a re-intro to the blog:)

OMG. i have had this thing for sooooooooo long and even though i stray for a few month or maybe even years, i can always come back.

here we go again, a bullet list of all that has happened since we last met.

• the girls are all doing well. Chloe is entering her sophomore year at Hunter College and doing super well. who knew that my shy little girl would grow into such a well spoken, articulate and driven young woman? she amazes me everyday. Miss Zoe is entering her junior year and making strides every, single, day. and then there is Devyn….my bittersweet little me child. AHHHHHHH, she makes life interesting to say the least. it is always interesting around here:)
• the #maciasroadtrip2015 came to end and it was crazy to say the least. it has taken me this long to get back in order. we laughed, we cried, we fought but most of all we reconnected as a family. THAT was a good thing.
• as far as i go? still documenting, still taking pictures, still writing down stories and adding visual elements. it is what i am and what i always will be. documenting is at my core:)
• another thing i have been actively pursuing is reading. so far i have read about five book this summer. i will try and review them here soon.
• one thing i will never, ever stop doing is watching movies…and man have i watched some duds….and many so-so’s and some GREAT ones. another thing to review at another time.

and so i go on….doing the things i love and getting from day to day in this crazy world we live in.

it is all GOOD:)

next time i will be doing a new overview of how i am documenting these days.

Where do we go from here?

this is my general consensus these days. lots of changes, too many for my anxiety ridden brain to deal with. so here is a bullet list, because it is easier to think in small bits and pieces.

• devyn is graduating from 8th grade. my days as a mom of littles are officially over. it will be one of those things in life where you have to pull up the granny panties and get with the program.
• the aforementioned child has blossomed into quite the emo child.whenever i complain, i am reminded that i was worse than she is. her wardrobe is all shades of blue and black with a generous amount of band t-shirts. sigh.
• my big is making me prouder by the day. she finished her freshman year without losing her mind and is actually looking forward to next year. i love that she got my need for education and learning. always learning,
• and my middle…..oh, my precious middle babe with all her stuff. she is a bundle of nerve endings that fire off ALL THE TIME. she keeps me on my toes.
• a new phase is starting in our lives and it is sooooooo scary. say little prayer for me, if you are inclined:)
• i had a little (ok not so little) health scare that put me in my place. yes, Universe…i get it, ok?
• and that is about it.

today: scattered thoughts.

ok….here goes. a bullet point list because i am feeling especially scattered today.

• lots of digital pages in the last few weeks. not all mine and sometimes it makes me annoyed that some people take my memory keeping for granted. it is not easy. it is not cheap. actually it is NOT free at all. memory keeping is what i love, but i do not like anyone taking advantage of me. i NEED to learn to say no.
• i have a super cute and especially adorable angel who has made it possible for me to keep scrapbooking with new supplies. THANK YOU!!!!! there are no words for all you have done for me. check her out @ http://www.thedigitalpress.co and search for karla dudley. her stuff is the best. period. bar none:)
•  feeling a lot of guilt for getting a new computer. we needed it, but still….
• one part of me needs to be organized and clutter free, the other feels stuck one frozen because of the same reason.
• 
• i just printed this page on costco photo paper. it is going straight onto my 2015 book. no looking back.
• yesterday i put all my printed pictures into a plastic box. they will get scrapped on way or another.

i have a box of fifty 8×8 pages from persnickety coming soon. just the thought of what to do with them paralyzes me. there is no ROOM!!!! ok. feel better now.

Today: it is a brand new me (sort of)

so i have been away , like forever… the NYC is so depressing when it snows. it doesn’t help that we are homebodies at heart and that no-one wants to go anywhere. what have i been doing? well, funny you should ask. the last few months have been full of movies, music, books and family time.it is good that we can all tolerate each other’s company in this dreary, dreary winter….but i think we are all starting to get on each others nerves. it happens, right?

i am ready for spring, with all the allergies, colds and overall messiness that follows. i am ready to get out of the house,start outdoor projects and finally be able to shed the socks. ugh…socks. they are the bane of my existence.

also, i am migrating to a new computer and it is driving me bonkers. updating to PSE13 at the same time was MAYBE not a good idea. it’s a good thing i am a fast learner:)

old pictures are always better scrapped digitally. this is the God honest truth. a little scanning, edit a little and the pictures have a new life:) that is always good. supplies from Karla Dudley.

and that is it from my corner of the universe.

starting off 2015 with a BANG!

words cannot express how much i love my girl Karla Dudley. she inspires me to continue my digital scrapping:) how could you not want to do dig when she comes out with products like theses? this spread is made with a bunch of of not so good iPhoto pics.

resolution #one: get the good camera out more. seriously.

finishing up 2015 6×8 albums:)

resolution #2: make more memories. keep it simple and any format will do.

going back to digital this year:) i want to make photobooks to keep space down. also, i am keeping an ongoing 8.5×11 album for the occasional paper stuff and odd larger pages.

resolution #3: memory keep. that is all:)

looking forward to 2015:))))

a HUGE project photo dump:)

the last few weeks have been hard. being a single mom is not easy, but we are making it thru:)

a few bullet points about what i have been up to:

* stocked up on 6×8 sheet protectors and adhesive.

* started using my portrait more. it really helps when you are trying to budget scrap…it is so easy to just cut a bunch of titles and use them on pages instead of letter stickers or thickers.

*loving pocket scrapping, 8.5×11 and using digital elements on my pages.

* being ok with throwing scraps away, especially after i have made a bunch of projects with the same stuff.

*i actually read a whole BOOK: joyland by stephen king.

* trying to not geek out over the trailers for The Force Awakens. i will be so sad if it sucks.

and last, but not least, hoping that the snow does not stick:) the NYC is so not fun when the slush starts developing.

  

doing a little digital today:)

Doing a little digital scrappage today. so very very fun and super quick:)

kit by Karla Dudley Designs.

can i just say that i love my dawg? he really is my constant companion and i LOVE him to the moon.

spending freeze coming right up!

after doing Project Life for all my current pictures, i have found that hoarding little pieces of paper has become a habit for me. Not so good.

this is what picked to make a few projects.

and this is what i pieced together. loved using up all those little pieces of stuff and being able to make something cohesive. plus i LOVE the page.

and then….i made a few cards:) haven’t done that in like forever:)

i had no problem whatsoever throwing out all the little pieces that were leftover. it is all about baby steps, people.

my silhouette has been gathering dust, so i have been saving a lot of png as cutfiles. All of them are by karla dudley designs and all of them are AWESOME! i also have a big box full of 6×6 papers that i am slowly but surely using up.

and this is the final product.

and that is it for today. i have been battling the urge to shop for stuff, so it is time for another NO BUY spending freeze. much , much more to come later!

jennie anne

a long time ago, in a place far, far away (The Bronx, 1989) a fair princess was born. She was named Jennie Anne, a play on her grandmother Juana’s name. Never had there been a more beautiful baby girl born and she was LOVED by all.

Jennie Anne had a fairy godmother…namely me:) i loved her ferociously. This is the story:

Our family stories are so convoluted, as most dysfunctional family histories are. Maybe if i make a bullet list timeline of all the events it will be easier to follow. Here we go….

1968: i was born. My maternal grandmother and her youngest daughter(Titi Fanny) take charge of little baby me. it was a good thing and i was very loved.

1979: after a series of moves between New York and Puerto Rico, the trio moves to The Bronx one last time. Titi Fanny meets Big Carlos and they decide to get married.

1981: Grandmother Juana and tween me move back to PR, Titi Fanny stays in The Bronx with Big Carlos after they get married and move together into a basement apartment in Castle Hill.

1983: Little Carlos is born. Teenage me comes to NY for vacations and LOVES little carlos.

1986: Teenage me graduates HS and goes to college at UPR. still comes for vacations with the Perez family.

1988: Still teenage me decides to drop out of college due to being broke and moves to The Bronx with the Perez family i.e Big Carlos, Titi Fanny and Carlos Jr. i get a job, start partying and go back and forth to PR due to a shitty relationship. Titi Fanny becomes preggo with Jennie and is super sick.

1989: i go to PR for a few weeks and miss the birth. so very, very SAD:( i break up with my shitty boyfriend and stay in the NYC for good. in the meantime i turn 21 and take care of the kids. my cousin Tito and i baptize Jennie in the winter and she is the most beautiful chubby cabbage patch baby. we wear matching bubble hemmed dresses. i loved the eighties.

1990: i meet G and plan a wedding. Carlos Jr is seven and Jennie is one.

1991: G and i get married and i move out of Titi Fanny’s. We stay in the neighborhood and eventually move into 2125 Holland ave.

the nineties are a big blur of being a newlywed, working as an optician and building a family. Through it all we remained a family unit. it was a very good decade. Carlos Jr. and Jennie grow up and i have my first two children. Grandma Juana moves in with us.

2000: G and i move to Staten Island. It was a sad time because we moved so far away…

and the Perez Family moves to Florida. that was seriously far away.

it was a sad time. G deployed, i have another baby, Grandma Juana goes with The Perez Family and just like that we are left alone in The NYC. Like i said, it was a sad time.

the 21st century found us all dispersed. my family grew, The Perez family grew, we had losses but we always managed to remain a family. we went to Florida every year for vacation and saw the kids turn into teenagers and then eventually we had jennie’s quince, carlos jr’s wedding and everything that came in between.

somewhere along the way we lost contact with jennie. it was a stupid thing, some dumb misunderstanding that led to us not talking for a long time.

such a dumb thing and so much wasted time.

and then, one day, she answers a message on facebook.

it was all good again. she came to visit. we talked and it seemed like nothing ever happened.

the only thing that i will always hate is that i missed out on so many firsts in her life.

but she is back. we message on facebook and instagram…social networks are a beautiful thing sometimes.

this is the new us:

and it is all good again.

we pick up where we left off and we continue because it is what we do.

jennie is on the edge of big things. we all are. we are moving into new places in our lives. hopefully, with a little luck and a lot of work, we will all move together:)

i love you, jennie and i am proud of the woman you have become. you grabbed onto a dream and you never let it go. when did you grow up?  Let’s never, ever lose our connection again, ok?

i miss having a blog. there i said it.

it has been months since i have blogged at all. it has been a crazy, crazy life here at the home of the macias tribe. a lot of what i have blogged has been about scrapbooking. why?

i have scrapbooked non-stop since 1998. it was my hobby, my identity and a major part of my life. Then, something funny happened. my kids grew up and the picture opportunities became fewer and fewer. no-one told me (or prepared me) for the fact that my teenagers would become allergic to my camera. the poor thing is gathering dust. it is the saddest thing ever.

so what happens now? well….i have decided that i want to document in another way. there are many things that i want to remember: pop culture, movies, events: the type of thing that does not necessarily belong in a scrapbook but is nonetheless important to ME.

of course, there will be scrappage. there always will be. right now i am starting a NOBUY spending freeze. That means that there will be no shopping for scrapping supplies. i am looking forward to it!

there will also be a return to all digital pages next year. i am looking forward to that too:) i am ready to go!