many many days ago, a-not-so-little-anymore cool dude turned 9.



he celebrated his birthday for about a week. he was milking it for all it's worth. we took him to Olive Garden and the restaurant's crew led my Mr. Blade



sang for him and brought him cake that served about 7 of us on the table. then later on the same week, Grandma and Joe took him to the army surplus. grandma hates that place but it's Maikee's disneyland... so anything and wherever for her grandson, she would tolerate.

the theme was bugs. so i made him a dirt cake.



it was so good that i have a special order to make another one but i haven't gotten around to make it yet. been busy freelancing, you see. he had Angie from his karate class and a few boys from our neighborhood come over for a short party: by that i mean literally 2 hours. i guess the party went well that Maikee became a popular kid on our block.

one of the things i am privileged to do at work is i get to teach classes. i had an opportunity to do a sequel to the first crazy cards i taught. this time, it's so crazy we made cards out of match boxes. like this one:



so i guess you could say it's not really your good old plain Jane cards. what i really love about teaching these classes, is that i get to meet new friends who share the same passion of art with me. i thought we laughed all night more than we made cards. i was quick to think to snap a couple of photos. karen and Jen



came to the first one so maybe these guys must think i'm ain't too bad of a teacher since they came for the second time around. it always gives me a cozy feeling to see familiar faces and i was tickled happy to see fresh faces during the class. shannon, Dawnalyn and Suzie



were pretty hilarious. although the two came a little late (they were literally running to the door), we still managed to create all the cards.

with that tickled me pink-happy note> if you leave me a comment here, Gabby will randomly draw a name then, whoever is the lucky one, gets to have 5 uber cuteness crazy match box cards, created by yours truly... including the one pictured above.

Mike Huckabee... and Becky Fleck

..... all in one day, yesterday.

i mean really, who doesn't know Mike Huckabee? if Jay Leno runs into me on Jay walkers, i'd really look bad. Before Governor Huckabee ran for candidacy for president, i would have never heard of him> so that makes two of us. i had another opportunity to take pictures for Billings Christian School, this time for a fund raising event. thus meeting Governor Huckabee was part of it because he was the guest speaker. i had fun. anyone who knows me, would figure i had fun. i'm glad that my job was only to take pictures. i've never been in an event like that. there were a lot of people, i think you cannot be an introvert to be involved in that situation. we had a good spot on the front row and Miss Montana 2008 Kristen Mantooth sat with us, she was very nice and non-dingy. the food was great because i ate the dessert first. listening to the Governor wasn't dreary at all. in fact, i laughed so hard i think i might have embarrassed myself, good news is nobody really knew who i was. i wish that he was our candidate instead of someone else. but if you want to read a more intelligent entry about last night's events, i suggest visit Joe's, no doubt you'll be enlightened. what really made the night more eventful to me was that, Gabby was in a babysitting situation in the hotel and considering that we forgot her sippy cup in the car, she still managed to be on her best behavior for 5 hours or so, therefore i got to enjoy the whole event without worrying one bit about Little Gabster.

besides my old standby> Joe... i met a lot of cool Montanans



right here was Mr. Rupert shaking hands with the Governor



..... with his gorgeous wife:



i hope they're okay i posted their pictures in my blog.

i think it's pretty gnarly to watch kids and youngsters sing praise and worship songs and actually sing it with a smile because i think nowadays that kind of music sickens the kids at large since they show less and less respect for God






these guys remind me of the youngsters i've met in North Carolina a month ago who have a passion for God. not in a super religious and fanatic way... just simply worshiping God



earlier yesterday, before any of this ruckus was happening, my phone rang and i didn't recognize the number but i answered it anyway because i'm always up for surprises. SURPRISE it was! Becky Fleck the navigator of all sketches was on the other line, she asked me to do an assignment, i don't have all the details yet but it was more than enough to make me speechless and more dingy. so speechless that all i could muster was "can i throw up?" how stupid was that? i'm comforted knowing in the same time, Becky is used to the people like me. it was mind boggling and so unbelievable that my head wasn't thinking anymore and even right at this moment, i'm still in a daze about it. i can't thank her enough for having faith in me. i just hope that i won't be a disappointment.



and Staci..... thank you for being genuinely happy for me. you were so happy that you even told Mark about it :)

Birthdays for us as we mature can become times of reflection. That's what it is for me and not just on my birthday either. Today being my wife's wonderful birthday made me realize just what she means to me. She got some gifts today but I think of the gift she is to me. She was blessed today but I think of the blessing she is to me, our family, to those who know her. Birthdays are strange things you know? You give, you get. Today I think of what Love means to me and I just can't imagine life without her. She not just a member of our family...she's an institution...a necessity. I really do love her more than I can possibly put into words. Happy birthday Lovely, you've had a big influence on us all. Thanks for being you! Love you so very much!

i'm a little bit disappointed that i didn't take as many photos as i wanted. but i'll share with you of what i got>>>> just a few.

i can't comprehend how people can eat this. my husband loves the strawberry twizzlers and you would think that as appealing as these candies may appear, you'd think it'd taste great but i personally think it taste a lot like candle. Helen and Robin laughed at me when i told them about my unsolicited opinion.



Jaymee told me that if i don't blur her away that i'd get in trouble......? so as requested i blurred her away. love her. she's one of the cutest nicest person i've met.



this was one of the make-n-takes i did at the camp. i'm so happy with it.



i was blown away of how much scrapbooking supplies these gals brought to the camp. some of them must have taken their entire studio with them. i was such a scrap camp virgin.



Alex was the youngest cropper that came. she was honestly one of the amazing teenagers i've met. love her personality



Miss Becky and her book. i had to get one and i'm glad i did!



would you ride with me if i tell you this was what i was doing while driving home? i thought the lights looked incredible on the wet street. it really wasn't dangerous since it was getting late and as you can see the street was empty. HUH!

Sister's FIRST SCRAP CaMp

distant friends and family don't really have an idea of what i am addicted to and what i have become. unfortunately, there's no cure for this divine addiction. also known as: paper hording and shutter bug.

i've never really had a job until i met Sisters: our Local Scrapbooking store and looking back, i didn't realize that being a Life Artist (which Mrs. AE would call it) was embedded in me. since working at Sisters, i had been blessed with amazing talented girls, getting an occasional complimentary magazines, meeting new friends and meeting gnarly celebrities- nope, i'm not talking about Jennifer Aniston kind of celebrities, Ok? i'm talking about celebrities who inspire us to continually preserve the past, capturing the today and anticipating what lies ahead.

for the first time, the store took a huge plunge and ventured on Scrap Camp. this was new to me too. i've never been to scrap camp before. i learned scrapbooking with me, myself and i. so i was honestly, got weak at the knees when i found out that i had to do make-and-takes and do some classes. however, not trying to sound so high and lofty here... but as it turned out, i don't think i did too bad (what a huge relief) and considering that the owners have never done a scrap camp before, needless to say, they UTTERLY outdid themselves.

we were so blessed to have our fellow Montanan Becky Fleck paid us a visit during our weekend camp. Becky was exactly the same talented artist whom i met....
>
> when i was about 6...7ish months pregnant with Gabby and now she's 2. any math wizard here who can do the math? so anyhow, that long ago...

back to Becky, she's gorgeous... she's down to earth......generous: way too kind... not snooty at all... she's hilarious



and she's brave>>> she didn't wimp out to face her "little stalker" for the second time around. it took the breath out of me when she said i looked familiar to her. i must have made a fool out of myself to have left an impression on her. HA ha ha!!! excuse me while i laugh.

my boss apparently thinks i'm a people person. she asked me at the last minute to introduce: do an opening for Becky in front of everyone.
*ok, rewind...... i happily obliged.
*rewind a little bit more....... and what the heck was i thinking? APPARENTLY i wasn't thinking!>>> that would be my "norm". i guess, once a dork, always a dork. i just hope that my newly found scrapbooking friends would have mercy on me (seriously) not to "YOU Tube" the video they took because i would loose my dignity and i would just die of humiliation But besides the obvious, Becky made everyone happy:



she took the time to talk to everyone... she signed everyone's book (her first released book )



and was very patient with us: wild and crazy women. although, i hate to say this, i think i was the class clown! what have i become?!!

Lynda (sister #1), Becky (the unrelenting artist for Basic Grey) & Lori (sister #2)



true that! mother-daughter weekend getaway (Alex and Kristine) with Miss Becky.



using the handy tool: camera timer>>> i got to be in it. everyone looked great. we all laughed our little keisters off>>> just simply HAPPY



........and we all are HUNGRY FOR MORE!