WHEW.....

That's what I feel like the past three weeks have been since I've posted. My sister is officially a high school graduate and life is about to change dramatically for her moving away from home and starting college! We had so much fun (my ENTIRE family) creating the scrapbooks for the church friends that Hillary has literally grown up with. Check out the pix. My dad officially has "cropping and matting" down. My mom officially understands what "embellishing" means. And my sister.....she can do it ALL! :) It was definitely a great time of family bonding! YEAH! I also painted frames for a few of her friends that we didn't have enough pictures of to create an entire book. The only bad thing about all this is that it has delayed my own graduation gift to my sister of her OWN scrapbooks I was making for all of her highschool years.

The Leuschner's are one of my favorite families and are precious to me! Michelle and the girls came over to hang out one night a few weeks back while Blane was out of town. We were also finishing Camryn's teachers End of the Year Scrapbook. I was showing them my fun camera on my computer and this was one of our pictures

Yes, there are twins in the picture but definitely NOT 6 children :)! Michelle got a small taste even through a picture of the overwhelming feeling of having more than the 3 she's blessed with! Such a FUN night!

Over Memorial Day Weekend we went down to the Condo for several days of fun and rest. Garrison, my precious adopted nephew went with us! I think he thought it was so cool that he got one on one time with Papa Rich, Momma T, Aunt Holly, and Hill without 5 other siblings yanking at the strings! He was such a blast to be with. This is our infamous picture we took outside of one of the stores in Port A. Such a fun memory!

Busy, Busy....getting married!

well, sad to say i haven't made a post in now 2 weeks shows just how busy my life has been. sometimes i wonder how these blogs of young moms with children have a post everyday. my assumption is they are all usually still saved by the usual morning or afternoon naps their precious children take! :) i have to say though that i absolutely love reading their blogs each and every day seeing what's new. for my friends that live far away it makes me feel as if i'm right there in the same town....well, not really but you get the idea! 

so, let's see to catch you up. OLC is out which was a huge relief, however, full force for summer months ahead around the church gives little time for a break. i am headed for the beach this weekend to enjoy a relaxing and restful Memorial Day weekend! 

last week i made a HUGE adjustment in my life and for that choice i'm still suffering today. sometimes i wonder why we make decisions that affect our lives in such great ways. changes are always hard and can be difficult to overcome. i believe in time i will deal with it and gain a great sense of success. the decision was a hard one but i'veheard from many that i will be very plesed with my WISE choice....so are you ready....i bought a MacBook Pro! 

it's been fun trying to learn ething. my friend has a MacBook for Dummies book that she's going to bring me. hopefully it will help this dummy here learn a few things about how ething functions. i've heard that the AppleQ button becomes your best friend. if that's the case, i'm in a true need of getting out and finding something worthwhile to spend my time on! :)

as i've said before, my dear friend rhiannon and i swap creative ideas and so when i was in ft. worth back over spring break i saw a new idea that i wanted to come home and make for my mom for mother's day. well, it was a success and it was fun. take a look at it below....it's always fun to play around with family trees. i thought it would be cool to do more than just us but i didn't have time to collect pix of everyone. i'm still in knee deep in scrapbooks for my sister. we've now started on 5 girl books and 5 guy books of lifelong church friends (of which many of them have been friends since birth)! it's fun but i'm ready to do some of my own scrapping on my 30th year book! maybe in a few weeks. 

okay.....so i know that all of you have probably scrolled all the way through this without really reading it just to see why i got married and didn't invite you! Ha! well, my dreams came true last weekend as i went to go spend time with Mar and my sister at the new Patrick Dempsey movie. i have ALWAYS been a McDreamy fan long before Grey's Anatomy and all the way back to Can't Buy Me Love. this was the ultimate ending to such a "dreamy" relationship. there he was waiting for me standing outside the theatre as we walked in. he had the same smile on his face as the first time i ever saw him. he's such a charmer. 

anyway.....just thought you would all want to know that now in my dreams i'm officially "Holly Dempsey." yes, that is just in my dreams....and someday i'll get help for dealing with the fact that i'm really not married to him. for now, just let me dream!

well, there ya have it for now! that should catch you up! 

 

time with the boys.....

this weekend alfred and maranatha went to a conference in dallas so i kept up with the little kiddos while they were gone. we had SO much fun! friday we went to the park with johnna and william and then afterwards we went to the splash pad. barrett could spend all day there if i would have let him. he absolutely LOVES it! he is non-stop while he's there....brock on the other hand just cracks me up when we go b/c he's so checking this water thing out! i'm not quite sure what he thinks about water spouting up from the ground. he's hilarious how he'll try to fill his bucket up but stand 5 feet away as to if he doesn't want a single drop of water to get on him! he loves it there as long as he's far away from the splashes of water! we went out on the town for a pizza dinner together on friday night and then went to make mom a surprise for Mother's Day! i just always love being with my boys...the bring me such joy and keep me laughing. when we were eating dinner on friday night this man walked into the pizza place holding a dog and barrett said, "i don't want that dog in here." mom and i started laughing at his reaction....he was so serious! he said it again and was adamant so i asked him why he didn't want the dog in there and he looked at me and said "i just don't....tell him i'm allergic!!" JUST LIKE HIS DADDY....I'm telling you! we just sat at the table and laughed!

on saturday which was NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY if you didn't know :) i spent some time enjoying my therapy! i broke down and went to archiver's to buy myself something new that i could enjoy. i've been debating over buying this for quite some time now and i just broke down and did it! i absolutely LOVE it! it's the greatest way to display all my stickers and embellishments in a way that they are categorized and out in the open! i think i may just go buy me another one. it makes me feel like i'm shopping in my own room when i'm turning it looking for just what i need to make a perfect page!

7 Random Things....

my sweet, precious friend, Leslie made a post on her facebook about random things about herself so i thought it would be fun to put it on my blog. these are probably random things you could care less to even know about me but hey....it's the random, little things we wish we knew about people sometimes!

1. i have a bad habit of not hanging up my clothes each day so when i finally break down and spend time doing it; it usually takes an hour!
2. i sleep with 8-10 pillows every night depending on how many end up on the floor by morning
3. i love flashy and big necklaces
4. i grew up playing kickball and still dream about when we won state 3 years in a row
5. i would give anything to be a kid again and make mudpies while playing in the rain
6. the one thing i absolutely hate with a passion is having to stick my hand down the garbage disposal in the sink when something is stuck...UGH!
7. i LOVE to cook, however, don't do it.....it's SO HARD to cook for ONE and I hate leftovers!

Okay, Steph....I'm ready to read yours next :)

Okay...well, life has definitely been chaotic the past two weeks. UGH! Do you ever think that "busyness" is a subtle way Satan enters our lives??? I do. This past weekend the Lord really showed me something in scripture and it's what I needed for my own heart....so here it is for you....Psalm 50:10-12 says, "God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails..." The Message

So....think about it! "Shape a Genesis week...." just puts an immediate peace in your heart doesn't it? It did mine....it allowed be to rest and revel at the reminding thoughts of when God created this amazing world we live in....HE knows the plans for our lives! EVEN IN AMONGST THE CHAOS!

Part of my chaos has been the below....part of the loving, fun chaos in my life. It truly is my therapy but this was A LOT of work! My sister wanted to give all the Senior cheerleaders a scrapbook as a EOY gift at the Cheer Banquet tomorrow night so here's a little peak at what it looks like when you're making 7 of the SAME thing which includes over 60 pictures in each BOOK! YIPPEEE....it was fun but I'm SO GLAD I'm DONE....now onto my next project!

You can probably see my "comfort, keep me going" drink in one of my pictures! A Route 44 Sonic Drink.....keeps me going every time :)

Just HAD to post these....

I just dumped the pix on my camera and just had to share these. A couple of weeks ago my sweet Wells girls were in town and they spent a day shopping and having fun with Aunt Holly while Mom and Aunt Nannon went shopping with Lolli. We had some fun at Sweet-n-Sassy of which I have never been to. It was the neatest little girls place EVER! They got their hair done, made their own lip gloss and took a stroll down the cat walk!

I've been tagged....

My dear friend, Steph, from Conversations with Grace tagged me with this meme.

The Rules (slightly altered):
1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post so we can track it as travels across the blogosphere

4. Tag more blogs with links if you want.

Okay, I've tried hard to come up with only six words but I simply can't....so here's my EIGHT word memoir.... and i have two pictures not one :)

LOVE WHAT YOU DO.....LOVE WHO YOU ARE!

I tag Jennifer, Joshy and Charity. Have fun. :)

Thanks, Steph! LOVE YA!

Creative Juices....

Well....if you don't know me well then you may not know that I absolutely LOVE to be creative and find it actually not just a hobby but therapy!

I have quite a few projects going on right now in my "craft room." Unfortunately anyone who stays with me when sleeping in my guest room is surrounded by shelves of colored paper, glitter, paint, scrapbooking supplies, paper cutters, etc.... Often enough the entire room is a mess but it's a fun and crazy mess.

This month is Pastor Lewis' 5th Year Anniversary at Great Hills and the Preschool/K Ministry wanted to do something special for him including kids so......Erin, our Preschool/K Assistant, and I began to put our minds together about taking pictures of the kids holding letters that spell "we love pastor lewis." Erin took the pix (turned out great by the way) and then I went to work on the shadowbox! It was so fun to do this for him....I hope he enjoys it.

I'm also working on 7 Varsity Cheerleader scrapbooks for my sisters friends, mother's day projects, and a fixing a picture clock I had made for Kent & Brooke for Christmas that was broken when a dear friend of mine who will remain anonymous (Rhiannon) wanted to investigate and figure out how I created it! Rhi and I are always going back and forth with our ideas.....love it, love it! My favorite time with Rhi is visiting local scrapbooking stores together and enjoying the latest and greatest tools, ideas, and making things for others! I will post more projects as I complete them!

At times I always feel personally left out of my projects b/c I rarely make things for myself and am more than SO BEHIND in my own scrapbooks but I made a decision a couple of weeks ago that it's OKAY to be selfish about this AND b/c this is my 30th year of birth that my goal is BEFORE my 31st birthday that I make a "30" page scrapbook about my life, my favorites, my likes/dislikes, friends & family, etc....that is representing of my 30 years of a blessed life! SO, here's my accountability....I have ONE page done :) and of course it's about my LOVE for scrapbooking. It's only a must that I start out with that!

The Smell in my House

I know from the title many of you are jumping to extreme conclusions....there are many smells that can fill a home.....the smell of something good cooking; a bad diaper; a new leather couch; a candle; a sink of dirty dishes.

Well, my house right now is blessed to have the amazing smell of FRESH flowers! My precious friend, Johnna, is having a birthday tomorrow, however she's celebrating in Alabama with family. Last night her husband took her out for a night on the town and her father-in-law sent her these beautiful flowers. Since they were leaving town when she came to pick up William from Parents Night Out she gave them to me!

At first I told her I couldn't take them and she insisted on me to enjoy them since they were leaving otherwise they would die. WELL.....let me tell you I'm thoroughly enjoying them!

The smell extravagantly amazing not to mention that they are just beautiful which is why I figured I'd share them with everyone!

Thanks, Johnna! I'm so glad you were born so I could enjoy your birthday flowers! HA!

Idol Gives Back.....

Okay....so, yes, I'm officially an American Idol "JUNKY!" I absolutely LOVE that show and have faithfully watched since Season 1. I have to say that one thing I've enjoyed is the Idol Gives Back that they started last season and tonight's was absolutely PHENOMINAL!

Of course, almost 6 years ago I left a piece of my heart in Africa on a mission trip so I'm a little partial to the time spent there helping the children with AIDS and Malaria. I think it is an amazing and awesome thing that they have started with American's "Giving Back." In a way I see it as a small touch of the Master's Hand even in amongst "the world." I can't say anymore other than the last performance of the night with the final 8 singing Shout to the Lord! My, oh, my.....what a way to go out!

Did any of you catch where they removed "My Jesus" and said "My Shepherd?" I think it's quite humorous that they remove such a "controversial word", as was probably the reason, and put such a powerful word in its place! Bet they didn't think through that one very well. Our "Jesus" is our "Shepherd!" I'll say an Amen to that! Hey.....my thinking is....take the word "Jesus" out of the song if you want to but you definitely didn't remove JESUS' presence from the Kodak Center and in the homes of millions of Americans!

If you missed American Idol click on this link and watch......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXEraRnE4o