I've been tagged by Debbie Hodge!

Debbie has taught several on-line classes that I have taken. She is very generous in her time & her class materials. I love that she always makes comments on my layouts & finds great things to say. She has two sons and lives in New Hampshire. I love that her New England life is so different than my South Carolina life - but that we both have boys & that life is as much the same as it is different. Thanks for tagging me Debbie & here are my answers:

Ten years ago I was a 31-year-old mom of two, including a six-month old charmer nicknamed

cryin' Ryan and a ready-for-kindergarten 4-year-old! We lived in Maple Valley, Washington & I was teaching tole painting at the Renton Community Center. Scott & I were getting ready to celebrate our 10-year anniversary!

Five things on today's "to do list"
1) get a pedicure so I will be ready for my nephew's wedding reception on Saturday in Jacksonville (not a frequent event, just a necessary evil with strappy sandals)

2) make banana chocolate-chip muffins, blueberry muffins, & sour-cream coffee cake muffins for Saturday morning breakfast at my sister-in-laws (she has lots of guests & a reception to decorate for)

3) deposit checks in bank from the boys' super activity to West Virginia white water rafting & bike riding

4) print out assignments for independent study class that MUST be finished by August 1st. (No more extensions available!!!)

5) make a packing list & do laundry from our trip tomorrow (if I do it too far ahead of time...?)

I enjoy my family, keeping in touch with old friends, and travel. Scrapbooking is pretty fun when the desk is clean enough to get to it.

I have lived in Utah, Washington, & South Carolina. I have a great husband, fun kids, and a great life.

I tag Alisa, my sister Jennifer, my sister Julie Liz, Mary, and Rebecca.

P.S. It's now tomorrow & my computer has been cursed with the blue screen & I am running in Safe Mode with Networking. I got the pedicure done & will now do #2-5 + buy stock for Scott tomorrow!

P.P.S. I watched "Dan in Real Life" & really enjoyed it... even though I had to watch it in 25" increments between banana-muffin batches.

Scrapbooking

Here are my two latest creations. I have been taking classes at Debbie Hodge's web-site for quite some time. And one of the consequences of interacting with someone who is so good at digital scrapbooking is that it has made me want to try it for myself. I am still rough around the edges & cannot for the life of me figure out how to embellish a page without handling buttons & ribbons & brads & such... it's kinda fun.




"Ready" was created today after I watched a tutorial on how to scrapbook a page using a digital template. I think it probably took me 1.5 hours. "Inspired" was created yesterday with the same template and took me 4 or 5 hours. It is totally amazing that reading or watching directions can make such a difference!!!

Homesick

We have lived away from home (Utah) for 18 of our 20 years of marriage. Until we moved to Greenville, we visited Utah two or three or four times a year. Now, life is a little more complicated (5 tickets) & airfares are no longer $100 round-trip! We are lucky, really lucky if we can fly back once a year. We are planning on taking a trip and so I called two of my sisters-in-law to see their plans. Talking to them & then peeking at my niece and nephews blogs made me miss everyone & everything Utah.

I count myself very blessed to love my family that I was born into & my family that I married. Great people who live great lives. I am inspired & learn a lot all the time.

The news & politics & other unmentionables

A few of my fellow bloggers have had rants today about how crazy people are, and I will have to agree with them. Both stories involved accidents and bystanders either under- or over-reacting.

There are a few news stories that have recently affected me - the first is the tornado that ripped through the boy scout camp in Iowa. When this happened, my husband & son were in West Virginia on a scout outing. When the news story came on CNN at the gym & I started reading the teleprompter, I just started bawling - right there on the elliptical with the guy that looks at me weird & all the other people at the gym. That same night Verizon didn't let my husband have a phone call home so I was a wreck... what if? what if? what if? They're fine & all is well.

The other story that affected me is the flooding up & down the Mississippi River. A few summers ago we were able to go visit my in-laws in Nauvoo where they were serving as missionaries. It was beautiful & I definitely felt a special spirit there. I know that Nauvoo is between Ft. Madison & Quincy & those towns were mentioned on the news this morning (at the gym again). I was able to do an internet search & find pictures of the streets of Nauvoo & to see that no damage has been done there yet.

Finally, I had a busy day today. I went to the gym and did an iTrain workout - iTri - treadmill 20", elliptical 20" with intervals, bike 20", and then treadmill 20" with sprinting at the end. We then went to the elementary school & helped the librarians move the hardcover fiction & over half of the nonfiction books & way too many dictionaries, almanacs, & class sets of books around. We picked up Jared & then went to WalMart for mulch for the vegetable garden & the front beds. The boys were very helpful - especially Christopher at hauling the mulch, opening the bags, & then spreading it around.

... okay so what does this have to do with my post? I sat down, exhausted, & put my feet up on the coffee table to watch CNN Headline News & was greeted by a screaming woman - she was the anchorwoman & whenever the guest commentator would start to talk, the screamer would interrupt her & go off on a rampage. Very unprofessional. Should I write a note? Already did. I feel better now! Politics make me antsy anyways & when people start screaming, I turn off the tv.

12 on the 12th

I found a fun blog with a challenge to take pictures of 12 aspects of your day (including an obligatory self-portrait) on the 12th of every month. In the two short months that I have participated, I have really enjoyed it. I created the layout in PSE. I am not very good but I think that I am learning a thing or two - (and yes I will show my friend Liz how to do it!)

My favorite picture is the gas pump - it is also my self-portrait. See if you can spot my reflection. The rest is just sort of real life - minus the messes and chaos. At least I kept the typos - I couldn't read them & there wasn't a spell checker.

10 Random Things

I saw a challenge at my friend Alisa's blog to take pictures of 10 ordinary things (specifics). I put everything together in Photoshop Elements. It would be cool & efficient if I could ever figure it out!!! It takes me forever.

1. Kitchen sink
2/3. Refrigerator inside & out - needs some serious cleaning
4. Kids doing now? then they were playing stratego, now they are fighting
5. Favorite shoes - happen to be wearing them, found them at the mall & they had my size. Why don't I go to the mall for getting things? The prices are about the same & they usually carry exactly what I need.
6. Laundry - a big basket full of swimming suits & workout clothes that will shortly make the trip across the house to the laundry room
7. Toilet - pretty shiny & white, huh? Thanks to T&T all four toilets are usually presentable.
8. Favorite room - the family room now that we found our sectional sofa on Craig's List. It is so comfortable & once the curtains & the pictures go up, we will have one room that feels like what I want it to be.
9. Closet - we each have a 6x6 walk-in closet & this is mine. I don't really have a good dresser so the baskets hold all the t-shirts & stuff that don't hang very well & the long stuff is hanging behind the door.
10. Self Portrait - in the powder room mirror so that no other messes are reflected with me. ;)

Beach Trip and SO THANKFUL!

Yesterday we went with nine of the YSA to the beach at Isle of Palms near Charleston. We (most of us?) had a great time. We had footballs and kick balls and frisbees and played all sorts of fun games in the water. Chris and Ryan got burnt to a crisp (and so did several of the YSAs). I have one bad foot but other than that my coloring looks unchanged. We took three cars down - two of ours & one of theirs.

While we were driving down, a double-trailered semi started swerving and almost tipped over. Scott was just passing it and I was just pulling out to the left to pass it. Scott said it was the closest to one of those trucks tipping over that he had ever seen. I was amazingly calm. I had the distinct impression that we were protected from an accident. So grateful - love my family and the YSA - and my life!

Rock On!

We went climbing as a YSA group on Friday night. I wore nice clothes - expensive necklace, sandals, light-colored pants - so that I didn't have a chance at climbing. And then it happened - I just decided that if they could do it, I could do it! And I did!

I had secretly decided that I would never do it or I'd wait to lose 20 pounds or when the gym was empty. Well the gym was empty. I didn't look down, I just hurriedly jumped up & did it before I could think too much. I was stuck for a moment on the white doughnut-shaped rock at the top & then (Ryan probably helped a little) I made it up to touch the chain.

My only regret is landing on my behind at the bottom - my legs were SO tired from working out with Jenn earlier in the day that my legs just buckled when I hit the ground. Lucky me - Lisa was taking pictures & didn't take that one. :)