I've Done It....

I've joined a book club.

And it's not one of those stuffy, uptight book clubs where all the books are serious and boring and contemplate life and what it's all about. (who wants to talk about that anyway?!)

No No No.

The book club I have joined is much better then all that. My book club is comprised of all my friends and we don't do any of this sissy crap "read one book between meetings". We are the over achievers of book clubs. We read an entire series during the month between meetings.

Currently we are reading the Vampire Academy series. (Which yes, have very shitty covers that look like something off a bad romance novel and a soap opera commercial and the names are horrid and almost really have nothing to do with the actual book, but surprisingly they are good.)

We sit around, in this book club eating food and laughing until we nearly wet ourselves and even manage to fit in decent conversation about our books.

We call ourselves "The Book Fluffers", keeping your covers hard since 2010. Do with that what you will. I won't explain further. :0)

(hehehehehe)

Remembering 30 - The Dawn-Vasion

Before I can really tell you the Dawn-Vasion story I have to tell you another one. Don't worry, it's quick(ish) so cuddle up with a blanket and some cocoa and listen as we take a trip way, way back to 1994 when I was 14....

I couldn't freaking stand Dawn when I met her. She shaved her legs with no soap or water, who did this!? Oh and she never once got razor burn. That just flat out pissed me off! She was like the little sister that followed you around wanting to be apart of everything who you couldn't shake. But I had to be polite, as we were on a church trip, traveling through Europe to Russia and back and weather I liked the only girl younger then me on the trip or not, I was stuck with her for the next 2 months.

I grew to like her after a few weeks. 24 hour bus rides with nothing to do but chat will do that too you, even when there are 48 other people on the bus with you. She had a lot in common with me - neither of us were supposed to be on the trip...we weren't the 16 year old age requirement, but it's called money and that's how we got to where were. When I got home I even missed her. A little.

About 3 years ago I started to hunt down the people I went on this trip with. Not in a sniper riffle sort of way, in the "Hey how have you been" e-mail kind of way. But since all I had was address from 1994 and most had moved, or married and changed names - I turned to the only place I knew fit to search for people = Facebook.

And there I found her, or wait....did she find me? We bonded over a comment about pink duct tape - no terrible pun intended. And I realized adult Amber and Dawn have EVEN more in common then "Our parents hate us, under 16 Amber and Dawn". Bad relationships, Baby Daddies, you name it we had matching everything!

And that settled it - she booked ticket to Minnesota for a reunion 15 years in the making! I was so excited when I picked her up I scratched my husbands new car parking it. I arrived like an hour early then counted every second as it went by until she came down the corridor. Cue bags dropping, full speed running and high pitched screaming! Jump and hug! The people around us looked at us like we were nuts...it's AN AIRPORT, this happens all the time there! It's not like this happened at a funeral or something....because that would be weird!

We spent the next 3 days watching Remember Me, getting drunk, having a huge party to celebrate her arrival. She cooked - hey don't give me that look, A: She offered, and B: remember when I said I wasn't a great cook before...yea...so shut it! She made Dawn-Tacos, Dawn-Tinis and Cake Balls....beast meal ever! We called her trip The Dawn-Vasion.

She went home too soon and then we began planning my trip to LA to see her in June.....Best Friends forever. She's stuck with me now....weather she likes it or not!

PB&J's for The Wedding reception!

It would be impossible to find two more selfless and wonderful people on this planet. Look. I dare you to prove me wrong!

Will Nicholson, one of my husbands best friends and his fiance Leah Bogen who recently got engaged, have begun planning their June wedding. Where most couples would be penny pinching to make it the best day possible and not willing to sacrifice anything for their big day, Will and Leah have decided to donate 25% of their budget, which was for their reception - to the crisis in Haiti. Even stating they will be serving PB&J instead of the traditional meal choice to make this donation work for them.

The Pioneer Press had this to say about Leah & Will and their conversation about making this choice:

"She totally blew me away," said Nicholson, a University of Minnesota Duluth graduate. "I'm still in awe. I was very impressed. How do you say anything but yes to that? It's such a selfless and thoughtful thing. It's hard to get excited about planning a wedding when other people are having such a terrible time.

She [Leah] made a decision right then and there to donate the money they planned to spend on the reception dinner — 25 percent of their wedding budget — to people in Haiti. Her fiance didn't need any convincing."

To read the full store please CLICK HERE

I am so proud to call these people my friends, and will gladly help them make PB&J's for their wedding reception! As a mom, I have mad skills in that department!

To make your donation to Partners in Health, the orginization chosen by Will & Leah, CLICK HERE even if you can only spare a dollar, every little bit helps!

Photo by Kari Layland www.kariphotography.com

Who Got The Coolest Birthday Gift This Year...

Okay so back in the day I was quite taken by N*Sync - who wasn't...I mean really...hello Justin! Anyway, as my birthday party was this past weekend (don't worry, photos to come) I was sad to find out one of my besties couldn't attend - but given her reason I was ok with it. She was going to work a charity golf event in Vegas with the member of N*Sync, among others.

Jokingly I told her to carry around a wrapped gift box and find Justin, and have him do the "Dick in the Box" thing for my birthday and get it on tape. Well, she couldn't get to him in time for him to do it so instead I got the ext best thing - take a peek at what Chris Kirkpartrick of N*Sync had to say to me:

Gone Too Soon.

My post today will not be filled with sarcasm or humor like they normally are. No jokes, no Twilight references, nothing perky or upbeat. I wish, with everything I have that it could be, that I'm not having to remember yet another friend, taken too soon from this life. Eerily in the same way I lost another friend 6 years ago.

Eric Yanka, husband to Gina Yanka., a wonderful long time friend of Alex's, passed away early Sunday morning the 26th of September, in a one car accident in Brained Minnesota. What makes this even sadder then it already is, is that Gina and Eric were married only 14 days prior, They had just returned home from their honeymoon days earlier.

The similarities to a car accident that killed my friend Chad Week 6 years ago are uncanny. Both men got into cars with people who they knew had been drinking, both accidents occurred in a rather rural area. Eric was on his way back to the cabin, Chad was on his way home from a cabin. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene and both, sadly were ejected from the car via the windshield. Both accidents included only the one car.

The driver in both accidents suffered injuries but survived, and in the case of my friend Chad the driver was not charged by request of his parents. In the case of Eric this will not be the case. The driver will be going away for 5-10 years, or so we have have heard.

When things like this happen it's hard to know what to say. How do you comfort a friend that just lost her husband? How do you help her know it will be alright when she will be sending out funeral notices before her thank you cards are even finished being written, when wedding presents are probably still arriving?

My heart goes out to Gina and her family. All my love!

Moments in Time...

My best customer is back, and she needed an invite for her sons 3rd birthday!

I've worked with her photos to make her several cards over the past 3 years, matter o fact I've covered nearly all the main events in their life!

Austins Birth:

His Christening
His First Birthday
His 3rd Birthday
Not to mention each Holiday since his birth and even a few composites for hanging on the wall and of course Thank You cards to go with each card.

I love working with my little A-Man!

Welcome Elora!

A friend of mine had her beautiful baby girl a week ago and I was lucky enough to be able to make her birth announcements for her! Congrats Croft Family on the arrival of your newest addition, Elora! And thank you for letting me me photo birth announcements! It was an honor!

This design and others are available for creation BY ME for YOU! Check out a few of my samples on my Facebook Page - all occasions, all types!

Announcements & Cards Part 1
Announcements & Cards Part 2

So Far This Season!

I have been busy, making a wedding invite and holiday cards for friends and family. Here's are a few of the holiday cards I have whipped up for them :0)

For Cally & Nick and sweetie pie, little Cooper.

For my wonderful new inlaws :0)

For the Beautiful Jen who helped so much with my wedding!

And yours could be next! I'm having such fun with it this year! And even though I'm extra busy with the baby,being sick (fun!), BabyZone hosting and creating, and the house....it's still so much fun!