Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Breaking out of my box


Ok, here the thing. I have decided it's time for me to stretch my wings and try some new things. I love scrapbooking but I have mainly kept myself confined to layouts. It seems like mini books and stamping are two things I tend to back away from! I love looking at mini books other people do because they really seem to know what they are doing. I'll never know if I enjoy it unless I try so this is going on my list of "to do's". I have plenty of stamps. All kinds and I continue buying them. I just never use them. I play with them on pieces of scrap paper but that's about the extent of it. I used to be a stamping fool in my pre-scrapbooking days. It's not like this is anything new to me so why does it scare me so much? I can sit here and think about doing these two things all day or I can just DO THEM! I like the second solution much better! I have also joined my first circle journal group! There was a time when being creative was a natural thing for me. I'm ready to see if that natural instinct is still there!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Computers, Lights and Doctors


I am sitting here making my first blog entry from our new computer. Well, sort of new! Our other computer did a nose dive crash the other night and when shopping around for a new one, we found a floor display model that we got an excellent buy on! A new computer is always nice but getting it set up with all of our programs can be very tiresome!

I can honestly say without a doubt in my mind that I can't stand florescent lights! DH loves them and puts florescent light bulbs all around the house! In lamps, overhead, anywhere he can find that needs lighting gets one of these. We don't get a lot of good natural lighting indoors so I usually need to turn on a lamp when taking a picture. YUK! The results are that everything look an icky yellow! Every now and then I try to change the bulbs out only for him to notice the switch and back in they go! I'm doomed to have yellow everything as long as I take pictures indoors! So now you know why I take a lot of my stuff outdoors when I want a picture of it! LOL! Now if I can just find a way to move some of our furniture outdoors for a few snapshots! To the left is a picture I took recently of an old railroad tressle. When I look at it, I automatically think Southern Charm!

On a good note, I went to my neurologist yesterday. Not one of my favorite things to do but this time I was in and out in less than 15 minutes! He was very pleased to see me feeling so good and told me to keep this attitude as this really does have a lot to do with my seizures. The bright spot of my visit was when he told me that it has been over two years now since my last grand mal seizure!! WOO HOO! Last time I went a little short of 3 years without a seizure so we'll see what happens this time around! Fingers crossed!

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

It's All Good!

We discussed the mountain day trip last night and are trying to pick an area to go to. I would go up around where my grandparents lived but I have not been able to go up there since they both passed away. It's just too painful for me and very hard knowing that I can't pull up at the house and run in like I always did! Sometimes it's better to just keep the good memories you have instead of trying to push for something that isn't going to happen! So I suggested several spots and told dh that we should just play it by ear. Since I am mainly wanting to go up for some photography opportunities, it needs to be a place that is untouched by the world of BUSY and still holds the charm of simplicity. It sounds like a dream come true, doesn't it? But these places do still exist! He finially commited to sometime in October. Now to set the actual date!

If you haven't gotten the new book, Slice of Life Scrapbooking by Simple Scrapbooks at www.simplescrapbooksmag.com, I highly recommend that you put it on your shopping list RIGHT NOW! I sat down to read through it last night and was blown away! The ideas in this book are so in tune with my photography mission and makes it all seem so easy and do-able! I know I will be doing a second reading later to see if I missed anything the first time around in my excitement!

When dh came home from work yesterday he brought home a cake for our anniversary as a surprise! It wasn't a big cake but the thought definitely was! Unfortunately the boys pretty much demolished it before I was able to get my camera and take a picture or two of it but the memory is still there! Just when I think he is the typical man who forgets occassions or can't take the time to be creative, he does something like this! That's why I love him!

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

30!


Today is our big 3-0 anniversary and we have a new member in the family! A Canon Digital Rebel XTi camera! We were lucky and got a wonderful deal on it especially considering that this version of the Rebel has only been on the store shelves a short time! It is definitely a combined present for the both of us! A few accessories have been ordered and should be here by the end of the week. The more I think about this camera and see the great pictures that other Rebel users take, I am defintely getting anxious to try it out and see what I can do with it!

The more I think about our day trip to the mountains, the more excited I get! Being around all that delicious Southern culture and mountain flavor does something wonderful for my soul! Now I have to get dh to commit to a date! I am thinking that sometime in October would be a wonderful time to go. The leaves are usually at their peak and the weather is cool enough for a sweater or light jacket but still enjoyable.

DH traded in the Lumina for this! A Chevy Metro Geo. The Lumina was a good car for 10 years and got us to where we needed to go but with the price of gas continuasly creeping upward, he decided he needed a more fuel efficient car to drive back and forth to work. So far, he has been pleased. The Jeep has now been dubbed our weekend vehicle!

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Miracles


I've noticed so many times that my scrapping reflects my moods at the time I'm working on the layout. If I feel good about myself, it shows in my work. If I'm feeling a little off or just really icky, that shows too! I much prefer the first choice! Not only for my scrapping but for myself in general! LOL - my family prefers it too! Everything just seems better when I am feeling good about myself. That's the way I like to be and want to stay each day but unfortunately it doesn't always happen for me. Sometimes the day doesn't start the way I had planned and everything seems thrown out of kilter or just a simple comment by another person doesn't set well with me. While other times my insecurities are in full play and take control. Yes, I worry about what people think of me and most everything I do - sometimes too much. But luckily as I am writing this I am feeling good. Feeling good about about me, my life and pretty much everything around me. It's a good day!

Surfing a few blogs this morning and I found an older entry from Ali that basically asked "what is your message as a life artist?". This was so easy for me. My message is FIND A MIRACLE! Because they are all around us everyday. At first you may have to look a little harder then suddenly you are finding them everywhere without any effort at all! Don't just open your eyes to see them -- open your heart!

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Birds, Cake and White Pants

I am so excited about the "My Ordinary Life" challenge over at Peek! This will be a great extension of our BOM challenges and a wonderful reason for me to look even harder for these everyday moment photos that I mentioned in my previous entry! Something simple yet something very meaningful!

I was informed (before my grocery shopping trip) yesterday that ds and dh were going on a diet! I don't believe in diets. I've seen people have wonderful success with them only to gain all or eveb more of the weight back when they stop the diet routine. I have made my views known to my family (just change eating habits and exercise more) but they continue to use these fad diets from time to time. They don't officially start on it until tomorrow so dh asked me to make his birthday German Chocolate Cake today! LOL! In the past, I have talked to people who have never made this cake because they assume it's just too hard. It's not! And I will share the recipe at the bottom of this entry!

It's Labor Day weekend! It won't be long until I start feeding my birds again! I take a break from June until October to allow them to feed naturally from nature's abundance of berries and insects. Plus it gives my wallet a bit of a break! But I am always reminded by Labor Day weekend to go buy a few bags of food for them so I can be ready! It seems like once Labor Day is over, the holidays are just a blink away so this weekend always reminds me to start stocking up on my holiday baking staples!

Have a great holiday weekend and remember the 60's -- don't wear white after Labor Day! LOL! Shhhhh - I bought a white sweatshirt yesterday! LOL

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE
start with a GC cake mix! LOL! Easy, huh? And no one will know if you don't tell them!

GC ICING RECIPE
1 1/2 cups evaportated milk
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup of margarine
1 1/3 cups of Flaked Coconut
Cornstarch to be added in very small amounts as needed for thickening.

Combine milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla in saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat (adding cornstarch as needed) till thick - about 12 minutes. I usually add the cornstarch by teaspoonful until it becomes spreading consistency. Stir in coconut and pecans. Take off heat and beat until thick enough to spread. Can be doubled if needed. Makes approximately 3 cups.

Friday, September 01, 2006

It's Important!


September! I see another busy month in store for us in my crystal ball! DS is going to make his decision this month about which branch of the service he is most interested in. I think he knows everything there is to know about each branch! He decided he wanted to enjoy this summer and his friends since he would most likely be leaving in the Fall. He has certainly kept busy! Concerts, theme parks and water parks, cook outs and so much more!

DH and I have a big anniversary coming up very soon! The big 30! That's alot of years to spend with one person but I wouldn't want it to have been anyone other than him! I can look back to when we first got married and see how much I've changed over the years! It's all been for the better and he's had alot to do with that! We were in the stages of planning to have a photo shoot set up when the need to replace our hot water became a priority! Instead, the boys have offered to take some pictures of us for the occassion (if all this rainy gloom will move on). And dh has promised to take me up to the mountains for some wonderful photo opportunities!

I am currently on a mission. A photography mission. I am always on the look for those pictures that are usually passed over. The everyday things, the common things, those little things that help make us who we are. These are just as important as the big moments we scrap. This became evident to me when doing a search for a picture of my Grandpa's old store. Not one person in the family had a picture because one had never been made. There were plenty of pictures of us outside the store in the gravel area but that wasn't what I wanted. I can still see the store in my mind but I wanted to be able to show it to my children. This is where their mom snitched penny candy and had a whole store to play store in! Don't miss out on any of those little things just because you don't think they are important at the time! Years from now when my kids laugh about Mom's "mad money" jar, there will be a picture as well or when they run across a picture of my gardening bench and say "I had forgotten how thrilled mom was over this little beat up thing!". It's important!