I was gleaming - she was making faces

We attended the Scholastic Art Awards last night. I was so proud of Makena for having her project considered for this and VERY excited when I found out she won the Silver Key. Last night we found out that she also won the Gold Key! Congratulations Pook!

Makena wasn't as excited as I was. Come to find out, she really didn't like the project that was chosen by her teacher. She said that she didn't really put effort in to it and wasn't sure why it had been chosen. I reminded her that different people love different things - and a group of people thought that her project was expressive enough to win two awards.

The class art project was: a self portrait painted with water colors, in the same color palette, and then sent through a print press.

There were hundreds of people in the (small) Pacific Northwest College of Arts. We looked around at as many projects as we could before leaving. I was very impressed with all of the students' work. Three thousand projects were submitted for several different subjects, and only a couple hundred won.

Then we went outside to (of course) take more pictures.

And get more funny faces from Makena.

So proud.

Good Things #17

Want to make a donation to help the Red Cross in Haiti right away?

You have the unique opportunity to give and give abundantly to the Haitian recovery cause. If you feel helpless in helping Haiti right now, you can pick up your cell phone and text the word “HAITI” to the number 90999, and it will immediately send $10 to the Red Cross and charge it to your cell phone bill. I know $10 sounds like nothing, but you can probably do it multiple times, but the power of numbers is what the Red Cross is looking for, so tell all of your friends about it over the next few days.

I did get this information from a reliable website and (don't tell Jamie) have already sent my text!

2009: In Review

I found this list of questions on another blog that I follow and thought I would give it a try.

What did you do in 2009 that you had never done before? I took a camera class - loved every minute of it and am still learning about my camera each day.

Did you keep your New Years Resolutions? I don't recall that I had any. I know I wanted to try to get "healthier" - sometimes I followed through and sometimes I didn't.

Did anyone close to you give birth? Not that I can recall, but was crossing my fingers for it!

Did anyone close to you die? My great-grandmother (Father's grandmother) and then my grandmother (Father's mother)

What places did you visit 2009? Walden Island (as often as we could), Garibaldi, Pike's Place Market, the beautiful Caribbean, Alaska, Maryland

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? More time to scrapbook - I miss it.

What date in 2009 will be etched in your memory and why?

January 21, 2009 - Our first African-American President began his first day in the office.
May 10, 2009 - Mother's Day
May 15, 2009 - had several friends out to the lake (they helped work, but we still had fun!)
June 12, 2009 - road trip to Relay For Life of Tacoma; Celebrated 25 years of HOPE
June 20 & 21 - Relay For Life of Hillsboro 2009; my 5th Relay
September 2, 2009 - Makena turned 13
August 15, 2009 - I saw my dad for the first time in years
December 24, 2009 - we spent time with a lot of my family on Christmas Eve and it's been more than 10 years since I was able to do that

What was your biggest achievement? Keeping up with my blog and creating a photography blog. Giving time to myself and not feeling guilty about it - something I'll continue to work on in 2010.

Did you suffer any injuries or illness in 2009? I broke my toe at the end of 2008, which was still healing in 2009. Other than that, I tried (very hard) to stay healthy and in one piece! PS: my mental illness has been with me for years!

What was the best thing you bought? I would probably have to say my camera bag and some accessories. The new John Deer tractor up at the lake was the best thing too, but I didn't "personally" buy it.

Where did most of your money go? I think most of my money goes to groceries each week. It's amazing how fast you can spend $100 at the grocery store! Also, sadly, I owed the government money (bastards!)

What song will remind you of 2009? Yikes...I dunno...maybe John Mayer's 'Waiting on the World to Change' - the song isn't from 2009, but I AM still waiting for the world to change. People continue to amaze me - both good and bad.

What do you wish you could have done more of in 2009? Enjoyed the 'little things'. A constant goal of mine.

What do you wish you could have done less of? Not stressed or worried about so much. Another constant goal of mine.

What was your favorite TV program? Dexter, Criminal Minds, Medium, Grey's Anatomy, The Mentalist (I have a huge list on the DVR)

What was the best book you read in 2009? I think there were too many - still loving Dean Koontz, Kay Hopper and found Jodi Picoult

What was your favorite movie of the year? The Blind Side was great and one of the most recent

What did you do on your birthday and how old were you turning? I turned 34 in 09 - that actual day was spent with my Girl Scout troop at Great Wolfe Lodge.

What political issue did you struggle with this year? Oh geeshhh...way too many probably. It continues to amaze me that people are allowed to decide for others for whom they can marry. Women marry shitty men all the time (and visa-versa) but that's not an issue.

Who was the best person you met? I met some great people through Relay. I met my two beautiful CASA kids. And I met several more wonderful people through blogging.

In addition - some things I'm looking forward to in 2010 (in no particular order):

Getting my Etsy site loaded with product - that will sell. More on this soon!

My 6th Relay For Life of Hillsboro

Great times at Walden Island

Taking 1000's more pictures

My 35th (THIRTY FIVE - WOW) Birthday! (Hopefully celebrating in Vegas baby)

A wonderful niece or nephew

Time with family & friends

A healthier me

Family time and football, of course

Due to every one's holiday schedule, we weren't able to make it over to Grandma Neena's until just last weekend. We enjoyed time with family, and wonderful lunch and a gift exchange.

My cousins - Kim & Kristen

Luckily for Jamie, Grandma had somehow gotten the NFL package on a promotion. Jamie was able to watch his Ravens play, and win.

She was so excited about her gift choice!

Makena said "so full of love for such a little woman" - so true!

Jamie wanted to steal his gift (fishing pole) back...but didn't

My Aunt Trish

Hailee was able to join us

Cel-a-brate good times, come on!

We invited people over to celebrate New Years with us!

We had lots of snacks, drinks, games, kids playing...

Jamie - always being silly

Dylona & Dawn

Logan loves to play football with Uncle Marty

Logan also loves to tell Uncle Jamie how cool the Seahawks are
Kallie was on her tip toes trying to reach the marshmallows

I put Bolt on in our bedroom to see if the kids wanted to rest

but they didn't stay upstairs very long

Sydney & Friends

Kylah thought maybe she could rest better in Makena's bed -

and Kallie in the trundle. Moxie too of course!

but that didn't last very long either and we

were soon having a hula-hoop contest on the Wii

Martin & Sydney

Renee got the champagne ready and we watched the ball drop

the kids were all still up too!

Nico & Sydney

Me & D

I picked up Makena early the next morning. We spent the entire day laying on the couch, watching movies, snacking, playing with new toys and napping. Jamie spent the entire day upstairs, in bed, doing the same thing. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Great friends, great time - what a wonderful way to bring in 2010!!

And the winner is...

Scholastic Art Awards of Oregon

The Scholastic Art Awards of Oregon is a statewide regional affiliation of the national Scholastic Art Awards program, which offers early recognition of creative teenagers and scholarship opportunities for graduating high school seniors.

The Portland Metro regional program is affiliated with the state program and is open to all students in grades 7 through 12, who live in Clackamas, Washington or Multnomah counties. Student entries are submitted by art teachers.

The Scholastic Art Awards of Oregon is celebrated with regional exhibitions and ceremonies hosted by various sponsors. Regional Gold Key selected artwork will continue on to the national competition in New York.

Scholastic Art Awards has recognized 6 outstanding Highland Park Middle School students for their artwork, hard work and creative voice. Congratulations to Silver Key Winner: Makena Foulk! Makena's project was a painted self portrait, appropriately titled "Self Portrait".

Artists' work will be on display at Pacific Northwest College of Art, on January 14th, 2010 from 6 - 8pm. I am hoping to attend and get (several) pictures of her with her ART.

Congratulations Pook - we are so proud of you!!!

Money Crashers 2010 New Year Giveaway Bash - WOW!!

Just found out about this AWESOME giveaway online and wanted to share! Check out Money Crashers Giveaway - over $5700 in cash and prizes!!!

The contest runs from January 4 to January 31, 2010 and the winners of all of the individual prizes will be selected by a random draw on February 3, 2010. There will be over 100 winners in total.

Be sure to sign up - and share if you win!! ; )

Can everyone just look at the camera please?!?

I tried to get a family picture of us while we were in Garibaldi for Christmas. I have tried to do this a few other times and the pictures always turn out the same way. No one ever sits still, not all of us are looking at the camera, the dogs can't figure out what the heck we're doing and there is a lot of laughing and (me) yelling. But, they always make me smile!

I thought I would share a few of them.

I obviously need to work on hiding the remote, but it wasn't my priority at the time.

I love them!