Life-long friends...

I have been very fortunate in my life to have met some really wonderful people throughout the years. It's funny how you meet people in different circumstances and situations and you either hit it off and become life-long friends, or you don't. I have so many friends that I've met in different areas of my life, and I am so thankful for the relationships that we've developed. My friend Linda at Behind My Red Door is one of them. We met randomly through ChemoAngels, realized we were practically neighbors, also realized we shared an interest in card-making, and we became life-long friends. I've got my friends that I've known since high school - others I met at the 2 colleges that I attended/graduated from, others that I've met through jobs or friends of friends, etc. I am definitely a people-person, and I really appreciate my friendships.

So anyway - this is my friend Annik (isn't that a pretty name?):

When I started my job at Becker College 4 years ago, Annik was my boss. She trained me, literally taught me everything I know. She left the position of Director of Student Accounts to go back to her home state of Vermont a couple of years ago, but she ended up deciding not to go. So she stuck around at Becker as the Director of Budget & Planning. She stayed involved with my department and has always been there any time I've needed her, which is often (more so lately since I got promoted to Bursar!). LOL She is one of those employees who you can't imagine what you'd do without (I am not alone in feeling this way). She's a patient teacher, she's extremely bright, and she's become one of my best friends.

But I'm going to have to learn to live without her. Annik, being the adventurous and brave individual she is, has decided to go back to school for her Master's degree and possibly join the Peace Corps. She would be PERFECT for it - or anything she wants to do, really. I admire her so much - but I'm going to miss her immensely. A bunch of us at work threw a party for her yesterday at our friend Kim's house. Here's Annik and I:

It's going to be really hard to say goodbye. We are going to go out on Thursday night, have a few drinks and say goodbye. I am definitely going to bring my tissues. Even though I know I will cry, I am very happy for her and what her future holds. I know she's going to do something special with her life. AND - I know we will never lose touch. She's a life-long friend, of that I have no doubt. :o) Thankfully, the Internet makes it much easier to stay in touch and keep updated on each other's lives.

This is me and my friend Denise:
Denise was also my boss at one point before she abandoned me... I mean, took another position that was better for her, hee hee... at another local college last year. I cried when Denise left, too. LOL :o) Hey - how many employees cry when their bosses leave/quit? I bet not too many. I think that is a testament to these ladies and what kind of boss/supervisor/person/friend they are. I wasn't the only one crying when Denise left, and I won't be the only one crying when Annik leaves. Anyway, Denise is another life-long friend. I miss her, but we keep in touch. Without these 2 ladies, I never would have advanced so quickly in my career. They trusted me, had faith in my abilities, and went to bat for me many times. I am so thankful to them for that, but more so for their friendship.

I love you girls! :o) xoxoxoxo Peace.

Still here!

Holy cow - I'm a bad blogger! I cannot believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I posted. Can you tell I went back to work? LOL I mentioned my promotion - my title is Bursar, it's the same thing as "Director of Student Accounts" - I'm in charge of bringing the money in. I love my job, but it's been a WHIRLWIND! Let's just say that the person in the position before me made things as difficult as possible for anyone who would come after her. But I've been working at this College for 4 years now,in the same department. So although it's been challenging, it's certainly not impossible. And having her gone has changed the atmosphere - people are more at ease, she made a lot of people miserable and tense. That's going away now, thankfully.

Trevor turns 16 next week. I cannot believe it. He wanted a longboad skateboard for his birthday, so we ordered one online today from Dick's Sporting Goods. They were on sale, plus I found a coupon code by searching online, I ended up paying $80.00, including shipping, for a longboard that normally cost $120.00. Not bad, eh? Trev is supposed to be going to California to stay with his Gramma Dori (Jeremy's mom) for the first 2 weeks of August. He's gotten so tall and big, that I'm not half as worried about him as I was when he went 2 years ago. I am going to have to bring him to get his learner's permit when he gets back, too. Unbelievable, I cannot believe my first-born is going to be driving. *sigh*

Cassidy is having a nice Summer, at least I think she is. I hardly ever see her, my little social butterfly. LOL She has made friends in the neighborhood, so hopefully she won't be as nervous about starting high school at the new school in the Fall.

I haven't done much stamping, but hope to squeeze some in this weekend. The sun has been such a rare occurrence around here that when it is shining, I'm out there soaking it up! Here is one card I made, just playing with a stamp that I rarely get to use, Stamping Bella's Togetha Forevah:

Have a lovely weekend, hope you are all enjoying some nice weather! Peace.

Sticky Sweets, 4th of July, and Back to Work!!!

I got my new Stampin' Up! order in the other day, and part of it was the "Sticky Sweets" - they are basically embellishments that are sticky on both sides and you can stick to your project and then cover in glitter. I had fun playing with them - these use some retired SU! Designer Series background paper:

Fourth of July - we went to our friends' Missy & Dan's house on Friday for a cookout and fireworks and had a blast - here is Trevor rapping with the karaoke machine:

Double rainbow - it rained for at least an hour and then the biggest, most beautiful double rainbow appeared, and totally lit up the house that it ended at, it was so cool:

This afternoon (Sunday), we finally went out on Jeremy's new boat! We went with our friends Denise & Dave and their 3 kids, to a lake near our house. We spent about 3 hours and had a blast - here is Jeremy, in his glory:

Trev (he's going to be 16 in 18 days):
Denise and her daughter Livvie, 10 months old:
Back to work I go tomorrow after 2 weeks vacation. I haven't mentioned it, but I also start learning my new job tomorrow. I was promoted to Bursar a couple of weeks ago, pretty exciting. For those of you who remember, the woman who made me miserable at work was "let go". This is precisely why I'm always so adamant that I believe in karma. Sometimes it takes a while to catch up, but catch up it always does.

Hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July holiday! Peace.

More Challenges

Happy rainy Wednesday! Yup, still raining. Been thundering off and on all day, too. Another perfect day to make cards.... my hobby is certainly benefiting from this rotten weather! LOL

This one is for The Greeting Farm's Dotty Spotty challenge, I used Peace from Hope & Grace, all cardstocks and papers/inks from Stampin' Up!:

This one is for the Bloggabella sketch challenge - I really like sketch challenges now, as I find myself using the same layouts! The sketch challenges force me to use different ones, and I am usually happy with the results. Here I used Margarita Ketto - all papers and inks by Stampin' Up!:

Lastly - this one is for the Digital Tuesday challenge, which is sponsored by Dustin Pike this week. I used my digital C.C. Designs Swiss Pixies Heidi - all papers and inks by Stampin' Up! - stars are fasteners from the dollar section at Target:
That's all for now! Peace.

Fairy Tales & Stuff

Trev and I just got back from having a late breakfast at our favorite local diner, Lou Roc's. YUMMMMMMM! Here's what I worked on yesterday - this "I Believe in Fairy Tales" sentiment is from the Dare to Dream set from The Angel Company. I find that I use it with a lot of my other images from other companies, it just goes so well with the princess theme!

This one uses the Diane Duda Frog Prince image from Sugar Nellies - I stamped her on kraft cardstock and colored her in, I love the effect that has rather than stamping on white/vanilla:

On this one, I used Missmatch Ketto (she's my favorite Ketto - shhhh.... don't tell the others!) from Stamping Bella:

And using up the rest of the background paper from above, this is from a SU! set, can't remember which one and don't feel like getting up to look right now:

Birthday card for a good friend of mine:

This is the reverse side of that background paper above, simple and pretty:

Today I'm making a card for The Greeting Farm's Dotty Sptty challenge - I'l be back tomorrow to post it! Peace.

Dare You, Shirleys2Girls, and Whimsie Doodles

I really enjoy participating in challenges when I have the time. This one is for the "Dare You to Digi-Stamp" Friday challenge, using C.C. Designs Swiss Pixies Heidi digital image:I used Stampin' Up! cardstock (So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Whisper White) and designer series background paper (I used this to paper piece her clothes and boots, too), Stampin' Write markers, and Dazzling Diamonds glitter on her wings, around the edge of the square that she's stamped on, as well as all over the sentiment.

Then I made this one using C.C. Designs Swiss Pixies Gretel digital image and the same colors/papers:
Another challenge I like to try to participate in is the Shirleys2Girls Twisted Thursday challenge. This week's challenge is a sketch, and the twist was to add sparkle - here's my interpretation of it:

I used Missmatch Ketto from da Stamping Bella, SU! circle punch, SU! Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, SU! Circle Ice rhinestone brads, SU! cardstock (Certainly Celery & WW), and SU! background designer series paper.

Then I decided to make some cards with the freebie digital image I got from Whimsie Doodles, This Bud's For You. I just love love love this adorable turtle. This first one is for a good friend whose birthday is next week:

Changed up the colors a bit, using Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst & WW:

This one uses Stampin' Up! cardstock Old Olive, Taken with Teal, WW, and Rose Red:

We had one day of sunshine yesterday and I took full advantage. I pretended to be at the beach - I went and bought myself a beach lounge chair and a few magazines. Plopped my butt down in my chair and just soaked up the sun (with my sunblock on, of course) for several hours. It was glorious. However, today when I woke up the clouds and rain were back and it was almost more depressing after having a day of sunshine! The only positive to the crappy weather is that my card stash is really growing! Hope you all have a lazy, happy Sunday. Peace.

Ethan Weiman - the Weiman Wranglers

Ethan Weiman was not even 5 years old when he passed away from neuroblastoma (a form of cancer) on June 12 of this year. The Pink Cat Studio has designed some digital images in memory of Ethan, of which the proceeds are being donated to the Make A Wish Foundation. Click here to see the digital stamps. Click here to read Ethan's story.

In memory of little Ethan, several of my talented co-blogging-stampers are offering gift certificates to the Pink Cat Studio for designing cards with this adorable stamp set. One of them is Lauren - another is Vicki at Summerthyme Studio - and last is Heather at Heather's Heavinly Stampations.

So here's what I came up with, this first one is my favorite, I used Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Real Red, and Whisper White cardstocks, SU! Stampin' Write Markers, SU! red glitter, miscellaneous red checked background paper, miscellaneous button and floss:

This is actually a bookmark, I used Ruby Red with Cameo Coral, Creamy Caramel and Very Vanilla cardstocks and colored with Stampin' Write Markers. I used SU! Very Vanilla ribbon dyed with Ruby Red ink, miscellaneous buttons:

This was totally different for me, but I like it. I used SU! Going Gray cardstock and ink, a white gel pen, and SU! Designer Series background paper. You can't really see, but I used some antique-looking eyelets in the corners, it looks much nicer in real life. The horseshoe is also cut out and glittered, and it's applied with a pop-up thing, which you can't really see in the picture:

Lastly, this one was made using SU! Brocade Blue, Whisper White, More Mustard, Old Olive cardstock. I used SU! More Mustard ink dragged across the images. I colored with Stampin' Write Markers. Miscellaneous corner brass fastener.

I've been volunteering with various cancer support organizations for almost 10 years now, and Ethan's story just tore at my heart. I had to buy these images, not only because I knew the money was going to the Make A Wish Foundation, but because I knew I could make cards using these images for other sick kids, and maybe bring a smile to their faces. Win-win, as they say. Rest in peace, little Ethan.