Lori Udy Benefit Concert - Please Read

This is a copy of a message on my son Ryan's blog. I thought it was very important and even if we can't be there we can help. My son is an amazing guy, he is in the Physician Assistance Program (a stringent 2-year full-time program), married to Christy (who is amazing), two sweet little girls and twins due in August! Even with his full life he is making time to help out this family.

My son Ryan, Christy and their sweet Children.

Please take the time to read this and search your heart. If you feel like you can help click on the Title Link or leave a comment below with your address so that we can get info to you.

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Hey friends, this is Ryan. I'm the one lucky enough to be married to Christy. YESSS!! Anyways, I am blogging today to invite you all to a benefit concert for a beautiful mom, Lori Udy, that was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy, but unfortunately the cancer metastasized to her lymph nodes and has since infiltrated other organs. She doesn't have too much longer to live.

The Udy Family

Not only does her family have to deal with her end-stage cancer and saying goodbye to her, but they also have mounting medical bills that they cannot afford.

My good friend Rock Permann was talking to his lovely wife, Whitney a few weeks ago about a benefit concert that her group, Mercy River, and American Idol contestant David Osmond are going to be putting on to support the Udy family, when Whitney said, "what about the Pop Rocks?"

For those of you who don't know, I was in an A cappella group back at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, called Pop Rocks. We sang in lots of concerts and serenaded many people during our short time together. Since then we have all separated as we got married and moved away, but we have tried to keep in touch.

Back to the story: Rock thought about it a while and then decided to give it a shot: invite the members of the Pop Rocks to reunite for this benefit concert 9 years after the original Pop Rocks had dissolved.

When I first got the invite from Rock to reunite, I realized that I had a PA conference that weekend, so I ended up declining with a very sad heart. But soon I found out that every single one of the other original Pop Rocks were going to be able to make it, so I talked to my PA professors and they told me that for this occasion they would allow me to miss a part of the PA conference. Sweet! I called the guys and we made plans to somehow remember our old songs and sing!

To make a long story short (too late...), the concert is going to be at Rockland High School in Rockland, Idaho on April 3rd at 7 pm. tickets are $10, all of which will go directly to the Udy family to help them with the enormous amount of medical bills they have.

If you can come, PLEASE COME! This isn't about me, the Pop Rocks, Mercy River, or David Osmond, it's about the Udy family. Please let others know also! Make it into a date night and invite your family and friends! If you have any questions, please post a reply and we will be sure to get right on it.

Okieladybug's Scrap N' More: Stamp Binders.......I LOVE THEM!!

OK, so I'm in an organizing mood which is funny since I am laying here in bed, with my laptop on my knees, recuperating from surgery. I do my best organizing in my mind! I broke down and ordered one of Tim Holtz Stamp Binders (so cool looking) and it is on it's way. I can't wait but I have so many stamps to organize. I thought that if anyone had a hard time thinking of what to get me for my Birthday (hint hint Sis) that this would be a good place to drop a few subtle hints. You know how subtle I can be.

For those of you who want to organize your stamps, please follow the above link to see how Okie-ladybug did it. My shelf is going to look like hers as soon as my binder gets here and I can get up and do the work!

Also if you aren't sure how to unmount your wooden stamps go to YouTube and type in Unmount Rubber Stamps and you will get LOTS of video on how to unmount and organize your stamps. I like the above organization method the best.

Jerri, you had better check this out since you are moving and have lots of wooden stamps. This will definately cut down on the footprint in your moving boxes and new craft room.

Okieladybug's Scrap N' More: Cuttlebug storage#links

I found the best idea for storing my Cuddlebug embossing folders! You have to check it out. I can't believe I didn't think of it. I use a similar system for my cricut keypads. I guess I'm not as smart as Okie-ladybug but I am smart enough to know a great idea when I see one. Definately check it out by clicking on the above link.

Also give Okie-ladybug some encouragement, she is in the process of quitting smoking. I think that she is so brave. I have never smoked but have my own addictions. I admire anyone who can take such a big challenge on. Go Okie-Ladybug! You are setting such a great example for your daughter and us.

Spring or Easter Card

I am contributing to a Free Digital Card exchange at Digi-Scrap Princess and have spent so much time creating and changing it that I can't really see it any more. The challenge is to make a Card and bookmark for Spring or Easter.

When I think of Spring one of my fondest memories is my children bringing me one of the first flowers of the season. They knew how much I loved flowers so they were excited and would usually bring me a dandelion (roots still covered in dirt). This wild flower (OK, weed) was the most precious gift to me. I also have memories of picking dandelions, when they had gone to seed, making a wish and blowing the seeds into the breeze. There always seemed something magical about the way the seeds would catch on the breeze and scatter into the sky. So I made this card based on those memories.

My question is this "Am I wierd for basing a card on a Dandelion?" Will anyone else want to use it? It is hard when you spend time on something and then stop to look at it and can't quite see it clearly anymore. So be honest. Would you use this card or bookmark to send to someone you like? In the Give-a-way I will include the "Welcome Spring" card as well as a blank card. I have to submit this by the end of the month so I need to figure out whether to change it or not!

Tagged!

Back in February (how embarrassing) Jill at Diva In Pink tagged me and I forgot to respond! Sorry Jill. By the way I love your blog and everyone should go check it out.

I'm supposed to go to my photos and pick the 6th folder and then the 6th picture in that folder. I then post it and explain what it is all about. Then I am supposed to Tag 6 other blogs.

Well I finally went to my 6th folder and opened up the 6th photo and couldn't believe it. Jill had posted her son Matt's Sr. Picture and I just ran into my Sr. Picture. OK, so Jill's cute son looks all cool in his photo in 2002. Well, my photo is from 1977! I thought I was kinda cool back then but now I'm remembering platform shoes, the music (which I loved), and the TV shows. One thing that I noticed righ away was that now they put the year and sometimes the name on the front of the photo. How cool! Back in the day we didn't have that so we all wrote the info on the front of our photos. I'm soooo glad that the digital age has added a bit of class to current photos. I think I'm going to have to open up my Photoshop Elements and figure out how to get that signature off of my shoulder.

All joking aside, I loved the 70's and loved High School. I was big into church, music, family and friends...not that much has changed in my life. My hair isn't as big but I can still do the hustle. My children used to look at my Year Book and make fun of our clothes and hair but now I see so many of those styles are in fashion again and I have to laugh. There have been many changes for the good in our society but I still miss some of the old ways. Most of all I miss some of the people who have passed on since then. Am I sounding old or what!?

Thanks Jill for tagging me. Sorry it took so long but it was kind of fun to walk down memory lane. Anyone want to Disco? I just had flashbacks of Earth, Wind & Fire singing "Get Down Tonight!"

There are soooo many cool blogs out there. This time I am going to tag my sister Jerri Ann who shares this blog with me and let her choose the other recipients.

New Friends

Here is my first layout (I tried a few a couple of years ago but kind of forgot everything so I'm starting over). These pictures are from my son Nathan & his wife, Erin's wedding. The Flower Girl was so excited about her role in the wedding that she had a hard time waiting for the Ring Bearer who didn't get into town until right before the wedding. They were introduced and immediately held hands and started practicing walking down the isle. They were so earnest and so adorable! My husband got a few great shots of them and I knew that I had to make a layout. I am going to make another page that is a little less formal and where I can journal the story. The wedding colors were green & purple so this kit "Remember This!" which is a collaborative kit by Digital Srapbook Artisan Guild was perfect. The paper and embellishments made everything so easy. My goal is to get my scrapbooking done but I also want to learn to design my own kits. I think that using other people's kits to begin with will help me learn what my likes and dislikes are.

Digital Scrapbooking

I love my cricut and all the other tools that I use to be creative but I have to admit I've been cheating on them lately. Yes, I've gone digital! I LOVE creating in Photoshop Elements (PSE)! I'm not going to give up my cricut or other tools but if I am ever going to get any scrapbooking done I needed to come up with a new plan.

Since my health hasn't been the best and I've spent a lot of time down in bed where I couldn't utilize my wonderful crafting tools I had to come up with a Plan B. I have SO MANY pictures that need to be put into albums that I was feeling overwhelmed. I also needed a way to duplicate my scrapbook pages since we have so many kids that want their childhood pictures. Digital Scrapbooking is my answer. There are so many wonderful websites out there to help me learn PSE and I can be creative here in bed with my laptop on my knees. Since I have been down a lot lately that's what I have been doing - learning PSE. So here's the deal. Since I am just a beginner and learning I want to post some of my layouts here and if you see something that would improve the layout please leave a comment. I'm pretty good with constructive criticism (cc) so don't worry about offending me. I truly want to know how to artistically tell the history of my wonderful family. While I may not incorporate every suggestion, I promise to listen and consider them all. Deal? Good.