Stampin' Up! Convention 2012

I love, love, LOVE attending Stampin' Up! conventions. Seriously, one of the highlights of my year! So, I thought I would share some photos with you from this year's convention!

Above: We wrote our "I am" statements. Mine was I am... so happy to be at convention!

Below: This year's theme.

Above: Toni W., fellow demonstrator and friend.

Below: Lisa J., fellow demonstrator and friend.

Above: Main Stage (me)

Below: Shelli Gardner- Co Founder and CEO of Stampin' Up!

Above: Wendy (my upline) and me.

Below: Wendy's girls including, Cari Lynn, DeeDee, me, Wendy, Laurie (my downline) and Lisa.

Above: Me with Shannon West- one of my favorite presenters!

Below: After receiving the Moving Forward stamp set for FREE! (With every purchase of this set, SU! donates $3 to Ronald McDonald House Charities!)

 Below: Laurie and me celebrating with our other FREE stamp set: Hostess Set Mixed Medley

Stampin' Up! Convention 2012 was awesome! I learned so much from fellow demonstrators and from all of our presenters. I'm on a bit of a creative overload, but loving the high!

Race for the Cure 2012

I know that I need to post more pictures from my East Coast trip, but I wanted to post some pictures from this year's Race for the Cure.

Heather, Tommy, Judy and Dave

Nilanthi, (me), Liz, Heather, Tommy, Judy and Dave- most of team Kate's Mates.

My cute friend Marshelle

Jill- co-worker and fellow survivor!

Lots of people turned out to walk/race for the cure.

Waiting for the walk to begin.

It was a beautiful day- perfect weather for the walk.

We did it! A 5K walk.

Mary Nickles- Channel 2 anchor and breast cancer survivor. She was extremely brave to get up in front of all of us to give her fellow survivors a shout out without her wig.

It was- as it has been ever since I have become a survivor myself- an awe-inspiring event. I am always amazed at how many survivors there are. Cancer has touched so many lives and I am proud to stand up with my fellow survivors and proudly say- I fought like a girl and won!

Beacon Hill and the Boston Temple

More photos from my recent trip...

Soldiers Monument in Boston Common

Acorn Street in Beacon Hill

Pinckney Street in Beacon Hill

We found this great little cafe on Charles Street

My yummy clam chowder and toasted cheese sandwich

"Where everybody knows your name..."

Recent trip to the East Coast

Some great pictures from Salem, MA... Weather was a little on the cold side, but we had fun!

One of the old churches in Salem

Katie on her "broom"...

The "second" oldest graveyard... or at least that was what we were told on the ghost tour the night before.

On our way to the House of Seven Gables... Usually there is a large ship called the Friendship in the harbor. However it is currently being repaired and we weren't able to see it or go aboard. (Sad face!)

The House of Seven Gables- very cool tour. Too bad we couldn't take photos inside. We even went up a secret staircase to the attic. Super cool!

Alaina at the house of Seven Gables.

The oldest Candy Store in America- Ye Olde Pepper Companie

Alaina enjoying her chocolate

We ate at a place called the "Witch's Brew" - recommended by the cashier at the House of Seven Gables gift shop. He said it was a great little pub with comfort food- we agree!

2012 Fight For Air Climb

Fight For Air Climb... 23 Floors... 598 stairs...

Tommy, Heather and Me

Heather, Tommy and Carol

Me, Paula and Heather

This is the Fight For Air Climb "after party". Paula, Heather and I climbed all 23 floors. In mine and Heather's cases, we went three times each. Paula went five! All for a good cause! (And yes, we're crazy!) This takes place each year at the Wells Fargo Building in downtown Salt Lake City. This was my second time. Last year, I was just coming off of radiation and wasn't as in shape as I am this year. So, last year, I only climbed the one time. My time was under 12 minutes. This year, I am proud to have done it 3 times and I even bested my time- My best time was 8 minutes and 53 seconds. Maybe next year I'll be able to get in 5 climbs!

Birthday Fun!

Some photos from this b-day weekend...

Card from Liana. She made it herself. It's me and my cat Smokey. We are both wearing party hats. And look at all those presents and balloons!

My Harry Potter Cake. Made by my friend Marci again. The flavor was key lime. It's supposed to represent what Harry might have in his pocket and set down on a side table. So, it has a snitch, the marauders map and a wand.

Me in my new kitty hat! Laurie Bird found this for me at a truck stop of all places. I LOVE IT!

Me posing with my cake and flowers - the flowers were given to me by some friends at work. I love the bright colors. So sweet!

My pedicure- I like to pamper myself on my birthday! Took the afternoon of and went to the spa... It was fabulous!

The weekend was full of friends, fun, surprises, food, sugar and family! It was wonderful!

Parent's 50th

Wow- I can't believe that my parents have been married for 50 years! We (my brother and I) had a surprise party for them. My dad got let in on the secret because they have so many things to schedule around- like basketball games and cabin weekends. But my mom wasn't told until the day of. We invited friends and family over for an open house. It was so much fun and both of my parents said how much they loved and appreciated it. Instead of presents, we asked everyone to bring a card, photographs and/or memories that I will later add to a scrapbook.

Here's the cake... My friend Marci did an excellent job both in decoration and taste. It was a red velvet with cream cheese frosting and since they are both golfers, it was golf themed...



My brother and his family were in charge of the decorations around the house. The other photos were pretty blurry.. but here's one of the balloons on the piano:



Here's the cake in all it's glory! (Don't you love the saying? Sometimes I just can't help how clever I am!)



What a fun night and I am so proud to say that my parents made it 50 years!