What I miss about the USA

Since my 40 day trip here in Paris is coming to a close and it's the Fourth of July, I thought I'd share with you a few very tangible things I miss about the USA. No, I don't mean my family or fella or friends or pups. I don't even mean things like freedom and patriotism and the American Dream. My list is much more down to earth and simplistic. These are the things I've missed the most.

Oh, how I miss thee -

Ice - cubed, crushed, for free whenever I want it without any strange looks from anyone when I ask for more, in my freezer waiting for my every whim

Air conditioning - air so cold that I need a sweater, blowing forcefully through the vents of my home and car, sending little goosebumps across my skin, making my throat ache the next morning bc the air was so cold all night

Fountain cokes - with the right amount of carbonation and sugar, missing the strange whang that I taste here, burning the back of my throat at that first greedy swallow

Space - personal space standing in line or at a shop, living space at home for all my things, backyard space to enjoy nature without anyone else around, sleeping space in my nice big bed at home on the ground

Mexican food - oh, the chips and salsa, the cheese dip, the fajitas, the guacamole, how I long for thy spicy goodness

Hair color - oh, the frost on the fields is showing after 5 weeks away; I need to work thy raven magic and cover those silver strands ASAP

Internet - unlimited, 4G, it's why I sold my soul to AT&T, wherefore art thou internet free?

Lol - in just about a week, I'll be home and enjoying all of these things. For today, I'm headed out to have a picnic with my Parisian friend, Caroline. Isn't that such a 4th of Juky thing to do? Happy birthday, America!

Remembering Pops

My maternal grandfather, Pops, and I were very close when I was growing up. We're pictured here around the time I was 13, so probably 1984 or so. He would've been close to 60 at that point. After my grandmother died and my mother divorced her second husband, we moved in with my grandfather on the family farmed. We all lived together from the time I was 10 until I graduated high school.

 Since it's Father's Day, I thought it apropos to mention him here on my blog. Although he died almost 15 years ago, he had a profound effect on my childhood. He wasn't an easy man to love; he could be brash, stubborn, harsh, ruthless, and unforgiving. But he believed in me and loved me in spite of the times I know I disappointed him. He was a flawed man, as we all are, but I do think that he loved his family fiercely. That's certainly something to admire. He was a self-made man with little formal education, yet he was able to operate a series of family businesses that were successful. He wasn't a man of formalized faith, but he did follow a code of ethics and morality that were self-defined. He wasn't easy to love at times, and he only gave others the respect he'd felt they had earned. He was a hard man in many ways, perhaps because of his cruel upbringing or his experiences in WWII. In spite of all those things, he was gentle with me in my childhood. As I grew up, he placed great faith and emphasis on my intellect, trusting it and encouraging it and rewarding it rather than the emotional fragility that seemed to be de rigeur for the women in my family.

Unfortunately, we were not on good terms at his death, and I regret not making things right between us before he died. I hope he found it in his heart to forgive me before he died. I do find some comfort in remembering the good memories; I tell myself that he knew that I loved him even if I hadn't visited him in the months before his death. I tell myself that he would be more proud of the woman I am toay than the one he knew 15 years ago; I tell myself that I learned the hard lessons from him, and that I am a better person for those experiences.

My Mother's Voice - a reflection of Mother's Day

Do you hear your mother's voice in your head? I know I do. My mom has been gone for a little more than 13 years now, and I can hear some of the things she used to say to me as clearly as if she were standing in front of me. I think that all of us, but most especially women, have our mother's voice somewhere deep in our consciousness. Doesn't that voice rear its head at the oddest times? A memory of my own mother's voice might be spurred by something on television, or a conversation with my daughter, or even a familiar scent or image. She might be gone from my life physically, but her memory and her impact is certainly still very present in my life.

For some of us, that's a wonderful memory because our mothers were guides and teachers who cheered us on and loved us unconditionally. For others of us, those voices can be painful because our mothers were flawed individuals who made mistakes in their own lives and in parenting us. Honestly, I think most of us have mothers who were mixtures of both. Some of you might think that's a radical thing to say aloud, but I don't think seeing our parents as mixtures of good and bad, right and wrong, flawed and trying are bad things. While there is a tendency to romanticize the memories we have of those who are gone, I work really hard to take the best parts of my mother and emulate them and to take the worst parts of my mother and learn from or avoid them. That effort has definitely impacted the kind of person I am today and the kind of parent I was (am) to my daughter.

As I was thinking about writing this blog post, I thought it might be fun to make a list of the things I remember my mother saying to me and to ask my daughter to do the same. I wanted to know what she remembers hearing me say, not what I remember telling her. I think there's a significant difference between the two. Here are a handful of those memories.

I hear these words in my inner voice, the voice of my mother:

Whenever I was in trouble - "Tiffany Lynn Lowder, come here right now." variation "Young lady, come here right now."

When I would dawdle or hem and haw about the first request - "Don't make me come after you. When I call your name, come right away. If I say jump, you say how high!"

Pretty much constantly - "You are the smartest, prettiest, sweetest daughter I could ever want. You can do anything you want to do with your life."

When I'd be an obnoxious kid - "I'm going to count to three, and then you'd better straighten up, or I'll jerk a knot in you."

From my teenage years - "Don't you do anything to embarrass this family. Your reputation matters."

From my childhood onward - "We wash our clothes but shampoo our hair. We paint houses and polish our nails." There were more, but those are the two that stand out in my memory.

When I was pouting or otherwise angry "Don't you roll those eyes at me, young lady; I see what you're doing."

On teaching me how to be a good person "There are two kinds of people in the world: givers and takers. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you're not a taker."

___________________________________________________________________________

Here's a photo of Kelsey at age 5 - for some reason, this is the age I often picture her as in my mind's eye.

 And here's a photo of me from yesterday. In my mom's pic and mine, we are the same age - 43.

My daughter says that she hears my voice telling her:

Anytime she was wearing something stained, ripped or unacceptable - "People are going to think you're an orphan."

On the weekends when I didn't want to be awakened too early - "Don't wake me up before the clock says 8-0-0 unless you're bleeding."

Just a couple of weeks ago when we went to the ballet - "It's unsophisticated to fill your wine glass to the brim- only half at a time."

Ever since she was a toddler and would complain about feeling any kind of sick - "When was the last time you pooped? I think you just need to go to the bathroom."  

Daily, just because - "I love you, Fred!"

From her teenage years - "You gave me Tourette's when I taught you how to drive a stick. I thought you were trying to kill me!"

Her entire childhood whenever I'd mention something from school or something risque - "You know you should never repeat this, right?"

Whenever she did anything wrong or embarrassing or questionable or whenever she adopted a bad habit - "You didn't get that from me."

Ever since she was 16 years old whenever she experienced any kind of car trouble  - "Is your car out of gas? Tell me the truth. Are you sure?"

Ever since she was a teenager and could borrow them - "Do you still have my credit/debit card or did you lose it? Be honest."

____________________________________________________________________________

I had honestly hoped Kelsey would choose something more profound that she remembered I said. Instead, it seems like she remembers a lot of the nagging and not as many as the inspirational things. How about all the times I told her it cost her nothing to be kind? How about all the times I told her to listen and be a good friend? What about all the times I encouraged her to do the right thing even when her friends were not? I'm going to try not to dwell on that and instead be glad that she at least remembers some of my 'wise' words. ;)

What does your mother's voice say to you? What lessons do you take from that even today?

NSD in Review

If you didn't join us for NSD in our Facebook group, it's not too late. You're welcome to join and play along with our challenges anytime you'd like.

Here are the relevant links:
Challenge #1 by the ScrapGals - Use cream/less cream, 1980s song or movie quote, and 3 kinds of paint/mist on one layout in an hour or less
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbuao7ZQt5s&feature=youtu.be

Challenge #2 by Jen Schow - Make a layout using a 6 X 6 paper pad for your patterned paper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFRqVRhxUro&feature=youtu.be

Challenge #3 by Ellen Thompson - Make a card or layout where each letter of the title or greeting comes from a different alphabet set

Challenge #4 by Alice Boll - Create your own background or patterned paper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a1xf02C-Mc&feature=youtu.be

Challenge #5 by Tiffany Lowder - Make a layout using three or more PL style cards on a non-pocket page layout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Okl=puZEo&app=desktop

Challenge #6 by Tracie Claiborne - Make a layout using just one collection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGTxGz1CQBk&feature=youtu.be


If you'd like to see what everyone made and shared, please join our Facebook community. We're over 500 members now and having a great time chatting about scrapbooking.

Here's the layout I made for challenge #1 chosen by our community members -

We definitely had lots of fun. What did you do for (inter)national scrapbook day? :)

V-Day Train Extravaganza

I might've mentioned once or twice that my fella is pretty awesome, and his plans for this Valentine's Day just proved that once more. He got us tickets for a murder-mystery train trip from Nashville to Watertown, TN that was lots of fun!

We had first class tickets for the train trip, and our seats were very comfortable. There were lots of people in our train car, but it never felt crowded. Our volunteer 'concierge' was Hugh, an adorable older man who obviously does this job because he loves it. He told jokes and was super sweet to everyone. (There was a rather loud group of older women in our train car, but they didn't annoy us too much.) The fella and I spent the ride to Watertown just relaxing and talking and enjoying the scenery. It was actually pretty romantic since we got to cuddle up in our seats for the hour and a half or so that it took to get there.

About a half hour into our journey, the murder-mystery actors arrived. They acted out the play in two scenes, one on the way to our destination and one on the way back. The action occurred in between the seats of our car. Since we were right in the middle of the car, the action happened right next to us mostly. I liked being able to see/hear everything easily, but I didn't like being right in the center of the action. The first act was the performance of the exposition and the murder itself while the second act resolved the murder. It was a little bit hokey, but that was totally okay. The actors were talented and obviously passionate about their craft, so that totally made it worth it.

When we arrived in Watertown, a tiny town of prob only a couple thousand people (if that many), it was already time for lunch.  The fella had scoped out the restaurant options ahead of time and had chosen for us to eat at a little Italian place called Nonna's. I was excited and hungry, but we soon realized that the train was too full for the number of people the 3 or 4 little cafes in town could easily serve. After placing our pizza order, we decided to just make the best out of the situation and snagged a seat outside. (Keep in mind it was like 30 degrees!) They had a firepit out back, so we set ourselves up next to it under the arbor. It was cold but not miserable. I bet the firepit and the arbor are gorgeous in the spring and summer!

Another couple vacated the table in front of the restaurant that had a little chimnea thing next to it, so we snagged their spot as we waited for our pizza. Just a few minutes later, they brought our pizza out to us. The fella had let me choose the toppings, so I went with a classic deluxe style. The pizza was phenomenal! We each ate 3 big pieces of pizza, but I didn't regret it at all. The crust was obviously homemade, and the ingredients were fresh. If you ever find yourself in Watertown, I'd recommend the place in a heartbeat. Just keep in mind that it only holds about 15 people inside - lol!

After lunch, we walked around the tiny town while I took pictures. It was very much a Mayberry-type town but in a good way. We wandered into the local candy shop where I bought 1/4 pound of almond bark toffee. (Yeah, I ate all of it this week while I've been snowed in. The horror! At least I didn't buy a pound.) We peered into the tiny Watertown Archives and took pictures.

We ventured into a few of the antique stores that surrounded the tiny town square. I'm currently in the market for old globes and vintage maps and anything related to wiener dogs, but I didn't find anything in the shops that would work at a reasonable price. (One shop wanted $25 for a really small globe! I thought that was a bit pricey, personally.) The shops were very crowded since the train was in town, but it was obvious that these tourists were probably keeping the shops in business.

The fella came along with me to all these shops willingly and didn't even act like he wanted to hurry. (How amazing is that?!) He even posed for pics and took pics of me. I tell ya, he's a good sport. I asked him to pose in front of the barber shop because, ya know, he's bald, and I found it to be ironic. He must know I like his bald head because he didn't seem to mind! (For the record, I do have kind of a thing for bald guys...especially this one.)

I then asked him to take this photo of me in front of this wall because I loved the texture of it, and I'm telling you the man didn't even blink an eye. He just nodded and snapped away. That's exactly the kind of fella a scrapbooker needs in her life, don't ya think? And wonder of all wonders, I don't hate this pic. Woot! Woot!

I was so giddy that he was willing and not grouchy, that I then insisted on taking his pic again but in front of a brick wall this time. I love brick walls in photos.

Before getting back on the train to go home, we wandered around a little bit more and snapped some pics of the quaint square. The now-abandoned police station was super cool from the outside.

Before we loaded the train, I asked our concierge/conductor, Hugh, to take our photo in front of the train. I can live with these pics.  :) He must deal with women wanting photos all the time because he offered to take a couple instead of the single one that most non-scrapbookers and men seem to want to take. I knew Hugh was a smart guy. Lol! It's possible that the fella was slightly embarassed by my take-charge and take my picture approach, but he was smart enough not to mention it. ;)

After our train trip, the fella took me to JoAnn's in Nashville so I could check out their new scrappy arrivals. (He did this without complaint and without rushing me!!!!) We drove on back to BG at that point because we were both tired. Rather than fight the V-day crowds that night at a restaurant, I made us a big salad and some pasta (the fella's request) with some fresh bread.  The fella brought me candy and a card since the train trip had been my actual gift. (Notice the candy says it's for the teacher; my fella has a sense of humor, right? Hahaha!) I got the fella some Kenneth Cole cologne and some very nice thread count sheets since he'd mentioned that he wanted to buy some soon. He seemed to really like both.

All in all, it was the most wonderful Valentine's Day I've ever spent. The fella and I spent it together, and he was kind and considerate and happy and thoughtful. He made sure I had a lovely day, and I've never experienced that in my life before now. Everything else -the train trip, the pics, the meal, the candy-  was just gravy.

Dreaming of...

the streets of Paris

desserts of chocolate decadence

a relaxing massage

the beaches of the Mediterranean

the love of a good man

the smell of fine perfume

the lovin' of a majestic wiener dog

the winnings of a mega lottery

a weekend snowed in with my pups, my lovie, and much craftiness

Hey, I'm good for at least four of these right now and a couple more on the future agenda. Not bad, not bad at all.

Happy Valentine's Day my friends; may your dreams come true!

December Daily - days 23-25

As of this moment, my 2014 December Daily is 98% finished. I only need to decorate the cover, and then I can mark off this project and move on to the next thing I'd like to make. Honestly, I had to force myself to work on it yesterday. I wasn't in the mood to play with it anymore; I'm totally over the holidays. I knew that I didn't have much left to finish, though, so I forced myself to knuckle down and take care of business. Thankfully, I like what I made even if I didn't really love the fact that I was still working on it a month after Christmas.

I chose to make day 23 with a library pocket that I have had forever it seems. Maybe it was 7 Gypsies? Idk for sure.  Anyway, I didn't really love the pics from that day, so I thought a library pocket would add some interest for a day that didn't have that much pizzazz. I managed to incorporate three 4 X 4 photos and journaling for the day, so I feel pretty good about that. To trim each page, I added strips of OA patterned paper, OA and other gold printed washi tape, and more embellishments from OA and other manufacturers. The title strips and the small cards are from the OA kit as well.The black rubons and gold stars are Jenni Bowlin I think. The clip is from Basic Gray, and I'm pretty sure the tiny tags are AC.

The Christmas Eve layout is pretty simple, but that was okay with me. I started with some older dotted Heidi Swapp paper and layered an OA large card on top of it. I handwrote my journaling because that's just how I roll. I added some gold washi tape on a couple of different places on the layout and also added a trimmed down Heidi Swapp card on the left as a way to ground my number circle. The tiny bit of green on the right side of the layout is from a Heidi Swapp journaling sticker that smeared when I tried to write on it. I kept the hint of green, but I couldn't actually use the sticker. To tie in the green, I also added an OA word strip. Finally, I added some Jenni Bowlin rubon gold stars to my number 24 to tie it in to the gold stars on the OA block at the top of the page.

My layout for December 25th actually ended up being three pages total. I started with the back of the prior day and used a 5 X 7 selfie enlargement, a la the planned selfie title of the entire album. The patterned paper and dotted gold washi tape are both OA, and the layered banner sticker is AC. That's all I did to this page, but I thought that was just fine.

The next two pages for this day are in an OA page protector. I used a lined piece of Simple Stories paper for my journaling, the same OA gold dotted washi tape, more OA patterned paper, and a cut-up Simple Stories PL style card popped up for the date/title of the page.

On the back side of the page protector, I continued the gold dotted OA washi tape and some wrapping paper as the long strip on the side. Other than that, I left it alone because I thought the prints and the pics spoke for themselves.

Here are some pics that show how the pages look in my album.

And a couple of pics about how the pages look from the side and top of the album.

All I need to do now is work on the cover. Hopefully, I can accomplish that sometime this week. Fingers crossed, right?

Tiff