Did you forget about me??

Ok, so I'm not so good at the blog thing just yet.  Life gets so busy and I'm usually doing all I can just to keep afloat.  I have no idea what keeps me so busy most days, I always feel like my life is pretty darn boring!  I wish I was better at this, I'm actually working hard to be better at this.  Just still not feeling like I have a lot to say that others want to read about.  I should use this as my online journal of sorts, maybe that would make it easier.  Maybe if I can begin to think of it like that, it will help.  Hmmmm.....  Guess we'll have to wait and see.  


Anyway, since part of the reason I started this blog was to share my Project Life pages (and as you can probably guess, I'm a wee bit behind in that area!) I guess I'll try to catch you up.  I'm finally "caught up", meaning I'm current with the week we are in.  Today my goal is to work on last week so I will be ready for the coming week, which officially started yesterday.  This will be a lengthy catch up post as I have several weeks to post so bear with me.  Here goes:


Week 4

Benjamin was sick this week so I included a photo of the meds we were giving him to help him feel better and get some rest.  Also got an Instax photo of him snuggling with Mark.  He is still such a love bug when he's sick.

I included some receipts from the week as well as a screen shot from the Nike+ app that records our runs.  

This is week 4 full spread. I'm still enjoying using both the Clementine and Cobalt kits. 

Week 5

Used one of the bigger cards for the first time today and attached a small Instax photo to go with it.  It's fun to change things up a little bit.  I've also been enjoying using Ali Edwards' digital elements on my pages.  

I was supposed to run the Huntington Beach Half Marathon this weekend but due to illness, holidays and a residual injury, I was unable to run.  I was heartbroken about it since this would have been the 3rd year in a row I had completed this run.  It is my favorite race because the entire course is runs along PCH and the beach.  Even though I didn't run, I included my race bib as an insert and documented the story about why I didn't run.  

I also included a smaller photo of the race bib, my race shirt and the very cool bag they always give to the runners.  I included some more instagram photos from this week too.  I still haven't gotten into the habit of carrying my big DSLR camera around with me and find myself using my iPhone frequently in its place.  

I forgot to get a photo of the full page spread for Week 5, oops!

Week 6

This was a fun week and a busy weekend for us.  Zachery had his first dance of the year, the Winter Formal.  We took him shopping on Saturday before the dance and he picked out a new shirt and tie.  Love seeing him get dressed up (although Mark still had to help him tie his tie!).  He is growing up so fast and getting to be such a handsome young man!  We are so proud of him.  The three photos on the left side of the first page here are part of a small set of inserts.  I had several photos this week I really wanted to include and needed a little more room.  

The 3 photos on the left of this page are the first side of the photo insert from above.  Sorry about the out of order part of things, I'm still getting the hang of photographing and sharing my pages!  This week I included just a few photos from Superbowl Sunday.  We had just a couple friends over and really got to enjoy the game.  I also included some photos of Roxy, our black lab, who was in rare form this weekend!  She loves Bob, Mark's dad, and was having a blast out front "helping" them work on the cars.  She also took a short trip to Home Depot with us and was such a good girl. 

The one photo in the bottom corner is the only photo Zachery would let me take before taking him to the dance.  He really doesn't like pictures most of the time so I was lucky and happy to get that one picture!  Can you believe how much taller he is than I am already??  

Week 6 full spread.

Week 7

 

Valentines Week was a quiet week for us with no real big celebration this year.  We didn't give each other or the boys gifts this year, we all just weren't really feeling it and that's ok.   Mark & I did escape for a nice lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and a romantic comedy, The Vow, while the boys were in school.  It was nice and simple and totally us.  Love that.  

 

I was happy to get some everyday life shots this week to include, especially the one of Zachery relaxing in his room.  I snuck up and took this while he wasn't paying attention!  I also included a copy of a nice comment card from one of my patients at work.  Was so excited to see this since I had really connected with the patient and her family during her stay.  

Week 7 full spread. 

Week 8 was a special week for us all.  On Sunday we went to my nephews wedding!  We love these two so much and it was so great to share their special day with them.  They remind Mark & I so much of us when we were younger.  They are about the same age as we were when we got married and Jaime is joining the service just like Mark did.  We wish them all the love & happiness we have shared over our 20 years of married life!  I included another 6x12 photo insert to add in the extra photos from the wedding I wanted to include.  

 

The family shot of us in the middle there is a new favorite.  And I just love the photo of Zachery and Emma dancing it up on the bottom.  They had such a good time together and it was great to see how good Zachery was with his little cousin!  

The other good news this week was that I finally got a NEW CAR after driving my van for 10 years!!!  I hadn't planned to get a new car just yet.  I was planning to wait another year or two, pay off a little more of our debt and enjoy not having a car payment for awhile.  But Mark had other ideas and he went car shopping while I was at work on Friday.  We narrowed it down to 3 cars we really liked and decided to go test drive them on Saturday. It didn't take us long to fall in love with the new Honda Pilot EX-L.  I had warned him ahead of time that if I was gonna buy a new car I was going to go all the way.  It had to have everything!  I didn't want to settle again.  He agreed and so we had a blast negotiating with the people at the dealership.  Bob (who has been buying cars & parts from that dealership for over 20 years and knows all the guys by first name) came to help us negotiate and we ended up getting a pretty sweet deal all in all.  It was so nice to drive home in my new car!!  I absolutely LOVE it!  

I added an insert to hold the brochure of my new car.  It worked out that I also had a gas receipt from the last gas purchase I made in my old Dodge Grand Caravan, too.  

 

Full spread for week 8 with both inserts showing. 

Week 9 

This is one of my favorite weeks for photos so far.  I got a couple of really good pictures that I was so happy to have.  I already know I will enjoy looking back on these for many years!  The first one is the upper right photo in this spread.  It is a shot of Zachery's desk.  It was shot on a random day, nothing special about it except that it really speaks to me about who he is right now.  I had to include a large card for journaling all about it, the kind that hold the story inside.  I also plan to enlarge the photo and do a 12x12 scrapbook page as well.  

Friday night was the night Zachery has been waiting for for several months!  Opening night for the school musical, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.  He had a pretty big part this year as Mr. Gatch.  Again we were blown away by the talent up on stage and how professional these kids are.  It was a GREAT play and we had a big group to cheer him on this year, 13 of us total.  We were so proud of him and even Benjamin was excited to tell him what a good job he did!  So happy he has found something he really enjoys doing!  

 

Week 9 full spread above with the insert with the program from the musical included as an insert.  This week also included 2 inserts as I also added several photos taken during the performance.  

Up close of the photo insert and part of the final page for the week, shown fully in photo below. 

Week 10

I actually included a photo from after Zachery's performance from last week in the school musical just because I liked it so much.  I didn't have another photo for that day so it worked out great.  I love that this project is whatever you want to make it.  I loved seeing the beautiful red flowers in our front yard blooming, Spring is definitely making itself known around here.  

We had an exciting end to our week again!  This time Mark bought a new car!!  Once I got mine he was feeling like he needed a new one as well.  We have been talking about keeping his older Civic for Zachery since he is going to be driving as soon as he takes Drivers Ed, and Mark has wanted this particular car since 1991!  Honda makes very few of them these days and they are hard to come by.  So when they called him to say they had just received a 2012 Honda Civic Si with Navi in stock, he went right in to test drive it.  We both fell in love with it!  It has so much speed and is incredibly fun to drive!  It took a bit of wheeling and dealing but we finally came to terms regarding price & financing and he was able to drive off in his dream car.  My favorite picture of the week is the bottom photo that shows us in our driveway and I included the title "His and Hers"!  We are so fortunate to be able to drive nice, new cars!  

Week 10 full spread.  

Week 11

I came across some more awesome Project Life digital elements via Pinterest this week and enjoyed using them for my album.  So much inspiration out there! 

I duplicated a look from Ali Edwards week 10 page.  I love how she took apart one of her digital elements and added text in between.  I had taken a perfect picture to include this same idea and I love how it came out!  

 

Week 11 full spread.

Finally!  All updated on my Project Life pages now!!  What a relief.  Now I just need to make it a priority to keep up with this part of my goal.  Overall I'm just really happy to be participating in this project created by Becky Higgins. 

I'm also looking forward to trying to participate in Ali's A Week In The Life next month as well.  It will be fun to try it.  I'm one of those people she mentions who actually thinks my life is rather boring on a day to day basis, especially with my work schedule but I'm going to give it a try and hopefully have something to look back on in later years and enjoy.  

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!