Happy Anniversary to Mom & Dad!

Celebrating 36 years together today!

They are seriously the cutest couple...they just get better with time. :)

I am so blessed to have them as parents and so thankful for the example that they have set for me.

They taught me marriage is not something to be taken lightly. It is something you have to work at and never give up on.

I love them and am so happy for them!! :)

Congratulations on 36 years of love, laughter, & happiness, Mom & Dad!!! :)

BVOTD: "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

Celebrating the 7th Anniversary...

of our first date today.

January 22, 2000.

Seven years ago today.

I was a junior in high school.

Sweet sixteen.

Frantically trying to find an oufit to wear for my first date ever.

Wishing that I had someone with me to tell me what to wear.

Feeling my heart beat very fast as I heard Brad pull in the driveway in his maroon Chevy truck.

Laughing at mom for being so emotional.

Trying to make small talk.

Being so nervous my hands were sweating.

Sitting on the far side of the truck.

Continually thinking, "What is he thinking right now??!"

Having a hard time believing that I was actually on a date.

Wondering if I should wait for Brad to open the door.

Shooting a straw at him at Jack in the Box.

Sitting through the movie "Down to You" at Tinsletown.

Thinking we should have gone to see Toy Story instead.

Thinking about Lacey and Brad becoming "us".

Feeling nervous, happy, and blessed.

The nervousness has faded but he still makes me feel happy and blessed every day.

(Wish I had a picture of the two of us that night or some of our old photos scanned...but I don't so you get a random park picture from last year instead, sorry!)

BVOTD: "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death...Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it." Song of Solomon 8:6-7a ESV

Had a Wonderful Ice Day!!

No work or school for me today!! :) I had a great day of sleeping, eating, snuggling with Bradley, decorating the tree for Valentine's day, scrapping (I started a minibook with pictures of Perez and Josh that I took of them at the creek on their wedding day...I am close to being finished with it! Will try to post pics later), and baking chocolate chip cookies (notice homework was not on the list...oops!). Unfortunately, Brad had to go into work at noon :(

I thought I would post some pics from today...

The house all icy...Brad is taking the ice off of his Jeep so he could go to work :(

When Brad made the ice fly off the window I ran around yelling "It's snowing!" and ate the "snow" :)

YAY! Icicles!!!

Our bushes full of ice! :)

See us in the window? :) and the ice covered window?

And here are my design team layouts (the last ones...that surely went by fast!). I decided to make pages about what I love about mom and dad...this is the first time I have stamped a journaling block on a page and written directly on it (I can't believe I didn't make any mistakes on it!)

The journaling reads:

1. They way that you love mom

2. that you can always calm me down after a bad day

3. that you have a kind & gentle nature

4. that you raised us in a loving home

5. that you have a great sense of humor

6. that no matter what we needed growing up, you always found a way to provide

7. that you always have time for us and never run out of encouragement

8. that you grew up a country boy, raised us in the corn, and passed down a love of the outdoors

9. that you are still a kid at heart

10. that you have always loved and believed in me

Love you, daddy!

Items used in dad's layout: Memories Complete patterned paper, Bazzill cardstock, Memories Complete cardstock, Daisyd's metal tab, Bookmarks Mini ABC's and #s, Canson photo corners, Rusty Pickle chipboard letters, black & white ribbon, Inspirables frosted tags (Simple Classic). I used the Cutter Bee Curvy Cutter & Glass Mat (I sooo love these two items!! They are awesome!) to make the circles. I also used my Dyo labeler, Zig Writer black pen, Uniball Signo white pen, Rusty Pickle journal stamp, Excelsior dye ink pad.

I made this layout about mom...

Journaling reads:

*that you live your life as an example of how we should live

*that you know how to have fun

*that when I talk to you I feel right at home

*that you have a heart for others

*that you write me emails

*that you always have a hug for me

*that you love us enough to check up on us

*that you love daddy to pieces

*your beautiful smile

*that you stayed home with us and invested in us by giving us your time

Love you, mommy!

Items used on this layout: Bazzill cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Jitterbug chipboard pieces, DaisyD's Metal tab, Making Memories rhinestone brads, Doodlebug Design Sew Easy rub on stiches, Heidi Swapp frame kit "beautiful" index tab, Zig writer, Color Box Cat's Eye chalk (pink pastel).

We just found out that school doesn't start tomorrow till 11:00 (though we are hoping they cancel it all together!)...stinks to be me because my only class starts at 11:00!! But at least I don't have to go and wait around for 3 hours at school (Brad has an 8:00 class on Tue/Thurs!)...

Enjoy the extra time with your families! I sooo wish I was out in the corn to play in the snow tomorrow!! There is always so much more to play with there!! :) And the creek is so awesome when it is icy! Gotta love ice/snow days! :) PRAYING FOR SNOW!!

BVOTD: Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" John 11:40 NIV

More Scrap Time = Happy Lacey

I got to spend some time in my scraproom last night and made a few more creations. I set Bradley up with pillows and blankets on the bed in my scraproom, Tombstone on the laptop (he loves that movie), and some pizza for dinner and I went to town :) I have made 3 layouts so far this year...I think I am going to track how many scrappy items I make this year. Should be interesting.

The first page I made on Thursday night after my night class. I made it because one of my teachers handed out a sheet to fill out that said "What do you think you will be doing in five years?" and the only thing I could think of was raising babies...I am guessing everyone else wrote things like "working at my dream job" or "making lots of money"...and while I was sitting in one of my other classes everyone was talking about how they couldn't wait to get a job that pays $50,000/year...and I was just sitting there thinking "I could care less about getting a job that pays $50,000/year!"...so I decided to make a page that celebrates my weirdness...

The journaling in case you can't read it...

I get to take classes with my husband.

I have never been clubbing.

I have had the same job for 6 years.

I think more about having kids than getting a job that pays $50,000/year.

The only college roommate I have ever had is my husband.

I have never lived on campus.

It is going to end up taking me 6 years to get my degree.

I spent 2½ years at a community college before transferring to a 4 year university.

I own a house.

I have never had a beer.

I don’t smoke.

I have never done drugs.

I have a retirement account.

I am married.

I have never been to a college sporting event.

I have never been to Homecoming.

My vehicle is paid for.

I will be married almost 4 years when I get my degree.

I am not a member of any clubs at school.

I spend more time scrapbooking then I spend doing homework.

I saved myself for marriage.

I am married to Brad for as long as I live.

I will graduate with a 3.6 GPA.

I worked the entire time I was in college.

I never took a semester off after I graduated from High School.

Items used for this layout: Cosmo Cricket paper, white cardstock, 7 Gypsies Gaffer Tape (I am almost out of it) :( , big paperclip (I think from Office Depot?), Dymo labeler, Doodlebug Design Sew Easy rub on stiches (love those!), Bookworks Mini ABC's and Numbers (white), Rusty Pickle chipboard letters, and the font is CK Urban (thanks, Vick).

The other two layouts are my design team layouts...I did 10 Things I Love About Mom & Dad. Used some photos of dad I took at his birthday party at Stagecoach Inn last year. The photo of mom is from Mother's Day a couple of years ago of her holding a pink rose. Cute, cute :) Will be updating with those layouts later...

Thought I would give a little update on life too...

Some snapshots from our LAST first day of school!! Here we are by our front door looking "studious"...

and less studious...

He treated me to McAlisters for lunch where we got what we always get (yeah, we're boring)...a potato soup for me with no bacon and green onion & a 12" Godfather for Brad (I get part of his bread)...I drank DP even though it wasn't a DP day (=no DP for me on Friday)...and of course a chocolate chip cookie to share :) YUM!! We also did some furniture shopping but didn't find anything.

School is okay I guess. By far, my strangest semester yet. The classes all seem weird to me. And I have to wait around for like 3 hours every day. I think I will use some of that time to work out at the gym a couple of days a week. My work schedule is going to be crazy because we don't get out of class till 1:50 everyday! and then Thurs I have my night class & Monday we leave early for Bible Study.

I still don't really know what the Organizational Theory class is all about. But I do know that I am in it with Bradley :) We have to do a bunch of cases in there and talk in class (and the class has over 25 students so we have to go around the room...don't like that because the timing is always bad...either someone says your comment before you or they change the subject before it gets to you!). Having Org Theory and Org Behavior at the same time confuses me. Sheesh. How will I keep track of them??

I did not get my fave teacher for my Entrepreneurial class but I did get her for my Org Beh class :) She rocks it! I think that class will be pretty interesting. We have a group project where we find video clips that show org beh...I like movies :)

I really don't like being in the Sales & Sales Management night class without Bradley. It's a bummer to have to take two trips to school (or not be able to ride with Bradley in the morning). The teacher seems pretty cool but 3 hours is just so long. I get sleepy!

We do get a nice lunch break on Mon/Wed/Fri so we will be able to spend a long time at lunch with the Methodists (MAM's church). FUN! Yummy food, too! (Speaking of food...I am hungry!). And! I am going to get to see Perez there I think!! (Side note: She is feeling a bit overwhelmed by nursing school...pray for her if you think about it...she is in class from 9:00-4:00 four days a week with an hour for lunch. When she is not in class she is working or reading and doesn't have enough time to finish her reading every night.)

Waiting for ice and snow here. Luckily we have no trees that can fall on the house (cause our trees are so little!) and we live near the power generator plant thing so if we lose electricity it probably won't be for long (on of the perks of living in the city!). (And a side note to dad...you don't have to worry about me parking my car under the tree and then having to melt the ice off of the door handle to get in and move the car and then end up with a broken door handle! Ah, the memories!!). :)

Not looking foward to doing homework! YUCK! I can't seem to get back into the swing of things...I don't even want to reorganize my binder and add paper to it. Usually I have that done before the semester starts. Maybe I will get a new, cute binder...the purple one is getting old after a few semesters. (lol, I am such a spoiled American! kinda sad.).

Hoping my boy comes home soon. He went to install gas logs at a house near Buchanan Dam. I didn't want him to leave!! I am going to do some more cleaning and probably work on laminating and cutting out CBS memory verses. It's sad that we don't have Bible Study tomorrow night (cause of the ice storm warning...supposed to be icy out tomorrow!). I just love winter...just wish we would get some snow!!!

BVOTD: "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16 NIV

I absolutely love those verses! How awesome to know that God formed us before we were born and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made?! That is so amazing!! :) Who can have a negative self image after reading that??

Some of my Latest Creations...

I made these a couple of weeks ago when I had a day off work...I organized my scraproom and made 3 pages. That is a lot for me because I am such a slow scrapper. I am working on letting go of my perfection in scrapping! It just feels so good to create something! :)

I've been wanting to make this first page for a long time...I absolutely love this photo of Brad and me from our first dance on our wedding day. I am loving the Kraft Bazzill paper I got from my boy for Christmas, too!

Items used: Bazzill Kraft paper, Heidi Swapp journaling spot, 7 Gypsies 97% Complete stickers "Wedding", Deluxe Designs chipboard Plain Jane Decorative accents, 7 Gypsies "Naked" sticker, Making Memories defined "remember", & Zig Writer 0.5 pen.

This page is about my good buddy Melanie...and how I've missed her since she went to Peru.


Items used on this page: Bohemia paper, Bazzill Kraft paper, Cricut "George" Lettering, Creative Imaginations Narratives by Karen Russell sticker, Bohemia barefoot "Beautiful" frame, Crystal brads, and a Zig writer .05 pen. Oh, and the ribbon is from a Choxie candy bar package :)


The last page is about me and fave cousin Perez...


Items I used for this page: Daisyd's paper, 7 Gypsies 97% Complete "Gratitude" and "Time" , Daisyd's carstock die cuts "Remember", "You Are", and "Family" (LOVE THESE!), 7 Gypsies Gaffer tape Ruban Gaffer (I need more of this! Julie, are you ordering more?), Cricut "George" lettering, Basic Grey Wholy Cow rubons, Zig Writer .05 pen, Deluxe designs chipboard Plain Janes Decorative accents, & Making Memories rhinestones.

BVOTD: "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11 NIV

Just for Fun...

A= Available~ nope...I am SO happily taken :)
B= Best Friend~ Brad, MAM, Vick & Perez.
C= Cake or pie~ Pecan pie (or Dr. Pepper cake!)
D= Drink of choice~ Dr. Pepper on DP days...mango tea from Chilis...or water
E= Essential item you use everyday~ Chapstick and my cellphone
F= Favorite color~ I love red and pink!
G= Gummy bears or worms~ I guess I will go with worms...sour ones.
H= Hometown~ The Corn!
I= Indulgences~ Scrapping time & goodies, bubble baths (but not very often), DP, those little neopolitan candies I get at HEB, and sweets!
J= January or February~ I will go with February...I love Valentine's Day and still have hope for another Valentine's Day snow!!!
K= Kids and Names~ No kids yet...but would love to be a mom...not sure about names! We are both so indecisive! We should probably be coming up with some now, huh?
L= Life is incomplete without?~ Spening time with my honey.
M= Marriage date~ July 26, 2003
N= Number of siblings~ 2 sisters, 3 sister-in-laws, and 3 brother-in-laws
O= Oranges or apples~ Umm, neither. Oranges are too acidic and I only like apples cut up with peanut butter! Bananas, strawberries, or grapes are good.
P= Phobias or Fears~ People I love dying without knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior
Q= Favorite Quote~ Goodness...I can't even name just one. I plan on making a whole scrapbook of my favorite movie quotes!!! (I have a TON!)
R= Reason to smile~ Time with my boy, being with friends and family, time in my scraproom, & getting happy mail!
S= Season~ When I was a kid it used to be summer because I got to lay around and do nothing with Perez but now it is winter because I love the colder weather, Christmas, and time off work to spend with family!
T= Tag 3 or 4 people~ Vicki, Amanda, MAM, & Riss
U= Unknown fact about me~ I dislocated my hip (yeah, like an old person) in 8th grade while playing volleyball.
V= Vegetable you don't like~ Brussel sprouts.
W= Worst habit~ Unhealthy eating and being too lazy to go outside and run.
X= X-rays~ No thanks.
Y= Your favorite food~ Mangia pizza, Chick sandwiches & fries, mom's chicken & rice, ham, McAlister's chocolate chip cookie, and pecan pie
Z= Zodiac Sign~ Who cares?

BVOTD: "A relaxed attitude lengthens life; jealousy rots it away." Proverbs 14:30 NLT

Heading Back to School...

tomorrow for my LAST first day ever! It feels really good to say that! I am not very happy about having to go back. Advertising and Promotion really soured me on school (not that I wasn't soured on the school before that but it is even worse now...I dread going back).

My last four classes (ever!) are Entrepreneurship, Organizational Theory, Organizational Behavior, and Selling & Sales Management. And I have one of my favorite teachers - Dr. Merr.! I am hoping that I have her for more than one class...that would be so wonderful!!

It is crazy to think that I registered for the last time today. School has been such a big part of our lives for so many years now. I took my first college class in August 2001 and have not taken a semester off since then...same for Brad. It is hard to believe that it will all be over after this semester. That is a crazy thought. Life will be different without tests and books (very expensive ones at that!) and teachers and presentations and lectures and parking permits and long lines!! Looking forward to having lovely diplomas in our hands in a few short months!!!!

BVOTD: "..do not worry about about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes." Luke 12:22b-23 NIV

Had a Fabulous Christmas & New Years...

Did a lot of celebrating and eating :) Got loads of goodies from family and friends...

*new Adidas shoes (though I am without one shoe because it fell out of my bag in the parking lot of Alyssa and Josh's apartment on New Years Day...bummer...I hope to get shoe #2 from Lyss on Tuesday),
*a Cricut from my Bradley (you can program it to cut all kinds of cool stuff...I am loving this little machine!),
*Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 from my in laws (I am still trying to figure out how to use all of the little gadets...I did make a little digital layout - my first one ever! - with some New Years photos. It seemed realtively easy but all the layers confuse me. I really want to learn how to make only part of a photo black and white...can anyone help me?),
*all kinds of cool scrapping stuff that I am dying to use!!,
*a Napoleon Dynamite calendar (from MAM that I keep at work and brings me - and my coworkers - much joy each day!),
*a scrappy calendar ( from Vick that I keep in my scrap room),
*a cool green purse (courtesy of Mel) from Peru,
*Christmas socks & coasters (from MAM and Riss),
*Harry and David Blueberry Chocolates (from Perez and Josh...if you have not tried these, you should!! They are so amazingly good!),
*bath fizzies (from Liesel...if I could only find the time to use them!),
*a Razzles shirt and a Pluto shirt (from Perez and Josh...it says "When I was your age Pluto was a planet"),
*JCPenney gift card and clothes (from mom & dad),
*a cow that sings Christmas carols (from Val & Jacob),
*candy (from a lot of people...they know me so well :) I love candy!)
*and probably more that I can't remember...I was so spoiled this year!!

Our first Christmas celebration was held at mom and dad's house out in the corn. We ate enchiladas and stew and I enjoyed the pecan pie that Dave made :) We tried to get some photos of the gals in Santa hats and then the guys in Santa hats...didn't have much luck with the men!! The picture that is in the collage is the best one of the evening.

After Christmas at mom and dad's, we headed over to Wayne and James' (my uncles') house for Christmas with daddy's side of the family. Lots of cutie pie kids to keep us entertained. Got some cute photos of my cousin Deborah and her hubby Tommy with their two kiddos. Had a lovely evening there. Laughed about Josh getting so many more presents than Perez (I suppose everyone is trying to encourage him to stay?...and think that our family=good people). The big toys of the year included marshmellow shooters (guns you load with marshmellows courtesy of the candy shop gal Perez & her hubby), Cars toys (books, cars, shirts, etc), and the science set was a loved gift by little Huston (as pictured in the collage with Tommy).

Our next Christmas celebration was just the two of us on Christmas morning. (I wonder if our kids will be willing to wait that long to open presents! I always opened them up on Christmas Eve growing up and Brad opened them on Christmas morning when he was a kid). I know our Christmas celebration will be much more lively once we have some little ones to watch :) Christmas just isn't the same without kids around. I made cinnamon toast for Brad (a Christmas tradition) and then we opened presents.

Presents for Brad (from me) included some new socks (lol...it always makes me think of the lottery ticket commercial "buy a gift...maybe even socks..."), an organizer for the Jeep, a belt from Old Navy, and the New Testament on CD (he has been wanting this for a while...he hates to read) and some more random goodies (like candy and ladybugs from the candy shop so we can race them!).

Brad gave me some scrapping goodies from my wishlist at the local scrapbook store and a Cricut...YAY! I didn't know he was going to get me that. We were at Michael's one day and he noticed it and asked me about it. Then he shows up with one on Christmas morning! That boy! He always spends too much on my presents!! After we opened presents we took a little nap and then got ready for Christmas at Brad's parents' house.

The next celebration was held at Brad's parents' house on Christmas day at lunch. We were missing Val & Jacob and Kellie, Carter, Logan, & Caden because they were all at other family gatherings. So not as much fun without the kids there. At least Alicia and Daniel brought a little silliness. :)

Highlights of our Christmas celebration include yummy ham and corn, getting Photoshop (everyone was envious that I can take wrinkles out and make people look skinnier!), watching Gene open his surround sound system, and watching the boys try to set up the system in the living room (crawling up in the attic and everything!). Was glad that Alicia & Daniel and both grannies could attend.

We also had another celebration at mom and dad's house on Christmas day but I didn't take any photos. (I know, you are shocked). I was pictured out and the lighting is bad so I figured it was okay.

The few days in between the holidays were spent getting some extra sleep, being sad that Christmas was over, playing with my new toys, organizing my scraproom (it is a lot more organized now!), cleaning, and hanging out with family. I am always a little depressed the days following Christmas. Ever since I was little I can remember just laying around and moping after Christmas was over. I have always loved the holiday so much and hate to see it go...that means I have to wait 365 days till it comes again!!

New Years was spent at Perez & Josh's really cute apartment. We all learned that Perez is quite a cook and very good at throwing an excellent party with very short notice! She made all kinds of yummy goodies. Gotta love that girl.

Josh was the bartender for the evening. They made me virgin strawberry daquiris :) Yum! We watched Just Like Heaven and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I got a good hour of sleep during the last one...not my kind of movie. But I like sleep so it was okay :) Got a call from Amanda who left a voice message for Vicki at 9:17 saying happy new year...we all laughed at her celebrating the new year at 9:17. They had a church party that ended at 9:00 and then barely stayed awake for the new year...lol...old people (but you've got to love them!).

We proabably went to sleep around 2:30 or 3:00 and got to sleep in till 11:00...then Brad and I headed over to Brad's parents' house for lunch.

So we kind of missed lunch at Brad's parents' house but still got to see the family. Caden & Logan enjoyed opening their Christmas presents from Aunt Valerie and Uncle Jacob (since they weren't there for Christmas). Caden got a two cool wooden puzzles that made noise and Logan got some kind of Superman game. Looked like fun.

We attempted to get a family picture of Carter, Kellie, Logan & Caden but had no luck. Caden wasn't having it (even though he is usually a ham for the camera) and Logan hates having his picture taken now (though he was just like Caden when he was younger, always wanting to be the center of attention). Gene took the boys out on the John Deere...a family tradition and favorite of Caden.

I am in the middle of taking all of our Christmas decorations down. Kinda sad. I am looking forward to seeing the house decorated for Valentine's Day though :) Love that holiday!! (It will be 7 years since our first kiss...and the first day I met Brad's parents! Time surely does fly.)

I had the day off today and spent it with mom shopping...then cutting out memory verses for CBS...wishing I had a bunch of days off to clean and organize the house...

One of my goals for the new year is a place for everything and everything in its place. The house has been disorganized for way too long now. I really wanted it to be organized by the time we headed back to school (for our last semester-wow!) but not so much do I see that happening.

Will hopefully update again soon!

BVOTD: "Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!" Neh 8:10 NLT