Project Life Tuesday- Week 17

I am linking up with Project Life Tuesday at The Mom Creative.

 

My husband was gone at the beginning of the week.  He was at a match.  He left me his large truck to drive as he took my better gas mileage vehicle.  I left him a little note on his steering wheel on a Say What? project life card. He thought it was funny.

Heather was Here Note

 

We had some unusual spring sun.  We also lucked into some crab.  This is our first crab dinner of the year.

Supplies
Project Life Cobalt Edition
Photo Protector Design G
Blue Sky's Smiling at Me - Made in Photoshop Elements
Studio G arrow stamps

April Booking It

I am linking up with Life as Mom's Booking It.

I was inspired by an article, "Growing Forward," in Sunset Magazine/ April 2013 about Novella Carpenter.  Novella is an urban farmer in Oakland, CA.  I decided to read her book Farm City - The Education of an Urban Farmer.  Wow, Novella is a character and her book follows her journey into urban farming in the grittier part of Oakland where an abandoned lot becomes her farm. Throughout the book, I couldn't decide whether to cheer her on in her endeavors or just say this is all a little crazy. Living next to pigs may not make for the best neighbors.  I love that she dumpster dived for her pigs.  You have to admire the moxie.  I also love how she really drove home that we really don't appreciate how much hard work goes into our food.  This book has a lot of food for thought. I hope she comes out with her further adventures.

I also read Almost Somewhere by Suzanne Roberts about a 28 day adventure on the John Muir Trail in California.  This book is a similar read to books I have read about the Pacific Crest Trail.  The John Muir Trail does include some parts of the Pacific Crest Trail.  This was an OK read for me.  I did appreciate the girl power theme.  It just didn't speak to me as much as some others have. 

I have continued with the Call the Midwife series with Shadows of the Workhouse By Jennifer Worth.  I admit the first part made me cry like a baby. 

Lastly, I read The First Rule of Ten -A Tenzing Norbu Mystery by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay. It has been a while since I have read a decent mystery.  This fit the bill.  It is the 1st book in the series that follows a Buddhist Monk turned LAPD Detective turned Private Detective.  I liked it. 

Full Moon

full moon April 25th

Did you know full moons have names?  Last night, the name of the full moon was pink.  That is me the Queen of Useless Knowledge.

Rite of Passage

Charlie has started mowing.  Usually mowing is my realm but I am happy to share the responsibility of mowing our weeds.

Mental Health Break

Took a walk along Birch Bay this morning.  Just needed to pause.  It was a beautiful morning so I walked it end to end.  My knee and heel are still bothering me but I walked on.

This looks piece of driftwood looks like a hand reaching up

Walking has always been my mediation and medicine.  I remember being a young soldier in Germany (a million years ago) and walking off the Kaserne by myself and I just kept walking.  It was hard for me to conform to the rules and it still is. It was hard being away from home. It is hard being an introvert in an extrovert world. I would walk until I got my perspective back.

Today I just walked because it was a beautiful day and I needed to know the world is bigger than my little petty problems.  I walked and my problems got swallowed up by the ocean because they are just a drop in the great big ocean.

To See A World

 

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour

             -William Blake

 

Living in Washington

Someone had posted this on Facebook.  Just had to share.

Jeff Foxworthy on Living in Washington

1. If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Washington.
 2. If you've worn shorts, sandals and a parka at the same time, you live in Washington.
 3. If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Washington.
4.  If you measure distance in hours, you live in Washington.
5. If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Washington.
6. If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Washington.
7 .If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Central, Southern or Eastern Washington.
8. If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over 2 layers of clothes or under a raincoat, you live in Washington.
9 .If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow and ice, you live in Washington.
10. If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Washington.
11. If you feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash, you live in Washington.
12 .If you know more than 10 ways to order coffee, you live in Washington.
13 .If you know more people who own boats than air conditioners, you live in Washington.
14 .If you stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal, you live in Washington.
15. If you consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain, you live in Washington.
16. If you can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Tullys, you live in Washington.
 17. If you know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, you live in Washington.
18 .If you know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup , Abiqua, Issaquah, Snoqualamie, Wenatchee , Spokane , Umpqua, Yakima and Willamette, and Puyallup you live in Washington.
19. If you consider swimming an indoor sport, you live in Washington.
20.  If you can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food, you live in Washington.
21.  If you never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho, you live in Washington.
22. If you have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain, you live in Washington.
23 .If you think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists, you live in Washington. 24. If you buy new sunglasses every year because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time, you live in Washington.
25. If you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your Washington friends, you live or have lived in Washington.

Project Life Tuesday - Week 16

I am linking up with The Mom Creative - Project Life Tuesday.  Click to be INSPIRED!

How do you include News Events in your album?  I put a "Life" journal card -Cobalt Edition but I could include something about the Boston Marathon Bombing in the space instead. What should that be? **** UPDATED AT BOTTOM

Products used

Photo Protector - Design G
Colbalt Edition - Project Life Journal Card
Sticky Banners from Smash Book Product Line

Journaling:
Sunday, we spent some at Pappy's house. We ate breakfast at his favorite spot- IHOP. We spotted some blue birds in his yard. Charlie had a field trip on Friday to Padilla Bay. It was a wet day. Cody made pizza from scratch even the dough.

UPDATE - 4/30/13
I decided to make a Boston Card to replace the LIFE card in my above layout. My card is inspired if not practically a copy of the one Lovely Mandible made.

It is a 3 x 4 card with a heart cut out of a Boston Map.  Life on Lakeland had a great post on documenting hard stuff.

Happy Earth Day

Say HELLO to my little friend

This little fellow has been providing lots of entertainment to my cats who watch him through the window. Charlie tried to run him over with the mower.  As Chuckles said, " He scared the heck out of me."

Project Life Tuesday - Week 15

*** My heart goes out to all those in Boston.  It is tragic.  It is awful.  My prayers and thoughts are with all those effected.

I am linking with The Mom Creative Project Life Tuesday.  There is some truly amazing project life  projects out there.  I was feeling rather uninspired this past week. This week was all about spring cleaning at our house and Nonna's. It really didn't lend itself to many photos. The date card and small 3 x 4 journal card were made in Photoshop Elements with  the Shabby Princess The Promise Collection. The photo protector is Project Life Design G. 

Linky Love

Bored? Want to click on some interesting links.  Here you go :

Neat article about Geocaching. We belong to the Washington State Geocaching Association and are participating in the Washington State Parks Centennial Geocaching Event.  Can't wait to share our part.

My Friend Carol once again posted something profound and interesting - Wanna Make A Difference. It is from Kind over Matter.  It is something I keep reflecting on. 

I like this one too having do with Autism Parenting - Filling Your Happiness Tank

This link is via Becky Higgins Project Life -"Project Life Can Save the World" and the link that is embedded within it NY Times : The Family Stories That Bind Us. Of course this also fits into a the bible study I am doing Beth Moore Bible Study Believing God and how we should relate our spiritual history to our children/family - such as God was here for me when such and such happened.

Lastly via Nester who posted a link to A Holy Experience - What Christians Need to Know About Mental Health

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to My SISTER

The One and Only

Polyester Princess (thank goodness)

 

FOREVER 21!!!

 

And to my

Nephew

who is

18

TODAY!!!

Welcome to Adulthood

The Longevity of Drop Cloth Curtains

Well, my well hung curtains in our living room finally died after 8 years.  I had drop cloth curtains before they were cool.  We have some massive windows in our front room.  It was more economical to make drop curtains. These are more café style curtains.

As you can see they held up quite beautifully. The one on the left was the first version.  I actually painted the border on with fabric paint.  The border still looks great.  These curtains were washed frequently.  I felt like they shrinked a little so the new curtain is longer knowing that in the wash these will shrink slightly.

This room gets a lot of light.  That is what I love about it so these did become quite bleached out.  This didn't bother me that they lighten over time.

In the new version, I decided to make them more gathered and without the border.   I think I am over the border look. Either I am getting better at sewing or the this just went really smoothly even when I ran out of white thread in the middle of sewing. It was that kind of day. I still have 2 more to make.

Project Life Tuesday - Week 14

I am joining The Mom Creative's Project Life Tuesday.  Check out everybody's Project Life. 

This week was my kids spring break.  I would like to say we did REALLY exciting things but the reality was there weren't any fancy spring break trips. It was me just hanging with my peeps. That being said I ended up with a 3 page spread. 

We had a unique egg hunt. The bunny didn't hide the eggs. He hid the baskets.  He was one tricky bunny. The kids were really surprised they had to follow the yellow ribbon over and under things to retrieve their baskets. The cards are from A Vegas Girl At Heart.  I downloaded them and added my journaling in Photoshop Elements.

We went hiking on Easter. I can't remember a nicer Easter day than this one. It was beautiful outside.  I used the Design G photo protector, again.  The journal cards are part of the Project Life: Cobalt Edition.

Lastly is my layout for our Spring Break week.  The journal card - This made me smile is one I made in Photoshop Elements along with the chalkboard Spring Break card.. Photo Protector is Project Life Design G.  The large Journal card is from Project Life: Cobalt Edition.

Spring Cleaning and My One Little Word

Spring Cleaning Challenges are everywhere on the web.  There is something in the air that makes me want to clean out stuff. Today, I endeavored to do one at Money Saving Mom- 30 Day House Cleaning Challenge.  This one was to sweep and vacuum my entire house.  Well, I managed to do the downstairs sweep and vacuum in 30 minutes.  I sweep every day but I still managed to sweep all this up. 

Yuck!!!  I am convinced there is a small dog hidden there. I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and the 2 man wrecking crew so keeping up with my floors is a challenge.  Did I mention we live in the Pacific Northwest with lots of rain which equals muddy paws. I have mainly hardwood floors downstairs with the exception of the carpeted family room and 3 large area rugs. This is a constant battle against the hair. I came to a couple realizations:

1. I need a new broom.  Mine is in pretty rough shape.  The dog has even chewed up the dust pan.  He is convinced it is a chew toy. You got to have the right tools for the job.

2.  It didn't take that long to do the whole thing if you just stick to the task at hand. I swear I have cleaning ADHD. That means get off the computer and do the CLEANING. It isn't rocket science

3.  It was probably more efficient to do it this way too and it looks really clean.

4. It took only an additional 8 minutes to mop the hardwood so I did it.  Still loving my Reveal Mop too. Yes, I have a cleaning crush.

A couple weeks ago I did a different cleaning challenge with Northwest Blogger Cleaning Bash - The Coupon Mom to tackle my master bedroom closet.  I am ashamed to say it was the closet you could hardly walk into.  My hubby did lots of traveling and it had become a dumping ground. It is now my happy place.  It actually stays consistently clean in there.  Even Moms need a happy space even if it is found in a closet.

What does this have to do with my one little word - Endeavor.  Well, I am doing something - endeavoring so to speak.  I like this quote I heard from a seasoned mommy ,

" Cleaning even poorly done is still done."

Photo from the Past

April 3, 2007
Chuck and #1 Son

This was taken in a nearby church parking lot way back in 2007  We took the picture walking Cody home from School.

Project Life Tuesday - Week 13

I am linking up with The Mom Creative Project Life Tuesday.  What a week we had.  This was our week leading up to our Spring Break. We had some abnormally warm weather so that resulted into an impromptu marshmallow roast or charring on Friday. We also celebrate pre Easter with Nonna and Pappy in Everett. We watch them move a boat in the Marina.  I have never seen that before.  It was interesting.

The got coordinates has to do with a geocache we are placing.  It will be our first geocache that we have ever placed. The quote is something I overheard being said while my boys were playing mine craft.  It just cracked me up.

April Fool's Prank

I made Brownies or should I say Brown E's.  I don't think it impressed my children too much. But the point is I got them. 

Easter Trekking

After a totally filling brunch. We decided to do some hiking along with most the rest of the county.  It was a totally glorious Easter.  We hiked from the Clayton Beach Parking part of Larrabee State Park to Fragrance Lake. 

Along the way, we found this beautiful waterfall. 

#1 Son by the Waterfall

Can you spot Tigger the dog in the pic? (those dark dogs blend in)

Here he is.  He wanted nothing to do with the water.  This was Tigger's first time to see a waterfall.  I feel like a proud parent.

We ventured to the lake and chose another trail to go down. 

Fragrance Lake

I am really glad we chose to do it that way.  I am pretty sure I wouldn't of made it up the trail we went down. I wasn't built for that kind of hiking.  Of course, there were folks running up and down it.  That is kinda wrong.  It was a ankle twister.  We spent most of the hike finding geocaches.  We found 18 along the trail.

Chuckles and Tigger

We don't usually take Tigger but he did pretty good.  He might turn into a geocache dog, yet.  We saw plenty of dogs on the trail and he did outstanding minding his manners.  He just wants to be the lead dog so he would get pretty irritated if the boys got ahead.