Decemeber Daily

December Daily is a project that ALi Edwards does each Christmas season to document the holiday stories. I have attempted this project for the last 5 years and each year my attempt get smaller and smaller. Unfortunatey I just don't do enough holiday stuff and for me all my regular stories go into my project Life book. I used to make my own album and get really festive and creative. Now I'm lucky if I do anything slightly festive and manage to take a picture. Here are a few Christmas-y shots from the 2017 holiday.

The Big Move

Wow!! Can you believe it’s already the end of November? It sure has been a busy year. For those of you who follow my Instagram, you saw a little bit about my great scraproom move. After my sister got married and moved out, it was suggested that I move my stuff upstairs from my current basement crafting area. At first I thought this was a great idea! Upstairs is much warmer in winter and has a nice big window for some natural light. However, once I started packing up my stuff for the move up 2 flights of stairs I realized just how much stuff I have accumulated in the 15-20 years I’ve been crafting/ scrapping. It was A LOT of stuff!!! Then space became a question… no one else ever uses the basement except to do laundry. That occupied 1 small corner, the rest was open for me to grow and collect and craft in. (see where I’m going with this…) Plus I had a built in cabinet/ counter/ pegboard wall that was dreamy for any crafter!! How on earth was I going to condense into a small bedroom space? This was where I started getting discouraged. Was it worth the move? Worth the sunlight? Or am I going to end up hauling everything right back down to the basement? I am still undecided, but I am trying several creative space solutions that may just work out for me. My only lingering issue will be counter space (active working space). Currently, I have one small desk in there, and even if I could condense to working on a smaller surface, I’ve always worked standing up, so there’s that….

I do love the new Kallex shelf that I was able to purchase and add to the room though. I am finally able to keep all my albums together in one location. And I can rest assured that no water damage from a leaky pipe of damp basement can harm them. It’s unlikely but not impossible. About 10 years ago a pipe burst on the 2^nd floor and drained down to the basement damaging some of my beautiful paper collection. Since then I have moved my albums upstairs as I could, but never really had the space to store them all together… I have a pretty expansive collection! I also love that theres a large tv and DVD player in the room, so I can put on some movies while I work. Or if someone wants to keep me company they can watch tv and hang out while I do my thing!

So, definitely so really good pros, but also really good cons. I guess we’ll just give a whirl for a bit and see how it goes. Stay tuned for more crazy updates about the silly little things that a scrapbooker must overcome

Statue of Liberty

 This list was such an awesome idea for not just me, but also my sister! I think I have done more off my wish list this year than I have in the past 5 years. This week we went to the Statue of Liberty.

 And we climbed all the way up to the crown. Which was a big deal for my sister!!

 And we got to see the new World Trade center across the river. That's our next trip, into the city!!

 While we were there we got to meet Mark and Elena from this summer's season of Big Brother. That was kinda cool.

 It was grey and cloudy and cold but we had so much fun just doing our "touristy" thing.

 They even had a really cool museum to show you replicas of the statue in real life size. Like her foot! Although I must say I always envisioned her to be much larger than she actually was! Hmmm... maybe she shrunk?

 We spent 3 hours there before the rain started and we decided to call it a day. Although we still rode on the top of the ferry despite the cold and the rain. And the vies were worth it!

Til next time Lady Liberty!!

Washington DC

 Crossing another thing off my 101 list, but also crossing a few things off my life list. This summer my family and I went to Washington DC for an extended weekend. We have really been doing a lot of the tourist-y stuff this summer and loving it!

 We spent a day hitting the major monuments, I was super excited to see the Washington Monument. I can't even explain it!! Already planning a second trip to go back in a few years when they reopen the monument. Totally want to go to the top!!

 

 We were planning a tour of the White House, but the stupid intern forgot to turn in my request to the White House and we ended up getting denied with our  "last minute" request. I was really irritated because I actually submitted the request 3 months in advance! Oh well next time...

 And we managed to fit in a few museums. The Natural History and American History museums. Pretty neat, but really crowded so we didn't spend too much time indoors.

 We spent a day at the Smithsonian Zoo also! It poured down rain the entire day, but we made the most of it. the tiger didn't seem to mind the rain either. And their were NO crowds! LOL!

 After the rain stopped we did the monuments by night. Love, love, love!!!!

We also went to Arlington Cemetery and watched the changing of the guard! I've always heard about it but never went. Another great experience. It was fantastic!

Making Progress

 July was a busy month and I got several things crossed off my list and helped my sister cross some stuff off hers as well. 

#6: get a pedicure. 

This was on my sisters list also, so we went together on her "staycation" at the beginning of July. I went to this cute little salon recommended by my best friend and we had a full morning of being pampered. Found out later for an additional $10 we could have included a manicure! We are so going back, actually thinking of making it a yearly thing!

 This was my 2nd pedicure and my sisters 1st. She was excited but unsure about the "process" and refused to make any decisions, I even chose her nail polish color for her. I picked a good color this time, but if she refuses next time, I'm getting creative!! LOL!

 #47. Find and explore a cave.

 

Another item crossed off during my sister's "staycation'. After a little research, I discovered there are many caves here in Pennsylvania, 3 of which are an hours drive away.

 

 It was really cool to go thru the tour and see all the "rooms" within the cave. And learn about how they discovered it and used it in the early days. Turns out admission was a whole quarter when they first opened!!

 #46 Take pictures with the liberty bell.

 This was one of our pre-planned summer activities. We made it a family day and explored the US Mint and got the Independence Hall tours too. It was hot, but we had so much fun. I'm so glad we decided to go, after all Philadelphia isn't exacty my most favorite place to drive to....

 # 99 Buy an Instax camera

 I have been on the fence for awhile about getting one of these. But Michaels had them on a 50% off sale, plus a free case with purchase and i had a rewards member additional 20% off coupon. I couldn't resist. So I got one. And I am in love with the cute little pictures it takes. I am not sure when I would use that versus my phone or the big camera, but thats neither here nor there!

#89. Hike a waterfall

 I love the outdoors and all things nature. Especially waterfalls. I went to this waterfall park back in 2012 and loved it and have been wanting to go back with my family.

 We spent several hours there hiking around the red trail, which is apparently the most difficult trail to do. We accepted the challenge and survived!

 They claim to have 8 waterfalls and even though we hiked the whole park were only able to count 6. Another great day in the books and it was a mutual agreement that we'd be back!!

#34 Six Flags Safari

 I have been wanting to do this ever since I found out about it, but couldn't bring myself to pay the $80 amusement park ticket just to go to the safari.

 My sister's fiance works for the USPS and they did their annual picnic there for only $45 per person, including parking, lunch, water park tickets, and a complimentay ticket to return to the park later in the season! We immediately signed up! Are you kidding me? What a great deal!

 We made it a double date and included my boyfriend, who is an animal lover like me. He was super excited, having never heard about the safari portion of the park.

 they had a ton of animals and it was really neat to see most of them in a simulated natural environment.

As I head into August I don't have nearly as many things planned to cross off my list, but I am making some good progress and expected to be at 50% completed by the time I hit the 1 year mark!! Have you created a 101 yet? If so how is your progress? Would love to hear all about it!!

Week in the Life: Sunday

 Seriously loving my sisters new 52 recipes.

 Seriously loving the smiles I get for taking her for a walk at the park and allowing her to run loose for a little bit.

 Seriously loving the blossoming trees.

 Seriously loving time spent with my family.

 Seriously loving rereading thru the Bible.

 Seriously loving all the freebies my sister gets from Acme.

 Seriously loving pastor's series on Mark.

 Seriously loving this man.

Seriously loving Sunday morning breakfast.