Project 365: Week 16 & 17

Finally getting around to posting these. Life is insanely busy getting ready for our move. Three weeks from yesterday we will be driving out of town. I cannot believe it. I'm meeting Allen in Albuquerque for a few days this week to tie up some loose ends. We have already found a house and it seems to be a pretty great situation - about the same size as our home here but for half the cost of our mortgage payment. Love that! It is only a couple years old, has a good sized yard and we are upgrading to a three car garage - happy day. The only downside is that it is very WHITE. White walls, light carpet and tile. Ugh. So not me. We will have to see what we can finagle with the owner. So this week will be more like a mini vacation for us as the kids will be staying here with friends, but we still have a few things we have to get done there! Otherwise things for the move are going smoothly and I'm having a grand time dejunking and getting rid of stuff (today I opened a box that hadn't been opened since we moved here to AZ. Yikes.)

Anyway, enjoy, and as usual, the layouts are clickable.

Thinking about 365?

Hi!

I know lots and lots of people are considering Project 365 for next year. I've had tons of questions in person and via the blog about it. I mentioned in my last post that I'm planning to keep it up indefinitely, probably tweaking it here and there, depending on what works for me that year.

Anyway, I just found the biggest SCORE if you're considering the project. One of the digi stores I get some of my stuff from is having a design team competition. People are designing kits and then are eliminated based off of the votes their kits get. The best news? These kits are available for FREE {as long as you register - for free - on the site}. Guess what their assignment was a couple weeks ago? Yep, to design a kit to be used for project 365!!

So, I'm suggesting that if you *think* you might want to do this project in the future, this is a great opportunity to get some products. Here's the link to the kits: Project 365 Kits

Again, you do have to sign up for their site, but it is free. And there are 59 Project 365 kits to choose from! That's a lot of options!

I'm a huge advocate of digital scrapbooking, even though I'm pretty new to it. There are so many designers out there trying to get started that offer their stuff for free so that I've had to purchase very little product. Once in awhile I find something that I *have* to have (DISNEY kits) so I buy it. The main cost for me has been Photoshop Elements (about $75), a basic digiscrap class online (about $50) and I've needed to upgrade the memory on my computer (twice now!) because the files are enormous.

Anyway, I'd love to answer any questions anyone has about digi scrapping. Like I said, I'm pretty new to it but I can help get you started!

Digital Disney

I've finally started scrapping our Disneyland pictures. I've spent the last 18 months going back and forth on going digital in my scrapbooking. I've finally taken the plunge. It took me awhile to scrap just these two layouts this weekend. But I'm getting more familiar with PSE and getting faster all the time. A huge thanks to Miss Mindy for her constant help/hand holding as I make the transition. And can I just say that scrapping these pictures makes me want to go back to Disneyland RIGHT NOW! It is making me happy just to see these pictures again!

Credits (I need to keep better track of this): Every thing you see here is from various Disney kits offered by Britt-ish Designs at Scrap Matters (there is a HUGE lack of Disney kits, luckily hers are just my style. I've purchased almost every one she's designed)

And if you're considering going digital, I highly recommend the classes offered over at Jessica Sprague. I've taken a couple and they are awesome. Starting today you can register for a FREE class over there just to see if it's for you.

Answers

You guys posed some tough questions! So here are the answers, as of right now.

1. Jenni wants me to come clean about being done having kids.

I don't really have a great answer for this one except that I WANT to be done. Three kids feels really good to us right now. I guess this is subject to change in the future but as of right now I think we're done! I feel like I can be a good mom to three kids but think four might push me over the proverbial edge.

2. Marie wants to know about my TWO root canals.

I'm actually in the midst of this situation right now so I can't tell the final story. Here's the rough synopsis. I haven't been to the dentist since right before we left CT. Kind of irresponsible but I had a clean bill of health in CT and we knew we would only be in WA for a year so we never found a dentist there. When we moved here, we tried to get some dental work done, only to find out after the fact that we had chosen horrible insurance through Al's work that hardly anyone in the valley took. So we changed our insurance for this year and I got into the dentist just a few weeks after Addie was born. It's a long story but during my appt. the dentist told me I needed TWO root canals and that it would cost me somewhere between $4-5K after my insurance. Needless to say, I freaked out. In the process we found out that even though the dentist technically takes our insurance, he is not a contracted provider with our company. So, I decided to go for the 2nd opinion and found that I MIGHT need 1 root canal and that the cost of everything including the possible RC would only be about $700. So I am now the poster child of:

a. don't skip your annual dental appts and

b. ALWAYS get a second opinion.

My appt. is next week so I will fill you in about whether or not I needed the RC at that point!

3. Hilary (who has a private blog) wants to know my foot care routine.

My feet are always dry since I don't think I've worn socks once since I've lived here in AZ (and I'm not complaining about that fact).

a. I scrub my feet every morning in the shower with my pumice stone, mostly just to get them nice and clean

b. I slather my feet every night before bed with Aquaphor cream. My dad has used this for years on my moms feet (my dad has given my mom a nightly foot massage their entire marriage - sigh-lucky lady ;)) You can get this at drug stores and the huge container lasts for a long time.

c. I use the GLORIOUS ped egg foot file a couple times a week. I've had this for a few months and can't believe how great it works on my feet. I think you can order it online but I got mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $10. It's the best purchase I've made in a long while.

d. I spring for one professional pedicure a month. I love it, it is one of my only indulgences and it's so nice to have someone else take care of me for an hour (plus, their massage chairs are heavenly). I wish I could go twice a month but practicality wins in this case.

4. Hilary also wants to know my stance on sleeveless clothes for my girls

My stance is only that I don't allow my girls to wear sleeveless to church. If I buy a sleeveless dress I layer a tshirt underneath or put a cardigan on top in the cooler months. This summer I'm buying less sleeveless but I don't have too much issue with it. Al has a bigger problem with it than I do. But I grew up wearing sleeveless and had no problem wearing sleeved clothes when I went to BYU/served a mission/got married. That said, the scary hoochie clothes that are popular now were NOT in style when I was a teen. I remember being absolutely MORTIFIED if my bra strap ever showed as a teen. Now, its commonplace and expected to have straps hanging out. My girls will not dress like that ever. This stance is also subject to change!

5. Kristi and Andrea want to know how WW is going.

It is going really well! I was planning on only updating once a month so this didn't become a weight loss blog. I've only weighed in twice but the first week I lost almost 4 lbs. I got a little smug after that first weigh in. The 2nd week I worked out a TON and didn't even eat all of my daily points and I only lost 1 lb. My WW leader told me that I HAVE to eat my daily points in order for my milk production to remain up so that's what I've been focusing on this week. I haven't found WW difficult this time but I attribute that to the fact that I get a lot of extra points while nursing. My best guess is that I'm down another 2-3 lbs. this week (according to my home scale) but have to skip my weigh in because Carter's spring concert is this week during my normal meeting time. I have to give HUGE props to Al because he is doing it with me. Blessed husband! It is a lot easier to do together (even though he doesn't really need to lose weight). I feel REALLY good though and that is what really counts.

6. Andrea wants to know about my new blog banner.

I created it in Photoshop. A huge thanks to Mindy who always holds my hand through my photoshop and blog woes. I've also been working on my sister Nicole's blog. This isn't the finished look but we're getting closer. Luckily for Mind and my other Photoshop expert friends I have am starting a Photoshop/Digital scrapbooking class next month!! I'm so excited!

Whew! This has taken a LONG time to write out so I will try to be better about answering questions in the future!