What was your first car?

For me, it was my 1967 powder blue Volkswagen Beetle. My mother had purchased it in the Spring of 1990 for $800 from an auto shop owner who tinkered around with Beetles. Her old car had been totaled in a 6-car pile-up on the frozen 6th Street overpass in March. But that's a story for another Throwback Thursday.

Mom bought her first brand new car in the Fall of 1990 and gave Rob and me the Beetle. Zack was a couple months old and we didn't have a car, so this was a welcome gift.

We named the Beetle "McBug." This term held several meanings. First, Rob was a manager at McDonald's (a restaurant known for adding the prefix "Mc" to every word imaginable). Second, growing up with the last name "McLaughlin" also led to adding the "Mc" to "Bug."

But mostly, I was 19 and liked having cute names for my car!

McBug was a total lemon of a car. I think it ran reliably only a fraction of the time that we owned it. Either the timing was off, the brake fluid was leaking, the brake discs needed to be replaced, or the engine itself was in need of rebuilding.

But, I loved this car. It was unusual. It was cute. It made that trademark "Volkswagen" sound when it ran.

Alas - McBug became too expensive for us to try to upkeep. So we bought a newer car & ended up selling McBug to a Volkswagen enthusiast who could afford to give it the attention it needed.

Ironically, the car that replaced McBug also sucked. Such is the life of a young adult!

Yes, I know I'm rather behind on my Project Life posts. I have weeks 4-6 completed, but they're not my favorite layouts & that ol' perfectionist in me sometimes takes over.

So, here's Week 7:


Valentine's Day was on Friday during this week. Rob and I realized that it was the 25th Valentine's Day that we've celebrated together, which made us pause and go "hmmm....wow!" We had Italian food at Bruno's and then came home to watch Iron Man 2. Romantic, I know!

Alyssa had a 3 day weekend, so she came home from Bozeman. She also has a new boyfriend and it was Valentine's Day. Go figure...

Montana was in a massive thaw that week, which turned our unplowed residential streets into a total slush-fest. Maybe Spring is actually coming (she hopes naively)?

The weekend was filled with Zumba. I helped a bit with the Basic Leader training on Saturday, and then participated in a Master Class Saturday night, even leading a song that I choreographed (with some inspiration from YouTube videos LOL).

I used the Jade Core Kit this week. I like using cards that are similar to give the layouts a unified look. The cards can either be the same design, or can be the same color. This time, I went with all "jade" colored cards.


The heart and camera dimentional stickers are from Crate Paper's Close Knit line. I loved how they coordinated so well with the Jade cards.


The heart cross-stitch design came from Amy Tangerine's Yes, Please stencil set. I've been a cross-stitcher forever, so I loved the opportunity to combine my two crafty passions.

And that's Week 7. I will publish weeks 4-6, I promise!

Here is my latest installment of my Romantic Scrapbooking catalog. The prompt for this challenge was to scrap what our first impressions were of each other. This was rather difficult for both Rob & me, seeing as we met back in 1987, but didn't really begin a friendship until a year later. I decided to keep it simple & just include 3 items for each person in a bullet-point list.

Here's the layout:


Sorry for the poor photography - the bottom left corner kept curling up on me. Oh well!

The photos I chose represent how we looked at the time we met, even though the photos themselves weren't from that exact moment in time. The photo of Rob was actually taken in 1990 on his first day as a shift manager at McDonald's. I liked this because he and I actually met while working at McDonald's.

The photo of me was taken in early 1987, so about 6 months before we met.

First impressions aren't always accurate. Rob thought I was nerdy, but to this day he won't tell me how I was nerdy except that I had short hair. I thought he was cute, but stuck up & out of my league. Luckily, we got to know each other later on, during the summer of 1988, and our impressions of each other changed drastically. Plus, I grew out my hair. :)

The majority of this layout was completed with parts from Studio Calico's Sugar Rush kit. I cut the pink background using my brand spanking-new Silhouette Cameo (love this thing!!!!). The journal cards are from the Dear Lizzy Project Life Core Kit. The glitter Thickers are from American Crafts.

Well, on to the next challenge.....

I am taking part in the "Romantic Scrapbooking" course run by Noell Hyman at Paperclipping.com. If you have a significant other, I highly recommend it. Just by watching her videos and hearing the story of her and her husband, it immediately gave me a deeper appreciation for my 24-year marriage.

Here is the first layout I did for this course. The challenge was to scrapbook how or when we knew our significant other was "the one."



The picture I used was taken in August of 1989, when Rob and I went to Denver for the first time. It is one of my favorite pictures of us - it conveys such a youthfulness yet commitment to each other. Plus, we look damn cute, don't you think?

The papers and most of the embellishments were part of Studio Calico's Sugar Rush kit. Mom gifted me a kit subscription this month - thanks Mom!  The wood veneers are all Studio Calico as well.

My journaling is brief. I think I have troubles communicating to others what I feel for my husband, and this journaling reflects that. I'm hoping that this course helps me to overcome that.

"They were flying for me, they were flying for everyone.
They were trying to see a brighter day for each and every one.
They gave us their light, they gave us their spirit and all they could be,
they were flying for me, they were flying for me."

-John Denver, "Flying For Me"

Each generation has its "where were you when..." moment. For Generation X'ers, it was the Challenger Disaster.

I was a freshman in high school, sitting in Mr. Blain's 2nd period Algebra class. There was a guy sitting next to me who had one of the new Sony "Sport" Walkmans with earbuds instead of headphones. He had let me borrow it to listen to the radio while we were working on an assignment. This, of course, was against the rules, but my hair was so big, I could hide the cords of the earbuds underneath, virtually undetected.

A news report interrupted my music. The Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded during lift-off. 

I shrieked out loud "OH MY GOD," which of course captured the attention of my teacher. I then said "the Challenger just exploded!"

Mr. Blain came over, took away the Walkman, listened for a minute or two, confirming what I had said. Then he confiscated the Walkman!!! I know - the nerve!

The next period, I had Biology with Mr. Wohler. He had a TV in his classroom (this was rare back then) and so we watched the news footage from Cape Canaveral. Over and over again, they showed that fateful moment during lift-off. They showed images of Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who was selected to accompany the astronauts as part of the Teacher in Space program. Over and over again, they showed the reaction of Mrs. McAuliffe's parents, who were at the Cape to see the launch in person. And I thought that it was horrible to broadcast such a personal moment live to the nation. 

I'm not sure how this "where were you when..." moment changed my generation. I don't think it was as life-changing for Generation X as the Kennedy assassination was for Baby Boomers or 9/11 was for Millenials. So I pose this question to my fellow Gen X'ers - how do you think this "where were you when..." moment changed us as a generation? Or did it?

As some of you may know, I am an unemployed teacher. After being laid off from my teaching position in Custer, MT 3 1/2 years ago, I have been substitute teaching in Billings. And, putting it mildly, it hasn't been all fun and games.

There are so many things I miss about having my own classroom. I miss planning & conducting my own lessons. I miss being engrossed in my subject on a daily basis. I miss being in control of my career. But the thing I miss the most is having meaningful relationships with both students and colleagues.

People often ask me if I like subbing. I tell them flat out - no, I hate it! And its not for the reasons you might think. Sure, the discipline and lack of respect from the students can be stressful. The 6 AM phone calls aren't much fun either. But the worst part of subbing is something most people don't even realize - it's very lonely!

I am never in one school long enough to form relationships. I don't really "belong" anywhere. I don't have colleagues. This is the worst part of subbing.

Jobs teaching social studies are very difficult to come by in Montana. There are maybe 2-3 positions available each year, with 60+ teachers applying for each position. I've been fortunate to get interviews for almost all of the positions for which I've applied, but I haven't been hired. Last week, I interviewed for a temporary position (a maternity leave). I received my rejection e-mail today. We don't even get form letters anymore - it's all done electronically!

So, I keep on keeping on. And on. And on. And on......

This week was kind of an emotional roller coaster for me. For most of the week, I was (1) worried about my Zumba class being cancelled due to low enrollment and (2) constantly checking my e-mail, looking for an interview request for the long-term substitute teaching job that had closed the week before. By Thursday, neither situation had been resolved, which made me very frustrated and slightly depressed.

But, on Friday, several things happened. First, two new people had registered for Zumba so my class wouldn't be cancelled. Second, I got a notification of another long term sub job opening. And third, I finally got the invitation for an interview.

Anyway, here are my pages for this week. I used the Coral kit this week - love the colors in these cards!

The left side:


Rob and I went to see a traveling company revue of "The Blues Brothers" on Friday night. I knew some of the music of The Blues Brothers, but I have never seen the movie. I loved the show so much that on Saturday, Rob and I watched the 1980 classic on DVD. I just about wet myself laughing!

I didn't do a whole bunch of embellishing - the only thing that is altered is the center photo with the tag line from The Blues Brothers - "On a mission from God."

And page 2:



The two white photos on the bottom are screen shots of the e-mails I received about jobs. The left one is the e-mail acknowledgement of my application for the new long term sub job that opened on Friday. The right one is the e-mail I received inviting me to an interview.

The card with the chevron stripes is from the Coral kit. I found card stock that matches (kinda) and used this die from Technique Tuesday to cut the border and large circle. The white center is from this stamp set by Ali Edwards. I love her stamps!!!

That's about all for this week. We are still in football heaven - it's going to be a long 2 weeks until the Superbowl!!!