One Little Word: Blog Hop

Can you believe that it is already September?

With the beginning of the month, it is time to return to the One Little Word Blog Hop. Thanks to Margie for hosting! You should have arrived here from Brighton. If not, check around and then see what is happening with the rest of the blogs on the list.

Things have been so busy for us lately. I've missed a couple of the blog hops, but am looking forward to trying to get back on track. This was a good month for getting back into the swing of things. This month, Ali instructed us to just take a breath and appreciate where we are right now. I could totally do that. And we were supposed to take a picture of ourselves and use some words on it. Simple.

Hello typo... lol.  Used Lauren Reid's placemats frame and my own bad eyesight with the alpha.

August was quite a month. Lots of changes and lots of things going on. I've signed on to be a reader for Cascadia Review... reading and reviewing poetry.  Fun.  Now I need to start writing it as well.

One of the fun things in August that I was beyond excited about was landing a spot on the Sissy Sparrows Creative Team! Jules and Donna (twin sisters from Australia) are such an amazing design team, and I feel so lucky to be part of all of the greatness they have going on with their products and the amazing team members. They have been at One Story Down since it opened, and I've loved their products from the start. Here are some of the layouts I've made with their yummies.

Mustard Stain mini, trims and overlays

Bear Necessities mini, overlays & trims

Wasted Breath mini, freebie, overlays & trims

Also in August, Tim's job was coming to an end, so that had been really stressful. We found out about it back in November of last year, but things have been drawn out and postponed. He was reaching the end of the extensions, but we learned a couple of weeks ago that he has a new job to go to, so no more stress! Yay. He's going back to Key Bank, and they are excited for him to return.

We've had some lovely weather and spent a lot of time outside. We've had a lot of family time. Some time with friends. Time being creative. Time doing some fun things. And some time spent at the beach. Jessica turned 24 this week. I can't believe how fast those years have gone by. Years, months, days and hours... so unbelievably fast lately.

Breathe. It is important. It is a good thing to remember.

I'm looking forward to what September has in store for us.

Have you made time to breathe? What do you have on the horizon?

Next up is Monica.

The full list of participants is below. Thanks for stopping by!

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com
Brighton www.simplebrighton.com
Kimberlee http://scrapsandsass.blogspot.com
Monica http://scrapinspired.com/category/one-little-word/
Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Lisa http://backtoallen.com/category/challenges/one-little-word/
Kara http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com
Ruth http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com
Jessica B http://jlfbarnes.blogspot.com/
Veronica www.veronicanorris.typepad.com
Naomi http://poeticaperture.com/
Carolina www.micinnamons.blogspot.com 
Kelly http://mindingmynest.com
Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com
Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Pursue a Passion: Happiness Project Blog-Hop

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