Last digiscrapping post.... here

my new banner :) 

Voila! My new blog header :)

So, i've decided to start a new blog. I know i know.... i barely use this one. But i've realized that when i do acutally use it of late, it has been for digiscrapping stuff.... something that the vast majority of you consider lame. So, i'm essentially letting you know that this 'lame' digiscrapping will stop here on the blog... because i'm starting a new one dedicated solely to digiscrapping. Once it is ready, i will give you a link so that if you still want to see the digiscrapping (some of you actually like it lol), you can check out my other blog. The other blog will be for any family members who want to see layouts, but also for other digiscrappers to look at, i'll post some digiscrapping elements i made for them to download... stuff like that.

I will try to post a little more often here as well.

Karen from Corner Gas 

I have digiscrapped a pic of ray, karen from corner gas and i. I really like how this page turned out. We got pictures with numerous cast members from the tv show corner gas at a fundraiser they did. It was fantastic.

My latest scrapbooking page. I really love how this one turned out... it is totally awesome. This is a lyric scrap, the words are from Kenny Chesney's song Summertime :). 

My latest scrapbooking project :) 

Digital Camera

So, i have splurged and bought myself a present. I bought myself a Cannon PowerShot SD450 digital camera. I am so loving this camera. I had fun taking pics at cypress hills camping with lisa, my tropical bbq party, brewsters and other randomn pics. If you want other pics taht you know i have, e-mail or msn me. The following are some choice pics for everyone:).


lisa cutting wood 


me in oversized chair 


lisa and i in front of flowers 


geese on cypress hill's lake 


fletcher and his bubbles 


ray holding lisa upside down haha 


one half of the table at brewsters 


other half of table at brewsters 

The beggining of my training as a professional thief

So, the most hilarious thing happened today.

I worked at the garden center closing tonight. It was about 10 after 8, and one of my co-workers who was the closer (locks gates and is in charge of closing stuff) comes to say hi. She chats for a bit, and then says that it is almost quarter after 8 and that she is looking forward to going home. We close at 8:30, and i guess she really was looking forward to going home, because..... i got to the front at about 8:25 and there was no one there. Everything was closed up, the office (which had my purse) was locked..... and the gate was padlocked!

Picture this... I am locked in a big garden center with about 8 foot fences all around! I sort of wandered around the place and jiggled the locks a bit... and then accepted the facts. I was going to have to climb the huge. 8 foot fence.

So, i found one spot where there was a garden bench beside the fence, climbed to the top, somehow turned around, and managed to lower myself down the other side...

just call me he-woman. i can totaly support my body weight climbing a fence hahaha.

so i get out of the fence and i'm on the ground... but i still have no keys. or money. or id. or way of getting home.

So i go to the Mass (formerly Macs) store in the parking lot, and use the phone. I call ray. Thanks for the ride ray :).

Yeah.... nameless girl is getting a bit of an earful tommorow. That's pretty bad to forget to check if anyone is left before locking up the front gate and leaving. Especially becaus i got up there at 8:25 and we close at 8:30. If she wants to close early i don't care, but at least tell all the employees first hahaa.

I have now completed my first level of training as a professional thief....

Music!

Isn't it strange the way things work out? All my life, since i was, like, 7 years old, my two main skills have been music and french. However, as i progressed down the road of life, i thought i'd left those two things behind. When I went from high school to university, i chose to take education in english, not french. I thought that was the end of my french immersion days, and i chose to leave it behind in order to be an english classroom teacher.

As i progressed through university, i was involved in music. Quite involved... one semester i was in 5 seperate music type groups. I know some music majors who are involved in less than that! I hit crisis point where i was letting my education classes fall behind because i was involved in too much music (and other issues too, but that was a major one). I made a decision to drop all but one music activity every semester, and focus on my education classes. After that point, i gave all the time i'd given to music to my university classes, and thusly appeased the faculty of education.

Sop, here i was, thinking i'd given up being hardcore about french or music.... think again! hahaha

I have now been hired as a teacher, to teach arts ed in french to french immersion students. So... french again! Music again! Who'd have thought? I feel like about 3 quarters of my university training is wasted. I really did take the wrong degree. I'd have been better off with a French immersion degree in music... then i'd maybe feel like i was more ready for this. I feel like only 2 of my classes are of any use to me... my arts ed class and my Orff training. Orff is a music teaching method gaining popularity in saskatchewan. I got my level one certification as a summer class.

So... most of my classes i took seem like they are useless to me. How to teach math/science/social studies/etc... no good to me now. All those classes about teaching students to read... no good right now. All those stupid stupid edpsych classes were geared towards creating your own classroom, not towards being an itinerant. The only useful things i did were those two classes and my internship.

However, who knows when that will change? it is true that i am doing music in french now, but who knows what is comming? This job is only for one year. Maybe next year i'll be a grade 2 teacher? or a core french teacher? or even a greade 8 teacher (unlikely haha)? I guess you never know what's comming, and it's best to be prepared. I just wish i'd listened a little more to what i wanted in university and not so much to waht they told me to want... and taken more music ed classes. The proffs all totally pooped on all music things i did, and told me to forget them all. Thank god i didn't drop all music things entirely... but i do wish i had stayed in more music things, especially the university choir.

Well, the point of my long ramble thingy here is that it's strange how things you thought you were done with pop up again in your life. Crazy, eh?

Teaching Job :)

It is all comming together nicely.... I have a teaching job for next year!

I have been hired to do a .7 (so, not full time but close) time itinerant (the teachers who don't have their own class) teaching position at Elsie Mironuck. What a suprise that was... Elsie Mironuck!!! My own old elementary school. This is great! I may have hated the place as a student, but I have subbed there many times and always found the children excellently behaved, the staff friendly and the school well run and organized. I can't wait to start. It is a temporary teaching contract as a result of a maternity leave, but that's a great start for me!

It is true that it doesn't only matter what you know, but also who you know. I got the interview when i impressed a different principal at another school. He recomended me to another principal (of Elsie Mironuck) and i got the interview on the first principal's recomendation. I then flew through the interview with somewhat flying colours, and i now have a fat package of mail in my hand from the school board, offereing me a contract!

I stopped by the school today to check in with the principal, to get to know my schedule and maybe meet with the current teacher. I met a couple of the teachers on staff, and have plans to finalize all official plans on thursday afternoon. I was then invited to a bbq on the friday.

I swear, it is at times like this that it seems like it really is a small world, and that everything is connected. Get these connections...

1. The current principal is the principal that interviewed me last year, for the subbing position.

2. I went to high school with the other girl who is being hired as a full time teacher. I was all the same french immersion classes as her for 4 years.

3. One of my high school teachers is the grade 8 teachers, Mr. Leveque.

4. The custodian is the same custodian as Douglas Park durring my internship.

5. One of the 'moniteur' (sort of like itenerants who play french games with immersion students, but don't have full teaching degrees) was my roomate in high school.

6. This was my own elementary school.

7. One of the teachers is the older sister of a girl I went to high school with. The younger sister is the girl who is also being hired.

8. I will be teaching the daughter of someone i went through all elementary school and high school with me.

9. The teacher i am replacing was the prof that taught choir to me for 2 semsters in university.

10. THIS IS MY OLD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!


My god.... it really is a small world! Hahaha. Then again, it is the world of french immersion. French immersion is truely a small world, especially in the non-french province of Saskatchewan. It is so crazy...

Well... i'm off to work. I still am working out what i'll be doing next semester for work. I don't understand the pay sheet things i got, so i will be taking them to my old co-op Bev to have her hopefully explain them to me. I hope she can help haha. If it is enough money, i will quit the florist shop and the daycare for sure. If it is not quite enough money i will keep one of the two jobs, on a VERY part time basis. After all, this is only for one year. Who knows what will happen after that? As well, this is only a .7 job, not full time.

beach kit preview 

So, i am now finally finished my first digital scrapbooking kit. I have been downloading many many free digital kits from the internet, i thought it was time i provided one myself. I call the kit Ocean Breeze.

For those who are not aware (most of you) what a digiscrap kit is, it is a group of digital papers and elements you use when making a digital scrapbooking pages. I now have quite a large collection made by other people, and now i have made my own. :)

Please please comment :)

my basement 

So, recently i had changed around my basement when i got all the stuff from the storage cabinet. I recently found a website where i could place furniture etc and make a floor plan. Just for fun, i made one of my basement here. Once i had it, i figured i may as well show it to all of you. WHy not? haha

So, this is the new layout of my basement after recieving a piano and loveseat from storage.

Guess who's back??

build the suspense.....













build the suspense......











build the suspense........







It's ryan! Haha. Most of you don't know who ryan is, but i am very excited myself that ryan is back. He went to teach overseas in Korea for a bit, and now he is back for a short time. WOO!!!

Just thought i'd let you all know. haha

Mexico scrapbooking

latest scrapbooking 


So, here is the latest scrapbooking project i have done :). I admit, i totally used someone elses idea for this page. I was looking through the gallery of one of the scrapbooking newsletters i saw, and i totally LOVED this one layout. It is so simple, yet effective. Mine is different, as i added colour to the black and white (they left theirs alone), changed the flower they had at the top to the drink, changed the paper in the bottomn bar and added the message at the bottomn.

The message at the bottomn is a line from George Straights newest song "Seashore of old mexico". I have been obsessed with that song since i first heard it :). I love that song.

So, yes... now comes the call for comments again haha.

yay for moms

So, ignore the previous post... or at least the second half of it. Ignore my desperate plea for help.

I was working away at photoshop to make a scaled pic of my room and all the furniture in it, when my mom called. She not only was able to tell me how to price things for the garage sale (big things like the rottertiller, the 2 lawn mowers, the air compressor and the microwave) but she also was able to tell me about how to rearange my living room to fit everything. It takes a rare kind of person to re-arange a room first by phone, and then by webcam. Especially with a directionally challenged person such as myself, with a poor quality webcam haha.

Still my mom was able to help me out with the entire room. Just because mom's can be far away, doesn't mean that they can't be one of the biggest helps ever. I couldn't have done it without you mom. Thank you.

I have come to realize that moms are often very much underapreciated by their kids, untill their kids get older. Once the kids get older and move out, they often realize how awesome their moms really are. I am hereby making this post a woo! post for mothers. I challenge each of you readers to say something awesome about your mom. I know it wasn't exactly easy for my mom with me as i was growing up, and i am sure that it is the same with many of you.

All together now..... I LOVE YOU MOM!

Lets see some awesome mom comments.

Yes... I am still alive and out there....

Wow. It sure has been along time since i last posted. I was quite busy with a whole bunch of things all happening at the same time. Now things have slowed down again, so i can post again haha.

wow. I was insano busy for a little bit there. I had a 3 week solid subbing gig for the same teacher, my co-op, at Douglas Park School. I love it there. I had previously done a 2 week surgery leave for one teacher, now i did a 3 week surgery leave for a different teacher. I was happy to be working, but even more happy to be back at douglas park school. There is one place i feel like i really belong. I'm not 'just a sub' there. All the teachers know me, many of the younger students know me.... it's just so nice. I have a general idea about the expectations there, i know where everything is, i know who to talk to about certain things, i know who everyone is... I feel like part of the staff there. I haven't had taht feeling since i interned. It's a fabulous feeling.

However, doing a subbing block is much busier than doing a simple day of subbing. For the block, i did paperwork, documentation, short term planning, networking, correcting, organizing... i did about 3 quarters of everything a regular teacher would do. And not only that, but i've also started at the garden center now. Because someone broke their foot, i started off working EVERY SINGLE DAY. Eight hour days on weekends, and i went straight to work from the school. It was insane. I swear, i don't know how i got through. There was no time to cook. No time to see friends. No time to do anything but work :(

And to add to that, i had family in town. Yes.... family in town for dale! My sister came into town to stay with me. My mom came into town and stayed with me. And my grandparents came into town and my grandmother stayed with me over the weekend. So, between the hospital to visit my grandfather (hip operation), work at the school, work at the garden center and spending time with my mom and sister, i had no time for anything, let alone blogging.





So, now that you know why i dissapeared for so long hahaha.....

I have a dilema. I can't figure out how to place my furniture. My mom emptied the storage bin. I now have the piano and the loveseat in my living room. Where the heck am i going to put everything? Everything i do makes the room look strange and over busy one one side.

On the next post i will post pics of my living room with all furniture pieces. What can i do with them? Feel free to tell me any possible ideas. At the moment, it's horrible. Mom, any thoughts would be well appreciated. You did an excellent job the first time.

awwww.... little lisa :) 

So, this is my first photoshop creation that i actually finished. The other one wasn't finished. My official first digiscrapbooking page with adobe. I love this program!!

I am proud of this because i created almost everything myself. I do love downloading free scrapbooking elements, especially papers, but i created this paper myself. The butterfly started out as a simple shape that came free with photoshop, and i layered it and sprayed the edges a little to give it the black and the wing detail. The only thing i didn't create was the silver frame for the words 'sunny mexico'. It used to say something else but i erased the text and added my own. I also played with colour a little. You may notice that every colour on the page is also a focal colour in the photo :).

Adobe Photoshop

my first pic :) 

So, i am sitting at home, enjoying my day off playing on my computer. I have finally figured out how to register the copy of Adobe Photoshop Andre gave me, and i have also figured out how to 'place' pictures (bring other picture files into the pic). It's great. The above pic is my first one i've made. I played with smudging, layers, filters and circle selects.

Unfortunately, i also made my first major mistake saving. When i went back to play more with the background, i realized i had saved it as a jpg but not as a adobe file. So i lost all my layers and can't change things around easily.

So, it wasn't completely finished but i am showing off my first picture with adobe. Eventually i hope to be good enough with the program to use it for my digital scrapbooking. I think it will work great. This will be so awesome.... thanks again andre.

My CD Picture Layout

I got the link from andre's blog. I just got home from Calgary and i am relaxing on my computer... why not? Here is a bunch of pics of cd covers from cd's that i really truely enjoy. These are some of my absolute favorites. If you also own some of these cd's, speak up lol. I expect some... such as crystal owning great big sea, or fletcher owning michael buble, or andre owning U2, but if you think it might be a bit of a suprise speak up haha.

Create your own Music List @ HotFreeLayouts!