Katie the Scrapbook Lady

Doing the CHA CHA!

 

Ok, every time I see the abbreviation CHA (Craft & Hobby Association), I hear it in my head as “chaw” for some reason. I think of doing the Cha Cha! I’ve always felt a teeny bit jealous really happy for people who’ve gotten to attend CHA in the past. I’ve always thought I would never be able to pull it off to attend CHA myself, but what do you know? I’m going this year!

 

I’m still having a fair amount of anxiety about:

1. leaving my kids (haven’t left them this long since 2003
2. flying on a plane by myself – I can’t even discuss all the anxiety I’m feeling about this.
3. meeting lots of new people

 

But I’m super excited about:

1. getting to hang out with Steph (we are even sharing a room)
2. finally meeting Peppermint in real life! When I told her I wasn’t sure I could do it, she told me to take a “fistful of valium and get my **** on a plane!” How could I refuse? lol!
3. meeting lots of new people
4. recording a digi show live with Steph & Peppermint. That will be so much fun!
5. going to California in January. Duh! That’s awesome when you live in Utah.
6. hanging out with the “rock stars” of my world. You can bet I’ll be doing some name dropping because I’m going to be more than a little geeked out over all the cool people I get to meet.
7. the chance that my hubby and kids will have to spend time together. I know they will miss me and that it will be hard at times, but it’s also neat that they will get so much time together.
8. getting to see all the cool scrapbooking stuff out there and experiencing something totally new and exciting.

 

We recorded a new episode of The Digi Show this week where we discuss some of the things we will be doing at CHA. We will even be having a listener meet up! If you are heading to CHA, please let me know in the comments or send me an email. It will be a whirlwind trip, but I will do my best to try and meet you if possible.

 

Wish me luck and send happy thoughts (or prayers if you are so inclined) my way for a safe and easy journey!

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The World's Most-Visited Tourist Attractions

As we were walking (shuffling) down the street in Times Square of New York City, I wondered how many people were there with us? There’s no way to know for sure, but I have proof that it is the most visited place in the world. I found this article on the World's Most-Visited Tourist Attractions and sure enough, Times Square is in the numero uno spot! I have been to Times Square two different times, once in 2004 and our trip last week in June of 2012. I was there on almost the exact same dates both times and I was amazed at how many more people were there this time around.

No. 1 Times Square, New York City – I was able to snap this picture of the famous cowboy when the crowds miraculously parted for a moment. Where else can you see cowboys in their underwear, fake Elmos, spray paint art, and hot Rolex watches all in the same glance? Times Square is a one-of-a-kind place!

 

No. 2 Central Park, New York City – Next up on the list is another place we visited on our trip, Central Park. We went on a carriage ride through the park which is a very touristy thing to do, but hey – we were tourists! It was a fun way to see the park.

 

No. 3 Union Station,Washington, D.C. – This was part of my “bucket list”, we took an Amtrak train from Union Station in DC to Penn Station in NYC. I’ve always dreamed of taking a cross-country train trip but my hubby has not been fond of the idea. He did enjoy our 3 hour trip between DC & NYC though so I’m making progress! This is one busy station and it was interesting to see all the different travelers. Our bags were sniff-inspected by a big police dog. I felt really bad for the poor dog because I’m sure our suitcases didn’t smell too good by that point in the trip.

 

No. 4 Las Vegas Strip – You might remember that we went to Las Vegas a few months ago. I’ve probably been to Vegas five or six different times in my life. There are some fun things to do there, but it sure has gotten more raunchy over the last few years. We aren’t anxious to go back anytime soon.

 

I’ve never been to the next 3 destinations on the list:

No. 5 Niagara Falls, New York and Ontario

No. 6 Grand Central Terminal, New York City

No. 7 Faneuil Hall Marketplace,Boston

 

No. 8 Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Orlando – I’m not surprised that this is in the top ten list, I think I would have guessed that it would be ranked higher. We have visited Disney World one time, back in 2008. Such a fun place to visit, but as far as the Disney portion goes, we prefer Disneyland over The Magic Kingdom.

 

No. 9 Disneyland Park,Anaheim, CA – We are Disneyland people for sure! Well, at least the kids and I are big fans. My hubby has been so many times in his life because of traveling with his parents on a regular business trip to Anaheim. We’ve been a lot of times also, but I enjoy it even more now that my kids are bigger. It’s fun to hang out with them there and we love to learn more about the history behind the rides and the secrets of the park. We also love to collect pins.

 

I haven’t been to either of these:

No. 10 Grand Bazaar,Istanbul

No. 11 Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo

 

No. 12 PIER 39, San Francisco – I’ve been to Pier 39 three different times in my life and I’d gladly go back. I love San Francisco!

from wikimedia commons

 

No. 13 Notre Dame Cathedral,Paris – I got to see Notre Dame on my study abroad trip in 1989, but it was being cleaned so a lot of it was covered in scaffolding.

from wikimedia commons

 

No. 14 Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. I was only 2 years old when I went there so I’m not sure I should really count this. I’ve been to San Francisco a few times though, so I guess that will do. Here I am with my parents at Golden Gate Park in 1971.

 

Never been to

No. 15 Forbidden City,Beijing

 

No. 16 Epcot, Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, FL – Epcot was our very favorite thing about going to Disneyworld. We loved learning about all the different countries and trying new foods. I hope we can go back someday!

 

I haven’t been to

No. 17 Disneyland Park, Marne-la-Vallée, France

No. 18 Sacré Coeur Basilica,Paris

No. 19 Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront, Hong Kong

No. 20 Victoria Peak,Hong Kong

 

No. 21 Pike Place Market,Seattle – I just LOVED Pike Place! Wish I could go back right now!

 

Never been to

No. 21 The Zócalo,Mexico City

 

No. 23 Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, FL – We made the mistake of riding the river rapids ride at the beginning of the day so we were completely soaked. I’m not just talking a little bit wet, I’m talking you could wring out your clothes and fill a bucket. I wish we wouldn’t have done that because it kind of made the day miserable. That said, if I ever go back to Disneyworld, I’m totally going to stay in the Animal Kingdom Lodge because that place is amazing! We wished we would have stayed there.

 

No. 24 Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, FL – We have some fond memories of Hollywood Studios. It was nice that it wasn’t as crowded as the other parks and we especially enjoyed seeing Fantasmic!

 

I haven’t been to

No. 25 Great Smoky Mountains National Park

No. 26 Great Wall of China, China

No. 27 South Street Seaport, New York City

No. 28 Navy Pier,Chicago

 

No. 29 Musée du Louvre, Paris – I feel like I didn’t even make a dent when I went there. How can you ever see everything in that place? I’d love to take my kids there someday.

wikimedia commons

 

Never been to

No. 30 National Air and Space Museum(Smithsonian),Washington, D.C. (but we did walk by it)

No. 31 Universal Studios Japan,Osaka, Japan

No. 32 Sydney Opera House,Sydney

No. 33 Everland, Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea

 

No. 34 Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History,Washington, D.C. – I would love to go back when it wasn’t filled with thousands of girl scouts. What a cool place!

 

No. 35 Eiffel Tower, Paris – been there! I was there in 1989, which happened to be the 100 year anniversary of the tower.

 

No. 36 Lincoln Memorial,Washington, D.C. – so incredible to see this in person. I really felt a powerful respect for President Lincoln while I was standing in this memorial.

 

I haven’t been to

No. 37 Bourbon Street,New Orleans

No. 38 Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando

 

No. 39 Palace of Versailles, Versailles,France – It was closed the day I went there, but I did walk around the grounds.

wikimedia commons

 

No. 40 British Museum,London – I visited while I was on my study abroad program in college.

wikimedia commons

 

Never been to

No. 41 Lotte World, Seoul

No. 42 Grauman’s Chinese Theatre/Hollywood Walk of Fame, Hollywood

No. 43 French Market,New Orleans

 

No. 44 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City – I went with my hubby back in 2004. I wish we would have had time to take our kids there on our recent trip.

wikimedia commons

 

I haven’t been to

No. 45 Hong Kong Disneyland

 

No. 46 The Colosseum,Rome – another thing that’s just amazing to see in real life!

 

Never been to

No. 47 Ocean Park, Hong Kong

No. 47 SeaWorld, Orlando

No. 49 Tate Modern,London

 

No. 50 Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, CA – I visited this spot as a kid, don’t remember a ton about it.

 

I think it’s pretty amazing that I’ve been to 23 of the 50 most popular tourist destinations in the world. Not bad for a Utah girl (who doesn’t even like to fly)! I know there are some destinations that I will never see, but I’m very happy that I’ve had the chance to see so many amazing places. How many have you been to? Are any of them on your travel dreams list?

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The answer + a winner!

It was so much fun to read all the guesses about where we went on our big vacation. So many of you were very close and a lot of you knew that Alex would definitely enjoy a trip that focused on history. We saw a lot of national monuments.

and A LOT of girl scouts! Yes, we were in Washington DC at the same time as 250,000 girl scouts for their 100th anniversary celebration. It was soooo crowded and everywhere we went, we were surrounded by girl scouts.

We collect stamps in our National Parks and Monuments passport book and by the time we finished our trip, we had 20 new stamps! (Badges anyone?)

If you know Alex, you probably aren’t surprised that he would pick Washington DC for one of the destinations on his graduation trip. It wasn’t only about the history though…he was most excited about going to see this special exhibit at the Smithsonian about The Art of Video Games. lol! It wasn’t even a very big exhibit, but it was really cool for him.

The entire Smithsonian experience was a big deal for him (and we all loved it too). You will be seeing more blog posts about all the cool things we saw. Washington DC was a big hit!

Part 2 of our trip….

Another wish Alex had was to see a Broadway show. He was especially excited about going to Mary Poppins. He has poured over this book for the past few years and he has been dreaming of going to New York to see it. I’m happy to report that it was everything he hoped for and more. It was an incredible production that we all enjoyed. We also saw Wicked on Broadway and loved that as well. We hung out in Times Square, rode the subway, went to Rockefeller Center, took a carriage ride in Central Park, and went to the American Museum of Natural History. FAO Schwarz and Nintendo World. Alex got to cross off several of his bucket list wishes on this trip!

Of course, we also went to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

We had the most amazing time and I’m really proud that we made it through the trip so well. Crowds are not easy for Alex (they aren’t my favorite either) and I have to say that New York City is an extremely difficult place to visit for someone with autism who is very afraid of heights. We had to be quite creative at times, but we pulled it off. We were gone for 10 days, but I probably have 100 stories to scrap/blog now!

The Winner?

So….. Tiff guessed correctly and she was only the 2nd one to guess! A lot of others were very close with guessing DC + another destination. (Tiff – send me an email and I’ll hook you up with your reward.) I’m going to give her a $25 gift certificate to amazon.com because I can ALWAYS find something fun at amazon! Thanks so much to everyone who played along!

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Where do you suppose I’ve been? A fun little contest to guess!

I’ve been away for 10 days with my hubby & kids on an epic vacation to celebrate my son’s high school graduation. We let him pick the destination and he chose two cities that we were able to work into a fabulous trip. Any guesses on where we went? The t-shirts are not clues – they are from previous vacations. You can probably tell from the photo (and my wilted hair) that it was a very warm day. Even though my son isn’t smiling here, I promise that he had a lot of fun. We all did!

I told some of my local friends and a few digi buddies where we were going, so they aren’t allowed to play. If you don’t fall into that category and you want to take a stab at guessing where we’ve been, I’ll turn this into a little informal contest. Whoever is first with the most correct answer will get a little somethin’ somethin’ from me. It will be fun to see what everyone guesses and I can’t wait until I can share some of my pictures with you. Let’s just say I have plenty of blogging material coming up from this trip!

I’ll announce the winner and answer on Monday. See you then!

 

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2 National Parks in 1 Week

I have spent most of my life in Utah, so I know that I’m lucky to be so close to so many diverse and stunning landscape features.

Bryce Canyon

Here’s a blip from a Utah travel website:

Most of Utah lies on a plateau higher than 4,000 feet above sea level. The geology of this region takes on an amazing variety of shapes and colors. Elevations rise and fall dramatically in the shape of mountains, buttes, and plateaus, the highest reaching over 13,000 feet! Within this varied landscape are hidden treasures and experiences that appeal to everyone — from the rugged, solitude-seeking explorer to the family wanting a relaxing getaway. Utah has something for everyone.

Utah is home to 5 National Parks and we had the chance to visit two of them last week while we were on vacation. I had never been to Zion’s National Park before so it was neat to see it.

 

 

 

It’s a photographer’s paradise!

 

 

 

The last time I went to Bryce Canyon was in 1990 (wow – that’s 22 years ago!) It was even more beautiful than I remembered it.

 

 

 

I can’t even imagine what the first person to discover this place must have thought. The earth around it all seems pretty normal and then there’s just this big canyon of wind-carved spires. It all feels pretty alien!

 

 

It was rather windy when we were there, and also very sunny.

 

 

I’m feeling very lucky to have seen such beautiful places!

 

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