My Favorite Christmas Gift

So this year our department adopted two families from the Boys and Girls club in Phoenix.  A couple team members set up a tree with goodies the two families were wishing for.  I was heartbroken when most of what they asked for was what many might consider necessity like blankets and clothing.  Anyways, our department did an amazing job coming together and buying these two families all the things that were on their wish list.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to go and drop the gifts off to the families at the Boys and Girls Club. 

The first family was a mom and her 3 little ones and their Grandmother.  They were so appreciative of the gifts and there SUV was packed when they drove away. 

Only one of the children was able to be there for the second family.  This little girl's mother had just started a new job (yeah!) and her brother had behavior problems.  The little girl who was about 8 was dressed in a t-shirt that was way to big and pajama pants.  She was such a beautiful young girl.  She stared at the pile of gifts and cried tears of joy.  One of my co-workers hugged her and let her know everything would be okay and after all good things happen to good people.  Seeing the joy she experienced was amazing and I knew this was my favorite Christmas gift.  As a department we were able to provide magic, joy, hope, and the ability to believe.  I was instantly reminded of being a child on Christmas morning and running to the living room to see Santa had visited.  There is nothing that can ever explain that joy and excitement and I am so glad we were able to provide this gift for children who may not be touched by the magic of Christmas otherwise.

If you are reading this post I encourage you to get your community together to adopt a family and give to those kids who really deserve and need a Christmas.  Give the gift of joy, hope, love, and the ability to believe.  I promise you, it will be your favorite gift of the season!

Doctoral Program!

Well it's been a long time since I have been on here but since my scrapbook days are becoming less and less because of school I want to make sure I get on here often to right down my memories and thoughts.  Life has been very busy lately and I really have so much to write about.  But I want to start with my doctoral program.  The truth is I wanted to blog about every step of the way but there just has not been time for that so I will get you up to date.

I have been thinking about this whole doctoral thing for almost 2 years.  Then one day I realized I was making excuse after excuse and I just needed to start the dang thing since my employer is paying for most of it and I am forking over the rest.  I started the program in July and let me tell you the anxiety I had!  Making the decision to start a program like this is huge.  I needed to make sure we were financially ready and I had the support of my family because God knows I will need to lean on them often.  I started the qualifying class and let me tell you every time I opened my student web page I had a panic attack, I could not believe I was actually doing this!  I earned at 95% in the qualifying class and I was in the program, doctorate of management in organizational leadership.  The first class was amazing!  It was a leadership theory course and I was applying what I was learning each day to my work environment hence the reason my team has taken part in peer coaching and after a two month commitment I asked them for, they decided they wanted to continue! I am so proud of them and what they have accomplished!  I am so blessed to work with amazing people!  So anyways I earned a 98% in that course and now I was on to residency.

Residency is 3 credits in 5 days and once again I was anxiety ridden and had no idea what to expect.  Residency was one of the coolest learning experiences of my life.  It was like leadership boot camp.  I was in class for 5 days with people across the country and the bonds we grew were amazing.  I am looking forward to working with my class members and accomplishing our goal together!  One night we all went out to Oregano's for dinner and It was so nice to take some time and get to know my classmates outside of the classroom.  I am really looking forward to my second year residency and getting my dissertation approved.

Next it was on to epistemology, the philosophy of learning.  I will say I was a lost soul until the fourth week of class and then it all just clicked and I got it!  I earned an A- in that class and now I am 10 credits complete and 52 more to go... oh and who could forget that really BIG paper I have to write! :)

100 challenge

So Thursday morning I am having my second cardiac ablation and well as you can imagine I really just want it to be all said and done with.  But as most of you know I am a very positive person and I am trying to focus on all the good things that will come along with ablation number 2.  I will have 5 whole days of recovery and recovery should include scrapbooking for sure, right?!?!?!  So I am ready for a challenge, a good challenge at that.  For my scrapbook friends and family you understand the "investment" it takes to have all the supplies.  Not to mentions Michael's, Joann's, and Hobby lobby are some of my favorite places to be except Total Wine of course.  I have a whole scrapbook room full of "stuff".  My mother likes to say, "we are saving for retirement".  Funny lady!  So here is my challenge.  I am going to make 100 projects.  They will probably include cards, scrapbooks pages, and maybe some mini books.  I am going to stay away from shopping until all 100 projects are complete.  The goal is to use what I have and use some of my stash.  So check back and I will try to post all of my projects.  Just how long do you think it will take me? 

Megan's Graduation Gift

Last night was Megan's graduation party, another wonderful gathering at my parents house.  He are so proud of Megan and her accomplishments.  The program was very strenuous and Megan worked so hard to be successful.  As a gift I made her a magnetic scrapbook frame.  She can interchange her photos on the scrapbook page and better yet, she can interchange her scrapbook pages.

My Pink Stamper Challenge #4

http://www.mypinkstamper.com/

Challenge 4 was to include a mother's day themed project.  Below is my mother's day page.  Enjoy!

My Pink Stamper Challenge #3

The third challenge today is to incorporate the breast cancer theme.  This is perfect because our family takes part in the race each year to celebrate the life of my aunt Mary Rose.  We also celebrate my aunt Jody who has been cancer free for two years!

My Pink Stamper Challenge #2

Challenge number two was to create using kraft stock. I made a mother's day card for my mother because I cherish her so much.  Not only is she an amazing mother, she is such a beautiful ggrandmother.  There are just no words that could possible explain this.  She was born to be a mother and grandmother!

My Pink Stamper Challenge #1

Well today is national scrapbook day and of course I am spending the day scrapbooking with my handsome little man.  The first challenge was cupcakes and my page is a little bit different than most since my little guy just had his second birthday.  No pink cupcakes here!