Second Grade

My elementary school was very small.  I think there were only about 60 of us in our grade.  I sometimes wonder where all of these friends are and what they are doing today. I recently joined Facebook.  I think that may help me reconnect with old friends.

Here we are in 1971:

That is me in the second row, 2nd from the right

 Here is the scrapbook page:

My job

I am one of the few that can truly say that I love what I do.  I have worked in the Space industry for 25+ years. The very first mission I had the privilege to work on was STS-51L - the first Shuttle loss. Imagine my pain and confusion. My duties were to provide documentation and was far removed from any crew interaction.  I have worked in several different departments, and then moved into a position that works with Shuttle Crew Procedures. I stayed. I have a slightly different job description today, but am still involved in a small part of the production and maintenance of  Shuttle procedures. I now have the extraordinary opportunity to work with the crew members of assigned missions.  I love it.  Really, really love it.  It breaks my heart to see the end of the Space Shuttle Program, but I have been so blessed to be a part of it. It will be a sad day in the history of the United States when this exceptional, educational, informative, and creative program ends. Until that day, please pray for those of us that have the privilege to work with these extremely talented and brilliant Astronauts.

Card Ministry

I have a card ministry in our church. Several years ago, we tried a program called GROW - God Rewards Our Work. It was a diverse program that allowed individuals to select a ministry that they were comfortable with. We would meet one night a week, pray, then separate to do God's work.  Some people went to knock on doors and invite the community to come to church. Some went to visit church members that could no longer come on a regular basis due to work schedules or health. Some stayed to babysit the children. Some stayed to write letters to the Missionary families we support and send greeting cards for anniversaries, birthdays, encouragement, and get well messages.
Members come and go, and several families joined our church from a neighboring town. They brought fresh ideas and programs with them. One of the programs was FBI - Faith Bible Institute. Our Pastor accepted the challenge to conduct the FBI program in our church on a different night than the GROW program, but so many were interested in FBI that the GROW program was cancelled. I was disappointed because I had no interest in FBI, so I picked up the entire card program and another member took the Missionary letters. What blessings I have received!  God is so good to us.  He allows us to serve him in a myriad of ways. 
Feminine cards are a breeze, but I always struggle with cards for the men and boys.  Sometimes I can design a card and then make several. Here are variations of the latest:

My life in a nutshell (well okay, maybe a bowl)

Hi!

 I'm Cindy.  I have lived within 30 square miles most of my life.  I attended a very small elementary school. I was a Blue Bird (anyone remember the Blue Birds?) and played Little League Softball on a team called the JETS. I was in a very small circle of friends. Junior High was culture shock as we were bussed to a larger city and were integrated with several other elementary schools - from about 60 students to about 500 students. My parents divorced when I was in the seventh grade and I moved with my Dad and Step mom just before the ninth grade. A whole new set of friends were found.  I was in the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) program and worked after school starting my Sophomore year. I met and married Rob, the man of my dreams, when I was a senior. I transferred back to the school I came from to graduate - what a blessing it was that I already knew so many people! I began my career right out of High School, working for a subcontractor for NASA.  I have two beautiful daughters; Cara is married to Dan, a man I adore, and Megan is in college. God is so good! He has blessed me greatly. I began scrap booking when I met a lady at a craft fair selling Stampin' Up products about twelve years ago.  We talked about our day jobs, and now, several years later, we work together!