Timing and Prayers

I have wanted to do a few blogs this week, especially since it was Easter and we are so incredibly grateful for this amazing celebration and the importance and significance it holds for all man kind. Plus, I have some cute stories to share(that I don't want to forget) and some pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits. However, time is something I don't have and the timing of how things happen sometimes just does not seem to be ideal.

I am sick, really sick. I finally went to the Doctor and yes I have bronchitis. I haven't been this sick since I got bronchitis in Korea--for the first time ever in my life. This is a big thing for me as I NEVER GET SICK! Even when this year has been full of sickness in the Gooch household, somehow I have managed to stay healthy....until now. Genesis is sick too and is not getting better. We will have to take her in again as it has gotten worse--a lot worse.

As for me, I am going on the third straight night with only 3 hours of sleep (hence the timing of this post--ridiculous) and it is not because the kids are up, it is because I can not stop coughing. For some insane reason as soon as I lay down it starts up. I have three different types of cough candies, Cough syrup that I can take while nursing and I am even on some sort of antibiotic and still I cough,
ALL
NIGHT
LONG.

Frustrated is an understatement. This week has been brutal and I question the timing. I mean there is never a good time to be sick, but it could not have come at a worst time. John had 5 papers due this week, he has had to sleep on the couch, he has gotten up when Genesis woke up at 5:00 am and I hadn't had a wink of sleep to take her and let me sleep. He has rushed home so that he can help out and take care of the kids and just play with Zech, who is going stir crazy. We are both GOING CRAZY!! I can't even nap during the day when I am a walking Zombie and really, really grumpy. I tried to nap today and threw on a movie for Zech. He knows how to turn the movie off now, when he has had enough (smart little monkey). So instead of listening to my instructions of staying downstairs, he came flying up the stairs screaming my name and he woke up Genesis. I was ANGRY and maybe got a half hour and of course couldn't get GG to go back down.

John has his last paper due next week and then he starts finals. We have so much to do in these next three weeks and are both feeling completely and utterly overwhelmed, but know that it will work out. Still when you are in the middle of the storm, it is hard to see the calm! IT is hard to focus on what really matters and the only One that can get us through--GOD. It is so easy to feel so down, feel so discouraged, so exhausted and exasperated. Oh and the timing of it all----after an amazing celebration of Jesus conquering death and the hope and peace of everlasting light that it brings us......I can't seem to get past myself, and all the things that I am feeling so 'ungrateful' for. When I should be focusing on the cross, I am drowning in a pool of self pity. However, I am being real, honest and I do know that while the timing of things seems completely and utterly out of whack to us, we are in the palm of God's hands and He has this amazing ability to work things out for HIS GLORY!

So we could use some prayer, ok a LOT OF PRAYER.

Digital Scrapbooking

I have been asked by quite a few people whether or not I like the Digital Scrap booking and I have been pretty bad at responding to a few (sorry)! :o) I am by no means a professional and still have so, so much to learn, but I will give you my take on it and provide you with a few of my favourite sites that I frequent all the time.

Yes, I do really like it. Right now at this stage in my life it is ideal. I don't have time, space and/or money to do some of the things that I would love to do with the traditional scrap booking. Digital works well for me, because I can sit and whip off a page using some pre-made templates in a matter of minutes. I can also sit and create without having to worry about taking all of my supplies out (since I don't have a designated scrap space) and if I don't finish I don't have to worry about little hands getting into my stuff! I have done a lot of pages sitting on the couch, in bed, where-ever (see flexible)! Plus when you move around a lot, it is a lot easier to tote a computer and disks than it is to tote my two rolling shelves full of traditional scrap supplies (just ask my dear hubby as he always has to be extra careful with them and gets upset because the wheels always fall off, the drawers come open and they are just plain awkward--love ya honey!)

However, I still have a tonne of traditional scrap booking supplies, and I always seem to collect more whenever I am out and about. I have a tonne of embellishments that I really want to use. So ideally, I would love to do hybrid scrapping which combines the digital and the traditional. Plus I love the 3-D effect and I love paper--oh I could go on. For now, though I will have to be content with Digital.

I use the Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 which I got at Costco. The current version is Adobe Photoshop 8.0 and you can download a free trial version from their website to check it out. It is basic, but as I have mentioned, I am by no means a professional so I don't need anything that fancy. To get started there are a tonne of tutorials out there, but I will be honest and say that I use Jessica Sprague's website the most. She has over 50 free tutorials (I think almost all of them are video tutorials which take you through step by step).

www.jessicasprague.com

She also has some free tutorials on hybrid, traditional, etc. Plus she offers many different classes and even puts on some free ones (which are really good). There are also free kits available on her site.

I tend to use all freebies from various different sites. I have bought some letter templates, but other than that, I use the free stuff. I am on a budget and it is the best way that I can do something that I really like to do and afford it! :o)

So here are a list of some of my favourite sites:

Two Peas in a Bucket

- this site offers lots of free stuff, mainly free kits that are really great!
- I have bought Erica Hernandez's letter templates after seeing them on my friend Heather's blog. Heather did some awesome hybrid layouts using them. They are really cheap and she sells them in packages (so that means they are even cheaper in bulk)! :o)

Designer Digitals

- this site has lots of free stuff as well.
- they have a lot of colour, web, picture, quote challenges that really inspire you.

O Scraps

- I just came across this site and it is awesome!
- They offer a tonne of free templates and the great thing about the templates is that they have them available in both 8 1/2 x 11 and 12 x12 sizes. So there is so much versatility with these awesome free templates.

A Cherry on Top

- I just found this site as well and I really like it!
- They have a lot of free templates, and kits that I really like.

That's all folks! That's my take on the Digital world of Scrap booking. I just wish I had a bit more time to do it. Happy Digi Scrapping!

I leave you with this one that I just completed. It wasn't a template, I just winged it, but I did use the Jessica Sprague tutorial on how to make circles!

Simple Woman Daybook #2

For Today . . . March 25th, 2010

Outside my window... it was a weird day today. Really cold and gray this morning, but by this evening it warmed up to +10, the sun was shinning and the sky was clear.

I am thankful...that Christ paid the ultimate price for our sins.

I am praying... for some friends of ours that are going through a rough time, for good health (yes the kids are sick again and I had maybe 3 hours of sleep last night) and that we will get through the next 6 weeks.

I am also praying... that God will continue to provide for us and that I will just trust in Him and not get too stressed out or worried!

I am thinking... about something I read last night that really made me upset. I am praying for this broken, sinful world and some days I question how I am going to bring my kids up in it safely and solidly. We like to think we have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, but it is changing so quickly and becoming so hard!

I am celebrating... that this week is almost over and that tomorrow I will be able to get some work done that I have needed to get done for a while now (the kids will be with John)!

From the kitchen... sad but true, we went out and grabbed a burger tonight! :o(

I am wearing...khaki pants and a green t-shirt from Joe.

I am reading... the BIBLE! I am back on track and I will confess that I skipped a whole book. I am doing the read the Bible in a year plan from our church and I was doing great, until I hit the book of Leviticus and then Numbers. So I skipped Numbers and will go back, but I needed to get myself back into it again.

I am hoping...for smooth transitions.

I am hearing...peace and quiet. The kids are in bed, John is out and I am all alone---ahhh quiet!

I am creating...nothing right now. I have a lot of ideas, but no time.

Around the house... cleaning, sorting, packing, organizing--does it ever end?!

One of my favorite things...reading the Bible with my kids and having some really great conversations with Zech about Jesus. Today we played David and Goliath (can you guess which story they are doing at Sunday School). I was Goliath and he was David. He had his sling and pretend stones and I had to hold the sword. He prayed to Jesus to help him and then he threw the stones and I fell down! It was pretty funny!

A few plans for the rest of the week... tomorrow I need to get some work related stuff done for a couple of hours, so John will take the kids. Then he has to go to the library and on Saturday he will be at the library too. He has 7 papers, 1 presentation and 4 finals in the next 6 weeks, so things are a little stressful right now. Sunday is our day to rest and spend time with one another.

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing with you...

This little monkey started pushing our chairs around the house, which did not bode well with me. SO I dug out the walker and this is their new favourite game. She pushes him, while he steers. It works out perfectly as Zech is just the right weight, if he didn't sit in it, it goes too fast for her and she can't keep up. It is soooo cute and she is so proud of herself. She also got angry at Zech and hit him when he wouldn't go and steer properly (oh boy--she has quite the attitude)!

Thanks to Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook for this great idea.

GrEightful

Wow, this week was sooo busy and there are so many things to be grateful for:

I am grateful for:

1.) My husband and all the hard work he does. It is such stressful time for him, yet is still makes sure that he spends valuable time with the kids and to cuddle with me! :o)

2.) For not losing my bank card! Some days I don't know where my head is!

3.) A wonderful play date with Kim and Heather and their beautiful kids! I love these guys! Check out the photo that Heather took of the three 3 year olds!

4.) A family dinner out to celebrate our 5 year anniversary at a yummy Thai Food Restaurant (the kids were really good too)!

5.) A friends surprise b-day party! She is such a wonderful person! We had such a blast and played a really great game! Lots of laughs and great company always something to be grateful for!

6.) Time to get together with some good friends and some new friends.

7.) Beautiful roses and an awesome card from my wonderful hubby!

8.) The imagination of a three year old--he totally cracks me up!

......ok, I know this is more than eight, but since I missed a couple of weeks.....

9.) My little girl and her personality that is so cute and is totally starting to shine through now!

10.) Family time. Yes we headed out to 'Big Rock'! I think that John was thinking about 'Aires Rock' in Australia, because when we got to Big Rock, he had this total look of disappointment and said 'this is it?'! It made me laugh and he now teases me about it. Zech loved it though! He got to play with the Rock Monsters (if you have seen the Veggie Tales Pirate movie you will know what I am talking about)!

5 Years

March 19th, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Some days it really feels like we just got married, yet other days I feel like I have known my hubby for years (well technically we have known each other for 8 years).

You know when you are young and have this list of the ideal husband, well I have to say that my husband met all of my requirements and has even exceeded them. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband, friend and father for my kids. I love spending my life with this man, and am so excited to see what God has in store for us over the many years to come.

Our verse for our wedding (our marriage) was/has been Ecclesiastes 4:9-12:

⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ¹¹Again, if two lie together, they keep warm,^(A) but how can one keep warm alone? ¹²And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

This has been such a true testimony of our marriage. We have always been there to lift one another up during the most difficult times when it seems that all we get thrown is constant criticism, discouragement, lies, disappointments. We are also there for one another to celebrate all of the wonderful blessings, miracles, the light bulb moments (hee) in our lives. However, what has been most important and what we wanted our whole married life to based around was God. With God at the forefront we can get through anything, we can not be broken that easily! Praise the Lord for his unfailing love, mercy and grace and the "threefold cord"!

So five random tidbits about "us":

1. For our first date John took me to the pool to teach me how to swim (I still think he just wanted to see what I looked like in a bathing suit--haha--I guess I passed) :o)

2. I knew after the first year of dating that he was the man I was going to marry, but it took him a bit longer (yeah 3 years of dating).

3. We both have a massive case of the travel bug disease and it has never left us and probably never will.

4. John proposed to me in Korea the night before my birthday. It's funny how it happened.... and I just found the film of pictures and had them developed (my digital camera broke while we were there and luckily I brought my old film one--so the memories are still preserved)

5. We both love Mexican food. In fact John was quite disappointed that we never had tacos for our wedding dinner! :o)

Two More Sweet Talkin Challenges!

So yes, I am still trying to complete this Challenge, but am really far behind. None the less, here are two more layouts I did. I am also not going in order.

Remember the post a few days ago......I thought it was perfect for Challenge # 9 - Share Your Thoughts.

So here it is----really, really simple, but the focus is supposed to be on my Thoughts (the journaling) right?




This is Challenge #3 - Record a Conversation

I knew instantly what conversation I wanted to use and actually started this one a month ago or more, but it took me a while to get it to look the way I wanted (I actually lost the first attempt as I didn't save it and my battery died--that was a good thing because I am much happier with this one)!

GrEightful

Oh so much to be grateful for!

This week I am grateful for:

1.) Strollersize with a good friend and a chance to take the kids for lunch afterward! (Our boys are the same age and our girls are almost exactly two months apart)

2.) Play date and lunch with Heather, Helayna and Silas! It was so nice to see them again!

3.) My little princess who is sleeping at night a whole lot better!!! (ahh sleep)

4.) My boy who is now potty trained!!!!!! He is doing so AWESOME! (thank goodness...I was beginning to worry)

5.) Nice weather and the melting of all that yucky white stuff! Which also meant that we were able to go to the park A LOT!! Also, Daddy fixed up Zech's bike (he grew a lot since last year) and Zech is a riding machine! I am so impressed at how well he did. He pedals and steers all by himself!
6.) Flowers from my wonderful hubby! (they are so pretty and so spring like)


7.) The ability to have some great friends over for supper!! Hope they didn't mind the Bison! :o)

8.) The moments, the ways that God is able to speak to us if we allow Him to.