almost...thirty-one

I've been thinking about this post all day, and what I would write. I wasn't banking on the news of the Boston Marathon explosions. I wasn't banking on feeling...

...stunned...saddened...shocked...sick. 

The runners --and their families, friends, and cheerleaders-- started out this morning with such pride in their cause, and their day ended in such tragedy. Even those who finished well before the explosions, their day --their accomplishment-- was forever marred.

Boston's day was forever marred.

The entire country's day was forever marred.

Today has just been...unreal.

I'd been thinking about my post today, and how I was going to write about the fact that this last year didn't end up the year I'd had planned for myself, and how this coming year would be better. How this year I would make sure to meet my goals.

Then, the explosions at the Boston Marathon happened, and all of a sudden, my thoughts of my tomorrow seemed a whole lot less important.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was --and is still-- there, both physically and mentally. May God bless, and keep you all.



And may justice quickly be served upon those guilty of this COWARDLY act of terror..

The best iPhone apps, according to...well, me...

Hello? Is anyone still out there?

Probably not, as I've been pretty quiet lately. Balancing life and school, and whatever is left afterwards has proven to be pretty tricky (and, if I'm honest, not all that enjoyable).

I haven't felt like I have had anything interesting to say, but someone recently told me I should blog about my favorite iPhone apps. So, you know what? I think that's what tonight's post is going to be about.

In no particular order, here they are:

• Instagram Love snapping photos with your phone? Love adding filters that make them look fabulous? Love social networks to share said fabulous photos? Enter Instagram. Love.

• Runkeeper If you're big on tracking your mile-accumulating exercise, Runkeeper is the app for you. Working out in the great outdoors? Runkeeper's GPS will track your distance, pace, and time, as well as map your workout AND show your relative position to sea-level at any point on said map. Really, really cool. If you're not exercising outdoors, the manual tracking features are easy to use and still provide you with plenty of post-workout information.

• Waze I stumbled upon this after its initial release, and now believe it to be one of the best apps EVER. Not only is it a FREE and fabulous GPS --that will, by the way, continue guiding you even when you are on a phone call (it does momentarily cut into your conversation, but you won't ever miss that turn...so who cares???)-- but it often warns you about other issues along your route:  accidents, construction areas, hidden police, and other various hazards. Fantastic app.

• Pandora Have a favorite song? You can build a radio station off of it. Search and select the song to get started, give subsequent suggestions a thumbs up or down, and before long you will have the perfect radio station. Pandora is probably the only app that I can say for certainty I use every day. If you love late 80s, early 90s music, let me know. I've created the best station ever and am happy to share it :)

• Box Once upon a time, I used to swear by Dropbox, but these days, I've moved on to Box. So much more SYNCED storage (50GB) across all of my devices - iPhone, iPad, and Macbook Pro. Seamless document sharing and uploading between them. The only downfall is that many apps have yet to recognize it as a backup source (instead of Dropbox or iCloud).

• Day One I wasn't sure if I would include this or not. I love so many things about Day One, but the fact that it doesn't encrypt its backups is a huge issue for me. The convenience of updating across multiple devices is excellent, as is the inclusion of weather and location information.  But, you know what? If I'm keeping a pin-protected journal, I'm really not cool with someone being able to hop into my Dropbox and find the journal entries backed up (and easily readable). Not cool. At all. I'm hoping but writing about this here, others will take notice and action might happen. (A girl can dream, right??)

• Flipboard Somewhere along the line, someone decided to make their feed reader not just better, but amazing. And then? Flipboard happened. This was another app I stumbled onto, and never looked back. It is GENIUS! Your favorite internet feeds --not just blogs, but Facebook and Twitter, and others, as well-- in a format mimicking a magazine, for you to peruse, page to page. AWESOME.

• GetGlue Watching a tv show? Reading a book? Listening to music? Get rewarded! Download GetGlue, check into whatever activity you are doing, and earn stickers! This is especially awesome for people like me who scrapbook or smashbook. Sticker freebies that arrive in the mail?? Fantabulous.

By the way, it was originally my intention to put the little cutesy app graphics next to each link above, but all of them got super grainy when I tried to shrink them down, so. Take my word for it, and ignore the lack of pictures. The apps mentioned above are all FANTASTIC. I promise.

{wordless} mud

 

 

This is what spring in Maine looks like.

 

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{wordless} breakfast for dinner

{wordless} ice lace

Since nearly completing my first Project Life layout over the weekend, I've been looking for photo ops everywhere. This morning, while taking Sadie out, I wasn't even actually looking when I happened across this gorgeousness on our front porch -- crystals of ice, looking as though they were purposely etched there. Lacy flowers and stems. Just...beautiful.

Just amazing.

project life in progress

I was finally inspired (motivated??) to work on my 2013 Project Life album today, so I spent a fair amount of the afternoon and all evening working on it. Here's a sneak peek at one of the pages:

For now, the bottom right is a blank pocket that is showcasing...my tablecloth. I have some journaling in mind that will soon replace it :)

This happens to be the left side of the two-page spread for Week One. I really set myself up well to work on it, thanks to the advice of Tracy Larsen. Basically, I created a folder in Dropbox entitled "Week One",  to which I uploaded all photos, journaling bits, and any other relevant things to remember, via iPhone, iPad, or computer. So, when I was ready to get to work today, the hard part was already done for me. That was so great!!

(And ridiculously easy.)

Too bad I haven't been that mindful of my Project Life intentions since :(

Lesson learned, though. Now that I've seen how helpful it was, I'm going to pick back up with and continue it from here on out.

I'm very excited with my progress so far. While I still agonized over some of the little details here and there, it was nothing like when I scrapbooked years ago. Project Life can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it, and that is one of the things I really appreciate the most about it.

Honestly? Filling each pocket feels like a little victory and I love that. LOVE.

obsessions

I have been a bad bloggess lately, and that's partly because I've not had much interesting to say, but mostly because I have been absorbed (and in some cases, obsessed) with other things. I thought to make up for my absence, I'd share some of those things with you :)

• ABC's Scandal. I haven't been this excited about tv since Grey's Anatomy and The Good Wife. People that know me know what this means. If you don't know me? It's huge. (As far as tv is concerned, anyway.)
• Egg-in-a-Hole. Most amazing breakfast food ever. EVER. (credit)

• Studio Calico...and Jessica Sprague...and Project Life
• My homework. No links or photos to share. Sorry, folks. I've been experimenting with essential oils, though. Fascinating stuff. (I did mention I'm studying to be a Master Aromatherapist, yes?) 
• Tegan and Sara - ♪ Closer ♪ 
• Knitting. Specifically, a ladder lace scarf for someone who has waited years on me to make it. (I have the most patient bff ever, no lie.)

• Planning our spring landscaping/gardening...flowers, vegetables, neighbor-blocking-winter-shrubbery. Oh, and we're pretty sure we're going to have some chickens (hens -- for eggs) too. Yay!!
• Other tv shows that I am newly enjoying? The Following and The Americans. What's especially great is Mike likes them too so we are finally watching something together :)
• And, finally, this Anne/Gilbert fan vid:

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