All Things Alicia

Project Life 2015 January

I know, it's really late to be getting started.  But I took really good notes so it's actually not as daunting as it sounds. 

One thing I wanted to do this year was combine a few more weeks together so that I'd have more room in the album.  I like keeping the year down to one album, and I've had no problem combining a few weeks here and there in the past, but this year I wanted to do it more often than not. I'm off to a good start. ;)

This post will mainly be pictures, not a whole lot of explanation.  If you want to know about a specific product, go ahead and ask in the comments and I'll see if I remember. ;)

Here's my intro page at the beginning of the album:

 

 I normally put my word for the year in the first week spread, but this time it went really well here.  The green you see under our stats part on the top left is actually green cork.  Love it. 

Week 1 Spread (I shoved the first few days of January into week 1 so it was 10 days):

Some close ups:

Olivia was so hoping her 'cheese heads' would get to go the Super Bowl.

And this was the first year my kids were really into the Rose Parade.  Rae especially was enamored.

Seeds catalogs are rolling in and they just beautiful!  And a coffee date with a friend highlighted my week.

Weeks 2-4 got combined onto one spread:

Some close ups of the left side:

The hubby prefers baked pumpkin doughnut holes for his birthday.

I created some yumilicious strawberry blood orange jam.

Dad an unusual homework assignment and needed some pics for a Power Point.  The kids were happy to help stage some medical scenarios.

I think I'll do a video walk through of each quarter as I finish it, so look for that as each 3 months gets posted.  I might do a little more explaining there.

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Birthday Card for a Friend

I have a confession to make.  I made this card last year, and never sent it.  My friend, April, used to sew things so I made this for her birthday because it has buttons and denim trim and things that remind me of sewing! 

 

What I forgot to take a picture of was the envelope.  I put button washi on it. ;)

I remembered this card and decided to send it with the reminder from Jennifer McGuire and her 'Share Handmade Kindness' challenge.  Thanks Jennifer!

 

This was pretty much made with a bunch of Stampin' Up! scraps.  Easy and quick, and reflective of my friend. 

 

I have another project in mind for this week as well.  It's a birthday calendar for mother in law.  She had her eye on one that a friend of her got. I think I'll make her one that matches her house for her birthday, which is also this week.

Whole 30 Review and 30 Days of Thankfulness

So the last two weeks of the Whole 30 were hit and miss.  More hit than miss, but still some misses.  I gave into Starbucks twice. :(  I also had a cinnamon roll one morning and a ton of crackers one afternoon when I didn't eat well and was starving.  Other than that I was pretty good.  I ate a lot of veggies and was able to alter a lot of family dinners for myself. 

What I learned...I still like dairy.  I don't crave sweets as much as I used to and the Paleo approved sweets are now what I crave (except for a few choice pieces of Halloween candy).  Also, grains or gluten make me break out.  I couldn't believe the clearness of my skin, except immediately following the days I ate a bread product.  Lastly, when I eat healthier I find I'm less hungry at night, and therefore eat less stuff later than I should be.

What I'm doing from here:  I'm planning on pretty much keeping it up.  Yesterday I took the day off and didn't let myself think about it.  Which was probably good considering what I ate with various relatives and such.  My plan is to eat Whole 30 style for at least 25 days a month.  I'm still going to keep track of what I eat because I find that makes me more mindful of what I'm eating and why.  I'm also going to allow potatoes (because I really don't think they're carb evil), beans (cooked myself from dry), and I'm researching brown rice to see if I want to allow that as well.  As for dairy, I'm trying to allow myself just cream in my coffee and homemade ranch for veggies. Cheese is the hardest thing to give up.

I figure this plan allows balance in what I think are still healthy items being left out in the Paleo fad (mostly good fad that it is), and also allows for special days or just crazy days, but still keeps me overall healthy and hopefully most of the those benefits I've been feeling the last month. 

 

30 Days of Thankfulness

 

And with the beginning of November we have this year's 30 days of Thankfulness.  I'm going to keep a small album this year with 30 things I'm thankful for, one thing each daily.  I tried to do this last year but didn't get past day 2. ;)  I'm really trying to make it a priority this year mostly because I really love what focusing on gratitude does for my mind and soul.  Since I didn't get very far last year I'm actually going to use that album and just continue it.  I'll be updating you here each week or so instead of trying to put it here daily.   I will still be making daily notes and pages, just not doing the work of the blog post daily.  

What are you November/Pre-Holiday plans?

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