writes a letter about the mother and it is voted on by a committee and the top five are sent to the judges. How flattering that a member of your family wants the whole world to know that you are the best mom in our county. (how cool is that anyway...remember I am the mother of teen agers!) LOL My beautiful son wrote a letter to tell everyone that "My mother is the best mothe...

One of the Newest Creative Team member at Gettin' Sketchy! WOO HOO...I'm so excited! :) I love being part of a team and I haven't been able to do that for a long time. It is so nice to finally be established enough in the new house/job/area to pursue other things I like to do too! :) The sketch this month is: Please go to http://www.gettinsketchy.blogspot.com/ This is the coolest thing too...PRIZES!!! All you have to do is your take on the sketch and upload it to a gallery and then link the layout in a comment on the blog and we pick a sketch and call it winner and they get a PRIZE!! WOO HOO...talk about fun stuff! I'm psyched up about this. My family is happy for me. Now, on to the not so good news. (I always start with the good news right?) Billy's night in the E.R. My Dear sweet Billy has been hurting on the left side of his belly for about a week or little longer. He can't even stand straight up as it hurts, he says it feels like he is being ripped apart fro...

For all of you who celebrate Easter! :) Happy Easter! I'm trying to get my Scrapbook Mojo back and what better way then to have a mini crop for Easter! :) Easter Crop: Who wants to have some fun this weekend and get some scrapping done! :) I am so ready to have some fun scrappin' this weekend! :) I am going to list 5 challenges for this weekend. Challenge 1: How many of us made some kind of bunny in Elemetary school that had felt ears, googly eyes and a milk carton and some cotton balls. My challenge to you is to use some felt on your layout or set of 4 cards. Challenge 2: Oh, all those pictures of eggs, decorating, hiding, inside Easter baskets. The challenge this time is..yep, you guessed it...use eggs/ovals in a layout or a set of four cards! :) You just must use the shape, it does not need to be Easter related, but come on, we have all those pictures you may as well use them! (this one is left challenge 2 and right is challenge 5. :) challenge 3: Spring really has sprung......

My newest layout! It only took me forever to get it done!!! Jeez, but here it is and yes I'm proud of it. The layout is from Get Sketchy and this is sketch #9. I like it, but I wish there was a place for journaling as part of the sketch. Here is the Tagged Part! :) Here are the rules: Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. Here are my 7 random/weird facts:1. 1. I met my husband at the Fountain City Music Festival in Columbus Georgia on November 12, 1983. I still have the tiny piece of paper from the program that he wrote his number on. 2. I have a weird little effect with my hands. When I close my right hand in a fist my left hand tries to mimic the same movement. When I write with a pen in my right hand, I have to put my left hand in my lap....

Today is Leap Day! I don't remember the last leap day but I know it happened in 2004 just doing the math! :) This year I have a few pictures of me at school because it was crazy hat day. Do I have pictures uploaded on my computer yet...NOPE! :) Lots of neat things going on around here. Billy got a JOB with Tybrin Corporation out of Eglin. Yippee and the only one boo hiss in the whole thing. He has to drive an hour to and from work every day. He started work on Monday. His first full week of work and he is wiped out! :) It was funny last Sunday we were hanging out and I would take a picture of Billy and say "your last day of retirement. " The last few months have been really weird but eye opening. We really used to blow a lot of money. Thank you Lord for the lesson, we will be getting out of debt! :) Ok, scrapbook wise lately, I have been redoing my room. (AGAIN!) LOL Not really an again, just slowly working towards the plan I had from the beginning. It just takes time a...

I have been busy this week with the mailboxes again! :) Here are few pics of these things and then I will be posting them on ebay! :) I am also going to try to make a layout for the Peek Winter Quotes and pagemap contests. I need some scrappy supplies, but I don't have a budget right now! :) (Ok, I don't need them, but I would like to get some of the new goodies coming out!) LOL This is the one I call the Heart mailbox. It has heart patterned paper and prima flowers and is just frilly and girly! :) I love using up my stuff on such pretty items. I am going to list them on ebay and if they don't sell then I am going to try to sell them at school. We will see! :) This is the Love Notes mailbox, the original one that I have on the previous post. I only changed the charm and how it is hung. I really didn't like th safety pin on it before it just really bothered me and it didnt look right! :) This is more appropriate charm and way to hang it! Love that I am find...

This is my Target Tool Caddy made by Jetmax. I know Michaels, AC MOORE and Target all sell the same Jetmax cubes in various ways. Target is the only one I have seen with the tool caddy though. For the large cubes I need about 6 more to make my room complete! LOL... I only have 15 of them right now! LOL...Sad I know! :) Anyway, I want to get all the iris carts out of my room and into my classroom. I want to get my dies in the jetmax cubes because right now they are in the iris carts and the drawers are really hard to open and close! :) The tool caddy has four sides. Two picture sides that also have drawers. This smaller drawer has 3 compartments in it. I hold my carl shape blades in here and some fiskar refills. (That is how come I knew I was out of them when I went for them the other day, 3 scoring blades and 0 cutting blade cartridges..grrrrrr. Notice there is a photo in the side...it is not staying here I just put a photo in there so you could see where it goes! :) I really don...

Hi all! It has been a weird week. I am still trying to get over this sickness. I have a sinus yucky, my nose is rebelling and trying very hard to run off my face or make my head feel like it is full of cotton! I am tired, just so tired all the time! :( I am sure it is winter blues and I'm sure it is getting me down more than I thought it would. I did not have the winter blues in Hawaii...I really miss Hawaii right now. It is cold, very cold to me and very disheartening. Hate the cold! The only bright spots are Jayne is coming on Monday! She said she would call me! :) I am excited about that! And I get to go to work and see my kids. I just hope I'm well enough to not sneeze or blow boogers on them. I have been busy scrapbook wise or altering wise! :) I have more pictures of stuff I have been making. I am thinking of selling some of the mailboxes on ebay, but I'm afraid they won't sell and then I will have listing fees to pay and well, we aren't rich right now! :) I ...

I have been trying to get my scrap book mojo back, but I'm also trying to get some of the big items out of my room. This includes ALL those items I bought to alter! :) SO, I have been getting a few things out! :) A little something for Bea. It is a late Birthday present! :) This is also the way I used wire in that challenge for Winterfest. Tara told me someone paid for my fee so I could ge the points. I sure wish she would tell me who so I can thank them! Tara if it is you...Thank you so much! I also made a card tin for my neice for her birthday next month. Bea and I had made all the cards for the QVC TSV way back when, so I used those cards and filled up a lunch tin for my neice! :) I hope she likes it! :) I used her favorite colors in the lunch tin. Purple of course, she is a lot like me. For you scrapbook addicts, all the papers used were Rita Marie, the letters are chipboard by Pressed Petals...ink colorbox, the ribbon is stuff I have had in my stash for a very long time! :)...

This is a layout I did last night. First time since October I scrapped a page just for my book! It was nice. I got an idea from Tim Holtz's blog for the January Technique challenge. You should try it! :) It was a lot of fun and made me pull out my embossing powders and heat setter! I haven't done that in forever! This layout brought back so many good memories, and made miss Shannon! Hopefully soon we can meet in Georgia, I'm hoping for the summer time! :) I also made a bunch of altered items lately! :) I am becoming the altered queen, I will post pictures when I finally take some pictures of them! I still have more stuff to make! UGH! I'm sick of stuff and want to go back to scrapping! :)

Seriously my goals in 2008 January, my family comes here and celebrates Bethanie’s birthday with her!!! February….go to Zoe’s birthday party March go to Korisma’s birthday party Two weekends later for Papaw's birthday April be there for Grandpa's Birthday May Go to GA for my birthday and to see Michelle’s new baby. June Look for another job July Have 4th of July here at home… August : Celebrate Branch and Meme’s birthdays together September School stuff October Stay home and start getting ready for Christmas Goals for 2008 Yikes, too many to count. Things that float around in your head like I need to lose weight I need to use up my scrap stuff I would like to try selling some of the stuff I make on ebay or at the base I would like to try to become financially independent no more credit card debt I would like to find a better paying job over the summer. (I love teaching, but face it, we don't make that much money) I want to get all of my dental problems taken care of I d...

It is already December and I haven't posted since July. I didn't give pictures and so much has changed!!! Yikes! Ok...Where to begin. First I'm going to publish this because this piece of crap blog thingy doesn't always work and it just ticks me off! :)

Well, we finally did it, we got a puppy dog! :) Her name is Hailey and she is nothing but tail wagging goodness. She smells like a dog with some puppy milk thrown in there too. She is such a smart girl already and we are all totally smitten! With a face like this, how could you not! Billy is totally in love with this little girl...she has already stolen his heart and I don't think she will be giving it back anytime soon! :)

Boy have we had an eventful few months! We bought a house on my birthday..(biggest birthday present ever!) LOL We bought a truck in April and it is almost exactly like the one he had in Hawaii...how cool is that? Hummmmmmmmm....Kids are out of school...I'm still looking for a job (getting kind of nervous about that) :( I will post more funstuff later, just wanted to update the majors seeing I havent said anything in awhile! :) bye bye

Billy is officially retired from the Air Force. He had a ceremony that had him retire from the Air Force...WOO HOO. Beautiful ceremony and he is the happiest guy in the world. He is so glad to be out of the Air Force. He loved it until about 3 years ago. He really did not like his job in Hawaii...although we both LOVE the area, we both really did not like our jobs and that can make you miserable no matter how beautiful the landscape. Well, as you see the title tells you that we are no longer in our house on Hickam Air Force Base. We are now in a hotel on base called the Royal Alaka'i. We have a bed to sleep in and tv's to watch (the American dream right?) Comfort? We are actively looking for a house in Florida, and I am actively looking for a job!! Woo Hoo! :) I am sure I will find one, I just hope it is one I want to have. I want to teach little kids again, I really don't want the crazy middle schoolers anymore. I love my students but it is time to go back to little people...

Meet Lisa Bearnson at the The Scrapbook Clubhouse and I DID! I really have friends at the The Scrapbook Clubhouse Hawaii!!!!! Thank you Lani for having such a great store and being such a good friend. I will miss all of you so much! :) I am really a scraphead and for my family who may not know. This is Lisa Bearnson the founding editor of my favorite magazine Creating Keepsakes . She is also on QVC often to sell Scrapbook Kits at a Great Price. She shares her passion for this hobby, which by the way, tends to become an obsession for millions of women. Including me in a great big way. I was really a little jealous of the people who were able to go on the Scrapbook cruise, but I have to remind myself I live in Hawaii....at least for a few more days and I get to see the beautiful sunrise on my way to work and the beautiful sunset on my way home...(get the picture...its expensive here) ! Sunset at Waikiki I can't wait to come home to my friends and family in the mainland US...My only...

Ashley and Branch on the Silver Streak Branch on the Bumper Cars The carnival is this weekend. Bethanie lives there with her friends during the day when it is carnival time. Branch did not go at all last year, has gone 2 times this year! Last night he went withBilly and I. Today he went with Ashley and, of course, us too. He has a date tomorrow to go with his "girlfriend" Kristen. Ashley is his "best friend" and Kristen is his Girlfriend. Kristin asked Branch to go to the prom with him. *swoon* What happened to my shy bashful boy? We got him a cell phone. I think that has really helped him become more of a social butterfly or maybe he is more like a Moth! He is still not so good at the social thing but he is trying a lot harder now. He acted like it didn't bother him that he didn't have friends over, but now he spends the weekend talking to friends on the phone. How cool is that? Where the hell is that pschologist who told me he would never be able to talk! ...

Well, now 61 days until the great big move and I'm getting nervous! How about SCARED to death! I am waiting to find a job until we have a where. I'm really not afraid of NOT finding a job, but finding a job I want!!! Well, that is the question. There are so many other things I should be doing besides playing on the computer and about 60% of them include work! So, I'm going to be short tonight. The original thought of this blog was to be about scrapbooking and my family, but it is turning out to be the stram of consiousness of Laura Lee's brain and it is rather a scary thing, do you not agree. Wait, no one reads this thing, so I guess I really am safe! I said this was supposed to be about scrapbooking so I threw a layout up there, it makes it more appealing anyway! :0) This is what this year is about CHANGES!!! LOTS OF THEM! All of the file folders are kept closed with little magnets, all of the file folders have some sort of journaling in them. It talks about the ...

Happy SuperBowl Sunday!!! I Love Super bowl Sunday...uncontrollable snacking all day and it is allowed. The whole country is doing it! :) SO It can't be wrong, can it? LOL I am also scrapping and doing challenges at LM and a mini cybercrop from Nancy Clark on DS2...my yahoo home! :) I am no longer swapping, but I still have a lot of online friends that I chat with over there. Maybe they'll come over and view this blog thing too! :) Who knows. Oh well, just wanted to say Happy SuperBowl Sunday! Hugs, Laura