Project Life: 2013 Week 17

Yes, these photos are older, but I just completed this layout two weeks ago! Weddings in Project Life really intimidate me! I don't want to give them too much weight because Project Life isn't about telling other people's stories, and it's not about the big events, but weddings are still part of our life. We have to travel, take time off from work, buy or rent clothing...and those are all things that should be in Project Life. So, I constantly find myself struggling to give them enough importance but not too much importance. 

This time, though, I think it's okay that it takes up a little more room. It's the wedding of my husband's only brother, Tyler, and his wife, Jenny! I can't believe it's been nearly a year since we flew to Connecticut for this. It felt like the two years they were engaged lasted forever, but the past year has flown by. I'm sure the newlyweds would also agree!

This week features pages from week 17, April 22-27, 2013. I normally end my spreads on Sunday, but because Saturday was my brother-in-law's wedding in Connecticut and Sunday was the beginning of trip to Michigan, it seemed like it made more sense to make this "week" just 6 days.

Only two photos were taken in Georgia this week - the photo of my hair looking AMAZING without being straightened thanks to my new shampoo, and the photo of my favorite sculpture in the Atlanta airport.

See? Well, probably not, thanks to the glare from the page protector, but my hair seriously did look awesome after three months of using Suave Keratin Infusion shampoo and conditioner.

I am making a point to use all the geo tags and arrows I've accumulated over the past few years by documenting our travel routes in Project Life. You can see how I used both on this page.

The only photo Trevor or I took the night of the rehearsal dinner was the selfie of me in the hotel mirror. The picture doesn't properly convey the horror of that hotel. OMG. It was bad. 

We did get pictures from my in-laws later on, but since I had already printed these photos and added them to the album, I left them out. I couldn't justify adding another insert for this week!

For the actual wedding ceremony, I picked a few photos that were very self-explanatory. I paired them with the MAMBI ring card and a PL wedding mini kit card I dressed up with some Bazzill shimmer cardstock from my stash that almost perfectly matches the bridesmaid dresses and ties (Trevor got to keep his tie, so I matched it with that). 

For the reception, I did some journaling to explain who is in some of these photos and where we were. Though it's unlikely I'll forget those details, I know that someday, my future kids or nieces/nephews who didn't exist may want those details. 

The letter V with the date was originally intended for the front of the insert, but I felt like the ring card needed to go on the front with the photos of the ring exchange, and I wanted Tyler and Jenny's names on the front, so I swapped the two cards around after the spread was completed.

The gray and white cards are from the Project Life mini kit, and the purple cards are cut from the same Bazzill shimmer cardstock as the couple's names on the previous page.

{Supplies: Studio Calico May 2013 scrapbook kit, cut files from the Silhouette store and from Studio Calico, Silhouette Cameo, Project Life wedding mini kit, chipboard arrow from Studio Calico January 2013 Scrapbook kit, MAMBI pocket card wedding collection, Dear Lizzie roller stamp from March 2012 Studio Calico Scrapbook kit, American Crafts Precision pens, Colorbox blue ink, AC embossing powder in Denim, Bazzill shimmer cardstock, and Paperbilities pearl letter V}

2013 Album Title Page

{Supplies: SC Project Life kits, Project Life Vintage Travel Core kit, SC Scrapbook kits, Ever After font, Honey font, Silhouette Cameo die cut machine, cut files from the Silhouette online store}

These photos are terrible, and I apologize. I used my iPhone, and I had no idea that I would be sharing these images on the blog when I took them. I was really just intending to text them to a friend to show her I'd been productive during the holiday break. However, tonight, I'm bored, so I've decided to schedule a couple posts, and I just kept coming back to these images. I don't want to re-shoot them at 10 p.m. at night, so we're just going to live with them!

The star with the 2013 badge was rescued from my failed December Daily album. They are mounted on a piece of thick transparency film, back to back so the adhesives didn't show. 

All of the cards, with the exception of the "In Review" and calendar cards, are from the Vintage Travel line that is a Michael's exclusive. The two exceptions are from the Studio Calico Project Life kits I received last year (I subscribed from January through October).  Most of the embellishments are from the Studio Calico kits I've received since beginning my subscription in January 2011. Kits more than a year old are broken up, so I can't tell which specific kit the items came from, but I know what came from the kits still. 

This is the opening page of my 2013 regular scrapbook. Essentially, what you are seeing are pages 1 and 2. Page 3 will be a map showing where we traveled in 2013. The fourth and fifth pages will be my monthly two-page spread for January. At some point, I want to do a brief video explaining my album organization. I basically have two albums running for each year - Project Life and my "regular" scrapbook. The structure of my regular albums revolves around something called "Project 12," in which I've committed to creating a two page spread summarizing each month of the year as soon as I can following that month. Events for that month fall after the P12 layout. This way, even if I don't create a layout for a specific event, it's at least summarized, and I have 24 pages in my album at the end of the year.

Winter Storms

Last Tuesday night, Georgia began to experience some serious winter weather. We had freezing rain/sleet on Tuesday night followed by Snow on Wednesday night. We were out of school for two days because so many trees and power lines came down, making roadways impassable and power scarce. I was blessed to keep power, water, and internet at my house, so I just got cozy and enjoyed my extra time at home!

Day one:

Day 2:

Happy Valentines Day!

{created using the Rhonna Designs app + Instagram}

No matter what or how you're celebrating, I hope you have an amazing day! My kitties and I are snuggling while we wait for Trevor to arrive late tonight. He and I will celebrate tomorrow instead. 

On reconnecting with my purpose...

I have been watching a lot of PBA 30 right now - Public Broadcasting Atlanta. It's one of the few channels that comes in clearly on our rabbit ear antenna in the bedroom. I'm not going to complain because I finally have access to Downton Abbey and Sherlock as they are first run episodes.

Yesterday, I was sick in bed all day. I literally did not leave the bedroom until 4:30 P.M., and it was just for a few minutes then. I spent the whole day sleeping and watching PBA 30. There was an episode of "Priceless Antiques Roadshow" and there was a documentary on Mel Brooks.

Now, these two shows may not seem like they have anything in common, but they did. You see, each of them contained the line "When I was eight years old..." The line was spoken first by one of the antiques experts on "Priceless Antiques Roadshow" and later by Mel Brooks in his documentary. Each of them had connected to his passion, his purpose at the age of eight. I marveled each time at how amazing it was that these men had found their purposes at such a young age, and I felt envious.

When I heard Mel Brooks say it, I also thought about how I couldn't remember having a strong desire or aptitude for any one career when I was a child. That is, until I averted my eyes from the TV and instead looked upon the bookshelf.

Eight was when I started reading chapter books and fell head over heels in love with reading and writing. I just about wore out my Little House on the Prairie books. I eventually started writing my own stories, too. I had dreams of being a published writer.

Those dreams came to fruition in college, when I started writing for my school's newspaper. I wrote for the paper for three years. I wish I had started sooner, but I honestly didn't have the courage to start sooner. It took a lot of urging from a really good friend to get me to apply. It was a huge shock to see my first story on the front page of the newspaper's first issue.

Since college ended, I've drifted away from that purpose. The only regular writing I do now is to update my Facebook status or Twitter account. I'm hoping that I can start to reconnect with that purpose by blogging more. I have no expectation that I will ever write for another newspaper or see my name on a bound book, but I do still love and enjoy the outlet that writing gives me. I genuinely appreciate the sharing opportunities available via the blogosphere. Of course, I would still be writing this somewhere even if blogging weren't an option.

I'm truly excited about this new adventure, about blogging more regularly, and about reconnecting with that purpose I found at eight years old. I really think this is something that will connect with my One Little Word for 2014, joy. Because, honestly, if there isn't joy in reconnecting with your purpose, where can you find joy?