Second Trip to Arizona - Arizona Diamondbacks Game

This is my second trip to Arizona with only a month in between visits. The weather continues to be horrid winter snow back home so I am thankful for this blessing of being able to show my hubby and boys Arizona. The weather has been awesome for me ~ not so awesome for hubby as he is broken out in thick hives all over the front of his upper body from the heat/sun. I didn't think of his allergic reaction to the sun when I booked the flights (it completely slipped my mind), all I was thinking is that I really need to get out of all this winter as over six months of it was driving me insane. I feel like such a heel that hubby is all broken out but he is being really good about it and is quite the trooper.
So far this trip we have had a blast at the mall going to a huge arcade and playing games one afternoon where the boys both earned awesome prizes from their tickets; we have had a great time in the pool here at the condo; went to a fabulous restaurant called Camajones with incredible decor from horses (literally) hanging from the ceiling to beautiful art work that I couldn't even explain if I wanted to. A definite must if you ever go to Scottsdale. We have taken some scenic drives up near the mountains and went for a walk in the desert at Lost Dog Trails and saw the most amazing mexican style mansions.
Randy's sister Pat and her daughter Veronica came for dinner lastnight and we all went for a lovely 'old style mexican' meal. The boys chatted them up throughout the meal all the way to dessert! It was so wonderful to see them as it has been a few years now. Pat has been so wonderful with allowing us to stay in the condo and the amazing Diamondback seats that were directly behind the batting mound (?), with access to a private lounge, bathrooms and valet parking! We have never experienced these things before!
I am still taking in all the beautiful mexican architecture and design around me wherever we go ~ I think I appreciate it much more than my hubby or the boys. lol. I don't get to hear all the spanish music and such because they don't like listening to music that they can't understand - LOL. I think next time I come it will be with a girlfriend of mine like the first trip. It's still such an amazing place to visit and we have all really enjoyed ourselves.
Happy creating!
Kelly

Bling on my Fing's!

I got my nails done yesterday and Daniv, my nail lady, put some 'bling-on-my-fing's'! I first saw this from my girlfriend Nancy who had her's done like this but I didn't do it right away. I only get my nails done when I go on vacation ~ it's a nice treat!
Daniv has her nail tips done in glitter silver and it looks awesome! I love finding new ways to be feminine!
Happy creating!
Kelly

Laughter Journal Entry

I have been trying really hard to be less stressed lately... so... I have found myself turning to my art journaling more. I don't really know why I have been stressed out I mean I am off on vacation in a few days to Arizona ~ my most recent favorite place in the world!... so what's all the stress about? It's really silly because I should be relying on God to help take my stress away right? Oy vay! I hate it (but love it) when I learn from myself what I should be doing! lol.

So... the journal entries... a flyer came in the mail with all these movie titles in it and I decided to cut them all out (my favorite ones) and arrange them on a journal page. My original intent was to show how much I love movies and I was going to glue all my movie ticket stubs on the page, but now I can't find them so I was only able to put the last movie I saw on the page~ Fast and Furious - awesome movie!

The next page I posted was one that I had done a few months back but just now found it in my journaling supplies. I guess I was in a black/white mood as I tended to be a few months ago. I also think I was feeling in a feminine mood as well wanting to portray the beauty of being feminine. Sometimes I will just start drawing and not know what it is that I am feeling until I am finished the page. That is a great feeling ~ finishing a page, looking back on it and then realizing the mood I was in.

The third post is one I finished today. LAUGHTER ~ what a great blessing laughter is. In fact I wish I could laugh right now and relieve some pent up stress! Quick someone call me and make me laugh will you??? lol. There's a "cyber-laugh" ~ not quite as relieving as the real thing though! If you enlarge the picture by double-clicking on it you can read why I chose to write on laughter.

Enjoy and Happy Creating ~ don't forget to leave your comment. Cheers.

Kelly

Just Had To Journal Entry Today

Is today Monday? I hadn't noticed! Ya right! First I continued to forget things from upstairs to bring downstairs to get ready to leave for work, then I couldn't find my shoes, then when I got to work I realized I hadn't brought my glasses for the computer (glare protection for headaches)... IT IS DEFINITELY MONDAY!!!! LOL. I can laugh now that it's almost over. I was consistent today in that my frustration just grew and grew. I think I am stressed inside because my (12 year old) baby is off to "Outdoor School" for the first time tomorrow for three days. We have never let him go on his own before, we have always gone as counsellors during the summers. It was really hard to hold back on the "Mommying" - my hubby wouldn't even let me pack up his stuff because I was going overboard with things I thought he might need to take. I just want him to be prepared "in-case" any scenario may arise where he is trapped for a month inside of a cave without any way of warmth or food! What's wrong with that? I am supposed to be okay with just letting him go without even looking in his bag??? Yikes - I think I may need to take a sleeping pill tonight! I obviously didn't read the Mummy Manual chapter on "Letting Them Grow Up"!

Okay... so the above is the reason for my journal entry today. I needed to do something with my hands and I wanted it to look pretty so not to be just a negative venting page. I used a blank white sheet of drawing paper. Spritzed it with different colors of glitter mist by Adirondak. Used my new brayer to roll out some of the spray in different directions. Dropped drops of alcohol ink (Tim Holtz) and brayed again though it didn't spread but more soaked into the paper. I layered three different colored sheets of scrap paper. Then I cut out a flower from another sheet of paper and used mounting squares to raise the surfaces. I then used my new Chalk writer to outline the drops of alcohol ink in white. I used self leveling gel to create a glossy texture over top of the flowers at the bottom. The button on the lower right corner of the page I found on the road the other day. I have discovered that I am a 'packrat' like my Dad and tend to pick up things off the ground that I can use in my journals. This button worked perfectly as I colored it with my copic marker to the same color I used to journal with. Even though this page is actually a "venting" page ~ it doesn't feel like one because I have 'prettied' it up a bit with all the creative tid bits!
I hope you like it!
Happy Creating Everyone!
Kelly

Living Hands Journal Entry

Hands... ahhhhhh... I love drawing hands. They are capable of so much. We feel texture, love, warmth, emotion and so much more with our hands giving and receiving. When I first began art journaling my girlfriend Alice showed me the idea of drawing an outline of your hand and then filling it in with all sorts of things about yourself. My first entry (which you can view at the beginning of this blog site) showed the outline of my hand and I filled it in with pictures of myself as a young adult. Then I filled the page in around it explaining how God had taken me through the journey of discovering how "Vain" I was as a young adult. All my focus at that time was on my 'outer shell' and perfecting it! I used to take five hours to get ready at times! How ridiculous is that? Now I have to snicker because if I try hard I can get ready in 10 minutes now! That page was a healing process and I find that many pages I do are used for that purpose. My art journaling has been a HUGE journey to healing for me. Even looking at this current page and comparing it to my "Vanity" page in the beginning I have realized how much I have grown as a person, as a child of God, as a mother and wife.
I have journaled since I was nine years old and I found that looking back at those journals was very painful because there were many negative, traumatic events in my past that I had recorded in these journals. It was too difficult to read through them, so... in my healing process I made the choice to get rid of them. From that moment on I chose to only do "healing" journal's that showed my journey to healing with the Lord's help. Even if some pages I do are negative they are still useful to me as my journey continues, it helps me to let go of things that have binded me up.
Well, I hope you enjoy this entry. God bless and happy creating.
Kelly

Creative and Positive Energy Journal Page

My journal pages lately have really lacked color. So... I started and finished this journal page full of color and 'Creative and Positive Energy'. I got the saying from a Graffiti book of my son's and have been learning to draw letters 'graffiti' style. I think it's very important to include positive journal entries that are full of color. With 6 months and going... snowy cold weather here in Calgary... it has been really difficult to stay positive with uplifting messages. I have been so depressed because of this weather ~ I have purchased a number of 'journaling' books over the winter searching for any and all inspiration I can get. It hasn't really worked until this page. I am pleased by the outcome, it makes me smile and that means that I have succeeded.
My girlfriend Nancy sent me a wonderful full-of-color blog link the other day and I want to pass on this link to you. www.ilikemarkers.blogspot.com On this site you will find some amazing Copic Marker tips and demonstrations. If you love copics, this is the site you need to visit!
Well, Happy Friday everyone! Happy Creating!
Kelly

This is Not Goodbye... But I will see you in awhile...

It was just before Expo 1986 when I went over to my Uncle Carl and Auntie Ruby's home for the first time. They had a beautiful flower garden and a small bungalo home. To me it was lovely. I would have been 15 years old. My Uncle Carl set out some cookies and Tea for my Auntie Ruby and myself to have while we had a very grown up chat. This memory sticks out so strongly in my mind because I remember feeling appreciated and special and loved even though I didn't really know them too well. A few weeks later she asked me to go with her to Expo'86. This was a huge responsibility as my Auntie Ruby was in a wheel chair and I was going to take care of her for the whole day. I remember being so much in love with my Auntie Ruby. She was so sweet and gentle and loving ~ most of all she knew the gentle grace of God and filled me with so much wisdom that day. I would never have gotten to go to Expo without going with her and I thoroughly enjoyed it (I can honestly say I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much had I not gone with her). There was one exhibit on religions and I remember us both being really excited to go see it ~ we were not disappointed as it was exquisite. That day will be with me always and I will appreciate Carl and Ruby for their generousity, grace and love forever.
So my sweet Auntie Ruby, 'thank you so much for all the stamps in my Expo'86 passport', thank you for showing the 'Love of God to me' and for treating me so special. This is not goodbye, but I will see you in awhile. I love you.
Kelly

Everybody Fooled

Journaling over the past couple of days... the theme; "Everybody Fooled"! Why would I come up with something like that? Well I was listening to Evanescence last week and there is a song with the words 'Everybody Fooled' in it and it got me thinking that I am too trusting of people. I have allowed some to come into my life who I thought needed me and I have tried really hard to help them with whatever they needed... however, my heart seems to almost always get hurt in the process. I like to believe in people, to believe the good ... the trusting nature of people in general. I would love it if everyone who came into my life was going to be completely open and honest and trustworthy... the facts though tend to not always point in that direction. People are human, with human emotions, thoughts, hearts! We will never know another person's heart completely, only God know's the full content of our hearts. I guess it is another learning experience for me about how much I open up my heart. to people or not.
I guess I have questions... how do you know who to trust and who not to trust in this life? I know I need to definitely pray and allow God's healing to flow through me. I will also pray that God reveals to me who I can open my heart to or not.
I pray you have better luck with this than me.
Kelly

6th Folder in your photos!

Here are the rules:
•Open your photo folder on your computer
•Open the 6th folder of photos
•Select the 6th picture
•Post the picture on your blog with a description
•Invite six friends to join the challenge
•Link your six friends to your blog post
(or you can let anyone who reads your blog participate.)
Leave me a link in the comments is you decide to do this.

Well... here is my photo... I am obviously naturally a woman - lol. My picture is of the closet from the condo in Arizona! Thanks Michelle for sharing this on your blog over at Creative Treasures.

Evanescence down here!

I have been listening to Evanescence lately because a friend from the past brought it up and I hear it so differently now. I love their "Fallen" CD because it speaks to me on so many levels as when I first heard them I was in the deepest depression. It broke through barriers that were really hard to break through. They seemed to be calling out to God to help them, to remember them. One song in particular spoke to me, "Everybody's Fool" about someone pretending to be someone they aren't and everyone around them being in love with that person not realizing that the person behind the mask is not really who they think they are! For many years to hide my pain I would put on a mask as if everything was just awesome, inside I was a huge ball of stress and anger and depression. The person I used to be is dead ~ no more to surface again. Thinking back on the past lately has brought up old feelings and emotions that have put me in a very uncomfortable place. I do not ever want to be that person behind the mask again! God has renewed me and made me whole for the first time in my life!
Kelly

Beautiful Murals

One thing I love is seeing new murals. I have such a deep respect for people who put their art out there and paint murals for everyone to see. These murals were the his/her bathroom doors at the Rainforest Cafe. I loved them so much I had to take a picture. When I was in Arizona I took pictures of so many things... new textures, new colors... everything! I wish I was able to hit some of the art galleries when I went last time but I'm going again in April and will hit them then.
Enjoy them!
Hugs everyone
Kelly

Relaxation Destination Arizona

I so needed that vacation!!!!!!!!! My girlfriend Kelly and I went for tea about five or six months back and we heard on the radio that the weather in Calgary for the winter was not going to be too pleasant ~ in fact it was going to be downright nasty! So... we came up with a plan of attack to get through the winter ~ we would head down to Arizona for 6 days in March! What an incredible place Scottsdale Arizona is... I am sure all of Arizona is just as beautiful. Both of us are very much alike in our tastes, personalities and desperate need for warmth! LOL As soon as we got off the airplane we were in "Heaven"! It felt like home to us ~ we both agree that we could sooooooooooo easily live there! What a dream that would be to have the warm sunshine everyday, or even a warm cloudy day would do!!! As you can tell... I put one of the Arizona pictures of me as my profile picture because I look so happy! I don't remember being more happy than when I am in a warm climate like that! We both loved every detail of the place; the Mexican architecture, the music, the cactus' and palm trees, the orange trees and most of all the SUNSHINE!
My girlfriend loves to shop and we went to one mall for EIGHT hours! We were both so done by the time we got to our car ~ we barely made it back to the condo! LOL. Then we went to two other malls the over the next two days! We were so layed back there which was amazing ~ definitely in our element!
My husband's sister generously allowed us to stay in her condo and she was so kind she even had a huge fruit basket greeting us when we got there! We were so impressed with the condo itself, large enough to hold two families! We each had our own bedroom and bathroom and it was beautifully decorated. There were three doors to the balcony that overlooked the exquisite pool and water fountains.
While we were there we became 'animal rescuers'! One morning we went for a swim and there was a 'RAT' in the pool! We felt so bad for it because it was trying to find a way out and it couldn't... so we grabbed the pool net and rescued it and placed it on a warm dry surface. Eventually it puffed itself up and dried in the sunshine. On our way out of the pool area it started back towards the pool! As it wasn't in the pool the next day we are hoping it went safely to its' home!
I think two days later we helped a male duck get out between gates at the clubhouse to into the pool area where it's mate was. As soon as it was freed they flew off 'into the sunset' together. LOL.
I actually picked up a tiny bunny tail not knowing what it was! EW! There was blood on the end so you could tell it had gotten pulled off or stuck or something! We felt bad for the poor little bunny! As you can tell we are huge animal lovers. Hee-hee.
The six days flew by way too soon but we came back rejuvanated with slight tans and ready to plan our next trip there with our families! LOL. I highly recommend Arizona for a vacation.
Oh yes... I actually conquered my fear of something I have wanted to do for a long time now and got the top of my right ear pierced. It didn't hurt at all! I LOVE IT!!!!!!
Hugs and God bless
Kelly

An Amazing Piece of Artwork

This 1" thick slab of Petrified wood (believe it or not) was cut out, ground, and polished into an amazing piece of artwork! I was so taken by this I would have purchased it and hung it on my wall at home but it was almost $7,000. We went to Banff for the weekend to take the boys snowboarding and when we were walking through the main streets of town we found this awesome Gem/Fossil shop... and this is where I fell in love!!! The colors were deep and rich and filled with the earth. I would love to do our countertops in our kitchen with this but it's just not feasible for obvious reasons. Bummer!
Which reminds me... amazingly enough we are still not finished all our renovations! Randy and I are STILL in negotiations as to what we want our countertops made out of - I want Granite and he would rather put in something easier and less money. We are almost finished the hardwood going up the stairs but the weather has stopped us from finishing the wood varnishing... one day we will get there but I am in no hurry really. I know that when we are all finished we will have what we want. We have really opened up our house with the renovations we did do... taking out pony walls and laying down hardwood floors and we are just determining which rails we are going to put in the stairwell - we are thinking we are going to go with metal rails as they are the thinnest and will keep the spaces we made full of light.
Randy cut a big window hole in Ben's room overlooking the stairwell because Ben wanted more light (or Randy wanted to cut a big hole in the wall! LOL) and he has framed it in... now we are negotiating whether we are going to put shutters or glass bricks in that space. I am aiming for glass bricks because that will also cut out some of the noise of Ben's music while we are watching a movie in the family room. Ah the joys of life! LOL
All in God's timing! Amen
Hugs to all
Kelly

What The World Needs More

Michelle from Creative Treasures had this posted on her blog and I loved it so much that I really wanted to post it on my blog too. Thanks Michelle for sharing it.

Foot Fun With My Boys

I was sitting on the couch doodling my normal doodles when I suddenly looked over and saw a blank canvas before me ~ my son's foot! He giggled and then said, 'okay fine'... so I began to draw a funny hippy chick on his foot. He then doodled on my foot all the 'I love you's'. After that Ben came up and plopped his bare foot upon my lap and I went to work on another little funny character with a mustache. That was when Josh brought out my Copic Markers and hid my other foot behind a pillow and started coloring my foot ~ he made sure I couldn't see it until he finished! When he was done I had a colorful camouflaged foot. Life is too short not to have fun~especially with my boys!
I am so glad that we can have fun like this!
Happy creating everyone!
Kelly

Lovely Little Find

I was meandering through some blogs today and I came across www.amybella.blogspot.com - in this blog Amy posted the above pictures and I fell in love with them. I love finding pictures like these, I love drawing them too. I might take to my journal later on and see what fun things I can draw from these pictures. My head has been so visual lately that I look at everything around me through rose colored glasses.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Thanks Amy for sharing them.
God bless
Kelly

God Makes Himself Known...

Our world of today is a very dark place. So much wickedness runs rampant that it can be hard to see God through all the darkness, sadness and despair. So easily we are led into depression and loss, into pain, heartache and loneliness. However, I was reminded as I was on the airplane flying home from my Grandmother's funeral that God is here, He is very real and He makes Himself known to us even during the darkest of times.
Looking out over top of the Rocky Mountains I couldn't help but be in awe of His creation. I wondered if man had conquered every mountain peak made by God and I knew that he had not. It would be impossible to step upon absolutely every grain of sand made by the Lord... to name every star in the Universe... to discover every beautiful and unique creation ever created by God. I pictured a mountain climbing party making their way up the steep peaks of the mountains I was viewing from a 'mechanical bird's-eye view" and I wondered why... why would they feel the need to reach the top of every mountain? What were they searching for that could not be found in their everyday lives? I knew that it must be that they were searching for heaven, but what was their view of heaven on earth? Was it God that so naturally makes Himself known to us?... or was it a sense of their own view of a god that existed somehow within themselves. Was it the ultimate adrenaline rush to reach the top of the world??? It reminded me of the story in the Bible of "The Tower of Babel" and how man wanted to build a tower that reached to the heavens... they wanted to prove that they were just as great as God. God nipped that one in the butt right away!!! What does He think of our world now with so many holding on to their own personal god's within themselves... thinking they themselves are god's upon this earth. There is only ONE GOD and that is the "GREAT I AM". The One Who Was, and Who Is, and Who Is To Come. If they can only open their eyes they would realize that God is right here, all around us... waiting for us to open our hearts to Him.
Hugs
Kelly

My First Trip To Value Village

I had no idea what I would find when my sister's, mom, and aunt wanted to go to Value Village while we were in Kelowna for Grandma's funeral. I had never been before and I didn't quite know what to think about buying used clothing. As I was walking through the shoes aisle with my Mom I spotted two pairs of shoes that really stood out at me; one was a pair of dancing shoes (at least that's what they looked like to me). They were black in 1950's style with a beaded flower on the toes. I pictured a 1950's woman, elegantly dressed in a black dress (I found a picture of a dress that went through my mind and posted it above). As my Mom talked about all the different shoes and boots that were offerred I guess I began to daydream about the woman who used to wear these shoes. I could see her dancing around the dance floor dressed all elegant and dancing like they danced in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" (Remember the dance on top of and then eventually IN the swimming pool?) I pondered the shapes her feet made as she performed each dance maneuver in her elegant shoes. When she was out was she escaping the day-to-day routines of her everyday life? Did she need that escape or was she simply out to enjoy an evening with her current bo? What music was playing as she danced?... I could have written her entire life as I was patiently waiting in Value village as my Mom picked out her complete attire for the funeral from shoes to earrings.
The second pair of shoes intrigued me as well. I don't think I had ever seen a pair of shoes quite like this pair. The shape and design was so unique to me. Because I had never seen anything like them it was difficult for me to picture the woman who possibly wore them before they happened to be at Value Village. I took a picture regardless in hopes that something might come to me.
Enjoy.
Hugs
Kelly

Art Journal Time: God's Eternal Love

I wasn't going to do it! I kept telling myself this page would be different ~ it was not going to have a tree on it! LOL I can't help it! I love tree's. They are a constant reminder to me of how God's love is eternal, How He takes care of His creation's and protects them, nourishes them and if you allow Him, becomes apart of our very being filling us with His eternal love. I love the verses that describe God and Jesus as being the "Vinedresser" and "True Vine" and we are the branches. He wants His branches to be full of life, joy, peace, love, prosperity, abundance though we have to allow Him to work in us to achieve these things.
As I journal on verses from the Word I meditate upon them and draw images that come to my head through them. How could I help but to draw a tree as the verses described "Vinedresser" "True Vine" and "Branches"? That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
Hope you enjoy it.
Hugs to everyone.
God bless
Kelly

Word For the Year of 2009 'PEACE'

It's that time of the year again... time for my 'Word for the Year'. Last year's word was "Content" and I worked all year at being just that. God took care of all of our needs and many of our wants and I tried to be content with everything. God is a great God.
This year my 'Word for the Year' is 'PEACE'. After struggling with learning and adapting to having a full-fleged teenager now I know how important peace is in our lives, at home and everywhere we are. I pray that the Lord will restore His perfect peace to our home, to our family and help us as we guide our son's through their teenage years. Peace was the first word that came to mind this year as it is greatly needed, not only in our home but throughout the world. I started this drawing on New Years Eve as we brought in the New Year with our family and friends at the Church.
God bless you all and have a great 2009.
Love and hugs
Kelly

Being Thankful For 2008

It all started on New Years Eve... we went to our Church at 7:00pm and for the first hour just us and our good friends were there. We thought oh well it is going to be a nice quiet New Years Eve. After 8:00 people started arriving and by 10:00pm the downstairs was full of people. I was so happy that Randy and I had decided to open the Church for anyone who wanted to fellowship and play games on New Years Eve. At 11:00 all who wanted to gathered into a smaller room (it was full) and we began saying things that we were thankful for, things that God had done for us this past year. I was so proud as my eleven year old son spoke up right away and said that he was thankful that God helped him to do well at school... then he said he was thankful that he discovered Genesis and Exodus and was reading through them. Then there were some members from Africa that began and their words played out like miraculous stories of thanksgiving, inspiring us all to be thankful in ways we never thought about. We prayed in the New Year and it was such a wonderful blessing, I can't wait to do it next year.
On New Years Day I sat down with pen in hand and began to write out my blessings for the year. I could have written for a long time as God is truly a great and wonderful God and blesses me in many ways. Instead I decided to journal my thankgsiving into a journal page that expressed my many blessings.
Well, goodbye 2008 and hello to our brand new year 2009.
Happy 2009 everyone. I pray that your year is overflowing with blessings of peace, joy, goodness, kindness, grace, hope and love.
Kelly

Twilight... the big craze right now!

So... my son came home from school a few weeks ago and mentioned this 'Twilight' movie that was out. He told me the 'just' of the movie and my first reaction to it was 'yikes!' that doesn't sound very good. He said it was about a human girl falling in love with a vampire. I have never liked the idea of vampires - my oldest sister used to pretend she was a vampire and come after me and I would cry and it would usually end up getting her in trouble from Mom and Dad. She loved it! Mean old sister - right Kathy???? I think we watched an old vampire movie and this made her pick on me.
Anyway to my point... Ben said that all the girls in his class had seen the movie and have read the books - I thought, 'wow, they are only 11 years old and are into vampires?' It bothered me for some reason (probably from my childhood fears). I also didn't like the idea that if the movie romantisized vampires it might influence kids to try and be like vampires or go 'goth' etc. I decided to check it out on my own. I went to the movie...
The movie was very well done, not scary like the older vampire movies I had seen. In fact the main 'Vampire' family in the movie were 'good', they only went after animals instead of humans. They had trained themselves to not give into their natural instincts to go after human blood. The relationship between Bella (the human) and Edward (the vampire) was very intense as their love for one another seemed to develop over night and was deeper than a crush... it was as though they were 'soul-mates'. Edward's family accepted Bella at once (besides Rosalie who didn't like the idea much) and that was very sweet. The bond between each member of their family was real and true unlike many of human family members in our world, and Bella's.
After seeing the movie I decided to read the book and I must warn you that the book is even more intense than the movie! It is over 600 pages long full of descriptions of every deep emotion that passes between each character. The book starts off with a quote from Genesis which I found very pleasing to me. It was regarding temptation.
In fact as you see above the cover for the book has a girls hands holding an apple... how interesting. It does make sense in the book as tempation is seen from all different angles.
I will not let my boys read the series until they are old enough to understand such deep emotions described in these books. I think it would just confuse them. There are many things in the series that come up that a mature mind can work through and digest - however, a younger mind may take to mean something else and romantasize where they really shouldn't go.
Overall I have enjoyed reading the series and look forward to seeing the sequel to Twilight on the big screen.
God bless you and have a merry Christmas everyone!
Kelly

Fourth Picture Tag

My dear friend Angel tagged me in her blog and so I am fulfilling the tag by posting the fourth picture in the forth file of "My Pictures". This picture is of our youth group at Church... I'm not exactly sure why they were posing like this... but they are always doing crazy things at youth.
So now... I get to tag four people to do the same for their blogs...
So I am tagging:
Nancy E.
Michelle (Creative Treasures)
Debbie
and Nicole
So it's your turn to post the fourth picture in the fourth file of your "My Pictures". Can't wait to see!

Thanks Angel for tagging me... this was fun!
Much love and hugs
Kelly

The Wonderful Life of Living On Effexor...And it's side effects...

You know how we all do stupid things once and awhile right? Well... I tend to do them often! LOL For instance, I recently decided that I needed to try and ween myself off of my Effexor which I have been on for several years now. Why did I do this? Well because my doctor scared the bajeevers out of me when he explained how this medication could cause a few problems in my body as I get older and if I gain any more weight. "What?" I didn't think I was that overweight but he thought otherwise. For one thing the medication has made me gain weight... it may not be the Effexor but possibly the Seroquel that I take with it for sleep... however no matter what the reason I knew I had to lose weight. I also knew that losing weight while being on Effexor is extremely hard... you have to go above and beyond just the normal changing the diet and exercise. So... my solution... I attempted to ween off my Effexor. I took my 150mg pill and opened it up and took 7 tiny balls out of it for one month. How did I do? Well my moods began changing immediately... but I was okay. I made it through the month with not too bad of a time. Then the next step came and I took out 10 more tiny balls... within three days I was a mess! I was getting flashes (like mini-blackouts) in my head, anxiety through the roof, I wasn't eating, sleeping or functioning too well. I recorded everything I did in my day timer, including my moods, exercise, diet or any stressful events that I experienced. The results ~ I lost 11 pounds but as I just stated I WAS A HUGE MESS!!! I began to think back to the beginning of my depression when my second son was born and it all started with post-partum. I remembered the 4 and 1/2 years of memory loss and the dark, dark, dark time in our lives as a family. I knew I had made a mistake! I couldn't put my family through all this again ~ it wouldn't be fair, and I didn't think I could do it anyway. My doctor has always said that I am a "Lifer" and that I should be okay with that. If I had a physical illness I would need to take medication for it right? Well, I needed to change my thoughts in this regard to make myself okay with taking my medicine. God got me through this depression by His grace and by His grace He also brought me to the proper doctors to get me on the medicine that would help me function as a normal person again. I should be thankful that I am here and functioning properly right?
My husband bought me a treadmill a few months back (for $100), a huge blessing as the family we purchased it from took excellent care of it and it is the perfect treadmill for me. I tend to take out a lot of my anxiety or moods on the treadmill and every second or so day I have been doing Yoga on our Wii Fit. I am also going to go to a Yoga class once per week.
Also, as I was researching Effexor and weightloss I found a health site that said to take Fish Oil, CLA, and Vitamin E and drink lot's of water to help with weightloss. I have been doing that and I am beginning to come around. I am still on a somewhat downward spiral of moods and lack of sleeping but hopefully with God's grace I will be coming out of that really soon! God is good and I know that He is in control.
God bless you
Kelly

Fall Daylight Savings Time

I don't know what it is this year about the Daylight savings time but I am really not liking the fact that it starts to get dark at 5pm. As soon as I'm walking outside the door from work it is almost completely dark. Maybe that is the difference... I haven't worked this late into the day in years and have not had to drive home in the dark. The entire atmosphere changes and it's almost like everyone in their cars put on 'Grumpy Gus' hats ~ probably because they are feeling the same way I am feeling. The day seems much too short for me and it makes me tired and grumpy.
I usually have a hard time this season ~ when fall turns to winter and the air outside becomes nippy. My doctor recommended that I purchase a S.A.D. light (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which should help my moods during the winter (I still have to purchase one). I am supposed to sit under this light 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night and I believe that is supposed to simulate sunlight. Basically I think you are tricking your brain into believing it is not lacking sunlight ~ it's like... "See Mr.Brain... I am not neglecting you, there actually is sunlight in my house!" LOL.
The light pictured above is from www.sadlight.com and on this site are many different mechanism's a person can purchase to help them through the long months of winter.
Let me know if you suffer from S.A.D. and tell me what you have done to help yourself through it.
Kelly