CRAZY Busy...

I just had to stop in real quick because I've heard from a few of you... yes, I know, our anniversary is over! We have been CRAZY busy... out of town... planning a Disney trip... and working on a DT call and my MMM entry! Unfortuantly, I thought I was done with my MMM entry... but one of the kids in a layout is on vacation and I can't seem to get the Model Release form signed... I now have 48 hours to start a brand new layout and get everything together and done! AUGH!

Thanks for checking in! I will post very soon... I PROMISE!!!

Happy Anniversary, My Sweet Husband!

July 21, 2001... I can't believe we have been married for 7 years... we have been through a lot in those 7 years, haven't we, Sweetheart. Good times, bad times, healthy times and not-so-healthy, rich times, poor times, bettter times and worse... we sure are living our vows and I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else! I love you, Jeff!

At this time last year, I was "running" the Rusty Pickle Amazing Race and I completed this entire album in 48 hours... it was a CRAZY race! I hope you enjoy these wedding photos and I'll be waiting for you when you get home, Sweetheart! :-)

Rusty Pickle CHA Giveaway... HURRY!

The final drawing for Rusty Pickle CHA goodies will be held tomorrow... Monday, July 21st... HURRY... GO TO THE RUSTY PICKLE BLOG BY CLICKING ON THE THREAD TITLE ABOVE!!! It is going to be a COOOOOOL PRIZE... This was posted on the blog...

The prize for two lucky scrappers will be..

candy land paper pack

costume party paper pack

a bling jar pack

a chocolate covered cherries shirt (xl)

Alright... ummmm... I don't even have this stuff yet!!! GO ENTER and tell them that I told you about it!!!(and tell me how cool it is if you win it!!!)

Beautiful Girl

Ahhhhh... a perfect setting for a wonderful vacation with our beautiful little Anna! This was the last day of our Mission Bay vacation... we went on a bike ride around the bay with Anna in the kid trailer and Chris... had a great breakfast at a little beachside restaurant... then, of course, stopped for Anna to collect some sea shells for Grandma Susie and a photo op for me! :-) This is the Rusty Pickle, Island Summer line and I just LOVE IT!!!

Love Ya...

My favorite line from the Winter Rusty Pickle CHA release was White Chocolate Bunnies... yes, an Easter line, but I think it is sooooo girly that it can be used any time of year!!! "Love Ya" is a new layout I had fun playing with! Hope you like it!

Johan Bruyneel... YEP, We Met Him!

Jeff is a HUGE cycling fan and rider. He has been riding his mountain and road bikes since he was a kid. I knew nothing about the cycling world until I met Jeff and now look forward to watching the Tour de France each July and going to the new Tour of California each February. So, when I heard that the Team Director for Team Postal/Discovery (Lance Armstrong's team) had written a book and was going to be doing a book signing 10 minutes from our vacation in Mission Bay, I signed us up!!! It was an absolute MIRACLE that Johan Bruyneel would be in the United States during the Tour, much less in San Diego. It was a packed house and Johan shared several great stories about his days as a professional cyclist, his Lance days, and what he is doing now. He said he was on his way to France to join the Versus crew and help with commentating... sooooo cool!!!

Here are a few pictures of the event. Anna was a trooper, but a bit shy when asked to meet and pose with Johan. He was very sweet and said he had a 4-year-old himself, but Anna ran over to me just as I started snapping pictures. It was a GREAT afternoon and it was a pleasure to get to meet the great Johan Bruyneel!!!

Rusty Pickle... YEAH, BABY!

I just got back into town from a GREAT family vacation in Mission Bay, San Diego! You have been very patient... so here is your RUSTY PICKLE CHA SNEAK PEAK... well, actually... the link to the Rusty Pickle site for the sneak peak... click on the thread title above and you will see all the yummy goodness for yourself!!! Hope you like the Rusty Pickle Blog!!! Tommorrow is coming... along with some fun pics of the San Diego vacation!!!

Adventure and RUSTY CHA TEASER...

We live a few miles from the Wild Animal Park and are members of the Zoological Society, so we love to stop by the park and see what's new. They have a new water play area for the kids... Anna LOVED it! The lions were out and REALLY CLOSE and the gorillas were sooooo funny teasing eachother with a blanket! This is a layout I recently completed using the Crop Addict July kit. Hope you like it!

We have been uber busy this week... so much going on with Chris and his football and basketball and I am working on my MMMasters entry. I know how hard it is to win one of these HUGE contests, but the only way to assure you won't win is not to try! I have 2 of the 5 layouts done, including the "I Believe" layout. Boy am I going to miss that one (you have to send in the original layout for the "I Believe" theme and you don't get it back unless it gets published.) The technique I did on that layout took 4 hours, so I won't be making a 2nd copy... I will just get the best photo copy I can and add that to my book!!!

Next up... RUSTY PICKLE CHA SNEAK PEAKS!!! I've seen the 5 new lines and they are FANTASTIC! I can't WAIT to get my hands on them so I can start playing!!! I think I can share the line names... "Bottle Rockets" - the beautiful and rich colors of this patriotic line is a mid-show release. If you haven't seen it, you are missing out!!! "Candy Land" and "Brass Knuckles"... These are new and edgy! "Costume Party", "White Christmas" and "Chocolate Covered Cherries" round out the new holiday themed lines. But there is SO MUCH MORE!!! New albums, shaped papers, alpha stickers, hardware, rub ons, chipboard, AND A NEW LINE OF BLING!!!

Thanks for checking in and have a WONDERFUL weekend!!

Sod Installation and Reveal... YEA HAAAA!!

Here it is... I almost feel like one of those HGTV shows that we watch so much of... the people are finally home and it is time to show them their new yard... except that we are the homeowners... and we worked our tushes off all day... and, well... just enjoy these fun shots of everyone working to install the new front yard.

Next stop... new planters and we will be DONE!!!... well... done with the front yard... there is still the fern grotto, the patio, the rear yard, the playhouse, the grape vine trellis...

SOD DAY... WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!

It has taken 4 years... our yard was torn up when we did our master suite room addition 4 years ago and right after construction was completed, Jeff was diagnosed... skip forward 2 years before Jeff had the strength to start working on the yard...... then killing the old grass, cutting it down, killing, cutting, killing, cutting, rototil weekend, holiday season, basketball season, sprinkler installation, football season, holiday season, basketball season, raking, leveling, preparing the soil, swim season, Grad Nite season... and finally TODAY!

I heard a big truck coming down the street at 6:55AM I knew our sod was here! I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, grabbed the camera and started shooting! We had 2 huge pallets delivered... 1,050 square feet...... here are the before shots... ...and Chris being a dork when the first piece of sod was put down! I'll post the after shots later this afternoon. Jeff's Dad is here helping, too, so there are 3 generations of Locher men making sure the sod goes in perfectly! I CAN'T WAIT!!!! WOOOO HOOOOO...

Scrapbooking.com Magazine and Anna's First Publication!!

WOOOOO HOOOOO! The July issue of Scrapbooking.com Magazine just came out and I have 2 articles in this month's issue!! The first is the uber cute article called, "Scrapping With Mommy" about Anna and her love for scrapbooking! The second article is called, "Patriotic Milk Carton Mini Album" where I share with you how to create an entire mini album out of a cardboard milk carton. I also had the chance to play with Rusty Pickle's new "Bottle Rockets" line which I TOTALLY LOVE! The rich colors and the fun quote stickers... LOVE IT!

So here are a few little teasers from the articles... click on the thread title above and it will take you

to the Table of Contents... you will find the two articles from there! Enjoy and make it a GREAT day!!!