Mini Vacation

My Dad, Sister, and I all went to Asheville for two nights right before Christmas. It was fun, especially since they just got about 15 inches of snow! Since there was fresh snow we decided to go skiing one of the days we were up there. We went to Wolf Ridge... which used to be called Wolf Laurel for anyone that went about 20 years ago. It is one of the first places I ever went skiing, which was when I was around 6 or 7 years old. Here are some pictures from our trip...

Holiday Time...

I think it has been about a month since my last post... but things sure have been busy since Thanksgiving. My family decided to do things a little different this year. There really isn't anything that we need so we (my Dad, sister, and myself) are only spending $25 on each other and the rest of the money we would normally spend we agree to give to a charity or something similar. Alex and I decided to do this as well.

So, I did a few donations and then Alex and I got two "Angel Tree Kids" from church who have one or both parents incarcerated. I also joined some of the office staff at one of my schools to help buy some gifts for a few children. I have always enjoyed doing this sort of things, but sometimes I don't get around to it during the holidays. I made sure I got to it this year and am very excited that a few more children will have something to open on Christmas.

I also decided that this year was going to be a year of more homemade gifts. I like to be crafty and I also like to give things... and I have learned that you can be crafty for very cheap. One thing I did was make some cards to give as gifts. I made some with stamps and ribbons and also made some with some palmetto trees that I painted on them.

The next thing I made was some french vanilla hot chocolate. The recipe I have is very very good and extremely easy to make. Since it is all dry powder, I put the mix in spaghetti, pickle, and salsa jars that I have been saving. I then made a label to go around it using T. Reed's kit All Aglow. I finished it off with some pink ribbon and gave it to some friends and several coworkers. It was a nice gift that anyone can use and is not expensive to make.

Thanksgiving week recap

I can't believe that it is almost December. The past week was another tough one for me. My great uncle Charlie passed away, so I spent the day before Thanksgiving at a funeral. I went to see him a few weeks ago and had a really great visit. My Dad and I went back last Sunday, but he was sedated and had been unresponsive all day. But, two of my cousins were there so we had a long visit with them. I feel like I often talk about death on my blog, but I don't mean to, it's just been somewhat of a theme in my life the past two years. In fact, this is the ninth family death to the day in two years. I have to say, though, that Charlie's funeral was probably the most inspiring I have ever been to. The way he lived his life and cared about people was so great to hear. It made me want to try to live my life that way and be compassionate towards everyone. Though it was an extremely tough few days, I know that Charlie is with God and the rest of his brothers who died before him, and that gives me a lot of peace and comfort.

To further the sad things this week, my newest neighbor died and I'm still unsure what happened. We think it may have been something related to her diabetes. Since her death, my other neighbors and I have found out that she really had no true family. All of her things are still in her apartment downstairs and her car is still sitting outside. It's kind of eerie knowing all of this stuff is still here and no one has come around. I know it's been a holiday so I'm sure someone may come soon to sort out her things. I just pray for those that knew her well.

One new thing that happened this year, was my Dad, sister, and Alex delivered meals on Thanksgiving for one of the local churches. We ended up delivering 72 meals to 18 different homes. It was nice to be able to do something for others this year and we enjoyed being together while doing it. Maybe this will become a new family tradition??

The Little Things...

I think it's so easy for everyone (especially including myself) to get wrapped up in all the stuff we have to do. There are a lot of days that I think, "If I can just make it through today." Of course then I think that for the next 5 days until a whole week has passed and I don't even remember what I did. Well lately I've been thinking more about the little things and trying to work on keeping myself in a better mood, which can be hard. It's so easy for me to get sad and not even realize why I feel that way. So, on to the point of this post... my Papa's brother has been very sick for awhile and was in the hospital and is now at a place where he is getting a lot of therapy. I've thought several times that I should go visit and today I decided to do just that. I spent over an hour with Uncle Charlie and it was great. It was tough seeing him not doing too well, and he looks so much like my Papa, which brought back some tough memories of when my Papa was in a similar situation. But, we had a great visit and I really enjoyed getting to talk to him, and at times just sitting and not saying much at all. I am a true believer in family and the fact they are what keep you going. My uncle is a precious man and I'm so glad I went to see him. I hope to see him again very soon, and even though I have missed a lot of times when I could have gone to see him or any other family member... I just try to be thankful for the times that I do get to spend with family... even if it is only a little time. If anyone is reading this, I encourage you to go see someone (friend or family) that you haven't seen in awhile, or call them, you just might make a big difference in their day!

Fall Pics

I finally got my fall pictures from the pumpkin patch to upload...

Halloween is just around the corner...

and I have been working on some treat boxes! Below are a few pics of them - now that I was finally able to get a picture to upload on here. I filled them with small candy and can't wait to give them to a few special kiddos.

Fall fun

Well I have tried multiple times to post in the past week or so, but I wanted to add pictures and for some reason there are some technical issues with me posting pictures! I'll just have to do a post that's not so fun. Things have been good lately and of course busy.

I went to Raleigh a couple weekends ago for a conference with Joelle and Sarah. We went up a day early and stayed with Joelle's sister. We went to Bonedaddy's Hideway Biker Bar to see her brother in law play with his band. Quite an interesting place! We had fun and had a great time people watching.

I've also been to the apple farm with Whit, Olivia, and George. As soon as I can get past the picture issues, I'll definitely post some. I got some really cute ones of George in his overalls! Of course, it's easy to get good pics when you have cute kids around all the time!

I've been doing a little painting and I really need to get moving on painting some Christmas ornaments. First, though, I want to do some Halloween treat. I have some ideas in the making, just nothing finalized yet.

Halloween is just around the corner and I'm very excited! I love fall, and it's one of those holidays that is always fun to me and I love all the decorations. I have a few up in my apartment already.

And last, please say some prayers for my Great Uncle Charlie. He is my Papa's brother and isn't doing too well. The docs really aren't sure what's going on other than his body is just shutting down. He is getting rehab and Hospice care. Any prayers/thoughts are appreciated!

Another month gone by...

So, it's already been 26 days since my last post and I'm kinda squeezing this one in. Where to start? Well things at work are busy as always. I'm still getting used to the new boss and not having my really good friend two doors down. I love what I do, but it makes a difference when you have extra support around. I've had one doozie of a case lately and I'm really struggling with what to do. Sometimes I know exactly what a student needs and have no second thoughts on it. This one, though, has me constantly wondering what to do. I can't say much about it because it is confidential. I can say it's a very young child with way too much going on emotionally than any child should have to deal with. So, is it special education that she needs?? Or just a LOT of love, care, support, etc.??? Some of the things that I try to determine do affect a student for the rest of their school career. Way to feel some pressure!! Just say some prayers that I, along with lots of other staff, can give this student what they need.

Familywise things are going ok. My Granny is not doing too well. Not that much has changed, but she has lots of fluid build up which the meds that help that in turn cause other problems. She seems happy which is definitely a blessing, but it's very hard to carry on a conversation with her and that reminds how she isn't the Granny I grew up with anymore. That sounds kind of harsh, but you know what I mean. Deep down she is the same person, but her day to day interactions and personality are different. Thankfully she still knows us! She recently moved to a new room and has a roommate who is very sweet. I think it will be nice for her to have someone that will talk to her and just have some company. Our family decided to ask for help from Hospice. I know most people think that's mainly used for end of life care, which it is, but not necessarily the end of the end. She will be able to have nurses come in weekly to check on her. They will be able to administer pain meds as she needs them without her having to go in to see a doctor - which is hard to do. It was heart wrenching when I heard "Hospice" but after my Dad explained it more to me, I realize this is exactly what she needs. I know she won't live forever and I want whatever time we have left with her to be a time that is happy and not a time that she is in pain. I did take Dixie to see her last week and she really enjoyed that - she likes to show off her Granddog to the other residents.

As for other things, I'm doing okay. Still working on a lot of things with myself. This is taking awhile and sometimes I get frustrated and just wish I could snap my fingers and everything would go back to normal. Although I'm not sure what "normal" is anymore. I still have my "bad" days where I get really sad, but they aren't as frequent as they were. I guess things like this just take time and thankfully I'm slowly working on it and have a lot of support.

October is going to be a busy month, but hopefully I can get back to post again soon! I have a lot to look forward to so I know I will have things to share.

Lately...

It has been almost a month since my last post, mainly because it has been one busy month. I was supposed to go to work the beginning of August but missed the first 3 days because I got the stomach flu. Once I got over that, things went pretty well. I really can't do a ton of work with no teachers and no students. The first day that students came back I found out that my step grandfather passed away. He and my Grandmother had gotten married last Labor Day - so they had been married about 11 months. I guess that is a risk you take when you get married at 80 and 85 years old! At least they were able to spend what time he had left together.

School has been very busy with a new boss and a lot of new things going on. I'm enjoying it but don't have much down time at all. I actually have an office at my elementary school now which is really cool. This does not happen very often for school psychologists. We often work out of conference rooms, closets, or whatever space we can find that isn't occupied. It's nice to have a place that I can leave things and not have to carry it back and forth to my car every day.

Some more sad news, last night my fish (Superman) died. He had not been swimming much at all the past two weeks so I kinda saw it coming. I only had him about 7 months, which is short for me. The last two fish I have had lived about 3 years each. I'm going to miss him because he had a lot of spunk. I'm sure I will get another, but not just yet.

My Granny has been doing ok lately, but anyone reading this, please continue to pray for her. She is 85 and in an assisted living. She has her good and bad days but is not really in touch with reality very often.

Well that was just a quick update on what's been going on. I am glad to be back in school so that I have a routine again. I enjoyed the summer, but knowing what's coming up is helpful. Alex and I have also gone to a new church the last 3 weeks and so far we really like it. We have been wanting to find a place to go, but haven't put a ton of effort into it until now. I think it's easy to get into a comfort zone of not going or either going somewhere that you may not get a lot out of just because you are used to going to the same place. Where we are going is a fairly contemporary place but is still based on basic Biblical principles, which I like. We will see how things go and maybe this will be a new church home for us??

One more speed scrap...

I attempted one more speed scrap this morning and it went much smoother than yesterday. Partly because I knew a little more about what to do, but partly because the instructions/rules we were given were not too bad. Here's what I came up with...

1. Choose your photos ... no more than 3. One photo must go off the edge of your page.
2. Use some type of photo treatment on one of your photos - black & white, sepia, selective color, etc
3. 3 papers MAX! One must be a solid neutral (black, white, brown, ivory).
4. Use a frame on one of your photos.
5. Sparkle ... gotta see some SPARKLE!!
6. Use one font and one alpha in your title. You can use more than one color, though!
7. Embellish as you like, journal, date, add your shadows, and upload to SS Gallery #135!!

P.s.

I meant to say in my last post... a big thanks to Leigh and Erin and my other friends for having really cute kids! I wouldn't have much to scrap about without them other than Alex's farm. You can only do so much with a guinea and goats!! I'm just glad you all don't mind me using pictures, etc. of them for my creative outlets :)

Speed Scrapping...

I participated in my first "speed scrap" tonight and let me say it was fun, but stressful. There were 7 "rules" posted starting at a certain time. A new rule was given every 10 minutes and then you were given about one more hour to finish. For about the first 20 min. I was looking in the wrong place for the rules, I kept wondering why they hadn't posted any.

In all, it lasted about 2 hours... but of course I had issues. I had mine done in time, but could NOT get it to load on the website. I posted it a few minutes late anyway since I did it. It was fun, the site is doing 4 more this weekend... maybe I can squeeze one in. Here's the layout I did... and the rules we were given... (it's a good think I figured out templates about a week ago or I would not have gotten past instruction #1)

Instruction #1: Pick a template that is for ONE photo.
Instruction #2: The one photo you use onthe template must not be of a whole person...so crop out just the feet or face or something like that.
INSTRUCTION #3: USE PRIMARY OR BRIGHT BLUE ON YOUR LAYOUT, PASTEL BLUE IS ALLOWED, BUT DOESN'T COUNT FOR THIS INSTRUCTION.
INSTRUCTION #4: USE POLKA DOTS SOMEWHERE ON YOUR PAGE
INSTRUCTION #5: USE A SCATTER ON YOUR PAGE.
INSTRUCTION #6: USE WORD ART ON YOUR PAGE.
FINAL INSTRUCTION: USE AN ALPHA FOR YOUR TITLE, DATE AND JOURNAL YOUR PAGE AND POST TO THE SPEED SCRAP #134 GALLERY BY 11:15PM

Recent visit...

I recently went to visit a friend of mine that I have known since Kindergarten. She doesn't live far away but of course we are both very busy so we don't get together as often as we like. I just went to her house, but that was fine with me. She and her husband adopted a little boy almost two years ago. He is adorable and is one of the happiest kids I have ever been around. Here are a few pics of him at his house playing while his Mom and I caught up. He thought he was so funny, he even began laughing at himself! Aren't those the most bright blue eyes you've ever seen??

A little productive...

When I said I would like to delay work a few days, I didn't really mean it, not if it meant getting the stomach flu!! I guess I got what I asked for. I will only work one day this week, I have been sick for two and I have a comp day I have to take this week... not too bad, but I HATE being sick.

However in between naps and taking the 3 prescriptions the doctor gave me, I have done some scrapbook hunting for some new kits/ideas. I also found an online place to back up my computer so that if it crashes, all my scrapbook stuff and other files will be available to restore. I made one layout today that I just love. I used a picture I got from a friend of mine. It is of her hand, her husband's, and her almost 3mo. old baby. I fell in love with the picture and had to do a layout with it. I had recently done one of just the baby, so I did the new one in the same colors so that I could put them side by side in my scrapbook. Here they both are...

New school year, lots of changes...

The new school year will start for me in two days and with it will come a lot of changes. I have a new boss. My old one retired and even though I only worked for him for two years, I learned so much. He was great to work for and very well respected. I have met the new one and I am sure things will work out ok but it will take some getting used to. Another change is that Sarah, a girl who interned with us last year, has been hired full time this year. I am extremely excited about this for several reasons. She is my age, meaning I won't be the only "new kid" around. She is a lot of fun to be around and it adds another psychologist which means a tiny bit lighter load for some people. I will have the same schools as I had last year so that part really won't affect me, but it will still be great to have her around.

The biggest change, and essentially the one I dread the most, is that my best friend at work, and one of my best outside of work, is moving. She got a promotion which I am extremely excited about, but it means moving to Columbia for her and her family. It's strange to think I have only known her for 2 years but sometimes that's all you need to find a good friend. She was around for one of the toughest years of my life and it really made a difference for me. I have gotten to know her husband and 5 year old son and they are great as well. I know that she isn't moving that far away, but it's far enough to make a little bit of a difference. The other thing is that I won't be able to see her during the work week and have her at my fingertips to talk to and help me make it through the day. I'm fairly good at keeping in touch so I have no doubt that we will still hang out and get together, it will just be different. But, again, I am very excited for her and in no way would want her to stay just for me (though that would be pretty cool). I do know that no matter what these changes will bring about that I have made a wonderful friend that is truly only a phone call away.

To celebrate some of these changes several of us went out for dinner and shopping in Greenville Friday night. This is a scrapbook page I made to remember the night...

thumbs up for me!

I finally figured out a little bit about how to create my own header on this thing using some of scrapping stuff. I'm sure there's lots more I could do but up above is as good as it is going to get for now!

Help, please!

I am thinking about entering a photo contest that Costco is doing. Since I have taken about 6,000 pictures in the last year and a half with my camera, I have no clue which one to enter. So, I picked a few of my favorites to see what you guys think. I've made a poll over there --> so let me know what you think.

It's Mario (Cake!) Time

My nephew, Whit, recently turned six and wanted a Mario Party. Last year I made the cake for his pirate party and so I decided I would make him a cake this year as well. I had no clue where to start, this would only be cake #3 as far as trying to make a fancy one. I did the pirate one, and then one other Princess cake for Olivia. The princess one was mainly decorated with crowns and sprinkles, so not too hard.

So I began my cake making with a search online and found this. I thought it looked really cute and not too horribly hard to make. So I sta

rted out and this is how it turned out...

The cake turned out pretty cute and Whit really like it! It truly was not too hard to do. I just did two small layers and two big layers with blue icing. I then used a star tip to ice the hills. The rest was done with colored fondant and then I added a few figurines to it.

Recent Scrapping...

Twilight...

You may have noticed I have a new handy dandy little counter thing over there on the right side ----> I took it from another blog because it counts down to the new Twilight movie. I remember several months ago hearing about these books but not thinking much about it. Then my unofficial stepsister read all of the books during Spring Break. And I mean within about 3 days she read them and we barely saw her. So after that I decided I would read them but wanted to wait until school was out in case I got addicted as well. The end of the year for me is just not a time I can stay up all night reading. Too much going on at work.

SO, I have now read all 4 and loved them. I did not read them as quickly as others. Well each book went by quickly but I spaced the books out a little bit, I guess to make them last a little longer?? Anyway, I then watched the first movie again, and bought it. Now I'm ready for the next movie to come out. Right now would be nice!

I'm not sure what the draw is to these books because (not to sound rude or like an English major, because I definitely am NOT) they aren't some great literary work of art. But something about the story can really pull you in. While I was reading them I just had to know what was coming next and couldn't wait to read about it. Maybe some of it was because they were so different from what I usually read. I'm a huge fan of murder mystery books and LOVE John Grisham and James Patterson books. (By the way they both have new books out right now)

So, I have to wait however long the counter says to see the New Moon movie and I'm hoping it won't disappoint!!!

Beach pics

Here are a few of my favorite pics from a recent week in Charleston...

Busy Times

It's been awhile since I last posted and right now I'm in the first few hours of another vacation. I'm in Charleston right now and the house is quiet and it probably will not be quiet again until we leave next Sunday. Not that I mind the noise, but My Dad is out with my niece and nephew and everyone else is coming down in the next day or so. So, it's just me and the mac and thankfully the house has wireless! 

So, what have I been doing??

I went to Portland about 2 1/2 weeks ago and it was great. Definitely could tell I wasn't in the south anymore. I tagged along with my sister and it was a lot of fun. She went for work and being the wonderful sister she is, she used skymiles and hotel points, etc to take me with her... the trip ended up costing me $77!!! Can't beat that can you??? We went to the coast one day and saw Haystack Rock and Multnomah Falls (the falls that are shown in the Twilight movie I might add). We also knocked around downtown Portland and while she worked one day I went to the zoo. I have to tell you there was a crazy antelope thing at the zoo that kept hopping all around a zebra and the zebra could have cared less! 

I also have to mention I read the first two Twilight books on this trip and I've been sucked into the whole Twilight world now. I'm currently on book 3 and should be done soon (maybe tonight). 

Ok, back to what I've been doing. After Portland I spent last week keeping my baby cousin, Kayley, while her regular nanny was on vacation. Kayley was a wonderful baby and so laid back. She also had lots of fun with Dixie. They became fast friends.

We also celebrated Whit's 6th birthday and George's 1st Birthday!

We went to Kanpai for Whit's birthday (his party will be after the beach trip) and George's house for his birthday. Lot's of family time, but it was good. 

And that brings everyone up to speed on where I've been! I also became a movie goer this week. I usually go to the movies some, but not very often. This week, however, I saw 3 movies: The taking of Pelham 123, Transformers 2, and the Proposal. 

Transformers was great and the Proposal was very funny and just a good clean movie worth seeing. I liked Pelham 123 but it was very fast paced and the language was quite bad. I understand that that's how movies are, but this one was kinda taking it to an unnecessary level. Anyway I enjoyed seeing them and saw some great previews for a few upcoming movies! (one of them being the next Twilight movie as well as the next Harry Potter)