Wow, I had no idea

I installed a counter on my blog for kicks a couple of days ago and it is already over 200 hits. I had no idea that many people were actually reading my blog. I am also thrilled to see how many people have responded to my post about resolutions. In honor of that wonderful bit of knowledge, I am offering a second rak. I now have a Prima bitty bag of flowers to give away. Just leave me a comment and tell me how you found me. If you are on one of the message boards I frequent, tell me your MB name. If you found me on someone else's site, tell me who they are. I know I've found several blogs just clicking on people's names who leave comments on my favorite blogs, too. I will choose that winner on the 2nd, too. I hope everyone has a safe New Year's Eve. See you next year.

A RAK to end the year

Santa left a Heidi Swapp clear stamp in my stocking that I already own so I thought I'd share it with one of my friends. You can see it here. I just couldn't get a good picture of it. Just tell me whether you set goals or make resolutions each year and I will randomly draw a name on Jan 2. I am not a resolution maker, myself. I do occasionally set goals for myself but I don't restrict that to the beginning of any year. I'm hoping to get some deals today as I'm going shopping armed with gift cards and 50% off coupons. Wish me luck.

Puzzle pieces keep coming in!

This one is from Heather. Simply beautiful, isn't it? Thanks, Heather.

Fun Stuff

Had a great couple of days. I hope all of you did, too. We had our family Christmas on Christmas Eve so Seth could wake up to Santa Claus at his house on Christmas morning. He was even more fun this year than last year. He was excited about everything, even clothes. He kept saying things like "another present for me?! Oh my gosh!" In years past, I have been the stuffer of stockings and only occasionally would someone remember to put something in mine so I always throw a couple of things in there for myself. This year, though, both of my girls separately put lots of scrappy stuff in there and I was very pleased. Those babies of mine sure turned out well. Here are a few pictures.

We have an announcement

Karen got engaged today. I'm going to be a mother in law. Joe gave her a jewelry box for Christmas and put the ring inside so she found it when she opened the drawer. He then got down on one knee and proposed. She called me crying to tell me about it. We are thrilled. He is a really nice guy. He loves her and he loves Seth. She has been so happy since they've been together and this will be great. No date has been set but it looks like my next year will be spent planning a wedding. Any cost cutting measures or hints will be greatly appreciated!

Remember Traditions

A fast easy page. I just printed my blog entry from here and pasted it on my page. Al the paper is Scenic Route. The trees are left over from my Christmas cards. They are Super T's stamps.

Awesome mail day!

I got two puzzle pieces in the mail today! Both are just incredible, too. The owl one is from Samantha, my friend from the CKMB and the paisley one is from Betty who I also met on the CKMB but we now play together at Scrapbook Playground. It is really starting to come together. I have decided on a title and will be decorating the middle pieces very soon to tie them all together.

It's Santa Baby!

I've been hoarding my pages for the last couple of months in case they could be used for HOF. I did this one yesterday and he is just so darn cute, I had to share. Curtis is such a good sport. I put the hat on him and said, smile for me, baby! He actually posed for several shots and most of them turned out pretty cute. I have company coming this weekend to stay so I probably won't be back on for a few days. I hope all of you have a blessed Christmas.

I thought I would share my annual Christmas letter and photo collage I sent out with my Christmas cards this year. Since I consider all of you wonderful people who take the time to visit me here as my friends, you should also benefit (or suffer) from my love of the written word. Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope your holidays are wonderful.

Dear friends and family,

It is time for the annual year in review letter from the Owens family and this year finds Curtis and me happily celebrating our 30^th anniversary living in the proverbial empty nest. Until a couple of weeks ago, the two extra bedrooms were completely empty except for the few abandoned prom and banquet dresses hanging in one closet. We bought a new bed for ourselves and put our old one into one of the bedrooms so Allison would have somewhere to sleep when she came home for Thanksgiving. Those empty bedrooms served us well in October, though, when we had several of Allison’s friends stay with us during Texas-OU weekend. They brought sleeping bags and camped out in the back of our house. We had a great time with all those young people in the house.

Karen and Seth moved out in May and are living nearby in a small duplex. Karen has changed jobs and is the accounting manager for a small cleaning company that contracts out the cleaning of office buildings. She has been going to school two nights a week and we watch Seth on those nights. She is also seeing a very nice guy named Joe who makes her very happy and that makes us happy, too.

Seth is four, a very handsome little guy, and loves anything that has to do with balls. He especially loves football right now and he and Curtis toss the ball back and forth outside until it gets dark every time he comes over. He also loves superheroes and is obsessed with being big and strong.

Allison is at the University of Texas in Austin working on a biology degree. She is enjoying her third year there and is on track to graduate in May of 2009. She was awarded a full tuition scholarship from the Hartman Foundation at the start of this past semester. They are a group who work to encourage future math and science teachers. She also received another scholarship from the Austin Independent School District. With the extra money, she doesn’t have to work as much as she did last year. She has moved into an apartment with a friend from high school and plans to stay in Austin until graduation and maybe even afterwards to teach in the Austin school district. She is involved with the University Catholic Center and belongs to a group called STRONG who put on weekend retreats for teenagers in the Austin area. She is also working a couple of days a week at the River City Youth Foundation, an after school program for low income kids.

Curtis has been promoted to plant manager at Southern Star Concrete. He is thriving on all of the extra responsibility and doing well. He loves being a grandpa to his favorite little boy and he enjoys visits from his girls.

I am still plugging away at Tom Thumb. I love scrapbooking and am doing well with it. I’ve even won a few contests. I’ve made some new friends through it and am having such a great time. I also really enjoy photography and am learning to use my new fancy camera. I want to find a class to take. Be warned. Anybody who comes near me best be ready to have their picture taken!

I hope 2008 is good for all of you and that you enjoy many blessings.

Love, Curtis and Detta

Growing up as the oldest of seven children, there were always a lot of stockings hanging from our mantel at Christmas time. As we grew up and began marrying, new stockings began crowding onto that small block of wood. It didn’t take long until there was so many that that had to be tacked onto the wall above the fireplace and around it. This year, there are thirty six stockings including two for family members who have passed away in the last four years. Before my dad died, my mother took joy in filling them and we looked forward to seeing what “Santa” would bring to Grandma’s house. After the lottery came to Texas, everyone over 21 got a ticket and it was a fun contest to see who won the most money. After dad died, Mom lost a little of her spirit and found shopping a chore. She asked if we minded that she not do them anymore. We were aghast at the thought! My youngest sister was especially upset because she was pregnant with her first children (twins) and she wanted them to know the tradition that all of the older cousins had grown up with. My siblings and I have taken over this job and it is so much fun. I spent all year looking at markdown bins and the dollar area at Target looking for things that could go into 35 stockings. My sisters did the same thing. So, even though I will know what I am putting in, I will still be surprised by whatever the others contribute. We might have to start hanging stockings on window sills as the grandkids start marrying but it is a tradition that means Christmas to me.

The stocking display at my house is a bit smaller in scale. Curtis and my stockings are still the originals from when we got married and I made the girls for them when they were each born. I made Seth's a couple of years ago and the one with no name, yet, is for Joe, Karen's boyfriend. I also always have several generic stockings on hand and trinkets to put in them for whomever the girls might bring home for our annual Christmas Eve dinner.

I scrapped!

I have hardly accomplished any of the goals I set for myself this week while I've been on vacation. I was going to get three of these books done. I was going to make two mini albums for my sister to put pictures of her girls in and I was going to move into a bedroom with all my scrap stuff. Iwas going to work on HOF. I got the move mostly done. I got enough done, at least, to have an empty table to scrap on so I whipped this up this morning. It is for my in laws in Alabama. I guess I will have to mail priority, now. LOL. So much for best made plans.

Quote for the day

When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I would have not a single bit of talent left and could say, 'I used everything YOU gave me.'

Erma Bombeck

Gingerbread house

I think more icing and candy went into and onto Seth than went on the house. How did that child get so dirty?!!

Another puzzle piece has arrived

This one came from Joscie in Hawaii. The little hula girl is adorable and I love that she added a tiny picture of her family. She also sent Hawaiian candy. Yum. It is painted silver. I'm not sure you can see that. The flash picture reflected back on me but when I didn't use a flash, the piece looked green. It is raining outside so I can't go out there to take the picture. Thanks, Joscie.

30 years ago today

Thirty years ago today, two desperately love sick 18 year olds started their life together despite (or maybe in spite of) all of the advice they received not to. They began married life with hardly any money but lots of dreams and hopes for the future. They honestly believed all they needed was each other.

The years ahead were not all wine and roses. Two years after their wedding, their first baby girl was stillborn. They named her Melissa Nicole and buried her on a cold February morning. They cried together and went on with their lives a little sadder than they were before but still in love.

Two years later, a beautiful and healthy baby girl was born. They named her Karen Michelle and they began a new life as parents. Five years after that, an equally beautiful Allison Rose made her appearance and their little family was complete.

Over the years, there was much heartache mixed in with the joy but the love got bigger and stronger as the years went by. There were struggles, some pretty big ones. They fought and made up. They loved. They laughed. They cried. They laughed some more. They raised those two baby girls to be happy self sufficient women who make them very proud. They’ve built a life together that is comfortable and exciting and filled with fun.

While some of the credit for the longevity of their relationship can be attributed to pure stubbornness, the real reasons they are still together are because they want to be and because they are still as love struck as they were when they were kids. He tells her she is beautiful every day and she laughs at him. She still meets him with a kiss at the door each day when he comes home from work. They compliment each other. They were meant for each other. Life is good. Their love is strong.

Christmas fun with my camera

I bought this decoration the other day with the sole intention of hanging it in my tree and photographing it. I went outside at 7 am when the sun first started coming up and just kept shooting until I liked the light.

YES!!!! I won!

I am beyond excited. My layout got picked as the winner at Unpubbed. I have followed their challenges almost religiously since I found them.

A girl after my heart

Allison emailed me these pictures last night. She called all excited about how she and her room mate have decorated their apartment. They have a pink Christmas tree! She said that if there was a decorating contest for their apartment complex, they would win! LOL. I think it is fun how excited she was. She was especially proud that they made their own wreath for the front door just like we've done in years past at home. When I asked if she actually owned a glue gun, her answer was, "of course!" Too funny. Here are her pictures. On another note, Seth asked me last night when I was going to come to his house and see his tree. I guess I need to go over there and see that, too.

Speaking of Seth, yesterday when I picked him up from day care, he asked me if I could buy a truck with no back seat so he could ride up front with me. Isn't that cute?

The view from my front door

My friend, Heather, has asked me to post the view from my front door. When she asked me last night, it was dark outside and the view was just black with a few Christmas lights from across the street. Today at 3:30 in the afternoon, I have this lovely view as I look down my sidewalk toward the street. Our big old oak tree has finally decided that it is cool enough to turn fall colors even though it is already December and the temperatures are in the 70s. This is about the extent of fall colors I ever see around here. I have not decorated for Christmas, yet, so those flower pots are empty. Next weekend, I will put poinsettias in them. Curtis and I have always decorated the weekend closest to our anniversary which is Dec 10. We got married and then decorated that first year so it has just always been our tradition. This will be the 31st Christmas we spend together as it will be our 30th anniversary.

my newest layout for unpubbed

Once I decided which pictures to use, this just made itself. I started grabbing stuff I had on my desk and it just all worked. There is an orange border all around this page and there are scallops at the bottom of the creative imaginations paper just like at the top. The scan cut the bottom off and I'm not feeling like messing with it. This was the most fun I've had all week. Just love painting on my stamps, too. I took these pictures of Allison on my birthday when we were playing around trying to see how fast the camera could keep shooting pictures. She was a willing model doing all these twists and turns and funky faces for me. She is a silly one, that girl. Love her to pieces.

The requisite mirror shot!

Just couldn't resist getting a picture of myself with my new camera!

Got another puzzle piece today!

This one is from my friend Corey Wagner whom I met at Scrapbook Playground. I keep running into her at other scrappy sites, too. Thanks, Corey. This piece is wonderful and I just love it. I am a big fan of brown and you used it beautifully.

And the winners are!

Melissa (city mouse)
Joscelyne
Samantha

I am much too old and decrepit to do a Liz style happy dance but I am high fiving you all! Please email me your address and I will send you a package of goodies. Remember, some of it is new. Some of it is large pieces of scraps. I have been downsizing and have way too many duplicate sheets of paper. I have learned to only buy one piece, now. I used to always buy two.

Thank you, Stacey!

Back on November 11, I won the Days of Glory contest over at All Moments Remembered. I got my prize package on Wednesday. It had several sheets of paper in blues and greens from Shabby Princess, some cardstock stickers and a blank accordian matchbook minibook. I think I'm going to use the mini book to make something for Curtis for our anniversary in a couple of weeks. I used the paper last night to make this page about my sister-in-law's surprise party back in September. I had also ordered some of the word board books from her. I got three of the ones that say FAMILY. I'm going to make one for me, of course and one each for my girls.

2nd puzzle piece back

I go this back from Debbie McCaffrey on Wednesday. It is adorable! Thanks, Deb.

Mommy has a new camera

Yesterday was a good day. Karen sent me flowers. Allison took me to lunch. Curtis fixed hamburgers. I had my family together to sing happy birthday to me and I played with my new camera. I have lots of shots of Allison playing "model" so I could see how fast it could shoot. Very fun. Don't forget to leave me comments between now and Sunday for a chance to get a gift from me. Also, I have given out all of my puzzle pieces. I will give you updates as they come in.

Gifts for my friends

48 years ago today, I came into the world as the first child of young parents who loved each other deeply until the day my dad died 44 years later. I have been loved all my life; first by my parents and now by my darling funny husband of almost 30 years. My two beautiful girls and darling little grandson have made my life so much fun. Though I have never been money wealthy, I have been blessed with a loving family, a comfortable life and lots of laughter. Today, I want to celebrate those things. I have been very lucky the past several weeks. I have won a few contests, received several RAKs and been given gifts. I want to share some of it with you. I have assembled three packages of assorted scrappy goodies. Some of it is brand new stuff. Some of it is large paper scraps. Some of it is just fun. Everyone who leaves a comment on any of my posts between now and Sunday at noon will go in a drawing to receive a gift from me. Thanks for being my friends.

Dipping my toes into digital

Every year, my mother makes a family calendar that lists everyone's birthdays and anniversaries and reminds us of Holy Days of Obligation. She has done it for several years, now. At first, she used stock photos she found on the internet to decorate the upper page facing the actual calendar page. Two years ago, I offered to do those for her. I used a mix of some old photos of my siblings and myself and some new pictures and made scrapbook pages that I scanned and we had printed. They turned out okay. Last year, I spent the year stalking each member of my family to get a good head shot of them by themselves and made pages featuring those whose birthday was that month. I really liked how these turned out but I had lots of gripers, especially from the girls about the pictures I chose. These pages are in my CK gallery if you want to look at them. This year, I decided to do quotes and use pictures with no people in them. I used some of the pictures and some of the quotes in my September project but there are some new ones, too. I decided to use a simple, minimal design and I did them digitally. Here are a few samples. All of the photos were taken with my Nikon Coolpix camera. That crayon picture took me about50 tries (I'm not kidding) to get one that was in focus and at an angle I was happy with.

On that note, I am very very very excited to announce that tomorrow on my 48th birthday, I am getting a Nikon D40! It is my combination birthday, 30th anniversary and Christmas present. I can't wait to get my hands on it and start taking some amazing photos! It is the camera that makes the photos amazing, isn't it? LOL Come back tomorrow. I will be giving presents away for my birthday!

unpubbed layout

I'm starting to like the 8 1/2 x 11 size more and more. It doesn't take near as much for it to look "finished." This is my lift of Jamey's layout. I took the torn edges, the double matte and the word strips to the left side. I also used the scallop ribbon across the bottom. All those same elements and it looks nothing like hers, does it? That is the really fun part of scrap lifting. I caught this sweet picture of two babies sleeping in the back seat of the car two summers ago after Karen tapped me on the shoulder and handed me her camera to take the picture cause she couldn't get them both from where she was sitting on the other side of Seth. I took one with her camera and then took one with mine. Curtis was mumbling the whole time about not waking them up. I have wanted to scrap it for a while. I have a few pictures in a little basket on my scrap table that I leave there just waiting for inspiration and this was one of them.

Would you like to help me with a project?

I have purchased this blank puzzle made by Technique Tuesday and would love for some of you to help decorate it for me. I have given out 4 pieces and received the first one back. The first person to return it was my friend, Liz Ness. I have included a picture of the lonely puzzle waiting for decoration and a close up of Liz' piece. Isn't it gorgeous? I just love it and am truly very excited that she did this for me. I can't wait till I get the other pieces back.

The instructions are simple. Decorate in any way you like but be sure the edges will still be able to connect with the other pieces. I would also like you to put your name on the front in some way. You can make it part of the design or simply sign it. When I get all the pieces back, I will mount it and use it to decorate my scrap space so I will have a constant reminder of who my scrappy friends are.

Would you like to play? Email me your address to dettaowens@texasearch.com and I will mail you a piece.

This made me giggle

Incurable Optimist

scattering little bits of happiness everywhere she goes, except at home because her family told her to get out & leave them in peace for godsakes Brian Andreas

What do you think?

My first real altered item. The paper and the ribbon are Prima. I was going for simple and elegant. Is it too simple. Shall I use this for my Daisy D entry?

Woo Hoo!

I won this week's Days of Glory over at All Moments Remembered. Go on over and check it out. She has those neat Bo Bunny Word Books and she can special order books with any name you want. too. Very Cool.

Guess where I was today!

I got to meet Kelly Pickler today. She is the tiniest little thing and just too sweet. Loved her concert, too.

A new bed and fun times

Yesterday, Curtis and I went bed shopping. Thanksgiving is coming. Allison will be home and there are no extra beds in our house anymore. We decided to buy a new bed for ourselves and put ours in the extra bedroom. It was an exhausting day. Who would have thought that laying down on beds, getting up from beds and rolling over and bouncing on beds would be so tiring? I especially liked the part where I laid there and made Curtis get up and down over and over so I could see if I felt him moving. You know, he is slightly bigger and weighs a bit more than me....

We finally decided on a King Size Tempurpedic. (Can you say monthly payments?) Then, we had to go shopping for sheets and a comforter because our old bed was a queen. Who would have thought this man I've been married to for 30 years would suddenly have an opinion about what colors he wanted to decorate our room in? What a beating! Not really. I enjoyed his input and he was willing to go to more than one place to look. We settled on sage and yellow from Target and we now have a pretty new bed. Fun times! I didn't sleep very well, though. I guess it will take getting used to. Also, there was this big huge space between us all night while we slept. No elbows in the side and no extra body heat. How great is that?!

Fun Scenic Route Paper and Chipboard

I guess I need to point out that this little cutie is my niece, Mary Kathryn. She is 2 1/2 years old and one of a set of twin girls belonging to my youngest sister, Mary.

I'm a finalist!

I just got an email from Jodi Stacey at Daisy D's that I am a finalist for their design team! She wants me to send an email with 1-3 of my favorite layouts plus one altered item. This is the first time I have tried out for a design team. It was so easy to try for this one. All they wanted was a link to your on line gallery or your blog. I sent links to both. Does anyone out there have a favorite layout of mine? I haven't done very many altered items. I guess I'll send one of the canvases I just did.

Hey, check this out!

Tenika has used one of my layouts on her blog. I like to look at all the pages on here when I have multiple photos to use on one layout. Thanks, Tenika.

http://scrapbooklayouts.blogspot.com/

Happy November

It's my favorite month. Welcome to November. I love Thanksgiving and sweaters and pumpkin pie. I like cool mornings as long as the sun comes out and warms up the day. I like thinking about Christmas coming. Happy November.

My layout for unpubbed

This is my lift of Heather's layout. I turned it on it's side.

My beautiful Karen

So, I talked Karen into wearing her hair down yesterday so I could get some pictures of her. A little too much Halloween party the night before had her looking a little pale but that just made those cute freckles stand out some more.

Believe Canvas for OLW

I haven't done a layout for one little word in a while. I already had this canvas in mind when I looked over there and saw the current word is "believe." They are due today. I'm not sure if there is a time limit but I whipped this one up this afternoon. The stickers and rubons and pp are MAMBI, the chipboard swirls and alphas are Doodlebug painted and stamped. The big "believe" is also a rubon.

Check out the Tshirt

Karen took Seth to the pumpkin patch this past weekend and she took some pictures. She emailed a few to me today. This one made me laugh, not because of the picture itself but because of the shirt he is wearing. It says, "I didn't do it. You didn't see me do it. I want to speak to my grandma."
Don't you love it?

Woo Hoo, I got a small nod

I didn't win but I "caught their eye" over at unpubbed. Thank you! Congratulations to Jamie, the winner this time.

Quote for the day

In those whom I like, I can find no common denominator; in those whom I love I can: they all make me laugh.
W. H. Auden

Thankful

My cyber-friend Samantha has tagged me for 7 random facts and Theresa wants to know what I am thankful for. I've done the random fact thing a couple of times and I love that Samantha tagged me cause it makes me feel loved but I am going to give thanks today. You may learn something from these, though.

• I am thankful for a husband who just smiles when I mention making a side trip to visit Archivers on my way home from Austin.
• I am also thankful for a husband who thinks I'm beautiful.
  
• I am thankful for children who are thankful that I raised them to be independent.
• I am thankful for quiet in my house for a couple of hours each day so I can do what I want.
• I am thankful for the relationship I have with my grandson and that I get to spend two evenings a week with him. It is just enough.
• I am thankful that I have a laid back, forgiving attitude toward life and am not easily upset by change.
  
• I am thankful for six wonderful brothers and sisters and the wonderful people they married and all those awesome kids they brought into the world for me to love.
  

I also got a great thank you note from the female faction of those kids who stayed with us a couple of weekends ago. All five of them signed it and wrote individual notes inside. Great kids. I did not expect anything from them at all. They made my weekend great. No note from the boys, though. Do boys write thank you notes? LOL

Just a fun layout

Parent's weekend at UT

I just got home from Austin and visiting with Allison. She and Jessica have really made their little apartment very cute with all of their assorted cast offs from everywhere. Allison says that her favorite new store in the whole world is now Goodwill. Cool stuff for so cheap! It was parent's weekend at UT. Since this is her third year there, we skipped most of the formal "getting to know your child's school" activities except for the presentation made by the College of Natural Sciences. She wanted to hear the dean speak and we got free breakfast. Allison then gave me her own tour of campus. She showed me the room she had her very first college class in. She showed me the giant lecture hall with three video screens that she has had several classes in. She showed me cool buildings with unique architecture. She showed me several good vantage points to take pictures of the tower from. She showed me a study lounge with comfy chairs that people fall asleep in all the time. She ttok me to play in the "noodle sculpture" outside the Blanton art museum. Finally, she showed me the turtle pond and how much fun it is to feed them. She was just like a little kid playing with them. We capped off the day by standing in line to take pictures with Bevo. For those of you not familiar with college mascots, Bevo is the official mascot for the University of Texas Longhorns. My little girl is just so grown up. Loved hanging out with her.