Back at It

...whatever "it" is. Why is it whenever I have stuff to blog about, I forget to? I really need to get a regular blog schedule down this summer so I'm ready and used to it when school starts. Anyway...on with the show!

I'm working hard on getting caught up with Project Life. I'm great about taking tons of photos. Not so great at getting them into my album. I checked a few days ago and I was backed up to Week 18 - that's April 20! Needless to say, I'm embarrassed. When I started this project, I was afraid that I'd be the one who bought everything and then ended up with it on the shelf. I'm guilty of that with so many things. Project Life has surprised me though because I have been keeping up, at least with photos. I've been working hard and have through Week 22 (June 3-9) completed. Week 23 just needs one photo printed and journaling done. And everything up until today has been planned. I'm even planning on sharing! I have up to Week 22 even photographed now. I think I'll start with a week a day, if that makes sense. (It does in my head.) So, get ready. I'm going to try to blog regularly for the next few weeks!

I think I'm also going to bring my PL album with me tomorrow to Richmond, VA. It's our annual Fourth of July trip to see my family. Though our usually festivities have been cancelled bc of the awful weather they've had, I'm still going with my family. I haven't been up there since last July. That was the last time I've seen two of my three sisters! I think this week's PL (Week 27 for those playing at home) will be a jam packed with lots of fun. Maybe I'll finally break out all those fun new page protectors I bought. :)

Journey Home

On the way home right now. Fabulous Husband is driving. It's a rather uneventful little drive. However, while passing through Marion, SC, we saw dozens of billboards advertising canned food. All different types. They all seemed to be from Glory Foods or Margaret Holmes. We can't figure out why though. Just seemed odd to see so many of them.

Wood Storks!!

Fabulous Husband and I were driving back from the coffee shop when we saw some folks stopped on the side of the road taking pics of a tree. We looked up and saw these huge birds in the trees!

According to the couple that was taking photos, they're Wood Storks. They roost in the trees during high tide. During low tide, they'll fly out to feed. Pretty cool!!

It's Been a While

Wow!  I hadn't realized it's been so long since I blogged.  The month of May is never an easy month for a teacher.  Luckily, DIBELS is over, grades have been recorded, report cards sent home, and my room cleaned for the end of another school year.  I'm now officially on summer vacation! 

I've been pondering a lot over what kind of summer I want this to be.  I always start off the summer with great ambitions of what I'll get done.  I'm trying to be a bit more realistic.  I want to make some great memories, but I also want to relax!!  Right now, I'm at Sunset Beach with just my husband.  Elizabeth is off with her grandparents for a week and can barely stand to be still long enough to talk to us on the phone.  I miss her tons but know she's having a great time so it makes it easier to be away from her.  Fabulous husband and I are having a wonderful time.  It's so funny how your view changes on a place when you're by yourself.  We've been coming here since way before Elizabeth was born.  But, only once, have we ever been here by ourselves.  We're always meeting family or friends.  It's nice just to be the two of us on our own.  Sunday we spent the entire day in the condo doing nothing.  Many would look at that and frown and wonder why we wasted a day like that.  Because, we could!!  It's not something we could ever do at home.  We did end up leaving the condo in the evening to go get ice cream.  It was a great treat.  Plus, once we decided to do it, we left after only a few minutes.  Toss on shoes and go!  Any parent can tell you that never happens with a child around!!

I decided to document this trip with Instagram.  I am having a blast doing it too!!  I can't wait to print out and have fun with these photos.  Check out my drink from yesterday!  It's a delicious mango margarita from Margaritaville!  I love that place!!

I just put the Blogger app on my iPhone.  I hope to blog now while we're in the car between places.  We're off to do some shopping at Barefoot Landing now.  These are going to be fun photos to add to Project Life when we get home!!

Bella Blvd Yumminess!

Earlier this week, a package from A Cherry on Top arrived.  I've tried to be good about not buying as much.  It was very hard after all the CHA goodies started coming out.  I finally broke down and bought Bella Blvd's Sunshine & Happiness line.

I discovered a short bit ago that I'm too addicted to collection kits.  I vowed to stop buying them and just choose a few sheets from the collection that really spoke to me.  The problem was, everything in the Sunshine & Happiness line spoke to me.  All of it.  The whole shebang.  Usually it's just paper, the alphabet, and maybe some stickers that call my name.  This time, it was every little part of it.  I bought all buy the flags and chipboard from A Cherry on Top.  I have no idea why I didn't get those.  At the time, I was thinking that they're in my bucket at Two Peas so I'll just get them there.

Anyway, they arrived!  I was about to do a dance of joy when I recalled the whole concussion thing.  Still quite dizzy and having a constant migraine.  Dancing = bad.  I did unpack it and drool over it (as well as Echo Park's new summer line Hello Summer collection kit.  I only picked up a single sheet apiece of the "solid" cardstock.  No other complete collection kits for me!  Scrapbooker's Honor!!

So, over the past week, I've slowly been working on the layout with my favorite Winter CHA release.  I chose the pictures one day.  I color corrected them another day.  I picked out the layout from a Scrapbook Generations book another day.  I even cut the strips a bit at a time.  I fussy cut out clouds from this gorgeous paper this morning.  After that, it was a matter of putting everything down.  It took longer than I expected.  It was a two page layout with clouds going across a strip at the top.  It took me forever!  Now, I'm regretting.  Please, no one tell my husband.  He'll be lecturing me about taking it easy.

It was worth it though.  Everything on the layout is yummy Bella Blvd goodness except for the washi tape.  When I'm feeling up to it, I'm going to take some pictures to upload here so you can see.  I just adore the layout!!!!

This Will Make an Interesting Project Life Entry

I'm trying to make my Project Life album about my everyday life.  Not all happiness and smiles, but the lows with the highs.

One thing I truly enjoy doing every year is helping our school's music teacher put on the spring show for middle school.  We do a musical twice and then a talent show.  Rinse and repeat.  This year is the talent show year.  The performances were yesterday.  One for the school at 9am and then an evening performance for everyone who'd like to attend at 7pm.

Usually when I'm backstage manager for a musical, backstage is packed of set and prop pieces, not to mention all the actors and my backstage crew.  It's a mad house at times.  With a talent show, we don't have much.  There were only five large props that were used on stage - a bench, two chairs, a stool, and a tree.  Simple, right?

Sigh....not so much.  Yesterday morning, on the next to last act, I tripped on the bench.  I went flying and hit my left knee first (didn't dislocate it again!), then landed on my hands and hyper-extended my right elbow resulting in a sprain that I have to wear a sling for, and hit my jaw on the stage floor with a bruise about the size of a half dollar.  

When my jaw hit, the whole world went white.  It was like sheet lightning.  I didn't see stars until after it had passed.  My head was killing me.  When the show was done, I was taken to the nurse's office and the principal drove me to my doctor.  My wonderful doctor told me about my sprained elbow and that I also have a concussion.  A day and a half later my head is still killing me, and I'm still very dizzy. It's hard to focus sometimes as well.  Needless to say, I missed the evening performance yesterday.  That's the first performance I've every missed for our current music teacher!  I'm so bummed.  :(

A concussion and sprained elbow will certainly make an interesting Project Life entry!

Scrapbooking a 12x12 page is out at the moment.  I did get some of my Project Life photos for the week into the album slots but that was hard enough with the room spinning.  No scrapbooking means I'm not sure what to do as a blog post!  I'm trying hard to do this at least once or twice a week.  It will probably be posting on the weekends mostly for me. After all day with third graders, I'm exhausted.

I was thinking about photographing (since that doesn't take long) my Project Life pages.  I am in love with Project Life, so sharing is something I really want to do.  What do you think?  Would you like to see some more Project Life pages?

Our Little Angel

One more post for today.  It's been the busiest day I've ever had for blogging!  Shimelle also had a challenge to mix two totally different patterns of scrapbook paper.  Patterns that were obviously quite different.  One she suggested I actually had - hearts and stripes.  They're actually the same piece of double sided paper!

I messed up the way I was going to tape the two pieces together.  The heart border sticker curled and ripped so I couldn't use it all the way across like I had planned.  So, I decided to have a little more washi fun!  I am falling in love with this tape more and more every day.

I also brought out a drawer I started right after I gave birth.  It has lots of baby themed scrapbook stuff.  I was able to use a few stickers, some fabric tape, and a rub on I'd had for years!  The line of paper I've used is Little Dancer by Fancy Pants.  It's also some stuff I'd had for a while.  It feels good to use it!