Resolutions

As we enter the time of year that resolutions are so easily and frequently tossed about and in a couple of weeks forgotten about, I thought it appropriate to share a thought about just that.

Recently when my parents were up to visit before Christmas, my Dad preached the sermon on Sunday morning at church. He preached on a different view of the "resolutions" we toss about this time of year. His encouragement to us was to look back at resolutions of the past and measure how far we got in those areas before we randomly throw out more easily forgotten and/or broken resolutions. If we are looking to make resolutions, we are indeed "resolving" to do whatever that goal is. Webster's dictionary defines "resolve" in several ways but the one that applies to resolutions at New Year's is to reach a firm decision about. That to me reads as a decision made with thought and determination not one made for just something to say.

My challenge to you on this eve of 2009 is to think about prior resolutions and what made those not work and commit yourself and "resolve" to do something you will see through to the end. It takes a person of great character to commit and stick to it! A song we sing at church has the following words that I think are appropriate as we look at the coming new year - "I am resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world's delights, things taht are higher, things that are nobler, these have allured my sight."

Sunday Morning Food For Thought

As I look out at the snow falling this morning, I had to come up with a thought for my blog this morning. (I am trying to decide how to involve more regular blogging in my New Year's Resolution) As I took my bath, I was reading a bit in the December 29, 2008 People Magazine (one of my vices - guess they could be worse). They were interviewing President Bush on the changes upcoming in his life and his reflections on the past eight years. I know that not all agree with all he has done during his presidency (in fact, I would challenge than anyone totally agrees with ALL he has done). That being said, i had to share this quote as I thought it to be most appropriate for Sunday, a day when we all spend time with God and sharing in our common faith and morals. "I am not going to sacrifice my principles on the altar of political popularity."(George W. Bush) I challenge that we all take this to heart and use it on which to grow in ourselves and our confidence and support of our principles in all facets of our lives.

Been a while

Well, it has been a while since I have found the time to post to the blog world. Today I am relaxing in my chair under blankets with a cold and fever but I can hold my laptop.

It is a very busy time of the year at the Rogges. We have our tree up, Christmas cards were mailed last week, som presents are wrapped, shopping is done, we have visited Santa at Whaley Mansion, we saw Charlie Brown Christmas and Frosty at the movie theater yesterday and most of all - We have SNOW! Didn't get any until Friday but once it started we got about 5 inches by this morning. Today it is very cold and wind chill expected to be below zero in the next couple of days.

I have made a lot of our gifts this year and have a bit of sewing left to do. Mom and Dad arrive on Thursday. Chase has his program Wednesday morning, Mackenzie's is Friday night and Polar Express it at the theater on Saturday. Dave paid Megan to wrap presents for him but all the rest are up to me so I have that to work on this week.

Hope the holidays are going well for all of you

Good Monday Morning

After a busy week last week ending with two days at Creating Keepsakes Convention in Bellevue, I have been a little slow in catching up the blog. Today I am borrowing a couple of lines from an email I got yesterday as I think they are a good start to the week for me - I hope they are for you too!

To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.

When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hand to receive something better.

The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.

Have a good week!

Happy Veterans Day

As I sat at church on Sunday, I reached into my new purse to find a scrap of paper to take a few notes on our excellent sermon on Hope (a welcome message after the elections), no scraps were found as I only move useful things to the new purse and leave all the scraps (trash) in the old purse. What I did run across was a little composition book (the little one that is like less than 3 Inches by 5 inches) that I had covered with cute paper and recorded thought-provoking things in exactly 2 years ago. I cannot tell you what the challenge was in life at that time but my mother had emailed me a couple of things that I felt strong enough about that I created a place to keep them (even hand writing them in it, not just printing and pasting).

Today, on a day we have our thoughts on the veterans that have given tirelessly to keep this country the free one that it is, I thought I would share one of these things from my Thought-provoking Notes book.

"How often do we say we are involved in a project or commited to a project? We may say it about our religious life, our home life, etc. The analogy I came across was both humorous & yet thought provoking. Next time you sit down to an old fashioned breakast of hand and eggs, remember this thought. When you look at the eggs, the hen practiced involvement. When you look at the ham, the pig practiced total commitment!! Are you involved or commited?" (email from Mom 11/9/06)

Wishing you all a thought provoking day as we remember the veterans in the world and those in our families as well.

Questions from a kindergartener

As most of you know I have a 5 1/2 year old son and a 4+ year old daughter. They never cease to amaze me with the questions they ask. However, lately my son has been asking some very thought-provoking questions that I do not easily have an instant answer for.

We were riding home from church this morning when he asked the first doozy of the day "Mom, if we eat food and fill our bodies with food today, then what happens with all that food so we have room to eat food tomorrow?" That was one that I had to think about for a few seconds before responding that we go potty and get rid of today's food by tomorrow.

Then after dinner tonight, he had to pose another one to me, it goes like this - "Mom, what is the difference between up and down, like when you die down here but then you are alive up there with God?" I went on to answer that your body dies here but your spirit lives up there after you die. Thankfully he was accepting of those answers thankfully.

Mackenzie, not to be outdone by her brother, posed a big one for me on Tuesday. Her's went like this - "Mommy, where do my words come from?" I replied "well, they come from your throat from your voice box and out your mouth." I thought that was a reasonable explanation for a 4 year old. She then added "but they come from my brain first Mommy!" I didn't have a reply to that.

Hope you enjoy the chuckle from these that I get to experince nearly every day.

Sad times

Just a short note that today is a sad day. My 89 year old grandfather passed peacefully in his sleep last night. He has lived a full life and I have so many many memories from times with him to treasure. May he rest in peace.

Mackenzie's Hair Cut

Many of you in blogland know that my daughter Mackenzie is 4 years old and has lots of long hair - maybe I should say she DID have lots of long hair. Recently she has come to notice that all her little friends have short hair and of course Mommy has short hair. She all of a sudden started asking to have her hair cut. I made an appt for it and waited the days out for her to make sure she was really sure. After several days of waiting, she jumped out of bed this morning very excited about getting her hair cut. We are done and home. She had enough to put in 4 ponytails that were 10 inches long so she can donate to Locks of Love. She is excited about other kids having her hair. She looks so cute and grown up with the new hair cut. Here are the pictures to prove it.

My Freedom Day 12

OK, so I fell off the blogging wagon for a few days - I guess the good news is that I did get back on today! Back to my My Freedom Prompts from the summer that I fell behind on mut I had several people who enjoyed them so I will pick them up here again.

Today's prompt is to share my first job experience. I guess there are two or maybe three jobs that I consider "first" jobs of sorts. Ok maybe actually four - 1. the first job I got paid for - babysitting 2. the first job in a real location of employment - filling in summers at Dr. Opdahl's office (oral surgeon where my Mom worked) 3. first real job that I applied for and got on my own - Kentucky Fried Chicken (my junior year in high school through summer between freshman and sophomore in college) and last but not least 4. My first real job after college using the education I worked for and Mom and Dad paid for - Working at Marion Retirement Center as a full fledged RN.

I guess that was the long answer to a fairly straight forward question but I feel that those job experiences all gave me different things. I got the joy of making my own money at 13 babysitting and had lots of school teachers that lived within a couple of blocks that kept me busy most weekends. I liked going to work with Mom and working in a "real" place of employment - besides I got to see classmates of mine getting teeth pulled and I was involved in one way or another (even saw some of the big tough guys from school cry). The job at Kentucky Fried Chicken brought with it several growing steps. Once I got a job, I was able to take my driver's license test and get my driver's license as I had to have a way to pay my insurance and gas money as that was not Mom and Dad's responsibility (I think that is how they put it). I also got to drive to school on days I worked as I couldn't make it home on the bus and then to work on time. That was a big deal to me at age 16 almost 17. Yes, I was one month shy of my 17th birthday when I got my driver's license - February 2, 1988 - sadly February 2, 1989 brough the sudden tragic death of my Uncle Wally so that day carries good and bad thing sin my mind. Lastly, I had been in school for 16 years total (12 of basic education and 4 of college) and was thrilled to get a job making more money since I had a degree and my RN credentials. Funny how babysitting at a dollar or so an hour brought its own sense of accomplishments as did minimum wage at Dr. Opdahl's office and Kentucky Fried Chicken and then breaking the $10.00/hr mark as an RN. All had their moments of grown and pain but all taught me the value of working for what you have.

Share with me your first job moments! Have a good Monday - we are since it is late start day in beautiful Chelan.

Snakes!

OK, to those of you who know me - you know I really dislike snakes. Unfortunately my children do not share that fear so I have had to become better about looking at them behind glass and that sort of thing. Anyway, for the days prior to Creative Escape I had been rushing around getting kids ready for school and getting my stuff together to go to Phoenix. My mind was a mess and in the following story you will see that my dreams followed that mess . . .

I had never been to Phoenix except to change planes so I only had preconceived notions of what to expect. Several things had crossed my mind - heat, snakes, bug, heat . . . but I hadn't reallly talked about them at all. Well, the night before we went to the airport I was spending the night at Megan's and boy did my dreams go crazy. I dreamt that we got to Phoenix and there where snakes everywhere around the resort Sheraton Wild Horse Pass. They were slithering everywhere, hanging out of trees , crawling in our rooms - literally EVERYWHERE. In the dream, Megan found this to be very funny. I needed rescued badly and Megan was clearly not going to do it so finally someone came to rescue me - of all people it was Ande (lovely Jane's daughter) who came to my aid and rid the place of all the snakes and was ever so caring about me and my fears. I have no idea how Ande got into the picture but in the dream I was ever so glad that she had.

I did share this dream with Megan on the plane in hopes that she would be more sympathetic in real life if a snake did cross our path. She thought the dream was a riot and convinced me that I needed to share it here. Once we got checked into our hotel we wandered outside to check things out and first thing outside the door I see something flash in front of my feet while Megan declares "Oh, look Michelle, a lizard!" I thought I was going to have to go put on dry clothes but I did fine. Lizards don't really bother me if they are small like this little 6 inch long guy. We did survive the days in Arizona with NO SNAKES!!!

Thanks Ande for saving me nonetheless.

My Freedom - Day 11

Well, after a long hiatus known as summer and vacations, etc - I am back to resume the My Freedom blog prompts. Today's prompt is to tell my readers about my favorite game. That is a tough one for me as I don't play adult games much and I do play kid games a lot. So - I think I will give this answer in two ways -

~ My favorite game right now - the kids are at an age that they LOVE to play games and finally are old enough to understand the concept and most of the rules. Our favorite game as a family is a series of DVD BINGO games. We started with the Disney one and soon added the Nickelodeon one. On a trip to Mt Vernon in late spring, I stopped at the Ross Dress for Less (love that store) and in the toy dept they had a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD BINGO game for $4.99 (you have to know that I paid $20 for each of the other two). How could I pass it up when we all love playing this together and the kids are both in love with trains and Thomas is a popular fellow at our house. The concept is simple - big BINGO cards with a character for each number (number is there too) and little round chips to put on the spaces, a DVD that plays and chooses the numbers and keep track of those selected. A WILD comes up once in a while and it shows a clip of a selected movie. The kids love it and it helps them with letters, numbers and finding the characters. They always strategize about which card to pick and each have their favorite characters that have to be on their chosen card. We have played it with my parents as well and they love it for fun time with the kids too. If you have a preschool to first grade child, I highly recommend this game.

~ My favorite game if you are talking adult games - this is likely to be Scene It! There are several versions of it and I like the Disney and TV versions best I think. DVD based game that tests your knowledge of an array of topics. It is a fun couples game but one we only get to play about once a year. I also enjoy the games on our Wii, especially the Wii Fit games. What a workout. The Wii games are the ones I play more often.

If you have a fun game for adults or for young children that you enjoy, please leave me a comment and share your favorites.

Have a great day and I will post tomorrow on My Freedom about My First Job Experience!

I'm Back!

Not only am I back to blogging - but I just got back from Creative Escape in Phoenix, AZ. Needless to say, I am tired and have lots to catch up on not only here on the blog but at home in general. Chase is at school this morning and Kenzie is playing quietly so I thought I would at least post a quick note that I am alive and that I plan to resume the My Freedom posting tomorrow and finish it out then start on another plan for regular blogging. However, I cannot start with anything other than pictures and news from Creative Escape. For those of you who do not know about Creative Escape (this was the 3rd annual - but my first), it is a scrapbooking event put on by Heidi Swapp and Mr. Bazzill (by the way, Bazzill is not his name, he is truly Mr. Smith, but named the company Bazzill after his mother whose maiden name was Bazzill). They bring in 8 teachers and you make 8 fabulous projects over the course of two LONG days. Hoepfully you will get the feel from the pictures. This year's teachers also put on a trunk show where we got to meet and chat with them and see some of their favorite projects - what and inspiration.

Tim Holtz - taught a great class with an awesome frame and it holds a piece of wearable art

Laura Stamas - taught a class on an album called "Look Inside My Heart - All About Me" using the new Lickety Slip Scrapbook from Bazzill

Kolette Hall (with me) - she has family in Manson, WA & has shopped at Memories By The Lake in Chelan where I work part time

Mr. Bazzill is on the right - he and another attendees husband were being funny modeling the aprons we all got (Mr. Bazzill is a happily married man - FYI)

Janet Hopkins - taught a wonderful Memory Binder book class

Jenny Bowlin - taught a Hodge Podge mini book class in light blue & orange - LOVE it!

Jason & Kolette Hall (and baby on the way) - taught the Good Book class and Jason was our fabulous key note speaker (more about that on a later post)

Kelly Goree - works for Basic Grey & taught a class with 4 12 X 12 layouts, very fun

Here she is - Heidi Swapp - not only did she put on Creative Escape but she taught a class that was amazing and came from China to do it - she also gave us a guided trip to our room upon arrival as her room was just down the hall!

Megan and I had a great time and are now home to the regular grind. I will leave you today with the mantra of Jason and Kolette Hall "Find the Good & Be Grateful"!

My Freedom - Day 10

OK, actually it is day 11 but we only get prompts 5 days a week so it is prompt 10 written on day 11. Today's prompt is to set a word goal and hen type a blog entry and see how I do in hitting the goal - exactly on, over or under, so here goes - I will set a reasonable goal of 150 words!

Well, let's begin with why I am blogging a day late. We began our week long camping trip yesterday. We left home in Chelan about 10 am yesterday (right on schedule I might add) and headed to Liberty Lake, WA (just east of Spokane & home to my idol - Stacy Julian http://www.stacysbigpicture.typepad.com). We are camping at the KOA her until next Saturday the 26th. Megan and her crew will be joining us today. We plan to take in Silverwood/Boulder Beach for two days, Cat Tales for one day, Spokane's Riverfront Park for one day, Rockin B Ranch for dinner show one night and lots of relaxation and swimming fit in too! We try to do this the last full week of July every year. We arrived right on schedule at 3 pm and got camp set up. Kids played on playground and then at play area at the local McDonald's and then swam for about 1 hour before crashing in bed about 8 pm. They were up bright and early this morning (6:30 am) waiting for Sissy Megan and family to arrive. I will likely post about My Freedom prompts during the time we are gone as well as about our trip and pics from the fun.

OK - for anyone who knows me there is no surprise that I went over my goal. I wrote 208 words for an overage of 58 words. Now the challenge to you - any comments you make, try to hit exactly 20 words without counting ahead of time and see how you do!!

Maya's Blog Candy

I love to see what people use for Blog Candy! This is http://mayas-hobbyblogg.blogspot.com/2008/07/blog-candy.html and she has amazing Blog Candy. The images she has stamped are from stamps not available outside of the Netherlands. They are so cute and those of us who love coloring want some so bad. Check out her blog!!

My Freedom - Day 9

Good morning! Yess I am ahead of the game this morning and posting prior to 9 am!! That doesn't mean I am organized, rather I have a busy schedule today so am prioritizing to do this in the early morning rather than not at all!!

Today's prompt is "Things that inspire us are often linked to what we label as quirks in our personalities: things we like that others seem to dismiss. What quirk (in your personality) could you share with your readers to see if they really dismiss it or if it's something you have in common?"

Oh boy - I am a very visual person so things that inspire me tend to be things I can see or touch. I am a definite "scraplift" addict as I love to make my sketch cards from magazine or websites for reference during scrapping. I may not know exactly how to scrap a particular photo or photos but whip out my sketch cards box or an idea/layout book (which I carry in a DJs Scrappin Retreat book bag) and I am inspired to make the fun layouts I enjoy making. I RARELY design a layout from start to finish without one of these resources at hand.

Is this something you share in common or do you dismiss it as no source of inspiration for you?

Please share your inspiration quirk with me in your comments!

My Freedom - Day 8

I bet there were some of you who think I wasn't going to make it to post today! Never fail - I am here!

Today's blog prompt is share with readers one thing you have accomplished and one thing you hope to accomplish.

Accomplishment certainly has to be the successful adoption of my two kiddos! Chase's adoption was a very long trial with many challenges along the way but we did finally get to bring him to his forever home the day after Thanksgiving 2003! Mackenzie's adoption was a very fast very unexpected turn of events but one we cannpt imagine life without!

My Aspiration is to lose the pounds I have set as my goal in a current biggest loser club by Christmas of this year. My goal is 23 lbs and I am 3 lbas closer as of today. It is taking a lot of exercise and changes to my eating and grazing habits. I will keep you posted on my progress!!

Till tomorrow may your accomplishments bring you joy and your aspirations bring you challenges to keep life interesting!

My Freedom - Day 7

Well, in comparison, today's blog prompt is so much easier and quicker than the past 6 very thought-provoking ones. Today's prompt is to share a list of link with you for websites that inspire me most so here goes:

www.neighborjanepayne.com - Jane is such an inspiration and a wonderwoman in my book!

www.flickr.com - with the type of a word, this site can take me to anywhere I want to be

www.shimelle.com - it is so neat to follow the life of an American in England

www.nationalgeographic.com - this site can put it all in perspective

www.stacysbigpicture.com - she reminds me that even busy Mom's can do it all

www.biblegateway.com - allows me to focus on my faith

I think that is a pretty good list of what I frequent. There are others if I am on a purposeful mission for something specific but in general this list is my favorites.

Till tomorrow - look for inspiration in the world around you! If you have inspriational sites you love that I have missed, please comment and share them!

My Freedom - Day 6

Today's blog prompt reads - "Share an old photo of yourself and a current photo of yourself with your blog readers. Tell them a little something that has changed and a little that had stayed the same."

Michelle - circa 1972 1st birthday

Michelle - circa February 2008 - cruise to Caribbean

OK, believe it or not the pictures were the easy part. Actually the only hard part of the pictures was dating the first one, but one quick call to Mom helped identify the year and location of that one (her words were "first birthday at the house on the hill").

Something that has changed - RESPONSIBILITIES!! Some days my little ones ask, when are we going to be big and get to be the boss and go to work and stuff, little do they know that when they are big and "stuff" they will have times, as do I, when they wish for the days of leisure and minimal responsibilities. Life changes so much between the carefree days of childhood and the responsibilities and balancing of priorities of adulthood. Instead of being the child, I am charged with the responsibility to raise my children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord". What as awesome responsibility that is especially in the world today. I know that my kids, as I did as a child, question my direction and rules but most days it seems so much less daunting a task to question those rules than to have the fragile lives of two children to raise with the rules as well as living my life as God would have me to live it.

Something that has stayed the same - NAIVETE'! As all children begin very naive to the ways of the world, in a lot of ways I find myself, as does my husband, to remain a bit naive at times. Sometimes that naivete' is a nice hiding place from the world and other times it makes me feel a bit foolish and stupid. I do feel it is nice at times to remain naive about some of the evils of the world but I also realize the naivete' at my age can lead to hurt, disappointment and danger. How nice it would be to live in a world as pure and simple as a child perceives it but we know so much better.

Till tomorrow and another installment of My Freedom! Enjoy the day and take time to enjoy the simple parts of life and forget responsibilities if only for a few moments!

My Freedom - Day 5

Well, let me begin with the fact that I am so happy to have actually made it on my quest to be consistent with these blog prompts Monday-Friday. Yippee!!

Today's Blog prompt is - "How do you prefer the pace of life? Do you wish things would spped up or slow down?"

What an interesting prompt and once again thought-provoking. I am once again dealing with a dicotomy in my mind as what I like and what I set myself up for in life are two different things. I certainly don't like to be bored and have nothing to do, but I also like things to be slow enough to fit in some spontaneous fun. I do live by a calendar as life at my house is either really busy or really not busy. When the calendar looks not busy, I tend to feel a void and then fill that void up, thus creating for myself a lot of busy times with no down time. I am someone who needs my sleep (not 10 - 12 hours) of at least 6 hours uninterrupted to keep up with life. Lack of that sleep usually results in migraines or tearful melancholy moods, or even both! In my attempts to stay busy (although that woudl not be my choice, rather I feel obligated to be that way), I can submarine myself and not enjoy the things going on around my while I am too busy. I can't say that I prefer particularly slow paced life but I don't prefer being too busy for my home and family. So I guess the answer is that I woul most days prefer it slow down but I and only I am in control of that most of the time!

We are also supposed to illustrate our preference - the best way I know to do that is actually so appropriate for this week. My dearest friend Jill and I have been planning for several months (yes I said months) to clean and organize my scrap room. I am blessed with a home that had a large area for my hobbies but it was a MESS!! I did not even take before pictures as I was too embarassed. Life has been so busy for Jill and I that it took till this week to do this project we began talking and planning for in April. The MESS I referred to was also caused by the fast pace of life around here. I have made decisions about the pace of my life that kept me from keeping it organized so the door usually got opened and things thrown it. You couldn't even walk through the room on Monday morning when we started. Not only that but if I needed or wanted to scrap it was nearly impossible to find what I needed to do it. (No Jane I am not always as organized as the front I put on at retreats) However, we were successful at our mission this week, Jill & I. We spent 20+ hours in three days on the room and it is so nice to know where things are and have a useable space!! Thanks so much Jill!! I went down there last night to do my 2 page layout for My Freedom's prompt yesterday regarding "Time" (are you seeing a theme here) and was able to find coordinating patterned paper, match it to cardstock, found matching letters and embellishments and completed the 2 page layout (no journaling was to be done till today's prompt) in less than 1 hour and that included cleaning up after myself at the end and changing movies for Mackenzie halfway through!! What a great feeling to have taken the "time" to do that project!! Here are a few pictures of the completed room (we still have a few things to find homes for, but the organizing is done).

My Workspace/Desk

TV corner for good chick flicks!

Paper shelves and storage

(white towers have wood stamps in them by theme)

Work Table

Cricut Expression with be set up here and large paper cutter

Have a nice weekend everyone!

My Freedom - Day 4

OK - here is today's prompt - "Have you ever been inspired by the words of a poem? Share the poem with your blog readers (you) and tell them how you came to value its words.

Here is the poem - I first read it in High School back in the late 1980s. I will let you read it - though most have read it before - then to follow I will tell how I came to value it.

The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost (1874–1963).

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.


I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

My value to this poem is that I first read it at a difficult time of a teenager's life. I was in high school and was smart and taking harder college prep classes with a desire for higher education. I was not an athlete, nor was I the pretty one or flirty one. Rather, I was more into books and had responsibilities at home and a job in the later parts of high school. I was also a Christian teenager in school of many different morales and ethics. It was difficult to always make the "right" choice as most often it came with ridicule and teasing or plain ignorance from classmates and sometimes even close friends. I was commited to my virginity till marriage and that was unpopular as well. Face it, high school places many strains on kids that begin their decision-making processes for the rest of their lives so good decisions make life down the road much easier but the good decision at the time is not always popular or accepted. This poem encouraged me to take the "road not taken" by the masses and be proud of my decision. Did I always make the right decisions, no but who does. I kept this poem in my notebooks throughout high school and even college - few even know this fact - as constant reminder of my commitment to making good decisions even when they were not the popular decisions.

Boy, this was a thought provoking prompt but I had no problem knowing which poem to reference.

Till tomorrow my friends.

My Freedom - Day 3

What's In Your Suitcase? This is the blog prompt today. I will list a few of my necessities for travel and readers can add theirs in comments or blog it themselves.

A good pair of shoes for walking

My camera

My ipod

My Mary Kay Travel cosmetic bag

Sunscreen

A good book - this is what I am reading currently and love it!!

A book of Sudoku puzzles

My Archos Video player

Of course, clothes appropriate for the location but the above items are must haves for my travel - share your must haves and maybe we have similar lists or maybe we learn from one another!!

See you tomorrow!!

My Freedom - Day 2

Well, today's blog prompt is "If you could travel in time for just one day, where would you go and what would you do?". I have thought about this ALL day while my dearest friend and I have been cleaning and organizing my scrap room - more to come on that later. I found it difficult to narrow this down as I would love to go back to the time of creation in the Garden of Eden and see the world before sin entered into it, but there are other historical times that I would like to see as well. Throughout the day, I have vascilated a lot through the different options for this time travel and I finally decided to go with my first and constant instinct and that was to go to the Beginning and see the Garden of Eden on day 7 when God rested after creating such a marvelous world. I think that seeing this would be as close as I can come on earth to getting a glimpse of heaven to come. I really don't have nor can I get a picture that is anywhere close to this so I will leave it to your minds as in mine it is so marvelous!!

Enjoy the day and I made it to day 2 with keeping up with the posts - so see you tomorrow!

My Freedom Day 1 - Time & Travel

Today is the first day of an online class at http://www.shimelle.com/ called My Freedom. Each week for 5 weeks we get daily prompts Monday through Friday beginning with photos on Monday, storytelling (AKA journaling) mid-week and 2 page layout construction on Friday. It is a book made to discover yourself and to improve your storytelling from the who, what and where to the story behind the photos and what makes them important to you.

I am very excited about this class and as an added bonus - there is a Daily Blog Prompt so I "should" be able to keep up with daily blog posts (Monday - Friday) for the next 5 weeks and maybe that will help me to get in focus for daily blogging all of the time.

Today's class starts with topics of Time & Travel. We are taking pictures that represent both to us - so my picture for the blog represents time and my plan to "Make Time for My Freedom". Isn't it a beautiful clock - it was my birthday present from Dave & the kids - it plays a song every hour and is animated so this is my favorite "timepiece" as it was given to me with love!

200 Things

Got these 200 items from Jane and she had higlighted the ones she had done right after her 200th newsletter. Her challenge was for us to do the same - so better late than never! If you enjoy, try it, it was fun!

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper
(even though my step-son still asks if I know how to change Raiden's diaper)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
(again and again and again)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (what a sight that is)
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game (Seahawks playoff games & Rose Bowl)
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
(yup, there’s nothing quite like your own vegetables. Don’t you agree?)
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping ( in my own pool & hot tub)
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster ( love them)
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (paid if forward at Starbucks)
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person (and got a response in our plight to finally get Chase home from Guatemala)
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes ( Yummy)
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people (I hope so)
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life (performed CPR at work)
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint (tat & needlepoint)
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing (statue of Liberty at sunset)
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter

Camping Weekend

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Recital

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

What a busy time of the year it is with both kids at the end of their preschool year. Chase is done with preschool after his graduation today as he will start kindergarten at MOE next fall and it is full day kindergarten. I can't believe he is that big. He is just growing up so fast. He talks like a little man now and is being Mr. Helpful and Responsible around the house.

Mackenzie had her dance recital last week as well as her "Moving Up" Ceremony from pre-4 to pre-K preschool. She was VERY tired by the end of that experience but she loved it nonetheless.

We took at the new trailer for a "shakedown" cruise this weekend to find out what we needed to do, fix or change before leaving tomorrow for an 11 day trop to Southern Oregon, the Oregon coast and up to Mt Vernon then home. It was a good thing we did the shakedown as we had a broken pipe in the bathroom sink so that got fixed and the trailer is back in our driveway ready to have the final loading done this afternoon.

Hope everyone is enjoying this busy time of year for all!

Kenzie's 4th Birthday

I can't believe it - she turned 4 yesterday! Seems like yesterday we brought home that tiny little bundle and she is no longer tiny.

She got her cast off yesterday and is walking gingerly but is doing better today than last night. She is sooo happy to be able to not be limited in her activities. I am very happy that we can wash her foot finally!! She had worn all the way through the padding and stockinette down to the fiberglass in the heel of her cast. The cast smells AWFUL but I had to keep it.

I made little boxes with nugget candy in them for her to take to her friends at school for her birthday. They turned out so cute so I had to post a picture of the finished product.

We went to Smallwood Harvest to the petting farm yesterday on the way to her doctor's appt and she and Rylee had a blast as you can tell from the picture. It was a nice day and not busy at all with school still in session. Fun memories for all!

Pictures

OK, I know I am behind but wanted to post a quick update on the schedule at the Rogge household in the next few weeks. Also wanted to post pictures we had taken prior to the broken ankle in Minnesota.

Tomorrow is Mackenzie's 4th birthday. She has preschool and gets to take treats for her friends. She goes to the ENT in the afternoon to get her tubes out and to the orthopedic surgeon after that to get her cast off. She is very excited about all of that!!

Thursday is her dress rehearsal for her dance recital next week and is the Memorial Day parade here in Chelan which we will watch as Daddy is driving his T-bird in it.

Friday is date night for Chase with Mommy and Daddy. We will pick him up from school at noon and head to Yakima for the Carrie Underwood concert. He loves to listen to her and calls her "My Girl". We will go out to dinner and then spend the night before coming home on Saturday. Kenzie will stay with Rachael while we take him for some special one on one time.

Saturday will bring some friends to town to visit for the day. Then just he usual for the busy Memorial Day weekend in Chelan (this translates to us staying at home as much as possible).

Tuesday Kenzie has a birthday party to attend and herfinal rehearsal for the recital. Wednesday evening is the recital at 6 pm in which she will dance to "I Wish I Was Magic" (cute song available on iTunes) and be a moonbean in her pretty blue dress. Thursday night will be her graduation from preschool (another big event).

Another weekend to try to recover before the busy week of Chase's final week of preschool and his graduation as he starts kindergarten in the fall. After his last day of school, we will take off to Myrtle Creek and the Oregon coast to camp with Mamma and Papa and then up to Mt Vernon for our niece's graduation from Western Washington University and then home on the 16th.

Megan, Alura and I head to Tri-Cities for a scrapbook weekend on the 18th and get home on the 21st. After that we plan to stay home for a while.

Hope all is well for everyone at this busy time of the year!

Home Finally

Well, it is a little late in posting but we are finally home and doing well. We got to Seattle at about 10:30 pm on Saturday night and headed for the hotel for a night of sleep. Dave's knee was very sore from the long flights so we gave him one queen bed, Kenzie and I shared the other and Chase & Mamma slept on the floor. Everyone slept well no matter their sleeping surface (guess sheer exhaustion set it). The next day a dear friend of mine Jill and her husband Keith drove over to Seattle with our Tahoe and their car. We loaded all 5 of us in the Tahoe and some of the luggage and they took the rest of the luggage in their trunk and back seat. It was so nice to walk into our own home. Rachael had been staying at our house watching the dog while we were gone and she had cleaned and straightened the house so nicely, what a thrill it was to be home to a clean neat house.

I almost have everything unpacked. We took Gramma to the airport yesterday and she flew home to Papa. Don't know how I would have survive the flights back and the first few days home without her. She did ALL of the laundry and the dishes, leaving the dishwasher freshly emptied when we left to take her to Wenatchee yesterday morning.

Dave is doing better everyday. He actually was able to start driving yesterday and for those of you that know him, he was thrilled with his wings again. Mackenzie is doing well too!

Oops!

Well, as of my last post, we were to be headed home the next day. Well, the kids wanted to play at the indoor pay area at the mall one more time before we left so we headed over there on Tuesday afternoon. We had been there for all of 5 minutes when Mackenzie screamed and fell to the ground. She had hurt her left ankle and would not walk on it. We came back to the hotel and she still wouldn't walk on it so I left Chase with Dave and off we went to St. Mary's ER. After 5 1/2 hours in the ER, we left with Kenzie in a red short leg cast as she broker her ankle (the fibula bone through her grown plate). So, we are not at home yet.

Gramma flew out yesterday (Wednesday) to help us and to help us get home. We fly to Seattle on Saturday and then will drive from Seattle home on Sunday.

Update from Minnesota

Just a quick morning update from Rochester while the kids watch cartoons. This is our last full day in Rochester as we leave tomorrow at 12:15 pm to fly home and should arrive in Wenatchee at 9:05 pm pending all flights going right, so cross your fingers!

Let's see where did I leave off. I think it was Friday and we had just come home from the hospital. Friday afternoon a long time friend of Dave's named Shari came from Mankato to meet the kids and I and check on Dave's progress. We had a great visit for almost 3 hours in the hotel room and then the kids and I went out to dinner with her before she drove home. It was nice to meet her and I know we plan to keep in touch from here forward. After she headed home, the kids and I went to the indoor play area at the mall and they played for over an hour and were exhausted when they finished. Then we all got Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream and headed back to the hotel for the night.

On Saturday, we all slept in a bit and took it easy for the morning. We then ran a few errands of things Dave needed from Walmart and watched it snow (yes, snow) here for the afternoon. It quit snowing long enough to visit the park for a little bit but not long so we went to an early dinner and came back to the pool for a swim (one of the kids' favorite things to do). Dave had a painful day as the swelling is going down to the there is more bone pain everyday.

Sunday started with a migraine for me. The kids let me rest it off for an hour then we headed off to church and then to have pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids. That got Kenzie's 3 yr pics done and we got a few of Chase too and of course them together and then one of the three of us. We tried the park again on this afternoon and got to play a little longer but again resorted to coming back to the hotel and getting dinner then enjoying a movie together. Another cery painful day for Dave but he is getting more mobile so that is no surprise.

Monday morning we had to get up and get going in order to get Dave in the shower and over to the clinic for a blood draw to check his PT & INR as he is on Coumadin for 6 weeks. While we were there we had to pick up his pain patches as we did not have enough of them with us (there is a whole box at home in Chelan). They nearly had to resuscitate me after they totalled it and for 3 boxes of 2 different doses of his Duragesic patches it was $1384.00!! Ouch!! Will work on that one with the insurance when we return home!! After we got Dave back and settled, the kids and I took off on our geography lesson day! Being a Little House on the Prairie fan, Mom and I have even gotten Mackenzie into them too. We took off south on Highway 63 and went to Spring Valley, Minnesota where the church is that Laura and Almanzo attended in the early 1890s. It was closed for tours but we got to see it and of course take pictures! Then we took off further south through Preston and on to Harmony, Minnesota. For those who don't know, Harmony has the largest Amish Community in Minnesota. Not far out of Preston we started seeing Amish horse & carriages on the highway. The actually have a two lane road with additional lanes on each side just for the Amish travelers. Mackenzie was quite intrigued with this. She also liked to look for tired and not tired barns. Some of the barns out here are falling down and she called those tired barns and any not falling down were not tired. We got into Harmony and stopped for a visit at the Amish gift shops. We got a few little items including an Amish porcelain doll for both kids (Chase has a boy doll) and an Amish quilt wall hanging for us and for my parents. My Mom loves to read the Barbara Lewis books about Amish communities. On we went on our drive south (seeing more Amish people along the way) and ended up in Burr Oak, Iowa. That is the location of the last standing original home of Laura Ingalls Wilder. We were able to tour this home which was actually a hotel where the Ingalls' worked. Very interesting! We then drove back again watching for Amish people. We did stop at an Amish home that had a gift shop area where Mackenzie got a horse basket made of wood. It was neat to see their lives. The kids learned a lot about a variety of things and we all enjoyed the day. We made it back by about 4 pm and had dinner and then went swimming AGAIN!

Today was planned to make a return trip to Mall of America but we have to get things packed and ready first so we will see what happens. Dave is more mobile everyday and we are so very thankful to Dr. Hannsen and Dr. Nett for their care in fixing his knee. We are all very ready to get back to our home and our routine though!

Thanks again for all the prayers and good thoughts during our travels! Lots of pictures to follow once we are home!

PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED

I has been a busy week here in Rochester, Minnesota, but with the busy part comes the great news!! They did not have to remove all of Dave's knee and cast him. The top portion of the replacement was loose and they were able to just remove and replace that piece on Monday. He got to come back to our home away from home today at about 11 am CST. He is currently resting in the recliner in our hotel room and Mackenzie is napping on the couch. Chase is being my big helper and helping with laundry and watching a movie while coloring pictures for me in our room so that he stays quiet for the resting members of the family.

To summarize the events of the last week - The kids and I left Wenatchee on Friday the 20th and flew to Seattle and spent the night there. We then flew from Seattle to Chicago-O'Hare and then on to Rochester on Saturday. We got in early so Dave wasn't even at the airport yet but when he arrive, the kids spotted him in the parking lot and ran full-on to him. We were all happy to be back together.

On Sunday, we took the kids up to Bloomington (near Minneapolis-St. Paul) to the Mall of America. All the way on the 90 minute drive they kept complaining that they didn't want to go to the mall. Well, the complaints ended when we practically had to drag them into the mall as right there was a huge theme park all done in Nickelodeon characters. They had a blast on the rides. I will post pictures from home as the internet here is SLOW!!! Now anything the word mall is mentioned, they are excited to go and disappointed when it is just the Apache Mall here in Rochester. And for those of you who know I am a shopaholic - we were at the Mall of America for 5 hours and I went in 3 stores, the rest of the time was spent on ride with kids and one of the stores I went in was the Build A Bear store for the kids to make a critter.

Dave had to report to Rochester Methodist Hospital (one of the MANY building called "Mayo Clinic") at 9:30 am on Monday. They got him into a pre-pre-op room where he stayed for about 2 1/2 hours and we could come and go from that room. Then they took him to pre-op where we couldn't go and he stayed there over 3 hours. At about 3 pm they took him to the OR and made the first incision at 3:23 pm. He was out of surgery by a few minutes after 5 pm. The kids and I got to go up to his room at noon and stayed there till the doctor came to us at 5:15 pm with the great news about his knee. The kids and I left then and he got back to the room about 8:00 pm.

Tuesday was a pretty good day. They removed the drain from his knee that morning and he began PT with walking in his room. The kids and I visited for short times as that was easier for all of us. We ran a few errands and came back to the hotel for a swimming time. They love the pools here at the hotel. They have a kiddie pool that is only mid-thigh deep on the kids, a hot tub and a big pool. The kids can play in the kiddie pool and the hot tub without me in the water. :)

Wednesday was more therapy for Dave and removal of the compression bandages. We visited a little more that day. When we weren't at the hospital we went to a ceramic studio called Color Me Mine and painted some ceramic things. Mackenzie painted a dragon bank, Chase painted an airplane and I painted a bigger ice cream bowl for Dave. The kids really enjoyed that. We went to Applebees for dinner and then discovered the play area at Apache Mall and they ran and played for 45 minutes there before getting Cold Stone ice cream for the evening snack.

Thursday was a typical third day post surgery. He was in a lot of pain and was CRABBY! He was also 4 days post-cigarettes too so that didn't help I am sure. He really didn't like the PT that day. We stayed away most of this rainy day as that was easier. We watch a movie in the room then hit the pools again. This time we had all three pools all to ourselves and they had a blast for 1 1/2 hours. We got dried and re-dressed and went to Red Lobster for dinner. They had a blast. We had a great waitress Mandy who played with them and even arranged for them to get to pet one of the live lobsters they have in a tank there. They thought that was really cool and yes I took pictures!! They we took dessert to Daddy and came home to bed.

Today we had to get up and started a little quicker to be able to pick him up. They like to discharge by 10 AM and they mean business about that. After Chase helped me get the dressing supplies and his prescritions while Kenzie stayed with Daddy, we were off to catch the shuttle back to the hotel. His nurse today was Kim and she was great with the kids and with Dave through the discharge process. Kenzie has been quite the nurse to Daddy and Chase was a big helper to me today. An old childhood friend of Dave's named Cheryl that lives in Mankato, Minnesota is coming to town today to see him and meet the kids and I. She came last week before we got here and had dinner with Dave but she wanted to meet us and see him after his surgery. We are currently scheduled on flights home on Wednesday but will continue to try to get home sooner.

Hope all is well and Praise the Lord for answered prayers (thanks to all of you who have been praying for a good outcome for Dave).