I'm Back... Time to Catch Up

Woohoo, I'm back! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. I've had good reason, kinda. Since I've been gone I have had the surgery to implant my spinal cord stimulator. It has been an up and down and bouncy ride. I woke up from surgery with no movement whatsoever in my left leg and had a very scary two days worrying that I wasn't going to be able to walk. Long story short, they were preparing to go back into surgery to remove the implant and take pressure off the nerves when we decided to turn the stimulator on to see if it even worked. As they did I started to get some movement. It took several days and help with a walker (never thought I'd be using a walker this young!) to get my leg strength back but it's all good now. Still very restricted in movement and activity but feeling less pain each day and getting more antsy to get active. Still not sure how this will all work in the end. I do feel some relief from the pain when I can get the stimulation to my feet but that in itself is a process as the swelling goes down and the scarring starts and the leads move around. Hopefully we will get a good program going soon and get some real data to go by. Anyway, there's the update for those that wanted it. For those who didn't, it's too late to tell you to skip ahead... lol.

Today I am catching up on some posts that have gone live on the S.W.A.T blog and Practical Scrappers since I've been gone. I hate that I missed the live dates (so sorry team!) but don't want you to miss out on the going ons of both fabulous blogs.

First up is the second drill on the S.W.A.T. blog for the month of June. It's all about summertime, the time to kick back, play in the sun, eat some ice cream and make memories. The challenge is to show us your summertime.  I decided to create a two page layout showcasing a summer night spent making smores at our Aunt Shelly and Uncle Mike's house. Obviously these are many summers ago... I am working through old photos quickly. I used the Hey Boy line from Basic Grey that I found at JoAnne's. Love it! Fabulous colors and patterns. The embellishments are super fun too.

Love how it turned out and I was able to get 9 pictures on it. 9 without making it look too crowded!

Next up is a two page layout featured on the Practical Scrappers way, way back on June 5th. I wish I had been organized enough to get my posts done before surgery but hey, here it is late and all.

This layout was part of the graduation album I made for my niece. My son was able to go to a Bronco game on one of our trips back to Denver with his cousins and uncle. Anyone who knows my son knows he is a Bronco fan all the way! It was an incredible day and he got to watch a favorite of his, Tim Tebow while he was a Bronco. (By the way, this family still loves Tim, Bronco or not!) I didn't have much orange or blue around so I actually used all scraps from my scrap drawer and made it work.

There you have it. Head over to both blogs and see what else you've missed. There are so many posts with fabulous inspiration. Don't forget that there is still time to participate in both drills for June at S.W.A.T. with a chance to win some super prizes. Also, check out the basic training for June, try your hand at stitching and have a chance to be the featured designer for July. Oh, and most exciting, check out the design team announcement at Practical Scrappers and cheer with me as I get the chance to stick around for the next term. I will be changing teams from Ten Things to the On Trend team and will be stretching myself to dive into some of the newest trends hitting our scrapping world.

Thanks for sticking with me on this long post. I'll be checking in tomorrow with a super fun washi tape project...hmmm...

Lisa