Scrapping update and other thoughts

Thought I'd post some of my most recent layouts. I've been on quite a roll lately, so I won't put all of them up...just a few :)
A summary of our first year of marriage, complete with four major trips :)








This is Jasmine in her dress from Karen and Caroline (Jim too, I s'pose!) (that reminds me, I wanted to write some baseball thoughts)







This one is one of my favorite pictures of Jasmine. I made it for a contest Val, the woman who created the papers and elements, is having right now :)







Okay, I think I've mentioned how we're working at paying off our debts. We owe a lot of money, thanks to some not-so-practical decisions we made before we got married and early in our marriage (see first layout to see where a good chunk of money went). So we're taking this time to get completely out of debt, and, in the process, learning how to live within our means. It's not necessarily easy, but it's really not bad.

He's working overtime, but since he comes home for lunch, it doesn't seem that bad. Someday he'll go back to working 8-hour days and we'll be shocked at all the extra time we get together :) It's good right now anyways, because he had way more to do at work than he had time to do. So it's good all around.

We've been reading numerous books on getting out of debt, and the one we read last night confirmed that everything we've done and are doing is helping us do this. We were both so completely encouraged! It also gave some great suggestions for getting the mortgage paid more quickly, so when we're ready to buy a house, we'll be able to pay that more quickly too. :)



And baseball. :)
Karen, you mentioned in your blog that I could only vote for people if you approved of them too. I voted the last couple years for the Yankees that were listed, hoping to see a pinstripe-laden American League team in the all-star game. But I've been realizing something lately.
You, and many others I know, are a baseball fan. You love the game. You can pick players from a number of teams as your favorites.

I am a Yankees fan. I love my players. I talk about "us" winning or losing. Forget the fact that I can't throw, hit, catch or run, I consider the Yankees almost like my family. I like that the expectations for them as professionals is so high, they don't put up with prima donnas (okay, Randy Johnson has a bit of prima donna in him, but nothing like Raol Mondesi, who lost his pinstripes as soon as he "sat out" a game because he didn't like Joe's decision...and we won't even talk about Manny or Pedro, who would never become Yankees)

Besides, I don't watch the All-Star game. It would be fun for the players, getting an opportunity to represent your team, play with people you usually play against, and all that...but it doesn't matter! Sure, it determines home-field advantage, but it really is more for the fun than anything else (I know, what does baseball really matter, either?!) So I've decided not to vote. The Yankees have the most fans of probably any team, so they don't need one more person voting for all-pinstripes :)

okay, I'm done babbling now. :)