Write My Life

Today’s blog entry features places I have been this year that have a significant amount of green. These include the following: Vermont, soccer fields, baseball park, Chinatown and Daybreak Camp.

Here’s what’s on tap for this week:

Monday: Pork Stir-Fry with Noodles, White Rice, Potstickers

Tuesday: BBQ Beef Sandwiches, Roasted Beets

Wednesday: Dinner at church building

Thursday: Steak Tacos, Vegetable

Friday: Tomato and Mozzarella Tart, Sauteed Squash

Saturday: Jackie’s Birthday Dinner

For Jackie’s 13th birthday party, we kidnapped her friends.

With a “pirate” theme in mind, Jackie selected 9 friends to kidnap. We arranged the time and pick-ups with their parents ahead of time. We started at one house, getting our first kidnap victim, then moved to the next house.

When we had about 4 girls, it got very fun as the girls would decend on the next house and kidnap the girl all together. All the girls were surprised but some girls were so surprised, it was quite comical. There was a lot of “What are you doing here?” as they looked their friends holding swords at them.

We drove them to our destination – a friend’s beach house south of Santa Cruz. The girls dressed for the beach. Due to the overcast day, they dressed in layers with a swimsuit underneath their sweatshirts and shorts. At the house Captain Jackie inspected her new crew.

She announced her treasure map was missing so we had to inspect the girls’ bags. She found the map among her crew. With map in hand, they followed the path to the beach. On the beach, they discovered the treasure chest. Inside the treasure chest were gold chocolate coins and a snack bag for each of the girls. They were apparently hungry cause they all yelled, “Food! Yes!”

Next, they played at the beach.

Some played in the waves, some participated in sword fighting and a few brave souls body surfed.

Afterwards, we headed back to the beach house. After changing clothes, the girls gathered around the table where Jackie opened her presents. With a “kidnapping” theme Jackie wasn’t sure if she would get an presents, but their parents had bought presents and hidden them in the girls bags. Each girl would say, “Open my present. I want to know what I got you!” The mother’s knew Jackie well enough to get her things like journals, bookstore gift cards and a reading light.

Dinner followed with pizza, watermelon, apples and Jackie’s requested lemon cheesecake.

A few of my favorite things – Yellow version…

Template by Kelly Mize, 9/7/08

http://www.designerdigitals.com

Here’s what’s cooking in the Gormish household this week:

Sunday: Cheese and Bacon Omelets, Cauliflower Gratin and Glazed Carrots

Monday: Pan-seared Rib-eye Steaks, Pan Roasted Broccoli, Cauliflower Gratin, Cantaloupe

Tuesday: Steamed Potatoes with toppings (butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese and chili), Celery and pepper Sticks, Tomato and Mozzarella Slices

Wednesday: Potluck at church – Tater Tot Casserole

Thursday: Crockpot BBQ Beef Sandwiches, chips, Green Salad, Tomato Slices, Celery and Pepper sticks. Friday: Leftovers Night

Saturday: Steak Tacos, Corn Chips, Tomatillo Salsa, Roasted Beets. NEW: Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

Change #1: Got a bargain on boneless ribeye steaks so the meals got switched around…

Change #2: Too many leftovers in the house so we are eating them up Friday. The Stir-Fried Noodles will have to wait until next week. We got Piquillo peppers so I need to try something with them.

Our visit to Discovery Kingdom (formerly Marine World/Africa USA) this summer.

Journaling: There is infinite PLEASURE in what God has created;
and we find that PLEASURE when we watch God’s creatures.

Kellie Mize: Tortuga Template No. 11/Anna Aspnes: 12X12 Distressed Edge Overlays No. 3/Katie Pertiet: Star Clusters/Lynn Grieveson: Breezy Flowers/Jesse Edwards: Flower Brushes No. 2 and Clean and Serene Solids No. 1, http://www.designerdigitals.com/

What’s cooking at the Gormish household this week?

Sunday: Crepes with Lemon-Ricotta Filling

Monday: Pan fried Chicken & Apple Sausage, blanched green beans and pan roasted broccoli

Tuesday: Lasagne Bolognese Simple Cheese Lasagne, Caesar salad and garlic bread grapes

Wednesday: Meal served at church

Thursday: Crockpot BBQ Beef Sandwiches, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches, celery, raspberries

Friday: Tomato and Mozzarella Tart, caesar salad, glazed carrots

Saturday: Lasagne Bolognese Simple Cheese Lasagne leftovers, Cauliflower Gratin or sauteed summer squash, grapes

Revision #1: For Tuesday, I chose a fruit instead of more carbs. I got some great fresh tomatoes so I had to revise TR. Those tomatoes will be great for the Tart too. And I finally figured out Saturday.

Revision #2: Lasagne Bolognese is more time consuming and I don’t have all the ingredients so it’s a simple lasagne instead.

Revision #3: Switch Friday and Saturday’s meal. Save Cauliflower Gratin and Glazed Carrots for next week.

All these layouts are from the Boston/New Hampshire/Vermont trip in June. All supplies from Designer Digitals unless noted.

• Destination: Boston

Journaling: For four nights of our vaction we stayed in Woburn, MA. T\On two days we visited Boston by taking the subway into town. We boarded the subway in Wellington, MA (orange line) then got off in the heart of the city. We learned to navigate the subway system. On one trip, we let Jackie lead the way, reading the subway map and even navigating a transfer from the orange line to the blue line at State. We made it just fine. Excellent job, Jackie!

Katie Pertiet: Border Die Cuts No. 2
Katie Pertiet: Stacked Photo Frames No. 2
Katie Pertiet: Traveler Stamps
Katie Pertiet: Little Fly Aways
Ali Edwards: The Story Word Art + Hand-Drawn Brushes
Font: Garamond

• Walking Boston

Journaling: Our subway stop began partially along the Freedom trail so we began at the North Station on the orange line. The sites we saw included the Old State House, Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Charlestown Bridge, USS Constitution, Beacon Hill, and the Boston Common. 6/22/08

Katie Pertiet: Travel Stamps
Mindy Terasawa: Flutter Butter brown paper
Ali Edwards: Layered Template No. 22
Fonts: Myriad Pro and Arial Black

• The Pew Box

Journaling:
Circa 1724. Church members were often seated according to social rank, whether by assignment or purchase. The wealthy could purchase their pew box. These private pews were marked with a name and they also gave rise to the practice of numbering pews for easy record keeping.

Circa 2008. Mike and I sit in our normal pew spot at church where our whole family sits together. “Don’t get used to that pew you are sitting in,” our preacher says. “As our church grows someone else may take that pew. That pew does not have your name on it.”

So, when we saw these pews at the Old North Church in Boston, we had to laugh.

Katie Pertiet: White cabana paper
Fonts: You are Loved and Garamond

• Whale Cool

Journaling:

Ohhhhh. Ahhhhh. Ohhhhh. Ahhhhh. Ohhhhh. Ahhhhh. Ohhhhh. Ahhhhh.

It’s about all we could say as we were watching the whales

Jesse Edwards: Clean and Serene Solids
Jesse Edwards: Title Lines No4
Katie Pertiet: Tied Fasteners No2
Kellie Mize: DoubleDates No3 -Block
Fonts: Garamond and Hannibal Lecter

• Never Again

Journaling:

We may never go on a whale watching tour again.

Not because of sea sickness.
Not because the tour was bad.
Not because we didn’t see any whales.

Actually, the opposite – we were spoiled with the number of whale sightings and the incredible number of different behaviors we saw!

We sailed on a large boat to a feeding ground called Stellwagen Bank, a plateau at the Massachusetts Bay’s eastern edge. Here the current comes up to the bank and carries nutrients with it, making a great spot for whale feeding. While we were there, we saw an abundance of fish which were even visible from the water’s surface. We saw up to 10 different Humpback Whales, including a mom and her calf.

Humpback Whales can be identified by the pattern on their tales and after they are a few years old, they are given a name. We saw Echo with her calf. Echo was first sited in 1988. A NOAA website says, “Echo has a great tail to identify. Her left and right flukes are very similar in pattern, however, on the left fluke near the leading edge is a very distinguishing mark. This mark reminded researchers of the depiction of an echowave from a dolphin or bat. And so, she was given the appropriate name of Echo. This mark may have been caused by an attacking orca whale.”

We felt really blessed to see this many whales at one time. It prompted us all to say, “We don’t ever need to go on a whale watching tour again.”

Paper: Jesse Edwards, Indigo Solids and Clean and Serene Solids
Date Stamp: Katie Pertiet, Digital Dates No. 10
Brads: Anna Aspnes, Something Springy

Font: Bank Gothic, jGaramond

• The Artist Within: Lovin Life

Journaling: I had a camera. Tia had a camera. Grandma had a camera. Even Jackie, who never takes photographs, had a camera. Each of us snapped away as we watched the interesting behaviors of the humpback whales on our whale watching tour. I had the advantage though. Even with a short range zoom lens at 105mm I could get closer to the action. The real adantage came because I was using an Single Lens Reflex camera with continuous drive mode. Instead of waiting for the right moment, I could just press down on the shutter button and take a whole sequence of photographs. In the end, I took 86 humpback whale photographs!

Jesse Edwards: Clean and Serene Solids
Jesse Edwards: Indigo Solids
Kelly Mize: Tortuga Template No. 11 (for long, thin photo)
Kelly Mize: Double Dates No. 03 Brushes-n-Stamps
Ali Edward: Title + Journal Photo Overlays No. 01 (for The Story)
MaryAnn Wise: Doubletake Drama
Font: Garamond

• Neat

Journaling: Despite the threat of rain, we rode the subway to Boston Harbor to see the New England Aquarium and take a whale watching tour. Thankfully, we were able to do both activities with only minimal rain disturbance.

At the aquarium we saw various sea creatures. We enjoyed the several different types of penguins as well as the fur and harbor seals.

We also enjoyed the central tank with various animals swimming within it. To make our whale watching tour, we slightly pushed ourselves, but we make it through the aquarium and lunch in 3 hours.

Although a nice aquarium, we still ranked the Monetary Bay Aquarium and John G.. Shedd Aquarium higher.

Jesse Edwards: Clean and Serene Solid paper
Kellie Mize: Tortuga Template 24
MaryAnn Wise: Double Take Drama Brushe
Katie Pertiet: Traveler Stamps

In July I did about 30 digital layouts. Here is a sample of them. All supplies from Designer Digitals.

• Along for the Ride

Journaling: It’s been a long time, but this year we took the dogs with us on our vacation. We had several reasons and it all worked out well. The dogs enjoyed being with us, playing in the snow and getting to take many walks.

Merlin, 14, stumbled a bit on the snow but enjoyed it. He barked whenever we would stop walking. He didn’t want to sit still!

Arthur, 10, had plenty of energy! When we did stop, he would instantly climb into my lap for cuddling. He was so lap happy that when I got into a sled he joined me and sledded down a very small hill on my lap.

Katie Pertiet: Crystallized Flourishes Brushes-n-Stamps,
Ali Edwards: Title + Journal Photo Overlays No. 01
Font: jGaramond

• Oh No!

Journaling:

One of Mike’s favorite movie lines is from Finding Nemo. It occurs when the Ray says, “Can I help? I am a Scientist.” He uses that line a lot with the girls, replacing scientist with mathematician when appropriate

Mike loves helping the girls with their math homework so he will often ask them, “Can I help? I am a mathematician.” The girls are not as gleeful about math help from dad, partly because he likes to explain in detail the concepts and doesn’t let them slide with just “getting it.” He will often add more information than what they really needed. They roll their eyes. I think its great that he can give them the extra help so they fully understand the concepts. They will avoid Mike and say, “Oh no. I don’t need any help with math.”

When the girls DO need math help, it is will trepidation they ask Mike for help. He smiles, rubs his hands together in glee and gets that “oh this will be fun” look in his eyes.

Katie Pertiet: Cabana white paper
Katie Pertiet: Messy Stamped Alpha No. 3
Jesse Edwards: Clean and Serene Solid paper
Pattie Knox: Brad Bonanza
Anna Aspnes:Something Springy (orange brad and orange staples)
Katie Pertiet: Hanging Tags No. 01 (staple)
Katie Pertiet: Stacked Photo Frames No.

March Madness

Journaling:

This is Mike, watching one of the greatest University of Kansas basketball comebacks in history – to win the 2008 National Championship! Kansas defeated Memphis 75-68 in overtime, rallying from a nine-point deficit in the final 2:12 of regulation.
Throughout the entire basketball tournament our kids have been watching us with a certain caution. They don’t like it when we get LOUD and emotionally charged. That’s bound to happen when we watch the college basketball tournament so they kinda keep away from us. On the night of the final game, Jaclyn sat outside reading a book so she wouldn’t hear us. Jennifer sat in the same room, but on the far side. They celebrated with us, but not until it was all over and they were pretty sure that their parents were returning back to “normal” behavior.

Ali Edwards: Title + Journal Photo Overlays No. 01 (two overlapping)
Katie Pertiet: Tied Fasteners
Kellie Mize: Double Dates No. 01 Brushes-n-Stamps

• So You Think You’re An Engineer

Journaling: I have never really doubted that Mike was a true engineer at heart. His childhood exploits and career path demonstated that. But if there was any shred doubt it was erased when we visited Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, CA. Mike signed us up for the tour, which was led by a docent who knew the ins and outs of every train in the park. Mike immediately begins asking all kinds of question about how the engines operate, how certain aspects of the engines perform and what is required for maintenance the engines. Question after question… I should have known. How can you take an engineeer to a place that specializes in historic trains and not get this endless series of questions? I don’t think he’s an engineer. I know. True to heart, he’s an engineer.

Jesse Edwards: Clean and Serene Solids Paper Pack
Jesse Edwards: Hearts Brushes-n-Stamps
Kelly Mize: Double Dates No. 01 Brushes-n-Stamps

• Chinatown

Journaling: Jennifer’s 3rd grade class took their final field trip of the year – a visit to San Francisco’s Chinatown. A tour guide from the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco guided the class through the streets and sites of Chinatown. We visited a temple, a Chinese cookie factory, a herbal medicine store and a market. We finished the tour with lunch in Chinatown. Although I had been to Chinatown beforehand the guide took us to a Chinatown that felt more authentic.

Katie Pertiet: Cabana white paper
Katie Pertiet: Tied Fasteners
Katie Pertiet: Stacked Photo Frames No. 2
Anna Aspnes: Something Springy Solid (recolored)
Fonts: jGaramond and Copperplate Gothic

• Girl Scout Friends

Jackie’s troop in Santa Cruz. The girls were walking along the beach toward the waves.

Ali Edwards: Hello Summer Hand-Drawn Brushes
Pattie Knox: Brad Bonanza – Digital Fasteners
Katie Pertiet: Ledger Grids Brushes-n-Stamps
Katie Pertiet: Double Dates No. 01 Brushes-n-Stamps

Sorry for the lack of posting.

I have been really busy digital scrapbooking. In the past, I would blog, then later do a page using the blog contents as an aide. With digital scrapbooking I don’t have to wait to get the photos. Instead I can scrap the event immediately. So I am producing pages of recent events instead of blogging recent events. In the end this will keep my caught up on my scrapbooking but kinda leaves the blog neglected. I’ll try to do better at posting my layouts quicker so I can at least share our family news that way.

Check back on Monday for a slew of new things including an onslaught of the digital layouts I did in July and August.