December Daily: The Beginning!

Oh December Daily! I tried you for a very short time last year and I never finished you! Maybe this year will be the year.

I've been Pinterest-ing lots of stuff to get ideas for the past month or so but even with all that guidence I keep expecting some sort of set directions on what you're supposed to do. I've come to the conclusion it's kind of whatever you want which leads me to feeling like this as I put it together...

I see lots of people doing their basic layouts so they just plug in their pictures and whatnot. I wanted to do that. I really did. I just could not figure out how to pick stuff out when I didn't even know what I was supposed to be showcasing for that day. So yes...I'm definitely just making it all up as I go along. I've made my own unofficial rules for myself to keep myself sane:

•  Use your own handwriting dammit! You'll get it done a lot quicker if you're not fiddling with a typewriter.
• Things do NOT have to be perfect. Getting it done happily is a lot better than hating the project and everyone around me.
• I am not a professional scrapper in any sort of the way. I am not a designer. I am a regular person and it's okay to scrap like one. I do not have time to be all Martha Stewart about it. Lol.
• Anything goes. Just get it done. 

Anyway, on to the pictures....(and in keeping with the keep-myself-sane way of life, they are not ideal pictures but I got them done so that's what counts. Haha!)

I love love love how the cover turned out. Little button tree! I'm so proud of you! (Also, took a lot longer than I care to admit to get the sizing/layout just right.)

I'm also in love with the title page. It's impossible to get a proper picture of because it's set on a clear page so you may have to use your imagination as to how it looks in person and without glare.

Next up: Intro/first page. The calendar is a printable from Stitch In Time. I'm going to write a little something each day.

These pages are all actually November because I just simply couldn't wait to decorate.

Here's the other side of the insert along with pictures of us decorating. I'm doing #30lists as well so throughout my album there will be lists!

The page on the left was inspired by Luna and a little story of the "Magic Christmas Star." We finished decorating the tree and she declares that it "needs a star on top!" What the heck? You're two and a half! How do you know it needs a star on top?! Lol. We didn't have a star which prompted a trip to Target. On the way she said we were getting a "Magic Christmas Star!" Hahaha. A day or two later when we were watching a Christmas episode of Paw Patrol I realized that's where she learned it from but it really threw us for a loop. Haha! It was super cute!

The right page is our Elf On the Shelf's letter from his first day of visiting! He brought breakfast from the North Pole. I'll include pictures of that later when I get prints made again.

The next page includes my list for Day #2 of listing. On the 4x6 wood insert I'm going to put a picture of some sort when I get it printed.

The other side of the 4x6 is Day #3's list and a 2x2 shaker page of all our new ornaments that we got for the year. There's one for the Columbus Zoo, the Oakland Zoo, Big Trees State Park, Rudolph (since she watched it for the first time this year), and a polar bear (because that's what Luna picked out.) I'm sure we have some other ornaments somewhere in the house. I try to pick up an ornament anytime we go somewhere neat so then we can remember all those fun times each Christmas.

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't looked ahead to tomorrow's (12/4/14) listing prompt for #30lists do not scroll down!

On the other side of the shaker page I did my list for tomorrow. :)

If you've really been paying attention you'll realize I have no pictures from December in here yet. Lol. I've got some editing to do tonight and hopefully I'll print them and add them in tomorrow! I want to try to keep us because as soon as we leave for Ohio I probably won't be touching the rest of the month until January. Lol.

Hope you enjoyed looking! If you're doing December Daily as well leave a link so I can check out your pages!
-Mrs. 246

Project Life October 2014

Believe it or not I'm actually caught up with Project Life. (Okay, well...I may be lying a tad. I haven't scrapped September yet. I was sick of being behind so I just started back up with October. I was more motivated to do a current month.)

I tried for a more "put together" look this month. I used my typewriter a lot. (I'm not the best at it and I pretty much left all mistakes "as-is.")

I also printed all my pictures with a white border. I always think it's pretty when people do that with their pages and I like the cleaner look it gives my own. 

I did a lot of Halloween colors. Even with non-Halloween related things. It was also Mr. 246's birthday this month so that means...birthday week!

I had a fair amount of pull out things for when I wanted to include just one more thing or a little tid-bit.

A half page insert for our Pumpkin Patch trip...

I've been debating about what to do with cards. I just can't keep keeping them. They take up a lot of space and I'm still relatively young. I've decided I'm going to keep the super special ones and photograph the rest. That's what these two pages are: pictures of birthday/Halloween cards. Some of them aren't the right orientation and the pictures aren't the best but it's all very readable and takes up considerably less space than the actual cards.

See...I did keep some stuff! These are some random inserts I'm including as well. The two little books of memories reside in the birthday envelope.

More birthday celebrations...

A little pull out with pictures of Luna poking the cake, a little memory about Luna wanting nothing but cake and for good measure...I included the recipe as well!

Another little pull-out of a picture I just couldn't NOT include. There was a rabbit at the Autism walk and Luna insisted that it was the Peter Rabbit. So cute!

 A 12x12 page highlighting Luna's costume! (The picture didn't turn out so well of this one. Oops!)

More everyday life....

And a half page insert just for Halloween!

That's about it...I've been super quiet lately on the blogging front. (It's actually been quite nice! I think it might be too much for working full time and having a life and blogging but I'm going to make it a point to check in every now and then.)

Hope you're all well! Please feel free to leave a link to any Halloween or October project life pages you've done. I'd love to see them! Thanks for stopping by!

-Mrs. 246

Gobble Gobble Gobble!

The classic "Handprint Turkey." 

We've finally reached this milestone! Unlike last year...there was no crying. She even asked for more..."Paint my feet mommy!" "Paint my knee mommy!"

I see a lot of handprint crafts in our future. What a lovely last-day-off with my Bean. :)

The little poem I stole while I was looking through here.

Hope you've been well!
-Mrs. 246

Pardon Me, But I Must Craft!

Someone somewhere may have noticed I didn't do a Weekly Goals post yesterday. I'm planning on going on a blogging hiatus until I completely catch up with Project Life. I don't have nearly as much time as I used to before I started working full time and I reeeeallly want to catch up with PL and my other projects before "Project Season" starts. (I've gotten June done and July printed so I'm making great progress, I just have to work a bit more.)

I still plan on doing my 30 Days of Lists Posts throughout the rest of September but until I'm all caught up, things will be a bit quiet around here. I just really miss being current with PL. I can put in so much more detail and I'm much more motivated to take pictures.

Anyways, I'll see you around! And when I'm back I'll be nice and refreshed. :) See you soon!

-Mrs. 246

Days 6-12: 30 Days of Lists [September 2014]

30 Days of Lists is kind of like a "list-a-long" where all month long in September you write your list for the prompt of the day and share it with others to see! There are a ton of different ways people present their lists and this is mine:

• If you'd like a tour of this month's list book check out this post! 
• Check out days 1-5 of my book here. 

September 6th: This list is more like my/Luna's entire evening routine rather than what I do right before bed.

  
September 7th: Notice this is a short list. Lol. None of these do I actually enjoy...I just love the end result. Lol. Least favorite "chore": cooking, hands down. Thank goodness for Mr. 246.

September 8th: I am not a sophisticated person. And that's okay. This is more a list of all-time favorites. Just as I am terrible with remembering movies, I'm terrible at remembering books after I've read them.

September 9th: This was an odd prompt. I didn't quite know what direction to take it. Lol.

September 10th: Picture is actually from today but it showcases my current project which I am in LOVE with. 

September 11th: Mostly a craft list but with some random things thrown in. I couldn't think of very many "life" things I've finished with and projects seemed the easiest to list.

September 12th: Oh! A night in! Maybe it's the introvert in me but we pretty much spend all our nights in. I haven't tired of it yet! Haha. Oh, and what's that you spy in my picture...is it a Whirley Pop?! It sure is! (Bass Pro edition! Lol.) It's our newest exciting obsession. Best purchase ever!

If you're doing #30lists please feel free to leave your link! I love checking out the different ways people present their lists and the things they come up with!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share!

-Mrs. 246

Weekly Goals {Week 36}

Another week, another set of goals. I've been in a pretty good place lately and I think that's really helped. I really must credit the impending season of fall. Things are just so much better when your favorite season is right around the corner. Here's how I did:

GOALS MET IN WEEK 35: 10.66/13

FAMILY/MOTHERHOOD/MARRIAGE:

1. (Motherhood) Do at least one art project together. We colored together a good couple times...does that count? Seeming as Bean has been acting especially two lately, I think yes.

2. (Family) Eat dinner as a family most nights. Check!

3. (Marriage) Plan an *actual* date night. Check! September 26th here we come!

PERSONAL:

4. Go to bed on time on work nights! Yes! And even a tad early some nights.
5. Save all receipts/update budget daily. Stick to my budget! Half credit. I didn't do it daily but it's now up to date.
6. Do less. Yes. I definitely took some time to relax this week.

HEALTH:

7. Work out x3. 2/3rd's credit. I went only twice. Can I make an excuse? I can? Well...I was super tired that day and I started getting sick/allergies. Is that good enough? Probably not, but I'll take it.

8. 9,500 steps/day goal. 10,993 steps/day average! Killed it! (Calculation is slightly off...I didn't wear it two of the day unfortunately...)

9. At least 7 glasses of water a day. Half credit. I did alright. Some days went really well, some days didn't.
10. Cook more at home. After seeing the ungodly amount of money we spent on restaurants and convenience food last month, we've definitely been eating at home more. We just have to get through this withdrawal period, lol.

CRAFTING/HOBBY/INTERNET:

11. Work on HPC craft swap. Yep! Finished one item!
12. Post in HPC at lease once.Yep! A couple times actually and I've declared my career path.

13.  Write 2 blog posts. (This one counts!) Yep!

____________________________________________________

THIS WEEK'S GOALS:

FAMILY/MOTHERHOOD/MARRIAGE:

1. (Motherhood) Play outdoors more! (Yes, even when it's hot...)

2. (Family) Eat dinner as a family most nights.

3. (Marriage) Take a night off from all projects and just hang out and be. And be together.

PERSONAL:

4. Go to bed on time on work nights!
5. No frivolous spending this week. Essentials only! (We shall see how this goes!)

HEALTH:

6. Work out x3.

7. 10,000 steps/day goal.
8. Lose 1 pound. (Gasp! Making an actual weight loss goal, I know!)


CRAFTING/HOBBY/INTERNET:

9. Finish another item for Back To Hogwarts craft swap.
10. Finish all of June Project Life pages. 

11.  Write 3 blog posts. (This one counts!)

Yes, that's right...only eleven this week. I'm trying to simplify and I'm thrilled about that. To anyone else making goals this week....Go get em!

-Mrs. 246

Days 1-5: 30 Days of Lists [September 2014]

30 Days of Lists is kind of like a "list-a-long" where all month long in September you write your list for the prompt of the day and share it with others to see! There are a ton of different ways people present their lists and this is mine. If you'd like a tour of this month's list book check out this post!

I plan on posting my lists on Fridays so you know what that means...I've got my first week of lists done!  

September 1st: The picture is horrible cell phone quality but I still wanted to include it. It's Luna playing her first "board" game, Jumping Jack! A big first if I do say so myself and it was a super special day since Mr. 246 and I both had the day off.

September 2nd: Picture is of some awesome notebooks I found at TJ Maxx. Every 20 pages or so they have a whole page of quotes/picture. So cute I had to get three. What will I use them for? No clue!

September 3rd: Oh gosh. Time is one of those things I ALWAYS wish I had more of.

September 4th: I was about to list my projects I plan on finishing and then when I thought about it, I'm probably not going to be finishing much so I had to tweak the prompt a little. Lol. It's hard to do so many projects with working full time and attempting to have a life. I love the picture...it's little Halloween stuff Bean and I have been working on. We have to get started suuuuper early since it takes 2 year olds a while to do anything. Lol.

September 5th: Things to nurture this month....my family and myself. And appreciate this time in our lives.

If you're doing #30lists please feel free to leave your link! I love checking out the different ways people present their lists and the things they come up with!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share!

-Mrs. 246

Weekly Goals {Week 35}

Oh September. How I love thee? I am very excited that it's September 1st today. So much awesomeness: it's almost fall, it's almost Christmas time (I start early!), it starts to cool down, you can maybe take walks outside finally, 30 Days of Lists, new HPC semester. I broke out the Leaves candles and I am ready to go! I have a reeeeaaallly good feeling about this fall/winter. Let's hope I'm right.

GOALS MET IN WEEK 35: 11/13

FAMILY/MOTHERHOOD/MARRIAGE:

1. (Motherhood) Read at least 3 books together everyday.Killed it! We read a lot more than I realized which is awesome. Book of the week was "Found"...I think she's a bit obsessed.

2. (Family) Plan something special for next weekend. (My weekend off!) Yes! We went to an engagement party Saturday night and the Zoo on Sunday. :)

3. (Marriage) Game night at least twice and a movie at least once.Completed! Although, I did fall asleep during game night #2. Mr. 246 says it still counts.

PERSONAL:

4. Go to bed on time on work nights! Yep!
5. Save all receipts/update budget daily. Stick to my budget! I had a lot more money left over in my budget than I thought I would have so I kind of spent all willy-nilly and didn't track anything. I'm planning on getting caught up today!
6. Finish reading The Giver and start reading the next book! I don't know where I found all the time but I finished The Giver, the second book, and the third book and am now on the last book in the series. I loved The Giver in grade school and I never knew there were more books so it's been neat to read it again with the sequels!
7. Be nice to myself. I did!

HEALTH:

8. Work out x3. Yep! I went to Zumba on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday - my favorite nights to go because of the instructors. :)

9. 9,000 steps/day goal. Average steps goal: 11979 steps/day.
10. Track all food eaten for at least one day. Erm. No.
11. Drink more water! Yes! Probably not as much as I need to be but I definitely made a conscious effort!

CRAFTING/HOBBY/INTERNET:

12. Finalize which crafts to make for the Back to Hogwarts Craft Swap. Check! But I can't tell you because it's a secret. ;)

13.  Write 2 blog posts. (This one counts!) Check!

____________________________________________________

THIS WEEK'S GOALS:

FAMILY/MOTHERHOOD/MARRIAGE:

1. (Motherhood) Do at least one art project together.

2. (Family) Eat dinner as a family most nights.

3. (Marriage) Plan an *actual* date night.

PERSONAL:

4. Go to bed on time on work nights!
5. Save all receipts/update budget daily. Stick to my budget!
6. Do less.

HEALTH:

7. Work out x3.

8. 9,500 steps/day goal.
9. At least 7 glasses of water a day.
10. Cook more at home. 

CRAFTING/HOBBY/INTERNET:

11. Work on HPC craft swap.
12. Post in HPC at lease once.

13.  Write 2 blog posts. (This one counts!)

Best of luck this week! Hope it's a wonderful start to September!

-Mrs. 246