Here’s a Fun Something! April 28, 2007

Okay, so it’s a couple of days later than I said it would be.  Sorry about that.  But here’s some fun news.  This was posted over at Moments 2 Remember and I think it’s a really fun idea.  So all my digi scrapping friends, take a look at this.  This might be right up your alley!

Attention M2R Friends!!

Are you a designer? Do you play around with
blinkies, tags, signatures? …. then take a look at this!

Moments to Remember is ready for a facelift!

We are offering the membership and general public to take part in
re-working and updating our look! A full facelift!!

We are looking for a fresh, new logo….using “Moments to Remember” and also our “M2R” names.
You may use any color combinations that are pleasing and can be converted into the website design.
Please be sure that you are using original, created by YOU designs and elements.

Submissions to robinl_rutgers@hotmail.com
Please include LOGO in the subject line to be considered!

All submissions become the property of Moments to Remember and are free from copyright barriers.

All contest entries need to be in the email inbox no later than May 30,
2007.

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!!

Reality Bites April 25, 2007

Are y’all ready for some honesty?  The truth is that I’m usually a pretty upbeat, happy person.  But lately, I’m just struggling to get through each day.  I spent so long in shock over my brother’s death and none of it seemed real.  I was still waiting for him to come knocking on my door.  But that didn’t happen.  And I was so busy with life issues, that I didn’t take the time to grieve for my brother.  Apparently, that wasn’t a good idea.  I pushed my hurt to the side for so long that the hurt finally pushed it’s way to the front.  Now that’s about all I can feel.

 I have my moments where I’m pretty much okay.  I use those moments to wash a load of laundry or whatever.  But for the most part, I’m struggling just to stay focused on anything.  I’d like to say that I’m all better now, but the truth is that some days are much worse than others.

I have finally stopped expecting Neil to show up at my house.  I guess that’s a step forward.  But the hurt is so big now that it’s a physical pain in my chest.  I honestly don’t think the hurt will ever go away.  The crying may stop and the physical pain may go away, but I think my heart will always ache for Neil.  I think that it is something that I’m going to have to learn to live with.  Mourning and grieving.  Are they the same thing?  I don’t know.  But I’m hoping to move out of this pain eventually.

I made a page about missing Neil and I’d like to share it with you here.  This was the most difficult scrapbook page I’ve ever made.  But I’m glad I made it.  It expresses just one of the aspects of my heart right now.  If you’d like to see full credits on the page, just click on the thumbnail image in the right side toolbar. 

Okay this time, for real, I really will be back with a happy announcement tomorrow.  I know, I know…I promised that last time and it never happened.  I’m sorry about that.  But this time I really will post something happy tomorrow.  Thank you for letting me share my heart with you…even when it’s broken.  Stay tuned for a smile tomorrow.  :)

Oops…Disappeared April 12, 2007

Sorry I disappeared for a few days, y’all.  We’ve had a lot going on in our family life (nothing too bad, please don’t worry) and I really needed to focus on everything else for a few days.  But I’m back now and ready to blog like crazy again.  lol  I’ll be back later today with a fun blog post.  I just wanted to let y’all know that I’m still here.  :)

Easter Sunday April 8, 2007

This is a very important time of year for us.  This is the time that we remember just who we are in Christ and just who He really is to us.  Yes, we remember it all the year through, but we’ve set aside this time to celebrate this.  Why?  Well, do you celebrate any anniversary in your life?  Wedding, birthday, etc?  Why not celebrate THE defining moment in all of history?  Jesus Christ, our Savior, offered Himself up for us as payment for our sins.  He suffered and died because He loves us too much to have us spend eternity apart from Him.  And then He did the ultimate…He conquered death!  He rose again and reigns as King.  WOW!

In case you’re wondering why He did all this…there’s a pretty simple explanation.  God is holy.  He is perfect.  Sin cannot stand in His presence.  So how can we possibly spend eternity with Him if we are sinners?  It’s as though there’s a great big canyon standing between us and God.  That’s where Jesus comes in.  He stands as a bridge between us and God.  He suffered and died as a sacrifice for our sins.  Yours and mine.  Because of His sacrifice, made in love, our sins are washed away and we are made clean.  We are now able to come into the very presence of God without fear or shame.  All because of Jesus.  That’s love.  That’s true, pure love.  That’s what we celebrate at Easter, and every day. 

So I pray that you will all be blessed with love & joy…today and always.  May you know that you are wrapped up in love, surrounded by it.  Because that’s what love does.  That’s what Easter is.  A celebration of love….true love.

You know, when I started this blog, I said that I wasn’t going to bring my “religion” “faith” or whatever you want to call it, into my writing.  I told myself that this blog was going to be only about scrapbooking and maybe a bit about my day to day life thrown in here and there.  But I suppose my faith really does define who I am.  God is love.  Jesus is love.  If I call myself “a Christian” or a “Christ-follower” then love should be what I am all about, right?  If it weren’t, then I would be a liar, right?  So in spite of all my mistakes, my wrongs, my failings, my shortcomings, I hope that one day those who knew me can say, “No, she wasn’t perfect…but she loved.  She really loved.”  I realize this may have very little to do with scrapbooking, but then again maybe it does.  Since I call my scrapbook pages “love letters” to my family, then talking about the source of love makes perfect sense.  lol 

And my friends, if you have any questions about anything I’ve said today, just drop me an email and we’ll chat.  I’d be thrilled to hear from you!

Cheap Entertainment April 6, 2007

Wanna have some fun in a super cheap way?  Go to your local discount store and buy a ceramic turtle and some acrylic paint.  Bring it home, hand it to your child, sit back and enjoy!  A few precautions:  be sure to protect your surfaces with plastic/newspaper/whatever, DO NOT leave the bottle of paint alone in room with child (big BIG mess), maybe consider covering walls too….just in case.  I swear, Beau played with this thing for a really long time and it was soooo much fun to watch him!  Cheap entertainment is cool with me!  I even took pictures…of course.  lol  If you wanna see full credits for the layout, just click on the thumbnail image in the right side toolbar.  This page uses the wonderful “Extravaganza” kit by Denise Liemert, available at Scrapable & PolkaDotPotato.  That fun doodle is in the kit too!  Aren’t the colors just PERFECT for these photos?!

In other fun news…ScrapperGal is having a cyber crop!  Mark your calendars ladies.  The crop is going to be April 13 thru 15.  There will be challenges, games, prizes…it’s gonna be great!  Y’all come on by and join in the fun!  The link can be found in the right side toolbar under “My Design Teams.”  Sure hope to see y’all there!

And the Winner Is….. April 4, 2007

Thanks so much to everyone for sharing their “smiles” for the week.  Some of them were very touching and others had me rolling with laughter!  I thought about picking a favorite to post here, but gosh!  There were so many great ones that I couldn’t pick a fave.  So if you wanna smile, take a minute to read through those comments.  They’re wonderful!

I also want to thank those of you who so kindly commented on the song I posted yesterday.  Isn’t that song AMAZING?!?!  I wish I’d had a better recording of it to put on here for y’all, but that’s really all I had.  But if you’d like to buy the original recording of the song, just go to the website for Christ for the Nations Institute and look for the cd with “Revelation Song” on it.  I think the name of the cd is “Glorious” but I could be wrong about that.

And now for the winner of the RAK.  I put everybody’s name into a hat and my 3yr old Beau drew a name.  And the winner is…..TILDA!  Tilda, email your addy to me and I’ll get a fun RAK out to you.  :)  Thanks again, everyone, for sharing your smiles with me.  I had such a great time reading all of them!  And be sure to check back often.  You never know when I’ll be offering another fun RAK.  :)

Here It Is…. April 3, 2007

Okay, in my last post I told you about a song that I’m really excited about.  Well, I finally figured out how to add it here for you.  I think you need Windows Media Player to listen to it, but I could be wrong.  I’ve never uploaded a song here before, so I’m hoping this works. 

 When listening, please keep in mind a few things:  This is a practice cd of our worship team at my church.  It is the first time we’d done the song together, so it’s pretty rusty and has some talking in it.  Also, I was really bad sick that day and am obviously congested on the recording.  I think you can even hear me coughing at one point.  lol  Finally, we don’t have great recording capabilities at our church, so it’s really not that great of a recording.  Yeah, yeah, I know…excuses, excuses.  They really are all true though.  rofl  But I’m so excited about this song that I had to share it with you and this is the only way I know how to do that.  lol  Hope y’all like it!

Revelation Song -  http://media.switchpod.com/users/ohsohappy6/04_Track_4.wma

Terrific Tuesdays! April 3, 2007

Here’s something fun for you!  Moments 2 Remember is starting something new called “Terrific Tuesdays.”  Each Tuesday, a new series of challenges will be posted and members can earn prizes and charms.  The charms are for your siggie lines and they are so cool!  I’m hosting the Lyrics Challenge.  Y’all come join in the fun!  Here’s the link:  http://www.moments-2-remember.com/messageboard/index.php?sid=c6d07a840d344935e94354cf73365f5e  You can also find a link to M2R in the right side menu under “My Design Teams.” 

In other scrappy news, I’ve been paper scrapping like crazy.  I don’t know what’s gotten into me.  lol  I’ve done probably 10 paper pages in the last three days.  WOW!  I’ve even got one on my table that I’m working on right now.  I’m a little stumped with this one though.  It’s for the “Technique Challenge” at M2R and the technique is to use cardstock only.  Sounds easy enough, right?  Wrong.  I’ve become so accustomed to using patterned paper as a design element, that I can’t seem to function without it.  *sigh*  That’s okay though.  I like a good challenge and I refuse to let it beat me.  lol

Oh, another something fun!  Easter is right around the corner and we have big things planned at our church.  I’m really excited about it.  Our pastor, Keith Dickens, is a very creative and forward thinking man.  He’s always surprising us with new ideas and the crazy thing is that they work.  lol  The goal is to love people.  You’d think that would be so easy, but surprisingly it’s not.  I think that so many people go through their whole lives not knowing love and when they finally see it, they don’t know how to respond to it.  But love is not just a quick word…love is long-term.  Love is something you give unconditionally with every breath.  When people taste love, they want more.  That’s how we’re made.  We’re made to love and be loved.  So our pastor finds creative ways to show love to people and it’s amazing to see how beautifully people respond to that.  And since Easter is the one time of year that some people go to church, we’re ready to love BIG TIME!  lol 

I don’t know if y’all know this, but I’m a singer.  I sang professionally for a long time and now I sing on the worship team at my church.  Music is a huge part of my life and I can’t imagine being without it.  Well, Easter Sunday, I’m going to be singing a song that is totally where my heart is.  The name of the song is “Revelation Song” and it comes from verses in the book of Revelation.  Most people think of that book as “hellfire and damnation.”  Yeah, there’s a lot of that in there.  But there’s also a lot more in Revelation.  The whole book is a crescendo of praise.  It starts out quiet and then it gets louder and louder.  By the end of the book, it’s a big praise-fest.  lol  I love that!  I’m going to try to get the song uploaded here on my blog somehow so that y’all can hear it.  It’s just beautiful!

There’s still time to get your name in the drawing for an RAK.  Just leave a comment telling me something that made you smile big last week.  I’ll be drawing a name tomorrow!  Be sure to check back.  :)  And thanks for letting me ramble. 

A Wonderful Weekend! April 1, 2007

Y’all I had such a wonderful weekend!  Friday night, my mom and I went to see Louisiana College’s production of “The Importance of Being Earnest.”  OMGosh, it was so great!  Two of my friends were performing in it and it’s one of my fave plays, so I had really been looking forward to it.  My mom and I laughed (very loudly) through the whole thing.  Wonderful production!!!

Saturday, I scrapbooked all day.  I only stopped scrapping long enough to have lunch with my parents and brother, then I came back home and scrapped some more.  Create My Keepsake was having an online crop, so of course I had to play along.  I didn’t win anything, but had fun trying.  lol  Saturday night, my mother and I attended a gallery viewing and Follies.  If you’ve never been to a follies, I highly recommend it.  I’m always surprised by the talent.  This one was for the Central Louisiana Healthcare & Arts Council.  Several people in the local medical community (doctors, nurses, etc) performed.  We saw pianists, vocalists, comedians and more.  It was just great!  Before the Follies, there was a gallery viewing of artwork made by the local medical community.  Again, I was surprised by the talent displayed.  I don’t get to dress up and have fun like that very often, so I really enjoyed the night.

 I thought I’d share a few pages with you that I made Saturday.  The card you see was given to my friend who played “Ms. Prism” in the play Friday night.  I thought that since she gave such a stellar performance, she surely deserved a card.  :)  For full credits on any of these, just click the thumbnail image in the right side toolbar.  Hope you like them!

If you’re interested in reading the journaling on the “Allowed” page, it’s also included with the credits.  These pages were so much fun to make!

Y’all, I gotta tell you… I’ve had soooo much fun reading all of your comments on my last post.  Some of them made me roll with laughter and other made me say “Awwwww!!!!”  If you have a minute, go through and read some of them.  They are so great!  Oh, and the one with the link in it…you gotta click that link!!!  I laughed so hard that I had tears in my eyes with that one!  There’s still time to leave your comment if you haven’t yet.  I’ll be drawing a winner later this week.  :)  Check y’all later!