13 books in 2013: First three

On my 32 list, I had read two books.  I loved reading those two books so much, it made me want to read more.  I decided that in 2013 I would attempt to read 13 books.

There was a time when this would not have been very many books for me to read in one year.  I use to be an avid reader.  I would have multiple books on my bedside table that I was reading all at the same time.  I never left the house without a magazine or book in my purse in case I ever got 'stuck' somewhere.  I guess overtime I allowed this to not be a priority for me anymore.  Which is funny because we read to Jalyn all the time.  She gets at least one book a night, usually two or three.  I should set a goal for her to ready 2,013.  She would probably easily meet that goal.

I thought this would be a nice little challenge for me to attempt.  Really 13 books is not that many, a little more than one book a month if I need to pace myself.  We will see how it goes.  I already have a long wish list on my nook just waiting for me.  For Christmas, Priscilla was nice enough to buy me a gift card to Barnes and Noble.  What she doesn't realize is this was absolutely the best gift!  Armed with a gift card and a long wish list I now have no excuses to not read.

I have already tackled three this year.  I am ashamed to say I jumped on the ban-wagon and read the Fifty Shades trilogy.  I wanted to find out why everyone kept talking about them.  After reading them, I am still trying to figure that out.  The only thing that really kept me reading was that I wanted to know about Mr. Grey's past.  Otherwise, I was so confused as to why Ms. Steele didn't go running in the other direction all the time.  I think I might be to practical for these books.  I usually love a good romance but I guess I was missing something.

Well that is my strange off the wall review, basically I'm not sure what to think of the books. *smile*


Well next on my list is Safe Haven.  I usually love Nicholas Sparks.  Rarely does he disappoint.  I also love to read the book before a movie comes out.  I let you know how it goes.


Have a beautiful day! Smiles, Jessica

31 Days {Photo 20-25}

I'm playing catch up today with my posting which seems to be the story of my life along with the rest of the world.  As I have said before, the picture part of this project not hard the posting everyday really hard.  But, I am loving this project and will probably try to do something like this again.

Photo 20 {Favorite color}

My favorite color is purple.  You would think this would be easy to take a picture of but it is actually kind of hard.  I don't have as much purple as I use to in my home.  My husband got a little tired of it, so we went a little different direction this time around.  The morning I was trying to decide what to take a picture of for this day, I was reading some of the bloggers doing 31 Days.  One that I am really loving because it is right up my interior design background is over at the Story of Home.  She is doing a 31 Day series on color which is also right up my ally.  She did a post on personality color that included a quiz to see what yours would be.  I laughed out loud when mine came back lavender personality. I guess it is my favorite color for a reason.

Photo 21 {Project in Progress}

Around here I have been working on Jaleesa's Halloween costume.  She is going to be an owl for Halloween. I found this really cute costume idea for her on The Mom Creative.  I loved it so much, so I used it as a jumping off point.

Photo 22 {A collection}

This is an easy one.  I have several different collections of things.  But, I am feeling very sentimental lately.  My grandmother gave me this set of dishes called tiara sandwich glass.  She use to sell it and this was her set.  It is really not my style at all but for some reason I love it and keep buying more when I see it in antique shops.  

Photo 23 {Self Portrait}

I've been playing around with my sister's old 35mm camera lately while I am saving for a new DSLR.  Just to get the feel for holding a camera, changing settings and so on.  I thought it would be fun to take a picture of me taking pictures.  I set my self-timer on my point and shoot to take a few shots at one time.

Photo 24 {Coffee}

This is an easy photo for me since I drink at minimum one cup per morning.  I love everything about coffee, the smell, the taste, the color, the warmth.

Photo 25 {Water}

I took a picture of the water filling up the washing machine.  This is a daily occurrence in my house with two active kids.  I forgot how many outfits a baby goes through.  

I will be posting with the rest of my pictures tomorrow if we don't lose our power from hurricane Sandy.

Have a beautiful day! Smiles, Jessica

32 during 32 | 1 of 12 Layouts

Flowers and Smiles Layout

Today I'm sharing with you a scrapbook layout I did a couple weeks ago.  I used an old Basic Grey line called Lemonade.  I have a bad habit of holding on to paper lines and not using them because I keep waiting for the 'right' pictures to use with it.  One of my goals this year is to use more of what I have existing and not buy as much.  We will see how that goes because I have decided I need a 12 step program for buying crafting supplies. Anyways, I just loved how the colors fit with these pictures of Jalyn and I.  These flowers were outside of a business.  It was a randomly warm, sun shining perfect day in April.  We stopped to smell the flowers literally.  Jalyn asked if we could stop and I couldn't find any good reason why not to indulge her.  There was a lot of giggles, smiles, hugs and overall goodness.  Hope you enjoy looking!

 

 

 

 

Have a beautiful day! Smiles, Jessica

Training and Showing up...

 

 

I'm currently training for a 5K run in November.  First, let me say that I am not a runner.  In fact, I hate exercising.  But, lately I have had a switch flip in my brain for whatever reason and am looking at it differently.  I have been wanting to workout; I actually am looking a little forward to it each day.  On days I can't for whatever reason, I have been a little upset.  It is becoming MY time.  My time to think, to clear my head, to have uninterrupted me time, to pray, to cry, to smile, to reflect and most of all to be proud of what I am accomplishing in that time.  Some days I show up and have a great work out, some days I show up and it isn't so great for whatever reason.  The point is that I am showing up.  I am trying and not giving up.  Maybe I will keep this up forever, maybe I iwll hit my goal and never run again, maybe I won't hit my goal.  I don't know.  I'm not that concerned about it right now.  I just love how it is transforming my brain and soul right now.  For right now that is enough, for me that is what I need.  Maybe it isn't about the working out so much, as the process you are going through while you complete the workout.  

 

But, for now I'm showing up and being present in that time. 

Have a beautiful day! Smiles, Jessica

32 during 32 | Recipe 2

John and I tried a new recipe for dinner the other night.  I found it in a crockpot book at the library. It was Apple Raisin Ham.  I made green beans and mashed potatoes to go with it.  You could make just about anything though.  It only uses 5 ingredients and it is cheap.  Double love!

John took one bit and said hmmm.  That makes it a winner in my book.  Love trying new recipes and I have several bookmarked to try in this book.  Love checking more things off my list.  It is a great feeling.

Have a beautiful day! Smiles, Jessica

32 during 32 | Book 1

Ok, so no laughing aloud when I reveal the book I read.  I read Kendra Wilkinson's first book Sliding into Home. It was an easy read.  I read most of it in less than a week.  If I didn't have kids to take care of I probably would have read it a lot faster.  I was curious about her time in the Playboy Mansion and how she met Hank.  I knew they weren't aloud to date and so that part was really intriguing to me.  I was actually surprised by most of what I read.  I'm even thinking of reading her second book.  If I can get it at the library like I did this one.

Excited to keep checking things of my list and having so much fun doing it!

Have a beautiful day! Smiles, Jessica

I'm attempting to complete a list of 32 items during my 32nd year of  life.  You can read more about it here and see the list here.

32 during 32

I have been reading a lot about people deciding to take on some sort of challenge or goals to accomplish during one year of their lives.  Generally they are doing this from birthday to birthday.  I thought it sounded like so much fun; I decided to take on the challenge.  I actually already started this since my birthday was last week (June 27th).  However, we have all been sick this past week so I am just now getting to post this.

To celebrate my 32nd year in this world, I'm going to be completing a random list of 32 things while I am 32.  While some of the items include my family, most of them are focused on me.  They are things I thought would be fun or have always wanted to do or meant to keep up my creative juices.  I will be of course blogging about them as I go along.  It will be fun to see how many of them I get done.  Later this week, I hope to have my mini album complete that I will be holding all these things in.  I will share when I have completed it.

Some of these items will over lap with one another and I am ok with that.  The point is to have fun and enjoy my life while doing it.

Here is my list in no particular order:

1. Buy a new camera
2. Learn to make 12 different cupcakes from scratch
3. Visit two Smithsonian museums that I haven't been to before
4. Complete two mini albums
5. Walk on the beach with my family
6. Read a book with John
7. Complete One Little Word class for 2012
8. Buy five new Dr. Seuss Books
9. Read the entire bible
10. Fly a kite and teach Jalyn how to fly one
11. Read two books
12. Celebrate five non-traditional holidays
13. Make twelve different cards
14. Make a mobile
15. Enter two blog challenges
16. Take a trip with John
17. Write 32 blogs
18. Lose 20 pounds
19. Start attending church regularly
20. Have family pictures taken
21. Learn 5 new recipes
22. Make two pillows
23. Try two new restaurants/eating establishments
24. Complete a December daily album
25. Make twelve layouts
26. Complete two projects pinned on pinterest
27. Dip my toes in the Atlantic Ocean with Jalyn and Jaleesa
28. Have five date nights with John (even if at home)
29. Use my cricut on five projects, layouts or cards
30. Complete Project Life for 2012 and continue in 2013
31. Complete a 30 day photo challenge
32. Complete Jalyn's baby book and start Jaleesa's

Have a beautiful day! Smiles, Jessica

Revamping the Blog...

(found via Ali Edward's Blog)

I'm going to be revamping this blog a little.  Most of you know that I have been keeping two blogs for a little over a year now.  This one and a craft blog.  I thought it was the right thing to do to keep the two separate.  When I decided to go back to work full time nine months ago, I quickly realized keeping up with two blogs is really difficult.  I also realized that I was cross posting a lot.  I would post on this blog about everyday things that were happening in our life and then I would end up creating a post on my craft blog about a layout that I did on that moment in our lives.  It just seems silly that I continue to post in both locations.

In addition, I have had a strong desire to go a little more in depth about my own personal thoughts, triumphs and even lows.  I am an avid reader and am constantly reading things that inspire me, make me laugh, smile or even sad.  Previously, I would keep most things light hearted because I figured no one really cared what I had to say or I never wanted any one to be offended.  After a lot of thinking, journaling and reading, I decided I was going to throw this blog up in the air, shake it up, flip it over and see what comes out.  Maybe this blog will stay surface deep at all times maybe it won't.  I don't know what will come of it.  I do know this as I get older I don't want to live my life on the surface.  I want to dig deeper within myself.  I want to explore life.  I want to see what it as to offer, what I can offer it and what we can do together.  I have a lot of ideas and goals for where I want my life to go.  I'm hoping to be brave enough to share those with you.  Hopefully, you will be brave enough to share them back. 
                                      

 

(found on pinterest via Brave Girls Club)

Have a beautiful day! Smiles my friends, Jessica