Fall catch-up!

Happy Fall! Wow... the weather seems too good to be true here in Colorado this year. Surprisingly WARM... absolutely gorgeous.

We had lots of fun at our friend's house this year trick-or-treating with the kids and partying. It has become a tradition and I am SO thankful for such a great connection with them all. (It is a great feeling to really know your kids, their friends, and their parents...)

Here's a family snapshot of the night before we headed out trick-or-treating (yes, still doing this at 13 - let kids be kids while they can!) He was a Sith Lord from Star Wars... and I sewed his costume this year which was fun.

Here's one before his 8th grade school dance "Monster Mash": 

So, here's what's on my mind today:

• My nephew Jake leaves for Afghanistan (Marines) early tomorrow morning. He deploys for about 7 months and will be gone over all the holidays. I thought I was over the heartache of the military when Trevor got out about 11 years ago (he had several deployments over the years that were months long... super hard times). Now Jake and his brother, my nephew, Zach is in Japan (Navy). I am a super proud Aunt, but can't control myself about these emotional times when they are gone from home. It is terrifying to think of the "what if's" and uncertainty of the military and being overseas. The upside: my family FINALLY all got Skype accounts (after years of me wanting them to), and it seems like we'll be able to keep in touch much easier thanks to technology.
•  Tonight we are going to the "High School Open House" for entering 9th graders for the 2015 class. How in the heck can my only son POSSIBLY be going to high school?! We have a school picked out already, but want to make sure we eliminate all the others before proceeding to apply for a special Math, Science & Technology program we've been eyeing. 
• It is apparent to everyone how fast Bailey has been maturing. The deep voice, the chiseled jaw line... we see eye-to-eye now (refer back the photo, LOL!). Being a mother is so cruel sometimes. So bittersweet.
• I am trying to keep up on tweaking my vegetarian diet to include more protein and iron. Had a physical and now am on iron supplements after a blood test... no wonder I had problems being exhausted all the time. It has been kicking my butt in the meantime.

Creative and work stuff I have been working on:

• Create Scrapbooks - always something going on there... I have a live show every Friday (usually at Noon Eastern) where Jana and I create papercrafting projects, chat about hot products in the scrapbook industry, etc. It is almost our 1 year Anniversary and a lot has happened in the past year! Tomorrow we will have a live show at Noon (see http://createscrapbooks.com to get the live show links, newsletter, etc.) It is a super casual show and we welcome people to share live with their webcam/microphone, too... hope you can stop in and watch/participate (and spread the word!)
• As a scrapbook industry web designer by trade I am ALWAYS updating and creating something new for clients. I have been working on a new kit club site at http://scrappychics.com while I launched http://specialtyscrapbooks.com for another client recently. As you probably noticed purple seems to be the go-to color clients are requesting. Interesting as I remember years ago there was studies showing purple one of the best e-commerce colors for attracting customers to stay longer on your site and shop!  Here's a sneak of the latest site and kit photos I took for them... stay tuned to twitter for the launch news.

• I have been obsessed with holiday papers, embellishments, and projects already! I just picked up this svgcuts.com kit and am going to create some new boxes and gift holders for Christmas in advance this year. I was thrilled to have svgcuts.com offer to do a gift card giveaway on the CS live show (we have another one this week to give away!) They are by far my favorite SCAL SVG place to buy files. Leave me a comment on where your favorite SCAL SVG source is!

• Next on the list, I think I will invest in this cute advent calendar hybrid file from Elle's Studio. I think I am going to incorporate this into a December Daily album instead of a calendar (or in addition to it since I can print what I need!) Isn't it adorable? Love her stuff. Would love to hear what you are working on!

  See you soon!
- Terri