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Stephanie Howell

reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.

she did it.

the other day i was playing with the babies. the bigs were outside with j.

harper came running in SCREAMING “MOMMMYYYYYY! COME SEEEE! YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT!!!!”.

and when i came outside i didn’t believe it. she finally learned how to ride her bike without training wheels.

i thought this day might never every come. she is very cautious and unwilling to try new things.

very scared to fall. jimmy isn’t here often and it’s a bit hard for me to take all four on bike rides. HA!

but she did it!!

with lots of encouragement from her daddy:

 

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a few wobbles:

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and lots of smiles:

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and i stood there with teary eyes snapping photos.

not only because she finally hit this milestone…

but because j was here for it.

it might sound silly, but he is not here for most firsts. so to see him accomplish this with harper. gosh, i have tears in my eyes just typing this.

 

and speaking of bikes and tears in my eyes for other reasons…i took my first spin class last night. i can barely walk or SIT today, but i loved it. i kept up and i am really proud of myself. i have a feeling this is really going to change my body and maybe my life.

so here’s to new beginnings and accomplishments. 🙂
happy thursday sweet friends.

xoxo

s

*love*ly things- on being okay with it.

LovelythingsI had SUCH a great time with this blog series this month.I might just have to do it every year.

Thanks to all of you for reading every day and thanks for all of the encouraging and lovely comments. 🙂

I wanted to close out this series with a new layout. I’m still committed to my 2012 scrap resolution…having fun. I am making things that are authentically me. Not worrying about whether I am doing the latest trends or keeping up with what is “in”.

Right now there is a very specific trend in scrapbooking. I LOVE looking at these pages…ink blots,beautiful layers,controlled mess. sewing,ink,etc,die cut machines…lots of really cool stuff.

 

Unfortunately…I couldn’t pull off that look if I tried.And I HAVE tried. I would love to have the naturally cool style of Marcy Penner or Jen Johner. I’ve admired it for years.haha!

 

But you know what? I’m okay with that. Today’s *love*ly thing?

Being okay with NOT being on trend. 🙂 If you look back at my pages over the years, they kind of all look the same.

I do girly. Florals,mismatched colors and patterns,doilies,butterflies,lace,ribbons. Always have,probably always will!

Now and then I’ll get emails that all of my pages are the same. Or that my pages are messy (I don’t really get this one as much),or that I am boring b/c I don’t do many techniques.

And I am okay with that.

YouAreYou

source

I am not the worlds most complicated scrapbooker. I am not the world’s most inspirational scrapooker-technique wise.

But I put my heart on every page. And i LOVE this hobby.

And I am more than okay with that.

In the past there have been times I’ve tried to fit in. See the tiny photo debacle of 2009 or the misting disaster of 2011. I don’t have fun when I do that. Those pages don’t feel authentic to me. If I’m not doing what comes naturally to me,then I don’t enjoy the process.

I finally discovered that I have to take trends and adapt them to make them be more me. Washi tape for example. Using it in traditional ways doesn’t work for me. But cutting it to look like ribbon edges? That worked. Misting. I can NOT for the life of me pull of that cool “casually misted”look. But using a doily as a template? That worked for me.

So here’s to a lovely,lovely thing.Being okay with being vanilla.Being okay with doing what makes me happy.

Being okay with my pages looking like “me”. And frankly? I am okay with them all looking similar. Because in the end? I will be the one looking at them. 🙂

And hopefully someone will appreciate and want them somewhere down the line. That’s the good thing about having four girls. Hopefully ONE of them will want the albums. HAHAH!

 

Happy Wednesday my sweet friends. I hope you spend today doing what makes you happiest.xoxo

 

Thoseeyes

cardstock-core’dinations;patterned paper-studio calico (new take note collection);washi-freckled fawn;ribbon,jewels,butterflies,doily,stickers-studio calico happy little moments kit;cardstock doily,flowers-crate paper;tag-martha stewart;butterfly-studio calico daydream believer kit

photo by carrie crowder

Story Hour!!!

shopping list:

story hour

atlas

white pen

jbs tab punch

jbs butterfly punch

also used on these layouts:

martha stewart doily punch

stampin’ up heart punch

martha stewart hydrangea punch

martha stewart royal butterfly punch

martha stewart classic butterfly punch

martha stewart triple butterly punch

heart punch

i love this layout. it is my pinterest inspired layout for the month and uses the main kit only.

here’s the inspiration:

pinterest

i went a bit punch crazy here. 🙂

this one is made using story hour and atlas.

Fashionista

under the photo of harper is a photo booklet. i bound the photos with staples and covered the staples with a strip from the edge of a sheet of patterned paper:

Photobooklet
Page3

my heart punch got a workout from this one. 🙂

hearts=photos and all of the patterned papers from story hour and atlas.

hope you got what you wanted for reveal…have a wonderful evening!

xxo

scrappy saturday- new jbs goodies

Stephpockets

i have a couple of projects up at the jbs inspiration blog. i had so much fun working with the new release (this is one of the projects i did for the booth. LOVE the new pockets and tags. this release is out of this world.

hope your weekend is beautiful and blessed!xxo

FACT.

Little me

it's common knowledge that i'm no wallflower.

i'm not what you might call delicate. or graceful…or quiet. nope, i've never been called any of those things.

we had to do a psych/personality survey for the marriage retreat and we got the results back this week.

the test confirmed what i've suspected all along.

here's what the results told me:

i am highly extraverted.

i am enthusiastic and playful.

i am socially bold,forthright,and genuine.

i worry. i am sensitive to criticism.

i prefer a lively/social enviroment.

i am a sensitive person who appreciates art and beauty.

accomodating, responsible,worrisome.

 

but my favorite part?

the part that made me laugh so hard i got tears in my eyes??

stephanie's style tends to be exuberant,uninhibited,and spontaneous. sometimes stephanie is so lively and spontaneous that she might find it hard to "tone it down".

 

hahaha. um yeah.

all you have to do is see j's "mortified face" once to realize that sometimes i have a hard time "toning it down".

FACT.

what? God made me that way. i can't help it.smirk.

happy weekend!

s