A New Project

I decided yesterday that I would like to try my hand at a December Daily.  I realize I am late getting into the game, but a month in the life style album has always appealed to me so I am jumping in head first.  I chose a SN@P mini album to use and I'm going to start tomorrow and go through Dec 31.

Why I Love My New Job

Although I really enjoyed my old job as Museum Educator, I was getting a little restless, mostly because of my unpredictable schedule. Last month I became the new Art Discovery Center Coordinator at the same museum.  The ADC is a hands-on, interactive area of the museums with books, games, arts and crafts, dress up, and other activities for families.  So while I had grown to be fine with holding snakes, when this opportunity came along, I said goodbye to the ball python.  Now that I've shifted from a primarily-Science focus to a primarily-Art focus, I suddenly feel like I've come home.

This job is very different in other ways as well.  Now I'm responsible for staffing the ADC with qualified volunteers and staff, managing the yearly budget for supplies, and making sure that we are providing visitors with the highest quality experience we can.  As someone who spends a lot of my life volunteering, offering our volunteers the opportunity for development is a high priority for me. 

My new workspace is BEAUTIFUL.  There's no denying it's one of the most interesting and inviting places in Western Mass.  The murals are all on Asian and Buddhist themes, and it's going to take me a while to memorize the meaning behind all of them.

My First Heritage Layout!

Finally! 

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I don't always work in the summer, but this year I got lucky!  I got to do a preschool music program at the museum where I work the rest of the year.  It was the first time we've tried a program like this, so it was new for everyone.  I thought it went very well, and I even got to be in our local newspaper, and got a letter from the mayor about it.  

It ran for six weeks and last week was my first week off!  I went to Cape Cod with my family.  We spent most of our time on the National Seashore.  My daughter's favorite thing is the "big waves," and we hear about them all year.  She swims and boogie boards for hours and hours, and I join in too.  

We also took her to Provincetown for the first time, and went to Carnival, which is something none of us had experienced before.  Thanks to Project Runway, Esme already knows all about drag queens, and how much goes into their elaborate costumes.  The people on the street before the parade were just as awesome as the parade itself.  

When I got home, I had a box from Sassafras Lass waiting for me!  When they closed up shop I was super disappointed that I'd never ordered one of their warehouse boxes so when this chance came up I jumped on it.  Love all my flowers, patterned papers, felties, foldies, etc.  So now I want to get to work!  I took lots of pics on vacaction so it's time for me to get scrapping!

My Birthday (and my fun presents!)

My sweet husband invited my brother to come up for my birthday.  We went to my favorite sushi place, and my brother even tried some!  Afterward we went to our favorite open mic night, and Ethan and I each performed two songs.  He did two original and I did two country western songs with my autoharp.  This was my first time performing solo in public and I was nervous!

Being anywhere with them is fun, but I was lucky that a couple of my friends stopped by as well, and I did pretty well once I got up there - just a couple minor mistakes.

I received some awesome scrappy birthda presents!  Here are two of my favorites:

I'm looking forward to adding some color to my projects, especially scrapbook pages, with these two new things.  I have always been into really BRIGHT colors, so I am loving the neon trends.  Hoping to get some scrappy time as early as this afternoon.  

My Summer So Far

We have yet to take our family vacation, so when the people around us are talking about summer drawing to a close, it doesn't sit quite right with me.  I have been working three days a week, and a big part of my job is running a preschool music program.  It's pretty close to a dream come true - playing my autoharp and singing with little kids!  My daughter has been with me some days, but mostly she's been enjoying camps and time with family.

This has also been the summer of scrapbooking!  I have a new friend who lives about a mile from me, has a daughter close in age, and loves to scrap!  So she's been encouraging and inspiring me!  Here are some of my recent layouts. 

Swim Layout

I spend A LOT of time waiting to watch Esme swim.  The team has been a wonderful experience for her in so many ways - exercise, skill, friendship, routine, independence, and discipline.  I am so glad she gets to be a part of it and so grateful for her team of awesome coaches. 

I am trying to scrap more this summer and would really like to get back in to going to crops as well.  I love seeing how other people work.

Ecotarium Layout

I haven't been scrapping as much as I would like to lately.  I have a lot of demands on my time and my desk has been so cluttered, it's demotivating.  But I want to get back into the game so I'm organizing for fifteen minutes a day and then making time to scrap.  Just finished this layout using a mix of very new (WeRMemoryKeepers For the Record) and very old (K&Company Dinosaurs) supplies.

Random Bits

•Summer is my favorite season.  I didn't even mind the recent heat wave because I was so glad to finally leave the cold weather behind us.
•Celebrated our fourteenth wedding anniversary with Ethan this week - sushi and a movie.
•I am on (unpaid) vacation for the next week and a half.  I am planning to get my house ready for the people who are going to come give us quotes on a new furnace, and hopefully scrapbook a lot!
•I have been working hard to help Esme finish up this year's Math unit.  Not giving her a summer break, so that she starts out ahead next year.  Also preparing to immerse her in next year's theme, which is American History.
•Looking forward to starting my new preschool music program at work.  This is my first time getting paid to do a music series.

Instagram Mini Album

Sometimes during these busy weeks it's easier to sneak in time to do six by six layouts than full twelve by twelve, so I've been concentrating on my Instagram Mini Album.  To make it even easier, I've been using all the new BasicGrey Fact & Fiction supplies that my wonderful husband and daughter got me for Christmas.  The album won't be super matchy, but it will coordinate throughout with a certain color scheme and feel.  Here are the first seven pages.

2013 and What's New

I'm beating the post-Christmas blues by spending lots of time with my family and working hard with my Girl Scouts!  Here's what's new around here:

• My sweet husband is our city's Girl Scout Cookie Sale Manager for the first time ever.  It's pretty awesome to see him working this way, but stressful to see him get stressed when people are unresponsive.
• I feel so lucky to have a job that I love, working at the museum.  I haven't been working as much as I'd like lately, but hoping now that Winter vacation has passed things will pick up.
• I started a Girl Scout troop at our local Boys & Girls club.  I have girls ages 9 through 13 and we've only had one meeting so far, but it was fun and it will be a different experience for me to be with older girls who have not had a previous Girl Scout experience.
• I haven't been scrapping a ton, but I have made good progress on my new mini album made entirely of my Instagram photos.  (I got a tablet for Christmas and was so excited to finally join the world of mobile devices!)  Esme has been scrapping with me a lot and I love it.  I gave her my extra Instagram prints and this is what she made:

• This week we start Robotics!  I attended training on how to coach a FIRST Lego League competitive team but I still feel a little unprepared.  The trainers assure me that soon the girls will be teaching me what to do.  Definitely happy to be offering more STEM activities for Girl Scouts.
• I love having an instrument that I can play.  I haven't quite gotten to it every day, but my autoharp has definitely been getting use since its purchase in late October.  At the moment I have a touch of laryngitis, but I hope to get back to it full force once this wears off.  
• I can't wait to get back to the beach this summer.  On these cold days when it gets dark so early, I think even more about the night we had a fire on the beach and how late it stayed light.  That's my favorite time of year!