{M}ichelle

Where do you go??

Been thinking a lot lately and sometimes to do that you have to go to a special place.   I have a special place, in fact maybe a couple but its somewhere where I can forget the chaos of my day and of my responsibilities and just "be" .  My place, has the open sky as the backdrop when on the darkest of nights the stars fill both the sky and the ripples of the water.  Where the horizon is caressed with the bending of long grass and punctuated with silohetted trees.  Where the moon sits in the branches of a willow and in the distance you hear the lapping of waves.  Its where I go to sit and just "be" to reflect on life and if I'm lucky sometimes to just clarify my thoughts that often get ignored when I'm at work or in the car with the kids :)  

 I've had a lot on my mind,  Times when you cant seem to make a clear decision on what your doing in life but know in your heart of hearts its like your standing at a cross road and whilst you can see the road ahead of you what you can't see is the destination.    Sometimes its about courage,  and sometimes its about comfort.  Right now these two  "C" words are at polar opposites for me so guess where I'm heading later tonight?  Back to my special place, not sure which one right now but thinking I'm gonna practice my night photography so I can put it on a page :)

One of the cool things I love about blogging has been the ability to write things down as they occur or as they come to me and later go back to them and put them on a page later.  

So just wondering where do you go?  

 If you leave a comment or if you link back to your blog "where you go" then I put all the names in a draw and pull out a winner to send of a big box of goodies!!

PS working on posting some poems but at the moment wordpress isnt letting me type them up properly... HELP

PPS  Thanks thanks and thanks so stoked to be get  4000 hits.  Was bummed :O when I moved from Blogspot to here as I had to start back to a beginning..  but again thanks for hanging in there with me and not getting bored out of your brain with my posting on my family, scrapbooking and 'stuff'!!

Tuesday

Just a quick post cause I said I would do this everyday so I am!!   Work has been pretty rough at the moment but hoping that I can just get in there and support people.

On a day to day basis here are some of the blogs that I visit
Shirls check her out here
Tarisota is going digitial check her here
This is pretty cool and if you love pencils like I do (as in colouring pencils) then this is the bees knees
I hang out here a lot and I mean a lot
and thats about it really!!

But of course photos to share

and my fav using a urban grunge action.............

New Camera New Home

ok just some quick photos to make me feel better and my fav is with my 2 sons... love it!!

Well finally made the move and am trying hard to figure how to move my word furniture with me...  however if I cant well I shall forever remember my  twmichelle.blogspot.com home....

Wow where did all that time go?

Can you tell I'm loving black n whites at the moment, love the emotion and detail it evokes and especially with the contrast and dark blacks I'm using am stoked with the way they turn out... this photo is my cousins son....I love this photo!!

Ok so starting a new job has been fantastic but of course as the balance of acts goes, somethings hit the floor while others stayed in the air. Scrapbooking hit the floor as did my blogging.. . Well its my 7th day into the job and its feeling good... but that me, i have learnt to go with my instinct and trust it so again so far so good and I think I'm going to like it, like it a lot actually.

But what have I been up to, well scrapooking wise, because its not an everyday thing like it was have had a bit of a pit stop so this week only managed to do a double layout, plus Yolande online class which was my first class and really enjoyed. Hoping to do her next one as well as Chris Millers class but I'd better get in quick. Also postie fulla ow, where my November SO Kit??

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Whanau wise have been back home to our Marae at Pukehina in the weekend and had a working bee on the wharekai as it needed some zuising. Our whanau was raised at the marae and for me given I was raised by her, my kuia was one of the "old ones" so being at the marae was an everyday thing. However on her passing, as matriachs go, as a wider whanau we dont go there much. its also a small hapu marae so we are fortunate that events like tangi are few and far between, but then so are wedding and birthdays... anyways wasnt looking forward to it cause it sounded like hard work and hardly anyone turns up but when we got there had an awesome time catching up with the cousins, and I know its corny but I could feel her, a warmth, a presence and it was her.... so with the kids playing bullrush at the front, and the nannies singing and the koros drinking I remembered her and took a moment just to see my childhood for a moment through my kids playing with my mum, there grandmother... okay thats enough of that but these are some of the whanau that were there

This weekend though we are off again to Ngati Porou East Coast for my dads brothers unveiling and taking as usual my camera. As we are off to the sticks, whops whatever you want to call it (ie Rangitukia and Tikitiki) and hoping to capture some more intimate whanau photos as well of those of locals being being local!!

PS Congrats to the new DT for Scrapbook Essentials. Tu much!

What a difference

a space makes!! Ok so I always knew it would but the reality is so much more funna!! OK so since Friday I have completed 5 pages and thats without sending any children away to be somewhere else. Was suppose to go to DH'srugby breakup at 6pm but didnt get there till 10ish and really only wanted to stay home because I was scrapbooking. I got the area ready though while DH was away so he was stunned that it was there and that the cot was gone, but all good so far and at least if hes hogging the computer I'm good, cause I got me a space:)

DH got a hair cut... honestly for him thats big... had long hair cause of kapa haka and the whole trad maori look when doing a powhiri etc... but now its looks like this yeah!! He now looks like he's 28 instead of 30 something... which works for me...... now wondering if he'll go and have the *snip*.... hehehe


Job wise (and thanks for asking:) did the maths test and the comprehension test whilst sporting a major head ache of the non alcohol kind. Man did that do my head in... ok so normally you do get a bit nervous and butterfly ish and in my case my thing is is that I feel sick, spew and then I'm good to go, this however was a big crok!! Took me 5 mins in a 25 min test to turn the damn thing on and work out a simple average! I was swearing my little blogging mouth off.. but oh well as of Thursday and Friday morning they ricg to say the decision is being now made on Wednesday..... what the :(&%#

Me at 10.... and again at ..... 18

I'm thinking to myself take more photos of my children by themselves as well as each other cause I want to find more with just me!! Ok decided to provided details cause Sandra thought I was four in 1973!! Oh man......


Ok Grow me up and now I'm ten and my sister is 8. I love this photo of my sister. People used to say to my parents how lovely they were for adopting a little asian girl... hehe... but no she was all ours. People would always comment on her chingy eyes. On one occassion when some one told her that the wind would change her face (i think she was pokeing her tounge at an old nanny) she came running inside the house and ask me to blow into her face while she pushed her eyes in trying to make them more round. Admittedly I was cruel and told her it was working and that she might get faster results with a hair dryer. So she did that for about two months until mum caught her and boy did I get a massive growling......



Ok big fast forward Witeri and I in 1994. I'm 18 and hes 16. Wish my hair looked like that now! As for his, glad his hairstyle has changed. Last photo me and some friends in 94 at Massey University........... wish my legs still looked like that oh well thats what happens when you stop playing sport............. sigh...


ok school holidays I'm over those already. Having made a decision not so send the kids on a cool $35.00 holiday programme decided nah they can stay with me. But mate the doleros are fast disappearing. Hate PlayStation with a passion but this holiday I'm loving it cause its cheap and I chuck the odd chip and sandwich at them and they are quiet all day.... not a peep except for the occassional flushing sound from the toilet :) My two little ones are having a great time at home and we have been out walking a bit but the weather aint great so today they are with aunites and having fun with them hopefully :)

Okay better write these reports................ sigh

Challenge Post

Yeah blogger is my friend and I can finally put up some pictures!

First one I need to PS it cause it looks pretty grotty but I'm lovin my shoes and my socks but not the hair style!!! Mum whats with that. The rabbit there I still have in a very poor state of affairs and the carpet looks disgusting. See mum my carpet is tidier than yours and I've got FOUR kids... BTW can I borrow your vacumn.

Second photo with my sister taken on James Cook Hill in Gizzy. Sister look at those legs!!!

Have got some layouts to post but just waiting to finish of one more so I can post them up together.... other wise back to the crazy children now.....

Naughty Naughty Naughty me

Ok so admittedly I have been a bad blogger again.... just so much on and so much fun to be had
Well have been nice and unemployed now for a few days and I can honestly say that despite many comments I am not over it nor seem to be heading in that direction right now... so have been scrapbooking heaps, spending time with my kids, participating in friendly bubbly beverages, and spending time on projects that I had wanted to start up a while ago and now have the time to do so... also I might mention my house looks nice and spiffy!!

Have been going through my old photos and found one of my daughter that I love!! So want to scrapbook this. Her hair was pretty crazy and she looks like a little chubba bubba but I remember that time with her and I love it...



and secondly DH is moaning that I dont have any pages about him... specifically about what it is he does his loves, and his contribution to the kids lives so am gonna play along for now and do a few but I'm thinking DO IT YOURSELF :)

What else

Firstly big up to you Delys on the Tarisota win. WOW!!

Had some fun with the on line scrap with scrapbookoutlet but to busy in the chat room didnt get much scrapbooking done!! This was fun though as it was my first time (she blushes) and hangin out with Yolande and Eileen is always a laugh. SO looking forward to do more of these...

My scrapbook space is no further along that what it was some 8 weeks 4 days and 20 mins ago (sigh)

Theres a competition that we can enter at Scrap Trends in conjunction with Urban Lily that ends 8 July

And my buzz was that one of my fav scrapbookers, Keisha, commented on one of my layouts on twopeas.


Also wanted to post this challenge for anyone who is up for it and that is to post photos of yourself as a child, a teenager, a young adult and now.... I have found some good and some bad so here one of my sister in I in Gisborne, where my dad is from. I couldnt find any of me by myself as a toddler cause apparently my parents just took photos of us together even though theres a two year age gap and I was with my grandmother!! Will try and find my pimpalee teen photo tonight and post that in a couple of days...

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Tried to post it but it dissapeared or rather did a ppear so will try again later.

Laterz

Crazy Days of June

Here we go again... ok in the lst 7 days we have done lots of everything .... no scrapbooking since camp which for all accounts is relaly poor and am getting fussamarated as!! Have nearly finished up on some photography assignments as well as practicing more and more skills but determined that new screen will be needed quickerly!

Ok so had TKD grding for my sons (ps hubby took the photos for that. I was tending to crying baby and got asked later from DH did you miss it all) my reply was not polite, netball practice including some photo practice for the real photo.

Very difficultto get grown women to pose in the cold of winter cause all they can manage to do is moan there *&# off says she who was wearing a full tracksuit and jacket. But good news we have our final on Tuesday night against the team we only beat by one last time so that should be fun. A couple girls missing in the shot inclusing myself and the manager was hung over and looked terrible so didnt want to be in it :)

Picture of one of the local kids outside the dairy....

question for blogger............man where to the photos go that get uploaded but dont show...........

Photos gone wrong

Well its late of course so have been playing on photoshop and going through some photos that I would usually have deleted but instead going thru them i decided to artistly photoshopistly recreate them. The left is the orginal bad colour, out of focus, blah blah, middle one, cropped, colour variated, saturation increase blah blah while the last one is my new fav weapon which still needs me to tweak again. Ok let me know if they look terribly pale on your screen... I'm working of a screen that has a terminal illness and dying slowly so everything looks much darker... i should work off the laptop but cant be bothered setting it up. And like Yolande and Lianne am missing people comments and thanks to those who do!! So if your reading let me know which of the two you like :)

Actually got some scrapbooking done, bring on Yolande KS July class I'm busting to hook uo with everyone. Day in breif, woke up late, lounged around for ages, did some scrapbooking, went to visit my dad, searched for his and mums passport for 2 hours but found $1000 cash that she had stashed in a safe place about a year ago instead (wont tell everyone about that 'special place' mum) had a lovely afternoon nap followed by a mad afternoon with my daughter returning home from her auntys house and played referree between my two sons.

Habve been strolling the blogs and great to see Keishas blog back up and running. Love her work and will now have a play with my HS frames but miss my sewing machine something chronic. Actually picked it up at the op shop for $10 but lost the bobbin and havent been able to find a replacement one for the model ...... sigh Have also been enjoying Cynthias blog, Rachel Richters updated blog, and Desiree as well so guess I'll be awake for many hours