For the last few weeks I've been hit and miss with the Internet. Sorting of taking a break. With all that's happened, I've been down in the dumps so it has been hard to get motivated. I hope to spend this week doing some crafting because I miss it. And, it really is a great way to relieve some stress.

In the meantime, I'm editing and uploaded some neat pics that I will share soon.

Last week Jason and I headed to Gulf Shores to visit his cousin and her husband, who serve as  missionaries to the Gulf Shores region. Nathan does many, many things, but we went to help with day camps that are run at some of the RV parks. It was a great experience - nothing strenuous, so it was incredibly relaxing.

I will share more about Gulf Shores, but before I do I need to share something else.

To be quite honest, this has been a very hard summer for me. I don't do a great job of sharing my personal stories here on this blog, so let me fill you in on what has been going on. As some of you know, I have worked several jobs since graduating, but for the last two years I have worked as a kindergarten assistant. My degrees are in communication and business administration, but after working in business I felt that it was not for me. I've always loved teaching (in fact, I wanted to be a teacher when I was a child), so I tried my hand as an assistant teacher. To clarify, Mississippi does not require that you have a degree in education to be an assistant. You have to have either 48 hours of college credit (which having two degrees, I had no problem filling that requirement) or you have to pass some test.

Though kindergarten is an exhausting grade, I loved being around the students and I loved teaching. I was very blessed to be with two teachers who encouraged me in that area and allowed me to do more than just running copies off. I was able to lead centers and create activities for students who fell out of the norm, either very behind or far ahead.

So, I began working on becoming certified to teach. Now, I had a bachelors and master's degree, so I was not inclined to begin working on yet another degree. I was not opposed to it, but I was tired of being in school. Mississippi has a program where if you have a college degree, you can become certified to teach via the "alternate route." I took some classes, took the required tests, and now am certified to teach 4th-8th grade. (Of course, after starting my program, one of the local universities began an online program for assistant teachers to become certified with a bachelor's degree, but since I was already in my program I didn't choose that option.)

Of course, who could know that the country, especially the state of Mississippi, would be in such an economic crisis? Sure, if I wanted to move to the Delta I could easily have a job. But, I wasn't about to move - first of all, my program required me to be within so many miles of my school for my first year of teaching, and second, Jason and I were not about to move. He has just been promoted, so end of discussion.

As I write this post I am still jobless. I have had one interview, but it didn't work out because of budget issues with the school (they had two teachers for one grade, but only needed one, so they ended up filling the open position in another grade with that teacher). I've had several encouraging friends remind me that most new teachers are in the same boat as I am, and that they know so-and-so who was hired two days before school started.

And, while that is encouraging, I have to admit that the waiting is still extremely hard. Some days are good and some are bad. Because as I continue to wait, our income and savings decreases. Assistant teachers are not paid during summer months. You can see why I am so eager to know what is next in my life. I've already thought about some options if nothing works out, but right now I'm stuck in what feels like a purgatory - just waiting and waiting for what is next, not able to move yet, just stuck.

I know that the Lord is going to provide for me, though it might not be what I planned. That is the hope that gets me through this. But it has been a struggle. And being stuck at the house for two months has not helped. Don't get me wrong - I would love to be at home. But when ends are barely meeting and I don't have the money to get together with my friends for lunch or go on trips, I end up feeling very alone.

That is why the trip to see Nathan and Alicia was very much necessary for me. It was so good to help them out, but it was also good to see dear friends and be somewhere different for a change. During the morning we worked a day camp (like a mini-VBS or backyard Bible club) at one of the RV camps. **Moment of praise - One little girl accepted Christ as her Savior. How awesome!**

On the last day of our trip we went to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. This was the first trip to a zoo for Zach, Alicia and Nathan's little boy who is two years old. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the zoo.

This was one crazy goat. Seriously. The zoo had certain areas that were called "puff feeding areas." You could buy $2 worth of puff feed, and feed animals such as donkeys, llamas, sheep, deer, and...goats. You might think he looks like an average goat, but this sucker was HUGE! He was the size of a horse. He would stand on the fence and lean over trying to steal the puff cup out of your hand. Let me show you.

Here are some more of my favorites. (You can click on any of these photos or click here to visit the entire set on flickr.)

After the zoo (and a hurried lunch at the most upscale McDonald's I've ever been in - flat screens, aquarium, gaming system), Jason and I went on a dolphin cruise. If you are ever in the Gulf Shores area, I highly recommend it. Two boats go out at one time and split up to search for dolphins. When a boat spots some, the driver radios the other boat and the two boats team up, riding side by side to create a wake that the dolphins love to swim and jump in.

Jason and I had a great time searching for dolphins and we were lucky enough to end up on the side that, three out of four times, faced the middle, so we got great pictures of the dolphins. We even saw a momma dolphin with her baby.

Thank you, Nathan and Alicia, for allowing us to come and serve with you (and providing food and a place to stay while we were there). It was a lovely mini-vacation for us and very refreshing for me to get away for a little bit.

But, who has that kind of money to spend? Especially in times like these, when the economy isn't being friendly to everyone, purchasing the latest and greatest items isn't always feasible. So, lately I've been using my stash up.

This week I'm making cards and layouts using my stash. No new products. Over the next few days I'm  showing a series of cards I made using one kit from Memory Works. I have a couple of older kits that I never used, so before using any of my new Studio Calico kits I figured I better clear out my stash. These papers came from the August kit. They really aren't my style (probably why I didn't use them) but I found a way to make them work.

Here's the card for today:

Supplies used: Cardstock (Prism); Patterned Paper (Prima); Stamp (Hero Arts); Ink (Memories); Pen (American Crafts); Ribbon

Here's what the paper looked like before I cut it. It's from Prima's Dude collection. Great paper for all things boys...full of fun and whimsy. But, not exactly my style. I love the doodled look, but it really didn't fit with any layout ideas I had.

But, I couldn't waste a great patterned paper, so I cut individual circles out, layered them on the card, and anchored it with ribbon and dots.

Your challenge this week is to make a card or layout using all older supplies, nothing new. I ended up making ten cards from one kit, with loads of paper and embellishments to spare.

Come back tomorrow for another card!

Supplies used: Cardstock (Prism); Patterned Paper (Prima); Stamp (Hero Arts); Ink (Memories, Ranger); Ribbon; Thread

I've really been enjoying playing with distress inks and cutting up patterned paper lately and this card is no exception. I inked the cardstock, the base patterned paper, and the cardstock and patterned paper that the sentiment is on. I also took some Prima patterned paper that had some whimsical circles on it and cut the circles out. So much fun!

Supplies used: Cardstock (American Crafts, Die Cuts with a View); Stamps (Hero Arts); Flowers (Prima); Ink (Memories, Ranger Industries); Corner Rounder (EK Success) Button

I used Tim Holtz's Distressed Inks on the flourish stamp. I would randomly ink the stamp with two different colors, so there is a nice colored effect. I also used the Broken China Distress Ink to stamp my flower.

I wanted a dog, and 35 lbs. seemed reasonable. I also wanted a cooky name for my dog. I wanted a fun name, but something I would never name my actual child. Isn't it funny how you can get away with naming pets something weird?

Right after we got married (which was May of 2007), Jason told me that his dad's dogs had some puppies. About the time they were weaned, we went and checked them out. There were tons of puppies, mostly black and chocolate brown. But, there was this one puppy that was completely white. Except for one ear. He had one black ear. So adorable. And so different from his brothers and sisters.

So, we decided that this was our puppy and we would name him Pedro (after the character in Napoleon Dynamite). Pedro was very timid at first. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of these two new people.  The first night he was so exhausted that he fell asleep in Jason's arms. So he slept outside. But, he woke us up in the morning with his whimpering.

After a bath, we let Pedro inside. He didn't want to walk anywhere. He was very unsure walking on the tile, and would often stay exactly where we put him. I set a towel down in the kitchen and he stayed there the entire time. I remember that my sister, Amelia, was amazed that Pedro wasn't terrorizing the house.

That would soon change. Pedro became a very hyper dog. He's calmed down now, but there were some tough times. And some broken items. And a completely chewed up deck that will have to be replaced. Fortunately, potty training was easy for him and we had very few accidents in the house. Pedro still gets super excited when guests come over, but he's not a terror.

Oh, and did I mention that he is now 72 lbs? Yes, you might remember that is a much larger weight than we anticipated. He's not fat - in fact, he's very healthy. Just much bigger than his parents or siblings. We should have noticed that he was the largest of his pack. Oh well.

Here's a few comparisons of him from his first days with us to now.

This is how we used to bathe Pedro. In fact, I believe that this picture (although cruddy) was from the first night we got Pedro.

And, this is how we bathe Pedro now:

Um, do you notice a size difference? Unbelievable.

Here's Pedro's first pictures with each of us:

And more recent photos with Pedro:

I missed posting about Pedro on his birthday (which was sometime around our wedding date), so I thought I'd post a belated birthday post. Happy birthday, Pedro!

This has been exhausting. All in an effort to give my blog more purpose.

The background images and brushes are from House of 3.

Here's what's to come:

• More tutorials. I absolutely love teaching, so I want to share my ideas with you and actually show you how to do it.
• Possibly some video tutorials. Working on this.
• I like showcasing items I find from across the web. Just not sure how I want to theme it. Random stuff? Scrapbooking only? Crafts? Any ideas of stuff you want to see?
• More handmade embellishments. If you are like me, you can't afford a lot of embellishments, so I like to make my own. I'd like to show you how.
• More more more and more content. I do not update like I should, but I'm working on an *editorial calendar* where different days of the week are assigned a certain type of post. In other words....

...MORE POSTS! I'm planning on posting at least three times a week, instead of the once-in-a-blue-moon posting like I do now.

What would you like to see? Do you want more focus on scrapbooking? Do you want a more diversified craft blog? More embroidery? More sewing? More tutorials? More photography? More random personal information about my blog?

Please share your thoughts in the comments. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

Anyway, here is the short film that is shown before the movie. How cute!