I have not been a very good blogger lately, its been all I can do just getting the Year in Review challenges up! The last couple weeks have been crazy. I came down with a cold just over 2 weeks ago, and a few days later traveled to Houston,Texas for 5 days. The great thing was that when I got there, I felt so much better! I was thinking that Cold FX stuff really worked! yay! Houston was so much fun, I stayed with Scott and his family and they were awesome!!! What a cool family they are, I had a blast hanging out with them. The weather was on the cold side though, it was about what Vancouver was at the time. It even rained one of the days I was there, so I really felt right at home. Of course a couple days after I left Houston, the weather got better and its much warmer there now. Go figure!

I had a long day of traveling back home, 3 flights and the last one got delayed due to a malfunctioning propeller. They actually made us all get off the plane only seconds before we were about to leave for the runway. Luckily I had my laptop and the boxed DVD set of Lost Season 3 with me. (Thanks to my mum for letting me borrow it!). I watched it on all my flights and during layovers at the airports. (it was hard to find an electrical outlet to plug the laptop in – in some of the airports). I am all caught up now and perfect timing – the new season starts this Thursday with a 2 hour episode, I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!

The morning after I got back home I got sick again, although this time worse then before. And I’m still sick and on antibiotics now too.  The past few nights I have had hardly any sleep, maybe a total of 3-4 hours for all 3 nights put together.  Between coughing most of the night and just not being able to sleep at all, its been driving me crazy. It could also have something to do with the fact that I have been taking daytime cold medicine instead of nighttime before going to bed. Brent just pointed this out this morning, I didn’t even realize it was daytime stuff!!

So now I am away for a couple days again, this time I am over on Vancouver Island looking after my parents house & pets while they are away. I am so happy to be here – out in the country, it snowed today so everything looks beautiful. I brought the dogs with me too cause they just love it here, so much room for them to run and play outside. I had to get up at 5am this morning to be at the ferry at 6:30 – so I planned on sleeping the rest of the morning when I arrived at my parents. No such luck. With 4 dogs and 2 cats in the house, every time I finally managed to fall asleep, a dog would bark, or a cat would walk by the room and a dog (usually Zoey) would bolt after it, or a dog would jump on me. ergh. I finally got up off the couch, went into the bedroom and closed the door. It was only minutes later when a bunch of little dogs gathered outside the door and started scratching on the door until I let them in. Needless to say, I didn’t get to sleep. lol

How’s everyone doing with these challenges? Here is #4 – this will be the last one for January so make sure you get all your January challenges uploaded to the gallery (http://gallery.iscrap.net/showgallery.php/cat/706)  by Jan 31 if you want to be eligible to win one of the January prizes

I will announce the 2 January winners (one for favorite layout, one random winner out of everyone) on February 1, along with the first challenge for February.

Challenge #4:

For this challenge I want you think about your favorite moment or the best memory you have from January. It does not necessarily have to be an event or anything major. For example, if you have kids, it can be something your child said to you one day that just made your day. Or something a friend did that made you smile.
Focus on your journaling for this also, say why this stands out as a great moment, why it is something you want to remember.

For mine, I did a layout on a trip I recently took to Texas.

Ready for the next one?

alright, this challenge is about something new or different you (or you and your family) have done this month. It can be about a place you went, an activity you did, a new restaurant you discovered, or even a new person you met.

For me, it was trying something called Geo Caching. I did a one page layout this time and included some pictures of our adventure.

Try to get at least a few pictures on your layout.

This month’s sponsor at iScrap was Coordinates Collections – here is what I created with the fun kit “Darling”

 For everyone participating in the Year in Review Challenge Contest, here is #2:

A recap of your favorite moments of 2007. While they are fresh in your mind, go back through the photos you took throughout the year and pick out a handful of some special moments that really stand out. I used a square punch (the Whale of a punch size) to punch out my photos.
Use whichever title you’d like, for example I used “The Best of 2007″ , you could also use “Favorite Moments of 2007″ or “Moments to Remember of 2007″ or make up your own title. Try to get as many small photos on there as you can. Also, make sure you have some sort of journaling on there so you know what each photo is.

I did a double layout but if you can fit it onto one page then go ahead

This weekend we are having a big online crop over at the ISA (iScrap) – it’s been a ton of fun so far :)

One of the challenges I posted up today was a blog challenge so I figured I should do it too. I loved reading everyone else’s answers !

So here are mine:

1. Five things I can’t scrapbook without:

~ stapler, sanding sponge, journaling pens (assortment of American Crafts and Sakura), cropadile, and Jumbo Java versamagic ink

2. Five places I have traveled to most recently

~ Victoria BC, Indianapolis IN, Seattle WA, Las Vegas NV, Point Roberts WA

3. Five things I watch on TV

~ Desperate Housewives, Dancing with the Stars, ER, Private Practice, Two & a Half Men

4. Five foods I can’t stand

~ onions, anything with curry, green peppers, olives, all nuts (except almonds)

5. Five reasons to visit iScrap!

~ Fun people, great contests & prizes, store locater,  awesome gallery, inspiration :)

Is everyone ready?

Now this is going to be a challenge for me, as I have basically only done mini books for the last 8 months or so. Layouts of any kind are a total challenge for me right now, lol.

So here we go!

The first challenge is “Where am I now” or “Right Now”.

Use the following questions to help your journaling. Try to use some of your own handwriting on the layout (you can do either a one or 2 page spread). Also get as many “little” photos as you can and mix them up amongst your journaling. Using a small circle or square punch helps a lot for the photos.

I did mine as a double 8 x 8 layout and used all my own handwriting as well as few alphabet and number stickers here and there. I used a circle punch to punch out my photos and I also punched out circles from an old airplane ticket and a movie stub.

- Current price of gas, stamps, milk, movies, dollar, etc
- Activities you like to do
- Where you work
- Favorite foods, restaurants, places to hang out, etc
-Where you live
-Who you live with
-Planned trips
-Looking forward to….
-Celebrations
-How old you are

Good luck everyone! Don’t forget to post them in the gallery

Year in Review Challenge Group *Contest*

I have wanted to make one of these albums for a long time now, so in conjunction with the ISA (International Scrapbooking Association), I am running this year long challenge.

Prizes:
- Grand Prize: $400 of Scrapbooking supplies
- variety of prizes given out throughout the year (2 per month)

I will post the first challenge tomorrow :)

More info on the contest here

Here’s to a new year – 2008!! I hope it will be a fabulous one for everyone. We had a great Christmas, it was nice to get away and get some quality family time in. Here are some pictures of our holiday in Victoria.