Scraps & Sass

Project Life Tuesday

2012-01-17T17:51:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd try to link up with Jessica Turner over at the Mom Creative today for her Project Life Tuesday. I think it is a good way to be accountable with my project life stuff.

So far, I have not accomplished a whole lot with my Project Life. I am arriving a bit late to the party. I saw a lot about PL from different sources, but I thought that it was completely outside the range of something I'd want to try. That was before I started seeing all of the Project Life supplies out there, I saw a bunch of terrific/inspiring layouts, and my daughter bought the PL Clementine kit and binder from Becky Higgins. Once I saw her opening the package, I was sold. I've gone back and forth about whether I wanted to do all digital, to do it traditionally or to do some sort of hybrid. Of course, being sort of a supply hoarder at heart, I can't pick just one. I am sure, in the long run, I'll stick with the digital version and be more likely to complete it that way, but there is something tactile and wonderful about slipping those perfect little cards into the page protectors that just screams out to me, so I have both as an option. I know that I'm not likely to print pictures out at home, or to send them to be printed weekly, but I figure that I can do it digitally, and then decide what pictures I do want to send to print and can do that on a monthly basis, getting the traditional pages ready without the photos at the time. Just typing that makes me laugh. I am so horrible with follow-through, I don't know how I'll even complete one version, much less two, but I am going to give it a shot.

Today I scanned in some items for digi pages to be completed in the next few days, and then I tucked them into my traditional pages. So far, I've just completed my digital "cover page" and I had fun putting it together. I know that I'm going to have to be better about reviewing my digital products to see what I have as far as embellishment, but I think once I get going, it will all be good. My digital cover...

The Tattered Pear - Sullen Seamstress1, Valorie Wibbens - Today paper, Today Journal Cards, Pocket Stuffers & Pockets No. 3, Lauren Reid - Hometown elements, TDC Shutterbug Collab - The Story of Us button, Ali Edwards - Hello Life stamps, Becky Higgins - Project Life Clementine digital kit

I'm looking forward to doing this, and I'm also excited that Jessica is going to do it as well. It will be interesting to see what she comes up with, and it will also be good to keep me on track.

Are you participating in Project Life? Are you doing digi or traditional??

Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday

2012-01-11T05:33:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my most recent faves on Pinterest.

Haha

Source: http://shop.krisatomic.com/product/chronic-bitchface-print via http://lovetorielizabeth.typepad.com

Love that wallpaper, the couch and the number 56.

Source: mochatini.org (no original source) via Paula Kesserling on Pinterest

There are no words to describe how I love this...

Source Saniapell.com via Brynn Zirkle Dukes on Pinterest

This I'm using for my One Little Word...

Source prettystuff.tumblr.com via Kristin Merritt on Pinterest

And of course there has to be something yummy

Source tastykitchen.com via Royanna Hohl Fritschmann on Pinterest

And a yummy of another kind. Funny and yummy...

Source: Handmaderyangosling.tumbler.com

Reminds me of something my mom said the other day.

Source: marathonsweetheart.com, via Kelly Agodon on Pinterest.

What have you pinned for me lately?

10 Things

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

10 Things

Shimelle hosts 10 Things on the 10th. Check her out. :)

Over at The Lily Pad, there is a discussion going on about stats and faves of 2011. You can check it out here. I normally wouldn't have thought about how many scrapbook layouts I did in any given year, but that thread got me thinking, and I had to go back and count them up. I accomplished more than I believed, largely because I was on a CT for a bit and got a bunch done for her massive product releases. It was a fun time. Anyway, I ended up completing 86 layouts. I was happy with that number because it was averaging more than 1 a week even though there were bursts of activity and big giant lulls when I did no scrapping whatsoever.

I thought I'd go back and post a ten of my favorite layouts from 2011.

1. This was one of my favorites because I seriously worked so very hard on this. It was for a challenge at Sweet Shoppe, and you had to include 25 words about yourself. It took me quite awhile to go through my digi stash and find enough words (that fit) and elements that were the right color (or could be re-colored).

2. I loved this because I created the stamp with the art quote. It is also a picture of a painting I did for my friend, Jerisha, for Christmas.

3. A fun picture of my daughter and her friend Amy. I love the colors and the viewmaster reel.

4. A funky layout (I believe it was a scraplift challenge) of our dog, Bobby. I loved the unserious nature of it.

5. I loved the kit I used in this layout. I also loved the picture, and I liked how it all came together. I ended up posting this for a challenge at TLP, only to have it deleted because the kit was from Oscraps. Oops. I re-did it using TLP products for the challenge, but still like how this one turned out.

6. I loved this picture of little mister wiping ice cream off his mom's face. I also loved loved loved this kit from Dani Mogstad.

7. The pictures of Tim and I are few and far between. It isn't the best picture, but I liked it anyway, and I love having a layout of the two of us.

8. This is a layout I did during a speed scrap at Sweet Shoppe on National Scrapbooking day in May. This is my nephew, Lucian, and it is rare to catch him smiling, so I loved this layout.

9. I love Sara Gleason's templates (Zinnia and Swallowtails), and this is one of those weird layouts that just sort of happened without planning, and I really loved the funkiness of it all.

10. I am not a big fan of having my picture taken. I rarely create any layouts featuring myself, but this was for a speed scrap, and I like how it turned out. I love the painty stuff, the sequins and the stitching.

Have you picked out your favorite layouts/projects of the year? If not, why haven't you? It is kind of fun to go back over and see what you did, if your style changed over the course of 12 months and/or what you documented.

Meal Planning Monday

2012-01-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

Toward the end of last September, I put together a menu plan for the entire remaining days of the year. For the most part, we stuck to it. There were a couple of glitches and a couple of times we went off the rails, but kind of amazingly, we made it through with fairly little effort. So far this year, I have been out of the menu-planning frame of mind, but now I realize I need to get back into the swing of things. I am going to start small, with just this week and a theme of comfort food, and then after the big birthday shindig on Sunday, I will have greater mental capacity for planning further out.

Cottage Pie: pic from MarthaStewart.com

Monday: Cottage Pie

Tuesday: Pork Carnitas

Wednesday: Chicken Caesar Salad

Thursday: Homemade mac & cheese

Friday: Out

Saturday: Spaghetti

Sunday: party food

What do you have on the menu this month?

Crafty McCrafterson

2012-01-08T20:43:00.000-08:00

I love getting crafty, but I don't seem to do it very often. Yesterday, I had the prime opportunity to get my craft on because my DD was going to go to Oregon to visit her 4-year old half brother Bo (and new baby brother Robbie), and she needed help with Bo's present.

It seems the sweet little angel boy told his parents that he wanted a "wish box" for Christmas. He wanted a wish box so he could put all of his "secret wishes inside and pretend they came true"... after hearing that, Jessica was bound and determined to get him a wish box. Of course her working full time and having a wee small child doesn't lend itself to a lot of time to spend crafting. So I got involved, and a wish box was created.

I was excited to get a chance to use my new Silhouette Cameo that Tim got me for Christmas. :D I cut out the "wish" wordart on the Cameo, and just used a couple of pieces of old Cosmo Cricket paper I had in the craft room. I cut it to fit the plain recipe card box, gave it a little brown paint around the edges, and then put some Martha Stewart glitter on the inside of the lid. Bo is probably not allowed to have glitter in his daily life. His dad is a total conservative man's man and won't put up with anything remotely girly, but how can you have a wish box without glitter?

This morning, I found a template and put together a little book for him to tuck inside the wish box. It was just a piece of cardboard, scored and folded. I put the Cosmo Cricket scraps of paper on the outside and then took a stack of paper lunch bags, cut the pages to fit, sewed a seam down the middle of the stack and then glued the front and back page into the book. A "manly" wish box if I've ever seen one.

I'm wishing I would have painted the inside of the box brown, but I was running out of time and paint and just opted to leave it alone. A four year old can't be that picky, can they?

So that was sort of a fun little craft project for the day, and I used up a few old supplies. I loved that paper so I never used it before, but I only had two sheets, and I don't know what I would have ended up using it with, so I thought it would work well. I hope he likes it.

Simple Scraps Saturday

2012-01-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

Back when I first started scrapping, I thought that templates were lame. Now, I have come to embrace them and use them when I'm feeling a little mojo-less. I like the fact that you can totally make them your own if you are feeling up to it.

The Lily Pad has a bunch of great template designers who stock the shop with lots of fun stuff. One TLP designer I really like right now is Amy Martin. She leaves a lot of white space and freedom to do a lot with her templates. She just recently put out a call for people to use her template and possibly get their layout published. I was not selected, but it was lots of fun to play around with the template anyway. Here are two different layouts I did with the same template.

I used the same template and even some of the same elements, but ended up with two totally different feelings on the layouts. I love that you can turn them, flip them, even shrink them down or expand them if you want. So many different things you can do to give yourself a new perspective.

What about you? Do you use templates? If so, do you change them much or stick with what was pretty close to the original?

Friday Favorites: Movies/TV

2012-01-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I commented on how we don't get out of the house much. Even if we do go out and do something, you can pretty much bet on the fact that it isn't going to see a movie. I don't know what it is, but Tim just really doesn't like movies much. I secretly think it is because it is dark and cozy and he's afraid of falling asleep (which he has done before) and never living to hear the end of it. :)

Every once in a while, I threaten him with seeing a movie. I'll see a preview on tv and really want to go, so I tell him I'm going to make him take me. It usually never happens. Prior to the past couple of months, Jessica worked in the evenings, so we had Kennedy and could never go to a movie. But now she's working decent hours and we *could go* but don't. :p

Thank goodness for Netflix and Redbox. Tim doesn't really like to watch movies at home either, but at least I can sneak in a few now and then if he out and out refuses. Two that I recently watched and really loved, I had also wanted to see in the theater but never did. They were both kind of sweet, feel-good movies that are maybe a tiny bit improbable as far as plot, but the characters are nice and it is a fun little story that leaves you with a smile and maybe even a little tug at the heartstrings. So if you haven't checked them out yet, you might want to think about these...

They are my current favorites. :)

We also started to watch a tv series on the indie channel called Portlandia. The second season starts tonight. It is an half-hour comedy series that is a bunch of little sketches about life in Portland. There are two main actors who appear in every sketch, and then they've had some great cameo appearances last season by Heather Graham, Kyle MacLachlan, Edie McClurg and Steve Buscemi. It is a little Friday night guilty pleasure.

It is a weird/quirky comedy that totally fits life in Portland, Oregon. It cracks us up because it is so true to characters you can run into in P-town. And Tim will actually watch it. *Gasp*

What have you seen that you can recommend?

Social Skills

2012-01-05T21:25:00.000-08:00

So today, I realized that I have no social life. Well, not much of one anyway. I have been planning on starting my first attempt at Project Life, but it dawned on me that I don't have much to document on a weekly basis. Pretty much all of my weeks are looking the same these days. The high point of my week is generally Thursday. I take little mister to the Little Gym and have some minor social interaction with the parents, kids and group leader. It is sad. I also have a weekly phone call with my Masters program mentor on Thursday afternoons. Another pathetic point to chalk up to a lame social life. Tim is pretty much a homebody, so we don't even do social things as a couple or with other couples/friends.

Then tonight, the *real* high point of my day/week was that I was able to participate in an online "speed scrap" with several other women. So now my social life consists of online activities, school and child-related functions. *sigh* But I did have to giggle because for the speed scrap, we had to pick bold patterned papers and have three different pictures. I ended up choosing pictures from the night that Shannon, Jessica, Amy and I had dinner together at Jimmy Mac's (back in August). I felt it was ironic to be participating in an online group and scrapping about one of the few social activities I've had in the past few months. :) I guess, looking back at the calendar, I have had other social activities, but times like tonight, they feel unfortunately few and far between.

Note to self for 2012: plan more social outings!

What about you? Do you get out a lot? Do you have a lot of friends or your significant other that you can go and do things with?

How Pinteresting

2012-01-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

So I ran across a blog The Vintage Apple that hosts an "Oh, How Pinteresting!" linkup, so I thought that I'd play along... since after the Christmas rush of crafting and cooking, I am doing nothing else with my 1700+ pins but collecting them.

Here are a few of my faves...

Have made these and can attest to the yumminess!

Reading List

2012-01-03T20:46:00.001-08:00

So one of the goals I have for 2012 is to read a book a week. I have done this in the past, and it never ceases to amaze me how many books there are out there to read and enjoy. Right now, I have a ton of books in my personal library, taking up a lot of psychic energy because they are yet to be read. So I hope to alleviate some of the mental anguish I get every time I pass by the shelves of unread books and/or see lists of upcoming “must-read” books.

A few on my list for the year are:

Threats by Amelia Gray
The Instructions by Adam Levin
Hot Pink by Adam Levin
The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Every Last One
1Q84
The Imperfectionists (I’ve tried to buy this three separate times on my Kindle so I really must *want* to read it)
The Night Circus
2666
and multiple others I can’t think of off of the top of my head (but I do have a list somewhere)

What about you? Is there anything you are dying to read this year? I’d love to know if there is something I’m missing that is too good to pass up.

Happiness Blog Hop: Boot Camp Perfect

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Happiness Blog Hop. This is hosted each month by Stephanie Medley-Rath at Scrapworthy Lives. You should be arriving from Melissa's Blog, but if not, feel free to jump in and then check out the other blogs in the hop.

This is the last month in this particular blog hop. I am sad to see this hop come to an end. It has been fun. I read the book either at the end of last year or very early on in this year (from the library), but I decided to buy it for my Kindle so I will have it as a constant reminder.

The theme for the month of December was Boot Camp Perfect. In the Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin tries to follow through with all of her resolutions in one month during the month of December. I didn't consciously set out to do that, but I think that, for the most part, I kept up with everything that I needed to, and accomplished most of what I set out to accomplish for the month. There were things that I let go, and even though I might have been disappointed in the time that I wasn't able to juggle everything, I know in the long run, it was better to leave some things unfinished rather than to try to get everything done on time and totally stress out about every little thing.

One of the main things during December, for us, is family. We don't have big families, but we always end up hosting every holiday meal at our house. Usually, there is stress involved, and this year was no different. But Tim and I did take a teeny bit of time out from the crazy holiday schedule to have a date night. We wouldn't have done it if left to our own devices, but Jessica was determined that we get out of the house and have a special night out. It made me think about the need to focus on marriage and our relationship and not get so caught up in the day to day busyness. We had a lovely dinner out at a restaurant we hadn't tried before, but it was one that actually recommended reservations. It had lots of nice reviews, so it was a good thing we made reservations because we ended up still having to wait for over a half an hour. It was just a dinner out, but it was really nice to get dressed up and to go out as adults and not have to worry about anything else for the evening.

The other day, I created a little scrapbook page as a reminder of our night out and a reminder that we need to do it more often. The journaling just talked about our night out and the fact that we forgot to get a picture of ourselves all dressed up, so we had to try and take one of ourselves right before we went to bed (thus the poor angle).

I hope to keep up with the ideas from the Happiness Project in the years ahead and incorporate other aspects into my life as well. There is always room for improvement and extra happiness.

Next up on the blog hop is Stephanie at Scrapworthy Lives (Stephanie, thank you so much for hosting and allowing me to be part of your Blog Hop!)

The full list of participants is below:
Kiss & Tell Scrapbooking
Melissa’s Blog
Scraps & Sass
Scrapworthy Lives
Slice of Life
Take a Picture and Remember This
This Kalil Life
Your Memory Connection

Hello 2012!

2012-01-01T21:21:00.000-08:00

Hello 2012!

I am very excited about the year ahead. I am also excited that we had a day filled with sunshine. It was chilly, but sunny. After several days of rain and wind, it was nice to have a little sunshine.

Today was a day for reflecting. Reflecting on goals, ideas, energy, resolutions, family, and One Little Word. My word for the year is going to be "attention." I am going to be exploring the word over the course of the year and participate in Ali Edwards' One Little Word class at Big Picture Classes. There are a lot of different aspects for me and my word. But for today, I was paying attention to family and intentions. I also paid attention to the weather and the sun causing a morning shadow in our front yard. Lots to think about. Lots to focus on and lots of competing things to juggle in paying attention. It is going to be a challenge.

This year, we're starting what I hope will become a new tradition. I printed out copies of these pages for myself, Jessica and Tim. I thought it would be a good idea to keep copies of these things (and other quizzes/surveys throughout the years) for the future generations. I also think it will be fun for us to look back on in the years ahead.

Another thing I'd like to try this year is some form of Project Life. Ali Edwards also does this on a regular basis (as do others). I know I can't keep up with a weekly project, but I figure I will do as much as I can and at least end up with something more than when I started. I downloaded Becky Higgins' digital version of the Clementine Project Life kit. I know even more that I wouldn't be able to print things out on a regular basis, so I'm going to do mostly digi and possibly some printing/hybrid on occasion. We'll see how it goes and how it will morph.

Do you have any resolutions for the year ahead? Do you choose "one little word" or have some other form of focus? Do you take part in Project Life, P365, P52 or some other documentation project?

I'm excited to get things down on paper and to start tackling these goals and ideas. I think it is going to be an amazing year, and it is great to get it started!

What are you looking forward to this year?

Happiness Blog Hop: Keep a Contented Heart!

2011-12-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

Arrrggghhh! I am late for posting today's hop entry because I apparently do not know how to accurately set the date/time feature for my posts. So sorry!!!!

Welcome to the Happiness Blog Hop hosted by Stephanie Medley-Rath (inspired by Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project). Today's theme is Keep a Contented Heart.

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is my favorite time of year. I'm sure it is that way for a lot of people. For me, it is my favorite because it seems like everyone is just a little happier -- a little more grateful -- maybe even a little more friendly. Maybe it is the beautiful decorations or happy Christmas music that plays at this time of year? These things can serve as reminders of happy times and help us shift our focus. Or maybe it is the December Daily, Journal Your Christmas, Elf on the Shelf, etc. activities. If you participate in these sorts of projects, you can find others who are just as excited about the season and can't help but feel like you are in the present and a little less focused on the external aspects.

Even though people definitely get stressed out about finding the perfect gift, not having enough money, fighting crowds in stores, getting overwhelmed by time commitments, dealing with family dramas or endless other issues, it still seems like there is an underlying tone of happiness. Or maybe that is wishful thinking on my part?

It is also the end of the year when we can reflect back on the memories of all of the months before. Each November, I end up freaking out a little because I realize all that I didn't accomplish that I wanted to in the year, but for some reason, in December, I start to marvel at all that has happened in the year and how we've made it through a little stronger, a little better, and sometimes a lot happier.

As an example... back in January I was able to spend six hours in Paris. Six hours. In Paris. Not much time at all, I know, but it was amazing and magical. It was a crazy whirlwind event and almost more trouble than it was worth (for most people), but it was a dream come true for me. I have been able to see and touch the Eiffel Tower (and take tons of pictures of it from almost every angle). I was in an abbey in England for ten days. I was *not* in a plane crash. I went to New York. I saw some of New Jersey. I earned my MFA. I saw so many of Little Mister's "firsts" this year, it makes my heart swell. We welcomed Conan to the family in April. Tim found out he had cancer. He had surgery and no longer has cancer. Then Kate (our Boston) got cancer, had surgery and is okay. We were able to look up some family history at Ellis Island. We also looked at some family history in Tim's family's old albums/papers. We finished renovating Tim's parents' house and sold that for them. Jessica got an amazing job opportunity and is doing so well in the new position; I'm so proud of her. I've written about 20,000 words of a novel. I started a second Masters program. I've taken several thousand pictures. We've completed a bunch of fun crafty projects. We discovered Pinterest and have tons more to do. So much has happened.

I know I cannot keep up with scrapbooking everything, and there are a lot of things I wouldn't scrapbook, but there are so many rich memories, it amazes me. How do you keep up with it all?

I just know that at this time of the year, I have a contented heart. Yes, I still get grumpy at times. Yes, I get frustrated by people and want to smack some of them upside their heads. Yes, I get caught up in family drama and frustration. But it is somehow tempered by the contentment and love and doesn't seem so horribly bad.

What does the holiday season or the end of the year do to you? Is your heart content?

Next up on the blog hop is Scrapworthy Lives

Below is the full list of links for participating blogs. Please check them out!
Fun Mama
Kiss & Tell Scrapbooking
Melissa’s Blog
Nihao, Cupcake!
Our Life with Spiky Potatoes
Scraps & Sass
Scrapworthy Lives
Slice of Life
Take a Picture and Remember This
This Kalil Life
Your Memory Connection

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-12-01T22:04:00.001-08:00

Tonight, I am definitely not feeling the holiday spirit. I guess that is the best time to shift my attitude.

I will remember this manifesto. Just reading it makes me smile.

It comes from Shimelle’s “Journal Your Christmas.” You should really sign up for the workshop (and it isn’t just for scrapbookers either). The best thing about it is, once you sign up, you are in… permanently. I can’t remember how many years ago I signed up, but it is always lots of fun. I never stick with it for the entire season (December 1 through January 6?), but this year, I’m not going to feel guilty about it. I will do what I can and that will be good enough. I’ve always tried to do Ali’s December Daily as well, and end up feeling like a failure because I don’t do it daily. But it is time to cast those doubts or feelings of failure aside and just have fun. Any little bit I do will be better than nothing. Don’t you think?

Today was definitely not very Christmas-y other than waking up to everything being white from frost… and boy it was super cold.

Kennedy and I went to the Little Gym this morning, and he amazed the instructor with his ‘forward rolls’ and strength. He can just do them one after another. He was also hanging from the uneven parallel bars today and then would just drop without a care in the world. So much fun. Once we got home, we got into our typical daily routine. After Jessica got home, I started dinner and then Tim called and said there’d been an accident with the train. The train in front of his had hit someone. So totally depressing. I had to drive to Kent to pick him up so he didn’t have to wait for hours while they did the investigation. We didn’t end up getting home until about 7:30. The only thing holiday related was the fact that UPS dropped off a couple of boxes at our house, and I finished up frosting the first trial batch of cookies.

Yay! Welcome, December. Let’s get this party started!

10 Things: Family Traditions

2011-11-10T11:45:00.001-08:00

It is the tenth of the month, and that means, a big group of people share ten things... they can be ten of anything. Shimelle started this fun project, and you can check out her post as well as many others here.

It seems that we have been on a streak of bad luck lately. I've been trying to just get through one day at a time, so I've been a little scattered and not keeping up with my blogging. Ugh. I figured that this was a good opportunity to be grateful for the happy things we do have. Growing up, my family did not have a whole lot of traditions, which I think is kind of weird. We have an unusual family, so I guess it is just the way that it is. I've always been one that has craved traditions and always on the lookout for something new to try. Here is a sample of our traditions...

10 Family Traditions:

Socks. My daughter, Jessica, is notorious for losing her socks. I am not sure how she does it, but she always runs out and ends up stealing mine. I have a weird thing with socks, and if they look grungy, I don't want to wear them. Unfortunately, she always makes them look grungy, so she ends up with mine as well as hers (that are lost). Every year, I end up buying her a package of socks for Christmas. It is now a running joke and sometimes she gets them for her birthday as well.
School supplies. We always shop for school supplies. It doesn't matter if anyone is going to school or not. We always stock up on cheap pens, pencils and composition books. It is a family rule.
Uncle Dan's. We always have "Uncle Dan's" dip for the holidays; really it is made on any holiday. It is just a garlic ranch dip packet that you find at the grocery store. Nothing mind-blowingly special, but it is a must for us. I'm not really sure how this started, but it is deeply entrenched in my family. Tim is learning to accept and love this tradition... lol. My grandma used to make the dip, and then my mom made it, and I even remember one holiday when I'd first moved out on my own, my mom was remarried and didn't make the dip. It was horrible for all of us. It seems silly, but that is one of *the only* traditions we really had, so it made a big difference to us when it was missed.
Thanksgiving Eve. We do not cook dinner on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We spend so much time and effort cooking on Thanksgiving (and usually prepping the day before), that we refuse to cook. We eat out that night and save ourselves the hassle.
Cooking two turkeys on Thanksgiving. This tradition started right after our first Thanksgiving together when we only made one turkey. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, we handle all of the shopping, cooking and cleaning and slave away for hours and hours in the kitchen, and then host both sides of the family. The first Thanksgiving, we did all of that, and he ended up giving away all of the turkey, so we had no leftovers. Seriously? There *HAVE TO BE* leftovers. Now it is two turkeys all of the time, and we always have leftovers. :)
Getting a u-cut Christmas tree. We almost always do this. It is fun to go out slogging through the muck to try to find the perfect tree. We usually have disagreements and/or debates about our selection, but in the end, almost every time, it is pretty unanimous.
Annual ornaments. When we were growing up, my mom bought us an ornament each year. She did that so when we left home, we'd have our own ornaments to take. My ex-stepdad threw my box away, but it was a great plan to begin. I started doing it with Jessica, when she was a baby, and I still buy her one each year. Sometimes I let her pick her own, and sometimes I don't. Either way, she still gets one each year. Now I plan to continue that tradition with Conan and Kennedy.
Educational toys. When I was growing up, we were pretty poor and didn't get a lot of toys. My uncle always got us an educational toy. I did the same for Jessica when she was little. I hope to continue that with the boys too.
Elf on the Shelf? This is not something we've ever done, so this will be a new family tradition, but I'm totally excited to start! I've seen so many cute ideas for this, and I think it would be so much fun. I don't know if he'll really understand it this year or if he is too young still, but we'll figure something out.
New Year's Eve. We are not big party people. Tim is kind of a homebody, so we don't go out or do anything fancy. We always stay in, make homemade fettucine alfredo (chicken in mine, seafood in his) and veg in front of the tv because there is usually some marathon of a show we watch. We don't really watch the countdown shows until the last couple of minutes. We are sooo boring. :D

Now I'm inspired to create a scrapbook layout about traditions. Have you done that before? Tips? Do you do them all at once or one at a time? What traditions do you have? Is there something you just can't go without or it wouldn't seem right?

Happiness Blog Hop: Paying Attention

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to November's Happiness Blog Hop hosted by Stephanie at Scrapworthy Lives. This is a take on Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. You should have arrived here from Pie for Breakfast. I've posted a list of the participating blogs a little bit further down if you get lost or want to start hopping. This month boasts the largest participation in the hop yet. There should be a lot of goodness in store if you want to check it out.

This month's theme is Paying Attention. I think that there are a lot of times that I am in hyper-attention mode. I think, as women and/or mothers, we tend to do that from time to time (or most of the time) just to accomplish everything that we need to accomplish. But have you ever noticed, that sometimes, when you are in hyper-attention mode, it actually makes you less productive? Or maybe not less productive, but your productivity ends up going in different directions because of where your attention is focused?

I had to laugh at myself because I always forget about posting for the hop until the last minute. I always have to write mine the evening before and set it to post on Monday morning because I can't be guaranteed to get up before 6. LOL. So this morning (Sunday), I vowed that I wouldn't forget, and I would get it done earlier in the day. Here I am, when everyone else went to bed, just remembering that I forgot to write my post earlier. The house is dark, I am tired, and I am cursing myself. LOL.

But today was a day that I did pay attention. Maybe not to the task at hand of composing a blog post, but found other things that caught my attention and I was thankful that they did.

My attention getters:

Kennedy has learned how to say "Kiki" because he loves the Fresh Beat Band
Kennedy has also learned how to say "uh oh" and will now say it about quite a lot of things (like dropping his crayons into the floor vents)
Realizing that there was a new Yo Gabba Gabba "live" episode on tonight that delighted Kennedy to no end as he danced straight through the entire show
A batch of old photos that I rifled through mid-morning and smiled at the memory of my grandpa (which triggered a memory of a dream I had about him the other night)
Our dog's behavior, which was slightly off today, which led to a vet visit and a diagnosis of a pulled muscle in her back. :( Luckily, the vet thinks she will be fine after several days rest
A small reflection in the dark upstairs bathroom that made me realize the toilet was leaking (ugh)
A strange noise in the kitchen, hours later, which made me realize that the toilet was STILL leaking and it had traveled across and down into the floor and through the kitchen ceiling
Being appreciative of all of the attention my dear husband was giving me today. He made crepes for breakfast and then risotto for dinner and was not cranky all day :)

So it might not be the most exciting or best-planned blog post for today, but it is what it is, and I'll try harder next time.

What is capturing your attention these days?

Next up is our hostess... Stephanie. Enjoy!

List of Blogs:
Fun Mama
Kiss & Tell Scrapbooking
Melissa’s Blog
Nihao, Cupcake!
Nuggets
Our Life with Spiky Potatoes
Pie for Breakfast
Scraps & Sass
Scrapworthy Lives
Scrap Your Life Slice of Life
Take a Picture and Remember This
This Kalil Life
1200 Some Miles
Scrapping Mojo
Your Memory Connection

Pretty Paper Party: Prompt 7

2011-10-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well, as I expected, I am not able to keep up with the prompt every day as I'd like, but at least I have been scrapping.

Sweet Shoppe Designs has a monthly portfolio challenge, where they post about 35 prompts/challenges with a range of point values you can earn if you keep up with them. At the end of the month, your points are tallied and you can earn up to 40% off one shopping trip (if you complete at least 30 points worth of challenges). I was able to do it once, and my daughter did it one time as well. It takes a lot out of you to do that many layouts in a month, but it is worth it if you have any sort of a wish list at the shop. :D Anyway, my wish list has built up again, so I'm trying to get to the 30 point range this month. I only have six more days, so I'm not sure if I will make it or not. I'm at 13 points right now, but I've been working on a calendar that will be worth another 10. If I can eek out a few more layouts, I might be able to pull it off. *crossing fingers*

Do you participate in any challenges (digi or otherwise)??

I was able to work in today's prompt from Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party. I started looking at Lisa Truesdell's layout and was absolutely in love with it. I wanted to use that/Shimelle's sketch as inspiration, so I started finding patterned papers and then I scrolled through the Sweet Shoppe challenges and found one about scrapping a photo that is at least 10 years old. Perfect.

Credits: Dani Mogstad- Birds of a Feather kit
Jenn Barrette - Mysterious and Spooky papers
Jenn Barrette - Happy Tape
Traci Reed - Bad Sewing Machine - stitches
Zoe Pearn - Alphabet Soup Boy - arrow
Scraplift inspiration - Shimelle / Lisa Truesdell

I love this picture and recently ran across it in a batch I'd scanned several years ago. It is a picture of my husband when he was in high school. He was on a tv show called "High School Bowl." Unbeknownst to him, I had tried calling the television station to see if they had an old copy of the show. Unfortunately, they didn't have archives that went back that far, so I couldn't track it down. I'm so glad that his mom had this picture though. They didn't have a lot of pictures from when they were growing up, so this is a rare treat. :D

Do you have any old old photos that you are dying to use in a layout? If so do you use them or scan them first and keep an original? Do you mix vintage photos with trendy scrapbooking supplies? So many things to think about with old photos. I really want to go back and find some old photos from when I was little and play around with those as well.

Anyway, that was my fun for the day. Now I'd better run and get some chores/errands done!

Write on Wednesday (on Sunday)

2011-10-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

I missed last week's Write on Wednesday prompt, but I just checked the site and found this week's up and ready to go, so I jumped on it while I had a chance.

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 20 - Write the words " I thought I saw" at the top of your page. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write the first words that come into your head after the prompt. Don't take you pen off the page (or fingers off the keyboard). Stop only when the buzzer rings! Do this exercise over and over if you wish. Write beyond 5 minutes if you like, you can link it up as an extra post.

If you want to play along, visit Write on Wednesdays.

So here is my take on it... (part of the ongoing story I'm playing with)

A short pudgy man in a plaid jacketwas having a disagreement with a tall thin man in wire-rimmed glasses and atweed sport coat. The crowd seemed tohave split around them, as if the men were forming a dividing line ofsorts. The circle of people had grownsince she'd last looked out the window. She still couldn't see any of the signs because no one was holding themup. All of the spectators were standingsolidly, signs resting in front of them, facing the two men in the center ofthe circle. Grey drizzle seeped from theclouds and misted everyone, but it didn’t seem to impact the crowd in theleast.

Pudgy man's comb-over was blowingin the afternoon's wind. It raised likea giant one-piece hair flap and would settle down once the gust had passed. Wire-rim kept pushing his glasses up on thebridge of his nose with his middle finger. Olivia wondered if the fact he was getting the finger was an irritationto Pudgy or if he even noticed.

Pudgy's face seemed to be turningred. Olivia couldn't tell if it was frombeing outside in the cold or from his internal combustion chamber ofanger. He pointed and gestured, hismouth opening and closing like a gasping fish. In normal circumstances, she might have smiled at the image or possiblyeven made a mental note about him to share with Matthew as an amusinganecdote. But not today.

Pretty Paper Party: Prompt 6

2011-10-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ironically, today's prompt from Shimelle is about the cross-over or hybridization of scrapbooking. We should be thinking about printing off something... but my printer is dead. As of yesterday. Well, technically the printer isn't dead. Just the ink cartridge. And not the color one, only the black. But the funky condition of this printer doesn't even allow you to print color when the black isn't working (I've been able to do that with past printers... assuming you pick a color that really doesn't require black). It figures that I'd run out of ink because I'm also in the middle of creating a canvas-based project for a friend of mine, and I need to print something out. Tim ran to the store to pick up some groceries for dinner, but unfortunately they didn't carry the brand of ink I needed, so I'm out of luck until tomorrow when I can run up to Target.

So today I'm just going to base my project off of one of Shimelle's sketches as a starting point. I opted to use a photo as a background instead of a paper to complete one of my portfolio challenges at Sweet Shoppe Designs. :)

Elements from Grateful by Jenn Barrette & Shawna Clingerman

Hope you have a terrific weekend and are able to do something creative!

Pretty Paper Party: Prompt 4

2011-10-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

So far, Shimelle's class has been very inspiring, and seeing all of the other scrapping projects has been making me want to get papers out and create something more traditional. I also ran across the Sketchy Thursdays blog, which was also making me want to make something.

Last night, I had dinner with my friend, Shannon, from The Giving Finch. She gave me a wonderful birthday gift full of goodies, which included some scrapbook paper. Yay! Lucky for me, it was paper that had stripes and dots, which was perfect for today's class prompt... to use stripes and dots and see what you can come up with.

To me, it wasn't much of a challenge as far as combining the two, because I love to use all sorts of different patterns, but it was a challenge to get back to paper scrapping. I decided to make a card because I really don't have a lot of embellishments or other things (besides paper) to really make the kind of layout I wanted, so I opted for a card version today, and I based it off of the sketch at Sketchy Thursdays. I'm not really feeling the love for this card at the moment, but I tried. LOL. Now I am thinking that I should have used bigger chunks of paper and layered them. But it is what it is. Now I might just have to make a scrapbook layout as well. :D

Papers from We R Memory Keepers; Stamps from Bo Bunny

Do you ever have a hard time going from one format to another (from scrapbook pages to cards or vice versa)?

Pretty Paper Party: Prompt 3

2011-10-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

Shimelle's class is lots of fun already. Today she shared a video where she busted her stash of patterned papers and created a bunch of different layouts.

I decided, since I focus mostly on digital, I'd just merge papers from different kits and use patterns and "scrap" pieces. I'm going to work on some traditional paper scrapping in the next few days *crossing fingers* to really get in and chop some of my papers up. But until then, I'm posting a digital layout based on a journaling challenge at The Lilypad.

Credits: Micheline Martin - Citrus Blast papers; The Tattered Pear - Something Wicked papers/elements;
Sahlin Studio - Kitschy Kitchen doily

I'm also working on putting together a mix of some of the older digi papers I've never used so I can create something fresh and new from them. Yay. It is fun to be excited about scrapping again!

Do you have a stash of old supplies you need to use? Wanna play along???

Pretty Paper Party: Prompt 2

2011-10-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today is the second day of Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party class. My daughter and I spent the majority of the day processing concord grapes from our back yard (the maniac bush that grew into the fruit trees) and canning 20 quarts of grape juice for little mister. I'm surprised that I was able to put together a layout today, but I did even if it is a little late. :)

Today's prompt was to start our page with a patterned paper.

For the first, I chose to use Micheline Martin's Bojangles kit. She had a lot of cute patterned papers in there, but I have been seeing the wood pattern used a lot lately, and I was totally in love with it, so I just had to use it. I wanted to keep the embellishments to a minimum to keep the photo as the focus. I'm not sure I'm in love with this layout, but at least I got something done. I did this as a layout for The Lilypad's October Challenges. If you complete a certain number of challenges during the month, you can get a discount coupon to use. This challenge was to use the word "window," so I found a picture we'd taken of the fall leaves from the car window.

Credits: Micheline Martin: Bojangles kit, Geek Chic alpha; Scraps & Sass chalkboard bubble

I did a second layout using different papers (Spookalicious Kit by Zoe Pearn). Which do you prefer?

Is there a particular patterned paper that you have been seeing other scrappers use that is calling to you? What is your favorite patterned paper right now?

Pretty Paper Party

2011-10-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday, and I'd like to think that Shimelle started this Pretty Paper Party class today, just for me, but alas... I can't take credit for it. My DD did make me some pretty pink frosting this morning, so now we're going to make cupcakes to go along with it. Yum!

I'm excited to be participating in Shimelle's newest class where it is all about pretty papers. In the past, I've been a sucker for good and/or pretty papers. I have quite a stash of them, and some I don't even want to use because they are so lovely, I'd hate to use them up. That is what I love about digital scrapping. Pretty papers, endless usage. :D

For the first prompt of the class, today's prompt was to use lots of strips of different papers. Here is a layout that use a lot of different patterned papers and was kind of fun to put together. I'm normally not that "into" geometric papers, but this kit just jumped out and grabbed me for some reason.


	Credits: "Epic" collab kit @ Oscraps: Biografitti, Paislee Press, and One Little Bird Designs; scraplift of "darling" by mlewis at The Lily Pad.

Do you love to use lots and lots of patterned papers? Do you have a favorite brand or type of paper? I always love to see what others are doing with their pages/projects. :D

I'm sure this is going to be a fun ~~class~~ party, and I'm excited to see what the rest of the prompts have in store. It's not too late if you want to join in the fun... just go to www.shimelle.com and find the class.

Happy Monday!

10 Things

2011-10-10T16:59:00.001-07:00

Shimelle started a wonderful tradition over at her blog, where she documents 10 Things on the 10th of each month. There are no other rules. Just 10 things. Hmmm. I always get so excited about the possibilities, that I end up flustered and can’t figure out how to narrow my ideas down to one topic (I tend to be that way on most things, unfortunately).

So this month, I decided that I would come up with a list of ten things that I want to blog about for future 10 Things posts. That will take away some of my own personal drama. LOL.

1. Favorite Holiday Traditions: Our family doesn’t have a lot of them, but I’d wager a guess that I could come up with ten that we currently have or add in a few that I’d like to incorporate in the future. Do you have any holiday traditions to share? It could be any holiday, really.
2. Favorite recipes: Since I’ve been ~~wasting~~ spending a lot of time on Pinterest, I’ve bookmarked quite a few recipes that I’d like to try. There are also several I have tried, so I could mix it up.
3. Good Causes: Toward the end of the year, I always receive so many requests for last-minute funds/donations to all sorts of worthy causes. One of these days, I’d like to pick some of my faves and write up a bit about each. Do you have specific causes you favor? Or volunteer activities that mean a lot to you?
4. Things That Have Been Inspiring Me: Again, Pinterest has a load of inspiration, but there are other sources of inspiration as well. Different music, videos, blogs, magazines, designers, artists, etc.
5. Music That Conjures Up Memories of My Dad: My dad and I were never very close, but it bothers me a lot more lately. He committed suicide three and a half years ago, and there is just a lot left hanging around in the corners of my mind. I have some songs on my playlist that always remind me of time spent with him when I was young. I’d like to explore that further.
6. Poems I Need to Write: Sometimes, I think I have too many ideas, and that is why I never get anything accomplished. If I listed out a bunch of my poem ideas, they’d be there, germinating, and I might be more inspired to complete them. Same goes for stories.
7. Good Books: I’ve read some great books in the past couple of years, yet anytime someone asks me about something good I’ve read, I can’t remember specific titles. I’d like to have a fun list of them to look back on in the future.
8. Letters to Grandbabies: Ali Edwards posts occasional letters to her kids. They are really wonderful, and they provide a great snapshot of what is going on in their everyday lives. I’d like to start creating those for Little Mister and Coco so I have them saved. Since I am saving those for future posts, I’ll just share a couple of quick scrap layouts of the boys.

9. Topics I’d Like to Learn More About: There are so many things I’d like to learn about, it isn’t even funny. Maybe if I sketched out a top-ten list of those, it would be easier to make the time to tackle a new topic every now and then.
10. Creative Projects I Want to Tackle: Like number nine above, there are tons and tons of creative projects I want to do at some point. Most of the time, I end up just creating a new scrapbooking page or something in lieu of starting a new creative project because I just freeze up when I think of all that I want to accomplish.
Ugh. Looking at this list makes me wish I didn’t need time to sleep. Life would be so much easier if science could solve that little issue for me.
What about you? Do you create lists for yourself? Do you have a to-do list that is a million miles long? How do you juggle everything you want to do and still maintain your sanity (and a reasonable sleeping schedule)?

Picture Postcards from LA–Write on Wednesday

2011-10-05T17:41:00.001-07:00

Write on Wednesday: Choose Your Own Adventure - Revisit an old prompt

For this week, I chose "Songbird" - Take a song and write the story behind the lyrics... not something inspired by the lyric, but the flesh and bones of the story.

I did this, but did not keep it to flash fiction, creating a short story instead.

Picture Postcards from LA (song by Joshua Kadison)

Rachel slid into the driver’s seat of her Jetta and smoothed her hands across her black slacks, hoping that they would remain wrinkle-free. She checked her rearview mirror, slid a pair of sunglasses over her green eyes, snapped her seatbelt and placed the key in the ignition. When the engine turned over, John Mellencamp blared over the speakers, assuring her that he was an American, and she smiled.

The sun toasted her skin through the sunroof as she headed down I-5 to Eddie's Shipwreck. With the gorgeous weather, she was hardly in the mood to go to work, but the desire to save money for a move to California provided the necessary incentive. She was tired of leading an empty life and thought that an acting career might just be the thing for her to feel fulfilled. But a move to LA would require serious money.

She’d been putting a lot into savings, but she still didn’t feel comfortable with the cushion she’d set aside. It was hard for her to determine whether that was reality or just fear of change.

Refusing to think about finances or slinging drinks for her last few minutes of freedom and sunshine, she cranked the volume dial to the right and sang her stress away until she reached the waterfront restaurant.

Rachel stepped through the heavy oak door into the lounge and immediately wrinkled her eyes into a squint to try to adjust to the dimness of the room. The sun still hovered along the slope of the horizon, but not much light made it through the small porthole-style windows in the nautical-themed bar. Dean looked up from his spot at the bar. He gave her a shy nod. She scanned the crowded area for an empty table. Not seeing one, she smiled. It was going to be a good night.

Crossing the scuffed wood floor, she stepped behind the glass wall at the back of the bar, shifted her focus and plucked her timecard out of its slot. The clock chugged as it stamped the manila card with a 6:52 in indigo ink. She replaced the card and shrugged out of her jacket. Undoing the top button on her white shirt, she repositioned 'the girls' in the demi-cup bra she’d purchased earlier in the day. Any advantage I can get will help. Rachel looked up and noticed Dean watching her through the glass. She poked her tongue out at him before smiling and shimmying for good measure. The tip of his ears reddened at his hairline. He down-shifted his eyes and rearranged the bottles of mixer in front of him. Rachel pressed her lips against the glass, leaving a red kiss for him between the Jack Daniels and Goldschlager.

Customers littered the small round tables throughout the bar. Blue votive candles in clear glass holders peeked between drink glasses and flicked light across navy blue linen tablecloths. Rachel wove her way through the tables, bustling liquor and hope to the businessmen and earning every tip. Being 32 with a 20-something figure and sunshine-good looks, she appreciated the fact that she didn’t need to work hard to receive a lot of tips; however knowing that did not deter her from providing great service.

By 11:30, most of the customers had cleared out, leaving a few hardcore regulars lining the bar and filling a couple of tables in front of the piano. Once Rachel fulfilled her drink orders, she made her way to the piano to take a break. Will acknowledged her approach and scooted to one side of the bench. He continued to play as she sat down next to him.

“Does it bother you to play for such a small crowd?” she whispered.

Will smiled. “Nope.”

His strong fingers skimmed the keys and moved with a fluid motion that appeared effortless.

“Do you want company tonight?” she asked, tracing the seam of his blue jeans.

“I thought you were giving me up,” he replied. “It’s been a several weeks now. Are you sure you want to fall off that wagon again?”

“Shut up,” she stated. “Do you have to be an ass?” Rachel smiled in spite of losing her resolve. Will was a known variable in her loneliness equation.

“Yes, yes I do. But the bigger question is why do you want to be with an ass?” he responded.

The truth of his question slapped her like a cold wet towel.

“You’re right, you know. Maybe I should find a good guy.”

“Like Dean?” Will asked, waiting for a reaction.

Rachel glanced at the bar and saw Dean staring at her. He looked away as soon as her eyes met his.

“Yes, like Dean. He’s kinda sweet. I’m sure he wouldn’t hassle me if I wanted to spend the night with him,” Rachel said.

“He’d probably drop dead on the spot if you told him that wanted to spend the night with him.” He lowered his voice. “It would be his dream come true and he wouldn’t know what to do.”

“You think so?” she questioned. “Do you think he dreams about me?”

Will finished one song and started another. “I’m sure he does. Most of the guys in here do. But Dean is too nice. You wouldn’t be able to stay with a guy like him. You need one with a little edge.”

“Oh right. A guy with an edge? Hmm…” she twirled her hair around her finger. “Like you?” she asked.

“Yep. Just like me.

She fought her sudden annoyance that he would assume she needed someone like him. But she watched his fingers trail across the ivory and recalled, in vivid detail, each stroke he made on her body the last time they’d been together. A chill ran down her spine.

“But guys like you don’t want a girl like me… at least not on a full-time basis. Remember?”

“That’s not exactly true,” Will said.

“True enough,” Rachel replied. She had spent the last several months trying to figure out why he didn’t want to be with her for more than a repeat one-night stand. The sudden disgust with herself over that pathetic question hastened her decision to get away.

“Hey. Is this the month you’re leaving for Los Angeles to start your acting career?” Will asked.

“Nice change of subject, William,” she quipped, feeling as if he had just read her mind. She fiddled with the extra sheet music while he continued to play. “I’m not sure yet. But I think that I’ll be around for a little while. That’s not going to freak you out now, is it?”

“Me? Freak out?” Will asked.

He’ll never change. Rachel patted his leg, thankful that she didn’t have serious feelings for him. "Don't worry. I'll be leaving soon enough, and I'll send you a postcard from LA."

Jake, one of the regulars, strolled over to the piano, interrupting the repartee by placing three crumpled dollar bills in Will’s jar.

“Hey Rachel… will you sing us a song?” Jake asked.

She blushed and smiled.

“I don’t know about that,” she said, feigning modesty.

Will bumped her with his arm.

“C’mon… you know you’ve been waiting for someone to ask,” Will said.

Rachel stood and curtsied before taking her place in front of the piano.

“Come Away with Me?” she suggested to Will.

He began and she straightened her outfit before starting to sing the Norah Jones tune. The room fell silent. She continued to croon to the regulars and smiled as she measured their reactions. Tips would be plentiful this evening; the trip to California might happen sooner than she expected.

Her eyes met Dean’s across the bar and he actually held her gaze for longer than a seconds. I could be with a nice guy. I could deal with that. In fact, maybe if I had a nice guy in my life, I might stick around.

She finished her song to a rousing round of applause and took a bow. Dean waved a drink in the air and set it on the bar with a napkin. She walked to the bar and picked up the glass. The drink was just the way she liked it.

Rachel leaned across the bar, clasping the glass in her hands, mere inches from Dean’s waist.

“Hiya, handsome. Thanks for the drink. You are just too sweet for words.”

Dean took a step back, creating a small amount of space between him and Rachel’s hands.

She leaned forward another inch, pressing her arms together and highlighting her cleavage. Her action did not go unnoticed; Dean’s eyes flickered toward the deep ‘v’ of her shirt.

“Uh, you’re welcome. You have a great voice,” Dean wiped at an imaginary spot with a damp bar towel.

“You’re going to rub a hole into the counter,” Rachel teased.

Dean paused.

“So… are you having a good night?” she asked.

“Yeah, things are going pretty well for a Thursday,” he said.

“Yeah, for me too.”

Rachel sat on the barstool and nursed her drink. Dean moved across to serve a customer another round. She admired him as he worked. He wore a light blue shirt that stretched across his broad shoulders and tapered into the waist of his jeans. His strong forearms moved smoothly as he grabbed glasses and bottles and created drinks with precision. He had short brown hair that looked like it was mid-point between cuts and one small piece fell above his eyebrow. His soft brown eyes were framed with thick lashes that looked almost girlish. Dean had Hollywood looks and a sweet personality – a dangerous combination.

Her mind whirled around and around. She imagined him slowly undressing… then feeling his strong body entwined with hers. She could picture him in the morning, looking rumpled as the sunshine streamed through her bedroom window. She could see him bringing her flowers for no reason, cooking for her when she was sick, meeting her parents, relaxing in front of the fire while she rubbed his back, playing frisbee in the park with a dog, carrying a toddler on his shoulders, and growing old.

Dean turned and caught Rachel staring at him. He smiled.

“What?” he asked.

It was her turn to be embarrassed.

“I was just wondering if you ever thought about acting?”

“Uh, no,” he said. “Why do you ask?” He started slicing lemons with a small paring knife.

“No real reason,” she answered. “You just have the looks for it, that’s all.”

“Aren’t you going to try to get into acting?” he asked. “I’d heard that you were getting ready to head to LA.”

She suddenly felt foolish and superficial. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I haven’t really decided yet.”

“What’s holding you back?”

She twirled the last bit of liquid in her glass.

“The truth?” she asked, not quite sure if she was ready to give it.

“I am a bartender,” Dean smiled. “You know that everyone tells their bartender the truth.” He winked at her and dried his hands on a clean white towel.

“I’m not sure if it is really what I want, or if I’m just bored,” she admitted. Her face flushed with a slight hint of pink. “That’s the first time I said that out loud.”

“Oh,” he said. He folded his hands together and leaned his elbows on the counter. “Will said that it was a sure thing and that you had already started to pack.”

“I think he was exaggerating,” she replied. “I have no real plan or timeline yet.”

“Oh,” Dean said again.

“What?”

He gave her a knowing smile. “I guess Will was just trying to make sure I wasn’t going to pursue you.”

Rachel raised her eyebrows. “You had thought about it?” she asked.

“I had thought about it. Probably only once… or twice… or fifty times,” he replied.

“So he scared you off?” she hid her sudden disappointment.

He paused. “Only temporarily, I guess.”

She looked up at him.

“Would you like to get breakfast after your shift? I know this little diner that serves great food,” Dean took Rachel’s glass and rinsed it.

“Sure,” she said, smiling.

She got up from the stool and headed back to tend her tables with a genuine smile on her face and a mental note to unpack the boxes in her spare bedroom.

Pursue a Passion: Happiness Project Blog-Hop

2011-10-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to October's Happiness Blog Hop hosted by Scrapworthy Lives. If you are participating in the hop, you should have arrived from Take a Picture and Remember This. If not, feel free to scroll down and check out the links of other participants.

This month's topic is "Pursue a Passion"... what is your passion? Are you in pursuit of that passion? Or are you on the path of another interest that doesn't quite reach the passion stage? Or worse, are you just going through the motions to get things done and have no passion for them? Do you ever feel like you have too many passions at any given time?

That is how I am feeling lately. I think I have passion ADD. Or maybe it is the fact that I don't focus and/or pursue any one passion for a sustained length of time because something always gets in the way? In the process of writing this post, I even kept changing my mind on what my passions were/are: writing (all types), scrapbooking, art, crafts, music, photography, spending time with Kennedy, travel, psychology/philosophy/spiritual development, internet surfing, time with friends/family, education (formal and informal), social issues/politics, creativity, cooking (as I type this my fingers are tinged blue-ish from canning grape juice), reading, and the list could go on and on. How can I just pick one (or even two or three)?

What hit me while thinking about all of my passions is the fact that there is one over-arching theme. I love to learn and do new things. I love knowledge. Over the past couple of weeks, during the day when I've had a few minutes of free time, I've been trying to become more organized and clear away some of the clutter in the house. One of the things I realized, is that I also crave knowledge.

I have so many books and magazines, it is completely ridiculous. I have tons upon tons of craft/art supplies for all different sorts of pursuits. And then I have so many bookmarks on my computer, so much info on my hard drive, and various class materials here and there, it is just really evident to me lately that I just want to hoard knowledge and learn as much as humanly possible. That is my biggest passion, and I am passionate about learning as much as I can to make my life full and rich.

Whew... maybe, as they say in 12-step programs, that admitting it is the first step? Maybe this admission and realization will help me to handle the pursuit of my passion without constant frustration? Let's hope! :)

Here is a funky layout I created to express some of these thoughts.


Credits: Paislee Press - Photobooth kit; Dani Mogstad - buttons; Michelle Ward - head; Gypsy Couture - necklace, crown, gear, note; Sara Gleason - template (modified); http://www.shimelle.com/paper/1245/scrapbooking-starting-point/

Next up is Pie for Breakfast. Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to visit all of the other blogs and share passions galore, but before you go, leave a comment and let me know what you are passionate about today!

Blog Hop Participants...

My Creative Days in Beijing
Kiss & Tell Scrapbooking
Your Memory Connection
Slice of Life
Take a Picture and Remember This
Scraps & Sass
Next stop... --> Pie for Breakfast
Scrapworthy Lives

Simple Things Sunday

2011-09-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

It isn't a fabulous picture, but it was a simple pleasure to watch Kate rest and recuperate on her big red pillow after cancer surgery. :) It has been a struggle to keep her from scratching, to keep her and Bobby from rough-housing, and to keep Little Mister from trying to touch her incision, but I'm just glad she's recovering well and crossing fingers that she will be okay.

My Photo Book Sep 19 2011

2011-09-20T16:14:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

10 Things

2011-09-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

Shimelle hosts 10 on the 10th. Check her out. :) I totally have a girl/creative crush on Shimelle. Okay, so now that I seem to be a crazy person, I'm just going to go ahead with my list.

10 Things that are currently making me happy...

1. Tim's post-surgery follow-up went well and he is cancer free! There is just not gratitude enough for such wonderful news! I am looking forward to life getting back to normal later this month (fingers crossed).

2. Today is his birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, dear Timbie!

3. The Puyallup Fair started yesterday. This, for the most part does not make me happy because we live 6 blocks away and have to deal with parking issues for the next three weeks, but I am looking forward to going to the fair next week and taking Kennedy to see the animals and other fun stuff.

4. Kenny & Zuke's - Portland: in honor of Tim's birthday, we are going to go to Portland for an overnight trip. We found this great deli the last time we were there, so we are looking forward to going back. They have THE BEST sandwiches. They also have great breakfast options with a fresh bagel available instead of toast.

5. A trip to Powell's. No trip to Portland would be complete without a trip to Powell's books. I have to practice restraint when I go, but just wandering through the stacks of books makes me smile.

6. McMenamins - In Portland, we'll be staying at the Crystal Hotel, which is one of the McMenamins properties. We stayed at the Kennedy School last time, so we are looking forward to seeing this one. Their hotels are quirky and artsy, so it is always interesting.

7-9. Artfest 2012!!! I just registered for next year's Artfest and am totally excited. I was nervous because you are never guaranteed that you will get the classes you want, and it is a lot of money for not getting a guarantee. But I lucked out and got my first three choices. Now I am totally excited and can't wait until spring. Ugh. Seems like such a long wait. But I get to take a class with Michael DeMeng, Andrea Matus and Jesse Reno! Totally psyched. This is my graduation gift to myself. :)

10. Fall is in the air. It is that time for back-to-school, and I am always energized at this time of the year. I don't know if it is the idea of school starting, the freshness in the air, canning food (we just preserved 15 jars of pickles and are getting ready for tomato sauce), the fair, or what, but I am a big fan of fall. Last night, in our back yard, you could hear the cheering crowds from the high school football stadium (several blocks away) which totally brought back tons of memories, and there is just nothing quite like the feeling of September. Soon it will be time for the pumpkin patch and then, before we know it, the holiday season will be approaching. Sigh. It is time to get organized!

What is making you happy right now???

Contemplating the Heavens

2011-09-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this month's Blog Hop hosted by Scrapworthy Lives. If you are participating in the blog hop, you should have arrived from Pie for Breakfast. If not, you can always go back to Scrapworthy Lives to start the hop. :)

This month's topic is Contemplating the Heavens based on Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun." This is an odd topic for me, and I'm not really sure how to tackle it. It has been a long time since I've read The Happiness Project, so I don't really remember what Gretchen Rubin had to say about the subject either.

For me, a not-religious person, I struggle with this issue every week it seems. In the past months (and mostly the last week), I have thought a lot about these things. I think anytime a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, it is natural to think about faith, death, and the heavens. When Tim went in for surgery on Wednesday, I just kept asking the universe to "keep him safe." And while I'm not religious, I operate from a place of gratitude, and am so thankful that he was safe and hopefully will be healing soon.

My father-in-law is one of the most deeply religious people I've ever met (and my mother-in-law as well). Al is a retired minister, and until recently, he and Gladys spent nearly every day at their church, involved in some activity or another. The thing I really love about them is that, as deeply religious as they are, they never pound you over the head with their beliefs or try to tell you what to think. They are the epitome of my belief of true Christians. They don't look down on people who don't believe exactly as they do. They are accepting of other religions. They have compassion. They worry about those less fortunate than they are. They operate from a place of true love. They are amazing. And while I am not a religious person, I am a spiritual person, and on that level we connect.

I feel very fortunate in the fact that my father-in-law actually performed our wedding ceremony. He came out of retirement to marry us, and it made things even more special. I still haven't scrapped the pictures from our wedding, but I absolutely loved the one of my in-laws. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

Al & Gladys at the reception

Next stop on the Blog Hop is... Take a Picture and Remember This

If you would like to go back and see all participants, I've posted the full list below.

Scrapworthy Lives
Pie for Breakfast
Scraps & Sass
Take a Picture and Remember This
1200 Some Miles
Slice of Life Abstracts
Mixed with Extracts
Your Memory Connection
Kiss & Tell Scrapbooking
My Creative Days in Beijing
Melissa’s Blog

Thanks for stopping by.

Simple Things Sunday

2011-09-04T04:00:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Cooper has an ongoing project where she focuses on "the simple things" in life and captures one of the week's simple moments on camera. Click the button below if you would like to participate as well. This is my first time taking part in this project, but I thought that it was a fun thing to do and a good opportunity for some gratitude over the simple things we often take for granted (like good health).

Emily and Conan came over from Walla Walla to be at the house when Tim had surgery. It was a relief to have him home 24 hours after he went into surgery. I think part of that is due to the fact that he has always been in fairly good health. Now he's off work for a month of recovery. He is feeling pretty good, and hopefully things will just improve from here. It was great to have two out of the three kids home and both grandbabies at the house. I think it really helped Tim's mood.
What are the simple things in life that make you happy?

Scrap Saturday: A Month in Photos

2011-09-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today I spent some time uploading pics from August and July to Flickr. Frustrating because it wouldn't work as planned, but I think I finally got them uploaded. Now I need to burn them onto CDs. This is the first month (in a long time) that I actually printed a big batch of 200 photos. I made some enlargements for family and then printed a bunch of our NY photos for a future mini album (?).

I ran across a blog "Simple as That" by Rebecca Cooper, and she had a great freebie template available for download for compiling some 'month of' photos. So I thought I'd take the opportunity to post the template and use this as a starting point for 'things to scrap' in the near future. It was a great month. :)

Template courtesy of Rebecca Cooper of Simple as That

From top left:

Mom and Matt at Jessica's birthday dinner
Lucian
Great great uncle Jack and Kennedy
Statue of Liberty
New York skyline from our hotel in Jersey
Jessica and Kennedy smooching
Coney Island
Conan and Grumpa (the day before surgery)
Shannon and Jessica
MFA graduation at FDU (yay!)
Emily

There was so much more to capture, but this is at least a start. :D

How do you archive your photos? Do you keep them in multiple places (cd, online, hard drive, etc.)? Do you print all of your photos? I'd love some helpful tips/ideas on what to do with all of mine before my external hard drive gets full. :p

List 1

2011-09-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in 30 Days of Lists (see sidebar). The first list of the month is...

I'm already starting off behind... but at least keeping up with lists is fairly easy.

Tim had surgery yesterday, so today was a day of hospital discharge and getting settled at home. I am thankful that things went smoothly and he is feeling pretty good in spite of having a 4 hour surgery. Yay!

Five for Friday

2011-08-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Since life has been a little on the crazy side lately, I haven't been posting much. I thought that I would try to start a more regular topic/posting schedule and see how it works.

Fridays, for the time being, will be Five for Friday... a list of five things that I'm enjoying right now because I think a focus on the positives or happy things can always be good. If you want to share something you are enjoying, please do so!

Five for Friday:

Nacho Libre - I am not the biggest fan of Jack Black, but I fell in love with this movie, much to the chagrin of my family. Late the other night, it was on, so I recorded it (even though I own the DVD). I started to watch the first few minutes last night, and it just made me smile. It is silly and charming. If you haven't seen it, I suggest giving it a shot.
School Supplies - I love going through the ads in the Sunday paper. But when the school supplies start lining the pages, I get a rush. I LOVE school supplies. Binders, index cards, pens, composition books... just wonderful. Wednesday, after the gym, we made our first visit to Staples to get some $.01 notebooks for Little Mister (so he could scribble to his heart's content). I ended up with two bags of supplies. The craziest thing is that I already have a closet full of supplies, a few tubs and a desk loaded with them. But I just cannot resist them. :)
Bossypants by Tina Fey - This book totally cracked me up. I occasionally saw SNL when she was on Weekend Update, but I've never watched 30 Rock, so I didn't think it would be a book I'd be interested in until I read an excerpt. I ended up getting it on Kindle. There were times, I'd be reading it, and I would laugh so hard I'd start to cry. She is so freakin' funny. I was sadly disappointed when it ended. Read it if you want to laugh.
PaperCoterie.com - Ali Edwards wrote a blog post about this online shop a couple of weeks ago. I placed an order for one of their Memory Keepers. It is a wonderful box (you upload the design yourself) that is 9 x 13 x 2" (hinged on the left side with fabric). It arrived yesterday, and I am totally in love with it. I can't wait to get another. You can see the picture of it below.
My daughter, Jessica - Today is Jessica's 23rd birthday. She was born at 11:57 pm, and I remember the nurse telling me to hurry up and push so she wouldn't have to wait another day for her birthday. I still can't believe she is getting so old. She's starting a new job (promotion) and I'm so proud of her for doing it all. She's going to school, working full time, and being everything to everyone. She is turning into such a strong woman, and I love the fact that I get to spend so much time with her. Happy Birthday to my sweet girl.

Memory Keeper from PaperCoterie.com

What are you enjoying this week?

Take a Walk - Write on Wednesday

2011-08-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 11 - Take a Walk: "Come back home and write what you encountered. Try to write so that your sentences feel the way the walking felt." Let's toss the 5 minute sprint aside this week and instead take a lingering stroll through our exercise. Participants are encouraged to write a first draft (the point being to get it out on the page), then to go through and edit their piece before posting. We're aiming to get from one place to another, taking the reader with us - economically, gracefully, elegantly. If you want to play along, checkout inkpaperpen at the link above.

So I didn't really get to do much in the way of revising/second draft work because I am on Day 4 of a headache, but I wanted to get something out. I muddled through, and it feels as thick as my head. LOL.

---------------------------------

The sun drifted above the horizon line, dragging pink entrails behind it across the black-blue morning sky. The subway ride had allowed Olivia a slice of much-welcomed quiet time. Since she was on the F train going against the flow of commuter traffic, she had an entire car to herself. It would be a few hours at least before families lugging beach gear and picnic baskets would be making the trek in her direction. She watched the alphabet pass as Brooklyn stations until she reached the end of the line.

At the last stop, she crossed the street and walked the long block to the boardwalk. The sun seemed to free itself from the clouds and was easing into the sky. Aside from a thin man in a dirty blue track suit who was checking the garbage for recyclables, and an occasional jogger, Olivia was surprised to discover that the strip was mostly deserted. She had intended to use the boardwalk for her morning run, but then changed her mind and decided to walk it instead; she wanted to soak in her surroundings. It wasn't every day she got a chance to experience Coney Island while it was still asleep.

The shack known as Beer Island had its wooden windows pulled down and locked tight over an impressive array of bottles and neon signs that were normally on display. The green and white striped awning at Nathan's on the boardwalk slapped softly in the breeze, but there wasn't any movement inside. The deep silver bowls of the cotton candy machines were at rest. The Cyclone sat stoically as a backdrop for a section of amusement park rides, but all was quiet: the mermaid boats rested on their watery tracks and the swings hung nearly still.

She made her way down the length of a pier taking slow, loose steps. The chill in the salty air brushed moist against her skin and reminded her that Fall was just around the corner. She leaned against the wooden railing at the end of the dock and looked at the water below. A small fish nipped at a bug on the smooth surface of the water and caused a series of concentric circles to roll outward. She watched until the last ring seemed to disappear and wondered how long it would take the ripples in her life to flatten or how long she could keep hiding from them.

Signature Style…?

2011-08-20T16:01:00.001-07:00

I found a fun quiz thanks to a link from the How About Orange blog. It is a quiz to determine your signature style. I ran across it once before, but don't remember what my results were.

According to Ethan Allen, my signature lifestyle is now… elegance

“We’ve analyzed your selections – your Signature Lifestyle is Elegance. Elegance is the essence of timeless sophistication. A seamless composition of quintessentially classic design elements, reinterpreted through streamlined scale and shape. Luxurious yet beautifully livable. A cosmopolitan mix of clean woods paired with chic, enduring fabrics.”

Hmmmm… this makes me laugh because you could take a look around our house and definitely realize that is not the case.

I look at the pictures they have under my “style” and I do have to admit that my breath catches ever-so-slightly at the sight of them. Maybe it is wishful thinking? I mean, look at this… I would love to stay here for a few days. But I can’t quite imagine living like this. We have real dust bunnies, crayon marks on the hardwood floor, and nothing is ever quite level and looks a little off-kilter as a result. But I guess I could try to live in this elegant lifestyle if it were an option.

So I decided I would retake the test. This time, I had different options to choose from, and got totally different results. Different, but probably more likely.

my signature lifestyle is… vintage

“The results are in – your Signature Lifestyle is Vintage. Vintage is a visually engaging mix of color and texture. A masterful display of the art of juxtaposition. Its thoughtful, collected vibe springs from a peaceful coexistence of seemingly unrelated elements. An eye-catching interplay of sunwashed fabrics, distressed finishes, and bold and graphic patterns add an element of surprise to any room.”

I think this is probably more appropos for our real lifestyle. We live in a house built in the 1800s. It was an old farmhouse at one point, and it has the “character” and “attitude” to prove it. Because of this, unless we were to gut everything and start from scratch, the house will always have a certain vibe to it and you can’t really force elegance onto it. But I am trying to give it a little facelift every so often. We’re in the midst of painting the dining room and living room, putting a new floor in upstairs and the office (and have stacks of flooring to prove it), and we’re redoing the upstairs bathroom as well. I’ll be posting pics of our progress and hopefully, some day, we might actually touch upon a small piece of elegance even if the rest of the house rebels.

I love quizzes like these because they always get me thinking. I also think they are great for writers. If you want to get inside of the head of your characters and decide how they live or what they like, it could be fun to take a quiz like this and choose the options based on your character. Or even just to use a resulting picture in your character notes so you can go back and describe one of their rooms or a room of some other character where a scene might be set. It can really make the details come to life.

What about you? What is your style? Does your home reflect your idea of style, or do you live differently than you'd like?

Write On Wednesday–Piqued

2011-08-17T21:26:00.001-07:00

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 10 - A Gift of Serendipity... Take Felicity's Word of the Week. Write it at the top of your page. Set your timer for 5 minutes. Write the first words that come into your head after the Word of the Week. Stop writing when the buzzer rings.
Felicity's Word of the Week is... Piqued

This is part of a longer, ongoing piece I’m working on at the moment (or at least every Wednesday in five-minute increments… hahahaha). I’m kind of skipping around, so sorry if it doesn’t make sense out of context.
---
The weekend passed in a blur of hours and endless chores and tasks. Olivia felt better, for the most part, throughout the days, but there were occasions when she’d get a wave of queasiness and have to take deep breaths to get through it. She kept silent about her stomach dilemma since she couldn’t figure out what was going on, and she didn’t want to needlessly worry Matthew. She was sure she’d just picked up a virus from an employee. She also didn’t want to have him treat her like an invalid for the rest of the weekend. By Monday, she was getting used to the challenge of ignoring the nausea or eating a handful of saltines to help ease it. She felt like a stoic warrior… like Gerard Butler in 300 or something. She was going to kick the stomach bug one way or the other.
***
“Maybe you are pregnant,” Claire stated with a Cheshire grin.

“Don’t even go there. You know that’s not funny,” Olivia stuck her tongue out at her assistant. “Plus, I know this will fall under the category of ‘too much information’ but now I feel like you deserve it. Matthew, my darling mister, had himself snipped right after Elsie. Snip snip.” She made a scissor motion with her two fingers and smiled at the ‘ewww gross’ look that crossed Claire’s face.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” was Claire’s comeback. “You know the statistic.”

“What statistic?” Olivia asked, her curiosity piqued.

“The statistic that says that one couple in like eight million or something ends up pregnant *after* a vasectomy. Maybe you are lucky number eight million.”

“Now that is really not funny.” Olivia glared at Claire. “That is like a lotto statistic. Maybe I should start playing the lottery.”

Olivia dragged a chair over and sat down in front of Claire’s desk. "Let’s ignore your crazy comment and look at those numbers." The two sat and pored over the latest round of figures Claire had compiled.

Ten Things

2011-08-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Shimelle hosts Ten Things (on the 10th of the month) on her blog. I thought I'd jump in and participate.

Since I am officially "on vacation" for a few days, I thought I would post my top ten favorite things about vacation/traveling. We haven't been on vacation for quite some time. I went to England in January, but it really wasn't a vacation (since it was all about school). Right now, we have three days of sightseeing (vacation) in New York, and then Saturday is my final presentation and then Saturday night is graduation! Sunday will be winding down and seeing a little of Jersey before heading back to the airport.

Without further adieu...

Staying in a hotel. I love not having to clean or make the bed. I love to be spoiled by staying in a hotel and having nice bedding (without cat hair) without the work.
Going out to eat. It is sort of piggy-backing off of #1, but it is so nice to not have to be responsible for deciding what everyone will be eating all day, not having to do the shopping/prep/cooking and cleanup. By the time we get home, I know I will be tired of eating out, but the first day or two it is always nice to relax.
Photo opps! I totally love taking pictures of little mister day in and day out, but it is nice to get a change of scenery and see some things that aren't local. :) There will be lots of opportunities to scrapbook in the upcoming months (and maybe it will inspire me to get out the pics I took two years ago in NY and scrap those too... yikes). (Photos to be uploaded later.)
New York vibe. As much as I love living a small town (suburban-barely-above-rural), it is nice to get into the major city in the country and experience all that it has to offer. We aren't getting the full experience in just three short days, but it is a taste, and that is good enough for now. I think that the small doses of big-city life are terrific because it always seems new and exciting. If I had to live in NY, I'm not sure that I would like it, but visiting is loads of fun.
Sense of history and awe. We are going to Ellis Island. In normal day-to-day life, we handle family issues and dysfunction. Normally, the bigger picture is cloudy and very far removed. We don't have a lot of family history or extended family. A visit to Ellis Island is a reminder that our families have come a long way. It is a brush with history and destiny at the same time. It is powerful.
Art. We are going to be checking out some art galleries in Soho and wherever else our travels may take us. I'm excited to see art on the edge and gain inspiration from color, urban scenery, and personalities.
Coney Island. I've always had these ideas and images in my mind about Coney Island. They probably come from the movie Big or other various movies/tv shows. Now we will experience it in real life, and it is exciting. I hope that it lives up to my expectations. I hope it is fun, picture-worthy and we lose our breath on a ride or laugh until we shoot food out our noses.
People watching. No matter where we go, we have fun watching all of the different people and giving them stories. We are always good at spotting characters and entertaining ourselves with them.
Getting to spend some quality alone time with Timbie before he has to have surgery. In less than a month he will be having major surgery and will be down and out for at least a month. I know he claims he isn't worrying about it, but I find that hard to believe. Anytime someone is diagnosed with cancer, it is a life-changing issue. I think it is good for him to get away and have a bit of a break before everything changes.
Missing and being missed. There are times when I believe that togetherness tends to breed complacency and we often take each other for granted when we see each other all of the time. We get caught up in the day-to-day hectic paces and forget to really think about each other and how we relate in the household. Having a few days of time away can provide us with those realizations of how much we care about each other and make us appreciate the time and relationships that we do have together.

What are your ten?

The clock winked... Write on Wednesday

2011-08-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 8 - The clock winked...Write the words "The clock winked" at the top of your page. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write the first words that come into your head after the prompt. Stop when the buzzer rings. Do this exercise over and over if you wish. Write beyond 5 minutes if you like, you can link it up as an extra post. If you want to participate, go to http://inkpaperpen.blogspot.com and play along.

Matthew's package and the rest of his mail sat on the coffee table in front of her. She grabbed her cell phone and debated whether or not to call him. It was nearly 11 pm. She shouldn't call. Should she? She ran her fingernail along the keypad, scraping dust from between the keys, stalling her decision. She sighed. Then reason won. It was his blood pressure medication after all. She didn't want him to go without it. She pressed two for speed dial, then pushed "send" and waited. Matthew's line rang once and then went to voicemail.

Did he hit ignore? Negative Nelly asked.

He wouldn't do that, Olivia argued with herself.

Wouldn't he? Otherwise why did it only ring once? It wasn't turned off because then it would have gone straight to voicemail without ringing at all. No. It was as if it rang the one time, he looked down, saw it was you, and hit ignore. Is he with someone else?

Olivia grappled with the sinking feeling in her stomach. One of the things she had always appreciated about their relationship was the fact that she didn't have to feel insecure.

Troy, an ex boyfriend from long ago, had taken great delight in making Olivia feel like she was never quite good enough for him or that he might leave her at any minute. Back then, she had a hard time seeing it for what it was, but once she realized that she didn't like feeling that way, she left Troy and vowed that her next relationship would be built on mutual respect. It took her a couple of attempts before she met Matthew, but once she met him, she knew she would never end up with someone as emotionally manipulating as Troy again.

The clock winked at her. It was going to be a long night.

Can't Buy Me... Happiness?

2011-08-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

I know they always say, "money can't buy me love" but can it buy me happiness? It is an interesting thing to think about and responses are as individual as snowflakes.

What happiness could money buy for you?

Sorry my post was delayed. I scheduled it to load automatically, but it didn't do that. Ugh.

Welcome to my spot in the Blog Hop. If you are participating in the blog hop, you should have arrived from Pie for Breakfast. If you haven't been following, head back over to Scrapworthy Lives and start the hop.

For most of my life, I have been poor. We were really poor when I was growing up. I didn't really know it at the time, but as we got older, mean comments from classmates clued me into that fact. When I became a young adult, for a long time, I was a single mom, struggling to make ends meet. I was frustrated and wanted more for my daughter. Later, I had a boyfriend who was part of my life for ten years and had serious money issues, so it was always difficult financially. Then, in 2003, I took a job where I was actually making a decent salary. I was working my butt off, and it was like spending each day in an insane asylum, but it was nice to not have money worries all of the time. It was a good feeling.

After a little while, the nice feeling wore off. The stress of having a boss who was a wee bit on the crazy side began to take its toll. I got phone calls at all hours, I was inundated with the major stress of running a company, and to top it off, I had at least an hour commute each way. I started becoming disillusioned with the job, but I found it hard to think about giving up the salary. The stress started getting to me. A good friend sent me a copy of the book "Your Money or Your Life." I didn't even have to read it. I knew what it was going to tell me. Finally, I remember driving to work one morning, listening to the radio, and I heard Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" and shortly afterward, I heard John Mellencamp's "Your Life is Now," and I realized that I needed to leave my job.

The decision was a blessing in disguise. I no longer thought about leaving a salary... but I thought about regaining my life and my happiness. I took a job much closer to home at 40% of what I was making before. I went back to school and finished my lingering AA degree and within a few months, had also completed my BA. I went on to start my MFA, and I was thrilled to do so. And then, when I had the opportunity to leave that job to take care of Kennedy, I couldn't have been happier. Now I don't really have much in the way of money, but taking care of him brings a ton of joy to my life. I may not be able to buy everything I would like to buy, or take trips I'd like to take, but I pay my bills and have a tiny budget for scrapbooking/ craft supplies, so life is good. It is all about perspective at this point in my life.

The other day, I saw a sign on Pinterest that someone had created. It said something to the effect of "I've never been a millionaire, but I'd be adorable at it." I totally love it. There are tons of things that I would do if I had money. There are so many organizations or causes I would love to be able to donate money to, and a lot of little things I'd like to do or buy. But I know that this is a temporary situation and that someday I will actually get a real paycheck. For now, this lack of money gives me a reason to smile.

All I have to do is look at one little smile from him, and all is good. Money can't buy this kind of happiness.

Where do you find happiness? What would you do if money were no object?

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share a little bit of my current happiness. Up next is 1200 Some Miles.

Below is a full list of all blogs participating.

Scrapworthy Lives

Scrapping Mojo

Pie for Breakfast

Scraps & Sass

1200 Some Miles

Slice of Life

Our Life with Spiky Potatoes

Abstracts Mixed with Extracts

Your Memory Connection

Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Melissa's Blog

AWITL - Wednesday

2011-07-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

looking like such a big boy in his new shoes

french toast

waiting at the Safeway pharmacy

bacon-wrapped pork heaven

Bobby trying to cool off in Kennedy's sink

After getting himself wet, he freaked and had to run like a crazy dog

6:10 tug-o-war w/Bob

now Kate has to take a dip

AWITL - Tuesday

2011-07-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

hitting the store after the gym

first day really drinking from a non-sip cup

note the long grass---ignored by Tim--- so I finally cut it

Tim finishes up the last little bit under the trees that I didn't want to do because of spiders

grass-stained toes

Kate can really run in the short grass

tug-o-war

to the victor goes the spoils

dirty face

Tim in need of a beard trim

AWITL - Monday

2011-07-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

The day (sort of) in photos. I had a migraine, took a nap, and forgot to take pictures later in the afternoon, but I'm going to journal some of those details (like mom coming over, a phone call w/grandma, etc.).

rainy morning on the way to the gym

the pool awaits

Little Mister has a follow-up appt at the doc

Little Mister struggles with momma

peek a boo

Cherry slurpee - a must after a harrowing morning

Dinner: fish and chips @ Don's Drive-in

AWITL - Sunday

2011-07-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

Ali Edwards has a fun project going on over at her blog. It is called A Week in the Life. I always have the best intentions of participating, but I never have gotten it done in the past. Something derails me early on, and I give up. This year will be different. I'm keeping track of things and picked up Traci Reed's digital kit "10,080" that includes templates and everything else one needs to scrap the documented week.

I'm uploading pics as I go (or sort of) and will do layouts/pages as I have time.

Ali runs her week from Monday to Sunday. I was able to capture a few fun photos today, so I'm starting here.

Here are some other photos...

the bubble container is empty, so he's not drinking suds

Bobby doing his usual lazy routine

Kate loving Kennedy

Status Anxiety

2011-07-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

Status Anxiety: Log onto your Facebook/Twitter page and write down the first status update you see. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write the first words that come into your head after your prompt. Stop when the buzzer rings. Do this exercise over and over if you wish.

"You'd think by all the looks I get at the gym lately that people have never seen a prego gal work out!" This was the first status update I saw when I logged into FB. Using it as the prompt, I took it in a slightly different direction, but the inspiration is still there.

Light blue clouds flanked the dark navy sky in the east. Right above the horizon line, streaks of pink ran into the blues and announced the imminent arrival of the sun. The ground was still wet from the previous night's rain. The air felt crisp and clean as if the city had been through a giant carwash. Olivia pulled her iPod from her jacket pocket and struggled to untangle the thin white cord stretching to the earbuds. She placed them in her ears and switched to her "happy jogging" playlist Matthew had created for her. It usually made her smile every time she saw it pop up in the menu.

Technology might change, but the sentiment behind a finely-crafted mixtape never did. The last she'd received was a cassette tape given to her in her late 20s by her friend, Jones. They both volunteered with a small non-profit organization that fed meals to the homeless and near-homeless people in the community. They had a great time together and there were always a lot of laughs with Jones. But as is often the case in those types of friendships, his concept of their friendship changed. He wanted it to grow into a romance, and she was completely content at being friends. Jones, being a shy and unassuming guy, never came out and really said anything to her directly, but after a long volunteer weekend with a couple of other friends, he'd given her a mix tape of old doo-wop songs. Most people would have thought it was strange, but she had told him one time that she felt like a geek for watching a doo-wop marathon event they had on the local PBS station. She loved that old music. He'd listened and remembered it.

The playlist Matthew had created for her started, and she adjusted the volume before stretching for a minute. After the short stretch, she started out with a slow pace and felt the cobwebs in her head begin to disappear with the increase in her heart rate and breathing. Olivia ran down the promenade along the small inlet on the Tacoma waterfront. The condos overlooking the water were virtually empty, and it always seemed eerie to her for those few owners that did live in a mostly vacant building. She increased her speed as she passed the back of the glass museum and up the stairs leading to the breezeway that would take her to Pacific Avenue. It looked like it was going to be a nice day, and she was glad. She needed a little sunshine.

Write on Wednesdays

2011-07-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

This is my first time participating in Write on Wednesday. The prompt: Pick your favorite song and write down the first line of lyrics OR turn on the radio and write down the first line of lyrics you hear. Then set your timer for five minutes and write the first words that come into your head after your writing prompt.

I took the first line from Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine "Happiness hit her like a train on a track..."

Thealarm was ringing. Olivia mentallycalculated the option of hitting the snooze button for the third time, takinginto account that Matthew's clock was seven minutes fast. Seven minutes, plus four minutes for each'snooze', and subtract the actual time on the clock meant that it was7:15. She hated being forced to performmorning math. The consciousness requiredto add and subtract definitely caused her to be more alert, and she decided it wasn’tworth the extra minutes of sleep. Maybethat was Matt's latest attempt at getting her out of bed earlier. Goodluck with that, she mumbled into her pillow after shutting the alarmcompletely off. Not even the smell of the coffee fromdownstairs made her want to get up.

Olivia listenedto the noises drifting up through the old floorboards beneath the bed and couldrecognize the sounds as those from Matt's typical morning routine. She wondered if he knew that his weekdayhabits were so orchestrated. If she knewmore about music, she could probably create a score based on the rhythm of hismovements. She counted the silent beatsand waited for the last soft thud of the cupboard door that would indicate hewas getting his travel cup out to fill with coffee. Before he headed out for the train, he wouldbe back upstairs to say goodbye. Itshould only be a matter of moments. Shefelt that she should at least *act* like she was awake.

Rolling herself over onto her back,she was surprised at how tired she still felt even after getting a decentnight's sleep. She wasn't sure if it wasjust the hectic schedule she'd been keeping lately, or the fact that she wasinching ever closer to the witching age of forty. She allowed her eyes to open. The curtains filtered the early October sunbut there was still enough light to capture the errant flecks of dust floatingthrough the air. It was time to dust thebedroom. Olivia wondered if she couldtrade Matthew a get-up-early credit for a dusting chore. She yawned. So tired.

“G’morning, sleepyhead,” Mattpulled gently on her blanket-covered toes as he rounded her side of the bed toget a kiss.

“Hey, sweetie," she replied. "Sorry I didn’t get up in time to fixyou a lunch today. I’m just so sotired.”

“That’s okay. I’ve told you a million times that you don’thave to make my lunches. And anyway,it’s Friday, so me and a couple of the guys will probably grab lunch on the goanyway.”

He sat on the edge of the bed. "I brought you some coffee." Hehanded Olivia her favorite blue mug with the small chip out of the rim. She took it from him and set it on thenightstand without taking a sip.

“No coffee? Are you coming down with something?” He ran the back of his hand across herforehead. “Hmmm. You don’t seem to have a fever.”

“I’m fine. No fever worries. I just feel like a truck rolled over me inthe middle of the night. I am achy andtired, but I’m sure I’m not getting sick. I’m just whiny and feeling drained. It has been a long week,” Olivia responded. She tried her best not to sound like ahypochondriac, but didn’t feel like it was working.

Flinging the blankets back, shecurled her knees up and around Matthew, squeezing him against her. She leaned up to pull him closer and planteda kiss on his neck.

Make Time for Friends

2011-07-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there. Happy 4th of July! If you are participating in the Blog Hop, you should have just left iStampScrap&Craft's blog. Welcome. :)

Lately, with some of the medical issues that have been plaguing family and friends, it has had me thinking a lot about wellness. To me, a huge part of wellness includes reducing stress and enjoying life. And what better way to do that then to make time for friends. I used to work with a woman who was so totally strict about her diet, and she got a lot of exercise, and lived a "good" life. But she was a completely miserable person. She still wasn't "healthy" and was not a pleasant person to be around. I think that a huge part of her problem was that she focused so much on limiting things in her life, that she forgot to have fun and to laugh. According to Caloriecount.About.com...

"researchers at Vanderbilt University found adults burn an average of 1.3 calories per minute while laughing with their friends. That’s about the same number of calories you burn while taking notes in a classroom or standing and talking on the phone. But laughter has other benefits besides burning calories, including relief of emotional stress and a workout for the muscles of the diaphragm, abdomen, back, and shoulders."

Last week, I think I burned a lot of calories. My good friend, Stephanie, came over for lunch. We have been friends since we were 9 or 10... so just over 30 years. It is amazing. We've been through nearly everything together, but we don't actually get together very often these days. During our visit, we reminisced about all of the crazy things we did over the years and marveled over the fact that we didn't get ourselves into inescapable trouble with some of our shenanigans. It was such a great visit. By the time she left, my face actually hurt from all of the laughing/smiling we were doing. It was a great day. She sent me an email later saying that it was crazy we didn't get together more often considering we only live about a half an hour's drive from each other. But it is hard to find the time with all that each of us has going on in our lives. She has six kids, a husband, and she is going to school. I'm just finishing school and have Kennedy to take care of (which doesn't make for a lot of flexibility in schedules), but we decided that we definitely need to make more time to get together because it is so important and makes us happy.

Do you have a good friend who is so close to you that they feel more like family? One of those friends where, you can go weeks or months without talking to, but as soon as you start talking, it feels like no time has elapsed? Someone you can laugh with over stupid and embarrassing things, but is your total go-to person if you really need to share something?

Before Steph left for home, I made Jessica snap a quick picture of the two of us. I only have a couple of pictures of us together (one at my wedding, and then a couple from school days), but I wish we had more.

Credits: Meghan Mullens/Misty Cato - Life is Sweet

This is a last minute layout I did for the CT I was on. When I have more time, I would like to scan some old pics of us and then do a Now & Then layout.

If you are lucky enough to have a good friend like mine, be sure to give them a call, send them a card or shoot them an email to tell them how thankful you are for their friendship.

Leave a comment to tell about a special friendship you have.

To enter the giveaway from Scrapworthy Lives, be sure to comment below! You can earn one entry per blog. So that means if you visit everyone’s blog and comment on each of their blogs, you can get 9 entries! All entries must be posted by Friday, July 8 at midnight Central Standard Time (Chicago, IL, USA). She will ship anywhere in the world. The winner will be announced on Sunday, July 10 on Scrapworthy Lives.

The next stop on your blog hop is Take a Picture and Remember This. If you get lost along the way or you just started here, the list of participating blogs is below.

Scrapworthy Lives
Scrapping Mojo
Pie for Breakfast
iStampScrap&Craft
Scraps & Sass
Take a Picture and Remember This
1200 Some Miles
Slife of Life
Our Life with Spiky Potatoes

Thanks for stopping by. Have fun and enjoy the 4th of July (if you are in the US).

Busy busy busy

2011-07-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

Lately, it seems that no matter what I try to do, there is never enough time. I'm making better use of my time and energy, but it still seems like the days are definitely not long enough. Is it just me, or is insane that it is already the first of July? {insert shocked face here}

I realize that I missed blogging during the ENTIRE month of June. Sheesh.

I just finished up a stint on Meghan Mullens CT at SSD for the month of June. I am not one that usually applies for CTs, but Meghan ran a contest and I had just bought one of her kits, so I created a layout, not expecting to be picked since I didn't really have a portfolio. But she offered me a guest spot, so I jumped at the opportunity. It is interesting to be on a CT because it really made me realize how much I mix and match kits when I create a layout for myself. It is hard to stick to just using one kit for layouts. It was fun to be on the team, but I felt like I let her down. Hmmmm.

Are you a strict stick-to-things-in-one-kit kind of person? Or do you mix and match for several kits? If you mix and match, do you stick with one designer, or do you opt to go for color or style and/or elements?

I found that I tend to buy kits for elements these days. I used to really be a sucker for luscious papers (Eva Kipler, Susan Bartolini, Zoe Pearn, etc.). I still am, don't get me wrong, but now I have such a ~~hoard~~ stockpile I am focusing on unusual elements for any new kits that I might buy. I also assess a kit for the can-I-make-it-myself factor. I may like a kit for one or two elements, but if I think I could do something similar, without a whole ton of effort, I may pass and buy something that I would have a harder time creating myself.

All in all, I ended up creating 15 layouts with Meghan's products, so that was pretty productive (as far as my scrapping history). :D

Here are some of the layouts that I created...

Credits can be found in my gallery at SSD

Scrap Happy

2011-05-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the next stop on the blog hop. If you are participating in the hop, you should have arrived from Pie for Breakfast. If not, you may want to participate in order to win a prize from Scrapworthy Lives.
To enter the giveaway from Scrapworthy Lives, be sure to comment below! You can earn one entry per blog. So that means if you visit everyone’s blog and comment on each of their blogs, you can get 13 entries! All entries must be posted by Friday, June 3 at midnight Central Standard Time (Chicago, IL, USA). Stephanie will ship anywhere in the world. The winner will be announced on Sunday, June 5 on Scrapworthy Lives.

This blog hop is all about happiness. For me, being the self-appointed memory keeper is a happy thing. Also, scrapping, as a hobby, is happy-making and I can lose myself in a sensory overload of colored papers, funky ephmera and elements and photos. There are times that it is just a simple way to relax and focus on good memories.

Do you ever have one of those days (or weeks/months) where you just need to find quiet time to sit and *not* think about all that is going on in the real world? Like you can just block it out and be happy for a few minutes?

Last week, we had a medical crisis with our cherished little mister. He had an ear infection coming on that we weren't aware of. He was kind of cranky on Thursday, but was otherwise normal. To make a long story short, he ended up having two febrile (fever-related) seizures several hours apart. It was terrifying. The first seizure was completely scary. The paramedics arrived and once they were sure he was stabilized, they sent us to the pediatrician (who diagnosed the impending ear infection). The doc gave him an injection of antibiotics and told us to come back for a follow-up on Friday. I took little mister home, and he seemed okay. He ate a small dinner, played around a bit and went to bed. But then around 11:30, I went to lay down with him, and his fever spiked again causing the second seizure. Since the paramedics had already been there before and the fever wasn't being controlled with tylenol or ibuprofen, they thought it would be best to go to the hospital. I totally agreed. We ended up in the emergency room around midnight after our first-ever ambulance ride. Luckily, he was okay and the doctor released us after a cup of apple juice, a big dose of motrin and less than an hour of time. His very relieved mom arrived from work right as they were going to discharge us (she had to have a co-worker drive her the 40 miles since she was a mess). Even though the entire day's events was completely stressful and overwhelming (after the first seizure, I would just start crying without notice), the outcome was a happy one. He was okay. He is a healthy kid (aside from the occasional earache), and he has bounced back remarkably.

While I was lying in the hospital bed, holding my sweet boy in my lap, he grinned at me, and all was right with the world. I know I can't capture those exact feelings in a scrapbook layout, but I still found myself fondling his tiny hospital bracelet and thinking about how I should keep it for memory's sake.

Once the crisis was over and we were all rested, I just wanted to sit at the computer and veg out on scrap-craft-related websites and not think about all of the fear that had been coursing through me the past couple of days. Creativity has a strange way of calming me down. Imagining all of the projects I could create, looking at inspiring works of art from other people, and giving myself colorful escapes somehow feels very therapeutic. I didn't accomplish any amazing layouts or document the experiences we had in any meaningful way (yet), I did end up feeling calmer and happier.

Here are a few sites that just make me happy in a colorful, frilly, paper love way.
Pink Paislee
Crate Paper
October Afternoon
Sweet Shoppe Designs (digital scrapbooking)
... and of course... Pinterest. Where you can really lose track of time and find tons of things that are visually appealing and pin them to your own boards for times when you need a little inspiration or happy-making. :) I have color palettes, sketch ideas, gorgeous layouts, quotes/sayings, and photo ideas saved for future reference.

If you have any other drool-worthy sites worth sharing, please do so.

Your next stop on the Blog Hop will be... Abstracts Mixed with Extracts

If you've lost your place or haven't visited all of the blogs, here is the full list for your reference.

Scrapworthy Lives
1200 Some Miles
Take a Picture and Remember This
Scrap Your Life
My Life in Photos & Words
This Kalil Life
Fun Mama
Scrapping Mojo
XNomad’s Blog
Nuggets
The Constant Scrapper
Pie for Breakfast
Scraps & Sass
Abstracts Mixed with Extracts

I'd love to hear about how scrapping or other forms of creativity make *you* happy either in or out of adversity. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Scrapping Portfolio

2011-05-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Since I mostly do my scrapbooking in digital format, it provides a great opportunity to "hang out" in digital communities and participate in online projects. One of those ongoing projects is over at Sweet Shoppe Designs. They have a monthly challenge that is pretty amazing. They put so much work into it, I can't even imagine what they go through. Each month, they provide a list of "challenges" for the month. Each challenge is given a point value. There are challenges worth one, two, five and ten points. You can pick from the long list of challenges and strategize to reach your goal for the month. And what do you get? You get a discount in their shop based on the goal you reach. You can earn up to 40% off if you put in enough points.

That was my goal for the month. I'm now only 3 points away from reaching it. It is a fun way to build a portfolio of layouts and see all of the different perspectives you can gain throughout the year. Most months, I never complete enough points to even get the lowest discount, but this month I vowed I was going to complete a portfolio. :) Here are some of the layouts I've completed... including a hybrid item where we were challenged to make a dry erase board. Some of my layouts were in other posts, so I'm not going to re-post those, but here are the rest.

Credits for all of the layouts can be found in my SSD gallery.

Do you have any scrapping goals or other creative projects you participate in regularly?

Confession Tuesday: The Marriage Edition

2011-05-24T21:15:00.001-07:00

Is your marriage everything you thought it would be back in the days of the first blush of love and then the wedding planning? Did you have role models for your ideals of marriage?

I have been thinking a lot about marriage lately. Probably because I realized that I should be thinking about it rather than just going along on auto-pilot. I actually think that my recent focus on scrapbooking has really made me think about our lives and how fast time is passing. It seems like there is always the “we’ll get away for a romantic weekend next month” or “we can always reschedule our anniversary celebration” (the last three years something has disrupted it), but something else always ends up on the horizon and days turn into weeks and then months and years and before you know it, the opportunities get fewer and farther between.

Marriage is 20% romance and 80% work. I saw that today on a poster, and I smiled to myself because it is true. Or at least most of the time it feels true. I guess “work” isn’t probably the best term, but these days I’m trying to decide what it is. It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operation of life, that it feels like there are times that we are just aren’t focusing on the “marriage” itself because we are so busy putting out fires and dealing with other dramas. But lately, I’ve decided that I need to refocus. I have always felt that it is important to remember that marriage is a relationship like any other that needs to be maintained (even when I don’t have it in the front of my brain). Just because we are on the same team, it doesn’t mean that we can take each other for granted. Just because one or both of us may not be the MVP of the current game, it doesn’t mean that we should stop giving each other appreciation.

Tim joked around the other day about how we’ve “grown old together” now that we have two grandkids. I gave him the look and told him that I am not old, so he looked appropriately chagrined, and I forgave him. We’ve been together for almost ten years and have known each other for eleven, so it isn’t like “forever” but we have gone through a lot in that ten years. We really don’t ever fight. We have both come from past relationships where there was fighting and/or tension, and neither of us is up for that, so we just don’t fight. There may be times where one of us is irritated with the other, but I think we both recognize it and shift gears so resentment never builds. We don’t ever say mean things to each other or put each other down. We are terrific together. So I feel like I’m very lucky.

But on the other hand… I can be a better wife. That is my confession to you today. I read “The Happiness Project” and felt like there were aspects of her story that definitely could apply to our lives and our marriage. So I think I’m going to work on my own “Marriage Project” where I will seek out advice from couples who have successful marriages and implement things that make sense. I will hug my husband more, tell him how spectacular he is (even if I’m frustrated with him for a moment), be grateful that fate intervened and we ended up together, and also give him more quality time. I believe, that if I do those things, and refocus my energy just a little more, we will have an even stronger marriage that will continue to bring us happiness for the future when we really have grown old together.

So what are your marriage/relationship secrets? I’m looking for volunteers to share their philosophies on relationships/marriage, the love stories, the ups/downs and how to hold things together. I want to know how you decided on what marriage should look like and whether or not you had role models (real life or fictional) that helped you on your path to wedded bliss. Let me know if this is something you could see yourself participating in because I would love to know more.

I’ll leave you to think about marriage and with a recent picture of us that I was able to get scrapped the other day. Funny how it is one of the only ones I have of the two of us. See… my focus is helping already. LOL.

Credits: In This Together kit - Shawna Clingerman
Amour en Bleu kit - Susan Bartolini
Scraplift of Sugarbabe Jen Tapler's http://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/...awaii_1983.jpg
Bad Sewing Machine #27 - Traci Reed

Wordless (almost) Wednesday

2011-05-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

It has been busy around here lately. Some pics that I will be scrapping in the future. :D

Jessica and Em

Auntie Jessica holds Conan

Sam refusing to be social

Little Mister attacks his mom

Little Mister after his dip in the pool

(i)nterNational Scrapbook Day

2011-05-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

Have you ever participated in a worldwide hobby or event like (i)nterNational Scrapbook Day??
Did you participate in any crops? Online chats? Challenges? Shopping sprees?
Yesterday was the first day I'd ever really taken part in National Scrapbook Day or (i)NSD as it is now known. Maybe, way back a long time ago, I might have gone to a Creative Memories function or something on NSD, but obviously if I did, I really wasn't aware of it because I can't really remember such a thing.

Now that I'm mainly focusing on the ease of digital scrapbooking, it is really amazing for me to see all of the activities that go on for (i)NSD. I hung out at the Sweet Shoppe for a few hours yesterday. I was going back and forth between that and BPC, but it was too hard for me to juggle both AND try to deal with all of the other things going on around the house. So I stuck with SSD. They had a lot of fun challenges and good ideas for games and such. I wish I was able to do more than I did, but at least I got two scrapbook pages done.

The first LO I did was for a speed scrap. Needless to say, I didn't finish in time because I was getting little mister down for a nap, but at least I did finish it yesterday. I also uploaded that photo to Costco and had an 8 x 10 printed out for my little sis and framed it for her for Mother's Day.

Credits:
Traci Reed - NSD template
Lauren Grier - paper from Key to Change
Jenn Barrette - Papers from Mommy Deerest
SS Designers - Wishin' &; Hopin' &; Waitin' papers/elements
Font: Pea Daniel San

The second was to scraplift the person in the forum who posted above the spot where you said you were going to participate. Here is my lift of Amystoffel's "Create."

Credits:
Scraplift of Amystoffel's http://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/...1/create14.jpg

Jenn Barrette/Kristen Cronin-Barrow's Chicklit and Chickflick: safety pin, stitching, reel, button, paper
Jenn Barrette's Mommy Deerest: velvet leaf
Scrapkitchen's Mission to Mars: staple, paper, ric rac
Dani Mogstad's Life of the Party: flower, brad, paper
Mari Koegelenberg's Thrifty Finds: flower, alpha, paper
Allison Pennington's Lulubelle: bird, snap
Sahlin Studio's Barcode Datestrip
Cosmo Cricket's Snorkel: sun card
Jen Wilson's Complete Boy: combo lock
Font: Pea Daniel San

I am so in love with the viewmaster reel. How did they know that I was just searching my stash for one I knew I'd bought in the past (I think it was on one of my EHDs that crashed). Yay.

And I actually had almost an hour to myself today, so I did another quick LO of little mister's first haircut. I have to do a page with before and after photos, but I wasn't up for that today. :D

Credits:
Jenn Barrette/Lauren Grier - Nevermore Kit
Jenn Barrette - Free as a Bird: stitches
Jenn Barrette - Growth Spurt: frame
Libby Pritchett - Fun & Games: checker
Zoe Pearn - Thankful For You: Alpha
Sara Gleason - NSD2011 Template

How about you? How was your weekend? How was Mother's Day?

It is Sunday night, and we had a busy weekend. I'm hoping that we'll have a relaxing one soon. I've realized that I've already fallen off the menu planning wagon. I did so well for the end of March and April into last week. Now that it is over, I am dreading filling in another calendar. Ugh. I need some inspiration.

So hopefully you had a restful and enjoyable weekend. I'm wrapping things up so I can change into some cozy clothes, put my feet up and watch two of my favorite shows (Law & Order: Criminal Intent and The Killing).

Hugs!

Trivia Twosday

2011-05-03T13:34:00.001-07:00

Here is the last edition…

What cuss word do you use the most?

The dreaded “F” word sneaks out of my mouth on occasion. I am really trying to stop those unfortunate outbursts. As a writer, I do love the versatility of that particular word because it can be used in a variety of ways: as a noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb… the list goes on and on. I wrote a poem about that once because I took an online quiz and it said that “F” was my word.

Do you wish you could change something about your life?

There are times I’ve wished that I could change some things (big or small), but I don’t know that it would really change my “life”. I think that sometimes we would like to change things, but maybe those things happen for a reason. As an example, I was working in a job that I enjoyed, but then I was going to have to move to Bellevue to keep that job. I was in the process of finding a new apartment when my grandma got hit by a car and had to have major surgery. It ended up that I had to move in to take care of her once she was out of the hospital. I had to transfer out of the job, and it was difficult to have to make such a huge shift in life, to work, be a single mom, and take care of my grandma, but if I wouldn’t have transferred into the job that I ended up transferring into, I wouldn’t have met my husband. I wouldn’t have ended up in another horrible job that drained almost every last ounce of my humanity, and then I wouldn’t have been so motivated to go back to school.

What about YOU???

Menu Plan Monday

2011-05-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

Last week, I didn't get around to posting my plan for the week even though I had it done at the beginning of the month. There was a lot of craziness and some unexpected things that came up and threw things out of kilter. More about that later.

Credits: Jenn Barrette - Kitschy organized template

You can play along too... just head over to

Spring Training: Signature Style

2011-04-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever considered what your signature scrapping style is? Or if you don’t like to scrap, maybe it is a style of design that appeals to you visually? I hadn’t really given it much thought before. I know what I tend to like, and I know that there is a certain look that makes me want to buy scrapbook products, but today I sat down with my Spring Training homework and tackled the topic for myself. Here is what I came up with for what I tend to do in my current scrapping.

Credits: Jenn Barrette (all papers and elements)

How about you? What do you tend to like in a layout?

My Day in Photos

2011-04-27T08:38:00.000-07:00


		My mom and nephew

My brother, the birthday boy

Little Mister and Lucian

Cousins

My mom and sister

DD and Little Mister

Little Mister

Little Mister sporting a new hat

See more here....

http://www.shimelle.com/paper/1005/my-day-in-photos/

Trivia Twosday

2011-04-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here is my second edition of trivia twosday. I believe the ladies who started it are on week 6.

1. Favorite Candy Bar
That is a tough one. I don't really have a FAVorite, and I don't eat sweets very often. It kind of depends on my mood. The most recent candy bar I purchased was a Big Hunk. Have you ever had one? It is just white "nougat" that is hard (with an occasional peanut) and you can crack it on the counter to break it into pieces, but when you pop it in your mouth, it is really chewy. I know... kind of weird. I have also been known to eat other chewy candy such as Sour Patch Kids (only the red and orange ones), Good & Plenty, and fun-sized Snickers (that is the only size because it has the best proportions/flavor ratio). LOL.

2. Automatic or stick shift?
Our Explorer is an automatic, but I prefer to drive a stick shift because they are kind of fun. We had a Toyota Camry that was a stick, and I loved to drive it when it was sunny out, open the sunroof, crank the radio and drive fast as if I were in a race or something. LOL. But we ended up giving it to Sam so he could get back and forth to school, so I kind of miss it.

What about you?

Spring Break?

2011-04-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

Do you remember being in school and looking forward to spring break? Are you one of the lucky ones who still gets to have spring break? A trip with the family or other fun outing? If you had the chance... where would you go?

I've been thinking about it because I am in envy of those having spring break. I am totally in the mood for some fun. Tim is taking a trip to Chicago next week (for work), and he'd asked me quite awhile ago if I wanted to go. I told him no, but now I'm regretting it. I've never been to Chicago, so it would have been interesting. Heck, even just relaxing in a hotel room for a couple of days would have been interesting. But my dear child has to save her vacation days for my last hoorah for school (NJ in August), so she can't take the time off now, and that means I can't have time off now.

Last week, I thought we'd have a typical, quiet week around the house. But on Tuesday evening, Emily called her dad and said that she'd had contractions earlier in the day. She'd gone to the hospital, but things weren't progressing so they'd sent her home. About an hour after she talked to him, she called back and said her doc had checked her readouts and wanted her to come back in for observation. Then around 10 that night, she said that they were going to induce her the next morning if she didn't progress overnight. So we packed up our stuff, got little mister out of bed, and hit the road. Kennedy HATES the car, so we were hoping that he'd sleep (since we were leaving our house around 11:30 pm). But no. He had been asleep for about three hours before we left, so he thought that it was fine to stay awake for the entire five-hour drive across the state. We got to the hotel, checked into our room and got into bed just before 5 in the morning. Tim got a call from the hospital around, so he went over while little mister and I stayed in the room. I fed and dressed him and we heard back from Tim shortly after 9. They ended up having to do a c-section on Emily, so at 9:33, Conan Mitchell Logsdon came into the world at 6 lbs 10 oz. Little mister was taking a nap, so Tim stayed at the hospital to get a chance to hold Conan and see Em. Later, we went to get something to eat and then headed back to the hospital. Emily's mom was there, but she was nice and shared the baby. :D Conan was so small and sweet, and Tim was just beaming. We held him for a few minutes, and then I ended up having to chase little mister throughout the room to keep him from pushing buttons or getting into things he wasn't supposed to be touching.

Thursday was more back and forth to the hospital and a brief visit with Sam in between hospital visits. We headed back for home early early Friday morning because little mister had his 15-month appointment with the doctor. We got back just in time to get him cleaned up and ready to go.

It was just a whirlwind week. Most of my pictures from the hospital turned out kind of blurry because I was trying not to use the flash. They looked okay until I uploaded them. Drat. But I was able to salvage a couple, so I have the one below and a couple more to scrap. :)

Credits: Eva Kipler's "My Happiness" kit

Menu Plan Monday

2011-04-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy week (more about that later). Because of that, most of the menu plan went out the window, but for the days we had at home, it worked.

This week...

Monday: Cottage Pie (one of my new faves... the recipe is great, but we use leftover mashed instead of sliced)
Tuesday: Smothered pork chops
Wednesday: Steak (not sure which variety we have in the freezer)
Thursday: Teriyaki chicken
Saturday: BBQ Ribs
Sunday: Easter - ham

Trivia Twosday

2011-04-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

I ran across a new site/blog the other day (Naptimemomtog.com) and saw that they have a fun little get-to-know you game going, so I thought I'd play along... what about you????

Sausage or Bacon?

Bacon is definitely my fave. Fletcher's bacon is a must in our house. Occasionally I like Fletcher's link sausage, but I have to be in the mood for it because otherwise I have texture issues.

Have you ever been water skiing?

Nope. I'm not a big fan of getting wet.

Your turn.

Sowing the Seeds…

2011-04-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

… of the greenhouse. Jessica and I started to build the new greenhouse on Saturday, but a torrential downpour scuttled us indoors and delayed the process. Today, baby-daddy came over to “visit” little mister (which is really more like stalking DD… long story there), so she and I went out into the morning sunshine to try to make some progress. We were able to get the back wall finished and the door prepped. We organized the pieces and it will definitely go more quickly the next time. Baby-daddy was apparently annoyed that Jessica wasn’t engaging with him, so he came outside and brought little mister with him. It was good for little mister to get a chance to race around the yard and explore in the sun, but we got less accomplished because we had to watch the watcher. But I’m definitely glad that she and I are constructing it rather than DH because DH tends to get easily frustrated and I could see that he would probably do some damage to the pieces in the rush to force them together. He is just such a man sometimes.

This is a pic of what the greenhouse *should* look like once we finish.

Credits:
Sara Gleason - Template
Jenn Barrette - Growing Something Good Kit

It isn’t fancy, but it should do the trick. I’m just excited that there is someplace I can start and grow plants without having to worry about the overgrowth of weeds we generally tend to get.

What about you??? How does your garden grow?

Menu Plan Monday

2011-04-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

I'm posting my menu for the week. Last week, we had a couple of shifts, but pretty much stayed on track. We'll see how this week goes.

Credits: Jenn Barrette - Kitschy Organized

It has been a busy few days, but it seems like nothing has been getting accomplished. LOL. We did get a new greenhouse (kit) on Saturday, so that was very exciting. Now we'll be able to grow a lot of our own veggies.

I also picked up a sandbox for little mister yesterday. I can't wait to get the sand and let him play. Hopefully he won't try to eat it. I remember the sandbox my grandpa built for my brother and I, in his backyard. It was made of plywood and then he created seats across all of the corners. In my memory, it was huge. I wonder how big it really was. I'm hopeful that little mister will enjoy building sand sculptures for many years to come. Jessica bought him a water table to leave at our house since he'll be spending most of his sunny summer times at our house (and she still doesn't know when she's moving).

We also, which was out of character for us, watched a couple of movies over the weekend. We watched Fair Game and Salt, and then this afternoon, since DH was off work on a sick day, watched Red. Ironically, they were all CIA related. LOL. We also watched a new show on AMC called The Killing which is a take off of a Danish series apparently. It is set in Seattle, so it caught our interest, and it is pretty decent. Hmmmm. Maybe that is why we didn't accomplish much over the weekend. Too much tv/movie watching. I guess it was one of those rainy-day weekends that doesn't come along often.

What about you? Have you seen any movies worth recommending? What did you do over the weekend?

Finally Friday

2011-04-08T15:31:00.001-07:00

What is going on in your world as you wrap up the week? Any fun plans for the weekend?

I am happy that it is Friday. It is technically my Thursday because I have little mister duty on Saturdays since DD works, but I am still happy that it is Friday. My brother’s birthday is tomorrow, so we’ll all be getting together to have dinner on Sunday, which will be nice. We don’t see each other that often, so it is nice that the family gets together every few months for someone’s birthday.

It is also a good day because it is actually sunny outside for once. We’ve had rain and even rain mixed with snow (yesterday), so it is wonderful to have the sunshine to lift our spirits.

We even took little mister on a walk over to the park for awhile before Jessica had to go to work. When he was younger, he loved the swing, but now he seems a little unsure. I think he starts to look down and then he gets dizzy and starts to freak out. But he did enjoy climbing up the little jungle gym thing (with his mom right behind him) and going down the tiny tikes’ slide. He wanted to climb up it more than he wanted to slide down, but he’s all about the climb lately. I’m totally kicking myself for forgetting to take the camera. What kind of a scrapbooker am I anyway? I guess I will have to go back and find the old pictures of him at the park to scrap and then take the camera on the next sunny day and head back to the park.

What have you missed because you haven’t remembered to capture it on camera? What do you do about it? Do you scrap without photos or fake it later or…?

Happy Friday!!!

What a Difference a Year Can Make

2011-04-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

Do you ever stop to think about how much your life may change in a year? Or even six months? Do you document those changes or tuck them away in a corner of your mind to think about during quiet moments?

It amazes me when I stop to think about time zooming by so fast. It has been four and a half years since I left my Seattle job. Three years ago I went back to finish the last few credits of my AA/BA. Two years ago I started my MFA program. And also two years ago, around this time, my MIL started having a series of heart attacks and other medical problems (she's a lifelong diabetic) that kept her revolving in and out of the hospital so many times I lost track. She finally stabilized about a year ago and now she and my FIL are living in an adult family home so that has calmed things down quite a bit. Also, two years ago (in May) was when DD found out she was pregnant and that kicked off a whirlwind of life changes.

Last year, at this time, I was getting over a back injury, and making the decision to quit my job (that I hated [so it wasn't a really difficult choice]) so I could stay home and take care of little mister. Looking back at my blog last April, I was still struggling to find time to write, and I was concerned that my DD would move out.

Now she's moving. The finality of it hasn't quite set in yet. I have been through her departure once before, so I recognize the familiar feeling of the empty nest. That is always tough. But this time, it will be amplified because not only do I have to worry about her out on her own, but I also have to worry about little mister. I worry about the neighborhood they will be living in because it is scary. I think we've watched FAR TOO MANY crime shows like Law & Order (all of them), CSI, The Closer and then the reality/documentary type like Lockup, and the First 48. They just totally feed my imagination with all of the things that could happen and all of the nonsensical violence that is out there. I just have to stop watching those dang shows and have faith that they will be safe, and that things will go smoothly for them. I will miss hearing little mister, early in the morning, over the monitor as he tries valiantly to wake his mom up for the day, but at least at this point, I will still have him every afternoon/evening while DD is at work. I know that will change one day as well. He will go to daycare and I will need to find a job with a paycheck, but for now I will just savor each of the days that I have with him so I have them to hold me through the missing.

And now this year, we are awaiting the arrival of our second grandson, Conan. My step-daughter is due on April 18th, so she is counting down the days and getting frustrated by the wait. It is a different feeling because they live across state and we won't get much time with the baby, so that will be hard. Emily lives down the street from her mom over there, so she will get the majority of the grandparent benefit with him. It will be interesting to see how the year ahead changes, and I will have more pictures to reflect on next year.


Credits: Sara Gleason - Template; Sweet Shoppe Designs Collab - Kibou for Japan Kit

To Scrap, Collage or Poem Later…

2011-04-05T22:26:00.001-07:00

I'm always open to any prompts people are willing to share. I love all ideas/suggestions, so if you have one, leave it. :)

Poems about:

Suicide Dogs of Overtoun House Bridge (from Nat Geo’s Wild Case Files)
Red Rain in India (from Nat Geo’s Wild Case Files)
Dreams of Coney Island
Big Time Wrestling (braided narrative)
Catacombs in Italy
Stockholm Taxi (a phrase to use)
Snow Frogs
Write about standing on a balcony with someone you’ve read about in the paper. (Big Tent Poetry Prompt)
Write about getting undressed somewhere besides the bedroom or bathroom. (Big Tent Poetry prompt)
Pantoum of Questions (Rachel McKibbens prompt)

Scrap:

Little Mister’s awful-bad cold
Packing Jessica
Renovations upstairs
layout inspired by “hope”
Quote from Quote-me.org: “It is a risk to love. What if it doesn’t work out? Ah, but what if it does?” Peter McWilliams
Quote from Quote-me.org: “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Dr. Cornel West
Books I’m reading
Stack of thesis materials ready for mailing
Recycled hybrid project
Printer tray
Easter egg coloring
Matt’s upcoming birthday

Collage:

Suicide dogs
Coney Island
Friendship board

I think that will keep me quite busy for awhile. LOL

Confession Tuesday

2011-04-05T15:07:00.001-07:00

Do you have something to confess today? Something that has been on your mind or keeping you awake at night?
I haven’t done a Confession Tuesday in awhile, so I thought I’d do one to catch up.

Today is one of those days I did not want to get out of bed. I had a headache, and I have such a cozy cocoon of a bed, sometimes it makes it nearly impossible for me to leave. Heck, who am I kidding? I had that same feeling yesterday. LOL. In fact, I texted my DD from bed, telling her that my poppy field was keeping hold over me. We jokingly call my bed the field of poppies as in the Wizard of Oz.
I have been in a quiet mood for the past few days because I’m in a little bit of a mourning period. My DD is going to move out and take Little Mister (of course… but I had to post that because when my grandma heard the news she asked, “… and taking the baby?” LOL. I am happy for her though because I know it is hard to live at home when you are an adult. AND… I will still get little mister 5 or 6 out of 7 days. So I guess it isn’t all that different. The main difference will be that I will have several hours of quiet time every morning and won’t be able to blame my horrible procrastination on her.
I’m drinking water today. Yes, that is a confession because the bigger confession is that normally I don’t drink water. Be gentle with me. I know it is terrible. I just hate it so. I’m going to start drinking more water each day.
I'm participating in a new poetry workshop with three other people, and I think we're starting tomorrow, but I haven't written anything yet. I need to get on it!
Since I was in a whiny-feeling-sorry-for-myself mood the past few days, I did not post my menu for the week. I’m going to do it now so I can hope to get into the habit. Check out others' Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com

Credits: Jenn Barrette - Kitschy Organized

So do you have any burning confessions you would like to share? What does the week ahead hold for you?

The Artist’s Creed

2011-03-31T20:52:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday, I attended my first meeting with several women artisans. It was interesting to see how different everyone’s arts/crafts were and the different personalities and approaches to life that everyone carried with them. Since I was one of the last to leave (and probably overstayed my welcome), I thought it was interesting to find out that some of the women who had been there (and already left) didn’t consider themselves to be artists. I was all shocked until I realized that is something that I struggle with as well.

I always have that voice in the back of my head that says, “who are you to think that you are creating art?” or “it isn’t art unless someone wants to buy it” or “why do you think that anyone cares about what you are doing?”

Sometimes that voice comes to me as the voice of a family member or someone familiar I’m imagining who has made a similar remark to me in the past. Sometimes it is my own voice, backing me into a corner where I am afraid to come out and actually try to create something. That voice shames me into a place where I would do just about anything (including housework… lol) to avoid actually sitting down to create something.

The thing that kills me is that if a friend told me that they were feeling that way or hearing that voice, or even someone I didn’t really know had that same voice, I would be all kinds of indignant and raise hell. I’d emphatically tell them to ignore that voice. I’d tell them to turn up their favorite music to drown out that voice. I’d tell them to grab their materials and start creating right away to banish those negative thoughts to the thought basement. I’d tell them to surround themselves with inspiration and pick out their favorite colors and get down to business. So why can’t I tell myself? I don’t know. I guess that is a place where I need to do some soul-searching work.

But, since I am struggling with those thoughts, it seemed very timely that I ran across this video from the Gathering Up Bits of the World blog. It turns out she found it on iHanna’s blog… and so it goes. It is worth watching. And watching again. And again. And again… until that voice has no power.

The Artist’s Creed

Listen.

Word-filled Wednesday

2011-03-30T14:05:00.001-07:00

It may be that I am just a geek when it comes to word-related things, but when I really want to spend time doing something just for me, it is either scrapbooking or writing. Lately, I have been slacking on my writing. Mostly because it was required for school, and it was the less-fun technical stuff that you have to dredge up for a thesis. But we are on the precipice of National Poetry Month which happens every April. I know that the majority of people aren’t into poetry, but I think that it is because if it is taught in school, it is the old serious classic poetry that is hard to understand or really stiff and uptight sounding. But there is a lot of fun poetry out there… and there would be more if YOU would write some.

It is simple. I promise. You can just pick a prompt and go. It doesn’t have to be something earth-shattering or life-changing. It can just be some playful words on a page. It is no more complicated than any other writing you may do. Do you ever have trouble writing a whole blog post? Just poetry-ize it and keep it simple, loose and moving. Margie Romney-Aslett's blog has that sort of poetic feeling as you read through it. If you are in need of a prompt, check out…

http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/ (he lists prompts on Wednesdays and will have a prompt-a-day during April)
http://bigtentpoetry.org/2011/03/monday-prompts-march-28/ (they list a prompt every Monday and people return to share their poems on Fridays… they are also doing multiple prompts [one for each day] in April).
http://rachelmckibbens.blogspot.com/ (she doesn’t update her blog with prompts regularly, but her prompts are always interesting, thought-provoking and can be intense [like her poems])
Susan G Wooldridge’s book Poemcrazy is probably the best resource for someone who wants to play with writing poetry. She talks about different ways of looking at things, creating a “word pool” of your favorites, and other simple things to do to start writing. I have almost worn out my copy of this book. The other nice thing about it is that you can read from any section. You don’t have to start at the beginning and read through. It is great to pick up and read a chapter here or there as time permits.
And of course, there is LOLCat poetry. One of my personal favorites. There is even a poetry magnet kit you could get to inspire you. My friend, Dana, has a great example on her blog My Gorgeous Somewhere. Just write something from a cat’s point-of-view and you can use the online translator to change it into LOLcat language. I have a couple poems from the archives, that I did in conjunction with Dana’s now-defunct website Read Write Poem.
Or if you want to go low-tech, just have a friend or family member give you three random words… use them in a poem. Simple Simon.

Do you have any experience with writing or reading poetry? Was your last attempt at creating a poem during some point of your junior high career? It is not too late to try again. And if you have experienced writing poetry… are you still doing it? Now is your chance. Grab any scrap of paper and something to write with. Jot down a quick poem. Less than five minutes. You can do it. Have I tempted you yet? C’mon… you know you are dying to have fun and write a little poem. I double-dog dare you.

Menu Plan Monday?

2011-03-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

In the past few months, I’ve been trying to plan ahead as far as a menu for the week or maybe a week and a half at a time depending on my level of creativity and/or what we have going on in our calendar. We don’t have a lot of activities outside of the house, but it seems like there is always room for better organization. In the past year, I hate to think about how much food went to waste in our house due to lack of planning. I was ashamed to think about it when there are so many people who go without food on a regular basis. I decided we desperately needed to improve, and planning ahead seemed like the most logical and easiest step to take. I think it really has helped as far as creating far less waste, so that makes me feel better.

Then last week, in looking at different blogs (although I’m a loser for not remembering which one), I ran across a link to the Organizing Junkie website and was in awe over how organized this chick is. I have no hopes of ever being so organized (I sort of prefer a more-organic quasi-chaos), but I figure I can check it out, learn something along the way and play along on a much much lower level. If nothing else, I hope to get more ideas of what to make for dinner. Friday is always the “eat out” night. Since I do 99% of the cooking, dear hubby has now gotten into the routine of giving me the night off. But for Menu Plan Monday here goes the week ahead…

Credits: Jenn Barrette - Kitschy Kitchen Organized

I sat down and came up with a month of non-repeating menu items and am going to re-create a master dinner ideas list that we used to have, so we can add to it and keep branching out. Tonight, since little mister is in Oregon with Jessica, it will be a quiet evening around the house, so I plan to sit with my magazine collection (Everyday Food, Cooking Light, Food & Wine and Food Network) and see what I can find to add to our repertoire.

And for a food-related scrapbook LO... little mister is eating something, making a mess, but enjoying it fiercely...


Credits: Jenn Barrette Scrap-like-me Template & Jenn Barrette/Sahlin Studio - Kitschy Kitchen kit

Do you have a rotating menu? Do you plan ahead? If so, how far in advance? Do you have any great recipes that are a hit with your family? Where do you come up with new ideas for cooking? Do you use your camera to document your cooking skills or scrap recipes?

Retail Therapy

2011-03-25T15:16:00.001-07:00

Today was a beautiful spring-like morning and I was totally feeling energetic. I moved the couch around to sweep under it, and dear daughter cleaned the big picture window (in and out) to let the sun through without being hampered by the dog/baby smudges. After our little burst of cleaning and little mister’s normal morning routine, we decided that we needed to get out and do a little shopping. I have been trying not to spend money lately, so it had been quite awhile since I’d treated myself, and since I finished my thesis module, I felt like I deserved a little splurge. Jessica wanted to pick up a portable DVD player since little mister H-A-T-E-S riding in the car and she’s taking him down to Oregon this weekend. She’s hoping that he’ll take a nap, but she wanted the DVD player with a Baby Einstein video as a backup. So we went off to Target. I got a much-needed new purse (smaller) and a wallet (mine were absolutely driving me crazy). I also picked up Bon Jovi’s Greatest Hits cd (on sale) and a couple of things for my nephew’s Easter basket. I didn’t do a lot of Target therapy today because I was saving myself for the scrapbook store.

I don’t know what the stores are like in your area, but the stores around here are severely lacking in my estimation. There is a great little store called the Paper Muse, which is in the neighboring town of Sumner. She has a lot of great things, and I highly recommend going to her shop if you are in that area. It is adorable, but she doesn’t consider herself a scrapbook store. She does have a lot of Tim Holtz stuff and some 7 Gypsies which is hard to find. There is a Ben Franklin craft store not too far away from us, but often it is hit and miss with their products. Michael’s and Joann’s never have what I want as far as papers, so it leaves me with Scrap & Book up on South Hill. It is a big store, and I always can find something to spend money on, but I’ve been more and more disappointed with what they stock. I think they try to please the masses, and they spread themselves too thin. The other problem with the store is that they are completely unorganized as far as keeping product lines together. They appear to sort things by color/design, but then you have no idea where things are (and they really don’t know either). I really wanted to find some major Crate Paper goodies, but they only had two different little spots of it, so I was disappointed, but did manage to find a couple of things from CP and some from Echo Park. Here are the lovelies I picked up today.

I don’t know if it is being in Shimelle’s class or what, but I’ve really wanted to work on an actual paper layout (rather than digital) the past couple of weeks. But I realize that I really don’t have the embellishments I would like as far as a real layout, so I think I will use my papers elsewhere.

I signed up for Amy Tangerine’s “Get Those Creative Juices Flowing” class at Big Picture Classes. It turns out that it is a very similar (but simpler) version of the Remains of the Day class I also signed up for (see sidebar for link). Anyway, I think I’m going to use some of these new papers in a journal that I’m going to start tomorrow. I’m heading over to a friend’s house for a 3-hour arts/crafts session. She’s setting up tables for each of us to work on and we’re just going to bring what we want to work on (and a snack) and have fun. I’m looking forward to it.

Do you have a great/favorite store where you can pick up supplies that make your heart sing? What supplies are you loving these days?

Do you have anything creative happening in your neck of the woods? What is on your horizon for the weekend?

Really?

2011-03-24T21:21:00.001-07:00

Do you ever have just one of those days? Sometimes, it seems like it is one of those days, but then other times, I think that it starts to feel that way, and then once I first let the kernel of thought go there, things spiral. Normally, I am pretty good about not focusing on the negatives, so today I just had to laugh because I kept getting frustrated over the littlest things. At one point, I thought about taking a nap when little mister went down for his, but then I took a look around the house and decided I should take some cleaning action instead. So I cleaned. I put on some rockin’ music and I did five loads of laundry, one load of dishes, took out two batches of recycling, and collected all of the garbage so hubby could take it out tonight, and then I started tackling the stove and the sinks. By the time little mister got up from his nap, I had a raging headache and really wanted to take a nap, but at least I felt better that I accomplished some things. The only thing I didn’t accomplish (chore-wise) was the decision on what to make for dinner. The past few weeks, I’ve had it planned out in advance, but somehow, today fell off the calendar and nothing was thawed or available.

Dear hubby came home from work (a bit late) and I got little mister’s dinner made (he had a toddler meal). While I fed him and got him into his pajamas, hubby went to the store to get stuff to make burgers for a simple dinner. I put some red potatoes in the oven and read little mister a story before bed. We’d put together the burger patties and were waiting for the George Foreman to heat up. I took little mister up to put him to bed, and when I came back down, dear hubby was in the kitchen fussing around with the GF. He had a funny look on his face, and was pushing my burger patty around on the cutting board. I looked down, and saw the dog frantically licking the floor. Suspicious, I asked my dear hubby what had happened. He kind of hmmm-hahh-ed around and didn’t really say anything. Thankfully, my keen observation skills kicked in, and I realized that he’d flipped my burger onto the floor. That wasn’t the bad part… the bad part for me was that he wasn’t going to tell me! I’m not a five-second-rule person. I don’t have time to mop my kitchen floor every day and with the amount of traffic that goes through the kitchen, there is no way that I want to eat anything that has fallen. AND… if he knocked one on the floor, why didn’t he take it or at least warn me since there was other ground beef in the fridge? Not to mention the fact that he made himself an extra, so he would have it for lunch tomorrow. He wasn’t even offering me that one. He was just going to give me the dirty one. I kind of thought it was funny, and I definitely wasn’t mad, just shocked that he would do that. So then I was kind of teasing him about it and he got all pissy and defensive. Seriously? You try to feed me floor food and I don’t get mad about it, but if I pick on you, you get mad? Really?

Then it makes me wonder what other stuff he has done and gotten away with. I guess it is a good thing that I do the cooking 99% of the time. Sheesh. But in the end, all I could do is laugh and be happy that at least I figured it out before I ate my burger with floor spice.

Ladies, do the men in your life do things like this? Is it just mine? Men (if you are out there reading)… would you even try to get away with that? LOL.

Scrap Therapy -- Week 4

2011-03-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

Things I was grateful for in the last week.

Laurie Book - SSD Cookie Template
Susan Bartolini/ScrapKitchen - Amour en Bleu kit, All About Me elements
Lauren Reid - Barcode date stamp, lucky cut-out
penny springmann -absolutecherrycrush-sparklebutton2, glitter

This isn't one of my favorite layouts, because I am one that likes to have less photos on the page. I have a really hard time putting multiple photos. Especially if they are random. It just makes me feel all unbalanced and cluttered. But I decided that I'd use a modified template and give it a shot since the topic was to scrap seven things we were grateful for during the week. Now that I see everybody's pages, I like mine even less because it does really look too busy, and they managed to keep things clean/simple.I think that is why I have a hard time using templates sometimes. I get too stuck in the idea of what it is "supposed to be" and I don't just go with how I want it to be. I liked the template, and I'm sure someone else would have done something better with it, so I'll just have to let it go at that. And I can always chalk it up to a learning experience. :)

Many thanks to Lauren Reid for allowing me to play along with her scrap therapy topics. Check out her blog for other fun things.

Now I'm hoping to continue to do layouts on a regular basis and to start back into creating more/other types of art again. I'm visiting an art group on Saturday to work on a project and see what everyone is working on. Should be interesting.

An End & a Beginning

2011-03-20T19:38:00.001-07:00

I have my last post for Lauren Reid’s Scrap Therapy project. I’m working on that layout to get to her tonight, but I am posting last week’s since I didn’t get around to it. And starting tomorrow, I will be trying to participate in Shimelle’s Blogging for Scrapbookers course. I didn’t have a great track record last time, but I am hoping to be better. Trying to improve is about all I can do at this point, right? Hahahaha.

The layout I worked on last week was for Lauren’s topic of Change. I have had a lot of changes in the past couple of years, but the biggest set of changes has been through the journey to complete my education. After putting off college for nearly 20 years (after I had my daughter right after high-school graduation), the journey is coming to a close. Yesterday, I received an email from my thesis advisor. She said that I passed my thesis module and now can schedule the defense of my thesis with the program head, my two readers, and the Dean. So now there is a whole new set of butterflies disrupting me. Renee told me that she didn’t foresee any big problems with the thesis defense. I’m hoping that she is correct. She said that they will always give you changes to make, but it shouldn’t be a big worry. Whew. We’ll see. I’m sure this journey’s end will bring a whole new set of challenges/changes, but I am always one for new things, so I look forward to what is ahead. I’m not a good one for setting goals or tracking my progress toward the goals, but I’m happy that I’ve made it this far.

Round & Round kit - Lauren Reid
Template (text path) - Qonita Lokutara
tape, doily & clock - Jenn Barrette
Distress Layer, jewel - Amanda Rockwell
birdcage - Lauren Grier
stitches - Traci Reed
typewriter - valerie wibbons

So school is coming to an end. Finally. After 20+ years. LOL. And there will be new beginnings. And my scrap therapy project is coming to an end, but the blogging class is starting fresh. Winter is coming to an end and spring is going to begin? What else is on the horizon...?

More Scrap Therapy

2011-03-14T13:13:00.001-07:00

In the continuing series with Lauren Reid, I’ve completed another layouts and am working on the next.


Credits: paul bunyan photo - greg hartford @ acadiamagic.com snoopy is lonely photo - dhammza @ flickr.com Darcy Baldwin - Template Jenn Barrette - Free as a Bird Kit

I messed up and didn’t get that one to her in time, but it was fun to use a poem in a layout anyway.

It has been fun participating in this project, and at least it has kept me doing something creative.

A Week with a New Menu

2011-03-09T14:38:00.001-08:00

Do you ever get stuck in a rut as far as what you cook/serve for dinner? My dear husband does not really like to eat out, nor does he like fast food or frozen dinners or any of the “helpers”. He also won’t eat breakfast for dinner. He is a traditionalist as far as meal time goes, and by the time dinner rolls around, he is starving and wants something fulfilling. Once in a great while, I can sneak a casserole by him, but you can tell he isn’t incredibly happy about it, so it always leaves me wondering what to fix for dinner. It also doesn’t help that I have a one-year old running around and a kitchen that is not nearly childproof.

Over the past couple of weeks, I found myself blog-hopping and ran across a great site that had a lot of interesting recipes to try. The blog I stumbled across is Our Best Bites. Not only do they have great recipes, but they also have crafty things as well. Yay! Anyhow, I printed off a bunch of recipes from them and then found some others laying around the internet, so I crafted up a new menu for the week, and it has been quite lovely.

Sunday: Mongolian stir-fry -- This was supposed to be my daughter’s day to cook. Unfortunately, she didn’t really know what to make, and then there was some debating about it, so I ended up stepping in and taking it over. I marinated some thinly-sliced pork in a sauce I found online, and then we just used regular spaghetti and frozen veggies and things were good to go. Not quite as good as going to the Mongolian place over near our house, but it was okay.

Monday: Chianti-braised Short Ribs – I’d seen a recipe for short ribs a long time ago, but now have lost it. I think the original recipe was for Korean-style ribs, but since I can’t find it, I am not so sure. Our local grocery store *rarely* carries short ribs, so we ended up going out to a butcher and picking some up. I ended up using an Olive Garden recipe and they were quite divine. Dear Husband was quite thrilled with them. I had planned to make Almost No-Knead Bread from Cooks Illustrated (found on this blog), but I didn’t realize that it needed such a long time to rise. That is going to take some serious math and planning. LOL.

Tuesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup – This is a recipe I found from Our Best Bites. It is an easy thing to throw together and not a lot of cooking time either. It was funny because the recipe calls for fresh lime juice (to be put in at the very end). I tasted it prior to adding the lime and thought that it didn’t have a whole lot of flavor and was a little flat. I had no idea that the lime would make such a huge difference. We also ended up getting freshly made tortilla chips from the Mexican restaurant near our house, so that just added to the yumminess of it all.

Wednesday: Leftovers – I need an easy-cooking night after tending to sick people for the past week. Although we will probably have some of the Creamy Corn Chowder I made the other day from a recipe at Our Best Bites.

Thursday: Slow-Cooker Brisket Sandwiches – A recipe from Food Network. Yum. Our grocery store also does not stock beef brisket, so that was another reason we trudged all the way out to the butcher. I’m really excited to try this.

Friday: The one night hubby acquiesces to eating out.

Saturday: Mongolian beef – this isn’t a “new” recipe, but we don’t often make it, so it is good to throw in every once in awhile. It is nothing like what we made on Sunday. This is fiery hot with a lot of peppers and we serve it with rice. I don’t have an actual recipe for it, but it is always a hit with the man. The “new” recipe for the day is going to be Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie. Here is a picture of it from the Our Best Bites website. Could anything look more delicious?

Sunday: To Be Determined – I haven’t planned that far ahead yet, but I feel like there must be something good on the horizon since I’m on such a roll. I'll have to go through the new Cooking Light magazine or the Food Network Magazine or my Everyday Foods texts to see what I can come up with.

How far do you plan ahead as far as menu/meals? Do you have any dinner/recipe suggestions?

Scrap Therapy

2011-03-01T14:42:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I've blogged, but now I have the perfect excuse. Lauren Reid (of Lauren Reid Designs) started a scrap therapy project on her blog. I volunteered to create layouts based on her topics. The first was Loss/Grief. I found an old picture from the mid-70s of Matt, Dad and I. Our scanner isn't working, but I was able to take a picture of the picture and upload that for the time being. It amazes me to see how much Matt now looks like Dad. Anyway, it was a therapeutic exercise, and I'm sure I'm not done exploring my feelings on the subject, but it is a start.


Credits: Lauren Reid - Clarity kit Aja Abney - moth Libby Pritchett - chicken wire Christine Hosinger - clockhands C Renee - glass negative Jenn Barrette - doily Scrapkitchen - daughter word slip

Jan/Feb Scraps

2011-02-28T14:50:00.000-08:00

I have been participating in Sweet Shoppe Designs' Portfolio Challenges to ensure that I'm doing at least a little bit of scrapbooking/memory keeping during the month. They give you some fun prompts/challenges to get layouts done. Here are some of mine from the past couple of months...

Credits: Whatever Will Be Kit - Lauren Grier/Penny Springmann
Additional Frames - Meghan Mullens, Zoe Pearn, Melissa Bennett, Traci Reed, Holliewood, C Renee, Gypsy
Vintage Carnival Elements - Jenn Barrette/Sahlin Studios

Credits: Cindy Schneider - Template
Fee Jardine - Peace Love Happy kit


Credits: Darcy Baldwin - Inspired by Nettio Template Lauren Grier - Girl Thing kit Eva Kipler - shopoholic tag Fee Jardine - grey flower, glitter spiral & price tag

Credits: Cindy Schneider - Template freebie
Melissa Bennett - Wish Upon a Star
Melissa Bennett/Eva Kipler - Crazy Good (jean paper)

Credits: Template from S Gleason in the SSD Brighter Days Collection
J'Adore Kit by Kristen Cronin-Barrow

Credits: Fee Jardine - What's Happening Elements
SSD - Fall Moments Template & gold frame
Amanda Rockwell - distress me overlay

Credits: Lift from HeatherGW (Dec Daily - Food)
Janet Phillilps - Take Flight Template
Penny Springmann - BB #32 template
Jenn Barrette/Sahlin Studios - Kitschy Kitchen