Project Life 2012: Week 3

Hello friends! Before I jump into sharing more of my Week 3 that was shared on Becky's blog today I wanted to say Thank You. I appreciate the comments that were left on my last post and sent via Facebook/Twitter. The great news is that last week's checkup was fantastic. All is well with Travis & I'm still taking it easy to make sure this little guy goes full term.

There were so many of you that related to the Superwoman Complex part of the post. It was so very hard for me to hit the post button. Blogging is such a strange thing sometimes. As I type on my computer I write to an unknown audience and that serves as an invisibility cloak for me. This false anonymity usually allows to write my heart without pause.

But this post was different. I was very.much.aware. that those who see me in daily life may be reading and that left me extremely open & raw.

Brene Brown recently wrote about her experience speaking at TED a few weeks ago and how vulnerability impacted her. She wrote "Vulnerability is courage in you and inadequacy in me." When I read that this weekend it definitely struck a chord deep within me. Please know that you are not alone and that this is not unique to the Mom who works outside of the home, the Mom who works in the home or the Mom who has dedicated her life to her family and household. We are all impacted by society's expectations and our own self talk in so many aspects of life.

My guess is that many of you checking in today are battling some self talk about being "behind" on this project. {Sidebar: The words "behind" & "caught up" are like nails on a chalkboard to me} The community that has grown around Project Life is amazing & it's wonderful to have so many like minded people participating. However, the other edge of the sword is that there is so much out there to compare & measure yourself against. It is hard not to be tough on yourself when you follow weekly posts of layouts and you have weeks that are yet to be complete in your album.

I believe that Project Life is more than a completed album. I believe that Project Life facilitates living your life with your eyes open and most weeks your heart full. Yes, it is amazing at the end of the year to have a complete album but for me the real benefit & purpose of Project Life is cultivating a good life by simply being aware and showing up.

So, if you've missed a few weeks I say let it go and start fresh with this week. Since I'm not sharing weekly these days I thought I would let you guys see where I'm at in hopes of giving someone encouragement.

Complete & Shared: Weeks 1, 2 & 3
Complete & Not Shared: Weeks 4, 7 & 8
Pictures Printed & Journaling/Inserts in Progress: Weeks 5 & 9
Pictures Printed: Weeks 6 & 10

You can see I'm jumping around a bit and that is OK. I'll be honest, I'm avoiding WK6 because I'm overwhelmed by the volume my Day in Life created in that week. I'm leaning towards working on my main pages without the Day in Life insert so I can get over this hurdle.

If you remember my advice in January was to determine what your base level is and let that define your "success". You can see that my base level is taking pictures and printing them. I can sincerely say that I do not consider myself behind even with 4 out of 10 weeks still in progress because of how I define my base level.

So, as promised, here is a closer look at Week 3 of 2012.

Something I did differently this year was prefill my album with journaling cards from Clementine & Cobalt. I was a little worried about whether or not this random placement would end up working most weeks & I'm happy to report that it has. In fact, I've found it encourages me to keep it simple & just start my journaling. So happy I did this.

I think my favorite page protector this year is Design F. This week I used it to hold all the Instagram pictures from the week and it made it so easy. To keep a cohesive look I pull lined & graph paper from my stash and cut multiple journaling cards from them.

Another favorite page protector is Design G. Love the addition of just a few vertical pictures. I took the kids to the Aquarium on MLK day and loved being able to include our trip in one insert. My focus was truly on the pictures so I simply added one journaling spot for the entire insert.

This year I have embraced my love as labels as journaling spots. Find what works for you & repeat, repeat, repeat. It makes this so much easier. I'm also LOVING these bags from Michelle Wooderson. It is so nice to slip in a journaling tag in the bag for stories that I don't necessarily want the casual viewer to read.

Here is a list of all supplies used:

Becky Higgins Clementine & Cobalt Core Kits *The Cobalt Kit is available
Becky Higgins Design A, F and G Page Protectors *Design G Page Protectors are available
Becky Higgins 3x4 Grid Journaling Cards *Available and one of my FAVORITES
Martha Stewart Home Office Labels
Elle's Studio Lil Snippets: Labeled, Everyday Tags
Mish Mash Chevron Bag
White Tag
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type
Sassafras Cardstock Stickers
October Afternoon Rocket Age Decal Alpha Stickers
Octoer Afternoon Boarding Pass Alpha Stickers
Studio Calico Stamps & Alpha Stamps
Typewriter


Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a wonderful week!

Monica