These are days......

I've moved!

Thanks for checking in on me.....I've moved blogs and hope you'll stop by over at my new place here!    

Doin' some damage control

I didn't realize something was going on till just a few days ago and actually this thing is something that really prompted me to renew my Typepad acct. and blog again.  I'm praying this thing didn't turn some of you off or cause you to take me off your blog friends list (although I can certainly understand that no new posts in over 4 months could cause someone to do that!).  To make a long story short, I Twitter and I added the Widget to my blog where my new Twitter posts would come up over on my sidebar ----->.  I post on Twitter sometimes several times per day so I thought this could be another way for blog readers & friends to see what I've been up to.  My Twitter name used to be JanaP but then I changed it to my full name so people could find me easier.  I thought that things would just continue on the same since I was still using the same acct and all  but evidently not.  In the meantime, another girl comes along and begins using the name JanaP again and once she did that, HER posts began to appear on my blog rather than my own.  Unfortunately for me, JanaP likes to party, drink & curse......not that I haven't been known to do these things on occasion however not to the extent she does and I didn't notice this was happening till just a few days ago.  SO.......I'm not sure how long her posts have been turning up here but I truly deeply sincerely apologize if you saw this and it turned you off or offended you in any way.  Please know it wasn't me and I don't know that person and if you took me off your "blogs to read" list for that reason, I hope you'll consider adding me back!  So, lesson learned here......if you guys Twitter and decide to change your name there for whatever reason, beware because someone else just might come along and use it again! 

I'm alive!!!!!

Recent antique store finds, originally uploaded by Jana P ~ Brown-Eyed Girl Photography.

Yes, indeedy be......Jana is still alive & kickin', I promise! God bless ya for stopping by because Heaven knows I would've given up on me a long time ago. I guess I blame it on last night's Silver Bella '09 registration and all the time I've spent the past couple of days browsing my Bella friends' blogs but now I've determined that I'm ready to begin sharing myself again and you know what? It feels pretty darned good! Speaking of Silver Bella, by the photo you can see that I've already begun browsing local antique stores looking for treasures I can use on projects, in swaps, etc. The baby bonnet and the stack of old papers were probably my favorite finds of the day although I do love it all. I promise to share more pics, more of myself and not to neglect my poor blog like this again, ok?! ;-)

My wish for 2009

I get daily quotes, scripture and stories sent to me through Heartlight and this quote really spoke to me today:

Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. Faith is
the belief that God will do what is right.    -- Max Lucado
 
I really need to remember this.  We can ask God for things all we want but if those things are not his perfect will for us, they just won't happen.  We need to ask for His will to be done in all situations and then be prepared if His will and our's don't match up.  This is my wish for the new year. 
 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year my friends!  I wanted to post to say hello and wish you all a very happy, blessed, joyous & prosperous new year and then found this in my inbox and thought I'd share it with you since it pretty much sums up the way I feel today as well.  Enjoy.....

Holiday Hangover, by Sarah Stirman


Here it is just a few days after Christmas and I've done it again: I'm
suffering from yet another holiday hangover. Not the kind that comes
from indulging in too much alcohol, though the fit of my pants
indicates that overindulgence of something needs to be addressed. I
have the kind of holiday hangover you get from overspending,
overeating, over-scheduling, and overdoing.

Every year I start the season with a deep resolve and an optimistic
plan. I will budget for Christmas for several months so that my family
will not be eating lint-covered Christmas candy from the bottom of our
stockings as a meal by mid-January. I will deck the halls in manageable
stages so that I am not getting out the last of the decorations on
December 24 to put away on December 26. I will limit our family's
activities so that when it comes time to distribute the gifts on
Christmas morning we still recognize each other. Those are always the
plans. Then I wake up, it's December 26, and this Christmas season has
looked like all of the others.

It's the expense of Christmas that gets me every year. The postage for
the Christmas cards, the "one last" decoration we need, the "little
gifts" that add up and add up, even the food we consume this time of
year seems to total a staggering amount. Then my children are out of
school and expect to eat during the day. What's that about? I bought
them Christmas gifts, they expect me to feed them, as well? And
wouldn't it be a lovely Christmas outing for us to go to the movies
together as a family? Kids, I hope you learned something, because we
just spent your first year of college on a two hour movie and one tub
of popcorn. Even with gasoline prices dropping, a 1,000 mile trip isn't
cheap on the fuel tank!

I try not to resent the overwhelming total of this time of year. It is
completely within my power to change what my family spends and every
year I have grand intentions of doing just that. But I seem to simply
take the path of least resistance and most expense, and then gripe
about it.

So here it is the limbo-week between Christmas and New Year's -- time
to look back and look forward. I have a moment to slow down and
evaluate. Financial folks will tell you it's time to make an end of
year evaluation of your finances. Once I've found all the spare change
in the couch, I'm through with that exercise. It's also a good time to
take an overall life evaluation. Is what I'm living reflecting what I
say I believe?

My thoughts turn to the expense of the season. I look back and count
the outrageous cost of this holiday. I repent of my extravagance as I
think about the original cost of this holiday: "For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son ..." (John 3:16 NIV). I
sprinkle the financial blessings God has given me on various things
throughout this season, but God gave all He had for the season. He
allowed his only child to leave his heavenly home and come to this
flawed world. He did that so "... that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Amazing.

I look toward 2009 with a grateful heart. Thankful for another day,
possibly another year, to live a life of gratitude, possibly a life of
moderation, and share His blessings with the people He puts in my path.

My fave Christmas song ever.....

Maybe it's the mullets or the fact that Duran Duran is there, but I'll never tire of this song.

Checking in

Hello to you, my few & faithful blog readers who continue to check in on me even though I haven't posted much lately!  I'm up early with the chickens this morning getting the boys on their way to school and thankfully the much-needed caffiene provided by Starbucks is coursing through my veins and I'm awake enough to form thoughts & sentences before my day jets off to another busy start.  It seems I've been on the go since Nov.1 and that my head is now finally above the surface and I can slow down and enjoy the last couple of weeks of the holiday season thankfully.  I do this to myself every year......promise myself that I'm going to take time and ENJOY the season yet by the time shopping, wrapping, decorating, cards, school programs, baking, planning and the daily chores are done, it's the 25th!  I've had photography biz stuff on top of all of that but hopefully I've managed it all to the best of my ability and as I said, now it's done and I can chillax......for a while anyway!  Hopefully you're looking forward to a lovely holiday season this year, I'd love to hear about how you're spending your's.  We'll be hosting Christmas here this yr. for my small family, the 5 of us plus my parents & brother but I'm looking forward to it. 

It's a dreary foggy cool morning here today and I'm forcing myself not to crawl back under the covers and hibernate for a few days but I just wanted to type a few words and let everyone know I'm still alive & doing fine and I hope you are too.  I'm off to get a few more things done today and meet a friend for her birthday lunch later today.  Hope you have a wonderful day! 

Merry Christmas from us to you!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Bella Bliss!

Ok folks, I'm gonna try this once again.  I had taken nearly an hour yesterday to blog a big ol' long post all about Silver Bella full of links, photos & stuff when **BAM** Typepad locked up on me and I lost it all.  I nearly thought I was going to dissolve into tears but I managed to hold it together and try again this morning.  Maybe it's that glittery fog that I'm still in after returning home from Omaha late on sunday?  Who knows but all I know is that the Bella hangover I feel once a year is so worth it.  Guess I'll start at the beginning of my adventure so here we go!  I took of early on thursday morning to fly to Dallas, then Chicago then finally on to Omaha......this was my view that morning somewhere between Dallas & Chicago at around 33,000 feet.

I left warm Texas to arrive to cool rainy Omaha thursday afternoon around 2:30pm.  I walked out of the airport terminal and a older man who looked like a perky Santa Claus asked me if I was one of those "Silver Bells" and I said yes and asked him how he knew.  He pointed to my Sally Jean charm I was wearing around my neck......ahhhhh I see!  I thought the man looked somewhat familiar but I let it go.  Come to find out, that was Frank, the "country" designer who used to be on Trading Spaces!  I loved him back in the day and now I'm kicking myself that I didn't get a pic w/him!  My ride arrived to pick me up.......the fabulous Becca Sutton and the ever sweet  Becky Novacek.  I hadn't met Becca before and I was SO thrilled that she wanted to come along and hang with us.  The 3 of us sat, drank coffee and chatted all afternoon which is just what I needed after a long morning of flying.  Wish I had a photo to document our time together but we were too busy chatting.  Becky took me to the hotel and I was greeted by "Perenchio!!!!" by one of my favorite women of all time, Cari Kraft and she had Jenni Bowlin w/her.....oh my heck!  What a beginning to my Silver Bella weekend!!  I met up with my roomies, Shannon, Valita & Heather and got ready for our evening festivities, a buffet supper and group workshop.  This was our group project, a cute little stitchery that I did not complete (of course).

 

We stitched over a rubber stamp image which was so fun & easy.  DUH, why haven't I been doing this for a long time now?  I have a bajillion rubber stamps!  After the workshop those of us who participated in swaps swapped out our goodies with one another.  I participated in 4 swaps, 2 ahead of time and 2 to be swapped at Silver Bella because I didn't want to have to haul a bunch of extra stuff home w/me.  I promise to take pics of all the charms I recieved from the 2 charm swaps I did, you've already seen a pic of the one I did (in my previous post) and I saw several girls walking around over the weekend with my charm hanging around their neck which made me feel SO good!  If they only knew how long I'd obsessed over those darned charms!  This was my bag full of soldered charm yumminess:

 

The next day I had classes taught  by the ever fabulous Kim Kwan  and someone I've admired and have wanted to meet for a long time, the mega-talented Sally Jean Alexander.  Both ladies were super funny and wonderful instructors and I SO enjoyed spending my day with them.  It was awesome being able to sit and watch Sally Jean solder, like watching the master at work, and she made it look to easy & effortless.  

 

Kim and me, love this lady.

Then friday night was vendor night where folks can sell their creations and wares to the Bellas and local folks as well.  Hate to admit it but this is always my favorite part of Silver Bella since I just can't seem to find great crafts around here typically and you know I'm all about shopping!  Each yr. we have a different theme for vendor night and this year's theme was "vintage prom".  I searched and searched for the perfect dress to wear but finally gave up.  Thankfully my roomies didn't dress up either so I didn't feel like too big of a slug.  Here are some of the pretty Bellas who DID dress up that night:

 

I was pretty enthralled in my shopping & crafting and didn't take nearly as many photos as I should have, I find myself saying this every year, but here are some I did take with a few of my favorite Bellas.  Me and the talented, sweet, adorable Danielle Muller:

   

Valita with Debbie & Shea  who are opening up a new retreat in Dallas which is located in an old regal renovated church!  I can't wait to visit them there someday!! 

 

With 2 of my roomies, Valita & Shannon:

  

My other roomie, Heather......God bless her for making the journey to Omaha 8 months pregnant!

  

The next day began early with an 8:30am class taught by Jenni Bowlin.  I've met quite a few of my scrapbooking heroes at CHA but I hadn't ever met Jenni before and I have to say that she did NOT disappoint.  She's every bit the sweet southern belle and I just adored her and her class.  Of course she's the one instructor I didn't get a pic with, grrrrrrrrr!  Here's one of the project from her Tiny Treasures class:

   

I've got to stop here for now but PROMISE to finish my story and Silver Bella wrap-up later today or tomorrow.  I've spent way too much time sitting on my can at my computer between blogging yesterday (that got lost) then again today and all the fun blog-surfing I've done looking at everyone else's Silver Bella pics and oh yea, those other time-suckers called Facebook & Flickr!!  I think I need an intervention.  Hope you've enjoyed my pics so far (the lighting was horrid in the hotel so I apologize about the crappy pics) but hopefully they're worth sharing nonetheless.  Enjoy your day & thanks for stopping by!

 

 

On my way!

Royal Silver Soldered Charm Swap - Silver Bella '08, originally uploaded by Jana P ~ Brown-Eyed Girl Photography.

Most likely by the time you read this I'll be on my way up to rainy cool Omaha for Silver Bella. I'm not bringing my laptop this time since I can check email on my phone so I won't be checking in here till next week so till then take care and be good. I hope to return with a ton of photos & stories for you although I suspect I'll be hotel-bound most of the weekend since it's raining and cold up there! Heck, we'll have everything we need there anyway so it's all good. Oh, by the way......the photo is of the charms I made for one of the Silver Bella swaps. They were my first feeble attempt at soldering and I must say that although it can be frustrating at times, I really enjoy it! Those are rhinestones that I glued onto the upper & lower edge of the charm. I scored the stones off of an old prom dress I found at Good Will for $4.99 and there's NO way I could've bought all of those yards of sewn-together rhinestones for that price elsewhere. They shimmer like diamonds, they're so pretty so I hope everyone likes their charms!