Operation Write Home blog hop!

I am so happy to be participating in another blog hop with Operation Write Home.  I think it’s a fabulous organization, especially now that this young man is a soldier:

I’ve spoken about him before on the blog here.  He’s my soldier nephew and is about to turn 19 in a few weeks.  He graduated from boot camp in Fort Benning, Georgia in December and I wrote about the trip I made down to attend that and bring him home here. 

There might come a day when he’s one of the deployed soldiers and might appreciate a card from one of us, so I am happy to help make cards for the ones who are over there now fighting for our freedom. 

So…… if you didn’t come here as part of the blog hop and you want to play along with the hop and see the others’ blogs then go to the beginning right here. 

Here’s what I made and I’ll be sending in to Operation Write Home to give to the soldiers overseas.  Our theme was to make a red, white, and blue “missing you” card and this is what I came up with.

The top card has white paper flowers from Imaginisce and I inked them up with cat’s eye ink pads.  For the second card, I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch on some vintage music pages and inked them up with cat’s eye ink pads. 

If you’d like to participate with their cause, you can donate money for shipping costs or you can make cards and send them in to them anytime and they’ll ship them overseas to the troops.  They accept cards that are for a soldier, like a card thanking them for their service, and they also accept cards in all different themes for the soldiers to use to send cards home to their loved one.  You can read more information about the process on their website here.

And now you can go to the next blog in the hop and see what Nicolette made here.  I haven’t seen what she made for today, but she recently showed some hummingbird cards on her blog and they’re absolutely beautiful!  Go check her out!

Blog awards.

In the past month or so (which means probably 2-3), I have been given blog awards by two different bloggers.  Isn’t that nice?  Heidi from Cropstar gave me the “Sweet Blogger Award” and Kathy Carr gave me the “Sunshine Award.”  Seriously, how nice are these girls?  Huh?

But one of the rules is that I’m supposed to pass the award on to other bloggers! 

1.  Jennifer McGuire.  She’s just the nicest blogger and scrapbooker ever!  She’s always giving tutorials, telling in detail how she made her projects, having giveaways, and she does the Cards For Kids drive.  She’s adorable.  I look forward to her blog posts and to seeing what she’s been working on in my fave magazine, Creating Keepsakes.

2.  Deal Seeking Mom.  She is the queen of freebies and coupons.  I subscribe to her blog via e-mail and I swear there’s always something in there that I can use.  I especially loves when she tells about photo deals on prints and photo books because I take thousands of photos a year!  Photo deals = sunshine in my life!

3.  Colleen at Fresh Vintage.  She makes me laugh with her blog posts, sometimes until my stomach hurts!  And I love people who make me laugh.

4.  Cathy Zielske.  Another person who makes me laugh so hard my stomach hurts.  I adore her.  She’s a fabulous scrapbooker too.

1.  Dorothy.  She is always leaving such nice comments on my blog.  It’s always nice to “feel the love” from other crafty people!

2.  Katie.  She participates in my photo blog challenge that I do with my friend Edie (Sunday Shutterbugs) every week without fail.  And we appreciate that!

3.  Klo.  She is the queen of the Pazzles machine and is so generous with her time and knowledge on her blog with how-to videos and free files.  Love her for that.

4.  Kim at Dear Daisy Cottage.  I love the idea of living in a cottage (mine would be at the beach!) and her photos make me drool.  But besides that she’s the sweetest thing.  And her dog?  Oh my goodness, every time I see her little Maggie it makes me think of my little Suzie (I miss her).  When I mentioned to her that I lost my Suzie, she sent me the SWEETEST email ever.  And I usually hate music on blogs and immediately turn it off if I’m able, but something about hers is very soothing and pleasant so I leave it on.

And that’s all folks!

Boot camp graduation.

A friend of mine pointed out to me that I hadn’t shown any photos or written any adventures on here about when I traveled to Georgia in December for my nephew’s boot camp graduation.  I thought she was crazy, but after looking back through the blog I realized she was right! 

There really weren’t too many adventures, unless you can call absolutely horrible bumper to bumper traffic an adventure, which for me it was because I am NOT used to that where I live. 

I drove 6 hours from where I live to Nashville, Tennessee and stayed overnight then drove another 6 hours the next morning in the final lap of the trip to Columbus, Georgia where Fort Benning is located.  I spent the night in Columbus very close to the base and headed over the next morning for graduation.  Graduation was pretty neat.  The speaker talked a lot about the history of the infantry, and some chosen soldiers put on a “show” of sorts.  Here are some photos of that:

There were flags displayed for every state.

The show or demonstration started by them throwing out some canisters that smoked in different colors.

Then the “strikers” drove in loaded up with soldiers and they ran out and got into formation.

It was a little scary, because they were walking toward US, the audience! 

And then out of the woods appeared the graduates.

There were MANY.  This is a small portion.  I couldn’t get them all in the photos!

My nephew didn’t want to hang around too long after graduation, as you can imagine, but he did let me make a few stops to take photos and we made a visit to the National Infantry Museum on base. 

I think this is fairly new, and it’s beautiful.  We didn’t go through the whole thing because he was just wanting to hit the road, but I saw some really cool stuff. 

There was this beautiful walkway that I saw as soon as I pulled into the parking lot and knew I wanted to get a photo of it.  I’m not sure what the flags represent, perhaps one for every state?  I didn’t count them.  As I was trying to find a place to stand where I could get them all in the frame, I thought it appropriate that the 2 soldiers chose that moment to walk down the path and I like the photo even better because of that.

The walkway is lined with bricks engraved with the names of soldiers.

Inside the building, this is the entrance to one of the most amazing museum displays I have ever seen. 

Behind that wall you enter the exhibit.  There were scenes depicted from 8 different battles from all the different wars we have fought.  There were glass display cases full of different uniforms and gear from the different wars.  The statues used in the scenes were so lifelike it was crazy.  Like this guy:

Sometimes there would be a video playing of the actual war from that scene.  Like this one.  That’s an actual full-size helicopter with the doors open so you could see all the way through, but in the opening of the door in the back there was a “movie screen” for lack of a better word with old Vietnam footage playing on it. 

Lots of history here.  I would have liked to have had more time to go through the exhibit slowly, but that nephew of mine was in a hurry to leave.  ha ha

Then there was the lovely Birmingham, Alabama 5:00 p.m. traffic.  Oh. My. Lord.  If you look closely at the photo below, you’ll see how the line of cars kind of curves to the right and then goes up that big ol’ hill and then curves to the right again.  Yeah, bumper to bumper the whole way.  And yes, I took that photo from the car IN that traffic because I was SITTING STILL.  And let me just tell you…..for some individuals such as myself who live with stupid anxiety disorder, sitting in a car and not being able to move for long periods of time (hell, even short periods of time)….. is NOT GOOD.  But I was okay and made it through, even though that same stretch from Nashville to Georgia that only took 6 hours this time it was 8 hours on the way back from Georgia to Nashville.  Lesson learned.  Time your trip before or after rush hour traffic. 

I also learned that due to my neck troubles (disk spurs in my spine) 6 or 8 hours is TOO LONG of a drive all at once, and I will not be able to do that ever again. 

Of course, after we arrived back at my house we took time for a photo shoot.  I don’t know when I will see this young man again, and he’s going to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan in August or September, so I wanted to document it.  Here he is in his “dress greens.”  Is this “kid” handsome or what? 

This one is my personal favorite:

Please go check out all the photos I took of him in his dress greens on my photography site here.  I couldn’t be more proud of this kid.

Pet Photo Contest - February

This month on th Pets Jubilee team it’s all about the lovin’.  Enter the pet photo contest with a photo of your pet with something it loves, something you love about your pet, etc.  You can go here to send your photo and enter.  The rules are on that same page on the right side.

You can also check out the etsy shop for Pets Jubilee and buy a sampler box of pet paraphernalia.  Lots of different shops contribute items for the boxes so you get a variety of things like homemade treats, bows, cards, magnets, and who knows what else.  It’s different every month depending on which shop contributes items.  There are even grab bags for only $3.00.  Go check that out here. 

Goodbye, my friend.

As I write this, it is Friday, February 5, 2010.

Anita left this world today at 10 a.m.  I received an e-mail from her friend Becky, who is the reason I met Anita in the first place.  I am beyond shocked.

I am in a state of disbelief. 

I can’t stop crying.  Mostly because I just finished the little mini scrapbook for her children that I showed here about a week or so ago and it’s still sitting in the box on my desk waiting to be mailed.  The title “Remember” that I chose for the cover really strikes a chord with me now.  I thought of her for days while I made that little book.  Along with the journal that I made last October for Anita to write in.  Sitting here in the box.  There’s a card in the box that I wrote to Anita and a worry stone that I had bought her a long time ago.  And the 2-page layout made by Mandy Douglass from the Creating Keepsakes magazine article about us in February of last year.  I always felt that she should have it instead of me, so it was in the box also.  I regret that I never sent it.

Meeting her was a huge experience in my life, and so many people who read this blog (and who don’t) helped me to make the trip to Canada and make my dream to meet Anita and deliver her scrapbooks that we made for her a reality.  I have always been so grateful for each one of you, but now even more so.  You will never ever know what it meant to me, to see all of you strangers to me (and some not) come together and donate your money and bid on my auctions so that I could make the trip happen.  Making those scrapbooks for Anita and making that trip and meeting her in person and corresponding with her via e-mail and phone before and after that trip…..the whole experience……is something that changed me as a person inside.  It’s impossible to explain.  I will never ever forget all of you doing that. 

I will never forget HER.  I didn’t know her well, but I am so saddened by the loss of her, I can’t even tell you.  There are no words.

Anita, you will always be a part of my story.

Cliff.

I came across this video from somewhere else and instantly fell in love with this young man. His name is Cliff. What he is done is overwhelmingly wonderful. What a huge heart he has. He makes this world a better place in which to live. He made me cry without saying ONE word.

I Won!

In the couple of months I’ve been notified that I’ve won something 3 times…. and it’s so exciting because I never win anything! 

First, I won a $30 gift certificate through the blog We Are That Family  to Eden Home, which I had never heard of and was interested to check out.  I’m not the eco-friendliest person you’ll ever meet, I’m sorry to say, but I’ve been wanting to find some nice water bottles for myself and my daughter because we try to drink a lot and I stopped buying plastic water bottles from the grocery store (my daughter IS the eco-friendly type).  So I got these great brushed stainless steel colored water bottles with a sports cap, pink for me and blue for her. 

Look how they packaged up each bottle all nice and personal.

And then the added in a free reusable grocery tote bag, which is WAY sturdier than the Target and Walgreen’s ones that I own now.  I don’t know what this thing is made out of, but it’s NICE.

Then, a month ago I got an e-mail from  Elizabeth Kartchner, who I adore, saying that I had won a set of tags from Shabby Chic Crafts (who I also adore)!  Yay!  I absolutely love this company and their tags and have purchased from them before, so I am very excited about winning these and can’t wait to receive them in the mail!

THEN, when I was still riding on the happy wave of winning that, I got an e-mail from Thrifty Mama B saying that I had won an 18×24 poster from UPrinting.  Now, THIS was exciting.  Cause if you know me…..then you know I love to take photos.  And I love to display my photos all over my house.  So I ordered my very favorite photo of my daughter as my free poster and it just arrived and is so beautiful.  I need to buy a frame for it and find just the spot to display it. 

I ordered this one:

My husband is a comedian.

Found this taped to my dresser last Sunday.

 It says, “Why lose weight when you can redistribute it?”

Now, I’m not sure why he thought of ME when he read this, because this has NEVER happened to ME.

I told my husband he’s so funny he should take his act to Hollywood…..

Twilight.

I have been hearing about this book (and this movie) for ages now and just wasn’t interested.  I felt like the only person on the planet who hadn’t read the book!  Then I saw the trailer for the movie New Moon and it got me a bit interested.  So the other day I finally got my hands on the book Twilight at the library and started reading it……

Oh. My. Lord.  Now I FINALLY know what all the hype is about.  I couldn’t put it down.  I was up until 1:00 this morning reading the stupid thing because I couldn’t go to sleep until I finished it.  And now I’m like person #30 in a waiting list to check out the next book (New Moon) at my local library!!!!  I can’t stand the suspense, people!!!!  I think I may lose my mind before the book gets here.  Ack. 

A friend told me the movie totally sucks compared to the book and not to bother renting it because I’ll be disappointed.  But I can’t stand that either and I want to go rent it to see for myself. 

Have you seen the movie? 

Have you read it?    Did you love it?

Practical Scrappers.

Yay!  I was chosen for the new design team at Practical Scrappers.  There’s a new theme every week with each day showcasing a different design team member’s projects.  Mine will be on Tuesdays and I’m the 8.5×11 layout girl!  Woo hoo! 

There’s also a forum where you can chat and post your own projects, so all you scrapbookers and cardmakers go on over and join, why doncha?  My new term starts next week and I can’t wait to get started!