Thursday, November 15, 2012

Today...

I am sharing another layout created using the November Mindfulness kit by Scrapbooking From the Inside Out.
Journaling:
I have been struggling a little bit lately. Trying to figure out who I am besides being a wife and mom. And I know that it may not be huge or life changing, but I want to go back to teaching preschool eventually.
The day to day things I do are important. But sometimes I feel I want to do more.
And as Evan and Erin get older, there is going to come a time when I will need something more.
I love being a stay at home mom. It's not always easy or gets the respect it deserves. But it is a job I embrace and am grateful for every day!
I am enjoying this time with my kids, but I have to look to the future just a little. And I know that teaching is where I will want to be.
But for now, I am a wife and mom who loves to stay home and spend time with family and friends. A woman who understands what is most important for our family.
But also a woman who has dreams for the future.

I was inspired to create this layout by two of the little die cut quote cards from Teresa Collin's "Tell Your Story" line that came with the kit.

"In this life we cannot always do great things, but we can do small things with great love"
                                                                                    - Mother Theresa -
"It is NEVER too late to be what you might have been."
                                                                                    - George Elliot -
The rest of the frames forming the border down the left side were cut from a piece of patterned paper from that same line.

This layout is also featured on the Creating Keepsakes blog along with layouts by the other design team members and a chance to win the November kit
You can see the post and leave a comment HERE.

Also, Scrapbooking From the Inside Out is having a design team call. The deadline is November 28th and you can see all the details here!

Now that the basement remodel is moving along at a fast pace, I was inspired by fellow blogger Tracy who is "defunkifying" her house one step at a time. It was this post here that convinced me it was time to finally clean out the messiest area in our house. The closet in Erin's room. It has been a holding place for tons of junk as you can see...
This is just a portion of what was stuffed in that closet. And now it's in Erin's room waiting to be sorted, tossed or kept.
This is still in there. Cabinet on top holds scrap stuff and drawers below hold scrap stuff in top drawer and bills and paperwork in the bottom drawer.
And then there is this. Sorting through all of the cd's and Dvd's for keepers and giveaways. Plus packing up all of the CD's that have already been downloaded to itunes. Found a few gems in there I had forgotten about and can't wait to listen to again!
And lastly, this side. It's a nice sized closet. Especially with all the shelves Mike put in. But you can imagine how crammed it was with stuff from that first picture. Now I can actually walk in it. And the goal is to clear at least half for Erin's stuff, so I have a lot of purging to do!

If I get it done by Sunday, I will be happy.
Because I am also working on this project with Evan at the same time.
Project Lego sort by color...


We are getting there slowly but surely. The boy has a lot of Legos. And I do mean a lot!
That first photo is only about 1/4 of what he has.

So as you can see, I am one busy girl with all of my sorting and organizing :)
I'll be back next week with my last SFTIO layout for the month.
Have a great weekend!

 

  

23 comments:

  1. Gorgeous, wonderful, heartfelt layout! I love all the labels/tags down the side, and I love that you shared the journaling with us. ((hugs)) and no matter what you decide, do it with all your heart! :) Awesome job!

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  2. Beautiful, beautiful layout, Mary Jo! I love how you used the journaling spots on here. Good luck with your defunkifying. It may feel like a huge task, but little by little you'll get through it. :)

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  3. WOW WOW WOW!! Your lo is GORGEOUS and touching!! I loveeeeeeeeeeee the journaling and love love love the assortment of journal tags you used!!! And good luck with the organizing!! Always feels good to clean up!!!

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  4. Ooooo...your layout is gorgeous! Love the strip of labels/frames! I wouldn't know where to begin with all our Legos! I worry about mixing all the sets, but I know I have to do something eventually or they will become permanent decor.

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  5. Beautiful layout! I love how SFTIO is inspiring you to tell such meaningful stories. Good luck with all the organizing. That's something I should get around to doing....eventually!

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  6. Your layout is fantastic! I love the border of journaling spots and fun stuff all along the side! That looks great!

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  7. Great page! love the stacking of embellishments down the side. Good luck with the Lego-sorting!

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  8. Busy, busy, busy! Good for you - I need to follow your lead.
    I love that page - it is gorgeous and very inspiring.
    Thanks for sharing - have a great rest of the week!

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  9. What a fantastic layout! I love it. What I love the most is the heartfelt journaling. I can related to the way you're feeling in so many ways.

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  10. Your layout is absolutely beautiful and so meaningful! Kudos on all the organizing....I have vowed to do some major decluttering before I move in April, so that I don't once again pay movers to move stuff I never use or wear....I need to get started like yesterday! Good luck...it looks like you are well on your way.

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  11. I love those die cut tags on your layout!! Good luck with your sorting and organizing!!

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  12. Oh my that is a lot of Legos. I like your layout. I am at a cross roads still. Just move here and kids older. Not sure if ill, go back to work, so tired of starting at the bottom again. Laura. Www.whosthischick.co,

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  13. gorgeous layout! the way you put those journaling spots down the side is just perfection!

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  14. Your layout is stunning!! Great photo of you, and I love that your journaling is so personal.
    That is not a closet..thats a whole room, its huge.
    Thanks for the shout out and I am so happy you are joining me in the journey of mine :)

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  15. Pretty layout. Love the colors and how you added the journaling border. Fabulous! That looks like a BIG organizing project. Show us the after photos too! :)

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  16. Stunning LO and I predict it will be pubbed. The journaling is awesome.

    Oh boy that is a lot to organize. It will feel good when all done though.

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  17. I love the layout. It is beautiful. The journaling is really awesome too, I love how heartfelt and personal it is.

    That closet is huge! I hope you are able to get it all organized by Sunday! Oh man, I would love a huge closet like that!

    Sorting the legos by color is a good idea! I wish we had done that when I was a kid!

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  18. I know! Our closets are huge because they are built under the eaves of our old house. I truly appreciate our closet space! But they can get pretty crowded if I am not careful.

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  19. That is a seriously big closet-we'd love to have one like that in our house. :)
    Ummm...let me know how the sorting Lego's by color goes. Jackson's collection is now too big for his Lego head shape sorter and has spilled over into another storage container, so we are looking at other options-sorting by color appeals to my OCD side.
    Great layout-I love how good you are with incorporating your journaling!!

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  20. Awesome journaling on that page! Good luck with your organizing.

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  21. Very beautiful LO!!
    Love all the journaling!
    I have bene goignt hrough things to to get rid of liek DVD, CDS, Books that she has out grown. Now Im going through my huge paper file which takes it sems forever. I'm not working on it every day just maybe once or twice a weke and only for a short time. Hope the sorting, reorganizing goes quickly for you.

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