The one....

The one it WON'T be.
So, after my little "disgruntled" post about Christmas cards, I decided to just dive in and get the picture taking out of the way. The kids totally didn't cooperate, but surprisingly I got GREAT pictures anyway!! I took the pics and went onto Vistaprint, and made not one, but TWO cards. It's a sickness I have :) I need to compare and contrast the finished product and then pick the best of the two. Unless of course you love them BOTH and then you have to ask your husband which HE would choose, and then, wouldn't you know you suddenly like the one he DIDN'T choose better than the one he did. Yup. I add way more stress to my life don't I ? Well, I decided to go with the one he chose, since I asked his opinion and it's my pet peeve when someone asks an opinion and then does the exact opposite. What choice did I have?

Here is the card I *DIDN'T* use and please note, those that DO get Christmas cards from me, pay no attention to the pictures, since then they will look familiar when you get your card ;)

The Christmas Card

I take great pride in outdoing my creativity each year for Christmas cards. I always create a "scene" for a picture, place my children in the scene and then add it to a card on Vistaprint and from there, I sign, seal and deliver them. (Orsomethinglikethat)
Previous years, I have enjoyed the outcome. I lied, I have ADORED the outcome. I can explain all day how they looked, but, I will just show you...

Christmas 2006, Acilia and our two dogs Remo and Franko (excuse the glare please!)

Christmas 2007, my 7 months preggo belly and our daughter kissing her brother
Christmas 2008 Miles and Acilia reading the Christmas books that *I* got each year for Christmas as a child.







so, here's my dilemma, how do I compete with those?!? I am considering seeking ideas from the good old Internet, and it kills me! I should have enough creativity to continue with my joy of Christmas cards, but I'm afraid I've already done it all and there is no room to grow. New camera this year, new editing software, the possibilities are endless, but I am limiting myself to my mind blank. Oh the pressure!! (Stay tuned, I promise once the cards go out, I will post it here!!)

Blogging about the purple elephant in my life

Well, I've had blog block lately. I have posted a few simple type posts over the last few months, but nothing in depth. In truth, I had shut my feelings out to the world and when you are blogging, that isn't conducive to sharing your thoughts. My husband Al and I have been through the wringer and I am hoping the experience of it all is the rock bottom of our marriage. I could sit here all day and discuss all the things wrong with our marriage and our lack of compatibility but in truth, that means nothing today. As I move forward, I will share a little bit about the past, and more about the hopeful future.

A little over a month ago, I told my husband I felt the desperate need for us to separate. I went into the discussion fully expecting him to be on board with it, and in complete agreement. I was so sure I had *his* feelings figured out in my head and had completely convinced myself he felt the exact same way I did. He didn't. He had more to give to this marriage. That was a turning point for me. I started to feel as though my decision to separate was more of a selfish feeling, than of one that must happen. I went from feeling as though I had no choice, to feeling there was a choice. I went from feeling hopeless, to feeling hopeFUL. I have been praying through this entire journey and looking back, God has been with me each and every step of the way. I am hopeful that God will always be there for me, and that is directly related to His promise to be there and to never leave me alone. I started to feel a new sense of commitment to this marriage. I have many thoughts and feelings, but my conclusion is; unless I have tried every single avenue to save a marriage, then it is not worth leaving it. I have discovered many things about myself and have decided no matter whom I am with as a life partner, these things will haunt me until I learn to release those things, to not allow them to be roadblocks to my heart. I also have discovered that our way of doing everything backwards and upside down in our relationship has finally caught up with us and what it did was set us up for failure. I am holding on to find the tools to building a successful marriage and moving forward, leaving our mistakes behind.

There is no way to predict the future, but I do know I have a new commitment to my family that I have never had before and for that, I am beyond blessed to have discovered a necessary fact in my life. I am hoping now I can begin to get back on track with freely expressing my feelings on this blog, I am a writer, it's therapeutic for me and to have this place to share my thoughts and feelings is just awesome for me.

You Capture! - Orange

ORANGE


This tractor on top of a silo looked so silly up there, but screamed at me this is my "Orange YOU CAPTURE!" so, it was photographed :) Led me to wonder how many other times that tractor on top of a silo was photographed! Probably too many to count!



















And some more orange, because October happens to be THE best month to capture such a color :)






My pumpkin hat kids giggling with delight!




So glad my nephew Caleb happened to have orange in his hat, because this is quite a cool pic if I do say so myself!


Hubby sporting orange is a rather "hot" way! :)