12.31.2008

Thought for the day

I hate New Years. More than birthdays, they signify another year gone. A lot of my scrappy friends are picking their “word of the year,” a word to focus on. Words like, RELAX, PEACE, LIVE. Really? I suppose it’s good to have a goal to work toward, but honestly. LIVE? Do we have a choice? Well, technically, I suppose we do. Most of us live life and make of it what we will, so is that really a good word? Or how about PEACE? When your 18 year old son pierces his body, gets thrown into jail and gets a prison tat, what the hell is so peaceful about that? What’s so relaxing about when your 14 year old daughter gets a modeling gig and you’re driving all over hells half acre at ungodly hours of the day and night? What’s so peaceful or relaxing about a self employed husband who takes on a client and then agrees to manage a turnaround and works 20 hours each day? Or a live-in father in law who watches 25 hours of news each day. I don’t care who you are, THAT’S not relaxing!

Maybe my word should be BE. It's all encompassing. BE nice. BE creative. BE happy. Maybe I will BE in an asylum before the New Year is out. LOL

I’m sure there are lots of great words out there that would be inspiring. Like, CREATE. It’s a great word, but I already do that, as much as possible. Or LAUGH. I like laughing. Or HAPPY. Who doesn’t like to be happy? I’m full of HOPE, for lots of things and have FAITH that lots of the things I hope for will happen.

Largely, all of these words depend on more than just ME. I will ASPIRE to lots of these words every year, not just this year.

So, what is YOUR word for 2009? Maybe I’ll steal it, or maybe I’ll just BE.

12.29.2008

My "Renew" card

There are times when it takes an innocent child with an innocent deed to bring clarity to a situation. Such was the case with the Santa letters from my two little girls. (posted below) Here's to renewed hope that 2009 brings healing to my heart and those who who are in my heart. :-)



Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year!

12.26.2008

YITL challenge #52

RENEW

Can you believe we're on our last challenge? This year has absolutely flown by! Be sure to show me your creation when you're finished! I hope you've had fun with the challenges and I can't wait to show you what I'm doing with my completed cards! :-)

12.25.2008

Dear Santa

I went to bed last night feeling more than a little grinchy and woke up the same way. I went out to the kitchen at 4 a.m. to make coffee and what do you think I found? Cookies and milk and two letters from the girls. The sweetest letters you'll ever read!

Santa letters

Excerpt from Caitlyn, 14: "I try to make my parents proud of me but I feel like I'm not trying hard enough. My parents work so hard for my family to be happy but no one is happier than me...I wish that my parents were happy...they always believe in my every dream...I will always be there for them...I wish they knew how thankful I am for them each and every day...Thanks Santa.

Excerpt from Peyton, 12: "This year, because I know you do so much every year, I want you to have a very merry Christmas yourself...Christmas is more than just presents, it's spending time with the people you love...it's more about giving than receiving...sorry for the s'mores, doesn't exactly go with milk. LOL I love you Santa!"

I'm telling you, they made my whole day! Now I know exactly what needs to go on my last Year in the Life card. Stay tuned for the last Year in the Life challenge tomorrow.

Excerpt from Suzanne, 46: "I will work harder to appreciate the blessings in my life. There are things in my life that I wish I could do over, but all I can do is look ahead with optimism and be so thankful for the things that already make me so happy... a loyal husband, who understands that having an awesome camera is important to me because I've "taken scrapbooking to a whole new level. Thanks honey, I think that's a compliment? LOL Loving children who write sweet letters to Santa, knowing full well the meaning of Santa. And faithful friends, who support and love me, warts and all. Truly the best gifts ever!"

Wishing all of my readers the joyous blessings of the day, whatever those may be!

12.24.2008

Blog challenge #52

Eat, drink and be merry! What's on your Christmas menu this year?


We always say we're going to get outside the box and try something different. Maybe a standing rib... yum! But we never do, tradition always drags us back to the box. LOL So, our menu this year will be the same as all the other years:

Turkey
Stuffing
Sweetened yam pie
Green beans
Cranberry sauce
Rolls
Pumpkin Pie

I hope that all my scrappy friends have a very happy Christmas and Santa brings you everything you deserve! Well, hmm, maybe I should rephrase that... brings you everything you WANT! LOL Thank you for reading and all the very kind comments over the year. I appreciate each and every one of you! I wish you and your families warm memories. :-)

12.23.2008

Keep your fork

This was sent to me by a friend, and I wanted to share it with my friends. It's long, but the message is good. :-)

There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness
and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her
things "in order," she contacted her Pastor and had him come to her
house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him
which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would
like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.
Everything was in order and the Pastor was preparing to leave when the
young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

"There's one more thing," she said excitedly.

"What's that?" came the Pastor's reply.

"This is very important," the young woman continued. "I want to be
buried with a fork in my right hand."

The Pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say.

That surprises you, doesn't it?" the young woman asked.

"Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request," said the Pastor.

The young woman explained. "My grandmother once told me this story, and
from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those
I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of
attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of
the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over
and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that
something better was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish
apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!'
So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my
hand and I want them to wonder "What's with the fork?" Then I want you
to tell them: "Keep your fork, the best is yet to come."

The Pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young
woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see
her before her death. But he also knew that the young woman had a better
grasp of heaven than he did. She had a better grasp of what heaven would
be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience
and knowledge. She KNEW that something better was coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the young woman's casket and they
saw the cloak she was wearing and the fork placed in her right hand.
Over and over, the Pastor heard the question, "What's with the fork?"
And over and over he smiled. During his message, the Pastor told the
people of the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before
she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized
to her. He told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork
and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking
about it either.

He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork let it
remind you, ever so gently, that the best is yet to come. Friends are a
very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to
succeed. Cherish the time you have, and the memories you share. Being
friends with someone is not an opportunity but a sweet responsibility.

Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND even if it means sending
back to the person who sent it to you.

And keep your fork.

12.22.2008

A couple of layouts

Well, these are probably the last two layouts of the year for me. This one was for a sketch challenge on Urban Anthology. And in case you didn't know, heat embossing doesn't really work well on a photo. Not really sure why I thought it would. :-X

Santa baby

Speaking of Urban Anthology, I'm so excited to get their January kit with Websters Pages! Can.not.WAIT!

Stace sent me some Kraft paper. Why didn't I know about this stuff before! I LOVE it! Thanks again, Stace! :-)

Who let the dogs in

12.21.2008

Happy Chanukah!

Ahh, the first night of Chanukah... I made this loaf of Challah bread yesterday, my first attempt ever at making it. Ummm, well, I'll be trying again tomorrow. LOL It looked pretty anyway.

Challah bread

And because I didn't have enough to do, I decided to pull a Martha Stewart and make this pretty, non-usable menorah. LOL I couldn't find little glass votive holders, so I used the larger sized dessert cups, which took up the whole length of the table. I don't want to get melted wax all over the rocks, so we're still using our chanukiah handed down from Gram. :-)

Menorah

No matter what holiday you celebrate this season, I hope it is bright and joyful!

12.20.2008

My "Gift" card

YITL 51

Another creation from yesterday, I used some scrappy gifts from Stace. I've never used Kraft paper and I'm diggin' it! Fun stuff, thanks Stace! And see that flourish on the left? Terri sent me some metallic rub on stuff and MAN! That stuff is AWESOME! :-)

Camera

12.19.2008

YITL challenge #51

GIFT

When you're finished, please comment with a link to your creation so I can see! :-)

Speaking of gifts... I know there are at least 3 readers that have completed every challenge this year! Thank you friends! Your creations have been so inspiring! Please email me at Mi4Angels@aol.com with your mailing address so I can send you a small token of my gratitude for keeping me motivated all year. :-)

12.18.2008

Merry Christmas!

To all my blogging friends, who have been so supportive of me this year, I love you all and hope Santa brings you everything you're wishing for! :-)

funny-animation-xmas-santas-butt

I can't believe that there's only 2 more YITL challenges left. Thanks to all who have played along with me, I've enjoyed all of your fabulous creations! I am already working on card placement on my cornice board that will go over my scrap room window and will post the finished product when it is done. :-)

12.17.2008

Crazy weather!

Here is a photo taken on Dec. 4th...

Ice

Today it's 70 degrees. What's up with that! Not that I'm complaining, mind ya! Today is a perfect day! :-) By the calendar, the highs should be in the 40's here in Alabama.

Whats the weather where you are? Normal, or not?

Blog challenge #51

Post a photo that you've taken this month and blog about it!

12.16.2008

Junk Drawer

I think that's the name of these papers that Terri sent me. I just love the wildness of them! LOL

I'm not sure how this photo came out so yucky since I took it with my new Nikon D80...probably user issues. :-D Just as well, I just used up some extra photos that I had laying around to do a year in review layout.

2008

This is a photo taken at dh's Christmas party last week. I decided to scrap the layout and then put it in a shadowbox as a gift to dh. The tag on the bow says "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. ~ Henry Ford" I hope he likes it! :-)

Success

12.12.2008

Friday scrapping

I really couldn't live without my calendar pages, so y'all will have to suffer through another year of calendar pages. :-D

January

I made this page using some of the fun scrappy stuff my dear friend Terri sent me! Oh my gosh, I LOVE Fa La La by MM! Even though these are pics of the day after Thanksgiving, I couldn't resist digging right in! Thanks again Terri! :-)

Cousin Fun

Thanks for looking! :-)

My "Reflect" card

Here's my card. It's been a tough year for our family and it's been hard to keep positive. Okay, it's been near impossible. Financially, things didn't start looking up until August. Father in law had a massive heart attack in April. Ethan, well, he was Ethan. But, lots of great things happened also. All of these events are reflected in the family album, as well as my YITL cards. I'm looking forward to a great 2009. :-)

YITL 50

YITL challenge #50

REFLECT


When you're finished, please post a link here to your creation so we can see! :-)

12.10.2008

Blog challenge #50

Dear Santa... Blog about your Christmas wishes!

12.08.2008

Stace made me do it!

Stace and I phone scrap every Friday. And we challenge each other. So a couple of weeks ago, Stace challenged me to pick my paper BEFORE looking at the photos. No matching! Ohmygosh, you're kidding me, right? No! So for the first time in my scrappy life, my photos don't "match" my paper and I LOVE it! Here are a couple of layouts from this week that don't "match." LOL Thanks for pulling me out of the box Stace! :-)

Gratitude

Turkey Toes

12.06.2008

My "Joy" card

I'll admit, I'm still recovering from unwanted company who overstayed their welcome, so I'm not feeling the joy so much, but none the less, here's my card. I used old BG Fruitcake paper and K & Co. chipboard letters. TFL!

A different kind of seven dwarfs


Welcome to my new adventure! Unlike most women, I'm very amused by this change in my life. For instance, just two short months ago, we bought one of those little electric heaters for our bedroom. Yep, don't need THAT sucker anymore! I told Glen, "take it to work!" Its so weird that our thermostats have flip flopped. HE'S shivering under the covers and I'M laying on top of the covers. He says, "would you like me to turn the ceiling fan on?" Hmm...
Anyway, I've been doing a lot of reading and my decision won't surprise many of my readers... I'm going to try to manage this thing, this monster, myself! LOL I've watched family members turn crazy while their doctors try to "find the right balance of hormones." Yea, no thanks. Last night, we had a family meeting. "Your mom is going through menopause. Tighten your seat belts and hang on for dear life!" I got tickled at the looks on their faces, you know, the one with the deer in the headlights look? Mm hmm, and I could actually read their minds! "You mean, you're going to get MEANER?" :insert evil laughter:
So when I saw this video clip on a message board that I visit, I felt compelled to send it to Glen at work with a message that said, "go grab all your guys and watch." It takes a while for it to load, (at least it did with my new piece of crap computer) but it's well worth the wait! Go grab your guys ladies and turn it up! :-D
Stay tuned for more adventures from the Rebel with a Pause! LOL

12.05.2008

YITL challenge #49

JOY

Tis the season, right? Link back to your joyful creation here when you're finished! :-)

12.04.2008

Oh so happy!

They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE! They're GONE!

And that's all I have to say about THAT! :-D Have a great day my dear blog friends!

12.03.2008

Blog challenge #49

What have you done? Copy the following, paste onto your blog and bold your answers! Comment here so I can see what you've done! :-D (Thanks to Terri, I stole this from her blog. LOL)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when youʼre not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangeloʼs David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someoneʼs life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

12.02.2008

My "Quiet" card

Have y'all missed me? Sorry for being missing in action, it has been a crazy couple of weeks. We still have company left over, along with turkey. LOL Hopefully, they will be leaving tomorrow, as they have overstayed their welcome by a few days. :-/

Anyway, I did manage to spend a few hours in my scrap room today. :-) I used October Afternoon paper. TFL!