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week in the life 2014 : thursday in the album

Over halfway done with this album!! It’s only four months past my original “due date” for finishing it…but I will finish!

Like I said last week, I’m bored of the black and white and I’m just trying to get the pages together. I’m sticking with the same elements and trying to add just enough detail so that I know what’s going on.

All morning photos. The journaling card can be found here.

Left hand side of this page has photos from work, a screenshot of a text I got from David (blurred for privacy), and a couple of observations.

On the right are photos from a Halloween party we went to at the nursing home David’s grandfather lives in. I created the journal card for a couple of Meredith quotes.

The last spread is my favorite one. Although it makes bedtime look sweet and peaceful, when it reality it was a big struggle including multiple tantrums. :)

I’m working on Friday now, but I have to say that I’m a little bit distracted because I just learned how to knit! Like I need another craft obsession…but it’s so fun. :)

March 11, 2015
project life 2015 : february

Today I have February’s Project Life spreads to share. They are still basically one week per page, with a total of two full spreads per month, but grouped together monthly without weekly title cards.

Here is the first layout:

During the first two weeks of February we had my birthday and Valentine’s Day. I got some watercolors for Meredith so I cut down one of her paintings to include.

The “yes please” cards are a freebie printable that can be found here.

During this time we also went to a birthday party for our neighborhood friend Jack.

Below is one of the Valentine’s Day cards that I made using Meredith’s watercolor art. I made these just for David and the grandparents, but I made a few extra so I decided to include one. Inspiration for the card was found here.

On to the next spread!

The highlights of this time period were: Liam’s pinkeye, a day with Grammy & Pops, Liam beginning to walk, and our haircuts.

I still really like this way of including videos. If one day YouTube & QR codes go extinct (which they probably will) I still have the photo and journaling, and a reminder that I have a video saved in my files.

I did a collage of some of the “happy things” I posted on Instagram during February.

Below is one of those everyday stories that I’m so happy to have a place for. It was adorable.

I am pretty sure that next year I will change album size to 9×12 now that there are some good options out there for that. My main reason is that I have no good place to store 12×12 albums. A 9×12 will fit much better on a shelf, and it’s still plenty big to tell a complete story.

But overall I am very happy to be staying caught up with this, and I still love it.

March 9, 2015
around here

I feel like a lot has happened in the past week or so! Time for an update about life lately.

Last weekend Meredith and I got matching haircuts, and I got mine highlighted too. I love the cut and length, I think it is ideal for me. I do miss Meredith’s long hair, but the bob is pretty cute and it doesn’t get as tangled or dirty which was my main reason for cutting it since she hates having me touch it.

Last Sunday our little guy was baptized! Funny story: When the four of us went up front for the ceremony Meredith and her cousin Lily thought it was a perfect time to do an interpretive dance mainly consisting of spinning and windmill arms. Meredith also lifted her dress up over her waist multiple times. #classy

It was fun having both families there and we even managed a full group photo. Liam did so great when I handed him to the pastor and even though he shot a nervous look my way, he didn’t cry once.

Speaking of Liam, he has really exploded developmentally over the last month. He’s walking now, a little like Frankenstein’s monster but that’s okay, and it’s only added to the madness. Seriously, he is wild! He climbs on everything, throws things for fun, is the messiest eater, and I guess is just your typical boy. But he does have the sweetest demeanor and gives some top notch cuddles.

On Sunday after church we had a family lunch for my brother-in-law Scott’s birthday. Those gatherings are always chaotic but fun. This time the kids had fun setting off poppers with Papa.

On Monday and Tuesday I actually drove to the medical center to work, which is about an hour away. That’s where I worked until I had Liam, so it was fun to see everyone again, although I don’t miss the drive. I’ll probably be going there from time to time when we don’t have many patients scheduled.

I have so many aspirations for the weekend! I’m taking a knitting class, I want to try baking bread, definitely intend to get some scrapbooking done, and do some extra cleaning & planning for home life stuff. We’ll see what happens; I can’t count on naptime anymore (gulp)! Anyway, happy Friday my friends!

March 6, 2015
week in the life 2014 : wednesday in the album

Here is another installment of my slowly-coming-together week in the life album from last October. I really hope to wrap up this project in the next month, two months tops. I’ve learned a lot from it and am SO glad to have done it, but I’m ready to move on (and definitely make some changes for next time).

Wednesday’s enlarged photo came from the morning when Meredith put her Gyffy toy in “time-out.” The rest of the page and the next are morning photos.

I am still using the front of the 3×8 pocket to document meals. On the back this day I wrote down a few random things: a quote, a gratitude, and a favorite moment.

Notice that I stamped my “3” backwards? Am I the only one who legitimately struggles with which way a 3 faces when I’m not writing?? Anyway, I just kept the mistake in there.

I took a couple of pages to document a little more about my work day. I know I can’t write many details about my patient work, but there are other stories about work that are important to me and make my job and my everyday special, so I tried to include a little of that.

Now onto the coming home from work part of the day. Chatting with our yard guy, Meredith’s phonics work she brought home from preschool, and then taking a breather with her outside to stop a tantrum.

The last page of the day is simple, with a detail photo of the diaper-changing area and then the day’s full journaling.

So currently I’ve completed through Thursday (will post it next week) and I’m kind of losing momentum. I’m very tired of the black and white photos for one thing! I’m glad I tried it, but as much as I love black and white I think this album would have benefited from some color. Oh well!

Happy Wednesday! ;)

March 4, 2015
what i read : february 2015
The Strong-Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson : I have a lot of caveats for this book, and I’m not prepared to get into a discussion about the “right” way to discipline, but this book did help me to realize that we needed to firm up our methods of disciplining and to be consistent about what we do/when we do it. (3 stars)

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline : Just SO much fun. I had heard high reviews of this one but I admit that for some reason I thought it was nonfiction so it didn’t interest me as much. When I got it in the mail for postal book club, I was so excited to see that it’s fiction! And it’s fast-paced, smart, with a bit of a romantic side as well. I gave it to my dad to read right when I was done, and he loved it too. (4 stars)

How to Blog for Profit without Selling Your Soul by Ruth Soukup : I started this e-book many months ago and wanted to finish it up. At one time I considered trying to make more money from my blog, but currently I just want it to be a hobby that I do a really good job at. So a lot of the advice I feel no longer applies to me, but then again a lot of it does! And I am glad that I have it in case I ever want to monetize. But I highly recommend it if you want to take your blog more seriously! (5 stars)

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan : This was a fun book to listen to: light, quirky, and smart. I probably expected more from it than it gave, but it was still definitely worth the time. (3 stars, audio)

Crossed by Ally Condie : YA dystopia is always a good palate cleanser for me, or something I pick up when I’m not sure what else to read. This is the second in a series, but it had been so long since I’d read the first that I couldn’t remember many things. I liked it, but am not super invested in the characters (especially the female, who isn’t very well developed). I’ve heard the third in the trilogy is solid, so I’ll probably read it sometime. (2 stars)

Reading challenge:

This year I’m participating in Modern Mrs. Darcy’s reading challenge:
- a book you’ve been meaning to read – The Magicians by Lev Grossman (January)
- a book published this year –
- a book in a genre you don’t typically read –
- a book from your childhood –
- a book your mom loves –
- a book that was originally written in a different language –
- a book “everyone” has read but you –
- a book you chose because of the cover –
- a book by a favorite author –
- a book recommended by someone with great taste – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (February)
- a book you should have read in high school –
- a book that’s currently on the best seller list –
March 3, 2015