Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Week 2 Layouts for Project 365

Here’s one of my layouts for week 2.

Week 2_Jan 8 to 14

I really like the way week 1 and week 2 look next to each other (which is how they’ll be in the photo book I plan on printing at the end of the challenge).

Week 1_Jan 1 to 7Week 2_Jan 8 to 14

I also decided to use the free downloads from Becky Higgins to make layouts each week that allow me to make the photos a bit bigger and journal a bit more. Here are my first two weeks:

Week1_Jan1_7 Week1_Jan1_7b

Week2_Jan8_14 Week2_Jan8_14b

Quick update post…

Hey gang. Sorry I haven’t been around. So much has been going on lately and it’s been hard to get here to blog. Sigh. We’re going to do one of my infamous bulleted lists now, because it’s just easier for me…

* Good ol’ Jen Wilson, (of Jen Wilson Designs), whose Creative Team I’m on, has refound her mojo, and is cranking out new products like it’s her job. Oh, wait. It IS her job. LOL! We have chats in the site’s chat room every Monday and Wednesday night now. I LOVE the chats, but it’s just one more thing that keeps from blogging here. (Which is totally cool with me… just trying to explain my absence….)

* I’m still going strong with Project 365 and have finished week 1 and 2’s layout. I’ll post those later.

* This past Sunday was HUGE in that “our team”, the Steelers won the game and made it to the Superbowl. We are SOOO effing excited it’s not even funny!! Is it February 1st yet? Black and gold, baby! Black and gold!

* Steve and I have been rocking it in terms of married life. (Don’t be gross… that’s NOT what I meant.) What I meant is that we just rule in terms of a couple and although most winters when he’s around so much, I get annoyed, THIS year, we’re like pigs in shit. I seriously don’t know what I’d do without the guy, and I only hope my kids grow up to be as happily married as we are. :)

* I’ve made some very general resolutions for this year. Nothing crazy like quitting one of my many addictions. But I kind of “lost” the old me for a few years there. I’m normally a total spaz, laughing at everything, happy as hell, etc. I’m not saying I wasn’t happy before, but I had been letting the stress of everyday life get in the way of just enjoying everyday life. So I’ve been spending more time with the kids (and less time on the computer while they’re awake), laughing more, being more laid back, yelling WAY less at the kids, and rediscovering the gift of patience that seemed to disappear a few years ago. I must say, so far I’m kicking major ass and taking names. And it feels GOOD, dammit. :)

* I’ve been attempting (in spurts) to get this house under control in terms of the clutter. Last weekend’s project was the basement playroom and I kicked some major ass. I’m so sick and tired of random crap in the house, and slowly but surely, I’m enjoying the purging.

Other than that, everything’s been pretty much the same. LOL! I’ll drop in as much as I can, but with all of the changes in our normal daily schedule, that’s proven to be a bit more difficult lately. But we’ll all soon fall into the new routine, and life will balance out a bit more. :)

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Days 3, 4, and 5

I’ll be back later with a real post, but I wanted to get my Project 365 photos on here for days 3, 4, and 5. Lots to talk about later!

3_Jan3

4_Jan4

5_Jan5

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Random Thoughts

Tonight’s post is going to be another ramble. And let’s face it, we all love bulleted lists. Oh wait… maybe that’s just me…

* I loved that the Eagles won today. Although I’m a converted Steelers fan (thanks Steve!), I’ll always have a place in my heart for the Eagles. I still remember my Ron Jawarski jersey from childhood.

* I hope the Superbowl ends up a Steelers vs. Eagles game. Not for any reason other than that it would be cool to have two PA teams in it, the rivalry among friends and family would be priceless, and I’m curious to see which way my loyalty would sway. (I’m all about testing my inner self.)

* My kids’ sleep schedules are all SORTS of screwed up after the holiday break. I’m dreading this next week as I try to get them back on track.

* It was awesome last night to have various friends and their kids stop by to visit. We had six kids here that were ages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 and consisted of 2 girls (ours) and 4 boys (other people’s). Hey, we like excuses to drink, and if that wasn’t a reason to, nothing is.

* It did make me reflect on how it is that EVERYONE we know has sons. Every single one of ‘em. Our poor girls. Not that they seem to mind, but a little girl wandering in here for a play date now and then would be nice.

* I spent HOURS yesterday undecorating and dissecting our Christmas tree for removal from our home. Steve wasn’t here and I couldn’t drag it out by myself, so I used a hand saw to cut it apart branch by branch and throw it outside. The pictures are priceless and I’m still smelling pine every time I breathe in. I’ll post the pictures tomorrow sometime.

* I think our friends Matt & Joy could possibly have the cutest and most well-behaved boys I’ve ever seen in my life. I’d totally adopt both of them tomorrow and think nothing of it. It gave me hope that all boys don’t act like my nephews. (And we should ALL be thankful for that.)

* I’m sad though that Matt & Joy currently live in Texas and we can’t hang out more often. WHY do all of the people I like the most live so far away? Is God punishing me? Do people purposely move away from me? Are we only likeable from afar? LOL! It’s anybody’s guess, but it really sucks sometimes.

* I’m looking forward to next Sunday when the Steelers play the Chargers. Our friend Jim (a Chargers fan) and his wife and kids are coming over, and Steve and I are already plotting to decorate the entire home in Steelers paraphernalia to annoy him, right down to putting a Steelers hat on the bear in our living room. Because we’re sweet like that. I’d rather bleed black and gold than powder blue and yellow. ;)

* I also hope that Jim’s wife, Kelly, realizes that when it comes to football, I may as well be a guy and that she’s totally in charge of watching the four kids while they’re here. Dude, I do NOT miss a single play of a Steelers game. Our girls know that when a Steelers game is on, they’re on their own for a few hours, so as far as I’m concerned, her boys are too unless Kelly decides to pay attention to them. If she chooses not to accept that challenge, then all injuries/issues/etc. are on her conscience. She’s been warned. (And for the record, they invited themselves here. We have no problem with that and enjoy when they come to visit… but if she thinks for one second that her and I are going to play with the kids while the guys watch the game, she’s sadly mistaken and is in for a rude awakening. LOL!)

* I’m in serious need of a haircut and color, but have no clue when I’ll find the time to get in for an appointment.

* I used an Amazon gift card for Xmas to buy a remote control for my camera. This means many more self-portraits and ridiculously dorky photos. Aren’t you excited? YAY!

And with that, I’m off to bed. I’m exhausted after our whirlwind week and really need to get some sleep. I don’t WANT to go to bed yet, but if I don’t, you’ll all be submitted to more of these rambling, exhausted posts from me and I don’t want to continue punishing you all like that. ;)

G’night!

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Day 2/365

2_Jan2

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Trying Again…

Well, I’ve decided to set myself up for failure yet again and attempt Project 365. I SO admire those of you that started it in 2008 and actually finished it. I could post all sorts of excuses as to why I stopped doing it 90 days or so into it, but the bottom line is that I didn’t finish it. So I’m determined to actually make it through all of 2009. I may fail again, but at least no one can say I didn’t try, right? LOL!

So here it is. My first photo for Project 365 – 2009. It’s Grace playing our Hannah Montana game for the first time on the Wii. I hate to admit it, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun and all of us love it. (Well, except maybe Steve. He didn’t see us playing it. But I wouldn’t be surprised if I came downstairs in the middle of the night one night and caught him busting a move.)

1_Jan1

I’ll probably post most of my photos here on this blog as I go, but I also started another blog dedicated only to the Project 365, where I have no intentions of posting anything other than the photo every day. You’re all more than welcome to add that blog to your blog readers, check it out here and there, etc. You can find that here. I’ll make a fancy blog header and all that later, but for now, I just wanted to get things rolling. :)

 

And so begins…

…a new year.  My New Year’s Eve was rather uneventful actually. We had at least 3 or 4 invitations for parties, but we decided to just stay in (mostly due to the fact that we were exhausted from some Texas friends that came to visit last night and all of us (including the kids) were up past midnight). Steve went hunting today, the kids are sleeping at my mom’s for the night, and Steve & I just decided to lay low.

I spent a few hours editing my Christmas pictures, Steve & I watched some random movies on TV, we quick flipped over to see the ball drop at midnight, and then Steve meandered up to bed and I decided to quick blog before I followed him.

I don’t have too many complaints about 2008. Some here and there, but nothing we didn’t manage to trudge through. We had some scary moments, some heart-wrenching moments, some stressful moments, and some downright depressing moments. But we also had plenty of happy, fun, moving, delightful, and downright ecstatic moments, so I can’t complain. (Well, I could, but what good would it do me, really? LOL!)

I don’t make resolutions because I think they’re just things that people make as a way of trying to convince themselves to make changes that they really should have done regardless of the date or year (and because I never keep them). BUT, I have committed myself (once again) to Project 365, where I’ll take a photo a day for the next year. I was going strong until about March of 2008, and I still blame that on me getting a full-time job again. Pathetic excuse, I know. But I really want to give it another whirl. So we’ll see how it goes.

And there are a few things I’d like to see happen in the next year for us that I won’t go into right now (because I’m tired, I’ve talked about it before, and I’m still not sure what will eventually happen), so we’ll see if all those wishes/desires come true.

And with that, I wish everyone a wonderful, happy, sex-filled 2009. Here are some more photos from our Christmas. Happy New Year everyone! :)

Christmas Collage