The Crowd or the Cross

Busy Day

My blogging this week is a bit like waiting for a bus - you wait for ages then 3 turn up at the same time!!

I don't really know where the time has gone to this week - although I have managed to get to the gym three times this week, so feeling rather virtuous! Today I finally manged to get some scrapping done - 2 LOs in fact. Both LOs are for the 52in10 project.

This first one is of myself, aged 16, the prompt was to journal what advice would you give to your younger self. I think my first would be to grow your hair and not get it cut soo short!!! Seriously though I think I would tell myself to be bolder and have more confidence in my own ability. While there may be some small things I would like to change in my life (I would have liked to have gone abroad more for example), there are not really any major changes I would make!

The second LO was to be on Music which has influenced your life.

Jesus Lives

Jesus Lives by Sarah Young is a lovely hardbook, soft covered devotional book. It is a companion volume to Jesus Calling. The book is arranged in themes, such as Fear, Trust, Worshp etc and each theme covers a two page spread. The thoughts are written from Jesus point of view, as if He were talking directly to you, with Bible verses on the other page to back up the thoughts. The Bible verses have been chosen with care and fit the themes well. I liked the way that it feels as if Jesus is speaking directly to you, it made the devotions more personal and direct. I have been using this book as a daily devotional and on several occasions it spoke volumes to me. As a simple devotional book I think it fits the bill perfectly and would made a great gift for someone.

I have reviewed this book for BookSneeze

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First Challenge Live!

The first challenge is now up on FaithscrappersUK Challenge blog. It is a card challenge so why not hop over and have a look. You can find it here

Just in time!

I have finally finished knitting this jacket with Jaegar Natural Fleece! The first one I tried I ripped out as I didn't like it, but this one is OK.

I finished it in time to wear it today under my jacket for a walk along the beach. The weather was cold, but nice. Unfortunately it wasn't windy  enough for the boys to fly kites so we just walked!!!

Some photos from our walk.

Andrew likes to collect stones and shells from the beach, but we managed to convince him that this one was too big to take home.

After our walk we went to the local tearoom for tea and scones which were yummy!

Cute Shoes!

Lisa over at A Preachers Wife is getting excited, it's almost time for her book "You can still wear cute shoes" to be on sale. She is so excited that she is giving away some free copies - so why not pop over to her blog and enter!

List of 10

The challenge this week at ScrapWeekly was to do a LO with a list of 10 things. Now that I have got myself an Ipod Touch I am listening to music more, so I though I would do a LO on 10 artists that I currently listen to. In no particular order they are:

Chris de Burgh

Diana Krall

Dire Straits

Eagles

Keith & Kirstyn Getty

James Blunt

Miles Davies

Neil Diamond

Norah Jones

Stuart Townend

What are you currently listening to?

I know I have already done a page in Christmas Journal on my word FOCUS for the year, but the 52in10 prompt this week was to do a LO on our goals for the year, so I did another LO using my word FOCUS and splitting it into three areas - study, faith, hobbies and family.

This is why I scrapbook

Shimelle has a really interesting video on the reasons why she scrapbooks here I thought I would share with you some of the reasons why I scrapbook.

First I scrapbook because its fun, if I didn't enjoy it I would stop. I also enjoy being part of several on-line scrapping communities and have made friends through scrapbooking.

I scrapbook mainly for myself, I don't necessarily think about what will happen to my scrapbooks when I am no longer here - that's for the boys to decide!!! I have made a couple of special mini-books for them for special events - like one for John's years at primary school and for his trip to London.

I think scrapbooking is a good way to tell stories and is an interesting way to keep photos, although I do still keep other photos in a traditional photo album.

I find it fun to experiment a bit with all the different types of pretty paper and paint etc that you can get nowadays - although am definately trying to use up my existing stash before adding to it.

I have recently tried to incorporate my faith into my scrapping.

If you are a scrapbooker why do you scrapbook?

It's Friday today, so I though I had better bake some cakes for the weekend. I made these and they taste yummy!!

Thankfully all the snow from yesterday has now gone - we are just back to rain!!

Just when we thought it was over...

Just when we thought the thaw was coming and the pavements were finally clear of snow and ice we awoke this morning to find the place all white again! Now I know that compared to many places we don't actually have that much snow here, but for us this is a lot! So I went out and took some photos.

Thankfully it is almost all gone again now!

A decade apart

What a difference in 10 years! John looks rather grown up taller than me and Andrew is now 10 and fast catching up height wise! For the Millenium John was determined he wanted to get up at midnight and see the New Millenium in, so we wakened him up and surprisingly he was fine. Not to miss out on anything Andrew, who was only 4 months, decided to waken up too, so the four of us celebrated together! This year, ten years on, both boys can stay up easily - its their poor mother that gets tired now!

The decade has seen a few changes in our lives - we moved house in 2000, a new job for Gordon, new house, new school for John. John finished primary and is now in S4 waiting to sit exams. I've got a different hairstyle, different glasses, have new hobbies - I had never even heard of scrapbooking ten years ago. I own (and play) a Nintendo DS, have a mobile phone of my own, and an Ipod touch, am a member of several online communities and have a blog!

In 2005 I graduated with an HNC in Childcare and Education and am now studying with the Open University, next course starts in February!!

Sadly my Dad is no longer with us. My Mum now lives with us here in Stranraer. Last year was a year of operations for both John and myself.

The past decade has brought both highs and lows into our lives. Some things that we had hoped for have not happened. We enter a new decade together as a family, still trusting in God and looking forward to the next decade.

This LO was for the first prompt in 52in10 project, which Karen is running here

Friday Baking

This is one of the books I got for Christmas. It really is a lovely book and has lots of yummy sounding and looking recipes in it for all sorts of cakes - scones, bread, sponges, muffins etc.

Today felt like a scone day, cold and icy, so I made some of these for tea.

Everyone thought they tasted great with butter and jam, and want to know what I'm baking next.

Good job I have started going back to the gym then. I went back today, for the first time in 4 months, and was pleased with how I got on. Aiming to go three times a week from now on!

If anyone is interested then FaithScrappersUK have a design team call out at the moment. Details can be found here.

It's a Wrap!

as they say in the movie business! My Christmas 09 journal is now finished! The box containing all my Christmas papers etc has been packed away until next year, when I need to remember to look at it a bit earlier than December!!!

This is the page to finish my Journal with my word for the year - FOCUS!

A significant year!

Yes, this year I have a significant birthday - 21 again!!!! (well actually it is 50, but don't tell anyone!). The event happens in August, but I think I should really celebrate all year - don't you? I thought I would join in with Scrapdolly's 52in10 challenge which runs throughout the year. You can find out more about it here.

The idea is to do a LO based on a prompt every week throughout the year, the first prompt is up, so I have now got my thinking cap on and looking out photos - check back here later this week to see the finished LO.

As always at this time of year there are lots of new challenges about, and as always I like to start them, (not always finish them), so I am off for a scout around to find some more. If you know of any, please leave a link in the comments. Thanks.

New Year photos

Mum and my sister open a bottle at Midnight!

The boys and I - doesn't John look tall (or maybe I'm getting smaller!!)

New Years Day Brunch!

The reindeers which were are at our dinner places on New Years Day.

Word for the Year

Following Ali Edwards idea of choosing a word for the year again, this year my word is FOCUS. I have chosen this word as I would like to bring more focus and energy into various parts of my life this year. 

I am going to FOCUS on:

my studying - I start my next OU course in February.
my faith - reading more and being more open and sharing my thoughts
my hobbies - actually doing some scrapping, knitting and crochet, instead of just thinking about them
my family life - spending quality time with the boys and husband,
myself - allowing myself time to do the above, and to focus on health

I found a couple of quotes to go with these:

'Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.' Denis Waitley.

'When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.' Michael Lebouef.

'It's not what's happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it's your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you're going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny' Anthony Robbins.

Have you chosen a word for the year?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Happy New Year to you all! May 2010 bring health and happiness and blessing to you all!

I will be back later with some photos, once I have loaded them onto the PC. We had a lovely time, both boys stayed up until 2.30 am, then we had a long lie yesterday, followed by a Bucks Fizz and croissant Brunch, then the adults went back for another small kip, followed by dinner!!

Of course had to watch the last episode of  Dr Who with David Tennant, then Dr Who Confidential! I think David Tennant has been a great doctor so will watch with interest to see how Matt Smith gets on.