Feeling the urge to purge..

.. all the excess baggage - the physical baggage (70 pounds).. the junk baggage (working on a Salvation Army donation of all the old items I no longer want or need b/c I hate clutter).. the mental baggage (letting go of all the mental stuff that has been holding me back)..

Ever feel the urge/need to shed these things? I am REALLY feeling it today. The kids are with their Dad this weekend. I have the entire weekend to myself. Trying to continue on my quest to shed the excess and focus on redirecting and living my life. It's so easy to get burdened down with all the excess. Starting the ViSalus 90 Day Challenge on Monday to deal with the excess weight part. Continuing to work out with Connor & Lauren to get fit. Can't wait to get the Salvation Army donation to its final destination (don't forget to itemize for the tax deduction!). As for the mental baggage, working hard at forgetting all the failures.. Not so easy, but moving forward everyday.

So thankful to have so many friends...

Happy Sunday everyone!

Right Where I Need To Be

Right where I need to be. Sitting here in my scrapbooking room while my daughter Lauren is next to me singing songs to her heart's content. She is on the Ty Girls' website, singing along to "Nobody's Perfect" and saying everybody makes mistakes. I am working on Connor's school album. Working on 2nd grade for him right now. One more year to go, and then I am caught up to his current year. Becky Higgins' school kit has been a godsend. I had saved so many things that the kids had made. This has forced me to go through things and condense, saving only the most important things and letting go of the rest. It has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. So many memories have come flooding back. It has only been a couple of year's worth, but they are so easily forgotten. That's why I do this hobby. I want to preserve these memories for my children. I want them to know how much they are loved.

The photo is of Lauren and one of her best friends Megan. This one was taken on Halloween, but I love it. There genuine smiles are contagious!

I am reading a new book that Heidi Swapp recommended on her blog. It is called "Five", and is from Compendium Inc. I ordered four copies - one for me and the others to give as gifts. It is very thought provoking and inspirational. I have been in such a rut lately, just going through the motions yet not really living life. This book is actually a workbook - it helps guide you through setting up goals for the next five years of your life. It talks about "living you life on purpose", choosing the lifetime values that will help you lead you to your goals. To "live inspired" is what it is all about. We only get to walk this way once. Let's live it right. You can purchase this book here.

Parenthood

Sometimes the stuggle of being a parent seems hard. It is one of the most rewarding things we can do on this earth. I know that I was put here to be a mom. Please check out this video. This father embodies what we all should be as parents:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qTiYA1WiY8

Happy Saturday!

Quote for the Day

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." Angela Schwindt

I hope you had a wonderful holiday. It's good to have the kids home..

Digi Scrapping

I finally completed my first digital layout. Thanks to Jessica Sprague's wonderful tutorial, this is what I came up with. It was incredibly easy. I love being able to hit the "undo" button if I don't like the result. Much easier than redoing a scrapbook page that you pasted all your elements down on. We had a great vacation at Sunset Beach, North Carolina. We spent a couple days in Myrtle Beach, and the rest at Sunset Beach. The ocean water was much warmer than Lake Erie! The waves were bigger too!

Happiness

This makes me happy..

Connor & Lauren had so much fun camping at Kinzua. This picture was taken up on top of Rim Rock. They were jumping off the boat and even went tubing! No fear here!

Their smiles speak volumes.. they are so well-adjusted and protect each other fiercely!

This is Ashley. She is absolutely gorgeous and just turned 17! She is my good friend's daughter. She will be at Penn State next year. She and her brother Christian live in Germany. They get to come to Pennsylvania every summer to stay with their dad. Christian is a ham just like his father! We are lucky to have them in our lives.

Quote for the Day

"If you pay attention at every moment, you form a new relationship to time. In some magical way, by slowing down, you become more efficient, productive, and energetic, focusing without distraction directly on the task in front of you. Not only do you become immersed in the moment, you become the moment." - Michael Ray

Getting ready to go camping at Kinzua for a couple days. It is such a wonderful place to go. We have a couple friends bringing their boats down, so we will be on the Allegheny River a lot. The kids love that.