So today was...hard.

Hard. That's a good way to describe today. I finally mustered up the courage to talk to Mike last night about my job situation (or lack thereof) since moving here. It's been so frustrating. I knew the work wouldn't be as easy to come by as it was in Portland, but I didn't think it would be this bad. Meanwhile, with the economy getting weaker, his business is getting slower, as well. Both of us being on commission is always hard. We have done it this way for nine years. There are always busy and slow times and we have learned to juggle our finances. But this time, I can just see the writing on the wall. We all know where the economy is heading. And I can see that there isn't alot of work for court reporters here. Plus, we just found out that our insurance premiums doubled.

So Mike and I talked about it last night and today I worked on my resume. He's having a hard time with it...thinks I am jumping the gun and should try and wait it out. I think that's just burying our heads in the sand, and why wait until things are really scary?? That doesn't do any good. I would rather do something about it now, and if things pick up, then great. That will be a good problem to have. We told the kids tonight that I will need to start working a "real" job. Haley burst into tears. ::::sigh:::: Kyle said, "Good. Then maybe next year we will go to Mexico again!" LOL Damon...well, Damon took another bite of his pizza! :)

I have applied for a couple of positions at the hospital here and will apply for a position at the City...keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

My Blog Takes A Twist

Hello Friends!

I wanted to take a moment to jot down some thoughts I've been having about this blog...

As you may have noticed, I haven't been able to blog as much as I would like...and I've been finding that really stressful. And I don't want it to be stressful. There's too many other things in my life that are stressful. Speaking of my life, there are lots of aspects of my life that I want to "chronicle" and blog about...my kids, my thoughts, my other hobbies, my daily life around my home. So if you only come here for rubber stamping inspiration, I hope you will stay with me, but I understand if you won't! I think I will actually post more of my creations when I don't feel so "obligated" about it...know what I mean?

In the meantime, I am looking forward to sharing some of my favorite recipes, my menus for the current week, the funny things that my kids say, the thoughts that are going through my mind about life, how I'm tweaking our family budget with this crazy economy, what I have planned for the summer while my kids are home, etc!

I hope you will join me! :)

Please do me a favor....

Hi Friends!

How have you been? Things have been really busy around here...our new home was completely unlandscaped in the back and we tackled it weekend before last and did everything from fill dirt to all the final touches (except a few flowers that I'm still too scared to plant as it still gets down below freezing here at night) in one weekend. We were exhausted, but it looks so nice and it's nice to have that not hanging over our heads anymore!

On to the project above...as everyone knows, both my MIL and my FIL have cancer. My MIL finished chemo at the end of January and my FIL just started chemo a month ago. He came over last week and asked me to shave his head for him as his hair was coming out in big patches. So when we were finished, I had them pose together for this picture. It is so surreal that they would be going through this together, and I thought that a picture chronicling this stage in their life would be something that they would treasure when this is all over and they have their health back.

I put alot of thought and energy into the whole idea and exactly what I wanted it to look like. I wanted it to have words, but words that were meaningful and not "morbid." I picked the stamp from Lizzie Anne Design's set Say It In Script. It says, "Cherish Yesterday, Dream of Tomorrow & Live for Today." It is one stamp, but I colored each little saying seperately and cut it out so that I could mount one of each of the little sayings in each corner. The other corner has the little bridal flowers from Michael's (colored) and a little pearl added to the middle. I then used red line tape to put the ribbon around the edges and a little pearl in each corner. All of the elements were thought out so that they would be understated but meaningful...the photo was what I wanted to be the focal piece. I was so happy with the way it turned out and my husband was, too. He was so appreciative of my effort and was excited to give it to his mom for Mother's Day.

We had both of our families over for dinner...I prepared a big meal and made sure it would be a nice evening for everyone. After dinner my husband went and got the gift. His mother opened it and very quickly and loudly SHRIEKED, "DARCE....THIS IS HORRID!!" And it didn't stop there...she continued to say it several more times. My heart sunk...I wanted to cry. I felt like a little kid who had created a clay handprint and was told it was awful. I didn't know what to do. No one was saying anything, except for her. I finally just said, "Wow...after all of my hard work." I really regret that statement...really regret it. I should have just walked away and composed myself. But I just felt like such an idiot. I guess she realized that perhaps it was a little harsh so she quickly said, "I mean my picture." I didn't say anything else. I began serving dessert and fought back tears the rest of the night. She tried a couple of times after that to convince me how much she liked it.....ummmm, yeah. I could tell.

I know that not everyone appreciates our love of crafting the way we crafters do. I get that. I know that I don't create the masterpieces of so many others in this crafting world. I get that. But to scream over and over about how "horrid" something is when you can tell that someone made it, regardless if you know how much time or effort went into it...I don't get that.

My night was completely ruined...and most of my Mother's Day. I cry just thinking about it.

So to everyone that is ever given a handmade creation by someone else....whether it be a child's drawing, a true work of art, or just something made from the heart, I beg you to SHRIEK, "OH MY GOD! I LOVE IT!" Even if you don't.


Stamps: Say It In Script (LAD)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: So Saffron, Really Rust, Bravo Burgundy
Other Goodies: Adhesive Pearls (Hero Arts), Bridal Flowers (Michael's), Ribbon, Frame

I'm here...I'm here!

Hi Friends!

Sorry I haven't posted anything new in awhile...things have been busy around here, and I guess I haven't had felt very creative lately. I have, however, pulled enough mojo together to get my bedroom decorated. After moving into our new home in February I quickly got the downstairs decorated but then sort of lost motivation for the upstairs...that changed this weekend, though! It looks great, if I do say so myself! :)

I should be able to carve out some time to stamp in the next couple of days!

Thanks for being patient with me... :)

A Very Special Sale...

I am posting an email that I got from Kim over at My Favorite Things. I am so sad to read her email. I remember when Kim's friend was diagnosed...my mother-in-law was then diagnosed a month later. We are lucky that my mother-in-law is doing so well. My heart just breaks for Tish's family...

Here's Kim's Email...

A few months ago, I posted on my blog about a friend, Tish, who’d been diagnosed with a very rare form of ovarian cancer. Tish battled through 6 rounds of chemo only to discover two additional tumors, one on her spine and one in her stomach. My heart fell when I read her CaringBridge post which broke the news. Since her diagnosis last August, the family has held the motto of DRIVE ON! in dealing with this aggressive cancer and fought a valiant fight.

Tish lost her battle early Tuesday morning, and I found out about it late last night. Tish leaves behind two beautiful, young sons, and a hubby, Todd, who I worked with for several years in my past life. I know Todd much better than I knew Tish, and know just how difficult this has been and will continue to be for the immediate future. Todd was the most compassionate, tender-hearted *boss* I’ve ever had, and I want more than anything to really help this family. So what I’ve decided to do is two-fold: 1) Starting tomorrow, I am offering a 10% discount on ALL stamps on the site. Use the coupon code Tish at checkout to receive 10% off all all the stamps in your shopping cart. (It won’t discount your other merchandise, just stamps.) The coupon code will run from Tuesday, April 15th-Friday, April 18th. 2) I will donate 10% of ALL proceeds (including money spent on other items on the site) to the family at their April 26th benefit. I am making it my goal to personally make the payment the FL College Pre-Paid plan for the boys during an entire year which will be about $1200. Please help me reach this goal.

How kind and generous for Kim to do this for this family. Head on over to MFT and see what goodies you might need...and help Tish's family, too...

A Mini Meltdown

No, this is not stamping related, but I hope someone can help calm my nerves!!

Our PC that the kids use and that also has 3 years of photos on it....just died. The power won't even come on. I have never been able to figure out how to burn my photos...I'm freaking out that I won't get them back!!! I have printed some of the major "events" but it's the day-to-day snapshots that I am just heartsick about. :(

We have a computer guy coming tomorrow...cross your fingers I can at least get my pictures...ugggh. :(

Mojo Monday 32 Simple Stamping

Hi there everyone!

I am gonna post this and then come back and edit it for details...want to get it in in time for the deadline, but the little ones are screaming for dinner!

Okay...I'm back! Did you miss me?? I mean, I already know that you did because it has been FOREVER since I posted on my blog!! SORRY! :( Things have been busy with my dd playing softball and we are trying to get our backyard landscaped! Fun stuff!! :)

Anyway, another gorgeous sketch from Julee...I think her sketches are my favorite of any out there! I found the patterned paper at my LSS last week...love the colors!! It is My Mind's Eye, so of course the backside is the solid color. I love how they do that! :)

Hope you are all well! I will try and post more often this week! :)

Stamps: Sentiment from Penny Black, Flower from A Beautiful Thing (SU!)
Paper: Soft Sky, Very Vanilla, DP My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus "Merry Christmas"
Ink: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Crisp
Other Goodies: Chocolate Tafetta, Adhesive Pearls, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Sizzix Big Kick, Brad