Away again, this time I’m over in Victoria visiting my parents for the weekend (and picking up Angus and Zoey since they looked after them while I was in California).  

My parents have a beautiful property which is 10 acres of mostly wilderness/ ponds/ trails/ woods. Behind their property are tons of trails that are most often used for mountain biking and horse back riding. I love these trails and I love running on them! Tons of ups and downs and a total hazard for ankle rolling but the challenge is great and I prefer running up and down hills opposed to flat trails.  So this morning I ventured out into the cold with Zoey as my running companion. We left Angus behind as he insists on sniffing every blade of grass and every leaf he finds, so it really wouldn’t be much of a run with him. Zoey on the other hand was great! I even took a total risk and let her go off leash the whole way. Well her leash was still attached but I let her drag it along behind her. This way its easier for me to catch her if she takes off into a bush after a rabbit/ squirrel/ coyote/ cougar/ horse….. I did pick her leash up to carry it over the water hazzards we came to, but then gave up and just let her pull it through the mud and water. Her nice pink leash was a muddy brown when we got home. 

We had a great run (and I know I probably won’t be able to walk tomorrow, lol) and Zoey was so obediant for the most part, I was so impressed! She even sat and waited whenever I called “Wait!”. Wow, I’m so proud of my girl!! No sprained ankles or run ins with a wild animal. The only thing that happened is that I somehow managed to fling my iphone from my hand and then watched horrified as it tumbled over and over through the mud….ugh. 

Another great thing about being back in Victoria is that I got to visit with some old friends who I haven’t seen for awhile. I’ve missed them!

Just a warning: this post is going to be full of photos!

I got back from California last night and was so exhausted that I pretty much went right to bed and fell asleep almost immeadiately! So today I’m trying to catch up on emails, unpack, and work on some upcoming classes. The dogs are still at my parents so I’m feeling rather lost being at home without them! I’m heading over to the island tomorrow though for the weekend so I’ll see them then! Can’t wait! 

So now onto my trip! FABULOUS!!! I had such a great time!! CHA was amazing (but not as busy as it was the last time I was there). I ran into so many people that I knew so that was lots of fun.  The release date for my book is February 12th but apparantly it’s already out there in some stores! A retailer told me she already has it displayed in her store and I got emails from a couple people who bought it on Amazon and they already got it. So cool! 

I got to meet 3 of the contributing designers for my book too: Andrea Deer, Michelle van Etten and Julie Overby – all incredible and talented ladies!! 

But of course being in Anaheim and being the Disney lover that I am, I couldn’t be right across the street from the happiest place on earth and not venture inside…. I was so lucky to have my good friend Adam drive up from Laguna Beach to accompany me to Disney, and he also took me to the San Diego Wild Animal Park!  Fun times!! Thanks so much Adam, you’re the best!! 

Michelle van Etten

with Andrea Deer

with Julie Overby

Getting ready for my workshop at CHA

Everyone who took my class got a book! So cool to see so many of them all stacked up!

One of the class projects

mmmm....love it here

The new Toy Story ride was really cool!

guess which one was my score? haha

How lucky is this guy? In with the cheetahs!! How awesome that would be.

Isn't this lion adorable? He's only a year old!

The lion is right behind us!

Just had to post this cute picture of Zoey from a few nights ago. She has a select few favorite toys that she carries all over the house, hiding them in various places. Her ultimate favorite is this little frog, with a little yellow duck as a close second. I am constantly finding her little stuffed friends tucked behind a pillow on the couch, in the basket of laundry or other random places around the house. but this was the cutest…coming into the bedroom and finding her curled up with the frog. 

I’m missing the dogs tonight – they are over on the island with my parents for the next week, having a glorious time I’m sure and being spoiled rotten. I leave first thing in the morning for California – yay!

I just wanted to thank everyone for your sweet comments about my book! I will do the draw on Feb 2 and announce the winner then. 

Ok, I really need to get to bed now, have to be up in 4 hours!

I’ve been busy getting ready to head to sunny California later this week to attend the CHA show (and of course to make a visit to see Mickey at Disneyland!!). Been working on class samples for the workshop I’m teaching and putting together all the kits – its going to be a great class!! I’ll post some pictures of the projects soon.

Just in case anyone is going to be at CHA – I would love to meet you! I will be in the Making Memories (F & W Media) booth signing books Sunday from 11am- noon, Monday from Noon-1:00, and Tuesday from 11:00- noon. I will be teaching a workshop on Tuesday from 3-5.  There will be free book giveaways!! (very limited supplies so come early!)

Bonus for members of WeScrap: if you are able to come see me at CHA, let me know you’re a member of WeScrap and you will get a free one year extension to your membership. 

Book Giveaway!!

Because I am so excited that my book is getting ready to hit the stores on February 12, I’m doing a giveaway here! An autographed copy of my book “Outstanding Mini Albums” chosen by a random draw. Just leave a comment here by Feb 1 and you will be entered in the draw. (If you link to my blog from yours, please send me your blog link so I can add it here – everyone who links to me will recieve 2 ballots into this draw!)

Yay, some good news! Gracie is home safe and sound. It was a very sad and stressful 38 hours for us while she was missing. Brent actually found her when he got home from work, he was calling her and heard a “meow” in the distance. He kept calling her name and kept hearing a meow in response so he followed the sound a couple doors down and found her hiding in some bushes in our neighbors yard! Huge relief!! It was quite close to the busy road too but thankfully she is ok and home now. I hadn’t realized how completely the whole ordeal consumed me for those 2 days and how worried I really was, but when Brent brought her into the house and I took her in my arms, I burst into tears!! Happy, relieved tears of course. 

Thank you everyone for all your prayers and thoughts, comments, emails, texts and phone calls! wow! We are so thankful to know so many caring people.

Our sweet little black cat, Gracie is missing. Somehow she slipped out of the house yesterday morning by accident. The strange thing is that no one saw her. We searched the house top to bottom about a dozen times or more, checking in every closet and nook and cranny that we could. We’ve walked all over the neighborhood again and again, even in the pouring rain last night. Its hard enough trying to find a little black cat, but trying in the dark in a torrential downpour was just about impossible. Still no sign of Gracie. Brent is devastated, as she is his baby. 

We made posters and delivered one to each of our closest 35 neighbors (in our complex) and then posted some on telephone poles around the neighborhood. Neither of us got much sleep last night, we spent most of the night sleeping on the couch cause it was closer to the front door then our bedroom is. We took turns jumping up and running downstairs to take a peek out the front door to see if she came back. (we left a dog crate outside the door with a blanket in it and a bowl of food for her). 

It breaks my heart thinking that she is out there in the cold, probably scared and hungry. She is an indoor cat and has never been out of the house before. The thing that worries me the most is that we live near a very very busy road.  We are so sad by this and just want Gracie home safe and sound.

Just one guinea pig that is. Our little pig Ernest died today. We knew it was coming. He was old and very frail but he kept his spunky attitude right up to the last minute. 

 Fro (who is a BIG pig) is our last remaining one. I think our guinea pig saga is coming to an end. Almost 2 years ago now, I got this *brilliant* idea to adopt a pair of older guinea pigs from a rescue org or shelter. We found some with the Small Animal Rescue Society of BC (SARS). When we went to look at some at the foster home they were at, we left with 4 guinea pigs, not 2 like we had intended. They even gave us another huge cage to take with us. (they really wanted us to take both pairs of male pigs). All the pigs were adults, their exact ages unknown as all had been given up or abandoned. (one was let loose in Stanley Park Downtown Vancouver, one was left behind in an apartment after the tenants moved out (!!), and the other two were just surrendered to the organization cause they weren’t wanted anymore. All 4 of them had sweet personalities and weren’t timid at all with us.  However, they came with various health problems. One died within the first week of us having him, he came down with phemonia overnight. We rushed him to the vet and they tried to save him but he died a few hours later. That led to the adoption of Ernest, the 5th pig for us. He belonged to our local Humane Society and was being fostered by our small neighborhood pet store that we shop at. He was there for months and they kept trying to get us to adopt him, especially when they learned that we had all the other pigs at home. The humane society told us they just wanted a good home for him, preferably someone who knows guinea pigs, so he can live out the last few months of his life. They said he was quite old and didn’t have much time left. Well that was almost 2 years ago so Ernest did well! 

Long story short, all the pigs had their share of health problems (except Ernest actually!), and they are all well known at our vets office. Fro is now an only piggie. I don’t think we will adopt any more pigs, but who knows! 

It’s sad really how this group of sweet guinea pigs had such health problems. I had tons of guinea pigs when I was younger and they were all healthy! I don’t remember having extreme health problems with any of them. 

Good bye Ernest, we’ll miss you.  xoxo