Blog

project life 2015 : june (& future documenting plans)

These are the last Project Life spreads I’m going to make for awhile, and even though I know it’s a good decision I am also really sad about it! As I placed them in the album and paged through the rest of the year, I second guessed myself because it is really so cool to see laid out like this. But I’ve decided to try a new and easier form of documentation, at least during these crazy years with little kids.

I’ll talk more about my change of plans in a bit, but first here are the layouts from June, if you’d like to see.

These were made using the Project Life app, along with some digital templates by Paislee Press, Big City Quiet, and using the Collect app. I think I had finally gotten the hang of balancing my spreads in the app.

I added some written journaling and a tiny wood veneer embellishment.

On the right side I just wrote some journaling and called it good.

The next spread, roughly the second half of June, was a little more busy but fun.

I took these two Instax photos of the kids for a project, but they turned out too dark to use. I still thought they were cute so I added them in here.

I glued down a movie ticket stub here.

On the right side I added small labels on top of two photos.

I realized I did not have much more to say to fill in a whole 4×6 spot with journaling, so I just stuck a shipping tag on there and cut up a filler card from the physical version of the midnight edition.

So the deal is that I am switching from Project Life to Chatbooks starting with July. Chatbooks makes 6×6 books of your Instagram photos automatically; they are 60 pages (one photo per page) and are $6. You can edit the cover and the captions and a few other things. I haven’t gotten my first book yet, but when I do I will be sure to update you on how I like them! But I’ve heard good things.

I decided to do this because I’m in the business of simplifying my life these days. Since I am already putting the effort into my Instagram feed, I figured I’ll just try to post a little more frequently and we’ll have some of the best photos of our everyday life printed easily. Doing Project Life through the app wasn’t that difficult, and I still highly recommend it, but Chatbooks are even easier, and smaller, and cheaper.

I’ve had some emotions about my decision, and have had to let go of some anxiety about not having things documented as thoroughly, as silly as that may sound. But I think the Chatbooks coupled with my 5-year journal do a pretty good job, and of course there is also my blog. You may have noticed that I have been posting more photos and life updates lately; that is partly for my own record and partly because I just like that blogging style and want to do more of it.

I do love crafting with paper, but I still plan to continue yearly projects like December Daily and Week in the Life. In fact, I’ll be documenting our week next week and I’m pretty excited about it, especially after getting Ali Edwards’ amazing kit. But I figure I have enough other crafting projects that I also want to try that I don’t want to spend all my spare time on everyday documentation.

So that’s my plan! I probably didn’t need to denote so many paragraphs to my explanation, but I’ve been such an evangelist for Project Life (and I do still truly love it) that I felt the need to over-explain. :)

Next week, during Week in the Life, I am going to attempt to blog every day with the previous day’s photos and words. I don’t think I will focus as much on specific times this year as the stories in general. I’ll be using some prompts like “I want to remember” and “around here” to do my journaling. Have you ever tried a project like this? It’s intense but SO fulfilling!

August 13, 2015
midday walks

I’ve decided to try and let the Fitbit motivate me again. I wear it for work because we get insurance benefits if we average 5,000 steps per day (which I do), but I rarely hit my 10,000 step goal no matter how many challenges I join. Lately my workouts have been only yoga and weight lifting, so I don’t get “credit” for those. (Although I do plan on adding running back into the mix once I get a little more used to the weights.)

I love the idea of taking a long walk after dinner. Going by myself and listening to a podcast or audiobook would be such a treat, although that particular set of circumstances won’t be happening anytime soon. I would love to take the kids on a walk, even, but they only want to go to the park which is just a block away. So it’s hard to get a good evening walk in.

My solution, for now, is midday walks. We have not been all that busy at work lately, so it’s possible to leave the clinic for a bit. It’s about 2,000 steps to do a full loop around the hospital grounds. And even though it is scorching hot outside, inside it is like an icebox so I need about 2,000 steps to thaw.

August 12, 2015
weekending

The first thing that comes to my mind as I sit down to write is: it’s hot. I hear talk around me of teachers and kids getting ready for school, and aren’t Christmas trees out in some of the stores? but here summer has just hit its stride.

Also, our air conditioner is broken again. It seems to be something pretty major this time so we have gotten three different opinions, and now I think we must bite the bullet. I’ll be honest, I have shed some tears over this as it is a heavy financial burden and that’s something I’m anxious about anyway. But all we can do is all we can do and we will just try our best to make progress and make good decisions in the future.

I remain sleep deprived. We have refused to let Meredith start the night in our bed, but every night this week putting her to bed seemed to take longer and involved more tears. Last night was the worst yet and I am on the verge of giving up. The kids woke me before 6 both days this weekend and before 5 today. I tried hard (and failed, I think) not to be too grumpy about it. I am thinking back to the days just a couple of months ago when I was waking at 4:30 a.m. before work and loving it. I am not sure what to do.

Despite those things, we have been having fun. A haircut for Liam, splash pad, library, drawing, visiting the grandparents. Meredith drew the first semi-recognizable picture of a person I’ve ever seen her do. She explained what she was drawing, and it started with a huge, oblong circle. “This is your big ole head,” she said.

The cats are everywhere, everywhere. Although I think they, too, are a bit hot because I’ve been able to catch them lounging more often than usual. Today Ziggy cuddled calmly on my lap and I was so happy. Usually they are over-aggressive with their need for cuddles and attention, and they end up biting.

Oh! David and I had an at-home date night yesterday. His parents watched the kids after church and we decided to start watching True Detective. Have you seen it? There are only eight episodes so we thought it was possible we could get through it. It’s definitely more my husband’s taste, but so far it’s pretty good and not too creepy. The best part of the date was that I got to eat a ton of ice cream and not share any.

Hopefully by the end of the week the house, at least, will be cooler.

August 10, 2015
link roundup / 30

>This is such a simple house, but the plants! Oh, they make it amazing. I need more. (See photo above)

>I think this weekend I’ll make these no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies for an afternoon snack (for me, mostly).

>Also in the food arena, I love this approach to family meals (and it is similar to what we do). There is also a free menu planner printable that is simple and flexible.

>This week was breastfeeding awareness week. But for anyone who was unable to or struggled to breastfeed their baby, here is a great post.

>I need more short funny video clips in my life. This vine made me think of the classic sheep crash which still makes me laugh.

>Social media: I can’t keep up! I’m still pretty regularly on Instagram. I’m trying to get back to Twitter. I just went through and cleaned up my Pinterest feed (you have to stay on top of that or the “picked for you” pins will take OVER). I check in with weekly highs/lows and weekend plans & recaps on Facebook. Snapchat is still crazy and it’s hard for me to remember to use, but I’m trying (@kapachinoblog over there).

What’s up with your weekend? Tonight Liam gets his hair cut (long overdue); a friend of mine is going to teach me how! We actually don’t have anything scheduled other than that, but a lazy weekend is not going to please a certain 4-year-old no matter how I sell it, so I’m brainstorming a few activities!

August 7, 2015
a day at the zoo

My friend Lauren got Meredith a ticket to the zoo for her birthday. On Monday I took the day off and we went; just the girls. She wanted to wear her zebra-print shorts to match the zebras. It was hot, but there was enough shade and air conditioned exhibits to make it bearable. We stayed for over five hours. There was a chimp lying on his back holding his foot and eating. It was so lazy and great. The gorillas came so close to us. They had such kind, sad eyes.

Meredith played on all the playgrounds and rode the carousel and pet the goats. We packed a picnic lunch and got ice cream for a treat. We saw the elephants get a bath and the sea lions put on their show. We loved every minute of it, and then Meredith took a solid nap and I loved that too. This girl of mine will take an experience over a toy any day. Makes me so happy.

August 5, 2015