Sarah's Scrappin'

Jesus Sees Through It

2012-02-08T10:30:00.000-05:00

I had the chance recently to write a devotional for a women's devotional book. I wanted to share it here too. It's on the woman at the well. And by the way, I'm having a great day today...

John 4:15-19

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.

I’m having a bad day. Well, truth be told, I’m having a string of bad days. Some of the reasons for this run of bad days are legitimate. I’m battling cancer and having difficulty handling the side effects of the chemotherapy. My son is having a hard time learning some new concepts at school. I’m worn out from teaching my children how to share and get along. We are in the middle of a busy season of life. But some of what’s going on with me are not legitimate reasons for having a bad day. I’m refusing to see the blessings - of love and support and provision - and let them touch my heart. I know it’s wrong.

I sit on my Facebook page, knowing I need to send out an update about life because a lot of people are concerned and praying for me, but I’m unable to put any words in that little box. I feel like I need to “edit” some of what I want to say – glam it up a bit, make it a little more “Christian-y.” It’s not just on Facebook either. When I pray, I catch myself generalizing what my struggles are instead of honestly confessing my sin and conversing with the One who can intervene in the midst of my situation.

When I read today’s passage, I was glad to see that I am not the first woman Jesus had dealt with who had glossed over her sin. This woman came to the well in the middle of the day so she could avoid her “social network.” She had been offered living, eternal water, and she wanted to know how to get it. Then, Jesus cuts through all the stuff she’s hiding behind to preserve her damaged reputation and says, “Go call your husband, and come here.” Trying to hang onto her decency, she honestly replies, “I have no husband.” Then Jesus zones in like a laser beam, and He reveals her sins of infidelity and adultery.Her response? “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.”

This woman wanted an ice pack and a band-aid for her big problem, but Jesus went in like a skilled surgeon on the needs of her heart. And before we chuckle at her too much, we must recognize how much we can be like her. Instead of glossing over a sin or “fancying up” a struggle, allow Jesus to pierce your heart. He knows your burden better than you do. Allow the One who created you to finish the work He’s doing in you so that you can minister authentically.

Roundup - January 2012

2012-02-06T13:00:00.001-05:00

This is an idea inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady as a way to collect your memories each month before they slip away.

1. What milestones did the kids have this month? What were they like? What were they into?
#2 had a big one! She rode her bike with no training wheels! She is still pretty hesitant and needs help starting (she prefers dad's help) but she is well on her way to being a pro.

#1 had straight As on his report card, and he is working on learning cursive. It's not easy for him, but we got some tips from his teacher for different ways to practice. His class also did a special presentation in Chapel, and he had a main role.

#3 continually makes us laugh. One day he decided he wanted to be called Zack. He thought it sounded cooler than his own name. It didn't last very long. But now when he does something kinda dumb, we say, "come on zack!" and he growls!
He also asked Jesus in his heart this month. We were in a DNOW session, and at the end all of the kids were kneeling and praying. At the end of the invitation, #3 leaned over to Grammy and said, "I asked Jesus into my heart." She was happy for him, and said that he should tell someone about it. So he darted across the church to where my Main Squeeze was standing, and he said, "I asked Jesus in my heart." Well, MMS thought he said, "I want to ask Jesus into my heart." So he proceeded to go through the whole Gospel plan with #3, then he asked him, "Do you want to pray and ask Jesus into your heart?" #3 said, "Dad, I already DID that!" Now, as a mom, I'm a little freaked out. Nobody was there with him, nobody heard his prayer; nobody made sure he did it right. But it doesn't matter. I don't have to hear his prayers anyway. He's not praying to me. We are going to be observant, and see how God is working in his life and help him and answer his questions along the way.

(Image by Kelly Ann Jones - Augustine Grace Photography)

2. What events happened this month?
The big thing was DNOW! It was a new thing for our church and it was a big win. The students loved it and learns so much. Our speaker was Matt Lawson. Man, what a inspiring storyteller he was! He was a big encouragement to my Main Squeeze.
It was also so encouraging to see kids from our old church who helped us with this event. Most of these kids we have discipled and worked with for many years, and to see them teach, lead, and disciple others was very, very heart warming and inspiring :o)

3. What did we do in our down time, just for fun?
It's been a busy month...not too much time for fun pursuits. Since its been so nice outside (70s and 80s) we've been doing a lot of bike riding and scootering.

We've also done some house hunting. Looking for a bigger place that will suit our needs better while not breaking the bank....yeah....not much luck yet. Praying for God to work this one out for us

4. What were we watching, listening to and reading?
Some movie watching and tv catch up too. We love American Idol, and my DVR is recording all the episodes for me. Whenever I need a rest, #2 and I cuddle up on the bed and watch an episode.
We rented Kung Fu Panda 2 and Breaking the Press to watch as a family. My Main Squeeze and I watched Moneyball - which for a movie about sports, was very entertaining.

My Main Squeeze is reading a couple books: The Resolution (from the movie Courageous) and The Uncommon Life Daily Challenge by Tony Dungy. He always has several books he reads from as he studies, and I don't always know what they are.

I started the James Bible study by Beth Moore called Mercy Triumphs. I'm also reading Generation iY.
I introduced #1 to the world of choose your own ending books! He really liked them.

5. What were my disappointments?
I'm having trouble with my port. It's just sore and tender all the time. My chemo appointment actually got backed up because they wanted to treat me for a port infection. I had to have 2 days of IV antibiotics and a 7 day course of oral antibiotics. It didn't really do anything, and now it's just as red and sore as it was before. The nurses said that sometimes it's just like that. I only have to keep it in another 5 weeks, and then it can come out. Chemo is doing its thing, but the side effects are cumulative and rough. I'm having a red blood cell issue (they're too low), so I'm having to have 3 weekly treatments to help build those back up. Because of feeling yukky and being at the doctor so much, I feel like I'm all off kilter with everyday life.

6. What were my accomplishments?
My car went over 100,000 miles. I wrote on my facebook.... "So thankful that God has provided us with a car that has taken us this far comfortably...on vacations, around town with 3 car seats and now with none, to church, to school, packed with youth group students on missions projects and sometimes just for fun. Thanks God for your provision."

I got to speak to a group of High Schoolers at our church's academy. The topic was how to be spiritually ready when life throws you a curveball. I was worried before the class I wouldn't be able to relate to most of the students, but they really seemed to be engaged.

I successfully took 3 kids with me to the oncologist for blood work. On the way home from getting the kids from school, the Doctor's office called because I had forgotten I had an appointment for bloodwork. She said they could still squeezing me in that afternoon...so I went with all 3 kids in tow. They were the hit of the afternoon! They scooted their 3 chairs in the hallway all right in front of the door where I was getting stuck. They wanted to see it all. If anything, this little journey with cancer may make all 3 of my kids want to be doctors.

I got a shout-out on the bullhorn in the school carline because I wore this wig to pick up my kids :o)

I completed my first online scrabooking class. It was called Round up Your Memories at Big Picture Classes. It was a great class! But I only made one scrapbook page this month.

Year in Review - 2011

2012-01-05T18:40:00.001-05:00

Since having chemo #3 between Christmas and New Years, I feel like I've missed out on all the year end remembering and recollecting. I looked through my photos and realized this has been quite a year for us - full of joy and unexpectedness and finding joy in the unexpectedness. So hang on...here comes the year in review....

JANUARY - We started out the year getting back to normal and working on a few projects around the house. My Main Squeeze figured out how to install a paver patio extension on our back patio, and it totally transformed the look of our backyard. We eventually built in a small fire pit, and loved using it. I also painted a quote in our foyer: Dear God, Your will. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen It's kinda crazy how we had to rely on the faith expressed in that sentiment.

FEBRUARY - February was busy for us. We had passes to Disney World this year, so we met one of our cousins there to celebrate his birthday. I thought going to WDW so many times in one year would get old, but it really didn't. We love the place. It's fun to do the "favorites" and every time we found something new too.

We also took the kids with us on the youth group ski trip. We only skied and snowboarded a little bit. It really turned into a big snowball fight...

We also celebrated Valentines day with heart-shaped strawberry topped pancakes and a healthy helping of candy and cookies, and we watched the last space shuttle take off from our backyard.

MARCH - In March, my grandfather died at age 90. It was a really sad day, but his last few years of life were really difficult for him. He longed for the day where he could be in Heaven with Jesus and Grandma with a whole body. Despite knowing that, it was still hard to say good bye.

I also attended a choir reunion for the college I attended. They invited each of the choir directors to return and direct a number for the mass choir, and we recorded a cd of the pieces we performed. A special piece was commissioned for the event, and it was beautiful.

Our #1 started playing little league baseball, and he was really good at it. He is the epitome of sheer enthusiasm when he plays. He hops up and down in excitement. I think he learned a lot about baseball, and he had to learn about sportsmanship since his team was not the best in the league.

APRIL - In April, we celebrated #2's 5th birthday with a teeny tiny birthday party since she loves everything teeny tiny. We had mini cakes for everyone, a teeny tiny scavenger hunt, and mini Chinese take out containers to put all the treasures in. There were tons of little kids at our house....it was crazy fun. Before #2 opened each present, someone in the group would yell, "Kiss it! Kiss it!" and she would. It's kinda become a new tradition in our house to kiss your present before you open it. It all started here.

We also celebrated Easter in a big way. All 3 got to be in the first big scene of the Easter production at church. #2 got to run and jump into Jesus' arms. That was pretty exciting. My Main Squeeze got to dress as a Roman Soldier and be in charge of parking. We also had lots of family in town to decorate eggs, do egg hunts, nerf gun wars, fish, and just in general have fun with.

Also in April, the world watched the Royal Wedding. I remember as a child waking up super early to watch Princess Di get married, so #1, #2 and I got up at 4 to watch Will and Kate tie the knot. Then they went to school, and I took a nap!!

MAY - We celebrated my birthday and mother's day.

This is probably my favorite picture from the entire year. It was totally unscripted, and taken by my hubs...He does ok :o)
May was kind of a hard month for me. We were talking to the leadership from our new church, and it was becoming more and more clear that God was moving us from the home we had known for 7 years. I was looking at everything we were doing as "the last time" we would do whatever it was we were doing. Also, we were being cautious about how much we shared with our kids about the move because we didn't want them to feel the same stress and pressure we did. We also wanted them to be able to finish out their school year as normal as possible.
We enjoyed taking our students on their Junior Senior weekend.

We took the big green truck out for another mission in downtown.

JUNE - AKA the craziest month of my life.... We finished up baseball with #1's team making the playoffs and doing pretty well. Their team peaked at the season's end just as other teams were plateauing. #1 could always be counted on with a big hit.

We also finished up school. #2 graduated from preschool, and #1 finished first grade with straight A's...a goal he had worked on all year.

I know she's only 5, but why does it feeeeeeel like she's 18?? Somebody help a mama!!!
Her graduation program was so cute! They sang songs and quoted poems and Bible verses, and the sanctuary was packed, and we sat on the front row with tears in our eyes. I loved the kids' school. It was probably the hardest thing for me as a mama to leave when we moved - even harder than our house and our friends - because I knew when I dropped my kids off in the morning they were in a place that loved them as much as I did. And I'm not just saying that....

We also had our house on the market, which meant constantly keeping it clean while packing. We had the house competitively priced which meant it was being shown all the time. We ended up having a contract on it by the time we moved on June 21st.

The best part of June was choir tour - our last big trip with the Calvary Crew. We had about 15 performance/ministry stops planned, and we ended up doing 23. The experience was nothing less than amazing. It was so cool to lead a group that all wanted to use music and serving to share Jesus with whoever was in front of them. It was great knowing that all 75 people on the trip were of the same mind and same purpose. I blogged about this trip HERE if you want to read more about it and see some short videos of it...it's worth the click.

On June 19 we had our choir homecoming performance and farewell party at church. It's hard to explain the emotions of that day. For us, we knew it had been coming for a few months. For our friends, it was only a few weeks.

The next day we started packing like crazy. The moving company was supposed to come on Thursday to load us up and unload us on Friday. We had so much help that by Monday night we were 3/4 done! The company called on Tuesday morning and said they had an opening in their schedule and asked if we could be ready on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, and my Main Squeeze said YES!!! What was he thinking??? But we did it! By 6pm on Tuesday all our stuff was in the truck and our cars, and we were patching holes in the walls. We drove halfway to our new place that night. We were so beat!

We unloaded our stuff in our new place on Wednesday. It was crazy how fast it all happened. We had stuff basically moved in and we had started to unpack by evening on Wednesday. We even surprised them at our new church on Wednesday night. We spent the rest of June unpacking, settling in, and exploring....

JULY - We did a lot of getting used to our new home! The kids loved swimming in the neighborhood pool. It was basically a daily affair. We took a trip up to see grandma and grandpa and to see our new cousin who was visiting from out of state. Grammy moved down to the same town as us, and we got her moved and settled in. There were some "settling in" pains to be sure, but that's to be expected in a new place and a new town.

AUGUST - My Main Squeeze and I started out the month (actually starting in the end of July) by taking the High School students to Student Life camp. It was a great experience. The speakers were some of the best I've ever heard at camp. It was a very different experience than most of these kids had ever had before too. It was a great chance for us to get to know this new group of kids too.

It was a big month for the kids too. #1 started playing tackle football. It was a big adjustment for him because for the first time he was the youngest in the league, and he got hurt a few times (minor stuff), but by the end of the season, I think he understood the game better and played it pretty well.

#1 and #2 started their new school. I love their teachers (they do too!) I really appreciate the hands-on approach this school has while still maintaining a strong traditional academic core. The kids just think their classes are fun.

My Main Squeeze bought a new Jeep because the old one was having more and more problems (which added tons of stress for us this month - at one point He was having to start the old Jeep with a screwdriver!!) The new Jeep is quickly becoming our family car.

SEPTEMBER - Was a whirlwind month for us. We celebrated my niece's first birthday. She is such a cutie patootie. Her personality totally cracks me up!

We were also fully into the school/sports schedule. #1 had practice for football 2 days a week and one game each week. It was a lot for a 2nd grader. Basically, we got home from school, did homework, changed clothes, ate something, took off for football practice, came home, showered, and had about an hour to chill before bed. It was a schedule that was kinda tricky for our family to get used to. I was very proud of how hard he played all season.

#1 and #2 both got the Christian Character Award at school.

#3 started going to "Friday School." It's a preschool enrichment class for 3 and 4 year olds that meets just on Friday. He loves it! They do a lot of music, science, cooking, outdoor play, and Spanish. It's made Friday a delightful experience for me and Main Squeeze. One of us takes all 3 kids to school, stops for bagels from Panera on the way home, and we have a quiet morning at home! A girl could get used to this!!!

On September 8th, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Right after we moved, I found a lump accidentally in my right breast. By accidentally, I mean that I wasn't doing a self check or anything. I just noticed it randomly. I had a mammogram, an ultrasound, and an ultrasound guided biopsy to confirm that the lump was cancerous. After that, I had a bunch of tests...MRIs, PET scans, genetic testing, more pathology on the biopsy....to confirm the type of cancer and where else it was in my body. The official diagnosis is Triple Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. The month was very emotional for me, and scary, and confusing, and at the same time it was overwhelmingly supportive, inspiring, and strengthening for me. By the end of the month, I knew I would need surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, and that the next 6-8 months of my life would be dramatically different than I had anticipated for myself and my family.

OCTOBER - Ironically, it's breast cancer awareness month...One good thing that's come from cancer is that I'm getting to spend a lot of time with My Main Squeeze as we go to one doctors appointment after another. On October 10th, I had surgery to remove the cancerous tumor. It was not fun...and it was hard...and the recovery was hard too. I don't know why anyone would choose to have elective breast surgery for any reason. it.was.not.fun.period. The good thing from the surgery was that they found no spread of the cancer, and they were able to get the tumor with clear margins.

While I was recovering from surgery, the kids got to hang out with relatives. #3 got to go to the zoo here in town and pretend to be a tree while trying to feed giraffes.

We also celebrated #3's 4th birthday. I made a Yoshi cake because it's what #3 is into right now. I freehanded that baby on the cake! Yeah! My sister and her family decided to vacation in our hometown, and they rented a house near the beach so we had the birthday party there. We played in the pool and cooked out. It was an easy going, fun time.

My Main Squeeze and #1 surprised me by getting some pink wrap and wrapping his wrists and ankles with it for one of his games. He got to be captain this game too!

NOVEMBER - So much happened in this month....
I started chemo. I blogged about it here and here.
The kids are doing so well in school. #2 is reading more and more. #1's class has done extensive studying about colonial America, and he has done several interesting projects.

I made sure MMS and I were kissing at 11:11 on 11/11/11...

All 3 kids participated in children's choir at church, and they have loved it so much. #1 got a solo to sing in church for Veteran's Day. The choir I direct sang in church the same day.

The kids are also really into bike riding! Fortunately, our street is pretty quiet, and they can ride the loop as much as they want.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my sister's house. We had dinner on her back porch like we do every year....pure bliss!

Afterward, we played corn hole toss in the backyard and #3 was the best of the kids at it! I did not participate in Black Friday shopping, but my Main Squeeze and my brother in law did go out in the middle of the night to try to hit some deals...probably the most exciting thing they found was that Dunkin Donuts was open in the middle of the night.

DECEMBER - The first week of December we put up our Christmas tree....

...my hair started falling out, so we shaved it...best decision ever!....

My main squeeze and I did nearly all of our Christmas shopping in a 48 hour period (so much fun) because in the 2nd week of December I had my 2nd round of chemo. It was just as yukky and just as hard as the first.

We celebrated #1 and my Main Squeeze's birthday. #1 got a bigger bike and some Lego Ninjago sets. MMS got the newest Modern Warfare video game. I made them a cake about the way the 2 of them play football video games together. I used some of #2 dolls and furniture from her doll house to represent #1 and his dad, and I used #2's squinkies for the football players on the other side of the field...there is a TON of frosting on this cake....

#2 had her Christmas Around the World program. She dressed like a girl from Sweden. The poor girl couldn't keep her wreath on her head, so she ended up holding it for the whole program. Can you say epic costume fail???

#1 was in the Living Christmas Tree performances at church...all 8 of them!

After the kids were out of school, we spent a week traveling the state visiting friends and family. My cousin got married, and we went to the wedding. The reception was at the Museum of Fine Art...a beautiful place and a creative place to have a reception.

We spent a few days with my parents and celebrated Christmas with them, then we spent a few days traveling around and visiting all the friends and family that we could. It was a whirlwind trip, but so much fun.

We got home for Christmas Eve services at our church...I was privileged to be able to sing a special in the service, "All is Well" by Point of Grace.

Then it was Christmas Day! After the kids went to bed on Christmas Eve, My Main Squeeze got more lights out and decked out the inside of our house. He strung the lights back and forth in front of the bedroom where they were all sleeping to keep them from peeking. At 7 am, they were sitting right there....waiting patiently....

We opened stockings and read the Christmas story as usual, then it was on like Donkey Kong!! I got my Main Squeeze a new cordless drill and a shop vac. #1 got several Lego sets and video games. #2 got a girl and a boy lalaloopsy and a girl and a boy barbie doll...why? So they can kiss. That's what she said! #3 got some lego sets and toys from the Cars 2 movie. We also got the kids a Kinect for the xbox. It's been a hoot watching them play!! Wipeout has been the favorite game so far. I got a lot of clothes, and my Main Squeeze outdid himself...he got me diamond earrings!!

We ended the year with chemo #3. It was a hard one. I think it was harder on the kids because they didn't have school, so they saw me down and out for the week.

We rang in the new year watching a movie together as a family...#3 and I fell asleep on the couch. #2 did well until about 11, then she fell asleep too. About 10 minutes of midnight, MMS woke me up, and #1 had to hold his eyeballs open, but he made it. Happy New Year!!

Let's give Lottie Moon a new face...

2011-12-10T12:51:00.001-05:00

If you're a Southern Baptist, the name Lottie Moon is a familiar one. Each Christmas the International Mission Board sponsors a special offering just for international missions in Lottie Moon's name.

Most people don't really know much about this solemn-faced young lady. She was a missionary to China as a single lady in the late 1800's. She wrote passionate letters back home to churches encouraging them to pray and give to missions. She initiated the very first Christmas offering, urging Southern Baptists to give to missions. They gave so much that year that 3 new missionaries to China were sponsored.

But that was more than 125 years ago....

I wonder if Lottie Moon were around today if her passionate would ignite the same generosity and excitement for international missions as it did in the 1880s.

When I heard our church's goal for the Lottie Moon offering, it held more importance for me because this year, a couple I know is days away from boarding a plane and moving to Africa to bring Jesus to an unreached people group. The Lottie Moon offering is for them. When I see that reminder in the church bulletin, I don't see Lottie Moon's face, I see Robert and Maridith Lane's faces.

I asked Maridith to share what the Lottie Moon offering means to her and what Jesus is laying on her heart....

"Growing up, I heard the name Lottie Moon thrown around a lot during the Christmas season, but had no idea what it meant. All I knew is that I'd throw some change in the offering plate as it passed by and wish 'ole Lottie the best. But I wish someone would have told me more early on...
This year in particular, Lottie Moon has come to mean so much more than a churchy Christmas association. In January 2012, my husband and I will board a plane that will land us in East Africa. There, we will find ourselves living among millions of people who've never been given the chance to trust Jesus as Savior, as His name has never been uttered to them. We will go to the unreached (less than 2% Christian), unengaged (no current Christian evangelical presence) peoples of South Sudan with the glorious news of our Lord Jesus, hoping that people will surrender to Him and turn from their evil ways.
"But what does Lottie Moon have to do with that?" you may ask. She has everything to do with that. Because faithful brothers and sisters give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, we are able to do what we do... shatter this world's darkness with the light found in Christ. The IMB takes such good care of their missionaries... with everything from salary/benefits to vaccinations taken care of for us, we are left with only one task : to be obedient to take God's plan of redemption to the lost.
We praise God for those of you who give to Lottie Moon, and ask you to challenge yourself to give more this year for the sake of the Gospel. Thank you!"

Do you hear her passion to reach people for the Gospel? When you see a Lottie Moon video or bulletin insert or hear a reminder of the offering, please, don't think of a missionary from the 1800s. Be reminded of the over 5000 full-time active IMB missionaries who are reaching people for Jesus every day, and give from your heart to support them.

If you want to follow Maridith and Robert's journey, check out her blog - africanandsocanyou.com

Feel free to save the Lane's prayer card to your computer and print it out so you can pray for them too!

What the week of chemo was like for me

2011-11-22T21:41:00.001-05:00

When I found out I needed chemo, the first question I wanted to know was "What is it like?" You hear stories, and you see people who go through it, but the details were never really clear to me. I had a long convo with my friend Lynne, and she gave me a lot of her details, but at the same time she said that it may be different for me, and it was. So here was me week...

Chemo day was pretty easy. I was a little tired but nothing over the top. My body felt "heavy." That night I slept ok, but woke up about 4 am and really didn't get to sleep much after that. It was a side effect of the meds (steroids) they gave me with the chemo. My Main Squeeze was all set to get the kids ready for school on Tuesday without my help, but since I couldn't sleep, I got up and started working on lunches. About midway, I had to stop because my stomach really started feeling bad. I started having bad indigestion - just a sour, rolling tummy, but no nausea or vomiting. The indigestion continued all week regardless of what I took for it. It made eating not fun at all.

I hopped back in bed, but had a hard time falling asleep - the steroids were still doing their thing. I usually go to Bible study at church on Tuesday morning, and I told myself that if I was still awake at 9am I'd go, but if I fell asleep, I'd skip it....well...I fell asleep, and finally got about 2 hours of sleep. In the afternoon, I had to go back to the chemo lab to get my white blood cell booster shot. I took #3 with me. He had just gotten a flu shot the week before, and I figured he'd be sympathetic. The nurse gave him a cookie. :o) Tuesday evening, I felt well enough to eat dinner with some friends from church, but when I got home, I literally fell into the couch and fell asleep - exhausted. When My Main Squeeze pulled me off the couch, I remembered that one of the nurses said to take one of my nausea meds at bedtime to counteract the steroid so I could sleep, and it worked. I slept great.

Then Wednesday hit. I felt like I had been smashed by a truck. I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't eat anything. My stomach ached. My body ached. Fortunately, I slept, and slept, and slept. It was worse than the flu, worse than morning sickness, worse than anything I had ever experienced. My Main Squeeze was able to work from home that day, and I am so grateful. I don't remember much, but I do remember a few kisses to the forehead and his hand on my shoulder.

I wish I could tell you that Thursday and Friday were much better, but they weren't. I was wiped out. My mouth felt burnt. I ran a low grade fever. My body was sore. I slept a lot. I had more "sitting upright" moments than Wednesday, but I was dragging. We met some friends at the beach for dinner. At first, I was afraid I made a big mistake in going. I thought I was going to be sick, but it passed, and we had a nice visit. The breeze off the water was refreshing. That's one good thing about cancer...you can just sit in a chair and enjoy the view and the breeze, and nobody holds it against you. I did the same thing on Friday. The weather was beautiful. I sat in the driveway and watched the kids bike up and down our street. It was refreshing.

On Saturday, I took it easy most of the day because I really wanted to be able to go to church Saturday night. It was amazing how exhausting going to church can be. By the time I walked the kids to their classes and got into the sanctuary, I just wanted to sit. And I did sit for most of the worship time - which is really not like me. When it came time for Bible & Life Groups after the service, I ended up laying down in our car. The other hard thing about church is that I'm supposed to be really really careful about germs right now - no hugging, handshaking, and lovin' on like all of us good Baptists love to do - but most people didn't get the memo from the oncologist about that one. How do you tell the sweet lady who's been praying for you everyday that you can't give her a hug??? Maybe I'll start wearing a sign around my neck that says "I'll take your love and your prayers but not your germs." or maybe "Fist pounds only please."

When I went to the doctor on Monday for my one week check up, I was down 7 lbs (no surprise, I hardly ate anything) but almost all my blood counts were back up to normal. The doc went through my symptoms over the week with me, and she gave me some new things to try to help. I'm taking prilosec now and the indigestion is much better. They gave me some "magic mouthwash" too, and my mouth is feeling less "burnt." I still get tired easily, but I like taking naps. I only had 1 today. I'm getting used to that being part of the new normal. I'm a little disappointed that it's taking longer than I thought it would to get back to "normal." I don't know why I expected it to happen quickly, but I did. I'm learning that each person's cancer experience is very individualized. There may be similarities in the story, but each person's journey is very personal.

Verse cards

2011-11-17T13:17:00.001-05:00

Just before I started chemo, I asked my friends to send me some of their favorite verses of encouragement. I was so blessed by what I read. I wanted to be able to have these with me whenever I needed them, so I made some verse cards with my digital scrapbooking supplies. I used a kit called Secret Garden by Creations by Rachel, and the font is CK_Ali's hand_official.

I made these as 4x6 sized cards, so I had them printed out at CVS and put them in a little photo album I had lying around. I made 15 cards total, and I have the original design saved on my computer so I could make more as God shows me great verses to hold onto. I think the grand total for this project was less than 5 bucks.

If you'd like to have these cards, click this link. It will take you to my box.net account, and you can download them to your computer. Click the big download button, and then your computer will have them. If you're on a Mac, it will be in your downloads folder. If you're on a PC, your computer should ask you where and what you want to do with it. Pick a place to save them. Then upload them to your favorite photo printing place just like you would print out any photos from your camera.

I hope you enjoy these verses!

Chemo - Blow by Blow

2011-11-14T15:59:00.001-05:00

When I found out I was going to have to have chemo I wondered what it would be like. I googled it. I didn't find much. I heard lots about the side effects and the yukky horror stories, but not about the actual process. I realize that everyone's process may not look like this, but I want people who are worried about chemo (or worried about me) to know what it's like. Ok, so here's my day, blow by blow.


This is a huber needle.

10:45 - I checked in at the oncology office. Only had to wait a few minutes. I'm already on a first name basis with the check in lady, so that's nice. They took me back to weigh me, take my blood pressure, take my pulse and draw my blood. They did a CBC - complete blood count. The nurse was able to do my blood draw from my port. They usually only do it that way on treatment days. This was the first time my port had been accessed. The nurse pushed on my port, said, "Take a deep breath;" then stuck me with a special needle called a huber needle. The needle part sticks into the port. The tan butterfly looking thing lays flat on my chest, and the tubing hangs down. The clear knob at the end is where they attached the vials for my blood draw and my medicine bags later that day. The tan knob is where they injected medicine right into my IV. It felt like a normal, hard needle stick, but instead of being able to feel a needle under your skin like you do with IV's, you don't. You don't really feel much of anything. When I was done, the nurse tucked the tubing under my shirt and sent me to see my nurse practitioner. I was happy that my blood pressure and pulse were lower today than they had been since I found out I had cancer. It's something I had been praying about and had been mindful of.

11:00 - I met with my nurse practitioner Bonnie. She reviewed my meds with me and went over the result of my CBC. They were looking at my blood counts to make sure they were all in the normal range so I could have my chemo treatment. She explained what each abbreviation was and talked to me about what they were looking for. She asked if I had any questions, and I said, "Nope. Let's do this."

11:20 - Bonnie sent me downstairs to the chemo lab. I waited for my name to be called. It took a while. I did my Bible study lessons, and My Main Squeeze read his Tim Tebow biography.

12:00 - They finally call me into the lab and told me to pick a recliner. The room was split into 4 big sections, and there were nurses assigned to each station. My nurse's name was Sara (no h). The recliners were pretty comfortable, vinyl, green. Each one had an IV pole next to it. And they each had an extension cord in it for plugging in electronics. A dear friend who works nearby brought me Starbucks. When she had cancer, one of her dearest friends (who also had cancer) brought her coffee on the day of her first treatment, and it meant so much to her. That friend is now with Jesus. She tries to carry on the tradition that her friend started, and it was nice to be in on it.

12:15 - The nurse gave me my anti nausea pill - called Emend. I have 2 more to take home with me - one for tomorrow and one for Wednesday. Main Squeeze came in to check on me. They initially said that he couldn't stay in the lab with me because of space and privacy policies, but he just sat quietly in the recliner next to me. The nurse took a picture of us.

12:25 - My first medication was a steroid drip and a shot of more anti nausea meds. They are given to help the chemo do it's job and to prevent symptoms. It took 15 minutes for that to go down.

my 2 bags of chemo drugs.

12:40 - The IV pole started beeping!!! That meant my first bag was done. The chemo lab is pretty quiet for the number of people in the room. The only things that are loud are when the nurses call across the room to each other (or get in lively conversations - which happened) and when the IV poles beep. Sara came and gave me my Taxetere - the first chemo drug. She explained some of the potential reactions that I may have initially and told me to let her know if I felt any of them. (I never did). I was looking at facebook on my phone, doing my Bible study, answering email (also on my phone). I brought my computer and iPad, but never brought them out. I also was told to bring a blanket because frequently chemo labs are cold and you have a hard time controlling your body temp. I didn't have a hard time with it this time, but I did pack my special chemo throw! This was my view during chemo...

.....niiiiiiiiicccceeeee.

1:15 - Two friends from church brought lunch. Skyline Chili. I had never had it before. I know! I had a chili cheese hot dog. It was good! They hung out in the chemo lab too, and we talked and talked - totally disregarding the "you can't have people stay with you in the chemo lab" policy...no one said anything to us.

1:30 - The pole beeped again. It was time for the 2nd chemo drug - Cytoxen. My 2 buddies were still there. The nurse came in and changed the bag. I asked her about allergic reactions for this one, and there weren't as many. One of my buddies and I got talking to the patient next to me about her wig that she got from the American Cancer Society. It looked great. There's a location not too far away, and they have all sort of free support things. I don't think I'm going to get a wig - probably just hats and scarves, but I think I'll check out the ACS.

2:15 - The pole beeped again, and I was done. The nurse disconnected the bag and then flushed my port by squirting saline in it. Again, I didn't feel anything except that it felt a little cold at my port site under my skin. We packed up, were reminded about the "no hanging out in the chemo lab" policy, checked out and got to the kids' school in time to pick them up.

So the big question is "How do you feel?" Fine. It was really easy-peasy. There were a few times during the treatment that I felt a little tired and a little light headed, but they were very minor. I guess the best way to describe how I feel now is "heavy." You know when you're so tired that your body feels heavy? It's like that, but I'm not tired at all, and it's not that heavy. I know I probably won't feel like this in a day or 2, and that's ok because I'm armed with all sorts of meds and home remedies to help. I know people are praying specifically that I don't have any side effects at all. One sweet lady said to me that she prays, "God, I know too many people with cancer. Can ya just heal them all? It will make prayer time easier!!" She makes me laugh.

August Roundup

2011-11-03T14:27:00.000-04:00

I love going back and looking at the past month and remembering the highs (and sometimes the lows) of each month. I usually do this every month, but we've had a rough, full, different 3 months, so I'm playing a little catch up....no big deal :o)

BIG EVENTS

My Main Squeeze helped in Middle School camp. Yes, I know he's a High School pastor, but he's also a team player :o) He took a group of HS students to serve at camp. They led the games and craziness. He also got to fill in to speak when the Middle school pastor hurt his knee. We missed having him around the house as we were all adjusting to life in a new place.

Starting kindergarten is a big deal at our church. They have a special kids church just for kindergarteners, and the church presents Bibles to each kindergartener. #2 was so excited to get her Bible, and she's been reading it nearly every night. This is the group of all the kindergarteners who attend on Saturday night church. The big guy in the middle is our pastor....not a kindergartener.

CELEBRATIONS/HOLIDAYS/GIFTS
Well there really aren't any official holidays for us in August, but every year in Youth Group we have Fear Factor Night where we play favorite games like Goldfish Spit where you transport goldfish via mouth from one end of the room to another, Happy Shake where you blend up a happy meal and have a race to see who can drink it first,


I love the terrified look on this girl's face :o)

MEMORIES MADE - AKA FUNNY KID STUFF
My mom and dad came to visit for the first time in our new place. We drove around the new town "to see what we could see. We ended up at a great park by the beach. What was cool about it is that most of it felt like a "park" - picnic tables, playgrounds, grass, gazebos, etc. Then you walk down the sidewalk through the dunes and BAM! you're at the beach - surf, sand, beach umbrellas - the whole 9 yards! There are tons of ducks at the park too. They followed us around - aka Duck Stalking.

Our good buddy CK came for a visit. She told us all about her mission trip this summer to Jordan, and she's praying about going into missions full time - whoa!!! She got to share about her burden and testimony with the High Schoolers....so proud of this girl!

Main Squeeze took the kids to the playground, and they saw a rabbit, and they kept telling him how much they wanted a pet rabbit. He told the kids, "If you can catch it, you can have it." So they came home, took 2 laundry baskets and 2 baseball bats and all the carrots in the fridge and made traps in the backyard - like Wile E. Coyote and RoadRunner. The funny thing is we saw rabbits in the backyard after dinner! The traps stayed in the backyard until I needed them for laundry :o)

August 29th was the day I earned a supermom award because it finally happened - I lost a kid at church. We were trying to leave, and #3 darted out the door. When I got into the foyer, he was nowhere to be found! I enlisted the help of several coworkers to try to find him. The little punk had snuck (sneaked?) to the back of the office, through the copy room and was sitting in the hallway hiding next to a couch when on of the men at church found him. When I went one way, and they went the other, the man who found #3 said, "Your mom went the other way." #3 looked up at him and said, "I know, let's slow down and hide from her".....little punk....

DISAPPOINTMENTS

We had some major moving/adjusting/growing pains this month. It has been a busy month, and hard to get used to doing all the busy stuff while living in a new place. My Main Squeeze's Jeep ignition decided that it was going to retire - aka stop working. He spent several days working on intricate parts, and for a few days he was starting his jeep with a screw driver until he could get the right part in. Once he finally got it all put together (YEA!!), he started looking for a new ride. He was able to get a great deal on a Jeep he's been wanting for a while. I love it when a disappointment turns into something great!!

We were able to close the sale of our old home. It was disappointing that we were not able to get the true value of our home because of the crummy economy and the real estate market. I'm praising God that we were not upside down in it, and this was a real reminder to us that all we have is just stuff. It's not ours; it's God's, and He is all we need for security anyway.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The kids can all go to their classes at church, and I no longer have to have a pager!!

They can all buckle their seatbelts themselves!!!

Everyone likes their classes at the new church.

They each carry their own papers/Bibles/stuff at church. (Ok, we're still working on that one...but that's the goal anyway)

#1 started playing tackle football. The new church has a ministry called Sports Outreach, and in the fall they play tackle football. It's a little - ok a lot more intense than other teams he's been on before. He has practice 2 days a week and one game a week. He's excited about all the equipment. So are #2 and #3.

The kids started their first day of school in their new school. They love their teachers and I'm excited about their classes. Here are a few of our first day of school pictures...

#2's lunch

#1's lunch

#3 doesn't like being left out of the first day of school pictures...so here he is in his Buzz Lightyear PJs!

Don't feel too bad for #3. After #1 and #2 left for school, he asked if we could go swimming in the pool without them **mischievous grin**

I'm not sure you'd call this an accomplishment, but we added a new member to our family....Meet Yoshi.
After fear factor night we brought home the leftover goldfish, and, well....all 4 of them died. It's ok...they had been traumatized by teenagers. So the next day my Main Squeeze took the kiddos to petco to pick out this guy. #3 got to name him, and of course, he picked Yoshi because of his love for all things Super Mario.

Another big accomplishment was that my Main Squeeze got to baptize his first group of students from this new

church. Once a month, the church holds baptisms at the beach. It's a really special event. This day, there were 32 people from our church who were baptized!

Retail Therapy at its Best

2011-11-01T14:43:00.001-04:00

Because sometimes a girl needs to think about something other than cancer....

Fear

2011-10-27T08:56:00.000-04:00

"I sought the LORD, and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears." Psalm 34:4

The funny thing about cancer is that I've never experienced moments of fear like this in my life. I'm not a "scaredy cat" by nature. When people talk about phobias and ask me what mine are, I don't really have one. I'm not afraid of thunder, snakes, sharks, spiders, natural disasters, the dark, etc. Now, I don't really like most of those things, but I'm not afraid of them.

So having to look fear in the face over the past 2 months has been a really difficult thing for me. I first felt really afraid in that moment when I was all prepped for my lumpectomy surgery, and they left me alone for a little bit until it was time to roll me into surgery. I cried. When a nurse walked by, I asked if she could get my husband from the waiting room. Fortunately, she did, and when he came in all I could say was, "I"m so scared." He held my hand; rubbed my cheek, and said, "It's gonna be alright." He prayed with me. Slowly peace came as I realized that I'm not alone. I'm not headed on a path of disaster. God's got me.

Another fearful moment was when I realized that I was having an allergic reaction to a medication I was taking. I had almost fainted. I couldn't feel my tongue or my lips, and I was having trouble breathing. I had just taken some benadryl, and it didn't seem to be doing anything. I thought, "I made it through cancer surgery, and now I'm gonna die of an allergic reaction!?!?!" I prayed, "God make it stop!" Not a very polite way to talk to God. But, "This poor man called, and the LORD heard (her); He saved (her) out of all (her) troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them." Ps 34:6-7

Another fearful moment was when the Oncologist was explaining to me my post-surgery prognosis. At first the news was great. The tumor was gone. The margins were clear. The lymph nodes were negative for cancer. "I will extol the LORD at all times; His praise will continually be on my lips." Ps 34:1 Then, he gave me the statistics for cancer coming back in the next 10 years and my chance of dying in the next 10 years. They were sobering. Without treatment I have a 47% chance of having breast cancer return and I have a 34% chance of dying in the next 10 years. I will only be 44 in 10 years. If I have chemo, those numbers get cut in more than half. I need chemo. I'm not sure what I was more afraid of - the idea that I could be dead in 10 years or that I needed chemo. All I know is that I felt awful inside - anxious, sad, and afraid."The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those of a crushed spirit." Ps 34:18

I don't think anyone ever really thinks about the likelihood of death or finding a terrible disease. We all have a percentage, but we just don't know what it is. My dad said it best when he said, "If someone would tell us our own percentage, we'd be surprised too." I bet we'd all seek medical treatment, live healthier, look at life differently. Psalm 34:12-14 says, "Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." God promises long life to those who honor him. I'm not sure He even looks at a doctor's percentages.

I won't say I don't still have moments of fear. I do. I did last night as I was trying to fall asleep. Instead of focusing on the fear, I focus on the truth. I am not alone. I have a loving family, wonderful friends, and the best husband who all care for me and don't want me to face this alone. I also have a promise-keeping, ever faithful God. Did you notice that all the references to the LORD were all capitalized. When you see the name LORD in all capitals, it's God's covenant name - the name that reminds those He is in in covenant with that He always keeps his promises.

"A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all." Ps 34:19

2011-10-24T15:59:00.000-04:00

Last week, I had the privilege of meeting Anthony Bonner, a former NBA player for the New York Nicks. He spoke in chapel at the school my children attend and he told about how he knew Jesus his whole life, practically, but he didn't really have a relationship where Jesus was Lord and in charge of his life. Anthony shared that he had it all - an NBA career, family, money, opportunities to travel - but lost it because he wasn't living his life for Jesus. He encouraged the students to find God's purpose for their lives and to live it out.

At the end of chapel, he opened it up for the students to ask questions. Some of them were about the NBA and what it was like for him growing up, but there was one that really caught my attention. A student asked, "What made you want to choose Jesus?"

What made you want to choose Jesus?

It's a great question and Anthony gave a great answer, but it made me think, for myself - what made ME choose Jesus? I don't know that I've ever really thought about it. I came to Jesus as a child. I was 5. And no one really "made me" pray. I did it on my own. I didn't even talk to my parents about it. So what was it? Why did I choose Jesus?

I guess I have to say this. First, I saw my parents live a real Christian life. Were they perfect? No, but I saw in them that they trusted Jesus, they loved Jesus, and without Him their live would not be the same. Second, Jesus was presented to me for who He is - someone who sacrificially loved me and wanted the best for my life. That's why I chose Him as a child.

I must admit, though, that experience as a child was just a foundation for my faith. As I grew up, I realized that what God said in the Bible is true in real life. For example, the stories of people in the Old Testament bring out the principles that when you take God at his word and obey him 100% - He blesses you. And when you try to do it your own way, it doesn't work out so well

this is me....

2011-10-19T13:37:00.001-04:00

this is me...., originally uploaded by sarahscrappin.

this is me...still sore from my lumpectomy surgery, but getting less sore everyday, taking a break from researching about chemotherapy and port placements (which will all happen soon enough) to read one of my favorite blogs (I <3 katie!)

this is me...wrapped up in my blanket that was made especially for me by a group of 11th grade girls from our church.

this is me...watching TV on the couch with my boys who are both a little sick, and staying home from school.

July Roundup

2011-08-23T13:14:00.007-04:00

July was a busy month for us. We were settling into our new house and new routines, but running full steam at our new church too. We had a few moments of down time where we really got to enjoy our family, and we really enjoyed that.

We started out July with a trip to see the new Cars movie. #1 was 2 years old when the first one came out, and #2 and #3 have only seen it on dvd. We really loved it! It's like a James Bond movie for kids. I wondered if the kids would really follow the plot (because there were really 2 story lines going on at the same time), but they totally did!

For the 4th of July, we really enjoyed a few days at home. We did a little exploring around town and ended up at Chili's because they had a kids eat free night. It was better than a cookout. We didn't attempt the city fireworks because it was a drizzly, rainy night. The kids in our neighborhood shot off some fireworks in the road. It actually really frightened our 3 because one accidentally shot off toward our driveway and flew between my main squeeze and #2 and almost hit our car. The rest of the night #2 was a mess. We let them all fall asleep on the couch while we watched "A Capitol Fourth" on PBS. Call me a fuddy duddy, but I really liked that show. I added to my bucket list that I'd like to be in Washington DC one year for the 4th to see that concert live.

Part of jumping into church with both feet was that I got to fill in BLG classes on both Saturday night and Sunday for 3 weeks in a row. I liked it! Teaching is my thing. It's a little stressful to do it when you're not sure where you're supposed to be going or who the people are around you. I also got a chance to sing in church on praise team and for a special. I sang Blessings by Laura Story. (Here's a link to the service...I sing at the end). I was grateful and excited for the chance to sing - it's also my thing, and I wasn't sure that I was going to have a chance to do it here - at least for a while.

We were also blessed that for almost 2 weeks we had people from church bring us food. We had more meals than we knew what to do with. We also had an old fashioned "pounding" and were given tons of food and pantry stuff and gift cards. Between what was given to us as welcoming gifts by people in the new church and as going away gifts from people in the old church I didnt have to pay anything for groceries for 2 and a half weeks!

The kids spent some time writing letters and texts and facebook messages and videos to their friends. They also learned to skype. The way kids skype and the way adults skype are diametrically different. Adults have conversations and show people things. Kids start out talking and end up making funny faces and strange noises.

#1 is into building things. We've started building a model car together.

It's harder than either of us thought it would be. #1 was a little upset that we had to start on things that were small and on the inside of the car. He wanted to put doors on the body, and put the spoiler on the back. So we stopped here....

We'll continue on it on another day.

One morning we woke up to #2 screaming in pain. She stumbled into our room, holding her neck, crying so hard she could hardly breathe. After a couple of minutes we finally figured out what happened. The kids were watching the Disney channel (we leave the TV tuned to the Disney channel when we go to bed on the weekends so that when the kids wake up, they can turn on the TV to kids shows and we can catch another couple of winks....don't hate)...so the kids were watching the Disney channel when the "Mickey Mousekersize" show. #2 was doing crazy jumping jacks just like Mickey told her and injured her neck. She seriously couldn't move it for several days. She was putting ice on it and taking pain meds. After no improvement over a few days we took her for an exray.

It ended up just being a sprain, and a couple days later, she was fine again, but it scared the mess outta me!

We have also had the habit of going to the neighborhood pool every day! #1 and #2 have really improved their swimming skills, and #3 likes the steps. I have to douse #1 and #2 in sunscreen or they will be red. #3 however is getting quite the tan. I have no idea where that comes from! He didn't inherit it from mom or dad!

In the middle of the month the kids and I traveled to my Mom and Dad's house because my sister, bro-in-law and someone very special was there visiting....you want to know who??

Yeah....my newest little nephew...Here's what he looks like awake....

Yeah...totally adorable... We also got to hang with this cutie....

She's a mess, and she's into everything. While we were there, we got to play and swim and take pictures and #1 got to go with his grandpa and 2 uncles to see the Rays play. Apparently he was quite the trash talker. Don't know where he gets that from....

And here's the fab 5 all together....

At the end of the month, we had an late night bowling event where we got to hang with the high school students after church. They were crazy and we had a lot of fun.

We found an apartment for Grammy and she moved down with us. Our good friends Taylor and Marc were awesome, and they packed and drove her down and helped us move her in. Marc organized Grammy's entire home office, and Taylor organized nearly her entire kitchen.

At the very end of the month, we took the HSM students to Student Life Camp at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, GA. The theme was Devoted. And it was awesome. I got to teach a small group of girls, and it was a great way to get to know them better. Main Squeeze even got "Youth Minister of the Day."

There were lots of fun things to do, but the thing the students remember most was the Bible teaching.

That means it was a good camp....

And that pretty much summed up the month for us....I know August is almost over. You'll hear about August soon enough

Friend of the Day

2011-08-09T16:53:00.004-04:00

I thought it would be fun to write about the friends I have on Facebook, so without further adieu, I'd like to introduce my......

FRIEND OF THE DAY!!!!

My friend of the day today is Randalin Salto. We met at Trails End Ranch in Ekalaka, Montana. We were both on summer staff as counselors, and we found out that even though we came from very different places in life, we had much in common.

Randalin is an MK - a missionary kid - she and her family served as missionaries in Argentina. She went to college in America, and served in Montana over the summer as a camp counselor with me.

Shortly after completing college, she married Nauhel, and began to build their family in Argentina. I got a card from her with a wedding photo, and then we lost contact......until Facebook :o)

She and her husband serve in a church in Argentina working with the youth (small world). The greatest thing is that through the wonders of the internet, she was able to call me just a few weeks ago, and we were able to talk. Her call came at an amazing time when we both needed some encouragement in the ministry.

They have a beautiful family which they homeschool, and they are looking for someone to take the call to come to Argentina and serve God by teaching their children. I pray that they find just the right person.

Have you ever reconnected with a long lost friend through Facebook? Will you pray for God to help my friend as they serve Him in Argentina?

June Roundup part 3 - Moving....

2011-07-12T18:20:00.004-04:00

So we came home from choir tour and crashed.....sleep is good. Even the kids slept in some after such a long, fun, active, strenuous week. My Main Squeeze spent most of the day Saturday packing his office, and I organized and packed around our house. I was impressed with what we were able to accomplish in just one day!

Sunday - our last at TPAC - had peaceful sadness. The sadness I felt was not for us. I know we are doing what God wanted us to do, but I know many people - dear friends - were feeling a hole in their hearts. I had peace because I know My God. Just like it took us time for God to change our hearts and be ready and open for our change to FBCN, God was already working in the hearts and lives of the family that was stepping into our place at TPAC. That gives me confidence and peace.

Sunday night, the Youth Choir gave their homecoming performance, and it was WONDERFUL.

Monday we started packing in earnest. The plan was to pack it up Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday;load the truck Thursday, and unload Friday. On Monday, my Main Squeeze went to the moving company to get some supplies, and the owner asked if we could potentially load up a day early because their schedule got messed up. He told them that he'd know better at the end of the day, but he thought it was possible. When he came home and told me that, I almost freaked - y'know mild chest pains and nausea. But then a crew of 8 TPAC students came over to the house after VBS, and within 3 hours, the entire upstairs of our house was packed! My Main Squeeze started having visions of arriving at FBCN on Wednesday night as a surprise.

More friends came over that evening and Tuesday after VBS. Our house was a maze of boxes. We scheduled play dates for our kids after VBS, and when they came home around dinnertime their eyes would be huge like saucers! They'd ask where specific things were, and I'd show them the box it was in. The students who helped wrote love notes and messages on the boxes for us. If they knew they packed something important to the kids, they'd make sure they wrote it on the outside of the box.

Tuesday at 1pm, the moving company called and said, "We have a truck near your neighborhood. Can we start loading what you have packed?" My Main Squeeze said, "Sure. You can pack it all. We are so close to done." Have I mentioned that he's an optimist? Again - a mild freakout happpened. I posted on my Facebook "Oh SNAP! The movers are here!"

It was a bustle of activity...Throwing last minute stuff in boxes. Packing clothes for the next few days in suitcases. Taking screws out of walls. Touching up paint and patching holes. Cleaning. Saying goodbyes....and by 7:30 we were on the road. We stayed in a hotel halfway there, and in the morning drove to our new home. By 10am on Wednesday, we were there moving boxes in and setting up furniture. By 6:30 we were at our new church home, meeting people and starting ministry. We totally surprised everyone, including my Main Squeeze's boss who said, "I'm glad you're here. I'm going over to Bible study." And left the building! It was all good :o)

And that's how we ended June...settling, unpacking, setting up - the boys were excited b/c we set up a TV and the Wii in their bedroom, meeting people, exploring the town, and enjoying time together.

June Round up part 2 - Choir Tour 2011

2011-07-06T12:39:00.009-04:00

Choir Tour is my favorite time of the year. It reminds me a bit of Christmas because of the excitement and preparation, and (I'm not gonna lie) stress involved. All year, the choir I direct (ahem...directed) prepares and serves in the church and the community, but once a year we take a no-holds-barred-katie-bar-the-door-hang-on-tight-here-we-go missions trip.

This year, one of the best songs in this trip was a song called "Cry Out Your Name" Here are some of the lyrics...

When the mountains fall and the waters rise, with a trembling faith we lift up our eyes.
Let your power fall and your church arise.

As we cry out, Lion of Judah, protect us!
As we cry out, Shield of David, go before us!
As we cry out your name!

You are our help! You are enough! You give us strength when we had none!
You are our hope! Our great reward! You give us peace in the midst of the storm!

We cry out your name! We cry out your name! You are the Lord of Everything!
We cry out your name! We cry out your name! You are the Lord of Everything, Jesus!

This song really was our "theme song" for the week. The part that really stuck out to me was the way Jesus "went ahead" of us and protected us on this trip. First, I have to tell you about one of our chaperones - Mr G. He drove the church van the followed the bus from home to Ocean Springs, MS. About 20 minutes after arriving at Camp Victor (our home away from home for a week), Mr G. was sitting on his bed, but he was not totally coherent. His wife and a few other adults took him to the hospital to find out what was wrong with him. It turns out that he had a stroke. Yes, 20 minutes after we arrived at our destination. I don't even want to think about what it would have been like if it had happened 30 minutes earlier while we were still on the road. God went before us and protected us.

The amazing thing is that as a result of the stroke, he had no deficits. He was able to come home - err - back on choir tour with us 2 days later. He stood at the door of Camp Victor and hugged every single student as they walked in.

Second, I have to tell you about Brother Bill. It kills me that I don't have a picture of this big teddy bear of a man. He is the pastor of Lemoyne Boulevard Baptist Church. We sang there on Sunday night, and this church caught the vision of what we were doing before we even got there. Their church staff lined up 6 apartment complexes for us to share in. They went out before we got there, met with the management staff and set up the performances for us. They had never met us before - they had just talked to my main squeeze on the phone - yet they trusted us and what God was doing enough to put their own names (and their church) on the line. Not only did they set it up for us, but the entire staff came to each performance. They let us eat our lunches in their fellowship hall every day. They brought cups and water coolers. They even bought us ice cream!! Our tour would have looked totally different if they had not gone before us and supported us.

Third, I have to tell you about Home of Grace. It was our Monday afternoon contact. This place serves to help rehabilitate young women who have been tied down in a lifestyle of drug, alcohol, sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse. Some of the women there have been struggling and in and out of "programs" the majority of their lives. I don't know why, but this appointment weighed on my heart from the time it was booked. My job, as director, was to choose the elements that we put into the program for each appointment. We had over 50 elements prepared, but each element is geared to a certain audience (children, teens, general public, church audience, adults, etc.). I had the HARDEST time choosing the elements for this appointment. I wanted to choose elements that would show them God's love and hope, not share any more condemnation for the life of their past. I kept praying for God's leadership as I chose what to do for this appointment. As I wrote down the songs and skits, I kept feeling doubt, and I asked Jesus to confirm what He was leading me to do. When I got off the bus at Home of Grace, I felt flooded with peace, and I looked at one of our chaperones and said, "This is going to be good." And it was. By the second song, you could feel the emotional walls crumbling and the Spirit working. At the end, my Main Squeeze shared from Ephesians 2 - "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins....But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."

Those are some of the highlights from Choir Tour - I want to leave you with links to some of the "daily diary" youtube posts. They are each less than 2 minutes....You want to watch them :o)
What was a favorite memory from a ministry trip?

June Roundup...part 1

2011-07-03T23:39:00.007-04:00

June was a crazy month for us....

I feel like I actually have to start on May 29th - It was the day that First Baptist Church Naples voted to call my Main Squeeze to be the Youth Pastor to the High School Students. It was quite a surreal weekend. We brought our kids; we brought Grammy Lu; we met up with my parents and sister, brother in law and niece. We met so many people, and we received such a warm welcome. From the parents, we felt a hunger for strong leadership for their children. From the staff, we felt excitement about bringing people on the team who were of like mind and heart. From the students, we felt a sense of cautious excitement. We were overwhelmed with the wonderful things God was doing in our lives.

That afternoon, after a wonderful lunch and enjoying time with our family, we started looking for housing. Our attempts earlier in the week were colossal failures. We both felt a sense of urgency to find just the right place to live. Fortunately, we had a good friend on the case, and we looked at many different properties. Finally, we chose one that was going to be available the exact time we needed it, and we knew that when we moved to Naples, there would be a place for us to land.

Then it was back to St Augustine and letting our dear friends know what God was doing in our lives, and to finish out our school year. Our kids teachers were amazing. They helped our children as they knew a big adjustment was coming.

Let me interject some lightness here...#1's baseball team was in the playoffs! It was such a big deal for him because toward the end of the season they started doing well, and earned a spot in the tournament. This was his first time playing baseball, and I think he's a natural. He has a strong swing and a major excitement for the game!

They ended up in the championship game, but they got spanked by the best team in the division. I was so proud of #1 because even though they got beat pretty thoroughly, he still had lots of fun and kept a great attitude. He got a trophy for playing, and it sits proudly on his dresser.

The rest of the weekend we spent celebrating graduations of students from our church.

Sometimes it was hard knowing that the next day we would be telling them that God was calling us to a different church, but at the same time it was sort of refreshing to be able to have a "normal" conversation with people because they didn't know our "big news."

Sunday the 5th, we told the church that God was leading us to FBCN. It was a heavy thud. There were 3 good things about the day. First, I got to sing with a dear friend a song that was close to my heart through it all - It was called Blessings by Laura Story. Second, my main squeeze was able to have a heart to heart with the students. He needed it. They needed it. It was sweet fellowship. Third, I got to have all afternoon with the students because we had an extended practice to prepare for choir tour. I got to talk to them and help put the news they heard that day in perspective with the fact that we were leaving in 6 days for our ministry trip.

The next week was so busy - end of the year parties, my last recital as a teacher, #1's award ceremony (he earned all A's and an art award!) and #2's preschool graduation.

I know...I know...in a few minutes I'll blink and I'll be posting her high school graduation picture. I don't want to think about it....

We also had our final practices for our Choir Tour/Missions Trip...that will be round up part 2.

I want to leave with a video of the song I was able to sing. This is not me (but I promise I sing just like that...J/k) Listen to the words. This song is what filled my heart for the month of June (and most of May!)

New approach to Rounding up....

2011-07-03T16:29:00.008-04:00

One of my goals for the year is to "round up" each month - collect the memories of the things we did before they slip away and use them as a way to document and journal about our lives (as part of my addiction to scrapbooking). Well, as you can see, I've only completed January's - and not until mid March. What you can't see is that I have round up drafts hiding on my computer, in blogger, on my iPad, in my brain, in Photoshop....just not done because I felt like I couldn't complete it.

Well, I was already feeling a bit guilty about another New Year's resolution biting the dust, then I started listening to this episode of the Paperclipping Digi show about doing "year in review" layouts. It made matters worse, because the lady who inspired me to do this (Katie the Scrapbook Lady) was one of the guests. I listened anyway. The more I listened the better I felt. What I was really struggling with was getting it just right - telling the story the way someone else would tell it - getting my story to fit into someone elses box. Not, that Katie's prompts are bad (they aren't - they're great!!), but by answering them, I was telling the "everyday" parts of our lives, but some of the VITAL things were getting left out (or I was having a hard time finding a prompt to fit them in.) The 2 digi show episodes I listened to that day (here's the link to the other one) made me realize that I'm the only one who knows the prompts to my story.

I'll say it again...

I'm the only one who knows the prompts to my story.

I'm already starting on June's roundup. So much happened to our family this month - so much change - so many things God can only get the credit for. It will be up by the end of this week.

Round up for January...a little late...hmmmmmm

2011-03-14T00:39:00.001-04:00

Everyone knows that I'm a fan of Katie the Scrapbook Lady. Each month she does a "round up" of the highlights of the previous month. When I saw this post at the DailyDigi, I knew I had to try making an album of our monthly roundups. I'm late posting January's, but I've been working on it.....

1. What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I really didn't get to read much. In my quest for finding Delight in my life, I picked out 2 books to read. The first was The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

I chose this book mainly because of the subtitle - "Or Why I spent a year trying to sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read Aristotle, and generally have more fun." The premise of the book is that the author was generally pleased with her life, but was not happy. So she spent the year doing studying happiness and what researchers found that made people feel happy, and she set small daily and monthly goals for herself to change the things in her life that needed to be changed in order to produce more happiness in her life.

Well, I got through April, and then I had to return it to the library...I couldn't renew the book because someone else had requested it. I looked at buying it for my ipad, and the cheapest I could find it was $13. I guess I'm just cheap, but I didn't buy it. I thought the book was good, and I want to finish reading it....I guess inside I'm a bit skeptical that a person can increase their happiness by sheer will to do it on their own. There's no mention in the book anywhere so far about a spiritual connection. Which is why I chose to read my second book for the month...

The subtitle of this book is "Talk to Him. Hear from Him. Really." I heard the author of this book - John Eldredge - speak at a conference once on this topic, and at first I thought he was really "far out." At first, he came across as a far-out, hippie, Jesus movement kinda guy. But the more he spoke, the more I heard that he really had an honest, daily walk with Jesus like David, Moses, Noah, and Elijah in the Bible, and it wasn't like God expected him to live like a hermit or in a convent. John Eldredge is living in a community in suburbia, and he's living a "normal" life following Jesus. This book covers his year of discovery as he took steps to live by faith as it is laid out in the Bible. I read the Prelude of this book and I was hooked. I actually told several friends about it, and we are reading it together and meeting monthly to talk about it. It will probably take us 4 months to finish it. I've always wanted to be in a book club :o)

The kids have been reading up a storm too. I'm so impressed to see how well#1 reads. I bought them the app "The monster at the end of this book."

Yep, I love this book, and the kids do too, but in this app, Grover reads the book to you. The kids poke down the brick wall, untie his knots, and do all they can to get to the end of the book! So cute!!!

2. What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
The kids had a movie campout night (more about that in question 3), and we watched Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me. I can't believe we hadn't watched Despicable Me earlier. It was so funny!! My favorite part was when the little girl got her new unicorn stuffed animal, and she said "its...so...FLUFFYYYYYY!!!!" It cracks me up.

We took the kids to see Gulliver's Travels in 3D. I didn't love the movie, but the kids liked the 3D stuff. They also loved the fully choreographed version of "WAR" (what is it good for? absolutely nothing) at the end. They sang it for days on end....#1 would yell, "WAR!"
Then everyone would say, "HUH!"
Then #2 would sing, "What is it good for?"
Then #3 would chime in, "Absolutely nothing!"
And that's how it went down every time we were in the car for about 2 weeks....

We also took #1 and #2 to Winter Jam. It's one of the best Christian music concerts. We go every year. 10 bands for 10 bucks at the door. It was packed. Our kids are really starting to love music. #2 was singing along to all the songs she knew, and she definitely had an opinion on the ones she liked and didn't like. #1 was screaming/singing at the top of his lungs. It was hilarious. The people around us kept looking back at him and giggling. I asked him why he was singing so loud, and he said, "So I can hear myself." It was logical....and humorous.

3. What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
The kids had a couple days off school in January. We had planned to go to Disney, but the weather was cold and yukky, so we decided to stay home instead and have an inside campout. We pitched the tent in the living room, rented movies, ate popcorn and candy, slept in the tent and on the couch, and just generally bummed around the house. Delightful!

For Love Squad night, we went to the Food Bank and helped them organize the bins and bins and bins of canned goods. It was hard work but we all had fun working together. Our kids really jumped in and LOVED it.

4. What gifts did I give and/or receive?
One of the students from our former youth group in Ocala got married and invited us to the wedding, so I got them a candle set for their house. It was really nice to be at their wedding. This family meant so much to us when we lived in Ocala, and it was refreshing to see students living for Jesus and doing well.
I also bought my sister a sweater for her birthday. I got it 90% off at a going out of business sale, so I got a matching one for myself :o)

5. What special or unusual purchases did I make?
#1 is into football cards, so Dad purchased him a binder and sleeves to start collecting cards. We are in search of the elusive Tim Tebow rookie card......

6. What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
Amazingly....we were all pretty healthy this month!!!
My Main Squeeze's knee is still giving him fits. It's hurting more than it's not, and he knows if he goes to the doctor that surgery is on the horizon, and he just doesn't have time for it.

7. What were my accomplishments this month?
I was able to connect with some scrappers who were willing to participate in a blog feature about creativity for next month. I was able to recruit some new families for my Kindermusik classes, and we started them.

I started coaching #2's Upward basketball team. No, I'm not an athlete. I played basketball for 2 years in middle school - that's it. But when the league decided to split the divisions, it meant that #1 and #2 would be on 2 different teams, and my Main Squeeze volunteered to coach both teams. That's a lot. So in a moment of being out of my mind, I volunteered to coach, and I immediately started freaking out. I am way out of my comfort zone here. Fortunately, we have our practices laid out so that Main Squeeze can be at the last half of my practice to help, and so far it's working. It's a whole different world coaching 4 and 5 year olds...

I also painted the quote in the foyer!!! I've been wanting to do this for forever! Seriously, almost 2 years this idea has been stewing in my head.

My main squeeze also added a border of paver stones around our back patio. It adds so much. This was a brand new DIY project for him. Next is a fire pit!

8. What were my disappointments this month?
No, not any huge ones....

9. How did I do on my goals for the month? (Or any current short or long term goals)

I put some goals for the year here. I talked about wanting to get up a little earlier and going to bed a little earlier too. Basically by the time 11 pm rolled around, I tried to go to bed, and I did it for about 2 weeks, and I was still very tired every day. I haven't tried getting up any earlier. I also tried to do something enjoyable after the kids went to bed. Sometimes I'd play guitar or read a book or play a game or just enjoy TV. That was nice.

10. Anything else noteworthy to include?

While I was tracing the letters out for our foyer painting before I painted it, I had to stop and take a potty break. My son, #3 ran into the bathroom and said "Mom, you've gotta see what I did!!" proud as can be! I was thinking maybe he picked up his toys or built something with his blocks, then I saw he was pointing to the wall where I was working.......

He said, "It's picture of you and me. It looks pretty with your letters!"

Here's the layout I made for this roundup. Honestly, this is what has been keeping me from getting this post posted. I had a hard time getting all the journaling on the page. I actually only included 5 of the questions and shortened them up a lot! I still like it. This is more of the "every day life" than I've ever included in my scrapbooks.

(credits - inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. Kit - Snow Day, a Pretty Scrappy designers collab kit. Template by Simply Yin - rearranged a bit by me.)

Delightful Friday....grandpa edition

2011-03-11T10:55:00.003-05:00

Today I'm taking delight in these flowers. They were from some of the flowers that were given for my grandfather's funeral. I don't know if this is a normal thing to do, but in our family, after the graveside service, anyone who wants to takes a flower or two from the bouquets to remember the person and the day.

Normally I'm a pink rose girl, but I think I may have a new favorite. These dark red roses next to the creamy white roses and lily are making my day.

Grandpa's funeral was...well...I don't have a word for it. But if I could make up a new word it would mean wonderful, majestic, extensive, with layers of complexity, tender, regal, heartfelt and homey. Sounds a little contradictory doesn't it. I think that's because he was so many things. He was a tender, loving father and grandfather. He was a bold preacher. He was a visionary man of God. He was sensitive to the Holy Spirit. He was a good friend with a wild and mischievous sense of humor.

I am going to remember the music (regal, beautiful,with brass fanfare). I am going to remember the speakers who each gave insight into different areas of Grandpa's life and how they showed who he was. I am going to remember eyes filled with tears and words choked back, but understanding exactly what was meant. I am going to remember opportunities to talk with each of our children about faith, and heaven, and heavenly bodies, and God's goodness. I am going to remember singing clearly what I could not verbalize.

God is good, and I'm glad I'll see Grandpa again.

You can find out more about my Grandpa and his amazing life here

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Fighting Creative Block - Pamela McNichol

2011-02-26T08:37:00.000-05:00

I hope that you all have been enjoying the interviews this week. I know each lady brought something a little different to the table in the way of insights and inspiration. I know it gave me a lot to think about and try (and a lot of new links to check out!!)

Our last interview about getting out of a creative rut is with Pamela McNichol of Digitreats. She's one of my favorite designers, and I've blogged about her before. Here's a little about her....

I have been paper scrapbooking for over 15 years but found digital scrapbooking around 5 years ago. I bought Photoshop Elements 5.0 and purchased a few video tutorials and figured the rest out on my own. I quickly went from just scrapbooking my own photos to trying to figure out how templates were made and then full out designing. I started designing freebies a few years ago and giving them away on my blog and then opened my Di gitreats Store shortly after and began selling my designs. I still give away lots of free designs and I am currently working on 3 different kits in 3 different colour schemes that I give a portion away for free every day.
Digital Scrapbooking ... I love that I don't ever have to make a commitment in digital scrapbooking - I can move things around, make changes without having to rip things off of paper and I LOVE that I can reuse my supplies. I also love that I don't make nearly as big of a mess with digital scrapbooking.

What causes creative block for you?
Pressure ... the pressure to get something done especially when I feel like there is a due date/timeline. I like to give out a freebie every day on my blog and on days where it is getting to the end of the day and I haven't had time to make something I start to feel the pressure and then get blocked. Those are usually the days when I don't post something!

Which is harder, getting started or getting finished? Why?
Finishing ... I love to start a million projects but then I feel a sort of pressure to finish it and I bail! This is especially true when the project is not exactly working out how I imagined. I am a perfectionist and if it doesn't turn out exactly the way I wanted it to then I trash it all together.

What do you do when you get stuck in the middle of a layout or project?
Start a new one! I just move on and hope to come back to it later. I got sick of doing my Project 365 album from 2009 and just left it until January of this year even though I was more than 3/4 of the way through it in 2009. I got it in the mail last week and I love it ... wish I had it sooner lol!

Do you have a photo of a "stuck project?" (any plans for getting it un-stuck?)
I find it difficult when I have way too many pictures for an occasion and I want to include them all. I cheated on my Year in Review book last year and just ordered photobooks with no digital scrapbooking - just photos. I am disappointed in them and will have to go back and do it over again. I usually get stuck on the "what to say" part of a page but the layouts always look better with text and it really is an important part of capturing the memories.

Do you have any "go to" tricks or techniques that always work for you?
When I get stuck and feel pressured to complete a layout I purchase a new kit that I love and then "save" all of the layouts the designer/creative team has made with it and then I scraplift! Once you get a few quick and gorgeous layouts done with the new kit the inspiration comes back!
(what a great idea!!!)

Do you ever find inspiration outside the digital scrapbooking world? How does that "outside inspiration" translate to the digital canvas?
No ... I can't say that I get inspiration from outside the digital scrapbooking world except from my beautiful children of course :)

Fighting Creative Block - Katie the Scrapbook Lady

2011-02-25T08:51:00.000-05:00

I cannot tell you how excited I am for today's interview!!! Katie Nelson is one of my favorite digital scrapbookers in the UNIVERSE! I look forward to reading her blog every day. It's simply inspiring. She's a "real life" person whose passion is to record her story. When I sent out invitations to different people to participate in this feature about creative block, I chose a few "big names" that I figured would politely decline, and Katie was one of them. When she sent me back a YES I literally jumped up and down in my kitchen!!!

So without any further adieu....here's Katie!

My name is Katie Nelson but I go by “Katie the Scrapbook Lady” in the online world. I started paper scrapping when I was 14. I discovered digital scrapbooking in 2005 and never looked back. I blog at scrapbookladypages.com where I share my projects, inspirations, and creative passions. I’m a contributing writer and team member at The Daily Digi where I help teach thousands of people about the joys of digital scrapbooking. I’m a creative team member for the Shabby Princess. I’m also a course instructor at Big Picture Classes where I currently have a self-paced project on creating easy & color photo mosaic albums. I’m also a regular guest on the weekly Paperclipping Digi Show podcast where we have fun talking all about digi!

What causes creative block for you?
When I’m tired or sick I have a hard time feeling creative. I really need to take care of myself if I want to have the energy to create.

Which is harder, getting started or getting finished? Why?
Getting started is the hardest part for me. Finding the motivation and energy to begin is sometimes a roadblock for me. Usually once I get started, it is on my mind until I finish so I feel very driven to finish.

What do you do when you get stuck in the middle of a layout or project?
I will take small breaks when I feel stuck, but I find the best way to get through it is to just power on and keep working. Eventually, it all clicks and then it gets much easier. I find if I feel stuck, that I usually am overthinking the whole process. If I ask myself “What do I need to do to finish this?” I can usually find the answer within myself and get it done.

Do you have a photo of a "stuck project?" (any plans for getting it un-stuck?)

I started this digital layout more than 5 months ago in the hopes of researching my family tree. I created this layout to go with a post I wrote for The Daily Digi about Scrapping Your Family Tree. I know it won’t take much effort to finish it– most of it involves simply asking my parents some questions and sending a few emails. I just keep putting it off though, mostly because I filed it away on my external hard drive. I need to put this on my computer desktop so I remember to get it finished!

Where do you find inspiration?
This is a really broad answer, but I have to say the internet. I find SO much online that inspires me. I have several sites that I visit every day for creative inspiration; Flickr, The Daily Digi, Pinterest, and the Gallery Standouts Finger Pointing blog.

Do you have any "go to" tricks or techniques that always work for you?
My 2 best “go to” tricks are:
1. Use digital scrapbook templates. I almost always use templates these days and it makes it quicker, easier, and more fun to scrap!
2. Add some type of border or edge treatment to layouts. I did a post about this on The Daily Digi because it is one of the most useful scrapbooking tips I’ve ever found.

Do you ever find inspiration outside the digital scrapbooking world? How does that "outside inspiration" translate to the digital canvas?
I really like typography and graphic design. I may not copy the inspirations I find in those areas, but they do influence my style of scrapping. I find that I like clean lines, big photos, and great fonts.

I love Katie and all of the wonderful, inspiring ideas she provides to digital scrapbookers. Please check out her blog and her flickr photostream. You won't regret it!

Getting out of the creatvie rut - Yin Goh

2011-02-23T23:10:00.003-05:00

Thanks for stopping by again today. I hope you're finding some ideas to turn your creative blahhhhs into creative aaaaaaaahhhs!!

Today's guest is Yin Goh. I stumbled on Yin's blog because she was offering a free template that had a bunch of photos. Well I'm a sucker for a layout with a bunch of pictures, so I stopped by to download, but the more I read, the more I really appreciated Yin. I love how her photos are the stars of her pages. Here's how Yin describes herself....

I'm just someone who makes up templates from my layouts! I had a stint as a designer of kits about 4 years ago but stopped because it was too time consuming and I really just want to scrap my own photos! So making templates from layouts I had made seemed like a really great idea!

What causes creative block for you?
I always start with my photos in creating a layout. Once the photos are arranged in place, I look for the background papers and plan design elements. This is where I can get stuck - sometimes just not being able to find a satisfactory color scheme (it works or it doesn't!) or not being able to find a pleasing way to complement the layout. Then I can go on for a long time just trying out paper after paper, or element after element.

(I don't know...I think she does pretty well....imho)

Which is harder, getting started or getting finished? Why?
Getting finished! I'm always thinking there's another paper or element in my hard disk that will be better on the layout!

What do you do when you get stuck in the middle of a layout or project?
I usually lay it aside, start working on another layout, and come back to it another day when I'm fresh with new ideas.

Do you have a photo of a "stuck project?" (any plans for getting it un-stuck?)
Well, I have been wanting to complete our New Zealand album for the longest time, it was started in 11X8.5 format, and recently I finally got started on it again when there were requests for 11X8.5 format templates!

Knowing you are in the middle of your house renovation, do find yourself getting stuck in that project?
Definitely the renovation project completely took over all our energy and focus. But every four to five days, I will take a break and just dabble in some scrapping. I simply started many layouts, got the pictures saved in separate files for each layout. It did not take long, so that later when I have some time, I could jump straight into the arranging of photos, and searching for papers and elements, the parts I love most!

Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere! Magazines, book and CD covers, movie posters, others' layouts! I'm always looking out for layout arrangements, color schemes, images that appeal to me.

Do you have any "go to" tricks or techniques that always work for you?
It is obvious, I almost always add a white shadowed mat for my photos, as I feel that they give each photo a distinctive border and make them stand out and more striking.

Do you ever find inspiration outside the digital scrapbooking world? How does that "outside inspiration" translate to the digital canvas?
As mentioned above. In addition, a lot of stuff I read inspire me in journaling and provide ideas and (topics other than events) for me to scrapbook. Now all I need is more time! :)

Thanks for your imput Yin!! Visit her on her blog.

What about you? Do your photos take center stage in your layouts? Are you simple and linear like Yin? Have you ever crammed as many photos on a layout as she does. I have, but it doesn't look as good as hers!

Fighting Creative Block - Tanya Hickman

2011-02-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

So yesterday we started talking about what to do when you get in a creative rut. I thought it would be interesting to ask some of my scrapbooking friends what they do when they experience a lack of creativity. Our first guest is Tanya Hickman.

I know Tanya because we were hanging out in the same digiscrap forums. I always admired her layouts because they are of amazing things to look at. There's always a surprise. Here's how Tanya describes herself.....

Ok, here is the basic run-down on me =) My name is Tanya and I am a 29 year old Hair Stylist from southern California. I have been a Digital Scrapper for almost 2 years. I started paper scrapping about 15 years ago and I always loved the look of a traditionally scrapped album. I had heard of Digital Scrapping and after about 6 months of "thinking" about trying it, I gave in and haven't looked back!

What causes creative block for you?
Sadly, there are quite a few things that cause creative block for me! hehe. But I think that is normal. Sometimes my mind is just too distracted or there is too much going on around me. Other times, there is really no other way to describe it, I am just not in the mood to scrap. It happens to everyone. After 2 years of scrapping, I have really learned what products work well with my style and what products do not work well with my style. Sometimes if I need to work with a kit for creative team duties that just doesn't fit my style, it takes a couple days of figuring out what I am gonna do. It is a good challenge for my creativity. Even though I can't figure out how to use the product at first, I always find a way to make it work for me in the end. There is always a lot of trial and error, but that is the fun part!

Which is harder, getting started or getting finished? Why?
Getting started is always the hardest part for me. Like most scrappers, I have a TON of photos and trying to pick a couple takes me forever. It is usually the picture picking process that takes me the longest. Once I have that figured out the rest is a piece of cake.

What do you do when you get stuck in the middle of a layout or project?
I take a break. Sometimes it is just a couple minutes, other times it is a couple hours. When I stare at the same thing for so long, my eyes just need a break. Every once in a while I will send the layout I am stuck on to a scrapper friend to get their opinion. It is amazing how helpful it is to have a fresh pair of eyes look at your work and make some suggestions. I couldn't survive without my scrap friends.

Do you have a photo of a "stuck project?" (any plans for getting it un-stuck?)
I don't have any right now. Even if it takes me ALL day, I will finish my projects before I go to sleep, because I won't be able to sleep! lol. I have had nights where I am up till 5am because I have to finish what I am working on. Again, I just take a break and that is usually all I need to get the job done.

Where do you find inspiration?
Oh man. I find inspiration all over the place. A lot of the time it comes from fellow scrappers. There are some seriously talented people in the digi-scrap community and they inspire me every single day. Sometimes my inspiration comes from the photo I am using or even a color scheme that I have seen somewhere. There is a awesome new site called Pinterest, that I use to find LOTS of inspiration.

Do you have any "go to" tricks or techniques that always work for you?
I like to have great photos on my layouts. So photo editing is always a must for me. I really don't think I could live without photo actions, but sometimes it is just as simple and bumping the brightness of your photo. It can make a really huge difference and take a photo from drab to wow very easily. This is all you got to do:

Open up your photo (I am using Photoshop Elements):

Duplicate your photo:

Change the blend mode on the new layer to "screen":

Lower the opacity of the "screen" layer until you like the way it looks:

Here is my before photo:

And my after photo, it doesn't seem like much, but it can make a really big difference:

Do you ever find inspiration outside the digital scrapbooking world? How does that "outside inspiration" translate to the digital canvas?
I am a huge Disney fan and spend a lot of time at Disneyland. I scrap those adventures all the time, so I am always looking at ways for my layouts to really capture that "Disney" feel. Little things always make a huge difference when it comes really making a layout pop and give the layout the feel that you want. Here are a few examples of layouts I have made that I think do a good job of translating the Disney feel that I am always trying to bring in:
(I love this about Tanya's Layouts!!!)

Thanks Tanya for your feedback and the mini tutorial! If you want to visit Tanya's blog, go HERE. She's in the middle of a daily blog project that's been an interesting read. And go to ScrapMatters and check out their Design Star challenge. Tanya is one of the designers in that competition hoping to earn a spot as a designer for ScrapMatters.

What did you learn from Tanya's post??

Creative block

2011-02-22T10:00:00.001-05:00

Creative block.....arrrrrgh.....
We all get it. We all hate it. We all have to deal with it, and it causes frustration along the way. For me it happens the most for me when I have too many things on my plate. If there's one thing I know about myself is that I need regular intervals of creative activity in my life. It can come in the form of music, writing, decorating in my house, painting, photography, or scrapbooking (which is my favorite). When I get too much stuff on my plate, I feel that need for creativity in my soul the most, but I rarely make the opportunity to do so. All in all, it makes me pretty grumpy.

I'm in that place right now, too much on the to do list, and not enough getting crossed off. No posts on the blog....no glue or paint on my hands...no photos on the camera waiting to be edited... I'm looking at my calendar for a chunk of time that I can make an appointment with myself to get doing what I love to do, but often, when I do make that time for myself, I get overwhelmed at what to do. So many projects, so much inspiration, so little time....and unfortunately nothing substantial gets done! Aggravation on top of aggravation!

Sometimes it's not just the getting started that gets me, it's knowing how much it would take to get finished. Let's take my daughter's baby book. All the scrapbook layouts are in a box. Yep. A box. I was working on the pictures from the last few months of her first year when I discovered digital scrapbooking. Suddenly, I didn't have any desire to hold a glue stick, but I already had the pictures printed and supplies and embellishments purchased. I have even gone through and listed how many layouts I have left. Do you want to know how many? 8. Only 8. What's keeping me from getting them done....well....part of it is the frustration that I had with paper scrapping that I don't have with digital scrapping - never running out of letter stickers, not leaving a mess on the table when I have to stop scrapping to pick up my kids at school...I could go on, but I won't.

So what's a girl to do? There are a few things.
I set a timer. I have to have a deadline. I work the best under pressure. So I turn on the timer and attack my to do list. If I get stuff checked off, I'm more likely to not feel guilty for doing something creative for me. You need to know that sometimes this approach backfires on me. When I push myself so hard, sometimes I just don't have the energy to be creative.

Another thing I do is look back at some works in progress. We all have them... I'll open up all the layouts on my computer for a book that's not quite done - like the Christmas scrapbook I've been working on for 2 years now, or the "Funny things my kids say" album that only has a few layouts in it. Sometimes that inspires me to try something to add to that album, or sometimes it just reminds me why I like scrapping.

One of my favorite things to do is to accept a challenge. Many digital scrapbook sites have a forum where members will challenge each other - either with new techniques, themes, or ideas - and sometimes the challenges are just random. One website I've been stalking recently is the Digi Dares. Each week, they post a challenge, and when you complete the "dare," you post your results in a gallery and link to it when you comment. Each week they choose a winner.

My favorite challenge is a speed scrap. My favorite place to speed scrap is Scrap Matters. They tend to have a speed scrap every week, sometimes twice a week, and most of the time they fall at times when I can participate. This is how it works. A host compiles a set of directions to complete a layout, and over the space of an hour, they will post those directions one at a time using either a chat room or a forum. Most of the time, you'll have 6 or 7 directions total and you'll get a new step every ten minutes. So at the end of an hour, you'll have a whole layout done! Now you're probably thinking, "Ten minutes per step?!? That's a lot of time!" Not so much! You're not in charge of the steps! And most of the time you're chatting it up with the other people in the chat room! It's a fun thing to do. When you're done with your layout, you can post it in a gallery, and check out what everyone else did with the same directions as you had. Sometimes you'll be amazed at how people interpret the same steps differently.

As I was thinking about Creative Block, I decided it would be nice to hear what some of the people from the scrapping community have to say about creative block. So over the next few days, you'll hear some perspectives from other inspiring people about how they get past their creative block. See you tomorrow for our first interview!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:In my car....

what I love about #3 at age 3

2011-02-11T21:37:00.001-05:00

There's a lot that can be said about being 3 years old....
All of my kids hit the "terrible twos" in their 3s. And there are a lot of character building moments I'm having with my 3 year old. But this picture sums up what I love about being 3....I love that you can be big and little all at the same time. Look at how you cross your legs when you sit. Look at the big kid tennies you wear. You look so grown up when I put a long sleeve shirt under your tee shirt. You were big enough to go on Thunder Mountain today...but you're still small enough to fall asleep within minutes after we start the car after a big day. You're still small enough to carry and snuggle under my chin. You're still small enough that when you ask for chocolate milk it's cute. And you're still small enough that when you say "I love you mommy," and grab my cheeks, it still melts my heart...you'll probably never outgrow that.

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How to make a Fotobook - another fun and easy way to share Facebook pix

2011-01-17T12:12:00.001-05:00

***UPDATE*** I just got a message in Facebook saying that the last day to use the Fotobook app is February 1. They are going to re-group and go onto the next adventure. Sad......I really enjoyed using this app.

I don't know about you, but I upload a TON of pictures to Facebook. It's easy to share what we're doing with our friends and family without having to clog up email boxes or getting prints made and mailed. But sometimes it's just nice to hold pictures in your hand....without having to spend an arm and a leg.

Enter FOTOBOOKS.

Fotobooks is an application within Facebook. You can make a 19 page, 5x7 book with trendy graphics and color schemes, using the photos you or your friends have already uploaded to Facebook. Fotobooks boasts on its homepage you can make a book in less than 5 minutes. Although I've never completed a book in 5 minutes, I have completed them in less than an hour, even doing all the modifications I'm going to show you below.

The best part is that it costs $5.99 - SHIPPED

It's perfect for creating a little memory book of a specific event or the favorite people in your life. For Christmas this year I made Fotobooks for each of my kids about our trip to Disney to put in their stockings. They loved them!!!

#1 was at school, so we sometimes pretend that Big Brobee is him. If you don't know who Brobee is, you don't watch Yo Gabba Gabba. And if you don't watch Yo Gabba Gabba, you really haven't lived....really.

Ok, back to Fotobooks. Log into your Facebook account, and search Fotobooks. You'll see a few choices, but the first two should be a "products/service" page, and the other should be an "app" page. When you click on the "app" page it will look like this.

It may ask you to "like" a page. Do it. I promise you'll like it. It may ask you to allow the application access to your personal info and your friends personal info. Allow it. You won't regret it. I have never gotten any spam, viruses, unwanted emails, etc from them. In fact, I'll tell you what they use you and your friend's personal information for in a minute.

You'll see a big pink button that says "get started." Click it!
Then you'll see another big pink button that says "create a new book." Click that!

Then you get to design your cover....

There are 25 cover options to choose from, and each cover option can be changed into different color schemes. When you click on a cover design thumbnail on the left, it shows up big in the window on the right.

Each design has its own sets of color schemes to choose from. You can click on each color scheme, and your design preview in the right hand side will change.

Click the title to type in the title for your book. "Our Disney Vacation" not too original, but accurate. You can also change the by-line. The standard one says "created by your name on date" Most of the time, I change that too. Just type. Then click Continue when you're done.

Here's where it can get confusing, but you're smart. You'll figure it out.

Across the top you'll see thumbnails of your Facebook profile pictures and 2 drop down menus. At the bottom you'll see blue boxes that say "drag at least 2 pictures here." The blue boxes represent 2 pages of your book. Using the drop down menus, you'll put thumbnails of the pictures you want in your album across the top, and then you'll drag the thumbnail picture from the top down to the page you want the picture to appear on. Am I going too fast? Ok, I'll slow down a little....

When this screen shows up, it defaults to your albums as your album source, and tagged photos as the album you choose from, and across the top will be pictures that you are tagged in....probably not what you want in your photobook.

When you click on the drop down menu under album source you will see all your friends. This is one way Fotobooks uses your personal information (and your friends - Fotobooks accesses their albums). You can also use your friend's Facebook pictures to make an album!!! Can you imagine the possibilities here!!! You can make a little brag book album for your sister/friend/co-worker who just had a baby, and has posted half a million pics of their baby on Facebook but can't get to CVS to get any of them printed out to put on her desk at work!!

Ok, so after you pick whose pictures you are going to use, you pick which album you are going to get pictures from. Back to my project - the Disney vacation album - I chose one of my Disney facebook albums.

Next, drag the pictures you want from the thumbnail line down to the blue boxes. Each box represents a double page spread. You must have 2 pictures per box. (so you must have 38 pictures in the whole album - yes, you can repeat pictures on different pages)

Whichever photo is next to the star will be the prominent photo on the page (normally the biggest, or the biggest frame around it), so arrange your photos in the little boxes appropriately.

Once all your pages have at least 2 pictures, click the big pink continue button, and you'll see previews of each page.

I think this page is way too busy with the black and white background, so I clicked the pink "remix this page button" until I like what I see. That's the easy way, but I'm a control freak, sometimes. Any other control freaks out there??? If so, this button's for you....

REVEAL THE MAGIC!!!
Each tab and drop down menu provides options for backgrounds, frames, photo effects, layouts, etc. Just keep clicking until it looks the way you want! If you want to save along the way, there's a save button at the top.

Now for captions...You can make them disappear, or you can fill them in. It's as easy as typing. Click on the caption bar, type in your caption, click save!

Please, for the sake of your own happiness, please make sure you preview all your pages one more time before you click the "order this Fotobook" button. The ordering process is pretty straightforward. You can use credit cards or paypal, and it ships to you super quick! I hope you'll give it a try!

Fotobooks has been doing a promotion that they'll send a copy of your Fotobook to 3 friends free. The way it works is that you pick friends in Facebook, and it sends them an email (another use of you and your friend's personal info). They have to accept the invite and allow access to their personal stuff by Fotobooks in order to get their book. If they are in the habit of not allowing access by Facebook applications, they won't get their book. I've never, ever, had a problem ever with Fotobooks abusing the information they have access to. That's how it works!

Have you used Fotobooks? What was your experience like? Can you think of a way you could use Fotobooks? Feel free to post links to albums you've made.

Here's the link to my finished Disney album

Finding Delight in Everyday Life - Friday Edition

2011-01-14T14:34:00.002-05:00

IMAG0137, originally uploaded by sarahscrappin.

My word for the year is delight. Today, this photo brings me delight.

It's my Main Squeeze paying bills....

Last year this view would have caused my insides to cringe, because it meant that I had to be accountable for how I spent our money. Sometimes it was ok, and sometimes I surprised my Main Squeeze. He doesn't like surprises. We live our life frugally and sometimes life is tight, but God always provides for us. We have to work at communicating in this area, and we've had to grow.

Today, I chose to delight in this. This is my husband taking care of his family. He was watching Human Target on Hulu. He likes multi tasking. He's got earplugs in because I'm working at my computer next to him, and I can't listen to a show and concentrate at the same time. This is us being together and working side by side. Even when we had our "post bills this is the bottom line" discussion, it wasn't painful. It was more delightful....

Today I am....

2011-01-12T10:11:00.002-05:00

It's no secret I'm a fan of Katie the Scrapbook Lady....Today she made a post called "Today I am..." I'm stealing it. Katie should consider it a compliment.

Today I am going to finish my Kindermusik mail out. I've dragged it out too long.

Today I am going to get some of my grading done. I don't want to drag it out the rest of the week.

Today I am going to get the last bit of laundry done (and maybe even folded), so it doesn't drag out for the rest of the week! (do we sense a theme here?)

Today I am going to play with this kid some....

How can I resist a kid that asks me to take his picture with his favorite bed buddies?

Today I am going to make sure I read my Bible before #2 gets home from school, because when I don't, well, it doesn't always happen....

Today I'm going to try to keep my cool with the kids as I try to help them to get their homework done, chores done, dinner eaten, and verses reviewed before going to church tonight. I really hate getting grumpy on Wednesday afternoons because I don't enjoy church as much, and I really like Wednesday night church. I'm going to try to find delight in this task.

Today I'm going to probably drink too much coffee...it's really cold.

Etched Candle Tutorial

2011-01-02T21:28:00.002-05:00

I made the easiest craft project over Christmas break for some of our friends - you know...the friends you want to get something for, but if you actually went out shopping for all of them, you really would lose your mind trying to pick out something they'd like without burning your bank account. Normally, I make cookies or candies, but I didn't want to bake this year...weird....so I etched candles. Yeah. I headed over to Walmart and bought sets of 5 jarred candles in bright red. The darker the background, the better the etching shows up.

Then I got out some old letter stickers from my paper scrapping stash. I lined them up to spell out the word NOEL. Make sure you look for air bubbles between the candle wax and the glass. Don't put your stickers there. It won't show up as well.

Next, I added some star stickers. What I'm doing here with the stickers is masking off places where the glass will stay glass looking, and not etched, so your stickers need to have the shape you're looking for.

Then get your good ol' blue masking tape, and cover the top and bottom of your candle. You gotta be a little OCD with this step about making sure the line is straight and level. You're creating the top and bottom lines for the band of etching across the middle of the candle.

Ok, before making the etching magic, you need to take a popsicle stick or your fingernail, and rub down all your letter stickers and tape. If there are any bubbles or edges that aren't sealed down tight, the etching goo will get behind your sticker mask, and you won't have a crisp image.

Now for the magic goo....

I got it at Michaels. It's thick and gooey and gritty and fabulous. I used an old bristle brush I had on hand to apply it. The instructions say to wear gloves when applying, but I live dangerously....

To apply, just glob it on. And when I say glob it, I mean glob it. There's no such thing as pretty brush strokes here. It needs to be pretty thick. Cover up all your stickers and the edges of your tape.

See what I mean by thick? When its all covered, let it sit. The directions say no longer than 30 seconds, but I don't think it really matters that much. I left one for 45 minutes, and it didn't look any more etched than ones I left sitting for just a minute or 2.

Then, take it to a sink and wash off the magic goo.

Peel off the stickers and tape too. When I first washed off the goo, I thought to myself "This is the biggest crock of bull!! It didn't do anything!!" You can't see it when it's wet!! Take a towel - paper or otherwise - and dry that baby off, and voila...

Beautiful etched candle!!!

Delight

2011-01-01T22:57:00.001-05:00

Happy new years everyone! It's been fun the past few days looking at everyone's memories of the past year, their holiday recaps, reverb10 posts, "my year in Facebook status" collages. I also get a kick out of reading resolutions- from the serious and complex to the mundane and vague. There have been 2 years that I've kept my resolutions. One of them is a little too personal to put out in the blogosphere, but the other was that one year I wanted to read more, so I resolved to read 1 book a month for the entire year. They couldn't be "fluff" books either. I kept a book by the bed and another on the back of the potty, and I did it. If you come to my house today, you'll still see a book on the windowsill in my bathroom for that specific reason. I know...TMI.

So, do I have a resolution for this year? Yeah. I want to take delight in what I do. After thinking, and talking to my main squeeze, and doing all that writing for reverb10 (which was so fun!), I realized that I have a full, blessed life, but I constantly go around looking for the proverbial "easy button." Everything feels like a chore. Even the moments that are lighthearted are short lived. This is probably a dramatic overstatement, but more often than not, I feel frustrated. Frustration begets frustration. But changing mu attitude to one of delight will bring more delight.

There are some things I need to do along the way for delight to take over, and you'll hear about them along the way, but for now, DELIGHT is the one little word that embodies the resolutions I'll be making this year.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2011-01-01T09:34:00.004-05:00

December 25 – Photo – a present to yourself

Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.

Most of the time, I'm behind the camera....There aren't a huge number of pictures of me. Most of the time, it doesn't bother me that much. I've tried to hand the camera off to my main squeeze or another family member so I'm not absent in our family's photos, but they aren't as careful as I am to make sure I look good in my pictures! How dare they!!!! Anyone else know what I'm talking about?? Just kidding....

My friend Jen - the talent behind J Dinkins Photography - took my favorite photo this year.

She took our family's photos this fall. They turned out amazing. We went to Alpine Groves Park. It was freezing - the first really cold day of the season. Jen was so easy going and relaxed, it made our family that way too. I remember the night before, I told the kids we were going to have our pictures taken, and that pictures were Mommy's favorite, and that they needed to do their best and not be "shy" or rude, and then we practiced posing a smiling. Each kid took turns pretending to be the photographer, and they put us in whatever pose they wanted, and everyone smiled. I don't know if it was the practicing the night before or what, but they all cooperated beautifully.

I love this picture because it's not posed. It's what our family is like. We wanted a picture of the girls and #2 was FREEZING!! She couldn't smile straight because she was so cold. I leaned over to grab her, and she started laughing, and Jen snapped the picture.

If you want to see more of Jen's wonderful photography, check out her Facebook page...HERE

2010-12-31T15:17:00.001-05:00

December 21 – Future Self. Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? (Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?) (Author: Jenny Blake)

Five years from now...2016...#1 will be 12 and in sixth grade. #2 will be almost 10 and in fourth grade. #3 will be 8 and in second grade. I will be 38 (almost 39-wow that seems old). My main squeeze and I will be married for 16 years. What a crazy thought.

Dear self,
I'm not sure where to begin. When you look at your main squeeze, do you remember all the reasons you fell in love with him? Are you cherishing him and respecting him? Are you making time for each other? Do you still melt when you kiss? If not, figure out why, and fight to get it back.

#1 is halfway through his first year of middle school. Show him love. Slow down and take time with him. Make your home a place where he wants to be and wants to bring his friends. Encourage him to be kind and tenderhearted. As he moves forward from inheriting his faith to owning his faith, help him. Give him spiritual wings.

#2 is probably struggling with wanting to be grown up and wanting to still be a kid. Spend time with her. Help her realize how special she is regardless of what others say or think. Teach her how to be nice and avoid drama. Model to her that she can find her value in her relationship with Jesus.

#3 will be just a year older than #1 is now. Remember how rambunctious and active #1 was at this age, and give him grace and space. Encourage him to be a good friend. Teach him love and respect. Take time to help him as he grows in his walk with Jesus. Let him have fun as you teach him.

As for yourself, do you still dream dreams? Your family has always supported and cheered you on. If there's something you want to accomplish, think it through, talk to your main squeeze about it, and go for it. You mean a lot to a lot of people. Show them love and live the best you can, giving God the glory for what he does through you.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Reverb 10 - Trying

2010-12-31T00:33:00.001-05:00

December 18 – Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn’t go for it? (Author: Kaileen Elise)

I want to learn to play the guitar this year. My parents bought me my guitar for my birthday my junior year of college ( I think ). I played it that summer at the camp where I was a counselor. I could play 5 chords - D, G, A, Em, and C. If you can play those 5, you can play most camp songs. I've played the guitar on and off, but never really got past those 5 chords. I hated having finger calluses. I don't strum strongly, and basically, the guitar can be hard if you don't practice.

Really, though, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to play the guitar. I was a music major for pete's sake! I understand the theory behind it. I know the notation. I know notes, rhythms, and chords. I can tune the thing without a tuner.

There's 2 reasons I want to pick up the guitar - maybe 3....First, I want to enjoy music this year. I don't really get to do anything with music that isn't work. I teach lessons; I teach music classes; I direct a choir. And while I enjoy all of my music related jobs, I don't really just get to enjoy making music to make music.

Second, I would like to be able to play guitar for myself while I sing. I've always enjoyed the "singer-songwriter" sound, and I'd like to be able to pull that off. The crazy thing is, I can almost see myself sitting on a stool, in a church, talking to other women from the heart, and then singing from the heart while I play for myself. Maybe that's a little unrealistic, but it's a dream.

Third....the guitar is just cool....amen.

Reverb 10

2010-12-30T23:31:00.003-05:00

December 16 – Friendship. How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst? (Author: Martha Mihalick)

It all started with a question on Facebook: Would you attend a homosexual wedding/ceremony?

I took a double take when I read my friend's questions, but I knew there were some members of her family that were homosexual, and I thought she was talking about them.

Feeling firm in my beliefs, I replied, "If it was someone near and dear to me, I would express that I love them dearly, but I would not attend. Chances are if they are near to me, they would know my personal beliefs."

A few weeks later, I saw this friend. We spent the evening chatting it up with another friend, and talking about everything in the universe. I asked her about her Facebook question, and then she dropped the bomb. She was engaged to another woman. My heart sank. My head spun. My face was flushed. I didn't even see it coming.

The hardest thing for me to hear was when she said, "I know you can quote me a thousand verses of Scripture about why you think this is wrong. I don't want to hear it."

So I listened.

She told me about her relationship. There were a lot of things that weren't healthy in this relationship, but she was blind to them. The lump in my throat was so big, I couldn't voice them. Fortunately, our other friend who was there did.

Later, when I pulled out of the driveway headed home, I cried and prayed. I didn't know what to do next. I asked God to help me be a friend to her. I grew up hearing the phrase, "You can hate the sin and love the sinner," meaning you can be against the actions and still love the person. I had even said that same phrase to other people when advising them, but I had really never had to deal with it in such a personal way. I had no idea how to show her love.

I asked God to help, and He did. He gave me chances to show her love in tangible ways without having to compromise my beliefs.

It's hard for me sometimes to watch her make choices in her life. For me, most of my life's choices are black and white because I believe the Bible cover to cover, and God is the ultimate authority in my life. There are a lot of gray areas in her life. I'm not sure if it's because she doesn't know the Scripture or if she doesn't want to believe it. I sense in her life that there's a power struggle about who's really in charge. So I pray for her. We don't see each other often, unfortunately, so I facebook stalk. We call on occasion, and I listen. I pray that what comes out of my mouth will lead her to a deeper walk with Christ. I know my friendship with her has encouraged me to walk closer to Him.

Reverb 10 - 5 minutes until memory loss....

2010-12-29T23:23:00.007-05:00

December 15 – 5 Minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010. (Author: Patti Digh)

My kids have fabulous imaginations - they play and play. Sometimes they fight and fight. I spent a lot of time teaching them how to talk and work things out. It's worth it.

My kids are incredibly beautiful....I can't say it enough

I was disappointed in a friend's choice, but I tried not to let it affect my love for her. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

#1 and #2 played sports this year - basketball and football. They are passionate about it.

#1 is really starting to understand football. He's so much like his dad

#2 won 2nd place in the Awana Grand Prix this year for car design. She was thrilled.

I started having eye issues relating to my A.S. Still dealing with them, but have a strategy that works.

A dear friend battled breast cancer and won!

Our dear friends and neighbors moved away....

God provided our youth group a ministry truck and transformed it into the Mean Green Jesus machine. We used it all summer. We had the inaugural Summer Love Squad. It changed my life.

#3 expressed his love for puppets.

#1 started losing teeth

#2 started preschool

#3 is potty trained

I love not carrying a diaper bag or having to worry about sippy cups when we travel

Choir Tour was amazing...I don't know how we're going to top it.

I have great voice students.

I got to sing the national anthem at a baseball game.

I saw the Blue Man Group on JR/SR weekend

I love my husband like crazy

My grandpa turned 90.

My sister had a baby, and I was there for it

We took the kids to Disney for the first time...they loved it...we did too

#1 got straight A's, and we were so proud.

Reverb 10 - Appreciate

2010-12-29T21:03:00.004-05:00

December 14 – Appreciate. What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it? (Author: Victoria Klein)

The thing that I've come to appreciate the most is not a thing - it's a person - my Main Squeeze. There are a hundred reasons I appreciate and love the mess outta him. He knows when I need help, and when I need to be left alone to do it myself. He has a great way of identifying when I need a few hours at Starbucks. He works his tail off. He always takes care of things around our house to make it look and feel nice. He is passionate about what he does. He's a big kid at heart. He loves God, his family and his church. He is fearless. He loves me unconditionally. He always wants to bring the best out in people.

Have I mentioned that he's incredibly handsome too???

But those things aren't what I appreciate the most about him....

The thing that I've come to appreciate the most about him this year is that he loves lavishly. If he's going to show love, it's gonna be big. He's a great gift giver. He'll listen to you and pick out something for you that you'll love. Last year for my birthday, he took me out to buy a new dress (we ended up buying 3), then to a fancy dinner, then to a broadway show at a local theater, then a night at a hotel. I didn't ask for that, but I loved every second of it.

It's not just about lavish gifts. He can tell when someone needs more of his time. Like tonight, he let #1 stay up late, and they put a lego set together. Sometimes, he'll just sit down at his mom's desk at church, just to talk to her. For Christmas, he took his mama to the Rockette's Christmas show. He remembered that when his mom was little she wanted to be a Rockette. She loved the show, but what she loved even more was getting to spend time with her son.

I realized just a few weeks ago, I want to be more like him in this area. It's not that I don't know when people need my attention and affection, I know. It's not that I can't come up with great gift ideas, because I can. I just tend to love stingily. I spend time when it's convenient for me. I try to spend as little money as possible on a gift. I do the smallest that I can, and then I convince myself it's good enough - better than nothing. It's stupid.

I feel it especially in December. We have 2 birthdays in December - my Main Squeeze's and #1's. They are quite close to Christmas day. I always find myself trying just to give one of the things I got for my Main Squeeze for Christmas for his birthday, and sometimes cringing when I do. Well, I didn't do it this year. I gave to him for his birthday the way he gives to me year round. It was big. I did the same thing for him for his Christmas stocking. Instead of getting little cheap things just to fill his stocking because I felt like I had to fill his stocking, I put something in it that I knew he'd love. I also tried to spend time helping him take care of things in "his world." He normally takes care of everything outside our house. This week, our Christmas lights were falling off our house because we had a wind storm. I knew he wasn't really ready to take them down, but they did look ridiculous. Normally, I'd just leave them and let him take care of them when he felt like it, but since I knew it was bothering him, I just started taking them down while he was working on some things in the garage. He joined in, and the whole job was done in a little more than an hour (did I mention our house won the neighborhood decorating contest?)

Those 3 things were inspired by him - 3 choices to show lavish love. It didn't really take much, but I knew they meant a lot. It made me feel good. I need to do it more.....thanks sweetie.

A couple of Reverb10 catch up posts

2010-12-28T21:36:00.012-05:00

Ok....so December happened...reverb10 went on the back burner. But I still like the project, so I'm going to do the posts that I've connected with and not the others. I'll probably do a couple per post, so hang on.

December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)

Hmmm, different....I don't consider myself all that different. Probably the thing about me that is the most unique, and that people like (or possibly hate) about me is that I don't hide things. What you see is what you get. If I'm having a rough, stressed out kinda day, you'll know it. If I'm excited, you'll know it. If I'm disappointed, you'll know it. If I'm amazed at something you'll know it.

I show it in the way I talk, the lessons I teach, and how I interact with people. It's my goal to show it when I sing. I want people to see that I'm connected to the emotions in my music and that the words mean something to me. I try to be an open book. It can be a great thing, and it can be a bad thing too. When I try to be guarded, it doesn't work out so well...so open book it is. Love it or hate it, it works for me.

December 11 – 11 Things. What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life? (Author: Sam Davidson)

1 - clothes that I hope will fit one day
2 - sweating the small stuff
3 - keeping things in my house I don't love
4 - overloading my schedule
5 - excessive calories
6 - doing things that I enjoy as hobbies as work. I need to just do the things I enjoy for enjoyment.
7 - doing work after 9
8 - more sedentary activities
9 - eating colorless processed foods
10 - excuses
11 - putting off inevitable hard jobs....just get 'em done and move on.

December 13 – Action. When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step? (Author: Scott Belsky)

It's funny that I chose this one after the last one. It's almost New Years, and I've been struggling with the idea of writing a resolution or not. I have 100 ideas of things I'd like to change and experience in the New Year. Having to write out the 11 things that I want out of my life made me realize the next thing I need to do is eliminate some things that are holding me down so I can do some things I'd love. I think the first thing is getting up at the same time (a little earlier) each morning, going to bed at the same time each night, and making sure I get some down time to rest.

I also need to do things that I enjoy just for enjoyment, not for work. For instance, I love music. But I work at music - I teach a choir, I teach voice and piano lessons, I teach Kindermusik classes. I enjoy all of those jobs, but I rarely get to just make music for pure enjoyment. I'm going to learn to play guitar this year, just because I enjoy it.

Reverb10 - Day 6 - Making stuff!

2010-12-09T22:53:00.006-05:00

Prompt: Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? Author: Gretchen Rubin

I love this one. I make stuff all the time!!! It's what I love to do!!! Most of the time I just make a mess. Here are a couple things I've made recently.

Our Christmas Card....I love making Christmas Cards. I love making anything on my computer. I used a great picture by Jen Dinkins, some digi scrap supplies, a couple of fonts, and the Photoshop Elements computer program, and BAM, you have a Christmas card. I normally make them 4x6 size. I got ours printed at Ritz camera and they should be in my mailbox tomorrow. :o)

I also made this....

It's all the words from Luke Chapter 2 in a word cloud. You can make one free at wordle.net. It's easy. You type in the words. Wordle generates a word cloud. You change the font and colors until it looks good. Then you save it as a pdf or take a screen shot for it to be a .jpg. I tossed the word cloud into photoshop and put a red border. Then I uploaded it to an online printing service, and I'm having it blown up poster size for a Christmas decoration.

I etched candles as gifts for our friends. I used jar candle sets from walmart, sticker and stencil sets, painters tape and etching cream. It was a really fun project. I'll post pix and a tutorial later.

I also made fotobooks on Facebook of our vacation for our kids to put in their stockings. I took screenshots as I went along. I'll post them later too.

All in all - I like making stuff!

Reverb10 day 5 - Letting Go

2010-12-09T11:26:00.007-05:00

Author: Alice Bradley

Prompt: Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

I let go of a prejudice this year. It's strange to think in 2010 that people still hold onto prejudice. It's something that I think people had to deal with in the '60's with the Civil Rights movement. Occasionally I still hear an older person use a "racial slur" in their conversation, but I never think of prejudice as something I needed to deal with.

I mentioned in an earlier post about a group from our church reading the book "Guerrilla Lovers" by Vince Antonucci over the summer. Each week this group - we called ourselves the "Love Squad" - would read a chapter together, talk about it, then spend the morning going out and sending "love bombs" into the community. That sounds violent - it really wasn't. We would go out in the vans with big coolers of lemonade and whenever we saw a person working outside, we'd run up to them with a cup of lemonade, and offer it to them. You'd be surprised at how many people look at you like you're crazy because you offer them a cup of cold lemonade on a sweltering hot day.

The first question they ask is "Why?" The answer was, "Because we want to show you God's love." Then the conversation continued.....

I could tell you 100 stories about lemonade blessings....probably a story for another day...

The missions got harder for me when we went to minister to the homeless. We have a significant homeless population in our city. So we went equipped with bags of bread and bottles of water and other non-perishables, and we spent the day finding homeless people, talking to them, giving, praying, listening.

As I walked through the day I felt myself fighting feelings of uneasiness and resistance. I saw how easily the people I was with (many of whom were younger than me) sat and talked with the homeless just like they were anyone from their school or work. I winced inside as they passed out bag after bag of food. One bag? Sure. But bag after bag? I listened as I heard one girl say, "We can give you so much because God gives big blessings." I knew my feelings were wrong, and I was fighting them.

I had read John 13:34-35 where Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know you follow me, if you love one another."

How will people know I'm a follower of God if I don't love like God? God loves lavishly. God loves bountifully. God loves when we don't deserve it. God loves the mighty and important, and the meek and seemingly insignificant exactly the same. I knew I needed to love that way. I had to let go of my prejudice.

I remembered back 6 months before that. I was riding in the car with #1, and we drove to an intersection where a homeless man held a sign "Homeless and hungry. Anything will help." #1 asked me what the sign said. I told him, then I locked the door. He said, "We could get him something." I drove off. And as I did, I went into this long explanation of how this man was on the side of the road because he most likely made poor choices in his life that led to other poor choices, and I told him that giving him a meal wouldn't help him make right choices, and that's why we ignore people on the side of the road. I remember feeling self-righteous as I spoke. #1 listened and understood. I had just taught him my prejudice.

As I continued through my summer day, I felt my heart melting and my hands opening as I let the truth of God's word help me release my prejudice and condemning spirit. I know handing out bread and water and groceries is not going to solve the homeless problem in my community. The Bible even says in Matt 26:11 that you will always have the poor with you. But I know for me, a big step in becoming more like Jesus was to see people like He does - not one any better than the other - and loving them the way God wants me to.

The other great thing about the day was that all three of my kids were there. They saw love in action. They learned that love breaks down walls. I actually talked to #1 about our car conversation 6 months earlier. He remembered it, amazingly. I apologized to him, and told him I was wrong. He said, "it's ok mom." He's the first one to jump in the Green Truck - the Green Mean Jesus Machine. He loves to serve already. He'll pray with people at our church food bank. I'm glad this is one prejudice that won't be passed down to the next generation. Hopefully, only unconditional love will be passed on.

Reverb10 day 4

2010-12-08T22:18:00.005-05:00

I'm a little late on this (4days...), but I really am enjoying the writing process....bear with me.

Prompt: Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? Author: Jeff Davis

I don't think I did anything specific to cultivate a sense of wonder this year, but there was a moment of wonder that took my breath away...I have a photo of it....

This is #1 and #2 loving each other...

We were blessed to be able to spend 4 days at the Magic Kingdom this year for a vacation. Normally, I feel stress going into a vacation because I know it doesn't take much variation in the schedule or surroundings of my kids to get them in a minor funk. I don't look forward to public meltdowns. I'm not sure there's a mom out there who does! I've been spending the majority of my efforts with the kids in getting along - how to talk instead of shout, how to show grace when wronged, how to share, how to deal with disappointment, etc. It's exhausting many times, and I don't always see the fruit of my efforts. I was not looking forward to continue teaching while we're on vacation at Disney. I wanted a vacation from character development....

We were in day 2 of our vacation. Everyone had Mickey ears. We were going and seeing and doing and giggling. Then we got in line for Dumbo, and I looked up, and #1 reached over and put his arm around #2 and said, "I love you, and I'm glad you're my sister."

Normally #2 would push him away, but she put her arm around him and said, "Thanks, I love you too." And they stood in line together.

It was working. They like being together. They love each other. They are talking to each other - kindly. YEAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

I know it's not all about me feeling accomplished, but BOY did I feel like super mom!!!

It just kept getting better. We all worked together to pick the next ride/show/whatever we were going to do. No fighting. Lots of compromising, talking kindly and problem solving. I was beginning to believe that the Magic Kingdom was truly magical.

Then it came time to leave the park - no fits, no meltdowns. We walked out of the park hand in hand in hand in hand in hand singing "You got a Friend in Me" at the top of our lungs - all 5 of us. We got weird stares from the foreigners who were wearing their socks pulled up to their knees and sandals, and it didn't matter. We were having fun as a family. We were enjoying each other.......aaaaahhhh

Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. A different author each day delivers a prompt to help you complete the mission of Reverb 10.

Reverb10 Dec3 - The moment this year I felt most alive

2010-12-06T22:27:00.002-05:00

December 3 Prompt: Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author - Ali Edwards)

I spent a lot of time thinking on this one. I thought a lot on what it really meant to me to be "most alive." For me being most alive meant connecting with the things that mean the most to my life. That made it easy for me to narrow it down.

It was the middle of the summer - hot and humid. I had been challenged reading the book Guerrilla Lovers by Vince Antonucci. There were a million thoughts running through my head - doing something bigger than myself for God, being dissatisfied with the status quo of my faith, and delivering surprise attacks of God's love to change the course of someone's life. At the end of the chapter I had just read, I was handed a challenge - Do something. Do something for someone out of love and kindness, just to show them God's love. The worse thing about it was I couldn't just read it and let it go. I had to do it. A small group of people from our church was reading the chapter together, and we were all going to do the challenge on our own through the week and then report back the next week. I couldn't just let it go, but how could I do it?

Then it hit me - Starbucks. I was going to Starbucks to get some grading done. I was going alone, and staying for a while. I would buy someone their coffee, and tell them God loves them. That was the plan. Standing in the bathroom at my house, my heart pounded at the thought of it. Why is it so hard to love a stranger enough to buy them coffee and talk to them? I prayed. It was one of those prayers like "God, are you sure this is what You want me to do?" The butterflies left momentarily, but they returned during my 5 mile ride to the Starbucks. I prayed again. I prayed for my unsuspecting coffee victim - that they would see my gesture as love from God and not insanity....

I got out of the car and walked toward the store. It was unusually quiet - not many cars around. As I walked toward the door, I could see in the window that there was no one in line to order coffee. "WHAT!?!?" I thought. "There's always someone ordering coffee!" Then I continued my prayer to God, "Not Funny!" I told Him. "How can I get someone coffee if they're not in line?" By this time I was opening the door to Starbucks, and I heard God talk to me. He said, "Go to the bathroom." I know that sounds crazy, but God told me to go to the bathroom, so I went.

When I got out of the restroom, there was still no one in line. I was thoroughly confused with God. I reasoned in my head that I'd score a little table near the line, and when someone came up, I'd run up to the order line and buy the person's coffee. Awkward? yes, but the plan had potential. I walked up and ordered my venti skinny cinnamon dolce latte - my favorite. As I was standing there talking with the barista about how to spell my name ("Sarah with an h at the end - my parents paid extra for the h at the end"), he walked up. He didn't look like the person I had in my head during my car prayer. In fact, I had actually prayed for a girl, not a shorter, graying, mid 40's guy wearing shorts, a polo, vintage looking Birkenstocks, and John Lennon style glasses.

"Can I get you anything else," asked the barista.
"Yeah, I want to get this guy's coffee," I said, motioning to the unsuspecting man.
"Me?"
"Yeah. I want to get your coffee."
"But I was going to get a breakfast sandwich too."
"That's ok," I gulped. "I'd love to buy your meal." The barista took his order.
"Wow," he said, "In all my life, I've never had anyone do anything like this for me." (my heart was beating so hard, and I felt so happy - so centered - I thought that he was going to get it. I couldn't wait to tell him about Jesus.) Then he said, "I get it, this is like your good deed for the day, right? Don't worry. I'll pay it forward."

My heart sank. He didn't get it. This wasn't about me! This wasn't about me being a "do-gooder." Then the words fell out of my mouth, "This is more than just a good deed or random act of kindness. God has given me so many good things in my life, and he offers them to everyone through his Son Jesus, and I just wanted to do something tangible to show you God's love."

His jaw hit the floor. The barista who had been fidgeting behind the counter froze and stared at us. I didn't know how this was going over.

Then he said to me, "That's great. What church do you go to?" We spent the next few minute talking about a disabled friend of his who was looking for a church. We got our coffee and went our separate ways.

I was thrilled and disappointed all at the same time. I did what God told me to do, and I showed God's love to a stranger. I was able to speak clearly and not stumble over words. I was a good testimony to the barista - thrilled. I was disappointed because instead of really soaking in and asking follow up questions about God for himself, he immediately deflected the love onto his friend. After thinking about it for a while though, the disappointment turned to satisfaction because he was touched enough by my gesture to realize that what I was showing him was what a friend was looking for.

Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. A different author each day delivers a prompt to help you complete the mission of Reverb 10.

Reverb10 day 2

2010-12-03T21:50:00.004-05:00

December 2 – Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)

Hmmmm....I don't really consider myself a writer. I enjoy writing, but not just for the sound of well-crafted, put-together words. My purpose in writing, in general, is teaching. That's my thing. It's the gift God's given me. One of my most popular blog entries is a post on how to use iPhoto to organize digital scrapbooking elements. The second most popular one is how to use iPhoto and iDVD to make a photo slideshow that you can watch on your TV. I really enjoyed writing them. I like most of the "how-to" entries I write. I guess what keeps me from writing them is that they take a significant amount of time to put together. I like to anticipate the questions the reader will ask and beat them to the punch.

So what prevents me from taking the time to write great tutorials? Life.

I'm not sure I want to change it.

the 2010 to do list re-visited

2010-12-03T16:42:00.002-05:00

Did anyone remind you that there are only 4 weeks left in 2010? Oh snap.....

A few weeks ago, I made a list of 10 things that I wanted to accomplish in the 10 weeks we have left, and here's an update of how I'm coming on it.

1) Organize the boys closet. DONE! Well, it's as done as it's going to be. I went through the boys' clothes and got rid of the things that don't fit, and everything is neatly put back. It's still not "impressive" when you look in it, but it's not the disastrous mess it once was.

2) Organize our closet....ummmm, no. And it's worse than ever.

3) Have a yard sale - No, because my main squeeze vetoed the idea because our schedules are too busy. It will happen in the spring. AAAaaaaahhhhhhhhh (that's me breathing a sigh of relief).

4) Finish the kids 2008 scrapbooks - not quite, but making progress. I actually have made about 20 pages for the kids 2010 scrapbooks, so I'm feeling quite accomplished in the scrapbooking category.

5) Make a chore chart system for the kids that works. Almost done. I have all the pieces put into place. I've even prepped the kids about it. Hopefully will start Monday. Details forthcoming...

6) Record the kids singing and talking - No, and I'm not sure why. That's like the easiest one on my list. I even found chirbit so I can share these kinda things online....maybe this weekend.

7) Disney Fotobooks for the kids - DONE!!!! And so easy. I took screenshots as I went so I can do a tutorial here on the blog. If you have any photos on Facebook, you must try Fotobooks.

8) Lose 15 lbs - um....I think I'm only down a pound and a half. At least I'm not up a pound and a half....

9) Painting a quote on the front hall - still trying to decide on the design.

10) Meaningful Christmas gifts - Making progress. I'm happy with the gifts we've gotten thus far. Still have a couple to think up.

So 2 out of 10 are done; 5 more are in progress; 2 haven't even been started, and one is not going to happen. I'll feel better when the in progress projects are completed. The funny thing is that since I've made this list, I've actually gotten more projects completed that weren't even on the list. It actually makes me feel pretty accomplished. Thanks, my little blog, for enhancing my self-esteem. ;o)

Reverb10

2010-12-02T10:22:00.003-05:00

I think I'm going to try to participate in Reverb10 this year. Basically, the idea behind it is to write every day about what your 2010 was like and envision what you want 2011 to look like through a series of writing prompts. I dig that. So here's the first prompt....I'm a day late....the story of my life....

December 1 One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)

I chose one word for this year. It was "Streamlined." I wanted our life to stay mainly the same, and the details to be come easier, more streamlined. What I wanted was not exactly what I got. Some of my life stayed the same, and I tried to make some of the details easier, but our life changed a lot this year. The funniest thing was, we didn't have any major, life-altering events that you would expect would come with a year of changes - no moving, no babies, no illnesses, no career changes. I guess that was what was the most frustrating thing for me. On the outside, life looked the same, but on the inside, there were changes that were - for a lack of a better term - kicking my butt.

I guess if I have to pick a word for this year, it would be adjustment, although that sounds like a chiropractor. I just opened up my online thesaurus and some of the other words that came up were much more appealing - fine-tuning, modification, improvement, enhancement. Enhancement, I like that last one. I think that's in the middle of what we're experiencing. If you've ever done a home improvement, or any kind of improvement project for that matter, you know that sometimes it gets worse before it gets better, and I think that describes where we are.

First, let me talk about the kids. They are growing like weeds, physically, spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally. (does that sound like Luke 2:52) With this growth comes adjustments in how I love on and teach the kids. They are all learning so much in school and from each other. #1 is reading and #2 and #3 know all their letters and are working on sounds. For me, that means I've had to carve out time for them - to read to them and to do projects with them to take advantage of this new curiosity. They also want to do more things and have more independence. Some of those things are easier than others. For instance, #1 and #2 both wanted to play flag football at church. Dad was their coach, and they were very able to get their things together for practice and games and run to their practice spots. Easy. Another easy thing was that they want to help clean (sometimes), so whenever they want to help with something I'm doing, I let them, and I don't obsess too much about the details. ("You want to clean the toilet? Go for it!") The only time I really get on them is when they say they're going to do something and then they don't do it. That's not ok. Probably the hardest thing is that they all have a little bossy streak in them. It most likely comes from the fact that both my main squeeze and I have pretty strong personalities, and we are both leaders in our own right. We're trying to teach the kids to talk to each other with respect, and to recognize when they are in a leadership role and when they are not. We practice a lot. It's getting better. It's not there yet.

Now, let's look at me personally. It's hard to do that without talking about my main squeeze. He's still in the same position at the same church we've been serving in for - gosh - almost 7 years. His job description is the same, but what his daily job entails is changing - the ministry is always growing, the students ebb and flow, the people who work alongside of us come and go. Some transitions are easier than others. Because we work together so closely in ministry, I feel those changes. Working closely with my husband is a blessing and a curse. When things go well, we rejoice together. When he experiences a setback, it can devastate me. People tell me that I can't take it that personally, but I do. I can't not. How can I feel the unending, compassionate love of Christ for people, and not feel it when they experience a spiritual setback? I know there's gotta be another preacher's wife out there who's felt this, right?

A big change for us this year is that we have taken on a part time job. Since my main squeeze completed his master's degree, he's been looking for a way to teach online college classes. We finally found a fit. He loves interacting with the students in the discussion forums and challenging them about their faith. Whenever I can, I help him with the grading. It is a bit taxing on our already short amount of time, and for a while I wondered if it was worth the time we were putting into it. But slowly, I can see the benefit a little extra cash has had in our personal economy. This year is the first we will have less debt after Christmas than we did before (if all goes as planned.) For me, this is the glimmer I'm holding onto. Remember the reference to the home improvement project that is worse before it looks amazing? I'm starting to see glimpses of what our future will look like as a result of this change - this enhancement. I'm confident I'll see results in other areas too.

As far as next year goes, I'm toying with a few ideas for a word to describe the year. Health is one - I'd love to lose some weight and add some other healthy habits. I want to see the results of the work I'm doing personally and with the kids - some completion or closure. I hate the word closure. I'm in the mood to redecorate - not just for the sake of making my house look different, but when I look at my house there are things I love, and things I tolerate. I want to love it, to savor and relish being at home. Savor, that's a good word.

Thanksgiving project follow up

2010-11-30T14:12:00.006-05:00

So, the grateful frame was a BIG SUCCESS! (Here's a link to the original post about it.) Everyone who could write participated, and it's a great keepsake. Here's what it looked like finished...

I know it's really too small for you to see any of the things that are written, so I'm going to highlight some of them.

My sister hosted the event. The back of her house has an amazing porch that goes basically the length of the house, so we were able to enjoy the Southern sunshine and eat our lunch on the porch. My sister sounded like she was listening to space aliens because she was carrying around the baby monitor turned on HIGH!! because the baby (2 months old) was napping on and off during the festivities. Fortunately she slept pretty well through the upheaval of having company around, which is why my sister wrote what she did..."When Eiley sleeps through the night."

Number 1 is almost 7 and wants to do everything by himself. Here is his contribution.

It says, "I am thankful for cars." My main squeeze asked him, "What do you mean? Toy cars? Go Kart cars?" Number 1 replied, "No, just cars, like our car." That's a pretty good explanation.

Number 2 also wanted to get in the action....Here's hers...."Thankful for Mom & Dad."

She sat with her great aunt (my dad's oldest sister visiting from GA) and practiced writing it small and neat on a scrap piece of paper until she could do it nice and neat and small. Apparently, she also taught her how to write an ampersand, because I know I've never showed her how to do this! This aunt is a teacher - middle school science. I was amazed at her patience with #2. I guess if you teach science to middle schoolers with any amount of patience, you can be patient with anyone.

This was my contribution...

I got to spend time with both of my grandpa's which is a rare occurrence for me as neither of them live nearby. It was nice to spend time talking with them and listening to them. Not a lot of people my age get to do that. So I appreciated the opportunity. (BTW - the guy in the picture is not my grandpa. It's my dad.)

Here's what Grandpa Puckett had to contribute to the poster. "I thankful for my salvation in Christ & United States of America & Family."

That's so my Grandpa Puckett...Those are the 3 most important things to him. He Loves Jesus with all his heart. He loves the USA. He's a Korean War Vet and still regularly meets with the men he served with over breakfast. And he loves his family. I know he thinks of us and prays for us. He's not sleeping in this picture...he's blessing the food before we ate.

My mom's contribution also talks about prayer.

It says, "I'm thankful for a Dad and Mom who taught me to pray." She's having to pray a lot these days. Many of them revolve around her dad - my other grandpa. He's turned 90 years old this summer and his health - well, let's just say, it's not what it used to be. He's been in and out of the emergency room and the ICU. Now he's in a step-down room, and during this visit we were able to take our whole family to see him. He brightened up when he saw us and the 3 kids. They sang "Jesus loves me" to him, and all got to hug him. My mom, along with her brothers and sisters, are having to make decisions about Grandpa's health that are not always clear cut. At one point in the journey recently, they were faced with a choice about Grandpa's course of treatment that they felt uneasy about. My mom prayed that God would change the one level they were looking at. In the morning, that number was changed, and it made the decision about the course of treatment very clear. So if you think about it, say a quick prayer for peace and health for Grandpa Steele, and wisdom and peace for those who have to take care of him.

super easy Thanksgiving project

2010-11-22T13:44:00.009-05:00

Ok, remember the post about easy and aaahhhhmazing a few weeks ago? I said that there was no such thing as a craft that's easy and aaaahhhhmazing. Well, I was wrong. This one is totally easy and totally amazing. I saw this on Becky Higgins blog in 2 different posts (read them HERE and HERE), and I thought, "This could be COOOL!" It's a gratitude poster. Here's Becky's....

Hers is HUGE. She has let her family work on filling it up over the space of a few weeks.

Here's mine....

It's much smaller because we're only going to be filling it up on Thanksgiving day.

I did this project this afternoon while my lunch was in the oven heating up...really. Here's the list of what you'll need. You probably won't even have to buy anything, because there's a good chance you'll have it all in your craft stash already!!!

First a frame. Becky's was 20X30. Mine's 8x10, and it was the only thing I had to buy. I splurged on the $3.99 frame at Target. Call me "moneybags."

Next, you'll need a piece of poster board or cardstock cut to size.

Then, you'll need letter stickers. Becky used some large chipboard letters. I used some called "Thickers." They are about an eighth of an inch thick and are made of vinyl.

Once you've cut your cardstock to size. you need to place your word in the middle. Here's my tip to get your letters to line up. I put the bottom half of the stickers on the edge of a piece of plastic. I'm using an old stencil, but you could use anything. In the past I've used the shiny plastic piece that came in some product packaging. The idea is just to get your letters lined up using the straight edge.

I also have an old Creative Memories cutting mat that has a grid on it that I use to help me keep things straight because I can see the lines through the plastic. I would highly recommend getting a work mat like this.

After you have all your stickers lined up on the plastic, center the stickers on the cardstock. Hold down the top half of the stickers and slide the plastic off the bottom of the stickers, one at a time. They stay in place!!! Do it slow, and you can do minor adjustments along the way!

You can put a final touch on it by adding the date and occasion in your own gorgeous handwriting. I put it on the left side like this because I didn't quite center my letters right, and there was a bit more space on that side than the other. I didn't start over...I'm embracing imperfection!

When you put the frame together, Put the glass in under the cardstock to give everyone something solid to write on.

I'm going to have this standing up next to the food buffet on Thanksgiving day with an instruction card and some pens. I'll probably give it to my sister as a thank you gift for hosting the big meal at her house, even though she has a 2 month old baby! Love you Becky! Although she'll probably read this post and realize I only spent $3.99 on this gift....hmmmm.....

I'll post an "after" pic next week. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
2 Corinthians 9:15 "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"

Swag...what?

2010-11-12T23:39:00.004-05:00

Every once in a while, people ask me "What are Swagbucks?" Sometimes they see it pop up on my Facebook page, and they wonder what it is. Well here's a rundown on Swagbucks, and why I like it!

Swagbucks works like a search engine - like google or yahoo - you search whatever you'd search on the internet, but instead of going to google.com, you go to swagbucks.com and do your internet search. (For those of you who use a window in your search bar, swagbucks has a search bar that you can download) Then at random intervals, they will award "Swagbucks" for using them to search the internet. The bucks range from 7 to 100. I think the highest I've ever gotten was 50. I can't see a pattern. It appears to be totally random.

They keep track of how many bucks you've earned, and after a while you can buy stuff at the Swag store, and they ship it to you for free. Yeah. Free. I've gotten Starbucks gift cards, Target gift cards, cds, a vocal evaluation and lesson from a voice teacher in San Francisco (that was fun!). There are also clothing, jewelry, and electronics. I think I'm actually going to get my brother in law his Christmas present using my Swagbucks.

There are other ways you can earn swagbucks - special offers, watching videos, searching for codes, taking polls, sweepstakes (called swagstakes), but honestly, I don't really do those so much. I just search online. I've earned 800 swagbucks in the past 2 months. I can get Swagbucks when my friends sign up (it's called a referral), so if earning free stuff just for hanging out online sounds like something you'd like to try, then click the "sign up" link in the "swidget" below or click on one of my facebook posts. All you have to give them is an email, and they don't hardly ever send you anything. Only when they need to.

If you don't want to see my Facebook posts from swagbucks, click on the x by my swagbucks status and click "hide Swagbucks" (not hide Sarah...you'll never see me again if you do!)

Try it! Get free stuff!

Does Chirbit work for what I want it to do?

2010-11-05T20:43:00.002-04:00

I've been trying to figure out a way to share audio on Facebook, twitter and my blog, and I want to do it for free...that's not asking too much, is it?

I found www.chirbit.com, and they say it will do what I want it to do....

This browser does not show iframe content.

Check this out on Chirbit

Let me know if you can hear my son singing....(this was about 2 and a half years ago!)

Can it be easy and aaahhhhmazing?

2010-11-01T15:03:00.001-04:00

I'm convinced the words "easy" and "ahhhhmazing" do not ever happen for me at the same time.....ever.

Case in point. I saw this Halloween goody bag idea....

Cute, right? Monster Eyeball stickers on top of Reeces cups! I'm in love!
I found the picture on my friend Wendy's blog, and she found it on the itiswhatitis blog.

It was supposed to be so easy.....
Buy the pack of stickers for a dollar at Michaels.
Buy Reece's on the BOGO sale at Publix
Use the goody bags I already had.
Download and print the tag free from the Beth Proudfoot blog
slap the stickers on the candy, stuff them in the bag, and DONE.....easy and aaaaahhhhhmazing!

Well....I missed the BOGO sale. But I still had coupons, so I bought the candy.
I couldn't find the stickers ANYWHERE! I went to 3 different Michaels, Hobby Lobby and 2 different Targets. I pulled up a picture of the stickerbook on my phone (like a giant nerd) and all they could say is "Uhhhhhhh....no." Thanks.

Then I thought about googley eyes. I could cut out 2 different size circles out of cardstock with my handy dandy punches, glue them all on top of each other, and put them on top of the candy. Easy and ahhhhhmazing! Except for the fact I couldn't get the eyes to stick to the cardstock or the cardstock stick to the candy without pouring on a TON of glue....not good for candy. And besides, they just looked flat....

I went to one last Michael's store in search of the elusive and ahhhmazing eyeball stickers, and I found adhesive glittery foam sheets in halloween colors. PERFECT! I could still punch them out with the punches, and it would have the dimension that the cardstock lacked....aaaaahhhhmazing! Except for the fact that the foam was too thick to fit into my punches. My circle cutters (creative memories circa 2002) were not sharp enough to cut the foam. So you know what I did? I drew 200 circles in 4 different sizes and cut them out by hand. Not easy, and sort of amazing....just don't look too close. It took me 6 and a half hours. NOT the way I had intended to spend my Thursday night.

Here's how they turned out. They are kinda cute. But I'm convinced that all these craft bloggers are lying to us. It can't be as easy as they make it sound.

My Solemn Oath

2010-10-30T23:05:00.005-04:00

I, Sarah, do solemnly swear not to partake in the excessive sugar that the upcoming holidays are known for. I know the season of temptation begins TOMORROW! Halloween - a holy eve before a season full of indulgent temptations. Because I know I am an "all or nothing" kinda girl, I promise not to eat, sample, taste test, do quality control checks, or in any other way take candy from my children's trick or treat buckets. If I choose to break this oath, I know the consequences. It will send me immediately into a downward spiral of sugar overload that will not be stopped until after Easter 2011, and it will cause my derriere to look like this.....

or possibly even this....

(BTW - I acknowledge that each of these people are perfect and wonderful just the way they are - i just don't need to become like them :o)

To help me do this, I will dutifully keep foods and drinks of a healthy sort with me, so that when my mouth salivates for a Reeces cup or a little box of milk duds, I will...ahem...sip...I mean, choke down...water from my re-usable bottle....sigh....and dream of the high and limitless metabolism that I've always dreamed of.

I solemnly swear these things in front of my blog readers and all my friends, so help me (please help me...I'm gonna need it) God.

10 weeks left in 2010

2010-10-26T22:20:00.005-04:00

I read a blog post that said there are 10 more weeks in 2010.

what....

Where did this year go?
I'm just getting used to writing 2010 and saying "twenty ten" (or is it "two thousand ten"?)
And I approached this year with all the vim and vigor and excitement, and I had all these big goals......

and honestly, I can't remember even one of them....

I guess that's not completely true. I picked a word - one little word - to focus my year. My word was "streamlined." I had hoped to make my world a little less frantic and a little more focused and efficient.

I even did a scrapbook page to motivate myself...

Did it work? Maybe a little bit, but that's a post for another day.

So in an effort to accomplish my goal of "streamlining" my life, and to feel a sense of accomplishment as I finish out 2010, here are 10 things I want to accomplish before the end of 2010.

1) organize the boys' closet - Not a small feat, but actually it's halfway done. I've gone through all of #3's clothes. Now I need to go through #1's and sort through all the junk that needs to find its way outside my house.

2) organize our closet. That's easier said than done because it means that my main squeeze and I are going to have to be in the closet cleaning and organizing at the same time, and let's just say, we have 2 completely different approaches to that task. I don't want our marriage to end before the end of the year.....hmmm...fortunately, my main squeeze also is in the mood to organize, so it may not be as bad as anticipated.

3) have a yard sale to get rid of JUNK! - I really need to un-junk our house. For the first 6 years of our marriage we would move every year or 2 or 3. I really hated packing and unpacking so much that if I didn't really like it, I threw it out so I wouldn't have to pack or unpack. Now that we've been in the same location for 4 years, I find myself wanting to pick out a new house just so I can get rid of JUNK!!!! I'm not sure which is harder buying/selling/moving into a new house or organizing....

4) finish the kids 2008 scrapbooks - 2 years behind, but I'm so close!!!

5) make a chore chart/system for our kids that works....I have an idea that I'm going to try. We have things we expect our children to do, and we expect them to pitch in and help with things that need help. I would love some system that's easy to use, that works, and that motivates and rewards kids for taking an active role in making our home nice to live in. Any ideas/suggestions? I'd love to hear them!

6) record the kids singing and talking... I have the most adorable recordings of my kids talking and singing when I first got my computer - Helga. It was almost 3 years ago. I was intrigued by Garage Band, but I haven't recorded them hardly at all since. I need to do that again. Especially for #3. I love hearing #3 talk....

7) make a Disney fotobook - Fotobooks is an app inside of Facebook where you can make a 5x7 paper back "brag book style" photo book for $5 using the pictures you and your friends upload to Facebook. It is really great. It has to have a minimum of 18 pictures and it can hold a maximum of 54 (I believe). The pages are pre-designed and very trendy looking, graphically speaking. All you do is put your pix in order, and pretty much the rest is done for you. I uploaded hundreds of pix from our Disney to my facebook profile, and I want to make each kid a book they can keep in their room with pictures of them at Disney, and for $5, it's a great little souvenir. Who wants me to do a step by step tutorial of how to make one? Leave me a comment!

8) lose 15 lbs - this is a small step toward a bigger goal. Acutally if I don't go into the holidays with a "diet mentality," I overindulge from October to February, and pay for it all year long. NOT THIS YEAR!!!!

9) Paint a quote in our front hall - I've wanted to do this for a while, but I'm a big chicken. It's gonna look great when I do though.

10) Have Christmas meaningful/thoughtful Christmas presents....not just the easiest or cheapest thing. I love getting just the right thing - an unexpected, thoughtful gesture that makes people smile. Unfortunately, I don't know what that is for most of my people yet.....

Ok, so those are my 10 things. Do you have 10 things? Do you think any of my 10 things are CRAZY? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

One of my favorites is back

2010-10-22T21:27:00.004-04:00

When I first got started with digital scrapbooking, I looked around for people who designed nice things that I would use, and I wanted to get them for free. I found Digitreat's website. Pam is a stay/work-at-home mom with 3 kids who likes to scrapbook. I felt an immediate kinship :o). She would blog almost every day with a new part to a kit she was working on. She would offer them free for a few days, and then she'd sell them in the store on her blog. They were always very cute and practical.

Well, nearly a year ago, she quit. The demands of her family life with 3 kids at home were alot on her. (again - kinship.) Then suddenly, after school started, I got an email feed from her blog just saying "I'm back!" Once the youngest kids went to school this fall, she started designing and giving again. I have loved every part of the kits I've gotten as freebies from her, and I have purchased some from her store.

She's working on 3 kit themes - tough, sassy and silly - and every few days, she'll post another installment in the series. The picture above is the first in the "sassy series." And I love it! I hope you'll check her site out. And now that she's back, I'll have to add a new banner to the people I love on the right.

Lunchbox notes

2010-10-15T11:51:00.003-04:00

On Tuesdays I volunteer in #1's class, and I put a note in his lunchbox everyday.
Recently I put this note in his lunchbox....

It's a pretty realistic drawing, if I do say so myself.....

When I cleaned out his lunchbox later that night, I saw this written on the back of my note to him......

It made me smile.

God Gave Me You

2010-10-06T22:39:00.002-04:00

Sometimes bedtime around our house is a little stressful.....mostly because I see the hands of the clock ticking away, getting later and later, and I know that is not going to help my kids in the morning be happy, quick and productive. Sometimes, I end up being very short with my kids, cutting their excuses short with a "You're breaking bedtime rules. Goodnight." or "We can talk about this in the morning. I love You." That's not always a bad way to do it, but tonight, even though it was late, I had a chance to talk to each of my babies just for a minute.

Number 2, my sweet princess, was first. She's been waking up a few times a night just feeling a little scared, and mostly just alone. Think about it, as the only girl, she's the only one who isn't sharing a bedroom. So we talked about things that she can do in her room when she's scared or alone, without waking Mom or Dad up. We came up with a few (like going potty, giving her bed buddies a big hug, flipping the pillow over to the cold side, because that's where the good dreams are), then she said, "I can just sing our song."

"Which one is that?" I asked.

"The one on right now."

Number 2 sleeps with the Christian radio station on at night, and as a result, she knows probably more songs than I do (which is really saying something).

"The one on right now," she said, and then she started singing in her most precious, scratchy, quiet, little, 4 year old voice, "God gave me you for the ups and downs. God gave me you for the days of doubt. God gave me you!"

I gave her a big hug and kiss, and we sang the song together for a little, then she said, "You're my best mom ever."

And I said, "Your my best daughter ever." And then she fell asleep.

To hear the whole song, look at Dave Barnes' video on YouTube HERE

Chicken Spinach Alfredo Pizza

2010-10-01T23:17:00.018-04:00

You never know where inspiration will strike. I was walking through the deli section at Publix, and saw this package....

You know what it said to me? Make pizza on the grill. A spinach chicken alfredo pizza to be specific. It's weird, but food talks to me sometimes. I can't explain it, but it's a fact.

Here's a blow by blow of how I did it. Please note, I'm not really a measuring/recipe kinda girl. Even when I do have a recipe, I follow it more like a suggestion than a commandment. Is that so wrong?

Ok, start with chicken on the grill. I seasoned it with McCormick's garlic and herb seasoning.

Take it off and let it rest and cool. This chicken is resting on my Valentine's plates I bought from Target earlier this year that we still use daily, because honestly, who wouldn't say I love you to nicely grilled chicken? Not this girl!

I decided to make the alfredo sauce next. Yes I said make, as in, from scratch. Normally I'm a pour it out of a jar girl, and you can do it that way if you want, but I remember years ago a girl in our youth group made alfredo sauce from scratch in my kitchen, and it was easy. My hubby still raves over it....and I wanted a little adventure.....

So melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in your skillet. Real butter is probably better, but all I had was the I can't believe it's not butter stuff that I bought BOGO at Publix a few weeks ago, so I used it. Shake in some flour to make a roux. Yes, mom, if you want to pronounce it "roooo-cks" because it sounds fancier, you may. Whatever makes your skirt fly up.

Stir it together until it's nice and golden brown.

Then pour in some milk or cream. I poured in enough to cover the bottom of the pan, and then I added some more. So what's that like 2 cups? or 12? I dunno. I'm bad with measurements.

Next add in cheese. I put in some parmesan - about four ounces. How do I know that? because it was an unopened 6 ounce container and I poured 2/3 of it in. (see, I'm capable of measuring, but I just don't like too) I also threw in some shredded mozzarella. I think I added more milk too because it was really goooey and not very saucey.

I finished it off with some pepper and a sprinkle of nutmeg. In hindsight, I would have added more liquid (milk or maybe broth) because it ended up too roux-y gooey and not as sauce-y as I wanted, but it still tasted amazing, so I stuck with it.

Ok, now for the spinach part. I decided I needed some garlic flavor in this pizza, and I had some mushrooms, so I chopped them up and threw them with some of that "not-butter" in the skillet and started cooking them.

Wait....why are they not cooking? Maybe it's because I forgot to turn the burner back on. Operator Error=fail.

Once the mushrooms started to get soft, I grabbed a big ol' handful of baby spinach. I don't really want to cook it like crazy. I just want it to wilt down a little. So I lowered the heat in the pan with the mushrooms still in it and I threw the spinach in on top. Within a minute or 2, it went from looking like this.....

to looking like this.....

Perfect.

Ok, now time to assemble the pizzas. I spread oil on the Naaan bread.

I wish I could say it was some kinda fancy-pants, herb infused, hand pressed olive oil....

but it wasn't.

Spread on the alfredo.

Remember that chicken? Cube it up and throw it on top.

Add the spinach/mushroom/garlic/amazing mixure

And what better to top a cheese sauce based pizza with? You got it...more cheese. It's a rule of life, and the fat on my tushie is just going to have to live with it.

Alright, on to the grill it goes. Grilling tips - Keep your flame LOW!!! If your grill is retarded like mine is, you're going to have to move your pizzas around to prevent the bottom of them from getting burned in your hot spots....just sayin'.

Once the cheese is melted, then it's ready to eat!

Here's one handsome and satisfied customer! He ate all of his. I ate half of mine, and had the other half for lunch today, and it was just as good re-heated as it was the first time.

Try it yourself and let me know how it goes!

To my Facebook Friend

2010-08-29T01:02:00.003-04:00

I have a friend on Facebook who is cutting herself down more often than not. I wanted to post this on her wall, but I don't have the guts.....

Dear Friend,

I've been worried about you. It's Saturday night. I just stalked your wall. Of the 12 status updates you've made this weekend, 9 of them have been jamming on yourself. And not just the "I can't believe I did something dumb" type. Seriously, big time, ugliness. If someone was talking about me the way that you talk about yourself, I think I'd punch them in the nose. But it seems like you don't even care. I've seen these types of updates about yourself more often than not.

Do you really believe what you're writing about yourself? "Stupid...stupid...always screwing things up!" "Inadequate...perfect definition." and the worst...."Dear self, you have turned out to be a complete piece of junk. Good job." Really? Do you really believe that?

Don't get me wrong, I think as women, we all struggle with feelings of inadequacy sometimes, but when we do, there are better ways to deal with it than others. Sometimes, I use humor - it's always good to be able to laugh at yourself. Sometimes I talk to people who I know love me and will give it to me straight.

And lets talk about your friends for a minute. Looking at the comments people make back to you when you post this junk, you have true friends in your life. Friends who will pour the truth into your life. Friends who will say encouraging things. Friends who love you for who you are and aren't asking you to be anything other than that. These friends faithfully post encouragement to you, and love you in the middle of whatever you're going through.

Sometimes I wonder why do you post this junk? If you really believe it, it makes me sad. If you don't believe it, then I feel bad for your friends - you are manipulating them to make them say something nice to you. That's why I don't post to your statuses all the time...I don't appreciate being manipulated. In fact, I can't tell you the number of times that I've almost clicked "HIDE" next to your name. I just can't because inside, I think you are really hurting and you don't know what to do about it. If you need encouragement (because we all do sometimes), be honest about it. Say that your circumstances are making you feel badly. Your true friends will lift you up. When you attempt to manipulate people with your overly dramatic comments, you're only going to push the people who care about you away. And honestly, I've seen that pattern in your "real life" - not just your virtual Facebook life.

Ultimately, you need to know I love you. I still love you with your faults. If I get frustrated with how you deal with your disappointments, it's because I'm a just a human. But God will give you all the true love your searching for. He doesn't care how you've messed up. He offers forgiveness and life to the fullest (John 10:10)

Happy Birthday to Jennifer

2010-08-17T09:49:00.006-04:00

Today, I have to say Happy Birthday to my dear friend Jennifer. She is a delightfully amazing individual, and a very charming, unassuming manner. She is amazingly talented, but if you tell her that, she'll just roll her eyes then sheepishly say thank you.

She has beautiful, spunky, fun kids. She's holding the baby in the picture above. Here's the oldest....

And this is her lovely middle child...Look at the eyes on that cutie!!!

Jen's kids are so fun and spunky because they are a direct reflection of her personality, (and her husband's too...I guess I have to give him a little credit....)

She is an amazing photographer. She took this picture of my family 2 years ago....

She also took this one.....

We call it our ninja family photo....

But back to Jen. These are the thing I love about her. She can turn nothing into something spectacular!! She loves hosting parties. At a shower she hosted recently, she covered board game boxes with craft paper, stacked them in a pyramid, and glued little decorations on Popsicle sticks and stuck them in through the box lids and used it as a cupcake stand. It looked spectacular!!!! If I would have done that, well, it would have looked like game boxes covered in craft paper and hot glue hot mess!!!

Her house looks like it came out of a decorators magazine. She has an eye for color and putting unusual things together to make a big statement. And she does it on a shoestring budget. I have a huge case of envy. I told her I want her to re-decorate my house, and the funny thing is, she said OK!

She's always willing to help, and somehow she finds time in the middle of raising 3 kids to help friends, throw parties, and celebrate life! **I'M SO JEALOUS**

I find myself being envious of the life and characteristics of other people a lot. Especially, the creative things that people do. But when I gush about how amazing I think Jennifer is, she just says something like, "It's no big deal."

Isn't that always the way though? We think the things that make us special are insignificant, and the things that make other people shine are especially sparkly in comparison. I think God has made us all uniquely talented for where we are, who God has put in our lives, and to bring Him glory. God has given Jennifer the ability to make things around her beautiful to teach her children that God loves and appreciates things of beauty. Her kids are going to see her make beautiful things and see the work she puts into them, and they will realize that God is the master Creator of this beautiful universe. There's no way something that beautiful could have just happened to be there. God designed it. Her children are going to see the special and unique things about people just the way their mama saw in our family that we love Jesus (the picture of the cross) and that we are just a little crazy (the ninja family photo). And they are going to celebrate life!

I LOVE YOU JEN!!! THANKS FOR BEING A WOMAN OF GOD AND A GREAT FRIEND!

Schedule update

2010-08-16T23:40:00.002-04:00

How's the schedule going? I'm glad you asked....NOT GOOD! I can't get up as early as I want. I have other things that get in the way of what I have put on the schedule....Is this even worth it? I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow and try to give it a go. I need the time and the focus and the order. Now more than ever.

I never thought....

2010-08-04T14:37:00.004-04:00

I never thought I'd want to be more like my mother in law. Don't get me wrong, I love her dearly. But we have some major differences. Once, my husband went to a leadership summit and took a personality profile. He thought it was so cool that when he came home he had both me and his mother take it. We both discovered our personality types and chuckled at how accurate the results were. They described both of us to a t! The next part of the test discussed the how the pairing of different personality types resulted in different strengths or challenges. I skipped down and looked at my personality paired with my husband (and was not surprised by what I read. It was quite accurate). Then I skimmed down to find my personality paired with my Mother-in-law's. I was shocked. I didn't memorize it, but it went something like this....

"This is the hardest personality pair. Their weaknesses are magnified in each other. The free spirit of the first person is critically interpreted as laziness or irresponsibility in the second. The sense of concern in the second person is incorrectly percieved as criticism or judgment. For this personality pair to work together successfully they must both be consistently selfless, and desire for the relationship to work."

My mother in law is a very sweet, kind-hearted, hard working, cautious, super-organized woman, and I love her dearly. And indeed we do show each other a lot of grace to maintain a positive relationship with each other. I've always prided myself, however, in being a bit of a free spirit - no need to keep a tight schedule. I've never had to keep a calendar or a day timer. I've always amazed myself at how much I could get done with out having a formal plan. But recently, that philosophy hasn't been working for me. I feel like I'm always running around catching my tail. I hate that I can't do the things that I want to do because there are other things that must urgently be done. I've been feeling the same discontent and restlessness in my spiritual walk too. I don't know if you've ever heard this song, but it fits the way I feel. It's called Cry in My Heart by Starfield.

There's a cry in my heart for Your glory to fall,
For Your Presence to fill up my senses.
There's a yearning again,
A thirst for discipline,
And a hunger for things that are deeper.

Can You take me beyond? Can you carry me through?
If I opened my heart, could I go there with You?

For what do I have if I don't have you Jesus?
What in this life could mean any more?
You are my rock. You are my glory.
You are the lifter of my head, lifter of this head.

I've loved this song for a long time. I think most Christians can relate to the desire to draw close to God, but the phrase that's really caught my attention recently is "a thirst for discipline." Discipline. Most of the time my nose turns up and my lip curls when I say that word. I've not lived an overly disciplined life. No one would call me un-disciplined by any stretch of the imagination. But I know there are things in my life that I would say are important if you asked me that I rarely do because there are other "more pressing matters." And I'm tired of living like that. Let me give you an example. If you asked me if I thought prayer was important, I would surely say yes. But I could not tell you how much uninterrupted, thoughtful prayer time I've had in the past month (or probably year for that matter). If God didn't know better, I'm sure He thinks I have ADHD! It amazes me that in the song, the lyricist equates discipline with a deeper walk with Christ. My mother in law has a very disciplined habits in her spiritual life. By 6:30 am she's completely dressed for the day and has had her devotions and prayer time. Then she often has an extended time of Bible study after that. If you asked her, she could probably give you details down to the minute of what she does. She's told me before, but I'm not so good with details like that....don't fault me, it's just my personality shining through.

So guess what I've decided to do. I made a daily schedule. I've never had anything like this before. It tells me what to do and when to do it every 30 minutes of the day. Here's what it looks like.

It's a work in progress.....Never mind that the date on the top. I had to go all the way to February next year before I found a week on the calendar on the computer that didn't have any dates filled in so that I could print it out and write in my schedule plan. I've included Bible study, exercise, work and church times, picking up the kids from school, house cleaning tasks, and a time set aside to be crafty and creative. I don't know if you can tell, but it's all in pencil, and I've already changed a few things. I've set it up to start when the school starts, so that gives me a few weeks to ease into it and try the schedule out before I just jump into this more disciplined, organized way of life with two feet. I'm not sure how this is going to all work out, but hopefully it will result in a fuller, more satisfying life and a closer walk with God.

By the way, I'm scared to death to hit the "publish post" button, because once I do, everyone who reads this will know that I'm trying to be disciplined and with that comes accountablitity...another word that makes me want to turn up my nose a little. I just don't like having people tell me what to do. It's another quirk of my personality.....

A new start...

2010-08-02T16:43:00.004-04:00

At a baby shower recently, a friend of mine suggested I start a blog and share my "unique point of view" with the rest of the world. I laughed when she suggested it - for a few reasons...First, I wondered if I really had a unique point of view. She seemed to think so, but I was dubious. Second, what my friend didn't know is that I already had a blog! I started it when I was working on the creative team for a digital scrapbook designer. At first it was a lot of fun - I was sharing about my favorite hobby - but then it really started feeling like work - like I was writing ad content about something I didn't really care that much about. I guess I can't say I didn't care about it. I truly enjoyed scrapbooking and getting to know other people who had the same interest in a hobby as I did. But the big difference was that it held a very high priority in their lives...higher than it should in mine. So I let my blogging days go...It consumed so much of my time and energy, and it didn't really fill the purpose God gave me in my life.

So time goes by....I started hanging out in Facebook land, and realized that connecting with people via the internet can be very addictive...(can I get an Amen from my FB friends?!) Although there are things about Facebook (and the internet in general) that are negative, I found one BIG positive - I could communicate hope and encouragement. About the same time I took a Spiritual gifts test and confirmed that my spiritual gift is teaching. To me that explains why I like to over-think stuff and explain everything to people. Ask my husband; it drives him crazy! God has also given me the passion to do creative things - take pictures, sing, be crafty, do nifty things with a computer - and I have a drive to share them.

So here I am with my blog. I can't guarantee that anything I write will be the most amazing or original thing you've ever seen on the internet. But I will guarantee, you'll hear my thoughts on life and what I've been reading in the Bible. You'll see some cute pictures and scrapbook layouts. You may see some crafty ideas you can try in your house. And you'll hear stories of my crazy family and what our life is like in ministry. Hope you're along for the ride....

I've been inspired and a freebie

2010-03-22T15:31:00.005-04:00

I've had a burst of inspiration lately about scrapping. It's probably for the first time in a while that I've been able to scrap what I want to scrap without a pressure of a deadline (because I'm not on any creative teams anymore), and probably because this is the first time since January that my eyes haven't been causing me problems. (read the roundups from January and February to find out more about my eye issues) I made this layout in just a few minutes one afternoon.

And this one in less than 30 minutes today.....

The first one I used a pretty kit called Spring Sorbet by Teri Mayo of Teri's Thing-o-my-jigs. You probably remember her. I used to CT for her, and probably still would if my eye issues wouldn't be causing me recurring problems because she is an amazing designer and a wonderful person. She was in the Designer's spotlight for Pretty Scrappy this month, so I was more than happy to buy half of this beautifully sophisticated kit for $2 and get the rest of the kit for free when I posted in the forum.

The second one I did as a result of an inspiring ad challenge at Pretty Scrappy. You can read about it here. I used Digi-Designs by Nicole's kit called Family Ties. I thought the ad challenge was so fun, I made a layered psd template for you to download so you could make your own...

It's 12x12 size in photoshop format. There's lots of room to tell your story, and there are drop shadows on the photo blocks. Does anyone need a tutorial on using layered templates in Photoshop? If so, leave a comment, and I'll do a post on it.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE TEMPLATE

Enjoy!!!

January Roundup - better late than never!

2010-02-09T12:11:00.006-05:00

Each month I do a round up of the thing that happened in our family each month. It helps me remember what we did, so that when I go to scrapbook them, I can reference my blog and have a better idea of when it happened and some of the details that may have been forgotten along the way. I got this idea from Katie the Scrapbook Lady.

Here are the questions I use:

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
What gifts did I give and/or receive?
What special or unusual purchases did I make?
What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
What were my accomplishments this month?
What were my disappointments this month?
How did I do on my goals for the month? (Or any current short or long term goals)
Anything else noteworthy to include?

1. What books and/or magazines did I read this month? I finally finished Mentoring Mom, and I have mixed feelings about it. I think in general the book had good principles, but I really disliked the author's writing style....so it left me with a not so great taste in my mouth.

One book that I thoroughly loved was How Starbucks Saved My Life. It's the biography of Michael Gates Gill, an executive from an advertising agency in New York who's poor choices in his life and work made him disconnected from his family. Then, with no warning, he got fired. His "independent consulting firm" was going nowhere, and he was going broke. He almost accidentally was offered a job working at a Starbucks, and Gill relates the what he learned from this new and different job, and how it changed his outlook on life. Great read!!!

2. What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month? Can I get any more excited?!?!? AMERICAN IDOL is back!!!

I hated some of the guest judges, but loved Posh Spice and Kristen Chenoweth. I'm slightly addicted. I'm so glad we have a DVR. I record all the episodes and watch them uninterrupted after the kids go to bed. I also enjoyed the new show Human Target.

3. What fun things did I do with my family or friends? We started New Years Eve by inviting a group of girls over for a craft night, and we made books out of Starbucks cups, and New Years Day, we spent a good chunk of the morning as a family painting with watercolors. So fun!!

#2 and #3 went to visit my parents in Clearwater a few weekends later, and we found out my sis is pregnant. I also got to teach 2 scrapbooking classes while I was there. It was a first for me, and totally amazing! We had a few days off school which translated into a few days of hanging out at the house. My kids are really into science now, and we got my son a science kit for Christmas. It's been fun to do together as a family! The kids are really good at making predictions and they get really excited seeing the potions change colors.

4. What gifts did I give or receive? Nothing big that I can remember....

5. What special or unusual purchases did I make? Nothing out of the ordinary....I've started couponing, so I've had several trips to the grocery store where I've saved a tremendous amount of money. One trip, I got $275 worth of groceries for $165. $110 worth of free food is nothing to sneeze at.

6. What illnesses or health concerns did I have? Ooooh....this is a big one. I have an autoimmune disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis. It causes inflammation in the joints and bone spurs on the spine. Most of the time it just flares up in my SI joints, but this month it made the iris of my left eye get inflamed. Let's talk about pain.... At first, I thought I had just scratched my cornea (I had, b/c I had been rubbing my eyes so much) but the pain and inflammation didn't go away. I had to take eye drops round the clock and keep my eye dilated for 2 weeks before it even started feeling better. It's not completely healed, but it's much better now. And I'm down to 4 drops a day. But this is a new symptom of my AS that I'm going to have to start dealing with on a regular basis. I'm contemplating following up with an AS specialist to see what course of action I need to take.

7. Accomplishments for the month. Basically when my eye started flaring up, It was hard to do anything out of the ordinary. I did reorganize some drawers in my kitchen, and reorganized my music collection into nice looking baskets. I threw away a can full of trash (why do I keep that stuff?)

8. Disappointments for the month. Because of my eye, I missed a youth choir rehearsal and because of that we were not ready to sing for a scheduled performance. I know that shouldn't bother me that much, but It does.

9. Accomplishing goals. My word for the year is STREAMLINED. I've worked at organizing things and taking a more practical, easy-going approach to the tasks I've had to do. I've started making a meal plan for the whole month, and hopefully that will help me in grocery shopping and meal prep.

10. Anything noteworthy? Nah....

Ok...so better late than never on this one. Hopefully February will be on time!

February Roundup

2010-02-09T12:10:00.006-05:00

Each month I do a round up of the things we did each month. It helps me remember how full my days were and gives me a reference point as I do my scrapbooking. It's the idea of Katie the ScrapbookLady

1. What books or magazines did I read this month?

I read The Wizard of Menlo Park. It was a biography about Thomas Edison, and no, I wasn't doing a book report :o) It was an interesting read, but kinda thick....I had to think alot while reading. The thing that was most interesting was reading about how they invented the phonograph, and that they originally wanted to use it instead of live concerts. They would put the phonograph in the concert hall instead of an orchestra or singer. No one really anticipated them being put in homes.

I also read some books on container gardening, as I am thinking about planting a garden this spring, but I'm not sure I need to take on all that extra work. I also helped #1 read 14 books for his Book it Chart. I'm really proud of how he's doing with that.

2. What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?

We joined Netflix this month!

I watched Stomp Live (loved), Disney's Peter Pan (kids loved - i was surprised by the scariness of it, but it is old school), and World's Greatest Dad (disturbing - not the movie I thought it was when I ordered it - would NOT recommend.)

3. What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?

VALENTINES DAY!! Normally we don't really do anything big to celebrate because it normally sneaks up on me, but this year we made valentines to give to our family, made pancakes topped with strawberries for lunch to eat on Valentines day (actually Saturday before) and pink strawberry rice crispy treats for snacks. And my hubby and I celebrated by staying home, putting the kids to bed early, and fixing steak and lobster tails for dinner. I bought some cute valentines plates from Target and made a little centerpiece from some pink/white fabric and red and white candles. Lots of fun!!! Very Simple!

We also visited our cousin in Orlando for his 9th birthday which he held at a facility called BounceU. All the kids had LOTS OF FUN!!!

Oh yeah....MONSTER JAM! I took #1 and #2 by myself, and it was fun! A sweet lady in our church gets us tickets every year. Normally Dad goes, but he was out of town on a youth trip, so I had to be super mom. A little scary, and more people than I ever want to be around again in my life, but the kids loved it. This was #2's first time, and just as it was about to start, I looked at her and said, "It's about to get REALLY loud." Then they fired up the engines, and I feel her shaking next to me. I looked over and asked her if she was ok. She looked up to me and said, "I like loud." Priceless....

4. What gifts did I give and/or receive?

Here's the postcard I made of the kids to send to our relatives, and for the kids to give their friends....

I bought the kids cute tshirts for Valentine's day. #1 is really into Lego Star Wars, so when I found a shirt at WalMart in his favorite color - red. I knew I had to buy it. #2 is only 3 1/2, but she's always grabbing our phones and asking to text Daddy, so I saw a shirt at WalMart that says "I love 2 txt" - it was a must buy. #3 is really into music, so I saw a little shirt with a guitar on it for him. For hubby I bought him the latest TobyMac cd. It's it fave artist. He bought me a new cellphone cover, and then....get this....a diamond open hearts pendant from Kay Jewlers. It made my cd look like a pretty silly gift :o) This was big for my hubby b/c he's a really practical person. He'd rather buy something useful than something beautiful, so for him to get this when we hadn't even talked about it was really big! I love it!!

5. What special or unusual purchases did I make?

I've had to buy a lot of printer ink b/c I'm starting to follow a few couponing blogs, and trying my hand at getting more with my money. I still haven't had the shopping trip where I spent $1.28 and got 8 bags of groceries, but I did get $250 of groceries for $110. I was pretty happy with that. My weirdest one was getting $9 worth of nail polish for 45 cents. I also planned meals for the whole month and stuck to the schedule! It helped me to shop more wisely.

6. What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

Still fighting with iritis. It's getting annoying. Starting to have a flare up in my SI joints too which I'm fighting to take care of before it gets bad. The kids have been pretty healthy.

7. What were my accomplishments this month?

I started teaching a new Kindermusik class this month - Family Time. Kids ages 0-7 can all be in the same class together, and it's perfect for families who want to take a KM class, but can't have their kids all in different classes - either because of schedule or finances or would just rather do one class instead of multiple ones. I am LOVING IT! Both #1 and #2 go to class with my, and this is #1's first time in a KM class. He gets overexcited, and I have to "re-direct" his energy several times during class, but it's totally worth it.

This one might sound weird, but I got to sing at a funeral this month. We had several funerals in our church of people who really love Jesus, and had been fighting illnesses for a long time. I didn't personally know the man who died, but he told his wife before he died that I was his favorite soloist in church, and he wanted me to sing at his funeral. The family even picked out the songs they wanted me to sing, one of which I didn't know. It's called "If you could see me now." It's probably the hardest song that I've ever sung. I was able to learn them in 2 days, and sing them really, really well.

8. What were my disappointments this month?

I haven't gotten to scrapbook or blog as much as I've wanted.

One of the girls in our church seems to be distancing herself from God.

I can't seem to get myself organized to do the most important things.....

9. How did I do on my goals for the month? (Or any current short or long term goals)

My word for the year is streamline........we're working on it. I feel like I need to totally empty out the dining room cabinets and work on that room. We re-organized and re-purposed our hall closets to hold the toys better, and it's working. I also re-organized the office shelves so they look a little nicer, and I threw away a bunch of CRAP!!! Wow...I didn't realize I did all that!

10. Anything else noteworthy to include?

#1 keeps getting huge complements from his teacher (the sub from his teacher who is on maternity leave) about how tenderhearted and smart he is. They are working on money concepts, and it's amazing how much he's learning. Like...This item costs 15 cents. How many nickels do you need to buy it? When he buys those items in his class, he always is giving them to the kids who didn't get any or to his sis and bro. Maybe that's not such a big deal, but I think it is.

#3 is FINALLY getting potty training. He's wearing undies all day at home, and on short trips out. Can't wait til we don't have to carry diaper bags around any more!!!!!

Burning your iPhoto slideshow to a DVD using iDVD

2010-02-08T12:39:00.010-05:00

Ok...So in the last post we talked about how to make your iPhoto slideshow. Now it's time to save it on a DVD that your family can watch on their TV's at home. We are going to use another Mac program called iDVD.

Let me make a note, that there are a lot of ways to customize your dvd and there are different ways to do the steps that I'm about to show you, but for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to just show you one way to do it and leave out all the other options. If you play around in iDVD, you'll find lots of neat stuff, and if you ever make a mistake hit CMD-z to undo or the delete key, and you'll see a cool puff of smoke when you get rid of your mistake! Ok! So on to step...

1) Open iDVD. When you open it, your last project will automatically show up. So go to the top of your screen and choose File - New, and you will get this dialog box....

Choose a name for your project, and where you would ultimately like it to be saved (your documents folder is the default). And you need to choose what TV screen format you want it to be created for. If you are going to be viewing this on a newer computer or a flat screen TV, pick widescreen; if it's an "old school" TV (or if you're not sure) choose standard. Then click Create!

2) On the right hand side of your window, there's a column called "Themes." iDVD has pre-set themes that will give your dvd a cohesive look. There are lots of options from super cutesy, to vintage, to modern artistic, to kinda neutral.... Pick the one you like. I chose "Vintage Vinyl." You'll see things called "drop zones" - don't freak out, we'll make those look better in a minute. Unless you are building a movie with lots of little chapters, you don't really need to worry about what the submenus look like, because this DVD won't have any.

3) Now dealing with the drop zones. On my "Vintage Vinyl" theme, there's one main drop zone - a place to put a picture to personalize the look of your main menu. There are a couple ways to add a photo or movie to your drop zone, but I'll just tell you the way I normally do it. At the bottom of that right hand column, there are 3 buttons, and one says media. Click it. That column will change and will show either all the photos, all the movies, or all the music it can find on your computer. Click on the tab for photos (at the top of the column), choose a photo, and drag it over to the drop zone, and drop it. If you don't like the way it looks, press delete on your keyboard and it will disappear in a poof of smoke. Try it! It's funny! If you'd rather have moving pictures in your drop zone, you can drag a movie over to your drop zone. If you click audio, and drag your favorite song over to the drop zone, it will replace the default song on the menu.

4) Ok, now your menu is set. Let's bring in that slideshow we worked so hard on in iPhoto. Click FILE-Import-Video, and it will look like this....

And it will bring up this dialog box.....

Find where you saved your slideshow, and click Import. (If you've forgotten where you saved your slideshow - type the name of the show in the little search box in the top right corner.)

5) The name of your show will show up next to a little bullet on your main menu! You can change the text, font, size and typeface by clicking on it once, and typing or choosing the corrections.

6) If you have more than one slideshow or movie you want to put on the DVD, repeat steps 4 and 5. Depending on what you import, you may have to make a sub menu, but it's just like making your main menu. If you click the little button at the bottom center of your screen that looks like 1 box on top of 2 boxes, it will show you the "flow chart" of your DVD and whether or not you have submenus to make. There's a button toward the bottom center of the "flow chart" page that says "return," and it will get you back to your main menu.

7) Preview!!! Once you think you have your DVD entirely built, preview it!! You'll see it the way anyone who receives your DVD will see it. It's another good way to check for mistakes.

8) Once you are satisfied with every last detail, it's time to Burn Baby Burn! Click FILE-Burn DVD.

Put in a blank dvd in your dvd burner, and click the button that's black and yellow, and you're burning! Once you burn one, it will ask you if you want to burn more.

And that's it!!!! You're DVD is done! You can throw it in your dvd or give it to a friend and enjoy. Later I'll show you a nifty little envelope thingy I made out of a piece of cardstock and some scrapbook paper scraps to hold my DVDs with. You'll love it! Thanks for looking.

Making a "Year in Review" slideshow/dvd in iPhoto

2010-02-06T11:24:00.013-05:00

I wanted to share with you one of the most popular Christmas presents that I made this year - a "Year in Review" DVD. I had all intentions of making a bragbook using my digital scrapbooking stuff with our favorite pictures of the year to give to the grandparents, aunts and uncles this year. Well, I ran short - of time and budget - to get it done! I also had a few prints made for each family member. I decided to use iPhoto to put together a photo slideshow of some of our favorite pictures of the year, along with some of our favorite songs. It was great because I had all the photos, the software, and blank DVDs to burn them on. This present literally cost me nothing (except a few hours of work to make 8 presents!) Here's how I did it....

1) Open iPhoto

2) Click the plus sign in the lower left corner to start your project

3) A menu will pop up. Click "slideshow". Name the project. I uncheck the box under the name (unless I have already selected some of the pictures that i want in my slideshow - then I leave it checked). Then click "Create"

4) At this point your slideshow project will be in the left hand column under slideshows. You've gotta know where this is for the next step. It won't be called "events slideshow" - it will be called whatever you named it. If it's highlighted (like it is in my screenshot), you'll have a big black box in the main window...don't freak out!

5) Click on Events in the left hand column and find the photos for your project. Now drag and drop the photos you want from the events you've opened in the main window onto the name of your slideshow in the left hand column (remember from step 4?) You can drag individual photos, multiple photos (by holding down the CMD key on the keyboard and clicking on photos) or an entire event.

6) When you double click on the name of your slideshow, you'll see all the photo thumbnails across the top of the page. Drag and drop the photo thumbnails across the top of your slideshow to put the photos in the order that works for you.

7) Click on the "themes," "music," and "settings" buttons to make your show look the way you want it to. You may have to click an "apply" button to make the changes stick. iPhoto automatically saves your settings, so that even if you quit iPhoto, your slideshow settings will be saved the next time you open iPhoto.

8) Click the preview button to see what your slideshow looks like in the main iPhoto window. Clicking the play button makes it show up fullscreen. Pressing the "esc" button on your keyboard stops the playback.

9) Once you have your slideshow just the way you want it, you can keep it right where you have it, and just show it in iPhoto from your computer. Or you can share it by exporting it. Click the "export" button, and this dialog box will pop up....

You need to choose what size you want to save it on your hard drive. You need to think about what you want to do with it next. I knew I was going to burn it on a DVD to show on a TV so I did display (large would have worked too), but if you're only going to put it on youtube or your iPod, you can choose something smaller. Choose your size, click export, choose where you want to save it on your computer and what you want to name it, and you're done! The exporting process does take a few minutes as iPhoto renders the still pictures into a movie format...again...don't freak out. The more photos, the longer this will take. You should be able to watch your photos move along as it renders. Most of the time, I try to load or unload the dishwasher before the exporting is done. :o)

In my next post, I'll go thru how to take your slide show off your computer and onto a DVD to give as a gift!

Here's my finished slideshow. Let me know what you think!

One word Wednesday

2010-02-03T09:05:00.003-05:00

Lots of Bloggers are talking about their "One Little Word" that defines and motivates them for the year. My word is STREAMLINED. Not overly exciting, I know, but it is helping me. I'm hoping that on Wednesdays, at least once a month, I'll update what I'm doing to streamline my life. The first thing is kinda fun...my husband built me a laundry chute. There's a opening in the wall in my closet upstairs, and it has a cabinet door to cover it, and the opening is directly above my washer. The great thing is that my kids think the laundry chute is so cool that they LOVE to gather their clothes and throw them down the chute. It's streamlined my life b/c now, instead of having to haul Mount Laundry-more down the stairs once a week, I do smaller loads more often.

I've also done more organizing in our closets and slowly purchasing baskets and bins to store the stuff we have. I'm also getting better at giving/donating the things that are still good to the people who could use them more. I threw away a trash can full of toys that were broken and just sitting in the toy closet.

Here's what I need to work on....Grocery shopping/menu planning. That takes me a lot of time. Thinking about planning a menu a month in advance. I'm also thinking about never buying paper plates/napkins ever again....I figure I could save almost $200 a year if I do that, but I'm not sure having to wash extra dishes/napkins will help me streamline. I'm also thinking about starting a vegetable garden, but again, I'm not sure that will help me streamline - but will make extra work. Is the extra work worth the benefit of fresh veggies and being outside with my family.

Do you have any thoughts? Any tips on grocery shopping/menu planning? Do you have "one little word?"

Digi Scrap Class

2010-01-16T12:34:00.003-05:00

**If you downloaded 2 sets of elements, click on the papers link. I fixed it. It's really papers**

It's alumni weekend at the college I attended, and in the afternoon, they have "fun classes," and they asked me to host a digital scrapbooking class!! Fun! It's my first ever, and admittedly I'm not sure I know what I'm doing, but I hope the people who attend learn something new, or are willing to try digital scrapbooking for the first time. To encourage those who are trying digital scrapbooking for the first time, I made a little kit called Flowers For A Friend for them to download. Don't worry, if you didn't attend the class, you can still download the kit. Here's a preview

and here are the download links

ELEMENTS

PAPERS

if you like it, leave a comment...I'd love to see what you make!

Inspiration for Weight Loss

2010-01-04T23:35:00.005-05:00

I don't know if you remember, but in October, Teri Mayo released a kit called, "I'm Losing It."

Well...she's having a sale!!! If you've resolved to lose weight (who hasn't), but you enjoy sitting and scrapping at your computer (who doesn't) Then check this kit out!!!

25% off on any I'm Losing It products!! Hurry, sale ends on the 15th! You can go to Pretty Scrappy, Inspiration Lane, or Ginger Scraps to take advantage of the sale. Here are a few layouts I've made with this kit...

And you can make "non-diet related" scrap pages with it too!

New Quick Page

2009-12-28T23:20:00.005-05:00

I've spent the past few hours checking out the kit "Bethany" by Ginny of GETdesigns. What a beautiful, feminine kit. Lots of lush pinks and plums. The papers have great pattern and texture with lots of sophisticated flourishes. If you love flowers, this kit has 4 different, real bouquets of flowers. The ribbons have graceful folds and curls. This entire kit is beautiful, feminine and sophsiticated. Does that sound like anyone you know? If so, go to Pretty Scrappy and check it out, and in the meanwhile, download this quickpage. It will be up for a week, so get it while you can, and send your friends over to my blog! Leave a comment if you like it!

Link removed...check back later for another freebie!