This Is Me Challenge

Fast Fact Friday #8

2012-02-24T06:02:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! We made it another week! Did you enjoy having a week off from a new challenge? I hope it gave you time to work on previous challenges!

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Now on to the Fast Fact Friday easiness and fun...!

This week's theme is restaurants. I thought of these questions last Saturday when we were eating at my favorite restaurant. Remember, if you come up with a fun idea for a Fast Fact Friday topic and/or questions for a future FFF, please email me. (emils24(at)gmail(dot)com.)

What is your favorite...

1. Fast food restaurant?

2. Casual dining restaurant?

3. Expensive restaurant?

4. Family-friendly restaurant?

5. Restaurant that you could go to everyday?

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Here's a look at my answers. I have to cheat a little bit, because some answers are a tie...

1. Subway and Wendy's. Depends on how healthy I'm feeling at the moment.
2. Cafe Rio (It's a fresh-mex place in Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Arizona. They may be expanding more soon--a lot like Chipotle which I also love!) Rumbi's is also very high on the list.
3. Local--Maddox. Chain--Olive Garden. I would probably eat there more often if I didn't have to wait 30 minutes to get in and come out with 30 extra pounds. ;)
4. Chili's. I was sad the last time I went that the guiltless grill menu was no longer.
5. Cafe Rio. Most definitely. Or Subway. Or Rumbi's. Oooh, I can't choose just one! But in all reality, we go out to eat two or three times a month, so that will probably never happen.

Benefits of Journaling--Melanie's Take...

2012-02-23T06:30:00.000-08:00

Today we have a guest blogger, Melanie*, a contributor for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance blog. She has a great perspective on one reason why it's so important to record your story--not just for your posterity, but for healing!

Mapping Your Goals andYour Dreams

If you are ready to take your life by thethroat, and when you are tired of the listlessness that comes with recoveringfrom mesothelioma treatment or the treatment of anyother cancer or disease, you may discover that you do not know where to start.After a recovery and even when your prognosis looks bright, you mayfind that your thoughts feel disordered and vague. When you want to think aboutyour goals and your needs and wants again, take advantage of logging yourdesires to put you on the right path.

The Benefits of Journaling
GoodTherapy.org states that journaling allowsyou to become more certain about your goals without worrying about all the obstacles that lay ahead of you.You will be able to set your thoughts down in black and white and even if theydo not start out completely organized, you will find that you can sort themwhen they are on the page. You will also avoid forgetting the things that areof importance to you and what you want to remember because they will be writtendown.

Encouraging Creativity
One of the best ways to achieve your goals is byhaving an active mind, and creating a log that is completely meant for you towrite down all your goals and aspirations. Whether you love to paint, takepictures or collage, you’ll find that the regularity of doing this encouragesyou to learn more about yourself and will help you to figure out more about theworld around you. A log can help you act, and it encourages you to be moreinteractive while also taking control of your own life. Allow a journal or logto help you find the best way to achieve your goals.

Mapping Dreams
Many people do not talk about their dreams ortruly act on them. They think about what they would like to do; however, not inany real sense and after a while forget about them or let their aspirationsslip away. This is one way that people defeat themselves, and you’ll find thatit contributes a great deal to a general sense of dissatisfaction with yourlife. When you start blogging your desires, you will find that you are in aplace where you have a map. Even if it takes you over some rough territory andeven if you are not certain where you are going to end up, it helps.

Think about what your dreams are, and rememberthat you need to write them down. Whether you do it on a scrap of notebookpaper, a leather-bound journal or in a word file on your computer, you have areal reminder of everything that you wish to accomplish.

*Melanie Bowen is an awareness advocate fornatural health and holistic therapies for cancer patients. You will often findher highlighting the great benefits of different nutritional, emotional, andphysical treatments on those with illness in her efforts to increaseattentiveness and responsiveness on like topics. Here, she will be writingabout the benefits of tracking your thoughts and goals—because thoughts aremerely thoughts but writing is the first step to taking action, organizingoneself and being proactive. Find the MCA blog here.

Overcoming Roadblocks to Writing Your Story

2012-02-21T14:51:00.000-08:00

WritingYour Story

Keeping track of your personal history issomething that a lot of people find intimidating. There are many roadblocks to getting it done:“I don’t know what to write. I don’t havetime to do it right now. I don’t knowhow to do it, and no one even cares if I do it or not” are some of the excusesI have heard over and over. But I’m hereto tell you today that every single one of those roadblocks is very easy toovercome!

You CAN write your story!

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Firstroadblock: “I don’t know what to write.”

Finding things to write about is intimidating. Do you record the main events of life orlittle things? How much in detail do Ineed to go? I have found that it reallytakes a little bit of both the big stuff and the small stuff. I recommend starting big and then goingsmall—write a basic timeline of your life, record the dates of importantevents, then start filling in with smaller events and every day things. There are also journaling prompts in booksand all over the internet (like the This is Me Challenge!).

Secondroadblock: “I don’t have time to do it right now.”

This is one excuse I hear a lot from people,but really, it’s a matter of priorities. Instead of watching TV, take a half an hour to record something fromyour past or something that happened that day. (Or you can even do it while watching TV ifyou are a good multi-tasker.) If youdon’t even have time to watch TV, you can still record just one little thing in5 minutes if you commit to just doing it. Often we think that we need to do some elaborate writing that will takehours to edit and perfect. I personallythink that even making a small list on a sticky note and putting it in anotebook with others like it is just as great of a way as writing a wholediatribe! And don’t forget that you canrecord your personal history along with your family! Get the whole family involved. Set aside time each week to all work onit. Doing this together will not onlybring you closer to one another, but will create the time needed to accomplishyour goal!

Thirdroadblock: “I don’t know how to do it.”

Like I already mentioned, I like to focus onthe fact that how you do it, is not as important as just doing it. Here is a list of many different ways I’vethought of to record your history.

-Use thecomputer and a word processing program. You can make one file folder(mine is labeled “Personal History”), and save each topic individually in yourfolder, or you can make one long document with all your history. You canadd pictures when you want to as well using this method.

-Startyour own personal history blog (that you can make private or public, dependingon who you want to see it), and write your history. Blogs are great because you can not onlywrite, but you can post a video, add pictures or even scrapbook layouts.

-Make ascrapbook layout (digital or traditional) about a specific topic about you.

-Write itin a journal—an age-old solution, but still a good one! Plus, those who someday read it, will get tosee your handwriting and mistakes you made—making you more real!

-Take (orfind) pictures from your past that make you smile. Put them together in a photo album. Youcan save one of the slots to hand write about the pictures on that page on a4x6 piece of paper (acid free to keep from destroying the picture on the otherside of it), or you can make a 4x6 answer on your computer in a photo editingprogram, and print it off with your other pictures!

-Make avideo. You can do this by either taking pictures and adding music to it(like a slide show), or by using your video camera and record yourself talking aboutyou.

-Make anaudio file of you talking about your history. You could do it in the caron the way to work, while getting ready for the day, in one of your favoritelocations, or while you're sitting in bed.

-Write apoem about an aspect of your life. Somepeople are very talented in this area!

-Make adigital photo collage or album through an online site. Add to it regularly.

-Focus onone topic and make a list of things about you concerning that topic.

-Create atable in a word processing program. Choose one topic and fill it in with what you did in the past, what youare doing in the present, and what you hope to do in the future.

-Publisha photo book through an online site, with old pictures and stories about them. This is great because you can make multiplebooks in one easy click of a button!

-Drawsome things about you. For example youcan draw your favorite foods. (This would be especially fun for youngerchildren to do!)

-Do ittogether as a family! Set aside a specific day every week to gettogether. Think of a topic and everyonecan record about themselves in one of the ways above.

-Interviewyour parents, grandparents, or other close family members or friends, and havethem tell you stories about them. Thiswould be so cool for you and your family to have when they pass away!

Fourthroadblock: “No one even cares.”

This is sountrue! Everyone has a story. EVERYONE! Record what makes you, YOU! Thereis only one you, and you are loved by so many people. You possess unique talents, habits, andquirks that no one else has. You thinkand feel differently. You say and dothings that no one else would do. Sharethose things that make you unique!

It would be a tragedy to not leave anythingbehind for your friends and family to remember the real you by. Help your family remember who you really arenow, and who you were in your younger years by recording your history beforeit’s too late. With a little bit ofdetermination, time, and thought you can overcome those roadblocks and recordyour story before you know it!

*Note: This was a post I wrote as a contributor at the Mormon Woman blog a few months ago. I forgot that I'd never shared it on here and thought that maybe some of you would like to read it and share it with those you love who need convincing to write their stories!*

Fast Fact Friday #7

2012-02-17T06:20:00.000-08:00

Today is Friday...and that means it's time for another round of Fast Fact Friday! Yipee!

TIMC reader, Sam, submitted the questions for us today. (Remember you too can submit questions for a FFF! Just email me emils24(at)gmail(dot)com to submit!)

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Here are this week's questions:

1. Do you collect anything?

2. What’s your favorite hobby?

3. What is your style of organization?

4. If you didn’t have any limitations, what would you be passionate about?

5. What hobby have you been thinking about trying, but haven't yet?

If you want to share the fun and easiness of recording your story using Fast Fact Friday, I've moved the code over to the right sidebar--that way it's always there! Also, I added a "Pin It" if you want to put it on Pinterest!

Here's a look at my answers:

1. I used to collect elephants. I still have the collection of them, all glass and ceramic, boxed away in the basement because I have 4 boys and I want to keep them. I haven't really added to them for the last 7 years, but I'm sure once the boys get older I'll start again!

2. This is a hard one! Scrapbooking and photography are tied, with crafting close behind.

3. There's a style? ;) I'm pretty organized, at least that's what people tell me, though when I look at my stuff I think I could do it much better if I had more time and kids who didn't mess everything up!

4. I'd definitely get more into photography--buy my dream camera and grade A glass for my dream camera (all together it would be close to $10,000--yikes). I'd also love to be able to go all over the world to photograph everything. (I wanted to be a photographer for National Geographic when I was younger.)

5. If I had just a few more hours in the day and more money, I'd love to learn some more techniques with scrapbooking. I always see all these fun things in magazines, but I don't want to buy stuff and never have time to do it.

Challenge #41—Love Story

2012-02-15T07:40:00.000-08:00

Since yesterday was Valentine’s day—the day of love—I thought it’d be fun to do a challenge all about love, your love! Now, if you aren’t in a relationship right now, don’t think you can dismiss this challenge just yet, I have something for you too! So…

What is your love story?

If you’re short on time, you can just write up the short version. If you have a bit more time, you can write more details. You can focus on meeting your love, or when you realized you fell in love. You can record your feelings you had when you decided to get serious or exclusive. You can also make a simple timeline: when you met, your fist kiss, the first time you told each other you loved the other, engagement, wedding, kids, etc. You can focus on why you love your significant other, or the qualities that you admire.

If you are not currently in a relationship, you have a few fun options! Really! You can make a layout or list describing your perfect mate. You can record love disasters—like one-way relationships, bad relationships, fails or embarrassing or funny dating stories. Describe your dream wedding, or how you’d like your engagement to play out! Make a list of all your “kisses”, tell how it happened. If you’re daring enough, you can even write about a break-up or broken heart. See, there’s lots you can do for this challenge. And these suggestions aren’t limited to single people either—anyone can do them!

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What Laura did:

What a perfect week to do a layout about my love story. Our story began in the late eighties, but didn't really "start" until the mid-90's. This is our story.

(photos taken 1995)

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Seriously, how cute is Laura’s story? They were truly meant to be together!

What I did:

Well, I thought it’d be fun to do something a little different than I normally do, and since it was a topic about our love story, I had my husband write his version of it. (Bribery may have been given out…) But of course I had to write my version too. My original plan was to make a 2 page layout—one side for Quinn, one side for me. I was only going to put the circle pictures on there, one with each story. But, the stories were both 2 pages long and just didn’t fit unless the print was like 5 pt, so I printed them off in 8 1/2 x 11 (at a readable font) and stuck it in between the 2 pages which I turned into two pages of pictures of us together throughout our courtship. I designed it though so that only the circle pictures were shown on the right side when you first look at the layout. (Does that make sense?) Here’s a picture of what it looks like when you open the album up to that page.

Then you have the stories.

And finally see the pictures on the second page.

This is what it would look like if you took the stories out. Just in case you were wondering…

So it’s definitely not a normal layout. But it’s a great method if you are doing your challenges in scrapbook format and have LOTS of journaling! (And obviously I could’ve saved a couple of hours and not even done the scrapbook page…but I love to scrapbook and I love my honey, so…yes, I spent time on it!)

Page credits: Background paper: The Girls Paperie. Red patterned paper: My Minds Eye. Title rub-ons: Colorbok. Glitter hearts: Scrapworks. Other rub-ons and word strip stickers: unknown.

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And because it’s the season of love, I have a couple of freebies! (Please remember that freebies are for blog followers, and are only for private use.)

The first one is a Fast Form. It’s pretty simple—most of it is writing, but this would be a great option if you’re in a hurry or if you are interviewing a loved one to get their love story!

The second freebie is actually 4 different Valentine’s or love digital papers. (One is the same only distressed.) You can use them for digi scrapping or print them off to use for any other projects of love! Click on the papers you want to download! (Paper downloads will be good for one week.)

♥ Now I challenge you to record your love story! ♥

Fast Fact Friday #6

2012-02-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

It's finally Friday! I love Fridays!

We have a special edition of Fast Fact Friday this week--all to do with the up-coming holiday of love. TIMC reader, Katie, submitted the questions for us today. (Remember you too can submit questions for a FFF! Just email me emils24(at)gmail(dot)com to submit!)

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Here are this week's questions:
1. Do you like Valentine's day?
2. What is one Valentine tradition you have?
3. Who do you want to be your valentine?
4. What was the funniest valentine you ever received?
5. What do you want to get from your valentine this year?

If you want to share the "love" of Fast Fact Friday, I've moved the code over to the right sidebar--that way it's always there! Also, I added a "Pin It" if you want to put it on Pinterest!

Here's a look at my answers:
1. It's my favorite low-key holiday! I love spreading love!
2. Um, don't really have any at all, other than giving out valentines!
3. My hot hubby.
4. Before I met my hubby, this guy I'd gone on two dates with, gave me a dozen red roses, a giant box of chocolates and a stuffed animal. I didn't really care for him in a more than friends way, nor did I think that he felt anything for me, but I found out that day that he really liked me. It was rather awkward. For both of us.
5. A "Happy Valentine's Day" and maybe a love note--that would beat last year's V-day. We were at Disneyland and I'm pretty sure he totally forgot all about V-day.

Challenge #40—What’s in a Name?

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

I know that last week I mentioned that the TIMC challenges would come out the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month…well, since last week was the 1st I thought it’d be fine to do the first Feb. challenge this week, and then we’ll do the second one next Wed. Then there will be no more challenges until March. Hopefully that will give you all some time to get these done, and maybe even do some catching up on previous challenges as well!

I remember once reading an email about some of the perks of being a parent—and the first one of those perks was naming rights. Having had the opportunity to name four children myself, I know it’s fun and also a bit intimidating! A name is with a person for life. Sometimes there’s a reason for a name, a story behind it. So…

What is the story behind your name?

How did your parents come up with it? Were you named after someone special in their lives? Do you like your name? What does it mean?

You can record this in many ways, and go into detail on it or just skim the surface. If you’re not sure, be sure to ask your parents, an older sibling, or someone else who may know. Even if you think you know it, it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Here are a few ideas for you:

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What Kim did (wrote on her blog):

My name...

At one time in my childhood I remember liking my name. In fact, I liked it so much that I wanted to have triplets and name then: Kim, Kimber, and Kimberly.

At another point in my childhood I remember hating my name and wanting to change it to Cynthia.

Now, I love my name again.

I go by Kim, because it's easy, but I think Kimberly is a pretty name...and I LOVE my middle name--Lillian.

The history of Kimberly:

I was named after my brother.... who was named after a doll. :) If I remember correctly (which I may not)... my older sister had a Kimberly doll and my parents liked the name. When my mom got pregnant with what they thought was going to be a little girl, they decided that she would be called Kimberly. When my brother was born, they decided to give him a more masculine name--luckily. They saved the name Kimberly for me, their next girl.

The history of Lillian:

Lillian was passed down from my grandmother's care-taker, Lillian. I never met Lillian; she passed away before I had the chance to meet her. But I do love her name.

It's origins are Latin and come from the flower lily. I think lily's are a very beautiful flower as well, which just adds to the enjoyment of my middle name.

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What April did:

I love my name and was excited to do a page about where and how my name came to be. People have always asked me why my parents chose my name and how come they picked it when I wasn't born in the month of April. It was fun to put the story of my name in a scrapbook page.

Photoshop Brushes: "Out of the Blue" by Seishido.biz, "Watercolor" by Mcbad Fonts: Cambria (Journaling), SNF Infinity Bold (Title)

April has made a digital scrapbook quick page for you to enjoy! Thank you April!!! Please make sure you’re a blog follower, and then you can download it by clicking on it!

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What I did:

I made a traditional scrapbook page, and just told how I got my name and why it’s meaning fits me perfectly. To be honest, I don’t make a lot of “girlie” scrapbook pages—I don’t think my boys would appreciate that too much in 20 years—so I’m not good at it, but I did have fun using half a package of flowers! I must say it was a fun change!

Credits: Patterned paper—Sandy Lion. Cardstock—Bazzil. Flowers—Prima. Buttons—Unknown. Letter stickers—SEI. Pen—Sakura Gelly Roll.

Now I challenge you to record the story of your name!

Winter Wonderland--Free Scrapbook Kit

2012-02-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

***Note**
The download has expired. Share the This Is Me Challenge with your friends and family, and encourage them to follow it--I have more scrapbook kits in the works to give to you for free when we reach the next milestone! :)

Sometime over the weekend we hit 100 blog followers! Yipee! So, as promised in celebration of 100 blog followers and 300 Facebook followers I've made this free digital scrapbook kit for you to enjoy! All the papers are in jpg format and the elements are in png format. You can use the jpgs in any program, even if you don't scrapbook digitally, you can print the papers off and use them physically!

A quick look at the Terms of Use...just so you know!

This kit is for blog followers only. (Please be honest about it.) To download the kit, go here. For some reason I couldn't get the kit uploaded as a whole, and I'm not sure how it's going to work out, but you may have to individually download the things you want. Sorry about that. I'm looking into getting some hosting for future downloads.

Fast Fact Friday #5

2012-02-03T10:49:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the delay in getting today’s Fast Fact Friday up…for some reason I’m all screwed up and didn’t realize it was Friday. I thought it was Thursday, but that’s okay, because mentally my week just got one day shorter! I can’t complain about that, right?

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One of TIMC’s reader’s, Samantha, sent in some questions for today’s Fast Fact Friday. Thanks, Sam! Remember, anyone can submit questions for FFF, just email them to me and I’ll get them up on here in the order I receive them.

1. Do you have/have you ever had any pets?
2. What’s your favorite animal?
3. What animal scares you the most?
4. If you were an animal, what would you be, why?
5. What’s the most exotic animal you have ever seen before?

If you’d like to put a FFF button on your blog/post, use this and help send your family and friends to the TIMC and FFF!

Here’s a peek at my answers for this week’s questions:

1. None right now. Growing up we had numerous dogs, chickens, rabbits and cats.
2. Elephants. Riding an elephant is definitely on my bucket list!
3. Spiders. Yuck. Can’t stand them.
4. Elephant—it’d be fun to run around the jungle and to be able to use my nose the way they do!
5. Hmm, don’t know about exotic. I’ve seen lots of pretty birds at the aviary and zoo, so maybe one of those. Nothing in the wild though.

Changes Are A Comin’…

2012-02-02T09:07:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I experienced a lot of emotions. I think I had a glimpse into what the character George Bailey may have felt in “It’s A Wonderful Life”. Often I’ve wondered if my blog has done any good in the world or helped anyone. I am grateful for those who responded with a hearty “YES”! I feel an overwhelming love being poured out, and thank each one of you for helping me realize that the This Is Me Challenge IS making a difference in your lives and helping you record your story! So, here’s a big thank you…

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me realize that all my work isn’t in vain!

I sincerely appreciate all of you who commented and let me know your thoughts and feelings. I had no idea that so many of you were struggling to get the challenges done too, so it was good to hear that feedback. After much contemplation, I’ve decided to keep at the blog, and will keep doing challenges…but things do need to change. So, here’s what’s going to happen:

*CHALLENGES:
The weekly challenges will be no more. Instead, challenges will come out the first and third WEDNESDAY of each month. Tuesdays are hard for me with getting my son to preschool, so it’s going to change to Wednesdays. Many of you mentioned that you were having a hard time finishing the challenges and getting behind, so I hope this helps all of us out. Less stress for me, more time for you, more time for me—it’s a win, win, win. I don’t want you getting overwhelmed to the point where you just give up and don’t do the challenges because you don’t have time. The point of this blog is to HELP YOU, not make you feel guilty.

*FAST FACT FRIDAY:
Fast Fact Friday will continue on each Friday. Many of you said that this is the only part you have time to do, so if that’s what it takes to get your story recorded, then we will keep doing it. BUT, I do need some help coming up with questions. I know it’s only 5 questions, but my problem is that I’m thinking of questions for challenges too and it’s just creating a big, jumbled mess in my brain. If you want to do anything to help me out, but don’t know how or don’t have tons of time to commit…you can think of 5 questions for a Fast Fact Friday and email them to me. I will give you full credit and even link to your blog/website if you desire. Questions can be random or in a theme. Whatever you want to do!

*CATCHING UP:
We are going to be doing some reviewing. This month challenge #40 is going to be coming out, and for awhile after that one challenge a month will be one that has already been done. This means that all of you who’ve started and not finished a previous challenge, who haven’t had time, or who are new will have time to catch up and not get further behind.

*ADVERTISING:
I am thinking about possibly opening up the blog for advertising slots on the side. Any money made through that will then be used to purchase advertising slots on other blogs to help get the word out—I still don’t feel that I should personally be making any money on this. If you are possibly interested, contact me and we can work something out. Also, if you haven’t followed the blog yet, please do so—this also helps get the word out about the TIMC when people look at your profile. And please continue to spread the word through your blogs, FB, Twitter, Google+, word of mouth about the TIMC. Let others know, especially your loved ones, that recording your personal history IS important and that it can be easy and fun too! I have a ton of freebies up my sleeve and as we get more followers I will make those available to you.

*HELPING OUT:
I am grateful to all of you who said you’d be willing to help out in some way. Right now I am thinking that two or three people helping with advertising and one to help with the FB/Twitter pages would be awesome. Of course, the advertising part depends on what I decide on that, though just emailing bloggers and letting them know about the TIMC would be a huge help. Email me (emils24(at)gmail(dot)com) if you would be interested in helping out in either of these areas. (This of course would not be a paid help…so if you’re looking for a job, look elsewhere! )

Okay, I think that’s all the changes for now. Yes, that’s a lot of changes coming. Thank you again for all your help and support. It’s nice to know that you love the blog, and that it’s helping you out! I feel a renewed sense of happiness and love for the blog again already, and am excited for all that’s coming!

In All Honesty…

2012-02-01T11:21:00.001-08:00

So, I’m a bit nervous to write this post. But on the other hand I’m really kind of frustrated—though I’ve been hiding it. I like to be positive.

In the first mass email I sent to my team members, I told them that if the challenges ever got to the point where it wasn’t fun to do it anymore that they should back out. The whole point of this blog is to have a fun reason and “excuse” to get your personal history recorded. Well, I’m afraid it has come to that point for me—it’s no longer fun.

When I started this, it was mostly to help my family get their stories written. And some of them have, though I think most of them are not. It has certainly helped me though, and I’ve gotten a ton more recorded than I’d ever hoped! Along the way I’ve been able to help some of you too, and that has made it worth it.

But the thing is that lately, in all honesty, it has become more of a burden to me than being fun. I’ve been thinking about the reasons why, so here they are:

I keep getting all these ideas of ways to improve the blog and to help others get their stories recorded, adding things to help others get it done like the Fast Forms and Fast Fact Fridays or free printables and digital kits. I spend at least an hour a day working on things for the blog, but I feel that no one even cares or is even grateful. It takes time to write posts, organize the challenges, make freebies, get stuff from team members, post on FB and Twitter…and do the challenges on top of that. Only every once in awhile does someone comment on the blog or on FB. I can count on one hand the people that regularly do. It’s always nice to get feedback, comments and thank-you’s to help me know that my work and time are appreciated.
With the time I spend, I feel like it’s a part time job. I have four kids. Young kids. Every minute I spend on here is a minute that I’m ignoring them. They are growing up too fast, and I do ignore them sometimes to work on this blog. I try to do a lot of it when they’re sleeping, but that means that I’m giving up other things. I haven’t had much extra time to put into activities I like to do: scrapbooking, sewing, crafting, card making, writing on my personal blog, working on my photography business, etc. because my free time has been spent working on this blog. Maybe if I were making some money at this, it would be worth it. Maybe. But, I have never made one cent, nor am I looking to make anything off of this. I enjoy sharing my ideas and letting others benefit from it. Maybe if I had an extra hour of the day…or someone helping me with administrative things it would take some strain off.
I feel like I’m the only one talking about this blog. Every once in awhile I’ll see that someone has posted about it or pinned it, or shared it. But for the most part, I feel alone in this area. I don’t have money to advertise, so word of mouth—that’s you—is how it has to be done. We have spurts of new people finding the blog, so I know that’s when you’re sharing. And then all is quiet for weeks at a time.
Traffic is slowing down. I have the blog tracked—I have a basic idea of where you live, what browser you’re using, how long you stay on the site, your age range, etc. All of this is to help me know how to better help you and to get to know my audience. But, lately the blog has gotten fewer and fewer visitors. It makes me feel like I am somehow failing. I know everyone’s time is precious. If you’re like me, you start out strong on something then fizzle out after awhile. Maybe that’s why there’s fewer visitors. Maybe the challenges aren’t fun anymore. Maybe no one feels like they have time. Maybe I’m doing something wrong.

So, here’s what I would like to know:

What would you like to see more of/less of? Do you want to come to the blog more or less? (Like only once a week—just for the challenges.)
Do you like the challenges so far or are you getting tired of them? Ready for different types/styles?
Does anyone besides Laura do Fast Fact Friday? I haven’t heard any input on that at all from anyone else. Maybe I should cut it out, or find someone to only do that. It doesn’t take me long to do it, but it’s still a half an hour of time that I don’t need to waste if no one is doing it.
Is there anyone interested in helping me run the blog and/or the FB page/Twitter/Google+ pages in an administrative manner?
Would you like to see other things on the blog, like crafts, projects, printables, etc. or do you just like it to be only the challenges and things related to recording your history?
Should I just quit? I’d leave the blog up as is, so you can always go back and finish up any challenges you haven’t done, but there just wouldn’t be anymore added after this month.
Would you prefer to have the challenges lessened—like to one or two a month? (Or would you just space it and not do any at all?)
Any other ideas, advice, thoughts you have?

I really do enjoy helping others record their history, but I think I’d be more excited if I felt like I had more help and support. I want to love doing this blog again, but if it’s something that isn’t doing good for anyone, I will spend my time elsewhere.

If you have anything to say, please either say it on here (you can even do it anonymously if you choose), or you can email me: emils24(at)gmail(dot)com if you’d prefer to do it in private.

Thanks for your time and feedback.

-Emily

Challenge #39—Grandparents

2012-01-31T04:44:00.000-08:00

When I think back to my childhood, I have lots of happy memories. Some of those fun times include extended family—particularly my grandparents. So, they are the inspiration for this week’s challenge!

What are some of your favorite memories with your grandparents?

Like always, you can focus your challenge on a whole bunch of different memories throughout your life with your grandparents, or you can select one specific tradition or time and record about that. Skim the surface or go into detail. The choice is yours!

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What Laura did:

My grandparents were a big part of my life growing up. I’m fortunate to have one of my grandmothers still alive. She has gotten to meet and spend time with both of my children, and that is so important to me.

This week I created a layout highlighting some of my favorite memories with my grandparents. The memories I have with all of them will always stay close to my heart.

And my journaling …

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What Rachel did:

I have lots of memories of my grandparents-I could do layouts and share stories all day! I am very close to my grandparents on my dad’s side because they are the only grandparents I've really ever known.

I found a very very basic layout I did years ago of some of my favorite pictures of my grandparents.

(Going clockwise) The top pictures are my grandparents as missionaries for our church. They have gone on at least three mission trips that I know of-New Zealand, Washington DC and Nauvoo Illinois. The next two pictures are when my grandparents had their mission trip in Nauvoo. They would dress up in time period clothes every day and give tours at the church historic homes. My Grandpa also helped with a lot of maintenance stuff-he is very handy! One year my sister and I stayed a couple weeks during the summer with them and learned some of the tours and historic information and presented it to my parents when they came to visit. Another year, my brother, sister, three of my cousins and I took part in the Nauvoo pageant which took weeks of practices and weeks of performances. It was so much fun!! I loved dressing up, spending time with family and wearing makeup for the first time!! It was such an adventure!! The bottom right pictures were taken in SLC, Utah when my cousin and I went out to college. We got to attend the very first session of general conference at the brand new conference center for the LDS church. The bottom left picture is in front of the Washington DC temple with my cousins. My grandparents had a home right across the street from the LDS temple, so we went to visit them and the temple quite often. The middle picture is an older Christmas picture when I was younger and lived on our farm in PA.

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What I did:

I had lots of fun little things that I wanted to share, and I wanted to do it in more of a story format. I decided to just do a video of myself talking about some fun memories with my grandparents using my webcam.

I’ve never done this before, so I was surprised when I noticed I could upload my video to You Tube. The thought occurred to me that in your family (like your parents and siblings) you could make your own You Tube channel (private or public), and all tell stories on the challenges and then everyone could see them! It was easy too—it took a little over 6 minutes to record (which I did in one take), then a couple of minutes to upload to my video on You Tube. I may just do this more often!

You don’t have to watch this, I promise it’s not that great unless you know my grandparents, but you can watch it if you really want to. Or if you just want to laugh at me. It’s all unedited, so there’s a few things to laugh at… I didn’t write anything down, so I may say “um” a few times while I’m trying to think of what to say next. Oh well…this is me…!

Now I challenge you record about your grandparents!

P.S. Remember that more followers=more freebies….so share the TIMC with your friends and family and help them record their story their way too! I’ve got tons of things up my sleeve and I’m excited to share!

Fast Fact Friday #4

2012-01-27T06:41:00.001-08:00

Yeah! It’s Friday! That means it’s time for another round of Fast Fact Friday. This week’s theme is adventure, and you can answer all these questions with yes or no.

Have you ever been:

1. Scuba diving?

2. Bungee jumping?

3. In a helicopter?

4. Sky diving?

5. Cliff jumping?

I’m not adventurous at all, the only one of those that I’ve done is bungee jumping and it scared me silly. I would love to ride in a helicopter though.

Now it’s time to share your answers with your friends and family, or at least your journal.

And remember, if you’d like to ask the Fast Fact Friday questions, shoot me an email: emils24(at)gmail(dot)com.

Challenge #38—Real Beauty

2012-01-24T09:54:00.001-08:00

The world today tells us many things. Beauty is one of the things it tells us—we “have” to be this pretty or that thin, or have to look like this movie star or that celebrity. Well, the reality is that most of us don’t look like movie stars—not even the movie stars! It’s so sad to see how many women and girls are falling prey to the worldly beliefs that in order to succeed and be happy we need to look like a celebrity. This clip is a must-see:

True beauty comes from within. As long as you are happy with yourself, then you are beautiful! Okay, now I’ll step off my soap box and give you the challenge:

What do you like/dislike about your body?

You can make a list of what you like and don’t like about your body, you can record the details about one thing that you like or don’t like, record what you think your true beauty is, you can do some before and after photos. You can even set some goals if you’d like!

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What April did:
Since being pregnant, I have come to appreciate my body and being healthy so much more! The things that I didn't like about my body before don't seem so big to me now and I would take those small "imperfections" any day! I'm very grateful for my body and have learned to love it for what it is.

Photoshop Brushes: Different, 29 Free Dotted Photoshop Patterns, Simple Florals by Pixels and Ice Cream Fonts: Harrington, Futura

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What Kim did:

Had I been asked this question before I got married, I probably could have named a million things that I hated about my physical appearance. Luckily, I have a husband who treats my like I am the most beautiful girl in the world; so I am quite happy and blessed with my physical appearance.

There are still a couple things that bug me though:
1. I'm not a fan of buying bras that teenage girls buy-- but I still have to.
2. I hate my little toes/toe nails.
3. I feel like my natural hair color is greasy looking.

Over all, I am very grateful for a healthy body. I am a healthy weight. I have two arms that work and have been very handy in sports, outdoor recreation, and playing with my family. I have two legs that can run and jump and help me keep up with my kiddos. My eyes are a color that I like: they are healthy right now and I don't need glasses. They help me see this beautiful word and I am grateful they work. I have a nice smile that I love to use. And I have skin that keeps me all together, and it can get some color (which I am pleased with) and freckles that I've grown to like.

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What I did:

I made a simple layout where I touched on the subject of my body image and then listed my likes/dislikes. I had to poke fun at my large feet—and am seriously thinking about doing a layout just about my feet when I have picture-worthy toes. (My toenails are in serious need of some polish.)

Credits: Paper, unknown. Scallop border punch, Fiskars. Circle punches, EK Success, Marvy Uchida. Gel pen, Sakura.

I don’t have a Fast Form this week, mostly because I’m sick and just don’t have energy to do anything. But we are really close to reaching 300 blog followers, and when we do I will have the Winter Wonderland kit for you to download!

Pin It

Now I challenge you to record what you like and dislike about your body!

My Memories Suite 3 Winner!

2012-01-21T20:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight I got to draw the winner for the My Memories Suite 3!

(And remember if you didn't win, you can get $10 off, which makes it $29.97 AND you also get a $10 My Memories store credit by using the special code: STMMMS476, just go here!)

I used a random number generator and got this:

10 13 5 7 11 817 1 312 15 414 9 6 2 16

It looks like comment #10 is the winner! And who was comment #10?

Matt and Shan Cole said...: I follow MMS blog
January 20, 2012 9:32 PM

Congrats! Send me an email within the next 72 hours to claim your prize!

Fast Fact Friday #3

2012-01-20T04:17:00.000-08:00

Here’s another quick round of questions for you to fill out in just minutes! I decided that I really like having a theme, so I think I will stick with a theme from now on! (Remember, if you have 5 questions that you’d like to ask for a Fast Fact Friday, you can email me your questions as well as a link to your blog! You can have a theme or just do 5 random ones.)

This week’s theme is: MOVIES

1. What was the last movie you saw in the theater?
2. What was the last movie you watched at home?
3. Who is your favorite movie star?
4. What movie can you watch over and over and never get sick of it?
5. What movie will you never watch again?

Here’s a peek at my answers, short and simple:
1. Breaking Dawn
2. With kids: Cars 2 Without kids: Limitless
3. Reese Witherspoon
4. Elf
5. Top Gun—saw it when I was 12 or 13 and hated it so much I swore an oath against it.Pin It

Valentine’s Day Cards {Free Printables!}

2012-01-19T11:26:00.001-08:00

So last night I had this idea to make some fill in the blank valentine’s cards for my kids to give to their grandparents this year.
Pin It

Then, I thought, why not make some to share with my wonderful readers at the TIMC too? Then I figured I’d cover all the bases for any type of person (male or female) who would like a simple, fun card. There’s room at the bottom to sign it, and I didn’t put anything about v-day on it, so you can use it for birthday, sympathy, just because, etc!

There’s “Girlie” and “Outdoorsman/woman”:

There’s “Sporty” and “Techie”.

T(w)een boys and girls:

And there’s “Kiddie” too—shown first above and then below.
Plus boy and girl specific, in case you want to give dad a variety. The kiddie ones all have the same cover.

These are quite easy to do, just download the kind of card(s) you want, open up any program that takes jpgs, print on cardstock, cut in half horizontally, and fold vertically.   Then fill it in!

TIP*** Make sure you pay close attention to the direction your printer prints. In fact, I’d do a test run on plain paper so you know how your printer works doing two sides.
You can also cut the parts out you want and glue to another piece of paper, and add more to it like so:

There are two of every kind on one piece of paper, so you’ll get two of each card you print (unless you know how to put one on top of the other kind of like I did in the examples). This is what the download will look like, front and back:



I do ask, pretty please with a cherry on top, that you follow the blog via Google Friend Connect on the right or top of the blog. Think of it as payment for my time! Plus, I promise the more followers TIMC gets, the more freebies YOU get! (Like the Winter Wonderland Kit when we reach 100 followers.) If you’d like to download these cards, all you have to do is go here.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Challenge # 37—Sing a Song

2012-01-17T07:50:00.001-08:00

Looking for the My Memories Suite 3 Giveaway? Click here.
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Most of us have some sort of connection to music—whether it be playing an instrument or two, singing in a choir or even just listening to the radio. So, here’s your challenge today:

What music do you like? How has it influenced you?

You can go about this numerous ways. Record your favorite songs and artists now and/or throughout your life. Explain why you love music and how it affects your mood. Tell about instruments you’ve played and why you love it. Recount experiences from choirs you’ve sung in. And, if you’re completely un-musical, you can record about that and why!

Remember, there are numerous ways to complete these challenges! Go here if you need some more ideas about how to complete them!

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What Rachel did:

I wrote a lot of journaling with this layout so I could share my thoughts about how music has influenced me from childhood thru today.

Credits: Page Builder #11 by Albums to Remember Paper and Embellishments from Music Melody Scrap kit by Twin Moms. Pictures by Rachel.

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What Laura did:

I have to admit, I listen mostly to country music, but I could listen to just about anything (except for RAP). Whenever I am in the car, I HAVE to listen to music. Most of time, I plug in my phone and listen to the music on my playlist, but there are days when I'm looking for a new song, or just want a change of pace from the songs I listen to all the time and switch to what is playing on the radio.

So, for the challenge, I'm going to list the songs that are constantly played from my playlist, and then I'm going to list songs from the 70's, 80's, and 90's that I've enjoyed listening to over the years. Many of them bring back a special memory (don't you just love that certain songs do that).

· American Honey - Lady Antebellum
· Anyway - Martina McBride
· Beautiful Day - Lee DeWyze
· The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel
· Breakeven - The Script
· Colder Weather - Zac Brown Band
· Come on Get Higher - Matt Nathanson
· Dream Big - Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband
· Hallelujah - The Canadian Tenors
· Hello World - Lady Antebellum
· The House That Built Me - Miranda Lambert
· I Am .... I Said - Neil Diamond
· I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz
· It's Only Life - Kate Voegele
· Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri
· Johnny and June - Heidi Newfield
· Keep Breathing - Ingrid Michaelson
· Keep Holding On – Glee
· Little Miss – Sugarland
· Pie Jesu - Marie Osmond
· Rhythm of Love - Plain White T's
· Say - John Mayer
· The Scientist – Coldplay
· A Thousand Years - Christina Perri
· 1234 – Feist

And now the songs over the years ...

Songs from the 1970's
· Dancing Queen – Abba
· You're So Vain - Carly Simon
· Grease - Frankie Vallie
· Band on the Run - Paul McCartney and Wings
· How Deep is Your Love - Bee Gees
· Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain and Tennille
· You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone
· I Just Want to be Your Everything - Andy Gibb
· Escape (the Pina Colada song) - Rupert Holmes
· Even Now - Barry Mannilow

Songs from the 1980's
· Take on Me – aHa
· Walk Like an Egyptian - The Bangles
· The Tide is High – Blondie
· In the Air Tonight - Phil Collins
· I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight - Cutting Crew
· Life in a Northern Town - Dream Academy
· Faithfully – Journey
· Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
· Toy Soldiers – Martika
· Send Me an Angel - Real Life
· Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
· Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
· Nobody - Sylvia

Songs from the 1990's
· My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion
· Nothing Compares to You - Sinead O'Connor
· Give it Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers
· Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day
· Everybody Hurts – REM
· Nothing Else Matters – Metallica
· Walk on the Ocean - Toad the Wet Sprocket
· Dreams – Cranberries
· I'll Stand by You

I hope you've enjoyed reading through my lists. Do any of these songs bring back memories for you?

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What I did:

I recorded some of my thoughts about the music I’ve listened to growing up and now—and how/when I listen(ed) to it. I typed them up and put them on this digital layout.

Credits: Fonts: Wish I Were Taller (title), CK Ali’s Handwriting (sub-title), Spicy Sushi Roll (journaling). All other elements and papers made by me.

It took quite awhile to do this! I googled top music hits of the times I wanted in order to remember some of the artists I haven’t thought about for awhile. Then I went through the CD’s we have to jog my memory as well. Though I did it this way, you can always just do whatever comes to your mind to make it quicker.

I made this layout into a jpg for you to download if you’d like to use it. You can import it into any scrapbooking program and put journaling and/or pictures on top of it.

Also, a Fast Form for anyone who wants to do this a little quicker! Please make sure you are a follower of the blog (via GFC) if you’d like to use the freebies! Click on the pictures to download whichever one(s) you want.

Now I challenge you to record about music in your life!

Simple Things Sunday

2012-01-15T16:20:00.001-08:00

So far, so good on my goal to capture the simple moments of my life! This is the second Simple Things Sunday I’m linking up to for January!

I thought this was so precious the other evening when I noticed my 7 year old reading to my 2 year olds! I had told them all to go read, but didn’t expect them to all sit in the recliner reading together. I tell you, nothing makes this momma’s heart go pitter patter more than seeing moments like these!

Go here to see more simple inspiration from others!

My Memories Suite 3 Giveaway

2012-01-14T14:57:00.001-08:00

This is something I’ve been dying to give away to one lucky person…the all new My Memories Suite 3 from My Memories! This program is all-around awesomeness! With it, you can make scrapbook pages, calendars, put videos and slideshows together, add links to websites and more! If you’ve been wanting to add a little oomph to your challenges, but just haven’t taken the plunge into buying a program yet, you just may want to try this out!

There are basically three ways you can make scrapbook pages: design your own from scratch, template designer, and quick pages.

This is a page I made from scratch. I decided where to put everything. The papers and elements were all free from the My Memories store.

This one I used the template designer, which has everything all there in the program, but I still have the flexibility to move things around and delete what I don’t want.

This is a free quick page from the My Memories store—the scrapbooking was already done and I just added my pictures, title and journaling. I put this layout together in less than 10 minutes!

Also, if you make an assortment of scrapbook pages, you can put them together into a slideshow then add some music to it. You’ll be able to show them off on your blog, email them to loved ones, or burn them onto a DVD for a keepsake. You can see a slideshow I put together here for a previous challenge. This would be fun to do for a year in review video!

Also, one new thing I decided to try out, was the calendar. I haven’t bought one yet this year, and I was really missing not having a hard copy of one on my office wall. I created a simple calendar of January and February, then printed it off at home to put up on my wall. Now I can just glance at what’s going on—and what challenges are coming up!

For the calendars, I only used items that come with the program, background papers, shapes, flowers, ribbons, buttons, stitching, word art, etc. so you can see there is a variety—plus all the colors are named the same so you know exactly which color you’re getting!

Want to enter to win?

First, make sure you’re a TIMC blog follower via GFC, then you will have 4 chances to win a MMS3 download! You get one entry per number below, just make sure you leave a separate comment for each one.

1. Go to the My Memories Suite blog and follow it. (You can find tutorials, challenges, forums and new info on the blog!)

2. Become a fan of MMS on FB or Twitter.

3. Tell me which free item on the MMS site is your favorite.

4. Become a fan of TIMC on FB or Twitter.

This contest is open until Sat. Jan. 21st at 8 pm MST. A winner will be picked and announced on the blog, and will have to claim the prize via email within 72 hours, otherwise a new winner will be drawn.

And if you don’t win, don’t worry! You can go to the MMS site and download My Memories Suite 3 for $10 off—that’s just $29.97 (USD), AND get a $10 credit for the store by copying and pasting this code: STMMMS4767

Good luck!

Fast Fact Friday #2

2012-01-13T05:34:00.000-08:00

Hooray, it’s Friday! Among other things (like the weekend), I’m excited for another round of Fast Factness! (That’s a word, right?)

I thought it’d be fun to have a theme this week, and chose food. It’s always a good theme, right?

1. How do you like your chocolate?

2. What dessert or treat can you never say “no” to?

3. What is your favorite meal?

4. Which food do you dislike the most?

5. What do you think the healthiest thing is in your pantry right now?

Now go get answering!

If you decide to post your answers on your blog, put this button on the bottom of your post to send your friends and family this way, and let them share in on the fun!

Here are my answers, short and simple:

1. Dark. Love, love love it! (Plus they say in moderation it’s healthy!)

2. Ice cream. Especially vanilla. (I’m boring, I know.)

3. Baked salmon, rice and steamed broccoli.

4. Umm, mushrooms and bananas are tied. I can’t stand the smell, taste or texture of either.

5. Probably flax seed.

Winter Wonderland Kit

2012-01-10T19:57:00.000-08:00

This is a preview of the free digital kit I made just as a celebration of 300 FB fans, and 100 blog followers. We just hit 300 fans on FB, like minutes ago, but we are a little slow on reaching 100 blog followers.
A little bit about this kit:
-There are 16 papers (12 shown here) in jpg format. You can use them digitally, or print them off and use them traditionally.
-Embellishments include: 6 ribbons, 6 snowflakes, 5 tags, a corner banner, and glitter brackets, all in png format for using in any scrapbook software!

If you are liking this kit, make sure you tell your friends and family about how easy it is to record your history when you can do a challenge a week! Remember, you don't have to do anything fancy, even writing it in a notebook or on your blog is fine! If they (or you) don't have time for doing challenges, inform them of the the new Fast Fact Friday--only 5 questions that take 2 minutes to answer!

Follow on the right sidebar or top left navibar! And thanks for helping me get the word out about the TIMC!

Challenge #36—Open Mouth, Insert Foot

2012-01-10T04:59:00.000-08:00

We all have them…those moments that we’d rather not remember, but sometimes they’re funny. Those embarrassing times—eek.

What are some of your embarrassing moments?

Now, before you go writing off this challenge, you don’t have to write about your most embarrassing, humiliating moments. You can choose some less embarrassing or funny things—small things you’ve said or done. Well, you can record your most embarrassing one too if you want! (But I didn’t!)

You can do this in the many different ways of course. Also, you can approach this challenge by writing a most embarrassing moment, scrapbooking it, writing a poem or a song about it, or heck, you can even write a book about all of them! Record one embarrassing moment. Record four. Or you can just tell something embarrassing that you do regularly! Here’s a look at what we did!

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What Kim wrote on her blog:

Oh joy! The chance to share one of my most embarrassing moments.... I assure you there are many, but this was the first one that came to my mind.

I loved hiking to the top of Timpanogos Mountain in Utah. I tried to do it every year when I was in high school and continued to do so for a couple years afterwards.

My freshman year of college (this makes the story even more embarrassing...I can't believe I am admitting this on a website) I asked a guy that I liked if he'd to go hike to the top with me sometime; he said yes so we planned our trip.

The hike up was amazing. We made it to the top before sunrise and watched in the cold as the sun came up over the mountains east of us. We hiked down to the little lake at the bottom of the back side of the mountain. The date was going great.

About half way back down from the hike it hit me that I really had to go to the bathroom and hadn't gone the whole trip yet. I'd done this hike enough to know that there were a few "restroom" places along the trail. We hiked a little further and finally there was the sign I was looking for. "Restroom ---->".

I excused myself from my date and ran down the trail. When I got the end of the trail there was a big pile of old bricks where it looked like there used to be an actual restroom that had been destroyed. Now is was just a big open area with large bricks on the ground.

At this point I really had to go now. I didn't know when else I was going to sneak away from my date. Apparently I didn't go camping as often as I thought I had as a kid, because I had no idea how to squat in the outdoors. I grabbed onto one of the large bricks and squated down. I thought I had done a pretty good job, until I looked down at my pants and realized that I had totally gotten myself... and it was obvious.

On my way back down the "restroom trail" I noticed some mud puddles, so I jumped in them to try and make it look like I had just been puddle jumping.

Honestly... I don't think it had worked.

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What April did:

Explanation:
This challenge was harder for me since I really don't have any embarrassing moments. Then my husband reminded me of one embarrassing thing that he teases me about all the time - I talk in my sleep and say really funny things!

April was so generous to create this template to share with you too! It’s in PSD format (which means you can use it only in Photoshop or Elements). Click here to download it for free. Please make sure you’re a TIMC follower, and be sure to thank April for sharing her hard work!

Credits: Photoshop brushes: default brushes Fonts: Just one more picture (Journaling), Freeze! (Title) All other elements created by April Bird

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What I did:

I am REALLY good at embarrassing myself. Because I’m so good at it, I usually try to block out any memories of embarrassing moments. There were only three that I could even think of off the top of my head (I didn’t want to dig deeper.) The first one happened in Kindergarten, the second when I got my first bra, and the 3rd one happened in 9th grade. I decided to record my first one, because let’s just say my 9th grade one involves a certain time of the month and a jacket tied around my waist. I have all boys, and don’t really feel like sharing that one with them. Ever. Maybe not even the bra one either.

Here’s a look at my more light-hearted embarrassing moment page. I just typed up the story in Word, printed and cut it out, then glued it to a blank scrapbook paper. Simple and easy. Nothing fancy this time.

Credits: Paper, Die Cuts With a View—Green Stack (Recycled Paper!). Font, Smiley Monster—Kevin and Amanda.

Just an update: we just need 19 more blog followers (and 3 more FB fans) so I can release the winter digital scrapbook kit! Please share the TIMC with your friends and family, and help them get their stories recorded too! One great way for anyone to start recording is to use the Fast Forms. Here’s a Fast Form to help with this week’s challenge! Please remember that freebies are for TIMC blog followers only. Click on the picture to download.

Now I challenge you to record some (or even just one) of your embarrassing moments!

Fast Fact Friday #1

2012-01-06T06:24:00.001-08:00

I had an idea a few weeks ago that I’m going to start doing on here every Friday—Fast Fact Friday! Every Friday there will be 5 simple questions that you can answer anywhere you want to: in your journal, type it up on your computer, do a short video, on your blog, on FB or Twitter, really anywhere you want to! You can keep the answers short and sweet or embellish on them if you’d like. Or do both!

Here are this week’s 5 questions—they are just the first five random questions I thought of:

1. How long have you lived at your current residence?

2. What is the exact shade of your favorite color?

3. How much sleep do you get each night?

4. Have you ever been able to do the splits?

5. What is your favorite breakfast?

I also thought it’d be fun to let anyone ask the questions too, so if you would like to come up with the questions for a future Fast Fact Friday, please email me your 5 questions. You can choose a theme to have for your questions, or 5 random ones. Leave your name and your blog if you’d like to as well! My email is emils24(at)gmail(dot)com.

If you decide to post your answers on your blog, put this button on the bottom of your post to send your friends and family this way, and let them share in on the fun!

Here are my answers, short and simple:
1. It will be 5 years in May.
2. Lime green
3. 7 1/2 to 8 hours--if I don't, I get migraines.
4. Yes, until I had kids.
5. Oatmeal with strawberries or blueberries.

(I decided to not do a linky party, because last time I did one no one participated…so if you’d like to, you can leave a comment with a link to your blog. If enough people do that over time we’ll start doing linky parties.)

Challenge #35—One Little Word

2012-01-03T04:48:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I’m not the only one to think it, I’m sure, but seriously how did 2012 creep up on us? Time flies by too fast…

As I’ve read some blogs in the last few days, I’ve noticed quite a few people who choose one word to improve on for the whole year—they pick one word and that word is their goal for the year. So, with some switching things around with my fabulous team members, Laura and Rachel, who were generous enough to follow my whim of changing challenges, I’m issuing this challenge to you!

What is one word that you want to improve on in 2012?

I know, this is not a normal challenge question, but as I thought about it, I came to realize that setting a one word goal can tell a lot about a person in that moment of time.

You can complete this challenge any way you like, though I recommend doing something that you can put out as a constant visual reminder throughout the year. Write your main word down, and then record some things you’re going to do to accomplish that goal!

Here’s a look at what we did.

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What Laura did:

Even though I slacked on my "One Little Word" project last year. My word last year was patience (which should be my word for every day of my life), I am picking a new word for 2012. My word for 2012 is SIMPLIFY.

In 2011, I planned on taking on so many creative projects. I really had my hopes set high in completing all that I set out for, but I fell short on so many things. The only thing I did keep up with was taking a photo every day for my Project Life book. Yes, I still have journaling to do, but all pictures were taken, and my album is coming along beautifully.

So to SIMPLIFY in 2012, I am still going to do a Project Life book, but I will be creating a Shutterfly Project Life album instead of putting a manual album together. I will most likely still be taking a photo a day in 2012, but the album that I will be creating will be a two-page spread for each month (seven or more photos on the two-page spread) instead of having a photo for every day in the album. It will be a lot SIMPLER.

Here is a sample page of the digital album.

Another thing I am going to start doing again in 2012 is keep a journal. I have been keeping a book for the past two years that I have felt obligated to write in every single day. Keeping a journal with no dates takes the obligation and stress away for having to write something every day (again ... trying to lead a SIMPLE life).

I also found a great idea that I want to start doing in 2012. I want to start to take a weekly picture of our family (not sure how I'm going to work that yet), but I found the idea here.

One other way I'm going to SIMPLIFY in 2012 is to cut down on the TV shows that I watch. The shows start to accumulate on my DVR and there have been times when I get stressed over all the shows I need to catch up on. That has to STOP. I want to spend more time reading, and I'm hoping my new Nook Tablet will help me accomplish that.

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What Rachel did:

Rachel’s word this year is “Health”. She made a digital layout with her 15 fitness goals for 2012.

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What I did:

I pondered about what my word for 2012 would be for quite awhile. I had many words pass through my head, then all the sudden I remembered a talk I heard last April by Lynn G. Robbins (a male Lynn, not female). (You can read the whole talk here.) My favorite paragraph says:

“Many of us create to do lists to remind us of things we want to accomplish. But people rarely have to be lists. Why? To do’s are activities or events that can be checked off the list when done. To be, however, is never done. You can’t earn checkmarks with to be’s. I can take my wife out for a lovely evening this Friday, which is a to do. But being a good husband is not an event; it needs to be part of my nature—my character, or who I am.”

It hit me that my word for 2012 should be, “BE”! Now, since it’s kind of an abstract word, I decided to break it down into things I want to be and then set goals for those things. Of course, I wanted to keep it simple and attainable, so I am choosing one thing I want to “be” each month and setting 3 small goals for each. I will choose a new “Be” every month, but I won’t stop working on the previous be’s. So by the end of the year, I hope to “be” improved in 36 small ways—so I can “be” a better person in 12 months than I am now!

To help me visualize this, I added some vinyl, a large “BE”, to my dry-erase board. I wrote “Healthy” on the top, since that is my goal for January (too many treats and not enough exercise for me during the holidays). I made three small goals of how I’m going to be healthier this month. This is in my office where I will see it constantly.

In addition to this, I’m writing all my goals in a Word document and at the end of each month I will do a little write-up of how I did on my goals. I’m also going to be posting my goals on my personal blog so my family and friends will know my goals and can help keep me in line! I need all the help I can get…!

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And just a little announcement—there have been so many downloads on the free Christmas paper pack and elements, that I decided to give you some new digital goodies when we reach 100 blog followers and 300 fans on FB—we are really close! (Think winter color scheme and glitter!) So, please share with your friends if you are liking the challenges here at TIMC, or even just the freebies! And since there are no freebies this week, I’m keeping the Christmas papers and elements available for another week, so go grab them if you haven’t already! (2 and 3 posts back.)

Now, I challenge you to come up with one little word for 2012!

Simple Things Sunday

2012-01-01T15:19:00.001-08:00

Almost everyday I have one of those heart fluttering moments. You know, one of those surprise moments that emits pure happiness. One of my boys holding my hand or giving me a surprise kiss. Seeing one of my boys give his brother a random hug. A certain look from my husband that still gives me butterflies. Watching my boys laugh. Seeing my husband “wrestling” with the boys. There are so many simple, happy times that happen in my life—and often they come and go so quickly that they are but a fleeting memory.

Awhile ago, I extended a bonus challenge to record some simple things in your life. I’m once again extending that challenge—because it’s really not just a one-time thing. And as for me, I’m going to be linking up to the Simple Things Sunday at least twice a month—an accountability if you will, to help remind me to look more for the simple, everyday things in my life, and to record them too! My boys will not be this young forever, and I want to remember these special, simple moments. Moments that make my heart pitter-patter!

So, here’s my first one of 2012: Christmas day was filled with excitement for all of us. My in-laws came over in the afternoon, the time my twins usually go down for naps, so we kept them up. Pretty soon we could see their eyelids getting heavy, and my oldest twin laid down on his big brothers new sleeping bag and fell asleep under the lights of the Christmas tree. It was too perfect and precious to not photograph!

I was playing around a bit with post-processing, and came across this lovely, dreamy finish. Which do you like better?

Actions used: Hushabye from the Lilly Action Set from MiaBella Boutique, Florida and New York from Everyday Elements.

Go here to see more wonderful Simple Things!

Challenge #34 (Part 3)—Traditions

2011-12-23T14:14:00.001-08:00

This month has been super busy! I meant to get this post up on Tuesday, but here it is now Friday and I’m finally getting around to it…

As I mentioned in the previous post, I decided to put all my Christmas scrapbook pages together and make one album just of Christmas memories. I was only going to put traditions in there, but then I figured I’d put everything Christmas-y in it: traditions and events. This way we can look in it every year at Christmas time and remember our traditions as well as what we’ve done differently each year. I don’t always record every tradition we do each year, so I thought this album would give a good overview. (If you celebrate Hanukah, Kwanza, or any other holiday, you can make an album of just that. It’s not limited to Christmas only—I’m just writing about Christmas because that’s what we celebrate.)

And if you are not a scrapbooker, I think a traditions album could be made in many ways! If you like to write, you can write a list of all the things you did each season, or write stories about it. If you like to take photos, but don’t scrapbook, you can put them all in one holiday album. If you are a blogger, you can make a page or a post on your blog that links to every post you’ve written on your holiday.

So, here’s a look at my album. I bought this simple red linen album at Michael’s a couple weeks ago. I used a coupon and it came out to like $12. It has a small window in the front that I just used some scrapbook supplies to fancy it up. When the album is full, I think I will use some of the white space to write the years that are included on the front of it.

I put all of my Christmas pages in the album: Christmas day, preparations, gingerbread houses, going to see the lights, parties, etc. Anything that related to Christmas. I put sticker tabs on the first page of each year and labeled the years since I didn’t write the year on every layout—because I do my family’s album by year. Yes, it took some time, but I pulled all of the Christmas pages out of my family scrapbooks. I figure that we’ll know we did stuff for Christmas, because all we need to do is look in this album, right? Some years (like 2003 and 2004), I only have one page for the whole season. Other years I have multiple layouts, so the tabs are necessary for our album! I also thought about using the scrapbook dividers that Becky Higgins sells, but they aren’t available until January, and I wanted to get this done. But that’s another option if you are more patient than me!

The tabs are an idea to add if you want to just do a simple photo album. Also, you can grab a 4x6 piece of paper and quickly jot about some of your pictures on it if there’s not room for journaling in the album.

Another idea: along with the layouts of things we did, I decided to start making a layout of our Christmas card and letter we sent out to everyone. It’s a great summary of our whole year and what went on for the year. (I started this in 2008, and it’s fine that I don’t have it for previous years, so don’t fret if you haven’t kept track of these kinds of things!)

See, I’ve already gotten this year’s card and letter done!

One thing I really love about this album, is it’s fun to see how we’ve grown and changed from year to year. This is something you don’t notice as much in a regular album from a whole year.

(Supplies: It just so happens that all of the papers, stickers, etc. that I’ve shown you are from SEI. Glitter glue on front cover, Studio G. Album, Michael’s.)

Now I challenge you to get recording your own holiday memories and traditions—and making some as well! Happy holidays!

Challenge #34 (Part Two)—Tradition

2011-12-13T07:55:00.001-08:00

Last week I forgot to mention that this challenge would be the last of the year. December is a busy time for most people, so I didn’t want you to get that much further behind! Plus, if you do have time to work on recording your story, you can play catch-up with past challenges that you haven’t been able to do yet! (Go to the tab on top for a complete list!)

This week we have a couple more ideas for you to complete your own “Tradition” challenge, and a couple of freebies! If you haven’t yet, see part one of this challenge here.

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What April did:

Every year my parents have taken our family on an outing at the beginning of December to start out the Christmas season. This tradition has continued even after we have grown up and started our own families. I wanted to show in this week's challenge what we did this year. We went to the 20th anniversary of "The Forgotten Carols" starring Michael McLean. After the show we were able to meet the cast. It was an amazing experience that started the Christmas season reminding me of what it's all about.

Credits: Photoshop brushes: snowflakes_brushes_by_hawksmont.abr Fonts: LainieDaySH, Bradley Hand ITC TT, ITC Garamond Handtooled Std.

April’s Christmas gift for you today, is a quick page of her layout! Followers of TIMC can download it here for free! Thanks, April!

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Another “What I did”:

With this challenge I decided that I’m going to make a “Christmas Traditions” album. It’s just going to have a glimpse of our Christmas traditions from year to year. I am pulling some of the scrapbook pages I made in previous years and put them into one album.

Every year we do some of the same things: make a gingerbread house, go see Christmas lights, cutting down our own Christmas tree, etc. I figured I’d also put Christmas morning in there too. I’m sure that through the years our traditions will change, grow, and we’ll get new ones, so it will be so fun to look through the album from year to year and see all of our Christmases in one place!

This is a look at last year’s page about our gingerbread house…which was a disaster. But oh so fun to record and look back on!

Credits: Template: Jessica Sprague, Paper and elements: Summertime Designs, Fonts: You are Loved, Cursive Standard, Century Gothic.

This one is a look at Christmas morning in 2008. It’s seriously so fun to look at how young my kids look! (And I was pregnant with the twins at the time.)

Credits: Template: Scrapping With Liz, Paper and Elements: Summertime Designs, Fonts: Don’t remember…

I’m going to be working on my album this next week and get some pictures of that up next week!

Now for the 2nd freebie of today. Last week I gave you a digital paper pack that I designed, and this week I have a package of (simple) elements to go with it! There are more than this included! (Elements are in PNG files.)

If you are a follower, you can go here to download it for free! Enjoy!

Now, get going on your holiday traditions, and don’t forget to record them!

Gifts to Jesus

2011-12-08T10:06:00.001-08:00

We did something in our home on Monday night that turned out so well, I thought I’d share it with any of you who celebrate the birth of Christ.

In Church on Sunday, a sister in our congregation talked about how her dad wrapped a box up at Christmas time, and whenever the kids did something Christ-like, they would write it on a paper and put it into the present for Jesus.

Well, I thought this sounded fabulous, and decided to make it a new Christmas tradition in our home!

I found a box that already had a small opening in the bottom, taped up the top, wrapped it really pretty, then cut the paper where the small opening was. Then I wrote “To Jesus” on the top, and taped a card that has baby Jesus on it.

I also cut 3 or 4 blank pieces of paper into rectangles (2 1/2 inches by 4 1/4), put them along with a couple of pens into a small can I had. I tied a big red bow on it for fun.

To start the lesson, I had my two older boys read the quote by Thomas S. Monson that says, “What will you and I give for Christmas this year? Let us in our lives give to our Lord and Savior the gift of gratitude by living his teachings and following in His footsteps.” (I printed off the free quote found on Becky Higgins’ blog—go about half way down the page and look on the right side bar for it.)

We then talked about what that meant in little kid terms, “What IS the best thing YOU can give for Christmas?, “What is the gift of gratitude?”, “What are some of the things that Jesus taught us?”, “What are some things we can give to Jesus this year for Christmas?”.

After we talked about what the quote meant, I showed the kids the present I had made, explained what we were going to be doing, and then showed them the can and they loved the idea!!! We made the rule that we can fill out a paper for something you did for someone else, or if someone does something for you.

A few days later, we are hearing a lot of, “Mom, I did_____, can I fill out a paper?”, or “_____ did ______ for me, can I write that down?”. Even my 2 year old twins love doing this! When I see them do something nice for someone, I tell them thank you and say that we should write it and give it to Jesus. They run to the box and love to put their paper in!

It’s even helping me too…today when I got stuck in line at the store with a new cashier who was going SLOW, I decided I’d be patient instead of getting all annoyed that I got in the slow line. And yes, I wrote that down and gave it to Jesus!

I’m seriously loving this, and so excited to make it a yearly tradition. I’m planning on doing something with the papers—either keeping them and putting them in something, taking pictures of them, or at least typing up our gifts to Christ. I think it will be so fun to look back on our gifts to Jesus Christ!

Challenge #34—Tradition

2011-12-06T04:59:00.000-08:00

Every time I hear the word “tradition”, I can’t help but sing the same titled song from “The Fiddler on the Roof”! A lot of traditions are deep-rooted, and have been around for too many years to count. Other traditions have just been started, or are a few years old. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been, it’s still fun to record it!

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?

You can record some of the traditions you’ve had your whole life, some you had growing up, or some you have started recently. Make a list of all the traditions you can think of, record one favorite from each time period of your life, or even focus on all the ins and outs of just one.

Here are some sub-questions to help you get thinking: How did it start? How long has it been going? Have you changed the tradition at all through the years? How long do you foresee this tradition continuing? What do you hope your family will remember about it? How has it helped your family grow closer to each other?

Here’s a couple of ideas of things that we did, and there will be a few more next week from the rest of the TIMC team!

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What Laura did:

For the past few years, I’ve put together a December Daily album*. I’ve approached it a few different ways. Last year I also participated in a month-long photography workshop where I was prompted to take a different picture everyday in December. My journaling for my book last year didn’t necessarily go with the picture that I took, but at least I got journaling written and a different picture taken for every day.

This is the page that I put together for last year’s mini-book.

And the journaling:

I love the traditions that we do share as a family, even if they aren’t extravagant. I think everyone’s favorite in our house is the night we watch The Polar Express. We make a big bowl of popcorn and enjoy the movie and being together as a family.

(*If you’ve never heard of a December Daily Album, check it out on Ali Edwards’ blog here.)
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What Rachel did:

I took some time to reflect this week about some of our family Christmas traditions and where they came from. I could have made some many layouts just on this topic. I picked a couple traditions that we do with our kids and took pictures of them. In addition to what I have on my layout; we also go to our church Christmas program, read and watch Christmas stories all month, read the bible Christmas story on Christmas eve, have a special family Christmas meal…I love the holiday season and everything about it!

Credits: All paper and embellishment are from the kit “Christmas” by Albums to Remember. Pictures by Rachel.

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What I did:

My husband and I got married 4 days before Christmas, which meant we were on our honeymoon for our 1st one together. I thought it’d be fun to buy a Christmas ornament to remember it by, but then it became a tradition! Most every place we go on vacation, we buy a Christmas ornament, or something that we can make into one. We all love reminiscing about the places we went and who went and how old the kids were as we decorate our tree each year! I decided I wanted to scrapbook the story of our ornament tradition!

And since this is really kind of a hard subject for a Fast Form, there won’t be one for this challenge. BUT, I do have two little Christmas presents for all followers of the TIMC! If you are a not yet a follower, you can follow on the right via GFC or on the top bar.

1st present for you: a two page scrapbook quick page (in PNG format). You can use one or both pages to help you record some of your holiday fun! Click on each page to download it!

2nd present for you: a Christmas paper pack! I discovered a few months ago that I really like designing my own papers and some simple elements—I know I’m not the best at it, but I seriously love doing it! I thought I’d do a little something for the holiday season, and share some of my “fun time” with all of you! Here’s a little look at it—it’s definitely bold and a bit funky!

TIMC followers can get the paper pack for free here! There are actually 20 papers in it, though only 12 are shown here. (And a small element pack is coming next week—still working on it—so be on the lookout for that!)

Now, I challenge you to go record some of your holiday traditions!

Bonus Challenge #8—A Day In The Life…

2011-12-05T10:42:00.001-08:00

I love it when I come across ideas for recording life that just resonate with me. I saw a video on Becky Higgins’ blog, submitted by one of her readers. The reader, Kris, made the commitment to do a video recording of snippets of her entire day, then set it to music.

WOW! What a wonderful idea, and so with that I’m going to issue the same challenge to you to record snippets of one day of your life. You can set it to music like Kris did, or you can just put the pieces together!

Check out Kris’ fun video here! Then go make one of your own! (I’m making mine tomorrow, and will have it up for you to see sometime…depends on how long it takes to put it together!)

Challenge #33—A Long Time Ago…

2011-11-29T05:49:00.000-08:00

A long time ago, in a place not too far, lived a child who loved life…and that child was you! Okay, so maybe it wasn’t really all that long ago for some of you, but this week’s challenge will have you reminiscing about “the good ol’ days”.

What are some of your favorite childhood memories?

You can do this any number of ways! You can focus on one memory and tell all aspects about it, you can skim the surface of a few different things, or you can pick a certain period of your life and record a few things from then! Don’t forget to think about types of memories either—funny, sad, scary, gross, or even some everyday memories like chores around the house.

Find some old pictures online, talk to your parents and siblings or friends, look through some old pictures and get some ideas! Then write down your memories, make a scrapbook page, make a video recording and get your family to record their memories too!

Here are a few ideas of what we did, hopefully you’ll get some ideas of your own to complete this challenge!

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What April did:

I had so much fun with this challenge! I grew up in the 90's. I found a website dedicated to all things 90's: thosewerethe90s.tumblr.com. It was amazing how many things I had forgotten about that were part of my childhood! It was fun to look through this website and remember what I thought was so cool as a child. I did something a little different this week for my challenge. I decided to make a facebook album dedicated to many of the things I remember growing up in the 90's. I wanted to see what others would comment and help others remember their childhoods as well. Since my facebook profile permissions is set to private, I have included a few of the things I remember growing up.

Flip Siders

Giga Pets

Little Critter Books

N’Sync

POG’s

Polly Pocket

TGIF

Willow

(*I remember most of those things too, though I’d forgotten all about them until I read these! Thanks April for the fun memories—and what a fun idea to incorporate it into your facebook!)

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What Laura did:

I decided to do a layout this week about some of the most treasured memories I have as a child. As I stated in my layout, my parents did not take a lot of pictures of me as a child. That is probably why I take pictures of my kids doing EVERYTHING.

And the journaling (in case you cannot see the print in the layout).

Supplies used: cardstock – Bazzill; flowers – Sassafras; patterned paper – unknown; photo corners – Heidi Swapp; buttons –Pink Paislee; letters – Scenic Route.

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What I did:

I did a map activity to remind me of some of my memories. First I drew a basic (definitely not 100% accurate) map of the house and yard of where I lived until I was 10 years old. As I drew the map, there were lots of little memories that came back to me! Oh so many memories in that little house! When my map was done, I used a red pen to jot a few quick notes about some of my favorite memories in certain places. When I have more time, I will go back and type up the stories in more detail! What a funny memoir that will be!

Now I challenge you to go and record some of your childhood memories!

Challenge #32—Bon Apetite!

2011-11-22T05:21:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year for many reasons, but probably one of my favorite reasons is that I love to bake! And with all the holidays just around the corner, I figured we’d all have cooking on the brain!

What do you like to cook or bake?

You can make a list of all the things you love to cook or bake, or things you don’t like to cook or bake! You can focus on one of your favorite recipes, or discuss your favorite “genre” of food you like to cook (casseroles, Mexican, desserts, etc.). If you don’t like to cook or bake, you can record why. You can even tell some disasters you’ve had in the kitchen! This is an excellent challenge for kids—they can tell why they love to help you in the kitchen or some of their favorite things they like to make with you!

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What Kim did:

I actually really like to cook and bake (which would probably surprise most people that know me because I don't do it very often); and unfortunately I'm not very good at it. I tend to make things great the first time I try it and then when I try it again (using the same exact ingredients/recipe) I always kill it somehow.
The foods that I love to cook/bake/make are the foods that I feel I can do without killing them:

Chicken Cordon Blue

Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Fruit Smoothies

Cheesecakes

Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Hmmm... and I'm a personal trainer?!?!?... maybe this is why I don't cook very often; everything I LOVE to cook is unhealthy.) :)

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What Rachel did:

I have never been the cook in our family. Growing up my mom and older sister did all the cooking. I was happy to be outside with my dad moving the grass. When I was in middle school I started making chocolate chip cookies which everyone seemed to love, so I kept making them. I even submitted them to our local fair and won a ribbon!
Over the years, I would just cook minimal things. I’m not big into experimenting or trying new recipes. When I was a single mom of one little boy, we ate a lot of smaller meals because it didn’t make sense for me to make meals by scratch and have tons of leftovers.
When I got remarried a couple years ago, my husband decided he wanted to be the cook in our family so now I’m blessed to have great, healthy meals that I don’t have to cook!
One thing I started making over the years for family gatherings is my special Pistachio Watergate Dessert Salad. It’s so simple, quick to make & you can serve immediately if you want to! My son requested it for his 10^th birthday last week, so I decided to take step by step pictures of us making the dessert together. We typically have this dessert for holidays, birthdays and any family gatherings. Thank goodness my family loves the one thing I can make!

Credits: All paper and embellishments are from the kit “Home Cooked” by Albums to Remember. Pictures by Rachel.

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What I did:

I actually love to bake and cook, though it’s not as fun with kids in the way (remember I have 4 young boys) or with their pickiness. So for me it really depends on the kid’s moods or if they are otherwise occupied. In fact, one little tradition we have in our house, is that I make dinner at 5 pm, when “Curious George” is on TV, because they all love that show, and I love to cook without them (though one of my twins will sneak out and come watch me cook)!

I decided to make just a general layout about all this. (And yes, this is 3 traditional layouts in a row for me! I’m feeling a trend here…) I will admit, to do this page, I went through my last two years of Project Life albums and took out the pictures I wanted, then I wrote down the dates so I can reorder them next time I get prints…whatever works, right?

Credits: Kraft Paper—unknown. Patterned paper, circle embellishment and tag—SEI. Twine—The Twinery. Stamps—unknown. Ink—Colorbox. Rub-ons—SEI, Making Memories. Pen—Sharpie. Rick Rack—Wright’s.

For a freebie this week, I created a Fast Form for you. Hope you can use it. (If you’re like me, this is how I get my hubby to the challenges because he wouldn’t do them any other way!)

If you are a Google Friend Connect follower, you can download the Fast Form for free right here!

Now, I challenge you to record about what you love to cook or bake!

Challenge #31—Picking Sides

2011-11-15T05:41:00.000-08:00

No, this isn’t a flashback to Elementary School sports! (Though, that would be a funny challenge to do!) Did you know that you have a dominant side for all your senses and your brain? This is not really an important challenge, but more of one that is fun to know!

What are you dominant sides?

Here are a few things that you can be on the right or left side (Maybe there are more, but this is all I could think of.):

Hand (Which hand do you use mostly? If you’re left handed, you may use your right hand more for certain things just because society had dictated it—like a computer mouse, so be sure to mention those kinds of things.)
Brain (If you don’t know, take this little test!)
Foot/leg (In board sports, they call it “goofy” if you are right leg dominant! If you’re not sure, hop on a scooter and the leg that is mostly on the board (not the one you kick with) is your dominant leg.)
Eye (Determine your dominant eye using this test if you don’t know.)
Ear (When you want to eavesdrop through a door or listen to a whisper, which ear do you use?)

Politics (If you don’t know, check it out here.)
A side of the room/car/table/etc. that you always sit on or go to.

You can record all these answers, focus on just one, focus on a few, or focus on just one side! Also, if you want to do this with kids, I found this great site—it even has a log you can print off for recording your testing results! You can test your oldest child, then have him/her test the rest of the family, including you! (Wouldn’t this be a fun science fair project?)

I loved how Laura’s fast and simple layout recorded the things she does with each hand. And I loved how April recorded all the “right” dominances in her life! Check out their awesome finished challenges!

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What Laura did:

I never really thought about the different ways that I use my hands to do things. I am right-handed, but do use my left hand to do certain things. I could have gone on and on with my lists, but most of the things I do are with my right hand.
I created a layout highlighting some of activities I do using either my right or left hand.

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What April did:

I didn’t realize how much I use the right sides of things until I really thought about it. It was fun to think of all the different "rights" that I use in my daily life. It made me more aware of myself and how much I prefer the right. Since a large amount of things I do and the side of my body I use is the right side, I decided to favor the right side of my scrapbook page. I had a hard time deciding how to photograph the "rights" in my life since it is a more abstract concept, but finally decided to take close ups of some of those "rights".

Credits: Photoshop brushes: Dot Abstract 1, Sampled Brush 69, Floral 4. Fonts: Futura

April has so generously created two FREE digital quick pages for you to create your own layout!

(In a jpg format) Followers of TIMC can download it here for the right side and here for the left side! Download it quick though, it’s only good for one week! Thanks, April!

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What I did:

I did a really simple scrapbook page. I found this cute glitter paper from the Die Cuts With a View “Doodling Around” stack.

Since it was mostly done, I just added my titles, a little bling and my writing. It took me longer to figure out my dominant sides than it did to record about them! (No your eyes aren’t bad, it’s just a blurry picture…)

Credits: Paper: Die Cuts With a View—Doodling Around stack. Rhinestones and pearls: Martha Stewart. Pens: Sharpie (red), Sakura Gelly Roll (black and gray).

Also, I made a REALLY simple Fast Form this week. It was one of those topics that there just isn’t a lot to do with it. Just mark your sides and do any explaining that you want to do! Et voila, it’s done! (I don’t call them fast for nothing!)

If you are a follower, you can download it here for free! All Fast Forms are saved as jpg’s, so you can import them into any program to print them off, or add to a digital scrapbook page! If you’re not yet a follower, please go join over on the right or on the top Google bar on the left side. More followers = more freebies!

Now I challenge you to go and record about what sides you use!

Challenge #30—Bon Voyage!

2011-11-08T06:51:00.001-08:00

Wow, can you believe this is challenge number 30? I sure can’t! With the holidays coming up, I’m sure most of us will be traveling in some way, shape or form in the next several weeks, so this week’s challenge is about traveling!

How do you like to travel?

You can list the different ways you like to get around, you can focus on one favorite way and list the reasons why you like that way. You can list your favorite places you’ve been in the different modes of travel. You can even dream about where you’d like to travel and how you’d like to get there (exotic beach vacation by private jet, anyone?).

Write it in your journal, your blog, take pictures, make a scrapbook page, write a poem or make a video! Remember there are so many ways to record your personal history! You can even do this as a couple or family and talk about the ways and places you’ve traveled together!

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What Rachel did:

To be honest, I don’t really like to travel. I’m more of a “stay at home” person. I’ve traveled out west a couple of times on a plane, but it was very stressful for me because I think about all the things that could go wrong and how terrible it would be to die in a plane crash. (Yes, I know the statistics of a plane crash are low, but I’ll take my chances in a car!) The more times I go on a plane though, it becomes easier but it’s definitely not my favorite way to travel. I prefer the good old method of walking or driving a car. I love to take walks with my family and every year we get in better shape and walk more. I also love our car. It’s older and has a lot of mileage, but it’s paid for and gets us to where we need to go. Monday was my husband’s birthday (and our anniversary) so I took a picture of our car along with the birthday message I wrote him.

Credits : My Memories digital software. Paper and embellishments are from “Road Trip” kit by Barbara Ryan. Pictures by Rachel.

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What Kim did:
(Kim has a private blog that she answers the questions on, and can add pictures and videos to when she feels like it.)

I love to travel and see new things. At this stage in my life I love road trips in our vehicles. I love spending time together as a family in the truck or car; just talking to each other, listening to music, and dealing with the kids fighting, whining, crying, etc... yes... that definitely happens but the trips are still worth it!

We like to hit the road as much as we can here in Alaska (when whether permits), so sometimes it is just a 1 hour road trip down to the ocean to see the Beluga Whale, Glaciers, or Icebergs. Or sometimes we just drive around to spot wildlife. We just like to get out and see all the wonderful things around us.

On one occasion we took the train from Anchorage to Denali National Park. That was a great trip as well. The kids loved being able to walk around the train which was a life saver for us.

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What I did:

First of all, I think it’s funny how Rachel and I both did similar layouts and how we both love to travel by car!

I made an actual scrapbook page this time! I’ve had an idea for this page forever, so I decided I’d take some time and get some creative mess going on. (Oh man, it’s been way too long since I’ve done this, I may just do more of these! Digi is just sooo much faster though…) I just focused on how I love road trips, and briefly mentioned that I don’t like flying. (I hate the lines, waiting, recirculated air, the cramped cabins, germs and small bathrooms, but I do like getting places fast.) I sooo wish we could “Beam Me Up, Scotty”, but in the meantime, I’ll stick with the car and read while my hubby drives!

(Did you notice there are NO pictures on this layout? Yes, you can do a page without pictures if you don’t have any that go with it!)

Supplies Used: Patterned Paper: My Mind’s Eye—Complete Boy Stack. Cardstock: Unknown. Scallop strip: Just The Edge Cardstock Strips by Bazzill. Cutouts: Cricut “Going Places” cartridge. Stamps: Sassafrass Lass—Stitched Borders. Ink: Studio G (teal), Color Box (brown). Twine: Twinery—Caribbean. White pen: Sakura Gelly Roll. Brown marker: Bic. Stickers: Stickabilities. Flowers: Prima. Brads: SEI.

I did make a digital quick page similar to this layout…just different colors. All the papers and elements can be found for free here at Shabby Princess, along with tons of other super cute kits! (Rise ‘n Shine Kit). These are just jpgs and can be put into any program. TIMC followers can download one or all for free just by clicking on the picture(s)!

Here is a look at the Fast Form for this challenge:

If you are a follower of the TIMC, you can go here to download it for FREE!

Now, I challenge you to record about how you love to travel!

Bonus Challenge #7—Gratitude

2011-11-02T13:17:00.001-07:00

I came across an awesome challenge for the month of November—a gratitude challenge! How awesome is this?

Crystal Wilkerson is doing a gratitude challenge, with prompts everyday to help you remember to be grateful!

I am going to be taking the challenge, and I hope you will be too! As part of the challenge, you can download the 30 designed quotes for $5—all of which will be going to the Norton family. Check out the story here, and please take the challenge with me!

Challenge #29—The Age Game

2011-11-01T07:13:00.001-07:00

So, this is a challenge that I didn’t really want to do, but I do want to document my feelings about it at the moment…

How do you feel about aging?

You can go about this in many different ways: record the signs of aging you’re seeing, talk about your feelings for aging, compare how your body is different now than when you were younger, or record why you like getting older and wiser! Write it, scrapbook it, take some pictures, write a poem…whatever you want to do!

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What April did:

I wanted to capture a single frame of my life's story that would reflect the deep sense of self-awareness I've gained as I've matured. I wanted to show how it's okay to "just be me" and, as simple as that is, I'm happy with that. I was shooting for a simple, fuss-free page that captured my easygoing essence in a personalized way.

April has been so generous in offering this PSD template for you to download! Followers of the TIMC can download it here for free! Thanks, April!

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What Laura did:

I was going to create a layout for this prompt; however, we have been without power since Saturday at 2:30 PM and only have two lights that are connected to the generator, and neither of those lights are in my scrapbook space in the basement.

This week I'm keeping it simple and just listing my signs of aging and my feelings about aging.

I know that I'm aging because ...

· My patience (even with the little things) has thinned

· Loud noises really bother me (I don't even like to have a loud radio playing in the car anymore)

· My hair is starting to gray (I even had to color it for the first time in my life about a month ago)

· I've been forgetting things (but this isn't something new though)

· Weight it harder to keep off

· My hands are starting to looked aged

· I see lots of crow's feet and wrinkles around my eyes and mouth when I smile or laugh

With all this said, I really don't have a hard time with the aging process (at least not yet). I'm sure as the years go on, that will change. There are certain days that I wish I could go back in time to certain periods in my life, but I like where my life is right now.

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What I did:

I thought I’d do something completely new and wrote a short poem about the signs of aging that I’m seeing. Warning: I’m not a poet.

The gray hairs are coming out in droves
I’ve got pimples on my neck, chin and nose

I wake up with aches, stiffness and pains
On hot warm days, and even when it rains

I swear my mind is going crazy
Most of the day I want to be lazy

The kids make me so tired
But awake at 3 am I’m wired

The crows feet, I’m starting to see
I look in the mirror, is this really me?

Right now I’m only thirty four
But I feel my youth ran out the door!

So, um yeah. My first attempt at post-college poetry…
And I guess it is kind of misleading, because I know age is just a number, and you’re only as old as you feel! Most days, I’m fine, but once in awhile my age catches up with me—which is what the poem really focuses on. (Of course, maybe it’s just the four boys that make me feel old. )

Also, here is a look at this week’s Fast Form if you are doing those. I made one version for us older folks who are in fact aging, and one version for the kids who can’t wait to get older. TIMC followers can download the adult version here and the kid version here! (If you’re not a follower yet, please join over on the right or on the top left.)

Now I challenge you to record all about aging!

Challenge #28—A Little R&R

2011-10-25T03:21:00.000-07:00

This week’s challenge is somewhat similar to Challenge #4 (Playtime), so it could all be rolled into one challenge if you want to. (Though for me, playing and relaxing are two different things—playing I have to use my brain, and relaxing requires little to no brain power.) So, here’s this week’s challenge:

How do you like to relax?

You can approach this one many different ways. Record your favorite way or ways to relax, tell about your favorite place, compare how you used to relax as a kid/teenager/young adult/parent/grandparent, and even record some places you’d like to relax. You can tell about your favorite ways to relax alone or with family, friends or your spouse.

Here are some examples of what I and a couple of team members did!

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What Kim did on her blog:

I took this challenge as "How do you relieve stress?" Cause really... I am only relaxing when I am sleeping. :)

Going for a family drive... especially in Alaska.

Taking Pictures (sort of goes along with our fun drives).

Reading stories, coloring, or playing games with my kids.

Going for walks or hikes with the family.

Watching my favorite TV shows with my Husband.

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What Rachel did:

For this assignment I decided to do two layouts-one traditional and one digital. I made a list in my mind of all the things that I love to do to relax. Basically they are all the things that I enjoy doing in my spare time. I love playing outside with my two boys and spending time as a family. We love to go on walks and play on our swing set. I love reading, exercising and of course scrapbooking! Those things help clear my mind and elevate my stress. If only you could see my bookcases of rows and rows of books and exercise DVD’s!

Credits for digital page: All paper and embellishments are from “Play Day Pack” by Albums to Remember. Pictures by Rachel.

Credits for traditional page: Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame “Laugh and Play” by Loni Stevens two page layout; Caribbean and Cappuccino Twine from “The Twinery”, Misc button, Bermuda Bay marker by Stampin Up. Pictures by Rachel.

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What I did:

I created a table in Word and compared how I relaxed when I was a kid, a teenager, in my 20’s and now.

How I’ve Relaxed Through the Years:

As a Child

As a Teenager

In my 20’s

Now

-Played, played, and played—what else do you do as a kid?

-Read books (especially mysteries).

-Went to the mall or movies with my friends.

-Read books between textbooks.

-Vacation with my family.

-Listened to music (mostly pop and musicals).

-Hung out with friends.

-Slept.

-Vacations (I especially loved beach vacations!)

-Read books when homework/studying was done.

-Scrapbooked.

-Sleep!!!

-Vacation without the kiddos (sorry guys, love you but it’s not relaxing with you there!)

-Getting down on the floor and playing with my kids.

-Playing around on the computer.

-Exercise!

-Scrapbook.

-Girl’s Night's Out!

I made another “Fast Form” for you this week. Click here to download it if you want to get this challenge done quickly! (Please make sure you’re a follower!)

I changed it a little bit from last week’s, in that I put a spot in front of each word that you can just check or x, so you don’t even have to circle things! Hope someone can use this! (Even if you don’t want to use it for yourself, print it off and have your mom, dad, spouse, child, grandparent, aunt, uncle or neighbor fill it out!)

Now, I challenge you to go record how you love to relax!

Challenge #27—Reading Time

2011-10-18T03:40:00.000-07:00

This week’s challenge is going to dig a little into what we all do: read. Some read a lot, some when they have time, some read for fun, some read because they have to. It doesn’t matter what, how often, or why, but you’re doing it right now!

The Challenge: What do you love to read?

You can list your favorite books or genres, list the magazines you subscribe to or check out from the library, give a book review for your all-time favorite book(s), take a video recording of your bookshelf—showing what you’ve read or still want to read, record your favorite places or routines for reading, or even write a poem or story on why you love to read!

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What Laura did:

To tell you the truth I really LOVE to read, but I find it harder and harder to read anything these days.

My favorite magazines to read are:

· O magazine · Scrapbooks, Etc. · Creating Keepsakes · Food Network magazine · Scrapbook Trends

My favorite author's are:

· Jodi Picoult · Nicholas Sparks · Kristin Hannah · Elin Hilderbrand

I love to read a variety of books, but I rarely pick up a murder mystery to read. I've never been a fan of reading about murder. Most of the books that I read are lighthearted.

I have an account with Goodreads (even created a layout on how much I love the site). Some of the recent books that I have added to my "to read" list are:

· Falling Together · The End of Everything · Turn of Mind · The Chosen One · What Alice Forgot · Skipping a Beat

Supplies used ... letters - AC Thickers; patterned paper - Studio Calico; cardstock - Bazzill; stickers – unknown.

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What April did:

I love to read! I'm so grateful for parents who instilled in me the love of reading. Ever since I can remember I have had a book with me everywhere I went. The types of things I read has changed over the years. That's why I chose to make a scrapbook page with a small and simple mini-book to show how my choices of reading materials have changed.

Credits: Core'Dinations cardstock, "Iron Gate" doodlebug paper, "Blue/Brown Dots" Paper Pizazz paper, "Crazy Love Brads" BoBunny brads

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What I did:

Okay, before I tell you what I did, I have to tell you that a week or so ago, I had a thought. An epiphany if you will. I thought, “wouldn’t it be so much easier for some people to have a basic form for each challenge to just circle some answers and be done?”. Well, that’s exactly what I did, and what I will be doing as a freebie for each new challenge! (As well as some digi quick pages for the scrapbookers.) SO….without further ado, I give you the first “Fast Form”!!!

To download it, just click on it! (Please make sure you’re a follower on the right or on top!) This is an 8 1/2 x 11 jpg. You can insert it as a picture on any program. You can either use it at this size, or print two on one page at half the size. And please let me know if this is something you think you could use in the future. I don’t want to waste my time doing this if no one is going to use it.

So, here’s what I did for my challenge this week. I got my family (except the 2 year olds) to do this. We are starting a “This Is Us” binder—an on-going history of our family (not in scrapbook form), and I will have them all participate in the challenges that they can do. Each challenge will be placed in the order we do them, in clear protective sleeves—no matter how we do them. (See this post for more ideas on how to do the challenges with your family!)

Here’s a look at my two boys filling out their papers. Easy peasy!

We will seriously treasure these forever!

This is what mine looks like all filled out.

Now I challenge you to record about what you love to read!

Challenge #26—Well, Isn’t That Annoying?

2011-10-11T03:42:00.000-07:00

Today’s challenge is one that I’m sure you will just LOVE to do, because sometimes it’s nice to vent, isn’t it?

What are some of your pet peeves?

There are a few ways you can do this—you can record the things that bug you most, you can focus on just one thing that annoys you and go into detail on why it bothers you, or you can pick a subject (say, crazy drivers) and list all the pet peeves you have just for that.

When I gave our team members this assignment, part of it was to keep it light and positive for the blog—I didn’t want anything negative on here. Now, you don’t have to do this, you can be as mean and ornery as you want, but remember that whoever reads it will also see it in that way…so, you may want to keep it as positive as you want as well!

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What I did:

To keep this in a positive direction, I made a list of things that are opposite of my pet peeves on a digital scrapbook layout.

Credits: Fonts: CK Becky (“opposites”), Sketch Rockwell (“pet peeve”), Pea Valerie (“my” and journaling). All other elements and papers by me.

This week only, followers of TIMC can get the free digital quick page of this layout! Go here to download it, and enjoy! (Please follow over on the right or on top if you haven’t already!)

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What Rachel did:

“When I was given this assignment to write about my pet peeves and to keep it positive, I had no idea what to do! I thought about it for a week or so, and then it hit me! I could mention some pet peeves but then think of something good about them instead of griping about the negative. So, my pictures and journaling are pretty self-explanatory. I realized after the fact, that I kind of have a thanksgiving theme with my layout. “

Credits: My Memories Suite 2 software. Papers and Embellishments are “Walk in Splendor by Becca” and “Fall for Autumn by StoryRock”. Top two pictures taken by Rachel.

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What Kim did:

I am actually a pretty patient person; I don't get too annoyed with the little things that don't matter. The one thing that annoys me is bad drivers, so here is my road rage tangent...

1. When people don't turn left on a yellow light when there are no cars.

2. When people drive under the speed limit.

3.When people tailgate me.

4. When people cut me off.

Now I challenge you to record some things that annoy you!

Recording the Everyday

2011-10-07T22:17:00.001-07:00

Keeping track of your personal history in subjects—like the challenges on the TIMC—and recording important events in your life are wonderful things to do. But something that I think is equally important is recording your everyday life! Yes, some days can seem boring and mundane, trust me, I know…but it’s still important to record!

For the last two years I have done “Project Life”. I’m sure there are some fellow “Project Lifers” who read this blog (Hi!), and I’m sure some who’ve never heard of it (Hi to you too!). (I am not being paid, by the way, to write about this. It’s just something I do and love to use to help me capture the everyday life I live right now, plus it has replaced my yearly scrapbook.)

The jist of Project Life is this: you take one picture everyday of anything (big, small, exciting, boring, mundane, funny, etc.) and write a little journaling about what is going on in it. There are no rules to this though, so you don’t have to take a picture every day. You can put bits of life in the pockets instead (receipts, tags, spelling tests, love notes, etc.) It’s just a fun way to get a great view of the everyday life of you and your family!

Here’s a look at a few pages from my album this year:
This is one week’s worth of pictures and journaling. Just random stuff—one son making a card, the twins getting into trouble, a view out my window, my oldest jumping on the trampoline, a collage of notes the older two left all over the house when playing “spies”, the day my oldest got his tonsils out, and finally getting sand in the sandbox—nothing too big that I’d ever make a scrapbook page about it, but just a look into things that happened in one week of my life!

I love that it just records a little bit about plain ol’ regular life! And my kids love looking through this album! They will look at the pictures and say, “I remember when…” I’m sure these albums will be something the kids fight over when I die.
I’m not going to go into depth explaining the products available, you can go here to see that if you wish. If you’re not sure, here are some videos all about it, and then you can look at the products. (There is a paper version like what I have done, or you can do a digital version that you can add to everyday.)

If something like this seems like too much, you can always do it by month, or even by theme. (You can follow this model and DIY, but the kit does make it REALLY easy!)

So, I encourage you to somehow start recording the little everyday things in your life!

Challenge #25—Nice Wheels!

2011-10-04T04:08:00.000-07:00

This week’s challenge is a fun one—and one to bring back some fun memories, I’m sure!

The Challenge: Record the cars you have owned!

The challenge is simple, and you can go into it as much as you want by describing everything about your cars or you can simply make a list of what they were if you’re short on time. If you have pictures, gather them up, or make a place to put pictures when you find them later! Video record a walk-through of your current car.

Some ideas of what you may want to include:*Year, make, model (version) and color.
*Miles you put on it.
*Why you got this particular vehicle over another one.
*Places you went in it. (Roadtrips, around town, commuting, etc.)
*Amentities (Manual/power everything, DVD/CD player, tape deck, seatbelts, manual/auto transmission, type of gasoline, decked out stereo system, 4-wheel drive, towing capabilities, sunroof, leather/fabric/vinyl seats, number of people it could hold, etc.) *The name you gave it and why.
*Fun things you did in it.
*Accidents you got in with it.
*Close calls or scary times in it.
*License plate number. (Or even add a picture of it!)
*Why you sold it, or don’t have it anymore.
*Upgrades you added to it.
*Repairs, new tires/windshields/batteries, etc.
*How much you paid for it, how much you sold it for.
*Why you love/hate it.
*What you would change about it.
* Also, if you want, you can record what your dream car is!

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What April did:

“I have a love-hate relationship with every car I have owned. Who's with me?! You can't live with them and you can't live without them! While I don't like all the trouble cars can be, I actually love my car and can barely imagine not owning one. This week's challenge was about the cars I have owned and which one is my favorite. I did a digital scrapbook page showing the four cars I have owned. I was surprised at how quick and easy this page came together! I also made a digital quick page of my layout to download! I hope you enjoy!”

(***If you are a follower of TIMC, you can download the Photoshop PSD file here for one week only! I left it as a PSD so you can add or take away spots for cars if you need to. Be sure to give a big thanks to April if you download it!***)

Credits: Photoshop brushes: Tank Pattern Grunge Brush by DieheArt, Splatter Brush (basic photoshop brush), Coy Dreamer Arrow Doodles Brushes (brushes are found on www.brusheezy.com). Fonts: Bradley Hand ITC TT, Impact, Brush Script MT

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What Laura did:

“In all of my 20 years of driving, I have only owned three cars. I know, that must be hard to believe, but it is the truth. My very first car was a Hyundai Excel (hatchback). It was sky blue and I really liked this car (maybe because it was my first car). This car got me through a blizzard while driving to NJ to West Virginia back in 1991. It was a scary trip, but I felt safe in this little car of mine.

My second car was a Geo Tracker (convertible). This too was also blue, but more of a metallic blue. I LOVED this car. This car was fun to drive around it. I remember the days driving around with the convertible top off and the windows down and blasting/singing to the music in my car.

When I got married in 2001, my husband did not think the Tracker was very safe to drive, so he graciously gave me his 1998 Chevy Blazer (cherry red). I am still driving it to this day. It has gotten me through some tough situations, but it has also given me many problems.

I would LOVE a new car right now, but we can't afford anything at the moment. I wouldn't mind driving a mini-van one day (yes, I am admitting to that).
And, a few years back, I created a layout about the cars that I have driven. “

Materials used - cardstock - Bazzill; letters/embellishments - AC Thickers; patterned paper – unknown.

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What I did:

I was going through some old pictures a month or so ago for a challenge and came across some of my first car—which is how I got the idea to do this week’s challenge. I used a left-over page protector and some elements from Becky Higgins’ Project Life kit to put this all together in a flash! (You can see how I regularly use Project Life here.) Here’s a look at my layout:

The three cards pull out and open up to display the details of my cars—the year, make model, how it got it’s name, amenities (or lack of), and why we got it/sold it.

Credits: Photo sleeve, journaling cards, paper, number stickers: Becky Higgins. Title stickers: Making Memories (my), Stickabilities (wheels). Pen: Pilot G2.

Now, I challenge you to go record all about your wheels!

Bonus Challenge #6—Simple Things

2011-10-02T07:02:00.001-07:00

So many times we get so caught up on all that we need to do, that we forget to remember those small things that make us smile.

The bonus challenge: Record at least 5 simple things in your life that make you happy!

You can do this by making a quick list somewhere where you can add to it whenever you think of something. Sit down for a set amount of time and write what makes you happy until your time is up. Get out the video camera and record those simple things. Take pictures of simple moments or things. However you want to do it!

Last week we were at my oldest son’s flag football game and it was a double-header. Well, when you’re 4, 2 and 2, watching your big brother play football for 2 hours is NOT so fun. So, my younger 3 went to the baseball diamond behind the football game and started playing with the dirt. When I saw them (and the amazing lighting with the sunset and dirt in the air!) I wanted to capture this moment of childhood innocence. They were running the bases, pretending to be baseball stars. It was a moment of pure happiness for this mama!

Now I challenge you to go record some of your simple moments of happiness!

I’m linking up at “The Simple Things” where you can see even more visual inspiration of the simple moments in life.

Challenge #24—One For the Money

2011-09-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

This week’s challenge is one of a serious nature. We all need money and some people have more, others have less. No matter how much of it you have, it’s still important to manage it wisely. (This is something that I think would be fun to read about my grandparents, since they all lived in the depression, and I know they were all pretty tight with it.)

The challenge: How do you feel about money?

You can record your actual budget right now, share how you save for your family, record your philosophy, take note of what you buy. Do you invest? Follow a strict budget? Save, or just go from paycheck to paycheck? You can even record your plans for the future, or set goals to do better with your budget.

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What Rachel did:

“I had a lot of different ideas that I thought about doing for this layout. Saving money and budgeting are very important to me and I get very excited when I talk about all the deals and ways I save money for our family. As I was thinking about this assignment, I went to Kroger to buy groceries and decided to take pictures of some of the products I bought that were on sale that week. I made up a list of some of the websites and the best ways that I’m able to save money, and then asked my husband what he thought. He agreed with everything I had written down and then added about not overspending. Sometimes that is hard for me because I get caught up with finding the best deals and saving money. I try to be careful by not purchasing something just because it’s a good deal if our family doesn’t need it. I also included a picture of some free samples and products I’ve gotten in the last couple of weeks from Facebook. I love coming home and telling my family what free stuff I got that week!”

Credits: All papers and embellishments on the My Memories Suite 2 software. Pictures by Rachel. (You can get $10 off MMS2 and a $10 credit to their store by copying and pasting the code: STMMMS4767, and go here!)

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What I did:

I just made a simple and quick list of how my husband and I feel about money.

Fonts: Smiley Monster, Myriad Pro

Now I challenge you to record your feelings about money!

This Is Me: Team Member Rachel

2011-09-23T08:40:00.001-07:00

Today I want to introduce you to the last (but definitely not least!) of our new team members, Rachel!

“Hi, I'm Rachel and I live in southwestern Virginia with my husband and two boys-ages 9 and 1 yr. I work full time as a corporate office manager, assist my husband with homeschooling our 9 year old and enjoy helping others by being an online beachbody fitness coach. In my spare time I love reading, scrapbooking, exercising and spending time with my family. We are very active in our church and family is very important to us.

I have been doing traditional scrapbooking for several years and love putting my albums together. It's very rewarding when my son sits down with me to look thru pictures and asks about them. I have not entered the world of digital scrapbooking yet, so I'm looking forward to trying my new My Memories software.

I'm very excited to be on the TIMC team and I'm hoping these challenges will give me the motivation and inspiration I need to continue finding the time for scrapbooking and to get new ideas.”
You’ll get to see Rachel’s completed challenges starting this Tuesday! Aren’t you so excited?!?

Let’s Get Together!

2011-09-22T07:05:00.001-07:00

Did you know that you can apply all the “This Is Me” questions to your family too? This is a great activity to do as a family, so you can each write your own and family stories! It’s always more fun to do something together, right?

Set aside a time each week. You can choose one specific day to always do it, or just schedule it in as your schedule allows. Your family can focus on one challenge to complete each time or you can do a quick answer of three or four challenges at a time.

Here are a few fun ways for you to do this: (And you don’t have to do the same thing every time either!)

*Get a notebook for each member of the family. Write the challenge question on the top of a new page. Introduce the question, talk about your different answers, then let them write (or draw) away! You can come back to this one time and time again!

*Type the question on the top of a document, print one page out per person. Do the same as the above, then put the answers all together in a binder (in protective clear sleeves). Then you have a fun family history to always look at!

*Gather some construction or scrapbook paper, markers, crayons, scissors, stickers, etc. Find a picture of each member of the family. Choose a challenge question, and use the supplies to answer it!

*Use your video camera and take turns video recording your answers! How fun will this be to watch in 10 years?

*Create or add your family’s answers to a blog for other family members to read! (This would be great typing practice for kids who are ready to learn that!)

*Do the challenge to incorporate the whole family. (For example, if you’re going to do the “Me By The Numbers” challenge, you can make it be with #’s that represent your whole family, so it ends up being “Our Family By the Numbers”!)

A great way to compile this would be to put all your answers from each challenge into a family history binder that you can all cherish for years to come!

See the tab “Ideas for Completing the Challenges” to get some more ideas, or to help you come up with your own!

If you look over on the right under the challenge categories, you’ll see one that says, “Great for kiddos”. Those are the questions that younger children can easily do!

Now you have no excuses for not getting your personal and family histories recorded, right?

Challenge #23—Do you fear this too?

2011-09-20T04:29:00.000-07:00

This week’s challenge is one that I wanted to do, yet didn’t want to do. I’ve always kind of been paranoid that if I write out my fears, then some bad guy would come and do them to me. (Maybe I’ve watched a few too many scary movies…) Well, needless to say, I’ve finally faced this fear and decided it was time to write some down.

The challenge: What are your top fears or phobias?

For this challenge you can make a list from 1-5 or 1-10, write a whole paragraph of your fears, explain them in detail, or even just focus on one thing and document the many aspects of it.

And…we have some examples of two of our new team members! Eek! I’m so excited about this! These gals have such great talent, and you will be inspired by their completed challenges!
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What Laura did:

“I created a layout for this assignment listing what my fears/phobias are, but I will also tell you about them in this post.

When I was a child, I LOVED Christmas (still do), but feared the night before Christmas. For some unknown reason, I was afraid that Santa would enter my room at night and scare me. For the longest time, I would sleep with the covers over my head every Christmas Eve. Don't worry, I don't do that anymore.

Some of my other fears are fire, the fear of drowning (I even get scared if I unexpectedly get splashed with water), spiders, and heights. Since the birth of my two children, I think I can overcome any of these fears because my biggest fear these days is making sure my children are always safe.

It scares me that I can't be with my kids 24/7, so I fear that if they are in trouble and need me that they won't be able to reach me.

Here is a picture of the layout I created.”

Supplies used in layout: paper - October Afternoon; alphabet stickers - Making Memories; ribbon - American Crafts; cardstock - Bazzill; heart sticker – unknown.

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*Don’t you just love how Laura focused her journaling on her children? (I’m sure every mother feels the same way!) I also love how she found just one picture, to ground that focus!

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What April did:

“I think it's important to document some of my fears or some of the hard times in life as well as the good times because it gives my posterity a true look into my life and makes me a real person as they learn more about me. This makes me easier to relate to and hopefully those who come after me can learn from me how to overcome those fears and hard times.
Being pregnant totally consumes my life. There isn't a time in the day that I don't forget that I have a special little someone growing inside me. Because of this I chose to do this challenge on some of my fears relating to pregnancy. This is my first pregnancy and child and there is a lot I don't know and pretty much everything is new to me - which can be scary in itself.”

Credits: Fonts: Pea Jia (script font) & Bernard MT Condensed (block font), Background: Photoshop brush: awesomestyle_7. All other elements are my creations.

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*I love how April focused on one fear that is part of her life right now, and documented the reasons why! (I totally understand that, as I’m sure every other woman who’s had a baby does!) I’m sure she will be an awesome mother!

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What I did:

Since I have these fabulous and creative team members, and since I am super busy just trying to stay on top the TIMC (fantastic things coming up!), I went quick and easy on this challenge—I made a list from 5 to 1 in Word, and wrote my reasons.

5. Garbage disposals—I hate turning them on! I think it’s too gross to put my hand in it to see if anything fell down, so I cringe every time I turn one on.

4. Spiders—they are icky, spin webs, have creepy legs, and some bite.

3. Drowning—I’m a good swimmer, so I think it’s weird that this is one of my fears! Once, while swimming at the beach, a huge wave pulled me under and it scared the begeebies out of me! I’m also scared when driving next to water that I’ll get in an accident and be pushed in the water and be stuck in the car.

2. My house catching on fire—I’m afraid to lose all my scrapbooks, journals and pictures. (And people if we’re home.) I’m paranoid that anytime I’m on vacation I’ll come home to a charred house.

1. Losing one of my kids—Carter hid from me at the mall one time, and it took 15 minutes to find him. Eventually (after the exit doors were on lock-down for 2 year old boys) he jumped out of a rack of clothes, saying that he was playing hide and seek. I cried for 5 minutes—grateful that he wasn’t kidnapped and angry at the same time. Then a few weeks ago, we were at the Dinosaur Park and Cole wandered out the gate somehow and was in the parking lot. We sent a search party for him and found him about 10 minutes later. Seriously, my heart stopped beating.

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Okay, if you’ve made it this far, you are a champion! And you’ll get your reward! I made a digital quick page freebie that is similar to Laura’s layout. (Please excuse the differences in the paper, since with copyrights, I had to use my own designs.) Please make sure you’re a follower over on the right or on the top left, then you can download it here! (It will only be good for one week, so don’t delay!)

Favorites?

2011-09-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be starting a big project on the TIMC to help you out! I need to know which challenges so far have been your favorites. Please, please, please! Leave a comment here, on FB or Twitter, or email me emils24(at)gmail(dot)com. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Challenges List and Links

2011-09-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

I made a complete list of all the challenges in order for easy viewing. There are also links to the posts so you can easily see the details and ideas that go along with each one! (I hope it’s all right, let me know if a link is not correct!) I will continually add to this list as we go, and hopefully it will help you get your story written!

UPDATE: I HAVE CHANGED THE LOCATION OF THE CHALLENGE LIST AND LINKS TO ITS OWN PAGE. GO TO IT ANYTIME FROM THE TAB ON THE TOP, OR CLICK HERE...

Weekly Challenges:

Challenge #1--If you were forced to go back in time to the olden days, but were allowed to take 10 modern conveniences with you, what would you take?
Challenge #2--What are some choices in your life that affected where you are now?
Challenge #3--A fill in the blank challenge: Whenever I ________, I ________.
Challenge #4--When you have a few minutes or a few days, what do you like to do in your “play” time?
Challenge #5—What is something that describes you from each letter of the alphabet?
Challenge #6--If you could write a letter and send it to yourself when you were younger, what would you say?
Challenge #7--What numbers best represent you?
Challenge #8--What are some addictions that you have?
Challenge #9--Make a timeline of your life!
Challenge #10--How are things different now from when you were a kid?
Challenge #11--What are 5 things you have (or almost have) perfected? What are 5 things you are far from perfect in?
Challenge #12--Find your favorite “somethings” (old, new, borrowed, blue) and record a little bit about them!
Challenge #13--What are some health challenges you've faced in your life? What are you currently doing to be healthy?
Challenge #14--What are some of your detailed favorites?
Challenge #15--What are some of your routines?
Challenge #16--How has technology changed since you were younger?
Challenge #17--What are 5 (or 10) things you have a hard time saying “yes” to, and what are 5 (or 10) things you have a hard time saying “no” to?
Challenge #18--When did someone help you out unexpectedly? How has that changed how you do certain things or your outlook?
Challenge #19--How do you manage your time? How has it evolved over time?
Challenge #20--What are some of your funny and unique habits and talents?
Challenge #21--What are your sleep habits?
Challenge #22--What are your favorite things you use your senses for?
Challenge #23--What are your greatest fears/phobias?
Challenge #24--How do you feel about/budget your money?
Challenge #25--Record about the cars you have owned.

Bonus Challenges:

#1--Who are the most influential women in your life, and why?
#2--Who are the most influential men in your life? Why?
#3--Record Your Community
#4--Go through some of your childhood things and record them.
#5—Where were you when the World Stopped Turning?
#6--Record the simple things you enjoy in your life.

This Is Me: Team Member April

2011-09-15T15:24:00.001-07:00

Another new team member! This next week you’ll be seeing completed challenges from April too. She is also going to be designing some digital quick pages for us! Yeah!

“Hello everyone! My name is April and I live in Provo, Utah. I have been married for three years to my amazing husband, Richard. We are expecting our first child in February and I am looking forward to being a new mother. I recently graduated from Brigham Young University in Illustration. I love to do anything and everything art including scrapbooking, crafts, painting, drawing, crocheting, photography, bookbinding, etc. You can check out my website at www.aprilbird.com.

I'm very excited to be a member of the TIMC team. I spend much of my time doing crafts and scrapbooking for others and this will give me the opportunity to do something for and about me. I am also excited to be able to get some of my work out there for others to see and look forward to helping create layouts for all of you to use.”

*And here’s just a quick look at one of the completed challenges she submitted to me as part of her application—I thought it was so cool and unique that I wanted to share it with you too!

This Is Me: Team Member Laura

2011-09-15T07:29:00.001-07:00

I want to introduce to you one of our new Team Members, Laura! You will start seeing her work this coming Tuesday!

“Hello everyone! My name is Laura and I live in rural New Jersey. I have been married for ten years and have two beautiful children. Nicholas is 7.5 and Rebecca is 20 months old. They are the loves of my life. I work full time in corporate America, but also dedicate time being an Arbonne Independent Consultant.

When I am not working or spending time with my family, my passions are scrapbooking, reading, and photography. I’m excited to get started on this new adventure of being on the TIMC team because I can now focus on “my story” in scrapbook layouts, and this makes me happy because I get to leave my legacy behind for my family.”

*If you want to get to know Laura better, you can find her blog here!*

Challenge #22—Senses

2011-09-13T04:28:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I was opening a new package of diapers and thought to myself, “Mmm, I love this smell!”. Crazy, huh? I figured if I told anyone that, they’d think I was CRAZY! Then I got to thinking about other funny things I love to smell or taste or touch, and then I thought, “Wouldn’t this make a fun challenge?” So, here it is:

What are some of your favorite things to use your senses for?

To do this challenge you can think of one or two things for each sense (smell, hear, taste, touch, or see) and focus on that. You can think of just one crazy thing and record it in detail (like if I were writing a whole paragraph about my love of sniffing fresh diapers), or you can make a list of all the things you love to use your senses for. (If I hadn’t done a scrapbook page, I’d make a table in Word and just list as many things as I could think of for each sense.) You can do normal things for each—like your favorite thing to do with each sense, or you can think of the not-so-ordinary, funny and silly things. (I just thought it’d be fun though to do something different!)

Now, this may sound crazy, but really, wouldn’t it be fun for my kids to know that I loved squeezing their chubby thighs when they were babies and toddlers? (Which I’m not going to be able to do much longer because the twins are 2 1/2 now and the chubbiness is going away. ) Or for my grandkids to know that I loved hearing the clicking sound of the shutter on my new camera? Or that I even paid attention to that detail?

Anyway…on with the examples!

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Here’s a look at what Kim did:

I chose to spotlight 2 of each sense on my private blog designed just for these challenges.
Favorite smells:
Fresh Rain

Fantastic Sams Shampoo (I don't think I've been to Fantastic Sams since I was in High School, but I can still imagine the smell of their shampoo when I think about it.)

Favorite Sights: (Oddly enough, both of these scare me as well... but I still love to see them)
Lightning

Shooting Stars

Favorite Sounds:
Thunder

The sound of my husbands heart beating.

Favorite things to feel:
Hands on a hot chocolate cup on a cold day.

Down feather blankets.

Favorite Tastes:
Mint/Chocolate combinations

Chicken Cordon Bleu

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Here’s a look at the scrapbook layout I did:

Credits: Messy stitches, Nisa Fiin, Fonts: Tabitha (the cursive looking one), Jenna Sue (the handwriting one), Sidewalk (the parenthesis). All other papers and elements are my creations.

This layout is available for followers of the TIMC to download for free! It will only be available for one week, until the next challenge comes out, so don’t delay!

You can download the PSD version here. *PSD Note—I left all the writing on, except the journaling. You will need to download the above free fonts if you don’t have them already, or you can substitute with your own favorite fonts. Because of copyright issues, I can’t leave the stitching on in the PSD format, so you’ll have to put a stitching on that you have already, if you desire.

The PNG quick page version is found here. *PNG Note—I left the numbers on (over the pictures and on the journaling tag). You will have to add the title and words on the pictures if you want to. I did this so you can use this layout for something else that numbers 1-5 too!

Now, go out there and record your senses!

(And don’t forget to mark the appropriate boxes below!)