this post is to let my readers know i've decided to take a leave of absence from my blog....for an undetermined amount of time.

there have been some comments and concerns recently from a section of my readers that my blog is too personal... that i share things on here that should be kept private... that i need to be more careful about what i put out there for anyone in the world to read.

so i've been doing some thinking.
when i started this blog back in 2005 i had no readers. i really joined blogger so that i could comment on other blogs that i loved, but then thought: "how cool would it be to have a blog of my own? i could have my own little chunk of space on the world-wide-web. it could be like an online diary; a place to keep my thoughts and pictures and adventures." that's what caused serendipity to come to be.

four years later my blog hasn't let me down, and its turned into even more that all of that. its become such an important part of who i am. its lead me to become friends with the most amazing people, who inspire and support. its enabled me to continue scrapbooking in this hard economy because i have designed blogs for others. its helped me keep track of life and the things i've learned. its been a place of solace.
i never would of thought i'd have 34 followers and others who read my blog on a regular basis. i never thought others would find inspiration in what i'd created or hope in the words i'd written.

so why am i going to stop?
it just feels like the right thing to do for now.
i think i need some time to re-evaluate what this blog is going to be about. time to focus on my creative endeavors and photography and expand myself that way. time to heal from other people's opinions.

for the record i would like to apologize to those readers who i seem to have offended or concerned. that was not my intention in any of my writing or posting.

i would like to thank those of you who have become my dear friends in the online world. you know who you are... your comments, your e-mails, your encouragement have meant so much to me, especially in this last year and a half. you've helped me grow so much!
thank you
i am not intending to disappear completely... i will still visit other blogs and remain active on Flickr. look there for future scrapbooking projects and photography from me.

until i return.... farewell.
love shaina

ive been having a rough week....

and honestly i don't really want to talk about it. but i feel guilty knowing that the same picture has been up on my blog for like a week and that i haven't posted anything new.
so i guess i can share my latest pink ninja page... :)
the prompt was: concerts. now, i've only been to one "real concert" but let me tell you, the show my boy and his band put on for our engagement party was rockin!
so that's what i did my page about.
it was a night to remember...

hopefully i will have something positive to share in the next couple days.... that would be really nice. it just seems like none of my ends are meeting.
and the coffee i got this morning sucked. :(

stay close, maybe i'll come up with something happy to post eventually....
<3 you all.

i know how full my heart can be and there is less fear in me than ever before.

childhood memories
*canadian summers*

the latest prompt over at thePINKninjas is called "old skool" and is all about those old pictures and memories or even embarrassing stories.

i have been saving this photo for awhile and thought this would be just the perfect one to use. its from a family photo shoot we had done the summer after katrina was born. its my dad with all his kids.

i included some of my favorite memories from all those amazing canadian summers. i'll never forget the good times we had.

8-18

22 things i learned at 22

1. I love making coffe.
2. changing my hair color a lot is good for my soul.
3. There is nothing as powerful as true forgiveness.
4. With my photography I can capture my point of view as art.
5. There is magic in September sunsets.
6. There is nothing like the look your true love gives.
7. Being nice to people can sometimes lead to chocolate!
8. Getting older means that your younger siblings get married…but its okay cuz they ask you to take pictures for them!
9. Sometimes dreams really do come true: in the form of a brand new car.
10. The concept of “going to school” from home is really nice…but a lot harder to follow through with.
11. I love walking hand in hand with the love of my life through the fallen leaves.
12. Sometimes “stay”cations make the best vacations.
13. Even in the face of economic crisis true love can remain strong, and grow.
14. Apartments full of mold make for pretty lousy, sick filled winters.
15. There is nothing like Happy Mail!
16. Flickr is so full of inspiration.
17. My style of scrapping is uniquely my own…and that’s a good thing.
18. Alcohol poisoning is not fun.
19. Being a part of weddings brings me so much joy.
20. The blogging community is full of wonderful, supportive, kind and generous people. I have made many a friend.
21. If I can’t be a professional singer, I can at least belt it out every week at karaoke.
22. “Forgetting the things behind and stretching forward to the things ahead.” –Phil 3:13

*swoon*

all i can say: i cried so hard!
me...NO! never. :P



it was a beautiful film.... touching story, beautiful images, and a total tear-jerker.
i simply loved it.
(thanks marta for inviting me to go with you and for the evening we had. it was good to talk!)

now i want to read the book...well, i want chris to read the book to me. we just finished up "revenge of the sith" (see previous post with scrapbook page about my boy reading to me!) and now i think its fair for me to pick!
*evil smile*
i think he'll probably even like it.
now the hard part will be finding a copy.....

*i also really love left-over movie popcorn. just a side-note. :)

in other news: SOTB has a new challenge up!! its all about using different book or notebook pages. there are some pretty awesome projects up over there, so you should definatly check it out and play along.
here is my page:

my mum took these photos of us awhile ago, but they are still some of my favorites. :)

i this little survey thing on ally's blog and thought it would be a fun one to do. :) feel free to copy-paste and play along yourself!! and make sure you link me up if you do, cuz i'd love to read yours too. :)

*8 Things*
8 things im looking forward to:

1. KK's wedding and being her maid-of-honor
2. seeing all of my family at my cousin whitney's wedding
   
3. turning 23 tomorrow
4. teaching at my ASL class tonight
5. singing at karaoke again as soon as possible!
   
6. my At-Home America party in a week and a half
7. getting my green card application all finished up
8. road-tripping with my RD! (i'm craving some Ian Tyson music...)

8 things i did yesterday:

1. went to the meeting in the morning
2. did all the songs in ASL
3. hung out with my bestie taya and had chinese food for lunch
4. went to the time traveler's wife with marta
5. ate dinner with marta at this new bistro in moses lake
6. had a lovely heart-to-heart with my friend
7. missed meeting up with my mum and dad :(
   
8. watched comedy with the boy when i got home

8 things i wish i could do:

1. cook better...
2. take baby portraits of my friends new baby
3. get all the bills paid
4. sing as a professional and not just at karaoke
5. guarantee chris a full-time position driving bus this school year
6. hug my mum
7. give up caffine
8. complete my medical transcriptionist course within a reasonable amount of time
   

8 TV shows i watch:

1. house (so excited for the new season to start next month!)
2. fringe (ditto!)
3. lie to me*
4. so you think you can dance (again with a new fall season!)
5. dear genevive on HGTV (she's my favorite designer)
   
6. hawthorne (jada pinket smith's show on TNT. so good)
   
7. in plain sight.
   
8. how i met your mother (my guilty sit-com addiction)
   

8 things i collect:

1. elephants
2. scarfs
3. nancy drew books (i have the full orriginal set)
4. scrapbooking supplies
5. cute coffee mugs
6. awesome friends :)
   
7. McDonalds cups in the back seat of my car.... its an addiction. :P
8. magazines

okay....so i added that last one, but i thought it was fun.
play along!

i hope you all have a wonderful week.
i'll be in yakima on wednesday getting fingerprinted for my green card renewal so i won't have a post for you then.
miss ya!
<3

*incomplete lullaby*

a sweet song and cool video....wanted to share.

{things i love} thursday
august 13th

i'm so inspired today...
wanna know why??
cuz of all of this:

my Flickr faves:
i feel autumn calling...

1. Coffe, 2. Love distills desire upon the eyes, love brings bewitching grace into the heart., 3. as it appears, 4. lost in translation #01, 5. Birthday Girl = ), 6. for jess., 7. Where am I going?, 8. [summertime], 9. italy, 10. 133/365, 11. The flames burn down deep in my soul., 12. Untitled, 13. dreaming of fall.., 14. Everything has a story to tell.., 15. weathered rock, 16. Maria + Scott


i have also recently fell IN LOVE with a new photographer exploring life and herself through a 365 self-portrait project. i can't stop looking at her photos. here are some of my favorites:
her name is uneduex; she is brave and raw and such an inspiration.
please check out her photostream... you won't regret it.

there have been so many tutorials around lately that i'm so excited to try...
this first one is from Rhonna Farrer. she's been a favorite designer of mine for awhile now... and her new project House of 3 is full of juicy digital love. i just wish i had my own computer and photoshop so i could use some of it!
recently she did a step by step tutorial for the creation of these little beauties!!

check it out HERE. this i wanna try for sure!

in addition to that, one of my favorite scrappers, Mandi, did a tutorial on her blog for mini-album creation. don't get me wrong...i've done plenty of mini's before, but there is just something special about hers. see for yourself:


i want to make beautiful art like this.... *swoon*
mandi, you pretty much rock!
thanks for the tutorial!



i've seen this cool pillow a few times around on the web and thought: oh that's cool...hambly does fabric! but no! i was wrong. those are actually RUB-ONS on fabric!
check out this cool "how-to" HERE.

well, friend! i hope you're as inspired as me today.
i {love} thursdays!!
have a great one.

<3

'lil dudes

newest PINK NINJAS prompt up today.
its all about *dudes*
hop on over for some more inspiration and play along!
you might just see your page up on our blog too!!

i did my page about my two fish Fine & Dandy. cute names eh?? hehe.
and tara sent me the perfect piece of paper to use on here (see previous post). the bubbles and the fish were just the right touch.

so sweet

i recently received a yummy box of scrapping goodies as payment for one of my blog re-designs. and let me tell you... everything inside this box made my heart go "pitter-patter"!

its full of new cosmo cricket, papers, embellishments, stickers, and even some of my new friend's favorite body wash (cool eh??).

she also included the sweetest handmade thank you card.
she called me her "blog fairy".
it just made my day.

i also wanted to share my page for last week's PINK NINJAS.
its a sweet page about how chris reads to me most nights before bed. and star wars is always a favorite of ours. :) we're just finishing up 'revenge of the sith' right now actually!
the prompt was choose star wars or star trek. my choice is obvious. hehe. :)

starting tonight a couple friends of mine, hanna and jessica are coming over. they are wanting to learn ASL and i am eager to dive back into my signing. so we're starting weekly classes on monday nights starting tonight. i'm so so so excited.
i think this is going to be good for all of us.


i'll be back later this week with a post all about the convention i attended this last weekend. i think "emotional" is the best word to describe it!

i hope you're all doing well.
thank you so much for your kind comments on my last post. your words help so much.
<3

it is august...

i've been contemplating this blog post for awhile... i go to sit down and type something, but then i think: "i can't do a blog post without a picture". thinking no one will read it then...
but when i first started this blog, it wasn't about others reading it. it was for me.

so here is another post for me.
not that you can't read it if you want.... :)

6 months.
it seems that is how long it takes my heart to heal.
i remember that night so vividly. the anxiety i had about it, the dread; and then the relief i felt from his forgiveness and understanding. and that was the beginning. he held my hand and stroked my head as i floundered my way through the tears and those long nights. we talked about what could happen, and how we'd handle it. i bravely let go of the control i had no right to assume. and it all worked out, really...
but i couldn't forgive myself.
that was my biggest hurdle.

and so went these last 6 months... doubting that i deserved the love and the forgiveness and the healing. and he stood by me ~ stayed by me all those nights i cried myself to sleep but couldn't put into words why. he hung on for this roller coaster of highs and lows. and i tried so hard to believe he really wanted to be there.

but the healing has begun.
and these last 6 months have been the best of our time together. those are his words exactly. we have become such a good team...truly "one flesh".
in spite of it all, i would not change the end result one bit.

i'm feeling stronger now. confident in the knowledge that i'm in good hands.
its time to let the past stay in the past. even though i'm still reminded of my mistakes 2 times a week, i know that too will pass.

a 6 month journey...
now i'm back home.
safe and sound.

"Forgetting the things behind and stretching forward to the things ahead" ~Phil 3:13