Outdoor Lifestyles

Another fun overlay - kept it simple. David and I love this photo of us on the rocky shores of Oahu watching the raging ocean - amazing power, sounds, smells and the feel of ocean mist on your face. Spectacular! And an incredible testimony to my Lord's power. Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Rev 19:6

Creative Imaginations overlay, BG archaic 'timeworn', Hot off the Press Chocolate Flowers - love em. And JSI's famous gel pens - white. Double click on the layout for a closer look.

Blessings!

Julie

Hawaii layout.....Google memory

Google Blogger told me the other day that I was using 86% of my allowable capacity for upload. I have been saving my scanned layouts in lesser quality to reduce Mb. So this news that I was almost at capacity meant the possible move to Typepad. But Typepad means money!!!!! I checked out several levels of typepad and the the monthly layout of cash was going to be significant if I wanted a good solid amount of memory on my Blog. Blogger right now gives me 1000 Mb or a GB - and it is almost full. Typepad Basic at $50 USD only gives you 500 Mb - how long will that last me?? Not long. For a decent 1 GB it is $150 USD/year. But that still isn't enough. I have used almost a GB with Blogger in the past year. Now the $150 does give you some other features, but really not that much more different then Blogger. So I decided to see if Blogger will sell me more memory.

Well it seems that every picture that is uploaded to Blogger is stored on Picasa. If you upload a picture and then delete it from your blog - it is still on Picasa (and using up memory). So the first thing I did is start deleting all the photos that I was no longer using on my blog. I accidentally deleted my header too - oops! Do be careful when you do this. I had quite the time finding it again on my computer - actually I didn't find it but found a version of it that I had to edit and re upload. So I am wondering if deleting from Picasa also deleted from your computer - this would be crazy but I need to test it out before I do anymore deletions. So getting rid of stuff I never used freed up several MB of memory on Google.

At the bottom of your Picasa page you have an option to increase your storage. Get this - 50 GB for $20 USD/year. So WHY switch to typepad???? If I am missing something here typepad users?? Please let me know. It seems to me that Google Blogger is WAY less expensive and gives me WAY more memory storage.

And on to more pleasant subjects. Worked two days at JSI this week and besides buying a bunch of stuff, got another Hawaii page done. :) And used the new pebbles that came in too, and the new flowers and some of those brass letters on the sale table. Oh and those very classy travel stickers. Got to love this job!! Okay I did work while I was there and helped a lot of customers. :)

Have a great day!

Julie

Paradise Cove luau

I find it difficult to cover up a picture with a picture. :) However this very tropical water works well with this busy picture... it is Hawaiian. You have to do the pose with the parrots when the opportunity arises - it is all part of the tourist's role!
Thanks for looking,
Julie

Another Hawaii page

This page was fun and so easy...did it while I was waiting for my husband to get off my computer Saturday morning. Done in 30 minutes - I love it when a page just happens! David so seldom uses my computer that I told him go ahead, finish what you are doing and I'll organize all the stuff I picked up at JSI while working the other night....love this new paper - well it isn't new but since it sold out so fast last time we have it in again..and it s beautiful. Pulled it out of the bag and put my photo on it. Yes! This would work, added some flowers, found some shimmer brads, exacto knife some of the swirls around the photo....pull out those fab Basic Grey chip board letters..add a little paint, some sparkles and shimmer mist, let them dry and out the door for coffee with my sweetheart. Home and glue it all together..gel pen on black paper for the journalling - done.

The best part of this wonderful day off, is that I just spent the last three hours playing on my husband new laptop (so why was he on my computer? more convenient) His computer has Windows Vista (learning curve) AND...get this!!!! It has Photoshop CS2 - YES!! So I have been reading a lot and learning all it can do - very powerful. I HAVE to take a Photoshop course.

I was able to scan my page on my own computer, and then went to the laptop to access the two scanned files off the home network from my computer to his laptop. I know this tech stuff is confusing but I love that I can access my photo files from his laptop because that is where CS2 is. I used photomerge in CS2 to merge the two scanned files together. And now I have uploaded it to my blog - voila!.

This learning curve is all in preparation for any holidays he might spring on me?? I can take photos, edit them and upload them to my blog...no matter where I am in the world (well if they have wireless Internet that is...but it is everywhere!) This is so much fun...why am I a nurse? oh yea it pays for all the toys and several bills! LOL

Today's fun.......

Oh how I love Hawaii! It is such a beautiful place.

Journalling reads.... Bliss: noun - supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment;

the joy of heaven/paradise; cause of great joy.

Mahalo for letting me share my day with you!

More Hawaii layouts

Blacks had a special on 8X10's a while back so I took advantage of it...here is another Hawaii page . My husband drew the letters while I focused and waited for the waves to arrive at just the right time before they washed our creation away. :) The colors are less green in real life.

This photo is of the condo we stayed in Makaha, Oahu last fall. I used the Madera Island line from SEI - ribbon, paper, embellishments - very Hawaiian! Sorry the scan got a little cut off on the bottom. We were on the fifth floor, looking out over the ocean....take a look at that beach!!...and the sky and the mountains and the vegitation...it was about 30C every day.

Thank you all for your prayers for my Dad! They are truly appreciated and knowing that there are people taking him to our Lord - people that do not even know him, really blesses me. So thank you for all your kind words. The update from my sister tonight is that Dad is really improving today - finally!! We were so worried, but he IS improving and if this continues, with some rehab we hope to have him home next week. God is good!

Blessings to each of you!

Julie

Haleiwa

Nope I am not scrapbooking in Victoria - I wish. I uploaded this last weekend when I was at home and am posting it today...so here it is.

This is the Kamehameha Hwy heading to the Northern shores of Oahu and the surfing town of Haleiwa. Hawaii is a beautiful place to visit! I took this shot just after we left the Dole Pineapple plantation.

I love MM rub-on letters but this page used up just too many a, e, m, and h's. :) LOL I think the Hawaiian alphabet has 13 letters and most of them are vowels.

Thanks for looking....and don't forget to do my survey - on the left of the screen...at the top...go ahead. It is totally anonymous.

Julie

Hawaii Photo Book

I just finished my photobook on our recent trip to Hawaii. I used Shutterfly. If you want to see my book and my pictures, click here Photo Book from Julie Cortens You don't have to have a Shutterfly account to view it, although Shutterfly is wonderful and has fantastic deals all the time. I am waiting for my Christmas cards to arrive! :) They have great promo's on photo enlargements and once uploaded they store your pictures forever.

It takes a moment to load (click on view photobook at the bottom)so be patient...you feel like it is waiting for you to sign up, but just wait and the book will open. You can look at it in slideshow mode or manually.

Thanks for looking!
Julie

Winter

Winter in Hawaii

Winter in Saskatoon

Today	Tonight	Tomorrow	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Blowing snow High: -16 ºC WindChill: -34 ºC Wind: SE 20 km/h	Chance of flurries Low: -22 ºC POP: 60 % Wind: NE 10 km/h	Chance of flurries Low: -21 ºC High: -17 ºC POP: 40 % WindChill: -28 ºC Wind: NW 15 km/h	Sunny Low: -26 ºC High: -23 ºC Wind: W 15 km/h	Sunny Low: -26 ºC High: -16 ºC Wind: W 15 km/h	A mix of sun and cloud Low: -21 ºC High: -17 ºC Wind: W 15 km/h

soooo...remind me why I live here?

MINUS 21 Celcius!! It is cccccold here and getting colder.

Yes the forecast here in Saskatoon for tomorrow and the rest of this week, is a balmy high of minus 21Celsius - That, for all you Americans who frequent my site is minus 6 Fahrenheit. Remember water freezes at plus 32 F. The windchill - which is a measure of how cold it actually feels with the ccccccold north wwwwind, is for minus 33 C...that is minus 15 F....which I am betting, given where most of my USA site visit come from, is a temperature you have never experienced!! Come visit and you can feel it for yourselves!! It is quite the experience...than again maybe it isn't?? We are settleing in for the Loooong cccccold dark wwwinter here.

That being said, you can now appreciate my gratefulness of my husband recently having a business meeting in Hawaii!! Yup - spent the past 10 days in PLUS 85 F most days and the sun was shining and the wind? - just a cool refreshing breeze off the ocean. Perfect weather. Why do we live in Northern Canada??? I am contemplating buying a condo in Hawaii....do I have anyone from Canada that would like to rent a month or two? Sorry December and January will be booked solid!!

Here are some of the pictures of this wonderful and relaxing vacation to help the locals feel a little warmer ...

This is the Condo we stayed in - fifth floor on the beach. Listened to the waves day and night. Amazing!

Lazy warm days touring the island with the love of my life. North coast beach.

At the end of our cove, the ocean waves pounded into the lava and coral rock. It was mesmerizing and I could have sat there all day watching this incredible relentless energy force etching itself on the rocks. The sounds, smells and pounding waves are beautiful to watch.

This pretty spot was to the south of our condo

This was the view to the North

I will try to post more pictures soon...but right now I have a mini baby album to finish up and then I can't wait to try out a few of the layouts in the new Best of Becky Higgins Sketches.....yes Laura talked me into this gem of a book (she is good at that). They arrived at Just Scrap It on Thursday and so I plan to make use of it. BTW I do believe that Laura bought one too....so be looking for a few Becky Higgins layouts on her blog!!! There! That's what you get for raving about the book Laura!! The challenge is on!!

Blessings!

Julie

Layouts

Here are a few more layouts...finally. My blogger has not been letting me upload any layouts - I get a message error that has yet to be resolved. It seems to have no proplem with my pictures - just my layouts - they are both jpeg file - so HOW does it know. I have sent some of my layouts to the shop - photoshop that is and they underwent reduction... still there is one layout at 2.5 mb it will NOT upload - even though it uploads a slightly larger one. Go figure! So while it might say 8mb limit - the reality is more like 2 mb!



Journalling reads..."The Polynesian Cultural Center is a unique and exciting attraction that every Hawaii traveler should visit. With our host "cousin Vetti" we experienced Hawaiian and other Pacific cultures by visiting the six recreated native villages. We visited the 'Islands' of Samoa, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, Hawaii, and Tonga. Remember the Japanese visitor on the drums. Funny! Many of the pictures below are from the Rainbows of Paradise canoe pageant that we watched during the day. Very entertaining. They danced while floating on huge rafts on the canal. In the evening we attended an authentic Luau and then the world's largest night show – or so they tell us. At the Luau we were greeted with traditional fresh flower lei and ate traditional old style foods while enjoying a hula show.

As newlyweds, Paul and Allie were invited up on stage. As a couple celebrating an anniversary, David and I were also invited up on stage – and we danced to romantic Hawaiian music. Kind of fun! Then off to the big show & our ice cream dessert. It was very colorful and there were lots of drums, impressive dancing and Hawaiian music. It was very enjoyable and very well done - a terrific end to a very full day. I think the Polynesian Cultural Center was one of the highlights of our Hawaiian experience. "

This had to be really reduced in size and quality to upload - but if you double click on it you can see it much clearer. Journalling reads..." The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941, was a surprise attack by Japan on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. US casualties were heavy and included 2,403 dead; 1,178 wounded; 5 battleships, 3 destroyers, 3 cruisers, and 188 planes. Japan casualties, by contrast, included 64 dead, 1 captured, 29 planes and 4 submarines. The loss of sailors, marines and officers represent the greatest loss of life of any ship in American naval history. The names of those lost are carved on a wall in the memorial.

On these pages are pictures of models of some the ships involved – including the Japanese aircraft carrier. The tour of the museum led by our own personal headphones and recordings was very informative. This is a must see tour for anyone going to Oahu.

The USS Arizona Memorial itself is an enclosed bridge which spans the hull of the sunken USS Arizona. The aerial view shows the ghostly shadow of the remains of the great battleship Arizona. Spanning the wreck is the Memorial. Turret 1 and 2 are visible at low tide although the guns and machinery, have been removed. This family picture was taken on the Memorial. "

Okay - so I like to add a little history to my page - it must be the homeschooling Mom in me...if you are going to look at something you might as well learn a little about it while you are at it. :)

One of my favorite pages - I had all these shots of the kids on the beach.

Thought for the day... "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Mat 11:28-29

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!
Julie

Date results

Well what a great date - we played and created for over six hours yesterday! hehe I also made home made cinnamon buns in my convection oven after rising the dough in the warming oven - amazing what you can discover if you actually read the instructions - all two booklets!!! My oven actually has a bread mode - stick it in the oven press "Bread" and the convection oven does the rest. Went bowling with the family and a few of Allison's friends - boy did they appreciate those cinnamon buns!!!
Well this is it for Hawaii pictures...journalling on first layout reads...

I think the best part about our Hawaii vacation was just being together! No one was rushing off to work or school – our schedule was our own. There were no distractions of friends and phones to get in our way of just being together. While there was a TV and we did have computer access, most of our time when not on the beach or checking out shopping and tourist attractions, was spent playing games together. The favourite was Hawaiian Monopoly – the kids played this several times. We also played scrabble – Mom cleaned up! And the boys discovered the brio and a few other toys. What fun…how many years has it been since the three of them spent hours filled with imagination and zeal on the carpet of their room playing together or down the basement in the rec room at Twain drive creating something grand. Okay this was a little more sophisticated – Paul was making a video – but it was play none the less! Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIAaAJ6_rE0 ~ the result of a few hours of fun on the floor in Hawaii.

Every aspect of this trip was a blessing. Well Allie had a cold and an exam to write – so I guess for her it wasn’t all blessing. And a few people underestimated the power of the sun and spent a couple of uncomfortable nights. But those minor glitches aside, the Browns (Beth and Trevor) had the perfect home for us and we were so thankful to have all this room to spread out and just relax. The “green” room was particularly spacious and the perfect set up for games and playing –oh to have had this kind of a room when our four were little and we were home schooling. But I don’t think they suffered any without it. J So I give thanks for this wonderful opportunity to be together as a family with our new daughter-in-law in a beautiful warm place like Hawaii, enjoying His Creation, discovering another culture, making new friends, and coming home with a tan!

Sorry about all that journalling but we all have short memories around here so in 10 years when the grandkids want to know about our family trip to HI it is there. :)

This was a fun fast page - used up so much really old stuff!! YEAH!

Journalling reads ...double click on the photo and you can see the tourist info - most of the places we visited in Honolulu - downtown...the oops after Queens Beach? We thought we found the perfect spot on Waikiki beach - away from all the hustle and bustle of the hotel disctict - really quiet! We noticed only a few other couples there - mostly guys and a couple of gals. Read in the brochure that night that we were on the gay beach!!! LOL You know what? They were really nice people who chatted with us and didn't seem to mind a 'family' on their beach, it was a gorgeous beach, not crowded. We went back three times!! :)



Polynesidan Cultural Center - went a little stamp crazy here, used up old paper too. Yes!!
















I wasn't going to scrapbook this photo of Honolulu and full view of Waikiki Beach from Diamond Head, but in my clean up yeaterday I came across this paper - which can only be used for a Hawaii picture right? I kind of like it!!!

And my last Mexico picture ....Scanner was giving me grief so I photgraphed it but the colours are off. The backgound is a beautiful turquoise like the Carebbean Sea

Now to get going on my photos from 2000 - the first being Mark's 17th birthday (he turns 24 this summer!!!) Of course that will only last until I get home from Halifax with my photos of Peggy's Cove!!! Will I ever catch up?

O my - look at the time! Got to fly! Haven't got the music picked out for church this morning and I need to get into the shower!!!!

Blessings!

Julie

A couple more pages

A couple more pages and then I have to take a break from scrapbooking and get some stuff done around the house - the list of have to's is growing! And I promised Allison we would go shopping for grad shoes today. I love the fullness of my days but sometimes I feel overwhelmed - so much to do, so much I want to do and sooo little time. Oh if I didn't have to sleep.

Okay - two new pages. This first one is of the ocean in Hawaii - a little different than the beach shots - this was one powerful sea we watched for about half an hour - wow. Try double clicking on the page to see the colors in the ocean. The ocean is one powerful force to be respected!

This next photo I took this winter. I had a little fun with stamps on this page! The journalling reads...You may see a blurry train here, but I took this picture because it reminded me of an early prairie morning. Waiting at the train crossing on a cold winter morning, I had dropped Allison off at school and the sun was just coming up. It was another beautiful morning and I had my camera. So what you really see here is an old farm fence, last year’s dead growth just starting to feel the morning sun, staunchly standing despite the fierce winter, and the sun filling the sky. Here is the beauty of creation, tranquil and steady despite a few tons of locomotion passing through.
January, 2007

Great news - David has a conference in Halifax and I get to tag along!! I am soo excited. I have not been east of Toronto. I have signed up for two tours - Peggys Cove - an all day tour including lunch. And a guided tour, by a fellow in a kilt, through old Halifax - heritage buildings and all - I will take a thousand pictures. Do I need more than 2 Gb of disk space??? Could use that wide angle lens I didn't buy because I redecorated my computer/scrapbooking room. I will resist. Looking forward to some fun time scrapbooking these pictures. Will I ever finish scrapbooking Hawaii? Mexico? Still on the year 2000 in the kids albums. YIKES!

Todays thought...
Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Deu 4:39

Have a wonderful day everyone...and leave a comment!

Discover the Ocean

Another Hawaii page I did last night. I really have to quit these late nights. The clock on my blog is supposed to remind me that "hey you got to be up at 6:45 am tomorrow morning girl!" but it doesn't seem to be working. Addicted? Ralna what have you done to us!! hehe

scrapbook challange

LOL - I have a challenge for all of you scrapbookers. Today I was thumbing through some pages that haven't made it into albums yet and I came across the first layout I ever did. It is a two pager. I had never scrap booked in my life and I signed up for a beginner class...and I was hooked of course. But I looked at this first page today and I had to laugh...how many stickers can you get on one page!! Remember cutting out the pictures? And all those fancy scissors to choose from? Okay - so your turn - I want to see your very first scrapbook page!

So that was the very first page and now here is the last one I did yesterday.

Looking forward to seeing your pages!

Hawaii

Finally - some of my layouts of our trip to Hawaii (click for a link to my photos).

My new reno must be inspiring me...or maybe I just know where all my supplies are now that they are organized again. Hawaii is so very beautiful and I am anxious to return and explore it further. If you have not been and have thought some day you would like to go, I would encourage you to go for it. There is so much to see and so much to do, or you can just lie on the beach and play in the ocean. Here are some of our photos from Hawaii.

It was a fabulous vacation!

This is paper Ralna ordered right from Hawaii - so it is really Hawaiian. :) The sunsets and sunrises (yes I got up for a few) were breathtaking. I came home with well over 500 photos -and those were the ones I didn't delete.


We spent the day and evening at the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was lots of fun, we learned so much and we laughed a whole bunch. This layout to the left was the presentation on the people of the Island of Samoa - they are known as the happy people and this guy was down right hilarious!

Another meal near the ocean - we had such fun together!

This is a photo Mark took of Honolulu late at night. If you double click on it you can get a closer look - it is really a great picture.

I have uploaded some of my Hawaii pictures. Click here if you want to take a look.

Thanks for visiting!