What? Little ol' me???

You have NO idea how excited I was when Kah-Mei asked me if she could include my layout in the FontWerks newsletter. To some people this probably wouldn't be a big deal, but FW is one of my absolute favorite manufacturers of scrapbooking products. And Kah-Mei runs the company with integrity and humility, giving credit to God for its success.

So I got a mention in the newsletter, and my layout is on the website?

Wanna see?

Have a great day, and if you're in Western WA, be warm and filled. :)

Bullet points + 3

• Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous. Pumpkin cheesecake is 100x better than pumpkin pie any day. And the stuffing...well, I hope to duplicate it next year, but cooking anything the same twice is a virtual impossibility for me, so I'll have to live with the knowledge that at one point in time I did consume the world's best stuffing.
• And now, I think I'm finally ready to get serious about losing my extra weight. Trying on clothes today was the last straw.
• I thought I'd hate having the big dinner at home with just our family, but it went well. We all dressed up and everyone was nice to each other.
  
• I'm also thinking seriously about learning web design to add to the amount of business Dan is able to take on and do all of his dirty work (programming, resizing photos, etc.). Even just doing 5 hours a week would add significantly to our income, which could make it so one way or another we're not living in a 1100 sq. ft. house.
  
• I'm not feeling very Christmas-y yet. We've had the music on, but I'm just not feelin' it. Even doing some Christmas shopping didn't put me fully there. Which wouldn't be that much of a problem, except that I have gifts to make that could take a few weeks, and I need to order photos, etc.
• Maybe getting a tree will help.
• I remember the last time Dan had a significant amount of time, I came to the conclusion that family life works for us if we're both home full-time and without any responsiblities other than the care and feeding of our children. I'm feeling that now, with our weekend 75% over and we're both feeling moderately rested but haven't had any time together since Thanksgiving.
• They should put at least 6 episodes on the Gilmore Girls DVDs. 8 would be even better. 4 just isn't enough.
  
• If you've read this far, I'm compelling you to add 3 bullet points.
  

Are you ready to rumble???

I supposed I had better be--I've just finished training camp for the Super Bowl of Scrapbooking! We're on to the draft now. If you're interested in watching, stop by Memory Creators between now and Super Bowl Sunday. I know they'll have a few rounds where MC members will be voting.

Also, I have to brag on Mariah--she hasn't worn a diaper since Saturday, and other than waking up wet, has not had any accidents!! Woo-hoo! :)

Ain't it the truth.

Found the link to "what's on your epitaph" a few clicks away from Elsie's blog. (though, of course, this is a tombstone, not an epitaph.)

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

On that happy note, have a great Monday!

If you've seen LOTR...

and especially if you've watched the appendices...

Don't I look like Gandalf with the hobbits? I knew as soon as the photo was shot I'd look like I was about 2x the size of the other girls. Really, my head is roughly the same size as everyone else's.

So I'm pretty excited about electricity today. Heat, electric light, computer, movies, the microwave, you name it. Reading a scrapbooking idea book by flashlight and taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon is nice and all, but I'm a slave to modern convenience and I'm not afraid to admit it!

Have a great, light-filled, warm-mealed, internet-connected day!

My little climber

I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself for using orange (coral? apricot?) for a background color. The cardstock was one of those this-is-gorgeous-so-I'm-buying-it-even-though-I'll-probably-never-use-it purchases. I'm also glad to be past the my-paper-has-to-match-my-photos phase, as I sure wasn't going to use dark burgundy OR pale green for a background!

A blustery day

Ever since February 17, 2006, I've been somewhat ancraophobic. That was the day that crazy windstorm knocked out the power in Bonney Lake for 15 hours (give or take). The only reason I remember the exact date is because I was in full-on birthday party planning mode, and had to stop cleaning, baking, decorating, assembling when I didn't have the necessary electricity to complete the tasks, and ended up spending the night an hour away at my mom's house, so I could come home the next day and do in 3 hours what normally would have taken me a day and a half.

FYI -- ancraophobia = fear of wind. Don't worry, I'm not one of those people who knows all the phobia names, I just looked it up on The Indexed Phobia List for the amusement of my faithful blog readers. If you check this list and realize you have one of these phobias (or a pseudo-phobia like mine), you have to let me know what it is! By the way, Spermatophobia or Spermophobia- Fear of germs. I guess I'm not spermophobic after all. ;)

Anyway, ALL that to say I get a little spooked when it's windy now after that fateful day. I'm not a huge fan of disruptions, and Lord knows I already have plenty of them with all these kids. So here's hoping for electrical stability, and safety for all of us who live near large trees.

On my happy list...

(because Sara did it)

*Having comfortably tired abs after working out in the morning.
*A friend from church who wants to have the kids over.
*And thus, the hope of two hours in a quiet, clean house.
*My morning cup(s) of coffee.
*My new vertical file storage that hangs on the wall and holds my letter stickers. I just like to look at them. :)
*George Outline stamps by FontWerks.
*Bottled water.
*Precept upon Precept Bible studies.
*Bamboo flooring--we just got some for the dining room and kitchen.
*My husband coming home from work on time. ;)

and most importantly

*A God whose mercies are new every morning, who faithfully loves me, forgives me, and provides for me in every way.

Happy Tuesday!

7 lovely years

7 years ago at this moment, I was sitting in the hairdressers chair, surrounded by 4 of my best friends, just having seen my fiance for the last time, wondering how on earth I would squeeze into the beautiful dress that had fit perfectly 3 months prior. At that point I was so sure that we were invincible.

I had no idea how much marriage would change me.

I had no idea how much I needed to change.

Now, 7 years, 4 kids, 3 moves, & 2 jobs later, we both have grown closer to the Lord. We listen better, take offense less easily, think less highly of ourselves and more highly of each other. We've learned to give each other space to pursue our interests and to stay close when things are difficult. We deal with issues when they come up and don't go to bed mad.

I've learned to be more careful, less demanding, more understanding, cleaner, more organized, more accomodating, less last-minute. I would have had a much harder time learning these things without Dan. And learning through our relationship is much less painful than learning on my own.

In the next 7 years, I don't anticipate 4 more kids (actually, I don't anticipate any more kids!), 3 moves (1 maybe), or 2 more jobs (Dan couldn't be happier at his job, and I couldn't be happier at home). But I do hope for the growth that the Lord has brought through learning to live with someone who is like-minded but completely different than me, through loving and being loved, and through having to share all of my life's experiences with.

Single socks...

...make me want to slam my head against a brick wall.

Really hard.

That's all. :P

The view from my living room

Not really, but it's starting to feel like it.

Actually this is a photo from somewhere in Western WA. Crazy! Makes me thankful to live at the top of a big hill.

Wherever you are, o blog reader, I hope you're staying dry. :)

Hurray for clematis!

I won 2nd place in the Simple Scrapbooks layout contest! Thanks SS--I was so excited! The funny thing is, the other LO I submitted took most of the day Friday (and part of Thursday evening), I loved the original concept but it wasn't anything super special by dinnertime, and I had to stop so I could take it to Kinko's before they closed. That one didn't place. This one took less time, and I think is more honestly and expression of who I am. Which, in my opinion, is what scrapbooking is about.

(Mimi, I had hoped to run into you! I remember last year we tried to get together and weren't able to! Next year, maybe?)

Hope you all had a great weekend!

I'm off to the CK convention tomorrow.

It always amazes me how long it takes to get ready for a day away from the kids! Totally worth it, don't get me wrong, but I've already been to the store to get a pizza for tomorrow, I need to get an oil change later, get the house reasonably cleaned up and put the folded laundry away so DH isn't frantically searching for matching socks or pants that fit. And I'm hoping to enter at least one of the contests, and of course it didn't occur to me to start early....

One happy thing though--Shiloh was practicing ballet/gymnastics stuff this morning, and lamented to me that we don't have a mat upon which she could practice her somersaults. Then I remembered our fold-up mat that I got for overnight visitors....and now all the kids are jumping on and over it. Fun for the whole family, let me tell ya.

Happy Friday!

It's Thursday morning, and....

• The Great Clothing Swap is over, and was a success (though I still have a bag of single shoes that I know have mates.
• I've worked out every day for the last two weeks, except Sunday
• We're out of good coffee, we have this flavored stuff that was on sale and I'm refusing to drink it.
• Mariah has glitter all over her hands and I don't know how it go there.
• LOST just keeps getting crazier and crazier.
• If Dan and I ever get more than 2 minutes together in our house, I'm going to have him help me make my blog pretty.
• The garbage truck is REALLY exciting (for different reasons, depending on who you ask).
  
• Esther has a cold.
• I need a nap.

Here's a page I did a while back. :)

The Christmas pre-season is upon us!

Full-blown holiday decoration sections at Target and the like, the beginnings of shopping lists and holiday plans, Christmas play rehearsals...isn't it crazy that we spend 2 months preparing for one day? I personally wouldn't have it any other way, though.

However, I have one strict rule to keep it from taking over our lives and getting us all burned out: no decorations and ABSOLUTELY no Christmas music until the Thanksgiving festivities are over. Period. Dan e-mailed me yesterday with a link to the Sufjan Stevens Christmas boxed set, and I gently reminded him that if he's learned anything after 7 years of being married to me, it should be that he would NOT be allowed to play that music in my home for 3 1/2 more weeks. I'm not a controlling wife, really....but there is a time and place for Christmas music, and in my house any time between Dec. 26th and the 4th Thursday in November is neither the time nor the place.

The Sunday paper this week had the Toys R Us and Fred Meyer toy books. I made the mistake of giving them to Elijah and he hasn't put them down since. He pores over them, chattering non-stop about which toys he wants for his birthday (in February). I should know better than to feed the beast.

Anyway, we're off to Target later this week to fill up our Operation Christmas Child boxes, and I've got a couple handmade gift ideas brewing. I'm also teaching an advent calendar class next week (well, maybe) and a Christmas Cards class later in the month at Ben Franklin. Should be fun.