Bits for Sunday, January 31

This week marked a big event in Bekahland: ten years in one job. In some ways, that doesn’t come as a great shock to me. I am not one for change, and I am one for loyalty. And yet when I think back to some of the stuff I’ve survived in that ten year span, I’m surprised I made it.
In true Bekah-fashion, I threw a party at work, complete with the essential C’s: candy, confetti, cupcakes, and chocolate milk.

And for good measure, I threw in pictures of the top ten hair disasters for the decade – ranging from the “Angry Amish Boy” to “Neon Orange” to “David Phelps’ Twin.” Good times.
I also pilfered through the chronicles of my life to find some priceless moments, and today I’ll share a selection of them with you.

• My college roommate acquired a fish, which I fish-sat for over a vacation. She ended up leaving him with me, to be the official mascot of the office. Students loved that little fish. They would come in just to see him. And then came “the day.” The day when the fish became a floatie. Except he didn’t float. I walked into the office to find his little head stuck between the rocks at the bottom of the bowl. My friend Lisa and I sneaked the fish bowl down to the ladies’ room and gave him a proper flushial.

• One day I wore my Easter dress to work. It was a little more above the knees than I remembered. I had to meet with a family about a student’s aid, and normally such meetings would take place in our conference room. Unfortunately, that day, it was occupied, so we had to have the meeting in my office. Without a table to hide under, I was dreadfully aware of the dress. I tried to listen intently, but now and then I became distracted by the hem of the skirt. During one such moment, I heard the dad say, “Great legs.” My head snapped up and a look of horror crossed my face. Only then did I realize he’d said “Great Lakes…” of student loan lending fame.

• I try so hard to return phone calls in a very timely manner, and one day I was hurrying to get them all returned before the day ended. The very last return came right at five, and in my haste, I blurted out to the answerer of the phone, “Hi Rebekah, this is Vera.”

• The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a form we work with on a daily (hourly?) basis. It’s called the FAFSA for short…unless you’re one of the people who have pronounced it to me in any of the following ways over the last decade: FATSMA, FATSA, FAZMA, FAZFEE, FASKA, FASHEE, FAH-SAH, The F-A-F form, FAXA, and FASHA.

• I’ll spare you the details of a few, but the fine folks of my office have also survived hearing about some of the best stalkers, creeps, and weirdos of the decade. I will share with you my favorite, however. I took my friend, Rachel, to a restaurant to introduce her to the greatness that is its food. (I’ll leave out the name to protect the innocent.) We enjoyed a lovely dinner – just the two of us in a side dining room. Toward the end of our meal, two rather questionable looking and obviously drunken men entered the room. They offered us a smoke (which we declined) and proceeded to interrogate us. Was I Rachel’s mother? (EXCUSE ME???? We’re about three years apart!) Were we students? And finally – Did we have plans for the weekend? If not, did we wanna “boogie woogie?” With that, Rachel grabbed her purse and stood to leave, causing me to follow suit. She firmly announced, “We can’t. We’re married.” As I scurried out behind her, I called to her, “Wait! To men or to each other?” Really, Bekah? This is your main concern at this point in time?

There were other things, but apparently some of them are ONLY funny to members of the office. But hopefully this gave you at least a little chuckle for today. And who knows! If I stay around the office for another ten years, I’ll have a whole new list…and I’d be okay of the boogie woogie brothers didn’t reappear…

I'm Low Maintenance, BUT...

My first date with my college boyfriend was to Taco Bell. It was a last minute decision and we didn't have much time, so it may also qualify for the fastest date in history. But you know what?

I loved it.

I don't need dates at $50 per plate restaurants. I'm perfectly happy with coffee houses or ice cream...or Taco Bell!

Having said that...I just have to say...

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

Since I Have No Sense of Fashion...

Kelly's Korner is normally my Friday blog post idea. Today she's exploring fashion tips.

You are welcome...I have spared you my participation in this topic which I know virtually nothing about. :)

HOWEVER.

Since it's been such a long week and I still have a residual headache from the lists...I must still steal an idea.

SO.

Over on Facebook, it's doppelganger time. I had never even heard that word until an episode of CSI. Can't even remember the crime now, but I remember doppelgangers were involved. In case you've not seen that episode and still don't know what it means...dictionary.com calls it the "ghostly double or counterpart of a living person."

I don't know how ghostly these will be, but here are the three I hear most often about myself.

Hands down, I get more comments about resembling Flo the Progressive Girl than anyone else. I think part of the resemblance is that I act like her in addition to sort of looking like her. I'm okay with it. If I have to show up in a commercial, I'd rather be Flo than the ANNOYING Wendy's girl (it's a-waaaaaaay better than fast food) or the ANNOYING Toys-R-Us girl (where kids are a big deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal) or the ANNOYING Wal Mart girl (in Wal Mart's expanded el-ec-tronics aisle). I think Flo's kinda fun and I'll happily be her double.

And we're walkin'! And we're walkin'!


If you don't know this one...we not only resemble each other, but we share a name, too! This is Rebecca Isaacs Bowman, and she sings with her family, the Isaacs. Yes, they're Gaither people. Her hair used to be a little longer and I admit we really did look a lot more alike. Though I'm not a fan of bluegrass, I do occasionally like some of their music and I don't mind being a Becky look-a-like.

Hopefully my resemblance to Katey Sagal comes in her POST "Married with Children days. :) I haven't heard this one a bunch, but I have been told I look like her.

So there's my list. How about you?

It's My Party...

PARTY DAY!!

I have been so looking forward to today! Believe it or not, ten years ago today, I became a financial aid counselor. I was still in my last semester of my senior year (full time classes), so I worked probably 30 hours a week and essentially had no life. The Monday after graduation, I went full time. But since today was the anniversary of the official beginning, I threw a party to surprise the office!

(By the way, I loved the looks on my co-workers' faces as they walked in, saw the party setup and thought "Oh shoot - did I forget a carry-in?) Hee, hee hee. I set up the party in our break room. I brought in pictures from my first day on the job, made top-ten lists, and brought in pictures of the best (which often meant the worst) hair experiments and disasters of the decade!

And of course, what party is complete without treats? I ordered Flour Child Cupcakes (link in sidebar) for my party. These are THE BEST cupcakes. If you were at my 30th birthday party, you had them then too! I ordered chocoholics with M&M's on top - because I'm the M&M girl at work!

Heaven in a paper cup. And don't you EVEN think I'm kidding.

The people at work seemed to have a good time - and despite being holed up in my office (literally) for the rest of the day working on a never-ending report - I had the greatest day! And of course, this never hurts a day....

My parents surprised me by visiting and bringing flowers! I l-o-v-e flowers, so this was the best!

Math is not my favorite thing in life and I've never tried to hide that. Because it's not my friend, my job can be a definite challenge for me at times. But I am so thankful to have a job. So thankful to be able to say I've done the same thing for ten whole years. That's not entirely common in people my age! And I'm so thankful to work with such an outstanding group of people. Sure, we all have our quirks, but after spending today celebrating with them, I realize how blessed I am to have so many fun-loving co-workers.

And I'm thankful for my students, too! In the last two days, four of them have stopped by just to say hi. They are such blessings!

Things I Love...

Today was a GOOD day.

I had the privilege of having a house guest last night. Love that! A friend of mine is finishing up school while subbing and had a job near me today, so she spent the night to give her the chance to sleep in this morning. (You see now why we're friends, don't you?) Anyway, so this morning I had extra things to think about...like actually responding to the alarm when it went off and cooking a breakfast. When you have a house guest, you shouldn't send them away hungry. But it was a joy to have her and share with her!

Work was...busy. Today was a big project day for me, and I just shut myself in and worked all day long. About 11:15, when hunger pangs began, I looked up to see one of my students standing in my doorway with this:

Ahhhh sweet frappe...love of my life. :) My students are so good to me! (She brought a drink to each of our secretaries too...how great is she???) So that got me through a good chunk of the day.

And THEN, after lunch, my door slid slowly open and my boss deposited this on my desk:

OH sister.

I work with a good, GOOD group. What would I ever do without them?

Today

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

...Deuteronomy 31:8

A Recap of my Date...

...with the sewer man.

See? And you thought I had news. Not so fast, my friend. Not so fast.

I am only blogging about this because it's a slow news day...or maybe because my other option is to blog about the Bachelor. :)

On my property resides a big, beautiful tree. It is beautiful in the spring when the buds pop out. It is beautiful in the summer when it provides shade.

It is NOT beautiful in the fall when I have to rake. And rake and rake and rake. And bag. And rake and bag and rake and bag. (You get the idea.) Yet, it IS beautiful in the fall.

It is NOT beautiful in the winter when the ice storms hit and its gigantic branches weigh down so far that I worry the whole tree will crash down on power lines or the house itself. Yet it IS beautiful in the winter.

But nothing...absolutely nothing...is beautiful when those blessed roots get all tangled up in the sewer lines. It's nasty, gross, disgusting, expensive, and flat out humiliating.

Saturday morning I noticed a small amount of water sitting in the bottom of the dishwasher. And I remembered the last load of dishes hadn't entirely washed well. Bad news. I rushed to the window and looked at the cleanout for the sewer line. Yep. It was backed up. LOVELY.

So I called the 24 hour emergency service right then and there. They said, "Sure thing! We'll be there Monday morning." LOL. Well okay then!

The weekend was spent in much Little House on the Prairieness. Minimal water usage - and we'll just leave it at that.

So today I got to have a little date with the sewer men...who tried to train me in recognizing this issue before it reaches emergency status. And they were very kind as to try to concentrate their efforts on the problem area and not charge me for de-rooting areas that probably were clear anyway. Bless them.

I'm back in 2010. The dishwasher is running and I'm looking forward to a long - LONG - shower.

Bits for Sunday, January 24, 2010

This year, for my daily devotions, I’m reading the updated edition of Streams in the Desert. Six or seven years ago, I read the original version in all of its adviceth givingeth verbiage for thee. And I really loved the book. But this year I thought I’d try the 2010 version (okay, technically 1997, but it still works). And I’m loving the message of the book all over again.

I love sitting down to it each night and wondering how it’s going to be so perfect for my day, because that never fails to happen. You know God’s hand is in a book when it can do that…and it doesn’t just do it to me. It’s happening to others reading the same words from their bedrooms late at night too.

Friday night’s reading was no exception. Based on Matthew 14:13, where Jesus withdraws to pray alone, the book says, “There is no music during a musical rest, but the rest is part of the making of the music. In the melody of our life, the music is separated here and there by rests…God sends us times of forced leisure, by allowing sickness, disappointed plans, and frustrated efforts. He brings a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives, and we lament that our voices must be silent.”

Boy isn’t that the truth.

“Yet how does a musician read the rest? He counts the break with unwavering precision and plays his next note with confidence, as if no pause were ever there. God does not write the music of our lives without a plan. Our part is to learn the tune and not be discouraged during the rests.”

I’m not a good rester girl. I’m all about marking things off the list and making progress and pushing onward and forward. I’m the multi-tasker that can’t just sit and watch a movie without also scrapping or making cards while watching. I can’t sit and talk on the phone…I must cook or clean while I talk. Resting makes me nervous. I think of all the things that could be done and find myself moving to do them.

But John Ruskin, who wrote that bit of wisdom in Streams in the Desert, has a valid point. The rests count. And sometimes the rests make the parts that follow all the better.

You all know of my undying love for all (okay almost all) Gaither music. I love the power songs the best. Good workout music. (If only I had an ipod.) One of the best power songs is Let Freedom Ring. It might be one of the best because David really shines in that one. Or it might just be a great song. But toward the end, the song marches along at a great pace and then abruptly stops for not just a rest…but for a significant rest. And then the drums break through (and I’m all about good percussion) with a huge downbeat and the song pushes right ahead – made even better by that rest. I have listened to that song approximately 500 times and still get goose bumps in that very spot. Every time.

Take away the rest from Let Freedom Ring and you’ve ruined the song.

And I have a feeling the same could be said of life.

Hope

I spent most of today working on a project (more on that another day) that took me on a trip through the past ten years...via my journals.

I'm exhausted.

Who knew that reading...actually skimming...could wear on a person so!

I found myself hurrying through parts, because I really didn't want to even think about those moments again. I laughed hysterically at other parts...the parts that were "true Bekah."

But as I told someone this evening - I'm so glad I'm here, rather than there. I was pretty hopeless back then, and I couldn't even see it. I clung so tightly to my little world. Tried to force it in the direction I just knew it should go. And nothing seemed to work right.

I'm still probably on the "high strung" list, but I've mellowed. I think so many years of things not going my way have pushed me to just not insist on having such a scripted way. Make a plan. Know that in all likelihood, it will change. Allow a few moments to work through the alteration. Embrace what really happens. And write about it because it's probably funny.

I don't have one ounce more of an idea of where my life is headed than I did on January 23, 2000. But I sure do have a lot more hope.

Shopping in a Rut

Kelly's Korner is exploring the topic of shopping. Ahhhhhh. Shopping. Be still, my heart.

I shop in spurts. I am very likely to shop, shop, shop, and then not set foot in a store (other than for groceries) for a month or more...and then shop, shop, shop again.

When I do shop, I tend to be in a rut. I'm not very adventuresome. I find a store I like, and I stick with it. Creature of habit, this girl!

Groceries: Though I shop at a variety of stores for groceries, my favorite is Aldi. I don't know if this store exists everywhere, but it's one of my faves. When I was fresh out of college, I shopped there out of sheer necessity. Had to have the cheaper prices! Now I just love the food! I prefer their graham crackers, apple cinnamon cheerios, and ranch dressing (the lowfat kind) to brand names, actually. I'm also absolutely addicted to their fresh sweet onion salsa. I get almost all my staples at this store and often I can find great deals on produce, too. The downfall of the store is that you never know what they will or will not have on a given week, but usually I have great luck with most of my list! And I don't even mind the "rent a cart" policy!

House Stuff: Right now, Lowe's is the only home store in our town, but even when we had options, I preferred Lowe's. No idea why. Just did. It disturbs me somewhat that I actually enjoy perusing the weekly ad for Lowe's...I think that means I grew up to be a boring adult! I've always had great customer service there, and I love being able to go one place to get all the things I need.

Clothes: I am a HORRIBLE clothes shopper. I'm oddly proportioned, which makes shopping for clothes an absolute nightmare. I have to be in the right mood to shop, or I end up frustrated and declaring myself fat. Fashion Bug used to be my favorite place to shop, but they left town, and they're also catering much more to plus sizes, so it's getting harder for me to find things that work for me. But I still love to at least try finding things there when I'm near one. Lately, I've done most of my clothes shopping at JC Penney. I have noticed that when I shop for clothes, I'll spend a whole bunch at one time (if it's a non-fat day, buy up!) and then I won't buy clothes for months and months. Other than two emergency shirt-buying days last fall, I have not been clothes shopping since July. :)

Stamps and Scrapping: Ahh...NOW we've found where I sink the money! Of course you know of my deep affection for and addiction to Hobby Lobby. Once again - moment of silence because it left town....okay, moment over. I buy most of my seasonal decorations at Hobby Lobby (on clearance of course), plus all my scrapbooks and refill pages (50% off, of course). I also get stamps there sometimes (when they're on sale) - and other random crafting needs. The bulk of my stamps, though, I buy from Stampin' Up! and Close to My Heart. I love buying there, because I can get whole sets of stamps, rather than just one or two at a time. Stamp shopping is also usually a bulk thing for me. I'll place a big order a couple of times a year and then be done.

Books and Music: The bulk of my book and music shopping happens through Christian Book Distributors. We only have one Christian bookstore in town, and while I like it, it doesn't always have what I want, and it closes earlier than I like to shop. :) I do, however, like to frequent Gaither Family Resources, which is not only a delightful place to shop, but it has amazing food and hands down, THE BEST COFFEE I've ever had in my life. Not kidding.

The Place I'm Glad is Far Away or I'd be Bankrupt: Kirkland's! If this store ever comes to town, I'm in big trouble. The closest one I know if is in Indianapolis, and I canNOT go into this store without shopping big! I have enormous success with Christmas gifts at this store. At Kirkland's, I can actually afford things I could only look at elsewhere.

That concludes Bekahland's shopping tour! :)

Pale Grass

Is it icy, icy, icy where you are?

If the answer is no...I'm jealous. :)

When the radio blared at its horridly early hour this morning, I heard the man say they'd be announcing school closings. You know...the only thing worse than realizing the weather is bad enough to warrant school closings is realizing you don't teach school so you have to risk life and limb to get to work.

Normally I don't stress about weather since I live so close to work, but today was a little harrowing. Lots of spinning, some sliding, some fishtailing...none of it really bothered me until I got onto campus and saw a student literally flailing his way across the parking-lot-turned-skating-rink, and I thought, Oh dear...I hope I don't wipe him out on his way to class!

We managed to avoid each other, and I made it INSIDE the building still on my own two feet. A student nearby was not so fortunate.

The ice may have covered the outside of my world, but my mind churned on, and a conversation I had with a friend led me to ponder...

My friend emailed me to ask a question, and since we don't talk all that often, the question led to the exchange of pleasantries. I asked about her life...her husband, her (not even kidding you) GORGEOUS little girl, her new baby...and she said they were all doing well. She said she enjoys reading up on life in Bekahland and sometimes she envies my ability to curl up with coffee and writing...or my escapes to scrapping adventures.

I smiled when I read that because I remember when I found out this friend was getting married. I remember writing in my journal how happy I was for her and how I would love to walk in her shoes. I admired her perseverance and her approach to her relationship. I remember when she had that first baby and how I hoped if I ever had a little girl, she'd be as endearing as this one. Over and over I've hoped to someday enjoy a life like hers.

Ironic, isn't it?

The grass may be greener on the other side, but I am working to love the pale grass.

Writing Redirected...

I made a goal to write at least a half hour every day this year - and blogging doesn't count in the half hour. Being the rather strict person that I am, I find it hard to allow myself any flexibility on my goals, but I'm trying not to beat myself up over this one if I miss a day now and then, because I know there will be other days when I write for hours and hours, so it all evens out.

Since I had another goal of having my book ready for final submission by the end of the month, all my writing time has been focused on that project. It's been kind of fun, actually, because the writing block has been about editing, revising, taking polls, crafting intros...fun stuff.

But I'm at a standstill. I'm waiting on some copyright permissions, and while I wait to see if I get them (or if I'll be rewriting to exclude them), I decided to pick up another project that's been marinating over to the side of my mind.

And I think it's about to grow.

I thought the idea was just going to be a chapter of a larger work. But after I started...I have a feeling it's going to grow and take on a life of its own. Typical with me. :)

But as I write...I learn. That's one perk of writing Bible studies! And while I think this is going to stretch me, I'm excited to see what it has in store!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

...Because sometimes plain old peanut butter cookies are not enough. :)

This is one of the recipes I made at Christmas for my gift bags at work. I LOVE these things. I have a really bad habit of eating the cookie all around the kiss and then eating that last bite all at once. I love it!

This is a very easy cookie to make because it doesn't have a ton of ingredients, and it doesn't make an enormous batch. It's a good quick Sunday afternoon recipe...and would be something fun to take to parties. With the Super Bowl coming up, I thought it might be good to go ahead and post this now. Enjoy!

The Recipe
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Hershey Kisses

In a mixing bowl, cream peanut butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until blended. Drop small teaspoon size portions of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until tops are cracked. Press Hershey kiss in the center of each cookie. Cool for five minutes and remove from pan.

This recipe makes a little over two dozen cookies, but I make sure I have plenty of kisses on hand in case I make a few extra...or in case I need a snack. As usual, I do NOT use imitation vanilla, and I do use generic peanut butter even though I know you're not supposed to.
I do use a mixer rather than just hand mixing these ingredients. My mixer isn't all that great (haven't replaced my good one that died) so I have to really hang onto it. The peanut butter clings onto the beaters pretty quickly and makes them jump around.

After you add the egg and vanilla, the dough will be very thick and sticky. Not like traditional cookie dough.

I don't bother to make them very pretty - I'm only going to smash them down in a minute.

They don't expand much during baking...they mostly just brown on top.

If you don't put the Hershey kiss in pretty quickly, it will crumble the cookie. You'll want to press it down in, but not so much that the cookie breaks when you remove it from the pan.

Eat up! Enjoy!

When I Wasn't Lost in the Fog...

Yesterday I posted about driving in fog...and how it can be a parallel to life sometimes...but the weekend wasn't all fog and freaking out! It also had a lot of fun!

Friday night I got an email from my Brown County traveling buddy, Julie, asking if I'd like to hang out sometime this weekend. Last minute. Impromptu. Spontaneous. Unbekahlike. SURE!

I love the spontaneous life!

After going to watch the Vocal Band premiere, I packed my car and headed to see Miss Julie.

Not sure why all of the sudden I look 40, but here we are right before I headed home on Sunday.

Such a fun weekend! Hours and hours of talking...I love that about her. So easy to talk to. Who needs TV? We have millions of things to say. I went to her church Sunday morning, which was very fun. I am always anxious about visiting churches that aren't my own, because I'm a home-church-only sort of girl. But everyone was warm and friendly and I loved the chance to worship with them.

One of my favorite things was getting to hang out with Miss Esther - really, for the first time since they came to visit me last May! I was worried that she might not be super excited about a stranger showing up in her house. But she was great! She invited me right in to her pile-o-toys and said a whole bunch of very important things...that I didn't understand. But she was very adamant about all of them!

Totally worth the drive in the fog! Had the greatest time with my friends. I told God I'm just so thankful for the friends He's blessed me with...those who welcome me into their lives and homes and just love me for who I am!

Bits for Sunday, January 17, 2010

In a very uncharacteristic Bekah moment, I elected to take a mini road trip…in the fog…and the dark…with interstate driving involved. Mom said that the Bekah of old never would have done such a thing. Well the Bekah of new wasn’t too sure about it, but I survived.

So did the horse and buggy I didn’t see until I was nearly upon them.

The adventure started yesterday afternoon, when I drove to and from the Gaither store. The drive home was definitely more difficult. As I sailed along, I noticed a large barn to my left and thought Hey isn’t that kind of close to a stoplight? I looked up and found the stoplight right in front of me. I was glad I at least knew the area…the landmarks helped.

But on trip number two yesterday, I found myself in the dark, on unfamiliar roads, trying to drive while reading directions, and that was a bit more challenging. At first I liked driving in the dark fog better than the daylight fog, because at least drivers all used their headlights. But the longer I drove, and the farther into the country I went, the fewer lights I saw, and the claustrophobic feeling began to descend. Fortunately, my trip to the Gaither store had yielded a new Vocal Band CD, so I cranked that up and joined as their sixth member to calm myself.

A couple of times throughout the drives, God and I had some emergency talks…and it was during one of those talks that I continued yapping and mentioned that the fog hugging my car reminded me of how I feel about life.

I’m such a planner. You know that. As soon as I’m done writing this, I’m going to rummage the day planner out of my luggage and carefully script my week. I’ll open up the planner tomorrow when I get to work and coach myself through timelines of accomplishing everything I’ve written down – and carve out some extra moments for all the last minute things I’ll add along the way.

Planner-people don’t like foggy lives. Anything less than full visibility into the steps ahead is just plain annoying. And yet there are days – like the ones this weekend – when life is full of thick, heavy, choking fog. And while I technically did have a choice about whether or not I was going to drive in it, life does not offer the same option. Life must be lived.

But just like the fog outside my car caused me to occasionally turn down the music and turn up the prayers, the foggy life drives me to my prayer journal and my open Bible. I recognize…more than ever…in those moments that I am dependent…because I can’t see. And I have no power to change that.

Eventually, fog clears. I hope. I told Mom that I don’t remember the last time I saw two full days of such thick fog. But I’m assuming that one day I’ll wake up to sunshine and miles of viewing. It may be a while before that same gift is extended to my real life, but I’m going to live in the hope that one of these day…I just might be able to see a bit into the distance!

Reunited Premiere

I try not to have boring weekends if I can help it...

So today I did something fun and new and different. I went to Alexandria to the Gaither store. Oh wait. I do that about every other weekend. :) Okay so I did MORE than just go to the store. My friend Kristin and I went to see the premiere of the new Vocal Band's DVD.

The last time I went to see a premiere of a Gaither video, it was to see Down by the Tabernacle, which I actually attended. And I showed up in a little snippet of the video too! That premiere was held at a theater, and Gloria sat right in front of Mom and me. :)

This time, they held the premiere in the actual Gaither studio. I was pretty excited about that because for all of my groupiness and for all of my trips to the store and cafe...I'd never been in the studio area before.

Kristin and I went early and ate lunch...I highly recommend the chicken quesadilla....and then we stood in line with many people not our own age so we could get good seats.

I'd say front row is pretty good! :) Gloria talked for a little while...and then we got to watch David!! I mean the Vocal Band! (He did sing Nessun Dorma on this one, so I was kind of a melty pile of goo by the time that song was done. Sorry, Kristin.) Great songs, great laughs, probably a tear or two, although I was much too wound up to cry today.

Never fear...I bought them, so I can cry on my own time. By them I mean both DVDs about to be released. One is called Reunited and the other is Better Day. I think they release officially in a week or so. Good stuff!

After it was over, Kristin and I packed up our autographed pictures and headed home....

I declare it a good Saturday!

Walking Away the Pounds

I think I like participating in Kelly's "Show Us Your Life" Fridays, because then I don't have to worry about coming up with a topic! HA!

Today she's delving into Diets, Exercise Programs and Weight Loss Ideas.

I'm hardly an expert. I think if they start a new reality show called The Slowest Loser, I'd make a great contestant.

Three years ago I decided I'd had enough of literally hating everything about my reflection in the mirror, and I set out to live a healthier lifestyle. I don't do diets. Diets, for me, are just organized failure. So I decided to eat girl-sized portions rather than construction-crew-of-five sized portions. I determined to make better choices on normal things when I could: twelve ounce frappe instead of sixteen ounce frappe...and while you're at it, make it with skim milk and sugar free powder. Regular iced tea instead of sweet tea. Ketchup on the burger instead of mayo. You get the idea.

I also added exercise, and I've been very diligent about that part of the routine. With the exception of the last quarter of 2009 (where I slacked off just like I knew I would if I let myself have any leeway whatsoever)...I have worked out five days a week every week...sick weeks included.

And much of that workout has been in the form of walking or (lately) jogging. Some. :)

IWU has an indoor track that is great for bad weather walking. I love to walk outside when it's nice. And last week....I invested in something I'd long been a skeptic of...but I have to say, it's pretty good stuff. Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds workouts. When I first heard about them, I said riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Like walking in place is productive. I was wrong. I don't know how that girl does it...but I have worked up such a sweat...you do not even know!

The thing I love about these workouts is I don't need a treadmill, nothing takes up space in my house, and I don't even need a lot of room! And that's great because I don't HAVE a lot of room! I can pack them up and take them on the road with me if take a trip....it's all good!

In these last three years, I haven't lost an astronomical amount of weight. I also don't get weighed, so I have no idea what has really happened. But I no longer abhor the sight of my own self, and I feel better than I used to. That's all that really matters to me!

Prayer Box

If I can turn something into a craft project...rest assured I will.

I'd been looking for something to reorganize my prayer life, and when I saw this idea online, I decided to make one for myself!

This is my new prayer box:

The little saying on the front of the box is: "God understands our prayers even when we can't find the words to say them." Oh how well I know that lately.


I purchased a metal lunchbox at Hobby Lobby and picked two coordinating 12x12 sheets of scrapbook paper. I cut the scrapbook paper to wrap around the box and glued it on with spray adhesive. (This is very messy, but oh so fun.) I hot glued a ribbon around the "seam" between the two papers. I found the cute little fabric flowers at Hobby Lobby and hot glued those on as well. (And I have several left for cards and other projects.) I had the stamp, so I just stamped it on some white card stock and layered it on pink and brown paper as well.

I covered the inside of the box too...added another flower...and a stamp of a verse I need to apply to my life more often: "Be still, and know that I am God."

I cut cardstock to make subject dividers and glued tags on them to make the different prayer topics. I bought a pack of index cards and that's where I write the requests.

It's still a new method, so I can't say for sure how well it's working, but so far I love it - and I love the look of it, too!

A Mighty Fortress and Other Anthem Addictions

Today was the new chapel auditorium dedication service at IWU. Though I don't normally get to go to chapel, I went today since the entire campus was invited to be part of the dedication. Our Chorale sang, which of course took me back to the days of being a Chorale groupie. My college roommate was in Chorale, and for a couple of years I went to hear them anytime they were within decent driving distance.

Of course they always sound great (to me, anyway), but I have to say I was sorely disappointed that they didn't sing A Mighty Fortress. It's their signature song and I couldn't believe it wasn't part of the dedication service. So I appreciated what they sang and then came home to watch them sing A Mighty Fortress on YouTube. :)

I would put it on here for you, but I have absolutely no idea how to do that.

I read through the comments about that song and was surprised to see so many people did not like the arrangement - or rather, the speed - of the song. I won't lie...it's a quick one. But fast or slow, it's a fantastic arrangement that gives me goose bumps at the end every time. I also found the same arrangement by a different college choir...at a normal speed, and I loved that one, too.

This brings me to the place where I feel I must admit I have an anthem addiction. I love choral songs, and the grander they are, the more I love them. Dad has a radio program, which I listen to faithfully so I can pick on him about things he says, but I adore the weeks when he plays all choir music. I just love the full sound and the big notes.

This might also explain why I was such a huge fan of Steve Green and Sandi Patty as I grew up. They had the best BGV's in the world. Huge, huge sounds to back up their equally huge voices. Still love to listen to those arrangements.

As with my admission to Beth Moore that furniture rearrangement addiction is not the worst sickness in the world...I declare anthem addiction to be one of the better addictions to have. And whether you're a fan of fast or slow, you should go to YouTube and find the IWU Chorale version of A Mighty Fortress. Goose bumps!

Praying on the Run - Card 6

No, I haven't given up praying on the run (or praying on the walk). I seem to be out of the habit of posting about it...with all the holiday posts and subsequent mice posts. But I am prepared with card #6.

The quote on this card comes from Diane Jelkin, who shares what she felt God prompting her heart regarding her husband: "Show [him] you love him...Don't be afraid. Trust Me. I'll show you the way."

My added prayer is for direction for tangible acts of love to demonstrate toward him daily.

I had a chat with one of my friends the other day, and our talk turned to relationships. She told me about a good friend of hers who got married three or four years ago, I think. She was in her late thirties when she got married, and her husband was forty. Neither had been married before, and both had prayed long and hard for the blessing of a spouse. She said they really know how to appreciate each other because they didn't have each other for so long. And this really got to both of us...every day, he asks her how he can help her and show love to her that day.

Goose bump moment!

I've not read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, but I'm familiar with the concept and want to read that book before I get married. I know from my past relationship (before I understood that concept) that I tended to shower love upon him the way I wanted him to shower love upon me. And he and I spoke very different love languages. I probably could have shown love by willingly watching some of his favorite TV shows instead of sitting there in distraction, folding laundry and putting things away. But because I don't like to live in a mess, I thought cleaning up was the most loving thing thing I could do.

I love to give, and I want to be able to give to Mr. Missing through tangible acts, but I also want to make sure I'm showing love in a way that he hears love. I don't want to lose it in translation. And I want to make sure that is a daily priority for me.

Just a Writing Thoughtlet

Ahhh, proofing. The activity that I love and hate with equal intensity. I'm a little bit OCD about my writing (okay, okay, my life) so I dearly love to proof things, because it gives me one more opportunity to make them better. On the flip side of that, one more read-through normally compels me to try one more read-through just to see if I can find anything else. That, combined with the fear that I'm missing something very basic...annoys me.

With seven chapters to go in this read-through, I find myself loving this particular edit. I'm trying to forget that I've already read this work dozens of times. I'm trying to see it as a reader would see it. I'm trying to love and embrace my words.

I used to feel guilty about doing that. I figured admitting you loved your words was like describing yourself as beautiful. Maybe that sort of thing is better left to others' judgment.

But at the writing conference I went to last fall, one of the speakers talked about editing. He edits every manuscript many times, and one of his edits is the "underline" edit. That's when he goes through and tries to guess what people might highlight or underline as they read his book. I loved that! Permission to look for quotable phrases!

And though my work isn't perfect, I am finding some sentences that surprise me. I wrote that? Really? That's not too bad! I would underline it. In fact, I just may.

When I get my book. :)

Bits for Sunday, January 10, 2010

I’m not sure what life was like for you in the first full week of 2010, but in my world, insanely busy seems to best cover it. I actually ran out of lines in my new day planner to list all the required tasks, so I had to resort to adding hot pink sticky notes out to the side. At first I declared that my second-rate day planner was simply displaying another reason why it’s second-rate, but I suppose it could be that I’m too busy.

Amid the scrapping, the cooking, the shoveling (which was a last minute add-on to the schedule), the writing, the laundry, the shopping (grocery, not pleasure), and the seemingly daily calling to the Hickory Dickory Dock Mouse Removal Service for yet another house call, I did have the chance to sneak away for a quick retreat with some ladies from my church.

We loaded up some vans Friday night and headed to Quaker Haven Camp for not quite a full 24 hours of freedom from responsibility. We laughed, we ate, we talked, we ate, we slept (just kidding), we ate, and we learned from a gifted speaker who had good nuggets of life’s wisdom to share.

The theme of the retreat was running ragged…something I know very well. (Shoot, I was the third person to leave the group to head to bed, all because I was too tired to stay awake after a week of wee hour bedtimes.) I managed to mark off all but one of my to-do list chores this week, and I added more than a few extras to accommodate weather and others. Yes, running ragged is something I know very well.

Our speaker didn’t spend a lot of time telling us how not to run ragged, but she did spend time telling us how to survive a life that might be prone to natural raggedness.

I wrote down several of her points and committed others to memory, but one thing she encouraged us to try was this: stop spending a dollar’s worth of energy on a ten cent issue. I’ve nearly bankrupted myself on some ten cent issues over the course of time, so this was a great point for me to hear.

I’ve heard many of my married and parenting friends say they “choose their battles” with their spouse or their children. Sometimes you have to when another person is involved. (Or so I hear.) But regardless of marital or parenting status, all of us have to face issues. We judge the importance of our issues on what other people might say. We minimize things because someone else is facing something much bigger, and we feel bad about mentioning our little problems. And on the other hand, we might just magnify a tiny thing in order to push down someone else’s issue that we find petty.

That shouldn’t be the measuring stick.

I think we should look at our situations, even if they’re internal, and decide if they’re worth a dollar of energy…or just ten cents. We need to decide their worth. Not what others would say.
And if they’re worth a dollar…then get in there and spend some energy. Fight. Clean up. Work hard. And if they’re only worth ten cents…then pay the dime and move on.

Probably most of us could claim an honorary graduate degree in running ragged. But we’ve paid a lot more for it than we should have. It’s time to stop spending…and start saving for what matters most.

Running Ragged

Running Ragged....

That was the theme of the retreat I went on this weekend. My first official retreat with my new church. It was a short retreat....perhaps better called a retreatlet? I'm not sure.

Last night my friend Lori came by to pick me up and I rode with her and three other girls up to the church campgrounds in northern Indiana. Though I grew up going to camp there, I'd never been in the winter, so it was a whole new view of the place!

Most of my pictures have other people in them and since I didn't ask if I could broadcast them on the blog, I won't.

This was taken about 1:00 this morning - right before my journaling fest....

I MAJORLY lucked out and got my own room! They had extra bunks in other rooms, but this room was empty and I have no idea if I snore or talk in my sleep, so I decided to snag this room rather than running the risk of making others lose what little sleep they might be getting.

This was our lodge. I've stayed in most of the lodges on the campground, but this was my first time in Oak Haven. It was really really nice.

The camp sits on Dewart Lake, which as I said, I'd never seen in the winter. It was quite lovely under all that snow.

Our speaker was wonderful. I consider a speaker good if she can make me laugh, cry, AND think. And Linda did all three. I really enjoyed the time with all the ladies, and the food....oh my goodness, the food. This was the last time that Dan, the cook for the camp, would cook for us, because he's leaving at the end of the month. We ate and ate and ate...because it would have been rude not to, really. Coffeecake...biscuits and gravy...scrambled eggs...bacon...hash brown casserole...chicken salad croissants...onion rings...chili...cream puffs. Oh my GOODNESS.

By the time we went to eat lunch, another group staying on the grounds had started to clear the lake for a skating party - I'd never seen people skate on a lake before. I loved it!

So now I'm home...with mouse number four...getting ready to exercise away some of those delish dishes....

Resolving Not to Resolve...

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner has "Show Us Your Life" Fridays. I've never participated before, but I thought it might be fun today. :)

This week, the topic is New Year's Resolutions and Goals.

Like the greater population of Earth, I was once a firm maker-and-breaker of such goals. I did the typical stuff...weight loss...exercise...you name it...for about a week, and then I quit until the following January.

A few years back, I decided to skip resolutions and goals entirely and instead I made a lengthy list of covenants and commitments. Twenty-five of them, if I remember correctly. Some were specific, daily things...like flossing and reading through the Bible in a year. Others were now-and-then commitments. I stuck to that list very firmly, even weekly checking in with an accountability partner, because I considered them a sacred promise between God and me.

The next year (the year I turned 30), I increased it to 30 covenants and commitments, and even the very fact that they were commitments I'd made to the Lord wasn't enough to keep me steadfast with them. I'd worn myself out on my own commitments.

This year, I resolved not to resolve. I made some guidelines for myself to bring back some good disciplines that had faded a bit lately. I am back on track with daily FOCUSED devotions. I'm back on track with five days of exercise...not four...or three and a half. I added a discipline to write for a half hour a day.

But mostly, what I have learned about myself is that my well-intentioned goals, resolutions, covenants, and commitments have put me in boxes that keep me from allowing God to be at work in my life. I am a good rule-follower, but if God would happen to want to do something outside what I'd prescribed, He'd be out of luck.

So this year is His. I'm disciplining myself in the areas of study, exercise and writing, but He takes it from there. If I need to loosen up some of my legalistic patterns, He's got the room to teach me how. If I need to buckle down on something, I have the time for Him to help me make it happen.

It's strange for a very ordered, structured person like myself to NOT have a list to follow. What will happen? Who knows!?!? I guess I'll find out come December 31st!

How about you? Resolution maker? Already broken yours? What's your style?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

1. The sound I used to make upon discovering dead mice in the trap. After finding Mr. and Mrs. Mouse's oldest son in there today it's gone more to an eyeroll and a slam of the cabinet door.

2. Also the only appropriate word for the following latest event of Bekahland...

I absolutely love Beth Moore. I have such great respect for her heart for the Lord, women's ministry, and the Word of God. I find her to be the most delightful blend of intelligent, wise, inquisitive, hilarious and refreshingly real. I have done a couple of her Bible studies, read some of her books, watched her on TV, and I always read her blog.

She has something like 6500 followers on her blog, and usually garners 300-500 comments per post, so I rarely leave a comment. I think I've left one perhaps twice in the past.

Tuesday night, Beth posted about moving furniture...and more specifically...how she doesn't. Now as you probably know, this girl right here is a passionate furniture mover, and I simply could not refrain from leaving a comment. So I did.

Last night, rather late in the evening, I hopped online and saw Beth had posted a new bit of information - this time a 10 point list of what she learned from over 1000 comments left on that first post.

I sat at my desk, scrolling down through, reading, and laughing at what people said. And then...THEN...I hit point number nine:


9. Some compulsive movers admit that they might have the slightest obsession but that it’s all relative.

Bekah writes, “I not only change furniture with a fervency, but I change ROOM purposes any old chance I get. I have a three bedroom house that I will have lived in ten years come this summer, and by that time, each room will have served as master bedroom, guest bedroom, and office at some point in that time span. It's a blessed good thing my kitchen and bathrooms won't uproot without significant expense. It's probably a sickness, but I figure there are worse ones I could have.”

Yes, I know for a fact that there are. Still, I may move a twin bed into the den tonight. I wasn’t the least tempted to be a mover until you turned it into a psychological disorder. Then, true to form, I began to manifest it.
BETH MOORE USED MY COMMENT IN HER BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BETH MOORE!!
I ran all over the house, screaming EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Best day EVER!
This next bit shocked the socks off my sister, Julie, but it's true.
This trumps the David Phelps picture.
I know. There aren't words.

The End of the Saga...I Hope

As of tonight...this is HOPEFULLY the only kind of mouse still in my house.

But the conclusion of the matter came with a bit of comedy of its own, so I thought I'd share it with you.

I asked our secretary if she would be kind enough to serve on mouse disposal duty today, and she agreed. Eagerly, even. Bless her heart.

She came home with me on my lunch hour and went right to work finding Mr. Mouse. I stepped out of the room...it seemed best...and in five minutes flat, she had removed the mouse from the house AND the trap, cleaned everything out from under my kitchen sink, cleaned up all remnants of mouse visitation, thrown away a few things I didn't even know were there, wrapped the base of the plumbing with aluminum foil (the suspected entry point....and a method to stop it), replaced everything and reset the trap. Five minutes.

Just as she finished up, my doorbell rang, so I went to check on that. It was some guy selling meat products out of a truck. And by this, I don't mean the Schwan man. I mean a pickup truck and a copy paper menu. As I stood there stammering around for a decent response, she came gliding gracefully up behind me and cheerfully said, "Oh I'm SO sorry but we're vegetarians in this house! We wouldn't dream of eating meat or killing animals." That man went slinking back to his truck and I stood there laughing and shaking my head...

...and I reached out to sign for the package the FedEx man brought to me. What in the world! The house is usually so quiet and in the span of ten minutes I had the Mouse Removal Lady, the Meat Out of A Truck Man and the FedEx man. Welcome to grand central station!

And now...it is time for me to make a batch of peanut butter fudge in extreme appreciation for her work.

R.I.P.

Remember my post about how not a creature was stirring....except a mouse?

Well here's an update on that.

Dad came over on December 22nd and set a trap under my kitchen sink,which was where I'd seen the "gifts" left by said mouse. I've opened that cabinet door every day since (only to retrieve cat food) with great trepidation. Well, most of the days, I felt the trepidation. After a while, I became accustomed to the trap and its hard little piece of cheese.

Yesterday morning, I opened the cabinet door, saw that stupid trap and the stupid cheese and thought, You know, I should have Dad come over and replace the cheese. I pulled out the then-empty cat food bag, threw it away, and pulled the new bag forward, gritting my teeth at the hole chewed in the corner of it already.

Last night I took out the trash, and when I came back inside, I opened the other side of the cabinet door to find a new trash bag. I glanced at the trap and noticed it had moved - and the cheese was gone.

Are you KIDDING me? Lo, these many days later and that stupid mouse took the hard cheese and didn't even have the audacity to die?

I called my Dad to complain about the lousy trap. He said, "Well, It's a smart mouse." I said, "Or a dumb trap." He laughed at me. Then he gave the phone to Mom.

She asked me a question and I said, "Well, let me get the flashlight and look." I opened the cabinet door, aimed that flashlight...and behold...two beady eyes staring back at me from the trap.

Y'all...the mouse was in the trap. It's a black trap. Under the sink. I didn't see the mouse.

I screamed (and by that, I mean that was the noise heard throughout the greater midwest region last night), slammed the cabinet door, and went sprinting through the house, scaring the cats and probably most of my block.

Mom and Dad were laughing away at me...could hear that between screams. I ran to the chair where Braeya so serenely slept, and informed her the approximately eight pieces of food in her bowl would need to be carefully rationed with her brother until her Grandpa could come over and rid this premises of that stupid mouse. What did she do? She stretched, walked to the bowl, and started chowing down.

No respect.

Realizing the food bowl would HAVE to be refilled, I donned my winter coat and two pairs of winter gloves...and with great whooping, hollering and flat out bloody-murder-screaming...I opened the cabinet, dumped out two huge cupfuls of food, and slammed the cabinet shut again. I told Mom I'm like the kid getting a shot who starts screaming at the very sight of the needle.

I slept with the coat on. I have no idea what that was supposed to accomplish, but it made me feel better with that blessed mouse corpse defiling my home.

My precious Dad, who is much nicer to me than he should be, drover over today and gave that mouse a funeral. (ACTUALLY he told me he put it down my garbage disposal, and it was all I could do to not have a shrieking fest right there at work at that announcement. But he was kidding. I hope.) He told me he reset the trap, and I enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, knowing I was safe again.

And then I came home.

I opened the cabinet door just to check on the placement of the trap and the size of the cheese sample.

Mouse number two dead in the trap.

THREE HOURS, people. THREE HOURS and no bait! He set an empty trap!

R.I.P., Mr. and Mrs. Mouse. Once I know you did not procreate in my humble abode, I (hopefully) will find a measure of peace myself.

** Please note....the latest casualty is lying in state under my sink. My very brave secretary said she can empty mouse traps. Let's hope she wasn't kidding. **

Re-Entry to the Work Force

Much as I expected, I was NOT ready to hear the alarm sound this morning. Ohhhh where did my 11:00 mornings go? But I loaded up my car with the work luggage (it's a three bag operation most days) and headed to the office.

Dressing for work was a gamble...well, not that I needed TO dress for work, but rather HOW to dress for work. The entire school had been shut down since Christmas Eve, so I didn't know if it would be an igloo or a sauna. I dressed for igloo. I got sauna. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

The co-workers appreciated the chocolate kiss/peanut butter cookies I took to somehow motivate us to last until the end of the day. Pretty sure they are gone now. The cookies, not the co-workers. :)

Despite my mournful loss of late mornings, I did enjoy spending time with everyone again. I love being a hermit, but I also love interaction with others, and I had been sorely lacking in that department over break.

Since you've already figured out that this is a super random post, I'll add this additional bit of randomness. For reasons unknown to me, my phone began to act up on New Year's Day. I didn't drop it...it didn't get wet...it just randomly lost function. By today, the front screen was totally useless. I couldn't use it for any menu functions or anything. Fortunately, the phone is still operable when opened up...it just takes longer to do things that way. In addition, it never "sleeps," so my battery can go from a full charge to dead in about 4 hours. Not fun!

I called the phone company and they didn't even hassle me about it...just offered to send a replacement. THANK YOU!!!!!! It's always wonderful when the customer walks away feeling like a loved customer!

And to conclude the randomness that is my first day back to work...can someone please explain this ad to me? I'm not a fitness guru...I get that. But why would this be the after-workout beverage of choice? (Click on the picture so you can read the message in the blue circle.)

Bits for Sunday, January 3, 2010

I wrote the first official “Bits from Bekah’s Life” back in May 2003. Until I just looked in my trusty Bits binder, I had no idea it had been that long! That year – in my poorer days – it was my gift to Mom on Mother’s Day. I’m not sure if she really wanted to read my writing, or if she just wanted to see her hard-earned money go to good use in my degree. Either way, I promised her some writing every week, and along the way, my audience has grown to include you…and I’m glad.

The second week of that writing adventure, I talked about procrastination. About writers’ tendencies to write…after. After they’ve folded and put away the laundry. After they catch up on the scrapbook. After they mow and trim the lawn. After they clean the bathroom.

My challenge to myself that year was to write…now. To not worry about what is or is not done. To not wait for the perfect writing studio…or a lap cat…or the most perfect idea ever…or even the coffee to brew.

Just write.

This year I have a gigantic honey-do list. The worst part of it all is…I’m honey. Each room has a rundown of things that need to be accomplished, and unless I inherit some serious cash, I know parts of that list are still going to exist come the end of the year. But one of my first projects is (gasp) the swapping of two rooms in my home. The guest room and the office.

My Dad and I are brainstorming about some big bookshelves for the room that will be the office. And I decided to downsize the enormous desk I have for something that fits more appropriately in the space I have.

On New Year’s Day, Mom and Dad showed up with their spare desk they so kindly agreed to bequeath to me. (An act of generosity that increased the curtain budget.) Dad and I maneuvered it into the office. And by that, I mean Dad hoisted it up the stairs and I stood behind him and clapped. We deposited the desk in the middle of the mayhem that is the future office.

My futon (which will relocate to the new guest room) is still in there, covered in objects in need of a home since Christmas. The cedar chest, filled with out of season clothes, sits beside it, the spare dresser (in need of a good cleaning-out) stands opposite the futon, and on the remaining wall is the broken elliptical.

And right in the middle of the room…my “new” desk. Later in the day, I carried up the chair and plopped it down. I also carried up the little mason jar of inspirational writing quotes my sister and brother-in-law gave me for Christmas.

In my mind, I can see the potential that is the office-to-be. I can see the book collection lining the yet-to-arrive shelves. I can see the pictures and baskets of desk supplies. It would be pretty tempting to close the door to that room until “reveal day” and then enter with my mug of steaming coffee and my creative mind…and write masterpieces.

Instead I donned my warm new bathrobe (haven’t added heat to the room yet) and climbed over the futon to plug in the rescue mission lamp so I could spend a half hour writing. The cat who refuses to be a lap cat meandered in and crawled all over my writing surface. So I wrestled him while sipping chai and trying to type. It might actually be good for my focus…I refuse to allow myself to look far to the right or left, because I can just see clutter everywhere.

And yet I also refuse to allow the work in progress to keep me from writing.

You might not be a writer. But it is the new year…it is the time for fresh beginnings. And you might be tempted to postpone something you love to do…you need to do, because all things aren’t in order yet. Maybe this is your year to focus inward…to ignore what isn’t done…what is yet to be done…in order to simply do.

Keeping a Good Thing Around

Last year I started a new method of scrapping, just for fun.

I loved it.

As of last night, this is the full (very full) 2009 scrapbook. I'm thinking of using it for workouts.

Everyone scraps differently. That's the beauty of the hobby. Each person's style is her scrapping fingerprint.

My style is sort of a chronological journalistic style. My scrapbooks are an extention of my journals - with pictures. That's why I do separate books of major events...like my vacation to Hershey...my weekend in Brown County...my niece's high school graduation. I want to be able to write out the details of the stories that happen, and I just don't have room in the already-way-too-big yearly scrapbook.

Last year, for Christmas, my sister gave me a wall calendar that doubled as scrapbook background paper. Best gift ever, as it inspired my new scrapping idea for this year. Sometimes I have one or two pictures too many for my page covering an event in my life. Or sometimes I take just one picture of something and I don't have a page that covers that event. This used to frustrate me when scrapping, and I'd been known to waste an entire 12x12 page trying to use those random pictures.

No more!

The calendar pages became "month-in-review" pages. As I worked my way through my scrapbook this past year, I'd save one page at the beginning of the month, and along the way, I'd tuck in those extra pictures, ticket stubs, nametags...whatever randomness I had. At the end of the month, I'd crop them, mat them, arrange them, and write beside them the people in the picture, and the date it was taken. Each page also had a journaling box, which allowed me to summarize the highlights of the month.

This year, I searched for a similar calendar, but couldn't find one, so instead I'm using standard background paper from Hobby Lobby to accomplish the same purpose. I'll just do the journaling review on my computer and print it out in a coordinating color.

The page opposite my month-in-review page was this calendar page, which is another idea I loved so much that I'm keeping it for this year. I found these blank pages at Hobby Lobby. They came printed with the calendar grid and the days of the week. I added everything else. I used a big, whimsical stamp set to stamp the name of the month at the top, and then I stamped around it something that coordinated with the month. I stamped the dates in the boxes and then kept a journal of sorts of things that happened - whether or not they were covered elsewhere in the scrapbook.


I included everything from births to events I attended to random trivia to news items. I also stamped something alongside every item just to spice up the page a bit. Loved the way it looked!

And finally, the bulk of the pages were the actual events that took place. I stamp every background myself - using random stamps that coordinate with the event. This page was of my scrapping day at the Craft Hideaway, so I used stamps of scissors and rulers. I crop my pictures into squares, rectangles, circles, and ovals, and I mat each one for a more finished look. Somewhere on each page, I include a journaling box, where I explain the event. And then I write the names of the people in the pictures around each one so when I'm old and senile, I can remember who they (we) were. I create a title for each page (or spread) and use the same stamps on each title bar, so they all match. Down in the bottom corner of each page, I also write the date of each event so I can easily keep track of it.

So that's how I scrap! I love this method much more than the old scattered version. I'm excited to see how it looks down the road when I can pull volumes of books off the shelves and relive each year!