Enjoyed the Sunshine Today!

Hi everyone.. I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend! I had a nice one myself. I have a few photos to share from my day today boating with my dad and cousin Josef.  I have a couple of cards to share too, so sit tight and bear with me...

Josef is really great at wakeboarding and we spent the afternoon on Tampa Bay soaking in the sunshine and heat!

As we headed into the bay, we saw a wonderful display of Sailboats...

We headed to a popular boating place called Beer Can Island...but it was a little too crowded for us to anchor down and slip onto the island, so we just circled the island and headed back towards downtown Tampa..

As we headed back in, we passed the beautiful Carnival Cruise Ship - The Legend.

Then Josef decided to do a little wakeboarding...

It was a fun day!

Now my cards to share....

I finally have my box of cards for Operation Write Home ready to ship! Included in this box are about 15 Any Hero Cards that I had my scrapbooking girlfriends sign when I went to a weekend retreat back in April. Some of the ladies actually made their entire cards, other's just wrote a message to a Hero inside and then I made the cards when I got home.  Here's a few of the cards:

I also made a card for a friend of mine's little girl Gabriella to give to her father for Father's Day. I love this GinaK designs stamp called " With Daddy's Help".  The designer paper is Basic Grey and I colored the image with Copics.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to have another card to share with you tomorrow! Have a great week everyone!

We Have A New United States Marine!

Hi Ladies!

I know I haven't blogged in FOREVER!! I haven't had time to make cards in so long and I really really miss it! 

The past 13 weeks my daughter Kristina has been going through boot camp at Parris Island, SC.  I am happy and oh so proud to tell you she just graduated and is now a United States Marine!

I promise I will be back soon! I'm going to get back in the craft room and start creating again!

Hope you all are doing well!

Hugs!

Monica
Proud Marine Mom to PFC Kristina!

Mom Is Home!!

First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you who left such nice comments and offered thoughts and prayers for my mom while she was in the hospital. I can't tell you how much it means to me and I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends!

Mom was discharged from the hospital on Saturday around noon. It's been a hectic few days since she got home. I am still staying with Mom and Dad until I am comfortable that she is able to get by without me. Her legs are very very swollen. My mom is a tiny woman and I've never seen her swell like this. The doctor finally called in a medication for her tonight to help with the water retention. She is using a nebulizer to take her breathing treatments four times a day. Her breathing is doing much better and I'm happy to report that she is not smoking! She hasn't smoked since Dec 31st.

She talks daily about how she didn't think she would live the day Dad called 911. She knows how serious it is for her to quit smoking. I pray she can do it!

I know I promised you all some creations, but honestly, I'm so tired that I have no mojo to put together any cards. I have colored a few images, but sadly, I didn't bring enough stuff with me to create cards for the images I have colored.

I am hoping to have some of my stamping buds over this weekend, if my Mom has improved enough for me to go home.

I haven't forgetten about the blog candy to celebrate my blogaversary either!

My box of Stampin Up Catalogs arrived at my house yesterday! I CANT wait to see it! My daughter is supposed to bring the catalog to work for me tomorrow and I'm dying to browse through it. ( Kristina, my daughter, works with me now)



I decided to dig up the very first card I ever made! Hey Joni.. if you are out there reading... do you remember this?? Joni is responsible for my new found obsession.
I think I've come a long way in the short year I've been stamping!

Night everyone... will talk to you soon! Thanks for visiting!

Another Update on Mom...

Mom is still in ICU. We did make a little progress and they removed her from the ventilator but she's still not able to breathe on her own and is on a by-pap machine which is supplying oxygen for her. Her blood pressure has been through the roof and they are battling that too.

She's still unable to speak much and is very weak.

We were hoping she would be out of ICU by now, but that's not the case. Praying she'll be better enough in a day or two to go to a regular room.

I'll update more later tonight.

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Update on My Mom

Well..unfortunately I don't have any good news to share. My mom is still in ICU on a respirator. They tried three times this weekend to wean her off the respirator and each time she couldn't breath on her own.

She's also having some issues with her blood pressure. They did an Echo Cardiogram and Ultrasound on her heart on Saturday to rule out possible heart attach, but we haven't gotten the results back yet. Hopefully in the morning we will know how that turned out.

Your continued thoughts and prayers are great appreciated!

Hugs!!

Monica

Prayers For My Mom Please....

This morning, my Dad had to call 911 because my Mom was in respiratory distress. She has COPD and unfortunately is still a smoker. She's been fighting a cold for several weeks and yesterday and New Year's Eve Day felt progressively worse and short of breath. She had an Asthma attack yesterday morning and couldn't sleep all night. This morning she told my dad she wanted him to take her to the ER. He went back upstairs to get dressed, and when he came back down she told him to call 911.

My mom is in ICU and currently on a respirator and oxygen. She's been heavily sedated all day, so we haven't been able to talk to her at all. Lab tests came back this evening and her cardiac enzymes were elevated which my indicate that she also had a heart attack. They are going to run more extensive tests tomorrow to determine if she did or not.

It's going to be a long weekend at the hospital. I will try to update you all as soon as I can.

The picture above is of my Mom and I almost a year ago. She is my rock and my best friend. I'd really appreciate any prayers you can send her way!

Thanks!!

Birthday Card For My Husband

Tonight I have a card to share with you that I made for my husband. Tomorrow is his birthday and I wanted to make him a hand made card. I have only been stamping since January 2008, so this is the first birthday card I have made for him.

I really had a hard time with this card. Why are masculine cards so hard to make?? UGH! I really wanted the stamped image to turn out differently. I tried brayering and decided I need more practice! So this is the finished product.

I used Stampin Up's Nature Silhouettes stamp set. The paper is Not Quite Navy, Bordering Blue and Always Artichoke. I used my Label Nesties set to cut out the image and the matting. I also used the Nesties Ribbon Label die cut for the sentiment. The lighter blue background was cuttlebugged with two different embossing templates.



This is the inside of the card:



I was sick all weekend with the flu/head cold that's going around. I am feeling better than I was, but not back to 100% yet. Thanks for stopping by! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

My Hero in Iraq

Some of you who have followed my blog know that a very special person to me is serving in the United States Marines and is currently in Iraq. Kevin dated my daughter for almost 4 years and is so very special to our entire family. When my brother died, he flew all the way from California to honor my brother who served in the Army. Kevin and two other dear friends who are Marines conducted the Flag Folding Ceremony and presentation of the Flag to my parents and my niece.



I'm very lucky that I get to email quite frequently with Kevin. Today he sent me some pictures of him in Iraq. To say it made my day is putting it mildly! I hope you don't mind me sharing.. One of the pictures is so cool!

I'm going to be sending a box of cards to Kevin in the next couple of weeks. I'm working on some holiday cards to send him and his unit so they will have some cards to send home to their families and friends during the holidays. If you'd like to help and make a few cards.. I'd love it! Email me at riverviewstamper at gmail dot com and I will give you my address to send them too!








Thanks for serving our country Kevin and please know you are in my thoughts and prayers daily! I love you!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

A Very Personal Post

Me and my brother... Christmas 2004




I'm not sure that I have ever shared this information on my blog, but I am compelled to post today because it is a very difficult day for me and my parents, niece and family.

One year ago today, my brother committed suicide. One year ago today was the worst day of my life. One year ago today, I lost my only sibling. One year ago today, I watch my parents lose a child and witnessed the heartwrenching pain they would endure.

This past year has been difficult. My brother left behind a beautiful 10 year old daughter. She misses her daddy.

Today, I will spend the day with my parents and try to get through the day as best we can. Please say a prayer for us.

I'll be back in a day or two with some cards to share.

Diploma In Hand

Bennie, Kristina and me before the ceremony

Kristina walking in to her seat.

Kristina's boyfriend Kevin flew in from Camp Pendleton to participate in the Honor/Color Guard. That's him in his dress blues.

Diploma In Hand.... does she look happy???


We had a wonderful day yesterday as we celebrated this big milestone. Yes, I cried. My baby is no longer a baby anymore. After the ceremony we went to dinner with a group of 21 people and had a great meal and lots of laughs and good conversation. It was a wonderful day!!

Today Is The BIG DAY!!!

Kristina is walking across the stage today at 3:00 pm! She's graduating from High School!

Ironically, I graduated exactly 25 years ago today too! Who-da-thunk it??

We are so pround of our baby girl. She's growing up to be a beautiful, smart, responsible person and I know she'll go far in life!

Congratulations Kristina!! We Love You!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Just a short post to wish all you Moms a Happy Mother's Day!

This is a photo taken last night at my daughter's Navy Ball.

Have a wonderful day everyone!!