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Only have a few minutes...off to get fingerprinted for work. And then *hopefully* we will be on our house sometime later today. Keeping my fingers crossed.
We had a good day yesterday -- so glad we got out and explored a bit. Downtown Disney was a lot of fun. BUt first, a few pictures of my cutie...
Then the day...
Hard to believe we LIVE here!
And one quick page I scrapped this morning while I waited for everyone to wake up (using Mindy Teresawa's PINK SONATA kit)
Have a happy Wednesday (it is Wednesday, isn't it?)
Phew! We are here in Orlando!. It seems crazy that we are here and this is where we will stay. We have been waiting for eight months to come and now that we are finally here, if feels a little strange. The trip went well (for everyone) and if feels sooooo good to know we are all DONE traveling. I am so tired of living out of a suitcase!
We still can't get into our house though. I think that is why I am in a little funk. I feel fine (other than a slight cold) but I feel like I am just twiddling my thumbs when there are MOUNDS of things that need to be done. Apparently I am not good at being on "vacation." I just want to get moved in, unpacked, buy what needs to be bought, and start feeling like I have a home. I need to make dinner for my family,walk to closets and be able to find whatever I need, be able to sit down after the kids are in bed and let out a deep breath and feel relaxed. I am truly, truly trying to be patient. But the funny mood this has out me (and the kids) in isn't really fun. Soooo, we are going to go out for the day. Jason and the kids went to take Jason's dad to the airport and when they get back we are going to head to Downtown Disney for the day. We have never been there so it should be lots of fun. We just really need to get out and just be together. And, it will make being here but not being able to move in easier on all of us.
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I haven't scrapped at all so I have no new LO's to show you. I am not on my own computer so I don't have any pictures. However, I do have one wonderful little thing to show you.
WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am soooo very excited that I get to "wear" this blinkie with PRIDE! I am one of of the the Shabby Artists for the Shabby Shoppe! YEA! This has been a dream of mine for soooo long! I am thrilled and honored to be a part of this amazing team, working with the most amazing designer!
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I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday! "See" you tomorrow!
**ETA** I am so sorry I haven't been able to respond to comments lately. I haven't been on the computer much!
I know, I know...it is Sunday morning and I shouldn't be HERE. But, I have been up since 3:30 am (ack!) and I thought I would just pop in. I was planning on posting a really cute picture of my little man Levi (just for some eye candy) but when I went to plug in my camera to download, I was all out of USB ports! LOL! It is a laptop, so I *only* have four (LOL!) but they are busy. Wacom, and three external hard drives! LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!! Gotta love a woman and her gadgets. Now I really could unplug my wacom but then I would *gasp* have to use my touchpad (now WHY oh WHY would anyone want to do that?) and I definitely could unplug one of the EHD's but I was chuckling at myself too much to bother. The other two hard drives are furiously copying more stuff so I can leave one of them here at my in-laws so I have off-site back-up. I kind of haven't done that yet even though Jason bought me the 500gb HD over two weeks ago (shame on me!) Anyway, got my digi supplies done and now I am transferring 90GB worth of photos :) I keep thinking that then I will be done because really, I only need to copy the important stuff and all my templates, etc are in my store so they are already backed up. But then I remember that I am *leaving* the 250gb and *taking* the 500gb so I need to move EVERYTHING over to the 500 so I have all my stuff, even the not-so-important-that-it-needs-offsite-backup stuff. Not that you needed to know all of that -- but hey, it is 5:30 in the morning and I already have two hours under my belt today so I have an excuse for rambling and giving needless information :)
So today is IT. It is MOVING day. Actually, it really sounds worse than it is...it really is just fly-to-Florida day. Our stuff is already *in* Florida...now I just have to get me and the babes there. I think we can move into our house on Wednesday or Thursday, so the next few days are pretty much vacation. Crazy...tomorrow morning I will wake up in Orlando and smell that wonderful warm moist air. I *LOVE* Florida mornings. Ever since I was a kid and I visited my grandmother in Boca Raton, I have loved to wake up in Florida and step outside in my bare feet and take in a deep breath of that warm air. Love it. Can't believe I get to do it *every* day! So excited. So very, very excited.
So...why have I been up since 3:30?? Well, I only got four hours of sleep the night before (long story involving a husband who packs loudly and two little bodies that found there way into my bed) so I was DRAGGING last night and went to bed at 8:00. Guess this body of mine is NOT used to that much sleep so once 3:30 rolled around I was awake. Still really, really tired but all done sleeping. Now my plan (which probably won't happen! LOL!) is that after church I will put Levi down for a nap and then I will lie down too. Now that will entail me being totally packed and ready to go BEFORE church. Shouldn't be too bad, but things don't always work out as I plan. Actually, I would go back to bed now but I am sure that Alaina will start to stir in about an hour and what is the point of less than an hour more of sleep?
Anyway, I am totally rambling. Tiredness and nervous excitement mix together to get a really chatty lady. Hollie, beware, when I get tired I am *really* chatty. So don't let me get too tired or you will never get any sleep!
Since I can't share my oh-so-sweet picture of Levi I will show you a LO I did yesterday. I used Ida's new kit over at Catscrap (love it!)
Really full and busy pages are hard for me but I wanted to convey how big and full the evening was. When we were in Grand Rapids last week we took the kids to this little park that has this HUGE slide thing...there are three or four massive slides all hooked together. The kids loved it.
Happy Sunday!
...I will be in hot and sunny FLORIDA! After eight months of waiting and one LONG month of being "homeless" we are FINALLY going to be in Orlando. I am sooo excited. So excited to get settled, to learn my way around, to find a church, to start work. Excited for it all. We have almost a month before we actually start working so we should feel nice and "at home" before work starts. That's a good thing! AND...right before we start work I head to Chicago for CHA. I am really excited about that...fun time to just hang out with some scrapping friends and time to drool over all the yummy scrappy goodness!
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So, yesterday I had a nice little day out by myself. I headed up to Lansing to finish taking some photos of childhood places -- my schools, my homes, etc. Then I met up with a family friend and together we went to go see my hairdresser's daughter who is also a hairdresser but she also does makeup (she did my wedding). She now sells Arbonne supplies and so I just went over to see what it was all about. I have really, really AWFUL skin -- acne (much better than when I was a teen but still not great), eczema (all over my body), red splotchiness. Over the years I have tried EVERYTHING. Seriously. EVERYTHING. I met up with this friend who I have known all my life (a good friend of my parents) and I trust her. So, I got loaded up with all sorts of stuff to try. We'll see and I'll be sure to give you a report! Then I stopped by the mall to grab something to eat and to stop at a few stores. Picked up a few new things for myself (yea) and got some yummy Korean food to bring home for Jason ~ kim chee, spicy noodles, seaweed, his favorite Korean gum :)
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Anyway, today is a BIG day. LOTS to do...laundry, bills, packing, etc. Jason and his dad leave tomorrow morning so I want to have everything in the car tonight. I don't like it when early morning departures are stressful! I am also really excited to have the kids to myself for the day (Jason and his parents are going to a funeral). Since we have been so busy this past month and because I have been working, I feel like I haven't gotten to spend much time with them. I MISS them! They are all just growing so fast and I want to soak in every minute!
Alaina is fortunately feeling better -- she still has a really red sore throat but her spirits are back up and her fever is down. Soooo thankful for that. Caleb was feeling a bit warm tonight so I HOPE he isn't getting sick! I feel the sickies coming on myself so I grabbed some AirBorne tablets today hoping to stay one step ahead. As I told Jason's mom, I do NOT have time to be sick! (Is there EVER a good time to be sick when you have little ones???)
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One LO for you before I go...this is for this weeks DIGI DARE. The dare this week was:
I'm sure each one of us has some kind of secret
language with our family or friends. Like, a nickname that we've always
been called that we wouldn't dare tell our friends; a word that your
child says that only you understand; or maybe it's a foreign word that
you use in your home on an every day basis. Let's explore the "secret"
words we say and the language we use!
Dare Flair:
Use only one photo
Your title must be the "secret" word or phrase
Focus on your journaling and introduce us to your "secret" word
Now our word isn't really "secret"...it is just a word that has come to mean so much more than it started out as. A word I really want to remember!
Journaling: It started out as just a word, a command. As much as we trust our
children to be safe, we never let them walk in a parking lot without
holding a “big person’s” hand. Whenever we get close to a street or
parkling lot, we all just say “HANDS!” and everyone grabs on. I love
it. What started out as a way of keeping our kids safe has turned into
a picture of who we are. We hold hands. We protect each other. We all
have a place in this family and each on of us is important. We make
choices based on what is best for everyone. We value each person
immeasureably. We stick together even when other families make
different choices. “You are a Phillips” we tell Alaina. It means we are
a FAMILY and we are united as one. I will always strive to keep my
children safe -- physically, emotionally, educationally, and
spiritually. The way may look safe but you never know...so until my
children are old enough to venture out on their own, our word will
always be “hands.”
Credits: Background paper and stitching by Michelle Coleman,
flowers by Kate Hadfield, Teacher's Pet alpha by Lauren Reid, text path
by Jen Caputo
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That's it. Next time this 'lil bloggie will be live from Orlando. But I will warn you, it will probably be Tuesday :)
Have a WONDERFUL weekend and a GREAT beginning of the summer season (or winter for my Kiwi and Aussie readers!)
...but I am seriously in tears over this.
There was a link at DST for this video and I sat there amazed. Don't really know what it was...maybe just that some dopey man unleashed a hidden talent from within and gave the whole crowd chills. Maybe it was the look on his face what the gal said he was like a lump of coal that would turn into a diamond. Maybe it is just the power of music that stirs up something deep within the soul. I don't know. But it makes me happy. It makes me glad to know that within each of us is something so good, so pure. We just have to look to the Giver all all good gifts and PRAY that we find out what He wants us to do. Maybe our ministry is to sing. Maybe it is art. Maybe it is serving. Maybe it is to be a janitor. Maybe it is to be a teacher, a mechanic, a doctor, a sick person who holds on to a faith in God. There is something within each of us that God wants us to unleash to benefit others. Obviously this man has found his. Have you found yours?
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Good day yesterday. I spent a lot of the day playing catch up and then working on a mini album. It's all hybrid, which is so fun! Getting out "real" supplies and feeling the papers and ribbons is truly amazing. It brings out such a different part of my creative being. I LOVE digi and I would never give it up but there is something seriously thrilling about working with my hands to create something. Love it. The only problem (and why I could never go full paper) is the MESS. Maybe if I had a special scrap room or if I was naturally a tidy person. But that is just not the case. It is NO fun to dig through piles on my table looking for scissors, a needle, or my pen. Love how neat digi is!
I also scrapped another quick page (I was up early!)
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Lots of stuff still to get done before I fly on Sunday. A trip to Lansing, packing, changing address (again!), maybe taking Alaina to the doctor (poor little girl!) Hopefully sleep will fit into that schedule too. It is totally my fault. I COULD go to bed early. But night time is the only real quiet I have and I LOVE it. And every night I think I will just sleep in. But the sun comes up VERY early and I just can't sleep through that. Why do I keep thinking it will work? LOL!
Anyway, hope you all have a great Thursday. Isn't this week FLYING??
Okay, hoping this works. I am hoping that when I wake up my blog post will have magically appeared at the appointed time. See, I just realized that I could schedule my blog posts to post at a set time. How cool is that? In the morning I am often busy or totally fog-headed and so I forget sooo much of what I want to say or need to say. I like to do my posts at night sometimes, so this is the perfect solution! Was it here nice and early?
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Anyway...
Life is good. Crazy, but good. We were out of town AGAIN the last two days and doing lots of stuff. So good to see people and get out but OH THE FEELING of coming "home" again. Of course we aren't really "home", but it is close enough for now. Only a few more days.
I explained all this in the post that got lost, but we decided that we wouldn't make the kids endure three days in the car. I am going to fly to Orlando with Alaina and Levi and Jason and Caleb are going to drive down with Jason's dad. They will do it in two days, or maybe even drive straight through. They will arrive Saturday (as in FOUR days from now!) and then we get in Sunday. That's right! Only FIVE more days and we will FINALLY, after EIGHT months of waiting, be in Orlando. Our new home. Can't wait. I did find out that we won't be able to get into our house right away. I was upset at first but then just took a step back and recognized that God is in charge. It doesn't matter. We will be together and we will be fed and housed and clothed. Our needs are taken care of. Why complain?
Five days. Wow. Soooo excited.
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So, on to the stuff I have forgotten to mention over the past week or two...
** Did you see this??
I am sooooo excited for this! I really, really LOVE challenges. I love the be stretched and I love trying new things. I love having guidelines to follow. I love the cool pages that come out of challenges. My only problem is that I never *have* to do them. So, they don't get done. But by being on the team, I *have* to do them, so now it moves way up my priority list. Love that. Love the fun, fun things in store.
The first Dare for me was to
Dare #40: So Emotional
Is there something in life that you just get so emotional over? Could it be your children, husband, career? What about something that creates negative emotions? Or even the emotions of those close to you: what really makes your kid happy? Or even mad?
Is there something in life that you just get so emotional over? Could it be your children, husband, career? What about something that creates negative emotions? Or even the emotions of those close to you: what really makes your kid happy? Or even mad?
Well I dare you to scrap an emotion! Happy, sad, angry, hurt, joyful, giggly…any emotion!
Dare Flair
Here is my LO:
Credits: Background paper by Shabby Princess
(Occasions), polka-dotted paper by Dani Mogstad (Rock Star), pipe
cleaner flower by Katie Hadfield, staples by Shabby Miss Jenn (Mia’s
Room), word art by MandaBean, fim strip by Gina Cabera, date stamp by
Amber Clegg, paper tear by Steph Krush. Font is teen.
I haven't started this weeks DARE yet but I have some ideas spinning around :)
And here is a LO I just finished up...
Joana Carvalho's LITTLE FISH BOY available at
Catscrap. Staple by Shabby Miss Jenn. "C" alpha by Michelle Coleman.
Font is Mom's Typewriter.
So, what else?? Oh yea! Father's Day! I completely forgot to mention it. I swear, my head is in such a fog due to traveling and lack of sleep! I am surprised I remembered to even tell Jason Happy Father's Day! But, I did remember and we had a good day. We were still at our friends house but we were excited to give him our gifts so we did it there. I got Jason a mug from Shutterfly with this on it...
I also got him this book...
Then, for his "big" gift, I gave him a DVD slideshow of pictures from the last four years. I hadn't done a slideshow before (well, I haven't done a successful one) but I bought a wonderfully simple program that was soooo easy to use! It turned out great! And I loved seeing the tears in my hubby's eyes as he watched over 250 pictures of him and his kiddos. He is seriously the most AMAZING father. When I met him over ten years ago, I told my friend that he was going to be a GREAT father. At that time, I had no idea he would be the father to *my* kids, nor did I have any desire for that to be the case. But when we "re-met" two years later, and now have spent the last nine years together, I look back at that moment and knew that God was preparing me for the man of my dreams. NOTHING gets me more than a Daddy who loves his kids. He doesn't do stuff out of obligation, or routine. He does everything he does because he utterly and completely ADORES our kids and LOVES to be with them. My heart just burst with pride. Love that man.
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I also have another piece of ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL (to me!) news but I don't know if I can spill yet. Totally scrapping related! All I can say is one of my big scrapping dreams has come true. Eek!
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Alrighty then. Need to say farewell...lots to catch up on still, one VERY sick little girl to love on, life to be lived.
Have a wonderful Wednesday.
Need a song to sing today? This one has me totally captivated and in awe. Love old hymns!
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
Refrain
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Refrain
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Refrain
...ugh. Sometimes I do NOT like technology. Lost my whole post. No time to redo it. Sorry.
I will post a LO I did last night...
Background paper by Jen Wilson, "Is For" tabs by Meredith Fenwick, stitches by Dani Mogstad, stars by Weeds and Wildflowers, black alpha by Amber Clegg, stamp by Holly McCaig.
Have a great Tuesday!
Who? you ask....
The husbands.
The husbands of the incredible women I have met. The women I know and love because of a common hobby, a common life experience. It's funny, really. You know, you THINK you know me because you read my blog every day and you THINK I am this sweet and kind mom to three little kiddos. But you really DON'T know, do you?
LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!
For each of the women I have met from online, I have heard that their husbands were afraid to let them go since they "met this woman on the internet." You know, I could be this crazy stalker woman who steals pictures off the internet and acts like they are my kids. Possible, right?
LOL!
Actually, I DO realize the potential danger of making friends off the internet. I know people have been scammed, and even hurt. So I don't question these husbands being concerned. It just makes me chuckle because *I* know me and *I* know what I am like. So to have some men be concerned for their wife's well-being just because she is with me, it just makes me laugh a bit. For those who have met me, I'm not too scary, am I?
On Friday night I got to meet the sweet (and gorgeous) MandaKay. I met up with her and three of her scrapping friends and we went to get pedicures. Then we headed to downtown Holland and ate yummy pasta. Then we were off to Coldstone Creamery for ice cream. Afterwards, we dropped the others off and then Manda took me to my car...where we stayed for probably an hour and a half talking. It was so good to just talk with her and get to know each other better. Making the transition from "friend from the internet" to a friend sitting next to you is fun.
But can you believe it? We didn't take ANY pictures? I had my camera along but I get really shy and self-conscience around people I don't know very well and I never felt it was a good time to stop and get a picture. Oh well. We had fun anyway!
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The rest of the trip and weekend was good. We stayed pretty busy and saw quite a few people. I worked really hard to stay off the computer so that I could just sit back and enjoy the friendship, my family, and the down time. It was probably fortunate that that not only did the people we stayed with not have wireless, they didn't even have internet. Painful as it was, it was probably good for me. In fact, I only turned on the computer a few times while I was there...once at Panera Bread because I really needed to check email, once to show my friend about scrapping, and once because I had the urge to scrap. Other than that, it stayed put away in my pretty little laptop sleeve.
I was able to almost finish a book, too. I finally started reading the REVOLUTIONARY PARENTING book I bought a few weeks ago. Good stuff. Although for me, most of the information in the book was just confirming the choices we were making, I did pick up some stuff that while not a new idea, was definitely convicting for me. I have some weak areas in my parenting that I need to work on. It all comes down to time and priorities and making choices. I am NOT good at making choices, so this will be a tough one. Some things in life need more of my time but that means so things have to go. Hmmm..
Anyway, we had lots of fun with our friends. They have four little girls and our kids LOVED playing with them! Alaina really clicked with the two older ones (4 and 6), Caleb followed the little two year old around ALL WEEKEND (which is very unlike him), and even Levi found a little friend in their 8 month old, who, whenever she cried would be greetedwith a sensitive little Levi patting her back. So sweet!
I took a ton of pictures but haven't even started the process of going through them.
I also got to see my good friend Paula. Paula and I met each other at the summer camp where I went all my life. In 1998 (the summer Jason and I started dating) I was the counselor for the teenage workers. Paula had just graduated from high school and was working all summer. We got to be really close. She was one of the bridesmaids in my wedding. A few years later she spent 8 weeks in India with us, doing her student teaching at the school where we worked. Her husband is a surgical resident and they have an 11 month old little boy named Levi :)
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Today and tomorrow are busy again. Today we are driving to go see Jason's grandmother who is quite sick. She is one of the reasons we decided to come to Michigan this summer. Once we get to Florida, we don't know when we will make it up to Michigan again.
After seeing his grandmother, we are driving to go to an Indian restaurant for lunch (yummy!) After lunch is IKEA and then our family is going to stay at my sister's for the night. We are staying because tomorrow we have to be back in the Detroit area AGAIN for another family get together with one of Jason's aunts and I really hate dragging the kids back and forth. It should be a good couple of days but I have to admit, I am getting tired of being on the go. I would LOVE a day or two to unwind, return emails, get some work done. Oh well.
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Here is one LO I did over the weekend. Hopefully I get to scrap some at my sister's tonight. I MISS it!
Credits can be seen HERE.
Have a great Monday!
I spent ALL DAY yesterday trying to work on a project for Jason for Father's Day (can't say what it is, he reads this thing!) I ran into LOTS of snags, but in the end I finished around midnight. So...that means I haven't packed a thing for our trip and we are supposed to leave in an hour and a half! Eek!
So, I have to keep it short today. Sorry! And, since I was busy all day yesterday, I didn't have time to scrap. But, I think I will just dig in my collection of LO's I never posted, so that I don't leave you pictureless. Because how fun is that?
I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC weekend! I am really excited about mine. I am bringing my laptop, but I don't plan on working and I won't have wireless. So....it will be good to sit back and relax a bit. There will be SEVEN kids all in one house (our friends have four!) so it should be crazy fun! I also get to see my dear friend Paula and her family today. Then on Friday I am meeting up with MandaKay and some other digi ladies for a girls night out! How fun is that?? Yea!
"See" you Monday!
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