Here We Go

Almost a year ago my husband and I made a big decision to move to a new home about 30 minutes away from where we were living. This meant lots of changes for our family. New schools, new neighbors, new church congregation, etc. We have always felt good about our decision and haven't had any regrets. But still, I worried that the kids would have a hard time finding new friends and making the adjustment.

The photo in the layout captures why I feel so happy about our move. Here is Hannah last month riding her bike off to her friend's house just around the corner. I love that she is happy. I love that she loves the neighborhood. I love that she has friends nearby. I love that she is settled in with our move.

I must say that I love our new neighborhood too. There is a close sense of community and we know many of our neighbors. Just today I got a group text from a neighbor asking six of us in our neighborhood if we wanted to start a protein ball trade on Mondays. How cool is that? I'm thinking I'll try out this recipe for our first trade.

Feeling thankful that the move has been a success for everyone in our family.

Layout Supplies /// Portobello Road Kit /// New Goods Add-on /// Street Market Add-on

Hello, Santa Barbara

This month has been so busy and full of good things. I guess too many things going on means that I'm not getting to this little blog space.

Last week I got to spend 4 full days in Santa Barbara, CA with my daughter Audrey where she sang with an honors choir at a choral conference. The great thing about this trip was that I had a lot of free time to myself to explore the city while Audrey was in rehearsals. I almost didn't know what to do with myself, but seemed to manage just fine.

Here's a look at some of the highlights of the trip including trips to the beach, touring the Santa Barbara Mission, exploring shops, renting a bike to ride along the beach, visiting a farmers market, running along the beach and of course, finding new places to eat.

And for the Psych fans in our house, we had to take a picture of the Santa Barbara Police Department. Sadly, it is not the same building used in the show, but it was still fun to see it.

Audrey and I had a great time together. It was a great opportunity for the two of us to spend time together. Plus, we got to spend time with other choir friends which was a lot of fun.

This was my first trip to Santa Barbara and I hope to get to back again someday!

Arrow of Light

Last fall Max received his Arrow of Light award which is the highest award a boy can receive in cub scouting. After attending weekly cub scout meetings plus hours of the two of us working on things, we were very excited to have him receive his award.

I did a terrible job taking pictures that night. If was outside + dark and I only had my phone camera. There was once okay picture of Max, so that is what is on this page! When I was putting the layout together, I pulled out his scout uniform and snapped a picture of the badge he received that night. It felt more balanced with that second picture.

I was inspired by the Arrow of Light badge image to create a ray design on the background of the page. It was fun cutting up a bunch of papers and assembling for this page.

Max is really a great kid. When he feels something is important, he really works hard to accomplish it. I'm proud to be his mom!

Layout Supplies /// Elle's Studio Everyday Moments /// Hello Today Kit

Project Life 2014 >>> January Part 2

I think one of my favorite things about adding to our Project Life album is the opportunity to reflect on life and all that we are able to do. Life really is a gift and I feel like documenting it helps me focus on the things that are most important.

Since I've switched over to doing just a couple of spreads a month, I feel like there is room to still tell our stories. There is still plenty of space for capturing many of the moments I want to preserve.

January was a great month. The weather was gorgeous and we spent a lot of time going on family bike rides. We also filled out time with sports with our kids (basketball, lacrosse and cross country) plus a baby shower at our house. Good times!

Baby Shower Thank You /// Ashley + Audrey: Friends for 13+ Years! /// Lunch Date /// Bike Riding /// In-N-Out Lunch /// Playing Suspend with Friends

Baby Shower for My Nephew /// Trip to the Zoo /// Basketball /// Waffle Love Truck /// Books

These Design K Photo Pocket Pages that I used on the right hand side of this spread are my new favorite style of pocket pages! I love that they have a bunch of square pockets which is perfect for Instagram photos. It seems that I use a lot of my Instagram photos in this album, so the square photos perfectly slip into the square pockets.  I've also spied these Little Square Page Protectors from October Afternoon and hope to order some of those soon too!

Wishing you a wonderful Saturday. We are off to a basketball game and then I'm attending a baby shower. No plans for tonight yet. Maybe we will order pizza and watch more Olympics!

Gilbert Temple Open House

Our family is very excited about a new LDS (Mormon) Temple opening just a few minutes from our house next month. We are pretty lucky because we will now live about 15 minutes from both the Mesa Temple and the Gilbert Temple since we live right in the middle.

Last week we went with some of our extended family to tour the temple. It was absolutely beautiful and serene. I'm looking forward to returning to enjoy the peace that is there.

Of course, after our tour we had to shoot a few pictures with our group!

The month the temple is open to the public for tours until February 15. Everyone is welcome. If you are curious about seeing the inside of a Mormon temple, here's a chance if you live near Gilbert! If you miss seeing this temple, the Phoenix Temple is tentatively scheduled to open later this year and will also be open for tours.

We had a wonderful time touring the temple together as a family. We finished off the great evening with a stop at one of our favorite restaurants, Liberty Market. I'm thankful for the time we are able to spend with our family!

If you are curious, here are a couple of link explaining more about temples:

Why Temples
The Gilbert Temple

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope your Wednesday is fantastic.

Layout Supplies /// Hello Today Kit /// Right Here Add-on

Hello Project Life 2014!

There was a short moment when I considered taking this year off from adding to our Project Life album. But when I thought about the little stories and pictures that wouldn't be documented, I decided to keep it going another year.

I've decided to simplify the process this year by not doing a spread every week. Sometimes the weekly spread just felt like too much work and not enough fun. My main goal in doing this is to preserve our family memories, but it should be a fun process, right? So I'm thinking that this album will be about two spreads a month which is half of what my previous two years have been. There's still plenty of space to document all of the highlights.

Here's a look at my first spread for January that covers for the first week and a half of the month.

We packed a lot into the first couple weeks of the year and I'm happy to have a glimpse of what we were up to documented.

At CHA with some of the Scrapbook Circle Team /// Park + Bike Riding with the Kids /// Snow in Flagstaff /// Welcoming a Sweet New Cousin 

CHA Disneyland Night /// Together in Flagstaff /// Neighborhood Bike Ride /// Messy Jewelry Box

Going to roughly two spreads a month makes me excited again about this project again. A little pile has already collected for the first week of February and I'm looking forward to documenting 2014.  

I feel so thankful for all of the blessings in my life and this is a nice way to document and reflect on how grateful I am. 

My Stitch Fix >>> January 2014

There is just something so fun about opening a new box of clothes delivered right to my house. I love the element of surprise that comes with every box!

After I ended up returning everything from Stitch Fix last month, I was curious to see how things went with my most recent box of goods from Stitch Fix. I'd decided that if everything went back again this month, then I was going to take some time off from Stitch Fix.

Not sure what Stitch Fix is? You can read my first post about it here.

When I opened by box, I was immediately drawn to a couple of patterns. The navy heart blouse and the coral tribal print blouse were favorites right away.

My personal rule is that I try everything on before deciding. Want to see my options?

Adelaide Silk Ruffle Overlay Sleeveless Top

I loved the soft and flowing design of this tank. This had a soft tank shell layered with silky ruffles on the front and some layering on the back too. I don't wear sleeveless tops and I played around with layering this over things. Sadly, I just didn't look right layered over things. A cardigan on top would have worked, but I felt like that would cover up most of the pretty layers on this. Sent this back.

Camelot Stripe and Polka Dot Cardigan

This is a fun and playfully designed sweater. My nine year old loved it and insisted that I should keep it. When I tried it on, it had an odd fit and I just didn't love the colors and the pattern. (Which does seem a bit odd since I love both polkas and stripes.) Sent it back. 

Rilo Printed Tab Sleeve Blouse

This shirt was love at first sight and I was hopeful that it would fit well. The color + the pattern spoke to me. Thankfully, it fit perfectly and it is now happily hanging in my closet.

Lina Mini Chevron Knit Dress

This dress really is very cute, but as soon as I pulled it out of the box, I knew that it would be too short for me. I like to have dresses to my knee, so I didn't even try it on. I know, I was breaking my rule, but I knew that it for sure wouldn't work. 

As soon as Audrey saw this dress, she wanted to try it on. It fit her perfectly! Before I knew it, she had worked out a deal with her dad that she would pay him for half of the dress and he would cover the other half. Cash was handed over and the dress now happily hangs in Audrey's closet. Lucky girl!

Kieraly Heart Print SHort Sleeve Blouse

I loved the navy + heart design on this shirt right away, but once I tried the shirt on it just felt a bit too big. Bummer. The short sleeves and light material would have been perfect for summer. Oh well! Sent it back.

Each Stitch Fix comes with this handy page showing all of the items in the box plus ideas on how to style them. I really like that this shows my ideas of what to put together that I probably would have thought of on my own. 

There you have it! A look at my most recent Stitch Fix. A shirt for me and a dress for Audrey. I'm calling this box a success.

Here's a look at my past Stitch Fixes:

Stitch Fix #10
Stitch Fix #9
Stitch Fix #8
Stitch Fix #7
Stitch Fix #6 (forgot to blog about this one!)
Stitch Fix #5
Stitch Fix #4
Stitch Fix #3
Stitch Fix #2
Stitch Fix #1

This is not a sponsored post. I just love Stitch Fix, use my own money to purchase the items and just want to share with you. The links in my post are referral links, so it you click and sign up for your own stitch fix, I will receive a referral credit.

Jumping on the Waffle Truck Bandwagon

Around here, waffle trucks have become super popular. There are two different waffle truck companies  in town and we've only made it to one of them so far. That isn't because we haven't tried! Last weekend we scouted out a waffle truck and found that there was a super long line. We decided to wait it out, but after a few minutes, the workers came out saying that they were sold out. We'll have to try again another time.

The waffle trucks post on Instagram where they are going to be each night. If you are in the Phoenix area and want to join in on the fun, you can follow My Waffle Crush and Waffle Love so you can track down a waffle.

I wasn't convinced that waiting in line for a waffle is a very smart thing to do. After a little research on the type of waffles they serve, I've found a Liege Waffle recipe. After looking up a recipe, I'm thinking it's well worth paying someone else to make one for me because of all of the steps involved and the special waffle iron needed to cook them properly.  The waffles are rolled in cinnamon and sugar and then topped with your choice of toppings. Nutella, strawberries and cream, anyone?

We went to the waffle truck at night and sadly, my waffle pictures turned out terribly. So if nothing else, I need to return to a waffle truck (preferably with daylight) and snap a few pictures of the deliciousness.

Waffles can count as dinner, right?

On the Nightstand

Last week before climbing into bed, I snapped a picture of the piles of books on my nightstand and decided that the photo would be the perfect starting point for a layout. I love including snapshots of what our daily life is like right now and I feel like this photo nicely captures one tiny slice of my life.

My layouts are not usually heavy on journaling, but I decided to try something different on this page and just fill it up with word. It only seems right for a page about books, right? I wrote about how I'd discovered each book and a few thoughts about why I want to read them. I love reading, but it definitely goes in spurts. Lately there hasn't been much reading, but I'm starting to feel the itch and hope to read more before going to bed.  I did start The Shoemaker's Wife last night and got through a few pages before falling asleep. I'll report back and let you know what I think when I'm finished reading it.

For the background on the page, typed out "read" several times in my Silhouette software using different fonts and then cut the cardstock. I placed different patterned papers behind the page to add some layering and color contrast. Every time I use the Silhouette I wonder why I don't use it more!

Now we just need to turn the t.v. off at night (it's hard to step away from Downton Abbey and Sherlock!) and just read.

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