Several quotes in one post

I came across a partial quote that began "sometimes courage doesn't roar" so I googled it to find the rest of it and the author. I found it and also found that I liked every one of the quotes attributed to Mary Anne Radmacher. I hope you do, too.


http://thinkexist.com/quotes/mary_anne_radmacher/

Our day at Six Flags

Curtis and I took Seth to Six Flags yesterday. The occasion was Curtis' company picnic and awards ceremony. After a week of rainy days and temperatures in the 70s and 80s, we had 95 degree sunshine. Ugh! Curtis said it first but I wholeheartedly agreed. If anything makes you feel old, it is spending the day at Six Flag with a small child. I can't imagine how we ever thought spending an entire day from open to close with our children at this 212 acre amusement park was fun. You walk and walk to stand in line for hours in the hot sun to ride a ride that lasts only a few minutes. It was an exhausting day. However, I have to admit that I loved watching Seth's face when he saw something cool or hearing his laugh after he and his grandpa got totally soaked to the skin on the Aquaman ride or hearing him say how "super" fun it was. Everything is "super" to him lately as in "did you think that was super scary or just a little bit scary?" It was so super fun that they rode it again right before we left and got even wetter the second time. I just really think I am over the Six Flags part of my past life.

Wedding stuff

The response cards are coming in. This thing is really happening! My weekends from here until the big day are full. Just check out this schedule!

Aug 23 Curtis' company picnic at Six Flags. (we are taking Seth)
Aug 30, 31 Crop with a new group of ladies, Lunch with the family at my Mom's
Sept6 Bridal Shower
Sept 13 Seth's 5th birthday party
Sept 20 another bridal shower
Sept 25, 26 Scrap Pink for Susan G Komen foundation
Oct 4 BAchelorette party (do I really want to do that?)
Oct 11 OMG one week to wedding
Oct 18, the big day

I think I need to sleep right now and store some of it up....

Memory Makers Masters announced today

and I am not one of them. LOL However, now that they have been announced, I can start uploading my project 365 photos again. Because one of the rules was that none of the photos used could ever have been posted anywhere, I had to stop posting my pics on flicker. I used several of them in the 5 layouts I submitted. It will take me a while to get those done since it has been a couple of months. I hope you like them.

I do want to give a shout out to my friend, Joscie (who rhymes with bossy) for being named a runner up in the MMM contest. I am so proud of her! She reads this blog occasionally and I hope she sees how proud I am. Way to go, girl. There is still an open invitation for flat Joscie to visit Texas.

These girls

These girls are my nieces and my youngest little girl. They are 4 of the 5 girls born within a year of Allison. There are a couple about a year older and a couple about a year younger. There was a boy (Cole) born in there, too but he doesn't giggle near as much as they do. From left to right, they are Rachell, Allison, Lauren, Ashley. Camryn is not here on this day.
I remember the days when these girls were babies and toddlers. I remember the family gatherings when they would all beg to go home together afterwards. There were lots of weekends that I would either have no children or a house full of cousins. Those were fun days. I am so glad that my brothers' and sisters' kids have all grown up so close. They still keep up with each other although they are all at different colleges. Isn't technology wonderful? When I was in my 20s, it would have cost way too much money to chat with my cousins long distance on the telephone.
It is funny how the cousin thing worked out in 0ur family. Every single one of our kids has at least one cousin who is the same age except Mary's 3 year old twins. Of course, they have each other. Karen has Stephanie. Some of them have several like Allison does. In addition to those twin girls, our kids range in age from 14 to 26 for a total of 17 kids amongst us. We have a police office, a personal trainer who already owns his own gym, a real estate agent, a graduate student working on becoming a college history professor, an accounting manager, 5 college students and 5 high school students. I couldn't be prouder of all of them if they were my own kids.

Here she is

Queen of "must you always be pointing that thing in my face?!" As photogenic as this girl is, she still gets irritated with me for always taking pictures. Of course, every once in a while I will get "aren't you going to take a picture of this?"

We moved Allison back to Austin this weekend. She is finally beginning her senior year. This is the beginning of the end of our being in the business of supporting kids. After three years of room mate angst and drama, she has decided to live on her own. She found a cute little efficiency right on the bus route to campus. It was surprisingly clean and has mostly new appliances and carpet. I think she will be better off, especially in the spring when she begins her student teaching, not to have the distractions of other people coming and going.

Some circus pics

On Wednesday night, Curtis and I took both girls and Seth to the Ringling Brothers circus. It had been so long since we'd been that Allison swears she doesn't remember ever going. We got there early and they had some fun stuff happening on the arena floor. We saw an elephant doing a painting, we watched some clowns juggle, we got to try on some costumes. And, of course, we played with our clown noses! We had good seats and I tried to get some pictures during the show but it was pretty dark and I couldn't see to change the modes on my camera so several were blurry. Here are a few of the good ones.

layouts

A mish mash of stuff that I did this week

Good Sunday morning. My biggest news this week is that I finally decided to get contact lenses. Glasses are such a hassle and I have reached the point where I needed them all the time, even to drive. I am vain enough that I didn't want to use those dorky looking clip on sunglasses like my mother uses and I really didn't want to keep up with two pair of prescription glasses, either. I didn't do too badly once I started trying to put them in. It only took 6 or 7 tries in the doctor's office on Friday and yesterday, I got the right one in on the second try. Of course, I lost count on the left one. I bought a cute pair of sunglasses that Allison told me looked "young" so I am good!

When I was talking to Curtis about the contacts, I said I really like them but the downside seems to be that I no longer have glasses to hide the wrinkles around my eyes. The darling man replied, "I hate to tell you this honey, but your glasses were not hiding those wrinkles." LOL Gotta love an honest man.

I also got a shorter hair cut this past week. The hair stylist who is (of course) young enough to be one of my kids told me it looked "sassy" and once again tried to convince me to do some highlights to cover the gray. Although I thought about it pretty seriously, I passed on the highlights but liked the "sassy" comment. I will try to get a self portrait session done this week and show off my new look.

I got my entry for Memory Makers Masters mailed in. I sent mostly multi-photo layouts this time. I really love the layouts I did. I'm sure I will be sharing them with you in a couple of weeks when they pick their winners. LOL

Wedding plans are going well. We bought flowers to make boutonnières and corsages this week. Joe's grandmother is going to make those.

Seth is doing great at the babysitter's. I think this is what he needed. He is doing so much better with fewer kids around. The lady keeping him is enforcing manners and rules and he is much happier there than he was in day care where those poor teachers just did not have time to deal with one child who needs more attention than others. I am glad that he has a September birthday so he has one more year to mature before starting kindergarten.

Here is one layout I did this week for an AAM challenge at Memorable Seasons. The only thing I used on this layout that wasn't a scrap was the background page. I have been doing this a lot lately, challenging myself to use stuff in my stash that is already open and scraps. BTW, Memorable Seasons featured me as the first highlighted member in their newsletter this month. You really should come visit us. It is a slower paced message board than most I've been at but the gallery is full of gorgeous stuff. The design team is awesome and I have been ordering lots of really fun stuff from the store. They are beginning a new kit of the month. Each kit will be designed by a member of the design team. This months was designed by Jen. Funny thing about her kit is that I already have most of those papers so we obviously have similar taste. LOL The link is on the right under places I visit.

And Friday's winner is

Marilyn! Everyone go see all the wonderful pictures she took all week. She was my most enthusiastic player and took lots of beautiful colorful pictures. Here is the link to her blog. http://melonscraps.blogspot.com/

email me your address to dettaowens@texasearch.com and I will get your goodies out to you.

Thanks for playing with me. I had fun putting the photo collages together and I hope you learned something, too.

I have done lots of scrapping this week and will post some of my layouts next week. Happy Scrapping!

The yellow/orange winner

is Tamara (suppenhuhn) I'm going to use my prerogative and name her the winner since both Amy and Debbie have already won this week. Email me your address to dettaowens@texasearch.com

Friday's colors are pink and purple

Show me something purple or pink. I know pink is really a shade of red but sometimes I can't decide if something is pink or a shade of purple. You have until Saturday at 3 to post your purple or pink photos. I have really enjoyed this week. I hope you have, too.

Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Purple is associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. It conveys wealth and extravagance. Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

According to surveys, almost 75 percent of pre-adolescent children prefer purple to all other colors. Purple is a very rare color in nature; some people consider it to be artificial.

Light purple is a good choice for a feminine design. You can use bright purple when promoting children's products.

Light purple evokes romantic and nostalgic feelings.
Dark purple evokes gloom and sad feelings. It can cause frustration.

Wednesday's winner

I got 4 entries for the green challenge and random number generator chooses number 2. Amy, please email me your address. I probably have it somewhere but send it just in case.

Today is orange and yellow

I only have five days and way more than 5 colors that I wanted to do so I am combining two today. They coordinate well, though and sometimes, they can be mistaken for each other! Orange has always been Allison's favorite color and I really think that is a small part of why she picked UT for college. LOL So, show me something orange or yellow or both! You have until Friday at 3 to post.
Another excerpt from Color Wheel Pro

Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.

To the human eye, orange is a very hot color, so it gives the sensation of heat. Nevertheless, orange is not as aggressive as red. Orange increases oxygen supply to the brain, produces an invigorating effect, and stimulates mental activity. It is highly accepted among young people. As a citrus color, orange is associated with healthy food and stimulates appetite. Orange is the color of fall and harvest. In heraldry, orange is symbolic of strength and endurance.

Orange has very high visibility, so you can use it to catch attention and highlight the most important elements of your design. Orange is very effective for promoting food products and toys.

Dark orange can mean deceit and distrust.
Red-orange corresponds to desire, sexual passion, pleasure, domination, aggression, and thirst for action.
Gold evokes the feeling of prestige. The meaning of gold is illumination, wisdom, and wealth. Gold often symbolizes high quality.

Yellow is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Yellow is often associated with food. Bright, pure yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this color. When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect; it is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms. Yellow is seen before other colors when placed against black; this combination is often used to issue a warning. In heraldry, yellow indicates honor and loyalty. Later the meaning of yellow was connected with cowardice.

Use yellow to evoke pleasant, cheerful feelings. You can choose yellow to promote children's products and items related to leisure. Yellow is very effective for attracting attention, so use it to highlight the most important elements of your design. Men usually perceive yellow as a very lighthearted, 'childish' color, so it is not recommended to use yellow when selling prestigious, expensive products to men – nobody will buy a yellow business suit or a yellow Mercedes. Yellow is an unstable and spontaneous color, so avoid using yellow if you want to suggest stability and safety. Light yellow tends to disappear into white, so it usually needs a dark color to highlight it. Shades of yellow are visually unappealing because they loose cheerfulness and become dingy.

Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy.
Light yellow is associated with intellect, freshness, and joy.

winner of the blue challenge

is Debbie! I've got your address, girl. I will get your prize out at the end of the week. Please tell your friends to come play with us, too.

Wednesday's color is green

Green is my favorite color and has been since I was a child. I had this one green dress that I loved when I was in the fifth grade that I wore so much that kids started making fun of me and called me greenie. I quit wearing it so much but I still love the color.

Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money.

Green has great healing power. It is the most restful color for the human eye; it can improve vision. Green suggests stability and endurance. Sometimes green denotes lack of experience; for example, a 'greenhorn' is a novice. In heraldry, green indicates growth and hope. Green, as opposed to red, means safety; it is the color of free passage in road traffic.

Use green to indicate safety when advertising drugs and medical products. Green is directly related to nature, so you can use it to promote 'green' products. Dull, darker green is commonly associated with money, the financial world, banking, and Wall Street.

Dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy.
Yellow-green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy.
Aqua is associated with emotional healing and protection.
Olive green is the traditional color of peace.

Monday's winner

Random number generator picked #1 so Monday's winner is Tya, also know as jandbsmom.Please email me at dettaowens@texasearch.com and I will get your prize out to you at the end of the week.

Tuesday's color is blue

I know. That was pretty predictable, wasn't it? However. I saw this bucket in my garage and actually went back inside to get the camera. The pictures I have seen from you so far are great. Tell your friends to play with us, too. You have until 3 today to post your red photos and 3 tomorrow for the blue ones.

Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue is used to symbolize piety and sincerity.

You can use blue to promote products and services related to cleanliness (water purification filters, cleaning liquids, vodka), air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners), water and sea (sea voyages, mineral water). As opposed to emotionally warm colors like red, orange, and yellow; blue is linked to consciousness and intellect. Use blue to suggest precision when promoting high-tech products.

Blue is a masculine color; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred color for corporate America.

Avoid using blue when promoting food and cooking, because blue suppresses appetite. When used together with warm colors like yellow or red, blue can create high-impact, vibrant designs; for example, blue-yellow-red is a perfect color scheme for a superhero.

Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness.
Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

Monday's color is red

Your first challenge is to show me something red. I have four here but you only need to show me one. Leave me a link and your name will be added to the list of potential prize winners. You have until 3 pm Central time on Tuesday.

The following is copied from the website for Color Wheel Pro

Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.

Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. It has very high visibility, which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red. In heraldry, red is used to indicate courage. It is a color found in many national flags.

Red brings text and images to the foreground. Use it as an accent color to stimulate people to make quick decisions; it is a perfect color for 'Buy Now' or 'Click Here' buttons on Internet banners and websites. In advertising, red is often used to evoke erotic feelings (red lips, red nails, red-light districts, 'Lady in Red', etc). Red is widely used to indicate danger (high voltage signs, traffic lights). This color is also commonly associated with energy, so you can use it when promoting energy drinks, games, cars, items related to sports and high physical activity.

Light red represents joy, sexuality, passion, sensitivity, and love.
Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.
Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath.
Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities.
Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

Out of the mouths of babes

We kept Seth on Friday night so Karen and Joe could go out. I picked him up from the sitter and his hair was a bit disheveled. When we got home, Curtis asked him "what happened to your hair?" His reply? "I've got hair. YOU don't have any hair." Funny stuff.

Here is a picture of the prizes for my week of color photo challenges. I have made up five similar packages to this one. I will give one away each day to a random person who links me to a picture of their photo. I'll post the first one either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. You will have until 3 pm Central Time on Tuesday to post and I will select the winner shortly afterwards. Tell your friends. If I have more than 15 posts in one day, I will give away two prizes that day.

some more engagement pics

I did some editing last night.