Let it go.

That is my mantra for today. I have to repeat it lately. Soo many things bogging down my brain and my emotions.


2 year old craziness

Rich leaving for 6 months starting in May

Dislike of my work enviroment

My home is not completely put away

I want to lose more weight

etc

etc

etc



Seems as if the list never ends.





Matthew helped me decorate a few valentines cookies last night. He did SUCH an awesome job! He focused so hard on decorating them all until he ate one :) SO cute to watch. I will upload all the photos to my family gallery soon!




Inspiration today came from these colors. The layout I am working on right now actually has pink in it. PINK! Craziness.



Ok enough from me. Let me leave you with this thought:

Fast recovery

Even when you are thoroughly committed to staying positively focused, life can get in the way. Though you may have the best of intentions, there will be times when you veer off course as a result of your own actions.
When that happens, don't beat yourself up about it. Just recognize it, accept it, learn from it, and get moving again in a positive direction. Winners and losers will both stumble. The difference is, winners have learned to quickly get back up. If you make a mistake, or lose your temper, or allow yourself to become distracted, it's normal and natural, and not the end of the world. Though it is painful when you've disappointed yourself, you have the opportunity to make something positive out of that pain. It is indeed a good thing to realize that what you have just done was not the best choice. For now you can move forward with a renewed and stronger determination. When you know you've stumbled, decide to recover quickly. Soon you'll be moving ahead even faster than before.
-- Ralph Marston

Scrap Strong!

-B

Season for Scrapping Contests!

It's that time again! (YAY!) Beginning of the year always marks the time for contests and DT calls. I am SO excited!

ScrapStreet.com is starting an 8 week contest called Dine n' Dash. It is going to ROCK! Here are the details:

Game will start on Friday, Feb 1 when the link to the first course will be given. You have until then to earn your apron and the right to play. Check out that thread for more details.

How to play: Each course containes a scrap challenge and then a question or riddle to lead you to the next part of the kitchen. Take as much time as you want on each challenge, but make sure you have your entire meal uploaded before the final dinner bell goes off at 6pm on Friday, Feb 22. You can solve all the riddles first and look at all the challenges--upload them in any order--run your kitchen however you like (you are the chef after all).

Winner: Who will determine the winner? The cooks themselves. A special voting area will be set up where each course will be voted on by ONLY the contestants. Each course will have a different number of votes, just to spice it up a bit. Votes from each course will be added together and the Master Scrapping Chef crowned on Sunday, Feb 24th.

Prize: He or She will win all of the goodies in the CHA bag. Michmc will be attending CHA and grabbing lots of makentakes, freebies, yummies of all kinds. Prize value? Who knows, but I have never left CHA disappointed with my haul. (in case of an all digi winner, digi person will be given a gift certificate to a fave online store and the top paper scrapper wins the bag instead).

Are you ready to get cooking? Slap on your blinkie and head to the earn your apron challenge.

What are you waiting for? GET signed UP!

Week Four....

Phew! Week Four is finally here in a contest I have been in at ScrappinwithGrace.com. Don't get me wrong, I have loved every MINUTE of it, but its been draining. With having to think and plan out every layout, based on criteria no less, and moving, I am wore out. If you get a chance, check out their site. They are a GREAT bunch of gals with a lot of talent! The above picture is my round 4 entry. I also have yet to do my two cards for the extra credit, but I will get to those tomorrow.

We are about 98% moved in. We still have a few items over at our old place (cleaning supplies mostly) and a few storage containers to put in our storage room in the new house. I love new places and making it our own, but I dislike the little, itty bitty, details of it all. ESPECIALLY the unexpected costs.

We raked the yard today and Matthew was a BIG help! He LOVES to play outside. The weather is wearing on me though. It was 20 degrees two days ago and then today is 60 and sunny. Go figure?

Ok well its late here and I have thoroughly drained my creativity for the evening. Hugs, kisses, and sweet scrappin' dreams!

Hurry up and wait!

"So close, but so far away

Everything that you've always dreamed of

Close enough for you to taste, but you just can't touch

You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet

Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it

You know you can if you get the chance

In your face as the door keeps slamming

Now you're feeling more and more frustrated

And you're getting all kind of impatient waiting"

PERFECT lyrics for how I am feeling today. Its a great song by Jordin Sparks (One Step at a Time) I am being so impatient about moving forward! How did this happen!? I was always one to fear the unknown, didn't like change and NOW look at me?! I marry a military man and now I am all about change. I LOVE moving! Isn't that sick? We just recently moved from off-post to on-post and I LOVE my new house! Its all new and I feel really good about it. Its different and it creates all sorts of new creative energy for me. Now let's see what I can do with it...

Yesterday we added a member to our family. His name is Mojo and he is a 9 week old Siamese kitten. In one night this little cat became part of our family. He sits with Rich and I at night in our office and loves to play with my ribbon box. His playfulness makes me smile and giggle. He is EXACTLY what our little family was missing.

Hopefully we can finish everything left over from the move this weekend. Our backyard looks like a forest in the fall. Its covered ENTIRELY by leaves and branches. You'd think they would have cleaned that up before we moved in...

Here is wishing everyone a MOJO filled weekend!

CREATE SOMETHING!

Changes and Mantras

Phew! 2007 is gone and 2008 has come in with a BANG! This is my year. I know it. It has to be. Do you ever feel that push inside of you to become who you are really meant to be? I do. Its a REALLY strong feeling too.

CK had a really great article in their January issue discussing personal mantra's. Its a personal "purpose statement - the underlying premind that drives why you scrapbook" as Brittany Beattie so perfectly stated. How would you describe your goals, ambitions, and wants in one single, SHORT statement? I have been doing a lot of thinking on this lately. Jessica Sprague (one of my FAVORITE designers) actually had two. "My life is my story" and a more directional one, "Create a Masterpiece". Jennifer McGuire stated hers was to "Freeze Time". I have been trying to really nail down what mine would be and I am running into a wall, creatively speaking. Mine always seem to long. I think it would really be, "Break through and become who you are meant to be!" I feel that a lot of my problem is the fear that my work won't be accepted but I need to stop focusing on what others will think of my work all the time! I would LOVE to become part of a team and really become known in the industry for my work and my passion but I think sometimes I lose sight of why we really DO scrap. So I am going to list a few goals for myself, right here and now, to start my final personal mantra:

1. Let Go!
2. Spread your passion
3. Don't fear the unknown and unpredictable
4. Keep that smile!

Here is wishing everyone a GREAT Friday! May your mojo kick into full gear and may you create something INSPIRING!