Meal Planning Monday

Here's what's cooking up in our house this week:

Monday - Homemade macaroni and cheese and veggies

Tuesday - Roasted Chicken, Veggies, and Pasta with Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Broiled Tilapia with Baked Sweet Potatoes

Friday - Pepperoni Stromboli (made with frozen bread dough)

Koreyscott.com

Once upon a time my husband decided he wanted to illustrate for a living.  Growing up he was always content to be drawing.  Some kids like to read or play video games.  He liked to draw. 

Up until 2010 he had two jobs.  One was a regular ol' day job and the other was being a freelance illustrator.  When we got married in 2008 he was able to build up his business over the next couple of years to where he decided he wanted to quit his day job and be a freelance illustrator full-time.  This was not an overnight decision but came after two years of discussion, budget crunching and prayer.  Shortly after our son was born, he took the plunge, quit his day job, and said goodbye to that steady paycheck.

He has three websites that display his portfolio of work. The biggest one is Childrens Illustrators.  There are over 700 hundred artists all displaying their work.  If you take a look you will see they are all GORGEOUS illustrations.

For Korey to get contacted by a client to illustrate a book, I believe, is a matter of prayer.  Here's why:

When someone decides they have a book they want illustrated they will start scouring portfolio sites to find the illustrator's style that might best capture the characters in their book.  They already have an idea of what the characters will look like.  It's just a matter of finding the illustrator who they think will do the best job.  Did I mention there are over 700 illustrators on just one site? 

Once they find someone they like, as in Korey, they contact him and ask about his prices, etc.  Then Korey will respond with his time frame, price per page, etc.  A lot of his business comes from clients who want a book to be self-published.  It seems everyone has a story to tell.

After Korey responds, we wait.  We pray.  Then we rejoice when they want to proceed.  At this point, Korey sends them a contract and starts working on sketches.

Besides his amazing talent that stands out, I think prayer is the key to his steady stream of clients.

You can see Korey's portfolio here, on Creative Shake, and on Hire an Illustrator.

A Sharefish Tale

Here's a glimpse of one of the pictures Korey illustrated for the book, A Sharefish Tale.  It's not published yet but I just had to show off one of the gorgeous illustrations!  I have to brag on my husband because he's got some mad drawing skills! 

A Sharefish Tale

Honduras 2011

Back in April, Korey got contacted by someone to illustrate a book for him.  More on what was involved in this process in another post.  He found out it was for a nonprofit agency, Sharefish.  When Korey found out the author was going to Honduras and taking a group with him, he decided he wanted to go, too. 

I'm borrowing the following from Korey's blog about his trip to Honduras.

"I just got back from a trip to Honduras. I illustrated the book, A Sharefish Tale, for the non profit group Sharefish.org. The book will be out in print sometime in December or January. The goal is to use the money from the book sale to buy more books for the library in El Corrizo, Honduras.

Sharefish was created as organization to improve education, nutrition, housing, medical and economic opportunities in impoverished communities. Sharefish is currently focused on improving the lives of children in two small communities in southern Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

On our trip, the goal was to celebrate "Dia del Nino" with the kids. "Dia del Nino" is a national celebration to honor children. The kids were able to make crafts, jump rope, read new books, and draw pictures. I took down some of my Doodlin' Pads to donate to the library.

When the book is available, I will let you know. Below are a few pictures from the trip. My goal as an illustrator is to hopefully do more of these trips. I want my art to be more than a picture. I want to use it to help others."

Here is my husband!

This is a prototype of the book he illustrated.

The kids are in one of the churches drawing pictures.  Every day they would go hang out with the kids, play soccer with them, and give them time to draw.

This was a scene on the busride from the airport.  I love how green it is!

Here is one of the librarys located inside a church in a small town.  Korey said one of the towns they went to only had 300 people in it.  Many of the families can't afford to pay for their children to attend school.  Sharefish is just doing what they can to help further the education of these children so they can have the skills necessary for life.

Korey took this picture for me.  In Thai this is a a tuk tuk.  I rode in one of these taxis when I lived in Thailand.  Not sure what they are called in Honduras.

A typical Honduran home.

This is the founder of Sharefish, Oie (pronounced Owey).  The school gave him an award for his dedication to furthering education.  Through his organization you can sponsor a child so that they can afford to attend school.  Their organization reminds me of what Compassion does.

When Korey got home he talked nonstop about his trip and mentioned going back next year and taking me!

Be a Sharefish!

FROM THE HOMELESS TO THE HOPELESS, THERE IS OVERWHELMING NEED IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, OUR CITY, OUR COUNTRY AND OUR WORLD. We’ve heard the question “How can I possibly help?” and we’ve come up with a simple answer. Share. By sharing something of yourself — a little time, a little money, a little love — you can make a drastic difference in someone’s life. This site gives you the opportunity to share with people in need in Honduras, but you can be a Sharefish anywhere. Put some money in a parking meter that's expiring. Hand a bag of food to a homeless person. Volunteer at the Food Bank. Buy 5 cups from the kid's lemonade stand on the corner. Once you start sharing, the world instantly becomes a better place.

14 Months

Daddy's home, my camera is back and this kid is walking!  And talking.  He calls the dogs "dog, dog" which I guess is appropriate since we have two.  And banana is "nana."

Here, he is sitting in the rocking chair and somehow he figured out how to rock it himself.  He's getting a kick out of pushing the back of the chair to make it rock.  Genius, I tell you.

He actually posed for us!

Such a sweet face!

And he's off!  He still hasn't figured out the freedom that he has in walking because sometimes he just wants to crawl.  We're so excited about this milestone!  Now if we could just conquer our fears in the church nursery then all would be golden.

$10 Restaurant Coupons

I am minus my camera for a few days (I do need to pull out the big one) but I just thought I'd mention that I've received two $10 off coupons at restaurants in the past month!

How did I get these?  A long time ago I signed up to receive their emails (also called e-club) so I could get coupons and updates.  Then I got an email asking me to update my profile and for doing that I would receive a $10 coupon. 

Two seconds of time = FREE MONEY!  We're all about free in this house!

The restaurants:

Maggiano's and Uncle Julio's

Lunches: Round Two

From L to R: Animal cookie (Beechnut says it's junk-free), homemade chicken salad (made from leftover roasted chicken), grapes, banana bread, and then cheese crackers. The compartment on the left is empty. I ran out of ideas!

I haven't tried any liquidy foods in these yet like applesauce or yogurt. Knowing Hunter he would fling it everywhere and I'm just looking out for all parties involved.