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?

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

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

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

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

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

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

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

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

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

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

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

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!)

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

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?

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

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?

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

Its a Small Small World {Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Scrapbook Layout}

Guess what?! We are home from school again! There is another snow watch in Louisiana, so they shut everything down.

Which I'm excited about, because I have lots of scrapping and craft projects here to work on.

This layout has the most random story behind it...

AJ and I went into the city to see the tree.

We kind of just ran through Rockefeller Center. I actually prefer the Saks (aka. Snowflake) Building across the street, so we watched the snowflakes, then took a few pictures of the tree and left.

On our way home, I opened up facebook on my phone and saw a picture of my cousin, Sarah, (who just started a music blog!) and her boyfriend at the tree.

I showed AJ and we realized we must have just missed them. Until we looked a bit closer at the pictures.

We seriously just missed them. See that guy, behind the guy in the green hat? That's AJ. See the girl with the hair and the black jacket right in front of him? That's me.

How crazy is that?

We were debating walking back through Rockefeller Center to leave (which would have brought us right past Sarah!) or making a quicker exit out the side. We chose the side and never saw them!

It really is a small, small word!

Have you ever had a crazy social media coincidence?

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

Project Life 2013 {12.16 - 12.22 & 12.23 - 12.29 & 12.30 - 12.31}

How was your weekend?

We had a snow day on Friday. There was a light dusting of snow, so the whole area shut down - no school, roads were closed, the whole nine yards.

But, I got an unexpected three day weekend, so I'm not going to complain!

And, AJ was out of town this weekend, so you know I spent most of it scrapping!

I was finally able to finish my 2013 Project Life (well, except for the wedding week...that's still a work in progress! I can't decide which pictures I want to use!)

The third week of December was awesome because we had parties at school (complete with tree skirt skirts!) Then, AJ and I flew out to New York, where we ate dinner at Peter Luger's, watched Ben terrorize the poor Christmas tree Santas, played board games by the tree (my favorite!) and found AJ's old baby pictures!

We tried to get as many Christmas things in as possible Christmas week. We went to the city to see the tree, went to Greenport, made struffoli with my Nonni and had a big family Christmas party!

Since we did so many Christmas things, I decided to give Christmas Eve and Christmas day their own inserts. We had a very quiet Christmas, but it was so much fun hanging around with family, and even seeing some Christmas Eve snow!

There were a few different approaches to the last week of 2013 and the first of 2014. Some people had December 30 - January 5 as the last week of their 2013, others made it the first of their 2014. I decided to keep December 30 and 31 in my 2013 album, and start mid week for 2014. Since it was a "week" of only two days, I dedicated one page per day. But that wasn't hard, since they were both big days - one was AJ's birthday and the other New Year's Eve!

And of course, my last page of the album. I just followed the Clementine kit suggestions for the last page - I always follow the suggestions for the first and last pages!

And now I can get started with my 2014 album! I'm going to order the pictures to be printed this week - I can't wait!

Are you catching up on any 2013 projects before moving on to 2014?

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

Project Life 2013 {12.9.2013 - 12.15.2013}

Happy Friday!

This has been a crazy week around here - and it is going to be a crazy weekend!

AJ and I have been teaching confirmation classes at our church, and this weekend is the confirmation retreat. We (and the other catechists, not just us!) are taking a group of about 50 11th graders to Angola Prison!

To be honest, I'm a little nervous about going to the prison. I've never been to one before, and even though I've taken students on a lot of field trips, I've never taken them anywhere that requires as much security as a maximum security prison!

But, it should be a really interesting experience!

The second week of December we held our {now annual} cookie exchange party! With my very favorite Santa cupcakes :) I also have a picture of our Christmas Nativity sign, which I made after winning the vinyls from Heather! All in all, it was a pretty average week for December!

Well, I'm off to work. Hopefully it will be an easy day - because tomorrow will be a very very early day and a very long day!

What are you up to this weekend?

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

Collage Layout Tutorial + Christmas in New York City Layout

Happy Wednesday!

Last week, I shared a layout using one of my favorite styles - making a collage! There were a few questions about how I put them together, so I decided to put together a tutorial! This one is for you Becky :)

1. Decide how big you want to the layout to be and what size borders you want. In this example, I am using two 12 x 12 pages - so they layout is 12 x 24 total. I also want to have 1 inch borders on all four sides of the layout. This means I have a 10 x 22 space to work with (after subtracting the borders from the total size).

2. Mark the space you have to work with on a cutting mat. Also mark where the center (split) of the layout will be.

3. Layout out the pictures in the grid. If pictures overlap, trim them to fit the space. At this point, I take a fast picture on my phone in case the pictures get knocked out of place.

4. Cut the borders for the layout. You could do this before laying out the pictures, but I like to do it after, in case I need to change the size of the borders after laying out the pictures.

5. Adhere your borders to a base page.

6. Transfer the pictures from the grid onto the paper. I just take each picture, and put it on the paper in the same spot that it was on my grid. 

7. Add colored paper in to the blank spaces in the collage. I line up the paper upside down and mark where it needs to be cut so it fits exactly into the space.

8. Add a title.

9. And journaling.

10. And enjoy your layout!

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

Project Life 2013 {11.25 - 12.1 & 12.2 - 12.8}

Yay! Its finally Friday!

Why is it the first week back at school after a long break always feels super long? Oh well, its Friday now!

I am really hoping to finish my Project Life pages this weekend. I ordered the pictures, but they are stuck in Michigan and haven't arrived yet!

But until then, I do have these pages that I haven't shared yet.

My parents were in town over Thanksgiving. We visited Cafe du Monde (oh my goodness - the beignets were amazing!), a plantation near Baton Rouge, the Mississippi River, LSU and the state capitol building!

On actual Thanksgiving, my mom took a ton of pictures for me! I really appreciated it, because I'm never usually in any pictures!

This week I decided to include an insert with one of my mom and AJ's Scrabble score sheets. They both really love (and are really good at) Scrabble. But my dad and I don't really like to play. So when they get together, they always break out the board game!

Since I didn't have a ton of stuff to put in the insert, I just cut one down, then adhered the edge to the page behind it so it wouldn't slide around too much (that's what that gold washi tape on the side is all about). And on the back, I just added another picture of our tree!

This year was the second year that I did December Daily + Project Life. You can see the DD pages about this week here, here and here

The first week in December was all about putting up the Christmas decorations, taking out the Christmas china and wearing lots of Christmas earrings! On that vertical card in the middle of the second page, I just wrote the lyrics to my favorite Christmas song - Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. Its been my favorite for as long as I can remember and every time it comes on, I'll stop whatever I'm doing to sing along. AJ particularly loves if this happens while we are having a conversation in the car ;)

Do you have any stop everything and listen songs in your life?

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

December Daily {Christmas Eve + Christmas Day + The Rest of December}

Would you believe that I am not excited that it is Friday?

Just because I was off for the past two weeks, and on Monday I have to go back to school. Going back after a long break, especially one that has included a family visit, lots of scrapping and house shopping is hard! But we have a day off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so that's something to look forward to!

We started a few new traditions this year. Instead of a big dinner with my mom's whole family, as we usually do on Christmas Eve, we went out east with just my immediate family. We didn't change everything though - we still served lots of seafood favorites, and some non-seafood dishes for my brother and I!

Christmas Day is always very quiet around here. No one even got out of their Christmas pjs for most of the day! We just hung around, watched movies, played games and ate!

Earlier in the month, I was unsure about continuing my December Daily past Christmas this year (I usually don't). But we were having our family Christmas party after Christmas and I wanted to include it - and then I didn't take any pictures of the party! So instead, I created a collage page of everything we did for the rest of December.

And I finally finished the cover + back cover of the album too!

Well, we are off to drive around and look at some more neighborhoods! And to get ready for our house showings tomorrow :) What are you up to this weekend?

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

December Daily {Days 18 - 23}

Happy 2014!

I took an unintended blog break over the past week and half, while we were home visiting family.

But now we are back, and December and 2013 are over.

And we are looking forward to some big changes in 2014. Including buying a house in Louisiana! See how cheerful I'm being...even though as I type the northeast is getting lots of snow and all I have is icky not warm, not cold, rainy gross weather...I'm trying.

But even though 2013 is over, I'm still finishing up all of my 2013 projects so I can start my 2014 ones :)

Speaking of 2013 projects, today I'm sharing the {almost} end of my December Daily pages!

December 18 - the last day of classes before break. We've been learning about plants and plant structure in 5th grade, so today we watched a Magic School bus about plants!

For the last day of school "party day", the other science teacher and I decided to dress up in tree skirt skirts!

After an insane day at work, we flew home to the east coast. Finally! We had a very long delay because the bathrooms on the plane weren't working, and didn't get home until after midnight. Then we stayed up super late to watch the wedding video with my family.

Saturday, we all went to Peter Luger's in Brooklyn for dinner. It was so fun getting all dressed up and going out to a fancy restaurant, but it was even more fun having us all around the same table!

Recognize that little cutie? Its AJ on his 1st Christmas! We drove to New Jersey to see his dad and found all of his childhood pictures. We thought they'd been lost in the move, so we were so so excited to find them!

Monday, the last day before Christmas Eve, AJ and I took a trip into the city to see the Met + the tree. Despite the rain, it was so crowded in Rockefeller Center. Turns out my cousin was also visiting the tree at the same time - like the exact same time. AJ and I are in the crowd in the background of her picture! You can see his face clear as day, and the back of my head with all the curly hair and gigantic jacket! (That picture isn't on this page, its getting its own layout!)

Well, I'm off to work on a few more 2013 layouts so I can start fresh with 2014! What are you working on?

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin

Third Thursday Scrapbook Stories {12.19.2013} + December Daily {Day 16 + Day 17}

Happy Weekend Eve everyone!

I am so excited! Today is a half day at school - and the last day of classes before Christmas break (although the teachers have to go in tomorrow for a professional development day!)

Today, I have two fun things to share with you.

First, I'm over a Julie's sharing a few Project Life layouts.

And I'm also linking up with Ali Edwards to share some December Daily pages!

Monday I was feeling pretty sick most of the day. I took a few Advil and nice long nap at the end of the day, and it definitely helped!

Tuesday was a very busy day! I ordered new glasses at the store! I am really excited to finally have an up to date prescription in my glasses. Of course, they won't be ready until after Christmas.

Speaking of after Christmas, I have a question for everyone doing a December Daily. Usually, I stop my December Daily on Christmas Day. But this year, we are having our family get together after Christmas due to scheduling conflicts. I kind of want to extend my December Daily to go to the party, but I'm not sure about it.

What are your thoughts? Do you keep up with your December Daily past Christmas?

And then, do I end it on the party day, or take it all the way through to New Year's? So many decisions to be made!

Find more from Katie Stories here:
twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | bloglovin