Random Thoughts For Thursday

Got my Design Team Kit today. My assignment for this month is the new Love Elsie Line. Cute stuff huh? At first I had no ideas....now I think I have two so at least I have a start. Also, guess who is the Guest Designer for this month at M2Y? Yep - it's Elsie herself. Cool huh? The designer of the paper will be doing some layouts for us. Kind of exciting/intimidating all at the same time to be doing my designs for the month with Elsie being part of the team. Wow.














Yes, your eyes do not deceive you....its a PINK fan. I have one of these litte Lakewood fans on my desk at work. It's red. I love it. It is whisper quiet and gives off quite a breeze and it's 4". I am always hot in my scraproom and in my bedroom when I am doing my hair and makeup. So I said to myself, wouldn't it be cool to find a couple more of those little fans? So I check out Walmart which is where the first red fan was purchased and they don't have one, nor do they have anything close. So, of course the next place I turn is the Internet. I find the Lakewood Fans available at Ace Hardware and Amazon websites. Cool! However, they both mention the colors and mention it comes in PINK but say that "random" colors will be sent. Umm don't want random colors...want PINK! So, I head over to ebay and easily find all the colors there! So now 2 pink Lakewood fans are on their way to my house! So cool to have a little pink fan. OK, it's cool to me and yes, I know I am weird.



















What do we think of this bag? I ordered it from QVC to take on vacation. I am hoping it will be big enough to hold what I want, yet small enough to carry around for vacation. I am also hoping the strap is long enough to wear cross body. I think it will be from their description and info. I was going to go with black, but decided on the espresso color because I tend to wear black and navy rather often and figured I wouldn't mind the brown with either, but I wouldn't like navy with black or black with navy... clear as mud? Sooooo excited that we are actually starting to get ready for vacation now. I can't wait.

Finally got my new glasses ordered today. My Cataract surgery was 3-1/2 weeks ago. Seems like longer. I am praying my eye DR will not mess them up. My regular DR had me and the specialist so confused on what my previous glasses were supposed to be for that I am ready to switch DR's. Just haven't had time to figure that one out as far as who to go to and need the glasses. It's also hard to switch at this point because she referred me to the specialist so it would be switching in the middle of this whole deal. Seriously all she has to do is have the prescription lenses made that the specialist wrote down and put them in my old frames. She didn't even examine my eyes or talk to me so there should be no way to change them or mess them up right?

Need to go print some photos and start on my DT stuff. We have a wedding this weekend so I won't get to scrap as much as I'll need to to get finished. Also need to start and finish figuring out what to order for VBS coming up at the end of June. We are doing prayer journals with the girls which is basically an altered notebook. Need to make a sample and then decide what supplies need to be ordered and then decide how much pre-work we need to do as far as cutting, etc.

Hope to hit town tomorrow and get an index tab punch! My friend has one and it is so cool now I need one. I have a 40% coupon for Hobby Lobby so now is the time to go!

Have a great Friday and weekend!

Blessings.

Freedom Isn't Free

I've been working with photos like this for several days this week. I put together a PowerPoint presentation for church Sunday morning with military photos from many of the men in our congregation as well as relatives and family members. I've been around for 40 Memorial Days now and I don't know if I ever gave it as much thought as I did this time around. I thank our Pastor for thinking of doing this because wow, it really got my attention, respect, and admiration for what these men fought for for all of us.

The photo above is my Grandpa and his buddies in Germany during WW II. Grandpa is on the far left. He was a medic in the army. This week when I looked at this photo it felt like it was a scene out of a movie or something, like you could step right into it. They all look pretty happy in the photo, but how long was it after this was taken that Grandpa had to go onto a battlefield and help wounded men? I found myself wondering if all of these men made it home. I found it so interesting how neatly Grandpa had written and recorded each of these men's names on the back of the photo. They must have been important to him. Did he ever hear from them once he came home? Grandpa never talked much about the war. My Mom says she remembers him having nightmares but he didn't talk much about it with her either. The things he must have seen..... wow. I am sure a real battle isn't much like a movie, but that is all I have to compare it too. So my mind thinks of seeing "Flags of our Fathers" or "Saving Private Ryan" and what those battles looked like and I find it pretty amazing that anyone made it home. I wish now that at least once I would have thanked him for what he did. I won't let another Memorial Day pass without remembering what our soldiers did before and are doing now and thanking them and thanking God that we live in a free country.




















This is my Dad. He was in the Army for 3 years and served in Germany in the Military Police. Isn't he handsome? I love how young he is in the photo and how strong and confident and proud he looks. He should be proud. He served our country and that makes me proud as well.

My Papaw went in to war when he was only 14 years old. His Dad had died and his family kind of broke up and spread out and Papaw went to war. War at 14 years old....... I can't even get my mind around that. I look at my Nephew's that age or around that age and I am just stunned to think of what he did at such a young age. Papaw was wounded in WW II. He had shrapnel in his arm for the rest of his life. He was always so proud of his military service and it meant so much to him. I wish I would have thanked him too.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow's church service. I love that we are honoring our military and at the same time being reminded of our freedom in Christ and the price He paid for us to have that freedom. Freedom from condemnation for our sin because He took that in our place. Such an awesome thought.

It was a long week and extra work.... worked 10 hours yesterday and then still had to get groceries in the evening for our cookout tomorrow. I was tired. It was worth it though and I am OK to do the extra when needed. Just having a little trouble now today to get motivated and finish a little cooking and preparing and some cleaning I'd like to get done before tomorrow too. So, better get off the computer and go get that done. I am looking forward to some relaxing and quiet time on Monday and then vacation coming up soon!! Can't wait. We will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary!! Wow.

Blessings.

Through The Looking Glass

So did you see the season finale of LOST last night? I love this show! The finale was very good. It is amazing how the writers can somehow manage to answer just enough questions to keep you happy and interested while at the same time throwing 10 more questions out at you. It was so great to see the "others" be the underdog for a change. LOVED that Hurley got to come in and save the day and in a VW Bus no less! That was great. We were also cheering Sawyer on when he said "well I didn't believe him" about that Tom guy, as well as telling him this is for taking the kid off the raft. And who would have guessed we would see Walt in this episode! That was a shock. So do you think all of Jack's flash forward episodes are what will really happen? Or was it what he could be imagining could happen if he is making a mistake in the present? Did you notice too how he spoke of his Father in the present tense? Either way that didn't make sense did it? I was dying to know who died and was in the paper Jack kept looking at. The way Kate responded to it made me think it could have been Ben, Juliette, Sawyer, or Locke. On the other hand I thought the way she said "he'll be wondering where I am" could have meant she was with Sawyer. Some of the theories people are discussing on 2Peas said it made sense with the Alice in Wonderland series that there would start being "flash forwards" because that is what the Looking Glass is about. How are we now supposed to wait till what, next January to see what happens? Waiting is NOT my best thing!








This week was also the Dancing With The Stars finale. This was the first season where I thought the top 4 were so close it was hard to choose who should win or make the finals even. It seemed like Ian tried so hard ! I was glad to at least see him get some great scores befor he was voted off. Then with the last 3 it was really hard to guess who would win. My favorite the whole season was Joey so my vote went to him. However the weeks where we got several votes I also gave some to Laila, Ian and I think Apollo. Laila did NOT seem too happy about losing. I think the athlete/champion in her had a hard time not taking 1st place. I am glad Joey at least got 2nd. I thought he was a good dancer, plus the most fun and entertaining.

I found out my next DT kit is going to be from the Love Elsie line! It will be a mixture of the Roxie and Toby lines with papers and some of the cool embellishments. It is maybe a little out of my normal so the challenge could be fun! Can't wait to see it in person. From what I've read on the boards a lot of people are eager for this line to be available. If you are one of those people you should definitely get over to M2Y and sign yourself up for a June kit!

A little while ago I got a call from my friend at church saying my husband's name had been on the radio and he had 10 minutes to call to be registered to win a lawn mower! I tried to call him but couldn't reach him. I kind of jokingly thought wouldn't it be funny if he heard it and was busy calling the radio station. Well turns out that was true. I guess he registered earlier this week and today they called his name. They are giving away a John Deere prize package for Father's Day. He listens to the station at work and heard his name called. While he was busy trying to phone the station I was trying to call to tell him, people at church were calling, and his boss who was on the road was calling him too! This is so cool. We really need a new, good lawn mower pretty badly. We had plans to buy one this year but some other things came up. I've been praying about it and asking God to provide and now this happens. It totally feels like a God thing and I believe it won't matter if there are 10 names or a million in that drawing, God can make it happen for us. He has provided a car when we needed it in a way and time we didn't expect and did the same thing for our first computer and for even this house. So say a prayer for us!

I worked a long day yesterday so I could have my normal day at home today. I have lots of cleaning I need to get done and caught up on. We are having a cookout on Sunday and I'd like things in order of course. My work day yesterday was 11 hours... I couldn't believe I'd mostly sat at my computer for that long when I added it up. Still lots to do tomorrow to be ready for Sunday service but I think I will make it OK. Really looking forward to some special things we have planned for Memorial Day Sunday.

So let the cleaning begin, or umm should I say resume. Lunch break is officially over! Ha.

Blessings.

Still Can't Believe This Is My Yard.....

I moved to the country over 5 years ago. Yet I can still look around at the things I see now on a daily basis and say to myself... I can't believe I live here. It is cool to live where I can hear cows mooing from next door. It's so cool to be where there are so many trees and a fence line full of honeysuckle. I love that there is a cardinal's nest with 2 babies in a bush right off my back porch. I love the fact that I have a back porch full of flowers and that it looks out on all of this. I love hearing the sound of the Morning Doves and the Bob White when they call like I can hear right now. I love that near the back it looks like you are in a park or forest. I'm like wow.... this is my yard! It is so different than living in the city. Even though we are on a highway, there is still a calm and a peace about all of these things. I love the history of this place and that my Mamaw sat right where I am sitting now, or that I have a photo of my Papaw sitting on the well pump which is just a few feet away from me. We absolutely believe God brought us here and I am amazed at how blessed we are. God is so cool.

Just wanted to share those thoughts and some photos I took around the yard today.


















Day Lillies off the back porch.


















An old iron tea kettle my Papaw bought at an auction, filled with Pink Impatients. Love that!

Geraniums on our back porch. The back porch...one of my favorite spots.

Honeysuckle, which smells amazing, growing up one of the back trees.

Cows in the back pasture next door.

The cardinal babies! My husband got this shot!

This is about mid way back on our property. The rest is grown up too much at the moment to get all the way to the back.

Hope you have a blessed Sunday!

Return To Me

So in April I got my regular E-mail from Robin Lee Hatcher which was her monthly Newsletter. In the newsletter she mentioned that they were looking for people who were interested in reading her latest novel and then writing a review either on their Blog or on Amazon, or CBD or both. If you were interested you were supposed to E-mail with your info. right away and if you were chosen, they would send you a review copy of the book to read so that reviews would be posted by the time the book is released. Well that was sooooo right up my alley so I replied to the newsletter in like less than 5 minutes from receiving it. After that though, I had not heard anything so figured it didn't work out. Fast forward to today when there is a knock at my door and a package from Zondervan. I am thinking I didn't order anything from them? Did my husband order something? Did he order something for me as a surprise? (That would be totally like him by the way.) Nope... it was the book! I am so excited about this. It looks like a fabulous book and I can't wait to get started.

The dedication of the book alone was something I wanted to underline and make notes. It reads: With love to the One who showered me with grace when I returned to Him. I love that. That is so what amazes me about God. We walk away time and again heading our own way and when we return to Him, he doesn't rub our faces in it, He doesn't say our chances are used up... He showers us with grace and welcomes us back. Wow. Will I ever be able to fully comprehend that He loves me that much? That He loves all of us that much?

The page after the dedication has this verse: "I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you." Isaiah 44:22

Wow, I need to memorize that one.

In the letter that accompanied the book, Robin writes: "I hope you enjoy this modern day parable of the prodigal and her family. I was in Illinois, awaiting a visit to a Christian television station for an interview, when roxy Burke entered my mind with these lines."

There exists a strange moment between sleep and wakefulness when dreams cease and realism remains at bay. That was when Roxy's heart spoke to her. "It's time to go home."

Roxanne Burke had given nashville seven years to discover her. She'd offered her voice her face, her fortune - and eventually, her body - but despite her desperate grasps at the brass ring, country music and stardom didn't want her.

Roxy was worse than a has-been. She was a never-was.

Isn't that so cool to hear how the story started to form in her mind? I believe those moments are from God. I totally understand it because when I am creating something, whether it's PowerPoint for Sunday mornings, or a bulletin, or my scrapbook layouts, or some other craft, usually I get this image in my mind of what it should look like. The majority of the time, the end result is very close to that first image. On a new scrap site I was looking at today and checking out the design team, one of the members said she thought we were most in tune with the Creator when we were creating. I find that to be so true for me. Or at least I know that my best work is done when I am in tune with Him whether its crafting, singing, writing, scraping, etc.

So I am excited about reading this book. I hope what I've shared intrigues you enough to want to read too. I will be back soon with my review. Although, knowing me and Robin's writing I am sure I will have tons to share along the way. When I read her books I always have stuff underlined and notes written in the margin. Love that, how a fiction book can still speak such truth!

Blessings!

A Princess Heart....

Ok, can you believe I am so blessed that I am married to this handsome guy? Of course I am talking about the driver, not the rider. The other handsome guy, the rider is our nephew Ethan. Aren't they cute? Uncle Darrel was taking the kids for a spin around my parent's property while we were there Sunday for a Mom's day cookout. We had the perfect weather, good food and a nice day visiting.





I am sooooooo excited. I actually get to go to CHA! How cool is that. In case you don't know, CHA is the Craft & Hobby Association show. It is coming up in July in Chicago. I never thought I'd get to go to CHA. It is not open to the general public. You have to have a badge and you have to be with a store or buyer, etc. Since I am currently part of the design team for Memories2You, they invited me to go. This is going to be so fun. My husband gets to go with me and the host hotel for the show is one that we have stayed at before when we went to the Family Life Marriage Conference. It is so nice and I am so glad we will be in an area we know! So all at the same time we get to attend this cool show and go back to where we used to live and visit some friends and restaurants too. The best part is that my good friend Lisa is also probably going! It will be perfect!

Got a great report at the Eye DR today. She said my eye is healing well. I don't have to go back for 4 months. She already gave me a new prescription for reading glasses. Turns out the implanted lense corrected my distance vision in the operated eye. My other eye is good for reading. So as the eye DR put it, if my brain can adjust to that... I may not need glasses much at all. Isn't that cool? I was so glad to hear everything was fine because with the discomfort over the past few days I was feeling a little concerned. She said the irritation might have just been from all the drops I am having to use right now.

I somehow came across this blog the other day and read this post about being a princess and keeping a Princess heart...

The fact is...we have always been princesses. Even when no one is watching, like Sarah says in The Little Princess. We are beautiful. We are strong. We are desperately needed. We are loved. But the villain came and stole our joy, clouded the mirror, whispered hateful things. It is perfectly okay for us to be who we are...unique, amazing, precious, gifted creatures.
Okay to sneak our tiara now and then.

Of course, a princess isn't just about the trappings. She is graceful, kind, and cares for those in her charge. She is strong, amazing, and thoughtful. She measures her words carefully. I think that is why I want to try to always act like a princess even when no one is watching...I want to get better at knowing myself, knowing my mind, knowing when to speak, when to be quiet, when to use my gifts, when to enjoy the gifts of others.Because someday, my Prince will come. I want Him to find me faithful.

"As for God, His way is blameless; the word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him" (Psalm 18:30)

Isn't that good? I love what she wrote. I am a Princess because I am a daughter of the King. What an awesome thought. So true about the villian or Satan and how we let him steal our joy and how we listen to the hateful lies he whispers. I too want to be the wise Princess and I absolutely want Him to find me faithful.... That is some good stuff she wrote huh?

Time for bed. Thank goodness for control Z.... almost just deleted this whole post. Anyway, need to clean tomorrow now that I am off of surgery restrictions. Need to practice a song as I am singing at church Sunday. Maybe I'll get in a little scrapping time? We'll see.

Hope you are having a great week.

Blessings!

Here are some projects I made at the M2Y crop this past Saturday. The card above was inspired by the atricle in the latest Scrapbooks Etc. article about how to use your stamps for a paper pieced look. It was so fun and easy and didn't it turn out so cool? I used this project/idea for my challenge at the crop. I had fun making it and taking some photos of the process and then writing up the instructions. Very cool. Maybe I would enjoy teaching? Never really thought I would but this was so fun and teaching scrapbooking to the girls in VBS at church last year was also pretty great!


































This is a card and a notebook I decorated (also made during the crop Saturday). Both of these were for my Mom for Mother's day. The notebook was a Target special and was just a plain cardboard cover to start with. Had some fun with the aged look but then also added a little bling.

Today after work we got all of our flowers planted around our porch and in pots for the porches. It looks so pretty. Totally makes me want to sit out there and read and soak up the look of all the flowers.

Did you watch Survivor? I think Yau Man totally got ripped off!! He was by far the best player. I hate it when people lie and cheat and then say it was OK because it was only a game. Umm if you have integrity then it should count even when its only a game. Of the 3 in the finals I am at least glad it was Earl that won. Although, I also think he should have kept his word and not voted Yau Man out either.

Better head to bed. Work tomorrow and grocery day. Back to the eye DR on Wed. morning to check on my surgery progress. It has been feeling a little irritated the last 2 days so I am hoping all is OK. It is concerning me slightly.

Have a great week.

Blessings!!

So this is what my week has consisted of. Eye shields and eye drops and surgery. My surgery went really well. Thank you Lord for answered prayers and for taking care of me. I totally felt the prayers and that Jesus was right with me because for the most part I was calm and unafraid. The most tense part for me was when they had to start the IV. No one can EVER find a vein on me, and if they do manage to find it, it does not cooperate. Monday's surgery was no exception. The first nurse tried twice, once in each hand. The second one tried my wrist (where I still have a huge bruise). They gave up and decided the anesthesiologist should do it. He tried in my hand, 4th stick in case you are counting... still nothing. Finally on the 5th try he got one going in my left hand. I am not a big baby people. I think people think I am when I say I am afraid of or don't like needles. It is not me being a big baby. It' s just that you learn that whenever someone mentions an IV or needing blood, you are going to get stuck, and a lot and it's going to hurt and you therefore will learn to HATE it. My eyes are doing well though. DR said everything looks good. I have been doing 3 drops 4 times a day and so my eye constantly feels kind of gooey. At first I could see really well, now I am having some blurriness but from what I understand things will change as they heal which is why I have to wait 2-4 weeks for new glasses. I got some walmart cheater glasses last night and they are helping. I can't do lifiting over 15 lbs, or bend over and no eye make up for at least a week. Don't we think that is kind of drastic? Sending me to work without my eye make up? Guess what, I survived it though. Ha. Ha.















Look what my parents gave me! This glider used to sit in this same spot when this was my Mamaw and Papaw's house. After Mamaw died, my Dad had the glider. They decided they didn't need it anymore and that maybe I'd like it back where it goes. Of course I jumped at that chance. I love this thing. My Mamaw sat here like every day and every time we would visit, this is always where we would start the day sitting here with her. My Dad said Mamaw's Father bought the glider new so we think it is 80-100 years old. I love it. I am so pleased to now own both of my Grandma's gliders. I will post a picture of the other one as soon as we get it cleaned up and painted.

Aren't these pretty? We got some flowers to plant last night. I picked pink....are you shocked? I have pink geraniums for my pots on the porch, some pink impatients for the flower beds, and then these Lemon petunia pots to hang off our garage porch. I liked the yellow and pink together. Can't wait to get everything planted. When the porches are pretty and inviting it makes me want to be out there enjoying them more.

We also bought these day lillies to put in our end flower beds. I have always wanted some of these so I am excited to have them. Love having something that will come back every year. I love the look of pretty gardens and flowers, but I am so not into the gardening thing. If I could afford it, I'd probably hire a landscaper/gardner. I'd love that.

The photo below is of a Cardinal's nest in a bush just off our back porch. I love that it's a Cardinal. The female is so pretty with her red and brown. Darrel keeps trying to catch a picture of her on the nest which is seeming close to impossible. Can't wait to see the babies!

Well M2Y is having an online crop today so I am going to go get some scrapping done. I have several projects I'd like to do today. I am still on restrictions from surgery so my husband is not letting me do much else. Isn't that so sad? Insert huge grinning smiley face here....

Have a great Mom's Day weekend!

Blessings!

Aren't these papers pretty? Love the colors in this Junkitz Salsa Celebration Paperz. They were perfect for photos from my 40th bday party this past summer. I turned page 2 into a pocket to hold special cards I wanted to keep. Very pleased with the results. These papers are from the May mini kit with Memories2you. And yes, I said mini kit. Can you believe all the stuff that came with this? Everything except the chipboard letters came from the kit. The letters I had left over from the March Kit.

Please be praying for me in the morning. I have my cataract surgery at about 10:30 AM central time. I am feeling calm and peaceful about it and think it will go well. Pastor Mark prayed for me and annoited me this morning in church. It was so awesome and humbling to have so many caring people surround me as he prayed. I was so touched to have friends kneeling beside me and standing behind me holding my hand and praying with me. Our whole choir even left the choir loft to pray with me. Wow. So humbling and awesome that I've been uplifted by it all day.

Hope you have a great week!

Blessings!

Happy National Scrapbook Day! Are you having fun? Did you even know it was NSD? I sure did and I am having a good day. I feel asleep last night watching Scrapbooking on QVC. Heidi Swapp was on. Love her. Did you see? The goofy host called her Heidi Swipe! Umm, I am thinking it would be a good idea to get the guest designers name right huh? Anyway, fell asleep watching that. Woke up at 9 AM in time to watch the next round of QVC scrap shows and the others that followed throughout the day. OK, you probably have to be a scrapper, but it is SO fun doing that and working on layouts at the same time. It is honest.

So now the QVC shows have ended, I am listening to the fabulous Michael Buble's new CD ( I got the very last one at Target last night!) and I just finished this layout. I am very pleased with it and it was FUN to make! If you read my blog you may remember me blogging about this event and these photos a while back. So glad to have my thoughts and memories about this down on paper and love having it as part of my album.

I am going to go get some more drops in my eyes. I am doing prep for cataract surgery on Monday. I go in at 9:30 AM and would sure appreciate your prayers!

Blessings!

How cute and pretty are these Mary Jane Crocs? I have a black pair. I do not NEED a pink pair. Right? I'll just keep saying that to myself. Maybe it will work. It's all Nordstrom's fault. I bought my 1st pair of Crocs from Nordstrom.com. Now they send me E-mails with this dangerous information. Look at the cute Mickey Mouse ones too! I am not even a Mickey Fan but I think these are SO CUTE!

I think it was just last year I got my 1st pair of the Beach Cayman's. My husband told me to get them for Mother's Day. I am not a Mom... that can be kind of hard this time of year. So, my wonderful husband has been getting me a gift and card the past several years and we have "you would be a good Mom" day. We do it for Father's Day too. It helps not to feel so left out. I mean Mother's day is like a huge deal right? When you are not a Mom you feel like all the Women you know got invited to this big party...but you aren't invited. Or, when you do get invited, you can still feel like they are being nice, or like you are the 5th wheel. I almost feel like an imposter or something. Our church is having what they are calling a "Daughters, Mothers & Others" banquet for all the ladies. I am touched and so appreciate that they are trying to remember everyone. Yet, for some reason I still find myself reluctant to attend. It's like how I remember feeling at our church in IL. They would usually give out small Mom's day gifts. Often the youth would hand them out. It would feel so awkward as they would try to hand me one. I felt like I needed to explain I wasn't supposed to get one. I know. It's more me than anyone else. Everyone else most likely wants me to feel a part of things. It is just really hard to change my thinking and emotions. Maybe because there is still pain there occasionally. Like 98% of the time I am completely fine with not having kids. I don't get upset every time I see a baby, I feel very happy with our life and very accepting of it too. However, the kids thing is like the 1 topic that can completely sneak up on me out of nowhere and have me in tears. It's weird to me too because that 98% of the time I am not even sure I want that anymore. I love my husband, I love our marriage, I love our life together, I love my job and family and I have some fabulous friends..... there isn't much I'd change. I mean I am 40 years old now. I'm not sure I'd want to be starting out with kids at this point. I am glad we stopped pushing the issue and "trying" when we did. I am afraid it could have/would have torn my marriage apart. It can so easily become such a huge focus and obsession. I've seen it happen in other couples even recently and it just confirmed for me all over again that we did the right thing. We let go when we realized we were pushing it so hard and trying so hard that it felt so forced. We just felt we needed to give it God and move on.

So, when it does sneak up like that, its emotional and confusing all at the same time. Mother's Day is usually one of those hard times. Baby Dedications at church can do it too. So, this Mother's Day at church, guess what we are having? A baby dedication. I am feeling a little vulnerable about how that is all going to feel. You know what though, even if its hard, I think thats OK. It's Ok to feel how I feel. People that love me and know me will understand it and I am not going to try to hide it. Sometimes the raw emotions are good and healing. For instance, I remember when I did this layout.




















I created it as part of my Memory Makers Masters entry a few years ago. I didn't win or even place, but this layout was one of the coolest things that came out of that. I wanted to write about this baby blanket that was made for us by my husband's Mamaw. I wanted the layout itself to be very simple because it was the journaling that needed to be the focus. I remember starting to write and how it just flowed. I was surprsied to realize how good it felt to just get the feelings out there. The most special part though that I cherish and will never forget was when my husband got home from work. He sat down to read what I wrote and said "wow, you're going to have me crying" which was rare. He came over and hugged me and we just cried together. You'd think it would have been so painful...it wasn't though. It felt good. It felt healing and special. As far as either of us can remember it was the 1st time we cried about it together and just held each other. It was what needed to happen. It might sound weird to someone else, but it is such a good, precious memory. I don't think I'll ever forget a detail of it. (if you are interested in the journaling for the layout, it is posted in my 2peas gallery here. )

It showed me too how cool and amazing scrapbooking can be. It was because of that layout that we got to have that moment. I plan to do another one to document the result of the layout. It makes me have all the more fun documenting other things in our life. I love having that "journal" that record. I hope it someday/sometime will mean something to someone else too.

Well wow... not even sure where all that came from. I logged on just because I wanted to post about the cute shoes. It probably came from the fact that I have already been feeling emotional about Mother's day. So, I will count this as a good thing and I am happy to share it with you.

May you have a wonderful, blessed day!

It is May 1st - Did you know the new Michael Buble' CD was released today? They have a special edition at Target! Guess where I will be visiting this Friday night?! I was just checking out Michael's website. It is pretty cool too. You can check it out here. Love that cool retro thing he has going on with his style and his music. As my sister says "he could sing the phone book and it would be good!" I agree!

Look at this cool chipboard album I got today. My friend Lisa and I spotted it on scrapsupply.com in their newsletter last week I guess it was. It is a special limited additon for National Scrapbook Day and the theme of the album is "Why I Scrapbook" - It has these really cool die cut pages as dividers. Check it out in the picture below!

So did you know there is actually a "National Scrapbook Day" ?? I am looking forward to it. KitPeas is having an online crop. 2Peas has NSD stuff planned, CK is having an online crop with Ali Edwards, and QVC is having several scrapping shows with Lisa Bearnson. Cool! I plan to scrap and enjoy. Mother's Day is the next weekend. Since it can be kind of a hard day for me at times, I always thought NSD was cool with being just the week before. A few years back I claimed it as my celebration type day like Moms day since I don't get to celebrate that. It might not make much sense to anyone but me....but that's OK!

Did you watch Idol tonight? I think my favorite is still Melinda. I also like Jordin and Lakisha. Blake too I think. Melinda is who I'd most like to see win though. Ok, though...Jordin made me feel SO OLD when she said her MOTHER grew up on Bon Jovi music and got her into it. Umm hello, Bon Jovi music is from my day too meaning I could be this girl's mother... Wow. She is 17 I think? When you don't have children, you can easily forget that you are actually old enough to have a 20 year old..... Can you believe that. Yes, I am sure you all can, but please don't burst my bubble! Ha.

Back to the eye DR today for a re-check on all the info. they needed to do my cataract surgery. She said everything looked good so we are ready to go for Monday. I feel like it will go as smoothly and easily as everyone has told me theirs has been. I hope recovery and getting some new glasses will also be quick. I am so tired of having trouble with and messing with my eyes!

I am so excited about the phone call I got from my Dad today!! My Mom and Dad have this antique metal glider on their front porch. It used to be here at our house, which was my Mamaw and Papaw's house, because the glider belonged to Mamaw. When she passed away my Dad inherited it. Mamaw inherited it from her Dad and Step Mom. Anyway, Daddy called me today and said he and Mom were thinking they weren't sure where they wanted to put it anymore and he was thinking maybe it would be best back where it belongs on Mamaw's (our) porch!! I am so excited. Did I already say that? I LOVE stuff like that. My Dad told me he is sure his Grandpa bought the glider new. It could easily be like 80-100 years old. How cool is that. I cannot wait to get it back here. It needs some work on some rust spots and some new paint, but my husband is sooo good at that kind of thing and said he'd fix it up for us!

How cute are these cups? My sister-in-law invited me to a Pampered Chef party next week. I am not sure I am going to be able to go because of my surgery. She told me she thought of me though because they are having some special "pink" items for the "Help Whip Cancer" event. Check them out here. I love the pink nylon knife and spatula too along with the plates and mini measure all cup. Just might have to place an order.

Better head to bed! Hope you are having a great week.

Blessings!