free downloads {daily & weekly cards}

as part of maximizing my mornings and being inspired to action, i created these daily and weekly cards as mentioned here. i discovered that i didn't love using the daily card, which is why i developed the weekly version, which i am currently using. please note: i take no credit for the *brain* behind this idea, as it was taken from kat at inspired to action. i simply customized them to my needs. since i had done so, i thought i would share the downloads here. these are both WORD documents and therefore are fully customizable. you can use the format i created and tweak it to fit your needs.

Daily Version can be downloaded here

Weekly Version can be downloaded here

enjoy and i hope this helps some of you maximize your mornings & days!!

milestone {middle school}

today was quite a milestone. spencer entered middle school. 6th grade. almost 12 years old. he's an amazing kid, overcoming obstacles and we are so proud of him. this morning, i was a nervous wreck. not having him home with us last night and this morning makes it harder on us. this morning i just stalked my e-mail, waiting to get word from his mother as to how he did.

so here is our star middle schooler...who did AWESOME today!!

and this is the picture we e-mailed to him tonight to let him know how proud we are.

my heart is swollen with pride tonight. i pray tomorrow goes as well...and the next day...and the next day.

we love you big bubba!

tiny tip tuesday {bottle brush}

before having a baby, i never owned a bottle brush. why would i? well, coleman hasn't had a bottle in a long while, but you will still find a bottle brush at my sink. why? because it's the best little kitchen gadget ever! ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but it's very handy. it is incredibly helpful in cleaning anything of a tall & skinny nature, such as wine or champagne glasses, pilsner-style glasses, certain vases, pitchers, etc. they are super cheap and very helpful. i recommend getting the kind that is similar to the style pictured above. some styles are less flexible.

inspired {report card}

i am still on the path from inspired to action and working the challenges presented weekly at so i married a menonite. this week started off strong, but came to quick halt when coleman got sick wednesday night and stayed that way the remainder of the week.

let's start with seeing how i did with my own weekly plan:

• i completed 7 out of 10 items on my to-do list
• i did not exercise at all
• i cleaned daily and read the Bible every day except one
• i had quiet time for prayer only four times, and journaled twice
• i missed two days of blogging
• i took photos and worked on the editing process four days each

considering four days were devoted almost solely to caring for a sick child, i think i did pretty well. hoping for a healthy and productive week ahead.

the week 2 challenge over at so, i married a mennonite:

• select morning worship music - i worked on this a little at the end of the week and finished up today. i don't actually listen to christian music, though i don't know why. so, i dug into my past to find some music that was familiar to me (i began with amy grant and michael w. smith)
• create or select a Bible study plan - i have been working on the plan set forth in the journey and continue to work through that (which should have me reading the entire Bible in about a year)
• create or print a prayer calendar - i have been using kat's free download calendars to pray for my husband and children. i created a daily prayer schedule for other people and aspects of my life.
• be quiet and listen - i need to work on this! it was a bit difficult to do this with coleman being sick much of the week (most of my "quiet time" was with him in my lap).

you can find week three's challenge here

music monday {my life would suck without you}

i've been a kelly clarkson fan since day 1 on american idol. the girl can sing. i really enjoyed her first few albums and most of her music since. however, this song has become one of my favorites. when i heard it, it immediately reminded me of my relationship with matt. now, now...before you get all worked up, don't take that too literally. matt and i aren't on the verge of breaking up nor have we recently broken up and gotten back together! sometimes i just think that matt and i have a kind of weird relationship and some of the lyrics capture that perfectly:

i know that i've got issues
but you're pretty messed up too
either way, i found out i'm nothing without you...

...being with you is so dysfunctional
i really shouldn't miss you
but i can't let you go...

...because we belong together now
forever united here somehow
you got a piece of me
and honestly my life would suck without you.

c'mon...you gotta admit that's funny. anyway, it's been my ringtone for matt for a while now. love it :)

this week {8.9 to 8.15}

~ i sent out the latest HOA newsletter ~

~ matt, spencer and i watched burn notice and the singing bee ~

~ matt, spencer & coleman visited with matt's parents ~

~ coleman & i grocery shopped at bi-lo ~

~ i started using google analytics for this blog ~

~ i finished watching season 2 of prison break ~

~ i shopped at the dollar tree ~

~ i made a white wine cake ~

~ i cleaned out the drawers of a coffee table ~

~ i emptied out space in one kitchen cabinet to keep medicine downstairs ~

~ i cleaned out my yahoo contacts ~

~ i attended an HOA board meeting ~

~ coleman woke up sick on thursday morning and stayed that way the rest of the week ~

~ i got disappointing news that mom isn't moving here as soon as we thought ~

~ i had to take sick days from work thursday and friday ~

~ coleman went to the doctor on friday ~

~ spencer and i went to wal-mart to finish up his school supply shopping ~

~ spencer and i went to jo's for lunch ~

~ i grocery shopped at harris teeter ~

~ coleman finally started to get a little better ~

{savings tracker}

spent = $202; saved = $131 (39%)

ytd savings = $3,012 (41%)

weekly average (4 weeks) = $124

app {ps mobile}

i thought i'd share my favorite new app... it's photoshop mobile!! it lets you do all sorts of cool stuff to photos on your phone. i haven't had it long, but here are a few recent shots that i've edited using this totally free app!! i know there are other options available for photo editing on your phone, but this one is very easy to use (and did i mention it's free???).

you can crop, change exposure, saturation, tint, and contrast.

you can convert to black and white with one touch.

there is a cool sketch feature, and soft focus, and sharpen. plus lots of very nifty effects.

and then you can finish it off with border options.

finally, you can save it, and even post it to twitter or facebook.

{m-i-a}

so, i've been missing in action the last few days. where have i been?

thursday, i was here...

friday, i was here...

and today, i was here...

little man is sick. we're on day four of a fever. his appetite is getting a little bit better, thankfully. praying that it wraps up soon. breaks my heart to see our little energetic boy in such a pitiful state.

{free classes}

y'all know i'm all about projects and classes...particularly the free ones! just wanted to share two free scrapbooking related classes going on right now.

Elle's Studio is offering a three-week class about journaling. It began on August 8th and you can see the related posts here.

Big Picture Scrapbooking is having a 13-day Big Idea Festival. You have sign up to get access to the classroom, but it's all free. SIGN UP HERE. It just started today.

{teenage walls}

i saw this post at scrapbook lady, which was inspired by this post at ohdeedoh. i thought it'd be fun to share here what i had on my walls as a teenager.

in my "tween" years (which was not  a word back then), i was all about the new kids on the block. late elementary and early middle school, my walls were covered with all sort of celebrity photos from magazines like "teen beat". my parents were very tolerant.

but, by the time i was in high school, i was over all of that. i was into three main things.

wolves

sunflowers

and basketball.

my favorite team was the Chicago Bulls (but seriously, back then, who didn't love them???)

and despite how much i loved michael jordan, i had a serious soft spot for little guy...bj armstrong

kind of a random combination, huh?

so...what did YOU have your teenage walls?