Sierra's photo shoot!!

I can't get over how sweet Sierra looks in these pictures. I told her I needed pictures for my next book and that we were going to take pictures.

She replies, "oh I'm going to look really cute for you mommy!!"

The way she said that, made me smile. She's so stinkin' cute!!!

I love all her little poses that she gives me. This is all her!! LOL

I love this shot. She looked over to see her daddy whom she adores and I snapped this picture.

I just love her to bits!!! She's the sweetest little thing!!

Having fun with my friends!!!

This weekend I had so much fun with a lot of my girlfriends that I totally enjoy spending time with. They decided to do a circle journal and they get together at the garage to work on them. We got together on Saturday and it was a blast!!! We laughed over everything. Don't ask me why but we cracked up over...a red pen!!!LOL
Anyways, wanted to give a shout out to the gals that attended!!!
Rocio D., Lonae and Amber S., Victoria F., Charmaine M., Erin Y., Veronica L., and Nelana T.
Two of the regulars were missing this time around but wanted to send a shout out to them too!!! Hey there Janice N. and Traci V.!!!
You gals are the best and I love my time with you!!!
Hugs
Suzy

Getting ready for the new store...

As many of you know, I'm going to be opening up a scrapbook store outside of the home. I've been in the garage for almost 8 years!! We should have been out of here a long time ago but I have wanted to stay home with the kids for as long as I could.
Everyone is in school now and it's a perfect time for me to move. Sooooo....we have found a place, ordered everything to make the place beautiful, ordered a ton of stuff, and tomorrow, I'm doing a walk through with the owner.


It looks like we are going to start getting the store ready in less than 2 WEEKS! HOLY COW!! I can't wait to have my "vision" come to life. I look forward to having my design team create in our new place, and to see the classroom come to life. If my calculations are correct we are going to fit between 32-35 people in the new store for classes and crops!!! SWEET!!!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone for all their wonderful support and inspiration!!!
Hugs,
Suzy West

My CHA class

CHA was a lot of fun for me. One of things I love most about CHA is teaching classes. I got to teach a really fun canvas calendar class. Everyone was so sweet. I got to meet people from all over the world and learn about their store, magazine, etc.

Crate Paper, Bazzill, 3L, and Ranger donated to the class. My publisher, Design Originals donated our third book, Scrapbooking on the table to everyone person that attended. They are so awesome!

My friend Suzanne took my class and she took these pictures for me.

Right side of the room.

Middle and left side of the room.

Signing someone's book.

A day to remember

Today has been one of those days that I will look back on and say, "wow that day was a good day!"

I was very busy doing many things.

----Sent out a save the date evite to a lot of people for Angel's wedding.

----narrowed down all the fixtures and furniture that I'm buying for my new store opening soon.

----watched my grandson get up and walk a long the couch.

----met a really sweet older gentleman that reminded me of my dad. We had the most awesome long conversation at Starbucks. We will never forget each other.

----watched my daughter read books to her son at the book store. The smile on his face made my heart jump.

----had a conversation with Sierra over who loved each other more.

----Watched my son walk towards me and saw a young man vs. a little kid. It almost made me cry.

----worked on the invitations for Angel's wedding.

----Visited my mom who has surgery last week while I was gone.

----had a fun conversation with my friend Michelle.

Yup, today was a good day!!!

I've been tagged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Erin you are such a freak!! I love ya girl!!!LOL
Okay so 5 random facts about me:

1. I hardly ever wear make-up but when I do, I have to do it all...foundation, three colors of eye shadow plus the bases to make it stay on all day, eyeline, eyelash curler, mascar, lipliner, lipstick, blush. LOL

2. Every night between 11pm-12am I watch Will and Grace.

3. I love fondue in the worst way!!! I go to my favorite fondue restaurant atleast once a week which happens to be 45 minutes away.

4. My heart skips a beat everytime Paul puts his arms around me.

5. I use to be a break dancer when I was in my teens!!LOL I was one of the first female "breakers" in our area. LOL I can still do some moves....when noone is looking!LOL

I'm tagging the following people:
Ali Edwards
Stacy Julian
Heidi Swapp
Lisa Bearnson

Hugs
Suzy

updates...

I know it's been like forever since I updated my blog. sorry. So ready for an update? There's a lot!!!

1. The garage is moving!! I'm getting a bigger store outside of my house!!EEK!!! I'm going to be unleashed!! This is scary!!
Where? I'll be in Fremont
When? It's going to be March or April
What? Let's just say it's in a great area. I'm going to have a lot of space for crops, classes, and lots of merchandise!!!
I have the whole place decorated in my head!! I've literally had dreams about the way it's going to look. So exciting!!!

2. CHA--was extremely succesful for myself as a person and for the company I design for, Canvas Concepts.
I came back with THREE book deals. I'm excited for my g4 team.
I can't give all the details on the books but I will say this:

First book will be released in July. Krista, Nichole, myself, and one of my other garage girs, Sylvia Bargas will be working on that one. Michelle is taking a break on that book because she's a busy girl!LOL

Second book: Krista, Michelle, Nichole, and I will be working on that one. This one will also be out in July.

Third book will be out in January and it will be Krista, Nichole, myself, and I'm not sure who yet.

During CHA some companies were chosen to do videos. Ours was chosen. Here's the video.


3. I'm going to be doing a lot of traveling this year but not as much as last. I have made commitments to stores already and am excited to see them. I also have other big things planned where I'll be either in different state or country. LOL

4. Angel's wedding is just around the corner. May is going to be crazy!!! We have National Scrapbook day and her wedding!!! YIKES!!!
We have been working on her invitations. They are so cute!!! The colors? pink, black, and white. LOVE THEM!!!

5. I'm excited about my little grandson. He's so adorable. He's crawling, standing against things, and happier than ever. I just love him!!!

Okay I think that's everything. I'll post more soon!!
Oh wait, a shout out to some of my special friends who have really been there for me lately during all this craziness:
Rocio, Nichole, Michelle, Laurie, and Erin!! I love ya gals!!!

Hugs
Suzy

next four months???? busy...busy...busy!!!

In just a few weeks I'll be in Anaheim, Ca for CHA. I'm excited about all the fun things that I will be seeing and doing while I'm there. I have a lot going on while I'm there. I'm leaving here on Friday, 26th and won't be back until Friday, February 2nd. A whole week away from my family, friends, and store.
I'll be teaching at CHA a really fun class that Rocio and Nichole and I will be kitting really soon. I'll also be teaching at Timeless Treasures in Rancho Santa Margarita.
I'll be going on a trip in February!!! I'll post more about that later.
I just booked a few more classes. I'll be teaching at Young Play Memories in March. I'll also be teaching in three locations back east in march.
I'll be at the Sue Gilman Rep Show. I am teaching three classes there.
I'll be teaching at Right At home Scrapbooking Store
I'll also be at Scrapbook Cupboard.
I have other big things that I'm doing too but it's to early to tell!! It's good though!!
I have some things going on in April too!! I'll tell you all about this later too!!
May is going to be busy!! I have some trips that I'm going on and Angel and Christian are getting married!!!
So today I am going to try something different. I'm going to try to be organized!LOL I have a huge layout of everything going on and am going to plan it out so that everything is BALANCED. This is my new word for the year. I want to make sure I balance everything out.
Anyways, I look forward to doing all these fun things and going to all these fun places!!!
Hugs
Suzy

It's the little things you do that make me smile

The last few days Sierra has done little things that have just put smiles on my face. I told her to put her toys away the other day and she said, "do I have to put everything away?" I said, "yes, Sierra everything" "mommy, do you really mean everything away? "Yes, Sierra. Everything that belongs to you. Everything cute, colorful, and fun should go into that box!"
A few minutes later I went to check on her and what do I find? All of her toys and herself in the toy box!! I give her a look and she says in her sweet little voice, "mommy you said everything that is cute, colorful, and fun!!" I couldn't help to run and get my camera!!! I had a smile on my face all day thinking about her!!

We booked my cruise to Bermuda!!

I'm so excited about the cropping cruise I'm going on to Bermuda!!! I will be teaching 9 classes at the cruise. The cruise will go from New Jersey to Bermuda. It's going to be a lot of fun!!!!
Scrapbook Island is an awesome store that is putting this cruise together!!!
I had such a great time hanging out with them the last time I was there!! If you are interested in joining the us on this wonderful cruise go to: http://www.derryscrapbookisland.com/Cruise.html
Hope you can join us!!
Hugs
Suzy West

It's a new year!!!

I'm so excited about the New Year!! It means new adventures and new memories!!! Our family loves to celebrate the year in a big way!!! We have tons of traditions.
--a table full of food: so you will never be with out food in your home.
--money in your pocket: so you will always have money through out the year.
--wear red underwear: so your love life is always hot and heavy!!just kidding. So you and your honey will feel a lot of love for one another through out the year.
--burn a 2006 calendar: get rid of the past and bring on the new year!!
--open all the windows in the house and then close them: so that you let out anything negative in your home.
There are more but these are some of my favorites!!! This year we had extra fun because my neice and nephew joined us!!! They are always home for New Years but my brother and wife were really sick. They loved joining in with our traditions!!! We laughed, played games, ate, and brought in the year together!!! I hope this year is filled with tons of love and wonderful memories!!! Happy New Year!!
Hugs
Suzy West

Feel good movie!!

I hardly ever go to the movies. I think the last 5 movies I have watched were during a plane ride going somewhere. I was invited by my friend Steph to go to the movies with her last night. I wasn't going to be able to go because my g4 group had a meeting planned but we had to cancel at last minute.
anyways, she occasionally invites everyone on her yahoo mail list. Her list consists of her scrapping friends, long time school buddies, church pals, neighbors, and more. We met last night in Mountain View. I think about 10 of us showed up. It was so much fun meeting everyone!! We watched the movie, The Holidays. It was just fabulous!!! I totally recommend it. It's probably not a movie your husbands/boyfriends would like(to much of a chick flick) but boy going with a bunch of girls was perfect!! After the movie ended we all were talking about it walking towards the front of the theatres. We all said bye and hugged everyone. You would have thought we all knew everyone for years.LOL The movie was so sweet that you just felt like hugging everyone!LOL
Anyways, I give it a thumbs up!!! Watch it and tell me what you think!!!
Thanks Steph for inviting me!!!

The year is coming to an end...

I can't believe that 2006 is almost over!! This year has been filled with a ton of fun and excitement as well as craziness both professionally and personally. It's funny but I truly believe that everything that has happened both good and bad, has happened for a reason and it's made everything good! Somethings even better!!

Anyways, we have all been busy here doing our thing. Here's the 411.

Sierra: She's doing really great in school!! She absolutely loves it!!! Loves her class, her friends, her teacher, loves it all. As for her health? It's okay. She is well most of the time but every so often she has an episode and it's kinda scary. She bounces back very fast though. She's accepted that she has Hereditary spherocytosis. Recently she prayed to Heavenly Father that he would bless her. It was such a sweet prayer. She's being a good mommy to Diamond.LOL There was one week that she couldn't find him and it was one of the most emotional weeks she has ever had. We talked about her not finding him and she looked up at me with tears in her eyes and cried out, "it's because I'm a bad mommy!!" OMG my heart just sank. I told her it wasn't because she was a bad mommy but because Diamond was so little. LOL She found him and all was well. LOL

Jeremy: He's doing okay in school. LOL We'll leave it at that. LOL He's such a sweetheart. He's been opening up lately. He doesn't give a lot of extra info out but if you ask him something he'll talk about it a little more.
He's excited that he has a cell phone. His first big boy toy. He loves to use it. He doesn't really know what to talk about but he calls me everyday after school to tell me the same thing..."mom? I'm walking." Which translates to: I just got off of school and my friends and I are walking to Sierra's school.LOL

Angel: She's such a good mommy. I don't know how she does it all. She watches Tanner all day (who I think believes he's a monkey because he wants to be hanging on someone all the time), she's finishing up school, is planning her wedding, and she helps to run the store. Sometimes when we are working I say to her, "one day this will all be yours!" she laughed one day and said, "wow I get a garage!"LOL That's right baby!LOL

Paul: He's been busy working...working...working. He's finishing up some project. He's excited that we now have digital cable. What does that mean? he's going to be watching even more tv. LOL

Christian: He just started his new job yesterday and came home so happy!!! He started working at a company called Gilig. He had to purchase some tools and we were the lucky ones who got to hear about every single tool he got!LOL Showed us the tool box and his cool new work shoes. LOL His new hours are 5am-1:30pm. He came home yesterday and Angel made him lunch and sent him to take a nap.LOL
We are very proud of him!!!

Tanner: is almost 6 months and has brought this family so much happiness!! He's a ball of energy!! He wants to crawl! It's so cute!! We love our little guy!!

Myself: I'm so enjoying being a grandma!!! Tanner is so much fun!!! Everyday he gives COUNTLESS amount of smiles. He's just a happy baby!! My entire family brings me so much joy!!! Last night I went out with my mom to the mall and we laughed at the craziest things!!! It was so awesome!!!

I'm excited that CHA is coming up!!! I'll be teaching a class of 100 there. I was also asked to teach at Timeless Treasures during CHA. I'll be teaching on Saturday morning and Tuesday night.

The garage is doing great!! our entire design team ROCKS!!! All of them!!! I love everything they do!!! I also enjoy all the gals that come over and hang out during crops, classes, etc. It's so much fun!!! I was thrilled to see Grace the other day. I hadn't seen her for sometime. We caught up and she helped photograph Lizz's wedding. We had a really funny moment!LOL Grace if you are reading this..LOL love the photo!!LOL
I don't know why but I'm feeling the need to thank my friends!!! Especially these gals: Laurie girl--I love ya man!! Rocio--oh my gosh---you rock!! Michelle--Thank you for everything you do! Lonae---Thanks for being you!!! Jenn--I love my time with you!!! Come and hang out more!!LOL
Thanks to all my friends!! You have no idea how grateful I am to have you in my life!!

okay I think I've bored you to death!LOL Here are some of my favorite new photos!!

Photo of Sierra and her teddy bear. If you hang out at Beverly's you might see this picture. I was asked to design a project for each one of their stores.

The back of Angel's wedding dress. It's so beautiful!!!

Jeremy and Robby!! Cousins and buddies!!

Tanner--I know a little blurry but he's so cute!!

Angel, Tanner, and Christian--love this photo of the three of them!!

Angel, myself, Erika, and Ashleigh

Angel being a freak!!LOL She's so funny!

Julio with Tanner. This picture is so stinkin' cute!!

Happy Holidays!!!

Super fun weekend!!!

I had the most super fun this weekend!!! It was filled with a ton of laughter and joy with both family and friends!!!
My Friday adventure

(see picture here) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/cheerfulcropper/DSC04819.jpg
Krista Fernandez invited me and a bunch of gals to her house to attend a purse party. She said we could invite friends. I asked my gal pals Rocio Duran and Jenn Lanza to come with me!! These two are some of the most talented and sweetest gals I am blessed to know. We headed on over and went absolutely crazy with the amount of stuff they had there. My pal Laurie joined us and we all had a blast!! We all picked out stuff and left there happy!!!! Jenn, Rocio, and I went to Olive Garden that night and had a great time!!!

Saturday's activities
OMG this was one of my funnest Saturday's ever!!!! I had three events happening that day. From 10am-4pm Stacey Simpson,daytime crop coordinator hosted her annual cookie exchange crop. It was a blast!!! The girls exchanged their cookies and cropped their little hearts out!!!

From 12-2pm our mechanics got together inside for a pot luck and gift exchange!! It was so much fun!!! We ate all kinds of yummy food. I feel horrible but I totally forgot to take pictures. Picture mechanics laughing and eating!LOL

From 5pm-8pm we had a bunch of girls over for Michelle's Canvas Class. It was so much fun!!! The girls loved their projects!!! It was fun to see everyone!! I hadn't seen Monica and Malinda for a while and it was great to see their smiling faces!!!

From 8pm-10pm our family(including my parents) went to look at Christmas trees. We didn't find the perfect one so we decided to look on Sunday after church.

Sunday's activities
Today our family attended church and it was once again beautiful!! It's funny how things happen, Angel and I have been talking about how she missed singing like she use to but wasn't sure if she was ready to perform again. This morning she was asked if she would sing at one of the wards holiday Christmas party. She looked at me and asked me if she should. I told her she should make the decision. She decided to go ahead and do it. Right before going to our next class she was asked to sing at another event. She agreed to sing at that event. At the end of that class she was asked if she would like to join the choir. So after church Angel joined the choir and practiced two beautiful songs. It was a lot of fun!!! Ready or not, she's singing again and she sounds beautiful!

So we just came back from picking up a beautiful tree!!! Christian and Paul just put it up. We've had beautiful music playing. Paul is getting the ornaments so we can decorate the tree!!! I hope you have enjoyed your weekend like I have!!

May you all have a blessed week!!!

Family photos

These are pictures that we took on Thanksgiving day!!!

Angel, Christian, and Tanner.

The West family

My kiddos. I love this shot of them!!!

All of us!!! I'm grateful for my entire family!!

Thankful to the man above.

The last few years have been really good to me and my family. Business has been good for both Paul and I. We have three healthy wonderful kids. We also have a beautiful grandson that gives the sweetest smiles that could brighten anyone's day!! We always have food on the table and a roof over our heads.

Sounds good right? Well there has been something missing in my life. I know what it is too. Since all these wonderful things started happening I stopped going to church. I stopped thanking my Heavenly Father for all that I have. How could that happen? He is the man that has listened and has answered all of my prayers. He's the man that has brought me confort when I've been sad. He's the one that has given me all the things listed above.

I've had the missionaries come over a couple of times and we've been invited to different events. I've been avoiding going. The other night Paul got a phone call from one of our members to invite us to our ward Thanksgiving party and Paul told him he'd talk to me about it. We talked about it and decided to go. It was by far the best decision we made. We enjoyed ourselves so much!! It was the first time that the entire family had been in the church building together in years! Yes, years! We had such a good time that I decided that night that I would go to church the next day. I asked my family if they wanted to join me and they all agreed!

I have not felt so much love in a room in such a long time. Every lesson taught was as if they were created for me. I know with out a doubt that this is where I needed to be. Sierra had a great time. Jeremy loved it. Angel was thrilled to be there with her family and I felt great sitting in a chair next to my husband listening to such spirital and inspirational words.

While singing a hymn I looked in front of me where my son was sitting (we had to many people in one row so we sat in two, lol) I saw my son who actually was singing as well. If you know Jeremy you know that he is as shy as they come. He never sings. It filled my heart so much to hear him singing such beautiful hymns. I couldn't help but take a picture with my phone. I made a decision that when ever I was home I would always be in church on Sunday. I am so thankful to my Heavely Father for what he has given me. Thanksgiving is just a few days away and I will be thanking him that day for everything and everyone that is around me. I am so blessed! May you all have a wonderful week!!!

Hugs, Suzy West

The quiet one in the family.

Everyone that knows me know's that I'm loud, I talk a lot, and am pretty open about anything. My two daughters are the same way. I think Angel and Sierra even talk in their sleep!!! LOL

Well Jeremy is a different story. Jeremy is the quiet one in the family. Not a lot comes out of his mouth but when it does it's usually to say something sweet or funny. There have been a lot of changes here the last 4-5 months. There is a new baby in the house and Jeremy started jr. high so I decided it was time to have "the talk" with him. Well that was the biggest mistake ever!!! LOL We were in the garage setting up for a crop and he was helping me tape down the paper onto the tables. I started talking to him about girls and "other stuff" and well it wasn't a good conversation because by the time we(or should I say I) were done with "the talk" he was taping the paper down UNDERNEATH the tables. He is extremely shy and doesn't like to talk about girls and other embarrasing topics!LOL So I decided not to have that kind of conversation with him ever again!LOL

It's interesting how all kids are different because if I were to have a conversation with my nephew who is a little bit younger than Jeremy he would tell me anything and everything. TO MUCH info. Everyone that asks jeremy if he likes girls he immediately say, "NO!"

So I made a decision that it's actually a great thing that Jeremy is still into toys and not girls.

SO I THOUGHT!!

I was taking him to school yesterday and I said to him. "Jeremy I was talking to a friend of mine who is a psychologist and I was telling her about how shy you are and that you don't like talking about girls or other things. She told me that it was totally normal and that when you feel like talking about girls you will. It's okay for you to feel shy about this kind of thing. So I won't bring up that conversation anymore. okie doke?"

He looks up at me and gives me this smile and says" okay I admit it, I like girls!" LOL

It was so freaking cute the way it came out!! We both start laughing and I ask him, "so why haven't you said anything before this?"

He says, "mom do you remember the time that you asked me about a girl a long time ago and I said she's my friend and you thought I said she was my girlfriend and so you took a picture of her? I never forgot that" LOL

We both started laughing again. I told him I would try my hardest to not embarrass him again!LOL

Since yesterday's conversation I can't stop thinking about the smile on his face yesterday. This morning he woke up and came right over to me when he saw me in the livingroom and gave me a hug and told me he loved me. He went to the kitchen to eat and looked at me. He didn't say anything but he gave me the same smile he had given me the day before in the car. No other words came out of his mouth until it was time for him to leave and he said "good-bye". I'm sure that he's going to continue to be shy and that's okay. I can see that he is a happy kid that doesn't care about all the worldly things and would rather listen than to say something. I am okay if he just smiles at me with out saying anything because that smile says a lot!!

I LOVE YOU JEREMY!!!!

Come cruise with me to Bermuda!!!

Hi there gals!!! I just got back from my awesome trip to Massachussetts and New Hampshire!!! I had such a great time!!! All three stores I visited were a blast!!! It was so great to meet so many wonderful ladies!! Thank you to Ink about it, Wholly Scraps, and Scrapbook Island for having me!!

While I was at Scrapbook Island (waving at you gals) I was asked to be the guest teacher on this wonderful cruise that they are planning. They let me know that I could extend the invitation to anyone that wanted to join us!!! So here's the scoop!!

The cruise is on July 29th-August 3rd. It will leave out of New Jersey and we will sail away to Bermuda!!! There will be tons of cropping time. On days we dock you can get off the ship and do many different excursions, there will be games and prizes, and classes from yours truly!!! It would be great for you to come!!! So if you want to join us please check out Scrapbook Island's site. Here's more 411. Scrapbook Island Cruise If you join us please let them know that I sent you. I will have a little gift for everyone that signs up from here. Spots are filling up fast so don't hesitate to sign up!!! $100.00 can sign you up and you have until April(?) to pay off your trip!!!! It's very duable (if you have never taken a cruise...all FOOD is included. Day or night!!! YUMMY!)
Hope you can make it!!!!
By the way, check out this ship and everything that you can do on it!! WOW!! Voyager family of ships
Hugs
Suzy

Tanner turns 4 months!!

I can't believe my Litter Tanner is 4 months old now!!!
He is the sweetest little munchkin ever!!!

He is so funny!! Everything ALWAYS goes in his mouth. Today it's the teddy bear's foot!! I love this picture!!

Christian and Angel are having a blast with him!! This was their family photo taken a few weeks ago. They are such a beautiful family!

Thanks for looking!!!

Busy busy busy!!! It's a good thing...

sometimes!LOL
Okay so I've been running around like a chicken with his head cut off but what's new??? I'm always like that. I think people would think there was something wrong if I wasn't busy.
If you have read my entries before this you know that we have a grandbaby. He's three months already!! (He is the cutest thing ever!!) Angel is getting married so we've been planning a wedding and I've been doing some traveling.
I'm getting ready to teach at three awesome stores back east!!!
Scrapbook Island, Wholly Scraps , and Ink about it. My friend Rocio is coming with me!! She is such a doll and I know we are going to have a blast!!
I'll be there the first week of November. This weekend I'm going to a scrapbook retreat where I'll be kitting for all the classes!!!! I hope to have everything done by then. CRAZY!!!
I haven't been scrapping much because I've been "creating" for classes I'm teaching.
I just came back from Memory Trends!! I had such a great time with Donna and Pattie!!! We laughed a ton!!! Donna is such a hoot!! I also had a great time with my awesome friends from Maine, Angela and Jenn!!!!
Let's see what else...
Sierra is doing so great in Kindergarden!! She LOVES it!!! Jeremy is doing good in school too!! He's in Jr. high now. He has a new cell phone and thinks he's so cool using it! He calls me a lot!LOL
I have other fun things coming up but I can't say yet!! Stay tuned!!!
Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!!! LOL




Hugs
Suzy West