Life Scraps

January 16, 2011

2011-01-17T06:13:00.007-06:00

Yesterday, our family (minus Jesse & Angie) gathered at Mom & Dad's to honor Dad's 75th birthday.....what a milestone!!!! His birthday was actually on the 12th but since Brian & Andrea live so far away and Brian is working in the evenings during the week, we try to hold these functions on the weekend.

As with any get together we have hosted since "the boys" arrived in May & July of 2008.....it is never boring, lol. Now that they are rounding the corner to the ripe old age of 3 they are two sticks of dynamite ready to explode at any given moment.....and they often do. Sometimes, it is an explosion of laughter and other times an explosion of a tantrum.

Here are some photos from the afternoon........our guest of honor with his hip new MP3 player!!!

Here are a series of 5 photos where Caiden (thanks to Tanti's prompting) turned in to a vicious dinosaur and proceeded to attack Trevor. I love the look on both of their faces in this first photo. Caiden mustering up all his dino-powers and Trevor is like "um, Tanti....are you going to save me?"

And, the attack of the Caidendinosaurus begins.....

Classic!!!!!!!!!

Trevor attempts to use his Spidy-powers to stop the Caidendinosaurus from attacking....

Hee-hee, I love when I snap at just the right moment.....this looks like slo-mo!

Trevor LOVES his trucks!

And, he REALLY loves his CARS! Here we have Doc Hudson, Sheriff, Ramon, Tex, another Ramon, Lightening McQueen, Sally & Mator.....the entire cast from the movie, Cars! He is just a little obsessed :)

Okay, this one is kinda gross but it is just so TREVOR....mouth wide open being a goofball! He was eating lasagna in case you were wondering.

And this is classic Caiden......on the opposite side of the spectrum from Trevor (most of the time). Don't get me wrong, this boy can let his presence be known, too. I love this photo and cannot wait to scrap it!!!!

That was how January 16, 2011 was lived.........who could ask for anything more?

~Helen~

Praying for Tuscon, AZ Community

2011-01-09T17:23:00.002-06:00

My computer was down all last week and I spent much of last night and today (after church) catching up on some CT responsibilities. There is much I could blog about but only one thing keeps coming to my mind again and again and that is the community of Tuscon, AZ.

Yesterday, this community was brought to its' knees when a gunman opened fire at the Safeway grocery store where Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, was hosting a public event called Congress On The Corner. Six people lost their lives including a 9 year old girl. A little girl who was born the day one of this country's most memorable tragedies.....9/11. I find it so incredibly hard not to think of the fact she came in to this world on a day filled with violence and left this world in yet another act of violence.

Briefly watching the news coverage yesterday has left me recalling the event that took place in my church in 2009. An event that made world news as well. While everyone reacts differently during times like this and everyone has their own feelings I can say without a doubt that I know a little of what the Tuscon residents are going through tonight. Right now they are probably still numb and in shock. They are gathering together..........uniting..........drawing strength from each other as they try to sort out their emotions. Over the next few weeks as news stations move on to other headlining events, this town and everyone affected are still going to be in some stage of grief. It will be a very long time, maybe years, before a sense of normalcy is regained for many. However, never again will they be the same. You just can't remain the same person when evil comes so close and leaves behind his destruction.

However, we can overcome the pain and sorrow....the loss of security....the sense of hopelessness. Through Christ we can overcome it all. My prayer is in the words of this song by Fee. A song with lyrics inspired by the event of March 8, 2009. I pray as everything has fallen apart for these families that they have the hope that is in Christ Jesus....that they allow Him to provide them strength to carry on.

EVERYTHING FALLS
Fee
You saidyou'd never leave or forsake me
when you said,
this life is gonna shake me
and you said
this world is gonna bring trouble on my soul
this I know

Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on

when I see
darkness all around me
when I see
that tragedy has found me
I still believe
your faithful arms will never let me go
and still I know

Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on

Bridge:
Sorrow will last for the night
but hope is rising with the sun
(it’s rising with the sun)
and there will be storms in this life
but I know you have overcome
You have overcome

Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on

Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T19:44:00.003-06:00

I am back!!! The last few months of last year (lol) were just a blur. I went on a deep cleaning spree in my home and the results are beyond what I could have imagined. You really don't grasp how the clutter around you effects your mentality until it is gone and you have a clean & organized living space. I walk in my front door everyday now and go "ahhhhh".

With a new year comes a new word to focus on. I have decided on the word {habits}. It seemed as I progressed through the year 2010 my horrible habit of procrastination was becoming more and more evident....in my home, my health, my weight, my spiritual growth and even getting out the door to arrive places 'on time'. That is something I have never had a problem with. Well, it was seriously grating on my nerves. It just seems the right fit to choose the word {habits} for 2011. I want to change the bad/negative habits to good/positive ones.

I sat down and made a list of 11 {habits} I wish to focus on in 2011. Of course, if you know me well you knew I would scrap a layout about my word and list. Here it is.....

Each photo corresponds to something on my list. My list (in no particular order) is:

1. Keep up with Project: Love, Me layouts each week (more on that project in a bit)
2. Call 1 person a week and check-in - ask for prayer requests
3. Snail mail 1 person/month a "thinking of you" card
4. Set $$ back each week for my Vegas trip (Digiscrap-apalooza)
5. Have quiet time/Bible time each day
6. Clean out car once a week of clutter
7. Keep to a daily house cleaning schedule
8. Blog personally a minimum of once a month
9. Keep up with CT responsibilities each week
10.Have gifts for special events 2 weeks ahead of time
11.End 2011 knowing I did my best change my {habits}

Project: Love, Me - this is a weekly scrapbooking challenge I am participating in that will help me document "me" for the entire year. Life is screaming by at break neck speed anymore. I don't know how it is even possible I turned 40 in 2010. The fact is, I did and the time is not going to slow down. With this project, which you can read more about HERE, I plan to dig deep down and record the things that make me, me! In 10, 20 or 30 years from now I can pick up this scrapbook of 52 layouts and recall what my dreams were....what made me laugh.....what made me cry.......what angered me in the year 2011. It will also give family members coming up behind me a piece of myself for them to remember me by.

Here are the first two layouts I have done for the project. The first is the opening page of the scrapbook..........the "pre-prompt" page.

This is the page I created for Prompt #1 (there will be 52 prompts all together). Our first prompt was to create a page of what we dream about now....in the present day. I realize the font I used is very hard to read but I truly love it (Saint Andrews Queen is the name of it). My chosen "dream" was to reach a healthy weight and why. It is very hard to put your feelings out there like this but at the same time, so rewarding.

I will be back with more since once of my new {habits} is to blog more often. For now, I must go get laundry folded and put away.

xoxo

2010-08-29T18:37:00.004-05:00

I didn't wait quite as long as the last time to post a new entry. Thought I would jump on and post some layouts I have done over the past month or so. Here goes....

This uses a template from Scrapping with Liz @ Scrap Orchard called Scrap Strip Templates as well as the kit, Summer Blues Grab Bag from LCC Amy Stoffel which is now broken in to 6 different kits!

This was to showcase Scrapping With Liz's Faded Masks set. I used the kit, Family Ties, by Tracie Stroud.

This is my own design using the kit, Dreamsicle, by LCC Amy Stoffel.

Again, using Dreamsicle. This was a scraplift of another Scrap Orchard member, Britanee. Her layout can be found HERE.

LCC Amy Stoffel & Wild Dandelion Designs teamed up to create to Preppy 101 kits. One is for the boys & one is for the girls. I used the boy theme, of course! This is my design.

5th Avenue by LCC Amy Stoffel....I {heart} this kit! It is such a great "big girl" kit!! Again, this is my own design.

This is a combination, template by Scrapping With Liz called Simple Square Temps along with the kit, Smarty Pants by LCC Amy Stoffel.

One of my favorite layout designs I have ever created without a template!! Again, this is the kit I spoke of above called Summer Blues Grab Bag that is actually now broken in to 6 separate kits in Amy Stoffel's store.

Summer Blues Grab Bag items again and my own design.

I just did this one and absolutely LOVE how it turned out. It is my design and I used the kit, Mercado Salvage by DeCrow Designs & Tangie Baxter (Studio Tangie). This fun little layout was created for an upcoming challenge I will be hosting at Scrap Orchard.

This is a template by Scrapping With Liz called, Front Page Temps and I used it to showcase a large number of photos. I am getting ready to work on one of these for the other nephew, Caiden as soon as I see if I have enough photos. Ps- I used the kit, Little Charmer by Amy Stoffel for the Paper/Elements and the Alpha is from Retro Whimsy.

Once again, Summer Blues Grab Bag by LCC Amy Stoffel. Can you tell I love love loved this kit??? My design :)

Another one using Retro Whimsy (my design) as well as Torn Bits 3 Element Pack from Creashens.

And last but not least, my design, using the kits Perfect Summer from Designs by Kat & By The Seaside from Designs by Julie Bullock.

And there you have it......I will be back hopefully this week with a post about my two weekends with Trevor & Caiden. I have lots of pics from those adventures :)

xoxoxo
Helen
.

I'm still here!!!

2010-08-11T14:54:00.002-05:00

Wow! July 5th was the last time I posted here. That makes me so very sad :( So much has happened since then I don't know where to even begin. I will kinda make some notes of the highlights and use that as a reference on posts to make in the future with more detail.

Let's see....the big event that took place after my last post would have been Trevor's birthday. We celebrated his 2nd bday out at Brian & Andrea's place. I made his birthday cake like I did for Caiden. I realized with this last cake I do not have the patience for cake decorating. Way too much precision is needed. I will buy their cakes next year from Kruta!!! Funny note from that afternoon was when Trevor, not being closely supervised, decided to jump in his little whale shaped pool (Tanti Helen bought him) and go for a swim in is clothes and shoes! It was so hilarious!

July 15th marked the beginning of a major event at Scrap Orchard (the digi scrap site I live at). We started a month long contest with daily/weekly challenges allowing people to earn points (like a raffle ticket) for some AWESOME prizes like an IPad, Iphone, big $$ gift certificates, etc. I was promoted to an Appletini at the site (fancy name for moderator & party girl). I have been learning the ropes as well as working behind the scenes with my other 'tini girls to plan a promotion we are hosting for September! It has just been non-stop at the Orchard. I am also still the Facebook girl there as well.

Because of my recent promotion and even before that to be honest, I opted to step down from 3 of my 5 creative team jobs. It wasn't because of the scrapping requirements as much as the blogging requirements. Even if a designer didn't have a kit released, there were still blog posts to be done. I found being on 5 teams meant a minimum of 10 blog posts per month. Hence the reason I have not been on my own blog. Now I am just on the teams of LCC Amy Stoffel and Scrapping With Liz. I am already feeling the burden lifted and I have even scrapped some pages recently "just for the heck of it".

Speaking of Amy, she recently contacted me and asked me to write the catchy little kit descriptions for all her new releases. I am so honored she asked. And all because of a blog post I did for her that caught her eye with my words.

We just celebrated Mom's birthday this past weekend by gathering at Olive Garden (her favorite restaurant) and then going back to their house for cake. It was a house full of people and two toddlers running around like wild things......FUN!!

Did you notice the new ad at the top of my page??? The one that reads Digiscrap-apalooza?? I am so incredibly psyched to be planning a trip to Las Vegas in the spring of 2011. The chance to meet all these fabulous (and oh so crazy) gals I have been chatting with online now for 2 years just makes me giddy with excitement!

Well, that's all I have time for right now. Sorry, no pics today. But, now that I have a little more time on my hands I hope to be back sooner than 5 weeks and 2 days from now!!

Hugs!

Squeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

2010-07-05T17:15:00.005-05:00

Since my last post {far too long ago} I finished Breaking Dawn; watched Twilight twice; watched New Moon three times and today..........................I saw Eclipse on the big screen. That would be the reason for my squeeeeeeee!!! The best movie so far in so many ways. The directing was amazing.....makeup & wardrobe was right on.....special effects were intense and I have to admit that even Kristin's acting skillz improved some. The absolute best part though???? More of Jacob without his shirt. Yep, I admit it.....the boy is just too smokin'! I fell in love with Edward from the books and know beyond a doubt had I never read the books and just watched the movies that would not be the case. The books go into so much more detail about why Edward does what he does and is how he is. I also fell in love with Jacob long before seeing the movies or laying eyes on Taylor Lautner. Yes, he was childish but come on, he was 16, had raging boy & wolf hormones but he truly loved Bella and wanted to protect her no matter the cost! The body that came with the movies was icing on the cake in my book! Just sayin'.

Here are some scrapbooking layouts I did using Amy Stoffel's Breathe Me kit. The first one says it all..............I refuse to choose between them. Nope, I will forever love them both for different reasons!!!

I love this one because it shows the books and since these are the first books I have read in a LOT of years it is a special layout for me!

Ok, moving on from my obsession of all things Twilight!! Like I said, it has been far too long since I have blogged. Probably because I am so busy blogging & creating for designers as well as keeping up with things at Scrap Orchard so I can post FB posts for them. I am not complaining, however, I do miss my own personal bloggy time.

I recently revamped my scrapbook room and took it from a messy, scary and basically not some place to be creative to organized, cheerful and a place I am proud to be in! Here is a few shots of the cuteness....

Yeah, I think I should have a "wear your sunglasses" warning on the door to the room, lol. Isn't it so stinkin' cute? Sorry, I know that is brag-a-docious but I just love the colors!!

Getting ready to head out and meet a friend for dinner and do some planning for an upcoming single's event later this month.....a progressive dinner! So, I need to cut this short.

xoxo

EdwardBellaJacobAliceJasperEmmetRosalieCarlisleEsme

2010-06-17T08:12:00.004-05:00

If you are a Twerd aka Fanpire aka lover of the Twilight Saga Series then you understand the title of my post!

I just finished the 3rd book in the series, Eclipse. Today I move on to Breaking Dawn. I am told it will blow my mind so I am very excited to start it.

I was asked if I was Team Edward or Team Jacob. My answer is complicated much like Bella is, lol. It wasn't until near the end of New Moon (#2) that I was able to get past Edwards physical characteristics of being a vampire such as 1. no heartbeat 2. icy cold 3. rock hard 4. sucks blood to sustain his existence. However, who he IS inside is what makes me swoon over him. He is steady---loving to a fault---protective (not controlling)---a gentleman. Jacob has great qualities, too. First off, he is human (when not phased into a wolf, that is). He is majorily hot in more ways than one :) He is more spontaneous & silly than Edward BUT also can be a bit too childish & unpredictable. I love Jacob but it is Edward I choose in the end. I guess that could change before I am done with Breaking Dawn. I have been wrong about so many things when it came to this book series.

Ahhhh, the first in the series....what hooked me!!

#2.....I fell for Edward near the end!

#3 Nail biting from one chapter to the next....

#4 I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A sideline book based on a character very briefly introduced at the end of Eclipse. I have this in my possession ready to read when I am done with Breaking Dawn

I would love to get this, too :)

And there it is.....my addiction laid out before you :)

xoxo

Sneak Peek....

2010-06-13T15:13:00.004-05:00

I have been inspired to give my old scrapbook room a makeover. I never sold my traditional supplies so I boxed it all up. In recent months I have dabbled in hybrid (combination of digital & traditional scrapbooking). I want to do more but it is a pain digging through boxes and working in a room that has become a "catch all" for everything I want out of my sight. A few days ago I watched a video of one of my online digi friends and her SBR made me green with envy. There is no reason for me to go as elaborate as hers is but it did make me want to revamp my own room.

So, this weekend I moved the dehumidfier (ok, my brother did it for me....darn thing is heavy) back to the basement get it dried out. I sprayed the gazillion spiders with Home Defense spray and pray they DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {major shudder} After a week or two of letting the dehum do its job and hopefully have a de-spidered basement I am going to pack up everything in the room currently and get it all moved out so I can have an empty space to work with.

I contemplated painting over the paneling but since I am going with a bright/happy theme of colors and my current walls are already light in color, I didn't see the need to paint. It wasn't hard to talk myself out of that part of the project. While shopping I found an awesomely cute area rug with colors that even from several aisles away jumped out at me and screamed "Helen!!!! Buy me!!!!!" And so, I did. That rug would become the basis of the entire color theme. From there I was like a Edward or Jacob on the trail of Victoria.....FOCUSED on one thing! Okay, sorry for the Twilight reference.....not really :) I have (as you can see in the photo below) a very very good start on the decor end of things. The next step (after the room is empty) is to measure and decide what kind of table & cubes/organizers I want to go with. I may stay with my little rect fold out table or I may go with a full size fold out table...I just don't know yet.

One thing I DO know is this.....the room has no windows at all. So, I bought these sheer, hot pink curtains and a long rod to hang them on. I plan to take the wall you face as you walk in the room and hang these curtains up. I want to find a pretty, framed print of a colorful garden or something to match the decor and hang it up behind the curtains to give the effect of a window. Under the print I will have (maybe) a 3ftx3ft set of cube organizers that will hold bins & other things.

Here is a photo of all the goods I have to decorate with so far and a scrapped page to give an idea of the faux window scene I want to create.

Of course, my curtains will be lying flat, not blowing in a breeze that doesn't reallye exist, lol

xoxoxo

Sorry it's been awhile....

2010-06-12T12:21:00.006-05:00

I would like to say I have just been soooo busy lately, which is why I have not blogged. Yes, I have been busy but not overly so. No, my excuse is.....are you ready for this? I started reading the Twilight books on June 1st (day after my last post). It is June 12th and I am on book 3, Eclipse and 100% ADDICTED! I would be much further along with Eclipse except Scrap Orchard did this really cool challenge about videos and I have been sucked into watching them. And, not to mention the usual digi-duties I have on my weekly plate. Today......soon.....maybe right after I finish the post and eat lunch I am nestling down and planting my nose back in the book!

So yes, I am working my way to becoming a complete TWERD! Never ever ever thought I would even like the books let alone, crave them! Well, it's Edward & Jacob I crave, lol. I am still just torn between what "team" to be on. But, enough Twilight talk.

Mom & Dad celebrated their 51st anniversary on June 6th. They didn't want any gifts but I twisted their arm into letting me taking them out to dinner. We went to Bella Milano's up in Edwardsville. A delicious Italian restaurant where I have ate the same thing all 4 times I have been there......Pasta Three Way (ravioli stuffed with meat, spaghetti & mostaccoli smothered in a few different cheeses & baked to perfection in their homemade sauce). I {heart} their salad, too. Has crisp pieces of prosciutto through out....oh so yum!

Looking forward to Father's Day next weekend and then just around the corner will be Trevor's 2nd birthday! Speaking of birthdays.....Blake, Caiden's big brother, turned 5 on the 9th! Happy Birthday Blake!!!!!!!! I will post a more recent photo later....this one is about 2 years old!

And, here is what I have worked on since I last posted........

Utah State Template by Scrapping With Liz @ Scrap Orchard also using the kit, The Great Outdoors by Ziggle Designs @ Scrap Orchard This was one of my panoramic shots of Bryce.....oh how I want to go back!!!

One Photo Template Set from Scrapping With Liz @ Scrap Orchard. Also using the kit, Strolling Through The Park by Ziggle Designs @ Scrap Orchard

This was taken just as we entered the Capitol Reef National Park. I almost look tiny on this huge fallen tree, lol.

I double teamed my efforts on this one. I used the template set, Zine Style Templates, by Scrapping With Liz & the kit was Two Peas In A Pod by Lyndsay Riches & simply.scraps at Scrap Orchard. Both released the same week so I killed two birds with one stone! These are various photos of Caiden & Trevor over the last 2 years.

Also using the kit, Two Peas In A Pod but no template....all my design. Brian & Trevor being silly!

Fingerprints No. 5 Template set from Brandy Designs using the kit, Perserverance, both at Polka Dot Plum Haven't scrapped Molly in awhile....she's so stinking pretty!

Using Big Daddy, a collab between Amy Stoffel & simply.scraps @ Scrap Orchard. Again, my design....no template, yay!!! Kind of a "then & now" them with a photo of my daddy long before I was a glimmer in his eye and another one from just a few years ago! He so cute!

Ahhh, Calypso, by Amanda Heimann Designs as she guests at The Digi Chick this month. I fell IN LOVE with this kit!!!! More Molly!!!

Another one using Calypso My happy little bouquet of fresh flowers that are all still going strong even a week later. Well, the 2 large, orange gerbera daisies pooped out but the rest are still happy!

And that catches me up for now. Have a great day....whatever day you are here visiting my little blog! {smooch-smooch}

xoxoxo

2010-05-30T06:39:00.004-05:00

Just popping in on this Sunday morning before I start getting ready for church to say hello. Hello!!!! It is Memorial Day weekend, which generally means a 3 day weekend for many hard working folks. I apologize in advance if you are not one of the lucky ones to have Monday off :( This weekend has long since become a "summer kick off" marker weekend. I would love to know the statistics that show just how many bottles of BBQ sauce, packages of pork steaks-hot dogs-brats & burgers are sold and how many gallons of iced tea are consumed on this one day alone!

My Sunday school group has a gathering every year to kick things off, although, this year we will be missing several people but I won't elaborate on that! I am very excited to say I was told to take Tuesday off work so my 3 day weekend is now FOUR!!! Thank you brother....you made my month :)

I have been busy keeping up with the (now) FIVE creative teams I am on for digital scrapboooking. I just recently applied to be on the team for Scrapping With Liz. Liz makes amazing template sets. The only reason I applied after saying "no more" was because she is exclusively at Scrap Orchard where 3 of my other teams are. I have to use 100% Orchard products in two of the 3 layouts I do for her each month so that will be easy-peasy and allows me to kill two birds with one stone, so-to-speak. I realize unless you are a fellow digi-scrapaholic and on a CT you have no idea what I am talking about. Trust me, it's a good thing. However, the one thing that takes SO much time when it comes to being on CT's is getting the layouts your create for your designers posted in all the various galleries. Along with that, keeping track of the links so your designers know 100% you are keeping up with your end of the bargain. And, there is the enabling.........I totally stink at this. So, I took a night recently and reorganized myself for the upcoming June requirements. I created a word document that has various things that need filled in for each kit I work with for a designer. It has a place for the kit/store name...link to the product in the store it is sold at...URL link of the kit preview (for enabling)...a place to put the various gallery links when I post the completed layouts...a place for links for any enabling I do with that kit. This document is stored in its' own folder inside the specific folder that houses the actual kit. I have also started going through my pictures and copying pics to this folder as well. That way, even if I cannot scrap a page right then, I have an idea of some photos I would like to scrap with for that kit. I feel very excited to try out my method for June to see if I can do a better job for my designers and not feel stressed in the process. After all, this is a hobby and it shouldn't stress me out!

Well, I need to be cutting this short. I have gobs of layouts posted. Here goes:

Created with Walking On Sunshine by Tracie Stroud & Jennifer Barrette. The wave shapes were taken from a Wave On Wave template set by Amanda Heimann

This was for a Speed Scrap at Scrap Orchard yesterday afternoon!!! This is by far my favorite SS layout ever!

Created with Serendipity by SuzyQ Scraps

Created with Birthday Bash by Wild Dandelion Designs & Nee Nee Designs

Using the same kit as above.

Using Fancy Free by Wild Dandelion Designs & a template from Scrapping With Liz called Heart Templates

Created using the kit, Curious, by LCC Amy Stoffel & a template from the set, Variety Temps, by Scrapping With Liz

Created using The Happiest Grab Bag from Wild Dandelion Designs & Tracey Howard. The template is from Lots of Circles set by Scrapping With Liz

Created using Dino Safari from Brandy Designs

Created using Refreshed by LCC Amy Stoffel. The wave cut out was created using a wave shape from the Wave On Wave template set by Amanda Heimann Designs

Created using Curious by LCC Amy Stoffel

Created using Going Green by Amanda Heimann

This was done for a May Lift Challenge for Amanda Heimann's blog. I lifted this layout from Chelle (aka Roxxygerlie)

This was created using Lucky The Kit by Amanda Heimann Designs

I created this for a blog post for Amanda's blog last week.

Well, I told you I had lots to show you. Have a great memorial day and be safe!

xoxoxo

Happy Birthday Caiden....

2010-05-19T18:30:00.002-05:00

Caiden, I cannot believe you are two already! You are growing too fast and these photos prove it!

Using Little Blue Box by Tracie Stroud & Empty (alpha) by Amanda Heimann Designs

Love,
Tanti

xoxox
.

Weigh in & bed update

2010-05-17T09:57:00.007-05:00

Today's official weigh in shows.....drum roll please...............................

2 lbs lost!!!

Me happy.

Well, I slept in my bed. But, not nearly as soundly as I sleep on the couch. I don't understand how a couch with NO support can be more comfortable on my lower back than a good bed with a 2" memory foam mattress topper!?!?!? I ended up putting a thin, small pillow under the lower part of my back and that helped quite a bit. I have this degenerative disc problem and from time to time it will compress more than usual causing sciatic nerve pain.

That's all for now...........woo-hoo!!! Sorry, still excited about losing 2 more lbs :)

ps- did you see I changed my blogwear again.......it was time to get rid of the wintery one :(

xoxox
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Sunday Catch-Up

2010-05-16T16:03:00.004-05:00

It's Sunday. I played hookie from church and stayed home. I am in perfectly good health. I just felt the call of the wild I suppose.

Did some online shopping with a $25 gift certificate I had to Scrap Orchard. I brought in the Sunday paper and pulled out he coupons and sale ads. I proceeded to clip, snip & browse thru the ads for the next 1/2 hour. Then I had to pick up all the left over ads I threw on the floor as I was done with them and pitch them. Would make so much more sense to bring the little trash can over to ME while I do the snipping. Next, I filed my coupons in my coupon organizer.

I called mom to see what she thought about us going up to Kohl's to just browse. She was all over that idea :) Yeah, and my "just browsing" idea cost me $56 but left with a new pair of black shoes that I have been seriously needing for months now. I found a this reed diffuser and just about

did a happy dance in the store when I saw the Eucalyptus & Mint scent. That was my absolute favorite scent in the same reed diffuser from Party Lite except this little baby only cost me $12.49 (on sale)! Then I found a cute little outfit for Caiden for his birthday next week. I love the Jumping Beans line at Kohl's. You can mix & match tops/bottoms and they were on sale for 2/$12 today. Sweet! Mom wanted to look at PJ's. I had already looked at them but as I was helping her find some I came across an adorable, crisp, white, cotton, eyelet 3/4 length night gown with wide spaghetti straps & a big ruffle at the bottom. I just had to have it. It looks so comfy. That was the extent of my "browsing spree". Lord, I will be in big trouble when our Kohl's opens up later this fall.

From there we went to Best Buy where I bought this..........

A new 22" LCD TV for my bedroom. I went in planning to buy the advertised 19" on sale for $159 but the salesman told me about an unadvertised special on the 22" for just $171. I am so happy. I have not had a TV in my bedroom for months since my little rinky-dinky 13" TV/VCR combo died. My poor couch has suffered the brunt of this problem, too, as I fall asleep every night as I watch a brainless TV show! Next stop was Value City Furniture where I dropped mom off to look for some new wall decor and I waited in the car. I had planned to go to Archiver's, however, I had spent more than enough $$ for one day.........shoot, one MONTH is more like it. Home was the final destination (after I ran thru McDonalds to grab a large iced tea, unsweetened). I hooked up my TV and all works perfectly. Except for the fact I need to call AT&T to get my Uverse remote synced to the TV so I don't have to use 2 remotes! Now I can lie in my bed and fall asleep watching this hunka hunka burnin' love......

Mr. Timothy Olyphant in Justified

Here are a few layouts I have done recently but don't think I have blogged yet. This first one uses a template from Brandy Designs from the Fingerprints 4 set and the kit is from Lyndsay Riches Designs called Playful. This is Mr. Trev having a blast on his slide!!!

This one uses a template from Fizzy Pop Designs....a bundle pack of templates I bought from her. I needed to do a layout using this kit, Dino Safari, from Brandy Designs. It is due to release next week. I remembered these photos I had of Trevor out in their yard, exploring. I thought they worked well with the kit.

And this one.....a new favorite of mine.......is using a template from DeCrow Designs, Blueprint No.9 and a kit from Wild Dandelion Designs called Day by Day. This Caiden and I absolutely love how he is standing at this fence with his little foot propped up and his chin resting on his hands. He is gazing at some cows in the pasture and he looks like he would be thinking "someday I am gonna rope me a cow....someday!!"

I have some more layouts but cannot post them just yet since they won't release for a little while.

In other exciting scrapbooking news........I was asked by the owners of Scrap Orchard to come on board and work for them in the capacity of Facebook Updater/Poster. I replied telling Kami I would try it on a 1 month trial basis to see if #1 I could handle it and #2 They were happy with my efforts. It's been a few weeks and I received an email from her yesterday with a gift certificate for my first months work. She sent it to me early so I could take advantage of the 45% off sale they are having this weekend. How very sweet of her to think of me like that. She said they were very happy with my posts. So, looks like I will stick with it. I will be paid in gift certificates to the store where I get to buy all my favorite scrapbooking kits & goodies! Yay!

It has been a lovely Sunday. Sad to see the weekend end especially considering the 8:15 a.m. appointment I have with a certain irs lady tomorrow. I pray the information I gathered for her will be just what she needs to close this case on our business so I can finally breathe again.

Have a great week! I will be back sometime to post more layouts :)

xoxoxo
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Purpose

2010-05-14T08:40:00.003-05:00

I overheard a conversation between two co-workers this morning that leaves me a bit sad AND joyful at the same time.

The one co-worker said "You know, I used to get so frustrated going to work everyday just trying to make ends meet. I always wondered 'what is the purpose for all of this'? Then, I had grandchildren and it all made sense. They make it all worthwhile. They give me purpose." This is paraphrased a bit.

Hmmm, what about the people who will never experience having children or grandchildren? Does that mean they will not have any purpose for their lives? What a sad thought to think the only way purpose is highlighted in our lives is through grandchildren. I am not saying that having grandchildren is sad nor is taking joy from their existence. However, I do NOT believe that is the sole "purpose" for our lives on this round ball we call earth.

Our purpose is to bring glory to the One who created us through whatever life situation we are in. Whether that situation is where He has placed us or where we, by our own choices, have placed ourselves. Our purpose is to show others that "life on this earth" is just temporary. We have a much grander home waiting for us eternally in Heaven IF we choose it. And it IS a choice...not an automatic shoe-in based on how good we are.

I didn't mean for this to turn into a mini-sermon. The words I heard just struck a chord in me. Reminding me that MY purpose is far greater than what is in this world. My purpose lies beyond this temporal life. From one who may never know what it is like to grow old with her spouse or have a child all her own....take joy in whatever God has given you. He has given me much to be thankful for despite what I may not have. How about you? What you thankful for today?

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Random Friday Thoughts....

2010-05-14T06:05:00.003-05:00

Here are some of my random thoughts this Friday morning....at approximately 6:00 a.m. and in no particular order.

1. I love early mornings with birds chirping & cool air coming in the open window
2. Molly can be a good girl once in awhile
3. I really need to use my Heeltastic tonight!
4. Squeeeee!!!! Scrap Orchard is almost back up :)
5. God is good.
6. Where is that new tube of toothpaste I know I bought?
7. What do I want to take for lunch today along with my usual salad?
8. Helen: don't forget food pantry tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9. Must catch up laundry SOON!
10. Where are those ants getting in??????????

And that is a peek into my odd brain this morning. Got to love the random way my mind works, don't ya? Have a blessed Friday my loves!

xoxoxo
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Ziggle Designs Speed Scrap

2010-05-12T16:31:00.005-05:00

Since Scrap Orchard is still down due to some issues trying to migrate to the new web host, Tracey hosted a fabulous speed scrap on the Ziggle Designs blog! Here is the layout I created for this SS. I used all Ziggle Designs products from Strolling Through The Park, a freebie called Cheerio & In The Garden.

Will be back with more tomorrow but for now I had to get this posted so I qualify for the $25 gift certificate drawing!!!

xoxox
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Day 9 of the journey....

2010-05-11T20:54:00.003-05:00

Did you see my weight loss ticker at the top of the page? No? Look up! Yep, down 5 lbs. To be very, very precise (which I like to be when I am counting lbs) 5.2 lbs.

That was on weigh-in day, 5/10. Saturday morning I had this urge to get on the scale even though I had two days before official weigh-in. But, I was up, showered & had not eaten yet and for whatever reason, the scale just kept calling out my name. Didn't know I had a talking scale did you? It is only programmed to say "nice" things to me, though. LOL! I gave in and stepped on. Then I stepped right back off. Waited. Stepped back on. OMGosh....it read 4.4 lbs less. Wow! I really didn't think I would lose as much my first official week on Weight Watcher's because the week prior to beginning WW's I had already upped my water intake. Thus, I made many many many trips to the bathroom. That is much of what you lose the first week of starting a new healthy lifestyle program. Notice I don't use the "D" word? Never. I seriously figured I peed out like 2lbs the week before I started WW's. So, to see 4.4 lbs less was rather exhilarating.

With Sunday being Mother's Day and the day BEFORE my weigh-in I planned ahead to be extra good with my eats. I marinated some boneless/skinless chicken breasts (hormone/preservative free at that) and made a huge salad with all my favorite veggies. I was also very happy to find Hendrickson's Sweet Vinegar & Olive Oil dressing on the market shelf. Only 1 point for a full TBSP but you really need very little on your salad to make it tasty. I bypassed the cheesy potato casserole & the brownies. Lemme tell ya....those brownies were doing their very best to drag me over to their little corner of the counter. I was very happy with my chicken and TWO helpings of salad but wow, I wanted something chocolate....BAD!
The brownies were all but forgotten when I stepped on the scale and read 5.2 lb decrease. Now, hear me when I say........I WILL eat a brownie at some point. I love me some chocolate. Right now, I have chocolate Teddy Grahams, Skinny Cow Chocolate/Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches, FF Chocolate Pudding cups all in my kitchen at the moment. If there is one thing about WW's (at least for me) is that I rarely feel deprived. I eat what I want but I make better choices about the yummies I eat & how much I eat.

I will leave you with one layout. Oh, I have more but just this one for today. This is a layout using a charity collaboration kit (not yet released), called Perspective. When I was asked personally to create something using this lovely kit I was honored. I knew instantly what I wanted to scrap about. Me. This will be the first page in my weight loss journey scrapbook that I am going to make.

It takes courage to persevere.....

Lyrics: I've been here before. Now here I am again. Standing at the door. Praying you'll let me back in. To label me a hypocrite would be, only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be. Turn me around. Pick me up. Undo what I've become. Bring me back to the place of forgiveness and grace. I need you. Need your help. I can't do this myself. Cause you're the only one, who can undo, what I've become.

Another Hybrid Project....

2010-05-08T20:45:00.004-05:00

This is by far my favorite project to date. Okay, I have only done like "3" hybrids but still. I never once became frustrated or confused with this one. That probably has a lot to do with the fact most of my cutting was straight lines for long, wide curves. NO SCALLOPS!!!

I created this Satchel Bag gift bag to hold the box that will hold the necklace I bought my mommy for mother's day.
This was seriously fun to make....I foresee making more of these adorable satchel gift bags in the future!!The only elements I added to this all digital project were the 2 pink jewels on the straps, the pink ribbon & a large pink brad under the flap to help hold it closed.

If you would like to try your hand at a hybrid project, check out PIXEL GEEK DESIGNS at Scrap Orchard.....she has some amazingly cute templates!!! (fyi- the site will be down starting late on 5/08 thru late 5/11, possibly longer as they switch host servers so be patient)

On The Road Again....

2010-05-04T12:38:00.002-05:00

The road to weight loss, that is! I'm saddled up.....I have strapped myself in.....I am raring to go!!! Okay, maybe "raring" is not a good choice of words. That makes it sound like I am all happy & excited about this trip. That really isn't the case. I am ready. I am willing. Just not excited. But, you know what? Commitment to people...goals...things is not something we always "feel" like doing. If I didn't come to work every time I didn't FEEL like it, I would be out of a job :) And so, I commit to starting this journey again. I commit to not letting past failures dictate future achievements. I commit to ME!

That's all I wanted to come on and say....that and check out my weight loss ticker at the top of my blog. Keep an eye on my progress!!!

Hugs~Helen

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Yummy Recipe & Some Layouts

2010-04-27T20:13:00.004-05:00

I was searching online for cholesterol friendly recipes since my dr. said mine is a bit elevated. I ended up at the website for the cholesterol lowering drug, Crestor. They have some yummy recipes in the Tools & Resources section. Here is one I tried tonight. OMGosh, it was so good.

Pesto Chicken With Penne Pasta

	Nonstick vegetable cooking spray 1/4 tsp olive oil 1/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces 1 sliced green onion, including green tops 1/4 (13 3/4 oz) can water-packed artichoke hearts, drained, sliced	1 tbsp basil pesto 1 tbsp low-fat sour cream 2 oz whole-wheat penne pasta, cooked according to package directions without salt or fat 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese 3 vine-ripened tomatoes, halved
	Nutrient content per serving:
	Total calories: 496 Protein: 39 g Carbohydrates: 49 g Fat: 16 g Calories from fat: 29%	Cholesterol: 76 mg Sodium: 437 mg Fiber: 8 g Saturated fat: 4 g
	Instructions: In a skillet sprayed with nonstick vegetable cooking spray, over medium-high heat, add olive oil. When hot, add chicken pieces and cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until done. Transfer chicken pieces to a plate and set aside. Add green onion to the skillet and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add artichoke hearts, basil pesto, and low-fat sour cream. Stir well and add back chicken pieces. Add cooked penne pasta and mix well. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Makes 1 serving.

I rejoined Weight Watchers Online and have been preparing to start the weight loss journey again. I am going to the store later this week to stock up on all my fave healthy foods. I {heart} salads with lots of fresh veggies and some turkey or chicken breast thrown in for protein. I bought a new salad spinner from Bed Bath & Beyond. I have lots of containers for freezing & storing foods/meals. It is my plan to spend this Sunday afternoon cooking for the upcoming week. As for exercise....I have not made up my mind what I am going to do. I am very very nervous about joining the gym again with my knee problem. I am giving thought to searching Craigslist for a used Elliptical for at home. However, going this route will require me to remove my couch from the living room, which I "think" I am okay with as I still have my recliner. I don't want the elliptical in the basement because, well, my basement is scary. Between the spiders, the crickets on steroids that can jump 50ft in one leap, and just plain creepiness....well, let's just say it isn't a place I want to exercise in. No, I would rather be able to watch TV while I sweat.

This upcoming weekend is National Scrapbooking Weekend which means TONS and I mean TONS of fun things happening in digi-world. I recently decided to take the rest of April off from my creative team responsibilities, however, I was doing so well on my weight loss preparations that I decided to go ahead and scrap anyway. Here are a few things I have done that I don't think I have blogged about.

Using an upcoming kit from Lyndsay Riches called Berry Delight

Memaw is getting sweet kisses from Trevor & Caiden.

Ahhh, the tulips in my front yard. Only a few bloomed but the ones that did were gorgeous!

I used several items from various TaylorMade Designs kits & the SMILE border was from DeCrow Designs called "A Word In Edgewise"

Created for a Scrap Orchard Challenge where we had to use just ONE word on our page, either Fresh or Grow/Growing

The kit, So Delightful by LCC Amy Stoffel & the photos are courtesy of Wikipedia

An upcoming kit by Amy Stoffel called Sweet Tart & also using one of Amy's templates for the design.

I am working on a layout of Caiden riding the same tricycle but these photos went really well with this kit!

Using another upcoming kit by Amy Stoffel called To The Moon as well as some new templates by Scrapping With Liz called, Background Templates

Same kit as above, from Amy Stoffel

I have had these photos of Trevor for quite awhile now so I was excited to finally get to use them.

Brandy Designs needed a layout using her kit, Ki Ki. I remembered these photos of Trevor from Sept 2009!!!!

Again, Brandy needed a layout done with one of her kits and this is one using her kit, Gone Fishin'.

These are some photos from mine & Dad's trip to (well, you can see where). Perfect for this kit of Brandy's.

And, that about catches you up. Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you try the recipe I posted....would love to know if you love it as much as I do. God bless :)

x0x0x0
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Hump Day Post

2010-04-21T06:44:00.005-05:00

I really don't like that I am not blogging as much as I used to :( Thought I would jump on and say hello to my many...okay, 3 followers, LMBO!

There has been lots going on at work and in my life personally recently. Work has finally picked up again so that is a definite praise. I would really like to take a Fri/Mon combo off just have some time away but not sure that is happening anytime soon.

Many many prayer requests being lifted up this last week. Bill Satterthwaite (father of my bff's DD) recovering from colon surgery & now battling a severe blood infection. Shawn Smith & his family in the loss of Shawn's father. However, his dad came to know Jesus during his battle with cancer so we also rejoice in knowing he is fully healed & walking in heaven right now. My mom continues to have complications from her knee replacement surgery. Swelling in her legs (lymphodema) and more recently battling a terrible headache. A friend of mine is moving this weekend and we have yet to find just 2 strong guys to help with the heavy/bulky items. One of my digi-world friends, Trina, lost her grandmother to a stroke this week and is having a very hard time with the loss. Just so many needs.

I, myself, have some good news. My blood work came back normal with the exception of some elevated cholesterol. So, I have reset my eye appt and go in Friday to get my new glasses. Can't wait to no longer have blurry vision in my right eye!

I am beginning a new journey starting in May.....more on that later though. Yes, I am keeping you in limbo so deal!

Leaving you with some recent layouts or at least layouts done since my last post:

Done for a challenge about reflections using She's A Hoot by Wild Dandelion Designs

Caiden looking so happy as he runs around on Easter day!

Using a collab kit from Amanda Heimann Designs & SuzyQ Scraps called Going Green

Same kit....the boys on Easter Sunday while hunting eggs!

Gorgeous kit Amy Stoffel is coming out with on 4/23 called So Delightful

Same kit....another RAK layout for Ramona (her girls are so easy to scrap!)

Another upcoming release from Amy Stoffel & Krystal Hartley called Artesia & yep, another RAK for Ramona...this kit was made for these photos!!!

Kit called Out Of This World by Brandy Designs @ Polka Dot Plum

Same kit...Trevor and his classic Trevor face!

And so, now I can relax for a few days since I finally blogged! Hope the rest of your week is filled with abundant blessings!!

x0x0x0
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Ahhhh.....spring!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-04-10T19:47:00.008-05:00

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous with the exception of 1 1/2 days this past week. I {heart} spring. There is something about watching the world around you gradually change from brown & barren to green & alive. Easter Sunday was down right nearing "hot". Okay, maybe I was flashing a little but still.....I was sweating. Oy!

The week after Easter flew by. I literally felt as though I woke up Monday morning exhausted from a fun filled Easter the day before and suddenly it was Friday. I am sure the time flying has nothing to do with the fact I am now on FOUR creative teams! Yep, you read it folks, FOUR! I now happily create for Brandy Designs @ Polka Dot Plum, LCC Amy Stoffel - Amanda Heimann Designs & Lyndsay Riches all at Scrap Orchard. However, I was asked by Amanda to do some other creative work for her apart from the usual layout creations and I agreed. So, I am not actually required to do layouts for her. I get to put my skillz for creative writing into effect by coming up with the 1 to 3 sentence kit descriptions for the kits she designs. It's fun!

Today I went to a baby shower in the morning for a short time and came home, opened the windows, turned on the stereo & cranked it and proceeded to do some Fly Lady cleaning. I spent 30 minutes in each room. I am amazed at what I can accomplish in 30 minutes when I know I am being timed. It makes me stay focused. The livingroom was decluttered, dusted, & vacuumed. The bedroom was totally rid of all clothes piled up everywhere & vacuumed. The bathroom was....well, I really just emptied the trash, cleaned the sink-mirror-knick knacks & toilet. But, it looks so much better just doing that! I had already worked on the kitchen earlier in the week but it still needed things done. I admit, I didn't do anything in the kitchen today. However, I did accomplish quite a bit so I gave myself a break and decided to catch up on some DVR'd shows I had recorded.

I didn't take a nap today like I thought I would so I am getting tired. I will leave you with a ton of scrapbook layouts to look at.....

Some old pics of Trevor I used with this kit called Happy Go Lucky from Scrap Orchard.

I did this for a challenge at Scrap Orchard where we had to use the title Lucky. I love the Funky Brushed Alpha by Brandy Designs!

This is another challenge layout where every element on our page had to be a circle excluding, of course, journaling & our title. This template by Scrapping With Liz was perfect for this challenge.

This is the first kit I officially worked with for Lyndsay Riches and it is called Talkin' About Boys. Good thing I have 2 adorable boys to scrap about. Here they are on Easter being bombarded with gifts, candy & camera flashes!

Another kit from Lyndsay Riches called Spring Flings & Easter Things and a freebie template from Brandy Designs. Caiden is giving his Nana a sweet kiss!

A gorgeous kit from Brandy Designs called Flock Together.

Miss Amy has a new kit coming out on April 16th and I have done 2 layouts with it but just don't seem to be able to do it justice....his is one of my feeble attempts.

....and here is the other one.

Her most recent release is April Showers Bring May Flowers and is a collection of 2 separate kits along with a word art pack. These colors are classic Amy!!! And this photo shows our "classic" Trevor!

...same kit from Amy

This was done for a color challenge where we had to choose coordinating colors from a color wheel. I opted to use 3 colors all next to each other....yellow, yellow-orange & orange.

Another one using the April Showers Collection by Amy and a fabulous template from Scrapping With Liz

This is one using Amanda Heimann's template set, Wave On Wave, and I paired it with her recent kit, Spring Fling!!

A "just for the heck of it" layout using Amanda Heimann's kit, Spring Fling

I do NOT like this one at all. Too many different styles trying to happen on one layout!

I love love love this photo of Caiden. Just look at that sad little face! I used Amanda Heimann's Wave On Wave template & various papers/elements from Pretty Happy & A Beautiful Day

These next two are RAK layouts (random acts of kindness) for a fellow Scrap Orchard friend, Ramona The Pest. She graciously sent me some photos of her darling daughter's so I could scrap something other than BOYS! This is Olivia

....and here is Abby!

A random layout I did using one of my fave Butterfly House photos...

Some Easter shots of Caiden

Good night....thanks for stopping by :)

xoxoxo

Dabbling in Hybrid-land

2010-04-03T14:47:00.003-05:00

Okay, so many of you who know me or follow my blog may remember that last fall I packed up nearly all of my traditional scrapbooking supplies. I was going to sell them on Craigslist because I never used them anymore. Well, I was disappointed no one was interested in my ginormous stash of goodies. And so, they remained packed in boxes in the basement.

At Christmastime I was asked to make a Blessing Jar for the daughter of my Sunday school teachers, Mya. That was probably one of the first times I did anything hybrid.
What IS hybrid, you ask? here is a simple definition I found online:

hybrid scrapbooking--combining traditional and digital elements on a scrapbooking page.

For this blessing jar (didn't take a photo, sorry) I dug into my DIGITAL stash and created a 6"x10" page using some colorful digital paper & various elements such as a rainbow, sun, flowers & word art. I printed out the finished digital page and wrapped it around & glued it to the jar. However, to make it truly hybrid, before I wrapped & glued, I used my handy-dandy Crop-A-Dile to punch about 6 holes at the ends of the 6"x10" paper. Since the ends of the paper did not meet up once wrapped I threaded different colors & types of ribbon thru the holes and tied them. I then add ribbon to the lid of the jar, too. It turned out amazingly cute!! Perfect for Mya....Miss Girly-girl.

I put my supplies back up fully not intending to use them again. Until recently that is. One of the new CT's I am on is for Amanda Heimann Designs at Scrap Orchard. Someone on the team did a tutorial for a simple hybrid project: A Layered Flower. I thought I would help her out by making one so she had an example to show others when she posted it on the blog. It was super easy and I love how mine turned out. As you can see, I added it to a card I made. The card was for my SIL's birthday.

Okay, so yes, I liked making the easy little flower but man, did I make a MESS in my scrapping room just to make that one little bitty flower!!! Ugh....don't miss the mess! However, I did think it was very neat to not only use my digital kits in more ways than just digital but also continue to use up my enormous stash of traditional supplies.

Fast forward 1 week to today. Day before Easter. Scrap Orchard is having a 2nd birthday bash sale where the entire store is 35% off. So, I went looking through the market and Scrapping With Liz, as always, had some new templates I just HAD to have! And then I saw it....a Hybrid Easter Basket Template. I clicked on it and looked at an example posted with the kit and it was so cute. I knew I must buy it and try my hand at another project....a more intense project this time.

Geesh, was it ever more intense. I won't say "hard" intense....time consuming is more the word. I started out by designing the little boxes using the template. I knew I was doing something wrong....missing a step or two but could not figure it out. I then went down to my printer and proceeded to print out the completed templates. Next came the cutting, trimming, scoring, gluing and assembling. I thought I had a mess with the little flower project. I had a MESS going on with this one!! I fumbled around but eventually got them both put together & looking cute. Again, I wondered what I had misunderstood to make mine not look quite "finished". So, I headed to the forums at Scrap Orchard where I posted photos of my finished boxes along with my need to have a good, visual tutorial on doing hybrid. Within moments some of the ladies were commenting on my project and giving me some guidance. Soon I realized my mistake. Like anything, it is a learning process.

Will I become what they call a Hybrid Artist?? I don't know. I have learned to never say never about much of anything anymore. I never thought I would ever be hooked on digital scrapbooking. Then, I never thought I would ever use my traditional stuff again. I never thought I would be single at age 39.....oh sorry, that is a whole other post in itself :) To say I will never get hooked on hybrid would be silly due to my track record of saying never. I will just say that I do enjoy it.....I just wish I could do it without the MESS!
And no post is complete without some photos of my projects....enjoy :)

This is the card I made using the layered flower hybrid project....

Credits: Spring Fling by Amanda Heimann Designs @ Scrap Orchard

The finished Easter baskets for the boys.....now to get them filled with goodies!

Credits:
Hybrid Easter Basket Squared Template by Pixel Geek Designs @ Scrap Orchard
Papers/Elements from the kit "Hoppity-Dee" by Jady Day Studio @ Scrap Orchard

Wow...I went MIA for awhile

2010-03-24T08:52:00.007-05:00

OMGoodness I knew I had not blogged for some time but did not realize it was nearly a month. All I can say is....

March came in like a LION for me!! Here is why....

1. I think I told ya about joining the ADSR5 (Amazing Digital Scrapbooking Race, Season 5) back in February. Well, that was a commitment of 2 layouts per week for 6 weeks.

2. Back in February I also told you about applying to be on a CT for Amy Stoffel and the exciting news of being accepted. That began new responsibilities immediately. Amy is super efficient and keeps her team up-to-date with what she has coming out in the way of kits. She also has something new every week. I don't have to work with EVERY kit but thus far, I have wanted to....she's that good!

3. I also hopped on board for another contest over at Scrap Orchard called March Madness. It has been amazing. We have one layout to do a week and everyone is anonymous. There are no eliminations but we ARE judged and earn points if we win our bouts. The top 3 winners will get to be a Honey Bee for 3 months at SO. This is the brass ring for which I climb the digi-scrappping ladder!!! So far I am not close to being in the lead but the challenges have really made me step up my creative game and for that I love it. So, there were a few weeks in March that I was having to scrap 3+ layouts a week!!!

I have been a busy little scrapper this month to say the least. And, I know I am nuts, but I applied for 2 other teams at Scrap Orchard. One is just a 1-month guest spot but the other is for a full time spot. What can I say? If I can't be a Honey Bee then I will work my way up the ranks through the different designers' teams!

Okay, here is a taste of what I have been doing this month with my scrapping.

This was for a challenge where we had to scrap about a Pet Peeve....

I chose "negative people" and tried to scrap a "happy" page.

For this challenge we were to scrap about GLEE!!!

Flowers bring me GLEE so I created somewhat of a fantasy style layout. This layout took me 6+ hours to complete, just sayin'!!!

This was for my CT with Amy Stoffel using Little Charmer

This is a photo of Caiden & Trevor playing together.

Shhh, this is an upcoming kit not yet released....isn't it gorgeous. I don't scrap in purples much so it was fun :)

This is mom & I on our trip to Marion, KY in 2009 (I think)

Another one using an upcoming kit & template set!!

These photos are also from that same trip to Marion, KY. The owner of the cottage had horses on the property and this is Buttercup!

Another CT layout for Amy Stoffel. Again, using Little Charmer.

Trevor, on his rocky horse that Grandpa made him for Christmas. He LOVES it!!!

Using an older kit of Amy's called I Am Amazing!

These are some photos of Trev looking oh so cool in mommy or daddy's sunglasses!

Using a mixture of kits from different designers. I think this was one of my ADSR5 layouts.

Photos are from my trip to the Butterfly House in 2009. Going there again this weekend, can't wait!!!

For this challenge we were to scrap about a song. A song that, if a movie was to be made about our life, this would be the song playing during the credits at the end of the movie!

A random layout using Little Charmer again along with one of Scrapping With Liz's awesome templates!!

Obviously, this is an All About Caiden layout!!!

I forgot to mention that in March I was also a guest for Amanda Heimann Designs.

This layout was one of the ADSR5 challenges and I used Amanda's kit called "Lucky"

Don't you just LOVE this kit from Amy???

And here is a layout I created with it!

Yep, that is me on the far left back in 1988!!!!

Another kit from Amy not yet released!

Trevor being oh-so-silly with the seat from his potty chair! The boy is ATE UP!!!

A kit from Amy called Make A Wish

Trevor's 1st birthday party!

Same kit....only from Caiden's 1st birthday party!

And that isn't even all of my layouts from this month! I will have to take time and post all my ADSR layouts in one post sometime. But, for now, I think this catches you up on where I have been.

xoxoxo
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News

2010-02-27T07:09:00.005-06:00

I am not so much addicted to Facebook, Twitter, Farmtown, etc. However, I am 100% hooked on Scrap Orchard!! This has been my digi-scrapping home for about 9 months now. This is hands-down one of the classiest, funniest, warmest sites I have been a part of to date. And, I have been a part of several now. We make each other laugh. We pray for each other. Oh, and there is a smidge (hahaha) of teasing that takes place, too. All in love :)

There have been a few CT (creative team) calls opened up since I arrived and I have submitted my application for most of them. To my disappointment I was not granted a spot with any of them. So, when a recent CT call appeared in the forum thread I, being persistent, applied. Also being pessimistic, I prepared myself for the rejection. The call was not due to be over until 2/25 so imagine my surprise (and fear) when I received an email 2 days BEFORE the call was to end. Yikes! That cannot be good. I did NOT want to open it as I was sure it was a dear, sweet let-down email. I even began running the let-down sentences in my head as I opened it. Here is what I read with my eyes:

Dear Helen,

Thank You so much for taking the time to express your interest in my designs, your support means the world to me. I know it's nerve wracking to put yourself out there like that! I very much enjoyed looking through your gallery and reading your application, and I am thrilled to offer you a spot on my creative team.

However.....this is what I read with my Minds-Eye:

Dear Helen,

Thank you so much for taking the time to express your interest in my designs, your support meansthe world to me. I know it's nerve wracking to put yourself out there like that! I very much enjoyed looking through your gallery and reading your application, however, at this time I am not able to offer you a spot on my creative team.

I seriously had to re-read it twice to make sure I had read it correctly. Holy Schmoly Batman, I made it! I made it on to the fab-u-lous team of LCC Amy Stoffel at Scrap Orchard!!! Let the happy dancin' begin! My day.....scratch that.....my WEEK.....no good either....my YEAR was made through 2 sentences. Without further ado, here is my first work as a CT for LCC Amy Stoffel.

The Kit: It's All About Me

And the layout I created with it!

The Kit: This Is Why I Scrap

And the layout I created with it:

The Kit: I'm Just Sayin'

And the layout I created with it!

Can you see now why I am so stinkin' excited?? Amy is a rockin' designer and I am honored to have been chosen to help show off this amazing kits!!! There you have it....my news!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend :)

xoxoxo

An gymnist I am not!

2010-02-22T20:18:00.003-06:00

It is Monday. Ugh.

Had to go grocery shopping after work. Ugh.

Fell down hillside. Ugh. Ouch.

I always wanted to be a gymnist when I was a little girl. I used to picture myself going round & round on the uneven bars but my favorite event was the floor routines. The running, cart-wheeling, back-flipping......I so wanted to be able to do that. However, 30 years later, the dream is dead. Why then, did I go and do a tremendously awkward somersault down my aunt's hillside tonight? I believe I should have scored a perfect 10 for ugliest execution. I guess somewhere deep inside me is that little girl who still wants to be a gymnist. It's that or I am just becoming the biggest klutz in the Midwest. Something tells me it is the latter.

Okay, Monday....I am closing the door on you. I want to forget all about you until tomorrow morning when I wake up reaching for more ibuprofen....then I shall curse you again.

So, how was YOUR Monday?? Please share and make me feel less ridiculous about mine.

xoxoxo
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Valentine's Day Memory Lapse!!

2010-02-14T20:11:00.002-06:00

Found this amazing photograph of double hearts cast upon an open Bible. Thought is was appropriate since today is Valentine's Day and Jesus gave us the perfect gift through his sacrifice on the cross! Image below is linked to the photog's Flickr post!!

Woke up early today and it never occurred to me it was the actual day of Valentine's Day. Duh! There are really only 2 reasons I needed to remember this little bit of trivia.

#1....I would have found "something" red or pink to wear to church rather than blue. I told everyone I was color blind and thought I was really wearing red.

#2....I would have called my Aunt and wished her a happy birthday well before 5 p.m.!!!!!!

Come on brain.....is there a leak up there??? Are you losing oxygen??? Why oh why can't I remember ANYTHING anymore?

Well, I guess we know what is really important because I did remember Challenge #3 was out there in digi-world somewhere this morning. I found it and even created a LO before getting ready for church.

Here is what I did. This is all contingent upon my partner not wanting to do something more "alike" for our pages. I am waiting to confer with her before I post this in the galleries. If we go a different route then I look at it like this....I have a cute LO done.

Well, I am very tired. Need to put the computer (and me) to sleep. More later. Thanks for stopping by.

xoxoxoxo
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Cletus Take The Reel

2010-02-12T14:33:00.002-06:00

It has been on crazy busy Friday at work. I am just whipped. Whipped, I tell ya! Gonna have to squeeze me in a nap before going out tonight. How old does that make me sound, I ask? Well, this is the big 4-0 year so what else do I expect, lol.

Going to see a fabulously funny comedian tonight at church. His name is Tim Hawkins and folks let me tell you, I will have tears from laughing so hard. Seriously. Some dear friends bought me a ticket so I wouldn't miss out this year. Thanks girlz!!

Here is one of Tim's video's called Cletus Take The Reel. If you know the song, Jesus Take The Wheel, by Carrie Underwood then you will LOVE this parody! Hope you enjoy. If you want to see more of his work then head on over HERE to see more!

On...Off...On...Off...On...Off

2010-02-10T11:10:00.004-06:00

This is the what my poor little under-the-desk heater endures all day long. The top half of my body never gets cold while I am sitting at my desk working.....um, mostly working. However, my legs and feet freeze. So, I turn on the heater. I will usually start to bake on top before the bottom half really gets cozy so I have to turn off the heater. Some time passes, turn it back on. Bake. Turn it off. Ugh....why can't I just be warm all over??? Probably because my legs sit under the desk and the "metal" from the underside of the desk just radiates cold.

And that made me think about being a christian. Yeah, that's right. A little under-the-desk heater can turn my mind toward the things of God. It doesn't always have to be a burning bush, or a sea parting or manna falling from the sky.

So, why does this make me think about being a christian? Well, one of the biggest problems people have with "christians" is hypocriticalness (is that a word?). Is now. We are warm & fuzzy at church or in a certain environment when around certain folk but then the next time you see us somewhere else, around other folk, we can be cold & stinging. Warm-Fuzzy...Cold-Stinging....Warm-Fuzzy....Cold-Stinging. But Jesus calls us to be in His image ALL the time. We have been given an internal heater, so-to-speak, in the form of the Holy Spirit. I need to be more mindful of Him in me and when I feel myself growing cold, call upon Him to warm me up again.

I ain't pointing no fingers here unless it is only at myself. It is just the thought that popped into my head as I turned my under-the-desk heater on for the umpteenth time today.

xoxoxoxo
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ADSR5 & The Orchard Angels!!!

2010-02-10T06:47:00.002-06:00

I think I mentioned a few weeks ago about the Amazing Digital Scrapbooking Race starting on February 7th. I partnered up with a digi-world friend, Trina, for this race. Trina, her husband and daughter, Miss K., live in Canada and we met in the Scrap Orchard forums several months ago. It has been fun getting to know her through the WWW.

We have both completed Challenge #1 and I have it posted on our ADSR5 blog. Check it out by clicking HERE.

I have to work on challenge #2 this evening. I am doing a page on "5 Things I Love About DigiScrapping". I need to get some photos taken; pick out my template & get to scrapping! I have plenty of time to get it done but I know how life can throw curve balls so I prefer to stay on top of things if possible. Hmmmmm, if I coudl only adopt that way of thinking when it comes to cleaning my house. LOL.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great hump-day!

xoxoxoxo
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Thin Places

2010-02-09T19:56:00.002-06:00

I think I must read this.....

God speaks in parking lots.

2010-02-08T09:38:00.002-06:00

Oh yes indeed-y He does.

How do I know this, you ask?

Because He spoke to me in the church parking lot just yesterday. And, here is the rest of the story...

It was a great weekend. Saturday was spent volunteering for a JOY FM radio station "Key To The City Walk" where $42,000+ was raised for their need. Five hours outside in below freezing temps & a slight breeze that just bit into any exposed skin. Five hours of whooping & howlering over seeing the donations come in & knowing every dollar was one dollar closer to seeing JOY FM's chance to reach a larger listening area for Christ.

Sunday I woke up ready to go worship and hear God's word. Our small group Bible study was on the topic of "The Battle Of The Mind". The gist of it was all about having a "mind set" and how that is both a noun & a verb. As a christian I have the mind set (noun) of Christ dwelling in me through the presence of the Holy Spirit. However, everyday I am faced with choices to make that are either right vs. wrong----Godly vs. worldly. It is in those times I have to call upon that "mind set" and put it into action (verb). It was a very good study.

However, something happened (the "who-what-where-why" is not important) and I became frustrated. Frustrated to the point of just wanting to go home and skip worship. The battle of my mind began. I could just picture on one shoulder an angel of the Lord and on the other a demon from the pits of hell and they were battling for my mind. The battle ended when I walked out the doors and entered my car to go home. Or did it? I continued to struggle with knowing my word of the year is REMAIN. I sat there.

Next, as I sat in my car in the parking lot of the church, I checked my phone and saw a text message from my BFF who was home recovering from pneumonia. The message read "Are you going to 10:55 service"? OUCH!!!!!!!!!! The battle was in full swing again.

RUN.....REMAIN.....RUN.....REMAIN.....RUN.....REMAIN.

I shut off my car, grabbed my purse and walked back in through the same doors I had just walked through moments before. I sat down in the pew I usually sit in and I proceeded to reply to my friend: "yes, i am here". Thinking maybe she decided to try to make it for worship I looked around but didn't see her. Oh well. The music began.....time to worship.

Dr. Hufty's message was amazing, as usual. However, I was expecting something in the message to really jump out at me and make me go "yep, that is why I was supposed to remain". That didn't happen. That's okay.....it's never a BAD thing to be in church hearing God's word. As Dr. Hufty closed in prayer before the time of offering he said "God has spoken today....through worship.....through His word.....He has even spoken in the parking lot I imagine" I nearly fell over when he said that. And I again wondered "so why God? why did you have me remain if I don't feel as though I really gleaned any new, amazing concept of you?" At that moment I felt a still, small voice simply say "you were just supposed to REMAIN".

okay.

Service ended and I left for the second time that morning. This time with an entirely different outlook. I entered my car and immediately called my BFF to tell her what had happened. I knew she had probably been listening to the online live-stream of the sermon since she was home sick. When asked if she heard Dr Hufty's remark about God speaking to us in the parking lot she replied, yes. I proceeded to tell her the whole story I just shared above. This is her reply:

Helen....I was home doing what I believe I was supposed to be doing....recouperating. However, I still felt like something was missing after being away from church for 2 weeks now. While I have been in the word daily.....praying continually, there is something missing and I know it is being at church for corporate worship and serving God. She continued....I was telling God how much I want to be better so I can go back to church where I feel like He can use me.

And in that moment, she realized He had used her....even from her sick-bed, He used her. Her text to me.....a text I thought was because she might be coming to church after all and I didn't want her to sit alone. When in fact she just needed me to carry out a task for her (but I didn't know that because she didn't say that in the text).

There was the other reason I was suppose to REMAIN....so Sheila could see how God can still use her.

Isn't God so cool??? I think so :)

xoxoxoxo

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Good Morning Saturday....

2010-02-06T07:13:00.003-06:00

Up early today because me and a friend are volunteering at an event being hosted by Joy FM radio station. It is taking place outdoors and it snowed last night. I am prepared with waterproof boots, thermal undies, gloves, hat & scarf! Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just jumped on to post a few recent layouts. Don't have much time as I need to get in the shower and finish getting ready. Here we go....

REMAIN

I did this one for a challenge/dare over at The Digi Dares. It is another page depicting my 2010 word of the year.

5 W's

This was for a Scrap Orchard challenge where we were challenged to create a layout about the who, what, when, where, why of our scrapbooking addictions. I enjoyed this non-photo layout alot!

Rock Star

My SIL captured a great photo of Caiden wearing his daddy's hat and sunglasses. So, of course, I had to scrap it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Moment

My brother loved this photo of our dad with Trevor sitting on his lap. This layout was also for a Scrap Orchard challenge where we were told to scrap using B&W photo(s). Okay, so not much of a challenge for me, hahahaha. I LOVE scrapping with black & white photos as it allows me to use ANY color schemed kit I want without fear of clashing!

That is all for now. It is 7:23.....must get clothes into the dryer and me into the shower. No rest for me today..............atleast not until well into the afternoon!!!

x0x0x0x0x0

Layouts....

2010-02-03T10:45:00.003-06:00

So, I realized I had not posted some of the several layouts I have done recently. Here we go! And btw, all the images are linked to my gallery posts where you can find the credits for which kits I used (just click the image if you want to know).

I Did It!!!

I did the layout above as a challenge to myself. See, I am terrified of using patterned BG paper on my LO's. If you ever browse my gallery you will see I mainly use solids or something with a faint design. I asked for CC on this layout from some of my girlz at Scrap Orchard and one thing that was mentioned was making my buttons/tag smaller. I giggled and told them I must have an "eye-to-brain perception disorder" because I often don't see things as being too large in my layouts until AFTER they come back to me in print, LOL!

Tanti's Shoes

Trevor LOVES to wear big people shoes. He, however, does NOT like to wear his own and will take them off every chance he gets. He is like his Tanti in that respect. I love summer when I can wear flip flops & let my toes, albeit ugly toes, be free!

Sweet Heart Angel

I did this for some challenge....can't remember what. This is my Molly girl from a few years ago. Anyone that knows Molly knows she is not an angel. Although, she does love Angel Soft toilet paper.....it's everywhere in my house....in shreds! Thanks Angel-Girl!

EXTRA-ordinary

Some pics of me a few years ago when I chopped off my hair & donated it to Locks of Love.

God Is There

It is fun sometimes to do a layout that doesn't contain a photograph. Here I used a Word Art from Elegant Word Art by Bethany and a new kit from a new designer at Scrap Orchard. I loved the WA so much I decided to make it the focal point along with some 'from the heart' journaling about it.

That catches me up on posting my recent work. Have a great day & thanks for stopping by!!

xoxoxoxo

Raised to walk in newness of life

2010-02-02T09:49:00.002-06:00

Just feel like sharing what's on my heart this morning at this moment.....when I should be focused on work.

Last night I went to see my personal, earthly miracle-worker, Lisa. She is my hair dresser and she dresses my hair splendidly. I walked in to her basement studio with 3/4" gray roots. I admit it. No sense denying it. I walked out with beautful chocolately undertones & blonde highlights. The best part.......no GRAY showing! Ahhhh, I feel like a new woman again, lol.

Then this morning I received an email from a friend informing me her friend we had prayed for a few weeks ago passed away from brain cancer. She went peacefully in her sleep. That made me think about what it will be like to go home to heaven. HOME. HEAVEN. The little house I have lived in for over 20 years is just that.....a house. It is a temporary dwelling place. But heaven, that is my HOME. It is where I will spend eternity in perfect peace praising Jesus.

In the words of a Casting Crowns song....."what a glorious day" it will be to one day be ushered into a place where there is no more cancer. No more earthquakes. No more murder. No more tears. And yes, no more gray roots to cover up. I will be "raised to walk in newness of life".

Ahhhh, I am seriously homesick. Is that an odd thing to say? No, though, it may seem so to some. It doesn't mean I don't love my life (okay, sometimes it does, lol)....or my family.....my friends. It just means I was given the best gift imaginable in 1996. A gift that starts out with receiving a huge wrapped box. You unwrap it to find another smaller, wrapped box inside. You unwrap it to find yet another smaller, wrapped box. The initial box opened I received my salvation and the Holy Spirit. Each consecutive box holds new and wonderful blessings as I continue to grow in my faith. One day I will reach that final wrapped box that holds the key to heaven.....my eternal HOME.

So, this is what is on my heart today.....at this moment.....when I should be focused on work. Or should I? Where is your focus today?

xoxoxoxoxo

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do you like FREE???

2010-02-02T08:24:00.003-06:00

Well, free digi-scrap supplies, that is? If so, you must add this blog to your list of favorites!

DIGITAL DAISY'S HAND PICKED FREEBIES

She is amazing at scouring the WWW for awesome FREE templates, quick pages, kits, alphas! I mean seriously, she posts ALOT! of stuff.

So, check her blog out and grab a few (or many) freebies from talented designers all over the digi-world!!

God bless your day :)

x0x0x0x0

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A Day With Trevor

2010-01-30T19:14:00.003-06:00

Up at 4:05 a.m. Pulling out of the driveway at 4:55 a.m. Arrived in Okawville at 6:00 a.m. This was the start of my Saturday. I was asked to watch Trevor today because Mommy was called in to work OT and Daddy had deer meat to get processed. I didn't have anything planned for today so why not spend it with The Trev?

I wondered how he would take to me walking through his bedroom door to get him instead of his mommy or daddy. He just smiled and lifted up those arms. Back downstairs I think he was expecting to see his mommy or daddy somewhere but when he didn't he just rolled with the punches. He was unusually quiet for the first hour or so which is very unlike Trevor. The boy has an enormous vocabulary. However, we just can't understand most of it. I have lovingly nicknamed his language.....Trevorese.

It was a fun day. Filled with playing, laughing, a little scolding, endless picking up of toys and even a few hugs and kisses. It is 7:30 pm and I am already thinking of turning in for the night. Before I do, here are some snapshots (straight from camera, unedited) from the day.

Having a blast navigating the livingroom in my shoes!

The boy seriously LOVES to wear everyone else's shoes but NOT his own!

After he was done wearing them he thought it was time for me to wear them. Yeah so, they are on the wrong feet. You gotta give him an E for effort. Just look at the concentration on his face!!

Practicing to be a stunt horse rider for the circus.

In search of toys...no doubt thrown behind the ottoman just so he can do this!

Me trying to take photos of Trevor without a flash. Ha! Right! Maybe if he is sleeping. We were making goofy noises/faces at each other at this moment.

Oh, to be so flexible!

Classic Trevor face! You would think he discovered gold in that box but I guess buried toys are even better than gold to an 18 month old.

And that was my day......told ya, FUN :)

xoxoxox

CoffeeShop

2010-01-28T20:47:00.011-06:00

This is why I love reading other blogs! While skimming through some old posts at SuzyQ Scraps' blog I came across her entry about ACTIONS. Actions (for those who don't know) are these awesome shortcuts to edit your photos in Photoshop Elements.

Suzy mentioned a website (blog) called The Coffee Shop. I am really tired right now so I will let you link on over to the site and read about these SAHM's and how awesome they are for creating these FREE actions for people like me (and you)!!! Yes, I said free. I love FREE!!!

Here is a before and after of a photo of my nephew, Trevor. I will explain what I did.

(BEFORE)

All I did to the (straight out of the camera) photo above was red eye reduction & brightened it up just a bit using the Levels Adjustment Layer.

(AFTER)

I ran two different actions on this photo to get it to this point.

First....I ran the Baby Powder Room action which allowed me to soften up his face and removed the blotchiness. This action also allowed me to brighten & whiten his eyes to make them pop more.

Second....I ran the Hot Cocoa 2 action that gives this warm, soft glowing effect. Oh, I just love the result!

Of course, you know I did a layout using the final product! This was for a Scrap Orchard Template Challenge. I used several kits....Sweet Teddy & Caber MacGregor by Amy Stoffel as well as Composure by TaylorMade Designs.

Tastefully Simple

2010-01-27T09:26:00.007-06:00

I have a new love and it is called Tastefully Simple. If you have never heard of this company and their products then let me encourage you to check out their website HERE.

A friend of mine from church, Jennifer Church, is a consultant for them. I went to a show this week and had the opportunity to taste first-hand all the yummy goodness their food offers. If you EVER have the chance to attend a show I highly recommend it because you just HAVE to taste for yourself.

I was having quite a conundrum after attending this party. I have lost a chunk of income due to the economy hitting our familys' business hard. Therefore, a strict budget was set in place to get me through these lean times. No frivolous purchases for awhile.

However, I am also cutting out fast-food/restaurant eating as much as possible. That was a decision I made before the income reduction. That means I must cook and to cook semi-healthy you should really plan ahead and be prepared with certain staples in your cupboards.

After a great amount of thought and changing of my mind I came to the decision to purchase the following products. I will explain why.......

Onion Onion Seasoning Blend

Added to cream cheese or sour cream you have a wonderful, fast & savory dip. Use it in place of fresh onions without the tears! I can't wait to sprinkle this in my hamburger meat for burgers!

Garlic Garlic

If you know me you know I love me some garlic. Just the name of this product, Garlic Garlic, was enough to sell me :)

Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix

I sampled this the night of the show and in the famous wordage of Rachael Raye: YUMM-O! Just add olive oil and water for delish pesto in 10 minutes. Can't wait to add this to some pasta one evening. Add a side salad and presto....you have dinner!

Bountiful Beer Bread Mix

Hello?? I was not expecting such mouth watering goodness in a bread. It's bread after all. A mix that all you add is beer or another carbonated beverage and bake it. How good can it really be? V-E-R-Y GOOD!!!! That's how good. It had a nice dense but not too dense texture. What really surprised me was the hint of sweetness from the beer used. Oh, and the crunchy top coating is to die for!!! I can so see having a piece of this with a cup of coffee for a snack.

Bayou Bourbon Glaze

If you have ever had TGI Friday's Jack Daniel's Sauce (and liked it) then you will like this! Again, can't wait to make some burgers with some Onion Onion & this glaze added to the meat before cooking.

Well, now that I am sufficiently hungry (and probably you, too) I will bring this to a close. You would think I sell this product but I don't. But, my friend, Jennifer Church, does. And, if the economy turns around I will be hosting a show of my own down the road. In the meantime, I look foward to building my seasoning inventory over time as there are more I want but cannot afford right now.

How about you? Have you a favorite Tastefully Simple product? Do share!

xoxoxoxo

Jasper the Dog

2010-01-26T11:37:00.002-06:00

This is just an email I received and thought it was just too funny not to blog.....

Jasper and the Unbaked Yeast Rolls

We have a fox terrier by the name of Jasper.. He came to us in the summer of 2001 from the fox terrier rescue program. For those of you, who are unfamiliar with this type of adoption, imagine taking in a 10 year old child about whom you know nothing and committing to doing your best to be a good parent. Like a child, the dog came with his own idiosyncrasies. He will only sleep on the bed, on top of the covers, nuzzled as close to my face as he can get without actually performing a French kiss on me. Lest you think this is a bad case of 'no discipline,' I should tell you that Perry and I tried every means to break him of this habit including locking him in a separate bedroom for several nights. The new door cost over $200. But I digress.

Five weeks ago we began remodeling our house. Although the cost of the project is downright obnoxious, it was 20 years overdue AND it got me out of cooking Thanksgiving for family, extended family, and a lot of friends that I like more than family most of the time. I was assigned the task of preparing 124 of my famous yeast dinner rolls for the two Thanksgiving feasts we did attend. I am still cursing the electrician for getting the new oven hooked up so quickly. It was the only appliance in the whole darn house that worked, thus the assignment.

I made the decision to cook the rolls on Wed evening to reheat Thurs am. Since the kitchen was freshly painted, you can imagine the odor. Not wanting the rolls to smell like Sherwin Williams #586, I put the rolls on baking sheets and set them in the living room to rise for a few hours. Perry and I decided to go out to eat, returning in about an hour. The rolls were ready to go in the oven.

It was 8:30 PM. When I went to the living room to retrieve the pans, much to my shock one whole pan of 12 rolls was empty. I called out to Jasper and my worst nightmare became a reality. He literally wobbled over to me. He looked like a combination of the Pillsbury dough boy and the Michelin Tire man wrapped up in fur.. He groaned when he walked. I swear even his cheeks were bloated. I ran to the phone and called our vet. After a few seconds of uproarious laughter, he told me the dog would probably be OK, however, I needed to give him Pepto Bismol every 2 hours for the rest of the night. God only knows why I thought a dog would like Pepto Bismol any more than my kids did when they were sick. Suffice it to say that by the time we went to bed the dog was black, white and pink. He was so bloated we had to lift him onto the bed for the night.

We arose at 7:30 and as we always do first thing; put the dog out to relieve himself. Well, the dog was as drunk as a sailor on his first leave. He was running into walls, falling flat on his butt and most of the time when he was walking his front half was going one direction and the other half was either dragging the grass or headed 90 degrees in another direction. He couldn't lift his leg to pee, so he would just walk and pee at the same time. When he ran down the small incline in our back yard, he couldn't stop himself and nearly ended up running into the fence. His pupils were dilated and he was as dizzy as a loon. I endured another few seconds of laughter from the vet (second call within 12 hours) before he explained that the yeast had fermented in his belly and that he was indeed drunk. He assured me that, not unlike most binges we humans go through, it would wear off after about 4 or 5 hours and to keep giving him Pepto Bismol.

Afraid to leave him by himself in the house, Perry and I loaded him up and took him with us to my sister's house for the first Thanksgiving meal of the day. My sister lives outside of Muskogee on a ranch, (10 to 15 minute drive). Rolls firmly secured in the trunk (124 less 12) and drunk dog leaning from the back seat onto the console of the car between Perry and I, we took off.

Now I know you probably don't believe that dogs burp, but believe me when I say that after eating a tray of risen unbaked yeast rolls, DOGS WILL BURP. These burps were pure Old Charter. They would have matched or beat any smell in a drunk tank at the police station. But that's not the worst of it. Now he was beginning to fart and they smelled like baked rolls. God strike me dead if I am not telling the truth! We endured this for the entire trip to Karen's, thankful she didn't live any further away than she did. Once Jasper was firmly placed in my sister's garage with the door locked, we finally sat down to enjoy our first Thanksgiving meal of the day. The dog was the topic of conversation all morning long and everyone made trips to the garage to witness my drunken dog, each returning with a tale of Jasper's latest endeavor to walk without running into something.

Of course, as the old adage goes, 'what goes in must come out' and Jasper was no exception. Granted if it had been me that had eaten 12 risen, unbaked yeast rolls, you might as well have put a concrete block up my behind, but alas a dog's digestive system is quite different from yours or mine. I discovered this was a mixed blessing when we prepared to leave Karen's house. Having discovered his 'packages' on the garage floor, we loaded him up in the car so we could hose down the floor. This was another naive decision on our part. The blast of water from the hose hit the poop on the floor and the poop on the floor withstood the blast from the hose. It was like Portland cement beginning to set up and cure. We finally tried to remove it with a shovel. I (obviously no one else was going to offer their services) had to get on my hands and knees with a coarse brush to get the remnants off of the floor. And as if this wasn't degrading enough, the darn dog in his drunken state had walked through the poop and left paw prints all over the garage floor that had to be brushed too.

Well, by this time the dog was sobering up nicely so we took him home and dropped him off before we left for our second Thanksgiving dinner at Perry's sister's house. I am happy to report that as of today (Monday) the dog is back to normal both in size and temperament. He has had a bath and is no longer tricolor. None the worse for wear I presume. I am also happy to report that just this evening I found 2 risen unbaked yeast rolls hidden inside my closet door. It appears he must have come to his senses after eating 10 of them but decided hiding 2 of them for later would not be a bad idea.

Now, I'm doing research on the computer as to: 'How to clean unbaked dough from the carpet.'
And how was your day?

See, told you, funny stuff!!! Hope you had a good laugh!

1 Peter 3:10

2010-01-26T10:04:00.002-06:00

1 Peter 3:10 (The Message)
Suffering for Doing Good

8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here's what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you're worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he's asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.

Wow, did I need to read this today. I receive a daily Bible verse in my email inbox everyday. This was todays verse.

I needed this because I have been dealing with some "sharp-tongued sarcasm" lately. I even had a conversation with a friend recently how I am just not going to stand for it anymore. One more 'fiery dart' thrown at me and I am not keeping my mouth shut. I know it is wrong and that my former Pastor would always say "if you want to confront someone then you probably shouldn't". Oh, but it is SO hard for me to turn the other cheek. But when I read the second half of that verse: Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, Here's what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you're worth. God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he's asked; But he turns his back on those who do evil things. On January 1st of this new year I made a choice to REMAIN in Christ. A choice to REMAIN attached to the vine. In essence, fill up with good. And to do that I should say nothing evil/hurtful; snub evil, cultivate good; run after peace for all I am worth!!! These are the things God looks upon with approval.

So I ask myself.....from whom am I seeking approval from? Those spewing the sharp-tongued sarcasm? Or God? I choose to seek God.

How about you? Are you being a blessing or are you being disagreeable, sarcastic, uncompassionate?

xoxoxoxo

The Missing....Found

2010-01-22T09:56:00.002-06:00

Received this email from my dear, sweet friend, Christina....

So…I thought about sending out an email, but I had basically asked everyone if they had seen it so didn’t really see the point. I searched and searched frantically all day yesterday for this notebook. This morning on the way in, I gave the loss of my notebook to God. I convinced myself that if I wasn’t to find it, God was going to teach me something from it….take care of my things better (because you might lose your notebook), remember my list of to dos better (because you might lose your notebook), don’t keep important conversation data only in your notebook (because you might lose your notebook), don’t be so mean to people (because they might steal your notebook, lol)

Anyway I told God that I could accept that I lost it if he wanted me to. Know what he said (immediately)? He told my sweet friend Hilary to send an email without asking me because the one person that knew where it was is in the field 95% of his day and wouldn’t realize that it was mine and I was missing it so much….

It’s so amazing the little things that God uses to bring you back to the right way of thinking.

You might think the point I am trying to make by posting this email is to show you how much God cares about those little things (that are really huge to us). Well, of course, I believe that is very true. He does care about what we care about....even little things.

However, what I think He cares about even more is our response to Him when things/people in our life go missing. Do we kick, scream, cry, pout and take it out on those around us and God? Or, do we go to God and humbly say "Okay, God, I am okay with this.....if it be your will." Sometimes God has to use these moments to get our eyes off us and back on HIM.

Thank you Christina....for sharing this with me.

xoxoxoxo

It's Official

2010-01-21T22:28:00.004-06:00

I now know how to design blinkies! Woo-Hoo! They are quite labor intensive to create so now I understand why they cost anywhere from $15-$50 to make.

Look over to your right.....see it there in my sidebar? I created this one for an upcoming digi-scrapping contest I am going to be in. It's called Amazing Digital Scrapbooking Race, Season 5. Just like the TV show, we work with a partner and travel all over the digi-world for six weeks competing to move on to the next round. There won't be any judging of work or eliminations. Well, you will only be eliminated if you do not complete a challenge in time or properly. Any team that finishes is eligible for the grand prize. No, I don't know what that will be yet but I hear it is an awesome package of goodies!

Well, this has been an extremely LONG day. Off to bed. Was just so excited about my new blinkie skillz that I had to blog it before turning in.

ps - I created this using the kit, Little Angel, by Lyndsay Riches at Scrap Orchard. You can see her store HERE.

xoxoxoxo

Meals Matter

2010-01-19T13:13:00.006-06:00

I won't say I made a concrete resolution to eat less fast-food but, I certainly wanted to "try". I am very happy to say I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have had fast food for a meal since January 1st.

Now, don't go thinking I have turned into little Miss Suzy Homemaker! Ha!! Far from it. Far from it. No, I have only replaced fast-food with Special K cereals, Smart Ones frozen entrees, and an (hear me when I say it) occasional, non-microwaved meal. Baby steps folks :)

I have made a decision to bring my dusty crockpot out of hiding and place it back on my counter. In addition, I want to start meal planning Monday-Friday meals. Thanks to the WWWW (yes, I meant to put 4 w's....the first stands for wonderful) I did an online search for meal planning. After looking through several sites I found this one:

www.mealsmatter.org

(Screenshot of home page)

There is a myriad of awesomeness awaiting you when you visit this site! Before I go any further let me tell you the cost. Ready? Sure? Better sit down first........

FREE!!!

Free is so cool! Some of the tools offered are Personal Nutrition & Fitness Planners. Under the "Meal Planner" tab they offer daily meal planning calendars, shopping lists, & cookbooks. I planned out some meals for next week and what I did was searched for crock pot recipes using their extensive database of recipes. I was able to narrow my search to certain food groups such as "chicken or beef". Then, as I pulled up a recipe to review it I could then decide to ADD it to my personal cookbook. I created a cookbook called "Crock Pot Recipes". Once I added meals to each day I was then able to tell it to create a shopping list for me. It lists EVERYTHING from every meal you are planning to make. You have the ability to delete items such as the salt, pepper & other various staples you may always keep on hand. Once you are done you click a button and voila! you have a shopping list to take to the store. Oh yeah, you can even list the aisles in the store so it prints your list in the order which you walk through to shop. How stinkin' cool is that?

There are other tabs with many other features but I will let you find those yourself. I don't know if I have EVER been so excited about meal planning. But, I am. With the recent income loss I have to start thinking more money-wise and try to stretch the funds out. Hopefully I can accomplish this by planning ahead more....utilizing coupons and sales.

Do you use a meal planner? What is your method? I hope maybe this has inspired a non-planner out there (like me) to get a little more organized in the kitchen! God bless<><

xoxoxoxo

Hearing God's Voice

2010-01-18T20:06:00.003-06:00

Yesterday morning I met my dad at Starbucks a few minutes past 7:00 to buy him a coffee and Apple Fritter for his birthday before we went to church. I love the coziness of Starbucks. Everything from the music, the decor, to the yummy smell of coffee in the air!!! It was a nice way to start a Sunday.

Pastor Mark delivered the message because Dr. Hufty was out of town this week. At first I was disappointed. Not because I don't like Mark. No, not at all the case. Mostly because I have come to REALLY love Dr. Hufty's messages and especially his delivery of them. Yes, it will be hard one day to say goodbye to him when a new Senior Pastor is chosen for our flock. {sigh} However, if God could prepare my heart to be so fully open to this interim pastor just 6 months after losing Pastor Fred then He can prepare my heart for the one He has planned for us down the road.

The message was on Learning To Hear God's Voice. Hmmmm, really? I have heard other sermons on this topic and wasn't sure if this would be much different from the others. Well, I am not sure if the message was different this time or if "I" was just different. Either way, I really took a lot from it. Here are some of the points he made.....

There are 5 steps in the process of learning to hear God's voice.

PRAY....how can I possibly expect to hear God speak to me if I never stop and open up a line of communication?
GOD'S WORD.....am I unsure of whether or not I have heard God? Test it against God's word and determine if lines up with it or if it contradicts it? God will never tell me to do something that is not in line with His Truth.
GOD'S PEACE....if I think I have heard God speak yet I am still very confused or just unsettled then likely it is not from God. However, if I have peace for several days then I can be sure it is from Him.
CONSULT PRAYER WARRIORS....have two or three people in your circle that you know pray faithfully and when you are seeking God's voice, go to them and ask them to pray about it with you. If, after praying for a period of time they come back and share with you what they felt God saying to them and it lines up with what you heard God say then you can be sure it is God.
GOD'S CONFIRMATIONS.....through dreams & signs. I fully believe God still speaks to us through dreams today. I know of one time in my life where He did this for me. I think it is because we are so busy going....doing.....talking.....etc, that He has to wait for us to fall asleep and be still/quiet so He can speak to us.

It was a good weekend. Yes it was.

xoxoxoxo

Dreamin' of Lunch

2010-01-15T07:52:00.003-06:00

Is it wrong that it is not even 7 a.m. and I am already thinking about lunch? If you knew what I had waiting for me you would not be so quick to judge!

Now, if you are all about healthy food......no fat.....no carbs, etc. then I suggest you don't read this because there ain't nuttin' "healthy" 'bout this dish. 'Cept maybe the mushrooms.

So, went to Farmer's Restaurant for my dear friends birthday last night. In light of recent pay cuts I went with the intention of being money conscious and just getting an appetizer or something inexpensive. However, I did not get to eat prior to going thus I was s.t.a.r.v.i.n.g. when I arrived at the restaurant. No way was an appetizer gonna do it.

My fave dish here is called Peppermill Steak Pasta.

Pepper: good.

Steak: good.

Pasta: good.

You just cannot go wrong with this trio combination. Did I mention the steak is filet mignon?? The pasta is rigatoni noodles in a creamy white sauce (usually I am not a big fan of creamy white sauces but when mixed with the juices of filet mignon it's a different story). There are button mushrooms through out and they top it with a sprinkling of cracked peppercorns to add a nice little spice and crunch to each bite.

This delish dish will rob your wallet of $12.99, eeks! Honestly I don't think that is a bad price for the amount you receive and the fact it is......ummmm, I will say it again: DELISH!!! I ordered just water to drink and the meal came with a dinner salad (another yum) plus they bring you rolls/corn bread before your dinner. After eating a roll and the salad I was able to save 1/2 the pasta dish for lunch the next day. In total, my meal was $14.01 + 2.00 tip and that averages out to $8.00 per meal. Yes, it is more than I would be paying had I not just grabbed one of my $2 Smart Ones frozen meals but you also cannot put a price on spending a few hours with good friends....celebrating & laughing over a fabulous dinner. Amen? Amen.

Come on 11:30.....get here already! I'm hungry!!!!!!!!!!!

What are YOU having for lunch today?

xoxoxo

2010 Inspiration Challenge

2010-01-10T16:24:00.004-06:00

Last post today, promise!

I love the "dare challenges" at The Digi Dares. However, I rarely stop and do the challenges. I want to attempt to do atleast one dare a month this year. The reason I love their dares is because they challenge you to look within and scrap memories or life and not just photos. I forget sometimes to stop and do some layouts about things such as ~what I like/dislike at the time~ ~my favorite songlist at certain point and time~ ~what inspires me~. And so, I took the "inspiration" challenge and this is the result. This is what inspires me in January 2010:

There are so many other things that inspire me but I tried to narrow it down to an 8x8 layout, lol. As I thought about the different things/people/places that cause inspiration to well up inside me I realized I draw my inspiration from two different worlds.....#1 The real one, which I live among daily and #2 The cyberspace one, which I also tend to live among daily.

For this reason I split my layout into those two worlds. There are five blogs I follow obsessively because these ladies/blogs are often Christ centered and so uplifting (and real). It really doesn't matter that they reference many of their posts around their spouses & children. Being a single girl myself you might think that would be hard & tiresome to read about regularly. However, they do it in a way that when all is said and done, God is glorified and I am left challenged to be a better person in Christ. Here are a list of those blogs (they are also in my "favorites" sidebar but I will list them here, too). I challenge you to visit one a day over the next work week and see if you aren't inspired, too.

Seriously...this is my life! (I added this one because my cousin's blog is also a great source of inspiration on many topics as well, including God).

For my IRL (in real life) inspiration list I chose these (in no particular order):

#1 {Music} I love music....contemporary Christian music to be more precise. Chris Tomlin is my absolute favorite praise & worship singer/songwriter. His songs can take me to a level of worship like few others can. This man certainly has used the gift/vision given him to bring immense glory to God.

#2 {Nature} Ahhh, nature, like music, can sweep me into a whole other realm. As pictured, just about anywhere in Colorado inspires me because of the various mountain ranges through out. Sunrises, a field of blooming flowers & blazing autumn colors can evoke the same inspiration in me.

#3 {God's Word} The Holy Bible.....if you can't find inspiration here then trust me, you cannot find it anywhere. I guess you can but then who do you give credit to for the inspiration? It is the foundation of all things that inspire. God's word, like God himself, is as same today as it was yesterday and as it will be tomorrow. It is what feeds and quenches our souls while we live out this time on earth.

#4 {These Boys} You had to know Trevor & Caiden would be one of my top sources of inspiration. Simply put, they inspire me to be a better person (period)

#5 {God's Gifts} I have blogged in the past about my love for rainbows. I can't imagine there isn't anyone who doesn't love these magnificent arching beauty's. For me to see a rainbow is, frankly, like receiving some of the best news possible. Seriously. If I am driving and able to pull off the road to just sit and stare at one I will. I have been known on many occasions to run outside after a thunderstorm has moved over and I see the sun break through the clouds just to try and catch one. I believe God has used rainbows to speak to me during 2 very low points in my life. The first was through a dream I had about many rainbows in the sky at one time. The second was an actual rainbow that appeared on my livingroom ceiling in 2008. Both times I needed God's promise of better things to come and both times, after the rainbows appeared, the clouds parted in my life and the sun began to shine again.

xoxoxo

Christmas Moments 2009

2010-01-10T10:36:00.004-06:00

Since I am confined to sitting I decided to do some scrapping of photographs I took yesterday at our family Christmas gathering. Here are a few photo highlights of Trevor & Caiden in a completed layout.

A little background on each photo:

Top Center: Trevor was actually sitting behind Caiden on the rocking horse but

Caiden's head was turned and I love the express on Trev's face here!

Top Right: Trevor rocking his heart out....the boy L.O.V.E.D. his rocky horse!

Center Far Left: Trevor was more interested in picking up the bows (and

stealing them off unwrapped gifts) & putting them on his head than he

was of opening his gifts (toddlers!)

Center Center: A sweet smile of Caiden captured. He was playing with Cousin

Mikey at this very moment. He was captivated by his new friend!

Center Right: A photo of Caiden wearing the hand knitted "camo" hat Tanti

Helen bought for him off Etsy.com

Bottom: No real explanation needed here. Caiden received the exact rocky

horse from his Great Grandpa 2 weeks ago and he was seriously confused

when this one suddenly appeared on the scene. He didn't understand it was

Trev's horse. To keep the brawls to a minimum we put them both on it at

once. Just then Caiden goes into his "Stone Cold Steve Austin Mode".

Well, I am off to make some coffee before viewing church service live via the internet! Will be back later with more posts probably!

Intangible gifts

2010-01-10T07:51:00.001-06:00

It is Sunday morning. 7:10 a.m. Can barely move without wincing in pain from a fall taken yesterday. Yesterday. Our family celebrated a belated Christmas. Fourteen adults/teenagers. Two toddlers. Two dogs. And, enough food to feed twice that many. It was a day full of giving and receiving. Not just the tangible but the intangible, too. The joy that comes from watching Trevor sitting atop his new, handmade rocking horse with a face beaming as he rocked his heart out is priceless. The laughter generated by watching Caiden run from one end of the house to the other with a gold bow stuck to the top of his head is immeasurable. Yes, the intangible blessings far outweigh the tangible ones.

About the fall. Oy! I guess with 13 people shoved into an area that should only hold half that number it can only be expected. As I stepped down into the family room, someone sitting on the floor moved their leg at the wrong moment. In my effort to not put full weight on her foot I lost my balance and fell forward. To my chagrin, directly in front of me was my nephew, Caiden. In mid-fall I twist my body to miss him. Next in line was Julie. Poor Julie. Bless Julie. She held out her arms and I grabbed her hand, which I think allowed me to finally come to rest on my left knee and eventually my left side. Did I mention I was holding my camera by its’ strap during this fall? Andrea may have grabbed it but I do not remember. Needless to say this morning I cannot move without intense pain shooting through my lower back. I believe I will have to REMAIN in my home and listen to today’s sermon via the web.

Thank you God...for electric blankets!!!

2010-01-05T19:41:00.002-06:00

I did it! I forked out the $$ for an electric blanket tonight. With temps down in the single digits and wind chills dipping below zero my livingroom just doesn't get warm. Only if I crank the furnace up and let it run constantly!! Frankly, that is like taking 1/2 my paycheck and just flushing it down the toilet. But, I can't stand being cold. I really only need it when I am in my recliner playing on the computer (which is alot, hahaha). I don't need it when I sleep as I actually prefer to be a bit cool and my bedroom is not so drafty so it's comfortable.

So, tonight while at K-Mart with Aunt Maggie I stopped to look at the blankets I NEVER thought I would own. At first I saw $49.99 and was like "no way....I will find a way to stay warm". Then I realized they are different sizes so I found a twin size and it was only $29.99. Oh yeah, that's a number I can swallow.

I am happy to report this post is being typed by one happy, cozy-warm, blogger girl! I have to share this funny with you before I go. I sent a text to my aunt letting her know I was warm & snuggly under my electric blanky. She texted me back "oh, I didn't know it was electric. where am I?" Her favorite saying when she gets confused is 'where am I'. My reply "You crack me up. Do you think I would spend that much money on a regular blanket? Only if it came with a cute guy to snuggle under it with." [sigh] No cute guy so I have to settle for an electric blanket.

Good night....I am off to turn down the furnace some more!

Steal, Kill, Destroy.....REMAIN

2010-01-04T19:16:00.004-06:00

Oy! Satan loves nothing more than to steal, kill and destroy. However, despite his efforts, I remained in Christ today. I am not saying I didn't skirt around the edges of sin. I will admit I crossed over the line a few times. Let's recap this day (as if it would excuse my sin, not)

Awoke at 6:30 a.m. (ok, 6:55).....after not falling asleep until 3:00 a.m.
Arrived to work 15 minutes late and discovered I had computer issues to deal with
Coffee and breakfast were set aside untouched
On the telelphone by 8:00 a.m. with tech support
Hung up the phone with tech support at nearly 10:00 a.m. with no resolution to the issue
Called my local computer guy who informed me the anti-virus program he recommended to me several years ago is now "not catching all the viruses". [gulp]
Finally was able to eat my breakfast & drink coffee at 10:00 a.m.
Began to shuffle through papers left over from before the new year holiday to see what I could do that did not require an internet connection
Worked feverishly without many interruptions until 1:30 at which time I took lunch
By 2:00 I felt like lunch and I were having WWIII in my stomach
At 3:00 I begin to feel better and I can see the finish line of this day when suddenly the telephones decide they DO work and it is one call after another. I am talking like 2 calls at a time, several times in a row. Note: I am NOT the multi-tasker I once was [sigh]
I walk to my car at 3:45 (15 minutes later than usual but considering I was 15 minutes late this morning, I guess I won't complain, lol)
Pick up Aunt Maggie at 5:00....head to Wal-Mart. Have I ever mentioned I detest this place any other time except at 7 a.m. on Saturdays when the majority of folks are still sleeping?
While Aunt Maggie returns some items I start getting some items on both our lists on that side of the GIGANTIC WM (not super, gigantic)
We meet up and she takes her list back from me and we look at blankets before heading over to the other side the the GIGANTIC WM!
Once on the other side she proclaims "veggie basket" to which I reply "oh crap, Aunt Maggie I could slap you". Oh yes I did say it. Told ya, I crossed the line several times.
We finish in the food section....men's jeans section and work our way WAY back to the other side towards the kitchen gadget aisle ONLY to discover our "super" WM does not carry the hanging 3 tiered, wire veggie baskets. [insert your choice of expletive here as I probably said it....line crossed again]
We check out.....we load the back of my vehicle with $125 worth of filled plastic bags between us.....we crank up the heater cause 'baby, it's freezing outside'!!!
I arrive home at 7:00 p.m......pooped out.

This was not an ordinary day but by NO means was it a tragic day. Yes, work hangs in the balance and for the first time in a very long time we are facing serious hard times. Yes, computers are in need of H1N1 vaccines. Yes, WalMart sucks between 5-6 p.m. on a Monday night.

As I sit here and it nears 8 p.m. I am tired but I am not feeling quite so weighted down. Though I crossed sin lines today (mostly while driving) I also cracked many jokes and tried to see the obstacles as just that....obstacles. Not cancer....not death....not any kind of 'suck-the-breath-out-of-you' tragic.

I remain in Him and Him in me. Did I bear fruit today? Eh, not so sure about that. But, the peace I have in my heart tonight reminds me I am not cut off from the vine.

WOTY Scrapped

2010-01-03T21:52:00.003-06:00

I have scrapped my Word Of The Year so now all I need to do is get it printed and then I plan to frame it and hang it up.

Created using a kit called, Love Earth, from Delicious Scraps. The photo is another Flickr photo. Click HERE to be taken to the photographer's album on Flickr.

What Is Your Vision

2010-01-03T13:59:00.002-06:00

So, yesterday I chose my word....REMAIN. I chose my verse....John 15:4 "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

Today, I went to church. The first Sunday of a new year. During Sunday school I found myself feeling defensive during the bible study and comments being made by the group. I could hear satan whispering "this is why you came today?? for this?" I remained in my seat. No, I would not run. I would remain.

Dr. Hufty, our interim Pastor, as always delivered God's message in a way that really brings it home to the heart. Today he spoke of vision or lack thereof. Our scripture reference was Numbers 13:30-31 where it talks about Caleb bringing the report back to Moses saying by all means they should go up and take possession of the land as surely they could overcome it. However, other men objected, stating they were not able to go up against the people, for they were too strong for them. These other men did not have the vision of God's plan for them, therefore, they would never see the promised land.

Three reasons people lack vision according to today's message is

1. Because we do not fully realize who God is. God's love for us is immeasurable. Even as much as we love our own children/family.....it just cannot compare to how much God loves us.

2. Because we do not fully realize who We are. I am a child of God. God has plans for me (and you) and He says so in Jeremiah 29:11.....plans to prosper, not to harm. But, how often do we let this world cloud our vision of the plans God has for us? How many excuses do we make to not follow God's vision for us instead of just obeying? God has wired us each in our own way to bring Him glory. Use how He has wired you to reach others for His glory.

3. Because we do not fully realize who He wants us to be. Spiritual atrophy....the weakening of our spirits due to lack of daily exercise with God. If we do not renew daily....if we do not exercise ourselves in God's word, prayer, obedience daily.....we will grow weak and satan is just sitting on the sidelines waiting for the dark clouds to cover you or the tragedy to strike and then he moves onto the playing field....because he knows you are weak. Oh, how this part spoke to me. I realize I have allowed my spirit to atrophy during this time of depression which has given satan a foothold to keep me down. Wow!

Today, I chose to REMAIN despite hurt feelings, aching heart, depression....I chose to REMAIN. Each day will be a choice. Will I always choose wisely? I know now the answer is no. But, today I did. And I see the sunshine out the window differently because of it.

What will you choose today....tomorrow.....this week that will bring you joy over sadness? My prayer is that you make that choice....despite it all.

xoxo,
Helen

R.E.M.A.I.N.

2010-01-02T16:50:00.006-06:00

My cousin has done this for a few years now and I see it becoming more and more popular. Choosing a "word" for the year. It is a choice that is personal to each individual based upon things such as family, goals, religion, etc.

I have never done this and truth be told, I had no intentions of choosing a word for this year. And if I am going to be honest I might as well 'fess up completely....I still don't "want" to.

However, I believe God wants me to. See, I pretty much ignored Him all morning as the thought of "a word of the year" would pop into my head. How God? How can I do this? You know where I am....you know my heart....you know ME. The. Real. Me.

Then, at 12:47 p.m. this afternoon my phone rings. I fully expected to see a certain name appear on the caller ID screen but to my delightful surprise it was a dear friend from Colorado. A dear friend I so rarely get a chance to really "talk" to because she doubles as Super Woman while raising 7 year old quadruplet boys & working full-time as a Project Engineer. You think you're busy? Ha! I usually call her during our early morning commutes to work and we are lucky to get in 10 minutes. So, to see her name on my phone was pure joy. We didn't talk about anything deep or spiritual....just 33 min 40 sec of chit-chat about the holidays, kids, ripped jeans, weight loss. You get the picture. I hung up and was refreshed. I smiled. God knew what I needed today and He provided. My dear friend has no idea how God used her today.

Again, word-of-the-year, thought pops into my head. Okay God. Okay. I get it. I can do this but only if I REMAIN in you. Remain is not the word I initially thought of. Words such as focus, joy, provision all came to me first. It wasn't until I went to ChristianityToday.com that the words "Remain in Me" jumped off the page at me. I read the article and the John 15:4 verse that accompanied it and I just knew.....this was the word.

It is terrifying to post something like this for God, family, friends, blog followers to read because it now becomes "in writing" and if I fail....I feel guilty. Everything within me wants to pull the covers over my head and fade into non-existance. The thought of getting out of bed tomorrow morning to go to church overwhelms me. There are SO many things I want to accomplish but the thought of failing stops me. Why? I would have to say it is because I see myself doing these things in my own strength. In my own time. In my own way. Until I bring God back into the formula of how to reach my goals....I labor in vain. Only God knows the hold depression has upon my life. Only God can break that hold and give me back the desire, energy, & focus needed to receive the abundant blessings He has waiting for me.

So, here we go 2010......this is the year to REMAIN in Him!!!

ps- if you hadn't noticed...I changed my blog design and incorporated my WOTY in my banner. Great idea Angela....hope you don't mind I lifted that idea from your blog :)

2010 Creations....

2010-01-02T09:00:00.003-06:00

Just hopping on to post a few layouts I have created this year already. I am a new CT member for Brandy Designs at Polka Dot Plum and these first 3 were created using new or revamped kits of hers.

Using PROJECT 365

A series of photos of Trevor I just adore. I have scrapped several pages using them. I also used a template by DeCrow Designs at Scrap Orchard. Lovin' templates in 2010!

Using HOT COCOA

This is just a scrumptious kit (and another template from DeCrow Designs). I love these color combinations. Another photo of Trevor looking ever so intently at the dirt and leaves!

Using GLITTERING SNOW

Okay, so I have NO snow photos to speak of, therefore, I went hunting at Flickr to find something and well, who could possibly resist these gorgeous beauty's? Not me. Here is the link to the photo I used: Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9497723@N08/649772835/

Using Snowy Sidekick...a duo from KristinCBDesigns & Meg Mullins @ Scrap Orchard (and another template...this time from Designs by Sine: SO Journaled)

Yes, these are photos from September I am using for a "snowy" digi kit. But hey, he is wearing long sleeves (and white) and I am sorry but these photos show off the cuteness that oozes out of this child too much not to scrap something and I was itching like crazy to use this kit!!! Geesh, why did I feel the need to go thru that whole explanation?

Brandy's Design-iversary Sale!!!

2009-12-31T22:21:00.002-06:00

Image is linked to Brandy's Blog!!!

Starting January 1, we will be celebrating my 1 year Design-iversary on my blog!

Each day in January, there will be a freebie download and at the end of the month, you will have a complete mega kit great for scrapping those winter photos and it is even versatile enough to scrap your everyday photos as well!

January 7, there will be a template challenge. Make sure you visit then to download your free template and every participant will be a winner with one grand prize.

During the month of January, I will also retire some my oldies but goodies to make room for 2010! Select items will be on sale for $1.00-$2.00. All other items will be on sale for 30% off all month!

Every customer in January will be put into a drawing to win all of my New Releases for 3 months!

10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1

2009-12-31T19:46:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year!!! (almost)

It is nearing 8 p.m. here in the Midwest on the last day of 2-0-0-9! This is a year I am seriously glad to put behind me.

I can recall entering this year caretaking for my Aunt Maggie who had ostomy surgery in December of 2008. To her disappointment she came out of surgery with an ostomy bag. Who knew one little bag would require as much attention and care as a newborn baby? Thankfully it was only temporary and we looked forward to March when she would have her reversal surgery to remove it.

March arrived and the date for her surgery was set. We were excited. However, something else was about to take place this month that would over-shadow anything & everything in my life. On March 8th....a normal Sunday morning I received a frantic call from a friend informing me our Pastor had been shot in the middle of him giving his sermon. This is the second time in my life I have received utterly shocking news. The kind of news that literally sucks the breath out of your lungs. The kind of news you can NEVER prepare for....EVER.

The hours, days, weeks & months that followed "that" day have been like climbing Mt. Everest. Not that I know what climbing Mt. Everest is like other than what I have seen on TV. From what I understand just trying to do the simplest tasks require the utmost focus & energy. And, you are left exhausted. That is what life has felt like since March 8th.

However, life (as it always does) goes on. Surgeries, birthdays, earning a paycheck, housework, trips to the vet, stealing moments of joy with toddlers, scrapbooking, filling up the gas tank, grocery shopping.....life goes on.

And since life went on.....there is so much more to my 2009 than the 8th of March. May 19th I saw my great nephew (or is it grand nephew?) Caiden turn 1. Then, 7 weeks later on July 7th I watched as Trevor did the same. Oh how God knew I would need these bright, shining, silly boys this year. They have brought me endless smiles and scrapbooking moments.

I turned (gulp) 39 this year. Pardon me as I shed a few tears over seeing that in print. [sniff-sniff] okay, I am fine now. Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That means in 2010 I will turn.......no, I can't type it. I can't even thunk it!

New topic.....the year has ended with Mom getting her left knee replaced on December 7th. A blood clot in her lung set her back in the recovery process and after 25 days between the hospital and the rehab facility she came home on December 30th. She still has many weeks of recovery ahead and the blood clot medication/side effects will have to be monitored closely over the next 6 months. Despite it all, she talks of getting the other knee done once she is cleared of the blood clot. Prayers were answered far above & beyond what I asked for on her behalf. Thank you God.

Many, many, many other things made up this year. Too many to even list. But, important just the same. Even though I will turn ____ (still can't type it) in 2010 and knowing for certain there will be tears shed over hurts & disappointments (and the fact I will turn ___)....despite all this I am happy to turn the page from 2009 to 2010.

Maybe this will be the year I reach the top of my Mt. Everest. One. Day. At. A. Time.

Christmas Smooch

2009-12-29T07:02:00.002-06:00

A page I worked on last night. The first one in awhile. Not completely feeling this one but hey, atleast I can say I scrapped! This is a photo of my mom giving my dad a smooch on the cheek after she opened her Chanel No.5

(Created w/ Warm Winter Wishes by Jennifer Fox Designs)

Snapshots of Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T15:04:00.004-06:00

As I wait for my car to warm and snow on the windshield to melt I thought I would post some Christmas memories.

Dad and I loaded up his truck with Kruta donuts for the nursing staff at Memorial Convalescent Center, Christmas gifts and Miss Molly (who was very excited to go see her grandma). We arrived at MCC about 9:15 and proceeded to unload the truck. Jeff arrived soon after Dad and I so we all just visited for awhile.

After Jeff left we did our gift exchange. Every year since I have lived on my own it is tradition for me to go to mom and dad's Christmas morning. No matter when we do our big family gathering & exchange, our gifts to each other are always saved until Christmas morning.

Dad and I left about noon so he could let their puppies out. I immediately began to unpack my favorite gift and set it up. It is a Keurig Special Edition Single Cup Coffee Maker and I think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread!!!!

Here are some photos from our morning.

Mom being silly!

Have you ever seen BLUE mistletoe?? Mom is so happy with her Chanel No.5

A Christmas shot of me, Mom and Molly-Magoo!!

A photo of my new Keurig preparing a fresh cup of coffee of my personal enjoyment!

Happy Birthday Jesus

2009-12-25T07:22:00.002-06:00

Luke 2:1-20

Christ Born of Mary

1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife,[a] who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Glory in the Highest

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold,[b] an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

[c]15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely[d] known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Merry Christmas

Four More Shopping Days!

2009-12-20T17:30:00.002-06:00

Isn't that nice of me to remind you just how few days are left before Christmas? As if the usual 5 minute turned 15 minute commute passed the shopping centers wasn't enough of a clue.

I had to go into a certain electronics store this afternoon. I had to get 2 gift cards and Aunt Maggie needed a battery for her cordless phone.

First off, I had NO idea where the land line telephones were since the only huge sign displayed is for "mobile phones". Just the way of technology I suppose. I just start walking in hopes of seeing what I am looking for and trying to squeeze through the crowds was.....let's just say ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU SCREAM EVEN WHEN WELL MEDICATED!!! I soon realize I am never going to find the telephones or batteries for the telephones.

Aunt Maggie suggested we wait for someone to help us. BWAHAHAHA was the sound that came out of me next. Hello? Do you "know" where we are? We will NEVER get assisted in here....NEVER.

With that said I begin walking in a new direction. Have I yet mentioned I am very hungry due to not having eaten lunch yet? I mean I was "really" hungry but, crow was not what I wanted to eat. However, crow is what I was about to be served when a salesman asks the one question I believe I have NEVER been asked before when in this particular electronics store...."Are you finding everything okay?"

"Why would you ask such a question dear sir? Do you NOT see the look of complete and utter confusion upon both our faces at this moment? Do people who are finding everything okay tend to walk on their tippy toes trying to see over the crowds of freakishly tall people in an attempt to find CORDLESS LAND LINE TELPHONES?"

Fear not, I turned on the filtering process in my head and what actually came out of my mouth was "Actually, we are looking for a battery for a cordless telephone."

He walks the opposite direction from where I was going and led us into a dark, dimly lit & very unpopulated part of the store where there was a very sad display of cordless telephones & accessories. Poor, pitiful little telephones....orphaned and abandoned by the "mobile phone age".

Alas, we found the batteries but guess what???? They no longer carry the battery she needed! SERIOUSLY? I took a deep breath before leaving our cozy, little, uncrowded nook and dove back into the crowds towards the check out lanes.

Oh, and don't get me started on those check out lanes. What are we......humans or cattle???????? Nuff said!

Oh yes, I so love shopping in a huge electronics store only FOUR days before Christmas!

So, how was YOUR day? I would love to hear the insane shopping stories I KNOW you have experienced. Come on, fess up!

Polka Dot Plum Christmas Sale!!!

2009-12-18T05:42:00.003-06:00

Get it while it's HOT!

Polka Dot Plum is having a super sale today through the 24th! Head on over and grab some great kits by JENNIFER FOX DESIGNS or BRANDY DESIGNS!

K, gotta run.....must go see what great deals I can get for myself, hee hee :)

Well Wishes For Marti, 12-18-09

2009-12-18T05:23:00.002-06:00

It is 5:23 a.m. as I begin this post. I fell asleep about 8 o'clock last night, therefore, awoke at 4:15 a.m. That's okay....I really don't mind waking up before the birds. Really. Shower is taken, it's such a peaceful time, and no rushing around like I normally do. Ahhhh, nice.

I have some "super-calla-fragilistic-espee-alla-docious" (see what a refreshing shower & good sleep does for me?) news. Mom went from baby steps yesterday morning to leaping & bounding her way into the care center in the afternoon.

She was incredibly worried, depressed, anxious over an issue she was having with her left leg. She wasn't able to lift it while lying down. I prayed with her and sent out prayer requests across the WWW and within 2 hours I was receiving reports she was starting to lift the leg AND several of her doctors had approved her to move over to the rehab center.

She was settled into a "private" room by late afternoon. The nurses thought it would be nice, after all she has been through, to be in a room all to herself. That or too many of her past roommates have complained about her snoring, LOL! Shhhh, don't tell her I said that :)

Lots of praises.............that's what I like to report! Gotta run, thanks for stopping by. And, thanks for the prayers<><

Well Wishes For Marti, 12-17-2009

2009-12-17T10:36:00.003-06:00

Morning everyone. I am running late getting this post up today. Mom is having a rough start to the day. She has always battled depression (something she lovingly (not) passed along to me) and after 10 days in the hospital she is struggling. Understandably so, she wants to be home in her own bed....with her puppy dogs....able to sleep without so many interruptions, etc!

Couple the homesickness with the fact she is worried about not being able to do certain things with her left leg at this stage of the healing process. I hope today she will firmly voice her conerns to the PT's and surgeon and they can give her some concrete answers as to whether this is normal and will get better with time.....it is not normal but they can reverse it.....or whether there is really something to be concerned about. She is tired of having to constantly tell the different staff about the problems she has with that leg (even before surgery) and feel as though they are not grasping what is trying to say.

I prayed with her and asked others to do some extra prayer cover for her today. Two PRAISES are:

#1 She made it back down to the orthopedic ward yesterday
#2 She is down to 2% oxygen thru her nasal tubes & holding at 95%!!!

BABY STEPS!!!!!

Do you have some encouraging words for her today? She would love to hear them :)

God Bless<><

Well Wishes For Marti, 12-16-2009

2009-12-16T06:58:00.002-06:00

Mom had a somewhat better day yesterday. I am praying she was moved back to the orthopedic ward sometime in the evening. The surgeon is getting concerned about her not being further along in the therapy process. Of course, this is due to the set back of the blood clot int he lung, which could not be helped. I will be going to see her about 11:15 a.m. today. I have a helper in the office so I am going to take my dad's usual slot.

Thank you to those who have left mom a message. I have printed them out and will take them with me today. Let's pray her over to the care center everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God Bless <><

Well Wishes For Marti, 12-15-09

2009-12-15T06:20:00.004-06:00

I know this time of year is busy and sometimes getting out to visit or even getting a card purchased and mailed can be a monumental task. So, I am setting up a place on my blog where you can come and leave her a message, which I will then print and take to her at the hospital to lift her spirits.

Each morning I will place a new entry entitled "Well Wishes For Marti, (date)". I may have other posts for that day so just look for the well-wishes post. Click on the word "comments" under the post and type whatever you would like to say. Comments are able to be viewed by anyone else leaving a comment just so you know :)

You will be asked to choose how you want to "announce" yourself. The 2 easiest ways for those who don't have a Google or Blogger account is to choose either NAME/URL or ANONYMOUS. If you choose NAME you can just type your first name only and leave the URL blank. Anonymous is just as it states and you don't have to type anything BUT I ask that you atleast leave your name at the end of the comment so mom knows who left the message. You may be asked to type in a series of letters/numbers that look odd but this is just a security measure to keep spammers from posting in my blog.

God bless!

UpdateS

2009-12-14T10:03:00.002-06:00

I have two updates to post. The first being about my mom and her recovery from knee replacement surgery. Her surgery was on the 7th and very soon after it was discovered she had a blood clot in her lung. This set her knee therapy & recovery back several days to say the least. But, she has been incredibly positive and strong through the process. Oh, she has had her moments of screams & tears during the really painful & frustrating times but seriously, she is amazing me with how well she is doing. I think she will be sent on over to the care center where the real "therapy" will begin on her knee. Thank you Jesus for Darvisets!!

My other update is to say I was accepted as a creative team member by Brandy Designs. I received the confirmation email. Awhile back I posted that I had received some disappointing and rather hurtful news from the one and only designer I was still creating for. Out of the blue I received an email to say my services were no longer needed. No explanation other than to say she is changing things up for the new year. It came at a time when I was already feeling some blues over other things in my life. I believe I would have felt the same way about the news even had nothing else been hanging over my head because I just really believe the designer, since moving to a more prominent store, just didn't think my style showed off her designs and I no longer was "good enough" to design with her kits. I came to accept it a few days later and see it as her loss, not mine.

I am not one (anymore) that wants to work for just ANY designer just to be able to say I "am" and to get free kits. I have to really like the designers work. I came across a CT call at Polka Dot Plum for Brandy Designs and after looking through her store I could really the versatility in her work and decided to apply. She is taking the rest of December off so I don't know I will be doing much for her until January. That is fine with me because with mom, Christmas and all the other demands that go with this time of year I have my hands full enough. I will leave you with some of Brandy's kits that I am itching to get my hands on and do layouts with. Each preview is linkable to her store at Polka Dot Plum....just click it!

Hospital Visits & Birthday Wishes

2009-12-11T09:08:00.005-06:00

It is so hard to believe that the little guy, smiling "that sweet smile" in the photos below is 23 years old TODAY! He still has that sweet smile. I was all of 16 when he, my first nephew, was born. I still remember the excitement I felt as we prepared to leave for the hospital to await his birth. I remember the baby bed I kept in my own bedroom for when I babysat him every Saturday while his mommy went to work. I loved those Saturday mornings when we would eat breakfast and watch Winnie The Pooh on TV. I loved taking him for walks in his stroller up to Main Street or taking him to the park to feed the ducks or to Olin Mills for a surprise photo shoot for his mom and dad. Now, he is all grown up with a toddler of his own (Caiden, the Mini-Josh). I don't know if Josh remembers all those times we spent together when he was just knee high to a grasshopper. That is why I scrapbook photos like these shown below.

Happy Birthday Joshua Ryan!!!

Something else I am struggling to believe is the fact it is FRIDAY already. Mom had her knee replacement surgery on Monday and due to trips to the hospital and various errands I have not arrived home much before 6 p.m. every night. Most probably think "that is normal for me" but it is NOT normal for me and when it continues for days on end it begins to take its' toll on me. Couple that with the fact Mom took a turn for the worse (after doing so awesome) when they discovered she had a blood clot in her lung that was causing the low oxygen levels in her blood. We are hoping and praying she can be weened off so much oxygen and be moved to a regular room. She is obviously bummed about the set back because she wants nothing more than to get to working on this new knee so she can get home again. Home for the holidays.

That is my week in review...hospital visits and birthday wishes! Here's too a "just as busy" weekend I am sure!

Bye!

A Twist On Gift Wrapping

2009-12-08T08:31:00.003-06:00

I super-duper love this idea I read about on The Creative Mama's blog today! It is a great way to be creative in your gift wrapping of smaller gifts.

After reading her post I am going to dig my Christmas paper back out of the boxes of scrapbooking supplies I packed up a few weekends ago. The only items needed are 8"x8" or 12"x12" pieces of Christmas designed scrapbook paper which you can get really cheap at Hobby Lobby when they run their sales....double sided tape....and a paper crimper as shown in her post which you can find by clicking HERE or on either of the photos below.

I know of a few gifts I already have that would be PERFECT for this technique! Wow, never would have thought I could get excited about wrapping Christmas gifts. To know me is to know I DREAD that part of Christmas. I love looking at the gifts when I am done wrapping them but just don't like the process of it. Probably because I don't really have sufficient space in which to be able to lay out all my gift wrapping supplies and do it neatly & comfortably.

Some ramblings...

2009-12-05T17:09:00.002-06:00

Notice my new blog design? It's called Little Joys by Zoe Pearn. I can almost change my blog design without using the tutorial.....not quite but almost. Wanted something Christmaslike for December.

This month has me as a guest creative team member for Jennifer Fox Designs at Polka Dot Plum. It's kinda weird to jump in as a "guest" but I am slowly getting my bearings. Be on the look out for some layouts using her fab kits soon. For now you can check out her store by clicking HERE.

I have always said that when one door closes, another one will open. I am trying to remember that today of all days. That is all I am going to say for the moment. I know, leaving you hanging from a cliff, but I will explain in due time. In due time.

Well, I will leave you with a layout I did this morning. I have to get ready to head out the door for my Sunday School groups Christmas party. In the ever inspiring words of Tigger...

TTFN....TA-TA-FOR-NOW!

Christmas Circa 1991.....Jesse Allen in all his cuteness!!!

It's beginning to look alot

2009-12-04T11:24:00.003-06:00

like the Christmas (winter) season around Scrap Orchard!!!! I tell ya, this one amazing group of designers!! Here are few of some of my favorites from the Fresh Fruit Friday selection this week. All of the kits shown below are linked to the Scrap Orchard store just by clicking on the previews. And, the BEST part is......these are all 20% off for the next week so what the heck you waiting for??? Get clickin' and grab some adorable Christmas & Wintery kits to work on all those upcoming photos!!!

I adore all these little snowmen!!! There is even a snow kitty & snow puppy! How cute?

Who doesn't love hot cocoa & marshmellows? This kit is perfect for scrappy those snow days!

I think my favorite element in this kit is the little lamby!

And I just love everything about this one!!!

There you have it.....some Friday Fave's of mine :) Enjoy & stay warm!!

Calling all Dreamologists

2009-12-03T08:28:00.003-06:00

Full moon + ingesting 1 ES Excedrin + really naggy headache = WEIRDED OUT DREAM!!!!

I started to feel the pressure point headache coming on around 3:00 in the afternoon yesterday. This time it was around my right eye socket/right temple area & right side of my forehead. It was a little frenzied at the end of the work day so I thought it would pass once I left work. No such luck.

After making some dinner and cleaning up the kitchen the headache was still there. I tried to just sit down and rub my eye/temple/forehead but it would not let up. So, I did the unthinkable...I took just ONE extra strength excedrin because it was that kind of headache and I knew nothing else would kick it. I turned off the lights and TV, set my timer for 30 minutes and laid down.

Thirty minutes later it was still there but eased up a little. Enough that I was able to get a scrapbooking layout done for a designer I work for. I promised her I would get it to her by early evening and I emailed it at 7:06 pm! That's still kinda early, right? But, then the headache was completely back again. Ugh!

I finally gave up at 8:45 and just went to bed in total darkness and drifted off to sleep massaging my aching temple and eye. However, I think the excedrin caused my subconscious to go into overdrive because I had such an odd, gross, weird dream about my sweet dog, Peanut, who died several years ago.

***FYI--if you are squeamish, you may not want to read about my dream***

I dreamt (sp?) I was walking him on a leash (I never walked him on a leash) and I went to pick him up and I noticed he had this enormouse gash on his right front leg. The gash was so bad, the skin was peeled away and I could see bone. Yeah, GROSS!

Of course, I freak and carry him to a veterinary clinic. The clinic was like some third world country clinics for humans.......horribly over-crowded with just ONE doctor to see them all. I was praying they would take Peanut in right away due to his injury and they did. The doctor said they had to do surgery right away and she whisked him out of my arms and said "follow me". I am trying to tell her he has a very bad heart murmur but she would not let me talk. I asked where I could go to wait and she says "no, you must stay and watch" Hello? Watch? Seriously? Again, she says "you watch or we don't repair him". And so, I watch as she injects him with meds to put him under. I watch as she flops him around like a rag doll while he is unconcious. Then she tells me his leg is broken in half and I watch as she removes part of the bone....stitches up the skin and then wraps the wound. All this was done in record speeds. She hands him back to me and without another word I am escorted out of the OR not knowing how to care for his wound or anything. Next thing I remember is he is walking around on all 4 legs (the one still bandaged from surgery) and acting fine. I was relieved.

How stinkin' weird (and gross) is that? I woke up sometime during the night to go to the bathroom and realized my headache had finally gone away but in its' place were the weird flashes of that dream.

Does anyone else have weird dreams, too??

Christmas Gift Idea

2009-12-02T08:05:00.005-06:00

If I have said it once I have said it 100 times, I LOVE BLOGLINES!!! This morning I seen there was a new post from The Creative Mama. She posted about giving the gift of warm Christmas cookies but in a new way. Well, it is new to me. I love the idea and though I doubt I personally will get around to doing this I thought someone reading MY blog would like to know about it.

Below is the post I took from The Creative Mama blog:

The Gift of Warm Cookies by Tisha on nada
Every year the same question comes up -What am I going to give my neighbors, friends etc… for Christmas ?Normally I end up giving either fresh baked cookies or family photo sessions. Most of my friends want the family photo session :-)

But hey…respect must be given to the gift of Christmas cookies. I know I personally love getting them! I love tasting everyone’s yummy cookies and candies. I am sure many of you have received the Cookies in a Jar gift. I love those too!Anything is better than a fruit cake…right? (ok I know some people actually do like the stuff but I have no love lost for the stuff)

So when I was gabbing with my good friend, Shannon, the other day and she mentioned making and freezing all of her Christmas cookie dough right now so she can bake them closer to the holidays when a house full of relatives makes prep-work “interesting”, a light bulb went off in my head. Why not give them as a gift? What a great idea! I love warm cookies, fresh out of the oven. The Cookie in a Jar gift is nice, but my friends would still have to prepare and make the dough. Giving them cookies that are already baked is great gift idea but we all have so many during the holiday’s we can never eat them all and some just end up in the trash…gasp!

Most of my “mom friends” are so busy with day-to-day life, there is little time during a week to make homemade (from scratch) cookies. Wouldn’t it be a great gift to just be able to pull a container out of the freezer with several different types of homemade cookies, chuck them on a pan and cook just enough to make your family smile on a cold winter day?Perfect!

Thanks, Shannon!So my dear neighbors…guess you know what you are getting for the Holidays ;-)

11 years ago today

2009-12-01T08:24:00.002-06:00

our lives changed forever in the span of a 60 second phone call. It's the kind of phone call that you NEVER dream of receiving but when it comes the whole world around you seems to pause for a short time and then when the play button is pushed again it seems as though you are the one going in slow motion and the world around you is going in fast forward. The kind of phone call that takes your breath away......rips your heart out of your chest......causes you to question so many things.

Dennis.....we miss you.

Congrats to Miss A!!

2009-11-28T19:10:00.004-06:00

My dear friend's daughter bought her first car today....a VW Bug. I grew up in the 70's playing the "Slug Bug" game on road trips with the family. My brother loved when we played this game because it gave him a chance to "slug" me without getting in trouble. If you DON'T know what that game is then you are probably a child of the 80's or 90's and I am so very sorry for you, lol!

Anyway, this post isn't about me....it's about Miss A. and how incredibly excited she must be feeling right now. I remember the feeling of owning my first car.....such a huge step to showing I could be responsible.

To honor her big day I did a layout using some of the photos her mom sent me....

The Day After

2009-11-27T15:39:00.003-06:00

Like most I spent yesterday celebrating Thanksgiving with family and all the trimmings. It was very odd not having Brian, Andrea & Trevor with us this year. Caiden was in a full swing good mood and him and big brother, Blake, went straight for the "toy closet" and proceeded to entertain themselves. We ate about 4 and then came clean up. I tried to do my part to help since after all Julie was up at the crack of dawn preparing the meal for us. I was home by 7:30 and it seemed like it was one of the "fastest" Thanksgiving I can recall having.

I thought I might get up and go to Target about 5 a.m. but yeah, THAT didn't happen. Nope, I chose to sleep until 7:45 thank you very much!

And, following my usual day after Thanksgiving tradition, I ate a piece of pumpkin pie slathered in Cool Whip for breakfast and enjoyed a cup of Starbucks via instant coffee.

At 9:30 a.m. I grabbed a trash bag, some boxes, my black Sharpie, my phone, and all sizes of ziploc bags and headed down to the basement. Can you guess what I was geared up to do? No? Well, I decided to tackle the dreaded Scrapbook Room. I taped up several boxes and stood in the doorway for several minutes just trying to decide where to start. Folks, believe me when I say it looked as though a tornado had blown thru that little 6x8 room. After about 30 minutes I got my organizing groove on and soon was separating the items I was keeping from the items I wanted to craiglist as well as fill up another 30gal trash bag of junk. It took me a good 2 1/2 hours or more to sift through it all. The room is by NO means cleaned & organized. All I really did was fill up 3 average sized boxes of scrapbooking supplies to sell on craigslist. What was left over is still all just sitting down there without much order to it. I seriously need to borrow my dad's super-sucker to go over the carpet before using my real vacuum. I have so many little buttons, brads, staples, etc all over that floor. It would kill a normal vacuum cleaner in about 2 seconds.

At 1:30 I started to Craigslist all the goods. In addition to the scrapbooking items I also listed 5 other items. Hoping now that I get some hits.

I have enjoyed my 2nd of 4 days off work. It's nice to be able to say I accomplished something besides sitting on my bum eating left overs.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here are some of the things I am thankful for...

~~~Family
~~~Accomplished Tasks
~~~The puzzle time Blake & I had yesterday
~~~Sweet kisses from Caiden
~~~Tastebuds....oh how boring life would be without them!
~~~VOD - Video on Demand - I rented The Proposal while sitting on my couch in my PJ's last night...how cool! (cute movie by the way but not as good as I expected to be honest)
~~~Memory Boxes - I took a few moments to look inside one of mine downstairs today and smiled as I read some of the old cards/notes I had saved over the years.

Tuesday's Thankfulness

2009-11-24T07:57:00.002-06:00

So, as usual, I exited the house later than I should have. One of the new traits I developed since March of this year and one I am not liking since I ALWAYS used to be a girl who arrived at her destination 10-15 minutes early. Sometimes more. I was known to arrive so early at times that I would just sit in my car because I was embarrassed to walk in that much in advance, hahahaha.

Anyway, I really wanted a Starbucks coffee drink and blueberry scone so I decided I could swing it even though I was running late. It's amazing how I can justify something for a SB coffee & scone :) On the way to my little piece of heaven-on-earth I was thinking that I didn't want a Mocha this morning but didn't know what exactly I did want. I pull in the drive-thru and I hear the attendant come over the speaker to the car in front of me and asked "would you like to try our new Caramel Brulee Latte?" The woman asked what was in it and I strained to hear the ingredients and OMGosh.....I knew what I wanted. So, with anticipation I pull up to the speaker and eagerly wait for her to ask ME if I wanted one, too. I can't believe I am this excited at 7:10 a.m. on a Tuesday morning. I truly am an addict!!

I think you can guess what one of my 3 thankful for's will be...so without further ado

1. I am thankful for Grande Caramel Brulee Latte's

2. I am thankful for my body being able to "so far" fight off what I think is a sinus infection trying to flair up.

3. I am so very thankful for the relationship I have with my brothers. We don't always see eye to eye about things but they are still my big brothers and I know I can count on them to be there if I need them.

Thankful Thankful Thankful

2009-11-23T08:48:00.002-06:00

So, it is not even 9 a.m. and yet I thought I would jump on and list what I am thankful for today.

1. My new 3" thick memory foam mattress topper. It has made all the difference in the world in me being able to sleep in my bed. This morning I literally kept resetting the alarm and staying comfy cozy under the covers.

2. McDonald's coffee.......if I can't have or don't want to spend the $$ on Starbucks then McD's is the next best thing in my opinion. And oh how I need it this morning.

3. Having a job. I may not always want to be here but I am so very grateful I have it. God has been so good to us and our business over the last 20 years. He has seen us through very lean times and blessed us with some wonderfully abundant years, too.

Between Scary and Sacred

2009-11-22T19:17:00.003-06:00

This morning at church Dr. Hufty spoke about what lies between the Scary and the Sacred a.k.a. Halloween and Christmas. That, as most of us know, is Thanksgiving......the forgotten holiday. From Sept 1st through Oct 31st we are subjected to stores filled with ghostly gobblins making wretched noises as we pass them by, all our beloved candies recolored in orange and black, racks of itchy costumes all in disarray. Then, on Nov 1st we walk in those same stores and the oodles of "scary stuff" is carted off to some distant corner of the store almost hidden away like a despised step-child and in it's place are "the sacred items" such as Christmas trees (prelit of course), aisles filled will red, green, blue, silver and gold glass ornaments, Nativity scenes of varying sizes and prices, and enough wrapping paper and Scotch tape to gift wrap the planet earth.

On Nov 1st the leaves on the trees are still holding on....still changing from luscious green to the warm tones of autumn. The crispness in the air is finally letting us know it just may be here to stay. It is such a sensational time to stop and reflect on yet another season of thanksgiving but WAIT, where did it go???

Dr. Hufty paralled this worldly transition from the scary to the sacred by using the scripture out of Luke where Jesus healed the 10 Lepers. With just His words he healed them and as those 10 outcasts went from the scary (the leper colony where they lived) to the sacred (to see the priests who would ritualistically cleanse them for entry back into normal society) only one count them, ONE, came back to Jesus and gave thanks for the healing. WOW!!!

So, my challenge to myself and anyone reading who wishes to take it on is this: While the world sees the need to skim over "the thankful" in an effort to do what they feel has to be done for the economy (pah-lease) I am going to take this time to stop and offer up my thanksgiving for the blessings in my life. I may not blog it everyday but at some point during the day I will quietly reflect on 3 things I am thankful for.

I will start with these 3 things:

1. Thank you Jesus for second (third, fourth, one hundredth) chances. Your mercy is amazing.

2. Thank you Jesus for my hilarious little Molly-dog who has rediscovered her toy box.

3. Thank you Jesus for Autumn colors and the eyes to behold them.

Photo by: Andy Cook

Image is linked to Rocky Mountain Reflections Photography, Inc. where you can view more awesome photos by this amazing photographer. I chose this photo for my post because I loved how it shows a gorgeous sunset, glowing Aspens and the snow-capped mountains.

Mother Hubbard's Cupboard....

2009-11-21T17:22:00.002-06:00

NO MORE!!!

I work at my local food pantry once a month and have been for over 2 years. Actually, my Sunday school class volunteered to work together. It seems since the down turn of the economy our shelves have dwindled to less and less as the need has grown more and more. It saddens me to see such bare shelves and to tell some people "I am sorry but we are out of that item".

Today was Scout for Food day and you are probably familiar with it. If you aren't, it is where the Boy Scouts distribute a plastic grocery bag to every house in the area on a Saturday with a note asking people to donate items for the local food pantries. The following Saturday you are to place your filled bag on your front porch by 9 a.m. and the BS then go around and collect the filled bags and deliver them to the pantries. Before I left go to the pantry I volunteer at I filled my bag and then grabbed another bag and filled it, too.

We normally only have about 5 or 6 of us working on a given Saturday but today there were oodles of folks showing up to help out and thankfully so because this is a HUGE undertaking that requires many many people to get it done. The food is delivered to a building across from our pantry......items in the bags are tallied for a count and then taken to any number of tables to be sorted and boxed up. The boxes are then lugged over to the pantry and our "group" began to fill the shelves. We filled and filled and filled the shelves and it was so exciting to hear someone yell "no more room for chicken noodle soup! no more room for corn!"

We went from bare nothing shelves to shelves overflowing. It's my understanding the count was approximately 9,000 items collected. Oy, thatsa lotta food! Sadly though, it will probably go faster than normal because like I said before, the need it greater this year. So, if I may put a little bug in your ear.....if you have an abundance of canned/boxed goods or toiletries such as toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo, etc. then find out when your local food pantry is open and fill up one of the gazillion blue Wal Mart bags you might have stuffed in one of those handmade cloth bag holders and drop it off when you are out doing your errands. Better yet, let your neighbors know ahead of time and see if they will fill a bag, too. Trust me when I say "every bag counts and will be put to very good use for a family struggling to make ends meet".

It was a good day.

Always Changing

2009-11-16T20:12:00.005-06:00

Came home from work today and filled up another 30 gallon trash bag before I let myself just relax for awhile. My back has been feeling much better since about 7 a.m. so I decided to go through my kitchen drawers. Just the drawers. There are 8 of them.....4 of which were major junk magnets! I stopped with the one bag even though I wanted to move on and do some cabinets, too. But (and this is really anal-retentive) when I start either the bottom set or top set of cabinets, I want to be able to work through them all in one cleaning. Say the bottom set one day and the top another or both in one day should I be so energetic. Just like the drawers tonight...I didn't want to stop until I went through them all. Ugh, it really is a sickness! Anyway, I knew I would end up aggrevating my back if I did a set of cabinets, too.

So, I scrapped instead. I purchased this kit impulsively.....yeah, I know, it's another sickness. But, I absolutely fell in L.O.V.E. with these colors....just look at them!

See what I mean? Really? Do you? Cause I ain't feeling the same enthusiam. Sorry, I forget not all "5" of my readers are scrapbookers, hee-hee! I am a brown-freak! Love me some brown in my clothes, my jewelry, my purses, and most definitely in my scrapbooking papers & elements. Brown just makes any other color it is paired with POP or in the case of this kit, ooze with yummy-ness :) Do the words "ooze" and "yummy" really go together in a sentence? Okay, so yet another one of my sicknesses coming out.

My big dilema with this kit is......can I have a drum roll please?????? Hello? I don't have any girls to scrap photos of. Hmmmm, I tried using some photos I copied from my friend's FB album but they are WAY too tiny and when you try to enlarge them they are just too grainy. And then I remembered. I remembered I had some photos from this past July of my friend holding her granddaughter. So, with excitement spilling out of me I start clicking my mouse frantically until I find the folder and YES! there they are and immediately my eye is drawn to one photo in particular and I didn't even bother to look at the rest cause I knew this was it. After doing some editing by turning the photo a soft sepia tone and blurring the background I was ready to start the layout. And here is the end result......

It really helps to have one darling photo subject to work around. Isn't Miss M. just a doll? And you can see how much her Grandma loves & adores her.

FYI, the bling-bling circles are from a different kit called Cafe Date by Irene Alexeeva at Scrap Orchard.

So, that has been the extent of my night as I have listened to the rain falling outside my windows. Thanks for stopping by :)

Sciatic Sunday

2009-11-15T10:37:00.003-06:00

So, all that amazing work I accomplished yesterday has left me battling Sciatica today! Oy, the pain is so much fun, NOT!

Taking the down time to catch up on my Blogline postings.

While on SuzyQ Scraps blog I read about this new food site www.blogchef.net I am thinking I just might have to try these Pumpkin Brownies. What could be better than having 2 favorites in one bite....pumpkin & chocolate?

Ingredients:

¾ cup all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup butter (melted)

1 ½ cups white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 eggs

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ cup pumpkin puree

½ cup walnuts (chopped)

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and line an 8×8 inch baking dish with aluminum foil. Lightly grease the foil. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Step 2: In a separate bowl mix together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs (one at a time). Add in the flour mixture, a little at a time and stir until the batter is evenly moistened. Divide the batter in half evenly into 2 separate bowls.

Step 3: In one of the bowls blend in the cocoa powder and chocolate chips. In the second bowl of batter stir in pumpkin puree, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

Step 4: Spread ½ of the chocolate batter mixture into the bottom of the baking dish. Pour ½ of the pumpkin batter mixture over that. Repeat the layers, ending with a pumpkin layer. Drag a kitchen knife or spatula through the layers in a swirling motion creating a marble appearance.

Step 5: Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool and cut into squares.

A Super Saturday

2009-11-14T19:31:00.002-06:00

So, why was this Saturday super you ask? Because I accomplished MOST ALL of what I set out to do. Here is my day...

I rolled out of bed about 7:20 a.m. and cranked out a scrapbook layout while I ate some breakfast. Multi-tasking at 7:30 a.m.??? Hello, who IS this person?
At 8:30 a.m. I made myself presentable and ran some lidded containers over to mom & dad's
8:45 I was out the door to run errands
Stop #1, the bank
Stop #2, McD's to grab a soda (very thirsty this morning...I know, soda was not a good choice but I wanted fizzy)
Stop #3, drive thru post office drop off box
Stop #4, Pak Mail to purchase packing boxes & paper....more on that later

Back home I unloaded the boxes & packing paper and grimmaced at my junked up front porch. Last weekend I purchased a 40 ct box of Glad Flex Trash Bags and put them to good use so I decided it was time to use some more. I started pitching junk! When I was satisfied with the improvement of the porch I went in to tackle the dreaded bedroom.

My bedroom has been a catch-all (as well as my kitchen, too) Back when I last kept Trevor overnight I took a bunch of stuff from the livingroom and stacked it in the bedroom wherever there was space to do so. Was trying to avoid constantly running to keep Trev out of something he shouldn't be in. Just seemed like less stress at the time. Well, that "stuff" stayed in the bedroom along with the pack-n-play.....which also became a catch-all in & of itself!! OY!

I could not tell you my process of working on the room and frankly I am sure you don't want to be bored with the details. All I knew was I wanted to P-U-R-G-E!!!!! I packed up all my summer clothes & shoes. I started taping up boxes and stuff I wanted to keep for when I get a larger home down the road I packed up. The rest was thrown out. I made a small pile in my livingroom of items I want to Craigslist. I know I should have done more than just trashed some of the things I threw out but I know me and it would never make it to its' other destination like Grandma's Attic. Just being honest....it would either sit in my car or somewhere in my home (where I am flat out-out of room) forever!!! I packed up 5 boxes and filled up 7 trash bags. How insane is that? My bedroom looks like a bedroom.....well, once I get the boxes moved to the basement it will look complete. However, the left knee and lower back just could not phathom carrying heavy boxes & containers down the steps. No, that is for another day when maybe I can sweet talk Josh into coming over after work and helping me.

At 3:30....6 1/2 hours after I started out, I was ready for 2 Tylenol Arthritis pills and some R&R. I laid down on my bed, set my timer for 1 1/2 hours, covered up and let the Tylenol take effect. Upon getting up I decided to tackle a few more little things. I rehung my newly washed mini-blinds in my bedroom (only got 1 set cleaned today) I then purged my bathroom shelves and straigtened them up and I managed to fill up another trash bag. OMG!

It is now nearing 8 pm and I so wish my washer/dryer were upstairs because I need to do wash but do NOT want to go downstairs. I still have lots more I want to pack up & throw out. The kitchen & scrapbook room are my 2 biggest jobs ahead of me. Something tells me I will be filling up the rest of those trash bags from those 2 rooms without any problems.

So, that was my super Saturday. It feels good to have actually accomplished something for a change.

Did you have a super Saturday? Leave me a note and tell me about it :) ~Hugs~

Countryside Christmas

2009-11-11T20:33:00.004-06:00

by Studio Rosey Posey @ Scrapbookgraphics in on sale NOW!!! I told you I would be back to reveal the fabulous kit I used to scrap those layouts a few days ago. Here it is....Countryside Christmas. AND IT IS 25% OFF UNTIL NOV. 15TH 2009. Images below are linked to the SBG store where you can purchase this versatile kit.

Happy Scrapping!!!!!!!!!

Welcoming Miss O!

2009-11-10T08:21:00.004-06:00

My sweet friends had a darling baby girl a few weeks ago! As all new, proud parents do, they sent out photos documenting the occasion. Below is a layout I did using one of the photos I just fell in love with. I adore the pose....the serenity of the moment. I had been waiting for the perfect kit to scrap with and it finally appeared in my inbox last night. It's another kit not being released until this Friday so you will have to come back then to get the low-down on where to get it! Until then, enjoy a little sample of this scrumptious kit.....

Welcome to the world Miss O! Congrats my dear friends, she is beautiful :)

New Kit TBA on Thursday!!!

2009-11-09T07:50:00.003-06:00

But, in the meantime you can see all its' gorgeousness in some layouts I did. Come back Thursday to see where you can grab this lovely kit :)

Here it is as it was intended to be....a Christmas kit. This is Trevvy last Christmas. I have a feeling I know what kit I will be using to make my Cmas cards this year ;-)

And here I am showing the versatility of the kit by doing an Autumn layout with it. Another photo of Caiden playing in the fall leaves at Nana & Papa's house! To make the photo blend better with the colors in the kit I did the following:

1. I duplicated my photo and on the top layer I cut Caiden out of the photo.

2. Next, on the same top layer I blurred it and turned it a sepia tone.

3. Now, what was left was the bottom layer of Caiden showing thru in its' original color and the surrounding leaves are blurred and sepia toned. This is a new technique I just happened to teach myself recently....I LOVE IT!!!

Fall Make-Over

2009-11-08T08:57:00.003-06:00

I decided it was time to do a Fall blog make-over! Considering December is just around the corner I don't know how long this template will be up, hee-hee! I was tired of seeing the summer design. Be on the look out for a cute holiday format coming in December :)

As I said the other day, this is Digital Scrapbooking Weekend. A weekend where digital scrapbookers get together and have loads of fun. Well, we ALWAYS have fun but this weekend there is just more of it (my opinion of course). I created 4 layouts yesterday for various challenges over at Scrap Orchard. Here they are...

A little 5x7 photo card I made for the winning team from our Scavenger Hunt Friday night using the kit, Apple Of My Eye by Tracey Howard @ Scrap Orchard. This was for the Slogan Challenge.

The Blakester!! This challenge I was suppose to use a typewriter & a handwriting font on the same page. I used the kit "Play" by DeCrow Designs @ Scrap Orchard.

And this little number was for a Scraplifting challenge. I got to lift one of Amy Stoffel's layouts. Isn't this a darling photo of Caiden? I used several kits...August & Autumn Harvest both by Amy Stoffel herself (I thought it appropriate to use her designs for the lift) and the word art is from Elegant Word Art by Bethany called Autumn Leaves Word Art Pack...all @, you guessed it, Scrap Orchard!

And this last one, using some close up shots of Caiden's sweet smiling face, was for a Template challenge. I used the kit "Kissing Frogs" by Lyndsay Riches. Caiden loves to give kisses so I thought it was appropriate to use this darling kit for the challenge :)

Memory Foam, Etsy, DSD

2009-11-06T12:34:00.003-06:00

Say what?????????? Okay, give me time and I will explain. I am very excited for several reasons.

#1 Sold my beloved recumbent bike this week and with part of the money I purchased a 3" thick Memory Foam mattress topper for my current bed. Took it out of the packaging last night and gave it time to 'bounce back' into shape. This morning I placed the cover over it.....no easy task to accomplish by ones self but I did it. I then placed my down featherbed on top of that and tonight will be the true test to whether the $160+ dollars spent was worth it. If not, I will move on to Plan B....return topper & purchase a Doctor's Choice mattress from The Denver Mattress Company.

#2 Today marks the beginning of Digital Scrapbooking Day or DSD. It really goes the whole weekend but they call it "day". It's a super-duper fun few days in the world of digi-scrapping. I won't get to participate in the fun until tomorrow as I have other fun already planned for tonight. Believe it or not the fun I had planned long before I knew it was DSD was to attend a Digital Camera Scavenger Hunt with my church group. I will be a judge so I don't get to go out and take all the wonky pictures, bummers :( Tomorrow I really really need to go to Wal Mart very early and then I plan to come home and see what kind of trouble I can get into over at Scrap Orchard & who knows where else my mouse will take me!!!

#3 And finally, I am excited because I ordered the most adorable little, hand-knitted, camo hats w/ear flaps for all 3 boys for Christmas. Below is a photo of one very cute model showing off the hat.......

I found them on www.etsy.com which is this awesome website where all these amazing hand-made items are for sale. You can get lost rummaging through this site for hours if you are not careful :)

Peace by Studio Rosey Posey

2009-11-04T09:54:00.003-06:00

Lorilei Murphy....Studio Rosey Posey @ http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/ has a beautiful new Christmas'y kit out at SBG called Peace.

You can go directly to the kit in the store by clicking this link:

http://shop.scrapbookgraphics.com/product.php?productid=26230&cat=0&page=1

Wanna know the best part???? It is 40% off Nov 4-8th so grab it while it is on sale!!!!!!

Frightfully Fun Fall Frolic

2009-11-02T10:09:00.004-06:00

Say that 5 times real fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Living out in the boondocks, Brian & Andrea have no shortage of leaves whatsoever. So, I was very excited as fall approached this year because I knew the boys were big enough to get snapshots of them playing in the piles of leaves. Here is the layout I did using photos of Trevor in the 2009 Autumn leaves. I didn't have photos of Caiden when I did this layout. I do now so come back soon to see the LO I do with his photos.....got a GREAT one of him and his Pa Pa :)

This LO is one I did for my CT responsibility for Lorilei Murphy aka Studio Rosey Posey at Scrapbookgraphics dot com. I have said it before and will always say it "fantasy style designs are not my forte' " However, I thought I could pull off doing something with Lor's new kit, Spooky Night, using the ever-infamous clown in meltdown mode photo! And, by turning it to b & w it worked. I wasn't thrilled with my outcome but believe it or not, the layout was placed in the Weekend Gallery Standouts thread at www.digishoptalk.com That is a thread that people, when they see another persons layout that they really really like, can post it in the GSO thread as a way of recognition. Trust me when I say the gallery at DST moves extremely fast....lots & lots of layouts being posted every hour so the fact that one of my LO's caught someones eye before it had been basically pushed on to another page is a big deal. Ok, that is my toot-toot for the day ;-)

Thanks for stopping by....have a great day!!!

An Odd Sunday

2009-11-01T17:20:00.004-06:00

With the fall time change I never have to worry about oversleeping since I am generally an early waker anyway. I thought, "no problem getting ready for church today". Only there was one big problem.....a sinus headache that woke me at around 4:30 a.m. I thought it was just the way I had fallen asleep with my head tilted over to the side but I did notice my left nasal passage was blocked, too. I got up and too 1 excedrin and laid back down. By 5:00 I was wide awake and still had the headache. Plan B.....I got up, took another excedrin and moved around some....turned on the computer and thought that would help. Nope, no such luck. Plan C.....I got dressed, brushed my teeth and ran to get a coffee and a bite to eat. I hoped MORE caffeine and something in my tummy would help. Uh, no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That just seemed to make me sick to my stomach. By 8:15 I realize this isn't going away none too quickly. I text a friend that I won't be in class at church and I now take 2 ibuprofens, lay back down and start rubbing my temple and eye socket. Molly curled up next to me and I became toasty warm under the blankets and drifted off to sleep while rubbing my head. I figured I would sleep about an hour or so. I awaken and lie there a moment to see if my headache was gone....yep, seemed to be. Cool. I pick up my cell phone to see what time it was and it was........get this........11:55......NO WAY did I just sleep another 3 1/2 hours. OMGosh, it was great sleep, too. Wow!

I also realize at this point that the blueberry scone I ate about 6:15 a.m. had long worn off and I was S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G hungry. I get up, put on my shoes, brush my hair, rub some powder on my face and drive out to get a bite to eat.

I played around with some scrapbooking layouts. I sifted through piles on the kitchen table. I bagged up some trash. I did some dishes. And, I pulled off all the nasty, plastic/magnetic photo frames from my fridge. I took out all the photos and pitched the frames. I absolutely LOVE having family/friend photos on my fridge but these frames are so many years old they are just gross now. The photos don't want to stay inside them so I have to put pieces of scotch tape on the edges. Kinda deflects from the whole purpose of having the photos up there to begin with. I have started buying these new clear sleeves that are completely covered by a magnet on the back side. If the sleeve is 4x6, the magnet is 4x6. The photos CANNOT fall out because the sleeve is just that....a sleeve sealed on 3 of the 4 sides. And they adhere completely flat to the fridge....even if your fridge has a bow to it. They are not cheap so I am buying a few sets at a time.

Oh, and I also watched a great movie today. I did alot of what I mentioned above during the commercials of the movie. It isn't a new movie by any means but I had never seen it. It is called Premonition with Sandra Bullock. OMGosh......AWESOME movie. I love Miss SB and will watch any movie she is in. She is just an incredible actress and tends to do movies with good story lines and not alot of GARBAGE thrown in. If you have not seen the movie (although, I am probably the only one who hadn't) you must rent it and watch it. Intense is the one word I would use to describe it.

At any rate....it was a pretty odd Sunday. I will leave you with a few LO's I did....

Trick or Treat??

2009-10-31T20:07:00.004-05:00

What do you get when you mix together a Power Ranger, a Clown w/ a mohawk, and Tigger?? Three very cute halloween characters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some snapshots of them and all their cuteness (and not so much cuteness as you will see).....

Ahhh, 3rd time is the charm....got a good shot with Caiden & Blake, yay!!

Is he not just adorable????????????????????

A great shot of Nana Julie & Caiden the punked out clown. BTW, the costume was handmade by the ever-sew-talented Nana :)

This photo just makes me laugh.....a little of the not-so-cute I mentioned above. Oh, the drama!

I like this one as it shows the Mohawk! Amazing what you can do with red food coloring & hair gel!

Oh my goodness....last year he was the saddest little pumpkin and this year he is the saddest little clown!

Blake, the Amazing Power Ranger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blake showing me how cool the red Power Ranger is!!!

He may be a Power Ranger but I think he got a belt from a nearby Elvis costume, hmmmm!

Tigger's don't just wake up looking so dashing.....it takes work!

It's like trying to put make up on a hyper-grasshopper!!

Save me Tanti, save me!!!!!!! Starting to lose interest in this whole halloween costume, make-up thing!

It ain't pretty......when you have to body lock him to get the make up on.....you know you have about lost all control of the situation.

One very sad Tigger!!!

And look at that, he is happy again.

And those are the snapshots of Halloween 2009 in the Parker Family!

Wal Mart Insanity!!!

2009-10-31T14:05:00.006-05:00

Today is Halloween. I had an appointment at 11 to get my hair cut and colored. Yes, I admit, I color. A girl does what a girl has to do, lol.

After getting my hair done I had to go to Wal Mart for some goodies for the boys for Halloween. I NEVER go to WM on a Saturday afternoon on a regular day and I am going to go on HALLOWEEN?? Am I nuts? Well, that is why I thought I could go and withstand the stupidity....because the worst of the PMS was over. Had it not been, well, my choice would have been Walgreens or KMart because Walmart & me w/PMS do NOT mix. No, usually my favorite time of day to be at WM is in the wee hours of the morning before the crowds come out.

So, I go in, get a cart, ask for a sanitizing wipe to kill any H1N1 or other viruses on the handle and proceed through the store. It doesn't take long before I am rolling my eyes. I seriously think Rules Of The Road pamphlets should be handed out as you go through the doors at WM.....sames rules apply folks!

...Drive your cart down the right (not left) side of the aisles. Unless you live in Europe, that is.

...Look both ways before you dart out of a side aisle.

...Yield to oncoming carts when crossing aisles.

...Pull over to the far side of the aisle before coming to a complete stop to browse the shelves.

...Don't pass the cart in front of you when there isn't enough room to do so.

Pretty basic stuff but I swear most people walk into WM, grab a cart and become complete _________ (fill in the blank with your own expletive).

So, got the goodies I needed and left without having an anxiety attack. Guess a little of the PMS was still hanging on, oops!

Now I am home for a little while before heading to see Trevor in his Tigger costume and then Blake & Caiden as a Power Ranger & clown.

I am watching The Butterfly Effect while I post this entry. No matter how hard I try I have to stop and watch this movie when it is on. Have you ever seen it? One of those movies that boggles your mind every 10-15 minutes and an ending that blows the mind completely. Love it!!

So, can't post without showing some of the layouts I have done since the last post. So glad the mojo is back.

A favorite layout using a kit from Scrapbookgraphics.com called Impressions of Tradition. I actually scraplifted this from another scrapper at SBG. This is Trevor having fun on Grandma & Grandpa's livingroom coffee table.

And this is a layout of Trevor having a meltdown. I used a kit called aPEARantly by Studio Rosey Posey at SBG. Hah! I love these photos. I told the family I have to do LO's using these kinds of photos so they don't grow up and look back thinking they were totally sweet, adorable, angels ALL the time.

Just playong around with an awesome kit by Irene Alexeeva called Amazing Snowland. I love her fairytale designs but rarely buy them because it is not my scrapping style. However, I fell in love with this kit and had to have a go at it. This is an old photo of Trevor from when he was about 4 1/2 months old.

This is a quick LO I did just last night out of the blue. I actually did the layout you see below of Caiden and the photo reminded me of a photo I had of his daddy, Josh, from around the same age. I searched and found the photo and decided to crank out one more layout before I turned in for the night. I like the whitespace & pops of red....a fave combo of mine :) I used the kits Wonderful World by Ettes & Co. and Scraps & Snaps from The Daily Digi.

This is one I did for a "Make It Snappy" speed scrap over at Scrap Orchard last night. Our instructions were to use 6 papers (yikes), a bracket shape of some kind, 1 photo framed/outlined, a tree/limb/branch/etc, flowers, sparkly item of choice, journaling. This was the result. I adore this photo of Caiden. Just chillin' in the corn pit. I used the kits August by Amy Stoffel & Pumpkin Patch by Tracie Stroud.