So it has been a while...

It isn’t that I haven’t done anything for the last oh - nine months. I have been doing a lot and I am grateful for all that I have been able to accomplish. So rather than try and go back to where I left off I am going to start with the recent goings on. I took three classes from JessicaSprague.com over the past few months in order to expand upon my digital scrapbooking skills. I am thrilled with what I learned and how much better and faster I can complete a page. I enjoyed having a class or two to spur me on in completing the documentation of our lives down here in Panama. In fact, one of the projects in the Digi in Deep class was a book. I used that assignment as an opportunity to make the grandparent’s Christmas gifts for this year. Then I took a class called Type + Writer. It was awesome. We worked on journaling and typesetting. The typesetting part I have down. The journaling not so much. I need to make myself do it more often. The last class I took was an Introduction to Shoebox. Shoebox is a browser for us Mac types that allows us to categorize digital stuff on our computers. I am using it to categorize and really be able to use my digital scrapbooking supplies and also to categorize and organize all of the photos we have taken since we have gone digital. Between the kids and the business we have a ton of photos. This is going to be a long term project; however I believe it is going to really pay off.

Jessica Sprague is offering a class for free in November. The registration for the class begins on October 20 at midnight. It is a great opportunity for those of you who are interested in digital scrapbooking and or just telling your stories. The class is called Stories in Hand. You can find out more about it here. I am going to take it. I have learned so many new and valuable things in each class I have taken that I do not want to miss out on this one.

So here are a few of the layouts we did in my different classes:

handmade for the holidays #3

So here are the few items I made for the holidays that I haven't shown you thus far. I made headbands for the women who work for us here at Tranquilo Bay. They are reversible which you may or may not be able to tell from the photo. I was inspired by several different places - Amy Karol's book Bend the Rules Sewing, KC Quilts, Pink Chalk Studio, and a post on House on Hill Road that I can't seem to find right now.



My camera's focus seems to be on the fritz so I apologize for the hazy nature of the photo.

I made Boty, Tres and Scott a pencil or crayon roll to keep their coloring materials organized. Otherwise they all seem to get lost in the mix. Here are a couple of pictures of the rolls I made for Boty and Tres.



Then I made some pajama pants for the kids with Jolly Old Saint Nick enjoying the different sports we have around here at Tranquilo Bay. They of course loved having Santa Claus pajamas. Boty and Tres are still wearing them this month - and will probably do so for the remainder of the year.

I also made notebook covers for some of the nieces and nephews. Headbands for some of the younger nieces, a purse for Boty and a couple of dolls for her to carry in her purse. I didn't take pictures of all of these things, but I had a great time making them.

birthdays...

Yesterday I turned 40 years old. I am spending a little time this morning to consider what I have learned in my years. I think the most important thing is always trying to keep my priorities straight and not to get hung up in the small stuff. I find I do much better each day when I face my priorities big and small directly after I express my gratitude for all that I have.

* A wonderful husband
* two fabulous children
* incredible parents and siblings, grandparents, extended family and in-laws
* dedicated friends
* a growing business
* a beautiful island to call my home
* and so many other things and people that the list could continue for days

When I approach my day (and for that matter my life) from a position of gratitude and THEN focus on my priorities I find that life is so much sweeter. It seems to glide along with much less effort than when I forget to begin the day with thanks.



On a day when I begin things by remembering with what I have been blessed, when I face a challenge I seem to have the ability to address it appropriately. This is not easy. I spend a lot of time remembering to focus and reminding myself to be grateful.

However, anything worth having takes work and I am happy to work toward a great life.

Have a great day!

twisted path ahead

The path to good health is a twisted one. I am doing my best to make my way down it this year in a slow and deliberate manner so that each thing I institute becomes a habit rather than a brief interlude.

Over the past two weeks I have reduced my intake of caffeine by one half and I have taken baby steps towards a regular yoga practice. The caffeine reduction program was admittedly on accident for the first few days, but since then I have gone along with it to see how far I could make it.

I have had a mild allergic reaction to something in bloom right now which has caused me to wake up with a congested head each morning. So instead of heading directly for the coffee in the morning I was going for a cup of hot water with a lime to help clear the congestion a bit. After this warm beverage I have only been interested in one cup of coffee. So accidentally I fell into this one, but I was happy with the way things were progressing until this afternoon.

This afternoon I had a really good headache and I couldn't fathom why. Then I realized that I didn't drink the warm water beverage this morning and didn't even finish my cup of coffee. So - I inadvertently tried to reduce my caffeine intake yet again by half. It didn't work. But for some reason my coffee just didn't taste good to me this morning, so I didn't drink it. Rational - but not for a long standing headache sufferer. More like stupid.

So this afternoon I am sipping on my refreshing Coca Cola and my head is slowly improving.



I found this quote today as part of a group of doodlebats at ScrapNFonts as part of the Wild West Font Bundle.

I like this cowboy philosophy group a lot. I will continue to share some of them with you over time.

But back to this one and today's struggle with caffeine and good health! I think that this quote is fitting as for the past two weeks I have been on the getting end of the caffeine reduction whereas today - I got got!

Posted at 01:02 PM in around here | Permalink | Comments (0) |

handmade for the holidays #2

So it was our dear friend Allison's birthday on Halloween. We didn't send anything as we knew she was coming to see us here in Panama. So instead we made her a special purse from the pattern in Bend the Rules Sewing for the Charming Handbag. It turned out super cute, but unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it. Then I made her mom a cute tote bag that was made out of the same material. I had to replace the goofy one I finally finished for her which has the straps on wrong! But I must say that my favorite thing that I made was the two t-shirts and pants for Boty and Allison. They are so cute!





I used this pattern for the pants and I was inspired by all the t-shirts on this blog. Thanks for the inspiration!

handmade for the holidays #1

So I have been away for awhile mostly because we have been very busy at the hotel. It is exactly the right kind of problem to have. It is the kind of problem for which I am extremely grateful. Never the less it is time to get started again. I made not one or two pairs of pajamas for the holidays - oh no - I had to start out with a bang! I made six pairs of pajamas all which had to be delivered at Thanksgiving as that is when our family was all here. So here is a photo of all of the family and friends in the sock monkey pajamas I made for each of them.