don't blink

{Project 356} Day 13

Once again I skipped out on an entry for yesterday. I was in front of the computer literally from sun up to way past sun down, working on a project that had a deadline of 9am this morning! I am happy to say that it was met and I can now catch up on some things that were put off for a day or so.

I am posting 3 pics today, one of which is the front page of the Washington Post. We usually don't hang onto newspapers or magazines (remember, I went green and recycle ;) ), but I think because of the historic nature, this one is a keeper. And by the way, although I live about 30-40 miles south of DC, there was no way on Earth I was going near the city yesterday. I watched the Inauguration as nature intended...on my big, comfy couch in front of the big screen TV. 

I worked on my dinner menu for the next two weeks as well as my grocery list. I am off to the commissary tomorrow. Ryley has brought it to my attention that he can no longer survive on cereal and milk in the morning he needs his breakfast bowls (see an earlier {Project 356} post. He's so spoiled. I am happy to say that I made use of the "Weekly Menu" Planner and "Grocery List" that was included in the "{Love} My Organized Recipes" album kit we had for sale at our crop this past weekend.

I also received the happy news that my friend Lisa Kanak delivered a beautiful baby girl early this morning. Lisa was the owner of The Cropper's Corner, where I used to teach scrapbook classes. Lisa sent out a few pictures of baby Abby and I just couldn't resist making a quick, digital baby announcement. Don't you just love that font???? And the baby is pretty cute too!

Now I need to get ready for a night out with the girls. It is LCR night and I have to go gather my 1's and 5's! Wish me luck!

{Project 356} Day 11

I know, I skipped out on Day 10. I was kind of out of it yesterday-recovering from the crop. I didn't even pull out the camera. Today I was up at 5:30 am. Ryley had to be at an lacrosse tournament by 7am. Let me tell you how much of a joy it is to get a 15 year-old out of bed on a non-school morning. I shot about 60 pictures, but deleted about half of them. Taking pictures behind plexi-glass was a little tricky! Anyways, the tournament lasted all day, but I only stayed for the first two games. I have a free-lance job I am working on and it's due on Wednesday! I had to get busy! Below is one of the pics I took of Ryley on the field.

{Project 356} Day 9

Well, we are coming to the end of our first crop of 2009 and I am happy to say we were a huge success! We are THRILLED to say we welcomed several new cropping friends and it was great to catch up with those who have been with us from the beginning of our business adventure. We even sold out of our new kits that we debuted! Below is a photo of those who purchased (and put together) the {Love} My Organized Recipe Book.

{Project 356} Day 8

One page down...so I only have one page done, but I don't care! I am just thrilled to be scrappin' with friends. We are having a great time at our crop! Everyone loves our kits-we're almost sold out! Patti has posted some pics on her blog CropGirl Chronicals. Go check it out! Gotta get back to work!

{Project 356} Day 7

It was Dustin's last night home before he goes back to GMU for the spring semester. His girlfriend, Becca came for the afternoon and stayed for dinner. She is adorable and they get along so well. They really seem happy together. Dustin sweatshirt was halfway unzipped, when Becca asked him what was written on his t-shirt he was wearing underneath and he reluctantly told her-"She's So Lucky." Her reaction was so funny! I had to take a picture of the two of them with the t-shirt pointing to her. Becca said the shirt was then going to be burned...

{Project 356} Day 6

Whoops! I forgot to post a picture from yesterday, so I will be posting 2 today (the other will come later). Our first Fresh Crops event of 2009 is this weekend. The week prior is usually very busy for both Patti and I-finishing up our kits, purchasing snacks, and finalizing the names of those attending. We can't wait to share all we have planned for our business in 2009 with everybody! 

 

I am really looking forward to a weekend of scrapbooking with friends! I have to admit that earlier this week I FINALLY had some photos developed at Wal Mart. I'm sure you are thinking "So what?" Well, it is a big deal to me because it was the first time I had photos developed in probably 2 years! I've been clicking away with my camera, downloading them to the computer, but have never really printed anything out (unless I needed some photos on a page for a class project)! Isn't that awful????? But all that will change in 2009! I had 60 photos printed from the cruise we took in November and I plan on making lots of layouts this weekend!

{Project 356} Day 5

Each morning while I am on my elliptical, our dogs, Frazier and Baron hang out in the basement with me. They are pretty hyper in the morning and like to wrestle while I am getting my daily dose of exercise Sometimes they get a little too rowdy, don't pay attention to how close they are to my machine and will get knocked in the head, but it doesn't phase them and they keep on with their antics. Once they are finished playing they will lay down next to each other, and groom each other's ears and paws (ick). This morning they were extremely content while resting and let me take a few photos of them. I couldn't choose my fave, so I am posting 3 pics in my {Project 365} Day 5 post. Frazier is the chocolate Lab and Baron in the black mix.

{Project 356} Day 4

Doing this project has forced me to learn a little more about my camera each day as well as Photoshop CS3. Recently I have started shooting my photos on the RAW settings. I really can't explain what all that means. All I know it takes up a lot more room on your camera and RAW stores 2 files of the same pic on your camera (it does on mine, I am not sure about others)-a jpg and a RAW file. I am then able to open the RAW file in Camera Raw which allows me to have more control of editing the picture. I can even alter the exposure it was taken at! To show you the difference take a look at the pics below. The top one was the original jpg and the bottom pic is the final photo once I made the adjustments in the RAW file and then saved it as a jpg. Pretty cool, huh?

Anyways, this is Ryley at breakfast in the morning. Look at it in the {Project 356} Photo Album for a caption!

New Kits from Fresh Crops

Next Friday and Saturday, Patti and I will be hosting the first Fresh Crops Scrapbook Event of 2009. We are so excited as we are almost sold out for the weekend! We have two new kits that we will be unveiling for our croppers to purchase and let me tell you they are HOT! "Filled with Love" is an "sweet" kit that will be the perfect gift to give to your special someone no matter how old they are. And the other kit is the first kit in a new series that we are calling "{Love} My Organized (blank)". For January it is  "{Love} My Organized Recipes". The kit is a recipe album that you create and can organize ALL of your recipes, as well as your weekly menus and grocery lists. Below are a few sneak peeks. Any kits that are left over from the crop will be placed on our website for purchase on Monday, January 19. 

{Project 356} Day 3

It was cold and blustery today-a perfect reason to make some homemade Borscht. I know, I know many of you may turn your noses away from this Russian soup. I did, too, but after living in Ukraine for two years I have grown very fond of it and look forward to making it on cold winter nights. I believe there is some controversy on whether or not beef is supposed to me added to the soup, but being the carnivorous family that we are, we prefer it that way. It's perfect when paired with some dark bread such as pumpernickel (and of course a shot of cold Russian vodka would be nice, too!) I posted a photo of it in the {Project 356} Photo Album to the left.