Tag Archives: Celebration of Life

Celebrating Nine Decades

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90th birthday invitation for my mom

My family is preparing for my mom’s 90th birthday this month, so I thought I’d share the invitation I made for the event. It looks a little funny because I’ve blacked out some of the personal information. (Too bad we have to worry about those kinds of things.) I was really happy with how it came out and the format and concept could be easily adjusted for someone else so I thought I’d share it here. By choosing one photo from each decade of her life it gave a nice progression and made it so much easier to decide which pictures to include on her invitation.

Below are links to my Dropbox and two InDesign templates that you can edit for your personal use. (Please don’t use them for commercial projects without my written permission.) The first file is the invitation placed in the center of an 8.5 x 11 page with crop lines. By cutting along these lines and folding on the edge of the invitation it creates its own envelope for mailing. I printed them on a heavy weight brochure paper.

The second file is for stickers using the “Celebrating Nine Decades” logo. By printing this file on a sheet of sticker paper and cutting out the stickers, you then have an easy and elegant way to close up the envelope. After cutting out the stickers, I used a corner rounder on the corners. This was a nice finishing touch to the project.

90th Invite with Envelope

Nine Decades stickers

To download the InDesign Templates click on the link, then right click on the strange document that loads up and click “save page as”.

Joy Jar

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Another week has slipped away. Spring is really coming, I can feel it!

  • a puppy slumber party
  • Karen’s help
  • teaching scouts about Guide Dogs for the Blind
  • 52 degrees outside
  • getting things off my “plate”
  • Zodiac playing tug with scouts
  • smell of flowers at Cook’s Greenhouse
  • having four big commitments finished
  • a laid-back kind of day
  • finding the crayons
  • quiet misty morning walk
  • Yukon Gold potatoes
  • sleeping in
  • Zodiac sitting calmly as a class of kids walked by
  • signs of spring
  • finishing my candy class
  • tulips coming up
  • Dune’s first neighborhood walk
  • one tiny crocus blossom
  • flock of geese
  • being done with my Relief Society lesson
  • hottest day of the year so far
  • Bountiful Baskets
  • spring!

Joy Jar

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This week had some great days and some challenging ones.

  • Karen’s baby lamb
  • fresh snow
  • finally getting some spring bulbs planted to force
  • sleeping puppies
  • seeing the photos of Karen’s twin lambs
  • getting my hair cut
  • taking a nap
  • scavenger hunt
  • Bountiful Baskets
  • my new “wall”
  • digital cameras
  • getting all the photos placed in Yakira’s book
  • the quiet of night after a snow storm
  • Dune in her jacket
  • hot lemon & honey
  • reading with kids at Rosamond
  • getting Yakira’s book done
  • getting over my cold
  • sleep

Joy Jar

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In many ways this has been a very good week. I think I have a tiny touch of spring fever.

  • Dune in her jacket
  • my new organizing wall
  • how good Zodiac was during Relief Society
  • the ability to choose
  • Dune snuggling with Zodiac
  • relaxing with Bill on Valentine’s Day
  • the happy faces of people when the see a puppy in training
  • Dune’s joy of life
  • feeling blessed
  • Bill getting over his cold
  • my new “wall”
  • happy Dune
  • listening to the audio book “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”
  • Dune’s three-month birthday
  • spring-ish air
  • Dune in her birthday bandana
  • cobblestones
  • chocolate
  • the fun Bill has with Dune and Zodiac
  • the feel of spring
  • having a plan for my next Wood Badge goal
  • sleeping puppies
  • sunshine and warmer temperatures
  • Kentucky Fried Chicken
  • feeling like I’m getting things done
  • getting the official DVD & packet from Yakira’s graduation
  • snuggling with Zodiac

My Joy Jar

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In the last two weeks I have found happiness in the following things:

  • fresh fluffy snow
  • seeing Yakira
  • Dune sleeping with her “belly to the sky”
  • sunshine
  • licorice
  • the taste of chocolate
  • Dune’s groans while she is sleeping
  • good weather for our drive to Oregon
  • eating sweet juicy oranges
  • watching the video of Pauletta’s reunion with her raiser
  • sunshine
  • Dune happily eating our of a Kong stuffed with dog food
  • Dune in Bill’s lap
  • fresh snow
  • hanging out with Yakira and Diane
  • singing
  • sun on fresh snow
  • email from Yakira and Diane
  • Yakira’s “wiggle-wiggle”
  • sleeping in my own bed
  • meeting Diane
  • seeing Mount Hood
  • Jeremy’s help shoveling snow
  • taking a nap
  • snuggle with Dune and Zodiac
  • petting soft kitty paws
  • being at Yakiras graduation
  • having a warm home to live in
  • the belt I made working
  • Zodiac and Dune sitting at the top of the stairs
  • looking at photos of Yakira & Diane from graduation

I’ve finally added photos to the post about Yakira’s graduation. Sorry for being so lax the last while on getting my posts done. Monday will be a new week and I’ll will be back on track! Thanks to all of my loyal followers.

My Joy Jar

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This week these things brought happiness to my life:

  1. Cava (Dune’s mom) is Casey’s (puppy #3) litter-mate
  2. every time Dune pees & poops outside
  3. Dune & Jacob cuddling
  4. talking to Sue on the phone
  5. getting more sleep
  6. the power of food protocol
  7. new panel behind my desk
  8. Dune’s spunky attitude
  9. helping my sister learn to email attachments
  10. helping Kris
  11. Dune relieving
  12. Dune sleeping
  13. Dune snuggling with Zodiac
  14. Yakira in class
  15. Dune in her jacket
  16. colors of my knitting project
  17. Dune on the stairs
  18. purple
  19. finishing my fingerless gloves
  20. watching Dune take a nap
  21. Dune sleeping until 6 a.m.
  22. Zodiac doing his happy dance
  23. warmer temperatures outside
  24. coming home to a dry Dune in her kennel
  25. how good Dune & Zodiac were at puppy class
  26. Dune pooping outside
  27. thinking of seeing Yakira soon

 

Book of the Week – “Grandmum”

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As I was looking for this weeks book and trying to decide which one I wanted to share, I came across this book, “Grandmum.” And new that it was the right book. This is what the author, Jennifer Glantz said about her book:

The book came to life from the fact of my love for my grandma. She’s really very important to me. She’s my best friend, my mentor and the one I can talk to about absolutely everything.She has been my neighbour for the past 22 years, my entire life. I moved away from home for studies about 2 years ago. Since then I have missed being able to walk over to her house and talk with her everyday.

One weekend when I came home for a short visit the two of us sat down together and looked at some old photos of her and the people that have been important to her in her life. It was a wonderful feeling to see these photos while she told me the history behind them. There and then I realised and saw the real life she had lived. The people, circumstances and surroundings that have formed her into the wonderful woman she is today. I saw the people that once had lived with here, the people that she had loved, they who not live anymore. So there I sat, realising that this is what life is about. Memories. Her memories and those pictures is as close I can come to being there with her, when the photos was taken, some of them almost 80 years old.
So here it is, my book about my best friend, my mentor, my great Grandma.

What a labor of love. What a very doable project. She did a great job of sharing the story of her grandmother your her choice of photos and the order she put them in. The simple format works great. Do you have someone who you could do a book like this for?

Grandmum

 

My Joy Jar

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This week I found joy in:

  1. some of the names that were suggested for our soon to come “D” puppy
  2. Dune taking a nap under my desk
  3. warm house
  4. Mom & Dad coming down
  5. Dune playing with Zodiac
  6. Zodiac’s progress in staying calm around energetic boys
  7. Dune playing with her toys
  8. Dune learning to go down the stairs
  9. Dune!
  10. talking with Rochelle
  11. sleep
  12. reading all the name guesses for our “D” girl
  13. happy puppy faces
  14. a warm bed
  15. sleep
  16. silence after a Dune tantrum
  17. the sun
  18. looking at the Christmas card from Waffle
  19. cute quilt blocks for Heather’s quilt
  20. chatting with neighbors at book club
  21. teaching boy scouts about Guide Dogs for the Blind
  22. the progress Dune is making on being quiet

My Joy Jar

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The things that made me smile this week are:

  1. getting my finished 50 for 50 book
  2. having a cat sitting on my lap
  3. seeing the creative expressions of the candy class participants
  4. looking at the card from Waffle and Carole
  5. installing Adobe CS 6
  6. cleaner air and warmer temperatures
  7. Bill finding the Christmas Card from Waffle
  8. Zodiac standing at the top of the stairs on my blanket
  9. the way zodiac runs through the snow, tucking his legs under and sort of pogo sticking around the yard
  10. being an animal sandwich (taking a nap between Zodiac and our cat)
  11. Zodiac playing hide n’ seek under the blanket
  12. thinking of getting a new puppy next week
  13. the way zodiac looks to me for a kibble when he resists jump on someone who walks by
  14. the toddler walking down the hall at the clinic
  15. the email with photos from Carrie and Casey
  16. getting Adobe CS 6 Premium
  17. photos of Waffle in her new home
  18. sharing the fun of candy as an art medium
  19. the hope of getting someone help for their challenges
  20. talking a walk in the “warm” weather with Zodiac
  21. Yakira in phase #7
  22. hot and crusty sourdough bread
  23. snow
  24. a female yellow lab with a “D” name coming next week