Starting Project Life

I've wanted to do Project Life since it first came out and had every intention each year of doing it, but something always happened and it never got off the ground for me. Once again this year I wanted to do it and I even kept making notes for layouts even when I was in Alberta and not around my stash. But again, it never got off the ground.

Finally I got fed up and decided to start. So it's not at the beginning of a year, or during a special occasion. I just started it on a normal week in April. For my weeks I will be going from Monday to Sunday, just to keep the weekends days together.

I'm just getting underway with this, but I do hope that I keep it up. I plan on taking time throughout the week figuring out what I want to add, then I'll put it all together on Mondays. At least that's the plan.

Here's an example of how I'm organizing my spreads:

I found the basic weekly map here, and brought it into Photoshop. I just roughly put it things that I want to cover, and where I think I will want to put them. This page changes as the days go on, and when I think of things that I may have forgotten to include. The text coincides with pictures I've taken and put in weekly folders, as well as with journaling that I plan on writing up. Some journaling will be handwritten, while others will be typed on journal cards and still others will be put directly on the pictures themselves.

 I use the Day One App to keep track of my daily journaling. I may not write it out exactly in Project Life as I have it in Day One, but everyday I at least write a daily summary so that I can remember things.

As I mentioned above, I've wanted to do this project for a while and have had intentions of doing it previously so I managed to stock up on supplies. I've purchased a hard copy of the Clementine edition as well as the digital copy of the Original Cherry edition. On top of these, I receive the monthly Studio Calico Project Life Kit and I've also saved a lot of free elements I've come across online over the past couple of years. So I'm set as far as elements go. I also plan on creating my own journal cards in Photoshop, as well as with other elements that I have that I will piece together.

I'm hoping to keep it up so that I can look back and see the different changes that will come with life. One thing I'm a little worried about is that there will be weeks that I don't really have much to update. Currently I'm  not in a relationship, I don't have children and there's not much going on in life so I'm lacking the main things that people showcase in their Project Life. I am hoping however that this will push me to get out and have some fun, and remember to take pictures. 

Check back at the beginning of the week for my completed weekly layout. If I can figure out how to do a video and get it on my blog then I might start doing videos, and one of them will be my weekly Project Life.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Michelle~

Aidan's Bakery

Note: This post is an unsolicited opinion piece, I did not receive anything to do this post, just a product that I like and want to spread the word on. I love helping local businesses in any way I can.

I've mentioned it before on here that I have Celiac Disease, and therefore need to adhere to a strict Gluten Free diet. In the beginning it was a bit challenging, but then I realized that the things I couldn't eat, I really shouldn't anyhow. The biggest difference was that I had to cut down on processed foods, which is a good thing.

I mostly stuck to eating just whole foods like fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. I found a pasta brand that I love, so I started eating pasta again. I've been able to find some good mixes, and recipes, for desserts but bread always seemed to disappoint.

I've spent so much money trying different breads, I don't want to even think of how many scrapbooking supplies I could've bought instead. I wasn't big on bread before the diagnoses so I pretty much finally accepted that I just wouldn't eat bread anymore. Again, not necessarily a bad thing.

Enter the cravings for toast. Toast was the way I consumed most of my bread, sometimes having sandwiches untoasted. Smelling toast that others were making would drive me crazy.

My Dad had come home one day with a package of bagels, and they were delicious! He picked them up from Longo's and they were from Aidan's Bakery. Another time he bought me a baguette that was from the same company. Again, so good. He would drop by every so often to see what they had from Aidan's Bakery. It's a local bakery and they only ever had a couple of things each time.

Last week he picked up a loaf of their bread. Knowing my hardship with breads, he thought that since I really enjoyed their other products, I would probably like the bread. Boy was he right! I can't even describe my joy when I was able to have toast, and have it taste and feel like regular bread!

So far I've only had it as toast with margarine and as a grilled cheese sandwich. Again, pure joy as I had my first grilled cheese in years. I'm almost tearing up thinking about it. I also attempted to use two slices as a hamburger bun (they also make buns but I didn't have any) but that didn't work out. More because of the size difference and because of the burger toppings, not so much because of the bread taste.

Aidan's Bakery is an Ontario bakery, and came about because a little boy (Aidan) needed to go on a Gluten Free diet and his parents realized the difficulties this caused. Their products can be found in Longo's locations, as well as some other places, in Ontario. I found out that they make deliveries to my local store on Mondays and Thursdays. Now, I can make sure I'm there to get the freshest and best choices. The products go quickly so I can't always ensure that I'll get a loaf of bread.

So, if you live in Ontario, or plan to visit, and are looking for some good Gluten Free bread products I highly suggest checking out Aidan's Bakery. I'm probably going to gain weight now that I'm eating bread products again, lol, but I'm ok with that. Moderation is key, but so is happiness and I'm happy with my bread now!

Made My Choice

You may, or may not, have read this post about trying to pick a new RSS reader, now that Google Reader is calling it quits.

I think I finally made my choice. And the 'winner' is Feedly.com.

At first I thought I was going to be leaning heavily towards Bloglovin, but now I've made my final decision and it's Feedly. I finally was able to set Feedly up, visually and functionally, the way I was wanting it to.

Unfortunately for me, I added new subscriptions in Bloglovin and I can't find a way to export my subscription list. This is going to mean I'll have to go through each of them and then figure out which ones aren't in Feedly yet. I'll save that for a rainy day.

I know these are the two biggest sites that people are going to, and I'm sure each site has a list of pros and cons to go with them, but for me, I think I'm making the right choice.

No real reason for this post, it's just to answer which one I chose, and if someone is looking to choose one, maybe they want to take count as to how many are choosing which one. If you have any questions about my choice, let me know! 

Weekly Weigh In...A Day Late

First up, yesterday was my weigh in at Weight Watchers. I went in just hoping that I didn't gain. I was sick all last week so I wasn't the best at keeping track of what I was eating and what-not. Plus, activity was out of the question. Luckily, I went down! 

Starting Weight - 234.2
This Week - 233.3
Lost This Week - 0.9
Total Lost at WW - 0.9
Lost since August 22 lbs

I was pretty happy. I know I can do better, and I plan on doing so this week, but I'm also going to be happy with what I've accomplished.

Now, the reason for this post being a day late is due to a migraine. I'm used to migraines, I've had them my whole life, and am on prescription medication to help. Yesterday's was especially bad. It was in a different spot then the two spots I'm used to getting them and no kind of medicine was helping. I almost had to go to the hospital, and if you know me you know that I would only do that as a last resort. My Mom said that for me even to mention the hospital then I must be close to death. 

Today is better but the headache is still looming. Not so much the pain, but I can just feel it under the surface. I had plans tonight that I had to cancel as I'm just not up to it. Also, I spent today living in fear that the pain would come back, so I've taken it easy. This is frustrating for me since I'm at the end of being sick and am anxious to get moving, now I've lost two more days because of the migraine. But I must listen to my body so as not to fall further behind.

Have you ever had a migraine? What do you do to help? How are you the next day?

End of Google Reader

Last week I was on a solo road trip from Toronto to Edmonton/Calgary and back again, in six days. That's a lot of driving, and not much time to stay up-to-date with current events. Most nights when I stopped driving for the day, I was exhausted, so I went to bed shortly after checking into the hotel. One night I went online and found out that we had a new Pope, the Veronica Mars movie had gotten the green light, and that Google Reader was in the last three months of its life. That's a lot to take in all at once.

I rely heavily on Google Reader. I'm sorry to admit that I'm too lazy to visit each blog I enjoy reading. Not to mention I'm sure I'd forget some if left to be on my own. I was surprised by the announcement as I kinda thought Google had a monopoly on the blog reader territory. Before the announcement I wouldn't have been able to mention another service similar. After some Googling, and reading the opinions of fellow bloggers, I think I've narrowed it down to two readers that I'm considering switching to.

First up is Feedly. Apparently this one was pretty popular even before the ending of Google Reader, and many people signed up after Google's announcement. It was easy enough to sign up and import my Google Reader subscriptions. I'm still getting used to the design and functionality of Feedly and am not sure yet if I like it or not. Maybe it's just because it's different, I really like how Reader works but maybe that's because that's all I know.

The other service I'm looking into is Bloglovin. Seems like a lot of the blogs I read are switching to this feed. Again, it was easy to sign up and import my Reader subscriptions. One thing though is that it does not carry over the organization of the subscriptions. So, I'll have to create folders again and then add the subscriptions to them.  

So these are the two services I'm looking at. Is there a service that I'm missing that I should check out? What will you be using now that Reader is ending?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Another Beginning

Many years ago I tried Weight Watchers. I really believe in the Weight Watchers program and I'm not sure why I stopped going. Well, none of that matters anymore. I signed up for Weight Watchers again today. 

It's no secret around here that I've had trouble with my weight, and although I've been doing pretty good, I still feel I need the extra help. Since the summer, when I reached my heaviest ever, I have lost 20 lbs. Still have many pounds to go, but at least it's in the right direction.

Right now I'm in between jobs in my career, so I'm currently unemployed. I'm much like a seasonal worker and it's down time right now, but it will pick up again. So I decided I wanted to take this time to focus on me and improve my lifestyle. That first step was to sign up for Weight Watchers.

My main fear while being out of work is becoming a couch potato. Something I don't want to happen. Not only while being out of work, but while I'm working, I worked two weeks at a time and then had two weeks off, time in which I could find myself lazy if I allowed it. So, to ensure that I don't become lazy, I'm going to do daily activity. I will also have time to concentrate on managing healthy eating.

I'm big on routine and having a schedule so I'm going to make a schedule for myself, so it's almost like I'm working. Included in my schedule will be time to work out, look for a job, meal and snack planning, blogging, art and scrapbooking, meeting up with people, WW meetings, etc. 

Not only do I want to be healthier, but I need to be healthier. My career nowadays is a Trade, so I need to be fit to keep up with the physical demands of my job. I don't want to struggle with the job demands, or have people doubt my ability. I'm looking forward to when it's not even a thought.

I haven't exercised in a while, and I currently have a cold (though I believe I'm on my way to getting over it) so I'm not going to push myself. My goal for the next week is to walk 30 minutes each day. Then next week I'm going to add in the gym and re-evaluate my weekly goals. 

This next week is also going to be spent getting used to the PointsPlus system. I'm going to try to become familiar with Point values of different foods, especially those I eat often, and also look at different recipes.

Wish me luck! I'll be doing my weigh-ins on Wednesdays (not because I can title the post Weigh-In Wednesday, but that today just happened to be the day I signed up). 

Not my weight listed in picture.

 

My numbers for today's weigh-in are as follows:

Height - 5'8"

Starting Weight - 234.2 lbs

Starting Chest - 45"

Starting Waist - 44"

Starting Hips - 47.5"

Starting Thigh - 26"

Starting Calf - 16"

Starting Upper Arm - 12.25"

 

Scary. I know I've previously written that these are just numbers and putting them out there mean nothing to anybody else, but I've got to say, I'm uncomfortable typing them up. I want to post them though in case someone comes across this blog, who has a lot of weight to lose as well, and they can see that it's doable. Please keep any comments positive, there's no need for trash talking. People who have weight to lose, know they are heavy, they don't need people ridiculing them, or trying to bring them down in any way. We're here to support and uplift others.

 

Thanks everyone! This is going to be an awesome year, so come along for the ride!

 

Michelle     

Resurrected

The subject of this post may only be one word but it has many meanings.

I want to resurrect my blog and start anew. I'm not going to label it into any specific format or subject. It's going to be whatever I feel like posting at that moment.

As time goes on, you'll see other ways in which the word resurrect pertains to me, and different aspects of my life. I hope you'll join me, and that I'll pick up new readers and followers along the way.

Coming up I've got a book review, a post on Project Life and maybe even an update as to where I am in life right now. Down the road I'll add some of my art and scrap booking (not near any supplies for the next few weeks, so this won't come until at least March probably).

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you come again!

Michelle