for my sexy man & layout!

I think it's pretty fitting that I found out this news today, because it was a layout honoring my favorite dude in the whole world... and as of approximately 2pm today, we will have been married for 8 years.

I gotta say, dang it that men age better than women!!! I think he looks even better these days than he did 8 years ago. :) Either way- he's one hottie. And looking at these pics... my lands, we were younguns!

Eight things I love about my Shaun:

1. He thinks I'm the corniest girl on earth, but he will still laugh (albeit it sarcastically) at my jokes
2. He loves to read young adult fiction and talk about Harry Potter theories with me
3. He grabs my butt (although it annoys me most of the time- at least I know he still thinks I'm attractive to him!) ;)
4. He randomly brings home surprises for me and the kids
5. He totally supports and "gets" my scrapbooking, and even knows who Heidi Swapp and Elsie Flannigan are
6. He gtalks with me all day long
7. He makes considers every aspect of big decisions carefully
8. He approaches his faith very realistically and at the same time, takes it seriously. It's a very genuine and real part of his life.

I love him, respect him, miss him when we're apart, laugh with him, support him, and look forward to sharing so much more with him.

Happy anniversary, baby... I've got you on my mind. ;)

Labels: family, marriage, pictures

I can't tell you how many time I've been out with the kiddos and had people tell me that I've got my hands full.

They are absolutely right.

I've got my hands full of joy and happiness and blessings. Sometimes poop and boogers too, but all in all- I live a pretty awesome life, because of these sweet little faces.

Labels: faith, family, kids, pictures

I found this awesome artist via Sarah Jane

(who has a pretty cool and artistic blog herself)

His artwork reminds me a little of my brother's style.

I must get my brother to draw me some artwork like this for my house.

Labels: inspiration, links, pictures

I clearly am all about my new camera... love it, love it, love it.

I wanted to share with y'all some of the helpful things I've found on the internets in my search for good info & tips on all things photography related.

To begin with, my husband pointed out this site to me, and it's been super helpful. I especially like his sections on How to Make Great Photos
and Recommended Cameras, (which, coincidentally, was one of the factors in why I got the Nikon D40 and a speedlight. Also, because I love my old Nikon SLR. Sorry, Adrienne, I'm a Nikon girl. Heheh)

Speaking of cameras, my husband also pointed out this nifty feature on Canon Point & Shoots today... basically, you can hack into your camera's software and make it a much better camera than it already is (such as shutter speed and exposure time). Check out his blurb on it here, and further info on it here. (via Shaun. There, are you happy? heh)

Photo editing tidbits:

I like the Big Huge Lab's photo mosaic maker, if you haven't heard of it by now.

Also a big fan of Shutterfly Studio. It's how I made my header on here. It's free, fast, and nifty.

This has always been my "go to" tutorial for scanning in a layout and then stitching it together in photoshop.

One of my all-time-faves, How to make digi photos look like Lomo photography. It's been posted on here multiple times, but I figure there might be *one* person out there who hasn't seen it yet. Heheh

Here's a similar one, but a wee bit different, for a more vintage effect.

The Top Best 55 Photoshop Tutorials... I haven't actually looked at this yet, but it's on my list of "to do" things for photography. You know, in all that free time I have.

9 Digital Camera Settings for every photographer to know (again, ditto above)

DIY Macro Photo studio (for less than $10)... this is like a little place to set up photo shoots for small stuff, like a card, or piece of jewelry, or whatev.

How to make a blinkie in Photoshop CS
(MUCH easier than I thought it would be!)

Some great brushes here and here. (Thanks, Katie!)

Some cool eye candy. (via Elsie)

So, here's what you need to do:

-leave me a link with some of your fave photography website or eye candy

-let me know if you'd be interested in a little "tips & tricks- ghetto style" to photoshop/photography/other photo related miscellany once a week

And I'll draw from the comments and send you a little somethin'-somethin'!

Labels: links, photography, pictures

was one of the best things ever conceived of for moms. :)

The kidlets are officially signed up and went for their first day of "school" yesterday. Oh man, it was so nice to not be called "Mommy!" for 6 hours! And bonus- I got to spend a good portion of time yesterday playing with scrappy stuff. Good times, good times.

In other news...

we recently changed churches.

Dude, this was a hard, hard, hard, difficult decision. It had nothing to do with the church we were going to... we absolutely love that church (and still plan to go visit as frequently as possible). It was more to do with the fact that we really felt like God was leading us somewhere different.

Now, people use that Christian jargon all the time... to the point that it feels like it's almost an excuse to cover up what you're really thinking sometimes. In this case, though, it is 100% truth. We had to make a choice between two really good things for our family, and to see where God would take us in the next few years as far as ministry and being a part of our community was concerned.

So anyways, it's been on my mind (obviously) a lot lately.... just a big change in our life. A good change.

Here are some pics from going to Community Group last Sunday night...










Seriously, what in the heck?!



Atticus decided to literally pour Root Beer all over himself. I turned around to see him holding over his shirt and then looking at me and saying "Uh Oh."

We had to use an extra shirt that Em had in her bag.

Yeah, my kids are pretty much going to hate me for some of these pics when they're older.

Hehehe

Labels: faith, family, kids, pictures

May 4, 2006

The world is changed forever when this charming little dude arrived.







Happy Birthday to my (second) favorite Tillery man.

Labels: family, home, kids, pictures

I just realized I never posted my layouts from 12 Fridays... I sent the pics off to Heather & Heidi the day before I left for the Event, and that erased all further thought from my head. ;)



I'm working on my Project Friday stuff tonight... woohoo. I can't wait to share with you all!

Labels: 12Fridays, Craft ideas, kids, layouts, links, pictures, scrapbooking misc.

Here's the lovely Crop Addict May Kit and Manufacturer Kit (Crate Paper). I can't believe I was able to scrap this much this month!

You might notice some fun little doodles on the pages... I have been so excited this month to be able to draw some exclusive little doodles for the Crop Addict May kit! I'm no artist, but they are fun to make. It's been really cool seeing them show up on the other designer's pages. What a thrill! Be watching for more in future kits! ;)

Crop Addict May Kit:








(No, you're not seeing things- that's my friend Morgan's little boy. We did a photo swap this month!)




Crate Paper was enormously generous to us this month. Thank you, Crate Paper, for allowing us to create with your gorgeous new products! I have always loved the texture of the CP papers, and their new chipboard letters & buttons add an extra dimension that I just love.

Crate Paper Katlin Line:

Crate Paper Static Line:

Labels: Craft ideas, Crop Addict, kids, layouts, links, pictures, scrapbooking misc.