I'M ON A ROLL...NOT A DINNER ROLL THOUGH!

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I am on a roll with this kit-creating...I am sure my steam will run out soon - I know my time will for sure. I'm learning new things every hour it seems with encouragement and instruction from the best and most handsomest tutor ever: Prince Sniggles aka Mowse aka Mr. Miles aka Miles, my sweet and loving husband. Without his patience and guidance I would not be making these things. You may download this kit at the following link:

http://s28.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0J4CAAKXYOEY52RCDSS2FBJZIX

Today is packing day. I'm going to hunt up the "Big Camping List" which I have created. If you've read our blog before you will know that we own a Volkswagen camper van which becomes our home away from home for the entire summer vacation. Over time I've compiled a master list of items which should be stocked at all times. You don't want to find yourself out in the middle of nowhere without water, toilet paper or matches! All this explaining is keeping me from packing (as we may attempt a night away soon...) so without further ado I will sign off. I would love to recieve your comments and thank you so much for those of you who have already - means a lot to me ( *wink* Judy!)

SHARING MY JOY - A FREEBIE FOR YOU!

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Its sunny and beautiful outside today and it makes me just want to share the joy! On a day like this the expression 'God is Good' permeates my very being. I challenge you all today - you may not be a scrapper but we have all been given gifts and talents unique to us, share yours with someone who could use a touch of sunshine in their lives today. Give an old friend a call, give a stranger a flower or do a kind deed. Believe me, you will recieve more of a happy 'zingle' than you could ever give! O Happy Day!

For this see-thru button just visit the following link - and since I'm a newbie at all this giving away stuff I will tell you that I shamelessly thrive on comments! I would love to hear what your 'joy-giving' deed will be! - Barbara

IF YOU CAN'T READ THIS!

It came to my attention through a sweet friend that my blog is a tad hard to read because the font is so small. I not only hear you, but I also am here to ejumakate you on how to make it bigger on your own computer! I know that I could choose to make the type larger to start, but then it takes up a ton of room, so I hope you forgive my selfishness in this area. So, the solution:

On the top menu bar of your internet browser, go to View, choose Text Size and then choose either larger or largest! Its this simple!

We had a good soak in the night, which I fully anticipated seeing as how I went out with the watering can yesterday and gave my tiny little garden it's first drink, and also hung out a big batch of sheets and towels.

I spent Monday getting caught up on chores around the house. It seemed so quiet with my sweet husband back at school. I know it sounds corny and impossible in this day and age, but he's truly my best friend and I actually enjoy spending time together more than anything else. I get very cranky with him the day before he goes back to school after any kind of an extended time off. It took me quite a while to figure out it was a self protection device of my own that I developed to make that seperation easier for him...I guess somehow in my convoluted thinking he would be glad to get back to school...lol. I must run as I have my friend Janice and her sweet boys coming, bread rising and must change out of my pajamas - well I don't HAVE to but I would look funny downtown, no?

MY FIRST KIT - A FREEBIE TO YOU!

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I've been a busy girl over this past week. One of my tasks has been to write some Computer Scrapbooking tutorials for my sweet Miles. While there are some way generous folks who've (is that really a word?) given me permission to use their stuff for this educational use - with appropriate credit, of course ( and you know who you-all are) I still thought this would be a good time to 'bite the bullet' and create a kit of my own. This is what I've come up with - and I want to share it with you. I am not sure exactly how long the link will be good for so strike while the iron is hot. You may use the kit for whatever you would like except for profit or copy! I would love your feedback. You may download my kit at the following link:

http://s15.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1R546RU4VWGJN09RDGXSP8DOU9

GOOD NEWS ABOUT JUSTIN!

Valerie sent me the following email this morning:

Some Neato News!Mar. 23rd, 2006 10:19 pmmood: happy happy

We got a call from the hospital that Justin purposefully responded to some commands this morning! The doctor asked him to open his eyes, and he did.She asked him to stick out his tongue, and he did. She asked him to nod"yes", and he did! A close friend to the family had stopped by this morningand the doctor called them in to see if Justin would respond to theircommands. He looked over when they asked if he could hear them, and triedhis best to squeeze (he wiggled his fingers lightly) when he was asked to squeeze their hand!I am sure you can all imagine how excited we were to get the news this morning! Of course, this is not to say that he will always respond to commands from now on.
He was more out of it this afternoon and his healing process will still have its up and down days. And, although this is such an incredible baby-step in the -right- direction for Justin, it's still an uphill climb and a long road ahead for all of us. It's just that little ray of hope... What a gift today!

Please keep Justin in your thoughts and prayers, and thank you again for being there for all of us.

Valérie :)

And what is new in the Mr and Mrs. Miles household?

On a very sad note - our friend Val Scheer passed away on Tuesday after a long, brave battle with cancer. Val was a student at the Learning Center - she should have graduated this year. Unfortunately we did not see Val in the hospital before she slipped away, and for that we are very sad. I keep saying "If only" but cannot change the fact. Why do we wait, letting life's little details get in the way?

Yesterday we had to go back up to Kelowna! Miles computer has been crashing on a regular basis lately and it finally was crashing so frequently there was more time it was crashed than working. He'd tried everything to solve the problem, but in the end realized it was beyond us. We took the computer up to Kelowna and dropped it off yesterday. Bonus: we had a visit with our daughter Melanie and found an exceptional bakery. We also stopped at Welkmart - a variety store with a funky feel, where I stocked up on the little essentials of life: eg: cottage candles, blank greeting cards and an exquisite minature rose.

This week has not been anything like what we had visioned it would be, but in hindsite we can see why its better (thank you, Lord! Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.) As Miles says, if we were at the cabin we were supposed to have, he would not be able to compose his music, which was a thing he was desiring to do; the computer would not have gotten in to be fixed. And... we would not have our shiny new bikes.

OUR TALENTED NIECE KARLY

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This is our Niece Karly. Karly used to hate having her picture taken. Just a few years ago she would put up quite a fuss when the lens was turned her way! Nowadays we can snap pics all over the place and she does not flinch an eyelash. We love you Karly!

One of those Angels would look awfully nice in our house, Karly...

I've used the Laura's Pocket Kit by Deb F for this layout, with the exception of the bow which was created by TLC Janna.

A MONDAY THAT WAS ANYTHING BUT MUNDANE!

We had our day planned.

Miles got up early and worked out. He came home and we got ready to go downtown as I had an appointment. When we opened the door to our courtesy car we realized there were neat little piles of the car's contents stacked on various seats. The car had been broken into during the night and the vandal had thouroughly sorted through it. He/she must have taken their time as everything was left very tidy. I must confess it upset me. See, we had made plans to go away over this week for a romantic little getaway, but I'm not feeling so comfortable leaving home now. Our landlords will return from the south soon and we will be able to go away without worries in the future. Originally we had use of a cabin for this week, however when we went to get the key we found out the cabin is completely snowed in and there is no way our vehicle would make it in!

We went downtown, and after my appointment we went to the O'Delights bakery for a snack. We parked just beside and behind the restaurant on the same block. We exited the car, walked up to main street, crossed over and did some banking. Then, we crossed back over the road and went to the restaurant. We had a delicous snack and returned to our car. NO KEY!

We searched our pockets. We searched our pockets twice. We retraced our steps to the bank and checked inside. We crossed back to the restaurant and checked there. NO KEY! We went back to the car. We checked our pockets twice more. We went back to the bank and had them check the trash. We went back to the restaurant. NO KEY! We went to the locksmith, ironically 2 doors down and were informed it would cost $100 to get a key made. I returned to the restaurant and I meticulously went through the *ugh* trash while Miles went to the school (had those keys on a different ring) and called the service station who loaned us the courtesy car. NO KEY!

In the end we called BCAA and had ourselves towed all the way up to Summerland (1.5 hrs) where we got our sweet van back again. Our mechanic told us not to worry, if the key did not turn up, or if they could not find a second one, they would throw another ignition into the courtesy car...at no cost. Wow, thats service.

The van runs beautifully!

At this point we faced the reality our romantic getaway was going to take on an entire different meaning. After a deep discussion we have decided to stay home (but we are NOT answering phones) where we will be cozy and Miles can play and record music for one entire day. And...we decided to invest the money it would have cost to get away into new bikes for ourselves. I'd noticed Canadian Tire and WalMart both had bikes on, so we went to both places. Canadian Tire won hands down. We got a TERRIFIC deal on them. We will be whizzing around this week, should be fun.

I hope your Monday was less eventful than ours. :)

SLIDE SHOW INSTRUCTIONS

You may have noticed (you must have noticed!) the newest addition to my blog - the slideshow! The wonders of technology. I hope you enjoy the pictures, and I promise to juggle them around now and again as I create new scrapbook layouts or find something beautiful to share with you!

While you view the slideshow, you may click on the + or - buttons located on the bottom left of the slide veiwer and this will allow you to slow down or speed up the show. Also, if you click on any of the pictures in the viewer it will allow you to see that picture at a larger size. Enjoy!

OUR NIECE RACHEL THE MOUNTAINEER

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This is my latest layout. Our niece Rachel spent some time at a place which has a climging wall...who knows where she might end up later in life tho? Mt. Everest? DREAM BIG RACHEL!

I used the Michelle Colman Colorhappy Kit for the papers.

AN UPDATE ON JUSTIN

Valerie forwarded me a link regarding JUSTIN LEGER - her cousin who was hit and run and is in a coma. To read his story just click on the following link:

http://www.barkingdogs.org/news/node/155