Me

One of my scrappy goals this year is to make one layout about me each month…. with a photo of me (even though I dread photos of me)…. about me, right now. What I'm doing, how I'm feeling…. victories, defeats (hopefully more of the former).. etc. Because I really need to tell my own story too.

I was inspired to do this by Corrie Jones (click here to see what I'm talking about). Reading her blog last year I was so impressed by the eight on eight series she does. Each month, no matter what, she makes time to complete these pages about herself. I can only imagine how cool it feels to be able to look back on the year and see exactly where you were and what you were thinking each month. Woo hoo for this idea, and three cheers for actually participating!

Captured

"Wook Mom, I caught him!"

and All That Jazz

Every now and then I create a layout that makes me want to do jazz hands when I look at it. Maybe it's the mood, collection of products, and colors… jazz hands! (yes, I'm a weirdo.. you probably already knew that.)

On a sidenote.. what is up with her hair?! Aiy aiy aiy. Maybe one of these days she will let me do her hair again. Right now it's a struggle to just get it brushed after a bath. Pick your battles and laugh at the pictures later, I always say. Actaully, I never say that, but I should probably start.

Project Life 2013 Wrap Up

I finished up 2013's Project Life this past week and I must say it feels amazing. I have completed two years worth of scrapping for my family, and didn't even miss a week. I'm especially proud of myself for  continuing with PL even though the last few months have been so rocky.. .and there were times when I sat down to document and thought, well this is not what I pictured. Times when I was tempted to skip weeks because they weren't as happy or fulfilled as others. But that's not real life… and I managed to find a way to put things in there, good and bad, without bringing the whole project down into a negative, depressing spiral (to match my mood). You might catch some glimpses of what I'm talking about. 

Here's the final pages...

I'm planning on continuing Project Life in 2014 since it's something I still look forward to doing each month (I typically will do 3-4 weeks worth at a time. It seems to work well for me). But I do have some goals with it this year… like trying to include the older boys and Hottie more. I find that these pages are dominated by the little two kids. I know that's because I spend the majority of my time with them and the boys are off in their own spaces doing their own thing, or in Aidans case, out with his friends… so I don't tend to take as many photos of them, because they just aren't "around.".. but I want to make an effort to capture glimpses into what they have going on too. It's important. And hey, maybe this will prompt me to try and involve the boys more in family things. Couldn't hurt, right?

American Crafts Gallery Assignments

Did you see all of the stellar American Crafts Design Team Gallery Assignments? They are all so beautiful. Still kinda pinching myself that my projects are in there too. Here's what I made last month...

***First one removed for publication***

Seriously can't get enough of the Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party line…. some piece of it is always on my desk to work with. Can't wait to get ahold of the new AC lines too. Aren't you all excited about CHA next week?! I'm bummed I can't attend this one but always love watching the Instagram and Blog photos and all of the collection reveals. New product is always a good thing. I'll probably share some of my favorites here. That's it for today… back to kid wrangling for me. 

Doppleganger

You know how people say everyone has a twin? Some random person in the world that looks just. like. them.? Well awhile back I was watching Dezmond in the bath and I kept thinking, who does he look like? He reminds me of someone… and then I put my finger on it…

 Bill freaking Murray.

It's seriously uncanny. The jaw, the unique smile, even the freaking eyebrows! Hottie says he doesn't see it at all but I can't stop finding the similarities… I mean you guys, it's not like he is doing his best Bill Murray impersonation… he doesn't even know who he is! (yet) The other crazy part is that my kid is all about the laughs, he's always trying to make us giggle.. so the similarities don't even stop at the looks!

I mean, come ON, are you with me?

One Little Word

I'm participating in Ali Edwards' One Little Word workshop this year. I almost decided against it because I kept thinking of words that just didn't quite fit. Also, how much time can I really dedicate to this right now? Last year I chose the word balance and did some work on my own focusing on implementing it into my life… it worked great. For the first 6 months or so I thought about balance and what that looked like for me. I learned how to balance my needs with my families.. my health… fun… work. I felt like I had finally mastered the art of juggling. Then I lost that focus over the past couple of months while everything has been happening with our family and dropped a lot of balls in the process. Maybe taking Ali's course will help me keep this years word in the forefront of my mind. I chose….

re·solve

riˈzälv,-ˈzôlv/

verb

verb: resolve; 3rd person present: resolves; past tense: resolved; past participle:resolved; gerund or present participle: resolving

1. 1.

   settle or find a solution to (a problem, dispute, or contentious matter).

1. 2.

   decide firmly on a course of action.

noun

noun: resolve; plural noun: resolves

1. 1.

   firm determination to do something.

   "she received information that strengthened her resolve"

   synonyms:

   decision, resolution, commitment "he made a resolve not to go there again"

   
   

   
   

   This word definitely chose me. At first I thought it might just be the most depressing word to assign yourself… then I thought, no, it's actually pretty perfect for me right now. I need to have resolve to get through the curveballs that life has thrown at me lately. I need to resolve problems as quickly and firmly as possible. I have GOT to resolve to take care of myself in spite of what's going on. No excuses, just action. Bring it on 2014.

   
   

   And you know I already made a layout about it. :)

   

   
   

   

   

    (sorry about the cruddy photos. The lighting in our rental home is TERRIBLE and I have to resolve this problem since there's about a foot of snow outside and that means no photo shoot there either!)