AEZine Challenge

From Issue Eleven of the AEzine: This week your challenge is to create something, anything, that celebrates your chosen word for 2007. Maybe a layout. Maybe a blog posting or a journal entry or a simple post-it note that you put somewhere you can see it each day. Make sure to journal about why you chose your word and what it means for you - the more you let yourself explore the more benefit you will receive in the end.

Go
Accomplish
Peace
Risk
Joy
Believe
Connect
Light
Embrace
Yes
Being
Be
Simplify
Acceptance
Savor
Dream
Resolve
Reinvent
Change
Organize
Grateful
Simplicity
Balance
Hope
Obey
Grace
Commit
Attitude
Less
Play
Trust
Create
Health
Calm
Heal
Relax
Do
Happiness
Art
Move
Truth
Fear
Patience
Harmony
Accomplish
Management
Enrichment
Grow
Celebrate
Bliss
Perspective
Life
Free
Prosperity
Enjoy
Time
Respect
Content
Humanitarian
Contentment
Faith
Learn
Share
Strength
Freedom
Action
Believe
Love
Begin
Reinvent
Happy
Wife
Well-Being
Evoke
RockStar
Accept
Thanks
Focus
Care
Shed
Live
Together
Enrich
Open
Stop
Possibilities
Roots
Explore
Mindful
Fresh
Satisfaction
Now
renaissance
Flow
Try
Trust
Breathe
Restore
Appreciate
Compromise
Serenity
Fly
Hush
Forgive
Finish
Authentic
Diligence
His
Beauty
Adventure
Invincible
Healing
Reward
Sacrifice
NotToBeAfraidAnymore
DailyCarpeDiem
Imagine
Venture
Wonderful
Place
Capture
Life is a Beautiful Place to Be
Observe
Stewardship
Jump
Journey
Achieve
Elements
Fancy
Daily
Full
Fruition
Cherish
Learn
Generosity
Proud
Godwinks
Smile
Harmony
Vivacious
Imperturbable
Important
Balanced
S T O P
Seek
Enjoy

2 Peas Weekly Challenge

This week's challenge is to frame your photo(s) with words. You can do this with one photo like I've done here, or use multiple photos and frame them, layer a title over photos making one photo the focal point. You get the idea...go have fun!

2 Peas Weekly Challenge

A Color Challenge!

When scrapping my colored photos, I almost always pull colors from the photos and use them as a guide when selecting papers and embellishments for my layout. Take this layout for example. A Christmas photo of my daughter in her red dress and crooked angel wings. The reds in Cosmo Cricket's new Be Good line were a perfect match as were the flowers by Prima. The other obvious color choice would be green (hello, Christmas!), and how convenient that the greens in the Be Good line are softer greens that match the little bit of green from a chair peeking out from underneath her left arm.

So, this week's challenge is to use the colors in your photo(s) as inspiration for the colors that you use in your layout. Have fun!

2 Peas Weekly Challenge

Lifelong Themes

There are four other main themes that run continuously through a person’s life:

WORLD EVENTS

HOLIDAYS

Family Members

You-Your Personal Growth

Again, think of each theme in relation to the different stages of your life: Early childhood, teen years, young adult, middle age and retirement years. What stayed consistent? What changed?

World Events
When does your memory and awareness of certain events (ie. stock market crash, World War II, the first man on the moon, etc.) kick in? How did you respond? Do they trigger memories of what life was like then? What society was like? What values and principles were important then?

Think of the inventions you’ve seen in your life time. What was life like before them? (How was toast made before toasters were invented? Was there really life before television?) Are there “old-fashioned” ways of doing things that you miss?

Think of yourself as a child or a teenager or a young adult landing your first job — What was going on in the world then? How did it affect you? How did you feel about it at the time? To trigger some memory, check our historical events a listing of over 500 world and national events including a listing of U. S. presidents in office in the 20th century.

Holidays
Take any of the major holidays or celebrations and follow it through from childhood to adulthood. How did they change as you matured? Did you start your own traditions as you got older? The following are sample questions to get you started:How did your family celebrate holidays:

Memorial Day, 4th of July, Other Holidays and Family Get Togethers
Take each holiday and use the same type of questions to trigger those early memories.

Thanksgiving
How was Thanksgiving celebrated? Where was dinner held? Who was usually there? Who did the cooking? What kind of food did you eat? Who did you play with?

Christmas
How was Christmas celebrated? Did you always have a tree? Where did you get it? How was it decorated? What did the ornaments look like? How was the house decorated? Did you have any manger scenes or religious statutes? Did you have Christmas stockings? Where were they hung? What was in them? What kind of presents did your family give to each other? Did Santa Claus come? Did you leave him treats? How did he get in? When did you find out Santa Claus was a myth? Who told you? How did you react? What kind of Christmas dinner did you have? Did your family have traditions (going to church, baskets to the poor, singing carols, sleighrides?)

Family Members
Think of family members who have been part of your life, perhaps for a short time (like a grandparent) or maybe many, many years (like a sibling). Who are they? What kind of relationship did you have with them? How have they changed over the years and how has your relationship with them changed?

Parents
What kind of relationship have you had with your parents over the years? Has it changed in many ways?— What kinds of lessons did you learn from them?— What do you think of your father or mother? What kind of people were they? What qualities, values, advice did they give you?— Did you see changes in your parents over the years? What were you most proud of? Least?— What traits in your parents do you see in yourself?

Siblings
NOTE: Use the same questions as listed above for your brothers and sisters. You might also think how they would respond if you asked any of the following questions:

• What did we do together that you especially liked?
  
• What was the nicest thing I ever did for you? The meanest?
  
• What was my most annoying habit? What did I do that secretly tickled you? That you were envious of?
  
• How did you feel about my boyfriend/girlfriends?
  
• How has our relationship changed over the year

You, Your Personal Growth
This is the time to ask: Who was I then? How have I changed? What’s unique about me? What have I learned about myself?

Think of your life cycles, the ups and downs, the growths, the pains. How healthy was your emotional and mental state at different times in your life? When did you feel the surge of independence? The fear of not fitting in? Anxiety about the unknown? Did you get happier as you grew older? Did you lose your sense of humor through adulthood?

Did your personal taste change? In food, music, entertainment, clothing? Did your values change as you got older? Religion, politics, family, honesty?

Story Themes and Ideas

Places You Lived
List addresses and descriptions of places you’ve lived. Include unique features you remember (the tile in the bathroom, the fabric on the living room drapes, the oak cabinet grandpa made, the funny black grillwork by the front door, the attic window that banged during a storm, the first time you tried to wallpaper a room, the second hand furniture you bought for your first home...)

Favorite Anything
(What are your special delights?)Favorite color, favorite smells, favorite time of year or time of day, favorite foods, favorite music, favorite holidays, favorite ice cream, favorite flower, favorite chair...

Belongings
At each age, what were your prized belongings? Favorite toys, favorite clothes (in grade school, as a teen, as a young adult...), favorite heirlooms, favorite "stuff" (maybe a photo, a fishing lure, your first transistor radio, a piece of bric a brac, a coffee cup, and old thread-bare sweater...)

Pets
..(or barnyard animals)What do you remember about your pet(s)? Their names? When and how you got them? What did they look like? What foods did they like? What funny, embarrassing or frustrating things did they do? What was special about your pet?

Cars or Other Vehicles
List the year and model of each car you’ve owned. What was special about each?

Holidays and Vacation Time
At each stage of your life, how did you spend your vacations? Where did you go? How did you get there? What did you do? Who'd you go with? What special things do you remember? (...the long ride in the car, the campfire that wouldn’t light, the outhouse at the cabin, the train ride through France, the customs official in Germany.

Hobbies and Leisure Time
At each stage of your life, what did you like to do? (Jump rope, climb a tree house, baseball, stamp collecting, movies, drag racing, hunting, reading, woodmaking, sewing, baking, photography, gardening...) What were your unique pleasures? What special memories do any of these hold for you?

Culture and the Arts
What part did the arts play in your life: MUSIC—What are your early memories of music? What kind did you/do you prefer? What are your favorite songs, hymns, classical works, musicals? Who are your favorite performers? Have your tastes changed over the years?

Literature
—How important have books been to you throughout your life? What were your most memorable or favorite books? Your favorite authors? Do you like Shakespeare? Mysteries? Gothic romance? Science fiction? What magazines have you subscribed to over the years?

Radio-Movies-Television
— What was your first exposure? What were your favorite shows or movies? Who were your favorite stars? How often and when did you listen to the radio? How often did you see movies or television? What special memories do they invoke?

Theater and Concerts
—How often did you attend? What type of events did you enjoy?

Important Events in Your Life
At each stage of your life, what were the highs and the lows?

Humorous or Embarrassing Moments
We all have these. What are yours?

Accomplishments---Failures
Was it the homerun with the bases loaded? The piano recital in 3rd grade? Helping Dad build the boat house? Your first cooking disaster? Signing a major customer? A broken relationship? A beautiful quilt? Any awards or trophies?

Special Moments
What are the special moments, dates and events that are most special for you? A wedding, a birth, a special evening out, a conversation, a speech... Describe the moment. What happened, why was it important, how did you feel, who was there?

Other
This can include any other interesting, unique experiences. Times you were "in a jam"? Times you surprised yourself? Times when you really said and did the right thing? Times you didn’t but wish you had? Opportunities you let get by you?

People in Your Life
At each stage of your life, who were the important people for you and why? What made them special? Who were your friends? What did you do together? Who influenced you? How?

Private Thoughts and Opinions
At each stage of your life, what were the things you thought about:

Dreams
What were your dreams of wanting to do or see or be? What did you want to be when you "grew up"? Have you accomplished your dreams? What are your dreams now?

Fears
What were your fears? The bogeyman under the bed? Being left alone? Giving a speech? Are you superstitious?

Philosophies
What are the philosophies you’ve lived by as a child, a teen, an adult? Have they changed? What are your philosophies now?

Opinions
Do you feel strongly on specific subjects? Ecology, war, the value of friends, life after death, unions, honesty, changing technology, changing values? Politics?

Miscellaneous
These can be lists of anything you might want to record whether serious, whimsical, insightful or just plain unique. Examples:

• Things I’ve learned (or didn’t learn)
  
• Things I think are wonderful, "neat," dumb, stupid, scary, silly...
  
• Things you know you should throw or give away but can’t bear to part with? What are your connections with these?
  
• People you never liked and why?
  
• Things you always wanted to do but didn’t have the guts
  
• Projects you put off
  
• Times you were mischievous and got caught
  
• Names of fellow students in grade school, buddies in the Army, members of your card club...
  
• Gifts you remember getting or giving for Christmas, birthdays? Mother’s Day? Valentine’s Day?
  
• Natural disasters you’ve survived (blizzards, tornadoes, floods, fires...)
  
• Things that bugged you about others (your brothers/sisters, friends, bosses, etc

Plain Old I Remember When..
What are the things that have changed in your lifetime? What have been some of the important inventions you’ve seen? How did they do things in "the olden days":

• What was it like going to the dentist, the doctor, the barber, the tailor?
• What was mass transit like and what kind of street maintenance was common?
  
• What were the police and fire departments like?
  
• How were things delivered, like the mail, groceries, milk, newspaper, ice
  
• How was the family laundry or housekeeping done?
  
• How have clothing styles changed such as bathing suits?
  
• How have things changed in the kitchen? (Ex: How was toast made before the electric toaster was invented?)
  
• How much did things cost? Eggs, stamps, newspaper, milk?
  
• And on and on

Family Interview Questions

1. Where did you and Grandpa meet?

2. Where did you go on your first date?

3. How did grandpa propose?

4. How long were you together before you got married?

5. Where did you get married?

6. How old were you when you had your first child?

7. Where all have you lived? (I included all of the addresses that she could remember.)

8. What are your fondest memories as a mother?

9. What are some funny or memorable things that your children did?

10. Do you know what jobs Great Grandpa and Great Grandma did?

11. What quality best characterizes your mother?

12. What quality best characterizes your father?

13. Best trait from father?

14. Best trait from mother?

15. How are you most like your mother?

16. What memories do you have of your parent’s household?

17. What do you remember about your grandparents?

18. Characteristics of your grandfather?

19. Characteristics of your grandmother?

20. What was your favorite thing to play as a child?

21. Who was your favorite relative as a child?

22. What did you enjoy most about being a parent?

23. What was the most difficult time you had with your children?

24. What do you like most about having grandchildren?

25. Recollections about aunts and uncles?

26. What is your favorite vacation?

27. Who was your closest cousin?

28. What friend was your greatest influence?

29. The friend who most shared your life?

30. The friend you miss the most?

31. Clubs you have been in?

32. Childhood pets?

33. Cars you remember from your childhood?

34. The first car you drove? Model? Date?

35. First car you owned?

36. Car you and grandpa went on a date in?

37. How old were you when you got your drivers license?

38. What car did you really want as a teenager?

39. The longest car trip you ever made?

40. What car did you have the most fun with?

41. What holiday traditions did your family have as a child?
New Years
Valentine
Easter
Mothers Day
Fathers Day
4th of July
Memorial Day
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Christmas

42. The holiday that means the most to you and why?

43. When you were a child, what holiday tradition did you enjoy the most?

44. What music do you like the most?

45. What song from your teenage years will you never forget?

46. Who is your favorite singer or group of all times?

47. What was your favorite childhood vacation place?

48. What is your favorite season?

49. What type of sports do you like to watch?

50. Books you have really enjoyed?

51. Favorite actor and actress?

52. TV shows you like the most?

53. Form of relaxation you like the most?

54. How has your life been different than your mothers?

55. What do you enjoy most about your family?

56. What one important lesson do you believe you have taught your children?

57. What values do you hope your children will have?

58. What was the hardest thing you ever had to do?

59. What wish did you have for your children?

60. Where did you work? Did you work at other places throughout the years?

61.Where did grandpa work? Did he work at other places throughout the years?

62. What schools did grandpa go to?

63. What schools did you go to?

64. Great Grandmas brothers and sisters?

65. Great Grandpas brothers and sisters?