Once a Month [old stuff] Give Away

Okay - so I have bunch of stuff that needs to GO - and I'm really tired of seeing the OMG abbreviation everywhere [I try hard to make my mind read 'oh my goodness!] so am hoping that we might also come to think of it as 'Once a Month [old stuff] Giveaway! I plan to randomly draw a name from the comments each month and send that person a little bag of goodies that hopefully they can use [new to them and all, you know...] So March's OMG goes to Katherine - send me your address and I'll get some stuff in the mail to you!

Garden Update

Yay! Good. Warm. Weather. Is finally here! And it feels so nice! Temps have been in the 80’s* and my garden is changing every day as a result! I’ve started composting and C and I built a little [?] compost corral from someone’s discarded pallets. It’s BIG and it’s HEAVY and it’s not quite where it needs to be since we have a bit of a rubbish pile waiting to be burned by the boys when they’re home for the summer.** Still, I’m composting away as I throw non-meat-table scraps into the pile and cover with old leaves and grass clippings. C added the fish guts from the last fish cleaning he did a few days ago – a little [okay – A LOT] stinky – but I really believe the fish will add to the overall nutrient value of my compost.

Updates: I have sunflowers and zinnias coming up from seed

– it’s been YEARS since I’ve had giant sunflower plants so I’m THRILLED at the prospect of this again! I just love those big sunny flowers! – I planted some of the smaller darker-hued ones too. I’ve also put in some little orange zinnias

from a hanging pot I got at Wal-Mart half-off due to being hit by the cold – they already have buds on them so I’m sure they’ll be great. [I took these out of the pot, divided them and put them in the flower bed near the garden.] And, I bought some rosemary since the HUGE plant I transplanted bit the dust soon after. Am hoping I have this one in a suitable location where it’ll find health and happiness for years to come [the transplanted one was over three years old-] I have blooms on each tomato plant [one was a little behind the others], a couple of little bell peppers growing [already!],

and everything else is getting settled in and ready to begin. Our rainfall has slacked off a bit so I’ve had to water these last few days. I’ll be adding miracle grow during the next rain. Oh! And I plucked a little basil last week to have with a vine-ripened tomato one of C’s friends sent over – it tasted like heaven – a little basil- a little tomato – a little [excellent] olive oil – [chased down with a prilosec] and life is good!

** I’ll be sure and share when this happens because little miniature bonfires have always been a part of their lives. EDITED: Just learned that we have burn warning going into effect soon - and we will not be able to burn until OCTOBER! Hope I can find the time to burn this rubbish soon!

Fox in the Yard

We've known for a while now that there are foxes living in our area / yard.

[Some may remember THIS POST from last year - ]
Lately we've been awakened by the sound of our cats screeching in the early morning hours and once about a month ago Craig was out in the evening and saw one trying to attack them-
and even with Craig there - he [it?] wouldn't run away - a little scary....[This photo has been cropped and shopped - but have to say this one looks soooo much healthier than the one I photographed in the yard last year. Kind of pretty actually.]
Well, this morning I had one of those wake up early days [and it's my state holiday too!!!] and heard a little commotion out front so went down to check things out
- and grabbed the camera from the kitchen, of course. I have to admit I was afraid he'd injured [or worse!] our black cat [Coffee] because we suspect it's the cause of our yellow cat's [Cream] tail mishap - which btw is healing nicely a month out. But I guess she stood her ground because when he wondered off she walked up the drive
[and Cream came out of hiding to join her.]Photos taken through our front window ---early a.m. and I know they're blurry - but wanted to share another bit of wildlife saga around our house
I stepped outside one evening last week and found a HUGE 'possum eating our cats' food [Craig has taken photos of this event in the past - I'll have to find some to share
- they are just MEAN!] - YIKES - somehow,
I'm a little more scared of them than a fox... is that crazy?]

Nineteen Years Ago...

Our sweet baby boy came into the world --So very happy both boys came home this weekend to celebrate - and just be with us.Have to admit that after the tragedy of this last week,
I wept when I held them in my arms.
And we continued our tradition of birthday celebrations at Sho-Gun -Happy Happy Birthday sweetie!

Encyclopedia of Your Ordinary Life -R

A few years ago I had the opportunity to complete this extraordinary scrapbook album designed by CathyZ and based on the book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal. While I still haven't read the book, I love the concept of this album - a random sampling of those ordinary facts about your life [my life.] The homework involves keeping a list, A to Z, of random memories for several weeks and then gathering photos [or not] to support these memories. Love it. The album is really very simple [a la Cathy Z] and easy to put together with only two square photos per page and two to four 'definitions.' Have I said I love this album? And I want to share some of my life with you so I've committed to do just that in 2009 [keep in mind this was completed during the summer of 2007.] I'm going backwards and today I present: R

RAINY DAYS

These days are so relaxing when there’s nothing pressing to be done and we can watch the rain fall softly through the trees. When Craig was youth minister we played a game with the kids where we snap, clap, and then stomp so that it sounds like a rain storm moving in. Fun. The smell of rain in the summer is wonderful, and crazy as it sounds, I even like the smell of rain hitting asphalt on a hot summer day.

ROLLER SKATES

Metal, with keys we’d wear on a shoe string around our necks and use to adjust the skate to fit over our shoes. I think we both had a pair, but must have always shared with friends because it seems like we were forever changing the size of the skate to fit another shoe. We spent many summer days skating up and down our street and always looked forward to the year when we had a newly paved street.

RICK AND BUBBA

A favorite [talk] radio show that we listen to from 6 – 10 most mornings. These guys are living life fully and while there are times when I’m annoyed, the funny, funny stories they share truly brighten our days. And it is so refreshing to see that they do not change to gain popularity. They are who they are and we love that they are unashamed of their relationship with the Lord.

First Rose of Summer!

[in my scrap area where I can enjoy it
with a little picnik action going on ----]
Yay Summer!
I had to cover my garden yet again this week [temps in the low 40*s]
- but it's over 80* today!
I know I'll be tired of the heat and humidity soon
- but for now - it feels oh so good!

Thank You Roland Martin –

why aren’t others speaking up to defend her honesty in answering the question?
And why can't we allow others to have their own opinions?

updated 6:58 a.m. EDT, Wed April 22, 2009



Commentary: Miss California, thanks for being honest
Editor's note: A nationally syndicated columnist, Roland S. Martin is the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith" and "Speak, Brother! A Black Man's View of America." Visit his Web site for more information. He is hosting "No Bias, No Bull" at 8 p.m. ET on CNN while Campbell Brown is on maternity leave.
Roland Martin says Miss California, Carrie Prejean, is being slammed for being honest about her beliefs.
(CNN) -- A lot of folks are always saying they like to keep it real, that they want authenticity and straight talk. Yet when someone actually does it, there is hell to pay.
Welcome to the world of Miss California, Carrie Prejean, who, since she answered a question regarding same-sex marriage in Sunday's Miss USA pageant, has been savagely attacked by those who oppose what she had to say.
Leading the burn-her-at-the-stake parade is media opportunist Perez Hilton, the self-described gossip queen, and the individual who kick-started this controversy by asking the initial question as to whether the issue of same-sex marriage should be left up to the states.
It seems that Hilton, who is gay, was none too pleased that Prejean chose to actually give her personal opinion on the issue, and ripped her on his blog after the show, using crude obscenities as he continued to attack her at every turn on his media blitz.
Hey, Hilton, from a real journalist to a wanna-be who traffics in gossip: Never ask a question if you're unprepared for the answer!
Frankly, this whole story is pretty stupid. Isn't the whole point of asking a question to get someone's true feelings, rather than the plastic and superficial answers we are all used to receiving?
Sure, Prejean could have gone the safe route and given one of those answers that reveal nothing and is hard to decipher -- you know, the ones politicians give all the time -- but no! She actually gave her real opinion, and is now being torn to shreds for it.
She opposes same-sex marriage. OK, fine. So what if she had said, "Hey, I'm in full support of same-sex marriage." Would she now be celebrated on gay-focused blogs, magazines and Web sites? Would her detractors actually be saying how open she is and that she's a great person?
Same-sex marriage is undoubtedly a hot button issue. And being from California, the site of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that voters approved outlawing same-sex marriage, Prejean has surely had to hear the debate go back and forth. But her remark isn't outside the mainstream. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll shows that 55 percent of Americans are against same-sex marriage, and Proposition 8 did pass in her state 52-48 percent.
What's interesting about this is that many of the same folks who are slamming her for her remark voted for President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who both have the same belief: that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that she has the same view, and it was her husband, President Bill Clinton, who signed the In Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that forbids states from having to recognize gay marriage in other states.
In other words, four of the biggest liberals in the country have the same belief as Prejean, but a beauty pageant winner is being torn to shreds. Hello, hypocrisy!
Those who criticize Prejean have the same right as she does to express their viewpoints. But enough with all the political correctness, where someone says she should have danced around the issue, smiled and move on. At the end of the day, we all have to be true to ourselves. Whether it's a gay gossip writer who favors same-sex marriage or a heterosexual woman who is against same-sex marriage. The day we condemn folks for speaking honestly is the day we become a bland society.
Maybe we're already there.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin.

A Blog Award

Hope, from 4 the Memories, gave me this award - an honor, really that someone recognizes my desire to share Christ with others through my blog.Diane, from Women to Women: Sharing Jesus , explains the award this way, "The Exalting Christ blog award is given to bloggers who consistently exalt the name of Christ on their blogs. What a joy to see crafters blend their passion for Christ and papercrafting. This award is given to bloggers who share Christ through their posts or through the design of their artwork. We are commanded in Scripture to be "salt and light" sharing the Good News of Jesus no matter where we are (Matthew 5:13-16). This award is just a way members of Women to Women: Sharing Jesus can say thanks for exalting Christ with us!"

So thanks Hope - so very sweet of you to recognize my blog in this way - I'm going to pay it forward a bit too and offer this award to the following who always seem to have inspiring words on their blogs -
Stephanie at Home Grown Hospitality and Dee at Finally Me - love you gals!

Now, I'm off to finish up my layouts for the Catching Fireflies class...why do I always have such a hard time following sketches?! - And I drew these myself!

Free Faithbooking Class! Beginning June 1st! Based on the book:

Catching Fireflies – Teaching Your Heart to See God’s Light Everywhere

by Patsy Clairmont [Best-Selling Author and Women of Faith Speaker]

In the book, Patsy writes, “I hope this book will offer you new understanding and thoughts that kindle your desire to seek God in fresh ways. Together we will explore different kinds of illumination that help us find that path…. I believe just as surely as God had a place assigned for the sun, moon, and stars, He has a place for us as His light holders. A place where we get to shine.”

The book is not required for this class, but it’s an EXCELLENT read [doesn't it just look yummy?!] and can be purchased at the link above, as well as at most bookstores [I picked mine up at Barnes & Noble.] I love the different kinds of light that Patsy uses to illustrate God’s goodness. It was so hard to pick only 5 for us to focus on together, but I plan to share some of my favorites [and the ones that touched my heart] with you during our five weeks together. I'm changing things up a little for this class - all ‘classes’ will be posted on the blog, www.bepresentbereal.blogspot.com Anyone can participate for one or more weeks. Excerpts from the book will be posted on Mondays with Faithbooking Prompts and a sketch for your use. My take will be posted on Wednesdays. I’d love to see your work! If you’re participating, please join the FaithBasedPagesClasses Yahoo Group [link on the blog] where we will share discussion as well as our faith based pages. A participation prize will be randomly drawn from those who complete all five lessons [layouts must be posted on the Yahoo group above to be entered. ]

Garden Update

I put the rest of my plants in - and killed a snake.

I feel kinda bad about that too - because... I think it was a good snake. And, I'm all about good snakes, as long as they stay in their place. - Had one live in the shrubs next to our driveway for years - and I'd just knock him out of the way to trim them up - until the day I found him a little too close to my car. He was dead in a matter of minutes...
So this weekend, I was moving around some wood to form a make-shift flower garden outside the real garden when I noticed this:


a snake hibernating in the wood. Now, I'll tell you - we've found many [many] black widow spiders in this wood pile of ours, so I was wearing gloves
- but I never [EVER!] expected to see a snake.
So, I guess I woke it up -


and I watched it closely -
Do round eyes mean good? Are these round?


I'm thinking that maybe they are -
I was out there by myself and not about to continue planting and digging unless I knew for sure, so I killed it. Sadly...
[Of course this was taken before I did it
- and it looks a little more scary when it's all black and stripey...]


But my garden's looking full and fun!
All together I have: tomatoes - basil - brussel sprouts - eggplant - banana peppers - bell peppers - lettuce - carrots - squash [zucchini and yellow] - and string beans - have never grown those before - and I always like to try something new...
and I planted sunflowers and zinnias - for some lovely spots of color later in the summer!
[we did have some 29* nights last week when I had to tucked things in with the windows and a tarp, but all survived , except one basil plant - and I'd planted extra of that because I love it so...]

WARNING - this may harsh for sensitive eyes

The Easter bunny never came to visit our boys for this holiday
and one of them pointed out that this just may be the reason why:
[so NOW you know that I really do have a sick-sick sense of humor - but I've discovered that most social workers share this trait -
I think we see so much of the really bad stuff the world has to offer that we have to get by some how...]

Our truth about the Easter bunny - we always dyed the eggs, did the hunt, and ate the candy [usually a chocolate bunny] but the rabbit just never played a part.
The boys always knew there'd be a basketful of goodies
for them Easter morning
[from Mom and Dad] but, more importantly,
they knew the real reason for celebrating Easter.
Hope you've had a good day!

I Know My Redeemer Lives!

Watch it to the end [about 5 minutes] -
The tomb is empty!
He Lives!

Warning this post is loooooong and full of sweet goodness –

everyday goodness for Easter –

My grandmother always made a multi-colored Easter Cake every year and since being out on my own, I’ve sort of claimed this tradition as my own. Nothing hard about this one – simply buy a white cake mix [or two, depending on how BIG you actually want your cake to be], some food coloring, and a couple of tubs of chocolate frosting. Mix the cake according to directions, divide batter into fourths and color each one differently [pink, yellow, blue, and green], bake according to directions. Cool and frost… how springy – and delicious does this look?
[and btw - this is the mini version for the kids coming in tonight -]

And this? Cake Ball Cupcakes?
Well, many of us have been hearing about these luscious cake balls for a while now
[we first tasted them during the holidays of 2007.]
So when I saw this adorable take on the idea over at Pioneer Woman – I just HAD to give it a go – and go they did! At first I was thinking – this may be a once-every-few-years kind of thing – but as I got a process down, things went really quick and easy.
SO CUTE.
Go on over and check out the details on how to make them yourself – but hide some if you want them to last for more than a day – they’re yummy!

And lastly – my cookie of the month
– Resurrection Cookies –
– love these and the teaching idea behind them! Enjoy!
– ~Also known as Easter Story Cookies~
This is a great recipe to teach your Children the REAL story of Easter.
That the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior is not dead but has Risen.
We serve a Risen Savior......
You will need:
1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch salt
1 cup sugar
a zipper baggy
1 wooden spoon
scotch tape
Bible
Instructions:
These are to be made the evening before Easter. Preheat oven to 300F.
*** (this is very important --- don't wait until you are half done with the recipe).
Place pecans in zipper baggy and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested. He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read: John 19:1-3
Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink.
Read: John 19:28-30
Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read: John 10:10&11
Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.
Read: Luke 23:27
So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.
Read: Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16
Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
Read: Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper covered cookie sheet.
Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
Read: Matthew 27:57-60
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.
Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.
Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.
Read: Matthew 27:65-66
GO TO BED!
Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.
Read: John 16:20&22
On Resurrection Sunday (Easter) morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.
Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow!
On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.
Read: Matthew 28:1-9

FBP Classes Participation Award[s]

Thanks to all who have participated in the class in one way or another. I've heard from many of you, and understand how our busy lives can keep us from creating at times --I just paid for a six week class with Shemille and never got past the planning stage - but I know I have all the plans laid out when I get ready to start on that project - so I'm hoping those who didn't have a chance to complete faith layouts this time around will tuck these ideas away and come back to them later. They're tagged on the blog as 'fbp classes' and are on the Yahoo Group [FaithBasedPagesClasses]as well. I encourage everyone to go to the Yahoo Group Photo section and take a look at the fun layouts created with inspiriation from this awesome book! I know I say it over and over - but I really do so enjoy seeing how each person puts a different interpretation on the ideas given. Great job ladies!! We had a tie for participation and since it was a tie of two I"m sending some crafty goodness to both of these ladies - booklady and misgive -- Pam and Kim, please send me your address so I can get a little something in the mail to you. And thanks to ALL who participated!

Encyclopedia of Your Ordinary Life -S

A few years ago I had the opportunity to complete this extraordinary scrapbook album designed by CathyZ and based on the book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal. While I still haven't read the book, I love the concept of this album - a random sampling of those ordinary facts about your life [my life.] The homework involves keeping a list, A to Z, of random memories for several weeks and then gathering photos [or not] to support these memories. Love it. The album is really very simple [a la Cathy Z] and easy to put together with only two square photos per page and two to four 'definitions.' Have I said I love this album? And I want to share some of my life with you so I've committed to do just that in 2009 [keep in mind this was completed during the summer of 2007.] I'm going backwards and today I present: S



SCRAPBOOKING
I’ve loved scrapbooks all of my life. Mama would take hers out of the little yellow suitcase and let us look through it only occasionally when we were young. During high school and college I begin keeping my own memory books and while there were always plenty of photos – it’s the memories that I hold dear and hope to preserve. Once a couple of years ago, the boys were looking through some of my high school ‘work’ and declared it a time capsule! And that’s what I want – our memories preserved so others who come after us can see what our ‘every day’ lives were like.

SPRING
In the South – a special time of renewal and new life! I’ve always enjoyed hearing Mama point out each little new green leaf as things came back to life, but in the Spring of 1978 when I drove home from the baroness of winter in Utah and smelled [and saw] the lovely magnolias, iris, and other spring flowers of the South – I knew I was truly home.. It’s a special time and place to be!

SIAMESE
My favorite kind of cat. And I’ve had several throughout my life. My earliest Siamese was Samantha when we lived on Lewis Street and I had Kinker for several years while we lived in Mobile. But Toonce was a favorite and she lived with us for 16 years! Really beautiful even into ‘old-age.’ Now that I have quiet non-Siamese cats, it just seems a little weird…

okay - so now you really know how sick i am....

A few weeks ago I had a post about spending time with God and this devotion touched my heart so I wanted to share -

Friday, March 27, 2009

Under My Skin - Lynn Cowell

"…and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of depair..." Isaiah 61:3a (NIV)

It wouldn't stop burning. Like a sunburn after hours at the beach, the heat on my hands stayed for hours. As a blessing to my family, I had made Aunt Carol's jalapeno peppers. With the sharp knife and chopping block, I transformed eighteen forest-green peppers into little boats of tasty fun. What I hadn't counted on was that ten minutes of exposure to the pepper's oil to my dry, cracked winter skin produced a burning that lasted for hours.

As I looked at my red, cracked hands, I was reminded of another part of me that looked dry and under-nourished not so long ago. In the heat of the summer months, my heart was in bad shape. It felt like a stone. When I would go to church, I sang the songs, but my heart was not truly singing praise to my Love, Jesus. I assumed it was the church. Surely, something had changed. We needed new music; something fresh.

Soon after something did change, and it was me. I re-discovered the oil of gladness and oil of joy by personally coming into the Lord's presence daily. Although I had never stopped reading my Bible and praying, I hadn't been taking the extra time and effort to come into His presence.

With the help of a prayer journal, I started beginning my time with the Lord each day by exposing myself to Him in praise. In her journal, Intimacy with God; Your Daily Guide to Prayer, Tara Furman suggests several ways to come before Him: repeating His attributes, calling out His names, and singing hymns or worship songs. My favorite is reading out loud the Psalms. Just yesterday the repairman heard Psalm 103 coming loudly from my lips as he banged away on my wood floor.

Opening the day with praises to my King has transformed my heart. Now, when I go to church, I no longer wait to enter into His presence; my heart is already there. I have found that my outlook through the day is different. Like the oil from the peppers, the burning effect of His presence is felt in my heart many hours after the exposure.

Dear Lord, as it says in Psalm 100:4, help me to enter into Your gates with thanksgiving and into Your courts with praise. Help me to give thanks to You and praise Your name. You are good and You deserve my heartfelt worship each day. I love you! In Jesus' Name, Amen.

I've been meaning to share this for a while now - and got busy with life, didn't get the photos, etc, etc, etc. Sometime around the first of the year
[when the crappie started biting]
Craig set a life goal to catch a crappie-a-day for each day of the year -
so I thought he needed a cute book to keep track - a perpetual calendar of sorts -
and got busy making one for him. I used a white 8x8 album that I'd received free at a CKU crop / CK convention [can't really remember...] and covered it in torn strips / pieces of brown
[think paper bag] paper and
covered it in mod podge [you know I love that stuff!]
I was going for a masculine-like look with a technique I'd seen Doug use on a den wall on Trading Spaces [many] years ago. I really like the way it turned out. I used the same brown paper [I love this stuff too and have a ROLL of it] to print the calendar off the computer and then some coordinating papers
- favorite fishing photos from through the years
[and space for more as the years go on]
and voila! a cute little calendar where he can keep up with the fish [crappie!] he's caught through the years. And as you can see, there's been
some fishing goin' on 'round here![We're thinking that fish will become our new 'traditional Easter dinner'
- what do you think?]

Born to Be Wild - Faithbook Class

Friday Update - gotta be honest here - I was hoping for a little more participation in this class. Several have written to me and are loving the book, but haven't had time to do the faithbook challenges so I'm hoping you'll be able to finish those up and use them as a way to show your faith on your scrapbook pages.
The deadline for posting your layouts somewhere [your blog, the FBP Yahoo Group, another photo / layout site] is Friday April 10th.]
Be sure to comment here so I'll know you've completed them -
At that time I'll look through, do the count and
announce the winner for this class on Saturday April 11.
I want to encourage you to use Jill's writing as a jumping off point to think of other ways to incorporate faith to your pages. Let me know when you do!
I LOVE to see others' faith based pages!
And I'll be announcing another faith based pages class in a month or so -
think lightening bugs [have you seen the first one yet? We have seen them as early as March in the past - but so far no go this year!] I'm really excited about it too!

Choice

Understanding your power to choose [make choices],
you grow not just in happiness but in inner stability, trust, and confidence.

Born to Be Wild - Faithbook Class

5 – The Attitudes p 187 – Find a Mentor. This is a free faithbook class based on the book, Born to be Wild [rediscover the freedom of fun] by Jill Baughan. We'd love to have you join in, post a link to your work in our comments, and the top three participants will get a prize.

My Take: This led me to think about…mentors in my life – and believe me, I have actively searched for mentors during particular phases [for instance, raising teenagers…] but have also had mentors placed in my life at different times. Love having the women in my life who have modeled God’s faithfulness and fun throughout their lives even as they have become grandmothers, grown older, and faced illness and loss. But the one I scrapped about is one of my cousins whom I never knew well, but always heard stories of her adventures throughout my childhood. And I think hearing these stories helped me to realize that I could step out of the box and do whatever I want with my life. In the journaling I write what I remember about her - since she died at a young age I never knew her as an adult - so the memories are from the eyes of a child...