A new Scrapbooking Adventure!

I read about a call for creative team members for a new(ish) designer at TheDigiChick.com. I hesitated to make application because, frankly, I lack digital scrapbooking experience. But, before I went to sleep the last night of the call, I decided to just go for it. I applied.

AND I WAS SELECTED TO JOIN THE TEAM!!!!!!




















My designer is Jennifer Labre from Jennifer Labre Designs. I'm excited to have been selected to work with her beautiful products! I'm so thankful she decided to give this newbie a chance! Hopefully this inspires me to scrapbook more...and maybe blog a little bit more, too!

Here's the first layout I created using one of her kits, Sunkissed: Sunset:

I was a scrapping fool!

Last month was Sketchapalooza month. Feeling Scrappy, a great blog/online class site, hosts this class once or twice a year. I LOVE the class and I got all kinds of scrapbooking done this time. I completed 20 sketches, and did some of them twice! I was working on my family's Disney vacation from last year and just enjoyed reliving the memories! I hope to get the album completed in the next couple of weeks.

Life has been moving at a breakneck pace. It's nice to have time to sit and scrapbook! And I was honing my digital scrapbooking skills the entire time! FUN! Here are a few of my favorite layouts from Sketchapalooza!

Kits used by Britt-ish Designs, Connie Prince, Chelle's Creations and Sahlan Studios.

Life is good!

It's been a long time since I've blogged, and it's not because nothing exciting has been going on! :) Just the opposite, in fact! We've been busy with work, language study, language study program development, a trip to Thailand for a conference, school, ministry, etc.

Phew. Life is good. I'm thankful that I had the chance to travel to Thailand for a language coach workshop. I'm also thankful that my coworker was able to come along. We had a GREAT time! The conference was helpful, interesting, and informative. And we had fun getting out every evening to see something new. She was a great travel companion!

I spent yesterday evening with a group of teen-agers and their mothers and aunts at a Mother's Day event (the Arab world celebrate Mother's Day on March 21) in Jericho. I taught the girls how to make an altered frame using lots of materials donated by friends from the US. It was a fun evening!

Life is good and I am blessed. No matter the political or emotional turmoil that may surround me at any given time, I know that I am where God wants me to be! The peace that fills me heart is indescribable! I am grateful for all of life's blessings!

Don't Worry...

I love music. My kids have often said that our life is like a musical because I'm constantly bursting into song and singing. I love all kinds of music, some because of the beauty of the music itself, but I'm usually drawn to music because of the lyrics. It should come as no surprise that I love music in my second and now my third language as well! I love to sing worship and praise songs in Arabic with my church family here. I also enjoy listening to popular music to see how much I can understand.

As part of our Hebrew language study we sometimes listen to music. Some of it has been silly. Today we heard a song that immediately caught my attention. It's by an artist named Gaya. The words are really pretty so I went searching online for the song. I found the version I'm sharing here. It's the artist, Gaya, singing with mentally challenged children. Somehow, it makes the song even more poignant. I'll include a translation for you all following the video. I hope you enjoy the song as much as I did. I'm such a sucker for tear-jerker kinds of songs! :P

And, with the exception of a few words, I was able to understand this song in HEBREW! Pretty miraculous to me! Enjoy! :)



Don't Worry

Don't worry. After the noise there is quiet. After the rain comes a rainbow in the clouds. Don't worry.
Don't worry. If there is pain, there is love. After the crying there is always a reason to laugh.

All of us are a little lonely sometimes. All of us are a little afraid sometimes. Let's give a hand and let's not be afraid.
For all of us there is one hope. For all of us there is one love. For all of us there is one belief that will take care of us.

Don't worry. After the war peace will come. At the end every dream comes true. Don't worry.

No, don't worry, little one (boy). Also, you will become grown up. You'll never understand everything. Only, you'll say, "Don't worry, little one..."

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Who can believe another year has passed? I know for many it wasn't a great year. In fact, for many it was pretty awful with layoffs and financial difficulties and health concerns. But I pray that you can all count your blessings, even in the midst of struggles. I pray that 2010 will be better and brighter and even more blessed!

For me, I said goodbye to two family members. Uncle Tommy passed away after a prolonged illness in February. Papa Joe left this world in June. The whole they left is huge and I still cry when I think of the coming years without them. But, I am also thankful for the influence that they had on my life and for the joy they brought to the world.

Losing my grandparents over these last few years has been difficult. I still miss Mam-mam, who passed in 2005, with all my heart. They live in my memories and have all played a part in who I have become.

But as I look ahead to 2010, I'm so thankful that we still have Na-na with us. What a blessing that my children have known and loved their great-grandparents and that there is still time to build even more memories! I pray that Na-na remains healthy for many years to come.

I pray for all of you a wonder-filled New Year. May you know God's peace and strength. And may you always be ready to count your blessings!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! May this Christmas be blessed and may you know God's peace in a new way in this coming year!

O Little Town of Bethlehem

The very first time I heard Sarah MacLachlan's version of O Little Town of Bethlehem tears sprang to my eyes. The sweet Christmas carol we sing this time of year is in stark contrast to the reality of Bethlehem today, which is a city behind a separation wall, referred to by many observers as an open air prison. MacLachlan's mournful version of this familiar song seemed to capture the emotion I feel every time I visit.

I pictured a video, not full of politics, but full of faces and the reality of life. Every year I would say how I wanted to make this video, and every year I lacked the resources necessary. This year, a young man and member of an Alliance Church in the US came to do some promotional videography for us. He had enough time to shoot some personal footage.

As we sat brainstorming one night, this song came on and I shared with Daniel my vision. He loved the idea and spent a morning in Bethlehem, capturing the footage you see in this video. I cried the first time I saw it. It expresses what I desired to communicate. It captures the faces of the people who have become precious to me. It tells the story of Bethlehem today...yet bringing our minds back to the Bethlehem of old. I hope your heart is touched as you watch. And may you be reminded of the One who came to set us all free. Blessings this Christmas season. And, thanks, Daniel, for catching my vision!

Filmed entirely in Bethlehem, West Bank.

O Little Town of Bethlehem [Today] from daniel riemenschneider on Vimeo.

Celebrating the Advent Season

I love Christmas! I love the sights and sounds of the season. I love Christmas carols and songs, buying and making presents for those I love. I love Christmas Eve candle-lighting services, and celebrating with our church family. I love twinkling lights, decorating the Christmas tree and TINSEL!

But what I treasure most is celebrating the Advent season. As a family we sit together with only the Christmas lights twinkling, and we read an Advent passage every night of the season. The children open our Nativity Advent calendar and we sing Christmas carols together.

The anticipation of the coming of Christ to the earth and rejoicing in his arrival fills my heart with joy. We look ahead with anticipation to the Easter season and the celebration of His death and ressurrection. And to His second coming. It's all wrapped up in the Christmas story.

My heart is filled with the wonder of the season. I love the childlike faith I see in the eyes of my children. What a precious time of year!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day spent with coworkers and friends in Jerusalem. I'm missing family and friends back home...and The Chapmans. We've celebrated Thanksgiving with them for the last few years. It felt empty without them!

But, we have so much to be thankful for and it's always nice to take a moment and think about the blessings in our lives. We prepared as much as we could the night before, got up at 5:30am to put the 30lb turkey (compare it to Georgia Kate in size!) in the oven, and basically cooked and cleaned until it was time to transport all the food to our friends' house around 1:30pm. Then we ate, talked, ate some more, played some games (like a rousing game of Settlers of Catan!), talked and ate some more. We got home and put the kids to bed around 11pm. A good time was had by all! Did I mention the kids were up at 4:30am because they were so excited that it was Thanksgiving Day??? Uh-huh. I can't wait until Christmas!

To add to the adventure of the day, Scoty got a shiner. Georgia Kate nailed him in the eye with a bat! Never a dull moment! Here are some pictures from our day, including the turkey, Scot's pies, my stuffing with a little extra added by the kids, our friends, and Scoty's eye wound.

We hope and pray that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family and friends! Take time to thank God for all He has done.

"Be joyful always, pray continuously, give thanks in all circumstances. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

The Turkey before and after! Check out the special gift we got with our turkey this year! Head on or off was Scot's question! :P

Boogies

How can we tell our kids not to eat them when they're on sale at the local grocery store?