I suffer from..........

Procrastination! I guess I've never really wanted to admit it to myself. When I know I have to do important things I am forever looking for an excuse to do something else.

So when my teenage daughter brings me a doodle she did for me a few weeks ago, it started to wake me up, to what I was doing to myself and even to my family. It said; "Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today" Abraham Lincoln

Then this week I visited Laine's Scrap Happy site. Guess what she was talking about.....arrrgghhh. Okay, I get the idea already!! Hello world, my name is Juel and I am a full on Procrastinator!! She has a cute utube video on her site that pretty much says it all.

So this week I've started taking care of a few things that I have been putting off, what about you??

I have no idea what to do!

A week from today I will be celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary to a man that I love dearly(even when he drives me a little crazy) The thing is.............I have absolutely NO idea what to do, really I don't! This year marks a time when we will actually be together on our anniversary and that hasn't happened in YEARS, we are talking YEARS people.

Over our life together, I've made plans only to have him end of having to work out of town. The one promising thing was, last week his work told him he was going to have to be out of town for 3 days, one of those days being our anniversary. He in not so many nice words told them there was no way he was going to work out of town on his 25th wedding anniversary.

So I come back to the question my man asked me this morning, so do you want to do anything special next week because I can't think of anything. So much of our life for years has been put on hold, it comes to times like this that you realize that and you are thankful you are in a different place now. Where do you start when you are still a little afraid of your husband being called to go out of town, even when he told them he wouldn't? Do you go alone or take your teenagers with you because they are part of your life and you desire to not have them miss out on the fun too? We don't have friends or other family members to go out and celebrate with. This is a big day in our lives, a big milestone and it will be remembered for a lifetime. I know anything we do is going to be special but I just don't know where to start.

Just can't believe it

3 weeks and school is going to be out! My son will be taking driver's ed so watch your roads for a student driver that thinks he is driving in a video game. We have been trying to take him driving at least 3 times a week and I'm happy to say he is soooo much better!! I'm even proud of myself for not being white knuckled and trying to push my foot into the passenger floor board. By summer's end he'll probably have his license and he'll be able to drive himself to 7am Marching band camp!

Speaking of Marching band, Mt. Spokane traveled last weekend to Vancouver, B.C for the Heritage Music Festival. The Marching band took first place in all 5 divisions of competition!! All the hard work and long hours throughout the year paid off. The group this year has many new incoming freshman so it is wonderful that they are doing so well.

I shared a little that I am finding my muse return. I'm so happy and thought I would take the time to show you what has sparked my creativity. First indulge me as I give you a little bit of history about me. I've always been creative. I can remember many of the special kits at Christmas time from family, that would allow you to make flowers, clay things, etc.(Do you have a favorite you remember?) I remember even trying to make my own clay from flour, baby powder and water. My mom was so mad that I had made a complete mess of the top of my dresser, from mixing everything. I learned that it was fun making a mess but you have to clean up after yourself.....lol. I always loved to draw and doodle. In high school I took an art class and enjoyed myself so much. That is where I fell in love with colored pencils, watercolors and shading. When I told my parents that I wanted to produce art they were to supportive so my drawing never went any further. Almost 16 years ago I picked up my first rubber stamp and I was able to get back to what I loved to do, color. I have always wanted to learn to draw faces so when SuziBlu opened up her Petite Dolls for beginners I found myself getting nervous. She is a gracious teacher, full of life and so willing to help in anyway she can to help you feel better about yourself in general and as an artist. So this is what I have been up to, learning to draw these fun little dolls that really aren't meant to look like anyone. Full of mixed media which I have found to be part of my muse, which I already knew because of my love of scrapbooking.

So without further ado may I introduce to you my Petite Dolls...........My princess and king with a little close up of the princess face.

Then my beautiful mermaid with lots of her friends by her side. Hope you enjoyed seeing into a little bit of my life right now. I'm sure I will be making more dolls as time goes by. They are quite addicting!! Please do not use any part of my dolls without permission, thanks.

It's Spring


It really is spring!! It is here, everywhere!!


I read somewhere this week, that in order for true creativity and passion to happen it occassionally needs to be turned off.

I will have to say there is a lot of truth to those words. After a year of being silent in my hobby with only a few scrapbook pages done I can finally say I am finding my muse!!!


I am back to taking myself out for a day at Startbucks, once a week. I don't go and just pick it up but I sit. Sometimes I write or even draw. I never know what will come of it. The one thing I can be sure of is that I am recieving a peace and calmness that I haven't felt in over a year.


I'm slowing down long enough to take care of me and it feels very good. Something else, a creative side of myself is coming out on a differant level. A level that I could have never exspected.

I'm enjoying my journey. Enjoy yours today~take care of YOU!

Please be patient

I'm making some blog changes so please be patient with me as I am learning new things.

Spring Break......I don't think so

I would like to have a do over for Spring Break! It was cold, it rained and snowed, just couldn't believe it. It made us feel like it was winter all over again, instead of pretty spring days. It didn't help that my car was having problems. We did manage to get the backyard racked and the trampoline put up. Then back to school it was for the kids, while my car went into the shop. Hope I don't have to put down money on it for awhile. All the little things just add up. Oh well, it is done now.

Easter was nice. Pretty relaxed from what we are use to but it was good. We had Bruce's parents come over for a visit and they stayed until mid morning on Saturday. Some of best friends, Jim and Ann spent the whole weekend. Michaela and I took off with our friend Ann for a day of shopping on Saturday. We had a great time and shopped until we were all dead on our feet. Got home in time for us to go out to dinner at our favorite Pizza place here in town.

Last week also marked a big step for me. I've always wanted to learn more about drawing faces and painting with different mediums(which I love) so I sign up for this online class. I've been following Suzi for just over a year now and I haven't found a time that what she says doesn't speak to me. So, I'm on a journey. I don't know where that journey is going but I'm holding on for the ride. Suzi has also started a Vblog as apart of her normal blog for a 365 days. If you have time each day you may want to check out what she has to say. She is also offering a FREE class with the Artist's Way, totally worth it if you are searching for something that will change your life in 12 weeks. When signing up for her class you need to do it through internet explorer or firefox.

Spring Break on it's way

We are coming up on Spring Break next week and I've found myself reflecting on the different place I was at last year. I was grieving the loss of my brother, getting a house ready to put on the market, power cleaning, sorting through stuff to get rid of and packing. It feels like it was a different life.

Fast forward a year......I feel like I have been here for more than just 8 months, that everything else was a dream. It is actually a pretty weird feeling. My house is unpacked and getting organized. The kids are settled in school and looking forward to Spring Break. Instead of heading out of town for Spring Break, we will start to discover this place that we live. Take the time to find the special shops that the kids have been wanting to check out but especially just enjoy ourselves.


One more thing done in my scrapbook corner. I have these drawer units that I have had for years and they hold everything!! I haven't really known where everything is in these drawers for months so I started a few months back just labeling drawers. Then cut background texture paper as deep as each of the drawers and just placed the pieces to the front. There is a little lip so there was no need to mount the paper on cardstock. The only draw back is I have to actually read my labels!! Now, where are my glasses again??


This week I made a trip to my favorite store, Tuesday Mornings. I have found so many wonderful things in this store since we have lived here so I have to be VERY careful when I do go. This week I found American Crafts Modern 8 1/2x11 D-ring binders, which I have been wanting for sometime, to house our slide collection from years ago. They had 3 in Lime Green and for $6.99 a piece, it was such a deal!! I just LOVE good deals!!!

Sick and Tired

Yep, that is what life has been about this past week! It started with my youngest daughter getting a cold, then fever for two days, loosing her voice and pain in the ears the next. When her eye turned pick Thursday night I knew it was time to make a doctor appointment. Turns out she just had a very bad ear infection, that was so bad it was causing her eye infection. Thank goodness no pink eye!! I personally have been fighting with this cold off and on also, it is kinda weird that a simple cold just sapps all your energy. Going into the doctor was a good thing, even if it was for my daughter. It allowed me to meet our doctor and make my yearly exam, which I don't like doing but know it is time.

I've been enjoying the creating I did a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of work cutting out all the flowers but turned out so pretty. It is something that just takes my breathe away.

Materials: Stamp set Rustic Flowers from CTMH, Sweetleaf, Creme Brulee and White ink, CTMH Paper from Emporium and Key to my Heart packages, Sweetleaf and White Cardstock, Buttons from my stash, Clear transparency sheet, Prisma glitter, crystal bling, liquid glass, Glue pad and White sharpie

Close up of details on the flowers

Spring has arrived in Spokane or at least I hope it has. They are forcasting snow for sometime this week, oh I hope not! I am ready to see what my garden is going to look like as things start to wake up and hopefully I will find my passion for gardening again. It has been a long time since I have been excited about gardening, to long.

Many happenings of the week

The week started off with snow falling from the sky........hello, it is March! Isn't it suppose to be spring? I hope I didn't loose any of my lilies that were popping out of the ground!! I went out to do errands the day it snowed to find that the cold weather left my car not happy. It wouldn't start.......dead battery, so we thought. Husband gets home, goes to take a look and it starts right up..........hhmmmm, I think maybe I was suppose to stay home. I like it when God protects me this way.

The weather lifted Tuesday and brought a bright sunny sky. Almost blinding but beautiful just the same. I was able to steal away time to go pick up my new phone, which I have been needing to replace for months. I've enter the world of the Blackberry and it is taking time to get it all figured out. Bruce promises that once I get use to it, I will love it and not want to use anything else. Hope he is right, he usually is. Tuesday also lent itself to our oldest daugter Angela, deciding that she wants to stay in Nebraska instead of moving back to the Northwest. We are sad but happy that she has made the decision that is best for her. She is planning a visit for a couple of weeks, the month of September so that will give us something to look forward too.

This weekend is turning out to be full or at least Saturday is.

It will start by doing taxes, which I absolutely hate doing! "Anonymous" asked in a couple of posts down, why I would ever save my receipts for a year? My answer: My DH likes to be able to deduct sales tax so I do it for him. I don't total up what I spend on scrapbooking supplies very often but it does help to keep me honest about where I spend my money. This time it has made me take stock of what I have and made me REALLY want to use it.

We will also we opening up a new account at a credit union in town. It is time to be able to do our banking here where it is going to be a little easier to do things. I've been hesitate to change because we have been with our current financial place for 20 years, we know how things are run. Above all we trust them. I pray that this change will be good. The other reason to open a new account is the children need to have a place to put their money they want to earn this summer so this will lead to us getting their set up soon.

Speaking of children........the other BIG happening on Saturday is my son Ethen is going on his first group date. It is hard to believe and my mother's heart is doing a little stretching as I taken him to shop nice dress pants, fedora hat and then to get his hair cut. We must not forget sometype of flower. He wasn't going to get her anything after all they are only friends, I've been told. I encouraged him to at least give her a nice long stem rose, even if they are only friends. Friends deserve to feel special too. I think he is still as cute as ever and he can make my mother's heart melt! The very top photo was taken when he was just over a year old and next one, was this year's school photo.

I was also able to get some creating done so I will take photos and post those things next week. You can keep up with a few of my happenings over on Facebook, just be sure to tell me you are a blog friend so I will accept you as a friend.

This is what it's all about

I learned something again this week. I say again because I have been a mom for 23 years and in that time I have learned many things from my own children.

This past weekend I learned how my knowledge of creative things turned into a finished school project for my youngest daughter. I've helped with school projects before but not like this. I took a special Valentine class from Wilna last month and it was so much fun. One of the days she taught us how to make our own book and I was able to pass on the information to my daughter.

Her assignment was to write, illustrate and make her own children's story book. She did such a great job! All I had to do is get her started and let her go. The assignment wasn't due until Tuesday but she took it to school on Monday to show her friends. Let's just say that it was the talk of her class. One of the other things I found special in this project was her dedication.......

It just makes my heart swell with this wonderful love in knowing I've done something right in this world. In case you can't read it and because I don't know how upload my pictures so you can make the photo bigger: "I dedicate this children's book to my mother. She is an amazing woman and I honor her for all she had done. I thank her for all the help and support she's given me. She helped me find my passion."

It has taken me days to put my thoughts about this down into writing. As a mother you hope for the best for your children, you hope they make the right choices for their lives but most of all you hope they learn from you. Sometimes you never really know for sure if you are even noticed or if what you do or have done really makes that much of a difference? You question everything you have ever done in hopes of understanding what you might need to change. You wait for the times like this, like a teenage girl waits by the phone for a boy to call. Most of the time when it happens it catches you off guard, you find yourself humbled and speechless. That is where I have been the last few days.


When I was growing up I never really had a good relationship with my own mother, there were things that stood in the way of that. I have been able to take where I have come from and create a special bond with my children, while still being the mother that I needed to be. Not always loved, not always seeing eye to eye on things, not always seeming to be fair but when it comes down to it.......they come back with a little more willingness to understand.


Michaela, Your words mean the world to me. They make me so happy that I can't do anything but cry when I think of them. YOU are an amazing young lady! I am so happy God chose me as your Momma and to help you find your passion. I love you forever and always. XO

Overwhelmed

Yesterday was just one of those days! I made myself focus on things I can control, simple chores and trying to condense my scrapbook corner. See I made the mistake of totalling up how much I spent in scrapbook supplies last year.......ya, don't do that!! If you do, do everything you can to block it out of your mind. No, that doesn't mean go buy more supplies, it means use and reduce. I was able to return a few impulse purchases, which made me feel a little better. I am now tackling in my brain how I need to approach a scrapbook sale. I don't have a large amount of friends here in Spokane so it isn't like I can pass on things to them. Anyone have any ideas?

Materials: Basic Grey-Urban Prairie, Bo Bunny Clover Dot and DCWV Green Woodland Weave Background Paper, Bazzil Bling Cardstock, CTMH Chocolate ink, Chipboard letters, Glitter, Buttons, Diecuts

This is something I saw at my local scrapbook store last week. I just had to take the time to pick out some pretty paper and use the diecut machine. It was so much fun to put together and just brings a smile to my face. I cut a circle of chipboard and mounted everything on it.

Flowing Creativity

Sometimes creativity flows freely and other times it is hard to get there. Over the last year I have been in both places but I have learned something in this time. Creativity is more than fabric, paper, ink and stamps. I know hard thing to believe but it is true. I strive to create a beautiful living environment for my family by making meals, doing their laundry, and organizing. It has taken me years to come to a place where I don't have to be validated for what I do. I feel good about where I am and blessed. Not many women can say they have been able to be a stay at home mom for 23 years. I don't always love what I do but learning to love my creativity has changed me and shown me that I LOVE creating things for people, even if I don't a thank you. All I've done is applied my love for creating things to my everyday life. I do it because I like to make people happy so why not make my family happy too. I can only hope that someday when I need it the most I to will be blessed by someone even if that someone is part of my family.

Materials: White Daisy, Clover Meadow, Black, Desert Sand, Bazzil Brown and Red Cardstock; Chocolate ink; Prismacolor pencils; Odorless Mineral Spirits; House Mouse How sweet stamp, saying is retired from CTMH; Making Memories letter stickers, buttons and ribbon from my stash
This is one of the latest things I have created. I don't own this stamp but was able to rent it at my local stamp store. I've always loved house mouse stamps but haven't wanted to put the investment into them. When I saw this little guy it instantly reminded me of pictures of my Granddaughter taken last spring. Her face was priceless when I gave her the strawberry! I colored him with Prismacolor pencils, then with a small paint brush used Odorless mineral spirits over my colored area. This softens any lines you may have and gives it a totally finished look. The card is going to be sent to a dear friend that loves strawberries.

A bit of sharing

Valentine's Day weekend was a quiet beautiful and I even spent a little time creating! I sent my Valentine postcards, to his office starting the first few days of February and then tucked them other places too. It was so much fun to make sure that he knows that he is so loved. Valentine's Day itself brought to me a very special and creative Valentine. So what do you think? I think he did far better than flowers or chocolate! It took a lot of red food coloring and it got covered up by snow later in the morning but at least I got a picture!! In case you can't make out what it says...Bruce -N- Juel..........I sure love him! His hands were red and I think my weed sprayer will be showing signs of it for a long time to come.

To his lovey postcards I made him this special cup, which took me until last week to finish. It was a lot of fun! Just super time consuming. I used a tall Starbucks Christmas cup and made a holder out of it. Added some Basic Grey Bittersweet papers with embellishments and more mushy stuff on the backs of the cards.

Just over two weeks and my oldest Daughter Angela will be here. So very excited! I hope we all will get along living together, it has been a while! I'm working moving things around the garage to make room for her stuff. It feels good to come to a place where you can start to let go of a few more things that you don't need. I think I am going to be up for a garage sale or maybe just a blog sale? Hhhmmmm, I'll have to think about that one.

Do you know what happens....

when you drop your keys on your stairs to pick up an empty box to take to the garbage, then lock the door to the house, shutting said door behind you? Yep, you get locked out of your house. Now mind you, this wouldn't have been to bad however add into this mix, my husband being out of town for three days, not having new friends phone numbers programed into my cell phone, not having an extra key outside and forgetting to put a battery in outside garage door opener.

So I humbly gathered myself together and went to the church behind my house. Walked into the office and asked if there was any kind and wonderful soul who could run me out to my son's high school to pick up his house key. Thankfully their was an angel of mercy!

The one thing I think will never happen is........my beloved family will never let me forget this! Upon picking up my son's key from school, he made sure to point out to me in teasing tone which key was the house key.....oh my........at least I can laugh at myself!! At least it didn't effect anyone but me. I seem to remember two summer's ago when my Granddaugther locked my car door because I let her hold onto my keys! Again I had an angel of mercy!!

Lesson learned.......ALWAYS check for your keys BEFORE closing locked door and NEVER give your keys to Granddaughter on a HOT summer day!!!

For anyone's information

I don't drop off the face of the earth. I just get terribly busy and find myself doing other things besides blogging. Then why, oh why do I have a blog? The biggest thing is it helps me to get thoughts down somewhere besides my brain. It is a place where I can put pieces of my life that are important to me, even when they may not be important to anyone else.

I LOVE Valentine's Day!! Everything surrounding it, not the commercial end of it but the hearts, the romantic attmosphere that is in the air. Valentine's Day holds two very special things for me........One, I committed my life to the Lord Valentine's Day 1981~28 years ago. Two, the following year my heart made a serious commitment to the man I have been with ever since that day. I don't have any regrets, it is a wonderful ride!!

Have a wonderful day this weekend and if I can I will post somethings I have been working on.

Happy Happy Birthday

Today is my oldest daughter Angela's Birthday, she is 23!! I remember the day I was in the hospital with her, wondering what my life was going to be with her in my life. Wondering what she was going to become and realizing my life would never be the same.

I hope you had a terrific day and a great week, sweetheart! You have turned out to be a pretty awesome young women. Many blessings to you!!

Fabulous Finds

So one of the things I made my husband promise to purchase after we sold our house in Yakima, was a new bed. After all, I think that sleeping on the same bed for 10+ years it is time to make a change. Getting that man to go out and go shopping for a bed was so difficult!

When I asked was asked what I wanted to do a few weeks back I told him we needed to go shopping for our bed. It wasn't like I was going to be able to go and pick one out by myself. He was going to have to come along because I was not going to be held responsible for picking out something he couldn't sleep on. He sighed, said okay I guess we will go get a bed.

He didn't want to drive around to compare so we ended up going into the mall straight to Macy's, they were having a great sale. It took us two hours to finally figure out what we wanted, thankfully the kids were willing to go mall walking and stop at some of their favorite stores.

When they delivered the bed last Friday I knew I was going to have to go shopping or I would not be able to sleep in my new bed. The mattress is like 15" deep and when I sit on it, my toes can almost not touch the floor. My fabulous find was this whole set up at Target with exception to the large green pillow, which was found at TJ Max. I bought everything here plus 3 sets of sheets for under $200, yep all the bedding minus the pillows were on clearance! I have always wanted one of those Extreme Home makeover beds, with lots of pillows. I can't tell you how happy this makes me!

It is the most we have ever spent on a bed. There was some compromising that had to be agreed on......firm(for him) and pillow top(for me).........he would have liked the extra firm but it felt to much like I was sleeping on a board even with the pillow top. After months of not being able to sleep very well and waking up sore every morning, I'm starting to sleep. It is so wonderful to actually wake up happy. Now, if I can only get him to stop hogging the bed, leaving me with 8" to sleep on and don't even get me started on the snoring!

Thoughtful

Last week wasn't a good week for me. I spent all week sorting and organizing through digital photos on my computer. Which lead me to looking at photos of my Grand babies. A grief came over me and honestly it was hard for me to see the screen.

As I sat at my computer I listened to worship music and heard songs again that gave me a bit of hope. Crying and praying was all I could do as I looked at the beautiful faces I LOVE so very much! I realized again, that I am not in control of anything in my life or the lives of my children. God Himself is playing what I like to see as a symphony in my life and the lives of my children. As a parent I have responsibilities to care for them, love them when they fall and teach them where I can. However, if they choose to do something else I have to be okay with it. That is the way they learn and as the years have gone by it has become easier to Let Go and Let God. I'm thankful God is in control because honestly I don't want to be. My life is better when I just let him guide me to make the right decisions in everything.

So last week was this little man's birthday! I couldn't post my birthday wishes for him because I couldn't get them out, without tears. So today I want to wish 'The Little Bear' a belated Happy Birthday. I wish for you to be strong, to always bring joy to everyone's life that you touch. May the sparkle in your eyes always remain and be able to see the good in every situation as you grow strong. Always know that where ever you are Little Bear, your Granny loves you more!

As my heart is healing thoughts of Valentine's Day are coming into my mind. I LOVE Valentine's Day for a couple of reasons. It was the day I committed my life to the Lord and the day I knew I would love my DH forever. Both are the biggest decisions and most important that I have made in all my life. So this is the very reason I just have to take another wonderful class from Wilna! I LOVE her teaching style and the projects she puts together. Be sure to go check out her blog and she'll tell you how to sign up to come and enjoy in the fun.

NO School and more snowy weather!

So tomorrow marks the third day of no school for the kids. The weather just isn't being helpful. We were suppose to see a little bit of warming starting today but it is looking like a rain/snow mix. I'm happy that the school district is keeping the safety of the children at the top. With no side walks at this point in time, everyone is forced to walk in the road.

Our snowbanks are 8 feet high and most off all we are doing by hand with snow shovels. We NEED a snow blower!! No one to be found in Spokane or as far as Walla Walla....sigh. Snow shovels sell out as fast as they get in and if you need one you better be willing to stand in a long line to get it! The bottom photo is my son trying to climb up the snowbank....I think he is loosing! Snow level is 76" and counting.

I think tomorrow will be a good day to bake some cookies!!

Happy New Year!

So here we are a brand new start, at least that is how I like to look at it. A clean slate, all the bad whipped away, everything becomes new again.

This is year I have decided to followed Ali Edwards in picking one word that will be mine for the whole year. Ali shared this about the one little word concept on her blog and in her newsletter, "A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow. Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself? It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother's word or your spouse's word or your child's word - this is YOUR word. One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. And here's one thing that is totally interesting: sometimes a word will pop into your brain and it will not make any sense to you right now. Give it some time. Let it percolate a bit. I have often found that our hearts speak to us in very unique ways. Maybe this is a word you need to hear but just aren't ready for it yet. Again, be open to the possibilities."

The last two years my word was contentment. I will share sometime soon what that word has meant to me and the changes that have taken place in my life while having it a big part of my life. Today the first day of the new year I want to share my one little word for the year, moderation. Moderation in what I eat, the money I spend and what I spend it on, time on the internet and I'm sure there are many more things that will come to be added to this list. I will start with the small things that come to mind first. It is exciting but makes me nervous about what this one little word has in store for me.

What do you want for your New Year? Anything special goals you want to follow through with?