[tinkerbell11]

A great choice for this honor! Congrats Yvonne!

[anna]

Congratulations, Yvonne!

[KBT]

WTG Yvonne! Congratulations! Enjoy your month!

[Prahe]

Yeah...thanks for being so fantastic...enjoy your month.

[Silly]

Whoo Hoo!!! Great choice - congrats Yvonne.

[chambray]

Congratulations on being the MOM Yvonne!

[Becca]

Congratulations, Yvonne!!! I knew it was just a matter of time before you were chosen! Enjoy your month in the spotlight!

[Glorie]

A big congrats to you! May this make everyday brighter for you! Whooo Hoo!

[Katie Mac]

Well done, Yvonne! Congratulations!

[Bride]

You are such a busy gal - but not too busy to share a smile or a helping hand. Congratulations, Yvonne!!

[Yvonne53]

To say I am overwhelmed and so grateful would be an understatement, but I feel truly blessed by all the kind comments that have been left by my SG friends. Thank you very much for the nice things you have written. Now I'm supposed to tell you about myself, so bear with me...you all know I love to write too ! I know this is a lot, but bear with me...it's me.

As many of you already know, I have been with my wonderful hubby, Michael, for 32 years (30 of which we have been married). We have actually known each other for 37 years and were "best buds" in high school. We have four grown children (3 boys, 1 girl), who have been kind enough to give us 10 grandchildren (3 girls, 7 boys), two of which we are presently helping to raise for the last ten years. Our kids are scattered all over this country and the world, so visits are very special, like the one we are having now with our youngest son, Dave, who is in the Navy and visiting from El Salvador, where he is fighting the war on drugs (he came back from the Middle East a year ago after his 4th tour there).

About me, I am an Aquarian, the traits of which suit me perfectly. My grandpa used to call me a "jack of all trades and a master of some", and always asked me what I "wanted to be" when I grow up...a question I am still asking myself. I have been blessed with a very patient husband and I say this because I have had the opportunity of having "tried on a lot of different hats" throughout my adult life, but even though I feel I could have made better choices, I always feel the Lord led me where I was suppose to be. I consider myself a "forever student of life", a sponge, who can never get enough education, whether it is through traditional education or self discovery/education.

When I knew I had to write this, I tried to figure out which "things" in my life always intersected or I always fell back on the same ones. All my life I have loved being an artist (of many different mediums - from drawing to painting to photography to digi-scrapping/design).

My life can be described as "eclectic", made up of so many different things. I have BS/MS degrees in biology/marine botany and geology/history; I had a medical transcription business for 15 years, catering/personal chefing/cake baking & decorating businesses, which allowed me to combine my love of cooking & creative talents; designed handmade, painted, personalized Christmas ornaments and plaques of people's pets; I am a published nature photographer (mainly eagles/wildflowers); and, did environmental research just to name some of my different occupations.

After my kids graduated and went on with their lives, I became a teacher in a private Christian high school and taught all the sciences (chemistry, biology, general), history (world and American), and art...six different classes a day. This allowed me to bring my love of geology back into my life again. I am a lifelong collector/hoarder of rocks, minerals, gems, crystals, and fossils - including dinosaur eggs and dino-poop (which the kids love). My china closet does not hold dishes, it is a gallery to show off a small portion of our vast collection which drives my wonderful husband NUTS!

So you can imagine just knowing the above, that I have accumulated a lot of art stuff too, especially traditional scrapbooking supplies...I kid people and say I could open my own art shop. I wanted to take all my "thousands" of photos and make SBs...but as most of you know, this is a very expensive because you always have to get MORE of the same stuff when you run out. This is when I bought my first digital scrapbooking magazine and a giant light went off in my head! One of the best things I learned right away was instead of spending money to replaced my used traditional items, I could just buy new collections (so it wasn't any less expensive, just less of a mess to clean up) and I think it is even more addictive because of all the friendship that comes along with being a member here. At first I could not figure out how they did those beautiful LOs and would just look at them all the time...I didn't know how to do anything like that...I could airbrush, but with the computer??? I went searching...found the Digital Scrapbooking Teacher and it was that book that introduced me to Scrap Girls. In fact, she talked about SGs throughout the book, so much so, that I had to see what you all were all about. I was just a little nervous too. I signed up for the newsletter, got the Refresh collection and it sat for a long while because I didn't know how to open it or put it in the PSE5 at the time...but I got help in the form of Pat Barnes and Sherry Lynn!

I introduced myself and Pat was one of the first people who said "hello" and I developed a friendship with. She was quite a lifesaver and between Pat and the book, well it got me started at least. Then Pat broke her arm....I felt so bad for her! I became friends with Sandi (Scrappin'Doc) and we chatted off and on; then she convinced me to take the "30 days of Gratitude". I didn't know the first thing about taking a class on line, let alone doing a LO each day...it was a "do or die" class for me, and I was determined to make it, which I can proudly say I did. Besides, I had met some of the best people and we had a blast. I have learned so much in the last year from all of you and made many friends...Sara A, Sandi, JoEllen, Debbie, SarahVA, Pat, Becca, Vaughnde, Carla, Stephanie, Jan...I could go on, but this is already long enough!

So I will end by saying I am truly thankful I found Scrap Girls; it has helped me spiritually, mentally, creatively, & physically. One of my favorite LOs is this one I made in Mary Elizabeth's "30 days of Gratitude class". Thank you again for this wonderful honor...you will never know just how much it means to me and thank you for your friendship and kindness, and last but not least, thank you Ro for creating this wonderful place that is more than a business...its a safe fellowship where lifelong friendships can grow. God Bless all of you!

Here are two of my favorite LOs: Mike and Me and Always My Baby because I learned to do so much between the two LOs.

This post has been edited by Yvonne53: 06 September 2009 - 10:40 AM

[Ngaire]

Wow Yvonne!!!!! What a great choice for this month!!!
You sure have done alot in your time so far. So interesting!!!
Enjoy your month!!

[kimmybutton]

Congratulations, Yvonne! Without a doubt, you deserve MOM! You put a smile on my face and those of all who meet you on the messageboard! Enjoy your month as SGs extra special member! (HUGS)

[Sara Arell]

CONGRATULATIONS, MY FRIEND - you are MOM! Wow! And you sure do deserve it - ditto on everything Carla said - you are an awesome SG member and an awesome friend - it has been such fun getting to know you - Wonderful news to see when I opened my newsletter today. I am very happy for you, girl!

[Nadine80]

Congrats, Yvonne!!!

[mmimmi]

Congratulations Yvonne!

[RosemaryS]

Congratulations Yvonne. WTG!

[Sara Arell]

What a great choice for MOM - Yvonne, you always make me smile when we are playing the games - and I am surprised we haven't been reprimanded since we do more chatting on the games than playing, but isn't that what this little fuzzy purple place is all about? Thanks for making it just a little bit better every day, girlfriend.

[caprimom]

Congrats Yvonne! I love all of the detail you gave in telling about yourself. You have had quite an interesting life so far and I'm pretty sure there's more to come. Enjoy your month!

[ZachandAvasMom]

Yvonne, you are a great pic for MOM! You are always so nice and willing to help. I don't know if I am the only one, but I can't view your first layout, Mike & Me.

[Sara Arell]

ZachandAvasMom, on 05 September 2009 - 10:57 PM, said:

Yvonne, you are a great pic for MOM! You are always so nice and willing to help. I don't know if I am the only one, but I can't view your first layout, Mike & Me.

I couldn't view it either - so you aren't the only one - it took me somewhere and said "you are not authorized to view this material" or something similar to that. Maybe you can post it again, Yvonne.

[Yvonne53]

Sara Arell, on 05 September 2009 - 11:03 PM, said:

ZachandAvasMom, on 05 September 2009 - 10:57 PM, said:

Yvonne, you are a great pic for MOM! You are always so nice and willing to help. I don't know if I am the only one, but I can't view your first layout, Mike & Me.

I couldn't view it either - so you aren't the only one - it took me somewhere and said "you are not authorized to view this material" or something similar to that. Maybe you can post it again, Yvonne.

Hey, I just fixed the Mike and Me I had to go into the "Month of Gratitude" to find the page....sorry! But thanks for looking everyone and thanks Sara, Vaughnde and everyone else who found my error!

Fixed it this time V! Finally

[Syndee]

Congrats Yvonne!!!

[Sara Arell]

THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF SHIPS. THERE ARE WOODEN SHIPS ,PLASTIC SHIPS, AND METAL SHIPS. BUT THE BEST AND MOST IMPORTANT TYPES OF SHIPS ARE FRIENDSHIPS."
- OLD IRISH QUOTE

To me, Yvonne has been a very valuable SG member, always there with a kind word or thought, helpful and giving when it comes to recognizing the needs of others (like taking on the birthdays while Sherry Lynn has had much on her shoulders with which to deal, fun to play the MB games with - she always makes me laugh - well, most of the time - she is incorrigible on the "flowers game" because there is not a flower in existence that she doesn't know the name of while most of us (not all of us, but most of us) have to rely on the things we know best like marigolds and dandelions - she puts us to shame on that particular game and we always get a big laugh out of that - just reading her bio in this thread tells us that she is an amazing person who has led a very interesting and diverse life and the fact that she considers life itself another thing that she is always studying says it all.

Congrats again, my friend, and I hope you really enjoy this month and that this thread lets you know how much you are valued as a SG friend - and personal friend. Funny, smart, caring, full of wisdom and kind words, loyal to SG and her friends - what more could we ask for from our newest MOM! And she is just like most of us - peddling as fast as she can to keep up with life - it's ups and downs - while still finding the time to be a great SG friend.

[SandyFeet]

Congratulations, Yvonne! I am so glad they chose you for the honor. It is well deserved.




See you around the board.

[~Karen~]

Hi Yvonne,
I'm pretty late adding to this, but it's great you were selected MOM and it's a well deserved honor. Congrats!

[Armi Custodio]

Congrats Yvonne! So happy for you!

[countrydi]

I feel so horrible Yvonne....I totally missed this with all my health issues this month. I am truly sorry, please forgive me.

You deserve to be MOM......congrats and it was wonderful learning about you!!! Thank you for sharing!!

[trishy]

Yeah Yvonne!!! Perfect pick, so well deserved!