layouts for outlaw cj's

I have two layouts with matching tags done for our outlaw cj group. Both LOs are total scraplifts of layouts I found on twopeas, love that site! The first is "My Happy Things," pretty self-explanatory. Used a couple dif paper lines, lovin' the rub-on in the upper left hand corner. The pic is of us in Istanbul in front of the Blue Mosque. I think the picture is appropriate since two of my happy things are Greg and traveling!

The second is "My Mentor" - anyone who you feel mentored you - that was tough for me, so I took the Daddy angle. Daddy loved bright colors, esp. red and yellow, so I had to incorporate those. He was very vivacious, so the patterned paper seemed to fit well too. The rub-ons are CK brand - love the font. The picture is OLD, about 8 yrs old, but it's so dang cute!! :-)


Yes, I whited out my info on the left tag, it was handwritten addy, phone and email. That pic is me on the bike of course! The back side of the colorful flowered tag has my info on it. That pic is from somewhere overseas, our 2006 cruise, I think it was taken in Egypt.

continuing the trip out east

Continuing on, the next day we went to Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia. The highlight is the waterfall, quite pretty. There are also some scenic overlooks into the canyon. However, I think as far as we were concerned, we saw prettier scenery just driving along. WV is truly a beautiful state, with great biking roads.


The next morning we visited Antietam National Battlefield. Now, I will display some ignorance as to American history. I knew Antietam was important in the Civil War, but I didn't know why. So that was why I wanted to stop so much - to try to understand the war and the times and the people better.

I was truly amazed at how huge Antietam is. Because most of the fighting during the Civil War was hand-to-hand combat, I didn't think one battlefield would be so large. And even more amazing was the number of deaths from one day of fighting here. The film they show in the museum/shop area is a bit hokey, but it really points out some facts that I'm guessing a lot of folks either don't know or forgot. The one that really sticks out in my memory - after the win at Antietam, Abe Lincoln wanted the Union soldiers to go after the Confederates, but the commander in charge didn't do so. The war continued for a couple years after this - could these years of bloodshed have been avoided?

These pictures show: an overview of a small part of the battlefield (the ditch along the left was an area of many deaths), an enlarged copy of a photo taken before the bodies were removed, a photo from very near that same spot, with the church still in the background, and the bridge where many Union soldiers died, trying to cross.

Visiting the battlefield was very thought-provoking to me. I wonder, as I had previously, how soldiers of that time could fight "like gentlemen" - march in a line while being shot at, not trying to avoid getting shot, just continuing onward. Where is the instinct for self-preservation? And how stupid (in my mind) to fight that way - what a waste of humans. Of course I also think of the horrific wounds and almost non-existent medical knowledge. And I think about families, torn in two, with some family members on each side of the war... and some families were never able to reconcile afterwards, each side thinking the other a traitor.

trippin' again

Literally, taking a trip. Not illegal (or legal) drug use!! ;-)

The last week of June, Greg and I determined that we could both take the week of July 4th off from work. woohoo!! So we bounced around ideas as to where to bike, because of COURSE we had to take a motorcycle vacation... lol. We decided to head east. Greg created a route that would include numerous roads from his fave book "The Most Scenic Drives in the United States" - which has 120 different suggested drives. And we decided to incorporate being in Washington DC for the July 4th fireworks - what better place to celebrate Independence Day than in our nation's capital?! I didn't take the time to update the blog as we drove along, so I'll post a few times this week.

July 1 - pretty boring... just shooting over to our first night's stay in Chillicothe, Ohio. Mostly interstate driving.

July 2 - DEFINITELY more interesting! We rode on two scenic roads, the first in south east Ohio, and the second in the very southern section of West Virginia. Great roads, twisty turny, just as we like 'em! Through trees, sometimes by water, up and down the mountains. WOOHOO!

In Ohio, we stopped at Hocking Hills State Park, and we hiked to the Rock House. We had no idea what it was, but we were intrigued. The Rock House was kinda cool, but I personally liked the House exterior better than the interior.

In West Virginia, we stopped at the New River Gorge National River. We apparently had already stopped there together several years ago, and Greg stopped there himself last year, but that was ok, it made for a nice break anyway. And Greg took me on an interesting road down under the bridge.




The scenic road ended in Lewisburg, WV, where we spent the night. And yes, the town was pretty interesting too. It's so dif here than out east - so few bldgs (if any) here were built prior to 1900. Out east a lot of houses are from the mid 1800s, there are some still from the early 1800s, and a few even from the 1700s. That is just so rockin' cool!

And yes, I know, compared to Europe, Africa, Asia, etc., our "old" is just a baby. But it's America's history. And that, my friend, is amazing.

quote unquote

woohoo!! A couple of weeks ago, I received an album from my twopeas childfree circle journal group - it was the first since October... that group has had some problems. So today I put together my layout for the cj. The topic is Quote Unquote. We are supposed to put a fave quote on the left pg, with words or pix that go with the quote, then do an "about me" page on the right. So here is my LO!

The bad photo of the right pg is due to the journaling being on a transparency I stapled on top of the paper and picture. It wasn't completely flat when I took the pictures, so shadowing is visible.

Over the photo, there are descriptors (is this a word? lol) for me: I AM Marcia Jeanne Skarda Miller, independent, inquisitive, adventurous, night owl, happily married to Greg, analytical, young-at-heart, procrastinator, child-free, cat lover, daddy's girl, impatient, creative.

The left and top says: I ENJOY motorycling, volleyball, chocolate, archaeology, traveling, beer, scrapbooking, warm weather, photography, theatre, friends, family, cruises, sci-fi, lilacs, gemstone rings, sunshine, 'Vette convertible.

The bottom and right says: RANDOM FACTS: I am an aunt to 16 folks and a great-aunt to 20 kids, I do something new every year, I see the world through rose-colored glasses, I am NOT a girly girl, I have been close to death 3 times.

This layout is using the Basic Grey Fusion collection - love that paper! The colors are so rich and vibrant irl (in real life).

yin yang

I am *almost* done with my layout for my own outlaw cj. I wanted to get pictures posted so the other outlaw participants could at least see what I had in mind. ;-) I still have a blank area at the left - that is where a photo of me will go, with some matching embellies.

Clean and simple, that's my style! I was definitely inspired by a pea (somebody from the twopeas board), but I'm sorry I don't remember who. Lovin' the Daisy D's paper - kinda exotic, dark yet bright.

Words/phrases, by pairs, left to right:
optimist - realist
sociable - introvert
scrapbooker - biker

Again, words/phrases, in pairs, left to right:
compassionate - sarcastic
intrigued with ancient events - uninformed of current events
creative - analytical
frou frou martini connoisseur - dark beer drinker
easy going - strong willed

These are some of my personality traits and things I enjoy that I see as opposites within myself - my yin yang.

new cj - for Outlaw group

Some of the members of the Outlaws - my local scrappin' buddies - have decided to do circle journals within our group. My theme is the yin/yang of our personalities. I thought this was a great idea, since so many of my personality traits and activities seem so opposite... creative vs analytical, biker vs scrapbooker, etc. I've been working, albeit slowly, on the "bones" of my cj - the cover, explanation/instruction pgs, etc. Here are pix of what I have done so far:

The cover.


The first set of pgs. The left side (inside cover) has 3 yin/yang quotes, the right side will eventually have the outlaw logo (I will be creating) and maybe the yin/yang symbol.



Close up of the left pg. The quotes:

The ten thousand things carry yin and embrace yang.
They achieve harmony by combining these forces.
~ Tao Te Ching, L'ao Tzu, #42, c 500 BC

The two principles of yin and yang never separate from each other,
but rather each follows the other - smoothly and endlessly.
~ Cheng Man-ch'ing

For everything up there is a down.
For every back there is a front.
There is no separate yin without yang or yang without yin.
The two are part of one whole...
~ John Painter


The next LO (set of pgs) .


Closeup of the left side - for the cj group members to sign in (on the striped paper).


Closeup of the right side - gives the explanation/instructions:

People often have characteristics that appear to be opposites, not necessarily good versus bad, just seemingly contradictory aspects of their personality. This yin yang is a big part of what makes people so intriguing and unpredictable.

Fellow Outlaws:

1. Make a 3x6 tag with some basic info about yourself, including your name, address, phone number and email address. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you want.

2. Create a two page layout. Tell me about the yin yang of your personality. It can be one thing or many things; it can be personality traits or activities you enjoy.

3. Requests: On either your tag or your layout, please include a photo of yourself and handwrite something, even if it’s just your signature.

4. Last, and definitely most important - HAVE FUN!

cruisin'

In both meanings of the word.... ;-)

Even tho it's only May, and weekends for the most part haven't been that great, we've still been on the bike quite a bit. We signed up for three dif "poker runs," to use the generic term. One ride is the Kilbourn Firebell Run for a Fire Dep't in Wi Dells: The Firebell Run is a road rally where participants have the whole summer to visit 60 individual stops across Southern Wisconsin. Participants drop off a ticket at each of the stops along the route for a chance to win Cash Prizes. The more stops they visit, the more chances they have to win! Our bike club is having its annual tour: The 2007 Circle Tour is the Colors of Wisconsin. Wisconsin has many towns with "colorful" names, so stops will be in some of those towns. There are two loops, each with 6 stops. Each loop covers approx 300 miles from the metro Milwaukee area. And third is a different GWRRA chapter's run: The Coordinates tour has 20 locations listed by GPS coordinate (and latitude/longitude). Find each location and answer the questions listed. If you count that up, it's 92 stops that we will be making around Wisconsin (most in the southern half)... we are about 1/3rd of the way done already. And to make that better, we have done the stops that are furthest away. Greg has been creating rides for us to hit these stops in an organized manner, and apparently three more day rides and we'll be done! wow!! Then what'll we do / where will we go on the bike??!!

In the other sense of the word cruisin'... as I posted, I have really missed taking a ship cruise this year. But now I have something to look forward to. We just booked a cruise for next January. Yes, it's a long time away. But yay!! I still get that happy feeling just knowing it's booked. We'll be taking Carnival Destiny from San Juan to: St Thomas, Dominica, St Kitts, Barbados, and La Romana (Dominican Republic). Altho we've done most of these stops, that's ok, they're all good places, haven't been in a few (or more) years. In St Thomas we'll probably ferry over to St John, since we haven't been there yet. And La Romana will be interesting, we haven't been there yet (we did goto Punta Cana, Dominican Rep, but it was a 4 day all-inclusive, and we just stayed at the resort). We pull into La Romana at 3pm one day and don't leave until 5pm the next, so there is plenty of time to see quite a few things, and even experience some nightlife off the ship. I'm not sure yet what we'll be doing at the other stops, but I have plenty of time to figure that out. Right now I'm just so dang excited to have a cruise booked. YAY!!! And we got SUCH a deal - we paid approx $485 pp (inc tax/fees) for a 7 day cruise. And because Carnie was offering a free upgrade special, we have the top level of inside cabin, which is currently being sold for $639 (PLUS tax/fees). And we picked a cabin that is larger than most inside cabins, which are large on Carnie anyway. Instead of 185 sq feet, our cabin is 220. But yes, there is a downside - we are directly underneath the gym - so we'll hear pounding on the treadmills in the morn, unless we wear earplugs. And then another aspect - our cabin is a handicapped room, which is why it's bigger... so then my question - if they have people who need a handicapped room - will they request us to give up our room? If yes, would they offer a better room (window or balcony) or give shipboard credits? Either way would be a win/win for us. So anyway... we'll see. We have a cruise booked, and the itinerary is great, and that's what matters!!

and time marches on

goodness, how time marches on... I can't believe how long it's been since I updated cyberspace. lol

So high (and low?) points:

I turned 40 this year. That sucks. I guess it really hasn't been the hardest bday for me - my 25th was kinda traumatic. I threw a party for myself - it was officially a volleyball party, but just about everyone knew it was for my bday, so there were decorations and a cake (Dean and Karen - I will get you back!), and some prezzies. We played vball for around 4 hours pretty much straight, then had a great chicken dinner. 'Twas lots o' fun!

We didn't take a cruise this year, and no plans to do so. I miss that!

Oh, the U.P. ski trip in Feb was GREAT! I actually skiied all three days, a first for me (due to my back probs). so yahoo! and the best part - I tried tree skiing. What? - you ask. OMG It is so much fun. Of course I had no clue what I was getting into when I followed Greg into the trees the first time. Ok - an explanation. In downhill skiing, between the runs are wooded/treed areas. Well some fools (heehee) make paths thru the trees, and then other fools (like us) go on those paths. Those paths are anything but straight, you have to weave in and around the trees. And they're anything but flat, you go over tree roots and shrubs then drop down, you go thru ditches, etc. And the path is literally one person wide, so no room to really slow down or stop. So you just go flying on down the hill, back and forth, up and down, bumpity bump, 90 degree turn, lol, doing anything you can to keep your speed down. And as I said OMG it was so fun! After I made it down the first tree run alive and uninjured, I had to keep going back for more.

My friend Carrie and I started a yahoo group for our little group of scrappin' friends - we call ourselves the Outlaws. We didn't like the direction taken by some of the other larger groups that we did stuff with, so decided to head out on our own. And it's great. We all get along, there's no nit-picking, no childish behavior. woohoo!!! Anyway a few of us went on a weekend scrapbook retreat - we tagged along with another group. It was in the Dells, and the place was great, and most of the folks were fun. But there was a definite them and us - we didn't mingle much - so we've decided we prefer to try to do our own day and weekend retreats from now on.

Talkin' 'bout scrappin'... I'm going to another CKU. I really had decided not to go at all this year. Some of the Provo & Chicago dormies were meeting up in Anaheim, but that just didn't thrill me. And the timing was bad. Etc, etc. But for some reason, I really wanted to go to the one in Nashville in August. The timing is even worse. But I LOVE Nashville, and I *really* LOVE the Opryland Resort, which is where the event is being held. So I was grumbling to my bud Emily from WA state that I wanted to go, blah, blah, but "no one" was going. That was my excuse, you see. I had to have an excuse so I felt ok that I wasn't going. So what does my gf Emily say? "Oh well, that sounds fun, let me check with dh." Oh, NO! That isn't what she was supposed to say. And of course her dh said "sure, go" and then Greg said "sure, go" So we're going. And I emailed Carrie saying how great it would be if she could go, and that I probably shouldn't ask, but could she go... and YES, she's going to. woohoo!! And another friend of Emily's is going too. So the four of us are going to be roomies, and we're starting in dorm, just gotta find a few more folks for that. So I'm TOTALLY excited, I'm going to CKU, I'm going to Nashville, I get to see Emily, I get to spend lots of quality time with Carrie, I get to meet my new friend Becky... woohoo!!!!

ok, the other kinda big news in my mind... After years of not really wearing much for jewelry - I just keep my earrings in - but I always have worn rings to match my clothes... I got a few things from a company called Lia Sophia. And there were so many cool things in their catalog. And they have a lifetime warranty! So I decided to have a party, thinking maybe I could get a couple free things. omg You wouldn't believe it. I got over $400 worth of stuff for free. And other stuff at big discounts. I ended up with $900 retail and spent maybe $140. That rocked! But now I'm totally hooked on their stuff. Which I guess is good and bad. I look more "polished" now, with nice necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc. But I've spent more money, and I know I'll keep spending it because their stuff is so cool. lol

well... that was kind of a brief (for the most part) synopsis of the last several months. yikes. Altho it was way busier than just that - with the usual volleyball, and now motorcycling, and lawn work, and for a while I was learning swing and lindy dance, etc. Life is always interesting, I gotta say that!

making memories ROCKS!

Way back in Sept I went to ScrapFest at the Mall of America. One of my classes was with Making Memories... and they had a minor supply problem. They asked if there were 5 people who would volunteer to not have all the components of the project - those volunteers would get a goodie box from them later. Well, most of the class volunteered, so they chose names. And *I* was one of the lucky 5. Why do I say lucky? Check out the contents of that goodie box! ;D


Making Memories is well known for being very generous, and they proved it once again! The goodie box included:
12 x 12 Maddi Multipack
Page Kit - Classic Holiday
Calling Cards - Expressions
Velvet Alpha Stickers
Enamel metal Tiles - Expressions
Kraft 5x7 Mini Book
Flower Brad Accents - Maddi
3 pkgs of Just Numbers Stickers
Photo Cube Kit (which is what our class was based on)

YOU ROCK, MAKING MEMORIES!

more cj layouts

These first two cj's are both for my CKU-Chicago dorm cj group.

This one asked: What is your passion?

My response, of course, is learning. I always want to know more, do more, learn more. The journaling on the right states...

ways to learn
~ travel
~ take classes
~ read
~ try new things
~ research

topics to learn
~ scrapbooking
~ archaeology
~ photography
~ architecture
~ culture

This next one asked: if you could invite any 10 people, living or deceased, to dinner, who would you invite and why.

My guests would be:
my dad
Thomas Jefferson
Marco Polo
Joan Baez
Oprah
Mozart
Albert Einstein
Cleopatra
Howard Carter
Socrates

The rationale for each is explained earlier in my blog - the threads are: http://marciamiller.blogspot.com/2006/09/fun-blog-challenge.html and http://marciamiller.blogspot.com/2006/10/dinner-party-for-10-ok-11-including-me.html


Now this last cj layout is for my twopeas childfree cj group. The request was for a picture and info about a vintage item, or any other non-living item, that holds significance. I really don't have much for "old" items, or vintage items. So I decided that a LO about my organ would do. My parents gave me this organ when I was maybe 7 years old. The main reason it holds so much sentimental value for me is that my dad loved it so much when I played - I think he was really proud of me, learning to play without any lessons.

more Vail pics!!

Way too many issues trying to upload pics to Blogger! argh.

But I think I found the solution - using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. Don't know why, but it seems to work!

So here are the rest of the Vail pictures I tried to upload earlier.

the holidays

Because I had a couple days of vacation left that I had to use (no carrying over unused days at my company!), we decided to head somewhere warm over the holidays. Greg thought it would be good to trailer the bike to Florida, then ride around the perimeter, all the way down to Key West. So Fri the 22nd, we headed out....


The first few days of our trip were pretty miserable.

We left Milwaukee at 10pm Fri night. We actually left the first time at 8pm, but had trailer problems - the trailer was swaying horribly, we couldn't even get up to 50mph without it feeling like the whole car was going to tip over. Greg thought it was because the trailer was imbalanced between front/back (trailer was only 8 foot, bike is longer). We came back to the friends who loaned us the trailer, and Greg and the guy removed a front tire stabilizer, which enabled the bike to move forward 4 inches, and that helped some. So the entire way to Atlanta, we drove around 60 mph, but just about every time we went around a corner or hit a bump, the trailer would sway and we had to slow down. When we got near Atlanta Greg had the inspiration to put more weight on the front of the trailer, so we lashed 240 pounds of bagged dirt on the front - problem solved! ;D No more sway. So anyway, we drove straight thru from Milwaukee to Gainesville, FL, where we left the car/trailer and finally crashed in a hotel. It took about 20 hours to get there, which doesn't sound bad, except for working a full day Fri and then not leaving until so late. We took turns driving, supposedly the other person could sleep. Greg got probably 6.5 hrs of sleep, I got maybe 2. So I was totally exhausted!!

So we crashed pretty hard, then crawled outta bed to head out Sun morn. Think about it... FL is eastern time zone, so I was getting up an hour earlier than it would have been here. ouch! It drizzled most of that day while we drove - I was pretty grumpy. I was still exhausted from not enough sleep, so I totally crashed Sun night too.

Mon - I woke up at about 8am eastern time to Greg saying that there is a tornado watch until 1pm. what??!! In fact, a tornado hit the town where Greg had originally planned on leaving the car/trailer - could have been bad if we'd gotten back from our tour and found our car/trailer damaged! So anyway, of course it's raining/drizzling. The hotel gave us late checkout at 2pm - nice folks. Too bad I woke up from Greg moving around - it would have been nice to sleep in... So even though they later extended the tornado watch until 2:30 we still left at 2pm, wasn't too bad then. So we drove in the rain again, and because we left 5-6 hrs later than expected, it was dark by the time we got to Marco Island and Sanibel Island, (west side of FL). Those were the areas I really wanted to see, because we've been to most of the rest of FL already.

Tues - we had a pretty brutal driving schedule. I think our GPS showed like 9.5 hours or something. So we drove and drove and drove, only stopping once to take a picture (plus fuel stops and quick food of course). We wanted to get down the Keys highway to Key West before dark. It was very cool cruising down the Keys highway on bike, but it was very windy too. I had a death grip on the bike (and Greg's tushie) as I tried to take pics of 7 Mile Bridge without getting blown off the bike! lol Anyway, we also had a tour in Key West at 8pm that was prepaid, so had to get there on time! We made it early enough to get dinner before the tour, but again - exhausted! Our tour was a pub crawl to 5 dif bars - it was ok, but we weren't in the party mode, so we watched other folks get drunk and goofy.
Tues, Wed & Thur nights we spent at Key West in a cute little B&B. Well, ok, B&B minus the B. lol There are 3 guest rooms (all with private baths), but breakfast is not included, and guests do not have access to any indoor public rooms. We could use the front porch and the little garden area out back for relaxing. But it was cute; we ended up with the largest guest room; the hostess is very nice and sociable - very helpful. It was located right off Duval St (the main street), so very convenient. Oh, and the price was WAY less than other places around. So 'twas good.

Wed we walked around Key West. We've already been there, so we didn't do the touristy stuff. We walked around the marina area, which isn't the yucky sterile kind of marina you find here - there are restaurants and cute/quaint shops along the shoreline. It's almost as much of a hot spot for humanity as Duval St. We followed the shore as much as we could, until we got to the military base. :-( That night we watched the sunset from Mallory Square, which is the "thing to do." It's a crazy place, tons of people, vendors, folks doing weird stuff for tips (mimes, trained cats, jugglers, etc). We got a shoreside table at a bar so it was calm by us.

Thur we walked some more, then we laid out poolside. Nope, not our place, our place didn't have a pool. But just a few blocks down, at a different guest house, we paid $5 each, had access to their pool and oceanside and lounge chairs, etc., and got a "free" drink. That worked for us! (fyi - the rooms at that place were going for $550 a night! - I think our room was $160... hmmm.... I think it was worth the "extra" $5 to use their facilities!!)

That night we had booked a sunset cruise on an 80 foot schooner - kinda like a big sailboat but a replica of an old ship. That was the highlight of my trip. Watching the crew haul up the sails and work them was SO cool. And being on the ocean powered only by the wind.... etc.. I LOVED standing on that ship, feeling the rockin' of the ocean, the fresh wind in my face, it's such a freedom somehow. Anyway, we went to a couple bars after that... I had purchased a cigar (orange dream flavored!) from the cigar shop owned by the proprietors of our little guest house. However, I can only consider smoking when I'm drinking, so we "had" to go have a few! ;-o

The weather by this time was much better. Tues en route to the Keys was cold (for there) but only occasional rain. Wed it was clear and warmer. And Thur it was fabulous, not too hot to lay in the sun, but not too cold, lots of sun!

Let's see... part of the fun of going to other places (for me anyway) is the different food. We ate lots of seafood. We tried: mahi mahi sliders (basically little sandwiches), fried 'gator (nummy), conch fritters (you've probably seen conch shells), along with other stuff. Greg had key lime pie twice - it's one of his faves - I had chocolate covered frozen key lime pie. I tried two Cuban items (Key West is only 90 miles from Cuba!): Cuban shredded pork sandwich and a (get this!) red beans and rice omelet - actually QUITE tasty!

We chatted with a lady and her bro on our sunset schooner ride. We did the usual, where ya from, what do ya do, etc. Well... the lady is retired from Merrill Lynch. I commented that for years I've considered going into the financial planning field, but I just didn't want to "start over" with a significantly lower salary and have to find my own clients and stuff. Well, she told me that Merrill Lynch and a couple other big companies don't do it that way anymore - they use teams with one financial guru teamed with salespeople. OMG. That would be like SO awesome! So after we chatted a while, she gave me her email addy, and said that if I was interested in looking into a job with ML, to email her, and she would have her mgr contact a mgr up here. WAY COOL!!

Fri morn we left Key West early. We had a lot of driving planned for the day. We drove up thru the keys, then northeast up and around Miami, hitting the coastline around Miami Beach. We then followed coastal highways and roads northward. Weather was beautiful, 85 and sunny. We stopped at Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood FL for a shotglass, of course! lol I honestly don't remember where we spent the night.

Sat morning we were up and moving again. Lots more driving along the shoreline. Nice weather again. ;D We continued up the coast... nothing major, nothing real exciting.
We did stop some place where there is a big pier into the ocean, and we watched some folks trying to surf. That was cool! Mid-afternoon I looked at the planned route, and realized that if we did the entire bike route as planned, we wouldn't get to our hotel until really late, so we cut it just a bit short. Good thing, too! We headed back to the very first hotel in Gainesville, loaded the bike onto the trailer, loaded stuff from bike to trailer, etc, and took off. If we had continued our planned route, Greg would have been trying to drive the bike up onto the trailer in the dark - not advisable. So it worked out ok. Anyway, we drove maybe 5 hrs that night in the car, and spent the night south of Atlanta.

Sun we hit the road early again. argh. Greg was driving since I don't like to drive thru big cities, and Atlanta is nasty! Well, it was drizzly, then it became rainy. The tires on my car aren't exactly brand new (not bald, but not real good either!), so Greg really had to pay attention to the driving. We even hydroplaned a few times, which is quite interesting while towing. Greg didn't want me to drive in the rain, which was way ok by me! lol So he did most of the driving - I didn't take over until southern Indiana. And then of course he took over thru Chi - because I won't drive thru that city either (I would take 294, but that takes longer). We got home around 9:45 pm, we unpacked the car/bike, he unloaded the bike and trailer, then we headed over to some friends' house for a NY Eve party. So that's the extent of our big winter vacation. lol It wasn't all that exciting. There were good parts and bad parts. It was nice being away, nice being in warm weather, nice riding the bike. But again, except for our two days in Key West, it was just drive, drive, drive. That's Greg's idea of fun, not mine. I like to stop and see things and do things. So next motorcycle trip - I'M planning!!!

skiing the Rockies

What a fun time! We went to Vail this past weekend with our ski club and a group of our friends. I was pretty anxious and panicked before we went, for good cause, of course. I had only skiied out west one other time, and it didn't go so well. I did better this trip, but still not great. Let's just say I "plowed" down the slopes! ;D


But I'm still pretty proud of myself. My second day of skiing I went by myself (as I wanted to do)... I made it from our condo at the bottom western edge of the ski area to the top eastern peak. I got there in time to have lunch with my condo mates. Then Mary joined me on the return trip ALLLLLL that way back down the hills.

And yes, that's me, on the left coming down the hill, looking like a tiny little dot. YOWZA - those mountains are huge!

It's kinda funny... the picture where you can barely see the roads at the bottom of the slopes, where the buildings are barely visible... when I got down to that part of the slope, I knew the bottom was getting very near. From there on down it was easy sailing... So what does that say about how dang HUGE those mountains are?!

We went to Vail Village several times. It's quite a "cute" little area. That's where it struck me - Vail (and other ski resorts) are purely for tourism. Every business in Vail caters to the tourist business. There is no typical hustle/bustle of city life. There are stores and restaurants... that's just about it. Pretty weird!

Also have to laugh... on Sunday, some of us opted not to ski a fourth day (ok, it would only have been three for me - I took a day off to relax!). We had talked about snow shoeing, but we never quite got around to it. Instead, we headed to Vail Village, stopped at a sports bar/restaurant, and had drinks and watched the Packers game. LOL Here we are in Vail, Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains, sitting in a bar drinking Bloody Marys and watching football!!

the days of marcia's life

It's been a while since I updated... poor lonely blog.

This past weekend was nice and leisurely for me while Greg rode through the Smoky Mtns. I really wanted to go with him, and I almost did, but opted not to. I'm hoping that he and I do something nice together, just the two of us, yet this year.

I managed to finish something I've been working on for a couple weeks. It's kind of a cross between plain photo albums and scrapbooking - in the scrap world we call them 2 up albums. Most of the photos just get put into the photo album slots, but some slots have titles, descriptions, and other fun scrappy stuff. And some photos are trimmed or have little blurbs on them too. I completed two 2 up albums for our 2005 bike trip out west. yay!! I really like how it turned out, and I'll probably do this for our 2006 Med cruise too. Hopefully one of these days I'll take a few pics of my cool 2 ups, and post them here!

This week has been a little crazy. Beyond the usual: massage Monday, volleyball Wednesday and Thursday... a friend and I set up a yahoo group. I don't want to go into details here, because I don't want the "wrong eyes" seeing it. But it's been interesting. I've never been an owner or moderator of a board before. And I really don't want to step on my friend's toes, as she was the one who decided to do it and is the owner. So we kind of go back and forth with emails with suggestions and ideas. And we're trying to make sure that the folks we want included are able to get onboard, etc. So anyway, quite interesting.

In addition, a friend and I are trying to get some crops lined up for a smaller group of us scrappin' fools. We love the big crops we attend, but also like smaller crops for more intimacy, to get to know each other better. Plus we want more regularly scheduled crops. I don't know about the rest of the girls, but I get most of my scrappin' done at crops now. It's just too hard at home with the boys (usually the kitties) wanting attention.

Let's see... this weekend isn't too busy for me. I do need to pull an outfit together for our bike club's fundraiser which is Sat Nov 11. We're hosting our second annual murder mystery lunch. We're doing a Roaring Twenties theme, complete with mobsters and flappers. ;-) And I have a role again this year, so I have to study up and get prepared. Our fundraiser is open to the public, so if any locals want to see me humiliate myself, check out the flyer: http://www.gwrra-wig.org/Attachments/2006_G_fundraiser.pdf

Next weekend is quite busy. Besides the fundraiser on the 11th, I'm going to be at a Madscrappin' Diva crop in Watertown the 10th - 12th. Yes, I'm going to bail on the crop for a while to take part in our fundraiser. Plus Greg's bro Tim is in town that very same weekend. I will probably see him when he flies in on Thur night, and then after the fundraiser we're doing the Christmas gift exchange with Greg's family. So yes again, too many activities pile up on one weekend. argh! But all fun stuff - gotta love that!

So these are the days of marcia's life: DH Greg, the boys (kitties Alex & Henry), scrapping, volleyball, bike club, yahoo groups, massage therapy (for my back), donating blood platelets every few weeks (man - that takes forever! - last time I was hooked to the machine for 90 minutes!), and whatever else I can fit in.

thinking about Christmas already??

The latest twopeas blog challenge:

Challenge:
Think Christmas.
Think about your Christmas tree, if you have one.
How do you decorate it? what do you use????

Well, I used to have two trees. One was all gold/white/clear ornaments with little white lights. The other had multi-colored lights and all the "other" ornaments. Well, two trees became too much work for me!

Now I have one tree. And yes, it's fake. After years of saying it had to be real, DH finally got tired of falling needles, etc. I put tons of little white lights on it, mostly buried in the tree to give depth.

Then lots of ornaments. Some of the ornaments are the gold/white/clear ornaments. Some are home made. And many have been collected throughout the years - every year I give DH an ornament as part of his Christmas present. His ornament can be from a place we travelled to that year, it can represent a place we travelled to, it can be about some other activity from that year, or sometimes it's just something cute that I think he'd like. He sometimes gives me an ornament, and sometimes his folks give one or both of us an ornament. So one thing I enjoy about decorating our tree is pulling out those ornaments and remembering what each ornament is about. I try to always label each gift ornament with to: from: and date - some day my memory won't be quite so good!!

Anyway, I then add just a little bit of tinsel, enough to get some reflection from the white lights, but not enough to hide our cool ornaments. And our tree topper - right now we have a Santa. We had a star at one time, but it didn't work well. I would like to get a different topper - one that lights up (our Santa doesn't).

This year will be tough for our tree. If I put one up, it will be the first time with our new kitties. They came to live with us after New Years last year, so they haven't had the pleasure of playing in a Christmas tree yet. Our last Cat was great - he never touched anything on the tree. So this will definitely be interesting - my babies are still young enough that they like to play with and chew anything and everything, and they are really really curious about everything too. I'm not sure yet that I want to attempt putting the tree up this year!

dinner party for 10 (ok 11, including me!)

Recently I’ve been doing some “pre-work” for a circle journal in my CKU-Chicago dorm group. The cj I’ve been thinking about is themed “What 10 people, alive or dead, would you like to invite to dinner?”

Fun idea, so I’ve been soul searching, trying to really decide who I think would be interesting to chat with.

However, a prior twopeas blog challenge made this significantly easier. Not that long ago, I listed some folks whose lives I would like to scrapbook. Well, obviously I chose them because they intrigue or interest me and I want to know more about them, their life, and/or the time frame in which they live(d). Those seven people would all be invited to dinner: daddy, Cleopatra, Oprah, Thomas Jefferson, Socrates, Amadeus Mozart and Howard Carter.

I would also invite:

Albert Einstein – what an amazing intellect. I think it would be interesting to see if he could talk “down” to those who aren’t scientifically as advanced as he was. It would be fascinating to find out how his theories evolved, and how society at that time treated a man whose theories were sometimes contrary to “common knowledge.” I’m also interested in finding out to what extent, if any, his wife was involved in his work.

Joan Baez – but not because of her music, for which she is most well known. I would love to talk to someone who lived during the 60s and 70s and was involved in the anti-establishment movement. I often feel I should have been born decades earlier than I was, because the hippie / flower child lifestyle really appeals to me. As a bonus, Joan was/is an activist for many causes that resonate with me: non-violence, human and civil rights, and the environment.

Marco Polo – a famous adventurer during the Medieval Ages. It would be fascinating to hear about his travels from Venice to Cathay (now China) and back through many countries, where he observed cultures distinctly different from those prevalent in Europe at the time. I am especially intrigued by Polo’s time as a high-ranking official of the court of Kublai Khan, a Mongol who was an Emperor of China. Altho much of his travels are detailed in “The Travels of Marco Polo,” at his deathbed, he left the famous epitaph for the world: "I have only told the half of what I saw!" – I’d like to hear the rest!!

scrapbook challenges/struggles

The latest twopeas challenge:
Blog about the struggles you face as a scrapbooker.
What are the challenges in your life, related to this craft?
Anything you have trouble doing/understanding?


My first instinct: struggles? How can there be struggles re: scrapbooking? But then I start thinking about it a little bit more…

For me the biggest challenge has to do with other people’s misconceptions about scrapbooking. Many people don’t understand why I scrapbook since I don’t have kids – they don’t “get it,” that I enjoy scrapbooking as an art, a creative outlet, a balance in my life, and that I’m creating albums for ME to look at now and later in life. Some people think that I must have all kinds of free time – they don’t realize that I MAKE the time to scrap because it’s important to me. And then there’s the ever famous “aw, what’s scrapbooking but cutting pictures and slapping them on a page?” – ARGH! And those people will just NEVER understand that there is so much more to scrapbooking – it’s like graphic design and art combined, using color, texture, design, photos and words to convey feelings. However, for the most part, I’ve learned to shrug these comments off with the realization that it’s THEIR loss.

There are also the time challenges. I would love to sit and create all day every day. But other things call… such as work, housework, DH, kitties, volleyball, motorcycling, etc. Some fun, some not so fun. But they all prevent me from spending as much time as I would like in my studio, organizing and scrapping. And yes, I love organizing my scrap supplies as much as I love scrapbooking! ;D

I also have an internal struggle regarding the money I spend on scrapbooking. I don’t want to even attempt to determine how much money I have poured into this “hobby” of mine. I have enough supplies to last a very very long time, yet I buy more. Why?? Because I see stuff on sale, because it’s cool, because if I don’t buy it when I see it, I may never see it again because inventory turnover is so quick in this industry. This type of spending is very foreign to me – I’ve never been much into shopping. But buying scrap supplies has become an addiction. I justify it by saying “When I’m working at home I can find the right papers or embellishments for just about any page I work on.” And yes, I’m pretty sure that’s true. And I also justify my spending habits by seeing and knowing how much other scrappers spend – there are tools that cost hundreds of dollars, and I know scrappers who buy pretty much each and every newest tool out there, no matter what the cost, because it’s “new and improved.” I don’t do that. So I can always tell myself that since I could spend so much more I’m really not that bad.

And right now I’m struggling with the direction the scrapbooking industry has taken. For the past couple of years, most pages that are published are single picture one page layouts. Most people I know don’t scrapbook like that. Layouts are usually 2 or 4 pages. And they almost always include a group of photos, at least 3, more often 5 or 6 or 7 per two page layout. I used to love getting my scrapbook magazines and thumbing through them, looking at the layouts. Now I just get really disgusted, because there is so little in the magazines that I find useful to me. Last night I looked through one issue from this summer – out of hundreds of layouts in the mag, there were TWO layouts that were two pages, the rest were all one page. I am letting all THREE of my mag subscriptions run out, because I’m so upset and disgusted with them.

So I guess even with something I love as much as scrapbooking, there are challenges... hmmm....

so why do I scrapbook??

An interesting thread has developed at twopeas, my fave scrap message board. The original poster wondered if others felt like her – that she doesn’t “fit” into the scrapbook community.

I was the first to respond. And heck yeah, I definitely don’t feel like I “fit” into the typical scrap groups, mainly because I am childfree.

Now, I don’t usually like to generalize, but it’s pretty easy to do with scrapbooking. Most scrappers have kids. And many of them are scrapping for their kids, to preserve their heritage, in hopes that someday their kids will appreciate it.

So why do I scrapbook?? I do it for myself. I enjoy it. And that is sufficient reason for me. However, there are other reasons too – again, for myself. I like the idea that in the future I can look back at what I did and who I was at various ages. Because my job is so analytical, I need artistic activities to keep me balanced. And of course, there is the little issue of collecting scrap supplies – OMG there are such cool products for scrappers!!

I am different from "most" other scrappers in other ways too: I'm liberal, I'm a Democrat, I'm not a girly girl, I'm not religious (to say the least!)... but these usually don't matter when it comes to the scrapping world. It's just the kids... always the kids.

I don't think other scrapbookers realize it, but almost all that they talk about (again this is a generalization) is their kids. And I understand that, because kids are a huge part of a mom's life.

But scrappers - cut me some slack - I really don't care that your kid loves to wear some superhero outfit or has a fave pair of underwear or whatever. Talk to me about something YOU do, that YOU enjoy. Or let's talk about something we have in common. But please don't drone on for hours about your kid(s), knowing full well that I have CHOSEN to not have kids because I don't want that life!

And now to get back off that high horse... ;D

The people I scrap with most frequently aren't like this, thank goodness. Yeah, they talk about their kids a little, no biggie. But they are also able to talk about other subjects. Hey scrap buds - I love you guys!!