Project Life

This year I decided I wanted to try something a little different with my scrapbooking.  I heard about this system called Project Life - basically just a simplified, back-to-basics approach to scrapbooking.  After following Becky Higgins' blog for some time, I convinced myself that I needed to try this out for myself!  It's so simple and fast, which sounds right up my alley (because I'm definitely not fast when it comes to scrapbooking)!

Becky's focus is to capture everyday life.  To capture those moments that wouldn't necessarily end up in a traditional scrapbook.  And this sounded awesome to me.  How great would it be for our kids to look back at how our lives were when it was just the two of us?  What did we fill our time with?  What was life like in 2012?  How was technology different?  And it would also have to be great even for Chris and I to look back and remember our everyday life because those are the memories that easily slip out of our minds years (or even months) later.

So with this system you basically just print out your pictures, write some notes/journaling, and stick both into photo sleeves.  You can get as complicated or as simple as you want.  I decided to order the Clementine edition (of the core kit, which has all of the cards you need to put in an album) because I just love the designs in that set.  And I just ordered the Signature Black Album last week to put it all in :)

Here's the first week of January that I (almost) completed last week - I still have one picture to print out...

I'm not focusing on taking a picture-a-day but just filling the two pages with pictures and stuff from the whole week.  This might slip as the year progresses and I might end up focusing on a month at a time instead of a week.  I'll just have to see how it works out but I'm gonna be flexible about it.

Oh, and this first week I started was Sunday thru Saturday since January 1st was on a Sunday.  I think I'm going to make my second week Sunday thru Sunday so I can get into a pattern of my weeks starting on Monday.  I just think this might flow a little better, especially for the times that we do stuff on the weekend (which would include Saturday and Sunday).  That way I wouldn't have to split pictures from those weekends into two different weeks.

I've only completed one week and I'm already loving it!

busy with...

finishing out work for the year (and enjoying holiday lunches at work).

buying the last of our Christmas presents.

enjoying the Christmas season.

putting up Christmas decorations (most the weekend before last and others as I have time).

had our first Christmas party last Saturday with Chris' co-workers and spouses.

having a white elephant gift exchange with the youth group tonight.

getting things ready for our small group Christmas party at our house this Saturday.

thinking our Christmas cards will finally go out next week.

anticipating the upcoming travels and time with family and friends.

working on a project for a Christmas gift for someone in our family that I really hope they love...



I hope you are enjoying this wonderful Christmas season! Are you going anywhere over Christmas break?

project: love, me

Today over lunch I was looking at some of my scrapbooking blogs (which I like to do often).  I came across an idea called Project: Love, Me since it was featured on Creating Keepsakes blog today.

I think this is a really great idea for capturing a lot of who you or I are as a person and the detailed information that doesn't come out in just any scrapbooking layout or blog.  The concept is that a prompt is given each week and then you make a layout to go along with that idea.  And I think the really cool thing about this is that you can scrapbook it or blog about it...you can adapt it to make it work for you and to be documented in the form you want.

If I could get back to the point where I make at least one layout every week, then I would love to do this.  I just might have to try a little harder to get back to scrapbooking more so I can do this project.  (I haven't scrapbooked very much, especially since we moved last fall.)

What do you think of this project idea?  Do you think your family would love to see these kind of layouts/blog posts?

a year of NOURISHing

I've never been one to really stick to New Year's resolutions.  And I don't know that I've ever really made serious commitments to any before. 

Recently I heard about choosing one word for the year.  The concept is to pick one word that you will strive to live by for the year - it can be anything you want.  Well, the new year kind of snuck up on me (with being in India and the end of last year being a little crazy), so this week I found myself thinking about what I want in this new year.  So I decided this 'one word' concept sounded like a really cool idea.

For this year, I've decided that my one word will be NOURISH.

I believe I'll be able to apply this to my life in a few ways:
- I want to nourish my relationship with God. I want to spend more time with Him and get to know him better.
- I also want to make sure I nourish my relationship with Chris - that means striving everyday to be a better wife and friend to him and not just taking for granted that he's here.
- Nourishing my body is important too. I want to make sure that I'm eating healthy so that my body gets the nutrients it was made to have. I believe that eating healthy food can be fun and enjoyable...it's just getting to that point where your body learns to crave healthy food instead of junk food. (No, this does not mean I'm giving up sweets and junk food and turning into a complete health nut. I just want to, in general, make better food choices.)

Is there one word that you could live by this year? No, it's not too late to pick one :)