More Than That

On Saturday night I attended the annual Relief Society meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As always it was amazing and inspiring. Sister Beck opened the meeting. In her talk she paraphrased Christ teaching Martha she said something to the effect of, "you could be doing more than that." That really hit me. I thought, how could I possibly be doing more? And after thinking about it [and putting it into it's correct context - because, well, that's always a good idea] it wrapped back around nicely to be tied up in a pretty bow of less is more. And then Elder Uchtdorf talked about good sacrifices. "Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?" Probably the thing I most needed to hear right now. Funny how that works.I chuckled when they announce that Elder Uchtdorf would be speaking. I leaned over to my friend and commented that he is such a fabulous champion for women that they seem to be pigeon holing him to the cause. And then it occurred to me that he is probably the priesthood leader specifically assigned to watch over the organization. I always enjoy hearing him speak to us. His genuine love and caring for women is apparent. 

I loved when he mentioned spending many hours stitching the title of the lesson onto potholders for every member of the class. This is where the whole "less is more" thing really came together for me and I had an epiphany... Martha = Martha. Don't get me wrong. I love Martha Stewart. I think she's brilliant and these types of things make life fun. However, if I'm feeling overly stressed about something I now have a guide to step back and ask myself, "is this something Martha would do?" If it is perhaps I need to sacrifice it for something better.

A Little Bird in My Mailbox

Last night *B* took the kids [all but the smallest] for a sleepover at Grandpa + Grandma's before setting out for a day on the ice. Fishing. Heaven is a quiet house. I'm sure if my house were quiet all of the time I would feel differently, but right now. Right now it is my truth. Last night I ate chocolate. The chocolates were speaking to me. Telling me things. Things like, "take a deep breath." and "get a good night's sleep." and "close your eyes and relax." And I am not kidding when I say I need such things.

Last night I didn't listen. I continued eating chocolates while reading the archives from something called Daily Truth. How did I not know about this before? Did you know about this and didn't tell me? Found through a fellow CT member I couldn't stop reading:

"A note to our Brave Friends about these emails -We have been talking a lot this year about the lies the world forces upon us every day...lies about what is most important, who we are, who we can become, what we can accomplish, our value, our potential, our worth, what makes our lives meaningful, how & where we can find true happiness, and on and on. So we've decided to wage our own little war against those lies by sending our brave friends a daily truth. Think of it as a little bird delivering your truth-- and imagine that this truth-teller is someone who loves you and understands you completely. Your daily emails will be sent Monday thru Friday. We wish you everything joyful and brave and true.-- Much love, Melody and Kathy"

I needed this. I really, really did. And we'll just ignore the fact that I ate all of the chocolates.

Clear!

Thinking of what makes my juices flow. What jumpstarts my heart. What brings me to life. I'm feeling flat [all nighters with sick baby will do that to you sometimes... heck, the baby doesn't even have to be sick and it can and will sometimes last for months at a time]. It's been hard to make a list. But I started with what I knew.

1. I am brilliant at 4 am. I am not kidding. I've said it before and I will say it until I die. It sounds nuts and really, it is nuts. Who in their right mind would get up at 4 am? Well... not this girl. Not on purpose. But maybe I should. Because there is just something about 4 am. About moving gently and purposefully so as not to disturb sleeping littles who would, in turn, disturb my peace. Especially when the house is in order. That is when the peace is complete. There is no need other than to be still.
2. Sometimes the early mornings take me outside. Outside where I count my footsteps and breathe in a deeply rhythmic way. I am not a runner, but sometimes I need to run. I run as far and as hard as I can. Then I turn around and go home again where a hot shower washes away all that stuff.
3. I thrive on feeling inspired.Occasionally I will have something pop into my head. Something so vivid and exciting that I can't ignore it. It wants life. I want to give it life. I love working out minor details [though I really kind of stink at the major ones... we'll leave that for another day]. Working out a plan is like breathing new life into my everyday routine.
4. When I feel beautiful life is beautiful. Really. When I get up and get dressed in something worthy of running into someone I know but haven't seen in a while...I feel different. When I do my hair I feel different. I feel different with my face done [though I don't feel this one as strongly as the others. I'm more of a make-up for special occasions kind of gal].
5. I need to feel understood. I love making connections. I love a conversation that I hate to end [even though it's 1:30am] because it's so nice to have someone who cares about what I'm doing. So nice to care about someone else. To be a cheerleader. To be cheered. To discover new facets of a person. To feel like I matter. To know that even if the person isn't necessarily interested in what I am doing they are excited about it because I am doing it.

I'm going to choose to ignore the track of reasons + excuses that seems to be playing on repeat in my head these days. I'm going to keep thinking of things that will jump start my day.

What about you? Do you have any surefire ways to get out of a funk [or just lighten the load for a bit]?

W.O.W

I know that a lot of us [probably most of us] have some sort of resolve to be more healthy this year. I haven't put anything into specifics yet, but we did discuss the possibility/feasibility of not eating fast food anymore. We discussed reality and decided to allow for Subway, pizza, Arby's french dip + swiss [because I really love them], and salads from anyplace. Cafe Rio is not fast food. These are the parameters we set. Yesterday while browsing my usual haunts I came across a new blog connected to Brooke Hellewell of Inchmark Journal. It's called Word of Wisdom Living. It is thought provoking and inspiring, providing information and a healthy change tip weekly. But don't think it will be easy... Last week was to cut your soda/sugary drinks to 20 oz. per week. This week is no fried fast foods. I love that it's Word of Wisdom based. I love that it's one a week for a year. Precept upon precept. Check it out.

As You May Know

I've had a super secret project in the works for a few months now. What you may not know is that I actually abandoned it a while back. I had told a friend what I was doing and in an effort to help me out [since I wasn't getting much more than 2 hours of sleep on any given night] she called in for back up. It was well intended. I know that. I wasn't ready for it though. I was still too insecure in my ideas. They were too fresh and tender. What ended up happening was unfortunate. They begain asking what else I had in mind. The gave me suggestions for what else I could do. I was overwhelmed and I completely misread their reactions. When they left I felt like I was wasting my time on an idea that wasn't worthwhile. An idea that people wouldn't be excited about. My flame was doused. I didn't even look at the progress I had made for at least a month after. Then my well meaning friend came back and asked if I was sure there wasn't anything the reinforcements could do to help me. I told her I had abandoned the project. It was really hard for me but I knew I had to tell her how I felt. I'm not generally really great at sharing how I feel. Especially not face to face. She proceeded to explain what had really happened. The women loved my idea. They thought I wasn't dreaming big enough. They thought I could do so much more. It took another month or so, but I've slowly started working on the project again. I bought an e-book called Flying Lessons. I'm taking a class called Mondo Beyondo. I'm trying to learn how to dream big dreams. I'm trying to learn to let the universe conspire in my behalf. Today I realized something... I was going about it all wrong. I didn't love the way the project was going. I didn't love the way the pieces were coming out. They were too processed [for lack of a better word]. And the truth is, I didn't love that process anyway. What I really want to do is paint. What I realized is that I would love the project more if I painted it. So today I'm telling you that I'm starting over. I'm going to start the project again in a medium that I can be excited about. What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?

Just A Few Things

I really need to put more focus and effort into. Elsie had this challenge up on her blog and I thought I should put these out there too. Accountability and all that. You know how it is.

1. Eat 2-3 fruits and 4+ veggies daily. Instead of candy. It's a myth that candy will give you energy and keep you awake. A myth I tell you. And yet I just keep right on disillusioning myself.

2. Sleep when they sleep. Even if that means going to bed at 7:30 p.m. Even if it means not cleaning the house. Even if it means missing out on my alone time. Yeah, even then.

3. More water. More water. More water. Do you think that if I drink more water this infernal headache will finally go away? More water I say.

4. Put something away. Anything. That nursing pad on the table? Put it away. And while you're at it, put away your cereal bowl too.

And then go take a nap. Because they're sleeping right now dang it.

Do you remember this talk? I do. I remember how it touched me and called out to me about the truth he was speaking. I think I need to watch this every morning. I need to be reminded. Enjoy the journey!

just a few things

I've got rolling around in my head right now...

1. 20 pages in 20 days. It's a class Jessica Sprague is offering and I don't know if it's the way she presented it or what, but the obvious simplicity of it struck me. I can do that. It's totally do-able. Of course, she is offering ready made templates and I'm cheap. I would totally not pay the $60 for the class when I can make my templates myself + her style is not my style so I would only be using the basics anyway. But the point is. 20 pages in 20 days. I love it.
2. 12 stories. Ali asked the question: "If you could only create 12 scrapbook layouts that defined your life what stories would you tell?" I've been thinking about this too. As I walk around picking things up and trying to be more productive I've been tossing this one around. I'm also thinking in terms of 12 stories that defined 2008 [since that's the yearbook I've decided to really focus on first].

I am feeling very pressured to get this yearbook done. It's been calling to me far too long. This week my focus is on my house + getting it put back together + letting the ideas roll around + taking notes. Next week I will start the 20 pages in 20 days. Join me if you'd like. I'm trying to figure out how to share PNG files. If you can open this file let me know. I would be happy to share all of the templates I make with you if this works out [BTW the bird on the apple is just a clip art from the net in PNG form. I'm just trying out the box].

Enjoy the journey!

update: I just tried uploading a super cute template [honestly, doesn't that look like a real transparency? It's all digital + a vintage book page for good measure] and it won't support such large files on the free accounts. I'd have to pay for a business account for this to work. I'll keep looking. This is what I did with it as I was throwing it together. Again, I'm at a loss for words. Someday...

and again today:

I'm supposed to be cleaning the house and getting ready to head to yet another family reunion in the mountains but I'm fascinated by this whole photo editing stuff. For example, I sometimes love vignettes and sometimes I really hate them. It all depends on how obvious they are. So, I LOVE this edge burn technique from a couple of days ago. It's so subtle but make a definite difference in the look of the photo. I think they just look more vibrant and professional. This is the first one I did. Are you getting tired of the girls birthday shoot yet?

I think the after photo is a tad bit over exposed, but I still like the effect. I don't like a complete wash out. I will get better with practice.

Enjoy the journey!

today:

I'm again taking a couple of online classes. Seems I'm addicted to those also...

Kara's composition art journal class about music I'm enjoying following and have jotted down some great ideas but have yet to make a mess. I am a mess maker and *B* is currently a little frustrated with the state of the house since we returned from camping. I figured I'd better get life back into some semblance of order before making another mess. I can't wait to get my hands dirty with this one!

Jessica Sprague offered that free photo editing class a few weeks ago and even though the description seemed like it would be mostly basics [and feel like I've got a fairly good handle on those + I don't like a ton of editing in my photos] I decided to go ahead and take it anyway because it was free. Besides, why not? I'm so glad I did. I've learned a couple of tricks that open up whole new possibilities for me. For example, in her selective recoloring tutorial today I finally learned how to use the brush tool to mask things. I tried that a couple of years ago and it made no sense and I couldn't make it work. Even after pouring through how-tos on the internet. But, as you may or may not know, JS is the queen of photoshop and even though her tutorials are for PSE 8 or whatever and her screen looks quite a bit different than mine her explainations are such that I can make it work in my measly PSE 4. Plus, she knows all of the hot keys and they are the same. Here's one I learned today... the x key will switch your foreground and background colors. So beyond basic but wow! Such a time saver.

This is what I did and with her simple steps it took me longer to pick photos than it did to edit it [and speaking of photos: as you may or may not have figured out the photos in the square frames are not mine. That's usually how I distinguish. If I know where I snagged it I will type it onto the frame this photo of yarn I'm not really sure where I got it from but the part that got clipped said Veer on it. I'm thinking I got it from a stock photo place]. So, Jessica Sprague deserves a crown for she truely is the queen.

Enjoy the Journey!

I Am Bewitched...

Since we got back from Sea World we have been trying to figure out the best way to handle our family videos. We bought the recorder before we left and now it's 6+ months later and we've got lots more video to deal with. Just like my photos... we're glad we have them, but what are we supposed to do with them? I'm trying to look at them from different angles. Just like I do with my photos:

I'm not just taking these for me so I should leave an unaltered original filed somewhere of all photos/videos. Just because I like extreme cropping and photos of legs for my projects doesn't mean that everyone likes that, and my favorite photos may not necessarily be theirs + vice versa. I may not want to see the dirty dishes in the background or hear me hollering at one of the kids in the background, but one day that will be a reminder of life. So it should be saved... out of my line of sight.

I want to crop out all of the unnecessary and keep the expressions and the mannerisms. I want to make it the way I see it. Not necessarily the way it is [though I'm not really sure what the problem is with the camera. You'd think it would capture what I see...]. *B* says I envision life with twinkling lights and fairy dust and that I get upset when it doesn't come out that way. That's just fine with me [minus the "it doesn't come out that way" part]. I like those things.

So... sorry about the rambling, basically I've been trying to figure out the video editing software we have and trying to alter our videos. I'm not very good at it and I'm not very patient, but today Kara shared this video on her blog... This is what I want to do. It's magical. How the heck does one go about doing something like this? I will figure it out and when I do I will share our stellar family videos. Until then I will keep my hollering at the kids a secret!

PACOVOLUME "CookieMachine" from discograph on Vimeo.

First I will figure out how to shoot manually with my camera. I'm thinking I probably won't even use the manual mode once I learn, but I want to learn so I have a greater understanding of the concepts as a whole. Yes, someday the camera will capture what I see and I won't have to do altering after the fact. I know it's possible. For the most part, Hula Seventy doesn't alter/edit her photos. Someone commented on her photos in Flickr and asked what editing program she uses and I'm pretty sure she said she doesn't. A true photographer. I think it's amazing [when I popped over to grab her url for the link I quick read her post and she was talking about capturing life as it is... including old home videos. You should read it. She is so great with words and imagery. Love her].

enjoy the journey!

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p.s. Today *A* came home with an orange and black striped witches hat and two collapsable trick or treat pumpkins. He wanted me to get him a cup holder so he could take his water bottle on his bike with him. I was standing in the kitchen at the time and my synapses collided and now *A* has an ice cream bucket hooked to the front of his bike for a basket. I'm so glad that Blue Bunny has started putting their half gallons in plastic cartons. I've been using them for all kinds of things, but this is by far my favorite.

As he rode away on his bike he kept looking back at me grinning and waving and grinning some more.

March 4th

march forth I am infatuated by this date. Not as imposing as the new year it is a time to committ to moving forward. I am working on a way to complete the projects that I am still passionate about the importance of but have lost some of their pull on me. It's a secret though... I will share more soon! What is on your perpetual to-do list? Enjoy the journey! Oh! I almost forgot this video. I LOVE it. I wish I knew how to just load it here. Please don't pass it up just because of inconvenience...

Wherever You Go There You Are.

Yep.

I Want to Meet Amy.

Last fall I introduced Amy Krouse Rosenthal to my friends. I shared one of my all time favorite books "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life" with my book club. I also shared a really great quote with you from this article: Heck, Yeah, I want a Medal. Now I want to share this video... "17 things I made" and this one... as she made the 18th. I think it's kind of fun and I think I still really want to meet Amy. Enjoy the Journey

We're Having A Baby...

Tomorrow. Yes, that's right, tomorrow. I've decided to spare myself the possibly 2+ weeks of "what if's" and go ahead with the c-section even though the baby has turned. If my cervix was doing anything promising I would probably go the other direction. However, sparing all the details, circumstances and history being what they are... Why torture myself? I love that we'll have a baby by 7:30 a.m tomorrow!

Here are a couple of things I found today that I'm thinking about:

This is a shot from an album Ali did. I was wondering if I could make a collage type page like the one on the left and print it 5x7 or 4x6 or even just have it be in "the book". I like the interactive hand journaling. I also like the full page photo with just a lable on the right. I'm still working on trying to figure out what to do to document the boy's lives (and ours too of course!)

Leave it to elsie to come up with a really great to-do list. I love time wasters that are fulfilling too! Sometimes I think, "just stop thinking about it and do it." But then I remember that thinking about it is 90% of the fun!

I'll get you an update on the baby either when we get home or, if possible, in the hospital. Maybe we can pick up a wireless signal there. We'll have to see.

Enjoy the Journey!

The Greatest...

Husband in the world! We have been blessed with a hand me down van that has had a little shimmy/shake problem since before we got it. *B*'s brother-in-law tried everything he could to fix it and we have since tried a few things but to no avail. Two weekends ago the guys took the van up the mountain to the fathers and sons campout... we have had a very scary shake since then. To the point that we've been racking our brains trying to figure out how we could afford a car payment or afford to drive the Big Gas Hog (the Blazer). In desperation *B* put the car up on jacks and took the wheels off. I "drove" while he watched... he came up with a theory and tonight his theory proved to be true. Thus, our van is fixed (with the exception of needing a new radiator)! He is the hero of the hour. Which is true most days in my opinion, but honestly, I've never been more grateful that he isn't afraid to take things apart and have a go at it. In that same spirit, *I* dropped our cell phone and killed the screen so we couldn't see who we wanted to call, etc. I guess he was feeling pretty confident, because *B* took the phone apart and fixed it too. He rocks! On a different note...

The photo is from Shimelle's blog she has a photo fact sheet, emphasis on awareness that you can check out if you want to be more aware behind the lens (it's on her May 23rd post). I'm definitely going to try to document my day. We'll see how it goes.

Enjoy the Journey!

Testing...

So, I've been doing a little playing while *B* is at class. I'm trying to decide how to get the results I'm looking for in my saving/storing of information that I think is fun in one way or another. This is what I did tonight. This is a test. This is only a test. What do you think?

Notice that I used the Shimelle prompt from a couple of posts ago. 9+1 (nine things you love + one you hate). I also just used a picture I already had while keeping in mind that I would have to list nine things I loved about the subject. Anyway... let me know!

Enjoy the Journey!

What's Up?

I realize it's been a while. I've been wandering. I went to PTA convention... it was boring, but the company was fun and the key-note speaker was a riot. Shannon Hale (author of Goose Girl and a few other books on my list). Definately a highlight of the trip. Glad to be home, having a hard time getting back into the swing. *B* had my house torn apart when I got here. He had good intentions, but... well, my house is torn apart. Sadly, all of the things that need homes are mine and it's stuff I'm not ready to deal with right now. Put it back in the storage room! There is no longer a storage room. It has become the food storage room. The once was craft room is now the baby room and I have no place to hide my junk. It's really very sad. Something good of it all... I found the notebooks I made for the boys and can start transcribing all of the scraps of paper I have around with funny things they say and do. I've actually gotten started on that. Last night I copied all of the, "took first step" type notes from the five calendars that have been on my book shelf and I tossed the calendars. Just need to keep going. Someday I will also do something bigger and better. I will make a book for them to look at and enjoy. I will. I found this for those of you that want to join in the twenty-five project. That's this Sunday you know. If you need a little more direction/focus you could choose a color and just shoot things of that color. Hula-Seventy did it for a week. You could just choose your favorite. Here are some examples from her Pink/Red Thursday:

If you'd like to! If you do it make sure you document what it is and why it's important. You know, it's the story too! Let me know so I can be proud of you!

Enjoy the Journey!

Here's an Idea...

In my 20 min. surfing (that has "suprisingly"/consistently gone longer than originally planned) I found this idea... "Starting this Friday, the 25th of April, our masterplan is to photograph the day in full, then document that day in a scrapbook. And the same on the 25th of May, the 25th of June and so on…for an entire year. By then, we will have captured an entire year of life as we live it, with the changes, celebrations and obstacles that come our way. I would love for you to join us." Shimelle has designated the 25th of every month to scrap your day. Yes, I realize that I am no longer a scrapbooker, but am still having issues about getting my stories told in a way that is fun and non-obsessive and non-stressful and non-mess creating. I've still not found it. Blogging helps, but I like to look at and touch things. HMM. Anyways, I thought this might be fun to try. If you want to try it with me... Do you love that I keep changing my mind? The 365 project, though a very cool idea, isn't happening. I've not been able to find myself blogging and telling the stories I'd really like to keep. I have problems with follow-through... have you noticed? The link above will take you to Shimelle's Scrap Your Day introductory page. She gives a lot more details about it and some instructions you can choose to follow (or not) as well as a supplies list if you want to do what they are doing (it has something to do with a 15x7 spiral bound calendar by Making Memories). They started April 25th, but I don't think that really matters! So, the BIG QUESTION: Can I committ to carrying my camera all day on the 25th and write about it? Well, we'll just see. I think it might be fun. Come and play with me! Enjoy the Journey! PS: Shimelle has my number today I guess, I've added a link (under Check It Out) to a series she did in February called "Write it down". They are just journaling prompts (one for every day in Feb.)to tell stories and get you thinking about things past and present. It would only link up the main page so you'll have to scroll down to her 1/31/08 post to get to the begining of the exercise. It must be idea day.