Bookworms are Awesome =)

Lately I have realized that this blog is becoming less and less personal and more and more just about designing...I love designing and scrapping but its not the only thing I wanted to talk about when I started blogging. Hopefully, going forward there will be more real life mixed in with the designing goodies!

I am also an avid reader- the pile of books to read on the nightstand never gets any smaller because I keep adding to it! It runs in the family- pretty much my entire family has always read. My mom was hard pressed to keep my sisters and me in books when we were kids. Luckily we are all pretty close in age and had similar interests. Remember Sweet Valley High? My sister still has almost the entire series from when we were kids. We also read the not-too-scary Christopher Pike books and mysteries- I think I had almost every Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden book ever written.

Since finding the Twilight series have I begun reading more and more of the fantasy genre. I have the Vampire Chronicles but have had a hard time getting into the second book. But the OCD in me has to read the entire series in order LOL. In the meantime I picked up a book called Need and the sequel, Captivate. These books were written from the perspective of a 16 year old girl and they are definitely written like I am talking to my 15 year old nieces and nephews! The story is cute and the second one left me hanging so I'm sure the OCD will kick in and I will pick up the 3rd when it comes out.

The next book in the pile is by Olivia Goldsmith and couldn't be more different! Ever since the First Wives Club movie came out its been on my favorites list- you gotta love Girl Power! I finally picked up the book and will let you know if its better than the movie.

What books are on your Have to Read list? I would love to know what you loved so I can check them out!

Bumming....

My friend Ed once told me that if every American gave just a couple of hours a week of their time that our country's need for government run social services would drastically diminish. We were discussing a sociology class he was taking at the time and that thought has stuck with me. I don't know how true it is, but its an interesting perspective.
Well, for the last couple of years I have chaired a school supply drive through our builders association. We have helped 150-200 kids each year get the supplies they need to start school. We have focused on the families that didnt qualify for help from the county but needed an extra hand to get ready for school. Due to budgetary issues our school supply drive has been tabled. The sad thing is if we had a few extra hands, this wouldn't have to happen. But because our drive is so staff intensive and the funds aren't there to support the staff assistance, we have no choice but to cancel this year's drive. Between the lack of volunteer help and the need for local coordination to prevent double dipping, its just impossible for us to continue. It just breaks my heart that these kids may not get help this year because we arent able to lend a hand. The really sad thing is that if we had another 2 or 3 people we would each only have to work a couple of hours a week to make the drive happen without support from staff.
Maybe Ed wasn't too far off...

Lots of stuff...and a freebie!

December has been such a hectic month! We went to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra with my mom on the 6th. What an amazing show! I wasn't really looking forward to the concert so much as I was just wanting to make my mom happy, but WOW! They really rock and the light show was just amazing! Then on December 12th we did our Toys for Tots distribution and kids Christmas party. Toys for Tots took such good care of our kids this year that we were able to take on an additional 11 families. We are the only group that takes kids over the age of 12 in our town so I know we had a lot of very happy teens (or will have on Christmas morning). I did a little custom photo frame that we printed with each child's picture of Santa Claus. This is the photo with one of our volunteers.

Right after the kids Christmas party, I met up with friends and went to a concert that is put on in our town each year by Mike Hampton, the baseball player. He grew up near here and does the concert to raise money for local youth sports. This year we had Jason Michael Carrol, Craig Morgan, and Blake Shelton. What a great show!

So needless to say, designing has taken a little bit of a back burner this month. But I do have my Christmas kit coming to you very soon (I used parts of it to make the frame)! And I do have a little CU Freebie for you. Its over at {f.o.r.e.v.e.r} free downloads. Butterfly Garden is a set of extractions from photos that I took this summer. I got lucky that a few of them were clear and decided to share them with you!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for a personal use freebie! But don't wait to grab them because unlike the name of the site- these freebies won't last forever =)

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Things have been so crazy on the homefront, I haven't blogged in forever. I have just started working on the annual toy drive I chair for our local builders association. Its exciting to know that these kids will have Christmas because of our hard work. Its also scary- I always worry about not having enough donations to take care of all of our kids. God has been good to us so far- every year we have had extra toys to pass along to other groups- but I still worry. On top of that I have started coaching DS's soccer team. Ever tried to coach a bunch of 5 year olds? Herding cats would be easier! But they are a great group of kids and we are having tons of fun! We have our first game on the 14th so wish us luck!

With all of the real life stuff going on I havent been able to design much. But I do have some new glitters and overlays in both shops.

Designs In Digital Scrap Outside the Box

Thats all for now- but look for a few more posts in the next couple of days. We will be having big sales for iDSD and there are some exciting events coming up at Designs In Digital that you will NOT want to miss!