Project Life 2013 - Week 2

Here is the second week of Project Life 2013.  The photos and stories in this layout relate to the stories in this Aloha Friday post.  I am sticking with the January Card Kit from Splendid Fiins (the same one I used for the Week 1 layout).   

Digital Supplies: Splendid Fiins (January Card Kit, 2013 Calendar Cards, Script Day Stamps).

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Project Life 2013 - Title Page and Week 1

For those who follow my blog, you know that I tried Project Life in 2012 with only minor success.  I started after Thanksgiving 2011 and kept up with it through April.  I tried restarting Project Life around Halloween and still have hopes to finish 2012 at some point.  Regardless, I am moving forward with Project Life in 2013.  So I am proud to officially introduce to you, Project Life 2013.

We are going all digital this time and working primarily with awesome products from Splendid Fiins.  I am on the Creative Team for Splendid Fiins and genuinely ADORE everything that Nisa Fiin creates for her shop.  It's a fantastic mix of quirky and clean.  Just fabulous.

So, using the amazing Project Life products from Splendid Fiins, here are my first pages for 2013.

This is the title page for the album using the January Card Kit from Splendid Fiins. 

The photos of me and Justin with the kids were taken by Melissa O Photography.  Melissa is a good friend and fellow Navy spouse.  If you're in San Diego and looking for a photographer, be sure to look her up!

Here are the pages for Week 1 (also using the same January Card Kit linked above).

I'm so excited about this project and between this and the Aloha Friday posts, I can't wait to share with everyone our Hawaiian adventure!

As always, mahalo for stopping by!

 

Aloha Friday - Settling In

We have finally moved into our new home.  We finally have internet.  We finally are starting to get settled.  There are still boxes to unpack, furniture to buy, and pictures to hang.  But...we are in our home and it feels awesome.

Here is a photo of Charlotte sitting at the front door on moving day.  We literally rolled her out of bed at 6 and drove straight to the leasing office to pick up the house keys.  Thankfully she was almost all smiles that day despite the chaos.

Here is what we saw outside of our front door that morning.  Our very first double rainbow in Hawaii.  I saw a second one later that night on my way to Target.  So cool.

Here is Charlotte sipping some strawberry tea.  The tea set is one I brought back with me from Vietnam back in college.  I remember painstakingly packing that set and making sure it didn't get broken.  Now, it's a toddler tea set.  Go figure.  :)

Here is Charlotte drawing on the lanai with her birthday sidewalk chalk.

Benjamin is around too.  He's usually hanging out in the baby carrier though (which makes photographs a bit more difficult).  He turned four months old almost two weeks ago.  It amazes me how much quicker time seems to fly by with two kids.  I wish it would slow down just a bit sometimes.  And this kid is a chunkster.  At his four month check up, he weighed in at over 12.5 pounds!

We visited Daddy one afternoon while he was on duty.  Charlotte said that she would bring a pink screwdriver to help him fix the ship.

And finally, here is Charlotte with a pink cake we made after school.  We sang happy birthday to the entire family and blew out imaginary candles.  And as Charlotte would say, "That's pink.  That's my favorite."  Silly girl.

As always, mahalo for stopping by!!!!

Aloha Friday - The Waiting Game

Since we will be in Hawaii this entire year, I thought I'd try a new series called "Aloha Friday" where I give y'all a sneak into this island paradise lifestyle.  I promise to come up with a super cute header/ image for it soon.

And to kick things off, I sadly have nothing super glamorous to show you.  :)  We are still living at a friend's house and out of a series of suitcases.  I can't seem to find my card reader to upload photos.  In all honesty, I haven't taken too many photos anyways.  The weather, while warm, has been rainy and a bit gloomy.  Thankfully, the weather gods are telling me that sun is in store for this weekend.  But that doesn't keep me from being grateful for every single moment that our family is together.

Although there aren't any photos, here are some highlights from this week:

Charlotte playing on Lanikai Beach.  On the first day we arrived to our friend's house in Kailua, we took Charlotte to Lanikai Beach, which is just two blocks from the house.  She loved it.  Justin dug a huge hole for her.  We got her a bucket and shovel at the drug store.  She was one happy little beach baby.  Once the weather clears up, hopefully we can sneak in a few more beach days before moving to the other side of the island.

New Years fireworks over Kailua.  Benjamin woke up at 11:58 pm so I rocked him while watching the fireworks on our friend's balcony.  Justin and Charlotte woke up a few minutes later to catch the tail end of the show.  Really beautiful.

Dole Pineapple.  They are delicious.  Seriously.  Avoid the Maui Gold pineapples.  Dole is where it's at.

Poke.  Another awesome Hawaii delicacy.  Raw tuna mixed with deliciousness.  I have dreams about this stuff.

Asian Food.  And since we're talking about food, I love that there is Asian food EVERYWHERE in Hawaii - like I can get all my Asian food stuff at Target or Walmart.  In Rhode Island, I had to drive to freakin' Boston to get a bottle of Magi.  Here, I can get it the corner market.  Awesome.

As always, mahalo for stopping by!!!

One Little Word - Grow

My word for 2013 is grow.  

Last year, I resolved that 2012 would be the year that I finally find balance.  As crazy of a year that it was, there were moments when my life felt like it was in almost perfect harmony.  All in all, I think I can look back on 2012 with no regrets.

Now for 2013, it's a whole new ball game.  We are in the same state, and once we move into the new house on the 8th, the same house for an entire year!  We live in an island paradise.  We have two kiddos in tow.  Once we are "settled," I think it's time to put down some roots (even if it's only for a year) and do a little growing.

I want to grow in nurturing my relationships with my husband, my children, my family, my friends.  

I want to grow as a memory keeper.  While I love the pretty paper and stickers that is a part of scrapbooking, the foundation of the craft is to preserve those family stories and memories.  

I want to grow as a person - to learn how to take care of myself better (which, in turn, will allow me to take care of my family as well).

And I do believe that growing while surrounded by palm trees, tropical birds, and the most delicious Dole pineapples EVER sounds pretty darn awesome.

So there it is, 2013.  GROW.  I'm gonna do it.  You game?

Note:  One little word is a concept developed my Ali Edwards.  You can learn more about it by visiting her blog here.