Carey Family

Sue

A new scrapbook

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In September of 2009 Scott and I went on a trip for our 25th anniversary to Washington, D.C. and New York City.  Before we left I had read about a technique of making an album using a 200-slot photo album of 4×6 photos and journaling blocks,  and then embellishing the pages.  I thought I would try it for this trip album and finally started on it late last year.  I got it all finished up this afternoon and I’m pretty happy with the result.  I liked using the new technique to create an album and I especially like having it done!

2010 Reading Stats

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I keep a book journal and here are my statistics for 2010:

Books read: 152

Pages read: 46,899

Of the books read:

* Non-fiction: 3
* New-to-me novelists: 37
* Continuing series: 25
* Re-reads:    19
* Audio-books: 28
* Challenges completed: 5 of 5
* Ongoing tally of Newbery winners: 50 of 89

2009:
73 books; 23,576 pages; 3 non-fiction; 31 new-to-me novelists; 36 continuing series; 5 re-reads; 48 of 88  Newbery

2008:
79 books; 32,031 pages; 8 non-fiction; 15 new-to-me novelists; 31 continuing series; 19 re-reads; 42 of 87  Newbery

2007:
44 books; 17,069 pages; 3 non-fiction; 8 new-to-me novelists; 15 continuing series; 13 re-reads; 38 of 86 Newbery

One Little Word 2011

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In 2009 I began an adventure I learned from Ali Edwards, one of my favorite scrapbook designers.  She challenged her readers to join her in choosing a word for the year that would help define who she wants to be at the end of the year.  I chose SERENE for 2009 and CREATE for 2010. I have enjoyed choosing a word that influences my state of mind throughout the year and creates a structure and framework for my life.

I have done a fair amount of scrapping and quilting this year, along with more gardening than the previous year.  I also got out my paints and brushes and made some Christmas ornaments which turned out to be more satisfying than I had expected.  I also used other definitions than just causing something to come into being, specifically to cause to happen by intention or design.  I worked on that in my professional life and my personal life as I caused things to happen by design and not just by accident.  That has also been fulfilling.  So my efforts have been a success this year, even if I didn’t get to craft as much as I would have liked.

Now on to 2011.  I have considered several words and almost settled on transition because that will be a big part of my life this year, but gave it up in favor of BALANCE.  With the health challenges that I have been facing in the last six months, balancing everything has been a real exercise in mental control.  I know I haven’t done a great job at it, so the thought of keeping that word in the forefront of my life this year seems wise.  I need to balance my needs and my family’s needs, as well as my ability to cope with life and it’s unforeseen curve balls.  So think of me on a teeter-totter as I try to stay in balance this year.

2011 Reading

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Instead of joining online reading challenges in 2011, my book club girls decided to something different this year, inspired by a blog idea discovered by alisonwonderland. We’re doing our own list swap reading challenge!  The idea is for each of us to generate a book list of five books for each member of the club that we think that person would enjoy reading.  That means each of us will have 30 books recommended to us by people who know what we like to read.  It was actually very fun to come up with the lists for other gals as I looked through their goodreads lists and thought about books I had read that they might enjoy.  It was also interesting to see the book lists they came up with for me.  Quite an eclectic list I’m excited to start on next year, and all but six are in my personal library or my local library.  The entire swap list is on our book club blog but here’s my list:

For Sue from Alison

  • Small Change: The Secret Life of Penny Burford, by J. Belinda Yandell
  • Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
  • The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova
  • Beauty, by Robin McKinley
  • The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo

For Sue from Karen

  • Faro’s Daughter, by Georgette Heyer
  • Charles & Emma: The Darwin’s Leap of Faith, by Deborah Heiligman
  • Charms for the Easy Life, by Kaye Gibbons
  • Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson
  • The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

For Sue from Holly

  • The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
  • The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
  • Persuasion, by Jane Austen
  • Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert O’Brien
  • Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach

For Sue from Leslie

  • David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens
  • The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, by Terry Ryan
  • The Magic of Ordinary Days, by Ann Howard Creel
  • The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley
  • East, by Edith Pattou

For Sue from Natalie

  • Each Little Bird that Sings, by Deborah Wiles
  • The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
  • The Magic of Ordinary Days, by Ann Howard Creel
  • Emma, by Jane Austen
  • Founding Brothers, by Joseph Ellis

For Sue from Linda

  • A Walk in the Woods – Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, by Bill Bryson
  • Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
  • The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt
  • Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
  • The Blessing Way, by Tony Hillerman

Walker Christmas Party

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This year my parents and siblings decided to have a holiday party.  We had a great time with a soup buffet and an ugly sweater contest won by my brother, Scott, for his Pittsburgh Steelers sweater.  My sister posted pictures of the ugly sweaters on her blog.  Mark played guitar and sang and my nephew, Taft, was mesmerized by his guitar playing.  We had a dessert buffet provided by my sister, Stefanie, and a viewing of “Small One”, the Disney short that my Dad worked on when he was at Disney Studios.  We also had a Nativity play.  I borrowed costumes from my mother-in-law and showed everyone a scrapbook page from my Christmas book illustrating the last time we did a Nativity play in 1999.  Mark and Kylie reprised their roles of Mary and Joseph, Brady was the baby the last time but this time he was a donkey.  The other little cousins weren’t around.  Brian was a shepherd that time but he was absent this year on his mission.  We had a great time and lots of fun together.

Click on a photo to see them larger in a gallery.