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January 2012
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Project Life 2012 - off the ground and running!
i'm a woman on a mission to get this project off and running and i'm happy to say it's off the ground sprinting to a well-documented 2012! Such a breakthrough for me since I've been documenting our lives in haphazzard ways since i began scrapbooking. My husband was even interested in knowing what I've been up to this week and what exactly is PROJECT LIFE? He thinks it's pretty cool. now THAT'S cool when your husband takes interest in your passion.
The general concept for my slight variation (and abridged version) of Project Life is to gather photos for the week and create a collage to print out on one letter-size sheet. The facing inserts will include journaling on mailing tags, featured photos in 4x6 sizes and other stuff gathered through the week. These filler pages will be generally letter-size (I have filler pages in different sizes that I've collected over the years from different vendors and places that I have no clue where they came from tbh.) I intend to use the inserts throughout my album inbetween the 12x12 pages that will feature the collaged photo page. Week 1 12x12 faces Week 2 12x12 and the smaller sized inserts inbetween will house all the other memos and journaling etc for the week, back to back. Here are more pics of Week 1 an 2. It's a work in process, but I've laid down the basic concepts so the rest is just icing on the cake. I love this project! It's so Do-able for me and I'm truly enjoying the process.
On a roll... more random scrapbooking. Jessica has been writing songs since she was 14. it's a beautiful thing to watch her grow, spread her wings and unleash the poetry in her heart....
january 15, 2012... hello blog, it's been awhiiiiillllle... i made my first traditional scrapbook page in months! glue and paper e v e r y w h e r e. my process: random picture of sean laying around, grab cardstock and few random supplies and paper in my favorite serene colors... ready set, GLUE
summer joyride
The fabulous trio... Sean,12 Jessica,14 & Chris,20
the youngest pair: Sean,12 and Dominic 6
clash of the brothers...
journal entry - aug 3,2009... boys will be boys and I should know, i've got three sons... sidenote: jessica cries "why oh why am i cursed with brothers?!" i keep reminding her how being the only girl is a blessing. trust. (that's what your dad continues to say under his breath.) i digress once again. While John was cleaning out the garage, he came across some of his old protective-biking-gear (knee & arm pads, goggles etc. ) One thought led to another and he dresses Dominic from head to toe because every kid wants to be a warrior when he grows up, no? (except for jessica of course.) Sean peeks into the garage to see what everybody's up to and then one thing leads to another and soon there are two warriors ready to battle it out in our front yard. Pretty soon the fight becomes bigger than life and the two boys find their way to the park next door for the big "clash of the brothers" epic. Needless to say smiles of joy fade quickly to tears and anguish when the little warrior gets his butt kicked by his out-of-control zealous older brother. a mother's joy is never-ending.
back to school week...
jessica models her back-to-school outfits. no more uniforms!
Aug 31 - monday morning, drove sean to school - his first day of 7th grade! he was a little freaked out. just a little because he's not used to having a homeroom teacher and 7 periods with 7 different teachers. Big sis jessica starts IPoly tomorrow and came along for the ride to lend moral support. hmmm. jessica being nice to her brother? touching. Once we arrived she walked him to the assigned classroom postings. Sean was immediately distracted by his friend Matthew and they exchanged bro-hellos. Suddenly he became at ease and told his sis to get lost. nice... on the ride back home Jessica shows signs of un-ease. Now she's freaking out because tomorrow she begins highschool and is nervous about the unknown and the inevitable hard work that comes with college-prep schools. sigh. Her dad and I give her separate pep talks: every single 9th grader is feeling the same way. just like anything in life, all you can do is put one foot in front of the other... the bright side? today is not that day. and the other bright side? no more school uniform!! yay.
summer '09 random sight-seeing
we find ourselves driving around California on a whim or on purpose. we've been doing this since we've met and will always be wandering around aimlessly until they take our driver's licenses away from us when, you know, the time comes. john, sean and chris found this spot in PV awhile back and on our way back into l.a. from Salvang we stopped to smell the proverbial roses and enjoy the pacific before sunset. A rocky cove awaited us at the bottom of this steep pathway. The descent was easy , and gorgeous scenery takes my breath away. And then... the ascension back up the steep pathway which literally takes my breath away. My thighs burned as I grunted in utter resentment towards my children who were skipping all the way up without strenuous effort. I was the last to reach the top, breathless and so-outta shape. My sensitve son Sean, 12, jogged back down a bit as I approached the top encouraging me to keep going "almost there..." he says. My cheerleader.
Sight Seeing in PV
Weird thing about me, i don't swim in the ocean...
Perhaps it's because Jaws freaked me out in the '70's or I had a near-drowing experience as a kid. Not exactly sure what my deal is, but here's hard evidence that there is nothing you can do to change my mind....
my sister Patty, my mom and me in the middle going completely nutso
have you seen my childhood?
old pics of dominic when he was a wee toddler. felt like doing a little digi since it's a little less time-consuming to slap together. have you seen his childhood? "here it is, there it goes "
embracing imperfection
journal entry 6/21/09 sometimes i'm out of focus and toss and turn for ages before falling asleep. uncertain about my personal path, at a stand-still on where i'm going. then i pray on it and realize i may be out of focus temporarily; yet i am still me... growing into the person I was meant to be. into the person i have been all along... learning to embrace imperfection.
summer notes
June 21,2009 - jounral entry, 1st day of summer. ran up and down a hill in Palos Verdes with my 6-year-old. he keeps me young... and i try to wear and tear all the energy out of him, yet always seem to fail as he has endless stores of it. and i'm the worn out one in the end. love these memories of my sweet little kid.
happy birthday,babe!
today is john's bday, he's 44. and he continues to remind me that i'm 7 months older than he is! pfffft, whatevah!
Went for a cliffside stroll in Palos Verdes yesterday. The sun finally pays us a visit after being awol for days. It's the first day of Summer for crying out loud! Jess wrote the most mind-blowing poem for her dad, and we gave him a bag full of cash (50 $1's to fill it to the rim.) The teens are missing from this picture... where are they?? In the car with the Ipod of course indifferent to the beautiful scenery.
be the author of your own life story
More hybrid work. Page from my personal journal blended digitally with background paper
products: ps, basic grey, 7 gypsies patterned paper, K&Company stickers
San Francisco in hindsight
MLK - no lab class tonight which affords me the opportunity to play with PS and combine traditional scrapbooking with digital overlays. I recently created an on-line photojournal of our weekend getaway to San Francisco last summer. I posted a photo slide-show and will upload scrapbooking/digital pages on a regular basis.
Products: Photoshop CS2, pattern paper background:Basic Grey
anonymous photography
anonymous photography. that's my new focus this year. i am trying something new...the backdrop of the pacific ocean is always stunning especially when the sun hits the water just right. perfect timing is not always handed to one on a silver platter. cool.
Gorgeous weather beckens us to slip away from our home in the foothills and take in cool breezes and fresh views of the Pacific Ocean. We were in the mood for tacos at our favorite mexican place in seal beach. Dominic has proven himself to be a somewhat sane model citizen as of late in public places so our hesitation to be out and about with him has surely waned. Afterwards we took a brief stroll on the pier and our spur-of-the minute mentality prompts us to head over to the Aquarium of the Pacific in nearby Long Beach. There, Dominic slips back into "the crazies." He had a small lapse for some reason or another. We signed up for a one-year family membership on New Year's Day so it was nice to pay a spontaneous visit. California. Gotta love it.
a Week in the liFe... a work in progress
I'm taking a different spin on Ali Edward's Week in the Life Project. I took various photos which portray scenes from our lives right now and grouping them by cattegory. Part of my daily routine right now is caring for our garden.... Just a simple layout that I intend to follow for each my cattegories. I am using an artist's wirebound field book to give it a very "journal" type feel.
... taking a photography class this semester
our assignment last week: cover the viewfinder or lcd and take random pics. The point? to let go of inhibition and the internal judge within. For me this was a major challenge as I am a self-proclaimed p e r f e c t i o n i s t ... so Saturday morning I wandered around the neighborhood and shot some shrubbery hoping to get some cool "dew on leaves" or whatever... This was my submission for tonight's class critique. I loathe spiders but the dew on the web was kinda interesting. I knew it was a little "busy", but my instructor said it worked because part of it was out of focus. Doctored up by Picassa (LOVE that program!). I am lovin' this class. Joe is as sarcastic as they come and brutally honest which is a good thing if I am serious about becoming a better photographer. Side note: I am a business accounting major and yet ART is my passion and real love.... so my boss and others have asked the obvious question: why am I not studying art??? I retort: I can't afford to be a starving artist! Just for now, anyway.... SO in the meantime i'll weave it in somehow because what's the point of living right??? enjOy the jOurney...
labor day weekend... and we are bonfire-less
... we arrived at Bolsa Chica some time after 6:30 i guess... and we are sheer out of luck as all of the bonfire pits were taken! of course they were! What were we thinking?? No worries. We sat in the parking lot and enjoyed the ocean breeze for half an hour. I snapped some pics of other people enjoying their bonfires in the meantime. The sun set pretty quickly. It was there just a minute ago, seriously...
Twenty Three
that's how long John & I have been together, married for 19 and still in love. i said it before - we are total opposites in many ways. and maybe that's the secret to a successful marriage. there's quite a bit of head-butting, and we're not forever and always eye-to-eye on many things... maybe just on the things that really count... like meeting half-way to keep peace. And then sometimes meeting 60/40 or 30/70 (and no difference who is giving more than taking) ... the point is working-things-out-for-the-sake of sanity and love.... for love. That's one key ingredient that has kept us in tact.
New school year
...and we are off and running for the new school year. Over the last few years it seems to begin before summer is officially over. Sigh. Labor day weekend is here, btw. Dominic will begin a new program at Willowood in West Covina starting next Tuesday (hopefully if the transportion goes as planned.) I met his teacher Teresa Griegos today for an overview of her class schedule and layout. She's a self-proclaimed tough teacher and is big on making the student use his communication skills to navigate in the class room and in his world. He'll be bused to and from the school site. I was surprised that a chaperone wouldn't be present for the commute - the bus driver is essentially "it". I was assured by the district nurse that the drivers assigned for the commute are used to dealing with kids with his special needs. I guess it's just me and my anxiousness about Dominic dealing with new and unchartered experiences. I'm not sure how Dominic will deal with it, actually. He enjoys our joyrides and being with other kids his age. I have to stop thinking for the worst and embrace this thing called life. I have to let go a little bit and let my children find their own way in it - triumphs and falls alike. ... yup, just let him find his own path...and as a mom, enjoy the journey alongside him.
Stephen & Eileen Wedding Day 8-23-08
i was asked to photograph my nephew's wedding last Saturday... honestly, i was intimidated because it was my first time and can you imagine the pressure??? so many people had faith in me and as for me, i am ALWAYS my own worst critic. (John kept reminding me all week: it's the most important day of their lives! can you believe this guy?) Here's one of my favorites because it definitely reflects my style of photography ... random and in-the-moment...
the diAry of aNgi b.
- The only way to have a life is to commit to it like crazy --Angelina Jolie
