May 2025 Highlights

Here's what we were up to during the best month of the year! That's May :)

Flowers arrived at Costco so we loaded up a palette! Flowers bring me so much joy.

The Johnny Rockets that started blooming wild a few summers ago have scattered all around our yard and I love it.

On Mother's Day Chris treated me to homemade French toast, so yummy.

The kids who call me Mom :)

The first Saturday in May the first batch of baby birds traumatically flew the nest when a huge magpie flew at them. The magpie caught one and flew off with it and I chased it down but it was too late for the baby, it died in my hands. I'm really sad and still upset, I get legitimate PTSD when animals die. The magpies are everywhere this year and I don't know what to do about them.

This stinker tried building a nest in our other porch light. In fact, there were starts of nests in all 5 of our other porch lights. But all of those get direct sunlight in through the glass and I don't think that would turn out okay for the birds... so we wrapped them up. 1 nest is all I can cope with.

Just a week later, the next pair of house finches rebuilt the nest and so it began again. I really hope the magpies don't get these babies :( They should fly the nest around June 11th and I'm open to suggestions of how to protect them.

I'm not sure how many of the 5 eggs have hatched, this is just birdie soup :) Pic taken on Friday May 30th.

On May 8th we celebrated our 18th anniversary! This is what I shared on socials: So grateful for the love and support of my best friend. We met and fell in love at age 18, got married at 21, moved to Los Angeles, had two kids, moved to Germany for 4 years and visited 43 countries, moved to Seattle for one year, and then moved to Denver in 2018 where we've been living ever since. I love the life we've built together - he's my travel buddy, swolemate, confidant, the person who just gets me. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings because as long as he's by my side, I know I can get through anything!

Chris and I rarely sit on this couch and watch TV but one afternoon he was folding laundry on the couch and felt a drop of water fall on his head. Uh oh. We looked up and saw a leak in our ceiling. Never good. Luckily we found a plumber to come out that very afternoon. An old pipe was leaking, he fixed it, and then a few weeks later we had a painter come patch the hole. Amy & Sandy were checking out all the equipment.

The new NFL season schedule was released and I'm looking forward to this game on Christmas. Go Broncos!

I got my nails painted in pastels to match the rainbow album for filming. It's the little things :)

Chris got me the summer edition of Red Bull - white peach flavored. It's so good. And it's my favorite shade of PINK!

Friday May 23rd was the last day of school. Here's Fox scooting off to his last day of 8th grade. Which means he starts high school in a few months. Guys. Where does the time go? I started this blog before he was even born and now he's almost 15. Time is weird like that.

Jane finished 7th grade and will homeschool again next year.

We celebrated the end of the school year at Fujiyama - the kids love this place.

On May 28th I turned 40!

What an amazing 40 years I've had! So thankful & grateful for all 14,600 days. I get to do what I love, be with the people I love, and be surrounded by love!!

I've been exercising and lifting heavy weights since March 1st and am almost up to lifting 4000 pounds during my routine. Chris has been so sweet to help me and be my personal trainer every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning. I've never felt happier and more in shape in my life! 40, sporty, and thriving ;) (That's my current version of "30, flirty, and thriving!")

We celebrated with lunch at my favorite burger place called Crave and then went and saw the new Mission Impossible movie which we all enjoyed.

On May 29th my mom flew in! We ate Bethany's chicken tacos for dinner and then watched A Quiet Place: Day One. I made brownies topped with vanilla bean ice cream. I've had a craving for that for months and finally treated myself.

To celebrate my milestone 40th birthday, Chris whisked me off to Aspen!

The entire 4 hour drive was sooooo beautiful. I've never been to Aspen before!

We stayed at the St. Regis hotel and had a balcony to ourselves with the most spectacular view of the mountains.

We made it!

The St. Regis.

Apparently we came during the "off-season". Even the Aspen airport was closed! We basically had the entire hotel, stores, nature & hiking trails, and restaurants all to ourselves. The airport and stores re-opened Sunday June 1st, the day we left. I liked being basically catered to :)

We settled in and then headed out to explore.

"Shopping" is my middle name ;)

Checking out the Kemo Sabe shop.

Well this is definitely my kind of photo op!

For dinner we went to Prospect at the Hotel Jerome.

Hotel lobby.

H.O.L.Y.  M.O.L.Y. everything was sooooo good! In fact, every single meal we had in Aspen was out of this world delicious.

In the morning we ventured out to hike up the hill and take in the views.

The views were aplenty!

Over the weekend the Crop & Create Papercrafting event took place so I popped in whenever we were at the hotel.

Breakfast - also scrumptious!

We drove to Snowmass and got a couple's massage at the Viceroy. It was Chris' very first massage and I assume not his last because he loved it.

For a quick bite we stopped at Hometown BBQ in the Inn at Aspen which was also yummy but I didn't take any pics.

Next: Maroon Bells!

When I saw these daffodils we just had to stop and take pictures.

There's a reason it's called Aspen! Aspens galore!

We hopped on the bus to take us to the parking lot at the base of the mountain.

Oh my wow!

We exchanged taking photos with another couple.

The wildflowers weren't blooming yet but there were daffodils aplenty!

We saw so much wildlife along the loop including a fox, family of deer, a beaver with a huge home, and two families of Canadian geese. We also saw a snake and marmot. Who needs the zoo?!

I spy a marmot.

There was hardly anyone along the trails, it was nice.

Back at the hotel to clean up and get ready for more shopping and dinner.

For dinner we went to Wayan which is French Indonesian and only their 2nd night being open after the off-season.

Once again, everything was so good I can't even describe. Aspen gets an A+++ for food.

We woke up at 5am to head home so I could teach at my allotted time. Driving through Glenwood Canyon as the sun was rising was so beautiful.

It was an amazing weekend getaway! I hope we get to go back again soon!

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The kitties are the best part of every monthly recap, let's be honest. Here they are enjoying an afternoon snooze on our pink couch.

1) Sleeping on and by Rachel's chair as I work. 2) Exploring the painter's equipment.
3) Another view of their pink couch nap. 4) Both of them snuggling me which rarely happens!

Sandy sure knows how to nap!

1) Sometimes she just needs a little "me" time and goes off into a quiet spot like Grandma's bed. 2) Another pic from when she cuddled me. 3) Lately she's been sleeping at the foot of the bed. 
4) Always getting into mischief. 5) The very 1st picture I took with my new Pixel phone. 6) Sandy's nostrils are heart-shaped!

Amy is so proud of herself for getting into this box.

She literally climbed up and down the painter's ladder.

She's so petite she fit into the maid's little basket.

And just various cute pics of Amy following me around all day every day.

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Onto the scrappy things!

I shared 3 layouts and 1 card in May. Click the links to see them in more detail:
Stitched Hearts Layout // Pinwheels Layout // Thank You Card // Stacked Books Layout

The Spring/Summer 2025 issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today Magazine released in May and inside you'll find 2 layouts I made inside using Happy Haven! I'll share them here soon too!

Most of my May was spent creating my Rainbow Album Kit & Class.

I purchased supplies to create kits throughout 2025 late last year and have been working my way through them one month at a time. Rainbow Avenue was up in May! I knew I wanted to document our Spring Break vacation to Hawaii in this album and I loved the challenge of fitting over 350 photos inside.

On Sunday May 4th I got started on my sample album and released the kits on the 23rd & 24th. 19 days from start to release!! It was a very busy 19 days lololol. I'm still catching up on sleep ;)

I started with the hand stitched pages which always take a few days.

Then I made thread tassels in all the pretty colors.

I found pom pom ribbons in all the colors of the rainbow.

If I don't give myself a deadline, I could work on a project for months. I realized if I wanted to release this kit & class in May, I had to get 'er done and released on May 23rd & 24th. I created a daily to-do list to complete in order to make that deadline. It felt good checking off my daily tasks.

Taking & editing photos of the kit.

After finishing my sample album, I filmed the entire process in a second album.

The class video ended up being 6.5 hours long! When I asked in my stories, the majority of people said they prefer longer "live" videos vs sped up with voiceovers. Good thing there is a mute button and speed up feature in YouTube :)

Then we collated all the ribbons & threads.

On Saturday the 24th we put all the kits together and shipped most of them out the same day.

Our house turns into a makeshift warehouse when we kit.

All the kits sold out in 1 hour and 13 minutes!!! I opened up orders to my "first-to-know" list that I'd been gathering since March for one hour on the evening of the 23rd and then I released the rest of the kits to my PaigePals on the morning of the 24th and they sold out in 13 minutes. I can't even begin to explain my gratitude!!! Thank you thank you thank you! I LOVE SCRAPBOOKING!!!

Since the kits sold out so quickly, I reached out to Gi and asked if she could make more Rainbow Sequin Albums and of course she said yes! So even though I don't have complete kits available, you can still still an amazing rainbow album and the purchase of the album comes with access to my class.
PRE-ORDER A RAINBOW SEQUIN ALBUM HERE.

On Saturday May 18th I taught a virtual class to a lovely group of scrapbookers in Brazil. Gi was my translator. I'll share the 2 layouts we created soon!

A couple of screenshots of the virtual attendees. I love that technology can bring us together from all over the world to share in this hobby.

The Pumpkin, Shell, Heart, Leaf, and Ghost (not pictured) sequin albums arrived from Gi and I got all those pre-orders shipped out. We do a lot of fun collaborations and things together. She's so reliable, responds instantly, and is just so awesome. We make a great team :)

Aaaaand Gi and I were guests on a Podcast which you can watch/listen to HERE!

On iNSD I did a live showing how to create the Stacked Books Layout. Watch the replay HERE.

I did a Meet'n'Greet for SCT Magazine in preparation for teaching a virtual class on June 1st.

Which brings us to Lovely Lane!!

On my 40th birthday we released my first collection with Pinkfresh Studio called Lovely Lane! It should be available mid-July and I will have complete kits in my shop. Be sure to sign up for our Lovely Lane Weekend event in Colorado on August 2nd & 3rd where we'll use it!! Also you'll want to visit the Pinkfresh Studio blog to see it all and enter the giveaway to win the entire collection!

The reveal of my second collection with Pinkfresh Studio called Legendary will be on Monday June 9th at 9am Pacific/12pm Eastern Time - keep an eye on the PFS Blog & Instagram! This is my first line in nearly 10 years and 21 collections with no pink or flowers and I LOVE it and hope you will too!

PS - I am planning to use Legendary at the She Loves Color event!

In June I'm planning to work on my next kit & class which will feature a mini album made with these custom wooden cassette covers I designed and Jessica from Color Cast Designs produced! Aren't they stinkin' CUTE?! And a fun blast from the past. If you're a music lover and/or concert goer, this kit & class will be for you! Email me to get on the first-to-know list :)

I'm also hoping to create Happy Haven kits with classes! My order is still pending. It's been a very red light, green light situation. Right now it seems to be a yellow light lol. Stay tuned!

It was an amazing May and I'm looking forward to an awesome June! Thanks for stopping by and catching up!