What a couple of weeks!

It has been a crazy last week, Many different emotions have gone thru me, Long story short, I found a huge lump in my collarbone area a week ago SAT. I had several DR apts including an ultrasound( which revealed it was 2 inches big, and was a complex cystic mass) I had a biopsy on Thursday and my dr called me back tonight to tell me that it didnt reveal anything bad, just that the fluid had protien in it, He is having another ultrasound done in two to three weeks and if it grows back he will drain it again, have it tested for something different ,and most likey remove it completely. Sounds good so far, But I gotta tell ya, I had my own funeral planned when I didnt know what it was. Makes you rethink things I will tell you that.
It makes me rethink my relationship with my sister, and the non relationship that I have had with her since June, I thought I would go to my grave not talking to her, not without her saying sorry, now I am not so sure, I am NOT saying that I am ready to pick up the phone and chat up the weather with her, What I am saying is that I am open to talking to her again, Life is to short.
Also, I am going back to weight watchers on wed with a friend, I feel this will help me with my weight loss and I can continue on loosing. I have lost 57 lbs to date, But I have not lost a lb since July. Its great that I can maintain weight, that I know now, I also know I can lose weight, so now its time to lose some more, and maintain again. Here is to a healthier me this year!!

Is it still Christmas?

You would think so, if you visit my blog looking for new posts. I keep meaning to post, even have some new years eve pictures to show you, but I keep forgetting, for my blog time goes to the store blog, and not here....

Anyway, I am sorry, I have been busy.

today was a day... I had highs and lows today, All having to do with friends, or ex friends as the case may be.

First I had a very good friend come into the store to say hello, I havent seen them in months, and it was great to spend some time with them and just see em.

Next, later in the work day, an old co worker, and ex friend came in, said ex friend didnt give me the time of day, even after I went up to her and said hello and asked her how she was doing, I got the cold shoulder. Ouch... I had hoped time had healed some wounds, I had hoped she still wouldnt hate me, I have to be honest, I miss her, and I think about her often, and wonder how she is doing. it is clear, she doesnt feel the same way.
does it mean something when one person has clearly moved on and gotten passed something, and is ready to move on , and the other one hasnt? I mean, I wasnt expecting a hug and a smile, but I was hoping she felt different, I was hoping she had felt like it was behind her. I guess not yet.

Merry Christmas!

It has been a good day for the boys!

I heard Sam at 4 am talking to Scott, telling him that Santa brought him a bike!! I got out of bed and asked Sam if he had been downstairs, he said " yeah and I have a bike"! Sam went back to bed, and I couldnt sleep after that cause of every noise that I heard I just knew it was Sam downstairs again! I was a little upset cause I didnt get to see the reaction on his face when he saw the bike. But I also had to clear up a little issue, Sam didnt get the bike from Santa, it was from us, Normally I wouldnt care, But as Scott was putting the bike together last night, it was missing a bolt. And Santa wouldnt have messed up on such a thing, so we had to tell him it was from us , and from a store, and that we would fix the problem tomorrow. Here is Sam getting his Pajamas on Christmas Eve.

Ok, then after the stockings, it was time to give the boys the WII, I had to give it to them first, cause so much of what was coming after that was related to it. I gave JAke a Box with a "W" in it, and Brett and Alec boxes with the "I"'s in them. At first they didnt have a clue what it was, they all looked at one another and me like what the hell?? Jake held up his W and said, Its A W, Wow, lol. Then Alec and Brett held up their I's and said they got I;s... then it just kind of clicked for Alec, And he said " its a WII" , You got us a WII?? I heard that from a few of them, and then I gave them the real box.. It was very cool.

Brett and Jake got guitar hero III from Jeff, They had asked for it for the PS2... I had fun playing with them after they opened the WII they talked to one another about hoping Jeff got them it for the WII and I said I had never spoke to him about it, so how would he know? they were thrilled to see I was lying! .

Ok thats all for now, I have to go start dinner!

taking up a lover

I will have a normal work schedule.... I dont know if I know what to do with one, Never in my life have I had one. I will work 9:30-6 ( 5 on Mondays and Tuesdays) Mon - Fri. No Saturdays unless I switch with someone, No nights , unless I switch with someone. Starting in Jan. This is a very insane thought to me, it will take some time for me to adjust. Being home on the weekends?? Crazy. I think I will have to take up a lover or something cause Saturdays in the fall in my home are not a place you want to be, unless you love College football, cause that is all its about at our house. The summer time is another story, I cant WAIT to be home all weekend in the summer,.. so that solves it, I will take up a Fall lover.. I hope Scott doesnt mind...
I did it! I got out all my Christmas cards! Today they went to the post office, delivered by Alec, who also took my moms box, the only one I had to mail. I had Alec take it today of all days, after I heard that today was the busiest day at the post office of the year. I told him to expect a line and to bring Frankie to keep him company. Alec said it was a half hour wait. not to bad I think.

Maegan, you will get a laugh out of this : Sam and i were looking at your blog, and he said " Oh I like that picture of Santa and some pretty girl I dont know" LOL... I thought it was cute and so honest...

Its been a while....

I kept thinking that I would post tomorrow... then tomorrow would come and I wouldnt post....

I have been so busy, just so drained emotionally as well, so my thoughts have not been " post on your blog Tami" , not at all.

I will spare you the emotionally draining part, I am just busy. I have been getting ready for Christmas, making a few gifts, but not many. Planning my classes for next quarter, and making my Christmas cards. Speaking of which here is one of the pictures that I took for the cards:

This is not the one that I used, but it was one that I took when taking the one that I used.

I am looking forward to the Portland convention at the end of FEB, I love going with Maegan, I hope she has booked our hotel?? Maegan, when you read this, have you booked our hotel room yet?

I also have been looking for places to go for my Birthday, I am going to get away for a weekend with Scott, no kids, no worries.. just us... lets see how that goes.

Happy thanksgiving!

Just one of the things that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, The Boston Red Sox are World Champions!

Seriously, I am thankful for many things this year, the normal family thing, LOL. That I have a great job that I love, Everyone is healthy, Everyone still lives at home with me, that stuff. I have things that I wish were different, but I am thankful for what I do have. I love the memoires that I will always have from this year, nothing can take that from me.

I am home cooking today, just the boys and Scott and Myself. I will post pics later.

red sox banner picture was lifted off of redsoxchick.com

How Sweet it is!!!

Its about time!!! I have been waiting for this day since Oct 28th. For the Red Sox to Re sign Mike Lowell. I waited through the time that the red sox had solo negotiation rights with him for them to close the deal, when that didnt happen, and he went into the open market, I will be honest, I began to worry, We offered him a 3 year deal, He and his team wanted a 4 year deal... I listened to talks of The Yankees throwing a 4 year deal his way ( trust me I got a little sick over that) talks of him heading to LA.. all the while he said he wanted to stay in Boston, Boston said they wanted him to stay in Boston, Red Sox Nation wanted him to stay in Boston, So what was the problem?? Well Today I am happy to say that it has been announced that they have agreed to a 3 year deal!!! its not official YET, word is Tuesday or Thursday, But WHOO HOOO!!!! I can Have something else to be Thankful for this year! I love Mike, and I would have hated to see him go!!

I thought I would share a layout with you all

It has been a very long time since I have shared anything scrapping related with you, I have been busy and not doing too much, but lately I have been getting the scrapping done. This weekend alone I did 5 , two page layouts. This is just one page of a two page layout, the other side is of the Kenny chesney concert, where this picture was taken, When I did the layout I did it with the thought in mind that this page could work alone too. While I dont get to spend too much time with Maegan, the time I do get to spend with her is great, she is a great friend that I get to be me with, someone who doesnt judge, and knows what to say. I cherish our friendship.

Fun and Exciting project ahead for me!

I have to share this here, I will be working on three albums for a Lady named Julie Nordstrom, Yes, the same Nordstrom that owns the Nordstrom department stores. Julie is the wife off one of the sons. This is huge for me! I will be doing one of their oldest daughter, One of their son Sam, and one of their trip to London. I came into this from a customer who had been the secretary for Mr Nordstrom, ( or something along those lines)she did one album for them but had to give them up due to a new baby, and she knew that I did this, so she passed on my name to Julie, Julie's assistant and I have been in contact and she will be dropping off all the materials on WED. I am so excited to start this project, and you can bet I will buy myself something wonderful with the money that I make!

Lisa Bearnson!

Lisa was our guest at the scrapbook nook on thursday night, and her good friend from high school even tagged along! ( the gal on the right in the first pic)She spent about 3 hours with us, and was so fun to be with. She told us some great stories, made us laugh, and even shed some tears. She took pictures with everyone, and asked about them, truely a great person! She is sending everyone that attended ( 60 +) a gift of their choice ( ali edwards kit, or Becky's card kit) Plus, a digital scrapping kit, ( that I just may try out)!

Here she is signing our front counter, and I love her quote, isnt that the truth? What I loved most about her visit was how truely happy everyone was when they left. That was so wonderful!

WORLD CHAMPS!!!

They did it again!!!! And this year, they were expected to do just this, and the didnt dissapoint! They have been in first place since april 18th, and never looked back ( ok, well, they looked a few times in Sept cause they were feeling a bit crowded by the skankees) , But they did it!!!
Having gone to Boston this year has made this World Series win very special to me!! It is " SO GOOD, SO GOOD!!!





Here they are celebrating after the win!!












And Look who is on the Wheaties box, Our Pitching GOD!!! I will be stalking the stores till I find a few boxes!!

















AND HERE IS MR MVP himself!!! MR. Mike Lowell!!!! I took this pic of him in AUG when they were here in Seattle, And I totally called it, I told Alec Lowell was MVP, and Alec didnt agree with me, But he was nice and said, " You called it" when it was announced!!

I am beyond happy right now!!! CONGRATS BOSTON RED SOX!!!!!



(all pics lifted from Boston.com, except the one of Lowell that I took in Seattle)

Chess anyone?

Can I tell you how long Scott has been waiting for one of the boys to want to play chess? YEARS... you can tell just by looking at the chess board that it has been sitting untouched for years, ( not kidding , 6 years at least). Last night, Jake asked Scott if he wanted to play. Jake had played for the first time the night before at a friends, Scott jumped at the chance. and even though Scott won, he was very impressed that it was only Jakes 3rd time playing, I had to take pictures when I looked over and saw them playing, the look of concentration on Jake's face was something I had to get a picture of.

The game board has since been dusted..

Compare Jake this year to last year

The pic on the Left is this year ( Kentwood) last year on the right. Boys change so much in one year ( 8th-9th grade) He has grown over 4 inches in the last year, Changing the way he looks.. It makes me sad to see these two pictures together, but then I also enjoy watching him grow into such a enjoyable young man.

Seriously, I am no slacker ...

I took that title from Maegans Blog, I read that the other day and thought the same Darn thing about my own blog!! while I may not have been posting here, I have been keeping up the Stores Blog, and that has kept me busy. you can check that out here: http://scrapbooknooknews.typepad.com/

anyway, Lets hope I can have more posts on this blog in the month of OCT.

Quick rundown on the on goings here last month.

Alec is going to Highline, taking a couple of classes ( ten credits) and is also working at UPS M-F from 5-9:30. So far, So good

Brett has been doing ok in school, he is having trouble in his AP history class, but I hope we got a handle on it and things will improve. Also he has a job at KFC , he works about 10 hours a week, not alot, but enough for him.

Jake is doing well in school, he had no problem adjusting to High School. He is the starting center for the freshman football team, and he plays in the band as well.

Sam is doing great in All day Kindergarten, he has made new friends and he loves school. one new friend James lives at the end of our street, and Sam walks to school with him ( and myself and Gina) a few days a week. Sometimes Alec takes Sam, sometimes I do, just depends on what time I have to be at the store. He asked if he could have a sleep over with JAmes, I think he is a bit young for that, so right now I said no.

I have been busy, and for the last two days very sick, I dont even have a voice, I hope tomorrow I wake up with one,

The Red Sox won the Eastern Division Friday night! First time in 12 years they finished over the Yanks in the East. Next step , The Angels......

I leave you with a picture from one of Jakes Games, he is the one holding the ball:

And he's off!

Sam's first day of School! He is off to kndergarten, YEAH SAM!
HE had a great day , Daddy stayed home from work so he could take Sam to school and pick him up. Sam had a good morning, picked out what he wanted in his lunch ( he is all day!) and got himself dressed, then we went outside to take some pictures, it stopped raining for the moment for this. Then we went over to the School.












Here is Sam and Daddy walking to School, Sam was yelling back at me to hurry up, lol.












when we got to his room he told the teacher that he was SAM, she asked if he was Samuel, and he told her that he was " Samuel Isaac Burton Shumate" it was a total Forest Gump Moment if you ask me, lol. She show him his seat and he picked out a coloring book and started coloring away.







The bells kept ringing on us so we thought it was time for us to go, I was a little worried about leaving him, but then Scott told me that he will be fine, he just overheard Sam saying to the boy next to him " Hi, My name is Sam, who are you?"
So we left. I went to work , Scott went home.

Sam had a great day, HE said he learned to read today too, but he didnt want to read to me. Maybe tomorrow......

Boston Part 2: Cape Cod

The weather could have been nicer for us, but it didnt rain, and from where we came from, that was a bonus! It was a great time down the Cape. That is what it always was for me growing up, "Going down the Cape", even now, that is what it is. So here we go with the pictures. The first one just tells ya where we were, Its a scrapbooking thing in me, You write where you are in the sand, it tells it all!






Next Picture, is Me and Hope, She was the only one that went to the Beach with us on our last day down the Cape, Alec was Sleeping since he had woken up so early to go deep sea fishing, He didnt catch anything, But Brian did, he caught a Shark that he had to throw back, and a bass that he got to keep, Alec didnt seem to mind that he didnt catch anything, and I think it was what I wanted it to be for him, A life long memory.
The water was so very warm, it felt so good on the feet!


Isnt this fabulous? I want this house! I love this house! I want the view that this house has! I dont care which house in the picture, I would even live in the light house, I just want to be there!!! I love This picture!!!











ME At Cape Cod!!!! right near that FABULOUS house!!!













Ok, this picture has a story to tell, I was holding Brians Hand cause he kept putting his fingers over my head, and I wanted a good picture, and we were already on our way to being very intoxicated. Coleen ( my cousin) and I drank a good size bottle of Absolute, and then added a few beers to that, pictures were taken of the drunk fest, but I cant show them here, lol. We had a GREAT night of talking, catching up, and laughing, So much laughing went on with the two of us , it was truely a great night, and the fact that I do remember the night, I must not have drank too much!
All in All it was a great time, we shared many memories of Our Grandmother, shared some tears, shared secrets, and made more memories for the next visit to share when we drink way too much, way too late into the night, just the two of us!

It was a great Vacation, I loved it all!

Boston Part 1: Fenway Park

Can I tell you how Amazing this trip was?? IT was AWESOME! the day at Fenway was insane, it was so awesome I cant even begin to tell you how great it was, but I will try, so Lets Begin:

This picture, Alec and I stood in the street, and My Cousin did as well, to take the picture of us. Why did we stand in the middle of a busy Boston Street you ask? The CITGO sign in the background is Infamous , when ever you watch a RED SOX game from Fenway, you will see this Sign above the green Monster, IF you have never noticed it before, you will now , trust me.

I dont even have to tell you where this picture was taken, But I will, Outside of Fenway. Those green doors open and that is where you enter if you enter from the front. IT was a glorious site for the eyes, let me tell you! Alec was Amazed, as Was I, even though I have been there before, IT was a long time ago , I went countless times when I was a tween , but it is very different to go with your son and see it as an adult.

Inside Fenway!! Alec took this picture of us, the blue wooden seats in the back are the original from when Fenway opened in 1912! ( we learned that on our tour, lol) we sat in them too, and they were very hard, the seats that we sat in for the game were much more comfy.

A nice lady took this of us, that is the Green monster. The problem with this pic is the lighting, if anyone can fix this for me, please email me and I will send it to you. IT is a great picture with the Monster behind us, it is a picture to be cherished forever.

while the game was going, I took this one.

Do you see that score? We were a sad bunch at Fenway till the bottom of the 5th. where you can see we took the lead, It was AMAZING. Just AMAZING. we got two runs with no outs and had the bases loaded ,and Big PAPI came up and the very first pitch , WHAM.. a GRAND SLAM!!! the park went Wild, we went wild, it was insane! it was insane, I yelled so loud, High Fived the guy in front of me, it was awesome, that game was the best, nothing compared to it! we went on to win, 10-5, it was awesome!

Ok, enough for tonight, I will update tomorrow night about the rest of our trip!

Alec and I are off to Boston!

And Fenway Park!!! We leave for the Airport in 45 mins for an over night flight. We go to our Game on SAT, then we go to Cape Cod on Sunday till Tuesday when we come home! Cant wait to go, I will Blog when I get back!

Happy Birthday Sam!

Sam is 5 today! He had a great day too! We had his birthday at Chuck E Cheese, ( fun for him , not so much for me)! But its his day, so I let him party his heart out at his favorite Party place. Here are a few pics:

The girl in his picture is Jules, Who he told today " I love you Jules" awwwww how sweet, Her daddy gave Sam some pictures that Jules has been making for Sam, and one says " I LOVE YOU SAM LOVE JULES" she painted it for him. Isnt that just the cutest thing? they met in pre school, and they havent forgotten one another. They will not go to Kindergarten together, but hopefully they will stay friends.

And his Birthday cake, Even though I am the red Sox fan, Sam likes the home team. And as we speak, The home team is winning and Sam is watching the game.

Ok, off for now, I have a project that I need to finish.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!!!!

Well, yes, it has been over 2 weeks since I have blogged, But I have been a busy girl, so please forgive me.

It was Brett's Birthday on Friday , he turned 16 years old!! wow, I cant believe HE is that old, freaks me out a bit, but I better get use to it. He has gone to Jeff's for the weekend with Jake, and we will have cake on Sunday when he returns. We were going to go to Silverwood this weekend, but have postponed it till the 26th of August. Too much going on right now, and it will be better to go then.

Work is Crazy! we have expanded our store from 2400 sq feet to 5000 sq feet! the wall came down last night, I will post pictures next week when the carpet has come in and we have passed insepection, it is very exciting for all of us!

Today Scott and Sam and I went on Sam;s very first ferry ride. We went over to Bremerton , which is a navy town, But the town was dead, there wasnt anyone on the streets, it was crazy. But I did find a wonderful little Pizza place, called BOSTON, and it is all red sox stuff, the owners are from Boston, and they had one of the little rooms in their place painted like Fenway Park :it was very cool. Sam had a good day, he kept talking about how much fun the ferry ride was, that was all I needed to hear!

I really like the picture I took of the Seattle skyline, looks pretty good, you should click on it to get its full effect!