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

Surgery Day & ScrapTiffany Layout

Sunday was the new challenge at ScrapTiffany.  I am a bit tardy getting mine up here.  The challenge was to scrap your guilty pleasure.  Without a doubt that would be good wine.  Having the kiddos has definitely cut into the budget for that, but when we can we love to have a good bottle.

Today I am having foot surgery today. My foot pain started in October when we were on vacation and grew much worse after I started training for the 60 mile 3 day breast cancer walk. 

After months of trying everything else, today I am having surgery.  My plan to walk this year’s 3 day walk has been derailed, but I am looking forward to healing and getting back on the walking path for 2012.

Looking forward to lots of sleep this afternoon.

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.

ScrapTiffany Sketch Challenge

It’s time for another ScrapTiffany challenge. This time the Design Team was asked to work with this sketch by our own Bev. If you want to join in the fun, email your take on the sketch to Tiffany at Tiffany(at)ScrapTiffany(dot)com.

Here was my take on it with a couple of my more recent favorite pictures of me and my mama.

I picked out the pictures when I saw the sketch, but I have to admit, when it came time to journal I couldn’t do it, so I found some sentiment stickers that said something instead.

It’s funny how some days you can write or talk about someone you miss easier than others. The day I made this, just wasn’t one of those easier days. But I am okay with that.

Hope you have a great Saturday. And if you are a lucky one with a 3 day weekend (I’m not), enjoy!

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.

TGIF Friday

Me on Easter in the mid-70's. Maybe about 6?

I stayed up way to late last night trying to finish up slicing and re-touching the scans of my childhood and heritage photos. I had somewhere around 160+ scans that averaged 4-5 pictures per scan.  It has been a huge project, but as I saw that number dwindling down to 15 scans last night I had to crank it out.

My next task will be to try to approximate dates and tag people in the photos. I also need to look into a noise reduction plug-in for PSE. There are some photo's that need some more cleaning up beyond what I am comfortable doing manually.

I still have a lot a work ahead of me, but I have several stories I want to tell.  I it has been so rewarding to see pictures of my brother and me growing up, some I remembered, some I had never seen.  And to find so many hidden treasures of my parents and grandparents in all those photos was incredible.

Of course to be punished for staying up late, Nicholas woke up in the middle of the night, and ended up in our bed again. At least it is Friday.

On the list for this weekend....

• Order Studio Calico goodies for September (woohoo!)
• Finish fall arrangements to get them off the dining room table
• Go to the mall to get the boys some fall/winter clothes before my coupon's expire
• Lunch out with the family
• Scrap, scrap and more scrap (I hope this one isn't wishful thinking)

And here are a couple of layouts to share.  I am finished up through June my Month in Review (Project 12) layouts.

May 2010

May Side 1

May Side 2

June 2010

June 2010 Side 1

June 2010 Side 2

June 2010 Close Up (I love this fun Cosmo Cricket Chipboard)

I love my punches and Studio Calico month stamps for this project.  The photos and journaling are taking up so much of the layout space, just a few paper strips and accents are all I am doing on these pages to keep them similar throughout the year. Now to work on gathering July pictures.

Let them eat cake and a layout

For our anniversary I wanted to make a special dessert. One of my favorite blogs for dessert ideas is Picky-Palate, recently she shared a recipe for ice cream sundae layer cake, so this past weekend I gave it a try.  In an earlier recipe she did ice cream sundae brownies and used the Ben and Jerry's Phish Food ice cream so I used that instead. 

I like to prepare my pans with Wilton's Cake Release. I picked it up in the baking section at Michael's. I don't have any issues with the cake sticking with this.  I just brush it on the ban with a pastry brush.

The cake recipe is easy, dump it all in to the bowl and mix. The recipe calls for 4 layers, but I only have 3 pans, so I figured my layers would be a bit thicker, and I adjusted my cooking time by a few minutes longer.

While the cake was cooking I made my chocolate curls. I didn't know until now that it could be done with a vegetable peeler. 

I found this Creamy Chocolate Frosting recipe at Allrecipes.com. With the layers I doubled it, which made more than enough frosting for my cake.

But that was a lot of chocolate and sugar to sift.

I had a little help in the frosting department. Nicholas also learned he liked to lick the spoon, (he had never wanted to before), Must have been the chocolate.  Because after less than a minute of helping, all he wanted was more frosting on a spoon. I was on my own to frost the cake.

Layering the cake...

Frosted and chocolate curls applied, and it was as delicious and rich as it looks.  

This was probably one of the more involved recipes I have made from Picky Palate, but that was because I made my own frosting and did the chocolate curls. Most of her recipes are pretty easy and very yummy. She also has some great family friendly meals.

And here is a layout using Studio Calico's May Granny's Cupboard, Trinkets and Knick Knack Add On kit's and the Addy alpha stamps from the Sugar Woods August's Add On kit. 

Maybe it is because I am turning 40 in a couple months, or maybe it is because there are some things going on in my life, but this was a bit of a soul searching layout. I have been at a bit of a cross road lately. I have worked towards one goal or another my whole life, and recently I have felt like I don't have something I am working towards. Kind of feeling like the hamster in the wheel. So I have been questioning what is next.  I don't hide my journaling too often, but this one I did, because it was just for me. I did this layout on Tuesday, and funny enough I learned a few things yesterday, that get to the heart of what I was thinking about. 

Hope you have a fantastic Friday and relaxing weekend!