December Daily 2010 - Done

WhooHoo - Am done with my first ever December Daily project!
You can also see the entire album here.

I've really enjoyed the daily dose of creativity, and have loved looking at the wonderful pages created by others this month. So much inspiration out there.

My decision to make this entire album digitally was part of what enabled me to complete it - I did not have to fuss with printing, embellishments, etc. An impromptu trip? No worries. My project was portable. Spending a little time in November creating my four foundation pages made each page creation so much simpler - all I had to do was figure out what story I was going to tell and add the photos. A huge time and sanity saver.

While I do not love all the pages I created, I love the finished album - a record of a place and time in my life. Love that.

As promised, here is a supplies list for my pages:

• Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand class was the source of my 12x12 layered template, date numbers, and most of the papers
• Also used papers from Katie Pertiet Winter Wish kit, KTeague Berry Days kit, LynnG, Shabby Princess Holiday Magic, Seasonal Sampler, Dot Com and Dinner Party kits
  
• Word art from Rhonna Farrer

Looking forward to this project again next year.

December Daily 2010 - Day 31

Journaling:
One Word for 2011: EXPLORE
1: to investigate, study, or analyze
2: to travel over (new territory) for adventure or discovery
3: to examine
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 30

Journaling:
I Remember ... The time when computers were the size of luggage. When music was listened to on stacks of albums, cassettes and CDs. When mobile phones were the size of a loaf of bread. When recording voice involved a tape deck with spools of magnetic tape. When a video camera was the size of an RPG held on your shoulder. Technology is just a part of everyday life for me and I continue to be amazed at the pace of its evolution. Not having to lug all that old equipment around - priceless.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 29

Journaling:
Play Time ... One of the great things about the holiday season is that you get a time out from normal life and get a chance to relax and do fun things like play and read by the fire. We got in plenty of both this season. Love this game - it really makes my brain tingle - can feel new neurons building as I play.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 28

Journaling:
A visit to my local library is like having Christmas every day. I remember visits to the library when I was kid in Mombasa - something about the smell and texture of books captivated me. As I grew up, I started buying my own books, so stopped visiting the library. Then about a decade or so ago, realized how much I was spending on books - could fund my retirement with that money! - so started visiting my local library and fell in love with libraries all over again. My heaven is a library with large rooms, huge windows, a fireplace, comfy sofas, resident cats, hot tea carafes and wonderful leather bound books. Bliss.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 27

Journaling:
It is not often that we get a blizzard warning twenty four hours ahead of time. The weather forecasters were so excited - blizzard, a top ten storm, thunder snow, power outages, high winds, coastal flooding - they could barely control their glee in having something to talk about. And they called it right - we got about 15 inches of snow and had white-out conditions for most of the storm. I was so happy to be snug at home and not stranded at an airport. We lucked out and did not loose power, and our neighbor came over with his snow blower and cleared the hump. Let it snow!
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 26

Journaling:
Letting Go ... An ongoing project this month involved stripping old wallpaper and painting the large room downstairs. This is also the room where we have shelves and shelves of books, and as part of the project, we decided to sort the stacks. So many memories tied up with these books - they are like friends from a certain place and time in my life. Decided to cut deep knowing that the books going to the library will find a good home. Letting go is hard to do.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 25

Journaling:
Merry, Merry ... With the winter solstice behind us, the amount of daylight has started to increase. Not nearly fast enough though, so the lights from the tree, candles and blazing fires help keep the darkness at bay.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 24

Journaling:
A visit to the new Jean Philippe Patisserie at ARIA is one of the highlights of any visit to Las Vegas. Especially if like me you have a sweet tooth. So many delicious choices, so little time. An ice-cream stop at JP is on the agenda every time I visit. The moment I arrive, my nieces start planning the visit - which day we will go, which flavor ice-cream they will try, a quick review of past flavors sampled. Such a sweet tradition.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

Season's Greetings

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season filled with love, laughter and lots of hugs.

Am back from my week in Las Vegas, and am delighted that I got home without any travel delays. Was flying Xmas eve, so did keep my eyes open for Santa up in the skies, and although I did see a flash of red, cannot confirm that it was actually Rudolph.

While in Vegas, attended a dress rehearsal for the Xmas play - my nieces are angels. You can see pics of the event here.

December Daily 2010 - Day 23

Journaling:
A tradition every time I visit Vegas is a visit to the Bellagio botanical gardens to marvel at the seasonal creations. Loved this winter/holiday theme - a gigantic tree, reindeer flying into the air, huge rocking horses, toy soldiers, lots of penguins and polar bears frolicking. There is almost too much to take in all at once. I find myself in awe of the creative talent on display.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 22

Journaling:
Waiting for Santa ... I love how kids really believe in the magic of Santa. I mean really believe, deep down in their very bones. These are precious magical years. When anything is possible if you only believe - and are nice. I am lucky to be able to share this time with my nieces. I hope you can keep the magic alive as you grow up little ones.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 21

Journaling:
Rainy Days ... Rain, rain go away. Come again another day. Good thing that we have so many games we can play indoors - including Scrabble, Monopoly and Chess. Waiting for the sun.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 20

Journaling:
It was an auspicious day. A total lunar eclipse on the winter solstice - the first time in four centuries. I got the girls all spun up about it, and we spent the day keeping our fingers crossed that the rain would stop - we are in a desert after all. We stayed up past bedtime, but though the rain had stopped, the heavy cloud cover prevented us from being able to see the magical event in the sky. Such a bummer. We went online the next morning to see what we missed. It sure was a good show.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 19

Journaling:
The girls loved their journals and did not swap them - so I picked right. We spent several hours making our mark in the journals using paints,pens and markers. Love how they looked at my travel journal and decided that they wanted to create painted pages to write on too. We read the prompts aloud and answered some of them together. Interesting what you learn when you create a space where kids can be messy and have fun.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 18

Journaling:
Flying ... Even though I understand the physics of it all, to me flying feels like a magic trick. I love that instant when the engines rev, the plane rushes forward, and I get thrust back into my seat. There is this moment of doubt that this behemoth can actually fly, then the sheer incredulity of lift off. Love it every time. Travel time to visit my nieces in Las Vegas is sure faster by plane than by wagon, yet I always seem to pack enough snacks for the latter!­
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 17

Journaling:
New Worlds ... I cannot remember an age when I did not love books. Everything about them - the texture of the paper, the smell of ink, the font styles, the heft of the book, the cover art, and the worlds they have opened up for me. This year I made the leap to e-readers with my nook. Such a different reading experience, and I love it too.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 16

Journaling:
I love that our tree ornaments are connected to memories. One of our travel traditions is to find an ornament to add to our collection. On this page, the center one belonged to Susan’s mom. The one of Henry VIII on the top right is from one of our London trips, and the one on the bottom right is from New Orleans. I love that every time we trim the tree it is a fun trip down memory lane.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 15

Journaling:
My nephew Jonah turns six next week, and since I’m going to be out of town, we decided to celebrate today. He was absolutely delighted with his present from the treasure box - Scaredy Squirrel - a story that both boys have loved. Luke immediately grabbed it and starting reading it to him. Love that. After we got homework out of the way, it was time for an impromptu game of charades. Dinner by request of the birthday boy was cheese pizza and an apple berry pie. So love the funny, smart boy he is growing up to be. I hope you never cease to ask questions and wonder at the marvels around you little one.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.

December Daily 2010 - Day 14

Journaling:
I Remember ... When I was a kid in Mombasa, our family Christmas celebrations revolved around faith, family and food. We read Bible passages about the birth of Jesus. We attended midnight mass. We put up a tree and had friends or family around for tasty food that Mom prepared. There was no shopping frenzy. It was not about stuff. I remember the simple pleasure of a new dress each year. Lovely.
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Capturing stories. One day at a time. For the month of December.