J - Give-away Revealed!

I know I'm behind on my A-Z and I plan on doing a little catching up. We hosted Rhett's Eagle Scout Ceremony on Friday and then I had 18 people to the farm on Saturday, including out-of-town family staying with us. To top it off I think I have a cold or sinus infection. I made it through work, but the blog has taken a hit!

Life, you know.

I'll get back on the wagon today, but until I can get caught up I wanted to announce the winners of the Jewelry Give-away!

The winner of the blue and silver necklace is

Conny

And the winner of the White necklace is

Nel

Congratulations, ladies!  If you would send your full name and address to my email: angie@creativityltd.com, I will send your necklaces to you!  I hope you'll enjoy them!

K - Best Movie Kisses

When trying to come up with my letter "K" post, the only two words I could think of were ketchup and kisses. It was pretty easy to choose between the two.

These are my favorite movie kisses:

A Walk In The Clouds

I just loved this movie. Keanu Reeves. Sigh.

Love Actually

(although I'm not proud I've seen this movie)

She was so sweet to give him a kiss!

Titanic

Don't we all love this kiss?

The Notebook

Those two had some chemistry. Whew!

Pretty Woman

They finally kissed when he rescued her!

Clark Gable knew how to kiss...

in Gone With The Wind.

"No, I don't think I will kiss you,

although you need kissing, badly.

That's what's wrong with you.

You should be kissed and often,

and by someone who knows how."

Best Lines Ever!

I love when my husband says this to me!
(and he thinks he's being funny)

J - Jewelry Give-Away!

I have a sweet friend who makes and wears beautiful jewelry.

Her name is Tracey and you can see her jewelry works-of-art at

traceyjolleydesigns.etsy.com

This beautiful silver and turquoise necklace is stunning.

I love these clear chunky beads; they would go with everything!

Whether you wear these wonderful pieces yourself or give them as a gift, I'm sure they will be appreciated. ( and noticed!)

1) If you would like to win one of these necklaces leave a comment telling me which necklace would be your favorite to win.  (Yep, sorry, you've got to pick one.) 

2) If you visit Tracey's etsy shop, choose your favorite design and come back and let me know in a comment. You'll be entered into one of the necklace drawings one more time. (pick one!)

3) If you follow this blog you may enter both necklace drawings, just leave me a comment that you are following.

You may comment until Saturday night at 9pm and the winner will be announced on Sunday.

Good Luck!

I - Input and Intellection

Tom Rath, Gallup's Global Practice Leader, is the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author of Strengthfinders 2.0, as well as many other fantastic books.

I first heard Tom at a leadership conference and my interest was peaked as he talked about working in your strengths instead of working on improving your weaknesses.  His premise is that we're all good at something. Shouldn't we be working on trying to share what we're good at, making improvement in the areas we already shine, instead of working on things, that quite frankly, we'll probably never be good at no matter how much effort we put into trying to improve our weaknesses?  It was an interesting idea, certainly one that deemed further investigation.

Well, it didn't take long for me to get further into Mr. Rath's idea of working within your strengths. At work we were given the Strengthfinders 2.0 book and asked to take the online assessment (a code is included in the back of the book to access the test). As employees we took the assessment and then shared our results within our department, talking about whether our positions fit our strengths and how we could work our strengths into being more productive in our areas of responsibility.

I took the test and was amazed at the results! (Don't I sound like an infomercial! Heehee!)  The Strengthfinder's test nailed my personality and honestly, gave me confidence. I realized that my strengths could be leveraged for good at work and at home and that I could embrace the needs that I had to feed my strengths, significantly alone time.

Have you figured out two of my strengths? Input and Intellection.

Someone with the strength of Input:

• collects physical and/or virtual stuff they find interesting

(I have a paper problem!)

• enjoys information, words, facts or quotations, books or collectibles. 
• finds many things interesting (Have you visited my Pinterest?)
• Inquisitive

Someone with the strength of Intellection:

• enjoys solitude - in fact, needs it!
• introspective, likes to think
• mental hum is a constant part of life
• must schedule quiet time to "just think"
• thrives on mental activity (maybe that's why I try lots of crafts!)

I am a thinker. I love learning and collecting information. It makes me happy! 

Hope you enjoyed learning a little more about "I." :)

If you're interested in reading Strengthfinders 2.0 and taking the assessment, click here. (BTW, don't buy a used copy if you intend to use the online code in the back.You could pick up the book to peruse and make guesses as to your strengths, but you'll be tempted to take the test, I promise!)

If you take the assessment, please, share your strengths with me. I'd love to know what makes you unique! 

H - Humor

I didn't know what I was going to write about today until I looked at our Easter pictures.

HUMOR!

The Martens' Gang has plenty of humor to go around.

We wear silly hats...

and create silly toys (Nerf darts on sunglasses).

We find humor in simple things...

and accessorize in a big way.

No fun to be had? We make our own fun!

We play at the mall (with shopowner's approval)...

and we play in the rain.

(You won't be seeing me in a swimsuit anytime soon!)

Our creativity is a little wacky...

and so are our snowmen.

We make monkey faces...

and wear crazy glasses.

We laugh at inappropriate moments

(reading a sentimental letter from my son)...

and make any formal occasion a time for laughter.

All in all, we're just our version of a normal family.

G - Greetings

Greetings of Happy Easter feels a little like cheating, but we celebrated Easter with my parents yesterday because today I work a 12 hour day at church. I'm honored to serve our families today, but needed to cut back somewhere to get through the weekend so you get an abbreviated A-Z Challenge post.

 He is Risen!

Our pastor says, "Follow a dead savior and you'll end up just like him."

I say, "Follow a risen Savior and you'll have eternal life."

Have a Blessed Easter!

F - Family

Have you ever read a blog and wondered who the writer was talking about? You knew it was someone close to them and that maybe if you followed better you'd know, but you know...their life is not your life, etc. :)

I've often written about my family and wondered if the reader would know who I was talking about. We give incomplete pictures of who we are on blogs, sometimes out of security, sometimes from a lack of time to share it all, sometimes we just don't want you to know! Am I right?

Today I thought I'd share my family with you so that way if you follow, you'll know a little more about this crazy gang.

This is me (Angie) and my husband, Mark.

Mark was born and raised in the San Diego area (a true CA boy) and I was born and raised in central Illinois (a true Midwesterner). We met at a small Bible college in Wisconsin in the 80's and had a terribly interesting romance. (That's another post...R?)  We've been married 23 years and as the President of our College said to my Dad one day (when my Dad called to find out about this boy), "Life will always be an adventure with Mark." It's true! It's been an adventure, but one taken with my best friend. I couldn't imagine life without him.

The first addition to our family was Ashley. Ashley has Mark's temperament - easy going, quiet, with a touch of mischief/adventure. She was the easiest child to raise and I'm pretty sure the Lord knew I'd need that first if I were to have any more. Ashley is now almost 22 years old and will be graduating from college next month. She is married to her best friend, TJ, and they will be starting seminary this coming fall.  When I look at this picture of her I'm proud of the woman she has become. She's the sweetest person I know and I wish you all could meet her.  She writes over at Ridges and Ripples.

Ah, Rhett! My only son is very dear to my heart. This boy, in some ways, is a clone of me. We're both talkative, emotional, silly, and always working on a project that we probably won't see through to the end. Sometimes we will; it's a crapshoot.  Rhett's name means enthusiastic and he is that about everything he does in life. It's never dull when he's around!  Rhett is an eagle scout and can hang with the boys, but he's just as comfortable with the girls since he's had three sisters.  His passions are music and writing and he will be taking some general studies courses in college in the fall so he has a little more time to figure out what direction he wants to go with his major.  This 18-year-old boy loves the Lord and loves discussing spiritual things. I am a very proud mom and if you ever get to meet Rhett, you'd like him right away.  He writes at  My Imaginative Scribbles.

This sums it up!

Katie (Katherine Grace.) Katie blessed our family when Rhett was 8 1/2 years old. We didn't think we'd have any more children so her name, which means pure grace, was a perfect fit.  Sometimes we think it means we're supposed to give her pure grace 'cause this little girl is a dynamo. She has a firstborn's personality! She is a little planner/campaigner. She goes to sleep with plans and wakes up with plans. She likes to lead her crowd of friends, which includes other first born personalities so it can be challenging at times. We love Katie's drive and think that she will do something special in life. Besides wanting to take on the world this little girl, who is 10, has the softest heart. She is compassionate to others when they are hurt and remorseful when she's in the wrong.  I wish I could be more like her. She's a sweet blessing from the Lord.

And then there's Tara. Tara is the stereo-typical baby of the family. She is 15 months younger than Katie and will turn 9 this month.  She has a quick wit and an adventuresome personality. She is also very much like her Dad.  She dreams of becoming a Veterinarian and she also dreams of jumping out of a plane. She is easy to get along with (so she often goes along with Katie's plans), but she has her own mind and stands firm when needed.  Tara was born to live on the farm, but you'd have to pull her off the computer to get her outside. She just loves action/adventure wherever she can find it.  Tara has a special place in Momma's heart as my baby girl.

Here they are. Silly kids!

Thought you'd like to meet TJ before I close. TJ is a foot taller than my daughter, but is a gentle teddy bear of a guy. He loves the Lord and loves his family. He is good to Ashley and their first year of marriage has only deepened their bond. TJ has gotten Ashley into rock climbing and skiing and Ashley has expanded his food repertoire. TJ gets our family's goofy humor and fits right in. I couldn't have asked for a better son-in-law. I'm so thankful that the Lord has been gracious to give us a son so easy to love.

Do you feel like you know us any better? 

The Lord has been gracious to the Martens' gang and I am thankful for my family!

E - Entertaining

Today we had 9 families (30 people) out to the farm for a picnic lunch, face painting, Easter Egg hunt and smores. We had a fabulous day with great weather. One of our friends even brought us more chickens. I think we're up to 42 chicks. Wow. Our city-friends enjoyed a day with the chicks, horses and lots of room to roam and play. It was fun sharing our home with them!

Here's a few snapshots from the day:

A little one finding an egg

Some big kids hiding eggs

Some music shared on the front lawn

Good friends enjoying the day together