Adventures with Valerie

As many of you may or may not know, I have been blessed to call an amazing woman my friend. Her name is Valerie, and I met her a few years ago at Cat's. 

It has come to pass that our summer tradition is to get together at her house and scrap the day away. 

Last weekend we had scheduled our first rendezvous for Tuesday (6/9/15). I had been counting away the time and I was so excited when the day finally came. So I packed up my things and drove 30 minutes to her house. I must mention it too, I was very proud that I remembered where she lived!

Once I unloaded my things, we began to get to work. And when I say work, I mean shuffle our things around, reorganize other things we had, and stare blankly at what we had set out in front of us. But sure enough the actual projects we set out on slowly began to take shape. We didn't say much during this time, but when you have a friend you enjoy spending time with, sometimes it's just nice to breathe the same air quietly. 

Before I knew it though, it was time to visit and feed her horses and start cooking dinner. Where did the time go?!

I enjoyed patting her rather large painted horse. He was black and white, and big, very big. Apparently he likes to roll in the pasture because before I knew it I found myself plucking stickers from his mane. Once home we enjoyed Quinoa, sautéed vegetables and rotisserie chicken. And let me tell you, that was just about the most delicious thing I've eaten since I started on my diet. 

Mod-Podge is good for finger painting, right?!

Suddenly, we were reenergized and back in her scrap room. We talked some more, laughed a little, talked out loud to ourselves sometime, and maybe it was just me, but we might have been a little more productive too. 

Flashback! 

We enjoyed watermelon on one of our first scraps last summer, and we continued with that tradition this time too. Yummy watermelon!

Valerie even has a picture of me and 2 of her granddaughters clipped to her light! 

And then this happened...

Valerie. Under the table again. I started to laugh because one of the first times we scrapped together she disappeared under the table. 

Eventually though it was time to part ways. I think I kept her up a little later than usual, but it was well worth it I would say! 

As I'm finishing with my teaching degree I've heard many professors and mentor teachers alike mention how necessary it is for you to have a friend who is also a teacher. Because they will understand your frustrations better than someone who isn't a teacher. I think the same goes for any job or hobby, scrapping included. Valerie is that friend for me. And isn't it wonderful to have a great friend?

That's all for now!

C.Jackson