LOAD Day 1 & 2

This is my layout for the first day of LOAD212 Past Present. I used a Studio Calico kit, and various other supplies from my stash.  The prompt was about taste, which of course made me think of recipes and to connect it to the past - this recipe card is the only one I have that is written in my Mom's hand, so it is very special to me.

This is my layout for the second day of LOAD212 Past Present.  The prompt was about a photo you love.  I found this photo fairly quickly, but  I had a horrible headache and it seemed to take forever to settle on a design and papers.  While I was googling for one photo layout ideas, I came across the Vinnie Pearce blog and it had a great layout on there, and even a free digital kit.  So I printed out some of the tags and the ribbon border from the digital kit on cardstock, and the title onto a transparency, used Twine from The Twinery and a Stampin' Up heart punch and made this layout.   I still need to journal on it, but my headache is killing me and I am going to bed!  

 

Day 2 of 2

Miles this Month: 4

January Roundup!

What reading/learning did I do this month? 

I began an A to Z reading challenge this month and I have finished  A Farewell to Arms and am part way through Brave New World .  I also read just for enjoyment and finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Lady Never Surrenders and Spirit Bound .  I took several classes at Big Picture Scrapbooking, including the Roundup class, Cathy Z's Move More & Eat Well, and Ali Edwards One Word.  I also joined Scrap Happy and Simple Scrappers.

What entertainment did I watch/listen to this month? 

We had some extra time on our hands with the snow storm this month, so Mitch & I discovered the Showtime series Homeland.  We watched it On Demand and loved every episode and are eagerly awaiting Season 2.  Streaming Netflix on my iPad has been a real life saver for me as I put in my 6 days a week of excercising.  I watched Season 1 of Downton Abbey and then discovered the PBS app and am watching the current season via that.  It sure makes the time ego by quicker.  On the the movie front, Mitch and I watched the Swedish versions of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest.  Great films!  We also took the kids to see War Horse, and Mitch took the boys to see The Grey.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?

Mitch and I had our 24th wedding anniversary and we had a great date day.  We went to the Port Gamble Cafe and I had their Clam Chowder with a Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwich.  Mitch ordered the Meatloaf Sandwich and I was sceptical, but it was DELICIOUS.  It had roasted peppers and onions and a chipolte mayo. So good.  Ruth & I went out for a girls night, we had Tapas at the Paella Bar.  We ordered the Paprika rubbed Tenderloin on crustini's, The Smoked Trout, The Chicken Flautas and The Green Chile Enchilada.  Such great food, and so nice to get just a small amount of each and be able to try so many different dishes.  We also had a wonderful Key Lime Tart and Brioche Apricot rPudding in Rum sauce.  After dinner we went to the Jewelbox Theater and watched the local production of The Fourth Wall.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

Mitch gave me 2 King Size candy bars along with a card for my anniversary.  I immediately re-gifted those things to the kids, since my goal this month was to workout 6 days a week - I didn't need to have to work those off too!

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

Mitch and I made the decision to trade in our 2006 Toyota 4Runner for a 2012 Kia Optima.  Mitch was worried because the 4Runner was going to need $$ put into it, was getting ready to go over 100K miles and he wanted something that would get better gas mileage.  This is my first brand new car in 20 years and it has all the bells and whistles I wanted :) at a price that Mitch wanted.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

I had a UTI this month, so was on antibiotics for a week.  It cleared up quickly thank goodness.

What were my accomplishments this month?

This has been a very busy month for me, I took on a lot of new goal/projects and I am doing very well at keeping up with most of them.  I walked 46+ miles this month, and lost 5+ pounds.  I read 2 of the 26 books in my A-Z challenge, I have made 2 scrapbook pages this month and organized my scrap area (again).  Also I went 28 days with no Farmville or Pioneer Trail, which is a huge accomplishment for me, as I was a daily fanatical player. I checked back in on the 29th - but haven't really played much at all.

What were my disappointments this month?

I have not kept up with Project 365+, Project 12 and Take 12.  But I am now starting a new month, with new hope! I also really wanted to take the Get Real project and get my pantry cleared out of processed foods and get us more toward a real foods diet, but that didn't happen.

How did I do on my goals for the month? Anything else noteworthy to include?

I had a lot of new goals this month, as a lot of people do in January.  They were:

• Blog daily - CHECK
• Workout 6 days a week - CHECK (I missed 2 days because of the UTI) 
• Project 365+ - FAIL
• Take 12 - FAIL
• Project 12 - FAIL
• Get Real - FAIL
• Actually do the Big Picture Classes - CHECK

Day 1 of 1

Miles this Month: 2

Bad Mom or Good Mom??

Emma is so into the Hunger Games series, she read the Hunger Games and has already started Catching Fire.  She really wanted to finish reading today, so sucker that I am - I let her stay home from school today and read.  Bad Mom or Good Mom??

Yesterday while we were home, I did some reorganizing and cleaning in my scraproom in order to get ready for LOAD 212. This meant that Emma also had to clean her side of the area.  Mitch had been very critical of the way she was keeping it, so she was told to shape up or ship out LOL.  I'd say she successfully shaped up!

Also in order to get ready - I ordered more adhesive from framingsupplies.com, it had been awhile since my last order and I had forgotten how happy their packaging always makes me and the kids!

Nothing more fun that popping bubble wrap! Inside that big bubble wrap package is a small box of 10 adhesive tape refills :)  Happy scrapping!

Day 24 of 31

Miles this Month: 46.5

Sickies

Both Brett and Emma stayed home sick from school today.  They both had a bit of a stomach ache and spent the day this way:

Brett is relaxing in the recliner with a WarHammer book that he checked out from our awesome local library.

Emma is glued to the iPad, reading Hunger Games via the Kindle app.

I love that the kids love to read.  There is nothing like curling up with a good book and letting it sweep you away to another time and place!

While we had the day off from responsibilities - I tried to make up some of the miles that I missed out on while sick and  put in 4 miles on the treadmill.  It felt really good to knock out that many miles and once and has made me realize that I need to push myself more in my upcoming workouts.

Day 23 of 30

Miles this Month: 44.25

A review of The Grey

Mitch and the boys have been looking forward to going and seeing The Grey for some time now.  They went today, and while they all agreed that it was a great movie - they weren't so thrilled with the ending.  Braeden's comment was "It was the movie equivalent of blue ball."  I tell ya, that kid is witty, crude maybe - witty definitely!

After the boys were done at the movies - we all met up at our local burger joint - The Grub Hut, for some not so good for you, fabulous tasting food.  Brett wasn't feeling well, so he only shared some of our fries.  Braeden also had a stomach ache, but managed to finish off a BBQ Burger, fries and some of my onion rings.  Mitch had a regular cheeseburger and fries and about 1/2 of my Marley Burger( Beef, grilled pineapple and onion, pepper jack cheese, baby spinach,  and jerk mayo) and some of my  beer battered home made onion rings.  Emma had a Bacon Cheeseburger with fries  and a chocolate shake.  It was $34.00 which is probably what the rot gut at McDonalds would have cost us.  So glad we have our own local dive!

Day 22 of 29

Miles this Month: 40.25

Local theater

Do you have a local theater near you?  If you do, a very enjoyable evening can be had by going and watching a production there. Tonight I took my dear neighbor/friend Ruth out to dinner and a night at the theater.  We enjoyed some wonderful Tapas at the Paella Bar and then on to Jewelbox Theater for The Fourth Wall.  It is a very intimate theater - and you can tell that some of the people there are regulars and really put their all into viewing the performance.  It was my first taste of a local production - and it is one that I will repeat as soon as possible!

Today was the second week of Merit Badge clinic and then Brett went with his friend Victor to Sky High Sports.  They have trampoline floors and walls.  The event was put on my the Boy Scouts for scouts that sold over $1500 in popcorn and a friend (Brett was the friend).  There were over 100 boys there - so it was chaotic.  Brett really enjoyed it and wants to go again, and again, and again!

Day 22 of 28

Miles this Month: 40.25

Family favorite card game

This is a card game that Mitch and I were introduced to when we lived in Guam, waaay back in 1995 (yikes).  We have had many decks of this game, have introduced many new players to this game, and spent many an evening in friendly *snort* competition.

We have also introduced our children to this game, and I love it when Braeden is home and asks if we want to play.  We played several games recently while Braeden was home on leave - and the brat won almost all of them - LOL.  That is probably why he asks to play!

Braeden was home tonight to enjoy some left-over Lasagna, play Phase 10 and watch Real Steel with Dad and I while Brett played games and Emma was at Leadership Journey overnight for Girl Scouts.  It is always great to have him home, even for just a short while.

Day 21 of 27

Miles this Month: 38

Yumm.....Lasagna

I made this yummy Lasagna for dinner tonight.  And my picky eater Brett said "Now I know why this is  Garfield's favorite dish!".  High praise indeed.  Recipe is from Pioneer Woman.

Day 21 of 26

Miles this Month: 38

Nothing better than a warm tushie

Went and picked up the car today, it had been in having the heated seats installed.  There was no way I was going to have a car with leather seats and not have them heated.  I know, spoiled much?  But seriously, there is nothing better than a warm tushie on a cold morning ;)

Day 20 of 25

Miles this Month: 36

A to Z 2012 - Book A

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I found this to be a very dry read.  Overly descriptive and I felt no connection to the characters.  Not a very good start to my year of reading classics!


View all my reviews

Day 20 of 24

Miles this Month: 36

Layout #2 for 2012

I put the finishing  touches on layout #2 for 2012 today.  Not sure I'm loving it, but it is done and I am loving that!

Took the Kia in today to get heated seats installed.  When we bought the car it had leather seats, but they weren't heated.  I've been spoiled because the 4Runner did have that, so no way was I going without :)  We had it worked into the deal to have them installed.  I got a rental car and it wasn't shabby at all - it was a 2012 Toyota Camry with only 900 miles on it!  And since I used to own a Camry - it was like visiting with an old friend.

I've also decided that my new most favorite app for my iPad is :

I used it today to get some recipes off of The Pioneer Woman blog and then I made some absolutely tasty homemade chicken noodle soup.

I even used a whole fryer chicken for the first time ever!  It cooked up great and as you can see from the picture below - the meat was just falling off the bone!

 

I might turn into a cook yet!

Day 20 of 23

Miles this Month: 36

The Millennium Trilogy

Mitch and I spent the last few nights watching the Swedish movies of these books.   They were very good movies, if a bit graphic at times.  We really enjoyed them and were sorry to finish with the third one and know that we were done.  Well not really done - we can go see the English version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo if we wanted to, but not so sure that we do!

Day 19 of 22

Miles this Month: 34.5

Merit Badge Clinic

Today was the 1st day of Boy Scout Merit Badge Clinic.  Brett is taking Chemistry, Electricity and Citizenship and the World.  Mitch and I took the adult leadership class that is offered during the clinic.  Mitch is contemplating being Scoutmaster for Brett's troop, he is going to take the training and see if it is something he could/wants to do and also is going to see how Brett would feel being the Scoutmaster's son.

Day 18 of 21

Miles this Month: 33.00

Just a scrappin'

Today I finally finished  a layout.  My first for 2012.  I have done some partial things that I need to finish, but this is the first complete one for 2012.  It feels good to be back to scrapping and being creative.  My plan for 2012 is to scrap more than I did in 2011 - which shouldn't be difficult LOL.

Supplies are all from Studio Calico kits and my stash.  I used a PageMaps sketch as the basis for this layout. I find that I need a sketch to use as a starting point for my layouts.  How 'bout you? Please excuse the crappy photo - one day I will figure out how to take good photos of my layouts.  I will add that to my list!

Day 18 of 20

Miles this Month: 33.00

Snow much hype

Well Snowpocalypse turned into snow much hype.  Although we got enough snow to bring everything pretty much to a halt - we got nowhere near 17 inches of snow.

Today we were supposed to begin to thaw out - and have some freezing rain.  Early morning freezing rain - quickly turned to snow and it has been snowing steady all day.  I would say it brought another 3 inches of snow - bringing out total to around 6 inches give or take.




It has been nice to be relaxed and at home with the kiddos, and not have to go out in the wide, white, world. Mitch has not been so lucky.  He has been having to go into work every day, as he is "essential personnel".  The upside for him is that he loves to drive in this stuff and is loving the way his F150 handles the bad roads.





While we have been "trapped", we have been catching up on some shows and trying out some new ones.  Mitch has been coming home aearly in the afternoon and we have been watching Homeland on Showtime.  Great new series - glad we signed up for Showtime, this series has made it worth it.  If you haven't watched it, try it out!

Day 17 of 19

Miles this Month: 30.25

Snow Day

Well, this is our first full snow day.  Kids are so excited to be able to stay home - and Emma is excited to get out in the snow and play.  Brett, not so much.  The forecasters called for this to be the worst storm our area has seen since 1996 up to 17" of snow in our area.  Snowpocalypse, Snowmaggedon, Snowtopia - I've heard it called lots of things.  We will see if it it just turns into Snow much hype!  So far it is looking to not be snow bad.

Day 16 of 18

Miles this Month: 28.25

A to Z Reading Challenge 2012

Read 26 books in a year, one for each letter of the alphabet. (X just has to have X somewhere in the title)

I chose classics - some I have read long ago - and don't remember well - others I've never read. I am anxious for my first book to come from the library - so I can get started!

 If you want to play along - click on the logo above - and join in!

You can view my list on Goodreads or in the Goodreads widget in the right side bar of this blog. I will rate each book as I read it :)  Here is to a year of great reading!

Day 15 of 17

Miles this Month: 25.25

War Horse

Mitch and I took the kids down to our local small town theater to see War Horse on MLK Jr. Day.  The theater was pleasantly filled - which is nice to see, as I know the owner struggles to keep seats filled.  This movie garnered a lot of audience participation, we shared laughs, outrage, fear and tears.

For me, the beginning of the movie was rather slow - and I got a little bored - but it held Mitch, Brett & Emma's attention the full time.  I guess I expected more action from the get go.  The cinematography is gorgeous, the horse is beautiful and the story is heart warming.  One warning though - better bring a big box of tissues!

Day 14 of 16

Miles this Month: 23.25

The number for the year is 12

Project 12

Are you doing Project 12 this year?  I sure seem to be taking on a lot of projects this year so far.  I am going to try to do this one too, I like the idea of having a monthly sketch and color scheme.  Looking forward to giving this a shot - and today is the day!!  {photo soon}

Day 13 of 15
Miles this Month: 21

Generosity

Today we experienced the generosity of our community.  Brett is traveling with the marching band to Disneyland over Memorial weekend.  The cost of said trip is over $800.  So, the band boosters have set up fund raising opportunities.  Today, we participated in a site sale of See's Candy Bars at our local Wal-Mart.
Candy bars sold for $2.00 each and $1.00 of that would go into Brett's travel account.  We also had a donation jar set up.  We stood out in the cold for 2 hours from 2-4 and Brett sold 64 candy bars and got $66.00 in donations.  Some people that looked like they had very little to spare - were only too happy to share their memories of band, or middle school and leave a hard earned dollar in the donation jar - or more - or even less.  Every bit of it was precious, and showing my children the generosity of our community was priceless.  Hopefully they will take this as a lesson to always pass their good fortune on, no matter how small the gesture may be.

Day 12 of 14
Miles this Month: 19

Friday the 13th

Well, here it is, the first Friday the 13th of 2012.  Are you superstitious?  I would say that overall I am not.  I don't put much stock in that type of stuff, but I do err on the side of caution and don't actively seek out black cats to cross paths with, or ladders to walk under, or mirrors to break.

It is week 2 of Project Life - and I am still waiting on page protectors to get my album going.  I will have to play some catch up. But I am trying to stay more "in the moment" in life, and pay attention to details and things to add to Project Life.

I've gotten started getting my Move More, Eat Well album put together, now to do the measuring and journaling and print out my pictures. {photo soon}

I've also started on my One Little Word album, just need to print our the photos and do some research on my word.  I have been using my word PURPOSE as I make decision about what to do in my life. I love having a word, and wish I had started sooner! {photo soon}

Day 12 of 13
Miles this Month: 19

Take Twelve

 This month I am going to have to fake this and take my 12 photos on another day, as I seem to have gone the majority of the day with no camera in hand.   I will get on the bandwagon next month and remember to actually have my camera with me on the 12th of February!

Day 11 of 12
Miles this Month: 17

Ugh...sickies

I have two stay at home sickies.  Both of them with icky tummies.  Brett seems to be worse off than Emma.  I hope they both get to feeling better and are back on track soon. I also hope it doesn't make its way though the rest of us, as that would put me off of my workout stride.

Braeden is headed back to Everett and the Navy.  He had been enjoying some leave time, and we were fortunate to have him stay with us for most of it.  Of course we had to share him with friends, and football, and Xbox Live - but we got to feed him LOL and play many games of Phase 10.  I will miss the big lug when he is gone - so fortunate to have him close by and get to see him as often as we do though.

Day 10 of 11
Miles this Month: 15