{Project Life} Calendar

This is for those of you that asked about this . . . this is a new product from Becky Higgins that goes in line with Project Life.  I found it at Michaels and I believe that this is the only place to find it.  I had been thinking about going back to a paper calendar this year, this is kinda a big deal for those of you that know me and my love all having all things electronic.  But I found that I while having everything at your finger tips on my phone, iPad, computer, it wasn't really in front of me, like open on my desk staring at me, reminding me of upcoming events, things to do . . . yes, I set reminders on all of the electronic devices, but the reminder pops up, you have to dismiss it in order to continue what you are doing and then it disappears and, well, most of the time disappearing out of my memory too!

Anyway, when I walked into Michaels and saw this lovely colorful package of goodness I was soooooo excited.  It fits into a really cute 6 x 8 binder. I wanted it.  But I really am trying to NOT add  things that I will not use to my collection of stuff.  I left Michaels without the calendar.  Mind you there is also a journaling kit and a recipe kit.  Of course I wanted ALL of them!  But I left with none of them, I was proud of myself.  Over the next few days while I was deciding on my word for 2014 and thinking about things I need to do in order to simplify and make my life easier, I decided it was time to give a paper planner another shot.  I went quickly back to Michaels where I was happy to find that both the planner and binder were unmarked, but 40% off, I'd say it was meant to be, lol!

I brought it home and put it all in the binder and didn't write in it right away . . . I guess I wanted to be sure that I thought this was really something that I was going to use this year, I don't need more unused stuff (my husband would call it crap) on my desk.  But I finally gave it and started writing in all of the dates for 2014.  Now, I am really liking having the paper in front of me, I can see the week easily and make lists and have it all visible.  Is it the "perfect" calendar, no, there would be a few things I would change, BUT, it's cute, that counts for a lot in my book, it's colorful, and I love colors, and if Michaels ever gets the 6 x 8 page protectors in I can add a few of those throughout and I think at the end of the year will sort of make itself it's own little mini scrapbook. So that makes it just perfect for me right now!

Bright colorful dividers

Each month is a different color, one week is on one side of the page

There is a part at the top for "things to-do/places to go/people to see"

And each month has a fund 2 page spread of different things each month, DIY projects/Wish List/Skills to Learn/For the Garden/Camping List, etc.  kinda fun!

 This is from a digital kit I purchased from the Sweet Shoppe, this helps put Project Life in front of me on a daily bases, to remind me to take photos and start thinking about how I want that week to look.  This is a very cool downloadable calendar and all of the PL templates are included, so you can add whatever layout you will be using that week to the page before you print.  I have decided to follow Ali's lead and just use Layout A pocket pages this year.  I think this will help me know what I need to do each week, what kind of photos I need and it will keep it simple and help get it DOne!  

I'm hoping that this combination is going to help me be successful  DOing the things things I want to this year, and at the top of that list is to have a complete album at the end of 2014.

**Note: I bought the teal binder and have been using it for the last 2 weeks.  It's heavy, I took out June - December for now.  Yesterday I found a "simple stories" album that feels a little bit lighter and less bulky, so I'm trying that out for now.  I think the album, whatever brand is going to get a bit used looking if you carry it around.  So I figure I can save the nicer one to put a final project in vs wearing it out all year.  

{Weeks 1 & 2} We Made it to Friday!

It was a long week!  Seems the first few weeks of January always are, after a month of celebrations, time off from work and then all of a sudden you are thrown right back in to reality.  And while I was happy to have gotten to the end of the week, it really still wasn't my normal reality. . . ASL 2 class starts on Tuesday night and Singing Hands starts on Thursday night.  So last week I got to be home every single night, that so rarely happens, so this week is really really back to reality!

It was a good week and I practiced putting my word into use, DOing lots of little things that were on my to-do list.  I have gone back to using a paper calendar after many years of being electronic.  I'm hoping this will help me stay focused on the tasks that need DOing week to week, and it helps that it is a Project Life calendar, so it is super cute.  I was completely shocked when I walked into Michaels and found it last week, like seriously surprised, this kinda stuff doesn't usually get by me.  I actually went back through every post in 2013 on Becky's Blog to find where I missed it.  I didn't miss it, whew!  I knew I wouldn't forget seeing that was coming.  Becky didn't actually announce it until after it showed up in the store. I'm getting used to using a pen and writing things down and crossing them off, I really like crossing things off part!

I also came across this cute Project Life planner, since I can't carry around 2 planners (I barely remember to carry around one, and one day I even had to go back into work to get it off my desk) I figured out that I can print out the pages and insert them in to my PL planner.  I think it will work and I can try to keep all my thoughts together week to week for PL.  So we'll see, it's only the 2nd week of the month!  I'm hoping that by making a few little changes can help me have a more productive 2014.

I worked on my One Little Word project today, made some progress and I'm liking how it looks ~ a few more prompts to finish up and January will be complete!

This year I WILL I WILL I WILL keep up with Project Life.  No excuses, just DOing it and getting it done and moving on to the next week.  So I am happy to say that it is the end of Week 2 and I am current!!!!  Hopefully once the rest of life kicks in I can remain caught up!  

{Week 1} 

These are not perfect, but they are DOne, and that is what I am focusing on this year, letting go of perfection for DOne!

and {Week 2}

Feeling good about getting some creative stuff done, makes me happy!

{Hello 2014}

One of the things on my list of things to accomplish this year is to dust off this ol' blog.  To say I was sad when I logged on and saw that I had ONE, just one, blog post for 2013, was an understatement.  I want this blog to be another way to document our everyday life and when I read through all of the old posts I love love love going back and reliving the stories and looking at the photos.  So why is it I can't keep it up?!  But this is a new year, a time to set new goals and have a fresh start. I'm totally just going to jump in where we are now and start documenting our life and quit thinking about it and making it more difficult than it really is!

This goes hand in hand with my Word for this year, which is DO, as in quit procrastinating, quit over thinking it, thinking it all has to be perfect, and just DO it!  So I'm taking baby steps to work on the things that I want to DO this year . . . blogging, being more creative, doing Project Life and actively working more on my photography business.  I think I'm feeling more capable of DOing these these things since I recently changed jobs, still working at the hospital, just in a different, much less stressful, department.  I seriously feel like a new person, I didn't realize until I was out of the old job how stressed it was making me

So I'm hopeful that now that I'm not bringing that stress home with me everyday I can focus more on the things I want to do for me and my family.

Just a little recap of 2013, for the sake of documentation! 2013 was a good year!  Trevor finished up 10th grade and started 11th, Meghan finished 3rd grade and is in 4th grade, they both are doing great in school.  Trevor got his drivers license!  Kinda was scary but I'm actually really enjoying having an errand boy!  He is very into his airsofting and video games, some things never change!  I can't believe he will be 17 in a few weeks.  Meghan is still in to many many things, Monster High Dolls, American Girl Dolls, Rainbow Loomb, One Direction . . . . and I could go on.  She makes us laugh and makes us frustrated all at the same time.  We work daily on trying to keep her and her "stuff" neat and tidy, losing the battle most days.

I'm sad that I don't have a currently photo of all of us . . . we never found a time to get out and get that done this fall, I'm still hoping to go out and get one of all of us together, soon!

{The Mustard Weeds Are Here}

My most favorite thing ever to photograph, cute girlies in the Mustard Weeds!  They seemed to have made an early appearance this year so we went out on a beautiful afternoon last weekend and played, the girls in the weeds and the moms with our cameras!  I've been experimenting with shooting into the sun, liked how some of these turned out but anxious to get back out there and keep playing! 

 My Favorite

 

What I've Learned {Day 5}

#snapshotsofagoodlife

What I've Learned {Day 4}

#snapshotsofagoodlife

What I've Learned {Day 3}

#snapshotsofagoodlife.com

What I've Learned {Day 2}

What I've Learned {Day 1}

so many things, but for now I will leave it at this ~

check out www.snapshotsofagoodlife.com.  Registration for the January 2013 Photographers Workshop begin on October 15th.  If you want to learn about your camera, lighting, focus, ISO, aperture, shutter speed and make some new friends along the way, check out this class.  You will not be disappointed.

Nothing short of {Amazing}

It was a normal Friday afternoon and I was checking emails when I got home from work, there was an email from my favorite photographer, the email was titled "3 Things".  I can't remember what the first 2 things were, but the 3rd one made me jump up and down, squeal and do a little happy dance.  The 3rd thing on the list was about a "Hometown Workshop" she was putting on in September, and there were only 9 spots available! I responded to her email without a second thought, without running it by my husband, without knowing if I had anyone to help with my kids!!  Can I just tell you how happy I was that I read my emails that afternoon when I did, otherwise I would have missed out on one of the best experiences of my life!

I have stalked  followed  Karen's blog for quite a few years.  It was one of those blogs that I book marked as soon as I found it and spent hours reading back and check daily.  Her stories and photography drew me in. She documents her life through her blog the way I want to but never do, she writes about the good and the bad, the funny and not so funny things that life throws our way.  She is real, she is honest, and what you see is what you get with her.  After following her blog, when I did finally get to meet her in person a few years ago at a 1-day Photography Workshop, it felt like I had known her for years.  In January 2011 I finally was able to audit in her online Photographers Workshop and I learned so so much!  Karen puts 110% into everything she does, her on-line class is completely worth the investment in your time and money. 

I'm pretty sure I made my family crazy between July and September,  I was so excited for this workshop!  I was so excited to hang out with Karen, meet in person a few friends from the online workshop, get away for a little me time.  These 5 days were everything I could have imagined and more.  It is so hard to put into words the instant bond that was felt between 12 women who didn't know each other before we arrived at the beautiful historical Hanna House, but had the love for photography and Karen that clearly bound us together.

And one of the nicest surprises was when Karen's "acquaintance" arrived to drive us to our shooting location.  I thought it was an interesting choice of words and I also thought it was interesting the group was  the 4 of us from the 2011 class, we joked we were being voted out of the Hanna House!  Imagine our surprise (especially Lisa's!!!) when Jules, from our 2011 class, showed up. Soooooo much fun!

Our days were full of learning, shooting, eating, more learning, more shooting, more eating, and in between tons of laughter and even some tears.  I told someone as I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt how amazed I was that there could be such an extreme range of emotions in such a short amount of time, clearly we didn't do well staying between a 4 and a 7 girls!!!

As the family photographer there are not many photos of me, (I even had to ask Steph if she had a cute photo of me for one of my class assignments!) mostly I like being on the other side of the camera, so that works out ok.  And if I do hand off my camera I usually don't like the results of the photos, so I just stay behind the lens.  This workshop made all of us come out of our comfort zone, and be the subject instead of the photographer.  It was quite interesting have 3 or 4 lenses pointed at you all at once!  I haven't seen many of the photos of myself as they are on my friends cameras, but I did get this one and am happy to have a pretty photo of myself.

I feel blessed to have been a part of one of the first Hometown Workshops.  I have made 12 new wonderful friends and we are already working on a plan for yearly reunions! 

Karen, I hope you realize that it is because of you and your love of photography and your willingness to give so much of yourself to your students, that we have all walked away from this workshop changed.  God is using you in an awesome way in everything you do, don't forget that!!!  I know it was difficult and I know it took you away from your beautiful family and I feel so happy to have been on the receiving end of Gods blessings. Thank you . . . for or taking a chance, for sacrificing your time and family, for all of your creative goodness, for sharing all of your photography knowledge so willingly with us, for sharing your family with us!  It was soooooo worth it, completely amazing . . . and I sure didn't walk away wishing I had spent the money on a new lens!