Welcome Home!

My friend, Linds, posted this awesome video commercial for T-Mobile!  It's brilliant and makes me smile so much!  Enjoy!!

And share your life!!

The Billboards of Life

On her Sprinkles site this week, Stacy Julian showed some very cool billboards from values.com.

They all feature values to live by and amazing (but not always famous) people.

Go check it out and then tell me which one you like best!

Life is good!

Creating

Remember the Sweet Talk Your Journaling challenge over at Log Your Memory?  I created this layout using the alphabet prompt as my starting point.

The color scheme was inspired by Jody's "Take a trip to Australia" week at Write. Click. Scrapbook..  I used the rainforest colors - perfect for a layout about the Amazon Rainforest, right?!

The trip took us to the rainforest, the outback -

the beach and the Great Barrier Reef.  

I created these color inspirations and have them hanging in my studio.  Totally inspiring to see them every time I sit down!

Thoughts on A New Box of Crayons

I read this very interesting post about a box of crayons on the in(courage) blog and I want to share it with you. I love her comparison to the different sizes of boxes of crayons and our lives. It's so, so true, isn't it?

May your day be blessed by all the colors of God's love - and may you share them with each person you meet!

WOW

This photoessay by Romain Blanquart tells an incredible story!  I echo Jody Ferlaak, "I often take my marriage and my health for granted.  Not today."

Warning - tissue alert!

(Clicking on the right hand corner bubble will allow you to see all photos.)

Ten on Thursday

1.  Twice this week I've come across quotes that express the same sentiment:

"What we pay attention to is how we spend our lives."  Ann @ A Holy Experience

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."  Annie Dillard via Rebecca Sower @ Out of Hand

I think I get the message!

2.  Going to Nova Scotia in 5 more sleeps!!

3.  I love fresh cherries - and I bought the first ones of the season today.  They came from Washington State which is kind of far away - such a dilemma about buying produce that has to be transported long distances.

4.  Here's a totally inspiring assignment for you from Shimelle - A Week of Color.  Today's assignment was "blue" and I just happened to have these images from my visit with my sister.  Camrose, the city she works in, has some gorgeous places in it! 

I would love to live in either of these houses :))

5.  Living on top of a hill + living in the country = hard bike riding = stronger muscles eventually, right??

6.  Just finishing up the last couple of menu items for our camping trip this weekend.  It's going to be a fun time with temperatures in the high 20's and a whole crowd of good people coming.

7.  It got up to +24 degrees C today and none of the windows in our house were open so it was hot inside when I got home.  It's nice to be able to open up all the windows and let the breeze come inside.

8.  Nothing like tackling cleaning out the fridge when one is trying to pack up to go away! I guess if I wouldn't leave it go so long I wouldn't have this problem :(

9.  It certainly is nice to open the fridge door and see everything in its place, clean and tidy!!  See #8 above :)

10.  It's Farmer's Day tomorrow in our county, a long standing tradition.  A day off school for kids, some community picnics and pancakes breakfasts - and most farmers still spraying, caring for cattle and otherwise occupied farming!

Ten on Tuesday

1. We went to a travel show last night - and we saw images just like these  -

Photo credits - Exodus.co.uk - and they went on for nearly 90 minutes!

2.  Our new passports arrived today!  They are good to 2014 which means we should be able to do alot of traveling in the years ahead :))  My old one has stamps from the U.S., Belize, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, England, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Brazil and Argentina. There were 2 visas from China and Brazil.   Not bad for 5 years!!  I'm going to do a scrapbook layout with it.  

3.  Lunch today was Mushroom Chowder and Sauteed Portobello Mushrooms with Peppers and Cheese on a Panini Bun at the Eco Cafe - so delicious!  They were recently mentioned in the AMA Westworld magazine so it will be even busier over there this summer.  

4.  My mom's pedicure looks great!

5.  The greenhouse visit was inspiring and colorful.  I'm going back next week to pick up some plants.  It's just too cold to have them out yet - it was -1 degree C last night.

6.  Here is the first LO I did on the weekend, showing some flowers that were growing in Andrzej and Maria's yard in Poland.  I love how it turned out! 

7.  If you know someone who is graduating this year or you're looking for Mother's Day ideas, then Bakerella is the place to go!  Seriously cute stuff over there these days.  

8.  Ann at A Holy Experience has written this  post and another one about what happens on a farm when a storm goes by and the power goes off.  If you've ever lived on a farm you can relate to this so perfectly.  I like her analogies with God as our power source.  

9.  The trees are finally showing some buds but it's going to have to warm up alot before the leaves pop out.  It's going to be very chilly for our local high school graduation this weekend.  

10.  I bought the first watermelon of the season - I can hardly wait to cut in to it :))

Let's Get Inspired

My scrapbook studio has been a rather empty place this week but tonight I'm trying to finish a layout that I've been stalled on for awhile.  I've got the pictures chosen and all ready but I need to do some computer type work - and I've been putting it off big time!  I have decided that this layout will be finished before I can go to bed tonight so that I can take a picture of it in the daylight and show it to you.  Keep your fingers crossed that I won't be up all night!!

Exercise Your Creativity with Christi Snow at Altered Ambitions is based all around chocolate this week!  Now what's not to love about that idea?!!  It sounds delicious and I'm feeling inspired to create something in the kitchen tomorrow as well as keep my eyes open for 'chocolate' photo ops this week.  Christi found some yummy goodness over at Etsy so I had to go and look too.  Check these out!

           Luxe Letters by SheaChic Designs

baby booties by FunkeyMonkeyy

         baby bracelet by Glitterbugboutique

      kimono baby jacket by Bulalla

I hope your week is filled with creativity and beautiful things!

Stress

I am not sure exactly how it works, but this is amazingly accurate. Read the full description before looking at the picture.

The picture below has 2 identical dolphins in it. It was used in a case study on stress levels at St. Mary's Hospital. Look at both dolphins jumping out of the water. The dolphins are identical. A closely monitored, scientific study revealed that, in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical, a person under stress would find differences in the two dolphins. The more differences a person finds between the dolphins, the more stress that person is experiencing. Look at the photograph and if you find more than one or two differences you may want to take a vacation.

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Morning Glory shared this yesterday. You should go over there for a visit - she's always got something new going on - it's a fun place to check on.

Have a great weekend! Don't get too much sun :))

Inspiration Awaits You!

In my reading and wandering through blogland, I came upon a thread where Jen invited others to share blogs that they loved or felt inspired by. I have found some very interesting sites and good people in this world. I feel privileged to have glimpses into the hearts and souls of other women. Their blogs can be so humourous, humble, filled with gratitude, inspiring in message or activities, and just plain fun to read. I am grateful that our daughters, especially Melinda, introduced me to this phenomenon called blogging. So here are some other blogs that fascinate me - be sure to go over and say "Hi"!

From the world of scrapbooking, Ali E brings her incredible creativity and joy in everyday living. She inspires me daily, her son and husband are cool guys, and she just plain does good things.

With a unique view of the agricultural lifestyle, especially cattle and ranching, Ree will knock your socks (or cowboy boots, as she would say) off with her photography, recipes, kids and wit. She's quite the Pioneer Woman!

Morning Glory is a thinker and challenges me to consider so many different things from her blog, Seeds from My Garden. She is also a grandmother who is filled with faith, love and an encouraging heart. She takes beautiful pictures of sunsets!

Do you have any idea how many photography sites there are? Neither do I - but man, I've found a few that have incredible work. I found one where the guy had won these prestigious awards like "International Wedding Photo of the Year" - and he was from Edmonton! So cool. This woman, Audrey, does photography of kids, babies and families. I really would like to take a seminar from her - too bad she lives in Chicago. Meanwhile I live vicariously through her website - and plan poses with my granddaughters!

Lately, I've found some people who are doing incredibly kind work for people in other places. I've always liked helping kids in other places and Kelli is really involved in charitable work. She's off to Mozambique soon and then to South America in the summer. Go over and see what she's up to today.

And for the best travel pictures, pictures of granddaughters and news of my family, go visit Melinda, who is in Europe or Heather. These were the 2 that encouraged me to start a blog in the first place! Thanks, Girls - love ya!

I know, I know - it's more than 5 but I guarantee you will not be disappointed by any of them. There are many, many more that I could tell you about but I'll save more for another day.

And on a side note, I took the scenic route home through a ditch tonight. Yeah, it's been snowing most of the day and the road was covered with that slushy sleet that was starting to freeze and my car decided to try skating. It very gracefully executed a 180 degree turn but the road wasn't quite wide enough so it had to use part of the ditch too. Luckily it was just a few miles from home and Bob and pulled me out. Man, I hate winter driving, especially when it's in mid-April!