PL2017 is finished!

I'm finished my 2017 album.

And it's only January 22nd.

[I've also nearly finished my 2017 December Daily album, which is exciting. I'm 95% done, just a couple final things to do. For some reason, those few final things, seem to take the longest. Will share my album here as soon as it's complete and in the FINISHED pile]

Here are November and December of my Project life album.

First off, November: 

• Volunteering at the casino as a chip runner for our hockey association. I've never done chip runner before, but it was kind of cool. Would totally do that task again. 
• Excited to pick M&D up from the airport after their Peru adventure. Of course there was a snow storm happening that very night.  [In fact, their flight out of LA was delayed several times] 
• Loving the new scarf that I treated myself to last year. 
• Loving the light on our morning walk. It was so pretty and it was chinooking. [Which is absolutely a word for Calgarians, in case you were wondering.]
• Loving that I can text Mason during school and most times, he answers back. 
• Mad's team was challenged by the coach to shoot 1,000 rings. It was a struggle, but she did complete the task. 
• Some of Mason's most common hockey fans.

•  Madelyn with the ring, heading for the net!
• Puppy snuggles on the couch. 
• Date night, Barry was feeling crummy on this night, with his 3rd cold since September. 
• Putting up our tree in mid-November. It's early, but our calendar is crazy, and we wanted to fit it in and make a night out of it. 
• Our hockey boy. Feeling a bit frustrated with the season so far. 
• Celebrating Chris's birthday with burgers and cake of course. 

Finally, December:  

December was a busy month. Madelyn had two ringette tournaments, one out of town, one in town. Mason also had a tournament that was held during the week. [Mon-thur] We get an awful lot of mileage on cars, simply going to and from different rinks across town. [And across Alberta]

• Vellum covered photo of a picture I'd included in my December Daily album. It was of Mad's tournament in Medicine Hat. All 14 girls were able to make it, and it was a really good weekend of bonding for the girls. [Which was good, because they lost every single game they played.]
• First batch of Gingersnaps. 
• Snapchat filters with Miss Madelyn.
• Pre 'Spa Day' looking Libby.
• My favourite Christmas display of lit of apothecary jars filled with winter scenes.
• Weekend two of ringette tourney, where Madelyn came down with a nasty cold. [She lovingly passed it along to me as well]

• Mace shovelling for a friend who is away for Christmas. [I spy our tent trailer nestled in the garage for the winter]
• Table set for Christmas dinner.
• I sent a Christmas card to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge this year. I screen shot this photo that was on IG. However, the first week of January, I received an actual Christmas card from them! So exciting!
• Too many sugar cookies were consumed this holiday season...
• The full and relaxed atmosphere that we get to enjoy, after turkey dinner is finished. 
• Books I read through 2017.

2017, that's a wrap!

Of course I'm planning on continuing on with 2018. I still adore this style of memory keeping. 

Keep your eyes open for my December Daily album, which will hopefully be posted here sooner rather than later.

The following Sahlin Studio products were used:

November

Rough Times - Paper - http://the-lilypad.com/store/Rough-Times-Papers.html

Elements - http://the-lilypad.com/store/Rough-Times-Elements.html

J. cards: http://the-lilypad.com/store/Rough-Times-Journal-Cards.html

December  

PM Christmas Enamel Pins  http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Christmas-Enamel-Pins.html

PM Christmas Artsy   http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Christmas-Artsy.html

PM  Christmas Elements: http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Christmas-Elements.html

PM  Christmas Journal Cards: http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Christmas-Journal-Cards.html

PL2017 - October

For the month of October, I created a simple two page layout. This includes weeks 40 through 43.

A closer look at the left side: 

• Lefsa making in preparation for thanksgiving and Christmas. 
• My incredibly brave girl, who had to have an ultra sound done, on her eyeball. 
• A glimpse of Peru, thanks to my Mum and Dad.
• Date night at the pub with my honey.
• Thanksgiving.

A look at the right side:

• Impromptu photo I acquired of my boy during a school day.
• Photo of my girl during school. 
• Shot of Madelyn in the Engineering wing at the university. 
• Girls night at a fashion show.
• Halloween costume, pumpkins, sugar cookies and friends.

The following Sahlin Studio product was used:

Left side:

Gather Digital Stamps   http://the-lilypad.com/store/gather-digital-stamps.html

Gather Journal Cards = http://the-lilypad.com/store/gather-journal-cards.html

Right side: 

Project Mouse - Halloween Bundle - http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Kit.html

PL2017 - Weeks 38 & 39

I have been working on my December Daily album, but it has been slow going. I'm hoping to have some pages to share in the next few days. 

I don't know where the days in December go. Admittedly, we've been busy so far. We started the month off in a ringette tournament in Medicine Hat [Dec 1-3rd] We had another ringette tournament the next weekend as well. Thankfully this one, the Jingle Ring was held in Calgary [Dec 8-10th]. There's much to be said about sleeping in your own bed, and knowing with certainty the way to the rink. Mason was in a tournament last week too, the Christmas Clash. His tourney was played during the week, rather than on the weekend. This freed up our weekend, but we were at the rink Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night. 

Today is my last day before the kids are home for Christmas vacation. We all get to rest up and turn off our 6 am alarm clock for the next few weeks. Today I'm going to wrap up a few presents, and make sure I have everything in order for Christmas. I feel pretty confident that I have finished my Christmas shopping. But there's always something that gets forgotten or is last minute. 

Yesterday and last night, we were under a snowfall warming. It snowed and snowed and snowed. Sometimes they're right with their weather predictions. We went from no snow to be found, to quite an impressive accumulation. It absolutely makes it feel more Christmas-y. That feeling has been missing. I think it's partly because we've been enjoying such nice weather. Today is all about coffee drinking, gift wrapping, maybe even cookie baking. I am even going to have the Christmas carols playing. Because NOW even if it didn't feel like Christmas, it certainly looks like Christmas. 

I've got to power through as well, and get my last few weeks of project life for 2017 finished up. 

For October and November, I'm just doing a 2 page monthly layout. Last year, I was a little behind, so I followed the same format then. I don't stress about what I have or have not done. I'm simply happy to get some stories and memories recorded. 

This project life album can be whatever you want it to be. There are no rules. 

With my December Daily album, the month is documented, but on a daily story-by-story basis. I haven't decided how I'll document my December in my project life album yet. And whatever I decide to do, I'm okay with. Remember what I said? There are no rules.  

Week 38:

• High school hallways
• Enjoying the scenery
• Happy Anniversary photo
• Our little hat girl. Always wearing a hat.
• Our first miserable day in September.
• Celebrating Barry's birthday.

Week 39:

• The colours are spectacular right now, Nose Hill looks amazing. 
• Found a woodshed in Jasper. 
• Mum and I got last minute tickets to see The Sound of Music, our seats were AH-maz-ing. 
• Jasper trip with Madelyn's Trex group. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used: 

Week 38

Photo Journal no.1 Templates : http://the-lilypad.com/store/photo-journal-no.1-templates.html

Number Journal Cards : http://the-lilypad.com/store/Numbers-Soft-Journal-Cards.html

For week 39, I used the following Paislee Press product:

4x6 templates - volume 6.

All the Feels 

PL2017 - Week 37

Here is week 37 of my project life album. 

This week I used templates for all the photos. 

I actually love the clean look of it.

• A certain grade 7 girl, just got her first phone, the look of delight. 
• Morning walks with Libby. I've been walking to the bus with Mason in the mornings. 
• Our home grown pumpkin. [it never turned orange, but it was super cute]
• Bathroom 'before' photo.
• Couch shenanigans.
• Half day cheese biscuits. I get this request weekly.
• Bus pick up.
• Beets I tried to grow in the garden, note to self, start earlier next spring. 
• Walk in the park with my guy. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used: 

Project Mouse Classic Elements

4x6 Templates - Vol. 1

3x4 Templates - Vol. 1

PL2017 - Weeks 35 and 36

I'm constantly taking pictures. Drives my kids crazy. But every so often, I look back at the weeks, and  as shocking as it may sound, I hardly have any photos. So, I just make do with what I have. 

Sometimes when that happens, I look at what I've got, and then I cut a page protector down to accommodate them. I actually like that the page protector is cut down, it gives the album a bit more visual interest, to have something a little different. I should actually do it more often.

Week 35:

• Epic back yard water fight between Barry and the kids. So fun. The hose is now totally involved, and everyone gets SOAKED. The best part, there are no tears...
• Barry rented a sheet of ice for the kids, so they could get their rink legs back.
• Madelyn was nervous about starting at a new school. We drove to it, and walked around the neighbourhood to familiarize her with the area a little bit. 
• Crazy hazy sky sunsets.

Week 36:

• Annual parade, and totally ready to catch ANY candy that comes her way [Having candy thrown out is definitely a small town bonus]
• First day of school. Grades 7 and 10. 

I had to honour Mason's request for privacy. This nifty product was a freebie from CZ a few years back. I have used it a couple of times. I absolutely don't want to embarrass my kids. [If I did, they'd never let me take another picture]

The following Sahlin Studio products were used: 

Week 35

Photo Overlay - Love 

Hello Kit Sampler

Number Journal Cards

Week 36

Apple Orchard

Number Journal Cards

PL2017 - Week 34

I know back in my PL2017 - Week 29, I talked at length about seeing the milky way and the rings of Saturn. It was truly one of the highlights of summer for me. Another much anticipated event was the eclipse that was happening on August 21st. Some parts of North America were going to experience a total eclipse. 

I did a blog post on our eclipse experience. You can go back and read it here. 

Spoiler alert. It was a little disappointing. For us any way. The change in light was so subtle, that if you hadn't known this was happening, you would have totally missed it. Having said that, watching the moon move across the sun with our special eclipse glasses and home made eclipse viewers, was very cool. It shows you just how strong our sun is. It does tend to leave you in awe. 

We'd all like to be somewhere to check out a true full eclipse. Who knows, maybe we'll plan all our vacations and trips around seeing eclipses... 

Probably not, but it would be fun to do, if money were no object. 

Here is week 34:

• Our little eclipse party. 
• Starting our plumbing project. The first cut was definitely the hardest. 
• Our orange sunsets because of forest fires throughout Alberta.
• Madelyn still eager to play at the playground. [Please stay little forever]
• Trip to the trampoline park before school heads back. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used:

Pause Kit - http://the-lilypad.com/store/pause-kit.html

Pause Journal cards - http://the-lilypad.com/store/pause-journal-cards.html.

PL2017 - Week 33

The downfall to being 12 weeks behind in my project life album is this:

I'm currently sitting in my house, dressed pretty much head to toe in fleece. I've got on my coziest slippers, I'm sipping hot tea, and outside my window I'm watching the snow fall...

These pictures absolutely do not coincide with our current weather. That makes me two things: 

1] Glad, I get to relive our awesome summer days.

2] Sad, that we're a long, long way away from awesome summer days... 

Here is week 33 of my project life album, and to awesome warmer days:

• Mason rescued a baby robin from our deck. It got flustered and stuck on our glass railed deck. 
• August birthday celebrations
• Sadly, Mad's little dwarf frog only lived a week. Another devastation...
• Picking our girl up from her week long sleep away camp.
• A pretty common scene, a teenage and preteen, on their iPads.

The following Sahlin Studio products were used: 

Worth a thousand words - elements

Worth a thousand words - journal cards

Worth a thousand words - paper

Number journal cards

PL2017 - Week 32

Moving right along, and trying to catch up a little bit. Here is week 32 of my project life album.

The highlight of this week was the weekend trip we took to Vegas with friends. [I also documented our one and only trip to Calaway Park this summer. I got pulled in and bought the pass, then used it once... Will try to remember that for next year.]

Having never been to Las Vegas before, it was quite an eye opening experience. If I had to describe it in two words, it would be sensory overload. We arrived late Thursday night, and flew home Sunday night. I wanted to capture as many photos of our time away as I could. We had a lot of fun with our friends. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used:

Number Journal Cards

You are Here - Kit

You are Here - Journal Cards

PL2017 Weeks 27 & 28

Jumping back a few months, to the beginning of summer, to our little get away at the lake. We rent a cabin from a family, and always feel quite lucky if they're able to fit us in somewhere throughout the summer. This year, they were only able to accommodate us for one week. We decided one week was better than nothing, so we went. We were so lucky, the weather was perfect. Nothing you can do about the weather, just hope it's good. We were not disappointed at all.

Here is week 27 in pictures: 

I wanted this weeks layout to be a bit different. I used Sahlin studio, Photo Journal No2 as templates for the 4x6 sized photos. So that the 2x3 sized photos would seem similar, they all had a blank white space under the bottom, to unify the whole layout. I didn't use any embellishments on these photos. I just used the templates and the took advantage of the journal portion on the larger photos, to tell my story. We've been going to this lake since the kids were born. And many years before that. It's what summer means to them. I love how simple this page was to create, and how well it turned out.

For the month of October, Sahlin Studio is offering Journal Templates at 35% off the regular price. I love using templates. Especially when the photos are clustered together as I have done with this layout.

A bit of back story first, before presenting Week 28. When we got home from our lake vacation, we were greeted with yet another water leak. A water pipe that had deteriorated and began to spray a fine mist of water in our basement. This situation could have been SO MUCH WORSE. Thankfully, it was in our storage/furnace room, where again, thankfully, there is a drain in the floor. There could have been so much more damage. There could have been so many more things ruined. We count ourselves very lucky. Having said that, after towing a boat home for 7 hours, on busy summer highways, the last thing Barry wanted to do was make repairs to and replace water lines. However, that's exactly what had to be done.

We have had major issues with water in our house. This actually marked the 7th water line that has leaked since we've been here [12 years]. The majority of leaks have been pin-prick holes, that slowly saturate the drywall, and begins to leak into full view. Two of them have been line breaks, that resembled the sound of a hot air balloon, behind the drywall. Not great. Thankfully, for both of those I've been home when it happened. Needless to say, I know where the water shut off valve is, something I encourage everyone to become familiar with.

We had a plumber come in and give us a quote [all our water lines both hot/cold need to be replaced]. The cost was staggering. Barry has watched the plumber come in and repair 3 different leaks. We are now replacing all the plumbing ourselves. It's a huge job. And it's going to get worse before it gets better. But with 7 leaks in 12 years, it's not a matter of 'if' we have another, it's a matter of 'when' we have another. With new plumbing in place, we at least have piece of mind...

Week 28:

• Repairing and replacing sections of the water lines in the basement. 
• Driving the car, practicing. Doing pretty good!
• Glass of wine with a friend on a gorgeous summer afternoon.
• Spending a little bit of time at the outdoor pool.
• Searching for and hopeful to find frogs at Bow Valley campground this summer. 

The following Sahlin Studio Product was used: 

Week 27

Photo Journal No. 2 - Templates: http://the-lilypad.com/store/Photo-Journal-No-2-Templates.html

Week 28 

Beginnings Elements http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Beginning-Elements.html

Beginnings - journal cards  http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Beginning-Journal-Cards.html

Beginnings - Paper-  http://the-lilypad.com/store/project-mouse-beginnings-papers.html

PL2017 - Week 16

This week happened to be Ali Edwards A week in the Life. Week in the life, is a project I've followed along with for the past 9 years. Week in the life goes very in-depth into each day, and it's a project I both love and dread. I love it because going back to look takes me right back to the every day things. 

Some have long since been forgotten. For example, when the kids were little, they both came and snuggled into bed with us, every morning. Every. Single. Morning. Now that they're 12 and 15, that doesn't happen. It hasn't happened for a very long time, and had I not captured it when I did, it would simply have been forgotten. 

Like December Daily, it's a project that you need to tackle head on. In comparison to December Daily, at least it's over in a week, rather than going on the entire month. 

I did create a 2017 WITL album, and will share it here when it's totally complete. I'm about 90% of the way there. [Shout out to summer vacation, where I'll be able to spend some late nights catching up!!]

I also like to capture the week in my PL album. Would hate for the week to stay blank.

Here is my layout for week 16:

• Getting my day started.
• Making an effort to walk Libby.
• School day breakfast, he's up showered, fed and gone by 7:25 am.
• Madelyn's booth at the school carnival, I was skeptical, and turns out I needn't be. 'Tape the Teacher to the Wall' was a huge success.
• She loves that swing, still. 
• The boys, doing some impromptu yard work after our neighbour went over our yard with an aerator he'd rented.  So thankful for good neighbours. 

I take hundreds of photos. Hundreds. I take pictures all time. I don't print them off very often. Before the days of digital cameras, I took a roll of 24 or 36 photos, and had them printed, put them in albums. Mason has several albums of random photos for his first few years. Madelyn does not. But both have albums and books, and can go back and watch themselves grow. 

I have been doing Project Life for 5 years. I have to say, I religiously print these photos all off and put them in my albums. I have 5 years of our every day stuff. I'm so thankful that I've kept up with this memory keeping or story telling. This continues to be important to me, year after year. I still love it. Not to say I am always motivated. I'm not. Sometimes a few weeks lapse here and there, but I have never stepped away for a very long time. I hope I never do. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used: 

Celebrate Journal Cards

Celebrate Elements