We are moved!!

We ended up moving five days early and although I am still not sure where my shoes and purses are, I couldn't be happier! I loooove this new house!!

It's probably going to be weeks before my scraproom is unpacked. Heck, maybe MONTHS. I will take a picture soon and you'll see WHY..LOL :) But it's okay. I'll get there. We plan to be in this house at least twelve years.. I have tons of time :) In the meantime I'm probably just going to take the Summer off. Our new neighborhood has two pools and I plan on spending a ton of time with Caleb this Summer.. just Mommy and Caleb time. Because in the Fall he starts FULL DAY Kindergarten. And I know I'll miss him TONS. So right now it's important I spend time with him. I'm sure you Mommies understand :)
So keep up with us on Facebook. See ya around!  

Three More Weeks....

Hey all.. Just a quick update. I know most of you keep up to date with us on Facebook but for those of you that don't "DO" Facebook, I thought I'd post something on here :)

In just three more weeks... we'll be proud homeowners again! Can't wait!
I have been busy getting healthy (-242 lbs.) Yes, you read that # right. I still have a little more to go. I'll get there.

Here is a recent pic of us.. taken Easter Sunday by Jen Sherrick (who ironically is going to be our new neighbor, LOL) at our church. If you live in the area and are looking for an awesome, spirit-filled church, please check Imagine out (the male worship leader is really great.. and just happens to be my little brother, tee hee).

On the scrappy front, I went to Archiver's for National Scrapbook Day with two friends and had a blast. Then on Thursday night I took a Doodlebug Mini Album class with my friend Heather.. very fun. Love this little album (just need to find some time to finish it...) How cute!

Well, that's it for now. I've got tons of packing to do. Have a great week!

 

Exciting news!!

Well praise God! I'm VERY excited to announce that our offer has been excepted on a gorgeous home in Westfield, IN (about 10 or so miles from where we live now). Close to our church, church friends and my little brother and his family. We are SO excited!
I will have a new, smaller scraproom but, unlike where we live now, the setup of the home is very open. My scraproom will be right across from Caleb's bedroom and my husband will have his own office (with windows!) finally. And most importantly (to ease my fear), there is a finished basement that will serve as a tornado shelter in bad weather as well as a playroom & area for guests. WHOO HOO!! We also are gaining a 3 car garage for storage.. something we've wanted forever. YAY!!!!!!!!!

We are going to wait until the middle of June to move so that Caleb can finish out preschool here in Fishers. His new school system is just as awesome as the one here in Fishers only, it's much smaller. Which I think will be a plus for him because of the ASD.
Can't wait!

These next two months will be CRAZY busy for me so I doubt you'll see any scrappy work from me. But wait until Summer! Once my scraproom is unpacked and organized, I plan on joining my friend Beth's scrappy board and participating in a ton of challenges to get back in gear. I also plan on having my friend Teresa over to crop in my new room. Can't wait! I miss scrapbooking SO much!

Until next time,

Tuesday Morning Stash :)

Hi All! Happy Spring!
Even though I'm not scrapping much right now, I still buy scrappy things on occasion. Today I went to Tuesday Morning on a whim after a doctors appointment and was shocked to find some really great stuff there. The last time I was there it was the same old stuff but not today!
Here are some pics of my findings:

*Tote-Ally Cool Carryall. The colors are off in this picture but they are very pretty. I couldn't pass this up for $9.99. I love that it zips in the middle which seems to be hard to find with other totes. Can't wait to take this to a crop at Archivers or a friends house!
Here is a link to the same tote but in different colors: http://store.scrapbook.com/ch-ch92668.html?utm_source=google-shopping-feed&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google-free-shopping-feed&utm_content=ch-ch92668&kw=ch-ch92668&cmp=GSHOP&gclid=CMmJsri8iq8CFYcUKgodhQQT8w


*Basic Grey In Pieces .99 cents each. The first one is from the "Basics" line. Not sure about the second, it doesn't say. I'm going back soon for another one of the "Basics".. I love them!! They also had these in several other BG lines.
*American Crafts "Spooky Night" stamp set $1.99. Love!


*KI Memories baby kit. For $1.99 I couldn't pass this up. I'll use it next time I make a baby album for a friend (or maybe myself! HA!).


*Basic Grey "Wander" Chip Stickers $2.99. They had lots of Chip Stickers from lines from last year like Oxford & Pyrus. I might go back and get a few more sets.
I bought this set because I know I'll use the little cars for Caleb pages. The boy loves his cars and Geotrax!


*Prima Say it in Crystals Bling frames. LOVE! $1.99. These things are normally at least $5.99. I thought it was a great deal!


*Glitter cardstock $3.99 for 30 sheets. I could not pass this up. I love glitter paper.. I use it alot to cut out fonts on my Cricut. Great deal! And it's very thick, too.


That's it for today.

We just put an offer in on a house.. fingers crossed. I am (not so) patiently waiting. Can't wait to get back to scrappin' again. See you soon!

Update

Anyone out there? I'm still here but really haven't felt like blogging. Or scrapbooking, for that matter.
My weekends the last two months have been spent looking for a house to buy here in Fishers (or possibly Westfield - we are praying about that) but so far, we haven't found much that we LOVE. It's critical we find a place by Summer so that we are moved in time for Caleb to get adjusted. He starts Kindergarten in the Fall. We attended "Kindergarten Round Up" last week. My baby is growing up!

Hubby is only home on the weekends for the most part so there is no scrapbooking for me... Except for the rare occasion that I meet up with friends at our local Archiver's but even then, I just go to socialize :)

One of these days I will get back to scrapping. A first floor scraproom is on the "list" of MUST HAVE things in the new house.

If you want to keep up with my family, feel free to add me on Facebook. I PROMISE once we get moved, I know I'll get the scrapbook bug again and scrap my little heart out.
Until then,

Merry Christmas from The Brannies Family

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. May God bless you and your families. Thank you for your continued readership and support. I promise next year to scrap and share more. I'm just going through alot right now but things are looking up.
Have a great CHRISTmas! And remember the TRUE reason for the season.. Christ himself.
Love you!

Stamp A Stack

Today I attended a Stampin' Up! "Stamp A Stack" event at my friend Heather's house. I made twenty Christmas cards.. five each of four designs. LOVE them!!
Here they are! (cell phone pics, sorry)





Some detail:



Have a great rest of the weekend! Thanks for looking!

Cookies 'n Santa

Well I still have no scrappy goodies to show you. We went to Wichita, KS the week of Thanksgiving and I came back sick. I've spent the last five days trying to get better. I was so sick I didn't even feel like putting up the Christmas tree but thank the Lord, it's almost done now.. just needs ornaments!
While in Wichita I visited a LOCAL scrapbook store. WOW, what fun that was! They had a few things I've been unable to get at Archivers.. WHOO HOO!
It's a fun little store. So if you are ever in the Wichita area, check out Scrap Funattic in Andover. Loved it!

Today, we took Caleb to "Cookies 'n Santa" at Fishers Town Hall. We were first in line, thank God. Because Caleb has a hard time waiting in lines. He sat on Santies lap and said "I WANT AN ORANGE AND BLACK LEAF BLOWER". It was SO cute. Last year he wanted a hand mixer.. this year, a leaf blower. What is with my son and appliances/tools? HA!
Too cute :)
Well, I happen to know that good old Santa (aka his Aunt Erin) has already gotten him that leaf blower. He's going to love it! :)


Well next week I have a Christmas "stamp a stack" class I'm taking at my friend Heather's. I'll be back to share pics of those cards then.
Have a great week!

Blog Your Heart & A Few Christmas Things :)

Hello everyone :)
This is going to be a lengthy post.. just warning ya.

I didn't end up scrappin' at the twelve-hour crop yesterday. I stayed home with my boys and cleaned out the garage, had a friend over and tried on clothes that I hadn't been able to wear in YEARS. I haven't seen my husband much in the past month and felt like I really needed to stay home with he and my son.
There's always next month, anyway...

So I want to share some things with you.. some personal things.
Ali Edwards or some other scrap celebrity started this challenge called "Blog Your Heart". Which is perfect for me because I'm one of the most honest people you will ever meet. I am TOO honest at times.
TMI? - yeah, that's me sometimes. But oh well. I am who I am.
But even though I'm honest, I don't generally tell strangers that read my blog a ton of my business. Yeah, I share pics and stories related to Caleb's Autism and a few things here and there about my weight loss surgery. But I don't share super personal things on here. Well, today I am.
Anyway, here is what's going on with me -
On the weight loss front, I've now lost over 184lbs. Yes, I'm very very proud of myself. People say I should be so happy now. And I am. I LOOK happier and I am able to do SO much more now. But has the weight loss "fixed" everything? No. The surgery helped but, it didn't fix my brain. It's just a tool. Not a magic pill.
I still have to work very hard to lose weight (and keep losing). I mourn the loss of food. It was my best friend for a LONG time. I can pretty much eat anything now without getting sick so I really have to stay diligent about eating the right foods and exercising. I still battle depression. I've thought about selling all my scrap stuff and giving scrapping up. Scrapping doesn't really cheer me up anymore like it used to. And with my scraproom upstairs and a kid that won't stay upstairs with me for longer than a few minutes and a husband that's never home, it's really hard to scrap here at home.
But I know this is just a temporary thing and as soon as I do that I'll regret it. So I'm getting therapy and praying ALOT and hopefully I'll get through all this ---WITHOUT MEDICATION--forget that, anti-depressants don't work on me. Not to mention, we are thinking about having another baby next year and I don't want to be on any meds that could affect the baby. Sometimes I worry being on an SSRI while pregnant with Caleb CONTRIBUTED to him being Autistic.
So there you have it. Say a prayer for me if you will.

On the scrapbooking front.. I went to a Stampin' Up! workshop at my friend Heather's today and here are a few things I made. (cell phone pics, sorry)


mini card


8x8 page - obviously I need to put a pic on this


If you're interested in Stampin' Up! and don't have a local demonstrator, check out Heather's website. She is awesome :) (and please tell her Jenny Brannies sent you, tee hee)

Anyway, that's it. Thanks for "listening" to me "blog my heart". I hope you all have a GREAT week!
I plan on scrapping at Archivers with a few friends this next Saturday night. Hopefully I'll be back with pics of my work next weekend.
Byeee!

Halloween & Fall Cuteness

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd pop on here and say HI and post a few more pics from Caleb's Fall photoshoot with CJS Photography as well as some Halloween pics.

Halloween this year ROCKED!
Unlike last year, Caleb was open to his costume (although he wouldn't wear ANYthing else even though I tried to talk him into it after I saw his costume was too short). And thank God, too. Because it cost me a whopping $3.00 at a rummage sale a few mos ago.. I love bargains!
He also LOVED going from house to house saying "TRICK-OR-TREAT" (often before the homeowners would open their door, though. Mental note: work on that for next year, LOL)

This was the first year he was really into it. It made hubby and I both so happy to see him so giddy about it all. YAY CALEB!!
Another great thing - he doesn't even care about the candy! He ate the lollipops and that was all he cared for. It's all in the trash now which, is great for Mommy & Daddy. No more temptation for us :)

Here are a few pics I took with my iPhone 4S and Instagram. LOOOOVE Instagram!!






And here are some (unedited) pics from my DSLR.
They aren't that great. I was really into being "present" and helping Caleb trick-or-treat this year instead of being the photographer like in years past :)


See how short his costume was? Yep, he was like Steve Urkel but SO darn cute! tee hee



After we trick-or-treated, we went over to our neighbors house and had a bonfire, wine and more fun. It was a blast! :)

And here are some more pics from Cay's Fall photoshoot. I just LOVE them! Can't wait to scrap them!







Regarding scrapping: I have scrapped the past two Saturday nights with friends at Archivers but I've only worked on kits.. no REAL scrapping so far. I find when I'm not in a creative mood or simply don't have the time to get all my scrap stuff together for a crop, working on kits is best.
I'm going to a Stampin' Up! party Friday night and Saturday I'm going to an all day NJS crop. I'm really hoping I'll get some stuff done there but we shall see.. I have NO DESIRE right now to go edit and print out pics and get all my Fall stuff together for this crop so we'll see what happens. I might just do more kitting. Leaves me free to talk more to friends at the crop, anyway.. tee hee :)

Well, have a great rest of the week. Thanks for looking!

Tuesday Morning goodies :)

For those of you with a Tuesday Morning near you and a Prima flowers fetish (like me!), RUN to TM asap!
Check out what I got there today (thanks Teresa for making me aware of your Prima finds).

Lots of flowers. I looooove polka dots!

$2.99 Tim Holtz Grungeboard. I have a ton of GB but I'd never seen either of these sets before so I snatched them up.
Prima 6x6 paper stack. Last one. Love it!

I'll be back later with another post. I have lots of pics from Caleb's Fall photo shoot and Halloween to share :)

Fall Professional Photo Shoot

Hi all, I'm sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. I went to Vegas with hubby for an Autism conference and since I got back, Caleb has been a real handful. I think with Mommy and Daddy both being gone and my MIL watching him, he has regressed a bit on some things.

I also recently joined the local YMCA and have been there alot .. especially in the pool with Caleb. He is normally scared to death of water so when he LOVED the pool, I was SHOCKED! So of course, I take him there any chance I can :)

Regarding scrapbooking, hubby has been gone ALOT. I SO need a break. I'm hoping to crop with a few friends this weekend at Archiver's :) :)

Here are some pics of Caleb that were taken last Friday at a park right by our house - Fishers Heritage Park at White River. Thank you so much to CJS Photography. You did an OUTSTANDING job! I can't wait to scrap these.
And there will be more to come!





Til next time,