Welcome to the good life.

The Harmon's Are Growing.

A garden, that is.

We headed to Lowe's to look. Indy Harmon included. So many options. From herbs, to grapes, to asparagus, and oranges. Wow. We decided to start growing something edible. Partially for fun, partially because I've become obsessed with Doomsday Preppers. True story.

 

I love this photo. Baby's paw, my silver flats, and Jon's Vans. At Lowe's. Starting our own garden.

We ended up taking this orange tree home. Totally a spontaneous decision since we know zippo about growing oranges. We like the taste of oranges. We live in Orange county. I sure hope this works out.

I'll be sharing weekly updates on our progress. Assuming there is progress.

Meet Indy Harmon.

I realized a few important things were missed during my blog hiatus. #1 we bought our first home (more to come!) and #2 we adopted a dog. !!!. Yup, we adopted a labrador. A rescue. A happy two year old boy who is filled with love.

Meet Indy Harmon.

 

 

 

10 things about Indy:

1) He jumps vertically. Straight up, all four legs. Its constantly making us laugh. And making strangers laugh. Our downstairs neighbor is not so impressed. I'll attempt to take a photo or video soon.

2) Indy sleeps on the bed with us. Or on the couch. Or on the guest bed. Before adopting Indy, I vowed that our dog would sleep on floor (on a dog pillow, of course). I mean, he was a dog. And than I met Indy. A rescue...who was once abandoned. Um, yeah...he's living a spoiled life now and he deserves it. Period.

3) He loves school. We've been doing training classes since December of 2012. Many of the commands are pointless. But you know what, Indy Harmon loves learning. He loves getting praise for doing commands correct. And so we continue training. My little student.

4) Indy's gained about 30 pounds since we adopted him. When he was rescued by Labrador Rescue, he was sick due to drinking dirty water. I can't even imagine my boy drinking dirty water. He weighed 55 pounds...he was all bones. Terrible look on a Labbie. We've gotten him to a very healthy weight of 83 pounds by eating Taste of the Wild. Its expensive food but ultra good for him. And my baby is getting the best. 

5) Indy has a doggie door to our large balcony. He loves it. He's constantly going in and out of our house. Loves to lay in the sunshine. Loves to watch the neighborhood. And bark at cats.

6) He hates having his picture taken. I am constantly snapping photos of him on my iPhone. He always is looking away. Hmph.

7) He is accident prone. I can't count his vet visits one one hand and yet, he was only adopted 4 months ago. He's had a rash. A sprained paw. Was peeing (outside) excessively. Right now, he has an ear infection. VPI dog insurance has been great...scratch that, has sucked.

8) Indy Harmon loves to go for car rides. The black interior of my car is the proof. He'll go wherever you go. It makes my heart so happy to see his Labbie ears flapping in the wind.

9) Playing fetch is his favorite past time. Seriously. We don't have a yard, so we are forced into 2 options. 1) playing fetch inside. Again, something the neighbor hates. 2) playing fetch illegally on our tennis courts. They are fenced in and we play at night where it is impossible to play tennis.

10) It was by chance that we adopted this fellow. We were originally going to adopt a black Labrador...he had to have eye surgery which made him unavailable. At 5:00 AM I was persuing the Labrador Rescue site when Indy's photo was recently posted. I emailed our contact (who was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G) and we set up a meeting right away. A few days later, Jon and I drove to Poway and picked up our baby. I thank God, daily, for bringing Indy to us.

(this is the photo from LR's website that stole my heart. Permanently.)

This guy changed our lives. I'm pretty selfish with my time and resources so I've always wondered if I could be a decent parent. The answer is yes. I'd do anything for Indy, he is my baby. We worry about Indy. We brag about Indy. We take an obscene amount of photos of Indy. He's been, by far, our greatest blessing.

Want a pet? Adopt a rescue. Our boy fit the criteria we were looking for...house broken, good with people, two years old, and a pure bred Labrador. You have your own criteria. Nothing is more fulfilling than knowing you've given a sweet baby a home that they deserve. Adopt a rescue. Adopt a rescue. Adopt a rescue.

If you have a rescue, please share your story in the comments. There is nothing I love more than a rescue story.

xoxo.

Guilty. As Charged.

I've been working very, very, very hard to trim down some of my debt. I am awful with finances. Managing my money is not a strong point. Spending and overspending money are my strengths. That is one of million reasons I married Jonathon Harmon. Opposites not only attract, but they work well together.

Progress has been made and I've cut some of the excess spending out. Some of it. I was doing good, until I had a mini meltdown over printing Project Life photos. I love Persnickety Prints but I need my photos quickly. Walgreens is close by and quick but their printing sucks. What to do.

Meet my latest purchase, the Canon Selphy C900. I did it. In my defense, I sort of needed this. It will solve the above problems. Prints on WI-FI from the iPhone. And from the digital camera memory card. Its compact. Its quick. Its perfect. It comes in white.

 

Here's a video with the Selphy in action. (By Elizabeth Kartchner)

Can't wait to put it to use! Happy Monday, friends. We all deserve something special on a Monday.

xoxo.

Project Life: I <3 You

Project Life has changed my life. My photo taking life. My scrapbooking life. I think you know what I mean.

I wish I would have blogged more about Project Life in 2012. 2012 was an amazing year. When I start to doubt that, I just go back through our 2012 album and remember the good memories. I took a ton of photos. Didn't journal that much, but who cares. That year is documented in one place. Perfect for nights where we like to just look back and remember. I didn't share too much about PL in 2o12 because I didn't really follow it consistently. An example is when I finished August 2012 in January of 2013. Hard to recall all the details and why some of the photos were important.

This year is different. I'm trying to stay up to date. Trying to take more photos and journal more. I am sticking with a color palette instead of being all over the place. Well, sort of. I'm loving Project Life and appreciating the process. Following my style and my style alone. What else matters.

So here it is. I hope to blog about Project Life more consistently. Today, we will play catch up. Ready, set, go.

Love having a 12x12 photo as the start. Photo was taken in Sonoma while wine tasting. Sets our year off on the right foot.

I took minimal photos on New Years Eve. I was having too much fun to stop and make everyone pose and smile. We were too busy laughing about Texas memories. Like the time when I deflated my inner tube and Rainna wore a brazilian bathing suit. I was asked to be a God parent. Glad I captured a few pictures.

I love having a confetti vellum pocket. So totally appropriate for NYE.

For 2013, I am incorporating different size pages. Some photos get their own page. Like our family picture for Indy's graduation.

Using lots of wood veneer pieces by Studio Calico. And I am slightly obsessed with the geotag.

Documenting our Sonoma and Napa trip was so fun. Love going back through the photos, receipts, and maps I collected. I used only a handful of our photos in PL...this is because I plan I making a mini book with more photos (instax too!) and all the fun brochures I picked up.

Amy Tan's Ready, Set, Go embellishments have been perfect for these pages. Can't get enough.

Trying to add more journaling to my pages. Its something that I struggle with. I hate my handwriting. I spell things wrong. All. The. Time. I am me...learning to accept that.

Lots and lots of Indy photos. What can I say, he's my baby.

Another half page here. In late December, my Grandma passed away. It still too painful to journal about it on this page. So I added the program from her funeral. Someday I'll write more here.

Even did a little stitching (the pink arrow!) using the Amy Tan templates. If I can do, anyone can do it.

Another reason why I love documenting our year...capturing hilarious photos like from the hipster party we went to in February. Awesome.

I'm using the Seafoam kit by Elise Blaha Cripe. Its kick ass. And I'm incorporating other papers and cards to mix it up. Keeping it simple by having a ton and cards already pre-cut.

This gets us up to date on Project Life. Sure, this isn't all of the pages I've done...but this is good for now. More PL coming soon.

xoxo.

Yes, This Is The Good Life.

 

 

I can't help but love moments like this. My Indy snuggled up next to me (often snoring), sipping coffee, and surfing the web.

I'm currently working on the Blog (Design) Love E-Course. Fun and interesting so far. I hope to incorporate some of the changes here at The Good Life very soon.

x0x0.

Where the Palm Trees Grow.

We spent last weekend in Palm Springs. It was the perfect time to relax and soak up some sunshine.

Mr. Indy Harmon even joined us on our trip. He is the perfect travel companion and just so happy to be going away with us.

We enjoyed the putting range. I'd like everyone to know that I (yes, me!) even got a par on one of the holes. Go me.

Even snapped a quick family photo. Nabbing a photo is almost impossible with this group.

Loved, loved, loved lounging by the pool with a book and my pink sunglasses.

I miss you already Palm Springs. I promise to be back soon.

March Goals.

Something new for the blog will be my monthly goals. I'm hoping these goals will always being obtainable without too much pressure. But that is impossible to guarantee. Here it goes.

 

Let's do this, March.

Oh, Hello March.

 

 

Hello, March.

Its been about three months since my poor blog was updated. So much has happened. I moved into our dream condo. I said goodbye to my Irvine. I adopted a dog. I got a promotion. I continued to hate work and continued to dream of better. I went to Napa and Sonoma. I drank wine. I practiced forgiveness and being forgiven. I become a godparent. I completed a few DIY projects. I prayed. I laughed with friends. I enjoyed.

The list goes on and on. So much has happened in what seems like a short time. I hope to continue to share here.

Its still a good life.

xoxo.