Spring showed up!

Hello from Seattle where spring has shown up! I have traded my umbrella for my sunglasses for TWO DAYS!! YAHOO! I know it has been a while (like almost a month!) since I have posted. It is very different living in my little temporary corporate apartment with just a few of my stamping supplies. Now I say a few ashamedly because I do have enough paper for 3 generations after me,a slew of stamps and I had DH send me my ink pads by mail (which I forgot in the breakneck packing I did after my last day on a Friday in Medford, OR and my next day in the new job in Seattle on Monday!) and a "little bit" of ribbon. But you know how it is when you have an idea in your head and you just don't have the right stamps. I had some ideas in my inspirational brain cell that I wanted to stamp. Who knows where the stamps are? I'll probably find them a year from now! Of course some of my inspirations needed buttons too and do you think I brought buttons? No. But I persevered and found in my temporary essentials a card kit from Basic Grey, complete with paper, stickers, chipboard. I got it on sale for a song and so I started slamming cards together like a mad woman today. Glue dots UNITE! Add a sentiment and boom I had a card. I think I made 20! I chose to design my own layouts rather than use the kit's ideas - their cards were awfully big (although they did include big envelopes too) and I knew I could just about double my output in I followed my usual layouts. I needed thank you cards and some just general cards of encouragement. My photos don't show the colors at best advantage, as they were taken on my little tiny desk with my Iphone. (You can just barely see the lights of the ferries in the background :D)

In the midst of all our personal churn in pulling up our entire life in Oregon and moving to Seattle, my dear MIL had unexpected open heart surgery this week in Carson City, NV. DH drove down and spent 4 days with her and then came home in the worst snow storm of the year yesterday. There is just so much going on in our lives and here I am 9-1/2 hours from home where I am no help. We have ads on Craig's list for furniture we are not moving (downsizing is a bummer in some ways), repairmen coming to resolve issues which were on the inspection report and then just the usual sorting and tossing. I plan to try to get home for a few days before closing on April 22 to throw the biggest moving sale in the history of the cul de sac, but for now, here I sit. So my blog will be updated for the next 20 days after my card making fest today: born of frustration, guilt and some discouragement. There is just more than my poor remaining braincell can take.

I have been looking at homes on line - condos townhouses, single family homes in a variety of communities around the Seattle area. My cousin Shannon took me to a lovely community called Mill Creek last weekend and we had a blast wandering some model homes in a swell little neighborhood within walking distance of a beautiful little town center and green belt. Cuter than all get out, but SMALL. I kept trying to figure out how to crowbar our belongings into these 1500-1700 square foot homes, from a 2750 square foot, 5 bedroom home.......well, let's just say, I called Jeff and gave him a quite a few more items for Craig's List. I think most of my issues today were that I just want to be settled and I want my better, stronger, half WITH me. But that is 3 more months down the road when the school year is over. Thank goodness I have a wonderful God who can keep me focused on the eternal and centered on Him for peace and contentment when circumstances around me are far from generating the same. I hope you all have a FABULOUS week!!