documenting the everyday | project life
- on: July 03, 2015
- By Gabi
- theme: memory keeping, project life
0
It’s been months (almost a year!) since I’ve done anything project life related. As sad as it is, I guess life just happens and I didn’t have time to document it. But I really missed it. The creative process, the finished pages capturing our daily life. I love going through the old pages with kids and bringing the memories back. The time has come and I set a goal for myself to get back to memory keeping.
My friend Harmony has decided to jump back into the creative life as well so we support each other this way. I really admire her determination as she is catching up with old spreads. I don’t think I will be able time-wise to go back and finish all the missing pages. For now I’m happy with just capturing the right now.
I’ve started fresh last week with the start of summer. Here is my first double spread capturing the last two weeks (well, two weekends to be exact).
I’ve been a huge fan of Liz’s work (also known as) Paislee Press for years. I love the look of her minimalistic designs and have been using her digital products since my early years of digital scrapbooking. My favorite paper project life kit is also from her – Midnight sun (the yellow and black filler cards). Lately I love using her digital templates which are easy to use and look amazing while printed out. I love that I can put several photos into one 4×6 inch photograph in seconds, print it out and be done with it. And the best part is that those can be used over and over again.
I also used old stash of cards from various sources (Studio Calico kits), printed out out some digital cards etc. I’ve fallen in love with acrylic stamps lately; I think the once used on this spread are by Elise and Kelly.
I’m really hoping that this time I will stick with it and continue documenting our everyday.
Leave a comment...EH?
- on: July 01, 2015
- By Gabi
- theme: family life
- 2
Today is our first Canada Day celebrating as Canadian Citizens. It’s been almost 13 years when Ivo and I first put our feet on Canada’s ground. We are so fortunate and proud to call this beautiful country our home.
We’ve found friends who are like our family to us. We live in one of the most beautiful corners of the world surrounded by sea, mountains, endless forests, lakes and rivers. The nature is breathtaking over here.
It’s our privilege to call ourselves Canadians!
And in this beautiful corner of the world the heat wave goes on. There isn’t a better place than to cool down ourselves at the river on this special day. Eh?
Leave a comment...around here
- on: June 08, 2015
- By Gabi
- theme: around here, everyday life, family life
- 0
Here are a few things happening around here lately:
1. Anything soccer. Patrik is living and breathing soccer for the last couple of days and isn’t talking about anything else than soccer players.
2. We’ve got some very hot, hot days. The weather is insanely warm and I can’t honestly wait till it cools downs. I’m not a hot weather person. The worst are the nights when it is so warm outside that even having all windows open doesn’t help to cool the house down.
3. We’ve got our patio cover up so we can finally enjoy eating outside. It is my favorite part of every summer.
4. I finished a book last week. I don’t remember when was the last time I finished one (probably months and months ago). The book I read is called Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center. I requested the book in our library a few months ago and finally I was on the top and able to pick it up. I read it within a few days and really liked it. I read all Katherine’s books, this one might be my most favorite so far.
5. Ivo is training for a mountain bike race, his first one. I hope everything will go smoothly and without injuries.
6. Both kids are counting days until their summer break. This summer will be challenging as we need to figure out camps and activities for them which we didn’t have to deal with in the past.
7. Ace is 10.5 months old now. He is still a crazy puppy but also a lot of fun to be around. We did an overnight road trip with him to Whistler and I was pleasantly surprised how well he did.
8. We are harvesting our first strawberries (Ace already discovered them as well…) and red currant from our backyard. I can’t wait for our tomatoes to be ready.
9. Loving this song lately. It’s different, and that’s probably why I like it.
10. There is nothing better like having an amazing people in your life. I’m so thankful to be surrounded by women I can trust, laugh with them, bike with them and share joy and a glass of wine with.
11. Around here life is happening. One day at a time. Exactly the way how we like it.
Leave a comment...hello june
- on: June 01, 2015
- By Gabi
- theme: family life
- 0
I’ve planned to do a photo-heavy post summarizing the last couple of days but as usual I’ve run out of time. I also realized that it is better to just unplug and keep my sanity instead of trying to do one hundred things at the same time. I don’t have to do everything at once. Right?!
So as I’m trying to be more present in the moment (which also means to be more offline), I’m finding a joy in the little simple everyday details.
Like cheering on my two little athletes at the races’ sidelines.
Or walking outside with Ace.
Or helping Patrik with his school project.
Or painting Katrin’s toenails.
Or making s’mores at the end of the day which matters the most. It brings smiles and family together.
Hello, June. I can’t wait to enjoy every second of your days.
Leave a comment...around here lately
- on: May 16, 2015
- By Gabi
- theme: family life
- 4
A lot of things happened in the last couple of days….
I think the most important thing was that Ivo and I have become Canadian citizens. We have been living in Canada since 2002 as permanent residents. We came with the idea of spending 3-5 years here, try new things and then go back to our family in Czech Republic. But things changed during the first few years and we decided to stay. We were (and still are) citizens of Czech Republic but we couldn’t apply for Canadian citizenship because we would have to give up our own. Luckily in January 2014 Czech Republic finally came with a new law and allows people to have duel citizenship. After 18 months long process, where we had to go through language test, knowledge test about Canada and oath ceremony, we have become Canadians. Now we can use the Eh?! and say sorry as much as we want!
Before the Oath Ceremony
Fresh Canadians
After the ceremony we celebrated with lunch in downtown of Vancouver with our friend Marjo.
Marjo then prepared a very special Canadian dinner for us on Mother’s Day and introduced us to her friends as well. Did I tell you how amazing this woman is?!
The evening was so much fun! We received a lot of gifts and had a real Canadian menu dinner. We started with smoked salmon as an appetizer, then we moved on to lobsters…
.. continued with delicious steaks, Canadian beer and wine and finished with amazing Quebec dessert. Celebration of coast to coast cuisine. We loved it!
Thank you for being such an amazing friend, Marjo! We couldn’t ask for a better neighbor. I love your personality, you inspire me by your strength and kindness every single day! Love ya, girl!
This year’s Mother’s Day was definitely special and I’m so happy I was surrounded by people I love.
Leave a comment...
well, hello there
- on: April 30, 2015
- By Gabi
- theme: family life, sport | triathlon
- 0
1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3….
Is this thing still on?
It seems like ages since my last post… So what’s happening around here? Life. Life is happening, my friends. Simply just the everyday ordinary life.
The alarm clock goes off at 5.25am and then the everyday rush starts. It’s go, go, go till the evening hours. Since Ivo has changed his job and is forced to commute, our daily routine has changed a lot. But we are coping quite well, I think. I miss some “me” time though; I have a lot of things on my “want to do” list but I’ve learned to prioritize and put those things on a side burner until things will slow down.
Will they ever?!
The one thing I miss the most is probably photography. Since I got my iPhone, I’ve been taking pictures using the phone but it’s not the same as with the big camera. I’ve started using instagram so at least I can be still in the loop with this hobby of mine and get inspired by some amazing photos from others.
Well, so what’s new around here since my last post in March?
The sport season has started and is in a full gear. Ivo ran his first ultra marathon two weeks ago. It was a 50 km trail run race and he gave it everything. Unfortunately due to the course I wasn’t able to take any photos while he was racing. At least I have him captured before the race. The area around Sasamat Lake is really magical!
Smiling as usual just a few minutes before the start.
And the race is on!
He finished strong and placed 4th overall with time 5:19:11!!
Ivo also ran the Sun Run 10k race for the first time and was part of his company’s team.
As I mentioned above, I’ve been using my iPhone a lot for taking pictures lately. Even though the quality isn’t the best comparing to my big camera, I love all the random snapshots me or kids take with the phone. I am happy to have these little everyday moments captured. Like this one when we were waiting for Patrik to finish his cycling practice.
Or Ace jumping in our backyard.
Or just a random shot I took while biking. The outcome is totally worth the nerves that I would fall down from the bike while taking this photo.
Among all the sport activities, we were also able to squeeze some “together time” at home. Kids decided to make a dinner for Ivo and myself, they came up with the idea of a restaurant where both of them took care of everything. They prepared the menu, took our orders and then served the meals. Fun times!
Patrik has started his cycling season in March once again. He was doing track cycling during winter and now the road season is on which means weekend races as well. Two weeks ago he raced in the first race of the season, a 20 km ride which took a place on dikes and road. He finished strong and placed 2nd overall. The kids totally lucked out with the weather for this race, once they finished, the heavy rain started falling down together with hails.
Last weekend both kids raced in the first triathlon of the season – The Kids of Steel.
Oh my, these kids!! They were biking and running in a cold weather, still wet from the pool but still pushing hard. They are fighters, that’s for sure! I don’t have to tell you how very proud of them we are!!
And then there is the not-so-little anymore Ace. He just turned 9 months this week. He is a fun, happy, wild puppy who does his shaky butt dance every time he sees someone he likes. He jumps on our fence every time he spots our neighbor’s dog. He LOVES running on dikes and gives kisses when opportunity arrives.
Our life is full but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Until the next time, have a good one, my friends!
Leave a comment...on my mind
- on: March 23, 2015
- By Gabi
- theme: everyday life, family life, focus on everyday, photography
- 0
So many things have changed in our everyday routine in such a short period of time. My mind is constantly racing with thoughts how we will manage.
We will get used to it, I know it.
We always do.
This post is a part of a weekly themes over at Focus on Everyday collaborative blog. If you want to see Harmony’s take on the theme, please go here.
Leave a comment...around here
- on: March 15, 2015
- By Gabi
- theme: family life
- 2
Around here the days turn into weeks and suddenly half of March is gone..
Around here the weather was amazing for the last couple of days (of course except for the weekend) and we have been enjoying plenty of time outside.
Around here we also celebrated my 36th B-day at the beginning of March with friends.
Around here we were redoing our little man’s room. Ivo built the loft bed for him to get some more space in his room for playing. He loves it.
Around here we race once again. Ivo did his first race of the season which was also his first trail run race called Dirty Duo. He participated in a relay race, he did 27km run and his partner did 30km on mountain bike. Both of them really enjoyed it.
Around here we went for our first family bike ride of the season. Both kids have cyclocross bikes and are having fun riding them.
Around here we get crafty. Katrin and I got made earrings last week. She chose what she wants and I put them together. I love that she wears them every single day and knows that those are special. It makes me so happy!
Few days ago Ivo and I finally got smart phones. We went with iPhone 6 and so far we are loving them! I’m still learning my way around it and testing all the features but I’m already in love with the camera. Now i will be finally able to take little snap shots of our everyday life on the go. Like these photos below:
Please let me know if you have any favorite apps for iPhones.
Until next time, have a great time!
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