Wrapping Up November

I am stepping off the merry go round for a minute. Today is the last day of November. That means it is my brother's birthday. Love ya, Chris!! We just returned from spending Thanksgiving with them. It had shamefully been more than a year since we had been to their house. It was good to be there, good to rest, good to see the boys (nephew #2 turned 2 yesterday!), good to catch up on life, good to do a bit of hunting and good to do a bit of shopping. Just to be clear, Greg, Josh and Chris did the hunting. Melissa and I did the shopping. The guys came home empty handed, the girls did not :).
Thursday was a gorgeous day so while we cooked and prepared, the boys did some 4 wheeling and playing outside. Chris used the mower to bury the boys in leaves. Oh to be a kid again!

The nephews love their cousins! Sometimes more than Kaleb would like, lol. It's all good though!

Our other big November news is that Greg has a new woman in his life. Gasp! In a momentary lapse of my sanity I agreed to get a dog. Greg and Josh had been slowly wearing me down. I finally got the point where I felt guilty for saying no, for depriving my boys of the opportunity to have a pet in their lives. So, everyone, meet Daisy Mae...

Daisy is a 10 month old black lab. A family at church recently adopted her sister and when they heard Daisy was also up for adoption, they hooked us up. Tip: if you are thinking about getting a dog, be sure to let the dog lovers in your life know. They will go above and beyond until you find one. They won't rest until the connection is complete. We have some dog crazy friends, I tell ya, lol.
Anyway, the woman who bought her later decided she wasn't up for the challenge of a raising a puppy so the breeder took her back. She is a very nice dog (but I won't admit to it if pressed!). She is already housebroken, doesn't jump much, can follow some simple commands and loves to be around us. We had to break her of the habit she had to jump onto the furniture. After several failed ideas, someone told us to use mouse traps. Two snapped traps later the lesson was learned! She's a bright one. Now we leave the un-set traps on the sofa when we leave for work and just the sight of them seems to be enough to keep her off. We still have to find a way to curb some of the barking and get her to walk better on the leash. And I need to find a way to get her to stop following me everywhere. Drives me crazy, especially when I am cooking.
But you know that this adventure we have embarked on couldn't go on without some craziness! Last week we discovered she was in heat! We didn't even have her long enough to make plans to get her fixed. grumble, grumble grumble. So, now Daisy Mae is sporting some Daisy Dukes.

This was Daisy snuggling up with Chris' dog, Sheldie. They got along very well and with her blue pants on she was easy to identify!
Tomorrow is December already. I have been toying with the idea of doing a 12 day series of tips on how to have a meaningful Christmas. So, come back tomorrow for tip #1.

Opportunity

By now you all know I have a second blog. Actually, this blog is my second one, my first blog is my stamping blog called Inky Doodles. There is a link in the sidebar. I don't frequently mix the two but sometimes they are like a PBJ sandwich and are hard to separate.

Many of you know that I have been a demonstrator with Stampin' Up since 2005. In September they made some major changes to the Independent Demo Agreement and for many reasons I did not feel that I could sign it, so I stepped down. You have heard the saying "When God closes a door, he opens a window". Well, in my case he opened the window first, making it easier to shut the door on my life as a demonstrator. In mid August, two weeks prior to the changes at Stampin' Up, I was offered an opportunity to join the design team for a stamp company called Cornish Heritage Farms. This company is owned by a couple originally from England, now residing in Montana. They are a lovely Christian couple and I did not hesitate to say "yes" to their offer! This company has a very large collection of stamps, in many different styles. They have agreements with Thomas Kinkade, Tom Allen, GM, and several other artists. They release new stamps 2-3 times per week! I am currently working with 3 of the lines they carry and can choose any additional releases that appeal to me. I have had the opportunity to write tutorials, product reviews, as well as blog posts for the company blog. Needless to say, this has been keeping me quite busy. I am loving every minute of it. It has opened up opportunities that I probably would not have had if I had remained with Stampin' Up. I am so glad God knows what is best for me, even when I don't always see it at the time!

The latest opportunity came when I was given the chance to be the Guest Blogger for a challenge blog called Stampin' Sisters in Christ. Cornish Heritage Farms is sponsoring their challenge this week and I am honored to be able to share a bit about my life and faith with a new audience. I honestly have moments when I think I should sell all my stamping supplies because it seems like foolishness in the grand scheme of things. Does God really care about stamping?? The answer is he cares about what I care about. He can use whatever we have to give him. I know that. I have seen it. A simple card made of paper and ink can bring comfort or encouragement or joy. When I send cards out I send them off with a prayer. God takes it from there.

Today was my day as the Guest Blogger. If you would like to read the article, check it out here.

Thanks for letting me share this stuff with you. I am no rock star (though Greg thinks so, he's great...but biased) but it is exciting stuff!