"I Love" Sunday's v.81

Hello Dreamers! 

I hope this Sunday finds you very well.

** October Daily has definitely started! For which I am super stoked. I've shared some pictures on my IG account and I shared a video yesterday on my YouTube channel of my first week's flip through. I got a completely new album, which is discussed in the video, and I love it SO MUCH MORE!

** My mini pocket letter from Eny came in and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! She is super sweet and I love everything that she sent me!

** Wednesday I shared with you all a look at my first ever flip book inspired by Sam of Halloween Happy.

** My kit came in from Serena Bee and I am super stoked! I bought her stamp set from last year because I just couldn't resist. The first thing that I did? Use the stamps in my planner. I'll share a picture of this on my IG tomorrow!

** This week is the last week of my Introduction to Human Services class (it was only an 8 week class). For this I am thankful because while I like the subject matter, the teacher left something to be desired and everything was crammed into a short period of time. Tuesday was my last day in class, which is where we presented our power points about our service learning projects and Thursday was the actual last day, where we just stayed home and took our last test. I think I would have liked the class more if we had more time and a different teacher.

** Lee had 24 hour duty Wednesday but has been off since Thursday at 0900.... and doesn't go back to work until Tuesday morning. That's a lot of time off. Haha. We went out and he bought a new video game that he has been obsessed with and played non-stop.

** Since I didn't have class Thursday (just tests), Lee and I decided to go to Red Lobster because his mother sent us a $25 gift card for no reason. It was very sweet of her and the food was amazing! It was nice to have a mini date night together!

** Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina early yesterday morning and it has been one hell of an adventure. Our city wasn't quite prepared for the flooding that would happen, but that is mostly just because of the flooding from last week's storm. There were a LOT of rescues that day (around 700) and FEMA from NYPD and FDNY, NJ, OH, and Charlotte, NC came to help out, which makes my heart happy. I don't know if there were many (or any) casualties here in Fayetteville, but it is going to take us a while to recover. There are still a lot of areas that are flooded, schools are still shut down, and now we're having water problems. Fayetteville, being the military town that it is, will persevere.

The photo on the left is the two houses across the street as it started flooding. By the time it was all said and done the flooding had reached our driveway, but we got lucky that we didn't have any damage. The house on the right of that picture had sand bags in front of their garage door and the water over ran the sand bags. They didn't appear to have much damage (we went around the neighborhood today to see the damage and there wasn't much to people's homes).

The picture on the right was where the road was washed away right down the road from me. My nephew took that photo right after it happened because they heard it fall apart. It's a main road in our neighborhood so it's going to be interesting to see how this affects us in the long run. The guard rail and part of the road is now gone. The picture below is what it looked like from a better angle.

** We had my classmate Jakki and her husband over for dinner last night because they had no water and no power. We had a blast because we decided to crack open my new Cards Against Humanity box that I just bought from Target. It was hysterical and I can't wait to do it again. It was kind of hard to get all of us in the picture... that's part of Lee's face at the bottom. It's a weird photo, but I definitely kind of like it. My friend's husband always makes funny faces in pictures as you can see below.

.: Little Loves :.

|| All the Halloween movies that we've been watching | Extra time with Lee | October Daily videos on YouTube | Gatorade | No school | Dr. Pepper ||

What are you loving from this past week?

December Daily 2015: Days 3-6

Hello dear friends!

As you can tell, I am a little behind on sharing posts about my December Daily project, but honestly, is anyone really surprised (I know I'm not). On Saturday and Sunday I was in Georgia and didn't bring any of my supplies with me, so I had to get everything finished yesterday so I could share this post with you today.

I may be sharing some of the days in groups like I am today, but at least they will be shared. Also, later this week there will be an actual video walk through of the first week of my album on my YouTube channel for you guys to check out.

Without further ado:

Day 3:

Day 3 starts about halfway through the page where the tree is. Amy and I decorated the tree and set up some other decorations around our apartment to try to get Amy in the holiday spirit.

The "the tree" sticker came from Me & My Big Ideas Mambi sticker pack of clear stickers that I found at Michaels. I really like the sticker set and was super excited to use them!

The Santa and Mrs. Claus are a set of decorations Amy got from her grandmother. The "dear santa" came from the digital stamp set Ali included in her Storytelling With December Daily class. I just thought it was perfect! I also am making it a point to use the December stamp from the hard copy stamp set from the same class each day! Trying for consistency here!

I really love this tree picture!

The second page of Day 3 is all about some of the ornaments on the tree (I included my Batman and a snowflake that Mem made when he was younger at the top) and the bottom is a picture of my fabric scrap tree I made back in 2013 and a picture of Mem's new Chewbacca ornament next to my American Hero ornament.

This was also the day that I introduced Amy to the wonders of Butterbeer Frappacino's! She loved it!

Day 4:

On Day 4 I included part of an ad from Bath and Body Works from the day before. On the back I attached some purple snowflake scrapbook paper from the Arctic Wishes Matstack 4.5x6.5 paper pad and then added pictures of the M and A ornaments on the tree for Mem and Amy.

The second page of Day 4 shares a picture of our stockings we hung out, the garland over them wrapped in silver ribbon, and the darn "Merry Christmas" banner that we finally had to hang with command hooks. It kept falling down until we tied it up this way. Hasn't fallen a single time!

Day 5:

Day 5 brought me to Georgia to see an old friend of mine. In the pages I talk about why I was there, and then I included a picture of him and I that one of his coworkers took when we went to dinner.

The bottom of the page has me talking about my attempt at a bokeh tree, which I think turned out quite awesome!

Day 6:

I didn't photograph the first page of the spread because it's all writing (I haven't edited/printed the photo yet, so there is no reason to include that here) I talked about the end of my trip and then I took someone else's idea and talked about my ornaments on our tree. ((It's mostly covered in Amy's ornaments, but there are a couple that came from me)). I backed the ornament pictures with pieces of scrapbook paper from the Jolly 6x6 paper pad from American Crafts

Amy bought me that blue and silver star for our shared love of our favorite football team. Then there is Batman (again)! The bottom picture is just a picture someone shared in one of the groups that I saved and printed because I really liked the picture! It says Make a Christmas Wish!

The last page of this spread talks about 3 more ornaments. The top one is a set of two hearts, one painted like the American flag and the other painted like the German flag. This one represents my time in Germany. Below that is a Starbucks ornament I got with a guy riding on an ornament that makes me think of "I came in like a wrecking ball"! It makes me laugh! The last ornament pictures is my American Hero ornament with an eagle and the American flag. This one represents my 5.5 years in the Army.

At the bottom of the page I talk about doing my own book to document the story of my ornaments and how I will continue to include new ones here in this project.

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Thanks for stopping by! Stay tuned here on the blog every couple of days where I share more about the spreads I am doing in my December Daily album. Also,  I will be sharing a video walkthrough of days 1-6 on my YouTube channel later today. Every week I want to do a walkthrough video to show you guys how it looks and talk about some of the products that are used in each spread.

Are you participating in December Daily? Share a link with me (on whatever platform you're sharing) so I can check you out!!!

December Daily 2015: Intro and thoughts

Hello dearest friends!

I hope this post finds you well!

Tomorrow starts the last month of the year, and yet another project for me (and most of the scrapbooking community!) Tomorrow starts December Daily 2015! You can check out Ali Edwards introduction to the project here and the rest of her posts about it all here.

This year I am doing the project just like I did my October Daily, in an insert for my TN and paired with my December Plan Book. I decided that this was going to be the way I did it, instead of a regular DD album, partially because I really enjoyed how my October Daily turned out, and partially because I will be back in the States but I won't have all of my stuff yet back from the movers. Carrying around a 6X8 album and supplies would be difficult and take up too much room in my luggage. I packed the minimal amount of supplies in my luggage for the project. I know I can always buy more stuff once I get home, and I will probably buy some more things once I get to see a real craft store, but I really liked how my October Daily turned out and wanted to give it another try!

This project starts tomorrow!

Here are some pictures from my album

This is the cover of my insert. It is a regular Moleskine lined insert that I covered with some snowflake scrapbooking paper, silver washi to cover the spine, and then some silver star washi to cover the side that opens on the book.

This is what you see when you first open up the insert. I have taped a calendar on the inside cover that I bought online. I have been trying to figure out where the calendar came from, but I can't find it in my email history. I will keep looking and when I know, I shall share it with you guys.

This is my own version of the washi tape tree. The star and December pieces as well as the Magic stamp are all from last years Ali Edwards December Daily Kit.

The next page is My Reason Why followed by the front of a Christmas card that I was using as a divider type thing. I need to add some more decorations to My Reason Why page, but I at least wanted to get my reason for this project written out and finished.

Will you be participating in the project? If so, let me know! I would love to see pictures or videos of your project as you complete it!

"I Love" Sundays v.49

Hello friends!

Hope today finds you well!

** Today is my first full day back home in the States! I officially flew home yesterday. My friend Amy picked me up from the airport and I am staying with her until I can find my own place. Hopefully this won't take very long! As much as I love her, I am super ready to have my own space. I do miss my friends already though... I am spending the day with her 12 year old son hanging out watching The Flash cuz she has to work. Mem reminds me of my younger brother sometimes, so it's rather amusing. He didn't used to talk to me this much when I lived here a few years ago, but I guess it helps that it's just me and his mom now, there isn't stepfamily here to get in the way.

I can't wait to see some friends this week. 

** On Wednesday I got my Retirement flag, a certificate of appreciation for my service, my ETS plaque, and my ETS award (my first Army Achievement Medal.... the lowest award you can get.... but that's a different story). I made the plaque myself. All I am missing is the Retirement Certificate, which they said that they are going to mail to me.

** On Thursday (see this post) I spent Thanksgiving with my usual group. I got to take a lot of photos. We also watched the Minion movie. I am thankful for one last get together of everyone in my group! I will definitely miss the heck out of them. However, this isn't "good-bye" but just "see you later". I'll make it a point to see them all again soon.

I managed to get this little gem on Thursday of C and his week old daughter
This is how he tells if she is hungry, if she tries to eat his nose.
Super adorable!!!

** Thursday and Friday saw me filming and editing the rest of my October Daily 2015 series. It takes forever to get these videos posted, but at least they are done. Make sure you check out the corresponding blog posts (the posts are a little back dated, but find me on YouTube and the links are on each week's video). Hopefully the last of the videos will be posted today.

** My truck was accepted for shipping Friday, which was pretty much the last thing on my list of things to do. That was kind of a nightmare! Simply because no one told me to clean my engine block originally (which is why it was denied the first time) and they wanted me to clean places I can't even reach (it took a lot of pressure washing and cleaning wipes to get it all gone). I almost did a happy dance when he told me it was good!

.: Little Loves :.

|| homemade food | Minions | Dr. Pepper | Pink Monster Rehab | blogging | Making YouTube Videos | Mountain Dew Voltage | Cucumbers | Toast | The little things in life ||

What are you loving from this week?

YouTube: October Daily Final Flip through & reflections

Happy Friday friends!

I actually leave tomorrow for the States, by the way!

This is the last video of the 2015 October Daily project series.

I really did love this project! I enjoyed December Daily last year, so when I saw that there was an October version, I definitely jumped on the chance to participate. It was definitely interesting doing this project in a travelers notebook insert. The upside of this is that I don't have to worry about pocket pages or whether or not I have enough PL cards to fit. There are no rings or anything to worry about. The downside was that it was a smaller book to work with and it got pretty bulky pretty quickly. Not as much as a regular 6X8 album would (obviously), but I can't keep it closed without some kind of strap holding it closed. Right now I have just been using a stretchy cloth headband I found laying around on my desk.

Stay turned for next Monday, which starts the December Daily 2015 series here on my blog and on YouTube!

YouTube: October Daily 29-31

Hey guys!

Here is week 5 of my October Daily project for 2015.

It's a relatively short video because it only covers the last few days of the month.

There is one more video after this one, which is a final flip through and my thoughts on the entire project!

K and I had a blast at the Frankenstein Castle, which you can read more about in this post here.

Karen Hallion Art

See you on Friday for the last video in the 2015 October Daily Series!

YouTube: October Daily 22-28

Hello friends.

In order to get this series done before the end of this month, there will be 3 separate videos this week.

Can you believe the month is already almost over?!?!?!

I was pretty excited about the Breast Cancer 5K and the following Hope Mini Session. Make sure you click that link to check out my photography! Our event raised a lot of money for the Fischer House there in Landstuhl, Germany - which means it is going to help the Service Members and their families there in Germany!

Rory's Sweet Addiction Etsy

HelloPapers Etsy

HelloQuirky Etsy

YouTube: October Daily 15-21

Hello friends!

Happy Saturday!

Here is the blog post about week 3 of my October Daily

It has taken me way to long to get these videos taped and posted!

Links mentioned:

Rory's Sweet Addiction Etsy

HelloPapers Etsy

HelloQuirky Etsy

Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this project.

Let's chat!

"I Love" Sundays v.47

** I've finish and posted week 2 and 3 of my October Daily project. I've completed all the pages in my scrap journal, now I just need to film the final flip through and my reflections of the project. This is my first year and I am super proud of myself for getting the project completed! And even in a timely manner! October has already taken up over half of my Volume 2 scrap journal, so I'm pretty sure the rest of the book is going to be taken up by November. I am hoping to finish the rest of this volume of my scrap journal.

** I've been working on my December Daily project as well. I signed up for Ali Edwards Storytelling Through December Daily class and spent Wednesday watching all the available videos (she does a flip through of every album she's made so far in the last 9 years) and reading the available course materials. I'm pretty much done with the setup of my December Plan book and I started setting up my actual December Daily scrap journal (yep, I'm doing this project in my TN). I realized in October Daily that I like to write a lot about my days or my stories, which I plan to do a lot of in December, so I think that I will need an entire Moleskine notebook just for this project. I'll be sharing some posts and videos about the project here soon. 

** Tuesday was the Veterans Day ceremony on post, which I got to be a part of. I was asked to assist my VFW Post Commander (and friend) with laying the wreath on the front of the stage. We also brought cake for the event, which turned out to be super yummy!

Later that night was our monthly VFW meeting, where I actually ended up winning money in a raffle that we did. It was pretty awesome actually! I usually don't win stuff like that, so it was amazing to me.

** I am still working on some new plans for this here blog and all of its coordinating Social media accounts. I am hoping to make 2016 a great year for the blog. I'll share most about those plans in a few weeks. 

.: Little Loves :.

|| Catching up with old friends | Technology | Memory Keeping | karaoke | Finishing a project in a reasonable amount of time | Dr. Pepper | Glacier Cherry Gatorade | Cake ||

What are you loving from this past week?

YouTube: October Daily 8-14

Hello friends!

Welcome to the week 2 walkthrough of my October Daily project. 

This vide covers days 8 through 14!

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my video.

Please feel free to leave any questions, comments, and concerns below.

Let's chat!

Rory's Sweet Addictions Etsy

Butterbeer recipe

"I Love" Sunday's v.48

Hello dear friends!

Happy Sunday!

I hope you all have had a good week!

** I got my November Plan book all set up, although it's probably the plainest notebook that I have created since I started back in July! I am spending my time finishing October Daily and getting ready for December Daily! It's a lot to juggle. I am slowly working on decorating this month's book, I'll show you when I have it done!

** On Monday, I uploading my very first Journal flip through for my first journal. I started it back in June, skipped most of July due to personal things, and picked it back up for August, and finished it out with September. I am very impressed with myself that I kept up with it, and also with how it evolved from when I started to when I finished it. Make sure you guys check that video out! Here is the blog post that accompanies this video.

** So far I have kept up with my 30 Days of Thankful project. Right now, each day I write what I am thankful for at the bottom of each plan book page. When I get done with my October Daily project, I will spend some time transferring all the pieces into my little Gratitude Journal. I'll probably include some of it in my Scrap Journal. I am just proud that I am keeping up with it, even if it isn't how I want to do it.

** On Tuesday I started working on my December Plan Book, which there will be a video on later this week. I needed to get this book done 1) so I can share it with everyone and 2) I am using this book to help me with my December Daily this year. Just like Jenny uses several books for her December planning, I am using both of these books to complete my planning and December Daily documentation. I am working on saving money up to rent a house when I get back home, so I won't be buying much, if any in the way of supplies. This being said, I put together my own December Daily kit from my own supplies.

** On Thursday, K and I were invited to Eilene's house for a belated birthday dinner! Eilene, her husband Bill, and her mother Judy were all super sweet and put together a birthday dinner (after asking me what I wanted to eat) and a super yummy homemade birthday cake. Apparently Judy used to make cakes for a living (I asked her if there was anything that she wasn't good at- we all laughed). Eilene and Judy were even sweet enough to give me a little birthday present! It has a candle, a ceramic crown to hold the candle, two spools of ribbon, and some wood veneer stars! I am really thankful for people like this family in my life.

** On Friday there was a unit BBQ at work. The officers made and brought in food and deserts for everyone to share. The kids had the day off, so it was made into a family event. The food was really yummy- and someone even made puppy chow! ((This is my recipe and first attempt to making it)). I love me some puppy chow!

** Yesterday I filmed and edited the first 7 days of my October Daily project in my scrap journal! I really enjoy the project and I enjoy the challenge of having to journal every day. I don't always have pictures with each entry, but I do my best to at least write every single day. Here is the blog post that accompanies the video. 

** Today I joined Amy and Jamie's class "The Creative Life - Documented" It's my one purchase for this month until I get back home! I look forward to seeing what these ladies have to share across the 5 lessons! If you're interested in documenting your life in a creative way, make sure you check the class out!

.: Little Loves :.

|| Puppy Chow | Cherry Coke | Tostitoes | YouTube videos | Inspiration | Pinterest | scrap journaling | Getting ready to go home | friends | homemade cake | planning | Periscope ||

What are you loving from this past week?

YouTube: October Daily Days 1-7

Hello friends!

Earlier this evening I shared a video on my YouTube Channel reviewing the first 7 days of my October Daily Project.

This is done in a Piccadilly notebook that I picked up from somewhere. I used a piece of music themed scrapbook paper to cover the front. I then cut down a piece of black scrapbook paper to put behind the title, which was done with white Thickers. I used two jems from a Autumn inspired set from Doodlebug Designs and some stickers from Ali Edwards (the word sticker and the alphas used to write out vol. 2).

This style of journaling is inspired by Courtney at The Little Ink.

This project was inspired by Serena Bee on YouTube

I purchased the Jack & Sally digital stamps from The Octopode Factory on Etsy.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know!

YouTube: Scrap journal V.1 Flip Through

Hello dear friends!

I just posted a new video up on my YouTube channel. 

This is a walkthrough of Volume 1 of my scrap-journaling. This isn't the best quality, but I kept putting this off and I finally just had to get the video out!

I use a Moleskine notebook that is cut down to fit inside my MJDori. I picked this notebook up in a 3 pack at Target when I was home this past June. My mom and I worked together to cut down the notebook and round out the edges.

This notebook started out as a couple of lists of things that needed to be done while I was home in June for my brothers graduation. It wasn't until I was at Fort Eustis when I stumbled upon Courtney at The Little Ink (she is linked at the end of this blog post).

I print my pictures using my Canon Selphy printer that I ordered off of Amazon. I use Pic Collage on my iPhone to print out multiple small pictures at one time.

I get my washi tape and stickers from various places: Michaels, the PX, and the craft store on my local base, as well as the one on Graf.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
------------------------------

Here is a link to the other YouTube channels mentioned:

Courtney at The Little Ink

Ali Brown YouTube

Serena Bee: YouTube

Here is a list of some of the products that I used in this project.

Sweet Stamp Shop: online store

Glendori: By Paper Flower Etsy Store

Pretty Sheepy Stickers: Etsy Store

International Geek Girls Pen Pal Club 

"I Love" Sunday's v.46

Hello Friends

Happy Sunday!

** Monday was the Dokumentationszentrum visit in Nurnburg, it was all about the Third Reicht and everything that led up to the Holocaust. That was a 3 hour adventure (like no lie, 3 hours long) where they give you a device that translates all the exhibits. After that we went to this 3 story comic store where they actually had English comics! I was so super stoked!!! I got 3 Batman comics that I needed to add to my collection, a Copic Multiliner in 0.5, a Copic Multiliner in brush size small, and a new purple Copic marker to replace the one that doesn't work. I was so super stoked about it that I really had to limit my spending that day. I needed to wait until I got paid to go back and look at more stuff.

part of a panorama that C took that he sent to me of the Nazi Parade Field

** Tuesday was a shamtastic kind of day, where I laid around and didn't do a whole lot. My main priority was to continue printing photos out for my journal, since it was one of the last things that I needed to do to complete my journal. I was also finally inducted into my local chapter of the VFW. It's only taken like 5 months, ha ha ha. There were some circumstances that got in the way.

** Wednesday brought me to the lovely YouTube channel of Serena Bee and her October Daily. It's a Halloween version of Ali Edward's December Daily. I've already written a post about my plans for October Daily now that I found her project. If you love Halloween like I do, you should check her out!!!

** Thursday was a super busy day for me. The majority of my day was spent at a craft fair trying to raise awareness and funds for the upcoming Breast Cancer 5K being held on 24 October. I did a LOT of talking (got pretty tongue tied eventually), met some awesome new crafters in my area, and bought some amazing handmade products! 

After that I finished the first volume of my scrap-journal inspired by Courtney of The Little Ink (YT) and Raven Ink (blog). I am super stoked about completing this project and there will be a flip through of this video on my YT page here soon. I just have to finish editing and posting two other videos first!

After that, it was time for a work dinner for a Hail & Farewell at a local German restaurant. I love events like this because they foster a sense of camaraderie and community between everyone in my unit, despite rank. The families come with as well, and it's a big event for us. We said welcome to about 20 new Falcons and their families and good-bye to 5 or 6 people that are leaving us here soon. It's always quite the adventure.

** Friday was spent editing photos from my adventures from this past weekend and catching up on blog posts. I started my new journal, edited some videos for my channel, and watched some TV.

** Yesterday I picked up some new Halloween decorations for my room. I can't do a whole lot of decorating, but I will do what I can. Haha. I got some new candle holders, a new mug, a new plastic cup, and some stickers for my October Daily project. 

.: Little Loves :.

|| journaling | meeting new crafters | inspired by other bloggers | everything HALLOWEEN | scented candles | YouTube | Dr. Pepper | German food | photography ||

What are you loving from this week?

Tomorrow is also my blog's first birthday! Make sure you stop back by and check out that post!!!