I Believe...

Thanks to Janelle for sharing the blog with these thoughts......


A Birth Certificate shows that we were born.
A Death Certificate shows that we died.
And, pictures show that we lived!

Now, relax.... and read this slowly.

I believe - That just because two people argue, it doesn't meanthey don't love each other. And if they don't argue, itdoesn't mean they do.

I believe - That we don't have to change friends if we understandthat friends change.

I believe - That no matter how good a friend is, they're going tohurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe - That true friendship continues to grow, even over thelongest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe - That you can do something in an instant that will giveyou heartache for life.

I believe - That it's taking me a long time to become the person Iwant to be.

I believe - That you should always leave loved ones with lovingwords. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe - That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I believe - That we are responsible for what we do, no matter howwe feel.

I believe - That either you control your attitude or it controlsyou.

I believe - That heroes are the people who do what has to be donewhen it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe - That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe - That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I believe - That sometimes the people you expect to kick you whenyou're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe - That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I believe - That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less todo with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I believe - That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe - That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I believe - That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe - Two people can look at the exact same thing and seesomething totally different.

I believe - That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I believe - . That even when you think you have no more to give,when a friend cries out to you - you will find the strength to help.

I believe - That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe - That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

author unknown

Have you ever?

Have You Ever…
1. gone on a blind date? Yes, a few
2. skipped school? Yep, in high school & college
3. been on the opposite side of your country? Born there!
4. swam in the ocean? Many times
5. had your booze taken away by the cops? No, which surprises me!
6. lettered in a high school sport? No… quit before I was an upperclassman
7. cried yourself to sleep? Yes, a few times
8. played a musical instrument? Guitar
9. sung karaoke? Many many many times!
10. cheated on an exam? nope
11. played spin-the-bottle? Yep
12. laughed until some sort of beverage came out of your nose? No, lol
13. watched the sun rise with someone you care about? Yes
14. ever been arrested? no.
15. gone ice skating? yes, my dad took me often as a child
16. been skinny dipping? Yes a few times
17. been on television? Yes, but in a group
18. thrown up in front of a date? no

Your turn. Blog it and tell me where in the comments section! Happy Monday to you all!

352nd Fighter Group, Second to None!

Casey and I have been in Tucson since last week attending a reunion of the 352nd fighter group. It was an amazing reunion. These men, who were part of the 352nd in WWII are all at least 87 years old. Wow! This is the bathroom we have in our house that is a tribute. I think my dad would get a kick out of this! I am looking forward to working on some of my WWII stuff this winter. I have to say, having met a few of these men, they really are SECOND TO NONE.

60 things...

01. WHAT TIME DID YOU GET UP THIS MORNING? 7:00
02. DIAMONDS or PEARLS? diamonds AND pearls
03. WHAT IS THE LAST FILM THAT YOU SAW AT THE THEATER? Lady in the Water
04. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? Right now Army Wives, but really Boston Legal
05. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY HAVE FOR BREAKFAST? Cereal
06. FAVORITE FOOD? Beef Boulgogi (Korean)
07. WHAT FOOD DO YOU DISLIKE? Wild game
08. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CD? Tobi Keith or Brad Paisley
09. WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU DRIVE? Chrysler Pacifica
10. FAVORITE SANDWICH ? Club
11. WHAT CHARACTERISTIC DO YOU DESPISE? people who think they know everything
12. FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING? jammies or my plaid shorts!
13. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON VACATION, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? Of course, I can go anywhere, England, Scotland, Ireland next!
14. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BATHROOM? a mushroom color, brownish taupe
15. WHAT IS YOUR MAIDEN NAME? Cunningham (my dad was born in Scotland)
16. ARE YOU ATHLETIC? Not really, I was more in my youth
17. SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT YOU? I am a Pekingese freak! Oh interesting...hmmm, I love teenagers
18. INDOORS OR OUTDOORS? indoors
19. HAVE YOU TRAVELLED OUT OF THE COUNTRY? yes,
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? “I heard that song before” by Mary Higgins Clark Love mysteries
21. WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST IN FRIENDS? Fun, honesty, integrity
22. FAVORITE SAYING? “nobody likes you”
23. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? April 3
24. ARE YOU A MORNING OR NIGHT PERSON? Morning this decade25. WHAT IS YOUR SHOE SIZE? 10
26. PETS? 3 dogs (large, medium, and small), two birds, and 3 hissing cockroaches (gross!)
27. ANY NEW AND EXCITING NEWS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US? I am excited to go to Tucson for the 352nd fighter group reunion this week!
28. WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE? A teacher
29. HOW OLD ARE YOU TODAY? 43
30. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? Dove milk chocolate
31. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER? Hmmmm any in a big colorful bunch!
32. WHAT IS A DAY ON THE CALENDAR YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO? Oct 5th, we will be in Barcelona and getting on a ship after a city tour
33. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Liane Cunningham Donovan
34. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? the tv and the next door neighbors dog whining to get inside....
35. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Haggen Daas sorbet, lemon
37. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Lipstick red!
38. HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? Coolish and perfect!
39. FAVORITE SOFT DRINK? Coke
40. FAVORITE RESTAURANT? Korean
41. SIBLINGS? Not a one!
42. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR? It is between the first day of summer vacation and the first day of back to school!
43. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD? Stuffed animals
44. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer at the Oregon coast46. COFFEE OR TEA? coffee
47. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? chocolate
48. HAVE YOU EVER SHOT A GUN? Yes, many times
49. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Last week
50. WHAT IS UNDER YOUR BED? Just the carpet! I even ran my roomba under there today, so hopefully no dog hair!
51. WHAT FRIEND HAVE YOU HAD THE LONGEST? Carleen, we took swimming lessons in preschool. OMG over 40 years, holy schmoley!
52. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? Went to bed early after we ate make your own pizzas on the BBQ, fun and MESSY!
53. FAVORITE SMELLS? vanilla
54. WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? Nothing, and everything
55. HOW MANY KEYS ON YOUR RING? 6 I think...
56. HOW MANY YEARS AT YOUR CURRENT JOB? 8, wow!
57. FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Tuesday
58. HOW MANY STATES HAVE YOU LIVED IN? New York, AZ, CA and Oregon….. four
59. DO YOU MAKE FRIENDS EASILY? sometimes
60. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? Dance like no one is watching

Quigley 101

In general this bird does not like me. He is a Quaker Parrot. He likes Mike, period. The only time he let me touch him was last week. Even though he has wings he can't fly, and he flopped to the floor. Both of the big dogs went right over. They both understand that he is family, but that must be a bit scary for a little bird. Anyway, Mike wasn't home, so I had to step up, and sure enough Quigley stepped up on my finger and let me put him back on the cage. He likes to hang out there (in front of our wedding photo, circa 1989).

So, fast forward to last night. I had a great weekend so far! Friday night I played Bunco, and yesterday I went to an all day crop at a fellow CTMHers home not too far from here. She was very kind to let me be there, as to some I would be viewed as the enemy! I worked ALL day on the second half of my cruise swap. I am so glad to report that I got it done!!! Wahoo.

We had food from "Maggie's Buns" in Forest Grove for lunch. This is my second experience with them, and it is a wonderful place! I understand that mostly it does catering. OMG YUMMY. We had quiche, a yummy salad, bread and dessert creations. Did I mention yum? Wow, it was good!

Oh yea, the bird. So Mike was tired too last night. His stereo died on Thursday so he HAD to get a new one in Gracie (um yea, that is the name of the ford mustang convertible). So he played with that all day yesterday. He wanted to learn how to use all of the new features! So we go to bed fairly early, about 9:15 pm.

Alec comes to say goodnight, and heads back to his room...."um dad, Quigley is at the top of the stairs." WHAT? Yep, the bird has jumped off of his cage, walked down the hall, walked up the stairs, and headed down the hall to our bedroom... what a funny bird!!! So, I guess parrots are quite smart... sounds like Quigley will do that again! Oh my. I love our birds. Birds and dogs, a crazy combo that works for us. =-)

Hope you have a great day!

TGIF

My bella card for the 'boozers' swap.... it is WAY better in person. And, I see I have used too much light here! This is currently my favorite bella! I just love her.

Ahhh, a weekend that is mostly about ME, fun! Tonight I got to play Bunco with a wonderful group of ladies. I love it when I get to sub for one of them because they are all so fun! I did miss seeing my friend Diane though...

Tomorrow I am signed up for an all day crop. I had hoped to do some fun scrapbooking. But it looks like it will be all about working on swap pages for the cruise.

On a wonderful note, we got all of our cruise documents today. Wow, we are REALLY going to the Mediterranean! I can't believe it is almost here. The flight to Barcelona (through Atlanta) will be long, but the trip will be wonderful, I can hardly wait. There is just soooo much to do between now and then....Overwhelmed is one word! LOL

Here is to a good weekend for all of us!

Patriot Day

I wanted to have a special post to say that I hope you all took a short time today to reflect on how fortunate we are to live in this United States. God Bless the U.S.A.!

Stamp of the Month Swap

I truly am completely and totally obsessed with my pekingese. I HAD to buy her this little flower bed at Ikea a few weeks ago. It has matching food and water bowl and mat. She will take those with her to the beach (when she gets to stay with Bill & Danielle) while we are crusing! She gets just as spoiled there, or more, than she does at home. She did need a bed for my scrapbook room.... she ONLY likes to hang out with me! That is ok though, I want to hang out with her too!

I started freaking out a bit today. I have many things to do to get ready to go to Spain, Malta, Italy, and France.... oh poor me! NOT. But still. Next week Casey and I are going to Tucson next week for 6 days. We are headed to a reunion of the 352nd fighter group. This is the group my dad was in during WWII. He was a fighter pilot. There are only a few of these guys still alive now, so sad. But this is the year it works for us to go. Yahoo! I am really looking forward to our trip!

Our unit stamp of the month swap is due on the 20th. I was seeing this set only for scrapbook pages, awesome for scrapbook pages. And, I was less inspired for cards. But, whew, my friend Julie Reynolds came up with an awesome card, and I was very inspired by her card to make this one....

More tomorrow. It has been a crazy day! Nite...

My Red Umbrella

I was trying to decide between red, and pink, but alas, I picked red... so here is the skinny on me!

What Your Red Umbrella Says About You

When faced with adversity, you respond aggressively. A part of you enjoys being challenged. You don't back down easily. You have the confidence and character to lead. You are outrageously brazen with you ideas, opinions, and statements. You'll say what you think, and no one will silence you! On a rainy day: you should continue your plan to rule the world... while everyone stays home and naps

The Umbrella Test

.... now back to my plan to rule the world!

Welcome Back...

Foxy Roxy:

Princess Kassie with Casey:

Aspen the super model:




Yes, it is time for me to get back. I want to get back to life, and back to blogging. The summer felt like a whirlwind... or maybe a tsunami or typhoon..... it just felt like a LOT. So, I have done a few projects, but haven't been so great about photos. I am excited to be back at home during the day with my three girls. I love how they follow me around all day long! So, last week I pretty much did back to school stuff.... you know, get the house back in order and such... but this week it is time to get back in the swing of things.

Here is the first double page layout for the cruise swap...




Right now doing this swap feels a bit overwhelming. But I know when I have all of those pictures I will be thrilled that I joined the swap. I have to do 30 double page layouts.... it isn't awful by any means. But, this group is pretty talented. Plus, I want to be sure to have plenty of picture space, so that limits the layouts I choose. This one is out of the Imagine Book, by Close To My Heart. I really love their books, and I use them.

The high point of my day (at dinner tonight) was that I am done with half of my layouts.... of course then my low point was I have half to go! LOL Tomorrow is another day.

So, what else did I do this week you ask? I bought a Canon Elph Camera. It was $180. I spent way more (about 3 times that) in May of last year to get a good camera. But it is just not great. It doesn't shoot fast enough among other things.... I don't know why,but I just don't love it.... I wanted a Rebel, but I didn't want to spend 1K, so I didn't.... I should have. So, I can't wait to send some stuff to print and see if my 8 pixel is as good as my 10.1 pixel. Now my 'good' camera has 18 times optical zoom, this has 3. LOL So, I did like my Alaska photos.... even if I lost half of them, but that is another story. You know, the problem with earning these cruises is that I have to have a good camera.... OK I am rambling. Enough for tonight.....

Today in my thoughts:
1. My friend whose daughter has pinkeye
2. My friend whose husband betrayed her, and is treating her like crap.
3. My husband's head custodian and his health.
4. Both of my children and their new schools (middle school and high school)