Sorry I've Been MIA

Well we got a call from the doctor'z office. (I actually waz on my way to the emergency room because I couldn't get any air in my lungs and couldn't even sit up I waz so weak. My dad had to carry me into the emergency room and at one point the security guard came over and asked him if I was breathing. My dad told me the next day he thought I was checking out. Turnz out I was severely dehydrated. They gave me IV fluidz and sent me home. Still can't quite figure it out since I drink water non stop all day.) So the doc'z secretary said he wanted to let me know there'z nothing to be concerned about. When I talked with her the next day, I said what do you mean nothing to be concerned about? The thing has tripled in size in a month. She reitterated it'z nothing to be concerned about just followup with the thyroid specialist. So then I asked if he thought it waz related to the thyroid - no, he doesn't know what it'z related to. And again she just said followup with the specialist. ARGH!!! But what can you do? I've just been playing with my new pen tablet. It'z so cool! I've done a few layoutz I'd like to share with you.

This first one waz for the November Template Challenge at Just For The Scrap Of It (JFTSOI). It iz my 17yo daughter. The picz are from her yearbook shoot. You can read the full creditz here.


Thiz next one iz from the December Snap It! Challenge at JFTSOI. It'z my reflection on my MIL'z headstone. Just something eerie about seeing your own reflection under your last name on a headstone. SCARY! My lesson learned for being careful when you can't see the preview before you shoot! You can read the full creditz here.


This one iz my hubby when he waz only three. He lookz so scared of Santa. I did thiz one for the Journaling Challenge at JFTSOI. View creditz here.

Another challenge entry. Thiz one waz done for the Trend Challenge at JFTSOI. It waz to blend. View full creditz here.

Thiz iz for the December Shape Challenge at Digital Scrapbooking (DSO). It'z my youngest daughter with Santa last year. Full creditz here.

Finally, thiz iz my first attempt at using commercial use itemz to create my own stuff. I originally did thiz layout for a challenge at JFTSOI but it waz cancelled. Anyway, it waz fun creating and I'd like to thank SweetMade, The Ephemeral Victorian and Sweet Digi Scraps for their CU itemz. Creditz can be viewed here.

A Couple Thingz

First I gotta tell ya about a super sale going on at Amy Sumrall's store at Just For The Scrap Of It. Everything in her store iz 50% off thiz week. She also haz a new kit out called Fun & Funky Christmas. So head on over to Amy's store and check it out!

And Andrea iz having a sale over at Boyerville Scraps az well. She also haz a new CHRISTmas kit and it'z called Cool Yule. Isn't that cool? :lol:

Also, I've done a couple layoutz I'd like to share. The first one iz of my late brother-in-law and hiz daughter. I read the scripture and waz like "I have just the picture to go with that!" I used Andrea Boyer's kit Tickle which is available and ON SALE at her store Boyerville Scraps. Click on the preview for the full creditz.

The next one I did for the November Shape Challenge at DSO. The challenge waz to use four of the same shape and it didn't matter what shape. She mentioned flying duckz and a couple ladiez commented that they didn't have flying duckz. I looked around my EHD and found that I did! So I headed down to the pond and took some photoz. Thiz iz what I came up with. I used two of Andrea Boyer's freebie kits - paperz from one and elementz from the other. Again click on the preview to see the full creditz.

That's all for now. Hope to get the scan resultz tomorrow. See ya then!

Thankful

Itz been a crazy week here. It started with an email from Amy Sumrall that I'd been accepted to her Creative Team! She iz such a great designer. I described her to my DH az "off the beaten path". I really like the style of her designz. Each designer haz such a unique style - I love the diversity. Tuesday and Wednesday waz the nuclear scan and then today waz the CT scan. The nuclear scan showed I do have an overactive thyroid. Gee, four kidz, 43 years old and still under a 130 pounds - who woulda guessed. But get thiz the specialist finally called me to book an appointment - January 28th!!! We had a pretty quiet and simple Thanksgiving. Thiz year my two oldest had dinner with their dad. My dad waz in New Hampshire with hiz girlfriend at some hotel'z Thanksgiving Feast. It was the first time in over 5 or 6 yearz that he wasn't with uz. After we ate dinner, we decided to go to the woodz for a walk. We went down by the water and then circled back around. It waz starting to get dark but I wanted to go right to go back into the woodz instead of to the left out. It was still light enough so we went right. A few yardz in we came across a little fir tree that waz decorated with stringz of popcorn and cranberriez. There were a few painted wood ornamentz hanging on it. But under it were some carrotz, applez and pearz. It obviously had just been done or the animalz would have had their Thanksgiving feast. One of the ornamentz waz "hope". We just accepted it az a sign from God. We decided after the scan today to go see if the animalz had indeed had their feast. They had!!! All that waz there were a few of the popcorn cranberry stringz. I took picturez and will be making a layout with them later tonight. In the meantime I have the layoutz I posted today to show you. The first one is from the November Inspiration Challenge by Brandi at Just For The Scrap Of It. I used Brandi's kit Cherish and the word art from the challenge.

And then I did one using Amy Sumrall's Muffy and Bif kit.

Wording iz the refrain and last verse of the children'z hymn "All Things Bright And Beautiful" by Cecil F. Alexander and readz:

All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful: The Lord God made them all.

He gave us eyes to see them, And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty, Who has made all things well.

~Cecil F. Alexander, 1848

Now for the good news!

Yesterday, my DH bought me an external hard drive!!! 250 GB - talk about storage! And its so small that when I go on vacations I can take it with me. It hooks up to the laptop no problem. Woohoo!!! I even take the laptop to the school while I watch the basketball practice. I was asked to be there because of only one coach and he is a guy and its a girls team and you know just for liability sake and all that. I was PTO president last year so they all know me and because I'm a minister they figured I was the perfect candidate to sit in since my daughters on the team. Anyway, its only an hour and a half and I sit and work on layouts or do some of the church bookkeeping while I'm there. Now I can have all my stuff with me instead of it sitting at home on the desktop. I was working on my latest layout prior to the EHD purchase and it just disappeared from the screen and poof it was gone. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Nothing left in the cache files or anything. Gone. So I have to start over on it. I had actually been doing a pretty elaborate one and just hadn't saved it yet. Won't make that mistake again! Well, off to get restarted. Peace!

Test Resultz

Went to see the doctor on Thursday. He said they found a nodule on the right lobe of my thyroid. (I already knew there was something because I watched her doing the ultrasound) He said I needed to have a nuclear scan next week. So I go Tuesday and Wednesday for that. They give you isotopes and follow how the thyroid processes it. So basically I know nothing more than I did before going in. BUT while I was there, I showed him the swelling on my neck between my collarbone and shoulder and he kinda got all nervous, said he didn't think it has anything to do with the thyroid and started checking lymph nodes and my throat (say AHHH) asked me if I was a smoker and I told him not for nine years now. (I did for 27 years before that.) He then said I need to have a CT scan of my neck and chest and I'll have that done next Friday. Happy Thanksgiving! Tests on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. And you know I'll have to wait for the results. Last time it took three weeks, hopefully this time will be quicker.

I finally did it...

I bought three commercial use grab bags today. Watch out! Now I can design some kits of my own. Thankz to Brandi, Babette and Liz over at Just For The Scrap Of It!!! I'll be getting Rebecca's too but have to find my coupon code for my purchase first. I know I put it in on my desk but I just haven't felt much up to going to get it. They said I'd probably have pain up to 48-72 hours after the procedure but I'm actually in more pain now than before I went into the OR on Friday. Tomorrow the maintenance guys are supposed to come reglaze the upstairs tub. I was told not to be home for about three hours. Yeah Right! I can't go anywhere for ten minutes never mind three hours. Hopefully they can still do it with me here, we've been waiting since the beginning of August to get this done. Anyway, it's nearly 2am and my eyes aren't even working right. I took extra pain medz and muscle relaxers and an antiinflammatory so I'm hoping to fall asleep before 4am. It would be great to get more sleep than usual. Two hours a night seems to be about it though. Thursday I go see the doctor to go over the thyroid ultrasound results (just knowing he wants me to come in rather than saying Oh it was fine didn't show anything is pretty unnerving) Maybe I'll ask him about the insomnia. Someone said that's actually a symptom of thyroid disorder. Well only two more days to find out! I'm out. Good night and God bless!

Wanted to share...

I finished one of my challenges today. November's Art and Soul Challenge iz to think about what color best describes you. Well, different things can change which color to choose. I decided to look into colors and what they mean to kinda get a clue so to speak. I stumbled across the colors of salvation, which I've seen a billion times and knew I'd found EXACTLY what I was looking for. Then I figured it would be cool to have pix where I'm wearing each of the colors stated. As I was looking for the right frames or cluster of frames I came across this cute little tag frame and the string of pearls. I played with a few different placements and then this whole charm bracelet thing came to mind. The journal cluster just fit nicely too I thought. I like it, hope you do too. Leave some love if so.


At first I thought of something different, but it must be the minister in me, I decided these colors are exactly what defines who I am.


Journaling readz:


I am defined by
the colors of salvation.


Black for I was lost
in the darkness of my sin.
Red because Jesus died
and shed His blood for me.
White for now I am clean
and my sins have been forgiven.
Blue because I received the
baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Green for I am growing in
my relationship with God.
Gold because I have the
promise of eternal life
walking the streets of gold.


::Creditz::


Mcy-BlogParty-DSB freebie kit ~ Michelle Yiap
journaling cluster from the espresso cafe Write Your Own Book Sampler freebie

Two Layouts Today

Well, I'm still resting on the couch. The girlz are home. Boy do I miss them when they're gone! I didn't make it to church today. That'z like the first time in several monthz but I just couldn't think about sitting in that pew with the amount of pain I'm in. So I just laid back and played. The downside of using the laptop on the couch is the wireless connection getz interruped every time the phone rings. I tried so many times to upload filez only to be disconnected. FRUSTRATING!!! And most of my scrappin stuff is on the pc so I'd lose access to that az well. It wasn't until just a short while ago that I remembered I had an extra dsl cord that would reach from the other room. I've been on thiz couch since Friday afternoon and just now remembered the cord! The medz must be better than I thought!LOL Well, despite the delayz and disconnectz I managed to get two layoutz done. The first was a quick page for the November Quick Page Exchange at Just For The Scrap Of It. I used Brandi West's A Haunting We Will Go Mega Kit. Here's the preview:

Click here for full creditz.

And I also did a layout of My Earth Angel using the Earth Angel Page Kit by Andrea Boyers of Boyerville Scraps. One day my daughter and I decided to take picturez all over the city. Thiz iz one from the cemetary. Thiz tree actually growz parallel with the ground. Az soon az I saw the word art in thiz kit I knew exactly which picture I wanted to use with it. Click here for full creditz.

New Layout

Here's my newest layout using The Girl On The Moon Kit from Boyerville Scraps. Hope you like it! The top right photo is the way my daughter's boyfriend asked her to his senior prom. First he asked me if he could light candles at the church where we were having her Sweet 16. I checked with Pastor and he said "Sure, just be careful!" So Chhaya and I went to the church the morning of the party without her knowing. He laid out on the stage the candles and the glass heart bowls with the flattened marbles and a tealite in the center of each. We then covered the entire thing with cardboard, placed tablecloths over the cardboard and finally covered the entire stage with 150 balloons. During the party he arranged to have some friends go to the store and get her to go with them. The minute they left, we pulled off the tablecloths, cardboard and balloons. We got the candles all lit (everyone with lighters chipped in and we got er done!). As the group got back from the store she was stopped at the door and had her eyes covered. I then escorted her to the stage where Chhaya was waiting (so nervous he said he felt like he was proposing). Her eyes were then uncovered and it was so romantic and magical. On the night of the prom she was so beautiful and he looked pretty good too! Sorry to ramble but it was such a cool thing for a 17 year old boy to do on his own, I just wanted to share it. Check out the full creditz here.

Can you believe it???

I am proud to announce that I was accepted as a CT by Brandi @ Designs By Brandi. How cool is that? I am sooooo sooooo excited. Keep your eyes peeled for new layouts. I'm home from the hospital and resting comfortably on the couch with my laptop. My 17 year old is at work and the 10 and 6 year olds are at my brother-in-laws until tomorrow. Lots of free time for me. I'll check back later. Peace!

I am thrilled to announce...

OMG!!! I am now on the creative team for Boyerville Scraps! How cool is that? I am so excited. Andrea just emailed me and I will begin with a lovely layout from her The Girl On The Moon kit. Hope to have it done by Thursday. I go to the hospital Friday for some injections in my spine. Which just means more time to play on the laptop without anyone interrupting me. I went for an ultrasound of my thyroid October 26th and they still don't have the results yet. What is with that? To top it off my doctor is only in his office Tuesdays and Thursdays. Anyway, I just wanted to make that little announcement before hitting the hay. I applied with three other wonderful teams and hope to have more news soon. Good night and God bless.

And so I've joined the blogger community...

Well, I guesz it waz just a matter of time. Especially since there iz such a great opportunity to share my scrapbook pagez, hookin' musingz (crochet, people, crochet) along with other random thoughtz that might come to mind. Hopefully, I can be consistent with my posting. It'z not something I'm know for. Consistency. I promise to try and that iz all I can do. TTFN