Laugh Out Loud - Scrapbooks.com2008-11-19T03:38:59ZLiz RosenbaumCopyright 2008, Liz RosenbaumSPHPBLOGNew Year, New Things, New Blog!www.rosenbaumfamily.blogspot.com. Enjoy!
Liz]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry071223-1514582007-12-23T00:00:00Z2007-12-23T00:00:00ZMy little buddy...
With Nic being in school now for a whole week, Ella is my cute little shadow. She follows me everywhere I go – whether I’m heading out to get the mail, down in the basement working out, upstairs folding laundry or even if I’m trying to take a bath – she wants to be right there by my side. I’m not complaining though. I actually love it. (Besides the part when she whines about being bored.) We are both extroverts who love being around people and can’t stand to be alone, so when we have each other, at least we’re in good company. A few weeks ago, Matt took Nic camping for the weekend…so Ella and I decided to have a party of our own! We had “sleep-overs” in my bed every single night, we went and got our toe-nails painted, we went to the mall for some new fall clothes and (per Ella’s request), we went shoe shopping! She’s the funniest. She has had a fetish with shoes ever since I can remember, so this was like heaven for her! I let her try on as many shoes as her little heart desired - and safely made it out of the store with only two pairs for her and two pairs for me. Pretty good, considering how long we were there! Now that she’s almost 5 years old, she likes to do fun things with me when the guys are away. We really had a great time. I think it’s so great to be able to get away one on one with your kids every now and then. Being free from other siblings (and spouse) allows you to really focus – 100% - on the child that you’re with at the time. It’s a wonderful opportunity to talk openly with them about things that are on their minds or things you need to discuss with them. I’d like to start a yearly tradition where I spend one entire day with each of my kids on an individual basis…doing whatever it is that they want to do. (Within reasonable limits of course.) The time we have with our kids goes by so fast…I am constantly needing to remind myself of a quote that was sent to me by a girl who reads my blog often. It says: “The days are long, but the years come quick.” That statement is so true! I want to be able to look back on these years I have with my sweet kids and know that I took the time to slow down just a bit to enjoy the present moment I have with them.
Enjoy your day! Liz ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070830-2306242007-08-31T00:00:00Z2007-08-31T00:00:00ZLove these girls...
These are the girls I went to Junior High and High School with. For the past 11 years, we have gotten together once a month for a girls night out – and we are still going strong. It’s so funny to think about what we will be like and what our conversations will be about in 50 more years when we are still getting together each month – as little old ladies, cruising around in Cadillac’s. Ha! Anyway, I had them all over for dinner a while ago and just wanted to say how blessed I feel to have such awesome, amazing friends!
Liz ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070824-1810312007-08-25T00:00:00Z2007-08-25T00:00:00ZThe simple life Life is Good!
Liz ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070823-1801242007-08-24T00:00:00Z2007-08-24T00:00:00ZChasing Dreams... I am a girl who believes that dreams come true. Of course, I also believe that our dreams don’t just fall into our laps – sweat free – but instead, I believe that we have to have faith in our dreams, work for them and have patience when they sometimes take longer to materialize than we would like them to. There are so many things that have taken place in my life that once, was only a dream of mine. Some of those things actually did come pretty easily and others came with a fight. A big fight. The cool thing is, when everything is said and done – and the dream that was once just a picture in my mind – is actually facing me head on…it has ALWAYS been worth the price I had to pay.
Today marks the final completion of one huge dream of mine – that I have been blessed to live for the past 11 years – and also officially begins the journey to make a new dream come true. For those who read my blog often, you know that back in May, we sold the online portion of our company {scrapbooks.com} to the owners of scrapbook.com in Mesa, Arizona. Then, in June we sold the retail store division (here in Spanish Fork) along with the wholesale division, to someone who must also believe in dreams. His name is Karl Larsen.
I haven’t said much about who purchased this portion of the company until now, because there were a few things that needed to finalize before making an official announcement regarding it. One of the main reasons I am excited for this new owner, is that after being heavily involved in the craft industry for over 20 years, he is doing something he has dreamed of doing – and that is, going out on his own, having his own business, making it grow and thrive and be something he can call his very own.
I guess the reason I love it so much when people chase their dreams, is because it takes guts! It takes risks! It takes bravery and boldness! It takes people who are not going to just sit back and let life happen to them…instead, it takes people who act…who do…who listen to what their heart truly wants! I love it! I love it when people dream and especially when they make those dreams come true.
The reason why today marks the completion of one huge dream of mine, is because it is the last and final day Matt and I are deeply involved with Keeping Memories Alive. Since selling the local portion of the business in June, Matt has stayed on full time helping transition things over to the new owner. Although my involvement with the business has been pretty much zilch since the first of June, I have still heard the daily recap from Matt and know all the ins and outs of what is going on at the business. In a sense, KMA has still felt like a big part of our lives because Matt was still putting in 40 plus hours a week there. Well, not anymore.
Tomorrow, we will wake up in the morning and be completely FREE to chase new dreams - full speed ahead! Back when Matt realized he wanted to pursue a career in a completely different field than what he was in, I have to admit…I wondered if he was going nuts! Doing that, would require so many crazy, big, changes! However, after letting it all sink in and mulling it over for – well, a really long time – it was a dream I wanted to pursue right there with him! I knew I was ready for much less stress in my life - and the business was really good at giving me lots of stress. Both of us had also realized (after so many years), that we didn’t want to work together forever! Don’t get me wrong…we never argued about the business…but both of us could NEVER leave the business out of our minds. We talked business constantly. First thing in the morning when we woke up, all day long, at the dinner table and as we lay in bed trying to fall asleep at night. We could never just leave work at work – and we were ready for that to end. Matt had also learned so much about himself – his strengths, his weaknesses, his likes, his dislikes – during the years he ran the business and one of the big things he learned is that he didn’t want to be a business owner for the rest of his life! There are so many strings attached to owning a business…that most people don’t fully understand, until they actually experience it!
The greatest thing about dreams however, is that you are not limited to just one….or even just a few! This path we have traveled, was one we had dreamed of doing since we were cute little high school sweethearts – and we did it! We accomplished the dream we wanted to accomplish and now – we are ready to move onto new dreams and adventures! I can’t wait to see what lies ahead and I am so relieved to have the huge responsibility of the business free from our shoulders, so Matt can focus 100% on his pursuit!
I am so proud of Matt for having what it takes to make enormous changes in his life…and so proud of those people who followed THEIR dreams by purchasing the various divisions of Keeping Memories Alive. Chasing dreams means taking risks in life and I hope that everybody out there will do what it takes to reach their full potential and enjoy true happiness in life by following those urges to do something different…to listen to your heart and be who you really want to be. Life is too short NOT to chase your dreams.
ONLY A PERSON WHO RISKS IS FREE by Author Unknown
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach for another is to risk involvement. To expose your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying. To believe is to risk despair. To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The people who risk nothing, do nothing, have nothing, are nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live. Chained by their fears they are slaves; they have forfeited their freedom. Only a person who risks is truly free.
What are your goals and dreams? Whatever they are, I hope you dream big and go after them with courage!
It’s also fun because my kids get to see their Grandpa all decked out in his Police Uniform. They think it’s the coolest thing ever that Grandpa Rosenbaum is the CHIEF police in town…so when they see him in action – they are pretty impressed!
Anyway, this whole week has been full of family traditions - that both Matt's family and my family all participated in from the time we were little kids! It's been so fun - now that we have our own kids - to make family traditions of our own, that they too will always remember!
Just like the popular quote says, "It's the little moments that make life big!"
I love this family picture of us that was taken last week when we hiked up to Stuart Falls near our home. To me, this is what life is all about – making wonderful memories with those we love. That day was such a “picture perfect” day in my opinion…and I don’t mean just because of the scenery and beautiful surroundings we were in. What I’m talking about is the content feelings of love we share together as a family. The feeling of just being with each other, doing something simple together…with my most favorite people. Mmmmm…life just doesn’t get any better than this.
For some reason, the feelings I have towards my husband and kids lately have been really sensitive. I’m not sure why either. It may be because my mind is more free from stress and worry since selling the business and I’ve been paying more attention to the kagillions of blessings I have in my life…it may be that I’m recognizing more and more how fragile life is and that we should never take our loved ones for granted…or it could just be that I’m just one of those sentimental, sappy, emotional girls by nature and that I just happen to be having one of those happy, weepy, corny type moments. Whatever it is though - I’ve been looking at my family with different eyes lately and almost feel overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude – as they are my most favorite, most precious blessing.
My husband will be the first to tell you that I think WAY too much and that I worry WAY too much! But as a mother with two small children, I don’t see how I couldn’t be like that! That’s my job! That’s what us mom’s do best! Having two little kids, who are innocent and tender hearted…who I have to protect from the outside world has been quite an interesting ride. I’m constantly worrying about whether I’ve taught my kids well enough and if I’ve armed them with the knowledge and confidence they need to enter second grade and preschool. I worry that maybe I don’t hug them enough, or that I protect them too much. I worry that they will be embarrassed of me when they are teenagers or that they’ll move clear across the country when they are adults. I worry about whether they are getting enough vegetables or if they are watching too many cartoons. I worry about the type of example I am being to them or if I’m completely ruining them and one day they’ll need therapy all because I yelled one too many times! I could go on and on about the things that worry me as a mommy, but what it all boils down to is that the reason I worry so much is because I love them so much!
A couple of weeks ago, Nic was cleaning his room and brought his blankie (his “one-of-a-kind, super special, sleep-with-it-every-night, had-it-since-he-was-a-newborn” blankie) to me and asked what he should do with it. I was a little surprised that he was even asking, so I said, “Just fold it up and put it on your bed like you always do.” And guess what he said?! He said, “Well, I don’t really want it anymore. Should I just throw it away?” I couldn’t believe it! This was a milestone that I didn’t see coming and I wasn’t enjoying it one bit! My sweet little baby boy didn’t want his blankie anymore! He’s only seven! He can’t think he’s too big for his blankie yet!
What broke my heart even more is that just a few days later, he asked me - point blank - if Santa was real. OH MY GOSH! I’m not ready for this yet! I’m not ready for him to grow up so fast! I stumbled all around my words for about 15 minutes (not knowing what to say) and fortunately, I was saved by someone ringing my doorbell. Days later, he asked again and I was speechless. I feel like it’s wrong for me to lie and say, “Of course Santa is real sweetie…” but I also don’t want to burst any remaining bubble of his, by saying he’s just imaginary. I tried to think back to when I realized who Santa was, but have no recollection of how old I was or how I found out. (It was probably so traumatic to me, that I blocked it out of my memory!)
So, I’m needing help from any of you mom’s out there who read my blog and have experience with this! How do I say it? How do I break it to him gently?
I’ll end with a quick layout I just did for the design team at scrapboks.com It's all about my family and the feelings I have toward them. I honestly couldn't be blessed with a greater possession.
As far as the KMA website goes, the new owners have done a complete face lift to the gallery and forum and it is quite amazing! So fun to look around and see all of the new features! Because of this, my blog address is now www.lizrosenbaum.com officially , rather than what it was before and now, everyone can have a blog through the scrapbooks.com website. Mine is HERE and we’ll see how I do at having two blogs. This one was originally started because of KMA, but is quickly becoming less and less work related (obviously, since I’m not really working now…ha ha) and more personal and all about home life. I’ll have to figure out how I’m going to re-work these two blogs and if I can keep up with them.
Anyway, remember to hug your kids and spouse today and tell them how much you love them. Life is definitely much more enjoyable with them part of our lives!
Liz ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070720-1553042007-07-20T00:00:00Z2007-07-20T00:00:00ZWhat summer is all about! 1. Eating lots of snowcones 2. Going on many family outings to the beautiful outdoors 3. Spending some relaxing time in my backyard 4. Reading good books on my front porch 5. Long evening walks 6. Hanging out at the pool 7. Backyard bar-b-ques
So far, all of those things have been a part of my summer this year…so I am one very happy camper.
If you asked my kids what they would include on their “summer must-do” list, they would say that going TOAD hunting at Utah lake is very important. Last summer, Matt took Nic out to the lake one evening, to hunt for toad and to my surprise, they came home with over 40 of them! Then after a day or two, they let all of those slimy little creatures go loose in my backyard!
They had the time of their lives...so it became a priority on their list of things to do each summer. So, last night Matt loaded up the kids (and lots of toad catching containers) and came home with six really slimy, really big toads.
Although I wouldn’t consider myself a toad lover, I don’t really mind having them around…because they are so fun for the kids. Nic and Ella can literally be entertained for hours and hours with those funny little things.
Hope you are enjoying your summer! Liz ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070714-2119312007-07-15T00:00:00Z2007-07-15T00:00:00ZHave a zucchini or two…
Our zucchini plants are out of control this year! We only planted two plants and we have zucchini’s coming out the wazoo! (It must be because of all the pampering I’ve been giving to the yard this year.) wink wink.
On Sunday, I baked 7 loaves of zucchini bread! Did you catch that? I made SEVEN loaves! That’s pretty impressive for me since I hate to bake. My aversion to baking is no secret either because when I took a loaf over to one of my neighbors, he said, “Whoa…you baked this? I thought you hated baking!” But what’s a girl to do when the zucchinis are starting to take over her entire kitchen? And that’s even AFTER giving loads of them away to friends and neighbors.
Of course, when I bake zucchini bread I have to give it all away or I end up devouring the whole loaf. When I was younger, I always thought that zucchini bread was healthy for you…after all, it IS made with a vegetable! Imagine how sad I was when I found out it’s basically like eating a slice of cake. Yeah…I was pretty disappointed.
Speaking of produce, my apricot tree is now overflowing with ripe apricots! This year however, I decided to turn over a new leaf and actually get out there and pick some – all by myself. I can’t stand the thought of being up in a tree and the probability of bugs and spiders falling into my hair or climbing on my back without me knowing it…so this job has always been left up to Matt. Well, I’m happy to report that I survived my first major attempt at picking apricots yesterday. It was a close call however, thanks to Nic who yelled from down below, “Mom! There’s bugs all over your bag of apricots!” My natural instinct when I hear things like that is to scream and run, but since I was up really high on a ladder, I screamed and nearly came crashing down from the top rung. (Boy is he lucky that I didn’t fall off!)
On a more serious note, one of my beloved plants died last week. I could NOT for the life of me figure out why either because I had been giving it so much TLC! Suddenly one day, it was deader than dead. Apparently, Matt’s really good intentions of fertilizing it (with a tad too much fertilizer) was the cause of it’s death. Bummer.
Oh well, I still have many other plants that are bringing me pure joy. Beautiful isn’t it?
My eyes have really been opened this summer at how the small and simple things in life really CAN bring us so much joy! So, if you’re feeling stressed, bummed or blah…for whatever reason, try to find something around you that makes you smile on the inside. It’s not as hard as you might think, and it can do wonders for your outlook on life.
And if you need a little help, watch this super adorable movie clip that my sister emailed to me the other day, and just see if you can’t help but smile!
Hope you have a fabulous day! Liz ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070711-1646242007-07-11T00:00:00Z2007-07-11T00:00:00ZMy new favorite hobby!
I grew that!! In my own yard! All by myself! LOL! (Can you tell I'm pretty impressed with myself?)
Okay, so really I just planted it, watered it and watched it grow into a beautiful flower all on it’s own…but everyday I am totally entertained by walking around my yard checking out the flowers and plants to see how much they’ve changed since the last time I looked at them. It’s really funny actually, because my whole life I have thought that gardening was dumb. I mean, I was happy that there were people who DID like it, so I could see the beautiful yards around me…and I was totally grateful that my husband was a green thumb so our yard would look nice…but this year, something strange happened and I completely flipped! I suddenly loved gardening and going to the nursery to pick out new flowers and shrubs for my yard! I actually look forward now to getting all dirty and sweaty as I mow the lawn, plant things, water my precious new additions to the garden and enjoy my new favorite hobby.
Matt seriously thinks I have gone nuts because this is such a dramatic change for me. Now days, if I ever hear him outside with the trimmer, I immediately go start up the lawn mower so I can mow the lawn before he does! Just this spring, we put in a new flower bed with a retaining wall in my backyard that I have filled with three trees, shrubs, perennials and lots of flowers. I’m telling you – this is so bizarre! Until just recently, I could never even remember what the difference was between an annual and a perennial! Ha ha!
A few weeks ago, when I was planting about my 20th plant in the yard, Matt grabbed the camera and took some pictures of me because he is so bewildered about my new attitude toward yard work. He even got the video camera out because he thinks this is just a strange phase I’m going through. Well, it’s not. I am officially a wanna-be green thumb!
Here is one of the layouts I did for www.scrapbooks.com this month, telling about my new hobby.
You can see the other layouts for June HERE. It’s things like this that are so fun to scrapbook about…not just the big things like birthdays, holidays and vacations, but the “everyday life” things that make us laugh and enjoy each day. If you love to scrapbook, remember to scrapbook things about yourself…whether it’s about your hobbies, your personality, your dreams…be sure to include YOU in your scrapbooks!
Well, I’m off to go sing to my plants… (Lol! Just kidding of course!)
Have a fabulous day! Liz ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070621-1448182007-06-21T00:00:00Z2007-06-21T00:00:00Z8 years!
It's official...we've been married for eight whole years as of yesterday! So, our Father's day was extra special this summer since it landed on the same day as our anniversary. My mom took this picture late last night after a crazy celebration at her house...and in defense of my bad hair day, (ha ha) let me explain that I had just endured running through six enormous sprinklers in my parents golf cart at the golf course by their home. Yeah...I know, that sounds weird, but five of us piled in the cart and went for a Sunday evening ride all around the course! It was nuts, I'm telling you!
I had a fun weekend getaway all planned to Park City for just the two of us, but unfortunately we had to cancel at the last minute because some things came up for Matt on Friday night. That was a big bummer for me because I was really needing a get-a-way! Is it just me or are there other mom's out there that are already worn out from their kids arguing all the time, complaining about doing chores, hearing the common phrase, "I'm BORRRRRRED, there's nothing to doooooo." Seriously!
Nic is convinced that I'm trying to turn them into slaves because I have amped up their chore requirements and have started teaching them NEW chores that are a little more "advanced." He doesn't believe me when I tell him that I'm just trying to prepare him to become an independent adult someday! :) (I AM enjoing the fact that my work load is lightening up a bit however!)
hee hee! Liz
P.S. Thanks for all the wonderful DINNER ideas I got from my last entry! I even had a couple people email me some ideas and I am going to check into these things FOR SURE! (Because if I don't, I'll probably get the "bad mom award" for feeding my kids cold cereal and protein shakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.)]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070618-1810062007-06-19T00:00:00Z2007-06-19T00:00:00ZHappy day... So, I am having a bit of difficulty however, with having any sort of desire to cook dinner for my family lately. It’s something that plagues me every summer, but this summer is worse than most. If it were up to me, I’d live on chocolate protein shakes and cold cereal all summer long. I mean, who wants to be stuck in the kitchen by a hot stove, when you could be outside reading a book, working on the yard, (which by the way, is my new favorite hobby) or out for a walk? Not me! Poor Matt has fixed dinner several times for he and the kids many times over the past couple of weeks because I either had nothing planned or didn’t have an appetite. (oops!)
I really need to be better with that. And believe me…I try. I am a compulsive list writer and everyday I have a list of things to do which include the items, “plan meals” and “go grocery shopping.” Well, days and days have gone by and those two items STILL haven’t been crossed off my list! I better kick it into gear tomorrow, or pretty soon we’ll be living on Otter Pops! If only my dream of having a personal chef could come true! Ha ha!
Have a great week! Liz ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070612-2249282007-06-13T00:00:00Z2007-06-13T00:00:00ZMe? Stress Free? Luckily after a couple of weeks, those feelings have quickly passed and now I am absolutely loving the feeling of being so stress free! I feel like everything is so wide open to me and I can just pick and choose what I want to do from here on out! My mind has been going a million miles an hour on what projects I want to complete, places I want to go, dreams I want to fulfill…it is SUCH an awesome feeling!
To stay busy, we had a big “School’s Out” party for Nic and a bunch of his friends. I had no idea first graders could put down so much pizza and so many otter pops! Next time I'll have to plan for much more food! :)
We also went camping and four-wheeling over the weekend and I have to say that I’m pretty proud of myself. I’m not all that fond of camping, but to my husband and kids, it’s like - the best thing EVER! I have never actually camped in a tent overnight…we’ve always stayed in trailers (which I think is still roughing it!) So, when I decided to buy Matt a monster tent and a bunch of camping supplies for his birthday, he thought I had lost it. (Actually, I’m just trying to be a good sport!) Anyway, we ventured out to the dessert for our weekend camping trip. Seriously…we were out in the middle of nowhere! But, Nic has been begging to go to Topaz Mountain for about a year now, so we could hunt for Topaz Crystals - and that’s exactly what we did!
Although I do love going four-wheeling, I was really nervous about the whole sleeping in a tent, out in the middle of nowhere thing…I mean PLEASE! The only thing between me and the outside world was a measly little piece of fabric and a zipper! No locks! No walls! Just fabric! AUGH!!! Thank goodness for sleeping pills – that was a wonderful little thing to have that night! I was also a bit skeptical about chiseling into a ROCK mountain, hunting for teeny little crystals all day long…I kept thinking, “My 7 year old really thinks this is fun?” And the funny thing is, he does! He would take rock hunting over Disneyland any day! I have to say however, that I was pleasantly surprised! What I thought would be kind of creepy and a bit lame, ended up being lots of fun! And I was even lucky enough to find a HUGE piece of topaz – a size that is rarely found out where we were digging! I’ve decided to have a necklace made out of it, so when it’s done, I’ll post a picture of it! We are already planning our next camping trip and this time, it sounds like Nic and Matt plan on taking us out to some desolate place to hunt for Trilobite fossils. Not really my cup of tea, but I’m sure it will end up being a wonderful time! LOL!
Hope you have a fabulous day! Liz ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070606-1233042007-06-06T00:00:00Z2007-06-06T00:00:00ZMore GOOD news to share! Well, our devoted local customers didn’t like that plan one bit. I can’t even tell you how many times people came in just devastated because they didn’t know how they would survive without KMA in town. It was almost as if we had told them a loved one had died! One Saturday morning, a group of ladies had traveled TWO hours just to come shop at our store. My husband and I were both there, discussing plans of how to rearrange displays, etc. and upon hearing the news, one of the ladies walked right over to Matt and said, “I am so mad at you! How could you do this to us? Where in the world are we supposed to shop now?” (Don’t worry, she was mad at him in a sweet and kind sort of way.) ha ha!
She went on to tell us how she and her friends travel down to KMA once a month because our super low prices and huge selection was something no other store could compare to. Those comments were things we had heard many times over during the weeks following our announcement by many of our loyal customers. So when an opportunity to sell the local business along with the wholesale division of KMA – sort of wonderfully fell into our lap, we jumped at the offer!
So once again, we can announce the wonderful news that Keeping Memories Alive will continue on. This time, in our wonderful city of Spanish Fork and online with the wholesale division. The official transition will happen mid-June, so watch for big and wonderful things to happen! The new owners have plans and ideas that I am so excited to see…and I am confident, once again, in the caliber of people who will be taking over the traditions that my family has established over the past 26 years.
Yay!
Have a wonderful day! Liz Rosenbaum
P.S. Just as an FYI, Scrapbooks.com will soon be offering web pages for anyone who wants to have a blog on their site. {How cool is that?} Anyway, I will have a different blog there - which will be more "scrapbookey" and work related, while this current blog will become more of my own, personal type blog. When all of that takes place, you will be able to still find this blog at www.lizrosenbaum.com and of course both blogs will be linked to each other. ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070531-1337532007-05-31T00:00:00Z2007-05-31T00:00:00ZHappy Birthday Babe!
When I think about how I've known Matt since he was 15 years old, it makes me laugh. I still remember when he turned 16 years old and I got him a silly little keychain for his birthday and how we hopped in his new set of wheels and drove down to the little fast food joint for an oreo shake! Those were some really good times!! Anyway, here's wishing my man a wonderful, amazing, and memorable birthday!
Love you babe, Liz]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070529-2202132007-05-30T00:00:00Z2007-05-30T00:00:00ZRemembering times at KMA I have come to the conclusion that change is hard - no matter what it is. Even when the change is something that you wish and hope for, when you finally take that leap of faith and make choices that will completely alter your life – it can be tough trying to transition through it all.
I am positive that the most difficult part of all of these changes is having to say goodbye to our loyal staff members – who we consider our close and wonderful friends. Because the new owners are located out of state, we had to move the mail order operations of the business to Arizona, which meant it was time to say goodbye to the amazing girls in our customer service, shipping and graphic design departments. That, my friend, was a very hard and emotional thing to do.
Of course, we didn’t say goodbye without throwing a party first. Being in business for 26 years, and being the company who founded the entire industry, and then finally moving on and saying goodbye, deserved an astounding applaud and a fine farewell. So, what could be more meaningful than sharing our memories of happy times together? A scrapbook of course! But - since I didn’t have time to make one, (hee hee) I had my good friend Adam Cazier, of Destin Media create the most remarkable movie of KMA and our wonderful friends there, so that we could present it at our goodbye party! Believe me, there was not a dry eye in the room after seeing this.
So, I invite you to take a peek at what life was like behind the scenes at KMA and to reminisce with us of times we will always cherish while working at Keeping Memories Alive.
Play My Wish for You - Second song on DVD]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070522-2054402007-05-23T00:00:00Z2007-05-23T00:00:00ZBIG, WONDERFUL and HAPPY News! I’m sure this news may come as a surprise to many of you who know the history behind our family business and who know that my parents, Anthony and Marielen Christensen started this company nearly 26 years ago – which was the beginning of the scrapbook industry as we know it today. Keeping Memories Alive has been part of our family since I was just a three-year-old little girl who absolutely loved to write (or should I say color) in my journal. I grew up with the business and watched, as it grew and expanded over my lifetime.
In high school, one of my dreams was to marry my high school sweetheart Matt, and run the family business with him when my parents were ready to retire. I am proof that dreams really do come true because 11 years ago, I began working at KMA in the customer service department and two years after that, Matt was hired on as the warehouse manager. When we were married in 1999, we became co-owners of the company and a few short years later, managed the daily operations of the business when my parents semi-retired.
The experiences we have had over the years as part of this business and industry have been truly amazing. We have been so blessed to become friends and acquaintances with so many people throughout the world and our own community. We have been fortunate enough to have success, joy and contentment in our lives because of KMA. Most of all, we have been lucky to rub shoulders with our staff members, our customers and others in the industry who all have the same goal, which is to preserve our memories and create lasting legacies for generations to come.
As time changes however, so do some of our dreams. Not long ago, Matt felt strongly that it was time to pursue other dreams and desires of his. Because I am such a believer in chasing our dreams and making them come true, I supported his decision 100% and knew in the bottom of my heart that things would work out with the business and with our lives the way the Lord intended them to.
As fate would have it, our lives were connected once again with our friends Charlie, Jill, Drex and McKane Davis of Mesa, Arizona. We have long admired the type of people they are and the contributions they have made in the scrapbook industry. After discussing with them our situation of Matt being ready to move onto other things and my parents feeling ready to retire, the thought of them acquiring the online business seemed to fit in perfectly with our hopes, desires and plans.
I am especially excited about these new changes because not only will my parents and husband be able to fulfill their dreams, I will also have the opportunity to fulfill my dreams! I am ecstatic about the fact that I will be continuing on with KMA, Scrapbooks.com, in creative roles and capacities and will still be part of the remarkable company my parents started so long ago. I know that the Davis family will continue to uphold the same principles and values that KMA stands for and that the additions, improvements and new ideas they bring with them will only make things better.
And so, with mixed emotions, much excitement and gratefulness for OH-SO-MANY things, we are looking forward to the future of Keeping Memories Alive and Scrapbooks.com. We value the friendships we have formed over the years and love the people we have been so fortunate to work with. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU - For supporting us, for cheering us on, for the sweet letters and emails we have received over the years, for sharing your inspirational stories of how scrapbooking has affected your lives and for being so appreciative of the work my mother put forth in the early years as she searched and searched for a better way to Keep our Memories Alive.
God Bless!
Liz Rosenbaum …And for the last time to include this title in my signature line, Owner, Keeping Memories Alive
Founders of Keeping Memories Alive and Scrapbooks.com - My parents AJ and Marielen Christensen, My cute hubby and me, and founders of Scrapbook.com - Jill and Charlie Davis
Founders of Keeping Memories Alive & Scrapbooks.com - Marielen Christensen and Founder of Scrapbook.com - Jill Davis
My WONDERFUL parents who started this amazing industry and business! Thanks mom and dad!
Matt and Me with the Davis Family - Jill, Charlie, Drex and McKane. These people are seriously the COOLEST! :)]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070516-2039542007-05-17T00:00:00Z2007-05-17T00:00:00ZI LOVE SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the BEAUTIFUL scene I get to see almost every morning near my home...Isn't it amazing?
Spring weather is seriously the best!
Have a wonderful day! Liz
]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070502-0258112007-05-02T00:00:00Z2007-05-02T00:00:00ZSpeed Scrappin' Well, a few nights ago the kids were entertained by the movie Dreamer which by the way, if you havent seen it, you really should! Its sooo good! Its one of those movies that makes you cry happy, happy tears at the end and makes you believe you can do the impossible! I HIGHLY recommend it! Anyway, back to what I was saying. Since the kids were happily entertained and since the piles of photos in my scrapbook room have grown to an un-manageable amount, I decided I really needed to get busy scrapbooking. It had been way too long!
After getting one page done and being happy with the results, I had a brilliant plan! :) Since I didnt have much time left before I needed to get the kids to bed, and since I REALLY wanted to get more pages done, I decided to simply copy the layout I had just finished using different pictures! Normally, I would never want my pages to look {THE SAME} as any of my other pages, but lets be honest, if I dont start picking up my pace Ill NEVER get my pictures in albums!
Anyway, it was the greatest thing! I finished three pages in record breaking time and since all three layouts are going in different albums, its not a big deal to me that they look similar to each other! Yay!!!!!
So, next time you are feeling swamped, overwhelmed, short on time, and REALLY want to get some pages done, try this trick! Make one layout and then copy it again and even again if you really want to! It feels so nice to accomplish so much in a short amount of time and just think of the quick fix therapy you are giving yourself! Its amazing Im telling you!
Hope you have a fab day!
Liz ]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070419-1426182007-04-19T00:00:00Z2007-04-19T00:00:00ZLoads of fun! This is such a fun and crazy weekend here at KMA! First of all, today we are announcing the winners of our HUGE contest we have been hosting over the past six weeks! The three winners are going to be some seriously HAPPY, HAPPY girls! Check out what our first prize winner is going to get!
Can you imagine opening the door and having the UPS man hand you a box full of goodies like this?? Wow! I am really excited for the girls who win this coveted prize! Last night, I sat in bed with my laptop looking over all of the layouts each of our participants created and I was overwhelmed at the talent people have! If you haven't already, you should check out the contest gallery where all of these layouts are. Not only will you be amazed, you will be inspired as well. After looking through them all, I was itching to go scrapbook - however it was way past my bedtime, so I had to put it off to another day. (bummer!)
Anyway, to all those who entered this contest - WOW! You are amazing! It has been so fun to see the personalities shine through each layout and it has been even better having you part of our community! Also, I wanted to tell our design team a HUGE THANK YOU! They have gone to great lengths to make this contest up-beat, fun and enjoyable to all those who entered. I especially would like to tell Ginger Williams (our team leader) what a fantastic job she did at organizing this contest and the fun day - full of activities in our forum! You rock Ginger!
Because of all the festivities going on this weekend in our online forums, we decided it would only be appropriate to top it off with an ENORMOUS SALE! We are offering 25% off your entire order this weekend only!!!!! Holy cow! The last time we did a sale this big was when we celebrated our 25th anniversary!
For all those who are locals, we will be at the Scrapbook USA show this weekend offering great deals and fun new products at our booth!
Come and see us at the Southtowne Expo center on Friday and Saturday! This is such a fun show - full of craziness and bizarre activities! I will never forget the first year we exhibited at this show and two ladies literally shaved their heads completely bald to win some scrapbook products! I'm telling you - nobody holds back at this show!
Anyway, good luck to all of our participants who entered the KMA Top Scrapper contest! Just a few more hours until the big announcement......Cross your fingers!:)
Have a fabulous day! Liz]]>http://www.lizrosenbaum.com/index.php?entry=entry070412-1600592007-04-12T00:00:00Z2007-04-12T00:00:00Z
