Project 366 | January 22-27

22/366 Asleep at the Orchestra. My son can sleep anywhere. Including large parties, baseball games, amusement parks and.... the orchestra. 1/22/12

23/366 White Balance Joy. Amazing what a neutral grey piece of laminate can do for your photography. My mind has been blown.... goodbye yellow photos! 1/23/12

24/366 Clean. The dishwasher is my friend. Except when I have to empty it. 1/24/12

25/366 99%. It's that last 1%... it seems to go the slowest. I think all electronics can sense when they're being watched and the charging process slows down just to taunt you. 1/25/12

26/366 Necky Lego Guy. This is, according to my little guy, "the weirdest Lego guy EVER." 1/26/12

27/366 Field Trip. Today was the ideal day for a ski trip. The air was brisk, the sky was blue and the kids were ready to fly. 1/27/12

Project 366 | January 13-21

13/366 Ski lessons. My kids went on the coolest field trip with school - skiing! My daughter didn't know how to ski so this wonderful instructor took her around all morning and coached her. It was the sweetest thing to watch. 1/13/12

14/366 Sledding. January 12 was the first snow of the winter, very strange for Wisconsin. January 13 the kids went skiing. Then today they wanted more - so we took them sledding. Rather, DADDY took them sledding. :) 1/14/12

15/366 Beautiful Bella. Our friends and their baby came to visit today. AS IF I wasn't going to take pictures of this beautiful baby! Just look at those eyes! 1/15/12

16/366 Magic fruit. Sam and her art. Today it was magic fruit. I don't know what her inspiration was or how her mind works but oh boy, I wish I did. 1/16/12

17/366 Boots. It's winter. Finally. I needed a picture for the day and the boots won the drawing. 1/17/12

18/366 Happy calendar. I'm sad to say that this was a last second, panicked for not having a POTD and desperate to shoot anything. ANYthing, I tell you. Isn't this the most fascinating calendar you ever saw? (BTW, it sort of is... it's the Happiness Project Page a Day calendar. Yay!) 1/18/12

19/366 An accident in waiting. Every morning when I make oatmeal I think to myself, "Self, these two spice bottles right next to each other are an accident waiting to happen." I have a feeling that one morning my oatmeal will taste strangely of chili... 1/19/12

20/366 Earbuds. Most people use these hooks for things like, oh, I don't know... keychains. But not us. (Side note: there are only two of us.) 1/20/12

21/366 Soup. Cold nights call for hot soup. That is all. 1/21/12

Project 366 | 12 on the 12th | January

12/366 12 on the 12th. 1/12/12

6:07a On the treadmill. I started back up on that Ease into 10K program. Again. Slow and steady wins the race...

6:58a Making lunches. Lunchables: a treat for my kids and for me -- they love eating them (for some reason) and I like throwing a pre-made lunch in their bag on occasion.

8:11a Parked on my corner at school. Oh yes, I have a corner. First spot behind the city bus stop, across the street from the school. Every morning I pull up, walk the kids across the (busy!) street and then when I go home, I turn right, leading me in the right direction. Perfect. Just don't steal my spot.

9:16a New slips. I'm feeling crazy in my new animal print slippers. Well, the way I look at it, slippers are an expression of your personality --- NOT!!! They keep my feet warm. That's all. Enough about my slippers.

9:44a More laundry. Sort of like the treadmill. Gotta do it and it never ends.

11:17a Just the beginning. Today is the first day of winter - amazingly, we have not had snow yet! This is only the beginning of what we are expecting...

11:19a Refill. Back at the computer, I am feeling grateful for my hot coffee and warm home.

12:23p Lunchtime. Ham sandwich and cottage cheese. At the computer. Side of crossed eyes, please. I'm working on importing all my nearly 20,000 photos into Lightroom today. No breaks allowed if I ever want to finish.

2:54p Oh, snow.  I just emerged from the back room where the windows and blinds are sealed in plastic. I emerged to see... snow! Real snow. And I have to drive it that? Can't the kids sleep at school?

4:21p Bunny so serious. David, donning his new under-armor for skiing, turned this fireworks light machine into a Star Wars blaster gun. Natch. But there's Sam behind him giving him the bunny ears. Natch.

6:44p Dinner is served. I love crock pot days. The house smells good. Dinner is made. Tonight is Teriyaki Chicken. Yum.

7:38p Read by the light of the Force. David says he's "done with Star Wars." Mmm... ok. Here he is with his new lightsaber wall sconce nightlight, reading a Star Wars book, laying next to Chewbacca. Sure, David. Keep reading....

Project 366 | January 10-11

10/366  All lined up. My daughter has always organized her candy.... M&M's, Life Savers, Smarties.... all lined up by color. 1/10/12

11/366 Funny glasses. My son got this fireworks machine that puts a 3D firework show on your wall or ceiling. It came with these awesome 3D glasses. He decided they should be worn all the time. What a goof.

Scrap Happie 2

One of my new favorite things is to print scrapbooking photos small - like wallet sized or smaller. You can fit more on a page (duh) and all the small pictures can help feature a focal point picture. 

On this page, I wanted to tell the story about the things that were making me "happie" - most importantly, my kind, supportive and loving husband. Because I used a larger photo to bring home that point, it wasn't necessary to blab on about it. It's pretty straightforward. Plus that cute sticker says it all. 

CS Coredinations + PP Bella Blvd. + Stickers Oct PM, MM, EP + Rubons Heidi Grace + Journal Spots Anna Griffin + Brad MM

I made my card with some scraps from the page above. Rather, one scrap. I cannot get enough of this polka-dotted patterned paper. It's so adorable, I'm going to use every last square inch of it.

Push.

So, if you have a photographic memory or you're my Official Stalker and you know way too much about me, you might remember me talking about not picking a word for the year....like two or three years ago! That was the last time I even gave it any thought until now. Let me take a step back and explain.

If you are at all even remotely familiar with scrapbooking and people associated with scrapbooking, you may have heard of (just a guess) a woman named Ali Edwards. If you are not the family scrapbooker and you're squinting your eyes at the screen to figure out who this is, I have an easy way to find your answer: go to the shelf where your wife/sister/daughter/mother/aunt/friend keeps her books about scrapbooking. There, I'll bet you a dollar, will be at least one book written by this Ali Edwards character. 

Ali has not only written her own books, worked for scrapbook magazines and designed her own line of scrapbook supplies and fonts, she has created an entire movement in the industry. She has a distinct simple, graphic, story-based style that most scrapbookers could recognize in an instant. She loves telling stories. 

And what better way to start a story is to base it on a single, motivating and inspirational word. Every year, people across the globe (I'm not being dramatic here, it's true.) choose a word - One Little Word - to sort of define their year. Each word is chosen for distinct reasons. For some it's motivating, for others it's meditative. For me, it's always felt restrictive. The last time I considered it, a few years back, I couldn't think of a word I felt comfortable enough basing my entire year off of. It felt like making a vague New Year's Resolution. I don't make resolutions. Why? Because what happened when you broke your resolution? You felt bad, disappointed in your failure. I don't need that. So I never picked a word for the year. Maybe I was being a downer to other scrapbookers, but at least I was being realistic with myself.

This morning I was on the treadmill. For some reason this idea of One Little Word entered my head. It hit me. In an instant I thought of a word I could live with, live for. I swooshed it around in my mouth for a bit, making sure I liked how it tasted. I think this could actually be something. 

My word:

PUSH.

It's really pretty simple. I want to push myself to try harder, do better, learn more, succeed.

I want to push my husband to meet his goals.

I want to push my children to be the best that they can be.

When I think I'm done - exercising, reading, writing, baking cookies, whatever - I'll push myself to give a little bit more. I'll push myself not to defer to the easy answer, to laziness.

This isn't a life-altering word choice. It's natural. In truth, it's what I already try to do. Putting a label on it will just make me try harder. It will make me, yes, here it comes -- push myself.

Project 366 | January 1-9

Here's to the start of another year of pictures. I am excited to begin this amazing, fulfilling, sometimes challenging project. It felt SO GREAT to complete it. Like I ran a marathon, except I wasn't out of breath...or film, for that matter. (Editorial comment from my husband: we may be getting short on hard drive space, dear.)

This year I plan on playing more. You may see pictures that have nothing to do with anything. Just for fun. On the days you see those, it was probably because nothing much was going on. Last year, those were my "tough" days - when I felt like nothing presented itself to photograph. If I play with my camera more this year, I will naturally find things to take pictures of. I apologize ahead of time if you see my cat more than a dozen times. I'm home, she's home, it's convenient. Especially when she's sleeping. Which is always.

So without further jibber jabber, here is the beginning of a whole new Year in Pictures. 

Welcome, photographically, to 2012 and my Project 366 (leap year!)....

1/366 Twelve. I had David holding these metal numbers in his hands. Between his tired arms and the too-typical shots, we came up with this. I'd say it's both fun and different. What the heck! 1/1/12

2/366 Tradition. Every Monday and Tuesday when the kids get home from school,  their karate uniforms await them on their beds. That is our little tradition. 1/2/12

3/366 Fresh. I have been dying to shoot these cute little Altoids with the "A" on them. Altoids are fresh, right? Or at least they lead to fresh... fresh breath! 1/3/12

4/366 Lashes. I had already set up and shot another photo for the day. Then I saw this and couldn't resist. So there you have it. A beautiful, quiet moment... captured. 1/4/12

5/366 My Model. I was playing with my camera settings and this pretty, little, half-painted thing got to be my model. There's nothing more to it than that. 1/5/12

6/366 Light Show. I was shooting the most awfully boring pictures of this stack of DVDs. I moved just a few inches to my right and was treated to a virtual laser light show. Amazing! 1/6/12

7/366 Winter Walk. It's January in Wisconsin and we were out for a walk. Unbelievable.  On this walk, David decided to count his steps. All 2,000 of them. 1/7/12

8/366 Eggnog Cake. I baked it then shot it. Then I ate it. Go here for the recipe. Yum. 1/8/12

9/366 Luna. We saw the moon as it was rising and now I'm kicking myself for not pulling over to the side of the road. It was a giant orange orb, barely floating above the horizon. Stunning. So here's my picture, later that night, as I stood shivering in the backyard, crying over spilt milk. 1/9/12

Project 365 - Best of 2011

I had a difficult time choosing my favorite pictures from the year. And once I did, I wasn't satisfied. I know why I chose my favorites - sometimes to represent an event, an emotion or a period of time. Sometimes it was because I simply loved the photograph. But I needed, shall we say, reinforcement. So I asked Pat to pick his favorite 12 from my Project 365 pictures. Following the funny look he gave me, he agreed. And then, like me, he had a challenging time deciding.

I love the pictures he chose - they represent our year very well. What warms my heart is that through his choices, you can see what is most important to him. Sure, he missed a lot of really well composed, photographically pleasing photographs. But these are the images of our life together in the past year - the loves of our lives, that is.

Pat's Top 12 of 2011

1/10/11 We both love this picture of our Evil Cat. It's on our mantel.

1/15/11 Kohl's Children's Museum in Chicago. Baby's growing up.

2/12/11 Fun with Sam in the snow, post-blizzard.

3/14/11 He's not wrong. This one is pretty priceless.

6/9/11 Captured the joy of the last day of school. 

7/3/11 Too precious. That's all. And God Bless America.

9/11/11 This picture absolutely turns me into a puddle.
I think it's pretty darn special to Pat, too.

9/24/11 That look. Oh, that look.

10/8/11 David's gonna knock you out.

11/26/11 The night we put up our tree. Love.

12/22/11 Waiting to light the Hanukah candles.

12/25/11 Evan is really special to Pat. Plus, it's a great picture. In a quiet way, it's SO Evan.

Now isn't that awesome? To see what Pat sees? I love the pictures he chose for the year. They make sense and they are beautiful, each in their own way.

Now onto mine... a totally different angle. As the person who took the pictures, I considered photograph composure, what story the picture tells, what the picture meant to me at the time. I wish I could have eliminated one of those elements to make it easier on me. But that's just it - I can't. And honestly, I wouldn't want to.

Abbie's Top 12 of 2011

1/4/11 David's face is hidden but you can see his favorite hat, with his favorite Star Wars characters on it. This photo takes me back to the mornings we had together when he was in afternoon Junior Kindergarten. Honestly, this particular photo makes me long for those mornings.

1/29/11 This is a soft, quiet photograph of the untouched snow surrounding our vegetable garden.
I'm not a fan of snow, but this, to me, makes me believe it's beautiful.

2/2/11 I struggled with choosing this one. I love the image - the composure, the expression, the simplicity. You ache for her. But I felt bad that one of my favorite pictures of the year was one of my daughter while she was upset. 

4/12/11 For a photographer, this is a rare catch. As a photo for the mantel, not so much.
But I  adore this picture of my tired, lazy cat.

5/9/11 The light was bouncing every which way, making for some interesting imagery. I'm not in love with this because I'm so gorgeous - it was a hat day, clearly not one of my best! (Besides, you can't even see my face, just my hands.) Instead, I love this picture for the lights and reflections.

7/3/11 Aha! Looky here, out of 365 photos, we agreed on one! (At least...)

8/17/11 This set of rearview mirror pictures in Colorado were some of my favorites from our trip out west.
A unique perspective. And of course, a great memory.

9/2/11 This picture should make me mad. Our vegetable garden this year was a big fat fail.
But this picture is visually captivating. It always catches my eye. 

9/11/11 See? I can't resist my boys.

9/27/11 A rainy September morning, sitting at Starbucks doing some writing. Actually, I took this on my iPhone. One lonely chair sitting out in the rain. Yet another picture that draws me in and makes me think.

12/13/11 This one makes me wish I could have holiday lights up all year long. They make everything prettier. 

Even this happy little Nutcracker, all decked out in sequins.

9/24/11Again, the mere presence of light made me weak in the knees. And my little boy and his bear.