Random Ramblings

* I've given up on the Blog Everyday in May thing. It was fun, but I can't keep up.  I just don't have time to blog every single day, nor do I see it as a priority.

* We've been officially finished with school for a couple of weeks now.  Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been very conducive to summer vacationing.  It has been very rainy and unusually cool for May.  By this time we usually have our pool cleaned and are swimming everyday. It's been too cold to even attempt cleaning the pool.  Hopefully we'll be able to do it in a week or two.

* After five months of stitching, I have lost interest in cross-stitching.  I'm about 3/4 finished with my current project.  I will finish it, but it's been hard to find the motivation.
  Here is a progress shot:
As you can see, I've only done a small amount since the last update.







* Art journaling has become my new obsession.  I've done if off and on for the last year or two, but it's been some time since I've given it much attention.  Now it seems to be all I can think of.  Ha.
As I've said many, many times, I am not good at it.  I'm not an artist and I never will be.  But it's fun.  There's just something about smearing paint on a page and gluing things down that brings out the kid in me.  It's also soothing when I get anxious.

This is my most recent page.  I'm not entirely happy with it. I think it is too pale. I think I overdid it with the white-wash. Other than that, I like it.

My favorite part about art journaling is making the backgrounds.  The hardest part is deciding what to put ON the backgrounds.  lol

This is what the page looked like before I added the writing, doodles, and other layers.

It all started out with a collage gone wrong.  You can't tell, but underneath all of that is an elephant, a beach, and a plate of green beans.  Ha!  That's the beauty of it- if you make a mistake, you can just cover it up!











* I had a lovely Mother's Day.  I will write about it in a later post, because I still need to take pictures of my gifts.  :)

Until Next Time....

*Edited to add the two newest pages

Day 10

Day 10, Friday: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill. 
Other than saying something stupid, which happens fairly often to me (ha), the only thing that comes to mind is an incident that happened to me in 7th grade.
My desk was in a row that was next to the blackboard.  It was near the front of the row.  One day, while standing, I bent over to pick up something I'd dropped.  When I stood up again my pants got caught on the corner of the chalk tray that ran along the bottom of the chalkboard.   Yep, you guessed it, my pants ripped.  It was quite a large rip.  I was mortified.  Luckily it was winter, so I had a jacket with me.  I tied it around my waist and spent the rest of the day like that.  But that didn't change the fact that half  of the class saw my underwear.   lol

Day 9

Day 9, Thursday: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)

Ah!  I should have read the prompt early today.  I could have taken a more interesting photo.  This is what I am doing at this very moment.  I'm eating crushed ice out of my Wonder Woman cup- with a Spider-Man spoon.  I've been having a craving for ice lately.  I can't get enough.

Also at this moment I am listening to a storm rolling in, watching some Netflix, and getting ready to hit the hay.

Until Next Time,

Day 8

Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

It Came to Pass

One great lesson I've learned is that nothing in this life is permanent. Everything fades- the good and the bad. Treasure every moment. Store up the good things in your memory. Record them in photos and journals.  This time will pass more quickly than we imagine.  Every second is precious.

If you're going through a hardship - just hold on.  It will pass also.  Time may seem to stop during these situations, but it's still marching on.  Just grab on to your faith, your family, your inner strength, and hold. on.  It will pass and you will be stronger for it.

I think the great Agatha Christie said it best:
"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."

So I guess my advice is this:  hold on to the good moments, and just hold on through the bad-- because time is fleeting and this moment shall soon pass

Days 6 & 7

Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?

That question reminds me of this scene from Parks & Recreation:

Ha ha! 
That pretty much sums it up though.  I don't have an outside job.  I homeschool my children.  When I'm not doing that I'm usually reading, crafting, or hanging out with my family. My interests change quite often.  At the moment I'm working on a cross-stitch and reading several books at once.  Before that I would crochet constantly, and before that I was a World of Warcraft nut.  
So basically, I take care of business at home, I do things with my kids, and I play around with my hobbies.


Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of
I have quite a few fears, but the root of all of them is common.  Death.  I'm scared of dying , not of being dead, but the actual dying part. And also I don't want this life to ever end- even if it's mundane and boring, I still love living.  I'm also afraid of the death of any of my family,and how my family will feel when I'm gone.
My second fear is social situations.  I tend to freeze up at most social gatherings.  I have social anxiety.  It's gotten better over the years, but it is still extremely hard for me to be around people.

Until Next Time....

Days 4 & 5

Short answers again, because I'm trying to catch up. :) Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it

I love quotes.  It's hard to choose a favorite, but the one that comes to mind at the moment is
" I've learned that people will forget what you said,  people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."  by Maya Angelou.  

Here, and here are collections of my favorite quotes.


Day 5, Sunday: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member

I don't have any blogger friends.  I used to, but it's been many years since I've blogged regularly.  I've lost touch with most of the ones I had in the past.

I also don't have many friends in "real life."  Don't be sad.  I prefer it that way.  :)  I'm not a very sociable person. I prefer to spend time with my family.  They are the most important parts of my life.  They mean the world to me and I love every one of them.  We are always together and we genuinely enjoy each others' company.

Days 2 & 3

Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)

It is very late at night (morning).  My mind can't handle this question tonight.  I also have no idea what I could write about, so I am skipping this one.



Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable

People, crowds, blood, germs, the unknown, being the center of attention, talking on the telephone


Short answers tonight.  My apologies.

Day 1

Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably)

I am a few days behind in starting this series, I'll probably do two posts a day  until I catch up.
 I am the oldest (and only girl) of three children.  I've lived most of my life in the same small town in Louisiana.  My dad is a pastor.  When I was 10-13 years old we moved around a bit.  I hated it.  I was always the new girl in school.  Being shy didn't help either. When I was fourteen we moved back to the same  town I was born in and I've lived here ever since.
I met my husband when I was nineteen years old.  We only dated for six months before getting married.  Looking back, it seems a bit foolish.  We were so young and we barely knew each other.  But it worked out- it's been 18 years and we're still going strong.  :)
We have four children- one girl and three boys.  They are all fairly close in age, except for the youngest (there's a five year gap between #3 and #4).  It was very hard in the beginning.  Chasing 3 toddlers around is exhausting!  Now that they are older, I am so glad we had them when we did.  They are the best of friends and life is so much easier now.  
We homeschool.  It is the best decision we ever made.  I truly feel that it has made us closer as a family, and my children are happier because of it.
Was that 250 words?  I don't know, but I'm done.  :)    Until Next Time....