A bit of beauty

I am sitting her looking back over the summer, wishing I would have blogged more but then realizing my reasoning for not, I was living in the moment.  I wanted to go with the flow of my days, giving myself permission to just be, enjoy my children because the time is coming all to quickly, that they will be on their own living their own lives.

Summer started out cool for Spokane and today marks the third morning of 48*.  I believe fall is arriving and I am not ready to close up the house for winter.  I want to enjoy a little more of my gardens before they go to sleep until spring.  This past weekend we were able to finally get all the trimming done for fall.  The first summer we were here trimming really didn't get done at all, last summer was fast maintenance because of the wedding.  This year our bushes got the much needed attention they were due.  It has been amazing to see how things just a transformed.  My eyes were opened, to really see the secret garden I have always wanted.  I am really looking forward to spring and to keeping it this way.

Before/After Hydrangea and Variegated Dogwood

 
We have had a few plants come back to life with a little bit of added loving.  The Azalea that had so much snow dumped on it the first winter that the inside was pushed to the ground, bloomed this spring.  The giant Hydrangea bloomed and a White Rose also rejoined the family.  We've been able to identify three more bushes this year with the help of one of our local nursery's, Ritter's.  We have two different kinds of Dogwood and a Mock Orange.  I'm hoping they will all bloom well next year since we have now cleaned the dead wood out.      

The beginning of our summer was spent getting the front garden into shape.  I planted 3 Russian Sage and 2 Oriental Poppies.  The Poppies were planted to late so they didn't bloom.  I sure hope we won't loose all the new plants this winter. 

 

Wonderful

It took me over a week to get caught up from my vacation, which was a good thing because then my husband took two weeks off from work.  What a nice treat to just slow down and really have nothing on the agenda.  We managed to get 4 summer projects done and it feels so great to dream about what we will do next year.

Summer is coming to an end and that means there is less than a month until school starts.  My youngest will be in High School!  Excuse me......can things please slow down just a little bit.  Next week is also the start of Marching Band Camp.  Life will take on a busy spin with practices, football games and competitions not letting up until the end of October.  It might be busy but I count myself privileged to be there for my children when they need me.

Our family has seen two new Grandbabies this year and they are both just so beautiful.  Sage Pearl was born in February and the newest Maximus Walter was born in July.  Both daughter's are doing wonderfully and we couldn't be more happy for them.(and also for us)

I have more to share about my vacation but that will have to wait for another day.  Hopefully it won't take me so long to post next time.  I leave you with a bit of summer.  I'm not really much for yellow but these make me extremely happy!

vacation

One more week and I will be home from my vacation.  I have loved getting away but I am coming to the place where I want to be home.  You know you want to be doing your own gardening when you find yourself talking on the phone outside the hotel(because you don't get reception in the hotel) and picking off the dead flowers off the flowers in pots. 

Highlights for me have been spending time with two of my three girls, my youngest and oldest.  Working with my new son in law and oldest daughter at the birth of my fifth Grandson.  Being able to find a few scrapbook stores and spending time with family.  I am however ready to NOT eat out!  I have pictures to share but not until I get home. 

Hurting children

I've always had a heart for hurting children even when they are my own.  I was visiting Jennifer McQuire's blog today, she happens to be one talented woman.  She also has a heart for hurting children and runs card drives for children in need of encouragement.  She told of a young girl named Grace that just lost her twin sister Ellie to cancer. 

Cancer is such and ugly disease in any form.  Would you do something special for me today?  Would you visit Jennifer's blog, pick up her address and send a word of encouragement to a little girl who misses her sister more than anything?  I would appreciate it and so will Grace. 

A bit weird

I just love weekends, especially when I get a chance to be up before everyone else.  The house is so quiet, it starts it out right for me.  Next school year I need to remember this, maybe I'll make a habit of it.  This weekend also marks a start to a very differant summer for this family.  We are all doing differant things for the next couple of weeks.  My son is traveling to CA to spend time with his Uncle, my youngest and I will be traveling with my Step Mom to NE and my husband has graciously agreed to stay home to watch the animals and work.  His vacation time is already set for later in July.  It is just a bit weird to realize we won't be together.  I will use this time with my youngest daughter to just do as much relaxing as possible and try not to miss my boys to much.

The last week we have been in full get ready mode.  Last minute chores to do, suitcases to dust off, trying to figure out what to pack and we have also been creating.  Silly as it might be, when I go on a trip I like to have a couple of new things a purse/tote bag, a pair of fuzzy socks and a couple of new clothing items.  My youngest has been wanting to learn how to sew and it was the plan to do that this summer.  So we have taken the week to make that a reality and kill two birs with one stone, we made tote bags and I made a new purse.  The pattern for the tote bag was a challenge for a beginner like my daughter but she did well.  I am very proud of her!  You can find the pattern for the Amy Butler Birdie Sling tote bag here and the Bow Tucks Tote/Purse by Quilts illustrated here. 

So here is to the start of a wonderful summer!   

On it's way?

It is the last day of school, if you can really call it a day.  Seriously, do they really need to go to school for a total of three hours?  It has been over a week that I have had a hard time getting my children out of bed, there is NO motivation what so ever.  We are all excited about our plans for the summer, which I HOPE all work and no one is disappointed.  I am however really wondering if the summer weather will ever get here?  We are 10 to 15 degrees lower than we should be for this time of the year.  I know it is better than having 100 degree weather at least for me but I REALLY need the rain to stop doing it's thing everyday.

The last few months for me have been a jump start to getting things done, mainly scrapbooking projects.  I have discovered again through LOAD a few things.  I LOVE this hobby of mine and I believe I am over the guilt of every being caught up, it is pretty freeing.  I have learned about my style, what colors I use the most and what I love to do on my pages.  I have learned I am not a digital scrapbooker because I have this love affair with paper and pretty things.  I just LOVE it to much!  I know there are pretty things for the digital scrapbooker but reality is I am a hands on woman.  I have also been able to start to pin point the things I have purchased and just don't use.  Again pretty freeing to say it is okay to not use that and turn around, selling it to someone who will.  In my case it puts money in my pocket, so I can take a couple of online classes learning more about product that I own but haven't really used.  Like this class with Claudine Hellmuth and if you want to see a preview of what she has in store you can go to her blog.  With the help of LOAD in February and Shimelle's class I started on a road to spending less on scrapbooking supplies and actually using what I have.  Again freeing, especially walking into a store and looking around and saying........ya know, nothing really jumps out at me on a got to have list.

I shared my layouts in February here on my blog from LOAD but have decided to just post a link to my flickr gallery for the May LOAD.  I also completed my two oldest daughter's wedding albums, that you can see here and here, if you so desire.  For my own fun purpose I am keeping track of how many layouts I do this year and how many photos I will end being used.  Through the end of May, I have made 132 layouts and have used 512 photos.  When I started scrapbooking years ago it was with Creative Memories and I cut my photos into weird shapes.  I have also made a promise to myself that I will use those photos even if they are cut into weird shapes.  So if you see those weird shapes in some of my layouts you will know why.  Enjoy looking!!  Come back and let me know what you think.

Finally!

After weeks of rain here and cool temperatures, I tell you what I am ready for the warmer days!  It is so hard to get caught up on the weeding with the rain.  Finally got out there today, there were some that were over waist high.  Now if I can only get the dog to stop digging a cool spot from under my curly fig tree(that doesn't bare figs) I will be a happy camper.

I made it to my local nursery yesterday for some flowers.  Oh, how I love flowers and color!!  I decided this year to go pretty low key as we have some trips planned.  Plants in pots placed in just the right places so the sprinklers will hit them.  I really don't know how I did without underground sprinklers for years.  I love that I don't even need to worry or think about it anymore.  One of the things that made me totally happy this year was our monster Hydrangea bloomed.  It is so beautiful and I can't wait to figure out how to make it change color.  I promise I will post flower photos as soon as I can.  My video card died this week so as we wait for a replacement the computer isn't happy with the slower built in card OR maybe it is me that is impatient. 

Slowing Down

I tell you what, it is always the best of intentions.  You start each day with a list of things to do, then somewhere down the line you find that your day takes a turn.  It isn't the way it was suppose to be.  That pretty much sums up my life the last few weeks and months.  For the most part I feel like I am on a rollercoaster just hanging on for dear life, just hoping the next corner doesn't make me fall off.

So I think this week started out to be busy but has turned into a lesson of relearning to slow down.  Living in the moment, finding joy that has been misplaced and just being thankful for what I do have.  I am trying to not look at the fact that yesterday durning my errands my key phob decided to not lock my car, making it easy for someone to steal my hands free bluetooth device.  I don't understand why people feel the need to take things that don't belong to them.  I am also trying to not look at the sad fact that my computer has decided to be sick.  Instead I'm trying to see the silver lining......Maybe someone needed the bluetooth worse than me.  I can always buy another one.  I am thankful I had enough time to backup my photos to cd last night before my computer decided to really be sick.  I should have done it a long time ago.  I am thankful I have my hubby's laptop to even be able to post today and wondeful people in my life that are trying to help my sick computer. 

Time marches on

I have felt like a deadbeat blogger but then I have to remember the reason I started this blog.  I did it for me, a place where I felt I could share just about anything, while still keeping some stuff private.  Sometimes it is okay to take a break from something that means a lot to you, for me this time it has been blogging.  I wanted to wait until I felt the need to start again not because my faithful few want to hear from me.  To me there is no life to what you say, inless you wait for the right time, timing is everything and waiting well it is hard.  The waiting does pay off so if you are struggling with something, looking for answers, sit back breathe and take it all in.  Wait, just wait because your time will come.  Whether we want it to or not time marches on, we all get older, we face losses of differant kinds but my friends in the long run after some waiting it gets better.  Really it does.

What define's you?

There is a lot of ways you can answer this question.  For me today it is about this challenge with Stacy Julian, What's in your purse.  I took this photo a few days ago and surprisingly this was a clean purse.  I usually have so many receipts hanging out of my purse that all I can do is shove them back in.          

On this day for me it meant I got a few errands done!  I returned some scrapbook paper to Michael's(gasp!) receiving a card to use later, which makes me happy.  A couple of gift cards purchased, a stop for coffee for me.....so needed that, cell phone bill paid, a stop at Old World Market for some on sale Guacachips, which is weird because I don't like Guacamole but I love these, didn't get more the orange ribbon purchased but that happened on Monday.  All the rest of the things are normal for my purse, calendar, small spiral notebook, checkbook, beaded coin purse, leather purse, blue pocketbook, J purse and surprise only ONE pen!  All my little purses hold things that are important.  I do try to keep somewhat organized.          

Changing

Spring is here, it is getting warmer and I am feeling the itch for new things.  Funny for someone who doesn't really enjoy change all that much.  I guess I'm getting older....gasp......and realizing that some change is good.  You can change how you learn and while it can be scary, it ends up being all good.  Like this blog, it has been 3 years since I started it.  I didn't feel like I had much to say but over time my voice has changed.  It is getting easier to write and share eventhough I am not consistant.  I am however trying, thanks for sticking with me.

I am learning things to do with blogs from the class Bling Out Your Blog 3.0 which you can take at Little Light Studio.  I took Bling Out Your Blog 2.0 last spring but honestly didn't get very far, before I got frustrated.  I really am learning a lot and I am pretty proud of myself.  I'll be adding things I'm sure the next few weeks so be sure you check back.   

Using what you have

I've so enjoyed Shimelle's class, Something from almost nothing. It has helped everyone in class to dig into thier stash of scrapbooking supplies. We were encouraged to do a Celebrate Life album which I do have plans to do. I just have been focused on getting the wedding album done but was able to use a couple of the prompts on my pages.

Prompt 7, Flowers......I am in love with how these pages turned out. I had some cream colored Prima flowers that I dyed using Distress ink in Orange Marmalade with a mini mister. Then I went back over them with Tea Dyed Distress ink to tone the color down a bit. Combinding both layouts I used 26 flowers and 55 clear blings.

Prompt 8, Buttons........I haven't used buttons in so long. It was so fun to use a few from stash. I didn't use many but it is a start. Here in Spokane, WA we have a wild life perserve for wild cats. It is pretty amazing.

I wish I understood


The last month has been one of stress. The kind you just want to find a rock and crawl under, hoping that when you come back out that the bad would be gone. I have promised myself to not go into detail other than to say mean people are mean. I still don't get it, why someone would go to great lengths in ruining someones reputation. For what gain, so they can sit back and watch? Didn't we all graduate from high school years ago?

The only hope that I can hold to, is the fact that Christ is my Savior. He came to this world to die on a cross for my sins and others. It is a wonderful thing for me to think about. If it wasn't for Him I wouldn't be able to handle one thing!

Have a blessed Easter day everyone!

What I know

This last December I was hit with how many beautiful scrapbooking supplies I have. I've known it but when you are sitting in your pretty corner of the world, well sometimes you over look it. When you start to over look things, it is to easy to purchase more than what you really need. I decided that this year, would be the year, that I really use what I have and purge what I don't. Work on unfinished projects and projects that I have been wanting to do. After all it is all right there in front of me, what am I waiting for. I could give you any reason but in the end they would really all be excuses.

So here I am "trying" to spend less on my hobby.......January - good, February - not so good and here I am in March. I want this month to be better! I don't want to waist time or money anymore. In an effort to help myself or push myself to change I felt needed more of a focus, then I happened on this class by Shimelle. Exactly, what I have been looking for, just that extra added help I need.

So to anyone reading, know that I have a little bit of a problem and I am going to do something about it. I am going to take this stash and actually use it.(these are just a couple of photos of my problem areas) No more saving it for a rainy day or just the right project.

It will be great! After all is said and done I will have beautiful things to pass onto my children. If you want to join I do believe that there is still time. Come on, make some changes use your stuff.

All total

So I decided to total up layouts done and photos used, for the Layout a Day Challenge. I can really say that I am pretty darn proud of myself!

In 28 days I made 48 layouts and used 175 photos! Of course, I only posted 28 of the 48 done but that is okay. I am still working on finishing up my daughter Angela's wedding album, which I am hoping to have completed before the end of this month.

The next LOAD is coming up in May and I am already making plans to attend. We have so much fun!! So keep a look out on Lain's blog for more information, sign ups start in early April and space will be limited, so sign up early!

Lovely month

Despite some bad stuff that happened this month it was a really lovely month. I started both of my older daughter's wedding album and finished one, with the second well on it's way to being finished. The next LOAD will be in May and I will be focusing on layouts for each of my children. I'm so excited to be working on my children's lives and getting things done!! Thanks for coming by and visiting, it means a lot to me.

Day 24......Prompt - Dig into an old idea book for inspiration. I pulled out one magazine and didn't look at it until I sat down. It turned out to be an issue of Simple Scrapbooks, Nov/Dec 2005, page 97. O added a couple of journal spots at the top of the page.

Day 25....Prompt - Scrapbook a lesson learned, or scrapbook a new technique. I clear embossed these butterflies and then water colored them.

Day 26.......Prompt - Scrap a group, either the large photo of everyone together, or a bunch of individual photos. Getting everyone in one place for a large group photo was just not possible the day of the wedding so we have lots of shots of everyone. I just grouped them all together even using a 1 1/2" square punch for some photos.

Day 27......Prompt - create some of your own felty goodies. I made felt flowers for this layout from one of our family dinners leading up to the wedding day.

Day 28......Finish something you started. This layout goes with the one above. The flower and journaling spot do a nice job of breaking up the grid.

Now back to the regular weather?

I'm not sure about all this up and down weather! It is suppose to be over 60* this weekend, maybe time to get outside to do some Spring yard work? or I might have to result in doing our taxes....yuck.

I'm moving on to sharing a few more layouts today from the Layout A Day challenge.

Day 20......Prompt - Get your spy on and document an overheard conversation. No following prompt for me today. I've wanted to do this layout for a long time. This is my youngest with her blanket that she named Scrumpy Peas. Second page will hold the story of how the name came about.

Day 21......Prompt - Talk about your life mission. Again, not a prompt a followed but that is okay. Next time. I did the matching page of my daughter's blanket. I LOVE, LOVE using different photos from different times on pages. Here's the story: One night for dinner we were having peas. It was your Daddy or Angela who said the peas were scrumptious. Then you were asked what you thought about them. Your answer, they were scrumpy peas. It seemed to be your favorite word from there on out. It seemed only natural that your blanket receive the name because you understood the name meant good.

Day 22......Prompt - We were suppose to go deep in our journaling. Another one I just couldn't do right now. So I made a companion layout for one done earlier.

Day 23.......Prompt - Use your stash of scraps on your desk. This one comes easy when you have a wedding album you are working on! Not to many scraps but enough.

Woke up to it snowing this morning. It turned into rain and was melted off by noon. This winter has been mild for a Spokane or so I am told. I have nothing to compare it to because of all the snow we had last year.

Here's to a few more pages for the month. Coming right a long and feeling pretty good about what I'm getting done. Enjoy!!

Day 16.....Prompt - We were to follow a page sketch. If you are interested in seeing more you can go here to page maps. This is a 9x9 page which will go into my favorites album.

Day 17.....Prompt - Reuse words. I'm involved with a journaling all year group and one of our prompts this last month was to Define our lives with words. It fit in very well with this prompt.

Day 18.......Prompt -Reflect to the past for me this time last year.

Day 19.......Prompt - Repurpose, I love these pictures of my daughter and her little bowl of chippies. I saw this layout sometime ago and knew it was perfect.

Catching up
Today was a day for me to catch up on things around the house that needed to be done. Last week was a difficult one so I am playing catch up with things that got put on the back burner. It doesn't help that I am a procrastinator and would rather be playing than doing the responsible things. At least a few of the not so wonderful things are done and I can focus a little bit better now.

I've been working heavily on my oldest daughter's wedding album and I can tell you it is a challenge. With so many photos I'm trying to use as many as I can on a page without it seeming to bogged down. I have sorted pictures into different piles with notes and I print the sketch I want to use in the same pile. All these photos are from the hotel the kids stayed at their first night as husband and wife.

Day 12.....Prompt - Use a black and white photo on your layout.

Day 13.....Prompt - We had to follow this sketch. I just changed my sizes to reflect the larger photos I needed to use.

Day 14......Prompt - Use products you love. I really do love this paper by Basic Grey. I will have plenty of scraps I'm sure so I may even get a few cards out of it.

Day 15.....Prompt - Do whatever you want for your page. This is a companion page to the one above.

Loving the sunshine


I really do love the sunshine we have been having the last few days here in Spokane. Looks can be deceiving though, it might look warm but then you go outside to find out that it is only in the upper 30's. The animals of our house are loving it, they have been fighting to see who gets to the sunshine spots in the house first.

So the Layout a Day challenge continues. I can't stress enough how life changing this is for me.

Day 8........Prompt - A pile of photos you have been needing to work on. These photos plus many others from this day, are still on my desk BUT the piles are getting smaller!! My DH walking our daughter down the isle of our backyard.

Day 9........Prompt - 30 minute page. It took me this long to gather things for the page and a little more time to put it together. The cover page for my daughter's wedding album.

Day 10......Prompt - Older photos you have been wanting to use. 21 year old photos of our puppies at the time.

Day 11......Prompt - The little things people say. As my Granddaughter started to talk I wrote down her words and meanings. This goes in my favorite photos of you album which I hope to give her when she is 18.

When Life throws you lemons

Try making layouts instead of lemonade! That is what I've been doing the last 16 days since my last post, making layouts for the Layout a Day challenge. It has been rough going but I am truly pleased with my outcomes.

On our flickr site for LOAD we were talking today about why people say that a layout isn't thier favorite but it's done or I had to do this. The question was brought up, why scrapbook it then if you don't love it? I have only had a small handful of projects that I haven't loved doing but when they were finished I ended up being pleased with what I had done. The layouts I do for my children are a labor of love. I can honestly say I do LOVE each and everyone I make for them because it takes me back to their lives.

So here is to memories! I will promise to post 4 layouts each day to get myself caught up with sharing, enjoy.

Day 4.........Prompt - Use something you have lots of. For me Ribbons and Flowers.

Day 5........Prompt - Something about me.

Day 6.......Prompt - Was to do a digital layout with a grid. I stuck with just the grid.

Day 7......Prompt - Use something with measurements on it.

Three cheers for creativity!

I'm loving how I am just getting things done, no excuses why I can't, just doing them! So here is to some fun stuff I've done recently.....yippeee!!! Enjoy! Yes, I'm just a bit excited because beautiful products just make things so much easier to love.

One of my favorite designers is Teresa Collins. This summer or fall(I can't honestly remember) she made a few kits with Heidi Swapp for a fund raiser. I didn't buy it because I already had the paper. The original idea was to make a wall hanging that you could open up to family photos. I tweaked it and made some pockets that I could just put some tags in from the same line of paper. I just love it! Be sure you check out Teresa's fundraiser for Haiti and take part if you can.

This is a flip desktop album. You can find the instructions here.....Following the Paper Trail. Take the time to look at Laura's videos, you will fall in love with all her projects!

What a week

For the first time in 18 months my wonderful husband is away for work more than one night. I am enjoying my late night time for scrapbooking but I sure miss him lots. I'm looking forward to come home day tomorrow!

For those of you that are looking for special blog give aways, you might want to check this one out over at Whimsical Creations. She is showing one of her favorite Etsy stores and I will have to agree that Kim's store is going to be one of my favorites too! I just love bracelets that make me happy and she does just that.

LOAD is going well for me. I am extremely happy, to the point of wanting to cry just a little. Why? Well, I haven't felt this much joy in my hobby in a long time. It just feels so good to make memories real on paper. If you have never done LOAD I believe you can still sign up or you can join us in May when we will be at it again. You will not regret it! So here are layouts from the last couple of days.

Day 2.......Prompt - Dig into your stash and use something you forgot about. I used some Heidi Swapp flowers, which I didn't really forget about because they are in a jar above my desk along with some buttons. Another page for my oldest daughter's wedding, a sweet photos of my Granddaughter.

Day 3......Prompt - Oldest thing you can find in your stash and use it. I relized there are some things I have grown out of as a scrapbooker and it would be these Birthday stickers I used. They do fit well with the page so that is a good thing. A double 8x8 page for my youngest's Birthday album.

Welcome

I had so much fun in October with the Layout A Day Challenge, that I'm welcoming the new year by doing it again this month. I'm so excited! I have a few kits made, photos printed and more ideas than I probably have days. That however is a good thing. So here is to a good start of the month.

Day 1.........Prompt - A New Beginning. This the cover page to my second oldest's wedding album.
So here is to a month of fun and getting stuff done that also includes for me purging my scrapbook supplies!! OOOooo, and heavens me.....using them.

Escape

What do you do to escape from things? For me spending money has been right up there! Not a nice thing to see in yourself so I'm trying to focus on making a big change. I want to escape to my creative place, the one that is burned inside of me since the day I started reading my set of Childcraft Encyclopedias. The place that comes alive when I play with paper, glitter, glue and ink. It really is a wonderful place!!

I've also realized that I really don't have any excuses for not getting things done around my house or even projects that I have been wanting to get done.(including working on this blog) I've spent to much time trying to escape from my growing list of things to do instead of focusing on just doing them. I want to enjoy them not just the plan of doing them. Hope that makes sense to someone else besides me.

One simple Truth

Truth be told: I feel broken with the changes going on in my body. I know it is just a process that I need to walk through but it doesn't make it fun.

I use too think that I wouldn't have to much of a problem with my emotions as I started though pre-menopause. The truth be told I am not having an easy time. My emotions are all over the place and most of the time hard to sort out. I find my mood changing from being happy one minute, then to anger the next...over stupid things that shouldn't matter at all. Over the last few months I have had more stress headaches and migraines than I have had in forever. Don't even get my started on how horrible the night sweats are!

Truth be told sometimes I just want to run away from it all but then I know it will follow me. It isn't easy to remain positive on a daily basis but if I don't I would be a crumbled mess. I know the next few years are going to hold it's challenges but oh dear God hear my prayers....be with me because truth be told I am NOTHING without you and can't do it alone.

Not quite halfway

For me this is a long post that I truly feel that I need to post, so please bare with me. I sit here almost halfway through the first month of 2010. It is still pretty weird to write another year down because there are days I feel life is going at a snails pace. Then I look back and realize that it is going faster than what I would like it to.

A New Year and time for reflection and for promises to ourselves that we rarely keep. You have to be honest with yourself ya, know? You can say anything that makes you feel better about that you are going to do in the New Year. Just don't beat yourself up, it isn't worth it.

So as I'm looking and reflecting I just want to bring up choosing a word for the year. For the last 4 years I have done this. Not always recording what I learned and even saying that I would share my findings. Okay, well it didn't happen so I forgive myself and move on.

2007 and 2008 brought the word Contentment. I chose to stay with this word for 2 years strictly because I felt I had more to learn from it. I was and am happy with my life but content not so much.(or at least that is the way it use to be) I need to learn to be happy with what I have, not always striving to 'have' just one more thing. In reality things aren't what is important anyway. Things can weigh you down to the point that you are cover come by them. I look back now and I see that I have always been learning that in one form or another. I just wish I had leaned it sooner so it was more up front in my face for longer.

2007, marked for me how angry I was that we didn't do anything special for our 20th wedding anniversary. I set myself up to expect something big but it wasn't. It led me to learning a detail about myself that I am only now being able to face, really face. That I take anger out on spending because it was easier than facing the hurt, pain and disappointment. The BIG thing I have learned since then is my wonderful husband is wired differently. He doesn't bow to what should be done in the world's eyes. He does things with a meaning behind them. Our 25th anniversary last June.....he took a day of vacation to be with me and we went on a beautiful drive then had lunch out. It was one of the most beautiful days for me.

2008, started with the birth of my Grandson(who is just a complete doll) and then it added the death my Step brother Greg. With that came the pain it brought my family on so many levels, the pain it brought to a friendship that is just now starting to heal. We also moved to a new city after living in one place for 19 years. I saw it as loosing everything that I deemed important to my life. So it was natural to stay with the word Contentment. It wasn't until the fall of 2008 that I could face my anger - face my angry self. Realizing that moving was the best thing for our family. Unloading more and more stuff from our house, to the garbage or to goodwill was seen as lightening the load, not taking away. That really is how I was viewing it all of it, it was being taken away. Stuff I had worked hard to get and save up for a rainy day which rarely ever came. All of the dollars lost to trying to find and or buy contentment when it was right in front of my face all along.

2009, brought its own word and lessons Moderation. Most of the year was spent rebelling over the word. Going back to feeling I needed to 'have' the newest and greatest scrapbooking supplies in order to be happy with my projects. Then coming to the end of the year realizing it is not what I have that matters.(I still have my gift of making beautiful things.) That you can have all the stuff in the world and purchasing that stuff as a means to make yourself feel better and still not be happy. In the long run you end up feeling loaded down because of the amount of stuff you have. Which ,means you end up feeling worse than you did in the first place, less contented.(funny how the words moderation and contentment actually go together)

2010, comes in with a cold chill in the air with very little snow. It took me over a week to decide if I was even going to choose one word this year. Then I decided that I needed it so here is to Hope. There is a lot in my life that needs this word. In every area God has promised me that He has our bases covered and I am holding Him to that. I'm going to choose to believe in what I don't see. Hoping that I will be strong enough to stand in the decisions that need to be made instead of getting angry.

So here is to 2010 a new decade started, a new part of life that I get to start new everyday! To new things like this that I am doing for myself because I deserve to relearn how important journalling is for my life. Healing will come in all things, one little word at a time.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

This Christmas has been different. Why, I'm not completely sure but it was. Family and friends have been here off and on, which is always a good thing.

This coming year I'm hoping to post more often than I have. I am going to talk a little about some miracles that have happened to my DH and I, in the last 25 years. Just as a way to do some documenting of our life and things for my children to hold onto. Of course you will also see some artwork and to that you can also add me taking part in LOAD again.

Have a wonderful safe night everyone and hold someone a little closer tonight!!

Merry Christmas!

Family visits, 2 full days of baking, stuffing presents, and last minute shopping. I'm done and enjoying a little bit of quiet while my Step brother has taken my children to see Avatar in 3D. I am also waiting for the mailman or even ups. I ordered a few things that I hope get here in time for opening gifts tonight.

Oh, are you questioning the stuffing presents? lol, I thought you might. Years ago when my girls were younger we started a tradition of wrapping tops and bottoms of boxes with pretty Christmas papers. I never felt right about going and spending a lot of money on wrapping paper to only have it be thrown away in a matter of seconds. Plus over half of my family doesn't like to actually wrap presents so at least I can guaranty that everything looks pretty under the tree. We started saving nice heavy duty shoe boxes, fruit boxes and just about any other box that would work. This also helps you to think about your gift purchases. If you know that you don't have a box big enough to fit the gift, we have found that we have a tendency to not purchase the gift. In less of course it comes in it's own box then you are safe.

Merry Christmas to you and yours this holiday season. Remember the reason for the season is Jesus, who came to save the world. Enjoy your family and laugh until your sides hurt.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

I have discovered that I have a hard time doing projects that I don't really want to do. Normally, I can just push right through it and get it done. Honestly I am trying......sigh. My heart is just not in it? Keep pushing it has been over a year since I was given the information to do this project. Time to move on and get it done!

I found out a few days ago that family is coming for Christmas. So starting tomorrow morning until around the 28th of December we will have a house full. One of my very best friends is coming and she will be making us Christmas Eve dinner as a family present. I'm pretty excited. I just have to remember that we made a promise to keep our purchases down this year and not going shopping to look for gifts. I NEED to be creative, make something from my heart that will be appreciated. I hope it will be, anyway.

Christmas shopping is done! I am thankful over the years that we have taken the time to 'pre wrap' boxes!! All I have to do is lay everything out and put them into boxes. Done and so wonderful. My problem is I fight the hurge to buy one more gift almost on a minute to minute basis. I need to look at a few projects I have been meaning to get done. Maybe one of those could go under the tree in the next 4 to 5 days.

Helping my girlfriend's daughter is such a blessing. It is so much fun to see her face light up as we teach her to measure and allow her to mix things. She is so excited to give her gifts. That is when you know they come from her little heart. Hope they will be received as such from her family. I'll report back on that after Christmas with some photos of what we made with her.

Offical Snow

It finally happened, Spokane's offical snow fell Tuesday night. I spent an hour and a half shoveling yesterday morning. The rest of the snow turned into slush into the morning and we now have ice plus freezing rain.....oh joy.

This week has been all about finishing up my shopping, which I can say is done except for stocking stuffers. Now I will move onto having the trees decorated by this evening so I can put away all the Christmas boxes which are driving me nuts! My level of want to do much, has been low but I'm doing my best to push through. I have to be realistic about what I can do in the next 8 to 9 days.......wish I could have one more week before Christmas! The gifts that were suppose to be out in the mail to get to family for Christmas, just aren't happening. It is okay and I'm not going to feel guilty.

Yesterday, I also spent 2 hours in the dentist chair, not fun but necessary. I bit down on something at Thanksgiving so it was time for a new crown on one of my molars. The best thing in finding this new dentist......he can do a crown in one appointment instead of two. He takes a picture of the molar and the computer he has cuts the porcelain in the office. Today I just have a little bit of soreness in my jaw and where they shot me full of novacain.

So what are your last minute things to get done?

Busyness

So I haven't liked busyness for a long time. I'm much happier if I can just slow down, not have anything planned at all do things spare of the moment. Of course with two teenagers in the house life is sometimes busy but I count myself fortunate that my teens like to have their down time. However this Christmas season we are doing everything possible to slow way down and shop for the things that mean the most instead of buying mindless gifts. The most exciting thing that is going on is we, meaning the children and I are taking one of my girlfriends little girls for a few days in the next couple of weeks. We will be helping her make gifts for her family members, she is in first grade so this is a pretty big deal. They drop her off and are able to get some shopping done without little eyes around. The BEST thing out of all of this, we have made a new set of friends.

I received one of my Christmas gifts early this year just so I could use it before Christmas. I got one of these, yes I got the Apple green. I'm so excited!! I made a Christmas Rum cake yesterday and it was sooo good!! Enjoy, make one for yourself and do let it soak up all the glaze, it is worth it!

Make someones day

That is what I did yesterday. I took Stacy Julian's challenge and purchased a hot chocolate for a bell ringer. We have been having a real cold spell here in the single digits. This bell ringer was doing what she could to keep herself warm and she was ringing her bell a little stronger when I left. It made me smile and it is exactly what I needed.

This week has been busy and seems like it should be Friday already. Dentist appointments have happened for everyone in the family and I got my hair foiled yesterday for the first time since we moved to Spokane. It still surprises me how good I feel about myself after I get my hair foiled. The tones are a little warmer this time but that is okay. Even my children like it so that says something.

Saturday

This has to be one of my most favorite times of the week, the other day being Monday. I am usually up before everyone else. The coffee gets started and I just enjoy the little bit of silence. I take care of our five starving animals, not really starving but they think they are. I find that I actually have to work at being nice if someone gets up with me. So this morning I am just enjoying the rumble of the furnace, drinking my morning coffee in my new Starbucks Christmas cup and thinking about what Christmas projects need to be started today. I have usually started by this time, somethings should already be finished but there is nothing I can do about it now but just start.

So here is to a productive day!

What I'm loving right now

I'm loving, Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas. Yes, I know it is only day three but oh my gosh! He is an incredible artist!! If you like Tim's tags you might just like these by Ellen Hudson, she is following Tim in creating tags.

I'm loving, what Heidi Swapp and Teresa Collins are doing. They are two of the people that are on my I love their product list. Do you have one of those or am I the only one? All the kits they put together are sold out, dang it! If you love it, make sure you email Heidi and get put on a waiting list. Who knows, they might try to make a few more.

I'm loving, this idea from Stacy Julian and have already made a trip to Target for the albums. They also had them in black......nice. The goal with this project is to pick out a few Christmas photos and put them together for my children. Kids.....forget what you just read!

I'm also LOVING, that these two are exspecting thier first baby sometime in July!! This means that with my lovely daughter Nicole exspecting #3 in February and Angela in July I will have 5 grandbabies and will have surpassed my own number of children. That is a weird thought and the fact that I still have two teenagers at home......ya, I do believe we could reach 10 someday.

You just never know

This past summer was kinda crazy for me and all the things needed to get ready for our daughter's wedding this past September. However I did take time out for me and one of the things that I like to do is take part in survey's. Maybe silly to some and sometimes they are time consuming but they can be very interesting. Around mid August I think, I did a survey for Colorbox. After I was done I recieved an email thanking me for taking part in the survey and notifing me that my name was going to be put into a drawing to win a box of product. A few weeks later I I recieved another email saying I had won a prize box. Wow, what fun to get this in the mail.........

It is a beautiful collection of papers and accessories in blues and greens. With a few bits of pink thrown in for good measure. Gee....wonder why I love it so much? I just figured out today what I am going to use the album for, sorry to close to Christmas to tell you. You will have to wait.

Goals and Creativity

So I have a goal this month and that is to post 'something' everyday. I can't promise it will be awe inspiring or give you any ah ha moments but we should have a little bit of fun!

So for the first day, you need to know that this man is at it again! He is creating his 12 tags of Christmas and if you don't know who he is you better go check him out. You will want his product by the time you see all of his tags. That is how I got hooked and he isn't bad on the eyes either ;o)

Welcome to December everyone!