Back to the Real World!

Unfortunately our vacation has come to an end and this week has been about getting back into a normal routine.

We left for Tennessee around 4:00 am on May 1. After a long drive, we finally got to my parent's house a little before 5:00 pm. We took them out for an early Mother's Day dinner and then just hung out until we were ready to crash. Friday morning, we were up and gone from their house by 9:30 am. We met Jennie on the way to Drew's dad's house and got my bridesmaids dress for her wedding. By about noon, we were on our way to Chattanooga to check into our hotel and get settled before the rehearsal at 6 (which was really 5 because we lost an hour!). JT got to the hotel about the same time we did and we were starving, so we went to eat at the Texas Roadhouse next door...I love their Italian dressing and their rolls! We got done with enough time to head back to the hotel and change, then head to the rehearsal. Luckily, the rehearsal went somewhat fast. After the rehearsal and dinner, all the guys decided they wanted to go bowling. So Drew and I went with them and bowled from 11:30 pm- 2:00 am. I was exhausted and ready to go back to the hotel around 1, but since we rode with JT, we were stuck there till they closed.

Saturday was the wedding. Since Drew had to be there at 11:00 for pictures, I got drug along. I didn't know anyone so we convinced some people to come early to meet me so I wasn't too bored. Drew was done by about 11:45 but had to stay until 2:30 when the wedding started. Once the wedding finally started, it went somewhat quick. But it took forever to do pictures after the wedding and the reception lasted way too long. After the reception, we went out to eat with JT and Chasity and the parents. After dinner, the parents left and we hung out with Chasity and JT until about midnight.

Sunday, we left Chattanooga around 11:30 to head to Gatlinburg. We couldn't check into our hotel until 4, so we hit the visitors centers, found our cabin (after getting lost, of course) and went grocery shopping. By the time we got done and back up to our cabin we were able to get the code to check in. Our cabin was called "Stars and Stripes" and was on the top of the mountain. It had a jacuzzi, hot tub, pool table, and air hockey table. It was decorated with a somewhat contemporary theme, which is probably why I liked it so much! Here are some pictures from the cabin:

The view from our porch:


The living room:


The dining room:


Our kitchen:

I have decided I would like to blog on a regular basis! So my resolution over the summer is to try to write at least 2 new posts a week...so we'll see how that goes. I've recently started reading other people's blogs, mainly scrapping blogs for inspiration, but it is so fun to read about others so I figure I should keep mine up too! I actually forgot I had a blog until a few weeks ago. Now I'm going to make a point to update!

This week is review week in my classes...which means next week are my finals! I'm glad, it gives me a month long break. But May will be so busy it probably won't feel like a break to me. May 3 we are headed to Chattanooga for Nathan and Carlie's wedding. After we leave the wedding, we are headed to Gatlinburg for a week! I convinced Drew that we needed to take a vacation and since I have been wanting to go to Gatlinburg since Oct. 2006, it's a long overdue trip. And since we'll already be in Tennessee, it's not that much further from our original destination! We will get back home for a week, and then will be headed back to Tennessee for Jennie's wedding on May 24. So it looks like we'll be spending more time in Tennessee than home next month!

Other than that, not much has really been going on around here. Drew's been sick this week, I wasn't feeling great last week so we pretty much just relaxed all weekend! We are going to try some new churches in the coming weeks and hopefully find one that we both agree on...I would like to find another puppet team but would also like to find an active group of young married couples to get involved with. Drew doesn't have any friends still and the ones I've met have been through the lunch group and scrapbooking...and the few people from our old church group that I keep in touch with. So hopefully we can find a place that we feel at home!

I wanted to add a few more pages that I completed over the weekend as well! This month, I've really been turning out the layouts. My mojo has been back and I've accomplished more this month than I have since I started scrapbooking over the summer. Our Disney World honeymoon album is now complete....only 2 years after the honeymoon! Now I can work on whatever random pictures I choose, before getting brave and tackling the wedding album!

My newest favorite page (although the colors are much brighter in real life!):


Another page from the honeymoon album:

What a Weekend!

This weekend was so much fun! I hosted a challenge and a game over at the Scrapdango Spring Fever Crop, and there was such awesome participation! Twenty ladies joined me in my game of Scattegories! The layouts for my challenge are due tonight at midnight so I will have a final count of challenge participants tomorrow! I really enjoyed spending my weekend scrapping with those awesome ladies and I am enjoying my Guest Designer position even more!

I got my kit in the mail last week and I have already made a 2 page layout! I can't wait to come up with some more pages and cards! I will post them here after the full kit reveal on May 1!

In addition, I am trying out for the design team over at Sketch-abilites. It's a cool new sketch challenge blog and they are searching for their first design team! Our assignment was to use their first sketch to create a layout!

Here is the sketch:
And here is my layout using this sketch:

Scrapdango Cyber Crop!

Since I won the Guest Design position at Scrapdango for April, I get to help plan an online crop. So everyone save the dates - April 19 and 20, and come on over to Scrapdango and join us for lots of scrappy fun including awesome challenges, games, and of course prizes!

Scrappy Weekend!

Although our weekend was busy, I had time on Sunday to sit down and scrap for a while. I got a lot accomplished. My Disney Honeymoon album is now complete...it's only 2 years after the honeymoon. I worked on it off and on for about 6 months, but I feel like I accomplished a ton since it is finally finished. It is actually the first album I've ever completed. The rest are all works in progress. Now I am able to work on random pictures I have from the past 2 years! Here are the LOs I finished yesterday!

April Scrapdango Guest Designer!

I'm so excited! Scrapdango, a kit club I used to subscribe to and still hang out on their boards, ran a contest for a Guest Designer spot. The contest ended Saturday and I found out yesterday that I had been chosen as one of the Guest Designers! So I will be designing with the April kit! This is my first Guest Design Team position and I'm so proud of myself for accomplishing something like this! This gives me confidence to apply to more contests and (guest) design team calls!

My Friends LO in the post below was my winning entry!

Friends

Here is one of the latest LOs I did. I used Stickles on the brads to make them glittery!