What's On Your... {April 2013}

I found this lovely list of questions on two of my favorite memory-keeping/scrapbooking blogs this week - Ali Edwards and Stephanie Howell - and was inspired.  My quest in memory-keeping for our family is to remember little things, just like these.  I don't know if I'll remember, but I hope to repeat this post every few months...or at least a couple times a year.  I know I'll enjoy looking back at these little moments!

Photo originally shared on Instagram

Vanity | I don't have a "real" vanity, but my dresser is a disaster of jewelry (like my Chewbeads), tights, and lip gloss that all needs to be sorted and given a new place.  I'm very much at a place of re-organization right now.  There are also a handful of things up there so that they are out of Lincoln's reach (batteries, small pieces, etc)

Perennial To Do List | Edit videos (I'm years behind).  Plant a garden.  Get the piano tuned.  Catch up on Project Life.  Get items ready for upcoming consignment sale.  Open Etsy shop.  Plan drama classes.  I could go on.

Refrigerator Shelves | Leftover fried red potatoes.  Cheese and yogurt for the toddler.  Lemon, lime, orange, and strawberries for water infusing experiments.  Panera Asian salad dressing. 

Itinerary | Nothing, unfortunately.  We're toying with the idea of a trip to the Omaha Zoo, but have some other pressing house issues that need to take financial precedence. :/

Fantasy Itinerary | Disney World.  DisneyLand.  Disney Cruise. Do you see a theme?  I'd settle for Silver Dollar City or would love to go up to New England to visit my brother. 

Playlist | Consistently listening to Disney inspired radio on Spotify for weeks now.  I blame the 30-Day Challenge.  Occasionally, Lenka or Mindy Gledhill is my choice (usually after the kids are asleep and I'm trying to seriously work).  Andrew's been on an Irish Tenors kick. 

Nightstand | A couple of diapers, box of wipes, 6 Hot Wheels cars, a book about ladybugs, a bulb syringe, a NoseFrida, a washcloth and a bottle of water.

Workout Plan | Teach children to sleep.  Then workout.  Actually, I plan to start attending a free stroller fitness class next week.  I've gone in the past and it usually about kills me.  Haven't worked out since I was about 14 weeks pregnant with Addie, so...we'll see how it goes.

Phone | Instagram, Pinterest, texts from Andrew, Mom, Dad, Andy, and Laura.

Top 5 List | Loving my babies.  New York City.  Creating.  Watching movies and TV shows with Andrew (rare these days).  Capturing life - with photography, scrapbooking, blogging - whatever I can fit in.

Bucket List | Musical theatre (need to play a Sutton Foster character before I'm too old).  Europe.  More babies - and maybe adoption.  Disney with the kids. Write a book.

Mind | Responsibility of raising these kids. Finding time to craft.  Trying not to stress out when things don't go as planned.  Lack of sleep.  Money. 

Blogroll | Growing Up Geeky.  Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke.  Stephanie Howell.  Simple As That.  Moments That Take My Breath Away.  A Beautiful Ruckus.  Chocolate-Covered Katie.  Birth Without Fear.

Walls of Your Favorite Room in Your House | Nintendo World mural in the nursery.  The castle  is my favorite part.

Last Credit Card Statement | More than I would like.  Groceries, eating out, Shutterfly, Target, craft supplies.

Screensaver | Alternating first baby photos from Lincoln's birth and Adelaide's birth.

TV Every Night | Andrew and I have been trying to watch The Hobbit for over a week now.  The bedtime ritual is making this somewhat impossible to accomplish.  Once that's done, we'll be back to reruns of Parks & Recreation or How I Met Your Mother.

Simple Moments v.14

WOW.  My last simple moments post was three weeks ago.  I've been crazy tired and stressed out, but I didn't realize I had gotten so far behind.  Here's to a new start!

This week's photos are (mostly) brought to you by my Instagram feed...because I seem to be too lazy to have my real camera anywhere within my reach most days.  

Craftiness.  I've toyed with the idea of opening an Etsy shop for a really long time.  The truth is, I just can't figure out how I will manage to keep up with it on top of everything else.  But sometimes, I dream about it.  And sometimes I create the sort of things that I imagine will be for sale once I do set up shop.  I made a couple of headbands for Addie last weekend, using this great singed flower tutorial that I found on - where else - Pinterest.  And it was so much fun, and so much easier than I thought it might be.  Now if only my children would sleep at night...I could definitely get some items listed for sale!

New Project Life: Blush Edition!  My favorite scrapbooking solution, Project Life, was featured on HSN last week and I snagged a fantastic deal on the album and kit that I will likely use for 2014's photos.  If I am extremely motivated, I might use it for some earlier photos (2007/2008), but considering that I still don't have this year's album completely put together and have yet to print photos or write a single journaling card....  I kind of doubt that's going to happen!

"Springtime" Walks.  There was one day last week that was gorgeous.  And then it was suddenly frigid again.  I'm so tired of winter.  I need to take these babies outside or we're all going to go crazy.  Lincoln woke up this morning and ran to me immediately saying "shoes? walk? shoes? walk? walk?!!" and was devastated when I said it was too cold.  However - I will admit that they are pretty adorable in their sock monkey hats (by Knitnut by JL) and I'm glad to have another photo of them wearing these before Adelaide outgrows hers!

Sibling Interaction.  I sometimes think we are crazy for having two babies so close together, but my goodness - lately I am just overwhelmed watching them together.  They are starting to develop their own little relationship. 

Addie adores her big brother and Lincoln's favorite thing to do right now is "carry" her around the house.  It is precious to see them love each other.  Here's hoping that lasts for awhile.

A real, honest-to-goodness hairdo.  On the days where I've had more than three hours of sleep, I'm starting to feel like my normal crafty, dramatic self.  Which means occasionally, I do something with my hair other than throwing it in a sloppy ponytail.  It really is the little things in life that can make a whole day better.

That's it for today.  I hope your week has been beautiful!

Yikes.

So, I had this schedule of posts written out for last week.  I think three out of eight or ten managed to find their way to the blog.  And let's face it, the Wordless Wednesday didn't even count as a real post. 

I'm in the midst of a seemingly never-ending nap/sleep battle.  My kids hate sleeping.  I, however, love to sleep - and that is not happening very often for me these days.  As a result, I'm bleary-eyed and really grumpy most of the time.  Ask my poor husband.

I'm supposed to be consigning at one of the large KC area consignment sales.  It's this week.  I'm supposed to drop off my items tomorrow night.  Do you know how many items from the four overflowing totes in my office have tags on them?  A big fat zero.

I also really need to grocery shop.  I really need to finish converting my scrapbook room into a sewing/scrapbook/workout/kids-crafting space.  I really need to catch up on my Project Life 2012 scrapbook and start my 2013 album.  I haven't even taken the plastic wrap off the album yet.  Sigh.

And have you heard that Google Reader is going away?  That means I have to transfer all of my blog subscriptions over to Bloglovin' - sorting through the hundred some-odd blogs I follow is taking more time than I have.  If you want, you can follow my blog with Bloglovin to stay up to date.

This is real life, folks.
Bags under my eyes=100% Genuine.

All of that to say?   

I think I'll be taking a blogging break for a few days.

I need a chance to catch up on some zzzz's whenever my kids happen to both be asleep at the same time (rare, even at night).

I need to quit eating Oreos for two out of my three meals a day.

And of course, I need to spend the next 30 hours tagging consignment items like a maniac.

I have some fun posts and giveaways coming up - so stay tuned!

Mommy's Hobbies (aka what I used to do before kids)

Here's something that I have learned.  As a mommy of a 21-month-old and a 1-week-old, there is barely enough time in the day to get everyone dressed, fed, and in a clean diaper.  In a few weeks - once I've had time to adjust to having two kids under two - maybe I will become one of those awesome Pinterest mommies who crafts everything, turns snacktime into an adventure everyday, and never ever reasons with herself that one more episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse can't really do that much harm, right??

Ha.  Who am I kidding.  The point is, it's tough to get the little stuff done.  So "me time" - that is a thing of the past for a little while.  While I am enjoying tiny newborn snuggles and toddler kisses and always having graham cracker on my clothing, skin, and couch - I do occasionally think about the things I would do if I ever had "free" time.

Theatre

I had a few delightful years when I was actively participating in every show (in some capacity) at our local community theatre.  I have done pretty much everything there is to do in theatre - director, assistant director, costume designer, light tech, sound tech, stage manager, chorus girl, and a few amazing lead roles.  The above photo is my best comic role - Gertrude McFuzz in Seussical the Musical.  Will you look at my sparkly purple platforms?!  They made me about 6 feet tall.  Conveniently, Andrew (whom I met during that production) is 6'3". 

The same year (2007 - where has the time gone?), I played Vera Claythorne in Agatha Christie's classic And Then There Were None.  This was a serious role and required so much dedication to memorize!  But the overall experience was amazing.  I also pretty much starved myself to fit into that dress.  Not a method I would suggest, but...it looks good, right?

My theatrical experiences have been varied - but my absolute passion is musicals.  I have so many dream roles.  Belle in Beauty & the Beast, Jo in Little Women the Musical, and pretty much every character role that Sutton Foster has played.  Will I ever get the chance to play them?  Maybe...or maybe not.  But the love of theatre will live on regardless - and hopefully be shared with my munchkins someday.

Reading

As a former librarian - how could this not make the list?  I haven't picked up a book in months, but oh how I love to be carried away to a faraway place!  I've been trying to re-read Anne of Green Gables for about six months, maybe I will finish before a year goes by?  We'll see.  The book series I tend to fall back upon, though, is this trilogy written by Liz Curtis Higgs: Thorn in My Heart, Fair Is The Rose, and Whence Came A Prince.  Based on the Biblical story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel, these books take place in Scotland in the 1700's - and it doesn't seem to matter how many times I read them, they are always delightful. 

Sewing/Crafting

All of the costuming I've done in the last few years made me realize that I actually really love to sew.  As a result, my scrapbook room has been turned into a multi-purpose craft room and is now stuffed to overflowing with fabric, felt, patterns, ribbon, and more.  Do I ever get projects done?  Well...sometimes.  But mostly only when they are gifts.  I'm in the process of opening an Etsy shop so hopefully my craftiness will find its way to the web soon!  I had planned a November opening...but a little princess decided to make that impossible.  Above is the Legend of Zelda Triforce pillow shield I made for Lincoln's Halloween costume this year - I'm still working on the tutorial, I promise it will be up soon.  Below is a set of toys I made for a friend's baby shower - puppy dog for baby and dolly for the big sister!

 

Photography

I have a passionate interest in photography, but unfortunately not the time or means to develop it as much as I would like.  I bought my Nikon D3000 about three years ago and have spent that time building a pretty basic understanding of how to shoot in manual.  If I have natural sunlight, I usually do a pretty decent job, but anything less and my photos end up super blurry or super washed out from the built-in flash.  Oh, for the time to practice and learn and better this skill!  And oh, for the money to buy the Nikon 40mm f/2.8G AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR Lens that I kind of desperately want.

Project Life

Of all of my hobbies, this is the one that actually tends to stay mostly caught up.  Project Life is a scrapbooking system designed by Becky Higgins to make life so much easier on those of us who really want to keep a scrapbook of memories for our families - but don't have the time for "traditional" scrapbooking.

I was really hardcore about scrapbooking for many, many years - I only made paper layouts and put them in albums that I had on my bookshelf.  Digital scrapbooking was introduced and I was not a fan.  I was hesitant about switching to Project Life as my primary scrapbook project at first (back in 2010), but wow - the decision is one I absolutely do not regret.  I use Project Life as a daily scrapbook - I (usually) take at least one photo per day, and fill out a small journaling card describing what is going on in each day's photo.  It sounds hard, but it's really not once you are in the habit - and it creates such an interesting scrapbook for your family to view for years to come.  A lot of normal everyday life moments seem to end up in our scrapbook - and I might not even think to take those photos if not for this project!

There are currently seven different editions of Project Life to choose from - this year I am using the Cobalt Edition (pictured) and next year will be using the Amber Edition.  Amazon has the full realm of Project Life products - if you are in the market for a new way to scrapbook, please check it out.  I don't think you'll be sorry!


I'm linking up with Growing Up Geeky for Toddle Along Tuesday!  What are your hobbies - and do you actually find time for them?

vacation - day 1.

The beautiful, delightful, wonderful vacation...is over.

Altogether, we spent 8 days away from home. I was thinking of just putting up one post for the whole trip...but there are far too many cool photos for that. I took about 1800 shots on this trip. Yeah. Crazy. And I have to pick just one for each day, for Project Life. That ought to be fun!

So anyway - this post documents some highlights of Day 1 (Thursday, January 14).

We got up at 3:30am because we had to be to the airport by 5:15. Our flight was filled with lots of teenaged cheerleaders/dance teams and they were noisy, especially at 5:30am. They were with us all the way to Orlando - thankfully we did not run into their group at Disney World.

Anyway, we got to Orlando and took the Disney Cruise Line motorcoach to Cape Canaveral, where we were to set sail.



Once we were checked in, we headed to the giant Mickey ears, which led the way to the ship. The Disney employees were all really nice about taking photos of us whenever we asked. That's a nice change from our normal NYC vacation spot.

We crossed the gangway and welcomed to the Disney Wonder by the cruise staff in the main atrium. We were given directions to our room, and we headed there first thing.

We had a Navigator's Verandah in our room - this photo is of our first view of the ocean from our stateroom. We didn't hang around the room long - we were hungry, so we went upstairs to the Beach Blanket Buffet.

After the meal, we wandered the ship a little and eventually ended up on the 10th deck to watch the Sailing Away party. The Entertainment host was a guy alled Pikey (from Australia) and he was definitely filled with energy!! The whole Disney gang came out during the party to help us on our way. The theme for the cruise was "Adventures Away" - and they sang us a song by that name at least twice a day.

We wandered around the ship a little bit after the party was done and we were officially on our way. I was snapping constant pictures, enjoying the new Nikon D3000. Here's Goofy's Pool, which has a super cool water slide. We never quite got to any of the 3 swimming pools onboard...too many other things to do. But they look cool!

We headed up to the front of the ship so we could get a photo as we sailed off into the distance.

Here's Andrew, as we sailed away.

Disney had some great entertainment on the ship. Each night there was a different show in the Walt Disney Theatre. The first night, we saw The Golden Mickeys, an award-show style compilation of lots of favorite Disney moments - Tarzan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Cruella, Sleeping Beauty, Pocahontas, Toy Story, The Lion King (featured here), and more.

Finale pose. I was suprised at the great quality photos I got with no flash!!

Each night, our stateroom hostess left us some chocolate and a cute little towel animal. Fun!

Here's a view of the main lobby from above (the 5th floor, I think). Notice Captain Mickey having a Meet-and-Greet session with some kids at the bottom of the staircase!

We had dinner at Triton's - a French-style restaurant. We were not thrilled with the food - if you know us at all, you know how picky we are! Andrew had Lobster Macaroni & Cheese. I had some sort of chicken, which was unmemorable. By this time, though, I was starting to feel a little seasick. First time on a ship...I hadn't know what to expect. I was pretty miserable by the end of dinner, even after taking some complimentary seasickness medicine that Guest Services gave me. Since I wasn't feeling great, after dinner we just went back to the stateroom, where I pretty much crashed. Thankfully by the next morning, I was feeling just fine. Overall...the first day was long and busy, but very fun. But the adventures had just begun!

More soon!

Welcome 2010!

I've never been much for resolutions.

I have a list on my refrigerator from this day last year. It has my list of 2009 resolutions. It only had 10 things on it, but do you know how many I actually accomplished? Zip. Nada. Zilch.

Sure, I put up a fighting effort on some - like "Get up earlier - by 6:45 at the latest." I had a streak for probably half the year when I got up early to do laundry and accomplish projects before work. By far, they were the best days, because I had more energy and felt like I had done something productive. But by no means did I manage to meet this goal every day.

I would love to say that I actually made myself "Exercise at least 3x a week." I think I averaged once per week for the whole year. But hey - once a week is better than not at all, right?

Then there are the others, like making a new dinner every week, swiffering the kitchen weekly, taking vitamins regularly, and making breakfast smoothies and keeping them in the freezer - which really didn't take off at all.

So now it's 2010. I'm going to give it another shot. I think I've gained a lot of perspective about how I handle life in the past year. And I'm going to make my new resolutions reflect that as much as I can.

My overall goal for 2010, as mentioned in my previous post, is CALM. I want to slow things down, have time to breathe, and give myself a chance to do the things I care most about. I'm thinking about some creative ways to remind myself of this word when things get crazy.

In the spirit of CALM, here are my other goals for 2010:

• SAY NO. This will be the biggest change, and the hardest to implement. I'm realizing that I cannot do everything. So SAY NO. The world won't end, and I won't be stuck in situations I don't have time for, or can't stand, or whatever.


• Make meal planning less stressful. Plan weekly? monthly? whatever it takes.


• Exercise to get back to wedding-status! Mix it up so it doesn't become a chore.


• Continue to get up by at least 6:45am - try to push this to 6:30. Go to bed early!!


• Make a cleaning strategy and don't let everything pile up until state of disaster becomes reality.


• Really, actually, start taking vitamins.


• Don't drink soda. At all. Really, what possible excuse is a good one?


• Get back to daily devotions. I'm sure this is one of the best ways to promote CALM.


• Keep up with Project Life. Don't fall behind even one day, or that one day may become two, then three, then twenty...


• Finish 2010 with NO outstanding video projects. This first day of 2010, I have 7 projects that people are waiting to see, not counting things I've filmed just for my own benefit. This pressure causes a lot of my stress.


• Play the piano for fun, and enjoy it. This means yes, call the piano tuner, already!


• Pay down the mortgage principle so that we can refinance.


• Take dance classes.


• Make someone's day brighter and send birthday cards through the mail. Or anniversary cards. Or random no-purpose cards. Or cookies!

And one just for fun...

• Bake at least 20 batches of cookies by December 31, 2010!

Whew. That's quite a few things. But right now - I am determined that they are possible. And by this time next year, I will be happier, healthier, and feel so much more CALM that I will hopefully only have a handful of goals for 2011.

it's the start of another 3-day work week...

...and wow, has it been quite the start. I arrived at work this morning to find that the library was closed on Saturday due to the ongoing blizzard in our town, so all of the books from the drop box (basically all returns since last Wednesday) had to be checked in, as well as the 22-page pick list, and all the other normal crazy Monday morning stuff. And there is hardly anyone working today!! I was the third highest in command...and people kept asking me questions! It was weird. But kind of nice. :)

I've been inspired today by what I read on Ali Edwards' blog. She's made a challenge to pick one little word for 2010 and let it make an impact on your life in the next year. I'm still debating my word choice, but right now...I think it may be CALM. We live life at such a harried pace right now, and I think it stresses me out more than I realize. We've already talked about slowing down in 2010 as we're going to have some new things in our life...grad school being one of the big ones. So I am hoping that the new year will bring me some time to reflect, relax, finish the projects, and realize that it's really okay to say no when I'm asked to do something new.

We had a pretty great Christmas. It was absolutely wonderful to have so many days off in a row. It was like a little vacation - and we get to do it all over again this coming weekend (though without a major holiday to add tons of insanity to our plans!). We are going to see A Christmas Story at the KC Rep on Thursday afternoon - Andrew got me tickets for Christmas. I'm super excited!

On top of that joy, it's only 17 days until our delightful vacation. Still haven't tried on any of that swimwear, though it's been in my house for probably a week. Hoping to get to that today! :)

Another favorite gift (also from Andrew)? Project Life. It has not arrived yet, but it should be here very soon. And I am very excited. It's going to be a beautiful way to document 2010...so whether or not I ever finish my scrapbooks, at least I will have something. :)

I'm working on the AGDT scrapbook again. I'm caught up to the Summer 2009 performance (haven't printed Fall 09 pics yet, but I'm working on weeding them so that I can!). So I've started putting together the TEEN scrapbook - starting with pictures from our first teen production, Little Women, in 2007. I have so many photos and I just can't bear to not include them all...so it's going to be quite the scrapbook!! It may have to be just one album for each production. We'll see...