Countdown to Atlanta: 2 days to go!!

Strength in Other Words

BE STRONG
To be strong, remind yourself that you can be. To be strong, remind yourself of why you choose to be.
To be strong, remind yourself of what your strength, focus and discipline have already brought you. To be strong, remind yourself that your commitment can be just as powerful as any excuse or rationalization.
To be strong, have a well-understood purpose and a well-defined plan. To be strong, be sincerely thankful for all that you have and for all that you are able to do.
To be strong, begin with your thoughts. When your thoughts are of strength and of positive possibilities, your actions will follow along.
Each day the world will send you all sorts of challenges, difficulties, temptations and distractions. Know that these things are surely coming your way, and choose in advance to be strong.
As the ups and downs of life arrive, remind yourself that you have chosen to be strong. Then as each moment passes, you'll naturally follow through on that choice.
-- Ralph Marston

Let me explain the fake buffalos.

I had a couple comments about the buffalo picture. Along the highway in Wyoming they had these 3D structures--a buffalo, a coyote. I have no idea who put them there--the state government or just random people. There was also another fake buffalo next to a store. When we stopped for gas, we saw it. My cousin and I got out of the car to go look at it because we thought it was real. We got halfway there before we realized it wasn't moving. :p silly road trip stories...

I can't believe it is already 10 PM (central). I started typing up my teacher items to sell on kijiji.com (eBay's sister site for free local classified ads). I typed up 100 items (in two ads not each a separate ad lol). I started this afternoon and I finished an hour ago. no joke. no stopping. non-stop digging through the closet and typing up the descriptions to all the stuff from my 4th grade classroom. Now that I am going on two years teaching 7th, I thought it was time to sell all the younger-kid items. I was getting nostalgic about some of the items, especially the 3 puppets and the tears in the seam they have that my students lovingly fixed with Scotch tape. I kind of hope no one buys the puppets. ;) I priced them high on purpose.

Once I get going on something I cannot stop. Today, I was supposed to go buy some comfy shoes for the convention, but did the teacher stuff instead. T minus 3 days!! Atlanta here I come (with no shoes to wear.lol). I can't wait!!

Nebraska to Colorado

Here are some of the photos of Wyoming and Colorado, almost a month ago already.


Flower shot
My road trip buddies, Mom and Dadman, this was a gorgeous sunset


Rock!
White Water
Close-up
love the natural tunnel to the left
love the layers of mountain

a storm in Wyoming
love these man-made buffalos. I got fooled a couple times.

Punky Power

I was such a punky fan! I couldn't resist posting this.

You really oughta...

...hug a teacher. I have spent three days reading every detail of the new math textbook my students will be doing this year. Before that, I skimmed another 500 pages of another text and am now compiling all the activities and worksheets I liked into a directory. It is taking me forever and I only have 5 more resources to go, but it will save lots of time and give me lots of great lessons at my fingertips once I finish. It will be worth it, for sure. Just in case you thought teachers actually had the whole summer to frolic and play. ;)

I did take a few minutes to finish this layout. The papers are from the oh-so special limited edition scrapbook kit over at I Love 2 Create.

Its storming here in Texas--again. Anyone have tips for getting lightening on camera?

New Line of Shoes in Texas

I do not know who to give credit to for this photo--its very creative. The rain has given creative minds a new idea for shoe design. lol

A shot from my cousin's wedding.

Procrastination at 2:29 AM

Have you ever used the "next blog" function on the top of Blogger? It is a great procrastination tool. I was going to post some photos, but my camera battery is a-charging so I thought I'd share a few neat blogs I found after hitting the next button.

Disclaimer: Don't hit the next button with children in the room. You never know what will...pop up!!!!?!!!!!!!**!

Vintage Threads
Yum
Big Ideas From a Little Girl
Gardenscape
Love the wedding photos

Well, there you go. I don't have much to say today because I have been doing teacher stuff all day--planning--and it just isn't that interesting. I did, however, brave the Staples 5 cent and 1 cent sale. Woah, baby! Did anyone else go to that? It is amazing what cheap school supplies will bring out in people. My adrenaline was pumping! 80 pencils for 50 cents :) Now if that doesn't make a math teacher grin...

Free!

If you didn't know, I am the Queen of Free. Here is a program I just found out about that is pretty exciting if you like books.
Harper Collins First Look

No Words Today

Resolution Time!

It is human nature to make those positive little statements on January 1st every year. You know, those ones everyone at your gym makes which spawns them to sign 2-year contracts enabling them to use the stair climber a life-changing six times before the following January in which they use the second year of the gym contract for another six visits?
I like to take every opportunity to reevaluate my goals and remind me why I have them. My birthday, my half-birthday, my dog's birthday, and George Washington's birthday are open-game for me. The other week I reread this journal entry I wrote just before 2007 began.

I want to change the course of my family's history by creating wealth in an honest way. I want to be a part of people's fondest memories. I want my financial independence and freedom of time to give me the ability to provide travel experiences beyond my wildest dreams; choices without thinking or sacrificing for money or holding back until the money is there. I want to be an amazing mother. I want to be a steadfast, romantic, sweet wife and confidant to Barton. I want to be known as a family historian. I want no regrets beyond this point. Live happily + confidantly + joyfully + daringly.

Reading this makes me want to jump out of my comfort zone (otherwise known as this very computer chair I sit in that faces this very endearing friend called my computer) and get to work. And that's a good thing.

Your Challenge of the day (if you so wish to entertain this cheesy little challenge) is to write down WHY you have your goals so when the next birthday rolls around you can remind yourself of the WHY and get yourself back on your feet sooner than next January Uno. Feel free to post your reason in the comments, or not.

By the way, the event that spurred me to remember my goals this time around was our 2-year wedding anniversary on July 9th. It has been two marvelous and crazy years. :)

Who needs 40 days?

There isn't much going on here besides RAIN. We've had downpours for four or five days. Every morning I wake up to heavy rain and every evening between 6-7 PM it begins to rain again. Its midnight now and its still raining. My grass is over a foot high now and it just keeps raining. The sun comes out just long enough to "feed" the grass, but the puddles are still there, especially in the backyard. It will be at least one sunny day to dry things out and tomorrow we're expecting....rain again.
I don't mind the rain. I kind of like it. I really could care less about my grass being a jungleland, but I know two individuals in this world feel very differently: my dog and one persnickety neighbor. My poor dog is fed up with squatting to pee with wet shards of grass (TX grass is NOT soft) sticking up her hiney.
The neighbor's identity still remains a mystery, but last time we let our grass go wild we got a nasty note in our mailbox. We had just moved in and were busy with the inside of our house and, frankly, having more of a life than this grass-pondering neighbor must have been having. The note said, "Your grass looks like ****. Cut it or water it or something." Can you imagine?!!?

Just noticed, I've been tagged

...by the amazing Rachael

My roommate and I once: talked...haha my first roommate was a bit strange. She was rarely there, so much so that I was surprised when she was there. She slept in her horse barn most of the time, I think. She probably would have been cool to talk to, but we probably had a meaningful conversation less than 5 times all freshman year.

Never in my life have I: done illegal drugs, smoked, or cheated on a test

High school was : busy and awkward and fun and taken maybe too seriously.

When I'm nervous : I try to pretend I am not nervous, but I wind up getting really hungry and get shaky if I don't eat.

My hair : needs a haircut.

When I was 5 : I got my sweet, childhood dog, Jenny. (or maybe I was four?)

When I turn my head left : I see out my scraproom window...a tree top and the roof of the house next door.

I should be : getting ready, prospecting for my business, and finishing up the laundry.

By this time next year : I want to be further ahead in my business...very close to Regional Vice President.

My favorite aunt is : They are all great and beautiful people.

I have a hard time understanding : Why people say one thing and do another. Why so many people are fine with just being average. Why the world is set up in such a way that money rules 99% of all our decisions.

You know I like you if : I'm not sure you would. I am pretty subtle about most things.

My ideal breakfast is : the one I had after waking up on the cruise, overlooking the vast ocean, someone serving me, fresh fruit, warm fluffy eggs...

If you visit my home town : you'd see beaches. I'd take you to Four Seas Ice Cream, the Christmas trees we replanted at our old house that are huge now, maybe a Cape League Baseball game, and definitely a trip to the Christmas Tree Shop (store).

If you spend the night at my house : We'd probably stay in and watch movies, scrapbook (if that's your thing) and talk.

My favorite blonde is : hmmm...my neices

My favorite brunette is : my dear husband, of course.

The animal I would like to see flying besides birds : haha. How about a purple alligator?

I shouldn't have been : so quiet in high school

Last night I: I stayed up until 3 AM. I was working on finding links for my classroom blog and then uploaded my photos and watched the lonnnnnng slideshow twice.

A better name for me would be : I couldn't imagine another.

I've been told I look like : the actress from the X-files That was in highschool/college. My haircut was shorter then.

If I could have any car, it would be : a fast, expensive sportscar. (check out my mindmovie in an earlier post for examples.)

And now I hereby tag:

the birthday girl, Tracy
the newest blogger Mimi
Fellow gal from Texas Melanie

fotos from the fourth

Here comes photo overload. I took so many photos, but these are my favorites of the Fourth of July bunch. I actually started my vacation visiting my family (mom, dad, brother, SIL and nieces) in Massachusetts. I was there three days and it was a whirlwind. My SIL took photos, but I don't have them yet. (Click on these photos for a better look.)

Ceder Creek, Nebraska, is my absolute favorite place to spend the Fourth of July. (2nd fave is Bristol, RI because of their parade). Ceder Creek is an itty bitty town of maybe 1,000 year-round folks and has 4 lakes. Fourth of July there gives you a truly all-American kind of feeling.

These are actually of the nearby town where we went for breakfast that morning.



Back at Ceder Creek, taking a few photos. Me, being silly (love that cinderblock on TOP of the car.); My dad with a hat lent to him for the fourth--gotta wear red, white, and blue!!; and my mom (isn't she gorgeous??)







Before the Car Parade


The Grand Marshall (surprised with the honor just a few minutes before)

Here they come






And then the boat parade



The decor





And, of course, the fireworks. The fireworks in Cedar Creek are put on by the residents themselves. Everyone on the lake shoots off their own fireworks, everything from little ones to the big ones. There are so many fireworks coming from the four lakes it is a truly magical experience--almost a sensory overload with the sound and views. They start before it is dark...



...and continue late into the night.


That about sums it up. Want the long version? ;)
Next stop: Colorado.

Set some time aside...

...for scrapping today. Feels so good to be creative. I was able to finish 5 of the gazillion half-finished layouts. It seems I have a way of scrapping that is sort of unique. I make 30 half-finished layouts and then finish them up months and months later. Hey, it works for me:)

Speaking of gazillion, I read a funny joke the other day. I did vote for Bush, but I thought this was funny:

Bush was getting his daily briefing of the news. He was informed the new allies, Brazil, suffered some casualties in Iraq. "Three Brazilian soldiers were killed in a road side bomb." Bush let out a horrific cry of despair, "Please tell me its not true," he said, "This is terrible." He went on in his despair for about 30 seconds. Then he asked, "How many is a brazillion?"

{insert laughter}

I'll exit now. :)

When I said tomorrow a few days ago...

I didn't actually mean I'd post photos from my three-state vacation "tomorrow". I meant I'd post the photos sometime soon. Maybe it will be tomorrow. ;)

Seriously, I find hooking up my camera to upload my photos a very big task. I come from a long line of photo procrastinators. If I still used a film camera I would follow my mom's footsteps and send the film to be developed once a year. In fact, I took a black and white photography class sophomore year of college. It is the last time I remember using a film camera. I have three rolls of film waiting to be developed. I have no idea what's on them. Its been 7 years. (Maybe I'll develop them tomorrow...

Actually, tomorrow I have a business event. Since my blog is seriously lacking photos. (And I am the type who only "reads" the pictures in my scrapbooking magazine...) here is a video of my business for your viewing enjoyment.

and here

and here

Inspiration Anyone?

I just flew in from a whirlwind trip. More on that tomorrow. Thought I'd post some inspiration in the mean time. I found some cool challenges to take part in...

Scrap your Hands
Ten On Tuesday
A Fancy Word for Simple
Altered Items
Anything Goes
Collectively Yours
How Much is Too Much
Mojo Holder
Photo Friday
Scrapjacked
For the Love of Effers
Thursday Thirteen
Beyond Appearances