Saturday, March 29, 2008

aquarium of the pacific

robby had last friday off (3/21/08), so we decided to join some friends at the aquarium of the pacific. robby and aidan both love fish, so we figured it would be a perfect family outing. the day started off kinda rocky, but it was worth it. so much fun!! (sorry i haven't posted all week, my sister was in town and we were playing playing playing all week, now we're sick sick sick! thank you scott for passing that along to us!!)oh, and check out those shoes, this was the FIRST time we've ever put shoes on the kid. he's usually barefoot or just weaing socks. it took him a bit to get used to them. after i put them on he sat there for five minutes trying to get them off, then he refused to stand up and would only crawl. after about 20 minutes he was walking all over and it hasn't slowed him down a bit!!

they had an outside play area which also features a squirting thing which SOAKED aidan! (dontcha just love his little fauxhawk!) so he got spoiled and we bought him a new shirt so he wouldn't be freezing the rest of the day (unfortunately his camo shirt somehow fell out of our diaperbag and is now lost forver -- sad day! i loved him in that outfit and he had only worn it twice!!) oh well!

here he is giving the puffin some kisses, awww!

first time ever on daddy's shoulders while watching the sea otters playing! he loved it!!

he also got spoiled with a new stuffed shark, which he absoluely adores!!

back at home, chillin' with daddy after having a fun day at the aquarium!

Monday, March 24, 2008

lost - meet kevin johnson - 4.08

you can read one of my favorite theories here, even more is added on here.
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or check out dark ufo's things noticed in meet kevin johnson!
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or check out the official lost podcasts!!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

happy keester!!

enjoy the holiday!!! enjoy the eggs!!! enjoy the family!!!
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oh and for the complete story of where easter eggs and jelly beans come from please go visit jen!!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

answers on digital scrapbooking - UPDATED

thank you for all of your nice comments on my first foray into scrapbooking. a lot of the comments had questions, so here i will answer all of you!
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for the actual editing program i used photoshop elements 4. (way less expensive than photoshop ... you can get photoshop elements 6 for $100). but you could use any graphics editing program that you prefer. (nikki ... see another use for your photoshop elements that you've boycotted!!)
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for all of the page elements (background design and embellishments) i downloaded them from http://www.epsoncreativezone.com/ (everything was free). there are also a bunch of other sites out there were you can download things for digital scrapbooking. i haven't tried any others, but i'm just starting out!
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overall i thought it was SUPER easy to do (but i am fairly computer efficient and know my way around photoshop). the first page probably took me about an hour and a half (although i was talking and wasn't focused) the second page probably only took me 20 minutes. the thing that took the longest was trying to decide what pictures to scrap (which i'm sure applies to regular scrappin' as well) and deciding what to download and what to use! you could get caught up downloading everything ... because, well ... it's FREE!! plus it's all mostly super cute!! i loved it and will continue doing my scrappin' digitally. any other questions that i missed or didn't answer thoroughly enough? just ask and i'll update the post!
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here's another page, i created it while hanging with my son ... enjoy! it took about 30 minutes, it probably would have gone faster if aidan would have stopped bugging me!! all of the papers can be downloaded here. i really like the layout, not sure if those are my fave pictures on it, but i can always go back and change that easy!!
my favorite site to download free fonts is http://www.dafont.com/ ... i love it! they have TONS of fonts in a bunch of different styles. i could spend hours on there looking for fonts.
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for more information, i recommend taking this free online "getting started with digital scrapbooking" course.
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okay ... here's my answer to kerstin's question regarding printing. i haven't printed any of my designs yet. but i plan to, that is why the 2nd and 3rd designs were 8.5x11 instead of 12x12 (as i don't have a wide format printer). i LOVE my printer, you can read all about how awesome it is here. it's designed to print pictures and has a paper tray just for 4x6. i LOVE it. it prints borderless as well, after i print some i'll take some pictures and post.
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i don't know how i would go about printing if i wasn't planning on printing at home. maybe kinkos (.49 cent color copies)? or somewhere like snapfish (2.99 for an 8x10)? i guess i would have to look into it and compare the differences. didn't you just get a new printer, have you tried printing your layouts? i guess it would depend on the quality, etc. but i figure printing would cost less than actual scrapbooking anyways when you add it all up (paper [.60 cents], plus all the embellishments, ribbons, rub-ons ... etc.)
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sorry i don't know if that was very helpful!
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EDIT:

Saturday, March 15, 2008

scrappin' -- UPDATED

my sister has been trying to get me scrappin' for a LONG time. last night some of the girls from my ward were having a scrapbooking night so i decided to finally take the plunge and try it out. i'm more comfortable on the computer (i think) so i toted along my laptop and figured i'd try my hand at scrappin'. so here you go! my first ever scrapbook page. i would have done more, but my battery was starting to die and i didn't want to move away from the fun to plug it in. (next time i'll remember to bring an extension cord). i had a BLAST. what a fun way to get to know the girls in my ward better than chilling for 4 hours and creating some "life art" -- which is what nicole calls it.
so there you go ... its not the best. (actually it doesn't even have any of my favorite photos!) but it's only my first and i'll get better with more practice. nicole is coming up at the end of the month and she wants to scrap, i'm actually looking forward to it now!
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oh and if you want to see some of my sister's work, she has a couple of her layouts on her blog, she also posted her process recently, which i found fascinating!! you can read her other posts on life art as well. LOVE ya sis!!
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here is attempt number 2, any better?? i think it looks less cluttered, still not completely happy with it ... but i know if i keep messing with it i'll just make it worse!!

Friday, March 14, 2008

well rested

i did something today that i've NEVER done. i feel horrible about, but it most definitely was not on purpose.
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i laid aidan down for his nap at 10:00 and i laid down to try to get a little rest in as well. nothing out of the normal there. i'm a super super light sleeper and the only way i get any sleep is by using earplugs and an eyemask.
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well i woke up and was feeling really well rested. i lifted off my eyemask and checked the clock ... 1 pm! what the heck? so i roll over and look at the baby monitor. the lights were flashing, but there wasn't any sound!!! so i rip off my eyemask and take out my earplugs and run into aidan's room. the instant i enter the room he stopped crying and never cried once after i went in and picked him up.
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i know before i laid down i looked at the monitor and the light was on so i figured the volume control was where it was from this morning. the difference is, robby worked late last night and went into work later than usual. he had turned down the volume on the monitor (but didn't turn it off). i didn't check the volume, i just saw the light and figured all was well.
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i feel HORRIBLE, but i know i didn't do it on purpose. the thing that is bugging me the most is i don't know how long he was crying for! i hope it wasn't for long, but he hasn't been the best napper lately.
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needless to say i'll be checking the volume more carefully from now on. i also talked to robby and told him that if he does mess with the monitor to just turn it completely off so i notice that something is different!!

(this is a picture from january, but he's so cute when he's asleep!)