Oy..... Time sure flies!

Wow. So this has been over a month now since my last post. A lot has happened in that time too. My husband left for Iraq on April 9th. It's been the hardest month for me. At least I can say that we have one month down and fourteen more to go. I do get to talk to my husband just about every dingle day though, so that is a true blessing. There are so many spouses that don't get to talk to their soldiers on a regular basis. I'm lonely, and miserable, but I am also a very lucky spouse.

 

School has been kicking my butt and no matter what I do I can't seem to get ahead. I really can't wait until this term is over. The classes aren't ridiculously hard, but I just can't seem to get my head around anything. This one is a little over half through. Maybe next term is going to be better.

 

My body also decided to do some functioning on its own for the first time in almost a decade. It's such a wonderful thing. Thanks to my husband encouraging me to exercise, I actually started a menstrual cycle on my own. I was so excited. Then I wanted to kick myself since if I had listened to my husband a year ago when he started pestering me about the exercise we could already have a child. He is probably going to miss out on most if not all of the pregnancy and birth if and when it happens. We'll be together in January again for eighteen days when he goes on leave. Let's hope for the best.

I took my first set of portraits for someone a few weeks ago. I am very surprised that they turned out so good. My friend, Ryann, gave me permission to use them for a portfolio. Here are a couple of my favorites.

I liked them so much I thought I would try my hand at some self-portraits. I mainly did it to get my husband off my back, but I completely shocked myself at how good they turned out. I thought they would look crappy since I had no help, but I was pleasantly surprised. Here are a few of the best, in my opinion.

My friend Jessy took her favorite picture of me and created a poem page specifically dedicated to my husband.

  I'm thinking that I may open my own studio and bring her in on it. She is really good.

 

Now on to the scrapbooking Layouts I have made lately. I've kinda lost my mojo a bit since my husband left. It seems to be coming back now. Thank goodness! I hated taking a few hours to do something that came so naturally to me that it used to take only a few minutes. My stuff is shows a lot of distress and grunge and has a lot more journaling than it used to since he has been gone. These first pages are ones that I made before he left.

   

 

These next pages are for a memory book I am creating for my husband's deployment. The pages started taking on a different life. They got a little darker and a lot more emotional.

Even the last page I made which has pictures from my own photo shoot turned out a little dark. I guess that is going to be the one thing I see in everything now. A touch of sadness and melancholy.

 

I finished a kit the other day. Wondering if there is any interest in it. I could sell it if I had a store, but I am not so sure it's very good. If anyone is interested in it I will have it up in the next couple days. Well, that's about all there is to update on for now.

 

Pleasant Eve All!

Monday... Always Monday!

Treasures To Scrap forums are rockin' and some serious action is going on!

There have been some changes to the way the challenges happen. Now they are posted once a month and can be completed at any time during the month. Check out the new thread for the full instructions.

The April Template Challenge by Fabella is up and running. Let me tell you this.... if you have never tried this one you gotta do it now. The template is amazing. Have a look at what I did with it using the April Treasure Chest available in the digi store:

The Colors of Paradise Challenge is in full swing also. Every month we are challenged to use a color scheme. This month it is any colors of the tropics. Check out what I created using Sunfire's A Fairy Tale Kit:

I also used Amanda Carlson's Template #111 from her blog. There is also a digi challenge for techniques. The April technique is clustering and the challenge is to use at least 20 elements and/or papers on one layout. Check out what I did for this challenge using Laura Burger's True Affection:

I'm not totally happy with the way this one came out, but it is still very pretty. I love these challenges for just one reason: they give me a wonderful outlet for my creativity!

I also got some wonderful shots of my nephew's first birthday party. I finally managed to make it to someone's first birthday.

I got so many more pictures I think it would take me a lifetime to show them all. I even managed to fill up my disk in the camera! Yep! Over 1000 pictures at one time! WOOT!!! I RAWK!!! I'm a photo fanatic. LOL

 

Well, I suppose I should head out. Need to spend some more time with my husband before he leaves this week for Iraq. My father is already there, he left last week.

 

Pleasant Eve All,

Melissa

Such a bad little blogger!

I know, I know! It's been a month since I posted. It's sad huh?! Things have just gotten so busy for me here. I finished up one term of classes only to start another term. Hubby was on leave for a couple weeks so that we could have some quality time before he leaves for Iraq in a month or so. We spent every day together. I had forgotten exactly how weird it was to have him around all day every day. Woah! He even took me out to scout some shots. He has a great eye. I couldn't believe some of the shots he found for me.

 

I've been a busy little scrapper too. Treasures To Scrap sure has been keeping me on my toes. Check out some of the great pages I made using their kits.

Made using Trevor's Treasures Kit:

Made using the February Treasure Chest:

Made using the March Treasure Chest:

We had some snow today. Can you believe that? Our dog had a blast doing nose dives in the snow. He loved it! I couldn't get any photos though. My camera battery was dead and I forgot to check the charge on it before we took him out. I was sooo upset about that. Maybe I can get some tomorrow since there is still a whole lot of snow on the ground!

 

Well, I guess I should get some sleep. It's after midnight here and I am exhausted. Check me out tomorrow too so that I can share some more. I have soooo much to share!

 

Pleasant Eve All!