Be Mine, Valentine

While the drawing for this clever Valentine is my own, the cute idea is not. I love turtles so when I saw this idea on the internet, I knew it would be the perfect valentine for my kids.

Happy Valentine's Day! XO

Seek Sunlight

This quote came up in one of our lessons today at church. It's a great way to live and a good reminder to look for the good things in life. Good or bad, you find what you are looking for!

Merry Christmas!

Let Him In

Merry Christmas!

All Hearts Come Home

XC - No Excuses

I've mentioned before how much I love Cross Country! I still think it's an amazing sport and I admire anyone who participates.

Spencer has had a great season. It's coming to an end with the biggest races over the next few weekends. He is only seconds away from lettering and he's really pushed himself and accomplished more than he thought he could. He's had personal bests at several races this year and he is fit and toned from his hours of practice.

Spencer with his sprint at the end of a race.                  Photo by Lynne Oliver

This year was a first for XC at the middle school level. Sterling was thrilled and enjoyed his participation a year earlier than he expected. His season has officially ended, but he's got the bug and is hoping to join a running club to keep in shape until track season in the spring. The volunteer coach who was instrumental in getting XC approved this year is seriously the best and was constantly motivating these kids to do and become better - not only on the course, but in life. What you do before and after a race matters every bit as much as what happens during it. And I'm not just talking training and healthy habits. Coach Mac motivated these kids to be kind and hard working and helpful. I'll say it again - he's the best!

Sterling's end-of-race kick.                         Photo by Charlotte Bednar

My contribution was the middle school t-shirt/sweatshirt design. 

It's been a great season! I'm looking forward to next year.

Triathl On

I was reminiscing about the family triathlon the extended Stowell family participated in last summer. It was great motivation for me to get in shape and most everyone enjoyed it. I don't know that there are plans to have another, but just for fun, I came up with the perfect t-shirt design...

Some people don't really get it. Maybe it's my weird sense of humor, but I love it and might have one made just for me...triathlon or not. :)

{You can create your own "Keep Calm" poster here.}

Graphic Design: Memes

I had some time on my hands the other day so I decided to match up some favorite quotes with pictures I found on www.morguefile.com. (They have some amazing free photos!) I love stuff like this!!

This is my favorite scripture. Doctrine and Covenants 6:34.

Doodles and Designs

I've always wanted to try my hand at graphic design. I finally got myself a tablet that hooks to my computer and lets me draw and write with much more control than I could get with a mouse or touch pad. It's awesome!

I used it (along with Photoshop Elements) to design our Christmas card and Sadie's Valentines.  But most of the time I just doodle.

I'm planning to teach myself how to use a vector graphics program so I can do even more, but for now I'm having a ball!

Penguin Love

Here's what we came up with for Sadie to give her class for Valentine's Day. I think they turned out cute and they were super easy to make. Of course, Sterling thought the caption should say, "I may live where it's cold, but I know hot when I see it!" Um, I'm not sure the fourth graders are quite ready for that....

Happy Valentine's Day!

In Training

This is what we'll be doing next week...

our t-shirt design

Yep. We're heading to Idaho for a family triathlon. Having mercy on those of us who are not exactly athletic, Jeff's brother worked up a few choices so each of us could compete at our individual comfort level. There's the adult distances and the child distances and everyone gets to pick and choose what events/distances they want to compete in.

The breakdown goes like this:

1.  Swim 1/3 mile

2.  Swim kid (short)

3.  Bike 12 miles

4.  Bike~ 4 miles

5.  Run 5K  (3 miles)

6.  Run 1.2 miles

My kids are brave and each of us is stretching ourselves past our usual comfort level. Many of us have been training to get ready and I, for one, can say I'm better off for having this goal to work toward. I've lost 5 pounds and my muffin top is shrinking. Yay!!

My first day in the pool, I swam a measly 200 yards before I needed oxygen. By the end of that week, I swam 700 yards. Granted, I looked a little tipsy as I got out of the pool and my energy was completely spent. I wondered how on earth I'd ever be able to go from the swim to a 12 mile bike ride to a run. I still wonder that some days, but I'm up for the challenge and we'll see how it all plays out next week. I'm trying to ignore the fact that Idaho is at a much higher elevation so I might be gasping for breath before the first event is through...  Ha ha!!

Anyway, it's good to have a goal. We're excited for our first triathlon!! :)

South Pacific

It's that time of year again. Our high school's spring musical is in full swing. We attended opening night last night and can't wait to see it again with Jeff's parents on closing night. It was so, so good! Okay, so maybe I'm a little biased...after all, I have three kids in the show! But I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who was wowed by the quality of the performances, the backdrop, costumes, and music. So good!!

This year I was on the t-shirt committee. I ended up designing and ordering the shirts. Here's a picture of an already worn and quite wrinkly one that I found wadded up in one of the kids' bedrooms this morning. You get the idea. :)

Good times!

Trying My Hand at Graphic Design

Last weekend I got a simple program that allows me to create some pretty cool stuff. I'm having a great time experimenting with graphic design, which is something I've long wished that I could do. Here are my first two creations. Someday, after I have a lot of experience behind me, I may look back on these and think they are cheesy or too busy or whatever, but today they make me happy. :)

I got the background photo here.