Love Changes Everything

Introducing the Paper Tree

2009-02-02T18:24:00.001-05:00

There is a new beautiful store in town called the Paper Tree and it is owned by my friends Barbara and Amy. The store sells the most beautiful gifts and stationary and you must check it out. They are located in San Marco Plaza in Lakewood Ranch and are open everyday. The store is so beautifully decorated and they have the most amazing baby, wedding and hostess gifts. Tell them Jocie sent you.

Bello rocks Circus Sarasota

2009-02-02T18:21:00.001-05:00

If you live in or near Sarasota, run, don't walk to get your tickets to this years amazing show. The circus is here til the end of February and you don't want to miss it. Bello is the star of the show and is a very famous Ringling Clown, he is a local Sarasota boy and boy is he amazing. My foundation bought out the entire show on Saturday for our donors and our local non-profits and we had so much fun.

I love Ron Clark

2009-01-26T20:23:00.003-05:00

I am in love with Ron Clark! This is not a surprise to many of my friends in town and certainly not to my work mates. I think he is super incredible and inspiring. He is one awesome teacher. It was unbelievable to get to spend time with this incredible person.

Thanks Aunt Muriel

2009-01-26T20:21:00.001-05:00

Muriel sent Andrew the cutest Obama hat! Thanks Aunt Muriel. You're the best.

Project 365

2009-01-04T21:47:00.003-05:00

I am so excited, I was one of the lucky one's to get the new CK Kit of the Month: Project 365. For you non scrappers that read my blog, CK is Creating Keepsakes and I will be taking one picture a day for the whole of 2009. The kit includes an album and special pages that will hold 7 photos, one from each day of the week and then it has special journaling blocks at the bottom of each spread for you to do a little journaling. I started taking my pictures last Sunday and so far so good. I have been having so much fun thinking about this project. It was hard to get this kit. There was so much hype on the kit that when it went on sale on New Years day, people went nuts. The kit sold out in less than an hour.

Back to work tomorrow, one week til Ron Clark, the Disney Teacher of the Year 2000 comes to Sarasota. I am so excited.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T09:32:00.003-05:00

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year. I received this amazing picture from Ithaca College last night wishing all their alums a Happy New Year. The campus looks so beautiful covered in snow.

We had one busy December, I promise to post some pictures once I upload them. I have big plans for 2009. I am hoping to get one of the new Creating Keepsakes 365 kits today and have already started taking a picture every day. I would love to document a year in our families life. I started Weight Watchers the week before Thanksgiving and am committed to losing weight, changing how my family eats and getting healthier this year. I will have a new nephew this coming Feb/March and am so excited to be an aunt again. I have some huge events at work this month and it is going to be exciting and fast paced for the next 31 days.

Last night I won our poker game, we play with our friends David and Fern and Melissa. We have a small globe that you win which makes you the "world champion" so I am the current champion. We started playing last night at 9 pm and didn't finish til after 1:30. It was one long game.

I have been re-connecting with so many IC Theatre Alums and it has been so much fun to hear what everyone is doing and catching up with everyone. Hard to believe that we started as Freshman at IC over 25 years ago.

Girlfriends Luncheon

2008-12-07T23:01:00.003-05:00

Wow, what a weekend. My dear friend Karen Brown flew in Thursday night for the Girlfriends Annual Luncheon on Saturday. We all met Friday for breakfast at Peaches and then later shopping at Ellenton, I got a killer Coach bag for 60% off! Then off to get pedicures, dinner and the movies. We saw the Secret Life of Bee's and then on Saturday after our lunch we were at Nordstroms in Tampa and we saw Jennifer Hudson, I went up and talked to her for a second.

We went to Tampa for our annual luncheon on Saturday to a fabulous restaurant TC Choys. We had a private room and so much fun. Our dear friend Jeci who used to live here and also flew in for the Annual Luncheon. It was so wonderful having Karen and Jeci there. We enjoyed Dim Sum and many other delicious dishes and then exchanged gifts. This year in honor of Stacy Julian we each brought some product we can't live without, nothing expensive. We exchanged those too, purse holders that clip on the table, glade candles, hair spray, foot smoothers, hand lotion from Ulta. We were at the restaurant for over 4 hours!

After lunch we headed to the International Mall for a little shopping and then later dinner, we got back to the Ranch at 10:15 PM. What a fabulous day. I just love my girlfriends! I made a photo book of all the past December Girlfriends luncheons, and it was fun to look through and see our different hairstyles, clothing and some friends we lost along the way.

Today I was on the hunt for my green wallet and that lead to cleaning out my closet looking for it. 3 bags of stuff later, I can say my closet has never looked better, but still no green wallet. Laundry, Publix and all the fun stuff of a Sunday.

Happy 70th Birthday Muriel

2008-11-22T23:42:00.002-05:00

A toast to my friend Muriel,
Words to describe you…
Love
A love of life
Love for your friends
Love of reading
Love of bridge
Love of travel
Love of learning
Love of home
Love of culture
Love of diversity
Love of sharing
Love of planning
Love of ice cream
Love of Danielle Steele
Love of shoes
Love of handbags
Love of fun earrings

Smart
You are one of the smartest if not the smartest person I know. You are not only a news junkie but an information junkie. You are always on a quest to learn.

Laughter
I love to hear you laugh, you have laugh that fills the room, it is a happy laugh and filled with joy

Mother
You are a mother to so many, and to many of us sitting at this table

Grandmother
You have beautiful and loving grandbabies all over this world, and I am proud to say my son is one of your grandbabies. I remember the first time you met Andrew, he was so small (only 5 pounds) you didn’t want to hold him, you said you would hold him when he got a little bigger, and that you did. You have loved my child like he was your own, bringing him shirts from all your travels, babysitting, coming to his soccer and little league games, reading to him, playing with him, laughing with him, loving him.

Passion
You have a passion for so many things, it is deep, it is heartfelt and your passion is strong

Vitality
Just look at you. Your buttery soft beautiful skin, your delicate hands, you happy face. Your warm and loving eyes and your huge smile.

Generous
You are generous with your time, with your love, with your treasures, with your talents, with your advice, with your soul.

Kind
You are thoughtful, you know when someone needs that little extra, you send notes and cards, you clip articles from newspapers, you support school walk a thons, wrapping paper sales, girl scout cookies

Spiritual
To look at you and see your smile, I know there is God. You believe, you celebrate all religion

10 years ago I sat at Chutneys at your 60th Birthday, I was 28 weeks pregnant and knew I was carrying a boy named Andrew. What I didn’t know was that Andrew would be born only 4 weeks later. I remember sitting at your party and laughing and enjoying everyone’s company like it was yesterday. I feel like I just took the fast forward on the Amazing Race and now it is 10 years later. In 4 weeks my baby will be 10.The time has gone so fast. I have known you for over 14 years. You have filled my life with love and support and friendship throughout. You have laughed with me, celebrated with me, cheered me on, cried with me and been there for me. You have enriched my life beyond words. You have been like a mother to me and you have been a grandmother to my son. You have been a loving friend to my friends. I simply can’t imagine my life without you in it. I was so sad when you moved to Tampa, I was afraid that distance would take you from me, but you have an amazing ability to keep your friends no matter where you live. You bring me joy, you are always teaching me something. It is my greatest joy to sit here tonight and share with you on your 70th Birthday. I love you.

Bucket List

2008-11-20T17:44:00.002-05:00

The Bucket list

so here goes. i copied this list from a blog & the idea is to bold (highlight/change the color/bold) all the things on the list you've done. I swiped mine from Karen who got it from Kim’s blog...and then highlighted what I had done. Feel free to swipe it to your own blog!
1.Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Held a praying mantis
9.Climbed a mountain
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44.Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Memories of the old days

2008-11-08T09:39:00.004-05:00

My old friend Wendy Joseph sent this to me this week. In the picture are my brother Jon, Cathy, Wendy and me! It was taken in Long Beach Island in the 1969 or 1970. This was a wet summer and we spent hours in the garage painting rocks and our faces!!

My Morgan, My Julia

2008-11-08T09:24:00.003-05:00

Meet my girls. These are my fabulous neices Morgan and Julia. I hadn't seen them in almost a year and I missed them so much. I went over to Boynton to see them on Monday and Tuesday and we had such fun. We played hours of rapid fire Uno and of course a game of Trash.

I voted today

2008-10-31T17:30:00.002-04:00

I voted today, I voted for my future and for my son's future. I waiting in line for an hour to early vote and I must say I really felt something when I used my black marker and filled in the circle for Obama. I felt like I was voting for change, I felt like my vote will count. No matter who you vote for please vote on Tuesday, every vote counts.

Guess what I just got

2008-10-30T22:31:00.003-04:00

This is what happens when you watch Oprah. Last Friday the founder of Amazon.com was on Oprah and Oprah gave everyone in the audience her new favorite thing an Amazon Kindle. What is a kindle you ask...an electronic book reader. It is really cool. It can hold 200 books on it plus as a camera SD card and you can have 2000 books on your Kindle. You can get best sellers and the most expensive book to get is only $9.99. We are trying ours for 30 days to see if we like it. You can adjust the font size for older eyes, you can ask it a question and a real person answers in 5 min or less. The books are sent to you wirelessly on the whispernet. A complete book is sent to you in less then a minute. I am looking forward to reading my Kindle while I wait in line to vote tomorrow.

Pumpkin Patch Adventure

2008-10-19T13:57:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

Pumpkin Patch pictures

2008-10-17T16:43:00.004-04:00

Well this might be it, the last year Andrew goes willingly to the pumpkin patch with me. I did have to bribe him with a cherry coke. He was such a good sport, he knows the drill for a scrapbooking mom like me and the patch. He even knew without me asking this morning to put on a collared shirt. We started our day at Florida Studio Theater where we saw the Emporors New Clothes and then off to lunch at Applebee's. then a stop at the Mall for some Mac and I got the cutest baby boy clothes for my new newphew to be. They were having a sale there like no sale I had ever seen. I got 11 pieces of clothing, including bibs, 2 hats, lots of outfits, onesies and more for only $41. This is going to be a well dressed kid. Then we were off to the patch. We went to Fruitville Grove, its Free and oh my they have a huge tent set up and it is all set up for pictures. Now we are back home, and I already uploaded the pictures from the patch and will get them at Target later. We had a fun card club last night and Andrea, Fern and I taught Melissa to play Hold'Em. Tomorrow is soccer and then Sunday is Speghetti in the Sukkah at Chabad. have a great weekend!

Meet Legacy

2008-10-05T10:44:00.002-04:00

One of the great perks of my job is I get to meet the most wonderful donors and people. One of our amazing donors has sponsored a guide dog in the Foudnations name and we waited over a year for our puppy to be concieved and born. Well in July our little puppy was born. We had a name the puppy contest well over a year ago and now meet Legacy our future guide dog. Legacy is a black lab and is being raised by Sandy who works at Southeastern Guide Dog School. We all went to the amazing open house last Saturday and met Legacy. She is a super cute puppy and will be raised to do an amazing job.

Soccer Season begins

2008-10-05T10:39:00.002-04:00

If it's October in sunny and hot Florida that must mean it's soccer season. Jeff is coaching Andrew's team this year again and this year we are the orange Fire Foxes. Yesterday was the Jamboree and pictures. We played a scrimage game. It was hot, let me repeat that it was hot. I am proud to say I am the owner of a new chair with a sun shield on it. I purchased it immediatley after I sat out in the blazing sun for over an hour after the game.

Tribute to Howard Cogan

2008-09-30T12:50:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we received our IC View and today I sat down to read it. In the back are the obits and it is sad to read about the passing of so many. One in particular shocked me. On Febuary 16, 2008 my favorite Ithaca College professor, Howard Cogan died of Alzheimer's at the age of 78. My heart sank. I truly loved Howard Cogan. He was my favorite professor at IC. He had a huge impact on my life not only while I was in college but after. I have so many fond memories of spending time with Howard and his wonderful Helen. They were devoted to each other and my heart just breaks for Helen. The last time I saw Howard and Helen was in June 2001 at my 15th college reunion. I went and visited them in their home in Lansing. Shortly they moved back into town and sold their big farm house with barn and many acres. I first met Howard in my sophomore year when I took Intro to Advertising. The class took place in the New Building as we called it and Howard was just so full of energy and passion as a teacher. He made you laugh. He made you feel important. His office was downstairs in Dillingham. He still owned his own ad agency downtown and his greatest joy was his new grandson Alexander. Howard gave me so much, he believed in my talents and creativity. When I graduated IC in 1986 we celebrated at a special dinner with Howard and Helen at a place called the Country Cubard. They gave me a beautiful pearl necklace for graduation. Howard loved his students. He was a passionate teacher who put his all into his classroom. He was an amazing father and husband. I have sent the Cogan's a holiday card every year for 22 years. Thank you Howard for being in my life, for enriching it, for making me a better person, for believing in me, for inspiring me and for teaching me. You have left a legacy at Ithaca College, you were loved by so many students. I know I am not alone today in crying for you, so many will read of your passing and remember you and what an amazing person and teacher you were. I will remember you always.

Opening night at the Metropolitian Opera

2008-09-22T23:02:00.002-04:00

I had the most wonderful time at the Opening night of the Metropolitian Opera tonight and I did it in Sarasota! Favorite donors gave Jeff and I tickets to be at the opening night of the Opera which was simulcast in over 800 movies theatres in the US and all over the world. We had awesome seats at the Hollywood 20 and enjoyed the whole evening. We got there at 5:30 and the night ended around 10:30. We saw the beautiful Renee Fleming in 3 different operas. The sets, the costumes, the backstage interviews all in our back yard. What fun.

Happy Anniversary to us

2008-09-20T13:22:00.003-04:00

Happy Anniversary my sweet Jeffery! Wow, 16 years. I can still remember the first time I ever met you in the box office at IC. And I will always remember when we remet at the ZigZag in NYC and you asked me out to dinner. I can remember our wedding day like yesterday. Thanks for always putting up with me especially when I get on my clean up and throw it out kicks. Love you always! Thanks for the beautiful yellow roses.

Hey all Facebook Ithaca College friends

2008-09-16T21:06:00.003-04:00

Well I can't believe I have heard from so many of you. I miss all my IC friends. I live in Florida with my husband Jeff and son Andrew. We love it here. I hated the cold weather in Ithaca. I'll try and post some of my scrapbook pages. I am addicted to scrapbooking. Jeff wanted me to have a hobby for years in our early marriage, well was he ever sorry I found one. Scrapbooking is an expensive hobby, but I just love it. I teach at a local store in Sarasota, K2 and am on the design team. I did own a monthly scrapbook kit club for a while on the web.

First Day of School

2008-08-23T10:54:00.003-04:00

Hard to believe the first week of school here is already over. Thanks to NOHurricane Fay we only had a 4 day week and one of those was a 1/2 day. Andrew has the same amazing teacher he had last year, we are so happy about that. I can remember when I was in 4th grade, that was the year we started to write in cursive and learned multiplication, now they start learning that in 2nd grade. Our 3 4th grade teachers team taught and my homeroom teacher read chapter books aloud to us each day. Wow, times have changed.
Andrea and I hit the very end of Talbots Summer sale last night up in Tampa. I just love our salesperson Barbara! She gives us incredible customer service. We had a yummy dinner at Nordstroms and then came home. Seems like today will be a rainy day so I think I will start scrapbooking our Amelia Island pictures!

More of Amelia Island

2008-08-16T19:35:00.002-04:00

More photos from our trip. We rented the best tent, a 10x10 and the best thing was they put it up everyday and came out and took it off when it rained. For non beach people like us this was heaven sent. the sun was brutal in August in Florida, surprise, surprise. We thought we would buy one for the week, but good thing we didn't, our first tent broke after 2 days and they had to come and put weights on it when it got windy, we wouldn't have been prepared for all that! Yesterday Fern and I sat out there all day, just talking and reading and watching the waves.

Summer toes

2008-08-16T19:34:00.005-04:00

I promised David I would post these on my blog. here you go David. Our summer toes!

2008-08-16T19:34:00.001-04:00

Back from Amelia Island

2008-08-16T19:25:00.003-04:00

Talk about relaxing. We just returned from a week at Amelia Island with the Grace Family. We had the most relaxing and wonderful time. Thanks to Fern we stayed at a great condo right on the beach. We had the most beautiful and peaceful view of the ocean. We had great weather except for two rainy days but even those were fun. I read 3 books and we went out for dinners and walked around the quaint town of Fernandina. We played poker 5 nights and I am proud to say I won 3 nights in a row! Fern won once and David won once. Sorry Jeff. Poor jeff he taught me to play and now I just love it. Fern bought me a beautiful silver lucky coin, Thanks Fern. We stopped at Sea World on our way. Now I remember why you don't go to theme parks in the summer, too hot and too crowded. We saw the Shamu show and rode some rides and were happy to leave at 4 and go to the hotel for some AC. We hit the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and then Talbots summer sale. Good to be home again. I alread uploaded all my pictures and even made a photo book on Shutterfly already. Back to work on Monday!

Remembering Marilyn

2008-07-08T21:12:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow marks 30 years that have passed without my mother. 30 years ago tomorrow she died at the age of 40 after a year and half battle with ovarian cancer. She left 3 young children, Jocie 14, Jon 13 and Shari 10. She left her husband of 20 years Marvin. She left her mother, her father and her sister and brother. She left friends who loved her and a family who needed her. She left early that morning July 9, 1978.

From the moment my father told me, my life has never been the same. I have had a blessed and wonderful life filled with love, family, friends and so much more. But I have had to live all these years without her.

I spoke to my sister tonight and she said, you know what tomorrow is? We live it each year. I can remember when it was 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, and now it is 30 years. Time does heal all wounds. It hurts less, but it still hurts, or shall I say you still remember and you still miss the person. Time fades the bad and allows you only to remember the good. We were so young that now at this point I can only remember the last few days.

I know my mom went to heaven, I know I will see her again. I know she still loves me and I love her.

Call your mom tomorrow if you can, tell her you love her, give her a hug.

The greatest gift my mother left her children was each other. I love you Jon and Shari. She lives on in us. She lives on in our smile and our laughter. She lives on in her grandchildren.

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-06T14:49:00.002-04:00

Wow, one busy weekend. We had a great 4th of July lazy day and then headed over to Margo and Steven's for a 4th of July celebration. Margo and Steven were such great sports to have us all over being that they are Scottish and the 4th of July is not really their holiday. They got really into to and had decorations and and did an old fashioned bar-b-q. After dinner the poker chips came out and let's just say David Grace you stole my dice!!! We had such fun playing poker we didn't leave until after midnight! Last night Fern and David hosted game night and dinner and boy did we laugh. We didn't get home til after 2:00 am! We played a wicked game of dominos. Aunt Muriel stopped by yesterday for a bit. I need to get planning her big birthday in November. Hard to believe it is already July and we only have 5 weeks til our beach vacation.

Card Club Birthday Celebration

2008-06-28T22:31:00.002-04:00

We celebrated in style the other night. I set the table with my best china and we ate pizza and salad on it. Why do we always save our good stuff to use. I say use it. Maybe I am getting smarter in my older age. We missed you Andrea! I have had a great long weekend so far. Last night I worked the crop at K2 and it was great. A great group of women all talking and laughing and scrapbooking. I brought my 2008 Heidi Swapp calendar to work on and I am up to date. I went through my calendar stuff and found some vintage stickers in my collection. I have been super scrappy today, I have completed 3 pages and added to a Scrap and Dash page I brought home last night. I took a long nap today! I love a good nap on a Saturday. Andrew is at a friends for a sleep over. Jeff is watching TV and I am loving the office with the new fan, so much cooler in here.

My Birthday- A big thank you!

2008-06-24T19:26:00.002-04:00

I had a great birthday this year. Thank you to everyone who called and wished me Happy Birthday. I got beautiful flowers and cards and such lovely gifts. It made me feel super special. I had an event all day and then we celebrated at home. Boy this month has gone fast, I can hardly believe it is almost 4th of July. I have been scrapping a lot, I wont' be at SDV this year so I can't use that as my excuse not to be caught up. I did my first 8 1/2 by 11 page the other day. What a funny size. I am in love with all the new Doodlebug papers and embellishments.

Andrew is having a fun summer at camp. Jeff ordered my birthday present tonight on line. This year is going fast!

Happy Birthday to me

2008-06-19T23:30:00.001-04:00

Last year I got to celebrate my birthday in Africa! It was the most amazing birthday ever. Our guide asked me what animals would you like to see today and I said "giraffes" and we did, how freaking cool it was. How can you beat that birthday? This year I will celebrate with family and friends. We still joke about the white cake with brown writing from Kechwa Tembo. Jeff said he would call them and order one to be sent, I said, save the money a cake from Publix taste better! How did I get to be 44? How did my baby get to be 9 and a half.

Back to the Disney Magic!

2008-06-14T23:47:00.002-04:00

It is official, we are going back on the Disney Magic. May 23, 2009 can't come soon enough. Well we tried another cruise line and it just wasn't Disney. So we are heading back to the Magic and we are alreay excited. There is just something about a Disney Cruise that makes it so special and so magical. Get those lounge chairs ready, Castaway Cay here we come. See you real soon Mickey.

Love

2008-06-14T23:25:00.003-04:00

So many thoughts. Tomorrow is Fathers Day. A happy day for my husband and my son. A sad day for Shari, Jon and me. This will be my second fathers day without my dad. Three years ago I celebrated Fathers Day with my father in NJ. Later that night he went to the hospital and I begged G-d not to take him, I wasn't ready, it wasn't his time yet. A year later a couple of days before Fathers Day I was in NJ with my dad and saw him for the last time. G-d had given us one more year. When someone you love dies there was never enough time to have them. You always want one more day, one more week, one more year. I will remember my dad tomorrow as I remember him every day. He was my hero & my strenghth. He gave me so many gifts...the joy of classical music and reading, the gift of my education, my religion, my memories. He was so strong and so smart. He was a father, a husband, a poppy, a friend, a dentist. He was my dad. Happy Fathers Day, Daddy, I love you.

Scrap and Dash tomorrow

2008-06-03T21:59:00.003-04:00

Wow, I have been a bad blogger. Sorry about that. Well I am back doing Scrap and Dash, I took a month off and now I am back. Hope you can head over to K2 tomorrow night to create these two pages. This weeks pages feature my absolute favorite Making Memories.

Back from the Cruise!

2008-05-06T19:39:00.003-04:00

Well we are back. We got back on Sunday and then back to work on Monday. We had a great time. We relaxed, read great books, got a lot of sun, had a lot of frozen yogurt by the pool and slept in. We didn't like Royal Caribeen as much as the Disney Cruise so next year we are back to the Disney Magic. We went to the ship in a stretch limo from my mom's house and then back from the ship, I think that was Andrews favorite part. Cruises are the best kind of vacation. The ship was huge and there were so many people. We sat with the most amazing couple Rony and Tzvia from Isreal. We feel in love with them and I promise I will get to Isreal to visit. We got lots of sun and had to stay in the shade at the end of trip. We drove my new Saturn Vue over to the other coast and Jeff just loved the satalite radio. We didn't care for their Island Labadee, we much prefer the pristine beaches of Castaway Cay. We did see an amazing ice skating show on the boat and we had great servers for dinner. Now we are back to work and all the other things of life.

Scrap and Dash tomorrow

2008-04-15T20:16:00.003-04:00

Come on down to K2 tomorrow night for Scrap and Dash and make this cool layout. I will be teaching a mini album class starting at 6 pm.

20 Days and counting

2008-04-06T19:29:00.003-04:00

Nothing like a cruise for relaxation and being pampered! We are 20 days away from our big cruise on the new Liberty of the Sea and I can't wait. Had a great day cropping with my K2 friends today at a Goodbye Crop for Amy. Gonna miss you girl, but I know we will still see you!! I'll photo my layouts later and post them. A huge thank you to Karen for being a fab hostess today!

Busy week ahead and then one more weekend of Jeff working on a Saturday til tax season is over. The weather was warm here this weekend.

Play Ball

2008-03-23T14:44:00.004-04:00

We had a busy week again. Thursday night I was invited to an incredible performance of the Curtis Music Institute at the Historic Asolo. The performance was so wonderful. Friday night Andrew had a baseball game and then on Saturday morning we had another game in the rain, but Andrew hit the ball on all 3 ups. I was screaming and cheering. He even made a run. Saturday I took Andrew and Sienna to see "College Road Trip", wait for the video. We did our weekly shopping at Publix, I prepared breakfast for Jeff's parents and we watched the 10 Commandments!
We are in the countdown til the cruise, April 26 we leave on the new Liberty of the Seas! We can't wait. I have two Danielle Steele books ready for the cruise.

I have been tagged

2008-03-05T17:41:00.002-05:00

Tag...I'm it....
I've been tagged by the amazing Kim B who was tagged by Aimee, who was tagged by Paula, who was tagged by Celeste, who was tagged by Tina, who was tagged Angie and that's as far back as I know.

Here's what I have to do:
* Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. (not sure I know how to do that!)

* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

* I was met my husband in college but did not date him until 8 years after college and now we are married over 15 years!.

* I am addicted to BRAVO, I watch, Housewives of Orange County, Millionaire Matchmaker, Who wants to be a supermodel,Top Chef and Project Runway.

*I love to have my feet and hands rubbed. It is my dream to have an hour massage and only get my feet done.

* I love, love, love to take naps, I don't do it that much anymore because it ruins my sleep, but there is nothing like a good nap.

*I make a damn good beef brisket and a to die for kugle noodle pudding.

*I can read and write hewbrew.

*I love to watch the same movies over and over like: When Harry met Sally, You've got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Sex in the City, The Godfather movies, Big, Jerry McGuire.

Now it's my turn to tag seven people.....I tag Karen, Shari, Fern, Molly,Joan, Eileen,Melissa.

Scrap and Dash tonight

2008-03-05T17:34:00.003-05:00

I just love the new papers from Daisy D, it was so much fun to work with, I wanted my page to be very whimsical. Head on over to K2 to make today's page.

Baseball Opening Day

2008-02-24T09:54:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was opening day for Manatee East Little League. This is Andrew's first year playing and he is really enjoying it.

ATC Card Holder Mini Africa Album

2008-02-24T09:50:00.003-05:00

I had my ATC card holder for at least 2 months sitting on my desk. Last week there was an awesome post on TwoPeas showing how someone made a vacation album with their ATC holder. Ever the scraplifter I loved the idea and knew I had just the perfect pictures from our Africa trip. I really loved how it turned out and am hoping to teach a class on how to make one at K2 sometime soon. I was able to use supplies I had been hoarding for a long time!

More new layouts

2008-02-18T09:50:00.003-05:00

I had the great honor to meet Ingrid Fliter, a world class pianst when she was in town 2 weeks ago, she played a private concert at the my office. She was such an amazing person to meet and to hear her play brings tears to your eyes.

New layouts

2008-02-18T09:46:00.003-05:00

I have been busy scrapping. I just love the new 5th Avenue Collection from Making Memories. I did these pages for K2. Stop by and see them in person.

My Valentine

2008-02-16T21:54:00.003-05:00

What a week. Lots going on at home and at work. I have my own private office now at work! I have finally gotten out of the "cubbie" as I like to call the cubical. I am in a big girl office! I got moved in on Thursday but had to leave for a luncheon and then got back late, so I am partially settled in.

We had a quiet Valentines Day, I will have to upload the photos of the beautiful roses Jeff brought me home. The best present was he got home early enough to take Andrew to baseball practice and I got to make a lasagna for dinner. I have been busy scrapping, I promise to take photos of the layouts I have been working on and post them tomorrow.

Scrap and Dash tonight

2008-02-06T22:13:00.001-05:00

SOLD OUT!!! Karen called me to say they had to make more kits. The crops have been really full at K2. Looks like everyone is getting a head start on scrapping for the year.

This has been a crazy week. An event at work, baseball practice, I was the host of Bunco tonight, spelling test, math homework. Busy, busy. Loving the weather in Florida.

Valentines Photo Shoot

2008-02-02T23:16:00.000-05:00

Melissa, Sienna, Andrew and I took our annual pilgramage to Picture People in Brandon today (why don't we have one in Sarasota?)for our Valentines photo shoot. Picture People is finally digital and boy was it cool. They can show you your pictures all different ways and crop things out.

I can hardly believe they are both 9. They are growing to fast.

We had a yummy lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and stopped in at Books a Million while we waited for the pictures to be printed.

My old Epson printer finally died last night. Tonight I got the new and very fabulous HP Photosmark C6280 All in One printer. It is really amazing. It scans, prints and even prints photos.

Happy Birthday Shari, Barrie, Larry

2008-02-01T23:47:00.001-05:00

I can hardly believe it, my baby sister will be 40 on Sunday. 40, is a milestone in my family. It is a benchmark. It was the age my mother was when she died. Shari was only 10 when our mother died and in two days she will be 40. It seems like a lifetime ago. I love my sister so deeply that when she is hurt, I feel the pain too. My sister is beautiful, bold, smart, loving, funny, driven and wise beyond her years. My sister is my best friend. She is my secret keeper. She is the only one who understands everything little thing about me. Shari said the other night that, she can't believe she is turning 40 and both her parents are gone. I am so sorry Shari, so sorry they won't be there to celebrate this milestone with you. So sorry you had the shortest time with our mom. I know you will celebrate on Sunday with your incredible husband and beautiful girls. Celebrate big. You are loved. You are my sissy and I will love you forever.

Some new layouts I have been working on

2008-02-01T17:29:00.000-05:00

I love when I visit peoples blogs and they put their scrapbook pages on it. I will try and do more of that. Since I am a huge TV watcher at night and since the writers strike has totally crammped my TV watching, I am forced to watch BRAVO and scrap most nights. These are some layouts I did this past week.

Happy first day of February

2008-02-01T17:24:00.001-05:00

I am wild about the BoBunny Word mini books. I just made another one last night for Andrew's 9th Birthday. The word is PARTY and I used tons of my Disney stash to complete the album in under 2 hours.

I can hardly believe it is already February. We are under 100 days away from our big cruise on Liberty of the Seas in April, I can hardly wait!

Friends

2008-01-23T19:26:00.000-05:00

Monday morning I got an email from my friend Molly letting many of us know that our dear friend Karen Brown's father had had a stroke and it didn't look good. I was shocked. I immediately called Fern who was visitng Karen in Texas for the weekend and was told how bad it was. I called Karen who was on her way to Indiana and got to talk to her. Karen's dad was 61 years old. Karen didn't make it in time to see her dad, he died an hour before she could get there. I was in shock. Karen had a really great dad, a hands on grandfather and just a wonderful guy. He was young and he died so quickly. It is so sad to see your friends lose their parents. I was in a funk on Monday, I just couldn't believe it and I was so sad for my great friend Karen.

I had the great honor to hear Dick Vitale talk last night at a small dinner party. The topic of the dinner was "Passionaries" and "Legacy". We were all challenged before dinner to share with our dinner partners what kind of legacy we wanted to leave and how our parents helped form what kind of legacy we would leave.

On the way home in the car it became clear to me. My mother who died at 40 (I was 14) left me the legacy to make friends. My father who died last year taught me everything else. My father taught me to live each day with enthusiasm. That life is not fair. That you control the power to make each day great. He taught me the importance of an education. He taught me not to leave dirty dishes in the sink. He taught me to love.

Many of you know I have been sad since my father died. What I realized last night was that it is my enthusiasm that has been down. It takes time to recover from the death of a parent and I am in the process of getting my enthusiam back. have patience with me.

Life is what you make it, another great Marvism and my father was right. This year I have chosen gratitude as my word for the year. I want to be more greatful each day. I am working on it.

I am so sorry my dear friend Karen, I am here for you.

Happy Birthday Amy

2008-01-23T19:24:00.000-05:00

Hey girl, I am so sorry I missed your birthday. Hope you had a great one. So glad we got to spend some special time together on Sunday. Thanks for beging such a great friend.

Valentines Project

2008-01-23T19:22:00.001-05:00

I got lost in Scrap Scene the other day and one blog led to the next and so on and so on. I found this really cute project using a candy heart box on someones blog and decided to give it a try. I think mine actually came out better!!!

New Addiction

2008-01-14T22:00:00.000-05:00

Those who know me well know I watch a lot of TV. I watch it every night after dinner while I scrap or do something else. Well I rented Brothers and Sisters Season 1 from Netflix last weekend, it is 6 disks, so last weekend I got disk 1 just to see if I would like it, well, 1 disk and I was hooked. This past weekend while scrapping I watched disk 2 and 3 and now as soon as I get my 3 new Netflix this week I will have 3 more disks!!!! What a great show, with a great cast and a crazy family.

This was a busy weekend, I croppped at K2 on Friday night with a full crowd. I got to catch up with Amanda and Charlene. The studio was hopping. I am looking forward to the special crop and class this Sunday. Saturday I had the best massage, I have been going to the same person for 14 years now and I just love Eileen at Massage Works on Bee Ridge. Saturday night we went to the Junghans and hung out with them and the Jones and played poker, I was actually the big winner.

Busy week this week, I have 2 huge events next week to get ready for. Don't forget Scrap and Dash this week on Wednesday, bring a 5x7 valentines picture for the layout.

Layouts completed this weekend

2008-01-06T22:49:00.001-05:00

All of my local friends are saying, "hey I didn't get that holiday card from Jocie" and that would be correct. We only printed and sent 50 cards this year and all of them went out of state. As most of you know I didn't send cards last year because of the death of my dad but this year we cut back. So enjoy the layout and you get to see my family in person during the year!

I had a lot of fun with my Design Team kit from K2 for January, all the Love Elsie papers in the Zoe line. At first I thought what am I going to do with them but I must say I am happy with how they turned out. I will bring them by the studio this week. I really only need to finish a couple more layouts for 2007 and the year is completely scrapped except for our Africa trip, but I may never finish that, I have so many projects in mind for all my pictures. Dont' forget Scrap and Dash is this Wednesday at K2 and I just finished today the Scrap and Dash for next Wednesday.

Back to a full week of work tomorrow. Happy New year!

My New Garage

2008-01-06T22:42:00.001-05:00

I just love my new shelves in my garage. I know that sometimes it is the little things in life that just make you happy. On Christmas Day Jeff and I cleaned the entire garage and threw out enough junk to fill a dumpster. Luckily the next day was trash day and the trash people took it all away! We cleared out the alcove in our garage and on Friday Bernie our handyman arranged for Eli and Steven to come and build me some shelves. I feel like I have an entertaining closet now. I just love it. Thanks Handy Dandy Daddy!

Crop layouts from last night

2007-12-29T12:28:00.001-05:00

I know I hardly ever post my layouts which is what you all probably want to see the most. Last night at K2's crop I completed 5 pages. I think that may be my record. It was a full crop and we all had lots of fun. I was really happy that I challenged myself to use some embellishments I had had for years! See if you can pick them out!

Busy Christmas

2007-12-25T20:34:00.001-05:00

We had an incredibly busy weekend. We started the weekend off at Disney to celebrate Andrews 9th Birthday then Saturday we slept in and did a little last minute shopping, Jeff and I got to have a date night on Saturday and then we were up really early and at Target by 8 am to try and get a Nintendo DS. Sunday I went over to Amy's and Megan came and we baked cookies. We had the Graces over on Sunday for dinner and dominos. Monday morning I was up early again on the hunt for the DS. We made our usual trip to Sarasota Memorial's NICU on Christmas Eve to give the NICU babies a gift and saw our favorite nurse Barb. Then off to Venice for Christmas Eve with Jeffs family. This morning we headed over the Lawsons for Christmas breakfast and play time then back home and we actually cleaned the entire garage! I waited 5 years to clean the garage with Jeff. We could have filled a dumpster. It looks amazing. Then later I did the playroom with Andrew. Hope you all had a wonderful day!

Andrew's 9th Birthday

2007-12-22T15:22:00.000-05:00

The day started with donuts and hot chocolate for Andrew's class and then after school we went to Disney to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party with Andrew's best friend Sienna. Wow, there is nothing like Disney at the Holiday time. It was so magical. The event was sold out but it didn't feel croweded. We entered the park at around 5:30 and stayed til it closed at midnight. The castle was unbelieveable it looked like it was covered in icesickles. We went many rides with little to no wait and had hot chocolate and cookes. We met Buzz and Bullseye, Snow White and Prince Charming, pin traded, saw the parade and partied til the park closed.

Hard to believe that my baby is 9 already!

Jeff is a CPA!!!

2007-12-20T08:10:00.000-05:00

I awoke this morning to Jeff walking in the bedroom with a piece of paper, I knew exactly what it was...his final test score on part 4 of the CPA exam and he passed. We started screaming of great joy and Andrew came in and we had a huge family hug. I am so proud of him. This has been a 6 year goal of Jeffs. He worked so hard to go back to school and then study for the past year to take and pass each of the 4 parts. Tomorrow we are off to Disney World for Andrews birthday and we will be celebrating!! Way to go Jeff. You Rock! I am so proud of you.

My name is Jocelyn Stevens and my husband is a CPA. I told him I was going to say that from now on.

A Cheery Blog entry

2007-12-18T16:41:00.000-05:00

I had a request from Karen and Cathy to update my blog and make it cheerful! Acutally I am quite cheerful. I have been busy scrapping at night. Basic Grey is an awesome company, my favorite tool, my magnetic mat was injured and they sent me a brand new one yesterday. If you have not tried this awesome tool, go to K2 Scrapbook Studio and buy one, you won't regret it.

I can hardly believe my baby will be 9 on Friday! Wow, where does 9 years go? We are taking his best friend Sienna to Disney to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on Friday night and I don't know who is more excited, him or me.

We should find out on Friday if Jeff passed the final part of the CPA exam, my fingers and toes are crossed. I know he passed.

Yesterday in the mail was my new Poppy Ink kit! Love, Poppy Ink, their design gallery is awesome.

I am off a couple of days next week and I have 2 big projects in mind, the garage and Andrews playroom closet. Sounds like fun, right? I am actually looking forward to getting rid of stuff. Jeff is right the garage is a dumping ground. Once it goes in there it seldom comes back into the house.

Hard to believe the holidays are upon us, this year went super fast! I am blessed with an awesome family and amazing friends. Happy Holidays.

My Sweet Fern

2007-12-12T22:22:00.001-05:00

My best friend Fern lost her mother early Tuesday morning after a long illness. When Fern called me early on Tuesday morning and told me her mother had passed it took me back to last July when I called her to say my dad had died. Fern and David were over in minutes.
As I made them soup and dessert for dinner and drove to Fern's house I saw a magnificent sunset and thought about Fern and how deep the pain is right now. I remember thinking when my dad died that people came to sit shiva with us and they were sad with us and for us, but when they left the house, they went back to their lives, work, family, their daily lives. I couldn't go back to daily life, I was frozen in incredible sadness, I was jealous they got to go back to life as it was before and my life was never going to be the same again. Last night was my turn to go and be sad but I left and went back to my life and Fern and her families life will never be the same.
Death is sad, the pain is so deep and lasts so long. Fern called me everyday after my dad died and still does. I told her on Tuesday how much that meant to me and how she helped me to get through each day of my life without my dad. Now I will return the favor. I told her our mothers taught us well. Rest in peace Marcia. I love you Fern.

Aunt Paula

2007-12-05T22:15:00.000-05:00

Six short years ago tonight on December 5 my sweet Aunt Paula passed away after an almost 3 year battle with ovarian cancer. My Aunt was my mothers sister and was there for my brother and sister and I for our whole lives. My Aunt loved to travel and thru her career with the airlines traveled the world. She never had any children and because of that she loved us more, if you know what I mean. My aunt had a tough life, never really had any breaks, had a lot of sorrow and disapointments but the last time I ever saw her in Miami in her hospital bed 2 weeks before she died, I asked her what was the happiest day of you life and she looked at me and said, I had to many to pick one. She said the day I was born, the day Jon was born, and the day Shari was born, the day we each got married and the day we each had our children. Here was a woman who was dying, her tumor so big she couldn't move and she was sad and didn't complain. I remember her everyday. I remember her good nature, her kindness, her love, her attention, her devotion. I can hardly believe it has been 6 years already. Andrew was almost 3 now he is almost 9. I remember her holding him when he was small and she was crying, she knew she would never see him grow up.

I remember you today Aunt Paula, I remember you everyday of my life. I miss you. I remember being so relieved when she died, she suffered so much and for so long. Her dying wish was that I would have my ovaries out, which I did less than 2 weeks after she died.

On Oprah today she had the author of Tuesdays with Morrie, and asked the question if you could go back to one day in your life who would you be with. Most people said a grandparent but I am young and have buried so many people I love including both parents I would choose my dad. Perhaps because his loss is still so fresh. My mom has been gone so long, I would need more than a day to catch up with her. But my dad I could spend a day with. We would sit in a booth at The White House in Atlantic City and I would just talk and touch him, smell his cologne and look at his happy smiling face.

Today was just not an ordinary day, it was Aunt Paula's day.

Busy Weekend

2007-12-02T21:38:00.000-05:00

What a busy week. It feels like I was thru a wirlwind of activities this past week. On Friday night I had the honor of attending a very special Shabbat Dinner with some incredibly interesting women, 3 lawyers, 2 therapists, one of the founders of NOW, a journalist, a professor, a masters in human resources and so much more. We laughed, we ate, we celebrated our jewishness and our feminist side. Saturday was the annual Girlfriends Tea and how incredibly special it was to celebrate with amazing women who shape my daily life and enrich my world. Back home to change to go with Jeff (who by the way took the last of the CPA exam on Friday) to LaBarge to enjoy a sunset cruise in honor of my friend Edda's 50th Birthday. Then Jeff and I went to Barnes and Noble and then to dinner all by ourselves, thank you Melissa. Today I stayed in my PJ's all day and nursed my cold.

This week is Hanukkah, Bunco, Hanukkah dinner and all day scrapbooking on Sunday!

Thanksgiving Photos from New Jersey

2007-11-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

Make a slide show, scrapbook, or ecard

Thanksgiving Recipe #3 Corn Pudding

2007-11-18T17:25:00.001-05:00

Corn Pudding

Makes 8 servings
Prep: 15 min. Bake 45 Min. Stand: 5 min

¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
6 large eggs
2 cups whipping cream
½ cup butter, melted
4 cans (15 ozs) corn kernels, drained

Combine first 4 ingredients.
Whisk together eggs, whipping cream, and butter. Gradually add sugar mixture, whisking until smooth; stir in corn. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish.
Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes or until deep golden and set. Let pudding stand 5 minutes.

I highly recommend this one. It is from my friend Molly's mom, Evelyn.

Thanksgiving Recipe #2-Baked French Toast

2007-11-17T15:39:00.000-05:00

I can hardly believe I am heading up to NJ with Andrew in only 3 days for Thanksgiving. Jeff is staying home to study for part 4 of the CPA exam. I am bringing some of my special thanksgiving recipes to share with my family and one of them is Baked French toast for Thanksgiving morning.

1 Challah, sliced
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
½ cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
5 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt

Combine, corn syrup, butter and brown sugar. Simmer until thick syrup.

Beat together, eggs, milk, vanilla and salt.

Pour syrup in bottom of buttered 9x13 dish.

Top with sliced Challah. Pour egg mixture over bread. Cover and refrig. Overnight. Bake uncovered 350 for 45 min.

Serve hot or warm.

Thanksgiving Recipe #1-Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

2007-11-07T18:28:00.000-05:00

I made these tonight to bring to Fern's house. The recipe is from my friend Lee DeGroft. You must make them! They are incredible!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 12 huge muffins or 24 mini muffins
Dry Ingredients- mix thoroughly in bowl
1 2/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients-beat with wire whisk in bowl
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix until moist. Add chocolate chips. Fill greased muffin tins ¾ full. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min until firm.

Scrap and Dash tonight

2007-11-07T18:04:00.000-05:00

I love this layout. I had such fun creating it. Scrap and Dash is going on right now at K2 so head on over. Trick or Treat!

Halloween Slide Show-Smilebox

2007-10-31T20:45:00.000-04:00

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

Halloween Fun!

2007-10-31T20:30:00.001-04:00

Trick or Treat. We did the loop in our neighborhood. By the end the bugs were biting and the kids were thirsty and tired. Hope you had a "sweet" Halloween.

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T17:57:00.000-04:00

Wow, what an afternoon! I left work and had to run home to burn 2 photos to get to a photography place to have it made into a poster by tomorrow, then pick up Andrew and Sienna take them with me. I got to the photo place and I had burned the images incorrectly. Ran back home, re-burned the images, back to the photography place, ran thru the drive through with them at McDonalds, ran into to Publix to take them Trick or Treating and now we are resting before heading over to Melissa's to meet up with the gang to Trick or Treat. Hope you all have a safe and fun halloween night!

Soccer

2007-10-28T17:21:00.003-04:00

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

Pumpkin Patch pictures

2007-10-28T17:07:00.000-04:00

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

Happy Fall

2007-10-28T16:55:00.001-04:00

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

What kind of dessert are you?

2007-10-22T21:30:00.001-04:00

You Are Cheesecake

Rich, sweet, and simply perfect.

You're not boring - you're just the best!

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

K2 Design Team Challenge

2007-10-22T20:56:00.000-04:00

Ok, here is the challenge for this week. Scraplift me! That's right, the queen of scraplifting, me is challenging all you talented ladies to scraplift me. Don't forget a scraplift is not an exact duplication. Create your layout, send me a picture of it and go to K2 and put your name in the challenge jar.

Where have you been

2007-10-16T19:32:00.001-04:00

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide
I was actually surprised to see I had visited 22 states. To create your own map go to http://www.world66.com/myworld66

Texas-Yee Hah

2007-10-15T20:35:00.000-04:00

I had such a great time in Texas at the conference and with the Browns after the conference. Karen and I had so much fun shopping on Saturday and Sunday. Everything is bigger in Texas. We had great steaks one night and then at the Brown's we had unbelievable hambergers at Kinkaids, Bar B Q at the Feedstore, Mexican on Sunday. We went to 2 great scrapbook stores. What fun.

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Cheeseburger Cheeseburger

2007-10-07T13:45:00.000-04:00

The best thing about Cheeseburger Cheeseburger besides the great Root Beer Floats is the big Cheeseburger you can ask to take pictures with. The kids all had such fun posing with the big Cheeseburger.

Soccer Season Begins

2007-10-06T10:42:00.000-04:00

A new soccer season has begun and this year Andrews team is the Blue Sharks. They won their first game today!

K2 Design Team Challenge

2007-09-24T16:32:00.001-04:00

This week the challenge is being issued by me. I challenge you to create a layout using at least 15 different embellishments. This layout was done at the SDV as a round robin with Megan, Nikki, Kim and myself. I chose the photos and the paper and started working on the layout for 10 minutes, then the layout was passed to Megan who worked on it for 10 minutes, then to Nikki and then to Kim! I just love it. It is full of fun embellishments. I will give a prize (from my fabulous stash)to the person who can correctly list all the embellishments.

I can 't wait to see what you create. Make your layout and send me a photo, then go to K2 and enter your name in the fishbowl to say you did the challenge. there will be a big prize awarded. See the K2 blog for more details on the prize and the drawing. www.k2scrapbookstudio.typepad.com

Yom Kippur- Remembering and looking forward

2007-09-21T16:17:00.000-04:00

Tonight is Kol Nidre, the beginning of the most holy day of Yom Kippur for all Jews. Tonight I will light Memorial candles for those I have loved and lost. I remember my beloved mother, Marilyn, my beloved father, Marvin, my Nanny, Anna, my Grandfather, Sam, my Aunt, Paula and I light one candle for the 6,000,0000 million jews who died during the Holocaust. At sundown a 24 hour fast begins and tomorrow prayer and atonment. I always take the opportunity to remember on Yom Kippur, remember those I have lost. I look forward to a New Year. You forgive during the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and I have done that. It is a time of peace.

It is ok to remember those you have loved and lost it is part of life. Sometimes you can lose people from your life who are still alive. It is all a passage.

To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted; 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

I remember, the good, the bad, the sweet, the very sad, the joy, the dispare. I remember. I wish everyone an easy fast and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Happy Anniversary to us

2007-09-19T17:27:00.000-04:00

Happy Anniversary my dear sweet Jeff.

I am the luckiest woman alive to be married to you for the past 15 years. You are my best friend and my soul mate. Hard to believe we met over 24 years ago in the Ithaca College Box Office. I never in a million years would have thought back then that I would marry a TAMMIE.

You are everything to me. I am so proud of you and what you have been working toward these past 6 years. You are an amazing husband, father and friend. I love you so much! Happy 15th Anniversary.

Scrap and Dash tonight

2007-09-19T17:23:00.001-04:00

Head on over to K2 tonight to create these two great pages featuring the new Basic Grey papers and the new American Craft Thickers. I have been getting some help creating the Scrap and Dash pages by Kim Bolyard, a very talented fellow K2 Design Team member. Thanks Kim!!! Kim created the bonus page and I did the regular $5 page.

Don't forget the 2 day Pink Crop next Friday and Saturday at K2. I think there are still seats available.

Run, don't WALK to K2

2007-09-11T20:45:00.001-04:00

Run, don't walk to K2 and grab the new Fancy Pants Fashion Sense Felt Shapes. I used them tonight on a layout and they are amazing! I mean these people are brilliant for creating them. I just love, love, love them. Go and get yours today!!!!

SDV-What an awesome weekend

2007-09-09T22:06:00.001-04:00

Well, I am back. Every year I look forward to the SDV (Scrapbook Dream Vacation). It is a weekend away at Disney World where we get to scrap non-stop for days and hang with girlfriends. This year I went with Amy, Gail, Karen, Candy, Megan, Kim and Nikki. We had such an amazing time. On Friday we all wore our "Feel Your Boobies" T-Shirts to support Breast Cancer research. A fellow Alum from Ithaca College started the non profit www.feelyourboobies.com after she discovered she had breast cancer in her 30's. We will get to wear our new shirts at the Pink Crop at K2 in a couple of weeks.

We did it all this weekend. On Wednesday when we arrived we got upgraded to a room in the main building in the Contemporary Hotel. I have always wanted to stay at that hotel in the main building where the monorail runs thru it. The rooms have all been re-done and they are really nice now. We had dinner on the top floor at the California Grill on Wednesday and it was so good. After dinner we went to the crop room and got all set up.

On Thursday we were in the crop room nice and early and enjoyed a full day of scrapbooking. Megan worked on this beautiful clear album that she will be teaching a class on soon at K2. It really rocked.

On Friday I had only completed 2 pages before I had to take a nap at 4-6:30 pm so I could stay up and crop on Friday night. Friday night Kim, Nikki and I had the best time doing a round robin. We each started our own layout and got to work on it for 10 minutes and then we had to pass it on to the next person who worked on it for 10 minutes. I'll have to take pictures of the layouts we did, they turned out so great. After we finished the round robin, we decided to pass the layouts again, except this time we scraplifted eachother.

On Saturday, Megan joined in on the fun and we did it 2 more time. I had two 20 min massages and 1 20 min reflexology, completed 28 pages (12x12) and a handful of 9x9 pages in the Africa Album and had the best time. Thanks girls.

On Saturday after dinner we went over the Beach Club to have the Kitchen Sink sundae at their Ice Cream Palor. The photos are on Nikki's camera and I can't wait to see them.

I got home before 3 and unpacked almost everything. I put my new pages in my scrapbook and then took a nap. I am off to bed now to read my new Scrapbook Play magazine!

I WON!

2007-09-09T22:02:00.000-04:00

I can't say I never win anything, because I have won things before...today when I got home from the SDV (Scrapbook Dream Vacation) there was an envelope from Simple Scrapbooks with the new book Scrapbook Play inside. I thought, "I didn't order anything from Simple Scrapbooks." Then I opened the envelope and inside was the new book Scrapbook Play with a sticker that said, first bound copy on it! Then I remembered I had entered on their blog to win a copy and I DID! Thanks Simple Scrapbooks. I can't wait to get in bed and start reading.

Whahoo..SDV

2007-09-05T17:04:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to be here at the SCrapbook Dream Vacation in Orlando. We arrived today and got upgraded to a room in the tower. So right out our door is the monorail. I have always wanted to stay in a room in the tower. All the rooms in the tower have been re-done and boy are they nice and modern. Megan just got here and Kim and Nikki are riding the monorail taking pictures. We are going to have the greatest time. 4 days of non-stop scrapping. We load in tonight and we get to start scrapping.

I love getting flowers

2007-08-30T18:16:00.000-04:00

A really BIG thank you to my amazing friend Cathy for sending me the most gorgeous and awesome smelling bouquet of flowers today. What an incredible surprise! The flowers were exactly what I needed after the last 2 weeks of everything. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Cathy. You brightened my whole day and I get to enjoy them at home over the long weekend!!!!!

Happy Birthday Karen

2007-08-29T20:12:00.000-04:00

I want to wish my dear and very sweet friend Karen a very happy birthday! I am so looking forward to this years SDV and some great girlfriend time with you. May you have a wonderful day filled with love and everything sweet. You are an amazing women, doctor, mom, scrapbook store owner and friend. I love you.

Head Shot

2007-08-21T20:15:00.000-04:00

We had our head shots taken at work for use on our website and maybe the annual report. I choose the first one! It was so weird to get all dressed up in a suit jacket and blouse, I try not to wear that to work too often, way to hot in Florida in the summer.

Back to School!

2007-08-20T23:00:00.001-04:00

Back to School! 3rd Grade, here he comes. I can hardly believe it, it seems like yesterday he was off to kindergarten and now, a big 3rd grader.

Shopping with the Boraks

2007-08-11T20:58:00.000-04:00

What fun Andrew and I had yesterday. We went up to Brandon to the Cheesecake Factory to meet my sorority sister LuAnne and her 3 beautiful children, Christian, McKenna and Carson. The boys talked Pokemon and the girls talked Delta Phi Zeta and birthday parties. After lunch we went shopping in the mall and the kids had an amazing time at Brookstones. What a great afternoon.

Happy Birthday to me and Melissa

2007-08-11T20:55:00.000-04:00

I just love my girlfriends! We celebrated my birthday and Melissa's Birthday the other night with a summer BBQ.

Scrap and Dash today!

2007-08-08T16:54:00.001-04:00

I just loved these papers and stickers from Reminise. I had the perfect photos to go with these very summery papers! Head over to K2 to create the "Such Joy" layout for only $5.

Scraperdoo Bars

2007-08-05T15:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday at the awesome 12 hour crop at K2 Amy brought Scraperdoo Bars, they were too good!

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
bring to just about a boil, as soon as you see bubbles remove from heat and stir in

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter and 1 tsp vanilla

mix still smooth and pour over 7 cups of special K cereal, mix good

pour and pack it all into a 9x13 pan. Melt 6 oz of both butterscotch morsels and milk chocolate morsels in microwave still creamy and then pour it over the packed Special K mixture. Serve!!

Mackenzie turns 7

2007-08-02T22:12:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Miss Mackenzie. I can hardly believe you are 7 oh my. I can remember the night you were born so clearly, it seems like yestersday. You are such an amazing little lady. I wish you a very happy, happy birthday! May all your dreams come true! Love you.

By popular demand...Buffalo Chicken Wing dip

2007-08-01T21:57:00.000-04:00

I made this for Bunco tonight and everyone went nuts. The picture doesn't make it look that great, but it really is.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 (5 ounce) cans of chicken, drained

2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened

1 cup Ranch dressing

¾ cup Red Hot SauceS

hredded cheddar cheese

Beat the cream cheese, ranch dressing and hot sauce together.Fold in chicken.Lightly spray baking dish with Pam and spread above ingredients evenly in dish.Bake at 350 for 15 min.Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake another 10-15 min.Serve hot with fritos corn chips.

Scrap and Dash tonight

2007-08-01T21:45:00.001-04:00

This weeks Scrap and Dash features the new Cherry Arte pattern papers and the amazing Making Memories paper tape. I just love that tape. The bonus page features embellishments from Heidi Swapp!

Hint for next week: bring beach and water picutres especially surfing or boogie board pictures.