A little heritage...

So... how's this for interesting? I'll cut to the chase here... the baby in the picture is my grandfather who passed away several years ago. The guy holding the baby is my great-grandfather, and the man in the hat is my great-great grandfather. This summer I went to a scrapbooking retreat type of event and it got me really looking at my old and my family's old pictures. This picture is one that I got from my grandma on my last visit to their house while my grandpa was still alive. She knows that I love pictures and had recently had many of the old heritage photos scanned and placed onto CD. This picture has been sitting in my computer for years and I haven't gotten a good look at it in a while. How amazing is it that this picture is in such great shape? I can't believe how much my great-grandpa looks like my grandpa... or even my dad for that matter. It is so strange to think that this baby is going to become a doctor who cares for people in time of war. It is also so strange that this is the same guy I know to be my grandpa. Heritage is such a mind boggling thing for me. I really don't know much... I'd love to learn more. This picture can tell so many stories... I'm just sure of it. Where are they? Who took the picture? What did that camera look like? And who could I talk to today that could give me some answers? I'm going to have to work on this a bit. This is just yet another reason I love pictures and scrapbooking.

Yep... that's my guy

This picture is what is going to inspire me tonight. I uploaded this about a month ago and cruised right by it... then the other day I stopped and really looked it. This is Justin and his nephew Landon. I love this picture because of the looks on both of their faces. They both look thoroughly amused and genuinely happy. I noticed Justin first... he looks like he's laughing and enjoying every moment of his job here... but later I caught the look in Landon's eye. It's just that look of joy... and admiration for his Uncle Justin. So darn cute. Justin got nominated to paint faces at his niece's birthday carnival... Landon wanted to be a cow... so Justin willingly turned him into a cow. :) Such a simple chain of events that helped me to capture this amazing moment on film. Love it.

A happy photo

Go Ducks! Looking forward to tomorrow's game. Plus... I needed a pick-me-up after that last blog entry.

My biggest fear

So I just got home from a long day/night at work to find 8 fire trucks, 3 ambulances, several police cars, Clark Public Utilities vehicles, some weird red fire bus, and many other utility vehicles one block away from my house. The air smelled of smoke & fire and there were people milling around everywhere. It was an amazingly frightening sight to come home to. I have NEVER seen so many flashing lights in one place in my life. I walked down to the scene and found out that there was a house fire... obviously a large one... that had started in an attic and had only been out for minutes when I had arrived.

I have feared the idea of a house fire my entire life. My mom had a fire in her apartment when she was in college and I have always heard about how devastating it can be. I think about all of the things in my house that I love and cherish. I've got so many pictures, memorabilia, and sheer scrapbooking and crafting product that it would just devastate me. Not to mention my cats :( Oh... I feel so badly for the family involved and only hope that no one was injured.

It is one of those moments that reminds you to:
make sure you have insurance
make sure that candle in the other room gets blown out
unplug that computer charger that seems to spark a little whenever you plug it in (yes... I have one like this)
take care of any sketchy wiring in you house
for the love of god, keep your smoke detector batteries working and appreciate when it starts to beep relentlessly at 4am
and finally... just be prepared

So, my neighbor just knocked on my door and informed me that not only did we have that fire here in the cul-de-sac next to us tonight, but there was a house fire only a couple more blocks over right near Mt. View earlier today and a car had crashed right in front of that cul-de-sac also earlier today and caught fire as well. Wow.

I've got to stop thinking about all of this... so, with the news of hurricane Ike hitting Texas at any moment broadcasting on my tv and the sounds of sirens ringing in the air... I'm going to try to catch some zzzz's after a chapter or two of Harry Potter. What a week.

A look back... circa 1982ish

So today I thought I'd get a little more thoughtful in this whole blogging thing. I've been sitting down to write a little something at nearly midnight each night and I'm often concerned about getting to bed... tonight I've got a bit of time to reflect so here it goes.

I was scanning photos and came across this one. My brother and I circa 1982ish. It gives me such a cozy feeling inside. Not because I remember this day or anything... but maybe because I don't. :) I have no idea where we are or what we are doing. My mom could probably fill you in, but I'm not so sure that's necessary. Please look at my shoes and my brother's socks. They are amazing. Not to mention Kevin's arm lovingly placed around my shoulder. :) This is a day before two more little sisters... back when it was just us. Like I said, I was too young to have any real vivid memories of these times, but I do remember just loving my big brother and wanting to do everything with him and his friends.

• I have the best memories of playing baseball with the boys in our cul-de-sac until it got dark out. To this day I think you could take me back there and I could show you where all the bases were... and the pitcher's mound. :)

This picture makes me feel loved all over again by him and I just love it. My siblings and I are very fond of eachother... but we don't call eachother for no reason or talk too much about daily life. That is perhaps something we should all work on... And unfortunately, now that my brother and I are getting older and finally have more to talk about, he now lives all the way across the country in Florida. I miss him not being here and hope that someday he will decide to move his family back out this way. Until then, I look forward to holidays and summer visits with him, Amanda, and those two amazing girls of his. More on them another day... but for now... here is my favorite picture of them... so cute!!!

Yep... I'm lucky

Okay... so I have always struggled with finding the right guy... a nice guy... one who will always treat me with respect and never give me a reason to be angry. I've found him. And although he is not always forthcoming with his thoughts, I know that he loves me by the way he treats me and makes me feel. (Not to say that hearing it more often wouldn't be nice sometimes... in case you (Justin) are reading this)

So... Justin isn't huge on surprises or gifts for no reason... but today he surprised me. I just bought a huge new t.v. on Monday and while I was at school today he bought and hooked up a fancy dvd player with all the trimmings for me. It was such a nice treat to come home to and I'm just so excited to watch a movie and enjoy the show. Thank you Justin for the lovely surprise... It was so nice of you :). Some girls go for jewlery... all I need are some fancy electronics. :)

Tuesday nights

I truly think that I hate Tuesday nights even more than I hate my Wednesday. Wednesday should be the worse of two evils because I work about 15 hours and have a very little break... but there is just something about knowing that it's coming that just seems worse. Tuesday night means making sure everything is taken care of that needs to be done until Thursday evening. It means everything should be cleaner and more organized than it needs to be any other night that I finally go to bed. It means my clothes need to be chosen wisely, that my apron needs to be located (and clean), and it means the dishwasher should be run, the cat boxes need to be cleaned out, emails should be answered, and anything I need done for the weekend needs to be thought out and in the beginning processes NOW. Geez... just think what my list will look like if I ever have a child to worry about too... this list will look silly. That's probably all that you folks with children were thinking already anyways. :) Well... for me... Tuesday nights are terrible. At least on Wednesday it's just go go go... good thing I love teaching and at least like the people I work with at the restaurant. Otherwise... Wednesday may win as the worst time in my week.

Okay... It's day two...

So... I promised that I would post another blog tonight so here I am. I think I might have convinced another person to start up a blog too. She at least has a child to tell stories about, but I am already hooked and the more the merrier! I think she's going to love it. I love reading my friends' blogs. It is such a treat to get a day to day look at their life when we are too busy to talk to eachother on a day to day basis. I'm hoping to use this as somewhat of a creative journal and a way to update those who want to know what I do that requires two crafting rooms :).

This last weekend I was in Eugene for a football game on Saturday and managed to find a scrapbooking gathering to attend after the game. I was lucky enough to meet up with my scrapbooking idol Ali Edwards (she's got a very inspiring blog... I have to figure out how to link it to mine so you can check it out) and a few of her friends. I think there were ten of us there. We got to create a little something and just sit and visit for a few hours. It was so great to have some face time with Ali and have to opportunity to flip through some of her very own amazing scrapbooks. I know it sounds silly to some that a scrapbooker could be so high on my list of idols, but it's true. She is a very real, very talented, and very inspiring person and I consider myself very lucky to have been able to spend time with her.


The next day was Sunday and the same set of ladies had a field trip scheduled for the Coburg Antique Fair which was really a lot of fun. I ended up going with Justin's mom rather than them, but I did find what I was looking for. In one of the books Ali Edwards has written, she had a picture of a piece of wall art that she created out of an old antique type-set drawer. Well... after hours of looking, I found one. It's huge, heavy, dirty, and I'm sorta overwhelmed by the thought that I could ever create something truly hangable... but I'm going to try. Justin came over and helped me out by removing some of the extra dividers in the drawer so that I can fit bigger things. I'll upload some before and after photos when I am finished. Here's to hoping I will succeed in making something useful.

Well... Monday night football, teaching a full day of class, having a broken air conditioner, and purchasing my first 42'' flat screen tv today had totally tuckered me out. Maybe I'll attempt to add a picture to my blog tomorrow. That's the goal.

Wow... I did it!

Okay... so I've wanted to do this for a while, but let's be honest... the idea of blogging... without any children to talk about... just seemed a little silly to me. Then I realized that I was thinking about it way to often not to just go ahead and do it. So... if you care about what I'm up to... my current projects at home or in my (two) crafting rooms... then you can read my posts. Otherwise... this will just be for me. :)

I've already missed my bedtime by deciding to do this, so for now... it's off to bed. I've got to start week two of the new school year rested. I'll (with any luck) post again tomorrow.