Do they KNOW how loud they are talking?

This is the question I ask myself as I sit here in a Long Beach hotel as DH takes a certification exam in a room upstairs. We've been here since 7:35 a.m. and his test started at 8 a.m. The reason for the early arrival? The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. We were afraid the traffic and road closures would make for a horrendous snarl of traffic, so we gave ourselves plenty of time. Now my only fear is getting outta here in just about two hours.

So, I'm camped out at a console table on this meeting room floor at the Westin and I can't help but notice how LOUD everyone is talking. And I must point out that it's not loud in here at all. Most of these people are wearing passes around their necks, indicating their attendance at the races, so it begs the question: Does the sheer volume of all those race car engines make them deaf so they can't hear how loud they're talking or are they just so used to having to talk over all the noise they've lost all ability to control the volume of their voices? Or, do they just need attention so badly, they feel shouting is the only way to get it? Hmmm... inquiring minds want to know!

Another thing I can't stand is obnoxious, younger men. They could bother me more than almost anything else. This morning I treated myself to some eggs, fruit and a bagel from the hotel's buffet. Right ahead of me these four guys, all in their mid-t0-late 20s were joking around, cussing and just generally being loud and obnoxious. WHY? There were many people in the restaurant and it was generally quite pleasant except for them. When the hostess seated me, I asked to sit as FAR away from that group as possible and she laughed and then seated me at the furthest possible table from them! After setting down my bags, I went to the buffet to see scrambled eggs dumped all over the floor and one guy SHOUTING, "It was him, man, blame him." Just disgusting... I tried to sit and work on my laptop across from the restaurant after I finished eating, but they were still there, now drinking (before 9 a.m.) and I figured the volume would only increase!

Oh no... there's a whole slew of these loud, race people walking past me. I had music on my laptop that I cannot even hear now, despite the fact that I'm sitting inches from it due to the volume of this group. COME ON PEOPLE... Inside voices please!

So... here are a few pages. Turns out I've actually been diligent about backing up my photos onto DVDs and I deleted all the Easter pics off the computer once they were backed up to free up space, so as promised, Easter pics will be posted tomorrow.

Here's a Halloween layout... can you tell??? ;) I like how this turned out. It's from a Layout Blueprint sketch as well. I like the freedom of sketches... you can follow them as closely or loosely as you want.

Cardstock: Bazzill

Patterned Paper: KI Memories

Ribbons/Ric Rac: May Arts, Maya Road

Chipboard Letters: Heidi Swapp

Sticker Letters: Making Memories

Bling: Prima

Font: Boogie 2000

This is me scraplifting myself, who used a Layout Blueprints sketch for the original layout. I just like the linearity of this 2-page layout. I actually did some digi work with that title. I used a free brush from Rhonna's New Year kit on Two Peas to get the swirl behind "Blessed." There's another set of pages from Thanksgiving forthcoming using some of the same papers, but I have yet to stick everything down.

Patterned Papers: Quick Quotes, Unknown (the red and peach), and Basic Grey.
Cardstock: Bazzill and Paper Company
Ribbon: May Arts
Jewels: MME Bohemia
Title: Copperplate Gothic Bold, Scriptina fonts downloaded from dafont.com, Rhonna swirl from Two Peas.

This should look familiar to some blog readers! These are pictures from my cousin, Tom's and his wife, Katie's wedding in 2004 (yes, I know I'm behind). I admit, these pictures are not the best, but it was before I got a new camera after my old, old one was stolen and Steve took these, but then lost the files in a computer meltdown, so I couldn't resize or lighten them... but they look better in the layout than alone, I think. It certainly wasn't the subjects' faults, that's for sure! I got inspiration for this from a Miley Johnson layout in Ali Edwards' last book. What's weird is, I went to my papers and picked out some in their wedding colors only to discover Miley used some of the same papers! Heh. Oh well, she's getting credit here.

Patterned Papers: Chatterbox
Cardstock: Bazzill
Rub-ons: Basic Grey, Autumn Leaves and I can't remember where the husband & wife one came from, but it's cool, eh?
Flowers and leaves: Colorbok
Brads: Making Memories
Font: Edwardian and Capitals

And finally, here's a card I made for my co-worker's birthday. I got to use some of my new Autumn Leaves stamps (TY Target). It's rare that I do pages or cards with just one brand of PP on it, but here's a card example. Lovin' Basic Grey!

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Blush
Sticker Letters: Basic Grey
Flowers: Prima
Brads: Making Memories
Stamps: Autumn Leaves

That's it for now... DH finished his exam early, so we're off. See everyone tomorrow!