Insert witty title here :-)

Good Person, Good Business

2011-09-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

Let me introduce you to Brendan Cosso. He's the owner of Crosscore, a second-generation suspension training tool, and the photo is from his booth at the IDEA World Fitness Convention 2011 in LA.

I've taught with first-generation TRX for a long time, and this year I changed over all of my equipment to Crosscore War Machines (aka Crosscore 180s) because I think it's better equipment. I talked to the Crosscore people a couple of times via phone and email while placing my order, and told them how much I like their system. But this blog entry isn't to tell about how much I like the Crosscore (although I could go on and on and on), it's to tell how much I appreciate this man and the way he and his company treat his customers. Customer service is critical to me.

Anyway, I've been posting a few youtube videos, of my members and a couple of myself, to help sell my small-group personal training. Nothing super-fancy, just showing the studio, a few of my gals, and our circuit-training. I teach at a gym that has a regular membership that I draw from, but I started classes at a brand new private studio (Beyond Brawn, Hillsboro) and youtube was a small branch of my incredible (!), highly sophisticated (!) social media strategy.

When I saw that Crosscore was going to be at IDEA World, I was super-excited to meet the people behind to product. To thank them, to talk shop, to get a few new ideas to take home. I had Crosscore, ViPR, Zumba and Spri already circled on the exhibitor's map before I even got into the hall and had my route all planned out.

So I walk up to the Crosscore booth. Everyone is ripped, cut, gorgeous, and super-fit. This makes total sense; the War Machine is designed to train athletes and first responders how to carry their body weight in all sorts of extreme situations. Military. Firefighters. Police. It's a tool perfect for people whose jobs and lives depend on strength, stability and mobility.

I train a whole spectrum of people on the Crosscore, from beginners to triathletes, of all ages and fitness levels. The Crosscore is perfect for that, too. That's why I appreciate it because it allows me to work with small groups and have a challenging exercise for everyone no matter what their level. With my heterogenous group of clients, it hadn't occurred to me that I was going to look out of place at their booth.

I was intimidated. "Oh shit." I thought. "This middle-aged housewife from Oregon likes their product and they're soooo not going to care because now I see I'm not their sales demographic at all. I'm healthy. I'm strong. But I'm also a size 10 and was devoid of make-up.

So I decide not to make the bold entrance I had intended, but stand on the carpet at the edge of the booth to watch, because I'm always trying to learn more ideas to bring home for my members.
One of the men working the booth smiles and says hi to me. He asks me if I've hung from a cable lately. I smile and tell him that yes I have and in fact I own 6 Crosscores and love to teach with them. He pulls me into the booth and drags me over to another gentleman. "Hey, Brendan, I want you to meet Nancy. She's from Oregon and she teaches classes with our stuff." Brendan looks at me and says, "Nancy? Nancy Korf?!?" And then he gives me this huge hug and says, "I love you! I love your videos! You do such a good job at showing how our stuff works in a class setting with multi-level students! You're awesome!!!"
He introduced me to other members of his team. A couple of them also know me by first and last name and they both tell me how great my videos are, and that they're happy to help support me in my classes. Brendan had even looked at my videos closely enough to notice that I was filming in a new studio.

Every time I came to the booth over the weekend, somebody hugged me.

Treating me like gold, regardless of whether I was young, old, fat, or thin, or had bought 1 or 100 units, that's good business. People I feel good about doing business with. Even if a product is good, if people are jerky to me I don't go back. Brendan and his team have got a customer for the rest of my fitness career.

I will NEVER forget. My Memories from 9/11/01

2011-09-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

I wrote this journaling on 9/12/2001, ten years ago tomorrow. I saw a timeline of the attacks and aftermath from the AP newswire and interspersed my own activities and reactions from that day. From my undergraduate studies in memory and cognition, I've learned that a person's memory from traumatic events can often be wrong over extended periods of time, but this was written within 36 hours of the event and hadn't time to decay with time.

I WILL NEVER FORGET.

Where I was when… Tuesday, September 11, 2001 “9-11”

Note: times will look strange because I kept NYC time for the attacks and PST time for what time it was in my time zone and life.
8:45 a.m. (times in blue are EDT): A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, Massachusetts, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center, tearing a gaping hole in the building and setting it afire.

9:03 a.m.: A second hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes. Both buildings are burning.

6:10 am (times in red are PST): After hitting the snooze alarm twice (which may seem like a lot but is actually a record low for me), I roll out of bed, eager to get to work early so I can clean the last few items off my desk before vacation. It’s my last day in the office before a nearly month-long vacation to Australia! We’ve been planning this trip for months and it’s hard to believe it’s finally just a day away!

9:17 a.m.: The Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New York City area airports.

9:21 a.m.: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey orders all bridges and tunnels in the New York area closed.
9:30 a.m.: President Bush, speaking in Sarasota, Florida, says the country has suffered an "apparent terrorist attack."
9:40 a.m.: The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports, the first time in U.S. history that air traffic nationwide has been halted.
6:45 a.m.: I emerge from the bathroom and head downstairs and gulp down my “in-a-hurry” breakfast, a glass of milk and a few vitamins. I’m in such a hurry to get to work that I don’t turn on the television, as I would usually do.

9:43 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 en route from Washington’s Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles crashes into the Pentagon, sending up a huge plume of smoke. 58 passengers and six crew members were aboard. Evacuation of the Pentagon begins immediately.

9:45 a.m.: The White House evacuates.

6:55 a.m.: I get into my car. If I hurry, I can get past Sunset High School before the teenage traffic gets too heavy. As I flick on the radio, I hear a news-like voice on my normally jovial morning show, Mark & Brian. The Pentagon’s on fire? What? A plane crashed into the World Trade Center? “This must be a horrible joke, and it’s not funny at all,” I think. I switch over to “The Morning Zoo” and listen to a few minutes of comedy.

9:57 a.m.: Bush departs from Florida.

7:00 a.m.: The Zoo breaks for a commercial and I switch stations back to Mark and Brian. I realize that the news is still on and listen more carefully. It’s not a joke. From what I can understand, a plane has actually crashed into the World Trade Center, and another plane has crashed into the Pentagon, which is now on fire. I imagine, in my mind, two small commuter planes. What the heck were they thinking? Idiots! And what a coincidence. Then I hear the words hijack, terrorist, Boeing 767 (a large jet).

10:05 a.m.: The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses, plummeting into the streets below. A massive cloud of dust and debris forms and slowly drifts away from the building.

7:05 a.m.: I am at a stoplight, in the middle of traffic on the Murray overpass, waiting to turn onto Highway 26, one of the three freeways I travel on my commute. The radio announcer says, “I’m sorry to announce that the south tower of the World Trade Center has just collapsed.” I am stunned. The light changes and I have to move, turning onto the metered onramp to wait for the freeway. I begin to cry.

7:06 a.m.: On the metered onramp to highway 26, stuck in a line of cars, I call Clint on my cell phone, telling him to get up and turn on the television because there’s been some sort of attack and the World Trade Center has been destroyed. He’s on sabbatical, so he’s still asleep. I debate whether to turn around and go home. In some sort of shock and disbelief, I drive to work.

10:10 a.m.: A portion of the Pentagon collapses.

10:10 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93, also hijacked, crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh.

10:13 a.m.: The United Nations building evacuates, including 4,700 people from the headquarters building and 7,000 total from UNICEF and U.N. development programs.

7:23 a.m.: Still driving, crying, listening to the news, unable to understand. This is an unbelievable act of not just terrorism, but of war.

10:24 a.m.: The FAA reports that all inbound transatlantic aircraft flying into the United States are being diverted to Canada.

7:25 a.m.: I arrive in the parking lot at Mentor Graphics. As I prepare to turn off the engine, I hear on the radio that the remaining tower of the World Trade Center is leaning.

10:28 a.m.: The World Trade Center's north tower collapses from the top down as if it were being peeled apart, releasing a tremendous cloud of debris and smoke.

7:30am: I reach the fourth floor where my office on the tax and legal wing resides. It’s early, so there aren’t too many people in yet, but as they arrive the mood is somber and quiet. I join a cluster around Monte’s office. She’s always the center of information as well as gossip.

10:45 a.m.: All federal office buildings in Washington are evacuated.

7:45 am: Still clustered in front of Monte’s office, someone comes down the hall and says that the other tower has just collapsed. In the next hour, I called Clint twice more, and my travel agent twice, leaving messages with each call. I worked quietly, frantically, because I didn’t know what else I could do.

10.48 a.m.: Police confirm the plane crash in Pennsylvania.

10:57 a.m.: New York Gov. George Pataki says all state government offices are closed.

11:02 a.m.: New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani urges New Yorkers to stay at home and orders an evacuation of the area south of Canal Street.

11:18 a.m.: American Airlines reports it has lost two aircraft. American Flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles, had 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard. Flight 77, a Boeing 757 en route from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles, had 58 passengers and six crew members aboard. Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.

11:26 a.m.: United Airlines reports that United Flight 93, en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California, has crashed in Pennsylvania. The airline also says that it is "deeply concerned" about United Flight 175.

8:30 am: I don’t want to see it, but I have to see it. The tax department wanders sadly across the walkway to the Commons. A crowd is surrounding the television, watching the horror. Everyone stands as far away as possible, but close enough to see. No one wants to see it, but they must all feel as I do that they have to. It’s so strange to see coworkers, normally so professional, in tears.

11:59 a.m.: United Airlines confirms that Flight 175, from Boston to Los Angeles, has crashed with 56 passengers and nine crew members aboard. It hit the World Trade Center's south tower.

9:00 am: I return, sadly, to my office. I call Clint again and finally get through. He’s as stunned as I am and asks me to come home. I have a few things to wrap up, then I can go home. We don’t talk about our vacation, but we know we’re going to have to.

12:04 p.m.: Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of three of the crashed airplanes, is evacuated.

12:15 p.m.: The Immigration and Naturalization Service says U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico are on the highest state of alert, but no decision has been made about closing borders.

12:30 p.m.: The FAA says 50 flights are in U.S. airspace, but none are reporting any problems.

1:04 p.m.: Bush, speaking from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, says that all appropriate security measures are being taken, including putting the U.S. military on high alert worldwide. He asks for prayers for those killed or wounded in the attacks and says, "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."

1:27 p.m.: A state of emergency is declared by the city of Washington.

1:44 p.m.: The Pentagon says five warships and two aircraft carriers will leave the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia, to protect the East Coast from further attack and to reduce the number of ships in port. The two carriers, the USS George Washington and the USS John F. Kennedy, are headed for the New York coast. The other ships headed to sea are frigates and guided missile destroyers capable of shooting down aircraft.

2 p.m.: Senior FBI sources tell CNN they are working on the assumption that the four airplanes that crashed were hijacked as part of a terrorist attack.

11:00am: I finally finished work and at 11:00, I told my boss I was going to go home and see what had happened to my vacation.

2:30 p.m.: The FAA announces there will be no U.S. commercial air traffic until noon EDT Wednesday at the earliest.

2:49 p.m.: At a news conference, Giuliani says that subway and bus service are partially restored in New York City. Asked about the number of people killed, Giuliani says, "I don't think we want to speculate about that -- more than any of us can bear."

4 p.m: CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor reports that U.S. officials say there are "good indications" that Saudi militant Osama bin Laden, suspected of coordinating the bombings of two U.S. embassies in 1998, is involved in the attacks, based on "new and specific" information developed since the attacks.

4:10 p.m.: Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex is reported on fire.

4:25 p.m.: The American Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange say they will remain closed Wednesday.

5:20 p.m.: The 47-story Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex collapses. The evacuated building is damaged when the twin towers across the street collapse earlier in the day. Other nearby buildings in the area remain ablaze.

5:30 p.m.: CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King reports that U.S. officials say the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania could have been headed for one of three possible targets: Camp David, the White House or the U.S. Capitol building.

6 p.m.: Explosions are heard in Kabul, Afghanistan, hours after terrorist attacks targeted financial and military centers in the United States. The attacks occurred at 2:30 a.m. local time. Afghanistan is believed to be where bin Laden, who U.S. officials say is possibly behind Tuesday's deadly attacks, is located. U.S. officials say later that the United States had no involvement in the incident whatsoever. The attack is credited to the Northern Alliance, a group fighting the Taliban in the country's ongoing civil war.

6:54 p.m.: Bush arrives back at the White House aboard Marine One and is scheduled to address the nation at 8:30 p.m. The president earlier landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland with a three-fighter jet escort. CNN's King reports Laura Bush arrived earlier by motorcade from a "secure location."

7:17 p.m.: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft says the FBI is setting up a Web site for tips on the attacks: www.ifccfbi.gov. He also says family and friends of possible victims can leave contact information at 800-331-0075.

7:02 p.m.: CNN's Paula Zahn reports the Marriott Hotel near the World Trade Center is on the verge of collapse and says some New York bridges are now open to outbound traffic.

7:45 p.m.: The New York Police Department says that at least 78 officers are missing. The city also says that as many as half of the first 400 firefighters on the scene were killed.

8:30 p.m.: President Bush addresses the nation, saying "thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil" and asks for prayers for the families and friends of Tuesday's victims. "These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve," he says. The president says the U.S. government will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed the acts and those who harbor them. He adds that government offices in Washington are reopening for essential personnel Tuesday night and for all workers Wednesday.

9:22 p.m.: CNN's McIntyre reports the fire at the Pentagon is still burning and is considered contained but not under control.

9:57 p.m.: Giuliani says New York City schools will be closed Wednesday and no more volunteers are needed for Tuesday evening's rescue efforts. He says there is hope that there are still people alive in rubble. He also says that power is out on the westside of Manhattan and that health department tests show there are no airborne chemical agents about which to worry.

10:56 p.m: CNN's Zahn reports that New York City police believe there are people alive in buildings near the World Trade Center.

Zumba choreography for "Banana" MM22

2011-03-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a whirlwind few months so the blog got a bit ignored. ViPR and TRX are going great but today's post is about my new adventure, ZUMBA! I took the B1 licensing course in early January and started teaching 2 weeks later. Love it, and my classes have been loving it, too. Here's a routine I made up to the song called, "Banana," my way of sharing choreo with fellow ZINs.

Counted in 8's

Intro (4x8): Toe taps front, (this is my low impact version of basic front calypso step)

"Banana" verse (7x8): 2-3 bars of front calypso with no arms, 4-5 bars of front calypso with arm swings forward as foot comes forward. Get ready to switch moves when you hear singer say, "Oh!"

"Que Pas!" (4x8), Grapevine right and left, grapevine with full turns right and left (turn optional), grapevine R & L no turn, grapevines with turns.

"Jemma Po" (4x8) I don't know if that's what's being said, but that's how I hear it. Double stomp right (step out to right and sway hip to right 1, close 2, out 3, in 4), double stomp right (out left 5, close 6, out 7, close 8). 4 sets R&L total.

"Que Pas!" (4x8) as written above

"Jemma Po" (2x8) As written above, but only 2 sets of 8

"Hey!" on 3 (3x8) Bend over into tuck position and pull arms in 1,2, and jump out wide 3 on "Hey!", box step 5,6,7,8. Three times

After the heys (4x8) 4-count shuffles to make a box (shuffle, turn & shuffle, turn & shuffle, turn & shuffle). 2 full boxes

"Hey!" on 3 (3x8) As written above

After the heys (4x8) As written above

"Quoi!" (4x8) Shake it 1,2,3,4, pivot turn 5,6,7,8. Four times

"Ring-a-ding" (5x8) Single single double hip sways to the side with varying arms.

"Que Pas!" (4x8) Grapevines as written above.

"Jemma Po" (4x8) Double stomps as written above.

"Que pas!" (4x8) Grapevines

"Jemma Po" (2x8) Double stomps as written above but only 2 sets

"Hey on 3" (3x8) Tuck in, jump wide, box step as written above, 3 times.

After the Heys (4x8) 4-count shuffles to make a box as written above.

"Que pas!" (2x8) 2 sets of grapevines as music starts to fade, grapevine, turn, finish pose.

Enjoy!

ViPR in my group-ex class

2010-12-24T10:42:00.000-08:00

I brought my lighter ViPRs to my Friday morning hi/lo aerobics class. I'm sort of known for springing crazy exercises on them and they like the variety, so they were enthused about trying something hip and new. In January, I'll be launching this on my Friday morning schedule as a new class (ViPR) right after my hi/lo class.

Planning / patterning / teaching information is below.

In planning the exercise that I would bring to class (their first time), I wanted to give them something that was fun, challenging, and that was totally different from what we do with traditional weights or with body-weight functional training. I picked the lateral tilt with frontal plane shuffle, but for brevity I call it the "ViPR side shuffle" or "ViPR slide" in class because it's quicker to say and still descriptive.

Before handing out ViPRs, we pre-patterned the movements we were going to do. I taught frontal plane shuffles, cuing posture, feet, core, and heads up. We practiced two types of shuffles, one that was more of a "basketball" shuffle where they had to decelerate, stop, and accelerate in the other direction quickly, and one that was more of a deep lunge to the side (same arm same leg) wth slower deceleration and more of a flexibility component.

Next, we patterned the one-leg balanced lunge with several options - both legs on floor, one leg with small lunge, and progressively larger lunges with reach to floor, shoulder blades depressed and retracted, hearts up, long spine, core engaged.

Then, we got into pairs. We did 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off, 2 sets of ViPR shuffles and 2 sets of balance lunges - one set each leg. 4 minutes total work, 2-3 minutes preparation, made for a good higher-intensity interval component in a hi/lo class.

ViPR partner exercise - plank push/roll

2010-12-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

April and Jen show off the partner plank exercise with the ViPR from my small-group class Saturday morning. You go, girls! One set of partners does the plank roll exercise while another set of partners does bent-over rows using a high step, then they trade.

Circuit class with ViPR, Lebert Equalizers, step and floor

2010-12-12T13:28:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite fitness class formats to teach is a rotational circuit. It's a great way to introduce equipment and variety into a class without having to have enough of each item for each member. Today's resistance training circuit was a 5-station circuit using the ViPR, Lebert Equalizers, high steps, and the floor. We did one of each type of exercise for 45 seconds on, 15 seconds rest/rotate. Push, pull, core, legs, anaerobic interval. 3 different circuits, each one done twice, total = 30 minutes of work (plus warm-up, cooldown, stretch).

Circuit 1 (shown on video), PUSH - planks with ViPR lateral drags, PULL - Lebert Equalizer pul-ups, CORE - seated ViPR rotations, LEGS - front squats, INTERVAL - box jumps or basics with member's choice of movement and step height.

Circuit 2 (not shown), PUSH - push-ups using equalizers, PULL - bent-over ViPR rows using high step as bench (one side only), CORE - pilates roll-ups, holding ViPR optional, LEGS - forwared traveling lunges stepping to 2:00 / 10:00, INTERVAL - lateral hops over the step (2-3 risers) or lateral hops on floor.

Circuit 3 (not shown), PUSH - triceps using equalizers, PULL - bent-over ViPR rows on other side, CORE - side planks with abduction, LEGS - one-legged squats or staggered squats, INTERVAL - ViPR flip.

ViPR Dynamic Balance

2010-12-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

We all know that balance is an important part of fitness. It doesn't matter how much you can bench press when you're getting out of your car on an icy morning and need to balance to keep from spilling to the ground!

Dynamic balance is balancing while moving - the kind of balance we use in our daily lives. Since we're not flamingoes that stand still with one leg in the air for long periods, I prefer to train my classes using dynamic balance movements. But if a flamingo ever shows up in my class, all bets are off!

Here, my bootcamp partner-in-crime, Kim, shows off a dynamic balance move for the hip and shoulder while holding a 6kg ViPR. For those not ready to do moving balance while holding weights, simply omit the ViPR and do a smaller range of motion (i.e. don't lean forward). For those who have mastered the movement with a 6kg ViPR and good range of motion - especially the semi-circle of the hip - the moving leg can be extended higher throughout the semi-circle...or close your eyes...or raise on toe at the beginning and end of the movement... or close your eyes and perform the entire movement while on-toe. If that's still too easy, try the move in my livingroom while encouraging my eight-year-old to finish his homework and my three-year-old that she really wants to go potty; breathe slowly and keep your heart-rate and voice low. :-)

My Tabata-inspired Interval Class with ViPR

2010-12-08T13:41:00.000-08:00

My Tabata-inspired Interval Class with ViPR

A standard Tabata protocoal is a series alternating between 20 seconds of maximum-intensity work, and 10 seconds of rest, for 8 cycles to make one round. 4 minutes of interval torture. Usually I follow this protocol, with a minute of rest between rounds, to make up a full-length group-exercise class. Warm-up, 7-8 cycles, cooldown and stretch = 1 hour. The class I’ve just uploaded, because it uses equipment that takes a few seconds to transition to and from, I’ve set for 40 seconds work, 20 seconds rest, times four rounds to make one cycle. When we have 24 attendees or less, I break them into 3 groups of 8 or less and for the 4th interval we all do the “floor” move at the same time. When I have more than 24, I break them into 4 groups of so there’s always a group on floor; squished but we just make our movements more vertical and less lateral.

Here’s the class:

Station 1

ViPR – Side-lunges

Lebert Equalizers – Pull-ups

Step – basics or box jumps right

Floor – squat jumps

Station 2

ViPR – Side-lunges with cross-overs

Lebert Equalizers – push-ups (hold bars for easier angle on wrists)

Step – basics or box jumps left

Floor – quick feet

Station 3

ViPR – ViPR flips (horizontal travel)

Lebert Equalizers – 5 jacks, 5 triceps dips, 5 jacks, 5 dips…

Step – squat-lifts or squat lateral raises right

Floor – squat jumps with ½ turn in air

Station 4

ViPR – ViPR flips

Lebert Equalizers – pull-ups

Step – squat-lifts or squat lateral raises left

Floor - Burpees

Station 5

ViPR – 2:00/10:00 lunges with front reach (no rotation)

Lebert Equalizers – push-ups

Step – lunges off the step or jump-lunges on floor

Floor – side-lunges with shuffles

Station 6

ViPR – 2:00/10:00 lunges with front reach and spinal rotation

Lebert Equalizers – hop around them, 4 jumps around

Step – lateral hop-overs (step is optional)

Floor – kick-box front kicks right

Station 7

ViPR – rear lunge overhead reach

Lebert Equalizers hop around other direction

Step – member’s choice

Floor – kick-box front kicks left

Lebert Equalizer + TRX

2010-12-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

Always trying to keep my TRX advanced class on their toes! This exercise combines a pull-up using the Lebert Equalizer with one of the all-time hamstring killers, TRX hamstring curls.

Digital scrapbook page

2010-11-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

DD and DS messing around at the kitchen table.

Gabs Art's kit, Red Me Browny

ViPRs have arrived in Oregon!

2010-11-29T12:46:00.000-08:00

My ViPRs (fitness tools) arrived on Friday!!!
Check out my Tabata class here using ViPRs as part of the circuit.

They were my second "ViPR Victims" but the first class I filmed. Tabata is a high-intensity interval class composed of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, times 8 sets to make 1 round. 4 minutes of hard work! I only have 8 ViPRs so I split class into 3 groups and they rotated between ViPR drills, high-step drills, and plank / gliding drills. 8 rounds of tabata = 64 mini-intervals = high metabolic cost and post-exercise metabolic cost (calorie burn).

I have to admit some trepidation about plunking down $1200 for 8 pieces of functional training equipment. I like to have the newest, coolest, most innovative fitness tools on the market and I research the heck out of stuff before I buy it. So if fitness has a pulse, my finger is on it! But as new as it is, as cool as it looks, $1200 is a lot of money.
I'm so glad I spent the money!!!!! I've debuted them in 4 classes since Friday (and 2 more will see them this evening) and so far everyone has LOVED them!

Two of my exiting TRX classes will be changed to TRX-ViPR and I'm launching an all-ViPR class in Jaunary. Especially for my long-term TRX members, the ViPR will be beneficial. As much as I love my TRXs (2 years and 500+ classes with them), when we do something for a long time we get efficient at it. The ViPR is functional. It's great cross-training. And it's kicking my ass, but in a very good way!

The ViPRs are coming! The ViPRs are coming!

2010-11-25T20:40:00.000-08:00

Hooray! Yippee! Whoop - whoop - whoop! It's going to be the next great innovation in fitness since the TRX (and you all know how fabulous I think the TRX is!), and I'm the first one in Oregon, and one of the first people in the USA, to get a set for small-group training. I'm so excited!

Vitality. Performance. Reconditioning. That's where the ViPR name comes from.

It looks like a tube, sort of a combination between a pilates foam roller and a Body Bar. Sometimes the simplest-looking tools are the most innovative. They're hollow, weighted, and have handles in several places. You can lift them, throw them, swing them, step on them, roll them, spar with them, you name it. They range from 4kg to 20kg and 8 of them are on their way to me now.

I'll be doing some test-classes with my instructor buddies and TRX members in December, then launch formally in Beaverton and Hillsboro on January 1, 2011. I'll put up pictures of my new "toys" as soon as they arrive.

Isn't She Lovely?! Makena showing off

2010-11-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

She's a ham, our little one! "Cheeeeeeese!" Photos from September 2010. When I saw the "So Lovely" circle in Ruby Lane's kit, I knew I had to scrapbook these breakfast-table photos.

Ruby Lane's kit, "Sunday Afternoon" available at Scrappity Doo Dah. Also used Bekah E's graffiti grunge brushes as photomasks.

Independent! Walking! Hooray! (scrapbook page, too)

2010-11-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

A layout about Makena's independent walking (as soon as I saw the title of the kit, "Little Miss Independent," I knew exactly what I was going to use it for) and more background information below.

Scrapbooking kit is by Crystal's Creations and Dano's Pookie, available at Scrappity Doo Dah.
http://www.scrappity-doo-dah.com/store/product.php?productid=5687&cat=0&page=1

On July 11, Makena took her first two steps, snuggling a blankie and basically diving from the footstool to the couch so she could be with me and Connor. I saw it and cheered. It was awesome. We got it on film. We got video. We laughed, sang, cheered, emailed our friends with the youtube link. People congratulated us and warned that we'd need to start doing more childproofing. Yes, we agreed wryly.

And then nothing happened.

For a couple of months, she'd go days without cruising, much less take a step. And she refused to walk holding one of my index fingers - only two, tightly held. It was like, "Well I proved I could do it, but I'm not all that interested."

Finally, she wasn't getting attention one evening at home, so she stood up and took two steps while Clint and I were talking to Connor. Instant attention! And then a couple of days later at speech therapy (again while not getting attention) she stood up and took 2 1/2 steps before plopping down. More instant attention! And then I remembered that my friend, Kristi, had taught her daughter to walk by offering chocolate. We tried it. I'd put her, standing, leaned up onto the sofa. Then I'd place a chocolate chip on the footstool about 3 feet away. If she wanted the chip, she'd have to walk. She caught on to the game and the reward really fast. Every time we played the game, the stool would get pushed a little farther away from the sofa, until the footstool was right up against the stereo and she was doing 88 inches (10 steps) in a stretch. Now, to earn one chip, she has to walk from the sofa, to the stereo (no footstool in the way) and back. 210 inches.

On Sunday, she signed that she was thirsty. I told her to come into the kitchen to get her milk. She stood up, smiled, and walked from the family room to the kitchen, to her chair, and climbed up. WOW! She can do about 20 steps now, maybe even more, and she's sooooo proud of herself when she does.

A few new scrapbooking pages

2010-10-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

Makena is learning how to walk, so I've been doing lots of pages of her mid-stand, mid-walk, and mid-fall. She walks the farthest when she's being led by a chocolate chip or a french fry. Oh, to be 28 pounds and not worry about the consequences of an unlimited supply of french-fry bribes! :-)

Supplies by eNKay Designs, available at Scrapbook Bytes.

Pumpkin Patch visit from 10/02/10:

Supplies by eNKay Designs, from Melody of Fall kit at SBB.

Connor has been into outdoor soccer this fall. One more game to go this weekend and we're done for the season. It's a good thing, too, because it's getting cold and rainy. His attitude has gotten better and better so we'll miss it from that aspect but I'll be glad once we move indoors!

Supplies by Bekah E Designs, from her Autumn Splendor kit, available at Scrappity Doo Dah.

More of Connor's soccer pix:

Supplies from LDrag Designs, "It Must be a Boy Thing" available at scrapmatters.

testing

2010-09-20T21:16:00.001-07:00

Sugar Hill designers' Blog Train starts September 18th!

2010-09-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

Get this adorable kit HERE beginning September 18th!

Contributors to this kit include Miss Tiina, Danielle Young, Boutique Cute Dolls, Thaty Borges, Sugary Fancy, A+ Designs, LilleyScrap, Victoria Feemster, Luiza Garay, eNKay Design, Roadside Designs, Just Jaimee, Bluebird Chic, and Wendy Page.

Blended photo layout and free template!

2010-06-17T22:23:00.000-07:00

I've been playing with multi-photo blending recently and I really like the way this layout turned out! I used a large photo (center) and then two of Bekah E's Grafitti Grunge brushes as photomasks laid over the top of the base photo. Then I added a fourth photo at the bottom corner.

All of the supplies on this layout are from Bekah E Designs and are available at Scrappity Doo Dah. Here's the link to her store: http://www.scrappity-doo-dah.com/store/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=2&sort=&sort_direction=&page=2
The alphabet is from Rain Rain Go Away and is available alone or as part of a full kit.
The papers and ribbon are from Spring Fling
The word art is a freebie and can be found in the challenges section of the SDD forum.
The photomasks are from her new Grafitti Grunge Brushes. Here's what they look like:

And here's the template that I made based on the layout. Bekah's brushes are used as a part of the template with her permission, and the template is for personal use only, please.

Download the template by clicking HERE

Enjoy!

Little Green Frog

2010-05-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

I caught a little green frog today in our back yard. Two of them, actually. I know, I know, girls and women are supposed to think that creepy crawly things are icky and typically I do. Don't even try to get me within ten feet of a spider!!! But the frog was small, harmless, and kind of cute. Most importantly, Makena was on the back lawn sitting in her water table (yes, I said "in") splashing happily and I couldn't deny her the educational opportunity of meeting a living, breathing frog.

So, I did what any mother trying to educate a young child would do - I cupped it gently in two hands and carried it over to the water table. And... like any scrapbooker would do, I hollered plaintively for Connor to bring the camera, quick!!! He obliged, and what ensued was a delight to watch. Makena watched the frog hop and swim, leaning way over with her nose while I held her hands so she wouldn't hurt it. At one point, her right hand was in the same section of the water table as the frog, and it climbed up onto her hand. She thought that was the best thing ever, squealing and smiling. Connor, bless his seven year old heart, kept shooting and got some TREMENDOUS pictures. Nice work, Connor! I have friends who won't let their kids use even a cheap point and shoot camera but Connor wields our D300 quite well.

All of the digital scrapbooking supplies are from Jaya Prem's Hangout at Scrappity Doo Dah. My Lucky Star kit and Date It element pack. Jaya's Store...

I did manage to stop Makena mere inches from putting the little guy (girl?) in her mouth since she likes to explore with all of her senses. That photo's so priceless it'll get its own scrapbook page! I just need to decide whether to title it "Lunch!" or "Don't eat that!" or "Help!!!" or "And then things went terribly, terribly wrong..." or "A Prince, Perhaps?"

The frog was physically unharmed. Emotionally, I can't say, but we only played with him for about two minutes and then I put him back in the leaves where I found him. I even set out a large bowl of water in the shade for him/her/it since it was hot out.

Layouts, layouts and more layouts

2010-05-14T15:53:00.000-07:00

I've been neglecting the blog lately, but I thought I'd post some layouts I've done recently, in no particular order, to show off some of the wonderful things the kids have been doing lately.

Connor is reading BIG, THICK books! Gooooo, Connor! He had his best report card ever before Spring Break.

Kits are a bunch (about 10) from After Five Designs, some freebies some paid, including but not limited to Pele Mele spring and vintage versions, Prairie Morning, Citrus, Autumn By the Bay, Time Flies, Playing Hooky, and Daydream Believer.

Makena has been enjoying SAND, much to my dismay. For a month or so, she's foregone the slide and headed straight for the dirty, messy, sand-and-water area of the playground.

Kit is "BFF" from Jaya Prem's Hangout at Scrappity Doo Dah. Jaya's Store...

And more sand....

Kit is True Blessings from LDrag Designs. Lina's Store...

I have been training for a half-marathon. I used to be in cross country (four million years ago), but for almost 25 years I haven't run more than 2-3 miles because my arches have given me problems. I'm up to 7 miles in a stretch, but now my knee and hip are hurting so I need to have my gait analyzed...

Scrapbook kit is by GET Designs, Sweeter Than... Ginny's Store...

Connor says some of the funniest things! I don't know if the journaling on this layout is visible so I'm going to see if I can find the original document that I typed and paste it here.

Scrapbooking kit is by Bekah E Designs - Pallette of Sunshine. Bekah's store...

Makena has FINALLY decided that she actually wants to learn how to walk. We went to the tulip festival a few weeks ago and the tulips were just about nose-height. She'd say "Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!" and waddle over to the next tulip as Connor or I held her hands, then shove her face deeply into it and sniff. One of the most adorable things I've seen her do this spring!

Scrapbook kit is by Club Scrap Digital, "Blossom."

And I did this layout the other day just after Makena turned on the water in the master bathtub. Normally that wouldn't be a problem but I'd just sorted about five loads of clean laundry and tossed mine in the tub so I could sort it later. Long story short, I got to spin, re-dry and re-sort it, and I made a layout of Moo's mischief.

Scrapbook paper kit by Lilleyscraps Design, called Primavera. Sara Lilley's store...

And last but not least, in my quest to do a little more scrapbooking about the adults in this family, I pulled a couple of older photos that are digital but were paper-scrapbooked before I started digital scrapbooking. the surfing layout of Clint is from 2006 in Maui, and the layout of my 40th birthday is from 2007. The scrapbook supplies are "Let's Talk About" by Gabs Art and "Timeless Treasures" by Bekah E Designs. Both are at Scrappity Doo Dah.

More Layouts for February

2010-02-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a lot of scrapbooking this month. Club Scrap, one of my favorite paper and digital companies, is having it's annual Pro Scrapbooker's League contest, eight weeks of scrapbooking as a team to gather points and prizes. I'm participating in both the paper and digital categories. And Natural Designs in Scrapbooking is having their Amazing Digital Scrapbooking Race season five, six weeks of scrapbooking 2 layouts a week. Add several creative team requirements and that's a lotta layouts - almost 50 this month! Here are a few of my favorites...

Once Makena figures out how to open the doorknob, we're gonna be in trouble! Club Scrap's Birds of a Feather kit.

Makena may not speak, but she quite definitely communicates! Guess whether she wants to leave the playground in this photo?!? Bekah E's "Love is in the Air" kit, from Scrappity Doo Dah.

This is from LDrag Designs' new kit, Love Out Loud, from Scrappity Doo Dah. Gorgeous, gorgeous, colors! Makena was awake from her nap but she was still really tired and coming off of a cold, so she dragged her blankie out of her bedroom and plopped at the top of the stairs. Too tired or two lazy to come downstairs, but too adorable to not photograph. In fact, I lvoed the pictures so much that I scrapbooked another layout with Bekah E's Love is in the Air kit with other pix from the moment....

This one's from Lilleyscrap Designs, from her kit Always Kiss Me Goodnight. Makena snoozing on top of Clint's chest. Soooooo very small compared to her big brother!

Slide!!! Makena's new trick is climbing up the stairs and sliding down them all by herself. I say, "Go slide!" and she crawls to the steps, ascends, and goes down belly first. Club Scrap's Avant Garde kit.

And this one's from Crystal's Creations kit, Pistachio Rose, at Scrappity Doo Dah. Connor made almost 30 valentines for his second grade class and he was very proud of them. I especially love the photo of him peeking out from the valentine he made for his teacher.

"Row Row" and other little miracles

2010-02-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Moo went to toddler group at early intervention. They have a little rowboat there for the kids to sit in, and she loved it. She and another child sat in the boat and we'd sing the song, "Row row row your boat...." and clap when it was over. In order to get more rowing, they had to sign or say "more." Makena upped the ante by saying her version of "Row row!" for the first time. We'd clap and woo hoo and she'd sing, "Row row!" with a big grin. I got a short video on my phone and she enjoyed re-watching it as I showed the video to her daddy.

This morning, we were upstairs working on laundry since Friday's house-cleaner day and Thursday's run-around-the-house-and-put-everything-away day. I found a bouncy chair that she'd used as a baby and got it out for her. It's rated 25 pounds and she's 22 so I figured she may as well get more use out of it since she loves things that vibrate (yet another thing explained by her speech therapist - the vibration helps her sense her limbs and muscles, part of the whole low-tone thing that often goes with Down syndrome).

She lay back in the chair, body straight, and bounced it a little. Then she held on tighter with both hands and rammed her back against it harder so it would rock more. And she said, "Row row!" just like she'd said yesterday while rocking. Spontaneous, relevant, clear, speech! I clapped and repeated the words, and took turns singing, "Row row!"

This is big news. Good news. Make-mommy-tear-up good news.

Our little Moo shares these little miracles and her unbounded joy with us every day. We're so lucky to have her and Con.

Layouts for the first week of February

2010-02-06T23:06:00.000-08:00

Lots of layouts done this week! For my CT assignments with Scrappity Doo Dah, I get to guest design for two wonderful designers this month, Crystal's Creations and Bekah E Designs. I've loved working with their kits so far, and I'll definitely be showing off more of their stuff later this month. Here's the first of what I've done for them:

New kit from Crystal's Creations, Love and XOs, and here are the layouts I did with them...

Chocolate Lover's Delight, By Bekah E, and the layouts I've made with the kit so far:

Pistachio Rose from Crystal's Creations, and the first layout I've done with it:

February layouts for Club Scrap, from their Castaway kit.

And last but not least, I have a layout in this month's issue of scrapooking.com magazine. They have an article about sports layouts, and I have a cute layout of Connor and his first (and last) time playing goalie at his soccer class at Indoor Goals. This one is from Club Scrap's Common Threads kit and tattoos from Scrapgirls tattoo paper templates.

Digital goodness from Lilleyscrap and LDrag Designs

2010-01-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

Lots of new layouts and kits!!!

First off is Lilleyscrap's newest kit, I {Heart} You. Sarah's of Lilleyscrap is the newest designer who has allowed me to work for her CT and I adore her bright, fresh color in this kit! For the next few days if you purchase the kit, you get a set of quickpages free! Here are some layouts I made with I {Heart} You.

And now some things from LDrag Designs. Two kits released in the last two days! Yesterday, she released a collab kit with Project B Designs called Lovin' You.

And today she released Sweetheart of Mine, which has some of my favorite colors in it!

And here are some layouts I made with it. The second layout is a Jessica Sprague template modified to double the photos.

Boxer's new paper/product releases and CT layouts

2010-01-28T08:12:00.000-08:00

Today's post features tangible, papery, roll-around-in-it-and-fondlable stuff since my last post was all digital. Fear not, digi-fans, Lilleyscraps had a new release today and LDRag has one coming out tomorrow, so there's some digital fabulousness coming up.

Boxer Scrapbooks has just done its January release with over 150 (that's right, 150!!!) new products! New papers, new chipboard, glorious new stamps, tags in shapes and sizes, all in colors that perfectly complement their existing lines. That's one of the things that I love with Boxer. Since their new releases coordinate with their existing product, you can mix and match both.

Here are a few of the layouts and cards that I did for their January release. As they pop up on Boxer's CT blog I'll add more here. In most of the samples, I mixed new and old product to show how well they mix. The older products are the green houndstooth, the light green plaid, grosgrain ribbon, circle clips and buttons. The New Products are the black and white cogs paper (recolored), the circuits paper, the pink argyle, pink paisley, pink and green stripe, pink dot and pink crowns papers, the floral cut-outs, the stamped images, and the Disney-esque transparency.

I've worked as a layout designer with Boxer off and on for several years and this is one of the most exciting and comprehensive releases they've had yet. WTG Boxer!

Creative Team Layouts, January 1 - 10 2010

2010-01-11T14:14:00.000-08:00

Yikes! With the holidays, I got a little behind on my blog so now it's time to catch up! Here are some of the layouts I've made for the digital creative teams that I'm on. After that post, I'll do another post of sneak previews for the paper creative team that I'm on. OK, everybody ready? :-)

Here's what I've done for the creative team at LDRag Designs. Her stuff can be found at Sunshine Studio Scraps, Scrappity-Doo-Dah, and Digiridoo Scraps.

From her kit, Vintage Lilac Dreams,

And two from "Persuasion."

For Club Scrap's January kit, Jubilee, I did the following layouts. I also have an article in their monthly magazine, the Scrap Rap Digital, about how to turn your favorite digital layout into a template.

And last but not least, I did two layouts for Lilleyscraps. Sarah's new kit, Little Things, is super-cute! Her stores are at Scrappity-doo-dah, Pretty Scrappy and Scrapdish. And if you purchase the kit within the next few days you get a free package of coordinating word art.

Have a day full of scrappy goodness!!! Nancy

Our weekend's big news....DD stood up!!!

2009-12-21T21:34:00.000-08:00

DD stood up by herself without pulling up on anything for the first time!!! Woo hoo!!! This is huge. Beyond huge. Stratospheric, really.

It's started lately with her wanting to see what's up on various counters, which she's been trying out for a couple of weeks. She pulls up onto the bathroom counter and tries to get my hairbrush or whatever she can feel while patting around with one hand and holding with the other. If anything's near the edge (like the brush), she can just see the handle and reaches for it. She can't see what's on them but she can just barely touch the kitchen counters and was particularly interested in them while I was making Christmas cookies.

So yesterday while Clint was at the gym and I was fixing her lunch, she crawled into the kitchen and tried to stand up before plopping onto her butt. I thought the first time could be a fluke. She's tried this a couple of times before with days between attempts and then moves on. But then she did it a second time for me. I clapped and made a big deal over it but she didn't want to do it again once I sprinted for the camera (she'd already given me a photo shoot earlier in the weekend by climbing into the bathtub with her jammies still on while I was getting her towel and clothes together so I guess I'd reached her tolerance limit for the flash).

Later on while I was at yoga, she did her standing trick for Clint and Connor a couple of times.

Today, when I dropped her off at preschool, I told one of her teachers about her newly developing skill. When I picked her up, the same teacher was beaming and said, "She did it for me, too!"

And tonight, we proved indubitably that it is not a fluke. She stood up, with three family witnesses, for several seconds. And we got it on video.

I'll have to give her a day or two before I get the flash out for another photo shoot... :-)

Woo hoo! I was invited to LDrag's Creative Team!

2009-12-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited! I saw Lina's designs, LDrag Designs, from Scrappity-doo-dah a couple months ago as a freebie, and I went to her site and fell in love with her designs. Lucky for me, she was also having a creative team call and I was one of the lucky designers chosen. :-) I've known for a couple of days but wanted to say something when I could post my first official project wth her stuff.

This morning, she released two new products that go together, a set of masks and matching frames. Here are the frames, called Mask Frame Them Volume 1:

And here's a layout that I did with them and her Bedazzled kit. I copied and pasted one of the flowers several times to make the border on the righthand side of the layout.

You may see that tulip again soon, because I'm working on some hybrid stuff for Lina, too!

More digital globes, anyone?

2009-11-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

At least I've gotten a lot of mileage out of this template, LOL! And yes, when I'm done posting all of my layouts I'll post the template as a freebie.

More globe layouts (this time the easy way!)

2009-11-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

After making two paper versions of a globe layout, I decided that there had to be an easier way! And I found it - I made myself a template in PSE 4.0 that looks pretty much like the globe on the magazine that I used as my original inspiration.

1) I started out by turning on the grid and making a perfect circle (hold down the shift key while using the ellipse shape tool. One a new layer above the circle, I used the stroke command to make a 10-pixel outline just inside the circle. (Actually, for every circle and ellipse I made, I made the shape, made the stroke on another layer, then deleted or hid the solid layer)

2) Then I made a couple of narrower, longer ellipse layers on top of the circle and centered them horizontally and vertically using the the align...vertical centers and align....horizontal centers tools.

3) Then I copied those layers and rotated them 90 degrees left to make the lattitude lines.

4) Then I selected all of the stroke layers and flattened them together, clipping them to the original circle shape.

Much, much, MUCH easier!!!!!

Here are what a few of the LOs look like:

A few globe layouts (first, the hard way)

2009-11-28T17:30:00.000-08:00

I got an email from a member of 2peasinabucket the other day, praising one of my globe layouts. Wow, to think that something I made in 2003 would stand the test of time - pretty cool. Since she asked me how I made the layout, I figured I'd post the original paper version and its instructions, then the digital version and its template. I'll start first with the paper stuff since I haven't figured out how to get a 4-shared account yet, LOL. Here's the first one I ever made, from my HOF entry 2004.

When Connor was a year old, I wanted to make summary pages for several months of activity. At the time, I was a tax accountant and one of the magazines that was routinely on my desk was the Journal of International Taxation. The cover of that magazine just happened to always have a globe overlay on its cover. I knew I wanted to make it into a layout, but it took me a while to figure out how I'd do it. Then the layout itself, well, by the time I did all of the work in PSE to make the template shapes, sized the photos, cut and assembled them, pretty darned near took forever.

First, I traced the globe from the magazine onto light tracing paper.

Then, I scanned the drawing and used PSE (1.0!) to make 1/4 of the scan a little larger than 6 inches in radius.

After I got it the size I wanted it, I printed out the 1/4-sized globe. Next, I cut out the pieces out of paper and transparencies. Finally, I used the transparencies to figure out how to size and cut my photos.

Before I glued anything down, I laid everything out to see how it was going to look. And then FINALLY I glued everything down. Whew! It was kind of an "in" thing to have stuff hanging off of the edge of layouts back then, so I didn't trim down the edges of the globe that stuck off of the side of the layout.

What kind of insane person would take this many hours making a layout and then actually try doing it again? That would be me. Not only did I do it again, I had to up the ante for my MMM entry by cutting out all sorts of little Quickutz and stamped words to make my journaling unique.

I may be crazy enough to do this twice, but I wasn't crazy enough to do it a third time!

Next up, the digital versions...

Club Scrap November layouts

2009-11-22T00:16:00.000-08:00

I'm on the digital artist team for Club Scrap, my favorite monthly kit club ever. I started off with a monthly membership to their paper scrapbooking kit club in mid-2000, and was "thrilleder than thrilled" when I made the DAT last year.

November's kit is called "Solstice." I've already posted a boy scout layout and a Halloween layout using the kit. Here are a couple of others.

I can't wait to share what's coming up in December!!!

Things I'd Scrapbook if I had the Time...

2009-11-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

I've been taking a class on blogging for scrapbookers at http://www.shimelle.com/, and today's topic is about making blog tags, either to make it easier for readers to find stuff that they care about or on a specific topic. So, starting today, I'm gonna start tagging. One of the tags will be "Scrapthis!" so I can remember to come back to topics later on when I scrapbook them. But beyond that, I thought I'd share something else that I've been keeping for a couple of years to keep my scrapbooking whims somewhat organized (I don't scrap in order).

I have a list of things I want to scrapbook about. It's very long list, with a column for a suggested title or theme, a column for more detailed information / thoughts, and a column where I can put a cute little X in the box to show that I actually got something done.

Here are 10 random titles and ideas of topics from the 123-item-and-growing list of stuff that I haven't scrapbooked yet, but hope to some day...

1) Artists in our family - this will be an album of the artistic pursuits of people in my family tree. We have knitters, crocheters, rock tumblers, model ship builders, candle makers, and seamstresses, so I want to get it all into one mini-album.

2) Blankies of our lives - this is actually already a mini-book that I printed in snapfish, but I forgot some very important pictures so I need to add on and re-print. Very high on the scrapbooking priority list. The album shows different blankets that were given to our kids, who made them, and the stories of the blankies or the family relationships. It also has information about some of the blankets that were passed down from me to the kids, and where I got them from (my parents, grandparents), so there are several generations of blankies in the book.

3) World travels - a mini-book with one page featuring a great photo for each country I've been to and some basic information like the dates and major impressions of that country. I've been to 22 countries so I need to get started on this project before I go anywhere else and get farther behind!

4) "Mommy, I don't have enough toys!" Accompanied by a photo of our son, sitting in a play room full of toys, not realizing just how lucky and spoiled that he is. I haven't decided whether to make it light-hearted or go deeper into how much he has and how to increase his appreciation for it.

5) Catalina Magdalena Hoopensteiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan was her name, oh! Nicknames we call each other in our family and where they came from.

6) Love notes - copies of the cute little notes and cartoons we write to each other from time to time.

7) "That mommy pushes her kids higher," I took some photos of Connor happily soaring on a playground swing a few minutes before he said this to me. It was the first time that I can recall him telling me that I wasn't as good as someone else, and it brings up a lot of thoughts (baggage?!?) about my parenting abilities, that parents aren't flawless, and that all we can do is the best we can do.

8) Things my mom was right about. 'nuff said.

9) What fitness, wellness, health and personal training mean to me. Why I teach aerobics and personal train, my class persona, my target market, and how much I love it.

10) Sandwich generation. I've been writing this journaling in my head since May of 2004 when my mom died. Actually, before that. It started in 2002 when Connor was born and Mom was seriously ill. I definitely felt the pressure of being in the sandwich generation. It sucked. Really. Really. Sucked. But then I lost part of the top slice of bread when Mom died. And now Dad died this summer and my life is an open-faced sandwich.
And before I sign off I'll share a layout that I did for Club Scrap's Digital Artist Team with the Solstice kit (November kit of the month):

Noodlicious!

2009-11-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

DD has loved spaghetti from her first taste of it when she started solid foods. This summer, she discovered the joys of feeding it to herself. I was wandering through photos today, tagging and moving them to the appropriate year/month folders when I found these little gems that I hadn't scrapped yet. Here they are!

All supplies are from the kit Shabby She, by Krystal Hartley. And the layout design comes from a template made from a member of Krystal's creative team (I tweaked it slightly).

Big-time Wrestling, Little Girl Style

2009-11-13T21:28:00.000-08:00

Connor has always loved to wrestle with his dad; just last night they did a little Thursday Night Smackdown in the livingroom before bedtime. Amazingly enough, the seven-year-old always wins, even though he's a good hundred pounds lighter than his opponent. :-)

For Makena, daddy-pouncing is a newer development. She started plopping on him a couple of months ago, right about the time she learned how to say, "Aaaaah.....DEE!" That's her version of one, two, three. This layout shows her playing "Aaaaaah....DEE!" onto Clint while he's trying to nap. It's hard to nap when a two-year-old is "Aaaah....DEEing" on your face, though.

All of the supplies for this layout are from After Five Designs. The papers are from Au Bonheur des Dames and the elements are from Tickle Me Pink.

Happy Friday!

Ribbit.

2009-11-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

Two Peas in a Bucket (see them here) is one of the places I hang out the most online for digital and paper scrapbooking. They had a bunch of chats, challenges, freebies and sales over digital scrapbook day. Here's a layout that I just finished that covers two of the challenges from DSD (scraplift a layout, make a layout using one of the 2peas DSD free kits) and also the "book of scraps" challenge.

Here's the original layout:

Monkey Boy, by LanaRappette

I don't know if it's poor form to post someone else's layout on your blog, so I just linked it for you to see the original inspiration. I also emailed her to let her know I'd used her layout for inspiration, but if there's more proper blog etiquette that I should follow, please leave me a comment or email.

Here's mine:

The free kit is technically a Christmas kit, but the greens were perfect for my ds' "Frog and Toad Day" celebration at school, so I cloned over a few snowflakes and the kit became a froggy kit.

Supplies:

Snowkissed Christmas (free kit) by Betsy Tuma, everything but the ribbon and photo corners

Snowkissed Alpha by Betsy Tuma

Perfect Ten by Club Scrap, ribbon

Self-made photo corners using "wow plastic" effect

Swirls from a freebie template by Pom from her Pom's Breathing Room blog

What a neat coincidence that the day after Frog and Toad day at school, DH found a little frog hanging onto the front of our garage door. Talk about the perfect frog accent, LOL!

"Meow. I love you, Mommy."

2009-11-12T00:16:00.000-08:00

October 17, 2005, 2:30ish. Those were the first words, accompanied by a hug, that Connor said to me when he woke up from his nap on a Monday afternoon. It was my first afternoon as a stay-at-home mom.

I would like to say I remember that day as clear as a bell. There are snippets I remember vividly. Loading him on the preschool bus for his field trip to the pumpkin patch. Unloading him from same bus two hours later and falling on my butt in front of the school while trying to pose with Connor and his pumpkin. Thanks, Carmen, for getting pictures of that! Playing "kitty" before snuggling him into bed for nap. Waiting, waiting, waiting with happy anticipation for him to wake up so we could play. And then the heart-melting meow. It felt so decadent, so forbidden, so good, so right.

Muddy butt-print and all, it was a glorious day.

I wish I could remember even more, but it's slipping away. Crud!!! I didn't even remember a few weeks ago to celebrate the fourth anniversary of my freedom! Usually on the 14th at about 5:00pm, I think, "Woo hoo!" to myself for reaching escape velocity and, "Neener neener neener!!!" to my former coworkers who are still stuck there. And I have some special feelings for the few people who took what had been my dream job for almost nine years and turned it into a nightmare's nightmare, but since I vowed to keep my blog G-rated I'll keep those "special" feelings to myself.

These days, I'm stressed out again. With two family deaths and Clint's job change all in the last five months, and the lovely discovery that my personal training 60%/40% commissions is actually the 40% and not the 60% I was promised, there needs to be a stronger word than stressed. Stressed in bold, underlined, with italics and an exponent of 2 or 3 at the top right. Stress squared. Stress to the third power. Exponentially stressed out. Stressponentially, speaking, this chick is losing it a little around the edges.

Heck! That would be a fan-flippin-tastic blog title - "Stress-ponentially Speaking" - but I digress. What I really wanted to say tonight is that I want to remember, if not recapture, that heart-bursting feeling I had at 2:30ish on the 17th of October, 2005.

That's why I'm trying this whole blogging thing again. I don't want to lose any more of the good stuff.

Happy Day Before Veteran's Day!

2009-11-10T10:11:00.000-08:00

As we make preparations for ds' boy scout pack attendance in tomorrow's Veteran's Day parade, I wanted to show off this layout I made of him wearing his uniform for the first time. Normally when I want to take his picture, I get a lovely shot of his hand in front of his face or some rebelliously goofy expression. For this shot, he posed and asked that I take his picture and I was more than happy to oblige.

He looks so handsome in his uniform. Proud to be a boy scout. Learning what it means to be a part of a service organization. Excited to be marching in a parade to celebrate heroes - their den has been learning about all sorts of heroes for the last month - and to walk among them.

Way to go, Handsome!

The supplies for this kit are all from Club Scrap's November digital kit, Solstice.

Blog, take two.

2009-11-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

This is harder than I thought.

I've typed my "triumphant return to social media" post at least three times and erased it. There are just so many thoughts swirling around in my head that I'm not sure how to organize them. Kind of like scrapbooking - I anguish over my pages. Now, I'm anguishing over this post!

The anguish stops now. The last thing I need in my life is more stress, so I'm NOT gonna get stressed out about my blog, LOL. I'm a multi-faceted, multi-talented person with a hectic life. I don't fit into one neat little category so my blog isn't going to, either. Some days I'll post about my personal training and aerobics business, maybe with a few favorite workouts, an anecdote about a class, or a rant about working for a gym that's changed hands three times and been in bankruptcy at least as many times in the last few years. Other days, I might put up a scrapbook page I completed, a photo I'm going to scrapbook or a little journaling ditty that I don't want to forget. Sprinkled throughout will be the wry humor of the middle-aged housewife who doesn't have time for a nervous breakdown or even a relaxed bubble bath of twenty minutes or longer sans interruption from a child convinced that I must help him find his bicycle helmet and light saber right now.

As I say frequently to my aerobics students, "Get out of this workout what you need. Throw the rest away." That's how the blog's gonna go. If you like my scrapbook pages, cool! If you like my fitness facts, awesome! If not, that's OK, too. Take what you want and throw the rest away.

Photo of the day November 15, the moon

2005-11-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

As inspired by Karen Carter's post on 2peas, with a little guidance from my dh, I got this shot of the moon. Without his help, I got a bright white dot! But thanks to a quick lesson on spot metering, I've now got a moon. Thanks, Clint.

Photo of the day November 14, big train!

2005-11-15T22:34:00.000-08:00

I took a lot of photos today. It was harder than I thought. I wanted to capture the scale of "Peggy" a 1909 locomotive formerly owned by Stimpson Timber and now a part of the Forestry Museum here in Portland. When I zoomed in on Connor, the 67 ton train disappeared, and when I zoomed out to get the train, Connor became a small red dot. Here was the best I could do without stepping into traffic to pull back farther.

Photo of the day November 12, mid-jump

2005-11-15T22:33:00.000-08:00

Mid-jump into a pile of leaves raked by Daddy just moments beforehand.

Photo of the day November 11 - reading material

2005-11-15T22:32:00.000-08:00

I know the shadows on the wall behind him are horrible, but my scrapbooking buddies will appreciate Connor's reading material.... :-)

Photo of the day November 10

2005-11-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

I only took one photo today, and it was this. Connor stacked a Lego in each portion of the tray and said, "I made some chocolate chip pancakes for you, Mommy! Would you like one?"

Photo of the day November 9

2005-11-15T22:19:00.000-08:00

I loved this photo of Connor just being Connor, playing with gravel in our back yard.

Photo of the day November 8: above and below

2005-11-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

I have two photos of the day today. I was playing with the idea of shooting from above and from below the subject. I took this photo of my son while scrunched on the floor of his treehouse to get a shot from below his eye level. A few cheese crumbs on his face since we'd just finished a picnic up there, but still a decent photo for me. I took the photo of the raindrops on the monkey bars from inside the treehouse looking down; my more typical shots are from the ground looking up. It was a fun, albeit cold, play time outside for both of us.

Photo of the day November 7: Daddy Ride

2005-11-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

Another spontaneous luck shot. I was carrying my camera around the corner of the study, into the kitchen, to take a photo of Clint and Connor playing. I expected to see them huddled on the carpet playing with Rescue Heroes or his police motorcycle, but as soon as I rounded the corner from the study, they rounded the corner from the family room. Clint was on his hands and knees and Connor was on his shoulders, riding him like a horse. Then they played "touch the ceiling" and "sack of potatoes." Yet another photo that has absolutely no technical merit but is a great photo for its content.

Photo of the day November 6, Grandpa's house

2005-11-07T21:07:00.000-08:00

My dad grew up in Portland, Oregon, where we now live. We still need to track down the address and directions to the house where he lived as an infant, but he remembers exactly where his childhood home was. It wasn't this bright blue color 60+ years ago, it was grey, and it definitely didn't have a Direct TV dish hanging off the side of the house! We walked the neighborhood, circled the house around the back alley, and then went to see his elementary school, Ockley Greene school, and Peninsula Park where he used to play. Both were within reasonable walking distance, thus blowing the old "When I was a little boy, we used to have to walk to school two miles barefoot in the snow and uphill both ways" story out of the water. We've lived in Portland for 13 years and this was the first time we'd seen his house.

Photo of the day November 5: Grandpa Korf

2005-11-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

Connor has been lucky these last few weeks with visits from Gigi and Great Grandpa Olsen, Papa Olsen, and now Grandpa Korf. With every visit, Grandpa has a habit of bringing a bag or two of my childhood belongings and dropping them off. This trip we got books, and tonight, Grandpa read Connor one of the books he read to me as a little girl - Mulberry Street.

Photo of the day November 4: Favorite Things

2005-11-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

Connor gathered all of his favorite things to the sofa, so I had to get this photo of him with all of his comfort objects. 1) #1 all-time favorite object = blue blankie, made for him by Gigi. He carries it around reverently in a little round pile, then sets it gently on whatever sofa/bed/carpet he wants to snuggle. 2) His close second favorite object is his right thumb. 3) A fleecy sweatshirt. Connor is in a phase where he prefers soft fleece pajamas to any other clothing. He says, "I want to put on my fur and be a kitty," and likes to be pet while he's wearing his fur. So when he's not wearing his jammies, he's wearing the softest clothing possible, including this "don't lose me red" sweatshirt. 4) Puppy. Connor has to have something soft to snuggle. He's a little fickle on which stuffed animal he loves the most, but Puppy is definitely in the top 5 consistently. 5) A Matchbox car. The purple racecar with yellow flames was his favorite, but since it disappeared at daycare the green van has risen to favorite status.

Photo of the day November 3: The Cave

2005-11-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

I've only been a SAHM for a little more than two weeks, and I love it! All I can say is that I wish I had done it much sooner, like right after Connor was born. Alas, it took me 3 years of Connor's life and a year and a half after my mother's death to figure out that Mom was right. It's better at home. There will be some hellish days, I know, but for the moment the glow of my retirement hasn't worn off.

Connor likes to help me around the house. Maybe I should rephrase that. He likes to shadow me most of the times, which means that when I do chores, he plays nearby or "helps." In order to get a little laundry folded, I created a "cave" out of blankets and pillows and Connor had a great time playing hide and seek in it while I got a little cleaning done. I was lucky to get this shot, because he's not always fond of having his photo taken.

November 2 photo of the day: Pumpkins

2005-11-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

This was the photo I took at a few minutes before midnight, when I was just heading up for bed and realized I hadn't taken my photo of the day. Nothing amazing here, LOL, but it is a representative shot of our table decorations in our kitchen. Phew! At least I didn't blow the challenge on my second day! We bought a share in a weekly "harvest basket" through Clint's work. A local farm delivered fresh produce to his work once weekly through October. I know the directions that came with the miscellaneous squashes told me which ones were edible and which ones not, but we've mislaid the directions so now we have a colorful kitchen table. :-)

My first photos of the day.

2005-11-07T19:34:00.000-08:00

November 1 Photo of the day: Little Einstein.

Connor is a Little Einstein fanatic. Today, he put his green chair in the center of an old round ball track from his toddlerhood and declared it his rocket, just like the rocket ship from the show. The ball track plays music, so with bubble-wand in hand as a baton, Connor merrily conducted music from his rocket, declaring "I'm Leo." I liked this photo because it's typical Connor, really true-to-life. I'll get better with my technical camera skills over time (actually, I've vastly improved just over the last year), but what I'm really working on is capturing the essence of our lives, not just taking pretty pictures.

I'm still learning this whole blog thing - the photo isn't cropped like this in real life, there's more at the bottom of the pic.

OMG, I've got a blog

2005-11-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

My name is Nancy and I vowed never, never, never to write a blog. But here I am, just for fun, trying the photo of the day challenge from "the pub" at twopeas, so I figured I'd set up a blog for posting photos. Who knows? Maybe I'll become an addict! I did, after all, tell my husband some twelve or thirteen years ago that I'd never, never, never have an email account or use the internet.....

Enjoy!