Project Smile: February

Today marks the last day of February and also the end of Project Smile for now.

It has certainly helped me through the last six months and I hope that you will continue to record and share your smiles as I will. I have definitely been blessed because of you.

In this funny thing called life we tend to remember the bad and overlook the good.

A compliment.

A hug.

A smile.

A warm chocolate chip cookie.

A sunny day.

A date night.

A thoughtful note.

A bubble bath.

A child's laugh.

A phone call from an old friend.

A tender kiss.

A moment with sisters.

A good night's sleep.

A talent night with family.

A gift.

A warm meal.

A moment of quiet.

A good book.

A new jacket.

A pedicure.

A hint of spring.

A Sunday nap.

A beautiful song.

A funny picture.

A snuggle by the fire.

A rainbow.

A perfect taco.

A rainy afternoon.

Nothing mind blowing or life altering. Just sweet, simple moments that make you smile. These are the moments that make it all worth it. These are the moments to remember, at least for me.

And as I reflect over all of the many, wonderful smile-worthy moments these last few months my heart is full and I can't help but smile.

September

October Part 1 and Part 2

November

December

January

Thank you for taking this journey with me. May you continue to look for the smiles placed in your paths...

Living in a Jetsons World.

I feel very honored to have been asked to write for Kristi at Live and Love out Loud.

In my state of delirium while stuck at the Vegas airport for 4 hours waiting for my plane to arrive...

"Wheel Of Fortune" permeated my eardrums over and over and over. I didn't count, but it must have been well into the thousands by the time they announced it was finally time to board the plane to Chicago just a little over an hour past when it was scheduled.

And it may or may not have had something to do with the post that spewed out of me. "Living in a Jetsons World"... Stop over and decide for yourself.

P.S. I'm doing a little redecorating here at a beautiful mess thanks to a mistake I couldn't undo and would love any input you feel so inspired to offer.

What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.

These were some of the lessons extracted from my travels...
(Disclaimer: This is more about the experience than the photos. I only snapped 3 of these photos with my SLR. Can you guess which ones? )

1. Make sure you know the name of your restaurant or you may end up at a strip joint being asked to sign in for the next pole dance and have a star stamped on your hand the rest of the night as embarrassing proof.

2. Wear comfy shoes over fashion. A must if you don't want to be crippled. Or carry your shoes all night.

3. No point in gondolay rides unless you have your honey man with you. You will be serenaded love songs in Italian ALONE.

And making out with your sister may get googly eyes.

4. Park in the right parking lot or you could end up climbing 10 flights of stairs and in line to get a job at the Paris hotel or as a stripper.

5. Keep your lunch reservations or you could end up at crappy take out paying a fortune for crap food. And have heartburn for hours.

6. Don't take cameras on the roller coaster (even point and shoots tucked in your inside coat pocket) and if you do make sure to keep it hidden away or you will be kicked off the ride and escorted out like a criminal.

7. It pays to know people who know great food joints. Cafe society rocked! 5 stars for presentation, food, and service. Who knew pea soup could be so good.

8. Reserve meltdowns in the event expensive purchases go missing until the trunk is completely empty. (ie. mac makeup in tiny black bags)

9. If you stay at a nice hotel, such as the venetian, don't be satisfied with subpar bedding- particularly down comforters with hard crunchy lumps that feel like bones crushed up inside. It may take 5 or 6 attempts, but eventually persistence will pay off when you finally get a nice, soft replacement and a partial night's rest.

12. Altitude changes, smoke, allergens, flashing lights, and lack of sleep can make for lots of sneezing and vertigo. Make sure to bring drugs.

13. Don't let a stranger take a photo of you at night with a point and shoot or you will end up with his lover in the background making hand gestures and a really crappy image as a momento of your first night.

14. If you only get one good shot with your sisters, make sure to adjust necklace prior and stand in the shade to avoid strange sun spots and squinty eyes.

15. Slots, booze, and hookers are not required for a good time, but if you are going to try the slots a short tutorial may be a good idea so you don't look like an idiot. Also, make sure to bring ear plugs because the wheel of fortune slots will continually make noise the entire 4 hours you are stuck at the airport and nearly drive you mad.

(Pic taken with iphone.)

Hope these lessons can help you should you ever find yourself in Vegas.

Wordless Wednesday: Seeing Circles?

Turn your own ordinary photo into a work of art. You can find the tutorial to make a one of a kind circle over at Ramblings and Photos by Ashley Sisk.

Happy Wordless Wednesday!
As always, so nice of you to stop by. If you have a photo to share, just link up below. And make sure to stop by some of these other fab WW blogs.

Not So Wordless Wednesday: Be Mine.

Hope you enjoy my Valentine Edition of WW. Feel free to skim.

This shot is SOOC (straight out of camera), taken with my nifty new 50mm lens from hubs. The pink in the background is a reflection of the cellophane wrapping from the kid's gifts and the grooves of the table made for an artistic visual. (Canon EOS 50D, Aperture: f/2.5 Shutter Speed: 1/200 ISO: 1600) Lighting in our home in the winter leaves something to be desired.

Find this free Valentine's card download here as well as many other ideas.

Find "Ten Reasons I Love You" Books here or here. (They were a hit with the kids by the way.)

Find the inspiration for Pokey's Valentine cards here.

Find the download for this sweet "LOVE" project here.

A Moment of Wonderful here. This is hubs and I. We drew the heart with our foot and then jumped in. My sister shot it from my kid's treehouse. You can see me jumping here.

And enjoy Little Man's creation.

I heart this holiday. Can you tell?

These were my flowers from hubs. Tulips. My fav.

Photos are property of Alicia Rasmussen and not to be used without permission.

Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's.

I am now en route to Vegas. I'll try to come back with a couple pics from my adventures.

Thanks for stopping by. If you have a photo to share, just link up below. And make sure to stop by some of these other fab WW blogs.

Happy Wordful/Wordless Wednesday!

Happy Heart Day!

Have I ever mentioned how much I heart holidays? Especially the heart one!

(You can get your own free collage at Shape Maker with the watermark on it. If you want one without the marking, it is $25/year charge but you can use it as many times as you want and there are tons of other shapes.)

And I couldn't be more stoked about Pokey's Valentine cards this year.

For starters they are all done and we didn't even wait until the night before. Yah! Remember that picture I submitted to I Heart Faces last week? We cropped it, added 9 to a sheet, printed 4 sheets, cut them out, and then figured out a way to insert a sucker to make it look like she was almost holding it.

Sounds painful, but they may have been the easiest ones yet. I'm a little sad Little Man isn't doing them this year. Sniffle, sniffle. My baby is growing up.

And remember those 10 Reasons I Love You Books I made for each of them?

I'm happy to report that I got them in the mail from Shutterfly and they are adorable. I can't wait to see the kid's reactions.

I am so terribly behind on Pokey's scrapbook that I do pages here and there when I can. I found this page over at Designer Digitals and plugged in a photo of us together. Instant cuteness. By the way, they are having a 30% off sale through Tuesday, Feb 15th.

This year I was way ahead of the game. That is, for everyone except hubs. Slacking on my wifely duties I suppose. And then I was trolling through some picture files and found this...

that I had made a couple weeks ago. Der. I'd be totally amazing if I could just remember my brain some days. Turns out I'm not a slacker at all.

You can grab the PSD file with all the layers to customize your own card HERE.

Here are some of the examples of what you might be able to make with what is included.

If you haven't done something special for your loved one yet, go grab the file and whip up a personalized card. Write a heartfelt note. I'll throw in some Alicia love for good measure.

And this is just a sampling of another project I've been working on. I can't say too much about it just yet, but stay tuned. Big things are happening here real soon. If you don't know this about me yet, I always have to have a project going on. It's especially important through these LONG winter months.

And before I forget, I'm leaving for Vegas in 2 days. Just thought you should know I won't be around for about a week. I'll still schedule my Wordless Wednesday post, but not much else.

And ironically enough, it's supposed to be in the 50s later this week. Too funny. Still going to be a great girl's getaway. I'm ready!

Wishing you a fabulous Valentine's Day. May it be filled with tons of love!

All Dressed Up

Today I thought I'd mix it up a bit and participate in a new meme. My niece started one called All Dressed Up. She's a riot and I thought it'd be fun to play along, but just so you know these pics were actually taken to practice my photography skills for a couple different classes I'm taking. These are raw, unedited pics. And sometimes when your pics are less than amazing it helps to cluster them together to create a more artistic, interesting flair.

These were snapped a couple hours before a date with hubs. Check out the top center photo of my son trying to give me rabbit ears. Gotta love 'em.

It's hard to get too dressed up when you live in the Frozen Tundra. Last night the temps were around negative 30 with wind chills. You know it's freaking cold when you hear the weatherman say, "And by Sunday it will be a balmy 15 degrees." Human beings should not inhabit or coexist in such wretched conditions. Just sayin... Ok, enough about my winter woes.

Pants: Buckle
Sweater: Gap
Shoes: from sis

Headband: Target
Belt: Thrift Store
Hair: braided and then let down and crimped

And if by any chance you happened to miss my $1.97 hat from Gap, make sure to stop by and check it out.