Tena-tive Travels Take 2

This week I'll be blessed to spend time with my beloved abuelita down in her home town of Tenamaxtlan, Jalisco. The last time I went was such a magical, unforgettable time in my life; one I honestly did not think would be repeated. The thought of returning there within a year's time is simply wonderful and I have a few people I'd like to take this blog post to thank for this opportunity at living out another dream come true.

Growing up, I hadn't had much contact with the Hispanic side of my family. Most of my familial influence came by way of my mom's mother, whose parent's immigrated to the Midwest from Norway at the turn of the century. Around my 20th birthday, I made contact with my father, who had not seen me since I was an infant. My life's ambitions not being much at the time, it was almost unfathomable to predict that over the next decade and a half, this "stranger" to my life would become such an important confidant. There isn't a week that passes that I don't think of him and the three sisters I have as a result of his second marriage. 

What a joy to have each of them; their individual personalities, strengths and character traits flavor my life with unexpected beauty. Knowing of them alone was enough to give my life a perspective it had lacked. I no longer lived fully for myself, but as an example for my younger siblings. Never mind that my younger brother never inspired such a reaction from me; after all, he's a boy! And aside from that, our older brother (step brother to me) always seemed to be our guide for what was cool, hip, current, etc. 

Getting back to my father, who came to America as a young adult to make a new life for himself... well, I guess all daughters have an idea of what a father should be, and learn to reconcile what we get from them with comparisons to that ideal image. Do I expect warm and fuzzy accolades and praise? No. I can count on him to tell me what he thinks of my decisions and actions with honesty. Sometimes my feelings get hurt by his words. Yet I know he loves me. Do I expect him to hug me when I'm sad, to tell me Everything is going to be alright, hija... No, I don't think it's reasonable to expect him to treat me as if I were a young girl, living under his roof, to be coddled and comforted. I'm now a grown woman with children of my own... hard to believe but a truth I must face now that I am in my mid-thirties. Sometimes I get emotional talking to him. My voice breaks, or tears leak out and I sniff and snort with abandon as my nose runs and think, How embarrassing! And yet, he continues our conversations as if it is normal ( I guess it is, I do it so often :-) ) In other words, he loves me the best way he knows how. I'm very grateful for that. For the chance to get to know him, to learn from his life's lessons, to follow along with his changing ideals and dreams as he does mine.

A few years ago, my aunt Natividad reached out to me through the power of yahoo email and her type-A+ student son, mi Primo Luis. I have known acceptance and love in a form I had never expected from my sweet considerate Tia and her thoughful, funny son. When I write here, I write to you, to them, to my chosen assembly of family and friends. To share a snippet here and there, and have it read with enthusiasm... to have it shared with my loved ones who don't access the internet... talked about, praised, inspired by... well, it's an unexpected blessing to say the least. 

I have my aunt to thank for the inspiration to pursue the dream that started for me the afternoon Ray took me to eat at a Mexican restaurat early in our dating. As I've written before, on the wall there was a large map featuring the small town of my heritage, Tenamaxtlan. I dreamed out loud that one day I would love to take my daughter to meet my grandmother in her home. He told me then, of course, you will. Little did I know that I would have to little blond hijas, or that political unrest and drug wars would cause such unrest that taking them to Mexico would be considered unsafe for them to adventure along with me to. Regardless of how my dream played out, last year I was given the opportunity to visit mi abuelita and not a day has passed since that I don't include her in my prayers. If I needed permission to want to know more about my family, or maybe just an angel in my corner of persuasion at being given a chance to see for myself the home that she and her sisters-my sisters- grew up in, mi tia is the one I find in my corner, clothed in God's love and light. It seems that whenever life is getting to me, a simple card or note of encouragement from her finds it's way into my heart and uplifts my soul. 

Spending time with my grandmother was fulfilling on so many levels. After years of pining for the simple luxury of holding her hand, in silence, if need be, we finally rested together on her tiny love seat. After so many times of wondering, Why do I seem to be built so different from anyone else in my (mother's) family, I was able to feel with my own hands the same diameter of wrists, shoulders and knees that mi abuelita shares with me. And I was struck this afternoon by the grateful realization that, without my own mother' support, I may not have enjoyd all of this nearly as much. 

She raised me. She has made sacrifices I'm aware and unaware of for my benefit. How many women would be so encouraging of my relationship with a man they had been divorced from for so many years, had not recieved spousal support from, a man who to my knowledge had never followed through with any  attempt to  contact me through my formative years? Does she let the past interfere with my enjoyment of the present gifts of these relationships? Does she warn me that I'll be dissapointed, tell me that my feelings get hurt on purpose, attempt to disuade me from pursung these long-dreamed-of meet and greets? No, for she loves me. 

Just as the best mothers do, she rejoices along with me. She suggests ways for me to show my appreciation, listens to my stories, reads my emotional outpourings here on my blog, answers the phone with all the love I could hope to hear on the other end of the line when I'm homesick to hear a familiar (American) voice, helps me with my Spanglish, and admires my photographs of family she only heard of as a young lady less than half the age I am now. She loves to see my happiness. Her heartfelt involvement allows me to embrace my "other" family with none of the restraint I might feel if I was afraid of her disapproval.

 I get the feeling that, although my parents haven't seen each other in a literal lifetime, they are given the opportunity to see each other within me. They make up for past resentments with each other through their inquiries about my interactions, and being grateful for that gift, I am able to be open with each of them about my own familial concerns, share my stories celebrations with delight, keep a space for them both in my heart~ the place where dreams are born. 

 Follow along with me this week for another emotional journey to la casa de me abuelita y mi padre en Tenamaxtlan, Mexico~ a place where dreams were realized and expanded upon. You can read all about me last trip there under the "Travel" tab up top :-)

Now I want to know- what would be your most heartfelt dream come true? Who would be most impacted by it's realization? Ever met someone you'd only heard of only to realize they were a vital but missing part of your life prior to your introduction? I'd love to read about it, comment below, & live well, friends!

Reverse Psychology

Here it is! My latest flick, and the first of 2016! Did you know, I published a total of 22 videos on YouTube last year? If you're hooked into the google, be sure to subscribe to my CraftWithAnna channel, or to this blog, so you don't miss any of the inspiration coming out of my neck of the Key Peninsula woods.
 This month's show has a lot on show; featuring kits I've come to the end of, or were from the end of previous years :-
I've got a mini album for my cousin on the East coast who got married this summer- it used up some of those left over bits and pieces from Simple Stories and the Story of Us. Using the smaller 6x6 paper patterns makes it easy to fill a small project like this with appropriately sized items. One of my favorite pages is the one where I fussy cut around little frames and adhered them around a photo collage...gonna have to make idea come into a 12x12 page (and yes, I did just give myself permission to scrapbook)!

Then we move into documenting the more recent affair of Thanksgiving. I love that picture of my grandma, beaming from a still shot within my share video. There isn't anything I don't feel I can share with this gracious gal- in Norwegian, we call our grandmother's "Bestemor" and she really is the best! Every year we have her at the table is a blessing in itself. I only wish we could include ALL our long distance relatives in the festivities!

Check out my previous posts to see how the accompanying layouts turned out, and let me know- what are you scrappin about this week? Are you already onto week two in your Project Life? Still getting over the mountain of Christmas pics hurdle? Or maybe you're dreaming of an upcoming retreat to catch up at... leave a comment below or in the video, I always love to hear from you.

Tonight my two assistants will be accompanying me to the Red Barn for a painted lettering class I'm teaching the teens. Here is a version of the quick watercolor I did this morning to prepare- it's actually not this color at all, I was playing with my phone's photo editing apps again. I think it's so cool to see how an image would look if you had chosen completely different images or colors... a trick  I hope you'll notice I'm embracing in my scrapbooking too. I would have never guessed I'd become that woman who creates an awesome visual and then clears it all away to start over. Call me Ms. Etch-A-Sketch, because I've done it twice already this year!

Now, are you feeling the need for shop retail therapy? Click these links to EmbellishKits.com or EmbellishOnline.com for all your paper crafting "needs-" and tell 'em Anna sent you!

 And here's that stop motion card making video I referenced in this month's release:
 

Turkey Talk

Some people clean out their closets, set weight loss goals, maybe even get themselves a new planner to stay organized with at the beginning of the year. I'm one of those people (minus the weight loss, I'd just like to regain some muscles), but another of my tasks this first week into 2016 is to get my Christmas photos printed and housed.
As I've mentioned in previous blog postings, my Winter series of albums don't seem to ever get "finished." After pondering the pertinent questions of, does that matter?, why don't they? and oh, I forgot I was going to scrapbook that moment- how can I still fit it in? I've come to some conclusions:

No, to me it doesn't matter too much that my Christmas album from 2014 is just as incomplete as last year's. I'm always tucking photos away to go to crops- and then I print photos on the way to the event and buy papers to use with them there. And I know myself well enough to know THAT's not likely to change! But it's inevitable that I will always have gaps in my chronologically housed pages. I enjoy revisiting empty page protectors that sometimes have a few photos tucked inside- they are like treasures; scrap worthy time justifiably waiting to be used.
Why don't my albums get finished? Because Life Happens. New photos are taken. I'm also starting to wonder if the January, CHA spring and summer themed releases aren't moving me out of holiday move at more a rapid pace than my shopping habits of yesteryear did. I'm grateful to have the amount of time and space to dedicate to preserving the highlights of our life together. I love seeing all those smiling faces every time I go looking for where to put in another page that has finally seen it's way to completion.
Now, the fitting into previously deemed "completed" albums all those additional printed memories can be a bit more painful. Take this year's fall- 2016 run of albums... there are now five of them. FIVE, PEOPLE! Thank goodness for pocket pages, where I can slip in the photos I've printed, theatre tickets, embellishments, etc and keep them in the album they'll hopefully stay in until I can stick them all together on pretty cardstock. I say hopefully stay, because as my album clean ups have been showing me, I drastically underestimate the amount of space my photo documenting will take up.



Looking good - it runs in the family
Original "done" pic of album pages

 

 Case in point- this year I plotted out two albums to fill with this time span of Thanksgiving through New Years. Yesterday, as I sorted pics into pockets and included all those holiday papers and embellishments I keep finding I've purchased- strange... I have no recollection of doing so- I realized I really needed an in-between album to lead me from the last weeks of November, maybe even into the first weeks of activity filled December, and another for all those fun family pictures taken during the week of Christmas, and then another album just for Christmas Eve and Day themselves! Oh, and then another album for the papers I had to have and the pictures from our trip to Long Beach over New Years. WHEW!
But then, to relieve some of the stress of sorting without creation, create I did. I started with a layout inspired by the EmbellishKits.com January scrapbooking kit. I'm hoping to have a video up with that process, but that's another post's content. Having quite a few Thanksgiving pictures, I figured I'd finish up those layouts and that would help me transition fully into the documentation of all things Holiday related. Took my photos and collaged them as you see above.
Except, then I realized that my story would fit into my album better if my pocket pages were located before my two page spread, not after. So I changed that all around and then figured I'd slip the rest of my photos into place, making a total of 4 layouts completed. I really like the kid-colored Native American who looks like she's walking from our house to my mom's, where we took all our food to celebrate with due to her having surgery earlier in the week. And when I rearranged all the photos from my "done" pocket page photo above, it was really easy because I didn't have to cut  and past or anything like that.

Custom colored embellishments go here ^
Thanksgiving at our house pics on this page

Flip the page to go to my moms house
Redone and just as easy to put together

Spoiler Alert! Next video's layout above!

 Now, I've got plenty of yard chores to do and that video I mentioned to edit and upload, but a crop of golden embellishments awaits me- this evening my happy, scrappy friends and I are getting together to indulge in a bit of cut and paste (with a side of chocolate). I've already submitted three orders to Walgreen's, so I'll be right back in the now where can I fit these photos boat by night's end.
And for that, as well as the readership of people just like YOU, I'm very thankful.

A Day Two Be Continued

Pre-Pageant Gabfest on the Balcony

Really left you hangin' with the promise of hot bods on display yesterday, didn't I :-) Did you experience the same heart palpitating, eagerly anticipated imaginings of what a Sexy Man contest might entail that I did? No? Well now is the time to skip to the next post, if this kind of scene ain't your thing, but if it IS reading you'll enjoy, let me confide in you; it was all that I could not have hoped for/guessed at and more. 

There weren't many open chairs on deck, and I hadn't even considered putting on a bathing suit before heading up. Just goes to show that a day into the cruise and my mind has not yet acclimated to the no clothing required poolside wardrobe possibilities. My shirt of the day was kind of a waffle/ net pattern though, so at the very least perhaps I could soak in a speckling of sun. If I'm really lucky it won't stay with me in the same tell-tale way many net-shirt wearing sunburns I've seen sported back in the earlier 80's. Oops the fact that I really remember that, may have dated myself slightly.

I settled onto a settee in the shade, and then realized that while I had joked earlier that in fact I'm very well qualified to judge a pageant such as this, I certainly won't have that opportunity if I stay way over on the opposite side of the contest area. Plus, I could see some hefty muscle sporting dudes collecting near the bar and stage set up, and that was eye candy I would stand for if need be. 

As the men reported their names to the entertaining fellow emcee-ing the event, I snuck into the thick of them to inquire how indeed might I volunteer for the task of judging one a winner of the contest to come. "Oh we'll be asking for volunteers shortly," I was told in either an Australian or New Zealand accent, so I just hung slightly out of the way and moved in for the kill, I mean, seat as soon as they cleared the area. 

Giddy with Expectations

One gal clearly intended to best me in acquiring a position of judgment, shouting to her friend to "Get UP here!" Repeatedly. Even though she was told, there will be a selection process, it's not just first come first service me lol. The first judge to be granted a seat needed to be in the 21-25 category, and a bubbly young blond with drink in hand bounced into position. Next, a call out for 25-35 year olds! Two leaps to stage and boing, down I went, nearly hugging myself with delight as two more generations of beauty were granted their power seats. Introductions had to include our name, where we were from, and what we'd be looking for as we  determine collectively the SEXIEST MAN IN the WORLD! I hinted that I'd be looking for the man sporting the most, er, confidence... which elicited the emcees query of whether bigger is better in the confidence department. I think it was clear I'd be burning with the blush throughout the competition!

First up was a good sport- it definitely took a lot of guts to go down the line of keen eyed ladies, but he put a good amount of shakin' in his step and we applauded his efforts. 

Next we had strutting into our personal space a pumped up Chris Pratt look-alike who invited the older gals to feel his "bulkier" parts. Hey, I'm talking about his biceps, sheesh! I wasn't sure how to stop laughing when he targeted the woman to my left and, gazing lustily into her eyes, handed her his room card. Emcee had a good laugh with us as he suggested all the ways we might enjoy the ships offerings while in possession of said gifted key card. 

What are you looking for on stage today? "Size Matters."

A very handsome European looker with coordinating red sunglasses and shorts brought out the howls- this guy really new how to shake his bumbum! And abs all around, oh wow. BUT, there was simply not enough hair on him to satisfy our expectations of what a Real Sexy Man attributions ought to be.

Enter the Duck Commander, as he introduced himself... from the length and width of his BEARD to the strength and size of his powder keg trunk, this guy exhibited the kind of meat providing manliness that women throughout the ages have bet their futures on. I mean, can Your Man call in a duck for dinner? Note to the fellows, That's a super hot quality! Quack Quack. 

Who could possibly best the beast? Would it be the young army stud with farmers tan from constant uniform-ing? Perhaps the boy who showed off his long, extremely hairy legs with a shorty shorts adjustment. The personal trainer who stole Chris Pratt's previously mentioned chair push ups move (yeah right). Or maybe it would be Romeo, who bless his newlywed wife's heart volunteered to fill the last contestant slot in the contest. 

With just 30 seconds on the clock to impress us one last time, the muscle flexing gyrations and hip thrusting reached a frenzied degree of performance, offset by Red Shorts kneeling down before each of us to look us in the eyes, shake our hands and admit that, he "respected us." Hey, if I  wasn't starting to suspect he played for the other team, I may have been persuaded by his suaveness, but as it ended up, consolation prize categories did not include Smoothest Operator!

Mysterious, Muscles, and um, Man Handled

Best bootie shaking went to Chris Pratt, our Romeo took home the Typical Tourist category accolades, Boy Wonder got my Hairiest Legs title, and the personal trainer lit up like a Christmas tree when he received his Most Muscle-Bound placard. 

Mental Drumroll as we ladies congregated in a huddle to decided who  really was deserving of our Beach Towel which would proclaim to the world that he was the Sexiest Man. Lone Star McGraw? Lap Dance Larry?   Nope, it was unanimous who had stolen our hearts and the show; the man who exuded sex appeal through his barely contained manliness... the mysterious man in black; The Duck Commander! I think he was a surprised as the rest of the guys were, and thanked us each repeatedly in his sweetly Southern accent. Even I got a participation award of luggage tags reading, "I love baggage handlers." Hmmm. That one's open for interpretation!

Hey D, Guess What I've Been Doing?

I thought to myself, the ladies will NOT believe what I have been up to! and set off in search of some of those Best Day Ever embellishments that I keep secured away from adhesive. Some of my subscribers may remember me blogging about my struggles with accepting the perma-blush I've worn since housing Rainier, but I wasn't offended in the slightest by one of the nice, older gentleman audience members and his wife pulling me aside with concern as to whether I was okay or not, because "You're face is awfully red, do you need to sit down and rest for a bit?" Oh I need to cool off alight, but I think my room would be a more appropriate place to do so!

Same shade of pink my face had been

As if the day couldn't possibly get any better, it was capped off my a truly enjoyable meal. Our tablemates include our Houston hotel friends, Lani and Nancy! I'm sure each night's dinner conversing will continue to be a delightful review of our individual venturing on and off the ship. And then to end the day on the perfect note, I was joined at the Two Poets club by D, Emily and Beth, who were sweet enough to cheer on my Karaoke version of how I Heard it Through the Grapevine. A few other patrons might have even been singing along... 

With our trip off to such a magnificent start, expectations of enjoyments to come are already crowding out my plans for rest, relaxation, and the completion of the few kits I brought along. 

The thing about those Best Day Ever embellies? I struggle with the idea that any day could be better than the days I've birthed my girls. And how could one of those days be better than the other? So it was with great delight that I happened on the phrase, Best Moment Ever... and a day so perfectly filled with right up my ally fun that I can finally the embrace the idea of labeling it with one of those hoarded paper pieces.
Of course, sexy can be defined many ways depending on the perspective of the judger, for instance it's obvious I put a lot of sex appeal points in the "providing delicious food" category! Something my daughters' father does extraordinarily well. He wasn't on board, but I could still show my appreciation for his support of my craft lifestyle pursuits with a beautiful page featuring papers culled from our Embellish It kits on the table, and even a die cut of my own. Later I'd realize these papers were part of our layout class, but I was more than pleased with the alternative design I came up with.
Ray works so hard at providing the best for our family, and as a mom, there is no better feeling than knowing your daughter is being taken care of. I hope he knows what piece of mind that is for all the generations shown swinging here in the sun.  I rarely get to see his work as local farrier, but occasionally when his family is in town visiting, I'm able to tag along and capture a snapshot of how difficult his work is.
 It was his idea for me to teach classes on the cruise ships, and he generously took care of the girls for the duration of my week of research, relaxation and restoration. I'm so happy I could come home and tell him of my success in building friendships on board, the many contacts made for future classes I'll be teaching, and share with him the copious notes taken for this blog and the lecture style review presentations I'm hosting this summer at our local library.

Thanks for coming back to complete vicariously my Best Day Ever.

The littlest entrepreneur

WA State Cinderella Preliminary Pageant Bound! 

I've been nearly bursting with pride this last week as Rainier put her energy and efforts into not just creating a dazzling variety of sticker laden cards, but took them another step and sold nearly everyone of those darling handcrafted gems.
Last month she and Sunday  competed in the Miss Puget Sound Pajama Pageant (find a highlight video in my YouTube channels listings). My normally shy girl loved the experience so much that before it had even started, she was asking to do another...hmmm my wallet can't really support that habit!
She thoughtfully proposed selling her own handmade cards "just like ma" and has hardly been able to meet the demand, whipping up 2-5 cards a day. I guess I am most excited that she was able to achieve a goal like this at such a young age, as well as learn that valuable lesson of hard work=dream can come true. Not all of us have the opportunity to grow up with that kind of monetary confidence gained!
She did in fact meet her goal and will be participating in the Washington State Cinderella Pageant Preliminaries October 12th. I'm taking the camcorder along and hope to capture and publish another video for those unable to attend. Maybe some family will be able to learn more about pageants as well from those... I did a lot of searching online myself, trying to get a gist of what we could all expect from the events.
I guess I have been a little surprised by the adult reactions related to hearing that I'm "putting" my kids in pageants. It's kind of like direct-marketing myths; someone who knows someone had a bad experience/remember what happened to Benet?/those are just popularity contest and promote self loathing. Those are pretty standard responses, and there were a few more vehement responses as well. To me, over the head of my 3 year old.  After she's asked with all the confidence she can muster if they'd like to buy a card...
Honestly? I don't want any of those experiences in our lives. It's all too easy to fall into the societal commercial imagery of what girls "need," I.e. clothes, makeup, and a husband! In our house we emphasize confidence, how beautiful a winning attitude often is, and above all, enjoying the experience whether or not we win (or a man is there to watch us).
To me it's just like ballet or football in that there is hard work/practice, uniforms, and photos of the recital/tournament/ stage debut of course. Hopefully I'm Mom enough to guide my little blossoms with enough love that they will navigate the winds of adversity with grace and the desire to do their best and give God the rest :^) Who knows, with all the scrapping I'll need to do as they grow, I may need to call on Rainie's entrepreneurial talents to raise a little money for moms paper and sticker collection -er, supply!