Additional 4th of July Pictures

4th of July was a blast. I think my family honestly enjoyed themselves. So thought I would share a few pics to lighten up the load around here. Please don't ask me about Nicki in the chair. It would take too long to explain. Let's just say my child is a clown !!!!!

For Such a Time as This

It seems as if I have been preparing for this day like forever. For many years now I have had people ask me about doing albums for them, or to teach a class. I have even had people tell me to submit my work to magazines for publication . I just have not had the confidence to step out there and give it a try. But now there are circumstances beyond my control that are urging me to move forward with a few goals. It may take me a while, and I may not succeed. But I keep recalling how many times I have told my children that if at first you don't succeed to just try and try again. So here I am Lord, stepping out in faith believing ( and speaking it out loud ) that you do have a plan and purpose for my life. I am also believing that you have a plan and purpose for Marc's life now that he has lost his job. Many months ago you placed on my heart to share my testimony with others through my scrapbooks. At first I thought that meant just share my scrapbooks and show others how to do it for themselves. From that emerged the desire to learn more about this love of mine. Which had become more of a obsession ( even more so at times then my love for Disney ). From this emerged "Treasured Creations" ( which happened to be a name that was placed in my heart a while ago....as far back as my beginning days as a CMC). Then once I started TC I started thinking of ways to apply the principles I believed in ( spiritually ) as it related to scrapping. I know first hand how important it is to create a visual image of my family's life. The problem I found is that a large number of African American women especially dismiss this craft in part because they think of it as only something our Caucasian sisters "dabble" in. Thankfully that is one thing I see changing in this industry called scrapbooking. There are many women of color who are embracing this special art and it is starting to show in the magazines. Secondly I think we tend to forget the importance of our family legacy in the midst of our daily hustle and bustle. I am just now starting to realize how important it is to know about your ancestors and to pass that legacy on to your children. So many of my relatives have passed on and we missed the opportunity to hear their stories. Scrapbooks offer a way to document the everyday extra ordinary events in your life so that they can be passed down through the generations. Thirdly if I am to believe that God placed me here on earth for a purpose then I must also believe that if I keep my mind stayed on him and what His true purpose for my life is then when I step out on that faith ...even in the world of scrapbooks, that he will provide what I need , when I need it in the way that I need it. So having said all of this...I am stepping out and my goal is to share my love of scrapping with those around me through teaching ( classes ), sharing ( by submitting my work ), and making ( handcrafted albums for hire ). So remember this saying :

Passion= Purpose=Opportunity !

I can't say what it will mean to you , but for me it means my Passion for Christ=a Purpose for my life=an Opportunity to share my testimony.

And who knows, maybe one day you might be sitting in my class and hear it ( or see it on a t-shirt ). That's just how much faith I have in God !

Happy 4th of July

Well, we are heading to my mom's for 4th of July. Its become a tradition for my family to get together at a local park for the day. We barbecue hotdogs, and turkey burgers. I make my favorite baked beans with ground beef ( now with ground turkey , since being diagnosed with hbp ). Add in some pasta salad and some potato salad and you have a great 4th. This year my mom asked if we would come to her home and celebrate. Good thing , since it will be in the mid 90's today ! This will be an inside celebration with lots of AC running (lol). Last week I went to the dollar store and wracked up on some great decorations, and all for only 20 dollars ! We may go down to the county dam so that the kids can rent the paddle boats and take a ride around the lake. There is a beach nearby where there will be fireworks in the evening, but it gets so crowded now, that I am not sure we will go,especially with all of the heat. My mom took the week off, and is singing with a local choir for two services on Thursday and Friday.... so I am staying with her the rest of the week and Marc will pick me up on Saturday. I get to hear my favorite minister ( with the exception of my hubby and my friend Pam ), so I know I will hear a good WORD. Which is soo needed right now. Well, off to make the beans and pack my bags. Happy 4th of July !!!

Mixed Emotions

The last few days have been a mix of good and bad. Wednesday night our pastors wife died. Sister Phyllis will be greatly missed, but I know she is in a much better place. On the heals of this Marc lost his job at the telephone company ( he was one of about 75 people to get laid off ). I know that God has a plan for us, so I am trusting and believing in him. He has brought us out before and I know he will do it again. There were some good news this weekend. One of the members of our church became husband and wife and Marc along with the other three ordained ministers presided over the ceremony. Today Marc and I traveled to our friends church so that Marc could preach for him while he was out of town. In a way , we have been busy enough to not dwell on things too much. So I ask that family and friends who are concerned about us just keep us in your prayers. We are ok, and our family will come out of this stronger for what we have gone through.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Ok , so busy it's not even funny. But its been a great week of VBS ( Vacation Bible School ), our Church Picnic and even parts of our Pastor's retirement celebration ( I did good and only cried once ). Next week we will be celebrating 4th of July with family and friends, and then we have a few weddings to attend in the coming months ( 3 to be exact ! ). Marc is preaching out of town this coming Sunday, so will be on the road a lot. Hopefully I can keep the blogs ( all four of them ) and the church website up to date . So right now I have nothing soul searching to share, maybe once life settles down a bit ( whenever that happens ). The pictures are from this past weekend. Marc took most of the pictures because I was busy running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I think even the girls are tired. Quisha helped as a teachers assistant again this year. Nicki helped in the kitchen and also helped Rev. Rev. with the vbs music. I worked in the kitchen and then helped with the church picnic on Saturday. It was a great Luau despite the rain. Sunday morning the girls danced with the praise team and sang with the praise and worship group. That evening marked the last sermon our pastor would ever give as Pastor of GMZBC. This coming weekend Marc will marry his first couple since becoming an ordained minister. Seems like life is changing right in front of me.

The Varsity

Here are a few pictures from the Varsity.

Martin Luther King Center

Its been many years since I went to the Martin Luther King Center. This time I had the opportunity to visit several of the buildings associated with the center, including his childhood home. I think it was a very good learning experience for the girls. There were several new exibits on display since my last visit. Including a tribute to Rosa Parks.

Underground Atlanta

We spent a few hours at Underground Atlanta. I wracked up with some really great jewelry sets and Nicki got a new "name" necklace to replace one she had lost. Once again memories came back of my first time there with my mom and godparents. I also went many years ago with my girlfriends for the TD Jakes womens conference. One of the vendors joked that if we were there in a few weeks for the 2006 conference that we would not get the same deal we got that day. The funny part of that story is that when I got to Alabama, Cass took me to a shop that sells the exact same sets for the sale price I got in Atlanta.

World of Coca-Cola Atlanta

We went to the World of Coca-Cola and Stone Mountain the first day of our Atlanta/Alabama vacation ( once we left Kelli's home that morning (lol)...we had so much fun it was hard to say good-bye, but we knew we would be meeting up later that evening at Stone Mountain ). I had also heard about this place called the Varsity ( on the food network ) in Atlanta that is one of the world's largest hotdog place, and when I mentioned it to Kelli she said we would love it. So we headed their first for lunch. This place is huge...and busy. I have never seen so many people trying to order a hotdog ! They handle it well though...and I had the foresight to print out an order form before we left home so we had our list ready when the lady asked ( they actually reccomend this ). After lunch we headed to what we thought was the Coca-Cola site, but it was the main headquarters. The guard pointed us in the right direction and even included a brochure. The World of Coca-Cola is a cute place to visit and the big soda fountain taste test area reminds me of the Ice Cool Station at Disney. We left after about two hours and headed across the street to the Underground Atlanta . We did a little shopping ( I wracked up on some great necklace sets ). We then headed back to the car and onto the highway to join Kelli and the family at Stone Mountain.

Stone Mountain

We had a blast at Stone Mountain hanging out with Kelli and the family. The laser light show was a treat, but the most memorable time was watching the girls and just hanging out with friends. You would think Kelli and I ( and Mike and Marc ) have known each other forever. It's a very comfortable friendship. And just think , if it had not been for Disney and the internet we may never have met. Thankfully God had it in his plans that Kelli and I would meet one day and become fast friends.

Father's Day

Sunday was very busy. Marc had to preach that morning and because we just got back from vacation we have not gotten his gift ( we did pick it out ) yet. So that morning TJ brought him a ham and cheese sandwich from 7 Eleven. After church we went to Wendy's for a frosty and then came home and fell asleep ! Marc crashed on the sofa and I crashed on the floor in the familyroom. I think our bodies were still tired from the 12 hour ride from Alabama a few days ago. Later that evening the girls and I fixed him a special meal of boneless fish ( yes, he had fish , but I did not cook it...Quisha did ). I made rice and Nicki steamed vegetables. It turned out pretty good if say so myself. I called my godfather and wished him Happy Father's Day and then called my Uncle who is in Florida at Walt Disney World ( without me by the way )and wished him the same. They were heading over to the Carribean Beach resort to catch up with their daughter and her husband and our other goddaughter. They were dropping off my cousin Jen ( one of the C-Unit ) to be with her family. They are staying at the Movies resort and had already checked in ( My uncle made the reservations the night before he left and thought it was funny that he had gotten into his room that morning , while my cousins had to wait until later). I talked to him briefly and told them to take lots of pictures. I hate the fact that they are at my favorite place in the world without me. We would have gone there after the Alabama trip if we did not have VBS this week ( sorry I tend to digress when talking about Disney, a sure sign that withdrawels are setting in and its time for a return visit ). Marc ended the evening watching the Miami Heat ( Yah !!! ) win against Dallas. It was a good day.

Lady "D"

Came back from vacation and hit the ground running. My friend Peggy's daughter graduated from high school and this weekend was her graduation celebration Hawaii style ( which I loved ). We didn't get to stay long but enjoyed the time we had there. Later that day Nicki picked Quisha up from work and they went back to hang out and swim in the pool. Nicki forgot to take any more pictures because she was having soo much fun. Hopefully Peggy has some to share. Congratulations Lady "D".

Happy Birthday Cass

We also celebrated Cass birthday while we were in Alabama. We went to lunch, did lots of shopping and ordered chinese that night for dinner. Afterwards we surprised her with cake. Happy Birthday Cass, and thanks so much for the great southern hospitality.

Happy Birthday Kyra

Our godddaughter celebrated her birthday while we were in Alabama. It was a theatre themed party. We had a blast. We handed the children play money when they arrived and they were able to turn in it for food and a movie ticket. There was popcorn, candy, hotdogs, and pizza. The girls, Cass and I dressed up as attendants and took orders, collected tickets and passed out the food. It was the cutest party. The girls watched a movie on the big screen and afterwards Kyra opened her gifts and handed out cake and favors ( in popcorn bags ).

23rd Anniversary

Marc and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary while we were in Alabama. Cass and the girls fixed us breakfast that morning with my favorite breakfast item of all times. Waffles !!!! It was a great way to start the day.

Atlanta/Birmingham

We just got back from a great vacation . I went to see my friend Kelli in Georgia and then went to Alabama to celebrate my goddaughters birthday. As soon as our life settles down a bit I will post a trip report and lots more pictures. But this week is crazy. We have VBS all week and a church picnic and our pastors retirement celebration all day Sunday. Lets just say it may be a while before I scrap ( can you believe I have not broken in the new scraproom yet ! ) or blog or anything else for a while. Also my aunt and uncle along with my other goddaughter are in Florida this week at Walt Disney World without me and I am having Disney withdrawels. Sad, but hey they don't call me the Disney queen for nothin !