At work we interact via email with systems administrators daily and get to know them that way. Often we don't know anything about them. Very little personal information is exchanged since they are emailing us to take care of departmental business. Unless we've met them at a campus event, we don't know their age, what they look like....nothing.

Today, just a while ago, we got email from a systems administrator who says he's sorry to have to deliver this news, but one of the other systems administrators we also deal with in his department is in the hospital and isn't expected to live through the weekend. He said her husband will meet people in the lobby of the hospital today if they want to come by and be taken to her room to say goodbye to her.

Man.....this was like a ton of bricks falling on me. I don't know her personally but I know her from her emails to us. I just thought about it for a minute and wondered what happened to her. I checked and we got email from her about a month ago but nothing since. I wondered if she was an older woman so I Googled her and found her Facebook page and her Flickr account. She's young. Maybe 30's. As I looked at her Flickr account, it was hard to comprehend that this young woman is in a hospital dying. I got very sad. I looked at one photo of her taken in 2008. She looks really happy. She's pretty. Big smile. I thought to myself as I looked at her, did she have any idea she would die in 2011?

This just made me start thinking how no one knows what will happen tomorrow, next moth, 3 years from now...

Get busy having a good time TODAY because you're here today and you can. Life is short....we just don't know how short.

How can you not love this song? Seriously.

(I like the directors cut the best)

Summer Card Camp - Week 4

It's the last week of Summer Card Camp :(

I wanted to make my last card really great. Humm. Not sure it turned out that way.

Yesterday when I saw the new challenge colors I thought of a stamp I got a while ago but have never used. It's by Memory Box and is called "grove of trees". All day at work I was imaging how I could use watercolors to paint the landscape in. But then I thought it would be even better if I had pearlescent watercolors! So I stopped at Aaron Brothers on the way home and got some. The stamp itself is just a sideways V of trees so you have to add the hills so it looks right.



I did a quick test version to see how it would look. I didn't like it. So I put it away and didn't look at it for an hour. It's amazing how things can look better after an hour. It didn't exactly turn out the way I imagined, but you just have to go with what you have. And this is what I have. Hope you like it!

Block Party - Not!

Last year....or maybe the year before, we got a flyer in our mailbox about a block party. The thing we noticed right away was the fee. Yes, there was a $20 per person fee. For a block party.

Huh?

Greg and I looked at each other in confusion. I've never heard of having to pay to go to a block party. Needless to say the flyer went in the recycle bin. This year we got the same flyer....another $20 block party. Went in the recycle bin like the previous one.

Who pays to go to a block party? The block parties I remember were free. You go from house to house and catch up with the neighbors. The aroma of people BBQing is everywhere. Everyone has their garage doors up a boom box playing upbeat summertime tunes and coolers are full of various beverages...the kids play football in the street. This is what I think a block party is. Apparently I'm behind on things because you gotta fork over money now. However, I have to admit I probably wouldn't be too interested even if it was free. The people on my block are not exactly people I want to hang with. We have the oaf next door who I cannot stand. We have the drug dealer who walks around in his underwear across the street and next door to him is the woman and her kids who are so loud and obnoxious that I can hear them like they're in the next room. No thanks.

Anyway, a few days ago we get another flyer. I just had to share what it says.

Friends and Neighbors,

Due to lack of positive responses, we're struggling to come up with funds to cover the cost of the block party. Therefore we must regrettably cancel.

Fire permit $91
Insurance $325
Band $350
Inflatable jumps $150 each
Lighted barricades $70
Food, water, paper goods $700

When I read this I was perplexed. Not that it had been cancelled, but by the list of things that had to be covered. Insurance? Lighted barricades? What the....?

Honestly....why does everything have to be so grandiose these days?

Roll up the garage door. Sit in some folding chairs with a cold drink and watch the kids play frisbee. Grill some hot dogs and hamburgers. People need to get back to their roots. Seriously.

Summer Card Camp - Week 3

I went for a masculine card this week. Hope you like it!

Homespun Feel

This card has that homespun feel to it with the stitching and the heart. I can see it on a shelf in a country kitchen :)

I used my Cricut to cut the heart frame with a free SVG file I found online. The inside was stamped with 2 different sets I have that have various stitching designs in them. It's hard to tell, but the background is stamped with polka dots and embossed with clear powder so it had some added texture. Hope you like it!





Supplies Used:

DCVW Textured Card set (orange)
Recollections red card stock
Neenah Solar White card stock
Memento Tangelo ink
Color Box Fresh Green ink
Versa Color Canary ink
Martha Stewart Valentine ink set (red)
Martha Stewart clear embossing powder
Inkadinkado dot background stamp
Fiskars Celebrate stamp set
Sassafras Lass Stitchery stamp set
My little Shoe Box Sew Cute stamp set
Uni-ball Signo Broad white gel pen
Recollections dimensional adhesive

Today commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring our independence from Great Britain. I hope you all celebrate grandly under a glittering sky and atop soil where red, white & blue is proudly displayed.

I'm going to transition into something a little unusual now. Weddings. I had a dream this morning and it was just too good not to share. I swear it still has to do with the red white & blue.

If you know me, you know I'm patriotic. I mean, the National Anthem is my favorite song....which I've already listened to 3 times so far today! This quote sums me up pretty well.

My patriotic heart beats red, white, and blue. ~Author Unknown

I just say all this to explain the dream and why I'd be dreaming of such a thing.

Here it is. A 4th of July wedding!

I'm positive people have done this and I just hope I'm invited to one someday. Can you imagine how awesome it would be!? I love weddings to start with and then to have a 4th of July wedding on top of that! Wow. I really wish I had done this when I got married. But you know....the idea came 20 years too late.

Here's what I would have planned if I'd thought of it.

White dress with a red or blue sash....this depends of which color shoes I pick. Here are some choices. I know which shoe is my favorite....which is yours?














The men would be in blue suits with red ties. Maybe a cross somewhere between these 3. I think the pinstripe is very classy. The combo of the blue vest and blue tie is also very classy. The one in the middle is made from a material that has the sheen to it and would elevate it to wedding status.







The girls would be in either red or blue dresses. Here are some finds ~ which would you choose?













Then, of course, the food! It might sound low class, but I would totally do a traditional BBQ theme. Going to a 4th of July party? That's what you'd get. Maybe mini sliders ~ how cute! Can't forget fried chicken, potato salad and corn on the cob with lemon-aid to wash it down. Maybe there would be a bowl of spiked lemon-aid, too! How could this wedding not be fun?!

The cake. About as popular as the wedding dress. I found this.....and how could you not have this as for the inside of the cake! You'd HAVE to.







Or maybe you could have cupcakes and make the cake part layered in red, white & blue. Awesome! How about strawberries dipped in white chocolate with blue sprinkles? And festive party favors?







If you have some cash to spare, you could do fireworks!







I didn't have a 4th of July wedding, but it was fun planning this one ;)

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Summer Card Camp - Week 1

Hi All!

I joined in on the Summer Card Camp that Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner have put together. This week the color challenge was to use purple, pink, aqua blue, orange and white on your card. As soon as I saw the aqua I thought of a sky so I knew that would be one element of the card. Then I remembered seeing this 3D wall art on Etsy. I had thought it would be cute to do the same kind of thing on a smaller scale for a card. I sketched a template for the hot air balloon and the clouds and the basket. It went together pretty fast. The dimensional part of the balloon is glued on at the seam and will lay flat in an envelope but then can be "fluffed" back up. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the clouds are cut from white glitter paper so they sparkle! Hope you like it :)





Supplies used:
Echo Park Springtime 6x6 paper pad
Echo Park A Walk in the Park 6x6 paper pad
DCWV Hippie Chick paper stack
Colorbök glitter paper
American Crafts Fountain stamp set
VersaMark Ink
Martha Stewart dove white embossing powder
We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Recollections dimensional adhesive
Purple embroidery floss

I Try.

But sometimes I fail.

Let me explain. If possible.

I've been trying to keep my mind open and let in new ideas and new thinking. Get out of the pattern of doing what I've always done. I believe that the only way you'll invite new and unexpected things into your life is to change the way you're currently doing things. This sounds easy enough, but it actually requires a lot of effort. It's so much easier to just carry on the way you always do. Go here, go there, go to bed. Familiar is always easier. But familiar is not always the best or what you should be doing. Actually, familiar can be down right bad for you. We're not talking about trying a new brand of BBQ sauce here. This means taking steps to "broaden your horizons" as they say. The first step isn't to run out and buy a ticket to a far away land. It's starts in your head. It has to start there or it will never work. If you're body is doing something but your head isn't in it, it ain't gonna work. You have to have it on your mind to the point where you make it happen because you can't stop thinking about it. We've all had this kind of thing happen. You can't stop thinking about a CD you want, a pair of shoes, a new computer, a new place to eat, getting your hair cut, new clothes, going to see a movie, buying something for a family member, getting a new bike, a new bat, a new refrigerator. Whatever it is, you can't get it out of your mind and somehow you make it happen because you want it. This is how change starts. How new things open up and you see farther than you did before. You see there is more out there and it makes you smile and you can't wait for it.

And here lies the hard part. It isn't that you don't want new things. New ideas. It's the realization that it will require more effort because you will need to learn something new. Put yourself in situations that are unfamiliar....maybe even uncomfortable. In some cases the effort is minimal....but we never know how much effort is really involved until we do it. How many times have you done something and it was easier than you thought it would be? And on the other hand, harder than you thought it would be? Thinking you know how it will be before you do it is a serious road block. It's familiar tapping you on the shoulder saying you better just stay on the path you're already on. But just like with everything else, after time the unfamiliar becomes familiar and you're better for having veered off the path.

I'm trying to do this, but sometimes I fail. But at least I'm trying. Just typing all this has me wanting to turn down the new path I see ahead.


A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step -Lao Tsu

Random Memories

I've been having a lot of random memories lately. Here are a few.

The last year I was in elementary school we got to go home at noon on Thursday's. Or maybe it was Wednesday's? I forget. Anyway, I remember going home and being alone so I heated up a can of bean soup to eat on these half days. I don't remember making a sandwich, but it would seem like I must have had something with the soup. But walking home and heating up the soup is the part I remember.

I also remember being about 19...not exactly sure of my age, and I painted ceramics. This seems to be what I did most of the time. Painting ceramics of all kinds. Mostly I remember painting a ceramic house with Christmas lights and I gave it to my Mom for Christmas. I think she still has it.

When I was 15 my hair was just past my shoulders. I'd pull it up into a side ponytail and use a curling iron to create one long curl. I was always so impressed with it because it was perfectly smooth and I thought it looked great. However, I never managed to get a comment from my Mom on it. Either she didn't like it or she didn't care. So that's kinda sad, but I was happy with it so it must not have mattered what her opinion was. I honestly don't remember soliciting her opinion on my hair or clothes very much. I still don't.

In 6th grade I was kick-ass at tetherball. And I know I was because I played with a girl that was a good 3 inches taller than me and it was hard to get it over her head. But I beat her frequently and as far as I can remember, she was my only real competition.

That's it on memory lane :)

Loving This Song

New favorite song.



Matthew Morrison - Still Got Tonight

If you're not home, I'll sit here on your doorstep
Button up my coat and wait
We'll go upstairs close the curtains and we're all set
to pick up where we left again

There's question marks hangin' over us
But we won't give the time of day, oh
'Cause all we got is these few stolen seconds
And we can't let them go to waste

The stars collide
We come back to life
We come back to life
The sparks will fly
One look in your eyes
My heart's open wide

I know time's running out now
But we'll hold back the sun somehow
See the sky?
We've still got tonight
We've still got tonight

Come 9am
I'm packing every suitcase
Leave you in your bed so warm
I'll do my best not to wake you but it's useless
Can't tiptoe 'round this no more, oh

It's gonna get much harder
Before it gets better baby and that's for sure, mmm
Just say you'll wait for my footsteps on the staircase
And I will walk back through this door

The stars collide
We come back to life
We come back to life
The sparks will fly
One look in your eyes
My heart's open wide

I know time's running out now
But we'll hold back the sun somehow
See the sky?
We've still got tonight
We've still got tonight

So keep your eyes open
There's no time to close them
Just hold on
So tight now
We still got tonight
(We've still got tonight)
(We've still got tonight)

If all we got is these few stolen seconds
We can't let em go to waste

The stars collide
We come back to life
We come back to life
The sparks will fly
One look in your eyes
My heart's open wide

I know time's running out now
But we'll hold back the sun somehow
See the sky?
We've still got tonight
We've still got tonight

We've still got tonight
We've still got tonight