Another catch-up!

Where does the time go? When I think I'm going to have time to write something, I am almost always wrong!  We are in a whirlwind here, getting ready to move back to the US for one year. Packing, cleaning, visiting...it's all become part of our regular life!  I still manage to sneak in some scrapbooking, though!  Hey...it's my stress relief!  And my other stress relief recently has been watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and making a list of all the amazing little places we dream about visiting when we're in the US!

Packing up to return to the US for one year isn't easy. And as excited as we are to be going "home" for a little while, it means an awful lot of upheaval for us here. And I worry that pulling my kids out of their Arabic speaking school isn't a great idea for an entire year, and about ministry and work that will have to come to an end because there is no one to fill in the gaps and the lives affected by these decisions.  I wonder where we will live while in the US and what our lives will look like. We own nothing there and will be living with family and in housing provided for us by the seminary where we'll be working and where Scot will be studying. Saying goodbye is never easy, and the goodbyes seem to get harder and harder to say the more often we have to say them.  Sigh.  I'm tired. But excited. But worried. And eager. And hesitant. It's an upheaval, I tell you!

In all of this, I still scrap! Not much, mind you!  ;)  This layout features pictures from a retreat I attended in Texas in 2009. And it showcases the newest Jennifer Labre Designs offering, Happy Scraper! I also used Fiddle Dee Dee Designs' template, Fuss Free: Third Time is the Charm 3 and Vegas Strips.

And this layout features my GK as a flower girl in a wedding last year. The kit is About a Bloom, and it's the featured kit of the month at Digi Shop Talk, where Jenn is the designer of the month!

I hope to scrap more today, but we shall see how time develops. I've already wasted much of my free time this morning, and we're off to visit with friends in a local park later in the afternoon. And I'm supposed to squeeze a workout into this day.  And fold laundry.  But that's no fun!  Until next time...

HAPPY iNSD! I've got a quickpage freebie to give away! :D

So, Jennifer Labre Designs has an adorable new kit out, appropriately titled Happy Scrapper!  It's full of elements and word strips that paint the picture of one of our favorite hobbies!  And this kit specifically targets DIGITAL!  You'll love the kit!  Right now she's got her 40% off sale going on for iNSD, and you'll find Happy Scrapper and its coordinating add-on in her store at OScraps. 

I've created this coordinating quickpage to go along with Happy Scrapper.  Of course, you don't need to buy the kit to enjoy this quickpage.  Just drop your favorite retreat or scrappy picture into the spot and you're finished!  If you'd like to grab this quickpage, you'll find it at 4Shared here.  I'd love if you'd leave me a comment and let me know how you found my blog!  :D  Have fun and HAPPY SCRAPPING!

iNSD is coming up!

interNational Scrapbook Day is coming up this weekend and there is tons of FUN to be had in the digital world as a result!  Sales, games, challenges, give-aways, and freebies are just a few things you can look forward to! 

Jennifer Labre Designs has got an amazing kit coming out, featuring everything we love about digital scrapbooking!  And I've got a coordinating freebie to give away! 

Just wanted my blog readers to have a heads up!  Find your favorite stores, fill up your wish lists, and get ready to shop and scrap this weekend!  :D

Time flies...

YIKES! It seems like it was just yesterday that I last posted.  I see it was April 8, western Easter!  We were running around like chickens with our heads cut off during the week of eastern Easter, with tons of special church services and visits and preparation!  It was a lovely week!  We even managed to get out and see the parade full of Palestinian scouts and more Easter fun!  I've been scrapping in these last few weeks, too, of course!  What is life without scrapbooking, right?  teeheehee.  Just kidding!  Here are a few layouts I have to share!

Just did this one this morning using Indigo Nights, the gorgeous new kit by Jennifer Labre Designs and Flergs.  A picture of me that I actually kind of like from my sister's wedding.

A new favorite layout?  This one, featuring my amazing Na-na celebrating her 90th birthday!  Unbelievable!  This kit is Pure Happiness by Jennifer Labre Designs.

And this one features a few pictures of Scot and I just days before Thomas' arrive in 1999!  I used the kit Only You and I by Faith True Originals and a template, Fuss Free: Tag, You're It 3 by Fiddle Dee Dee Designs.

These are a few pictures of Scoty's first lost tooth.  I used the kit, Toofless, by Faith True Originals and the template Fuss Free: Ornately Framed by Fiddle Dee Dee Designs.

A fun 4th of July layout I created using Jennifer Labre Designs' Glory kit and Fuss Free: Vegas Strips by Fiddle Dee Dee Designs' template!  I made it a double-pager!

Another adorable kit by Faith True Originals on this layout from our time in Disney World!  The kid is Chomp, Romp, and Stomp:

Finally, I used  Just Chillin' by Jennifer Labre Designs for this layout featuring Thomas and his silly antics!

Lots happening in our lives!  We had a great Easter and are looking forward to the last few weeks of school and our family's transition to the US for a one year home assignment!  Which means I'm going to be crazy busy in the coming weeks doing all the things I've waited until the last minute to do!  UGH!  Packing, planning, giving away, and possibly moving out of our apartment into storage if we can't find renters to take our place!  Not a fun prospect.  We're still praying that someone will come along who would like to live in our home for a year.  Or most of a year!

In any event, hopefully I will keep scrapping and keep up with my ministry and life. Hope all of my faithful readers are well!

Until next time...

HAPPY EASTER!

I pray you all have a wonderful Resurrection Day!  It's Palm Sunday for us, as we celebrate on the Eastern calendar here, but I look forward to Holy Week and all of the events and worship services we have planned!

I heard the church bells ringing out across Ramallah today.  What a beautiful sound!  Jesus is risen!

Happy Easter, my dear blog readers!  I'll save my layouts for another day!  Today, just enjoy the love of Jesus and victory over the grave!

~~Carrie Ann

Friday

Today there is unrest in the West Bank.  I hate days like this, because my heart is sad that this land is so full of turmoil.  We had originally thought we would be going to the beach to gather sea glass, but we decided it was best to avoid travel and stay home. 

So I did what anyone in my position would do: I scrapbooked!  :D  Well, I did a lot of things, really, including helping Georgia Kate with her reading (she's doing GREAT!) and laundry and cleaning up and...you get the picture.  But I am so glad I've had to time to gather some layout inspiration online as well as create a few of my own!

First, You Are...Mine

The Kit is You Are by Jennifer Labre Designs, created for her guest spot at Scrapbookgraphics.  Love this layout!

Second, Ain't She Tweet
My cheeky Maggie!  How I love those sweet, adorable cheeks!  These pictures were taken for her 3rd birthday at Walmart.  The kit is Spring Chorus Bundle by Faith True Originals and mle Card.

Here's hoping I get another layout finished tonight!  I still have to workout.  Gah.  I hate exercise!  But it's good for me, right?  Sigh.  I'd rather scrapbook!  :D

What a week!

Phew!  The week has ended.  To say this was a busy week for our family is an understatement!  We had visitors here from our denomination around the world.  They were here specifically to see the work and ministry we do and to make some evaluations and recommendations.  There were days when we were with them from early morning until late at night.  We traveled with them, sat in long meetings, and showed them what we do, all the while maintaining, as best we could, our regular work schedule!  The final meeting took place yesterday followed by supper at McDonalds.

It's been crazy busy, but it's been good.  I am glad that it's over, but I enjoyed most of the process.  Praise God, we were affirmed in much of what we are doing here!  Thankful for that!

I managed to squeak out a double page layout in the middle of the week on a less busy day.  :)  Maggie's 11th birthday inspired me!  This gorgeous kit is A Walk in the Park by Elise's Pieces and Sugarplum Paperie. This awesome set of templates is Fuss Free: Vegas Strips by Fiddle Dee Dee Designs.  I love how many pictures these templates include!

So, life gets back to normal, or as normal as it ever is here!  We're looking forward to the upcoming celebration of the Easter season with our friends in the land!  Have a great Sunday!  Until next time...

Feeling Scrappy Once Again! :D

So, I did get to scrapbook!  I did not, however, get to Maggie's birthday pictures yet.  They're next on the list.  These are some memory lane kind of pages!  I don't have many of my pictures from pre-2004 digitally.  Back then, to get them digitally I had to scan each picture in one by one. And the quality was dubious at best. But, the few pictures I did scan in were precious to me, so I started to wonder why I wasn't scrapping more of them!  I pulled out some of Thomas' yearly studio pictures and some of Maggie when she was just a baby, and I came up with these 2 layouts.  It was super fun to look back on these photos, but it made me think about how quickly time moves on.  I can remember when they were all this small, and how I found out when I first had Thomas that, in spite of my lack of baby experience, I simply adore babies!

This first layout is a double pager using Elise's Pieces lastest release: Well Read.  Love this kit!   These are pictures of Thomas, beginning with his first birthday in the year 2000 and continuing through until 2011. It's it amazing to see the progression in just 11 years?  WOW!

The second uses Faith True Originals and mle card's latest collaboration, Daddy's Girl.  Appropriate, seeing as how Maggie is her Daddy's girl!  :D  Both layouts used Fuss Free: Third Time Is the Charm templates by Fiddle Dee Dee Designs.  These are pictures of Maggie when she was just a few months old, from the summer of 2001.  Love her precious smile!

Finally, a layout featuring my cat, Jesse, and a kit by Elise's Pieces called Lucky Me.

Well, that's all for today!  I'm supposed to finishing a monthly financial report which is already more than 10 days late.  I will get it done soon.  Today.  Right.  Until next time!

Happy 11th Birhday, Maggie!

I've admittedly been in a blogging funk.  Davy's passing made me sad.  Then we hit the ground running with a visiting team, preparations for another team coming to evaluate our work and ministry on the field and 2 weeks without a single day off!  I feel like I'm just barely keeping my head above water!

Yesterday morning we sent the last of our required reports to the office. And yesterday was Maggie's 11th Birthday! Perfect timing!  Maggie was super excited about her birthday, as all kids usually are!  (well, not just kids...I get super excited about my own birthday, too!  :D)  It was a low-key kind of birthday.  As low-key as it can be with 4 kids!  My mom called early in the morning to wish her happy birthday and my sister was able to Facetime in for the birthday cake time.  She requested Moulekhia for her special meal (that's Jew's Mallow over rice and chicken) instead of something we ordered out, which was fun!  My little Palestinian.  :D  Maggie had a wonderful day and was just beaming as she went to bed.  She's growing up into a beautiful girl and I'm so proud of her!  Thought I'd share some pictures which will hopefully be scrapped later today!  I'm feeling inspired!

Scrap Theray. Or how much I miss Davy Jones. :(

I scrapped wto Monkees and Davy Jones related pages over the last few days.  It helps to remember.  Because of all the fun memories, while talking with Mara last evening, I laughed as much as I cried.  These two layouts are only the beginning.  I need to get more of my memories digitally so I can scrap my Monkee life.  But for now, these will have to do.

The kit is Love Is All Around by Elise's Pieces and the template is Fuss Free: Yesterday Once More by Fiddle Dee Dee Designs.

And this kit is Snap and Scrap by Faith True Originals.

This page is not related to The Monkees. :D  The kit is Family Rules by Jennifer Labre Designs.  The pictures were taken and designed by my friend, Babs.

My heart is still sad and likely will remain so for a long time.  I have lost my first love, the crush of my childhood...the entertainer I loved more than any other in the entire world.  I'm forever grateful for the joy he's brought me..for the music, the laughter and the childlike innocence and love.  Missing Davy.