A Blessing For a Friend...

I came across this "blessing" online a week or so ago. The site didn't credit where it came from (if you know, let me know!) I think it popped out at me for a reason because when I sat down to make a card for a internet friend going through some rough times, I was at a loss on what to put on the card until I remembered this little poem. I think it was the perfect sentiment.

Hope you're all well. I've been quite busy orienting in this new job and it's hard adjusting. Just thought I'd stop in to share a little something I've been up to.

-Mrs. 246

A Day in the Life!

After my last post, I just couldn't wait to finish putting this page together! Ever since I got started in this whole Project Life business I would browse blogs and pages and occasionally would see mention of "A Day in the Life" - a lovely idea from Ali Edwards in the blogging/scrapbooking world.

It's another idea of something to scrapbook. You tote your camera around all day and take pictures of the "everyday." You don't have to do something special on the "Day in the Life," the whole idea is for years from now to look back and see how life and your routine really was at a particular point in time.

I had so many pictures that I didn't really add much text (other than the times) but it's still lovely! I thought about adding in another insert of just text for the day but honestly, I probably won't. Most pictures are self explanatory.

I, of course, had to get Mr. 246 involved otherwise there would be no pictures of me at all in our scrapbooks. So there were a couple times I had to say, "Hey, come take my picture of me doing this really mundane thing!" and it felt a bit silly but I am happy to be included.

Here's the back page:

Yes, I already broke out the Christmas decorations. I just couldn't help it. I am excited! As a kid I would literally listen to Christmas music all year round. I just love Christmas. Last year I kept our tree up until March/April because I had such a great Christmas season I never wanted it to end. (There may have been a slight bit of laziness in leaving the tree up, but not much, I swear!)

I really enjoyed the whole process and I'm glad I have a record of this random Saturday in November, 2013. Years from now Luna can look through the scrapbooks and see what she was up to on a normal day. And I think that's really neat.

 

 I think I'll definately do this project again. Maybe make it a monthly thing? We'll see how busy I get. Haha. Thank you for stopping by!

-Mrs. 246

30 Days of Thankfulness (Project Life Style!)

Occasionally I come across Project Life blogs and this will have these amazing 2x2inch insert pages and I am always jealous. I promptly put this set of the pages (they're actually coin collector pages!) on my Christmas Wish List but I gave in early and bought them myself. Ooops!

I just had to do something with them immediately and seeming as it's November now (can you believe it?!) I decided I would do "30 Days of Thankfulness." This isn't an online group or anything...just something I made up (although I wouldn't be surprised if there's already something like this going on).

I took my fall colored scrapbook paper, cut it into 2x2 inch squares, used my corner rounder and # stamps and voila! The pages have 40 slots combined and there's only 30 days in November so I used some awesome glitter* papers that I had found on clearance to fill in the extra spots.

 

I think it turned out pretty good! The glitter squares didn't photograph well but that's okay. I'm just excited for these 2x2 in pages! So many possibilities! Instagram pictures! Countdowns! A Day in the Life! 

[[Speaking of which...I may have already done my own "A Day in the Life" this past Saturday so expect to see some awesomeness from that soon.]]

I know we should all be working on gratitude all the time, but is anyone doing anything in particular to cultivate that sentiment this time of year?

-Mrs. 246

*I usually have a strict No Glitter policy for our household, but I had to relax a bit. A while ago I saw this post by Amanda Rose and I fell in love with the bit of glitter for a PL layout. So snazzy. I'm going to keep it to a minimum though since even this little bit of glitter drove me a bit made to work with. But it looks pretty!

The Season for Gratitude

I came across this video this morning and it was the perfect way to start my day. It came a the perfect time as well, with Thanksgiving getting everyone in the mood to be thankful. I've also been re-inspired by Lucy's most recent posts. I love how she can see beauty in things that I probably would have walked past without really seeing. It really inspires me to slow down and take it all in. If you have 10 minutes, I encourage you to watch this video. It is inspiring and breathtakingly gorgeous.

Also, in the spirit of thankfulness...I have a new project I'll be sharing soon so keep an eye out for it!

Happy Friday!
-Mrs. 246

Quarter Life Crisis?

Ummm...hello? Is anyone still there?

Yes, I know....I've been gone quite some time -- and I left quite abruptly. I've been going through another quarter-life crisis I think.

It all kind of started in September...I was unhappy with my job. I left for another job - with lots of good benefits. This new job was quite a bit different though and after only a week (and lots of stress) I knew it wasn't going to be for me. So after a weekend of MUCH deliberation and many conversations with Mr. 246 we decided I would quit this new high-paying, awesome benefits job in search of something that would make me happier. (Something with less hours and less stress.) I've been job searching ever since. I was sad when I didn't get a second interview for Planned Parenthood. I'm happy I did receive an "on-call" position at a nursing home. I'm waiting for the background check to clear then I'll be starting orientation. I'm still looking for the right job. I'm being kind of picky - at least in the beginning, so I can find a job I like.

Alternatively, Mr. 246 is loving his job. And we've decided to have him go back to school in January to start working on his masters since he's found something that he really loves. This makes me very happy for him and he's really excited to go back to school (well, do school stuff...it's an online program).

Things will work out for us. They always do. Once Mr. 246 is done with schooling it'll be my turn to make a change. I just have to figure out what I want to do with my life if it isn't nursing.

So...let's get back to some happy things! Here's a couple pictures from my most recent Project Life layouts.

See? Things haven't been all bad here! I'm very grateful for all this time I've been spending with Luna. It makes me sad that it can't last.

Anyway, after this post I'm going to try to get back into the blogging swing of things. I've been up to a lot of stuff lately (especially crafting/Project Life) and I can't wait to share!

Hope you've all been well!

-Mrs. 246

Days 18-22: Thirty Days of Lists

I'm getting close to the end. Can I just say how much I love the look of all of the lists together in a Project Life layout? So awesome. I'm really excited I decided to do that. Alright...I have four more lists today and I'll all caught up with posting since my break. Here we go:

Does this list look a little empty to you? I was a bit put off that this list happened to fall on a 4x6 layout instead of a 3x4 because I don't have much to put on this list. I just really don't like asking for help. 

I'm really particular about how I like things to be and if I ask for help it's either more work than just doing it myself (because I have to explain everything and I get really bossy and it's terrible for my relationships) or I'm secretly upset because it isn't done the way I like it. 

Am I revealing too much about myself here? It's really quite terrible, isn't it? Well, a lot of this project deals with learning about yourself and self reflection and it's definitely doing that.

 

A lot of these qualities are what I strive to be. I just thought of one more thing just now: I really like it when someone is really particular or has a really strong interest in a particular thing. It's kind of hard to explain. I just like it when someone has a "thing," like if someone had a "thing" for collecting panda objects because they really like pandas (really random choice, I know). Then this person has to buy a particular plate because it has a panda on it and they really like pandas. I think it may stem from the fact that I have so many things I'm interested in it just really calms my soul to know that there are people that can pledge allegiance to a particular thing or hobby or habit. I think I'm a bit envious of it.

Also, this list looks a little unfinished because I had forgotten to add something. I couldn't think of the word for what I wanted to write. What's it called when someone has a strong backbone about things? Strong willed? I don't know if that's quite the right word so that's why I left it blank until I could figure out what word I'm thinking of.

 

I think the most comforting thing on this list (besides my family, of course) is that I'm re-reading HP (again, haha). I've had the urge for a while but I've been putting it off. I really like re-reading it in the winter months. It's just so perfect to get cuddled up after a fresh bath or shower and crawl into bed and dive into the wizarding world. It's the perfect escape. To the perfect place. (I don't think I've mentioned it in the blog yet, but I am so so so so so excited for the new movie!)

 

This prompt made me laugh when I read it. What a joke. Lol. My diet isn't too terrible. I think a lot of my issues is portion control. We like to eat large quantities of food but most of the time the actual food we're eating isn't too terrible. Oh, and cheese. We've joked before that cheese (all kinds of cheese) is pretty much its own food group in our house.

 

I'm not gonna lie, I made this card the night before last and I had a pretty interesting dream last night that I'm disappointed didn't make it onto this card. I had a dream that Ryan was injured in some sort of accident at the mall and it left him in a pretty bad condition. (As I retold the dream to Ryan he says he was injured in a mall kiddie train accident, haha.) For some reason - with the disabilities he had when he was recovering, he would fit or make it in doors so they gave him a fenced in area to live in while he recovered. We were apparently living on a college campus so his fenced-in cage was on campus and students would see him as they walked to class and it was mighty awkward so I would only visit him at night. Ryan was not pleased that dream-Alex did this. Oh well. Pretty weird though, right?

Woooo! Caught up! Also: Happy First Day of Fall!!! I feel like I should do something to celebrate but I haven't decided on what yet. Hmmm....

Want to learn more about my list project/"30 Days of Lists"? Please visit my original post to learn more!

Want to see more lists? Search for the hashtag "#30lists" on Instagram or Pinterest to see more! Or you can go to the #30lists Flickr Group. And if you're a Twitter user, you can check out even more lists here.

-Mrs. 246
 

Day 12-17: Thirty Days of Lists (PL Layout Included!)

 

TA-DA! The second page of my 30 Days of Lists is done! Pretty, right? My last #30days update ended on Day 11 so we'll get caught up. 

Side note: I'm back! I had a short bout of depression and a severe case of the "blahs" but I'm back now! (I'm pretty sure it was induced from a new medication I was taking. Went off of it and now I'm back to normal. If only every bad mood was as easy of a fix.) Thanks for the little break. Also, I took a break from reading some blogs too so if I've been silent, I apologize. Everyone needs a little break every now and then. :)

Alright, down to business. Here's Day 12...

Now, September isn't my favorite month at all (other than school starting...I loved school starting!). I think my favorite part of September is pretty much the fact that I'm one step closer to the time of year I really love: October, fall, and Christmastime! :)

While I was writing out this list I asked Ryan for some input and apparently I have a lot more than 5 but this was all that I could fit on the 3x4 card. Haha. #3 is probably the most bothersome. I get slightly jealous of people who are a bit more of "dreamers" but at the same time I can't help but secretly thinking "Oh that is never going to work out." I know, I'm terrible. That's why it's a bad habit, right?

Our weekends are all pretty much the same. It may be lame and not very exciting to others but we're homebodies and we have a small child so our options are limited. I love the weekend though. It recharges me so I can tolerate another working week. :)

This one's pretty self explanatory. That's pretty much everything in our junk drawer too. Mr. 246 cleaned it out a week or two ago and this is all that remains. Now that I'm typing this up...I totally should have taken a picture too. Oh well.

 

I had a hard time choosing who I would pick for this list but in the end Ryan won. "My Warning Signs" refers to the signs I emit when I'm overwhelmed or done with something and not feeling well, or I'm about to turn into a pumpkin. He knows them all. 

He's just that good. The "puddles" refer to the pitcher of water we keep on the counter. I'll admit it...sometimes I'm too lazy to get water if the "puddle" is empty since it takes so long to fill up a cup. (We have a filter thing on our tap.) Therefore the puddle must always be filled otherwise I'm probably getting slightly dehydrated. (Ryan chose "puddle" as a reference to dogs drinking out of puddles. Lol.) 

The green light refers to the Wiimote charging station in bedroom. It has a green light when it's charging at night and it's ridiculous. It seriously lights up the whole room. It's terrible. He's heard me bitch about it enough. Haha.

The Luna one is pretty self explanatory.

"Sleep equations" is what we call my sleeping process. I have a ridiculous amount of things that must be in place before I can sleep. (i.e. proper pillows, proper blanket, proper temperature, proper positioning, my "double eye patch", ect...)

I got excited about this one but slightly overzealous by making so many spots on the grid but I do like the grid form for listing. It's a bit different.

Okay, so I'm getting caught up. I'm going to have another post in a while or so to get caught up. Woooooo!!


Want to learn more about my list project/"30 Days of Lists"? Please visit my original post to learn more!

Want to see more lists? Search for the hashtag "#30lists" on Instagram or Pinterest to see more! Or you can go to the #30lists Flickr Group. And if you're a Twitter user, you can check out even more lists here.

-Mrs. 246
 

I'll Be Back...

Sunset from the end of our street. Beautiful.

I'm going to be taking a short break from blogging. I'm overly stressed at work and lately all I've wanted to do is sit an be a zombie in the evenings, so that's what I'm going to do. I'll be back in a couple days and I'll post my lists then. :)

But real quick: I had another interview. (A panel interview! Ahhh!) They gave me a tentative job offer, pending my background check and references. So that's very exciting. Bad part: it's been taking up to two months for people to get cleared and set up before they start working. I'll cross my fingers and hope it won't take that long.

Hope you're all well. I'm gonna set myself up with some hot tea, blankies, and a good book. See you in a couple days!

-Mrs. 246

Day 11: Thirty Days of Lists

Luna and Ryan are the best family anyone could ask for. And yes - Ryan taught me how to change a diaper. I had a C-Section so Ryan was taking care of Luna while I was recovering, by the time I was ready to change a diaper I had no clue and Ryan walked me through it. Also, Ryan is the most patient person in the world. He currently has a job tutoring autistic children and I can think of no one better suited for such a job. I couldn't do it.

Luna's a good teacher too. I finally have to hold myself accountable because I have this small impressionable human being watching my every move. Children learn through observation and I don't want her observing any of my bad habits. She helps me be a better person.

And Boo...it's true...if I'm really upset about something sometimes the only thing that can help me feel better is cuddling with my little puppy.

Want to learn more about my list project/"30 Days of Lists"? Please visit my original post to learn more!

Want to see more lists? Search for the hashtag "#30lists" on Instagram or Pinterest to see more! Or you can go to the #30lists Flickr Group. And if you're a Twitter user, you can check out even more lists here.

-Mrs. 246
 

Day 10: Thirty Days of Lists

There are a lot more, I'm sure...but these are just the first ones I could think of. I'm glad I'm doing Project Life though because I'm going to start keeping track of what I've received.

I am terrible at remembering anything memory-related. I frequently have to ask Ryan what movies I've seen or haven't seen and whether I liked them or not. Sometimes he'll tell me things that happened and I have no recollection of them. I'm pretty sure I have early onset something and it scares me.

Anyways, one of the things Ryan and I can never remember is what we've gotten for each other. Ask me what I got for my birthday last year...I have no clue! Christmas? Not a clue there either (except the big things - new sewing machine and new hardcover deluxe HP set!). I'm going to start documenting everything we've received so I can remember and look back to see how much people care. :)

Want to learn more about my list project/"30 Days of Lists"? Please visit my original post to learn more!

Want to see more lists? Search for the hashtag "#30lists" on Instagram or Pinterest to see more! Or you can go to the #30lists Flickr Group. And if you're a Twitter user, you can check out even more lists here.

-Mrs. 246
 

Day 9: Thirty Days of Lists

I can think of lots of things that make me cry but there isn't anything too weird that makes me cry. This is the best I could do. I cry at pretty normal things that can make people cry. I mean, who doesn't cry at the ASPCA commercial? (And why can't I change the channel fast enough?!)

Also, DYAC = Damn You Autocorrect. (Their site, however, has gone downhill and I find it kind of frustrating at times.)

Want to learn more about my list project/"30 Days of Lists"? Please visit my original post to learn more!

Want to see more lists? Search for the hashtag "#30lists" on Instagram or Pinterest to see more! Or you can go to the #30lists Flickr Group. And if you're a Twitter user, you can check out even more lists here.

-Mrs. 246
 

Days 7 & 8 (and a peek at the first week all together!): 30 Days of Lists

I didn't seem too many exciting things yesterday. We hung out at the house mostly and even then we did pretty average stuff.

One thing that was neat was Luna and my tablet. We don't let her play with electronics or watch TV but I was looking around the Google Play store and found a cute free shapes app and let Luna check it out. It had shapes and said the names of things and Luna repeated after the narrator and said, circle, door, and pizza! It was pretty neat. Three new words all at once! I don't think I'll make the screen time a habit though. Maybe on special occasions though.

Now for Day 8: Childhood Chores!

The only childhood chores I really remember was mowing the lawn (we had a huge lawn and we got to use the riding mower so it was kind of fun!) and cleaning up dog poop. Great...if I remember correctly, we had to clean up the dog poop before we mowed. Oh joy. Oh, and the dishes..."Cleaning the counters is part of doing the dishes...go back and do the counters!" I call "bullshit" on that. That is two different chores. Yea...I'm still a little bit bitter.

So....do you wanna see the first Project Life page for the project?!? It looks very nice all put together!

((Remember you can click on any picture to make it larger!))

Now that my first week of  "30 Day of Lists" is done, I'm feeling pretty good about it. I hope you've all enjoyed checking them out so far...only 22 days left!

Want to learn more about my list project/"30 Days of Lists"? Please visit my original post to learn more!

Want to see more lists? Search for the hashtag "#30lists" on Instagram or Pinterest to see more! Or you can go to the #30lists Flickr Group. And if you're a Twitter user, you can check out even more lists here.

-Mrs. 246
 

Day 6: Thirty Days of Lists

I didn't really have much to say on the whole "Rules to Break" prompt. I suppose the last note on the list is the most meaningful to me. It's just silly to try to be awesome at everything mom/woman related. It's also exhausting. I'm much happier not trying to fufill every single "Super Mom" aspect. For example...mom/woman related things I suck at: getting dolled up daily (I don't even come close), doing all the household chores (we're pretty 50/50 around here), baking, cooking (I just don't care for it), being all fitness-y and healthy all the time (I get on health kicks every once in a while, but I'm not going to make myself miserable over it if I'm not being 100%).

Last week, a friend posted a link to an excellent blog post that you can read here. It's called "Mom vs. Mom: The War I Didn't See Coming" on the LovingMyLot blog that kind of touches on the topic. I don't feel quite as strongly as the author, but it's a good read and it made me laugh.

Want to learn more about my list project/"30 Days of Lists"? Please visit my original post to learn more!

Want to see more lists? Search for the hashtag "#30lists" on Instagram or Pinterest to see more! Or you can go to the #30lists Flickr Group. And if you're a Twitter user, you can check out even more lists here.

-Mrs. 246