Coach's Low Country!!

We have a local celebrity! Our very own Coach aka Joe Crosby is going to be on QVC! Anyone that has come to visit us in the warmer months has had the pleasure of enjoying some boil from T-60...this is that spice! Coach is going to be on this thursday (4/2) from 3-5 pm. Check it out!!!

Digiland...

I recently made a big change with regards to my digiland commitments. Earlier this year I had been feeling like God wanted me to step away from this responsibility. I kept praying about it because after so many years of wanting to be on creative teams, surely He wouldn't want me to walk away. So I kept praying about it over the last month. I finally gave in and sent in my notice to the designers. I am sad but at the same time I'm excited to just be creative on my own terms (not that their terms were very strict, really). The reality of it is I have so many products already in my office and on my computer that there isn't a need to keep downloading kits to use only once or twice. My goal over the next few months will be to make things using things I already have on hand, either physically or on my hard drive. I will be sad to not to be quite as active in the forums but at the same time I'm excited to have a little more time away from the laptop (my boys are excited about that part too!)...especially with summer coming. We all know Jameson & I have a daily date with the pool around these parts!

And just as I am walking away I had the honor of having a layout showcased in the After5 ad last week...check it out here. Speaking of After5, check out this product spotlight for Cafe J. Janelle has offered up a 30% off coupon (good until 4/18) for anything in her shop at After5. Be sure to take a peek!

You will still be seeing me around The Hybrid Chick blog. I have a tutorial there in April. And in May I'll have a project featured in the DST Insider. So I won't totally be falling away from digiland!

Treasures!

Lately I have been focused on the word treasures. The first treasure this week came on Sunday night when our life group went out for a fun evening. We went bowling...and even James had a good time! We all took pictures of the fun rental shoes!

Then on Monday morning while Jameson & I were driving the little man was jabbering away to me. What he said was so cute. (Lately he has been telling stories about things that he has basically has completely imagined up. I've heard it is a phase and I'm trying to capture as many of these stories as possible.) Okay back to the story that came out this week. He was telling me about how God was trying to turn him into a robot. Now that alone is pretty cool that he pulls God into a regular conversation. The really neat twist was that he said that he called for Jesus to help protect him so that God wouldn't turn him into a robot.

In the back of my head I've been looking for a vintage, velvet chair to use for photos. I didn't really think I would be able to find one, that was what I was looking for and in my budget. But oh boy did God have another plan in place for this fun treasure. So later in the day on Monday as we were heading to have dinner to celebrate Julia & Rocco's birthdays, I found a true treasure! There was a trailer in front of a furniture store with the exact chair that I had seen in my minds eye...and the best part it was only $15! It is so fun! I can't wait to place it in just the right spot. I did pull it out and got this shot with the 4 kiddos together!

Today we got to spend some treasured time with my dear friend Sarah and her kiddos. Oh that little Mallory loves ME! She can even say my name and reaches for me as soon as she sees me. It feels so good to feel that kind of unconditional love! We headed to a really fun park together.

And the treasures continued this evening, I was reminded what kind of toddler Jameson was about 2 years ago. He used to get up around 11-12 almost every single night. He would come out of his bed, walk to the top of the steps and cry. Not sure why but he was almost every.single.night. So in the last week he has done it again. Tonight I heard him get up and walk to the top of the steps...check. Crying...check. Then I heard something I'd never heard before...pee hitting the wall. Oh yes he had walked out to the top of the steps and thought it was the bathroom. I yelled stop, which he did, luckily! I ran up there and carried him to the bathroom, he finished going potty and then went back to bed. Oh boy, life is fun sometimes! I guess I know what I get to do first thing in the morning (I know I should have done it tonight but I just couldn't bring myself to turn on the lights and wake up James). I'm off to bed now!

"They will summon peoples to the mountain and there offer sacrifices of righteousness; they will feast on the abundance of the seas, on the treasures hidden in the sand." Deuteronomy 33:19

Local golf outing!

For anyone that is looking for a way to golf and help out the community at the same time...please considered participating in this golf outing. Our neighbor, Jay Ratliff is organizing it to benefit the local youth center. Give Jay a call for details on how you can sponsor a hole (I think there are 2 left now) or golf.

New furniture!

We did it!!! James & I have been on the hunt for new furniture for the living room but just hadn't found exactly what we wanted. He wanted a black couch, I wasn't so sure of how that dark. A few weeks ago we found ourselves in Ikea looking at what we thought was the perfect couch for us...right color (I'd come to agree with James in the last few months), great size, shape, etc. Pretty much everything except the price tag (isn't that always how it goes?). We walked away that snowy day with a pamphlet and that was it. We each checked it out a few times after online but nothing more. Fast forward to today...Jeannie (our friend from church - the awesome painter!), invited me & Jameson to go to Ikea with her to get a few things she needed for work. So the plan was that we really weren't buying anything. Well that was until we found out that the awesome couch we'd just seen 3 weeks ago had been discontinued and was on sale. This was at the beginning of our adventure through Ikea. The last section of the store (self-serve) was where the discounted furniture was located. I spotted it right away and was so excited to see that the one they had was black. I tried to calmly check it out (it was the floor model). There was a spot where the seem had come apart. I found a clerk and asked if they would mark it off any additional. She let me know that she wanted it gone so she would see what she could do to reduce the price. Then I also found out that they still had one of the awesome matching recliner. I called James again (he was in meetings). Okay what price can you do for the couch and the recliner. She got the couch down to a great price and they weren't moving much on the recliner. We started toward the registers with just the 3 pieces to the couch. As we moved up in line the clerk asked again if I didn't want the recliner. I said that we did want it but not at that price. She marked off an extra $200. So we this awesome, dreamy couch and recliner for well under 50% off. Now the real test came up...was it all really going to fit into Jeannie's avalanche (she had made quite a few purchases too)? I never seem to remember that the beds aren't like a 'typical' truck. Thanks to the two awesome helpers at Ikea...it all fit. Lucky for us Paul keep tethers in the truck or we never would have made it. It was a tense ride north as I kept checking the mirrors to be sure that nothing was tumbling off the back of the tale gate. We made it home and Jeannie & I got it all unloaded in the driveway and she headed home. James pulled in a few minutes later and met the new furniture...right in the middle of the driveway! James and our neighbor Ed moved the old furniture to the dining room and then moved the new set up the steps and into the house. Then James had to run back to work for a bit so I started moving things all around. I pretty much had figured out how I wanted it but it did take a bit longer to do it with only a 3 year old to help push, pull, etc. For the first time in a long time our living room all matches!!!! And an added bonus, the chairs James ordered earlier this year are in the dinette which we're calling the wii-room. It is now comfy to play the wii at our house!

After we had it all set I was cleaning the leather with polish. Jameson found that it was a great sliding zone. We had to have a discussion about indoor behavior!

The Hybrid Chick!

There is an exciting new blog on the net! You MUST go check it out!

Hybrid layouts!

My latest obsession...hybrid layouts! For anyone that isn't sure what that means, it is the combination of paper items with some digital pieces to it. I do a little creating on the computer, print it out and then assemble the page with at least one piece of 12x12 cardstock and sometimes some other IRL (in real life) elements. I'm having so much fun with it. I've challenged myself not to spend any money on the things I'm creating. What that means is that I'm only printing what I can do here at home, using pictures I already have printed and

not buying any more cardstock, embellishments or patterned paper...at least for a little while! I did tell James that I might need to buy some adhesive if I ran out because that is a necessity! So far I'm doing pretty good. I think I've created almost 8 pages with my new 'theory'! I also wanted to let you all know that I hosted the Sugarplum blog yesterday. Check out the fun Easter banner I made for Caroline! I hope you're having a wonderful week!

I almost forgot...here is a picture from our green dinner last night. Green jello, green pizza (Jameson was almost afraid to eat it) and lots of green veggies (cucs, green peppers & lettuce). We had a fun day being green!

St. Patrick's Day!

The shamrock is the traditional symbol because St. Patrick used it to explain the connection between the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit in the Christian religion. (source unknown)

We don't necessarily celebrate this holiday because we're Irish or that we believe in luck but because it is FUN!! I love an excuse to eat a certain color of food and to dress a certain way. So today we're having green jello and a few other fun things...like green peeps!

Here is a little story from my past regarding St. Patrick's day. When I was in the first grade our teacher told us that the leprechauns had visited our room the night before St. Patty's. My math book was missing when I got to school. She kept insisting that it was the leprechauns. To this day I don't remember ever getting that book back. Those little guys must have been strong, maybe they were hungry and at the paper?!

Do you have any fun St. Patty's Day stories?

Newborn!

Today I had the pleasure of photographing a very new, newborn. Little Gavin was born on Saturday so he was just hours old in these pictures. It is so fun to record these early times, they don't stick around very long. Now the surprising thing, at least for me, was that he did not sleep for the 2 hours that I was there nor did he have any interest in curling up. I did get one shot with his eyes closed, only because he did think about sleeping for a moment and I had the camera aimed right at him. Here are some of my favorites...
Did anyone notice the new graphic at the top of the blog? Let me know what you think??

Praying...

"Keep on praying." 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT)

I've recently been reading quite a few things regarding prayer. One spot was in a devotional from the Proverbs 31 author Rachel Olson (she is great!). She spoke about how busy our lives are and that many times we may tell someone that we are going to pray for them but in our busyness we forget. In the devotional she suggested that instead of saying you would pray for them to pause right then TO pray for them. I have been doing this every since I read the devotional and I can already see a change in my prayer life with our Lord.

The second thing that I read was also by Rachel. Her blog post from earlier this week offered some great suggestions for anyone that is nervous to pray out loud, which would include me. It talks about praying words from the bible. Some great things!

What suggestions do you have regarding prayer?

Time with Friends!

Lately we've had some great times with various friends. This past weekend we had a typical neighborhood Saturday night...hanging out at the Ratliff's house (we missed you Carrie); eating dinner together and just plan relaxing (it was in the mid 80s without a cloud in the sky). Then on Sunday afternoon we went on a hike with a bunch of other friends from church. Abby put it together and let everyone know that it was about a mile hike. Lucky for us we didn't know how long it really was until we were well on our way. Turns out it was probably about 2 miles each way, and slopped. So the return to our vehicles was a bit tiring, especially on the 12 kiddos that were along for the fun! I had a great time chatting with little Olivia, she was my hiking partner on the return. Normally she is pretty quiet but she chatted almost the entire way back up from the falls. It was so sweet! Notice the new blog header picture? It is from this hiking trip!

Then yesterday, Sarah and the kids came to our house to hang out. We took the kids down to the beach and boy did they have a good time. Now if only we could have set up our scrapbook tables down there...we would all have been in our element! When we did finally get back home the kids were enjoying some popsicles. Jameson was so sweet sharing his with Mallory. He would hold the top of her head so he could get the popsicle up to her mouth. Cute!

Today we headed to visit our other Sarah H! She had her 3rd baby just 3 weeks ago so we headed out to get some pictures! Jameson had such a good time playing with Pheoby! Here are a few of my favorite shots, I couldn't resist including one of Trey...he is such a stinkin' sweet boy!

It is nearly 1 am and I'm still awake. I have been trying to force myself to go to bed by midnight, I guess I didn't make it tonight?! One goal I can say we accomplished in our house...going green with our laundry. We have a clothes line so we can reduce the use of our dryer!

Song Bird!

There is a not for profit digital site called Song Bird. Each month there is a kit created and all of the proceeds go to benefit a different group. This month the kit is Easter themed and all proceeds go to The Make A Wish Foundation. If you are looking for an adorable digital kit for Easter (or really any theme), go grab this kit!

Okay now I'm heading back away from the computer. I've been reorganizing my scrapbook room this week, play outside (lots!) and basically just enjoying some face time with some friends and especially my boys!

Please vote!

My sister has a friend that was selected for a room makeover through their local Fish radio station. Now the 5 finalists are eligible to win a trip to Hawaii. Please go HERE and select Cynthia Duckworth from the list (she is the last one). Thank you!

Donuts!

Oh my goodness, James shared these video clips with me from last Monday at the shop...thought everyone else might get a kick out of them!

The driver is Vince, Bryan is taping and James is somewhere in the background moving my truck out of the way of the crazy snow covered car.

Spring has sprung!

Wow have we had a real taste of spring here today! I'm almost in shock at how nice it was since we just has SNOW here this past weekend. Today it was 75 degree, sunny and just simply beautiful. Not only was the weather great, the activities for the day were dreamy too. For me it started out with not waking up to an alarm clock and then getting a few things done around the house (laundry, checked email, blogged, etc). Then I had the pleasure of taking pictures for some new friends from church. Amanda and Dave are expecting their second baby, SOON! She hasn't had maternity shots taken with this pregnancy or with Noah so I offered to take a few shots for her. They came out and we had fun (well at least I did!) taking some pictures. After getting a few with their whole family, James & Dave headed out for a round of golf. We stuck around the house to take a few more pictures and to let the little boys play together. Jameson was so stinkin' sweet to Noah (who is 20 months old). At one point Jameson had a picture from Disney and he was telling Noah all about what he was doing in the picture, who he was with and where it was from. This evening when we were doing prayers before bed Jameson told me that he wanted to pray that he could play with Noah again sometime soon. So sweet! My favorite shots are posted below!

Today I hosted the blog at A5D. There is a little tutorial on the rule of three and creating this hybrid scrapbook layout, take a look here. Another recent project included this birthday card (both projects are clickable for details).

While I was in Ohio I got to go see the movie He's just not that into you, with some friends from college. It is such a fun movie. I had actually purchased the sound track before I even saw the movie. Lots of variety...great fit for my ADHD mind! I can't wait for the dvd to come out, this might become my new Pretty Woman! (For anyone that doesn't know, in high school I used to watch this movie almost every single day while I would do my algebra or calculus homework.)

Speaking of movies, our house has been overtaken by HSM3 (High School Musical 3 for those that might have been under the same rock as I was before this week!). We borrowed the movie from the Ratliff family and every.single.day since Jameson has requested to watch it. I'm not sure if is the basketball that he enjoys or the singing and dancing. Either way he really likes it. These pictures were taken during one showing when he was 'dancing' along with Troy!

Today the post on the compassion international blog is great. Check it out here. I love the image of the father holding the child's hand with the verse "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24:15. This is one of my favorite verses. Paired with this picture...awesome!

What have you been doing this weekend with the warmer weather? Tomorrow our family is going hiking with some other families from church...awesome stuff!!

Book sale!

Jameson's school is having a book sale. This isn't your traditional book sale either. They are selling personalized books! The book will incorporate the child's name, 3 of their friends, their hometown and a few other things. I have a book similar from my childhood and it is one of my most treasured. If you are interested in purchasing one from us, let me know by the 16th. They are each $19.95 (includes shipping, etc). They are guaranteeing delivery by Easter, which is what were planning to do for Jameson.

Don't forget his school is also doing a fundraiser this Tuesday at the local Zaxby's. What better reason to enjoy a chicken dinner?

Heat?!

Will you believe me if I tell you there is still snow outside of our house? There is! Not much but there are spots that still have snow. Here is a picture I took last night and the snow is still there now.

This month I'm taking an online class from 2peas. It is called Sew Scrappy Happy. I've been sewing on my projects for sometime but I figured it was time to try out some new techniques and I've enjoyed the inspiration from Jennifer Johner, who is teaching this class. And it was only $5 so why not, right? Here is the layout I completed for week 1. Jameson even tried to help, which is really the reason I don't sew more because this boy wants to open up the machine and figure out exactly how it works. Oh the engineer brained little boy!

On the digital scrapbooking front, you have got to check out this contest. It is being organized by After5 & Shabby Pickle. I'm half thinking about stepping down from the CT at A5 just so I can participate...JK!

Now I'm heading to fix something for dinner. We've been avoiding the first floor today as we're having issues with the heater down there. It was only 57 while we were eating lunch. Not too bad but since nap time we're been hanging out upstairs where it is closer to 70. Oh how easy it is to take things for granted. When things like this happen I find myself pausing to pray for those that don't have half as much as we do.

More randomness...

Okay I have some additional random info to share with you all!

While I was in Ohio I had the pleasure of taking pictures for Greg Nettle. He wanted to update the photo on his blog. Here are a few of my favorites.

Also on the photography front, do you remember me telling you that I won something from Trendy Straps? I'm still in shock over it. I WON A BACKDROP. Yes a real life backdrop. Watch out world Jill J and her camera are on there way to capturing more memories!

Something else for locals, Jameson's school is having a fundraiser at the local Zaxby's. For anyone that eats there on the 10th 10% will go to the school.

Also next week, if you are in the Seneca area and are interested in taking a fun scrapbook class...join me on the 12th at Southern Scrapbooks for a class on acrylic home displays. Here is the sample I'll be teaching from. I think this would make a great addition to any home, either use it for your own home or give it as a gift.

I'm sure there will be other random things to update everyone on but that is all for now. I hope you're having a great day and using your talents to praise God.

Snow day!

We have snow at our house! It started to fall at some point mid-day Sunday. And even now, Monday evening, there is still unmelted snow in some spots. I don't ever remember snow sticking around this long in our neck of the woods.

So yesterday we started our day by leaving the house about 8:30. We went to church and then left from there to take my mom to the Atlanta airport. (She was nice enough to ride down from Ohio with me & Jameson...thanks Mom.) As we were just coming into the Atlanta area we realized that the rain was started to look a bit funny...it was snow! It steadily increased and soon we were surrounded by some pretty fluffy snow all over. Here is a shot from the ATL terminal. After dropping mom off we headed to Ikea. (What trip to Atlanta shouldn't include this fun store?!) We had a fun time wondering the aisles and then decided it was time to start heading back home. The entire time we were in the store the snow didn't slowed down. Everything was covered in white snow! We made our way about 1/3 of the way up the interstate and then met a standstill of traffic. So we decided to use the navigation system and see where it would take us if we avoided highways. It really didn't take us too much extra time to get home. As we headed a bit west the snow disappeared from the ground but then as we got closer to home, turning east again, the snow reappeared. We were amazed when we got home to see our entire house covered in snow and more was falling, which at that point was actually freezing rain. Today of course was a snow day for Jameson but the best part was James also had a half day at home too. He went into the plant as usual this morning but their power wasn't staying on so he came home. He did a little work throughout the afternoon. It is so awesome to have him around more then normal! Now tomorrow they are saying the roads might be even worse because the snow that is still on the roads will most likely freeze and become black ice. We might be blessed with another at home day for our family?!

I'd thought I'd share a picture of our freshly painted dining room. Jeannie does such a great job. I love the stripes. She did the same color just with different finishes so they are a great slight difference, the best part is that she also painted the ceiling, which I think really finishes the room. So if you're in our area and are looking for a painter, check out Paul Carr's wife Jeannie...she is the bomb!

In other news...while driving on the way to Ohio, which seems like ages ago now, we saw a double rainbow. The most amazing part was that I think we actually were at the bottom of the rainbow because the beams were coming from the water splashing from the truck in front of us.

When we're visiting my family we can almost always be found with my sister and her kiddos. These 4 have so much fun together. Deb was attempting to get a picture of all of them for her office. She wanted something realistic, I think she succeeded!

Okay I think this post is long enough, I still have more to say but I'll save it for later!