Has it really been a year?

If I hurry I can sneak this blog post in just in time.  If not, an entire year will have gone by without a single post.  Where have I been? Well, here is the quick version; (the long version would take a year to tell.) I've been starting and running a cupcake shop with Steve, my husband and fellow baker, decorator and shop owner.  The hours are crazy, and seem to consume the majority of my time. (But that's a story for another day.)  In the few short hours I have left each day, I'm trying to be a better mom and spend quality time with my kids, continue my crafting interests, carve out a little me time with my girlfriends and take care of this 101 year old house we live in.

With that said, I shall dive right in.  If you caught my last post, then you probably have a very good idea what I've been up to this past weekend.  I spent another amazing four days at Creative University 2012.  This was my fourth year at CU and it never disappoints. For four days, I'm surrounded by incredibly creative and talented women, who are kind, funny and clever.  The friendships that linger the rest of the year, are refreshed and deepened and new friends are made.  We are surrounded by the beauty and majesty of this part of the world we live in and somehow manage to take a few moments each day to breathe deep and be in awe of it.

And there seems to be a correlation involved, the more times I come, the more friends I make, and the less I get done.  I did manage to complete a couple of super cute mini albums in addition to the amazing class projects (that I actually finished all of this year!)  Give me a few days, and I'll be back with photos of each of this year's amazing projects.  Our teachers really outdid themselves this year!  You'll love what they came up with.

I also had a new group of roomies this year, though most of them I knew from previous CU weekends.  They are a wonderful group of ladies and it was so fun to get to know them better and exchange fun little roomie gifts.  Thanks to Tamara W. here is a little pic of our group:

And the "unofficial" pic of our "sorority" the Purple Pixies taken by Linda W.  Just look at all that fun logo wear.  This year's just might be my favorite! Due to weather constraints, we took group photos this year with just our sorority.  So there was actually twice this many women at the retreat.

I'll be back soon with more great pics of all the fun.  It might take me several days to get them all uploaded and ready for you.  So, for now, I'll leave you with this beautiful photo of Lake Coeur d'Alene taken by one of our instructors, Michelle Nist, a Close to My Heart consultant.

I love this pic, why don't I ever think to do something this fun and creative?