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...)

I'm an Artist

At least, I feel like one. I have greatly neglected my blog and I'd said that I was going to blog more often. Well, there's only so many hours in the day, so many days in the week, right? After I've done the essentials around here (i.e. granddaughter care, personal quiet time, managing committments, meal planning/prep, exercise - most of the time - eating, sleeping, personal grooming, etc.), after all that, I sit down to take one of the several online classes I'm in and/or to hideaway in my art room to do "homework" and whatever else we artists like to call "work" but, in reality, is the most wonderful, joyful kind of play. Ah, I'm in love. My head is swimming... And I don't mean to imply that creating art is not essential. For me it is. But, I don't live by myself on a secluded dessert island, so I must practice balance. :)

I've now completed Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's "30 Days in Your Journal". If you are at ALL interested in art journaling, I can't recommend this online class enough. Julie has such a fabulous laid back (and often humerous) teaching style and makes everything easy and do-able. And I love the fact that this is NOT a huge investment of time each of your 30 days (and I did NOT do 30 consecutive days - another great thing about the class is that it's self-paced.) In fact, Julie emphasizes trying to get your art journaling (using her technique which involves journaling for many days on one progressive spread - like in my photos, below) done in 10-15 minutes a day. You will learn a LOT and you'll embrace "the mess" and toss out the idea of making "mistakes". You can find info on this class on her blog, here.

So, as I said, I've completed her class now and I'm art journaling ON. MY. OWN. Wow. I feel like I'm flying! I'm so thrilled. I will definitely continue using her technique of journaling (about 5) days on one spread - at least until I fill up my current book. But I also feel totally confident (so MUCH more so than pre-class) about going back to my faith journal now and doing singular spreads there. In fact, I'm really looking forward to doing that. So, yes, I will be joining the ranks of those who have more than 1 art journal going on at a time. I'm an artist, I tell ya!

Well, here's the last spread that I did "in the class". Julie started us on the first day of it and then we were on our own after that.

Just a note: I don't have any earth-shattering private stuff in there (it's just blather about my simple little life, ya know?) but I don't show these pages with the intention of anyone actually reading the content. It's about the visual.  :)

I was so happy to take my journal with me when we went to visit M&M in their new home in North Carolina (YAY!!!!!) last weekend. I just packed a few pens, number stamps, a tiny ink pad, a few embellies and a glue runner. All that fit in a little box about the size of a regular business envelope. Sweet. I loved being able to work on it everyday. (The key was to have the main focal art already in place beforehand - that would be all the stuff at the bottom in the spread you see above.) I added the photos after I got home and printed 'em out.

So, I'm also doing Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 101 class. It's also self-paced (I don't think I'd do it any other way anymore...) and I'm just now getting into the meat of it. I did the first 3 "technique" tags today and I LOVE them! (They're so much better in person.) I learned SO much just in this one day's class. Wow! So I know I'm going to love this as well.

Here's a peek at my tag homework:

I'm still working through Joanne Sharpe's Letter Love class. There's lots of homework and I can see that it's all going to be about practice, practice, practice. At the same time, I'm finding myself already putting to use stuff that I've learned in that class, as well. Here's the latest little piece I did for that class:

Last, but definitely not least, I joined the 21 Secrets Community. It is a whole community for art journalers and there are 21 teachers offering 21 workshops from April 2012 through January 2013. They're all available from day 1, so you choose where to start and then dive in - again, at your own pace. I'm SO excited about working through these workshops - my head is spinning! There's a gallery and chat rooms - like I said, it's a whole community. I haven't plunged yet, but will soon! After I decide where to start!

So, yeah, I'm feeling like quite the artist. And I'm loving it. Since I'm exercising regularly now and eating well, my energy is abounding. I even re-organized my cleaning system. All to say I'm not really going to neglect the other things in my life that are important. But I'm definitely onboard for feeding all my creative desires and dreams. And livin' up to my word this year - create!

Now, off to bed so I can tackle a new day tomorrow!

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!

One Little Word Blog Hop | December Assignment | 2012 Announcement

Welcome to my blog for our final blog hop for our 2011 word assignments from the One Little Word class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Maybe you've been wondering what this has been all about. Then read my post and follow the hop and you'll get a great idea of how it works. And, NOW is a great time to choose YOUR "one little word" to concentrate on for 2012 - and then I highly recommend the class given by Ali Edwards, the founder of "One Little Word". It will keep you thinking about your word all year long as well as inspire you to go deeper and even, possibly, change you life a little bit (or a lot!). I've really enjoyed this class and it has been instrumental in getting the most out of the word I choose for 2011 - FOCUS.

There is a complete linky list of everyone participating in today's blog hop all the way at the end of this post.

And with that, on to our final assignment for 2011. No surprise that we were to go through our album full of class assignments from 2011 and review and summarize our experience with our word. Ali provided a sheet for journaling our summaries.

Can I say? I LOVE my One Little Word album! I love how it looks and I love everything I've put in there. It inspires me all over again to re-read it all. And it's so interesting to see how this word evolved for me. I plan on simply continuing in the same album, by the way, for 2012, with the addition of a divider page or even just a tab on the first page of my 2012 assignment sheet. But, I digress.

Here's a snapshot of my summary page:

(click image to view larger)

 

And here's how it looks in the album:

 

When I started out the year with my word FOCUS, my intention was to use this word as a means of accomplishing things in many areas of my life that I felt I didn't really finish in 2010 with my word "simplify". I felt I needed to "focus" more on these areas in order to accomplish the goals I'd set. Sounds good, right? I quickly realized, though, that to focus on too many things was resulting in a feeling of being overwhelmed and not really being able to focus well on any one thing. And, I began to realize that what I really needed to focus on above all else was my relationship with God, especially in the area of my quiet time with Him in the morning. I'd gotten out of the habit of having that quiet time with any regularity, what with all the busy-ness that was my life. I realized that just in focusing on having this time - which I spend in prayer, reading the bible, sometimes journaling and often just listening to God - I would gain the focus I then needed for whatever thing happened to be in my path that particular day. I've written in a lot more detail about this in my past One Litte Word blog hop posts. They're linked below if you care to look back.

http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/02/one-little-word-bloghop-today.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/03/o.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/04/one-little-word-april-blog-hop-no-foolin.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/08/one-little-word-blog-hop-today.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/10/one-little-word-blog-hop-today-sept-assignment.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/11/one-little-word-blog-hop-october-assignment.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/12/one-little-word-blog-hop-november-assignment.html

To summarize, I realize now that God is not the aim of my focus, but the source of my ability to focus on what's in front of me that day. And I trust that God is in control and so orders my day. To put it in simple terms, I have found that I am able to better focus on whatever's in front of me on any given day by making sure that I am connecting with God at the beginning of each day. And not only am I better able to focus on what's in front of me, but I feel more of a connection to God's purposes and plans for me AND I feel a desire to glorify Him and be a good steward with what He's given me that day. A simple truth for life that HAS changed my life. (Disclaimer - I'm not perfect at this - and probably never will be, because I am, after all, human! But, because of choosing this word this year, I now realize how much I need to make this a priority - my focus, if you will - EVERY day!) Love it!

And now.........

drumroll, please.....

my NEW word for 2012 is...

(did you catch a glimpse of it in the last photo, above?)....

C R E A T E

I can't tell you how excited I am about this new word! Because MY plan is that it's going to pave the way for MUCH more activity in my art/scrap room this year! And that's the entire reason I chose it! Now, having said that, I'm fully aware that this little word may have more in store for me that I can even begin to realize right now. And that's why I'm so excited about it! I'm just excited to see where it will lead me and how my life will change because of it!

Another contender for next year was "move" - and heaven knows I need that word in my life! BUT, I signed up for Cathy Z's "Move More Eat Well" class for 2012 over at BPC and since that's an ongoing yearly class, I'm thinking that issue will be fully addressed!  :)

Here's a linky list of those participating in the hop today. I've noted where you are and where you're going from here. To simply continue on in order, click here to visit Jamie's blog!

And, before I go, I wish you a new year of abundant blessings!

Margie     http://xnomads.typepad.com

Cheri       http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

Veronica  http://veronicanorris.typepad.com

Kara        http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com/

Rebekah  http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

Sharyn    http://www.LaVieEnChic.com

Jill           http:/www./jillconyers.com

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

Monica    http://www.scrapinspired.com/

Lisa         http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Cynthia H http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com

Lee          http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife/

Abbey      http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/

Monica B  http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com 

Nikki        http://www.inkyart.com.au

Tere         http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

Melissa S http://blog.mshanhun.com

Nicky       http://seejanebake.blogspot.com

Stephanie http://www.scrapworthylives.com/

Jenn L      http://studiojenn.blogspot.com

Cindy       http://seriousplay.typepad.com

Amanda   http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Sam        http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/

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

Jamie      http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com  <------GO HERE NEXT

Karen      http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com/

My Poor Little Blog :(

I'm so sorry, my poor little blog, for neglecting you for the whole month! This photo pretty much explains how my life has been this month:

A whirlwind, I tell you! A whirlwind!

I hereby PROMISE you that I will be back next year in full force. Being that next year is a mere 9 days away, it's not so bad. Among other things, I will be participating in the January One Little Word Blog Hop which will be a final review of my word for 2011 (focus) and an announcement of my NEW One Little Word for 2012. I'm excited about it. If it adds to my life in 2012 what "focus" has added to 2011, well, let's just say it should be a very productive year! Can't wait. And if you've been considering choosing a single word to focus on for 2012, I encourage you to do so. It can be life-changing! I also encourage you to sign up for Ali Edwards' class at Big Picture Classes, because it will truly help you to stay focused on your word throughout the whole year.

Okay! I'm off for a day of scrapping (one final Christmas project) and then a date night tonight!

I wish you a most blessed Christmas and an exciting and joy-filled 2012!
See you on the other side!

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!

 

Autumn | Hot Dog Roast | Art Journaling

I'm in denial. It can't possibly be the last week in October. Okay, I guess technically it really isn't because there's two lonely little days that are still officially in October next week. But still. I just can't grasp that it will soon be November and that C-word holiday will be upon us soon. Ugh.

So - let's change the subject! :)

Well, first of all (hmmm, maybe I'm not changing the subject so much...) I got an early C-word present. Chris got his already (his golf passes for 2012 which had to be purchased now, I guess). So I went ahead and ordered - and received - mine - a shiny new iPod 4th Generation WITH camera/hd video recorder. I am in LOVE! Hey, the C-word thing is for children, anyway - grown, grand and otherwise... And, yes, we have actually started our shopping. Well, obviously, huh? But, I'm sayin' NOT just for US! Geesh.

So, I'm having fun downloading photography apps and playing around with them. Here are my first few attempts:

that's Chris's punkin art

 

and that's at our season finale hot dog roast last night

The photos are a very small resolution, so I'm posting them smaller than usual. I'm just learning and playing. But I love that I can just post directly to fb or whatever. And the video is fun, too! Same deal with that - instant posting to fb or email or whatev's. Love!

It was a perfect autumn evening for our hot dog roast season finale last night, I must say. The kids had a ball. Chris prepared some brats in addition to the usual hot dog, chips and salsa and s'mores fare. Chris and I took the girls for a little wagon ride at one point - through the woods and then back down the driveway. It was my first kinda "bigger" walk and it felt not too bad!

I'd the fall color is about over now. There are a few nice trees here and there, but it was kind of "dull" this year. I guess it was all that rain. I took this photo (with my "big" camera) out on the deck the other day - mostly browns, as you can see...

But, it's still nice to look at. Even Beatrix loves to look out the window at the falling leaves...

But the apples this year. They have been FABulous! Especially the honeycrisp. We've got them coming out the ying yang! We eat them out of hand, of course, but I've made pie, Chris has canned applesauce and I'm juicing them left and right! This is the common scene on our counter top:

And, last but not least, I've just been having so much fun playing in my art room.Lately, I've been messing around with mixed media for my art journal. It's so much fun. I'm really just playing around with techniques and trying to find my own unique "style". Anything goes, of course, which I love. If you check out my art journal photo album here on my blog, you can see what I've done previously (prompt generated, mostly) and how it's getting a little loose-er, a little free-er.

Here's a little of what I've been working on lately:

Not to be too self-critical, but this isn't my favorite journal page in the world. I think it's because it lacks a focal point. That's okay. So noted. But the message is pretty obvious - a common theme for me!

 

I messed with this dang page for the longest time. Kept changing it, adding to it, covering up what I didn't like. And now I like it! It's all about the fears I was trying to grapple with before my surgery...

 

The next two are backgrounds that I've created for future journaling. And this is where I'm really having fun just playing and trying out different techniques.

I LOVE how this turned out! I was inspired by Dina Wakely and the images she often uses as masks on her pages. Here, I cut out the "girl" image from a magazine and then used spray inks/mists over it after putting down my initial (aqua blue) background. I heat embossed the "grass" and "leafy" images at the top and bottom and misted over them as well. The embossing resisted the sprays which gave a cool effect. I added paint, a piece of journaling card and a printed transparency on the right and then tied it all together with the sprayed chipboard swirl. Now I only need to add some journaling!

 

This is just the beginning of a new page. I just slapped down whatever was left over on my brush or palette. I'll add more layers and colors, no doubt. But this is what a base looks like.

I just finished a really amazing and inspiring online event called True Scrap this past weekend which just makes me even more anxious to get in there! It was Thursday-Saturday and there were about 15 or so different classes taught by incredibly talented teachers from the scrapbooking, photography and card-making (and beyond) worlds. There was a live chat going on throughout the event and there were even make and take videos. It was really, really awesome and I can't wait until the next event which will be next spring. You can get information at the link I gave ya!

So now I have a TON of new ideas swimming around in my head and even more desire to get in my scrap room.

Right now, though, I'm off to babysit Maggie. So I'll leave you with a funny recent picture of her enjoying her big sister's sneakers...  LOVE!  :)

Hip Replacement @ 6 weeks | Chomping at the Bit | Granddaughter Goodness

Tomorrow, my new right hip will be six weeks old! Can we say, "awwwww"? While this journey has gone amazing well and the blessings have been abundant, I have to say I'm SO ready to get back to my regular life! No more crutches! No more walker! No more hospital bed! No more electric chair (um, that would be my auto-recliner), no more of those *&$#@*! surgical stockings, no more ice bags, no more coumadin and pro-times (ugh, my poor pin-cushion of an arm), no more being driven everywhere. No more! I'm OVER it all!  :D  Okay. Ahem. Just a tiny rant there. Hey, I haven't complained this WHOLE time!

I see my ortho-doc Wednesday, and he said 4 weeks ago that I'd most likely be walking out of this appointment on my own. I can almost taste it, people! I'm like the horse that's heading back to the barn - I can't get there soon enough. The wait has been torture these last days. I haven't cheated, but I WANT to so bad! I'm just dying to take my first steps. It's like when you're running a 5k (as IF!) and you're doing great at first because you're all psyched up and stuff, and in the middle you just keep going with your eye on the prize, but once you realize your almost done, that you're in the home stretch, and you can see the finish line, all of a sudden every inch seems longer, every step takes more resolve, you lose energy, you lose focus and you just want to be DONE! Well, I've never run a 5k, so I'm just talkin' out the side of my mouth. BUT, if I had and it was like that....well, that's where I AM. I'm not counting the days. Oh, no. (ha!) I'm trying to distract myself and keep busy so I don't count the minutes. Time is going sooooooo slowly.

Ah, well. I'm gonna live and I'll make it, just fine. ;)

Wednesday, I'm going to start sleeping in my own bed, for sure. And, I have a list for the doc. A list of "how long til?" items. The ice. The stockings. The driving. My walking program I've got all planned. Side Sleeping. Oooo. What about the hot tub? Hot tub season is fast approaching... And what about that dang 90-degree angle thing? (I'm not supposed to go past a 90-degree angle at my hip joint.) Sounds like no big deal, but I challenge you to try it for a day. I can't tie my own shoes. I can't shave my legs. Or get the box of rigatoni from the bottom of the pantry. Or load/unload the dishwasher. Or scratch the bottom of my right food (okay, I can use my reacher-thingy for that and, FYI, those things DO make excellent back scratchers as well). Heaven knows I can't paint my own toe nails, but, darlin' that's what we have pedicures for, n'est pas?

Speaking of which - I had my first pedi since my surgery just this past week! It was heavenly (and muchly needed!) Check out this cool color I got my toes painted:

It's like a dove gray with just a touch of purple. Interestly enough, we went to the Great Escape theater the evening I had my pedi and there's tile on the floor in there the EXACT color of my toes! No lie!

So, one of the bothersome things throughout my recovery has been Maggie's fear of my electric chair. She's deathly afraid of Chris's electric tables in at the office, too (he's a Chiropractor) and I really think my chair reminds her of those tables. Pre-surgery, Maggie was all, "grandma, grandma, grandma". Always wanted me, always asked for me, always lovin' on me. But when she first saw me in this chair, and especially when she saw me make the chair move the first time (with the little remote), well, she literally screamed and cried and she pretty much began avoiding me. She would very cautiously - if at all - skirt around the chair and she would NOT come to me while I was in it.

It's funny how small children sense when things just aren't right with you. Even when I got out of the electric chair and sat somewhere else, she was a little trepidacious at first. She knew I wasn't myself. She asks every time she comes, "Grandma done?".

It has gotten better though. She freely states, "I scared of Grandma's chair". But we've talked about it a lot and she will sit on my lap while i'm in the chair now. And she will even approach the chair on her own. Last week, I let E push the button on the remote to put the footrest part down. So Mags talked all week about wanting to push the button. Chris kept saying he wondered if she'd really push it. I kept saying are you nuts? Of course she won't. And, when she was here this weekend, I offered her the chance and, no surprise, she declined. :)

So, all this to say, that it's been a little heart-breaking not having the super mushy close relationship with Maggie during my recovery. She's sensed I'm not quite myself. But this weekend, that grand canyon of a loss was completely eliminated. She willingly came over to the chair with her books for me to read to her. And, best of all, later as we sat at the dining room table for dinner, she jumped into my arms after she was done eating, squeezed me around the neck with her little arms as tightly as she could and said, "I love you - SO much!". Ohhhhh. The angels starting singing, harps starting playing and I'm sure a few fireworks went off. I've got my Maggie back and my heart is soaring!  :)

We went outside to carve pumpkins and, at one point, I had the girls hop into a chair together in an effort to get a good photo of the two of them in the nice light. Hmmmmm, I think we've gotten to that point where it's going to be a real challenge getting them to BOTH have a nice smile at once. Here's a little sampling of the deterioration of the photo shoot:

Not bad. Mags doesn't have the best expressions. Let's try again...

 

Ooops! An airplane! See the airplane? While I do think this is a really cute photo, it isn't quite what I was going for...

 

Maggie? Look at Grandma! E, don't do that, silly!

 

Okayyyyyyy. We're done!

 

But I did manage to get some sweet shots of them individually...

 

And here they are working on E's HUGE pumpkin! Well, someone's working and someone's just standing there looking pretty cute!

What a glorious weekend. Life is good. I fully realize that, while some changes will be coming in my recovery, not everything will happen at once. It will continue to be a gradual process. I remember that it took about a whole year to get everything back to "normal" after my first surgery. I'm hoping that, as has been true with everything else about this surgery, "normal" will come a little sooner this time around. But, I'm willing to go with the flow and I know that it will all come.

In the words of Bob Wiley in one of my all-time favorite movies, What About Bob?: 

"baby step onto the elevator... baby step into the elevator.."