my dreams v. my reality

I can't believe it's been six months since I posted anything on the blog. There just doesn't seem to be enough time to keep up with everything. In my dreams, I'm able to keep the house perfectly clean, be a patient and creative first grade teacher for James, cook gourmet and healthy meals for the family, craft in my free time and blog about it, and sail through the third trimester of pregnancy with grace and composure. In reality, I have a sink full of dirty dishes that I'm ignoring in order to blog right now. There's no way I can cover all that's happened in the last six months, so I figured I'd just hit the highlights and pick up where we are now.

As far as Project 365 goes, I just about finished January and then barely picked up the camera until April. In fact, I didn't take any photos at all in March. I decided I'd go ahead and scrap what I do manage to take this year anyway, so here's January & February's pages (as always, click to see credits)...


In the past couple of weeks, I've picked up my camera more to try to capture the craziness that is the Pranaitis family. I can hardly believe that we're only three months away from adding another boy to our motley crew. Simon already calls me the "token female" of the family! It's a position I really enjoy for the most part. The weeks when he's working out of state are always hard, but they make me even more thankful for the days he's home. Two months ago we were on our way to some event and were (miraculously) ready about 20 minutes early so we grabbed the tripod and took some family photos on self-timer. The 20 minutes consisted of me pushing the button to start the 10 second countdown, then rushing back to the front porch steps to try to get settled before the photo was taken. We only got one decent photo, and it would never win any awards, but I'm so happy we made the effort because I know we can never get these days back. The photo:

and one of the photos I snapped while I was trying to get the settings right...

Yep, these are my boys!

Okay! I'm off to go tackle those dishes. I really am hoping to get back to blogging more regularly though. I seem to have finally gotten a bit of energy back!

01.04.2010

01.04.2010 . the christmas angel


I had created a blog last year for my P365 photos which I never used... so I decided I'll start using it this year. My daily photos will be here now: justJess | Project 365, although I might occasionally post a favorite at both blogs.

I'll be back later with a fun hybrid project!

01.03.2010

Peter finally figured out how to blow out... every time he made this little party favor inflate, he'd let out a giggle and stomp his feet in glee!

Project 365... Days 1 & 2

Never one to be too discouraged by past failure, I've decided to try to keep up with Project 365 again this year, taking one photo a day. I don't even remember how long I made it last year, but we'll see how this year goes.

01.01.2010


We spent New Year's Day in the car, driving home from CO after our halfway stop in Utah. The snow lasted for well over half the trip and I rolled down the window and snapped some photos while we were cruising along the highway.


01.02.2010


While we were gone, we had our closet redone so I got to come home to a much more organized clothes storage system. Having a new-found love for scarves, I was very excited to finally have a place to keep them, so I took a quick photo while I was unpacking everything.

Bellarific Friday

Just a quick post with my card for the last Stamping Bella challenge of the year. We were supposed to use stitching somewhere on the card, and even though faux stitching was allowed, I pulled out my sewing machine and gave it a whirl. I think I'm slowly getting better at it, but there's no way I'd show you the back of the stitched circle. It's pretty ugly... maybe I have the wrong kind of needle for stitching through cardstock?



I'm so glad it's Friday! We're off to see Christmas lights this weekend, and I have just a bit of gift buying left to do, and lots of wrapping and maybe even a bit of Christmas card making. Time to turn on the Christmas tunes and get to work!

bump...

That was me falling off the Project E bandwagon. I would still love to do something like this, but I just don't have time every day to scrap. So maybe for 2010 I'll do it once or week or something. I did do one more page before I hit the ground...



There's nothing quite like a clean set of cozy flannel sheets and a pair of pretty pink jammies, especially when it's cold outside!!

Bella Birthday Bash Hop

Welcome to the Bella Birthday Bash Blop Hop sponsored by Stamping Bella! If you've just happened upon my blog, you can CLICK HERE to start from the beginning at Bloggabella.

For my card I colored up Poppy Bittybloom using Prismas and gamsol to blend and then added a bit of sparkle with some glitter and a couple of Heidi Swapp jewels in the corner.



Three gift certificates for $100 in Bella Bucks will be hidden along the hop, but we’re not telling you where so be sure to leave some love as you hop!!! Make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! The winners will be announced on Monday, December 7 at the Stamping Bella Blog. MWAH!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to another Jessica's blog Farm Fresh Designs and see what crafty goodness she has for you!