I really like this humorous saying, although I don't nessecarilly believe it's true.
After watching THIS video, I've been thinking about what I'm putting in my scrapbook and if I'm grazing over too much of the every day stuff.
Would you be uncomfortable looking at a scrapbook that had more than just smiles and laughs?
I have some heartfelt pages in my scrapbook about my late grandmother, and about my feelings when Zoe was in the hospital, but I don't have sad pages.
Am I editing too much out? I don't want my scrapbooks to reflect a perfect, sunshine 24/7 life, but I don't know that I would want to have pages about sad things in my life.
I don't keep a journal besides this blog & my scrapbooks, so maybe I should add a little more detail to my journaling, even if it's hidden from plan view.
anyone have thoughts or suggestions? I'd love to hear them.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
After watching THIS video, I've been thinking about what I'm putting in my scrapbook and if I'm grazing over too much of the every day stuff.
Would you be uncomfortable looking at a scrapbook that had more than just smiles and laughs?
I have some heartfelt pages in my scrapbook about my late grandmother, and about my feelings when Zoe was in the hospital, but I don't have sad pages.
Am I editing too much out? I don't want my scrapbooks to reflect a perfect, sunshine 24/7 life, but I don't know that I would want to have pages about sad things in my life.
I don't keep a journal besides this blog & my scrapbooks, so maybe I should add a little more detail to my journaling, even if it's hidden from plan view.
anyone have thoughts or suggestions? I'd love to hear them.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
just wanted to share some pages I made with Easter photos.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
I have a lovely goose egg on the left side of my head, and a purple bruise on my left arm.
Yesterday, after we got home, I went to get the mail, wearing Ryan's flip flops.
After claiming the mail, I headed back up the stairs to our apartment.
I tripped on the floppy edge of the over-sized flip flop I was wearing and fell head first onto our cement stairs.
I'm lucky that's all I got. I'm not the first victim of the evil stairs....
poor Ethan also suffered a goose egg just a few months ago.
I'm lucky there was no bleeding of chipped teeth, but I did have a really bad headache.
Yay! We're finally home.
When we got home, I realized how much work we have left to get the apartment back together
::sigh::
I guess that's what you get for moving.
I have more pictures to share and more scrapbook pages to make.
I have big plans to scrapbook this weekend & get Zoe's 2 year photos taken
(I can't believe she'll be 2 in just a few weeks!)
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
Happy Wedding Day!
Best wishes to Natalie + Gary.
We love you!
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
We had quite the day yesterday. Lots of errands. Lots of cooking.
This was Zoe just 45 minutes into the trip.
We held Natalie's bridal shower at my parents house last night. We got to see a lot of family and shower Natalie with gifts.
Today we're prepping to meet her in-laws and her fiance's family.
I love being here with my family, but I'm missing my routine and familiar things.
It's strange that home can be at different places. I still feel at home, when I'm at my parents house, even though I've never lived here. Weird how that feeling kinda follows you.
Tomorrow is the big day
pictures, smiles + pretty dresses.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
Happy Sunday!
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
So I'm attempting something new...blogging while on vacation. Most of the time I just disappear from the blogosphere for a week and then come back with a really long post.
Hopefully, I will be able to break that trend a little and blog while gone.
Zoe and I started early this morning at 3am to get ready for our flight. It's been a long day.
But we're having lots of fun reconnecting with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.
Isn't he handsome?
Zoe is loving all the new toys here.
We miss Daddy lots. Hopefully he's missing us too!
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
Welcome to Wednesday!
I'm sad to say, we are still not all the way through unpacking.
but, I'm happy to say that Goodwill got about 8 bags full of stuff from us. Spring cleaning feels good!
I'm sad to say that our dishwasher isn't in working condition. {It sprays water all over when it's running. Yeah, that was a fun discovery, not!}
but, I'm happy to say Zoe is doing really well at playing on her own in her room. It nice to be able to have her play by herself while I'm making dinner.
I'm sad that spring/winter is over. I love me a good rainstorm/blizzard. :)
but, I'm happy that I get to go to Utah this weekend and see my family! And maybe some snow....
I'm sad that I haven't had any time to scrapbook in the past week.
but, I'm happy that I'll have lots of pictures to scrapbook when I get home from my trip though :)
I'm sad that I don't have any pictures to post.
but, I'm happy that you read my blog anyway :)
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
I'm sad to say, we are still not all the way through unpacking.
but, I'm happy to say that Goodwill got about 8 bags full of stuff from us. Spring cleaning feels good!
I'm sad to say that our dishwasher isn't in working condition. {It sprays water all over when it's running. Yeah, that was a fun discovery, not!}
but, I'm happy to say Zoe is doing really well at playing on her own in her room. It nice to be able to have her play by herself while I'm making dinner.
I'm sad that spring/winter is over. I love me a good rainstorm/blizzard. :)
but, I'm happy that I get to go to Utah this weekend and see my family! And maybe some snow....
I'm sad that I haven't had any time to scrapbook in the past week.
but, I'm happy that I'll have lots of pictures to scrapbook when I get home from my trip though :)
I'm sad that I don't have any pictures to post.
but, I'm happy that you read my blog anyway :)
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
We are currently in the process of moving up a flight of stairs, but it's a lot more work than I thought.
Regular blogging will resume in a few days.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
Regular blogging will resume in a few days.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
Zoe has been sick the past 5 days and it finally getting much better.
We'd been in the house for pretty much all 5 days, so we decided to escape for a
few minutes this afternoon to the park.
Zoe and I were pretty bored this morning, so we played hair with the straightener. She looks so different without her curls. I think we'll keep the curls though, I missed them today.
I apologize for the lack of exciting posts, I'll attempt to resume regular, more
exciting posting after we're all moved in this weekend.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
Zoe has been sick the past few days, but the Easter Bunny still came to visit.
She had a great time finding all the eggs. The Easter Bunny was quite generous and I think hid a few too many eggs. It took us awhile to gather them all.
I'm hoping to get a picture of Zoe in her Easter dress if she's feeling better later.
Hope you all have a blessed day!
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
Is your BFF a Sith Lord too?
Ethan was playing with his "Gator" mask as he calls it. We had a good time snapping pictures and trying to get them to sit next to each other and hug.
I love this one, with Vader in the background. Almost like a Bigfoot sighting.
As I mentioned before, we are going to be moving next week. We are staying in the same complex and near the Stauffers, we're just going to be upstairs.
So this next week, will mean cleaning, purging, packing and moving.
Hopefully I'll be able to find a few things I've been missing. Like my *NSYNC Cd's, my black half-zip jacket from Gap and my white headband.
My sister has a new blog about her AWESOME job at the laundry mat
It's quite entertaining.
Happy Friday!
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
y
We've decided to find a new home for Campbell Dog.
We're moving (just to a different apartment) but we decided that Campbell needed more space and attention than we can currently give her.
She will be missed.
Campbell is going to her new home tonight. Her new family is really excited.
I know this is the best option for all of us but I'm a little sad. Especially for Zoe.
She is going to miss Campbell.
More words on moving a little later....
XOXO,
Holly & CO.
I made my first batch of homemade meatballs tonight. I based my recipe off of this one. They turned out great, if I do say so myself.
I've been working on meal planning for 2 weeks at a time. Day 1 was a success!
(If the new recipes turn out, I'll post them)
It did happen to be cloudy today. Ryan and I took Zoe to the park after daycare today. I know I keep putting pictures of her up from the park, but there's such great lighting there, especially around 5-6pm, when we usually go.
A baby no more, that's for sure.
Holly & Co.
I love looking through the pictures on my phone and finding these gems...
this is Zoe with a bear my Mom sent her for Valentine's day.
I had a rough day today. Some happenings at work + a lot on my after work to-do list. I actually decided that I was going to do something right today, so on the way home, Zoe and I took a detour to the park.
She's doing so well at climbing up the slide all by herself.
I made the Cowboy Cookies tonight, they turned out great. I added the recipe to the box already.
Well it's 10:30 and I just finished eating my dinner, so I should probably head to bed.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
I needed to send some thank-you cards, but didn't have any, so I decided to make some.
I admit, I'm a really bad card-marker. I scrapbook just fine, but when I shrink the canvas to a 3x5 inch area, I get stumped. I tend to try to add too much and it looks like a cat threw up on it. That's why I don't post many cards I make on here. So I went for a more simple technique this time.
For this project, I used Photoshop Elements 6.0, which is the program I do all my photo editing and other projects in.
That's all for tonight. I will be testing out a new recipe for Cowboy Cookies later this week, so I will let you know how it goes. I'm going to use Easter colored M&M's. I hope they taste as yummy as they look.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
I admit, I'm a really bad card-marker. I scrapbook just fine, but when I shrink the canvas to a 3x5 inch area, I get stumped. I tend to try to add too much and it looks like a cat threw up on it. That's why I don't post many cards I make on here. So I went for a more simple technique this time.
For this project, I used Photoshop Elements 6.0, which is the program I do all my photo editing and other projects in.
I used a digital scrapbooking kit from Two Peas in a Bucket called Toy Box, by Vinnie Pearce
plus some white cardstock & a border punch....
and voila!
I actually made a bunch to keep on hand. I love getting snail mail, so I decided in order to receive I should give first. Using white cardstock, plus a little embellishment like a stamp or rub-on can make a quick, cute card for any occasion.
I didn't even need any glue :)
That's all for tonight. I will be testing out a new recipe for Cowboy Cookies later this week, so I will let you know how it goes. I'm going to use Easter colored M&M's. I hope they taste as yummy as they look.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
Bless Miss Liz....
(ignore the date stamp, it's not the right date)
I finally got some pictures from Zoe at daycare. I guess in California, flour is as good as snow.
She is a saint and always has the best activities planned for the kids. They normally spend a lot of time outside, but this Winter was especially cold and rainy, so after spending several weeks inside the kids were going a little nuts, so she gave them a big bowl of flour and they went to town.
I'm so glad she took pictures.
We love Miss Liz.
After I took those pictures at the park last week, I came home and scrapped these 2 pages. This one of Ethan is one of my favorite ever.
I didn't have any letters that matched and my Cricut was in Zoe's room, so I used some Studio Calico letters as masks with my Distress inks. I love the way it turned out.
The journaling reads, " You can't grow up...not just yet. I need you to be my baby just a little while longer. Every day you are doing more on your own and you me less and less. I love to watch you trust yourself more and learn and grow. But you can't grow up just yet, I need you to need me a little longer."
The journaling was all my feelings after watching Zoe climbing all over the playground without my help. She wasn't scared to climb up the jungle gym and go down the big slide all by herself. She is growing up that's for sure.
Our Ward had our RS Birthday Dinner last week and I made rainbow cupcakes for dessert. It took about 3 hours and it was a lot of work but SO worth it. They were happy cupcakes. Everyone can use a happy cupcake! I forgot to take pictures and I'm so sad, because they were beautiful. Maybe I'll just have to make them again to get the pictures.
This week we have a Ward ice cream social so more dessert all around! (Sat, 3pm for all you ladies in the FO3rd ward or surrounding wards :)
I'll be around more this week, hopefully.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
With it being St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd write about my lady luck.
When I was 13, our local Albertson's was having a drawing for a stand-up freezer. Anyone over 10 (I think) could entire. My dad had my sisters and I all write our names down and enter the drawing, he told us if we won, he'd give us $10 for the freezer. We all agreed. I won. I got my $10 and my parents for a freezer, and I reminded my parents quite often, that I won them that freezer and all I got was $10.
I was really into beanie babies when I was a pre-teen. I mean REALLY into them. I used to babysit and accept payment in beanie babies. I'm really not joking. I entered a drawing at the beanie baby stand in the mall, to be one of 12 people who got to purchase the Princess Diana beanie baby for $20. I won and even bought a case for the beanie baby, thinking it would be worth thousands someday. A lady at my Dad's office offered to buy for $200 and I turned it down. Yeah, I was stupid. I think my mom still has it somewhere, still in the case.
In the summer of 2004, I was lucky enough to catch the eye of a cute cashier at the Chipotle, that was near the scrapbook store I worked at. I rarely paid for my burrito and always got a free drink.
Then just a couple years ago, Ryan and I were heading home from the movies, and we stopped at Beverly's crafts. We entered a drawing for a $50 giftcard and we/he/me won.
In November, I entered a contest for some scrapbooking stuff...and I'm a winner.
Just a couple of months ago, I won a pattern for an apron giveaway. Although, I have yet to use it.
But poor Zoe, I totally forgot it was St. Patrick's Day while we were getting ready this morning and sent her dressed in yellow. I better make sure each of my children has a green shirt to wear every year for St. Patrick's Day from now on.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
When I was 13, our local Albertson's was having a drawing for a stand-up freezer. Anyone over 10 (I think) could entire. My dad had my sisters and I all write our names down and enter the drawing, he told us if we won, he'd give us $10 for the freezer. We all agreed. I won. I got my $10 and my parents for a freezer, and I reminded my parents quite often, that I won them that freezer and all I got was $10.
I was really into beanie babies when I was a pre-teen. I mean REALLY into them. I used to babysit and accept payment in beanie babies. I'm really not joking. I entered a drawing at the beanie baby stand in the mall, to be one of 12 people who got to purchase the Princess Diana beanie baby for $20. I won and even bought a case for the beanie baby, thinking it would be worth thousands someday. A lady at my Dad's office offered to buy for $200 and I turned it down. Yeah, I was stupid. I think my mom still has it somewhere, still in the case.
In the summer of 2004, I was lucky enough to catch the eye of a cute cashier at the Chipotle, that was near the scrapbook store I worked at. I rarely paid for my burrito and always got a free drink.
Then just a couple years ago, Ryan and I were heading home from the movies, and we stopped at Beverly's crafts. We entered a drawing for a $50 giftcard and we/he/me won.
In November, I entered a contest for some scrapbooking stuff...and I'm a winner.
Just a couple of months ago, I won a pattern for an apron giveaway. Although, I have yet to use it.
But poor Zoe, I totally forgot it was St. Patrick's Day while we were getting ready this morning and sent her dressed in yellow. I better make sure each of my children has a green shirt to wear every year for St. Patrick's Day from now on.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
Tonight we took these kiddos to the park. It was a warm sunny day and it was too hard to resist.
The light was perfect and so were this kids.
Unfortunately, my camera battery died after like 10 minutes, so I only got like 15 pictures.
But enjoy these goodies :)
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
This is a pictures I pulled off Google Maps, of the house I grew up in.
{If you click on it, you can read what all the red marking say.}
I lived in this house for 16 years, the longest I've lived anywhere.
Over Christmas, an old friend sent me a picture of this house decked out in Christmas lights, it made me cry.
I loved this house, I thought my parents were going to retire in this house.
I'm glad Ryan got to spend time in this house before my parents moved. I would have been sad if he had never gotten to see my childhood home.
In addition to the things I wrote on the picture, there are a few things you can't see by looking at the outside.
There's a curved banister that we used to slide down. It has long scratches all the way down from the buttons on our pants.
The upstairs bathroom had a permanent layer of hairspray on the counters, because that's where we'd all go to get ready for dances.
There used to be a deck in the backyard, along with a trampoline, that entertained lots of youth for many summers.
That house holds so many more stories than I have time or space to write.
Although I loved that house, after moving into a new one a few time over, I've learning I loved that feeling of home that was contained inside that house. That feeling of being safe, being wanted, being loved.
That feeling of home, has now been relocating and expanded to several addresses.
That saying,"Home is where the heart is," is so cliche, but true.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
So my little sister is getting married in a few weeks, and I need a dress to wear to the wedding. I'll be wearing my bridesmaids dress, but I need something to wear to the actual. I've found some that I like, but I need a little help deciding.
this top with a black skirt.
thoughts anyone?
This is a story I knew I had to write on the blog just as soon as it happened.
This weekend, my in-laws graciously offered to watch Zoe, as it had been a few weeks since Ryan & I had been out together. We "enjoyed" a nice dinner at Mas, I saw that in quotes because our entire dinner we were right next to the live mariachi band. Yeah, we ate and promptly left. We walked to the car, and once we got to the car, Ryan and I started kissing, leaning up against the car. :::Fast forward a couple minutes::: Ryan goes to open my door and tries the key. The smile on his face disappears and he says," This isn't our car."
Yeah, talk about embarrassing. Lucky for us it was dark and the rightful owner didn't walk to their car in those couple moments. I realize it could have been a lot worse but I haven't been that embarrassed in awhile.
Moving on...
Ryan went with the youth in our ward up to Tahoe to spend the day in the snow on Saturday. Meaning, Zoe and I didn't get dressed until 3 pm, just in time to greet Ryan. ( I did clean and catch up on my shows via Hulu.com though)
Right now I have cookies in the oven because I had an unsatisfied craving for sweets. I love the way they make the house smell.
Gotta grab the cookies out of the oven...
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
{Holly in Oklahoma, 2006}
This weekend, my in-laws graciously offered to watch Zoe, as it had been a few weeks since Ryan & I had been out together. We "enjoyed" a nice dinner at Mas, I saw that in quotes because our entire dinner we were right next to the live mariachi band. Yeah, we ate and promptly left. We walked to the car, and once we got to the car, Ryan and I started kissing, leaning up against the car. :::Fast forward a couple minutes::: Ryan goes to open my door and tries the key. The smile on his face disappears and he says," This isn't our car."
Yeah, talk about embarrassing. Lucky for us it was dark and the rightful owner didn't walk to their car in those couple moments. I realize it could have been a lot worse but I haven't been that embarrassed in awhile.
Moving on...
Ryan went with the youth in our ward up to Tahoe to spend the day in the snow on Saturday. Meaning, Zoe and I didn't get dressed until 3 pm, just in time to greet Ryan. ( I did clean and catch up on my shows via Hulu.com though)
Right now I have cookies in the oven because I had an unsatisfied craving for sweets. I love the way they make the house smell.
This is why we make Zoe drink out of a sippy cup.
This is her with a blueberry-strawberry smoothie.
Yeah, the tray was way cleaner than the wall.
Been scrapbooking lately...You'll see lots of these pictures of Zoe in the green jacket because I love every single one Aly took. I can't just scrapbook one I love all of them.
XOXO,
Holly & Co.
