It's Football Season!!

Hey Gals,

Football takes over my life for four months every year. It starts at the end of July and sometimes goes well into December. My 15-year-old son, Kade, plays on the sophomore high school team and my 13-year-old plays for the 7th grade team. Steve's one of the coaches for Collin's team. Then there's my husband's favorite team, BYU, who has a game every Thurs. night or Saturday. So--last Thursday night we had Kade's game, followed by Collin's game and in the middle of it was a BYU game. (Everyone won their games--fun night.) We got home around 9:00 and although the BYU game was over and he knew who won, Steve still stayed up until midnight watching the recorded game. Then there are the practices every night. Craziness.

I'm not saying I don't like football. When I married Steve, I pretty much knew if we had Bearnson boys that football would be their game. (Steve was an all-state football player in high school and played college ball.) However, I had a moment Thurs. night that makes football all worth it. I was reading the the progam for the high school team. Under each players photo they ask them their favorite thing about football. All the answers were mostly the same--"the hitting, winnning, coaches, Friday night lights, etc." Then I read Kade's answer. He said, "The lessons learned through playing the game." Wow--that was one of those moments where I thought "Steve and I must be doing something right." I thought of all the things he's learned through football--discipline, endurance, good sportsmanship, teamwork. I'm happy to have football as a part of his life.

Hope you all are having a good weekend. My church has a meeting twice a year on a Saturday night for only the men 12 years old and up. Mine and Steve's family met at my house beforehand for dinner, then while all the men went to the meeting, the girls played games. Very fun. I was in the kitchen all day--and then the food was gone in a matter of minutes. But--it was so worth it. Thank heavens for family.

Hope you're having a great weekend.

Talk to you soon.

LB

My Amish Country Experience

Wow--My girls and I (along with my neighbor Kim Nilson and her two girls) got back late last night from Amish Country and what a trip! We stayed with an old-order Amish family in Intercourse, PA and it was the experience of a lifetime. We rode in buggies, ate home-cooked meals (lots of carbs!), canned applesauce, gathered eggs, played in the hayloft, took pony rides, watched the fascinating process of cows being milked, and made new friends. We got to go to the kids one-room school house and learn about their educational system (they only go to school until they're 14). We also lived the Amish life and learned to appreciate things like electricity, taking photos and automobiles.

I shared Creating Keepsakes magazine with several Amish women and they were intrigued by the whole scrapbooking concept. They asked if they can scrapbook without photos (they don't believe in taking pictures but allowed me to snap some shots of their kids since they aren't baptized yet). Any ideas??. I think I'll start with cards!

All in all, a GREAT experience. I asked Kim on the way home, "What's the single most important thing you learned from the trip?" She said, "That people are the same everywhere you go." I agree--we all eat, sleep, care about relationships, make a living and try our best to live a good, productive life. The Amish people are no different. They just go about it a different way than the rest of us. And I have to let you know, I don't think I've ever seen a happier people anywhere. Their quiet, peaceful life is remarkable to observe. Mark Twain's quote is so true--"Whoever is happy will make others happy, too." I definitely felt that happiness last week.

Have a great night!

P.S. Living with an Amish family was on my "100 things to do before it's too late" list. Yahoo--I can cross it off!

Meet the Gang!

Hey Gals!

I'm having a fabulous time at CKU-Houston! The southern hospitality has been incredible--everyone has been so nice and wow--the pralines are the best! If you were a student here, thanks for making me feel so special!

A couple of days ago I went to lunch with my gang. We were celebrating Kerri Bradford's 40th birthday. These are the gals who are behind the scenes making my life go as smoothly as possible. They have all become incredible friends--infact we are a wonderful support system for each other. Let me introduce you to them.

Front Row (left to right): Vivian Grothe is a newcomer. She keeps us on track with our product development. We were born on the same day in the same year. Wow! What are the chances of that happening!? Viv is a hero to me. She tragically lost her husband a year ago and she has carried herself with such grace and dignity. What an inspiration. Kerri Bradford is next in line and she's my right-hand woman. She's one of the most creative people I know and her brain just never shuts off--she's always thinking of great ideas. I'm next and am having the WORST HAIR DAY EVER! I hate it when that happens. Finally, there's Kristy Banks. You know Kristy--the incredibly awesome scrapbooker. When you see her pages you say to yourself, "How did she think of that?" After eight years of working side-by-side, Kristy has decided to be a full-time mom. I think this is great and while I miss working with her on a professional level, luckily we live very near to each other so we see each other often.

Back Row (left to righ): Karen Clauson is my neighbor and dear friend. She recently joined the CK QVC team and you'll love getting to know her unique style--she's especially good at using patterned paper. Angela Ash is next and everyone says we look alike. Maybe that's because we're sisters. We've been inseperable since her birth (I'm a few years older) and continue to be best buddies today. Three of our children were born in the same year so they are also great friends. Angela is the manager over the Simple Scrapbooks QVC show and also regularly creates darn cute pages for the show. Loni Leah Stevens is the gal who creates pages with the 'it" factor. (She created the layout on the previous blog.) She has a universal style everyone loves. And--she's single. Let me know if you know any single guys to line her up with between the age of 25-30. (She's gonna kill me!) Marci Leishman is the head designer for the CK QVC show. She has over 60 pages in the latest Lisa Bearnson book. She has a style that everyone loves to copy and also has a dang cute sense of humor--she's so much fun to tease. Last but not least there's cute, pregnant Jen Burke. Jen is also a page designer for CK QVC and is known for her colorful pages and fashion forward designs.

So there you have it--my incredible team.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you in your living room on Monday morning (QVC!).

Happy Memories!
Lisa

A Little Glitch in the System

I mentioned on my last post that I'd show you a sneak peak of a layout that features the HUGE chipboard set that I was suppose to be selling on Monday. The page is stinkin' cute, huh? It was created by one of my favorite scrapbookers, Loni Stevens. And, the kit is absolutely incredible. It has thousands of brand new shapes on 40 pieces of chipboard (all inside an adorable box). Now the bad part. The product is stuck on a train somewhere in the Midwest and there's no way to get it there by next Monday. (QVC is very strict--the product has to be in the warehouse in order to sell it.) I guess they will send it back to Utah and we'll sell it on this site. I'm just a little bummed--it is the coolest kit and I'm dying for you to see it first hand. We also had some darling accordion albums to sell--they are also on the same train in the Midwest. Life! The good news is I'm selling a really cool stamp set--three sets of acrylic stamps from popular CK fonts. Plus--I have lots of other cool stuff. I am mostly just sad about the chipboard but life goes on.

See you on Monday morning--bright and early. And--sorry about the chipboard.

LB

P.S. The chipboard shapes on the layout are:
- Nested frames w/rounded corners (4 different sized frames on the layout)
- Arrow photo turn
- Flower w/stem & leaf
- Letter “m”

Loni painted the raw chipboard with acrylic paint then sprayed a layer of clear varnish over them to shine.

This One's for Collin!

Last night, my son Collin was looking at my blog. He pointed out that everyone in our family has had his or her photo posted here except him. He was teasing me about it, but honestly I felt really bad. In fact, I could hardly sleep last night. I also felt bad because I think I tried helping him too much with his homework. He had an assignment in English (he's in 7th grade) where he had to write a page about an embarrasing, life-altering or happy moment in his life. He did a great job but didn't really follow the directions. Last night I helped him change it but he still really liked the orginal page (and was a little resistant to changing it). So--my question to you (because I still feel new to this teenager thing)--is better to let him learn on his own by probably getting a poor grade because he didn't follow directions? Or, is it better to help him change it so he'll learn how to do it right in the future (and get a good grade)?
Just a few neat things about Collin. He's the peacemaker in our family. If I'm ever feeling down, I can always count on Collin to write me a note or give me a hug. He's also an incredible football player. I don't think there's ever been a kid who loves the game more--he eat, drinks, sleeps football. Watch out, NFL--Collin Bearnson's on his way!

Thanks for listening. Sometimes this parenting thing is kinda tricky.

Check out my blog later on today. I'm going to post a page that highlights a brand new kit I'm selling next Monday (5 a.m. and 9 a.m. EST) on QVC. It's the ultimate chipboard kit and comes with thousands of pieces. It's a must have!

Sincerely,
Lisa

My Favorite TV Shows!

Until this week I only watched only one TV show. From January until May, I'm pretty much addicted to American Idol. Brecken and I love it so much that we even traveled this past Tuesday to Denver to see the top 10 American Idol contestants in concert. It was a great show! Taylor Hicks rocks (he was my pick from the beginning). Lisa also wowed me--she sings and plays the piano. Her Elton John songs were great. And, of course Katherine's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" brought the house down.

Yesterday I was on a local show called Studio 5 that debuted this week. If you live in Utah or a surrounding area, check out this new gig (11 a.m. on weekdays on channel 5). I love the set, the hosts were awesome (I was on with Brooke) and the format seemed very fresh. I showed how to scrapbook on blank canvases that you can hang on your wall.

Now I guess I have two favorite shows! Best of luck to Studio 5! And, the countdown begins until American Idol starts up again. I can hardly wait! Okay, so fess up. What are your favorite TV shows. Is there anything worth watching this season??

Discomforts of September

Hey Friends!

Okay, so in my September message I talked about the comforts of September. Now I'll talk about the discomforts of the month. First, I already told you on my blog called "My Little Shadow" that I was a little sad about Sage going off to Kindergarten. Well--today was the day and so far so good. She LOVES her teacher (don't you think she looks just like a Kindergarten teacher should look?) and is so excited to be riding the bus (yikes!). I know it will be a little lonely at first but luckily it's only a half of day. My little shadow will still be around in the afternoon.

Now for the scary stuff! My 15-year-old, Kade, just got his driving permit and has to drive for 40 hours before he gets his real license. Please tell me I'm going to survive! He drove home from Heber, Utah on Monday (we were camping with the family) and I about went crazy. It's not that he's a bad driver--he's actually pretty good for a beginner. I was just a nervous wreck. I had to sit on my hands so I wouldn't keep grabbing the wheel every time a car passed us. Any advice on how to calm down while your child is learning to drive? I really need it.

Thanks for listening.

Lisa B.

Best Peach Cobbler Recipe

Here's my favorite dessert recipe. It's super easy to make and you can eat it without feeling guilty--it's half fruit! Enjoy!

Peach Cobbler
from the kitchen of Lisa Bearnson

3-4 cups fresh or canned peaches
1 T. lemon joice
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
6 T. butter, melted

Place peaches on the bottom of a 8" square baking dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix dry ingredients; add eggs, tossing with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over peaches. Drizzle with butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Top with whipped topping or vanilla bean ice cream.