Post SIS Live '09

I'm baaaa-ack! Wow, it was a whirlwind weekend! My flights all went smoothly. I found rides to and from the airport and, even though I was the last one to arrive at the event, it was just a fabulous weekend. Every time I meet up with the FGirls, I'm getting to know them (and they, me) a little better. And that's SO great. I also got to see a lot of SISters that I'd met before AND it was so fun meeting so many I hadn't met before.

I LOVED meeting my secret sisters - the one I had and the one that had me. I was secret SIS to Denise and she was great. She really reminded me of my sister irl, Sue. But with lighter hair. :) I so enjoyed getting to know her a little through our "secret" emails and, even if I didn't actually make anything for her, I sure did have fun buying her little goodies for the past few months.


And the SISter who was secret SIS to me, Aimee, well, oh my gosh, I just can't believe the time and effort she put in to the gifts she made for me. Okay, she taught me what a really good secret SIS is! Thanks so much Aimee for everything!

By the time we learned who had who, it was more than halfway into Saturday and we were well-ensconced in our scrapping territory. Well, I was. I would have loved to spend a lot more time with these ladies getting to know them better and just sharing the experience a bit more. That seems to be my regret each time I get together with either the FGirls or the SISters. I wish I could have spent more time with EACH of them. But I'm really glad I had the time I did with my roomie, and with my table-mates - meaning the scrapping table, the breakfast/lunch table and the dinner table! I really had fun getting to know Diane and Marnie, who sat across from me. And Diane and Martha, who sat next to me, off and on.

Here's what the chaotic room we were scrapping in looked like:

Sunday was my birthday and I got all sorts of little gifties, and hugs and well-wishes. It was swell (though I wouldn't have minded a bit forgetting altogether that it was my birthday!). The highlight of the day was dinner with some of my FGirls. I ordered a fabulous meal and then, even though I was pretty darn full, decided that since it was my birthday, I would order dessert - key lime pie. YUM! THEN I found out that my meal was being paid for! Awwww. How totally sweet. It was SUCH a fun time.

Here are the FGirls that were at the event:

And, much to my surprise and delight, I did actually get some scrapping done! (I was determined this year!). I did the layout you see below. And I finished up my ATC's for June, which was great. Well, they're so dang quick to do. Here's the layout I made:

That's Dustin's Emily with her Aunt Mary Joe. They were so fun to watch together, not having seen each other for a while - and I love the photos I got, so wanted to scrap them. And there you have it! ;)

In other news, I had decided about a month ago that I wanted to re-do my scrap room - make it a little sleeker, a little less "cozy" by removing the carpet and laying down some durable wood flooring. I also got some cubicle-type shelving so I can have my stuff "out" where I can see it. I knew I would have to light a major fire under Chris's, um, BUTT, in order for this to happen any time within the next century. So I told him about my plan, got my shelving and then asked him to go in and make the measurements to my room while I was gone to TN.

Soooo, when he told me on the way home from the airport that it was supposed to rain on and off all week, through Friday, I grabbed ahold of the opportunity firmly with both hands and I said, "Great! You can purchase the flooring on Tuesday (with said measurements in hand), help me move out the bigger pieces of furniture and rip out the rug on Wednesday and install the flooring on Friday! Yipee!". Heh. He hedged and squirmed a bit, but after confirming for me that each of those things wouldn't take more than the day I'd designated them for, he tried to make me feel only a little guilty (which I had none of) before throwing up his hands in utter defeat and giving in. Now, I think even he would admit that this is NOT the way I normally operate. But, after 34 years of marriage (which we also just celebrated - on my birthday - "we" meaning the SISters and I because Chris wasn't exactly around) I have seen how the project timeline goes down. So, being that it's my scrapbooking stuff we're talking about being tied up for the duration, I was NOT willing to let this become a long, painfully and ridiculously drawn out process. I just couldn't because I need to be able to get at my stuff. I'm a professional, ya know? This is my job. And, well, I just want it DONE! :)

So, as we speak (so to speak), here's what my scrap room looks like:

Tomorrow he only has a few more staples to remove and then the flooring will go down. It will be up to me to go through my scrap stuff and purge as much as possible and then slap together (yeah, right - I'm well aware of how THIS usually goes) the three cubicle shelf units that I purchased. I hope beyond hope that they're not too much of a pain to assemble. I have done that stuff before, so, well, we'll see. If I can go through everything and get those shelves together so that we can move stuff back in there Monday, that would be aMAZing and wonderful! I'm not saying everything has to be perfectly in its place by Monday. I'll give myself the rest of the week to tinker away at getting everything just where I want it. But, I just can't wait. I always get so re-energized when I re-organize. And I'm just really looking forward to getting rid of the stuff I know I'll never use. (I do hope there's enough of it to make a difference. I will have to be strong.) It's true that the less stuff you have, the more the creative juices flow. Don't ask me why, but it is.

So, that's all I have for now. I'm off to bed so I can get up early enough to not hamper the beginning of the work tomorrow...(you know, hammering, pounding, noise and stuff like that...).

And, happy July!

In the good 'ol summertime...

Where, oh where has my little blog gone? Or maybe I should be asking where, or where has June gone? Chris took that photo above on a little rafting trip he, friend Gary and M&M went on. I opted out because I was working on something else. But, gorgeous day and gorgeous photo.

I was sick last weekend. I even had to miss the last two days (including the closing program) of VBS. I was so sad about that, but what can you do? It was "just" a cold, but it just sucked the life out of me. At least it traveled pretty fast and I'm about over it now, but each day there was some new thing that just put me down. I was in bed a LOT! Ugh. It feels like I lost a month of my life.

And I haven't exercised in a week. I hate that, too, because I had some GOOD momentum going there. I was just about done with the Wii Sports Active 30-day Challenge. But, I do want to continue and I will.

Today and tomorrow I'm packing up for the SIStv 2 year anniversary crop and celebration event in Nashville, TN. I'll be leaving in the wee hours Friday a.m. and will be home late Monday evening. So, this is my birthday present to me! ;)

Emily is about ready to burst with child. Lookie here:

I just hope it doesn't happen while I'm away. They're going to induce her July 13th if she hasn't already popped our little girl out by then. The photo is from a Sunday afternoon we had at World's End State Park a couple weekends ago. Chris's birthday weekend, actually. Or, at least, that was our excuse to go picnic.

So, yes, summer is beginning to show it's lovely self around here - in between the torrents of rain and chill. Hopefully, she's just shaking out the last of winter and spring and is here to stay now.

With that, I'm off to get packin' for my trip!

What a gorgeous day in PA. It wasn't sunny all day - it even drizzled a little at one point. But it was the perfect temperature and the birds were singing and it was calm and just really pleasant. Oh, how I love these kinds of days. We chose to spend it finally buying some flowers for the window boxes, the porch and the deck. Well, really, we didn't have much choice because it's just been either too cool or too rainy or we've been too busy to get them before this. And Chris leaves Wednesday for a golf tournament (and works tomorrow) - so TODAY was the day. And even though this is something I've done on my own in the past, I really appreciated having Chris to help lug things around for me. :)

I do have some perennials blooming - the knock-out rose and the lamb's ear pictured above, left are a few of them. It had just rained the morning I took those photos and the drops were all lit by the sun. So pretty. The photos on the right are of a butterfly that was just as delighted as I was that I had flowers strewn about waiting to be potted. It's such a great feeling of accomplishment to get this chore done.

And, apparently, I had energy to spare because I decided to clean off and wipe down the entire front porch after getting all the flowers in. I still have a few more plants to add, but it's almost as if I felt for the first time that NOW summer had begun. Yeah, yeah - I know it's not really summer yet, but it feels like it now! And I just so enjoyed sitting in one of the porch chairs enjoying my little lunch while hummingbirds, bees and butterflies buzzed by. Lovely.

We invited the younger of the two Barlow offspring and family up for dinner, but Emily wasn't feeling well, so it was just Eva and Dustin. Eva is SO in love with our little Beatrix, she just wants to carry her around all the time, which I felt a need to limit because I do want the kitty to be blissfully happy here, too. :) But that kitten is truly the sweetest - and funniest - little thing ever. And Chris brought out this train whistle which Eva also giggled and giggled over as we made a big deal about the "Eva train" 'a comin'! She just delights in everything. And it was so fun to watch her watching a hummingbird feeding for the first time. Everything is new again as we see through her eyes.

So, all in all, a good day. I'm going to go shower off the dirt and sweat of the day and hop into bed...

Where have I been? To the annual LYFE conference for ladies! LYFE stands for Living Your Faith Everyday. It's an excellent conference that's 2.5 days of excellent teaching, great food and just the kind of good 'ol FUN that you have when you get away with your friends. This year they offered the photo shoot, so we had fun with that.

I also took a class from SIStv last week called Home Is Where the Art Is and given by one of our more "famous" Fashionistas, Claudine Hellmuth. She has her own line of paints and medium and sticky-backed canvas AND she's even appeared on the Martha Stewart show with her unique artwork techniques. I can add that she's a great online teacher! I loved the class, which involved making a little sampler of various mixed medium techniques. So FUN! I can't wait to begin incorporating some of the techniques into my other projects. I'm so glad I'll have this project as a reminder of what I did!

Chris and I went away Memorial Day weekend. Normally, we go on a one-day road trip. But this year, Chris suggested that we do an overnight and since it involved a meal at Teresa's Next Door AND a night in a hotel, well, how could I resist? There was a parade right in front of our hotel on Memorial Day and then we headed out and stopped briefly to visit Kevin and Ann and meet little Ava for the first time. We also stopped at Bill and Julia's in Mt. Gretna. I guess I forgot to pull out my camera for that short visit. Too bad, because they live in a really cool setting. Here's my collage of the parade AND little Ava is in there, too:

Last week was VERY full with getting caught up from being gone and then going away yet again to the LYFE conference. LIFE has been a whirlwind of activity! We finished off the week by going to Milheim, PA to see a local (sort of) Zydeco band. Unfortunately, Matthew had to work, so he missed it, but Chris and I went with Martha and Gary. (Deborah also had to do some catching up after being at LYFE with me, so she missed it, too.) And when I say, "missed it", I do mean "missed it" because they were fabulous. They were playing at a little natural foods cafe out in the middle of NOwhere. And it was pretty filled up with people. At one point, every single person in there was up dancing. You just couldn't help it! Fantastic and soooooo fun!

Yesterday was MY day to try to begin catching up. And I'm sort of continuing in that mode today. I went through my entire wardrobe yesterday morning - throwing out the unsightly and the unfitting, putting away the fall/winter and bringing in the spring/summer - all before ever coming down for my morning coffee. That happened finally at 11 a.m. Then I did some laundry and went about getting caught up on a few other things. M&M came over in the afternoon, so we took a break with them. Then Chris took Eva to a pet parade and carnival (I wanted to stay far, far away from the carnie food...) and I made my dinner and went down to crash in front of tv - something I haven't done for ages. I watched the 3 latest and newest episodes of John & Kate Plus Eight. *sigh* It's almost too sad to watch now knowing that their marriage may be breaking up. What is wrong with people? I'm sure it's complicated and I don't really know anything, but by their own admission they may not stay together. Eight little kids. Sooooo sad. If other people feel the same way I do, (too sad to watch) it will kill the show.

ANYway... THIS was a morning I've been looking forward to ever since we've adopted this little cutie:

She went to the vet's to get her claws removed. Now don't freak out. I fully intend on keeping her exclusively INside (although, she has actually escaped outside a couple times, but only for a few seconds - she's FAST!). That's our little Beatrix. Yeah, she's awfully cute, but don't be fooled. I wear her scars. She has inflicted more pain, drawn more blood and left more scabs on me than any cat I've ever owned. I covered the furniture just enough to keep it from being ruined. And she was light enough that the several times we caught her hanging from the TOP of the still like new, very expensive sliding door screen, it didn't actually do any damage. Geesh! That cat is CA-RAzy! She will be in for a bit of a surprise once she heals up, but I'm sure she'll adjust well. She'll just have to perfect her jumping (and landing) skills, because she will no longer be using her claws to do it. I'm sure she'll continue to entertain us with her antics and I won't be surprised if her attempts at jumping without claws will cause some accidents, but overall, I will be breathing a huge sigh of relief. And I think Rocky will like it better, too, as I've seen evidence of her boldness on him, too! Geesh.

Now I'm off to exercise and get some meal planning done. Perhaps, if I find the energy to brave the masses, I'll go get groceries this afternoon. I think a trip to WalMart is definitely in the plan. But Wegman's may have to wait until tomorrow when it won't be so busy (because I couldn't get there until after 4 p.m. at the earliest today and that's when everyone's getting out of work, too). Sayonara.

Flea Markets and Faith Journals

Okay, so don't tell anyone, but I *gasp* skipped church yesterday and went to the flea market with Martha. I think it's really important to spend some quality one-on-one time with your daughter-in-law, don't you? Gotta build those relationships, right? So I thought it was really a spiritual decision to give up church to spend time with her... Right?

Okay, fine! But, hey, since we've been committed to our little local church, this is the first time in years - YEARS I tell you - that I've skipped church when I wasn't actually out of town. And I don't feel too guilty about it. Maybe just a little.

Here's a little photo montage of the flea market:

Martha ended up buying what she's pointing at, which you can't see in the photo, but it was a large and very old, kinda grungy, but in a cool way, crucifix and also those little musical people in the middle photo.

I bought the vintage sheet music and the Longfellow poetry book (for $1.25 total). Of course, you will see pieces of said items featured in upcoming scrapbooking projects.

It was a beautiful morning, albeit a tad chilly, and I'm glad I went. Chris had a seminar he had to go to and our Pastor's college-aged children are leading the music for the next month, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to duck out. I was tempted to go to Border's after I left Martha's and buy an expensive coffee and leisurely-ly (?) read a magazine and/or to walk through Michaels or Target, but I knew these things would all lead to needless spending, so I refrained. Instead, I came home and read the paper - okay, did half the crossword - and fell asleep with my fuzzy little Beatrix in my lap and my devoted Rocky plastered to my side. What could be sweeter? Only coming home after our business meeting last night and watching the 3 hour finale of Survivor and seeing J.T. win it. Maybe not sweet-ER, but JUST as sweet, anyway!

Another project I was able to work on this weekend was the beginning of a faith/art journal that I'm keeping to record my thoughts while going through an online study I'm doing with some friends. Right now we're studying about joy.

So, here's the journal:

And here's the first page:

(as always, if you click on the image, you'll get a closer view) I'm so looking forward to expressing my thoughts and feelings and meditations on the subject we're studying through art journaling. I've been perusing some great art journaling magazines lately and have been really inspired to do this. Also, the galleries at SIStv are so full of beautiful art journal pages, so I'm feeling really inspired - in many ways! :)

Yeah, it was chilly at the flea market yesterday morning, but it was NOTHING compared to THIS morning. Which is fine for me, because I got up around 8:30 a.m. (it was about 37 degrees) and hopped into the hot tub - and listened to the birdie symphony, thank you very much. But Chris and Gary and M&M all went up to the Pine Creek area and were going to kayak and canoe down the creek today. Yowsa. I just stepped outside at about 11:15 and it was barely 50-ish - HERE. So, up there, it's certain to be a lot cooler. That wouldn't be SO bad if that water wasn't ice cold as well. Yeah. I'm glad I didn't go on this trip. I think I only want to be in a boat on the water (and especially a kayak-y or canoe-y type of boat) at such a time that if said boat would suddenly flip over and spill me out of it, the water would be a welcome refreshment, not a shocking, hypothermia-inducing, breath-sucking death machine. Um, yeah. I know Martha wasn't looking all that forward to the same stuff I just described, so, hopefully they dressed accordingly and all will have - literally - smooth sailing.

Well, seeing that it's almost 1 o'clock and seeing that I want to exercise sometime today and seeing that I'm going out tonight and seeing that I also wanted to continue my scrapbook room purge - well, SEE ya!

Here's my latest for One Little Word, the word this time being "two". (You can see the credits for this layout here.) I already told the story about how these photo came to be taken in this post. I'm so glad M&M allow me to take their photos - at least some of the time. My other daughter-in-law, who is incredibly beautiful and photogenic really resists the camera. Too bad. Our loss. So, being the shutter bug (and I mean bug!) that I am, I really do appreciate it when I am allowed to snap away...

Okay, I will say I had the most delicious meal yet at the Old Forge Brewing Company last night. It was cajun scallops with roasted red pepper aoli sauce over lemon rice pilaf. Oh my gosh - DEEEEElicious, Martha! And PERFECTly cooked Dustin. (Oh, how I love that my children can create one of my favorite things in life - a great meal!). I actually asked the waitress to convey to the cook (my son) to take it easy on the "cajun". And he presented me with really the perfect amount of seasoning. Because I tried one of Chris's scallops with the full seasoning and it would have been too spicy for me. But mine was perfection and the scallops just melted in your mouth. And the combination of flavors - the cajun, with the aoli and the lemon rice - just WOWser! Really exceptional. Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!

My toe is just about healed and I'm getting all excited about exercising again. Okay, sure, I probably could have found something to do, but I've found that if I take a little break from something sometimes, it really refreshes my motivation to get back into it. Plus, Wii is coming out with a new fitness "game" this week that I totally want to get. It's a circuit training kind of thing that measures your progress and grows with your abilities. Can't wait for that. Wii has definitely changed my level of activity and jump-started my working out again.

It's kinda gloomy out there today. Chris is bringing home Eva after work today - but just til after supper since she's not spending the night tonight. Chris has a seminar tomorrow, so Martha and I made plans to do something I've been dying to do with her, but never have had the opportunity because of my committment on Sundays. But, for the next month, Robby and Emily will be taking over the leading of the song service. That doesn't mean that Chris and I won't go to church at all (though that's the case THIS Sunday...), but it does mean that we have a little freedom to do some other things that have been begging. And we can take this opportunity to sit under Matthew's song leading as well. Love it!

So, anyway, the gloom is really the perfect atmosphere for me to get in my scrap room. If it was gorgeous out, I'd want to be outside.

My biggest dilemma of day is whether to MAKE cookies (for youth group Sunday night) or to have Chris pick some up at the store. I think I'll go ponder my recipes and make up my mind right now. And then get some (paper) scrapping done...

Kittens

That's our new little girl, Beatrix. She is sooooo sweet and cuddly. Her face is just mesmerizing, it's so cute. But don't let that fool ya, because she is TROUBLE. With a capital T. My thigh is just covered with scratch marks where she digs in to crawl up on my lap so she can then sit on the desk while I'm at the computer. I put her back on the floor - and she climbs back up. If she's willing to chill, I do let her sleep in front of the keyboard. (Okay, that's probably why she keeps trying...) I was working at my desk the other day and heard her making some noise, looked up, and there she was - at the TOP of the screen door, hanging. Oy. I do love that she wants to be where I am, but having her walk across my face and choose to sleep on my neck, well, it's not real conducive to getting a good night's sleep. Neither is having her get an energy spurt at 5:30 in the morning and being hell-bent on stripping my sneakers of their shoelaces. This doesn't go over real well with Chris, either. I think there will be a baby gate in our future - to keep her downstairs at night until she's a little more, um, mature.

And Rocky. Oh, poor Rocky. She just. will. not. leave. him. alone. At first he just ran away from her, but now he tolerates her relentless attacks - mostly of his tail. But that girls attacks ANYthing. Even air. She's ca-RAZY! And she and Rocky have actually been seen curling up together. Okay, Rocky was asleep on my lap and Bea was asleep on my shoulder, so I laid her up against him. But neither minded. And Rocky does play with her. I mean, if he wanted to, he could probably bite her neck and put an end to it all. But he doesn't. And she has nailed him with her claws. But all that will change after June 2nd when she will get de-clawed. At least her front claws. My thighs AND my leather furniture will be grateful. If that process doesn't prove to be enough, then we'll have the back ones removed when we get her spayed in September. After which time I'm predicting that she'll be much more settled down.

I love kittens, though. They're just so cute and entertaining. And Beatrix tops them all in both departments, that's for sure. It's so fun just to sit and watch her antics. I know, I know. She won't be a kitten forever. But by then it will be too late. I'll be hopelessly in love with her. I already am.