Jared’s computer decided to die on me three weeks ago, and that’s the computer I do all my photo editing, storage, and organization on so i’ve been kinda lost.  We took it in for repairs because we couldn’t turn it on, got it back a week and a half later, couldn’t get anything to load (although the power worked, so they did fix the original problem!) and hen had to take it back for another week and then some.  But now that its back I can function again!

But I am very ashamed to see the last post I did declaring my return and then disappearing again!! =o(  I didn’t think to come on and check because I’ve never had a problem with it before but apparently the posts I set to auto-publish in the meantime didn’t work.  And when I checked why, I couldn’t, for the life of me figure it out. Luckily my 6-year old was looking over my shoulder and pointed out that it’s NOT 2011.

So some of those posts will be saved for another rainy day, but some of them will slowly work their way out BEFORE 2011 rolls around.  Haha.  I feel so stupid!!

I’m also trying to figure out the whole post-by-email thing so I can post on the go with my iPhone, which was one of the topics of one the 2011 posts btw.  Haha.  It’s sooooo not working yet but I’ll figure it out.

I’ll see you all again real soon.  ttyl!

lovies, =o) kel

it has been a while since i’ve posted with good reason, although to me, there really is no good reason to go missing from a blog that you love so much.

i found out that i have lurkers {HI LURKERS! =o)} which is fine and dandy… i tend to be a lurker myself.  and it kinda surprised me because i didn’t expect to have many people outside the ones required to blurf because of blog groups.  hahaha.  (just kidding friends!!) however, i also learned that some of these lurkers have been taking things i’ve said online and making their own conclusions of how my life is and interpreting what i say in their own way.  on one hand, i knew this and expected this when i made the decision to include snippets of my personal life in my blog, when i made the decision to have a facebook account…  so i tried to keep things light but not fake, sarcastic but not snippity… and i consciously tried to keep negatives and super personal things off my accounts.  i can honestly say that i haven’t said anything that could be used against me.  but i’ve been proven wrong.

and the lurkers i’m talking about are people i don’t even personally know, which makes it much more sad and frustrating.  it’s the whole 6-degrees of separation thing… somebody’s friend’s cousin’s brother or something distant like that.  on one hand i’m flattered they take an interest in my blog and what i do, but on the other hand i DO believe that there is such a thing as BAD press.  i don’t try to please everyone in the world and reputation shouldn’t be a big deal to me personally but as a businessperson and a mother, yes, i do care about it.  i do care that someone i don’t know tells other people that i am selfish, rude and spiteful.  because i really don’t know where they got that from.  i am really hurt that someone could take my saying “i want to take care of my family” and twist it to mean that i’m burdened with that task or imposing my unwelcomed self and control over my family.

so i had to take time and step back and re-think all of this online blogging/social media stuff.  the fear of people judging me based on what i said versus who i am and what i do almost kept me from doing this.  because yes, i am afraid that those lurkers that are taking these words that i type and spreading their own stories will think i am accosting them personally and calling them out or calling them names but that is not at all what i am trying to do here.  i am calling out the situation and trying to explain to my blogger-friends why i haven’t been posting.

but if you haven’t figured it out yet – i’m back.  haha.  the decision was that i will continue to do this and continue to post snippets of my personal life and continue to do my very best to keep positive and know that people will continue to make judgements of me and my life for as long as i do so…  but that the positivity will always triumph over the negative and that i CAN do this because i have friends out there who legitimately support me.  so i thank those of you who are friends and i can’t wait to put this behind me and keep moving on.

lovies, =o) kel

nothing really to share but wanted to share something.  so enjoy!  and still trying to figure out how to embed video in posts.  not working for me yet. ETA 8/15: figured it out!

lovies, =o) kel

sorry!!  it’s been a crazy couple weeks here with filling orders + the pond excavation outside + purging, reorganizing and cleaning the bedroom and the craft room + getting the kids to their summer classes.  somehow my mind went into vacation mode and refuses to get back to work!

i did manage to place an order for 2500+ pictures (about 2400 are allllllll different pictures!) from winkflash (use coupon code 5cents for 5-cent 4×6 pictures!)  and even with the shipping it came out to around 6-cents a picture.  it’s been over a year since i ordered pictures that weren’t last-minute for a specific project and i have been I-T-C-H-I-N-G to scrap!!!

here’s to hoping that i can finish cleaning and reorganizing both the bedroom (should be done early this coming week!) and the craft room before the pictures get here so i can just sit and scrap my ass off.  i hope the pictures take another week.  haha!!

be back somewhere between done and gone crazy!!

lovies, =o) kel

sooooo…. J finally started updating my blog (when nagging fails, silent treatment does WONDERS!) and until he gets everything figured out i will leave this apology and cute picture of my princess…

hope you’re having a great week!!

lovies =o) kel

full post to come later as we have YET to do the traditional egg-coloring and our new tradition of flashlight egg hunting in our yard.  so in the meantime, i share this little ditty my dear, dear husband left for me on my desktop.  apparently it’s how easter eggs are made.

lovies, =o) kel

so… i’ve said before that i wanted to update a blog regularly and yadda-yadda-yadda… and look where it’s gotten me so far!!  ha!!  so no more promises this time.  just me being here and blogging when i can.

be back soon with some fun stuff.  almost done making my pictures pretty with some photoshop.

lovies, =o) kel

at the beginning of every year, Ali Edwards prompts us to choose one little word that defines our goals for the new year.  i have mentally played along in the past but having never written anything down, and having never been able to keep up with new year’s resolutions, i can’t tell you what words i chose!!  haha.

with everything that’s gone on this past year, from the family troubles to losing my mind in the 6-month-move-that-was-only-supposed-to-take-a-month, i realized what happened is that i lost control. and then i realized that i am a person who enjoys, and sometimes, needs to be in control of my life and the lives of those around me.  and sometimes i become a control-freak.  but in my mind, that’s not always bad!  haha.

so if you haven’t already figured it out, my word for 2010 is CONTROL. i know it’s a really powerful word with more negative connotations, but from now on, i want to be someone with power and in some ways, this excites me to challenge myself to walk that fine line between being a positive person in control and becoming a dictator.  i will be:

• in control of my home… control the clutter, keeping my home clean and presentable but also lived in and loved.
• in control of my finances… control the spending, keep up with bills, save a little, pay off our debt.
• in control of my family’s schedules… make sure we keep our appointments and leave lots of time for us to just be together.
• in control of my business… be productive and successful but have fun and remember that success is in doing what i love.
• in control of my depression… i will seek help when i need it and not let it cycle to become so big and debilitating like it always does.
• able to relinquish control and remember that i don’t need to be in control of everything at every time.

and with that said, here are some of my goals for 2010. like i said earlier, i don’t do so well with new year’s resolutions.  i do okay with goals and to-do lists though, so maybe thinking about it differently will allow me to do better with it!!

1. lose weight! my cousin gets married may 7th and i’d like to drop at least 25 lbs by then.  5 lbs a month.  i can do it!!!
2. pay off debt! it’s totally do-able to pay our way back to ZERO before the end of the year. just need to continue to stick to our budget.
3. send out birthday cards every month to the people we love but don’t see regularly.  i’m already behind for january but will be getting those cards out this week!
4. organize not only our house but our lives and stay on top of it.
5. clean more often… not only the house but ourselves… meaning eat healthier and exercise regularly.
6. craft more often… personally and professionally.
7. blog more than once a week.  and keep up with my freebies fridays thing.  everyone loves free!!
8. re-join or find a new blogging group! i’d love to rejoin the critters and be a hyper-active member!!  and maybe join a couple more groups, depends on what i can keep up with!
9. keep up with craft show/etsy orders & items! i’m putting up my “wall” today  (will share pics later) and knowing that i will bombard us with craft shows at the end of the year (because we did not do a single fair in 2009), would like to have an inventory built up by october so i don’t have to bust ass!!
10. participate in challenges and submit for publication! i think that’s explanation enough!!
11. sew a quilt and some other things i have been bookmarking on blogs and in books/magazines, including…
12. make plushies and felt food for the boys (and if it comes out great, for craft shows too!).  Albert has picked out his plush for me to sew.  just need to make time to re-introduce myself to my machine!
13. knit some new things! i’ve done a few scarves… would like to make more of them + some toys for the kiddos and other things i’ve bookmarked on blogs and in books.
14. take a trip! eventually i’d like to get away just me and jared, but i don’t think Amare is ready for us to leave him behind.  but family trips are nice too, we don’t have to leave the state, just get off-island.  both boys are DYING to get on an airplane.
15. renew my spirit by re-devoting myself to my religion and getting back in touch with my spirituality.
16. go back to school and learn a new language! which i will be doing fall 2010.  i need to meet with a counselor to confirm my course of action but i plan on taking 1-2 core classes, a language class (japanese), and maybe a beginner’s photography.  this is only supposed to be part-time and i don’t want to overwhelm myself from the start, but i am EXCITED about going back to school and the japanese/photography classes are supposed to by my “for fun” classes.

and my “just-for-fun/i-can-dream-can’t-i?” goal?

get pregnant! but as i’ve shared before, pregnancy for me comes with hyperemesis gravidarum, extreme nausea and vomiting, which means (and it did with both kids) me progressively getting sicker starting at 6 weeks, bed rest and IV home therapy, and losing 30 lbs over the course of  3 weeks at the worst of it, all to end at about 5 or 6 months.  so this is a just-for-fun/i-can-dream-can’t-i? goal because 1) we’re not ready for me to be dead-to-the-world for 5 months, and 2) Amare is not ready to NOT be a baby, and unless it’s twins, i only want one baby at a time in the house!

off to get my wall put up so i can share pictures and then get albert ready for practice!  it’s his last practice before the first game on saturday, so he has to be there!!!

lovies, =o) kel

i know, i know,  it’s been over a month and despite all my intentions, i am SOOO BAD at blogging on a regular basis!!  been busy getting things ready for christmas though… i am trying my hardest to make it a handmade christmas… but because i decided (and consequently, started) so late, there’s no way i’ll be able to make it a FULLY handmade christmas this year.  hoping to have a handful though, and will start prepping for next year!!

haven’t been scrapping either… this is what i’ve been doing…

knitting my heart out and LOVING it. managed to finish this beanie during the fantastic four movie (+ an hour or so after that) and i am sooooooo happy with it.  i know i know, i’m not all that good and it’s probably so simple compared to what others are making but hey, i’m new to this!!  sorry about the picture too… its after 2am and the only place i can get decently good light is sitting on the toilet!  haha.

off to bed… albert’s officially on christmas break!

lovies, =o) kel

sorry i haven’t been around much but i wanted to share some pictures from our day at the zoo on wednesday. BIL invited us to join him and his 2 kiddos and of course, my 2 kiddos couldn’t resist it because A) it’s the zoo, and B) it’s time with cousins. 3 weeks of pneumonia and not leaving the house made me a little stir-crazy and although going to the stinky zoo isn’t my idea of a fun day out, we got to spend it together as a family and that’s always fun.

i promise i’m working my way back to the craft table and will have some goodies to share!! ttyl

lovies, =o) kel