It's Picture Day!

Wanted to add some pictures today. Thought I'd show you what our new house looks like. I don't have inside pics yet. Way too many boxes in there. Mike has been here for a week now and so far I think he likes it except that he said the A/C is a little loud when it kicks on. Not anything we can't get past though. Deuce and Dixie seem to like it. I think Deuce was a little confused at first but Mike said that he has pretty much chilled out. Dixie likes the back yard. She is constantly chasing "things" in the landscaping rocks. I am pretty sure she is after geckos. I don't think she has ever seen one before. Needless to say, she really likes it and he has a hard time getting her in the house.

This next pic is the fam on Easter Sunday. even though we are all looking in the sun squinting adn I am not too terribly crazy about the way I look, I still like this picture. It was chilly but a lot of fun. The girls hunted Easter eggs at Uncle Don's house. They ended up bringing home lots of eggs. Way too many to get eaten!





These next pictures are layouts that I have done recently. This first one was fun because I got to use my Glimmer Mist to make the blue paper. It was white cardstock to start off. I sprayed it down and really like the effect I got. And, it matches my papers really well. I couldn't believe my luck. When I bought the Glimmer Mist I wasn't even thinking about these papers, just that I liked the color of it. This picture of Whitney really captures her personality. She is such a free spirit and a definate DIVA! This layout is for a scraplift challenge at AC Bailey Designs. I used the layout on the cover of Simple Scrapbooks (by Erin Sweeney) as my inspiration. I'm kinda diggin' how this one turned out!


These next 2 pics are DT layouts that I am having trouble getting uploaded to the AC Bailey website. Not having my computer is really hard! I don't have any of the software I need to get it cropped and uploaded the way I need it and when I want to get it up! Very frustrating!

Anyway, this is Allison on her 1st day of school. I thought she looked so pretty in the outfit and she definately thought she looked pretty. I really love these papers by Urban Lily. Bright fun papers and the Bazzill scalloped cardstock is pretty cute too!






This last layout is one of my favorites right now. I love the pic! My best friend Aubrey took this picture of my girls with her daughter this past summer at a softball tournament. I just had to scrap this one because my girls really love Taylor. She is so good to Allison and Whitney. I also enjoyed using these Dream Street papers. The color combination was different from what I am used to using so it was a lot of fun. My favorite part though is the title. :)


You can find the papers for all 3 of these layouts in the AC Bailey store. Go check them out!

Well, it is Friday, my favorite day of the week, and I am ready for the weekend. Mike will be in tonight and I am really ready to see him. So are the girls! I will talk to you all later peeps!

Much love...

B-

Even when there are clouds, the sun still shines...

The last two weeks have been crazy. Our lives have changed dramatically! You wouldn't believe the things our family has been through.

The weekend of March 29th was crazy. While we were in Bryan/College Station looking for a house there was a terrible storm in Kilgore. It ripped apart our neighborhood and left our house a mess. While we didn't have any trees on top or through our house like some others, we did have extensive flooding. Bad enough that we couldn't stay there. The owners of the house came in from Florida on Tuesday and by Wednesday had completely made the house unlivable. He and his wife really made if difficult on us too. I won't get into the crappy stunts they pulled on us but after asking us 2 other times earlier in the year to end the lease early, they made sure we had no other choice but to end the lease. I can honestly say that I was/am very hurt by what these people put my family through, especially my girls. And, the kicker is that they have children close to my girls ages. I have never in my life met such ruthless people. I hope to never encounter them again. They make my stomach hurt....

After the first week in a hotel, with the help of our family, we packed up our house completely, and moved everything we owned to Bryan where our new house is. Mike and I drove down and got it unloaded and headed back to Kilgore the following day. We were so glad to see our girls! This all happened a week before we even needed to move anything. It was an unexpected move but in retrospect, I think it was a good thing that we got it over with.

Mike finished his last week at work and this past weekend we officially "moved" him and the fur babies into our Bryan house. We got the beds set up and some things unpacked. We didn't finish but it felt good to get a little accomplished. It was hard to leave him there on Sunday and head back to East Texas. The girls were upset, especially Allison. She cried off and on the entire 3 hour trip back. I felt so sorry for her. Nothing I said could make it better either.

In the middle of this big mess I was able to interview for a job at my old school. Today was the last day it had to be posted as available and I am hoping for a phone call tomorrow or the next day. Cross your fingers peeps! I am excited about this one!

Mike started his new job yesterday. While he was pretty tired he said he really enjoyed it. That made me feel so good. I know he was nervous and I just truly hoped this job would be a good fit for Mike. I think it might be. He was happy with it again today. He said the only thing that would make this all better would be to get the school year over so the girls and I could get down there. He misses us and we really miss him.

The girls and I are staying at Mike's parents house. Even though we are living out of suitcases, so far it has been working out well. It is not home but it is comfy. The girls like spending the night at Nana's house. :) They have gone to bed with her every night so far. It is nice for me too. Mike's mom is a great cook so I get that added benefit a couple times a week. Even leftovers are good!

This week we are all finally feeling a little more normal. I know that until all of us are once again under the same roof it won't feel completely normal, but with any luck the next 6 weeks will go by quickly. When it does, all the rain, sweat, and tears we have had over the last few weeks won't even matter because even when things look cloudy you can still see the sun shine.