She was quick to send them to my phone (again, something she rarely is coaxed into doing) and then immediately asked "Are you going to post these on your blog?" In tween talk, that meant "I really want you to put these on your blog!" :-)
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
A Girl and her Dog
Meg still shies away from my camera as much as possible but will still sometimes "pose" as long as I promise not to post the photos here on my blog. She's surprisingly very liberal, however, when taking self portraits from her phone. She took this series on Sunday morning.
She was quick to send them to my phone (again, something she rarely is coaxed into doing) and then immediately asked "Are you going to post these on your blog?" In tween talk, that meant "I really want you to put these on your blog!" :-)
She was quick to send them to my phone (again, something she rarely is coaxed into doing) and then immediately asked "Are you going to post these on your blog?" In tween talk, that meant "I really want you to put these on your blog!" :-)
Monday, January 28, 2013
Playing in JulieWorld
Just popping in to share a layout I completed on Friday as well as some birthday card bundles I gave out to friends over the weekend.
Meg enthusiastically helping out with her all time favorite cookie. In the past 25 years or so that I've been baking these for my kids (also a favorite of Jay's) I've always only made them at Christmas. I'm going to surprise her in a couple of weeks by baking them with Dove hearts in place of the Hershey kisses. She'll be very happy.
And on to birthday gifts for my girlfriends...
Each bundle contains ten cards and envies. That's 70 cards I've gifted so far this year alone.
Next up will be more girly cards for Meg to use at birthday parties.
Meg enthusiastically helping out with her all time favorite cookie. In the past 25 years or so that I've been baking these for my kids (also a favorite of Jay's) I've always only made them at Christmas. I'm going to surprise her in a couple of weeks by baking them with Dove hearts in place of the Hershey kisses. She'll be very happy.
And on to birthday gifts for my girlfriends...
Each bundle contains ten cards and envies. That's 70 cards I've gifted so far this year alone.
Next up will be more girly cards for Meg to use at birthday parties.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Life Right Now
Life is definitely getting back to normal since my surgery. I started walking with a friend twice a week. We're up to 3.5 miles which may not sound like a lot but suffice it to say, I've come a long way these past three months. It's not fast nor is it pretty, but I'm out there again and loving it.
I also started back to my volunteering position at Meg's former elementary school. Last Thursday was my first day this school year so I have a whole new group of kids names and faces to remember. I really, really enjoy them but sure enough come Sunday, exactly three days later, I was down with a cold. Fortunately I was able to shake it off after a couple of days but it's definitely a reminder of what hanging out with the little ones will bring.
I hadn't planned on sharing much of my Project Life album but I have an entry in last week's pages that really makes me smile. My father-in-law, out of the blue, sent us a photo of his grandmother, his great-grandfather and his great aunt that was taken in the late 1800s. Unbeknownst to me, my husband's maternal side hails from Scotland. I'm thrilled to have the photo and included it, along with my FIL's note, in last week's pages.
Since I had a blank 8x10 page protector on the opposite side of the photo I decided to do all of the week's journaling in one spot.
The photos are 1) my girlfriend's birthday party that we hosted here, 2&3) my husband's first harvest of broccoli from our winter garden and 4) Meg's note to the "tooth fairy" requesting $20....ahem, she got $10. LOL!
In addition to Kel's birthday a week ago Monday I've also have four other friends who have celebrated birthdays this month....one last week and three more this week. I am low on handmade cards (my usual gift to them) so I've been busy cranking them out in JulieWorld. Unfortunately I didn't get photos of last weeks's sets but here's a few from yesterday. I "borrowed" the design from Kandis Smith.
Meg has also informed me that we need more girly birthday cards. Her friends seem to love my cards so I'll have to take some time out and create a few more for her to use.
That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by!
I also started back to my volunteering position at Meg's former elementary school. Last Thursday was my first day this school year so I have a whole new group of kids names and faces to remember. I really, really enjoy them but sure enough come Sunday, exactly three days later, I was down with a cold. Fortunately I was able to shake it off after a couple of days but it's definitely a reminder of what hanging out with the little ones will bring.
Since I had a blank 8x10 page protector on the opposite side of the photo I decided to do all of the week's journaling in one spot.
The photos are 1) my girlfriend's birthday party that we hosted here, 2&3) my husband's first harvest of broccoli from our winter garden and 4) Meg's note to the "tooth fairy" requesting $20....ahem, she got $10. LOL!
In addition to Kel's birthday a week ago Monday I've also have four other friends who have celebrated birthdays this month....one last week and three more this week. I am low on handmade cards (my usual gift to them) so I've been busy cranking them out in JulieWorld. Unfortunately I didn't get photos of last weeks's sets but here's a few from yesterday. I "borrowed" the design from Kandis Smith.
That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by!
Friday, January 18, 2013
New Tech Goodies
Keeping up with Project Life is going to be a challenge for me. I know that. But I think I've found a couple of solutions that will help me tremendously.
My good friend Lynne turned me on to the Canon Selphy 900 Printer. In addition to be tiny and wireless it is also Iphone/Ipad friendly, meaning the photos I take from my phone can be printed immediately. No downloading, no cords, no formatting...just open the Canon App, choose the photo and hit print. Totally AWESOME! And by downloading the included software, I'm able to print wirelessly from my HP laptop just as easily.
My second new tech goodie is called the EyeFi. I'd been coveting it for ages but it took PL to provide me with the push I needed to order it, and boy am I glad I did. What is it, you ask? It's an amazing SD memory card (compatible with my Canon T31 DSLR camera) that sends the photos I take wirelessly to my HP laptop. Again, no cords, no removing/inserting memory cards, just take a photo and within minutes it magically appears in my EyeFi file located in My Pictures folder. SLICK!
My third "helper" is a subscription program I've had for a year now and wouldn't be without. You may be familiar with their television commercials. The prorgram is Carbonite which is a cloud back up system for your computer. Their servers will back up and store most anything on your computer for the mere pittance of $59 a year. While I do still use external hard drives as duplicates it's great to know I have the added protection. But my favorite thing about Carbonite is that, when you install their app on your Ipad, you have access to anything on your computer whether you're home or thousands of miles away.
So how does this all relate to Project Life? Well I can now snap a photo from my DSLR, have it magically appear on my computer, pull it from my computer onto my Ipad via Carbonite, edit it quickly with one of several fabulous Ipad photo apps (which do the work of Photoshop in one step instead of 10) and send it to my printer in the matter of two minutes or less. Totally FABULOUS! I do love technology.
I'm leaving you with my PL page from Week 2 of 2013. It's a mix of both photos and memorabilia which is how I predict most of my future pages will look.
Thanks for stopping by!
My good friend Lynne turned me on to the Canon Selphy 900 Printer. In addition to be tiny and wireless it is also Iphone/Ipad friendly, meaning the photos I take from my phone can be printed immediately. No downloading, no cords, no formatting...just open the Canon App, choose the photo and hit print. Totally AWESOME! And by downloading the included software, I'm able to print wirelessly from my HP laptop just as easily.
My second new tech goodie is called the EyeFi. I'd been coveting it for ages but it took PL to provide me with the push I needed to order it, and boy am I glad I did. What is it, you ask? It's an amazing SD memory card (compatible with my Canon T31 DSLR camera) that sends the photos I take wirelessly to my HP laptop. Again, no cords, no removing/inserting memory cards, just take a photo and within minutes it magically appears in my EyeFi file located in My Pictures folder. SLICK!
My third "helper" is a subscription program I've had for a year now and wouldn't be without. You may be familiar with their television commercials. The prorgram is Carbonite which is a cloud back up system for your computer. Their servers will back up and store most anything on your computer for the mere pittance of $59 a year. While I do still use external hard drives as duplicates it's great to know I have the added protection. But my favorite thing about Carbonite is that, when you install their app on your Ipad, you have access to anything on your computer whether you're home or thousands of miles away.
So how does this all relate to Project Life? Well I can now snap a photo from my DSLR, have it magically appear on my computer, pull it from my computer onto my Ipad via Carbonite, edit it quickly with one of several fabulous Ipad photo apps (which do the work of Photoshop in one step instead of 10) and send it to my printer in the matter of two minutes or less. Totally FABULOUS! I do love technology.
I'm leaving you with my PL page from Week 2 of 2013. It's a mix of both photos and memorabilia which is how I predict most of my future pages will look.
Thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
What I've Been Up To
I've spent the last several days trying to complete my ever growing list of unfinished projects. The projects are not major in any way but when the list is a dozen items long it's time to crack down and just "get 'er done." In the past few days I've been able to complete two unfinished mini albums as well as some miscellaneous home decor projects.
In addition to playing catch up I've decided to embark on a scrapping trend that started a few years ago called Project Life. This type of scrapping is basically a glorified photo album in which you document your everyday life week by week. I've resisted the trend but after a lot of thought I realized it might actually be quite beneficial to me. It makes me sad that I've done very little scrapping these past three years and the moments/events I would like to document have become overwhelming. Creating a PL album will give me the opportunity to easily record much of what would have become an individual 12x12 page, thereby reducing the number of individual pages I feel compelled to create. This in turn will provide me more time to go back to my 2009 photos and fill in the albums from that point until present.
I won't be sharing all of my pages but wanted to provide an example of this type of scrapbook. As you can see PL uses divided page protectors which allows for easy insertion of photos, journaling cards and memorabilia.
It's not necessarily a work of art but it gets the job done quick and easy. The photos above represent the first week of 2013 but from this point forward I plan to do only one page per week. (Most everyone else online is doing two page weekly spreads but I want an entire year to fit into a single album.) I can now be choosier about what occasions/memories get recorded in the more artistic 8.5x11 or 12x12 which makes me very happy.
In addition to playing catch up I've decided to embark on a scrapping trend that started a few years ago called Project Life. This type of scrapping is basically a glorified photo album in which you document your everyday life week by week. I've resisted the trend but after a lot of thought I realized it might actually be quite beneficial to me. It makes me sad that I've done very little scrapping these past three years and the moments/events I would like to document have become overwhelming. Creating a PL album will give me the opportunity to easily record much of what would have become an individual 12x12 page, thereby reducing the number of individual pages I feel compelled to create. This in turn will provide me more time to go back to my 2009 photos and fill in the albums from that point until present.
I won't be sharing all of my pages but wanted to provide an example of this type of scrapbook. As you can see PL uses divided page protectors which allows for easy insertion of photos, journaling cards and memorabilia.
It's not necessarily a work of art but it gets the job done quick and easy. The photos above represent the first week of 2013 but from this point forward I plan to do only one page per week. (Most everyone else online is doing two page weekly spreads but I want an entire year to fit into a single album.) I can now be choosier about what occasions/memories get recorded in the more artistic 8.5x11 or 12x12 which makes me very happy.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Two Creative Girls
Meg and my niece Jenna spent quite a bit of time creating video productions over Christmas break. They were initially going for a "full length" film but eventually opted for smaller movie trailers. They created two short clips in which they each took turns being the director and the star. I thought they both were both so very creative so I'd like to share them with you. (Before my family has a panic attack, I edited out the credits which included our last names.)
For your viewing pleasure.....
Mom will hate that this but if you look closely at the last video you can see her being gassed at her kitchen island. ROFL!! I may have to download that bombing app so I can have fun destroying a few things too...but not you Mom, promise.
For your viewing pleasure.....
A Different Spy Story
Starring Jenna
Directed by Meg
Apocalypse Meg
Starring Meg
Directed by Jenna
Mom will hate that this but if you look closely at the last video you can see her being gassed at her kitchen island. ROFL!! I may have to download that bombing app so I can have fun destroying a few things too...but not you Mom, promise.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The End...of Dec Daily, that is.
I can already hear my sis and dad groaning right now over the inclusion and sharing of their photos but hopefully they can enjoy them in the spirit they're intended. Lucky for them, I only have a dozen or so close friends/family that actually visit my blog so it's all good. :-)
Friday, January 4, 2013
Bike Talk
We recently returned from a visit with my family across the state. During those four days we shopped, we fished, we played games, we read, we ate, we drank, we ate and oh yeah, we ate. My diet will start on the 7th when Meg returns to school.
The weather has been a bit on the warm side these past few days but still nice enough to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Yesterday Meg needed to return something to a friend so I suggested we take the bikes rather than the car. It was the third time out on the new bike and the first since my surgery. Thankfully I had no problems riding but stopping and getting off was uncomfortable and sometimes painful. Nevertheless we enjoyed our outing. I was looking forward to going back out but because it was making a "weird sound" I asked Randy to check it out before continuing on. Survey says - the back rim was bent in two places! I'd hoped Walmart would allow me to exchange it but because it had been over 90 days I was told I had to contact the manufacturer. Grrr. Not happy.
Randy, ever concerned about my safety, urged me to let him buy me a better bike. But I wanted my bike. My cute, cute bike. Seafoam green trimmed in brown and cream with the cutest saddle bags.
He finally convinced me to go to a bike store and look around. I was having sticker shock at the prices of bikes and was adamant that I would just get mine repaired, which come to find out, was going to cost well over $100 because of the 3 speed coaster brakes....AND the rim would be silver and not brown. :-( Again, NOT happy.
I finally did look at several bikes but it wasn't until I saw this one that I waivered....
The difference between this bike and most others may not be immediately noticeable to you but I was drawn in right away. Look!!! NO HORIZONTAL BARS!!!! To those of us with hip replacements this is nothing short of AWESOME! I took it for a test ride and loved it all except for the seat. No problem, they switched it out for the one on my "old" bike. Sold! Once home I added my barrel bag and it was ready to go.
I took a few spins on the side street and then ventured out on my former running route. I had planned to turn around at the 1.75 mile point (my 3.5 mile running route) but it felt so good to be out that I just keep going....and going...and going. I felt like Forrest Gump....Pedal, Julie, Pedal! I'm guessing my final loop was close to six miles long. I'm sure my quads will be sore tomorrow and my butt will ache but it was so fabulous to be traveling outside in something other than a car. But the best part? No hiking my bad leg over a bar to get off. Yay!!!
I did leave my "new, old bike" at the shop to be repaired. Turns out if they disconnect the 3 speed and make it a single speed bike the cost for repairs is just over $50. The rim will still be silver (not cream) and it now has a black seat (not brown) but it's will still be a cool looking bike to have as an extra. Now to just talk Randy into getting his bike down from the hanger....
The weather has been a bit on the warm side these past few days but still nice enough to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Yesterday Meg needed to return something to a friend so I suggested we take the bikes rather than the car. It was the third time out on the new bike and the first since my surgery. Thankfully I had no problems riding but stopping and getting off was uncomfortable and sometimes painful. Nevertheless we enjoyed our outing. I was looking forward to going back out but because it was making a "weird sound" I asked Randy to check it out before continuing on. Survey says - the back rim was bent in two places! I'd hoped Walmart would allow me to exchange it but because it had been over 90 days I was told I had to contact the manufacturer. Grrr. Not happy.
Randy, ever concerned about my safety, urged me to let him buy me a better bike. But I wanted my bike. My cute, cute bike. Seafoam green trimmed in brown and cream with the cutest saddle bags.
He finally convinced me to go to a bike store and look around. I was having sticker shock at the prices of bikes and was adamant that I would just get mine repaired, which come to find out, was going to cost well over $100 because of the 3 speed coaster brakes....AND the rim would be silver and not brown. :-( Again, NOT happy.
I finally did look at several bikes but it wasn't until I saw this one that I waivered....
The difference between this bike and most others may not be immediately noticeable to you but I was drawn in right away. Look!!! NO HORIZONTAL BARS!!!! To those of us with hip replacements this is nothing short of AWESOME! I took it for a test ride and loved it all except for the seat. No problem, they switched it out for the one on my "old" bike. Sold! Once home I added my barrel bag and it was ready to go.
I took a few spins on the side street and then ventured out on my former running route. I had planned to turn around at the 1.75 mile point (my 3.5 mile running route) but it felt so good to be out that I just keep going....and going...and going. I felt like Forrest Gump....Pedal, Julie, Pedal! I'm guessing my final loop was close to six miles long. I'm sure my quads will be sore tomorrow and my butt will ache but it was so fabulous to be traveling outside in something other than a car. But the best part? No hiking my bad leg over a bar to get off. Yay!!!
I did leave my "new, old bike" at the shop to be repaired. Turns out if they disconnect the 3 speed and make it a single speed bike the cost for repairs is just over $50. The rim will still be silver (not cream) and it now has a black seat (not brown) but it's will still be a cool looking bike to have as an extra. Now to just talk Randy into getting his bike down from the hanger....
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