I am a scrapbooker, not a collector of scrapbook supplies!

I saw this on Pinterest somewhere and I thought, that is me.  I have all the supplies you can imagine in my craft room.  I have every new machine that has come out.  My husband, my Mom, my kids and even co-workers give me gift certificates to Michael's on occasions so they are feeding my habit!  The store here is only a year or so old so.  We had nothing but a Walmart before that. I would drive down to Winston-Salem, hour and half from my house, and go to AC Moore's and Michael's.  Then I discovered a Hobby Lobby...OH MY!  But most of my paper and embellishments came from Club Scrap.  I would get a pizza box monthly filled with all kinds of wonderful things to create scrapbooks or cards.  I did this for years and most of them I haven't even opened yet.  They just kept coming, we were in the middle of moving, and I just kept packing them away.  Then at the new house when I finally got my craft room done and I unpacked everything, I was amazed at what I had accumulated.  But it also showed me all the things I said I was going to do and then never did. I would see a project, go buy the supplies and then find the bag weeks later with everything still in it and no project done.
Even in my craft room, there are so many things that I don't have enough storage for it all.  And let me tell you, crafters would die for my room.  It is about 20x16, desk, tables, some storage units, though more is needed.  All my pizza boxes are stacked up in a corner, over 50 of them, not opened.  If I don't see it, I don't use it. I have gotten as far as using boxes I bought at Michael's and Walmart to put supplies in; glues, tapes, dot adhesives, brads, scissors, markers, paints, pencils, etc.  And yes, I have enough to fill at least one shoebox size sometimes more than one box of each different supply. Those are all marked and stacked against the wall.  I have a large cart with plastic drawers that I have all my different stickers in, separated by category; letters, wedding, baby, family, Christmas and other. I have so many stamps that I have stacked in boxes and some not even taken out of the boxes.  The pizza boxes all have at least one stamp in it.
My excuses.  Don't want to turn the heat on upstairs in the winter.  Hate to bring it all out to the dinner table only to have to put it away again even if I'm not done.  Have to babysit on one of my two days off with my 4 and 5 year old grandsons, and sometimes my little Aden, 10 months old. Husband misses me working all week and wants me to watch football with him (even though he is in the chair snoring).  Only the weekend to clean house and that is only sometimes since at times I work on Saturday.  See, lot's of excuses not to do something for me.  I guess I sound like I'm complaining. I am a very lucky person and never want to take things for granted. 
This winter, they are going to finish the upstairs. The plasterer will be in to do the other bedroom and the foyer area. I will move the bed out of my craft room into the bedroom.  I will organize the room so that I can see what I have.  I have about 4 tables to do my projects on and I will start/continue doing my projects.  I AM A SCRAPBOOKER, NOT A COLLECTOR OF SCRAPBOOK SUPPLIES!

Eventually, I will get on this blog more often. Still getting my Mom settled with the financial end of things.  She is living with my sister now as she wants to sell her house. My sister, Karin, is a saint.  She should have been a nurse because she is such a caring person. You would love her if you met her.

This weekend was a rainy, cold weekend.  I stayed in all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday.  Mom and I road over to her house to check on it and get the mail, and then a quick trip to the grocery store.  Mom stayed and watched football and basketball with Gary.  So I had almost two full days to scrap or make cards and I didn't feel like doing either.  Don't know why. I even went to Michael's on Friday to get a few things with the gift cards I had gotten for Christmas. I have so many projects either on paper or in my head, but I can't get started.  Maybe I will reorganize myself and put the projects in a list of priorities. That is how I handle things at work so maybe it will get me started at home too.  I don't need anymore inspiration because that will just add to my already long list! I think I will talk to Karin, that will help.  She will get me on the track to creativity again.  I hope. 

I am participating in a semester long class for work. Supervisor Development Series.  I've had fun so far and have enjoyed doing the extra work. I hope this will help me get the raise that I (and so many others) deserve.  It's tough in these economic times to be working for the government. 

I know this piece has been kind of wish-washy, back and forth.  It's another rainy cold day.  No sunshine in 3 or 4 days.  I think maybe it plays on my mind.  MAYBE I'm allergic to cloudy, rainy days.  It could be why I'm feeling this way! 

Twinkle twinkle little star

This is one of the best things that we saw on the trip to Australia (Aug. 2011).  The Southern Cross.  You will never see this unless you go to the Southern Hemisphere.  We were out in the Outback at a dinner party in an open tent under the most beautiful star lit night in Australia. An astronomer took us out away from the tent to see the skies and tell us about the night sky.  We were so far out  in the wilderness with the only light for miles coming from the tent and because of this you could see zillions of stars!  Definitely one of those WOW moments!

Australian Sunsets

Beautiful sunsets of the outback of Australia.

Long Time No Post

This has been a long year ending in sadness.  So many things have changed since my last post.  I hope this is the start of blogging every day or so AND I might even let people read it!  I really want to start posting some of my papercrafting and other projects.  I also love photography and want to post some of my photos here. I went on a great trip to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji and have a lot to chose from!

The sadness came on Christmas day.  We had our normal tradition of the kids families and my Mom and Dad over in the morning to open their presents.  We all had fun going through our gifts, putting the batteries in the kids gifts and checking over what everyone else got.  While making breakfast, my Dad suffered a stroke.  The ambulance got him to the ER and there suffered 6 more strokes. He lived until December 29th (my husband's birthday). Christmas was my Dad's favorite holiday and he made us love it as well.  It will be hard next Christmas, but I think he would want us to continue as we normally would; with tradition, spirit, fun and with all his love.

My Husband

Gary Sam McCullars born 12-29-1941.  Born in Hialeah, FL raised in the Florida Keys.  Graduated in 1961 from Coral Shores High School in Islamorada, FL.  And yes, I was two and a half years old when he graduated from high school!  We met when I was his Dad's secretary at his used car lot in Miami in the 80's.  Across the street Gary ran his and his Dad's Wellcraft dealership.  When his Dad closed the car lot, I moved over to the boat dealership doing the bookkeeping and office work. My husband, Ron and Chrissie's dad, had died but at the time we were estranged.  Gary and I got to know each other better and we started dating.  This started a wonderful relationship and it was from him that I learned what love is.  He taught me through his actions that it's my choice how I make each day.  That you have to work hard in life and not let things come to you. You have to go after what you want in life.  You choose how your attitude will be that day.  So this, along with the teachings of my Mom and Dad, is the reason why I wake up every morning with a smile on my face and show that smile to everyone I meet.  It's not to say I don't ever get upset, but I try to make sure my bad vibes stay to myself!

My First Post

I am not much of a talker, at least compared to my two brothers, sister and mother.  Guess I took after Dad - we may be quiet but we have a lot to say.  This blog will help me have my say, even if I am the only one that reads it!  I'm sure I will eventually get some followers because I have great family and great friends, especially at work.

It goes without saying that my sister is my best friend.  I don't know how I lived without her and am so happy she moved here a few years ago.  We lived on opposite ends of Florida for over 20 years but we are together now and that is what counts. 

I am lucky to have two beautiful children and a wonderful stepson. Chrissie, my daughter, moved up here a couple years ago with her two sons, Devon (5 in April) and Riley (3).  Ron and Travis moved up here with us from Florida in May of 2000.  Ron attended Appalachian and graduated in 2005.  He married Rebecca Toliver of Creston and they are expecting their first baby, grandchild #5 Aden Lee.  Travis attended WCC until transferring to (and graduating) IUPUI following his heart to Indianapolis to marry Cathy Mitchell.  They had a beautiful wedding on a beach in Hawaii and have two children, Gracie Jade (8 end of this month) and Ty Holden (6 yrs old). More about the grandchildren in another post as they each deserve their own paragraph.

At work, I have especially grown close to Lindsay.  I am a nurturer and was ecstatic when I found out she was pregnant.  I enjoyed following her through her pregnancy and now am enjoying the fruits of her labor! Beautiful Adair Carol Sutton.  We were so lucky to have Adair at work for awhile and miss her terribly now that she is in daycare.  I love hearing the stories like her singing in the middle of the night and YES, I have started a scrapbook for her and will give Lindsay more pages as she goes through her first year of life!

This is it for my first post.  More about the loves of my life, my husband and grandchildren, my parents, my family and all my Appalachian friends before I get into the meat of this blog, my crafting! I feel you have to get to know me before you see where my head is in my crafting.