Been a Long Time Gone...

...and not much has changed. Seriously.

School is school; work is work; the girls are as energetic and mischievous as ever; and the Arizona summer heat has hit....full force! I could end my post with that, but seeing as how I haven't written anything in a while, I figure I should elaborate and include a few pics.

School: I am sooooo very happy to report that I started my last UOP class today. Yippee!! Wa-hoo!! Hooray!! Hurrah!! Only 5 more weeks before I can proudly proclaim myself a college graduate. To be quite honest, I am very excited for my current class. It's an image editing course and it will give me a change to get familiar with Adobe PhotoShop. Granted, I only downloaded the free 30-day trial version of the software, but I just couldn't justify spending more than $200 on software for 5 weeks of class - and that is with the student discount!! Doug is also plugging along with his studies. He finished his required courses at Axia, so he will be starting back up with UOP. I think he only has 7 class remaining, so he'll be done before we know it!!

Work: Work seriously is just work. Doug was moved onto a new team a couple months ago, and they finally got a manager. The new manager seems like a pretty cool guy, and he's stoked that Doug trains jiu jitsu (he even went and checked out the place where Doug trains), so that's a good thing. Doug is at a point where he would really like to move up into management. Since the Phoenix campus is so jam-packed with employees, getting 90+ applicants for one position is not uncommon. Realizing this, we have agreed to keep our minds open and consider all management positions. We've looked at Hawaii, Florida, Connecticut, Virginia Beach, Texas, etc. Yes, we are aware these are all places very far from where our hearts are in California, but if moving to the other end of the continent (or at least halfway) is what it will take for Doug to move into management, then that is exactly what we are prepared to do.

The Girls: Oh, how I could go on and on about the girls. Every day is an adventure with those two, and I constantly pray for the energy just to keep up. I am so grateful for AK and Roo and everything they are - good and bad, challenging and not. I have come to realize just how quickly the girls are growing up and how they are each developing their own, unique personalities. They are not my little babies anymore. We have real conversations, they can do so many "big girl" things, and they are quickly showing their independence from me. It makes me sad to think about the little things I have taken for granted. I always heard that the time with babies goes too fast and that I should enjoy as much of it as I could - oh, how I wish I had taken that advice more seriously!! I look back on pictures from when we first moved back to Arizona, and I cannot believe how much they have changed in such a short period of time! Although I miss the tiny little babes I used to feel so overwhelmed by, I am also excited for everything the future has in store for us. I am trying to learn from their example - to enjoy everything about life and to not take things so seriously.

One thing I have noticed lately is how protective the girls are of each other. I guess it's pretty common for mother's of twins to wonder and worry about whether or not their kids will grow up to be friends - I certainly was not the exception to this. I am so grateful to see the friendship that has developed between Roo and AK - they truly do love each and share such a special bond. I cannot express how grateful (and relieved) I am by this. While I am sure that things may change as they continue to grow, I have no doubt that their bond will only grow stronger with each passing day.

Roo (L) and AK (R) being silly for the camera....as usual

Passed out on the car ride home after a LONG day at AZ Mills....notice the totally awesome shades? They were the steal of the day @ $1.62 a pair.

And...being silly again. Roo, my goofy girl, and AK, my night owl.

Arizona Life: Really, what more can I say about life right now other than it is SO freakin' HOT! June was surprisingly mild, but that didn't stop July from blazing right on in with really nasty temps. We stay inside as much as possible - and the pool has become an amazingly great friend. I'm surprised that more people don't take advantage of the complex pool - most days, the girls and I are the only ones swimming...and we're usually there for a couple of hours at a time. Not that I'm complaining....it's kind of nice to have the pool to ourselves. As endeared to the ocean as AK is, I'm surprised to say that Roo has turned out to be our little pool lover. While AK prefers to keep to the steps or float in her tube, Roo [LOVES] being in the water - kicking, paddling, and going underneath. She uses her tube as little as possible - she much rather prefers jumping in from the side and then hanging onto me. I really, REALLY wish I had better researched the swimming lesson schedules for this summer - I think both girls would have done awesome in a swim class. That being said, I'm doing what I can and trying to teach them as best as I am able. They have both shown remarkable progress, but the most important thing is that we're just having FUN!

Another recent change is that I finally got off my toosh and joined a gym. I figured with all the training and working out that Doug does, I needed to do something to get my butt in gear. So, I joined the same gym that my SIL Bobbi goes to, and I have to tell you - I am LOVING it. The classes I've gone to so far are fabulous - the Cardio Kickboxing and Soul Grooves are my current favorites. Both classes seriously kick my butt....and today I realized what a total GOOF I look like while working out...but still, I love going. Now if only the pounds would start to come off...that would make me the happiest gal around!! lol. The girls have done really well in the child center, which is also an added benefit. They had a couple of rough days last week, but I think it was just an adjustment period. They've been going through an adjustment period at church, too. Not sure why, but Roo has really struggled these past couple weeks at church. I really feel bad for her teacher, who was just called to teach their class, but I honestly don't know how to get Roo to change. She doesn't act out very much at home - it usually AK who throws the tantrums and gets upset with me. It seems like the roles reverse just at church, but since I'm in the library I don't see what goes on in primary. Hopefully, as Roo gets more comfortable around her new teacher, things will start to settle down. I would really like for Roo to stop calling her teacher a bonehead every week...and I'm sure her teacher would like that, too!

And...for those who have made it through this entire post (sorry - it ended up being much longer than I originally anticipated)....that's about all we've been up to these past couple of weeks!! We will be leaving for Utah next week - my brother is getting married, so we'll be up there for the wedding and to visit with relatives. I am really excited for that trip, even though Doug will be flying back to AZ early while the girls and I stay behind in UT. Guess we'll just have to live it up as best as we know how!! haha...yes, I admit that I am a dork. But hey - I'm okay with that!!

Hmmmm...seeing as how it's been a while, I guess I'll add my most recent scrap pages to this post, too! I joined a new CT, but quit one of my previous ones as well. Kind of a weird change to explain, but the switch caters more closely to my scrapping style...which means less stress, more enjoyment, and better pages!! So, here are my most recent creations:

The two LO's above were created for my new CT - the kit is [Green Peace], [Green Peace Solids] and the [Green Peace Alpha] from Designs by Leah. Everything is available at Funky Playground Designs

This was created using [Cocktail Party] by Leah F. The picture is one of my mom and me....I think it was taken back in 1985 at a Peterson family reunion, but I could be wrong.

The two above were created using Leah's newest kit [Cherry Pie]. It's a fabulous kit...sort of has a vintage/modern-ish feel to it...a definite favorite!

This was created using Holly's newest kit [Fairy Godmother] which is available at Enchanted Studio Scraps.

This was for a font challenge at FPD - the font is HVD Bodedo (it's the big stamped-looking font)

This was a Scraplift Challenge - I lifted [Mud] from hamtaro807's paper gallery at 2Peas in a Bucket (it's a seriously amazing gallery...you can check it out here)

This was created for a product challenge at FPD - flowers and alpha. The LO won the challenge for the week, which means I won a $5 coupon to the FPD store. Su-weet!!

This was created for a product challenge at FPD - the challenge was to use **Stars**

This final one was created for this week's color challenge at FPD - blue, beige, and green - not colors I usually use but I really like how it turned out!

So, that about does it! Thanks for reading, thanks for looking, and thanks for not giving up on me during my time of inactivity. I will try not to let too much time pass before my next post...but I'm not making any promises!!