2SCD Photo Challenge

The challenge posted by Julie and Kate was to create a self-portrait and use the artsy Photoshop filters on it. Here's mine.... I love this! My wrinkles don't show! Hahaha!

I'm getting a bit of a cold. My son has been sick all week. His cross country coach said that this would happen to a lot of the boys because of the high physical stress.

So no running for me yesterday or today, and I'm taking Cold-eze like crazy! I'm trying to get over this before we leave for the Colorado River on Friday. We are going river rafting through the Grand Canyon!

Book Reviews - "Lightning Thief" and "Snow Spider"

Lightning Thief is the first book in a GREAT new series! Turns out that the old greek gods are alive and well (they are afterall immortal).... AND having kids! This book is about a modern day New Yorker named Percy. Percy never knew who his father was. What a surprise when he enters 6th grade! He vaporizes his pre-algebra teacher, learns his best friend is a satyr, and is almost killed by a minotaur before his mother manages to get him to the safety of Camp Half-Blood--where he discovers that he is a demi-god. There he's sent on a quest to recover Zeus's master lightning bolt before the gods start a war! Fast, Fun, and a great read!

Snow Spider is the first book in a trilogy by Jenny Nimmo, the author of Charlie Bone. On Gwyn's 9th birthday, he learns he's a magician. With the help of a magical snow spider, he works to bring his missing older sister home. Charlie Bone was a fun well written series. I was expecting more from this book, it is definitely written for younger elementary reading. I won't be reading any more from this series...

Book Review - "Faerie Path" and "Silverwing"

Welcome to the "Princess Diaries" with a fairy twist. In "The Faerie Path," Anita finds out that she is the long lost fairy princess, and she has the special power to travel back and forth between the mortal world and the land of Faerie. As she tries to stop the evil fairy, Lord Drake, from taking over Faerie, she finds herself forced into marriage to him. As in all Fairy Tales, all ends well; but there is definitely going to be a sequel as Anita heads off with the dashing Eric to find the missing Queen. This book is predictable, as most kids book are, but with enough romance, action, and suspense to make it fun! I recommend it to fairy loving girls 5th grade and up.

We switch from Fairies to Bats! In "Silverwing," Shade, is a small Silverwing bat, self-entrusted with the quest to find the meaning of the metal bands worn by some of the bats. These bands were given as "gifts" by humans... but what do they mean? Are they a good omen or a curse? With the help of a "banded" Brightwing, Shade battles the freezing cold, villain owls, military pigeons, rats, and evil jungle bats (escaped from a zoo), as he tried to catch up with his migrating colony... and draws closer to the truth about the "bands." This is a fun read with lots of suspense and action! This is another book with a sequel. I recommend this for boys 4th grade and up.

The way I see it....

The best way to keep going, is to never stop!
- Cobi Jones

Let's ATV

We had such a fun time! It started with a night in San Diego and an early morning drive down to the border. The tour group, "Let's ATV" picked us up at the "Last Exit USA" and drove us down to Primo Tapia (that's about 10 miles south of Rosarito), in a cushy, air-conditioned van.

All the ATVs and riding gear were waiting for us right on the beach. The friendly guides made sure we all knew how to operate our ATVs and set us loose in the sand dunes. That's my husband in the photo above with the ocean behind him... what a beautiful spot!

That's my daughter (17 yrs) in the photo above riding across the sand dunes. The guides were always watching, making sure we were safe. They were also assessing our ability to make sure they felt confident enough to take us trail riding in the afternoon.

That's my son (14 yrs) in the photo above. He asked me if I noticed that the guides always seem to be watching us when we get stuck. Hahaha!... and we got stuck a lot! Me more than anyone else in the family.

After an entire morning on the beach, we drove into Primo Tapia to a great little taco stand! The guides took our order and brought us food.

The tacos were huge, and tasted great! There was a whole selection of toppings for the tacos... YUMMY! Here's us feeling silly after filling our stomachs.

We passed the beach ride of the morning and graduated to the coastal trails. This place is called "The Cross." Our guide, Marco, told us that local ranchers used to gather here for mass before hitting the trails.

That's me! Actually, I'm not moving, but it makes for a nice photo anyway. You can also see part of the trail, that we came up, behind me.

We had some great views! Look how far we came! We started all the way down there by the beach!

Our last stop was a riding track, with turns and bumps to jump over. I think this is our guide Marco. It's hard to tell... everyone looks kind of the same in the riding gear. LOL!

I think this is our other guide, Alberto. Marco lead the group and Alberto had the unglamorous job of bringing up the rear, through all that dust.

I didn't ride the track... my hand and thumb were so tired I was having a hard time holding the throttle lever. But, my son gave it a go! Look, he got his front tires off the ground!

We highly recommend this tour group! They are very professional and very friendly. If you are looking for an ATV tour, visit: http://www.letsatv.com/

On our way to... Mexico!

Well, seeing that we live in Southern California, it's not that big of a trip. Mexico is only a couple of hours from here. But, we are going to have a great time!

As a Father's Day present, I booked an ATV trip in Mexico for the entire family!... and we leave tomorrow! We are all looking forward to it. My hubby has driven ATVs on several occasions, my kids have both driven a couple days last fall, and me... well, I've ridden on the back of my husband's, but have never driven one myself. Yikes! This should be exciting! I'll post again when we get back and let you all know how it went.

Chix Meet - Jane (Whoopsie Daisy!)

It was so much fun! I got to meet one of my favorite online friends, Jane! She was down in my area on a family trip to Disneyland. My daughter and I drove up to meet her at a local Starbucks. Speaking of that... we got lost! You would think that Starbucks would have correct directions to their stores posted on their website. Well, I digress... Jane is a wonderful person, even more wonderful than she is online! We talked non-stop for an hour before leaving her, and even got a little peek at the Disneyland fireworks that were going off as we were sipping Starbucks on the patio. We tried calling the Chix cropping in Virginia, but we just missed them. If any of you other chix are in the Disneyland area, let me know! I know where the Starbucks is now! LOL!

Book Review - Alfred Kropp and the Seal of Solomon

This is the second book in the Alfred Kropp series. My daughter says it's scary... my son and husband love it. I think it's creepy in parts, but something that would really appeal to upper middle school boys. Alfred Kropp is set in modern times. He is a 12 yr old direct decendent of Lancelot and as a result he reluctantly gets pulled into paranormal events and bumbles his way into saving the world (and dealing with girls)... the paranormal Forest Gump. There is a lot of sword fighting (he is the decendent of Lancelot) and lopping off heads... if you can deal with the violence, this is actually a fun book. I ended up rooting for the loveable "big headed lout."

Book Review - Maximum Ride - School's out Forever

This is the second book in the Maximum Ride series by adult author James Patterson. It's a sci-fi book about genetically altered kids, who's DNA was mixed with that of birds... so they have wings and can fly and are supposed to save the world. They haven't saved the world yet. Maybe they'll get around to that in the next book. I'm still not sure who the good guys are and who the bad guys are yet. It's all very confusing. This is a Young Adult book... I recommend it for late middle school or high school aged kids.

Book Review - Beauty

I'm a big fan of fairy tale retellings. I loved Ella Enchanted. Ella Enchanted is one of my daughter's favorite books; which is saying alot, since my daughter is so not a reader. I picked up this book expecting a fun light-hearted retelling of Snow White. But, what I got was a creepy book... a very disturbing little man, imprisoned/poisoned girls, lots of thowing up, and a princess who is going to rule a kingdom some day (even though she's so stupid!). I hate books about girls being stupid and living happily every after! I think it sets a bad role model for girls today... and where are the seven dwarfs? (LOL!) I recommend you give this book a miss.

Another 2SCD June kit layout

A poll I did at 2SCD told me that the ladies there are inspired by simpler designs. Of course, as a member of the DT, I want to be inspring! So, here is what I hope is an inspiring layout done with the 2SCD June kit. Everything I used is from the June kit except for the blue circle and blue brads (which I used to match the photo). It wasn't sunny this morning, so you can't see the cardstock and letters sparkle, but these are gorgeous!

Book Review - Drift House, The First Voyage

Do you like pirates? Mermaids? Adventure? Talking animals? And the idea of there being a drain plug at the bottom of the sea? Throw in some unlikely time traveling heros and you have a fun summer reading adventure! This first book in the Drift House series was tons of fun! I've also read the second book, the "Lost Cities." It wasn't as good, and I don't recommend it unless you totally loved the first book and are looking for more.

2SCD Online Crop was GREAT!!!

The online crop was fun! It was great chatting with the ladies, playing games (even though I didn't win, LOL!), and seeing all the great projects. The winner of my crop prize package was, Angie! Congratulations, girl! Your prize is in the mail, on it's way to you!

Here are some of the projects that I finished during the crop! Thanks to all the other hostesses for getting me inspired!

Book Review - Bridge to Terabithia

I've read almost all the Newbery Award winning books except this one. I always thought it was about two friends. One of the friends dies and the other one is left to deal with her death. Well, then I saw the movie trailer of an imaginary land with monsters; and it looked like a lot of fun... So I picked this book up from the library... and it's about two friends. One of the friends dies and the other one is left to deal with her death. {sigh} Actually it is a good book, sweet in spots, about a boy and girl growing up in a small town, and the friendship that blooms between them. Leslie shares the magic of life with Jess, and in the end Jess learns to share the magic of life with others.

It made me cry... it made my 14yrs son cry... it'll make you cry...

Another 2SCD June Layout

This is totally not my style, I don't leave this much white space when I scrap. Can you tell I scrap-lifted this? I saw it in Quick and Easy Scrapbook styles by Memory Makers. I couldn't resist! I had all these iPod style photos of my daughter that I created, just sitting on the computer, and this was the perfect layout. Listed in the journaling below is her playlist that she listens to on the way to a game to get pumped up!

The layout was made with the June kit from 2SCD. I worked really hard at the lighting so that the black glitter cardstock would sparkle. It's gorgeous!

Here is the link to tutorial for creating the iPod sytle photos:
http://www.macmerc.com/articles/Graphics_Tips/260

Memorial Day weekend photos

Here are some fun photos of my hubby and my son that I took last weekend. It's not too often that my hubby gets out on the trampoline. But it was his last chance! It's a Memorial day tradition at my parents house that the trampoline comes down and the pool goes up on Memorial Day. With the 12 cousins, aunts, uncles and kids, it doesn't take long at all. The only factor that slows us down is that we don't have enough screw drivers to go around.

Yep! That's my son doing a flip... it scares the daylights out of me! I can just imagine him breaking his neck! 14yrs think they're invincible.

Design Team Contest at Daisy D's

Daisy D's had a contest only for Design Team members. I didn't win {sigh}... Hahaha! Like I had a chance... NOT! Here are the layouts that I entered. They use all Daisy D Paper and embellishments.

There are some seriously talented Design Team members out there. Here is the link to all the layouts submitted:

http://www.daisydspaper.com/gallery.cfm?galleryoid=110

Here is the link to the winning layout:

http://blog.daisydspaper.com/

My First June Kit Layout

I finally finished my first Design Team layout using the June kit from 2SCD. I had to go back quite a few years for this photo! I turned it black and white but left the pillow (the topic of this layout) and my daughter's scrunchy colored. I created the flower transparency doodling with blue acrylic paint on a flower pattern. Everything else is from the June kit except for the blue Bazzill bloom and the black fabric ric-rac.

This pillow was given to my daughter as a baby with a stuffed bear. She discarded the bear, and the pillow became her "Special." She lost pillow on a 6th grade overnight field trip to Catalina Island (that's one of the Channel Islands off the coast of California). If anyone has ever had a child lose a "special," you know what we went through!

Go Galaxy!!!

Here is my photo from Mother's Day weekend at the Galaxy game.

We had a great time even though they lost 2-3 to the New England Revolution.

Actually, they haven't won a game for the last three games!

Maybe that'll turn around when David Beckham arrives from Real Madrid this summer... hopefully it won't be too late for the Galaxy!

May kit at 2SCD - Hambly!!!

The May scrapbook kit at 2ScrappyChixDesigns featured paper and other goodies from Hambly Designs.

This kit was just gorgeous... and smelled nice too! That because Hambly uses vanilla scented ink.

Each of the design team members created several layouts and one altered item to highlight the kit. There are still more kits left in the 2SCD store. No one else has a kit like this!




Here are the layouts that I created using the kit:

I'm Blogging!!!

Okay, so there's not much of interest here yet. I've been looking around at the stuff and I'm impressed. There is enough here to keep a computer geek like me interested. I see some photo albums and slide shows that I can add... I want to add some links to my favorite sites and my favorite people. This could be majorly FUN!

The only problem I have is that I have nothing of much interest to say, at least not today. Let's see, I ran four miles.... on a treadmill though, not enough time to get to my favorite beach spot since I had to work today.



Oh! Here's a picture of where I work. My title is Principal Software Engineer. When I was an employee, I had a huge office with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the mountains. Now that I'm a contractor, I have a desk in line of desks in a big window-less bullpen. That's okay though, since I'm only there 4 days/week.

That's the job that I have to do... The job I love to do is being on the first Design Team at http://www.2ScrappyChixDesigns.com! The owner, Julie sends us a free kit every month to play with. Can you believe it? I get to play for free! I'll post some layouts when I have time to figure out how to get the slideshow thing added to my blog.

Thanks for dropping by!