Project Life 2015 {January}

Hi!

How has your summer been? I took a mini break from most social media stuff (except a few instagrams, because I just love pictures so much!), it was kind of nice to step away for a little bit. And as a result, this summer I ended up almost never being on the computer.

You really would have thought that I would have gotten more things done around here with more free time, but I really really didn't. Would you believe we still aren't fully unpacked? There are a few boxes left in our storage room that have to be looked at, but most of them are full of not essential things (non maternity clothes, fine china...)

Fortunately, I found my scrapbook stuff, or most of it. There are still a few albums that are packed up, but I found my 2015 Project Life album!

But I am really behind on it because its been packed up for so long! My album is only completed through March, but I did just order all of the pictures through July, so I should be able to catch up soon - I hope!

{Week 1}

{Week 2}

{Week 3}

{Week 4}

{Week 5}

It was fun to go back and look at these layouts. Its been so long since I've opened this album, and so much has changed since January - back then we were living in Albany, looking at homes up there and just hoping that we'd have a baby on the way soon. And now we are in Chicago, back in an apartment, and best of all, expecting our first child in November!

Its still crazy to me how quickly things changed this year!

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December Daily 2014 {Day 11}

Hi everyone!

December Daily has been on pause here. Sadly, my grandmother, my dad's mom, passed away unexpectedly last week.

I am not sure if or how I am going to include the wake and funeral in December Daily. It seems morbid to include it, but weird not to, you know?

I'm going to think about it a while before I make a decision. But I did work on a few other pages this morning. Some I can't include here because some have presents in them and I don't want anyone to see them yet!

"It was supposed to be a relaxing night at home. We were baking Hershey kiss cookies, and making kale + pancetta pasta. Shouldn't have been a very big deal at all.
Until the pancetta starting smoking, not badly, not unlike how pancetta or bacon or anything gets a little smoky when you cook it. But it set off the smoke detector. Which set off the screeching + flashing fire alarm in the apartment.
We were able to get the smoke detectors to stop within minutes by opening the windows and turning on the fan.
But the fire alarm? That went off for an hour. We stood outside in the snow and waited for someone from the apartment complex's maintenance team to come and turn off the alarm!
We ended up ordering sandwiches + the world's biggest calzone for dinner!"

Well I'm off to school now, but I'll have a few more pages tomorrow! What are you up to today?

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December Daily 2014 {Day 10}

Happy Thursday!

I've got some seriously fun plans today. I get to go to the DMV. Isn't that awesome?! I'm very excited ;)

I was going to go yesterday, but there was more snow, so I decided to do a few things around the house instead, including finally taking out all of the Spode (and making lots of hot chocolate!)

"I finally took out all of the Spode. I don't really have anywhere to put it here (unlike Mom who has hers all displayed in her beautiful china closet!) So right now it is all sitting on the dining room table. But that's okay since the table is giant and we only need to use two seats so there is lots of room for everything. Since we don't host Christmas here, I think its fun to use our "fancy" Christmas china for "regular" meals - or hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles!"

PS. I edited the journaling after took the picture because I didn't like that I said "yesterday" since I actually took it out on Wednesday and only said yesterday because it was today when I was creating the layout!

What are you up to today? Its got to be better than what I'm doing!

The rest of December 2014: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Days 5 + 6 + 7 | Days 8 + 9

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December Daily 2014 {Days 8 + 9}

Hi everyone!

I'm rushing a bit this morning. It snowed last night and it is predicted to rain/ice/snow again today, but I need to go to the grocery store! So I want to run out and get there quickly in case the roads get all messy again because skipping a trip today is so not an option - we have no milk, no bread, and basically nothing to eat at all besides frozen chicken (yeah, this is a long overdue trip!)

So on to Monday + Tuesday's layouts.

Monday's story is another one of those "could have happened anytime in December" stories that I just happened to share on Monday.

"I love wearing Christmas themed jewelry. Mom and I usually find a few new things every year: present bow + candy cane + snow flake + ornament earrings, Reindeer watch and this year's new addition, a jingle bell bracelet. Mom and Jamie have the same bracelet too!"

And Tuesday's is a totally Tuesday-related story. Its all focused on the weather and the snow that we got (man do I love snow!)

"The weather prediction for today had been really crazy. It kept changing between snow and sleet and freezing rain. All day, we just had ice and freezing rain. I was so disappointed - after spending 18 months living in "Southtown, USA", I was so ready for snow this winter. And snow around Christmastime? That is just awesome!
But I figured we'd have to wait for another day. Until AJ got home from work and said it was already snowing at the plant (just a few miles away) In just a few minutes, huge flakes were falling from the sky! I ran outside to eat December snowflakes. I wasn't waiting until January!"

Do you love snow as much as I do? I would love if we had fresh snow on the ground every single day!

The rest of December 2014: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Days 5 + 6 + 7

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December Daily 2014 {Day 5 + 6 + 7}

Hi guys!

So its true...Monday posting is just not my favorite thing in the world. I try, I really do, but Mondays are for catching up for me, and I just prefer to post on Tuesday :)

How was your weekend?

Ours was filled with Christmas-y goodness, which is on my DD pages. And also a little house stuff.

Remember this house that I loved but was iffy on the location? Well, AJ and I went back and thought we were okay with the location, and of course, in love with the house. As in, ready to put an offer in kind of love.

But I was still nervous and needed a sign that it was okay. And instead, I got seven signs that it definitely wasn't! Yes, seven. I apparently needed to be hit over the head!

And the last sign was totally obvious - the house is probably going to get another offer that is better than ours, and we aren't willing to meet that one at this point in our home search.

The message was received, loud and clear. And I thought I'd be sadder, but really, we have until next October to purchase a home under our relocation, and the inventory is only going to get bigger as the holidays end and spring approaches. I'm looking forward to finding a house that fits us perfectly, a house where I can't wait to put an offer in and don't have those "is this the right thing?" feelings!

So on to the Christmas things!

I did things a little differently this week. The pictures from Friday were taken earlier in the week, but it was more of a general Christmas story, so it could really apply anywhere. And the pictures from Saturday are actually from Sunday, but we had wanted to put the lights up on Saturday except it rained all day!

So I mixed it up.

"There are some things that just signify that Christmas is really here - the tree, the lights, Home Alone and Christmas Vacation, and the Hershey Kisses jingle bells commercial.
This year, I saw it for the first time when I was flipping channels. I heard the familiar sound of the last bell ringing and whew-ing. I was so excited and texted AJ immeidately!
I wonder when it started being aired, it feels like its been around forever - and I hope it is!'

"The Christmas lights. I love putting up the Christmas lights. Even though we don't have a huge outside space, we still put lights on the balcony. I love to see them shining brightly at night. Everyone's decorations make the long (and cold!) nights seem so magical at Christmas!"

"Spending the day at the Troy Victorian Stroll."

There wasn't too much to say about the stroll. I'm sure I'll talk more about it in my Project Life album. To be honest, it didn't live up to expectations and I didn't feel like talking about that since it was negative! But I did want to include it in here, since we did it and it was a Christmas event!

Do you stick to recording stories exactly on the day they happen, or do you mix them up?

The rest of December 2014: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

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December Daily 2014 {Day 4}

Happy Friday! The weekend is almost here, and I can't wait!

We are hoping to do some Christmas-y things this weekend, including going to visit a Christmas celebration in the next town over and putting up the outdoor lights! Yay!

I didn't make a collage of my pictures yesterday because almost all of them ended up in my layout! Aside from the morning (when I was doing work related things), I spent most of the day getting ready for our Christmas movie marathon!

We were both having a bit of trouble getting really excited about Christmas this year. We'd both been very excited earlier, but it had kind of went away. So last night, we had a movie marathon + hot chocolate (well, I had hot chocolate!) + Trader Joe's blondies. I would say that it worked!

"AJ and I both were having a little trouble getting in the Christmas spirit. We'd both been so excited, but for some reason after the beautiful Thanksgiving snow melted away and Mom, Dad and Tommy went back home after Thanksgiving, we were both feeling like the Christmas magic had gone too. 
But we knew just how to fix it: hot chocolate + Trader Joe's blondies + a few of our favorite Christmas movies. The Santa Clause, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Home Alone were all part of last night's movie marathon. I could watch these movies over and over again (and to be honest, Home Alone has been on at least 4 times in since last Friday!)
Hello Christmas Spirit! Its nice to see you again :)"

Yesterday, I also noticed that I am being more careful to create continuity between the pages on my album this year. In the past, I didn't really mind if they didn't coordinate - I treated each page as a totally different layout. While I still see them as different layouts, because they are different days and different stories, I am definitely more conscious about making sure that they "go" together. Like Tuesday/Wednesday...same red plaid carries from one day to the next.

And I am seriously loving that red plaid!

I guess its kind of a silly thing, but it makes me happy that they coordinate :)

Do you worry about making sure facing pages "match" in your scrapbooks?

The rest of December 2014: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

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December Daily 2014 {Day 3}

Happy Weekend Eve!

I'm hoping to get a wreath for our front door today. I was going to stop yesterday after house hunting, but I ran out of time!

I almost did what I feared house hunting yesterday - I found an awesome house! Seriously, great layout, brand new amazing kitchen, hardwood floors, lots of windows, big backyard, a deck, a new roof. It was awesomely maintained, and even the wall colors were ones I would have picked!

But the location wasn't great. And not even like "not perfect, but doable for this amazing house" not great, I'm talking major major issues on many points - including adding an extra 45 minutes without traffic to the trip already 3 1/2 long trip to my parents' house!

So the search continues. Which is just fine since we haven't sold our house yet! Know anyone looking for a house in Louisiana? ;)

Other than house hunting, yesterday was pretty quiet.

I started out the morning extra early, with a cup of tea and an advent calendar chocolate. And then later on, I totally burnt dinner! I was seriously upset, but decided to try the honey mustard chicken anyway, just to see how badly I messed it up. Turned out, I burnt the marinade that spilled onto the (fortunately tin foil covered) pan, but the actual chicken was awesome! I'll definitely make it again, but maybe I'll be more careful not to spill anything on the pan!

This year, I am approaching December Daily slightly differently. In the past, before I did Project Life, I would document what we did everyday with an accompanying picture. But since I document our daily going ons in Project Life, I'm focusing more on December stories this year.

So instead of talking about house hunting and burning dinner (which will still be documented, just not here), I talked about one of my favorite family Christmas traditions - our advent calendars!

"Every year, Aunt Diane buys us these exact chocolate filled advent calendars (she is awesome!). They have been a part of our Christmas tradition for as long as I can remember - the chocolate just tastes like Christmas to me and I almost memorized the sayings on the inside of the windows! I love waking up and having a little chocolate "present" waiting for me - its the only time of year I have chocolate with my breakfast every day!"

While I love my other albums (seriously, woke up this morning and read my 2011 and 2012 books again while drinking my tea), I am really loving this story centered approach this year!

Does using Project Life affect how you approach other projects?

The rest of December 2014: Day 1 | Day 2

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December Daily 2014 {Day 2}

Happy Wednesday!

I'm so excited, I am going to look at more houses today. Our house in Louisiana hasn't sold yet, so we aren't ready to put in an offer in New York, but I am really enjoying looking at all kinds of houses in all the different towns around here. I figure by the time we are ready to put in an offer on a house, I'll know what all of our options are!

I just keep my fingers crossed that I don't find a "perfect" house, because I would want to buy it right away, and that's not an option right now!

But I'm sure it will be fun, and I should have some interesting pictures to share tomorrow!

Yesterday I took a ton of pictures!

Waiting to cross the bridge on the way to the grocery store | Cold weather + an advisory for an ice storm | Blogging in the morning | Writing up a menu + grocery list | And buying groceries | One of our Nativity scenes, this one is near the tree | Finally getting the empty boxes off the dining room table | Setting up the advent wreath

After I was done grocery shopping and decorating, I was playing with my camera and taking pictures of the tree. I decided to try out this tutorial.

The pictures reminded me of looking at the tree without my glasses on - something I love to do, and something I'm always trying to convince AJ is pretty. He doesn't wear glasses and can never understand what I mean when I try to describe what anything without glasses looks like!

"I've tried to explain to AJ (who has perfect vision) why the tree looks so beautiful without your glasses on. He never got it, until I found a tutorial showing how to take photos like this. He was shocked that this is my world without my glasses!"

Do you wear glasses? Do you love to look at the tree without them like I do?

I'm linking up my Day 2 with Ali Edwards again today. And the rest of my album pages are here: Day 1 (and by rest, I mean the other one...because its only Day 2!)

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December Daily 2014 {Day 1}

Good morning! How was your Thanksgiving?

Our Thanksgiving weekend was fun, but the two weeks before...craziness!

Can you do me a favor? The next time I decide to move cross country and host a major holiday two weeks later, please remind me how crazy it was to unpack and shop and cook and get the house ready at the same time!

But really, without the deadline of hosting guests for a holiday, I seriously doubt we would have gotten everything unpacked and organized so quickly. So maybe I should always plan a big party right after a move so we have to get everything done?

Of course, the house is in upheaval again as we pull out all of the Christmas decor and try to figure out where it all fits in our new apartment!

And its time to begin another one of my favorite holiday traditions - December Daily. Like previous years, this will be my only digital project of the year.

I'm using Shutterfly again, because it is just so easy! Every morning I upload the pictures from the day before {or I upload my iphone pictures directly from their app - so easy!} I add the pages to the book one at a time, and by the end of the month, my book is done and ready to order!

I'll be sharing a bit about our days + my layouts here. It might be daily, it might not...I guess I'll just have to see how it works out! But I will be linking up with Ali Edwards.

And so, its on to Day 1!

It was a pretty normal December day. A little baking, watching food network by the tree.

We started our advent calendars. They are a wonderful tradition in my family. Every year, my aunt buys us all a chocolate advent calendar. It is one of my favorite December things, and I can't imagine starting off a Christmas season morning without that little piece of chocolate!

A little out of the ordinary today, AJ came home for lunch. He called around 1:15, he'd forgotten his lunch and since we live just 10 minutes away, he decided to come eat here. It was so fun to see him for a bit in the middle of the day!

Of all those stories today, I decided to start off December Daily with the peanut butter oatmeal cookies I was making. Which is nothing new really. 2011 and 2012 started off similarly, talking about cookies and baking...and 2013 started with another favorite holiday treat!

"It seems December Daily always starts with something baked. The start of this month, bringing out the Christmas decorations, watching our favorite Christmas movies {Home Alone | Christmas Vacation}, the cold weather, it all makes me want to fill the kitchen with flour and sugar and vanilla.
I tried a new recipe this time - peanut butter oatmeal cookies. I'm calling them "breakfast cookies", but just so I don't feel bad eating them in the morning!"

It feels awesome to start this project. How are you documenting your Christmas season?

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Struffoli {Scrapbook Layout}

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I am seriously shocked about how quickly summer is flying by! School starts one month from yesterday...well, for the students. School for teachers starts even earlier!

I've still got a lot to do on my summer list, but I do have an update for you tomorrow about how its going so far :)

During that marathon scrapping week earlier this summer, I made this layout too.

Last Christmas, AJ and I went to my Nonni's house to make struffoli. Struffoli are honey covered fried dough pieces, covered in sprinkles. We only make them at Christmas, and I look forward to them all year long. After we left, AJ showed me that he snapped some pictures of us while we were cooking, and I knew that I'd have to turn those pictures into a scrapbook layout!

I was so glad that he was able to get these pictures when I wasn't looking!

Well, I'm off to go scrap some more. My "to scrap" list is still way too long for school being so very close to starting! What are you up to today?

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Mardi Gras 2014 {Scrapbook Layout}

Happy Tuesday!

How was your weekend? Ours was pretty fun on Friday and Saturday - we took an overnight trip to New Orleans! Then on Sunday it was a little scary - we found black widow spiders got into our garage near the door! I don't like spiders normally, so poisonous spiders are definitely not my thing.

But that's enough talking about spiders, because I'm getting the creeps!

Let's talk about not scary scrapbook layouts instead :)

This layout is about our first Mardi Gras parade in Louisiana. We decided to go to the Spanish Town parade in Baton Rouge - it was so much fun! We went with two of AJ's coworkers and met up with mine and her family.

I couldn't see a thing, so I stood on top of a column {that picture is in this layout} I think that was my favorite part of the parade - actually being able to see what was going on. I think its the first parade I've ever been too that I could see about the heads of everyone else! I guess that's the life of being short.

One of my favorite things about this layout is the letters. They are actually white and I just used a sharpie to color them in to fit my page - I love doing this, I am definitely going to be sad when I run out of those white letter stickers!

What supply are you going to miss when you run out?

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Project Life 2014 {Week 8}

Happy Friday!

This is another one of those weeks that I am happy is over! I thought last week was the longest week of the school year - until this week! I think everyone is starting to get spring fever!

Fortunately, my scrapbook room is almost entirely done, and my Project Life station is complete so I was able to start making some new layouts. I shared Week 7 yesterday at Julie's, and I'm sharing Week 8 today here!

Week 8 | February 17 - February 23

This was our first full week in the house! We did a lot of unpacking, and building furniture and setting up the house just how we wanted it. And I even made dinner in the new house for the first time - and made AJ take a few pictures, of course!

We also had a huge surprise this week! My mom was coming to visit us, and as a surprise, my Nonni came with her! We had no idea that she was coming for a visit, but it was so fun to have them both in Baton Rouge :)

And I just had a add a close up of this picture. I just love this shot of AJ building the tv stand. He was handling it well on his own, so I was looking for something else to do. Taking pictures of him while he built it just seemed fun - and it was!

I am so glad that (for the most part) the boxes are gone and we are all set up in the house. There are still a few with odds and ends that I haven't placed yet, but that's not too bad. After all, we've only been in the house for 5 weeks, and we've been working all that time too!

How long did it take you to unpack when you moved?

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Project Life 2014 {Week 7}

Hi everyone!

Today I'm sharing my Week 7 of Project Life over at Julie's :)

But I'll give you a little sneak peek...

And the rest of the layout is over there!

I'll be back here tomorrow with Project Life Week 8 :)

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Project Life 2014 {Week 5}

Happy Friday!!!

I am so so glad it is Friday. This week has been super crazy! On Saturday, my mom flew in to help us unpack, and my Nonni surprised us and flew in with her. That was the fun crazy part :)

And then there was not so fun craziness at work. But that always happens the week before a long vacation. And today at 4pm starts our Mardi Gras break and we are off for a whole week!

I'm really looking forward to finishing the unpacking and getting a few painting projects done around the house!

Fortunately, when my mom was here, she unpacked a ton of my scrapbook stuff, and I was able to do a Project Life layout last night while AJ was at bowling.

Please excuse the pictures - I'm still learning about the light and where to photograph in the house. And I couldn't get into my closet to get the DSLR out, so I had to use my phone!

This was another crazy week in our house! AJ was on call this week, which meant if anything happened at the plant after hours, he had to go fix it. Normally, this isn't that big of a deal, but this week, we had an ice storm that shut the city down Tuesday and Wednesday. So AJ had to drive in early Tuesday morning and sleep over at the plant in case anything happened until the roads were opened again Wednesday night!

Once the city reopened and school started again, we had our science fair. We had a problem securing judges, since the fair was rescheduled due to the storm. Fortunately, AJ had the day off and was able to jump in and judge. It was pretty fun to have him at school with me!

Speaking of school - I'd better get ready and get there before its too late!

Only a few more hours and we are on vacation. Can't wait to celebrate Mardi Gras break with a Mardi Gras parade this weekend! What are you up to?

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Project Life 2014 {Week 4}

Happy Friday!

We have parent-teacher conferences at school today, so its going to be a quiet Friday (I hope!) A lot of teachers don't like parent-teacher conference day, because it can be long and boring if you don't have a lot of parents. But so far at this school, all of the parents show up to conferences, so we have a lot to do all day!

Plus, I like any day that is different from a normal day. It shakes up the routine and makes the day go so much faster!

And then when I get home, we are going to clean out the guest room - because we are having our first guest! My mom is coming to stay for the weekend and see our new house I can't wait :)

But I do have to wait, because its only Friday, and not Saturday yet...so I'll share a Project Life page until then!

This was another week that was a bit out of the ordinary in Baton Rouge. We had a snow day! Friday, January 24, Baton Rouge had an ice storm, so all of the schools in the are shut down, since most of the roads to get to the schools were shut down!

Of course, things couldn't just be that easy for AJ and I. He was flying out that morning for a bachelor party in Atlantic City! So we had to drive on the roads and find a way to the airport around all of the closed roads and detours. The 20 minute drive took us over an hour, but fortunately, AJ made his plane and was able to get to New Jersey in time for the party!

And I made it home in time to get a little more sleep and then watch my favorite trashy educational tv shows all day long!

What is your favorite thing to do on a snow day?

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Project Life 2014 {Week 3}

Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday of the year! My bridal shower was even "love" themed because I love Valentine's Day so much :)

I know a lot of people think that its a silly holiday, because you should tell your friends and family that you love them all the time, and not just on a day in February. Which is true, but its also fun to have a special day to celebrate it too!

Plus, any day dedicated to pink and hearts and prettiness - especially in the middle of winter, when everything outside is dark and gray, and everything inside is bright and cheerful - is a wonderful wonderful day!


And, to maybe make my favorite holiday even better, or mess it up, depending on how this goes - we might be closing on our house today.

We were supposed to definitely close today, and were approved by the mortgage company earlier this month. But something fell down on their end near the end of the process, the part where they wrap everything up and send it all over to closing. They waited way too long, and didn't leave themselves enough time to get everything done.

Of course, up until last night, we were told everything was fine and we'd definitely close tomorrow. We didn't find out we might not until after everything we own was on a truck, basic services (like electricity and water) changes had been scheduled and we'd both taken time off from work (a bigger deal for me because a sub had to be scheduled, so now that's someone else who is getting her Valentine's Day messed up when I go into work today!)

Okay, I'm going to stop stressing out about this and try to calm down a bit so I can move on to Project Life now...

Week 3 of Project Life was a really exciting week! The Sunday before this week started, we put an offer in on a house (the one we are having so many problems with right now!), and this week, we had a signed contract! There was so much to do - like filling out tons of paperwork for the mortgage, and printing out every picture of the house I could find! Its new construction, so the only ones I could find were the floor plan and sketch of the outside!

And, of course, there was school. One day this week, I woke up early so I had time to actually blow out my bangs and put on real make up before school. Lots of my students noticed, which I thought was nice, but one 5th grader's comment was my favorite. He told me I looked so much prettier than I usually do! Um, thanks?

Well, I'm off to go to work and hope for a call that we are actually closing today! I really want everything to be delivered tomorrow as scheduled. What are you up to today?

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Valentine's Day Wreath

Happy Valentine's Week everyone!

Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday. And I love decorating our whole house with tons of Valentine's Day goodies. But this year, I had to hold back on the decorating, because we are closing on our house on Friday, so everything has to be packed up and ready to move.

But, I couldn't leave the apartment totally undecorated!

I decided to put together a quick wreath, so at least it looked Valentine's Day-ish from the outside.

And I totally plan on having the wreath in the car at closing, so when we get to the house, I can put it right up on our front door!

This was seriously so easy to put together. I used a wire wreath form (I usually use styrofoam bases for my wreaths, but this was on sale, and way way less expensive!) + burlap ribbon to make the base of the wreath. I just wrapped and wrapped the burlap until I liked how it looked :)

Then I painted and glittered a red heart - and now I'm seeing a few spots that can use some extra glitter once we are settled into the house!

And added these cute felt hearts that I found in the Target $1 Spot :)

Seriously, this project took me about a half hour total. I made it after work one day, when I was wanting something crafty to do, but didn't want to start a whole big thing. What is it about having to move and pack up all my craft goodies that makes me what to take them all out and play?!

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day, or do you let your winter decor do the talking in February?

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Project Life 2014 {Week 2}

Yay! Its finally Friday :)

I really love Fridays. And not just because they are Project Life day - although I do love Project Life!

This Friday I am just so so glad for the weekend. Every day this week, I've either woken up with or gone to bed with a terrible stomach ache that I'm pretty sure is just stress!

I seriously cannot wait to have two whole days at home, doing nothing. Except scrapping and hanging out with AJ and watching the Olympics!

And then its just two more weeks until Mardi Gras break! Yay!!!

But I'm totally getting off subject! Friday seriously is Project Life day...so here is my Project Life Week 2 layout :)

We had to go back to school after Christmas break this week. I always hate going back after long breaks. Its just hard getting up in the morning! But on the first day back, we lost power and heat, so we had to cancel school that day! I didn't mind getting an extra day to sleep in :)

The next day, we were under a hard freeze warning and many schools in Baton Rouge closed. But because we'd already missed the day before, my school stayed open. My students found icicles outside, and they all brought them in to my classroom. I wasn't sure if it was because I am the science teacher or because I am from New York, where we actually get snow and icicles in the winter!

We also had a really exciting development in the house situation - we found one we loved on Saturday and on Sunday, we put in an offer! It was definitely an exciting weekend.

This weekend will be less exciting, but I'm also looking forward to that. We don't have plans to do anything, and I'm really happy to have a quiet weekend. Its been a while!

What are you up to this weekend?

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Valentine's Day 2013 {Scrapbook Layout}

Valentine's Day is next week!!!

I am so excited, it is one of my favorite holidays of the year. And its on Friday! So yay!!!

Okay, I'm going to try to contain my Valentine's Day related excitement, so I can show you this Valentine's Day layout!

Last year, on Valentine's Day, AJ took me to dinner at La Madia in Chicago. You know how much I love my pizza.

Seriously, its even the title of the layout :)

We decided to get two pizzas. Because really, the only thing better than one pizza is two pizzas!

Oh man guys, now that I'm looking at this picture, I want these pizzas again! The one on the left is a smoked mozzarella and mushroom pizza, and the one on the right is arugula, prosciutto and shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese...

I think a re-creation of these pizzas might be needed to celebrate Valentine's Day this year! What do you think?

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Project Life 2014 {Cover + Week 1}

Well...it's Monday!

How was your weekend? Ours was a little bit crazy.

Friday was the science fair at school. So my weekend started off very stressful, as the science fair drama set up, judging, awards and clean up took literally all day long! I was running on 10 the entire time, so by the time I got home, I was super wound up and super super exhausted!

AJ was on call at work, so he had to go in to the plant several times, and I spent all of Sunday in bed sick!

Fortunately, I had completely caught up with all of my Project Life pages during one of our snow days!

This year, I am using the Honey kit. And so far, I am loving the bright cheerful colors and patterns in this kit.

The first week of the year was somewhat uneventful - I was on Christmas break that week, and didn't do very much except go look at neighborhoods! On New Year's Day, AJ and I decided to take a ride out to the area where we had planned to move, and we didn't like it at all! So we spent the rest of that day, and all day Friday looking all over Baton Rouge to find an area we did like!

Then, on Saturday, we actually went and looked at some houses. There was one we liked, but it was too far from AJ's work. And we saw two houses in neighborhoods we liked, but we didn't like the houses themselves! So we decided to go out and look the next weekend.

Well, I should go get ready for work, since it is Monday and all! Wish me luck today! Have a great start to your week :)

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