Tattered Too

You Know Christmas is Coming...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 05:47:00 +0000

... when there are sneaky children abound! (Sorry about the font size, I can't seem to get it back to normal for this entry!)

Today as I was working on some homework, I became so involved in it that I neglected to pay attention to my boys, who were ever-so-angelically playing together quietly. As I worked, sitting on the couch beside the Christmas Tree, I hum-drummed away, but became uncomfortable. I decided to take a break and only then did I notice that there was silence, and no boys to be seen. Where were they? Hmm...

I checked their bedroom. Nothing.

The laundry room, kitchen, dining room. Nothing.

The bathrooms were empty. Where could they be? I went back to the living room and stood in the middle with my hands on my hips, thinking I'd have to start hollaring and call hubby home to set up a search party. Then I heard something.

Giggling.

And crinkling. And more giggling. And then, I saw the tree wiggle, as if it were dancing and mocking me in my motherly pursuit. Hmph! I bent down, looking under the tree to see four little feet poking out from underneath it. I sat down on the couch, as I had been when I was working on homework, and leaned over the arm to peek behind the tree. There were the two heads of my two little boys, looking up at me, now laughing hysterically. They snuck under the tree with a package of graham crackers and thought they were just so clever! I hurried and snapped some photos, they were just too cute. And then I pulled them out and tickled them til they begged me to stop. Serves them right for scaring me, sneaky little stinkers!

And now for the fun Christmas Meme passed on to me by Noelle and Keke...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I use both. I prefer wrapping paper, though. I absolutely LOVE to wrap gifts!

2. Real tree or artificial?: We have had an artificial tree every year, but I prefer real ones because I grew up with them. I loved watering them and the smell... oh, so good. :)

3. When do you put up the tree? We put ours up the day after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually we take our tree down the week after Christmas, before New Years Eve.

5. Do you like egg nog? I love Egg Nog! I love egg nog toffee, too! (I had to mention the toffee. It was my new discovery this year!)

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A Pony Surprise. I had a pink horse with a white main and tail. I taught myself how to french braid on that pony's tail. She had two babies, a pink an a white one.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? I have a nativity scene painting that is hanging on my wall. It's a beautiful print signed by the artist, Lynne Millman-Weidinger, who is a friend of my family's. My mom gave this to us for Christmas last year. It's a treat because we know the artist and the sentiment of the painting is unique to the season but so family-oriented that we keep it hung up all year round.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My brothers and brothers-in-law.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My boys! I love watching their faces light up when they see something they really like. Observing them makes it easier to pick things that I know they'll enjoy a lot.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Nothing.

11. Mail or email Holiday cards? I prefer to send mine snail-mail, but I enjoy receiving them any way they are sent.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I'm not sure it counts as a Christmas movie, but I always watch it around the holidays. A Beautiful Life. It always makes me cry and it is by far my favorite Christmas movie, even if it wasn't meant to be! It just has that 'Christmas Season' feel to it.

I love the classics, like Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life, Rudolph and Charlie Brown, too.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I will pick a few things in October, but usually I start in November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Hmm... not that I can recall. I am not opposed to re-gifting, though. I'd rather someone give something away that they the can't use or don't necessarily like than to have it sit unused or be thrown away. I honestly can't think of a Christmas gift I've regifted, though.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Gingerbread cookies and Hot cocoa with marshmallows and peppermint candy canes swirled into it. Can't forget Egg Nog and Kringle, too!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I prefer white lights on my tree, but Bruce prefers the colored lights. We compromise and have white lights on the tree and colored lights around our balcony. :)

17. Favorite Christmas song? Little Drummer Boy

18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? We stay home for Christmas, but usually travel to my in-laws in the afternoon and back home again that evening.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Of course I can! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have one of each. The last few years it's been an angel, but I found a cute rustic star last year, so we are using the star this year. I like both!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open one gift each on Christmas Eve (usually new pj's or slippers for the kids) and the rest we open on Christmas Day. One year I begged and begged and begged so my hubby let me open one Christmas present for the last 5 days leading up to Christmas. Bwahahahaha. I am terrible! I can't stand surprises when I know about them, so I'm awfully impatient when I know there are gifts waiting for me to rip them open! :") It's torture to give me gifts that can't be unwrapped until Christmas Day, and I'll tell you so! "You're torturing me!!!"

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? It goes by too fast! I want it to slow down so I can take my time with everything. :)

23. I love most about Christmas? I love all-things Christmas!

Wedding Meme

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 05:34:00 +0000

People
Your name: Tina

Husband: Bruce

Maid of Honor: I didn't have one

Number or bridesmaids: I didn't have any

Best man: Didn't have one

Flower Girl: Didn't have one

Ring Bearer: Didn't have one

Place
Where did you get married? The Relief Society Room of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Why? We wanted a small, family-only wedding, and it was the perfect size. The Relief Society decorated for us, and provided beautiful flowers that I still have, dried in a jar. We didn't have music or dancing, nothing too fancy. It was short and simple because I was very sick at the time.

Age when you married? 18

Age now: I just turned 22

What time did the wedding start? 11 AM

Your dress? Periwinkle Blue

Wedding colors: Periwinkle blue and pale yellow

Bridesmaid dresses: N/A

Other details: We didn't get to have a big fancy wedding, not that I wanted one, but because of the circumstances it wasn't much. I hope we can have another, nicer ceremony to renew vows somewhere down the road on our anniversary one year.

Songs
You walked down the asile to: NA

First Dance as couple: NA

Dance with parents: NA

DJ or band: NA

Post wedding
Honeymoon place: Wendover, Nevada. I couldn't travel too far (and really shouldn't have traveled at all) because of being ill, so we opted for something close, but fun.

Length of honeymoon: Just over night. I couldn't be out and about too much and needed to be near the doctor, just in case, so we headed home the next afternoon. It was a lot of fun, though.

Were you be a virgin or not? Ha ha ha ha ha. :")

Tick-tock-tick-tock...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:25:00 +0000

The days are counting down. Yesterday in my Design I class we were given an assignment that is due on Thursday morning: create three unique logos for three different companies.
One is a shoe company. Easy as pie! Already done.
The second, a pharmaceutical company. Took me some doodling, but I came up with an idea. Pretty much done with this one, too.
Last but not least, anything we want. Uh... ok. What? Anything? Well, I've wanted a 'logo' for my site, for Tattered Too, for quite a while... but when it comes to coming up with something for myself, I'm totally stumped! This sick desire to appease myself (and not being able to do so) is given me a creative block for coming up with a different company and a different logo. Hmm... any ideas? Anything? Please, I beg of you! Throw something out for me, I'll bite! Anything!

Ok, I'm not *really* that desperate, but I DO love feedback from other people. I love incorporating ideas from minds other than my own... because admitedly, sometimes my creative juices flow down repetitive paths. No one likes that, so if you have any little thoughts on a company or logo (which must be 'made up'), please, leave me a comment! :)
Thanks!

Pelo Fresco!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:59:00 +0000

Ah! My hair feels SO good! I've been growing it out and it's the longest it's ever been. I've been in dire need of a trim, but I keep setting that aside (and I really shouldn't, but you know how mothers can be...) and it's taken it's tole on my hair. It's been dry, damaged and horribly frizzy. I've got split-ends galore and the smooth, bouncy, shiny, sleek hair I used to have has been gone for months. *cries* I decided to try a new shampoo though, to see if I can start to get some of that healthy looking hair back (until I can finally buck up and go get it trimmed and treated professionally). Ah, I was cluuuuuueless about what new shampoo to use, though! I didn't want to spend $8 on a bottle of shampoo and $8 more on conditioner if it wasn't really going to make any difference. I sat in the shampoo aisle at the store for a good 15 to 20 minutes reading bottles and bottles. Finally I found one that sounded promising. I purchased them, took them home and was able to try them out for the first time this morning. I wasn't expecting any difference, I figured it would take a few days, or possibly a full week to see any improvement...
Boy, was I wrong!
Loreal's Vive Pro Smooth Intense products are AWESOME. The shampoo has a great lather to it, it felt so good to massage through my scalp, and the conditioner really did detangle my hair easily as my fingers ran through it. When I got out, I was expecting that my hair would be it's usual frizzy way once I blow-dried it. Nope! It's smooth! Sure, thre's still some frizz to it, but not nearly what it used to be. Not even close! I am so happy! :D It's not only more smooth, but it's so shiny and soft now, too. I honestly was not expecting such a drastic change so quickly, and I love it. I've got to run quick because I have school starting in a few (phoey to school first thing in the morning!), but I think I'll post photos later on so you can see... yes, you can SEE the difference.
Perhaps this is a petty thing to be so excited about, but being that I get so little pampering time and energy for myself, things like this really lift my spirits!
Until later...

Merry Christmas TO ME!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:37:00 +0000

I have been SO in the mood for Christmas this year! (This will likely be me just rambling on, so be forewarned! :")

Every year my hubby sets up our Christmas decorations on the day after Thanksgiving. That really got me in the spirit this year, I guess because my family was feeling so close (being that the boys were sick and very cuddly and needy - and they are feeling better now, btw!). I've been turning on the lights every night, and turning them off before I go to bed. We do that because traditionally (in Hubby's side of the family, I guess), we only turn the lights on ALL night on Christmas Eve. Even still, this little task has helped put me in the mood for the giving season, too. I get to admire our humble, little tree before turning out the lights each night.

My side of the family usually does a Christmas gift exchange. We draw names and buy or make presents for that person and it's a big guessing game (and really, no big secret *LoL*) of who has who... and we all eventually find out. But SHHH! Don't tell my dad that! ;) This tradition has extended into our extended families, too. My grandparents do it, my parents, my siblings and all of my siblings' families, too. Some years everyone opts out, but most often we try to do it, and for me, it's a fun family tradition that I want to keep going in my own little family, too. Anyway, we're doing homemade gifts this year, and I'm excited because I have mine done already and we have some great ideas for the boys' gifts, too. Bruce's gift is going to be a hit, I think his person will really love what he's come up with it and it should be fun to make, too. This is one of my favorite family traditions for the holidays, and Sheila's post about Memorable Gifts from Monday (I guess I tied Christmas gifts with traditions some how - oh yes, the gift exchange! *LOL* Either way, her post got me thinking!) had me reflecting on the many traditions we have in our family for Christmas. I love traditions!

And I love GIFT GIVING! If you know me at all, you KNOW I love to give gifts. I love to send packages or cards, I love to wrap presents and all of that sort. It's so fun and fulfilling! Anyway, due to personal reasons (that I won't explain here and now, but may eventually), every year I buy myself a gift for Christmas. I was talking about my hubby recently about how it would sure make things easier if more people were willing to just tell others what they wanted instead of making others guess about the gifts their loved ones would like for Christmas. I figured since I go out and buy myself something anyway, maybe I would just tell my hubby what I wanted this year and let him get it for me, that way I kill two birds with one stone... one less gift, but also one less worry for my hubby when it comes to what to get me.

It worked!

I got what I wanted.

I found a desk and cubby shelf set in the classifieds and emailed the seller to ask if they were still available. Sure enough, they were! So I emailed the ad to Bruce and he picked up the desk and shelf set (for super cheap!) the same night. Wuhwho! Merry Christmas TO ME! We've been looking for a cheap desk or set of shelves for months, with the intention of setting up a craft area in our bedroom for me to organize my crafty stuff better. We certainly hadn't intended to get BOTH the desk and shelf, but this was a steal and too good to be true! They were used, and handmade, but in really awesome condition and they're perfect - EXACTLY what we were looking for. I could not be more happy with them! Bruce even went so far as to bring them up inside, take down the door, and moved them into our room and set them up all on the same night. He's so sweet! They are covered in my crafts now, so I need to organize things, but I intend to post pictures when I do. :") Yippee!! It will be so nice to have my OWN little craft area now, instead of using our bed, or spreading my stuff all over the couch or table. *dreamy sigh*

Also, I got a BIG, totally unexpected package in the mail yesterday! Bruce brought it up on his way in from work and low-and-behold it was from my swap person, Sue! I had been thinking so much about what to get my swap person for the Christmas swap that my friend, Bonnie, set up, that I totally FORGOT (how in the world could I forget!?) that I'd be getting a swap package from someone else, too! I opened it up and right away the kids were all over the stuff *LOL*, it was filled with so many Christmas goodies and the boys LOVE Christmas stuff. It was far more than I was expecting (and considering I forgot I'd be getting a package, I wasn't expecting much at all - Haha!), she is such a generous person. Sue included a cute plate and Santa mug for 'milk and cookies' for Santa. That is SO perfect for our family, we love doing milk and cookies the night of Christmas Eve! She also sent some scrapping and card-making supplies which I LOVE (I displayed them on my new desk and shelf, touting it all like a proud, little girl! Bwahahaha!), and some cute candles, and a plush decoration that reads 'JOY', with a reindeer, Santa and a snowman holding the letters. Oh, in addition to all of that, she included some cute, Christmasy notepads and recipe cards, as well as a... well, how do I describe this? It's one of those little balls you put on your car antennae, but it's a Santa Mickey Mouse. *LOL* It's so cute! I gave it to Bruce to put on the car. :") We've never been to Disneyland before, and I know that Sue lives somewhere near there, so this was a fun little for us. The boys were very curious about it, really admiring the mickey bag it came in and the little ears poking out from the Santa hat. Anyway, if she or one of our mutual friends happens to read this, I want her to know that I really enjoyed the package and all of the fun Christmas gifts she sent for the swap! Thank you, Sue! And thank you to Bonnie for setting this swap up for us! It's been so fun. :) I will definitely be hosting a swap next year (hopefully January or February!) if anyone would like to join in the next one to come around.

I have SO many fun ideas for gifts this year. *sigh* Oh, I love, love, love being in the mood for Christmas. I've been a big scrooge in the past, but this year.... ahh... I LOVE IT!

Merry Christmas to ME, and to all of YOU, too!!!

Sophisticated Flop (Feedback Appreciated!)

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:21:00 +0000

This month has been incredibly trying for me in a thousand different ways. My confidence with my schoolwork has suffered because of it, too. I finally finished my brochure assignment and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. I was going for a sophisticated look with a tropical, dutch colonial feel to really represent the island of Curacao. I added the finishing touches last night and finally got a good night of sleep - the first one in weeks - and I could breathe easy because this huge assignment was DONE. No more! Wuhwho!
Wrong.
I still had my presentation to do in class today. I thought I did alright, but I wasn't too proud of the feedback I received. Perhaps I'm being overly pessimistic and just looking back at it from a bad perspective, but I really did not feel great about it. *sigh* The best comments I got were about the colors and that if one of my peers saw this in a gas station, they'd pick it up. Ok. That made me laugh, really. I was going more for a nice hotel pick-up or something. Flop! I tried to get a lot of opinions as I created my brochure and tried hard to implement a lot of what I heard into my final design. I honestly thought it turned out better than I had expected, but now I'm thinking it really wasn't good enough.

What do you think? This, remember, is a trifold brochure for the island of Curacao. The front cover is on the right, the back of the brochure is in the center and the left hand side is the inner flap. The second page is the inside of the brochure. I'd love any feedback you have, positive or negative. If I could have improved something, where do you think that would be? Hmm... Any thoughts?

Tomorrow we're going over our next big assignment, which is to be a 4 page newsletter for any organization of our choice. I have some ideas for what I want to do for that, but already knowing it's 4 pages (twice as much work!) and due in less time than this brochure, I am feeling pretty overwhelmed at just the thought of it.

The kids have been driving me nuts - seriously, nuts.

I am ready for a nice trip to a spa. Or better yet... how about a vacation to Curacao! Anyone want to pay my way? Anyone? No? Well screw you, then! *sobs* Haha, just kiddin. :")

Schoolwork

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 01:34:00 +0000

Oh, how fun it is to apply my creativity to my schoolwork. This week, before Thanksgiving, we were issued our first big 'creative' assignment for my InDesign class. I had never used InDesign before this class that started on the 15th, so I think I'm doing alright considering. We were asked to make a brochure for any location of our choice. It has to be a trifold brochure, meaning it has two folds, a flap for the cover, a flap for the inside. Well, I'm sure you've all seen them before and know what they are. If not, just take a regular letter sized paper and fold it into thirds. I've been working on this assignment all weekend, and chose to do mine on Curacao, so I wanted to give it a really tropical feel, a relaxing but adventerous taste to it. I really hope to go here someday!
Anyway, I thought I would share with you what I have done so far, so you can see what I've accomplished. I'll try to share the finished product when I'm done with it, but since I'm not quite there yet, you get the sample version. (The two white stripes aren't really there, I just added them for this snapshot to show where the folds would be in the paper. This is the inner flap on the left, the back of the brochure is in the middle, and the cover of it is on the right. I haven't added the text for the back, yet.)

This class has been really fun so far. I've enjoyed learning about the printing process, and how to package things to be printed. I am not so sure that the printing side of graphic design is where I want to go when I'm done with school, though. I am really interested in the web design side of it. I'm looking forward to the Flash class, and things like that, but who knows how that might go and where this might lead me. :) In the meantime, I'll just try to soak it all up and learn as much as I can so that I can be prepared for a good career come graduation!

Just a little update

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 09:19:00 +0000

Oh, I know. I haven't been around much, and for that I apologize. I hate when I fall behind, not only on my own blog, but those of you who are friends whose blogs I enjoy so much. I miss reading and commenting and seeing all that is going on in your lives! I will spend some time this weekend catching up a bit with you.
Over here things are quiet, uh... minus that loud horn honking outside a moment ago. Obnoxious drivers in the middle of the night on large intersections! Grr! Oh yes, back to what I was saying... We had planned to drive up to my in-law's home for a great Thanksgiving celebration this year. It was to be close family, so ours, my mother-and-father-in-law, my brother-in-law with his wife and son, and other brother-in-law... and probably the pets, who are so very cute and so much a part of the family. I was hestitant about going because of the awful two weeks I've had, but reluctantly agreed and started looking forward to it. We were confident that because Hunter's illness, as awful as it's been for him, hadn't spread to anyone else and seemed to be very gradually improving, we could attend a gathering like this without anyone else getting sick either. We had done so well to keep things under control and very clean, very sterile so as not to spread germs and get anyone else sick here at home.
Unfortunately on the eve of Thanksgiving Troy woke with similar symptoms after only a few hours of sleep that were just as scary and sudden as Hunter's had been when they first appeared. Coughing and gagging, very raspy voice and hard to catch their breath. I stayed up with both boys as they woke on and off all night, and final fell to sleep for good around 4am. Bruce called my mother-in-law first thing in the morning to tell her that it was probably best that we not go - we didn't know how contagious Troy might be, and we certainly didn't want to get anyone else sick, especially our little nephew who is younger than both Troy and Hunter.
We hadn't planned to eat at home for Thanksgiving, so as I coddled the boys (I love how lovey they are when they're sick, but hate having to watch them be so miserable at the same time!) on and off throughout the day, Bruce ran to this store and that to find everything we needed for our own little Thanksgiving Dinner. We anticipated my friend, Oscar (some of you know him as 'Ghetto' ;), visiting, but he ended up having other plans, which again, was probably for the best. I would've hated to get him sick, too. I just hope that I have the chance to visit with him before he has to leave back to California. Anyway, Bruce made a fantastic dinner. It was honestly better than I could've imagined! Rather than a traditional turkey we opted for a boneless turkey roast - boy they are delicious! Aside from that everything else was very traditional, from the mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, fruit salad, buttered rolls, celery sticks and olives, to the stuffing and pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert! I am still amazed that Bruce pulled that off with such short notice, having none of it at home beforehand, and while still helping me tend to our sick little chitlins. Troy didn't touch his food at all, being that it hurt him so much to swallow anything, and Hunter only picked at his here and there, but they both enjoyed it more warmed up again the day after. Although we didn't have the Thanksgiving we had been looking forward to and had hoped for, it was still good, something very much to be thankful for none-the-less. Oh, did I mention... as Bruce cooked everything, I cut out little leaves from various colored papers and we all came up with things we were thankful for to write on each one, Troy included (Hunter napped, but we thought of things that we know he is thankful for, too), and then Troy and I posted them to the bare little branches of a cut out tree on the wall. We made a beautiful Thanksgiving tree in the end! I think this will be a new tradition for us every year. :)
Being that the boys have been so sick, I haven't had much time to catch up on my homework this week. I have a big assignment due on Tuesday morning, and several discussion posts due on Monday. I have tried working on it all night, but I'm stumped (and therefore blogging! Haha!) so I'm feeling overwhelmed right now. Am I going to be able to get it done in time? I sure hope so! I have so many ideas for what I'd like to do, I just don't know how to execute them most efficiently. The program we're learning, InDesign from Adobe, is so easy, yet so time-consuming, and that is so frustrating for this project. It's especially frustrating for me as I try to balance my time between tending to two sick and needy boys, do daily household tasks and my school with the holiday (and unexpected events) in between. *whew!*
There is my little... er, long?...update for the time being. I hope I'll have a bit of time this weekend to read and comment on other blogs, but forgive me if I don't get around to it until the beginning of next week sometime. Family first, as you all know. :) And I hope *your* family is happy, and healthy and had a wonderful holiday! See you soon...

Middle Name Meme

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:47:00 +0000

Rachel passed this one my way. :") It looks pretty interesting, so I'll give it a try!

Here are the rules:
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

For privacy reasons I'm going to use a middle name that I loved and wanted to give to a daughter if we had had one. As you may know, we don't have any girls and can't have any more children, so on we go! (I wanted to use the name Maiteley Ruth for a girl, btw.)

R - Rebellious! Recluse! Radiant! Oh, there are so many descriptive R words for me.
U - Ultimately a lost cause. You don't try to help me unless I come asking or else there will be a big mess. Bwahaha! People most close to me call me needy, confused, high maintenance, etc. and since I believe I am no more these things than anyone else, there's no point in trying to change my mind for me. ;) It just won't happen. I guess that means I'm a stubborn lost cause, huh?
T - Taking on more than I can handle is probably one of my biggest and most often made mistakes.
H - Handsom, heroic, hilarious are all words that describe my Husband, through my own eyes! I am so lucky to have him in my life.

A few people came to mind when I saw this, thinking I would love to know what their middles names are and what little facts they can come up with about themselves. So here we are, I choose to tag the following:
Ellie
Julie
Liz
Sheila
Enjoy, ladies!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 18:23:00 +0000

As noted, my husband and I did the drawing last night for the winners of my Thanksgiving Give-Away. I really wish that I could've been able to give something to EVERYONE who entered, your tiny contribution, just a simple comment, meant so much to me! :) Alas, I can't, but I thank you anyway for entering the contest and making it a fun experience.

So who might the lucky winners be? Well, after submitting everyone's name and multiples for some people (Thanks for the promotion! You guys are AWESOME!), the random generator selected none other than my good friend ELLIE for the first gift package! She has been a friend of mine for years and is such a sweet, inspiring woman. If you use Yahoo! 360, consider adding her to your friends list (her ID is eternaljoy4u). The second person generated for the additional gift package was Abookworm of A Book Blogger's Diary! She also mentions great book contests and giveaways there on her own site, so check it out.

Congratulations ladies, and thanks again to everyone who participated! It is really fun to give a few gifts away on my birthday - that is a gift to me in and of itself! I am already setting up a new giveaway to be held the first week of December, so be sure to visit Tattered Too again soon!

Thanksgiving Give-Away at Tattered Too!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:08:00 +0000

Yikes! We had a family emergency the beginning of this week, so I wasn't able to set up my giveaway on Monday as I had planned. Sorry about that! Things are slowly getting back on track here at home though, and one of the worst feelings is feeling flakey, so on we go!

Originally I wanted to name my give-away something fun and catchy, but for the life of me I couldn't come up with anything. This is when I confronted Bruce, and he suggested, "TabiTina's Turkey-Time Blog Extravaganza!" It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Yeah, doesn't quite fit, though. ;) Sorry, hun! So, we'll stick with the dull and boring "Thanksgiving Give-Away at Tattered Too!"

Rather than having a whole week to enter the contest to win and having time to contact the winners -- that's right, plural! -- I'll have to shorten the contest. You can begin entering this contest as soon as this blog entry is posted, and all you have to do is submit a comment to THIS entry and make sure you leave your email address so that I can contact you! That's it. Pretty easy, huh? You have until Friday evening to post your comment (that's only two days - I'll do the drawing at 8pm MST), and I will use random.org to choose TWO winners to recieve a Thanksgiving Gift Package, which I will share photos and a description of here in a bit. If you happen to win the contest, I will contact via email immediately after your name is drawn to ask for your mailing address. Should you win, I need you to respond to that email by 11am MST on Saturday (the 17th - this gives you just over 12 hours to respond) with your mailing address. I will be sending out both winning gift packages the same day! If I do not hear from the winner by 11am on Saturday, I'll have to pass the luck on to someone else who can hopefully respond in a timely manner so the package can be sent to them alternatively. In other words, check your email on Friday night and first thing Saturday morning to see if you've won!

Now, why the rush? Well, I would really like the winners to receive their gift packages before Thanksgiving Day, and I am hoping that shipping the boxes priority on Saturday will still allow for just that. Thanksgiving is in my top 3, if not my FAVORITE holiday. Come on, what's better than a huge home-cooked meal that is dressed up and shared with family and friends? Very little, I say, so few things can add to the holiday than dressing it up a little bit more with some decorations and taking the time to indulge in little treats amidst all of the work of prepping prior to the feast and the clean-up afterwards. So here is what is included in your Thanksgiving Gift Package from Tattered Too to help you with that:

One glazed, ceramic decorative dish in the shape of a pumpkin, featuring a lid with a stunning bronze glazed stem and leaves. I couldn't resist these gems, they were so cute and just yell "IT'S FALL!!" don't they?
Filling the pumpkin dish are two bags worth of individually wrapped Dove chocolates. They are some of the best little treats ever, and have sweet inspirational thoughts inside each wrapper. Some of my favorites, really! Dove chocolates are so good, I love to sneak a few for myself now and then, but because of my delight in them I love to share them with others even more.
A personal notebook with elastic closure from the UCreate's Simply Silhouette line. Each package has one chic, little notebook in either metallic tan or minty green. Writing little notes to leave for my loved ones is one of my favorite ways to surprise them and let them know that I think of them often, so I always grab notebooks like these to use when I feel so impressed to.
Two vanilla-scented pillar candles in different sizes. Candles always bring a feeling of 'home' to any atmosphere, and a warm, delicious scent is the best way to go if you ask me! I love, love, love scented candles!
A can of Stephen's Gourmet French Vanilla Hot Cocoa. If you haven't heard of Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa (which was founded here in Utah but sold all over the world!), you must be hiding under a rock AND you're missing out! This stuff is delish. Mmm, I have to have Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa every fall and winter! Hazelnut is my favorite, but French Vanilla and Mint are close runners up.
Last but not least, 5 packets of Alpine Apple Cider. Yum! I love hot apple cider! There is nothing like hot apple cider with pomanders and cinnamon sticks simmering on the stove, but Alpine is a great instant treat for those occasional cravings for sweet cider in a mug that warms your frozen fingers.

I may or may not throw in a few other little things, it all depends on how much time I end up with after all of the schoolwork I need to catch up on, but this is the jist of what the gift packages consist of. They are all things that I, myself, would enjoy, so I hope that whomever wins these will enjoy them as well.

Now remember, leave one comment with your email address here on this blog entry for your chance to enter the contest. If you would like to have your name entered twice you can write a blog entry linking back to this blog entry about The Thanksgiving Give-Away at Tattered Too, (please let me know in your comment if you do this so I can check it out!) and be sure to mention the deadline of Friday at 8pm MST. For a third entrance, you can also add a button to your site linking back to this blog. You can find the button to my site at the very bottom of the left sidebar. Simply right click, save, upload to your photo hosting service and link back to TatteredToo.com/unchained.html! (If you don't understand how to do this, feel free to email me or post a comment asking for step by step instructions and I will email you back as soon as I can.) Although you can have your name in the drawings up to three times, you may only win once. Having your name in the drawing 2 or 3 times as opposed to only once ups your chances at winning one of the two Gift Packages.

I have been so excited to host my own blog give-away, especially after winning Sheila's Give-away of a new edition copy of The Jungle Book. We absolutely loved that movie and it was a real treat around here. If this goes well, I will consider hosting a blog give-away once a quarter or so! I hope you enjoy, and best of luck to each of you who enter!

A Taste of Humor From My Home

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:01:00 +0000

My husband has the best sense of humor of anyone I know, and that is a quality that I really admire about him. He loves to make other people laugh, and that makes us a perfect fit because *I* love to laugh!
If you've been to my blog before you may already know that my husband has his own blog, in which he shares little bits of his day and thoughts that he has, things about work, but mostly his sense of humor shines through it all. With his permission, here is an entry from his blog, and if you like it, consider visiting there again once in a while. You can find his blog here, and from my blog you can click his name under the photo of us together on the right sidebar. The following is a real conversation had between my husband, Bruce, and my now-2-year-old, Hunter.

Dad: Hunter, come here
Hunter: Joos
Dad: Do want something to drink?
Hunter: Joos
Dad: Would you like some juice?
Hunter: Joos
Dad: You just going to keep saying juice?
Hunter: Joos
Dad: Hmmm
Dad: What do they call OJ Simpson
Hunter: Joos
Dad: Who did Moses lead in the desert?
Hunter: Joos
Dad: hahahahaha
Hunter:...

And here is another blog entry from Bruce, with a conversation between he and our 3 year old, Troy, after we went camping this summer.

Dad: Did you like going camping?
Troy: Yeah
Dad: What did you do?
Troy: I help make fire
Dad: Where did you sleep?
Troy: I sleep tent
Dad: What did you have for dinner?
Troy: Hot dogs, Chips, Beans
Dad: Did you go fishing
Troy: Dad go fishing
Dad: Do you want to go camping again?
Troy: Yeah, sleep tent and fire too

---

I also wanted to mention that tomorrow I will be hosting my very first Blog Give-Away! Be sure to check back here again and enter for your chance to win some Thanksgiving Gifts. There will be TWO Thanksgiving Gift Packages given away to up your chances at winning... but more details to come tomorrow, so get ready, get excited, and share the news!

Odd Admittance

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 19:03:00 +0000

Yes, I've been tagged with the SEVEN Things About Me Meme. Odd things, things you might not have known. Who bestowed this upon me, you ask? None other than Rachel, the sweet southern belle I met on Maya's Mom, and she's now a Top Momma, too! Very cool, very cool indeed! (If you hop over to Top Momma, find the adorable picture of her blonde princess covered in icing and click it to support her as a Top Momma.) Anyway, seven things about me, you ask? Hmmm... let me do some pondering and I'll throw a few, or a few plus 4 little facts out there.

1) I'm a real princess. Not a fake one, but one of those real ones, like the kind you find on TV. <--- My husband, when I asked what I should begin with, chose this one. From him, word for word (ok, except he said 'you' instead of 'i', but you get me.). It's true. My 3 year old, when asked, "Who is Tina?" rather than saying, "My Mom," will say, "A Printhess." If a three year old says it, it must be true, right?! I swear, I didn't teach him that! (Psst... his dad did. ;)

2) I love to work out. I just don't do it often enough! I thought I'd put this one because we're scheduled to go to the gym in about 15 minutes. We schedule trips to the gym? Yes, yes we do. Why? Because we have kids, and our gym requires appointments for the playroom. Our boys LOVE the gym, too. I suppose that should be motivation enough to go, shouldn't it?

6) I'm a chronic complainer. Yeah, you probably already knew that if you're really close to me, but if you're not, you know it now! It's been proven that if I complain, even about the most minuscule thing, life is comfortable and good. If I accept things as they are, and admit that life is very good, terrible things happen. Bwahahahaha! (Isn't that something like Karma or what not? ;) So that's my true excuse for complaining. I must complain in order to keep the order!

7) I can successfully avoid admitting things by thoroughly confusing people. For example, there is a logical explanation as to why there are only 4 numbers on this list, and yet I've admitted 7 things to you already. I could explain the logic behind it, but of course, that would confuse you, so you should probably just accept this as truth.

Time for the gym! Bye. :")

A New Facial Medium

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:14:00 +0000

How often do we look in the mirror and have with ourselves an inner conflict about our appearances? I won't deny that I have, but as of late, I don't do so as much. Contentment and serenity is such priority in my life now, and how others view me isn't as important as it once used to be. Having said that, I can't truthfully say that I know my own face. If someone were to take plaster molds of 4 other average women's faces and mine as well, I don't feel confident enough to say that I could pick mine out easily. A photo, sure, I could pick myself out, but there is so much more depth than a photo often shows. Thoughts and emotions can be facially expressed, but there are also thoughts and emotions hidden behind each unique feature. Some people hate their noses, their ears and their crow's feet. Some like their dimples, their eyes and their cheek bones. As different as our individual features are, so are our emotions behind them.

This week's Wrapped Emotions prompt is to Re-create Your Face. (Please follow the links to learn about the Prompt of the week and see other beautiful contributions.) My Mac isn't connected to our printer, so rather than printing out a photo and drawing on it to scan back in, I took an iSight photo, lowered the saturation and then used the pencil tool to trace my lines and features on the computer. I did the original instruction first, just tracing lines, but as I progressed I wanted to add more to it, so I changed brushes and traced and filled in shadows. As I finished that second portion, the shading, I started to think about the things that I used to really dislike about looks, and moving from one area to the next, I thought about how much I liked or admired the features I inherited, too.

I added one more layer and drew some green and pink areas. The green areas represent features that I like about myself. My lips. My jowls. Yeah, I like my jowls, thank you very much! I've had a few surgeries that, although they weren't supposed to, changed the look of my nose in the slightest of ways. I like how it looks, now, while I didn't like how it looked much while I was growing up. I don't know if the surgeries had anything to do with that, really, but the fact remains that my opinion has changed. My eyes are also green, as is my widow's peak. It's small, but I like it! And things I haven't liked much, like my chin, I've come to accept are parts of who I am, and I can like them or dislike them to any extent, but I wouldn't want to change them because that simply wouldn't be me. These things are in peach. Again, my chin. My temples, my frizzy hair, the circles under my eyes. I've have not dwelt on why I don't like these features much, because mostly they are irrational, but partially because I just don't care much that I have undesirable features anymore. I like how I look, even when I don't look my best. I think, most of all, I like my face now, and even more after having done this prompt, because I am more accepting of myself than I was previously, too. I don't always have to find faults and flaws in myself or in others, whether it be physical or non-physical, and I think people do that all too often. I am so very happy, and above all, so very grateful, that I am where I am at in my life right now. I can put a finger to my cheek and like what I feel, and I can smile and feel like it does indeed make things a little brighter in my life.

I'm so glad that I took time to reflect upon my face today, and wrap my emotions around what I saw there. (PS - I'm 21. ;)

Challenging Charity

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 04:25:00 +0000

Sitting at our booth that we always sit at whenever we have a meal at Denny's, I tried to entertain the boys while we waited to be served. We don't eat at Denny's very often, maybe once or twice a year at most (you know, when one of us has that crazy pang for French toast and sausage drenched in sweet, sweet syrup!), so whenever we've gone in we have always been seated unintentionally at the same booth. It's set back in a cozy, little corner and sort of makes it feel like 'our' booth. It always feels so much like how family time is supposed to be when we head to Denny's, as odd as that sounds. This time, however, was particularly difficult for me because the boys were extra hungry and extra anxious (note, extra wiggly!). They wanted nothing more than to climb under, over, on top of and all around that booth and made it clear that Mom and Dad's protests wouldn't be tolerated. They had excitedly picked out their food that had an outer-space theme, but that fad died soon after the menus were picked up and taken away. Then their interests went right back to climbing Mt. Momanddad. We were so preoccupied with settling the boys down that we hardly noticed a quiet, elderly couple choose a table in the center of the room to eat at, and another family with kids at a table nearby. Our food arrived a few minutes later and we all enjoyed our meals as we chatted over this, that and the other.

Not 5 minutes before we were about to leave, the older woman came up to our table and started to compliment the boys on how cute (and well-behaved, ha ha!) they were. I thanked her for the compliments and as I did so, she stuck out a hand to Bruce and in it was a coupon for 10% off an entire order. She insisted that we use it up because they already had a different coupon they were using and surely wouldn't use this one before it expired in a month. We thanked her again and then she hurriedly went to the next family and gave them a coupon as well before rushing out the door to meet up with her spouse.

'What a nice thing to do for complete strangers!' I remember thinking to myself. I thought about it a lot as we drove home and over the course of the next few days. It was just such a nice reminder that sometimes there is so much good in the world that may be so insignificant to the giver, but so grand that it can put a smile on our faces and a warm glow in our hearts when we are the receiver.

A few days ago I was reading the blog of a dear friend of mine, Noelle from Noelle's Noodle, when I read something that really stuck with me. I asked her permission to share it here, and she agreed to it, so I have. Here it is:

After we left Wal*Mart this young guy came up to the van holding an adorable, large Teddy Bear that he had just won from one of those Claw-Catching-Vending-Machines. Apparently, he’s really good at those games (or he’s got a lot of money to spend and time to spare) because he said that he always gives away his winnings to the first family he sees.

I said, "Well, thank you very much!"

And he said, “You’re welcome! Have a great weekend!”

Wasn’t that so sweet? The boys loved it!

This excerpt jumped out at me and brought thoughts of the lady with the coupon from a few months ago flooding right back to my mind. I had forgotten, and I hate to forget things like this. These random acts of kindness that people do for one another. That people do for me and my family. That people do for my friends, and my loved ones. It left me pondering events in my life that I considered random acts of kindness and one in particular couldn't escape me.

Earlier this year we had reached a stumbling block, as so many people do from time to time. I was dealing with a major health issue that was causing me a lot of pain and discomfort. I blogged about that and although I had shared that bit of information with my friends, my emphasis was how we were in a tight spot at the moment. I thought nothing of it, as I was just venting my frustration with our situation and my feelings of helplessness, but a few days later a card arrived in the mail and tucked inside was enough money to cover the basic cost of the treatment I really needed to relieve the pain I was in. I was taken by surprise because I didn't consider this to be a particularly good friend who would care so much as to send money, so I was reluctant to accept it at first. My initial response was to sit down and write a card to send back with the money inside, explaining why I couldn't accept the money (we needed to provide our own remedies to bad situations) but how I appreciated the gesture. Ugh. I was in so much pain, though! How could I refuse it? I really turned it over and over in my mind and finally sought the counsel of a friend who convinced me that I should humble myself to the gift because, not only did I need it at just that very time, but the person who sent it would likely be deeply offended if I returned it. I know that this friend was probably right.

My husband and I decided to keep it and use it for the treatment I needed, and we did. I was so, so very grateful for that act of kindness, as stubborn as my pride was before I would actually accept it and use it. I later came to find that this person who sent the money wasn't really the type of person with whom I could be friends with, and I'm sure they felt similarly about me. They valued things that I didn't, and I valued things that they didn't, so in the end we went our separate ways but I never did, and never will, forget that one random act of kindness that truly benefited me and my family at a very trying time. That was one thing that this person and I both valued and strived for, compassionate hearts, and I am glad that I can acknowledge this person's good traits as opposed to those that I don't agree with. I don't know that this person believes they truly did something right by doing what they did, but I hope they don't regret it. I didn't tell them, but I vowed to return the favor by doing something for someone else when things were back to normal for us. I really did appreciate their gift.

A few months later in spring, my family and I did have the chance to turn around and do something for someone else in return for that favor. I hope that those whom we chose not only enjoyed it, but that they continued the repetition in one form or another - by doing something so small but with such impact that the next person can do nothing more than be inspired to also continue on with it. I can just imagine how many people we all can touch when we each take the time to do something simple and kind for someone else whenever someone else does something kind and simple for us. I am very glad that Noelle took the time to add her story into her blog so that I could reflect, once again, on the amazing abilities we have to touch and impact one another as loving and charitable human beings.

I don't believe that we have to be all sweets and sugar all of the time (heaven forbids me to), but sometimes when we feel prompted to, we can share such treats with those around us and make this world a better place. (Did anyone else hear Michael Jackson when reading that? *LoL*)

I am challenging myself now to make a more thoughtful and inspired effort to reach out and hand someone a coupon, share with them the dime to get them through, provide them a safer place to gather for meals, give them a soft, stuffed animal to hold on to, or any other random acts of kindness. I love to help people, but sometimes I feel that I can't do nearly enough when a task is overwhelming so I end up doing nothing at all. That doesn't sit right, so I am permitting myself here and now to make more of the simple acts of kindness. The ones that just might mean as much to someone else as those that have been passed to me were.

And I challenge you to do the same.

Melody's Bouquet - WE@TToo Version 1

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:26:00 +0000

I have admired the work of many women across the internet who participate in an amazing expression of emotion each week. They gather at Wrapped Emotions where the creator, Melody, or a chosen guest blogger presents a new challenge for the week and women all over the blogosphere opt to join in and share their creations. This week the guest blogger is Jenny from Live! And in Color and is doing a special challenge (read about it here) for Melody. All of those who were willing to participate were asked to create a flower for a cyberspace bouquet, and if the reasons are unclear, please do visit the links in the text above. This is an incredible movement. I have contemplated the different things I could do to join in for weeks. I had crayon rubbings floating around my desk, and thoughts of what on earth I could smash to create some beautiful masterpiece with each seperate shard. But alas, I never did get around to posting about those things, or even doing some of them, so I haven't had a chance to join in on the fun... until now. When I read this week's challenge, I immediately knew what to do. It was simple, for me, but it was the least I could do for the little bits of joy that Melody and her fantastic projects at Wrapped Emotions has brought to me, by creating a community of women who can share, express and create from nothing but raw emotion. It's such a beautiful thing! So here is my little contribution, my little 'thanks' to Melody and all of the other women who are on the WE bandwagon. This is my flower for the bouquet to let you know that, even though I haven't shared myself and the things I've made for WE on WE yet, I love it, have enjoyed it, and find so much comfort in reading the WE posts of others. Thank you! And I hope that life's obstacles that are in your path right now will provide you a way to come to an even greater path in life.

I'm late! I'm late!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:11:00 +0000

I feel like the white rabbit today, and don't have enough time to do what I need to get done. I really don't have time to post about my exciting weekend spent with my family, but will when I get other things done. I have a Mid-term this week, and have a lot of studying to do. I have a lot of projects around the home that I need to do as well, but hopefully I'll have them finished in a day or two and will be able to share my time online with you again.
Be back soon!

Eight Maids a Milking

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 07:32:00 +0000

I know that Meme's are not always popular (and alternatively, some are far too popular), but I found this one to be very sweet and simplistic and I rather like that. Sheila transformed an old meme into a new version which she's called Eight Maids a-Milking, and has tagged me to do it also. I was planning to write a deeper blog entry, but kept putting it off and will write about it later. In the meantime, here is my Eight Maids a-Milking Meme.

8 Things I'm Passionate About:
* My family
* Honesty
* Respect
* Art
* Self-Worth
* Blogging
* Helping others
* My Friends

7 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
* Visit Curacao with my hubby
* See my boys make their way through school
* See my boys wed
* Become a grandma
* Own a home on the East Coast
* Sell my artwork
* Visit another country (or several, for that matter)

6 Things That I Say Often:
* "Awesome!"
* "Oh, good heavens!"
* "You silly goose!"
* "I love you!"
* "I'm so proud of you."
* "Knock it off!"

5 Songs I Can Listen To Over And Over:
* "I'll be" by Edwin McCain
* "The Alphabet" sung by my boys! It's so cute!
* "So Simple" by Stacie Orrico
* "Popular" from the musical Wicked!
* "She's so Cute" by Animaniacs

4 Books I've Read Recently (Or Am Reading):
* Robinson Crusoe
* Curious George
* Inside My Heart: Choosing to Live with Passion and Purpose
* Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric: The Use of Reason in Everyday Life

3 Things That Attract Me To My Friends:
* Personality
* Trustworthiness
* Admirable talents

2 Things That I Learned Last Year:
* How to be more tolerant of others who differ from me in various ways
* I can be who I want to be and I am who I choose - It's never too late to help yourself

Now, 1 last thing, I want these people to also share:
*Liz
*Julie

Who am I?

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:50:00 +0000

A challenge passed among friends, I have come to the conclusion that there will be no better time to participate and answer the question, "Who am I?" than right now as I listen to "Everything" by Michael Buble. It's very difficult, and indeed a challenge, to answer such a complex question, but it's a challenge that intrigued me from the get go.
In relation to the song, I feel like there is nothing that can describe me more than 'everything'. I feel as though I am ever-changing and that sometimes I may be something and other times the complete opposite, and still again, there are times when I don't know what I am, what I think, or where I stand. I can be kind or critical. I can be tenacious or open minded and accepting. I can be empathetic, sympathetic, or so cold, so distant. I change, all of the time, and yet I always feel that I am the same, just me, deep inside. I cannot express who I am without admitting that I may not always feel the same about everything, all of the time.
My roles in life are very important to me because they are a definite element to my composition at any given point. These roles I take on, such as wife, mother, student, daughter, friend, artist, sister, may not always stay the same, but in the moment they do make up who I am, and they generate the circumstances in my life.
When I am a wife, I support my husband. I find value in his voice and opinions. I try to create comfort and love for him, and be the one he turns to, for any need or desire. My love for him is unending. I feel as though I am an equal and I love that I can stand in front of, beside, or behind my husband without feeling as though I have to be in the position that I am, for he stands in front of, behind or beside me at times, too. I really believe that he and I were meant for each other.
When I am a mother, subsequent roles come in to play that make up who I am. I cook, I clean, I teach (and therefore I also learn), I promote health and provide security. This position in my life, motherhood, is one that I would not trade for anything in the world. There is nothing on earth at this point in time that could make me love my children any less than I do now, and have from the moment they were each born. That too, the unconditional love that I feel for my family, also makes me who I am. I did not want to be a parent when I was young myself, but this is now who I am and it is nothing that I regret or would ever want to take back. I love being a mother and being the biggest influence on these two amazing boys in my life.
And when I am a student, I am anxious to take in more knowledge. I love to learn, and I love to think. I find stretching my mind to consider new possibilities and questioning truths to be very liberating, and very fulfilling. Although I have my fair share of arguments, stubborn as I am, I really do not enjoy debating and arguing. I feel that I learn more through constructive, tactful discussions rather than the pressures of trying to persuade someone else who is set on persuading me, as often times we are too busy trying to focus on convincing the other person of our stances that we do not take time to carefully consider their stance as well. I learn well on my own, and I learn well by direction. I am very thankful for the opportunity to be a student again, becoming educated in things that interest me and not just things that are instilled in me as a standard for all. I am an artist and being a student has, even in a short time, helped me to grow creatively and given me more means to express who I am.
Aside from the roles that I play day in and day out, my characteristics also make up who I am. I strive to be a better person almost all of the time. I love to help people, and that makes me feel that I am compassionate, but compassion is also a quality that I believe others have to bestow upon you in order to be of any worth. I am loyal, and yet, sometimes this causes so much hurt within me, because even after someone has given up on me, I cling to them, keeping them in my heart and mind despite their absence in my life. I wonder how they are, if they miss me as I do them, if anything new and exciting has happened in their lives. When someone puts their trust in me, I cherish it and value it very much. I also expect the same in return when I put my trust in someone else. Respect, manners and courtesy is very important to me and I try to always carry those things with me, but I also believe that there's a time and place where it is ok to be wild and care-free, let loose and relaxed. I wasn't always an accepting person, but I've recently developed a conviction for tolerance, and I very much strive to be tolerant of different people, different ideas, and different ways of doing things. Despite having suffered with depression a great majority of my life, I am now a very happy, very optimistic person. I have had situations in my life that have humbled me. I am a grateful person, and I try to show my gratitude to others. I think that I have a good sense of humor, for the most part, although I tend to be a little too sarcastic at times. I am easily frustrated, and very easily annoyed, and I think these things are signs that I really need to work on qualities that I really admire in other people; patience and understanding. I am honest, even when I don't want to be. I try my best to use tact when the truth is necessary but not always nice. I believe that criticism can be helpful as long as it is truly constructive and not just called constructive criticism for the sake of avoiding the responsibility of using words that were obviously meant to hurt someone. I don't know which side of the fence I am better off on when it comes to politics, so I sit on the fence to get a better view of things and go with whomever or whatever I feel is right. The characteristic that I like least about myself, at least at the moment, is my need for solitude, even when I don't really want to be alone, and I suppose that is the case right now because I do feel very lonely. The characteristic I like most about myself is my authenticity. I am not afraid to be who I am, whether I am afraid, or nervous, happy or cheerful, angry or hurt, disgusted or pleased, unsatisfied or completely content.
And right now, in closing, I am very much content with who I have shared with you... me.... myself... who I am.

This entry was a response to a Meme/Writing challenge presented by my dear friend, Roze. She proposed the question to ask ourselves, "Who am I?" and gave the following instructions:
You can answer it by making a list of what qualities you feel you have, or you can write it out like a letter or story. How ever you want, as long as it is honest, insightful and revealing.
She also included questions to consider while writing your answer. What makes me me? Do others see me as I really am? If not, how do they see me as compared to who I really am? What will I be remembered for?
Feel free to do this challenge yourself and be sure to post back here to let me know who YOU are. ;)

Got the Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:06:00 +0000

Wow! I checked my email this morning and was surprised to find a few new comments here on my blog and a note from Sheila saying I'd won her Blog DVD Giveaway! Wuhwho! I've never won a blog giveaway before, so I was VERY excited. Our whole family loves movies (though we only have a limited number of them), and my boys will surely love this one. They've never seen it before, but it was one of my favorites when I was younger. I'm sure they are going to LOVE it because it's such a classic!
I've seen several blogs doing Blog Giveaways, some even do weekly giveaways (like Your Heart Out and From Dates to Diapers). I think it's a fun, new, trendy way to get to know new people through blogging. I think I'll consider doing my own Giveaway before too long, so be sure to check back!
Thanks, Sheila for the DVD and the opportunity to participate in yours!

Time Consuming

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:15:00 +0000

Things that will be consuming my time today include:

Laundry. Gosh, I love folding laundry! I just hate putting it away. I am crossing my fingers that we can get a new washer and dryer by the end of the year.

Dishes. I don't like doing dishes! I'll put them away without complaint, but please, don't ask me to stick my hands in dirty dish water. Ick!

Picking up Toys. Why is it that they can never stay in their bins, nice and organized? Is it really too hard to pick up after one's self? Arg. This is a hard lesson to teach children without ending up doing it yourself anyway! (Tips are appreciated, and take note that my children are easily bribed... hmmm...)

Cleaning the crib. So sad, it's time to sell the crib that we won't be using again. I'd like to have it out of our storage unit before the first big snow fall here in the valley, so I need to make sure it's clean and presentable for pictures. Oh, how I wish I had reason to keep it.

Packing clothes for DI. I have come to a place of contentment. I will not be so small again, so I've packed many of my old pre-pregnancy clothes to be taken to DI. It stung a little that a lot of them were brand new and I'd never had the chance to wear them, but someone else will be able to put them to good use.

Hitting the Hot Spots. The top of the armoire and the top of the microwave both need some clearing off again.

And last but... well, hopefully I won't have time to get to this one today. Time for the toilets to have a nice bleach bath. Ick! Thankfully I have a manly husband who can be persuaded to battle the germs that try to settle abode on our thrones.

I'd best stop procrastinating now.

Quirky Confession

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 08:42:00 +0000

Do you ever have thoughts, perhaps while daydreaming or just before you fall asleep at night, where you later look back and wonder how you got from one thought to the next? The connections between each one are so wild or bizzare that you believe if you relayed your thought process to someone they would give you that what-on-earth look that most people get hot cheeks over. Yeah. I had one of those roller-coaster stream of thoughts tonight. I won't even begin to try and explain, and trust me, I already tried, and still don't know how I got from one thing to the next at some points, so I'll just continue on. In the end, I came to the conclusion that most people have a strange, or some strange little quirks about them. They have favorite things, or certain ways that they like to do things, and sometimes they feel funny or 'off' when they knowingly choose to do something completely opposite or unsuiting to their normal little quirks. I read a good example a little while ago (thought I can't remember where or who for some reason) where they got married on an odd day of the month and because they can't stand odd numbers, to this day it still bothers them, even after being married for years. I'm sure they'd rather have all odd numbers in their phone number if they could, or ride buses with odd numbered routes just because they like odd numbers. It's definitely not an obsession, because it doesn't alter every day life - there isn't a threat of the world ending if it's not that way -, but I think it's more of a comfort thing. We all feel more comfortable when we have things our way, just the way we like them, and I think I like that about people. We all like to be comfortable sometimes, and sometimes it's a bit intimidating to share our happy little things, but I'm going to take a deep breath and do it! I hope that when I'm done, if you read this, you will do it, too.

As I reflected on my day this evening I realized that I have a quirk for colors, and this is my confession.

I will pour name-brand dish soap into a generic dishsoap container because I think the generic one looks better in my kitchen.
Even though my older son can dress himself, if we're going out I make sure to lay out clothes that are matching for him to put on (I still let him get himself dressed. He is Mr. Independent after all!) because I like outfits that match and I hate thinking that someone is looking at my child funny because he has an outrageous, mismatched clothes on. Children are not very good at matching clothes and that's just all there is to it. Heh. If only you could see my blushing right now!
I refuse to wear brown masacara, or even soft black. It has to be BLACK because I like the look of my eye color next to dark, dark lashes. Oh boy, more blushing!
Sometimes when I'm bored I will sit and come up with color schemes. For what, it doesn't matter. I just like playing with colors and coming up with an array of them that go well together.
I won't wear socks that don't match, even if they can't be seen by anyone else. It drives me batty!
I like colors to mesh well, so if I decorate for a party, if I get or make new decor for a room, it all has to match or at least look decent together. If it doesn't, well, I was probably in a hurry. Ha!
If I change the background to my blog, you can bet that I'll be changing the hyperlinks and text colors soon after so that it doesn't clash.

And three good things that come from my color quirk...
My kids don't look like they lost their leg of the carnival bandwagon when they're seen in public. Ok, joking! I will still let them wear what they want in public sometimes, but by gosh, if they'll change into something that matches for me, then we're going with it! (I don't care if your kids are mismatched - this quirk is for my kids only! Weird, I know. :")
The rooms in my home all have great color schemes, if I do say so myself. I would seriously love to do interior decorating at some point because I really enjoy mixing and matching colors in home decor.
Selecting accurate colors in different light or darknesses, arranging colors that really contrast or enhance other colors helps with my artistic and creative projects for school assignments, crafts and graphics. Shadows blend well. Words pop out. Things flow when colors go well together! I love that. :)

And now, it's your turn!
Confess your quirk to others, on your own blog, by filling out the sentence: I have a quirk for ______ and this is my confession!
Give at least three examples of ways your quirk has effect in your life, good or bad.
Give at least three ways that your quirk comes in handy and 'works' for you. Don't be ashamed, it's part of what makes you YOU! :D Be as silly or as serious as you like, and make sure to let me know if you do this on your blog so I can read it, too.

Educational Explanation

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 20:56:00 +0000

The first photo here was given to us to color correct, and this is my finished attempt. It had a red overtone to it originally. The second photo is my first attempt at Photo restoration. The third photo was the original photo that I restored. I had a lot of fun doing that one! The fourth and final picture is an assignment I had finished. We were told to take the bug out of a photograph (it was in a woody scene on a gravel road behind a home) and put it on a white background. It was originally green and we were told to change the color, cut out the windows so that they were also white, and add text to the side of the car, making it look as realistic as possible. The text wasn't so easy to do because it was hard to make it look real, which is why I chose to place it as I did, with a curve.

School has been going well still. I finished my Illustrator Basics class and came out with grades that I was pleased with. I won't know my official grade for the class overall, but from the looks of it... again, I'm just pleased. :)
Now that we've moved on to Photoshop, I was a little concerned about whether I would like this program or not because I've always used Paint Shop Pro in the past and others warned me that Photoshop can be difficult to use. So far I've found it to be fairly easy, but that's probably because so many of the tools are the same or very similar. We've moved on from cutting things out of photos and color correction to photo restoration. Oh, boy! I love playing with photos and I'm really loving the photo restoration portion of this class. It can be a bit frustrating, but when all is said and done, I like how my pictures have turned out and that makes it so worth it. This week is the last week of Photoshop Basics so I'm curious about what classes I'll get for the next Module. (Modules are like condensed Semesters, I guess).
I thought I would share some of my assignments since I have several of them up right now. Ugh. Forgive the strange organization of this post. I'm still getting used to how Blogger works with photos when being uploaded from Firefox.

Heaps O'Hormones

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 04:11:00 +0000

Usually a week or so before my lovely Aunt Flo comes to visit there are heaps of hormones raging through my body. Sometimes it's hard for me to tell when things are 'a changin' but other times it's very obviously apparent. Maybe to others more so than myself, but to me, the ease or difficulty varies from month to month.
Well, now is that time, where a week, ten days or so, down the road from now Aunt Flo will be making her uninvited appearance. How do I know this time? I was wandering around blogs this evening and came across one of a beautiful woman who created a beautiful doll for her beautiful little girl. Oh, so what. Who cares, right? Well, anyone who really knows me, knows that I can't have any more children. And anyone who really knows me knows that I wish I could have just one more; a little girl. I have two boys who I love dearly, more than life itself, but occasionally my heart pangs for a little girl to dress up, put bows in her hair and put pearly pink lipgloss on her pouty little lips, twirl around with and sing to Britney Spears. Wait. Sing to Hannah Montanna... that's the popular new idol of young girls these days, isn't it? Anyway, I think most women know that maternal tune that eggs the heartstrings on and on saying, "Give me a baby to hold..." and although I've already been blessed with children, I am still no exception.
So why did that doll have me so forlorn? I had one when I was very little. Just like that, or very similar. I can't recall if it was mine, or something I shared with my sisters, or something I only got to play with at my grandma's house (I keep thinking it was one of grandma's toys), but in any case, I loved her. She had a pretty flowered red dress during the day, and when you flipped her skirt she wore a flowerly blue night gown, eyes closed, just like the doll in the photos on Bethany's post. Love for one little doll just came flooding over me, and I wanted to give that to another little girl, my own little girl. *sigh*
Oh, but that wasn't all. I blew that moment off after longingly looking at Bethany's photos of the doll and reviewing the patterns (I wish I could make one for myself to hold at night, but I think my hubby would consider that a little 'too' strange) for a while. How did I really know that it was 'around that time again' that I should start looking forward to (Yeah right!) my Aunt Flo? Well, I had headed back over to Crunchy Domestic Goddess and read down a few entries. I came to this one and about half way through, I finally broke down and started bawling. Yeah, I did. Where it says, "Not breastfeeding, but support it?" Oh, oh, oh. It made my heart ache. All the memories of having to stop early when Hunter was still a wee babe, and how difficult it was to accept. Not breastfeeding... that's me! :( That's when I had that little lightbulb go off in my head telling me that normally I can keep my composure while reading things like that, but since I obviously can't tonight, then I must be... well, hormonal. *sigh again*

The touchy subjects will have to be faced now and again, and as much as they hurt, I still love them. I love that so many other women are blessed with beautiful little girls that get to dress up and play with dolls (or power tools, if they so choose... no, the toy kind, duh!) and still have children. But for now... it sucks. I just have to remind myself for the next week or so...

I'll be over it in a few days, when my life is all about tampons and cramping and yelling at everyone to shut the hell up and leave me alone. :")

Calendar Review

noreply@blogger.com (Tina) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:10:00 +0000

I've seen Roze's "Who am I?" Challenge, and I've been thinking about how to answer it. I haven't come up with something yet, so in the meantime here is a Meme from Liz. It's a look over the last 10 months or the year of 2007 thus far.

10 MONTHS OF 2007

1. Have you had your birthday yet?
No

2. Are you the same person as you were at the beginning of 2007?
Definitely NOT

3. Are you still in the same job?
Yes, I'm still a stay at home mom and loving it even more now than ever. The boys are growing and threats of preschool and daycare lurk around.

4. Is your favorite color the same color?
I guess so

5. Have you had the same hair style/color?
I started out the year with a wild hair color. My tips were dark, the middle was a brassy red, and my roots were my natural brown. I was trying to grow it out so I could cut out the color and be all natural again. In April I had it professionally blended as close to my natural color as possible. Now it mostly looks natural with some brassy brown tones mixed in from the faded dye. It's also grown out a lot since the beginning of the year. It's now down past my shoulders and I like it longer like this. I'll probably be getting a trip and new style soon, though, to cut out any left over dye and keep it looking healthy. :)

6. Have you bought a new car this year?
No, but we're almost paid off with our current one so we've been contemplating what we want to get next for our family! So excited at the prospect of another car, finally!

7. Anything exciting happen this year?
Yes! I've finally beat my depression which I could not be happier about! One of my best friends moved nearby. My big boy turned 3! My allergies were the best (as in much less apparent) they've been this spring and summer since I started having them at age 15. My little guy is potty trained and about to turn 2! My husband got an excellent raise and a huge acknowledgement for his contributions at work, and I've finally enrolled in school and am doing well and loving it! A lot of exciting stuff this year, or at least it's exciting to me!

8. Been involved with the police this year?
Hmm... involved, nope. I do have a great friend now who is a corrections officer, though, if that counts for anything.

9. Favorite all time drink for 2007?
What kind of question is this? I hate stupid questions. I guess I'll go with Cherry Limeade.

10. Is your best friend still your best friend?
Yes.

11. Had any tattoos or piercings this year?
No

12. Had a hair cut?
Yes

13. Been in a hospital this year?
Yes, but thankfully it wasn't for myself or anyone in my family this time!

14. Lost someone you cared about this year?
In a physical sense, no. I have lost friends, but I've also gained some, so I count my blessings. :)

15. Where have you been this year, vacation/business?
This year I've been to California for the first time in my life, EVER! We went to Hollywood. I didn't get to see much, though, so I plan on going back again sometime. Wendover, of course. Hubby and I love to go there when we have time alone together. I was supposed to go to Wyoming from my little brother's graduation and to visit my family there, but we couldn't at the time. :( I hope I get to visit next year instead. Hmm, where else? Ah, we went Camping at Deer Creek just a few weekends ago, too.

6. Been in love this year?
Yes! In love with my hubby soooo so much!

17. Fallen out of love this year?
Yes, and right back in again! Love is something you have to work at, and we do it well. :")

18. Been kicked out of a pub this year?
No, pubs are not my scene.

20. Read any books?
Yep!

21. Worst thing to happen this year?
The worst? Well, that's hard to say. I think this has been a great year so far, and aside from personal things that I'd rather not share publicly, I think the worst was the cold that Hunter had this summer. Poor little guy had it for weeks on end, and we couldn't figure out what was going on. Tested him for allergies and he flunked (thank goodness!), but left us with unanswered questions. A good dose of antibiotics nipped it in the bud after a few weeks and we were all much happier.

22. Best thing you’ve done this year?
Committed myself to school. I've got good grades thus far and am learning and loving it! I even get to share it with my family as the boys crawl up on my lap to watch the class when it's in session... it's the best!

23. How many times have you gotten drunk?
No comment. :)

24. Has this year been a good one so far?
It’s been the best!

25. Do you have anything to comment about the year 2007?
Now that it's fall, I really hope that the rest of the year doesn't fly by too fast. I really want to feel prepared for each coming event, birthdays and holidays and such, and I want to enjoy them as much as I can.