Cool Pic I took during the recent storms

I took this picture during the recent severe storms in Michigan / Ohio. I spent 5+ hours driving in this weather trying to get home from my company's plant in southern Ohio and when I got home, this was the view on my front deck. Fabulous! My hubby mocked me taking pictures in the hail and rain but it was so cool watching the clouds roll and move with the quick moving storm. I had heard this song not too long ago and absolutely love it. So, when Faith Sisters (see the link to the right) had a Faith scripture challenge with the phrase "His Presence", I knew this picture would be perfect! Enjoy!

I'm a Winner!!

I won! Okay, it wasn't the lottery but I still love it when I win stuff!! This time, being a triplet actually helped. (Thanks to Jon and Jeff and of course, Mom and Dad, for that one...) I won this prize from Lisa Bearnson's personal blog!

She asked a question about what "Good things come in 3's!" and I responded that being a triplet was a good thing... So, she chose my answer as one of 3 people to win from 674 entries!

Fabulous!! I get the CKU in a box, a Celtic Woman CD, chocolate, and chips (her 3 c's). I can't wait to throw a scrap at my house so I can share my goodies with my closest buddies!

Here's the link to her blog where you can check it out. http://www.lisabearnson.com/blog/

Hopefully, your day is lucky too!

Grant me some patience!

One of the things that drives my husband nuts about me is my lack of patience. In a world that is so focused on the instantaneous (think cell phones, the internet, 24 hour news), I think I have lost the ability to just sit and wait.

There's a lot going on in my life right now that requires patience and I just haven't got it. I want Steve to find a job off the road NOW, I want to have our second kid NOW (well, maybe now+9 months), I want to find the connection I used to have with my job again NOW, I want Grace-Commerce's new home to be finished NOW, I want Annde to be potty trained NOW, I want a million dollars NOW... (Okay, I just threw that one in for fun because I was having such a great time listing things!) All of those things require patience and understanding that the world and my life doesn't work on my time table for change...

My friend Jill told me to look up and memorize Jeremiah 29:11 because she thinks it's perfect for what I am going through: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I need to hold fast to this and pray that at the right time, Steve will get a great job, we'll be blessed with Baby 2 (no, Tracy, not babies 2 and 3 and 4... :) ), Annde will be wearing cute panties, my job will improve, and Grace-Commerce will be finished. Oh, and I will win the lottery! I just need to keep a positive outlook and grow some patience inside.

I know that patience isn't one of my given traits, but with a little work, some positive attitude, and patience, I know that I can make my wishes a reality. :)

New Design Goodies!!

So, I stopped by the Zone today. It was very exciting to see my stuff on the wall and Tracy's box displayed right next to the door. I would have taken a picture but my camera battery was dead! Dang it!! Still very cool!

Funny story while I was there... when I walked in, my eyes were immediately drawn to this new paper in the *NEW* rack. I thought - Wow! I love that paper!! So, of course, I immediately picked up a bunch. I walked around, admiring the rest of the new stuff from CHA and then went to the checkout. AFTER purchasing, I asked for my DT kit and then grabbed it and quickly hurried out to my car to bust it open and find out what new goodies there were... To my surprise - there was the paper I JUST BOUGHT! AHAHAHAHA Kelley - you know me too well!! So, now I have two sheets of everything. Just think of the great layouts I could create! (Tracy offered to loan me some pictures so that I could scrap for her kids too!) It will be interesting to see how many different layouts I can come up with to go with that paper that won't look alike. Ummm... I see a challenge coming on! (The paper is everything to the right of the orange circle transparency - which I bought 2 weeks ago! too funny!!)

The other cool thing I found was some paper & stickers from Creative Imagination. I bet they don't think that it would be applicable to potty training but... Here's my spin on it. Annde was doing so well last week - 6 days of completely dry - including pooping every night WITHOUT being asked to do so. We were so sure she was totally into this whole thing. Then Sunday came and with it, 2 different panty messes... The first one, we chalked up to an accident. The second one, we determined was just Annde going back to her old ways. It happened again on Monday. Frustration!! So, we sat down and had a little talk and started the chart again. Hopefully it will stick again. Anyway, that whole experience led me to scrapbook this page. Hope you like it!

Well, it's 12:30am and its time to go get a couple of hours of sleep before I have to get up and face the world all over again... Nighty, Night!

Oops... Where did the time go!

Well... shoot! I guess that I haven't blogged in a while! Shame on me!

Life around the Patterson household hasn't been overly busy, just stressful. I have the typical problems at work while Steve is out in DC each week. The weekends just seem to fly by! There never seems to be enough time in the day. Add to it a 3 yr old who has discovered a love for the internet and my computer time gets cut in half!

This weekend was nice and warm. I even got a sunburn! Annde and I played outside the majority of the day on Sunday. Chalks, her trike, the swingset... we were all over! It felt so good to get outside in the sunshine... Here's some pics from that day. Annde was totally cool with me playing around with settings and positions for my camera. Maybe I am turning her into a little diva? When you tell her she's pretty now, about half the time she will say, "I know!" Time to nip that in the bud! I do that I am really getting sick of snow. Today, the weather has started to cool down again and there is a possibility to drop back into the 30s/40s again. Sigh! Will it ever warm up for good? Hopefully all the flowers coming up won't die!

While I hesitate to write this in fear that it will curse me, Annde has really gotten into the potty thing this week. I started a star chart for her so that she can earn some "special stuff" for doing stuff around the house as well as getting dressed for school/bed herself. For the heck of it, I threw "Stay dry all day - go poop and pee in the potty" and for some strange reason, the prize of putting a star on the chart has gotten her to start really working on the potty. The chart thing didn't work before but I guess she might be ready... {I can just hear my best friend Tracy going - "I told you so!!"} I still have to say, "Yeah!" Keep your fingers crossed that Annde doesn't lose focus!! (or I might pull my hair out!!)

I am also excited because I just found out that I will be helping out the Scrapbook Zone with their booth at Mega Meet 2008! It will be a lot of fun to be at the booth, helping people, and just being surrounded by all that scrapbook fun... Guess I need to save a few bucks for shopping too! Actually, my hubby and I just put in a new storage system for my scrapbook stuff (well... really its just shelves and boxes from IKEA but storage system sounds so much cooler!!)... so I will know what I can buy because I NEED it rather than just randomly buying stuff... Shhh!! I might do that too!

Two last things...

1. Happiest of Anniversaries to Jon and Cheryl! It's been a great year for them with the birth of Ben... Our best wishes to you two!!

2. Only 4 weeks to go until our Breast Cancer - Crop for a Cure event in Waterford, MI... Flyers are available for signup - just post or email me with your address and I will get one out to you. All proceeds go to help those walking in the 3-Day Breast Cancer event. I can't wait for the fun to start!! So, if you want to come, don't hestitate to contact me!!