Scrapbooking

Some of you who are just getting to know me may not realize that scrapbooking is not a new "obsession" for me. As a matter of fact, I have a long history with scrapbooking - not surprising since I have a long history with creative crafts and photography as well. In the 1890s my Great Grandpa Tisdale took photography classes at Hamline University in Minnesota. A few of his photos remain, which I think is really incredible!

Not surprisingly, he passed on the love of photos to his daughter, my Grandma Holly. She never really pursued it, perhaps due to lack of finances, but she always enjoyed looking at her daughters' and grandchildren's photos. As a young woman she took photographs of her adventures and family and of course her sweetheart, the man who would become my Grandpa, Alden Hopkins. I love this above quote, in my Grandma's exquisite and precise hand, which is on the first page of her photo album, which is about 11 x 7 in size. Currently I am scanning it. I plan on making an album using the full page to preserve her journaling. I will also extract certain photographs and photo edit them to restore or improve them and feature them alongside her pages. Added to that, I will fill in the blanks of information that I know from family history, chats with Grandma and my genealogy research. I think this will be a really fun album and I am looking forward to sharing that with my family.

If you click on this, you might be able to see the photographs better, but they are small in person too. Amazingly, my Grandmother's handwriting remained exactly like this until nearly the day she died about 75 years after this page was written! These photos are from her climb of Mount Baker in July 1926. She went with a group from Bellingham Normal School, which is now Western Washington University. It looks like they must have climbed from the Heliotrope Ridge trail, which I will have to hike some day myself. The same summer, Grandpa Tisdale, her father, climbed Mt Rainier. No small feat at any age, he was 56. I believe that it was the same week. Poor Grandma Tisdale! She must have been on her knees praying.

Well, move ahead some years and I began taking pictures. My first efforts are blurry and foggy from minuscule 110mm and 126mm negatives with a few Polaroids thrown in for good measure. My Aunt Grace and my Grandpa Johnson were both good teachers and even though my equipment was poor, I learned excellent composition techniques. Grace took a million pictures of everything, many gorgeous, many throw aways, many just for memory or to use in teaching her painting courses. Grandpa, like many male photographers I know, took his time photographing just a few shots and most of the ones he got were just right! I find that I fit somewhere in between the two.

In the course of putting all my photographs into magnetic (UGH!) albums, I felt that the pictures would be much more interesting if there was a story to explain. So, I began using strips of Scotch brand "magic" tape - the kind with the matte finish you can write on - and I labeled my photos, adding as many details as I could find. Whenever we went somewhere, I also picked up brochures and postcards to add to the mix. In 1977, I was 11 and went to visit family in North Dakota for the first time. How fun to take pictures of my grand adventure! At the end of the album I cut out "THE END ND '77". Later, in 1984, I was fascinated with the old fashioned scrapbooks in Germany that held bound pages of acid free paper with interleaves. I purchased one that now holds all my postcards, pressed flowers from hikes, stickers, beverage mats and other memorabilia from my first European experience.

Things progressed and I began using card stock and 8.5x11 sheet protectors with pigment ink pens and photo safe stickers. I cringe when I think of some of those creations. Next on the scrapping journey comes post bound albums and then Creative Memories, whose high quality albums I will continue to use for my paper scrapping.

In 1997 I began teaching classes at Treasury of Memories, which is still the awesome-est scrapbook store I've visited in 4 states! First I taught beginner classes and then I began developing a heritage album class, which incorporates more of my passions - family history, genealogy and old photographs! When I came to California in 1999, I developed the class further and taught at Scrapbook Station until I became a Mommy. About that same time I was excited to have some layouts published - a "My State" layout representing Washington in a contest run by Memory Makers magazine and a couple that were in their Quilted Memories book. My favorite from that was a layout about Grandma Hopkins entitled "All I needed to know in life I learned from a kindergarten teacher" playing off of the famous poem similarly named. On the layout and around the quilt square I listed all the things that I had learned from Grandma Hopkins. I'll have to find that some time and share.

While I was pregnant with D, I scrapped over 500 pages! Phew! That was a lot of fun too. After his birth, you can imagine how things began grinding to a halt and screechingly so when I had three babies under 18 months of age! lol

Enter my current phase - digital scrapbooking. It's such a delight to be able to work as I can, in pieces without having to worry about picking up a mess, keeping little hands out of it or finding room to work.

I can't wait to see what the future holds! :o)

Homesick...

This week I have felt so homesick. Perhaps it is because it's October and the AC still goes on. Maybe it's because our allergies are bad. Likely having to cancel our Monterey trip because we had to get new brakes, tipped it over the edge. Whatever the reason...

I am homesick...




My heart wants to be here. My heart wants to breathe fresh, salty air. My heart wants to live where this could be a short car ride away and where the mountains rise up out of the sea.



I know He hears my heart's cry. I know He senses the suffocation I feel; my wings are clipped and I ache like a bird that cannot fly.



For whatever reason, He is not sending down any neon signs to direct us where to go. The economy is greatly effecting our chances of being able to leave California, just when it was beginning to be hopeful. I don't want to whine, but I had to express these feelings before they exploded inside of me.




I want to learn, like Paul, to be content in all things.



11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:11-12 NIV)




6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. (1 Timothy 6:6-7 NIV)



4Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 6So we say with confidence,"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:4-6 NIV)



(All photographs are Rialto Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington)

Stormy Weather

My friend The Virginia Queen Bee has been posting pictures of Sky Watch Friday for awhile now and been encouraging me to do so, since I obviously love to photograph God's Creation! :o) In the past I have also been drawn to the Saturday Sky posts, but have not joined that either. Right now the Friday would conflict with my Faith on Friday, but I still haven't ruled it out.

Anyway, today was HARD. There are just some days as moms where the battle seems to rage and all forces are aiming their attack at you! We all survived, but I am exhausted. I sent out a cry for prayer help to my friends on the Christian Artisans list and had a good cry on the phone with my Mom during her lunch break (thanks Mom!). When Hubby was taking out the trash he said, "Hey! There's a rainbow!" By the time I hobbled out it was gone, but I felt comforted knowing it was there. God has a pattern of putting rainbows in my life to remind me that just like He promised Noah that He would never again destroy the word by flood, He will NEVER give me more than I can bear. It feels pretty close at times. Boy howdy! But it is never too much!

Here is what it looks like when I stand in front of our trailer and face the neighbor catty corner to us. This is not photoshopped! Isn't it gorgeous. The air was warm and charged and alive with the storm passing through. Before I went in, slow, heavy raindrops began to fall. The kind that are huge and go plop! plop! No wonder I have had a sinus migraine. Now that it has rained a little this morning and this evening, it seems the pressure is breaking up.

As I was watching the storm roll in I thought of a poem/song, that I wrote when I was in high school. It's corny - the kind of sappy, romantic thing a petulant and moody teenager would write. It started out:

Stormy weather,

Tossed by the seas of life,

Only Jesus,

Can comfort in strife.

Corny! Yes, but so true! I need to "practice what I preach" and when I am overwhelmed I know that no matter what comfort I seek elsewhere, ultimately I need to go to the source. Isn't it nice how God encourages us through these gentle nudges? (Even when we sometimes deserve to be "zapped" by the storm!)

Songs On Sunday and Belated Faith on Friday

Last night I was reading Virginia Queen Bee's blog last night and enjoying her music. One song on her play list was the Vineyard version of I Surrender All, which I also have in my CD collection. This song has long been a favorite and has been a theme along the way for my journey of faith. Surrender is not always a one time event. As I grow in Christ and encounter struggles along the way, I find that He is asking me to surrender another piece here and another piece there. It's not that it is easy, but I look at it this way - He is the Creator of all the Universe and He made me to be me... likely He knows best, right? I find it to be one of the ironies of the Christian walk, that the more you give over yourself, the more you, you become. Currently, I am walking in frustration, or more appropriately, hobbling along. Last night He gently tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Surrender." This morning in church, the adventure continued. (see below)

I Surrender All

by J.W. Van Deventer

1. All to Jesus I surrender;
all to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
in his presence daily live.

Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

2. All to Jesus I surrender;
humbly at his feet I bow,
worldly pleasures all forsaken;
take me, Jesus, take me now.

(Refrain)

3. All to Jesus I surrender;
make me, Savior, wholly thine;
fill me with thy love and power;
truly know that thou art mine.

(Refrain)

4. All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to thee;
fill me with thy love and power;
let thy blessing fall on me.

(Refrain)

5. All to Jesus I surrender;
now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to his name!

Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers. When I have land of my own, I have to plant several in different areas to see all the different colors.

These bushes were at my friend Jeanene's house. I'll be posting more about our visit soon. She is a good friend from my pediatric nursing days.

Today during the service, I went forward to one of our elders and his wife, to ask for anointing and prayer for healing. As he and his wife prayed, peace swept over me. The worship team seemed louder than usual and drowned out some of the specific words of the prayers, but I think God wanted me to hear these words from another old favorite:

Trust And Obey

John H. Sammis, 1846-1919

1. When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

2. Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.

(Refrain)

3. But we never can prove
the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows,
for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.

(Refrain)

4. Then in fellowship sweet
we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do,
where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.

(Refrain)

Trust is a continual issue for me, given some of my early experiences, but He has been gently leading and teaching me to the point that I do trust Him. I need nudges once in awhile to remember how Trustworthy He is and that I don't need to hold on so tight, but don't we all?

Pastor Mike began a new sermon series this week on the life of Abraham. There will be several small groups on Sundays and in the week to study him further.

Tuesday I will join other ladies at our church for a study led by one of our Pastor's wives. Ever since I heard her speak at a lady's "Mug and Muffin" last year where there was a panel of mature women in the Lord sharing their experiences as wives, mothers and Believers, I have longed to sit at her feet in a Titus 2:4 learning situation. I am looking forward to this and connecting with other ladies. Shhh... don't tell anyone that I will be walking! I'll be good though with my immobilizer and cane!

For me, the key reminder from the sermon today was that faith in God does not mean that we do not have questions. But it does mean that we obey Him and trust Him to answer those questions as we need them. I have walked with the Lord for more than thirty years now, sometimes more faithfully than others, but He has NEVER been unfaithful to me. I do not expect that to happen now.

We all need faith boosts along the way. Often mine comes through music, but I also appreciate the fellowship of other Believers. I know many people say that we do not have to go to church or that their church is in the mountains or on the beach. And there is some truth to both of those statements. However, we are instructed not to forsake fellowshipping with other Believers. That does not say, "Thou shalt go to church." But it is important for us to fellowship with other Believers for encouragement, to encourage, for learning, teaching and simply for the reason that one of the main ways that God can reach out to love us is through His other children. Today it was nice to be back in fellowship, to sing His praises, to worship with my Husband and to see the joy and delight on my children's faces as I watched through the window of kids' church.

Tonight, I feel more encouraged and uplifted. I feel fresh strength to face the next leg of the journey. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

Last but not least, Thank You to everyone who has been writing me and encouraging me through your comments and emails! I feel privileged to call you friends! :o)

Boy Meets Mountain

The one thing (besides see Grandma and Grandpa!) that my little D man wanted to do on our trip was see Mt. St. Helens. We went to Mount Lassen this May and he began to be interested in volcanoes. Then he saw a VHS tape of Mt. St. Helens that my Mom had found at a garage sale and he was hooked. It is geared to adults but he is fascinated in seeing it erupt. So, limping along, in the rain, we headed to Mt. St. Helens to see a mountain.


At one of the visitor centers on the way up, we stopped for a break and I enjoyed the maple leaves and moss.

Everywhere we have gone in the state this year we have seen the vine maples in glorious colors. Usually we don't see them when we are up in August, so it must be because of all the rain and cool weather that they had this year.

This is a new bridge built over the valley, entering the blast zone.

The bridge begins on the left edge of the red blast zone. This is the area that was directly effected by the blast.

The water winding through is the Toutle River and the wide brown ribbon is the path that the mad rush of ash, mud and timber took as it roared down the mountain and valley.

Those of us who lived in Washington at the time all have stories of where we were when "she blew". I was at home in Everett, Washington, several hours away and it was loud, sounding like someone was blowing up stumps with dynamite down the road.

This is the view from the parking lot at the Johnston Observatory across from the crater and dome. It didn't look promising. I really felt for my little guy and prayed that we would be able to see something.

These pictures are not very good as it was rainy, but it was pretty in it's own way. It was heartbreaking not to be able to photograph all the wildflowers.

As you can see, I took a few pictures anyway, just to remember. They aren't too focused because it was starting to drizzle heavily.


Well, that didn't daunt the spirit of my almost 7 year old. Here he is with his rain jacket on, happy to be at Mt. St. Helens.

It didn't photograph very well, but look at the surprise God gave us! It's a rainbow!

Straight ahead would be Mt. St. Helen's, had she chosen to show her face. This looks blah and boring, but was fascinating for me to see. I came here in 1997 and the landscape looked like a moon landscape and that was 17 years after the blast! Today there is quite a lot of green growth and many areas are quite beautiful showing less effect. The wide path of the lavar flow, the stands of dead trees and the hummocks scattered through the valley remain as reminders.

We arrived just in time to see the last showing of "A Message From The Mountain." Our kids have never been to a theater so it was fun for them and D was on the edge of his seat watching the whole time. At the end, they open the curtains... and you are supposed to see Mt. St. Helen's. I saw it this way in 1997 and is really awe inspiring after watching the volcano movie. This day there were only clouds. That's weather in the mountains for you!

Again, had the mountain been out, you would have seen it here.

This last shot shows Spirit Lake in the distance on the left. It is filled with all the timber from trees which were blown into it from the blast. Even though we had not seen the top/crater of the mountain, it was quite interesting. One of these days I will scan some of my photos from 1997 for comparison. I took quite a few then. My friend Jutta and her husband and son were here from Germany. Engraved in my mind is the memory of her little one nursing during the movie showing and how is head POPPED up when the mountain blew on screen! Still makes me chuckle. He's a big boy now, almost 12.

Hurricane Ridge Part Two

If it seems like you have seen some of these things before, you have! Hubby and I went to these places on our honeymoon trip last week and we are having even more fun sharing them with our kiddos. Strange I know... but we love being a family, even with all the idiosyncrasies, whining, sticky hands and eternally long potty stops (you just try to get two 5 year olds and a 6 year old to the potty and their hands washed in a timely manner! lol). The kids enjoy exploring out doors and have their moments of being bored or whiny, but are really having a lot of fun.

I'm learning some new things digitally in processing my images and trying to learn Nikon Raw format conversions in PS Elements 6. I'm doing it all on my own and hit or miss. Anyone have any advice? It looks great in the Raw converter then some of them when they come up on the screen here are horrible and look over worked and over pixelated! Yuck! Also, I am doing super low resolution images (and have been for awhile) because I post so many pictures. The files need to be small for readers to download and so that I can fit many images on. If there is anyone photo/blog/computer savvy out there who can help me, I'd be much obliged.

Anyway, today we headed back up to Hurricane Ridge which was much nicer without the road crews working and all the fog. It was like a whole different place than last week.



Some of the flowers that had been there before were now gone, but others had bloomed in their stead. I love how God plants!


Paintbrush.



The Olympic Mountains are incredibly beautiful and the panoramic views at Hurricane Ridge are especially awesome!

Before taking too many pictures we had lunch of home made bagels and snacks. A, J, D and Hubby. I'm on the bench opposite with my bum leg elevated!

I took about 7 GB of photos, shooting mainly in Nikon Raw format, so about 1000 photos. I'm still learning my camera and settings. (slow learner!) This is Mount Olympus.

Hubby, J, A and D went exploring for awhile as I rested my leg on another bench and offered to take pictures of couples and groups who were at the same view point. I always appreciate when people do that for me, so I offer to do for them.

J and A laughing in the wind, they don't call it Hurricane Ridge for nothing!

Mom with A and J. This photo was taken by a really nice teenage boy who I had a great photo conversation with. It was so refreshing to talk to a young person who didn't have a bad attitude and who could articulate. He enjoyed checking out my lens, which he wants to buy for his Nikon D200. We discussed the D300 and D700... on that want list... you know the one... the one that is just a far, far, far away dream! lol

It's fairly common to see deer at Hurricane Ridge. But, today, we saw a LOT - we lost count, but at least 20. It was really fun. Some were close enough to touch...but I didn't. I also don't follow and harass them. They come right up by you. They seemed to love the foliage of the pearly everlasting. Many of the does sought it out. While I was taking pictures of does on one side, Hubby and the kids watched a buck and a doe on the other.

D had some binoculars from Grandma and Grandpa and he enjoyed using them to watch a doe and fawn on the ridge, down hill from us.

This is one of those pictures that turned out kind of pixellated looking and funny. But it is such a rare thing that we actually got all five of us in one shot semi normal. :o) J, A, Hubby, Me and D.

The Olympic National Park is a magical place!