I am a busy girl! Our church's Search Committee is in the last phases of interviews, so we are VERY close to selecting a candidate. I am so happy, and so ready for this to be done. I will be happy to have my evenings back, especially because Ethan is back on his regular shift.

My biggest news is that I got a gig teaching at Wiggles and Giggles in Connecticut! I am thrilled about this opportunity! It's a big store with a huge variety of supplies so I will have tons of fun designing pages to teach there. Plus so far they've been very flexible which I like also.

I am finally getting moving on scrapping some of our camping pictures. We camped as a family for the first time this July with the Bartholomews, and then we went just the three of us again this October. We had a blast both times. Ethan and I especially enjoyed the serenity of camping at a state forest. Esme had a loved being out of doors and making campfires and sleeping all cuddled up in our tent. We plan to open one of the state forests this April too.

I finally finally got the page done for my next class! I have been out of comission due to colds for a couple weeks now. As soon as I got over the first one, I got an especially nasty second one. Hopefully I'm getting them all out of the way in time for the holidays!! 

Esme was so into Halloween this year! This was the first time she remembered it from the year before, and mostly she remembered getting candy! We did some fun activities leading up to the big day and this was one of them. 

I love baking with Esme! Last year we started a new Halloween tradition. We make some kind of special Autumn sweets to bring to our close neighbors and friends while we Trick or Treat. One house down our street always goes all out with decorations for EVERY holiday, so even though we don't know them, we include them on out list. This year we made Pumpkin Whoopie Pies that had a ginger filling. Mmmm they were delicious! I was amazed at how much work Esme put into them. She did all the pouring and stirred the batter constantly. They were a big hit! 

I am really enjoying teaching scrapbook classes! After a long day of subbing I taught a class using this page Friday night. I love these photos of my sweet nephew!  

Oh my goodness....I am beat these days! I feel like I have 100 things going on. Every moment I'm awake my mind has something it's supposed to be working on. I love the new things I am doing, but they're wearing me out!

This was actually the first layout I ever completed for the PSS challenges, but I am just getting around to using it this week!  

I got a job teaching scrapbook classes! I am soooo excited! I am teaching at Cropper's Circle in Chicopee. It turns out I do all my teaching in Chicopee. I've been wanting to teaching classes for a long time now, and I was very lucky to get the job! I taught my first class last week and it went well, I'm currently developing two more. The owner is very nice and lets the teachers there choose their own supplies and themes, and go for whatever they'll do well.  

Did this layout tonight for this week's challenge. This week's really snuck up on me - I wasn't quite as prepared as I usually am. I loved doing this layout though - hearing Lisa's answers to the questions made me feel very good about myself, because she knows me so well and cares about me so much.

Here's a layout I did for the Pink Scrap Spark Challenge - this week's theme is Stars! Lisa and I tried using metallic tissue papers in on accents for the first time. I love this photo of Esme! I took it while we were at our last Wiggles show.

I love scrapping with Lisa every month. Once a month doesn't sound that often, but we really look forward to that time together. She is an awesome friend! I feel lucky ever time I get to spend time with her.

Here's a layout I did for last week's Pink Scrap Spark Challenge at Scraptalk. I cannot describe how much I detest tomatoes! It felt very good to do this layout! Gettign the photo was a bit of a challenge though. I know other scrappers have gotten tossed out of grocery stores for taking photos, so I went up and asked a bagger if it was okay first. She directed me to the head cashier, who paged the manager. He called her back and gave the okay, and then she walked me over to the produce section and watched me take the photo.

I have officially passed the 10,000 mark on my camera. Ethan got me the DRebel for Christmas 2004, so I guess that means I'm averaging just over 5,000 photos a year. I love being digital - it would have cost me a fortune to that many photos processed, but I'm able to take so many more shots because I can just delete the ones I don't want.

We had a fabulous time camping last week. We were so relaxed that we decided to stay an extra day. We cooked all our meals over the campfire, and slept each night all snuggled up together on the air mattress in the tent. It was a bit chilly at times, but we didn't mind because Ethan finally had some time off, and we finally had some family time all together.

It feels like things should be settling down now with Ethan's new hours, but I'm don't feel used to it at all. Usually at this time of year I ease back into work, and I've been working tons. I worked 9 days in September. Nine days in a month might not seem like much to someone who works full time, but 9 days when you've had the whole summer off is a ton!

Once I get into this new schedule I hope to be scrapbooking a lot more in the evenings. Right now it's difficult because I'm not used to putting Esme to bed, eating alone, etc. Ethan was always so good and quick about putting her to bed, and it takes me forever. I think she knows how to play me or something.

We have lots of exciting things coming up - we're camping this weekend, we're going to see the Wiggles soon, we've got to get apple picking, pumpkin picking, to Pumpkin People, etc. Fall is my favorite season to scrapbook. I love the colors and the fun events. Esme has a special Fall album, and my first published page is one of my favorites from it.

If you haven't seen the Pink Scrap Spark challenges at Scraptalk.com, please check them out! I issued the second one today - you can see the details here: Pink Scrap Spark Challenge #2 There will be a drawing for RAKs for everyone that participates!

I decided last night to start an album about my brothers. I have so many photos of them that I love through the years, and I really want to put them together in a special way. I'm also planning to color copy the pages and give them to my brothers for Christmas.  

I have an article on the National Scrapbooking Association's blog! This was the first time I was ever asked to write anything scrapbooking related. Check it out here: NSA Blog

I just posted the first every Pink Scrap Spark challenge! I am so happy to be doing this and hope it will be lots of fun. Check it out here: Pink Scrap Spark Challenge #1

I'm going to see the Wiggles again! Whoo hoo!! Okay I must confess, I actually love the Wiggles. I pretend we're going to the concert for Esme's benefit, but it's really all about me. I love to hear Greg croon those catchy tunes, see how sweet and sincere Anthony is with all the children, and watch the funny antics of Murray, Jeff, and Captain Feathersword. I'm so glad I could get tickets for when they come close by again!

I'm soooooo excited!! Deb from Scraptalk just announced the challenge I am starting! It is a completely new challenge and is called Pink Scrap Spark. The idea is to inspire and encourage us to grow as scrappers! Deb set up a new forum to discuss it and a new gallery for the images. I'll be issuing the first challenge on Thursday - I can't wait to see what everyone does. Check it out at http://scraptalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=39

Oh and suggestions and feedback are always welcome!