Well check it out - blessed again!

This time a friend of mine has blessed me! Lookie what I got today!



My instructions are to share this with five folks who I feel have become my friends. This is gonna be tough. I feel so blessed by my on line friends. You guys help fill my day, you've stood by me through some really tough places and events. Picking just 5 will be hard!

So here I go... (and if you're not one of the five please don't be offended... You're ALL amazing!)

Tara

Kathy

Deb

Nancy

Tam

Here are you more specific details...
Nominate 5 other bloggers you feel have become part of your circle of friends.Link to your nominees within your blog post. Include these instructions on how to pick up the award in your blog post. Link back to the person who gave you the award in your blog post, to show your appreciation. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.


So many thanks to Marci! You can find her HERE at Marci's Scrapping Spot.

I am oh so blessed!!!

You guys might remember the wonderful girl I call my daughter. Since I wasn't fortunate enough to be blessed by having a girl child, the Lord brought me one just when we needed each other most.

Aly came into my life when she was searching for herself, for meaning, for validation, for hope and for a little bit of salvation. She was a lost little girl trying to do her best in a very strange, moving too fast world. She and her then boyfriend moved in with us at our home for a year. She was about to turn 18 and hadn't finished school.

In the year she was here, she got a job, graduated with her GED, mended her relationship with her real momma, began rebuilding her relationship with her dad, learned a whole lot about who she was, who she wanted to be and how to begin that journey. In the process, I grew to love this girl as though she were my own.

Her mom, Mary (we called her Mar) and I became really good friends. We were brought together by common physical ailments as well as a common love. She willingly and lovingly shared her daughter with me. When she came to Williamsburg for Aly's graduation, she and I bonded well and when she left, she told me she was so happy Aly had found a second mom in me and that I'd been there for her Aly. She blessed me by allowing me to be called Momma and Momma Lis. She also blessed me with her love.

Aly finally grew strong enough to tell the boy she had been dating good-bye. It was a terrible relationship and very destructive. She needed to be rid of it as it was bringing her down. When she did this, she knew it was time to move back home and help her mom out. Mar wasn't well and had been doing worse physically.

Aly left Williamsburg in August for Iowa. We cried, we hugged, we kept in touch and we still call each other Momma and Daughter. Less than a month after Aly arrived at her parents home in Iowa, Mar died of a massive heart attack. The month Aly had been home had been wonderful for them both. Mar died far too young but I think she knew it was okay to go and be rid of all that pain. Aly was okay and was going to be okay. She and her dad were going to be okay together and between Aly and her brother, they'd keep things together.

In February, Aly called me to let me know she was pregnant. I knew this would be difficult as she and her boyfriend hadn't been together for very long. There was never any other option as far as whether or not she would have the baby. Not only would she have the baby, she would be an amazing mother. She loves kids, she's great with them, and she'd always wanted a child of her own.

Yesterday I was blessed to become a grandmom! Aly and her boyfriend Josh have become the proud parents of a beautiful little baby boy. Dayne Scott Hogue was born at 11:42am. He weighed in at a perfect 7 pounds 11.6 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. He's absolutely a beautiful baby; a real stunner!

Thank you Aly. Thank you for loving me, for loving me enough to share your beautiful family with me, for loving me enough to call me Gramma! Thank you for loving me like a momma and letting me love you right back.

You're awesome Aly Girl! You're gonna do great.

Labor Intensive

To copy Deb, that's what this month's sketches are all about at If It's Groovy. To go along with my sketches each month, we choose a theme or technique to highlight. This month, being "Labor Day" for us US gals, we selected the word "labor" to be used somehow in the journaling, either in the title or in the body of the journaling. I love the different spin each of the gals put on this theme.

This is mine but you've got to check out what the other Sketch Team Groovy Gals did with the sketch. There's some amazing work going on over there. Click HERE for some great inspiration!

It's Fabulous Friday!

If you all haven't ever checked out my friend Kim's blog, "Today's Creative Blog" by now, you're really missing out. Kim scours the internet finding the most wonderful, unique, fun and inventive creative sites. She's quite the enabler by the way because who can resist some of the places she finds!



On Fridays, she does Fabulous Friday Giveaways. Today's is fun fun fun! It's all about Ella Publishing Company. Newly formed SCRAPPY company that's got a bangin' new scrappy magazine on line. You REALLY should check them out. Click on Ella Publishing Company to get there. I know you can!

Now, because I know you also love all manner of great stuff, you have to spend time at Today's Creative Blog. Seriously. There is so much fun there and Kim does a great job tracking down the best of the best. Beware though..., if you can't resist, coolness, cuteness, fun-ness, scrappy-ness, unique-ness or any other creative-ness, don't go... I mean it... you'll love it, so you can't go...

Ooooppps... there you went... you did it... You went there to Today's Creative Blog and had so much fun looking at all that "-ness" didn't you! I told you you'd love it!!!

Peace!!
Lissa

I've had more creative time!

I love that I have some time now for creativity with my scrappy and stamp goodies now that Dalton's back in school. I've been busy!

It's been pretty fun doing challenges on the OSU board that I hadn't tried before. And with my health limiting my activities, I've had even mor good scrappy time (though it's never as much as I want or seem to have a need for in my heart...).

Here's a layout I finished this morning for a journaling challenge. We had to use more than one font for the title. I used 4! (Yeah me!)

I love Tim Holtz Distress Inks. They were so much fun to work with on this. All the painted pieces are the wonderful crackly paint. So cool.



Thanks for looking!

Peace and blessings,
Lissa

Don't you love it when you accidentally create something you love?

When working on my montly layouts for If It's Groovy, I tend to forget that there is typically a theme or technique that goes along with it. Such was the case this past August when I was preparing for my September sketch team layout. So, I had TONS of fun making this layout from my sketch about Dalton. Yeah... I love this layout. Not sure why except the memories were just so much fun. It was a really fun birthday party. All the little ones were precious.

Hope you like!



Thanks for stopping by, thanks for looking!

Peace and blessings,
Lissa

The Loss of a Legend

When I was pregnant in 2000, my husband and I were sent to have an amniocentesis because I was over 40. In our excitment, and with the knowledge of how my pregnancies typically ran, we were fairly certain I was carrying a girl - at last.

As we were having lunch before my appointment, Kevin said to me, "I know we feel like we're having a girl, and I know you want a little Jeanne Elizabeth really badly, but we really need to think about a boy name just in case."

As much as I hated to admit it, we should entertain the idea of boy names so we began our conversation. Kevin was fairly adamant about the middle name being Anthony after his brother who died just before our wedding. That was okay with me despite the fact I have never ever liked the name Anthony. I like Tony, just not Anthony... but it was a middle name so, okay.

I liked Shannon (I really like unusual names). He didn't. I liked several others he poo-pooed too. Then he says, "What about Dalton?"

I said it outloud, "Dalton Anthony Ballard... yeah... I like that!"

Then he said, "Well, it is one of your favorite movie characters and since Patrick Swayze is your favorite actor, it just kind of fits."

As you might know, Dalton was the last name of the lead character in "Road House" which is an awesome, very amazing, all that and then some kick booty movie in my book. Besides, you get to see Swayze Booty and he's just hot. And add in the mix another favorite of mine, delicious Mr. Sam Elliott and the electricity between Swayze and Kelly Lynch and holy cow, it still gives me goosebumps.

Not to mention the tears I cried repeatedly in "Ghost", the awesome feeling you get when the infamous line, "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." is uttered... Patrick Swayze was just every girls dream come true. The perfect summer romance. The perfect husband, (both on screen and off from what they say) and MAN to have had a chance to dance with this guy!! WOOOOHEEEEE I think I would have died and gone to heaven right then and there.

Today we say good bye to this amazing man. The world has lost a legend and I will mourn him today as though he were a member of my family. Tonight we will watch Road House and have a toast to him. We will say a prayer for his family for strength and courage and thank them for sharing this man and his amazing talent with the world. They were most generous and for that I am so grateful.

Good bye Patrick Swayze. When you see my momma up there, if you get a chance, give her a little spin on the Ethereal Dance Floor... She'll LOVE it!

Peace and blessings,
Lissa