New City, New Apartment, New Job, New Couch, New Car

Happy Friday everyone!

Things here have been out of control busy! But we have bought some fun new things for the apartment

Like this couch...

Rooms to Go

I'm in love with the pattern. Although, it is a much lighter blue in person (which is what I wanted!) Its so comfy, I just can't wait for it to get delivered so I can sit down!

And then we went here...

And bought one of these!

 Our first new car! Well, together. My Corolla was new back in 2006 :)

I love the dashboard, it makes me feel like a space ship pilot (yep, that's the technical term for it!)

Well, I'm going to run as the moving company should be here soon with all of our stuff!!! Then I can set up my desk and my things and get back to crafty posts!

I guess you know my plans for the weekend now...unpacking unpacking unpacking! What are you up to?

Driving to Baton Rouge

Well, we made it!

We are finally in our apartment in Baton Rouge. Of course, the moving company hasn't arrived yet, so we are in an empty apartment. But its an apartment, with internet (our hotel had very expensive internet, which was basically the same as no internet!)

Now I just can't wait to get back to blogging and scrapping.

On our drive, AJ and I took a million pictures. Actually - AJ took a lot more than I did. It seemed like I was driving every time we crossed a state line!

So why don't you join me on our 14.5 hour drive that took us across 6 different states. I promise it won't take 14.5 hours to read this post!

Turning in our keys to our old apartment! I was excited to take this picture for my scrapbook. AJ wanted me to do it to prove we turned our keys into the drop box, in case anything funny happened!

Saying goodbye to Lake Michigan...

Illinois looks like this...the entire time...you drive through it! I took a nice long nap in Illinois!

To get to Missouri you drive over the Mississippi River. I'd never seen the river before, so I was very excited!

 After driving through Missouri, and just beating out the snow, we hit Arkansas.

Where it started to rain!

We even got to drive through Tennessee for 5 minutes. And we drove past the plant where AJ used to work in Memphis. I've heard so much about the plant, that I was excited to see it!

Mississippi was our second to last state!

The weather was not so great. They were predicting tornados and "hen egg" sized hail. But we fortunately out ran that too!

By the time we got to Louisiana, it was too dark to take any pictures. But I will have lots of our new home, just as soon as I take some!

Do you like taking road trips? Have you ever scrapped any? I'd love to see some road trip layouts - leave me a link in the comments if you have some :)

Project Life 25 {Week 37}

Happy Friday everyone!

Today is our official last day in Chicago. Yesterday, I ran around doing everything that I wanted to do or see and didn't!

On Wednesday though, I couldn't stray too far from the apartment because I needed to get the car fixed. So while I was waiting, I made a few Project Life pages, including this one from January :)

I blurred out some of our wedding decor because I want them to be a surprise :) But I really love the picture of the snow in my parents' front yard. And of course, I couldn't go home without taking a picture (or 7...) of Benny!

What are your plans for this weekend? We are driving to Louisiana tomorrow!

Third Thursday Scrapbook Stories {March 2013}

Hi everyone!

Remember those boxes from yesterday? The ones with my craft stuff?

Well...they have almost all of my craft stuff. To see the "essentials" that had to come in the car with us to Louisiana, head over to Julie's!

I'll be back tomorrow with a layout made from those essentials!

WOYWW {03.20.2013}

Happy First Day of Spring!

I can't believe it has been a week since I've posted. My time management skills just weren't up to par with this move! I think this is the first time since last week that I've woken up without a "to pack" list a mile long. Of course, that could be because all of our things are in the truck and out of my hands now ;)

But, I'm back from my unintentional bloggy break now!

Since it is Wednesday, I thought I'd share what my desk looked like the last time it was here (so...yesterday!)

My poor cleared off desk (or as AJ said - "Wow babe! That is a really cool looking desk! I've never actually seen what the shape looked like before!"

All of my crafty things are in those boxes...there are more crafty boxes than I could even count. I'd say at least 1/3, if not 1/2 of our boxes were scrap-related!

And since you all have been so nice and looked at my very uninteresting moving pictures...

The view from where my scrap desk used to be!

If you stop by Julia's, I'm sure there will be much more exciting (and crafty) things going on on everyone else's desk!

I Took a Walk (and a Train, and Another Train, and One More Walk)

Tomorrow is my last day of work. I'm not going to face the fact that I have to leave all of my fabulous coworkers friends yet.

I did have to face the fact that I am leaving my kids because the new teacher took over yesterday. To be honest, there are a lot of mixed emotions there! I'm really excited that I have a little break from lesson planning while all the craziness of moving is going on, but I'm also really sad about leaving my kids.

Another, kind of weird thing that I am sad about is leaving my commute.

It may sound odd, but I loved taking public transit to work. I felt like a real "grown up", and it was nice not to worry about traffic or finding a parking spot!

I saw this post at Auer Life, and I thought it would be a perfect way to remember my crazy trip to work!

So, if you don't mind, why don't you join me for a quick trip to the north side of Chicago?

Before we get started on our walk to the train, we have to sneak a peek at the lake. We are going to walk in the other direction, but its just so pretty in the morning!

 We are going to head this way though, for a quick 10 minute walk to the subway.

Make sure to say hi to the Hancock Tower as it peeks out from over the houses!

Oops! Avoid getting in the way of the delivery guys that line this street in the morning! Fortunately, no one has their deliveries piled up on the side walk today!

Here we go down into the subway for the first train ride of our trip!

Ah! That was crazy! Just as Train #1 was pulling into the station, Train #2 was pulling in on the other side! But we ran across the platform, and even had time to watch the Discover ad before the doors of Train #2 closed!

Train #2 is an elevated train, so we have to walk under the tracks to get to work. Don't worry, it isn't rainy or snowy today, so you won't get any water drops on your head!

Walking past the Starbucks. This corner has 7 different crosswalks! Its always an adventure to see which one is available.

Finally at work, exactly on time! And only 45 minutes, 2 train rides and 2 1/2 mile walks later :)

What would you miss about leaving your job?

Project Life 25 {Week 36}

Wow. This move is kicking my butt!

I feel like we keep packing and packing, and the boxes are piling up, but the apartment is still full of stuff. I'm not sure how we are going to get it all done by next Tuesday!

I was getting so desperate to create that I woke up at 5am yesterday just to make this Project Life page!

I've had to get creative with my page protectors lately. I think the next time I order pages, I'm only going to order A and F, as those seem to be my favorites!

Well, I'm off to hand over my classes to the other teacher...I was looking forward to no more planning, but I'm actually feeling really sad about it now!

And then I'll go home and do more moving stuff, I hope I can finally make a real dent in the packing so it feels like I've packed!

But I'll will be back tomorrow with another page, even if it means waking up at 5am again!

Project Life 25 {Week 35}

Yay! I am so glad that it is Friday!

This has been a crazy long week!

And I have been incredibly behind on my Project Life. Actual life with all its packing got in the way of crafting. And that was just no fun!

But last night, AJ got stuck at work until almost midnight, so while I waited for him, I was able to work on my Project Life!

I'm so far behind that these pages are from January. I could barely remember what I did that week!

Okay, this page just makes me hungry!
Pictures: Jake Melnick's parmesean and garlic fries ~ Bbq pulled chicken and waffle fries  from Bub City ~ AJ and I enjoying a night out...less than 12 hours before I got the flu!

 I didn't have very many pictures from this week. Just my computer on my heater and my view from the couch while I was sick.

But I really love the word paper that was part of the cobalt kit, and I outlined some of my favorite words from this piece!

Hopefully I can work on some more Project Life this weekend, after I pack some more boxes, of course :)

What are your plans for this weekend? Hopefully they are more exciting than mine!

WOYWW {03.06.2013}

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today is the day that we all share our desk's over at Julia's.

Only my desk is in the middle of being packed up! But we are not going to talk about that that...because if I think about how all of my crafty supplies are being put into boxes not to be seen by me again until the last week of March, I will go home and unpack all those boxes and insist that we take all my crafts in the car with us!

But this desk is being cleaned for happier reasons! A new teacher will be starting on March 11. And who doesn't want a new clean desk for their new job? I know I would!

What's on your desk today?

National Craft Month

Happy National Craft Month!

Did you even know that there was a national craft month?! I didn't, until I was looking for facts to put on my board for March (every day, I post a fact about March or that day on my chalkboard)

I am super excited about this fact!

In honor of National Craft Month, I thought I'd share some of my favorite crafts :)

Spring Candles

Thanksgiving Feast Candles


Tissue Paper Rose Frame

Christmas Plate

L-O-V-E (Parts 1 and 2)

Well, this has definitely put me in the mood to craft!

Did you know about national craft month? How are you going to celebrate?

A Baseball Throwback

Hi everyone!

Sorry to be posting so late in the morning. Next time I think its a good idea to take Nyquil when I have to get up in the morning, someone remind me that it isn't a good idea!

So, I have to say, I am the world's worst packer! Every time I pick something up to pack it, I have to look through it. Like my scrapbooks. Books I haven't opened in a long time, I'm now sitting and flipping through.

And that's how I came across this layout.

AJ and I are both big baseball fans, but we root for rival teams! Of course, when our teams play each other, we have to go to the games. I made this layout about our first Mets vs. Phillies game.

The top left picture is one of my all time favorites of us. Although I know I would change a few things about this layout around, I still really love the photostrip and the banners along the top!

Do you ever go back to your old albums? I need to stop reminiscing procrastinating and start packing!