2011|1|7

Ahhh, that's better. My studio after I took some time to organize, purge and just plain clean-up in there (it really needed it). Over the holidays, this was the room anything and everything was just tossed into, creating a disaster. I am so thrilled by how it turned out.

Before... (edit: I had moved out most of the mess before I realized I should do a before photo, every inch of the floor was covered)

cardstock pile to sort was over flowing

And now, voila...

My absolute favorite part of the room...photo shelf along my desk area inspired by Becky Higgins!!!

The corner where I keep my Cricut, punches, ribbons & layout drawers.

(edit: white shelf hung on the wall is this one)

Our dog's chair by the magazines.

Workstation from Pier 1...hopefully a little more functional with my workflow.

Most commonly used tools have their own spot on this table.

Under the workstation I keep a filing cabinet for 8.5x11 cardstock...it's very handy for whipping together cards. And my trashcan lives here also.

I took a chance to sort all my cardstock into the SU new color families.

Corner for patterned 12x12 paper, printer, stack of printable lables, LOM category drawers.

Added another row of cubes to this storage and placed SU inks & Big Shot on top.

(edit: stocked up on all of these cubes from Michaels very patiently, using a 40% off coupon for each and every one of them)

Corner for the phone, tv/dvd player, box of handmade cards, handy catalogues and a fun handpainted bowl of loose stamps.

Stamp storage...sorted by themes (words, shapes, kids, christmas, etc.)

I have found that I need a bit of extra organization when it comes to stamps, so I'm going to stamp the images from each set and put together a binder for quick reference...that way I can flip through the binder to be inspired and refresh myself with the stamps I have on hand.

Backside of my workstation...here I have clear 12x12 boxes with embellishments sorted by theme (Halloween, love, boy, girl, fall, winter, coffee, etc.). These boxes represent a place I can go for items with popular themes I create with.

Makes me feel so much better to have this room under control...let's hope it stays that way.

I am very lucky to have this space all to myself...it was a wish of mine when my husband & I built our dream home 2 years ago.

Read more about storage solutions in this room here and here.

(edit: wall color is Jalapeno Pepper by Benjamin Moore)

2011|1|6

Ace with his friend Dominic on their first day back at school...Ace was so excited to see his friends that he missed over the break.

The girls and I were back to hangin out together again...getting back into our routine again.

2011|1|5

Fresh haircuts for Ace & Scarlett from Auntie Amber before school starts back up this week.

2011|1|4

Today I received my Project Life kit in the mail...so pumped for this year's version!

2011|1|3

Projects around the house are getting completed...yay! Cory & Justin (our neighbor & employee) are adjusting this cabinet. Cory & I have made up a list of projects to tackle around the house over the full year and plan on working on them as we can to make this house 'shine' like it was meant to. Some items on the list for January are:

• attic access
• adjusting cabinets
• door trim missing
• hrv in garage
• hang photo grid in main living room
• adjust door stops

2011|1|2

Happy 87th Birthday to my Grandfather!

My Mom & I helped him celebrate by taking over a Crave Cupcake for him to enjoy.

2011|1|1

I am so thrilled to be doing Project Life again for another year.

Trying to start off strong and print my photos as I go, since I fell off the bandwagon last year around March. But on the up side, I have kept up my blog, so I can go back and print them some time or another.

We celebrated New Years in Minot with friends. Had fun hangin' around the mall with my munchkins...

Scarlett & I treated ourselves to ice cream at Stone Cold Creamery.

Waiting for Dad on the benches by the big mall clock.

Gumball machines, the perfect backdrop for my crazy kiddos.

Scarlett reading to Coco back at the hotel.

We had a pizza party with our friends, the Heisers & the Irwins.

And everyone had a great time swimming...fun, fun, fun!

2011 One Little Word

Happy New Year!

A fresh start and a fresh new word of the year for me: SHINE!

(check out my words from 2010, 2009 & 2008)

The Mercer's wish you joy & smiles in the coming year!

2010 December Daily - Dec 31

New Years Dinner with friends. All 13 of us headed to Ruby Tuesdays to have a celebratory meal. Cory & I had been craving their Lobster Carbonara all day, it was so good! We were complimented twice by other restaurant guests on how well behaved our children were and that is was so nice to see a group of families out and about...wow, us Moms were impressed. After supper we headed back to the hotel to take the kiddos swimming. After the kids were in bed, us adults got together to ring in the new year.

2010 December Daily - Dec 30

We travelled to Minot to meet our friends the Irwins & Heisers. This will be the third year we've celebrated New Years here with friends.

I was loving the beautiful Christmas tree they had in our hotel lobby. Took a couple minutes to myself and enjoyed photographing the details of it.

2010 December Daily - Dec 28

The kids declared today a pajama day.

Ace built masterpieces with his Lego and

Scarlett played vet with all her puppies.

Admiring the giant cup of goodies my sister gave me for Christmas...it was so nice of her to remember I had eyed it up in Target.

2010 December Daily - Dec 27

Lovin' the snuggles from Baby Coco.

Just a few ornaments from our 'Birchwood' themed tree.

We had really wanted to get a real tree this year, but just ran out of time. Here's hoping next year we can pick one up.

2010 December Daily - Dec 26

Hung around the house today.

Played lots of Dance Central on the xbox Kinect...so much fun!

And snacked on homemade nuts & bolts.

Coco's First Christmas

Every Christmas is special, but this one is just a little bit more so,

since it's Coco's First Christmas.

{photo taken of her under Nana & Papa's tree}

Happy Holidays 2010

Happy Holidays from our Home to Yours!

2010 December Daily - Dec 25

Merry Christmas!

We had one of the most relaxing Christmases we've ever had, it was so nice.

Love the excitement from the kids as they found what Santa brought them.

The morning was spent unwrapping gifts and Daddy assembling everything.

My parents came over and we exchanged gifts with them.

In the afternoon we went for a snowmobile ride.

And ended the festivities with leftovers.

2010 December Daily - Album Cover

Loving how this photo of our three kiddos turned out and I made it into the cover for our 2010 December Daily album.

2010 December Daily - Dec 24

Above: Putting out milk & cookies for Santa...and some carrots for the reindeer. Ace & Scarlett all cozy in their new pjs.

Below: Mom & Dad hosted Christmas dinner today. It was full of family, food & fun.

2010 December Daily - Dec 23

One year ago today we were excited by the news that we were expecting Coco! I had the kids pose for me in the same pjs as last year + baby Coco for a cool look at how we've grown over the year.

Today I finally got our Christmas cards in the mail (just received them from Shutterfly yesterday). We did some cleaning to prep for the busy next few days. Stocked up on groceries, you know the essentials for the holidays...turkey, pickles & buns!

2010 December Daily - Dec 22

I would have to say my absolute favorite tradition of the holidays is making gingerbread houses with the kids. We had lots of fun making these today!

2010 December Daily - Dec 21

This is a typical day for Coco & I...she loves it in her Hot Sling.

Dad came by today to clear snow in our driveway...it sure is a treat he does tends to that for us.

Our neighbors home across the street looks as though it's a gingerbread house covered in icing from the snow we have had.

Wrapping up some gifts & enjoying the glittery white snow today.