Project Life Weeks 2 & 3

I've been a little behind on posting my Project Life pages the past several weeks so I'm gonna catch you all up!  I'm enjoying using both the Clementine and Cobalt editions as well as adding in some of the great items I've found online, too.  There is just so much good stuff and inspiration out there.  In the past, that would have limited me.  I would be scared to make something myself and find it lacking.  But this project is so easy and so simple that I'm just soaking up all that yummy inspiration and going with the flow.  I'm happy to be getting our stories written down, enjoying seeing Mark get onboard and excited to help out, too.  The boys are still a work in process, they still think I'm a little nutty taking pictures of crazy things but they are getting a little more used to it.


So without further ado.....


Week 2

I included a screen shot of our warm weather that week.  I was inspired to include this by Cathy Zielske. 

Added an Instax pic from my new full size Instax camera.  I love the bigger size and it's great to include a different type of photo.  

I included a couple receipts this week, including my printer purchase.  I bought the Epson R2000 wide format printer and so far I'm loving it!  It is what i've used to print all the photos in these past two weeks.  I'm still trying to figure out the color thing, some photos print out darker than they appear.

Week 3

This week included photos of getting ready for our road trip as well as photos from our time in Las Vegas.  It was a super fun trip and we enjoyed spending time with good friends.  It is so nice to just get away from time to time.  

I like adding in ephmera from our lives such as the ticket stubs and our refreshment receipt from a recent trip to the movies.  I think it will be so cool to look back at these someday.  

I also included a description of the SHOT show that Mark & Mike attended as well as Mark's badge for the day.  So glad they had a good time and got to enjoy being boys!!  ;-) 

Phew, now I just have Week 4 and Week 5 to photograph and post, still finishing up the journaling & printing up pictures though.  I will be posting those as soon as I have them completed.  Totally enjoying this process of documenting our lives.   

Yikes!

Where does the time go? It's been a few weeks since my last post & I have some catching up to do.  These past couple weeks have been crazy, busy, fun.  I'm hesitant to say it but so far 2012 seems to be a much better year than 2011 was.  I've been busy taking photos, keeping a recording a my stories of our daily life in a new iPhone app called Momento.  I love how it pulls your Facebook feeds into the app, is easy to record "moments" and even allows you to include photos with each "moment" as well.  So far it is working for me and making Project Life simple & easy.  


A couple weekends ago we took a road trip to Las Vegas to visit with friends & for Mark to attend the 2012 SHOT show with Mike.  The guys had a great time, saw a lot of really cool guns and accessories and while they did boy stuff, me & Michelle had some girl time.  We got ourselves pampered with hour long massages and facials.  It was my first facial and I loved it! Will definitely be having more of them!  It was so relaxing and after being sick for the first few weeks of the year and trying to keep up with home, work, and kids, it was a very special treat.  We had a super yummy dinner (& margaritas) at Margaritaville on the strip.  After dinner we enjoyed a nice walk down the strip to the Bellagio and watched the amazing water show.  I'd only seen it in movies but it was amazing to see up close.  Loved how no 2 shows or songs were the same, it's a different show every 15 minutes.  


We've also been making some healthy changes around here.  We have been trying to eat much healthier which means good home cooked meals instead of fast food.  Yes, I'm ashamed to admit that we've been consuming entirely too much fast food lately (meaning over the past few years, ugh!).  It is so epitome of unhealthiness and is not a very good example for the boys.  So Mark & I had a really good talk about our lifestyle and how we can make it healthier.  We made a pact to cook all our meals at home, take home made lunches to work, make/cook desserts at home and generally choose overall healthier foods.  And so far, so good!  We've been sticking to it.  I'm so proud of us and really hope we can keep it up.  I don't want this to be a temporary thing but a lifestyle change.  We need to set a healthy example for the boys so they grow up to make healthy choices for themselves.  Along with the healthy eating habits, we are starting to make regular exercise a part of our lives again.  We've been active on and off over the years, mostly on, but with long periods of off.  Again, it's time to make this a permanent lifestyle change.  Again, its important to set a good example for the boys.  They need to see that we are committed to good health and fitness.  We have plans to get them involved as well with family hikes, regular bike rides, etc...  We both love to run but have been plagued by injuries over the past year or so (shin splints for me, pulled muscles and a sore back for Mark) and after a long break we are taking it slow and getting back into it.  I've missed it so much.  I watch people running as I drive and I envy them.  So I'm glad to be back out there.  We are starting slow, taking it a couple miles at a time, working up to longer distances.  I still love the adrenaline rush I get from racing and I fully intend to have many more races in my future.  I was actually very sad that I wasn't ready to run my favorite half marathon this year.  It's been a tradition the past couple years to run the Huntington Beach half marathon on Superbowl Sunday morning and then spend the rest of the day hanging out with friends, watching the game and enjoying good food.  At least I got to enjoy the game-and-good-food-with-great-friends part of the tradition but next year, I will be ready to race again!  


Mark & I have also been really trying to spend more quality time together and as a family.  We had a great day last week while the boys were in school.  We went for a nice run together, cleaned up and went out for a lunch date, just the two of us!  Then we did a little shopping (for exercise equipment) and picked up the boys.  We enjoyed family movie night together and had a yummy dinner with homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert.   


So here's to keeping up with all that good stuff and making it a regular part of our daily lives!  

Project Life -- Week 1

Wow, my long stretch of days is over and I plan to relax and enjoy a few days off now.  I'm excited to share week 1 of my Project Life with you.  This project was so fun to put together and I'm looking forward to the following weeks.  Hoping to make myself stick with it and have a great finished product full of our families memories from this year.  

Here is the first page of week 1.  Used a photo from Pinterest that I loved to show the washing in 2012.  I'm a beach girl so this just seemed appropriate to include.  And it fits with my thoughts for the previous year.  I'm happy to wash away 2011 and look ahead to 2012.  Love that I was able to use an Instax photo also.  I'm enjoying the retro look and feel of the polaroid images.  

This is the right side of week 1 and I included a few pieces of my week:  a list from my trip to Target and a little part of a "brain" that  I used at work one day that week.  Also included a picture of a dinner we had that week, made by my mother in law.  

And here is the full spread.  I'm pretty happy with how this first week turned out.  It is a pretty good representation of our week.  I want to include more photos of my family in the next week.  I have to get my boys used to seeing me with my camera a lot more often.  My oldest son, Zachery, really doesn't care to have his picture taken these days but he is going to have to get used to it.  My little guy, Benjamin, is pretty easy going most of the time and just smiles and hams it up for me.  

I am extremely happy with my new Epson R2000 wide format printer and loved being able to print my photos from the convenience of my own home.  It made it simple to work on my pages.  No stopping and waiting to pick up images from my local Costco or Target.  

I am also super happy to finally have a workbench and my own creative space in our new home.  It's not ideal (as in a complete room to myself) but it will do for now.  The bench I bought is actually a kitchen island workspace in a butcher block style but it is actually perfect for using as a scrap table.  It is waist height so I can stand and scrap which is easier for me.  I like the perspective of being a little above my projects.  Plus it has several drawers and a place for baskets as well.  I will share photos when I have it a little more organized.  I am planning to put some shelves above the bench to store a few items as well.  I'll be looking for interesting ideas for small spaces in the coming weeks to help me plan my own space.  

Coming soon....

I had hoped to be posting my week 1 of Project Life today.  Unfortunately working 12 hours shifts doesn't always leave a lot of time to get things done.  I had to work this weekend and spent the day today catching up around the house.  Errands to run, getting my new printer set up (so I can print my photos from home), and general cleaning up.  I did get my week 1 finished and I'm happy with how it turned out and excited to start on week 2. I will take photos  of my layouts tomorrow and share them then.  Two more days of work ahead then finally some time off.  I'm hoping to get out there and take some good photos. 

A good day.

Yesterday was a good day.  The kind of day where you feel lucky to be alive & breathing fresh air, where your kids are actually in good moods and give you very little attitude, where you have a yummy, home cooked dinner and a nice, relaxing evening.  I spent the morning figuring out this whole blog thing.  Its a big 'ole world out there and there is quite a learning curve.  I'm glad I persevered and came up with a design that makes me happy.  I intend to keep learning and to change things up as I go along.  Hooray for a comment on my first day, too!


I continued to document little things for Project Life and took several pictures throughout the day.

0800--Dropping off my youngest son at school this morning.  All bundled up cause it was actually a little chilly this morning.  

Mani/Pedi.  This afternoon I got to enjoy a little time to myself, a little pampering.  It's nice to make time to take care of me, to recharge.  

And lastly, a quick trip to Target, my favorite store, to pick up a few essentials.  

I have to work all weekend, but will try to find some ways to document a little of my day and evening as well.  Looking forward to putting together my first week of Project Life either Sunday or Monday.  

Welcome to my blog....

Welcome to my blog!  I decided to start this blog for several reasons.  First was to document my daily life.  I often get bogged down in the everyday routine of life (work, cooking, cleaning, etc...) and I forget what simple joys can be found in my daily existence, in my families daily existence.  I want to challenge myself to see all the reasons to be grateful for the little pieces that make up our days, weeks, months.  All the in-between moments that I will miss when they're gone, that are the most special.  I also wanted to have a place to share my photos (you see, I have big dreams of being a REAL photographer someday) and lastly, to share my Project Life album.  

I've been a scrapbooker for over 8 years now, although I haven't done much in the past several years due to life circumstances.  I've followed Project Life with Ali Edwards and Becky Higgins over the past couple years and have been tempted to try my own Project Life album but never had the courage (or the time, I thought) to actually dive in and DO IT.  But this is a new year.  This is a year of fresh starts for me, in more ways than one.  I want to focus more on the little details of my life.  So I have decided that this is the year I will do my own Project Life.  I ordered both the Cobalt and Clementine kits (I couldn't decide between the two) and I have my title page all ready to go.  

I have been jotting down notes about my week using my iPhone (a tip I read from Deb Duty) to help with my journaling & I've been taking photos with my new Instax camera, my iPhone, and my big camera (Nikon D300).  I'm so excited about documenting my families stories, about putting words + photos together.  I am already starting to look at my life in a whole other way.  I am determined to complete all 52 weeks.  


I have a feeling 2012 is going to be a great year!