Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking the Cruise: Its A Hobby / Scrapbooking from a Sketch

I discovered something about my son during our recent cruise:  He is a Chess Player!  One night during a formal dinner, I took him out the dining room since he had ants in his pants and we found the library where they had board games and we played chess while I talked the calm back into him.  During the first game, he'd ask questions like "what does this one do" and "where does everything go" and then by the third game he'd beaten me; and I'm not the kind of mom that just lets the kid win at this sort of thing.  I used to play chess with my dad and it took me years before I could even get close to beating him.  After the win, I asked him how he did that and he shrugged and said "It's a hobby."  "It is???" I couldn't believe it. "Yeah, I've been playing for the past three years" he said.  "What?!  How did I not know this???"  And he just smiled and said that he'd played at summer camp.  We ended up playing chess every day of the cruise and on  one of the final days we got to play the giant chess set up on the top deck and of course he beat me again!

This design page is based on Shimelle's Scrapbook Page with a Central Focus Sketch.

 

 

TRAVEL & VACATION SCRAPBOOKING: Big Picture Classes: Come Away With Me: A Travel Journal Project by Kimberly Lund & Two Peas' Shimelle's "Here There & Everywhere Class" and AWESOME LINK LIST to Ideas about Scrapbooking on the Go and Vacation Scrapbooks.

I was looking through my Big Picture Classes "My Classes" board and I noticed a class I don't remember signing up for:  "Come Away With Me:  A Travel Journal Project" by Kimberly Lund; it looks like it was co-sponsored by Big Picture and the Daily Digi.  My class period time shows that it will be open in my account from 4/25/11 - 4/25/13;  I'm not sure if that means it will end on 4/25/13 - my guess is that it won't since it is self paced, but I'm not actually sure - maybe they are trying to clear out some of the classes since this one does not still appear to be available.  It does make me wonder - how did I miss this?  Or, did I see it 2 years ago and forget about it?  (seems unlikely)  Maybe it was a free class and I thought I'd get to it later.  I'm not sure!  I guess it makes sense to keep an inventory of on-line classes, but, really, I'd rather have the shop do it for me - like Big Picture does, so I can just look at the "my classes" screen and see all the classes I'd ever taken there. 

I try to be an "awesome nerd" but truth is I'm a bit challenged in the computer department.  I have had some issues with losing online classes; for example, I am not sure where my downloaded Ella Publishing ebooks are since my computer crashed last year and I lost 3 years of photos and all those ebooks plus, I'm sure lots of other content.  I'm also fairly sure that I could probably email them to get access again but its just one of those things on my to-do list - actually, that kind of a to-do list is an imaginary one as in "seems like it should be on a to do list" but isn't actually on any to do list of mine.  I normally like to read ebooks or participate in online classes when I buy them and I typcially do, which is why I'm a bit stumped on this Come Away With Me Class.  I did read the Ella Books as soon as I got them and I assure you they are all completely awesome and if you liked Simple Scrapbooks, you will love them.

I also took Shimelle's "Here, There And Everywhere Class" through Two Peas in a Bucket - and I don't know how to find it or get back into it.  I can go to my order history and see that I had the $25.00 credit for the class on 2/19/09; a very sweet blog reader of mine actually won the class over at Shimelle's site and gifted me the class - thank you again Shaquanna!   Unlike the Come Away With Me Class, I do remember taking Shimelle's class and loving it - I even got my European trips (3 of them including 2 semesters abroad and one 3 week Spring Break Eurorailing all over) into albums.  Very Productive - well worth $25!

In Any Event (as my Dad always used to say), maybe I did take the "Come Away With Me" class because when I go on a trip I do make my own form of an Amy Tangerine Day Book and use it as a journal when I'm on the road. Hmmm.  What's funny is that I don't often blog about these types of books, I should probably do a better job of documenting them here.  See, my blog is sort of my "if everything in Florida gets wiped away in a hurricane, at least most of my most important photos and scrapbook pages are on my blog" - emergency back up plan.

***

Meantime, here are some posts to the ways I like to document my vacations and travel (odd #s are other people's ideas / even #s are links to my ideas) :

1. Shimelle's Travel Tips & Scrapbooking Travel Tips

2. Vacation Scrapbooking: How to Reconnect With Your Vacation Memories and Emotions (scrapbooking video links)

3. Noell Hyman's Paperclipping Video: Set Yourself Up for Unique Travel Mini Books

4. How To Make Infographic Maps to Scrapbook Your Travels.

5. Debbie Hodge's Get It Scrapped Post: Ideas for Scrapbooking A Road Trip / Travel

6. Can't Travel Right Now? Scrapbook Your Future Travel Plans and Wanderlust.

7. The Daily Digi's "Digi-Scrapbooking Your Travels"

8. Scrapbooking Places from Your Childhood.

9. Jennifer Wilson: The Simple Scrapper's Guide to Scrapbooking While On Vacation.

10. Vacation Scrapbooking: Coming Home.

11. Paperclipping Roundtable #117: Take Your Scrapbooking To the Beach

12. Map Die Cut Letters for Travel and Vacation Scrapbooking.

13. Ali Edwards' "Thoughts on Documenting Spring Break"

14. Disney Vacation Mini Album (with a video)

15. Paperclipping Roundtable #118: Travel Scrapbooking

16. Making a Pocket Page Scrapbook for Travel Brochures and Ephemera

17. Saturday Morning Vintage's Alaska Travel Mini Book

18. Scrapbook Vacation Spots with Zip Codes as Titles

19. Rebecca Cooper's Travel Photo Check List: Free Download

20. Scrapbooking A Trip from 20 Years Ago & Ireland

21. Kelly Purkey's Travels

22. Finishing Travel and Vacation Mini Books

23. Stacy Julian's Photo Album Scrapbooking: 10 Tips for Vacation Albums

24. Places We Go Scrapbook Album

25. Shimelle (aka. Glitter Girl)'s Travel Photography Tips for Scrapbookers

Happy Scrapbooking & Happy Trails!

A home made day book / smash book from our trip to the Space Coast.

(note to self:  not so many pages next time ok?)

 

We're Back from Colorado & I'm Uploading the Pictures

I took ____ (guess!) photos over seven days in Durango, Colorado.  It was mostly a ski trip at Durango Mountain Resort where over 35 inches of fresh snow just fell; we also got the chance to get over to Mesa Verde to see the cliff dwellings,  we went to Snowdown's Geek Fest, and had a some other fun adventures.   

I did do a bit of journaling over the vacation - I think I got about half way through.  I took a little 6x6 paper pack from Snap Life and used the 6x6 pages for journaling.  I also took a few home made day books but I actually didn't get that far with them, I do plan to finish them once I get my photos back.  I took all of the memorabilia and journaling bits from the trip and put them into a basket that I'll have handy when I scrapbook the trip so I can intersperse that stuff in with the photos.

I am uploading the photos and I will get them on to Shutterfly while I'm at work today.  Later, I will identify the good photos for printing and do a bit of tweaking to a very few if needed. 

I like to make photo books for my kids fairly quickly after a trip so they can share their vacation memories with their friends and family right away.  I like to make a minibook or two and then use the photos for my general 12x12 scrapbooking - which I feel no rush to make but am usually excited to get to. 

Let the vacation scrapbooking begin!

The Century Scrapbook Project: 1920 & a Photo-less Layout

The Elim House on Massachusetts Avenue in Boston in 1920 was called "Elim" referring to Exodus 15.27 and Numbers 33.9 in the Bible.  I printed this Census out very large so that the names and information are legible on the print since they include Howard Fenderson (my great-great-grandfather) and his wife Mary Fenderson (my great-great-step-grandmother) and since it also includes the leader of the Shiloh Movement in Maine: Frank Weston Sandford.   Howard and Mary Fenderson were listed as "lodgers" and as "evangelists".  Frank Sandford was listed as "Lodger (and then they crossed out Lodger) and wrote "head"; his occupation was listed as "Man Of God" while his wife, Helen Sandford (who was herself an evangelist and from a very wealthy family) didn't even get an "evangelist" as an occupation and instead she is listed as "none"; I wonder how she would have felt about that title, they didn't even list her as homemaker or mother.

I used one strip of patterened paper (Studio Calico - this one is scrapbooker Celeste Smith's favorite btw) and I kept the embellishments to a minimum and added a cross and a few brads:

I decided to break my rule about only one page per year of the 20th century and I made a follow up page all about Elim, perhaps I'll use this as a 1902, 1919, or 1900 page since the information on the page references those dates, but for now, it is just going on the backside of this census page in The Century Scrapbook:

Text (copied & pasted from a site about Shiloh, Maine):

2-19-1898 Mr. and Mrs. Cummings decide to devote their  boarding home at 545 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, to Christian work. While a convention is held at the home for the previous 7 days, Mr. S and the students take the home in faith. The Cummings still have a $150.00 per month mortgage to pay on the home. At some point Mr. S. took on the mortgage payments. Mr. S says in reference to 545, "...He (God) gave us the privilege of beginning the purchase (in advance)...".

545 and 547 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, or "Elim".  Actually, only 545 was acquired at this time, 547 being purchased in the summer of 1903.

In the lead article of Everlasting Gospel , Aug 7-31, 1902 Ralph Gleason [having releaved Charles Holland as overseer of work in North American during Mr. Sandford's absence] indicates the following:

"God has given me a royal company of workers to stand by me in the great financial battle at Elim.  It is greatly on the heart of Mr. Sandford that this home should be entirely paid for and royally furnished by Oct. 2nd.  When we bought this house there was a mortgage on it for about $12,000 which we could not buy until it should expire.  As we would not run in debt we would not accept a deed for the property until the mortgage should be paid."  The previous issue, however, lists Elim at 545 Massachusetts Ave., Boston as one of the movement's centers.

The mortgage is ultimately paid off by the church on 7-4-1919. p35TF 3-1-98 & p181H & p115TF 7-1&15-1900

On this same date (2-19-1898) Mr. S says, "I feel sure that God wants a temple capable of seating ten thousand people in the city of Boston, and that the great, mighty God who said, "Go to," has started a fund with this end in view." p35 TF 3-1-98. (This temple never materialized.)

2-25-1898 Sandford, in a sermon at Elim in Boston, discusses at great length the appearance of Elijah, and the sharing of his authority during the millenium. p.244H, TF May15,1900-June 1,1900 p.96

Elim (Hebrew:) was one of the places where the Israelites camped following their Exodus from Egypt. It is referenced in Exodus 15.27 and Numbers 33.9 as a place where "there were twelve wells of water, and seventy date palms," and that the Israelites "camped there near the water".  From the information that can be gleaned from Exodus 15.23, 16.1 and Numbers 33.9-11, Elim is described as being between Marah and the Wilderness of Sin, near the eastern shore of the Red Sea.

 

The Century Scrapbook Project: Episode #9 & 1992 & The October Counterfeit Kit Challenge

Have you made your October Counterfeit Kit Challenge Kit yet? 

I have and it is so much fun to get it out and play!

Lately I've had an itch to travel but don't have the ability to go like I did back in college - those were the days - when I could pick up and go for three weeks, with a friend and a backpack and a Eurorail Pass.  Seriously, it was good and it was true.  My sister is going to Europe soon and I guess that's got me thinking about travel.

Here is the completed page which will go into The Century Scrapbook Project:

Here is a closer look at the story:

Want to see how I made the page?  Check out this ustream video showing from start to finish:

Video streaming by Ustream 

The Century Scrapbook Project: Episode #2: 1945 & Rebel Skier Wives

I'm up with Episode #2 of The Century Scrapbook Project .  Today I'm scrapbooking the  year 1945 and the "Rebel Skier Wife" connection I have with my Grandmother.

Here my short false start video which only lasts a few minutes and discusses my concept of improvisation scrapbooking and the century project:

 

Here's the main video - I start scrapbooking at about 18 minutes in so if you are interested in the concepts of The Century Scrapbook Project or Scrapbook Improv then watch the first part, if you want to see the page being made, then start at around 18 minutes in the show.

 

 

Get It Scrapped Post: Flying Machines as a Scrapbooking Motif

Ali Edwards' One Little Word of the year is UP and it seems like all sorts of flying machines have been popping up in scrapbooking this years - chances are you've seen the kites, hot air balloons, rockets and airplanes in the scrapbook shoppe. 

 

I picked up some of the Basic Grey "What's Up" line at my local scrapbook shoppe Whim-So-Doodle and was inspired to use some of the stickers.  

I thought about using some very old photos of my Grandpa from WII since he worked on a blimp in Brazil during the war (and didn't see any action but did bring home lots of amazing photos).  I didn't have those photos handy so I thought about the UP sticker and how my son keeps growing and he's almost as tall as I am; I also thought about how my son and husband love all things rockets and space; and about how last 4th of July we went to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.  So all those ideas mashed up on this page and the "what's up" stickers seemed to work - even the one at the bottom "room to grow" and I included photos of my son with height "you must be this tall" signs at the water park and at the space center.

Journaling: "These photos are mostly from 4th of July Weekend 2011 - a year later you are almost (5 feet tall and growing) as tall as me and I'm sure that you'll be taller than me by the summer of 2013."   "I've got high hopes for your bright future - maybe you'll be the astronaut I dreamed of being when I was a kid.  You & your dad love all things rockets and space."

Supplies:  cardstock; Basic Grey "what's up"embellishments, stickers and papers, sharpie marker.

***

Want to see more scrapbooking pages with flying machines from scrapbookers including Amy Kingsford, Ashley Horton, Christy Strickler, Kelly Purkey, Adryane Driscoll, Tara McKernin, Jennifer Matott, Audrey Tan, Lynnette Penacho, and Debbie Hodge? Go Check Out Get It Scrapped's Post on Machines in Flight on Your Scrapbook Pages.

 

Get It Scrapped Post: Road Trips!

Its August and I'm itching to go on a road trip - a real road trip - like for a month, but, alas, it is just not going to happen right now for me.  So, in the meantime, I'll settle on short road trips over to Disney, I know, rough life right?  But really, I would so love to take a road trip up the east coast and end up in Nova Scotia or out west and then drive up the California coast - ahhh, maybe someday. 

That page with my daughter at the wheel was from a couple of years ago - seems that we're creatures of habit and we do this girl's weekend to Disney every year about this time.

I made a double page layout for the Get It Scrapped Road Trip Post.

I used the single page sketch to create a double page layout about our recent trip to Orlando; I changed the placement of the sketch for the left side page.

We live about an hour and a half from the Magic Kingdom so sometimes its a day trip and sometimes its an overnight trip; and many times, we go on a whim.  A rainy day for us means a great day to visit the Disney Water Parks; my daughter and I made an impromptu trip during T.S. Debby.

Journaling: "Can we got to Typhoon Lagoon? Allison wants to know.  "Maybe" I say.  "I Have to check my work calendar and see how much the hotel will be."  Daddy adds "There's a tropical storm coming!"  "Perfect!" Allison declares.  She knows this will mean a much shorter line at the zip line which we remember (after we are all the way in at Typhoon Lagoon) is at Blizzard Beach."  "It was indeed rainy, but that meant we got a bonus day in Orlando and saw the Brave Movie at Downtown Disney + Room Service at Floridays + A shopping trip to Tommy Hilfiger where Allison bought that adorable dress and I got some new bathing suits at Nautica.  We had a fabulous girls weekend.  June 2012."

Supplies: Red Cardstock Patterned Paper (Scenic Route); doileys, maps die cut with Quickutz Metro letter dies; sharpie for journaling; border stickers (Sassafrass).

 

Want to see more Road Trip Scrapbook Pages from scrapbookers including Adryane Driscoll, Debbie Hodge, Brenda Becknell, Tara McKernin, Barb Brookbank, Sue Althouse, ?  Get over to Get It Scrapped's Post on Scrapbooking Road Trips. 

Scrapbooking Challenge #1: Finishing Mini-Books

This post is about scrapbooking challenges - as in things that are difficult rather than a sketch or a prompt. This was the topic of the most recent Paperclipping Roundtable : The Confession Show.

Maybe my biggest challenge in scrapbooking is: FINISHING MINI BOOKS! 

I love to start them, I love to work on them to a point, and then I'm on to the next thing leaving behind a trail of half-finished mini-books. 

Here is my half-finished Mini-Book of a weekend trip to Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral last summer:

In restrospect I wish I would have:

1. Made a smaller home-made smash book - this one has way too many pages - and I even pulled out 10 pages!

2. Journaled during the trip - I brought this one and started it while we were on the trip and I intended to write things down in it during the trip  but didn't - I wish I would have!

3. Pasted the photos in faster - as in closer to the time we got back from the trip- because I think I would have been more motivated to finish it.

What do you do to finish mini books?

 

 

Sunday Scrapbook Sketch Challenge #1: Get It Scrapped Sketch #89

Its Sunday and You Want to Scrapbook, but can't decide where to Start! 

Sound Familiar? 

Here's An Easy Way to Solve this Scrapbooker's Problem:

1. Pick a  Sketch, Any Sketch.  (but make sure to just pick ONE).

2. Commit To It.  (no changing your mind after you find one - p.s. it should take less than 5 minutes to find one).

3. Finish the Sketch In Less Than an Hour.  (giving yourself a deadline is huge!  do not skip this part!)

A blog reader recently emailed me to get a link up to the challenges I like to use for scrapbooking.  I'm planning on doing a post soon with lots of links, but meantime, I'll share what I used for inspiration today:  Debbie Hodge's Get It Scrapped Sketch and Template Bundle #89:

I'd like to say that I'll start a Sunday Sketch Challenge and play along with a sketch every Sunday; but chances are I won't be that consistent - but that idea could certainly be awesome for someone who wanted a reliable source of inspiration:  Just decide that Sunday is Sketch Day, Monday is Make Something By Hand Day; Tuesday is Two photos on a Page Day; or whatever.  Sometimes the deciding part is the most difficult part. 

The Take Away?  Make a Decision.  Commit to it.  And finish it quickly.  These principles are similar to those used by improvisational comedians and these concepts work well for creativity scrapbooking.  I've got a Blog Category over to the right column called "LIFE: SCRAPBOOK IMPROV" if you'd like to read more about my concept of mashing up the principles from improvisational comedy with scrapbooking - It made me faster, more creative and happier - and I'm hoping it will do the same for you!

Please leave a comment and a link to your page!  I love to hear your thoughts on getting started when you're feeling that overwhelm that sometimes comes when you carve out time to scrapbook and get to your scrapbook place and then feel scrapbooker's block; I'd also love to see your pages!

Have a Happy Sunday!

Map Die Cut Letters and Numbers for Travel and Vacation Scrapbooking

MAP DIE CUT LETTER AND NUMBERS:  I spent about an hour while watching my favorite soap, die cutting letters and numbers from some of the maps I picked up on some recent travels. 

I arranged the die cut alphabet letters and numbers in a muffin tin so now I'll be ready for titles for my travel and vacation scrapbook pages and mini books.

Love maps in scrapbooking?  Check out these affiliate links:

 

Vacation Scrapbooking: How to Reconnect With the Stories, Adventures and Emotions of your Trip

How to Reconnect with Your Vacation Memories when you get home and scrapbook the trip weeks, months or years later:

1.  Scrapbook During Your Vacation - This is easy, really!

 

2. Get Home, Get Back to Your Routine, and Feel Confident That You Can Scrapbook Your Vacation Anytime - When You Have Time.  I went on an amazing vacation to Durango, Colorado and I did some scrapbooking on the road.  I'm back now, I've actually been back for about 3 weeks, and I haven't done much work on my vacation scrapbook, until last night.  This video shows how I am incorporating my vacation photos into Project Life, my homemade smash book, my "regular" 12x12 scrapbooks, and my vacation photo albums.

 

Please leave a comment with tips and tricks you use for vacation scrapbooking or a link to your vacation scrapbook!  I'd love to see what you do.

If you would like to support this blog, check out these affiliate links:

 

Vacation Scrapbooking: Mapping Out Your Travels

I think that these maps would be fun additions to a travel scrapbook.

 

Katie Scott's Travels

 

Katie Scott's Travels in Europe

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Katie Scott's Travels in the US

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

I saw this type of map on Katie The Scrapbook Lady's site and wanted to try it out.  I didn't count my plane touch downs in California and Texas for the purpose of this map since I didn't really set outside of the airport.

The travels of the world look a little sparse despite that I feel like I did a lot of traveling, especially during college, through Europe.  There's a whole lot of world out there to see.

I set a goal with my kids to get them to see all 50 states before my daughter graduates from high school, here's where they've been:

Katie's Kids' Travels of the US

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

We've got lots of ground to cover.

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Series (Day 12): District 2 Masonry

Welcome Scrapbookers to District 2 of Panem: Land of Masonry and Peacekeepers in what would have been the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Hey.  Psst.  I got a comment recently from a scrapbooker who said she "couldn't figure out" what I was trying to do with The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Series.  So I guess I should explain a bit:  I find that when I start with a theme for scrapbooking, I can translate the theme into all sorts of different scrapbooking pages and projects.  The theme gives me a starting point.  I recently discovered The Hunger Games and read through the triology in less than  a week and I am highly anticipating the movie.  Since the imaginary dystopian  world includes many districts and themes and characters, I thought it would be fun to use The Hunger Games as a theme or a jumping off point for scrapbooking inspiration.  You are welcome to join in and translate the themes as closely or as loosely as you wish.  There is a Flickr Group for this challenge if you wish to play along - here is the link to The Hunger Games Flickr Group. 

District 2 of Panem is the place where Peacekeepers are trained, and where the weapons are manufactured, but originally specialized only in mining and stone cutting. Publicly it's presented as the nation's stone quarries, just like District 13 was known for graphite mining. District 2 children are raised with a warrior mind-set and most of the Peacekeepers are from District 2. This district was the only one not on the side of the first rebellion, and after the attempt failed, were rewarded by better treatment from the Capitol, and better living conditions for their citizens. District 2 is in the Rocky Mountains, near the Capitol itself. The district is made up of many small villages, each based around a mine. Although the district is allied with the Capitol, due to their preferential treatment, the quarry workers suffer as much as any other district, not being excluded from the annual Hunger Games that take place. (source Wikia). 

Since I just returned from beautiful and amazing Durango, Colorado and that is the location of District 2, I'll be taking my inspiration from the location of this district in Panem. 

I made a photo collage in Picasa and typed in this journaling:  "Now I Know What John Denver Meant when he sang Rocky Mountain High.  I found myself singing the lyrics "coming home to a place {s}he's never seen before."  I was so moved by the beauty of these mountains and the solitude I found in the snowy trails.  I had visions of uprooting our family and transplanting us in Durango, Colorado.  I fell completely in love with this place. Charlie was not as convinced, he liked the vacation and made a lot progress in his ski lessons, but made it clear that he's a Florida Boy.  I do still hold out hopes for a vacation rental property."

I printed the photo collage on an 8.5 x 11 sheet and trimmed it just a bit and backed it with patterned paper.  No embellishments.  Just words and photos and a bit of background.  I did add a zig zag stitch for a little visual interest.   Simple.  And Done.

P.S. I know there's a misspelling in my scrapbook page and the print quality is not the most awesome; but I'm still calling it done!

If you wish to support this blog, check out these affiliate links for The Hunger Games books and related products:

 

 

 

12 Things

I was only on vacation in Colorado for 6 days but it feels like its going to take that long to re-acclimate to my life.  I'm not really sure why, its that MOM-entum thing I talked about on the blog yesterday.  Here are 12 Things I've been up to since I've been home.

1. I checked in at work and everything seems under control, I did a bunch of paperwork.  This morning I got the news that one of the laws that relates to my practice has changed dramatically so there will definately be changes in the coming year.

2. Allison talked me into going to the school's Chuck E Cheese night, Allison was amazing skeet bowler (is that what it is called?).  It was noisy and hectic but they really wanted to go.  We got a chance to talk to the principal who said he's been personally working with Mac in a small group, Mac never mentioned this, for the essay section of the FCAT which happened a couple weeks ago and the essay assignment was to write an essay about riding a camel.  We don't get the results until the end of the year.

3. I did the stepper twice and burned about 800 calories each time but I'm feeling a bit heavy.  I did bikram yoga this morning and I feel like I'm way out of shape and practice, its been a week or so since I've been to yoga, I need to get back in there several times a week.   Even though I skied all day everyday of my vacation, I really need to focus on exercising.

4. Allison insisted that I go on a field trip to "play in the dirt" which turned out to be a trip to Myakka River State Park and we saw several very large alligators, lots of water birds including white pelicans, and wild turkeys in the woods.  We walked on a very high wooden bridge and climbed a tower to get a canopy view of the forrest.  The guide had one leg, she joked that it was because an alligator bit it off during a school field trip but then explained that she had cancer and they took her leg to save her life.  She had a really cool artificial leg and the top part of it had sea turtles painted onto it and she shared that she has the same doctor as Winter the Dolphin from A Dolphin's Tale.  I got to talk to her husband for a bit and he told me about their trip to a cancer hospital and the day he got off on the wrong floor, pediatrics, and that we should all just think of that anytime we think we're having a bad day.  Wow.  Crystal Clear Perspective There.  I am doing the Relay for Life Cancer Walk coming up in a couple weeks.  We've known several people in a short amount of time who have been diagnosed with cancer.  I've got to get up to speed with my part in the relay including the fund raising part.

5.  After the field trip, Allison and I went to the Ellenton Outlet Mall which is a bunch of outlet stores, we don't get there very often.  I don't particularly love shopping but my girl Ally does.  She was in heaven in the pre-teen store Justice.  I was still sticker shocked at the prices in Justice, even in the outlet mall.  She got some very fashionable outfits.  We also did some shopping for me, I bought a few work dresses and a few weekend outfits at Tommy Hilfiger and Ann Taylor, I think Allison was a bit unimpressed with the boring nature of my choices - she picked out and had me try on some "fashionable" things but none of them seem to work on me.

6. Allison and I also came up with a plan to reorganize her Barbie play area.  I am right now trying to muster up my gumption to attack that project.  I'm not sure I'm up to it, we'll see.

7. On my Scrapbooking Agenda:

* Do the posts for District 2, District 1, The Capitol, and District 13 for my The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge.

* Catch up on the last 2 weeks of Project Life.

* Get some 12x12 layouts done for the BPC Twelve class I am taking.

* Catch up on One Little Word and Move More Eat Well BPC classes.

* Make a photobook of our three ski trips this year, it has been awesome to take three trips in three months.  I'll be grounded for a while which will give me time to get back to my routine.

8. I would also like to do something with all of my Pinterest Boards.  Specifically, I have a "word up" board with sayings I like and I would like to use those in some way.  Also I have a "homemade" board with ways to alter t-shirts and easy sewing projects and I'd like to do a closet overhaul and make some projects with my old clothes.

9.  I need to tend to the garden we planted a few weeks ago, the marigolds were completely eaten by something but the basil and mint are doing well and we have several sprouts.

10. I'd like to get on my kayak this weekend.

11. I did a major grocery shop and cooked curry chicken and we've been eating leftovers for days, it is delicious.

12. I am re-committing to my goal of losing 50 pounds.  I was doing really well and then too many people gave me compliments and I got lazy and somehow I'm back to only about 10 pounds down from my original weight - which means that I've put on 20 pounds since my lowest weight at 30 pounds down.  I'm a little frustrated since it seems like I have worked really hard for the past two years and that losing weight and keeping it off is a 24/7 hard work constant kind of thing and that I really love to eat and not worry about what I'm eating.  I'm totally fine with a very rigourous exercise routine, but I'm a little less excited about getting super strict with my diet again, but I'm even less excited about how my thighs look right now.  So I'm back on my weight loss goal routine and I'm hoping to make some significant progress by my birthday which is coming up on June 6.  I don't think I'll attain my goal by that time but I would like to get there somewhere over the summer and maintain it until Christmas and beyond.