I am loving the fun color combo chosen for this month's color challenge at Life.Paper.Scrapbook.

We got Ted a bow tie a month or two ago, and I knew I wanted to scrapbook how cute it was! The title is a quote that the Eleventh Doctor uses several times when defending his love for bow ties. Michael and I are HUGE Doctor Who fans (we went through the entire series an an embarrassingly short amount of time), so I thought it would be fun to use that quote on my page.

Anyone who knows anything about me and my scrapbooking hobby knows that I LOVE Maggie Holmes. Her first line debuted last January and I loved every single bit of it. I've always loved scrapbooking, but the magic of her designs made me dive head first into an all out obsession! I loved her collection and the versatility of it, and eagerly awaited her next line. When I saw her second collection, Flea Market, it was love at first sight. Last week I finally got some in my hands and haven't stopped creating since!

Here are a few pages I made with it:

Happy

Mine

Our Family

Are you loving this line as much as I am?

Many people remember exactly what they were doing when they found out what happened on September 11th. It was right before I had to leave for school, and I was fiddling around on the internet (which we had only had for a year!) before school. I was wearing a red and blue striped shirt. My mom turned on our tiny black and white TV, and told me what happened. I was sad that such an awful event had happened, but I didn't fully grasp what it meant. I spent the next few weeks decked out in patriotic gear and felt so proud to stand in solidarity with the rest of America. I understood what had happened was terrible and traumatic. I understood that many men and women were brave and had lost their lives. I understood the word terrorism. And my life went on as if nothing had happened.

Every year I would have a moment of silence or say a prayer on this day, or do something to acknowledge this terrible event. But my life went on.  It wasn't until I very recently read The Secret Agent, by Joseph Conrad, that I understood what happened. I live in a world with terrorism. My life drastically changed. Loud airplanes sometimes make me briefly wonder if it's a bomb or attack. I can't go into the airport or an airplane without wondering, just for a moment, if this will be the day a bomb goes off in the airport or if someone will hijack my plane. It's brief flicker of a thought, but its's there. Do I live my life constantly in fear? No. But there is a fear deep within my soul that will never go away. It's a fear that my generation and all the generations after me will live with. We don't know a world without events like these.  We were discussing terrorism (as part of the class discussion on The Secret Agent) and my professor said that events like these were unfathomable to him until they happened. He grew up without fear of terrorism. He grew up in a world where people didn't fly planes into buildings. I did. Michael did. Our kids will.

I was also unable to grasp the horror of that day because I had never lost someone close to me before. On September 11th, 2008, my Gramps unexpectedly passed away. The many lives lost mean so much more to me now that I've felt loss in my own life.

When Michael and I have kids, we will tell them all about how our lives changed on this very day, the day that terrorism became real to us. We will tell them about the great bravery of those who lost their lives, and how strong those who lost their loved ones were. We will tell them about the first responders, the people inside the towers, those who raised up and took on the terrorists, and those on the plane. We will tell them how grateful we are to live in a country that became stronger in the face of something horrific. We will tell them how grateful we are for those who serve our country (and their families) and those who have died defending our freedom. We will tell them how we thankful we are to live in America. We will tell them that though we live in a world where these things can happen, we need not be afraid because we serve a wonderful God and our lives are in His hands. And then we will pray for our country.

It's time for the September sketch challenge at Life.Paper.Scrapbook.! Can you believe it's September already? The leaves are changing, the weather is cooler, and pumpkin spice is back at Starbucks. Bring it on!

I'm loving this month's sketch:

I love you, Mom

Here are all the details for the challenge:- You can submit ANY kind of project that you can use the sketch for: cards, layouts or anything you can adapt it to. - You can use the sketch and color challenges together just make sure you link it up to each so you have a chance to win in both. -September Sketch Challenge runs until 11:59 pm on September 27. (Don't forget Life.Paper.Scrapbook. is in Australia)- The winner of the prize will be randomly drawn.- We will also feature three of the favorite layouts and the selected layouts will be asked to guest design for the next color challenge. (You have to be in it to win it, so link up your project up on the right. Please make sure you link to the correct challenge, there is both a sketch and color challenge to link up to (if you are linking to a blog please link to the actual post the layout is featured in not just the general address and make sure you link back to Life.Paper.Scrapbook.).

Date Night

Smile

You can find the SG sketches in their books and as downloads in the SG store, and there is a free one every month in case you wanted to try it out. I highly recommend the 6"x6" paper pad class! I've had so much fun with the sketches!

Next on the hop is Lindsay at Scrapping by the Sea. Leave a comment on each blog and one lucky commenter will receive a free sketch bundle of their choice from the store. The winner will be drawn on September 9th, so you have one week to leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by! Or should I say hopping by?