The Grand Journey

Wow.

Have you ever gone a few months without talking to one of your greatest friends and then hesitated to pick up the phone. Where do you start? So much to say!

That's how I feel about trying to type a blog entry right now.

I never would have thought when I left home over a month ago that I would not be returning until now. We just arrived back late Saturday night and I have totally put off updating my blog.

In a nut shell, we had out of town guests for the first week of July. Then, on a spontaneous whim, I ended up in Portland at a counseling seminar called the Genesis Process. This is the most amazing program to learn how to help anyone who struggles with addictions.

I came home to the coast for a day and ended up leaving quite suddenly with my kids, to go be with my friend in Canada. After about a week, I had a plane ticket and time scheduled in Texas at the Mentoring Mansion. This was also a fantastic week where a handful of my girlfriends from California who are also Pastor's wives came together and learned so much about the sanctity of the home. Amazing.

Before I left to drive the kiddos ALL the way back to the coast, my Mom and Dad up in Canada said 'why don't you just leave the kids here and you can pick them up when you come up for your vacation, we would love to have them here on the farm.' What an experience for them!!

So, after flying back from Texas, I spent a few days in Portland waiting for Arte to drive up and meet me there so we could head on up to Canada for our family vacation. After a week and a half, we drove back down and spend some time with Arte's brother and his family and there parents. It truly was such a special time.

I learned this summer to live on what I had. When I first packed, I thought I'd be gone for only a few days so I didn't bring much. Okay, the truth is, I also learned to borrow from my friends and family...hee hee (*thanks guys!*)

I also learned that even though a lot of this trip was unplanned and on a whim, it was all a part of God's ultimate plan. I saw His great hand in every single area and at every single spot. He is an Awesome God. This has been a life changing summer for me. Pivotal. I will never be the same.


























On to the current news!!!! Here are a few cards that I did for Triple the Sketch quite a while back. I gave a sneak peek of the first one a few posts back. You know me, I can't do a post without a photo! Can you even imagine all the photos of our trip???? I'll save that for another day.


*******I NEED YOUR HELP!!! (To win $500 GC!) I am entering a local contest where 9 stores are involved. There will be 9 winners and one Grand Prize winner. Do you remember voting for me last year??? Ya. It was kind of crazy. BUT, the prize is BETTER this year it's a gift certificate instead of a prize basket. The 9 winners will get a $250 gc and the GP is another $250. Worth asking for a bit of help I think!

If you are interested in helping me out... hee hee, you can register at Craftwarehouse's website here. You'll have to scroll down to #6 to read the directions of how to register. The voting doesn't begin until Aug. 18th. but you have to register a head of time. If you already registered last year, you should be good to go unless you don't remember your password! LOL! Thanks to all my faithful blog readers. I promise it will get more interesting and I'll be back to updating on a regular basis! LOL!

This is the layout I decided to enter: