P365 Renewed - week 1

I am pretty happy about trying to get back into representing the essence of our life ... one day at a time! Well, week 1 back at it wasn't perfect ... only 6 pictures rather than 7, but considering the 6 month hole in the year - that's a pretty good average!

Sunday, October 17th - Unfortunately there was no picture taken.

Monday, October 18th - 10 work days left until my first canvass revenue clean date. I am starting to get pretty nervous ... and stressed!


Tuesday, October 19th - 9 work days left until revenue clean - I took this picture from my "mobile office".


Wednesday, October 20th - our newest litter of kittens.


Thursday, October 21st - BLACKJACK day. I say this because two really fantastic bits of news came my way today. The first ... I can't talk about yet. But suffice it to say that I could really use any good luck prayers, positive thoughts or whatever else you might have. The second was an email from Gina Cabrera of Digital Design Essentials. This was one of the first digital sites I discovered and fell in love with ... and now I am officially part of it as a member of the creative team. F-U-N!

Friday, October 22nd - This picture was taken through my car windshield ... it is easy to take the views around town for granted as I work every day, but the capitol building really is special!

Saturday, October 23rd - Brooklyn and I spent the day together and had sooo much fun putting together a family video on jibjab.com

So, that was our week. We'll try and document the coming one too. Talk to you soon.

Football, Family & Fall

Yesterday we went to watch Rem's last football game of the season. Mom and Dad, Ericka and the girls, us, and of course Lana, Chad and the kids were all there. It has been such an amazing fall - one perfect weather day after the next. I was able to spend a few minutes last night putting the pictures on a layout using Jen Martakis' "FEELS LIKE FALL" scrapbook kit available at Two Peas in a Bucket



And since today is Sunday - no doubt it will be another football filled day.

GO PACK GO!

Project 183?

The resurrection of my scrapping hobby has left me feeling a little sad about Project 365. In 2009 I started P365, but only made it about 6 weeks or so. This year was going to be different! I was going get that prized picture of the day ... EVERYDAY. But then the new job happened and all my plans came to a screeching halt. So, here's where I am with it now - I did manage to take that coveted photo each day for the first four months of the year and there are two plus months to go. So the plan is to start it back up have 6 full months done and make the pages in the middle with what pictures we did manage to take. This week there are only two - yesterday & today - that's how it starts.Wish me luck.

Friday, October 15th - a self portrait by BC

Saturday, October 16th - BC And her cousin P enjoying R-Dog's last football game.

Susan ... Here's to You!

Today's post takes a trip outside the norm for me. I have known an amazing woman for close to 15 years. Our paths have never been such for us to have formed a close relationship - which is pobably more my fault than hers since close friendships have always come hard for me. But I admire Susan and her positive and peaceful outlook on life so much - and this outlook comes in the face of more heartbreak than most will ever know in their lifetime. These past couple of weeks she has been bravely facing a courtroom everyday - the trial is for her ex who is accused of violently murdering their 5 week old baby twins. She has been on my mind often, and I've searched for the perfect words to write to her. But I have nothing! So I am doing the one small thing that I can and I'm passing her story on and asking you to join her cause on Facebook - that murderers of children should receive the same sentences as those of adults, which horrifically is often not the case. So, here's to you, Susan. Know how much I admire the strength you somehow have mustered up through this.

This is a picture of her beautiful babies ... and a link to her Facebook Cause (take a minute to join if you will) http://www.facebook.com/pages/Murder-Is-Murder-No-Matter-How-Small-The-Victim/127418217269613#!/pages/Murder-Is-Murder-No-Matter-How-Small-The-Victim/127418217269613

It's a Happy Thing!

As many of you know, last fall I was selected to be a member of the very first digital creative team ever at Two Peas in a Bucket. It was exciting and then some - since Two Peas had been my scrapbooking home since I first started. It is also where I found the encouragement and info to begin digital in 2006. However, I had to give the spot up this summer due to my new job requirements with AT&T - it was sad, but necessary. Anyway, today my layout that I posted on here yesterday was selected as the project of the day over at Two Peas - WOO HOO! That is indeed a happy thing in my book.

Not So Frightful

I spent some time this afternoon creating a new layout to showcase Jen Martakis' fun Halloween kit. I have to admit that Halloween has always been a challenge for me to scrap ... which means I tend not to do it. It's a good feeling to finally have these pictures from 3 years ready to put into the family scrapbook. It seems that every year I think about making a mini book for each of the kids showcasing their costumes from year to year. Maybe this is the year I finally follow through.

Making Cider & Memories

Last weekend my dad hauled out the hundred year old cider press that has lived in the back of the machine shed at the farm for as long as I can remember. Over the years I have put together some wonderful family time memories using that "machine" ... and I'm so grateful that we continue to use it so that all of our kids can do the same thing.

I used Jen Martakis' "BACK TO SCHOOL" kit to put this layout together. BTW I do know I already posted these pics, but that is probably nothing new for me.

Scrapbooking again!

I am finding the time to scrapbook again ... finally! Getting to a place at work where this was doable again - that is priceless for me.

In the process I was not able to keep up with my commitments for the Two Peas in a Bucket Digital Creative Team, and had to give up my spot to someone that could. Anyone that knows me knows what a heartbreak that was -- making that team in the first place had been a dream come true. But Jen Martakis has allowed me to keep my position on her team, and I am grateful and motivated by that. Here are a couple that I did last week (and I plan to scrap during football this afternoon too) I used Jen's "ALL GIRL" and "ALL BOY" kits to create these two.

Makin' Cider

Last weekend we had such beautiful weather - it was the perfect time to do something outside. Layne requested that we all go to the farm, and use the hundred year old apple cider press - what a great idea! There really is something special about it - the kind of thing that all of the kids will look back on as "something we always did". The older I get the more I realize that it really is those kinds of things that matter most.

At the Homecoming Parade

How many times is a person allowed to say they are trying again with the blog thing ... it probably doesn't matter much since that very question's necessity means that I am most likely talking to myself anyway. But anyway, I am going to try it again. :)

This afternoon Scott took the little girls to the parade and met up with Brooklyn and her friends. I am soooo jealous. But it makes my heart smile to have pictures like these.

This and That

Meal plan Monday has been put on hold - for 40 days and 40 nights. I have made the decision to try yet another diet plan ... this one involving HCG sublingual drops. Yes, the hormone that is found in the urine of pregnant women. I have been considering it for awhile, and then a good friend lost 30 lbs. in the last 3 weeks. So, my meal plan really won't be worth talking about. But ...

We did have a pretty amazing meal tonight. Which happened to be easy as well. It was Quick Chicken Marsala - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quick-Chicken-Marsala/Detail.aspx I can tell you that everyone in the family enjoyed it and we will definitely have it again. We had it with mashed potatoes and corn.




And the last this or that is some layouts that I created this past week with some of the wonderful digital products available at Twopeasinabucket.com


The first is titled A BIT OF WELCOME SUNSHINE and showcases some really darling elements by Vinnie Pearce - Peach Hill Elements

























The next is titled, GOOD EASTER EGGS - it was designed to showcase a wonderful kit by Wilna Furstenberg called Somebunny to Love. So many great things in this kit and I love her style.
























And I plan to keep this roll going tomorrow - which happens to be Tuesday. I do so love Tuesday, because it is new product day at 2Peas. Who would have ever thought I would look forward to Tuesdays? Go figure. Have a great night all.

5 Things - Gratitude

This is my first gratitude poting so these will be the obvious ones (so their feelings are kept solidly in tact) and we''ll go forward from there.

1. Two Days in a Row People! Blogging might actually turn out to be good yet.

2. My wonderful kids and granddaughters. They are my everything. All moms understand this. (they will all hate this photo - but it serves as a reminder to them to let me take group shots more often. HA!)

3. A supportive husband to grow old with. I don't think you can appreciate this one too much. The older I get the more I understand the wisdom of this one.

4. My parents. I was one of the lucky people to have been raised in a really great home. We didn't have issues. And they continue to be a rock in my life - a calm spot in the greatest of storms. They are amazing.

5. Time. This makes the top 5 list for a million reasons at least. "Times heals all wounds" "Time marches on " You can't save time, you can only spend it wisely" My vow with changing careers this past year has been to use my time more wisely, to begin to live my life with purpose. And so it makes the first list.

So, thanks for stopping in -- here's to beginnings. I look forward to many more lists. Probably more interesting or fun, but certainly no gratitudes more important than today. God Bless.

Starting Again

It seems that letting so much time pass between blog entries leads inevitabelyto forgetting all the things you had worked so hard to teach yourself about blogging in the first place. I think this is where I hit myself on the head. So, I am returning to the class lessons from Shimelle and relearning.

Why should this time be different? I have found a job!!!! Yup, that right - after so many stressful months of not knowing what the future held, I start work next Monday for AT&T Advertising. I am beyond thrilled. For the job AND to have a little extra money again. But to the point right now, I have let go of some stress - time to relax and start living my life again. Moving forward. I am a blogger.

In talking with some of my "scrappy friends" who are much more successful at this endeavor than I, I think that the way to start blogging more often is to develop a structure to follow ... at least in the beginning. So starting tomorrow I will have themes for each day of the week. Can't really promise that they will be set in stone forever, but that is what I'm going with. Sunday's will be about Gratitude. I will tell you five things I am grateful for. Monday's will be Meal Plan Monday - I'm a little scared of this. This might be more appropriate for those who are more "plannerish". But we'll give it a go.

So, we'll see you tomorrow. I'll be grateful if I can just follow through with this. (evil grin)

It seems to me that ever since I started this blogging thing I have been saying that I am going to do better ... so I will say it again. I amgoing to do better. The thing about it is that I rather feel like I am talking to myself. AND then in the next sentence - I answer. Scary! But the truth is that I started this blog primarily to post 2Peas layouts for the creative team assignments, and doing all of it at once is tedious, frustrating and no fun at all (not to mention that I think it defeats the purpose), I AM GOING TO DO BETTER!

So to that end, here are my 2Peas assignments from January ... they are pictured with the kit that they are intended to promote. I will say that the kits at the site have been fantastic to work with. And as my first creative team I think I am starting to get the hang of it all (minus the blogging, of course - but again I am going to do better).

So there they are ... Next month they will appear more sporadically intermixed with more posts. I figure if I tell myself enough, I will follow through. SIgning off, with fingers crossed