Sicker than sick.

Well, I sure don't like leaving such depressing post up on my blog for so long! Sorry about that! I've just come down with this aweful flu. Aweful flu. It's taking everything within me to get goin' on the puter again.

But, to leave things a little more cheery, I thought I'd share a card that I did for Triple the Sketch. Check it out here!

















There's a pretty great RAK being given away to those who complete the sketch that will be posted on NSD.

Speaking of which, what are you doing for NSD? I hope you get to something fun and scrappy!

Shattered Dream

When I was 16, a very large department store in the city that was next to our town chose one person from each highschool to enter a program where the student would work for them and have some extra training. I was chosen.

When I went to college, I applied for a job in Public Relations and I got that job.

During my graduate work, I applied to be an intern-pastor at the mega church that I was attending. I got that position...and learned A LOT.

After graduating, I applied for a 1st grade position in a Christian school and was hired right away.

The next year, I decided to apply for a 1st grade position in the ABC district of public schools. I was interviewed along with many others, and I got that job.

After getting married, Arte and I were asked about taking a position as singles Pastors and we took the position.

Several years later, we called and asked if we would like to interview for an Associate Pastoral position in Oregon. We interviewed and were hired.

While we were there, I had a principal call me and tell me that she had observed while subbing and would like to hire me to teach 6th grade doing a job share, so it would be part time. I didn't even interview for that one!

Then, I think the biggest, most nerve racking interview was when we applied to become Senior Pastors here in Waldport. The big wigs from the valley were there, along with a panel of about 15 leaders from the church, all sitting in a big semi-circle staring at us and asking us very difficult questions. That was by far my hardest interview but, in the end, we landed that position as well.

As I struggled inside last night I began to realize that this is really the very first time in my whole entire life that I've ever had a job turned down. Don't get me wrong, I knew when I applied to FISKARS for one of their lead Positions that it would be much more than a job. It's the same with Pastoring. It's pouring into the hearts and lives of people.

Because I LOVE Fiskars so much and because crafting is such an enormous passion and because I've ALWAYS loved to inspire and encourage people in their art and because I was SURE this might be how God was going to bless our financial situation and because after all it was the 'desire of my heart'..... I really thought that this might be for me.

What a lesson for me. Being told 'no.' I have to be honest and say that although I have the peace that this is how it was supposed to work out, I feel a deep, deep sense of sadness. And a HUGE, GIGANTIC amount of disappointment. It's so much bigger than I expected it to be that it really caught me off guard. It's really a disappointment that I've never felt before having been offered every job that I ever desperately longed for.

I love the FISKARS company and family and all that it stands for. It will be terribly hard for me to go the board today and see the 'big announcement.' I don't know that I even will. I pretty much am quite certain that I know who they have chosen anyway. But, because I believe so strongly in this company and how they are reaching their customers, I will continue to be a very active part of their community.

I'll be okay, I know that even though it doesn't feel like it. I know that the Lord allowed me to go through this very painful process of the 'anti-resume,' the video, the interviewing, and the terrible, horrible WAITING (it's been since January that I've been dreaming about this), for a reason. Somehow, on the other side of this, I will come out a better person and there is truly something better waiting around the corner. At this point, I'd really like to know what it is because I can honestly not imagine anything better than this job of doing what I love for a company that I love.

Thanks for letting me vent. I'll leave you now with my 'anti-resume' that many of you had asked me about. I thought it turned out pretty great...it just didn't make the cut.

Wow, what a weekend! I just got back from our ladies retreat and they just keep getting better and better every year!

We made these name cards with a welcome letter to go along with their note pads and 'Hershey surprise' goodies.














There were 33 of us altogether in this giant house that is over 6000 sq. feet. It's three levels and you can see a panaromic view of the ocean.

Breathtaking.

Strangely (for April,) we woke up one morning with a blanket of snow all over the surrounding hills, trees, houses and even on the sand at the ocean shore. This is so rare for the Oregon coast.

Truly, you can not look out over the vastness of that amazing body of water without being reminded that we have a powerful God who created it.

I can't even begin to express how faithful God is. He moved in the lives of every single lady there in a most POWERFUL way. There was such a strong annointing from the Lord on our speaker and worship leader that just spread through out the entire house.

Hearts were touched.

Lives were changed.

Friendships were started.

Lessons were learned.

Shopping was done.

Sleep was lost. ;)

And it was SOOOO worth it!!!

I am tired. So, I've decided to excuse myself from any spelling errors or grammer issues today. Just today. Once I've caught up on my sleep... no excuses!!

I really do need to go unpack and spend some time with my family. I just wanted to say that I have the most AMAZING leadership team. You 6 are completely, over the top, fantastic. Thank you Kris, Lucy, Jodi, Lila, Sue, and Sandi for all your very hard work and faithfulness. See what happens when you are obedient to the Lord? Isn't He good?!! I just can't stop smiling.

Hoping to hop back on here a little bit to make an annoucement. Praying that it will be an exciting one!

Have a fantastic Monday!!!

A Wednesday Funny (well...actually it was Sunday!)

So, on Sunday morning while I'm getting ready for church, Arte gives me a phone call (he's already there) and asks me if I can bring five of my really cool Fiskars tools...and that pink thing.

Huh??????

'Okay, this ought to be interesting!' LOL! It was let me tell you.

Of course he has to start off by breaking the news (to the half of the congergation who doesn't know)that I have a room full of my 'own' toys that I collect and can I just say that there were more than a few gasps! LOL! Pretty much everyone knows that I have gobs of paper and embellies but when he broke out the tools, there was a new reaction! ;)

When he began speaking, he asked people if they had ever seen things such as this (of course he covered the little blade tip)










Then he talked about how it was ergonomically designed for a special purpose (he seriously sounded like a sales person!) Then of course, he paralled it to the likeness of how we were all created uniquely and for a special purpose.

The funny part came in the next few things that he pulled out of his bag of 'tricks.' He pulls out a crop-a-dile and asks, 'any good guess as what this might be used for?'

I leaned over to my friend Lucy and said 'ah! this oughtta be good. I'm not even sure what that is supposed to be used for!' LOL!!

I kept thinking... too bad I didn't have one of THESE to pull out...












that would have got quite the reaction! (this is so big and scary...not sure I'd even know HOW to handle it! LOL!)

Next he pulled out the green Fiskars Craft drill...but he covered up the end with the bit. The guess on this one were quite funny.... pepper grinder? Yes, I grind pepper for my salad while I scrap. LOL!












Well, there were certainly a few snickers among everyone when they realized that I had my OWN craft drill! I sat proud and TALL!!

He showed a few more. A squeeze punch and a trimmer. But, the last one was the most hilarious. He decided to try and use this very pretty border punch and demonstrate in the air, in front of his face, how to use this punch. Now, let me just stop right here and let ya'll know that he has NOT been through one of my trainings. LOL! Truly, to see him try and work that thing had my ROTFL (rollin' on the floor laughin - for you newbies who I know read my blog :)

I take my camera everywhere. EVERYWHERE!!! I realize now that church counts as everywhere, and next time I will definetly have my camera on hand.


Here is a card I made with the scraps that Arte punched out (I use all my scraps! - j/k!)
















And another card that I made with some of the new Kimberly Poloson (***swoon***)rub-ons that I have.













Have a great Wednesday!!

Contagious

Another layout of Kelsey. (Your happiness is Contagious)

I know. I promise that I've done some layouts of the other kids as well. Just not quite ready to share them yet!!

This was a fun one for me. I LOVE pink and green together! I sewed on this one with my machine as well. Definitely wishing I had a fancy smanshy machine like my Mom's though! LOL!


















Kelsey's joy is contagious. She is just a sweet, lil' charmer. I really think she does get her fun sense of humor from her Daddy.

Speaking of that guy, I have quite a story that I want to share in just a bit. Right now we are off to go buy some flip flops from the Payless for this cutie! Can't miss that BOGO sale! LOL!

Tea pots, paper punches and sand!

So much to blog about, so little time! LOL! Really, this is what happens when I don't blog for a few days. I'm oooozing with things I want to share! But, I've been trying to focus on spending time with some of my close friends this week.

There's nothing like a good friend. I've been missing some of my friends lately because, for whatever reasons, our lives have taken us in different directions. Enough is enough. I had to just say.... 'Clear off the kitchen table, move aside scrappin' mess, here comes the tea pot!'

Well, the truth is, during a few of the days that I got together with friends, we were working on paper crafts! But, it was a lot of fun and we had a blast!













I wanted to share some of these photos of one of the first 'tea parties' of the week. I decided to pull out this special set that had been given to Kelsey. She hadn't seen it yet she was ecstatic! Maddie (one of her favorite people in the world - her babysitter) gave it to her now that she had out grown it.

Isn't it adorable? It was fun to watch Kelsey 'imitate' us and how we add a little sugar to our 'spot of tea!' (the girls are having a pretend tea party with it right now, they are bustin' me up!)















It's always fun to craft with friends, so a few of us got together to work on these altered notebook pads (34 of them!) for our upcoming retreat. We got to play with one of my favorite Fiskars border punches to create the white floral border. There are a few other fun things we created that we have up our sleeves but we have to save something to be a surprise!















AND, to top off my wonderful, tea filled and very creative week, we had one of the warmest days I can even EVER remember having here on the coast yesterday! What a difference from last week when Ashley played soccer for the first time in the FREEZING rain!

So, of course we had to go the beach. I tried really hard to leave my camera in the car but since it was a new beach where we hadn't yet ventured, I gave in and brought. Here is my favorite shot. My sweet fam. walking over the bridge to get to the beach!
































Did you know that Waldport means where the Forest meets the Ocean? This series of photos really shows why our city is named that. It's amazing how thick the forest is and then... boom! There's the ocean!

I could have done so much fun stuff with this bridge and the setting. Maybe some time we can go back and I'll bribe my kids with ice cream. LOL! I just wanted this day to be fun for them. They get tired of the poporatzie sometimes!

If you can believe I have some eye candy and a funny story to share still. I MUST share tomorrow. I've already risked typing WAY to much for one post!

From the Inside Out

I've been having fun sewing on my pages and cards lately. When I was at my Mom's, we decided to get out her new machine and learn all the fancy bells and whistles. That was a lot of fun! It's amazing what sewing machines can do these days.

















My machine is quite an old one and does only a few different kinds of stitches. But let me tell ya, when I first got started sewing on my projects, I was hooked!! Now, the only time I DON'T sew on a project is if I'm feeling just plain ol' lazy. Oh... that seems to be the case lately!

This layout 'From the Inside Out' was fun to do because not only did I sew on the paper but I sewed right on the photos! Voila! Thanks for takin' a peek!

What a Trouper!!

Look at this poor girl (you really have to click on the photo to capture her true expression!) It's her very, very first soccer game EVAH(she's 6 yrs. old!)and not only is it raining but it is FREEZING cold. I mean...seriously, miserably, terribly cold. I thought it would snow at any point! Arte and I could not even fathom the fact that they would even still keep playing. After seven years at the coast, we are still trying to adjust in some ways!

Regardless, this lil' darling kept on playing. Ashley was pretty bored at the practice so I think that the extra action at game time was a little more her style! LOL! So, hopefully next Saturday when it comes time to play again, she will still want to. The truth is, it was completely hilarious watching this lil' guys! A.J. started playing when he was 3 and by the time he and his 'buddies' were 5 and 6, they completely understood the game and where all over the field
But, Ashley's team is a group of first time players. They kick the ball and just stare at it.

Suddenly, from the side lines, you hear all these parents screaming, 'RUN after the BALL!!!' A look of delight overcomes each of their faces as they take of (as a group or herd, of course!)

Soccer and basketball. Definitely my two favorite sports to watch when it comes to the kiddos!

A Work in Progress

It's time for a make-over!! If you've visited my blog in the last day or two, you'll notice how different it looks. I got tired of looking at the black all the time and decided I wanted a new look. The problem is...I can't decide what exactly I want that look to be. So, I'm in a trial period and it may look different every several times in the next day. There's just sooo many options! LOL! I'll be back later to update with some photos of Ashely's very first soccer game ever!!

Triple the Sketch * FIRST sketch!!

I love what I'm seeing at Triple the Sketch already and I wanted to share what I did for the first sketch. I even got to use my Ultra Shape Express cutting tool with my Fiskars template. This little 'title' block is one of my favorite shapes out of all the templates. This design team is so incredibly talented. It's going to be a lot of fun seeing all the newly created things each weekend. The way it works is that the sketch will go up on Friday along with any layouts done for that sketch. Then on Saturday, the cards will be posted. On Sunday, the tags and altered projects will be posted. A sketch for every kind of project, every week of the year. Perfect!

Eye Candy to celebrate April 4th!!

Okay, it's just candy. Yummy all the same. Don't recognize it? These are the two things that my Aunt's have always picked up when they visit Canada. You can't find them anywhere here! I HAD to pick up some Smarties for Spidey. Poor deprived thing. They will be in the mail shortly! And to celebrate, I have one extra lil' box to give away to someone who posts that has never tried these yummy goodies before. The black candies I brought back for Arte. Sorry, they aren't up for grabs!

So, what are we celebrating? April 4th!! It's a big day! Well, in my little world it is. Here is why:


1) Hair appointment!! (yes... I color my hair **rolling eyes**)
2) HOF calls are being made (I know several people who may be affected by this!)
3) Triple the Sketch is debuting their first sketch! (Check it out here..)
4) It's my friend's birthday. ;)
5) Fiskars is having an on-line crop with tons of prizes and a chat tonight at 7pm!
6) It's Friday!
7) I got this in the mail!!
2 copies of the Idea Book 'Embellish' that has my favorite layout published in it! Along with the two books, there were Scenic Route goodies!!!

What a fantastic day and time to celebrate. I think we should go out for dinner. Ha!

Home at last!

It's so good to be home. It was a long journey back. And somewhat weird. The strangest things happened along the way! Even though it was long and took forever, the kids were amazingly great. We didn't leave on Sunday because I was still soo sick and didn't feel up to driving. Then we were going to leave on Monday and the farm turned into this:

The kids loved dancing in the snow! But... I did not want to attempt the pass without snow tires and in a snow storm, so we waited one more day. By Tuesday it was sunny and beautiful!

We started up over this enormous mountain pass that was covered in snow. My windshield wipers must have froze together and wouldn't budge. So I pulled over and tried to nudge them a bit. My kids describe the whole entire episode as an attack of the moster! Suddenly, they were flaring everywhere and attacking Mom! LOL! One was all bent up and the other had gone way pass the outer part of the window. It must have been quite the site to see for the people passing by!

After passing through the border, I stopped for gas. There was a man that kept looking at the back of my license plate and then at me and then at the plates, and then at me. It was so odd. I thought, 'do I know you?' It seemed as though he was trying to see where I was from. Then later, when we stopped at McDonalds, someone asked if I had been four-bying! That's when I finally took a look at the back of the van and saw that it looked like this! YUCK! I guess that big ol' mountain pass gave us a mud bath!

Before we passed the border we stopped for donuts (a little road trip tradition!) Have you heard of Tim Hortons? It's like the STARBUCKS of B.C. (although, they do have Starbucks as well.) So...I keep hearing about how wonderful there coffee is and decided I needed some for the road. I ordered a meduim, regular coffee. I wished I had taken a photo to show you what this meduim looked like. Super small! I then asked where the cream was. The lady says 'you asked for a regular so I put in one cream and one sugar.' What?? Ick! I don't DO sugar in my coffee! It was pretty funny as I tried to explain to her that I thought regular meant 'not decaf.' I seriously felt like I was in a different Country. Oh wait! I was! It was strange. LOL!

So, then we are on these farm roads behind two Semi-trucks. Of course they are going way below speed limit but what can ya do? Not much on a small farm road! Finally we made it to the free way. FREEDOM!!! Nope. We were right behind a cop and everyone was crawling down the interstate 5. By this time I realize we are definitely going to be late to meet up with our friends in Federal Way. Then we hit the first big city, Everett. They were doing construction so we slowed down to about 15 miles per hour. The lovely slow speed of our journey put us into Seattle smack, dab in the middle of traffic time. Thus, the dead stop. And go. And stop. And go.

When we arrived at our 'almost' final destination (exit 142 B,) we could NOT find the McDonalds. Can you believe that this McDonalds did not have any golden arches?!! How can you have McDonalds without the arches? It had one slightly curved line thingy... so odd. No wonder I couldn't find the place. I was looking for the arches towering in the sky!

Here we met up with Michael, Karen and our godson Pierson. Michael fixed my wipers... Yay! It was so great to see them again. Lil' P is getting sooo big!

We continued on our journey to Portland where we stayed with my in-laws. The kids love spending time with their Grandparents. We spent the night and yesterday there and finally drove into town last night.

The suitcases aren't all unpacked but the kids had their first soccer practice today. Nothing like diving back into it all! I'm so glad that we were able to push pause, put everything on hold and just be with family for a while. It was a blessing and I feel like the kids and I had a real bonding time in the van. There is a lesson around every corner and I love teaching them life.

Sorry for the rather 'colorless' post. Really, I feel like my life has been more full of color in the past month than ever before!

Tomorrow I'll have some eye candy to share!