Free Class at Jessica Sprague

Registration for Jessica Sprague's newest class "Holidays in Hand" is now open! And it is a FREE class with no limits! I'm posting the link because I have LOVED every class I've taken at J.S. and have no reservations about recommending her site to anyone. If you are at all curious, click the link and check it out. What do you have to lose?

Blogging For Scrapbookers

Shimelle's class - Blogging for Scrapbookers - started today (hey, it's not too late to join me - you can find all the info to sign up here!).

Why this class? Why now? Well - I've just passed my one year blogiversary and I'm trying to figure out if my blog has lived up to my expectations for it. I began blogging to share the scrapbooking that I'm doing and to share what is going on in my life. I've done that - not consistently, but I've done it. And I've had some good posts. Yet there is this nagging little bit of discontent about my blog. I still haven't figured out how to put up a real header. I still haven't figured out how to make it pretty.

And I have to be honest - I LOVE comments! When I make a blog post and get no response, I'm actually disappointed. Which is silly if I'm doing this blog for me. Not so silly if I'm doing it for reasons I haven't articulated - like for validation, to find kindred souls, to connect with a world larger than my own circle of influence. And when it comes right down to it, this may be the unspoken reason behind my blogging. Having said that, my reason for taking this class, and what I hope to gain from it, is to take my blogging to the next level. I want to create blog content that people will actually want to read and respond to, that is still true to my authentic self, and that will become the foundation of future scrapbooking. Although sometimes, it will be my scrapbooking that becomes the foundation for a blog post. Hopefully each creative outlet will feed the other! I'm not promising to blog daily (I don't want to bore anyone to death and I DO have a life). But I am promising to put a little more effort into future posts. Hold me to it, okay?

On Being the Mother of Teenagers

I'm taking Ali Edwards' "Yesterday and Today" class at BPS. Last week our assignment was a layout about a challenge in our life. I chose not to get into anything huge or traumatic but just to journal about my feelings about being a mother of teenagers. I didn't finish the layout because I didn't have photos to go with it. This week the assignment was a layout without photos! Perfect! Now these thoughts are out documented and someday when they have teens, I'll let them read this!

P.S. If you click on the layout in my blog, it opens up big enough to read the journaling.

No Longer M.I.A.

I've been MIA for nearly two months. I'm sure my blog feels like the neglected middle child, but everytime I stopped by to post something and saw that photo from Labor Day weekend staring at me... well, the prospect of bringing my blog up to date just seemed so daunting that I logged out and moved on to something else. How pathetic is that? My posting malaise seems to have started when I could no longer keep up with my J.S. "Beautiful Evidence" class. It got sidetracked for the previously blogged yard project (our grass is coming along quite nicely, thank you). Then it got further sidetracked when we took on this project:

painting the former living room/dining room (now to be the craft room/office). We begain by covering everything so Jay could paint the ceilings. Jay paints in a very specific order, so despite not giving a rat's patootie about the ceiling, I went along so we could get the project underway.
Painting the ceiling began on September 6th.

Step two: move everything to the center of the room so Jay can paint the trim, and then the walls. That killed two more weekends. In the meantime, none of my scrapbooking stuff was accessible. But it's all part of the process right?

Once we had the walls and trim painted, we decided that the 22 year old mauve carpeting just wasn't cutting it for us. So off to the carpet store and after debating between carpet and hardwood, and then mulling over carpet colors (carpet won for now just because of cost), we finally made a decision and scheduled the carpet install. That meant moving EVERYTHING out of those two rooms!

So my scrapbooking supplies and office stuff ended up in the hallway...

and the sunroom...

and the garage. I've been parking in the driveway for a month now. And I keep reminding myself that it is all part of the process.

So here is my blank slate. And it is really hard to see the colors when shooting toward the windows, but this shot lets you see that we do get some natural light in this room.

The paint is all Benjamin Moore - "subtle" for the ceilings, "truffle" for the walls and white for the trim. The new carpeting is "Smart Strand" from Mohawk (made from corn products - no petroleum! - so it is environmentally friendly) and stains are supposed to wipe right up with just water. Let's hope that claim is true, because this is the lightest color carpet I've ever installed and it is kind of intimidating!

We are now slowly moving stuff back into these two rooms. The difference here is that I've put my foot down and am not allowing these rooms to become "storage" (which is what they've been for the past two years since the kitchen/sunroom remodel). So only items that are staying and need a permanent home are moving back in. Which is a slow process. I've taken two van loads of stuff to Goodwill and sold some no-longer-needed scrapbooking supplies on Craigslist. And so it goes... I'll post more photos when the rooms are really back together!

While all of this was going on, we had Farm & Home Oil out for our annual heater maintenance. And our furnace got red-tagged. Cracked heat exchanger. Ever have this happen to you? It's not fun.

Well, the timing sucked. Right in time for a string of unseasonably cold days and nights. But one week and eight thousand dollars later (thank goodness they have payment plans!) we are the proud owners of a new Thermopride furnace with Riello burner and an Amana air conditioning unit - both of which have lifetime warranties on the major components.

And that, in a nutshell, has been my life for the last two months. No scrapbooking has been done. But the room is getting closer to finished and I feel the creative muse rising... stay tuned!

This Was My Day...

I went to the gym in the morning and did a full strength training/cardio workout. Little did I know...We had 8 yards of dirt delivered. That is TWO truckloads people! This pile represents about 1 - 2 yards left of the second load - so something less than 1/4 of the total amount.

And yes, that is me shoveling dirt. Ugh. Not my best side either.

And there is Jay hauling the full wheelbarrow from the driveway to the backyard...

And making his little molehills of dirt everywhere. Why you might ask? Well, you can somewhat see from this photo that we have a steeply sloping backyard. (This is facing the side neighbor's yard - that bank of ivy is not ours). And over time, erosion has done a nasty number on our lawn. So we are bringing in topsoil and planting new seed... trying once again to grow a yard.
Here's one with the dirt all spread out nice and pretty. This faces the neighbor to the back - our property ends right at the fence. We got started on this project around 11:00 this morning. It is now 8 p.m. and Jay is still outside spreading seed. Me, I got my shower and I'm blogging... it's bug time and NOTHING is important enough to keep me outside at bug time!

I don't usually journal on my layouts

- in fact, I have a bunch of "unfinished" layouts still waiting for some journaling. But here I am taking the class "Telling Stories Deeply" over at Big Picture Scrapbooking (yes, at the same time as "Beautiful Evidence" over at Jessica Sprague, and yes, I am insane!) and being encouraged to tell the stories that only I can tell. Last week I got down some important memories of Sarah's birth. This week I went even a little further back in my history and got down the story of how Jay & I met. {supplies: Pencillines Template 146, JS Kraft Paper, CAZ Denim & Brown Kit at deco-pages.com, VT Remington font}

It is so interesting to me to look back at that moment in time and think that if we hadn't both just lost our jobs, if we hadn't chosen the same employment agency, if our interview times had been off by even fifteen minutes, if one of us had been late, if I hadn't surreptitiously copied down his phone number... then we might never have met, gotten married, had three beautiful children. It's kind of staggering to contemplate.

Journaling reads:

January 24, 1984. I had just been fired. The first and only time in my life. I was going to an interview at Prime Spot Employment Agency in Jenkintown, dressed in a pale grey wool skirt and blazer and jade green blouse. Professional, yet feminine. I was determined that it was going to be a good day.

I stepped into the elevator and there HE was - so handsome in a navy blue pin stripe suit, shirt and tie. I think my heart skipped a beat. A fortuitous meeting with a stranger.
The elevator came to a stop and I was once again all business. I strode down the hall, checked in, and took a seat. A moment later, HE walked in. And sat down next to me.

I don’t remember who spoke first. I don’t remember much of the conversation except that I told him that I was new to the area and didn’t know many people, and gave him my phone number. Then HE was called for his interview and was gone.

Our chance meeting might never have made it beyond that office but for another fortuitous turn of events. HE had left a folder on the table. A folder with his resume in it. A resume with his phone number on it. In an unusually bold move, I copied down his information.

Some time later HE called. At a bad time. I had a guest, I explained. He said he would call later. I was sure he thought I was blowing him off.

As soon as I was free, I called him. So bold. So not me. So out of my comfort zone. And apparently, so unexpected. He had thought I was blowing him off. He probably wouldn’t have called again. He wondered how I got his phone number. He had just been fired too. The first and only time in his life.

And he asked me out.

Catching Up on Beautiful Evidence

p 9. "The Cast" - this page introduces the characters for the "US" chapter. I'm planning to add duplicates of the "Me" page for each family member.

p. 8 - opening of Chapter 2 "Us". JS had names & ages listed on this page. Since I'm using an old photo, I opted for this great Erma Bombeck quote instead.

p. 7 "May I Have" - this one may get some reworking. I'm seeing such inspiring pages in the gallery that makes me want to make this page a little more personal.

p. 6 "Influences" This page came together pretty easy for me. Although I have many different influences in my life, what really guides me from day to day are the values my Mom instilled in me growing up, my love for and commitment to my family, and my love of learning.