Music Monday -- M83 "Oblivion"

J and I saw Oblivion in theaters, but were underwhelmed.  However, I loved loved loved the song that played at the end of the movie.  I immediately had to find the song and buy it.  M83 actually did the entire score for the movie.  I love the moodiness of this song.  It fits the movie, but also fits M83's sound.  Love it!

Lyrics:

Since I was young, I knew I’d find youBut our love was a song sung by a dying swan And in the night, you hear me calling, You hear me calling And in your dreams you see me falling, falling

Breathe in the light I’ll stay here in the shadow Waiting for a sign, as the tide grows Higher, and higher, and higher

And when the nights are long All those stars recall your goodbye, your goodbye

And in the night you'll hear me calling, You'll hear me calling And in your dreams you'll see us falling, falling And in now you'll hear me calling, You'll hear me calling And in your dreams you'll see us falling, falling

Breathe in the light and say goodbye Breathe in the light and say goodbye.

Sunday Sunset #6

Listening To: Arthur and I have been rocking out to the "A" artists from the server.  So far we powered through Alien Ant Farm, Amy Winehouse (he loved her!), Alkaline Trio, and Anberlin.  Maybe we'll go with the Bs for the next week.

Book finished: Sh*tty Mom; Peter Pan

Reading: Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein

On the Nightstand: The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa; The Zombie Whisperer by Jesse Petersen; The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy

From the kitchen: I had some new recipes planned and then I didn't get to the grocery store until Wednesday.  I ended up relying on a ton of standbys.  I did add in a BBQ Cheddar Meatloaf recipe that was very very yummy.  I ended the week with a disaster.  I had a recipe for Asian Salmon Cakes that sounded great.  I got all the ingredients prepped, opened the can of salmon, and immediately freaked out.  The salmon had a ton of bones throughout the mix.  And not just a errant bone, but most of the spine of the fish.  Gag!  I intellectually know where fish comes from, but it completely turned me off from the salmon.  I scrapped the entire meal and made BBQ chicken.  Hopefully I can get my cooking mojo back for next week.

On the Web: I've fallen down the rabbit hole this week.  I started out looking at one person's crafting blog, which led me to about 10 other crafty blogs.  Then I researched subscription kits and found some wish list items.  And I also found some new lifestyle blogs.  All in all, these meanderings have resulted in being almost a week behind on my blogroll.

Crafting: I got a ton of crafting done with this week.  I played with my new supplies and ended up making 6 cards!  I also completed my W7 and W8 Project Life spreads.  Click here to see the cards and click here to see the Project Life spreads.  This coming week I want to finish my one sheet wonder project and possibly start on my March PL swaps (rainbows, easter eggs, and scraps).

Watching: The usual round up of shows.  We did indulge in a bit of childhood reminiscence and watched The Last Starfighter on Friday.  I loved that movie as a kid, but haven't watched it in years.  It was just as good as I remembered!  The twins would laugh at the bad CGI, but that was the shit back in the day!

From Nature: We've had a week of rain.  We needed it considering we are in the middle of a huge drought.  Unfortunately the rain will do little to alleviate the drought.  But it was a nice change and the rain reminded me so much of the Midwest.  I love falling asleep to the sound of the rain.

Shopping Scores: I discovered Peachy Cheap from one of my Project Life Swap FB groups.  They offer one crafting stash deal per day.  The first day I happened to check it out, they had a deal for My Mind's Eye embellishments for $9.99.  I snapped it up.  I was thinking I would get a couple of sheets of stickers, a couple journal cards, and a couple of die cut.  What I got was a huge collection of supplies.  Look at all this stuff!  I am so excited to start using them!

Project: I'm investigating the possibility of starting another blog.  Still researching what's out there, trying to find a niche, and looking at what would be required.  This would be a huge undertaking...  Not sure if I have the time to jump in, but I think it's a great idea.

Picture: A little preview of what we tried this week...

Odds and Ends

Here is my randomness for the week:

• I have so many projects I want to start... curse you Pinterest
• need to buy plane tickets
• the kitchen floor is bugging me, but that means a deep clean with a clingy baby
• pureed peas smell disgusting
• when I get five minutes to myself, I'm so scatterbrained nothing gets done
• other moms can be super judgey (hope I'm not like them)
• wondering what Director of Membership really entails
• I'm almost behind on my blog...  I need a day dedicated to blog post writing/planning/scheduling
• my birthday is less than a week away  (Hello 32!)
• every moment spent with my baby is so precious (sorry for the sap)
• thinking we need to buy an umbrella stroller to save my back during traveling
• want to hard-core plan our summer family vacation up north (as in Northern California not the Great White North)
• there are too many movies to watch and books to read
• didn't realized how much I missed listening to the rain until this past week... love that sound!
• my wardrobe is tired and ill-fitting; wish I had money to go out and splurge on a new one
• but I did find some comfy slip-on sneakers to make me feel better about non-fitting clothes
• everyone keeps telling that Arthur looks exactly like me; all I see is J when I look at him
• I'm so far behind on my Bloglovin' reading I may just mark all as read and start fresh

Monthly Life Goals March-2014

Before I get to this month’s goals, let’s check in on January’s goals and my progress.

February goals:

• 30 Day Challenge: Cleaning of the entire house – Failed. I so did not even get started on this goal.  I did keep up with most of my cleaning schedule, but I really do need to deep clean other areas.
• 30 Day Challenge: IMDB 250 movies – Success!  Another 28 movies watched from the list.  I am behind on the reviews, but we did watch them.
• 30 Day Challenge: An apple a day – Failed. I bought some apples and just didn't keep up with eating them daily.
• Pinterest Challenge: Make 5 things from my Pinterest boards – Success!  Using a "This Week's Projects" board has encouraged me to make more things off of my boards.  I made multiple recipes and cards based off of pins from the board.  I even tried a towel laundering trick to make the fluffy and nice smelling.
• Update Netflix queue – Success!  I finally fixed our queques so that they are separated and updated.  Now I can add, watch, and delete things without J getting confused.
• Update TBR spreadsheets – 50% success.  I got most of the random lists of interesting books into the spreadsheets.  I haven't yet checked for duplicates or done
• Make Valentines for the mom’s group and stamp club ladies – Success!  We had a fun little party for the babies even though it rained out our park time and we had to retreat to a bakery.  I made 20 homemade Valentine's for the little ones.

March Goals:

• 30 Day Challenge: 200 squat challenge -- I haven't lost a pound in two months and that's with walking 5-7miles a week and watching what I eat.  Maybe this will help me shed some pounds or at least get me more into shape.
• 30 Day Challenge: Stuff Reduction -- I want to keep working on getting rid of the clutter. Every week I want to focus on a room of the apartment.  That week I will systematically go through the stuff and try to reduce by trashing, recycling, selling, or Goodwilling. (W1 Master Suite; W2 Office; W3 Living room/Kitchen; W4 Boys' Room)
• 30 Day Challenge: Photos of inspiration -- A part of my Day Zero Project, I want to take photos of everything that inspires me.  Some of this may be able to cross posted to my FMS Photo a Day Challenge for March.
• Sell read books (HPB or other place) -- I have four bags ready to go.  This will help me get rid of the clutter.
• Pinterest Challenge: Check links/clean out at least one board -- I am sure that I will continue to make things from my boards, but I really need to start cleaning up the boards.  I'm sure I have some missing links and such.
• Plan/Schedule/Finish Routine Blog Posts Through April -- I'm nearing the end of what I had prepped and scheduled around Christmas.  I want to get ahead to leave time for spur of the moment posts and new things.
• Get a Haircut -- I haven't had one since I was pregnant.  I desperately need a new look.
• Complete a Day in the Life post -- My goal is to do one of these each season.

Project Life 2014 -- Weeks 7 and 8

Week 7

Family Album: This week was a combination of regular activities, Valentine's Day, and Arthur turning 4 months.  I decided to split the spread.  The left side focuses on our regular activities.  I used a nice orange and turquoise palette to add visual interest.  Instead of adding another picture, I chose to use a 4x6 pocket as my weekly highlights insert.  I didn't add much embellishment: space man stamp and piece of washi tape was all.  The right side was heavy on Arthur's milestones.  The red is a bit overwhelming, but I still think it looks nice.

Supplies:

• WRMK Tangerine Journalling Kit
• PL Holidays Mini Kit
• PL Neutral Baby Kit
• SU Stamp (space man)
• Random embellishments

Arthur's Album: Arthur's album is split between Valentine's Day (left side) and 4 months (right side).  I wanted to create some type of balance in the spread.  Other than the hearts, I didn't add any embellishments.

Supplies:

• PL Neutral Baby Kit
• PL Holiday Mini Kit
• Random embellishments

Week 8

Family Album: Somehow I completely lost the right side picture of this week's spread.  Oh well.  I'll get it finished soon.  I kept the embellishing at a minimum.  I relied on some alphabet stickers to add some interest to the track pictures.  I love the visual interest of this week's page.

Supplies:

• WRMK Tangerine Journaling Kit
• Random stamp and alphabet stamps
• Camera charm

Arthur's Album: Arthur's album is missing one picture that will have to go onto the next picture order.  No embellishments this week, but I did a huge amount of journaling.  I am getting better at storytelling; capturing those little moments.

Supplies:

• PL Neutral Baby Kit