Christmas is only days away....are you ready?

I actually feel pretty good about how much I got done this year. Unfortunately, it's not because I am laid-off, but because I started earlier this year, and actually had things in mind on what kind of gifts I wanted to get for everyone (except my dad and my brother Adam, they are always so tough). The only thing that I do not have done yet is a calendar that I make for my grandma every year. I hope to get that done today.

I really debated about making handmade Christmas cards this year. Actually, towards the end of November, I was like "nope, I'm doing doing it this year." I didn't have money to spend on supplies to make the cards this year. Then I began organizing my scrapbooking stuff (what else is new), and I realized that I had these cute QuicKutz Christmas Tree diecuts, and I had these cute buttons and cream 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock left over from Kristin's scrapbook and invites, and I had lots, and lots of scraps that I could use up. The only thing that I bought was the ribbon, which was on clearane at Michael's!


So, tah dah! Here is my 2008 Christmas Card!



So, I would like to know....Are you ready for Christmas? And, did you make anything handmade this year for your family and friends?

Scrapbook for Kristin

It is true... I really have been scrapbooking this past year! This book was a lot of fun to make. It brought back a lot of memories of me growing up with Kristin and getting to know Scott over the years.

I had used My Mind's Eye paper, Making Memories glitter chipboard letters, Bazill cardstock, lots of staples, and my favorite.....Thickers!

Kristin and Scott had gone to vacation to Walt Disney World after Kristin had graduated from getting her Master Degree. Scott had planned a special dinner and the picture above shows the menu from their dinner. I had received the menu and minimized it to add it to the scrapbook.

I had asked each Bridesmaid to make their own page. I had supplied them the paper and embellishments. They all did a great job and for a lot of them this was their first time scrapbooking. The above layout was the page that I did for Kristin.

I have another opportunity to make another scrapbook again! My friend Jess is engaged! I am the Maid of Honor in this wedding, so I am really excited. I was so bummed after Kristin's wedding was over. I was like now what? 2 weeks later, Jess and Joe get engaged! They want an October wedding (of next year), so I don't have as much time as I did with Kristin's, so I better start planning!

The Roth Wedding in Punta Cana - Day 4

Day 4: Saturday November 8, 2008

It's the wedding day! Here are the pictures that you have been anticipating for almost a month now! Sorry about that!

Scott and Kristin had events planned for the men and the females. The men went on a golf outing for a couple of hours while the girls stayed back at the resort to get Meringue lessons. We all had a lot of fun doing that! After the meringue lessons, we gave Kristin her scrapbook that I had put together for her. She was so shocked and surprised!

The girls got their hair done in the salon in the afternoon. Then we (the girls) met up in Kristin in Scott's room to take some pictures, receive our flowers, and to have a little champagne toast! Kristin and Scott wanted to take pictures of the bridal party before the ceremony because the ceremony started at 5 so we would have lost the light to take pictures afterwards. So Kristin and Scott and their "first moment" before meeting the bridal party at the ceremony location in the gardens. The pictures will tell the rest of the story...

Kristin and Scott arriving to the ceremony location after their first moment.

Meet the new Mr. Scott and Mrs. Kristin Roth!

Unfortunately, I don't have some good pictures of the reception, but it was amazing. In my next post I promise to share pages of the scrapbook that I made for Kristin!

The Roth Wedding in Punta Cana - Day 3

DAY 3: Friday November 7, 2008

Today was a fun jam-packed day. I had to wake up kind of early today to go horseback riding on the beach! I have always wanted to ride a horse on the beach, so this has now been checked-off on my bucket list of things to do before I die! It was about a 45 minute drive to the ranch. On this drive, you get to see how the "real world" is of Punta Cana. It's a 3rd world country, but I think it is a thriving 3rd world country. There was a lot of construction going on, it didn't look too bad. But once you got out of the towns you see how the natives really live. In shacks, tin shacks (now remember it was like 80 some degrees, plus humidity, so can you imagine living in a tin shack with that heat?) It really makes you aware of what you take for granted every day of your life.

Back to my horseback riding adventure....

My horses name was "Negro". He was a nice horse, and once we got down to the beach and to the water, all he wanted to do was just run and catch the waves! I got pretty wet! I just enjoyed this whole adventure, I hope to do it again soon!

For some reason, my pictures went out of order again. So, I will give you some captions for the pictures.

The beach that we went horseback riding on. It was beautiful, but a lot of trash was on it.

The view from the ranch. Believe it or not, the inland of Punta Cana is very mountainous.

Another view of Punta Cana from the ranch.

Scott and Kristin

The picture below should not be located here right now, but here is a picture of some of us having dinner tonight. It was very yummy. It was Devan's birthday today (the girl there at the end in the front with the short hair), so we had asked if they could bring out a dessert with a candle in it. They did, and even sang Happy Birthday to her in Spanish! She was so surprised!

Later on in the day, the Bridal Party (and their dates), were invited to go on a private party boat for a rehearsal luncheon cruise and also to go snorkeling. I had never been snorkeling before either, and this was kind of scary to me. I had many thoughts going through my mind. Are there sharks? Will I suffocate b/c I don't know how to breathe out of this mask. It was scary at first, but you kind of get the hang of it. I didn't see too many different kinds of fish and coral, probably b/c my mask kept filling up with water and then it fogged up, and then I would suck in large amounts of sea water, but it was fun to do. Snorkeling was not one of my bucket-list items though.

After we had gone snorkeling they had served us a yummy lunch, shish-kabobs and french fries, as they took us to this one point on the island. They let us swim around in the water some more. A few chicken fights went on, and a few swimming races happened too.

After we got off the boat, we went directly to the gardens for the wedding rehearsal. Then off to dinner!

The future Mr and Mrs Roth

Scott, Kristin and Kristin's parents

Chillin' out on the top deck of the boat

The top deck of the boat

Wedding pictures are next. Stay tuned for them!

The Roth Wedding in Punta Cana - Days 1 & 2

Ahhhh......Paradise....

I can't believe that this vacation is over already. It was one of the most enjoyable ones that I have had in a long time. It was spent with good friends, terrific weather, friendly workers at the resort, and of course a beautiful wedding.

I am going to do several posts of this vacation since a lot of pictures were taken. There are a lot more to see on my myspace page too!

DAY 1: Wednesday November 5, 2008

Today I arrived in Paradise. I have never seen anything so beautiful. The weather is very hot and humid (completely shocking when you get off the plane)! When I checked-in they told me that my room was not ready yet for another 30 minutes. No prob! I walked around the resort and took some pictures. Palm trees here, palm trees there....white sand, blue water. Why can't New Jersey look like this?

As soon as I checked into my room I had to get ready to meet Kristin and Scott and a few other couples who were there already for dinner. We ate in a Mediterranean restaurant called Passion. Everything here was all inclusive (which is the best thing in the whole wide world), so I had all of the drinks I wanted, and I could eat as many meals that my stomach could hold...but remember, I needed to fit into a bridesmaids dress....bummer! So, I got a nice salad, had salmon as my meal, and then dessert came.....wow....

After dinner, all of us had gone and walked around a little bit more. There was plenty of seating so we got comfy and enjoyed each others company. We drank, laughed, and played a few games of "Catch a Phrase" What a fun time I had! I was pooped with traveling, and being up since 3 AM (plus it was 1 hour ahead there than it was here), so I headed back to my room for some Zzz's.

DAY 2: Thursday November 6th, 2008

I see that my pictures are all scrambled up for today, sorry! It was just amazing to wake-up to warm, sunny days! I got up, got myself all cleaned up, and put on my bathing suit.....I was going to the beach! Already at 8:00 AM the sun was HOT, and the air was very humid. I spent about 3 hours on the beach, then a few of the others finally woke-up and I joined them at the pool. This was my favorite thing about the pool...the bar that you can swim up to! haha! Most of my day was spent there with everyone, relaxing it up!

That night I had gone out to dinner with a group of people for some Sushi. Ahhhh, some of the best sushi I have ever had. We had met the rest of the people that arrived today at the Lobby bar for some drinks, and then later on we enjoyed a show called "Fire Desire". It was a big dance party on the beach, and then some guys came out and were twirling fire and blowing fire out of their mouths. Hot!

Where is Gary you ask? Well, unfortunately his passport went missing and he didn't realize it until 3 AM when we were about to leave. So he had to get an emergency passport and he arrived on Friday afternoon. It was a little scary traveling by myself, but luckily I new some people on the plane, and people when I got there, so it wasn't that bad.

Stay tuned for the wedding pictures!