Blogs I Follow-Scrapbooking Inspiration

Today's blog links of "Blogs I Follow" are all related to scrapbooking. I haven't been doing much lately, except for Project Life 2013 (finishing), but I still follow the blogs for ideas and information, for when I get back to it. I would really like to take a trip up the local Scrapbook Store for inspiration and a jump start next week-I have been dreaming while perusing Pinterest, too.

Scrapbooking Blogs I Follow:

1. Ali Edwards Blog- I have followed her for years, love her creativity and her style! She shows her Project Life and December Daily Projects throughout, as well.
2. Becky Higgin's Blog-Creator of Project Life, which I love-when I remember to keep up with it...
3. Cathy Zielske's Blog-Cathy has an awesome, simple style that I really like. She's also doing her own Project Life. She has such a great sense of humor, too!
4. Elise Blaha Cripe's Blog-Just started following her not that long ago. She has great sense of style and an added bonus is to see pics of her new baby girl!
5. Just Me, My Soldier and Our 4 Little Chicks-Stephanie Howell's blog-love her style, as well, and her realism on the blog. They are in Italy right now and it brings back happy memories!
6. Just Us/Dear Lizzy-This family/scrapbooker are adorable! Such fun color combos inspire me, here!
7. StacyJulian.comhttp://stacyjulian.com/-This lady loves color and spending time with her family-both of which I love!
8. Just Be Blogged by Tara Whitney-Tara is an involved mom and a wonderful photographer. Not scrapbooking per say but photo ideas for layouts of my own family.
9. Jessica Sprague.com-Jessica showcases digital scrapbooking, as well as photoshop. I love her perspectives!
10. Scrapscription is a kit company that I have used in the past. I first learned of them from another blog where I won a kit in their contest. I tried it, loved it, and when I was lacking in inspiration I would get one of their kits and create something lovely! I still check monthly for kits that may speak to me. They had one that was "my dog" and I purchased pics of my recently deceased dog, thinking it would be a perfect way to honor our family's love for him.

There other pages I peruse like Making Memories, Studio Calico (LOVE their supplies, Pinterest boards, etc),  Basic Grey, Dear Lizzy, and Amy Tangerine to name a few.  Any scrapbooking sites you love? Hope you are well and warm, Reader!

Don't Forget!

Don't forget, friends and bloggers who like to take photos: Friday is (I know, Veteran's Day, save that for another post) 11-11-11. I'm going to take photos at 11:11am on 11-11-11, if I think of it. ;) It would be great fun to scrapbook! :)

Progress 1/12/11

*I have written in my journal from 1/3/11 through today. 9 days of writing! :)
*I have done the newspaper sudoku almost everyday, too. Not saving the world, but makes my brain feel fresh to do that instead of sit in front of Facebook.
*Still no Starbucks; either coffee at home or nothing.
*I have ran almost everyday, also, which is good, although I've been in a rut the past few days, worn out. I'm still logging everything on thedailyplate.com and have shoveled snow the last few days, too, which is a good calorie burner! :) Although I have snacked a few evenings... which is not the progress I need...
*I am over halfway through my Scrapbook Mystery book, since I've been reading.
*I have been reading my Bible, also. We started a study on Daniel for our life group. Hopefully I continue reading this section with zeal-I have lost momentum with the past few assignments... Someone in our group this past week mentioned a quote similar to this one: "that man must first see the face of God before he could undertake any duty", each day, found here, and it has been nice the few mornings I have prayed and shared my thoughts and feelings with God before my day and school day begin.
*Having set a goal in April not to buy scrapbook supplies, I have done well with that progress, as well, until this week, when I bought a scrapscription kit and have my eye on other items that I'm struggling mightily to resist. :) April-December was good progress, not buying new supplies, as well as finishing three photo albums with scrapbooked notes to each of our grandparents-I have one more to finish for one other set of grandparents.
I think that is all the progress I have made thus far. :) Hopefully these things add up to my growth into the positive person I want to be. :) I hope your week is going positively, Dear Reader.

New Day

Hello! :) I have been meaning to post... just haven't gotten around to it. I've been:
*taking the girls school shopping
*grocery shopping
*using said groceries to make 7 chicken dishes to freeze for later in the schoolyear
*getting more groceries
*using said groceries to make 7 loaves of quick breads to freeze (like zucchini bread)
*seeing my oldest off to cross country running camp-she comes home tomorrow. She hasn't had cell coverage so we are very anxious to see/talk to her!
*enjoying time with our younger daughter, like taking her out for Mexican food, since our oldest doesn't enjoy it all that much and our youngest LOVES it.
*filling out school paperwork. We find out the schedule for our newly-minted-middle=schooler today and the schedule for our oldest after she returns home tomorrow.
*putting school dates on the calendar, like days off, early release, vacations, etc.
*planning all I can for my NEW JOB! :) Yep, I finally got a job. It's not a classroom teacher, but it's teaching kids and I'm very excited! I have to tell you my story: when I interviewed for a specific position (regular readers recall my interviewing and hoping?) the principal told me of another position that would be available. It felt like a "consolation prize" so to speak. I set it aside not to think about for a while. Then I called him in August. He told me about it and I was pretty excited... but unsure. I called my husband to talk over my thoughts. He had heard me talk of this when I was interviewing. Earlier in the day I called him, he had been talking with a coworker about his teacher wife and how she'd needed to something different than subbing before she got her job. This made my husband think, hm, if I heard about this job again, I should take it. So, he got back from lunch, talked to me and said he thought it was a sign-that I should apply for this. I put my name in, was interviewed and now have a job as an "alternative instructor". I will be blessed with the opportunity to work with kids who need intervention in areas they struggle with. Small groups and one-on-one, whatever the teacher would like. At this point, no specific age group, just K-5 and I'm really excited! :)) I meet with the principal and other alternative instructors on Friday and I'm looking forward to jumping in!

I'm still training for the half marathon-finished an eight miler on Saturday. Felt good, was in the time range I'd hoped. Nine miles on the schedule for this week!

I've been listening to some podcasts on digital scrapping and I'm pretty excited about doing that more, as well.

Hope your week is going smoothly! Halfway through! :)

Fun

Happy Monday! :) Hope this email finds you well.

Some fun things we've done over the last week:
*went to the zoo with family today
*my youngest built a fort out of our large stack of firewood, some tarps, she even sewed some flags and curtains for it, and it's the perfect reading spot. :)
*had some of my husband's family over for smoked pork and zucchini bake with zucchini from our garden!
*dreamt of renovations we'd like to have done to our home (wow, the list can get pretty long! ;))
*learned/played a new card game
*learned to digitally scrapbook (I've done a layout and have thought/planned several more!)
*I finished my Run Like a Mother book and it was great! (answers to previous questions about running posts: I think about different things... depends on the day. Often, I pray and think of all the things I'd like God to help me with and all the things I'm thankful for. I listen to music and when I'm tired I try to match my footsteps with the rhythm of the music. I look at the nature around me-I run on a path sometimes that is full of bunnies, birds chirping, elderly couples, and more! :) I also think about my plans for the half marathon, how I'm going to make it there, and how much I can eat that day due to burnt calories! :))
*Lately I've been reading posts about digital scrapbooking which has been a fun learning experience!
*We got to keep my niece for half a day last week and it was FUN! She's four and is such a cutie! :) Took her brothers to the zoo with us today and they were just as fun! :)
*Had two fires in our fire pit-one night I sat and enjoyed a chat with one of our dear neighbors beside a fire, which made a delightful evening.

I looked at the calendar this weekend and couldn't believe it's already August! I wondered where is our summer going! (I'm wondering, too, Thimbleanna!! :)) My girls start school three weeks and two days. I look ahead at our busy schedules and I wonder how I will finish my "summer to do list"!

I have often wondered, lately, where my path is leading, as you probably read in recent posts. Today I ran into a student I had last winter/spring. She wasn't happy to have me for a substitute, as, understandably, she had loved her teacher. She gave me stubbornness and obvious dislike at the beginning of my stay. She was sad to say goodbye to me at the end of the year. I really saw a change in her. Today, when I ran into her, she shouted my name, and ran up and hugged me, smiling to see me! It was then I remembered why I work so hard at teaching, even if it's subbing or long-term subbing. :) My heart smiled again. :) If God's plan is for me to be a substitute, then that's what I will be. :) I will touch lives... if only temporarily. :) I've said it before and I will say it again, I do not know where God's road map has me going-although I'd love to glance at it sometimes!-and I don't know where I'm headed, but I know He has a plan and He has me in His hands. :))

I hope you have a wonderful week and are smiling in your heart!! :))

Wondering

Hello, Readers. It's been a little while, again. Much going on, but at the same time, little...

My vegetable garden has not been fairing too well-too much sun and too many critters eating them-insects and mammals.

Our oldest daughter was set to get her driving temps last week. We went, she took the computarized test, she passed and onto the paperwork. We took everything in, but her birth certificate didn't specifically list her gender so it was unacceptable. We went back early this week with the only other copy we had and it didn't have the state's health department seal, so we have to go through a process to get a new copy mailed to us and take it back... She was sad. She was so looking forward to driving.

Our dog, the weimaraner, has become very skinny-losing a lot of weight. We took him to a vet who did blood tests, and the tests came back good-especially for a 10 year old big dog. Still, we wondered why the lack of interest in food and great loss of weight-he'd lost 14 pounds! We took him back on Tuesday and they sedated him to check his teeth, did some scans and swabs. We should know more tomorrow or Monday as to the results of those. It was rather strange around here without him on Tuesday. He came home groggy and stumbling around-very clingy after his visit. I dropped him off at 7am and he wasn't seen to until 2 or so-so he was hungry since he hadn't eaten since 7pm the night before, stuck in a kennel which he doesn't like and away from his family. He was a sad dog. He sure was happy to see us when we arrived to get him, though.

My husband hasn't been running much since my last post. He had fallen off a jet ski and bruised a rib, so that's taken a bit of the wind out of the sails. I'm still working on training for the half marathon, either way. Just will work out better for me, I think. I did 7 miles last weekend, again.

I have attempted digital scrapbooking since I posted last. I have a lot of work to do before I will be happy with a layout. Strange, how I was feeling good about paper and hands-on and now I feel new and uncertain. I am unsure of what to write and what to document first.

That isn't the only are of my life where I am uncertain. Still no word on a job for the fall and the pool is nearly dry of opportunities. Hopefully we'll see it pick up next week. I have heard jobs are scarce, it's not just me, but it's hard not to let it eat away at your self confidence. Someone important in my life says I need to find a new passion, something other than teaching since it's not looking good. I am wondering about this. Wouldn't it be hard just to pick up a new passion and set aside the old? I have heard from so many that I'm great at what I do-teaching, but that's in a substitute setting. Maybe it's just people being nice, saying what I want to hear... the little voice whispers these things to me. It's hard not to let it eat away at the faith that says God has a plan, He will guide me... where am I going? I feel nowhere... I'm trying to have hope. So many people have advice and opinions-just get a long term and that foot-in-the-door will get you there (I've had 4-5 long-term jobs, now...), just get into another district and that will help (done that, although my husband thinks not enough... but then what-how do I choose where to go? long-terms or daily jobs... one doesn't know.) It's difficult. The waiting and the worrying that I'm not good enough, that I'm stuck. Also, the not knowing what to do-get in a district where they know and like me well? Keep moving around so many know me and I will have opportunities? Just the politics and knowing the right people? Sigh...

I have felt tired, run down, lazy lately. It's affected my running and who I am, I think. I am beginning to wonder if it's this lack of confidence from the job... or the really hot weather? Am I just wilted? :) I have read several blogs, lately that have been balm to my soul-pictures and smiles in the words, too. :) This isn't the type of post I like to write-after all the title of the blog is positively mom-but sometimes it's just good to write about the things that are weighing on you. Although when I hit "publish post" I am filled with the sense of "you don't have it so bad! why are you posting that! many people have it much worse!"

Take care, blog readers. Things will perk up soon! :)

Half

The running is still going about 4-5 days a week. Today was so nice. Some tired muscles, but no shin pain, so that was great! My "time" (I wear my garmin way too much and check her far too frequently on my runs...) was quicker than normal. I asked my husband over the weekend if he'd like to do the half-marathon. I would love to do it with him instead of the full alone. My body has felt too...injured this time around and I'm still so worried about injuring myself again. I enjoy the arduous training, the drained feeling from being worn out at the end of a double-digit milage run, but I worry. I'm a worrier naturally, so this area of my life is no different. My husband and I started this journey together, and he took the injury detour that year of my first marathon. He hasn't tackled it since. The marathon distance can be daunting. But we used to enjoy our runs together (at least that's how I remember five years ago. ;)) We'll see. I've been working on running for a few months, building up, but he's been working on getting started again-he's up to three miles without walking, so I'm pretty proud of him, hopeful and excited to have a partner in this journey.

I have been reading up on digital scrapping, but haven't tried anything yet. I'm a planner and I'm a bit intimidated as to where to start. So many albums to do, so many pictures and stories, but where to begin??

My girls seem to be growing up at the speed of light. Our oldest takes the written test for her temps on Friday. Then she will be able to start driving with us here and there. Our youngest has a writing camp this week with 6-8 graders. Strange to see her as a growing/preteen/middle schooler! :)

Hope all is going well for you this week! :)

Ages

It has been ages since I sat and typed up a post. I have thought many times over the last few weeks: I have to blog that! But, alas, I haven't gotten to it. We spent a little over a week out of town, driving the very long drive to Disney in Orlando. Then we spent 5 days there and headed back. It was a wonderful family vacation for the four of us. Although, I've felt lazy since we got home. No one to clean up after us and make our beds! :) We got a complimentary upgrade to a very fancy room. It was delightful, and I enjoyed being spoiled! :)

Running... I've been running. It's been an interesting process. I feel soreness, pain, fatigue... then I wonder what to push through (thus preparing me for a marathon!) and when to let my body/legs/immune system rest? Last year I pushed right into a broken leg, and I know I won't be winning any marathons, and sometimes I push myself so hard that I don't feel like myself (ie with patience) towards my family. I'm reading Run Like a Mother and it's very good. It's inspiring and I am enjoying it. I'm planning on reading Born to Run, as well, in the near future. I do enjoy reading about running. It makes me excited to lace up and get out there. I have had such sore shins, then when that seemed to finally lessen, my achilles hurt for a few days, as well as my calf muscle. Today I felt defeated when I ran only 7 of my suggested 10, but my stomach attacked around then and I stopped at home instead of continuing on for three more. It felt like the right decision at the time, but after I was kicking myself. I am training for the full marathon, but am wondering if the half is better for me, to get back to fun... I think I wonder this each time I begin marathon training and life gets in the way of me following the schedule exactly. But this year, I am wondering if my legs (and mind?) would enjoy doing a half or two before I get back to a full... I keep mulling it over-a mental game, a process... Keep running to get fit, for sure, but the rest will come. Oh, I did try a few portions of runs (half miles on four different occasions) barefoot and enjoyed it immensely! I stretched before and after and didn't seem to be in too much pain... no more than I had started the run with, anyway, with shoes on. That Barefoot Angie Bee has me really intrigued and inspired. :)

I've been researching digital scrapbooking. I'm often at my computer, and I love the ease of working with photos. I love the process of paper and creativity that scrapbooking brings, too, so I'm researching, learning, leaning towards a hybrid, possibly. I will keep you posted on how that works out.

It's been nice to be away from the worries of "a job or no job" for the fall. There haven't been any new openings posted. They usually open more up again, on Aug 1. We'll see... Until then, no worries... Which is easier said than done. I must keep praying. I have no idea what God has in store for me at this point.

I have so enjoyed reading blogs that I frequent. I try to comment, often, so the writers know I enjoy their musings, like http://mollybawnchronicles.blogspot.com/, Isabelle, Momo, Juls, Kelly, Ali, Cathy and Thimbleanna, to name a few. I will try to post more, as well! :)

Hope your summer is going great! :)

Saturday

Last weekend was spent traveling to a soccer tournament for our youngest daughter. We traveled two hours to the tournament, watched her play two games in the rain, traveled back to teach Sunday School on Saturday night, then got up to do it again the next day. They ended up in the championship game, getting second. They played well and were worn out. We had to wait on the championship game for rain delays, and the game directly before us going into two overtimes and a shootout. It was a loooong game! Then we didn't get home until late. This week our younger daughter also had a game against a tough team. She got to play midfield instead of defense, which is normally her favorite position, but she really enjoyed it and is hoping to play again today in her game.

My oldest has had a few track meets since I posted last, trying all different races: the two mile, the one mile, the 800 and the 400. She got a PR (personal record) in the mile at 6:19. She was pleased and so were we! :) Faster than I could run! :)

We had another fire out back last night. It was a very windy evening, but the temps were right. We had a cold front and storms move through overnight and it will be chilly and dreary today. After lunch I'm going to go get 6 miles in, I hope, if the wind doesn't blow me away (or into exhaustion! :))

I haven't gotten caught up on grading yet. I'm not sure I will! :) But, I will try. Had to input grades for progress/interim reports on Thursday night and was up late doing so. Not sure if I've mentioned that I'm in this classroom until the end of the year, now. No prospects for full time employment in the fall, though.

We have tried some more of Jamie Oliver's recipes. All very good and none very time consuming. The girls picked out recipes from it to try next week. Now I have to shop for the food, though! :)

One last thing for today. Do you, regular readers, recall my goal not to buy scrapbook items for a year? I pledged to use what I had at home and nothing more. I haven't sat down and scrapbooked, due to the mounds of laundry and papers to grade, even though I'd really like to... but I subscribe to this blog http://sbdreamer.blogspot.com/ and saw this wonderful paper. I'm about to cave. I love it all! But... am trying to resist.. for now... :) So, I'm posting about it. Send good vibes. I don't need to spend $ on supplies I'm not even using. There will be other cool stuff out there, when I get back to buying supplies again! :) (Right? ;))

Ok, that's all for now. I must go, eat lunch, do laundry, grade papers, etc... And Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms!! Hugs to you!

Purse Contents

I saw on a blog post today, here on Stacy Julian's blog, a post about what is in your purse. She talked about how it is us, it shows who we are by its contents. I enlisted the help of my youngest daughter to take a photo of me and then I emptied my purse. Wow, I had a lot stuffed in there! I thought it would be interesting to post here. (Actually I have a ton of other things I should be doing... but started the day with a great breakfast of pancakes, and checking blogs/email :))



Here's a photo of me without my face. :)

And the contents of my purse:


What's in my purse?
I have a bigger purse-I like to carry a lot of items, “just in case” someone needs them. :) This was a good reason to clean my purse! :)

(top left) I have some change that I didn't put into my wallet, so it was loose, and a phone number from a fellow teacher on a piece of paper. What it says about me? That I needed to clean my purse! :)

Next are my glasses: I wear them to see far away. It says I'm getting older.

My phone: I never thought I needed a phone with internet, etc. But, I love it! It says I like to be connected.

Gum: I like fresh breath-also, see green toothpick/floss items in the middle of the screen... I like my breath fresh...

Tissues: I have a daughter who gets bloody noses often, and a daughter who runs track in the chilly weather. We've all been known to need tissues...

Bottom right is my purse. Black matches everything, it's easy to carry, and holds all of my stuff...

Under the coins and paper on the top left are some green notecards that have some of my favorite Bible verses on them. When I'm having a frustrating day or just need some Word, I can pull them out.

There are two cough drops and a worther's candy. I like them when I have a cold but still have to talk all day to the kids.

There are two ponytail holders. For the first time in a while I have let my hair grown out long enough to put in a pony tail. I went to my hairdresser and this time I told her just a trim. She was encouraging and thought it would look cute! :) I love it right now.

Earphones: I can get podcasts on my phone, and I have music there. I can sit and listen to podcasts while I wait for an appointment, etc. The podcasts I've been listening to lately have been from http://www.howstuffworks.com/ , http://www.paperclipping.com/roundtable/ and http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/category/stuff-you-missed-in-history-class/

I have a little wallet (purple and striped w/ruler pattern) that I made, yep, sewed it with the help of my mom. It has little pockets for the gift cards and store discount cards that I don't use all the time. I can't leave them at home, just in case I decide to stop there...

Many pens... I like pens, and I never want to be caught without one. My girls always used to like to draw, or we'd play hangman or another word game, at restaurants while they waited for food, so I made sure I had supplies in my purse. They normally have their own pens or carry on conversations, now, but I still have to have them.

There are two Burt's Bees chapsticks. I love it, with its peppermint smell, and not too waxy feel.

Hand sanitizing gel and hand lotion for clean, soft hands.

Tide pen-never know when a stain will occur... I've had it in there for a while, after a coffee drip stained a shirt, but haven't used it at all since I put it in... my retentiveness causes me to keep it in there, for fear that if I take it out... a stain/spill will occur.

Advil-ahh a cure-all. :) Good for headaches, sore legs and knees, cramps...

Wallet: I love this wallet. I got it from etsy. You can't tell from the photo, but it is brown, with burnt orange and turquoise. It holds a lot and is sturdy.

Batteries-I love taking my camera everywhere and hate that “ah, I'm out of battery power just in time for the great shot!” feeling so, here they are...

Sunglasses, in case I am at a soccer game or on a long drive being blinded by the sun...

Keys-my car and house, including my weimaraner and Christian key chains

A “free coffee” coupon from Starbucks, a pad of sticky notes (I love sticky notes!) and a small notebook for notes and my to-do lists

The yellow thing by my purse is a bandaid holder. It's got a few alcohol-swabs and some bandaids.

One of the requests on Stacy's blog was to post what it says about you... most of these say I like to be prepared “just in case” and I like to be helpful. The bandaids are usually used by someone other than myself. :) I am a bit of a worrier and I worry about “things happening” and want to be prepared if I can. I'm also not a small purse for different occasions sort of girl. I don't grab just a couple things for each event. I keep it all in one, all the time. Sometimes I throw a magazine or paperback in, too. :) Lately I just haven't had time to sit and read, though! :)

For those of you readers who have made it through my long, silly post, thank you. I will use this in a scrapbook someday, when I get back to sitting down to scrapbook. I am still very busy with teaching and being a mom and wife. I love family time. I have mountains of laundry, and cleaning of course, but I am blessed with a great family that I am thrilled to have the time with. The teaching is going well. I've been there about 63 days and have become "official teacher" status. My title is no longer a "substitute". I am getting teacher salary and have earned a personal day and a sick day to take off, if needed. Hopefully it will help me get my foot in the door. We'll see. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! It's chilly here, so the soccer game viewing will be BRRR, but sunny. :)

If you have a purse or backpack handy, it just takes a bit of time, share with us, won't you? What does it say about you?