Project Life Tuesday

I started my Project Life album this weekend. I got through the entire month of January in less than an hour, including journaling all except last week.  I am just thrilled with that little statistic.

To me, that is one of the beautiful things about this kit. Everything is laid out for you, coordinated and organized. All I have to do is put my pictures in and do my journaling.  How simple is that?!?  Heck, I might actually make it all year if it is going to be this easy to do!

Here are some pictures of the pages I completed.

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Cover Page
I decided to include a picture of the family on this page
and I stamped the year on one of the cards.

(you can click on the pictures for a larger view)IMGP2034For this week (the first week of Jan) I included a picture from New Year’s Day just because it was silly and I liked it. The rest of the pictures are from the snow that we had at the end of the week. All of the pictures are from a two day period of time, but I decided that it was a momentous enough occasion that I wanted to dedicate the whole two pages to it. 

I have also decided to do my pages Friday-Thursday because New Year’s Day was on a Friday.

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I have also decided to include more memorabilia this year than I did last year. Why I didn’t think about it then, I don’t know. Sometimes a piece of ephemera is more appropriate to capture a day’s memories than a picture.  Anyhow, I used movie theater tickets for one weekend. We went to two movies in a weekend – almost unheard of for us – but with the cold temps and snow we had to do something to get out of the house for a few hours!

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I have also decided that I am going to include bits and pieces from the girls’ schoolwork, awards, etc in this album. Because it is a 3-ring it is so easy to just pop in an 8.5×11 page protector and include the extras. I love that. I have always struggled with what to do with the things they bring home that I love and want to keep but that I didn’t really want to take up an entire page in a 12×12 album.  This is a perfect solution.

As a matter of fact, I am seriously thinking I will move to the 3-ring format for more and more of my albums. I started out as a Creative Memories album exclusive kind of girl. Then, in the past few years, I have branched out and tried some post-bound albums. Both offer some great features, and both have some drawbacks.  The 3-rings I have shied away from because the albums seem so heavy and bulky. But I am loving the ease of adding pages, moving things around, and my girls commented that it was easier to turn the pages when they are looking through the book. So, I may be trying a new album type this year.

The second page of this spread had exciting pictures like my dog, the scrap space and a sick girl, so I didn’t bother taking another picture.

I don’t know if you noticed, but I also decided I am not doing anything special with the “heading” card. I am just hand-writing the dates and circling the months. I decided that I was not going to stress myself out with this book by trying to make it “artsy” or extra-crafty. I am going to release myself from that expectation and just focus on capturing the pictures and stories. (and it feels good!)

Are you doing Project Life or a similar project?  How are you approaching it?  Leave me a comment and let me know (this means you!)

Updates and FYI

I have updated a few things on the blog – one of which includes the addition of links to Flickr photo sets of both my Journal Your Christmas and Project Life albums.  If you click on the links in the right column over there (the images) you will be able to check out the pages.

JYC09                     Project Life
  

 
I'll continue to update them (especially Project Life) as I work on the books.

Scrap Weekly Challenge #5 is ready

Are you following our weekly scrap challenges? If so, #5 is up and ready on the blog. I love it. I can’t wait to give it a try.

If you aren’t, why aren’t you? Give it a try! You might find some new ideas and techniques to try out.

See you on the challenge blog!

Finally Finished: Journal Your Christmas

I finally sat down this weekend and finished the Journal Your Christmas album I’d started in December. I really enjoyed the project, I just got bogged down in holiday activities and finishing took a back seat to holiday fun.  But, it is finished and I am pleased with my results.  I’ll definitely be back next year for another round – now that I know what to expect, I’ll be better prepared, I hope.

Here are some of the most recently finished pages.  You can see the rest in the JYC album – the link to which is located to the right of this posting.

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My Project Life

I’m starting my Project Life this weekend. I am looking forward to sitting down and putting the book together and getting my first few weeks of pictures in the pages.  I am determined that this year I will stay more caught up than last year.  So, I am hoping that I can sit down at least once a week (or once every two weeks) and get the pictures printed and the journaling done.

I thought I would share some of the pictures I’ve taken the last two weeks – they aren’t terribly exciting because we’ve had strep running amok in our house for the past few weeks.  But that is part of what this project is about, right? Capturing everyday life in all it’s nuances. From the exciting to the mundane.

So, here are some of the shots:

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Oh, and here is a great link to an article I read about making your Project Life/365 successful. Great ideas.

Another one for the crock pot!

crockpotWe tried another new crock pot recipe this week.  It turned out very, very well.  Even the littlest of the household proclaimed it “yummy.”

I am really enjoying this new habit I’ve accidentally started. We’re trying out a new crock pot recipe every week. 

And you know what I am really loving about it? The fact that my kids come home from school and the house is filled with the smell of whatever is cooking in the crock pot. They are already hungry and they start asking what's for dinner right away. By the time dinner is ready, they've been smelling it for 2 or 3 hours and they can't wait to dive in!

It works great for luring picky eaters into trying something new. Hee hee.

I’ll continue to share with you the recipes that make the cut in the house.  The ones we reject, I will save you from. How does that sound?

And, since I’m going to be doing this, I am going to have to get better about remembering to keep my camera close by so that I can take pictures of the dish as I go.  I totally forgot again yesterday. Oops.  So, you will have to trust me when I tell you this turned out really well. I’ll do better next time, I promise.

Since I'm so slack, I scanned the picture from my cookbook so you would at least have an idea of what it looked like. I am not one to try a recipe if I haven't seen a picture, so I figure this is better than nothing. It's a little grainy, but you get the idea.

Pork roast
Here is the recipe:

Slow-Cooked Pork Loin

1 boneless whole pork loin roast (3-4 lbs)
1 tbs canola oil (I used olive)
1 med onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 envelope brown gravy mix
1 c water
1 c unsweetened apple juice
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Houston House Seasoning

  1. Cut roast in half (I didn’t do this, mine was already in two pieces)
  2. In a large skillet, brown roast in oil.
  3. In the same skillet, sauté onion and celery until tender.
  4. Add roast and vegetables to slow cooker.
  5. In a small bowl, combine gravy mix & water.
  6. Stir in other ingredients and pour into crock pot.
  7. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
  8. Skim fat from cooking juices; thicken if desired (I didn’t)

And here are the few things I did differently than the recipe.

  • I generously seasoned the roast with House seasoning before browning and again after I added everything to the crock pot.
  • I used 3 celery ribs. One seemed like it would be lonely in the crock.
  • I have a big giant thing of brown gravy mix (thanks Costco!) and so I used 2 tbs in what I made.
  • I poured a little of the gravy into the skillet to cook off the fond on the pan and then poured that into the crock
  • I poured the gravy onto each serving of meat as I fixed each plate. It was so good!
  • We served with mashed potatoes and veggies.

I am looking forward to “repurposing” the leftovers. Wondering if it would do well in some BBQ or maybe Brunswick Stew.  SuperMan has an awesome Brunswick Stew recipe. Maybe one day I will sweet-talk him into letting me share it here.

Ok, that’s it for now. I hope you enjoy!

Scrap Weekly Challenge #4

The Scrap Weekly Challenge is posted over on our blog. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, click here and go see!  This week's challenge is around the use of tags. Pretty clever, I think.

Hope to have my challenge layout posted soon.

Have a great day!

Today: 25 January 2010

Outside my window… wet, drizzly, grey and gloomy.
I am thinking… about all of the things I need to do today.
I am thankful for… my SuperMan, who takes such good care of me.
I am wearing… jeans & a t-shirt.
I am remembering… the strep that Little Bit had last week and hoping no one else gets it.
I am going… to try not to stress about all I have to do this week and how behind I am at work.
I am reading… The Friday Night Knitting Club
I am hoping… to get caught up at work
On my mind…  the doctor visits I have scheduled this week
Noticing that… my office is in need of some cleaning and reorganizing
From the kitchen… pork roast & sticky rice
Around the house… normal Monday-morning post-weekend clutter.
One of my favorite things… getting to sleep late.

From my daily photos:IMGP1989

  chocolate cake face

Thanks to The Simple Woman’s Daybook for the inspiration.

How cute is this?

I am giggling with glee – I finished my very first knitting project.

I am giggling because … well, when you see what it is you will understand.

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I mean, seriously, can you look at that and NOT giggle?

Yes, it really is a Polly Pocket blanket.  You thought I was kidding in my earlier posts when I said that I was making one. Nope. Not kidding.

But…

to redeem myself, it is the first thing I have finished; it is the first thing I’ve ever done the Purl stitch on; and I did it ALL start to finish on my own. From casting on to binding off.

So, even though it is a whopping six by six inches square (thereabouts) I am very proud of it.

And more importantly, the Little Princess will be thrilled when she sees it tomorrow morning.

Hee Hee… I knit Polly Pocket blankets. (and I’m sure I’ll be knitting more before very long, if the Little Princess has anything to say about it)