treasures

Brandon and I are leaving tomorrow morning to go camping. As I was out in the garage this morning looking for a bag to pack my clothes into, I found a box of 'treasures'. An entire box of pictures and other gifts that I have lugged around with me for the past few years.
The funny part is this: I had forgotten about these treasures. I was living life (for over a month) just perfectly without these things that I once thought I just HAD to HAVE. And, I could have gone on living without these things, had I not seen them. Now, I can't wait to get them up on my walls! Now I'm sure my mom (with glee) is saying, you have too much stuff!-you don't need it all!
I could have gotten rid of this stuff and been perfectly fine, but the pack rat in me now feels a sudden urge to showcase my treasures for all to see.
I know I have too much stuff. I know I have things that can be passed on to others. But boy am I glad to have found this magical box of things.

something different

Today I am off to Corvallis, then Salem, then back to Eugene.
Sometimes, you just need something different in your life to spice things up a bit. I have been very happy to be home each day, cooking, cleaning, running to the grocery store, etc. But those of you who know me, know I need to get out! So today I am off to pick up my husbands diploma (!) and then to Salem to help one of my bestest friends in her new classroom. It isn't much, but I am looking forward to seeing my friend and helping her do something that I might not get to do this year. Don't worry, I'm taking my camera to capture all of her great ideas! and the best part of all, Brandon said not too worry if I want to stay late, he can make his own dinner. ahhh, it's true love. =)

Lazy Sunday

Sunday today means mowing the lawn. It also means hanging the cubard doors that have been sitting on the floor for a month now. Sunday today means sleeping in until way too late. Today is all about eating leftovers. Drinking lemonade. Playing with Duke, our silly dog. Calling family. Sunday today is recharging and gearing up for another busy week. Enjoy your Sunday and enjoy our pictures of our Sunday.

Game Night

What do you get your brother for his birthday??? Especially when you are on a tight budget. Well, how about a ready to go bucket for a fun filled game night?!
Brandon's middle brother turns 22 today, and we are headed up there after work to see him. I CAN'T go empty handed to a BIRTHDAY PARTY! So I ran around and put this cute basket together to take with us.
Ingredients:
2 'beverages'
microwave popcorn
cards
2 games
candy
a pack of gum
a homemade card
and some cute filler
ta-da!

Time well wasted???

Spending a lot of time today going through my 'teacher stuff'. I decided that I am most likely going to substitute teach, at least for awhile. So... I have been putting some thought into HOW I am going to DO this. I am petrified of subbing... so what do I need to take with me to make myself feel better? A friend suggested a bag of grade appropriate materials to use as fillers, just in case. You know, worksheets and activities that I can pull 'out of my hat' to use with the kids.
So today has been a day of going through my stuff and taking copies out to take with me. If you have any great ideas-- let me know! I am so scared and worried.
On a positive note, this has been a great chance to go through all of my stuff and get rid of old stuff, and reorganize the things I want to keep. Wahoo!
I still have heating guys here working nearly all day this week--so next week will find me (hopefully, pray that I am brave enough) going to the schools here in person to introduce myself. Yikes!
Other than that, not too much new is happening. We have had some dinner guests lately, which is always fun for me.

Honeymoon pictures!

Bowls!

Brandon and I were given so many bowls for our wedding. We love them, but it has taken some time to find creative ways to display them all! Most of them have proven to be useful in the kitchen, however quite a few have ended up around our house- being used in other creative ways. Good thing I love bowls! haha

What I see today

today has been a day to run errands and work on my creativity.

I have...

changed my name - officially! on everything I am now Young.

returned some wedding gifts.

found the new welcome mat for our front door.

cleaned out the space below our kitchen sink.

loaded my trunk with goodies for salvation army.

captured what I see when I sit at my computer in my 'craft room' - I'm not brave enough to call it my studio, but I love the idea of it.

Back at it

Well, I made it safely home again from a few fun filled days in Eastern Oregon. I went back to run some errands, go to the eye doctor (again), and see my parents and friends. I had a great time and saw a LOT of people, if only for a few hours. It was so nice to see them all and to be in the heat/dry weather for a few days. I just LOVE it there!
And now, I am back at it again.
Back to my home, where I found all my boys gone fishing.
Back to a bed that has not been made in days.
Piles of laundry.
Dirty dishes in the sink and dishwasher.
Back to see the vacuum has not moved.
Back to my life- and feeling very needed.
I'm glad to be back, but am feeling VERY tired and ready to sit down, relax with a glass of wine and my husband.

Time

It's funny how life works. I am a chronic saver. Yep, I save EVERYTHING; photos, letters, cards, paper, journals, anything! I have been aware of my saving issue for years now, but have been working on this about myself for awhile now.

Well, now that I have moved, gotten married, and have had LOTS of time on my hands I have been sorting, disposing of, moving around and remembering all of this stuff that I have. This has been a fantastic experience for me, and I have managed to create quite a large 'to dispose of' pile. I'm not sure how this pile is going to disappear; all I know is that by the end of the summer, it will be gone.

Ok, so through this process I have found many 'treasures'. I have grouped like things together and discovered what a great craft room I have. Today I was grouping all of my old journals into a cute basket and found a journal my church gave me pre high school graduation. It was meant for me to use as I left the comforts of everything I knew well, and moved to a place I did not know well. (This included a new town, new school, new friends, and a new chapter in the life of Becky). In this journal (which I only wrote in three times….) I found a piece of paper the church had included, and I had apparently ignored. This treasure was titled "Charting Your Course: Mapping the direction of your spiritual journey". This was such a treat for me to find! These past two years have found me really trying to explore my own spirituality, and I have spent money and time on a new bible, books about religion, time in my church, and talking with others who have the same urge.

This paper that I found 7 years later was a challenge. How funny, I kept one piece of paper 7 years! without ever looking at it. It was a challenge, and I am ready to explore this challenge now. Ready to read the passages suggested to me, ready to pray, ready to take a look at the person God created me to be, to ask myself some important questions and to really, I mean REALLY examine my life. I'm not sure how much fidelity I will be able to put towards this challenge, but I hope God can help me find the time, the energy, the urge to continue the tasks given to me. Before I was packing my classroom, packing my apartment, and getting married, I was praying a lot for God to show me how I can devote time for him each day. Then, somehow, those prayers stopped. I got too busy? How is this possible?

I am ready to begin this again. I am ready to devote time and energy and thoughts in order to better fulfill my task from God.

 

On the back of this paper I also found a "Personal Strengths Survey". It goes like this…

Things I desire:

1.

2.

Hopes in life:

1.

2.

Abilities:

1.

2.

Character Traits:

1.

2.

Fears:

1.

2.

Achievements:

1.

2.

Great experiences:

1.

2.

Painful experiences:

1.

2.

Spiritual gifts:

1.

2.

What a great way to help gauge your life temperature like I have blogged about in earlier posts. I love it! I challenge you to try this same survey.

Life Temperature

One of my girlfriends recently started a blog, and it encouraged me to look back through mine. I didn't go all the way to the beginning, but I did get to May, and remembered a post titled Life Temperature. I had totally forgotten about this, and I am feeling inspired to try this activity again. So, in the midst of laundry, painting, organizing, and two craft projects, I am going to take a moment and take my life temp. Here goes:

Who I WANT to be:

• kind
• generous
• humble
• funny
• trustworthy
• reliable
• organized
• specific
• put together
• confident

I would like to add these-

1. the best wife I can be
2. a good housekeeper
3. a good cook
4. a minimalist
5. tough
6. healthy

What I want to do:

• find a job
• be more organized
• take more pictures
• learn how to edit on my computer
• learn to digital scrapbook
• have even more patience with others
• take Duke and my bottom on a walk each day
• have a nice meal for Brandon each night

It is sunny and nice today! I'm look forward to planting some flowers, finishing the painting, laundry, and finishing the crafts that are sitting on the table staring at me.

I'll leave you with a picture I took in June.