I took this dare Effer Dare #5 …. and here it is:
The scan isn’t the best. The colors always look wrong… and the edges get cut off… but I did it! A dare! SEXY! Am I? Yep! Not always, but sometimes. AND the best part of all… I scrapped FOR ME! Yippeee! Thanks Amber Nicole for the dare!
Ali
So many prayers going out to all of those being affected (effected?) by Hurricane Katrina! I just can’t believe the devastation. It is really hard to wrap my brain around it all. And really, no words really seem adequate in this situation. I’m at a loss. It is almost incomprehensable. I will continue to pray that God gives all involved the HOPE, STRENGTH, and PERSEVERANCE to endure this disaster.
Ali
Is there such a thing? I don’t know. I hope so. January 14, 1999…. the day that my life changed. The day that my sister-in-law, Anne Sleater was shot in the head while conducting a new employee interview at AT&T. She was recently back to work after maternity leave. At a job she loved. Erin was 6 months old. She was happy. Life was good. In the blink of an eye, everything changed. It was a fluke. A paranoid schizophrenic upset at the news media for reasons nobody knew, stormed the Triad Center with a gun. Trying to find a reporter to shoot. Instead she ended up on the 4th floor. Where Anne worked. And shot Anne. She lived for 8 days and endured 2 surgeries. We prayed, we grieved and we mourned. But that wasn’t the end. We have had to endure 6.5 years of competancy hearings for De-Kieu Duy (the shooter). Hearing after hearing after hearing. Each time she is found incompetant. Is this justice? I don’t know. Will she ever be competant to stand trial? I don’t think so.
And so we are at today. August 30, 2005. The day that De-Kieu Duy is civily committed in-voluntarily to the State Mental Hospital forever (most likely). If by some miracle she is ever found competant the hospital will contact the court and she will stand trial. And so we move forward. No more competancy hearing deadlines looming in the background of our lives. No more wondering if there will be a trial. I felt relief leaving the courthouse today. For the first time. And it felt good.
Today is a day to remember Anne. To forget about the details surrounding her death, but to feel comfort in the fact that she is with us and watching us every day. Today is the day to hug Erin extra hard and give her tons of smoochie kisses. And to let her know her mommy loved her very much.
SHE
Ali
I just discovered a new album and I am lovin’ it! I have a kajillion different scrapbook albums. Everything from Creative Memories to Making Memories to Heidi Swapp to random "no name" albums. I use different albums for different things. And I really love them all! Anyone who knows me, knows that I take tons of pictures at my kids football, baseball, basketball and softball games. SO…. I have a ton of pictures from Tyson’s freshman year of high school that I really want to get put in an album (now that his sophomore year has started). And I CKU-A I found this:
The perfect solution to my many, many photos that I can’t seem to scrap! This whole album system is exactly what I needed for Tyson’s freshman year photos. The pages are all 12 x 12, but some of them are divided differently. For example you can do a traitional 12 x 12 page. Or you could do a page that is divided into 6 4×6 sections. You can insert a photo in 4 of the 4×6 sections and then maybe journaling in another section and then embelishments in another. Does that make sense? Probably not. I am bad at explaining. I will try and scan a page and post later tonight when I get home. I was able to whip out 4 pages in one night! Very cool! Okay…… check ’em out!
Ali
How cute is this girl? This is my niece Erin, and she is the cutest, most adorable 7 yr. old around! She has been one busy girl this summer, so I haven’t been able to see much of her! I miss her "SMOOCHIE KISSES"! I love you Erin!
Ali
Okay, so everyone has been posting 5 random things about themselves on their blogs. SO, I guess I’ll just jump right on that bandwagon, cause frankly, I want to play too!
1) I CANNOT curl my tongue! How weird is that? It must be a recessive(?) gene or something because my parents can both curl their tongues and both my kids can. BUT….. neither my brothers nor I can. And my kids don’t understand why I can’t. Their like "Mom, just curl your tongue"…. like it’s that easy! We’ll it isn’t for me! Ü
2) I am a Reality TV junkie! Seriously! I’ll watch almost anything and everything reality tv related. Currently I am watching the following: Big Brother 6, Laguna Beach, That 70’s House, Surreal Life, Hogan Knows Best, Celebrity Fit Club, So You Think You Can Dance, Brat Camp, Tommy Lee Goes to College, Being Bobby Brown, and School of Rock. I think that’s it. Although I like to watch whatever is on the Reality TV Channel too!
3) I LOVE to iron! It relaxes me somehow! And I think starch is a girl’s best friend. I can’t get enough of starch! I think my ironing fetish is related to sitting on the bed watching my mom iron my dad’s shirts while I was growing up. I can still smell the steam from the iron.
4) I LOVE to write lists! I love the way a nicely written list looks! I use my best handwriting and usually a colored sharpie fine point! Now mind you… I NEVER take those lists with me on errands, or ever cross anything off my lists. I just like writing them and the way they look. That is pretty random AND weird, huh!
5) Worms and snails give me serious heebie-jeebies! Do you know what the "worm rain" is? I can’t even go outside after it rains and there are worms all over the ground. I’m actually getting a bit naseaus right now thinking about the "worm rain". And if I am planting flowers or weeding and come across a worm or snail….. I’m DONE. Can’t do it anymore. Carl must take over! YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! Now my skin is all crawly!
Okay, I challenge any of you that read my blog, to either email me 5 random things about you, or if you have a blog post them there! Go on…. you can do it! It’s fun!
Ali
It’s off to school they go! Tyson to high school and Madi to middle school. Where has the time gone? What happened to my tow headed, rambunctious, five year old boy racing off to kindergarten full of excitement and energy? And my shy, hesitant, leery little girl who wouldn’t let go of my hand until I sat down at her kindergarten desk with her? They are still there, but boy have they changed and grown. It is hard to believe so much time has passed. Tyson, 5’10" and looking so handsome and grown up this year. Gone are the days of walking him to his classroom door. Now I just drop him off at carpool with a quick hug and kiss and the call of "Have an awesome day!" Of coruse, he is a sophomore now, and this high school thing is nothing new anymore. I’m sure as he walked through the doors of the high school this morning he thought "I’m so glad I’m not a freshman anymore!" And Madi….. I remember the days I was "allowed" to get out of the car with her and snap a few photos of her in front of the school. In her school uniform. Soooo cute! We laughed and remembered this morning as I dropped her off. There were so many cute kindergartners with their parents in front of the school taking pictures. I miss those days! This year I dropped Madi off in car-line…. she looked so cute with her hair done "just so"…. and her "skater" backpack and "skater" shoes! Her only individuality in a school full of uniforms and dress codes.
And so they are off… to school. And I feel sorta sad. They are growing up. Each new school year means they are another year older and another year closer to leaving the nest. I am happy for them and happy with the individuals they are becoming! And I hope they have the best school year yet!
I wonder what they are doing right now? What class are they in? Do they like their teachers? Are there any cute new kids? Are they happy? Do they miss me, like I miss them?
Ali
According to my friend Nic and I thought it was a great idea! I visit and read way too many blogs everyday, but I am making a point to comment every single one of them. Now, most of the people have no idea who I am, in fact a lot of them are "scrapbook celebrities" to me, but everybody LOVES to get comments, right? So…. if you are reading my blog, please leave me a comment! Thanks and have the best day ever!
Ali
Just a quick post to show you a tag I did for Donna Downey’s blog layout. It isn’t the greatest….. just my blog addy, my pic and a few phrases. It was fun to do though…. and how cool to have my tag be included in Donna’s blog album! Cool!
The colors look way more neon and bright than they are in real life. Why do scans do that?
Ali
Can you beleive it? Carl and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary yesterday. Well, we didn’t really "celebrate". We had a busy weekend with football games, school shopping and errand running, and Carl had to work on Saturday so we spent yesterday just relaxing at home. It was nice. Carl gave me a very cool silver bracelet that has the following words etched on it: courage, truth, balance, grace and wisdom. So, so cool. He got it at Chico’s. I tried to find a picture of it to post, but they don’t have the bracelet on their website. Bummer. Trust me, it is very cool!
So, eighteen years…. very weird. So long and yet it doens’t really seem like it. We have had our ups and downs and our good times and bad, but through it all we are still together. Working together to raise our children, balance it all and remain the best of friends. We don’t find a lot of "couple" time these days, but we are feeling the kids start to slip away from us and we are trying to enjoy our time with them and our time as a family. Good times.
Carl, thanks for the last 18 years…. and here’s to many, many more years together! I love you!
Ali
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