September 11, 2013

It's hard to believe it's been twelve years since that day on September 11, 2001.
I don't think any of us will ever forget where we were when it happened.
Or how we found out what was going on.
I know I won't.

I mentioned in another post that we spent a week in Washington, DC at the beginning of August.
When we made it down to the mall area, this sight greeted us.

The Washington monument covered in scaffolding. Only due to earthquake damage though which is bad enough.
And then we went to see my favorite...Lincoln's Memorial.

More scaffolding. Really?! Some woman had thrown green paint on it. Ugh. But then I think, it could have been worse.
So I focused on the positive. I haven't been to DC in twenty years. I visited in the summer of 1993 with my family and a few friends. And one of my favorite memories from the trip is the night we went down to see the monuments after dark. Pretty late actually. I think it was after 10pm for sure. So the crowds were much lighter and it was so peaceful.

Mike and I decided to give it a try even though Evan and Erin are so much younger and typically are in bed before 9. :)
And it was just how I remembered.

 There is just something so peaceful about being there at night.

Words cannot capture just how it made me feel to be standing there once again enjoying the evening  breeze blowing through the memorial just as I remembered it.

Then there is the beautiful glow of the Washington monument despite the scaffolding.

And my favorite.
We had visited during the day. But it is so much more magnificent at night. During the day as you walk up, you really can't see Lincoln until you get inside. But at night...

he is waiting like an old friend welcoming you home. And silly as it seems, I had tears in my eyes as Evan and I walked up toward him sitting there so majestically.

No, there is nothing like visiting the mall in Washington, D.C. at night. :)

Paper Issues and The Twinery Blog Hop!

The new issue is up on the Paper Issues blog today and I am on the blog hop with a few other design team members. You should have arrived from Lisa's blog. But if this is your first stop and you want to start at the beginning, you need to go Here!
The Twinery and Paper Issues are coming together to bring you the

"X" Marks the Spot challenge

This is my take on the challenge.  I needed to do a two page layout instead of my usual one because I wanted to fit several photos of my son's art work. I scanned his drawings and then saved them as photos. I was impressed with how well they turned out. I can still see all of the fabulous little details in his drawings!

I used twine x's on two of my buttons. And then I decided to add a bit of twine for some borders as well. I know this image is small, but I wanted you to be able to see how the page worked as a whole.

Here are two photos of each individual side...

 

Side one and...

 side two.

So if you have any projects or would like to create any projects using twine or "x's", be sure to link up at Paper Issues. 

We have a great sample pack of twine from the Twinery for our giveaway worth $30!

All the details on how to link up and enter are on the Paper Issues blog Here!

In addition, The Twinery is having their own challenge on their blog with a giveaway of six large spools of twine worth $84 dollars! You can see all the details from their challenge Here!

Next up on the blog hop is Martha! :)

Crafting Ireland Magazine, Issue 19...

is online and you can find it Here!

I have a Halloween layout and a small tutorial inside on page 47. :)

I had so much fun putting this one together. Well, until I made a major goof up...

I messed up the handwritten journaling on the original so badly, that I needed to take it apart and redo the whole thing! I was so frustrated at first, but it turned out ok in the end :)

And let's just say, both my assignments for Crafting Ireland had mistakes this month. I will share the second one and that goof up when it is featured on their blog sometime before the next issue.

But these days, I am a roll with the punches kind of girl. And for that one, I definitely rolled with the punches :)

And looking to the right, you will notice that I did add two blog rolls back in which I am always adding people to. I had to do it! :)

"My Blog Friends" list is some of the great people I have met through blogging. I love how we talk through blogging and email and inspire each other. 

Then my "People I Know" list is literally people I know in real life or have met through scrapbooking on message boards, private groups or design team work. 

I still like Bloglovin' for the manufacturer and other scrapbook and inspiration blogs. It actually works very well for those blogs because I don't tend to comment there.

I hope you have a great weekend. 

My husband and I are going to a fun music festival where we will get to see a few bands including Alabama Shakes and The National. The kids will be hanging out here with either their Mimi or our neighbors.

Looking forward to some "date" time with Mike!

Hello Card

Can you believe it is September already?!! It just blows my mind that summer is officially over in my mind and we are heading into fall.
Anyway, three posts ago (Here), I shared a layout I created using the sketch from the new issue at Paper Issues.
Once I finished my layout, I decided to take some of the scraps and create a card based on the sketch as well.

Here is the sketch again...

and here is my card. Once again, I was inspired to use circles, a title over the circles and then a star. Keeping it simple.

There is still time to give the sketch a try. The Simple Scrapper prizes are still available along with a $20 gift certificate to the Paper Issues store. but to win the prizes you don't even need to try the sketch. Just follow the directions on how to enter on this post Here! If you do try the sketch and link up, you get a bonus five entries though.

Also, since it is Wednesday, I am up on the Craft Your Nest blog with a little challenge. Come on by and check it out Here if you are up for a small stamping challenge.

I should be back on Friday with a layout.
See you then!

Back to Healthy Living!

So as some of you may remember, back in January I decided to work on one or two "healthy living" goals a month. 2013 was going to be my year! :) Here are a few of the posts if you would like to revisit them or are reading my blog for the first time.
January - fast food
February - Sleep and Exercise
March - Drink More Water, No Soda
April - No new goals, just focus on the ones I already have
May - Unplug from Screens More

Summer with the kids home was a little bit of a vacation from goals. Not that I gave up completely. I did manage to fit in exercise, drink more water, avoid fast food, and sleep better sometimes :) But not always. The difference is I am more aware, and more likely to choose better for myself.

The children are officially back in school as of last week. But have been off the past three days due to the excessively hot weather here. Some of the classrooms in their school had 100+ temps inside. So really it was a safety issue.
But next week is September, and they should be back in school full time after Labor Day.
Time for a fresh start.

"Stop Procrastinating and Just Do it!" Right?
So I will be revisiting some goals and keeping them realistic...

Going to bed earlier. And by early I mean by 11pm on school nights. That may seem late to some people. But for a girl who has no trouble staying up until 12:30 or 1am, it is early :)

Exercise! Maybe not every day, but at least 5 a week. If I know I have a day or two "off", I am more likely to keep things consistent. Right now I am at about 3 or 4 which is not bad, but I know I can do better.

Drinking more water! But allowing myself one soda a week. A treat really :) I noticed this summer that if I told myself I had that one Dr. Pepper a week to look forward to that I didn't crave it as much. And some weeks I went without because I just didn't need it.

So there you have it. Going to focus on those three goals for September and we will see where it leads :)

Also, if you are a regular reader of my blog, you may have noticed that my blog rolls are gone from the side. I was feeling a little overwhelmed seeing all the blogs there, and decided to move them all to a blog reader. ("Bloglovin) But I am still not sure I am sold on the idea because I am kind of missing the ease of just clicking on the links from my blog. Plus, Bloglovin wouldn't let me comment on a few blogs earlier tonight. So I may be adding my regular blog friends who I like to check in with frequently back in a blog roll. A smaller blog roll.
The blogs I don't regularly comment on, such as manufacturers or magazine blogs will probably stay at the blog reader since I just read those.  I need to see how I feel about it all in a week or so.

Also, just want to add that the new Disney theme line Say, Cheese and the back to school line Smarty Pants by Simple Stories are in the shop at Paper Issues. You can get them  *Here*. And if you use the code MARYJO, you will receive 20% off your purchase!

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend. And if you are in the USA, enjoy the holiday on Monday!
I will be back next Wednesday with a post.

WOYWW

I haven't done an official "What's on Your Workspace Wednesday" in a long time. And since the kids are home from school today due to the excessive heat (99 degrees) and no air conditioning, I won't be able to link up at Julia's blog The Stamping Ground today.
Maybe in September :)
But I did want to show you what is on my space right now.

I am working on a layout using a sketch by Juliana Michaels over at The Paper Bakery. You can see the sketch a little on the left. That paper covered with heart sequins. I am using the August main and Capture 365 kits on my page.

What are you working on right now?

Here I Am!

Well, both kids are back in school officially and this was supposed to be their first full week. Unfortunately, after having the most mild summer I can ever remember, we are being hit with temps in the 90's this week. Their school does not have air conditioning, and when it gets to the mid nineties the rooms get way too hot!
So full day today and then half days for the rest of the week.
I can't say I am sorry, because I have been in the classrooms when it is that hot and no one could concentrate. Or breath!

So I am going to slowly ease back into blogging this week.
Actually, today I have not one but two blog posts going up over at Paper Issues.

The new issue (challenge) is up and it's a sketch provided by the Simple Scrapper site.
These are the layouts by the design team members on the blog hop (not me). But I did participate and created my own take on the sketch...

It is such a great sketch. You can find my post and the sketch *Here*. Would love for you to come by and say "hi". Also, I will have a card up using the sketch and scraps from my layout there later this afternoon.

I have missed blogging, but at the same time really needed the break.
It feels good to be back.
And I am looking forward to checking in with all of my blog friends, too!

And I know on my last blog post I mentioned how we went to Washington, DC for a little vacation.

I loved it! The last time I visited there was with my parents 20 years ago! And it was so cool to bring my family there. But let's just say it was more fun for Evan than Erin...

She was so not impressed with the White House there behind her. At this point, she just wanted to go back to the hotel and swim in the pool. In fact, that is all she wanted to do pretty much the whole trip.
Evan on the other hand...

was thrilled! I think he pretty much loved every single minute of this trip!
Will try to share more pictures in future posts. :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Project Life at Paper Issues!

Hi, Everyone!
Still on break, since the kids do not officially start school until next week.
But I do want to share that there is a new issue up on the Paper Issues blog.

Several members of the design team (I am not on this blog hop) were given product from Becky Higgins Project Life collections to create the projects you see above.

So the theme this time around is Project Life. You can go *Here* to see the details. One lucky winner will get a Project Life core kit of his or her choice. Also there are six chances to win a Project Life kit sampler pack when you comment on the blogs of the design team members participating in the blog hop!
The deadline to enter and link up your projects is August 25th.

We are super busy as the summer break winds down here.
Just got back from a trip to Washington DC last week (photos to come later)
a birthday party on Saturday for Erin who actually turned six on July 31st, and so much more...

such as Erin learning to finally ride her bike without training wheels. She is super excited about that! :)

Ok, short and sweet today. So much to pack in before they start school. Where is the time going?!