~Day 3 of Missing Ian~

I feel so completely useless right now. I'm in a stupor and feel like I'm on "hold"...maybe that's because Derek will be here tomorrow and I'm waiting for him...I don't know. I just feel so incredibly sad and so heavy.
You see, the thing is that this family........Derek's family (and now my family) is so wonderful...I mean it. I mean there are a lot of wonderful people in the world...but they are "special". They are the kind of people that just embrace you and all that is about you...the good and the bad. They will never judge nor make you feel judged. You could sleep until noon at their house and they will tell you when you wake up..that they are so glad you got to catch up on sleep.
I walked in their door when I was dating Derek, as a single parent with a rebel 6 year old....I was broke and had not much to offer but myself...they NEVER made me feel less, in fact they just welcomed me with open arms.
They have been through alot in their lives...ALOT. Especially Debbie, my MIL. They have pulled through...sometimes by the seat of their pants but they made it. With a whole LOT of hard work.
Ian is the baby....their child together. Scott (My FIL) came into Derek and Jake's lives when Derek (my hubby and the oldest) was about 8....came in loving with open arms. Scott and Debbie had Ian, so then there were 3 boys.
This will be the HARDEST thing they ever have to go through. Harder then poverty, harder then losing their home and all their possessions to a fire, Harder then losing parents.....this will be a very LONG journey for them. I am SO worried. So worried for them. My heart breaks every time I think of it.
For me,losing Ian...means so many things. I've lost my dear sweet BIL. When I started dating Derek, Ian was 8. I had Cory who was 6. So we hung out alot. I remember Ian told me that when he grew up he wanted to be in "the FBI or a MIB (Men in Black, from the movie)"...so cute and so little boy. My girls lost their uncle (who they just thought was so cool)...my husband has lost his little brother....the parent-in-laws just lost their boy.
But also for me, it brings back so many memories. My brother passed away when he was 19, same age as Ian. A random coincidence? I don't know.....so I have been here before...and I don't like it. All those feelings that I thought I would never feel again are here.....brings back so much raw emotion...for me and my parents.
I'm going to leave you with another link to the story, it's all over the news here. This is the story, but also there is a video link to my FIL. Please listen to it....and hear his message. Drinking and driving happens all too much. I see it all the time....a party of Mom's together, drinking wine....then driving their kids home.....asking over and over, "are you sure you are OK to drive?" and then letting them go....not fighting for the keys. NEVER again, never will I sit and let that happen. Thanks for listening to my rambling this morning...I needed to write, it was good for me... Scott Kinney, My dear FIL

~A very Sad day in our family~ Prayers please.

Yesterday evening Ian (the one on the far left), my 19 year old brother-in-law was killed by a drunk driver. This is my husbands youngest brother. The baby of the family. He was broadsided by a 1 ton flatbed truck. The truck then flipped on top of Ian's car and had to be removed by the Jaws of Life.
Ian's girlfriend, Tessa was also in the car. She was life flighted out but I have no word on her condition yet. The passenger in the truck was also killed. Senseless....just a tragedy.
My husband as many of you know is in the Navy. He is deployed right now, until the end of November. They pulled him in an office and told him the news. He is crushed. Just crushed. His baby brother and he's gone. Derek is on the other side of the world...and not with any family. I feel so bad for him.
My in-laws lost their home in the 2003 fires. They were devastated. They rebuilt. This however can't be rebuilt. The pain they are going through right now is incredible.
The Navy is letting Derek come home. He will be home on Friday. Thank God, while me and the girls need him....his mother needs him even more right now.
Please say prayers for this family, for us and most of all for Ian.
Video Link

~We have a Winner~

Dorianne Bautista !!! Ding, Ding, Ding!! You are the winner that was randomly picked from my blog. I used a random integer number picker. Yours was the number! Please check your email!!

~Want to Win some Pink Paislee Yumminess??~

Oh..... the joy of this new line! It is so fresh and so pretty!! I loved working with it...and NOW is your chance to win one of 12 Prize Packs from Pink Paislee. It's EASY as Pie......even a caveman can do it!
All you have to do is leave a comment on my blog under this post from the 9th to the 11th and you have a chance to win!! Of course I'm NOT giving up my stash....this will be from Pink Paislee themselves!!


Winners will be announced on the Pink Paislee blog on July 12th!
This is the Pop fashion line along with new release rub-ons, letter stickers (yes, cursive...love them!), stamps and the new,very cool topsiders!





You know what I love about this line? Well, I love everything about this line...but I love that the purplish color is such a pretty color...it's really more of a periwinkle color....so if you mixed with blue, purple or periwinkle...it would go with all 3!
So post a comment and enter to win some of the new Pink Paislee being released for CHA-S 2008!!


Here are a few more pictures of the album (btw, is a Clear Scraps album) !!

~It's Maya Road Sneak Peek Week~

Oh man.........you can go to the blog and leave a comment...for a chance to win a selection of Maya Road New Goodies!! Really, it's worth the time!!
OK...so here are a few shots of some of the new items.....you can see samples of these wonderful products on the Maya Road blog linked above!

~Lipstick Disaster~

Oh My Maddy.......You will be the death of me! I guess when all else fails....just take pictures...then when they are older you can show them...and they will maybe understand...why you went grey at an early age!
Pink Paislee goodness on this layout! Added some turquoise polkadots by Heidi Grace and some border punches by Martha Stewart.......!!

~My Shabby Little Cottage~

So the Word is that we can start sharing some of our CHA-S projects on our blogs...as long as they DON'T have new release product on them! So with permission given, I thought I would share my little cottage I made!


I used the Villa house...and a bunch of other fun stuff!! For the roof I took the scalloped book (after I painted it and shabbied up the edges!) and cut off strips of scallops and just used Fabri-tac to glue them down. I cut pieces of the vine scrolls from the Vineyard set and made vines up the walls...added the flowers (also from the Vineyard Set) after stamping a pattern on them (Thank you my friend Wendy for knowing exactly what they needed!!), sanded MR buttons, threaded them and I have a country garden!! The fence was something I bought years ago in the wood section at a craft store...painted it also! It needed a little something else...so I added the hat pins and the rub-on butterflies (also MR)! Anyway, enough rambling....!!