Visit me here!

I’m giving blogger another try, but who knows? I may be back here before you know it!

http://heartscrapsjan.blogspot.com/

Changing It Up!

Hi, all!

Decided to alter things a bit and try a Blogger blog.  I’m not deleting this one since I’ve got so many posts here, but for new updates check out HeartScraps here.

Thanks!

FYI

I’ll give away the scrapping goody later this week!  In the meantime, there will be a new challenge prompt up on Gutter Girlz today!!!

How long has it been?

Wow, everyday life sure has gotten in the way of my blogging!  Seems like i never have a minute to myself anymore. 

There has been so much going on!  I’ve enjoyed a great three months on TallyScrapper’s design team.  I really hate to see it come to an end, but there are some really talented ladies trying out, so I can’t wait to see who the next team will be.  Thank you TallyScrapper for making my first DT experience a great one!

I have plenty still to keep me busy though.  Check THIS out:  GutterGirlz!  I’m a design team member for GutterGirlz and you have to check us out!  Here’s what the site is all about:

“Ever wish that you could BE who you wanted to, to SAY what you felt like saying? To USE what you want to use when you create? Are you already free? Do you say what you want to, and fly the finger at anyone who tells you that you CAN’T use something because it’s not acid free? IF you answered yes to any of those questions, then we’d like to welcome you to the gutter!! A place where you are free to BE. Free to DO.”

You simply must check us out!  Come on and get real with us!  The new challenge is up June 30 so show us your art!

Personally, I have started a new job and so far so good.  Very happy with it and the way it’s headed.  And I think paychecks every two weeks is a huge plus!  I hated getting paid once a month with my old job.

Jake!  Man, is he growing up!  I look at my baby at times and I don’t see a baby anymore.  His baby face has turned into this boy child’s face, slim and angled with no baby fat anymore.  He’s getting taller by the minute it seems and the feet!  I’m not sure how I’ll keep him in shoes!  And now he cares about things I’d never thought he’d care about.  Like his hair!  Check it out!  He came home from Snip-its the other day with this new “style.” 

Can you tell it’s spiked in the front?  Same cut I think, but the lady “styled” it for him.  Good grief!  He’s just not supposed to care about this kind of thing yet!  I know I keep saying that, but dang!

Oh!  Big news is Scrapping from the Heart is having it’s 3rd charity crop on July 12, 2008 at Scrapbook Creations in Spartanburg, SC.  The proceeds will benefit SOAR Academy here in Spartanburg, a facility for children with special needs.  If you are in our area, please consider joining us.  Check out our website for more details and for more information about SOAR Academy!

Okay, so I promise not to stay away so long if I can possibly help it.  I’ll leave you with some of my most recent layouts.  Some of these were done with the awesome kits from TallyScrapper, who by the way, is having a cyber crop this weekend and will be ringing in the new design team Monday at midnight! PST, I believe.  And the new kit coming out July 15 was designed by Tally’s own Leah Crow…and let me just say…freaking awesome!!! 

One more thing!  Since I’ve not been good about keeping up with things, how about a peace offering?  Leave a comment and tell me your summer vacation plans and I’ll draw for a scrappy prize! 

PS: Not sure why Jake’s pic is showing up again, and I can’t figure it out so sorry about that!  I’m off to bed!  Thanks for reading!

My Poems for 06/02 and 06/03 – I am {I}nspired Blog

If you haven’t checked out thismonth’s challenge on I am {I}inspired, then please do.  We’re challenging you to write poetry this week, one poem a day for a total of five.

Here are my attempts for Monday:

I’d lost a friend over silliness for sure,
and afterwards I simply could not get over her.
Fourteen years went by like the wind.

I thought I was over everything,
had moved on in my life, but I couldn’t let it go.
I wrote that e-mail and clicked “send.”

That empty space I had is no longer empty.
She’d felt the same way all this time, and missed me, too.
I have my sister again; I have my friend.

 

And my poem written today:

Sparkling blue eyes
Your smile is a treat
Popsicle on his face
Dirty boy feet
Cars and bikes
Riding scooters on the street
Soccer and tennis
No matter the heat
Bath time and giggles
There’s dinner to eat
Bedtime hugs and kisses
My heart skips a beat
I love you my son
My baby so sweet

How’d I do?

 

 

Check it out!!

(I) Am Inspiration, that is!  I had the pleasure of issuing this month’s challenge, so think Poetry!!!  I’m working on mine and should have it here shortly!! 

Good Grief! Tagged Again!

I don’t mind being tagged, but heck! I’m never sure who to tag myself!  Okay, so Gina “Vinnie” B. tagged me so here I go:

Here are the rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 4 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 4 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog .

Fact #1

I eat no condiments!  No ketchup, mustard, mayo, nothing!  I don’t care for sauces of any kind.  Hamburgers are pickles only!  Hot dogs are plain!

Fact #2

I am so addicted to chapstick that I practically freak out if I don’t have any with me!

Fact #3

I have weird dreams about a guy I went to high school who committed suicide, and an example of how weird is that one night I dreamed he asked to borrow money from me and a few days later I dreamed that he paid me back!

Fact #4

To go along with Gina’s Fact #4, I never had morning sickness.  Not the first hint of nausea! 

Okay, so who can I tag? 

Leah

Kristina

Dawn

and

Breann

Okay ladies, this is my first time taggin’ so don’t be too hard on me! : )

Charm

I was listening to the radio on the way home from Jake’s soccer game yesterday, and the conversation was about something that people in this day and time are seeking.  In this day of soaring gas prices, unbelievable food prices, war, crime, etc., people feel that something is missing in their lives. 

I know I personally never watch the news anymore because even locally there’s just too much crime, too much drama, and even what is supposed to be “news” is more about “hollywood” and the “unreality” of it.  Is the fact that Brittany may be pregnant again really news or just silly gossip that in the big scheme of things means nothing?  I’d rather hear about the new academy for special needs children that has opened or even have a local look at 87-year-old Mr. Morrow’s vegetable garden and how he does it than whether or not Brittany has her kids back. 

What this radio personality said we were all longing for is CHARM.  Boy was she right!  I know she hit it right on the button for me. Does this ring true for you?   For instance, I drive through an older area of a town 10 minutes from here and the houses take my breath away.  I’ve done this for years hoping to see a for sale sign on my favorite. They were built probably in the 1920s or 1930s in the shadow of a textile mill.  The neighborhood is laid out almost in a grid pattern with adorable tree-lined streets.  For the most part the houses are “charming” craftsman style homes with clean white siding and colored shutters with the cement porches painted blue or a dark red, there are flower boxes on some of the windows, huge gardenia bushes blooming, and irises and hydrangeas showing off their color in almost every yard.  I could literally drive around and around taking in each and everyone of these houses, noting something I love about all of them.

The radio host went on to say that we all go looking for charm in different ways.  Some purchase homes like I mentioned above and create escapes from their 80-hour work weeks.  Some turn off the televisions altogether and try to bring a family closeness back into their lives. 

This is what I feel like charm is, what I miss, and what I’m searching out:  I remember walking up “the road” to my grandmother’s house, up to the top of the hill, stopping to pet the dog or the cat, and then opening the screen door at the kitchen, and calling yooooooohoooo!!!  (You never had to knock and the doors were never locked.) I’d hear a yoooooohooooo! right back and “in the bedroom!”   Of course, I knew that’s where she was because 9 times out of 10 if her chores were done, she was quilting.  I’d walk to the bedroom and there she’d be with a pieced quilt spread out on her bed in some phase of completion.  It might be a Dutch Doll pattern or flower pots, but it was always an applique style because that’s what she loved to do.  She’d ask me if I wanted a Pepsi or something to eat, tell me to clean off a chair, and ask me what I was up to.  The windows would be up all through the house and the breeze coming through made you think it wasn’t 90-degrees outside.  There was no AC, no fans going, it was just where the house sat under the trees in perfect placement with nature that created this setting. 

There we would sit and talk and laugh.  She’d make dinner for us and tell me not to worry about the dishes.  She’d walk me down the hill and halfway home, and of course I had to call her to make sure she made it safely back, too.

THIS is what I miss in my life.  Not just my grandmother, but that comfort, that CHARM of a lazy day spent with someone you love. 

Last night, we spent the evening with some friends.  It’s the closest I’ve come to the feeling I had way back then in a long time.  We left a little late to go over for the party, and when my cell phone rang (charming, right?) I knew it was Lisa checking to be sure I was okay and on my way.  Once there, it was that feeling of comfort.  Jake played, we sat outside and watched the birthday girl and her friends enjoy themselves in the pool.  We worried when Jake went with them down to the pond until they returned, but it was what you’re supposed to do…that kind of worry, not was someone going to abduct my child or something horrible like that.  It was just saying to Haleigh several times, don’t let go of his hand, watch him. 

And then what happend?  One of their neighbors came up and she and her daughter used to be our neighbors in another subdivision!  How nice to see them again!  Anissa and I were both pregnant at the same time, so we saw how each child had grown and changed in the few years since we bothed moved from the neighborhood. 

I know I’m rambling a bit, but it was refreshing.  It was calm in the middle of worrying about work and health and anything else.  It was cutting the birthday cake and watching presents being opened.  It was a charming evening. 

What I want to know now, is what is charming to you?   How do you describe it?  Can you relate to this at all?  Do you feel like something is missing or are you comfortable with things as they are?  Tell me! 

Gosh! How long as it been?

Let me just say I have good excuses! 

TallyScrapper has had another SELL-OUT kit!  Spring Fling is positively awesome and I hate that I couldn’t get a second one.  I’m a little behind in my layouts on this one (see above), but I’m working on a second as I write this update.  Don’t let not getting the kit keep you from visiting the site though; there is new Heidi Swapp in the store!! 

Here’s a layout I did with the kit.  Click on the image to get a closer look.  It’s not what it seems! LOL!

On top of MY job woes, we’re still kind of waiting to see how things go at Pat’s job and praying we won’t have to move.  Because of this, we’re still working on our spring cleaning and purging things that we simply don’t need to hold on to anymore.   Since I’m in between jobs, I have taken this week to try and get a little further in all the cleaning out we have to do still.  So far this week I have cleaned out two closets, cleaned the living room and rearranged the furniture, cleaned and rearranged the dining room, cleaned the kitchen (still need to clean out the cabinets), cleaned the master bedroom, and swept, mopped and vaccum these rooms as well.  I’m almost finished with my office.  What’s left?  Jake’s bathroom and bedroom to clean, the master bedroom closet to reorganize and clean out, the master bathroom to clean, and then that will leave the attic and the garage.  IF we should have to move, I certainly do not want to move anymore that we have to. And did I mention my feet hurt?

Of course, in between all of this, there was Mother’s Day.  My sister and I took my mom out for lunch.  We had a great time, and of course, I miss my sister so much that it’s always good to spend any time at all with her.

Jake has been sick this week, too, with a sore throat, congestion, cough.  Now I feel like I’m getting it.  Just great!

Oh, Pat decided to go ahead and purchase this:

Her 1996 Honda has been a good car, but she definitely needed to be replaced.  With gas prices as high as they are, most think she’s a little off buying the Highlander, but it came so highly recommended and these days with almost everyone in a larger vehicle, those of us still in sedans are at a big disadvantage, IMO.  The good thing is, Pat drives my car to work every day and I get to drive the Highlander!  I don’t drive nearly as much working at home, so I love it!

Last Saturday was Take a Kid Fishing Day at Cleveland Park here in town.  Jake caught 1 bass and 3 brim or sunnies.  I think Pat had more interest in the fishing this time than Jake did, but it was still fun for him.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but that’s what I get for staying away for a while.  Happy Friday everyone!!

 

Holy Shitake Mushroom!

I only read a few blogs other than my own and another I contribute to, and eventually I’ll get around to linking the rest of my faves here, but a must read every morning is Pioneer Woman.  Her photography is freaking fantastic, her writing is more than just humerous, and I feel a certain kinship to this redhead (I’m a read head, too.) for some reason, even though she probably thinks I’m a weirdo if she even reads my comments to begin with.  Anyway, she is giving away a NIKON D80 AND an HP photo printer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Do you have any clue how badly I want that camera???  I don’t think I can even express how much I want a new digi SLR since my poor old Minolta bit the dust.  Oh, I have a little digi Kodak camera that takes pretty good pics, but I can’t get artsy fartsy with it like I want to, and the zoom and macro just don’t zoom and mac enough.  Man, if I could win one thing in my life and never anything else, this would be it.  (I’m excluding the lottery here people!  Come on, I’m not THAT dumb!)  Is it selfish of me to pray to win this contest?  I guess it is a bit, but maybe if I ask for forgiveness for being selfish and explain how this camera would complete me, that would take the edge off??  Crap, I want that camera!