WITL 2014: Monday

I'm so happy I decided to embark upon this project again. I absolutely love the results. I love that Ali inspires so many to do this!

 



 

WITL 2014: Saturday, 11/1 - Glo Run & Girlie Giggles

Welcome to Saturday. It was quiet in the house this morning. After trick or treating last night, Summer slept at Ally's house. It's been a busy week and I was very thankful to get to sleep in. Hubby and I had a leisurely chat over a cup of coffee.

Continuing on my weight loss journey includes working out. Checked that off for the day with the Jillian Michaels, Shred it with weights video. Whew, that's quite a workout. Definitely needed a long, hot shower after that!

Took advantage of the fact that everyone was home at the same time and snagged a FAMfie (Family selfie) on the deck.

Keith surprised me with flowers (photo courtesy of our son). An adorable bouquet of pink roses. Have I mentioned that I love this guy?

Bryce is lobbying for new computer parts and/or a new gun for Christmas. Today we sat down with him to double check to make sure that all the supporting documentation for his college applications had been submitted Also, we checked to make sure his ACT scores had been requested as well.

Summer and I had dinner at Firebirds with Mari, Jenni & Abby before doing the Glo Run. We had quite a few laughs and dinner was delicious. We enjoyed the warmth before venturing outside to the windy, chilly course around the Towne Center.

All us girls got all 'glowed' up and we started our adventure out on the course.

This race wasn't nearly as exciting as the Color Run we had done together just two months ago.

After the anti climatic ending of the race, we took the girls to Sweet Frog. We chatted and laughed some more as Abby entertained us with her silly antics and Summer made everyone giggle with her 'what ifs'... what if I had arms like ElastiGirl? They definitely had a lot of fun with that one!

Daily Digi Download Day. Love the first of the month when the new Digi Files are released and I get to download megabytes of digi goodness!

Fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow after a busy day!

WITL 2014 - Tuesday 10/28: The Stories & Photos

Welcome to Tuesday. This morning Keith's alarm woke me up at 6:30am. Ugh. I love that I can just rollover and go back to sleep though. He was kind enough to participate in this journey and sent me the photo of his office this morning.

Summer wasn't feeling 100% just yet so I let her stay home again. She hasn't missed any days so far this school year so I figured better safe than sorry. I downloaded a kindle book on Missy Franklin for Summer to read and she loves it! Why wouldn't my swimmer girl love it?

Laundry is piling up. I usually do a load every day but I've been slacking lately. Just kinda forgot that the laundry doesn't do itself! Luckily, since I'm working from home again today I can work in my PJs for the morning.

It's chilly today. One of the perks of working from home is being able to take a hot shower during my lunch break. Perfect for a day like today! My company is celebrating it's 20th anniversary this month so I took a few moments to call in a catering order for the party we have planned for Thursday.

I've been doing the Medifast program since March and I've lost over 60 pounds so far. The pre-packaged food is pretty good and it simplifies the whole dieting thing. Luckily, Keith has joined me on this quest. It makes it easier having someone else in the household eating like me. They just came out with potato chips. I am a potato chip fiend and I'm thrilled that I can have some each day for a snack attack and still stay on plan!

Since we didn't have to scoot out for practice early, we actually got to have a weekday family dinner. We eat pretty simply. Tonight was grilled teriyaki chicken with broccoli and a salad.  Keith was nice enough to do the grilling to let me finish up a work project and then, as a bonus, he cleaned the kitchen. Have I mentioned that I love this guy?

After dinner, Summer had to finish reading the book Rikki Tikki Tavi for English in order to take a quiz the next day. I joined Bryce down in his man cave to work on finishing up college applications. We had a very productive evening and managed to get 4 out of 5 applications submitted. And, they're early! Can I get a woot, woot?!

The kitchen table is the catch all, for after school and after swim stuff...

Last season, Summer injured her shoulder and is still not fully recovered enough to do the Butterfly. She is doing physical therapy at home in order to strengthen it enough in order to be able to do all four strokes again. She really misses it and wants to get back to it badly.

After dinner, Keith and I took Lady for a two mile walk. My friend Janis called to check on Summer since she wasn't at practice. When we got home from our walk, I continued working on the giant pile of laundry and then enjoyed some guilt free Pinterest browsing and TV viewing (watched Revenge and Last Man Standing). I stayed up a little too late and didn't get to bed until 11:30. Definitely not conducive for getting up at a reasonable time tomorrow.

WITL 2014 - Monday 10/27: The Stories & Photos

So happy to be embarking on this journey once again! The last time I did a Week in the Life (WITL) was in 2011. I love going back and looking at that completed album. Yes! I did say complete - that feels so good.

This time was a little less overwhelming though. I did some prep. That involved buying a new charger for my camera's battery, planning a kit for the layouts (I'm digi so that meant creating a smart collection in Lightroom for kits, word art, templates and embellishments I plan on using), taking a whirl at prepping some of the main pages, printing out Ali Edwards' Daily Planning Sheets and making sure that either my iPhone is in my pocket at all times and/or my DSLR is my new accessory for the week.

It also involved, in true Paul Revere style, warning my family that "Week in the Life is coming! Week in the Life is coming!" They have been forewarned that by the end of the week, they will indeed be seeing spots and there's a good chance I'll take photographs of them while they're sleeping...

Here are some of my favorite shots from today:

The day can't start off right without a cup of coffee. I doesn't hurt that Minnie Mouse smiles at me as I drink it... It's too bad that Summer isn't feeling very smiley this morning. She woke up with a stomach ache . No school for her today.

Gotta keep the body healthy, I take these everyday. Call the school to let them know Summer will be out.

A positive message to start my day

Time to get to work. Summer uses my computer at night to watch Netflix or Right Now Media. I'm stuck cleaning up her mess before I can get to work. Around 11am, the sick child and the puppy dog come meandering downstairs. Lady finds her sunny spot to lie in and Summer finds a book to read. No school equals no TV/screen privileges and she's knows better than to even ask.

Around noon, I enjoy a refreshing Cherry Coke Zero while finishing up payroll taxes and jamming to Pandora. I send off the music related question to my Mom (we're working on the Two Views class from Cathy Zielske.)

My car is in the shop today. It drives me crazy to feel stranded (first world problem, I'm well aware). Of course though, my car won't be ready until 5 which is the exact same time that Bryce has to leave for the station and Steph has to pick up Jillian. There go Plan A and Plan B. Must explore Plan C in order to pick up my car, which thankfully by the end of the day should no longer sound like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

So thankful that I have a job that allows me to work from home most days. 

So I can be around for silly moments like this

and this...

and reactions like this...

And sweet faces like this... And do you see that sweatshirt? That means this boy is graduating in June. Trying to steal every photo I can while he is still here everyday.

We're enjoying the switch to fall, and all the excuses it brings for pretty decorations.

And, then it's off to swim practice for my girl. I do laps around the school while she does laps in the pool! 

And as a bonus, I get to hang out with my friend Steph! She was kind enough to squeeze in taking me to get my car before she had to pick up her daughter. After all she says, "that's what best friends are for!"

There are many more great photos from today. So very thankful for that!

The grand plan

I have a great idea for this blank wall in my house. My plan is to spell out our last name on the wall in a creative fashion. The plan is to make a collage of black and white photos in the shape of each letter. Since we have 10 letters in our name, I thought it would be great to highlight photos from the last 10 years. So, the first letter would have photos from 2004, the second from 2005, etc all the way to the last which would hold pics from last year. Then, should I be successful in actually pulling this off, my plan is to swap out the oldest photos/letter with the pictures from each successive year.

Now on to making the prints. I just saw this post from Cathy Zielske, and I think this product from Artifact Uprising just may be the solution I've been looking for!

BASS Odd Age Swim Meet

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Summer's concert

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Our California Adventure

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We celebrated my daughter's friend's birthday with her at Pinkadilly downtown. The place has such charm, especially since this is the newly renovated location. The three girls and us three Moms enjoyed finger sandwiches and a multitude of teas. We had such a nice time. Since we normally only see each other at swim practice, it was so nice to have a conversation without the background noise of kicking drills and the fear of getting splashed. We definitely need to get out together again soon!

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