2 Sketches 4 You

I have been a bit slack on updating my blog over the past week. Christmas was exceptionally wonderful this year, especially the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at church. 

I have been crafting this week and will post pictures of my two new albums later this week.

I ran across 2 Sketches 4 You today and created this card from the current sketch. I'm not really sure how it works, but I had a blast with this quick card. 

I used some scraps from my recent albums (to be featured on here sometime around Friday) and I really like how it turned out. The picture isn't the best quality, but I'm already running late for my New Year's Eve date. 

So, here it is:

Have a safe and happy New Year! 

ASU Shadowbox

Here are the pictures of the shadowbox I made for a special someone. There is room for a picture, to be added at the owner's discretion.





Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Gifting

As a Makers Mark Ambassador I occasionally get really neat things. Last week I received a package from them that included wrapping paper, gift tags, and ribbon. This is by far the coolest thing I have received from them. 

I wrapped a present with the paper and used a gift tag, but I opted for a bow rather than the ribbon. 

I would like to show off what is inside the paper, but I don't want to ruin a surprise. 

Wine Tasting

My lovely little (read younger, not smaller) brother turned 21 yesterday. We celebrated with a trip to some wineries in Yadkin and Wilkes counties. We went to Laurel Gray, Raffaldini, and Buck Shoals.

Cousins

Birthday Boy

Brother and Sister!

Ryan and Rachel

Having a wonderful time!

I am Doris, who are you?

I took this quiz to find out which Mad-men era icon I am. Which one are you?

You are a Doris -- "I must help others."


Dorises are warm, concerned, nurturing, and sensitive to other people's needs.


How to Get Along with Me
* Tell me that you appreciate me. Be specific.
* Share fun times with me.
* Take an interest in my problems, though I will probably try to focus on yours.
* Let me know that I am important and special to you.
* Be gentle if you decide to criticize me.




In Intimate Relationships
* Reassure me that I am interesting to you.
* Reassure me often that you love me.
* Tell me I'm attractive and that you're glad to be seen with me.




What I Like About Being a Doris
* being able to relate easily to people and to make friends
* knowing what people need and being able to make their lives better
* being generous, caring, and warm
* being sensitive to and perceptive about others' feelings
* being enthusiastic and fun-loving, and having a good sense of humor




What's Hard About Being a Doris
* not being able to say no
* having low self-esteem
* feeling drained from overdoing for others
* not doing things I really like to do for myself for fear of being selfish
* criticizing myself for not feeling as loving as I think I should
* being upset that others don't tune in to me as much as I tume in to them
* working so hard to be tactful and considerate that I suppress my real feelings




Dorises as Children Often
* are very sensitive to disapproval and criticism
* try hard to please their parents by being helpful and understanding
* are outwardly compliant
* are popular or try to be popular with other children
* act coy, precocious, or dramatic in order to get attention
* are clowns and jokers (the more extroverted Dorises), or quiet and shy (the more introverted Dorises)




Dorises as Parents
* are good listeners, love their children unconditionally, and are warm and encouraging (or suffer guilt if they aren't)
* are often playful with their children
* wonder: "Am I doing it right?" "Am I giving enough?" "Have I caused irreparable damage?"
* can become fiercely protective

Secret Santa

I received the most awesome secret santa present yesterday (but I didn't have internet to update my blog!) Erin sent me the softest scarf in the world, a pink and black DANCE frame, scrapbook stickers, a great card, and even a stocking with toys for Kitty.

Kitty loves her present!

She played with the monkey all night long!

Cuddled up in my soft soft scarf!!!


Thank you Erin!

What I want for Christmas...

More time...

I wish I had more time to craft.  I see so many wonderful things I want to try, but I cannot find the time to be so adventurous. I have felt inspired to choreograph, scrap, and try new things. I am putting together a list of 25 by 25 that will be made public sometime around my 24th birthday 

(January 16th). One of the things on my list will be to make a piece of wall art. I have been reading lots of crafty blogs recently and have discovered some really creative people. 

This wall art came from How About Orange:

I was thinking about using a fabric similar to this

I found the material on Fabric Supplies and I'm trying to decide if I would like the black or brown better. 

What color are you?

I ran across this site that matches you with a color based on your birth month and day. Colorstrology.com
I am apparently INFLUENTIAL, COMMANDING, and ORIGINAL. I like it.

It also goes on to say:

You are quick-witted and people seem to be drawn to you. You want to express your talents in significant ways. It is important that you have some private time for yourself even though the career you choose may mean that you are surrounded by the public. Being by the water or ocean is soothing to your spirit. Wearing, meditating or surrounding yourself with Burlwood reminds you that you do not always have to be on call for others and encourages you to reserve some quiet time for yourself.

Leap

I am the proud owner of this painting by Steve Canipe.


I absolutely love his work.

Love Actually

The opening monolouge of Love Actually

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspision love actually is all around.

I love watching this movie at Christmastime. It always puts me in the best mood and I always cry at least twice.

I have more to say...but I guess it can wait until tomorrow.

Bells

Tonight was my first bell choir practice. I was HORRIBLE! 

What I learned:

1- I can't count to 3, 4, or 6. 

2- I have no rhythm.

3- Turning pages and ringing bells is a near impossible task. 

4- I only have one real practice left before Christmas Eve. 

5- I don't know my right from my left.

Someone said that I had a look of terror on my face throughout the entire rehearsal. That pretty much says it all.

Practice makes a little bit better I guess...

Photo From L-T-L

Advent Reflection

Psalm 5:1-3

Give ear to my words, O Lord,

give heed to my sighing.

Listen to the sound of my cry,

my King and my God, 

for to you I pray. 

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; 

in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

It is important to seek Him daily, to cry out, honor and thank Him. To trust that my requests will be heard and wait with faith that my prayers will be answered as I seek Him daily. 

During this Advent season I will work to grow my relationship with God through prayer and reflection.

The Advent Wreath

Today at church I made an Advent Wreath.
The circle of the wreath and the evergreen that make it up both signify God's endless mercy and undying love. I used three purple candles and one pink candle. The first candle is to be lit the first week of Advent (this week) and then an additional candle is lit each week until Christmas. The pink candle will be lit the third Sunday of Advent. I am in search of a larger white candle that will be added to the center of the wreath to be lit on Christmas Eve to signify the Light of Christ.

Scrappin'

A few pictures of my most recent album:

Happy Holidays

What a long week it has been! Holidays are here which means the children I work with start flipping out. My week in a nutshell: Monday- work, started Christmas dances in my jazz and ballet classes
Tuesday- work, class, snow in Boone, trip to the ER with a child until midnight
Wednesday- work, church, sold two Christmas cards at Chez Paul (WOO)
Thursday-work, meeting, dealt with a runaway all night
Friday- work, crisis, runaway stuff, late meeting, made a couple of cards
Saturday- Thanksgiving meal at work, Outback Steakhouse, watched Twilight with Wes, YT, and Koren.

I am so tired. I need a couple of days off (yay Thanksgiving). I cannot wait to see my little (big) brother next week.

Tomorrow is the playoff selection, and I cannot wait to buy tickets. I'm hoping for an early game so it won't be so frigid the entire time.

Scrappin'

I worked for most of the day on this FAMILY album. I'm really excited to take some pictures at Thanksgiving to put in the album.



I also worked on a few Christmas cards( I made about 15 cards tonight, but here are a few):

Altar Guild

Today at Altar Guild Kendall gave me a lovely book: Meditations for Altar Guild Members. She is so thoughtful and kind and always goes out of her way to help me feel special.

I'm going to a Scrapbooking class tomorrow at Blissful Memories. (www.blissfulmemories.com)

I'm pretty excited about it.

Hopefully I will feel well enough to go to the App game tomorrow afternoon. My allergies have been kickin' this week and I just don't know if I'm up for standing in cold rain. Cold snow would be a whole other story though. I'm so ready for some snow.

A WHOLE DAY OFF

I had the day off work, something that was much needed and appreciated.

I slept in. I cleaned my room. I made some cards. Helped in the garden. Watched some TV.

Here are the cards that I made today. I'm very proud of myself.

Scrappin' Sunday

I'm going to attempt to make a few Christmas cards this year and send them to some very special people. I'm starting to venture into card-making, so we will see how that turns out. I rather enjoy it, but I get frustrated when things aren't perfect. 

I worked on my Europe book a little bit more and I'm only a few hours away from having a very nice scrapbook to remind me of the 12 glorious days I spent in France and Germany in June. 

Election Day 2008

This is going to be a day that I will look back on for the rest of my life. 

Tears of joy. I honestly never thought I would see this day. 

Mission Work

I thought I was being called to serve a full year long international mission, but I feel that I am being called to serve with the St. Paul's medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic. I hope that I will be able to go, or at least help in some way. 

Caleb found out that he was accepted to the study abroad program in Russia for the Spring '09 semester. I'm very proud of him and I hope the decision to go (or stay) is an easy one for him. I don't think I would be able to make a trip to Russia to see him, and that would be a long time to go without seeing my little brother. 

So much to think about. So much to be thankful for. 

Scrappin' Sunday

Usually my Sundays only consist of church, Panthers football, and more football. 

Since the Panthers had a bye weekend I decided to devote some time to my Europe scrapbook. I'm three-quarters of the way through with the scrapbook, so it should only take me a few weeks to finish this one and I can get to work on some other books. It's not my best scrappin', but I really enjoy looking back on those 12 days. I loved Germany. I can't wait to return someday!

I just fell down the stairs to the basement so I think I will call it a night and head to bed. 

A-S-U ... ASU!

I just want to say how proud I am to be a Mountaineer. I love Boone. I love my Alma Mater. There is just something special about the mountains and I just can't describe the feeling I get when I'm in Boone.  I am thrilled to be and ASU student once again and I love my program of study. In the spring I am planning on taking two classes, Sexual Abuse Counseling and Legal and Ethical Issues in Professional School Counseling. I'm hoping that by August I will be financially ready to go back to school full time. I would really like to have a Graduate Assistantship that will allow me to explore the Expressive Arts Therapy aspect of my program. 

Wes and I went to the App State v. Wofford football game last night. A televised game on Halloween night, it doesn't get much better than that. (It actually could have been much better if it weren't for the rude-I'm ashamed to say- App fans in front of us.) I wore the costume that I bought in Munich this past summer with a yellow-gold apron that Mamaw made special just for last night's game. Wes wore his Dan'l Boone costume. We were quite a pair. ASU beat Wofford 70-24. 

PA Ren Faire

This past weekend Wes, YT, and I travelled up to Pennsylvania to see Lee perform at the PA Ren Faire. It was a spectacular place. It was a very large venue with many many stages and different shows. We barely saw half of what they offered. On Sunday we made a side trip over to Hershey and went to the massive store o' chocolate. I'm not huge on candy or chocolate and it was pretty much the same as when I was there 2 years or so ago. I'd like to go back one day when the park is open, but that is the only reason I would go back. 

On the way back we stopped off in Gettysburg and took a very watered down, quick tour of the battlefield. I would love to go back someday and spend more time in the area. 

I'm meeting with my advisor tomorrow afternoon and will discuss great topics such as international study, graduate assistantships, taking time off from school to do mission work, and possibly going back to school full time in the spring. It will be quite interesting. 

I guess the next few weeks will be a time of contemplating and decision making. 

Prayer of St Francis

I have decided that I will move on from the world of LiveJournal and create a more "grown up" blog. 

I think I will start with this prayer of St Francis that has been ever present in my life lately. We sang two or three different arrangements of this prayer in choir, Carl preached on it two weeks ago, and it was the closing prayer last Sunday. The words really speak to me, as I'm sure they have spoken to many before me. Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love. Thus, the name of my blog. Let me sow love. 

Lord, make me and instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. 

Amen.