I said I'd be back...

....with some more images and news from 2009....

...before we run out of 09 and start 2010....

Scrapwise, it's been a "spits and spurts year". I've done a few pages, a few (mostly uncompleted) mini albums and been to a few events. Highlights would be Autumn Escape and I'm booked in for that one next year....luxury scrapping at Waireki Resort, just out of Taupo.
And Delys and I had a fabulous weekend scrapping (well I scrapped anyway ;-) ) at the Queenstown Spring Scrap Retreat
It was lovely to meet some of the scrappers from the deep south, and what a fabulous setting. Lara runs an amazing retreat I hope to return in 2010, maybe with DH in tow.

In May, I signed up as a Stampin Up demonstrator...mainly coz I love their products and wanted the discount. I have been doing a few demos/workshops and running some classes at my house. This Christmas I shouted myself a fabulous storage caddy (well, its more like a major piece of furniture) and here is a piccy of what your Grandaughter can do to your ribbon storage when you are not looking lol!!! Workwise, I have done too much this year and maybe hope to rectify this in 2010 by doing a bit less private work. I will still be working fulltime and doing my RJ and a few private Supervision clients (like maybe 4 not 9 lol)

Elliot has completed 6th form and is returning to do the 7th form next year. He has some good friends who he spends lots of time with and he is currently helping Steve with the renovations (lots of painting)
Toby enrolled at Uni (thru BoP Poly here in Tga) in the 2nd semester and is now studying towards a BBS or BSocSci. He is coaching rowing again....Otumoetai College moved from Tga Rowing Club out to Bay Coast during the year and he is enjoying coaching on a river rather than in the harbour...no early mornings!! He considers rowing his lifetime calling I think and just loves it. He is currently away with about 30 or 40 mates at Rhythm and Vines in Gizzy......poor Gizzy is all I can say!!

Steve has been madly taking photos all year and teaching photography at Capture-it. He left Pizza Hutt at the end of July and now works part-time as Breakfast Chef at Hotel on Devonport and does his photography teaching.
He launched his business as a professional photographer in November and is looking at specialising in Event photography.Those who know him will not be surprised at this...big events have always been "his thing"

Right Oh...I'm off to continue sorting and tidying my scraproom so I can get back into it again. Might try and post some pics of some LO's/mini albums a bit later.

Caio
Sandra

Hello out there...(this one is for Carol...waving frantically)

OK...so April to the end of December is a loooong time. I've found with blogging that if I leave it for a while, catch up is a hard game to play. So I leave it longer, and catch up gets harder, as so on...you get the picture.

2009 has been a very busy year. In fact, the last few months have been so busy , that I have crashed somewhat, and I am revising how I do things next year. Those of you who think I work too hard can heave a heavy sigh of relief and say "I told you so".

I will leave you with a few images from 2009 to let you know a little of what has been happening in my world...and I will return.....
I became a Stampin Up demonstrator (hobby level)
These 2 wonderful people are going to have another baby
They also bought their first house
We (finally!!) started major renovations....


And somewhere in there, my beautiful Grandaughter turned from a baby into this adorable little girl ;-)

I will call in later with some more images from 2009.

Caio
Sandra

I was going good...

...there for a while (during the Amazing Scrapobook Race I blogged a few times) but then that finished and life got in the way again. Never mind. I didn't win the Amazing Scrapbook Race....but that's OK. I had a blast for a few days, doing some pretty fast LO's which taught me that I can get into it if I put my mind to it. I'm going to Autumn Escape anyway...and I'm hanging out for it btw...but I'd had my eye on winning another place for a friend...who needs a good thing to happen right now. Here are some more of the LO's I completed....



Lots happening at the moment. DH and I had an awesome weekend away here and did very little but hang out together. It was just bliss. We are trying to get away together a few times in the year for a weekend or so. While we were away, DS achieved this at Lake Karapiro.....
For you non rowers, this is huge. To coach a crew to silver medal at Maadi Cup is a huge achievement at 19 and we are very proud of him!!! Same DS is moving out this weekend into a flat with 2 of his mates and he (and we.....ahem) is very excited about that.
I have a job interview tomorrow and am starting another module next week for some study I am working on. It'll be nose to the grindstone for me for the next month and a half.....after lots of scrapping and enjoying myself at Autumn Escape

OK...must go. The builders haven't started yet but it won't be far away...and then bedlam for a while...aaarrrgghhh!!


Caio

The Amazing Scrapbook Race

So in between the usual life happenings around here...I've been travelling around the world with the above competition at SBO
First night (Friday)... we were off to Canberra and had to do a LO using products sold at Aussie Scrap Source. This is mine. I've been wanting to scrap this old photo of Elliot ofr ages. It's out of focus but all our old photos are because our camera was broken for a long time. We didn't have the dosh to fix it then either :-(
OOOps the only photo I have of that LO is on the other computer and c**p so I will post it another day.
Saturdays we were off to Papua New Guinea and we had to scrap a page using the colours of their flag - red, black, white and yellow. Here is my page. And last night we went to China... and we had to scrap a page using handmade embellies. I'm not sure what I was thinking with this page but I really like it. I made the felt flowers and felt/chipboard buttons (using the sizzix) and the butterfly and other bits and pieces were using the slice and cuttlebug

Back to working full on again today so I'm not sure how many challenges I'll get done but I'm enjoying the motivation to get into it and get something finished.

TFL

Caio

Over at SBO....

The Amazing Scrapbook Race..and it's started here tonight. Anyone can be in to win, so register on the forum and join in NOW.
It's a raffle type competition so we are all in with a chance.

This is the first challenge. Off to Canberra. Go on.....what are you waiting for!!
I've done mine, using some Junkitz papers for a blast from the past. Go to the gallery to check it out.

Caio

Fun and maybe a little craziness...

...will be going on over here at SBO
So go there on Friday (late afternoon) to check it out.
Did someone say "creme eggs".....

If you're not a registered forum member...'just do it'....so you can be there!!!

Caio

Getting to know me....

...finally, as promised. The lovely Penny set me some interview questions a while back. Thank you Penny for your questions, here are my responses:
1. I know you've got a foodie background. Tell us about your favourite food memory.
For about 10 years there we had a catering business. I could tell you about lots of disastrous memories, but picking a favourite was difficult. I'll be broad and say my best memories are of weddings where the bride and groom were willing to be creative and 'push the boat out' with a theme or idea eg: the 'totally dessert by candlelight reception' done with black and gold decor, or the full on afternoon tea where the bride said "I don't give a damn what the food tastes like, as long as it looks fabulous" LOL Anything really that involved a croquembouche, a happy customer and a fat cheque lol.
2. What would you like your kids to learn from you?
Lots of things I guess but some that come to mind include "be who you are" (integrity and congruence), "people are more important than things", how to rejoice with others in their success and that "painful experiences can grow us".
Also (of course) to chew with their mouths closed, not pick their nose on national television and to say YES everytime I ask them to do something LOL!!
3. What would like as a superpower?
To be able to bring back people from the dead....of course!!
4. If somebody made a movie of your life story, who would you pick to play you? Your Hubby?
I would like Bette Midler or Julia Roberts to play me (DH would apparently choose Bette Midler ;-) or Whitney Houston umm...hellloooo!!!) I guess I'd like Kevin Costner to play DH.....he'd be happy with that too apparently!!! When do rehearsals start? (with Kevin I mean he, he) Can you guess how many times we have watched The Bodyguard?? We are sooo sad!!
5. What's the one thing you're proudest of having accomplished in the past five years?
Olly is still a very 'alive' part of our family...OK he is not physically with us, but he is part of our conversations and we have some traditions and rituals that honour him. My grandaughter is being raised with an Uncle Olly (not some distant reference to a brother who died when he was young)
And....DH and I are still together, I haven't turned to drink (much ha, ha), my eldest DS is a wonderful father/partner, next DS is influencing younger teens in a positive way, 3rd DS is a hardworking and focused young man......should I go on???

Here is a picture of our family....thanks Penny for the link. They didn't have enough 'bad hairdos' for the kids for my lot (I has dreadlocks, T has a long mullet and at times E has an afro) Olly has a halo because he is now an angel.
Caio
PS; You may think I have given up scrapbooking. I promise to post some layouts soon

My poor, neglected blog :-(

I seem to have fallen of the face of the earth when it comes to blogging....I guess sometimes life just goes on. The year is well and truely underway in all areas of my life.
E is back at school doing year 12 but hating every minute of it. He has a work placement one day a week with a Deisel Mechanics which he is loving. He realises the job market is pretty bad at the moment and that he is better off where he is and, to their credit, the school are working with him to make his days as applicable to his future career plans as possible. T has been looking for work in Radio but is being pretty fussy (which I'm not sure is a good thing;-( ) He really hasn't wanted to leave town until after the end of the rowing season which is in a few weeks. He has casual work which brings in a bit of dosh for him and I think his plan is to go to Uni in Semester 2 if no work comes along. Here is a picture of a recent rowing success he had. A boys double that he coaches won GOLD yesterday at the NI Secondary School Champs. No mean feat. I cropped the actual rowers out of the photo (those spandex they wear are pretty scary lol)
I & A are continuing to do a sterling job as parents to my delightful DGD. A has just turned 21 (her party was an education for us!!!!) and she is working now so T is at daycare for some of the week. I still has heaps of work on which is great considering the downturn in the building industry and the number of tradesmen I hear of with no work.
OMG.....Taylor will be 2 in September. How did that happen? She is such a treasure with a real little sense of humour. I love having her to stay sometimes and especially watching her play with Java and Mocha.
Work is full on as usual. I have 8 -10 private clients on top of my fulltime job and am actively working in RJ also so I'm pretty busy (but I do like it that way)

And on the homefront - BIG NEWS. We have a builder starting very soon (like in the next week or so) to do MAJOR renovations to our house. We started them a number of years ago and haven't done any maintenance on it for years so...bring it on. I will try and record some of it here and I am NOT going to let it stress me. What's a bit of dust, going way over budget and having to make endless decisions about colours, carpet, taps ...yada, yada, yada. SCARY that's what.

Now I promise I will drop back in and answer Penny's interview questions real soon. I'll leave you with a photo of one of the lovely Labradors. This is Mocha and he is 2 and a quarter. He is a slimline Lab (lol) as he has bad joints and can't afford to carry any weight

A blog award...

The lovely Sonya (who I would love to meet in person incidently) bestowed this blog award on me a while back. Thank you Sonya for your kind words. I don't feel very brave really.....just plodding on!!!


I'm off work sick today so taking the time to update my blog. We have just been through our 'rough time', Feb 1st being the anniversary of Olly's death. We spent some time together up at the cemetary, having a picnic and tidying up his plot. The lovely DGD had been to stay with us the night before which is always a treat. She is growing up so fast!! Why do they have to do that??

DS (16yrs) is back to school tomorrow for year 12...that's 6th form for us oldies. He's doing subjects like autoshop and working 1 day a week at a diesel mechanics which should make school a little easier for him. He would like to get an apprenticeship through Goughs and eventually work fixing the big caterpillar machinery but in the meantime he just continues to dismantle and play with his Mitsubishi in the garage lol.
I've been playing with my new slice machine but I cant upload any LO's coz DH has taken the connection lead on holiday with him for the week. Promise I will get them up as soon as he returns. In the meantime I'll leave you with a pic of our 'Olly honouring' picnic we had on sunday.

PS Who is the grumpy looking fat chick in the white t-shirt?? .....ha, ha. That would be me!!!!

Back into things and days out.

Hi there blogging world. I've been back at work for 2 weeks now so I'm into the swing of it.....and ready for the anniversary weekend and Waitangi day holidays lol. Do you realise we are ripped off this year and next. This year Anzac day falls on a Sunday (so no day off work) and next year Waitangi day AND Anzac day both fall on a weekend day. Short changed by 2 public holidays. I should hope our new National government might do something about that.....yeah right lol.

Anyway...rant over. This month DH and I have been doing some days out on the weekend, as he has had the last 3 weekends as days off (usually he has one weekend day and one weekday...often a Wednesday) We have taken it in turns to decide what we do. The first one was my turn and we went for a walk at Lake Okataina...a truly beautiful spot on a good day...which thankfully it was.We did some exploring in Rotorua with coffee and cake at the Fat Dog...a favourite of ours. Then it was DH's turn and we went for an explore around some of the Waikato, ending up at the Hamilton Gardens...which is one of his favourite (photography) spots but I have never been there. I must say they are awesome and I would go there more if I lived in Hamilton (which I NEVER will..intensely dislike the place....no offence to those who do)

Today we headed over to Blue Lakes rowing regatta to watch a couple of the crews that DS coaches. They did very well in the race we saw (a close 3rd in an 8's race rowing an age group above their level) Then in to Rotorua with other DS to buy him some clothes and a compulsory stop at the Fat Dog again. No wonder I'm not losing any weight lol.

Last night we went to a local show that a friend of ours has written and produced (DH was doing some photos for them) It was a clever musical amalgamation of Aladdin with Robin Hood with all modern songs and a mainly teenage cast. Exceptionally well done and a good laugh.

Oh, and I whipped these up this weekend for a friend of Abby's.
to say I'm really pleased with them...soooo cute.

Caio

HAPPY NEW YEAR...(warning-long post follows)

...and welcome to 2009. I've had my head down, just getting through the festive season so I haven't managed the "blog thing".
I did come through Christmas having achieved some sort of 'domestic goddess' stuff which is good for me. Since losing Olly I have struggled to do any sort of Christmassy thing...usually managing something but not much. This year, although I was frantic right up til about 2 weeks before, I did manage to do some creating and effort. Thanks go to SBO for their Very Sweet Christmas Competition which provided some motivation to get stuff made, tree up etc.Christmas day was spent with my Mum, our family and my brother and his family. Our table looked fabulous (my domestic goddess bit) and the food was plentiful and yummy.Mum has been unwell and it was good to just all hang together. My DGD is starting to get into the celebration thing and it was cool to have them here with us.

So...2008...was a very busy year workwise for me and 2009 is shaping up to be the same. I'd like to share a layout I did at SENZ 08 with Lusi Austin which, for me, sums up my joys of 2008.
are in no particular order:
- Toby - 18 yrs, heaps of fun and finding his niche for now in radio work
- Elliot - turned 16 and I'm so thrilled he's decided to return to school in 09 and persue his dreams
- Izzy - now 20 and I'm so proud of the wonderful parents he and Abby are turning out to be.
- Taylor - my DGD. She is a delight and I love her to bits. I'm loving my Nana role too
- Steve - I have really enjoyed watching him develop his passion for photography and start teaching it too
- My RJ work - love the work and the people. Ask me about it sometime if you are interested
- My scrapspace - I love having my own room and the whole scrapping thing...friends, time out, creativity etc, etc
- Making my jewellry - I think I am (finally) finding my feminine side lol
- Food - I have enjoyed getting back to a little creativity with food

So...2009...what does it hold for me..

A few challenges. We have to do something about our house (we have been saying that for about 8 years now) It was going to happen in 08 but interest rate rises and an unplanned trip to Chch for all of us when DH's mother died meant it all went on hold (again!!) This year (01/02) marks the 5th anniversary of Oliver's death and it will fall on the same day (a Sunday) which feels like a biggie for us. My mother's ongoing 'wellness' challenges will mean I am supporting her alot too. I will do another paper at WINTEC towards my PostGrad Diploma in May/June this year too

A few good things I hope too. DH and I hope to visit Melbourne and his brother in Tasmania for a holiday in October (ish) I want to get back into more food creativity (so if you live near me you may get an invitation to dinner sometime :-) ) I will continue to scrap and create stuff with paper - I have booked into the Autumn Escape in May so far. And to continue to enjoy time with the very lovely Taylor

So there are a few of my musings about 08 and 09. Of course the usual healthy eating/.exercise/declutter/use my stash etc etc type plans also.

So, as I said at the beginning...HAPPY NEW YEAR. May you be blessed with things that bring joy to your life, and may you find the strength to go through the hard stuff

Caio

Sandra