Musical Mondays ~ On the Pontoon

My current favorite song.
Our 2012 super summer song.
My ringtone at the moment.
6yo Daughter knows every word!
#JustForFun

On the Pontoon by Little Big Town

Creative Thursday ~ Boo, or not!

Okay, so the real backstory to this blogpost. I hate Halloween. Loathe It. I strongly dislike the gory, spooky, gross stuff that comes of it. I don't have a problem with it, I just don't enjoy that part of it.

Now, as a disclaimer, we do get good out of it. We get a sense of community, we get to see old friends, we get to be creative with our costumes, and hey, we're allowed to talk to strangers! (joke, folks.)

So, with that said, I find first-day-of-school pics and Halloween pics are my two worst picture-taking seasons. I'm not sure if it's just the anticipation of the once a year, so I'm always dissatisfied with the photos, or if it's light or time of day, who knows. But I always hate my Halloween photos. Therefore (yes, I said 'therefore'), I usually hate my Halloween layouts.

So I challenged the XoXo girls to deliver Halloween layouts without the normal Halloween stuff. They fought it mostly by not being able to use black, but they once again outdid themselves. These girls work so hard every month, climbing out of the box, swaying completely out of their comfort zone. Please support them by checking in at the blog, and maybe even creating a project based on their projects (scraplift)?

True XoXo Scrapbooking Blog
be inspired.

If you know my daughter, you know that she is anything BUT girlie and has never played dress-up in dresses in her life! So we were shocked when she chose the Tangled dress, complete with wig! So you know I had to take the layout to girlie extremes, and go all pink and purple on her. I found some old Elsie and remember those ancient Making Memory stickers? They were all perfect for this temporary fairy tale. :) This was not my intended design; I had a whole other design laid out and somewhat taped down! The pumpkin idea trumped the old design, so the pumpkin here is a little rugged. I added pink ribbons and purple vines to make a virtual pumpkin for my little Rapunzel.

Scripture Sundays ~ Revelation

“Amen!
Praise
and
glory
and
wisdom
and
thanks
and
honor
and
power
and
strength
be to our God
for ever and ever.
Amen!”

Creative Thursday -er- Monday!

Got a rare day and a half off and used some of it to scrap. I began with a sketch from My Creative Sketches, continued with the October challenge from Scrap Our Stash, and ended up with this:

I haven't done a flower layout in a while and apparently I was inspired by circles... I've had yellow + brown on my mind for a while, so it ended up a perfect fit for SoS Hot Chocolate. I guess this is just a fun way to relieve all of my current scrapbooking craves. :)


Supplies: Paper: Pink Paislee, Crate Paper, Flowers: Prima Marketing, Bazzil Basics, Rhinestones: Studio 18, Jeannie's, Imaginisce, (other), Bows:  Letters: Making Memories, Marker: Sharpie, Other: Ribbon.
Journaling: 9.5.12 McKenna, you slept for half an hour on the chair in the kitchen on the first day of 1st grade. Daddy even tried to give you $1 for the snack bar! Eventually, you woke up & were very excited!



My Creative Sketches Sept. 2012 Sketch

Scrap Our Stash Oct. 2012 HOT CHOCOLATE challenge:

Creative Thursday ~ Coney Memories

Just needed some time to myself and a creative outlet so I stumbled upon a challenge - a 4-in-1 - right up my alley.






Started with a sketch from Granddiva's Creative Corner

which led to the Sept. and bonus challenges at Rochelle Spears's

• 3 patterned papers
• stamped image OR masking
• glitter

and then to Kristi B's technique challenge
Paint, ink or mist your chipboard alphas then add a pattern with your stamps.

and finally landed on the 3 of 5 color combo challenge at Scrappin'n'Happy

...and here is my final result. It was nowhere where I began, but I like where it ended! 

I guess I missed the part where they told us we only had to do 2 of the 4 challenges, but I managed them all in!
1. sketch (I chose a series of pics from Cony Island for the sketch, but I adore this photo and needed a close up, so I blew it up and decided on no other pics on this page. I think it now requires a page two.)
2. 3 patterned papers (tough to 4 squeeze in there!), stamped image on the chipboard, glitter (flower center)
3. technique (Sharpie-d, inked, sprayed and stamped white on chipboard)
4. color challenge (it was close, but I see yellow, brown and gray-white).

Can't tell you how good it feels to use some old GinX flowers I've had for, oh, ten years or so?! Go Old scrappin'!

Supplies: Cardstock: Making Memories, Paper: Basic Grey, My Mind's Eye, Chipboard: , Ink: Ink It Up, Marker: Sharpie, Flowers: Prima Marketing, Imagination Project, Eyelets: Making Memories, Other: ribbon. Font: 2Peas Tattered Lace.

Musical Mondays ~ Nostalgia in Rainbows

Back to Blogging...
Nah, I didn't have much time to blog over the summer. or clean my house. or remain organized. but family time is so much more precious, isn't it? No regrets, here!

I guess I'm feeling a bit blessed today. :)

As school is back in session in two days, we say farewell to summer. Nostalgia strikes like a hot iron and I find refuge in sweet songs like this.

Enjoy!

Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

I know it's on Finding Forrester, but does anyone remember the heartbreaking episode of e.r.?

p.s. What a Wonderful World is one of my absolute favorite songs ever - especially a Christmas version of Sleep Well, Little Children/What a Wonderful World by Kristin Chenoweth.

2 Corinthians 9:15

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

and gifts!

Wednesdays Weigh-in - August update

Might as well jump right back in. All I can do is tell you where I am today. As of today, I'm about 3-4 pounds up from the 15 pound weight-loss. I'm pretty happy with that considering I got through the end of school, VBS and vacation and am still under that one huge milestone at the end of it. What that means is basically that I've figure out how to maintain. I will be able to have sweets and desserts and the carbs I so craved while well-regimented once I hit a target weight.

I'm still thinking I'm 20 pounds away from where I want to be, but I'm well aware I'm stuck in the Tomorrow Syndrome. (I'll start back tomorrow!) Tomorrow never actually comes, it just turns into today. So I'm just waiting for willpower to kick back in and have no plans for an actual start date.

Maybe I never wrapped up the bloodwork and heart monitor. I had the bloodwork done 6 weeks after I went to the doctor. They didn't order new cholesterol numbers so I pretty much had four full days of temper tantrums. I was so looking forward to those 6-week results. However, the liver enzymes came way down, I mean, WAY down and my doc is well pleased.

The monitor came off a month later with only two small episodes. No big crazy ones that drove me to the doctor in the first place, go figure. All I have to show for that funness is a $1,300 bill that insurance won't cover. Even the heart monitor company sent a personal letter to me stating how they think it's unfair. Who knew that after carefully choosing a primary doctor, a cardiologist, a lab, and a hospital, that a heart monitor company could be in- or out-of-network? We've appealed twice, but it doesn't look good. The hospital advocate is supposed to be on it, but I haven't heard from her in over a week. And no, we don't have $1,300 over our budget in the bank...

"If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done." - Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT
(Second hand paraphrase)

Yeah, I know.

Musical Mondays ~

Hey! Happy summer, everyone! I know I have a lot to catch up on, and I promise I will do so over the next few weeks; but for now, it's good to be home and enjoying summer!


Wanted to clue you into a song that has struck me hard the past few months - got me thru end of school, June planning and July SummerQuest VBS. It's a song that plays and makes me want to just turn it up LOUD, take a knee, and block the rest of the world out. As the matter of fact, I have done just that!

Enjoy: How He Loves (Us) sung by David Crowder

Friday Update

I'm not promising that I'm going to jump back in to regular blogging; it's Spring and there is so much more to do! But I thought, on a nice, long, four-day weekend, I'd at least update those of you who are following my heart journey this year.

new {smaller!} clothes from the MOPs Swap
hanging on the line in Spring!

a) I haven't exactly fallen off the wagon, but I haven't been working on weight loss for the last few weeks. Once I took my blood test, I allowed myself some freedom, although I've noticed that my lifestyle is probably permanently changed {for the better}. I'm eating Cheerios and/or oatmeal every single day, watching all the other stuff I should and shouldn't have, cholesterol-wise.

b) I'm holding steady at around 15 pounds weight loss. At least I know that I can maintain! I still intend to drop 15 more!

c) When they took blood the last time, they didn't test cholesterol. I had about a week-long, arms-crossed, foot-stomping temper tantrum.

Like a child. 

                                                                                                         I really, really, really wanted my 6-week cholesterol numbers and I didn't realize how much until, well, I didn't have them. Perhaps the most frustrating was that doc even thought they were getting new cholesterol #s. So we'll retake in July. By then, with all this oatmeal, Cheerios & almonds, I'm thinking the numbers will be somewhere near zero? :)

d) Right now we are successfully juggling five sports. I used to laugh at those moms that have their kids scheduled every minute of every afternoon. Well, now that's us. It's just that the kids love to do so much, especially during the spring. Matthew tried flag football this spring and is loving every minute. He's signed up for tackle starting this summer! He's having a really, really great baseball year - not only do we have a wonderful team and great coaches, but he's personally shown so much growth this year that I'm actually looking forward to his step up to minors next year. He's also back swimming and is frequently used as the example student for the regular back stroke!

McKenna is playing "big girl" softball. Her first game was fabulous. But then she noticed the dirt. and butterflies. and dandelions. She plays great, it's just the wait time that doesn't go so well! Oh, and she is the stinkin' cutest one on the field, if I do say so myself! She's also back at gymnastics - we've switched back to my home gym (same coach) and she's having a ball with it. We're happy to be "home". Lastly, she is also swimming two times a week, holding her own with some much bigger kids in her level! Oh, and she's about to graduate Kindergarten. Fun times.

e) Me? Busy as always - and more. I've been subbing a lot, everywhere from 1st grade to high school kitchen; fitting life in around work. I graduated MOPs last week. Bible study finished for the year - without me. I love this time of year, all the transitions and the promise of summer right around the corner.

We're on our Memorial Day 4-day weekend and are so thankful for the break. The kids are catching up on tv and wii and just some hangin' out! Perhaps a game or two, but rain this week has knocked out just about everything outside. Picnic Sunday will add a nice touch. Less than a month to go before school is out - summer's almost here!

If you're a pray-er, the SummerQuest snowball has begun to roll. Once it starts, it doesn't stop until mid-July! We appreciate all of your prayers for volunteers, 500 kids, staff, and the everything it takes for the program to remain as successful as it is! Also up soon are the Women's Conference and the Car Show! Check it out! http://www.graceoc.com/

Thanks for following along with me. I appreciate the support. Love to all!

Numbers 6:24-26
"The LORD bless you and keep you;the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." 

Creative Thursday ~ me @ 35

Well, I missed another Thursday, so I'm just posting as I just finished this page.
Soooo far out of my comfort zone: rainbows, all-about-me AND splatters! all inspired by The Nook...

Realized, after a convo at The Nook, that I haven't done tutorials - at all or in a very long while. So today I have two How-To's - or How I Do's! The first is adding a color overlay, the second is making a rainbow overlay. I hope to work on the page How-To over the next few days.


Color overlay 101


Step 1

Choose & edit your pic to black and white (either by a filter or by Image>Mode>Grayscale in PS CS2).

Step 2
Merge layers if applicable; Add a new layer on top of your photo (in PS CS2, Ctrl/Shirt/N).

Step 3
You may have to put your canvas back into RGB Color.

Step 4
Select a foreground color - start with a bright color, you can always adjust it later.

Step 5
Use your paint bucket tool to completely fill in the top empty layer.

Step 6
Adjust the Opacity to obtain your desired effect. I chose an opacity from 30% - 50%.

Step 7
Repeat steps 5 & 6 with different colors. You can create new layers (and turn lower layers invisible) or open new windows.

(flash forward ahead to creating steps 5 & 6 with all desired colors):

Step 8
To prepare a document to print, create a new window the size of your printer (mine doesn't print 1/4 in on all sides so I open a doc 8"x10.5").
Add in bottom layer and one of the colored layers. Merge color and photo layer.

It may look something like this:

 Last step
Print, cut and enjoy!


Rainbow Overlay 101


Step 1
(Please disregard the previous layers with other colors - they are turned 'off', or are invisible, as you can see, and have no baring on the following tutorial.)
Copy and paste original/black and white into a new layer.
Select the Gradient Tool (often close to your Paint Bucket Tool).

Step 2
Select the rainbow (or desired effect).

Step 3
"Draw" a diagonal line through photo - drawing in different directions and angles will effect the gradient in the next step.

You should see something similar to this:

Step 4
Just like in the Color Overlay tutorial, adjust the Opacity of the gradient layer.

...and voila! Rainbow You!

Scripture Sundays ~ 2 Corinthians

So if you've been reading with me for a while, you know I've been

{obsessed/focused/bombarded/consumed/fixated} 

on 'free'. I couldn't put my thumb on what it was or even why it was. 


Last week, it all came full circle.


I am blessed to be the table leader of a wonderful bunch of ladies for our MOPs meetings. This is my last year in MOPs but my first year as a leader; I try to put my all into the task, even though it's so far out of my comfort zone! So this table of ours is about 90% military. Remember, here, that I was born and raised military for the first twelve years of my life. I can tell you that it sticks with you if you think twelve sounds a little young. These ladies are wonderfully warm, willing to open, and bless my life bi-weekly. 


So two meetings ago, some of our table was late because of an accident. I learned that it was a fatality of someone from West Point and it broke my heart, since that's where most of our table comes from. 


Forward to a few days from then, I'm cleaning the house with the iPod on and the song below comes on and nearly brings me to tears, mop and all!


I immediately sent it, in prayer, to my table and felt a wonderful sense of calm right afterwards. 
So I think the journey with 'free' has come full circle, and this is how I wrapped it up:

2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.


This song is playing today, but feel free to turn off my Playlist (all the way at the bottom) and enjoy

Phillips, Craig & Dean's 

Freedom's Never Free

Lyrics to Freedom's Never Free by Phillips, Craig & Dean

Standing on a hillside

Where the river meets the sea

White crosses without number

Line the fields of peace

And each one a silent witness

Staring back at me

Every cross a story

Of another place in time

Where young men thought it worthy

To give their life for mine

And for the sake of honor

Left their dreams behind

And for the price they paid

I'm forever in their debt

Their memory will not die

'Cause I will not forget

I will stand and hold my head up high

I will dedicate my life

To the glory of the ones who had to die

I will live, live what I believe

If for no one else but me

To remember

Freedom's never free

It was on another hillside

Outside the city gates

The battle lines were drawn

As soldiers took their place

The Father watched in silence

As a cross was raised

With freedom drawing closer

He took His final breath

He drank our cup of guilt

And took the sting from death

Heaven's Finest Soldier

clothed in human flesh

And for the price He paid

I'm forever in His debt

The cross will never die

'Cause I will not forget

I will stand and hold my head up high

I will dedicate my life

To the glory of the One who had to die

I will live, live what I believe

If for no one else but me

To remember that

Freedom's Never Free

I will walk free

I will stay free

I will live free

I will die free!

Photography Fridays ~ Opening Day

Baseball season is upon us. We love baseball!

She did great at her first 'big girl' softball game!
"Hardly any playing in the dirt." =)

What a difference a year makes. Nicely matured kids this year. Overheard by an opponent:
"We played the Cubs yesterday. They were good. Really good." =)

Wednesday Weigh-in ~ 5 weeks

☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼

I'm so glad I started this post days and days ago. I'm finding out what it's like trying to lose weight while being super busy. I've been busy or worked every day this week. Homework and quick kitchen clean after school. Spring sport season just started and we have been running for days. Opening day of little league was Saturday and we ate out. I can't even remember dinner. A sport every night this week - including a Yankee game on Monday (and was I really supposed to say no to Yankee nachos? Especially when they offered guacamole with it?!)
Softball - Tuesday.
Baseball - Wednesday.
Football - Thursday.
Friday's practice was cancelled, thank goodness, but we have 4 games this weekend.
And we haven't even started swimming yet.
Find time to plan? When!?

So I went back to 3 meals a day and the last one is usually the oatmeal trail mix of sorts. It is good because I rarely eat what everyone else eats and can make them yummy food which makes the family happier. =) I just have to make sure I have snacks or meals on hand in the case of a quick eat out at a local fav pizza joint at which I should eat nothing (instead of my request: Subway)!

In any case, at least I broke my plateau this week and today I'm 15 lbs down (15 to go). I'm hoping for a few more this week. Today I have to tackle a full grocery trip. This weekend I return my heart monitor. Monday, the 31st I have my next doctor's appointment and blood test. C'mon Cheerios. C'mon Quaker. Do your job!

This is what I put together last week:

Some thoughts on substitutions.

---------------------------------------------------------

instead of this:                                         I go with this:

    

Moral of the story: find an app. Stick with it!

---------------------------------------------------------

instead of this:                                         I go with this: 

     

Moral of the story: Leave the bread. Whole grains do a body good.

---------------------------------------------------------

instead of this:                                         I go with this: 

                 

Moral of the story: If I just have to have a carb, I try to make it something at least a little worthwhile.

---------------------------------------------------------

instead of this:                                         I go with this: 

                

Moral of the story: Unnecessary calories - leave 'em! Water...and LOTS of it.

---------------------------------------------------------

instead of this:                                         I go with this: 

        

Moral of the story: Sweets for sweets. Just watch the sugar and calories is all.

---------------------------------------------------------

instead of this:                                         I go with this: 

Moral of the story: Yes, I know they're yummy. I miss them. But I can't think of a more empty calorie. Cheerios. Fighting cholesterol. Good for the heart.

---------------------------------------------------------

instead of this:                                         I go with this: 

Moral of the story: I contacted Quaker myself and they answered. Dry oats have the same cholesterol-lowering benefits as cooked. I eat it like granola and mix it with nuts.

---------------------------------------------------------

instead of this:                                         I go with this: 

   

Moral of the story: Nuts have cholesterol-lowering benefits, too. Don't go overboard, though.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, eating about a handful (1.5 ounces, or 42.5 grams) a day of most nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts, may reduce your risk of heart disease. Just make sure the nuts you eat aren't salted or coated with sugar.

---------------------------------------------------------

instead of this:                                         I go with this: