project life in 2013: august.

weeks 1-4

AUGUST

What happened this month? The first half of August we were in Greenville. Many of our friends had left, so we hung out a lot with family and a few friends still in the area. Josh and I helped Caitlin move to Springfield, Illinois, and my parents and I helped Layla move to college at Trinity International University in Chicago. Then we moved to Wichita, Kansas! 

Anything special in the spread? I included an insert with my summer reflection from this blog post. I formatted the text in PSE and printed it out at home. On the back side of the insert I included some “before” pictures of our room in Wichita.

Overall thoughts? With so much moving going on in August, I decided not to stick to a strict week by week plan for project life. Instead, I took pictures when I felt like it and mashed two weeks into one spread. The pages are mostly chronological, but I didn’t bother with too many dates. I’m happy with it!

Supplies and Tools: American Crafts thickers, washi tape, paper source labels, pretty paper from Dick Blick, random paper from my stash, Design A and B photo pocket pages (this variety pack), Seafoam core kit, Kraft core kit, Cobalt cardstock, black sharpie, black steadtler fineliner pen, slicker writer pens.

Project Life is a simple scrapbooking system by Becky Higgins.  I am using this system to document our first year of marriage with photos, words and other fun paper stuff.  You can see my other project life pages here.  

project life in 2013: july

week 49

july 1-7

(Click on the photos to see them larger)

What happened this week? We were in Santorini, Greece with my family and our friends the Keillors. We swam, ate delicious food, relaxed, and did a cool catamaran day trip. Read about our trip here.

Anything special in the spread? I made a photo grid to include extra photos my Mom took during our trip. I stuck it in a 5x7 photo pocket (LINK) and then added some business cards and cool paper I found in Santorini to the back side. 

Favorite photo: Well, they’re all wonderful. I like the one of Josh standing triumphantly on the rock and the picture of my dad diving into the water. Fun times.

Overall thoughts? I love the colors in this spread! The kraft core kit worked so nicely with the bright blue in all the Santorini pics.

week 50

july 8- 14

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What happened this week? We arrived back in the USA! Michael and Kelly Baker-Trapp picked us up at the airport in Chicago and drove us back to Greenville. We hung out with friends and my family. We overlapped with Jordan and Niqui a little bit before they left for North Carolina. Sadly, I didn’t snap many pictures because I was more focused on just soaking up time with friends. We also tried slack-lining for the first time. So fun and quite a challenge!

Anything special in the spread? Not really. I cut around a picture of a bowl of basil to change things up. 

Favorite photo: I love the photo of Kelly playing around with our hammock and pretending to fly. I find that often my favorite photos from these spreads are not necessarily the most beautiful photo, but the one that brings back good memories. 

Overall thoughts? Love this project! I love playing around with the different colors and combinations with the CORE kits. 

week 51

july 15-21

What happened this week? My birthday happened! (I turned 23.) I had a tie-dye party, of course. A summer is not complete without tie-dying. My Aunt and cousins were in Greenville for the week, which was great. We kayaked and swam at the lake. We also celebrated Michael’s birthday. Mine and Josh’s first year anniversary was on the 21st, but because of Michael’s birthday (same day) we celebrated on Monday by going out to ice cream. 

Anything special in the spread? I included two of my birthday cards: one from Kelly and one from Josh.

Favorite photo: My favorite photo here is the one of Mary and Josh playing ukulele and guitar together. She played me a special birthday song! 

Overall thoughts? Fun week! It was hard to choose which photos to included because I had a lot this week!

week 52

july 22- 27 

(Click on the photos to see them larger)

What happened this week? Another week in Greenville. 

Anything special in the spread? A scored card from Up the River, Down the River (our go-to card game this summer). 

Favorite photo: I absolutely love the photo of the sun shining through a leafy tree in our front yard. I had just gotten back from a run and Josh was swinging under the tree; it was such a pretty scene that I grabbed my camera and snapped some pictures.

Overall thoughts? Guess what???! This week (the 52nd week of my marriage with Josh) means that I actually documented our first year of marriage! I did it. I loved the process and the end result so much that I want to keep doing it for the next year of our life together. August and September are all finished, so I hope to share those spreads soon. I’m still plugging away at getting caught up on October and starting on November. 

Supplies and Tools: American Crafts thickers, washi tape, paper source labels, pretty paper from Dick Blick, random paper from my stash, Design A and B photo pocket pages (this variety pack), Seafoam core kit, Kraft core kit, Cobalt cardstock, black sharpie, black steadtler fineliner pen, slicker writer pens.

Project Life is a simple scrapbooking system by Becky Higgins.  I am using this system to document our first year of marriage with photos, words and other fun paper stuff.  You can see my other project life pages here.  

project life in 2013: june

week 45

june 3-9

What happened this week? We took Elise on a cabin trip. Then Brad, Georgeann and Mathea arrived. And then Gary and Celeste arrived. We had a fun time hanging out in Oslo with all of them!

Anything special in the spread? I stapled some vellum and some cut out stars to some of the pictures. Nothing too fancy here. I like combing my kraft core kit with the seafoam kit. They blend well.

Favorite photo:  I love the one of Gary and Celeste imitating the statue- they did on several occasions while in Oslo and it always made me smile :)

week 46

june 10- 16

What happened this week? We had a Munch Monday, in which we saw almost all of Munch's paintings. Then we hopped on a train for our Norway in a Nutshell trip to Bergen. After returning from Bergen, Elise left and we had a fun weekend with Gary and Celeste. We toured the Opera house, went to church, enjoyed a picnic while at the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra concert, and had a lovely meal at Tasty Thai.

Anything special in the spread? Not much. The photos make this spread special. I did most of my journaling on the date card. I tucked in a piece of paper from the Opera house and a sticker from the Philharmonic concert.

Favorite photo: It's tough to choose. Maybe the one of Josh, Elise, and me doing cross words on the train because we did so many crosswords on that trip!

week 47

june 17-23

What happened this week? We took Gary and Celeste on a cabin trip to Spikerjernhytte. Afterwards we had to wish them farewell as they left for the next leg of their European trip. It was so great to have the Cranston family with us and we felt a little lonely after they left. Josh and I did some serious cleaning in our apartment before we left for our own trip-a visit with some dear friends in Germany.

Anything special in the spread? I used some thickers to spell "home" on our letter wall. Mostly just photos and kraft or seafoam journaling cards. Simple and sweet.

Favorite photo: The four of us outside the cabin is great. I am also glad to have a picture of me on that colorful wall outside of the bus terminal because I would often see it and want a picture. I never got around to taking one. Finally, the last time I'd be by the wall I asked Josh to take a picture of me.

Well, June down. July, August and September still to go. I've finished all those  pages, so it's just a matter of sharing them here. 

Supplies and Tools: American Crafts thickers, washi tape, paper source labels, pretty paper from Dick Blick, random paper from my stash, Design A and B photo pocket pages (this variety pack), Seafoam core kit, Kraft core kit, Cobalt cardstock, black sharpie, black steadtler fineliner pen, slicker writer pens.

Project Life is a simple scrapbooking system by Becky Higgins.  I am using this system to document our first year of marriage with photos, words and other fun paper stuff.  You can see my other project life pages here.  

project life in 2013: weeks 43 + 44.

week 43

may 20-26

What happened this week? Elliot was still with us, which was awesome. Josh had some final papers to finish up, so Elliot and I went to the Astrup Fearnly Modern Art Museum together. We also met up with Josh for a picnic on an island and at some point we all went to the Ski Jump Museum together. It was quite foggy that day, unfortunately. After Elliot left we hung out at home, I finished up my babysitting gig, and we took a dip in Sognsvann lake with Jana and Molly.

(Click on the photos to see them larger)

Anything special in the spread? A tiny insert that includes a few photos I couldn't fit elsewhere. It's really just a remnant of an already trimmed down Design A pocket page. 

Favorite photo: A tie between Josh and Elliot at the island and the jumping picture at the lake. Back in August 2012 I took a jump picture by myself at Sognsvann, so this one of me jumping with friends represents to me how we were able to make a good life (full of friends and good experiences) out of scratch.

week 44

may 27-june 2

What happened this week? I hung out withs some CU friends; we attempted to swim in the fjord. Well, they swam and I waded in. Then Elise came! We did a lot of hanging and talking, but also some active stuff around Oslo.

(Click on the photo to see it larger)

Anything special in the spread? Josh picked up that N (for Norway) badge somewhere, so I glued it to some paper and put it in. Some fun washi tape. 

Favorite photo: My leaping picture. I think Elise took that one, but I can't remember.

Supplies and Tools: American Crafts thickers, washi tape, paper source labels, pretty paper from Dick Blick, random paper from my stash, Design A and B photo pocket pages (this variety pack), Seafoam core kit, Cobalt cardstock, black sharpie, black steadtler fineliner pen, slicker writer pens.

Project Life is a simple scrapbooking system by Becky Higgins.  I am using this system to document our first year of marriage with photos, words and other fun paper stuff.  You can see my other project life pages here.  

project life in 2013: weeks 39 + 40.

week 39

april 22-28

What happened this week? Josh was studying, I didn’t have to babysit so I decided to write a paper about intrinsic motivation. (Fitting topic, huh?) I caught up with a bunch of friends I hadn’t seen in a while and I went on an overnight cabin trip with Molly and other friends. On the weekend we went to a soccer game at Ullevaal Stadion near our house and hosted some Polish couch surfers, which was a really cool experience. 

(Click on the photos to see them larger)

Anything special in the spread? I included a ticket from the soccer game and a note that our new Polish friends left us. I also made a special date card by taping strips of washi tape to cardstock.

Favorite photo: I love the photo of the cabin. Right now it seems like the essence of Norway to me.

Overall thoughts? Fun spread; I was glad to use the Design B photo pocket page, which I don’t use that often.

week 40

april 29- march 5

What happened this week? Josh continued to study, I finished up my intrinsic motivation paper and then my grandparents and aunt came to visit! How awesome is that?! They were only in Oslo for a few days before embarking on a big European trip. We went to a bunch of museums and had a meal at our flat and walked around our lake.

(Click on the photos to see them larger)

Anything special in the spread? I found a picture of my parents and sister on facebook, which I included. That feels special because I usually don’t use a lot of photos that I haven’t taken myself. I also included a letter that I received from my host mom from Costa Rica. That is also really special.

Favorite photo: My parents and sister together. That photo brightened my day when I saw it and it still brings me so much joy. 

Overall thoughts? This is a photo heavy spread, which I love. I didn't have a ton of vertical 4x6 photos, so I used a larger journaling card to write about our week.

Supplies and Tools: American Crafts thickers, washi tape, paper source labels, pretty paper from Dick Blick, random paper from my stash, Design A and B photo pocket pages (this variety pack), Seafoam core kit, Cobalt cardstock, black sharpie, black steadtler fineliner pen, slicker writer pens. 

Project Life is a simple scrapbooking system by Becky Higgins.  I am using this system to document our first year of marriage with photos, words and other fun paper stuff.  You can see my other project life pages here.  

project life in 2013: weeks 37 + 38

week 37

april 8-14

What happened this week? We had a normal week at home and then a long weekend trip to Tønsberg, Norway. 

(Click on the photo to see it larger)

Anything special in the spread? Nothing really. Lots of photos in this spread, which is great.

Favorite photo: Jana and me at World's End. We nearly risked our lives for that photo...not really, but it was really cold and windy.

Overall thoughts: Another great week! I've probably said this before, but it's fun to look back on my project life spreads from our time in Norway. But also, I'm excited to share my more recent spreads from our summer back in the U.S.

week 38

april 15-21

What happened this week? Another typical beginning of the week in Oslo and then another weekend trip, this time to Stockholm, Sweden. Our friend Molly came with us, which was a blast! My mom called me on my Norwegian cell phone while I was on my way to work one day and that felt HUGE. I just couldn't believe when I answered the phone that it was her. When you're alone in a foreign country, that's a really special gift.

(Click on the photo to see it larger)

Anything special in the spread? A couple snippets from paper we got at a musical festival in Stockholm, lots of pictures and a fold-out 3x4 journaling card.

Favorite photos: We have a lot of great pictures from Stockholm, but my favorite is Josh on the bike. We loved riding bikes around Stockholm and I was so glad to capture Josh riding up that hill.

Overall thoughts: I didn't take a ton of photos from the beginning of our week, which is okay. When I know I have a big event or trip coming up I usually don't think to take as many "everyday" photos.

Supplies and Tools: American Crafts thickers, washi tape, paper source labels, pretty paper from Dick Blick, random paper from my stash, Design A and B photo pocket pages (this variety pack), Seafoam core kit, Cobalt cardstock, black sharpie, black steadtler fineliner pen, slicker writer pens.

Project Life is a simple scrapbooking system by Becky Higgins.  I am using this system to document our first year of marriage with photos, words and other fun paper stuff.  You can see my other project life pages here.