Hike #5 - Split Oak Forest WEA

I guess it's been a long time since I shared a Hiking layout. With only 1 hike left on the 50 hikes goal, after 18 months of hiking, it's about time I try catching up. I've scrapped more than half my hikes now. Here's hike #5, which we completed while Lisa had a migraine and I learned how not to tell her the true distance of a hike. This is also the hike where we ran into a nudist, trudged through deep sand, and found a Split Oak tree.

Reliving Summer Vacation

Looking back at summer vacation, the majority of it happened before summer officially began. For example, Nicole and the boys were here at the end of May, and were gone by June 3. We had a blast, and I can't wait for them to come back. Those boys are FULL of character, and they got to meet some characters to boot.

Connor was not completely on board with character pictures, although he loved meeting them and even gave hugs. He just couldn't understand why we'd ever want to stand still when there was so much left to SEE!

Here's another layout (created with On the Go by Dee Bee Designs) - Logan loved the Where's the Fire game at Epcot, even if it was a little slow-paced for him. These boys are busy!

Bianca learned to walk the runway, and learned that she loves it! Here is Queen of 6-8 year olds in Miss Firecracker.

John and I just finished a quick Disney stay to celebrate our anniversary - that was so relaxing!

From breakfast at Boma's to drinks at Big River Brewery, we thoroughly enjoyed exploring Disney property, as we always do. We stayed at the Pop Century, my favorite value resort, and we were not ready to come home. A shout out to the events manager at Animal Kingdom who took time out of his day to teach John how to wear his Happy Anniversary button - it was hysterical and really set the tone of our morning that day. (This layout was created using Timeless Treasure by Algera Design).

There is more fun coming in July, see you soon!

A Successful June

June was a very happy scrappy month for me - so many layouts, and layouts I was happy with too. I finished 40 layouts for a cool 165 layouts in the first half of 2012. My goal for the year is 350, so I'm hanging in there. None of my paper layouts have been posted online yet, I'll get around to those in a few days, but here are a few of the digital layouts that are floating around out there.

Here's Logan in The Waves Roll In, created using SeaSide by StarSongStudio

Connor had his own beach experience in Escape to the Sea, created using SeaSide by StarSongStudio

This is Trinity in She Doesn't Need Pixie Dust, created using Blossoms and Fairytales by TheBusyElfDesigns

Proud to Be an American is about my sisters when we were younger; this layout was created using All American by GreenEyedLadyDesigns

Bianca recently had a proud moment, captured here in Bianca's Recital which is one of the layouts I created using the brand new Collab Kit A Moment of Thanks by the Nifty Designers

Tabatha also had a proud moment at her High School Graduation, and I couldn't help but reflect on her growth over the years into the lovely young lady we know today, captured in The March of Time is Persistent using the brand new Collab Kit A Moment of Thanks by the Nifty Designers.

Thanks for looking!

Which Dream Is Weirder?

So, I recently had two wacky dreams. I don't know which one was weirder.

Dream #1 - John and I were at home with my Dad and 4 talking dogs (two Rotts, one Dalmatian, and one Terrier). A talking alligator came to the house while I wasn't paying attention - a really huge, really ugly, really mean talking alligator - and John fed him and put him in a room. The talking alligator proceeded to tear the room apart, making a complete mess of walls and furniture. John and I relocated the alligator far from the house (a small yellow house on a large piece of land). A few hours later, I was sitting in the back room of the house with my Dad, the Terrier and the Dalmatian. Our back door had no door, and we notice the alligator is marching up to the house. I yell at Dad and the dogs to flee the room, since we have no way to keep the alligator out and he's hungry again. Hungry alligators tend to eat people and dogs, I tell them. The Dalmatian is assuring me that this alligator most certainly won't eat him, seeing as how it talks. Then the alligator announces that he's hungry and most certainly will eat anything he comes across. So then my Dad and the dogs make a mad dash scramble into the other room, hurdling over the dog gates in place to protect us from the outside. The alligator stomped in and John found the only way to keep him calm was to fill the room with containers of water - the kind of containers you find on a water cooler in an office. The talking alligator liked looking at those huge bottles of water. For the record, I would like to note that only my two Rotts behaved in this dream.

Dream #2 - John and I went on a roadtrip with his cousin and a friend. We drove to Atlanta (GA), then to Jasper (AL), then to another city in GA which I don't believe exists, but which I kept referring to in my dreams as The Home of the Braves (I am aware they are from Atlanta). From that city we took a train out to Arizona, where we were visiting with Woody, Buzz and Jessie (yes, the characters from Toy Story). In Arizona I was attacked by two talking geckos - they were fierce. And John's cousin shrunk to the size of a Barbie doll. It was mad chaos out there, although we did get to see our Toy Story friends.

The moral of the story seems to be that talking animals follow John. That can't be good, lol.

And by the way, I think the spelling of the word weird is... well, weird.

Busy Busy Busy as a Bee Bee Bee

What happened to March, you ask? Well I really couldn't tell you - it just zipped on by. So much going on, and lots of travel, kept me away from the computer. Luckily I can update Facebook from my cell phone! What I'd like from April is not necessarily less action, but less injuries. That would be awesome.

I have a few helpful hints for those of you who, like myself, love to win things or get things for free.

The GoodReads First Reads program is amazing. I've won quite a few books since I started entering the giveaways. I only enter for books that sound enjoyable to me, and that is paying off with some very good reading material. So far I've read and reviewed 3 of the books I've won, with another in-progress. If you love books, I highly recommend the GoodReads site, and if you love winning, you should totally check out their Giveaways section. Once you are logged in click the dropdown arrow next to Explore and choose the link for giveaways.

Another fun source of online giveaways is FreebieShark. If you like them on Facebook then the latest sponsor giveaway entries will show up on your News Feed. The idea is that they direct you to Manufacturers/Stores who are giving away free samples, and for the price of your personal information (usually mailing address, email address, and phone number) you can get something in the mail for free. From Oatmeal Squares to Kleenex samples, the mail has started trickling in. Their Facebook site also offers helpful tips for cleaning up your Facebook App associations once you've registered for the free stuff.

This week I've returned to scrapbooking (digital, at least) with a vengeance. Some of our fun March events are included in my subjects. I'll leave you with these...

First visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventures:

kits used: Gizmos ATC Mak'ns Paper Solids, Gizmos ATC Mak'ns Pen and Ink Elements, Gizmos ATC Mak'ns Pen and Ink Papers, all by Sweet Spot Designs

Connor's Birthday Party:

kit used: Vintage Memory Board by AneczkaW

My niece and her boyfriend before Prom:

kits used: Gizmos ATC Mak'ns Paper Solids, Gizmos ATC Mak'ns Pen and Ink Elements, Gizmos ATC Mak'ns Pen and Ink Papers, all by Sweet Spot Designs

(All kits used were provided in exchange for my work as a Creative Team Member at E-Scape and Scrap.)

My First Book Arrived

The first of the books I won arrived at the end of last week, and I dedicated some time this weekend to read it. It was amazing! Check out my review, which I posted on Goodreads:

The Expats: A Novel by Chris Pavone

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

The Expats is a fantastic spy thriller that kept me hooked from beginning to end. I was initially unconvinced by the flashback/flashforward presentation of the story, however as the story went on this helped to clarify the situation Kate was in while still allowing the author to throwing twist after twist at the reader, until the ending was as unpredictable as anything that came before it.

Kate and Dexter are your average American couple, raising 2 young boys and struggling to make ends meet, until Dexter informs Kate that they are moving to Luxembourg where he has unexpectedly received a lucrative job offering. Having known she wanted something different in her life, without quite knowing what that is, Kate agrees and begins tying up loose ends. Although it's a littler harder for her than it would be for most wives, considering that her loose ends revolve around a 15-year career at the CIA.

As we follow Kate's journey across the ocean and into a new country, we soon learn, as does she, that nothing is as it seems. Sweet unassuming Dexter has more than one secret he is keeping and some of the Expat wives Kate meets and befriends are not at all what they seem to be on the surface. In fact soon Kate finds herself embroiled in a mystery that rivals anything she encountered in her years with the CIA. She'll need to brush off her rusty field skills to figure this one out before it destroys her family.

My only reservation about this book is the very very end - literally the last 2 pages. The rest was pure enjoyment, with fleshed out characters, interesting twists and turns in the storyline, and a heroine that readers are invested in. Kate is smart and funny and determined and dedicated to her family and not at all perfect, which makes her relatable and easy to spend time with - and spend time with her I did, once I sat down with this book it was very hard to get back up!



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Happy Valentine's Day

Yes, today I'm celebrating a widely recognized holiday, but I think all the other daily holidays I've been celebrating are equally as important. For example, celebrating "Get a Different Name Day" was easy, since I already have a Rock Band Name, Malika, that I love almost as much as my real name. ;-) And I didn't have to live through the never-ending questions "What did you get for XYZ Day?" I was also pretty excited about Inspire Your Heart with Art Day, that's a worthy cause to celebrate if I've ever heard one.

Thanks to Mom, though, for remembering us with cupcakes on this day of love, and to Trinity for helping to deliver them. My manager also sent out a nice note to the department today - she is such a wonderful lady.

Last week I won 3 books from giveaways held over at Goodreads.com; I'm patiently waiting for them to arrive. The books I'm expecting are Expats: A Novel by Chris Pavone, Sinners of Sanction County:  Stories by Charles Dodd White, and The Big Five For Life - 2012 Edition by John P. Strelecky. They all sound fantastic, and I'm so excited that I won!

I finally finished reading Dormia by Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski - Mom gave me that book 2 years ago, she stumbled upon an advance copy of it. It was one of those books that takes a while to get into (it took me a couple of tries), but really picks up steam about 7 chapters in, check it out:

Dormia by Jake Halpern

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What do you do in YOUR sleep? Do you sleep soundly? Do you dream? Do you sleepwalk? Do you fix clocks? If it's the last two, then perhaps you are a Dormian-in-waiting... perhaps you might even be the next Great Sleeper.

Dormians are best noted for their abilities while sleeping. They don't waste time, as soon as they are asleep their sleeping selves get busy with their own specialties. They are just as productive when they are awake. In fact they make the rest of us look like sloths. Alfonso knows nothing of any of this, however, and is quite disturbed to learn that he does things in his sleep. When his Uncle Hill appears with a strange story of a far-away land, Alfonso is snatched from the comfortable life he has always known and thrust into the adventure of a lifetime.

It's an incredible story that starts off with an odd stranger and builds into an epic adventure. It's rated for ages 10 and up, or grades 5 and up, but it's a hefty book at 528 pages and an intricate storyline. I found it to be a slow read until Chapter 7 - I actually only read the first 5 chapters on my first attempt, but the second time around I stuck with it and I'm glad that I did. By the end I didn't want it to end. The heroes and villains are well-disguised for a good part of the book, increasing the suspense-factor.

View all my reviews on Goodreads.com