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

Hello!

I haven't been up to writing much lately.  I am still recovering from foot surgery and it has been more painful than expected.  I had surgery to relieve the plantar fascia and remove bone spurs on the heel.  The plantar fascia apparently wasn't as bad as they had thought but the bone spurs were worse, so it is tough to walk.  But every day it gets better.

I am excited to start the new session of Finding Photo Freedom (Library of Memories) over at Big Picture Classes today. I have been taking the class since 2008 and each year since as an alumni. Each year the refresher is good to help me evaluate my system and tweak where necessary.  I am looking forward to this as my summer project.

I haven't been scrapping much lately, but I have a huge backlog of things I haven't shared.  I played along in the Studio Calico National Scrapbook Day celebration and finished 8 layouts that week from their challenges.

This one with my mom is my personal favorite....

Hoping to get back into a regular blogging schedule, so I hope this is my fresh start. Happy Thursday!

Peace–It’s Just One Little Word

On December 1st I wrote this from a journaling prompt to “encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?”

December 1 ~ One Word.

2010 in one word…Chaos. It has felt like we are chasing our tails all year. Our business was so consuming so we stopped, but the rest of the year has been a whirlwind. Some self imposed, some imposed on us. As we are winding up the year, work for me has been more crazy than normal with a structure reorganization. And November brought us heart break in the sudden bad turn in my mom’s health. Now that we are in December, I am spending my evenings in the hospital, my days at work, the few minutes I have in the morning with my boys and squeezing in Christmas shopping on my lunch hour.

As I look to 2011 I hope for Peace. Time to enjoy our life, time to enjoy our boys, and some freedom from everyday worries. No life is perfect, but I pray we have some peace in our days.

Little did I know when I wrote those words, that we would be faced with more before the year would end. Ten days after I wrote this, my mom left us. We dealt with the holidays grieving our huge loss, one we didn’t expect to happen so quickly.

I have never chosen a word of the year before, it is a “popular” thing for us scrapbookers to do. But this year it seemed so appropriate. I felt a need for calm, quiet, reflection, hope, and serenity.

Peace – (noun) – 1. a state of tranquility or quiet. 2. harmony in personal relationships

Synonyms – calm, quiet, stillness, silence, tranquility, harmony, serenity, agreement, friendship, love, order, unity, relaxation, rest, repose

Quotes that resonated with me  -

“Peace is not something you wish for; It's something you make, Something you do, Something you are, And something you give away.” ~ Robert Fulghum

“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.”  ~ Peace Pilgrim

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it”

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”  ~ Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta

“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Peace is its own reward.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere” ~ François de la Rochefoucauld

“Peace is the deliberate adjustment of my life to the will of God.”

“All we are saying is give peace a chance.” ~ John Lennon

“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

To help me remain committed to my word for 2011 I have signed up for Ali Edwards One Little Word class at Big Picture Classes. Each month we will receive an assignment to help us remember what we have committed to, I know this will be important for me this year.

Picture Fall & ScrapTiffany Monday

Where did this past week go? I never did fit in blogging towards the end of the week. I got involved in creating my first photo book and finished that up Friday night. I am not really a digital scrapper, but I didn't like the templates on the photo book site, so I visited Designer Digitals and picked out a kit, frame, and some digital stamps and made my own. I am pretty happy with how it looks on the screen.  I can't wait to see the final project. I can't wait to see how it comes out. I think I am going to do another photo book for my current photo project.  I signed up for Picture Fall over at Big Picture Classes. It is a nice complement to the photography class I am taking with Maggie Holmes. The chance is giving more ideas to play with the camera, without always having to chase around one of the kiddos. The class started October 1st, but registration is open until October 6th if you want to join me. The daily photo prompt, great gallery and message board are great inspiration. Here are my first 4 days. I am keeping a journal off my thoughts on each day's picture. Then I will be ready to put it and the photo together for my photo book.

October 1^st, 2010

 Fall. Not really in Arizona. It is still well over 100 degrees and fall foliage is not anywhere near us yet. But inside our home you can find fall all around us.

October 2^nd, 2010

 A peaceful spot to relax, read and chat with Mike when the house is quiet and all little boys are asleep.

October 3^rd, 2010

 No real fall leaves in Arizona, maybe in December or January it will look like Fall? Our only brown leaves are from leftover tree clippings caught in a vibrant hibiscus.

October 4^th, 2010

Ready to Brew…these three words make me happy.

Mark your calendars. We are having a blog hop over at ScrapTiffany November 8th & 9th. Lots of holiday inspiration and giveaways are planned.

This weeks assignment was to use this sketch by one of ScrapTiffany's own designers, Keely

Here was my take on it...

Head on over to ScrapTiffany and check out the other ladies work and give the sketch a try this week.

Happy Monday!

Picture Summer Days 1 - 10

I was going to skip out on Picture Summer at Big Picture Scrapbooking, but I have seen a few blogs recently of other scrappers that were signed up and decided to go for it.  I started a few days late, and I am now caught up with my assignments. I used my Sony DSC-TX1 point and shoot for all of the pictures (except the one in the pool). I used PSE actions from Pioneer Woman for most of the pictures, although for a few I did my own manual post-processing.

Day 1

Summer is the boys having fun and playing outside in the evenings.

Day 2

Splashin' in the pool.

Day 3

I love the way the fountain in the courtyard is angled to line up with the windows on both sides.

Day 4

Grilling is a big part of our summer and always on the 4th.

Day 5

It doesn't matter the season, for me a glass of wine in the backyard watching the sun goes down is perfect any time of year.

Day 6

A view I haven't noticed much lately that was one of my favorites when we moved to our house 5 years ago.  Looking down our street at the lake from our hallway windows.

Day 7

This starfish was hanging out on the side of the aquarium. I thought the colors of its belly were splendid.

Day 8

The prompt for today led me to photograph these shells I have had for years.  I had collected most of them as a kid.  I have had them in one of my bathrooms at each home we have lived in  for years.  I see them every morning when I get ready, but haven't thought much about them in years.  Yet, every time I update the bathrooms I always hang on to this bit of my childhood.

Day 9 

These textured balls are on display in my entry way. Love the different textures and sizes.

Day 10

A scene I don't want to forget.  Nicholas and Jackson pillow fighting in the family room.  I heard them this morning giggling and playing while I was checking my e-mail I snuck up on them and found this.  I know they will be teenagers in a blink of the eye, so I want to enjoy the toddler rough housing while it lasts.

A layout and ScanCafe

Another layout from my Baker's Dozen class.  Now I have just 4 layouts to work on to be caught up to the class.  One thing I love about the class is the simpleness.  You have already picked out pictures and embellishments and every couple of days you get a sketch and a recipe and you can get to work on telling a story.  Last night I wanted to scrap, but was tired so my heart wasn't in it as much.  So I flipped on the Glee season finale (which perked me up some) and grabbed my next assignment.

Me and Nana

PP, CS & ribbon from Studio Calico kit. Making Memories 

letter stickers and paint. Maya Mist, Quick Quotes canvas heart, 

Clearsnap ink and paper clip.

I love this picture of Nicholas and his Nana C.  He has really grown close to her since they moved here a year and a half ago.  I am glad that the boys will have a chance to grow up nearby to some of their family.  We are very lucky to have Mike's parents so close to us.

I am looking forward to this weekend already. My Mosh Posh and Citrus Tree Studios kits have arrived already this week.  My box from Studio Calico should be here today and another couple of orders should be here by Saturday.  It's been like Christmas! I have a big picture order to pick up at Costco today too.

So I'll have lots of new goodies to scrap with and a whole lot of new pictures to scrap with.  Including several pictures I recently had scanned by ScanCafe from my pre-digital days.  The Mosh Posh kit will be perfect for some pictures I have of my grandma's and my mom from the 40's - 70's. The Citrus Tree Studios should be great for a Father's Day surprise for Mike I am thinking about. And the Studio Calico kit is going to be great for last weekend's pool pictures.

If you have been thinking about getting photos scanned I really recommend ScanCafe. I heard about them when I took Library of Memories at Big Picture Scrapbooking and although the whole process took a couple of months I am so happy to have my old photos in digital format.  They retouched and in some cases restored photos and now I finally have them to incorporate into my scrapbooks.

I had been looking at scanning my photos for years including trying to do it myself.  I sent them about 2000 photos and selected about 1400 to have digitally. The great thing about ScanCafe is you are only obligated to pay for 50% of what they scan. So I sent negatives in that I had no idea what would be on them and only selected the pictures that were worth keeping.  There prices have gone up slightly since I ordered but they are still reasonable compared to other services.  And if you sign up for their newsletter they send out discount codes pretty often.  (I am not being paid to sing their praises, I was just really happy with their service.)

Starting on my Baker's Dozen

I signed up for the Baker's Dozen class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. However, life got in the way and I am a bit behind in the class.  However I did put together my first layout last night.  A simple one that just focuses on the story I wanted to tell about a little boy who is getting into everything right now....

Sorry about them not being side by side, but I don't like the way the picture of the 2 pages together came out and it is too dark now to re-take it.

Picture Spring

I am taking the Picture Spring class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. The instructor is Tracey Clark, the founder of Shutter Sisters.

I never made it through 365 days of photos last year, taking a picture everyday got difficult when I couldn't find something new to photograph each day  I signed up for this class to help expand my horizons, so to speak, and re-train myself to look beyond the obvious.  Each morning our we have a prompt for the day in our in-box. It is up to us to interpret what that means to us.

So here are my first 10 days of pictures....

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Weekend update and scrappy stuff...

How did it get to be Wednesday night already? I guess with the release of the now sold out Color Me Daisy April Spring Fever kit and putting the finishing touches on the Idea Guide for the kit together the past few nights, I've been a bit busy.  I know I haven't been sleeping much.

We had a fun and busy Easter weekend. I spent almost all day Friday scrapping, it was delicious!  Then Saturday we were preparing eggs for dyeing, deviling eggs, whipping up strawberry vinaigrette for our Easter salad, baking hash brown casserole and decorating this scrumptious cake with a raspberry filling:

I got the idea for the cake from some Easter basket cupcakes I had seen while surfing the internet a couple of weeks ago. But honestly I wasn't interested in decorating that many little cupcakes. So I made a 2 layer white cake and the most yummy raspberry filling ever. I colored the frosting and coconut green and decorated the cake top with a bunny, peeps, jelly beans and malted eggs.  But I still needed a basket. So I grabbed my favorite Martha Stewart Border Punch and the Fiskars Apron Lace Punch and whipped up this basket using the Spring Fever kit scraps. It took about 10 minutes and it was just plain fun!

Other highlights from the weekend...

Nicholas had a ball dyeing the Easter eggs. He did a great job and was only medium messy.

We left a note and some jelly beans for the Easter Bunny and he delivered well...

Nicholas really got the idea of baskets and goodies and egg hunting this year and loved his new sporty toys.

Jackson is still a bit overwhelmed by the holidays, but he did manage to eat some goldfish and M&M's from his basket before breakfast.

I have a lot of scrappy stuff to share with you, but since it is getting late I'll leave it to one for tonight.

This one has some of my favorite things from the April Color Me Daisy kit...fabric, Jillibean Soup Corrugated Alphas and Pink Paislee Artisan Frames. I misted the alphas and frame with Maya Mist and love the splattered look for my little artist.  I layered the fabric after fraying the edges over packaging from the Pink Paislee ribbon pleats in the kit. I used the Artisan tape to give an anchor to the title of my layout and I cut the Pink Paislee flip notes in half to border the tops of my photos.

I'll be back tomorrow night with some more scrappy stuff as well as some pictures from the Picture Spring class I am taking at Big Picture Scrapbooking.

How's that for Photo Freedom

And really loving your pictures so much you want to sleep with them. :)

I am repeating Stacy Julian's Library of Memories class at Big Picture Scrapbooking, which is based on the book Photo Freedom (which is sadly out of print). This time around I decided to go back through the parts that I had previously completed to see how well I have been doing on keeping my library flow.  I went through all my chronological binders to move them to 3 ring binders, which was a result of my huge mistake in buying the wrong kind the first time around. I cleared out tons of pictures I just don't feel enthused to scrap anymore.

I ended up with piles of pictures on the floor by me.  Nicholas came over and started looking through them and naming everyone and everything in them.  So we took one of my old binders and made this for him...

He now has his own photo album that we can add to as I have pictures I have no use for.  He doesn't care if the shot isn't perfect, he just likes to look at his family and places we go and things we do.

It's a rainy Sunday here in what is usually sunny Arizona.  Last night I made this Marmalade French Toast Casserole I found at myrecipes.com. It was quick to cut up the bread and mix together the ingredients:

Pour the mixture on top and stick it in the refrigerator overnight.

Sleep in this morning and stick this in the oven for 45 minutes and we had this yummy stuffed with orange marmalade French Toast for breakfast.  We skipped the walnuts the recipe called for because Mike doesn't like nuts and I don't need the fat in them.  Next time though, I will sprinkle some cinnamon on top. The nutmeg wasn't quite enough for me.

While it was baking our impatient guys had to have breakfast, while Jackson ate pancakes and cereal....

Nicholas stood by the window and watched the raindrops hit the pool (pancake in hand):

And to leave you off with a little scrappy fun...last night I found this layout in the Studio Calico gallery by Stephanie Howell and I lifted it to make this one with a favorite photo of my dad and Nicholas at Christmas.

Hope you have a relaxing Sunday.