Movin'....kinda

Today was a whirlwind! Today I decided to "take the day off", so to say. School is about to start, and Paul and I made the decision to split up the boys. Let me explain... for several years now the boys have shared a room. Not that we didn't have room for them each to have their own room, but because they just didn't want to. Now with kindergarten and second grade looming, we thought it might be nice to split up the little monkies and give them their own space. Catherine came over and motivated me to get busy. We moved out the spare bedroom furniture and put it on Craig's List. It sold in an hour! I then realized I didn't have furniture to put in Ben's room. So, I took the money from the Craig's List sale and a little more, and bought him the cutest dresser from Ashley Furniture. It's supposed to be here in about two weeks. The funniest thing, though, was that they looked at me like I had four heads when I told them I was paying cash! I guess noone does that anymore. So, after a long day of moving rooms and furniture shopping, we were shot. We settled in about 7p to watch a movie, and now Ben and Nicholas are actually sleeping in their own rooms. What an event!

Yesterday was a fun day too. After seeing the Recollections corporate staff at CHA, it inspired me to take a day and go crop at their store. Of course, there I sit with my two friends Julie and Catherine, and all our electronics. So many people came to ask what we were doing. Had they carried my books, I think I could have sold ten copies of each. My research was right. After a long day there, we headed up to our home away from home, The Scrapbook Pad. The atmosphere was much lighter and enjoyable. And, I think I did even sell a couple books there too. But, they actually have them on the shelves.

Last night I also finished up my entry for the Memory Makers Masters Contest. The layouts I did were much different than what I usually do, so I'll be curious to find out the outcome. I even submitted a couple traditional layouts.

I'm counting the days until Paula comes home from vacation and the bugs in the site are worked out. Plus, there's some new surprises waiting around the corner.

That Tylenol PM has kicked in, so it's off to bed.

More soon,
Amanda

I'm So EXCITED!

So, yesterday I was a walking zombie. Today Paul is off. The kids are having a blast, and I've been checking Email and following up with CHA folks. Mrs. Renee Pearson left a delightful note about me on her blog... http://www.reneepearson.typepad.com/
PLUS- she and I are conspiring. I am doing a seminar at Memory Trends, and it looks like she - along with a team of other contributers I'm so excited to have- will be joining me! What a blessed life I have!

I'm off to get this shaggy hair of mine cut- and to join a gym. Yep, I'll be skinny soon!

Huggles,
Amanda D

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Tuesday night we came into Fort Worth, so happy to be home! Wednesday I reloaded and got ready to leave again early on Thursday morning. Thursday I took the first flight out and headed to Chicago for the CHA conference. We had just the best time. I met some amazing folks, including Renee' Pearson, CD Muckosky, the RAKScraps gals, and many more. I'm exhausted, and this is about the extent of the blog I'm going to do today...lol (sorry!).

But, I was so happy to run into Heather Ales, Jeannie Jones, Lori Camperlingo, Jeanine Bachtold, Emily Adams, Amanda Lee, and all the other great folks that stopped by to see me! Thanks, also, to Barnes & Noble, who just picked up the Digi-books.

More soon,
Amanda D

Summer Nights

Vacation is a masterful, amazing thing. Let me paint you a picture. It's close to midnight here in the serene little town of Clover, South Carolina. For miles all I hear is the creaking of crickets, the painful bellow of the occasional whipperwill, and the gentle "plop" of the frogs on the pavement a few feet away from where I sit. I'm out of the back porch of my parents "home on the ranch". It's a gorgeous beach house nestled in the backwoods of South Carolina. Everyone's in bed but me... well, me and "JC", the cat. "J.C.", by the way, stands for "just cat". "J.C." has been around for 4 years, but nobody every got around to naming her, so she's "J.C.". It's really funny to hear it told. She doesn't seem to mind. She skulks around the fields and chases bugs and frogs like she's in kitty cat heaven. I suppose she is.

The summer nights are kind down here. No humidity. Lower 70's. Driving home from dinner we litterally watched the thermastat drop from 91 to 75 (in 30 minutes!). It's a blissfull evening, and I'm definately not taking it for granted.

The kids are tucked nicely in their bed upstairs. I can see the light on in the window from where I am. At 7 and 5 they are big and brave until it comes to nighttime. Then they MUST have the light on for fear of the boogie-man. Mom and Dad have pooped out too...leaving J.C. and I here to take in the evening alone. I have a clear shot of Venus overhead. It's nearly as bright as the moon.

So, yes. The answer is yes. After all the craziness of getting the site up, and getting the book edits done (granted- they were a lot less painful than I thought they would be)...even though the site is still not REALLY done, I am, none-the-less...taking my vacation. I am breathing in every moment. I am taking time to stop and do nothing. Time to watch the kids chase lightning bugs and listen to tales that I've heard dozens of times.... time to breathe and sleep a little longer. Time to sit and drink sweet tea on the back porch and watch as nothing happens out here in the sticks. Nothing could be better. Well....one thing is missing. Paul is still at home working.... Had he come with us all would be complete.

Next week will bring all the craziness of CHA, and the reality of the day-to-day will set back in. But for now, before Kindergarten and Second Grade begin... we are taking the time to enjoy our Southern Comfort in the home of Nana and Grand-daddy.

More later... A

We Are LIVE!!!

It's happened! PurplePaperFlowers.com went live yesterday afternoon! I'm so excited I just want to dance around. I can't do that, however, because I'm getting sick! I can't believe it...right before the trip to South Carolina... I'm hacking up a lung. Oh well. I'll just stay on the medication.

We still have some tweaks to do to the site. So, it's not completely finished... but it is up! Go check it out and have fun.

Hugs!
Amanda D

A New Day

I KNEW I'd wake up rejouvenated. Today Paula packed up her little ones and came over. We've been scrapping all day...and it's been great! It's looking like we are on target for the site to open on Sunday! Yay!!! Today the laptop totes arrived... and they are SOOOO cute!! I'm wishing I could just carry a different one every day! lol






I'm so excited about the site launching... that I had to do a couple pages to upload to the gallery! Check out the slide bar to see!

More soon...
Amanda

When it rains...

Ever have one of those days when you are just ready to wave the white flag or throw in the towel... just say "to hell with it!" Today is definately one of those days. I look around at my mess of a house that I'm struggling to find time to clean...just got a call from my editor that there are big edits to be done... and the site is still not up. I'm pretty much ready to bury my head in the sand and say "Okay! YOU win! I give up!!!" But, something tells me I won't. Today I'll get through it all and do what has to be done. Tomorrow I'll wake up refreshed and wonder what I was so upset about.

But today- it's a really freakin' big deal. Off to cry and have a little pity party for a while...

And- is the rain EVER going to stop!!!

Amanda

The Waiting Game

I feel like I am in ultimate LIMBO. Waiting has never really been one of my virtues. I'm an instant gratification kind of girl... so this is killing me! I'm waiting for the site to be fixed so it can go live... I'm waiting for next Tuesday so the boys and I can get on the airplane and head home to see my family... I'm waiting for Summer CHA to have the opportunity to promote the Digi-books... I'm waiting for the rain to subside... I'm just waiting and waiting in general!

The waiting game has proven to be good for me, though. While I've been waiting, I have worked on a couple more kits that will be available as soon as PurplePaperFlowers goes up. Maybe all this waiting is a good thing.... While I'm waiting I should really really go clean my house.... NAH!!!

More soon,
Amanda

Up, Up- and Away? Not so much...

Well, we tried to get the site up last night... but it just wasn't happening. Looks like there are some coding errors in the download portion of the template... or somesuchsomething... So... we are in a holding pattern until it's fixed. If this is the only gliche we run into- I'm a happy girl. The site looks great! (I just wish you all could see it..lol!) Just you wait... any day now.... I promise!!!

Amanda D