one year, 3 months, 10 days

...since I last posted.


And there's been quite a few things going in the Metcalf home since then!

I've felt the urge to get this ole' blog back up and running for a little while now. Gonna give it a whirl and see if I can find a blogging groove. I don't necessarily want it to be about everything we do or every scrapbook project I do, but I think it'd be fun to just share a little bit on a regular basis. How does that sound?

Alright, the commitment has been made. I'll promise you'll see me sooner than one year, three months and ten days!

What's going on . . .

What's been going on? Quite a bit, actually.

This guy is graduating. On Thursday, May 21st. Hard to believe he's really that old to be finishing high school!


He also had prom just about a month ago. He asked his friend, Kylee and they had a wonderful time - Kylee looked gorgeous and I must say Isaac looked pretty sharp too!

















And this girl got her permit! She HAD to get it the very day she turned 15 yrs. 6 mos. and actually passed the test on the first try. She wants to drive every chance she gets. I'll admit she's doing pretty good, but it's still a little stressful on Mom . . .


She also just finished Regionals in synchro and is preparing for Nationals next month in Florida. They're pretty excited about going to Nationals again!




Then there's this guy. Connor is so excited to be **this** close to finishing elementary school! He's had a good year with good teachers and good friends. He's off to HJHS next year!











Mike's been traveling a bit this Spring. He's been to Hawaii twice and Israel once. He's heading back to Israel at the end of the month for a two and a half week trip. He always loves visiting new places and was thrilled to get to go to Jerusalem and see the sights there. He took quite a few pictures his last trip, and I imagine we'll have more next month.




And me? Same old thing . . . running kids, keeping up with the house, scrapbooking. But I'm not complaining. I love my job. :D Here are a few projects I've done the last month or so. The first two and the bottom layout's were done with kits from Paper Posies, one of the kit clubs I design with. The third was done as part of a challenge in the month long anniversary celebration going on there in May. If you're a scrapper, you REALLY should come check it out. It's a great club and there are LOTS of prizes to be won too! And if you're not a scrapper . . . well. You should be. Just sayin'!

Anybody out there?

So yeah. I kinda gave up on blogging, just after I started. Sorry. I don't know if anybody is still out there, but I'm going to try and make a comeback (thanks Sonda)! Since there's no way to go back and tell about everything that's been going on the last several months I thought I'd just share some highlights and post a few pictures and layouts.


*Band concerts - when you have three kids in band, you have lots of concerts to attend! Holiday concerts, festivals, special events, etc. Luckily Isaac and Alexandra have most of their performances this year at the same time so it's not too bad! Isaac is in Wind Ensemble this year. He loves it - they're the highest band at Highland and get to wear tuxes to all the performances. He just got back from Spring tour and had a blast! Alexandra, being a freshman is in Concert band, but has maintained first chair in flutes. Next year she is going to do marching band and made it into Symphonic band. She is thrilled about both! Connor is in 6th grade band. Let's just say he's looking forward to Junior High band!

*Synchro - Synchro is Alexandra's life. She practices four days a week and is now in the middle of meet season. I traveled with her team (see picture) to Sacramento for West Zones in March and they are now getting ready for State, Regionals and Nationals.

*Just for fun - our alternate Christmas card photo! Mike was a humbug and said we couldn't use it.



*Some scrapbook layouts. First is a layout from the most recent Paper Posies kit. Go here to see the rest of my pages. The photo is from the first team meet of the season back in February. Second is a two pager I did for A Page In Time (sorry it loaded the 2nd page first). Just some cute pictures of Alexandra and her two friends, Haley and Jennifer! And finally, a layout I did for my friend Shari's store, Happy N Scrappin. I'm doing layouts for her to showcase some of the products she has for sale in her online store. This layout uses one of my favorite manufacturer's product - Basic Grey. Yummy stuff! Pictures are from several years ago from a trip Mike and I took to Sedona. We stopped briefly to take in some views from Prescott and Jerome.

Okay. I'm back. Do you forgive me for being a slacker for so long? I promise to do better!

Tagged x 3!

Yikes, people. Tagged THREE times! Guess I need to figure this thing out so I don't get so behind. I'm going to jump right in and answer all three tags RIGHT NOW! You'll all end up knowing way to much about me by the time this post is over! That'll learn you!

Tag 1 (from Lisa)
Two names you go by:
1. Mooooooooooommmmm
2. Hun
Two things you are wearing right now:
1. a pony tail
2. wedding ring
Two things you ate today:
1. 1/2 apple spice muffin from Costco
2. Postum
Two things you did last night:
1. watch bits of the election coverage
2. Watched a tivo'd episode of "House"
Two things you want very badly at this moment:
1. motivation to loose weight
2. a money tree
Last two people you just spoke to:
1. Mike before he left for work
2. Connor before he left for school
Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. exercising
2. driving girls to synchro practice
Two longest car rides:
1. Idaho to and around Canada (I think I was about 8?)
2. Arizona -> Idaho -> Arizona -> Idaho
Two favorite beverages:
1. water
2. Diet Dr. Pepper

Tag #2 (from Ann)
7 interesting/quirky things about me:
1. I hate handling raw meat. Yuck. Probably why I don't like to cook too much!
2. I have a fear of heights, specifically stairs! And it's not just for myself. If I see my kids or anybody being a little careless around an edge it totally freaks me out!
3. I DO NOT like air blowing on my face. Hate it. Even when I'm dripping hot - point the fan at my back, but not my face!
4. I was always the tallest kid in my elementary school class - and I thought it was horrible. Now I wish I was a little taller!
5. I was tortured ;-) by my three older siblings when I was younger. I came along seven years after the previous child and there was a little animosity, hehe! All sorts of teasing went on - they loved it because I fell victim to their taunts perfectly. Luckily I'm a forgiving person and they're my best friends today. :)
6. I have this weird desire to finish my college degree. I got married in the middle of my schooling and the fact that I never finished it out has bugged me ever since.
7. Oh gosh. What more can I tell you about myself? . . . Okay - Mike was the second guy I dated, but not the last. We dated in high school, he went off to the Marines, I experienced a little of life and then we hooked back up again and got married.
(I told you that was just too much information for your liking!)

4th folder, 4th picture (from Shari):
I'm kinda bad about dividing my pictures into folders, so they're mostly just in one big folder - so this one is from my iphone picture folder (pictures I picked to load on my phone). Fourth row down, fourth picture over. This picture was taken at the park earlier this year. We went for a picnic and I brought along the camera to get some pictures of the kids. Alexandra was in prime form this evening - as goofy as ever and this is one I got of her. I actually ended up scrapping it with the June Paper Posies kit I design with!



So there you have it. Three tags - done! Woohoo. I think I'm supposed to tag other people. This is the fun part. So if your name is listed to the right here on my link, consider yourself tagged! And you have a choice - if you haven't participated in one of these, then do it! Have fun!

What's in a month?

I was afraid this would happen. I'd get a little behind, not know how to catch up, do nothing and get even further behind. I've consoled myself by remembering there aren't "blog police" that will throw me in jail for not posting in a month. Right?
So, I'm going try and briefly catch up on the last month's happening without putting too many of you asleep (if there are any of you anymore, that is, lol!).
1. Connor's birthday. My baby is twelve. Hard to believe! Out of primary, into the YM's program. And he couldn't be more thrilled! He had a party with his friends, then a party with his cousins (who gave him their old trampoline as a bday gift!) - he was definitely birthday'd!
2. My friend Ann's visit. We had so much fun together! Teresa, her and I went to lunch, shopped and visited. Then Ann and I shopped some more, saw a movie, visited some more. I love Ann - wish she lived closer. I'm just grateful that she's been able to visit out here a few times. If you want more details about our visit and/or want to see some cough*interesting*cough pictures of her and I in our crazy Rick's College years, check out her blog here. You'll be impressed, I'm sure.
3. Isaac & Homecoming. He went with his friend, Cecelie (yikes, don't know how to spell her name) and had so much fun. He looked quite sharp too!
4. Alexandra turned 15! Whoa. That means sixteen is right around the corner. . .
5. Mike's trip to Australia. He is in the middle of two and a half weeks in Eastern Australia for work. They had to stay in a beach house which sounds beautiful, but he's also fighting off ticks as they are also kinda in the middle of nowhere where he's working. Last night he told me he may have to go to Israel next month . . .

So, there you have the major events happening in our life. Here are a few smaller ones:
*I've discovered once and for all that I'm not a gym person. I begrudgingly signed up for a membership at Fitness Works this last summer and am now hoping I can just sign it over to Mike (who will actually use it). I'm much happier working out at home. Love just using my ipod and treadmill.
*Took my kids to see Eagle Eye. Fun, intense movie - watch out for a little language issues though.
*Went with my sister to see Secret Life of Bees. Wonderful movie! Loved the book, had to see the movie and it didn't disappoint. Can't wait to see it again. (And Mike thanks me for going with my sister instead of dragging him!)
*I'm a little burnt out on scrapbooking. I know. Hard to believe I said it, but I am. Right now I'm free of assignments (for a few days) and I just have no desire to just do my own thing. I'll post a few of my most recent pages.
*Isaac's looking for a job. He has a couple of prospects right now, so we're just waiting. He has a light year as far as homework goes so it's time and he's ready. We'd really like to see him put away enough to contribute to his mission. Cross your fingers for him!

My good friend Lisa tagged me like a million years ago. I will play along, I promise. Later though, as I think this post has probably got the "blog police" on alert for being way too long!

A layout & a plea for help!

I just finished up class #3 this morning for the online Got Sketch class I'm taking. This is sketch #3 and #6 got posted this morning, so I'm a little behind! I had fun with this one though - I used a kit from the kit club, Scarlet Lime (love this club - it's the only one I actually purchase) and it came together nicely.
About the pictures (sorry, this is going to be long): I knew Teresa &- hehehe). I knew them through my roommate and bestest friend, Ann. So, imagine my surprise when Steve & Teresa moved into the neighborhood several years ago. Ann is jealous, of course, but she's more than welcome to join us here anytime she can! In fact she came with her husband Phil to a conference last February and we got to all meet for dinner. Mike was there too - he's the one behind the camera! I also got to spend the next day with her - we shopped, ate, and just had fun catching up. Ann's one of the easiest people to be friends with, I've always loved that about her! We had a wonderful time together - it was almost like we were 18 again! (yikes)
Here's where I need some help. Ann's coming to visit again next week - just her. She has a family wedding on Saturday, but we'll have a good couple of days to just play! I need some ideas of fun things to do around the Valley. So, Arizona friends - help me out! Give me some suggestions on fun things we could do - she lives in Minnesota, so anything that highlights our warm weather would be welcome. Any good shows anywhere? Any events? Cool day trips we could take? All suggestions will be appreciated! :)

Who's that guy?

Who's that guy? Why, that's Jay Leno! You don't recognize him? Oh, the one to the left of Jay? Yup, that's Mike (click on the picture to get see it bigger and you might just recognize him)! 18 years ago. While Mike was serving over in the Persian Gulf in 1990, Jay Leno came to entertain the troops. He stopped for a photo op - grabbed two guys, signed their covers (covers are what civilians-us normal people-call hats) and we lucked out to get copies of the pictures! Cool, huh? And fyi - I have no idea who the other dude is!

'Tis the season for a little politial humor . . .

I follow politics enough to have an opinion, but am not one to really delve into the depths of it (unlike my hubby and son who could talk for hours about it), but I found this little snippet to be funny. Enjoy!

Why did the chicken cross the road?

BARACK OBAMA : The chicken crossed the road because it was time for change ! The chicken wanted change !

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One! that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where’s my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he’s guilty ! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Here's the source for your info: http://laughterismymedicine.com/

Sketch #2

Here's my second layout for the class. The pictures are just a couple of years old, but boy these kids have changed a ton in just those short two years! We were in St. George on the 4th of July on our way home from a visit in Idaho and arrived just in time to see the most amazing fireworks show! We stood in the middle of a little street and watched the main show down by the temple grounds and they were coordinated with another set of fireworks on the cliffs behind us. Amazing show! Sad thing is that we were in St. George again this year - but on the THIRD of July. We were bummed we couldn't stay another night just to see the fireworks!

The fourth class just got posted and I'm now officially behind . . . hoping to get the third sketch done tonight. We'll see!

Got Sketch

I'm taking an online scrapbook class this month - It's called Got Sketch 102 (I missed 101!). So far it's been a lot of fun - great sketches, cool hints and tips. Click on the link if you want to check it out. Here's my first layout of the class. I work with sketches all the time in my design work but this class has been fun because it not only gives you a sketch, but it talks about repeating elements and how best to use different patterned papers together and make them flow, etc. Great stuff. I've really seen how these tricks make a difference. I've really enjoyed it!

About the layout: I love these pictures of Isaac all dressed up for Prom. He looked so sharp! Mike wasn't too crazy about the Converse shoes and the colored shoe laces, but it was what all the guys in their group were wearing! He had a great time. :)

Did I goof?

I may have goofed in posting my cookie recipe so early on in my blog's life . . . It's one of only a few tried and true recipes I have to offer!

It's Labor Day weekend. The kids are enjoying the laid back three-day weekend. It's kind of a treat with school starting so early in August here. And guess what - I have yet to take back-to-school pictures. *gasp* I know. But the kids each leave at different times of the day and I just forget or am not alert enough that early to remember to catch a picture. I will soon. We'll have to call them "going to school" pictures instead since it's not a new thing anymore!

Here's a few fun pictures from our Europe trip. The first one is from Paris. Yeah, we ate at a fast food restaurant in Paris. But it wasn't McDonalds, so you can't get after us too much. Getting soda *with any amount of ice* is a trick in Europe, so we enjoyed it every chance we got. No free refills, and just about three cubes of ice if you're lucky, but usually none.

Next is a little town in Germany called Rothenburg. It's such a cool town to visit - Mike and I spent a day there when we went seven years ago and we were anxious to take the kids to see it too. Very German-esque and just full of charm. This house the kids are standing in front of is obviously well-photographed - if you scroll down the link I included you'll see a similar picture!

The last picture is of the kids in front of the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Take a look at their faces. It was raining a little bit and nobody was too excited about getting out of the car for a picture, but I insisted. I was taking the picture so I didn't see what kind of song and dance Mike was pulling to get a reaction out the kids. Since Alexandra is looking disgusted and Isaac and Connor are laughing, you can only imagine . . .

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Randomness

I warned you that life at our house was a little boring, right? It still is (I like it that way)! I guess I think that there needs to be something substantial to blog about in order to post, but maybe a few random pictures and a recipe will be good enough?

Picture #1 - I'm not much of a cook, but I can bake a mean batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They're good. And when I make them they're gone in about an hour. Usually it's a Sunday afternoon activity but Mike needed to take an item to a potluck at work, so this was my offering! I'll include the recipe at the bottom.

Picture #2 - evidently this is how you do homework when you're 14... I'm racking my brain trying to remember ever laying on counter and working on my math . . . maybe it's an Alexandra thing?

Picture #3 - Connor conducting the flag ceremony at the scout court of honor last week. Gosh, it's hard to believe my little guy is almost twelve. AND almost ready to start working on his Eagle. A little deja vu going on . . .

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 stick (cup) butter flavored Crisco
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup or white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tps baking soda (or is it powder? the one in the orange box)
2 cups quick oats
1 cup chocolate chips ( I use half semi-sweet, half milk chocolate)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional, but so yummy with pecans)

Blend the shortening and sugars, add eggs and vanilla and cream well. Add flour, salt and baking soda all together and mix. Add the oats, then the chips and nuts, blending after each one. Bake by rounded cookie scoop on an ungreased pan at 350 for exactly ten minutes. Yum.

Do you know . . .

Do you all know about Google Reader? Love it. I have a ton of blogs I like to read (friends & family personal ones along with scrapbook and stamping ones), but hate having to bookmark them all and then go to them one by one . . . but Google Reader saved the day! It does all the work for you. You simply enter in the URL of the blogs you like to keep up with and add a widget to your Google home page and it lets you know when there's new entries. Awesome. If you have any questions on how to use it, let me know and I'll help you figure it out.

Did you know that I linked our European trip weblog over to the left? I've had a few of you ask about pictures from our trip and a condensed version is available for you to check out. The best part is that you can look at them on your own time. If you want to just look at one or two pictures, that's okay too - we won't ask if you actually looked through them all! Cool, huh? Another bonus - Mike and I sorted through our 1800+ pictures and posted just the highlights, complete with captions!

And since I'm still fairly new to the blogging world and think it's fun to add pictures, here's a few more for you all! Today's posted pictures were taken on our trip up to my family's get-together this last June. The first one is of the road in front of my house. It was the road that I walked every day (uphill both ways, knee deep in snow, blah blah) to catch the bus. I still have occasional dreams (nightmares) of walking out the driveway and seeing the bus coming up over the hill knowing I'm going to have run the entire way to the corner! Good times, eh Craig & Chris? The second picture is of Isaac and Connor. They are in front of an old train car that was along side a road I passed almost every day of my life growing up (corner of Rose & Groveland Road, btw family). A lot of the farmers would buy them and use them as cheap storage sheds. On our way out of town we stopped and got a few pictures of them - I love how they turned out!

A few pictures, just for fun

I gotta post a picture or two just to make things interesting (and to keep you coming back)! Here's a couple from London. We were standing in line at the Eye - we had finally got to the front of the line and were next to get on but just as were to be let on, the whole wheel got stopped. Someone had fainted (although there was rumors of much worse) in the car we were supposed to get in and paramedics were called to the scene. In the meantime we had to entertain ourselves while we waited. . . we tried to get a picture of the action in the car (well, Mike tried to), but the workers were pretty strict about us staying behind the lines, so these are the pictures we got instead. :)

Liftoff!

Well, here we go! Just what you've all been waiting for - a chance to read all about what the Metcalf family has been up to! Not to scare you away or anything, but life at our house is a little boring. Yeah, really. I guess when you factor in the teenage drama that we sometimes experience, life can get a little interesting around here and boring may not be the appropriate word . . .
My purpose (and we all need a purpose) of keeping a blog is to keep in touch with friends and family who I don't get to see very often. I'll post pictures, write amusing antidotes about our day to day lives and talk a little about my adventures in scrapbooking.
Hang on tight - this is going to be fun!

test post