Nicole Norman Images

February 2012 Round-Up

2012-03-06T06:00:00.014-05:00

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I started Bossypants by Tina Fey on the way to Boston and finished it on the way home (LOVED it). I started I Don't Know How She Does It. Still in the middle of Steve Jobs and working on Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism. And just like that I'm back to having three books going again. Argh.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Loving Gossip Girl and Hart of Dixie. The Amazing Race started again.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
Spent an awesome week in Boston with Norm and two of his work friends. Birthday dinner for the hubby with his family.

What were my accomplishments/exciting things that happened this month?
Boston! (see above)

What were my disappointments this month?
No running until the end of the month. Still no luck on the pregnancy front.

An Instagrammed February:

About this Project
My monthly Round-Ups are inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. You can read more from her about round ups here.

Project Life Week 6

2012-03-05T06:00:00.008-05:00

Week 6: February 6 - 12, 2012
Week 6 included my husband's birthday, and just everyday stuff. Click any photo to view larger.

February goals, grocery store receipt, some wrapping paper from one of the hubby's gifts.

Post It note from knockknockstuff.com.

Date night to BW3 and "The Vow". Hubby's birthday dinner out with my in-laws.

I snapped a picture of the movie screen with my phone and just slipped the movie tickets in the same pocket.

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Project Life was created by Becky Higgins. The kit I'm using this year is Cobalt. I'm also printing some of the Clementine title cards and journaling cards at home. I'm using a We R Memory Keepers 12" x 12" album in Vanilla. I use a Silhouette Cameo. The pen I use most often is a black medium Sharpie pen. See all my Project Life posts here.

Skincare Changes

2012-03-04T14:20:00.002-05:00

Inspired by Elise Blaha Cripe's two posts on natural skincare (original post here and update here), I've been looking into what's in my bathroom cabinets. She shares some great natural health and beauty products in those two posts, but the comments on those posts are awesome too. I found a link to this video in the comments on one of the posts and had to share. I will be switching to natural products as I run out of things...will you?

Comeback Kid

2012-02-28T12:12:00.000-05:00

Last week was my 8th week of no running, after getting a metatarsal stress fracture in my left foot just after Christmas. Which means…drumroll please…I ran Sunday morning! Well, I alternated jogging (SLOWLY) for 3 minutes with walking for 2 minutes for a total of 20 minutes on the treadmill. After 8 weeks of zero physical activity (except for my two and half solid days of walking in Boston a few weeks ago), it was so nice to get my sweat on. And it was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be (and PAIN-FREE!!).

From today, I have just under 10 weeks until the half-marathon I’m registered for on May 5th. Which means I’ll probably be pulling out of that and running the 5K (3.1 miles) that morning instead. I’m super bummed about missing the half, but I know that trying to start over from ground zero this week and train to run 13 miles in just over two months is a recipe for another injury. And because I plan to run for the rest of my life, I have to put aside my pride and run a shorter race this time.

My plan is to do this run 3/walk 2 combo for 20 minutes two more times this week, then increase the run portion just a bit next week as well as increasing the total time by just a few minutes. Keeping myself from running for 8 weeks wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but I think it’s going to be tough to increase my running SUPER slowly. I’m going to keep my running to three times a week and really try to get in some strength training and cross training (Turbo Jam and Zumba). I think that may have been my problem before: I was trying to run four times a week and wasn’t doing my strength and cross training. I also want to incorporate a little barefoot walking on the treadmill in a few weeks, which is supposed to help strengthen the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your feet, which will hopefully prevent another stress fracture.

Check it out: Dimity posted a great article on coming back from an injury on the Another Mother Runner blog last week. You can read it here. She and SBS also put out a great podcast a few weeks ago about coming back from injuries. You can download from iTunes for free, or listen here.

January 2012 Round-Up

2012-02-23T22:40:00.000-05:00

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I finished Born to Run. I started the Steve Jobs biography and started Bossypants on the plane to Boston.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Crazy Stupid Love (eh). Water for Elephants (LOVED).

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
We went out for Mexican for Sami's birthday with Dad, Jenny, Bill, and Sami. Cass and I had a nerdy Saturday complete with Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, computers, and chatting. Norm and I went on a nice solo date to Olive Garden (one of my goals for the year - monthly solo dates!). I went on a spur-of-the-moment trip with Norm to Boston.

What were my accomplishments/exciting things that happened this month?
Boston! (see above)

What were my disappointments this month?
I found out that I have a stress fracture in my foot. I spent a good two weeks being seriously bummed about not being able to run for several weeks.

My favorite picture from January:

About this Project
My monthly Round-Ups are inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. You can read more from her about round ups here.

Did You Enjoy Your Story?

2012-02-22T12:12:00.000-05:00

I saw this video shared on someone's blog today at lunch and it put a lump in my throat and brought tears to my eyes. It makes me want to travel and run and swim and hug my husband 1000 times a day and take pictures and sing at the top of my lungs and go out in the sunshine and lay in the grass and say YES to every opportunity.

Please, please spend five and a half minutes of your busy day to watch this amazing video...and ask yourself:

DID YOU ENJOY YOUR STORY?

Project Life: Week 5

2012-02-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

Week 5: January 30 - February 5, 2012
BOSTON. Tons of pictures this week, so not a lot of words. I'm working on a mini book for this trip too, so I knew most of the stories would be contained there. Included lots of text right on the photos in Photoshop. Click any photo to view larger.

Black polka dot wash tape is from Smash. The label with the red border is from Paper Source (bought on the trip). Smash date stamp.

I cut the shape of the USA with my Cameo and added the X's because we had to fly to Atlanta on the way to Boston from Indy. Amy Tangerine plane stamp.

Lots more iPhone photos and Instagram shots. We flew back home into Indy the night before the Super Bowl and I picked up the Super Bowl card in the baggage claim area so it went in too.

Baggage sticker from one of the flights.

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Project Life was created by Becky Higgins. The kit I'm using this year is Cobalt. I'm also printing some of the Clementine title cards and journaling cards at home. I'm using a We R Memory Keepers 12" x 12" album in Vanilla. I use a Silhouette Cameo. The pen I use most often is a black medium Sharpie pen. See all my Project Life posts here.

Project Life: Week 4

2012-02-20T06:00:00.001-05:00

Week 4: January 23 - 29, 2012
Another warm January week. We had salmon patties for the first time. Documenting daily and weekly routines. Big change of plans for us on Thursday. My 2011 photo book came. Bathing suit shopping (ugh). Post its from the hubby. Bill for a house repair. Click any photo to view larger.

Still loving the weather screenshots every week. Lots of Instagram photos. Almost-daily chocolate milk habit. Weekly egg boiling. Rare snowy day.

Typed a little story about our sudden change of plans that happened on Thursday. Took a screenshot of my Boston pins. I didn't have anything for Sunday so I made up the little "packing" piece…which I now can't really stand. Oh well. Moving on.

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Project Life was created by Becky Higgins. The kit I'm using this year is Cobalt. I'm also printing some of the Clementine title cards and journaling cards at home. I'm using a We R Memory Keepers 12" x 12" album in Vanilla. I use a Silhouette Cameo. The pen I use most often is a black medium Sharpie pen. See all my Project Life posts here.

Boston 2012

2012-02-18T14:31:00.000-05:00

WORD OF WARNING: EXTREMELY WORDY AND PHOTO HEAVY POST AHEAD. :)

A couple weeks ago, Norm called me Thursday morning at work. "Do you have any big plans for me next week?"

"No…why?"

"I might be going to Boston for work!"

"Cool! But wait...I want to go to Boston too!"

Fast forward about six hours and I'd turned in a week's vacation and Norm's work had booked me a flight along with the guys (Norm and two other guys from work went to remove some things out of a factory that had shut down and load them on trucks to come back to our area). We were lucky that they had three guys going, so they were going to have to book two hotel rooms anyway. The only thing we had to pay for for my trip was my flight (and food…and excessive Starbucks budget).

Four days later we were getting up at 2am on Monday morning and flying to Boston (by way of Atlanta - thanks AirTran).

From the stories Norm tells me when he comes home from work everyday, I don't think he's usually a ray of sunshine to work with at 7am. Not this day. The flight attendants started coming around with drinks at 6:20 and Norm, over the sleepy hush of the early morning plane, blurts out, "I wish they passed out chicken legs. That would be SUPER!". Oh my gosh. I may or may not have received some evil glares from the sleeping passengers I awoke with my loud snort.

We found our rental car, navigated the tunnels, and eventually found our way to our hotel in Chinatown. After we settled into our rooms, we decided to head out to find The Barking Crab for supper. We had to try the New England Clam Chowder, then gorged ourselves on seafood.

Perfect first night.

Tuesday 1/31/12
Tuesday the boys went to work and I slept in entirely too late. After a quick look at the map to plan out my morning (yes, Carla, I did ;), and a quick call from Norm, I grabbed some Starbucks downstairs and headed out. It immediately struck me how the sights and sounds of different big cities can be so similar. Out exploring the city alone in the morning sent me right back to walking around Melbourne, seeing whatever I wanted to see, popping into whatever little cafe I wanted to.

I walked up the street a few blocks and right past the Old South Meeting House. Here begins your history lesson for the day: it was built in 1729 and gained fame as the organizing point for the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. 5000 colonists gathered at the Meeting House, the largest building in Boston at the time. So cool to see it still standing downtown, surrounded by skyscrapers and office buildings.

Just another block down the street stands the Old State House. Within its walls, Samuel Adams, James Otis, John Hancock, and John Adams debated the future of the British colonies. The Declaration of Independence was proclaimed from the balcony to the citizens of Boston in 1776.

Just outside this building, five men were among the first casualties of the battle for independence, in what would later be known as the Boston Massacre.

Just past the Old State House is Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. All three buildings are full of shopping and food stalls and the awesome rotunda at Quincy Market made for a nice place to rest my feet (remember, this was week 5 of 8 that I was supposed to stay off my stress-fractured foot…oops), sip my Starbucks, people-watch, and plan my next move. ;)

I walked up around the harbor, through the North End, through Paul Revere Mall to see the Old North Church. This is where the famous lanterns were hung for the "one if by land, two if by sea" signal for Paul Revere's midnight ride on April 18, 1775.

I spent the sunny afternoon walking around Little Italy. I walked past the restaurant where we planned to eat dinner the next night and stopped to check out the menu on the window. A little old Italian man came out, and from the little bit he said that I could understand, he told me that I didn't need to worry about the menu, they would make whatever we wanted.

I stopped at another point on the Freedom Trail, The Paul Revere House. It is the oldest building in downtown Boston and served as the home of silversmith Paul Revere and his family from 1770 to 1800.

After a late lunch at Chipotle, I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and sipping chai until the guys got off work.

I walked back through the Friendship Arch and Chinatown to the hotel. Then we all walked to Rockbottom Brewery for supper (and had donut holes for dessert).

Wednesday 2/1/12

Wednesday promised to be a beautiful warm day (it topped out at 59 degrees), so I headed out with my Starbucks in a long sleeve shirt and a sweater to explore a new area of the city. I walked along the Boston Common park to see the State House that is currently used by the Massachusetts lawmakers.

I walked down Beacon Street along the edge of the historic Beacon Hill neighborhood.

I walked all through the gorgeous old Back Bay neighborhood on Beacon Street and Commonwealth Ave. Before its transformation into buildable land by a 19th-century filling project, the Back Bay was literally a tidal bay and at low tide much of the bay's bed was exposed as a smelly, marshy flat. Today, Back Bay, along with nearby Beacon Hill, is one of Boston's two most expensive residential neighborhoods, full of beautiful old Victorian brownstones, and home to Boston's own version of LA's Rodeo Drive, Newbury Street.

I did a little browsing in the Apple store, then checked out Copley Square and Trinity Episcopal Church.

One of the main reasons I walked to Copley Square was to check out the Boston Public Library. It did not disappoint.

I went in the library to see the Bates Hall public reading room, only to find out that it was closed to the public for a memorial service for a former Boston mayor that had passed away. I found a bagel shop for a late lunch and to rest my foot (which was now hurting after almost two solid days of walking…uh oh).

After lunch I walked back to the Prudential Tower and paid my $13 to go to the 50th floor observation deck. So cool to see the city from fifty stories up.

I could see where the guys were working…

Fenway Park…

…and my favorite Back Bay neighborhood.

I grabbed some Starbucks, then stopped in at Paper Source (a paper/invitation/scrapbooking store) on the way back to the hotel. I also spied this randomly from between two parked cars on the busy Boylston Street. EEE!

The four of us took a cab to Hanover Street in Little Italy and walked to Paul Revere's house so the guys could see it (in the dark). Then Norm and I went to meet Carla, Danny, and Riley for supper and Kenny and Dillon went to find someplace to eat.

As promised, the owner of Dolce Vita only let us look at our menus for a minute. Then he told us it was time to close them up and just asked what we liked. I told him tortellini and he gave me a few different choices. Norm said he liked shrimp and after a few options ended up with shrimp alfredo with cheese. And so on. Nothing like a totally customized meal. It was some of the best Italian food I've ever had.

After supper we walked down the street to Mike's Pastry so Carla and Danny could get some cannoli to take back to Gloucester and I got some chocolate macaroons.

Norm and I walked back to the hotel by way of Faneuil Hall (where Norm used a $0.25 public toilet in the stand on the sidewalk…bizarre), the Old State House, and the Old South Meeting House. Nothing like sightseeing after dark. ;)

Thursday 2/2/12

Thursday was cool and gray, so I spent the morning editing pictures and sipping Starbucks.

When the guys got off work, we hopped on the trolley for a little tour around the city.

Fenway.

A building on the campus of MIT.

We rode the trolley around the whole loop, then walked around for a while before we walked back to the hotel. The concierge told us there was a nice skyline view from the roof, so we had to check that out.

Friday 2/3/12

Friday the guys were done working, so after breakfast we hopped on the trolley in front of the hotel. We got off at Trinity Church and while the guys checked out the outside of the church, I popped into the library to see Bates Hall. So, so neat.

We got back on the trolley and rode it to the First Church of Christ Scientist, or The Mother Church. The trolley driver said they had a giant map of the world made out of stained glass that you could walk inside (the Mapparium), but it didn't open for another thirty minutes, so we just walked around the outside of the building.

We got back on the trolley and rode it to Beacon Hill. We got Starbucks and walked around the neighborhood.

We walked around the Granary Burial Ground. Buried in this cemetery are the victims of the Boston Massacre from March 5, 1770; Paul Revere, John Hancock; and the parents of Benjamin Franklin.

After we ate lunch at the Beantown Pub, we rode the trolley to the USS Constitution. The USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat. She was built in a Boston shipyard in 1794 and is most famous for her actions during the War of 1812 against Great Britain, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships, one of which was the HMS Guerriere. The battle with Guerriere earned her the nickname of "Old Ironsides".

We caught the trolley back and got in the car and drove up the coast to Salem, but by the time we got there it was dark and all the touristy sites were closed, so we drove back and walked to Legal Sea Foods for supper.

Saturday 2/4/12

After we got our stuff packed and got breakfast, Norm and I walked to Back Bay to do a little browsing on Newbury Street. There were lots of little boutiques, cafes, and designer stores: Chanel, Vera Wang, Burberry, etc. I had to explain to Norm what Burberry was and described their signature tan, black, and red scarves. Now Norm tells me every time he sees someone wearing Burberry/knockoff plaid. :)

I bought a small painting of the city from a woman on a corner and some washi tape from Anthropologie. We walked back to the hotel, met up with Kenny and Dillon, checked out and drove to West Street so Kenny could pick up some things he'd seen for Jae. We just happened to park across from the Brattle Book Shop, which I'd seen pictures of online. We were illegally parked, so I just had a minute to take a few pictures and browse.

We drove up the coast to Revere and out to the island of Nahant. We drove around for a while and looked at all the beautiful houses and their ocean views.

Then we drove back to Revere for a little lunch along the ocean before going back to the airport to fly home. We wondered how the Indy airport would be when we flew in the night before the Super Bowl, but when we landed just after midnight the airport was dead. It was neat to see all the Super Bowl decor.

We got home around 2am on Sunday morning. One awesome week in Boston complete!

Project Life: Week 3

2012-02-03T06:00:00.016-05:00

Week 3: January 16 - 22, 2012
This week I got our Christmas cards put away. Norm and I spent two hours talking after work one evening. We went to Little Mexico for my sister-in-law Sami's birthday. I had a nerdy Saturday with Cass at Barne's and Noble. Click any photo to view larger.

A pretty sunrise (snapped with my iPhone on the way to work), the awesome Amy Tangerine stamp that I finally got my hands on, and the back of the top of the tissue box from last week (that I'm totally fine with just seeing the back of).

I purchased the Cobalt PL kit from Amazon, but I still really loved some of the cards from the Clementine kit, so I bought the digital version of the Clementine journaling and title cards from JessicaSprague.com and I just print them when I want one. This is one of my favorite title cards, with another one of those initial banners.

Another little 'Celebrate Today' banner cut with my Silhouette.

I copied the text from this blog post and laid it out in Photoshop on a 4x6 canvas, leaving space for the graphic on the top of this journaling card from the Project Life kit. I printed it out on a piece of paper, temporarily stuck my journaling card on in the same spot, and printed again so it would be on the card. Easy peasy.

The right side.

I cut the 'one little week' freebie of Ali's on my Silhouette and just slipped it in the pocket. I love that it gives you a little peek into the next week.

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Project Life was created by Becky Higgins. The kit I'm using this year is Cobalt. I'm using a We R Memory Keepers 12" x 12" album in Vanilla. See all my Project Life posts here.

Project Life: Week 2

2012-02-01T06:00:00.012-05:00

Week 2: January 9 - 15, 2012
This week I was sick. We had some snow. I watched the Olympic Marathon Trials on TV. Norm made beef and noodles. Click any photo to view larger.

I asked Norm to write on a journaling card this week. I want to do better this year of getting some of his voice in this album, whether he likes it or not. :) When I asked him to write a little about his day on this card, he said "aww, you're not gonna make me write every day like that thankful journal in November are you?!".

I cut a bunch of these 'Celebrate' banner shapes with my Silhouette and put them in my Project Life basket.

I love the Smash pads for PL journaling (and the Mini Market letter stickers!).

We went through a lot of tissues this week, so I slipped part of one of the boxes in this week's sheet protector.

A little banner with a letter O, for Oscar, cut on my Silhouette. I cut a few of these, and a few each of my initial and my husband's initial.

Week 3 coming soon!
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Project Life was created by Becky Higgins. The kit I'm using this year is Cobalt. I'm using a We R Memory Keepers 12" x 12" album in Vanilla. See all my Project Life posts here.

Project Life: Week 1

2012-01-30T06:00:00.048-05:00

2011 was my first year doing Project Life. I debated about whether I was going to do Project Life or just my Monthly Pages this year, and I decided on Project Life. It's more scrapbooky, and it gives me a place to keep receipts, Post It notes, and other miscellaneous paper bits from our life. So far I'm loving it even more than last year. I think part of it is because I've started printing my photos at home (something I've never done before), so I'm staying totally caught up.

Here is my 2012 title page. A picture of us from the end of November. A picture of Oscar from December, two of the cards from the Cobalt Project Life kit, one piece cut from a magazine ad, and an Ormolu tag from the Studio Calico December Daily kit with an Ormolu flair and another little piece cut from a magazine ad that's been in my Project Life basket for months. The "hello life 2012" is a freebie designed by Ali Edwards and it was the first thing I cut with my new Cameo. Click any photo to view larger.

Week 1: January 2 - 8, 2012
I went to the doctor for my foot and had an x-ray the next day. I bought a Cameo and it came Thursday of this week. Norm and I went to Olive Garden for date night.

I typed my goals for January in Photoshop and printed it with the rest of my pictures. I typed a summary of our week on one of the journaling cards.

I printed two pictures from my x-ray on one 4x6 and glued part of my hospital bracelet on top.
I made a scrapbook page this week of my goals for 2012 so I included that. I used a self-adhesive index tab on the edge and typed 2012 GOALS on it with my vintage typewriter.
I needed something for the back of the layout, so I just printed an 8x10 of my messy scrap desk and slipped that in. I typed 'scrappy mess' on the back of the tab. I saw Cathy Zielske including screen shots of the weather from her iPhone and LOVED that, so I've been doing it too.
I printed an Instagram photo from date night at 3" x 3" and glued it just at the bottom and the sides so I could tuck the folded up receipt from Olive Garden into it like a pocket.

And that's Week 1! I'm going to try to post Week 2 and 3 later this week, then I'll try to post about once a week.

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Project Life was created by Becky Higgins. The kit I'm using this year is Cobalt. I'm using a We R Memory Keepers 12" x 12" album in Vanilla. See all my Project Life posts here.

2011 Monthly Photo Book

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

All through 2011 I did Monthly Pages, four digital scrapbook pages summing up each month in photos and words - inspired by Cathy Zielske and using my own modified versions of these templates. I posted some of them here on the blog. Last week I finished up 2011 and decided to print it with Shutterfly because they were having a sale and I had a coupon too.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create your own personalized photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Right now I'm not planning on continuing these pages in 2012 because I'm doing Project Life. I did both last year and it was too much duplication.

December 2011 Round-Up

2012-01-24T12:02:00.000-05:00

Now that it's January 24th, I should probably Round Up December before it's time to Round Up January. :)

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
The Marathon Method. I've pretty much replaced reading actual books with Runner's World magazine and running blogs. What can I say. When I start (or re-start) a new hobby...it's all guns blazing. I also read Born to Run and LOVED it.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Four Christmases.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
Norm and I went to Christmas at the Zoo with Cass and Blaise. He and I did a little more Christmas shopping in the middle of the month. We went to The Melting Pot fondue restaurant with Dad and Jenny. We had Christmas with our families.

What were my accomplishments/exciting things that happened this month?
I ran a lot of miles (until I went and hurt myself).

About this Project
My monthly Round-Ups are inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. You can read more from her about round ups here.

Now I Don't Have to Talk to You the Rest of the Week

2012-01-20T12:18:00.000-05:00

This photo is actually from last summer. Norm worked nights for a week and would come home at 7:30am, drink a beer, eat "supper", and go to bed. :)

Journaled 1/17/12:
He sits at the dining room table. I stand at the kitchen counter. And we talk. Last night we talked for over two hours. We didn’t intend to. But I told him about something sad that happened in our community (and he gave his standard response: “why do people have to drive fast??”). Then he told me about something that happened at work. Then we talked about our crappy (expensive) coffee pot (that he’s been griping about leaking water and coffee grounds forEVER and he told me last night that the plastic part where the water comes out is CRACKED and has been for a long time). And then we’d been home from work for two hours and were still talking.

I washed dishes while we talked. I cleaned up the kitchen while we talked. I reheated leftovers and ate supper while we talked. I repeatedly reminded myself, “don’t worry about the things you need to do, don’t worry about the things you wanted to get done, we won’t always be able to have these two-hour conversations”. And that’s the same thing that kept echoing in my mind as I turned off the light to go to sleep. Someday when we have kids we won’t have the luxury of talking to each other for two hours with no interruptions. And I’ll miss these epic evening-long talks we have.

We have heard a pastor tell couples during their wedding ceremony that research shows couples who talk to each other for at least 20 minutes a day have a significantly lower divorce rate than those that don’t. We always joke after these one- or two-hour conversations, “now I don’t have to talk to you the rest of the week, we have plenty of talking time in”. :)

Christmas 2011

2012-01-17T12:11:00.000-05:00

Almost a month later, here's a little peek into our Christmas.

We had Christmas with my Dad, Jenny, Bill, Sami, and Joshy on Christmas Eve morning.

The boys all got a gun of some kind. Joshy's was a Daisy Red Rider Carbine Lever Action BB gun.

They all got Nerf guns too. ;)

After present-opening and lunch, the boys went out to shoot their new toys. Joshy shot with odd form, but he was dead on.

After all that shooting, we played a few rounds of Cranium.

That evening we headed to Irene's for the Norman Christmas. There were lots of little ones to snuggle, so I only got a few pictures that night.

Christmas morning we went to open gifts with Rodney, Cheryl, Tiff, Matt, and Madison.

Norm got some waders. :)

Checking out the gun pricing book.

We went to Jeff and Patsy's in the afternoon on Christmas day, but there were just too many people (and too much good food!) to worry about taking pictures.

Don't Mind if We 'Due

2012-01-16T12:02:00.000-05:00

For the last few years, I've been telling Norm at Christmastime that one day we're going to The Melting Pot to try fondue. In December, we did just that. We made a reservation and Dad and Jenny went with us. It was an awesome evening with Christmas music playing quietly in the background and a steaming pot in the middle of the table. It was quite the experience!

We started off with Spinach & Artichoke cheese fondue, which the waiter mixed up right in the pot on the table. We had tortilla chips, several different kinds of bread, and Granny Smith apples to dip. We weren't sure about the apples, but everything else was awesome (the apples were good too, just different)!

Then after a salad course, we had entrees. We chose one of the four different "cooking styles" for the table (you choose what kind of liquid is in the pot that you will all cook your entrees in). The guys both got cajun (read: SPICY) meat, Jenny had normal meat, and I got a vegetarian platter with ravioli and other cheese-filled pasta, portobello mushrooms, asparagus, marinated tofu, and a few other things. Unfortunately we weren't warned that the guys meat would make everything cooked after it SPICY, so most of my vegetarian food had some heat, but it was all yummy (other than the tofu, none of us cared much for that but we all tried it).

For dessert, we chose milk chocolate fondue. It came with cheesecake, brownie and cake bites, Oreo- and graham cracker-encrusted marshmallows, strawberries, and bananas. It was YUMMY.

We were a little surprised that the whole thing ended up being about a two hour experience. But it was so much fun and the food was excellent. Totally jazzed that we finally did it!

Next up: Christmas 2011. Only about a month later! :)

He & She: December 2011

2012-01-11T12:12:00.000-05:00

(Yes the photo is completely blurry. And yes, I completely love it anyway.)

They went to Christmas at the Zoo with Cass and Blaise.
She spent a lot of time on the treadmill (and the road).
He was almost more excited than she was when her new iMac came (almost).
She made lots of Christmas decorations.
He shopped for new clothes and shoes.
She watched Elf three times.
They went out for fondue with her parents.
He got a video message from Santa!
She ate too many Trader Joe's Christmas cookies.
He ate crawfish (eww) at the Lamb's second crawfish boil.
She hurt her foot on the day after Christmas.
She saw a bald eagle on the way home from grocery shopping.
They danced in the kitchen.
She laughed.
He laughed.
She loved.
He loved.
December 2011.

A Year of Weekends | January 6 - 8

2012-01-09T12:24:00.000-05:00

Here is my LAST layout for my A Year of Weekends series. Click to view larger.

About this Project
I heard about this project when Peppermint Granberg was a guest on the Paperclipping Digi Show podcast. Like hers, our weeks are very predictable and very much the same from one week to the next. Although our weekends aren't all that exciting either, the weekend is when I do what I want, when I make extra time for photography or scrapbooking. So I decided to play along with this ongoing album project documenting our weekends.

Friday Gratitudes and The Foot Drama

2012-01-06T12:23:00.001-05:00

A Little Blog Business
I’m contemplating stopping my weekly Friday Gratitudes post or at least not doing them every week. I’m starting to get bored and frustrated with the rigid schedule I set for my blogging over the last year (A Year of Weekends on Monday, Crafty Wednesday, Friday Gratitudes, Monthly Round Ups, monthly He & She posts). There is some of it I definitely want to keep, and others I want to post only when I feel like it, not because it’s Friday and I have a gratitude post scheduled. I started this blog because I thought it would be fun, and it’s not that fun anymore (not for me and probably not for those of you that read it either). So I will still post my Gratitudes on Fridays when I feel like it, but there will be many weeks where I don’t post them. Anyway, all this to say: expect some changes around the blog. I plan to blog some things that happened over the fall/winter that I still haven’t blogged and get back into posting more photos and stories of things going on around here. Hopefully a little more interesting!

Foot Drama
If you haven’t heard, I hurt my foot. Basically still in the beginning stages of my half-marathon training, I ran 4 miles on the Monday after Christmas and felt a little twinge in my left foot at the very end of my run. I took two days off from running and my foot didn’t bother me much at all. I had 2.5 miles on the schedule for that Thursday and I did it on the treadmill. I knew in the first half mile that something might be pretty bad, but I stupidly soldiered on through the full 2.5 miles. By about halfway through, my stride was completely jacked up because my foot was hurting. That was my last run (about 184 hours ago, but who's counting? ;). I gimped around for four days and after the New Year’s holiday I went to the doctor. He thinks I have a stress fracture in the third metatarsal (the bone in the top of your foot that connects to your middle toe).

I went for an x-ray on Wednesday but, as expected, it showed nothing. I have heard that most stress fractures aren’t able to be seen on an x-ray until several weeks after they’ve started to heal. It can be confirmed by MRI if I want to shell out the money (no thanks).

Anyway, it looks like I’ll have several weeks of no running. Most things I’ve seen online have said 8 weeks. Which means my running the Mini on May 5th is definitely in jeopardy. I’m keeping my fingers crossed to just be able to run/walk it.

Anyway, I decided to post my Gratitudes this week because sometimes I just need a reminder that my life is very good. This has been a tough week and I’ve actually been pretty depressed about the no-running thing (the complete lack of exercise-induced endorphins is probably a big part of that), and I need a kick-in-the-pants type reminder that my life is hella good.

I’m thankful for the determination I still have to get back into running for good once this whole stress fracture thing is past (hopefully this determination sticks around the whole time I’m sidelined).

I’m thankful to have a husband that snaps me back to reality when I’m totally wallowing in self pity (“Honey, it could be worse.” “HOW? (insert annoying whiny voice) “Um, well, you're not terminally ill.”). Made me feel like a complete ass for being so whiny, which I totally needed.

I'm thankful for pink glittery nail polish (and the 80-year-old woman admitting me to the hospital for my x-ray whose nails inspired me :).

I'm thankful for a new toy: the Silhouette Cameo (purchased for around $30 with Amazon credit card reward points - normally $300). It's an electronic die cutting machine that cuts paper, vinyl, etc. from eletronic files on the computer. Expect to see pictures of all the fun things I cut with it soon. The first (and only, so far) thing I cut with it is below. It's going in the title page of my 2012 Project Life scrapbook.

2011 Bests

2012-01-01T12:57:00.000-05:00

I had no expectations for 2011 to be an extraordinary year. It ended up being pretty tough in some regards, but was pretty fantastic in others. Here are my bests from 2011, inspired by the ever fabulous Elise Blaha Cripe.

What were your 2011 ‘bests’? What bests are you hoping for in 2012? Mine: best first half-marathon (and maybe best second half-marathon??) and possibly a best (second) pregnancy??? Prayers please. :)

Happy New Year to you and yours. May we all make it the BEST YEAR YET.

Merry & Bright

2011-12-25T19:34:00.001-05:00

A Year of Weekends | December 16 - 18

2011-12-19T12:21:00.000-05:00

Here is the latest layout for my A Year of Weekends series. Click to view larger.

About this Project
I heard about this project when Peppermint Granberg was a guest on the Paperclipping Digi Show podcast. Like hers, our weeks are very predictable and very much the same from one week to the next. Although our weekends aren't all that exciting either, the weekend is when I do what I want, when I make extra time for photography or scrapbooking. So I decided to play along with this ongoing album project documenting our weekends.

Long Run Sunday | Inspirational Relay Videos

2011-12-18T06:00:00.011-05:00

On this Long Run Sunday, I thought I’d share a couple inspiring running videos. I don’t think many have heard of these running relays (unless you’re a runner or running blog enthusiast like me), but these videos are from two different road relay races.

Ragnar is an overnight running relay race with teams of 6-12 runners covering about 200 miles over two days and one night. They have relay races all over the country (HOW COOL would it be to do the Miami to Key West relay?!?), Click here for more info on Ragnar.

The Las Vegas Ragnar relay is a 195-mile relay that takes place in the Nevada desert outside Las Vegas. This video features one of the 2011 teams, the Nevernudes, and is quite entertaining (and so inspiring!).

RAGNAR RELAY - LAS VEGAS 2011 from Ryan Southwell on Vimeo.
Hood to Coast is a 197-mile relay that takes place in Oregon. It starts at 6,000 feet on Mt. Hood in northern Oregon and ends on the beach in Seaside. It is touted as the world's largest relay race with 12,600 runners and 3,600 volunteers.

This video is the trailer for Hood to Coast, a movie made about the relay. The movie is available now on DVD (it was played in theaters for a special one-night showing on 1/11/11). If anyone would like to buy it for me, click here. :)

Hood To Coast Movie Trailer #2 for Race Website from Film For Thought on Vimeo.

This video from nuun shows footage of their two teams running the 2011 Hood to Coast relay.

Nuun | Hood to Coast from eric becker on Vimeo.

Now that I'm all inspired, I've got to head out for my 5-miler!

Steel Cut Oats

2011-12-17T14:14:00.000-05:00

If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you know that in September I switched my normal daily breakfast from instant grits to steel cut oats. I've had a couple questions about them, so I thought I'd post my "recipe".

According to Wikipedia, steel cut oats are "whole grain groats (the inner portion of the oat kernel) which have been cut into only two or three pieces by steel rather than being rolled". They take longer to prepare but they have more flavor than instant oatmeal or rolled oats and they have more texture. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about that at first. But with some goodies added in, they're delish. I had a packet of instant oatmeal for breakfast last weekend (I was out of cooked steel cut oats) and let me tell you, after having steel cut...instant oatmeal (which I used to love) is like slop.

I buy the can of Quaker Steel Cut Oats at Wal-Mart (in the cereal aisle by the other oatmeal). Then I follow this recipe/technique to make 6 days worth of steel cut oats in about 5 minutes.

Put 1 2/3 cups of steel cut oats, 4 cups of water, and a dash of salt in a big pot. Bring to a boil (it will be fast), then simmer for about three minutes. Remove from heat and immediately dip into half-pint canning jars and put the lids on. Let sit on the counter overnight. The lids will start popping within 1-2 hours, but I never worry about whether they all pop/seal or not.

The next morning I dump one jar into a bowl and put the rest in the fridge. I reheat mine in the microwave for 1.5 minutes, then add cinnamon, a bit of brown sugar, pecans, raisins, and a splash of milk. Let cool for a bit (while I finish getting ready for work), and chow down, followed by a hard-boiled egg (which I also usually make once a week and store with shells on in a container in the fridge). Easy peasy and YUM-O.

These look yummy too with a bit of coconut.

Note: this will be 100% obvious to most of you out there with common sense. But the first day I had these, I left them in the jar and stuck it in the microwave. I went to the trash can to peel my egg and when I turned around the oats had risen straight up out of the jar and were sitting on top of it while the microwave ran. Obviously as soon as I stopped the microwave, they looked like this:

Let me know if you give them a try! What's your favorite breakfast?

Friday Gratitudes

2011-12-16T12:05:00.000-05:00

I’m thankful for another big fun group at Cheeseburger Night last night.

I’m thankful for fun weekend plans!

I'm thankful for a cute little video message for Norm from Santa this week. If you haven't already, check out Portable North Pole for a free video message from Santa for your child/grandchild/spouse/significant other. So fun!

I’m thankful for a great long run (if you consider 4.7 miles long) last Sunday…and am hoping for a great 5-miler this Sunday!

I’m thankful for my husband’s sense of humor (as every week). I had the most random phone call with him on Thursday that involved a discussion about lazy squirrels and garage décor and randomly shouted curse words. Oh my.

The new (circa 1960) garage decor.

He & She: November 2011

2011-12-15T12:11:00.000-05:00

She did a lot of scrapbooking.
He took her to the Chinese buffet.
She watched the NYC Marathon.
She signed up for a half-marathon.
He told his coworkers she was training for a marathon.
She made Christmas presents and crafts.
She sold out of her first-ever Holiday minibooks.
He went deer hunting.
She ran 37 miles.
They went Christmas shopping.
She had a gait analysis and bought new running shoes.
He agreed to let her buy an iMac for her Christmas present.
They stood in the front yard with the camera on a ladder and took their self-portrait while the neighbors drove by.
He didn't even try to hide.
It was confirmed that he is a saint for putting up with her BS.
They danced in the kitchen.
She laughed.
He laughed.
She loved.
He loved.
November 2011.

Crafty Wednesday | Christmas Crafts

2011-12-14T21:58:00.000-05:00

I've been making quite a few crafts lately, and these are some of the Christmas crafts I've done in the last couple weeks.

Snowflake "Wreath"

I made this snowflake "wreath" for our front door after seeing this on Pinterest.

Source: ballardbunch.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

I loved the white snowflake on the black door in the tutorial, but since our door is white I went with red. I bought a box of the jumbo sized popsicle sticks and the wooden discs in the kids craft area of Michael's, along with some red craft paint and red glitter. I laid the popsicle sticks out in the pattern on our dining room table, Norm measured to make sure it wouldn't be too big for our front door, then I just started hot gluing the sticks together.

I glued the discs on top of most of the "joints".

I painted all of it with the red craft paint, let it dry, then painted another coat on the discs and poured the glitter on each one while the paint was still wet.

Once everything was dry I took it outside and blew the excess glitter off and hung it on the front door with three sticky velcro strips. Easy peasy!

Felt Circle Garland
I made a fall leaf garland out of felt and I knew I wanted to make something similar for December. December's garland was inspired by this one on Pinterest.

Source: craftinessisnotoptional.com via Nicole on Pinterest

I punched a 1.5" diameter circle out of a piece of scrap paper with one of my scrapbooking punches, then just laid it on my sheet of felt and cut around it with scissors. My circles are far from perfect and you could totally do it without the paper circle, but I'm a little OCD so that's what I did. I used two red and two white 11" x 8.5" sheets of felt (from Hobby Lobby). I ended up with roughly 150 circles (more than enough for what I wanted).

I debated hand-stitching the circles together with embroidery thread like I did the leaf garland, but that took FOREVER, so I used my sewing machine this time. It took me about 15 minutes once I got going.

I just alternated red and white circles and fed each one into the machine right after the first. Sometimes it would take a few seconds to feed the next one through so there is a bit of extra red thread between the circles, but it's all good.

Sorry these pictures are so dark. These are the first I've edited on my new iMac, so I'm still getting used to the brightness of the screen.

Paper Christmas Tree

Paper mache tree shape from Michael's + circles punched from vintage dictionary paper + glue.

Inspired by these:

Source: crate.typepad.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: hutchstudio.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Gift Wrapping
I decided to get all Martha Stewart-y and do some simple/classic gift wrapping this year. I decided to go with simple brown paper (found in the shipping/envelope section at Wal-Mart), red/white or green/white bakers twine, and white tags stamped with each gift recipient's initial.

This one was shipped off to my nephew in Florida, he so I put his name on the tag with scrapbooking letter stickers.

Inspired by these pins:

Source: papercrave.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: thecraftingchicks.com via Nicole on Pinterest

13.1: A Stranger Watched Me Run

2011-12-13T22:24:00.000-05:00

Gait Analysis & New Shoes

I shared a few weeks ago that I've registered for the Mini. One of the first things I did after registering for my first half-marathon was buy new running shoes. I had read in several books and all over the internet that I needed to go get a gait analysis done and get fitted for the proper running shoes ASAP. Now that I've done it I have to say that I agree 100%.

In a normal stride, a runner's foot rolls inward (called pronation) a small amount (about 15 degrees). This distributes the impact of the foot striking the ground. However, it is common to have overpronation (rolling inward more than the ideal) or underpronation (also called supination), both of which can be helped by wearing the correct type of shoe for your foot- and stride-type. Runner's World has a great explanation here.

If you go pick your running shoes off the rack at Sears (which is precisely what I did the day I bought my treadmill) or have a teenage boy at Finish Line pick them out for you, you are most likely not getting the proper shoes for your feet, which can lead to serious injuries.

I'll be honest. I was intimidated to go to a running store and be fitted for shoes. But I knew that in training for 13.1, I was going to be running a lot of miles. And I was starting to have a lot of ankle and knee pain that I knew was probably going to just get worse. So the weekend before Thanksgiving, Norm and I made a trip to Lafayette to Tri-N-Run. It's an athletic store that caters especially to runners, swimmers, cyclists, and triathletes. My friendly associate (I wish I could remember her name, she was AWESOME!) looked at the wear on my old running shoes (it's very important to take your current/old shoes so they can look at the wear pattern) and watched me walk barefoot across the floor. She asked about any problems I'd been having and asked what kind of running I do (road/trail, mileage, etc.). Then she starting bringing out different pairs of running shoes and had me run on the treadmill in each pair. Each time she asked for my feedback and asked me specific questions about the fit, which helped her determine which style to try next. After a few minutes we settled on the third pair, the Asics GT 2160, a supportive high mileage shoe.

If you're local, I'd recommend Tri-N-Run in a heartbeat! I will be headed back in the next couple of months to buy another pair of the same Asics (these will be pretty close to maxed out in miles right around the Mini, so I'll be rotating in a new pair before then).

The ladies of Another Mother Runner and Run Like a Mother have a great podcast on the topic of finding your perfect running shoe. Click here to check it out.

Anybody bought any new running shoes (or any other shoes) lately? My husband spent hours buying (then returning, then ordering) a pair of black casual shoes this weekend that he'll probably wear a few times a year, while I spent about 20 minutes picking out the running shoes that I'll spend 300 - 500 miles in...

November Round Up

2011-12-12T12:23:00.000-05:00

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Runner's World magazine.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Not many. Too busy crafting and running. Lots of Ellen on the treadmill.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
Norm and I spent an afternoon Christmas shopping.

What were my accomplishments/exciting things that happened this month?
I sold a bunch of baby and holiday minibooks. I had a gait analysis and bought new running shoes and I bought an iMac (my Christmas present)!!

My favorite picture from November:

Other miscellaneous pictures from November:

About this Project
My monthly Round-Ups are inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. You can read more from her about round ups here.

November's Monthly Layouts:

Friday Gratitudes

2011-12-09T12:16:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for Christmas at the Zoo fun last weekend with Cass and Blaise.

I'm thankful for my husband's sense of humor (as always). He was cracking us up at Cheeseburger Night last night.

I'm thankful for Candy Cane Joe-Joe's and Astounding Multi-Flavor Joe-Joe's.

I'm thankful for a new "solitaire machine" as Norm called it.

A Year of Weekends | Weekend #46

2011-12-06T12:01:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was full of holiday goodness for us. I spent Friday night and Saturday morning working on my December Daily scrapbook (more photos coming after I get my first photo order).

Saturday we went to Indy to Trader Joe's. Our (MY) sole mission was to obtain some Candy Cane Joe Joe's and I did just that. Three boxes to be exact.

Then we met up with Cass and Blaise for supper and Christmas at the Zoo. It was the perfect (WARM) weather.

Sunday started off with a 4.5 mile run (with my furry running buddy)...

And ended with more scrapping (with some Elf watching and tree decorating in between)!

Here is the latest layout for my A Year of Weekends series. Click to view larger.

About this Project
I heard about this project when Peppermint Granberg was a guest on the Paperclipping Digi Show podcast. Like hers, our weeks are very predictable and very much the same from one week to the next. Although our weekends aren't all that exciting either, the weekend is when I do what I want, when I make extra time for photography or scrapbooking. So I decided to play along with this ongoing album project documenting our weekends.

Friday Gratitudes

2011-12-02T11:54:00.000-05:00

I’m thankful this week is over…it was a long one!

I’m thankful for peppermint mocha coffee creamer.

I’m thankful for fun Christmas-y weekend plans (and crafts).

I'm thankful for a husband who will pose with me in the front yard in the rain with my camera on a huge orange ladder while the neighbors drive by (but Merry Christmas from the Normans if you're not on our Christmas card list!).

I’m thankful for working electricity. Our power was out for over 6 hours Tuesday night and I was so glad to see the flashing lights on the Tipmont trucks at 10:00!

I'm thankful that it's December. December Daily started yesterday! (Updates coming soon.)

13.1

2011-11-27T16:21:00.000-05:00

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you already know that I've started running again. I ran track in junior high and high school, and have run on and off as a way to lose weight/get in shape ever since. Running is tough, but it burns calories and as the girls from Run Like a Mother like to say, it keeps my cuckoo in the clock. :)

I hadn't done much exercise since the spring, and enough was enough. I decided to Google around for one of those "Couch to 5K" running programs and came upon the Couch to 5K app for my iPhone. The app leads you through three workouts a week for 9 weeks, beginning with alternating only 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. Anyone can do that right? You gradually increase your running time and decrease your walking time until by the end of the 9 weeks you are running 30 minutes without stopping.

In the middle of the Couch to 5K program I started reading Run Like a Mother by Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell (HIGHLY recommended) and it inspired me so much that I decided to add "Run a Marathon" (26.2 miles) to my Bucket List and was contemplating training for a half-marathon (13.1 miles). Within a few days I was registered for the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini (half-marathon) in Indy for May 5, 2012. The Mini is the largest half-marathon and the seventh largest running event in the US. Last year it sold out with 35,000 registrants over five months before race day.

So, now that I'm doing this and I know some of you are contemplating it too (you can do it J!), I just wanted to post some of the stuff I'm doing/trying/thinking about/have done.

Books
I finished Run Like a Mother and immediately pre-ordered their follow up Train Like a Mother that will be out in March. In the meantime, I'm reading Tom Holland's The Marathon Method. So far, awesomesauce. I want to stay up late reading every night so I can get to the chapter about training plans.

Training Plans
Speaking of training plans, I'm working on cobbling together my own instead of following one day by day. My problem with all of the half-marathon training plans out there (and there are MANY) is that they're shorter than what I need. As of today I have 23 weeks before the Mini. Most training plans are 16 weeks or so. Since I don't want to be overtrained (it often leads to injuries), I'm working on taking these next 7 weeks slow and steady and uping my mileage just a bit each week to make sure I'm on par with most plans' first week 7 weeks from now. I will post again when I finally nail down more of my training plan. What I'm working off of so far is loosely based on the plans on Hal Higdon's site.

Right now I'm running four days a week (my weekday morning runs are 2 - 2.5 miles each on the treadmill and my Sunday morning long runs are 3.5 - 4 miles and outside if possible). I'm crosstraining one day (Zumba Tone & Sculpt - focused mostly on arms and trying to rest the legs) and taking two rest days (Tuesday and Saturday). Starting out you would think it would be best to take a rest day on Monday after Sunday's long run...not so. You will usually be most sore two to three days after your long run, so I do my shortest run of the week on Monday (when I'm a little sore), and take Tuesday completely off (when the first couple steps out of bed in the morning are BRUTAL).

The RUN Jar
I saw on someone's blog that on the day of her marathon her husband paid her a dollar for each mile that she ran in training. I knew Norm wasn't going to pay me for mileage, but I thought it was a fun/inspirational idea. Now after every run, I put a dollar in the jar for every mile I ran. Since I started keeping track in October I'm up to around $50. By the beginning of May I should have a nice little savings and it's fun to see the money (miles) pile up!

Log Your Run App & Daily Mile Website
Now that I'm done with the C25K app (I didn't actually finish it because I moved on to higher mileage in the 7th week), I'm using the Log Your Run app. I start it when I go out for a run and it uses GPS to keep track of my mileage and it keeps my time and calculates my pace per mile. I love it. You can save routes and when you're done you can upload your workout to Facebook, Twitter, the Log Your Run website, or Daily Mile.

I'm uploading to Daily Mile (which posts my workouts to my Facebook wall). I also manually upload my treadmill runs in the same app. I love my free account with Daily Mile because it keeps track of all your workouts (running, walking, Zumba, etc.) and you can look at a day, week, or month at a glance. It tells you your longest runs, your fastest runs, and how many donuts you've burned :) and emails you weekly reports.

So there you have it. More than most of you probably ever wanted to know about running. I have a couple more posts planned (one about nutrition and one about a piece of safety "gear" that I think should be mandatory, along with one about my training plan whenever it gets finalized), but I'd love to hear if any of you have any questions (other than "are you crazy??" :) or advice for me.

P.S. One last fun little thing I wanted to sneak in. Check out the course I'll be running in May. Miles 6 through 8 look super fun, no? You can bet I'll be stopping to kiss the bricks along with everyone else!

Friday Gratitudes

2011-11-25T15:01:00.002-05:00

I'm thankful for hot chocolate.

I'm thankful for a hubby that got up at 5am to go to work on Thanksgiving Day.

I'm thankful he was able to get home in time to go to his family's Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for a training plan that had me up and running 2.5 miles on Thanksgiving morning...probably my first Thanksgiving Day workout ever.

I'm thankful for a nice warm, sunny, crafty day at home on this Black Friday.

I'm thankful for a Black Friday sale that has me contemplating buying my Christmas present today!

I'm thankful that it's now officially the holiday season and I can listen to Christmas music openly! ;)

I'm thankful for this awesome quote I found on Pinterest.

Source: kerryskronicles.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Friday Gratitudes

2011-11-18T12:05:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful (and completely freaked out!) that it's almost December! I'm super excited for the holidays this year, and am ready to start my (maybe almost daily) December Daily documenting.

I'm thankful for almost two weeks chocolate candy-free (and all other candy). Holy moly! I don't know if I've felt more energetic (I've counteracted the extra energy that eating less sugar is supposed to give you with at least 30 minutes of running a day), but it has to be good for my waistline (that's yet to be determined too).

I'm thankful for coffee.

I'm thankful that my saint of a husband has played along with my November Gratitudes journal idea. He's such a good sport!

I'm thankful I've kept up with my running plan this week (check back soon for a running post).

I'm thankful for a little trip down memory lane last weekend - working on the minibook about our Georgia summer vacation.

Crafty Wednesday | Fall Mini Album Update #2

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's time for another update to my fall book. I plan to continue adding to this until the end of November, then December 1st and on will be in my December Daily/holiday book (if I ever get my own pages ready to go!).

Vintage dictionary page (included in the kit) with 4" x 4" Instagram photos from my iPhone on the front and back. I order these as 4x4 prints from Scrapbookpictures.com.

Two-up collage of Bridge Festival photos I made in Photoshop before uploading to print at Scrapbook Pictures.

This page will have Norm and I's October He & She picture of us holding the candy bowl. I put a post-it on the page until I get my photo order from the printer.

Another photo I'm waiting on. Tucked under the post-it is a sticker I plan to put on top of the photo.

The photo on the right was a sign at Starbucks about their fall drinks. I took a picture of it with my iPhone, and cut up a sleeve to include on the left.

Another Instagram shot of a fall/winter staple: hot chocolate. On one of my new favorite papers: the orange side has numbers, the back side is tan with brown letters.

Shipping tag with a piece of patterned paper along the bottom.

Hope you enjoyed that little update! Want your own fall mini album? I have a few left here.

October 2011 Monthly Round-Up

2011-11-15T12:19:00.000-05:00

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Run Like a Mother. The inspiration for a whole big story that will be blogged later this week.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz. I like Cameron, but it was just eh.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
Met Norm in Crawfordsville between his work-job and his farm-job for a little impromptu lunch date.

Did a little photo shoot with Madison.

Took a Friday off and went to the Bridge Festival with Cheryl, Tiff, and Madison.


Gave out candy to our two trick-or-treaters.

What were my accomplishments/exciting things that happened this month?
I listed my baby/pregnancy books (more will be listed soon!). I got my holiday minibooks ready to list on November 1. I got a ton of little painting projects done around the house.



I did a few fall decor craft projects.



I did some gouache script painting.



About this Project
My monthly Round-Ups are inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. You can read more from her about round ups here.

And here are my Monthly pages for October that I threw together last night. Click to view larger.

Friday Gratitudes

2011-11-11T11:51:00.001-05:00

I'm grateful for the men and women who have put their life on the line for our safety and freedoms. We are all forever indebted to you.

I'm thankful for plans...training plans that is.

I'm grateful for over 6 miles run so far this week with my (still pretty short) long run still to come this weekend.

I'm thankful for leg muscles slowly starting to come back!

I'm grateful for my husband's willingness to participate in kooky projects I dream up.

I'm thankful for scrapbooking projects...and a free weekend to try to get a bunch finished up!

I'm grateful for the curly hair my awesome stylist Steph gave me after my haircut this week! Fun!

Week in the Life: Finished Album

2011-11-09T12:27:00.000-05:00

For today's Crafty Wednesday, I have my completed Week in the Life album to share with you. I've had it done for several months, I just haven't made time to edit the pictures.

Here is the opening page.

Monday. In the pockets: Better Homes & Gardens subscription form, To Do list I emailed to myself, one of my business cards from work, a piece I cut from a shower curtain liner package, photos, and tweets/Facebook updates.

A close-up of the embellishment I added in one pocket.

A printout of the forecast for the week.

Tuesday.

A close up of the embellishment I made with some patterned paper, a mini shipping tag, and some word stickers.

Wednesday.

Close-up of some clothing tags I slipped in the pocket and stapled in place.

Little bits included from Wednesday: a gum package and a piece cut from a store flyer (bottom left).

Patterned paper (one of my favorites!), a chipboard star, and word stickers.

Thursday. Instax photo, prescription ticket from the pharmacy.

Friday.

Grocery store ad. I just punched holes right in the ad and slipped it on the rings.

Saturday we went to Lake Monroe with Rodney and Jacinda. Included are a gas station receipt and a card from the hotel we stayed in Saturday night.

Close up of the embellishment I included.

I cropped/cut some pictures so they'd fit in two pockets in the sheet protector if I liked them enough to not want to cut them down to fit in one.

Sunday.

Embellishment: patterned paper, mini tag, American Crafts flair.

Starbucks pamphlet and our receipt from the hotel.

Last page wrap up says:
"Week in the Life | 2011
Ryan - age 27
Nicole - age 27
Married - 4 years
Oscar - age 5

Photos Taken - 638
Nicole Miles Driven - 338
Nights of too-late bed times - 7
Gas Fill Ups - 2
Nicole Hours Worked - 37.5
Work emails sent - 118
Work emails received - 114
Personal emails sent - 9
Days over 90 degrees - 7
Rain - 1/10th inch
Smoothies - 5".

I also included the sheets I jotted notes on each day. I just put the stapled bundle of papers right down in a sheet protector.

I put these layouts in the front of the album from last year's Week in the Life project. I used Ali Edwards' templates from Designer Digitals.

To see all my Week in the Life posts, click here.

Friday Gratitudes

2011-11-04T12:04:00.000-04:00

I'm thankful for a fun group at Cheeseburger Night last night...and that the hubby's long work day ended just in time to go.

I'm grateful for a running routine that I've been actually been keeping up with. SO good to get back into it. I'm using the Couch to 5K app on my iPhone and I love it.

I'm thankful for a great running book, Run Like a Mother. It actually has me thinking about adding "~~Run~~ Complete a marathon" to my life Bucket List. I already pre-ordered the authors' next book Train Like a Mother, due out in March 2012. Only $10 on Amazon!

I'm grateful to have my hubby home every night this week.

I'm thankful it's red cup season! I haven't been to Starbucks this week, but I celebrated the beginning of red cup season with my own from last year.

He & She: October 2011

2011-11-03T11:58:00.000-04:00

She started drinking coffee again.
He farmed, and farmed, and farmed.
They met for lunch one Saturday afternoon in between his work-work and his field-work.
She filled her weekends (and sometimes her weeks) with tons of crafty projects and little house painting projects.
She took pictures of fall leaves and a baby in a pumpkin.
He farmed, and farmed...
She took a Friday off to go Bridge Festival-ing with his mom and sister.
He finished harvest on the 26th.
She played Christmas music and worked on holiday minibooks.
She started script painting with gouache.
They gave out candy to two trick-or-treaters on Halloween.
He could barely stop story-telling long enough to take their monthly self-portrait.
They danced in the kitchen.
She laughed.
He laughed.
She loved.
He loved.
October 2011.

Crafty Wednesday | December Daily

2011-11-02T12:24:00.000-04:00

Now that Halloween has passed, I'm ready to get November and December rolling. I was so excited to find out that Ali Edwards partnered up with Studio Calico to create a December Daily add on for this month's kit.

Did anyone else buy the DD add on? I can't wait for it to come! If you didn't get one, you can get yours here.

Holiday Mini Album Kits Now in the Shop

2011-11-01T12:18:00.000-04:00

Holiday Mini Album Kits are now in my Etsy shop.

The front cover is misted kraft paper and a red grid transparency with a custom-designed and printed title embellishment.

It's made up of a variety of patterned papers, cardstock, transparencies, an envelope, vintage holiday sheet music, hand-stamped items, and word embellishments.

Sign up for my email newsletter on the right to know as soon as new products are available, and to get a subscriber-only discount code! And don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Your feedback will make the next books even better!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T21:02:00.002-04:00

...from this bunny (or panda) to you.

Sneak Peek: Holiday Minibook Kits

2011-10-30T22:12:00.000-04:00

Holiday Minibook Kits are coming to my Etsy shop on November 1st!

Join my mailing list (in the right sidebar) to be the first to know when they're listed and to get a special subscriber discount code! www.nicolenormandesign.etsy.com

Dahlias

2011-10-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

My grandma brought us a ton of flowers to plant at our new house (then helped us plant them, because, well, I think she knows about my black thumb). Before she came, all I'd planted were a few dahlias. But, oh did I enjoy them. They looked awesome in July. I'm quite sure they were the most photographed flowers in the neighborhood.

Fast forward to August, the nasty drought of 2011, and my lack of watering, and the dahlias were not faring so well. They all died except one. Then in September, that whole plant literally FELL OVER. Like the stalk just gave up right above ground level and the plant laid across the yard. And then...the damn thing went crazy. It had red flowers ALL OVER IT. And they were gorgeous.

Finally, in October I clipped a few flowers off and put them in an old blue glass Ball jar and brought them inside. And they were beautimus. And yes, I just made that word up. It's my blog, I make up words when and where I want.

Friday Gratitudes

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

I'm grateful for some new blogging mojo. As I said yesterday, you'd better hold onto your hats because it's going to be picture-city around here for a while. I want to get caught up on summer posts, then my goal is to do better at posting things right away after they happen.

I'm thankful for hot chocolate...it's becoming a habit.

I'm grateful that Harvest 2011 is D-O-N-E. And just like that, I have a husband again.

I'm thankful for a great sunny day last Friday at the Bridge Festival with Cheryl, Tiff, and Madison.

4th of July Weekend

2011-10-27T11:50:00.000-04:00

Okay, folks. This little blog has been pretty neglected this summer. I'm not sure what (or who) to blame it on, other than myself just getting lazy about blogging and being more excited about doing other things that posting pictures on the blog. And I've been sharing a layout full of pictures from almost every weekend, which is when most things happen around here anyway. Well, no more. I plan to get this ol' bloggity caught up. So hold onto your hats, because we're going to go back in time and it's about to get a little more busy around here.

For the July 4th weekend Norm and I went camping at Raccoon Lake with his family. You've already seen most of these pictures if you looked at my 'A Year of Weekends' layout from that weekend, but well, Miss Madison is pretty cute and you want to see those cute pictures of her bigger, right? No? Well you, baby hater, are not welcome here. Hit the trail. :)

Friday night Miss M was all about the thumb. Her thumb, that is.

Saturday we left the baby with the sitter (Nana Cheryl) and hit the water with a good book and some cold beverages.

Madison was pretty hot when we got back to camp, so we plopped her in a chair in front of the fan...and the boys thought she might need some eye protection from the sun.

But once it cooled off a little, she happied right up. :)

Sunday we chillaxed around camp, otherwise known as entertaining Baby Girl (or being entertained by her might be more accurate).

The one time all weekend my hubby held her it was almost completely dark outside. They're horribly grainy, but sometimes I still LOVE my camera.

So there you have our 4th of July weekend. Check back soon for some more summer blasts from the past.

Crafty Wednesday Fall Mini Album Update #1

2011-10-26T12:24:00.000-04:00

It's Crafty Wednesday and I thought I'd share an update on my Fall Mini Album.

Cut from an ad in one of the hubby's farm magazines.

I totally didn't realize that I'd dated this 2010 until uploading these pictures for posting. Argh.

I had a ton of pictures from my step-brother's wedding, so I put them in grids (except for my favorite on the left).

Love the little 4" x 4" square photos I get out of my Instagram app now and print at ScrapbookPictures.com.

Before the big iPhone software upgrade, the Instagram photos were smaller, so I printed out two and glued them back to back on a Hambly Clearly Heavy transparency.

Our backyard. Love big 6" x 8" photos.

I wrote my journaling on a shipping tag and tucked it in a pocket I made out of a paper bag.

Want your own fall mini album? I still have a few available here. I plan to have holiday mini album kits posted in the shop on November 1!

A Year of Weekends | October 21 - 23

2011-10-24T12:14:00.000-04:00

Haunted Houses

2011-10-22T17:03:00.001-04:00

...scare me too, but not this bad. If you haven't seen the video of Ellen's writer Amy going through the haunted house, you have to watch it. Hit play, then immediately pause it, let it load, and maybe go to the bathroom because I almost peed my pants watching this.

video platform video management video solutions video player
What funny videos have you seen lately?

Friday Gratitudes

2011-10-21T06:00:00.001-04:00

I'm thankful for hot chocolate on cool fall nights.

I'm grateful for cute new (cheap) shoes!

I'm thankful for Apple products at Best Buy...and a working computer again.

I'm grateful for fun painting projects.

I'm thankful for new recipes.

I'm grateful for crafty fall projects.

I'm thankful for fun plans today!

Crafty Wednesday | Project Life Update - July

2011-10-19T20:31:00.000-04:00

Here are my July Project Life pages.

June 27 - July 3, 2011

June's Friday Gratitudes, my nephew Joshy's cookout, getting our ski boat out of storage.

Pictures (and Instax) of Labor Day weekend camping and boating (and my cute niece, Madison).

July 4 - 10, 2011

We didn't have much going on the week after Labor Day except Norm's cousin's wedding in Michigan the next weekend, so I filled the whole layout with pictures from that. Beers that we drank at a local brewery (and the paper wrapper from my silverware), photos from the farmer's market we went to before the wedding, and the card from the wedding photographer slipped in one of the small pockets.

The wedding invitation, program, and information for out of town guests just got holes punched and inserted on the rings.

Photos from the wedding and reception (and one that was missing for weeks, but has since been added).

July 11 - 17, 2011

Getting a new grill was a big highlight this week.

Instax of Oscar and a bone-shaped paper clip (from Hobby Lobby).

Schedule of our county 4-H fair and the program from the queen contest are included on the rings. The rest of the week included working on some wedding invitations, a grocery receipt, and a blank spot (which has since been filled in).

July 18 - 24, 2011

My dahlias.

Everyday stuff around the house.

July 25 - 31, 2011

This week was Week in the Life week.

My parents on the Harley, my work desk, an afternoon on the lake, printing wedding invitations.

Friday Gratitudes

2011-10-14T11:49:00.000-04:00

I’m thankful for a nice day with Cass last weekend. A little shopping, a little Chipotle, a little Starbucks, and an afternoon chatting on the porch.

I’m grateful I finally got through the new iPhone software update without too much hassle or hair pulling.

I’m thankful that Best Buy carries Apple power cords…or else I may have gone a little off the deep end yesterday morning when mine popped and quit working. Fingers crossed that my laptop is all good after I pick it up tomorrow.

I’m grateful for a little rain this week (shh!). I haven’t really seen my husband for more than a few minutes in weeks and he was tired. Although I know they all hate it, I’m glad the guys are getting a bit of a break this week.

I'm thankful for Miss Maddie and for fall...although the leaves are about all gone around our house now.

He & She: September 2011

2011-10-13T06:00:00.002-04:00

They went camping with his family.
She read two books in one weekend.
He started farming.
He finally put up their new flag on September 11.
They told each other their "where were you on September 11?" stories...again.
She went to the bridal shower of her new sister-in-law.
They attended 2 weddings.
She cherished the little time they had together this month.
They celebrated owning their own home for one year...with a self portrait, of course.
They danced in the kitchen.
She laughed.
He laughed.
She loved.
He loved.
September 2011.

Crafty Wednesday | Project Life Update - June

2011-10-12T12:18:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I shared an update on my Project Life album. I've been keeping up with this album weekly, but haven't been so good about photographing and blogging my progress. This week we'll catch up on June's pages.

May 30 - June 5, 2011

Suppers on the deck, putting down mulch, a round up of my favorite May gratitudes.

Travel minibook pages, my parents on the Harley, crawfish boil, Dilbert cartoon from the Sunday paper.

June 6 - 12, 2011

Not many photos this week so I included some things that come in my monthly Studio Calico kit, and cut up a flier I got from AT&T about my iPhone. I also included the box my perfume came in.

Clothing tag, chocolate wrapper, weather from the Sunday paper. The pink heart is another clothing tag slipped in the pocket, so you can see the next week's journaling card through.

June 13 - 19, 2011

I cut up a flier from Shutterfly because I liked the graphics and also included a flier from Wal-Mart.

Pictures of our niece Madison and the beginning of our Georgia vacation.

June 20 - 26, 2011

Savannah, GA.

I included a divided page protector that came with a We R Memory Keepers album that I bought and just slipped photos in the larger pockets. The rest have nothing in them for now. I may put patterned paper in them, but for now I kind of like that you can see through them. I accidentally included the same picture twice this week. I may fix that down the line too if it bugs me too much.

Tybee Island and the weekend back at home.

And that wraps up June. One of these days I'll be caught up with blogging my Project Life album!

September 2011 Round-Up

2011-10-11T12:16:00.000-04:00

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I’ve been reading ‘Where Women Create’ magazine for a few minutes just before bed. It features the studios of different creative women and their stories.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
I started watching Up All Night, a new show on NBC. Also the new seasons of Grey's Anatomy and The Amazing Race started. Norm and I watched the movie Bridesmaids.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
Norm and I spent Labor Day weekend camping and boating with his family at Raccoon. We attended Jessica and Bryan's wedding and reception. Jenny and I went to Sami's bridal shower. Bill and Sami's wedding weekend was in the middle of the month.

What were my accomplishments/exciting things that happened this month?
I listed my fall books and sold my first mini book!

My favorite picture from September:

Other miscellaneous pictures from September:

About this Project
My monthly Round-Ups are inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. You can read more from her about round ups here.

And, because it looks like I never shared my Monthly Pages from August, here are August and September's pages. Click to view larger.

A Year of Weekends | October 7-9

2011-10-10T12:30:00.002-04:00

69 Hours

2011-10-09T15:53:00.000-04:00

Friday Gratitudes

2011-10-07T12:01:00.000-04:00

I’m thankful for my supportive husband. This is going to be a rough month for me emotionally (and has been tougher than I thought already), and he is always there for me.

I’m grateful for an unexpected Cheeseburger Night last night. It's a treat for both of us to get to go to Cheeseburger Night in the middle of harvest!

I’m grateful for Steve Jobs. The man was just inspirational. And came up with ideas for products that I LOVE. And if you haven’t watched his 2005 Stanford Commencement address…stop what you’re doing and watch it now. It’s 15 minutes that are WORTH WATCHING. I am oddly overly sad about the passing of a man that I never knew.

I’m thankful for a nice lunch date with my hubby last weekend.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

2011-10-06T08:06:00.000-04:00

www.apple.com

Baby/Pregnancy Mini Album Kits Now in the Shop

2011-10-05T17:30:00.001-04:00

Baby/Pregnancy Mini Album Kits are now in my Etsy shop!

It is made up of a variety of patterned papers, cardstock, a transparency, an envelope, vintage paper, and hand-stamped items.

There are also label and word stickers, journaling cards, a chipboard embellishment, a flair button, and custom-designed embellishments.

Fill your mini with details of your pregnancy, or use it to capture memories of your little one. It would also make a great baby shower gift.

I am planning to release more books for the winter season. Sign up for my email newsletter on the right to know as soon as they're available, and to get a subscriber-only discount code! And don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Your feedback will make the next books even better!

Sneak Peek: Pregnancy/Baby Mini Album Kits

2011-10-03T06:00:00.001-04:00

Keep an eye on my Etsy shop this week for the new additions!

Friday Gratitudes

2011-09-30T12:09:00.000-04:00

I'm grateful for the apple dumplings and persimmon pulp Cheryl sent over last weekend. On this weekend's agenda: baking Irene's persimmon cookies.

I'm thankful for coffee this week, with a shot of Starbucks mocha frapp.

I'm grateful for a fun Cheeseburger Night bunch last night. At one point I jokingly told Norm he'd better watch it or I'd leave his behind at the bar. He told me, "I'll just Phil it home" (family and family friends should appreciate that one). At one point someone at our table last night said "I like that word: shag" (believe it or not they were actually talking about the dance). Oh my, the conversations we have.

I'm thankful for how far we've come in the last 365 days (although you can't really tell much from these pictures)...

Crafty Wednesday | Five Months in Oz the Book

2011-09-28T12:03:00.000-04:00

Last October, in the middle of the great House2 remodeling project of the century, I participated in (and completed!) the Layout a Day project. As part of that project (and the LOAD in February), I finally finished all the digi layouts of my five months living in Australia in 2004 (you can see some of them here and here). I've had those digi layouts on my computer for almost a full year, waiting on a sale at Blurb. Well, that sale came this month and I finally made and ordered my book last weekend. Here it is, Five Months in Oz, in book form.

Five Months in Oz by Nicole Norman | Make Your Own Book

Friday Gratitudes

2011-09-23T11:41:00.000-04:00

I’m grateful for a great weekend last weekend for Bill & Sami’s wedding. A post FULL of pictures will be coming…soon-ish. :)

I’m thankful that my dad and hubby volunteered to be the DDs Saturday night. So when half of the people left at the reception decided to do tequila shots Jenny and I got to join in.

I’m grateful the little yellow tequila canary didn’t bother me too bad on Sunday. :)

I’m thankful for the 70+ digi scrapbook layouts I got in the mail last night. So fun to see them printed out.

I’m grateful for my husband…he keeps me entertained and CRACKING UP (check out my Facebook updates).

I’m thankful for new fall TV: Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, The Amazing Race, Ellen…woohoo!

I’m grateful for a little rain…only because it means I get to spend some extra time with my hubby (and I secretly love rainy days…once harvest is done).

I’m thankful that it’s officially the first day of fall!!

I’m grateful for all of the fall loveliness on Pinterest. I found this image there this week.

Happy fall everyone!

Around Here

2011-09-22T12:31:00.000-04:00

We finally put up on flag on September 11th (although that was a total coincidence).

I've been eating steel cut oats for breakfast every morning for the past few weeks with just a splash of milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins, and pecans.

STILL working on my Georgia vacation minibook.

My Etsy minibook stuff is only taking up half of the table...

This wall in our dining room has become the flip flop parking area.

Current bedtime reading.

Working on the baby/pregnancy minibooks for my Etsy shop.

Oscar, not sure about me laying on the floor taking pictures of him.

Looking at Norm: "WHAT is she doing?!"

Crafty Wednesday | Project Life Update April 18 - May 29

2011-09-21T22:53:00.001-04:00

The last time you guys saw my Project Life album, it was caught up to mid-April. I have been keeping my album up to date, I just haven't taken the time to photograph and blog about it. I'm planning on fixing that over the next few weeks' Crafty Wednesday posts. This week we have the rest of April and the month of May.

April 18 - 24, 2011

Mushrooming, making things for my Etsy store, planning our Georgia vacation.

The gray thing is the back of a napkin from a wedding the week before.

The "Hello Gorgeous" is something I cut out of a magazine. I have a stack of things like this in the basket where I keep my album, so I have something to put in when I don't have enough photos or memorabilia to include.

April 25 - May 1, 2011

I got my iPhone this week so I included the first photo I took with it, and part of the packaging of a case I bought for it. Also there are Instagram pictures and the business card from a new dentist I went to (a big deal because I hadn't been in years...and they were fantastic!).

The Royal Wedding was this week so I just printed some pictures off the internet and added their names and the date.

May 2 - 8, 2011

I went to Chipotle this week and picked up this cool free newsletter (I loved the design and typography), so I just punched holes in it and included it.

I woke up to a news alert on my iPhone that bin Laden had been killed. I tried to find a way to get it to pop up again to take a picture of it, but settled for the news headline instead.

My favorite 'Friday Gratitudes' from April, some Instagram pictures, a Chipotle receipt and napkin (I think it's funny that they have diagrams of how to eat the burritos), and some two-up photos of my weekend activities.

May 9 - 15, 2011

A To Do list I emailed to myself, our niece's birth announcement, a hair appointment receipt, a screenshot of the week's forecast, and my gas total.

Another screenshot of the forecast. It was a big deal because my husband farms and it rained every day for weeks this spring.

May 16 - 22, 2011

I included the first section of the Indianapolis Star newspaper. Our governor was expected to announce that he was running for president but this week he announced that he wouldn't be.

A couple pictures of our niece, some Ali Edward's word art, and a hospital band (I went for an x-ray of my collarbone, which was clear).

My husband, dad, step-mom, and I went to Indianapolis to Bump Day before the 500, so I included multiple photos and a card with the text copied from my A Year of Weekends layout about it. Some more Ali Edward's word art (Life in Pictures and Days and Months).

May 23 - 29, 2011

My great-grandmother passed away the week before this, so I included the program from her funeral this week.

A screenshot of an ebook I was reading on my iPhone, pictures from the flea market, an Instagram of summer dress shopping (did everyone see that with this week's Instagram update the photos will now be at 10x the resolution of the previous version?? That makes this scrapbooker very happy).

Check back next week for another update!

A Year of Weekends | September 16 - 18

2011-09-20T12:05:00.000-04:00

Here is the latest layout for my A Year of Weekends series. Last weekend my step-brother Bill got married, so this weekend's layout was a bit more photo heavy than normal.

Click to view larger.

About this Project
I heard about this project when Peppermint Granberg was a guest on the Paperclipping Digi Show podcast. Like hers, our weeks are very predictable and very much the same from one week to the next. Although our weekends aren't all that exciting either, the weekend is when I do what I want, when I make extra time for photography or scrapbooking. So I decided to play along with this ongoing album project documenting our weekends.

Friday Gratitudes

2011-09-16T12:01:00.000-04:00

I'm thankful for some cooler fall-ish days this week.

I'm grateful for digi scrapping on my lunch...some days it's the only thing that keeps me sane.

I'm thankful for 11 completed scrapbook layouts for September's Layout a Day challenge. I'm not keeping up with doing a layout every day, but I think 11 is still pretty good!

I'm grateful for a warm evening with Chai, my fall minibooks, and Norah Jones.

He & She: August 2011

2011-09-15T11:35:00.001-04:00

They ate supper on the deck.
She did a little shopping.
They went to the NRA banquet.
He went to Canada fishing.
She missed him like crazy…and covered the dining room table and every surface in the kitchen with scrapbooking supplies.
He got detained at the border.
She hung out with his family.
He saw a bear.
She did some antiquing.
She did a lot of scrapbooking.
They danced in the kitchen.
She laughed.
He laughed.
She loved.
He loved.
August 2011.

Fall Mini Albums Now in the Shop

2011-09-14T08:03:00.000-04:00

Fall Mini Albums are now in my Etsy shop!

The front cover is a custom-designed piece of kraft paper.

It is made up of a variety of patterned papers, cardstock, a transparency, envelopes, vintage paper, hand-stamped items, and word embellishments.

Use this mini album to record the details of fall. Capture school activities, pumpkin patches, hay rides, campfires, apple-picking, traveling, or just record the everyday things around your house that are part of the fall season.

Fill your fall mini with your fall favorites:
- Traditions
- Foods
- Sights
- Smells
- Sounds
- Activities

I'll be releasing new albums in the next couple weeks, and plan to release more for winter. Sign up for my email newsletter on the right to know as soon as they're available, and to get a subscriber-only discount code! And don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Your feedback will make the next books even better!

COMING SOON: Fall Mini Albums

2011-09-13T06:05:00.006-04:00

Landing in my Etsy shop tomorrow: Fall Mini Album Kits!

August 2011 Round-Up

2011-09-13T06:00:00.000-04:00

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I started reading The Help and I’m loving it so far. I wish I would make more time than just a few minutes before shutting off the light at night, but right now I have other priorities. I keep thinking during harvest I’ll have more time (and it’s coming up FAST)!

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Lots of Sex and the City reruns on DVR while working on my mini albums while Norm was gone.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
Norm and I went to the NRA Banquet with his family. We went to a cookout to celebrate the graduation of one of our Cheeseburger Night friends. I went to the State Fair with Norm’s family while he was in Canada. I attended two bridal showers. Cass came over so we could chat and catch up after her summer in Africa.

What special/unusual purchases did I make this month?
I finally broke down and bought a bigger Vera duffel on eBay after years of complaining about how small mine was. Too bad I bought one so big that I could fit inside it! I bought a big vintage red N at an antique store. I bought supplies for my Etsy shop mini albums.

What were my accomplishments/exciting things that happened this month?
I finally got my travel mini albums listed in my Etsy shop at the end of the month!

My favorite picture from August:

About this Project
My monthly Round-Ups are inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. You can read more from her about round ups here.

A Year of Weekends | Weekend 35

2011-09-12T12:39:00.000-04:00

Friday Gratitudes

2011-09-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

I'm thankful for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day challenge, which is going on this September. I've made eight layouts so far! I'm planning on finishing up several lingering scrapbook projects this month.

I'm grateful for cooler weather this week and some rainy days. I missed rainy days this summer.

I'm thankful for a fun long weekend last weekend full of campfires, swimming, Madison time, reading...and gorgeous sunny lake days.

A Year of Weekends | September 2 - 5

2011-09-06T11:45:00.000-04:00

Friday Gratitudes

2011-09-02T06:00:00.004-04:00

I'm thankful for a good Saturday last weekend: library, antiquing, and scrapbooking!

I'm grateful for a good Sunday: more scrapbooking, a bridal shower, and my hubby came home!

I'm thankful that I finally got my Travel Mini Albums in my Etsy shop on Monday!

I'm grateful I decided to take part in the Layout a Day challenge again. It started yesterday and I have one layout done!

I'm thankful for fall being right around the corner...even if it is supposed to be 99 tomorrow.

I'm grateful for fun weekend plans.

Travel Mini Albums

2011-08-29T23:14:00.000-04:00

The Travel Mini Albums are now in my Etsy shop!

It is made up of a variety of patterned papers, cardstock, a transparency, an envelope, vintage papers, labels, hand-stamped items, tags, and journaling cards.

I'll be releasing new albums in the next couple weeks, and plan to release another in the fall and one in the winter. Sign up for my email newsletter on the right to know as soon as they're available, and to get a subscriber-only discount code! And don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Your feedback will make the next books even better!

COMING SOON: Travel Mini Books

2011-08-29T06:00:00.004-04:00

My first mini book kits will be in my Etsy shop later today. Check them out! Supplies are limited so once they're listed you'll want to hurry.

Friday Gratitudes

2011-08-26T12:09:00.000-04:00

I’m grateful for a fun day at the State Fair on Sunday with Norm’s family.

I’m thankful that my mojo has come back and I’ve been working on getting my mini books in my Etsy shop. I set a goal to have them listed on/before Monday and I’ve been working like a crazy woman every evening until the wee hours!

I'm grateful for fun weekend plans and that Sunday is just around the corner!

I'm thankful to have found a new (to me) blog yesterday on my lunch hour. If you like travel, or photography (and especially if you like them combined), click over NOW.

Crafty Wednesday | Silhouette

2011-08-24T08:00:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I decided to start saving my Amazon.com credit card reward points for this bad boy...

It would be my first die cutting machine and I can't wait to play with it. I have big plans for designing my own elements to add to my mini books, etc. Anyone have any experience with an electronic die cutting machine?

Friday Gratitudes

2011-08-19T06:00:00.001-04:00

I’m grateful for a fun-filled Friday and Saturday last weekend.
I’m thankful for RAIN last Saturday. Now let’s go for just a little more.
I’m grateful for a relaxing Sunday at home to catch up from a busy week.
I’m thankful for some nice evenings this week for jogging and eating on the deck.
I’m grateful for a fun Cheeseburger Night last night...Madison kept us very well entertained!

Crafty Wednesday | Projects

2011-08-17T12:02:00.000-04:00

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about all the projects I have going on. I guess it’s been trying to get my Week in the Life album put together that has me thinking about how busy I am, and it’s all with self-assigned projects - scrapbooking projects and blog “projects” or series. I’ve decided this week that I have too many ongoing projects, and some of them are going to have to go by the wayside sooner or later. I’m way too busy for someone with no kids and no real responsibilities.

A Year of Weekends

My ‘Year of Weekends’ ends in January (I started January 14-16) and don’t think I’ll be continuing it after that. I like this project, but in these busy months of summer it feels like such a burden to find the time to write the paragraphs of what we did all weekend, upload and edit the photos, edit my template to fit the photos I have, resize it for web, upload it to Flickr, and post it on my blog. I’m going to continue making the pages through the rest of the year, but I think I’ll cut myself some slack on posting them on my blog every week.

Project Life & Monthly Pages

These are the two projects I’m debating the most about. I love both of them. I did Monthly Pages last year, and I love the bound book I had printed at Blurb. But I also love the Project Life pages I have done for this year. My issue is that they completely overlap. I don’t need to do both, and next year I plan to eliminate one of them. I love that my whole year’s worth of Monthly Pages fit in a book that is less than 1/2" thick. But it also feels like a burden doing the pages at the end of the month (it’s the writing that always makes me put it off). I’m thinking if I keep doing the Monthly Pages, I may do them like Elise has been doing her's in a Kolo album. Although I know I’m a sucker for the design of the Project Life stuff, so I’m thinking I may buy one of the new kits coming out soon and save it for a pregnancy/first months of life album when that time comes.

He & She Book

I’m kind of in love with this book. It only takes me a few minutes at the end of the month to go back through our pictures and write a list of what we did. I also love that, because of this book project, I make sure to take a self-portrait of my husband and I every month. The only thing I’m not happy with at this point is that it also overlaps with my Project Life and Monthly Pages. I do think I’ll continue with this project because I think it will be awesome for us to look back on in a few years, and it should be cool for our kids to look at someday.

READ Book
I haven’t shared anything about this book, but it’s just a little minibook on jump rings of blank library cards with the month stamped on the top where I’ve been writing the books I’ve read each month in 2011. I also put in any pictures I’ve taken of any of the books. This one is very simple and takes me about a minute to write down the name of the book when I finish it (or 5 minutes if I have a photo of a book I want to resize and put in my “To Print” folder to include in my next photo order). I like the idea of keeping track of the books I’ve read but I may go a different direction with this next year. Maybe just a list on a sheet of paper or on my computer. I could always add those to my READ book later on if I want.

House 2 Book

My House 2 Book is not really an ongoing project so much as a big project that I’ve only barely started and that feels like a monumental chore because I have no real design plan for it. This is something I really want to think about in the coming weeks and try to get a bunch of pages done for it during the Layout a Day challenge in September. I’ve always intended to add pages for any minor/major projects we do around the house now that we’ve moved in, but I need to get the bulk of the album “done” for now.

So, that's it. How about you? Any projects you'll be putting an end to soon (scrapbooking or otherwise)? Any projects you're thinking about starting? I obviously need more to add to my list! ;)

A Year of Weekends | August 12 - 14

2011-08-15T12:28:00.000-04:00

Friday Gratitudes

2011-08-12T11:37:00.002-04:00

I’m thankful (AGAIN) for Ali’s Week in the Life project. I’ve only worked on my album a little here and there this week, but I love the templates this year and can’t wait to have my pages printed!

I’m grateful for cool evenings this week to eat supper with my honey on the deck.

I’m thankful for a nice evening walk Wednesday night with Oscar, although he’s out of shape or getting too old…he was having trouble keeping up with me, which is bad because I’m slow!

I’m grateful for a new found love of fruit. Even if it does involve blending it down to nothing and mixing it with yogurt and protein powder!

He & She: July 2011

2011-08-11T06:00:00.001-04:00

They went camping with his family.
She finished a book in two days.
They celebrated his cousin's wedding in Michigan.
Her favorite part of the weekend was an appetizer and microbrews Saturday afternoon.
She edited vacation photos all the way to Michigan and all the way home.
She got hooked on watermelon snacks.
He bought a new grill.
They went to the county fair.
He continued his reign as chipmunk killer.
She slowly killed her dahlias from lack of watering (oops).
He worked nights for a week.
She missed him.
She went on a health kick and started drinking protein smoothies.
She participated in the Week in the Life project.
They danced in the kitchen.
She laughed.
He laughed.
She loved.
He loved.
July 2011.

Crafty Wednesday | July Monthly Pages

2011-08-10T12:11:00.000-04:00

How about a little digi scrapping goodness on this fine Wednesday? Glad to have another month wrapped up in my little Monthly Pages. I am adding a Monthly Pages label to past posts, so if you want to check out my other Monthly Pages, click on it in the labels section on the right!

July 2011 Round-Up

2011-08-09T06:00:00.019-04:00

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I finished Water for Elephants in about a day and a half while we were camping 4th of July weekend. It’s one of those books I wished would just keep going. I finally finished The 4-Hour Workweek. I started reading Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism as recommended on Cathy Zielske's blog. I also started reading The Help (I always have more than one book going at a time...which is probably why it takes me forever to finish any book). I'm only a few chapters in, but so far I'm loving it!

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
I watched (and DVR'ed) Two Weeks Notice (with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant) and Secretariat. LOVED Secretariat. Other than that, it was a low-TV month.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
We went camping and boating with Rodney, Cheryl, Tiff, Matt, Madison, and Cheryl’s sister Sharon and her husband Ron. We spent a short weekend in Michigan celebrating Norm's cousin Erin's wedding. We went to the queen contest at the fair. We met Rodney and Jacinda at Lake Monroe for a relaxing day on the water.

What special/unusual purchases did I make this month?
I bought a new grey and yellow scarf, a pair of fancy Reef flip flops, and a sign for our bedroom while we were in Michigan. I bought a new Vera Bradley purse on eBay. Wish I'd bought it before our vacation. I bought cards and envelopes for Sami and Bill's invitations.

What were my accomplishments/exciting things that happened this month?
I participated in my second Week in the Life project during the last weekend of the month. As a result of the Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism book and the Dishing Up Nutrition podcast I've been listening to, I've been trying to eat more healthy foods, and I started making fruit/protein smoothies this month.

What were my disappointments this month?
I didn't work out as much as I would like this month. There was a horrible car accident in our community at the end of the month, resulting in the deaths of two teens, one of which was the son of some friends of ours. I've been thinking about them constantly.

My favorite picture from July:

Other miscellaneous pictures from July:

About this Project
My monthly Round-Ups are inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. You can read more from her about round ups here.

A Year of Weekends | August 5 - 7

2011-08-08T06:00:00.001-04:00

Week in the Life: Sunday Words & Photos

2011-08-05T23:04:00.000-04:00

7/31/11

PHOTO COUNT: 107

MORNING ROUTINE
7:23 - Wake up. Realize there's sunlight streaming in under the curtains. Get up, poke my camera through the curtains, and snap a few pictures. Bathroom and back to bed.

9:21 - Up again.

9:35 - Warm shower + sunburn = PAINFUL. I'm 27 years old...when am I going to learn to use plenty of sunscreen??

11:40 - Late breakfast of lake eggs, bacon, and strawberries on the dock.

AFTERNOON ROUTINE
12:15 - Leave the lake.

12:30 - Drive thru Starbucks in Bloomington. Grande mocha frap and banana walnut bread for me, iced tea/lemonade for Norm.

1:00 - Read for a few minutes. Nap from Spencer to Raccoon Lake while Norm drives and listens to the Brickyard.

2:34 - Home. Check mail. Try to take a picture of Oscar. He does not cooperate. Unpack in 5 minutes.

3:16 - Feel like I should say a little prayer over my printer before I start printing Bill & Sami's wedding invitations.

4:00 - See a little blurb in a magazine about the Savannah Bee company, whose stores we visited on vacation. Tell Norm I wish we would've bought one of those big gorgeous bottles as a souvenir.

EVENING ROUTINE
5:32 - Print first sheet of RSVP slips. Perfect. Print and cut 7 more sheets on my paper trimmer.

6:01 - Decide my paper cutting needs some musical accompaniment: Ingrid Michaelson's Be OK album on Myspace.

6:15 - Getting shaky because I had a frap for lunch. Almonds, walnuts, and cheese stick for a snack.

6:26 - Redesign wedding invites for reception-only invites. First off the printer is perfect. Start mass printing.

7:45 - Eat supper: barbecued chicken legs, corn, and wild rice. Watch Day in the Life of Congress. Cool.

8:15 - Back to scraproom to make maps to go with invites.

10:35 - Finally done with invites. (Edited for privacy.)

11:28 - Brush teeth and type thoughts in Momento app. A few minutes reading. Bed.

Check back soon to see my finished pages!

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Week in the Life is a scrapbooking/photography project aimed at documenting the everyday occurrences of our normal lives. For more information on my past Week in the Life project, click here. For some amazing inspiration from the original Week in the Life queen, Ali Edwards, click here.

Week in the Life: Saturday Words & Photos

2011-08-05T12:06:00.000-04:00

7/30/11

PHOTO COUNT: 124

MORNING ROUTINE
8:01 - Norm shoots another chipmunk. Watch news. Chance of rain in Bloomington today.

8:42 - Stop for gas in Rockville. $3.72/gallon.

10:45 - See a church sign near the lake that says "Satan called - he wants his weather back". We both crack up.

AFTERNOON ROUTINE
12:42 - Lunch on the water (or dock) always tastes better.

1:00 - Put gas in the boat at the marina. $4.89/gallon.

1:25 - Cruise up the lake to see Mellencamp's house.

2:00 - We anchor and go for a swim. I ask Norm to take a picture of J and I, and this is what I get.

Rodney mixes rum drinks.

3:00 - Run down the lake and tie up with some of Rodney and Jacinda's friends.

Climb over to a friend's boat for some salsa and chips.

EVENING ROUTINE
6:30 - Head back to the slip.

7:36 - Up to the marina to check into our room. Lobby is full of on-the-water-all-day drunks trying to do the same thing. Check into our room with a crazy rock wall.

8:30 - Head into Bloomington to El Ranchero for supper. YUM-O...with random bits of holy-cow-so-hot-I-can't-stand-it thrown in for good measure.

10:20 - Listen to the band on the patio at the marina. Watch a girl trying to seduce a married man and doing a face plant out of a chair onto the brick patio. Very entertaining.

10:30 - Walk around the other docks looking at boats. Hang out at Rodney and Jacinda's slip for a while.

12:45am - Back to our room. Bed.

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Week in the Life is a scrapbooking/photography project aimed at documenting the everyday occurrences of our normal lives. For more information on my past Week in the Life project, click here. For some amazing inspiration from the original Week in the Life queen, Ali Edwards, click here.

Friday Gratitudes

2011-08-05T12:02:00.002-04:00

I’m grateful for weekend days on the water, floating the day away with good company.

I’m thankful for a husband who takes care of supper when he sees I’m crazy busy.

I'm grateful for a yummy salad for lunch.

I'm thankful for a busy workweek...it's been insane, but it's flown by!

I'm grateful for this year's Week in the Life project. Can't wait to get my album together!

Week in the Life: Friday Words & Photos

2011-08-02T22:31:00.000-04:00

7/29/11 - PHOTO COUNT: 76

MORNING ROUTINE
7:08 - Social media check.

Out of bed and shower.

See one of the pheasants on our road on the way to work. Immediately kick myself that my camera is in my purse in the back seat.

11:30 - Eat lunch while balancing checkbook and printing directions to Lake Monroe for tomorrow. Chat with plant manager about the weekend.

AFTERNOON ROUTINE
Hectic afternoon. Quotes, orders, smoothie.

EVENING ROUTINE
5:45 - It starts thundering and sprinkling so Norm and Oscar sit in the garage door to watch the rain. It goes south of us...AGAIN.

7:00 - Decide to fill out census survey (in my normal place in the corner of the cabinets).

7:03 - Decide it's MUCH too long to do now.

8:00 - Gather up things for Lake Monroe tomorrow. Rodney calls about life jackets and with news about a bad accident in our area involving the son of friends of ours. Sick to my stomach the rest of my evening thinking about them.

10:00 - Make two more batches of smoothies. Rodney calls with more bad news. It seems unreal.

10:20 - Sit down to watch The Great Outdoors with Norm. Tell him it's one of the few movies I remember watching as a kid. Remember many parts of it seeming creepy/scary when I was little. Same parts seem creepy/scary to me now, 20 years later.

12:20 - Wake Norm up to come to bed. Hand him the TV remote to set on the end table. He looks at it, gets up, and starts to walk to the kitchen. I ask him what he's doing. He looks at me oddly. "Taking the tool to the other room." Me: "what tool?". "The tool for the endmill. If you let me get too close to the edge that's gonna be a bad deal." Me: "too close to the edge of what?". "Too close to the edge of the hole." GLARES at me like he's gonna snap. I start videotaping with my iPhone. He starts to wake up. I ask him what endmill he's talking about. He walks into the living room to show me where it is, but he's awake now. Fun's over.

12:41 - Post about it on Facebook.

1:05 - Lights out.

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Week in the Life is a scrapbooking/photography project aimed at documenting the everyday occurrences of our normal lives. For more information on my past Week in the Life project, click here. For some amazing inspiration from the original Week in the Life queen, Ali Edwards, click here.

A Year of Weekends | July 29 - 31

2011-08-02T12:32:00.000-04:00

Week in the Life: Thursday Words & Photos

2011-07-29T12:17:00.002-04:00

7/28/11
PHOTO COUNT: 101

MORNING ROUTINE
6:18 - Up and at 'em. Social media check. Workout.

7:00 - Log workout in Sparkpeople app on my phone. Shower and get ready.

7:50 - Eat breakfast. Hear Oscar mumble-barking in his sleep.

First thirty minutes at work - Do extrusion scheduling because the extrusion scheduler is on vacation.

11:30 - Lunch. Homemade tuna salad and lettuce wraps. Shop for new Vera purse. Post yesterday's pictures.

AFTERNOON ROUTINE
Norm is mowing with his parents' mower when I get home. Oscar is laying in the shade and darts into the garage as soon as the door gets up high enough. Flops down right in the middle of the floor. Barely moves before I drive over the top of him. Darts in the kitchen when I open the door and flops down in the middle with his legs out to get his belly on the cool floor. Pants loudly for the better part of 15 minutes.

I upload today's pictures, surf blogs, look at more Vera bags. Important stuff. Norm comes in to shower. He tells me he's ready to go 10 minutes before he really is because he knows how long it takes me to actually get out the door. Just before we walk out, I say I want to grab a quick picture of his shirt. He is frustrated because he wants to JUST GO ALREADY. Then he starts making goofy muscleman poses because he knows my camera isn't ready. I fire the shutter anyway without looking.

EVENING ROUTINE
Head to Cheeseburger Night. Dad and Jenny's bike is already out front.

Half of a cheeseburger and fries for me with iced tea, bacon cheeseburger and Budweiser for Norm, as usual. Our bar tab is higher than our food bill, as usual. Debbie puts "26" at the top of our ticket and "50" at the top of Rodney and Cheryl's every week instead of our names...although Norm and I are now 27 and Rodney is now 52. Love it. ;)

Home again, home again, jiggity jog.

9:30 - Norm and I talk in the front yard while I water flowers. My dad calls to talk about the vintage printing press a family member has. I watch a couple YouTube videos about them. Excited.

12:26am - Click "Confirm Payment" on a Vera Bradley Hipster bag on eBay. Get ready for bed and read a few pages of The Help.

12:56am - Lights out for me. Ridiculous.

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Check out Thursday's post in last year's Week in the Life project here. So cool to look back and see the similarities and differences.
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Week in the Life is a scrapbooking/photography project aimed at documenting the everyday occurrences of our normal lives. For more information on my past Week in the Life project, click here. For some amazing inspiration from the original Week in the Life queen, Ali Edwards, click here.

Friday Gratitudes

2011-07-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

I'm grateful for a fun Cheeseburger Night last night. Although that poor man we all keep yelling "HI!!!!!" at is going to develop a complex and stop coming. :)

I'm thankful for five minutes of rain last Sunday. Even if we did get less than 1/10", it's better than nothing.

I'm grateful for smoothies!!

I'm thankful Norm is done with night shift work. Ugh. That was a long few days.

I'm grateful for fun plans this weekend!

Week in the Life: Wednesday Words & Photos

2011-07-28T12:13:00.002-04:00

7/27/11

PHOTO COUNT: 87

MORNING ROUTINE
6:00 - Alarm goes off. Wait for Norm to get out of the bathroom.

6:18 - Finally get up. My shadow is waiting for me in the doorway.

6:30 - Head to the basement to workout.

Back upstairs to shower. Pick up Norm's wash rag from last night off the floor. Oscar pulls it off the edge of the bathtub EVERY NIGHT and rubs his face on it (I've caught him doing it). What a nut case.

11:30 - Lunch. Order Bill & Sami's invitation paper. Post yesterday's photos.

AFTERNOON ROUTINE

Quotes. Orders. Busy phone. Busy email.

EVENING ROUTINE
Pull in the driveway to find Norm laying under the lawn mower. Uh oh. Busted another belt. A few minutes of head scratching, cussing, and shovel-maneuvering (and me laying on my belly under the back of it) and he was back in business. For about twenty feet...then it dies. Drags it to the shed with the four wheeler to work on it.

6:00 - Download Layout a Day scrapbooking podcasts and listen to them on my iPhone in my pocket while I sweep and do laundry. This has become a daily habit: my iPhone in my pocket, listening to a nutrition or scrapbooking podcast while I do some cleaning or other chores.

I HATE this new dryer. The lint trap in the top??? A man obviously designed that. Lint dust goes everywhere when you pull it out and I cuss it (LOUDLY...and usually scream "I HATE THIS DRYER!!!!!!) every.single.time I use it. Which is too often for two people...when one of them wears a uniform to work.

8:30 - Norm comes in from working on the lawn mower with his diagnosis: he thinks it's the fuel pump. But at least he has smily eyes...and safety glasses sunglasses on his head.

The print from the job Norm worked on all last week and on nights all weekend.

8:45 - I eat tuna salad for supper and Norm heads for the shower. Oscar lays outside the bathroom door (if Norm and I aren't in the same room, he's usually halfway between us).

Upload today's photos. Write this blog post.

11:00 - Lay down to read a few pages in The Help. Norm is still in the recliner. I've yelled at him three times and told him I was going to bed, and he's still in there snoring. Oscar sighs loudly and flops down in his bed.

12:30 - Norm finally wakes up and comes to bed.

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Week in the Life is a scrapbooking/photography project aimed at documenting the everyday occurrences of our normal lives. For more information on my past Week in the Life project, click here. For some amazing inspiration from the original Week in the Life queen, Ali Edwards, click here.

Week in the Life: Tuesday Words & Photos

2011-07-27T12:26:00.000-04:00

7/26/11
MORNING ROUTINE
6:45 - Out of bed. Covers are barely messed up with just me in it. Glad that Norm will be in it tonight.

8:00 - Let Oscar out. He never gets off the deck unless you stand with the door open and yell at him "Go PEE!!". Seriously, what's wrong with the dog?

AFTERNOON ROUTINE
3:00 - Working on finishing up a sample order I started yesterday (I work in customer service for a plastic manufacturer. We make three-ring binders, among many other things).

One of my desk drawers: business cards, measuring tape, Pantone book, snacks, our swatches. Lighter for my candle. The white triangles are to measure the capacity of a ring metal (to see if it's a 1.5" binder, 2" binder, etc.). All super interesting, I'm sure.

EVENING ROUTINE
When I get home there is a sticky note on the counter: "My alarm is set for 6:30". It should just say "LEAVE ME ALONE". :) So I spend an hour or so in the gorgeous summer evening light of my scrapbooking room, uploading today's pictures.

Crawl into bed with Norm when his alarm goes off, spend 30 minutes catching up on our week so far. So glad he's done with the night shift.

7:00 - He sits down and reads the paper. I grill pork burgers for supper. Someone (ahem) recently told me I play "the stupid card" when it comes to grilling, acting like I don't know how to do it. So tonight I told someone (ahem) that he was going to eat the pork burgers no matter how they turned out...burned to a crisp, whatever, he was eating them. And they were the best pork burgers we've had yet, if I do say so myself.

This, for my photog friends, is what the "golden hour" looks like at my house.

Oscar always follows us around the house. He was extra bad with Norm tonight since he's been gone so much the last week.

9:30 - Decide we might like to go to the lake this weekend (J - it's booked :). After I cleaned up the kitchen I made another batch of strawberry banana (and raspberry) protein smoothies. This one was even better than the last batch. Super YUM.

Upload this evening's pictures, edit, write this post.

11:20 - Get ready for bed.

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Week in the Life is a scrapbooking/photography project aimed at documenting the everyday occurrences of our normal lives. For more information on my past Week in the Life project, click here. For some amazing inspiration from the original Week in the Life queen, Ali Edwards, click here.