Memorial Day Pics

I wanted to take the time to create these pages quickly so you can view the pictures a lot quicker than if I had to do it the traditional way, LOL!! So I figured I would give Smilebox a try. Although it takes you to a separate page to view the layouts, it really does come out cute. Enjoy!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

New changes, New demands!

Ok, so I hope that you all had a great Memorial Day weekend and were able to get some down time. I know I did, and it has been hard to get back into the groove again.

My family and I went to the beach for the weekend and boy it was beautiful, although the waters were a bit rough. Not the normal for the beaches in Sarasota, Florida but the boys did have a great time. I will try to get some photos or layouts up so that you can all see the fun.

To bring you all up to date on me, I have taken a HUGE step in my life and decided to enroll in college once again. This is why the disappearance and M.I.A. on my part for the last few days, I have been trying to adjust to the change so bear with me. I think I will be ok, now that I understand what my schedule will look like for classes but it has been a week of craziness! LOL! As you can see by the logo, it is an online college and so I am in what they call a "Distance Learning Environment", which essentially means that I take my classes via the internet.

As some of you may know or not know, my love has always been in the Medical field and so back when I first went to college I was majoring in Nursing. However, the current demands with my youngest son plus the scheduling demands of clinicals just don't allow me to go into the Nursing program at this time. So I decided to major in Health Care Administration. This program was available via online and it gives me the flexibility I need at this moment, with the opportunity of possibly reconsidering Nursing in the future.

I do want to report that I received my very first "A" on one of the first assignments for this past week. And do you know what the report had to be about? BLOGGING! I think I know a little bit about that. LOL!!! So of course I "A-ced" it.

I've been tagged!!!

tagged by Jan!

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


My seven facts:

1. I love to go on Cruising Vacations, so far I have gone on 6 of them and planning for a 7th.

2. I just took the steps to enroll in college again and heading towards the goal of my degree in Health Care Administration, although I am still having my doubts or maybe its a little fear!

3. I absolutely enjoy my TV shows - House, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, and Desperate Housewives.

4. I have entered a journey in my life to read more, enjoy life more and be aware of the simplicities that makes me happy.

5. My favorite foods are: Crab legs, Italian, and most certainly desserts of all kinds.

6. I love OPRAH! She inspires me in many ways to become a better me. LOVE HER!

7. I had the awesome experience of working within the Walt Disney World Company in several departments but my favorite of all was my experience in Feature Animation. I was able to experience the process of the creation of the Animated films and see the artists at work on projects like: Lilo & Stitch, Bears and Atlantis!


I am tagging bot Old and New Blogger Friends!

1. Maby's Corner
2. Who has time to Scrapbook?
3. The Scrap Princess
4. Scrapping Servant
5. Forgetful One
6. Making Scrapbooks
7. Scrap Happens

Boys Night Out!

Today is a boys night out, my husband and our three boys are out seeing IRON MAN. Some of their friends went along too, to join in on the fun! I certainly was ok with staying home, catching up on some laundry and updating my blog. I am sure they are having a great time!

So what was your Sunday like? Mine, was just wonderful and uneventful! Sometimes being alone at home with some peace and quiet is very inviting! ;) I must say, I am enjoying the time for myself.

Scrapbook Celebration

I went to visit my friend Jan's blog and saw this post to join Carolyn by celebrating National Scrapbooking Month on her blog!!! There are plans to have tutorials, sketches, prizes, etc!! So I decided to join in on the fun.

If you are visiting from her site, I'm Evelyn and I'm a stay at home mom. I have 3 boys ages, 20, 17 and 6 and I also have a pekingnese dog who is also a boy. Lots of testosterone in my house, LOL. I have been married for 21 years this May 16th is my 21st Wedding Anniversary. I am obviously a scrapbooker, love the craft, love the art inspiring moments and enjoying the journey.

So go ahead and check out the links and hopefully we can all have some fun together.

Thankful

After all these days of just incredible situations going on in the world, Cyclones in Myanmar, Earthquakes in China, Tornadoes in the U.S. I had to take a moment to reflect and be thankful.

Thankful, that my friends that were in the path of the Tornadoe that hit parts of Georgia, are ok and suffered minimal damages. Thankful for the update that was posted by Heidi Swapp that she and her family are also ok! That was incredible that she was able to finally update and let all her Scrapbooking fans know that her family and her were not affected by that Horrible Earthquake in China! She knew people were worried for her and her family and took the time to update us. Thanks HEIDI!!!

So I am simply thankful, that no one that I knew by friendship or by Scrapbooking connection, was affected by these acts of Nature.

My prayers go out to the victims and families here in the U.S., in Myanmar and in China! May God be with them all during these difficult times.

May 3rd was National Scrapbook Day!

Of course you know what I did! I scrapbooked! I finally made that accomplishment, to actually Scrapbook on National Scrapbook Day. For a lot of you that means nothing, but to Scrapbookers it's like missing a MAJOR HOLIDAY like Christmas! LOL!!


I got together with some of my friends and attended a CROP that was being held on this very day!


Here are a few pics of us having fun!

Arleen and Maggie are in full creative mode!















Here are a few Christmas Layouts I did!

10 things I'd like to learn

1. How to speak "French" Merci.......
2. How to play guitar
3. Traveling on an airplane and enjoying it
4. How to think out of the box
5. The Art of Painting
6. Be more gentler with myself
7. What ever happened with Princess Diana, THE TRUTH!
8. Snow skiing
9. More about my heritage, background and culture
10. How to play more, laugh more, love more and live more every day!

Grey's Anatomy is BACK!!!

I am so excited that finally the new episodes of Grey's Anatomy are HERE!!! After so much waiting and anticipation, last nights episode came and I must say it was worth the wait. I am not so sure what will happen here with "McDreamy" and Dr. Grey?????? But next weeks episode brings Addison back, what is up with that? Wow is all I have to say, and guess who will be watching that? Thanks Jan (and Oprah) for getting me hooked on the best show on Primetime Television!

Sorry everyone for the short M.I.A. but I promise not to be gone for too long now. LOL!! Love you all!

Baking a Cake just to Bake!

So I had this Devil's Chocolate Cake in my pantry and simply decided to bake it! My boys were asking me what the special occasion was, because I usually just make cupcakes for school functions, holidays or for the little guys birthday's, but today I decided to bake a cake.

What was the special occassion? Nothing at all, just wanted to make a cake for me and my boys and celebrate life! That's all, nothing extraordinary. I did take the time to decorate it a bit and play with the frosting and some frosting tips that I had for a while, but that's it.

For all you Chocolate lovers, I have to say it was delicious!!! Yum, yum, yum!

Chicago update

Ok, so as of right now we are all holding our breath. At this point we are having to wait until Louie returns to Chicago tomorrow and speaks with his boss about the reality of our situation. What situation? Well the fact that the market is so bad to sell homes right now and even more so here in Florida. The offer the company gave us for our house was based on Fair Market Value, so it was below what we owe for the house.

The "Relocation Specialist" has given us the current Market Analysis in our neighborhood, so we can put it for Sale but even that seems to be low. So with that truth in front of us, we have to ride this out before we can proceed with our move to Chicago.

Upon Louie's return, he will be presenting this dilema to his boss. Many things can happen, if their interest is REALLY to have Louie there then I am sure that they (BP) will come up with a solution. Otherwise, they can just decide to have him work remotely as he does each time that he comes here to visit with us. So all fingers & toes are crossed right now, in hopes that we can remain here for many reasons, family, friends, the kids schools, our house. However, if God's will is for us to be up there in Chicago then I am sure everything will work out.

So when you are all in prayer, send a prayer up for our family. That no matter what the final outcome is, it is one in which we can all be together again.

We thank you all in advance for your prayers!

Typing Test

57 words

So I was browsing through blogs and found this test posted on someones blog and decided to take it. Not so bad for someone who hasn't really worked in an office environment in over 6 years. At least not since I left Disney! Ok, ok, so I was bored, so what!? I was just having fun! LOL!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ok so I took it again a second time and my score improved, so I had to post it! Not bad huh?
65 words

Speed test

Spring Break is over!

Well it was back to the real world today! I was in such denial, that I even woke up late, ugh! I set the alarm but forgot to turn it on. That would help wouldn't it. Well, Azriel was about 20 minutes late, not too bad but still late.

I guess it will be a bit hard this week getting used to the waking up early and homework at the end of the day so I better have me a couple of cups of coffee, LOL!!! Maybe that will help.

We sort of relaxed this Spring break, we did the whole being cozy at home, and having fun with our friends in the neighborhood. We did go to the movies and saw "Horton, Hears a Who?" cute movie. At least from what I saw, but I did fall asleep I was so tired so I missed a middle part of the movie. LOL!!! I guess the seats were too comfortable.

The weather here has been rainy for the most part so although we had plans to visit SeaWorld we are holding off for some better weather! I hope we are able to go soon, Azriel really misses going and seeing the dolphins and Shamu. He calls them his best friends (cute).

Short post, I hope to have more fun things later! LOL!!

Have a great week!

RANDOM Things you may or may not know about ME:

1. I love to sing
2. I enjoy reading
3. I listen to music constantly
4. My favorite music: All kinds, but I enjoy R&B and jazz most
5. I should be moving to Chicago, IL (at some point, LOL)
6. I have 3 boys and absolutely adore them, I enjoy being a MOM!
7. I was raised by my precious Grandparents
8. I am a Christian believer
9. I have been married to my First Love for 21 years
10. I absolutely LOVE Scrapbooking
11. My extended family is a total of 120 plus 3 more on the way and counting!
12. Finally, I have the best group of friends in my LIFE anyone can have! Im talking about all of you.

ENERGIZER BUNNY vs. EASTER BUNNY!

Man oh man.........Where does all that strength/energy come from when you are running around? Get up take the kids to school, come home do all the chores, errands, phone calls, yaddy...yaddy! Pick up from school, come home, try to eat something in between & take a 2 minute break. Yes a 2 minute break! There isn't much time for a break is there? LOL! Cook, serve dinner, clean up after dinner, do homework.........geesh!!! I sometimes forget there are only 24hrs in the day, it seems as though it doesn't end. LOL!!! But all is good, I don't know where this Energizer Bunny gets the juice to keep going but I do somehow. For all the moms out there: KUDOS to you for keepin' it going!

What about the Easter Bunny? He only comes around once a year, looking all cute with his basket full of pretty decorated eggs that of course we decorate. He just stands there and does nothing! LOL!!!

(Smile) It's a beautiful day if you are in it!

S.I.S.T.A. Scrappers Weekend!

Wow this was fun!! It was Scrapbook time this past weekend at my house, and we all had such a great time!!!! We scrapped, we danced, we sang, we ate, we drank, and we even went on a field trip to different area Srapbook stores. Yes it was great as always!

We finally came up with a name for our Scrapping group, and that was a surprise in itself, after many ideas floating around, and attempts to agree on one, we simply came up with one in the midst of a conversation! LOL, and poof there it was......S.I.S.T.A. Scrappers which means Scrapbooking In Style Together Always.

The fun part of course was our field trip day on Saturday when we went together to different area Scrapbook Stores, we had such a great time!

I love these ladies and they truly have become true Sisters to me, I wouldn't want to be on this journey without them. Surely once my move to Chicago becomes a reality, I will miss the fun times we have had together across the years.

Here we are exhausted after a whole afternoon of Scrapbook shopping! LOL!!! Ok, ok, we were actually waiting for one of our SISTA's to come out of the store and she wouldn't (you know who you are, lol) so we took a nap while we waited!

So whats New for Me?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have jumped on the band wagon of reading once again. I am currently reading "A New Earth" Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckart Tolle. This book is part of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club. It's just one of those things I have brought back into my life, the joy of reading. The reason I wanted to read this book in particular, was due to the fact that the title represented one of the goals I have for 2008 which is; my journey to come into my "own" and become a better me.

It is an amazing book and one that will surely either Awaken you or have absolutely no effect on you depending on where you are in life. If it awakens you, then you are off to a much better and enlightened life.

Another thing that has become new is my MySpace page! This is the link to find me if you happen to have one and would like to be one of my friends in this MySpace world ( www.myspace.com/scrapmania). At first I was quite mistaken that this was a world for teenagers and not for adults. Soon enough I became aware of many adults I know that have a MySpace page, for example our families. Being that my sons also had one, I wanted to monitor the situation and get more informed as well regarding this new form of human connection. Of course if you have a MySpace 9 out of 10 times you have a page on Facebook as well. They call this the "preppy MySpace". I have family & friends that only use Facebook so I created a page there as well. However, I must be honest I don't keep up with this a whole lot, it is just a way to keep in touch with long distance friends and family and keep in the loop of modern communications.

Our move to Chicago is still in progress, we are currently waiting on the results of our final Home Appraisal for our house in Florida and see where that goes. The plan is to be up in Chicago by this Summer, but everything depends on this house and its sale to my husbands employer. As we all know, the market is not doing so good and they are purchasing the home at Fair Market value so we will just have to wait and see what happens. I will keep you all posted!

In light of the potential "summer move" my Scrapbooking buddies will be coming to crop at my house this weekend. It will be an all Girls Weekend Crop getaway at my place and I am siked! I am so excited to have them over and get to have some down time with some of my favorite people in the world! I will post some pictures of our fun weekend. Well that's it for now and I will post more later! Have a happy weekend everyone!

2008

Well I skipped a whole year there, LOL!!! But that is how busy and crazy my year went! Incredibly enough, 2007 was a year of many changes. Some changes brought us challenges and difficulty but in the end it is all working out for the good.

To sum it up I will be leaving the beautiful Sunshine state of Florida and heading up North to the cold, windy city of Chicago, IL. Many of you may be thinking that's simply insane, well I thought it too, but the right job opportunity came along for my husband and so the decision had to be made. It was a major Family decision for us and in the end the majority agreed that it was the right move for us all. So up to the North pole we are heading, LOL!! Ok, not so much but it will feel pretty close.

In any case, we have already gone up to Chicago twice, once in the fall and once in the winter of 2007 and have searched for homes in the areas we think would be suitable for us. They have absolutely gorgeous homes and we are praying we will find what we are needing. The house in Florida you may ask? Well we are currently in the process of working out the sale of our Florida home with the company that Louie is going up there to work for. Yes I did say his company is buying our home, so I guess you know why we jumped at the offer! LOL!!! It really is depedending on the fair market value of course and what we can work out from there so it's still in the process but I believe it will all work out fine. So if anyone out there knows of any wonderful places to live in Chicago then let us know!

I am still actively Scrapbooking, that hasn't changed and I am actually holding a crop at home during this month of March with all my Scrapbooking buddies. I am so excited it will be an entire weekend of pure Scrapbooking fun!!! Yippee!!!!

Some of the other things I am into this year of 2008 is reading, I officially joined up again (I've done it before) the Oprah Winfrey book club! Besides wanting to get back into reading, I figured I should get into the Chicago spirit since I am moving up there! LOL!!!

Anyhow, I will try to post more often this time around if things don't get too crazy for me with the move! Which by the way the official move will not be happening until Summer sometime, so I still have time here to enjoy the sunny skies of Florida................(smiling).

Being blessed and thankful

With a new year beginning, I have been contemplating what things I can do differently this year. I have been in thought of all the time that I have let go in the past without making the most of it or at least enjoying it. I have begun to take another look at the things that I have, that I probably take for granted just because they are there. And so, I have realized that I have alot to be thankful for and therefore I am blessed.

I am blessed that I have my husband, partner, friend and lover at my side. That even though I have my imperfections, he still loves me and accepts ME for who I AM. I am blessed, that God has given me this partner for life. We have been through thick and thin, through challenges and difficulties, through happy moments and sad moments together. When life has seemed as though it had let us down, and has taken the very breath out of me he has helped me to see the brighter side. I am BLESSED.

I am blessed to have the boys that I have. My sons are AWESOME! There are just no other words to describe them. My two oldest sons are great human beings and have hearts of gold, they see things with a keen perspective and are so clear on the things they value in life. They are brilliant in their studies, I have one that is in College studying with a scholarship that was granted by the state of Florida due to his GPA scores. He is being a responsible young adult, and we are so proud of his accomplishments and commitment to his success. The other one is in High School and has also shown great commitment to his studies, he is also on a path to success and has been nominated to join the National Technical Honor Society by his school. He has also proven that he is very business savvy and has created his own little side business in order to make a few dollars here and there.

Today being a Friday evening, I had thought the boys had gone out to have fun on a Friday night like any other teenagers would, and so I had my husband call to check up on them and see what they were up to since I was at the store buying groceries when they left. When my husband called they were both in church with a friend attending a Youth Service! WOW, I am sometimes in total disbelief that this is the family that God chose for me. Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I think going anywhere else other than church would have been bad, but the mere fact that they chose to go to church instead is AMAZING and I am so proud of them for it.

My little guy which is now going to be 5 soon, is also an amazing little soul. He is continously amazing me and totally impressing me with his antics and curiousity. Today I had to pick him up from Pre-K along with my godson Sammy, as I put them in the carseats and strapped them in I began to ask about his day. He said it was fine, and so I asked him "how was Sammy's day?" He said "ask Sammy" Well for those of you that don't know Sammy, he is a little boy with Autism just like my son, however Sammy doesn't have much to say most of the time and although he uses some words to communicate, it isn't easy to get him to speak. Well to make a long story short, I explained to Azriel as best as I could that Sammy just couldn't tell me how his day was and of course that prompted the questions of "Why?" So to not complicate his little mind, I simply told him that Sammy needed some extra help from us, and especially from him. Well after pondering for some time, Azriel said "Mommy, I don't know how to help him?" I was totally taken by his statement, here is a 4 yr. old clearly stating that he was not sure how he could help a friend and sort of asking me to give him a suggestion on how to do that. Of course I said "just be his friend, that is how you can help him, BE HIS FRIEND" To which he responded...."Ok mommy". Simple as that is, it clearly is the beginning of a little life being molded into having a gentle and thoughtful heart for others and I feel so blessed to see the signs of such kindness flourishing around me. I AM BLESSED!

I hope you start looking around you this year and seeing that your BLESSINGS are truly in the SMALL THINGS of life.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

WOW! A whole year gone by completely, incredible as it seems it is even more incredible that I haven't posted in months! I have truly been busy, new job, adjusting to having a son in college and just life in itself has taken a turn. All is good, but I sure did miss posting and reading your comments from time to time. As I mentioned, I am working part-time now in an Opthalmologists office, it has been great and so far I am really enjoying it. Nice to be out and having some purpose outside of being a mom.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and I pray that the New Year brings you showers of blessings and hope for a brighter tomorrow!

My goal is to post more often and give you updates on some of my upcoming events. I have set a lot of goals before me for this year and I hope to accomplish them all. I hate doing New Years resolutions because I know 9 out of 10 times they are broken. So instead I have placed some goals for myself and writing to you today is the 2nd one I have kept so far. So I think I am doing good.

I will post pictures soon so you can all see some of the things we have been up to in the Rodriguez family.