Contest Winner!

I received more of the prizes from the Real Women Scrap Contest I won around Christmastime. This is the first contest I have ever won, I remember how excited I was when Tasra (author of Real Women Scrap) called me on my cell phone and told me I won. I thought she was just calling me back to give me some information I asked for, well I was wrong and (for once:) and very excited to be. I cannot wait to start reading my new books, thanks again Tasra!

Oh... in case you are interested in seeing my winning layout, here it is...

Encouraged to Join

This is totally ironic that I shared my crazy kitchen with you just yesterday and now I ran past this very nice group at 5MintutesForMom.com that is tackling tasks just like mine and sharing them on Tuesdays! 

As you might guess I lack motivation. I think it is just great to know there are others out there that let things pile up like I do, and that they are humble enough to share it! Well, this is going to be my new way of making myself tackle something every week, no matter what size. I am also excited to share my life of laziness, joy and encouragement with you. This is going to be fun!

Motivated on a Monday

This is my confession of laziness and procrastination! But after my poor husband watched the kids for me on Saturday, and seeing the sad look on his face yesterday about having no clean dishes... I knew I had taken it too far again! This happens all too often, but I don't let myself get too down about it and neither should you... It took me 2.5 hours to get those dishes done this morning, hours I usually spend playing with my kiddos, and they are more important than dishes anyday!

Notice how the very last picture has my dish rack sitting in the sink with some clean dishes in it? This is a trick I learned from my friend Andrea, it helps me keep fewer dirty dishes in my sink, and fewer clean ones all over my counter :o).

Also notice in that same picture, the left side of my sink is not so white? I have another trick for this, but it must work it's magic while I sleep (how wonderful)! I don't remember which friend I learned this from, but I believe she got it from FlyLady.net. So what I do is wait till bedtime, I fill up my sink with hot hot water, dish soap, and bleach... and in the morning I drain it, and rinse it, and TADA! It shines! Try it, you'll love it!

Otherwise Unwanted

As you might know, me and my friend Jenn are in charge of hosting crops monthly at my church... well we had one today and I was totally blessed. I am always excited to serve my ladies, but today it was different! A specific friend of mine who has been at our crops for years, and has also been in my Bible Study groups at has been planning on adopting, and got her two boys from Russia just recently! I knew she was coming today and I was going to be able to see photos of her trip to Russia to pick up her sons, but her husband actually came by with them to say hi... I don't think she knew it, but I was practically in tears to meet them in person. Daniil and Ilya are adorable and I am thankful for people like her and her husband that are willing to be obedient to the Lord and adopt children that are otherwise unwanted.

My Mac Book Pro

I love it! I got it a week ago with our tax return money. I have been wanting a laptop for quite a while now.

I am a WAHM and when my hubby is home I share the home computer with him. Which was sometimes a hard thing to do, he happens to play a well known game called World of Warcraft. Those of you that know this game also know that it sucks people in and makes them forget what time it is, or how long they have been playing. I already have the game all loaded onto my laptop because I figure if you can't beat um, join um??? We'll see. Anyway right now I am busy catching up on three current client's albums, and a class I am taking at Big Picture Scrapbooking, let alone trying to manage my two little ones (16 months apart), the dishes (without a dishwasher), the laundry, and everything else! I am just excited to have one more tool to make my life a little easier.

My baby in Heaven

It's about time I explained my verse of the week. Job 1:20-21 "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." This one is very important to me, as it hits very close to home...

At Christmastime I found out I was pregnant with my third baby, of coarse I was very excited. I even waited to share the news with my husband as a "gift" for Christmas morning. Little did we know that at our first appointment three weeks later we would find out that the baby stopped growing at about 5 weeks. This was very heartbreaking news, and the next week in waiting seemed to feel like eternity. I had another appointment a week later and went in for a scheduled D&C the day after that. The procedure went very well and God assured me that He has my baby with Him. This verse was the first thing to pop in my mind when the hard news came, and it is still comforting as days go by. He has given me two beautiful and wonderful children, and yes has taken away one, but I know that He will also continue to give, and I am blessed to know that.

My encouragement to anyone that happens to know the loss I have gone through, first know that God doesn't only want to take, but He wants to give and give more abundantly than we could ever ask or think. And second look for peace and joy within the memories God has already given you. Just two days after my procedure I went to scrapbook at my church and had the pleasure to start working with my son's birth photos, God filled me with more joy than I can explain to be able to reminisce over my 9 month old right after loosing my baby that is now in Heaven.

Happy Valentine's Day

 I just wanted to share with you my attempt at a Valentine photo for my husband. This is the perfect glimpse at my life with a 2 year old and a 10 month old, I know many of you out there can understand.

On the other hand, there is some fun that comes with my darling daughter being two... She likes playing with her clothes (which are always easily accessible because mommy has problems either getting the laundry done all the time, or getting that age clothes swap thing done before we skip a size completely). So she has found the bag of 18 month clothes (that is supposed to be packed up and put in the garage) and has chosen some bloomers as her new favorite play hat :) She walks around the house with them all the way over her head and totally crashes into things, it's adorable!!!

Class Project

This is my first altered clipboard, it is a project for a class I am talking with Big Picture Scrapbooking called Library of Memories taught by Stacy Julian.

The class is awesome so far, teaching me a liberating new way to organize my photos and layouts giving me more time to actually scrapbook! which is great because trying to do stuff for myself among all I do for others gets difficult at times.

Stacy (whom I know understands my busyness) was actually blessed with this system she teaches about 41/2 years ago, and still loves to continue using it and sharing it with others. She even includes a detailed list of the organizational products she has used so we can glean from her choices.

I can't wait to learn more, and pass on what I have learned :) As Stacy would say, "This is So Big".

Bright Colors

I thought I would share one of my most recent page layouts with ya'll. I actually had a little bit of a difficult time with it because I don't naturally like working with such bright colors, but I had to make it match the album itself (which I always do) because it is the first page or "title page" in my sons album. But once I started using some of the Basic Grey papers to match the K&Company space paper it was smooth sailin'! And I LOVE the Basic Grey rub-on on the photo mat! It says "batteries not included" if you cannot read it :o).

So blessed

I had my first couple comments on my website and blog today and it is even more exciting to know that others think I did good compared to pride just filling up my head like air in a thumb on cartoons :)

So here's what they said... my website host, who happens to be a close friend of mine called and said "Is this the professional website designer for Joyous Creations?" He's a funny man, and was very encouraging. Then my friend Tasra author of 'Real Women Scrap' sent me an e-mail saying "I am so proud of you. Your blog rocks! The banner is adorable and I love your colors. You're awesome. Can't wait to add you to my blogroll. Keep moving forward...you have a lot to offer this world!" She is too sweet and I am so blessed. 

Just the Beginning

So not only is this the beginning of my blog and the new start of my business website it also seems to be a new beginning for me. Just this past week or so I have been making myself do things that I would usually shrink away from. I don't know if it's just me growing up and finally growing out of my insecurities, or if it's the hormones from being pregnant too close together finally calming down... but I do know it is a good thing.

I did my business taxes, I redesigned my website and designed this blog all in one week (not knowing how to do any of it) and am realizing that I am not as inadequate as make myself out to be, and that God wants to give me more strength than I ever accept. Well this is just the beginning of me opening up and blooming to change.
 
"For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11