Christmas Cards for the Military

I had wanted to do this project several years ago, when our son was active-duty AIR FORCE, and, I guess I just didn't feel confident enough to do.
This year, our AF son (in the AF Reserves now) signed up for a voluntary 6 month deployment. He left July 4th, and will be stateside sometime after the first of the year, 2012. He will be missing lots of holidays. With him missing Christmas at home, I figured this is the year for the Christmas cards to be made!
I had just about everything under control to have local crafters come help me make 500 Christmas cards to send to my sons AF base. I got almost enough local donations to cover the costs of the paper/envelopes/postage; a local Pizza shop donated pizzas for us; I had help from 2 very special friends *HI Sheila and Jennifer*getting the 500 cards and envelopes cut and prepared, beforehand, for the ladies to put together on October 1, World Card Making Day.
So much for all my careful planning......I got whisked away to the hospital in Scottsdale on September 29, and ended up away from home for ONE MONTH, due to a cyst growing around a bile duct, necessitating a 6+ hour surgery for a common bile duct bypass, and removal of gall bladder and stones-14 days in the hospital!!!; then, a 2 1/2 week stay at my moms to convalesce. Whew! One week after I can home, the cards were finally made! I was so relieved to get the 20 pound box of love delivered to the Post Office, Monday, the 7th of November! My son will deliver the box to the base Chaplain, and he will make sure that the military personnel know they are there and to SEND HOME A CARD! What a blessing!!! FOR EVERYONE!!!
Here are some pictures I wanted to share:

500 CARDS PREPPED AND READY TO BE PUT TOGETHER

My faithful cardmaking helpers!

SHIPPING DAY!!!!

These are the cards they assembled. All single layer, for postage savings and NO GLITTER, per OPSEC.

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
We so enjoyed doing this, that we may do something in the New Year for birthdays, etc.
Thanks for your visit!

11/11/11....2 days late

Our Air Force son.

SO PROUD and MISSING you so much!

Thank you for your sacrifice and service to the USA!

And, THANK YOU to all the US Military!

How humble I feel, when I think of their sacrifices.....

Thanks for your visit!

11/11/11 sign up for FREE BIG SHOT DIECUTTING MACHINE

It's almost over!
If you would love to get a FREE BIG SHOT DIECUTTING MACHINE, just sign up with Stampin' Up!
What a great way to make new friends, get new ideas and have a TON of fun!!!
Click above for all promotions and sign up information!
BUT, hurry! This offer is only good through 11/11/11!

Thanks for your visit!

What a sweet BANNER!

I love this! AND, I have everything to make it!
WooHoo! This would look SO stinkin' cute on a Christmas tree or small little decoration in your Christmas vignette!












HERE is where you can find everything that was used on this. If you want any of these products you can order from there also! Let me see your completed project, if you make one! *wink*

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I survived the YELLOW MAGIC MARKER SYNDROME!

Whew! What a wild ride! You never know what life will throw at you!
I just got home, after spending 2 weeks in the hospital & 2+ weeks convalesing at my moms home.
Thank God for a special ANGEL FRIEND that came to me unexpectedly---it was 'a God thing'---and confirmed what I was wondering about.....I WAS YELLOW!

To make a LONG story short....I had to have a common bile duct bypass, with gall bladder/stones removal. (I had a cyst growing around the connecting duct area.) I had my 6-7 hour surgery on Tuesday, October 4th, in Scottsdale. (wanna see my 12" curvy incision??? LOL) They didn't know what was going on until they got 'in there'. They were stumped because I was in NO pain...thank GOD! But, I was a bright yellow MAGIC MARKER color! (My eyeballs are still a bit yellow yet, even today.) They initially thought it was {CANCER}, due to the location of the issue and no pain relating to gall bladder. My surgeon was a very special person, and he told me what I had was very rare. Through this whole ordeal, I was enveloped in prayers, and, give God the glory, that caring, highly qualified people were placed in my life to nurture and care for me through the MOST scariest time in my life! Amazing how I literally felt the prayers over me, taking the majority of my fears away. I felt so small....knowing that I was in the palm of Gods hands, but, elated to know that GOD had the plan for me!

Thankfully, that is all behind us, and there are NO issues to deal with relating to that whole issue!
THANK YOU GOD!

So......now, I am on the path of working my Stampin' Up! business! (Funny how $150,000 in medical bills will do that to ya! LOL) I really want to make this into a great financially profitable and fun experience for anyone that I am in contact with!

If you love to scrapbook/make cards or papercrafts, click the link to the side to get information to sign up and get your FREE BIG SHOT, through 11/11/11... *or $100 in FREE merchandise*. What a fantastic opportunity!
Hostesses during the month of November, 2011, get EXTRA FREE MERCHANDISE also!!!
*You can have a virtual party, no matter WHERE you live! Items shipped directly to your door!*

...count your blessing!
Thanks for your visit! .

AUGUST SPECIAL B3/1F

Click the image for more details and to BUY SOME!! Enjoy!

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JULY SIGN UP PROMOTION

---CLICK ON JOIN NOW---

If you have ever considered joining the Stampin' Up! family, now is a great time!
Get the Starter Kit for only $99. Offer ends July 31, so, hurry!
I would love to help you start your own fun business!
Stampin' Up! offers its Demonstrators all kinds of great perks, as well as having an AWESOME website for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators only.
Contact me if you might be interested!
Thanks for your visit!

I am back....

Actually, I have been home since June 14th.... I have taken time off to recover from the terrible stress of the Wallow Fire that had us evacuated for a week. I didn't know how much stress something like this puts you under....including the animals...

The Wallow Fire still continues in the southern end of it, I believe it's about 77% contained.
I didn't want to see the devastation, but, I ended up being drawn to it.... Parts of the highway between Eagar and Alpine are fine, some have burned grassy patches, and some have total devastion. Mostly around Hulsey Lake area. I didn't have my binoculars or camera (I don't think I could bare to take pictures) with me, but, I saw enough on the top ridges of the 11,000 foot Escudilla Mountain, and in Alpine, to know how bad it is....heartsickening. The east side of Greer is pretty bad, too. Years of beautiful forest gone....
Today, it is overcast and almost feels humid....now, we have flooding to deal with, when our monsoons (rainy season) comes in. No one really knows what to expect from that!

I am continued to be amazed at the crazy weather situations in all parts of the USA, and around the world. Makes me do some heavy duty thinking....But, this makes me feel better:

What the Caterpillar calls the end of the world,

The Master calls a Butterfly...

Take care, wherever in the world you are...
Thanks for your visit!

Please Keep Praying!!!!

Hi! I am at the library in a town 30 miles north of my home....The fire eventually had us evacuate Monday evening. Was that ever hard looking at the black smoke from the rearview mirror......
As of today, Friday, the 10th, fire is only 5% contained. Bad winds predicted AGAIN for tomorrow. There was talk of going home soon, but, it's not going to happen until Sunday/Monday??? The smoke here in this little has been real bad today.
I left with my friend, Sheila and her husband. They have a 30' RV with a slideout, so, it is working out good. We found a real nice RV park with all hookups. Her husband is working everyday on an outage at the power plant, so, it works out good for us to be together to get each other through this.
This like a NIGHMARE that just won't quit.
We dont' have TV * hopefully, DISH TV will be hooked up tonight *, and the radio updates don't seem to be real current. Maybe the lack of information is a good thing.....we are all on emotional overload.
Greer was hit hard, but, Eagar and Springerville have been spared for the most part.
It was hard today, seeing the Red Cross DIASTER RELIEF trucks! The RV Park *140 spaces * is over 1/2 full with evacuees. My friends son has stayed in town, he got contracted out to haul fuel out to the fire crews, so, he knows their home is protected, and, he gives up updates as he knows anything. She also has a niece working on it....the photos of this fire are something else....this is such an old, beautiful, tall-timbered forest, with so much fuel to burn that it just won't quit!

If you are interested, just google WALLOW FIRE.
Please keep praying for the firefighters and workers on this! And, please pray for everyone involved with this ordeal! We are just wore out from the worry and fear......

Thanks for your visit!

PHOTO GALLERY from our local newspaper...

It's not actually 'local', but, the only one we have here...
WALLOW FIRE PHOTO GALLERY

Thanks for your visit!

....Good Morning {Cough, Cough}

The smoke smell woke me up this morning. Very unnerving! I was up late....1 A.M. and, was up looking out the window by 5:45 a.m. I'm scanning the computer for any updates....nothing yet, I suppose they are still having their meetings and briefings.

If you want to check out the areas webcam, click here:

ROUND VALLEY WEBCAM

I hope you can figure it out. You can slow it down, by using the arrow keys, and, clicking through each 15 minutes. The dome you see is in the center of the city-it's the High School's Athletic Dome.

The Phoenix TV channels don't have any new news yet, either. They 'pad' some of the information, so, we take that information with a grain of salt.

All I know so far is:

193,000 acres burned *from last night, may be updated by morning*

3rd largest Arizona fire ever *and, we're not done yet*

2300+ firefighters *THANK YOU!!!!*

Costs are up to $5M so far *Thanks Hikers! AND, thanks ASFS for NOT having fire restrictions during HIGH WINDS AND EXTREMELY DRY CONDITIONS*

{Sorry for that rant! But, that's pretty much the consensis of most locals!}

HIGH winds predicted for this afternoon/evening *20-30 MPH, gusting to 40+MPH  GREAT!*

There are no current evacuations for us yet.

One of the things they say they will be 'working' on, is more timely information.

I have been following the Apache County Emergency Management and Springerville Police Chief FACEBOOK accoounts. They usually have some information.

Yesterday, the fire jumped across the highway, by Nutrioso, so, both sides of the mountain will get it now, including our favorite camping spot!!! (This will probably head into New Mexico.) They pretty much had an emergency evacuation for 6-8 small settlements on the east side of HWY 180. A couple of dry lightening strikes started some fires on that side, also. Unfortunately, dry lightening will be a factor, as our monsoon, rainy season brews. It can't get here soon enough, because, they predict this fire will burn until it gets here. Typically, we don't get any considerable rain until after the 4th of July.......not good.

I sat on this computer ALL day yesterday!

I finally got up and did my own style of FIRE MANAGEMENT--

I made cookies! LOL

I called my friend, Sheila, to see if she wanted go for a ride around town, after supper.

The air had cleared, and I just had to get out of the house!

She had a great idea to give some of the firefighters some cookies!

She and her family had went out to eat, and did a little town driving. She said the poor, tired firefighters are flopped out all over the schoolyards on the grass, sleeping and resting.

So, that's what we did! I'm not sure if we should be doing that, but, we are thinking about going again today.

It's so freaky, driving aroung this sleepy little town of 6,000. We are NOT used to all this commotion.

There are so many 'strange' vehicles and things. LOTS of different fire trucks, HOT SHOT buses, Forest Service vehicles, many Police Official vehicles, trucks with huge satellites on them, TV staion crews, etc. The town seemed to be bustling...I think everyone was doing the same thing we were doing.....just looking...driving aroung to be OUTTA the house!

We drove up by the airport. This was an interesting sight:

 I could see 6 or 8 in a row...

It got too dark for more pictures, but, I hope to go out again for pictures and to the store.

If things 'go south' I'll leave for my moms in Willcox, about 4-5 hours away, cause I have to go the LONG way. The other road is blocked. I don't think I'll be leaving unless the smoke gets unbearable, or we are told to leave. Some people (with babies, or older people, or ones that have breathing issues already) have left on their own already. I am packed and ready to go, which makes me feel a tiny bit at ease. At least I don't have to make a mad dash at the last minute, when I wouldn't be able to think straight. Today might tell...

I just heard the garbage man driving into the neighborhood, so, I wheeled my container to the road. It seems funny that life goes on  as 'normal'. I always listen for the birdies singing...I worry about all the critters, poor things not knowing what is going on....I figure if I hear them singing, I'm still safe!

Well, take a deep breath of your CLEAN, FRESH air, wherever you are!

And, enjoy your BLUE skies for me!

Thanks for your visit!

Wallow Fire Updates

This is not craft related, and it's long,,,,,,,
Our town has been on pins and needles the past couple of days...You know it seems like you never get enough information, even though, we are kept posted. This all is just so scary and makes us all just absolutely sick to our stomachs, thinking about losing this precious, beautiful forest....
The "ALPS" of Arizona, is what it's referred to....

Friday, June 3, 2011

Here's the link to the video I took...for some reason I can't get it to embed...

::WALLOW FIRE YOUTUBE::

It was W.I.N.D.Y....so, you might want to turn your sound down.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

...Morning...

 *** Below***
This had me FREAKED OUT....the fire is that-a-way!

 Help is on the way...He gets water, I believe.

::SATURDAY --MY BACKYARD -- YOU TUBE::

 I got so scared and worried, looking at the orange sky all afternoon, that about 6:30, I went for a drive. Got a DQ *comfort food FOR SURE*, and drove up Picnic Hill. I had to see with my own eyes, that there weren't actually flames up over my mountain! Doubting Thomas, that I am....
This is coming back down into town. Rodeo grounds to the right. It was socked in like this all night.
**The white spots you see in the photo are flying ash**

Sunday Morning, June 5, 2011

Please say some prayers for the AWESOME firefighters....

there are over 1,300 so far, and more on the way!

I found this youtube from a local.....

Some of the pictures are from some of the

local Hot Shots fighting the Wallow Fire....

::THIS IS MY HOME::

Thanks for your visit!

worried...

I went ahead and had my Punch class today. I had 6 ladies in attendance...2 of them drove 50 miles to come and 'play'. It was a nice distraction from all the worries about this wildfire on our doorstep!

They did 2 other little projects with the punch, that I forgot to get a picture of.

Here are a few pictures from today....

Yesterday                                                                              

Today

 My backyard tonight, at 7:30. Eerily still *finally no wind, it was strange*, the forest is about 400 yards from my house!

They had a community meeting tonight. Not alot of details. It's gonna be a big fire...and we should expect to have to leave, due to smoke *hopefully not fire* Sunday.

As I type this I started smelling smoke....I went outside and yep, it smells like smoke... No wind, though, thank goodness. It's getting worse now...I hope it's not too hard to sleep! HA! What will be worse? Smoke or worry....I just hate this! I did start pulling things out to take if/when I leave, and I have a list of things to grab also. Gonna be exciting to see a town of 6,000 leaving from only 2 roads.

I wish my hubby was home...

Thanks for your visit!

...so sad

Our forest is on fire.....We have lived here for 28 years. We camp, hunt, fish, get firewood, and just relax and enjoy our forest. There is nothing like a Sunday drive in the cool, crisp air, breathing in that forest smell. It's so theraputic.I have been so scatterbrained since this started. I am SO upset about this fire. We were thinking about going camping over Memorial Day weekend, but, I was worried about the terrible winds we were having, and, how dry the forest already was. I kept thinking IF a fire started, which direction would you go?!? I called the Forest Service several days in a row, to see if there were any restrictions on the forest *it's no fun camping without a campfire*, and she told me each day that it was day-to-day & that you couldn't have any open flames from 10 AM to 8 PM. That really bothered me. They should have closed the forest for the time being...they've done it before. We are in such a bad, long drought that it's sad to see the forest in the condition that it is/was in....
We had company come to town, and didn't go camping after all. It was TERRIBLY windy all weekend...gusting up to 40+ MPH. Low and behold, the Wallow Fire was started in a remote wilderness. It's not public, but, I'm sure it's human-caused.
The eastern side of middle Arizona has the most awesome forest--Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, with the highest peak at 11,000 feet. It is renowned for trophy Elk hunting, *celebrities such as George Strait hunt here* fishing, and camping. Phoenix and Tucson people come here to escape the heat, or play in the snow, in the winter. Families have come here camping for generations.
Today, Alpine and Nutrioso were evacuated. The evacuation point was 60 miles away, NOT here, in the dome.....that is scary! They say this fire has the potential to be bigger than the 2001 Rodeo Chediski fire! I can't even begin to fathom the scope of this! Nutrioso is only 16 miles from our home.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring. It's supposed to be windy, again.
Here's some random pictures I took Wednesday evening....This first one was my yard, Wednesday morning.....not fun breathing!

Windy, and you can't even see the mountains in the background...

 

  

I spent the day at the little house, until 9PM, working stuff for my punch class tomorrow.

I had a very hard time concentrating on what I was doing, and, I spent alot of time on the phone with people, as new developments came about with the fire information.

I almost felt like canceling the class, but, I think we need the distraction tomorrow.

I just hope I can pull it off without looking like a babbling idiot.

Thanks for your visit!