2 months?!

Is it possible that 2 months...yes TWO MONTHS?! has passed since I last revived my poor neglected blog?! sigh, alas I fell into that horrid trap that is known as "real life" and simply did not have the energy or motivation to blog.....BUT (insert mental pic of a rosy lil bum/butt/bottom/buttock/seat/rear/where-the-good-Lord-split-ya).....
I am back and have SO many things to catch everyone up on :D
First off, I miss my few faithful blog readers immensely! (that is a big reason I am back)
2ndly, I am no longer designing for any stores :)...there are a couple reasons, but one main one is that I would rather make a freebie and 1000 people d/l it and enjoy it, than to make a kit for sale and only 3 people buy it....it was too disheartening and I don't have the thick exterior (although I have a thick POSTERIOR) to handle not being a big time seller...besides that, "having" to have a certain amount done each week really put a big ol' clamp on my creativity :(....
So I am back to blog freebies when I feel the urge to design. :)
I have, however, found how much I enjoy creating using other people's kits! Being on the CT at Treasures to Scrap . com (www.treasurestoscrap.com) and taking part in the Amazing Digi Scrap Race 3 really have taught me a lot about my style and about how to manage scrapping AND having a life away from the computer lol.
Finally, I am going to work on sharing some of my thoughts and such on life, love, mothering, wifing...um wifery...uh...being a wife and what it means to me through my faith. Now, before I even post the first thing about this subject remember it is NOT something I am saying YOU have to do, just sharing some of the things that help me keep my sanity. And for those of you who say "well you have never had to put up with what I have had to...." or "well you would think differently if YOU had this or that happen".....chances are I have been there AND done that AND had that done to me, so before you think that I am speaking of what I do not know, ask me. Don't send angry letters full of women's lib battle cries, they will most likely fall on deaf ears.

Wow, a lot has happened in the last 2 months! As many of you know, I am not an honest to goodness, stressed out, worry wart, constant praying mother of a teenager now. I do not know why, but I promise, the day the boy turned 13 I sprouted a cluster of white hairs (I am a redhead, we go white not gray ;)....or at least that is my story and I am sticking to it lol. For you more experienced moms of teens, how do you do it?! Any advice, comments, condolences are welcome....**sidenote** he did get his hair cut the night before his 13th birthday :) I thought I hated his long hair (and I did sort of...I mean I did if he wasn't wearing a hat), but part of me wishes it were back now lol sigh oh well....
My 9 1/2 yr old boy has recently made me feel VERY bipolar...one minute wanting to throttle him, the next bursting with the warm fuzzies over how smart and gentle and kind he can be...He is really wishing for summer vacation lol. He did choose to join baseball again this year :) and is on a really good team. He doesn't get to play every inning, but he does get to play every game which is more than I can say for other sports we have participated in. His daddy has taken him to every practice and been at every game so far except one (he was working).
Then there is "the girl"....the petite, sweet, darling, adorable, ....wait I must have been thinking about some other lil girl :D..... just kidding, Tink is all those things just not all those things at once. If her toddler/preschool years are any indication of things to come, go on and set up my room at the mental ward :) She is finally coming out of her shell at school and learning so much. They claim she is quiet and reserved and still a bit shy...I think they fib on her behalf. She is counting in English, Spanish, and counting to 3 in chinese (she would like to count higher but Kai'lan has only taught up to 3 so far ;) ). She is once again gravitating towards being a momma's girl now that daddy is working full time again, but you can tell when he gets home that a big part of her will always belong only to her daddy...
As for daddy....lol have I mentioned how much I love my man? I am not saying we do not have our quarrels, or that he does not make my blood boil and my redheadedness nearly outweigh my will to be a godly wife sometimes, but simply put, I am madly in love with him in a way and to a degree I never thought would ever be possible. For Mother's Day (which started off horridly for me), he came in during church and sat with me in the nursery (it was my Sunday to have nursery duty) even though I only had 3 babies to watch. For some of you this might not mean much, but Mike only likes lil ones from a distance normally....I mean he LIKES them, but will not usually volunteer to put himself in the midst of them unless guilted into it (which I did not do). Then he offered to take us to lunch/supper at any restaurant I wanted to go to....then he let me spend time uninterrupted on the computer or doing whatever I felt like (even just laying around)...But more than all that, he has really become a man who lets God lead (most of the time, and we are praying about the times he doesn't....we=ME) lol and THAT ladies (and gentlemen if I have any of those who read this) is unbelievably sexy and attractive in a man! Mmm-Mmm_Mmm give me a man who follows after God's heart and you have given me something to swoon over for eternity.
Now, as for me....I have started reading "Power of a Praying Wife" again, but this time with an accountability partner. Last time I read it completely through, Mike and I were separated with little to no hope of reconciliation. It is so weird to read the notes I wrote in the margins and see how absolutely far God has brought us in the last year and a half or so....and it is so amazing how different the book feels reading it from this perspective! Sharyn and I have decided to study one chapter a WEEK!!! yes WEEK! so that we can get into it in a way that wouldn't be possible by reading a chapter a day. Each day we read the chapter and pray about it in a different way and then at the end of the week we are going to get together online and discuss it (we are also keeping personal journals and such to help us focus on what we are reading). If any of you are interested in going through that book with me also, let me know! You can get the book for less than $10 at Walmart (or any bookstore...but not sure the price elsewhere)! Even if you are not "madly in love with" your hubby (ESPECIALLY if you aren't) this book is AMAZING and you will see changes when you start reading it and applying it to YOUR life. Remember, when I read it the first time we were separated and were in relationships with other people (foreseeing nothing but demise to our marriage). Finally I am going to tell all y'all something that I am not going to tell anyone here at home (or my friends I see in person). I am starting (today) on a journey to get healthy. That I know of, none of my family reads my blog here, they have no interest in scrapbooking and assume that is all I do on here I think. But I am going to revamp, revise, renew, and reinvent my blog/blogs to track my progress....I want to reduce my weight by nearly 100 lbs total, and plan on having 20 off by the end of summer. I want to be able to use the Strider Experience machine for 5 miles without getting completely out of breath and weak-kneed by that time. I want to be consistently making it to the YMCA 5 days a week for strength training and the Strider (it is eliptical meets stair climber meets torture device lol). AND I want to feel comfortable physically again....anyone with me on this one?! If I get a few people on board, I would like to start a separate blog just for us....only serious inquiries need apply lol.
Ok to finish off today I have a photo riddle for you....and a challenge.
Look at the photo (which is horrid by the way, and no i don't normally walk around with 2 nails painted and 3 not but oh well) and figure out what one word this photo represents....THEN go take a photo of something that word means....yeah I didn't explain well, but when you figure out what word I am trying to convey in this photo, go take a pic of it and post it on your blog or in a gallery or just email it to me, then come back here (without giving away the word) and link me up to your post! Just thought it might be a fun way to start the week :D I will post the answer to the riddle next Monday :)