My Sister, My Friend

When my family moved from California to Washington I had to make a tough decision. Did I want my own room that was tiny or to share the big room with the wonderful bay window? I hadn't had my own room for very long and I wasn't sure if I wanted to give that up, but I also fell in love with the big room with the high ceiling and huge bay window.

Little did I know then what an important decision that was. I opted for sharing the big room with my youngest sister Brittany. We are seven years apart in age. I don't remember ever regretting my decision. Over the seven years that we shared a room we forged a bond that I believe can withstand anything. Even my getting married. ;)

Brittany is my sister, my friend, my confidant, my music guru, my angel, my reading buddy, my hero, and my shinning star. I honestly can't imagine life without her. I can think of countless experiences where she was there for me like no one else could be.

I went through three hard years in a row. By the end of those three years I was worn out and ready to give up. Literally. I remember laying in bed next to her (the big room was her own room now and I was home from college for a short time) wishing that God would send me an angel to help me find the desire to move forward in life. All of a sudden it hit me that He had already sent me the perfect angel and she was right next to me.

Happy Birthday Brittany!

Love you more than a million stars in the sky!

Happy Birthday

Last week was two-page week on Sketch Support. I would have blogged about it sooner but I was without the internet for a few days. I survived but boy was it annoying. :)

I really love this sketch! I seem to have a weakness for banners lately. They are so much fun! My take on this sketch was also part of a product challenge. I was sent a group of scrapbook supplies that I was challenged to use. Here is my take:

"Happy Birthday"

Supplies - Cardstock: American Crafts; Patterned paper: Simple Stories; Stickers: Simple Stories; Pop Dots: EK Success; Floss: DMC

These pictures are from Tom's last birthday. I love trying to capture photos of someone blowing out their candles. I'm pretty happy with how these photos turned out. Tom's birthday is just around the corner. It will be nice to have him be just as old as I am. ;)

Happy Birthday Card

From the title of this post you may think that it is card week at Sketch Support but it is actually add-on week.

How cute are these balloons?! I love them and they are so easy to put together. The sketch gives you the instructions and dimensions so visit Sketch Support to get a copy for yourself. I was going to use it on a layout but didn't have patterned paper on hand that I liked so I decided to put a birthday card together.

"Happy Birthday" card

Supplies - Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye, BoBunny; Chalk Ink: ColorBox; Pop Dots: Recollections; Beading Wire: Cousin; Floss: DMC; Circle Cutters: Creative Memories, EK Success

Thirty, Flirty, & Thriving

It is hard to believe that I'm the BIG 3-0! Of course there isn't much of a difference between 29 and 30 but it just sounds A LOT older. I can remember when my older cousins started turning 30. I thought they were so mature and smart. I am definitely not feeling that way! :)

I decided to spend my birthday in Florence, OR. It is on my mental bucket list for Eugene and I thought it would be a fun outing. I am very lucky that my mom and BFF Kari were able to drive down to spend the weekend with us. We also got Tom's office mate Chris to join us and he is a lot of fun to have around.

Chris brought his frisbee with him and we had fun throwing it around. Chris and Tom are far better at frisbee than my mom and me. Good thing they are patient.

The water was pretty cold! But since I grew up swimming in the nearby rivers I didn't mind it...too much.

My mom is good at spotting sand dollars. We weren't expecting on finding any whole ones but we did! Tons of shells on the beach that had been left by the seagulls.

Another fun find made by Tom. He saw them burrowing in the sand and was able to grab one. We enjoyed putting it down on the sand and then watching it dig away. Then we would grab at it again and repeat. I don't think it enjoyed as much as we did.

I was wanting to visit the lighthouse and the beach nearby but it was closed. Just means we will have to take another trip to Florence in the future.

Kari and I have been friends since I was 11! I am so thankful that she was willing to come spend the weekend with me. Love you Kare!

We ate lunch at Mo's! Boy was it yummy! I'm not a seafood person but I do love fish and chips. The exciting part was that my mom was able to find something on the menu that she could eat.

After lunch we went down on the dock and watched people go crabbing. It was fun to watch them pull the baskets up and see how many they had caught. I can now tell the difference between a male crab and a female crab. I'm sure that new found knowledge will come in handy. :)

Ice cream is a must for me! We stopped at BJ's to cool off. So many yummy flavors. It was hard to choose just two! Thanks LeaAnne for suggesting it!

My birthday treat was a homemade blackberry pie made by my mother. Delicious! I pretty much get the whole thing to myself since Chris & I are the only ones who will/can eat it.

A trip to the beach = dirty feet. I got out the foot scrub and let our feet have it.

Here is to hoping for a most fabulous year of being 30!