SOCIAL MEDIA

Halloween 2016

10.31.2016

Today we picked up some of Zoey's friends after school and headed over to our church for some Trunk-or-Treating fun...since Zoey was a mad scientist this year for Zoo Boo she decided to be something else for actual Halloween Trick-or-Treating, she opted to be an Aerospace Engineer.


We met up with some other friends while Trunk-or-Treating which is pretty much what it's all about!


Bonus of Trunk-or-Treating is that you get some yummy homemade treats once in awhile too (ones that you know are safe to eat!).


I was happy to get a picture of Zoey and her old friend Daniel. I'm pretty sure that we went to our first Trunk-or-Treat ever with this guy.


After Trunk-or-Treating we headed downtown to Trick-or-Treat at our local area businesses. Our community is so very spread out that there aren't enough true neighborhoods for kids to go Trick-or-Treating so this is what we do instead.  It's kind of funny for me to think about Zoey not knowing what it is to go Trick-or-Treating at dusk and in the dark around her hometown, but it is what it is and we are thankful to the businesses that participate.





Our local frozen yogurt shop gave away as much free frozen yogurt and toppings you could eat! This was a pretty cool stop!



And I think that it's safe to say that Zoey is not lacking in the candy department...at all!


Hope you had a happy and safe Halloween!



Love You & Me

10.27.2016

I was absolutely tickled the other day when I saw this photo that Ethan snapped of Zoey and I. I wasn't too hopeful when it came to looking over the shots he took of me on our hiking adventure this past weekend since I hadn't showered that day and wasn't feeling exceptionally photogenic (though, when do I?) so was pleasantly delighted when looking through my camera once at home and discovering this sweet shot of the two of us. I knew I wanted to use it on a layout right away.


Every day I keep waiting for the tween/teen angst to show it's roaring colors when it comes to Zoey and I and am so happy that so far, we're continuing to meet each other half way 99% of the time. I love this girl of mine so much and am so proud of who she is becoming and that she is still holding on to respect, kindness and courage when it comes to fostering her relationships. With her peers, younger kiddos and adults alike...it's a pretty brave thing to do at this age when girls tend to become followers and feel most comfortable being just one among a crowd. I hope, hope, hope that she continues to see what a gift it is to continue to just be herself...to be comfortable in her own beautiful and unique skin. I want that freedom for her.

For this layout design my inspiration came from this sketch from Page Maps.


For all of my recent layouts I've been using old papers and goodies from my scrapbook stash...I have no idea what the trends are in scrapbooking these days since it's been awhile since I've been scouring blogs and crafting sites and I have to say that it feels somewhat liberating just to dig in to my supplies and get to it like I did in the old days when I didn't know any better.


One thing that I'm finding disappointing however (getting into this again) is the lack of being able to purchase supply staples in my hometown like I used to be able to do. I'm having to order online. No more runs to the craft store for white cardstock, kraft cardstock, getting my favorite adhesive, etc. Bummer. I have discovered Scrapbook.com though. I think this may be a good thing?

And on a completely different note, those pumpkin seeds that I roasted the other day...YUM! So good! After baking them up in the oven Ethan came home from work at noon and made sure to share the sentiment of please saving some for him for when he was done with work. They are a new favorite snack and so very easy to make! Can't wait to try different seasoning variations sometime.



Happiness + Scrapbooking + a Little Bit of Life

10.26.2016
Gosh. I'm having fun getting back into this hobby. I'm allowing myself the indulgent gift of time. Time to sit at my desk for no other reason than to be inspired. Inspired by perusing old blogs that were favorites and discovering new ones. Inspired by old magazines. Inspired by my supplies that have been sitting and patiently waiting for me to come back to them. It's exciting I tell you!


I think that Zoey telling me that she missed seeing our previous years' Christmas photos on my blog here combined with the fact that I caught her looking through old scrapbook albums with a wistful look on her face almost gave me the permission that I needed (without knowing so) to go ahead and get back to this business of memory keeping.


I was talking to Ethan about how good it feels to be blogging again as well as scrapbooking and shared with him that when I was scrapbooking on a regular basis and working here and there for manufacturers or kit clubs or submitting to magazines consistently I felt like my most authentic self. I have missed this. It's been almost 6 months since I've been creative in this way and it's a bit like a period of mourning went by. Mourning consisting of job responsibility changes, subtle changes in lifestyles, everyone growing a bit older, change in general is sometimes tricky business. It's almost as though I am feeling myself thawing as though I've been hardened the past several months. It's so easy for me to brush off this hobby and tell myself that it's silly or indulgent when in fact it's something that really matters to me and to my family. It's interesting how the seasons in our lives affect all these different little pockets throughout all of our days.


Anyways...it was the perfect pumpkin carving day the other day, and it was the perfect evening for scrapbooking so...

xo,

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

10.25.2016

We're trying this for the first time this year...just doing them up with salt, butter and perhaps a bit of olive oil. I'm tempted to try the sweet versions that I see recipes for but am not that brave yet. Maybe next time around.

I love this time of year!

xo,

Our Start to the Week

10.24.2016

I knew the weather was going to be pretty nice today and sunny (compared to the rest of the week that looks chilly and rainy) so had hoped that we would have time to carve our pumpkins at some point today. In the middle of school (for Zoey) and my having to do some food prep for my upcoming Zombie Bash library program (making jello brains and pretzel zombie fingers) we were able to do it!







I know that after the Zombie Bash tomorrow I will feel better about life + school things...I always get a bit harried when I've got so much stuff going on at work. Taking a break to carve pumpkins today was just the thing to keep me in check though. It was so nice to feel the sunshine on my face and get a little messy with my girl. She might have jumped in some leaf piles at some point this afternoon too. Lovin' life!

xo,

Sunday Night Scrapbooking

10.23.2016

I have been having some fun lately pulling out some oldies from my scrapbook supplies and thus am feeling inspired to create again. It helps that I have some fun photos to print out too!


I love that I am taking time to enjoy crafting again. It's interesting how doing one little simple thing like this for oneself can bring happiness into the picture, which in turn can then spill over into your life in many other ways. I've been noticing that I'm feeling happier in general throughout the past few days that I've made the time to fit some craftiness into the picture.


Evenings are seemingly my ideal "craft" time around here lately. We'll see if that changes once the holidays start approaching.


 As far as the nitty gritty life stuff lately...I'm gearing up for some library programming here in the next couple of days, specifically I'm putting on a Zombie Bash for tweens which is a lot of work, but will be fun (I hope!). Tomorrow I'll be making some jello brain molds, zombie fingers, eyeballs and more. 

Zoey is going through her closet and today actually separated out all of her clothes that are too small...I'm kind of cringing at the piles. How does this happen? I'm thankful though that she took the initiative to take on this project herself because now it's done. 

Might be a busy week! Hope it proves to be a fruitful one. 
post signature

Day Trip to Bond Falls

10.22.2016

Ethan has been sick for over two weeks now and we've all been getting a little stir crazy as we haven't gotten out of town really in quite some time. This afternoon everyone was in (pretty) good health and we had the afternoon free so we hopped in the car and made our way up to the upper peninsula for some hiking and adventuring.


It was the perfect weather for exploring. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky but it was cooler, in the low 50's, so we didn't get too hot trekking through the woods.


This was our first time visiting Bond Falls and it didn't disappoint! Wow! The sounds, the scenery...everything was just so beautiful.




We ventured our way from the bottom of the falls all the way up one side to the top of the falls and then we went back down again on the other side. The falls is said to have a height of over 50 feet.



Since we weren't planning specifically on taking this little jaunt today my camera wasn't fully charged so I had to be pretty quick with my picture taking on this trip...I got these though with my camera at 20% so I was pretty lucky.























  




 






















It was a truly great day spent with family enjoying the outdoors. It felt so good!
post signature