Time for a little change!

Do you like my new header? I do! My wonderful hubby...and to make it better REVA took this picture! She is really becoming a wonderful photographer!

So....guess who went back to work yesterday! HOOORAAAHHHH! Just hope he doesn't do more damage to the foot than good....so keep praying for the guy.

No Christmas tree up yet, but then again Thanksgiving was early this year. Maybe we can get the tree Sunday. haven't checked out the weather to see if it will be nice or not, but Sunday is like the only day we could go get it as a family.

I did a little scrapping this last weekend....yea! That is always a FUN thing...and did one layout that I LOVE! Another one of Reva's pictures of dh and I....tell me what you think?


I also got the December kit from QK and did a few cards from it! Make sure you check out those card kits! They ROCK! And you need to order JANUARY's NOW!!! Before they run out of them!

And while you are there, make sure you check out the December releases of her stamp sets! Woohooo!

AND after you shop there...hop over to Ascrappingfriendsy and get on the LIST for Club 52 for 2008! It promises to be an AWESOME year with add ons to the kit that will be optional, but limited and first come first serve!

Okay....so I'm off to upload the new stuff...make sure you check them all out...and if you wanna see all the stuff I've done lately, check out my gallery at A Scrappin Friendsy I go by the user name of Jules!

Man...I'm getting OLD!

I check this blog out almost every day and think to myself....'self....go post on your blog'....then I say 'okay....I'll do that in a minute'....and guess what....I loose the minute!

What is happening...hmmm....just been taking care of dh. He is going BACK to work on Monday! BUT keep him in your prayers...that foot is FAR from healed...it still just doesn't look good...dr started him back on antibiotics today. Hopefully that will help. It doesn't seem as swollen but it is really red....but at this point, he is up on it just about as much as he would be at work so might as well let him go back. He also got fitted for his shoes today. So I'm just going to trust in God and let HIM do the rest....nothing else I can do!

Did 5 loads of laundry yesterday....and 5 today...but the LAST one is in the dryer...can you hear it? YEA!

The kiddos came down this last weekend for Thanksgiving. So that means that this Thursday will be quiet and simple. I can handle that!

And of course I'm saving the best for last...another reason I'm GETTING OLD! Mason turns 18 in about 12 hours...sigh....that sweet little red head boy will no longer be a 'boy' but a MAN! We have something up our sleeves to give him for his birthday and I think he will be floored....can't wait until tomorrow night to see his face....I'll share pics hopefully!

Until then I'll leave ya with a few things I've managed to do over the last few weeks....oh...and make sure you check out the latest layouts from C52 AND cards from QK!

Tell Me November will be good!!!

Are there times you just hope for a better day....better month....better year? Well, I'll take it day by day but sure hope that November will be better than October! Can you believe hubby has been off work now for 4 weeks....sigh....he is soooooo antsy.....

We are going to the Dr tomorrow, well the 'lower extremities practitioner'. She is the one that was taking care of his toe...she came to see us while we were in the hospital and wants us to keep seeing her. She was initially (when we moved to MS!) Vince's general practitioner... so she has followed him for 9 years now...hopefully she will say it looks great to her. Then we see the dr that did the surgery next Thursday....for now he is 'supposed' to be NON weight bearing....ask me how THAT is going!!!

Anyway...just wanted to post for the new month! Here is to a GREAT November!

Home again...

We are home....surgery was successful! He felt great and did great! We got home this morning. I will say though, that through the day he went down hill....I think he is getting a bad cold...bless his heart....I hope that is all it is....

We did have an AWESOME thing happen today though! We got our car! We were sooooo blessed from the Teal Family at our church to GIVE us a car! It is amazing what God will do when you stand back and LET Him! It is a 1995 Buick Park Avenue! Now Vince and I have 'matching' cars! HA! It is more than I could have ever imagined! I drove it twice tonight! Need to get all the info on getting it tagged and get insurance on it! And hopefully tomorrow we can give the Tarus back! (which was a HUGE blessing too!!)

So....along with the yuck this week was lots of praises! And even for the 'yuck' we are PRAISING HIM!

Here are a few pics of the car!




Well...we did our family movie...although our 'family' is getting smaller for this tradition....it still was fun! Now I'm exhausted...so I'm going to go try to get some sleep!

The Verdict is in...

Okay....so....those of you that don't know we took dh to the Dr yesterday because of that pinky toe just not healing like it should. It started to look worse in a weird way since Monday. So...we went a day early to the dr and she set us up a consult with the vascular department. And they agree, we are going to have it amputated on Monday afternoon.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers throughout the weekend. I know we serve an AWESOME God and He is still able to heal it...to the point that we go in there on Monday and they look at us like we are crazy to get it amputated....but we also serve a God that will bring us through this if that is the best decision!

So...that is my story and I'm sticking with it. I did scrap a layout this week....needed that table for therapy! Here is my creation for the Scrapdragon challenge this week!


I also did this layout for Tally Survivor....didn't win anything this week but I'm pleased with the message behind the layout!

I'll try to write a little more tomorrow....it is Friday after all!

Wow....12 days!!!!

Man...it has been 12 days since I updated! How can it be?

Bet you could answer that just like me!

We saw some old friends (well, they aren't old, they are just friends we have known for more than a year....HA) . We had dinner with them as they were on their way through MS from Texas and headed to FL for a much needed and well deserved vacation! Diane and James, hope your trip went wonderful and it was great to see you guys! Next time it is OUR turn to head your way!

Saturday I paced the floor....dh had a bad ear infection and he kept complaining about his left arm hurting. Durn where is the blood pressure cuff when you WANT it????? I could not find it for the life of me and he would not go to the dr....typical though isn't it?

I went to WalMart and got some sweet oil and did one of my mom's remedies! I remember when I was little and had an ear ache, she would heat some of that up and drop it in my ear....so I did that for dh....it helped! Sunday after he woke up (he slept until 11:00) he felt better!
He says it is still tender but much better than it was. Guess it was the pain from that that caused everything else to hurt! Bless his heart...but sure kept me on my toes all weekend....

Also I did NOT like how his toe looked on Friday and Saturday...but yesterday and today I think it is looking better. I see the thing every day and sometimes I just can't tell if it is better or not...

I did get to scrap a little...that felt good! And today I did a layout for Tally Survivor that I would have NEVER done if I were not given the challenge! It was to use black cardstock as the background and NO patterned paper! So....I pulled rubons out....all sorts of them....and found the picture of Reva...she being the 'artsy' girl I knew it would be fun to be 'artsy' on a layout with her picture! So I just started to play....and here is the result:


What cha think???? I'm thinking I could do this again! HA! Really different for me but sure was fun!

Okay...so it is Monday night....dh is watching baseball....and the light is still on in my scrappin room....think I might go back in there!

Life....

Well...can you tell it kind of fell apart? I'm sending Amy the goodies I have for the card challenge! I feel bad that I didn't follow through any more....but life has its way of getting IN the way!

Will share the story of our anniversary weekend in the next post...it REALLY was a good thing! But right now if you are reading this I would like to ask you to pray for my wonderful hubby....several weeks ago we got him new shoes...this is the FIRST time since his prosthetic he got some.....he had a pair of steel toe shoes that looked like tennis shoes that just lasted....

So....we go shopping...found him two pair, good pair mind you....NOTHING cheap! Well...about a week after wearing one of them I noticed a blister on his little toe...uht oh....NOT a good thing for a diabetic at all....so....let's switch to the other pair.....just made it WORSE....he had a Dr's appointment and was smart enough to show her....off they take him to the foot care specialist.....she fusses and gives him meds....sends him home.....well.....she also gave him this silly shoe and said when it heals they would get him diabetic shoes....well...this silly shoe just made matters WORSE....it was not supportive at all and he started walking on the side of his foot...the side where the little toe is....and you guessed it....it became WORSE...much worse....went to the Dr Monday and she called in the actual dr (nurse practitioner is who he was seeing)....she ordered blood work....and litterally scalped his toe....he has no skin on it....and they found a blister on his heal....she also scalped that....and ordered him to STAY OFF HIS FOOT or he would loose the whole thing! Came home on double antibiotics only because his blood count was at 16 and they won't admit until it is at 18....

So....we are doing all we can, but mostly praying!!! He goes back Friday to evaluate if they will admit him and take the toe on Monday....we COVET prayers.....

Some of the Elders in our church are coming over tonight to anoint him and pray over him.....we covet all prayers! STORM THE GATES!!!!!

So...needless to say....the card challenge was left in the dust....Amy though...is about to get a nice little goodie box from me!

What is a girl to do?

I'm thinking.....yes....I have some more BH sketches that we can use and I'm gonna post them...but I think I'm going to finish posting them all this weekend....that way if anyone wants to sit down to do them ALL and have a HUGE card making feast they can....I think also if I do this challenge again that I'm only going to post a couple of sketches a week....don't think I've ever made so many cards in one month! HA!

Here is one more sketch and hopefully Saturday I can sit down and just post the rest of them.....I WILL make cards with ALL of these sketches....right now it looks like Amy is going to take it away with this stack of goodies...but there is STILL time!!!!!



Okay...so....life BEYOND the sketches is CRAZY! This week there just aren't enough hours in a day....But who am I to complain!!! I am blessed beyond measure and I owe all of it to an AWESOME God!

It looks like we have finally settled on the car....hopefully will have a check here in a week or so...now when it comes to the pain and suffering part, who knows how long that will take....need to make sure our attorney has ALL the bills....

Next weekend Vince and celebrate 20 years!!! Wow....where has the time gone?? Think I need to do a whole post dedicated to my wonderful hubby....and the 20 phenomenal years we have had together! Guess right now though, I'll close.....

Where did Monday go???

Oh man....where did Monday go??? I was non stop go and didn't even get to come ON here much less post the sketch! So sorry guys!

Apparently AT&T decided to upgrade their email server and in doing so lost the email list for our ASF Newsletter! So.....that meant I had to manually (luckily it was copy/paste) almost 600 names into the new one! Oh joy.....got it done though, so that is a good thing and now it will be a tad easier to manage!

Guess I need to post the sketch huh?

This one is going to take a little creative thinking! BTW...it is the CURRENT sketch! So....why not submit it after you create it!?!

Saturday...1/2 way through Sept!

Where is this month going??? I'm sitting here covered in fire ant bites...YUCK....we did some yard work on Friday and then later today we will be finishing up the back yard. At least my yard will look nice right?

I actually sat down at my table tonight and made 6 cards! YIPPIE! So....along with the sketch this time I HAVE the samples. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get a few more made tomorrow...I'd also like to do a layout! HA! Need to do one more DT project for the end of the month AND 4 more to meet my goal. I've blown my card making goal out of the water this year...

Anyway...without further ado...here is the next sketch



And here are the examples!

Thursday!

AAKK!!! I'm getting behind!!! Just haven't had a chance to SIT down to create this week....BUT after today it should be a little better....guess I'll be making lots of cards tomorrow!

Here is the sketch though! Should be fun!








Dh and I got to sneak out to lunch today!!! We went to our favorite place (of course)....BUT the neat thing is we got a special treat! Apparently there is a special holiday for Japan in Mid Sept called the 'Moon Festival' Where: Families unite to watch the full moon rise and to eat moon cakes. Couples enjoy evening romance under the light of the full moon.

Well....our guy that we love so much gave us a Moon Cake!!!! How different! But we are the kind of folks that love to try new things and learn at the same time! We feel so special when we go there....even the owner just laughs when he sees us with Ben....he comes over quite often even....I won't tell you what was in this particular 'Moon Cake' because some of you would just go what....you ate that....but I will say in OUR opinion it is GOOD!

Here....check this out to read about the Moon Festival! VERY interesting!!!

Here is a picture of some 'Moon Pies' so neat that we not only eat at our favorite restaurant but that we always get a little bit of education when we go there!


So let me invite you to find YOUR favorite restaurant and not only EAT there but dig into the culture too!

Tuesday Sketch!

Well....at least Amy and I are getting lots of cards made! And I'm loving them! Sure wish a few more of you guys that are 'peeking' in would join us! I've got a nice little pile going for the winner and there is STILL time!!!!

Woohooo! Got the Sept Card Kit for Queen Kat! Check out the goodies! Made 5 cards with it tonight and I have enough stuff to make at LEAST 10 more!

Sunday's Sketch!

Woohooo! I had a great time this weekend!!! I did 7 layouts and 4 cards! Wooohooo! And that means I have samples for this sketch! Wooohooo!!




I just wish I the scan for the first one looked better! I LOVE these cards! Also...the 'enjoy' from the second card is a Target gift card! LOVE these things!

Sure wish a few more folks would play along....but that is okay....Amy and I are having a blast!

4th sketch!

So like Amy said...WHERE ARE YOU ALL??? I know you are LOOKING because I see the counter showing there are folks visiting.....come on! Easy challanges here and some great loot to be won! So far there are a few stamp sets in there some chipboard and tomorrow I'm headed to the store to add to it!

Here is the next sketch! Also....please note....Sunday's sketch will probably not be posted until Sunday afternoon! Since I'm gone until Sat night and NO sleep I'm sure I won't get near the computer until Sunday afternoon! But one of my GOALS this weekend is to finish all the samples for these challenge this weekend! Woohooo!






Here are my examples! Can't wait to see what ya come up with! Have fun!

3rd sketch!

Okay...here it is...the third sketch! And the good news is I've even picked the fourth...but you don't get it yet.....BUT hopefully I'll have examples BEFORE I post them! At least that is my goal...so here is the 3rd sketch....and I'll have samples soon!

Second Sketch!

Woohooo! Got some entries! I put up the slide show and will add all cards (unless you say I can't). Here is the second sketch! What cha gonna do with this one??? It is from her first book of sketches!
Here are the examples!

National Stamping Month!!!

Woohooo! It is NATIONAL stamping month! And I wanna celebrate! I had a BIG idea today when I was going through my new CK Mag....saw how someone now is always doing a card with Becky's sketches! Thought to myself...pretty fun idea! Why not go back to some of her older sketches and see what we could come up with...

SOOOOO.....here is the deal! Every other day I'm gonna post one of Becky's older sketches
(clicking on that will take you to her site with all the sketches!) and I CHALLENGE YOU to create a card (or two) from her sketches! For everyone that you send a link to I'll put your name in the hat for a drawing of a NICE prize package! It will be at LEAST valued at $25 and will include everything from paper to stamps!!! So...what are you waiting for! Also...if it is okay that I snag your creations I'll put them all in a slide show to share on here!

Here is the first sketch! Feel free to us EITHER side of this one! (or do a card for both!)

It is from June 2006

Here are some examples to get the juices flowing!



OOOOHHH....and if you want MORE chances to win...BRING a friend or two or three along! For every friend that you bring to play I'll give you 5 more chances! Just make sure that YOU BOTH mention that you brought them here!

It's been a while...

So I was told (basically...in a round about way) that it is time for me to UPDATE this blog! Since Vince got the stitches my life just has not been fun...of course they don't want to heal. He was off work for 10 days. When he finally got his leg back (the prosthetic dr kept it hostage...ha!) we thought things were going to look up. He could not put it on right away because of some swelling. Well...apparently it is swollen where it has changed things a lot for his leg. He got it back last Friday....couldn't put it on but Sat am he was able to...after about 2 hours though it really started to hurt. Took it off and wore it a few more times that day. Sunday it was worse. More pain...so back to the dr he went on Monday. They have realized that the swelling really has not gone down. He took a liner that he had in his leg out to provide some comfort and while he was doing that realized that Vince had lost a few stitches. Not a huge problem except in one area.

Anyway....they discussed that taking the liner out would help...it has a bit but not really. He went to work Tuesday and by the time he got home he was screaming. He had to use a cart to help him around work just to get through the day. Today it was maybe a HAIR better, but you can still see the pain. He made it through another day at work though...

His boss called today not realizing that he was even BACK! How funny it that! On a GREAT note they are sending him some help next week. And he will be local again. So that is GREAT news. He has Monday off so we are praying that with Sat/Sun/Mon off maybe it will get better yet.

I pulled out 3 stitches, he lost 3 or 4 but there are still 3 in there. Going to leave them there through the weekend. Don't see how that could hurt. And really there is only one area (again about the size of an inch) that just doesn't look good. Not that it is so bad that there is an infection, I just wish it would close up better. It isn't oozing, or if it is it is NOT blood...(last night it was oozing blood a little)...

Sigh, sigh, sigh....I know God is in the midst of all this, really I do but yet I cry out to Him.

On a GOOD note, we have started school and for the most part that is going great. Monday was a 'monday' but we almost expect that. Reva is holding an A and a B in her work right now so I'm okay with that....oh....and her attitude is much better! We are speaking again...HA!

Okay...I'll stop rambling and leave ya with this layout that I did. It was featured in Lifetime Moments online newsletter! Woohooo for me! Guess you could almost call that my first little 'toot'.....

Not the way I wanted to Spend a Tuesday Evening!

Sigh....about 4:50ish or so my dh called me....thought it was the normal 'I'm on my way home' call...but it started out..."Honey, I have a problem"....I so don't like those words!!! (if you are very squeamish don't read on until the last few paragraphs....)

So if you saw one of my last layouts (below) you know he has a prosthetic....has had it for 2 years now. To wear his prosthetic he wears a thing called a liner that has a pin attached to the end of it and that is what clicks into the prosthetic....well...the pin unscrewed some how without him knowing it and as he stepped forward his leg didn't...and he fell on his stump...he told me he got it attached but apparently it was bleeding pretty bad....he was at one of his stores (he is a field service rep for a company that has its products in Lowes) that is about an hour and a half away...he drives home...comes in the house and yup....it looked pretty bad....

We got him in the shower and his liner off and it did NOT look good...some how it was RIPPED open (the skin on his leg)....told him we were headed to the VA as soon as we got him dressed....it wasn't really bleeding any more just knew it needed stitches....

Got to the VA and after 3 of the young interns saw it they decided to call the surgeon....so he came in....cleaned it out (still had lots of yucky clots)....got it to stop bleeding and then the stitches...4 on the INSIDE and somewhere around 10 on the outside...I haven't really gotten to where I can count them....he is out of his leg for the rest of the week....and we will try it a few hours on Saturday and Sunday...if it looks okay he will go to work on Monday....he has the stitches for 2 weeks..the ONLY GOOD thing is the rip is in the front of the leg and not on the bottom....when you wear a prosthetic you actually put the weight on your knee....and you don't walk on the stump....so hopefully it will be okay for him to work....

If you are a praying folk PLEASE pray for this to heal...he is diabetic and that is NOT his strong point (doesn't heal well)....last year he was out of his leg for a month because of an ingrown hair on his leg causing a blister and it was awful...got infected and everything...please pray that this doesn't happen again....

Sigh...so not how I planned for my evening to go...much less my next few days....but I love this guy beyond measure and will be 'nurse' again....and durn it all...if I wasn't working on my cards for the challenge! I got ONE of them done and 1/2 of another...maybe....just maybe....I can finish it tomorrow....

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!!!! We would SOOO appreciate them!

Words On Paper

I was 'cleaning' up yesterday and a piece of paper fell out on the floor....of course I said to myself...what is that....so I bend over...pick it up and realize it is a love letter my wonderful dh wrote me right after he had gotten his prosthetic...after a year dealing with casting because of a disease called 'Charkot Foot' and it not healing we had a difficult choice to make...and we opted to have his leg amputated so he could go on with life...if we had not chosen that we would have had to face surgeries after surgeries to fix the 'bad' problems and then eventually probably face the amputation anyway...so.....much prayer and thought and my wonderful hubby had his leg amputated on July 1, 2005.....it wouldn't heal....it got infected because of falling on it while on his crutches trying to help after Katrina and he fell in a oil filled garage...so....on Sept 4, 2005 he had to go for a revision...thought it would be simple...cut off about another inch and go with it...well....it was severely infected and we were in the hospital much longer than we thought and he had to actually go to surgery, and the couldn't close it (had to let the infection drain) and then go BACK to surgery a few days later to actually take the inch and close....but FINALLY it healed...and right around thanksgiving of 2005 he got his prosthetic!!! Few ups and downs since but all in all we know we chose the right option! Anyway...back to the letter....it was a letter he had written me after going through all of this....I reread it and of course words popped out at me and screamed...'SCRAP ME'....and that is exactly what I did. I did take the liberty to hand write his letter in my own handwriting, BUT it has every spelling booboo and grammatical error that the original does...AND the original is folded behind my handwritten one. I hope one days my kids will love this layout like I do...not only is it words from their wonderful father, but their mom used her hand writing too.....

Here is the letter:

Dec. 12, 2005
My Love,
Words on paper continue to fall short as to what my heart bursts to express. Your husband searches and never finds...you are like a rare gem that eludes a miner who spends a life time looking for...the words to express my heart are always two feet burried deeper...i tire yet my love for you remains hidden in your heart. I love you.
It has been a tough year for me physically, mentally and spiritually. I've endured pain, fear and uncertainty. I at one time was lost in a spiritual desert,thirsting for GOD's comfort, you remained my compass helping me find my way. In my pain you felt. In my uncertainty you showed confidence in me. You have calmed me in my many 'storms' of life, always reminding me of Christ's love to which you radiate and warm my cold heart.
You are the ingredient to my strength to go on. God provided the mixing bowl you are the chef. Through all my struggles in life you are there at my side, going thru it too and giving yourself to the point of depletion. Women always do.
I am richer knowing you, wealthy for having you and stronger for loving you.
Wife is a word you grace and give meaning to its tone. When I say it, it warms my heart and comforts my soul. when I think it there is only one picture of you in my mind....you
all this...words on paper, yet still my definition of how much I love you is burried on the next page. You define my heart and capture my soul.....
You are that gem............I am your Husband...........thank you, I am honored

And here is the layout...