brushing off the cobwebs....

Many cobwebs have grown over this blog. My last post talked about my best friend deploying and that brought a bit of sadness. I haven't talked to her since our last lunch and I get these sporadic Facebook posts from her. She's crazy busy...and I have been, too. 

The last two months have been riddled with stress,tragedy, sadness, sleepless nights, extra hours worked... I've spent most of the last two months writing grants and clocked about a week's worth of extra hours on top of the regular 40-hour work week over the course of the two grant writing blitzes. The first grant was super stressful to write. It's always harder when you have to collaborate with another agency, especially when getting data is like pulling teeth without the proper instruments. Working till midnight one night and 10:00pm on another...crazy! We only had about 2 weeks to write the second grant before its deadline, but that one was a breeze in comparison. No burning the midnight oil with this one, but I went to bed every night completely exhausted. 

In between all that writing, I still had my regular work-related duties...and life in general to live. Yet, I have to stop and think that my problems are miniscule in comparison to the bigger world picture. Aside from the North Korea threat to bomb Guam (now that was truly scary), my problems are really not problems. So I missed out on some sleep, worked massively long days, got a bunch of paper cuts, and my wrists were achy after hours of typing all day. Because in the midst of all that a very good friend lost her two-year-old daughter tragically. 

A true Angel on Earth is now an Angel in Heaven. This little angel...I've held her, shared meals with her, changed her diaper, got whisper soft kisses... was forgotten in the back seat of her daddy's truck on a very hot day. He didn't realize that he forgot to drop her at day care until 7 hours later. I got to read about it in the paper the next day, gasping out loud and startling a room full of people at a strategic planning meeting. The day she was buried was the most heart-wrenching for me. I've experienced the deaths of loved ones, but this one was far more heart-breaking. 

A great reminder to remember "The Gift of an Ordinary Day." 

 

best friends

It has been an emotional week for me. It started last Sunday and continues to linger. You see, I said good-bye to one of my best friends in person on Sunday and in Facebook private messages on Thursday. My friend Kristin has been deployed by the U.S. Army for one year. And, while I'm not a spouse, or a child, or a grand child of someone being deployed, the emotions are still there. 

Kristin and I met in second grade. We weren't in the same homeroom, but we had Reading classes together. She sat in front of me. From that day, we were friends. We finally ended up in the same homeroom in 6th grade and then separated to different schools for 7th and 8th grade. We met back up in high school.

Our friends wasn't always filled with sunshine and roses. We've had our ups and downs, our moments of not seeing each other (yes, even on this 32-mile long island), meeting up at local stores and just talking about the superficial stuff. 

But, one night four years ago and another friend later, changed all that. We started meeting up more often for dinner, celebrating birthdays and holidays, just because days, and other made up holidays in between. Dinners that last 4 to 5 hours. Did we seriously have that much to say?

We've known for a year that Kristin would be deploying so it was no surprise when it did actually happen. The closer it got, the sadder I became. I managed to hold it together until she walked out of the building where we had lunch last Sunday. And then I fell apart with my other two best friends there to hold me up and comfort me. You see, we're more than friends. We're sisters of the heart, the sisters God forgot to give me. 

I found the perfect quote on pinterest to make this layout. 

Supplies: Studio Calico February "Front Row" scrapbook kit; "Popcorn" and "Matinee" add on kits; yellow small shipping tag; Silhouette cameo; Bebas and soymilk fonts.

Font frenzy

I downloaded iFont Maker on my iPad today. I first heard about it through Elsie Larsen and Amy Tan. I dowloaded their fonts and forgot all about it. But, today...today I was looking for something in the App Store and stumble across the iFont Maker app. I downloaded it. In the span of an hour, I have created 4 fonts and have 1 in progress. I've become a font creator monster! :) Here are two three fonts for your downloading pleasure...

Vera's Print and Vera's Skinny Print  and Vera's outline font.

Download if you want. If you use it, give credit where credit is due.

In other creative news, I made a card this weekend using the Studio Calico Block Party card kit. I haven't decided whether or not to publish it here on my blog because I'm contemplating this and not quite sure if I can submit if I do put it on the blogosphere. I chose OPEN as my word of the year and trying new things is one of my goals towards being more open. We'll see...I shall ponder a little more.

Have a great week!

A whole month went by...so this post is EPIC

A whole month went by and not one post made it to the blog. The weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year...a flurry of activity. I have a whole 4x6 album dedicated to the first 25 days in December so I won't recap EVERYTHING that happened. Just some highlights...

ONE Christmas program instead of 3 different ones since 4 of the 5 little boys I call my nephews go to the same school. The littlest one...his program was during the work day AND on my birthday and I wasn't having any of that "sit-in-a-crowded-hot-room-even-though-the-air-conditioner-is-on" kind of day. 

Our work Christmas party happened on December 14. I treated myself to a night at the Westin so I wouldn't have to drive home at the end of the party. Closed down that event with a few of my favorite people.

I didn't put up the tree until December 16. In years past, the tree went up on December 8. Didn't happen. But, when the tree did finally go up, I sprained the parts of my body connected to my left rotator cuff. The day after I had a really good massage at the spa. Yeah. Still a little sore today.

I completed a whole year of Project Life on my birthday.

We celebrated Christmas in Pago Bay and New Year here at home. Today is the Feast of the Epiphany so the tree came down. 

Besides being busy this holiday season, I managed to see some really, really good friends and spend some time with them. Then someone discovered "What's App" could do group chats...pain in the neck getting all those notifications, but it makes me feel like I really am still a part of the group...not that I ever stopped, but reading and participating in the chat makes me feel like I'm not really missing out. Does that make sense?!?!?

I got to see "Les Miserables" in the theater with one of those good friends. All I did was write that I wanted to see it and someone said they wanted to as well. The joys of being electronically connected. 

One of the things I pondered on for the last month of 2012 was my "one little word" for 2013. I stumbled upon the word "OPEN" and that became my word for 2013. Open means so many things for me this year. Thirteen is supposed to be a lucky number so I'm hoping, praying, crossing my fingers that my word leads me to that luck.

Here's my annual "one little word" layout...

Supplies: Studio Calico "34th Street" kit and "Murray Hill" add on kit, and Mister Huey's Shine; Bic mark it black marker; Zig Millenium .01 pen. 

I also decided to do Project Life for another year, but this time using the Studio Calico Handbook. I like the smaller format...keeps me from feeling like I lead a boring life since it's easy to fill up a two-page spread in the smaller album. 

I spray painted the cover with chalkboard paint. I wasn't sure what else I wanted to do so I left it as is.
 

 I made some cards in Photoshop CS5 (hello 2013 and open)and used printables from the Studio Calico "Day by Day" class for the top right pocket. For the bottom right pocket, I filled a small glassine bag with confetti and sewed the top and bottom to keep the confetti in the middle. The stamp says, "do what you love" from a past SC kit.

 Red thickers came from the SC December Daily kit and the washi tape from the 34th Street card kit. 

 Here's another digital card using the Studio Calico digital products. The stars and "2013" came from the Cyber Monday set. I can't remember which SC digi kit the blocks and dots came from. I used buffet script for "January."

Week 1 left side: SC calendar pocket with a manila tag. Used a scrap of vellum from Kelly Purkey's December kit. Quote card came from Elise Cripe. "Week 1" card stamps from an old SC project life stamp set and the Jenni Bowlin "1" came from the 34th Street kit. Made the random card with SC digi stamps and the project life stamp set and some washi.

  

Two Years

Two years ago today, I began working at Guam CEDDERS. I traded my classroom teacher job for an office job. Say what?? If you had asked my friends if I would ever leave teaching two years ago, they would have all looked at you funny and said, "Heck no!" I'm really not big on change.  

In the last two years, I've:

• traveled 127,000+ miles
• visited Washington D.C., North Carolina, Rhode Island, Indiana, and Hawaii
• had the opportunity to see a college friend when I went to Providence
• gotten up before the sun to listen in on webinars and conference calls
• occupied two different offices
• made eleventy billion power point presentations, not to mention actually presenting them
• read thousands of pages of research and whatnot
• planned three big training events with off-island consultants
• made connections with people all over the U.S.
• been consulted about numerous things (I still can't believe people actually call me for my opinion on something.)

Of course, I've done way more than the list above. My brain is constantly in overdrive. Too much information in there that sometimes I forget to do things like refill my water bottle or what I went looking for when I stepped out of my office (I still need some paper clips). 

It's been an adventure. Don't get me wrong. It isn't always sunshine and roses. I've worked before 8am and after 5pm, on weekends and holidays, on vacation and even when I'm home sick. There are days when my co-workers irritate me (thank goodness I have an office door that closes), my boss is gone and I'm in charge, and all I want to do is crawl under my desk and take a nap. It's stressful, yes. I won't kid you about that. There are a lot more time-sensitive deadlines that I have to meet. But, it all challenges me to think outside the box, to prioritize my work, to meet new people, to dig a little deeper. 

Would I go back to the classroom? The jury is still out on that one. My job is still fun for me. I haven't started dreading waking up in the morning or starting the day looking forward to 5pm. 







So, here's to another year of amazement! Which reminds me...I haven't signed my new contract...and I still need to fill my water bottle!

Wordless Wednesday

Calm status

My trip to Jacksonville was seriously L.O.N.G. I was useless for the first few hours I was there...comatose on the bed. I'm lucky I remembered to take off my shoes. There was nothing much to do in downtown Jacksonville, but my public health counterpart and I managed to find places to shop via expensive cab rides. In a few weeks, the last of the big trainings I've been coordinated will take place. That will be a huge sigh of relief. 

I've noticed that the hectic-ness of my life contributes greatly to the dry spells of my creativity. Now that life is calming down, I can take some time to make a few cards and layouts, read through the classes I've signed up for with Studio Calico, and read the hundreds of books I've downloaded for Kindle and iBooks.  

I used my Roller Rink kit and add ons from Studio Calico to make these cards. Totally contemplating switching my subscription from the scrapbook kit to the card kit since I've been making mostly cards these days.

 This first card is a birthday card for my cousin. The XO tag was one of the stencil tags from SC that I cut with my Silhouette cameo, but is no longer available for sale. 

 This next has a heart cut out from one of the previous SC cut files. I think it was a speech bubble one. The sentiment came from the Hey Day stamp set with the mustache in it.

 I like how this card came together. All scraps that were on my table. I LOVE that stamp and bought the add on just for that stamp...the rest was icing on the cake.

This last card is based on the Sunday Sketch for 10.21. I pretty much stuck to the sketch and added some SC veneer stars from my stash. 

I also made a mini album of stuff from my Jacksonville trip with this kit, but 1) I'm too lazy to take pictures of all the pages and 2) I'm too lazy to take pictures of all the pages. 

I'm still keeping up with my project life album. Doing 1-page spreads has really kept it easy for me. I stopped sharing those pages a long time ago...

Happy Sunday, everyone! Going to take a nap since I didn't sleep well last night...all the excitement and anticipation of getting the add on (poodle skirt) and card kit that I wanted from Studio Calico.