A fab find and embrace the camera

As everyone knows I have been working really hard on redesigning my blog over the last few days.

I was so excited when I ran across this super lady and her blog and found a free header that I fell in love with!

She just contacted me to let me know that she is working on sidebar dividers and even a button for me as well! How sweet!

Make sure to head over to her website and check out her freebies section! She has a TON of beautiful things for your use. If you head over there make sure to tell her I sent ya and consider following her blog. Her blog is super inspirational!

Happy Thursday!

And in honor of Embrace the Camera:

Lindsay and I getting ready for an education job fair we attended. Hope something comes from it!

Now, I think I hear a hot tub calling my name....

Springtime in the mountains

Here's what it looks like where we are right now:

I love the mountains.

The smells.

The sights.

The way that the world just kind of slows down for awhile.

It's the best feeling.

I'd move here if we could.

To a little cabin, out in the mountains with my own porch swing and a hammock in the yard.

Oh yeah, I'd definitely love that life.

We are enjoying our first full day here in the Smokies, and even though I grew up not so far away and came here all the time it still never gets old. Especially now that I live farther north and it takes 5 (still can't believe that!) hours to get down here. It used to take 2. Blahhhh.

The plans for this week are as follows:

relax

hot tub

eat

sleep

hike

shop

repeat

and Abbey is fully enjoying herself as well! Her first trip to the Smokies. Every dogs dream!

Honest opinions please?

So what do you think?

I have been working non stop for 2 days on this thing and I am almost finished.

Just need new titles for the side bar.

to finish up the sponsor page (Check back tonight)

and new grab buttons.

Whew...I'm exhausted.

I've linked up a poll on the left over there and I'd love to have y'alls feedback of what you think of the new design!

And thank you soooo much to all those who gave such wonderful advice! One of my favorite things about blogging are the new friends I've made! Thanks again!

Now off to finish laundry, shower, and pack for vacation! Woot!

Help!!

HELP!!!

I've hit a rut

as I 'm sure most of you wonderful bloggers have at some point.

I want a new blog design but I am so scared to start messing with what I have because it took me forever to get it the way I like it.

I'm really into white backgrounds and the pinks, blues, yellows, and grays of the season.

I want a wide post area and possibly a sidebar on each side with cute little dashed lines going in between!

I know what I want I just don't know how to get it!!!!

Does anyone have any ideas? Excellent tutorials they use? I don't have the extra money to pay someone to do it for me unfortunately, plus I'm a very big do-it-myselfer so I would love the challenge.

This is killing me!

Comment below with all your wonderful ideas!

THANKS!

Time flies when you're having fun...

How time flies.

source

This time 6 years ago I was frantically preparing the song "The Glory" by Avalon to sing at our BSU campus revival.

Little did I know that somewhere across campus a certain black headed runner was also running late (as usual) and walked into revival to find the only empty seat right next to a certain blonde hair, blue eyes, Kentucky gal's mom and dad who had came to listen to her sing.

Boy did God have a divine appointment set up that day for these two unsuspecting souls when they met for the first time that night.

And one thing is for sure.

This blonde hair, blue eyes, Kentucky gal sure is glad that God had that black haired runner run into her life. These past six years have been the BEST six years of my life!

Landen...you rock my stinkin' socks off!

This song couldn't explain things any better than the way we feel about God's plan for how we met.

We also had this song played at our wedding.

Plus...Relient K is pretty stinking cool too!

oh and by the way. It's a house divided tonight for the O'Banions. Ohio State vs Kentucky in the NCAA tourney. Guess which color I wore to school today!!!

So, I need a bit of a favor....

Can I first start off by saying that I am so thankful to have made such amazing friends through this crazy thing called blogging.

It is so cool to log on and see such heartfelt comments from people that I didn't even know a few short months ago.

So, in the spirit of new found friendships I have a favor to ask of you.

I need your prayers.

Last May I graduated with my Masters in Education and I began the long journey to finding a job. I went to one job fair which was more like a circus full of education graduates running around for the last piece of bread and left without having much hope.

As the summer went on I had a couple of interviews but nothing that really amounted to much but I knew that God had a plan.

Even as the end of the summer approached and August rolled around I still believed,

God had a plan.

And, since God is so amazingly cool I was blessed to get a job as a para-teacher (co-teacher) in a great school district making a very reasonable amount of money.

I love the kids, love the district, I love EVERYTHING about my job.

Except that it won't be here next year.

The grant that is being used to pay our paychecks is not being renewed so as of the middle of May I go back to being unemployed.

Scary.

Here's the thing though.

I still know that God will provide.

I have a couple of interviews lined up for jobs that I'm not even sure that I want.

But God as already provided those interviews.

And tomorrow I am going to a huge education job fair where I will get the chance to actually sit down and interview with multiple districts.

Again, God has provided.

But I'm being selfish.

Because I want to DEMAND from God that I get a job in a district, with benefits, and a good paycheck, and retirement.

I want to plead with him so that I can stop feeling like I am the only thing keeping us from being able to lower the price of our house enough to sell it and move into a bigger home, start a family, etc.

I am selfish.

I really really, REALLY, want a job.

And I have taken a huge step of faith in saying that I will have a job next year.

So, here's the thing.

I need some help! If you could please lift me up in your prayers that God would come through and just totally amaze me and send me a job in a district somewhere, that would be amazing!

I never really ask for prayers for myself but I would soooo appreciate it.

I know that God is good.

And I know that God is great.

And I KNOW that God will provide.

I just wish it would happen sooner rather than later.

The anxiety is about to kill me.

We made a bed!!!

Landen and I have been really busy the last few weeks working on an update to our rather bland bedroom. After several years of trying to get the perfect paint color on the walls I finally succeeded in finding an amazing green color only to still be left unsatisfied by the drab wood furniture.

When we got married almost 4 years ago we were lucky to find some really incredible antique dressers at an auction for an amazing price! I think we paid like $100 for both of them. We loved the oak and the old feel to them but after awhile the dark colors just start to suck the life out of the room.

Enter into the picture Ana White at ana-white.com

This lady is my new best friend (even though she has no idea I exist). She literally builds her own furniture and then shares the patterns with all of us lucky readers! I was surfing through her website one day and found this:

gasp!

I knew I had to have it!

And since my husband is absolutely incredible I didn't even have too work to hard to get him inspired. He loves any chance at using his power tools. So we headed to Lowes, picked out the perfect pieces of wood, had them cut, and headed home to assemble. Here's a look at the progress:

(We assembled the headboard and footboard in the basement but had to finish the process upstairs because of it's gigantic size!)

(Landen picking out the perfect boards for our perfect bed)

(Don, the nice man at Lowes who helped us cut our boards!)

(The headboard and footboard are finished!!!)

(Building the frame!)

(Nothing better looking than my man using a power drill!)

(Also, there's nothing like besties who will come and help out!)

After we got the bed all made I went and bought some Simply White paint by Benjamin Moore (LOVE IT!) and painted and sanded both dressers and the bed.

I'm getting all excited just thinking about showing you these pictures!!!

Are you ready????

The before:

And the after:

AAAHHHHHH!!!

I love it so much! We could not be happier with the way things turned out!

Overall the whole project only cost us $120! That's for the wood, the paint, screws, EVERYTHING! How's that for working with a budget!

So, what do you think? Can you think of any other decorations that would really pull the room together even more? I'm thinking a bed tray? What success have you had with those? Drop me a line! I love making new friends!

I'm linking this project up here:

God-Sighting Saturday

So I decided to start my first regular, weekly, linky party.

The last few weeks I have really been amazed at all of the places that I have seen God in my life and in the lives of those around me. So I decided to honor God and all of His coolness by creating a weekly linky party devoted to all of the ways we see Him around us.

Feel free to link up to a picture where you have seen His presence or just a blog post. I can't wait to read about all the ways that He is at work in your lives!

I only ask that you

either add the button to your blog somewhere or stick it in your post and link back to me. I'll return the favor I promise.

And that you don't link up to any giveaway's or Etsy stores. I will unfortunately have to remove them.

Here is my God-Sighting for the week:

We had an amazing revival this past week at our church and I saw God is so many ways. But I think Sunday night was probably one of the times when I felt Him the closest to me in a long time. We were singing the song The Stand during worship and I just felt so overcome by God's grace in my life and that He had me exactly where He wants me. I have included the video the song below. It is definitely becoming my favorite!

I can't wait to read your responses. God is great and greatly to be praised!

Link up below and grab the button on my sidebar.

I CANNOT believe what just happened!

Oh. My. Word!!!

I cannot even believe what I woke up to this morning when I was checking my blog.

I had a comment!

No, not just any comment...

I love all my comments...

but this was a REALLY BIG comment!

LYSA TERKEURST HERSELF COMMENTED ON MY MADE TO CRAVE GIVEAWAY POST!

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHAAAHHHHH

*insert 13 year old shrieking here*

Okay, just had to share.

God is just soooo stinkin' cool!

Creating a custom page protector using my Singer Hand-held sewing machine: a tutorial.

If you remember from this post I recently purchased a Singer hand-held sewing machine in the hopes of creating custom sheet protectors for items in my Project Life album!

Well I finally got the chance to use it and let me tell ya....LOVE IT!

It is so easy to use, and I can have quick custom page protectors in just a matter of minutes. I have already incorporated it into my album in tons of ways!

So, in honor of all things Singer, I decided to do a quick tutorial video on how to use it to create your own. It's my first ever so please don't hate me. I know I'm not always in the frame but you get the gist of just how easy they are to use. I have already heard from one reader that she has purchased one and is waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Hopefully this will help you guys see the wonderfulness this thing can add to your scrapbooking!

Let me know if the video was horrible or not. I'd love to do more tutorials so any feedback is greatly appreciated. Also, how would you feel if I gave one of these baby's away as my next giveaway? Hmmm...what are your thought?

My home management binder Part 1: the binder

I am so excited to be participating in a really fun challenge this month over at iHeartOrganizing. The challenge is to create a home management binder to keep all that home "stuff" nice and organized.

One of my New Years resolutions was to be so much better organized in the "home" area so I already had the shell of the binder completed. I had the binder, some random dividers, and all of my papers somewhat organized and shoved inside. But once I saw all of Jen's ideas, (and FREEBIES), I knew I needed to re-organize my organization.

In this post I am going to cover my folder and how I customized it to also be decoration piece that goes perfectly in my new craft area.

It was really very simple:

I started with a regular plain 1 1/2 binder (nothing fancy, just a purple binder I got for a penny when I worked at the bookstore).

The I went to my local craft store and picked out a pretty fabric. I coordinated it with the other colors in my craft room which are rose colors and mint greens.

I then hot glued the fabric onto the folder making sure to smooth out any wrinkles (I still have some, but nothing Wrinkle Release won't get out!).

Once I got the fabric glued on I took some pretty scrapbook paper leftover from my jewerly frame and covered the rest of the binder.

I took a locket embellishment I found in the jewelry section at Hobby Lobby, cut out a square of green paper, wrote my title, attached it to the locket with some Modge Podge, tied some pretty ribbon through the top and then attached it to the top ring in the binder with some hot glue.

And waaaallaaaa:

A beautiful binder that would look great on any shelf in the house.

I also created another one for all of my scrapbook layouts I am always printing off the internet.

I love how the binders flow in the room. You could pick any coordinating fabric and embellishments and make them fit in any room in the house!

What do you think about the folder? Do you have any other custom folder ideas you'd like to share? Make sure to check out Jen's website for more amazing organizing ideas!

*Winner* Made to Crave Giveaway winner:

The winner of the book

Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst is........

Kathy

who left a comment back on March 2.

Email me your information so I can get this book into your hands as quickly as possible!!

Thanks to all those who participated!

Have a great Monday everyone!

New "Made to Crave" giveaway rules

In my previous post here I mentioned how a certain book written by a certain amazing woman, had spoken volumes to me over the last few weeks.

I also had this really cool idea for a great interactive giveaway where we would answer questions and really grow as women who struggle with an obsession with food.

Well, then life got in the way.

So....

I decided to change the giveaway up a little.

Here are the new rules:

1. Leave a comment on this post sharing a personal craving that you can't seem to overcome and why you think it has such a hold over you.

1 comment = 1 entry.

then...

2.Share my blog with someone and have them mention your name in their comment

1 referral= 2 entries

So the potential for number of entries is extremely high.

And if you mention the book or the giveaway on your own blog I will definitely make sure to link you up on my blog as well.

I really want this to be a testimony of a journey that all of us women take: the choice to crave material things or crave Someone much higher than those things!

The giveaway will close at midnight on Sunday the 13th.

And if you already commented on one of my previous posts you are automatically entered into the contest.

Love you guys

Thanks for understanding

And thanks for participating.

What a week...

I am such a horrible person.

I started a giveaway challenge and I didn't even post a question yesterday.

But after some consideration on the matter I think I am going to change the rules a little bit. Instead of posting questions every Tuesday AND Thursday I think I am going to post one more question on Thursday (tomorrow) and that will remain the giveaway entry for the rest of the month. I have been so busy this week dealing with things like this:

and all of the insurance and stuff that goes with it. Did I mention that I have only had my car back from getting fixed from my snow accident for like 3 weeks. Stupid animal that decided to head-butt my car. Thankfully, comprehensive collateral is much less that collision, but still. Give.me.a.break.

So in other words, I am going to re-evaluate the giveaway and I will post more about it tomorrow.

In other news.

I hit a plateau this week and I am kinda bummed yet sooo much more motivated at the same time. So I am still at 132.6.

But here's a funny story...

When L plateaued she was at 132.6 too and stayed there for 3 weeks. Oh dear Jesus please don't let that happen! I added a lot more cardio this week and started doing my shakes for lunch.

So we will see.

Things to expect this week:

1.Project Life update

2. Mini Sewing machine tutorial video

3. Update on Made to Crave giveaway

4. and some other randomness that I am sure I will come up with.

But before I go, have any of you ever suffered from a weight loss plateau? Do you have any tips or tricks for getting past it? Success stories only please, no discouragement allowed :) Thanks!

A little birdie told me..

Today was the first day that I heard them!

BIRDS!

I woke up to the sound of birds outside my window! Could it possibly be that spring is on it's way. I am so excited I can barely contain myself.

I want to put on shorts and a t-shirt, grab my bike and go for a ride.

Except that it's raining. Bummer.

But a little birdie told me that spring is soon on it's way.

And I am pumped!

source

I love little brown boxes!

I am so excited! When I got home today from work, after almost slipping and busting my face on the sidewalk (I'm good like that), I saw it...a little brown box sitting on my porch!

This little brown box to be exact:

Woot woot!

A couple of days ago I watched a really neat video on one of the blogs I follow at Cherish the Ordinary Everyday about creating custom page protectors for your Project Life albums. She uses a sewing machine to literally stitch around the edge of whatever she is putting in the album whether its a card, a small photo, etc. GENIUS! You can watch her video here and make sure to check out the videos she has done of her own Project Life albums. They are absolutely AMAZING!

So I decided that I had to try it out! Except for one small thing...

I have absolutely NO idea how to use a sewing machine.

So I started doing some searching and I ran across this little thing and I knew I had to have it.

(notice my nicely painted nails from my manicure trip with Lindsay? Shaweet!)

Plus I found it at an incredible price for only $15 on Overstock.com.

I am sooo excited to try it out and the only reason I haven't yet is because I need some batteries. Bummer.

BUT, once I do I plan on making a video that shows you how you use it to create your own custom page protectors.

Shazam!

Now if only my other brown little box will arrive that holds my 6x12 page protectors I will be even more stoked!

While I was out I also picked up some additions for my PL album. I grabbed up some 8x8 protectors, 5x7 page protectors, some springy flower things, some extra 4x6 album sleeves, and I printed off a few of my digital layouts that I am incorporating into my album as well. Can't wait to show you guys my progress on Tuesday!

I also thought I would share this yummy recipe we are trying out tonight from thehungrymouse.

Can't wait to put that into my mouth.

(we're using chicken breasts instead of legs though so we'll see!)

I hope your Friday has found you happy and blessed! Don't forget to check out my Made to Crave Giveaway that is going on now and get in on the action!

Chao!

Made to Crave Giveaway Question #2....and a Blubber Butt Story!

I swear,

this week is kicking my tail.

Both figuratively and literally.

Not only am I totally exhausted, but in my daily workouts I have to actually kick myself in the tail to complete one of the exercises.

Dang you Jillian Michaels.

However...something is working because I am down to a solid

132 lbs this week!

Last week I was at 134 so that is another 2 pounds gone!

14 pounds total!!

I am so close to that 120(ish) mark I can smell it...booya playas!

L is still right around 128 and she is looking FAB-U-LOUS!

She is going to look gorgeous in her wedding dress!

Tomorrow is reward day so we are going to get our nails done after we workout.

New things that we added this week:

We completed Level 1 of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I am seeing sooo many results all over. The toning that I am getting from the workouts is amazing.

Definitely recommend it. We started Level 2 today.

And we added meal replacement shakes. We started replacing breakfast with these 110 calorie shakes from HMR this week but next week we are going to replace lunch instead and see which one shows better results.

We also did a summary of our inches lost so far.

So here we are this week:

And now on to our Made to Crave Question #2.

Remember to answer the question yourself in the comments section and you are automatically entered in the contest to win one of your very own copies of Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst. You can read all about how the book changed my life here.

Question #2

Lysa describes her morning ritual with the scale and her failed efforts to eat healthier as a vicious cycle she felt powerless to stop. When it comes to your relationship with food, what repeated behaviors or events describe the cycle you experience and feel powerless to stop.

Oh boy,

I had a LOT of vicious cycles and I still do. Before I went on this journey to strengthen myself both physically and spiritually I had to overcome a lot of mental stupidity. Example: My birth control made me gain the weight, not the 2 bags of Doritos I eat everyday. I have a bad knee, I can't run a lot. Crap like that.

I also had vicious cycles such as eating out all the time. Fast food, pizza, fatty fried foods, they were all in my daily crave cycle. And I had no problem making excuses to give in to them. "I'll do better tomorrow" was part of my everyday vocabulary. Problem was, when tomorrow came, I just pushed it off to the next day. I literally felt powerless against food. It scares me to death that something had that much power over me!

Family outings were another of these dreaded cycles. I LOVE that Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix. I mean, I could eat the whole dang bunch of it. And add in Lays potato chips...okay, I gotta stop now before I jump in the car and drive to Kroger.

But seriously, whenever we go to family gatherings there is ALWAYS that dang dip and those dang chips there. And I used to ALWAYS eat them. a lot of them. I could have picked the veggies to dip them in and only had a little bit. But no, I would stand right by the stupid dish and keep scooping it out and right onto my hips.

All of these cycles are things that I am still facing now. One of the students I work with announced to me today that she is going to be bringing me a chocolate cupcake for her birthday celebration tomorrow.

Dang. it.

How am I supposed to turn that down!

With God's help, that's how. And I WILL turn it down! I just have to keep telling myself that about 12,300,401,486,301,00 more times before tomorrow.

The best thing about cycles is that you can replace them with new, better, cycles. And that is where I am now. Replacing bad habits with new ones and making better choices.

And as for "cycles"...I have a brand new bicycle in the garage just waiting to be used. Woohoo!

Can't wait to read your responses!

Please share with friends!!! It makes me feel good to see that others care about what I am writing about too!

Now, I have some digital scrapbooking calling my name. It's a new addiction and I have lots of goodies to add to my Project Life album that I will be showing on Tuesday.

Have a great one!

I'm embracing it...

It's becoming a habit.

Exercise that is.

I find that I really look forward to my daily workouts, whether Jillian Michaels is kicking my butt or the treadmill is dragging me along.

It's a nice feeling.

This week's embrace the camera picture is of yours truly...embracing life, a slowly developing new bod, and happiness.

Here's to having said goodbye to 14 pounds!

Happy Thursday everyone!

*GIVE-AWAY!* Made to Crave...

I can NOT believe that it is already March! It's like I told Landen this morning, the year is a third of the way over!

(then i back-tracked...realized my huge mathematical error....and re-phrased)

A fourth of the way over!

dur

Yesterday was Blubber Butt Monday and I will be blogging about that tomorrow but first things first.

A GIVEAWAY!

I am really excited about this giveaway, not only because I get to share something with my wonderful blogging friends, but mostly because I get to share something with my wonderful blogging friends that means a huge deal to me!

Remember that verse that I told you about in the not so distant past?

Do not destroy the work of the Lord for the sake of food?

*yeah, that one*

Well, the day that I first heard that verse I was driving down the road, listening to Klove and this wonderful woman who calls herself Lysa Terkeurst was sharing her amazing testimony of how God led her to adopt two boys while sitting at a music concert the boys were participating in. Phenomenal!

That verse changed my life.

But it gets sooo much better!

I didn't know that she also had a book! (squeal!) a couple of books actually! (hysteria!) and that her latest one "Made to Crave" was not only the top book on the NY Times Bestseller list, but ALSO about her own personal weight loss journey (doing the happy dance people!).

I got the book, devoured it, and re-read it.

It's. that. good!

I have never been so awe inspired by anyone in my life. The tips she shared, the constant battles in her mind that she faced on a daily basis between her heart and food, it was all so...familiar!

And the way she words things. She calls me friend. She calls me her sister! HALLELUJAH!

So, I got to thinking...and praying...

God, how can I use this book to help others the way that it has helped me?

And then it hit me! Give it away!!!

And that's just what I'm going to do, give it away.

Now don't be confused, you are going to have to work at this one. Every part of me just wants to stick it on my shelf and hoard it, but I'm willing to pass it on in hopes that it will give others confidence and strength in the same way that it did me.

So what do you have to do?

Every Tuesday and Thursday I am going to post a question straight from Lysa's book.

I am going to answer that question myself.

And then I am going to eagerly check my blog every 15 seconds to read the wonderful answers that you have left in the comments section.

(okay, maybe not every 15 seconds, but I will be checking!)

I hope that you will be checking back and commenting and also encouraging friends to participate as well. At the end of the month, March 31st to be exact, I will pick a lucky winner and send out the book.

So to get things started: Question #1

"How do you respond to the idea that God made us to crave? Have you ever pursued a craving-- a longing, passion, or desire-- that made a positive contribution to your life? What do you think distinguishes that kind of craving from the craving that leads you to eat in unhealthy ways?"

The fact that God created us to crave absolutely blows my mind! And even more so that He created us to crave Him! In other words: it is OKAY to crave, as long as we are craving the right things! One of the cravings that I have pursued in my life that made a positive contribution was my craving for love. As a girl we all want that Prince Charming to come and sweep us off our feet. And more often than not we begin craving those feelings, those emotions, and we begin pursuing them in all kinds of ways. These can be both healthy and none healthy. However, when I decided to give God the relationship portion of my life and started craving and desiring Him, Landen coming into my life was no surprise. I knew God had sent him for me.

I think the biggest way to distinguish good, positive cravings from unhealthy ones is the feelings of guilt afterwards. How to I feel after craving a God-like love or eating a nice salad for lunch instead of pizza (cause they are totally the same ya know!)? I feel great, I feel like I made a good choice! Now how would I feel if I had did the exact opposite? HORRIBLE! FAT! NO CONTROL! STICK MY HEAD IN THE DANG TOILET! Okay, maybe not that bad, but the feelings are totally different. When we crave good things, we feel good. When we crave bad things, we feel crappy. That's how we are wired, and that's how God created us. We are made to crave Him.

Lysa has a WONDERFUL blog that I am loving and can be found here. She also has an incredible website dedicated just to her book here that offers printables like fridge signs, free mailings, and lots of encouragement! And today is Tell A Friend Tuesday on the website where a live webcast will be available until tomorrow! She's also giving away a free conference call to one lucky winner! Make sure to check it out and let me know what you think...

I also love, Love, LOVE, sweet comments and new friends. If you or someone you know likes me blog, please follow it. I'm loving the people I am getting to know through this crazy thing called the internet and I can't wait to "meet" you too!

so, without further ado...let the eagerly anticipated-15 second comment section checking, begin!

It's that time again...

It's Project Life Tuesday again I am stoked about this weeks post because I am completely caught up!

The last time I posted I still lacked a few photos for January but I finally got all of them printed off and all of my journaling done and I am ready to begin next weeks layout!

I am so excited to share with you what I have finished so far:

First of all, let's back up a bit to January. Now if you remember from my last posts I mentioned that I had finally decided that instead of doing this as a week-to-week thing, I am doing it more on a month-to-month basis. This is why I love Becky Higgins Project Life system. You can do whatever you want!

I also discovered Allie Edwards journaling overlays this week! They are available for purchase over at Designer Digitals and I am using them like crazy! If you check out her blog here you can find a link to download the journalers as well as instructions for how to use them in both Photoshop and Word. Loving them!

Here is an example of how I used it in my album.

They are so versatile. You could print them on any color of cardstock, change the color of the text, and being that they are overlays, even place them on top of photos. She even included overlays for specific days of the week. Perfection!

Here are a couple of my layouts that rounded out the month of January:

and then I began February:

In these layouts I started incorporating 8.5 x 11 page protectors into my album as well. This let me include a print out of my 14 Days of Love Challenge blog post as well as some of my gifts that I gave Landen during the Challenge and our Valentine's cards to each other. I am going to be purchasing the baseball card protectors this week to add all of my Valentine's day cards from the kiddos at school!

And more layouts:

and this weeks layout:

the bigger my album gets I am enjoying it more and more! It is so much fun looking through it and reading about things that happened not so long ago! I'm sure my love affair with all things Becky Higgins is only going to get bigger as the year goes on!

Have any of you been inspired to start Project Life this year? Maybe you are an experienced Project Lifer? I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on staying ahead of the game or creative things you've incorporated into your own albums!

Happy Tuesday!

And check back this evening: I'm hosting another giveaway!!

I'm linking up over at