Project Life – Week 4

I might be a bit (or a whole lot) obsessed with Project Life. Absolutely love the process and the results!!! Here’s the spread for week 4.

Something I adore about Project Life is that it has pushed me to pay attention to my family life in a different way. I’m journaling our family. I’m taking more pictures. I’m documenting it all! I really didn’t think we did enough “cool” things during any given week to fill out the weekly spreads… but I was wrong! I’m taking notes of things that are important and special to us. I’m just enjoying this completely.

Project Life – Week 3

This is my PL spread for week 3! I already have a good rhythm going and can organize all the pictures and text pretty efficiently (following the process I shared last week).

Now I need a better set up for taking pictures of my layouts. I work on this project during the night time for the most part… not a good time to take pictures. So, I’ll be looking into low-light digital photography and/or a DIY light box and/or taking pictures by a window during the daytime (check out Ali Edwards’ post about this).

Week 4 is all ready good to go. I’ll be printing tonight, so hopefully I can share tomorrow.

Since I am the one taking the pictures, I rarely appear on them… gotta change that! My goal for week 5 is to appear on at least 1 picture! =D

Also, I just bought the Project Life Baby Edition for Him digital kit. I’ll be using this kit to make Antonio’s scrapbook. I have so many pictures that I think PL is the best solution to finally have all our memories on one place (not hidden on a computer). I’ll be using my PL process to put this album together. I will probably also include some traditional layouts. Stay tuned for more on this ginormous project!

Welcome 2013!

Here I am… trying to bring the little old blog back to life. Well, let’s try this blogging thing again on 2013!!!

Today, I’ll share some of my (big picture) plans for 2013.

1. One Little Word (click on the link to go to Ali Edwards blog… that’s where I first read about this movement). My word for this year is MELIORA!!! It means ever better (love that!). Meliora is the University of Rochester (where I got a couple of degrees ) motto. I saw it on a poster at the airport on New Year’s Eve… it aligns perfectly with my goals for this year. Striving to be ever better (for myself, my family, and all aspects of life)!!!
2. 2013 Focus - As a family effort, we’re planning to use this year to better our home… truly make it the Marrero-Sanchez home. I’m not saying we’re gutting the house and redoing the whole thing… we just want to make it great for us! In order to do that, we need to continue watching our finances (maybe be even more careful). There are some projects that are way overdue… can you say painting?!
3. Of course, making is an ongoing thing around here. But, it is always important to bring it up and remind myself of why I love making so much… be it food, quilting, paper crafting. I enjoy the process, but I love when my family loves the end result. There’s nothing like a loud “mmm” with lots of emphasis from the little guy when he likes something I made for dinner (it happens often… he’s a good eater… it still makes me oh, so happy every single time).
4. Vacations!!! - The hubster is extra busy working towards his doctorate, so every moment together counts. We are planning a couple of fun vacation trips (one during Spring and one during Summer). I’m super excited about it all!
5. Document it all. I’m doing Project Life for the first time this year! (Thank you Becky Higgins for an awesome system that allows me to document my family life!) I completed the first week already. I will have a separate post with more details about my process. This is the first look at it.

That’s it for now… see ya later!

I’m a runner now!

Exactly one week ago, I completed my first 5K (and with obstacles), the Dirty Girl Mud Run! It makes me feel so proud. By the way, they’re not kidding when they say the run is dirty! From start to finish is dirty, but oh so fun! Let me just say for the record that we completed the run in approximately 90 minutes… it was hard. It felt like we were going uphill most of the time, but when we went downhill it was super steep and we had to “lock” our knees. It was a whole new experience that I share with two awesome gals. Can’t wait to register for another race.

Check out the pictures…

BEFORE

ALMOST AT THE END

AFTER

Good times!

Yes, I’m running a 5K!

I like to think that I’m a runner… but I’m not… but I love the idea of it. Thinking this way is not good for me. Here’s why… see… my friend suggested we do the Dirty Girl Mud Run… a muddy 5K with obstacles (happening in just 2 weeks). I said: “I’m in!” and registered. Then it hit me… I’m not a runner or very fit for that matter (but my brain thinks I am even against all of my body’s indications of out-of-shapeness)!!! Note to brain: losing weight (I’m up to 35 pounds… not too shabby) doesn’t mean you can do exercisey stuff at the drop of a hat! Now I gotta show up and do it… but it’s ok! It’ll be an adventure that I’ll share with two of my bestest girlies in the world! And did I mention that we’re all donating some money to an awesome cause?! A very deserving organization, the National Breast Cancer Foundation! So, if anything I’ll put myself on the line (and have fun while at it) for sisterhood and to help save the tatas. How about it? I’ll make sure the husband takes pictures so I can share all the hilarity that I’m positive will ensue.

 

 

Back from vacation!

So… I was on vacation and not crafting or cooking much or posting… did anybody miss me? No worries, I’m baaack!

Before going away on vacation I did finish and mailed out my 3rd quilt! This one is very special. I made it for Quilts for Kids (an awesome nonprofit that upon request will send you fabric so you can send a finished quilt in 4-6 weeks for a sick kid in need of comfort).

 

*L: Finished quilt (plus husband’s legs). As you can see, they use some really fun fabrics. R: Backing fabric. I really loved every aspect of this project. I’m planning on requesting another kit soon!*

Please, if you feel it in your heart to make a quilt, request a kit! Don’t wait like I did. I had only finished 2 quilts and wasn’t very confident. I guess the perfectionist in me doubted that I could make a decent-enough quilt for a very deserving kid. I can assure you, the quilt is not perfect. But you know what… kids need quilts! So go ahead! Request a kit! Make a quilt! Mail it back! It feels good.

Other than that quilt, not a whole lot happened on the crafting front. Will be back to it shortly though!

Just today I tried this Banana Oatmeal Muffin recipe (I found on Pinterest of course!). It is pretty good. It doesn’t taste like Banana Bread, but it is a healthy variation. A recipe was enough for 12 muffins. From my calculations, that makes each muffin be 3 WW plus points (sometime I’ll tell you my Weight Watchers story, I promise). Not too shabby… great for breakfast or a snack. And this is what they look like…

Speaking of Weight Watchers… I stopped the program while I was on vacation. Eek! I know… bad bad bad… but there was no way, I was going to go home and not eat my mom’s cooking… and tomorrow is back in the saddle, monitoring what I’m eating and exercising (do I see P90X on my future… well yes, I think I do). I’ll keep you posted. First time I tried P90X, I lasted a month… this time I’m shooting for the 90 days!

Had to share

You are here

From Tara Whitney’s blog. I’m sharing the link because I really identified with her words. I appreciate the reminder to be grateful for what I have and be present. I’m keeping my hopes and dreams, I’m just not letting them lessen my here and now. Thank you for sharing, Tara.

Lots of activity around the kitchen

I’m on a cooking kick. The hubster approves! Like I’ve mentioned before, I love trying new recipes. So far, this week I’ve made Betty Crocker’s Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff and SkinnyTaste’s Crock Pot Chicken a la Criolla. They were both delicious! These two will for sure be added to our dinner rotation. But there’s one little detail… I need to organize my recipes. I’m guilty of loving a new recipe to later not be able to find it online/in a magazine or cookbook. At first, I was using my Food & Drinks Pinterest board to organize recipes but quickly found that it’s better used to keep my “To try” recipes. I was doing some research and just yesterday found a system that I believe will work for my family. It was created by Megan from The Homes I Have Made and featured on iHeart Organizing. Go over and take a look! I think it is super cool. It uses a magnetic dry erase calendar to plan a whole month’s meals. This will work perfectly for me because I can plan the whole month in advance, but I can still change things around since I do groceries every Sunday. I already started a list with our go to recipes (although I’ll probably end up printing magnets with protein and sides categories only… we try new things often enough) and picked colors for the magnets. I will be printing and clipping recipes/putting them on a binder next. I gotta run to Target to get the board and hopefully I’ll find the magnetic paper there as well. This is the kind of project that makes me all giddy and happy inside. I’ll show pictures when I’m done (sorry for the lack of pictures on this post)!

In the Making goes LIVE!

Hello there! =D

Blogging is my answer to not wanting to spend time on Facebook anymore but still wanting to share what I’m up to (family life, motherhood, crafting, cooking, etc). Facebook is a major time-suck for me and I’d rather waste my time on Pinterest (*love Pinterest*) getting inspiration than reading drama status updates and stuff that doesn’t matter for the most part. If anything, this move will help me focus on documenting life, taking even more pictures/videos of this growing baby of mine and being productive.

So there you have it! More coming soon.