Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year
I love the beginning of the year.  A fresh start.  The truth is we can make a fresh start anytime or any day.
When 2014 come to a close. I hope I've put myself closer to the top of the priority list. Especially improving my health.  Making more conscious choices of how I treat my body & my whole self.
Embracing everyday with gratitude & purpose.  To enjoy my wonderful family daily. To learn to not hate house work.  To truly understand I'm teaching my son life lessons with my actions.  Have a warm welcoming beautiful.  Not a picture perfect home but a home that is inviting & fun.  I want visitors to our home to comfortable & special.

I want to entertain more often inside our home.  Begin the process of transforming our backyard.  Build in the covered patio.  See the heart & soul of people.  Ignore the outside package. Enjoy my journey.  Learn from every aspect; the health issues should teach me their are others in worse pain with no hope.

What do I want in the decades to come? What do I want in the year to come? What do I want in the month to come?  What do I want in the week to come? What do I want in the day to come? What do I want in the hour to come?  What do I want in the moment to come?

To fulfill my souls desires!  To really live my way & to be OK with everyone not embracing my choices.

make a book of blog entries

Idea from http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-blurb-book-obsession-giveaway.html

I started my blog to keep up with the journaling for my sons scrapbook.  Life happens so much faster than I can sb it.

I do find that digital sb is faster for me.  As long as I don't keep tweaking the digital pages.

Pinterest

Journaling below for my book of me.  If you are one of my few follower please ignore the bad use of grammar.  I'm just trying to get it down quickly. 

I'm a huge pinterest fan.  A place for a mind racing with ideas person to have so many of the ideas in one place but categorized as I see fit.   The first time someone that knew me well & told me about it;  I thought ummm I better not even take a look. I could see me overdoing it.  The 2nd time she mentioned it; I took a look.  It took less than a minute for me to beg her for an invite.  Then I had to link it to my Facebook page. Umm no. Total strangers seeing my full name & photo of my family (my facebook photo) made me nervous.  So I emailed pinterest & didn't ever receive a response.   The next day I signed up then promptly unchecked it posting to my facebook page.

It's been a growing love affair every since the first day I signed up. Now I see total strangers boards & think we get along famously.  LOL
There are days that I have to be disciplined &set the time or not log on.

So now I will write about the reason I logged on to Pinterest this morning was to pull up a recipe I want to try for breakfast.  It's on my Easy/Fast on the Go Food ideas board.

layouts from Halloween 2010 done Aug 2011

Halloween in Hilton Head 2010

Retreat results

I was so excited to go the the MN retreat this year. I look forward to my little get away from normal life & scrapping with good friends. I always have a wonderful time. This year was no exception. Thanks so much to my awesome friends Betsy & Shell. They share lots of items with me so I don't have to pack so much. Also because they are just super generously awesome women.
I did a lot of scrapping & Layouts. I scrapped about Halloween 2010 in Hilton Head Island, SC.
This LO with the bones in the tree took some time but Colin loved it; so very worth my time.
I tried to just have fun with some of the layouts. This was one of the fun ones.

things Colin says

Last night we were talking & he told me not to use reverse psychology. I asked if he knew what it meant. He said yes & explained it to me perfectly. I said I wish you would have done that well on you spelling word definitions this past school year. He said mom ... I think I embarrassed him.
During the school year he would do well on learning how to spell the words but he could not always write out the definitions to the words.

This morning he hands me a Gatorade 2 label to put in his scrapbook. He said it had Black History on it. There are 2 photos of Serena Williams on the label.

I'm debating if I'm going to the Gem Faire. I call it Bead Fair last year I went with my Sister S & it was fun. Of course I have used a single bead I bought last year yet.

This year S is unavailable & I'm not sure I want to go by myself. I don't mind shopping alone, she is more aware of a good deal on beads & gems. She makes jewelry all the time. I'm not as experienced.
I think I will go; even if I just look, it's great exercise. It's a ton of walking.

Stamp area

We got ice Thursday, sleet & 6" of snow Friday. I cleaned my stamp area Friday.I have so much more to do but I'm off to a good start.

NSD

I didn't spend national scrapbook day scrapping or anything related. I did spend most of the day Sunday in my scraproom. I rearranged some of my cubes. I labeled drawers, rearranged drawers. I made punches & embossing samples for my board. I have a large framed cork board close to my desk. I'm putting samples of items I want to use more. For example I have an example of my embossing folders & some of my punches. I do have a smaller portable book with these items that I made so I didn't make a double purchase. It is in the car most of the time so I can take a peak or take it into a store. It was fun to be a little creative.

I spent most of Saturday online researching wheat free, soy free recipes & making a shopping list. I have so many allergies; I have to thoroughly find out what is in most items, where they come from, what food family they belong too. Fun stuff. I just wish I was getting better. I'm sure I am, I just don't feel like it. I have to keep hanging in there & going in the right direction.
I'm doing the same thing on my weight loss journey. I do think I'm losing weight because I'm naturally eating less carbs. I skip the bread & gravy always. I haven't found a sandwich place yet that has wf/gf bread. So I'm eating more salads. Hopefully I'm getting healthier. That's the goal anyway.

Layout made from scraps

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Do you make resolutions? I do kinda sorta. I want to weigh less at the end of 2009 than I do right now. I want to sb (scrapbook) more pages than 2008. These were my resolutions for 2008 & I did keep both of them. My key to success is to be vague. :)

We have no celebratory plans for tonight. I for one & happy to welcome 2009. 2008 was not our greatest year health wise or financially. I know 2009 will be better in both areas.

My craft room is coming along. I guess I could finish it if I quit buying storage cubes. Michaels sent me 50% off coupons so I bought some more cubes. I painted a few of them last night. It was warm in the day but it got colder last night. I was outside freezing & painting in the dark.
Well I had the patio light. I want to buy a few more cubes then I should be able to finish my room. I want everything to have a place. I think this is the secret to keeping organized.

G's hands

G's hands are better but he still will drop things on occasion. His feet are about the same.
He goes to the Dr. Friday to find out if he will have his port removed. They require you to keep the port approx. 6 months after your treatment is finished. I hope he gets it out so he can recover while he's still off work.
We didn't go to his company Christmas party this year. He didn't want to go. I had worked my self silly in the flower bed that day, so I was relieved he didn't want to attend the party.

The craft room is progressing slowly. I work on it almost every evening after work. Where did all of this stuff come from? Where is it all going? Only one wall on my plan o gram has worked out like I planned.

CKC

I had the best time at the CKC. I got some great sb stuff. It was a fabulous day.
I shopped from 10am-4:30pm. I didn't take any classes this year. Next year I'll
take a class on Saturday. I like to shop on Fridays.
I also got a chance to crop all day Saturday from 10am-midnight. I'm still not finished
with my cruise book.

I love to scrapbook & I'm proud of it.

Article below is from scrapbook.com. I think it is interesting.

I have a confession. In my life I hardly ever mention to anyone that I scrapbook. It is like a secret hobby that I have. People who come to my house for the first time are often quite surprised to find my walls adorned with my very own creations and are quick to spot the scrapbooks lined up on the bookshelves. I have seen the horrified expressions on a person’s face when the subject of textured cardstock comes up in conversation, so I guess I would much rather avoid the judgment that comes with the scrapbooking label. The inevitable, “Just what do you need all of that paper for?” comment. You know where all of these comments usually lead, right? The final blow that comes veiled in the seemingly harmless statement of, “Well… I would do something like that, but I am just too busy cleaning, cooking and raising my family.” Ouch.
I love the preconception that there are dust bunnies the size of Mount Rushmore residing under my children’s beds, since I am clearly too busy playing with paper and glue to clean properly. I have been asked, “Do you think your kids will actually want these when they move out?” And, “You know that if there is a fire, you will have lost out on the hours of your life that you spent making these.”
So why do I do it? Why do we, as scrapbookers, put in the time with the paper and glue?

You can read the rest of the article at http://www.scrapbook.com/blog/view/121613.html

My opinion is below.
I scrapbook because I LOVE IT!!! I really don't care what people think or say about me doing it. I have my judgements about hours mindlessly __________ or _______ ...
It's my opinion, my right & who really cares.
We all have the same 24 hours in a day how we spend the time is our choice. If I spend it making my childs lunch, cooking dinner, blogging, watching a craft show on TV or cleaning my house. Who cares???? It's my time.
So lets not judge each other for our hobbies/passions or etc. Life's too short. Enjoy it.

OK to get the the real reason I sb (scrapbook). I want my family & generations to come to know about our life at this time. If they choose to look at the sb they will be available.
Life is not always pretty or wonderful but it is life. I scrap about the good & the bad. Most of the time the bad journaling is hidden.

chem/sleeping

Chemo went OK. He slept a lot in the beginning. I scrapped a couple of sb (scrapbook) pages of our cruise trip. He's sleeping quite a bit; he has a lot of fatigue.

I sb Saturday & my Aunt J kept Colin. Thank you J! Colin had a great time. They went to the zoo. I'm sure they will have some great photos. I made the mistake of saying I had zoo sb paper. Colin wanted to see it. I'll buy some sb zoo paper just for him. I have plans for the paper I already have for zoo pages. The sb store had some that was a little juvenile for my taste. It will be perfect for Colin to sb his own pages.

G slept most of Sunday. He slept more than normal in my opinion. During the Dr visit on Friday he told the Dr that he has a lot of fatigue. The Dr never says anything other than, "That's normal". Then he says call if there is a problem. G never does call. I guess he knows the answer will be that's normal. He's having issues w/ his feet tingling & cold.
We will all be so glad when chemo is over. We are almost finish!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm tired

I got home from the sb retreat yesterday at 5:30 p.m. I'm so tired. I stayed up scrapping until 1 am Friday night & Saturday night. I had the best time. It was wonderful to get to put faces w/ names. We had fabulous food & fun.
I'll post a ton of photos & LO (layouts) soon.

My sister K & her family are angels. They watched Colin for 2 days & nights. Thank you guys so much.
He had a blast & G rested. G only had Colin from 11:30 a.m. until l 5:30 p.m., Sunday.
He sd he was tired about 1 & set the alarm. He set the alarm so he could take a nap & know if Colin opened a door.

retreat prep

G is good. Colin is great. Today's post is all about me!
I'm preparing for my scrapbooking retreat & I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself.
I brought my photos & papers to work to make up page kits on my breaks.
No skipping breaks today!
I've done some journaling ahead of time too. Woo hoo.
My to do list is still a mile long but that's ok. I was out of bed at 4 a.m. this morning.
I don't really need that much sleep. I'll sleep next week.

craft organizing continues

more craft organization

brads, eyelets & bling

some LO (layouts)

These were scrapped last July. The photos are older from 2003 & 2005.
As you can tell I don't scrap in order. I'm also years behind.

I collect thimbles

I started sewing at 12 yrs old.

I love thimbles & antique sewing items. I've collected them for approxamitely 15 yrs. It is one of my favorite gifts to receive a thimble from someone's travels.
I have them from all over the world. One from someone I never met (my room mate's boss).
Years ago I started taping a piece of paper that included the name of the person that gave it to me along w/ the month & yr inside the thimble.
Some day I'm going to reorganize them & take new photos. These are really old photos. Last count I had over 90 thimbles. Of course I bought at least 5 on our vacation in September 2007.

I also collect ornaments from the places we visit. Maybe next yr I'll remember to take a photo of just the travel ornaments.

My dad collects fancy inkpens. He has hundreds. One day I'll take photos.