Week in the Life - Sunday

Sunday, July 31 In Photos:

In Words:

Day:  Sunday, July 31, 2011

Wake:  6:20 a.m.

Sleep:  10:50 p.m.

Weather:  108 degrees

Work:  No thanks, hanging out today

Plan:  Dinner at Garcia’s with the Carr grandparents

Eating:  Pancakes & bacon for breakfast

Drinking:  Lots of water

Exercising:  Oops,I forgot

Listening:  Silence, 4 kids in the house are now asleep

Watching:  I wasn’t watching, but there was baseball

Feeling:  Refreshed after a good night’s sleep

Thinking:  About interior design

Doing:  Measuring rooms; and, swimming before the storm

Wanting:  To redecorate most of my house

Needing:  Money to actually do it, ha!

Loving:  Watching the Carr cousins bond

Week in the Life - Saturday

Saturday, July 30 In Photos:

In Words:

Day:  Saturday, July 30, 2011

Wake:  5:21 a.m. (thanks Marti)

Sleep:  10:35 p.m.

Weather:  106 degrees with a mid-day storm

Work:  House chores most of the day until 3:00 p.m.

Plan:  Jon & girls coming for the week

Eating:  Subway subs for lunch          

Drinking:  Pomegranate lemonade

Exercising:  Day off

Listening:  Mario Kart on the Wii in the background

Watching:  Tori & Dean on the DVR while scrapping

Feeling:  So hot today and sticky today

Thinking:  Nichols is obsessed with the Wii

Doing:  Organizing my scrap room & the coupon binder; hanging a shelf in the laundry room & new posters in the boys room

Wanting:  To create a “Cool in the Pool” mini album

Needing:  A shower every time I come back inside from the heat

Loving:  Nicholas so excited for his cousins to get here

Week in the Life - Friday

Friday, July 29 In Photos:

In Words:

Day:  Friday, July 29, 2011

Wake:  5:28 a.m.

Sleep:  1:05 a.m.

Weather:  108 degrees (or 103, but it is hot!)

Work:  Arrive – 9:05 a.m. Depart 6:05 p.m.

Plan:  To not work late tonight

Eating:  Oregano’s Grandma G’s Rosemary Chicken Potato Pizza– yum!

Drinking:  Ice Sparkling Water

Exercising:  Yoga & Stretching

Listening:  LOAD & Paperclipping Podcasts

Watching:  Did you Hear About the Morgans?; Hawaii 5-0 & Tori & Dean on the DVR

Feeling:  Free from some clutter

Thinking:  About new work assignment – a fun challenge

Doing:  Cleaning & organizing my scrap room

Wanting:  To re-decorate the guest bathroom

Needing:  A good night’s sleep

Loving:  Extra time spent with Nicholas & Jackson this morning

Week in the Life - Thursday

Thursday, July 28 In Photos:

In Words:

Day:  Thursday, July 28, 2011

Wake:  5:35 a.m.

Sleep:  11:25 p.m.

Weather:  108 degrees

Work:  Arrive – 8:53 Depart – 7:08

Plan:   Run errand at lunch

Eating:  In N Out Burger for lunch

Drinking:  Starbucks Italian Roast Coffee

Exercising:  Yoga & Stretching

Listening:  Layout a Day & Motherload Podcasts

Watching:  More Hawaii 5-0 & Tori & Dean on the DVR

Feeling:  Exhausted but happy

Thinking:  That work will never slow down to a livable pace…I guess that’s good

Doing:  Organizing and purging photos

Wanting:  A few more hours each day

Needing:  To clean out the coupon binder

Loving:  Nicholas’s excitement at learning how to play the Wii

Week in the Life - Wednesday

Wednesday, July 27

In Photos:

In Words:

Day:  Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Wake:  5:10 a.m.

Sleep:  10:40 p.m.

Weather:   104 degrees         

Work:  Arrive – 7:47 a.m. – Depart – 4:35 p.m.

Plan:  Physical therapy – trying to heel my foot

Eating:  Spaghetti       

Drinking:   Blackstone Merlot

Exercising:   Yoga & stretching

Listening:  Digi Show Podcast & weekend church service

Watching:  More Hawaii 5-0 on the DVR

Feeling:  Frustrated

Thinking:  That I need to clear my head

Doing:  Physical therapy to heal my foot and ankle

Wanting:  Wood flooring in the family room

Needing:   A more peaceful day tomorrow

Loving:  Catching up on classes at Big Picture

Week in the Life - Monday & Tuesday

I wasn't going to join the Week in the Life project this week. I decided Monday morning to go for it and just approach it differently than last year. It ends up being the same week I documented last year when I took tons of pictures every day and wrote tons of details. This year, I am taking a cue from Kelly Purkey's class at Big Picture Classes and doing a quick summary of my day, mostly from my perspective with just a few photos.

Monday July 25

Day: Monday, July 25, 2011

Wake: 5:35 a.m.

Sleep: 10:50 p.m.

Weather: 101 degrees

Work: home sick today

Plan: first day of pre-k for Nicholas

Eating: tilapia tacos

Drinking: Landshark beer

Exercising: yoga & stretching – calves very sore

Listening:  quiet house after boys are asleep

Watching:  Tori & Dean re-runs on Oxygen

Feeling:  achy, hot and tired today

Thinking: about losing weight

Doing: setting up school archive boxes from pre-school to 12^th grade for both boys

Wanting:  to purge the excess in the house

Needing:  to get some extra sleep

Loving: the box of memories Dion brought this weekend

Tuesday July 26

Day: Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Wake: 5:35 a.m. - after being licked by Marti

Sleep: 10:30 p.m. - in the family room chair

Weather: 106 degrees

Work: arrived - 9:45 departed – 7:15 home – 7:45

Plan: first day at new preschool for Jackson

Eating: awful Healthy Choice frozen meal for lunch

Drinking: iced tea

Exercising: yoga and stretching

Listening: Mike’s radio station when going to sleep

Watching: Hawaii 5-0 on the dvr

Feeling: so much better than yesterday – back to normal

Thinking: behind. I am too busy at work right today – too many meetings not enough work time.

Doing: volunteer training at Nicholas’s school

Wanting: to get home earlier at night

Needing: preservation spray from Michael’s

Loving: how excited Jackson was after getting his new outfit on for school & taking his 1^st day photo shoot

July 4th Weekend Roundup

We stayed inside for most of the long weekend.  With temperatures like this….

It was not pleasant outside.  And we had some humidity thrown in for fun too. Jackson started eating with a fork this weekend, and picked it up like he had been doing it forever. I definitely have kiddos that do things when they are good and ready and not when I want them to.

Since we stayed inside Jackson spent a lot of time dragging every toy he cold find in his room to every other part of the hosue. Mike beat Bowser in Super Mario Galaxy with Nicholas cheering him along the way. Nicholas hi-jacked my iPad and iPhone and played Angry Birds and ended up figuring out how to look for more games. After we paid for 2 or 3 games I told him he could not have any more that cost money. He figured out which ones were free and would bring me the iPad or phone and say “ Can I play this one? this one “don’t” cost money”. Kids. After a hard afternoon of playing, Jackson crawled in Mike’s lap and fell asleep. He doesn’t look very comfortable to me. On Sunday we did leave the house to go to the church in the morning.  We also went out to a late lunch at the new Coach and Willie’s in downtown Chandler. The food was good, but expensive. It seemed like we were the only one’s brave enough to leave the air conditioning. The restaurant and the streets were pretty empty.

When Nicholas wasn’t playing the iPad, he took over the Wii.  It is funny that something that he didn’t pay a lot of attention to a couple of months ago is now a complete obsession. Last night we got a really bad dust storm that knocked the power out. The Wii wouldn't power back on and we thought it was a gonner. Mike was not looking forward to Nicholas's reaction, but thanks to Google we figured out how to reset the power supply. I don’t even know what this shirt style is all about. LOL! On the 4th, we stayed inside and Mike grilled slider burgers for dinner.  We headed over to our church for fireworks.

We met up with friends, Michelle and Barry, that we hadn’t seen in forever.  Nicholas and their little girl hit it off immediately.

And we ended the night with a bang! Have a great week!

Back from CKC Mesa & ScrapTiffany Blog Hop Winner

The winner of my drawing from last weeks ScrapTiffany blog hop is posted below. I got back from the best CKC scrapbook convention ever Saturday night. The rest of the weekend was super busy too....

Sunday we took the boys to the Garden Railroad Train Tour and came home to have my computer crash on me, Mike had to take it to Best Buy to get it fixed for me.

I had Monday off of work, so after Nicholas got out school we went to see the Easter Bunny (Jackson would not go near him)

We dyed Easter Eggs in the afternoon...

It was a great long weekend, that ended with Nicholas waking up in the middle of the night Monday with the stomach flu, and me feeling sick too. But all in all it was a great weekend, and I think Nicholas was already feeling better this evening.

Here's a quick recap of the convention.  I will have a full review of my classes after I finish up my projects in the next couple of weeks.

This year's convention was....

Having 2 fun filled days with 2 fabulous friends (and another in spirit, who was home with her sick baby)....

Taking 8 awesome classes with 5 fabulous teachers, making 16 fun layouts, a mini book and 2 cards that I love....

Meeting 3 superstar Studio Calico girls (Lorie, Nicole H and Kelly Purkey)....

Receiving a few great giveaways....

Shopping....lots and lots of shopping....

Here is a recap of my shopping finds

Just when I thought I had all the Studio Calico goodness I could ever need....(okay I didn't really think that)....I of course did some stocking up at the SC booth.

A great deal found on a Slice cartridge, an awesome Fancy Pants book for altering, the one Distress Ink color I did not own....

Some new Basic Grey. A cute Easter altered project

And some Glitz Design goodies those brown woodgrain mini letters that I had been coveting, circle stamps I was drooling over, and my favorite Glitz line ever....

I have been going to the CKC Mesa show for years, and this was definitely the best all around show. The vendor fair was awesome, there was a good selection of shopping and a much improved selection of newer products. The classes we took had awesome teachers and great layouts that we loved.

And finally, I have drawn a winner from last week's ScrapTiffany blog hop.

True Random Number Generator

Result:

7Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 Mary Ellyn said...

Cute idea

April 13, 2011 6:38 AM

Congrats Mary Ellen!  I came home with some scrappy goodness including some Studio Calico, Basic Grey, and more. I sent you an e-mail so you can claim your goodies.

Is this a 3 year old or....

a beaten wife? Edited - to correct to 3 year old & 3rd birthday...

This picture is just wrong on so many levels....

But it still makes me laugh.  This was me on my 3rd birthday.  I don't remember the full story, but the way I remember the story as told to me was that a few days before my birthday my mom and dad were washing down the driveway and washing my Dad's truck.  I think they told me not to do it, but I climbed up in the bed of the truck, and very obviously fell and gave myself a black eye.

It required a trip to the emergency room.  My mom said they were questioned about it to make sure they didn't do this to me (they didn't). If I remember right I may have had a concussion. Now I know what's wrong with me. LOL!

I do remember later that evening, being on the couch with a big ice bag on my face.  Then a few days later I got to celebrate turning 3 looking like this.

The iron, just add's to the image. Even more so, since I can't remember the last time I ironed anything.

Over the past 8 months, I have been working through the 23,000+ pictures stored on my computer and cataloged in Adobe Lightroom.  Last year I scanned all of my pre-digital pictures, as well as those I had from my mom.  I have spent tons of hours organizing these pictures by date, tagging them with who, what and a bit of where. Rating the best to cull them down, deleting bad pictures that just are not worth keeping.

Why did I do this? Well for a few reasons...

• This process is making it easier to find the stories from my childhood and family history that I want to tell.
• I want to enjoy these pictures.  I can have them scrolling through a slide show on our digital frames and computer screen savers.
• I have shared many of them with my parents and siblings.
• I also think at the rate we take photos today. my boys will end up with hundreds of thousands of images from their family history. I don't want them to be so overwhelmed by the thought of it that they do nothing with them or worse delete them. Because they may not appreciate what they have until after I am gone.  At that point they would be left wondering who the people in the photos are.  The task to organize them at that point would be daunting, and likely never done.

I am establishing a process that I can maintain.  And while I was already well on my way, I am loving the  class that Kayla Lamoreaux  is offering on her site for Lightroom organization.  She started with digital scrapbooking supplies, but has just moved into the photo organization module. And amazingly she is giving this class for FREE. If you have any desire to improve your photo organization, I strongly suggest you check it out. Even if you use a different organization program she has a lot of really great methods for organizing your photos.

Beauty

Today’s challenge at ScrapTiffany is about Beauty.

It’s weird really.  Today’s post was going to be about how we celebrated Mike’s 45th birthday this weekend. I will have to save that for another day. Because, I can’t stop thinking about my Mom right now, and that she will never again experience a beautiful Arizona sunset with us.

I guess it is because I worked on the design for her headstone this weekend. We had been putting it off, but it needed to be done. I sometimes wonder if I am putting the flowers in the right spot when I visit the cemetary.  So I guess we need to have that to make sure, right?

I have been disconnecting from my online world a lot lately on purpose. I have been spending time doing a few things I want to do; rather than a little of everything. I am purposefully choosing to do less online.

Last year I finally scanned all the pictures I had and those that my mom had given to me as well. I am now organizing and tagging them in Lightroom.  It is forcing me to spend a lot of time with my family and my childhood. That is a good thing. It is interesting the observations I make from this exercise.

I have a category called Who’s That? I don’t know who these people are. and with my mom gone, I am not sure if I will ever find out. I am happy that there aren’t many. I hope to give my children the gift of knowing who the people in the old photos are when I am not here to tell them anymore. I meant to ask my mom, but I didn’t.

One thing that really struck me…the last picture I had with my mom and me was from Thanksgiving 2009. Really? A year before she passed. I should be able to do better than that. I have a camera around at all times, how did that happen.

The other thing that struck me is the last pictures I have of my mom were from early October 2010. She looked really good. It was just a couple of weeks before we found out the cancer had spread...That our days with her were numbered and we didn’t even know it.

I zoomed in on this picture yesterday to see that the light still sparkled in her eyes. It made me realize that I watched it dim the last 2 weeks of her life.  The last couple of days they were dark. The light was gone.

Thanks for letting me remember her today. I miss her.