Craft Camp is HERE!



My friend Heather and I are putting on a CRAFT CAMP!!!
We were up late one night crafting at her dining room table and the idea started brewing.
We got ourselves so excited!
We love to craft and have fun and we want to do that with all of you!!
Craft Camp is a full day of laughs and fun.
It's a girl day out.
A day for us crafty girls (or crafty wanna be girls) to hang out and have some fun.
Fun away from housework and hubbies, kids and responsibilities.

WE WANT YOU TO COME!!
It will be TONS of fun, I promise!

Heather and I have come up with FIVE crafty make and takes for the day.
These are beautiful home projects, accents, and accessories!
They also make great gifts!
You can see all the projects and get Craft Camp updates on the FaceBook Page.

We will have everything you need.
Plus extra embellishments so you can make your crafts your way!!

We will get started at 9am and craft together til 1pm.
Break for Lunch and then the church will be open
for FREE craft/ crop/ scrapbook time for YOU to enjoy.
So bring all those pictures that you want to get on paper!!
During the free time you will have access to cricut machines and we can all share our stamps, inks, and cool tools!!
It will uber fun!

Only $30 for a FULL day!!
Please come! We would love to have a packed house.

Free, cute, yummy afternoon snacks FREE from Studio 206.
There will be a homemade box lunch available on Craft Day for purchase.


PLUS:
(there's more)
The FIRST TEN people to register will be entered to WIN custom sugar cookies from Studio 206!!!
So go register NOW. You can also see all the cool crafts we are making on the Face Book Page.

Here's how:
Pay your registration fee on PayPal Craft Camp Account using craftcampfun@gmail.com
"LIKE" Craft Camp on Facebook....and message us that you payed and want to come!!
Let us know what monogram letter you would like and if you will purchase the lunch.

We can't wait to see you there!!!!!
And bring ALL your friends!!
Register HERE!

heavy heart

One thing that's for sure in our lives is that we don't get to choose our parents.We don't get to choose our version of "barbie" and "ken". We get what we get and we can't throw a fit. Well, we can throw a fit later when we realize our parents could have done better or even just did the best they could. I say all this because my heart is heavy for my dad. I'm having a hard time coming to grips that I will lose him to this life and have to mourn not only for his absence but his legacy of poor choices. I just can't quite understand or have peace about the sequential choices of his short life. He's not physically dead yet but his characteristics and traits that I grew up with have been dying for several years now.
At the moment, he's in the hospital with complications of diabetes and obesity which has ultimately created kidney failure.
I don't really know what is going to happen to him. I'm trying to grasp the idea of his absence. It seems so unnatural to think about losing a parent. They give so much of themselves and sacrifice a lot to make sure you have what you need and they are always on your side no matter what. My dad and I have had conversations about his death and funeral He says he only wants to be cremated and no services. Then later he said I could have a memorial for him.  Honestly, I don't know what I will do. It's hard to fathom it. It's painful to my senses that I might have to face his mortality in a way that seems so unfair.
When I was a child, I feared my dad. He was gruff, firm, overbearing at times, and drill sergeant like. I always went to my mom for everything. I knew my dad loved me. He made dinner for us, helped us with homework, fixed stuff for us. He went back to college when I was a young girl. Trying to make himself better. As I got older, he seemed to become more lenient of my tween behaviors. I think that had to do with my parents divorce and the slight possibility that he felt guilt over a failed marriage. I have several memories of him being a single dad, trying to make his kids happy even amidst all the dysfunction. From the age of fourteen and fifteen, I wrote a lot of letters to my dad. I had been dealing with so many leftover emotions and memories that were too painful to speak about in person. I went to live with him and my brother when I was 16 and that was the beginning of a new chapter of our relationship. I was sort of thrown into the role of homemaker. I was cooking, cleaning, and running errands and helping out in general. I didn't mind it so much, probably because he became even more lenient and I pretty much got away with murder, so to speak. We had our disagreements and fights. I think such high expectations were placed on me because I was the one most similar to my dad's personality. I have common sense and street smarts and I don't take a lot of crap from people. I guess that can be bad or good, depending on how you look at it. As I became adult and eventually a mom, our relationship changed again. I was no longer his baby girl who always looked to him for advice or guidance. I am now my own person, with my own ideas, my own ways of doing things, my own opinions and I can be quite vocal with all of that when it comes to conversations with my dad. Just in the past couple of years, we have butted heads on the issue that I don't spend enough time with him. When in actuality, I spend as much time as I can especially since the burden is on me to travel to see him. If I had all the time in the world, I'd see him once or twice a week. I am a super busy and I try as much as I can but even that is not good enough for him.
So here we are, possibly looking at the end of his life. I'm burdened with the thought of losing him and knowing that I can't just call or see him. My heart is heavy. The only power I have is prayer. I just have to pray and even when my words aren't there, God knows my heart. He knows each tear I cry and hears me when I call.

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it....

but I will tell everyone on Friday! My bf Heather and I are putting something together that could potentially be somethng we do 2-3 times a year. We have been planning and plotting and creating and texting edach other all kinds of great stuff.
 It is going to be super duper fun and super duper awesome!
I c.a.n.n.o.t wait!


Stay Tuned

random stuff

It's been a few since I've blogged. I just noticed too that as of today, my blog has been viewed 4500 times!! That's a lot of visits!
Life has been busy 'round here....it's a balancing act. I feel like even though I have one kid, I'm as busy as a mom who has three. I am looking forward to Spring Break. Two blissful weeks of rest, however, I'm already contemplating my to do list to get caught up on things that need done around the house. I'm also going to have to squeeze in some time to plan and make some paper crafting stuff for the classes at JoAnn's. I'm hoping this brings in a little bit of money for the savings account. It would be nice to go on a family vacation in the fall.
I've been going to physical therapy for about a month now. Due to the pain I've been having in my hips, which isn't skeletal but muscular, I have had to do some Pilates exercises and then when I go to see the PT, she massages the knots and stiffness out. It's actually very wonderful even if I have to expose my half side.
My PT is a super sweet, very wise woman who is a believer in Christ and we have really great conversations about life and husbands and how trials and tribulations can cause stress on the body, etc. She's so great!
I was recently interviewed by a local paper regarding my job and the prospect of the county funding it again. My job is being paid for through stimulus money and it ends this year. I am hoping and praying that a job is going to land right in my lap and the principal who gives me a contract is going to hit the teacher jackpot with me.
Not bragging, just stating the facts....lol ;)
My bff and I spent a few hours last night crafting. I was really tired but being creative is my form of drug. I helped her make a paper banner on the sewing machine for her son's upcoming 5th birthday. I helped her make a banner that says CRAFT for above her kids' art table. We made some super quick and cute teacher gifts for V-day. We made six each and five are for each of their support teachers. Since those teachers kinda get left out of the mix, our little gift should make them feel important. We were having a lot of fun and laughing like idiots at ourselves. I really needed that, it was good just to hang out!
I am about to finish a book called "Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen", and it's a really good read. Set in the south and I found it to be full of text to self connections. A few teachers at school formed a book club and this is the first selection. We are going to meet in a couple of weeks to talk about it and I can't wait. It's going to be fun to see how other people have connected it to their lives.
Well, I guess that's enough randomness for now. Keep warm, it's like super Alaskan cold her in Middle TN!!!