Fiskars Training class - a hit!!!

Last night I had our first Fiskars Training class at Taylor Made Memories. Nanci (pictured in the last photo with me) and Gwen were gracious enough to allow us to use their store. It turned out to be a lot of fun! I'll update this later with more photos. For some reason when I try to format them, I keep erasing the ones I've uploaded. Hoy... if I could just master this blog/photo thing! LOL! There were 10 gals all together who went through the training and became Certified Fiskars Demonstrators. We shared stories, drew names for fun prizes, laughed together and learned together. The most best part for me was seeing the faces on the women as they discovered how these amazing tools actually worked. It was also fun to see the excitement on their faces as I introduced some products that they had never seen before. Thank you ladies for a great night together!

More Thanksgiving Pictures!

While we were in Beaverton, we went to the park and although it was VERY cold, the kids had fun playing around! We were actually at a park with a playground but I think the kids had more fun playin in the leaves and climbing the fence! At our place at the coast, there aren't a lot of colorful fall leaves and not many piles of leaves at all so, they had a really good time!

So VERY thankful!

Happy Be-lated Thanksgiving! I can't believe it has come and come but let me tell you I feel that I still have SO much to be thankful for. We were able to spend Thanksgiving with Arte's family and now my parents are visiting from Canada. That alone is so special. But something happened this year that made it extra special for me.

Just before we left for Portland, we found out that a good family friend of ours was going in for emergency triple by-pass surgery. We drove a few hours on Wednesday to go see him and his wife as he was just getting out of surgery. He did well but I think it was a bit of a wake up call for us. It just gets ya thinking. The night before we left, my very best friend in Canada told me over the phone that her Dad (who is a Pastor and who she works for and is very close to) was just given 6 months to live. WOW. That's a tough one. It left me nearly speechless. I'm so glad to serve a God who fill me with confidence and hope that all things are in His control.

As we were driving to Portland, we had a moment in the van where I thought my heart would explode with happiness. My 3 yound kids (8, 6, and 3)were singing to their favorite kids praise and worship CD. You could tell that they were getting louder and louder and it seemed to become a compition to see who could be the loudest! LOL! As the song finished I talked to them about what the words meant. The words said "I will worship with all of my heart." I explained to them that with all of your heart meant that you really were singing from your heart because you're are grateful for the blessings in your life and that whoever is 'loudest' isn't the most important thing. What was important was that it's from the heart. We played the song again (it's their favorite.) I totally could have balled my eyes out. There was such a change in the atmosphere of the van although they were almost singing just as loud but you could really tell that it was sincere, totally from the heart. Even our little 3 year old! Arte and I sang along with them and it was so loud and strong and beautiful. It was a moment that I will never forget. I truly felt God's love envelop our van, giving us a big hug and reassuring us that He will never leave us or forsake us even when it seems the world around us is falling apart. I don't have a photo for this moment but I'm definitely going to scrap it!

Then, on Sunday morning, the message was all about hope. It was wonderful. There are so many of us in the world that feel like there is no hope. I don't normally do this but I feel so impressed to right now. If you are reading this and feel like you are a person without hope and would like to hear this message that was spoken at our church, I would be happy to send you a copy. Whether I know you or not, I love to get you a copy. Email me at julieoverby@peak.org.

In the end, we had a fabulous time in Portland. Here is a picture of our kiddos with their cousin Tanner.

2 cards published! Wahoo! AND I finally got my ALBUM done!

I'm having a lot of fun with my Noteworthy goodies. I was excited and shocked to find out on a SUNDAY?? that the two cards below were picked up by CARDS magazine. Wahoo!! That was so fun and I was so excited that I will have 2 in the same magazine. Haven't had that happen yet. Now I'm crossing my fingers for this mini album that I submitted. I focuse on each page and then went through and matched up something on the 'back' side. I wasn't even going to do anything on the back side but I had more photos so I decided to try it and see what happened. I had a LOT of fun making this album. I love having fun with my kids and that's what it is all about!

*My album got picked up too!!! WAHOO!!! So sorry if you didn't get a chance to see it*

Noteworthy

Has it really been four days since my last post? Seems like yesterday! Well I thought it would be worth mentioning that I have completely fallen in love with this new Noteworthy line by Making Memories. Such great colors, papers and embellishments. Of course, I had to try a few cards with them so here is what I came up with...

How do I become a Fiskateer AND more photos!!

Some of you asked about how to become a 'fiskateer.' This is not some 'secret' club or something for those of you who were wondering! Fiskars has a blog and message board where a community of scrappers meet and share their ideas and words of encouragement. There are fun inspirational 'on-line' crops and interviews with scrapbooking celebs. There is no obligation once you join. Although, beware, you may be sucked into all the fun that goes on! So far there are over 2700 fiskateers and I'm quite certain that many more will be joining in the next few months. Oh... lil secret... once you join, you get a FABULOUS lil welcome gift in the mail that shows just how much Fiskars cares about their customers, enough to add a personal touch.

Once you visit http://www.fiskateers.com/kateers.com/ click on 'how to join' One of the 4 leads will get you varified through email (which just means they want to make sure you are a real person and not some spammer person.) It doesn't make a difference who you choose. If you were wanting to take it one step further, there may be someone in your area (one of the Nifty Fifty) who became certified to train others to become Fiskars demonstrators. In this case, you would have possible opportunities to even get paid to do what we LOVE to do! Let one of us know if you want more information about that.

Now onto to the photos! I just had to post this photo of my sweet Ashley who, the night I got

home, decided to gather a pile of everything 'orange' that she owned. I thought it was so funny because I hadn't even told her the significance of us spreading the 'orange' fiskars Love all over San Antonio! I also had to post a photo of my new horse (craft cart) full of goodies and box full of scrappin' supplies. There's a photo of one of the most beautiful restaurants that we went to eat. During our boat tour of the river walk, I took this photo of one of the original buildings that were built in the city. I thought it was just so pretty! Stephanie said that her cheeks were hurting so bad on Saturday night from smiling so much! Had to take a picture! The rest are just of me and some new friends and our fun time croppin' together!










As far as my favorite Fiskars product goes, it's funny because as I was reading everyone's answers, I thought... 'well, ya... I really love that too!' It truly is hard to just say I have a favorite. I was pretty much hinting in my post toward the fact that they gave us alot of adhesive because I am SOOOO picky about my adhesive. And seriously, if you have not tried Fiskars adhesive yet... you are going to be AMAZED. It glides so perfectly and is so forgiving. I love that it is in sections so that you can easily to a tiny bit or a lot. It almost sounds crazy to say that it's my favorite fiskars product but you have to understand that it was an Awesome discovery for me. You see, I use my adhesive nearly EVERY day on nearly EVERYTHING that I'm working on so it's important to me for it to be very functional. So, valkenwill you are the winner of the new heart squeeze punch!
Lastly is a photo of me and my new dear friend Melanie. We hit it off right away since we're both Canadians, LOL! Really, we had more than that in common. She does scrapbooking for charity and I think it's such an AWESOME thing.

Please let me know if you have any questions about Fiskars or becoming a Fiskateer.

I Love You to the Moon and Back

I got this great news before I left for Texas that one of my layouts was picked to be in the catwalk at Scrapinstyle TV. What does that mean? It just means that one of their fashionests (DT) liked it enough to have it highlighted for the week. It was fun for me because I hadn't had a layout picked yet at that sight where there are SO many incredibly talented scrappers. This has become one of my personal favorite layouts.
***edit***Just found out that ScrapbookTrends wants my layout for an Embellishment idea book that they are coming out with, wahoo!

Fiskars Round Up (part 2)

What an fantastic trip. From the moment I stepped into the first meeting, I was shocked. I continued to be shocked all throughout the weekend. Let me go back and explain why I was even in San Antonio.
May, one of Fiskars leads called me on the phone and announced that I was chosen to be apart of something BIG that would be happening in November. I had NO IDEA just how big she meant. Before too long, an all expense paid trip was planned and I would be leaving for Texas.
The first night that we got there, I came in late and very ill but I couldn't help but smile as I walked into a room full of ladies at tables with orange hats with their fiskateers number on them! All around the room their were craft carts that were clearly our 'first gift.' Suzanne insisted that we brought our 'horse' to every meeting because we would be filling it up with goodies! Along with our 'horse' was a great pair of fiskars scissors that even had our name engraved on them! That night there was a wonderful class (that I missed due to being ill) but it was chalked full of fun stuff and I did get a kit to complete later.
Saturday morning, we started out early with breakfast and some history about Fiskars. WHO knew that this company had been around since the 1600??? And over all these years, it has been a company about people.

Caring for people has been the heart of it.

LOVE that.

So, the very first class we walk into, was like the best Christmas you could EVER imagine!!! Our chairs were piled high and over flowing with trimmers (4 different sizes), stamp presses, stamps, border punches, punches, templates, eyelet setters, and that's just to name a few. Of course, each class that we went to had a kit full of paper, ribbon, stickers, rub-ons... everything we needed to complete a project and then some. And tape... lots and lots of adhesive. Stephanie, Holly, and Cheryl each taught a fabulous class and every time we switched rooms there were new goodies to open. Unbelievable. We seriously could not believe our eyes.

We broken into four groups, the last class that we had was with the leaders from Brains on Fire which is like Fiskars 'PR' branch. It was informative and also interactive where we were able to give feed back. Awesome.

We spoiled not only with things. Fiskars way beyond that. We were spoiled with some excellent restaraunts and delishious foods (most of which I couldn't eat but I still felt spoiled!) These lovely gents playing the guitars serenaded us out of our hotel and onto a river boat where were taken on a little boat tour up the river walk. It was AMAZING!!! I will post more photos of that later. It was so special and so fun for all of us gals in our orange hats, to be hanging out together. People would ask what the hats were for and we pass them out a pair of scissors and tell them it was a gift from Fiskars. So fun to spread the LOVE! We were each given 3 pairs to pass out at some point.

Saturday evening was a special treat. Heidi Grace and Nancy from Cloud 9 each gave a class and blessed us with tons of product. It was neat to catch a glimpse into their hearts and lives to understand how the companies really came to be.

Toward the end of the evening, we were informed that they had extra boxes of supplies to work with and to help ourselves to all the stuff on the back table. Wowah! That was like taking off all the lids in a candy store where a 3 year old is standing free!!! It quickly became a spread the supplies party and you could tell that everyone was quite excited to be getting some more stuff! I left a little early because they were asking for anyone who hadn't got a chance to have any of their projects taped for Fiskars TV. So... I went off to do that. That was hilarious. I was sick and my voice was shot and I'm sure looked horrid and totally did not plan what I was going to say. It was pretty bad but hey... it was an opportunity so I took it! Can't even tell ya what they are going to do with it... if anything! LOL!

In the morning, there was still yet more Fiskars love being poured out on us. We got to hear a bit more about the heart of the company and how we are able to communicate that to others. Then, the 3 leads got up to say a few words and begin a 'graduation ceremony.' Kleenex boxes were flyin' as everyone spoke about how wonderful it has been to be apart of something so amazing and how it was so great to build friendships over such a small time. We were each called up one by one and given a necklace with a pair of scissors for a charm, a flower, and most importantly 3 big hugs from our fearless leaders. It was so sweet and so awesome.

My favorite part about this weekend was how all the leaders of this company, including Suzanne and the 3 leads just became one of us. They 'hung' with us, laughed with us and told stories with us. We were all just a bunch of happy scrappers bonding with our passion and learning a bit about one another. It was soooo personal and just sooo very awesome.

Obviously I got to spend more time with some than with others. I really didn't think I would feel like I got to know some of these people the way that I did. It's so fun to go on the board and actually 'know' the people you are talking to. That alone is special. But it was most amazing that this company invested so many resources, so much time, so much effort into us. It feels great to know that someone has that much faith in you!

Fiskars is about a company who really want their customers to understand their products so that people can get more out of their paper crafting and 'memory perserving.'

Thank you Fiskars and everyone one of you who put soooo much work into making this weekend so special for us. It was such an honor to be there. I truly have been blessed.

I wanted to share some these fabulous photos. The first is of Cheryl and I. She is such a dear. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have not only met her but really get to know her. The two of us have really connected through emails, phone calls, and a lot of common experiences. To actually hug and spend time chattin' about life really deepend our bond.

The second photo is of Heidi Grace and I. She is such a cutie! Heidi really shared alot about her life and was so REAL with us. She is smart, genuine, talented and beautiful. What an honor to meet and spend some time with her.

I have soo many photos to share. These are just a few to capture the feeling of the weekend. I may post some more later just for fun!

Now to pass on some Fiskars LOVE!!! We were given a 'bit' extra to pass on so the first one to post here and guess what my favorite fiskars product is will be 'feelin' the fiskars love when I RAK them!

Fiskars Round Up: (Part 1)

I wanted to blog about my amazing experience in San Antonio while it was fresh in my mind. I've decided to do it in two parts. Both parts of these stories are amazing but I want to blog about my 'travels' first so that the actually time spent in Texas is up on my blog longer. So, tomorrow or later tonight I will have part two which will tell about how exciting of a time it was and include so great photos of the my trip.

***EDIT**** Well, this turned out to be a short novel that I'm not even sure my own Mother would take the time to read. So, unless you have insomnia and need to read an 'off the wall' story... here is the shortened version:

flight to San Antonio - delayed flight... flu all day.. yuk.... room canceled... late for session.
flight home from San Antonio - delayed (another mechanical error), delayed again (third mechanical error)... flight canceled due to tired piolet.... 1 1/2 hour of sleep in hotel room... back to airport... $60 cab ride home to inlaws.... 3 hour drive home to Waldport. I'm home safe and sound... God is good!

So, right when you thought it couldn't get worse...Okay, I better preface this by saying that although I had quite a rough journey there and back, my weekend with Fiskars was way beyond worth it, so, no complaining here. It's just quite a funny story.

We live 3 hours from the airport, so my family drove me the day before (Thurs) and we spent the night at my in-laws. Very early Friday a.m. I got up to get ready. I seriously had not slept AT ALL the night before. I was so sick to my stomach and I was sleeping in the same room as my kids who kept getting up and making noises all night ect. While I was getting ready, I realized that the reason I my stomach hurt all night wasn't just out of excitement.

The flu.
Yuk... but I wasn't sure that was it. Can nerves and excitement make you hurl???
So, I decided to chance it and continued on my journey.

The first thing I did after getting on the plane was look for the "provided bag" situated in the seat in front of you. The pilot began to take us down the run the way and then just before take off, came to a hault.

And there we sat.

For a VERY long time.

The pilot came on and said that there was a mechanical error reading and that the mechanic would need to check it out. Back to the gate we drove. After several more minutes of waiting, he informed us that the part that was need for the plane was having to flown down from Seattle. (I squeezed my bag a little tighter.)

We were ushered of the plane and into the terminal where over the loud speaker we hear that the part in Seattle just missed it's flight and would have to make the 'next' one. Needless to say, our flight was very delayed and I knew for sure that I would be missing my connection in Denvar.

Eventually the time came for take off (with a new part... which is always good:) I'm trying so hard to keep a good attitude. After all, I would rather fly on a SAFE plane. However, realizing that I would be missing the 'pick up' at the airport, the welcome dinner and beginning session was starting to bum me out just a bit. On top of having no sleep, and being so utterly ill to my stomach, I couldn't fight back the tears.

By the time we were in the air, I realized that the tears were more due to the fact that my body felt horrible and that there was no way I would be making it through the flight without using my 'bag.' Such a humiliating feeling. But, God was good. He blessed me with a row to myself. The row across from me only had one man in it. The second he got up to leave, was my moment of relief.

At least I had some privacy!!

Going through the Denver airport was one of the worst experiences of my life. I could hardly walk I was so sick. I was so tired and I just wanted to be horizontal but all the chairs had arm rests between them! I sat criss cross applesauce on the ground and fell asleep with my chin in my hands. You know when you are sick, it's always when you wake up that you have trouble?

I woke up.

Not enough time for anyone (even my own mother) to hear all the lovely details so I'm going to skip to when I arrived. No welcome people because by now they are all in the first evening session. So, I had to ride a taxi.

I get to the hotel to find out that my room had been 'canceled.'

What?

I had made all the neccessary calls to let people know I'd be late!

So then the nice gentleman proceeds to tell me that because I would now be in a room by myself that I would be paying for it myself. Of course this hotel staff person didn't know what he was taking about but when you are sick and can hardly stand??? It was all could do to keep from bursting into tears.

So, another blessing... my own room. The reason this was a blessing was because of how I was feeling. I could hardly talk, let alone meet a new person who I'd be rooming with. Luckily it must have been the 24 hour flu because by the end of the next day, I was feeling more myself and able to enjoy everything (except the food!) So, in my next post I will tell ALL about what I was able to enjoy.

Now for the trip back...{sigh} I really didn't think it could get worse. But I believe that God is in control and that everything happens for a reason. Perhaps I was being saved from a car accident, or a preditor in the night. I don't know. Maybe I gave somebody a little hope as a smiled through all the trials put before us while everyone else was screaming in frustration. Whatever the reason is, I'm home safe now and that's all that matters.

By the end, it became humourous to me and makes for a great story so I have to share!

My first flight to Denver was great. I got to visit with my new friend Jen (someone was nice enough to trade seats so we could sit together). We grabbed a bite to eat in the airport as we had a bit of wait before or seperate flights home. Together we laughed about how tired we were, almost afraid to stop talking thinking our heads might drop into our salad because that's how tired we were.

My energy perked up when a few feet away I saw Cheryl and Mitsy. Another blessing. We got to have this special time of just chatting together about life. Because there were so many people at the our meetings I didn't have a LOT of one on one time with Cheryl. She is someone who through email and a few phone calls has come very dear to me so this time at the airport was MORE than PRECIOUS.

And of course, I got all caught up in our conversation for quite a long time only to realize as I glanced at my watch that I now had about 4 minutes before my plane was boarding. I RACED to my gate which said nothing at all about going to Portland.

My heart was pounding.

I checked the boards. Gate change... hello?? Nobody told me! (well, I guess I wasn't listening to the announcements)

I raced off to the next gate thinking 'surely people will still be boarding...I have lots of time.' When I got there... the door was closed, there were a ton of people just sitting down waiting and the sign above me said to Orlando.

I seriously felt like I was in the twilight zone. Nothing was making sense.

I waited in a short line at the desk there only to find out that our 'plane' and 'crew' were being held up in Canada because of a Mechanical error!!!!!!! The soonest they would be arriving would be in 7 hours - midnight. {...sigh} Good news! I had a chance of getting on a stand flight at 9pm. There were only 40 other people ahead of me!

So, I stood in the longest line ever to get a stand by ticket thinking... there's always a chance...

I missed the stand by flight by one person.

Now, I want to interject here that Fiskars LOADED us up with product and I was worried I would go over my 'checked' baggage weight limit so I'm carrying around a 17 pound back back, a scrapbooking tote that i was posing as my purse and a BIG ol' orange hat that i forgot to pack. It was a VERY heavy load. I was also carrying around my Ali Edwards 'life artist' book that I had hoped to read. To sick on the way, to tired on the way back.

Okay, this is where it gets funny. I'm tired but at total peace with the whole situation. I called my mother-in-law who was supposed to pick me up to tell her not to bother. Now, I would be getting home in the middle of the night. She is a Principal. I couldn't expect her to do that! She gets up and goes to work very early. Remember, my van is at her house and the airport is 3 hours from home. So, nobody to pick me up. I would be taking a 30 min. taxi ride in the middle of the night... in downtown Portland. Being over tired, I began to get a little anxious about this. Every child who held their mothers hand began to make me swell with tears. I just wanted to me home. I found a table and rested my head. Above me was a VERY high open area that was quite beautiful. As I rested my head, I heard this pretty little song. Above me I saw this pretty little bird flying around from bar to bar singing a cheerful little song. It made me smile as I felt like it was a reminder that God was still right there watching over me and wasn't going to let anything bad happen.

Oh... right, I said this was the funny part.. it's still coming.

I had lots of time to get to my gate where us stranded ones were waiting. The very enormous airport had pretty much cleared out except for us by this time. It was nearly 11:30 at night and as I saw two tiny children with their parents trying to get into a comfortable position so they could get some sleep, I felt suddenly so grateful that my kids weren't with me, experiencing such a long delay in the middle of the night.

Then out of nowhere, this big black man gets on the intercom with a booming voice, alarming us all and says 'The plane will be arriving any minute and because of FAA regulations we have to get those 70 people off the plane and you ON the plane with the door SHUT by 12:15. If the door is not shut, you will all have to spend the night at a hotel.' So, people become frantic, gathering their things, getting in this big line all ready to get on the plane. You could FEEL the anxiety in the air. This is where I began to chuckle at this never ending saga. It just seemed so crazy.

So, the minute the last person was off the plane, the new flight attendents rushed off down the hall and just as we were about to start to board, out walks the pilot?????!!!!!!!!

All I heard was 'it's not good.'

And then the announcement came. 'We are so sorry to inform you folks but the pilot has just let us know that there is a new mechanical error that needs to be checked out by the mechanic. Please stand by.'

It's nearly midnight and we're all thinkin, he better check it out fast because we are going to soon turn into a bunch of pumpkins! So, people starting shouting out 'where's another plane! What's wrong with this one over here'

Then the announcement came. All she said was B-34 and everyone took off like wildfire. I didn't even 'get' what she was talking about but I sure did follow the crowd.

This is where I really began to laugh. Okay... new gate, new plane... same pilot. Which means we are still under our 12:15 deadline. So, I'm sure we looked like a herd of cattle racing through that airport. Seriously, people were nearly RUNNING! And then, we got there and then there wasn't even anyone one to let us in! Another giggle in my tummy.

Moments later, the United ticket collector lady come up the rear and headed to the front of the line. We were all standing there with our tickets out... LET US ON! Of course, after that, came the cleaning crew who went on instead of us. You could feel the atmosphere in the room thicken as people's faces were saying..."we don't care if it's clean... just fly us to Portland!'

Another annoucement..."they have allowed us to stetch the rules and we now have until 12:25 to board. Okay, someone just bought us 10 min. but will that be enough?

It felt like a rollercoaster ride and we were now at the very top of the highest curve. Minutes passed... they seemed like hours. Here came the news.

"Well folks, the pilot had just informed us that he is too tired to continue flying tonight. Please start a line here and we will pass out your hotel vouchers"

This is where people became unleashed and just spittin' mad. I had such a sense of peace wash over me. Early, it had crossed my mind that if this piolet was supposed to be flying us out at 5 pm and he just came from Canada, isn't he going to be more tired than all of us? I was quite relieved that he was able to admit that. Who knows what could have happened.

Still just totally unbelievable and I had to chuckle again.

My bags were just too heavy to stand in that huge line of 50 people. So, I choose to sit and wait until the end. Bit of a mistake on my part. As it neared the end of the line, I realized that all the people in front of me who I was going to follow had now taken off. I got up to the counter and heard " bur bu bur bu bur b bur" I shook my head, smiling gracefully as I could tell this poor person and had a few run ins with these unhappy people.

I began to walk and fell into a panic. I felt like a little girl in corn maze. 'Somethin about, down the stairs, 2 rights, a train and island 3??? huh???' I had no idea that airport was so big and NOBODY was around. Just the cleaning crew. I tried to catch up to the man in front of me (he was the only one I could see.) I told him that I was following him, clueless where were supposed to go. We went down a few escalators and to what felt like an underground sub-way system. I would have no idea which way to go. I was so glad he was there... at the same time... He was the only one there.... NOBODY around in this down stairs section as we waited together for the next train. Then we boarded together and I felt myself tightening the grip that I had on my dear Jesus.

We got off up and out of the train section of the airport. 'Hmmm.. once I leave the airport, I don't now that I'll know how to get back,' was all I could think! It was a long hike with a very heavy pack but we finally arrived outside to island 3. where everybody else was. waiting. for a long time for the shuttle. like 45 min. in the cold. I kept think 'the airport floor would have been better, but would it have been safe?' I nearly turned around. After all, we were going to a hotel where we all 50 of us would be waitin in line to check in. By the time we get to our room, we'll have about ONE hour to sleep!

I decided it would be safer to go with the crowd, so the shuttle finally arrived for the last bunch of people and we traveled another 20 min. to get to the hotel. It all seemed crazy but what else could one do? Really? I chuckled again.

Well, I got to my room and went to turn the tap on the water to freshin up. I completely broke the handle off the faucet!!! Oh my. Time for bed. I had set my wake up call for 4:30 am. I wanted to be sure to make it onto the shuttle. The lady told us to be back by 5 am in time for our 7 am flight (monday mornings were apparently very busy.)

Okay... 1 1/2 hours of sleep. I closed my eyes. What if they don't call? Another prayer... Lord, help me to just sleep. And I did. At exactly 5 AM, my eyes opened. I looked at the clock and sprung out of bed. I KNEW IT!! I KNEW they wouldn't CALL!! I turned on the light and said another prayer. Glancing at my watch, I realized that the clock had not been changed yet from the time change and it was still only 4 am. Yes!! 30 more min. of sleep.

I slept HARD. I had a big red line on my forehead!

Quite a few of us were there early waiting for the shuttle. There was only one. How would they get us all on? I made it on. We all rushed off an into the airport. So funny. The airport employee had told us to be there by 5 and had said it would be soo busy. It was dead as the night before. We all sat around for another hour and a half! Finally we were on the plane and heading home.

The taxi ride ended up being $60. Then I had a hour drive with hardly any sleep. But, ya know what? I just kept feeling grateful. Grateful that I was in the taxi during the day and not a night. Grateful that someone had loaned me their cell phone for the weekend. Grateful that I didn't get lost on the way BACK to the airport.

As the plane was landing, it was a sunny day in Portland. I got to see the absolutley BEAUTIFUL landscaping with all different colors of tree. From above, it was stunning. I was in awe of God's beauty. He whispered in my heart "now you know where you get your artistic side from!" And seriously, I felt like He was speaking to me that HE had deposited this passion to create within me. And HE had taken me as far as I have come in my world of art. I was overwhelmed with His love for me and THAT alone was a moment that made the entire trip worth while!

After several stops on the way home (to keep myself awake,) I finally made to my home sweet home. I feel more blessed than ever. Blessed to have such a wonderful home, blessed to have such an amazing family, and blessed to have a heavenly Father who is always watching over me.