enJOY it by Elise Blaha Cripe

project life : week 52.

Week 52 and I still love this project. ;)

(click photos above to enlarge for a [somewhat] clearer image.)

It's like the end of an era. Except not really, because soon I'm staring Era #2, 2013 edition. I am so pleased that I stuck with this project for a whole year and invigorated to begin all over again.

I got a comment last weekend about how I always seem to be moving on to the next thing and don't enjoy the present. It bummed me out, not because it's accurate, but because I have certainly given off that air on the blog as I've wrapped up Project Life 2012. My job (blogging, making products and planning workshops) definitely requires a lot of "thinking ahead" and "looking forward." It's a habit of mine in my professional life to turn the calendar page early and look at the next week instead of the current week. (If I didn't, I would never stay on top of having a blog post up every weekday morning and I'd never be able to launch products on a seasonal time frame.)

But in my personal life, I really work to enjoy & treasure the moment. I love doing the activities presented on the blog or shown in our albums... much more than I love documenting them. I am sorry that I was rushing through the end of the year on the blog. In "real life" I am celebrating and enjoying this season so much. Having Paul home this year to celebrate with and expecting a little one is SUCH a joy and nothing I would ever take for granted or want to breeze past. :)

Annnd, moving on. I am still up in Sacramento and don't have access to my printer or the majority of my supplies. Photos this week were printed yesterday at a local drugstore and embellishments were sparse. ;) Surprise, surprise, I didn't take very many photos this week. It makes me smile thinking about how many more I'll be taking next year as we celebrate our first Christmas with the baby.

Two Christmas cards in the 3x4 slots and then 4x6 photos from Christmas Eve.

The top photo is one of my faves. I stuck my iPhone on the dashboard while we were driving up to Sacramento and then cropped it to 12x4 to fit into two 4x6 pockets. Pretty fun portrait of the two of us.

Left side has more photos from our quick trip to San Francisco and journaling about how much I loved seeing Les Miserables on Saturday.

The insert this week is my "best of 2012" page that I created for the Studio Calico Tips & Tricks column this month. Pretty fun to have a photo wrap up in the album. :)

You can see more photos and read more about my process with it over there.

And with that I bid a GOOD BYE to 2012. Thank you for some truly amazing memories. I am going to be including any relevant photos & stories from today and tonight in our 2013 album.

supplies / Paper Source circle labels, Studio Calico Project Life January kit, 3x4 jolly transparency and merry and bright ampersand stamp by Mer Tilton, Design A & Design F page protectors, I use a Fiskars corner rounder (it's not amazing, but it's lasted the longest of any corner rounder I've ever had). I am using a Zig Millennium 0.1 pen and Recollections glossy marker throughout this album.

Confused by Project Life? Start here. Have a question about how I am tackling this project each week (including questions about the quotes & photo printing)? Check here. See all my Project Life posts here.

best of 2012.

Heads up, this year, you can click almost every photo to be taken to the relevant post that will give more information on the project or event. If you click a photo and nothing happens, that's because there is no corresponding post.

I've been doing best of round-ups for the past few years (here's 2009, 2010, 2011). I go through the same process every time, I open my iPhoto and scroll through 1000s of photos, pulling my favorites to the desktop. Each time, I am reminded of all the GOOD. There are always a few big things, but mostly little things, that make our years magic. Each time, I am grateful for all the photos that I have taken and re-inspired to take more photos the following year.

I created a spread for my 2012 Project Life album that includes photos from this wrap-up. You can see it today on the Studio Calico blog. :)

*Noticeably absent from this list is a photo of a positive pregnancy test or our first ultrasound photo, but they were certainly some of the "best" moments of 2012.

brave / my one little word for 2013.

I started to consider brave for my 2013 one little word last September. It popped into my head and I figured I would keep it in mind unless something better came along. And while a lot ended up coming along, a better word did not.

At the time, all I really knew was that Paul was going to be deploying again in 2013. I was overwhelmed with the idea of doing it all over again and for the most part being in the exact same place I was a year ago. Knowing what to expect was making it harder and more daunting.

So brave was born as an admittedly early form of self-encouragement. ;)

And then in October we found out we'd be having a baby in June. Suddenly brave was more perfect for 2013. When I called my parents to share the news, I blurted out..."Well, I'm pregnant!" And then immediately burst into tears.

My dad said, in complete seriousness, said, "This is the best news we have ever heard in our entire lives." And my mom said, "Oh Elise! Are you crying?"

"YES! I am crying! Because I am scared! Because Paul is probably going to be gooooone. And I might have to have this baby alooooone." It was a little hysterical and quite dramatic. My parents, always amazing and always cheerleaders, were reassuring, "It's okay! You and the baby can move home with us! It will be great!"

Months have passed from that outburst and while every once in awhile, I panic over the idea that Paul will be gone for so much of this pregnancy and will miss at least a few weeks of the little one's beginning, I have myself pulled together.

This is our story.

This is our baby.

This is exactly the way things are supposed to work out for the three of us.

But I still choose brave.

I need to be brave in January as we look for a house that will be our home for the next four years.

I need to be brave in early February as I drop Paul off at an airfield to leave for six months.

I need to be brave as I embark on all those months we'll spend apart all over again.

I need to be brave as I meet a new doctor in San Diego.

I need to be brave as I decide what I want from my job this first part of 2013...

...and then as I figure out what my job will look like post-baby.

I need to be brave as I embrace the high highs and low lows that will naturally come with motherhood.

I need to be brave as a piece of my heart breaks off and lives forever in the body of someone else.

I need to be brave as Paul comes home from deployment and we once again go through the work and put in the effort that it takes to fit our lives back together.

2012 was a huge year. It was a very good year for our little family. But 2013 has potential to be so much more amazing. And it will for sure be a growth year. A lot of stretching needs to take place. In my body. In our house. In my mind. In my relationships. In my heart. All of this will take little and giagantic acts of courage.

I have really loved that since I have embraced this challenge, my one little words have taken hold and continue to live with me past their expiration dates. I imagine that magic from 2011 and choose from 2012 will feel just as relevant and real in my life a few years from now as they did in their current years and do now. "One little word" is a legit experiment in changing your outlook on life.

So, welcome to the party, brave. Can't wait to see what you have in store for me.

ps. if you are unfamiliar with the concept of one little word, this is a great post from Ali Edwards to read. I am taking part in Ali's One Little Word class this year and the photos throughout show the start of my album that I'll be working on as part of the workshop. This album, HUGELY inspired by Ali, is going to be more of a journal than a "traditional" documentation spot and I'll be doing it in addition to Project Life, but most likely updating it monthly, not weekly.

Supplies used : We R Memory Keepers 8.5x11 album, We R Memory Keepers 9 pocket page, American Crafts letter stickers, photo of this BE BRAVE poster that I got for Christmas and will hang in my office all year, cork paper from Joanns, Freckled Fawn wood chip arrow, my own instagram photo printed by printsagram early in 2012, Office Depot number stamp, transparency by Mer Tilton, 2013 badge from Ormolu, Seafoam Kit diagonal stripe patterned card.

merry merry!

happy Christmas eve + free quote card download.

Happy Christmas Eve!

This is my favorite day of the Christmas season. The anticipation and excitement of today cannot be beat. Getting dressed up, having a fancy meal, going to church, listening to Christmas music, lighting dozens of candles...this is where, for me and my family, the magic has always happened.

To celebrate, I am offering a free download of the quote cards I used in my Project Life album in 2012. (Plus a few additional ones.) There are 54 in the set. Some are going to be a little random because they were super relevant in my life at the time, but I think most are applicable to most situations and for most people. I have provided two sets. One that just has typed text and one where I digitally wrote in select words, similarly to how they appeared in my album.

HERE IS A LINK that will take you to the download page.

Thank you for reading this year and following my projects and adventures. It's a joy to write this blog and I'm happy to have something tangible to share as a thank you for stopping by.

If you're celebrating, Merry Christmas! And if not, I wish you so much peace & love through the rest of the year.

thank you, elise