Succession of Moments

I am getting on the Scrap Girls site a lot more regularly now. With one of my Christmas gift cards I purchased the Scrap Girls club, which is a monthly deal where you get collections for a reduced amount. I think they say you get $27.99 worth of material for $9.99. It's a recurring charge unless you cancel. But, you can also purchase 6 months or 12 months at one time for an even bigger savings. Anyway, I've really liked it so far.

Also, on the website, like most other scrap sites, they have lots of challenges to participate in. So I've started participating occasionally. This layout was for a quote challenge. They give the quote, and you do a layout for it. The quote was "Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed." It took me a long time to even decide which photos to use for this. I started out with some of Jason's and my engagement pictures, but then I wanted to do something with one of the kids. I liked the idea of using a photo that depicted an everyday moment because to me that's what the quote is getting at. I used these photos of my dad holding my nephew, Kyle (he was only 2 then, so cute!) while he was grilling. I love that Kyle was wearing my dad's hat. Almost all of the materials are from Amanda Sok's Watercolor Whimsy Collection (this month's club offering). The star brush is from the Scrap Girls Refresh collection.

Moments to Cherish

I wanted to do a year-in-review layout for 2008 when I started scrapping last year. I never did it, but I decided to do one for 2009, after seeing a challenge on the Scrapbooks, Etc. website. I decided to do a 2-page layout, with highlights from the year and favorite photos. I hadn't realized how much has changed in 2009 until I did the layout. I loved all of these pictures, it was fun making the layout. I don't usually do that many pictures. Most of the supplies are from Brandy Murry's Angel Dust collection at Scrap Girls. It also uses Brandie Valenzuela's Rippled Paper template and the "these are the moments" tag is from Chere Edwards. The 2009 was designed by Durin Eberhart, I just recolored it.

I put my Photoshop on my laptop, so now I can scrap while sitting on the couch. It's been nice, because if Jason plays his PS3, then I can still be in the room with him and scrap. Also, when he's at class, I usually watch my shows. Before, I had to be in the other room to scrap, so I couldn't get that done if I was trying to catch up on the TV. Now, I can do both. Yay!

So long, Benji

A couple of months ago I started a post that I never finished about how chaotic it had been to have 3 animals in our tiny house. I had Deja before I even met Jason. Then about a year and a half ago, I was working at Town & Country Elementary and three little kittens were found. We were told that they would probably be euthanized if they were brought in without their mom. Jason urged me to bring one home, which surprised me, since he didn't really like Deja then. So, then we had two cats, Deja and Benji.

Benji was so cute and liked to cuddle. But he often terrorized Deja. He grew so big, and he was just always getting into things. By August, we got our miniature schnauzer, Desmond. For most of that time since then, I was always having to keep Desmond and Benji separated, or I had to get onto Benji for pouncing on Deja. It really was driving me crazy.(This picture was a constant sight) But, when Jason said he was ready to give Benji away because he was constantly getting into everything, I resisted. I'm very sensitive about animals, and I probably assume too much feeling on their part. Like, I thought he would feel rejected (even though I know that as long as he's fed, he's probably content). But I hate seeing them at the pet store or in shelters, because I always feel bad for them.

Anyway, I had asked one of my friends to take him. I thought that he'd be great as an only cat. But, on New Year's Eve, he (not on purpose) scratched my hand. He had been sitting on my lap minding his own business. Desmond had gone after Deja, who cried, which perked Benji up. He went to jump off of me to get in on the action, and his claws scratched me. It was a pretty bad scratch. But that did it for Jason. So, the next day I contacted my friend, but she wouldn't be able to take him for a couple of weeks (plus, I think she was just being nice). She suggested St. Francis animal shelter, because they don't euthanize the animals. They foster them before adopting them. I told Jason that he had to do it, I couldn't. So, that was it for Benji.

I cried. It was a little traumatic for me, especially on New Year's Day! But, I told myself that Benji would be fine, and he would go to a family that would love him. And, I had to admit, I saw the difference in the other two that night. Before, Deja always had to sneak around, watching out for an attack by Benji. And like I said earlier, he and Desmond were constantly after each other. (Jason thinks Benji was giving off some sort of vibe to Desmond.) But now, I could tell Deja felt more freedom, and Desmond has been a lot calmer. And, of course when we have kids, I wouldn't want them to get scratched up by Benji, whether on accident or on purpose. Because that wasn't the only scratch from him. I have two scars on my foot from one time he ran past me, and his claws sliced my foot. So, I'm sure most people are wondering why it was so hard for me to get rid of him, but I felt like one of those people who adopt a child and then give them back. I'm a lot better with it now, though. It's the best thing for us.

It's funny, though, Deja seems to sometimes like being chased by Desmond. Yesterday Jason and I were both in the kitchen. Desmond was in there with us, and I saw Deja in the living room walking by the kitchen doorway. I saw her act like she was going to take off running, stop, look over at Desmond, act like she was going to take off, stop, look at him, and so forth like three times. I laughed, because I knew she wanted him to chase her, so I said, "Hey, Deja!" knowing that Desmond would run after her. Sure enough, Deja shot off, then they ran around for a couple of minutes. Cute.

The thing I miss the most about Benji is that he would come sit on my lap or sit on the arm of the couch and put his paws on my shoulder. Deja doesn't do that. I wish she did. But, I don't miss all that chaos and constant scuffling between them. So I have to say, it's a lot better. (Even though I still love Benji)

A Legacy of Love

I mentioned this layout in a couple of previous posts, but I wasn't able to post it until after Christmas, because it was a gift for my grandparents. This was the first layout that I was able to print, and I must say, that it looked great seeing it in real life and not just on the computer monitor! In August, my grandparents celebrated 60 years of marriage. We had a big party for them, and at the party we displayed a bunch of pictures from the last 60 years of our family on a ribbon board. The picture on this layout is a photo of that ribbon board. A few days before the party my grandmother said she wanted to display the center picture (of her and my grandfather just after they were married) and she had thought about displaying the other pictures of the family, but since she hadn't told anyone, she figured we wouldn't do it. But I thought it would be a great idea, and Jason thought of using the ribbon board, so we were set. It was great at the party, too.

I had started working on a layout that was just using the old picture of my grandparents, and I wanted to give that as a gift for the party. Of course, I didn't finish it, so when it came time to think about Christmas gifts, I thought I would just do it then. But then I thought that it would probably mean more to have this picture of all their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and I decided to use this photo. Once I did, it started going a lot quicker than the other one had done, so I knew it was the right way to go. For the paper, I used a paper template, Appassionata, designed by Amanda Sok. The tags and strings were embellishment templates designed by Paula Wright, both available at ScrapGirls.com.

This was my favorite gift to give for Christmas, and I know my grandparents liked it. My grandmother already told me that my grandfather wanted to hang it near the front wall so everyone that comes to their house can see it. I definitely appreciate the example of love and commitment that they've been to our family, which was why I wanted to make it.

It's 2010!

I always love to read back through my journal at the end of the year, and reflect on everything that has happened in the year. I also write a review, highlighting important things that happened, for my own remembrance. So, this year I did the same thing. I always find it enlightening and exciting. It reminds me that no matter what bad happened, there were some good times, too. And in the bad, I usually find lessons to remember as well.

For me, 2009 was a year of a lot of changes. I went from having 3 niece/nephews to 5. Jason's brother had a baby in January and my sister had a baby in October. I went from singing on the praise team at Idlewild to singing in the Blend service at Grace. I went from working at Crestwood Elementary to working at Woodbridge Elementary. I went from having all of my immediate family living in Florida to having a sister who lives in Germany. But, despite the changes, it was a good year. From my journal, I can see that it was a big lesson for me in contentment. I still haven't mastered that, but I definitely think it's gotten better. A lot of what I wrote in my journal was prayer for being in a different situation (financially or with work) than I was in. Thankfully, I haven't felt that way at work in the fall. And, financially...well, I'm just trusting God. We're doing OK. Sure, our house is small, but it's enough for us for right now. And I'm thankful to call it our own.

But, I'm looking forward to seeing what 2010 holds this year. A facebook friend said it yesterday, so I'll repeat it...I don't know what it holds, but I do know God is there. That's reassuring.

I had a great Christmas season, I'll write more with pictures later.