Napoli Christmas Newsletter

Every year for the last four years I've been sending out a Christmas Newsletter to our family and friends. These things start, as everything does, as an inspiration and with the best of intentions. I think in the beginning I wanted to keep our family updated on our new baby and with everything that was going on in our lives. We had new jobs, a fairly new home and we wanted to share our hopes and dreams with the people we cared about most and the one who were far away and we seldom got to visit or talk to. It was my way of reaching out and touching someone one in a nicer way than Ma Bell.

What I didn't count on was how much work it would be year after year to come up with creative, fresh new ideas for the design, the feel, the over all holiday look and to try to convey the feeling of warmth on a piece of paper. No easy task. I also think part of my struggle with my newsletters is that I set the gamut to high for myself and visions in your head never do transfer the same way on to paper. No matter what the struggle I face I want to keep doing these newsletters to create a memory and a tradition for our daughter. One day I hope to be blessed to be on the receiving end of a Chirstmas Newsletter from her.

Here is this years Christmas Newsletter:

This year try to remember what really matters, family, friends, love, kisses and hugs. Give a lot and you'll most likely receive in return all year long.

Santa Baby

Just a picture of my cutie when she was one with Santa. All items on page by the wonderful Kay Miller Designs.

Christmas Past

December is upon us, just one day away. I can't believe that this Saturday will be December 1st. I'm as ready as I can be for the month to fly by in a blur. Better a blur than a Brrr I suppose....though I would like it to be a bit cooler. Sweater weather would be nice.

I've been downloading Christmas kits for the last month to prepare for the month ahead in hopes that I can get some great pages created. I also need to start working on the annual Christmas newsletter. Joy O' Joy. Truly I enjoy doing it but right now it seems a bit daunting.

To help me steady myself for the Xmas extravaganza I did a layout from the past when Hallie was one. It was her second Christmas and she was so little. Take a peek at Christmas past while I steel myself and say hello to Christmas present.

Fall Traditions

Fall for us always means a trip to Georgia, We make a pumpkin run for our normal bakers dozen, visit my father and tour my Uncle James's 280 acre farm. Except for the drive, it's always a chance for us to step out of the rat race and enjoy the simpler things that life has to offer. It also make us appreciate what we have and take for granted.

The scrap page below is one of Hallie in a peanut field that had just been plowed, picked and rolled to make peanut hay. You would think fresh hay would be soft but it is actually hard and prickly. At least the cows enjoy it.

Meow

Just a quick peek at a page I'm working on of Hallie. It's not 100% to where I want it to be so I'll keep working on it. That could mean that by the next time you view it there's a strong chance that it'll be totally different.

I love the look on her face though.

This shot is from her 5th Birthday party.

Halloween Treats

Due to our Kitchen remodel my husband decided not to put up any Halloween decorations. Since we normally blow out the neighborhood with our displays we felt sort of shameful so we made the best choice and decided to ditch the home front and trick-or-treat with Hallie's cousin, Lindsey and her family.

Both of the girls, Hallie and Lindsey, dressed as pirates this year so they looked super cute but don't they always?

Here they both are in there costumes:

My little Pirate Lass:The girls got more candy than they knew what to do with and they had an excellent time Arrghh!

175 Christmas songs and counting.

One of my goals tonight was to try to put some of my Christmas albums on my iPod. Well, 175 Xmas songs later I'm still not done. I still have 4 more albums to put on here but two of those discs are missing and the other two are out in the car and at 11:33 at night I just can't find the gumption to get up and go get them.

Who knew I had so many songs? In all I know that I'll end up with well over 200 of them. The only thing that I can say to my defense is that it is an excellent acoustic variety that would appeal to every music lovers soul. I've got a little Jim Brickman, Harry Connick Jr., several country artists, the rat pack, all the old classics, some Alvin and the Chipmunks for Hallie, John Denver and the Muppets for myself, and some classics remixed by alternative and pop groups.
Now I just need to get one of those iPod adapter things for the car so Hallie and I can listen in the car. Ah, can't you just hear the Christmas spirit pouring from the speakers so loud that Hallie and I have to roll down the windows to even hear it? It's that time of the season so I should enjoy it while I can.

Two of my current favorites are Jason Mraz and his rendition of Winter Wonderland. It's an excellent little snazzy jazzy piece. Also iPod lovers should check out Colbie Caillat and her Christmas song Mistletoe. She is one of my favorite mellow singers of the moment.

Moving on to older subjects that I've neglected.................

Bad Blogger

Bad Blogger. Bad, Very Bad. It's been way to many weeks since I've blogged, or even scrapped for that manner. Well, at least tonight is a start. I wanted to get these scraps up before I go to bed.

This is one of Pearl's Finches in Georgia. I've always liked Finches even though they aren't very smart as far as birds are concerned and they are quite messy. I had to take several shots to get a crisp clear picture of this boy. He was very nervous and didn't like my camera being so close to him. I love his orange cheeks. They are a perfect fall color.

I love to shot animals, wildlife, still shots, textures, and the list goes on. I think that if one looks around you can find beauty anywhere to capture.

Of course it's easy for me to shoot Hallie. What parent doesn't love taking candid shots of their child? These photos were taken right as she got out of the shower. She's always cold and wants to wrap up and lay down until her body warms up. It doesn't matter how hot I've ran the water, she's still always cold. Her hair was still damp and messy when I took these.

I have sad stuff to blog about but not tonight. I need more time to comprise my thoughts and try to figure out my own feelings on how it relates to my own life.

Ciao for now. M.

The Power of Positive Thinking.....

The power of positive thinking is not something that I can get my head wrapped around. My day has turned into a negative fiasco. How does one turn a fiasco into positive thinking I ask?

The pebble that got the rock rolling was that I locked my stupid keys in my car along with my purse, all my money, my afternoon workout clothes and my lunch which I am sure is now defrosting in a puddle all over my front seat. To add to my stress is that I don't have AAA, security at work can't pop my lock due to liability, none of my co-workers are here to offer me the option of begging their roadside assistance service, all the locksmiths that I called want to charge $50 and up and my husband doesn't carry a key to my car on his persons.

For one, I am shocked at the price that it cost for a locksmith to come up and pop my lock. I'm not cheap by any means but I refuse to pay charges that I feel are overloaded. They will come out for FREE though if you have a child or a pet locked in the car. That at least is nice to know.

Eventually I'm sure that I'll get my car unlocked and shame on me for not having an extra key, and some kind of roadside assistance. If this is the worst thing that happens to me today then I guess I can't complain to much.

For me, it's hard to turn a negative into a positive. I don't know how to realign my feelings and to turn my frown right side up.

If any one has any ideas for me I'm more than open.

Isn't this a beautiful page? I love the colors and Hale has pulled off some rare beautiful smiles. Amazing how kids can break your heart with their sweetness and their fickleness. They play their cards and they know exactly what they do to us. She is certainly a mystery.

I am so ready for Fall. One more week and we get to visit Dad! Yippee! It'll be pumpkins galore, haystacks, cows and everything that goes with the country. I can't wait.

Gotta go, it's past midnight and I want to try to drag myself out of bed at 6:30 tomorrow. HA! TGIF.

Autumn's Blessings

I can't believe that I've all ready missed the 1st day of Fall. It came and went and I missed it. It's amazing how time slips away from me..... It's a never ending process now that I'm getting older but what I really mean is old. I just don't like or want to say it. Fact of life that time marches on. Thank god that I'm able to at least freeze little moments in pictures like the ones below.

What I think I like the most about the two layouts is that they are both so different. Sometimes I feel that I get stuck in a style rut and that a lot of my scrap layouts look the same. These two are clearly different as are Hallie's expressions in each. In the top she seems somber while in the lower layout she is clearly being a sprite!

Yawn.....11:38 p.m.................

and I'm up trying to finish a scrap page. Not going to post much so here is the page:

I really like the orange. It's not a normal color that I crave in my life but I think I'm in that fall kind of mood.

Ciao and Good Night!

It's been a long time since I've blogged....

No motivation, no energy, no spark, nothing to get me going. Life in general hasn't moved me to do anything constructive outside of barely existing it seems. All the energy that I put into work, getting to work has got me down. It's to bad that I need the money or I wouldn't be there. Ok, enough of listening to me. It's more than apperent that I've come down with a case of the doldrums. On to better things..........

Here is a scrap layout that I did of Hallie this weekend. I took the pictures about a month ago but paragraph one says it all so that's way it took so long to make it to the blog.

Here are a few other shots that I took this weekend that I liked. The white flower shot was taken just after it rained and the lizzard was just because I wanted to try to shoot a lizzard. He didn't seem to mind so much:

That's it for today. If tomorrow goes well then there might be more to tell.

This is what Bravery looks lke - CA Vacation

Truly my pictures don't do it justice but through my eyes you are getting just a small glimpse of what bravery must look like. If you look closely in the little red circle that I have positioned in the layout below you might be able to make out the figures of two climbers. What ? Can't see it? Me either so I blew them up for you. Sorry the resolution isn't so hot but you can make out their outlines and tell that they are people.

My photographs don't even begin to tell the story of just how amazing these climbers are. This was one of my favorite things to do while in Yosemite. We would drive to the base of El Capitain on the valley floor meadow and while the rest of my party would relax under a shade tree I would sit out in the meadow for hours looking for climbers on the wall. I would scan for them with my naked eye and once I honed in on them I would then drag out my binoculars to get a better look. For me this was spellbinding to watch them slowly make their way up the wall while dragging 40 to 50 pounds worth of gear behind them.

I was lucky enough to encounter a climber who had just descended the wall and he told me that it takes about five to seven days to climb from the bottom to the top. I truly can't imagine spending a week hanging off of a wall much less than taking my own life in my hands. To me these people are truly amazing.

I'd like to show you more but my best advice that I can give is to take a trip to Yosemite to see it for yourself. I think it's a trip that you'll never forget.

Cupcake Palace in San Fran CA

While on vacation we lucked upon the cupcake queen. Actually the cupcake queen is Kara and her palace is Kara's Cupcakes located in Ghirardelli Square Plaza in San Francisco, California.

Kara's sells nothing but cupcakes, 14 different flavors that will tickle your taste buds. All of Kara's Cupcakes are made from scratch daily. They are slightly on the expensive side but well worth it for the money.

Hallie looks like she is enjoying hers but it's all just an act. Psst...Parents... listen up. Save your money and don't buy any of these gems for the kids as they will not fully appreciate the joy a gourmet cupcake can bring. To find out more about Kara and her cupcakes visit http://www.karascupcakes.com/

Vacations = Food, at least to Craig anyway.

As you can clearly see food is the way to my husbands heart. He loves to eat and discover new restaurants. For months we've been seeing commercials on TV for a restaurant called Red Robin. Of course just seeing the shots made Craig salivate for a scrumptious bite. Well to Craig's chagrin we discovered that Red Robin doesn't even have any restaurants in Florida. He was quite disappointed.

Imagine his culinary joy we we stumbled upon a Red Robin while on vacation in California. Our diamond in the rough was located in San Jose, California. Red Robin is known for its world famous gourmet burgers and we were all lucky enough that day to be able to scarf one down. Good Eating all around!

Serene - Beauty in the Ca Wilderness

This is one of my favorite pictures from our vacation. Hallie and I decided to take a walk by ourselves one early morning while in Yosemite. The boys were out having coffee with a ranger and Jenny was taking advantage of the quiet to sleep in. Hallie and I bundled up and hiked out to the boardwalk. It was a cold peacefulness that settled in around us. Hallie found a spot in the sun to warm herself and gaze upon the flowers. I'd like to take credit for the shot but I think it's my camera that captures the magic.

"Man Up Nancy" - the CA Vacation continues

OK, the CA vacation posting doesn't seem to be going as I had originally planned but here are a few more shots and stories from our August vacation. August at this moment in my life seems like eons ago.

I'm really happy with the way my layout came out and I think that the pictures show a vivid representation of cold Craig thought the water was. I, along with Hallie, went in up to my thighs and I didn't think it was that cold but Craig thought otherwise. He, along with Andy, were the only two who went in full body. The boys get credit for that as we girls were having no part of it.

I think that the layout should say it all but believe me when I tell you that you should have been there to fully enjoy the full humor of the situation.

California Vacation - Day 2 - Santa Cruz

Day 2 of our vacation found us relaxing on a Sunday morning at the Woods home. After a leisurly morning reading the newspaper and playing Katamari on Playstion 2 we ended up in beautiful Santa Cruz Boardwalk. It's a Boardwalk located right on Santa Cruz Beach with amusement rides, games and great fair-type food. Craig was pleasantly pleased to find fried cheesecake.

This year the boardwalk celebrates it's 100th year in 2007 and is the only remaining major seaside amusement park on the West Coast. To find out more about the rich history of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk click here:

Http://beachboardwalk.com/03_press_bw_history.html

Hallie of course had a ball. She loved riding all of the rides and even wanted to ride the "BIG" kid rides. It was hard for her to understand that she is too little and that is one word she hates to hear about herself.

Here she is enjoying a ride on Pete's Dragon

Hallie would have stayed all day if she could have but even with all the joy she brings there is only so many times you can watch her go round and round on rides. And there is a limit on how much fried grease Craig can consume in one day.

More to come tomorrow or in a few days.

Ciao, M.

Our Little Mermaid

I've been dying to use this kit that I purchased from Kay Miller Designs. She creates the cutest scrap kits for kids that I've ever seen. Yesterday was my golden opportunity when the neighbors invited us over to swim. Not being much of a swimmer Hallie had to use her vest but she still had a great time and ended up all prune-ie in the end.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back to the vacation posts sometime late this afternoon. Lots still more to show, tell and of course scrap.

M.

Hallie's Favorite Cat

If Hallie has a favorite cat in this world it has to be Artamis. Artamis belongs to our friends the Woods in CA. Poor Artamis put up with Hallie's constant petting, touching and in general, mild harassment.

Here's the two of them together

If Artamis has the gumption and the patience to put up with Hallie he's got to be one cool cat.

Damien Rice - 9 Crimes

One of my favorite sad songs at the moment.

Our Vacation - Day 1 - Saturday, August 8/11/2007

Man, who was the dummy that booked our flight that left on Saturday at 7:55 in the morning? Oh yeah, I would be that big dummy who wanted to get an early start. So much for having a relaxing vacation. We made it to the airport by 7:00 a.m. but then had to spend 45 minutes in the security line because it was so backed up and incredibly long. By the time we made it to the plane almost everyone had boarded.

Finally, we were getting on the plane and I heaved a huge sigh of relief. As we headed up the isle of the plane to our seats there was a brief argument that ensued over who was going to get the window seat. As many of you know Craig is not fond of heights and if he must be submitted to such torture he prefers to sit by the window. Why I'm not quiet sure I've figured it out but if that's what the husband wants then that is usually what the husband gets. Oh, but that was before we had the demanding 4 year old in our life and on a plane. You can clearly see who won the argument. Did you have any doubts? I didn't. My money is usually on the little one.

It's funny how a little scrawny 40 pound four year old can triumph over her own father. What poor parents don't do for a little peace. Poor Craig had to while knuckle it during the plane take offs and landings. Thank goodness there was no turbulence on the flight or it just would have pushed Craig over the edge.

Here she is sitting at the window enjoy mommy's iPod and taking a gander at what I believe is the Grand Canyon outside of her plane window.

Once we were finally in Sunny Cali we decided to have a easy day and just relax and do lunch. The Wonderful Woods took us to one of their favorite California BBQ joints, The Central Texan BBQ located on Merritt Street in Castroville. The Central Texan is a great little place with sawdust on the floor and Texas artifacts on the walls. The owner, Don Elkins, is a real character. He smokes all of his own meats and makes his own sausage, which we were lucky to be offered a free sample of. It was my first time trying homemade sausage and while I'll say it is an item I would probably wouldn't ever order it was good.

If any one knows good BBQ it's the Woods. They've just returned from a fifteen day, 4,500 mile southern states BBQ tour. As Andy tells it "from Texas to North Carolina, the unifying theme of our journey was a mutual love of awesome BBQ."

Here are the Woods, Andy and Jenny posing with Hallie Well, the Woods do know their BBQ as the Central Texan rocked. Craig enjoyed a huge plate of beef brisket while I tried the pork plate. The meat was succulent, tender and tasty but the best for me was the beans. I'm not usually a huge bean fan but these beans rocked with onions, and tender morsels of meat mixed in. I could have easily eaten two bowls of them but I was stuffed from the meal. We did take a dogie bag home but never got the chance to enjoy the leftovers. Hopefully someone else did. It would be a shame to waste BBQ as good as that.

Now here's a little piece of trivia that I bet most of you don't know. Castroville is the Artichoke Center of the World. This small town lies in the heart of California's Central Coast farm country less than 100 miles from San Francisco and less than three miles from the Pacific Ocean and public beaches. It also host the worlds largest artichoke. If you are interested in finding out more here is a link: http://www.beachcalifornia.com/castrov.html

That's it for our Saturday. We spent the rest of the day catching up with our good friends and enjoying their gracious hospitality.

We're B-A-C-K !!!!!!

Hi Everybody,

We are finally back from a wonderful week of vacation in CA. No phones, TV, newspapers, computers or the world wide web. We had the best time and it was very hard to drag myself into work today. Lucky Craig of course had the day off and got one extra day to recoup.

There's lots of stories to tell and pictures to show and scrapbook pages to do so tonight's posting is just a tease of what there is to come. Scraping our vacation memories and good, OK mediocre storytelling, takes time and we all know that is something I have very little of anymore.

Here is a very quick page of Craig, Hallie and I out on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. It was so nice and we even met a little friend who I will include.

My friend Jenny kept yelling at me not to "flash" the poor thing with my camera but I don't think that I was really doing any harm. At least the sea lion didn't seem to mind as much as Jenny. If it did it was way less vocal about it.

Anyway, how could I not take a picture of that cute little face. And it is an amazing picture of an animal that we Floridians never get to see out in the wild. It was amazing to see the sea lions and harbor seals just frolicking while swimming out in the ocean.

OK, there's more to tell but not tonight. It's almost 11 p.m. and I am still feeling the effects of jet lag. Even though I hate to say it I'll be glad when my body catches up to Florida time versus CA time.

Look for more postings during the week and a whole slew of new scrapbook pages this weekend. That's the plan for now Stan.

Ciao'

Hump Day, what it means to me on Augsut 1st.

It's Wednesday and Hump Day. Hump Day means I suppose that we are half way through the week, half way there or almost to the weekend. There is hope in sight. Normally hump day passes me by with out so much as a second thought or glance but today is different. Today Craig and I had a Dr. appointment to see why we where having so much trouble conceiving. My Dr. is the wonderful Dr. Todd, the man who brought Hallie into this world. He isn't quite sure what the problem might be but he is sending me to the lab to do some blood work to see if I truly am ovulating or not ovulating at all. Based upon that test and lab work he is going to put me on a RX that should help us get pregnant.

It hasn't happened yet, and I might be building myself up for more disapointment but for the moment I now feel that we are half way there. I feel there is hope in sight for me to finally get pregnant. I have fretted over our situation silently mostly, wondering what we were doing wrong, or what was or is wrong with us that this isn't working. I don't know those answers and most likely will never know if Dr. Todd's plan works for us. It's just nice to feel that I am almost where I need to be. Thanks Dr. Todd

.

It's Sunday

It Sunday and I just finished watching the beginning of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. I just finished watching the two hour special about the "harrowing story of the USS Indianapolis." It was so sad that it made me cry. Yes, I know that I cry easily but how horrible it must have been to have experienced that. I think that they said that over 1,000 men went into the water when the Indianapolis went down and less than 300 men made it out of the water. It is more than apparent that I can't handle watching anything that deals with death.

The rest of the day was pretty normal. We did the food shopping, cleaning out of the garage, laundry, and other mundane, boring house chores. Believe me you are not missing anything by me leaving it out.

I did do two scrap pages today. One was of Hallie and the other one was of my friend's daughter, California Jenny, Vienna. Now Vienna isn't little anymore but still just as pretty if not prettier. It's a great picture that I love that I had to scrap. I know that in the preview it shows up black but it's actually white empty space on my layout. I didn't know that empty white space on a png file shows up as black when converted to a jpg. See, you do learn something new every day.

I'm going to finish watching Rock of Love on VH1 and it's off to bed. Ciao!

It's Saturday and I scrapped a page

Ok, that's not the only thing I did all day. Hallie and I washed the dog, washed the car, weeded the garden, did the dishes, went to the library and made the bed. Ok, it may not sound like much but for a Saturday it was a lot. Whew!

So now about the page, the dog wasn't really what I had intended to scrap but after she looked so clean and smelled so nice I couldn't help but snap a picture of her and then the inspirtation just came. I'm sure at least that Mel will like it.

Ok, that's it for Saturday. I'm going to try to scrap some more before bed tonight.

M.

There's a First Time for Everything

Ok, I've never blogged so I thought I would give it a try. It might be a good way for me to keep a journal of my life that I could apply to my scrap pages and this could be a portal for me to stay in better touch with my family and friends. It's also something that is "cool" not that I would know about that.

I guess you'll have to stay touned to see if I'm a decent blogger.