s.o.s., sick operating system, help!

>> Sunday, February 28, 2010

Greetings all!

Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend and enjoying this last day with those you love most!
Robert and I attended his baby sister’s 50th birthday party yesterday and I faired well throughout the six hours we were in attendance!  We were both thankful that the location was here in our town rather than a few hours away!  YAY!

Anyhoo, I’m in trouble with my PC and I’m hoping some of you can give me some advice as to what the trouble may be.

I had sat down to my PC early Friday evening to reboot it along with Robert’s while awaiting my son, Luke’s arrival with his girlfriend to file a FASFA application for him.  Robert’s computer rebooted as usual, however, mine did not!

On occasion, Windows Vista gets stuck, but I’ve always been able to overcome the issue and move right along.  Not this time.

After turning the computer on and off two or three times, as I was trying to F8 and to no avail, I realized that my keyboard lights were not on, so that is the reason I was not able to get into safe mode or to run a diagnostics.  

I connected another functioning keyboard with the same outcome.  While I was still fiddling with my system, Robert connected my keyboard to his computer and it was working.  So, I am not sure what is going on and this is now beyond my technical knowledge!  HELP!  Please!  

I was hoping to finish up the journaling strips for *Heartfully Yours* and to design my contribution for the Mega Blog Train that departs tomorrow morning and am now having to scrape things together on the laptop as best I can until I can figure out what I am up against with my PC.

I shall GREATLY appreciate any insight y’all can give me, anything I can feasibly do on my end to get beyond looking at the Dell window that I am stuck on!  

By the way, my keyboard does not work with ANY of my six plus USB ports.  Could there be corruption going on somewhere possibly?  If so, how do I tackle that not being able to get my system to F8?  Should I take the hard drive out and try connecting it to another computer?  

Thank you SOOOO much in advance for  your help!  Y’all are THE greatest at coming to my rescue!  

MWAH!

Much love, 

Linda :D

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jumping for joy, "ouch", and thanking y'all for the love!

>> Friday, February 26, 2010

Happy Friday (Saturday) everyone!

From the depths of my being, a HUGE thank you for the outpouring of well-wishes for my daughter and her new husband, as well as for me as I recuperate from my surgery!  Your love has lifted me and I just KNOW that I am healing quickly as a result of your kind words, thoughts and prayers!  MWAH!  I am trying my hardest to be good and not overdo myself.  I had to chuckle at Jane’s message in the chat box, “Girl, if you are reading this, GO back to bed now”!  Just how is it that y’all know me SO well … hmmmm?  He, he …

So, why might I be “jumping for joy” you ask?  Although jumping surely would hurt at this time, my heart cannot help itself but to do so!  I have lots to share, but will try to make it as brief as “I” am able!  LOL!

Firstly, here is a simple layout I put together to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Buckmier!  I am working on Robert’s laptop and don’t have all of my goodies to work with, therefore, I was limited to using my *Heartfully Yours* scrapkit, which just happened to have some color coordinating pieces and I did not have an opportunity to play with the photos following due to lack of Adobe Lightroom, filters, etc.   LOL! 

AprilEthanWeddingLayout-1-Prev
*Heartfully Yours* scrapkit by Bon Scrapatit Designs (free here on my blog)
Font: DJB LauraT Script by Darcy Baldwin
Photo:  Courtesy of the Walton boys using flash outdoors at night

As you know, due to my emergency surgery last week, I was unable to attend my daughter’s wedding, however, I was able to listen to the ceremony via Skype.  Unfortunately, it was too dark for the video cam to allow me the pleasure of feeding my visual appetite, but oh my, the ambience in the Octagonal Barn at McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse in Hillsboro, Oregon was flowing!  

April and Ethan wished for a casual, down-home feeling to be experienced by their family and close friends. Via their wedding share site, they posted that they were not registered and expressed that the love and support of those attending their union was a gift.  How sweet is that!  My baby girl and my new son-in-law are now basking in the sunshine somewhere on the Mexican Riviera! *sigh* 

Here are a few photos that were taken with my camera that I sent along with the boys.  I’m not sure who played photographer, but have a feeling the camera changed hands several times.  I had a bit of a Mama chuckle when I saw photos taken of the decor.  This tells me that my boys have paid attention to what their mom snaps at family events!  


A “big” shout-out of thanks to Ethan’s mom, Nila, for not only creating an INCREDIBLE photo collage of Ethan from birth to adulthood, but also for SO generously giving of her time in copying the photos I sent up with the boys and putting them into a collage for April.  I look forward to meeting Nila my next trip to Washington as we’ve already spoken on the phone several times and for several hours and I feel like I’ve known her for a very long time!  SO cool …

Exchanging vows and rings! 
Awwww … SO sweet!
What a nice hubby!  Ethan cleaning a speck of frosting from his new bride’s nose! I missed the action so not sure how wild they did or did not get with their cake!
You just know that I am going to work on creating a kit to scrap the kid’s wedding photos with once I get the DVD from Becca, April’s long-time friend, professional photographer and also the same photographer who shot April’s younger sister, Joan’s wedding.  Many of you may remember me posting a link to her site a few posts back when I shared Ethan and April’s wedding invitation with you.  Becca is such a sweetheart and as Nila stated, very efficient.  She amazes me!  I will share some of those photos as soon as I receive them.

Anyhoo, I just LOVE the tulle, lace and white lights set against a rustic wooden backdrop!  A little bit country with a lot of sophistication!  Love, love, LOVE it!
Dancing Queen!

When April was very young, she loved the song, “Dancing Queen” by Abba and she would sing it over and over again!  I believe I have it on tape somewhere and am hoping to transfer her recordings, which she believes no longer exist, to CD and surprise her with them unless, of course, she reads this!  LOL!  When I asked her why she thought they no longer existed, she replied, “because I’ve never found them anywhere”! Mama has them safely tucked away darlin’ girl and just as soon as I am able to purchase the equipment necessary to convert, I’m on it!
Husband singing to his wife …

Wife singing to her husband!
 
Joan called me on her cell phone so that I could listen to April sing.  We all wait with baited breath to hear April’s gifted vocals and her rendition of Beyonce’s, “Halo” brought many to tears as well as many shout-outs!  I was not able to hear the lyrics clearly, so I looked them up.  WOW!  A perfect song indeed for the way April feels about the love of her life!  I am hoping to get her to record it for me when she returns from her honeymoon.  If I am successful, I shall definitely share it with you!  I am SO happy for Ethan and April and wish them MUCH happiness as they walk into the future as husband and wife!

My next source of joy is my brand new grandniece, Elizabeth Anne, who made her debut on Valentine’s Day!  My older brother, Albert, had sent a few emails while I was sick and just as I was catching up with them, off to the hospital I went, so I’ve not had the opportunity to share until now.  My brother will be meeting his third granddaughter this weekend as he travels to pick up his wife, who has spent two weeks helping the new and first-time Mother!
Elizabeth-Anne

I snagged this photo from Facebook (permission granted) and if I try to enlarge it any further, it is horribly distorted, so I am hoping you are able to see Elizabeth’s precious little face!  Priceless photo of Mother and babe!  Interesting and I will make note in the event that any of you who are very visual have already done so, but when I look at this photo of my niece, she could easily pass for my daughter, April!  I am going to have to get some frontal photos of Suzanne and make some comparisons.  April and my older sister’s daughter favored each other considerably when I snapped photos of them together when April was 14.  I am beginning to see how strong my father’s genes are in mine and my siblings female offspring!

With ALL of this JOY going on over here, what else could I possibly share with you that would have my heart doing cart wheels?  Well, late Sunday afternoon, just before the boys were to leave Travis and Joan’s house for their return trip home to California, I received a call from Luke who asked if I had the computer in front of me as they wished to Skype me.  LOL!  I was just a wee bit loopy from the pain medication and was chuckling with them all as I had to finally go to my PC so that I could follow their request to check my email, but not to look until they told me to.  LOL!  Yes, I LOVE surprises, but did not realize that I was amongst a houseful of people listening to my nonsense as I tried to find my email icon to follow along with kids request!  LOL! 

So, I wait, refresh, wait and refresh a few more times, but nothing showed up.  Joan finally informed me that she was sending photos and that she might need to reduce the size.  Hmmm, I thought, yeah, they will take a while to come through if sent at full resolution.  Well, since time was of the essence and they needed to move things along, the kids all told me to close my eyes and not to open them until they told me to.  I SO love a good mystery!  ROFL!

What do you think I saw in front of my face, on my screen, in black and white?

BabyHand_Prev
Hello world, I’m on my way!
Yes, yes, yes, YES … I am going to be a Grandmother again!  New son, new grandniece, new grandbaby!  Life IS good!  Between Robert and I, this will make two more grandchildren this year as his number three son, Travis and his wife, Sofie, are expecting their second baby in September.  Travis and Joan’s FIRST little bundle is due to make HER debut mid-July!  Yes, you read correctly, they are having a GIRL!  After starting this post yesterday morning, Joan called after her second ultrasound at 20 weeks to find out the sex of their baby.  Joan shared with me how she had hoped to start with a girl because being an older sister to four brothers, she thinks it’s a GOOD thing!  I am tickled PINK y’all!

In case you are wondering why I am just learning about my new granddaughter-to-be at 20 weeks gestation, some of you may remember that Joan had a miscarriage last year.  I shared with her that as I lay here on the sofa on Saturday awaiting April’s call about setting me up on Skype to view the wedding, I was drifting off to sleep while thinking about how happy and thankful I am that both of my baby girls have such wonderful husbands and that I was feeling that Joan would be letting us know sometime by this summer that she was with child!  I knew Joan’s disappointment of announcing her first pregnancy as soon as she tested positive and before seeing her doctor.  I felt in my heart that she would not even tell me the next time around until she had heard the baby’s heartbeat and seen her precious bundle via ultrasound.  When I saw my granddaughter’s tiny little hand up in the air, the first caption that came to mind was, “I’m here, I’m HERE”!

I am already thinking of how to put a little money away so that I can fly up to spend a couple of weeks with the new parents to help out in any way I am able.  I’m hoping to be there for the birth of my granddaughter and am trying to decide whether to make a plane reservation ahead of time to get a decent fare, or should I wait until Joan starts dilating and then fly up so I don’t miss the debut!  Well, I have a little time to work it all out with the Mommy and Daddy-to-be!

One more share!  If you’ve not already visited or seen her announcement, Dawn (Snowsmoon’s Design) posted our February *Days Gone By* challenge two weeks ago.  Between the two of us, we’ve had so many distractions (you know, those little things we call “life”!) in our lives that we have been posting mid-month!  Below is the preview of Dawn’s posting bonus for February:

SMD_FebDGB_Prev

We would love to have you join us for this month’s SPECIAL challenge!  For information, click HERE.  You must be registered and logged in to view the forum. You will also find our challenge information and links on the sidebar of our blogs each month, which stay until the next challenge has been posted.  Deadline for layouts to be posted in our gallery HERE, is March 15th.  

Dawn and I had originally planned to collaborate on this month’s posting bonus, however, due to my illness, Dawn and I decided that she would post this month and then for our March challenge, I will post my part using the same color palette.  I love this palette and find it so perfect for heritage, romance, weddings … did I just say weddings? *wink*
 
Thank you for your patience and following me to the end of my post!  As a VERY small token of my appreciation for all of your heartfelt messages, I am leaving you with a scrapatit made from the layout I created for Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Buckmier!  Simple and you can add to it as you wish.  *smile*

Wishing you all a STUNNING weekend and may it be filled with MUCH love and laughter!

Love and hugs,

Linda :D

P.S. Stay-tuned for the departure of the Mega Blog Train, Monday, March 1st! 
LLW_HeartfullyYours_Scrapatit-2_Preview

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jumping for joy "ouch" and thanking y'all for the love!

Happy Friday (Saturday) everyone!

From the depths of my being, a HUGE thank you for the outpouring of well-wishes for my daughter and her new husband, as well as for me as I recuperate from my surgery!  Your love has lifted me and I just KNOW that I am healing quickly as a result of your kind words, thoughts and prayers!  MWAH!  I am trying my hardest to be good and not overdo myself.  I had to chuckle at Jane’s message in the chat box, “Girl, if you are reading this, GO back to bed now”!  Just how is it that y’all know me SO well … hmmmm?  He, he …

So, why might I be “jumping for joy” you ask?  Although jumping surely would hurt at this time, my heart cannot help itself but to do so!  I have lots to share, but will try to make it as brief as “I” am able!  LOL!

Firstly, here is a simple layout I put together to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Buckmier!  I am working on Robert’s laptop and don’t have all of my goodies to work with, therefore, I was limited to using my *Heartfully Yours* scrapkit, which just happened to have some color coordinating pieces and I did not have an opportunity to play with the photos following due to lack of Adobe Lightroom, filters, etc.   LOL! 

AprilEthanWeddingLayout-1-Prev
*Heartfully Yours* scrapkit by Bon Scrapatit Designs (free here on my blog)
Font: DJB LauraT Script by Darcy Baldwin
Photo:  Courtesy of the Walton boys using flash outdoors at night

As you know, due to my emergency surgery last week, I was unable to attend my daughter’s wedding, however, I was able to listen to the ceremony via Skype.  Unfortunately, it was too dark for the video cam to allow me the pleasure of feeding my visual appetite, but oh my, the ambience in the Octagonal Barn at McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse in Hillsboro, Oregon was flowing!  

April and Ethan wished for a casual, down-home feeling to be experienced by their family and close friends. Via their wedding share site, they posted that they were not registered and expressed that the love and support of those attending their union was a gift.  How sweet is that!  My baby girl and my new son-in-law are now basking in the sunshine somewhere on the Mexican Riviera! *sigh* 

Here are a few photos that were taken with my camera that I sent along with the boys.  I’m not sure who played photographer, but have a feeling the camera changed hands several times.  I had a bit of a Mama chuckle when I saw photos taken of the decor.  This tells me that my boys have paid attention to what their mom snaps at family events! 

A “big” shout-out of thanks to Ethan’s mom, Nila, for not only creating an INCREDIBLE photo collage of Ethan from birth to adulthood, but also for SO generously giving of her time in copying the photos I sent up with the boys and putting them into a collage for April.  I look forward to meeting Nila my next trip to Washington as we’ve already spoken on the phone several times and for several hours and I feel like I’ve known her for a very long time!  SO cool …
Exchanging vows and rings! 
Awwww … SO sweet!
What a nice hubby!  Ethan cleaning a speck of frosting from his new bride’s nose! I missed the action so not sure how wild they did or did not get with their cake!
You just know that I am going to work on creating a kit to scrap the kid’s wedding photos with once I get the DVD from Becca, April’s long-time friend, professional photographer and also the same photographer who shot April’s younger sister, Joan’s wedding.  Many of you may remember me posting a link to her site a few posts back when I shared Ethan and April’s wedding invitation with you.  Becca is such a sweetheart and as Nila stated, very efficient.  She amazes me!  I will share some of those photos as soon as I receive them.  Anyhoo, I just LOVE the tulle, lace and white lights set against a rustic wooden backdrop!  A little bit country with a lot of sophistication!  Love, love, LOVE it!
Dancing Queen!

When April was very young, she loved the song, “Dancing Queen” by Abba and she would sing it over and over again!  I believe I have it on tape somewhere and am hoping to transfer her recordings, which she believes no longer exist, to CD and surprise her with them unless, of course, she reads this!  LOL!  When I asked her why she thought they no longer existed, she replied, “because I’ve never found them anywhere”! Mama has them safely tucked away darlin’ girl and just as soon as I am able to purchase the equipment necessary to convert, I’m on it!
Husband singing to his wife …

Wife singing to her husband!

Joan called me on her cell phone so that I could listen to April sing.  We all wait with baited breath to hear April’s gifted vocals and her rendition of Beyonce’s, “Halo” brought many to tears as well as many shout-outs!  I was not able to hear the lyrics clearly, so I looked them up.  WOW!  A perfect song indeed for the way April feels about the love of her life!  I am hoping to get her to record it for me when she returns from her honeymoon.  If I am successful, I shall definitely share it with you!  I am SO happy for Ethan and April and wish them MUCH happiness as they walk into the future as husband and wife!

My next source of joy is my brand new grandniece, Elizabeth Anne, who made her debut on Valentine’s Day!  My older brother, Albert, had sent a few emails while I was sick and just as I was catching up with them, off to the hospital I went, so I’ve not had the opportunity to share until now.  My brother will be meeting his third granddaughter this weekend as he travels to pick up his wife, who has spent two weeks helping the new and first-time Mother!
Elizabeth-Anne

I snagged this photo from Facebook (permission granted) and if I try to enlarge it any further, it is horribly distorted, so I am hoping you are able to see Elizabeth’s precious little face!  Priceless photo of Mother and babe!  Interesting and I will make note in the event that any of you who are very visual have already done so, but when I look at this photo of my niece, she could easily pass for my daughter, April!  I am going to have to get some frontal photos of Suzanne and make some comparisons.  April and my older sister’s daughter favored each other considerably when I snapped photos of them together when April was 14.  I am beginning to see how strong my father’s genes are in mine and my siblings female offspring!

With ALL of this JOY going on over here, what else could I possibly share with you that would have my heart doing cart wheels?  Well, late Sunday afternoon, just before the boys were to leave Travis and Joan’s house for their return trip home to California, I received a call from Luke who asked if I had the computer in front of me as they wished to Skype me.  LOL!  I was just a wee bit loopy from the pain medication and was chuckling with them all as I had to finally go to my PC so that I could follow their request to check my email, but not to look until they told me to.  LOL!  Yes, I LOVE surprises, but did not realize that I was amongst a houseful of people listening to my nonsense as I tried to find my email icon to follow along with kids request!  LOL! 

So, I wait, refresh, wait and refresh a few more times, but nothing showed up.  Joan finally informed me that she was sending photos and that she might need to reduce the size.  Hmmm, I thought, yeah, they will take a while to come through if sent at full resolution.  Well, since time was of the essence and they needed to move things along, the kids all told me to close my eyes and not to open them until they told me to.  I SO love a good mystery!  ROFL!

What do you think I saw in front of my face, on my screen, in black and white?
BabyHand_Prev
Hello world, I’m on my way!

Yes, yes, yes, YES … I am going to be a Grandmother again!  New son, new grandniece, new grandbaby!  Life IS good!  Between Robert and I, this will make two more grandchildren this year as his number three son, Travis and his wife, Sofie, are expecting their second baby in September.  Travis and Joan’s FIRST little bundle is due to make HER debut mid-July!  Yes, you read correctly, they are having a GIRL!  After starting this post yesterday morning, Joan called after her second ultrasound at 20 weeks to find out the sex of their baby.  Joan shared with me how she had hoped to start with a girl because being an older sister to four brothers, she thinks it’s a GOOD thing!  I am tickled PINK y’all!


In case you are wondering why I am just learning about my new granddaughter-to-be at 20 weeks gestation, some of you may remember that Joan had a miscarriage last year.  I shared with her that as I lay here on the sofa on Saturday awaiting April’s call about setting me up on Skype to view the wedding, I was drifting off to sleep while thinking about how happy and thankful I am that both of my baby girls have such wonderful husbands and that I was feeling that Joan would be letting us know sometime by this summer that she was with child!  I knew Joan’s disappointment of announcing her first pregnancy as soon as she tested positive and before seeing her doctor.  I felt in my heart that she would not even tell me the next time around until she had heard the baby’s heartbeat and seen her precious bundle via ultrasound.  When I saw my granddaughter’s tiny little hand up in the air, the first caption that came to mind was, “I’m here, I’m HERE”!

I am already thinking of how to put a little money away so that I can fly up to spend a couple of weeks with the new parents to help out in any way I am able.  I’m hoping to be there for the birth of my granddaughter and am trying to decide whether to make a plane reservation ahead of time to get a decent fare, or should I wait until Joan starts dilating and then fly up so I don’t miss the debut!  Well, I have a little time to work it all out with the Mommy and Daddy-to-be!

One more share!  If you’ve not already visited or seen her announcement, Dawn (Snowsmoon’s Design) posted our February *Days Gone By* challenge two weeks ago.  Between the two of us, we’ve had so many distractions (you know, those little things we call “life”!) in our lives that we have been posting mid-month!  Below is the preview of Dawn’s posting bonus for February:

SMD_FebDGB_Prev

We would love to have you join us for this month’s SPECIAL challenge!  For information, click HERE.  You must be registered and logged in to view the forum. You will also find our challenge information and links on the sidebar of our blogs each month, which stay until the next challenge has been posted.  Deadline for layouts to be posted in our gallery HERE, is March 15th.

Dawn and I had originally planned to collaborate on this month’s posting bonus, however, due to my illness, Dawn and I decided that she would post this month and then for our March challenge, I will post my part using the same color palette.  I love this palette and find it so perfect for heritage, romance, weddings … did I just say weddings? *wink*

Thank you for your patience and following me to the end of my post!  As a VERY small token of my appreciation for all of your heartfelt messages, I am leaving you with a scrapatit made from the layout I created for Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Buckmier!  Simple and you can add to it as you wish.  *smile*

Wishing you all a STUNNING weekend and may it be filled with MUCH love and laughter!

Love and hugs,

Linda :D

P.S. Stay-tuned for the departure of the Mega Blog Train, Monday, March 1st!  
LLW_HeartfullyYours_Scrapatit-2_Preview

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if only i had the gall ...

>> Saturday, February 20, 2010

To defy my doctor and my discomfort so that I might be in attendance as my oldest daughter, April, walks down the aisle in just a little over an hour from now! Oh, if only …

Last I checked in with y’all, I had thought myself to be on the mend, however, my health worsened and because I had a wedding to prepare for, I slept nearly the entire weekend.  I was awakened at 2:30 pm on Sunday by daughter number two, Joan, as she was making arrangements for Robert, the boys and I, as well as the bride-to-be, to stay with her and Travis pre-wedding.

Monday and Tuesday I struggled to scan photos to send to April and her MIL-to-be (a REAL sweetheart), however, two scanners later and my body in full-blown pain, the photos were no good and I was getting scared as to why I might have been in SO much pain … pain that would not let up for a moment.

Robert was ready to take me to the hospital anytime I was ready to give it up.  I was hoping to ride it out, but it was obvious that after eight hours of this pain that was off the chart and only getting worse, that something was definitely wrong.

As some of you know, I have tried hard to hang onto my gallbladder for about two years now.  I had never had an attack like this before and between both Robert and I searching the Internet, we both concluded it was, indeed, my gallbladder.

I was in the ER from a little after 1:00 am until nearly 7:00 am, when they admitted me and the doctor told me it would be the following morning before they could get me into surgery.  I think I’d barely moved myself from the gurney to the hospital bed when I was informed there had been a cancellation and that they were taking me right then and there!  Of course, “I” am thinking, “oh goody, I can get out of here earlier and be on the road to Washington!”  LOL!  Yah, you know me and my determination!

Long story short, the doctor said that if this was elective surgery, no problem.  However, I not only had emergency gallbladder surgery performed, my gallbladder was also badly infected and that it would be in my best interest NOT to leave town.  I have to admit, I couldn’t have even if I’d wanted to!

So, one hour from now, my baby girl exchanges vows with the love of her life and she is hoping to hook me up via Skype.  If that does not work out, the boys will call me via cell phone so that I can listen as April and Ethan exchange vows.   My oldest son is video taping the entire ceremony so that I can watch when they return.  Photos will be shared and I will still be able to create a photo book for the new couple!

See you all as soon as I am able.  Have a FABULOUS weekend everyone and I thank those of you who have stopped by to see how I am doing!  Love you oodles!

XOXO,

Linda :D

UPDATE:  Thank you SO much everyone!  Y’all are just the sweetest!  My boys hooked me up via Skype, however, the room was too dark so they shut off the video stream and I was able to listen to the entire ceremony!  My oldest son, Matt, was also able to videotape the ceremony so I will get to see that when the boys all return home!  WOO HOO!  And, YES, is not our technology today simply amazing!  Hope to have a few photos to share with y’all soon!  MWAH!

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update on me and the saints did come marching in!

>> Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Hi y’all!

Just dropping in to let you know that I’ve been in bed since I last chatted with you and am up for the first time today (well, okay, aside from getting up to visit the restroom or fix myself a cup of tea, grab a glass of water, etc.!  LOL!).

I hope to find myself able to sit here at the computer tomorrow, so that I can finish up your goodies for *Heartfully Yours* and I do SO apologize for the delay.  I’m sure those of you that are 50+ can attest that our bodies don’t always recover as quickly as we would like them to and this is, surely, taking longer than I thought it would.  However, considering the widespread incidence of flu and such, I suppose that I am actually doing VERY well, all things considered! 

Thank you for the well-wishes and I can’t tell you HOW frustrating it was that I could not get on here to SHOUT my excitement as the New Orleans Saints came marching in to WIN Superbowl XXXIII! I am SO happy for the state of Louisiana in all that they’ve had to overcome since Katrina and this win should help them in SO many ways!  

I hope to see y’all back here before week’s end.  May the rest of your week be just as LOVELY as y’all are!  MWAH!

Much love,

Linda :D

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AND THE WINNER IS … (IT’S STILL SATURDAY SOMEWHERE!)

>> Saturday, February 6, 2010

 

Greetings lovelies,

I’m going to keep this as short as possible as I became ill yesterday while doing taxes for my sons.  LOL!  I know what you’re thinking, doing taxes made me sick!!!  ROFL!  Well, actually, not!  I believe I picked something up from my oldest son who camped out with us for four days and the night before last while sitting here working, I was feeling funky and mentioned a few times to him that I’d better not be getting what he has!  HA!  He assured me it was nothing more than a cough, which may be the case, however, he could have been the carrier of something more.  I feel awful and have been in bed sleeping most of the day.  I very rarely every get sick and last year I actually had contracted the flu for the first time in two decades or better, so not too shabby, eh?

My only concern at the moment is that my vitamin D levels are VERY deficient.  I’ve been using Sunshine Mist, available on Dr. Mercola’s site, for three weeks now and am not knowing if that is long enough to bring my levels back up to a normal range.  I tweeted him and asked when I should go back in to be retested and will check to see if he answered tomorrow as my head and eyes are too achy to sit here for long.  Imagine that? *wink*

Vitamin D is a HOT topic amongst the medical profession today and Dr. Mercola has some incredible videos on his site, as well as a plethora of other information for the day and age we are living in.  It was in frequenting his site that I learned of the epidemic of low vitamin D levels today, which prompted me to ask for my levels to be checked when I went in for my annual blood workup a couple of months ago.  My reading was 20, which is on the borderline of being severely deficient.  UGH!  Dr. Mercola does a very thorough job of explaining “why” we are in such an epidemic of low vitamin D levels and what we can do to keep our levels in a normal and safe range (It is not safe to bump your levels up too high either).  I encourage all of you to take a peek at Dr. Mercola’s findings.

I have hyperlinked his name directly to the main page of his site.  Here is the link to several of his links to various articles on VITAMIN D.  LOL!  I went to his site to get the link and started reading about stress!  You can spend an entire day reading his articles!

AND THE WINNER IS ...

 

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SO ~ INKIN ~ CUTE!  Congratulations Ms. Candi!

The winner was chosen from  a hat by my son, John, who had just showered and hit the hay for work tomorrow!  I asked him to do me the honor as Robert had already been asleep for some time and John had just turned off his light!  The draw was completed in the dark, no less!  So much so, that he could not read the name on the folded piece of paper.  LOL!  Or, perhaps it was my handwriting that was not legible, eh?  *big grin*

No one actually guessed the “portion thereof”, so the draw was from those who guessed my flair logo and my “about me” image.  As you can see, the above banner is taken straight from the side of the image with the camera to my eye.

However, y’all have given some COOL ideas and I may just change things up a bit as I go, but for now, this is “simple” and VERY neutral and the Bon Scrapatit font will still be familiar to y’all, I hope!

Thank you to ALL of you who posted your guess.  It was SO much fun reading your comments!

Candi love, please email me: bonscrapatitdesigns (at) gmail (dot) com with the name of the store you wish to use your $5.00 gift certificate at, along with your full registered name, and I will have it to you tomorrow if I’m feeling better and if not, then on Monday.  Congratulations once again girlie!

I apologize for the delay in getting the journaling strips to you, however, I’ve not been able to work on them since falling ill.  I will try my hardest to get them posted no later than Monday.

Hope everyone is having a LOVELY weekend.  It’s been pouring rain here, so it’s a VERY good time to spend a lot of time in bed sleeping so that I get better quickly!  LOL!

Keep on scrappin’ …

Love and hugs,

Linda :D

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HAPPY FRIDAY, A PEACE OFFERING AND LAST CHANCE TO WIN!

>> Friday, February 5, 2010

 

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*Heartfully Yours* Scrapkit by Bon Scrapatit Designs (free here on my blog!)

Font: Pea Eshley by Kevin and Amanda

Template: Bella Gypsy

Happy Friday y’all!!!

Somehow I missed visiting you on Thursday and as you can see by the timestamp, I am still up the wee hours of Friday morning!  ROFL!  Now, I am not supposed to be keeping these late hours anymore, am I?  *wink*

Well, yesterday was kind of crazy in that I had a zillion distractions and my oldest son is still here!  LOL!  He lives about five minutes from us and decided he needed a vacation from home!  ROFL!  I suppose I should feel honored that he finds respite here (from a house full of guys!), however, I’m just getting back to business and cannot completely ignore him, now can I?  I mean, after all, he is literally sitting directly behind me on another computer!  LOL!  Definitely time well-spent! 

Anyhoo, I did not get Photoshop opened until nearly time to start dinner and when all was said and done, I decided I’d take care of two projects all-in-one!  Now, please don’t fall off your chairs, but this is the FIRST layout I have scrapped in 2010!  Why, you might ask?  For a number of reason, but mostly because I am returning to my TRUE self … you know, the simple girl who likes clean lines and the focus to be on the photo!  The photo I used  is of my oldest, April (yes, the one getting married on the 20th!) and my grandson, Kaleb Jace who is now being called Jace by his mommy and daddy so Grandmas is following suit!  I think Jace is a pretty cool name, don’t you Sharon?  He, he … 

My layout shows the versatility of *Heartfully Yours* and that it works well for much more than Valentine’s Day! 

I’ve decided since I have 30+ years of photos to scrap that I’m needing to take a different approach than I initially set out to.  I’m going to start creating photo books and I will share a bit more with you about that next week.  I know that there are LOTS of options out there, however, I have found what I believe will work best for me and the goal I have in place.  This is what I wish to share with y’all and then, of course, I will thoroughly enjoy getting your feedback!

Needless to say, I have been collecting LOTS of templates that I feel will work well in a photo book but, of course, they will look great in scrapbook albums too!  I just LOVE versatility, don’t you? *big smile*

I see several of you are preparing yourselves for Super Bowl Sunday and, naturally, the guys will be watching here as well.  I’m thinking I will be joining them as I’m really rooting for the New Orleans Saints.  Why?  Well, firstly, I actually had tears well-up in my eyes when they won the against the Minnesota Vikings in their final playoff game.  Why?  Because they have NEVER been to the Super Bowl and because I believe this will help the BEAUTIFUL city of New Orleans and surrounding areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina to REALLY put themselves back on the map, so-to-speak.  I can’t help but think it will surely help to generate more business, sponsorships, etc. 

I will be busy doing taxes for three out of four my sons today and I will try my hardest to finish up the journaling strips to get to you either later tonight or Saturday when I announce the WINNER of the $5.00 gift certificate to the digital scrapbooking store of THEIR choice.  This is what I get for just HAVING to add twice as many words as I originally had!  Oh, can’t forget this one to go with that one!  HA, HA!  I’m SO bad! Or, is that GOOD? 

If you’ve not yet taken a guess yet as to the image, OR portion thereof, already located somewhere on my blog that I have used to create my new blog header, head on over HERE for the details on where to leave your answer for a chance to win a $5.00 GC to your FAVORITE digital scrapbooking store!  The deadline is 11:59 pm EST tonight!

Have a FANTABULOUS weekend everyone and I’ll see soon!

XOXO,

Linda :D

 

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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SCRAPATIT #1

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*HEARTFULLY YOURS* EMBELLISHMENTS, PART TWO!

>> Wednesday, February 3, 2010


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Hi y’all!
How is everyone mid-week?  Time to climb on over the “hump” into the final stretch of this week, eh?!  WOO HOO!  And how do y’all spell weekend?  Okay, besides the obvious! *big grin*  What is your favorite thing, aside from scrapping, that you enjoy doing either on the weekend, your day(s) or your partner’s day(s) off?
I have actually been watching some of the playoff games with Robert as I do like to spend time with him and he enjoys it!  I have to laugh though, as I was REALLY into the playoff game between the Louisiana Saints and the Minnesota Vikings!  Games such as that one are easy for me to watch because there is a lot of “game” going on!  LOL! 
I truly believe the only reason I have any interest in football whatsoever, aside from having raised four boys, is my playing girl’s flag football in my sophomore year of high school.  Uhm, you know, so I actually have some understanding of what is happening on the field!  LOL! 
Before I post this evening’s links, if you rely on my feed being delivered to your inbox via Feed Burner, please make sure to scroll all the way down as I was too late in posting last night for it to be burned and sent to y’all.  Hopefully, I get this posted and am not sounding like a CRAZY woman!  ROFL!  HA, HA, HAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Also, I neglected to mention with yesterday’s post that I included a “Tips and Tricks” file for those that may be fairly new to digital scrapbooking and also so that everyone is privy to the fact that both the heart scatters and the glitter scatters were created on the same canvas and are the same size so that you can merge them together if you wish to do so.  I have explained how to do so in the “Tips and Tricks” file.  If you have any questions, just hollar! 
This evening, you will find two more links for Embellishments-3 and Embellishments-4.  Tomorrow night, I will post the journaling strips!
Have a TERRIFIC Thursday!
Love and hugs,
Linda :D

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*HEARTFULLY YOURS* EMBELLISHMENTS, PART ONE!

>> Tuesday, February 2, 2010


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Evening everyone! 
The day has slipped away from me as I’ve been trying to figure out why my RAM-ometer (LOL! This sweet little widget on my desktop) is hovering in the RED while I work in Photoshop!  I’ve not really noticed it before and I’ve cleaned out files, returned PS to it’s default settings and I’m still struggling to keep from entering the DANGER zone!  ROFL!   Photoshop is open with nothing going on in it and I’m sitting at 68%.  Perhaps Mozy preparing for a backup contributes to this, but I am not sure about that.  I’ve been moving files around quite a bit lately so it seems that Mozy is always preparing for a backup!  No complaints as I sleep VERY peacefully at night knowing that my files are safe! I think, perhaps, a little Googling is in order though to get a clue on the high stats on my RAM! *wink*
I have enjoyed reading your comments from yesterday’s post and your guesses as to what image, or portion thereof, I am using for my new blog header!  I have to chuckle as I think I’ve done this backwards and I should have asked y’all what I SHOULD use because I am REALLY liking some of your ideas! I’m just sayin’!  :D
My girlie, Ms. Dawn is back in action over at Snowsmoon’s Designs after her computer crashed last week (I talked her into Mozy sometime ago and she is good as new y’all!).  Dawn is now up and running and back to her WONDERFUL Project 52 Weeks of 2010 (a nice alternative to the many Project 365’s for those of us that are challenged with daily photo taking and/or scrapping!), as well as providing some goodies via a Hide and See over at Hummie’s World.  When you click on Project 52 Weeks of 2010, make sure to put your shades on because the sun is SHINING in Scrapland tonight!  WOO HOO!  And don’t forget to check out Snowsmoon’s Designs for her other FABULOUS happenings!  If you scroll down a ways, you will even find a LOVELY scrapatit Dawn created using my *Floralessence* scrapkit from last month!  We are also working on our *Days Gone By* challenge for February, so stay-tuned for that too!  Love ya girlie and I’m SO happy that you are back!  MWAH!
This evening’s download consists of two links for Part One of *Heartfully Yours* embellishments!  There are a few items that are large in file size, so I’ve broken the embellishments up into four files to keep them all below 30 MB.  I will post the final two tomorrow, followed by the journaling strips on Thursday!  Now, you just KNOW that my week is going to fly by, right?  Uh, huh!  Keep me busy and time soars! 
For those who might be here for the first time since my posting of *Heartfully Yours*, I am giving y’all an opportunity to win a $5.00 gift certificate to the digital scrapbooking store of YOUR choice (just make sure that they offer gift certificates) for guessing which image, OR portion thereof, that I will be using for my new blog header coming soon!  To leave your guess, please comment below the post HERE!  Deadline is Friday, February 5th at 11:59 PST.  Winner to be announced here on my blog on Saturday.  Good luck everyone!
Until tomorrow …
XOXO,
Linda :D
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*HEARTFULLY YOURS* HAS ARRIVED AND A CHANCE TO WIN!

>> Monday, February 1, 2010


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HAPPY MONDAY Y’ALL!
Thank you SO much for ALL of the WONDERFUL welcome backs!  It surely does feel good to be back in the designing saddle again and, hopefully, I can stay in this saddle for a while without falling off! LOL!  You know the old saying about falling off the horse and getting right back up on it again! He, he …
Please bear with me in that I will be revamping my blog and hope to have a new template in place soon.  I just don’t wish to mess anything up, so I’m practicing a bit on a test blog and then will try to convert it and, hopefully, not lose my widgets!  Of course, I shall back this one up first!  ROFL!  Better make sure I’ve had a good night’s sleep too, eh?  :D
I have done SO much browsing and pondering in what I wish to do with my blog and keep coming back to my love of simplicity and clean lines!  Funny how we do that, isn’t it?  I SO adore the creativity in others, but I cannot fight who I am!  Not to say that I don’t fight with myself on occasion, but I always fall back on who I really am!
With that said, my blog is not going to look scrapbookish per se, which I like, but I find too confining unless I wish to change it around all the time and I don’t! :P  And, y’all KNOW how color coordinated I am!  So, what do think I’m going to do?  Any guesses?  I’ll give you a wee bit of a hint.  My new header will sport an image, or portion thereof,  that is already somewhere here on my blog and it will go with anything I post!  Now, that piece of information should make your guess MUCH easier!  LOL! Oh, and I’ve finally decided to go with a white background as much I love the way things POP on black!  It will make it much easier for me when others snag my images and/or I don’t have to make extra previews for my own blog!  ROFL!
Now, for that “chance to win”!  I am offering a $5.00 gift certificate to the digital scrapbooking store of YOUR choice (check to make sure that they offer gift certificates) via a random drawing by my sweet man or random.org from those who correctly guess the image I will be using as my new blog header!
Please post your ONE guess (give specifics!) in the comment area of this blog post.  Deadline for all guesses will be this Friday (2/5) at 11:59 pm PST!
I will post the winner’s name on my blog Saturday and have that person email me with the store of their choice.  I will then purchase the $5.00 gift certificate and email to the winner! 
Happy guessing! :D
Here are some detail images of *Heartfully Yours*:
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Today’s download will consist of the patterned and solid papers.  Tuesday and Wednesday I will post embellishments, Thursday I will post the journaling strips and if I come up with any extras, such as scrapatits, clusters, etc., I shall post them on Friday!
Until tomorrow, get your scrap on and don’t forget to post your guess as to the image I will be using for my new blog header!
Love and hugs,
Linda :D
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