When I got the news that I made it to Tim Holtz’s team, I didn’t want to wait until my goodies got here. I had this idea of a white on white layout, this amazing photo of my husband and a lot of Tim Holtz goodies I’d already been hoarding so I sat to put it all together.
This is a perfect example of a layout where there’s a generic photo coupled with a story I wanted to tell. It’s something I was able to put together thanks to my Book of Stories. You can still sign up for the workshop for a few more days.
Journaling Reads:
Maybe it should come as a surprise to me that after sixteen years, looking at this photo still makes my heart flutter, but it does. I am still as in love with you as I was when I first fell for you. Actually, no, it’s so much more now. You’ve given me so many gifts: your patience, understanding, and support. So many adventures together. Laughter and courage. Not to mention our amazing kids. I love you more and more every single day.
Tim Holtz Products Used:
Word Keys
Film Strip Ribbon
Ruler Ribbon
Muse Tokens
Black Soot Distress Ink
Foliage
Alphas Grungeboard
Details:
This is with the February Kit from A Million Memories.
At almost nine months old, you still make me swoon.
Your smiles are magical and your giggles even more.
You crawl into my lap several times a day and all I want
to do is hug you and kiss you and hug you and kiss you
some more. I love you so much Nathaniel, there are no
words to express the love you brought into my life.
ps: these are some of my older layouts that I never shared which is why they might look different from my current style 🙂 The stories are still authentic and they are ours so I am going to post them even if some of them already make me cringe a bit. (Not this one, I love this one.)
again from the aquarium. not a fan of this one, but don’t have anything better at the moment.
It was a short night but it didn’t take me as long to wake up today, maybe I’m getting better about being a morning person after all. After we all woke up, David played some Wii and Nathaniel napped and then Jake’s parents came over. While Jake went out with his mom, David played with his dad.
And Nathaniel and I played outside.
After they came back, we all went out to lunch and while there I got David some beginner reading books. when we came back, he read it with Jake’s mom as Jake and his Dad went out to chat and I rested while Nathaniel walked around.
He found the fabric ball I made and literally played with it and entertained himself for hours and hours with it. Giggling and laughing.
And laughing.
Jake’s mom snapped some photos and I snapped photos of her snapping photos.
And then they played legos.
And now we’re off to see Salt. I hope your Saturday is going well, too.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for some more date night.
2. I am grateful a quiet day that was relatively productive and restful.
3. I am grateful that I have a few great books to look forward to, always love having a stash.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. going to lego.com with meme
2. playing legos with papi
3. looking through the kid section of ikea catalog with meme
We did this back in July but I just realized that I never checked it off the list, so here we are:
36. Go camping with my whole family
Back on July the 4th, we went to Samuel P Taylor State Park. I wanted to go for one night to see if Nathaniel could go through with it. We went about 90minutes north of where we live. It was supposed to be a quiet spot and I figured if things go badly, we could always pack up and go home. Here are some of the photos I took and posted around then:
We had a really great great day. David loved every single moment of it and so did Nathaniel. Jake and I slept really badly but the kids snored like champs. I think there’s definitely more camping in out future. Or maybe some cabin-staying since I am not so sure my back can handle the ground as well as it used to.
All in all, I am really really glad we did it.
More from the aquarium. Almost done, I swear.
I’ve been trying to get up earlier so I can be up before the kids and give myself some time to wake up. It’s working better,too and I hope to get it to be 5am. Slowly.
After we took David to the bus, Nathaniel did his share of playing and exploring while I worked. He’s drooling a bit and teething a lot.
When David came from school, he wanted to color and sat at his table. Nathaniel immediately went over to see what was going on and to watch his brother (and take the markers away of course.)
so he had to go sit at the big table.
and Nathaniel moved on to other toys like the wrapping paper my mother in-law had brought over to wrap Jake’s presents. (look at that hair!)
Don’t you love that “what, I’m not doing anything” look….
David and I practiced smiling some more. We’re not making a lot of progress. I am not sure what to do.
And then Daddy came home and they both rejoiced.
We all rejoiced. We love Daddy so much.
Once the kids went down, Jake and I got to go out again. We saw “inception” which I’ve been wanting to see for a long time and I was not disappointed one single bit. Loved it. Came home, finished my layout and I am now off to bed.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful to get to go to the movies.
2. I am grateful for a three-day-weekend.
3. I am grateful that I will hopefully get some crafty time this weekend.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Coloring my brown bear at school
2. Meme’s present (a book)
3. Seeing Mommy and Nathaniel at lunch (we dropped off some paperwork there so we stopped to say hi to David.)
Journaling Reads:
My husband gives the most amazing hugs.
They are truly amazing. He opens his arms wide and envelops you in them just like a little kid. He hugs will all of his soul and regardless of how sad I might be, the hug will instantly make me feel better.
I remember the first time he hugged me and all the times after that how much joy and peace I felt every single time. Even today, my two little kids’ hugs are special but Jake‘s are more so. Maybe it’s cause he’s a grown up, I don’t know. All I know is that I love them all the same.
Because I know the special power of these hugs, on days when I know I am being unreasonable and taking my frustrations out on him, I tell him that all he needs to do is hug me. Sometimes I want to hear advice and have him help me find solutions to my problems but other times I just want to feel one of his amazing hugs and secure and safe in the knowledge that everything will be ok.
There’s nothing one of those hugs won’t cure.
A few leftovers from the aquarium.
This week has been a whirlwind and I don’t think it will let up soon. Jake’s parents arrived today which is great for the kids and for us too since we get to go on dates every night. But it also means that I am far from my regular schedule and thus everything piles up more and it takes me that much longer to go back on schedule. But oh well.
Here’s a snapshot I got while David was telling me about something.
And here’s Nathaniel playing with the alphabet bug. He loves any and all toys that make noise. He’ll get them to sing and then play with other things while he listens to the music and then when it stops, he goes back, presses whatever buttons he needs to so the song restarts and then he’ll walk away and play with other things again.
Which of course drives me absolutely insane.
but i do love him so.
So today was hectic at work, i went to a kindergarten coffee early morning for a tiny bit, nathaniel napped, i worked, craziness ensued, we went to pick up david, went to the doctor, rushed back home, in-laws came, played with kids, i made a layout, dinner, bathtime, bedtime, and then jake and i went out to a quickie (and bad) dinner and then came home to watch a little tv together and that was the end of the day. phew! Now I am about to head to bed so I can wake up at 5:45 and do it over again.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that my in-laws are here and Jake and I will get some date nights.
2. I am grateful that I had some time to play with scrappy stuff today. As much as I love paint, I love scrapping even more.
3. I am grateful that I got another stitching sampler in the mail today. Nothing like happy mail.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. making bubba the bear
2. coloring my green dinosaur at school
3. reading the lego catalog with meme (jake’s mom)
I wanted to read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake as soon as I read about it. Not sure exactly why. But something about it spoke to me.
I am not really into magical realism really. (Though I adore Kundera who is supposed to write in genre too)
But I loved every little bit of this book. I loved the characters. I loved the voice. The story. The way it was written. There were some holes for me (like the brother’s gift) that I wish were better explained. But I liked the book so much that I didn’t even mind that.
Aimee Bender has a way with words. Her simple sentences are absolutely perfect. I highly recommend this very very unusual book.
Oh I look at this photo now and wish so so much we were back in San Diego already. So calm, so happy. So peaceful. Not that I am not now but it looks so nice, doesn’t it?
I’ve been doing a mediocre job taking photos. I try to snap some of Nathaniel in the daytime while David is gone but we’re also struggling with naps since he seems to be taking them later now but I am still confused, so I put him down, I pick him up, then try again. So I forget to take photos.
Then I take ones of David when he comes home and today we practiced smiling again (yes I know, we’ve got a long way to go) and he showed me his Ali the Aligator. And they made a September calendar so we picked out Daddy’s birthday and Mommy’s birthday and MeMe’s (Jake’s mom) birthday, all of which are in September.
And now I am rushing to get it all done before I have to run out to go to book club. Phantom Tollbooth tonight. And I still have to prepare questions. ugh….
But let me also tell you this amazing news!
I love love love My Mind’s Eye products and their team is wonderful and they are also amazing people to work with. I am so truly blessed!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for my guest spot with My Mind’s eye. Yey..
2. I am grateful that David and I are reading books together and enjoying it.
3. I am grateful that I have this great artsy hobby and a love of reading. Both of these things are for me and they are good for my soul and make me so happy.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. tracing the numbers on my calendar at school
2. Reading tales of a 4th grade nothing with mommy, the part where he wins the turtle
3. cutting out grass during craft time
Catalyst One Hundred and Nineteen is: Who was your first kiss? How was it?
Thoughts:
My first kiss was my then best friend. He and I had been inseparable friends for quite some time and it took us a while to realize that we liked each other a bit more than friends did. The night we finally kissed had more to do with me than him since I was the one holding back for so many stupid reasons. We didn’t tell anyone and our relationship was a secret for quite some time. He is still my best friend and I remember that night quite fondly.
Nope, I am not out of photos. Just wanted to post something different today. For a brief time, I painted today. For no particular reason. Well with a goal in mind but not cause I have something due or something that I owe. I just wanted to sit and play. So I played. Nice to play for no reason at all. I am not so good with paint and kept chanting in my mind as I painted “Just have fun. it doesn’t have to be perfect. Let it go.” And it worked cause they’re far far far from perfect.
This morning, I drove David to the bus again and we sat and read some more of Phantom Tollbooth. Then I drove back and worked while the little one played. I love watching him play, quietly, engrossed in his play.
In the afternoon, we went to go get David and then he and I read more of the Phantom Tollbooth which I had to finish today since it’s being discussed at book club tomorrow night. And so we sat and I read. Nathaniel got super jealous and kept wanting to come up on the couch. So we sat on the floor and he kept coming and sitting between us and putting his head on David’s lap and whining and trying to get attention. It was a bit annoying but also so very cute.
Then Daddy came home and David was overjoyed.
And they hugged and laughed and played.
Baths, bedtime, dinner, chatting with Jake and here we are, at the end of another day. Perfectly ordinary. Perfect day. Full of gratitude.
Still pondering my September project. I know I haven’t written about July and August, but I promise I haven’t forgotten.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I feel much better now. Still coughing a bunch but otherwise well on the road to recovery .
2. I am grateful that David’s had no punching for two days in a row now. He still loves school and is very excited to be there.
3. I am grateful that I made a little time to paint today.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1.coloring a schoolbus at school
2. daddy for playing legos with me
3. finishing phnatom tollbooth (we’re starting tales of a fourth grade nothing tomorrow)
August marked the ten year anniversary of blog.
Ten years.
That’s a little less than a third of my life. Ten years ago, I was single (but dating and living with my now husband). I was living in New York City. I was working at Goldman Sachs. I was a programmer. I worked pretty much nonstop. I was trying to write novels. I had a bird. Since then, so much has happened. I went part time in my job and volunteered in several places. I then quit it got married and did Teach For America. Then we took a 3-month trip where we went to the Caymans and drove across the US. We moved to San Diego. I got a job programming. We had our first son. I started scrapbooking. I started a photography company. I learned to drive. We moved up to the San Francisco Bay Area. I got another job. We bought a house. We had another kid. I changed my job to work from home. My son started school.
During this time, my blog went through many changes. In the beginning I wrote about nothing. Then I wrote longer pieces. Some months I wrote a lot. Other months nothing. For a while, it was a photoblog. And then it became all about my kids. My art. Kids. I went back and forth over the years about whether it should have a focus. Whether I was alienating some of my “readers” by writing about me too much. Or not enough. Putting too much about scrapbooking. Or not enough. Too many photos. You get my point. In the end, I gave up worrying about it.
The greatest thing about my blog is that it’s a testament to the last ten years of my life. So many of my feelings, my thoughts, my ordinary life is in there. I love going back five years and reading about an ordinary day. I love seeing what my life was like then. What I worried about, what I was grateful for. I love having records of my past-self. And I love that as I changed, the blog changed. It holds so many stages of my life. So many of my milestones. When I was a little girl, I wrote diaries for years. But then at 18, I suddenly stopped. And this blog has been a form of diary for me since my mid-twenties. And I am deeply grateful for it.
The reason I stopped worrying about my traffic, my content, my focus is that this blog is primarily for me. I love the visitors, the kind, insightful, encouraging comments. But it’s my way of tracking my life, my thoughts, my emotions. Most importantly my ordinariness. I’ve learned over the years that what seems very ordinary now is absolutely not so years from now. The “ordinary” part of life changes the most with time. I might live in this house ten years from now but the day-to-day life here will be significantly different. And by capturing these moments, I get to cherish them forever. This is the same reason I scrapbook. But blogging is simpler, faster, and easier to backup digitally.
If any of you are struggling with what to put on your blog, what to write about, I hope you find a way to talk about the ordinariness of your life. I promise you it’s anything but ordinary.
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projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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