A WEEKEND FILLED WITH PRETTY PAPERS, RUB-ONS, AND CARDSTOCK.

Friday morning Maren, JoAnne, Angie and I headed over to Wisconsin for a weekend of scrapbooking at A Time to Create. (B&B owned by a sweet woman who bakes homemade goods and makes you feel right at home)

My project for the weekend was re-designing my college pages, which were previously designed in the creative memories style: white backgrounds with too many photos slapped on a page, embellished with cheesy stickers and doodles. I'm trying to design it with a more polished but youthful look. There are so many more beautiful patterned papers available now than there were 7 years ago.

Some people don't "get" scrapbooking, and I think that is because they're not completely aware of what it actually is. It's an artform to me. It's an outlet to use my creativity when photographing & designing a pages. And more than that, it's sharing a memory and preserving it on paper in case my mind loses it along the way. I want to remember my life accurately.

Scrapbooking weekends are so enjoyable to me because it's a chance to get together with friends, in a relaxing atmosphere, where we can hang out, listen to music, chat, and scrap together. Plus, we can share our photos & memories in an artistic way.

COLOURlovers

I've come to realize that when I like something, I tend to be on the obsessive side. Having an obsessive nature, you would categorize me with the pack-rat and disorderly. Oddly enough, I love organization. Even though i tend to collect a lot of stuff, I keep it organized. I've also come to realize that i can organize in my head - compartmentalize. Some people get stressed about the mounting, piling number of things to be taken care of which ends in being stressed out or depressed. I can simply stick each thought and worry into it's own compartment and complete/take care of each task/worry one at a time. A talent i'm happy to posess.

All that to say, a recent obsession: http://www.colourlovers.com/lover/denadot

Another year has come to a close. Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008.

I have some good news, and i have some bad news.

GOOD: Doug got a new job! He'll be doing graphic design at Eleven Visual in Chanhassen. It's a 4 year old design firm that is doing very well. My prayers are that Doug will love his job and get to use his creative visual talents! This will also be a great opportunity for him to learn web and grow in his skills.

BAD: We only have one car, so I need a way to get to work this winter, I'll ride my bike in the summer. We're not sure if we can afford to buy another car and insure it. Prayers for wisdom/direction would be very helpful!

That's basically what we've been thinking about lately.

Summer has officially turned to fall, the colors aren't as bright as years passed, but it's still pretty. Just as the weather is changing, things in my life are changing as well. Nothing drastic, but small changes add up.

Last week Babcia was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia that was caused by Congestive Heart Failure. I don't have the medical details but basically her heart is having a difficult time pumping blood to her body. She is in hospice, so someone needs to be with her 24 hours a day. Family flew in for the weekend and we hung around the hospital. It was difficult to see Babcia so weak and miserable, it made me sad to see her like that. The pain killers put her in a deep sleep for many hours, and when she would wake up she was still drifting in and out of rest. I was happy that she was still communicating through Polish words even if they were few. She told us "God Bless" when we left on Monday :) I'm thankful that Babcia will be in heaven very soon, it's comforting to know where she is going.

This fall I'm volunteering to be a helper in Preschool at church. Kids are not my talent. I don't understand them and I'm not very good at reacting to them or knowing how to get them to listen to me. (I made a kid cry lastnight) But I think it will be a good experience.

I'm gonna try to update this thing more often. Toodles.

Forgive me if my posts are too direct and not very eloquent. I don't consider myself a very good writer. God's been teaching me about Faith, lately. I used to think I had alot of faith, I'm a pretty positive, optimistic person which is probably due to favorable circumstances in life, and a belief in a God that takes care of his people.

More recently I've been reading that E.M. Bounds book on the topic of prayer. I'm sure the title involves the word prayer, but i can't recall it at this moment. I've been learning about having faith and being fervent when talking to God. We have to mean what we pray and we have to have faith that God will answer. I was encouraged by a story from a friend at church. He had been diagnosed with lymphoma and three days later all evidence of it was completely gone. The cure was prayer. He had his church family and friends praying for him for those three days and when he went back to the doctor he was normal. God had healed him because he had faith, and so did those praying for him. Very powerful. On monday I found out that my coworker had been told by her doctor that she has cancer. When i prayed for her I understood what it meant to have faith and to pray fervently for something. I have faith that God will answer.

Okay, now that i know what i'm doing....

Happy May-Day! May is an exciting month for me: My birthday, my sister's birthday, my sister-in-law's birthday, Mother's Day, and last year my sister got married May 6th. Plus, spring really starts to bloom. The flowers and trees look so beautiful this time of year. Puts me in an extra good mood. Oh yes, and the weather is finally nice enough to go outside for a walk.