Sunday, November 30, 2008

Where does the time go?

At this time of the year it sure seems to just zip on by!!! I have been busy making home-made gifts this year and hopefully I will actually get some Christmas cards done in time for mailing! If you actually get one this year you will know that I got some finished!! Ha!! I have been burning the midnight oil trying to get my "Stories in Hand" project put together. This was and is such a cool class from Jessica Sprague.com and let me tell you it sure is a romp down memory lane!! So if you missed out on this class you really missed out! I also went and go my hair highlighted and low lighted in 3 different colors and I must say that I am totally happy with the finished product for the first time in a long time! Totally stepped outside the box for me with the color and had fun! The bottom layers of my hair are all a deep Merlot in color which is kinda fun. I finally sat down today and finished a layout that I had started at the Heart and Soul weekend crop which was a while ago. I know, I know, I am still the slowest scrapper in the WORLD!! Lol!! Anyway here it is: Not the best picture of the layout but someday this girly is going to take a class for her fancy camera and then watch out!! LOL!! The photos will be so WOW that I won't know what to do with myself!! HA!!! I have also been working on my studio again and have totally moved stuff around and actually got rid of my huge computer desk! Yes, I had the hubby chop it into small pieces and haul it out of here! I just couldn't take the lack of space anymore!! Those of you that have been in my space will see that in the picture of my scrap table that I have my computer on it! I am so far totally loving it!! Especially while I am working on my "Stories in Hand" class! Makes it so easy to do!! Once I have the room finished, which could be awhile with Christmas and all, I will post some finished photos. I have a long haul ahead of me so hopefully I will get the room finally where I will be happy in it! Oh the struggles of organization in this wonderful world of scrapbooking!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Black Friday!! Tracy

Thursday, November 20, 2008

A Different Christmas Poem

I am starting to get into the Holiday spirit but I still can't help but think of my military friends overseas and their families who are left behind celebrating the holidays without their loved one. I remember all too well the day that the fateful phone call came and Terry was selected to go. We had one day to prepare and I think I spent most of that day crying. Thinking about all he was going to miss at home and all the changes that were going to go on while he was gone and how terribly I was going to miss him. Instead as all good military spouses know I sucked it up and told him that I would be okay and that he needed to do this for our country. The country he loves so very much and the very reason he joined the armed forces, to serve and protect! He has always been one to take care of others and look out for them! He would be going for 12 months which could be extended, of course, into more. That night the crying had finally stopped and we spent some last minute time together talking and laughing about things that we had been through in our 17 years as a military family together and about what the future held. Needless to say no sleep was to be had that night with our emotions running high and the stress of the situation at hand. Around 5:30am I got myself showered and dressed to take my hubby to the Station for the last time. He would be getting picked up under high security and flown to his destination in the Middle East at 7am. We drove in silence to the Station trying to prepare for our goodbyes which for us is "till I see you again". I kissed him and held him tight and then let him go.....one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life!! I drove home in tears, having to pull over a few times because I couldn't see. I told myself that I needed to be a big girl and suck it up but dang it, it hurt! I thought of all the thousands of military spouses and family that had and were going through this very same thing! I sent a prayer out to comfort them and help them to not feel so alone because at that moment I felt completely and utterly alone. Even though I knew I was far from being alone! I made it home finally and as I was shutting the garage door down I could hear the phone ringing! Who could it be? I rushed inside to grab it quick and who was on the other end but Terry!! At first all I could think was "Baby, please don't make this any harder"! He sounded really shook up and proceeded to tell me that a young man without a family, who had all the qualifications that Terry had, had actually requested to go in Terry's place!!!! OMG!!! What the heck!!! I was totally blown away!! This young man was someone we had never even met in our military career and he wanted to go in place of my husband and the powers that be had decided that he could go instead!!! Talk about an emotional roller coaster!! Too many of my fellow spouses have not had such luck as we did that day and I think about them every day and the sacrifice they make on a daily basis!! I want to thank that young man from the bottom of my heart and let him know that a day doesn't go by that I don't remember him and prayer for him! To all the men and women of our armed forces who give up literally everything to protect and serve a country they love I thank you!! I know first hand that it takes a really special individual to do what they do!!! So, without further ado this poem is for you!!! "A Different Christmas Poem" The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest. Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a winter delight. The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve. My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep. In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream. The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear. Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow. My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, And I crept to the door just to see who was near. Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night, A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight. A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old, Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold. Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled, Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child. “What are you doing?" I asked without fear, "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here! Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!" For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts. To the window that danced with a warm fire's light Then he sighed and he said, "Its really all right, I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night. "It's my duty to stand at the front of the line, That separates you from the darkest of times. No one had to ask or beg or implore me, I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me. My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December," Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers." My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ', And now it is my turn and so, here I am. I've not seen my own son in more than a while, But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile." Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, The red, white, and blue... an American flag. "I can live through the cold and the being alone, Away from my family, my house and my home.. I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet, I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat. I can carry the weight of killing another, Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.. Who stand at the front against any and all, To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall." "So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright, Your family is waiting and I'll be all right." "But isn't there something I can do, at the least, "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast? It seems all too little for all that you've done, For being away from your wife and your son." Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "Just tell us you love us, and never forget. To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone, To stand your own watch, no matter how long. For when we come home, either standing or dead, To know you remember we fought and we bled. Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, That we mattered to you as you mattered to us." PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN 30th Naval Construction Regiment OIC, Logistics Cell One Al Taqqadum, Iraq Happy Holidays, Tracy

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A Weekend Away is...........

Priceless in my book!!! The weekend crop in Lake Geneva at The Cove was awesome!! We had so much fun and got to totally space out without any responsibilities and just scrapbook!! I can't wait to do it again!! I got to hang with my awesome Girls and just chill!! Here is a pic of us on our first night away at the resteraunt in the hotel. From left to right: Me, Carla, Amy, Cathy, Cricket, Pat (sitting). I went with the thought in mind that if I finished one layout I would be happy (remember I am the slowest scrapper alive! Lol!!) and by golly that is what I accomplished!! Lol!! I have another one almost finished just need to attach the journaling strips and can call it done. I worked with my latest kit from "Create My Keepsake" which is their November kit. Totally love this kit so of course I got all the add-ons and let me tell you I will be using this kit for awhile because it is totally loaded with goodies!! Here is the layout I finished of my great niece Navarina in her kindergarten pic from 1997! Hopefully in the next couple of days I will have the other layout finished and can then post it. This weekend, on Saturday the 15th, I have an all day crop for SIS at Craft Fancy in Illinois which will be a blast!! I get to see my Girls again and chill with some good food and lots of chatting!! I hope to accomplish a project that I got in my last Scarlet Lime Kit that involves a frame!! That should be a challenge and if I get it done there will be a post with pics! Projects always seem to take me forever and ever. I am bound and determined this one will only take a day dang it!! Lol!! We will see!! And on top of it Craft Fancy is an awesome store with lots of goodies to buy so hopefully I don't shop the whole time! Well that is enough for tonight. Thanks for stoppin' by, Tracy

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Enabling or not?!

Today I thought I would tell you about my favorite kit club of all time and the awesome FREE Christmas Workshop they are doing!!! Of course it is none other then "Bad Girls Kits" and their rawking owner Wendy Rago!!! Photobucket This is going to be one awesome workshop extravaganza let me tell you!! Only Wendy and her Bad Girl Designers know how to work it like no other when it comes to classes!! They will be featuring "22 Classees", yes you heard me right "22 classes"!! And they are FREE, yes I said FREE!! They will start on the 14th of November which is this coming Friday and will go until November 23rd!!!!! This will all take place on their awesome, hoppin' message board!! So sign up and learn from the best Bad Girls around for FREE!!! You just can't beat that!! Thanks for stoppin' by, Tracy

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Sad News.....

about a sweet little soul that had to move on. Kloe was my Aunt Bonnie's little white Coco Daisy puppy and when my Aunt Bonnie passed away 2 years ago Kloe came to live with my sister Bobbie. Kloe was no spring chick when my sister took over her care but she still had alot of spring in her step for a "little Ole' Lady" as I always called her! Whenever my sister traveled out of town Kloe would come and visit with me!! I loved having her little gentle soul in my home and in my heart! Having her with me was like having a piece of my Aunt Bonnie still here with us! On Sunday I got the phone call that Kloe was not doing well at all and had been put to sleep so that she wouldn't suffer! That was a hard phone call to get. My sister was sobbing and I tried everything I could to be strong for her and not cry too but nothing worked! I know that my Aunt Bonnie met her at the gates of Heaven with her arms opened wide with love!! So here Kloe girl this is for you!! I love you Kloe and miss you sweet baby!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

I'm a Bella!

I was cruising the blogs and Amy had this cool quiz for all the Twilight fans out there and I just had to take it!! I'm a Bella! I found out through TwilightersAnonymous.com. Which Twilight Female Are You? Take the quiz and find out!
Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!
I am a closet Vamp fanatic and totally ate up the "Twilight" series so of course I am waiting anxiously for the movie to come out!!! And since I have admitted to this I also must tell you another surprising thing........I totally loved Jacob in the books way more then Edward which totally blows me away being a Vamp lover and all!! I was totally hoping for Jacob to win fair Bella's heart!!! Am I the only convert out there loving the tall, dark, handsome, stong, furry wolf? I am totally going through some serious "Twilight" withdrawals!! She must write more soon or I don't know what I am going to do!!! Lol!! Ok, enough of my fantasy world!! Lol!! Back to reality! I am in a slump lately, a creative slump if I must say so!!! I am just not very crafty or artsy lately and I don't know why! I am having another case of "the muse has left the building"!! Lol!! Inspiration just does not work for me when I have to make things if that makes sense?! Right now I am working on Christmas presents for the names I drew for Christmas this year for the family. I sit and over analyze everything when it comes to making gifts because I feel I have to worry as to whether the person I am making it for will like it or not and then will they appreciate all my stressing and work? I just keep praying that I will someday just be able to make gifts and not worry about the whole thing!! Am I the only one? Why is this so stinkin' hard?! So anyway that is why I am posting about everything but scrappin'! Lol!! Another reason that I am surfing the net so late at night. I am trying to get inspired!! We will see if this works! It better because I need to get my hiney in gear real fast because I have a weekend away scrap retreat I am going to this weekend and I want to feel the juices a flowin'!! If you know what I mean and then maybe I will have some stuff to share with you all! Thanks for stoppin' by!, Tracy

Saturday, November 1, 2008

I'm a Katherine Hepburn!?!

Very interesting stuff I tell you!! I was over looking at my friend Carla's blog and saw this test and thought "hmmm....wonder what I am?" so off I went and took it and these are the results! I so wanted to be Doris Day!!! Dang it all!! I have loved Doris Day and idolized her since I was just a little girl! Oh well, it just wasn't to be!!

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Katharine!

You are a Katharine -- "I am happy and open to new things"

Katharines are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

How to Get Along with Me
  • * Give me companionship, affection, and freedom.
  • * Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.
  • * Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.
  • * Don't try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.
  • * Be responsible for youself. I dislike clingy or needy people.
  • * Don't tell me what to do.

What I Like About Being a Katharine
  • * being optimistic and not letting life's troubles get me down
  • * being spontaneous and free-spirited
  • * being outspoken and outrageous. It's part of the fun.
  • * being generous and trying to make the world a better place
  • * having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures
  • * having such varied interests and abilities

What's Hard About Being a Katharine
  • * not having enough time to do all the things I want
  • * not completing things I start
  • * not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career
  • * having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies
  • * feeling confined when I'm in a one-to-one relationship

Katharines as Children Often
  • * are action oriented and adventuresome
  • * drum up excitement
  • * prefer being with other children to being alone
  • * finesse their way around adults
  • * dream of the freedom they'll have when they grow up

Katharines as Parents
  • * are often enthusiastic and generous
  • * want their children to be exposed to many adventures in life
  • * may be too busy with their own activities to be attentive

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Check it out!! Thanks for stopping by!!, Tracy