work hard. sleep hard. play hard

this makes me so happy.  10.10.12.  i'll be there, jack!

i'm blogging! i'm blogging!

well.  so.  i have already missed two days blogging this week.  oy.  i'll wait till tomorrow to break the news on my other six goals.  there are several more oopsies.  oops.  but i'm doing better, right?

i have at least seven blog posts in my head, but no time right now.  i'm off to work the ticket booth at the high school football game!  maybe later tonight?

in the meantime, today was payday, so i treated myself to something i've been wanting a long time (a set of julie kirk's plundered pages) and an impulse buy (a set of julie's fabricky bits).  happy mail coming my way!

jbs mercantile: september gallery updates

the jbs mercantile september gallery updates when live last night.  there are twenty new and amazing projects.  i may have to say that this is my most favorite gallery ever.  there is serious brilliance there.  am i honored to be amongst such stellar talent?  yes i am.

i managed to add three more to my gallery, bringing my total this month up to six (seven really since one was a two pager).  three of those pages came exclusively from the september papercrafting kit!  and two more were heavy on the papercrafting kit!  it's a great kit this month!

this layout is my project for today's post up on the jbs inspiration blog.  we're going back to school this month and it's going to be amazing.  i love learning!  do come chat with us about it in the schoolhouse.  :)

you can see the rest of my projects (peeks below) as well as those of the design team up in the gallery.  enjoy! 

10 on the 10th: quality literature

each month on the tenth shimelle and friends blog about ten things.  as shimelle puts it, "a list of absolutely anything, as long as it’s ten."  since the monthly series began i have wanted to post my ten favorite books as books have had a major influence in forming my character.  my very first novel was my sister's copy of the black stallion.  i accidentally dropped it in the bathtub.  oops.  i was that kid who read at the lunch table all through middle school and high school.  i am only thankful i actually had friends who appreciated my eccentricities.

the following is a list of ten of my favorite books.  they are in no particular order except that number one is indeed number one.

to kill a mockingbird - the best novel ever written.  i average reading this one probably every other year.  with each reading i discover something new.  the subtle southern humor slays me.  i can't read the final courtroom scene aloud without reading it to myself first to prevent public tears.  this book defines me.  i am scout.  i am jem.  i am atticus.  i am tom.  i am mayella.  i am maycomb.  i am boo radley.

the grapes of wrath - in the seventh grade i had to write a report on my favorite author.  i chose john steinbeck.  ironically, we had read the red pony in our literature book the year before and i hated it.  but all of john's stuff i've read since has been solid.  tortilla flat and the moon is down were favorites for a long time.  i guess i held off reading the grapes of wrath for so long because it was so big.  i'm glad i did.  i'm sure i got more out of it as an adult.  nobel prize winning material indeed.

out of the dust - i serendipitously picked up this book just as i finished the grapes of wrath.  a librarian friend of mine recommended it.  what an amazing literary experience that was.  the two books dovetail in amazing ways.  i also fell in love with freeverse poetry with this book.  i'm way impressed with those who can say more with less.  the house on mango street is another fabulous book in this genre.  i'd almost put william faulkner's the sound and the fury in here too.  excellent.

a prayer for owen meany - i would say what i call modern american classic is my favorite genre.  this book is something else.  the foreshadowing in it is eerie.  the ending left me speechless.  literally.  stunning read.

the last lion alone - i can't even recall how i ended up reading the last lion and the last lion alone.  they must have been suggested to me as they are both more massive than the grapes of wrath.  the reading was dry and lengthy quite often, but these are books i am glad i read.  they left me with an overwhelming sense of awe with this man and the power of one human life to shape humanity's destiny.  i believe democracy owes a debt of gratitude to sir winston churchill.  i remember powering through to the end on an airplane and the guy sitting next to me asking me what i was reading.  i enthusiastically told him and gushed as to how much i was looking forward to reading the end of the story.  he had to break the news to me gently that this author had passed away and not written the war years.  i was very much let down.  i found a biography on fdr during the war years that was nice, but it just didn't compare.  i need to read more biographies so i can be inspired to greatness.

american chica - i love books written by those from other cultures.  i think this is because of the line of work i'm in.  or it could just be that i've always felt that i didn't quite fit into my own culture.  i picked this one up off a suggestion on jill sprott's blog and it was a gem.  memoirs of a geisha and the joy luck club are equally lovely.  i think i might like three cups of tea too.  i shall put it on my list.

the return of the king - my brother-in-law introduced me to tolkien in my tween years.  i was consumed by fantasy fiction for many years after.  i believe j.r.r. tolkien set the bar high though.  no one has done the epic battle between good and evil quite like him.

the story of jumping mouse - a well written picture book is a gift.  this particular one i discovered in a basal reader while teaching third grade in guatemala.  i may have stopped in the middle of the read aloud to pick a scab to mask my watery eyes.  that'll teach me to read a book to kids before i've read it myself.  the velveteen rabbit is also way up there.  as are all the charming tales written by adam say.

the watson's go to birmingham - 1963 - this book is a joy to teach.  it's hilarious, it has every literary device imaginable, and it has a poignant message that is unexpected and stops students in their tracks.  it's a newbery honor.  i collected newberys for a while.  newbery award winners are always excellent reading material.

the hunger games - this trilogy was amazing.  i'm glad i didn't catch wind of it till all three were out.  it would have been painful to have to wait at all between books.  with this series, i think everyone who reads them sees something different.  what i saw was the amazing love story.  to me it seems to be a retelling of another love story of read.  peeta seems so familiar.

and know that you know my literary character, i'd love any suggestions you might have.  :)

aims: stepping out in september

got your attention with these shoes, didn't i?  i kinda fell in love with them and all their neon glory earlier this summer, but i wasn't willing to pay $38.99 for them.  i mean, i would have been willing if i had a healthier budget, but i don't so $38.99 nope.  flash forward a couple months and g and i were making a pitstop at target right before hitting the road for florida.  for some reason i decided to swing through the shoe department.  there was a beam of light resting on the endcap where this last pair of flaming pink with bold aqua trim converse resided.  they were in my size and on sale for $19.99.  i heard strains of the hallelujah chorus and i took them home.  but i digress.  i'm good at that.

today's post is about setting goals.  you may have been around here when 2012 first started and i had this great list of goals i was going to work on all year.  you may also have noticed that i kinda petered out sometime in april.  sigh.  i've had intentions of resurrecting them now and then, but haven't gotten around to it.  well.  i was enjoying "a beautiful mess" a couple days ago and elsie had a post on goals again.  it was just the spark i needed.  i've chosen seven goals for the remainder of september.  22 days.  i've heard that it takes 21 days to make a habit.  i know for a fact that it takes more for me.  i'm a tough nut to crack.  anyway.  22 days to do the following:

1. walk a marathon a week.  this is 26.2 miles each 7 days.  very doable, very motivating, and very healthy.
2. drink two bottles of water every morning.  starting small here, but hopefully it will start each day on the right track.
3. eat a salad every day.  i actually did this for 21 days in july and it was more fabulous than i ever thought it would be.  i loved it, but fell off the wagon the day school started back.
4. journal every day.  i used to do this in my early 20s.  i'm not planning on anything in depth.  just a place to remember little things.  a few sentences each day at least.
5. use my darn agenda every day.  i've gotten so horrible about this and it shows.  need to get my act together.  the to do list is my friend.
6. read a good book this month.  i've got a list started!  i just need to pick one!
7. blog daily.  22 blog posts in 22 days, starting today!  i really enjoy blogging.  call me a dork, but i enjoy reading my own blog.  when i do it well, i think it's my own version of project life.  it's good stuff.  back at it!

instalife . . .

so what have you been up to today?  a whole lotta nothin here.  i even took a pseudonap.  g thought this was a novel idea, so he got in there with me he said in case i wanted to do snugglebunnies.  and of course the purrbox took advantage of the situation.  a fine time was had by all i tell ya.  a most enjoyable way to spend a saturday.

when i finally managed to get out of the black hole i had a little coke in my favorite buffalo wild wings glass.  that really sparked some serious mojo.  i've got 3 partials going now.  two stellars and one with dud potential.  i didn't photograph the dud.  i sure hope i can turn it around.

here's a peek at the fall page in progress.  la la love the leaves lisa dickinson designed.  you can download two free at the bottom of this post.  the rest will be available with the jbs mercantile october papercrafting kit.

here's a pic of the retro beach page i've got going with the amazing mini-album kit corrie jones designed.  it is so fabulous.  it practically scraps itself.  and sadly, it is already sold out.

we did finally manage to make it to kroger for a few groceries so we could eat dinner.  g was somewhat grateful.  i snagged a virtual bottle of red hots for briana as she said her mojo needed to be kicked into high gear.  she thinks she might catch me.  she'd better eat the whole bottle if she thinks she has a chance . . .

photos courtesy of my instagram feed.

get it scrapped!: outdoor outings

there are some great new articles up at get it scrapped! this week.  these two layout are featured in "ideas and angles for scrapbooking your outdoor travel and outings."  you know we do that lots with cub scouts.  in fact, all these photos have already been blogged.  it's nice to get them on layouts.  in the article i talk about how i love to scrapbook an event from several different angles.  in fact, i have three from this event.  you can see the third at easy scrapbook pages. 

i believe on this layout i was experimenting with my new tim holtz distress stains and inks.  i haven't quite mastered the blot, but it's fun playing.  i'm also still in love with the aqua and yellow combo.  think it'll carry over into fall?

the layout was from my july jbs mercantile kits and features lots of vintage ephemera from the antiquarian add-on.

this one i made for cha summer.  the latest jbs product is shipping now, so keep your eyes peeled for it at your favorite retailer.  the stamps will actually debut with jenni's october release.  i accidentally used them early.  oops!

i also have a back to school layout featured in "ideas for scrapbooking back to school photos."  be sure to check out the companion article, "scrapbooking themes quickstart: school images, sayings, and fonts."  i plan on working on g's back to school mini-album this weekend and there's a lot of great material in there that will be useful.

a couple other articles i've enjoyed this week:
"scrapbook page topics and designs inspired by infographics" (very inspiring indeed!)
"5 liftable ideas from 1 scrapbook page by leah farquharson" (great thoughts on the page canvas on this one)

jbs mercantile: late to the party

once we found out my dad was going to be okay and then relieved our anxiety by overdosing on mexican cuisine in the big city and then drove through the pinewoods of north florida to get to the boonies where i grew up and the clan still resides, i did manage to get the gallery mostly loaded in a haphazard sort of way that i corrected just 35 short hours later.  that run-on sentence amuses me greatly as does this totally random comment that follows it.  here are the rest of my contributions thus far.  i'm feeling the need to bustamove as briana has already loaded three layouts as well and says she's currently working on four partials (no she is not in dentistry).  the mini-album kit and add-ons are sold out, but the papercrafting kit is still available.  i can't quite understand that as the exclusive stencil and stamp in it are must haves in my book.  you can see the doily stencil faintly in my background above and then the funky frame stamp in the detail shot below.  better yet, check out how betsy used them.  la la love.

i've been wanting to scrapbook these adorable photos of the gman forever, but every time i tried i'd get stumped with the photo placement.  glad they finally worked for me.

instagrams on this one.  it's just a random recording of a minor moment in a motel room on another trip to florida in which i took admiring photos of my happy new hairdo in the hotel mirror and giggled whilst g slept. 

you may have noted my hotel/motel confusion above.  g and grandma and i are having a running debate as to which temporary sleeping establishments should be labeled motels and which should be labeled hotels.  actually, g and grandma are having the heated argument and i am acting as mediator.  i would gladly have you enlighten me, but i will have to withhold the information from g and grandma as they are both extremely bullheaded, so neither would ever admit to being wrong.  for example, grandma has NEVER taken a nap during daylight hours.  seriously.  if you ever catch her snoring on the couch with her peepers closed and wake her and she asks, "what did you say?," she will tell you straight up that she was just resting her eyes.  ;)

happy day to you all!  :)

there and back again + an early bird special

if you follow me on instagram (or twitter or facebook) you may have noticed my whirlwind trip to florida over the labor day weekend.  these sweet children waited patiently in the hospital all day friday while their papa was having major emergency spinal surgery.  we are all ever so thankful that he came through it so well (and also grateful for all your thoughts and prayers).  i have lots to say on the topic, but i think it will have to wait for a scrapbook page as i don't seem to have the focus to organize my thoughts right now.

the unexpected visit with family was nice.  like my sil had been to goodwill and had brought home this budweiser glass with the frogs dressed in seminole attire.  i'm not gonna lie.  i was completely stoked to bring it home.  g also thinks he's way cool when he's sipping mommy's coke from a "beer" glass.  silly boy.

and of course we made it to the beach a couple times.  g learned how to boogie board and we got the requisite ice cream cones at tommy t's.  fun times and not so fun times.  great to be home and then great to be home.  sure was extra hard to go to school tuesday morning.  whew.

i'm trying to catch up on the rest of my blogging this evening, but i wanted to mention an amazing new class concept (again from the brilliant mind of debbie hodge) that i'm a part of this month.  there are only TWO seats left and the early bird special ends TONIGHT!  eeeps!  you can read more about it HERE.  it's going to be an amazing experience.