News of the week:

Do these guys look familiar? You're right. They don't look like anyone special to me either.

That probably explains how Eli Manning and his whole offensive line sat about 10 feet away from us at dinner last night and we didn't even know it was them until we asked someone.

Now, understand that we knew they had to be on a football team or something because they were all massively HUGE, except Eli, but they just looked so young that we had no idea they were professional football players bulking up for the biggest game of the year and for some of them, the biggest game of their lives!

Can you believe it! How random for us to happen to be in Chandler of all places, meeting a friend from California for dinner. I think we've had dinner in Chandler maybe once in the last 30 years.

It was kinda cool, even though I really know nothing about that team except that they beat our friends' beloved Packers (sad). We were at Firebirds (Wood Fired Grill) restaurant by the Chandler mall. I would have taken a picture with my cell phone but it was too dark.

We enjoyed catching up with our friend, Steve B and the food at the restaurant was pretty good too.

This is Eli Manning...doesn't he look too young to be a pro quarterback?

Hank Williams Jr, Hunter Hayes: Jambalaya

This little boy is just adorable!

Job Update:

My position at Catalyst has been filled. My replacement starts on Monday and my last day of work (as of right now) is February 15th. Pray for me and the new guy that we can transfer a lot of information and get him up to speed during these next 3 weeks of training.

I don't have another job yet, but I do have an interview for a part time job at Uhlmann Family Offices . They are well connected with Catalyst and I know quite a few of the folks there, so it looks promising, but no guarantees.

I still need to get the lead out and send some more resumes so all my eggs aren't in one basket. Please pray that God will lead me to the perfect position to meet our needs.

MORE BIG NEWS!

After several years of trying to figure out a way to reduce my hours in my job at Leadership Catalyst, we've come to the realization that, due to the nature of my role there, it's just not practical to have someone who's not there full time, 5 days a week. Because I believe that the Lord has laid it on my heart to have some more time at home for family, friends, church, etc., we've decided to take a step of faith and begin looking for a different job that will allow me at least one more day a week at home.

I didn't want to leave the Catalyst team (this photo is most of the team and spouses at our Christmas party) without enough transition & training time, so even though I don't have another job yet, we've already started looking for my replacement (a bit uncertain on my part, but best for all involved, I think).

If you have an idea of someone who could fill an Events Manager role for Catalyst or (for me) a more flexible 3-4 day a week job in the Phoenix area, I'd love to hear from you. I'd also be happy to send along the Events Manager job description for potential candidates and/or my resume if you want more info on my work history and variety of experience.

Please keep this transition in your prayers. As you can imagine, with all the upcoming events that Catalyst has in 2008, there's never really a good time for a change like this. A few possible candidates have surfaced for the Events position, but our goal is to find a very skilled person who can get up to speed quickly to fill that full time role. We’re trusting God for the next step for me as well. I'm excited and wide open on the possibilities that He may bring along.

Thanks for your prayers and any help you might be able to give in the way of referrals, etc.

Big News!

Kevin is going to Japan! He's leaving sometime in the next week or so and will be gone over a month. I don't know yet if he'll be gone on his birthday.

He's been sitting around in the states waiting to complete the last of his training and its been backed up because the equipment that he's supposed to be training on keeps breaking down. So instead they decided to send him to Japan to finish up.

He's pretty excited because he loves to travel. Keep him in your prayers for safe travel and a great life experience. He's not sure if he'll have access to email, but is hoping to. If you want to write him, you should do it in the next day or so before he goes.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!!!!

I don't do new year's resolutions because they just seem too much like my own self-determination without leaving room for God to work his will, but I'll pass along a few goals for the new year.

• Listen more
• Interrupt less
• Love well
• Get to know my God better
  
• Spend more time with those that are precious to me
• Look for God's plan for each day, not my own
• Leave room in my days for creativity to be expressed
• Finish some of those 2007 projects that never got done

That's the big picture for 2008. BTW, soon I'll have an announcement that I can't reveal just yet. Hint. It's something that will help to reach some of the goals above. For those of you who may know, please keep it quiet for now.

I'll leave you with this note of encouragement: "Always leave enough room in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, or even joyous." -Paul Hawken

Here's a great place to find color inspiration for decorating, crafts, scrapping, etc.

It's called "Color & Quote" from the "Big Picture Scrapbooking" website. It's also a friendly reminder to be on the lookout for color inspiration in unexpected places.

Bookmark it for the next time you need ideas for color combinations.

Scrapping and Photo Ideas:

Check out this cool idea for photo confetti - actually called Photofetti!

Would be a fun thing to get for a party, graduation, wedding reception, etc. It has your photos on one side and a message on the other side.

Amy, maybe you can offer it as an add-on for your wedding packages.


I saw this on Laurie Stamas' Blog. She's going to be one of the teachers at the Creative Escapes Retreat in September and she lives right here in Scottsdale. She also teaches for Big Picture Scrapbooking. Take a look at some of her awesome layouts and storage ideas. We just might need to get to know this lady.

After our "Friends Get-Together" on the 29th we were talking (sadly) about the fact that Christmas was over for the year. We had given and received the last of our gifts and felt so blessed by the joy of it all, but sad that the season was ending. You see, giving gifts is one of the things I enjoy the most.

Little did I know that God (and my friend Scott) had one more surprise in mind.

You need to understand that I have known Scott since I was probably 5 years old (which is a LONG time)! He's close to my older brother's age and came to our house to do projects and earn badges for Cub Scouts when my mom was their Den Mother. Of course, at the time we weren't really friends, he was just one more boy at the house to keep my mom busy.

Many years later, Scott and I became great friends who shared our love for God and his Word. He was one of the people that helped me grow in my Christian walk when I first accepted Christ at the age of almost 15. We spent hours and hours in Bible study, learning, sharing, singing, worshiping, processing life and growing deep in God's love that summer and the following school year. We went through many joys and heartaches together. I loved to watch him sing and play his guitar and was amazed by his creativity in our high school art class as well. I still have pictures in my mind of some of the work that he did that was so wonderful.

Although it turned out for good, the following summer it was hard to understand when God chose to move my family to Arizona (from Ohio) and my daily times with Scott and my other precious friends came to an end. But, even though we've been 2000 miles apart for over 30 years, God has allowed us to stay connected over the years.

Before there was email, we would write back and forth maybe once or twice every year or so. I always looked forward to his long hand printed letters. You see he's an artist in so many ways. Even his letters are filled with gorgeous printing and beautifully descriptive words. Sometimes he even throws in a drawing or two! I loved them. We've had a chance to see each other a sprinkling of times over the years when my family would go back to Ohio. Maybe someday he'll get out to AZ to visit as well.

Now that we have email and blogs, it doesn't take quite so long to catch up. With busy lives like everyone has, we still don't write too often, but every once in a while Scott comes to mind and we reconnect. So...that's a long explanation to prep you for yesterday's surprise.

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Scott that asked to confirm my address because he had something to send to me. Of course, I wondered what it was...maybe a photo from those teen years or some other story or treasure, then I promptly forgot about it.

Late Monday afternoon, we heard a knock at the door. When I opened it, the mailman handed me our mail as well as a long cardboard tube, probably 5 feet long. What in the world was it? I could see that it was from Scott. Wow! I couldn't imagine what he could have from the past that would be so huge.

When I opened it, the note above was attached. It's always fun to hear about those mysterious people that are reading my blog, but choose not to comment. Scott is one of those souls.


Anyway, Scott is an elementary school teacher, which is how he had access to this truly amazing nearly life size poster of one of my favorite NBA players, Steve Nash!!!! Isn't it awesome! It just makes me smile. As soon as I opened it up I hung it on the wall just inside our entry in the living room. I know it won't stay there, but I just love looking at it. It will soon be moved to the scrapping and exercise room to provide extra motivation there. From what I've heard of Steve Nash, he's a bit of a rebel, but is caring, compassionate, fun-loving, hard-working, unselfish and so giving of the gifts God has blessed him with. What a pleasure to see his smiling face on our wall.

Thank you, thank you Scott! What an extra-ordinary gift from an extraordinary friend! I will treasure it forever!

And just for fun, I've attached a little clip of Steve shooting the ads for this BodyByMilk campaign.

Oh, and you can also vote for him to be on the 2008 All Star Team here.

Happy New Year!!!!