hellooooo! is anyone home?

I can just imagine Pooh sticking his head into Rabbit's hole or maybe even Christopher Robin"s front door and asking, "Is anyone home?" GIGGLES

Well, this bloggie cottage has been vacant for awhile. But, I've decided to move back in for a short stay and share a few photos and an update. Facebook has really put the old blog out of business since it is so quick and easy to share artwork or other happenings when I am so short on time. Still, its not the same as being able to share a bit of myself through my words and photos.

This autumn finds me knee-deep in school - both work, and my own. With every course I'm getting closer to my goal. It's exciting and intimidating at the same time. Just after the new year I will be preparing to take the state board exams and this time next year will be preparing to student teach. Still, I'm trying to take it one step at a time. Doing what I can to gain valuable experience and thinking about my options if I am unable to get my own classroom right away. In the meantime, I've had a few adventures. One that involved the Golden Girls - if you follow me on Facebook you know I'm not referring to the 70's sitcom! And another that took me into the woods for fifth grade camp. This was a great experience on many levels. It was a gorgeous drive every morning and I loved being outdoors.

I was also fortunate enough to see these beauties up close.

In family news, we are all well and continue to roll with the punches. Brady is as tall as Cam now and I hope to get some photos over the holidays. Time passes much too quickly. This is a great time of year to take stock and think about what the year has been and what will be in the one to come. I look forward to lots of family time in the next couple of months!

For today, I'm relishing the sunshine, savoring a nap, and snuggling up with a good book after finishing some homework.

Take care and I hope to drop by again soon!

I thought it best I begin titling my posts by season since the likelihood of getting back here to post on even a semi-regular basis is slim. School has kept me incredibly busy even this summer. I have about 3 more weeks left of my two online courses and then I'll have a bit of a break until classes resume in late August. At least I hope it's late. I could use a break!

In fact, I had been dreaming of going to Lake Michigan this summer ever since stumbling upon these two sister's blogs HERE and HERE. Their photos of beautiful wildflowers, farm stands and lakeshore made me long to walk along the dunes gathering driftwood and playing in the surf. Fat chance of that.

Inspired by another blogger and artist I recently discovered, I decided to paint my own little piece of shoreline to have right here at home. I had never attempted anything as large before and was a bit concerned it would be too cartoon-y, but I love how it turned out and surrounded by shells and other weathered things I can almost imagine the sand and the water.

The summer is flying by. Aside from classes and a little crafting and shopping here and there, I don't have much to show for it. But it's not over yet! I hope to continue my 30 bags in 30 days decluttering challenge, get my teaching supplies organized, finish up the laundry room project I started before school was out, and attempt to make a slipcover inspired by yet another blog favorite. Time's a-wastin'!

I hope this finds you enjoying summer just the way you like it!

Day 14: en l'honneur de l'amour

Day 12 & 13: en l'honneur de l'amour

"Above all else, hold unfailing your love for one another."

--I Peter 4:8

Day 11: en l'honneur de l'amour

Day 10: en l'honneur de l'amour

Day 9: en l'honneur de l'amour

"A kiss is a pleasant reminder that two heads are

better than one."--author unknown

Day 8: en l'honneaur de l'amour

My salute to love and all things Valentine would be incomplete without an homage to my favorite romantic literary character - James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser . Here are a few Jamie-isms to give you an idea of just how perfectly romantic he really is. Seriously, if you enjoy a good story set to a historical backdrop accompanied by a bit of mystery and lots of smoldering romance then you must give the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon a try.

Photo Source: unknown

"Blood of my blood and bone of my bone. You are mine and I wilna let ye go. For I give ye my Spirit, til our life shall be gone."

"I talk to you as I talk to my own soul. Your face is my heart."

"Dinna be afraid. There's two of us now."

"Da mi basia mille - Give me a thousand kisses.

Dien mille altera - Then a thousand more."

"You are my courage, my conscience.

You are my heart - and I your compassion.

We are neither of us whole alone."

Day 7: en l'honneur de l'amour

"LOVE - a wildly misunderstood although highly desired malfunction of the heart which weakens the brain, causes eyes to sparkle, cheeks to glow, blood pressure to rise, and lips to pucker." -- Author unknown

Photo credit: Teresa McFayden www.paperbellastudio.com

Day 6: en l'honneur de l'amour

"There is no suprise more magical than the suprise of being

loved. It is God's finger on man's shoulder." --Charles Morgan

Day 5: en l'honneur de l'amour

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways... --Elizabeth Barrett Browing

Day 4: en l'honneur de l'amour

Love is an irrisistable desire to be irrisistably desired.

--Robert Frost

Day 3: en l'honneur de l'amour

Here's a clip from one of my favorite movies with a salute to
L-O-V-E. Enjoy!

Day 2: en l'honneur de l'amour

en l'honneur de l'amour

In honor of one of my favorite holidays, I'll be posting a little visual and quote inspiration each day leading up to St. Valentine's Day. So, check back for my 14 day salute to love.

I have learned not to worry about love, but to honor its coming

with all my heart. --Antoine de SaintExupery

SNOW * SNOW * SNOW

Here in the midwest, we've had a lot more snow than in recent winters. For those of us fortunate to ride out the winter storms inside, it affords time to nest and cuddle together. All that luxury however, means we'll probably be going to school well into June!

While I was dreaming of vacationing down under by watching Oprah in Australia, my sweet husband was determined to clear the driveway - just in case we wanted to venture out. Right. Not me. I've been finding plenty of things to do inside while sipping my coffee and hot chocolate. Here are just a few highlights from our little snow day vaca.

• I made Okey Dokey caramel corn. Very delish - and addictive! Have you tried it?


• Preparing for Valentine's Day by signing up for the latest e-zine with the Bella Queen herself.


• Enjoying old-fashioned fun by making and stringing pom-poms into garlands.




• Having way too much fun with the photos we had taken before Christmas. SO, so glad we were finally able to do this. I recently purchased an 11x14 canvas of the boys.
  

And just ordered a 16x20 of this one of Jeff and me for Valentine's day - in black & white, of course. fuN! I've been ordering my canvases from HERE.

• Doing lots of reading and homework. The timing of the snow was great from that perspective for sure. Very excited about my classes this semester. Particularly, the Multi-Sensory Methods of Teaching course. It's all about incorporating the arts in your teaching. Right.Up.My.Alley. We are even having a trash to treasure assignment in a few weeks. The twist is we won't use our own trash to create our treasure. GAAAH! So excited about that!
  
  
• Watching lots of movies. Ran across this one last weekend. Loved everything about this movie. The costume and set production were beyond beautiful. Add in the romance factor of Keats and his beloved Fannie and well, WOW! I saw it on STARZ, but Momma Bird tells me you can rent it at your local movie store.

• Finding inspiration from some new blogs. Did a twist on a project I saw here: Life in the Fun Lane. I love the graphic punch of the lettering. Ran out of crepe paper trim so I need to add a bit more to the "E". Here are a couple others I'm frequenting on a regular basis:
  
  

Miss Mustard Seed

My Sweet Savannah

Pretties and Posies

• Finished my last "for fun" read for awhile. Just finished reading Nicholas Sparks' Safe Haven. It was good, but not my favorite of his books. I need to choose something to read over Spring break. Any suggestions for a must-read? Of course, I'll be checking in with Jamie and Claire when I just canna take it anymore. ;0)

So, how are you passing the time this Winter? Have you ventured out for some outdoor fun? Making something handmade? Tried a new comfort food recipe? Well, then do tell!

Until we meet again, stay warm!

UPDATED 1/23/2011: Several have emailed requesting the Okey Dokey Caramel Corn recipe. So, here ya go:

Ingredients -

1 bag of Okey Dokey puff corn OR Old Dutch puff corn

1 cup butter (not margarine)

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp baking soda

Directions -

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Combine butter, brown sugar, and light corn syrup in a 2 quart sauce pan.

Cook on medium heat until the mixture has melted.

Once mixture has melted add the baking sode. (This will cause the mixture to foarm)

In a large roaster pan pour puffed corn and pour caramel miture over the corn and store until well mixed.

Place in oven for 45 mintues, stirring at least every 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven, pour on wax paper and break apart.

Let cool and enjoy!

Hello, friends. Are you still out there? I hope this finds you enjoying all the new year brings - satisfaction for what was accomplished in the previous year and great expectations for what's to come.

I love the start of a new year. Its a time to reflect and to attempt new things. A time to begin again and make another run at LIFE.

One of the rituals I've participated in the past several years is to choose an action word for the year. My word for 2011 is CAN. As in I CAN. Yep. Whatever I hope or imagine. With God's help I CAN do it. Foremost on my mind is my schooling. I'm more than half way to fulfilling a life-long dream of teaching by earning my masters degree and my certification. But there are lots of other things I'd like to accomplish in this new year. Throughout the year as I attempt them, I will remember that I CAN.

So...if you were to choose your word for 2011, what would it be? Here's to bringing that word to life in this new year.

Bonne Anne!

Having My Cake...

We had a quiet 4th of July holiday and it was so nice. Just hanging out, going to the movies and being still. Summer is in full-swing and it was nice to take a break. Although this is only the second summer I've had off, I was caught a bit off gaurd when I started classes and realized I didn't have near the time I thought to work on projects and to actually do some fun things. But now, I'm hitting my stride, finding my mojo and taking some time in between classes to do a few creative things.

Over the holiday weekend, I even got out paints and attempted a collage-y painting inspired by who else, but this gal. It was a fun process, but I'm not sure I quite have a handle on her whimsical style. I loved giving it a try though! ;)

And on Monday, I started an e-Zine workshop on art journaling taught by one of my creative heroes. It's felt so good to be back at creating something - anything. I love cutting and gluing, mixing colors and learning new techniques. Although I don't often venture far from the example, I do love the challenge of trying to recreate the examples.

Once in awhile, I do come up with my own thing. One of my favorite things is incorporating the bits & pieces I tear from magazines, junk mail and whatever else I happen to spy. The face on the sun and the wings on the clocks are from a take-out menu!

AND, I made a meal tonight! Yep, told you I was on a roll! It was SO delicious and very simple. The corn and zucchini salad was particularly good since the ingredients were homegrown. I loved the combination of the fresh lime juice and the sweet corn that made up the dressing. So, so good! Both recipes were from Everyday Food magazine and can be found HERE and HERE.

Well, I'm off to do my other favorite summertime activity-READ! I am unbelievably addicted to the Outlander series. I just started the sixth book, A Breath of Snow & Ashes and I can hardly put it down!

However you're spending the summer, I hope you're finding a way to have your cake... and eat it, too!

Something About Mary

Even after all these years, I just love the art of Mary Engelbreit! Did you know she has a blog? I loved her most recent post in which she gives us a peek into her creative process. This is the end result, but seeing how she got there was very cool.





I also love how she just seems to come up with the perfect illustration to go with a quote. This one really struck me.









Sometimes that's how it feels isn' it? I call those Chevy Chase moments (remember Nat'l Lampoon's Family Vacation). We're in such a hurry to create the moments and memories that we don't enjoy and embrace them when we finally arrive at that point in time. Or just too busy to have them to begin with!

Anyway, I continue to be charmed by her artwork and intrigued by the brand she's created. Like many of you, I was disappointed when she decided to stop publishing Home Companion magazine, but I am excited about some of the other things her company is doing. She recently held her first-ever artists retreat here in our very own hometown at the Chase Park Plaza. And she has a new association with Papyrus cards. So be watching for that sweet card with the owlie and the bluebird this spring!

Now I'm itching to get into my tub of ME goodies I tucked away a few years ago. I knew that I'd want them later on! And I've already stockpiled some of the beautiful posters she's licensed for teachers. I just love all the reading ones, of course!

There's just something about Mary!

10 Things on Tuesday

Taking a nod from a fellow blogger, I'm putting my spin on a familiar list. Here's 10 things on my mind on a Tuesday. (Well, that's the day it was when I started the post!)

1. I didn't think I'd like The Newsboys with Michael Tait as their new lead singer. But I really do. Their new single is very reminiscent of DC Talk-IMO. UPDATE: It's now hit #1-guess I'm not the only who's lovin' it!

2. Sunshine makes me very happy. Although the trade-off is humidity. Without the beach. Still, I'm happy to see the sun after a rainy May. Slather on the sunscreen. UPDATE: Yes, after a couple days of gloomy rain I'm ready to see Mr. Sun again. Humidity or no.

3. I love Jenny Doh's (former editor-in-chief of Somerset magazines) newest venture, Crescendoh. Love the name, the mission statement and the products. Here's one I had to have first thing..

I did these on a pretty spring day. Outside under a big tree chit chatting with some of my favorite third and fourth graders. We were actually doing a lesson - observing MO songbirds and writing about what we saw and heard. ;)

UPDATE: Did you know that the MO Dept of Conversation has an entire curriculum you can get for FREE?!? I recently received it and can't wait to use some of it in my reading lessons. I'm developing a unit of study on Owls-whooo's suprised?! ;)

4. Really enjoying XM radio this evening. Sometimes its just so nice to have music on in the house. I don't do that often enough.

5. Speaking of music, I have recently discovered Colbie Caillat. I know. Late to the party. Her cd's will be the soundtrack of my summer. Well, except for Newsboys and Toby Mac. But mostly Colbie and dreaming of the beach. I really love her first CD-tracks 18 and 19 especially. On her second CD I love track 7. Or is it 8? The one about blue eyes. Reminds me of JAMMF-if you don't know what that stands for then you won't get why I like the song either. Sorry.

6. Nothing makes me smile like a clean fridge. Well, except maybe a fridge stocked with healthy groceries. Maybe the clean space will inspire me to buy and eat more healthy. UPDATE: Here's hoping-still.

7. I'm still determined to get organized. I have been back to the 15 min/day plan. Although I have to step it up quite a bit to get to where I want to be by the end of the summer, it's a start at least. But I think my to do list is perhaps already overscheduled. Need to rein it in! UPDATE: Um, overcomitted much?

8. My newest favorite color is gray. Is that really a color? Hmmmmm...DISCUSS!

9. Trying to decide if I should purchase a Vera Bradley tote or make one out of Amy Butler material. What's your vote?!? UPDATE: Or maybe just use something I have. Yeah, ever once in awhile I choose the high road!

10. I'm nearly delirious about summer. Popsicles, cookouts, outings, late nights and everything else that goes with this magjcal time of the year. Summer makes me giddy! UPDATE: As if my summer would consist of such things. More like lectures, term papers, phone interviews followed by more of the same. I think I'll just daydream about the others. Hey, maybe I can eat popsicles while typing?!? Now, that's problem-solving!

BONUS THING: Are you a Gleek? I TOTALLY AM! And I love that they're going to repeat all the episodes this summer! YAAAAY!

Okay, JUST ONE MORE: I am loving Eric Carle and didn't actually realize he has written/illustrated as many books as he has. I had never heard of Mr. Seahorse, but fell in love with it! I had hoped to try his tissue paper collage method, but chickened out and did this in watercolor while daydreaming about the beach and visiting HERE. Have a mAgicAL summer!