January 2015

I'm doing things a little different this year. I was quite neglectful in keeping up on blogging and scrapbooking in 2014 (But I plan to keep plugging away at it...keep an eye out for 2014 backlog updates as we move through 2015!!).  But just like always, a new year brings a new start.  With the purchase of my new iPhone last fall, I am now able to take (tons of) pictures with it, edit right from my phone, and use apps like this Project 365 to help track them.

I decided I don't really need to do both, blog everyday, and then scrapbook the photos, and also post scrapbook layouts...that's doubling my work.  So instead, I will just track each pic during the month in an app with a brief description.  Then at the beginning of the following month I will print the photos for scrapbooking, and use the features of one of the apps to do something like this one...a recap calendar.

I know the pictures are rather small, but I think you can get the gist of what they represent, and along with the quick, down and dirty recap below, here is our Auchmoody January 2015 (Day 1 through 31) in a nutshell:

1 - Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
2 - Date night with the hubby to see Interstellar with Matthew McConaughey.
3 - The pups having cuddle time on the bed.
4 - Woke up to a little dusting of snow! Didn't last long though...warmed up and the wind blew it away.
5 - Jody brought in a beautiful rosary straight from the Vatican, that she picked up for me on her travels with Morgan to Italy and France.
6 - Home sick all day with the flu. Captured this sunset...beautiful end to a yucky day.
7 - A picture snapped from a video the girls sent to Grammy. Home sick with Mom again today, they were missing their Grammy and wanted to tell her so.
8 - The Origami Owl Valentine flyers arrived today.
9 - The girls were laying just outside the bathroom door as I was getting ready this morning...as if to say, 'We are not staying home one more day, take us to Grammy's house!'
10 - Christmas finally came down today, all that remains are a few gifts to find space for.
11 - The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord...and the last day of the Christmas Season. All will be put away until next year.
12 - Uh oh...our dishwasher is on the fritz. Up early this morning to hand wash dishes...yuck!
13 - Our new batch of coffee pods arrived for our Nespresso machine at work...a Christmas-slash-parting gift from Grant to the office staff. My new favorite is the caramel.
14 - Organizing and prep work on Project Life 2014 to take on my scrapbooking weekend.
15 - A silly text between Mom and I that makes little sense.
16 - The Jeep packed up and bulging at the seems for Trina and I's scrapbooking adventure...do the two of us girls know how to pack a car!
17 - The scenery outside our windows as we scrap...with huge, fluffy snowflakes coming down.
18 - The six of us ladies who scrapped this weekend. It was a small group this time, just two sets of sisters and Trina and I.
19 - Our first Papa Murphy's pizza experience, and I'd say we liked it! This is all that remains of two pizzas and a dessert pizza!
20 - Dinner at Bangkok with the hubby...such pretty appetizer plates of butterflies and salad rolls.
21 - Valentine's Day is coming. Bought this dish the other day at Hobby Lobby, and filled it today with conversation hearts for my office.
22 - Going old school...a quick winter meal of grilled cheese, tomato soup and milk!
23 - Baylee has started feeling under the weather again. She loves having a cuddle on the bed though, especially in the backs of daddy's knees, as close as she can get.
24 - Because she's not feeling well, it seems kind of difficult for Baylee to curl up in her bed, so I made her this makeshift bed out of an old comforter with a sheet over it. Now she looks so comfortable all stretched out.
25 - Hung our Christmas gift from Craig and Wendy today in our prayer area. It's a cross made from repurposed wine barrels.
26 - Yay! My first Studio Calico Project Life kit arrived. They had a $10 intro offer I couldn't pass up, so I'll be getting one of these at the start of each month.
27 - Oooops...Rob was being silly and mooned me while putting on his pj's. Unfortunately it was the only picture I took this day, so with a little editing of a heart of his moon...we're good.
28 - We have had grey skies for weeks! Today I was wishing for some freshly squeezed sunshine! This is one of the new decorations purchased at Hobby Lobby last week for my newly updated grey and yellow guest room.
29 - Ah, today. A bad day. Baylee had more blood work and x-rays, and we have been told she has a tumor on her liver. It's hard to believe this sweet girl is so sick.
30 - My girl so cute, giving me one of her looks. We're having as many cuddles as we can now.
31 - Another cuddling night with the girls, this time with a look from Lu...or is that the stink eye??

Happy New Year!

It's a brand new year and here I am...trying my hand at Project 365 one more time.  In 2012, I made it somewhere deep into November I believe.  But 2013 was not just a failure...it was an epic failure.

Not to be defeated, I'm trying again but with some changes - live and learn I guess.  I want to take much of the pressure off of myself by thinking I have to have some original, and beautifully composed shot each day...you know, photography at it's finest - NOT!  Those shots are rare, which is what makes them great.  This is just supposed to capture everyday life.  So, being that my iPhone is my friend and is with me always, usually right in my hand or pocket, I vow to be alright with using it - even all 365 days if that's how it turns out.

And, the other change - that I am most excited about - is that I'm not just going to blog them, but I'm going to scrap them.  I will still blog a bit, but the descriptions may be short and sweet just to explain the photo, and keep those that are still interested in what the Auchmoody's are doing up to speed.  The exciting part (if you're a scrapper, you'll understand - otherwise insert yawn here) is that I ordered Becky Higgins' Project Life kit from Amazon yesterday.  Those kits came out in 2009, and I've toyed with the idea of doing one ever since, but just couldn't commit.  Well, I texted Rob yesterday and told him I wanted to do it, and he said go for it...order placed and on it's way!

So Happy New Year one and all.  2013 had some ups, but it had a lot of downs too.  I'm going to chalk it up to the 13 in 2013, and look forward to an AWESOME 2014!!  Bring it on world, I'm ready for it, and to document it all!!