Poetic Cards

First of all, let me say that I'm aware this post looks like doo-doo! I don't know why it's publishing all the paragraphs in one huge mass . . . I've been working on it forever and I can't figure it out. So deal with it. 'Kay?

Last week, I made two cards based on poems. The first one was for Nicole's bridal shower (which I missed because I had to take the hub to the airport for a business trip, grrr!).

Again, I used an image from my beloved copyright-free image book. I also got the quote from there (I layered it on the image in Photoshop). I liked the quote, and was shocked by the author. William Carlos Williams is one of my favorite poets but his stuff isn't as simple and sentimental as this quote is. I had to look it up to see what poem it came from. It come from a poem called "The Rose" which is much more complex and metaphysical than this quote would lead you to believe. I was relieved! A sentimental quote is great for a greeting card . . . but I prefer my poetry to be challenging. Geez, I'm such a snob!

The other card is interesting. As a lot of you know, Lindsey Gruwell is going through her third fight with leukemia. I wanted to make her a card and I was struggling for what to put on it. Thanks to her sister Melanie, I found out she loves the color purple. That's a problem. I don't know if I had some traumatic run-in with Grimace at McDonald's as a child, but I've always had a problem with that color. I have a hard time matching it with other colors and it doesn't help that I look horrible in that color, too! I had to go to Michael's to get purple paper because I didn't own any. Luckily, I found some paper by American Crafts (I think they're my fav company right now) that I could deal with.

Anyway, I was thinking about hope for this card. The phrase, "Hope is the thing with feathers" popped into my mind. It's the first line from an Emily Dickinson poem. Again, problem. I've always disliked Emily Dickinson's poetry. Maybe it's the dashes . . . or the fact that the chick wrote all this depressing stuff because she was cooped up all the time. It's like, hey. Why don't you step outside, get some fresh air, and you won't obsess about flies and hearses. Okay, I'll shut up. I'm being boring with all this poetry stuff.

So I looked up the poem, and for the first time, it really touched me. It just seemed to fit with what Lindsey's going through. It also made me think about my own situation. I'm a natural born pessimist. I always have been. It drives John crazy and I've really been trying to be better. But I'd rather expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised than hope and be disappointed. But this poem just reminded me that hope isn't a bad thing. Just as the poem says, it doesn't ask anything of us. (By the way, this is some of Dickinson's earlier stuff . . . before the weird, depressing stuff all the critics love. Hmmm . . . )

After all the "drama" of using the color purple and Emily Dickinson, I made a card that I'm really proud of. The card simply says, "Hope is the thing with feathers . . ." (and I really wish I had put quotes around it so it makes more sense . . . grr!).

Then, I made Lindsey a bookmark with the entire poem on it so she could keep it with her.

I hope she likes it and doesn't think I'm a total weirdo . . . though it wouldn't be far from the truth. I'm just a weirdo, not a total weirdo.

Here's the poem . . . I hope it inspires you like it inspired me:

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune--without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

Charlie, Meet Your New Mommy!

Well, obviously, the other Easter pics (the "professional" ones) are not ready yet. John's been out of town all week and had his computer with him. But check back soon . . . . I've got a lot to blog about. I'm already running behind!

So I'll go ahead and skip to last weekend. John, Charlie and I went down to Atlanta. We met my parents there and they watched Charlie while we went to the temple. We haven't been together in so long, so it was an amazing feeling to be there. I love the comfort and peace I always feel when I'm there.

On Saturday, we got to visit my friend Tina. We've known each other practically our whole lives, so it was so great to have a visit. A lot of times, when I visit old friends, it's hard to find stuff to talk about or it gets uncomfortable. Not with Tina. She's one friend I've found that I still "click" with. Well, at least I feel that way about us! : ) Tina, we totally need a visit sometime, someday, without kiddos! We'll go nuts! Moms gone wild!

Here's Tina with Charlie. Seems natural, right? She's a way better mom than me anyway. Plus, Tina's house could use some more testosterone with three little girls running around, right? So here, Charlie. We're sending you to Atlanta! It was nice while it lasted!

Just kidding. We've been having quite a time with this kid. For the past month, he has not been sleeping. Correction: WE have not been sleeping. We know part of it is delayed separation anxiety. All he wants is "Momma," which is flattering, but exhausting. But he's been having serious stomach problems lately. I took him to the doctor, and one of the first questions he asks me is this:

"Does your family have a history of irritable bowel?"

Ugh. The doctor said that if his problems don't go away, he'll have to go to a GI and get "scoped." Ahhh! I don't know if I could handle my little guy having to get a colonoscopy! But, I've been keeping track of his symptoms and keeping a diary of what he eats and er, how it comes out ("Dear Diary, Charlie's poop looked like marbles and smelled like petting zoo. Catch you later! Love, Autumn"). Right now I'm testing him to see if he has a milk allergy/intolerance. All of the symptoms match. I'm depriving him of the white stuff for a couple of days to see what happens.

Let's just hope that it clears up soon. It's been very hard on us. He's miserable and cranky and so am I. The trip to Atlanta was a TRIP for sure. While there were a lot of fun things, most of it was so stressful. I was sick to begin with and was too lazy to prepare my own food to take. Of course, I wound up even sicker after I ate restaurant food. Luckily, I was blessed to feel well enough to go to the temple. That night was rough, with almost no sleep because Charlie was sick, too. But overall, I'm glad we went because it was important. It was a sacrifice, but not nearly as much as what other people around the world give up to go to the temple. I know I'm whiny, but I am truly grateful for getting to go.

Come by soon, I'll probably have something new in a few days . . .

Easter, Part I

I think Easter is eclipsing Halloween as my favorite holiday! Not only do I love the pagan aspects of the holiday (bunnies!), but Easter has the most meaning for me. I can always feel the Spirit so strongly on Easter more than I do any other day of the year. It's almost a piercing feeling, the knowledge that the Savior not only suffered and died for us but He also lived again. And we will live again, too. These are a few pictures from last weekend . . . John took a bunch of really good family pictures, and I'll post those, hopefully, later tonight. So check in for some real pics! So here are the highlights of our Easter . . . .

On Saturday, we had a big egg hunt at my parents' house for the kids. We had over 90 eggs for four kids. Insane, right? It was fun, anyway . . .

On Sunday, we had the usual ham dinner with all the family. Then, the grandkids were forced to take pictures in their Easter outfits. John took way better pictures of this (he was the official photog after all), so I'll post them tonight.

Charlie and Uncle Paul

Got one!

Charlie's football Easter basket from Mom and Dad: Handy Manny coloring book, Crayola Crayon Buddies (waste of money BTW!), and his favorite . . . bubbles. Grammy and Papa Evans also got him a basket with a chocolate bunny, a book, a frog, plus his Easter Sunday outfit. Grandma and Grandpa Flynn got him two new outfits. Way to rake it in, boy!

Chocolate bunny face.

My niece Annie looking adorable (and knowing it).

Charlie looking all Dapper Dan! Don't you love those saddle shoes? Thank you, Children's Place! I could do so much damage in that store . . . . that is, if I had money! : )

All good things must come to an end. Of course he would get tire grease on his brand new seersucker pants. It's his job. Luckily, OxyClean got out the stains.

Projects

I have tons and tons of Easter pictures, but it'll take awhile to get them together . . . so for now, here are a few projects I've been working on.

Here is my first quilt! Nothing complicated . . . just two pieces of fabric with ties and binding. My mom bought this Cars fabric months ago for me to "make" something for Charlie. I'm not a seamstress at all . . . I actually hate sewing. But I hate having something cute lying around doing nothing. So, I decided to make Charlie a blanket during Conference. I always like having something to do with my hands during General Conference . . . I have a hard time just sitting and listening. I'm so excited about how it came out. I love the colors I picked . . . and Charlie adores this blanket. I just won't be doing another one for awhile! Sewing is too expensive and not very fun in my opinion! At least I know how to make a basic quilt now . . .

Next, I made a t-shirt for my niece Caroline's 4th birthday. I know I could find a million Spongebob shirts anywhere, but I wanted to make her a special one just for her designed by moi. This shirt was definitely a team effort by John and I. John cut out all of those little jellyfish! Basically, we just printed the images off the internet onto some really good transfer paper. Iron, and done. I thought it came out so super cute. We even ironed a few jellyfish on the back (see the first picture). I want one my size!

Now, this is where I went insane. I decided to "wrap" Caroline's gift to look like Spongebob. I seriously spent more time making this box than making the shirt! But, I thought it came out looking pretty good. It was also a lot of fun to just get "lost" in a project. When it was time for Caroline to open presents, this was the one she wanted to open first! And, Annie (her older sister) thought the box looked "freaking awesome!"

Finally, here is a card for Lindsey Gruwell. She's a girl from my branch who is now enduring her third bout with leukemia. She is such an inspiring person. She has kept a sense of humor and hope throughout this whole time. My mom (she's the RS President) asked me to make this card for the branch to sign, but I want to make her a more fun, personal card. For those of you who know Lindsey, got any suggestions?

Charliepodge

It's been awhile since I've done a post about Charlie. Nothing super exciting is going on, so I'll just share a few recent pictures and funny moments.

Here is the typical Charlie face. He walks around most of the day with his eyebrows halfway up his forehead. He looks surprised half the time and I can't tell you why. The boy's going to need Botox by the time he's three!

I take Charlie on walks in the jogging stroller a lot. I always do some stretching first. For my first stretch, I lean up against a set of french doors in the den. This one day, I go, "Charlie, are you ready to go on our walk?" He ran over to the doors and leaned up against them, just like me, and goes, "Stretch!" He does this every time we go out now!

This is Charlie discovering his shadow. It was hilarious. One morning he just noticed it and "played" with it for 10 minutes. He kept giving his shadow high-fives. Now, whenever he sees his shadow, he'll seriously give it high-five and go, "Yeah!"

Here's Charlie at his new favorite restaurant, Steak 'n' Shake. He loves the french fries and mostly, the old people that eat there and give him lots of attention. The elderly couple in the background offered to buy him for 25 cents. John said they could have him for free, but they just laughed and walked away. Dang, geezers! We were close, John. (Just kidding.) (Sorta.)

Charlie has started watching "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" on Disney. The closing song on the show is called the "Hot Dog Dance" (if you already know it, my condolences). Charlie loves that song. It basically goes, "Hot dog, hot dog, hot-diggity dog . . . problem sooooolved . . ." That one notes is held out forever. Charlie sings his own version that sounds like this:

"Ha gog, ha gog, HAH GOOOOOOOOG!"

It's pretty cute. Lately, he's been very difficult about going to bed. A few nights ago I put him in bed and he started the typical screaming routine. I was in the next room when suddenly, the screaming stopped. I thought, "Wow, he fell asleep fast." Suddenly, I hear this coming from his room:

"HAH GOOOOOOOOOOG!"

He's such a funny kid. It's good to remember the cute things he does, especially since he is in the throes of toddlerhood!

Rigid Rex and Rainy Days

Tuesday was my visit to what my dad likes to call, "Rigid Rex." That is, I had a colonoscopy. Originally, I had all these funny little things to share about it. Then I realized, it might scare people from getting one, so I'll just keep it to myself. It's been a hard, long week, but luckily I've been able to have a sense of humor about it . . . most of the time. I really think that Heavenly Father gave me such a crazy (and dirty) sense of humor so I could deal with my embarrassing poop problems. It's come in handy a lot this week!


Okay, I know I just said I wasn't going to share details, but this is actually sweet. The day before I had to be on a liquid diet. When I don't eat, it messes my system up . . . I can't fast for that reason. So, by the afternoon, I was exhausted and really grouchy. I came downstairs to find this basket. I saw baby powder in there, so I thought it was a present for a baby shower. Then I realized that we don't know anyone having a shower any time soon. Then I saw the Jell-O and realized it was for me. My mom packed me a little "colonoscopy" survival kit. It had baby powder and lotion, boxes of Jell-O, butt wipes, cushy TP and my favorite, crazy straws (for the two liters of laxative I had to drink that night). Getting that basket was just a combination of care and hilarity to cheer me up. Later, my mom approached me and handed me a bottle of air freshener.


"This didn't fit in your basket. By the way, you can't flush more than one of those wipes at a time."


That's my mom alright. It is her house after all . . . thanks, Mom!


Okay, as far as results from the test . . . my colon was clear, no polyps, no nothing. But, my doctor tells me I have a "tortuous colon." And my intelligent, college educated, English degree-ed (with honors!) response?


"So that means, it's like, bendy?"

Doc: "Yes. It's tortuous."


Um-hmm. Well, basically it means it's extra long and twisted funny. That's the cause of some of my problems. I had several biopsies taken just to be sure, but I won't find out the results until this week.

On to more fun things . . . cards! Here's the bridal shower invitation I did this week.

I had this copied at a print place that I've used for years, but I was a little disappointed in them this time. For whatever reason, the woman changed the colors on me. It kind of ruined it, but oh well. It doesn't look horrible, but I'm not happy with the final result.

I've got to point out that yes, Glossy Accents struck again. I used it to make the little clear raindrops. Yes, I put raindrops on every single invite! It's all in the details . . . except, yes, I realize there is a typo! I put this together the afternoon after my colonoscopy so I blame the anesthetic!

Ghetto Leprechaun

You have got to check this YouTube video . . . it's hilarious!