OK... I have stepped away from the Christmas Cards Chuck!

LOL?!

How did you know?! I suppose I mentioned that was what I was going to work on last time, huh!? Well - I think I finished about 22 Christmas slide Cards... yeah?! Um - it took me less time to do that last order of 100 cards!? LOL!? So - I think I am pretty much done with the slide cards and will choose an easier version for the REST of my Christmas card list. As I was assembling the Slide portion, I found myself really wanting to edit my list... it seems each year it gets a bit smaller than the year before?! Maybe I am just lazy... or maybe it really, sadly, IS becoming a lost tradition!? Do you all make or send Christmas cards!? How many do the 'family letter'? C'mon!? Fess up! (Let me know if you make cards, or send cards, and how many you send... at the end of the week I will draw a name and send you a little RAK!)

Oh... I was taking pictures of my Christmas cards (surprise, surprise) to post here... and I realized that I am pretty sure that SOMEHOW I did not blog about my lovely Anniversary gift!? How could this be?! So, I snapped away...

Yep - that is right! 15 years of wedded bliss scored me this:

But... it's not JUST the Monk Bobblehead doll... the dh knew enough to include a little jewelry... a little bling bling, if you will:

No joke!???!

I said, "Honey - 15 years... that is MINK not Monk?" In all honesty, we do not trade gifts on our Anniversaries, or even really at Christmas time either?! Usually just our birthdays. For our Anniversary, we normally go out to dinner, and then find a way to get a weekend out of town as well. That is our gift to each other... the gift of TIME... we like it that way! As far as Christmas goes, we do fill each others' stockings. Let me say, this tradition was a bit bumpy in the beginning... he was raised with fruit and nuts and socks in his stocking... while I was raised with lipsmackers, and perfume, and money!?!? Um - yeah... that first year or two I was pretty unimpressed with the whole orange-in-the-toe deal?! I don't even like oranges?! LOL!? Anyway - we do a Family/House gift and then the stockings for each other. This is not so hard for me, because ...well, (1) I cram GOOD gifts in the stockings, and (2) his birthday is the very next day! So - I still get to shop for him... Anyway - that is his disclaimer... we normally don't buy any GIFTS for anniversaries!?!! None!

So... most of you already know, our Anniversary this year was not celebrated... we were still in shock and grieving the sudden and senseless loss of our good friend Kevin. So - to have Dave pull out a gift... I was caught off guard... Now, keep in mind, he had to Order this... not only THAT, but he had to order it ONLINE! Now, if you knew my Honey - you would know what an act of love this was! LOL! It was meant to be a joke... we do love Monk and watch it together and so it was just supposed to be funny... but, as you can imagine, due to other circumstances, it just didn't go over as well as he had hoped! When I unwrapped it, I was thinking it was a real gift due to the fact that we had to cancel our trip... so I was not laughing so much in the beginning! However, Mr. Monk is now a part of our decor and, in case you can't really tell from the picture, the Bling Bling is a Bobblehead too! Oh, yes it is!!!

Well - he DID redeem himself... in that we DID eventually get to go away for our weekend... he made reservations at the first hotel we stayed in for our very first Anniversary and made reservations at our favorite restaurant too! PLUS... he bought me these items too:

...which I LOVE!!!

OK... now, on to those Christmas cards... here are some of them:

I am excited to work on a few regular layouts featuring our time in Leavenworth, as well as our game night with Chuck and the gang! My Scrap group meets this Thursday and I actually have my own stuff to work on! Yay!

Hope you are all well! Don't forget to fill me in on the whole Christmas Card list... (I am trying to convince my dh that I am not the only one!?!) LOL!

Scrap Happy!
~Karrilee~

Fun Fall Foto's (what?!!!!??)

I love Fall... if you know me at all...

or have read my blog

with any consistency,

you already know this!

It comes as no surprise, I know!

The title?! Yeah - well

- I've gone to church

long enough to know that you can

change the spelling of certain words

to get the right message

(aka the right acronym!)

Anyway - I am pleased to report

that Dave & I did

in fact get to leave town

last Friday & get a little break!

(I felt like Bob, in

What About Bob...

like we had a prescription to

take a vacation from

our problems! LOL!)

It truly was an awesome get-away...

the colors (as you will see)

were gorgeous!

The weather perfect...

the town still as charming

& quaint as always...

the Tiramisu Gelato divine...

the Chicken Jerusalem

still melts in your mouth...

the Jazz Music was relaxing...

the Fresh Air (& Shopping!)

did us good...

&, of course, the famous

Gingerbread Factory

"White Choc Ginger Oatmeal"

cookies were INCREDIBLE!?!!?

YUM!

We actually had our friends the Beeler's

over for coffee Friday morning...

Well - by morning, WE meant like 9ish...

but, as most of you know,

'morning' to Chuck is something totally different?!

Of course, it didn't help that they were leaving

our house to go visit Grandma

- so everyone had to be 'presentable'!

Anyway - we had a great visit with them

& eventually (around 12:30 I think!?)

headed out of town!

We took Kaye to our sisters' house

& happily drove out of the city limits!

Don't get me wrong - we actually love our town...

but with all that has happened in the past few weeks

- we NEEDED a change of scenery!

Dave had made reservations at the same hotel

we celebrated our FIRST wedding Anniversary at

...that was sweet!

He also made reservations for dinner

at our favorite restaurant too...

requesting a table close to the Jazz Trio

that is always playing there on Friday nights!

Nice!

Anyway - we walked around town,

&d we walked along the riverfront park,

& we relaxed at the hotel,

we laughed & talked

& just really enjoyed being together.

We had lots of moments that really felt like

we were celebrating,

& a few that reminded us that something

- someone - was missing - even miles away!

Over all we came home incredibly thankful

that God has blessed our marriage

& that we are best friends...

a good reminder that even

before Kevin's death

- that was the truth!

& after it, it is even more so!

We came back to town on Saturday afternoon, unpacked, & headed out to meet up with more friends. Pretty much the core of our old Home Group... TONS of laughing while playing some stupid game that is completely subject to the judge - and so there is really no rules at all!? LOL!? It's not that I am a sore loser.. honest, it's not... I got mad when the 'judge' wouldn't pick an obvious answer even if it wasn't mine... which - c'mon - with the cards I had - rarely was it mine anyway?! I did win one of the three rounds we played... Apples to Apples... Dust to dust I say! LOL!? And still - I wouldn't trade the laughter for anything... not even a Jelly cabinet! (That one's for you, Chuck!) That, and the now classic (if I do say so myself) Festering Wounds = Local Police TRUMP card! That's right... I said it! If only I would have held on to that Trailer Park card too... what was I thinking wasting that one on someone BESIDES Darcie?!

Anyway - tonight, Dave is at Kevin's. He is picking up some books and other things that are ours... he is playing pool with Kevin's Dad... he is finding another piece of closure and another wound yet unhealed... but, the fog is lifting!

Praise God... the fog is lifting!

Scrap On!
~Karrilee~

Fall Food Layouts...

OK, ok... yes Chuck - I WILL update soon...

my 'coolest friend' did in fact

come to town last weekend

& once again nearly caused me

to pee my pants laughing!?

Aaah - good times... good times!

But - for now, I will just post these

digi lo's featuring some of the food

I made for Bunko last week!

I will give a 'real' update soon

- with words and everything...

(but Chuck has all the photo's... )

Crap!? WHEN will I learn, people?!

Anyway - because I was just

playing around this morning

(because I am all caught up!?)

and because we have

1/2 days ALL WEEK long...???

it is already time for me

to go get my kid

- this is all ya get for now!

Scrap Happy!

~Karri~

Aaahhh... Italy!!! Don't ya want to go!??!

OK... I finally remembered to ask for permission from my client to post some of her layouts from her Italy album! Yay! (...and of course, she said yes!!!)

So... just to make you want to go to Italy almost as much as me... here ya go:

There are more pages, of course - but you get the idea!
Aaaahhhh... Italy!

One day, my friend! One day!!!

Ciao!

~Karri~

Good friends, good food, good... trees?

Hey there...

Thanks to everyone who has prayed for us, sent a comment or e-mail or card... even phoned us... (I have been on the phone way too much - but each call has been a blessing... well - not 'each' call - but you know, in general!?) This week seems a bit less foggy... still hard, and sad, and emotional at the drop of a hat... we are well aware that we will not simply move on from this... that we will not 'get over' it or get back to life as usual... Kevin was so much a part of that 'life as usual'... Dave nor I have really ever lost anyone that we were super close to. We have both lost grandparents, great grandparents, other distant relatives... some other people we have known - but not someone who was so involved in our lives and hearts. So - losing Kevin (especially for Dave) is like losing a sibling. It will take time. I will say, however, even at the roughest moments, we have felt the prayers. God promises us that He is our Comforter... there is no emotion or thought or feeling that we are dealing with that He has not dealt with already... and He promises to be strong in our weaknesses... well - here ya go, Lord...

Pray for us on Saturday please... Dave is giving the eulogy. He hasn't yet written anything out. I am praying he will... it will just be easier... and if for whatever reason he is unable to get through it - I or someone else can step in and read for him. I know Dave is thinking about how to best minister to Kev's family... and I love that about him... but I also want him to have the freedom to really be there and be present himself as well!

We have been blessed by all of our friends and family... one thing that this has reminded us of is that none of us are promised tomorrow. We stay in a state of thankfulness and counting our blessings all the time... and yet, life gets busy... and we put off getting together or planning time to spend together 'on purpose' Nothing like a tragedy to get your priorities back in line, huh?

I had the honor and pleasure of meeting my client for lunch on Tuesday. I have now completed two 12x albums for her... one of her Guatemala trip, and most recently, the Italy trip album. This is also the client whose son Gary had ALS. Yes, I said had... he passed away a couple of months ago. We have grown rather close through the past year or two and talk often. Losing Gary was difficult... we had prayed for so long and had seen God answer in so many ways... but not in the main way we were hoping for. At one point, (remember - I told you in the last post that I am a bit crazy?) ...anyway - at one point I was praying for his healing the day that he died, and I felt that God spoke to my heart and said, "Karri, in order for Resurrection to happen, there is gonna have to be deaths." So - when Gary died, and I prayed for resurrection - well, I was a bit discouraged that we didn't see the resurrection. (Imagine my frustration after praying over Kevin... !?!) Still... I know that I am called to pray this way... and I know that if I DON'T - then I won't ever see it happen. I may not anyway - but if I don't at least pray for it, I can't expect it to happen!? Anyway - I drove to Ellensburg and met Joyce for lunch... I brought with me her finished Italy album... what an honor and joy to watch her page through it! With my business, I don't always get to watch the client see the completed project in person... so to watch her joy and pleasure with it blessed me so much! (I forgot to ask her permission to post some layouts though... I have e-mailed her and once she gives me the go ahead, I will post a few here!) We had a great lunch... good friends, good food, good conversation... we talked about a ton of things and it was just nice to be out of town and to think of other things!? On the way home, I was blessed to take in all the fall colors and changing trees... it's not normally a drive that I enjoy as far as the scenery... but God blessed me with a gorgeous day and I was able to really drink it in!

We are in the process of re-planning a weekend getaway... it was originally scheduled for this weekend and that obviously wasn't going to work out... Dave is looking for a place for the first weekend of November... I told him last night that I was fine with not going... the Beelers will be here and we don't need to go but he interrupted me and said that HE needed to go... oops?! There I was thinking of myself... assuming he was planning it for me, when he is in desperate need of a change of scenery!? So, we may just go for one night... we are hoping to still have time to visit with you Chuck! We may leave Friday morning and come back Saturday afternoon... maybe we can do coffee Friday morning... or dinner on Saturday night... or both?! Oh - and while it will PALE in comparison to Archivers I KNOW (I am SO planning to head your way in the Spring!), we have a new LSS opening that weekend here!? Could be fun!?!?!?

I have been working on a digi-book of our Pt Angeles trip. I know, I know?! See - I PRINTED all my 200 photo's to scrap in real life... but what I really wanted was a landscape 8.5x11 album and couldn't FIND one... so then I noticed that I could maybe do it digitally and have it printed by Shutterfly into a bound hardback book...?! So - I am giving that a go and we'll see how it works out?! I may end up still actually scrapping them... but?! We'll see?! So - here are a few pages of that album so far:

Janice is coming over to scrap with me tomorrow... I will work on Thanksgiving Placecards and Christmas cards I think... maybe alter something?! We'll see?! Now, I am off to reheat the yummy meatloaf and potatoes I made for dinner last night... Mmmm - comfort food! Someone mentioned something to me... or I read it somewhere?... about pumpkins?! I guess it is pumpkin season... I wonder what all I could make using pumpkins?! tee hee!?

Scrap On!

~Karri~

10 Reasons

We are still in a bit of shock here.... my husbands' best friend from high school passed away on Monday... his brother called us and at first Dave thought he was joking around... we quickly ran over to the house and sure enough... Kevin was in his bed - but he was no longer there. The cause is still unknown and the reality hasn't yet set in... of course, we prayed for him and -crazy as I am - I had hoped to see him rise up and come forth - much like Lazarus. I know... honestly - but that is how I am wired and I take Jesus at His Word... He said we should be healing the sick and raising the dead and let me tell you - on Monday night - I was about sick and tired of it not working... anyway - this post is not about that... I just wanted to post SOMETHING... move forward... think it through a bit and begin to process...

So - off the top of my head, here are 10 Reasons why we love and will miss Kevin...

10. He always had some deep thought or new idea that was so beyond my own ability to comprehend and understand ...he was brilliant, genius even, and he pushed us to learn more and catch up - always on top of the latest Scientific discovery or latest (REAL) news stories!

9. I loved it when he would call and talk to Kayelyn for 20 minutes before asking for Dave... and she loved that he always called her Princess Kayelyn. (Who doesn't need to be reminded that they are a princess once in awhile?!)

8. We loved his sense of humor and his ability to make us laugh... almost always!

7. We loved his soft heart... if there was a wounded animal or a stray ANYTHING anywhere close to him... he'd be feeding it for weeks to come?!

6. We loved his willing heart to help out anyone less fortunate than himself... even those who were more fortunate but still in need... he'd give above and beyond when he really didn't have it to give... whether it was labor, food, money... well - it was seldom money - but if he had it and you could use it - it was called yours!

5. I am gonna miss his crazy theological questions or deep ponderings about God... he would call at the strangest times and draw me into the weirdest conversations about God... I loved those conversations and treasure them now!

4. Dave will miss the hours of equal competition... golf, cribbage, chess, any kind of cards, any game whatsoever - they would ALWAYS have tie-breakers... it was rare for one to beat the other SOUNDLY! They were evenly matched... whether sports or games or intelligence...

3. He was a true and steady friend... someone who knew Dave from way before I knew Dave... who had stories from childhood and we could reminisce and remember the old days, while still knowing that the Good days are right here, right now! The value of relaxing with a friend who has been with you through the best days and the worst days... who was STILL there! We will miss that a lot!

2. We will miss the taunting and the made-up songs of Dave's losing and how Kev' was the Winner... (as I mentioned, it almost always ended in a tie-break... so if Kevin won - EVERYONE knew! LOL!)

...and the #1 Reason why we will miss Kevin is:
He was part of our life... part of our family... he was lovingly (honestly!) referred to as my husbands' 'other wife'... Dave saw Kevin once or twice a week... pretty much all the time, for over 20 years... to think that he won't call... that there will not be another impromtu pool challenge or golf game... no more Cribbage or Chess or watching the US Open at his house... it is too much...

But then again, I also have peace when I realize that his back no longer hurts, he is no longer in constant pain... his theological questions are now being answered by Father God and Jesus Himself... he is not lacking or less than or needy or questioning his life or regretting his past anymore... he is with God. He is happy, he is healthy, he is where we long to be... and damn it... he wins again!?

We love you Kevin... you were a good friend, a strong brother, a trusted confidant... and we will see you again on the streets of gold!

On a side note - I am so mad at myself for not taking PHOTO's of Kevin!? All those afternoons hanging out - seemed so.... so.... normal? - that I didn't think to take photo's?! (sigh) Mostly - it was Dave and Kevin hanging out or playing sports... and the guys don't really think or want to take pictures of each other...

Still, I encourage you to take pictures of your everyday life and the everyday people that you strive to not take for granted... I so wish I would have clicked away at Kevin!

Be blessed and scrap On!
~Karri~

Yes... I said STACKS!

Honestly... stacks... well - OK - theoretically it could all be in ONE stack... but I have separated them into categories/layouts?! But still - I do have personal photo's to scrap in the waiting... I would not say so much that I am behind - as the photo's are all from this summer... and actually I was able to do four layouts on Saturday that caught me up to only have the Port Angeles trip left to scrap!



Whew?! I did finally complete the Italy album - I love it! I am so pleased with it! I would post more layouts - but it wouldn't be fair to the owner - as she has not yet seen it herself! Once I get her permission - (and after she has held it in her own hands) I will post some of my fav's! I am STILL waiting to hear from the album company?! I have sent one final e-mail... if I do not hear from them by tomorrow, I will have to talk with my client and let her know that this Custom album (which would have been SO COOL!!!!) is not going to happen, and we will need to purchase a different 12x album to complete the project! I also completed the custom tin order... 4 little mini's... pretty fun project and I think I will be getting more orders for these as Christmas gets closer... it's a great little stocking stuffer or teacher gift or something... you can use it for a brag book for Grandma, an address book for your teen (or yourself?!), or a mini scrapbook...

So - as soon as I was done with the Italy album, I decided to tackle a portion of that "Stack" of mine! As much as I LOVE the colors of the Italy album - honestly - they are all my favorites... Olive Green, Mustard Yellow, Rust Red, Plum, Brown... yummy earthy colors... when I went to grab my own papers and pictures - I went for BRIGHT Turq and lime green! Something loud and fun and whimsical... and I had a blast!!!

This week I am awaiting payment to begin the custom card order... 100 'Blank Inside" cards... I am so excited to get these done... and hopefully once I am done with this order, I will be able to get caught up on my Pt. Angeles Mini Album, and begin work on my nieces' Wedding Album as well! Oh yes - and let's not forget the Christmas Cards!? Yikes?! I think each year my list gets smaller as my business gets busier?! I ordered a new Stampin' Up! stamp set in order to inspire me to make this years cards... can't wait to get it!!!

Dave and I are coming up on 15 years of marriage... we dated for over a year and a half before that... he amazes me... I am blessed... and it really does keep getting better and better! Kaye is doing great - done with Tennis for now... busy with school and her social life... well - as much as a 12 year old can HAVE a social life! Overall we are enjoying Fall and trying to transition into some sort of regular routine and get used to it being darker more often... (the only down side of Autumn?!)



So - what have you all been up to?! What are you scrapping now!? Have you done any altered projects or anything beyond layouts recently?!



Scrap On!
~Karri~

Too funny!

Hey there...

Well - I am finishing up a few projects here... mainly the Italy album! I have 3 pages to do today and then I will be done! I am STILL, however, waiting to hear back from the company about the custom album I created... it should have been printed and shipped by now?! I have a small custom order of 4 mini's that I need to do today as well... and then my next client is wanting a custom order of 100 cards to match her new website/ministry... very exciting! (Although - this still means that I still have stacks... YES, STACKS - of my own photo's to scrap!?) Soon... soon!!!

Anyway - just for your own entertainment, follow this link and enjoy!!! This is a great little tutorial on how to make a "Man Made Card"... LOL!

http://www.livevideo.com/video/537FF9DA20B44560845DEE157D1F9DD6/man-made-card.aspx

Scrap On!
~Karrilee~