arriving at destination

Don't tell my husband but I love our GPS system. I balked last fall when he wanted to buy yet another Garmin. It had only been a year since he purchased the first one and I was not convinced that he needed a new one. Actually, I still wasn't convinced until the other day when I actually made use of it myself. We had taken the kids out of town to a water park. As we were changing in to our suits I discovered that the bottoms to my swim suit were no where to be found. Here we were over an hour from home and I was bottomless. The kids were already in suits, we had already paid entrance and I wasn't about to hold up the party. I knew I had to go track down something to swim in. The thing is, I am NOT good with directions. I couldn't find my way out of a paper bag. I get lost easily in this small town I live in, let alone some place larger. Needless to say, that GPS came in handy! I located the nearest Wally World on the map, set it as a destination and off I went. It was so comforting to have that computerized voice telling me which way to turn and when she finally said "arriving at destination" I was thrilled! So thrilled in fact that I celebrated by buying a waterproof camera for the occassion. LOL!

Since that day, that simple phrase 'arriving at destination' has gone through my head a lot. In life, when will I know when I'm arriving at my destination? Have I already gotten there? Its definitely something to think about. Life is a journey but what is the desitnation? I suppose that is as personal as the journey. In a way I feel as though I've reached my destination. I no longer feel that I am waiting for something to happen, waiting to finish school, waiting to get married, waiting to have a baby, waiting, waiting, waiting... Sure there are things still in our life plan but for the first time since I can remember, I feel as though I am actually LIVING and not just waiting!

There... that was my 'deep thought' of the day. Aren't you glad I shared? LOL!

Anyway, things have been hectic for me lately. School starts on Thursday and my lovely (but somewhat bratty this week!) daughter will be headed off to first grade. I'm a little sad. Kindergarten threw me for a loop last year and this isn't much better. Kindergarteners are still babies. Sure, they are in school but being the youngest of the bunch they are still babies. I can't pretend that she's a baby anymore. She's 6 and a 'grader' (she loves to call herself a grader!). I guess those baby days are over. My oldest is officially a kid. Not a baby, toddler, preschooler or even kindergartener. She's a kid. How did that happen?

So, in the midst of all the getting ready for school (and all the pondering where my baby went when I wasn't looking!) we've been throwing ourselves in to as many fun family activities as we can to send summer out with a bang. The last three weeks have been a flurry of activities. I hate to see it coming to and end but I am, at the same time, ready to find some 'normalcy' in my days so that I can spend more time designing.

I am happy to say that I've been able to etch out enough time to continue to participate in the Teacher's Pet program at Funky Playground Designs! I was thrilled to learn that I made it to round 3. This is the first such competition I've participated in and I have to say, I was a little nervous starting out. Traci, Corina and Chere (and the rest of the FPD designers of course!) are just awesome though and have definitely made me feel right at home. I find myself really hoping to make it to the end because I'd love to stay at FPD and hang around with those awesome girls! :)

The assignment for round 2 was to create an element pack. The catch? Every item had to have some sort of extraction incorporated in to it. I had so many ideas going through my head that it was hard to narrow it down to one thing to focus on. In the end, I created a cute little pack of beaded goodies... buggy for beads. Here's a peek at it. For those who weren't able to grab it at FPD before the link was removed, keep an eye out... in September the mini kit from last week and the element pack from this week will be available again!

Now its time to get started on the assignment for round 3. I'm excited about this round and can't wait to show you the mini kit that is floating around in my brain! Stay tuned!!

sunbaked, waterlogged and grinning ear to ear

Aaah, I feel so refreshed! We had an amazing weekend. It was a shame we had to come home! It wasn't amazing so much in what we did, it was just so relaxing and fun. I'm worn out though and ready for a weekend away to recover from our weekend away! LOL

Yesterday I came home to an exciting announcement. I made it on to round 2 of the FPD Teacher's Pet apprentice program! In case you missed the first round, I'll give you a peek of my mini kit. It will not be available again until the end of the program but then I will offer it again as either a blog freebie or a mini kit in one of my stores.



Round 2 will consist of element packs so you will definitely want to keep an eye out on the gallery at FPD so that you can pick up the awesome packs available from the participants!