30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 30

My final post for my LET'S GET PERSONAL: 30 DAY CHALLENGE - something that tickles my fancy.

I would like to show you our home - Earth, the Pale Blue Dot.

The excerpt is read by Carl Sagan, author of Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Although I do not agree with his statement, "there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves", I am reminded of how small we really are and how precious a gift we were given. To think, no gravitational pull or a slight degree above or below that sun's ray, there would be no Earth, no us.

We all have questions, we do not understand ... but how can you look at that picture and not be in awe of how much our God loves us?!

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 29

Ok... So I'm cheating a little, but I'm saving you from having to read through two very long and incredibly boring posts - DAY 27: my month in detail and DAY 28: my year in detail. Anyway, that last one, my year in detail, at my age, is nearly impossible! Although, I think if I could remember every single detail, I would bottle it and be a bazillion-aire, ha ha!

So, with that said, I'm moving on to day 29 ~ hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days.

These last few weeks I've had a fire in me that I can't explain. I know it's the Lord calling me. It's funny how the enemy wants to distract you, sway you from the truth of your calling. He has tried to distract me the last couple days with anger, depression and hopelessness. But with each new day, as the sun comes up, the truth is clear.

My 2011 mission - to submit, completely to God. to trust Him. to listen and obey.

Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11-13  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

I choose to love more. to truly listen. to forgive. to not be defeated by my own doing. to leap without looking. to find my own voice. to just be me.

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 26

Day 26 of my LET'S GET PERSONAL: 30 DAY CHALLENGE - my week in great detail.

Since it's early on in the week, I'll talk about last week.

Somehow I feel that talking about what I do during the day/week isn't all that exciting, but keeping true to this challenge, here goes...

SUNDAYS (this is an every week thing)
My day usually starts around 6, 6:30 - that's AM people - to get ready for church and service. Shelvie, Jason, John and I (we are 'the tech team', sometimes with the help of Steve, my brother-in-law) are responsible for setting up sound for worship.

The church suffered a fire back in May and we are awaiting the opening of our new church in April 2011. In the meantime, we are using the neighboring school's gym.

which includes:
unloading the trailer
setting up instruments: keys, drums, guitar(s), bass
equipment: speakers, monitors, sound board, mics
plus, running all necessary XLRs, instrument cables, extension cords, etc.

Service begins at 10am and usually ends around 11:30pm. At which time we breakdown, repack and reload the trailer.

By that time, Shelvie and I are famished and I'm cranky, coming down from my very LARGE cup of coffee. If it's in the budget, we'll venture off to have breakfast at Doc's - an amazing little restaurant in the center of town. Everything is homemade, which means you will wait a long time for your food, but it also means that it is made from scratch, so it's so worth it!

Then it's off to the house, full belly = long nap.

Around 4:30ish - I say 'ish because I always make us late - where off again, back to the school, for Velocity - where Shelvie and I are youth leaders. There we play games, dodge ball or some other semi-violent sport and listen to a short message by the youth Pastor, Pastor Doug.

After that we either hang out at P Doug's house, where we (all the leaders), hon our Jenga skills - we got up to 37 rows, world record is 42 - or we head home to watch the newest delivery from Netflix.

Shot with P Doug's iPhone

MONDAY, December 20th
Out of bed by 8am. While I have my am coffee intake, I catch up on emails, read through all the tweets I missed over the course of the night  - my OCD requires me to read them ALL - and read the newest blog posts in my Outlook reader.

It was super windy that day and the house lost power for about an hour. Since I couldn't use my computer, I went over the business notes I collected throughout the year, reviewed favorites from the Wedding MBA, and organized an action plan for 2011 - including a reconstructed business plan, a new client prospective and a schedule of goals for the first quarter.

After that, I wrote the blog post SNEAK PEAK: DANIELLE AND JASON, where I talked a little about them, their personal and collective interests and their different design aesthetics. I also talked about how I kept Danielle's desire to brand her wedding in the forefront, while having to work-around a previously chosen invitation design, to produce two design concepts for their save-the-dates.

At 4pm I went to the gym.

Home around 6pm, showered and made dinner for Shelvie and I. We then cuddled on the couch and bickered over who was going to drive, who watched their show last and finally decided on the history channel - a happy compromise :)

TUESDAY, December 21st
I am a creature of habit - Out of bed by 8am. Had coffee while I caught up on emails, read through ALL the tweets I missed over the course of the night and read any new blog posts in my Outlook reader.

I then researched, collected ideas and wrote out some thoughts I had for adding video to the new DOSSIE-A website. Maybe a little stop-action?!

Finished optimizing (in Lightroom) some images I took of the nieces, a Christmas gift for the grandparents. 

Spent the rest of the day with Shelvie ~ I love the holidays = slow work week!

WEDNESDAY, December 22nd
Up and out of the house by 9am.

Worked, on site, at Ill Eagle - where I am defining a new position for their company, while leading in new product developments.

With the holiday and trying to get new shipments out, they forgot I was coming in that day. However, they needed a quick holiday design so, I created

They then added their personal message and sent it to all their clients and vendors.

That evening, they hosted a Christmas party, next door at a newly opened Sports Bar. I ran into a girl I went to high school with, it made me feel my age for. just. a. second.
 
THURSDAY, December 23rd
Up early, showered and spent about an hour collecting and organizing (wall) paint swatches for my 10am design consulting meeting.

10am meeting with Pastor Jim, Mary Ann and Jason (site contractor) to make final decisions concerning the carpet and tile selection, wall color, elevator stain, Formica selection (bathroom, reception and workroom) and wood grain for the doors and cabinets.

11:30am meeting with P Doug to go over print design needs for all of the upcoming 2011 events, plus the necessary information timeline.

1pm lunch with Dave and Julie, brother- and sister-in-law, at Red Robin ~ yuuummmm

full belly = nap time

Shelvie had worship practice that evening, so I watched The Business of Kids from my creativeLIVE: Children's Portrait Photography with Tamara Lackey package.

FRIDAY, December 24th ~ Christmas Eve
In the morning, I baked vanilla cupcakes and chocolate chip cookie brownies for dessert that evening.

Headed to the gym around 12pm to about 2pm. Home. Showered. Ate.

you know it! full belly = nap time.
I'm so predictable, right?! Not really, although I am a creature of habit, this week is not the norm. I wish I get to nap after every meal - this is why holidays ROCK!

At 6:30pm we headed over to Steve's house - that's me, Shelvie and our dog Alice; Steve and his family: Amber (wife), Taylor, Kendall, Payton, Diem (kids) and their two dog's Emmy and Bronx; Mamma and Poppa G; Oty; Dave and Julie - for dinner, gaming - we played XBox Kinect, I HIGHLY recommend it ... it's great fun! - and gift giving at midnight. Home and asleep by 2am.

SATURDAY, December 25th ~ Christmas
Up around noon. Ate then napped.

Left at 3pm and headed to my families get-together - my mom's side of the family. This was more low-key, adults and no kids under the age of 12.

Home and watching a movie by 8pm ~ aahhhh :)

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 25

Getting to know me, my day in detail...

Not much to tell here, which is a rarity. We got fourteen inches of snow last night, which means Shelvie worked over fifteen hours straight, starting at 1am.

oh, and I just have to mention, I'm going snowboarding on Saturday - start of the season = fresh powder, WHAT?! :P

Shelvie is sick as a dog and we were up most of the night. With church that morning, our day begins at 6am - we are responsible for setting up and running sound - exchanging Christmas gifts that didn't fit - wait, which one of us was supposed to bring the receipt - and running a few errands - Call of Duty: Black Ops ~ check, Verizon phone charger ~ check, Starbucks because I'm getting cranky ~ check - before the storm, it was a long day. Needless to say, I am tired today.

With that being said, I spent most of the day trying to be lazy. Operative word here being, 'TRYING', my Type A personality + OCD tendencies never really allow my brain a vacation. So, trying to be some-what productive, I decided to ...

Catch up on some basic busy work, ie... this weeks blog posts (I'm trying to get 30 DAY CHALLENGE completed by the end of the year - five posts in five days - go me!).

Update DOSSIE-A with some new features: Facebook 'COMMENT'ing and 'LIKE' (sharing DOSSIE-A with your friends), plus a more in-your-face opportunity to connect via Facebook or my blog.
forgot Twitter in that mix

yeah, not firing on all cylinders today

hmmm...will have to fix that

Finally updated my Twitter profile, including a new background and color option - so it feels more like DOSSIE-A, maintaining brand recognition.  
yeah, I fed my OCD monster and went through *ALL* 4,000 color combination's. Exhausting all the options, I finally had to settle on one that matched the CLOSEST. (in Twitter: profile ~ edit your profile ~ design. Under 'design' get more creative ~ check out Themeleon) 

and... I finally figured out how to post my ShowIt sites to my Facebook Fan Page. *HELLO*, this took me weeks! Want to talk about frustrating, it worked, then I had to go mess with settings, because, you know, that's what techies do. So, after numerous emails to Jason over at ShowIt, I had an epiphany. Well, not really an epiphany, more like an a-ha moment. I remembered him saying something about an alternative method to posting and decided to reread the directions ... ha, ha, my bad!
Now, you can browse my blog or my website without ever leaving Facebook.

I would love to hear how you spend lazy days! or leave fun tips on what to do when your stuck in the house all day.

I can't wait to hear your comments!

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 24

Day 24 of my LET'S GET PERSONAL: 30 DAY CHALLENGE - something that tickles my fancy.

Even though my last 30 DAY CHALLENGE was to share a YouTube video with you, I'm going to go ahead and share another one.

Shelvie would like me to learn the piano, 'so we can start a band and become famous' he says. I guess he never got the memo that musical genius was not one of the qualities God had listed when he created me. To encourage me anyway, he showed me this video that exemplifies that all songs are made up of only four chords. I guess he wanted to take the intimidation out of it ... ah, huh ... right! ... does he not see that my hands are the size of a five-year-olds?

However, if I want him to be my second shooter one day - oh, did I mention that I want us to be a husband-and-wife wedding photography team and become famous?! I guess I never got his memo either, God didn't include that on his list, he's color blind.

I guess I'll have to learn the piano...

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 23

Day 23, a YouTube video

This video is just over eight minutes, but well worth watching in it's entirety!!

It's taken from the show Ukraine's Got Talent where Kseniya Simonova, the contestant, is telling the story of the bombings of Kiev during World War II (which begins around the five minute mark). To tell the story, she draws on a light table covered with sand, while the performance is projected on a screen behind her.

What's even more amazing, other than the story itself, is that she had only been drawing for one year prior to this performance! Truly amazing and inspiring when I'm feeling defeated by the lack of my talent!

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 22

Day 22 of my LETS GET PERSONAL: 30 DAY CHALLENGE - a website

WISH UPON A WEDDING

This amazing organization provides couples, who face terminal illness or serious life-altering circumstances, with the resources to plan their very own wedding.

Wish's motto is 'based on the concept that two people in love should never be denied the chance to marry their soul mate' and was originally inspired, by Liz Guthrie, the founder and executive director, when she was producing a large scale wedding giveaway in San Francisco in 2009. Over 350 couples entered the contest, however, one couple in particular stood out to her (and the winners via public voting) - Vanessa Muza Teskey, who was battling Stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and her fiance, an officer in the US Air Force who was deployed overseas.

Seeing so many couples in need, and so many vendors willing to give their time and services, Liz - who was a wedding planner, with a background in nonprofit work -  decided to combine the two and Wish Upon A Wedding was officially launched in January of 2010.

If you are in a position of being able to give back, wont you help!

Donations can be made through the PayPal button on their website (scroll to the bottom of the page).
If you are a New Jersey wedding vendor, be a wish granter, and fill out the form here.

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 20

Day 20 of my LET'S GET PERSONAL: 30 DAY CHALLENGE - a Recipe...

My Mom's Meatball Recipe:

Chopped meat (use a beef, pork, veal combo - about 1.5lbs)
1 egg
2 Tbs of Parmesan Cheese
Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder to taste

Mix together

Then start adding small amounts of Italian flavored bread crumbs (the secret ingredient). This is to bind the meatballs together - the trick with this is to add small amounts at a time. (You don't want to make the meatballs dry, so just add enough to make everything stick together)

Cooking Options:
1.) In Sauce - start off by browning them quickly. This will help them to not fall apart in your sauce.
2.) Baking at 350 degrees for about an hour-and-a-half, turning them every so often.
3.) Frying at low heat - no oil needed. This option is the fastest, but the key is to cook over low/medium heat. This helps the insides cook without burning the outsides.

ENJOY!!

If anyone tries this recipe, I would love to here about it! Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 20

Day 20 of my 30 DAY CHALLENGE ... a hobby of mine.

I often wonder if this would have made more sense 30 days in a row ... LOL ... oh well

This is not so much a hobby, but an extension of my talent.

This past weekend, we went camping with some really great friends - Brittany and Vito.

Now, I'm not a camper - cooking over a fire, not showering for two days - but my husband loves it, so guess what that means? ... I love it too ... LOL

While the boys were napping, Brittany and I took a walk around the lake. These were just a couple snapshots I took of her.

I would love to know your thoughts?!

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 19

Day 19 of MY LET'S GET PERSONAL: 30 DAY CHALLENGE ... a talent of mine

I started classes at my local community college in September and by December I'll have a web development certificate - certificate, meaning I'm bypassing all the liberal arts classes and just taking the core classes I need.

The reason why I decided to go back to school is to fill in some gaps. I'm a Graphic Designer by trade, so I know how to design for the web - navigation, usability - but I only know a little about how to make it work ... so after, I'll really know!

My goal, come January, is to launch a couple new services for my DOSSIE-A bride's! YEAH! ... more on that later though ;) ... haha!

Basically, I'm taking the whole 15 credits to get it over with as fast as possible, LOL! My classes are as follows:

Web Design Tools – Flash and Dreamweaver
Digital Media Production – here I'm learning how to film, cut and make movies ... fun!
Video Graphics/Animation – I get to make a ball bounce
Web Design II – I'm learning to build a site from scratch
Painting I – well,  I get to paint :)

So, you say, how does painting have anything to do with web design? It doesn't ... haha!

Since the class Web Design I, was information I already knew, my adviser was generous enough not to torture me by having me sit through it again. I did, however, have to make up the credits. I looked at it as the perfect opportunity to do do something fun - I had to be there anyway, plus I was paying for it so it needed to count!

I decided to go back to my artistic roots. Sometimes it's nice to step away from something to get a better perspective and allow yourself to grow as an artist. Now, I can never be away from my computer, but this allows me to take a visual break, if that makes sense.

Now, I've never painted before, and it hasn't been since '96 that I actually drew something (other than one, 11 week semester at college - but that was eight years ago!). So, I was a bit nervous to be in a room full of youngsters - oozing with raw, natural talent.

Needless to say, my first painting wasn't half bad. It's kind of like drawing but with a different tool and I learned - charcoal, paint, mouse - it's all the same really.

This is how it came out...

This is the statue, Venus Aphrodite.

How'd I do? I would love to know, leave your critique in the comments section below!

______________________________________________________________________

Other artists who used this classical plaster cast...

Giorgio De Chirico
The Uncertainty of the Poet, 1913
Oil on canvas

and

Henri Matisse
Plaster Torso and Bouquet, 1919
Oil on canvas

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 17

Hey all... Day 17: an art piece

This is The Kiss, by Gustav Klimt. I've loved this since I could remember! Even did a project for school about him, ha ha!

At first glance it looks one-dimensional but as you continue to look at it, things start to pop. You notice that the couple on the embankment become the foreground and the gold shimmer the background. The layering of the strokes, in and of itself, give the background texture, almost like the feeling of a hot summer's night.

The flowers of the embankment take on a life of their own, almost like the movement of being softly blown by the wind.

She becomes more three-dimensional - her face, her hands, her feet. She totally looks loved and safe in his embrace.

The blanket that surrounds them has squares on the outside but circles on the inside - the square is structured, rigid but the circle is soft and free flowing - maybe to show the viewer that the blanket protects the embrace but has a softness on the inside.
*You can also see the latter on her dress, made up of circles in juxtaposition - a women, by tradition, is represented as delicate - further defining the circle as something of soft quality.

I love the struggle between the two- and three-dimensionality of the painting, but I am also captured by the softness of the love shared between the couple  ... ah, I'm such a mush-ball! LOL


This is what I did for my class project.

I created this book cover in my first year of school, for an ad and layout class, I think ... LOL ... it was so long ago! It's fun to look back at some of the work I did then, it's when I truly see growth. I guess we all have to start somewhere ;)

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 16

Day 16 of my LET'S GET PERSONAL, 30 DAY CHALLENGE ... a song that makes me cry.

This one is an easy one ... Angel, by Sarah McLachlan ... every time, without fail. When the commercial comes on, Shelvie looks at me and tells me not to cry.



It never really impacted me until I first saw this commercial ... maybe because the pit she's holding in the beginning reminds me of my Alice :( ... or maybe because it makes me sooooo angry! These helpless creatures God has created to be our companions and has entrusted us to care for, we just allow them to starve, be beaten and fought to near death ... *sigh*, so sad!

Really does just hurt my heart.

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 15

Day 15 of my LET'S GET PERSONAL challenge ... someone I admire.

This one is easy, I admire my husband! corny, I know ... LOL ... First off, anyone who spends 24/7 with me and not want to strangle me at the end of the day gets a big high five!

But on a serious note, Shelvie's an amazing partner and friend. He challenges me to be a better person, and although sometimes this is tough for me, his patience is all the affirmation I need to try; he supports my career goals, his business sense is invaluable; and most importantly, he is a man of God, and I love him more for it!

He's always trying his best, has my best interest at heart and stands by the vows we repeated to each other on our wedding day - and I know, no matter what, even when times are tough, he'll never abandon me.

He's my partner in crime, my best friend and I know one day, he'll be an amazing father - allowing me to rewrite some of the bad memories from my own childhood.

Everyday I spend with my husband is another day I fall more and hopelessly in love with him!

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 14

For Day 14, I tell you about a non-fictional book I'm reading ... The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.

It's a book my husband bought for me when we first started dating and I'm just getting around to reading ... three years later! bad, right?! LOL

Anyway, this puts Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus on it's head. 

Here's a bit from chapter one:

"Why is it that so few couples seem to have found the secret to keeping love alive after the wedding? Why is it that a couple can attend a communication workshop, hear wonderful ideas on how to enhance communication, return home, and find themselves totally unable to implement the communication patterns demonstrated?

Finding the answers to these questions is the purpose of this book. It is not that the books and articles published are not helpful. The problem is that we have overlooked one fundamental truth: People speak different love languages.

Most of us grow up learning the language of our parents and siblings, which becomes our primary or native tongue. Later, we may learn additional languages but usually with much more effort. Language differences are part and parcel of human culture.

In an area of love, it is similar. Your emotional love language and the language of your spouse may be as different as Chinese from English. No matter how hard you try to express love in English, if your spouse understands only Chinese, you will never understand how to show love to each other. Being sincere is not enough. (highlight added by me). We must be willing to learn our spouse's primary love language if we are to be effective communicators of love."

I think when you get married it is your responsibility to take care of your partner's needs. That takes commitment, sacrifice and communication. If sometimes you miss the mark - which, let's face it, happens more then we'd like to admit - read this book, it may help fill in the blanks.

Read more here. Just sign in and you'll be able to see more of what's in the book.

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 13

A fictional book...

I've been fully immersed in reading new books on how to better my skills in business, but I did read one over my vacation in Punta Cana. It was the The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion by L.J. Smith, the finale to The Awakening and The Struggle.

Here's the caption from the back of the book:

      Elena: transformed, the golden girl has become what she once feared and desired.
      

      Stefan: tormented by losing Elena, he's determined to end his feud with Damon once and for

      all—whatever the cost. But slowly he begins to realize that his brother is not his only enemy.
      

     Damon: at last, he possesses Elena. But will his thirst for revenge against Stefan poison his 

      triumph? Or can they come together to face one final battle?
   

Not the best vampire story I ever read, but entertaining non the less.

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 12

Day 12 of my 30 DAY CHALLENGE ... whatever tickles my fancy.

This is me, in a nutshell!

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 11

A recent picture of me:

Shelvie took this in the lobby of the resort. He likes it because he thinks I look like an actress on a movie set :) LOVE HIM!!

How about that guy behind me?!

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 10

I'm trying to get back on schedule for my LET'S GET PERSONAL challenge and show you a picture of me from ten years ago. However, I'll have to come back to this one another day. I lost all my pictures a couple weeks ago. Simple human error really - ME! Being the - if I don't have a million things working at once, I don't feel productive, person that I am - I wasn't paying attention and deleted the right folder from the wrong hard drive! :( Three years of the experiences, vacations, life I'm beginning to build with my husband + some before we met memories, GONE - just like that. No concern for my feelings, the sentimental value or the attachment issues I have to them, GONE! Now, I'm not a crier by nature, but I cried that day!

I was able to restore my external hard drive, YEAH!, but now I'm left with a jumble of images with no names, event sequence or year taken. I usually would dive into a task like this ... organize ... WHAT?! I live to organize :) However, I'm totally procrastinating at putting them back into the year/month/event, along with date(s) folder set-up I had them in. But when I do, I'll re-post.

Now that I'm done ranting, moving on...

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 9

Day 9 of my 30 DAY CHALLENGE ... a picture I took. This is my niece Taylor, taken at a family party.

I love the composition of this image and the way the colors contrast, but the tones work together harmoniously. Maybe one day get into photography as a profession.

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 8

Day 8 of my 30 DAY CHALLENGE, something that makes me angry or sad.

This just rocks my world!




Watoto is an holistic care program, founded by Gary and Marilyn Skinner, that was initiated as a response to the overwhelming number of orphaned children and vulnerable women in Uganda, whose lives have been ravaged by war and disease. (sited: Watoto/About us)

I was introduced to this cause by my friend Jenni, who also heads the missions ministry at my church. In the process of adopting her own baby (originally from Uganda, but now from Ethiopia), God just broke her heart for the devastated lives children of third world nations have to endure. Through her fierce determination, a group of us were to go to Uganda in August. Unfortunately, we were unable to make it due to the fact that our church burnt down. ... LOL! (not as bad as it sounds) and there is always next year!!

Check out more about Watoto here. The site was updated recently and is super neat!