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.

Motherhood

It's the hardest job. And it's the best job. I feel their every pain. I share their every joy. This job doesn't end. I'll be their mother forever. And that's okay. I wouldn't have it any other way. This is such a wonderful "phase" of motherhood that I'm in. I get to see my children settling in to their own lives. Married. Having pets. Having children. I have to remember that they are adults now and don't always want the advice I so often have at the ready. (I have to remember how I felt at their age.) But, I just enjoy them so much. Enjoy laughing with them. Enjoy chatting with them. Enjoy sitting and watching a movie with them. And enjoy sharing a meal with them. I still wish I could wave a magic wand and make their lives nothing but happiness and success. But then I would deprive them of a lot of growing and maturing. And so, I sit back and take them in like a sweet fragrance and just relish each moment I have with them. I am SO grateful they both live near enough that those moments are often. I am SO blessed. I love you Matthew and Dustin.

I love you madly.

Mom

A Little Spring Cleaning

Saturday was National Scrapbooking Day! And us Fashionistas were able to put out some challenges on the boards over at SIStv. Oh, there's just a ton of inspiration over there. I wasn't able to get much scrapping done - only a page for my own challenge (which was pretty fun, I might add). But at least I know I can check back to the boards and do some of those challenges some other time. And I will, because they're all awesome! :)

My challenge was to use product from when you first started scrapping - or at least "older" product. AND to use at least one "older" photo on your layout. So I made that layout above. I cracked open some packages that had NEVER seen the light of day - what a good feeling that was! You can read the story about the layout here on my SIStv gallery post. The older photo was taken exactly (according to the flower bloom time) 24 years before the newer photo. I just love BOTH photos to death.

Okay, so I've pulled out my cleaning system cards again. Yes, I'm in the mood, so I'm definitely gonna GO with it! I'm supposed to be cleaning out the fridge and cleaning the toaster oven and can opener today. (In addition to a few daily tasks which I will spare you the mentioning of here. And I plan on doing that. BUT - it gets better - Chris's golfing fell through today because it's raining (yes, I guess it DOES rain on the golf course, after all!) SO now we are going to go through the kitchen cupboards and get rid of crap. I LOVE doing this kind of stuff. So, I'm gonna put on some "removing the crap" music and get started. Cuz, I do have OTHER things to do today as well!

That's my latest digi for One Little Word. The word is journey. You can find the credits here. My Sam is on his way. Well, technically, he's not MY Sam. He's my friend Deborah's Sam. But I've known him since he was a red-haired cryin' baby boy and, gosh, I love him! So, now he's finally busting loose of the apron strings and out on his own. He's going to a great design school in the Chicago area. And I'm SO excited for him! So excited to see what he'll do and where he'll go. I envision him on one of those design shows on HGTV! :)

Well, we just brought Eva here to meet our little Beatrix. So I'm going to go play with them and make some lasagne for dinner! I'm off!

My mind is spinning from all this blog stuff! I think I'm beginning to understand - but now I sure do wish I'd learned HTML when I was going to...

Our new little girl (Beatrix the kitten) is doing SO well. While she and Rocky are not best of buds yet, she has eaten and is exploring the first floor a little. She didn't cry one bit last night. I set up a "cave" for her (i.e. a box with a soft towel) on the couch and she likes to nap in there. I keep putting her in the bathroom - where I also have her food and water right now - and she's doing fine finding her way in and out. That's good. And she is warming up to me as well. She's at my feet right now. She actually comes to me and she was purring with me a minute ago. So all is well.

Now, I've GOT to get to my banking! This computer stuff is majorly eating up my time!

Hey! Notice anything, um, NEW??? I'm taking a class from SIStv called "Bling Our Your Blog (2.0)". I've been so wanting a 3-column blog and to learn how to truly make it my OWN. Sooo. Here I am. I've had a bit of a time with adjustments and stuff, but I'm good with it. And the class continues all week, so I imagine it's just going to get better!

In other news - wow - so much is going on! First of all, Richard's little son, Sebastian Thomas, was born to Cathy yesterday:

I just love that big smile on Kellie's face. I know this grandson brings the life of Richard right back to her, to us. And that is a huge blessing.

We're getting a new addition to the family as well - TODAY! Check out this cutie-pie:

Oh my goodness - is that not the cutest little kitten? She will be all ours before the day is out. I think we might name her Beatrice. My friend Tina's granddaughter named her "burnt toast". :) Martha loves the name toast, but I'd like something a little more feminine. We'll see. :)

Speaking of cuteness, how about this gooey sweetness:

Awwww. We were going out for the day on Monday - Martha's birthday - and all the little flowers were out in the cemetary at the end of our driveway. And I mentioned how I had the cutest picture of Matthew and Dustin when they were little laying in those flowers. So, of course, we had to stop and re-create the sweetness...

Here's the original photo:

That's Matthew on the right, Dustin on the left. This was taken in 1985, so 24 years ago. Matthew was 7, Dustin was 5. Sooooooo cute! Hahahaha!

Okay, one more adorable thing to throw at you. And that's my latest layout from the SIStv Drama Queen collection. Chris took the photo of Eva:

We had a fun "hawaiian" themed party for Martha's birthday Sunday night. The weather MORE than cooperated, because it was actually HOT! But that's okay! It made for one of the most lovely summer evenings - in APRIL. Amazing. We had a great time. And I just have to show you one more photo of the beautiful birthday girl:

Pretty, pretty girl. We love her... :)

Well, I think my posterior is permanently attached to my desk chair. And I have more to do! Besides, I think that's all the new stuff a person could handle right now!

Wait! It's Wednesday already? Good grief, this month is gonna fly by, too, isn't it?

First, I want to post a couple of projects. I got the new SIStv collection, Drama Queen, the night before we left for Madison, but do you think that stopped me from staying up into the wee hours working on a layout? Of course not! And here's the one I made of my little Eva:

I had already set aside this photo to scrap with some other papers, but when I got the collection, I thought it went perfectly with what I had in mind. Now I need to get some play time in with the rest of the collection!

Right before I went to Madison, I also whipped up this mini for my mom using our 2008 year in review photos:

I pulled out an older BasicGrey mini book and papers for that one. I think it went perfectly with all my photos. You can see the whole thing in my SIStv portfolio here.

So, I think we had a really great visit with my mom in Madison. It went super fast! (That seems to be theme of this post!) I took Mom to an appointment with her surgeon - Chris and I went, along with Gail. What a wonderful man. He was so patient and kind and understanding of Mom's situation. He reiterated what he had told Mom back in September when I was there. Mom just has a really hard time coming to grips with it all. No more walking. Her mode of transport will always be a wheelchair - or a power chair. And she will require 24/7 care for the rest of her life. Unfortunately, that's very expensive, so there needs to be some investigation into how to do that the most economical way. Unfortunately, Mom can't get to that because she's still refusing to believe what the dr. has told her. It's a never-ending cycle of why's and how's and I wont's and it's preventing her from doing what she really REALLY needs to do.

I even made a layout about it today! The new word up at One Little Word is "no". Here's the page I made:

If you click on the image, you can get closer to read the journaling. I wanted to make it kind of old-fashioned looking. I love that quote on there, too. Perfect for Mom. I'll send it to her in a card...

In other news, Dustin and Emily and Eva haved moved to a new rental. Actually, it's an older home in Muncy - very "historical" looking inside and out. I'm surprised at how filled up they have it! We were over there painting in the kitchen tonight, which needs to be completed before they can put away their kitchen stuff... Oy.

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to having "tea" (real tea, all you FGirls...) with my friend, Tina. After I finish my banking. It's supposed to be in the 60's and then Friday in the 70's. We were planning on kayaking, but I know I'm going to need some time in my scrap room. But, I am looking forward to some time with Tina - and meeting all her little kittens. (Watch out, Chris!). And I'm SO looking forward to flinging my windows open on Friday and airing out my house! I'll be busy scrapping, but that doesn't mean I can't let the air in! Can't wait!

Dang! I feel good. I ate a bunch of stuff I really didn't want to in Madison - proving to myself that I am still very weak and that I simply can't have "junk" in the house. So I decided to fast yesterday. And it went really well. If I gained any weight while I was away, it's gone now! And Martha's right, my scale and the Wii scale do NOT agree! Martha says her scale is the same as the Wii scale and I'm hoping it's right. That means I've lost more than I thought I had! Whew!

Anyway, then on the way home from the airport, we met up with Martha (and Matthew) for dinner and Martha announced that she's giving up sugar until her birthday in a couple weeks. So I figured, what the HECK! So will I! And it's been going great and I'm tellin' ya - I feel excellent. And I wasn't hardly even eating much sugar before. Just the occasional dessert while out (usually splitting it with Chris) and I had some when we had a big dinner here. But, other than that, I don't have ANYthing sweet in the kitchen. (I say that, because Chris does have his personal stash in his office, but I don't touch that...) But now, I'm using agave juice and 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee instead of creamer and sugar. And I'm staying away from stuff that has white sugar in it. Like cereal, peanutbutter, etc. I've already got a nice stash of sugar-free, "natural" and organic stuff, so it wasn't hard at all. Anyway, my point was, dang! I feel good!

Over and out.

Ummm, did I ever mention that there's a WINNER for each of the "One Little Word" challenges? Wellllll, check this out! :)

(Credits for this layout can be found here.)

That's my latest digi for One Little Word - "Ready". I really like that these challenges are causing me to think and to go deeper in my scrapping. That's what I was looking for. So, thanks, ladies, for bringing it each week!

That's what I'm looking for in my weekly ATC cards as well and, no offense meant at all to the ladies that put out the prompts on ScrapGal for Challenge '09, but I just haven't been as inspired as I was last year when I was working off of Emily Falconbridge's ATC prompts from 2007. So, I say if ain't broke, don't fix it. Emily is doing prompts again this year - she's making tags, but they can be used for whatever you want. Obviously, for me, I will continue with ATC's. Her prompts are called 52Q and are on her blog, here. I'm going to try to start today!

Maybe. Because I have a lot to do today and it's already almost noon. I generally give myself the a.m. to do my devo's and then spend time online. But I also need to do the church banking this a.m. (which I ususally do on Thursdays) because we're heading to Madison on Wednesday. I have laundry in the washer that I need to pull out and I need to finish the mini I'm making for my Mom.

Okay - so I'm OFF!
Happy Easter week!

Let me introduce you to Nathalie Kalbach. She's an amazing mixed-media scrap artist and I've known her for almost 2 years. She's from Germany and she was in NYC last weekend to teach a series of workshops. I've watched, with fascination, her technique-teaching videos. Besides her lovely accent and sweet nature, she's just SO talented. And I LOVE watching talented people do their thing. So, when she told me a few months ago (she's also a "SISter" on SIStv) that she was coming to the US of A, I asked Chris about the possibility of planing a little trip to the city so I could take one of Nat's workshops. And he was all for it! YAY! :) So, there she is teaching a workshop featuring an acrylic mini-album using lots of paint techniques. What a great idea for an acrylic album, which is see-through. Wonderful!

I had Chris snap this photo of the two of us after Nat's fabulous workshop. I not only had a blast learning from her and scrapping with her, but I was thrilled to be able to actually meet her in person for the 1st time (and I hope not the last!).

I'm a pretty slow scrapper (but getting better) and so it's no surprise that I didn't finish my mini album while at the workshop. Plus, I added pages to mine, doubling it. BUT - I am now finished and I just wanted to give a little peek of it. Here it is:


I made my book all about a trip to the new Children's Library up in Williamsport - part of the James V. Brown Library that Matthew works at. And, we took Eva up there for the afternoon shortly after it opened. I took a ton a pictures and wanted to scrap them, so thought this mini would be the perfect project for those pictures. Here's a different view where you can see all the layers of the book:

Here's the very first page where you can really see how transparent the pages are. Chris asked me about the little page # stars and they are actually all part of each acrylic page. I just painted them, added numbers and then sealed them with diamond glaze to protect the paint from handling. I know Eva is going to LOVE looking (many times) at this book in which SHE is the star! :) This little book is about 5" x 7" or so - and was just a blast to make.

And here' a shot of the back cover.

I just love all the bright colors. It feels so energetic and fun - just like the time we had at the library! If you'd like to see all the pages up close and personal, just click here to go to the album as posted in my portfolio on SIStv.

Due to the lateness of the hour, that's all I have to say for now! ;)

Well, there's two very different pages for you! As always, you can click on the image to see it more closely. Credits for the digi page (the top one) are here. The top one is my layout for One Little Word (the word is "Real"). The bottom one is my submission to a scrapping magazine gallery for their "Make It Yours" challenge.

Oh, um, YAY SPRING! Yes! Today is the day. And although it's quite chilly outside here right now, it's supposed to be gorgeous for the next several days with temps near and into the 50's. Can we take our snow tires off now, do ya think? I'm SO over winter!

Tomorrow we're heading to New York City. I'm super excited to be meeting a long-time SIStv friend of mine, Nat Kalbach. She joined SIStv just 3 days after me and I've been a huge fan of her AND her work ever since. She's from Germany and she's stateside right now to teach some workshops. So Chris and I have made a little NYC trip planned around this workshop that I'm going to take from Nat on Sunday. I'm CAN'T wait!

First on our agenda to the city, though - Saturday evening - will be dinner at Nino's. Chris (and my mom) and I discovered this treasure quite by accident many years ago when we were at The View (top of the Marriott in Times Square) one afternoon and discussing where to have dinner that night. A friendly New Yorker (and I've discovered most are!) recommended Nino's and it's been our very favorite ever since. I've lost count of how many times we've eaten there, but every time I do, I have "the best meal I've ever had". Truly. And the best service. There's NOTHING like fine NYC dining service. Those of us in northeast PA have NO idea what good service really is if we're only eating around here. Sorry, but it's true.

Sunday a.m. we'll get up in time to get me to my class and then after that I think we're gonna tool around in Central Park, since we'll be staying on the west side near there. I haven't seen much of the north part of the park, so that will be cool. I will definitely have my camera with me. We're kind of open for dinner Sunday night, but we're thinking about an Irish Pub. We'll see. I love playing it by ear, but you have to be careful in the city because there's SO much to choose from that you can waste a LOT of time making a decision and then end up rushing around and missing out. The night will be ours, though. We can stay up late and sleep in Monday.

And then Monday we'll head over the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We'll be able to spend a good four hours there - a drop in the bucket, really, but that's about all the museum I can bite off in one chunk anyway. Can we say Ibuprofen?

So tomorrow morning I'll do my packing. Packing for NYC is always sort of a conundrum for me. I don't want to look tourist-y. But, yet, my feet MUST be comfortable. It's hard to look urban in sneakers. Unless they're way cool sneakers, which mine are not. And I need to be careful of what I wear for my workshop because there WILL be paint involved. But I don't want to go in sweats and a tee shirt, which is what I most definitely would be wearing around here if I were scrapping - especially using paint. So that will be a challenge. I think I've got the Nino's outfit figured out. And for the museum, sneakers for SURE! At least we're driving and I don't have to worry too much about hauling a heavy suitcase. My valet (Chris) will be dropping me off and picking me up at the door... :)

Unfortunately, Chris's computer acquired a major virus and so it's being fixed. The guy is very familiar with the bug, but Chris got it bad and the fix will take longer than expected. So we may not be able to take the laptop into the city, which will be a bummer, because it's really handy. And also because I'll be out of touch with SIStv and fb and email and all my "fixes". Hopefully, I can run up and get it Saturday a.m. before we leave.

So, I'm off to squeeze in a little exercising and scrapping before going out to eat with friends tonight. Hope your weekend is great!
and HAPPY SPRING! :)

We're having a contest over at SIStv and the theme is spring green. Of course, I can't enter the contest because I'm a little to "close" to the management, being on the design team and all. But that doesn't mean I can't make a layout. Plus, I wanted to support my fellow Design Team Sister, Amy Tan(gerine) and incorporate a little stitching into my layout for her challenge at The Creative Type.

I wasn't really liking this layout for part of the day. But then, I put on some music and pulled out some pretties and ended up really loving it! Love it when that happens!

We've been going Wii crazy around here. Oh my gosh - I never thought moving could be so fun! Last night Chris and I were playing tennis and Dustin came up and we did the bowling. SO fun. And frustrating! Just like REAL bowling! :) Chris brought home the dance "game" from Sam's tonight - at my request. I just think it will be lots of fun and I've always wanted to play with that. I also LOVE the balance games on the Wii Fit. It all makes me want to "exercise" and that can't be a bad thing!

BUT - I'm still really yearning to get out walking more. Last weekend - when it was 55-plus degrees, it was such a joy to get out. I'd even like to try getting to bed earlier - gradually - so I can get up and walk when the sun's coming up. That's really my favorite time of day.

Speaking of getting to bed earlier, here I am blogging at 1:07 A.m. Geesh. I must not stop over at the computer on my way to bed! I'm outta here!

Okay, can I just brag for a minute, please? This girl - I'm so proud of her! That's my daughter-in-law, Martha, married to my oldest, Matthew. She's the chef at Old Forge Brewing Company. And there's this guy - a "micro-brewery" or "brewpub" reviewer I guess you could call him. He travels all over PA sampling the beer AND the food of brew pubs. Most brewpubs, for whatever reason, have unusually good food, which is good for me because Chris is, like, magnetically attracted to brewpubs whereEVER we go. We could take a trip to Lower Slovobia and Chris will find a brewpub. He loooooves microbrews. But I can't stand beer. I've tried, but I just do NOT like it no way no how. Period. So, because of this brewpub obsession of Chris's, I get dragged into MANY a brewpub. But never fear because I am always the oh, so happy recipient of (most always) excellent food. So I'm down with the brewpubs. But......I digress.

So, anyway, the reviewer guy, Lew Bryson, has a very well-read blog called "Seen Through a Glass" and he's finally gotten around to reviewing Martha's (well, Damien's) restaurant. Even though I've linked you up to his blog, I'm gonna quote the good part here. Because my Martha is responsible for all the food (and none of the beer) at the restaurant. And Lew says:

One more stop: Old Forge Brewing, in Danville. Wanted to get here for months now, and I have: worth the trip. Great, simple place, well-populated even at 4 on a Wednesday afternoon. I got the alt, and it was good: proper hop bite, not over-alcohol'd, not too much hop aroma; maybe a bit dark, maybe a bit sweet, but Damien said he was aware of that and on top of it, this was the first batch. I did get a glass of Sensessionale, and it was excellent session stuff, a definite all-day sucker.

What really put us both away, though, was the food. I'd been told the menu was simple but well-executed, and man, was that true. Best $6 quesadilla I've ever had, perfectly done, cheesey, chicken, thin-sliced apple, just great. And the soft pretzels are very German, big, soft, chewy-tasty (and made the WaWa 'soft pretzel' I had on the way to Philly Beer Geek last night taste like a hard sponge); made at a Mifflinburg bakery. Great eats.

Is that not the coolest? Like I said - I'm so proud! :)

(Click on image to view larger. Click here to see page credits)

That's my newest digi for the One Little Word prompt - the word this time is "see", though I'm afraid I wrote a little more about "smile" than "see". Can't help it when it comes to Eva. She's just always got a smile for whoever comes her way. Even when we go to church, I'm just amazed at how she'll go up to complete strangers with her lovely smile and adorable friendliness.

Well, we are the new owners of a Wii. And a Wii Fit. So, there I am at 11:30 last night, ski jumping, hula-hooping and doing a step workout. Yeah. Okay, so if I'm feeling like doing that at that hour, I'm hoping this stuff will really inspire me to get moving at a regular hour! I also did an aerobic workout (albeit short) yesterday using the Wii Personal Trainer DVD. The workout part isn't interactive, but you can keep track with the Wii of WHAT you're doing and it also keeps track of how you're progressing. So, for days when I can't get out for a walk, I'm hoping this will really fill the gap and inspire me. Because I hate going downstairs and working out in the basement (even though it's a lovely, finished room). It's just boring and so much work. Hopefully, this will make it fun ENOUGH to keep me going. I'm going downstairs in a minute to show Chris it all works.

Oh, and if it's any consolation to me - even though I haven't been working out for AGES, I did test out at two years younger than my actual age. Just sayin'. I do hope to improve that number! :)

We're having hot tub headaches again. There's a leak and Chris has determined that it's in one of the pumps. Hopefully, it can be repaired for a reasonable price because I'm not ready to let the hot tub go just yet. I still REALLY enjoy it. But I'm not willing to pay tons of $$$ to get it fixed, either, since I'm still reeling from the winter electric bills that the hot tub and the very cold winter are most likely responsible for. Where's that global warming when you need it?

With that, I'm off my duff and up to go get the mail...it's over 40 degrees! Yay!

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow. What an excellent, inspiring book. I am blown away by the life and vision - and determination - of Greg Mortenson. What a humble and great man. This book follows his amazing story as he falls in love with the people of Pakistan, sees their need for schools and has the vision to understand that education - and reaching out in love - is the only tangible and lasting way to aid a country in need. Greg's experiences made me wonder in awe at his fortitude, his generosity, his perseverence and his tenacity in overwhelming circumstances. More than once I was moved to tears. I learned SO much about Pakistan, Afghanistan and what has been going on over there. I am so turned off by politics and media reports because I just feel I can never believe them. Greg has pulled my head out of the sand with his honest and heartfelt story. My heart and eyes have been opened to his message and his mission. I feel changed because of it. This book should be required reading for all Americans.


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This is what scrapbooking is really all about for me. What better way to remember a person and to work out some of your feelings than to engage your emotions with the creative process? It helps.

And today is the last day of Feburary. Wow. The sun is shining madly. The temps are up and down. My urges to get outside and clean my house (obviously not at the same time) are beginning to rise up from within. My mom is home - hopefully forEVER and there is hope in the world. There is hope in the reality that spring IS coming.

I know it doesn't feel that way for some. I wish I could take away pain and make it all better. But, that very pain can be a vehicle that will take us to unknown - and sometimes better - places. Hopefully, better places. Not better because a horrible thing happened. But better, because we become better in an effort to honor the one we have lost.

I almost feel guilty about the joy I feel that I get to enjoy my family this weekend. Eva is coming today. M & M are coming, too - a rare (anymore) Saturday visit. And I'm hoping D & E can come for a visit tomorrow afternoon. But this IS how I want to be better. I want to love them all I can and as fully as I can, whenever I can.

There is death. And then there is new life. And this is my newest little "great"-neice - Ava. She was born on February 9th to my nephew Kevin (Richard's brother) and his beautiful wife Ann. She is precious and pink and soooo sweet, isn't she? :)

And, so, life goes on. Sometimes it just doesn't feel right to laugh or be happy or even return to a normal routine. But Richard would never want anyone to stop living their lives. In fact, he would be honored if we would live our lives to the fullest. And so, we are slowly stepping back into our regular schedules and routines.

It did really feel good to get back to my quiet time this morning, reading God's word and praying - and listening.

We went to see the Newsboys in Williamsport last night. It was good. Dang, it was loud. But it also just renewed in me again these urges that I've been having to do something meaningful with my life. I am so burdened to go to Africa and somehow do something for the orphans or the impoverished. Not because it's trendy. I mean, my heart is really, really broken for them and I want to do SOMEthing. I've always wanted to go to Africa. Like, my whole life. I wanted to see the wildlife. Maybe that urge has been, all this time, propelling me towards this desire that I've been feeling. I look at my own life and the waste is almost disgusting. The things we spend $$$ on, the material wealth that we have - and for what? For purely selfish reasons.

And, honestly, there is some selfishness in my desire to go to Africa. Because I know it would be an incredible blessing to ME as well... Something is stirring in me. We have $$$ saved for a big vacation this year. And I asked Chris last night to considering holding onto that $$$ and add to it with the goal of going on a missions trip to Africa next year. I know that kind of trip would be very costly and, really, we're almost there if we don't go to Ireland or Nova Scotia instead. Sure, it would be nice to go to those places and visit lovely hotels or vistas and eat out every night and loll around. But think of what GOOD we might be able to do if we re-purposed our trip and made it valuable to someone else besides ourselves. Not that vacations are a bad thing. They're so not. But, honestly, I haven't really felt an excitement, a passion for going to Nova Scotia or even back to Ireland - not like I did the first time we went. But to go to Africa? I want to go so badly it brings tears to my eyes. I know Chris doesn't share the same burden. And it's not just up to me to decide what we do with our vacay $$$. But, Africa is where my heart is. We'll see.

But, even if we don't go there, I still feel like we live to much for ourselves. I still think we could take some of the $$$ that we spend on going out to eat and purposefully spend it on reducing hunger somewhere else - even in our own backyard, so to speak. We do support two children and their families - one in Jordan and one in Mozambique. And I don't take that lightly. But I think we can do more.

I'm not going to make radical changes overnight. This is something that has been creeping up on me over the past year or so. I want to be wise about it - not fanatical. We will investigate. I will start praying that God will make it clear to us just what to do. And I will not ignore those opportunities he puts right in front of us - something no one should ever ignore! I do believe that is one of the ways He leads us and so often we just ignore it.

So, I'm opening my eyes, bit by bit, beyond myself. And I will be excited to see what God will do...

In sweet memory of

Richard Thomas Bower

1-26-76 - 2-14-09

We weren't ready to let him go. It's so hard to find the words to express my feelings after this tragic loss. We've grown up with Richard and our families have meshed into one over the years. So it is no small thing to now have this gaping, raw hole ripped into the tapestry that was our happy, blessed lives. Richard. Such a sweet soul. Like a teddy bear poured into a grizzly adams suit. With a definite thread of mischievousness running through him for sure, at the same time, you couldn't find a more gentle, humble soul. He will be so greatly missed.