The One that's really LONG.

What I blog about. hmmmm...

I like to blog about real life. I like to take pretty photos and document the fun stuff of life. I have some goals, however, to also expand my creativity and make blogging more interesting. That might mean doing more projects and taking more photos! Somehow I think that's what I need.

Life has been a little BLAH here in November.

I'd like to change that. If you are a regular reader, I would love a little advice on what people like to read! I guess I will write a little synopsis of the current stuff I do, so that way anyone can add a suggestion.

1. I do Project Life. I'm a tad behind posting about it (yeah, like six months) but I'm pretty up to date with my actual book. In the past two years I've lived a life that is pretty "documenting" oriented. I save receipts. I steal business cards from restaurants. I methodically print photos and round corners and stick my stuff in little pockets. Its a fun adventure, and not one I'm planning on quitting any time soon. I plan on taking more photos of my pages in the future!

2. I scrapbook. Even though I also do Project Life, I also love to play with pretty paper and embellishments. Matty tells me that I do a little too much! Because I document stuff pretty much daily, when it comes to scrapbooking, its all for fun! That's how I like it.

3. I play in the outdoors. I run. I camp. I am kind of an active gal and I love to write about it. Somehow its nice to brag about how fast I run a race, or how I feel accomplished when I learn how to swim. Its fun to share something that's such a big part of my life.

4. I hardly cook, but when I do I love to blog about it. Every now and then I get a burst of energy and decide to take photos of my cooking process or my daily dinners or my super healthy Paleo foods. And I'm always up for taking pictures of treats and desserts, even when I don't make them myself.

5. I take pictures. This may have been implied in the previous four points, but I thought it deserved a line all by itself. Whether its instagram or fancy camera, I pretty much photograph daily! I'm still not great, but I love the challenge of capturing a moment in a pretty way. That's pretty much how I see photography. I take pictures because I like to remember. And if I am remembering, it might as well look good, right?

6. I have a pretty full life when it comes to friend and family. I do love to share random adventures that I have with Matt and others. Seattle is an amazing place. We may think that we are bored all the time, but when I look through my Picassa album, I'm pretty much convinced that we do lots of fun things. I'd like to do even more. This includes trying new restaurants and traveling to more local areas around Seattle.

7. I travel. Okay, not really, but I do have a ton of Europe photos that I haven't shared yet. Mostly just haven't had the time to write the words to portray such an amazing adventure. I'm not sure that this would be an interesting to topic to read about, so let me know!!

Thanks for reading, if you got all the way to the end. Please, ladies, (or anyone) give me some suggestions on how I can improve what I write. I would love any constructive criticism please!!

Love Jenn

Project Life

 Week of June 10-16

On our way back from Boise we stopped in Yakima for a quick rest stop. I managed to snap a photo of BOTH mountains, Mt Baker and Mr Rainier. We even saw both mountains from Pendleton Oregon. It was incredible! Of course the mountains showed up super tiny so I labeled them with bright orange arrows. :)

 The rest of the left side was all photos from Hannah's party. It was a really fun roof top party at E. Lake Bar and Grill.

 The rest of the week I recorded on the left side. It was a pretty normal week except that I started eating healthy! So of course I started photographing my food. :)

Week of June 17-23:

 This week was crazy busy and I didn't end up putting it all together until the end of the week. Usually I go day by day (more or less) The first side is all from Sunday, which included lunch with the girls at Shabu Chic (Japanese food), Father's Day dinner and family family portraits

 I added an insert this week which was all triathlon related. I included some clothing tags from my new swimsuit and shorts, as well as an instagram announcing my first swimming lesson from Matty.

 One of the clothing tags is pretty translucent so you can see through to the other side. This week I started recording my workouts, so I added that card on the back of the insert. The circle on top is a coaster from a restaurant which had "note to self" on the back. Of course I took the opportunity to write a note to myself. This one is about NOT letting yourself go on a Saturday night because it just might ruin all your hard work from the previous week!

The last page is lots of the usual...instagram photos and food photos. Also included is a roof top photo! We sure love our rooftop in the summer.

Week of June 24-30

Much of this week I have already posted on the blog, so I will be quick. Mostly this includes the pesto, salmon patties, Fremont photo walk, and seeing the Super Guppy.

 Much of this week I have already posted on the blog, so I will be quick. Mostly this includes the pesto, salmon patties, Fremont photo walk, and seeing the Super Guppy. My favorite photo this week was one I captured of my two kitty cats sitting on the porch side by side. This is a very rare sight!!

 On the back of the collage from my Fremont photo walk, I added random Instagrams from the week. I punched out 2x2 papers to go with the photos since I did not have quite enough to fill up all the slots.

Project Life

Week of May 20-26


Things to note: I had no SLR camera this week because mine was broken! :( Renae came to the rescue and I copied some of her photos while she was in town. The rest of the photos are phone photos.

The week started out pretty normal. I grabbed a photo at children's meeting playing Duck, Duck, Goose. I also snapped some photos of food, which is my favorite subject. This week we ate Pancakes at my favorite restaurant, Portage Bay. I also took a photo of my caprese salad...basil from my own plant!

The second half of the spread is mostly weekend photos. We had a Christian conference in Bellevue for Memorial Day, so my friend Renae stayed with me (thus the stolen photos!). I also picked up lots of "ephemera" which included a parking reminder, sushi stuff, and a tag from World Market.

Week of May 27-June 2


This week was insert heavy!! I didn't care. Bring on the inserts, I say. The more photos the better!

In the first half of the week, I also didn't have my camera...I didn't get it back until Friday, just in time for our trip to San Juan Island.On the first page you will see an iPhone photo of Matty and I, taken by someone else at a restaurant. I also have the receipt...we went to Maggiano's. In the lower corner I made a photo collage from Renae's pictures, its Hans making all the girls cry! The next photo over is Matty on the roof, as well as the label from my favorite bottle of wine, Toasted Goat.

The front half of the insert has my massage (yay!) notes, business card from the photo shop, and Pippa's 3 month photo!

This next photo shows the back of the insert, which is the beginning of our trip on Friday. I also included a map of San Juan as a second insert. You can see my photo of the farmer's market, as well as the camp cat...reminded us of Flash!

The last page is mostly photos. I had just gotten my camera back and was a little photo crazy! We did some sightseeing on Saturday, including the Alpaca farms and British camp. On the upper right you will see a self timed photo of us reading by the fire...that's really how we spent our evening.

Week of June 3-June 10

Starts in San Juan and ends in Boise!
I always start my week on Sunday, even if I am splitting up a trip. I don't mind.

 I ran a marathon on Sunday! I had to put an instagram in here of my race medal.

We read a funny book over the weekend called "Stuff White People Like." Apparently they like to run marathons, and when they complete said race, they hold their race number over their head triumphantly! Matty and I got a kick out of that book, and that's the inspiration for that top right photo.

Also on this page: A coffee sleeve, embellished with one of Elise's stamps "You're my favorite". A popcorn photo from Les Schwab as I waited for my tires to be done. A photo of our bookshelf, we have quite a collection, now. Finally an instagram of Flash sitting in his usual strange position. I have yet to mount this photo of a nice piece of 4x6 paper...will get done soon!!

 Oh, and here's the back of that first insert. Just another San Juan map...on this one I outlined my race course with highlighter, and then added some race highlights on a 4x3 card.

 Here is the second half of the week! Again there is a second insert. The first one I made by chopping up a 12x12 insert that had 9 4x4 slots. I made some of them narrower to fit a 4x3 card.

These instagrams are all from our road trip on the way to Boise. I included the envelope from the Hotel Key, as well as a coaster from our room. Best Western...yes! The breakfast was indeed amazing.

 Here is the second insert and last page. (getting bored yet? :) ) All instagrams are race photos from Matt's half Ironman. I threw in lots of fun ephemera, including his race sticker for his bike and his race bracelet. I don't let that guy throw anything away!

 On the last page are some general photos of our trip to Boise. The first photo is my expensive and delicious sandwich. (Apparently white people love expensive sandwiches!) The second photo is our friend John and his new girlfriend Aldin. We had a blast with them! Lower left photo is the beautiful swim start....when were completely drenched in rain. Lovely times! The last photo is our Margaritas after the race! Mostly Matty deserved it, but I indulged too! Diet starts tomorrow right? (And it did, don't worry. I have been sugar, flour, alcohol-free for six days now.)

So how's that for a Project Life update? Pretty overwhelming I am sure. I tend to finish these up about three weeks at a time and then I can't help by posting them all at once. Sorry! If you made it to the end, THANK YOU!

I will be back with more excitement soon.

Project Life Catch up

I have three weeks to share! (click on any picture to make it larger)

April 29-May 5

Matt returned from his trip in North Carolina on Sunday. (I have yet to hijack photos from facebook and find a way to add Matt's four day trip to Project Life. I will possibly just make a scrapbook page about his trip. He's got lots of stories to tell!)

High lights include: Orange chairs and yummy juice at Alki. Orange space needle. Lots of instagram photos this week...needed their own insert.

 I really love adding 4x4 page protectors. One problem with my obsession with instagram is that the photos don't fit the PL page protectors very well. I have been slacking taking photos with my SLR.

All photos from the back of the insert are from Saturday in Spokane. I took LOTS of pictures that day.

 All photos on this last page are also from Saturday! It was a pretty busy weekend and lots of things I wanted to add. I especially love the little photo of Levi and Pippa. It was so fun propping them up and snapping away. :)

I also grabbed a photo on the roof of the parking garage of my city, Spokane. It was an awesome view!

May 6-12

 Sunday was Bloomsday! I added a photo of our drive back to Seattle as well as lunch with the girls on Saturday afternoon. The Bloomsday photos are very tiny in the little insert. I took way too many instagram shots this week (since then I have slowed down) and so I made them super tiny.

 A huge highlight this week was receiving two new stamps from Elise Blaha Cripe. I added the packaging because it was so cute with those stamps and washi tape. The "Today Is" stamp on the blue journaling card is hers. I just love it! I also got the "You're my Favorite" stamp. :)

 I used a few bits from my scrap basket to fill in some of those 2x2 holes in the page protector. I also added some October Afternoon stickers.

 The second part of my week highlights a few little bits from daily life: my basil plant, grilling vegetables, a hot tub baptism and some bubble tea before a movie. It was a wonderful summery week.


May 13-19

 No inserts this week! We are keeping it simple! Some highlights from the beginning of the week were Color run with Jen Law, Mother's Day and hanging out with Pippa. I also added a card from SC, its one of my favorite things to do. The back can be seen from the previous page, and I love how its smaller and you can see through to the page behind it.

The "think positive today" is from Pink Paislee. I love it. Thinking positive has been REALLY, really hard lately, and that little card can be a reminder to me whenever I look through this book.

 The second half of the week is ALL instagram shots. I tried to be creative with the page protector and I am not super convinced that I like the result. Overall this page looks a little messy!

Well that was three whole weeks all at once. Thanks for staying tuned for this huge long post. :)

Next week I hope to use my SLR again! Its getting dusty. ;)