Enjoy life today

While surfing Pinterest today I came across this quote:

It reminded me of a book that I think I need to get off the bookshelf and reread.  It's called The Precious Present by Spencer Johnson.  It's an amazing book that uses a story to remind me that today is precious and to live today for today.  Not to get caught in the trap that "When _____ is better/different then I'll be happy".  **Feel free to fill in the blank as you see fit**

 
I can be happy, fulfilled and joyous today.  Look for the little things in life and celebrate them!

I've tried a few things over the years to remember some of the great blessing in my life so I thought I would share them with you.

1. The ABC's.  This one is pretty east and straight forward .
A - Amber (my daughter)
B- Beautiful flowers in my yard
...you get the idea list one positive for each letter of the alphabet

2. Gratitude Journal: This one is just thinking of 3-5 things that you are grateful for each day.  There is a talk from General Conference a few years ago by Henry B Eyring.  He said one night he was inspired to start writing down blessing in his life.  Not just for himself but for his children and family to read about later.  Before he would write he would ask himself the question  “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?”  As he continued to do this he said "I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done."  

I have totally found this to be the case in my life.  My sister-in-law Phyllis once told me to have a positive outlook on life and to see the good.  She challenged me to say "People do nice things for me and I let them" each day and see what happened.  It was amazing!! If some let me in traffic on the way to work I would think wow! people really do, do nice things for me.  If someone held the door or elevator for me...same thing.  Just putting that thought into my head helped me to look for the good that is around me.  

Life Changing!


3. Count Your Many Blessings. This book by Elaine Cannon challenges the reader to write down 100 blessings in your life.  The first 25-30 are easy.  The last 25 are a little bit of a challenge and if you have to really dig.  Which is good.  I always feel very blessed by the time I finish. 

UEA Weekend - 2011

We went 4-wheeling on Saturday to 5 Mile Pass.
It's out in the desert so the best time to go is in the fall.
I was amazed at the colors.

So then I started playing with photoshop and changing the pics.  Here is one... or should I say 7


This is how the photo started straight out of the camera.

And this is me just playing around with the different actions.

I love this one, it's so cool!

So tell me...which one is your favorite?

March 1st!

March has started out beautiful.  In my mind March means spring.

So the doggies and I went for a walk to enjoy the beautiful morning.

As you can see there is still a bit of snow left from the storms of last week.

The view of the surrounding mountains was spectacular!

How blessed I feel for all the beauty of this world

Home Sweet Home

Transparencies

I have some transparencies that I thought I would try out.
They look so cute at the store but when I get home I have no idea what to do with them.
So I Googled it and found only 1 page example.

Here is the blank transparency as it came from the store.

I used white felt to make the clouds

and stitched around it with these cute fiber threads from Close to my Heart

And here is the finished product!

Arizona Sun

Last week I visited my Dad and Mona (Step-mom) in Yuma Arizona.
It was sunny and warm with a slight breeze.  Highs in the upper 70's.
Perfect Bliss...

It's our 2nd Annual January trip.  Works out perfectly for us.  The weather is cold and dreary in Utah and beautiful and warm in Arizona.

My parents aren't in the best health so we mainly stay at home and play games, sing songs and watch movies.

Watch out! They may look sweet and innocent but they are really card sharks.  I'm not sure if we ever won a game.  We learned a new game called 5 Crowns.  It's pretty fun.

Interesting Note: My Dad used to play with a band when I was little with hula girls and everything.

We learned a new song called SeVali Vali

Kevin plays the guitar and is teaching Heather the Ukulele.  They played this song pretty darn good.

My Dad's birthday is next week so we celebrated a little early.  He got some new shoes and Amber made him a quilt.  This is her first ever quilt and it's super cute!

I love this one fabric she used.  It has cute birds and trees.  Too bad it's not scrapbook paper!

Just laying by the pool and enjoying the sun.

 We heard some interesting stories about growing up in Samoa and that these are made out of coconut husks.

We had some fun/silly times at the good ol' Golden Corral.  And you thought phones were only for talking!!

Bye Dad and Mona...Love ya!!
See ya next year!

Leftovers

I had some leftover paper from my last project.
  

I had a couple of unmade, half-started projects so...

I finished them!

Happy Saturday...see ya next time!

Officially Entered to Win!

I officially entered my first Scrapbooking contest.

I was up until 12:30 last night trying to finish it and then this morning came down and changed it up a little.

Here it is all official looking

This is what it started with...a few Basic Grey items

I loved this paper because it's doubled sided.  More bang for my buck!

I love the Ribbon Doilies.  There is adhesive on the back so they are easy to place.

 And so delicate and pretty

This is actually a button I got from my daughter Amber.  Super cute and perfect for this vintage page.

I liked this flourish but it was kind of plain.  I have this cool Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels.  You just spray it on and it antiques and adds a little glitter to your embellishments.

 I used it on some of the flowers also...

So here comes the hard part.  I added the flag/banner thing at the top but do i put the flowers on the top right???

 Or the bottom left???

 Or this huge butterfly???

I had decided that the butterfly would be the big winner but by morning I changed my mind.
The butterfly was too big and it took away from the photo so I just kept is simple.

What do you think?