Once Upon A Time...

These flowers were arranged by my cousin Cyndee for Auntie Baba's memorial. Aren't they beautiful? Coincidentally, my paternal Grandmother passed away on Monday after a short illness. Her funeral was on Thursday in Kansas. I was not able to attend but my heart and thoughts were with my family.

When I was a little girl my dad always told me that I lived in a bubble. It protected me from the real world and its "true" colors. I was surrounded by family and people who loved me. When you asked me "what do you want to be when you grow up?" my ready response was a resounding, "ME!" I believed that living in the moment (or in my bubble) was the way I was supposed to live. I never really planned when I would get married or how many kids I would have...what kind of house I would live in...I thought it would all be the same as when I lived in my bubble. I would find the man God would want me to marry and the rest would magically fall into place.

Then, at the encouragement of my sister, I went to college...(Yes! I blame college!!!)... All of a sudden, people were not nice, the news never holds any good and happy news...it is full of gossip and tragic,scary stories. My wise sister has told me that these new found experiences are called "awareness"

Still life is good...got married, had child, bought house...all falling into place right?

About 6 months ago, I woke up and said...Is this what mid life is all about? I said house...not condo...lots of money....not a budget...friends that magically connect...not clicks and cliches...no church politics...I was scared and clueless...I got on my knees and decided to work through this...

The next several months brought out fears and loneliness and panic attacks and sadness...you know..."awareness"...when I felt Satan taking over...I prayed...when I was scared...I prayed...when prayer was answered...I prayed...It was all I could do...and it worked.

My childhood was seemingly solid with people who loved and supported me both in family and friendships...I felt secure...as I grew older and had to work at things like friendships that was so new to me...or just accepting where I am in life...My anchors have started to fall...loved ones have passed away, others have moved away, making me feel vulnerable...After months of constant prayer and thought and seeking....I think it was God telling me..."turn to me. I am here for you. I AM your rock!"

My life is what God has for me now...I will lean on his mercy when I feel vulnerable.

Finally!!!

This is going to be short and sweet. I am tired...but I finally got some pages done and wanted to share them...

The first one is my favorite...

Enjoy and have a great weekend...BTW - 40 til 40 pics are coming along...willl post on 10 at a time so it is more fun...night

40 til 40 and Fabulously ME

Hello all...yes yes...I know it has been awhile. You have probably all stopped checking the blog...well, I am going to write anyway...SO THERE!

Like my new background? I love it... and perfect for the season...

Saturday marked 40 days till my 40th birthday. I thought I would spice it up a bit. It seems that "seasonal" albums are very "in season" right now, so I am going to do one of my own. I am going to count down to my 40th birthday by taking pictures every day of something I did, love, etc...Hope I can come up with 40 things....Here is what I have so far...course, the pictures are not all here. I will post them in the next post...

• Day 40 - I met up with a friend from my tour. Haven't seen him in about 17 years. It was great to see him and his family...Fun times!
• Day 39 - Went to lunch and a movie with my Best Friend. We have been friends for so long that we just pick up where we left off...This time, we left off with the promise that we would see each other more often...
• Day 38 - Today - I was chasing rainbows...With the rain and over cast clouds I was SURE there was a rainbow...You will have to stayed tuned if you want to know what I found.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring but I am looking forward to it...Maybe I will do a 40 after 40 as well. :)

Ok. Talk to you all soon. Let me know if you have any ideas for my adventure.

Greetings!!!

It feels like it has been soooo long since I posted anything...today, I still don't know what to post...

This is the weekend of LOVE!!! I have read several blogs and challenges for the scrapbookers and the theme is a resounding love and hearts theme. I feel motivated but not enough to clean off the work area, get out the cricut and go to town...my heart is there and I will just go with..."It's the thought that counts, right?" Hopefully, I can pull myself together for Easter...which is right around the corner.

I have some busy times coming up...this weekend, along with Valentine's day is Orange County Scrapbook Expo. I LOVE THIS...I can shop and spend all day long...I have some things in mind as to what I want so I am not just spending my money...AND I am volunteering on Sunday morning for 4 hours to earn some extra dough...yippee....I love to be able to spend what I want...I will let you know how it goes...

Next weekend, I am meeting up with a friend from tour and his family. I can't wait. I haven't seen him since tour which was 1992...me being the Math wiz that I am...that would be...17 or so years...Sure doesn't feel that long...

The next couple weekends are open but I have a friend who is turning 40 so I will have to call and harrass him about that...

After the break, the real fun begins...here goes...my aunt's memorial service, Mike's b-day, My b-day party, and then my b-day which I will be flying away to....well, I don't really know...my BFF won't tell so I am left to guess...then...it is Easter. Craziness I tell you...and I love every minute of it.

I would love to hear if anyone has ideas on where I am going...(If you really do know where we are going...please don't guess. I don't want to spoil the surprise but I do like to like to play and see what we can come up with)...For now...the only clues you have are...we are going on an airplane and will be gone from Friday to Sunday... I will start giving you clues in the next blog...

A Moment of Silence

On Friday, word got out that the President of the company that I work for, would not be returning to the company...Today, we were told that he had passed away from a rare form of Cancer over the weekend.

There was a small memorial for him at work today. There was a moment of silence at the beginning and at the end of the service. This is a man who was deeply loved and respected from the employees that work for him. He held high standards for the employees but in return he kept the best interest of the employees a priority. The employees at all levels are saddened.

He had many accomplishments...you can find out more about him here. For some reason, I can't get any of the pictures to work...There is a good picture of him attached to the link.

My prayers and thoughts go out to his family and close friends in this difficult time.

Simple Beauty

Ok....so it has been awhile. Hope all is well. The picture to the left is one I took and told you about in the last post. That is the moon my daddy hugged and returned to me.

I love the trees outside my front door...don't they look eerily familiar to the ones to the right...hmmm...they are one and the same....or two and the same. Yes...I just think they have a great personality and capture so many colors of nature behing it. Simple Beauty.

Well, good news and bad news in the scrapping world...good news...I finished all the calendars I started BEFORE Christmas (for my Christmas presents) I wanted to make something for my coworkers...Anyway...they were finally finished on Saturday...Bad News...I forgot to take a picture to share with you...If it makes any of you feel better - everyone loved them and two people told me I could sell them.

Ok. Take care and I will work on keeping in better touch...You do the same.

Ropin the Moon!

Ok...so it is 2 weeks into the new year and I haven't written in...lets not go there. I would like to say many things have happened but I can't remember anything...

Did anyone see the moon this morning? My dad called me at the crack of dawn...well, just before the crack of dawn...told me to stop my morning routine...drag Bethany away from her breakfast and walk outside..."Look West"...or was it East?What do you see?"I am sending a hug up to the moon and back down to you." So sweet. It reminded me that sometimes it is best to jump outside of our routine and see the beauty around us. I took a picture of the moon a little later in the morning but I am having some issues trying to load it on...sorry...

So....I have been spending soooo much time on Facebook...Over the Christmas break I signed many family folk up and it has been non stop ever sense. My favorite game is Scramble. Have you played it? Try it. fun stuff...check it out.

So, scrapping stuff...I am still working on presents for Christmas...I am making calendars for the people at work but my scrappy friends seem to think that they wouldn't be appreciated and I should give it to them...we will see...

That is all for now...see you soon