Lizz...do you know this guy?

Lizz is such a sweetheart! I love to hang out with her. We talk about anything and everything. I'm excited to be photographing her wedding in December. These are some of her engagement shots that I took. I created a simple canvas piece to give to her.
Canvases by Canvas Concepts
Paper by Scenic Route
Canvases are hinged together.

Happy Birthday Jeremy!!!!

My darling son turned 12 today!!! I can't believe he's growing up so fast!!!

We were looking at one of his scrapbooks earlier and we compared him now to when he was 7.
He likes all of the same things:
chocolate, the color green, cartoons, spagetti, and his parents. We are now adding: sea food, video games

When he was 7 he didn't like brocolli, homework, chores, and girls. What about now? He still doesn't like the same things. He still thinks girls are gross!!



Jeremy, we love you so much!!!! We are so proud of you and feel blessed to have you as our son!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Hugs, mom and dad

G4-Girls Getting Giddy In The Garage

I've had several girls ask me in the past. What is G4 and how did you come up with that name?
We are G4.
Suzy West
Nichole Pereira
Michelle Tornay
Krista Fernandez

Krista and I atteneded are very first CHA show two years ago for Canvas Concepts. We got our very first book deal by Design Originals there. We were asked what our design team name was several times and we didn't have one so after the show that night we sat in the lobby and brain stormed. We laughed at all the different names we were coming up with. We kept coming back to certain words: girls, garage, giddy, etc. I can't even remember exactly how we put it together exactly but we came up with "Girls Getting Giddy In The Garage". We loved it. That night we called Donna Wilson, VP of Canvas Concepts and told her the name. She loved it. The next day we were talking about it. Someone came up to us and said, "hey g4!" We laughed because we had just been in the show for about an hour and people already knew the name.
So that's how we came up with G4: g to the 4th power. (shorter version of the name) LOL
You might ask, why GARAGE? My business is in the

July 4, 2006--A day to celebrate for so many reasons!

Today Sierra turned FIVE!!! She was so excited about today!! We celebrated her birthday party at her grandparents house. She looked so cute in her little outfit. She matched all the way down to her shoes. We had a great time today.
Here's another cute shot of Sierra today. She has the sweetest smile!
Here is a picture of Paul and I with Sierra!!! I love this shot! When Sierra saw this shot she said, "Mommy can I have a copy of this picture?" She's so adorable!
Here is our entire family. Every year we buy matching flag t-shirts. We've been doing this for about 6 years now.
Another reason to celebrate, TANNER!! He looked so cute today. He sported not one but TWO different outfits. Unfortunately, I only got him in this one. He looked so cute in both.
One of Sierra's request for her birthday was to have a jumpy house. The kids had a blast. Wait that's not a kid back there...That's auntie Myrna!! Silly Myrna! LOL
Here is Angel's first family picture. They are so cute together! Poor Christian had left at 1am to do a delivery in Bakersfield but hurried back so he could celebrate with his family! They are so cute!!

My new pair of shoes

The other day I went shopping with my mom and saw the perfect pair of shoes at Nine West!!! I knew I wanted them the second I saw them and didn't care how much they cost. I asked for my size and the lady said five words that almost put me to tears, "we don't have your size." I asked her if I could find them anywhere else and she said they were exclusive to Nine West. I went home and thought about the shoes all night long.
The next morning I was getting ready to go to my brother's house for lunch with the family and couldn't help it.I needed those shoes! I started calling around and found out that a store sorta close (just had to get directions, cross over a bridge, and change different freeways to get there. LOL)to me had a pair. I called my mom and off we went!!
I came home with my shoes!!! Love them!!!

A True Love Story

It was 6 summers ago. A boy named Chad had just moved across the street from my parents house. We came by to visit and he was moving some boxes in and saw Angel. I could tell he thought she was cute. They introduced themselves and instantly became friends. A few months later Christian came into the picture. Chad was excited to introduce "the girl across the street" from him. I was outside with my mom. The second Christian saw Angel both my mom and I knew he was totally smitten!!!
From that day on things changed. Christian was now hanging out with them and the two boys kept competing over who could charm her more. It started to become a problem. The boys would argue over who liked her more and who she liked more. So I spoke to them and told them that their friendship was more important than a crush on a girl. I told them that neither one of them could "go out with her" because I didn't want them to ruin their friendship. So for years they were friends. Christian and ANgel were especially close. They did a ton together. They truly were best friends. Even when one was "going out" with someone else they still hung out together.
Secretly Christian was in love with Angel but didn't want to tell her because he didn't want to ruin their friendship but a summer ago he told her he liked her and that he had always liked her and that he wanted them to start going out.
She thought it was kinda wierd. After their first date she said, "it was like going out with my brother!" Soon after she started seeing him like a guy verses a brother and they really became an item.
They have an amazing relationship. Their love for one another is so sweet. He truly cares about what she has to say. She is the same way. They trust each otheer completly and will do anything for one another. It really is TRUE LOVE.

Tanner-6 days old

Picture I took of Tanner when he got home from his dr. visit yesterday.
Tanner is such a sweetheart! Our entire family is in L-O-V-E!!!
Angel and christian are enjoying him so much!! It's hard at night because he doesn't sleep much. It was funny this morning Angel said, "mom I feel so much better today because he slept more!" Tanner woke up every TWO hours!LOL
The days before he wasn't sleeping at all. He would nurse, fall asleep, and then start crying when he was put in his crib. Waking up every two hours is crazy still but better than the days prior.

My wonderful Wednesday

Hey there gals!!! The day before Angel got induced we had a fabulous event in the garage. I had a contest for 10 lucky winners to come over for a meet and greet with the mechanics and our guest scrapping celebs!!
It was so much fun!!!!
A week or so prior I was emailing back and forth with Ali to see if she had time to make it over to the garage. I was thrilled that she could come over. She asked if Cathy Z. could come with her? Let me think about that.....UM YEAH!! I love both their work. I was thrilled when Karen McGary emailed me and said that she and Vicky Harvey wanted to come too!! We then heard that Carrie Owens wanted to come and so did Shannon Montez!! We were thrilled to have them all! Steph and Di came and I was thrilled since I hadn't see them for a while. They are the original owners of Mustard Moon. Vicky and Karen bought the company from them. We had a lot of gals from Two peas there and our amazing mechanics.
It was wonderful!!! I look forward to scrapping this event!
Hugs
Suzy West

I'm a grandma!!!

I'm so excited to present my beautiful, amazing, perfect grandson
Tanner Mason Kekoa Bartonico
He was born on Friday, June 23rd
@ 1:24pm.
He weighed 6lbs 10oz.
18.5 inches long
Picture taken 20 minutes after his birth.

Mommy was induced on Thursday. They started out by putting this gel inside to soften up her cervix and help her dialate. She started having contractions that kept coming back to back but she wasn't dialating. She had severe back labor. Around 6am Friday morning they started the pitocen hoping that would speed things along. Her contractions were getting even worse but still no progress with dialation. She was 2 centimeters.

They started her on pitocin at 6am and decided to give her an epidural because she was in so much pain. After the epidural she was a happy camper!! The dr. came in at 9am to check her. She was still at 2 centimeters. The dr. broke her water bag and said that by 10am she should be further along. By 10am she was at 4 centimeters. An hour later she was 9.5 centimeters.

Angel pushed for 2 hours and Tanner finally made his way out. Christian was so excited!! He followed the nurse everywhere she went with the baby.

Mommy and daddy are so happy!! They are both so in love with Tanner!

Scoop on Angel

Hi there gals! I would like to thank everyone for all their sweet emails and phone calls. Angel's had a really rough pregnancy. In and out of hospitals and is just ready to pop. We thought for sure she was going to give birth on Friday. They admitted her and did a whole bunch of tests. They let her go home on Saturday. They said she was fine.
The dr. has her doing a 24 urine test to see if she really has protein in her urine. If she does and if her blood pressure hasn't gone down then they are going to induce her.
Hugs
Suzy

Who wants to meet Ali Edwards AND Cathy Z.????

Hi there gals! Wanted to let you know that Paul randomly picked the names out of the hat. Winners were notified by email. If someone can not make it. We'll pick another person. Thanks guys!!! Sorry the garage wasn't big enough for everyone.


Hey there gals!!! I'm really excited!!! Ali Edwards will be making a visit to the garage on Wednesday night!!!! She'll be here sometime in the evening. We unfortunately, can not accomodate everyone at the garage at the same time (no room) so here is what we are going to do. The first 30 people to post a reply will be entered into a random drawing to be one of the 10 people for the Ali Edwards meet and greet. If you are chosen we will email you with more details!!!
Good luck!!!
Hugs
Suzy West

****UPDATE********* Cathy Z. will be coming as well!!!!

****MORE UPDATES****Vicky Harvy and Kim Mcgrary (new owners of Mustard Moon) and hall of fame winners will be joining us as well!!!!

VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE--PLEASE include your name. I have no idea who annonymous is. LOL

Last day of school traditions!!!!

the kids at Patterson have been doing a shaving cream fight on the last day of school for as long as I can remember. It's mostly the 4th graders and older. Angel did it when she was there and now years later Jeremy having his very last fight!


I was proud to hand over not 1, not 2, but 4 cans of shaving cream!!!



Since it was his very last fight, I wanted him to be prepared to go into battle so I bought him a pair of goggles!!!!



He got "creamed" pretty good!!!



By the time he was done, he had won the battle and handed a younger kid his googles and a bottle of shaving cream!

CONGRATULATIONS Christian!!! Grad 2006

Congratulations Christian!!!! Senior Graduate 2006!!!




Fun picture of Christian and his best friend Tony!!



The guys with their girlfriends!!!! We wish you the best in your next adventure!!!

Congratulations JEREMY!!!!!

I can't believe it!!! Jeremy graduated from elementary school today!!!! It was a very emotional day for me. As I watched him walk on stage I couldn't help but cry a little.



He looked so handsome today!!!



He is normally so shy to take pictures in front of others but today I was allowed to take a few!!!


This is Jeremy and his best friend Josh. They have been going to school together since the first grade!! Now they go on to Jr. High together!!

CONGRATULATIONS Jeremy!! I love ya sweetie!!!!

Love ya Laurie!!!!!

There are probably just a handful of people that understand my LOVE for Rick Springfield, Laurie is one of them!LOL
You can imagine how excited I was when I saw her blog about my man!!!! She even put a video on there for me!!!! I love ya girl!! Thanks for understanding my craziness!!!! http://www.mestisainsuburbia.blogspot.com/
Hugs
Suzy

Check out my new purse!!!!

I love my new purse!!! It's by All My Memories. The color is perfect!!!!




You can put pictures in the little pockets. LOVE IT!!!!




It comes with a matching keychain that snaps in the inside. You can put a picture in the keychain as well. Oh and they also come in blue and pink!

Getting ready to see Rick Springfield!!!!

I asked my husband...."Who is the love of my life?" He answered, "Rick Springfield!" I am so glad he's not confused!LOL Oh okay Paul's cool too!!!LOL
So let me begin by saying....I love Rick!!!!
This weekend Laurie, Lizz, and I are going to see him play at this event called the Second Chance Prom. It's being put on my local radion station. I'm so excited!!!
The girls have been informed that I should be thrown or tossed(which ever is easier) on, around, or near Rick!! Yes, I want him that bad!!!
If it's not to much of a bother, I would also like to be locked into a room with him!!! :) It doesn't have to be a big room! Just big enough for me and Rick to be able to move.LOL You all know I'm just kidding ((((coughcoughNOTcoughcough))))
I'm so looking forward to this event!!! I'll keep you posted to what happens!!!
I can't wait to hang out with Rick, I mean Laurie and Lizz!!!LOL We are going to have so much fun!!!
Hugs
Suzy

I got hit on yesterday!

When I was young I had cute hair, dressed nice, wore make-up, and my boobs were where they should be. I got hit on all the time!! I remember being all conceited. I would be driving somewhere and some guy would try to talk to me. I would do the whole eye roll,look the other way, and roll up my window. Thought I was hot!

Fast forward 18 years later.... I never do my hair, I never dress up, I hardly ever wear make-up, and my boobs...well let's just say they are NOT where they should be! So yesterday I went over to Erin's house and decided to dress up a little. I actually felt pretty!!! I had a great time!! As I was leaving and looking for the freeway I heard, "oh honey, you are gorgeous!!!" I turned to look and saw two "older" guys thinking they were in high school in their decked out car. They kept telling me how hot I was.LOL
I gotta say that even though they were a bunch of dorks I was kinda flattered!!!
So what was my next move? OH yeah... I rolled my eyes, looked the other way, and rolled up my window!! I smiled like a crazy school girl as I drove away!LOL I still go it!LOL

What do you think?

So I've been cleaning like a mad lady and decided to make my dining and kitchen area look nice. I added these red valances.
I wasn't sure if I should get hunter green or red?
What do you think?
hugs
Suzy West

Do you love THIS job?

few weeks ago Sierra came out to the garage where I was working. I must have been totally into my project because Sierra started to stare at me do my job. We start talking:

Sierra- "Mommy, do you love your job?"
Me- "yes sweetie, I LOVE my job!"
Sierra- "that's great mommy!!"

She leaves. Later on that night I put her in her bed. Few minutes later:

Sierra- "mommy can I sleep with you?"
me- "sure"
Sierra- "mommy can you rub my back?"
me- "sure"
Sierra looks at me a few minutes later and says, "Mommy do you love THIS job?"
me- "Sweetheart, I LOVE this job!!!!"