Nihao, Cupcake!

How to Survive a Japanese Wedding While Having a Great Time Part 1

Back in November my middle son and I traveled to Japan to attend the wedding of the daughter of some of our dearest friends. I met this family back in the 90's when I lived in Japan and taught English.

Their daughters were 4 & 6 back then and they hired me to teach three classes in their home for the daughters and about 12 other children in the neighborhood.

After the classes were over, the mother would invite me to stay over for tea. We would chat, both with dictionaries in hand. I was learning Japanese & she was learning English.

We did this every week for two years. We became close friends. The family also invited me and my husband (fiance at the time) over for dinner often and even took us on a wonderful trip of Japanese hot springs and amusement parks before we moved back to California.

When we got married their two daughters were the flower girls in our wedding!

I had always hoped I would get the opportunity to return to Japan someday and attend the wedding of their daughters. For so many reasons.

There is no greater privelege than to share in the tradition, customs & special ceremony of friends from another country and culture, especially in the intimate way that we were able to. 

We were treated like family. I feel like we are family. I will cherish these memories forever. It was one of the highlights of my life!

We arrived in Kyushu (southern most Japanese island) early in the morning after more than 24 hours of travel. We walked from the train station directly to the hotel where everyone was getting dressed. We quickly changed from our travel clothes into our wedding clothes at the traditional hotel.

In the lobby of the hotel we all posed with the bride & her family before heading up the mountain to the Buddhist temple where the ceremony was to be held. Her father was joining her at the temple. 

The groom's father is a Buddhist priest and they were getting married at his temple in a traditional Buddhist ceremony.

Very few Japanese have religious ceremonies now-a-days so this was a rare opportunity even for Japanese people. It is actually considered incredibly old fashioned and boring and they could not believe we actually wanted to travel as far as we did to attend. The family lives on the main island of Honshu in Kyoto, 600 miles away. 

Here is the bride and her younger sister in the van ready to depart for the temple. My son and I rode up with the bride, her mother & her sister in the van. The father of the bride met us at the temple.

Exiting the van at the mountain temple.

Ascending the mountain from the road.

The wedding photographers were at the ready, awaiting her arrival. Her mother escorts her up the last part of the mountain to the temple.

She is wearing traditional wedding Kimono. Her sister and I followed them up the pathway. I was trying to hide so I wouldn't ruin the traditional photos. They wanted us in the photos because we were part of the scene. And there is still some novelty in having someone from so far away attend a wedding.

Entering the temple gates.

Her mother escorts her through the temple grounds into the temple.

We pass the time chatting and enjoying the gorgeous grounds

and location - high in the mountains.

The temple congretation anxiously awaits the arrival of the bride.

The temple congregation was never far away from the excitement. They are so happy for the wedding of their priest's son. They watched him grow up here.

The bride's friends enjoying the beauty of the temple grounds.

Entering the temple to wait before the ceremony begins. The stairs are difficult for her to ascend due to the way the Kimono fits tightly around her legs and of course her special sandals.

In a room off the main temple, we relax with the family. The groom's grandmother stops in to greet the bride and her family.

The bride's father was at the temple awaiting her arrival. We relax with the family having snacks in anticipation of the ceremony to begin in a few minutes. The mother of the bride receives a few last minute touch ups while the aunt of the groom looks on.

The ceremony begins as the two younger sisters of the groom process in with candles in their gorgeous Kimono. They wore my favorite Kimonos of the entire weekend.

Next cousins of the groom enter carrying gorgeous flowers.

The groom enters wearing a traditional wedding Kimono.

And now the bride enters escorted by her attendant who is the aunt of the groom.

This was my view of the ceremony. I sat on the bride's side in the third & last row.

This is the Buddhist prayer book. I was happily reading along (I know how to read Japanese) but could not remember what any of it meant. I used to know, once upon a time!

Exchanging vows.

Then the entire audience shared in a cup of celebratory sake. Even Nicholas got to partake. He felt so adult. He was surprised by how good tasting it was. It was a sweet sake and probably of very high quality so it went down smooth!

Immediately after the ceremony we posed for photos.

We took photos of each other.

Then it was our turn. The family photo...

This is my faux pas photo. Notice my bare feet?? After living in Japan 2.5+ years, and visiting two times since, I know better!

Of course at a temple I would have to remove my shoes! Of course not covering my feet would be impolite and inappropriate. But for some reason, when my little feetie socks could be seen in my flats, instead of sticking them in my purse, I put them back in my suitcase! 

So I arrived at the temple door and had to remove my shoes. I cringed inside. But I knew my dear friends would forgive me. So, I held my head high and did my best to be respectful and enjoy myself at the same time.

Only one person expressed concern that my feet might be cold. I assured him that I was perfectly comfortable.

And then one photo of "the kids."

Back to the side room for more snacks.

A quick nap...

More photos out in front of the temple before the Kyushu reception.

Then we high tailed it back to the train station to catch the Nozomi high speed train straight to Kyoto.

And we caught a few ZZZZZZZZss so we could wake up in the morning and do it all again the very next day with the bride's friends and family Kyoto-style!

Check back soon for How to Survive a Japanese Wedding While Having a Great Time Part 2.

Thanks for stopping by!

2013 Day in the Life: March [Pictures]

My plan this month was to document Friday, a busy ordinary weekday, but about lunchtime I realized I had forgotten to document anything. So I switched to Saturday. As Friday continued on, I sort of wished I had documented that day since it was a "good" weekday with lots of extra things like meetings and sports games and volunteer work during the day. 

I find these things the most difficult to capture on film because I get self-conscious. So, I was looking forward to the challenge & the photos as a result of overcoming my nerves.

Next month!

And I ended up I loving documenting Saturday.

I did get a late start. I didn't realize I was meant to document until I got home from my yoga class at 10:30 AM! So before that, the documentation is in words only. But that is OK because I wanted to focus more on the words this year and this month. So, that works out.

I ended up jotting down a bunch of notes in my notebook. I will be re-typing when I transfer everything into my DITL template in Photoshop. I will get times from my notebook as well as the metadata on my photos. I love including exact times.

Watch in Week 13 for my Day in the Life insert.

To see last month's Day in the Life layout, go here. To see it in my Project Life album, go here.

I'm linking up here at Ali's blog. Check it out, there are others who linked up as well offering great inspiration, as well as a nice article regarding the Day in the Life process.

Thanks for stopping by!

Celebrating Pi Day with Some Cupcakes

Happy Pi Day! For those of you that don't know what Pi Day is, it seems to be a relatively new phenomenon (at least in our part of the world) in our schools to take some time to celebrate & have fun with MATH! As most of us hopefully know, Pi=3.14. Today is March (3rd month) 14th, thus 3.14, thus Pi Day.

Our elementary school celebrated with fun math games and activities in the cafeteria. Students who are trying hard and/or know what Pi equals receive raffle tickets, raffle tickets are used to enter the raffle to win pies donated by the parents.

In middle school, the math class had a Pi Day party. Children could bring in circular treats that they woule measure before consuming.

These cupcakes were our contribution.

52 Lists // Week 9: THIS WEEK I WILL GO & #Me Now [March 2013]

I really enjoyed filling out Week 5 about 7 weeks ago or so. I checked back in at Mooreaseal recently and loved the list for this week, Week 9. So I'm participating again.

I'm linking up at Moorea Seal. Check it out, there are a lot of great lists with another one every Tuesday! I've downloaded several more and I will post those when I have them complete.

Fun stuff!

And since last time I posted a list, I also answered these questions, why not do it again:

listening: still enjoying silence at the gym & NPR on the radio and the occasional stop on a music station

reading: A Simple Act of Gratitude & Silver Lining Playbook

watching: Modern Family, The John Stewart Show, The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live, Oprah's Master Class, The Americans

eating: Shepherds Pie (using ground turkey), tacos, rotisserie chicken, Healthy Choice chocolat bars, quinoa

drinking: water (but not enough), coffee (half-caf) my caffeine consumption has climbed toooo high, green smoothies

wearing: My dark jeans, my favorite black and brown casual boots, my pink sweater, 

feeling: creative & inspired, frustrated, ready, hopeful

weather: clear and warm, with a few days of cold

wanting: to find out already and make progress!

needing: better meals and meal planning & more time to cook!

thinking: I need to refocus my energy on gratitude and at the same time thinking I am lucky to have such a great family

enjoying: my kids and being more involved in their lives now that we are back in the States and it is normal for parents to volunteer at school and be around their kids (i.e., waiting/observing during lessons & practices & games, etc)

 

#ME: Now [February 2013] & 52 Lists 2013 Project

The 52 Lists Project article has moved to my new site, Nihao, Cupcake! Click here to be redirected to this article on my new site.

 

Pinterest, Pinterest, Pinterest

I took this screen shot of my latest Pinterest pins. It's a cool way to get a glimpse of life and freeze it. I may have to print this out and add it to my Project Life album or other scrapbook page. Hmmm...

If you love Pinterest, you will LOVE this article. So many great ways to integrate Pinterest into your online life.

Also, this article on adding a Pinterest button directly to your images if you have Wordpress. Alas, I do not and so far I couldn't find anything for Typepad. Please share if you know anything similar for Typepad.

I'm slowly but surely warming up to Pinterest. Not that I was ever against it but it eats up a lot of time. Figuring out the best way to use it as a tool and not a diversion from accomplishing things! 

How do you use Pinterest to your benefit?

FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop - December 2012

Dear friends, the end of the year is fast approaching! But despite the busyness we (the FAMILY x 12 Blog Hoppers) are pausing briefly to share our monthly (almost) tradition of sharing with your our family photo(s) from the month.

My photos this month are of my Japanese "family." I have known this family for 17 years. We are about as close as two families can be who are separated by the entire Pacific Ocean! We lived in Japan for more than 2 and a half years and it was then that we met and grew very close. I taught English to their girls and many of their neighbors' children. Yukiko (the mom) and I spent hours chatting over green tea and manjyu pouring over our dictionaries both learning each others' language. We spent many meals over at their house as well as some exciting Kyoto restaurants. The most memorable was probably the Fugu restaurant which serves the poisonous puffer fish! We all survived - luckily! I am pretty sure I even cooked them as much of a Thanksgiving dinner as I could using their old small kitchen in their traditional Kyoto home.

We even took a long weekend trip together to the Southern-most Japanese island visiting traditional Japanese resorts, zoos & amusement parks. It was their treat. The girls were only 7 & 9. Kotono (the younger one) & I were partners on all the roller coasters. Ayane, at the time, didn't like roller coasters so she watched from the ground.

When my husband and I were married, the girls were our flower girls at our wedding in California!

Yuji & Yukiko visited us every time after we had a new baby. They brought us a very large traditional gift that is given to families (by the grandparents) every time a couple has a boy after I had my first son. I'm sure they would have brought us the traditional girls gift if I had ever had a girl!

Late this past summer, the girls, now young women, came to California for the first time on their own to visit us. It was a wedding present to the oldest "girl" from their father, Yuji. It was so wonderful to reconnect with them as young women. I don't think they really remembered us all that well. They knew us, but not like we remember them. After their week with us, we became close with them as well. I feel like I have two new friends just like their mother. They are so like their mother in different ways.

Last month one of my sons and I made the trek to attend the oldest daughter's wedding. It took a 12 hour flight, a ten hour layover in Beijing, a three hour flight to Osaka, a 45 minute limosine bus to Kobe, an overnight bus to the island of Kyushu, a 45 minte train ride to Saga, a ten minute walk to the hotel and then a 45 minute ride (with bride, mother & sister) in a van to make it to the traditional Buddhist ceremony at a small temple in the mountains. My ankles were swollen for three days from all that travel, but it was worth every moment! The night of that ceremony, we rode the bullet train back to Kyoto and the next day we had the privelege to attend the wedding reception in Kyoto. Amazing! It was so special being there.

A full cirlce moment for me. Even when the girls were just 6 & 8 I always wanted to return to Japan to attend their weddings. Their mom & I used to talk about it. I can't believe it actually happened. I treasure this family's friendship so very much. 

So even though it isn't my family by blood, my photos this month are of my family nonetheless. My son and I represent our side of the American part of the family.

Now on to the rest of the blog hop participants this month... RUTH is next.

 

December FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop Participants

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog

Ruth http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com

Patricia http://patoliveira.wordpress.com/

Jo http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com

 

Hotel Courtyard - Pingyao, China {Day 9 of 31 Days of Blogging}

Taken in the courtyard of our hotel in Pingyao, China. Sept 2010

Urban Life in China: Green Space at the Kindergarten {Day 7 of 31 Days of Blogging}

Our youngest son attended his Kindergarten year (by American scheduling) at a bilingual/bicultural school in the center of China's capital city. We loved the school. The administration did a fantastic job, the teachers were caring and amazing and the school offered a caring, stimulating environment that fully embraced (in a very positive way) all cultures in a very positive way. This being no easy feat in the Capital city!! We speak from a little too much experience at how many interational schools (local as well as foreign run) fail miserably in all three of these areas.

The one major weakness of the school was the inadequate outdoor space and free play areas available for the children. They did have a nice playground downstairs in the front of the school & many school pets (sheep, bunnies, squirrel, duck, etc), but this area was our son's class' dedicated space. Being a Montessori school, each class is meant to have its own outdoor space available to the kids so they did have that but as you can see it was sorely lacking. As we learned during our time in Beijing, every choice has its benefits and its sacrifices. Luckily, choosing this school for a year was worth this sacrifice. 

Sunrise at a Train Station in Rajasthan, India {Day 3 of 31 Days of Blogging}

I took this photo from inside a train as we were pulling away from the station. I was trying to capture the sunrise. I wish I knew enough about editing photos to bring out the colors in the sky without it looking overly processed. But otherwise, I like this photo. I like the different stories it tells. I love the silhouettes and how they fit nicely in rectangles and I like the almost bright colors. It is India to me and holds a lot of good memories from our trip there last year.

Thanks again for stopping by... 3 down, 28 more to go! Photos, that is. 31 posts in 31 days.

Dear Photograph,

Dear Photograph,

It is hard to believe that it has been fifteen years since we visited Tian'anmen Square for the very first time in 1997. It is the one place in Beijing that is still recognizeable to me. The rest of the city is still changing at a break neck pace. I was hard pressed to find anything different between the two photographs.

The walls appear to be a different color red but is that only the angle of light? The old photo has red flags on the flag poles, but other than that the only difference I could find was the white street lamps in the older photo just under the sign on the left side. Even the color of the sky is the same! This is pretty unusual these days since the pollution has gotten so bad in the past four years. Beijing is a much different city when the skies are blue!

The Forbidden City is a much different place now than it was then. There are so many more tourists these days. I remember back then most of the visitors were dressed in drab colored Mao suits comlete with matching hats. So many babies and toddlers were balanced on the marble bridges below Mao's portrait for a photo of their own with Tian'anmen gate and Mao's portrait proudly showing in the background - proof of their pilgramage from the village to the capital city. Oh, how I wish I had captured a photo of that scene! How times changes and in such a short time. Now thousands of domestic tourists pour over the marble bridges each day and the crowds are kept moving. No chance to balance a baby and pose for what used to be an obligatory photograph and keepsake of a citizen's journey to their beloved captial.

 

I was finally motivated to get this photo taken by the DEAR PHOTOGRAPH Challenge at Ella Publishing's blog. If you hurry, you can link up too, it ends today, May 31st.

Come back tomorrow, Friday, June 1st for the ONE LITTLE WORD monthly blog hop AND for a fantastic give away compliments of Ella Publishing. I will be giving away Ella Publishing's PHOTOGRAPHY BUNDLE (if sold separately it's over a $21 value!)

Ella Publishing May Take 12 Challenge :: Stepping Back in Time [China-Style]

It is time for yet another Ella Publishing Take 12 Challenge!!

CONFESSION: My twelve photos are not actually from May 12th. Shhhhhhhhh! I had a very special day on May 11th. I had a very special day on May 13th (Mother's Day). On May 12th... not so much.

Don't get me wrong. We had a fun day, but it was not a day that was conducive to good photos. Nor was I in the mood to force myself to take photos, as much as I tried.

I call myself "The Moody Photographer." And when the mood isn't there, I don't take photos.

So, I decided to do my layout with the TWELVE photos that did inspire me. On the 11th I went on a special tour with a group of other moms who live in Beijing. We went to a village just outside of the city. It is the one place in the world that makes the special glazed tiles (many 3 dimensional) that adorn the buildings at The Forbidden City, the city gates (including Tian'anmen Square), the temple buildings in the parks, etc.

It is a workshop where they mine shale in the local mountains. They turn that to clay and packing molds by hand, they create these amazing decorative tiles.

After which, they dip them in glaze (made from cobalt, copper & iron) and fire them in old fashioned kilns. 

 

I love these mock old Chinese coin brads I got from Michaels. They come with two other Chinese-esque brads that are equally as cool/beautiful.  

One reason this trip was so meaningful to me was that I have taken ceramics classes at various times in my life; for two years while in Japan, one summer in college when the visiting professor told me I should be an artist and in California with my kids at our local community center. [How cool that they had Mommy & me ceramics classes,no?!]

I chose this paper from the Far East (Die Cuts With a View) paper pack because the crackling reminded me of the dried mud turning into clay in huge troughs at the front of the workshop. 

 

I wanted the attention on my photos so I chose a sketch (Template 1 in the Template packet) from the Ella Publishing Take 12 Guided Inspiration Kit. And I LOVE how it turned out. The photos are definitely the stars of this layout. They tell the stoy.

There is more journaling I would like to add, so I might add a 6x12 insert and if there is space, I might add a few smaller accent photos along with my journaling.

I just loved this day. 

I loved interacting with the artisans, being able to be right in the heart of their workshop - literally stepping over the wet clay shapes waiting to go into the drying room (essentially a giant oven).

This is the drying room. Notice how the pieces are different shades of grey? The darker pieces are the wet ones and the lighter grey ones are almost dry and ready to go to the glazing workshop.

It was like stepping back in time to simpler times before over-litigation and the chaos of the modern world got in the way.

A day like this is one of the magical treasures that seem to happen or find you when living abroad. It's a wonderful surprise to find amazing things that still seem undiscovered. Hard to find any more!

Oh! I almost forgot! The best part was that we got to take home some of these amazing tiles. The lady who organized the tour is fascinated with the mythical creatures on the tiles that adorn the roofs of the Forbidden City. 

This is my lion.

It is this fascination that inspired her to arrange the tour. She worked on our tour guide the entire time trying to convince him to let us purchase a tile or two and he finally broke down when she told him, "My life won't be complete until I get to take some of those animals home!" With that, they opened up their storehouse and we had a great time shopping in the dark, dusty (such thick dust you wouldn't believe it) store house, picking out our treasures that cleaned up very nicely. 

This is my dragon.

To see all my Flickr photos from the outing, including photos of the village with a faded painting of Mao Zedong (I'm pretty sure that is who it is) on one of the walls and a train rushing past within mere feet of us as we stood on a bridge, click here.

To see all of my past Take 12 Layouts and the corresponding posts, go here.

More inspiration from the Take Twelve Design Team:

Like the Car
Janette Carter-Kincaid
Scrap Inspired
Scrappy Wife, Happy Life
Day by Day
Right Here-Right Now
The Scrapbooking Haven Diva
Scrapworthy Lives
People of the Scrapbook
My Little Blessings
Life is Sweet
A Swoop and a Dart
Endless Possibilities
Yeah, Write

Visit Ella Publishing Co. to link up your layout or photos for a chance to win this month's prize.

 

Monster Eyeball or Fruit? And other Photography Challenges...

I am having fun over at Ella Publishing doing as many of their daily challenges as I can as part of Spring Training 2012.

They have a photography coach who challenged people to use window light to take a nice photo. This is something I used to love to do when taking portraits of my kids. I still do it when I want to pose my kids for some reason, like the photo above.

Braden picked out this fruit from a vendor in front of our apartment. He couldn't wait to get it home and see what the inside looked & tasted like. And after he did, he thought it looked quite like an eyeball, so a photo was in order according to him. I pulled him over by the window, made sure my focus point was on his eye (a good portrait always has the eyes in focus) and I got this classic shot! I love the serious look on his face.

Another assignment gave us tips on how to get natural expressions from small children. But I figure a fun, fake expression from an 11-year-old would do the trick especially when he was the one who asked for the photo.

I used natural light from a window again. My subject being parallel to the light source producing flat light.

Don't worry! Nobody was hurt for this photo! My son went to a film workshop and learned how to make real(?) looking fake blood and he was having some fun with it.

Gotta love boys!

I'm linking up at DebDuty.com for This & That Thursday. Visit her blog to check it out.

My Life in Maps

Margie's World Travels

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

I've spent most of my time in the US, Europe and Asia. I must expand my horizons to other continents one of these days. After all, some people consider Eurasia just one continent. If that is the case, then I have only visited two continents. I have 4 or 5 more to go! I better get on that.

Margie's US Travels

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

I know there are a few states missing. I must ask my mom what they are. When I was three, my family drove cross country in our blue VW van to Florida where we took a boat or an airplane (again, I need to ask my mom) to the Domincan Republic. If you look at the map, there would be no way for our family to get to Florida overland without hitting at least one or two more states, but which one(s)?

This would be a fun give away if I had something to give away. Unfortunately, I don't have anything, but you can guess for fun and I will ask my mom and let you know soon! :)

The one and only memory of that trip that sticks out in my mind (I was only three after all), was sitting in the back of the van (or maybe wandering all over the van and even sitting in the front seat because we never wore seatbelts back then and often sat in the front with my dad) and arguing with my father. He would say, "It's MY-ami!" and I would say, "No! It's MY-am!" At that time, I honestly thought everyone had an ami. I really did not understand it was a city or even what a city was. I just remember enjoying that "argument". 

I was just over at Katie the Scrapbook Lady's blog and she posted a map like I did. I've done these maps before, but she is the one who reminded me of it today. GO over and check hers out!

Ella Publishing Take 12 Challenge :: The Best Part Layout & Another Story from the 12th

I had so much fun with this layout. We had a party for my youngest son on the 12th of this month so it was easy to get 12 photos. There was more to my story than a birthday party. It was all about how the party came together. It was truly a family event. I could not have pulled it off without the help of my entire family especially my two oldest sons. 

I wanted a layout that allowed me to tell the story I wanted to tell and I found it in the Ella Inspiration Kit. The design you see was perfect! I could show the highlights of the party on the left and BEHIND the SCENES on the right. BEHIND the SCENES is also one of the themes suggested in the Inspiration Kit and I love how it inspired me to tell this deeper story of my son's party.

JOURNALING READs:

The best part of this party was behind the scenes. Even Dad remarked after it was over that this was one of his favorite birthday parties because we all worked together to make it happen. And now that it is all over, I wish I had more of those photos. If I could do it all over again I would take some photos of Reece drawing each treasure hunt clue in amazingly accurate detail (I did save the clues), Reece & Nicholas planning out the treasure hunt and planting each clue, Nicholas planning secretly to be the Birthday Santa, hiding in the ayi closet ready to give out the goodie bags at the end of the treasure hunt, Mom searching the internet for the perfect Superman “B” image to print out and trace for the birthday cake, Mom printing out Superman & B logos to wear for the “photobooth”, Reece helping mom set up the backdrop for the photobooth, our neighbor Kristin stopping into the store to look for balloons after mom texted all of her friends to be on the lookout, Dad cutting up the yellow paper for the scrapbooking we ran out of time for, Mom planning out the cake with Braden and making the design happen with chopsticks and frosting.

 

The journaling spot is also from the Ella Inspiration kit. Isn't it cute?

Visit Ella Publishing for more information! And don't forget to go to this Ella Blog Post to add your layout or 12 photos to the linky party and your chance to win (linky closes on the 18th - see end of post for exact time it closes).

Visit the rest of the Take 12 Design Team:

Alizia

Amy

Angela

Jennie

Stephanie

Van

Valerie

Monika

Lisa D

Janette

Lisa O

 

ANOTHER STORY FROM the TWELFTH

There was also another amazing story to be told on the 12th of this month but for privacy reasons I cannot share the photos. I had the amazing privelege of meeting the new family of one of the children I care for at the orphanage I volunteer at every week. The family who had just adopted her, was in town an extra week or so waiting for their new daughter's passport and they asked to meet with some of us volunteers. I was so excited. She had been away from the orphanage for only one week and the first thing I noticed when I walked through the door was how she was a completely different child. She was animated, instead of sullen, she was smiling instead of somber, she was affectionate, instead of crying, she smiled and laughed and giggled more in that hour than I had ever seen her do in the year+ I had known her at the orphanage. She looked at her new parents and big sister with such love and adoration, it was astounding. I couldn't believe a child could bond with their new family so quickly and that she could so quickly become the child she was always meant to be. I had always felt so strongly, if this little girl could just have her own family, she would blossom. But I had no idea she would blossom so quickly and that she had so much potential to ever be that child I met just a week later. 

Many of the children at the orphanage have special needs. We don't always know all of their details so we often wonder. We had said that she was so somber and rarely interactive in a distinct way that we wouldn't be surprised if someone said she had special needs and yet we wouldn't be surprised if they told us she was perfectly normal. After that meeting, it became clear to me that she is perfectly normal and she is now exactly where she should have been since birth! What an amazingly lucky little girl to be with a family so full of love! It warms my heart to think about her sleeping safely in the loving arms of her new family in her fresh PJs, squeaky clean hair and adorable rosy red cheeks.

If only her little friends still at the orphanage will be so lucky.

 

Just Reece & I

We took this photo, after we returned from our lunch, just Reece & I. He chose the new Burger King near our house. Special time spent together with some good conversation. I can't believe he is a teen. He's so grown up. I never could imagine when he was the active toddler, that we would ever make it to this stage in life. IT seemed so far away that it was too hard to imagine. And yet here we are! Life is amazing. He is a truly remarkable child. So smart & creative and committed. I can't wait to see where he goes in his wonderful life.

I am linking up at Anderson Family Crew because I think Embrace the Camera is one of the best blog ideas ever. Thanks for hosting!

Red Chinese New Year Dragon Cupcake Cake with Chocolate Pretzel Wings

My youngest son's birthday landed on Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) this year. And as you may know, it is the year of the dragon, so what cake is more fitting than a red (color of celebration) Chinese dragon cupcake cake for the occasion?

My middle son was born in the year of the dragon, so this is his year too! Quite a serendipitously special year for our family since we are living in China, to boot! And this is supposed to be the best year of the dragon as well as the best year of the 144 year cycle (12 cycles of 12 years). Not bad!! 

I'm especially proud of those chocolate pretzel wings that I came up with an hour before we had to leave the house to take the dragon to school. My original idea was a horrible failure, in fact, I knew as soon as I opened the package of the fruit tape that it wouldn't work, so I didn't even try. When in doubt, turn to melting chocolate - it is so easy and you can make anything you want. 

I drew the outline and bones of one wing, put the drawing under waxed paper, I traced the three bone areas with a thick line of chocolate and then placed the pretzel sticks down, Then I filled in the wings and coverd the handle pretzels with a lot of chocolate. Then I flipped the drawing over, traced it through to the other side, followed the same steps as above to make a new wing that was the mirror image of the first wing. Then I placed them in the refrigerator for around 30 minutes and they were done! I did have to saw off the ends with a serrated knife because the handles were too long to stick into a cupcake. But otherwise they worked perfectly! PHEW!

And here he is with the goodie bags he made for his class. (I'll post more details about these in a future post.) That is his drawing of a dragon dance complete with lanterns. THe back side says Happy New Year inside a latern surrounded by fire works. I did not coach him on these drawings but based on the amount of detail they include, there is no mistake he has spent half of his seven years in China!

There's nothing like making a cool dragon cupcake cake (special cakes made by mom are one of our family traditions) and putting together some homemade goodie bags to make a little one smile! It is all about the simple things, isn't it?

If you are interested in tips on how I made this cupcake cake, feel free to email me. 

To see my other cake & cupcake creations, click HERE.

I'm linking up at Simple Things Sunday today.

True Stories from The Jing {Bikes & Italian Food}

Tonight we rode our bikes to the new Annie's just south of Central Park & east of The Place for dinner. We parked our four bikes directly in front of the restaurant door & 2-3 meters from a guard box. The area had two security cameras pointing at it.

We had a wonderful, leisurely dinner at Annie's (a local kid friendly Italian place with consistently good food & reasonable prices - hard to find in Beijing) with impecable service including free make your own pizzas for the kids, fresh bread basket and extra special treatment to the kids.

The manager checked on us more than once, but the service was not agressive or pushy, just attentive.

When we left to get our bikes, the one bike that was locked to itself and not locked to a tree was gone. The manager at Annie's immediately came to our aid and accompanied my husband to the building's room with security cameras. After 20 minutes of looking around the lost bike area and talking with the security guards, it was determined that the camera was too dirty to find any footage of our missing bike.

It seemed illogical that someone could take a bike that had a lock around the tire past the two guards directly next to the bikes and make it past both security cameras without being seen. And funny that both security cameras were too dirty to view any footage.  Hmm...

The kind manager at Annie's never left my husband's side and they walked around the property to see if they could figure out what happened.

Just when they had given up, they spotted the bike, hidden behind a wall! Who knows why it was there or how it got there, but the lesson learned is:

1) Lock your bike to something when in the CBD (About 15-20 bikes weres stolen in broad daylight (all parked together) about a year ago right outside The Place.)

2) Eat at Annie's because not only is the food good, but the service goes above and beyond expectations. And in our experience, they look after their customers. A big thanks to the manager at Annie's!

 

I posted this story to our Yahoo group (for foreign passport holders living in Beijing) as a warning to neighbors and as a thank you to a local business for helping us out. I couldn't pass up a good story that we will want to remember so I copied and pasted for the blog today. Our oldest son is so excited that we found the bike. He loved the excitement and you could feel it when he came to report to me that they were checking the security camers to see if they could locate the bike. I'm so glad this story had a happy ending or else it would be the third bike our family had lost in Beijing!

I'm linking up at Sian's blog for Storytelling Sunday. She hosts it the first Sunday of every month. Do you have a story to tell? Post it on your blog and join us!

And since I totally forgot to link up last month, I wrote my story a couple of weeks later when I realized it. Here it is, if you care to read.

Enjoying the (sometimes) Crazy Culture of My Host Country...

We have been living in Beijing China for over three and a half years now. That is half of my youngest son's life. In all honesty, I am ready to move home. I love where I am from and miss so many things about it. But never the less, one of the things I do enjoy about living abroad, even in Beijing with its horrible air quality (worsening by the day), chaotic streets, and lack of concern for safety, there are some things I really still enjoy.

New Year's fireworks is one of them. I love the craziness. I love the huge fireworks I get to see out my window almost every night for two weeks.

This is the firework that was let off the roof of the apartment building across our courtyard (not a big courtyard, mind you - basically a small park). It is on the top of the building where I used to live. You can see the windows of the penthouse apartment. Rumor has it they own the apartment complex and I am pretty sure letting off those fireworks is illegal. But that has never stopped anyone around here before.

They have cracked down this year and there are definitely less fireworks near our apt this year as we live in the heart of the central business district and near (two blocks away) the skyscraper that burnt down two years ago on during New Year's. 

If you don't worry about the safety issue, [those fireworks in the first photo are bouncing off the building right next to mine (in my same apt complex of four buildings)], it's really fun and exciting. So far I have not gotten burned or lost my home to a fire!

I've learned to appreciate the dragon dance, especially now that all three of my children have been involved in it on some stage at one time or another. It is exciting especially with this being the year of the dragon and all.

I also love ICE CHAIRS which are unique (as far as I know) to China. I've posted about them before and we went again this week during the New YEar's holiday, so you will see me post about them again soon. The boys said they forgot how fun they were. Dangerous, but fun. Give three boys sharp stakes to push themselves around willy nilly on ice and someone is bound to get hurt, right?

It's those simple differences that allow me to appreciate the unique life that I am living.

I'm linking up at Simple Things Sunday.

 

BLOG HAPPENINGS

*You might like to check out the Layout A Day Preparation Blog Hop from Friday here. It's a great challenge and begins Feb 1st - join us!

*Come back on Wed, February 1 for the One Little Word Blog Hop when members of Ali Edwards' Big Picture Classes class share their assignment from the month.

*On February 5, we will have our monthly FAMILYx12 blog hop where we support each other in taking a monthly family photo. Email me (link on the side bar) if you want to join us!

The Brady Bunch was my all-time favorite TV show!

On our recent trip to the States for the holidays we took a road trip from California to Durango, Colorado. I did this many times during the summer with my father and my brother. My father was born and raised in Durango and loved to go back in the summers. We would drive through the hot desert sun in the blue VW bus.

My dad made some of his own alterations to that van to make it somewhat of a camper. He used bungee cords to strap a Coleman cooler, that sat upright and was designed like a refrigerator, to the back of the passengers seat. Then on top of that sat a heavy plastic gallon water tank that when laid flat worked as a sink. It was a pretty ingenious invention. The sink was molded into the side of the water tank. I hope you can imagine what I am describing. The faucet was a pump and it even had a little soap dish molded into it as well. It also had a drain with a plastic plug. My dad took a clear PVC pipe, hooked it up to the drain and threaded that through the back of the seat (but not through) and down through a hole that he made in the bottom of the van. When we pulled the plug, the water would drain out into the street below. He never allowed us to use it while he was driving, though. We were only allowed to use this when we were safely parked at a campground.

That was back in the day before it was law to wear seatbelts, so we never did. If one of us kids were sitting in the front seat and he had to slam on the breaks, out would shoot his arm to prevent us from lurching forward. Of course, if it were a real accident or emergency, his arm really wouldn't have done much. But out it went anyway.

I also remember curling up in the shade and falling asleep because the desert sun was so hot. It was the only relief I could get from the smoothering heat. The van had no air conditioning.

My dad was a huge napper. One day when we were in Durango and it was pouring down rain. My dad decided he needed a nap. So there we were parked on Main Street, Durango with my dad asleep in the back of the van and the rain pouring so hard against the van windows that we couldn't see out. 

At this time I was a huge fan of the Brady Bunch and had taken my trusty tape recorder and taped one of my all-time favorite Brady Bunch episodes. The one when the Brady kids (Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby & Cindy) became a music group and sang in a contest to buy their parents a silver platter for their anniversary. Anyone remember that episode?

Anyway, I brought my tape recorder and that tape on this trip, so the way my brother and I passed the time while my dad was sleeping was to write down all of the words to those songs and memorize them. I can still sing almost every word to those songs to this day. SUNSHINE DAY.... everybody's laughing! SUNSHINE DAY... everybody's singing! SUNSHINE DAY.... everybody seems so happy & gay! It's a Sunshine Day!

How did you pass the time when you were a kid before the age of endless gadgets we are in today? Though, I guess that portable tape recorder was the very beginning of the gadgets we have at our disposal today, huh?

I wanted to link up to storytelling Sunday (the first Sunday of every month at Sian's blog), but I keep forgetting to have my post ready by then so I decided I would publish this to my blog any way and if I forget on the first Sunday of February, I can link this story up anyway since I love the idea so much!

Let's Put the "Scrap" Back in Scrapbooking, Project Life Update & A Giveaway

Another big day at the blog! I wanted to take a blog break (I have so much to do to get ready for my trip home), but there is just too much going on to stay away.

It is the first Project Life Tuesday of 2011. With my committment to keeping up with PL this year, I couldn't miss the first one. So, I am posting my photos from the first week and some layout updates from 2011. I'll post my first layout of 2012 next week with this week's photos. That is my plan for 2012.

I also just realized it is TEN on TEN over at Shimelle.com. I missed December, so I can't miss January, too! My original plan was to list my top ten favorite online scrapbook classes, but I totally forgot about it until a few minutes ago, so instead, I thought I would feature my TOP TEN pages in the photo album of my six months in ENGLAND in 1990-91.

While I am visiting from China, I am staying with my mom. She is kind enough to store all of my beloved photos so my only opportunity to revisit these wonderful treasures is during these trips home. This album was the last album I made before I 'discovered' archivally safe scrapbooking. I was excited about my new hobby, but wasn't about to take apart the album that took me so long to finally complete (five years). I'm still not ready. Yes, the photos are probably disintegrating, but I don't want to disemble it until I know how I will preserve it in its next home.

The FIRST photo above is from the top of the World Trade Center in 1990.

2 This was our visit to New York City in 1990 on our way to London. It was the second visit of my life. This day we were meeting up with my friend who was visiting her friend who worked at the World Trade Center. Little did we know what would happen at this location 11 years later. I did not stay in touch with him, so I have always prayed that he was not working there (or escaped) by the time 9/11 happened.

PHOTO TEMPORARILY REMOVED - will return shortly 

 

3 I love all of this memorabilia that I collected from my trip there. LOVE IT! I was able to work in Britain for six months as part of an agreement our governments had (and may still have). Any student can automatically get a six month work visa.

 

4 Did you notice what is missing from this album? Yep! Journaling. Not one ounce of it. I need to fix that, don't I? This is my friend from college who grew up in England. He happened to be visiting for the first time in ten years and was nice enough to meet us first-time international travelers at the airport to help us navigate this new big city. I was beyond nervous. My friend had HUGE suitcases. I had suitcasees too but not as many and not as big. Anyway, I was so nervous we wouldn't get them on the Tube in time for the doors to close.

Here is lots more memorabilia. I love including maps! LOVE IT! You can also see the business card and receipt for our hotel in the Merlyn Court area. It was known for being slightly dodgy and for having a lot of Aussies. They are a dodgy sort, you know! (Of course I am only teasing!)

 

5 More amazing memories come flooding back. It was my birthday and we were doing whatever we did in London (looking for a job or maybe exploring the city) and I just happened to run into two friends from college! This is the only time this has ever happened to me while traveling or living abroad. My husband, who went to a significantly smaller school, is always running into people from his university. He may not know them, but he meets them. I NEVER do. But that is another story. It was a great surprise running into these friends on my birthday so far from home! WHat are the chances? Do you see the note tucked under the photo? That is the note they left for me arranging a meet up later that day. I love that I still have it.

This page isn't beautiful but if that is not scrapbooking, what is??

 

6 My rental agreement, my rent book, my checkbook (from a foreign country, no less - such excitement for a 21 year old who had only ever been to Mexico, which to a So Californian feels like an extension of California), my bank card, etc, etc. I only had the cash that I earned and a few hundred dollars I brought with me. It was quite a lesson about living within my means!

 

7 My best friend from college came to visit me (She is the only friend or family member that has come to see me every place in the world I have lived. And she just called me today to tell me she has purchased her ticket to visit me in China!! HURRAY! Her record will be 4 for 4! I feel a mini book coming on...) Another map!

 

8 Don't you love my text on this page? I used to do this all the time - collect letters and phrases from magazines, save them in envelopes and add them to my photo albums.

 

9 Our work Christmas party. Don't you love my Eddie Bauer sweater? I worked there part-time in college. This was my first introduction to the English Christmas cracker. I love then and think they are so fun. Now we can buy them in the States and my kids got to pop some on New Year's Eve (only because I forgot to bring them to our Xmas celebration).

 

10 And here I am with the other employees in the home department at Debenham's in Cambridge. I went back in 2008 but didn't find any recognizeable faces. It was fun to have my photo take in the home dept with a pan and in front of The Grafton Center, the mall where this store is located. So many memories there...

I love adding memorabilia to my beloved photos. It tells a richer story even without journaling. That is why I am loving Project Life! Not sure I would have continued the project for the third year if I didn't start adding all the goodies. It is so easy to do. Much like the magnetic albums I used before my discovery of the scrapbooking we know today.

 

PROJECT LIFE

 

I only managed to complete three total pages. I was so poud of myself and thought I was so creative, but when I woke up the next morning to see what I had gotten done, it all looked so plain! (I'm saving my Amber kit to use on my 2012 album so I only brought the grid journaling cards to the States with me. I'll be reunited with the rest of my supplies on Friday.) But nevermind, plain means done and lots of stories told, right!?

 

 

I am using the date cards as a filler because I have premade date cards waiting for me at home.

 

Here's a glimpse into what I have started for my 2012 album. I've stuck it into a broken three ring binder temporarily until I am home so that I can keep it organized while I work on it. As you can see, I am slipping memorabilia into the pocket that corresponds with the day. At this rate, I won't have any room for journaling cards! I may take some of these things out, but right now, they stay. See the brown tag? I put the plastic string around the middle ring. I kept that because it goes to a fun water bottle and it is significant since I haven ot been drinking enough water lately and the fun bottle is meant to encourage me to improve on that.

The Sound Bites card was also put on the middle ring. My son bought that toy with his own money and he has been annoying us all wiht it ever since. It makes fake sound effects and each sound effect is listed on the back of the card. ON the front of the card, I plan to glue a photo of my son where he is holding the toy.

 

 

I cut up the Trader Joe's CC Joe-Joe's box because my son kept sing a little ditty about the cookies and for about a day we assumed he had made up the words until we noticed them on the side of the box! So typical of him. Such a jokester! And his favorite gum is Big League Chew.

 

See? I saved a Christmas cracker crown from our New Year's Even crackers this year. See a connection with my photo from the album I shared above? I feel a scrapbook page...

 

Of course I saved that adorable picture my six-year-old drew. I need to ask him who and where it is. I am including the page I ripped from Family Fun magazine because I might want to make the project next Xmas. I am more apt to see it and remember it for next year, if I stick it in my PL binder! And it shows the craft trends of the times.

To see everything PROJECT LIFE On my blog, click here.

I'm linking up at The Mom Creative for Project Life Tuesday.

Oh, and here are my photos for the week:

 

No dates today. I need to get to bed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and helping keep me accountable with my PL album. I still ahve to post the last three photos from 2011 and my seventh photo from the first week of 2012 and my title page for my 2012 album. That will all come next week! Along with more PL inspiration around the web.

 

I have a great giveaway today (Tues). I was going to include it in this post but this one ended up so long, I decided to put it in a separate post. For details on my TAKE TWELVE Inspiration Kit giveaway, go here.

2012 Project Life :: 366 {Catching Up with the Photos}

I haven't posted any daily photos since we left Beijing on December 15, so I am catching up today! ENJOY!

 

December 10, 2011

This seemed to me like the sweetest horse. He was a bit leery of me but at the same time seemed sweet. Once I was close to him to take a few photos, I notice how tired, and mangy he looked. Then I noticed his back left foot. Do you see how he isn't putting any weight on it? Poor guy. It means his food is injured and he obviously has a long way to go to get home. This photo was taken at the very center of Beijing. It takes a long time to get out of the city from here by horse!

 

December 11, 2011

Looking over old drawings they have saved in their three ring binders especially for favorite drawings.

 

 

December 12, 2011

We decorated the gingerbread house the night before (and waited until morning for the good light, to take the photo). It is always a very fun family activity. We got the kit at Ikea. It was the first year they offered them at the store in Beijing. Christmas stuff gets more plentiful every year in the capital.

 

 

December 13, 2011

Braden has several friends who ride on his bus and who also live in our apartment complex. Therefore, we often have friends come over to play after school. If I have some extra cupcakes in the freezer, I sometimes let the boys do some DIY cupcake decorating. Braden's friend had already eaten his cupcake, and the one he is holding he made lovingly for his little sister.

 

December 14, 2011

The first grade curriculum included exploring other cultures so on this morning, they invited parents to come to the school and teach the children about their own cultures through games, songs and other activities. The morning was finished off with a huge spread of foods from all over the world. Braden asked me to bring Rice Krispy treats to represent America.

 

Photo #2

It was the night before we left for the month to visit friends at home in the States for the holidays. We HAD to eat the gingerbread house before we left. This is what was left after the three little pigs, I mean, boys huffed and puffed and ate their way through!

 

December 15, 2011

On the way to the airport after picking the boys up early from school.

 

December 16, 2011 - no photo

The kids took a ton of silly photos on the plane with their own camera, so I need to get one of those. I do think they took several photos of the very strange airplane food they served this time. It was true mystery meat!

 

December 17, 2011

Early Christmas celebration with Grandma. We were all going to Colorado to ski and most of what she got them was warmth and snow related. Here Reece is wearing his little borther's new hat and the "garish" (Grandma's words) Christmas sweater she got him for Xmas that he doesn't like at all. He says it is "geeky" or "dorky" - I can't remember which term he used. But he couldn't remove that sweater fast enough. How quickly they change. There are so many things he just refuses to wear these days. He often comes home off the bus with a short sleeved t-shirt on, his winter jacket stuffed in his backpack and it is 32 degrees F outside and WINDY! So glad I am not a teenager any more. Brrrr!

 

 

December 18, 2011

We got an early start and drove all day long (sun-up to sundown) to reach our destination of Durango, Colorado. The drive itself wasn't as bad as we were anticipating, but the mood of our children was a different story! Jetlag, 14 hour road trip two days after 12 hour trans-Pacific flight equals a lot, I mean ALLLLOOOOOOTTTTT of bickering, teasing and picking on the youngest brother.

 

 

December 19, 2011

The long drive was worth it when we woke up the next morning to find the view from our condo was this! THis photo taken by one of the kids using one of their digi cameras.

 

 

December 20, 2011

I have found myself surprised at home amazed Reece has been by the natural beauty we have seen on this visit home from Beijing. But then I realized since we live in the city 10.5 months out of the year, he doesn't get to see much of it. I was lucky growing up to visit Colorado at least every other year and as a young child we did lots of hiking and spent our summers at the beach. Although Reece's earliest years were spent mostly outdoors, hiking in some incredible national and state parks right in our own neighborhood (literally), I didn't realize how little he has seen of this in the past 4 or 5. He wanted to take photos of every gorgeous view and then when we returned to So Calif, he has taken photos of several beautiful beach sunsets already. Makes me want to move home even more so we can take this kid camping.

His one request on our trip was to take him to a National Park.

 

December 21, 2011 (I think this date is Beijing time so it is really 12/20.)

Our second day of skiing. Braden took a rest day and hung out with Grandma. He took this photo for us. Not bad, huh?

 

Photo #2

This cabin belongs to my father's cousin. My brother and I stayed here with some collge friends one year when we came to town to ski. This cabin is on the way into town from the ski resort.

 

Photo #3

We had to squeeze in our visit to Santa before it was too late! We found this guy at the local Durango mall. It was a fundraiser for the local 4H. Reece didn't want to visit Santa this year - it was the first time he had no interest. He really is a teenager.

 

December 22, 2011

It snowed ALOT during our last day of skiing. So much beautiful fresh powder. It was like skiing in powdered sugar. It felt exactly like powdered sugar under my feet. But the top of the mountain was FREEZING!

 

Photo #2

We skiied until the slopes closed, stopped for a yummy Mexican dinner and then it was back on the road until after midnight.

 

December 23, 2011

Our hotel in Utah, just outside of Zion National Park, touted that their restaurant had the "best food on Route 48" (I think that is the right number.), so how could we go any where else? Not to mention, the hotel and restaurant were run by a very nice family. The hotel was nothing fancy and slightly thread-bare but it was clean and had nice acoutrements, nice soap and lotion in the bathrooms (better than our hotel in Petaluma), a microwave and good TV, a family suite with two bedrooms and one bathroom, to boot. For only needing a 7 hour sleep, it was the perfect place. The food wasn't bad either, but I wish I took a photo of the fried bread they called a scone! All of my English friends would laugh. Despite that, everything else was tasty and nicely made. THey even gave all three kids free hot cocoa with a huge dollop of whipped cream on top! If we ever pass through that way again, we will be sure to stay again.

 

Photo #2

We spent the morning exploring a bit of Zion National Park, a lot by car and a little by foot. We even managed a visit to the visitor's center.

 

December 24, 2011

Christmas Eve dinner prepared by my brother-in-law who is a studied chef! The food is always delicious in this family. There is a professional chef, a dietician and two other siblings who love to cook (my husband included) at a close to gourmet level.

 

December 25, 2011 - Merry Christmas!

Despite playing with a hammer and nails when he wasn't supposed to and incuring these horrible injuries, Nicholas was all smiles on Christmas day. Lots of playing with cousins - all five of them were in heaven. My sis-in-law wants them all to come up in the summer since she said her kids were entertained the entire time we were there.

 

December 26, 2011

We stayed the morning and then it was time to get back in the car again to go see my 85-year-old aunt & 90-year-old uncle and some cousins before heading home the next day. Here Nicholas was saying good-bye to his uncle.

December 27, 2011 - No Photo

My cousin is sending me some. I did a terrible job of taking photos even though I carried both of mine every where I went. I just never used them. What was I thinking? I probably wasn't! :(

 

Dember 29, 2011

We had dinner at one of my very favorite places. The best part of this visit is that a branch of this restaurant opened right near my mom's house. It is so close, that we can walk there. Perfect! The other perfect thing is that it is in the same strip mall as Trader Joes and Yogurtland. Ahhhhhh! Angel's are singing. And they ahve THE BEST Shrimp Tacos EVER!

 

PROJECT LIFE INSPIRATION on the WEB

I happend upon this blog today and I really liked her style. Her album or her blog posts are not up to date, but I thought her unique style warranted a look. It is simple, engaging and attractive.

http://agnes-and-family.over-blog.com/categorie-11771067.html

 

I might update this post later today with some PL album updates, but no promises.

Have You Heard of the TAKE TWELVE Challenge at EllaPublishing? And OLW Giveaway Winner

I've been invited to be a part of the Take Twelve Team for Ella Publishing Co.'s new Take Twelve photography and scrapbooking challenge.

I couldn't be more excited! It's my very first design team! Yay! And I'm even more excited about the challenge itself.

The idea is to take TWELVE photos on the TWELFTH of every month in 2012. (So cool!) I think it is a really great way to get a snapshot of your everyday life throughout the year.

As many of you know, I already do Project Life. I do the PHOTO A DAY approach for the most part, but what my album lacks is a deeper view of my everyday. I did a Week in the Life this year too, but we only got an indepth view of our lives for one week and only in the summer. So the reason I am excited about this project is because I will get an indepth view of our everyday lives TWELVE times a year, one time a month, through every season, through various changing routines and there couldn't be an easier way to do it with the...

Take Twelve Guided Inspiration Kit.

This kit includes five complete products in one!

You'll get:
12 monthly photo checklists
12 bonus project ideas
12-month mini-album idea
12 layout sketches by Donna Jannuzzi
54 printable journaling lists + .png files
24 printable titles + .png files
24 printable calendar accents + .png files

So much flexibility with this kit. So much inspiration. There are even easy to use digital templates! It doesn't get easier than that. I'm itching to make something already!

In fact, we have a trans-Pacific flight on January 12th so I am excited to see if I can come up with 12 photos during a strangely short day as we lose most of our day when we cross the international dateline. But then I'm always up for a challenge!

And another huge bonus is that our year-long tour guide is Elizabeth Dillow. I love her approach to scrapbooking. She inspired me with her project, Your Life Hour by Hour with this article at Ella Publishing.

Here is the layout (template by Kim Byrns) I came up with for that challenge:

And the post that includes the rest of the photos I took on that day.

These are my kind of challenges!

Are you interested?

There are lots of ways to participate!

• Get a free email reminder sent to you on the 11th of each month, so you'll never forget to take your photos. Click here to sign up for our email list.
• Take 12 photos of your everyday life on or around the 12th of each month. Need ideas for what things to photograph? Get our Take Twelve Guided Inspiration Kit!
• Turn those 12 photos into a scrapbook page, using your own supplies and ideas—or get help from the sketches, journaling lists, printable titles, and mini calendar accents in our Take Twelve kit.
• Visit our blog on the 12th and the 19th of each month to see Take Twelve layouts from our team and from other readers too.
• Enter your layout into our linky party on the 19th of each month for a chance to win great prizes from our sponsors.
• Feel proud of yourself for making a commitment to preserving precious memories this year.

I look forward to seeing what you will create. It should be a really fun year.

 

GIVEAWAY WINNER

The winner of the spot in Ali Edwards' ONE LITTLE WORD class at Big Picture Classes is:

Congratulations, Vicki J!

Please email me (link in the side bar to the right of my blog) and I will send you everything you need as soon as possible so you can get started on the class right away! I hope you will join us for our ONE LITTLE WORD Blog Hop on February 1, Vicki J! We'd love to have you.

 

PROJECT LIFE

I promised an update of my Project Life photos and my album today but I am exhausted, so I'll have to put it off until tomorrow. So sorry!

And sorry for the late publishing of the giveaway winner. A big thanks to everyone who stopped by and left a comment! And thanks to Big Picture Classes for the giveaway!

EDITED on Jan 9, 2012: I have a giveaway coming up that you might be inerested in! It should be posted in the next 24 hours or so.

FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop {January 5, 2012}

Welcome to the first FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop of 2012!

Every month on the 5th, a small group of us have a blog hop to keep each other accountable in our efforts to take more family photos throughout the year. Our goal is one family photo a month.

How lucky that the blog hop landed on a Thursday because not only do I get to use my photo for the blog hop, but I get to use it as my link up for EMBRACE the CAMERA at The Anderson Family Crew Blog. I love participating and try to as often as I can.

The goal of both events is to encourage ourselves to get in front of the camera with our families and loved ones so it is a perfect match!

My family photo this month was taken on our family holiday in Purgatory, Colorado the week before Christmas. It was my husband's idea. My father was born and raised in Durango (25 miles from Purgatory) and loved it. He took us every other summer when we were growing up. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1989 and I have only been back once. My husband had never been. It is a gorgeous place and definitely holds a very special place in my heart so it was wonderful to see it again. It has changed alot, but it is still the quaint, charming town I remember. Now, we hope to go back again but this time in the summer as there are even more things to do there at that time of year, as there are in the winter. I can't wait to go camping, hiking, jeeping and finally ride the narrow gauge train from Durango to Silverton.

 

Here's a bonus photo of me with my kids and mom in downtown Durango in front of the historic Strater Hotel where my father worked as a bellboy in his youth.

 

A nighttime view of Durango all decorated for Christmas.

 

And another family photo in Zion National park on our way from Durango to Northern California to be with family on Christmas.

 

GIVE AWAY

Before I send you off on the blog hop, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you I was having a HUGE giveaway on my blog right now! I have one space in Ali Edwards' ONE LITTLE WORD class at Big Picture Classes to give away. Comments are open until 9 PM PST tonight. Read the giveaway post for more details.

 

CLASSES

Anyone else taking any classes this year? I am! Right now I am doing TWELVE. with Stacy Julian at BPC, Reclaiming My Time with Karen Grunberg, ONE LITTLE WORD with Ali Edwards, 12 Days of Christmas with a bunch of teachers at BPC and have just signed up for my very favorite...

LOAD!  

Anyone else doing LOAD? I have been participating since 2008 and haven't missed one yet. It's intense, but so much fun. What is LOAD? It stands for Layout A Day - so basically you produce one layout a day for a month and Lain supplies motivation, prompts (optional) and even video inspiration for the first time!

 

OFF YOU GO...

Now on with the blog hop! Next on the list is Ruth. If you should get lost along the way, there is a complete blog hop list and the end of the post, so you can return here to find your way.

 

Margie   http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog <--- You are HERE.

Ruth   http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com  <--- Go here NEXT. 

Jo           http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com

Monica   http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

Patricia  http://patoliveira.wordpress.com/

Carol Anne    http://www.scrappingthoughts.com

 

MORE STORY BEHIND THE BLOG HOP

The reason I started this hop is because I realized after a trip to Singapore and then a trip to Kyoto, Japan, that I never took a family photo during either amazing trip! How could that happen? Then, I saw a post on Tara Whitney's blog last December that she made a goal to take a family photo once every month in 2010. Her photos were wonderful. Many are just her family hanging around the house. I don't think any of them are formal and posed but they are all very fun. I was so INSPIRED and knew I had to try this. I was lucky that some blog friends wanted to play along. They have guaranteed that I won't forget my goal. And the month when I did forget, I cheated! As long as I take a photo at a time when the month hasn't ended some where in the world, my photo still counts. 

Because the most important thing is that we get more family photos. The time that our loved ones are with us is fleeting, so capturing ourselves together as we are now, is priceless.

At Our Thanksgiving Table

I saw this idea on my friend, Kiley's blog, so I am copying it. Check out her cool blog, here.

• Ten adults and thirteen children from ages 1 to 13.
• Americans, Swedes, British, Kiwis, Italians
• Turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, lemon broccoli, arugula salad, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, falafel
• Pumpkin pie (baked in a square casserole dish), pecan pie (made by 11-year-old Nicholas in a proper pie plate), chocolate cream pie (made from scratch because all stores were out of chocolate pudding mix and baked in a square cake pan) & custard cake with pine nuts
• Savignon Blanc, Merlot Malbec, Budweiser (brought by a friend because "Americans drink that on Thanksgiving"), and a variety of yummy wines brought by our guests
• Apple Juice, Orange Juice, Sprite & Coke for the kids  

I cannot say the day went off without a hitch. It was a last minute Thanksgiving and the hour or two before dinner was served was noticably chaotic as we tried to get everything on the table while it was warm. I don't think we succeeded but with all we had going against us, I think things turned out pretty good.

Afterall, we didn't decide to have Thanksgiving at our house until late Sunday night (just 8 days ago). We didn't send out the emails until Monday or Tuesday. My entire week was booked, Paul was in Singapore Tuesday & Wednesday, we have a small oven that barely fits a turkey and a stove with two burners, so the fact that we pulled it off at all is something to be grateful for. 

The plates were borrowed, we didn't have quite enough cutlery for a matching set for all of our guests, we borrowed wine glasses (we only had four), I forgot to plan plates and silverware for all of the kids but luckily I had paper plates, no fancy napkins, and no two coffee cups were alike (they've all broken since we have kids and a tile floor), dinner was served 90 minutes late but in the end the food was tasty and the company divine!

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a wonderful day!