Stephanie Howell

random photo taken at 3 am before i went to get j the other day. haha! please note all of his laundry washed and folded in the closet…so funny. 🙂

sooo…today i turn 34. it’s funny. i’ve never really felt that panic at getting older. not at 30, not this year at 34. in all honesty all i feel is profound gratitude.

at the gift of another year with my family.

and this year? i get to add together to that sentence.

yep. gratitude describes this feeling best.

here are a few things i’d like to do in the next year. no pressure. no HAVE TOs. just WANT TOs.

1.continue to exercise daily

2.try yoga

3.use my sewing machine

4.go on more dates with jimmy

5.get frustrated less

6.relax more

7.volunteer

8.do more “just for fun layouts”

9.take a spinning class

10.see a movie in the theater

11.allow myself to ask for help. and accept it when it is offered.

12.call old friends. see them.

13. make a new friend

14. join a bible study

15. get better at talking about things that are bothering me instead of burying them

16.bake

17.go to 3 new cities

18.go to cha

19.be more assertive

20.re design my blog

21.PLAY more with the girls

22.teach an online scrapbooking class

23.get a manicure

24.donate

25.be okay with saying “no”

26.say thank you more

27.go on a walking tour of savannah

28.re-read to kill a mockingbird

29.go to a concert

30.hand write a love letter

31.run

32.regularly tell the people i love how much they mean to me

33.try a new haircut

34.have a girls night out.

it’s funny to see my heart’s desires written out like that.

but mostly…i just want to be.

be happy. be together. be grateful. be healthy.

here’s to the gift of another amazing year!

happy happy wednesday, friends!

xxo

s

that i won’t be around much for the next couple of days.

i’ve got a handsome soldier sleeping upstairs. 🙂

see you soon!

xxo

p.s. if you notice bedhead in this photo it’s because we got up at 4 am to go get him. well, i never slept, but the big girls were TROOPERS. life’s always an adventure w/ him. love it.

i love this month’s kit. i really really love it. i had NO problem doing six layouts very quickly. and one add-on is still untouched! i just ran out of time!

i so hope to be able to share some more layouts later if i can somehow find time to make more. 🙂

this month’s shopping list:

glee club

pep squad

debate team

home ec

thespians

here’s what i came up with this month.

 

BB

made using:debate team

tiny heart punch (from michael’s)

on this one i ripped the amy tangerine chevron fabric paper into strips, tied the strips in a knot, and embellished the knot with a button.

i love the messy look of the frayed fabric. i was pretty proud of myself of thinking of this. yes, it doesn’t take much to make me proud of myself. hahaha!

and i have to tell you how much i love this cardstock color. it’s american crafts sunflower and you can also find it in more color. ob.sessed.

 

grrrr

made using: thespians

black twine

i think i need more of this text background paper. how cool is it? i’m also loving the stamp that came in this add-on. i used it on two layouts.

by the way- the twine was from my own stash, it doesn’t come in the kit. 🙂

 

she

made using:glee club

cutterbee scissors (for hand cutting flowers)

i love this page about sadie. i lifted the journaling from this blog post (almost directly…i made a few changes). i pulled random instagram photos i had of her (and there were plenty!!)

sweet and simple. and i hope she loves to read this one day.

 

sweet cate

made using: debate team

pinking shears

1 1/2″ and 2″ circle punches

uniball signo pen

i think this was my favorite add-on. i love how the colors work together. just some layering and scattered embellishments here.

i left the chipboard trees bare. i thought they looked pretty just in the kraft color and i didn’t really feel like doing anything fancy with them.

i felt like i was channeling my ultimate scrap crush jenni bowlin by busting out the pinking shears. 🙂

 

all you need is love

made using: glee club

home ec

cutterbee scissors

yeah,yeah yeah…okay. i know this one is a little messy and not so much my style, but it was FUN to make. i just hand cut all o those hearts from patterned paper and stuck them willy nilly.

the journaling is the core of this one. all about my love for j. cheesy? yes. true? absolutely. i love him so much.

 

old fashioned

made using: thespians

simple simple simple.

no explanation needed.

but that photo? makes me teary. love it.

 

there you go! hope your sunday is beautiful! xxo

last saturday we all gathered to honor our fallen.we walked a mile around a lake in honor of true heroes.while the media was focused on kim kardashian’s spectacle (ahem…wedding) we were focused on this.

we hugged, talked in hushed tones,nodded at one another, pinned on bibs bearing the faces and names of men that are now gone.

those faces on that bib brought tears to my eyes and they still do as i’m looking at this photo.

there were widows there. children who didn’t have their daddies any more. it gave me a heartache and a pit in my stomach.mothers and fathers without their sons.

but it also makes me more proud than i can put into words.

we are a family.

we walk side by side

love each other. pick up each other’s kids when they are crying. hold the hands of each other’s children.

we survive together.we text each other while we are hiding in the bathtub with our children during a tornado warning. we make each other laugh.

we cry together. talk one another through the scariest,most uncertain moments imaginable.

i have such PRIDE in these families. i feel such intense,possessive, throat-tightening respect for these men.

to walk for them that day was a privilege.to wear their faces on my shirt was a privilege.

i carry them in my heart daily.

my heart is full of so many things…so full for so many reasons. and so heavy.

rltw.

(for all of you that aren’t familiar w/ random army acronyms…hahaha…that means “rangers lead the way”)

 

 

soooo…between a hurricane scare (praying for my NC friends and family), an evacuation plan

the first week of school

getting ready for sadie’s first week of school

two teething  babies who are crawling SO fast and getting into everything

cleaning a very dirty house

exercising

getting my september SC layouts done (LOVED this month)

frenzied preparations for something fun coming up

(oooh i just remembered i turned 34 next week! that’s not the something fun i was talking about though haha)

what was my point? i’m losing my train of thought lots lately. hahaha!

oh yes…my point is this.

i have lots of photos to share, i need to do a 9 month cate and lucy post, i want to do a post on our “run for the fallen ” last weekend

but my brain is fried. so i’ll make a list and get to those things later.

but i did want to share this:

second day of school

 

she loves it. loves,loves,loves it. she gets in the car BURSTING with excitement and chattering every day. she loves her teacher, loves her classroom,loves the fact that she is learning to find and do things ALL by herself,learning to ask her peers for help and clarification (montessori is big on this). she is great.

some of you have asked if she’s doing full or half day- full day.

and yes, she has to wear a uniform!! she was very concerned at first, but then she asked her teacher if she could ‘cessorize (snicker) and of course her teacher said yes.

so that’s the latest on miss h.

sadie starts preschool (half days) next week and i must admit…i’m excited to be with the babies a few hours a day!! maybe i’ll get to HOLD them??? what a novel idea. hahaa!

 

happy,happy wednesday.

xxo

s