My Simple Little Life

Rethinking things

I invite you to follow me here: my Tumbler page

It's pretty obvious for the (possibly 3?) people that follow this blog that I've been horribly negligent of it lately.

Also, lately, I've been trying to think of ways that I can save time (or better manage it). I've already made a few changes. I'm laying off Word with Friends (I will finish my current games) and I'm going to do the same with Draw Something very shortly. I'm DVRing a show I love that's on once a week at 11 p.m. and I'm skipping any others that are on after 10 p.m. (How many episodes of House Hunters/HH International do I really "need" to watch???) I'm trying to get to bed earlier (hence cutting out the games which keep me up later than I'd like) which leads naturally to getting up earlier - something I really love for many reasons, extra hours in the day not being the least of them. And, in addition to all that, I'm considering giving up this blog.

Gasp.

I do have a tumblr account which I think may meet my needs at this point in my life.

Why do I have a blog? That IS the question I've asked myself and here are my answers:

1.  It's been important to me to have a place where I can have a catalogue of my scrapbooking/art pages and the photo album feature in this blog - which is why I switched to typepad - very much fulfills that purpose.

2.  I love sharing photos. Photos of my family, of where I live and of what is going on in my life.

3.  I seem to enjoy blathering about my life. I admit it. This blog is not deep, controversial or very thought-provoking. Not that I don't have deep thoughts, or controversial thoughts. Not that I'm not highly opinionated about lots of things. But my choice has been to be only positive here and to be careful about venting or spewing which may offend friends or family. Don't wanna go there in public. I know some people do and I know this in itself is actually a controversial issue. For me, I have chosen to have this be a positive, uplifting place. The downside, however, is that my writing really amounts to a "what I did today" sort of diary and, frankly, it just ain't that exciting. I enjoy it, don't get me wrong. But It's not really enriching anyone else's life. I ask myself, "is it necessary (to me) to do this?".

4.  I have wanted exporsure in the scrapbooking community and I've wanted to participate in events and communities that require a blog.

And so, what happens to all those things if I give up this blog?

1. and 2. I have a "pro" (i.e. unlimited) flickr account. I can put all my photos there in nice little collections and sets. I haven't always put everything in there. But I'm going to start and I may transfer everything in there eventually. I just consider it a way of backing up all the photos that are important to me. Plus, I can share them with friends and family if there's an event - or anytime! AND - I can post all the photos I want on tumblr! :) And even some words - not tons, just some. Which leads me to...

...3. I don't need to blather. I don't have time (nor do I want to take the time anymore) to blather. Now that I'm investing time in art journaling, I can blather all I want there - OR I can express what's really on my mind - no holds barred. (and I do)  Disclaimer: I am NOT implying that anyone else that has a blog is blathering. I'm only referring to myself. And, speaking of which, I read a LOT of blogs. This is perhaps another area where I may want to consider cutting back. But not yet.  :)

4. I'm completely satisfied with the amount of exposure I've had in the scrapbooking community. I'm completely satisfied with the publications I've been in. (Like, WOW!) I don't feel the need to participate in any more challenges, blog hops or scrapbook communities. I feel like I've done that - and it was GREAT - but now I'd really rather spend the extra time in my art room creating. Period.

So, check out Tumblr if you never have. It's cool. I can very quickly add photos and even a little written content. Or videos or music. The quickness is what's appealing to me. Whenever I think about blogging, I always think I need more time than I have and, therefore, I skip it altogether. I think Tumblr will provide me a place where I can just throw something down quickly and easily.

So, if you're interested in following a more compact version of me (ohhhh, if only I could be a more compact version of me, but that's another story....), I invite you to go to my tumblr page and then "follow" me (by clicking "follow") there. And I hope you will.

I'll keep this blog open until my subscraption (ha! an amusing typo - I'll leave it) runs out... (Yes, typepad costs $$$ - one more reason to let it go.)

Blessings.

(whew! already I'm feeling a sense of pressure lifted...)

Create - I'm all about it

My unsatiable appetite for creating in my art (formerly "scrap") room continues raging on. (I do want to mention that just because I'm now calling my "scrap" room an "art" room doesn't imply at all that I'm not scrapping anymore. I'm just doing "more" than scrapping!) Having said that, I must admit that I haven't scrapped much this year. But I want to! I have several photos sitting on/near my desk - out of the way of flying inks and paints - waiting for my attention. And I'm participating in True Scrap 3 this weekend and expect to be overflowing with inspiration from that!

But, right now, I just can't stop feeding the mixed media monster! And I'm okay with that!  :)

I want to re-post the tags I've made so far in Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 101 class. The previous photos weren't all that great. But first, let me say, this is a class chock-full of hard core in.for.ma.tion! I have learned SO much about things that I've owned and have used (or haven't) but of which I didn't really fully comprehend the possibilities because I didn't really understand what I was dealing with in these products. (I'm talking distress inks vs. archival inks, alcohol inks, blending solution and so on...). I can't recommend this class enough! I'm almost hoarding the lessons because I want to be able to give them my absolute full attention. I actually had to replay two entire videos for one lesson because I was rather distracted when watching them the first time. Well, okay, it was more like very tired. But, whatever. I watched again so I could really absorb. And the nature of the class is that you can come back and do the lessons all at your own pace. Love that.

So, here are the 6 tags I've made so far. Tim has provided convenient printable labels to adhere to the back of the tags you make so you can recall the technique used to make said tag. Awesome!

blended distress inks with water splotches. Cool!

making a "watercolor" image with stamp(s) and distress ink

inking a non-absorbent surface (like a craft mat), spritzing with water and then picking up the results onto a blank tag.

stamping with archival ink over blended alcohol inks. wow! this was my first time really playing with (and understanding the potential of) alcohol. Amazing! The photo doesn't do it justice...

archival inks with distress inks - I so get it now!

this was to be about reverse stamping with embossing folders, but I didn't have any reverse stamps. But I got the idea anyway - and love the results. i also extended the technique a bit by sanding the embossed image a bit to make it stand out more.

I'm so excited about adding these techniques to my arsenal. I see possibilities for both art journaling and scrapping and card making.

Speaking of art journaling, here are the two latest spreads I've completed:

All my tendencies to be wordy are very apparenet in this spread! To make the background, I cut a bunch of squares and then cut them in half to form triangles and then lined up a few rows of triangles and sprayed ink/mist over them. Then I carefully lifted them and moved them on across the page, spraying a different color of ink/mist. After a while the colors began to blend and bleed it made a very interesting background. I ended up using a few of the sprayed triangles on the pages. I then did some doodling in the triangles at the far right, as well as masked and inked a clock image several times.

And here's the latest spread I completed:

For this spread, I marked off lightly with pencil a grid of approximately 4"x4" squares across the page. I used acrylic paint and stamps on the left side to fill in a bit and then watercolored each grid with a different color. I then filled each square with either journaling or I made a mini-canvas, sometimes overlapping two squares. I doodled in some faux stitching between the squares.

I've started another spread now, of course, and I decided to go with the black gesso background again. This time I'm painting in little houses all along the bottom (haven't left a ton of room for journaling, actually) and I'm going to play with each little house, decorating it with doodling and paint and little details. Should be super FUN!

Since I have a free afternoon before me (yay!) I'm going to go for a walk and then MAKE myself sit down and take an hour to read. Chris doesn't get home from work til 8 p.m. and I'm making a glorified chicken caesar salad for dinner, so I've got LOTS of time (double yay!) for that and playing in my art room. I really should continue the purge I started in there. In fact, I was talking to my sister-in-law this a.m., who spent the night last night, and she thought it would be an awesome idea to donate my purged (all good) items to the arts/crafts room at the retirement village she lives in. I was wondering what to do with it all. I didn't want to toss it and so much of it is really beyond my granddaughters and I didn't want to mail it (holy postage!) so that seems like a wonderful solution that would help us both! So, I must get to work on that, as well. But, probably not today...

Finally, I leave you with my two favorite photos from Easter. The whole set of photos can be seen at my Flickr site, here.

heaven.

Happy St. Patty's! | Stuff to Share

I'm so happy that it's a glorious sunny day! My heart just needed it today. I'm expecting a granddaughter or two to show up any minute now, too, so happy times are ahead! :)

But I wanted to take a minute to share what I've been working on lately.

I think I've mentioned that I'm taking a fabulous art journaling class. It's called 30 Days in Your Journal. Wow. If you have any interest in that realm at all, I can highly recommend this class. It's been everything I've needed to get comfortable experimenting with different medium and techniques because I'm learning that you can't be too messy and you can't make mistakes. I tend to be a perfectionist in so many areas and I'm happy to report that I'm leaning away - far away! - from that tendency in my art journaling of late. Because of this class! Thank you Julie! Right at the moment, I just finished day 27 (out of the 30 lessons) and I'm going to be so sad when it's over...

So here's a look at the last spread I completed:

I have to say I was a wee tad intimidated by the suggestion to draw a figure. Julie gave great general instructions (in her typical laid back and humorous way) and I just went for it. And, I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with how it (she) turned out. Here's a closer look at that right side:

I ended up going sort of off on my own by the end of this spread (which encompassed 5 lessons/days) and I know Julie would be so proud. Just as parents we want to teach our children to spread their wings and be themselves as they go out on their own into life, a good teacher (such as Julie is) wants the same for their pupils - and especially in the area of art. So, I feel great that I got to a point where I felt really comfortable doing that. Yay!

I'm also taking a lettering class from the amazing Joanne Sharpe, who I just discovered in Stampington & Co.'s Somerset Studio. And she was also just featured my most favorite publication of theirs - Art Journaling. How timely! She's now teaching her very first online class called "Letter Love". This is another area that I've really been wanting to work on, so I was thrilled to discover the class. I'm only 5 lessons in and have already learned so much.

Here's the first little project I did:

(Wow! I did that?)

Joanne is a WEALTH of information. I also highly recommend!

And, rather serendipitously, my last spread in Julie's class (30 Days in Your Journal) involves making a whole alphabet! It must be the northern lights or the early breakout of spring or something, but I love it when stuff like that happens! Here's a sneak peek at the spread in progress:

 

That's all for now. My windows in the living room are open letting in the gorgeous FRESH air - my spirit is beginning to soar! The girls will be here soon. Gotta go put away the cookies I baked!

Happy St. Patty's. Speak with an Irish accent for the rest of the day!  ;)

a sun-shiny day

Sunshine. A free day ahead of me. What could be a better thing to wake up to? I don't know, because that really rings my chimes.

I started it off (after a day of juice fasting yesterday) with my beloved a.m. coffee and quiet time - prayer, bible reading and bible study. I sooooo love it when I don't have to rush and today I could really take my time. I'm preparing right now to teach our ladies bible study group from church on the 15th. We've studied various books over the years, but right now we're studying THE book and my heart is singing over it! We're studying the book of Phillipians with no agenda or timeline. The portion I'm preparing is Chapter 1, verses 12-30. Meaty.

All of us in the group have also been challenged to memorize Phil. 4:4-8. So - here goes (I promise I'm typing from memory - it just wouldn't be right to cheat, especially when it comes to the bible, now would it?):

Rejoice in the Lord, always! I will say it again - rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble...

and that's how far I am. Awesome verses, by the way!

After being down with a cold for a few days last week, I was very glad to get back to exercising. I'm doing the Wii 30-day challenge as a kind of re-entry into the exercise world. Taking a "comfort food" day last week (i.e. all the worst stuff picked up and brought home from the Cracker Barrell drive-through, like Chicken and Dumplings, Hash Brown Casserole, Mac and Cheese, Fried Apples, not to mention a huge candy bar) wreaked total havoc on my "eating well" plan. Boy, did it ever - and the scale showed it this morning. But, I'm not going to let that upset me - I'm just learning from it. For instance, Clean Eating actually put out a "Clean Comfort Foods" magazine and I'm going to actually READ it and put up a few things from there for next time - even though I haven't been sick in a year. Still.

AND, I got out for a walk on this glorious February day. Right now I'm getting used to walking just the driveway round trip (that's 1/2 mile total). It's getting easier all the time. I still have a bit of a limp left over from the hip replacement, but it's only been 5 months. I know it will work itself out.

I also met my new neighbors as I was out. They have 3 kids (a 7 y/o boy and 4 y/o twins, a boy and a girl). It will be different having someone there. But a good kind of different...

And, finally, I've started a new online class called 30 Days in Your Journal given by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, who's work I've always loved. And this is an art journaling class. I've been SO driven to get into art journaling the past year or so. And I've made some attempts. I think it's one of those things where I see, it LOVE it, but I just can't quite make what I love come out of my head and onto the paper yet. But, I'm getting there. Here's a page I started a while ago - I had done the background and loved it and then just recently added the words:

That's beginning to get where I want to get to.

But this class! Wow! I can tell already that it's going to be AWE.SOME! Here's just a little bit of what I've done so far:

Both of those are my own improvisations on the particular technique being taught on this day. LOVE how they both turned out. Here's a shot of the whole 2-page journaling spread:

I think there's another 2 or 3 days of technique/teaching before this particular spread will be done. I can. not. wait! I'm just so excited about this class. Every day that I have a bit of free time, I will be running to my next (online) class. (Yeah, luckily I don't have too far to run!)

All of this fits very nicely with the "One Litte Word" that I've chosen for this year - CREATE!

Well, one more thing. I just want to share a fun little photo collage I made (using Picasa) from our latest Friday visit with Maggie (she comes here while her mom and dad are working on Fridays). Chris got to romping with her on the couch, and then the floor, and she was ALL giggles. SO adorable!

(click image to make larger)

And here are a couple more from the day:

peek-a-boo!

 

One of the first questions she asks me when she comes in is, "can I play your iPod?". I just hand it to her and she can turn it on, find the folder she wants on the page she wants and then the program she wants. She plays games, looks at videos, looks at photos, finds kid's books, etc. I try to limit her time on it, which she doesn't like, but I don't want her to be a total nerd. She IS a total genius, though, and that's okay...  ;)

That's enough for this sun-shiny day! It's time to make (a healthy!) dinner!

 

One Little Word Blog Hop for January 2012 | New Year, New Word!

Welcome to my blog! I assume you are here for our 1st monthly blog hop for One Little Word 2012. Just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, head over to Big Picture Classes to learn all about One Little Word.

You will find a complete listing of blog participants at the bottom on this post. You can continue on in order from here, which will take you to Cate's blog, or you can jump in anywhere you please!

I'm excited for a new year and a new word! My word for 2012 is CREATE!

I chose this word simply because I want to create MORE. What, you might ask, do you want to create more of, Jan? Well, thanks for asking. I want to create more scrapbooking layouts - both paper and digital, many more art journal pages, I want to take more photos and I want to spend more time blogging. I just didn't spend nearly the amount of time on these things last year as I would have liked. I don't value them any less than lots of the other important stuff I do. But, you know, I think we get the message sometimes that spending time on hobbies, creativity, art, expressing yourself - whatEVER you want to call it - I think we get the message that spending time on those things is selfish. Not to mention that in our fast-paced world there is so much pulling at us. SO much. I realize that these things - that are an ESSENTIAL part of who I am - are NOT going to happen unless I purposefully make time for them. And I just know that having chosen the word CREATE this year, I will definitely be more likely to make that happen. It's as simple as that, yet...

...the exciting thing that I've found about One Little Word is that focusing on just this one little word this year will most likely lead me to expand upon at least my conception of what "create" means for me. And I love that. I'm open to it and I'm looking forward to it. The journey begins here.

Here are my pages for the January assignment. First, let me introduce you to - moi:

(click on any image to enlarge)

I'm getting a lot of mileage out of this photo - I'm also using it for my Move More Eat Well class at BPC with Cathy Zielske. Hey. You get a good photo and you go with it...

And here's my "opening" canvas for January:

Just used some chipboard letters and a little piece of paper for masks and then spritzed with spray inks for this. Quick and easy!

Here's how that looks in my book:

I also participated in the One Little Word class last year and so I am using the same album as last year and just continuing on. That presented me with an empty space on the left (the back of last year's last page) and I filled it with a printed-out wordle I made:

You can create one of your own at www.wordle.com. Get yourself a list of synonyms that you can cut and paste when you get to wordle. Once there, you can customize the font, the color and the design. It's super fun. The only way I could see to print out what I made (you can't save it off site) was to do a "print screen" and then open it up in "paint", crop it and save that as a jpg image. Let me know if you'd like further help with that. But, anyway, go play!

So, next up are the canvases we created using Ali's templates. Here's a photo of all my little canvases. (I used the same small 9x9 page protectors that we used from last year. Was I supposed to? It seemed the templates provided were too large to fit, but I shrunk it enough to fit, at any rate...) (I will post individual photos of each canvas just after this photo...)

Creating these little canvases was my favorite part of this month's assignment, for sure. Here's each individual canvas. I used the four unprinted canvases to represent the four areas of creativity that I want to spend more time on this year. I'll add some descriptions under a few of the cards, below:

I want to spend more time blogging. My poor, neglected blog. I apologize and I'll make it up to you.

I'm DYING to do more art journaling. This little card is one of my most favorite things I've made in a long time. I just love the whole mixed media/experimental/playing process so much. I want more!

Look! I made a tiny little scrapbook page! I SO want to scrapbook MORE!

And I want to take more photos. (This one, by the way, was taken on my recent trip to AZ. It's Lake Montezuma which my son lives right across the little street from. It was so sweet waking up to and watching the sun set on every day.

So there you have it. I'm looking forward to the challenge of creating more time to create more stuff! Thanks for stopping by. Hope you find much to inspire - and even challenge - you as you continue on the hop.

Here's the list of participants:

Margie        http://xnomads.typepad.com

Sharyn       www.lavieenchic.com           

Jill              http://jillconyers.com

Lynn          www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Jenn          www.studiojenn.blogspot.com

Carmen      http://www.carmenpaulsorthner.com

Marilee       http://rose-brier.blogspot.com      

Kristina      http://hrinspirationfromthe403.blogspot.com/

Cindy C      http://www.cynthiacrysdale.com

Kelly          http://mindingmynest.com

Cheri          http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

Amanda      http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Cindy         http://seriousplay.typepad.com

Brooke       www.everysnapshot.com

Naomi        www.poeticaperture.com

Melissa      http://www.smudgetime.com

Karen         http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com

Melissa S   http://blog.mshanhun.com

Devon         http://www.youhadmeatneurotic.com

Donna        http://holimess.blogspot.com/

Dawn          sunshineandcreativity.com

Katrina        www.katrinasimeck.com

Sam           http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com

Monica        http://scrapinspired.com

Kimberlee    http://scrapsandsass.blogspot.com

Missus W    http://mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.com/

Kaylea        http://www.myscrappylife.com

Nikki          www.inkyart.com.au

Erin            http://erinsparkes.typepad.com/optimstic-fascination/

Jo              www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

Coley          http://coleybelle.blogspot.com/2012/01/focus-word-for-2012.html

Beth           www.thesingularlyordinary.blogspot.com

Veronica     www.veronicanorris.typepad.com

Jamie          http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/

Monica B     http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/

Lisa            http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Rebekah      http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

Jan             http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com <---YOU ARE HERE

Cate            www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com <---GO HERE NEXT

Stephanie    www.scrapworthylives.com

Orange Gearle http://orangegearle.blogspot.com

Tere             http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

Junelle        http://yesandamenblog.blogspot.com/ 

Ruth            http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com

Becky         www.becky-handforth.blogspot.com

 

Helloooooo, January! | Ten on Tuesday

Okay, I think I'm finally caught up - at least with all the *important* stuff! Whew! An unbelieveably busy holiday season almost immediately followed by a 9-day trip to AZ makes for LOTS of back-paddling, running around and mayhem in general. I'm sort of in shell-shock that it's the 24th already! There's SO much going on, so much to write about, so much I'm doing. But rather than bore you with all the gorry details, I'm going to borrow from my friend, Debra Blakely, and do a "Ten on Tuesday" list. Ten things (yes, I'm limiting it to 10, but I warn you - women are like spaghetti!) that are on the forefront of my brain right now. Here goes:

1)  We had an awesome visit to see our son, Matthew and our daughter-in-law, Martha in AZ. We did lots of catching up, eating (Martha's a chef and Matthew ain't a bad cook neither!), dog-walking around the lake, shopping of all sorts, venturing out, spade playing, sunset watching, BB shooting (Matthew got the Daisy Rifle from "A Christmas Story" for Christmas and now, of course, we want one, too) and more. I did bring my big old SLR digital Canon, but I also had a lot of fun taking pics with my iPod and especially using the Hipstamatic app. Here's a little collage of my fave photos:

(click image to view larger)

I just about full-on lost it as we drove away to return home - it had been a year since we'd seen M&M - but the only thing that saved me from heaving sobs was knowing that they are in the process of moving to North Carolina. They should be there by March. I know that's still a whole day of travel, but we won't have to make plane reservations, we can bring all our pillows, the camper, a cooler, whatEVER and we WILL see each other more often. Plus, we'll all be in the same time zone. That's comforting!

2) It wouldn't be a proper post if I didn't brag on my granddaughters. E continues to love school, willingly do any kind of activity we have planned, be the best little mommy to her little sister when we go places and just charm us. Yes, she has her silly moments, but she IS 7.5 after all! And Mags...well, being that she's 2.5, things are constantly changing with her. She is growing physically - and verbally! Her vocabulary seemed to just quadruple while we were gone. Where she spoke in mostly 3 word sentences before, that girl can hold an entire conversation now - and that's with just herself! We first noticed this when we phoned from AZ, but, wow, she has really become quite chatty! And, she's starting to cop a bit of that 2 y/o attitude. She's definitely testing the boundaries and using every bit of the power she thinks she has. I find it very amusing, for the most part. Her parents - probably not so much. We had the girls overnight this past weekend and we always prided ourselves on our ability to get Mags down for naps and overnight sleeps. Well, no more! She quite brilliantly came up with every possible detour to laying down and shutting her eyes - all in tearful hysterics, of course. Chris fell for it, but when I took over, though it took a while, I was able to talk her down successfully. You just can't let a 2 y/o win. Know what I mean?

Here's my favorite photo of them from the holidays:

 

3) I've decided to stop with the photo challenges and maybe even the scrapbooking challenges. NOT because I don't want to take photos or scrapbook, but because I have an endless supply of projects running around in my head at this point just wanting to be brought to fruition. And also because I'm taking two online year-long workshops (at Big Picture Classes - One Little Word and Move More Eat Well) which each involve an on-going album AND...

wait for it...

...I'm doing Project Life this year! PL encompasses taking lots of photos and documenting your everyday life, but in a weekly format. So, I figure I don't really need any prompts to get me scrapping or photo-taking. I've got plenty to keep me busy. I'm loving PL so far - AND I'm even all caught up! My conundrum this week is that it's a wonderfully quiet week, but, therefore, not much to take photos of. Maybe I'll do some around-the-house stuff.

4) Speaking of my continued (and never fading) LOVE of scrapbooking, (paper and digital) and art journaling, I'm eagerly anticipating the release of the March/Spring Issue of Stampington and Company's Somerset Digital Studio. Because I'm going to be published in it! Wow! I just think this is a superior publication full of amazing artists and to be included among them, well, I'm really honored. I can't wait til it comes out.  :) 

5) Just when I thought we maybe - MAYBE - might get away without any big snows this season, we get 5" dumped on us this past Saturday. Well, I know it could be much worse - and half of it is melted now. We didn't even get our 1/4 mile long driveway plowed because for one, our plow guy is no longer plowing and for another, we just wanted to see if we could tough it out since it's supposed to remain fairly mild for a while. I'm still crossing my fingers that after this melts that will be IT! C'mon early spring!

6) After the holidays and then our trip to AZ, I was SO anxious to get back on the healthy eating bandwagon. And this past Sunday, I did my first juice fast. I decided that I'm going to fast with juice just one day a week. It costs so much less that way and I still think it will be beneficial. Sort of like a clean out from the past week and a jump start for the new week. And, can I say? Since I've been avoiding sugar, junk food and fast food since we've been home for a week now - I have this funny feeling. I think it's called "energy"!  ;)

7) I made a point of walking around the little lake (and by little lake, I really mean pond) just across the street from M&M's house in AZ every day that we were there. It was just what I needed to get my exercise mojo going again. I was looking forward to getting out to walk on my driveway (as I said, it's a 1/4 mile!) but the snow/ice has put the ki-bash on that idea. BUT, I've got my Total Gym back in place after the holidays AND I started the Wii 30-day challenge (sans running) and it's all going really well. Hello, muscles! You ARE in there! I'm sure this is also helping with the energy level and the fact that I'm sleeping really well lately!

8) Chris got us tickets to see Iona in Allentown, PA in June. It's at a really small venue, which will be totally awesome. We have almost every album of theirs. They're a Christian/Celtic band. SO cool! I can NOT wait for this. And, since the concert's on a Tuesday, looks like we'll have a little overnight getaway. As it should be, for it will be a BIG birthday for me that week, as well as my 37th wedding anniversary (both on the same day, by the way). I'll be expecting lots of presents.  :)

9) Ohhhhhh, Downton Abbey! I am so head-over-heels in love with this PBS series. I just can't get enough of it. It's got everything a good period piece should have: engrossing plot, exquisite clothes and sets, gorgeous cinematography, romance, suspense and impeccable acting! LOVE!!!!!

10) Why is it that the second I strip down, ready to hop in the hot tub out on my secluded deck that a) I get a phone call and then as soon as I hang up, b) someone knocks at the door. Pfffftt!

Happy Tuesday!

My December Daily Album - on slideshow

I thought this would be a great way to share my December Daily Album. If you want to see it full screen, you can click on the lower right corner of the screen above and then click on the album title and it will take you to the web album. From there, you can select (top left, under the album title) slideshow. You can also view the pages individually at that site. Enjoy!

I want to also mention that besides using Ali Edwards' templates and overlays for my album, I also used an older digital kit from Little Dreamer Designs called Holly Jolly. It's a collaboration between quite a few great designers including Michelle Coleman, Lori Barnhurst, Leora Sanford, Heidi Larsen, Emily Merritt and Misty Mereda. You can't get it anymore, but you can check out Little Dreamer Designs out here. They have beautiful digital elements.

I'll be back on January 1st for the next One Little Word blog hop. If you're thinking about choosing a word for 2012, or are interested in finding out more about it, check out Ali Edwards' post here.

The granddaughters are arriving shortly for an overnight and then to spend the day with us tomorrow! Fun!

See you next year! :)

 

Gorgeous November days

We've had nothing but glorious sunshine for the past week now - and it's forcasted for at least days into the future. I. love. it. so!

I was a little concerned when we were having tons of rain and then, gasp!, SNOW that I wasn't going to be able to test out my new hip on my driveway (along with my new sneakers).

But, my worries (as usual) were all for nought, because I've been able to get out most everyday for at least a little "pushing through". I call it pushing through because that's what it feels like so far. I had my hip replacement surgery 10 weeks ago and I've been walking on my own for almost 4 weeks now. The improvement has been phenominal. My muscles in my operated leg only took 1/2 my weight at most for the first six weeks and were also, of course, healing from being incised as well. So walking again has been a matter of consciously trying to take balanced, full range-of-motion steps to re-accustom my muscles to a steady gait. Which they haven't really had in years because I was gimping around so much PRE surgery.It's not been easy.

I've been doing some balance exercises on my Wii Fit (I can see how truly great these are for getting things evened out again. The first week my balance was pretty off centered, to the left, no surprise. Today, I was able to easily hold that center line - even with my eyes closed! Progress!). I'm also doing the Wii Sports Fitness test several times a week which involves bowling (well, picking up spares, actually), hitting baseballs and tennis. Except for the first time I tried it, my "Wii age" has been consistently below my actual age. Yay! And, really, I try to make lots of things a challenge. Going up the stairs, for instance, one foot at a time (instead of double-footing it) was really hard at first, but I can now almost go up without even holding the rail - one foot at a time. More progress!

I have to say I'm really starting to feel like my life is back to normal. Well, better than normal, because I AM able to do some exercising and walking. That will only get better. And I'm sleeping better - even on my sides a bit. (oh, the joy!) I just hardly even think about the surgery anymore, other than the fact that I do have to consciously plan in exercise so I can regain ALL my muscle strength. THEN I can really begin to BUILD it again.

One of the BEST things, though, truly, is being able to go out for walks/strolls through the woods and into the fields with Chris and the girls. I haven't really been able to do that for so long and these gorgeous days are giving me ample opportunity. The girls just love, love, love being outside and I equally love being out there with them. I don't want to miss a thing they do when they're at our house.

So, of course, I have a bunch of photos from this past weekend's visit to share with you. We started off heading out to the field along our driveway (our driveway is pretty private, it's 1/4 mile long). E took off on her bike - a newly acquired accomplishment, taught to her by none other than her Grandpa (Chris). She's loving that and takes every opportunity to ride it. (Can't wait to surprise her with a much needed NEW bike for Christmas - and Maggie's getting a trike.) And Chris pulled Maggie up to the field in the wagon, which also held a huge bag of "deer apples" given to us by our neighbor who owns an orchard that we frequent. Our goal was to have the girls dump the apples in the field along the tree line for the deer. After we did that, we headed up the driveway and then came home down through the woods. Going through the woods involves lots of stopping and checking under logs and a pile of brick pavers we have there for critters of any sort. This trip we found a worm and a bunch of irredescent green flies - under a flat brick paver. Hey, it doesn't take much to thrill the girls!  ;)  Here's the pics: enjoy!

We have a litte bench along the field's edge to watch for deer at dusk...these two are pretty "dear" to me!  :)

look at those apples flyin'!

love the look of concentration on her face. the wagon did get a little ahead of her on the downhill, be she kept it - and herself - under control

in the wagon, heading up the driveway

there she goes!

the woods are a natural playground...

successful climb to the top of the pile of pavers!

what big sister does...

...little sister tries (same tree)

and, heading back towards the house, E on her bike, Mags with her treasure, a big stick!

And now, I'm off to my driveway walk!

One Little Word Blog Hop | October Assignment

Welcome to my blog and the October assignment review for One Little Word. We're doin' a blog hop today! At the end of this post, you'll find lots of links - to our next hopper and to all hop participants.

If you've never heard of One Little Word before, I encourage you to check it out. This has been a very cool experience, very thought-provoking and, might I add, somewhat life changing! :) NOW is a great time to be thinking about which ONE word you'd like to focus on for 2012. I'm sure Ali Edwards, the creator of this phenomenon, will be posting about it in the next month or two on her blog and she has already announced that she will do another OLW class in 2012. Yay! I'm so there!  :)

My word for 2011 is FOCUS. So, now, on to this month's assignment:

First, we were to take 9 photos that would represent where we are right now (in October, 10 months in) wth our word. We could choose something literal or something more abstract. And then we were to take one photo (one of the 9 or a different one) and print it out in an 8.5 x 11 full-size format - and then write on it. I love doing that!

Here's what I did and, afterwards, my thoughts about it all. (click images to enlarge)

my layout

 

my photos

Okay, I only took seven photos. The hands/sun photo is stock, not mine, but I loved how it worked for the assignment. I discovered it while putting together a powerpoint song service for church. I took the rest, though.

 

This is a little list of ways to connect with God and some of my photos relate to the list. See how the background says "keep your focus on God"? I did that before my little epiphany which I'll write about in a sec.

 

this photo (also taken on our recent road trip) just speaks to me of God's glorious creation - the sky, the heavens, the universe and, here on earth

Around the edges of the photo, I wrote the first verse and part of the chorus of a song we sang in church this past Sunday (hubs and I lead the music... It's called May the Words of My Mouth, written by Rob Hill and Tim Hughes). Here's what that says:

May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart bless Your Name, bless Your Name, Jesus. And the deeds of the day, and the truth in my way, speak of You, speak of You, Jesus. For this is what I'm glad to do. It's time to live a life of love that pleases you.

Anyway, it really is the desire of my heart to return to God just an eeensy portion (at least!) of the love He has shown me by living a life that takes His love and shakes it up with the best of me and shines it on out there to the world. Well, to be honest, I fail miserably at that most of the time. Sigh. But I'm workin' on it! And, really, that's where I've realized my focus needs to be at this point. That's where it all needs to start.

And then.....

and then I started writing the stuff on the photo. And I had an "ah-ha" moment. (Thankfully, I did my writing on a blank sheet of paper first, or else I would have had to print several copies of that photo...) I only wrote an excerpt on the photo, but here are all of my thoughts:

I’m always going to have busy times and crazy days. I hope I'll always have goals and dreams and ideas swimming in my head. But I’ve come to realize this year that I can find real peace and joy when I just take some time each day to STOP and listen to God. Learn His ways. Walk in them. See His purpose for me each day and step into it. At day’s end I can be grateful for all He’s given me, for where He’s put me in this world and for all the people and circumstances He’s put in my path. When I take the time daily to hear Him and become aware of all of these things, I’m filled with purpose. Yeah, I’m learning...  It’s not that I need to focus on God more. Or on any project or dream or desire more. It’s that when I take the time (first) to fill myself daily with His knowledge and presence, I become focused on what He’s put in my path that day. HE is the source! I’m getting it. I’m getting it! Thank you, God, for Your endless patience with me!

Yeah. I'm going to be meditating on that for a while! :)  I wonder what the next two months will bring?

So, THANK YOU (and God bless ya!) if you've read this far!

And now I am SO pleased to point you to the next hopper, Debra Blakely, who has also become an online buddy of mine! She's smart, funny, an amazing poet and leads a very interesting life! Gooooo, Debra!

And here's the whole list of participants:

Margie  http://xnomads.typepad.com/

Julie Ann  http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com

Lisa  http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Sam  http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com

Jenn  http://studiojenn.blogspot.com

Cheri  http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

Jan  http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com  <----YOU ARE HERE!

Debra  http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com  <----VISIT DEBRA NEXT!

Nikki  http://www.inkyart.com.au

Monica  http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

Rebekah  http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com

Lynn  http://crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Amanda  http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Jill  http://jillconyers.typepad.com/

Enjoy!

 

The Simple Things Sunday - 10-30-11

Snow! In Pennsylvania! In October! We had the girls overnight Friday and it started snowing Saturday morning as we sat around the dining room table coloring and "sticker-ing" and eating breakfast. It started off pretty sparse, but quickly turned to big, fluffy snow flakes and it wasn't long til the girls were hanging out the sliding door scooping snow off the deck and eating it. (Hey, I'm the grandma - we can do that!)

I think Maggie was especially amazed because, being that she's only two, I doubt that she really remembers the snow from last year. When Chris got home, he pulled out the boots he'd gotten for them last year - on sale, of course - and, they fit pretty well. So, out they went! If I could post their squeals of delight, I would! But I think Maggie's huge grin, above, says it all!

It looked pretty, but it can go away now and come back in about a month!

Happy Sunday...