15 minutes

Friday, November 06, 2009

And you know what that means, right?!?!?!?!

PIZZA DAY!

Thursday, November 05, 2009

I must have been a SIGHT this morning!

I was playing the classic rock station...a little bit of Bob Seegar, a little bit of Aerosmith, a little bit of Foreignor, a little bit of Journey...mmmmmmmmm Hmmmmmmmmm!!! and as my son would say...I was playing it "WOUD!"

After all this time, I have not outgrown my rock-star ways.

Its still in me...

YES I WAS a wannabe rock-star!

See!!!

Just can't let go of the dream...HA HA!

I even did a layout about imagining 30,000 fans screaming my name (among other things):

Ok..but seriously...picture me...in my little Honda Civic, cruising down the road, radio blasting, 7 months pregnant (along with ALL that entails, singing at the top of my lungs, with my hands doing some kind of stage motion and my head bopping...

I must have been a SIGHT!

Cool, right? NOT!

What are YOU doing today?

Peace, ya'll!

I Get Around…

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

I love the internet...How did generations of people grow up without this wonderful tool?

I'm not exactly a surfer, spending hours and hours gliding from one place to another. I tend to “hop.”

I read some blogs and go some places all the time…and then I find little linkies at my normal haunts and follow those to new and wonderful places.

When I find something that I like, I either add it to my reader or bookmark it. I pay fairly close attention to the sites I have marked. I'm always on the prowl for something inspirational or informational.

Lately, I’ve been hanging “at home” in my normal places…but I’ve gotten TONS of inspiration from these little places (and a few products too!) I won’t lie – I’m totally an enabler…I cannot be alone in my addiction of all things bright and beautiful...just don’t blame me if you click and find something wonderful waiting for you!

Always and forever I will be a fan of Ali Edwards (Thanks Karen!). I love how she tells today’s stories in a very frank and emotional way and I adore her style. I adore her style of scrapping, her thoughtful approach to everything and mostly her philosophy that imperfection is pure beauty!

Scrapbooking from the Inside Out has grown to be one of my favorite places to go each day. I’ve been a member of this community for SOME time now…they are simply a fabulous group of people who are really focused on getting YOU in your scrapbooking or journaling. There is a monthly theme, a fantastic kit to go along (you don’t have to be a kit buyer to be part of the fabulous community!), great designers, challenges that really inspire and make you dig deep…and, the process of creating pages for these challenges is SO Cathartic. Less baggage and more pages are a seriously good combo in my world!

Log your memory is my new favorite place…I am especially fond of the new bookthat this site will support come 2010. I already gushed about it HERE and I’m even already using some of the sections! Plus - an organizational support community (I am a Type A after all!) that is parlayed into scrapbooking!??!!? Seriously on target for my personality!!!

Stacy Julian – of course!! I like her regular blog, her Sprinkles, the things she manages to find on the internet…She is just like an inspiration shot in the arm. I don’t know when she sleeps, she has so much going on!

I’m always on the prowl for fun things to do with my son…I’ve found that my best resource lately for cool ideas is a happy little site called Family Fun. You may either hate me or love me that it is a Disney site…regardless…this is the BEST place to find fun food and crafts for all ages. I ADORE it!

For spiritual inspiration, I find myself often at the Rebelution site . This is a site primarily to encourage teenagers to do hard things with passion, to rise above the blight of low expectations. Is it any wonder I find it so inspiring myself!?!?!?!? I’m ready to go out and conquer the world after reading the things on this site!!!

One final place I find myself frequently? Life Skills Network. This is a group of bloggers who write on various life topics like saving money, smart investing, simplicity, wisdom, organizing, etc…it’s a GREAT source of information!

So…Whatcha looking at in your world?

Peace, ya’ll!

Breathless

I have always loved children.

I just didn’t want any of my own.

In fact if anyone from more than about 10 years ago in my life were to read this right now, they would be side-swiped by my dramatic 180 degree turn on having children. Despite loving them, I didn’t every ever want to go through the pain, sacrifice, anxiety, mess and expense of having any "rug rats" of my own.

Little did I know when I had a child that such a little creature would be capable of stealing the very breath from chest.

I don’t think that this is surprising to anyone who already has children in their lives. But to me, to find out the power one tiny little boy would wield over my heart has been surprising.

He’s such a beautiful child – aren’t they all?????? – and has such a depth of understanding.

Children have a much simpler way of navigating the world. They say what they mean and they mean what they say. They like what they like and they are willing to experiment. They observe us and those of influence around them and they make their own choices about what seems good and right. They are brave and adventurous, strong and resilient, and more than any other creature on earth, they live in the now.

How much we could all learn from the simple and unadorned way a child lives, loves, grows and develops. All of our lives should be so pure and full of good intention and high adventure.

This one knows the inroads to Mommy’s heart. He is highly skilled at communicating with me exactly what he means.

Sometimes its how he acts – like a freely given hug, a kiss on the hand, a jump right into my lap, or wandering up to my side to take my hand.

He will clean his own plate, throw trash away and put his shoes where they “go” without having to be asked by me.

He will wander off to another room and come back with a stack of books, sit at my feet and read by himself.

Sometimes its in how proud he is of things he’s accomplished. I LOVE hearing, “Mommy! Look at me!” and then seeing him master a dance move, climb to the top of a very high slide, or race his trike around the kitchen island.

He’s always proud to show me the good marks on his school calendar, or describe how he made an art project.

I even love it when he “corrects” me with the right words to a song or a poem.

But the place where I catch my breath the most is when he speaks with me. I've always conversed with him as though he were an intelligent human being - no baby talk, no weird sounds. We just talk. As I’ve said often, he has been a very verbal guy for a very long time. And its in the sweet things that come out of his mouth that I find myself wanting to stop time, to hold just one minute, to rewind and play it again.

Like when he sneezed and his ears got plugged up. He said, “Mommy, can you fix my sound?”

Or when he asks, “Mommy? Do you want to be Princess Jasmine or Cinderella?”

Or when he says, “Mommy! We should pray!”

But never more…never more does my heart skip a beat than when he says, unsolicited and out of nothing but his own heart, “I wuv you mom!”

My whole world pivots on those precious words. There is nothing like it on the planet…and for that moment, all the world stands still and I am breathless.

Peace, ya’ll!

The Best of Intentions

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

YESTERDAY was the start of Shimelle’s Blogging for Scrapbookers class.

Yes I DID get my happy little prompt.

Yes I DID read it and do some planning on my first post for the class. The prompt was for us to blog about our intentions for our blog during the time of the class and afterward…

I have intentions…I really do. I even wrote them down and started to ponder what sort of photo I could post that might be fun. She suggested several, but I thought something more tuned to my current lifestyle would be a neat way for me to personalize the post.

Maybe something like this because much of my scrapbooking is currently done at the kitchen table while Jayden paints or does his own "project."

Or maybe something like this one. See that baby gate that his desk is pushed up to? That is my office door. In order for me to have "office" time, I generally have to make sure that his own desk is set up very close by so we can "chat" while he works on his own "wook."

Or maybe something like this one...is there a computer in sight? nope. How about scrapbooking? Nope...but we ARE together and we ARE being creative. Well...HE's really being BOSSY and telling me how to be creative...but it works for us.

Despite my planning, writing and my good intentions, everything spun crazily out of control shortly after my considerations. I spent two extra hours at work and then had to rush to get Jay from Grandma and Grandpa’s. Thankfully dinner was in the slow cooker and I didn’t have to spend much time on dinner other than plating. But I was so late getting home that immediately after dinner, it was story time and bed time for the boy. When my head finally hit the pillow, it was completely blogless.

I’m NOW thinking maybe my picture should look something like this:

Yesterday's outcome drove something home for me: Intention is not a promise or a goal or a task on the to do list. It is somthing you think about. It is a direction you point yourself when considering action.

For me, intention alone is not going to get the job done. This has to be a priority - something I set aside to do for myself, something I place in a position of importance for me.

So, I thought if I'm going to get this moving and really reach my aspirations, I'm going to have to step it up a bit. Just intention won't be enough in my world. so I’m calling them goals. Its just that I know I will handle myself better and it won’t be so easy to let these things fall by the way side while I’m off trying to please everyone else!

My goals are these:
• To make the time to consider each prompt and write about the topic, regardless of whether I feel particularly inspired to do so.
• To blog any of the writings that move me.
• To post a minimum of 3 days per week – even if its not on a blog topic…Goodness knows there is plenty going on in the scrap/craft world alone to find things to post about.
• To focus on my craft and my inspirations and my desires and my goals and those things in my life that help me feel positive and focused and moving forward.
• To trust my own blogging voice. I’m not interested in alienating anyone, but I want to be me.

So...its actually day TWO of the class. I'm off to read the next topic and ponder my response!

Peace, ya’ll!

Off the Bookshelf Challenge

Friday, October 30, 2009

I’m a ravenous reader of the many blogs of Noel Mignon. Her work is so fun and accessible and I simply love it!

She does some really cool and contemporary challenges – more fun design than deep thinking…although I’m certain you could take them in any direction you wanted to.

So…she did an “Off the Bookshelf” challenge HERE:

I’m thinking over the weekend, I’ll try this one from Jay’s collection of many books:

I've got a plethora of snow pictures...maybe I'll try one of these:

Peace, ya'll!

Some fun and different stuff

Thursday, October 29, 2009

I’ve been a little in a rut with the whole scrapbooking thing…

Not so much because I’m ACTUALLY in a rut…but more because I’ve just gotten to a place where the time is so little and the things to scrapbook so big that I’m feeling overwhelmed. I’ve DONE some scrapbooking in the last couple of weeks. I made a darling, totally scrap-lifted fall pumpkin garland for my mantel and yesterday I finally finished up my button studio book that I blogged about in..uh…August.

What with the changes a pregnancy brings to the body, plus my job has brought to my stress levels added to a new nursery, a new bedroom for our big boy, a new office for the man…and the list goes on and on.

I did finally get the whole purge and organize thing done…of course now, my office floor is littered with potential Christmas presents and I’m just not allowed by my son to go in that room without him. Unfortunately allowing him in is completely out of the question…that would be a little like letting While E. Cyote into a roadrunner cage at the zoo.

And, in my sort of frantic, hyper-stessed, hyper-emotional, nesting mind-set of the moment, all I can think about is how much less time I will have once the new little guy gets here. What is a girl to do?

Well…I found the most amazing things to get me back on track organizationally and also to improve my little bloggy here!

First of all, I signed up to take Shimelle’s Blogging for Scrapbookers.

I’m so excited about this class - mostly because of the daily prompts that will be provided…the reminders can keep me on track with my scrapping AND my blogging. And there is a chance to win the class free – go HERE and check it out!

Second, I found the most amazing site: Log Your Memory.
Along with it, the most amazing book!

Now, I'm a journaler...but I'm finding my scrapbooking, bible study, work notes, sketches, and grocery lists are all ending up in one place. Its a GREAT thing to have journals like mine when I think of being dead and gone for a generation and having my grandchildren or great grand children wanting to get a picture of what my life was like. But it doesn't exactly make it easy for me to scrap my memories or ideas later on. I have trouble finding things I KNOW I wrote down to remember!

So..this book is just what I'm looking for - plus it comes with its own support community!

The book itself has daily pages with lots of room for ideas and sketches and marking down things like appointments and scheduled:

There are pages with challenges:

Along with pages for sketches, monthly worksheets to keep up with yourself through the month, birthday worksheets for keeping birthday details and holiday worksheets. Its just the coolest thing if you are looking for an easy way to keep track of the stories and the details and your sketches and everything in a more organized fashion than a typical journal.

And you can get it in three different form: a normal book, spiral bound or downloadable. I chose downloadable and then put mine in a binder, like what is shown.

Once you download the book, she even gives you a tip sheet about how you might want to set up your notebook...I have mine set up with pocket folders between each month to hold memorabilia and little life tidbits as well as extra printings of birthday and holiday worksheets. I'll probably also add some page protectors to keep sketch pages I get from my magazines...literally a one-stop shop for my creative ideas!

And today I had the idea of maybe only carrying one month at a time with me in a small binder - that way it will fit in my bag!

Ok...so...

What are YOU up to?

Peace, ya'll!