January Ends......

and with that, here is my January Round Up, as outlined by Katie the Scrapbook Lady, author of the Amazing Month of Memories. I have a few of her lists and it contains TONS of information to get you to jumpstart your scrapping, or just to get you thinking......like saying, "ohhhhhhh....so THAT's today!".

My January 2007 Round Up

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Yikes? Did I even have TIME to read this month? Let's see...I have a huge spiral-bound book (?) of Sudoku on my night table. It goes with me wherever I go. Actually, I've got a couple of these spiral-bound babies on my bedstand :) Love these brain teasers!

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

I'm a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy, House and Desperate Housewives. I don't watch them on TV; I don't like having to wait for the next episode. So I have them on DVDs, and for the current season, my brother downloads them from the show's site (I think) and watches it on his computer. Which reminds me, I have to copy those from him! ;)

Of course, having the 4 kids, we always have the Disney Channel and other Disney DVDs blaring at home. We have The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, High School Musical (still!), and Pokemon on TV. Other TV faves include The Fairly Oddparents (I love this, too! hehehe), Kim Possible, Raven, Unfabulous, and Hannah Montana.

As for movies, we did go to see Night at the Museum with the kids. It was a lot of fun and they were asking me when we could go to the Museum of Natural History in New York! Wish I knew when.....I would LOVE to go, too!

What special days did I celebrate and how?

January 1 - New Year's Day. Since we were in Las Vegas at the time, we didn't do our usual huge family lunch and dinner, thank goodness! It was a nice break. For the day, we trooped into our rented minivan and drove 40 minutes to Mount Charleston just so the kids could see and play in the SNOW for the very first time! They had a blast!

January 3 - Tita San turned 50!!! Huge milestone for my favorite aunt. We celebrated by having dinner at Black Angus in Burbank. Loooove the 7-lb chocolate we had for dessert!

January 24 - Tita Belen's birthday! I'm not sure how old she is, nor am I sure that she'd want that fact plasterd all over online-land, hehehe. Texted her, chatted with her via YM, and said a short greeting over the phone.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

Ahhhh......for this month and a few months before, my persistent back ache and leg ache were ever-present. On January 12, I had a procedure done at the Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena -- this was an epidural, a spinal injection of steroids into the spaces between the bones in my spine (I think! hehehe). It was a lot different from the epidural procedure I got from the Philippines--after waking in the recovery room, I WALKED out, pain-free! Of course, it was due to the anaesthesia, but I was happy for the first few days.

Towards the end of the month though, there was a slight twinge in my leg whenever I sat down for a long period of time.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

We celebrated the coming of the New Year at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. Together. The ENTIRE family. We also watched the fireworks from the 21st floor of the hotel.

Mount Charleston to play in the snow. We found a few cardboard pieces and the kids used those as a "sled" of sorts, hehehe.

Disneyland on January 4!!!

Korean BBQ buffet in Irvine (or was it Tustin?), our absolute fave place to have dinner after a trip to the Magic Kingdom!

Light and Healthy. Mom and Dad actually sat with us for the buffet and ate sushi for the VERY FIRST TIME! We just didn't have a camera to record this never-happened-before event!

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

I got some Benefit Cosmetics Bathina Lotion for me and to give away as gifts. Heavenly!

Got me some Disney Holiday dishes on sale, yeah!

And of course, Digital Scrapbooking schtuff! Bought a lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-t from Gina Miller's 6-month birthday of GMD! My absolute fave place to shop. I swear, I may have close to having her entire store!

Bought a 2" Memory Foam for our bed. I figure this is cheaper than the Select Comfort mattress I REALLY want; the Memory Foam will give my back a little bit of cushion while our firm mattress underneath will make me happy.

What were this month's disappointments?

Raegan's teacher talked to me about her behavior/attitude when it comes to homework. Apparently, Raegan has, more often than not, forgets her Homework Journal at home. She writes her HW on a piece of paper, which of course gets lost enroute to the house. The result? No homework! Grrr!

My back and leg are still hurting a bit. I expected them to be almost gone after the second epidural, enough so that I could start physical therapy properly. Maybe I should just start Yoga.

I haven't lost any weight at all!

What were my accomplishments this month?

Finished my CT requirements, yay! Some on the very last day, but they were done!

Finally installed a new Anti-Virus program to protect my laptop!

Anything else noteworthy to record?

I can sit down for a much longer period of time than before. That second spinal injection did a lot of good for me!

I am practically OFF pain killers! Instead of the usual round-the-clock-every-4-to-6-hour cycle, there have been days when I didn't need to pop a pain killer in my mouth!

Our internet at home is just humming! Whoohoo!

And although I didn't lose weight, I didn't gain any at all, considering we were in the States, with the whole family, and it was during the holidays!

January Layout Count: 25

***End of Round Up***

So what do you think eh? Pretty good month, lots of things happening that I never realized! Good prompts for the Round Up --- it really does get you to record the stuff that happened. I had my pictures and my blog to help me, but it is with a sense of accomplishment that I listed everything down for my 2007 January Round Up! Whoohoo!!!


{Some January Scraps}

Feel free to click on the layouts themselves to leave me some love! :)

MY SANTA

Journaling reads: For the third year in a row, Rogan was chosen to play Santa in their class program. Mama decided that it was time he had his own Santa suit, just in case he would need one again. Rogan was the cutest Santa ever!

Credits: kit - Christmas Charm by Jessica Dixon at The Daily Scrap; santa - Christmas Essentials by Jessica Dixon; glitter border - by Gina Miller; journaling tag - Just Like Him Journal Hot Spots by Jen Wilson; fonts - KGD Lindsay, Rusted Plastic

SHOE TESTER

Ranger loves to wear big shoes....the bigger the better! :)

Journaling reads:
Job Description: Shoe Tester
Job Site Location: any pair of shoes found lying around

Tools Required:
1. size 8 feet of boy
2. shoes - the bigger,the better
3. even, smooth flooring

Skills Needed:
1. balance
2. confidence
3. attitude
4. a big smile
5. cuteness

Credits: kit - Doo B Dude by Eve Recinella at Sweet Shoppe Designs; stitches - by Christine Nash; chalked frame - by Gina Miller; journaling tag - Just Like Him Journal Hot Spots by Jen Wilson

SIBLINGS

A couple of favorite photographs taken during Christmas day last year of the 5 of us.

Credits: kit - Always and Forever by Rina Kroes at SBE; mini tags - Tagged by Gina Miller; alpha - Stamped Alpha brushes by Michelle Coleman; layered sketch - Jify Stax Vol 5 by Rina Kroes at SBE


CHRISTMAS GIRLS

Raegan and Raine with their Lola Belen, wearing matching Christmas outfits of red and black.

Credits: kit - Always and Forever by Rina Kroes at SBE; black paper and star overlay - Light Up the Night by Rina Kroes at SBE; font - KGD Kim Script; layered sketch - Jiffy Stax Vol 5 by Rina Kroes at SBE


CHRISTMAS KISSES

Journaling reads: The air was filled with joyful yells of “Merry Christmas!” as everyone started kissing and hugging everyone else.

These pictures are of me puckering up (with closed eyes, hehehe); giving Dad a peck on the cheek to start the kissing rounds; kissing Mom, who was still doing something in the kitchen preparing for our Noche Buena; and of course giving Japa a great big buss on the lips.

Christmas kisses. They’re the best kind to give!

Credits: kit - Candy Giggles by Eve Recinella at Sweet Shoppe Designs; font - KGD Tiffany; special thanks to Atomic Cupcake for the labelmaker

Don't forget to leave me some love by clicking on the layouts :).

TTFN!